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Four thousand U.S. dollars are counted out by a banker counting currency at a bank in Westminster, Colorado November 3, 2009. REUTERS/Rick Wilking/File Photo

By Steven Scheer

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - The Bank of Israel bought "hundreds of millions" of dollars of foreign currency on Monday, dealers said, after the shekel (ILS=) continued to strengthen for a fifth straight session.

One dealer at an Israeli bank said the central bank started buying at a dollar-shekel rate of around 3.84. The exchange rate, which quickly moved to 3.85, had weakened to 3.90 on June 27 in the wake of the Brexit vote.

The central bank declined to comment.

Its move came after financial newspaper TheMarker reported that the bank's intervention policy had come under fire by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's chief economics advisor, Avi Simhon, who was quoted as saying that intervention was tantamount to a protective tariff that raises prices for consumers by deterring import competition.

He argued, according to TheMarker, that only exporters are harmed by an appreciating shekel and they would be able to absorb a 10 percent appreciation of the currency.

A spokesman for the prime minister's office could not immediately comment.

The Bank of Israel has been buying dollars since 2008, boosting its foreign currency reserves by some $70 billion to $96.5 billion. Its policy is aimed at protecting exports, which comprise about 31 percent of economic activity.

"The Bank of Israel's position ... has not changed," the central said on Monday. "The hardship facing Israel's exports industries cannot be ignored, especially given its importance to growth and productivity in Israel."

Policy decisions, it added, are made by the four-member Monetary Policy Committee.

The dealer said it was likely the Bank of Israel intervened to ease market concerns about a change of policy.

Bank of Israel Governor Karnit Flug told reporters last week that intervention was an "integral part of monetary policy" since it has prevented further appreciation. She noted that most central banks are adopting very accommodative policies that are acting to weaken their currency.

"This situation may lead to an erosion of profitability among many businesses in Israel to an extent that will not allow them to survive this period," Flug said.

(Reporting by Steven Scheer; Editing by Tova Cohen)
A BP logo is reflected in a car window at a petrol station in London January 15, 2015. REUTERS/Luke MacGregor

By Osamu Tsukimori and Wilda Asmarini

TOKYO/JAKARTA (Reuters) - BP (BP.L) gained final investment approval to an $8 billion (6.01 billion pound) expansion of the Tangguh liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in Indonesia on Friday, clearing the way for a third train to start operations in 2020.

BP is going forward with expansion of Tangguh despite announcing it would rein back on spending this year due to weak oil prices. It also approved investment on an Egyptian gas field last week.

The investment will boost annual LNG production capacity at the Tangguh project in Indonesia's West Papua province by 50 percent to 11.4 million tonnes.

Three-quarters of the gas from the new Train 3 will be supplied to Indonesian power utility Perusahaan Listrik Negara [PLNEG.UL], BP said. The rest will go to Japan's Kansai Electric Power Co .

Officials at Indonesia's upstream energy regulator SKKMigas said the project was worth $8 billion, although BP declined to confirm that figure.

"We are finalising details with potential lenders and at this point I'm not able to disclose who they are," Christina Verchere, BP regional president Asia Pacific, told reporters.

In May BP cut its budget for the project to $8-10 billion from $12 billion.

"This final investment decision was made after confirmation with Tangguh production-sharing contractors and is based on commercial considerations," said Indonesian energy minister Sudirman Said.

BP leads the Tangguh project with a 37.16 percent stake. Its partners include MI Berau, China National Offshore Oil Co and a venture between Mitsubishi Corp and Inpex .

Friday's decision also sealed a $2.43-billion onshore building contract for a consortium led by Tripatra, part of Indonesia's Indika Energy Group, SKKMigas chief Amien Sunaryadi said.

A $448-million offshore contract was awarded to the Indonesian unit of Saipem (SPMI.MI), he said.

"(These) are the contractors who did the front end engineering designs, so we hope the (results) aren't too different from that," Sunaryadi said.

(Writing by Fergus Jensen; editing by Himani Sarkar and Jason Neely)
TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - Jul 4, 2016) - Buffalo Coal Corp. (TSX VENTURE:BUF) (JSE:BUC) ("Buffalo" or "the Company") announces the resignation of Mr. John Wallington from its Board of Directors ("the Board") with effect from July 3, 2016.

Mr. Wallington has regretfully tendered his resignation from the Board due to a conflict of interest with other business interests.

The Board would like to thank Mr. Wallington for his valued contribution to the Company and wishes him success in his future endeavors.

About Buffalo

Buffalo is a coal producer in southern Africa. It holds a majority interest in two operating mines through its 100% interest in Buffalo Coal Dundee (Pty) Ltd, a South African company which has a 70% interest in Zinoju Coal (Pty) Ltd ("Zinoju"). Zinoju holds a 100% interest in the Magdalena bituminous mine and the Aviemore anthracite mine in South Africa. Buffalo has an experienced coal-focused management team.

Cautionary Notes:

This press release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking information includes, but is not limited to, statements with respect to the future financial or operating performance of Buffalo and its projects. Generally, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved". Forward-looking information is subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of Buffalo to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information, including but not limited to: general business, economic, competitive, foreign operations, political and social uncertainties; a history of operating losses; delay or failure to receive board or regulatory approvals; timing and availability of external financing on acceptable terms; not realizing on the potential benefits of the proposed transaction; conclusions of economic evaluations; changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined; future prices of mineral products; failure of plant, equipment or processes to operate as anticipated; accidents, labour disputes and other risks of the mining industry; and, delays in obtaining governmental approvals or required financing or in the completion of activities. Although Buffalo has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Buffalo does not undertake to update any forward-looking information, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange, nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange), accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
The labour activists had been helping workers in the southern province of Guangdong win payment of wages and unpaid benefits in disputes against employers (AFP Photo/Mark Ralston) (AFP/File)

A man convicted of killing 18 people when he set a public bus on fire in China has been sentenced to death, authorities said.

Ma Yongping, 34, in January set alight the bus in Yinchuan, capital of the remote northern region of Ningxia, leaving 18 people dead and another 32 injured.

He was convicted of arson and sentenced to death by the Yinchuan Intermediate People's Court on Sunday, the city government said in a social media posting.

Ma admitted his actions but said he would appeal against the sentence, according to the government statement.

A college graduate who had studied in Japan, Ma had accumulated more than 300,000 yuan ($46,000) in debts while a contractor on an engineering project, much of it salaries for his workers, according to previous Chinese media reports.

The company refused to pay him, they said, and on the morning of the attack he sent friends a message on chat application WeChat saying: "At a time when even a person's basic rights can't be guaranteed, he has a right to take action to fight for (them)."

Chinese citizens have sometimes turned to violence against innocents in attempts to publicise their plight after failing to obtain redress for low-level disputes.

In 2013, a man started a fire on a vehicle in Xiamen in the eastern province of Fujian, killing 47 people including himself, after writing online he had appealed unsuccessfully to local police 56 times over social security benefits.
By Ron Bousso and Erwin Seba LONDON/HOUSTON (Reuters) - Royal Dutch Shell has asked Saudi Aramco for up to $2 billion (1.5 billion) as part of the breakup of their giant Motiva Enterprises refining joint venture in the United States, the latest stumbling point in a partnership fraught with tension. The payment would be compensation for the Saudi company retaining a larger share of the nearly two decade-old JV. Its split was announced in March and is expected to be completed in October but disagreements over the payment could postpone the final date, sources close to the talks told Reuters. Under the agreement announced in March, Aramco will take control of Motiva's largest U.S. refinery in Port Arthur, Texas, and retain 26 distribution terminals. That underscored Aramco's strategy to expand its global refining footprint in order to secure markets for its crude oil and could also be part of its ambitious public offering plan. Shell will become the sole owner of Motiva's Louisiana refineries in Convent and Norco, where it also operates a chemicals plant, as well as Shell-branded gasoline stations in Florida, Louisiana and the northeastern United States. Shell is focusing on developing its global chemicals business but also plans to sell $30 billion of its assets by 2018 to finance its $54 billion acquisition of BG Group in February, which will include several refining assets. The Anglo-Dutch company is seeking 1 billion to 2 billion dollars from Aramco to compensate for the Saudi company keeping a bigger stake in the JV, two sources close to the talks said. Aramco nevertheless believes the fee should be significantly lower, they added. A Shell spokesman declined to comment. An Aramco spokesperson said the company does not comment on speculation. Shell has indicated in the past it will receive a cash payment from Aramco as part of the deal, but the size of the cash consideration has not been disclosed before. ACRIMONY The payment is primarily due to Aramco retaining a larger refining capacity than Shell -- the Port Arthur plant can process 603,000 barrels per day (bpd) while the two Louisiana plants jointly have a combined 473,000 bpd capacity. The Texas refinery is also considered more advanced after extensive upgrading in recent years. Additional infrastructure such as storage tanks and pipelines will also be included in the payment. Refineries are generally valued according to the quality of the units as well as the outlook for its profit margins. "It is a little bit of an awkward time for Shell to be holding out their hand for a lot of money because refining margins have come off recently," said Neil Earnest, President of Dallas-based consultancy Muse Stancil. "The margin climate has shifted away from Shell towards Aramco in terms of any cash consideration that needs to be exchanged. Aramco will be saying that the cash consideration today should be lower because the short and medium term outlook for U.S. refining margins is not as robust as it was." Aramco has rapidly expanded its corporate headquarters in Houston and has hired several new traders in recent months, according to several sources. Motiva's refined product trading business was separated from Shell's trading business in Houston in June 2015 after disagreements between the sides, and it has hired several new traders in recent months, trading sources said. The Motiva JV was set up in 1998. Relations between the partners started to sour during a huge upgrade of the Shell-operated Port Arthur refinery, which suffered several setbacks and cost overruns which doubled the initial plan of $5 billion. In 2012, the main refining unit at the heart of the expansion was damaged by a release of caustic chemicals, keeping the unit out of production for eight months and leading to acrimony between the partners as costs ballooned. "The Motiva Port Arthur upgrade cost overruns were received very badly by Saudi Aramco and put the relation under a lot of stress," said Earnest. Shell and Aramco continue to cooperate in two major joint ventures: the 50:50 Saudi Aramco Shell Refinery Co (SASREF) in Jubail, Saudi Arabia, and the Showa refining venture in Japan. (Additional reporting by Rania El Gamal in Dubai; Editing by Susan Fenton)
WASHINGTON, DC and NAIROBI, KENYA--(Marketwired - July 04, 2016) - International Justice Mission (IJM) announces the launch of a petition demanding justice in the murders of IJM staff member, Willie Kimani, IJM client, Josephat Mwenda, and trusted driver, Joseph Muiruri in addition to the immediate removal of a high-level Kenyan police official following events that precipitated between the abduction of Kimani, Mwenda, and Muiruri on Thursday, June 23 and the subsequent recovery of their bodies on Friday, July 1. Local authorities have confirmed the arrests of at least three Administration Police. IJM is calling for the removal of the head of the Administration Police in Kenya and rapid convictions of all involved with this horrific crime. Please find the petition here.

"We are demanding the immediate end of police abuse of power in Kenya in solidarity with our dear colleague, Willie; client, Josephat; trusted driver, Joseph; and all those who have fallen victim to the outrageous impunity that has come to plague the nation of Kenya in this era," said Gary Haugen, CEO of International Justice Mission. "Today, we're calling on President Kenyatta to quickly align himself on the side of justice by taking bold action in the swift prosecution of all those involved in this horrific murder and removal of the head of the Administration Police, Deputy Inspector General Samuel M. Arachi."

Several organizations, governments, and global entities have expressed support for IJM in the pursuit of justice in this case and in ending impunity for police in Kenya. U.S. Ambassador to Kenya, Robert F. Godec and Kenyan Heads of Mission issued the following joint statement:

"The individuals responsible for these crimes must face prosecution regardless of whether they are private citizens or members of the NPS. Holding police officers accountable for violations of human rights and other forms of misconduct is vital to end impunity in the police service and to establish safety and security for all Kenyans."

IJM is closely collaborating with Kenyan local and national law enforcement officials who are leading the ongoing investigation.

Within hours of learning of the incident, IJM leadership activated crisis response teams in Nairobi as well as Washington, DC, to work closely with police officials on the ground and to support the families involved.

IJM's focus moving forward is to ensure the well-being of the families and staff affected by this crime as well as the swift conviction of all involved.

International Justice Mission is a global organization that partners with local authorities to rescue victims of violence, bring criminals to justice, restore survivors, and strengthen public justice systems.
By Aditya Kalra and Serajul Quadir DHAKA (Reuters) - Bangladesh police sought more information on Monday from friends and family of the men suspected of carrying out a deadly attack on a restaurant in the capital, and some are believed to have attended top schools and colleges at home and abroad. The gunmen stormed the restaurant in Dhaka's diplomatic zone late on Friday and killed 20 people, most of them foreigners from Italy, Japan, India and the United States, in an assault claimed by Islamic State. It was one of the deadliest militant attacks to date in Bangladesh, where Islamic State and al Qaeda have claimed a series of killings of liberals and religious minorities in the last year while the government says they were carried out by local groups. Whoever was responsible, Friday's attack marked a major escalation in the scale and brutality of militant violence aimed at forcing strict Islamic rule in Bangladesh, whose 160 million people are mostly Muslim. Islamic State posted pictures of five fighters it said were involved in the atrocity to avenge attacks on Muslims across the world. "Let the people of the crusader countries know that there is no safety for them as long as their aircraft are killing Muslims," it said in a statement. Posts on Facebook identified the men, pictured on an Islamic State website grinning in front of a black flag, as Nibras Islam, Rohan Imtiaz, Meer Saameh Mubasheer, Andaleeb Ahmed and Raiyan Minhaj. Most went to prestigious schools or universities in Dhaka and Malaysia, officials said. One of them was the son of a politician. A police officer said the pictures of four of the attackers matched the bodies, although he gave a different name for the fourth. Rohan's father, a mid-ranking leader of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's ruling party, had lodged a complaint in January that he had gone missing since Dec. 30, 2015, a police officer said. On Monday, there was nobody at the family apartment in an affluent neighbourhood of Dhaka, and a security guard said the parents had left the house on Sunday. "A majority of the boys who attacked the restaurant came from very good educational institutions. Some went to sophisticated schools. Their families are relatively well-to-do people," Bangladeshi Information Minister Hasanul Haq Inu told India's NDTV. TRACING ROOTS Several posts on social media said the man identified by police as Nibras Islam attended Monash University in Malaysia. A friend who knew him while he studied at Dhaka's North South University told Reuters that Islam later went to Monash. Two others went to an elite public school in Dhaka called Scholastica. Saifaul Islam, another investigator, said police were holding two people suspected of involvement in the assault, including one detained soon after the attack. "We have two persons with us, but we don't know if they are victims or suspects. They are currently undergoing treatment and we'd get to know about their role in the incident only after they recover." Nobody had yet come forward to claim the bodies of the six dead men, he said. "We are taking DNA samples of them and will see if it matches with the families. We have some suspicions, we know some boys had gone missing over the last two-three months." Just days after the attack claimed by its rival jihadi movement Islamic State, a regional branch of al Qaeda urged Muslims in India to revolt and carry out lone wolf attacks. The call by al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) follows warnings by security officials and experts that the two groups are trying to outdo each other in the region and claim the mantle of global jihad. Rohan Gunaratna, a professor of security studies at Singapore's Rajaratnam School of International Studies, said the Dhaka gunmen's background may have helped them mount the attack at the Holey Artisan restaurant, popular with the city's well-heeled and foreigners. "As they were well educated and young, they could blend into and operate in the upmarket diplomatic enclave without evoking red flags," he said. "The IS (Islamic State) attack team was also technologically savvy and they uploaded the photos during the attack both to (the) IS command cell in Bangladesh and IS central in Syria." On Monday, hundreds of people gathered in central Dhaka to remember the victims, holding placards in different languages. "We bleed from similar veins, we cry. Bangladesh, stand up for the next fight," read one large banner written in English. The attack could be a huge blow for Bangladesh's $26 billion (19.5 billion) garment industry, as fears mount that major retailers from Marks and Spencer to Gap Inc could rethink their investments. Japan's Fast Retailing Co, owner of the Uniqlo casual-wear brand, said it will suspend all but critical travel to Bangladesh and has told staff there to stay home. (Additional reporting by Zeba Siddiqui in MUMBAI, Rupam Jain and Tommy Wilkes in NEW DELHI and Ruma Paul and Reuters Television in DHAKA; Writing by Sanjeev Miglani and Tommy Wilkes; Editing by Mike Collett-White and Nick Macfie)
By Adrian Krajewski

WARSAW (Reuters) - Poland's government will on Monday announce its plans for the country's pension system and privately held pension funds, two sources told Reuters, with companies and markets fearing a seizure of assets to plug holes in the state budget.

The economy ministry has scheduled a news conference for 0630 GMT on Monday, to be attended by economy minister Mateusz Morawiecki and Pawel Borys, chief executive at Polish state fund PFR.

The ministry gave no further detail, but the announcement came a day after Jaroslaw Kaczynski, leader of the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party signalled new plans for the assets held by local pension funds, known as OFEs.

"The conference will concern the OFEs as well as government plans for the pension system and how to spur the need for higher savings," one source with knowledge of the matter said.

Another source confirmed that pension funds will be on the agenda, but neither source would either confirm or deny that the state plans to seize 100 billion zlotys ($25.2 billion) of stocks held by OFEs.

Representatives of both the economy ministry and state fund PFR were not immediately available for comment.

OFEs, created in 1999 as part of an overhaul of the retirement system, were intended to provide a savings plan to complement pensions paid out by the state.

Poland's conservative government has said that it has no plans to plunder pension funds' shares, but Kaczynski's latest announcement said that their assets "could be a basis for new, important ventures" and "could build the power of our economic policy".

BOURSE LIQUIDITY THREAT

Kaczynski did not elaborate, but the looming changes are a concern for companies in which pension funds hold large stakes. They fear a loss of control of dividends and finances and that a raid on the funds would increase the state's role in the economy.

Such a move is not without precedent in the country that shook off communist rule in 1989 and is now the EU's sixth-largest economy.

Story continues

The centrist coalition that lost power to PiS last year transferred 150 billion zlotys of treasury debt into the state pension system to prop up the budget in 2014.

Another worry for the market is that a seizure of stocks from pension funds could also drain the Warsaw bourse (GPW.WA) of liquidity.

The funds -- largely owned by foreign players such as Nationale Nederlanden, Aviva (AV.L), AXA (AXAF.PA) and MetLife (MET.N) -- invest large amounts of taxpayers' savings on the exchange. They hold up to 80 percent of some companies and account for about 20 percent of the Warsaw bourse's value.

The possibility of government moves to seize control of such assets has prompted at least seven medium-sized companies to draw up plans to buy back their own shares or seek ways to reduce dependence on OFEs.

The government, which came to power last October, faces a struggle to contain the budget deficit, especially since launching a child subsidy programme that was promised in its election campaign.

It aims this year and next to keep the deficit below 3 percent of gross domestic product, the maximum allowed under the European Union's fiscal deficit rules, but some investors have expressed doubts over its chances of succeeding.

($1 = 3.9624 zlotys)

(Editing by David Goodman)
LONDON (Reuters) - Royal Bank of Scotland Chief Executive Ross McEwan said the bank may have to move a small number of staff overseas and called for an end to the uncertainty gripping the main political parties following Britain's vote to leave the European Union. McEwan said the bank may have to move "tens" of employees from the UK if Britain loses access to so-called passporting rights that allow financial services in one EU country to provide services to clients elsewhere in the single market. "One of the key things for me is holding on to passporting so that European banks and British banks can operate across without any boundaries," McEwan told radio station LBC. "If we don't get the passporting it is inevitable that some jobs will disappear" from Britain's financial industry, he said. RBS has become focused on banking in the UK and Ireland since being rescued with a 45.5 billion pound taxpayer bailout at the height of the financial crisis, meaning it would likely move fewer employees overseas than larger global investment banks. Morgan Stanley and HSBC , for example, may have to move roughly 1,000 employees currently in Britain to elsewhere in Europe if Britain quit the EU, according to people familiar with their plans. McEwan, a New Zealander, said he was surprised by the result of the referendum and said the focus should now be on ending what he called the first period of political stability in Britain in decades. Britain's two main political parties have been riven by inner turmoil in the days after the referendum outcome and resignation of Prime Minister David Cameron. Five candidates are vying to succeed Cameron as Conservative Party leader and prime minister, with interior minister Theresa May the frontrunner. Meanwhile, the vast majority of the main opposition Labour Party's lawmakers have openly denounced leader Jeremy Corbyn as unfit for the job. "Talking to my friends down in Australia and New Zealand, they are just stunned at what has happened here and seeing so much uncertainty boil up so quickly in the UK," he said. McEwan said the result may delay return the return of RBS to private hands by a couple of years because of a fall in the bank's share price and a predicted slowdown in the economy. "People stop making investments when there is uncertainty," he said. "This is a political issue, this is not a banking crisis." (Reporting By Andrew MacAskill, editing by David Evans)
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Taipei, July 4 (CNA) Foreign Minister David Lee () said Monday that Taiwan has no way of knowing how an international court will rule in a dispute between the Philippines and China over the South China Sea, but it will stand up for its sovereignty.
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Jakarta, July 4 (CNA) An Indonesian caregiver in Hualien has complained that her employer put her to work tending chicken and cutting pork and that she did not have enough time to sleep, prompting an Indonesian official to suspect she was being exploited in Taiwan.
FBI Arrests Man for Plotting to Carry Out Terrorist Attacks in Arizona

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) arrested an 18-year-old man in the city of Tucson, Arizona, for plotting to commit acts of terrorism on government buildings, local media reported Saturday.According to the reports, Mahin Khan, who was allegedly plotting attacks on buildings in Phoenix and Tucson, was ordered held without bond in Maricopa County Jail.The Arizona Attorney Generals Office is working closely with federal authorities to keep Arizonans safe. We are not aware of any threats Khan made that involve the Fourth of July holiday weekend, spokesperson for Arizona Attorney General's Office Mia Garcia said as quoted by The Arizona Republic newspaper.Garcia also noted that there were no additional suspects in the investigation.
Last Updated Jul 3, 2016 3:33 PM EDT- The United Arab Emirates is warning its citizens to avoid wearing traditional garments when traveling abroad after an Emirati man was handcuffed in Ohio over terrorism fears.The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a tweet late Saturday that Emiratis should avoid wearing the garments for their safety. A separate ministry statement urged women to abide by bans on face veils in parts of Europe.Local media reported Sunday that Emirati national Ahmed al-Menhali was detained at gunpoint last week while wearing a traditional white kandura, or ankle-length robe, and headscarf in Avon, Ohio after a hotel clerk raised suspicions he could have links to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS http://www.cbsnews.com/isis/ .) The man was in Ohio to seek medical treatment in nearby Cleveland after suffering a stroke."She went off and texted her sister and said I pledged my allegiance to ISIS," Menhali told Al Jazeera http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/...ce-false-isil-accusation-160702164032829.html . The sister and her father then called 911, according to the news network.Menhali told the network he may have suffered another stroke during the subsequent arrest.Cleveland's WEWS-TV http://www.newsnet5.com/news/local-...-to-man-wrongfully-accused-of-supporting-isis posted police camera video footage of al-Menhali's arrest, which involved several officers with rifles aggressively taking down a visibly distraught man.The news site also posted video of a later meeting where Avon officials offered their apologies."No one from the police department (wanted) to disrespect you," Police Chief Richard Bosley told Almenhali, according to WEWS-TV. "That was not the intent of any of our officers. It is a very regrettable circumstance that occurred for you. You should not have been put in that situation like you were.""There were some false accusations made against you," Mayor Brian Jensen said. "And those are regrettable. I hope...the person that made those can maybe learn from those."WEWS-TV reports officials are still contemplating charges against the clerk who made the false accusations.In a statement to Al Jazeera, Avon police said "contact was then made with the front desk clerk and it was learned that the male did not in fact make any statements related to ISIS."Ina statement http://www.wam.ae/en/news/emirates-international/1395297432121.html , the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it had summoned the U.S. Deputy Chief of Mission Ethan Goldrich over the incident, and he apologized."He emphasised that the United States respects the right of different nations to wear their national dress, adding that this incident was an exception which was totally unacceptable," the statement reads.Cleveland rocks.




SAS hero hacks ISIS terror trio to death armed with just Gurkha knife

By Rebecca Perring Mon, Jul 4, 2016Daily ExpressThe soldier, with 15 years of experience, was caught in a bloody stand off with the Islamic State (ISIS) soldiers but incredibly managed to turn it around and decapitated one with a single swipe of the kukri.The dramatic scenes unfolded after the SAS and Iraqi team entered an ambushed factory to snoop on a sniper in the besieged city of Fallujah, a key ISIS stronghold.But the elite forces were quickly ambushed by crazed ISIS jihadis, leaving several Iraqi soldiers dead and four seriously injured.As the SAS solider attempted to drag injured troops to safety, he was pinned down by enemy gun-fire.And when he ran out of ammunition, ISIS fanatics got him on the back foot and attempted to capture him alive.But in a massive turnaround, the defiant sergeant began hacking at the trio with a kukri.The 27-year-old hero had been given the knife by a British Gurkha soldier before he joined the SAS.One SAS source told the Daily Star on Sunday: "As soon as his ammunition was expended, the IS gunmen tried to storm him.As they went to grab him he unsheathed his kukri and began slashing away.He decapitated the first gunman, slit the throat of the second and killed another with a third blow. He then sliced away at three others.The IS gunmen fled in panic allowing the SAS soldier to carry the injured men to safety.He expected to be killed but thought hed take as many of the enemy with him.When he was reunited with Iraqi troops they thought that he was seriously wounded because he was covered in blood but he explained that the blood wasnt his."He cleaned his knife, grabbed some more ammo and then led another Iraqi special forces team into battle.
MURDOCK  Murdock residents celebrated Americas birthday Monday with a lineup of flag-waving events.

People from across eastern Nebraska and western Iowa came to Murdock for Fourth of July festivities. Hundreds of residents took advantage of cooler-than-normal weather for activities throughout the day. Temperatures remained in the upper 60s for most of the morning and stayed in the lower 70s in the early afternoon.

One of the main attractions of Murdocks Fourth of July celebration was an hour-long parade through downtown. Crowds lined both sides of Nebraska Street for an event that featured floats, student groups, emergency vehicles, antique cars and tractors, farm machinery and other patriotic entries.

Longtime Murdock residents Wayne and Joyce Kupke served as grand marshals of the parade. Miss Murdock Candice Brockhoff, Miss Elmwood Ashtyn Cooper and Miss Cass County Brenna Backemeyer all waved to the crowd, and Plattsmouth Harvest Festival King Dennis Keil drove a car down the parade route. Local Boys and Girls State representatives Madison Mills and John Willey and Elmwood-Murdock spirit squad members all made appearances in the event.

Murdocks Fourth of July schedule also included the annual Dillon Synovec Memorial Run and open tours of Murdock Museum and the renovated Murdock one-room schoolhouse. Local organizations held bake sales, a community lunch and a pie and ice cream social. A large fireworks show will take place later tonight at the Murdock ballfield.
SIOUX CITY  Sioux Citys financially troubled second-run movie theater ended a 12-year run Thursday.

Riviera 4 Theater owner Eric Hilsabeck announced the closing in a letter posted on the theaters Facebook page. As a show of appreciation to its customers, movie-goers were admitted free on the final day to its films, which included Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice and Kung Fu Panda 3.

Hilsabeck cited shortened release times between first-run movie theaters and video-on-demand services as a primary reason for the Riviera 4 closing.

Previous to this change, we were guaranteed that our distribution window would be free from any other form of competitive distribution, he said in the statement. However, over the last two years, our release window has dissolved almost completely.

The Rivera was the last second-run theater operating in Iowa, he said. The shortening of the distribution window, he predicted, would force the closure of all remaining such theaters worldwide.

Earlier this year, Hilsabeck said that the Rivera 4 was looking for new options with the property facing foreclosure.

In the Facebook page statement, Hilsabeck said options are still being sought for the building, but nothing would prevent the theaters closing.

In the statement, Hilsabeck thanked and recommended Security National Bank for their receptiveness to small business owners in Sioux City.

Security National Bank had earlier asked for a judgment of foreclosure and sale of the property at 714 Fourth St. to repay nearly $400,000 in loans the bank said Hilsabeck and Beck Theatres had defaulted on.The city of Sioux City and a Delaware company also had taken legal action to recover money loaned to Hilsabeck.

The Riviera closed as a first-run movie theater in the 1990s. Hilsabeck reopened the Riviera as a second-run theater in 2004 after the building had briefly housed a night club.

Hilsabeck and Beck Theatres purchased the Riviera property for $300,000 in 2008, according to city assessors records. The land and building are currently assessed for property tax purposes at $408,600, according to the records.

In 2009, the theater was renovated to increase the number of screens from two to four. In October 2008, the City Council voted 4-1 to loan $20,000 to Hilsabeck to help with the renovation. Notice of default on that loan was sent to Hilsabeck in August, and court records show a current outstanding balance of $22,155. The city has turned the debt over to a collection agency.
The staff of Yankee Hill Brick took a collective breather recently for a cookout to celebrate the completion of brick artist Jay Tschetters latest pieces, which looked a lot like what came off the grill  only super, super-sized.

They ate in Tschetters studio, flanked by the commissioned works that would shame all the grillers in town this holiday weekend: 6,500 pounds worth of burger and chili dog.

The burger is 22 feet wide and about 8 feet tall in its substantial center. The hot dog runs nearly a third of the way from home to first base, 26 feet long, with a circumference of roughly 4 feet.

The pieces are bound for Johnson City, Tennessee, home of the latest Pals Sudden Service in a historic district zone that requires conformance to the brick-heavy cityscape surrounding it.

So Pals, a regional Tennessee chain that prides itself on drive-thru staples and super-sized images of them, needed a brick burger and chili dog.

Tschetter, president of Images in Brick, is likely best known in Lincoln for his Iron Horse Legacy mural that has stood in the Haymarket since 1990 and features an engine cruising along the prairie, pushing out of the wall and into the third dimension. Hes also been commissioned to make murals at the Gateway Arch in St. Louis and at Ponca State Park and the North Platte Veterans Memorial in Nebraska. A more recent project was an ornate nativity scene for a university in Indiana.

And then came the request for a 3,500-pound chili dog and a 3,000-pound hamburger.

What a weird turn of events, Tschetter said, and then he laughed  hard.

The artistic brickwork market has, in his view, yet to rebound following 2008.

After the crash, people dont have the disposable income, Tschetter said.

But some  including Pals Sudden Service President Thom Crosby  still find him or his website, imagesinbrick.com.

At the Yankee Hill barbecue, a few images of Pals storefronts spread across the folding tables showed a faraway Tennessee fast-food building adorned with a chili dog and burger made of fiberglass, the same material as the big chicken outside nearby Lees Chicken in Lincoln.

Tschetter said he got a call last fall from Crosby, who was in search of someone who could help Pals comply with city code for its new store in Tennessee  brick by brick.

And he said, I think youre the guy.

The ones built in Lincoln arent completely different from a typical Pals sculpture. If one chiseled through the brick, past the steel bracing and through the protective foam layer of the giant chili dog, he or she would eventually run into 1,300 pounds of fiberglass frankfurter.

Tschetters task was to encase the hot dog and burger (also fiberglass, and also hefty) with brick that stayed true to the drive-thru decor at the chains other burger joints.

A lot of head-scratching, his wife, Kathy Tschetter, said of his first few months on the project. So many brick cuts and little tiny pieces. A giant puzzle to figure out. But I think he enjoyed the challenge.

Jay Tschetters description of the same time period: Great uncertainty!

And, he said, plenty of friends came by to ask, Are you crazy?

His first plan crumbled like chili meat. His brother, Dean, superimposed a brick grid over the fiberglass. They put up scaffolding to suspend the hot dog from two sets of reinforced cables in the Yankee Hill brick studio. The burger, made to look like less than half of it is protruding through a wall, found a home on an exceptionally strong cart.

At first, Tschetter wanted to try to shape and bend thin wet brick around the existing structures. It was a first for him, and probably a last, too. The bricks warped back to their original shape after hed tried to apply them. Plus, he left fingerprints everywhere.

Plan B.

I just plot it all out, and then facet cut around all the curves, creating a mosaic pattern that works for the particular shapes and sexy curves of the Dog ... and thats out of brick that are already fired, he said in a Facebook post midway through the project.

Leave it to Jay to come up with something new and interesting, said Vicky Todd, the kiln manager who fired many of the Pals bricks.

He used lighter, mojave-colored brick for the chili dog buns interior and light ironspot for the exterior of both pieces. The burgers tomato and the hot dog share the same light red tone. The burger patty and the 34 6- to 8-inch pieces of rubble jointed together atop the hot dog  the chili  are the same, chocolate-brown shade of metro ironspot.

Each time he laid bricks on the chili dog, Tschetter said, he had to wait two hours for the section to dry before doing another. Gravity played a key role, he said, and each time a brick was placed the suspended chili dog had to be rotated.

The two-month job was arguably the most agonizingly slow rotisserie turn in the history of hot dogs.

Anything Jay does is not easy, said Vicky Todd, Nothing Ive ever seen him do is simple.

Including grouting, Tschetter estimates the two pieces took about 640 hours to complete.

To celebrate the finished products, he suggested the cookout at Yankee Hill Brick for everyone who works there and more than a few who dont and asked Crosby how much itd cost to ship 60 or 70 mouths worth of Pals to Nebraska. The answer turned out to be nothing.

Pals overnighted boxes frozen burgers, dogs, chili and a couple of bags of seasoning to the brickyard along with a few laminated sheets that instructed those unfamiliar (everybody) on how to Pals Style their meals. (Pals, it seems, keeps it simple: a proper dog includes the dog, mustard, diced white onion, chili and nothing else but the bun.)

Tschetter took the helm at the grill, and workers loaded up both their plates and cellphone cameras.

Actually, employees at the brickyard have been snapping photos of the fiberglass pieces since they arrived in December.

That was a day I had to call some family members, said Pat Weixelman, accounting and HR manager at Yankee Hill.

Another staffer recalled slipping in to marvel at the folds in the robes of the brick nativity scene that now adorns the outside of Alumni Hall at Marian University in Indianapolis.

But that project didnt end with a company-wide cookout.

Nothing like it ever before, Tschetter said of his work for Pals, and laughed again. OK, I can brick anything now.
ORLANDO, Fla.  The father of the 2-year-old boy who was killed in an alligator attack near Disneys Grand Floridian Resort & Spa told officials a second gator was involved, records show.

In recently released public records, Capt. Tom Wellons with the Reedy Creek Fire Department emailed two supervisors about his interaction with the childs father, Matt Graves, the morning after Lane Graves went missing.

Wellons said he was examining Matt Graves injuries early on the morning of June 15 and told him he needed stitches and antibiotics since he had lacerations from the gators teeth.

Wellons said Graves refused to leave the area, but he was finally able to persuade him and told him he could come back after getting medical treatment, an email shows.

This incredibly sweet couple insisted on showing us pictures of their happy son. (The) mom kept referring to him as her happy boy,  Wellons wrote.

He said on the way to the hospital, Graves shared the horror that he experienced as his son was being pulled into the water and how another gator attacked him as he fought for his son, Wellons wrote in the email.

Assistant Chief Stan Paynter forwarded the email to Orange County officials to alert them that there may be a second alligator.

In total, five alligators were killed in the 16-hour search for Lane. His body was discovered intact about 15 yards from the shore, six feet underwater.

The Orange County Sheriffs Office detailed that the family was relaxing by the shore of the Seven Seas Lagoon at the resort, located near the Magic Kingdom park, while Lane splashed along the shoreline.

Sheriffs Office spokesman Angelo Nieves told the Orlando Sentinel Sunday that during initial interviews, a witness also said he saw a second gator attack the father as he was fighting with the first one that had his son.

Nieves said this was the only witness to mention a second gator. Nieves said the father did not tell the Sheriffs Office of a second gator.

There were signs posted in the area that advise against swimming but the signs did not warn of gators.

Three days after the tragedy Disney raised fencing around the lake at that and other lakefront resorts and announced signs would be posted reading Danger! Alligators and snakes in area. Stay away from the water. Do not feed the wildlife.
CLEAR LAKE  A former employee of a Clear Lake medical waste disposal company has been given a deferred judgment for stealing property and confidential information from the business.

Scott Rollefson, 32, was put on probation for two years Wednesday after pleading guilty in May to second-degree theft, a Class D felony. A $750 civil penalty was suspended.

Rollefson also is facing a civil lawsuit related to the theft from GRP & Associates Inc. A trial date of May 2, 2017, has been set in Cerro Gordo County District Court.

Rollefson was fired from GRP on Feb. 9, the same day the police executed a search warrant at a building at 1413 S. Taft Ave. in Mason City that he was using as a warehouse and office space for a business he started in March 2015 called Sharps Be Gone, according to court records.

An affidavit in the civil case signed by Mike Rollefson, vice president of GRP and Scott Rollefsons uncle, states the younger Rollefson was an employee at the family-owned and -operated company for eight years.

Mike Rollefson learned on Feb. 9 that his nephew had formed the new business, which was a direct competitor of GRP, and had taken GRP corporate property such as mailing containers for medical waste and a personal computer containing confidential corporate information, according to the affidavit.

Both before and after being fired from GRP, Scott Rollefson used that information to contact GRP customers whose contracts were soon to expire so he could try to get them to become customers of Sharps Be Gone instead, the affidavit states.

He succeeded with at least two customers, according to the affidavit.

GRP is seeking monetary and punitive damages.

A judge has filed a temporary injunction prohibiting Scott Rollefson and Sharps Be Gone from any further unlawful competition and wrongful use of GRPs confidential information during the course of the lawsuit.

The Sharps Be Gone company was dissolved on March 7, according to the Iowa Secretary of States website.
ST. ANSGAR  As a method to further main street revitalization efforts in St. Ansgar, a special presentation in June detailed different methods through which community members can take action.

Michael Wagler, state coordinator for Main Street Iowa and the Iowa Downtown Resource Center, delivered the presentation which focused on two programs involving community engagement.

Wagler has been a coordinator for the last five years and has been involved with downtown revitalization efforts for the last 20 years.

Main Street Iowa is a program within the Iowa Economic Development Authority (IEDA), active in 52 communities in Iowa. Working in tandem with Main Street America, over 1,200 communities across the country are active in a Main Street program.

Wagler expressed to those in attendance the program is an economic development tool within the context of historical preservation.

While there is a stereotype that a main street is based off ideals from previous generations, Wagler stressed main streets must become key in industrial, commercial and professional recruitment as well as developing a tight-knit community.

The reality is that a main street will never be what it was in the past, Wagler said.

The Main Street Iowa program functions as an advisory group, relying on community volunteers to enact change in their communities. It is not attached to any municipality, and functions as a non-profit community organization which must raise its own funds.

It is a selective application-based program that accepts new communities approximately every two years based on funding available.

Typically, Wagler said, 15 communities apply and the program takes on two or three. Communities are selected based on readiness to implement programs and understanding of the Main Street Iowa program.

In order to begin the program, it is also highly recommended that communities have a start-up investment of approximately $30,000. Communities also must be able to have one part-time employee to run the non-profit organization.

Main Street Iowa does not directly give funding to communities to fulfill projects, said Wagler. Rather, the program offers resources through architectural and design assistance, business assistance and committee training.

The program also provides volunteer training and annual progress updates.

The state invests $120,000 on a Main Street community over the first three years for upstart costs.

In addition to the Main Street Iowa program, the IEDA has a Downtown Revitalization grant program funded with $3 million yearly.

Grant money is given in maximum $500,000 chunks to communities serious about redeveloping downtown areas. To receive the maximum amount, 10 buildings/business owners have to agree to renovations.

Ashley DeMaris, St. Ansgar business owner and coordinator for the St. Ansgar main street revitalization presentation, said she didnt foresee applying to the program in the next year. The presentation was aimed at planting the seed for a possible avenue to revitalize downtown, said DeMaris.
CLEAR LAKE  A Mason City man has been charged with felony domestic assault after a witness allegedly saw him striking a woman in a boat near the 2700 block of North Shore Drive on Sunday, according to the Cerro Gordo County Sheriffs Department.

A press release said deputies were dispatched to a domestic assault in progress at 5:30 p.m. when a driver passing by reported an adult male striking an adult female in a boat.

Deputies charged Preston Michael Waldschmidt, 27, with the assault of a 25-year-old Mason City woman.

The Department of Natural Resources also assisted on the call.

The case remains under investigation, according to the Sheriffs Department.
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AMSTERDAM, The Netherlands, July 04, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Gemalto (Euronext NL0000400653 GTO), the world leader in digital security, has won an international tender to supply CENI, the National Independent Electoral Commission of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), with 22,000 mobile biometric voter enrollment kits to support a comprehensive update of the countrys national voter register. Gemaltos fully portable Coesys Mobile Enrollment stations will enable 18,000 enrollment centers to rapidly acquire digital photographs, fingerprint and signature records of citizens, and instantly issue personalized voter cards for upcoming general elections. Gemalto will also train the trainers for CENI and provide comprehensive maintenance and support for this voter registration project, which represents one of the largest ever.



Gemaltos Coesys Mobile Enrollment stations feature a ruggedized, suitcase-style design and can be deployed virtually anywhere across the country. CENI will use the Coesys Mobile Enrollment stations to ensure efficient and quality acquisition of voters personal details and biometric data that will be used to add new eligible voters, as well as clean and update existing records in the national voter register ahead of the elections. In particular, the use of irrefutable biometric data will help identify and eliminate duplicates. CENI is responsible for managing and operating the entire enrollment process, and consolidating the voter registry.

We needed a reliable partner to facilitate our ambitious program, which we expect will enroll up to 45 million voters, said Corneille Nangaa, President of CENI. With a wealth of experience in enrollment and voter registry applications in Africa and beyond, Gemalto offered an excellent technical fit, and the ability to react quickly to our requirements.

Our secure mobile enrollment solution will enable CENI to establish a reliable and respected voter registry, based on undisputable biometric data, and provide all the flexibility required to set up voter registration bureau all across the country, said Frederic Trojani, Executive Vice President for Government Programs at Gemalto. Above all else, it provides the Democratic Republic of Congo with a trusted foundation towards free, fair and transparent elections.

About Gemalto

Gemalto (Euronext NL0000400653 GTO) is the global leader in digital security, with 2015 annual revenues of 3.1 billion and customers in over 180 countries. We bring trust to an increasingly connected world.

Our technologies and services enable businesses and governments to authenticate identities and protect data so they stay safe and enable services in personal devices, connected objects, the cloud and in between.

Gemaltos solutions are at the heart of modern life, from payment to enterprise security and the internet of things. We authenticate people, transactions and objects, encrypt data and create value for software  enabling our clients to deliver secure digital services for billions of individuals and things.

Our 14,000+ employees operate out of 118 offices, 45 personalization and data centers, and 27 research and software development centers located in 49 countries.

For more information visit www.gemalto.com or follow @gemalto on Twitter.

Gemalto media contacts:

Philippe Benitez

North America

+1 512 257 3869

philippe.benitez@gemalto.com Peggy Edoire

Europe & CIS

+33 4 42 36 45 40

peggy.edoire@gemalto.com Vivian Liang

 (Greater China)

+86 1059373046

vivian.liang@gemalto.com Ernesto Haikewitsch

Latin America

+55 11 5105 9220

ernesto.haikewitsch@gemalto.com

Kristel Teyras

Middle East & Africa

+33 1 55 01 57 89

kristel.teyras@gemalto.com Shintaro Suzuki

Asia Pacific

+65 6317 8266

shintaro.suzuki@gemalto.com






MARTINSRIED / MUNICH, Germany, July 4, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- MorphoSys AG (FSE: MOR; Prime Standard Segment, TecDAX; OTC: MPSYY) announced today that it has received a milestone payment from Novartis in connection with the initiation of a clinical phase 1 trial with a novel HuCAL antibody. The antibody will be tested in the field of prevention of thrombosis. This is the twelfth therapeutic antibody based on MorphoSys's technologies that Novartis is evaluating in clinical trials. Financial details were not disclosed.

"We are very pleased that another program from our collaboration with Novartis has entered the clinical development stage," commented Dr. Marlies Sproll, Chief Scientific Officer of MorphoSys AG. "During 2016, the MorphoSys pipeline has matured significantly and currently includes more programs in clinical trials than ever before. This again reflects the tremendous value of MorphoSys's technologies and the resulting products, both in our partnered and proprietary pipeline."

MorphoSys's collaboration with Novartis has resulted in twelve clinical programs to date. In total, MorphoSys's proprietary and partnered clinical pipeline currently comprises 27 unique antibody molecules, which are being evaluated in more than 60 active clinical trials.

About MorphoSys:

MorphoSys developed HuCAL, the most successful antibody library technology in the pharmaceutical industry. By successfully applying this and other patented technologies, MorphoSys has become a leader in the field of therapeutic antibodies, one of the fastest-growing drug classes in human healthcare.

Together with its pharmaceutical partners, MorphoSys has built a therapeutic pipeline of more than 100 human antibody drug candidates for the treatment of cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, and Alzheimer's disease, to name just a few. With its ongoing commitment to new antibody technology and drug development, MorphoSys is focused on making the healthcare products of tomorrow. MorphoSys is listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange under the symbol MOR. For regular updates about MorphoSys, visit http://www.morphosys.com.

HuCAL, HuCAL GOLD, HuCAL PLATINUM, CysDisplay, RapMAT, arYla, Ylanthia, 100 billion high potentials, Slonomics, Lanthio Pharma and LanthioPep are registered trademarks of the MorphoSys Group.

This communication contains certain forward-looking statements concerning the MorphoSys group of companies. The forward-looking statements contained herein represent the judgment of MorphoSys as of the date of this release and involve risks and uncertainties. Should actual conditions differ from the Company's assumptions, actual results and actions may differ from those anticipated. MorphoSys does not intend to update any of these forward-looking statements as far as the wording of the relevant press release is concerned.

For more information, please contact:

MorphoSys AG

Dr. Claudia Gutjahr-Loser

Head of Corporate Communications & IR

Jochen Orlowski

Associate Director Corporate Communications & IR

Alexandra Goller

Senior Manager Corporate Communications & IR

Tel: +49 (0) 89 / 899 27-404

investors@morphosys.com

Media Release (PDF) http://hugin.info/130295/R/2024492/752425.pdf

HUG#2024492
Wall Street Journal

What is MIT Sloans Masters in Business Analytics?

How did MITs MBAn come into being?

What are the labs?



The internships

The program is aimed primarily at recent college grads. For this group of applicants, what is MIT looking for in an applicant to the MBAn?

For career changers who have some work experience, what are they looking for?

What is required in the application?

What is MBA hoping to glean from the interview?

For potential applicants who are considering MBA, MS Stats, MS Operations Research, or the Masters of Business Analytics: what makes the MBAn stand out?

Any plans for a joint MBA/MBAn?

MIT plans to reach a 60-member cohort.

Planned process for 2017 entering class

The application will open in September and close January 4.

What kind of careers can people expect after earning this degree?

His advice for people interested in Business Analytics



Related Links:

Related Shows:

Subscribe:

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Since we recorded this interview, thepublished a short article discussing the strong demand for tech skills around the world. Apparently the area with the greatest gap between supply and demand is Big data/analytics, where 39% of IT leaders feel there is a shortage of people skilled in this area, the highest of any tech field in the survey.The shortage makes this podcast interview particularly timely because youll hear from Dr. Dimitris Bertsimas, Co-Director of MIT Sloans Master in Business Analytics, and we discuss this brand new program in depth.Meet Professor Dimitris Bertsimas. After earning his Masters in Operations Research and PhD in Applied Mathematics/Operations Research at MIT, he joined the MIT faculty, where he is Professor of Operations Research, the co-Director of the Operations Research Center, and now the co-Director of the brand new Masters in Business Analytics program. Welcome![1:25]Its a 1-year program. Students take two semesters of courses and labs and then do a 3-month internship, implementing solutions with a company.[2:10]Its been developing over the last few years The need for analytics has grown. Sloan is in a strong position to provide this program  given the strength of its faculty in this area, it can attract superb students and be the premier business analytics program in the world.And the demand is definitely there: last year I taught a MOOC to over 100K students.[4:00]There are several unique elements. Students learn software for analytics. There are also several modules  optimization, visualization, etc. And they learn leadership, teamwork, communication skills, etc. Its not just traditional teaching: theres a strong focus on hands-on learning and real world context.[6:03]There will be multiple opportunities available for internships. Some internships might eventually and naturally translate into job opportunities.[7:00]Exceptional academic ability and the aspiration to apply their skills in the real world.[8:22]A strong background in science, engineering, or math: breadth and depth in their area of expertise.[8:50]GMAT/GRE, grades, projects/papers, letters of rec. Theres also a personal statement and an interview.[9:30]Were looking for exceptional people. We want grads to be leaders in analytical efforts in their organizations. So during the admissions process, were trying to select people who have the ability and aspiration to advance. Were looking for leadership qualities [10:45]The internship component is unique. Also, the focus on lab courses and experiential learning is a unique focus.As technology/data is constantly changing, the curriculum will evolve and adapt to match.In addition, its just a different type of degree. The MBAn is a terminal degree: we expect students to go straight on to their careers afterwards. (Whereas many students who complete a masters in statistics go on to study for a PhD.) The MBA is a more general degree, while the MBAn is very tightly focused on analytics. Its a deep dive.[14:10]Not at the moment.[14:40]The entering class this fall will have around 20 people, and they anticipate increasing the size each of the following two years to reach an eventual class size of around 60.[16:10]We plan to admit roughly 40 students. The admissions process will be the same as this year: a personal statement, letters of rec , grades, test scores, interview.[17:10][17:40]Analytics is increasingly important across industries. Grads will work in consulting, financial services, internet companies, healthcare, marketing, sports, etc. We expect a lot of competition for our graduates.[19:25]He recommends that people considering this path do an internship and take a course during undergrad to see if they enjoy working with data and analytic methods. This article originally appeared on blog.accepted.com Applying to a top b-school? The talented folks at Accepted have helped hundreds of applicants get accepted to their dream programs. Whether you are figuring out where apply, writing your application essays, or prepping for your interviews, we are just a call (or click) away.Contact us, and get matched up with the consultant who will help_________________
Dumplings come in all forms, like ones filled with soup or potatoes or even vegan cheeseburgers, hailing from Tibet, Vietnam, China, Latin America, Eastern Europe (and beyond). It's to that last region of the world we visit again to talk about Anton's Dumplings, a food cart that's been cooking up steaming plates of Russian dumplings called pelmeni since the beginning of the year. Inside the cart is Anton Yelyashkevich, a native of Belarus who moved to Brooklyn as a child.

The pelmeni ($6 for a small, $11 for a large) are stuffed with meaty options like the Siberian, with beef and pork, or chicken; there's also a vegetarian offering made with potato. "A lot of people don't understand the concept of a Russian dumpling," partner Alex Shklyar explains. "We get a lot of 'is it like a pierogi?' every day." So there's no confusion, the truck offers free samples of their dumplings. "It also gets a lot of people talking to us which gives us a chance to show we're a fun company that enjoys talking to the people and not just another food cart."

The most popular and most traditional topping is sour cream and a scattering of scallions, both of which are offered free with an order of dumplings like you'd find in Brighton Beach. Also free: less traditional toppers like soy sauce and sriracha. "We also offer the teriyaki sauce as a special," Shklyar says. "That is a slight bastardization of the original cuisine, but it's my favorite combination."

The only paid topping is a dousing of Smoked Gouda Fondue for an extra $1. The Times calls it a "strange nexus of nachos and gnocchi." "Anton and our head chef, Ele, were mad scientists in the testing process," Shklyar reveals. "We've finagled with a ton of combinations and have seen winners and losers."

One proven winner: the "Drunk Russian" creation they offer on Saturday nights. "We basically throw together the hangover essentials like a fried egg and sauteed onions/mushrooms on top of your choice of dumplings." Look for a chimichurri special in the works soon.

Anton's Russian Dumplings parks at 320-338 Avenue of the Americas right next to the West 4th Street subway station Tuesday - Thursday 12 p.m. - 11 p.m. and Fridays and Saturdays 12 p.m. - 2 a.m. or later if they are busy.
If the humble five-story building of the Art Students League on 57th Street between Broadway and 7th Avenue was always easy to overlook, now the massive construction site makes it almost impossible to find. Yet behind the scaffolding, the doors of this 140-year-old art school are still open, with a legacy of the most famous artists in America, like Mark Rothko, Hans Hoffman and Ai Weiwei.

Despite its history of famous artists and central Manhattan location, the school has always epitomized the opposite of prestige. Since its founding in 1875, anyone, regardless of artistic ability or background, could study art at the League with minimal or no entrance requirements. Today, they hold about 130 different classes at a time, seven days a week from 8:30 in the morning to 10 at night.

The school is based on an atelier system, which means instructors teach their classes independent from any overarching curriculum; its like training at an independent artists studio with multiple teachers in the same building.

Its also one of the most affordable art schools in the city. The average course, which meets 5 days a week is around $230 a month (about $10 dollars a class), and the cost to study as a full-time student is around $3,800  not bad, considering steep college tuition fees over the last few decades. Since its founding, the League has also maintained their unique payment system, where students sign up for classes by month rather than by semester, which allows students greater flexibility.

The school was founded by a group of dissatisfied students at the National Academy of Design and their teacher, Lemuel Wilmarth. At the time, the Academy was considered the main art school in New York. These students were frustrated by the leadership, elitism and unfair hierarchy, particularly in the preferential treatment for older students at the school and wanted a democratic learning environment. When the Academy proved unsupportive, the young rebels branched out and formed their own school.

In 1875, revolt against prestigious and pretentious art institutions was gaining popularity worldwide. In Paris, Monet, Manet and Cezanne, along with a group of the not-yet-known Impressionists, formed the Salon de Refusee (salon of the refused), which began as a reaction to the Salon, Pariss main gallery for art exhibition.

The League quickly became the radical school of New York. Marchal Landgren wrote in 1940 that the League was separated from the tyranny of the Academy; it had grown out of a desire on the part of a group of students to better their education; it was student controlled and managed.

In 1879, The New York Times deemed this central art hub a more than ordinary success. Raymond Steiner would reflect more than a century later in 1999 that there was hardly a major trend, school or movement that did not involve the League members, not a major figure on the art scene who did not find some nurturing in its classrooms. Throughout the century, artists like Alexander Calder, Georgia OKeefee, Norman Rockwell, Man Ray, Jackson Pollock, Lee Krasner, Robert Rauchenberg, Roy Lichtenstien, Mark Rothko, and Cy Twombly have been students at the League.

Wilmarth became the League's instructor and first president, and began teaching in a small room on the top floor in a building on 16th street and Fifth Avenue. By the end of the year, they grew in popularity and expanded to the entire floor. Three years later in 1878, they formalized the institution and become incorporated.

In 1892, the League moved to 215 West 57th Street, where theyve remained since. Yet, a group of passionate artists alone wasnt enough to keep this institution running for over a century; the school probably wouldnt have lasted without securing real estate, for which investors and other patrons played a key role.

In 1885, Howard Russell Butler, an advocate for artists and a former lawyer secured the American Fine Arts Society building, which became the headquarters of the League. George Washington Vanderbilt, the son of William H. Vanderbilt, George, became the League's most distinguished patron, after donating an unexpected sum ($100,000) in 1892.

This French-Renaissance building, designed by Architect Henry Hardenbergh, was designated a New York City landmark in 1968 by the Landmarks Preservation Commission, which stated that it has, a special character, special historical aesthetic interest and value as part of the development, heritage and cultural characteristics of New York City. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.

There were many ways in which the League was cutting edge in comparison to other art institutions at the time. Amy Werbel, a professor of Art History at the Fashion Institute of Technology, says, The League was much more egalitarian, offering the same opportunities for men and women which was really uncommon for the 19th century. They ran it as a communal enterprise.

The school was also unique because it didnt adhere to or promote to one artistic style. Students chose their own path of study and teachers taught diverse and even conflicting styles like classical and abstract. Tom Otterness, whose work you may recognize from the 14th street and 8th Avenue subway station, studied at the League in the 70s after receiving a scholarship.

"The League was always split between two camps: abstract art and figurative art. It was radical in the sense that there was no authority of one camp or another," says Otterness. "The students would decide which camp they were in. I ended up being in both.

Werbel said they were also a leader in co-education in art. Their board consisted of roughly equal numbers of men and women, and, In the 19th century, working from nude models was sex-segregated, but in the early 20th century, the League contributed to important breaks in that tradition.

The League began with a strong emphasis on painting from the model and representation, which theyve maintained to this day. According to the Leagues 1952-53 catalogue, placing the student on his own is the forerunner of progressive ideas in American education. The only purpose of a student at the League is to study and learnin a stimulating atmosphere of intense application.

Students are encouraged to create their curriculum independently and study whichever style, and however they wanted, without a formal commitment and on a monthly payment system. Artists with 40 years of experience work alongside people who are new to art, breeding opportunity for a diverse supportive space of people who are passionate about making art. Today over 2,500 students every month study at the school, and 70% of them are full-time. About half of these students are members. The average age of the student at the League is 43, but that ranges from kids' classes (8-12 years old) to retired students.

As an open and independent school, founded by artists, for artists, the League hasnt traditionally been accredited either. In that sense, its not an art school like SVA, Parsons or FIT. Yet, many students have treated the League as a four-year college, and contemporary artists still chose to study there. Ai Weiwei, for example, studied there from 1983 to 1986, after he moved to the States in 1981 and enrolled in Parsons. The League held an exhibition of his teachers in 2014.

The board is largely run by the schools students; half of the board are required to be members, and they hold regular board meetings. In the beginning, they relied largely on membership fees alone to maintain themselves, making them one of the only independent art schools in the country.

Its not that this membership based, independently run school never ran into financial problems. In 1943, the League was in danger of being shut down because the war had led to a dramatic decrease in students. Stewart Klonis, the president of the Board of Control at the time, told the New York Times, The school has always been supported by tuition fees but the normal enrollment of 1,000 has been reduced this year by more than 600.

In another article that year, the Times wrote that the influence of the League has been centrifugal on a scale too vast and far-reaching to be calculated and that The Art Students League  unendowed, free, governed by its own members  has amply earned the right to a continued existence of service.

They were able to raise funding and stay open, and throughout the later half of the century they expanded in several ways. In 1995, they received a donation from the family of the late instructor Vaclav Vytacil, and opened up a campus in Sparkill, New York, about 40 miles north of Manhattan, where they run an artist-in-residency program. They also collaborate with the NYC Parks department on public exhibitions; their most recent one installed in Van Cortlandt Park, Bronx.

Its likely that the League has undergone more changes in the last 10 years than the duration its been open. In recent years, the Art Students League added a certificate program to their offerings, giving interested students a more formalized, 2-year or 4-year program that requires a year of fine arts experience. The program attempts to formalize the Leagues current offerings, compensating for the lack of structure. Others felt the program counters the schools model of independence and self-study, the very things which have always been the Leagues core values.

In March 2016, former students and members of the coalition ASL2025, which was founded after discontent with the financial decisions and management of the League, wrote an open letter to ASL members, stating that the certificate program is a departure from the core tenets and mission of the League where all students have equal access to work with a qualified instructor and in the same room as the next generation of recognized artists.

Yet, debates about the curriculum and teaching arent the only ones taking place at the League. In 2005, the Art Students League sold 136,000 square feet of their air rights to Extell Development Corporation for $23.1 million dollars. In 2014, they sold an additional 6,000 square feet of air rights for $31.8 million to allow for the cantilever. The building is expected to be over 1,500 feet tall, and Extell plans for it to be the tallest residential building in the Western Hemisphere, positioning the League as a small heel to this hovering tower.

Executive Director of the Art Students League Ira Goldberg and the Leagues President Salvatore Barbieri claimed selling the air rights was a one-time only opportunity to ensure the Leagues future, get out of long-standing debt and renovate the institution. They claimed the money would allow them to, add floors to our building, consequently adding additional studios, unveiling skylights that have been covered over for too many years and restoring gallery space and the library.

Yet, as a non-profit member-run organization, this decision sparked polarized sentiment throughout the Leagues members, and many argued that their decision process overlooked the League's bylaws, and that the voting procedure for this decision was misleading. Materials urged members to vote yes to save the financial state of the League by selling the air rights, and that if you dont vote, it counts as a no vote! Marne Rizika, one of the key organizers of ASL2025 said in an interview, The membership has always been an integral participant in establishing the Leagues mission and maintaining its principles, but that no longer seems to be the case.

Though its difficult to gauge the future of any educational institution, the Art Students League has been a steady and reliable home for artists in New York City for well over a century, and the school is still a haven for many artists in the city today.

Leeron Hoory is a writer currently based in New York.

Print Sources:

Landgren, Marchal E. Years of Art; the Story of the Art Students League of New York. New York: R.M. McBride, 1940.

Steiner, Raymond J. The Art Students League of New York: A History. Saugerties (NY): CSS Publications, 1999.

Werbel, Amy. The Crime of the Nude: Anthony Comstock, the Art Students League of New York, and the Origins of Modern American Obscenity. Winterthur Portfolio 2014 48:4, 249-282
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Artists have not only celebrated the national parks, it could be argued they were instrumental in creating them.

Paintings by Thomas Moran in the 1870s are credited with awakening America to the wonders of Yellowstones stunning landscapes.

It is too grand and wonderful for words, wrote the Ladys Repository after Morans luminous painting, The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, captured the publics imagination.

Thomas Moran ... is just an amazing painter. His artwork was used to help convince Congress that Yellowstone deserved to be set aside as a national park, said Kirby Lambert, outreach and interpretation program manager for the Montana Historical Society. We had black-and-white photography, but we didnt have color photography. The artwork spoke to people that this place is pretty amazing. Its not like anyplace youve ever seen and does deserve to be protected.

But Moran was not the only artist whose works riveted our ancestors, sparking inspiration to head West to see such fantastic sites with ones own eyes.

You can reconnect with the spirit of that time by viewing exhibits of some of those artworks in Montana and Wyoming during the National Park Services Centennial (see exhibit box).

In Yellowstone there were lots and lots of artists who came, Lambert said, but Moran is particularly significant.

Role of the railroads

Whats also important was the role of railroads, he said. The railroads would bring artists out to paint the scenery.

Great Northern Railways president Louis W. Hill commissioned artists to capture Glacier Parks breathtaking wild and sweeping landscapes in oils and watercolors to entice East Coasters to hop aboard and head West for adventure.

One of the most renowned of these artists was John Fery, said Hipolito Rafael Chacon, an art history professor at the University of Montana.

The most important artist at Glacier is John Fery. In some ways he helped define the park, said Chacon. Fery knew the park intimately long before there were major trails.

The railway hired the Austrian Impressionist in 1910, and he was active in Glacier from 1911 to 1915 and 1925 to 1929.

Fery spent his summers in the park making small oil sketches that he later used to create large stunning oil landscapes in his studio in St. Paul.

The railway company hung Ferys paintings in railway depots, said Chacon, and they were widely printed in pamphlets and brochures.

During his tenure, he painted more than 300 Glacier Park landscapes that were displayed in 25 states, as well as in Berlin, Germany, wrote Chacon in an article for Montana: The Magazine of Western History.

Hill also lent Fery to the Northern Pacific Railway to paint Yellowstone National Park landscapes, said Chacon.

Fery and Moran were among a handful of artists creating almost a craze back East ... for the American West, said Chacon.

Charlie Russell

Montanas beloved Charlie Russell also painted in Glacier park.

Although his most famous works were not of the park, Glacier was a very special place for him, and it's where he went to renew his spirit, said Lambert.

While civilization encroached across Big Sky Country, Glacier remained much like it existed when Kid Russell had first arrived in Montana as a teen.

In 1906, Russell bought land on the shore of Lake McDonald and built Bull Head Lodge, a haven for Russell and his circle of artist friends.

He went there every summer from 1906 to 1926, said Emily Wilson, the assistant curator of the C.M. Russell Museum in Great Falls, which has mounted a major exhibit: Going to the Sun: Artists in Glacier National Park this year.

While there, Russell painted such works as Storm on Lake McDonald From Bull Head Lodge, which Wilson described as very emotional and very evocative.

Charlie Russell had a very special relationship to Glacier, she said, often painting wildlife and landscape scenes in the park.

Russells circle of artistic friends who visited him were likewise inspired by Glaciers grandeur. Among them were Joe De Yong, Maynard Dixon, Joe Scheuerle and Philip Goodwin.

Another, Winold Reiss, a German-born American artist, became particularly well known for his paintings of Blackfeet Indians.

Reiss, who like Fery was employed by Great Northern, was given a studio each summer in a Glacier National Park hotel.

During the golden era of the railways promoting travel to Glacier and Yellowstone, money flowed to artists and art flourished.

This explains why the greatest number of National Park artworks in this region of the West center on Glacier and Yellowstone parks, which were major railway destinations, say Chacon and Lambert.

More than one historical article credits the very creation of Glacier National Park to railroad baron James J. Hill, founder of the Great Northern Railway, for pushing legislation through Congress to establish Glacier as a national park in 1910.

Travel posters

Today when we talk about Yellowstone, its overcrowded, said Lambert. But it needed broad public support to become a park.

Art played a significant role in the public commitment to save these places, he said.

Another popular art form promoting the parks were travel posters, he said. By the early 20th century railroad promoters were mass-producing posters of such paintings as Morans The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone so they could be viewed by thousands.

While Glacier and Yellowstone may have been the biggest magnets for artists because of the railroad companies, Grand Teton National Park also drew some prominent artists.

Moran painted the Tetons in 1879, said Adam Duncan Harris, Petersen Curator of Art at the National Museum of Wildlife Art in Jackson, Wyoming, which is holding a series of special exhibits celebrating this years park centennial.

It was very difficult to get over here, said Harris, which explains why in its early days the park attracted few artists.

The park really didnt take off until after World War II, Harris said, when people had more leisure and money. Conrad Schwiering is the first artist to consistently paint the Tetons, doing hundreds of paintings from 1947 to 1986.

And one of the most famous works is by renowned photographer Ansel Adams -- The Tetons and the Snake River, a view of the Tetons from the Snake River Overlook, said Harris. Adams was commissioned by the National Park Service for a series of photos of the national parks.

I will say there are two other artists people are surprised to hear painted the Tetons, said Harris, Edward Hopper and Thomas Hart Benton.

Although these two artists are not among those featured in the museums exhibits this summer, there are plenty of renowned artists who are. On exhibit are 10 paintings by Thomas Moran, as well as works by William Henry Jackson, Ansel Adams, Georgia OKeeffe and park promotion posters produced by artists for the WPAs Federal Art Project from 1935 to 1943.
HAMILTON  In the 23 years hes been fighting wildfires, Derek Davenport has never seen anything quite like what unfolded on the first day of the Observation fire.

When a single lightning strike started the fire southwest of Hamilton, the Bitterroot National Forest fire crews were gathered in Sula for a preparedness review.

At about noon on June 24, they received a call that the Deer Mountain Lookout had spotted smoke near Observation Point.

Any other day, Davenport, an assistant fire management officer for the U.S. Forest Service, would have sent one engine module  a truck packing 300 gallons of water and between five to seven firefighters  on a call like this one.

Ninety-nine times out of 100, we would catch the fire with just that engine crew, he said. Since we were all there together, I told a 10-member hand crew to go, too, in order to make quick work of it.

Davenport was hoping they could get back soon enough to finish the review.

Initially, the fire crews were met with winds ranging between 15 to 20 mph. But that changed in a hurry.

They started getting winds from 40 to 50 mph, he said. Thats very rare and uncommon.'' And difficult to fight.

The firefighters couldnt get out in front of the blaze to stop its run.

"The wind was pushing the fire into areas (where) they couldnt engage it,'' Davenport said. "It was literally burning almost on a cliff.

The firefighters attempted to chase it from behind, but the fire kept moving.

The crews called for more resources, including the helicopter staged at the Hamilton airport. But the pilot quickly realized he couldnt drop water due to the high winds.

At that point, the lead firefighter on the scene determined the blaze was beyond initial attack capabilities. And Davenport hurried to the scene.

The wind-driven fire had spread out like a mosaic, burning in dead and downed timber and also torching in treetops.

It wasnt burning very much in the grass because that was still too green, he said. There was a lot of dead and downed timber, lots of big stuff. The fire was getting established in that.

At that point, the fire was also torching in treetops.

The wind kept throwing it and throwing it and throwing it further and further away, Davenport said.

The steep terrain, coupled with the high winds, meant the fire was moving in two directions at once. The winds would push the fire 100 feet up the hillside, while burning debris would roll down the steep hillside at the same time. And heavy smoke made seeing parts of the blaze difficult.

It was burning uphill as fast as it was going downhill,'' Davenport said. "I thought, 'This was crazy.' I had never seen anything like this in my life."

On that first day, the firefighters and aviation resources had everything going against them.

There were extremely high winds. Some of the terrain was so steep that firefighters couldnt even get close enough to fight the fire. And heavy smoke made it difficult to see some parts of the blaze.

In all the trainings that we go through, you hear that you will never run into all these different elements at once, Davenport said. We had them all at one time.

Davenport immediately called for more resources, including two 22-member Hotshot crews and two more 10-person hand crews. He also asked for more helicopters.

I knew the winds would be a lot less in the morning, Davenport said. My goal at that time was to pound the hell out of the perimeter all morning long and then come in and mop up the interior.

I ordered the world, he said. I was spending lots of money, but I knew the whole Bitterroot was at risk.  We were spending hundreds of thousands, if not millions, to try to catch this fire.

But it wasn't enough.

On Tuesday, the fire doubled in size and those living in 203 residences were warned to be ready to evacuate.

Davenport said the index firefighters use to gauge the potential for unstable air, which contributes to the development of erratic fire behavior, was nearly as high as it gets.

On the day the fire doubled in size and worried authorities enough to place 203 residences on evacuation notice, Davenport said the index firefighters use to measure the potential for unstable air to contribute to the development of erratic fire behavior was nearly as high as it gets.

We had a Haines Index of five, he said. At a Haines Index of six, you know youre going to catch the fire that day.

Four or five helicopters were supporting firefighters on the ground when suddenly the fire took off through a stand of dead, beetle-killed lodgepole pine.

There was no warning, Davenport said. Once it got established in those fuels, it just ripped. We had firefighters in that area. We knew that we needed to get them out as soon as possible.

The fire burned 325 acres in about a half hour.

What saved us was an old clear cut, he said. The fire hit a unit that had been replanted and it just fell flat on its face.

After that large run occurred, Davenport said the decision was made to bring in a Type 1 team, which took over management of the fire Friday. On Saturday, the fire was still only 10 percent contained, although weather conditions were improving.

Looking back on that first day, Davenport said hes proud of the initial effort the firefighters made to put the fire out.

I have told them that its not their fault, he said. If the most complex fire challenge were a 10, "this was a 9.5."

"They were outgunned. You couldnt have brought a large enough army. No one could have known that in late June those large fuels would have burned like it was the middle of August, he said.

My people are proud of what they do. Protecting peoples homes is important to them.

It crushed their hearts when they lost it, he said. I know how hard they fought on that hill. I know the sweat and the pain they felt.

"They gave it everything they had.
BILLINGS -- Two Billings veterans received Frances highest honor Sunday for their participation in the invasion of Normandy more than 70 years ago.

Marvin Olson and George Raymond were declared Knights of the Legion of Honour in an afternoon ceremony at the Heights VFW. Raymond passed away before he could receive the award, so Betty Raymond accepted it on her late husbands behalf. The Sunday event was Olsens first pinning ceremony since he was honorably discharged from the United States Navy in 1946.

Im fortunate to be here. I just turned 94, Olson said. I feel bad the guys I knew couldnt be around to get this.

The Legion of Honour was created in 1802 by Napoleon Bonaparte to recognize bravery and valor. The award is given to both French and foreign civilians and military personnel. American World War II veterans who served in Northern France, Southern France, Normandy and Ardennnes are eligible. While many recipients have exceptional service records, acts of bravery are not necessary to qualify, said Laurence Markarian, honorary consul of France to Montana.

George Raymond, who served in the Army Air Corps, died in December at the age of 95 and was lucky to live such a full life. He served in the Air Corps as a gunner and an armorer. He often chose not to wear a flak jacket while working in a gunships turret because the gear was too restrictive. But on the one flight he decided to don the jacket, it saved his life.

Raymonds aircraft came under fire and he was hit during the attack. Medical personnel removed a two-inch piece of shrapnel from Raymonds shoulder but he would have died without the protective jacket

Markarian said shes assisted 20 Montana veterans to receive the Legion of Honour since she started working in the program in 2011. She tries to connect with all who are eligible so they can receive the honor. Documentation of their service with an honorable discharge is sent to the French general consulate in San Francisco, who oversees Montana and six other states. From there the application is sent to the French embassy in Washington, D.C., and on to Paris, where it is reviewed by a special committee.

Markarian submits the paperwork as quickly as possible but the process can take up to 18 months. In cases like George Raymonds, that can be too long.

It takes time for the French to get this going, and unfortunately by the time it gets back to me some of them have passed away, she said.

Markarian said Raymond died just two weeks before he was approved for the Legion of Honour.
HAMILTON -- The Observation Fire held steady at 1,294 acres Sunday morning, thanks in part to overnight humidity that helped "tempering fire behavior."

The Bitterroot National Forest reported that the fire is 10 percent contained.

There are 411 personnel working the fire, including Type 1 Incident Management Team led by Doug Turman, 12 crews, seven aircraft, seven engines, five bulldozers and six water tenders.

Relative humidity was up to 60 percent overnight Saturday into Sunday. The area in which the fire is burning has not seen rain in more than 25 days.

Water and retardant will continue to be dropped on inaccessible terrain, including hot spots and the ridge north of the fire. Ground crews will continue direct line construction on the east side of the fire. Day and night crews will mop up and improve line along the southeast part of the fire and along Lost Horse Road. BNF expects the north and northeast side of the fire will be the most active, and is expected to burn into Hayes Creek drainage.

A Stage I evacuation is in effect for 203 homes. Ravalli County Undersheriff Steve Holton said in a news release Sunday afternoon that the warning was in effect for residents west of U.S. Highway 93 from Lost Horse to Gold Creek.

Holton said that residents of the Roaring Lion Road area could expect representatives from Turman's team to visit Sunday, providing information on fire prevention and mitigation.

Open burning is now prohibited in Ravalli and Missoula counties.

Area closure is still in effect for Lost Horse drainage from the junction of Lost Horse Creek Road and Lick Creek Road west to the Idaho-Montana border, including Twin Lakes, Schumaker Campground and Bear Creek Pass Trailhead, and from Lake Como north to Camas Creek. Lake Como is open.
New Braunfels, TX (78130)

Today

Generally sunny despite a few afternoon clouds. High 83F. Winds SE at 10 to 20 mph..

Tonight

Scattered thunderstorms during the evening becoming more widespread overnight. Low near 65F. Winds SE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 80%.
Only 20% of eligible voters turned out in the Aragatzotn village of Otevan yesterday to elect a new mayor.

17 of the voters cast ballots for ruling Republican Party of Armenia candidate Djamal Salmoyan, and five voted for independent Gohar Sayadyan.

Former village mayor Bro Fatoyan told Hetq that the extremely low turnout was due to the fact that most Otevan residents have traveled to Russia seeking work.

The population of the village is 181- 127 men and 54 women. Fatoyan said that most of the men werent in the village to cast their votes.

A similar low voter turnout in Otevan took place last December when only 23 voters cast ballots in the constitutional change referendum.

They all voted in favor of constitutional change.
By Melanie Nakashian

Should Armenia be like Israel? If yes, then how? And what does it mean to be like Israel?

This was the question up for discussion at the American University of Armenia (AUA) in Yerevan during the June 27 panel, Parallels Between Armenia and Israel: Reflections on the Current Discourse in Armenia.

As an Armenian-American who previously worked in Israel and now lives in Armenia, and will soon return to study in Israel, I obviously have my own answer to this question: absolutely not. Not only would it be unwise, it is straight-up impossible.

Mainstream Armenian media, on the other hand, say it would be a great idea  as do the Armenia-based academics on the panel.

But it seems to me that if academics are spouting the same misguided message as mainstream media, theyre not doing their jobs.

Two of the four panelists were academics from Armenia: Dr. Alvina Hovhannisyan, assistant professor at Yerevan State University (YSU) and Dr. Harutyun Marutyan, researcher at the National Academy of Sciences of Armenia and YSU visiting professor. The other two were Armenian-Americans joining via Skype: Dr. Markar Melkonian, a California-based writer and professor, and Nancy Kricorian, a New York-based writer and activist.

While Melkonian and Kricorian were well-versed in the realities of Israel that make it an unrealistic model for Armenia, the others demonstrated their lack of awareness and brushed off the fundamental differences between the two nations.

I and many others left AUA disappointed with the weak and ill-informed arguments of Marutyan and Hovhannisyan, as well as with the poor conduct of moderator and AUA Professor Gregory Areshian, who seemed to think he was also a panelist (I am the only historian on this panel!).

Others were annoyed that they had to hear about Palestine at all, as if it is possible to understand Israel without it, as if they wished the Americans would have kept their mouths shut so as not to expose the naivete of their mythical illusion that Armenia could ever be like Israel.

Melkonian was the first to speak, pointing out two interrelated considerations that essentially illustrate the absurdity of the suggestion that Armenia can and should emulate Israel.

First, unlike Armenia, Israel is a colonial settler state. Those in Armenia who admire its cohesion and relative stability ignore the fact that it is in part a result of institutionalized apartheid.

Second, Israel is a highly militarized garrison state.While its Armenian admirers see it as a model of self-reliance, it is hard to find a less independent country, he explained, as it depends on billions of dollars from US taxpayers as well as other forms of support such as technology transfer, tax advantage and diplomatic immunity.

Melkonian argued that it is a positive thing that Armenia could never function as a garrison state, largely due to its location and poverty. To advocate the pursuit of entirely unrealizable goals could be very dangerous for a small, impoverished nation like Armenia, he concluded. To venerate a regime widely associated with injustice does not help diplomacy; it does not help good relations with our most helpful neighbors or the pursuit of other proclaimed goals of Armenian diplomacy.

A question from panelist Marutyan (unless it was rhetorical, though it did not seem to be) was the first sign that he knew very little about Israel: Are there any racist laws in the State of Israel nowadays?

Kricorian responded, pointing to Adalah Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel and its database of over 50 discriminatory laws  which she noted also affect Armenians.

Marutyans ignorance became crystal clear during his own talk focused on the memory of genocide in the structures of Armenian and Jewish identities. Referring to Israels official Holocaust and Heroism Remembrance Day in contrast to Armenias Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day, he attempted to prove that victimhood is less emphasized in the collective Jewish memory and proposed that Armenia rename its commemorative day to shift some focus onto the resistance that took place during the genocide.

In reality, in Israel, the holiday is referred to colloquially as Yom HaShoah, or Holocaust Remembrance Day. After living in Israel through two of those days, I think I would remember if there was any emphasis on the heroes. But I dont.(And actually, Armenian resistance of Musa Daghis celebrated annually with the Musaler feast.)

Marutyan seemed unaware of the disgusting degree to which the Holocaust has become an industry, its true memory exploited for Israels political gain. Simply look at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus Holocaust Remembrance Day speeches. For example, in 2013: The murderous hatred against the Jews has not passed from the world, but it simply was replaced by murderous hatred against the Jewish state. Again and again, this message is repeated.

By far, the most disappointing panelist was Hovhannisyan. (above photo) Upon hearing that she spent time in Israel and would speak as a witness, I expected to hear something worthwhile. Nope.

Her most problematic pointwas that Israel is not militarized, but rather, their army is socialized and integrated with educational programs.Its not isolated from the society We can see [soldiers] all the time, she reminisced.

Does she have any idea what militarization means?! Let me Google that for you: it is the process by which a society organizes itself for military conflict and violence.

When Kricorian asked Hovhannisyanif she was aware of the discrimination faced by Armenians in the (ever-shrinking) Armenian Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem, she responded by equalizing this discrimination  the racism of Zionism  with issues of class in Armenia.

Once a woman in the audience finished a monologue about how she, too, faces discrimination for wearing a miniskirt (so hey, apartheids gonna happen), she asked if Armenia could learn anything from Israel about corruption. Hovhannisyan yet again demonstrated her ignorance, noting that her general impression was that Israel is free of corruption or has a less amount of corruption.

Kricorian immediately chimed in: Sara Netanyahu, the Prime Ministers wife, is about to be indicted for misuse of state funds  one of many examples of high profile cases of corruption in Israel.

Kricorian began her own talk by stating that it is not anti-Semitic to criticize Israeli government policy. She then presented her poem, Letter to Palestine (With Armenian Proverbs) and spoke about why she, as an Armenian, feels parallels with the Jewish diasporabut also identifies with the Palestinian struggle and its marginalized narrative of dispossession and ethnic cleansing  the story that is not told.

She then recounted her experience in the diaspora, where she often hears aspirations to be like AIPAC (The American Israel Public Affairs Committee), the pro-Israel lobby with a frighteningly strong stranglehold on US politics. Kricorian also mentioned that as part of the Executive Committee of the Armenian Tree Project, which plants native trees on Armenian land, she hears erroneous comparisons to the Jewish National Fund (JNF), a Zionist organization that plants non-native trees on confiscated Palestinian land.

When Hovhannisyan paralleled the fact that Palestinians cannot return with the fact that Azerbaijanis cannot live in Nagorno-Karabakh, Kricorian noted that while the conflicts are different, such similarities are found in notion of the nation-state and the discrimination that stems from that, particularly in the current state of war.

One audience member, French student Sevane Poulain, felt that the most important point of the discussion came from Kricorian: criticism of Israel does not equate with anti-Semitism.

It needed to be said. People seemed confused about that, noted Poulain.The teachers here need to develop their critical sense. Theyre not thinking and theyre not questioning.

Indeed, the message of the local academic half of the panel (and especially from so-called moderatorAreshian), as well as from many in the audience who spoke up, essentially regurgitated that of mainstream media.

Particularly in recent months since Aprils Four-Day War between Azerbaijan and Nagorno-Karabakh, the medias message has been this: Armenians, like Jews, are blessed peoples who have undergone genocide, so now, living in a place with no natural resources and surrounded by enemies, Armenia, with the help of its diaspora, can and should follow the model of Israel  economically, militarily, and diplomatically.

Falling into this myth is basically like asking, if they can do it, why cant we?  and then closing your ears when someone tells you why you cant.When neither the people on the streets nor in academia are aware of basic facts of Israel-Palestine, superficial similarities such as ethnic cleansing and territorial dispute (which Melkonian explained are not distinctive but rather quite common throughout the world) seem to be enough to support this faulty analysis.

This discourse on emulating Israel tends to arise in media at strategic times. According to ArmComedy journalist Sergey Sargsyan, the Israeli model comes up every time things get tense and heated on the border.

Local activist Anna believes the medias discourse comes from the strong nationalist and ruling powers discourse in Armenia aiming to promote military-related undertakings which will be justified by the mystical vision of being like Israel. Interestingly, she noted that the same discourse of becoming like Israel is also present in Azerbaijan. Shahnazaryan also suggested that those who believe Armenia should aim to be like Israel might as well consider emulating Turkey or Azerbaijan instead.

Though I was disappointed with the event, as someone who cares deeply about both Armenia and Israel-Palestine, I am still grateful for the conversation it sparked. I would love to see AUA organize more discussions  this time with Jewish Israelis and Palestinians also on the panel (and a better moderator, of course)  addressing the following questions:

What are the differences and similarities between Palestinians and Armenians?

Whats going on with the Armenians in Israel and Palestine?

What can Armenians learn from the Palestinian struggle?

What can Armenians learn from Israelis who speak out about their army service?

What can Armenians learn from the experiences of Jewish and Palestinian peace activists in Israel, Palestine and beyond? Their strategies? Their challenges?

What can Armenians learn from local Israeli and Palestinian journalists attempting to counter the way that their situation is portrayed by international media?

These questions  the ones that mainstream media will never address  are the ones that should be asked.

(Melanie Nakashian currently lives in Yerevan. She is from New York and has been involved with various international political, media and environmental organizations)
Fans of Michael Feldman's long-running"Whad'Ya Know?" radio show greet the media personality following the program's final broadcast in Shannon Hall on the campus of UW-Madison in Madison, Wis. Saturday, June 25, 2016. JOHN HART -- State Journal
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The state's fight over how to fund road construction could land on Racine County's doorstep.

Gov. Scott Walker has directed the state Department of Transportation to "minimize" spending on major road construction in southeastern Wisconsin, where the ongoing Interstate 94 north-south project runs through Racine County.

But Assembly Speaker Robin Vos says he will fight to keep the I-94 project on track  possibly foreshadowing a battle between the Legislature and the governor's office.

"I am frustrated that the project, under Governor Walker's plan, is going to be pushed back even further, making the interstate more dangerous and more expensive," said Vos, R-Rochester.

Walker has instructed the DOT to submit its budget request by Sept. 15, rather than November as it usually does. Exactly how projects like I-94, the Zoo Interchange and others might be affected won't be known until then.

The Legislature will then take up the governor's full budget proposal next year.

Walker and legislators have struggled to fund transportation for some time, opting to borrow money to pay for construction. Last year, for example, the state budget included $500 million in borrowing for roads, with an additional $350 million approved in November.

Some legislators have called for the state to look into raising revenue, but in a letter to DOT Secretary Mark Gottlieb last week, Walker reiterated his opposition to a gas tax or vehicle registration fee increase.

"Raising the gas tax or vehicle registration fees without an equal or greater reduction in taxes elsewhere is not an option, and it would throw a wet blanket on our growing economy," Walker wrote.

He said large projects "should be prioritized based on our needs, not our wants. Large needs-based projects should have their designs reviewed to save taxpayer dollars while maximizing maintenance and safety."

Vos said he believes in an "all of the above" approach, saying the state should look at ways to generate new revenue, continue with an audit looking for waste in the department, investigate cost-saving ideas and prioritize projects.

Vos has said he does not want to pass the next state budget without a long-term plan to fund transportation.

"That is my intention, that we are not going to again kick the can down the road," he said. "We are going to come up with some long-term solutions, instead of just saying, 'We'll fix the problem by borrowing more money from our kids.' "

Vos is running for re-election against Democrat Andy Mitchell, who said the state should look more closely at fixing local roads and reconsider other state policies, like those relating to tax cuts or the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp., to free up money for transportation.

"I'm a bit of a skeptic that we need a lot of new construction," Mitchell said. "We need to focus more on fixing what we've got, especially the county roads, because that's an important part of the system for so many people."

Delays possible

No construction is scheduled on the freeway this year. For now, work on the north-south project is scheduled to resume in 2017 with the reconstruction of interchanges at Ryan Road and Elm Road and work on the I-94 roadway between the Racine/Milwaukee county line and Oakwood Road.

The state Department of Transportation in 2018 plans to reconstruct frontage roads in Racine County from Highway 20 to Highway KR as well as the intersection of Highway 20 and Highway C.

All that could change, however, depending on the state budget.

State Rep. Peter Barca, D-Kenosha, said a transportation plan is particularly important for the Racine-Kenosha area. Its location near Milwaukee, Chicago and other Midwestern cities gives the area a greater ability to attract distribution-type businesses which rely on a good infrastructure, Barca said.

"Distribution is a big part of our economy at this point. For them, it's vital you have good roads and bridges," he said.

Barca added that "the governor tells us what he's not going to do. I want to know what he is going to do."
In a few weeks, thousands of farmers from across Wisconsin will convene one of the largest farming technology shows in the country to get the word on the industrys latest innovations.

The 62nd annual Wisconsin Farm Technology Days will kick off July 19 at Snudden Farms near Lake Geneva in Walworth County. Matt Glewen, the events general manager, said this years attendees can expect to see even more technology that uses global positioning systems along with the events year-to-year staples such as tractors and milk processing and irrigation equipment.

Theres an increasing amount of technology that combines GPS and computer technology, he said. So things that allow farmers to plant and harvest and apply product to their crops with an incredible amount of precision.

Glewen said investing in and learning about new technology allows farmers to be more profitable and efficient. Organizers expect 40,000 to 50,000 attendees this year, he said.

Other high-interest technology at the event will likely include drones, which are used in agriculture to provide visual evidence of diseases, nutrient deficiencies or insect problems. The three-day event will also include technology demonstrations and opportunities to talk with experts from UW-Extension.

Commercial exhibitors will be present, and attendees can take tours of the host farm. Snudden Farms, which has been family-owned since 1925, is operated by family members and 29 employees. Its home to 1,700 Holsteins and grows 3,000 acres of corn, alfalfa and wheat.

The events board chooses the host county out of a pool of applicants, Glewen said, and the county then selects the host farm.
The business name, Jubilant Acrylics, accurately describes the products sold  lively, spirited paintings created with vivid acrylic colors by Laura Meddaugh.

Described as contemporary folk art, Meddaughs whimsical paintings feature birds or animals. Sometimes the birds and animals are proportionate and doing normal bird and animal things; sometimes they are larger than the housetop they are perched on, or piloting a UFO. Her use of textures and patterns adds to the overall merriment of her artwork as well. Each Jubilant Acrylic is an original one-of-a-kind painting.

Meddaugh markets Jubilant Acrylics on Facebook, and at art fairs in the Midwest. Shell have a display of her work in Madison July 9 and 10 at Art Fair Off the Square, between the Capitol and Monona Terrace. She has been invited to participate Oct. 14 through 16 in the Fall Art Tour in Baraboo/Spring Green/Dodgeville/Mineral Point where she will be a visiting artist at the studio of Sharon Nicholas in Dodgeville.

As a child, Meddaugh filled notebooks with drawings when she was visiting her grandmas house and has fond memories of summer recreation art classes. With the encouragement of her parents and high school teachers, she knew she wanted to be an artist and teach art. After graduating UW-Madison with a degree in art education, she taught at Preschool of the Arts. At the time, she was primarily a watercolor painter and she began supplementing her income by marketing her paintings at art fairs.

Through the years, she continued to sell her watercolors at art fairs as she raised two daughters. After 30 years of painting miniatures, Meddaugh had difficulty as she developed carpal tunnel in her wrists and her eyesight was not as good as it once was. She had used acrylics in high school, and, six years ago, switched back to using those as they allowed her looser brushstrokes.

It was about six years ago, also, when a neighbor approached Meddaugh and asked her to teach art to a child. Meddaugh accepted; and now teaches a flurry of students coming in and out of her front sunporch studio four days a week during the school year. She offers two sessions after school each day, with no more than three students at a time. The students range from third-graders to sophomores in high school.

Her students work at the same table where she creates her Jubilant Acrylics, and they use the same paints, materials and brushes she does. Meddaugh teaches elements of design, techniques, styles, etc., and offers personalized instruction. Meddaugh also offers multi-generational art projects and events. Contact her for more information.

Meddaugh says having to come up with new projects for her students forces her to come up with new ideas and try new things. She is often bursting with ideas because of the kids and interjects the ideas into her own artwork as well.
Authorities have released the names of the two people who died following a motorcycle crash in the town of Primrose Sunday afternoon.

Dana Fichtner, 53, of Janesville and Alyssia Marie Kittleson, 26, of Mineral Point, collided with an SUV on Highway G, near Rettenmund Road. The two were thrown from the motorcycle and died at the scene, according to the Dane County Medical Examiner's office.

The initial investigation showed that a 2000 Harley-Davidson motorcycle was headed north on Highway G when it crossed the center line on a curve and collided with a 2005 Honda Pilot going south, according to the Dane County Sheriff's Office.

Sheriffs deputies and Mount Horeb police responded, along with Mount Horeb EMS and two MedFlight emergency helicopter ambulances.

The driver of the Honda Pilot, a 66-year-old woman from Mount Horeb who was alone in the vehicle, was wearing her seat belt and showed no visible sign of injuries. She was taken to a hospital as a precaution.

The deaths are still under investigation by sheriff's and medical examiner's offices.
Update: On Monday, the Associated Press reported in this story that a man in Rome had been detained in Solomon's death.

The university in Rome where a missing UW-Madison student was to study confirmed Monday that his body had been found in the Tiber River, and his death is reportedly being investigated as a homicide.

John Cabot University in Rome announced Monday that the body of 19-year-old Beau Solomon, of Spring Green, was found in the river. Police told CBS News his body was found about a mile south of the area where he was last seen early Friday with a group of friends.

Cole Solomon, Beau Solomons 23-year-old brother, told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that investigators are treating the incident as a murder. He said his brothers body had a head wound and there was blood on his shirt. He said thousands of dollars were charged to Beau Solomons credit card after he disappeared.

As news of Solomons death spread, friends and family took to social media to express their grief, remembering the teen as a funny and charismatic individual with a magnetic personality. A Monday night candlelight vigil was organized at River Valley High School in Spring Green, where counselors were to be on hand to assist students, according to a Facebook post by the school.

All of us at UW-Madison are greatly saddened by this loss, UW-Madison Chancellor Rebecca Blank said in a statement. Beau was a bright and caring young man who lived the Wisconsin Idea through his work at Badger Boys State and his desire to travel and experience other cultures. Our hearts go out to Beaus family and friends at this difficult time.

The university said there is no indication of a broader risk to students studying abroad in Rome or elsewhere and that other UW-Madison students participating in the John Cabot program are safe and accounted for.

Messages left by the State Journal for members of Solomons family were not returned Monday.

Solomon had just completed his first year as a personal finance major at UW-Madison.

Another brother, Jake Solomon, 26, told the Journal Sentinel that Beau was a survivor of childhood cancer with a big heart who dreamed of becoming a lawyer. He called him the toughest S.O.B. that weve ever met.

Solomon had left last week to study in Rome and was out with friends at an espresso bar Thursday night. When the group decided to leave, Solomon was gone, and his friends reported him missing when he didnt come to orientation the following day.

Some news outlets reported that Solomons wallet and cellphone were missing, indicating a potential robbery.

Italian state TV reported that about $1,700 in sales were run up on Solomons cards at a store in Milan, hundreds of miles from Rome, the day after he was last reported seen. The TV report said investigators will search security cameras near the store for an image of whoever used the cards.

Solomons family is in Italy and John Cabot University is communicating with Italian authorities, the U.S. Embassy and UW-Madison, John Cabot President Franco Pavoncello told The Associated Press.

Without citing names, the Italian news agency ANSA said two people claimed to have seen a man throw a person into the Tiber the night Solomon disappeared.

However, ANSA also reported that the results of a preliminary autopsy indicate that Solomon suffered injuries consistent with a fall, with the exact cause of death yet to be determined.

 State Journal reporters Haley Hansen and Logan Wroge contributed to this report.
It was the end of February, the snow had already melted and Madison-area skateboarders were itching to get back in the new skatepark on the citys Near East Side.

Too bad for them, the park wasnt due to reopen until the middle of April.

Thats when the Friends of the Goodman Skatepark struck a rare deal with the citys Parks Division. The city handed over the keys, and members of the group opened and closed the gates and picked up trash until the city took over again in April.

Thats a really good example of how well loved the park is, said Claire Oleksiak, Parks Division community services manager.

The early opening is one of many signs that Madisons first and only skatepark, which opened last September, has been a success among the citys growing skateboard community. Dozens of skateboarders and roller skaters make their way to the park each day to practice tricks and hang out with friends, with many staying until the lights go off and the park closes around 10 p.m.

Organizers began working to establish the park over 14 years ago, initially hoping to raise money for the project by hosting punk-rock shows and bake sales. But it quickly became clear it would take a lot more collaboration  and money  to get the park they wanted.

We knew we couldnt just pour some concrete on some grass and call it a skatepark, said Patrick Hasburgh, one of the founders of the Madison Skatepark Fund.

Before the park opened, local skateboarders who didnt want to run the risk of getting ticketed for skating in the street or on sidewalks in heavily traveled areas like State Street, often went to smaller skateparks in Middleton, Verona, Monona and Mount Horeb.

Izzik Hardy, 14, of Fitchburg, said hed usually skate in front of his house or near the UW-Madison campus, where skateboarding and roller skating is largely banned. Now, he and his friends come to the Goodman Skatepark almost every day.

The parks lights, size and smooth concrete make it stand out against other parks in the area, he said. It also has a larger variety of obstacles and skating elements than most parks, he said.

Its way better, Izzik said. It has more stuff to your liking, to what you want to skate.

His friend and fellow skater, Mack Regele, 14, agreed.

You go to a park within a 100-mile radius and youll see why this park is way better, he said.

At the park, the clatter of skateboards hitting the pavement is a continual backdrop as skaters roll through, jumping onto obstacles and zipping past one another. Wheels sing on the sidewalk, only for the sound to momentarily stop as a rider leaps into the air with their board beneath them.

Most of the 20,000-square-foot park in Central Park features street skating elements such as stairs, railings, ramps and other obstacles. And about one-third of the park is designed for transition skating, where skaters use ramps and bowls to perform tricks. The Goodman Skatepark includes two large bowls, the deeper of which is 9 feet deep at its lowest point, mimicking the empty swimming pools skaters in California used over 40 years ago.

Skaters effortlessly zip up and down the sides of the bowls, using their gravity and speed to their advantage so they briefly become almost parallel to the ground. As the skaters take their turns, they only exit when they either fall or manage to gracefully leap out.

Austin Lapinski, who owns Freedom Skate Shop at 434 State St., said the park is probably the biggest and best of its kind within four hours of Madison.

It really sets the standard of what a skatepark should be, he said.

Alumni Boardshop owner Derek Apel said hes noticed more people coming in from outside of Madison, a sign of the parks regional draw.

The skateparks sponsors, which included the Irwin A. & Robert D. Goodman Foundation and the Tony Hawk Foundation, helped pull together a good portion of the funding for the nearly $1.2 million project. Hasburgh said the Willy Street Co-ops $50,000 donation, which funded the parks eggplant bowl, got the ball rolling for other sources of funding.

When designing and laying out plans for the space, Hasburgh said, city leaders were open to and supportive of skateboarders ideas. He estimates that 100 people visit the park every day, drawn by its large size and variety of skating elements.

Theres something for everybody, he said.

The park is especially packed on summer nights. Some sit on the concrete slabs off to the sides or on the ground as they watch their friends, cheering and jeering at each other as they skate. Others skate side by side, trying to catch videos of their tricks on their phones. Veteran skaters teach the novices the best techniques.

I think it helped bring the skateboard community together, Hasburgh said of the park.

Elyse Cloutchier, who organizes a womens skate night every Wednesday at the park, said shed like to see even more communities across the area open skateparks of their own.

Skateboarding is a really healthy and fun way to learn about life and responsibility and to express yourself and be social, she said. So itd be great if we had more skateparks, skate spots of all different varieties, for all kinds of skating, for all kinds of people.

Lynn Lee, president of the Marquette Neighborhood Association, said he hasnt received any complaints about noise or traffic problems at the park. Instead, he said many residents are proud to have the park on their side of town.

The big complaint weve heard is that its not open enough, he said.
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The Supreme Court has reserved its judgment on imposing environment cess on diesel vehicles, while the Centre asks for uplifting ban on diesel vehicles in Delhi-NCR.

Leading automakers requested the Supreme Court that Mercedes-Benz and Toyota are suffering the most due to the ban on diesel vehicles in Delhi-NCR. (Picture for representational purpose only)

By India Today Web Desk: The Supreme Court on Monday reserved its judgment on imposing environment cess on diesel vehicles in Delhi-NCR, after putting a ban on the registration of diesel vehicles of more than 2000 cc. Major automakers had earlier approached the Supreme Court and urging the bench to lift the ban.

ALSO READ: Auto industry leaders meet PMO officials; seek solution over diesel ban

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During the hearing on Monday, the Amicus curiae told the court that the price incentive on a diesel vehicle is about 20 per cent without taking the environment cess into account. They also suggested that the government must act swiftly in this matter and come out with a draft suggestion in six weeks' time.

Leading automakers requested the Supreme Court that Mercedes-Benz and Toyota are suffering the most due to the ban on diesel vehicles in Delhi-NCR. Moreover, they also gave a commitment to deposit one per cent of the selling price in an escrow account to the government authorities and urged the Supreme Court once again to lift the ban on the sale of vehicles more than 2000 cc.

ALSO READ: Toyota, Mercedes-Benz to re-consider investment plans in India

The automakers' plea to lift the ban on the registration of diesel vehicles with engines bigger than 2000cc was backed by the Centre which assured the Supreme Court that the government will undertake a study to assess how much environment cess should be imposed on diesel vehicles. The Centre also said that engines with higher capacities pollute less and adhere to higher emission norms.

However, Mukul Rohatgi, the Attorney General of India said, "We will take the arguments of both sides into account, but there are huge investments of foreign companies that must be taken into account. When the highest court of the country is hearing the matter, tribunals should not threaten about extending the ban to 15 or 20 cities."

ALSO READ: Confidence has taken a big knock since SC diesel ban, says Toyota India

The Centre also said that in the West, all public buses and taxis are diesel and requested that diesel should not be viewed as the devil. Moreover, the Centre is planning to launch a scrapping scheme where people can come in, get a price from the government and dispose their old car. This policy is expected to come out by 2017, at a huge cost to the government.



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With half of the total bookings of around 30,000 units coming for automatic transmission variant, Toyota has asked its supplier to enhance supply of the transmission.

By India Today Web Desk: With an aim to reduce waiting period, Japanese auto major Toyota is ramping up production of its newly launched multi-purpose vehicle Innova Crysta in India to about 7,800 units a month to meet strong demand.

With half of the total bookings of around 30,000 units coming for automatic transmission variant, the company, which operates in India as a joint venture Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) with the Kirloskar group, has asked its supplier to enhance supply of the transmission.

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ALSO READ: Toyota to recall 170 units of hybrid Prius in India

"Since the launch of the Innova Crysta we have done up to 30,000 bookings, out of which 50 per cent are for the automatic transmission variant. Currently, we have a waiting period of over three months," TKM Director and Senior Vice President (Sales & Marketing) N Raja told.

When asked how is the company working to reduce the waiting period, he said: "We are increasing production. In May when we started we were producing around 6,000 units. In June, it went up to around 7,800 units. Going forward, depending on demand we expect to maintain that level."

Raja said considering demand for automatic transmission, TKM has asked its vendor to enhance supplies.

ALSO READ: Toyota sets the bar high with Innova Crysta

"We had planned for around 30-40 per cent of total demand of Innova Crysta to come for the automatic transmission but it is around 50-60 per cent at present, so we are working with our supplier to enhance its production," he added.

TKM had announced the launch of an all-new version of its popular multi-purpose vehicle Innova priced up to Rs 20.78 lakh (ex-showroom Mumbai) in May but it hasn't been able to sell the vehicle in Delhi-NCR due to ban on registration of diesel car and SUVs with engine capacity of 2,000 cc and above imposed by the Supreme Court.

"Demand for the Innova Crysta has come from other parts of the market. Yes, sales could have been higher with Delhi-NCR," he added.

ALSO READ: Spec Comparison: Toyota Innova Crysta vs Renault Lodgy vs Maruti Suzuki Ertiga vs Tata Aria

In June, the company sold 8,171 units of Innova Crysta, while in May it stood at around 6,600 units. TKM's overall sales in June stood at 13,502 units in the domestic market, up 29 per cent from the corresponding month last year.

On the outlook for the year, Raja said: "While the industry is poised for 7-9 per cent growth, we will be looking to maintain the same level as last year as we had a difficult time in the first six months of the current year."

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TKM had sold a total of 1,39,819 units last year.

ALSO READ: Toyota Innova Crysta receives 20000 bookings since launch

"Hopefully, the uncertainty over diesel will be resolved and with our other models like Etios also contributing, we expect our sales to pick up in the second half of the year," he added.

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Here are a few interesting facts about the Independence Day of the United States on the 4th of July, 1776.

By India Today Web Desk: The 4th of July, 1776 was the day when Americans celebrated their Declaration of Independence from Great Britain.

Interesting facts about the Independence day of the United States of America:

1. Only two people signed the Declaration of Independence on July 4 in the year 1776.

2. August 2, 1776, was the date when most people signed the Declaration of Independence.

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3. Out of the first five American presidents, three died on this date. In fact, the founding fathers, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams both died on the same date, i.e. July 4, 1826, on the 50th anniversary of the nation's Independence.

4. Most of the founding fathers agreed that July 4 is the perfect day to celebrate America's independence from Great Britain except John Adams.

5. Adams thought July 2 should be declared as America's Independence Day because, on July 2, the second Continental Congress voted in Philadelphia to declare independence from Britain.

Trumbull's Declaration of Independence

6. Legend has it that four immigrants got into an argument over who was most patriotic. To prove themselves, they ate as many hot dogs as they could. Since then, July 4 Hot Dog contest has become an annual tradition in the country.

7. Denmark, England, Norway, Portugal and Sweden too celebrate this day. This is because thousands of people emigrated to the US in the early 1900s. Some European celebrations also take place sometime around the 4th and near tourist destinations, to attract US travellers, or near American military bases.

8. The population of America was 2.5 million when the Declaration was signed.

9. The Philippines celebrates the US-Philippines Friendship Day on July 4 as this was the day when the Philippines earned its independence from America.

10. The 30th President of America, Calvin Coolidge, was born on July 4 in 1872.

Interested in General Knowledge and Current Affairs? Click here to stay informed and know what is happening around the world with our G.K. and Current Affairs section.

To get more updates on Current Affairs, send in your query by mail to education.intoday@gmail.com

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DUTA continues to protest against the UGC for implementation of new rules on API

By India Today Web Desk: Teachers continue to boycott evaluation of answer sheets this year. This time the academic calendar is likely to get affected acutely.



The new academic session for DU will begin in the next two weeks.. There is however, yet no clarity on the results for the first and second year batches of the university.



University officials on the issue:



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"It is a very complicated process and we do not know what will happen. Students can be given conditional promotion but this is also problematic," said an official.



Teachers at DU have been boycotting results since May 24, this year

The teachers are protesting against new amendments by the University Grants Commission in the Academic Performance Indicator

The teachers say that implementation of changes causes issues for teachers on ad-hoc as well as those permanent as it is likely to halt promotions of any kind.

Teacher's take:



On Saturday, July 2, DU Vice Chancellor asked college principals to convince teachers

The problem remains that even if teachers start evaluating right now, they will need another 30 days to declare the results

An addition to the problem is that teachers have now boycotted to carry forward the process of admission as well

The teachers said they understood students' concern, but were forced to take these steps to pressure the government into rolling back UGC's changes

Read: CBSE NEET Phase 2 2016: These important topics will help you score well

Read: KEAM 2016: Data sheet released at cee.kerala.gov.in



Click here for more updates from India Today Education



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According to the police, the teenager, who has been arrested, lured the Class 2 girl offering her sweets.

By India Today Web Desk: A six-year-old girl's body was found stuffed in a cooking vessel in Salem district of Tamil Nadu. The kid was raped and murdered by a 17-year-old boy.

ACCUSED LURED THE GIRL WITH SWEETS

According to the police, the teenager, who has been arrested, lured the Class 2 girl offering her sweets. The accused who is a school dropout then took the girl to his house and sexually assaulted her.

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Fearing that the girl will reveal about him to her parents, the boy strangled the little girl to death. He then put her body in a vessel, covered it and placed it inside his house.

"He also inflicted injuries on her cheeks and stomach using a blade," The Hindu quoted a police officer, as saying.

NEIGHBOURS SAW THE ACCUSED WITH GIRL

The girl's father approached the police on Sunday morning after he failed to locate the child. He told the cops that some people have seen the boy walking away with his daughter.

When the police reached the boy's house, he tried to get away but was caught. According to reports, the boy confessed to raping and killing the girl during interrogation.

Also Read:

Chennai Infosys techie Swathi's killer nabbed

Chennai Infosys techie murder: Man slapped Swathi at railway station days before she was hacked







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An American woman has been arrested for threatening to kill British astrophysicist and cosmologist Stephen Hawking.

By India Today Web Desk: A 37-year old American woman was arrested for bombarding renowned British astrophysicist Stephen Hawking with dozens of death threats at the Starmus science festival in Spain.

The woman who is believed to be mentally challenged, stalked him on social media before following him to the island. She sent him hundreds of disturbing messages on Twitter and by email for several years.

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According to Spanish News Today , Prof Hawking's daughter, Lucy raised the alarm when the same woman intended to attend his talk in Tenerife. The woman named as Jenny Theresa C. sent threatening messages "I am going to kill you" and "I'm next to you and can kill you", to the scientist at the event.

The woman who was arrested on charges of harassment is also said to have refused a treatment for her condition. In the restraining order slapped by the police, the woman was banned from being anywhere within 500m of the scientist or communicating with him on social media for eight months.

However, the woman confessed that she didn't mean to harm Hawking and claimed she was head over heels in love with the professor, reports RT.

Following the incident, security was beefed up at the event, this in turn led to rumors of a terrorist threat at the event.

One last photograph from #Starmus2016 - Stephen Hawking talking about the book that inspired a generation, and me. pic.twitter.com/hccEz4Zgos Brian Cox (@ProfBrianCox) July 1, 2016

At the event Hawking delivered a lecture entitled "A brief history of time" where he predicted that humans would not survive another thousand years on Earth because of the fragility of the planet, Spanish News Today said.

Many internationally renowned researchers in physics, chemistry, medicine, and economics attended the lecture where the physicist urged governments and public institutions to take necessary precautions and invest more time in space research in the event of an apocalypse.





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This is as Russian as it can get. This woman gave birth in the middle of a jungle even as a group of bears picked up her scent. But the day was saved by some heroic police officers who rescued the woman and her family.

By India Today Web Desk:



With Russia having developed a reputation for being the source of some unbelievable stories, this incident will come as no surprise.

According to a UPI report -- a Russian woman gave birth in the middle of a remote Siberian forest as authorities worked to protect her and her family from surrounding group of very aroused bears.

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The woman -- Aleksandra Matrosova, was spending the weekend with her family on a routine fishing trip outside the town of Mirny in Yakutia Republic. Matrosova started getting labour pains during the trip.

"I decided to help my husband and relatives with fishing. The lake was not too far, but the road was impassable," the woman told Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper.



Her family tried to rush her to the nearest hospital when their car got trapped in a swamp on the way back.

Her husband was eventually able to contact a local hospital who sent emergency crews to take care of the situation. Unfortunately, the swamp prevented the hospital vehicles from entering the area.

In the meantime, a group of bears had picked up their scent and came closer. Soon, the police also reached the spot on foot and decided to tackle the bears in their own way. In a dramatic scene, cops fired their guns in the air while the woman delivered the child right there in the freezing forest with the help of her family.

Several bears had gathered in the area due to mating season. "Bears have their mating season - it's a dangerous time! Their huge footprints were everywhere. We were shooting and making noise for at least two hours to make sure the predators didn't come close," rescuers said.





By the time hospital staff arrived at ground zero on foot, the infant had been delivered. The medics then helped carry Matrosova and her newborn girl back to her car and they were transported to a hospital.

Both were said to be in "satisfactory" condition after experiencing "great stress" during the birth.

Like we said, it is indeed, as Russian as it can get.

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Talking about the territory of Jammu and Kashmir that was captured by Pakistan under the pretext of a tribal attack on the state from across the border in 1947, Syama Prasad Mookerjee termed it as "national humiliation".

By Siddhartha Rai: BJP ideologue and rightwing mascot Syama Prasad Mookerjee - projected by the party and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) as the "unifying hero" of Jammu and Kashmir who got "martyred" for opposing Article 370 - was in favour of a military solution to the Kashmir problem. He had claimed that then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru was opposed to the idea.

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The information came to light as several records related to the late founder of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh (BJS) - precursor to today's Bharatiya Janata Party and a Nehru-baiter - emerged during the two-week-long exhibition on Mookerjee, going on at the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library (NMML).

BLAST FROM THE PAST



The statements of Mookerjee that have been referred to here are part of the 1952 Lok Sabha Debates, volume -II, part-II). The exhibition was inaugurated by BJP chief Amit Shah and has been billed as a subtle undermining of Congress-Left dominance over the institution.

The BJP went on to attack Congress veteran Jaipal Reddy for his remarks made in connection with Shah's opening speech at the inauguration of the Mookerjee exhibition at NMML. While Shah had castigated Nehru for taking the Kashmir tangle to the UN, calling it a "historic blunder", Reddy had advised Shah to read history pointing that Mookerjee too was part of the Nehru cabinet when the decision was taken.

Though, Mookerjee accepted that he was part of the cabinet "when the decision was taken" in the Parliamentary speech of August 7, 1952, he also opened a veiled attack on Nehru as he referred to the "extraordinary circumstances" under which that decision was taken - circumstances that "I have no right and do not wish to disclose"- he had said.

"Instead of advising the party president to read history, Reddy should brush up his own knowledge of history. He, like a true Congressman, continues to misled people when he says that Mookerjee resigned as Sheikh Abdullah was not being effectively checkmated which is squarely false.

MOOKERJEE'S VIEWS

He should straighten the confusions in his reading of India's post-independence history. He should dwell on how to explain the Nehru-beholden faction ridden Congress post Sardar Patel when it had become a one-man driven sycophantic conglomerate," said Anirban Ganguly, director of the Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee Research Foundation (SPMRF) and a member of BJP's policy research department.

Mookerjee was indeed critical of the United Nations (UN) in his speech of August, 7, 1952, that he made in the lower House of the Parliament. "In any case, it does not seem as though we are going to get much or anything at all out of the UNO," he had said with regard to the Kashmir matter having been taken by Nehru to the international body.

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Talking about the territory of Jammu and Kashmir that was captured by Pakistan under the pretext of a tribal attack on the state from across the border in 1947, Mookerjee termed it as "national humiliation".

"We say that Kashmir is a part of India. It is so. So, a part of India is today in the occupation of the enemy and we are helpless. We are peace-lovers no doubt. But, peace lovers to what extent? Will we even allow a portion of our territory to be occupied by the enemy?," Mookerjee had said.

ALSO READ:

Aligarh: Radical right-wing group trains women to raise arms against love-jihad

NDA govt bringing right-wing shift in Indias foreign policy



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By Brijesh Pandey: Had it not been for a bicycle, Arjun Ram Meghwal would have been just another Member of Parliament. While on one hand we see MPs and ministers cruising into Parliament with their latest toys - Range Rovers, Land Rovers Audi, Mercedes, Meghwal chose a bicycle as his transport. And the contrast was so stark that he was nearly mobbed by media persons on his first two rides to the Parliament.

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Yesterday, when Meghwal got a call from Amit Shah, he was one of the three trail blazers (or rather cycle blazers) along with Arjun Madhav Dave and Mansukhbhai Andaviya, who ditched the comfort of a luxury car for environment-friendly bicycle. All three are likely to be inducted in the major Cabinet reshuffle on July 5. Meghwal, a parliamentarian from Bikaner, Rajasthan started riding a bicycle when Delhi implemented the odd-even rule to manage traffic. While MPs were provided with buses and other transport to reach Parliament, Meghwal chose the bicycle.

BICYCLE AN UNUSUAL SIGHT AT MP PARKING LOT



Interestingly, an unusual sight at the parking slot for MPs is a bicycle with Meghwal's name on a placard. The MP's initiative encouraged two of his partymen to follow suit.Inspired by Meghwal, Arjun Madhav Dave, known for his long association with the Save Narmada campaign, also adopted a bicycle for his transport. Dave also has a long-standing association with RSS.

Mansukhbhai Andaviya from Gujarat is the third MP to follow suit. In his signature kurta pyjama, Mansukhbhai can be seen pedalling his way from one gate of Parliament to another. Bicycles with the names of the MPs have became a star attraction at the parking spot usually crowded by Lexus' and Audi's.

MORE JOIN THE BICYCLE BRIGADE

The initiative by Meghwal continues to inspire several others. MPs like Manoj Tiwari and KTS Tulsi too have decided to shun cars for cycles. It will be interesting to see if the MPs choose to cycle to the Rashtrapati Bhavan to take oath as ministers of Modi's Cabinet. The sight would definitely be a showstopper.

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The attacker parked his car outside a hospital opposite the consulate at about 2.15am and detonated his device after being approached by two security men, killing him and lightly wounding them, it said, quoting a security spokesman.

Three further blasts rocked the location of the bombing hours later, a witness told Reuters, as police carried out what appeared to be controlled explosions near the site.

A video sent by the witness showed police taking cover behind vehicles and covering their ears before an explosion sounded.

Reuters could not immediately reach officials to give more details. A photograph on the Sabq news website showed what appeared to be the remains of a man lying next to a taxi.

The statement on state television referred to the location of the consulate by its street address and did not refer directly to the presence of the diplomatic mission there, an apparent effort to downplay the attack's likely target.

A spokesman for the US State Department said it was aware of reports of a blast in Jeddah and was seeking more information from the Saudi government. He added that all staff at the consulate were accounted for.

A State Department message sent to US citizens in Saudi Arabia noted the reports of the attack and reiterated earlier advice to remain aware of their surroundings and take extra precautions when travelling in the country.

The witness said the area had been closed off by the security forces and that helicopters were flying overhead. He said the explosion appeared to have taken place about 20 metres (65 feet) from an outer checkpoint of the consulate. Concrete barriers protect the street outside the consulate.

Islamic State has carried out a series of bombing and shooting attacks in Saudi Arabia since mid-2014 that have killed scores of people, mostly members of the Shi'ite Muslim minority and security services.
By PTI: Lucknow, Jul 1 (PTI) Former BSP leader in Uttar Pradesh Assembly, Swami Prasad Maurya, today held a meeting of his supporters and hinted at floating a new political outfit soon.

Maurya had last week quit the BSP charging Mayawati with auctioning tickets for the elections. Claiming the support of over 10 sitting BSP MLAs, he said they were in touch with him and will come out in the open at an opportune time. At the meeting, 25 to 30 former MLAs, MPs and ministers who had either quit or been expelled by BSP, were present on the dais. Addressing them, Maurya was equally critical of both the Samajwadi Party and BJP. "We will present an alternative before the people of the state," he said.

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Launching a sharp attack on BSP chief Mayawati, he said there will be a full-scale war.

Maurya took a dig at Mayawati saying she had the wrong impression that only she could fill up the biggest rally ground in the state capital -- Ramabai Ambedkar Maidan. "We will hold a rally on September 22 and all will come to know that it is not just Mayawati who can hold a massive rally," he said.

Besides some BSP MLAs who had been recently expelled by Mayawati, some others who claimed that they had been given tickets for the coming polls after "complying with all the conditions" and their tickets were later withdrawan, were also present in the meeting. Within a week of Maurya leaving BSP, R K Chaudhary, another senior BSP leader and a close lieutenant of Mayawati, quit the party levelling similar charges against Mayawati. PTI SAB SMI RCJ PAL RCJ

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"Shiv Sena is a party with "self-esteem" and it will never go to anyone asking for a berth and won't stand at anyone's door helplessly," Uddhav Thackeray said at a press conference today.

By Kamlesh Damodar Sutar: A day before the BJP is set to reshuffle its Cabinet, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray hinted at its discontent over being ignored. At a press conference at Sena Bhawan in Mumbai, Sena President Uddhav said that his party will not "beg for a Cabinet berth."

"Shiv Sena is a party with "self-esteem" and it will never go to anyone asking for a berth and won't stand at anyone's door helplessly," he said

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WHAT HE SAID



Uddhav also mentioned that the Minister of State (MoS) berth that was offered to Anil Desai in the last rejig. However, they rejected the same because they have been trying to get a cabinet berth. Uddhav's statement is also aimed at the proposed expansion of Devendra Fadnavis Cabinet. Although Shiv Sena has four cabinet ministries in the state government, the party wasn't happy with the portfolios. He also mentioned that a discussion was in place with chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, but nothing had been finalised at the state level.



Also ReadModi Cabinet 2.0: Who joins, who rises, and who goes out

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The homemade gadget was like an "explosive experiment" that was probably designed to "make a large noise, maybe make a flash," concocted by someone with a basic understanding of chemistry, said Lt. Mark Torre, commanding officer of the New York Police Department's bomb squad.

There was no evidence that the explosion was related to terrorism and there were no specific, credible threats on New York over the July Fourth weekend, the authorities said.

The injured man, who police did not identify, was walking in the park with two friends when he stepped on a rock covering the explosive. He was undergoing surgery to his left foot at a hospital and was in stable condition, fire officials said.

Investigators don't believe the man who stepped on it or his friends are responsible for creating the explosive and officials asked that anyone with information about it contact the police.

"We've seen a lot of experimentation with homemade fireworks," Torre said, adding the Central Park explosive may have been designed to go off at an earlier time, even a day before, but for whatever reason did not.

The 11 a.m. blast on the east side of Central Park could be heard for blocks, leaving some with the belief that it was part of a July Fourth celebration.

Tourist John Murphy, visiting the city from Connecticut, stayed with the injured man until emergency responders arrived and placed a tunicate on his leg.

"His left leg was severely damaged, all bone and muscle," said Murphy.
A businessman from China has been conned by an Australian escort agency after he paid a whopping two million pounds believing he was going to spend the night with Hollywood A-lister Megan Fox, a Victoria's Secret model and another Chinese celebrity.

By India Today Web Desk:

According to Australian daily The Sunday Telegraph, Yu Xu paid USD 3.7 million for supposed encounters with Fox, Victoria's Secret model Candice Swanepoel and Chinese actress Yang Ying also known as Angelababy.

Photo: laughspark.com

Conned From Down Under

The newspaper stated that Xu believed that he had arranged for the women to meet him in China. After the agency failed to fulfil the agreement, Xu has taken the legal route against the Sydney-based Royal Court Escorts.

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Xu claimed that he had been told that he would be provided with 'female escorts of international repute for sexual services'.

Interestingly, none of the celebrities mentioned by XU have been known to be escorts.





A USD 3.7 million deal

"It was agreed that if he paid the sum of USD 3.7 million, the agency would provide Megan Fox, Candice Swanepoel and Angelababy as escorts for sexual services," said Xu in a statement.

Photo: wallpaperswide.com

Xu had paid the sum in August 2014, but the agreement lapsed after Angelababy reportedly failed to meet him.

"He wants to recover the cost and is suing the agency's parent company for breach of conduct, misleading and deceptive conduct, and unjust enrichment," the report stated.

"It is understood the company will defend the claim but it is yet to file a defence statement with the court."

Photo: dramafever.com

According to the Sunday Telegraph the number posted on the website was not working.



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By PTI: New Delhi, Jul 4 (PTI) Deepening cooperation in areas of hydrocarbons, maritime security, trade and investment, agriculture and food will be major focus of Prime Minister Narendra Modis five-day visit to four key countries of African continent beginning Thursday.

The four countries -- Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania and Kenya, are considered gateway to many landlocked African nations and Modi, on his first bilateral visit, will try to bring a new momentum to Indias ties with the continent where China has been trying to increase its clout.

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The Prime Ministers visit comes within weeks of President Pranab Mukherjee and Vice President Hamid Ansari travelling to Africa with an aim to strengthen and reinvigorate Indias ties with the nations of the continent.

Briefing the media, Amar Sinha, Secretary, Economic Relations, in the Ministry of External Affairs said a number of pacts will be signed with each of the four countries in a variety of areas during the Prime Ministers visit.

India imports large quantity of pulses from Africa and, during the visit, a pact with Mozambique is likely to be firmed up for long-term procurement of the commodity beginning with procurement of 100,000 tonnes. The government has been drawing a lot of criticism over the past few months over rising price of pulses.

Under the agreement, India may support a network of farmers in the country who will be given logistical support, technology and seeds and pulses will be procured from them through government agencies.

India will also look at expanding cooperation with Mozambique in the hydrocarbons sector. Mozambique is the third largest exporter of natural gas after Qatar and Australia and a number of Indian companies including ONGC have invested heavily in the hydrocarbons sector in that country.

Modis first destination will be Mozambique where he will have bilateral discussions with President Nyusi on July 7. On the second leg of his tour from July 8 to 9, Modi will be in South Africa.

On July 10, the Prime Minister will visit Tanzania and, on the final leg of his trip, he will travel to Kenya.

The Prime Minister will address the Indian community in all the four countries. He will address large gatherings in Johannesburg and Nairobi which have significant number of Indian origin people.

"We are looking at consolidating gains of the India -Africa Forum Summit," said Sinha. MORE PTI MPB SK

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By Maha Siddiqui: People are reeling under rising prices of pulses. The cost of the once humble dal has been consistently shooting up over the past year. The rising prices of pulses have been attributed to a shortfall brought about by the drought seen in the last two years.

As India scrambles for options, it has decided to sign an MoU with Mozambique for import of pulses. Secretary (ER) in the Ministry of External Affairs Amar Sinha said, "We will sign an MoU on government-to-government purchase of pulses from Mozambique. We are in the very final stages of decision-making. We are hopeful it will come through."

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MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING TO BE INKED SOON

This MoU will be inked during PM Narendra Modi's first visit to the African continent from July 7. Mozambique will be his first stop in the four-nation tour, the other three being Kenya, Tanzania and South Africa. In the 12-hour-long stop the government hopes to talk to Mozambique about support on UNSC expansion, energy and food security matters.

Mozambique grows around 70,000 tonnes of pulses, mainly tur dal which is largely imported to India already. But now the government wants to have a long-term arrangement. An Indian delegation headed by the Consumer Affairs Secretary had recently visited Africa to explore a consistent arrangement for tur dal supply. India is looking at working through agents like cooperatives on the lines of Anand diary. The ideas is to create a network of farmers who could be assisted through agricultural extensions with better seeds, better farming practices and ultimately to collect the produce through a government agency.

For the time being, the government seems to have abandoned the idea of land leasing in African nations to meet India's dal shortfall.

Amar Sinha termed the land leasing concept 'controversial' especially in the light of an Oxfam report that suggested it leads to displacement of conventional farmers. An Oxfam report in 2012 had said "all too often, forced evictions of poor farmers are a consequence of these rapidly increasing land deals in developing countries."

PM MODI TO VISIT MOZAMBIQUE



Modi's visit to Mozambique will take place 34 years after Indira Gandhi last visited the country. Apart from food security, Mozambique is crucial to India's energy security as well. It is the third largest exporter of natural gas after Qatar and Australia. Nearly a quarter of India investments in Africa are in Mozambique amounting to $8 billion.

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The 26-year-old actor used to go on "epic five-hour walks" whenever he was tempted to have a drink.

Daniel Radcliffe first decided to give up drinking six years ago, but ended up suffering a relapse. (Photo: AP)

By Indo-Asian News Service: Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe turned into a gym fanatic in a bid to stay off booze. He says he has not had an alcoholic beverage in three years.

The 26-year-old actor used to go on "epic five-hour walks" whenever he was tempted to have a drink, reports telegraph.co.uk. He is now on a strict daily fitness regime which sees him working out in the gym and running.

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"Like the cliche of anybody who is quitting something, I really got into exercise," he said. Radcliffe spent most of his childhood in the public eye, becoming the face of one of the most successful film franchises of all time after a decade making the "Harry Potter" films. He became one of Britain's richest actors in the process and is worth an estimated 74 million pounds.

"I change when I'm drunk. I'm one of those people who changes. There is something in any person who drinks in a way that's clearly not good for them, something that is attracted to that chaos," he said.

The actor added: "I can't tell you what kind of drunk I am because I don't remember what kind of drunk I am. I think I'm probably great - while I'm conscious. But then I have to be looked after and ultimately I don't want to wake up to 20 text messages along the lines of 'Where are you? Dude, are you Okay?'"

He first decided to give up drinking six years ago, but ended up suffering a relapse.

However, the actor claims not to have touched a drop in three years and that he is in a better place now.

"I feel a lot more settled mentally, and am more comfortable with what makes me happy."



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The accused Jayshankar Kushwah and Rajesh Rawat purchased gold coins from prominent online shopping websites using credit cards of unsuspecting citizens.

By Tanseem Haider: Delhi Police crime branch busted an online credit card fraud racket with the arrest of two people on Monday. Jayshankar Kushwah and Rajesh Rawat, both residents of New Delhi's Sarai Rohilla with a Masters in Computer Applications, were arrested after the police received a tip off on their whereabouts.

On April 4, businessman Gautam was duped of Rs 2.52 lakh by the duo. Gautam filed a complaint with the Kalkaji police station after the duo used his credit card to shop on Flipkart and Snapdeal.

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Investigations revealed that the duo had issued a duplicate SIM card of the one owned by Gautam. On finding out about the duplicate SIM, the crime branch swung into action.

THE DUO DUPED CITIZENS ACROSS THE NATION

Police said the accused had been siphoning off cash using credit cards of several unsuspecting citizens across the country for some time now. They duped citizens under the pretext of providing new credit card with enhanced credit.

The crime branch got a tip-off about Kushwah's presence near Videocon Towers in Jhandewalan. Acting on the information, they nabbed Kushwahand later arrested Rawat from Motiyah Bag locality. Cops recovered two gold coins, nine mobile phones, 22 SIM Cards, fake IDs including anAadhar card, four dongles and a computer from the accused.

Here's What You Need To Know The duo obtained details of people interested in getting a new credit card with enhanced credit limit from the search service 'Justdial'. They registered with the online portal using the name 'j2k system pvt. Ltd'. They later visited the unsuspecting citizens and sought the details of their existing credit cards. With the help of Delhi police's online registration facility for NCR, they would contact the customer care of the mobile company used by the victim. They would ask the companies to block the SIM cards to prevent the victims from getting any SMS on their phones about online transactions. After blocking the original SIM, they would visit the outlet of cellular company and with the help of a copy of the victim's ID proof, obtained a duplicate SIM. Before making any online transactions they verified the available limit of credit cards. Based on the credit limit they used to purchase gold coins through Amazon, Snapdeal, Flipkart, etc. The duo would enter an incomplete or fake address on the e-commerce websites and get the product delivered midway to avoid suspicion. They sold gold coins in open market with the help of e-bills. They had even sold coins to the 'Cash for Gold in Delhi' outlet in Delhi. Till now, five other victims have been identified and they have already lodged complaints. Police said that efforts are being made to locate other victims with the help of CDR analysis and data of e-shopping websites. While Kushwah is a native of Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh, Rawat is a native of Shivpuri in Madhya Pradesh. Kushwah and Rawat have completed their Masters of Computer Application. Police said that being a JAVA developer, Kushwah had made software programmes for as many as 12 government hospitals in Delhi. Both Rawat and Kushwah were classmates in their under graduate course.

Also read:

Fake call centres in Delhi, NCR alarming, say security agencies





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We have always looked at Kolkata as an artistic space and believed that it deserves to have products that come from a creative mindset. We have seen that the men in Kolkata have a keen sense of design. Perhaps because of their upbringing or exposure to the city's rich heritage in textiles. They understand textures, fabric and drapes-which are all elements that we usually play around with while creating our designs.

Unfortunately, the Kolkata man is behind his Mumbai and Delhi counterpart who are experimental in terms of their personal choices. They are always going out and picking up new styles and that is very encouraging for designers like us. The young Kolkatan in contrast, is both traditional at heart with a global outlook. They want to look more luxurious, yet low key and elegant. With our new store at Wood burn Court Road, they have quite warmly imbibed our draped philosophy where less and subtle has become the new 'admirable'.

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A look from Shantanu & Nikhil's Cabinet Mission collection.

This is a concept or philosophy that our label, Shantanu & Nikhil has been nurturing and advocating for almost a decade. In Kolkata, the men have a penchant for our hand-woven and organic fabrics like Indian raw silk, which has texture and structure. Cocktail Sherwanis and Bandhgalas with unique detailing are instantly recognised for their subtle, intricate details that make 'less is more' synonymous with the S&N Man. That's why our mantra is to keep it simple, and keep away from bling this summer.

A sober colour palette with neutral colours can be mixed and matched with almost any pop of colour should you feel the need. One of the most shining examples of Kolkata's sense of style would be tennis star, Leander Paes. His has that certain old-world charm. For us he is the ideal urban, global Indian who transfuses a perfect traditional Indian look and contemporary elements with lan. Speaking of celebrities, one of S&N's personal feather in our very fashionable cap was the opportunity to dress Amitabh Bachchan for the TV game show Kaun Banega Crorepati in 2004. It gave us a boost of confidence that helped us become more sure of our sartorial expression. Bachchan ji ended starting a trend in contemporary formals with the TV series.

It started a new phase for us too, with the who's who from Bollywood including Abhishek Bachchan, Siddharth Malhotra, Arjun Rampal, Riteish Deshmukh, Hrithik Roshan and the oh-so-whacky Ranveer Singh embracing our designs. With our label taking off, our first stand-alone men's store in Kolkata was a long time coming. Because it was in Kolkata, we wanted the store to have a timeless feel to it. We focused on straight clean lines and details on the apparel were in small motifs. The racks itself have the luxury of copper and brass with an antique Indian feel. These elements evoke an emotion.

Most Indian men today want to feel India without looking typically Indian. For this we have introduced looped and draped kurtas to the signature Bandhgalas, waistcoats and bespoke shoes--whether it is ceremonial or occasion wear. This season, less is more for us. The look defines a fine balance between drape and structure in decadent tones of blue and ivory.

Leander Paes is an ideal urban, global Indian for us who transfuses a perfect traditional Indian look with a contemporary twist with elan. Leander Paes is an ideal urban, global Indian for us who transfuses a perfect traditional Indian look with a contemporary twist with elan.

A draped kurta paired with a well-fitted jacket, portrays the modern Indian man who is opting for the bespoke route. They prefer classic hues and slicker cuts that complement their body type. Clean lines and a perfect fit are a must. But we are known for our drape philosophy and ability to put India on contemporary fashion map of the world, we felt that the Indian man was ready to carry it off as well. Drape kurta is the new staple, it is unique and men like to wear it for various ceremonies and festive occasions.

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What we have done with the kurta is make it as comfortable as a shirt or T-shirt. So we engineer it in such a way that they can just slip it on. If you wearing drapes don't do embroidery on top. Otherwise, in terms of shapes any one can sport it. Size doesn't matter. So tuck into that rosogolla without worry. With our drapes, there's always room. We feel menswear needs a stronger identity, and that can happen only through more standalone stores. We are now on an expanding spree, and recently launched our second men's couture flagship store at Kalaghoda in Mumbai. We will be opening in Ahmedabad and Hyderabad as well.

The fashion rulebook this season.

1 Less is more, go for minimalism

2 Opt for a fine balance between drape and structure

3 Look decadent in tones of blue and ivory.

4 A draped kurta paired with a well fitted jacket works well for the Indian man

5 Clean lines and a perfect fit are a must.

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By India Today Web Desk: Pakistan today rejected allegations of its involvement in the Dhaka terrorist attack, calling the reports "baseless, irresponsible and provocative" and blamed the Indian media for its "malicious intent" in blaming Islamabad for the killing of 20 people on Friday.



A spokesperson of the Nawaz Sharif government cited the adviser to the Prime Minster of Bangladesh, Professor Gowher Rizvi, refuting the Indian media story attributed to him regarding the involvement of the ISI as a "proof" of the Indian medias "malicious" intent.



Bangladesh's top ministers, including Information and Broadcasting Minister Hasanul Haq had accused the Pakistani intelligence agency of having connections with the Jamaat-e-Islami cadres in the past.



Rizvi is believed to have contacted Pakistan's High Commissioner to Bangladesh to deny that he issued any statement against Pakistan. He also advised the Pakistani envoy to convey this clarification to the government of Pakistan "to avoid any misunderstanding between the two countries".



"Pakistan deeply appreciates Prof Gowhers timely rebuttal to the Indian medias reports. Pakistan has strongly condemned the terrorist attack in Dhaka and expressed solidarity with the Government and the brotherly people of Bangladesh and offered condolences and sympathized with the families of the victims," a statement issued by the Pakistani spokesperson said.



"Pakistan condemns terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. Being itself one of the biggest victims of terrorism, Pakistan welcomes Prof Gowher Rizvis call for international cooperation to fight the menace of terrorism," it added.



DHAKA ATTACK



On Friday, unidentified militants killed 20 people - including an Indian woman, Tarishi Jain, nine Italians, seven Japanese and an American - inside an upmarket restaurant in Dhaka, before security forces stormed the building and ended a 12-hour standoff on Saturday.



Terror group Islamic State said it was responsible for the attack, but that claim has yet to be confirmed. Six gunmen were killed during the police operation and one was captured.



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Tarishi's friend Faraaz Hossain and Abinta Kabir were with her cowering inside a toilet thinking they would evade the rampaging terrorists.

By India Today Web Desk: "Terrorists have entered the restaurant. I am very afraid and not sure whether I will be able to come out alive. They are killing everyone here," this was the last message of Tarishi Jain to her father.Tarishi hid herself alongwith her two friends inside a toilet when heavily armed terrorists stormed into an upscale Dhaka restaurant.

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20 people were killed in the bloody siege at the Holey Artisan bakery which lasted nearly 12 hours. Reports say the militants did not harm anyone who could recite verses from Quran. But butchered others.

Dhaka attack: One of the terrorists was educated boy from rich family, who once met Shraddha Kapoor

Tarishi's friend Faraaz Hossain and Abinta Kabir were with her cowering inside a toilet thinking they would evade the rampaging terrorists. But their luck soon ran out.

FARAAZ CHOSE NOT LEAVE HIS FRIENDS ALONE

The three, who studied together in a prestigious Dhaka school, were killed by the terrorists but not before they together wrote a story of friendship which will be for long.

Tarishi Jain Tarishi Jain

According to a report in Indian Express , terrorists have Faraaz Hossain an option to leave but the 20-year-old had decided that he is not going to move out of the restaurant without his two other friends.

Post Dhaka attack: Why an online magazine interview is giving India a headache

"Since Tarishi and Abinta were wearing western clothes, the terrorists asked Faraaz where they were from. He reportedly told them that they were from India and the US," the report quoted sources, as saying.

'WE WON'T HARM BENGALIS'

Sumir Barai, who is a cook Holey Artisan bakery, also took shelter inside a washroom when the terrorists barged in firing in the air.

"Bengali people, come out. You don't need to be so tense. We will not kill Bengalis. We will only kill foreigners," one of the terrorists shouted. Barai told New York Times that the attackers were eager to see their action being reported on the social media.

"After killing the patrons, they asked the staff to turn on the restaurant's wireless network. Then they used customers' telephones to post images of the bodies on the internet," the NYT said.

TARISHI TO BE CREMATED IN GURGAON

Tarishi Jain's mortal remains were flown from Dhaka to Gurgaon today (July 4) where her last rites will be performed later in the evening. The Jain family, which belongs to Ferozabad in Uttar Pradesh, has been running a garment business in Dhaka's Baridhara locality since the last two decades.

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19-year-old Tarishi, a student at UC Berkeley, was among the 20 hostages killed in the terror attack at Holey Artisan Bakery cafe in Dhaka's Gulshan area on Saturday.

Also Read:

Dhaka attack: Bangladesh minister blames Pakistan government, ISI



Dhaka attack: Five of killed IS terrorists were Bangladeshi citizens and wanted by police

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Tarishi who died in the Dhaka terrorist attacks spent her childhood in Firozabad before her father shifted to Bangladesh for business.

Tarishi who died in the Dhaka terrorist attacks spent her childhood in Firozabad before her father shifted to Bangladesh for business.

By Siraj Qureshi: Firozabad in Uttar Pradesh has been mourning 19-year-old Tarishi Jain's death who was cremated today evening.

Tarishi who died in the Dhaka terrorist attacks spent her childhood in Firozabad before her father shifted to Bangladesh for business.

Latest Developments Tarishi's body arrived in Delhi today and was cremated in Gurgaon Sector 29. There were speculations that Tarishi's body will be brought to Firozabad for cremation, but her uncle Ajit Jain informed that her body was taken to Gurgaon from Delhi airport. Talking about her academic performance, Jain said that Tarishi was a very bright student and was active in various activities like athletics, badminton basketball. She excelled in classical dance and liked cooking. Ajit said that although Tarishi was born in Bangaldesh and studied there, she spent a lot of her childhood years in Firozabad. Tarishi wanted to be a lawywe he said.

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GOVERNMENT REACTS TO TARISHI'S DEATH

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav condemned the terror attack and expressed deep condolences on this tragedy.

Samajwadi Party Vyapar Sabha held a protest demonstration in Firozabad's Gandhi Park and burned an effigy of terrorism. Local SP leader Nitin Verma claimed that the central government was responsible for terrorist activities growing in India.

Samajwadi Party's former city president Mohammad Shahid Ansari said that it was time for the Muslims to unite against those people who were defaming Islam by committing such cowardly acts in the name of this religion of peace.

Also ReadDhaka attack: Indian girl killed, Sushma Swaraj expresses grief

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Officials said the couple would lose their climbing certificates and be banned from mountaineering in the Himalayan nation in future.

Dinesh Rathos posing at what he claims is the Mt Everest. (Photo: Rathod's Facebook profile)

By Indo-Asian News Service: The Nepal government will take action against an Indian couple who allegedly altered their photographs to falsely depict themselves on the Mount Everest summit, an official said on Monday.

The couple allegedly altered their photographs to show as if they had climbed the summit of Mount Everest, and action will be taken against them as per existing laws, Xinhua news agency quoted Sudarshan Dhakal, chief of the Nepali Department of Tourism, as saying.

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PROBE REVEALED CLAIM WAS FALSE

A probe was launched into the claim by the Indian couple Dinesh Rathod and his spouse Tarakeshwari of having climbed the world's tallest peak on May 21.

Nepal's Tourism Department had issued climbers certificates to the couple after they submitted a photograph of themselves on the Mount Everest.

"Their climbing claim has turned out to be false," Dhakal said adding that the government will form a committee to decide further action against them.

Officials said the couple would lose their climbing certificates and be banned from mountaineering in the Himalayan nation in future.

Also Read:

Major Deepika Rathore conquers Mount Everest again

Dying on Mount Everest: All you need to know about the Everest Death Zone



--- ENDS ---
BJP minister Harsh Vardhan said the Modi government has achieved in two years what the previous governments couldn't in 20 years.

By Siraj Qureshi: Union Minister for Science and Technology and Earth Sciences, Dr Harsh Vardhan today said that the Modi government has achieved in two years what the previous governments couldn't in 20 years.

Focussing on Modi government's achievements, the minister said that the Mauritius route of black money has been blocked, technology is being brought in from all over the globe and Japanese tehnology is being used to run India's first bullet train.

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The BJP minister, who was attending international convention of the Vaishy community, said that the Modi government is using science and technology for preventing corruption. The minister even talked about how the system of sending subsidy in bank accounts with just one click was devised by the Modi government and is highly successful, saving the government over Rs 36, 500 crores. This amount lined the pockets of the corrupt politicians and officials during the Congress government's rule.

DIGITALISATION OF ECONOMY



He even said that the Modi government is fast moving towards the digitalisation of the economy, mandating electronic payments in most of its schemes. E-auctions, E-tender, Direct Benefit Transfers have brought a great deal of transparency, he said.

From spectrum auctions to coal blocks, the government has earned Rs 4.5 lakh crores by adapting this transparent system of transactions, he added.

MINISTER APPEALS YOUTH TO DOWNLOAD NARENDRA MODI APP

Harsh Vardhan even appealed to the youth to download the Narendra Modi app and directly send their valuable recommendations to the prime minister.

--- ENDS ---
By PTI: Cuttack, Jul 4 (PTI) Industrialist Trailokya Mishra, his wife Ashamanjari and son Sabyasachi, facing a dowry harassment case, were today granted an interim relief by the Orissa High Court when it restrained the state police from arresting them till July 29.

The industrialist family was facing arrest in the dowry harassment case brought against them by Sabyasachis wife Lopamudra Mishra.

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Taking up the anticipatory bail applications filed by the Mishra family, Justice S K Mishra directed the police to submit in the court the relevant case records and posted the next date of hearing on July 29. PTI COR AAM NN PAL PS

--- ENDS ---
By PTI: Mumbai, Jul 4 (PTI) While her contemporaries Priyanka Chopra and Deepika Padukone are doing films in the West, actress Sonakshi Sinha is in no rush and says she will think about doing a Hollywood movie if offered a powerful role.

Priyanka made a name for herself on small screen in the US through her television show "Quantico" and now she will be making her debut in Hollywood with "Baywatch".

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Deepika too, will be seen opposite Hollywood star Vin Diesel in "xXx: The Return of Xander Cage".

Asked about her Hollywood aspirations, Sonakshi told reporters, "Right now I have no intention as such but if I get a really good role... I feel they (Priyanka, Deepika) have got some really good characters and roles to play in Hollywood.

"So if something like that comes my way I will think about it, but right now I dont really intend to."

The 29-year-old actress was speaking at the trailer launch of her upcoming movie "Akira".

The AR Murugadoss-directed action-thriller will be Sonakshis first release after a gap of almost one and a half years. Her last film was "Tevar" which hit the theaters in January, 2015.

The "Lootera" star, however, is unaffected by the gap and chooses to focus on working rather than worrying about the release date.

"Ive been super busy in the gap, I have been shooting Akira, Force 2 as well, I am starting Noor tomorrow and I am excited for that. I have been just doing my work.

"Honestly, for me its all about that, I concentrate on work, wear my blinders, do my work, do it well and when it (the film) has to release, it releases," she said.

"Akira" features filmmaker Anurag Kashyap in a negative role and also stars Konkona Sensharma.

Sonakshi, who worked with Murugadoss in "Holiday" which also starred Akshay Kumar, said for "Akira" the "Airlift" actor just gave her one tip which she was not able to follow.

"The biggest tip he (Akshay) gave me was injuries se bach kay rehna, which I wasnt able to follow. He is a very sensible person when it comes to understanding proper form about martial arts," Sonakshi said.

"Watching him do all the action, in all the movies we shot, you get to learn a lot. He is always very involved. He automatically teaches you," she added.

"Akira" is set to release on September 2. PTI JUR NRB SHD

--- ENDS ---
Earlier, the UP Congress had announced to cancel the Roza Iftar party keeping in conformity with the AICC which has decided to instead distribute grains to the poor this year.

Sources said there is a fear within the UP Congress that not hosting an Iftar party would send a wrong message to the Muslim community ahead of the upcoming Assembly polls.

By Mail Today Bureau: Amid divergent views on whether or not to host an Iftar party, the UP Congress finally opted to organise a community event in Lucknow, the capital of the poll-bound state.

Earlier, the UP Congress had announced to cancel the Roza Iftar party keeping in conformity with the AICC which has decided to instead distribute grains to the poor this year.

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However, the state unit's minority department had announced that it will host an Iftar.

PLAYING SAFE

Sources said there was a fear within the party that not hosting an Iftar party would send out a wrong message to the Muslim community at a time when the Congress is preparing for the assembly polls slated for early next year.

AICC general secretary in charge of UP affairs Ghulam Nabi Azad and state unit chief Nirmal Khatri attended the Iftar besides Congress legislative parry leader Pradeep Mathur and a host of party leaders from the state.

AICC secretaries Prakash Joshi and Zubair Ahmed who assist Azad in UP were also present at the get together.

The Iftar comes days after Azad toured Muslim-dominated areas of Bulandshar in western UP to mark his political tours across the state.

HOST OF PARTIES

State party leaders, meanwhile, have been individually hosting Iftar parties. One such party was hosted in Bulandshahr on Thursday, which was attended by senior leaders, including Azad.

MUSLIMS ARE CONGRESS SUPPORTERS

Muslims have been supporting the Congress in the past and the party did not want to take any chances in an election going year.

"Voters in UP are not sophisticated to be able to understand the AICC decision to visit Madrasas and distribute grains to the poor than hosting lavish Iftars at five star hotels," said Mathur.

18 PERCENT OF VOTERS ARE MUSLIMS

Muslims constitute around 18 per cent of the voters in UP and have been voting the SP majorly while also casting ballots in favour of BSP nominees. Generally, the Muslim voters in UP use their ballot in support of a candidate they think can defeat the BJP.

WOOISM DIARIES

The AICC move to drop Iftars had come in the wake of reports that RSS-backed body had decided to host Iftar to woo the muslims and had even invited the Pakistan high commissioner.

But as the Congress targeted the RSS, the plan was dropped.

Also Read:

RSS tries to shed pro-Hindu image, invites 140 countries to Iftar party

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Pakistan High Commission throws iftar gala amidst terror strikes in JK

--- ENDS ---
"The Indian public seems to be having a hard time accepting the outcome of the Seoul plenary meeting of Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) late last month after India failed to gain entry into NSG," an oped-page article in Global Times said.

By PTI: Criticising the strong reactions from India over China blocking its bid to enter NSG, a state-run daily today said India is "still stuck" in the 1962 war mindset as it called for a more objective evaluation of Beijing's stand.

"The Indian public seems to be having a hard time accepting the outcome of the Seoul plenary meeting of Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) late last month after India failed to gain entry into NSG," an oped-page article in Global Times said.

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"Many Indian media (outlets) put the blame on China alone, accusing China's anti-India and pro-Pakistan motives behind its opposition. Some activists even took to the streets in protest against China and Chinese products and some observers said the incident would freeze the China-India relationship," the article titled China, India should drop obsolete view for cooperation said.

CHINA, INDIA SHOULD DROP OBSOLETE VIEW FOR COOPERATION

The article asserted that "India's precautions" against China cannot be clearer.

The country seems to be "still stuck" in the shadow of the war with China in the 1960s and many still hold on to the "obsolete geopolitical view" that China does not want to see Indias rise, it said.

"However, New Delhi may have misunderstood Beijing, which can make a big difference in its strategic decisions. In fact, China no longer looks at India simply from a political perspective, but far more from an economic one," the article said.

INDIA'S BID TO JOIN NSG

As New Delhi pushed its case to join the NSG last month, the Global Times, part of ruling Communist Party of China (CPC) publications, carried a number of articles including a hard hitting editorial claiming that Chinas stand is "morally legitimate" and the West has "spoiled" India.

Continuing to justify China's stand to block New Delhi's bid, today's article harped on the often repeated argument of signing the NPT being a must for India to join the NSG and that consensus is required for entry of new members.

"India needs to perceive China objectively. Joining the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) is a must for any country seeking NSG membership, but India is not a party to the NPT," the article said.

"The only exception is if India can obtain consent from all 48-NSG members, but several countries apart from China hold reservations in this regard. India better put more efforts into figuring out how to obtain international trust rather than misinterpreting and defaming China," it said.

Quoting Political scientist Zheng Yongnian who stated that that, "China's bilateral relationship with India is second only to the Sino-US relationship," it said ties with China are of great significance to India as well.

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"The best option is for China and India to work together to boost their economic and trade ties. Only by seeking common development between China and India can the two build a new international order and form an Asian century," it said.

--- ENDS ---
By PTI: Federal govt

Vijayawada, Jul 4 (PTI) Indian High Commissioner to Nigeria, B N Reddy has told Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu that he has been pursuing the case of M Sai Srinivas, a native of Visakhapatnam, who was kidnapped in Nigeria, with the Federal as well as state governments.

Naidu spoke to Reddy and asked him to ensure safe release of Srinivas and another Indian who were kidnapped in Nigeria on June 29.

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The High Commissioner informed the chief minister that he had been pursuing the matter with the Federal and state governments as well as Srinivas employer, a release from the Chief Ministers Office stated today.

Srinivas and his colleague Anish Sharma (from Karnataka) were travelling to Dangote Cement Plc Plant in a car from their residential quarters around 7.20 PM last Wednesday when a group of armed men kidnapped them at a traffic signal.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had said all efforts were being made to secure the release of the duo. PTI DBV NSK DIP RDS

--- ENDS ---
The project of 'cultural mapping of India' was kicked off by the Ministry of Culture in a bid to carry out a comprehensive survey on cultural topography of the country.

By Soudhriti Bhabani: The process of preparing India's cultural map is getting an overwhelming response from artists of various genres from remotest parts of the country as more and more people are getting themselves registered online to document the cultural topography and its rich inheritance.

The blueprint of the project has almost been readied with over 55 lakhs of artists undergoing the documentation procedure throughout the length and breadth of the nation.

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The work of entry of data of artistes was assigned to the Centre for Cultural Resources and Training (CCRT) - one of the premier institutions working in the field of linking education with culture.

MASSIVE RESPONSE

"We are getting all the artists and various art forms - be it visual architecture, sculpture, miniature painting, puppetry, different types of handicrafts, or performing arts like dance and vocal rendition - under one platform. The process has received a tremendous response so far," sources at the Ministry of Culture told MAIL TODAY.

He said all the details of these art forms, their historical background, names of the exponents are being collated by the CCRT. Established in 1979, CCRT has been contributing to the strengthening of the cultural foundation of the nation. A web portal was also developed through National Informatics Centre (NIC) for collection of data directly from artists online for the cultural mapping initiative.

THE IDEA THAT CLICKED

The project of 'cultural mapping of India' was kicked off by the Ministry of Culture in a bid to carry out a comprehensive survey on cultural topography of the country. "We are also taking the help of various state governments and other organisations to collect the data of artists and their different art forms," the official said.

The unique data bank is targeted to serve as an 'artist repository' and can be used in future for the purpose of providing grant-in aid under various cultural schemes administered by the ministry.

WHY A CULTURAL TOPOGRAPHY?

Its mandate is to preserve, promote, explore and share India's cultural heritage along with its ethos and values at the highest international level. Sources at the ministry said that in pursuance of this vision, the cultural ministry is also administering a few finance-based measures to identify and hand-hold artistes, especially those who are in budding phase, on a sustained basis.

The move is being carried out by way of grant of scholarships, fellowships, and various other forms of grants or financial assistance in a more systematic manner. "The process of cultural mapping will help streamline various financial schemes and ensure it effectiveness," an officer said.

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Also Read:

Cultural, social boom: NBCC to build Indian Habitat Centres in 5 other cities

--- ENDS ---
An Iranian weightlifter dubbed as the 'Iranian Hulk' is all set to fight terrorist organisation ISIS in the battlefield.

By India Today Web Desk: A big guy has just joined the big fight.

An Iranian weightlifter dubbed as the 'Iranian Hulk' is all set to fight terrorist organisation ISIS in the battlefield.

Sajad Gharibi, 24, has decided to join the Iranian forces fighting in Syria. For him, ending terrorism in the Middle East is of utmost importance.

With a weight of 175 kg and a brutal fitness regime which requires him to lift weights more than his own, the bodybuilder acquired the title of the Marvel superhero. Gharibi credits his genetics for his huge frame but never compromises on his workout.





My arm 64 cm ?? ?A?? ?? ? ? ?A?? A? ?As? A video posted by original page (@sajadgharibii) on Jun 30, 2016 at 1:32pm PDT

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However, in another twist, the same Gharibi was also rumoured to be the executioner for ISIS known as the Bulldozer, according to 9 News. However, this has not been confirmed.

Also known as the "Persian Hercules", the bodybuilder has a massive following of 1,28,000 where he posts about weightlifting. Unlike many other fitness freaks or bodybuilders, his social media account is not loaded with diet charts and workout tips but the Iranian Hulk likes to flaunt his body instead.

He has taken part in various weightlifting competitions and represented Iran.

Well, we have only one thing to say to him. HULK SMASH!





via GIPHY

--- ENDS ---
After having met four-five times, the suspects wrote their pledge and delivered it to their handler Shafi Armar, top sources in the investigating agency said.

By Jitendra Bahadur Singh: Investigators probing the suspected Hyderabad module of the ISIS have discovered that the five men arrested for their alleged links with terror group had pledged allegiance to its leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, NIA sources told India Today.



THE BAYA'H



After having met four-five times, the suspects wrote their pledge and delivered it to their handler Shafi Armar, top sources in the investigating agency said. In Islamic terminology, such oath is called Bay'ah, they explained. The alleged leader of the five arrested people, Ibrahim Yazdani, got his men sign a Bay'ah for Baghdadi, scanned it and emailed it to his handler in Syria, according to NIA officers.

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Investigators have gathered sufficient evidence of the pledge, sources said. Their Bay'ah meant they were now supposed to follow Baghdadi's orders without questioning, officers added. Yazdani allegedly wanted to travel to Syria with his wife, son and brother Iliyas. He was planning to enter Syria via Turkey and Greece, investigators say.

THE PLAN

During interrogation, Yazdani revealed he had sold off his wife's jewellery to buy weapons from Ajmer but, was not able to procure the firearms. Earlier, he had twice visited Saudi Arabia, where he met a Jordanian, which the NIA later identified as Sohaib al Abudi. Yazdani joined the ISIS after meeting Abudi.

In his questioning, Fahad, another arrested suspect, told the NIA that he had placed an online order for an airgun, the officers said. But all of them were arrested before it was delivered. The NIA is also investigating some 500 calls that the suspects had allegedly made to Gulf countries.

According to investigators, Yazdani had drawn maps of a Hyderabad police station he had planned to strike. Yazdani used secured messaging apps for communication with other suspects and his handlers, the NIA found.

ALSO READ: Dhaka bloodbath shows brainwashed terrorists getting younger: A look at the killers



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Sisodia said that the vindictive Centre was removing all honest and hard-working officials for political motives.

By Kapil Sharma: Delhi's Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia reacted sharply to the arrest of Rajendra Kumar, Principal Secretary to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, and four other officials by the CBI today.

"The Central government has stooped to a new low by doing this," Sisodia said, adding, "Arresting a Principal Secretary and a Deputy Secretary is a conspiracy to paralyze the Chief Minister's office."

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The CBI arrested Rajendra Kumar, Tarun Sharma, Sandeep Kumar, Dinesh Gupta and Ashok Kumar on corruption charges.

BJP UNNERVED BY KEJRIWAL'S PUNJAB RALLY?

Addressing a press conference, Sisodia said, "The vindictive Centre is removing all honest and hard-working officials for political motives. The BJP has been unnerved by the massive popular response to Kejriwal's rally in Punjab yesterday and is resorting to such low acts."

"Today afternoon, nine officials of the Delhi government have been transferred by the Centre. In two days, 11 officers have been transferred," the deputy CM said.

CENTRE WANTS TO PARALYSE DELHI GOVT

"While transfer is not a new thing, the manner in which officers like Sanjeev Ahuja, who was working on improving unauthorized colonies, has been transferred to Andamans shows that this is to paralyze the functioning of the Delhi government. These transfers have been done without any discussion in the Joint Cadre Authority," he said.

"What is the urgency behind the transfer of so many officers?" vexed Sisodia asked adding that the case was seven months old.

He said although Delhi had a cadre strength of 309 DANIC officers, it has only 165 officers out of which 8 have were transferred today.

Sisodia alleged that this was done to destabilize the Delhi government because it was doing good work in education, unauthorized colonies and health sectors.

STATE GOVT WON'T BEND

He, however, said that the state government would not bend under such tactics.

"We will continue to work for the people of Delhi against all odds," Sisodia said.

Also Read:

Arvind Kejriwal's principal secretary Rajendra Kumar arrested by CBI in a case of corruption. AAP in arms!

Ahead of 2017 Assembly elections Kejriwal heads to Punjab, BJP-SAD woo Sikhs in capital



--- ENDS ---
With the historic pride march in Toronto, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau became Canada's first sitting PM to participate in the gay pride parade.

By India Today Web Desk: Justin Trudeau, the second youngest prime minister in the world, made history by becoming Canada's first sitting prime minister marched in Toronto's Gay Pride parade.

The jubilant crowd cheered massively when Trudeau marched with thousands of people and paraded waving a Canadian maple-leaf flag bordered with a rainbow.





Click here to Enlarge Source: AP



The procession observed a minute of silence to pay respect to the victims of the massacre in Orlando that killed 49.

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Photo: AP

Organisers of the parade had expected one million attendees, though Toronto police have not released an official count.

There is hope in the world thanks to you Trudeau ????????????????????? Canada you are so lucky A video posted by Marc August (@martorres93) on Jul 3, 2016 at 11:45am PDT



Taking selfies and shaking hands with the attendees, Trudeau walked along with Kathleen Wynne, Canada's first openly gay head of a province, and Toronto Mayor John Tory.





Photo: AP

However, this is not the first time the young prime minister is participating in the parade. Last year, he walked in the annual parade as head of the Liberal Party.

Photo: AP

Also read: Who is Justin Trudeau? What are the changes he has promised to Canadians?



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By Hemul Goel: One of the most sought after bridal wear designers, Manish Malhotra continues to remain on the wishlist of any bride and groom awaiting for the wedding bells to chime.

Aso read: Happy Birthday: 5 reasons why Manish Malhotra is one of the most successful Indian designers

While the designer is a favourite with the stars--who love to sport him in both their reel and real life--Manish Malhotra's work is such, that he rarely uses a celeb to front his campaigns. However, this season sees the designer take a different route as he not only switches to darker tones for his latest collection but also the fact that it is fronted by none other than powerhouse performer Kangana Ranaut.

Kangana as a Manish Malhotra bride in plaid pants and a sherwani. Picture courtesy: Instagram/@manishmalhotra05

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On the Queen actress as his choice for the campaign, Manish Malhotra said, "For me Kangana is talented, beautiful, hard working, confident, speaks her mind and has achieved so much and for me that is my bride."

Also read: Manish Malhotra was a favourite with Bollywood stars this Diwali (like always!)

The stunning images see Kangana looking majestic in blacks and deep reds, set against a gold, black and baroque backdrop of antiquities.

The actress in an embroidered burgundy lehenga. Picture courtesy: Instagram/@manishmalhotra05 The actress in an embroidered burgundy lehenga. Picture courtesy: Instagram/@manishmalhotra05

According to a statement, Kangana is seen "Depicting a modern Maharani, the visual showcases the opulence that has always been synonymous with the label. In one image, Kangana is seen pairing a sherwani with vintage checks trousers to create a distinct look bridging the traditional with the contemporary. The second visual sees Kangana looking resplendent in a flowy, burgundy handcrafted lehenga."

Kangana looks regal! Picture courtesy: Instagram/@manishmalhotra05

Talking about his new collection, the designer added, "With the new collection we revived a lot of old craft. The embroidery has taken us a lot of time to do. It's all the old work embroidery but the silhouettes are more modern and global."

If that already has you chuffed then wait till you see the designer open the India Couture Week on 20 July!



Also read: Jacqueline, Arjun and more: Five reasons why Manish Malhotra's show was the best way to start #LFW2016



--- ENDS ---
By India Today Web Desk: Rumours about Kareena Kapoor Khan's pregnancy have been doing the rounds for a very long time. While the begun decided to remain mum, her nawab has confirmed the news that the couple is expecting their first child in December.

ALSO READ: Did Kareena Kapoor back out from Golmaal 4 because of pregnancy?

ALSO READ: Post pregnancy announcement, Kareena Kapoor Khan makes her first public appearance



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The couple has officially confirmed the news after months of speculation. Saif told The Indian Express, "My wife and I would like to announce that we are expecting our first child in December. We would like to thank our well wishers for their blessings and support and also the press for their discretion and patience."

And this very piece of news led to speculation that this would lead to delay in Rhea Kapoor's Veere Di Wedding. Since Kareena will essay the lead role in the chick flick. In fact, with the actor being four months pregnant, it was speculated that the makers would push the film. However, Rhea has rubbished the rumours and said that Kareena is going to work on the film on time, without any delay.

Rhea was quoted as telling Pinkvilla , "Ekta Kapoor and I, with our families and companies, are delighted and excited for Kareena and Saif! As producers of Veere Di Wedding we are thrilled to be part of their special journey! Bebo is a thorough professional and will start the shoot of the film in August. Much like the spirit of our film, which celebrates the modern girl. Kareena is going on with her work and life as usual and we couldn't be prouder to have her!"

Inspired from Hollywood film, The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants, Veere Di Wedding is about four friends on a trip from Delhi to Europe. The chick film also stars Sonam Kapoor, Swara Bhaksar and Shikha Talsania. It is for the first time that Kareena will share screen space with Sonam. The film is set to go on floors in August this year.

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We have shortlisted the experiences you must have when you travel to Kerala.

By Sakshi Arora: The backwaters

Kerala, the way most of know it, is home to some stunning backwaters that are essentially a set of maze-like waterways running across most part of the state. What makes them look even more beautiful are the paddy fields, coconut trees and an enchanting green covering the shoreline. The state's landscape makes for an exceptional geographic formation.

Photo: Sakshi Arora

Boathouses sailing on the backwaters of Kerala. Photo: Sakshi Arora

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Dance school

Located in the Thrissur district of Kerala is Kalamandalam, a renowned dance school that is famous in other parts of the world as well. Being a deemed varsity where different performing arts are taught, the dance school helps in enhancing the cultural inheritance of the state.

The Kalamandalam Dance School. Photo: Sakshi Arora

Ayurveda

Kerala is the only state in India where Ayurveda is still mainstream in the field of medicine and therapies. While there are numerous medical colleges teaching the ancient wisdom of Ayurveda, there are Ayurvedic spa and massage centres spread all across the state as well. Swatic, an Ayur Care Centre, situated in Munnar for the last 30 years, is highly recommended.

Photo: Sakshi Arora

Coconut trees

Coconut here, coconut there, coconut everywhere. The name Kerala is derived from the root word "Keram," which means coconut tree in Malayalee, the regional language. Kerala is often referred to as the land of coconuts.

Photo: Sakshi Arora

Natural wonders

Pristine sun-kissed Alleppey beaches, the tranquil backwaters, gushing waterfalls, green mountains, exotic wildlife and much more Kerala is all about. Words fall short to sing the glory of this southern paradise.

Photo: Sakshi Arora

Photo: Sakshi Arora

Photo: Sakshi Arora

Photo: Sakshi Arora

Photo: Sakshi Arora

Thrissur Pooram

The 36-hour non-stop Thrissur Pooram is a post-harvest festival celebrated during the month of April. There are 10 deities who make their grand appearances during the festival to the tunes of Chenda Melam (drum beats), while hundreds of decorated elephants join the proceedings. Travellers from different parts of the world visit Kerala just to witness this colossal event.

Photo: Sakshi Arora Photo: Sakshi Arora

Photo: Sakshi Arora

The elephant procession which is one of the remarkable feature of Thrissur Pooram. The elephants are decked with Nettipattam (traditional headgear). With so many elephants marching in unity, it becomes a sight to behold. The mahouts position themselves on the backs of their elephants, holding bright and big umbrellas called muttukuda--all dedicated to giving a warm welcome to the gods and goddesses.

Photo: Sakshi Arora

The local cuisine

Traditionally, food is served on banana leaves in Kerala. People add coconut to almost every dish they prepare, while the use of quality spices add unique flavours to the cuisine. Their banana leaf meals are mouth-watering and primarily include bamboo rice, dishes made of banana, papad, tangy rasam and payasam.

Photo: Sakshi Arora Photo: Sakshi Arora

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Tea gardens

The fragrance of fresh tea leaves make the captivating tea gardens of Munnar come alive. There are more than 50 tea estates in and around Munnar. The place is home showcases some of the exquisite and interesting aspects on the genesis and growth of tea plantations on Kerala's high ranges.

MUnnar's tea gardens are beautiful. Picture courtesy: Flickr/jeet_sen/Creative Commons

Toddy

Considered to be a holy drink in Kerala, toddy or kallu is made by villagers who are licensed to do the same. The drink is made up by taking out sap from the buds of coconut flowers and fermenting it throughout the day. The locals believe that the consumption of toddy adds glow to their skin.

Photo: Sakshi Arora

Chembra Lake

India's one and only heart-shaped lake exists in Kerala. This naturally formed water body attracts visitors for its mind-blowing views, beautiful weather and serene atmosphere. Cherish this embodiment of love and add Kerala to your bucket list if you haven't been there.

The heart-shaped Chembra Lake is a living example of nature's amazing creations. Photo: Sakshi Arora

--- ENDS ---

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Lalu wants that PM Narendra Modi should drop his cabinet colleague and minister for Food and Public Distribution Ram Vilas Paswan and induct Manjhi in his place.

By Rohit Kumar Singh: The bonhomie that was witnessed between former Bihar CM Jitan Ram Manjhi and RJD boss Lalu Prasad Yadav seems to be yeilding results. Ahead of the likely cabinet reshuffle at the Centre, Lalu Prasad has proposed that Jitan Ram Manjhi should be given a cabinet berth at the Centre when the reshuffle takes place.

DROP PASWAN, INDUCT MANJHI: LALU

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However, there is a rider attached to Lalu's support for Manjhi. Lalu wants that PM Narendra Modi should drop his cabinet colleague and minister for Food and Public Distribution Ram Vilas Paswan and induct Manjhi in his place.

Speaking on the sidelines of Iftar party hosted by JDU leader Gulam Gaus in Patna on Sunday, Lalu made this proposal.

"Manjhi should become Union Minister in place of Paswan", said Lalu.

It may be noted that Manjhi invited Lalu at an Iftar party hosted by him last week and Lalu too visited Manjhi on the occasion.

Couple of days later, Lalu too hosted an Iftar party and invited Manjhi and the latter too was present at Lalu's function. This mutual binding between the two leaders had caught many eyeballs and perhaps this new found camaraderie propped Lalu to make demand for cabinet berth for Manjhi. Though this demand is being seen as Lalu's politics of cutting Paswan to size due to their political differences.

MANJHI REJECTS LALU'S IDEA

Jitan Ram Manjhi on the other hand rejected Lalu's proposal maintaining that he would not like to become a minister by replacing Paswan. Manjhi claimed that Ram Vilas Paswan is like his elder brother.

"Paswan is like my elder brother. I would not like to become minister by axing Paswan", said Manjhi.

Also read:

PM Modi to reshuffle cabinet tomorrow, high-level meet today ahead of rejig





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By Rakesh Upadhyay, Rahul Kanwal: As many as 19 MPs are expected to be sworn in as ministers in Tuesday's expansion of the Modi cabinet in an exercise designed to balance caste representations and push the government's rural priorities ahead of elections in five states, including Uttar Pradesh, top BJP and official sources told India Today.

A list of the lawmakers called in to meet BJP president Amit Shah before the rejig of the council of ministers shows, each leader comes with peculiar strengths that the BJP will potentially try to harness in the big electoral battles of 2017.

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Highly-placed sources shared with India Today the details of parliamentarians who may be appointed ministers on Tuesday.

"The selection framework laid out by the prime minister was to bring in doers and performers, who would deliver on his vision of development and good governance and further his central priority of gaon, garib and kisan," a top official said.

And as shared by BJP sources, here's the breakdown of the party's internal analysis of some of the candidates shortlisted for ministerial berths:



Dr Mahendra Nath Pandey

Dr Mahendra Nath Pandey

Pandey is one of the leaders who is expected to be elevated as central minister in the Modi government. He represents Chandauli, near Varanasi, in the Lok Sabha. His borough incorporates two assembly segments of the Hindu district. Pandey, a resident of Uttar Pradesh's Gazipur district, is believed to have a solid grip on three districts of Uttar Pradesh.

Pandey, a Brahmin, is one of the tallest BJP leaders in the eastern part of the state. He and Union Minister Kalraj Mishra are related to each other.

Pandey has considerable experience in governance. He served in the cabinets of Rajnath Singh and Kalyan Singh when they were chief ministers of Uttar Pradesh. Seen as close to the Union Home Minister, his appointment is expected to help the BJP woo Brahmins in next year's Uttar Pradesh elections, party sources said.

Anupriya Patel

Anupriya Patel

Patel was elected to the Lok Sabha in 2014 as a candidate of the Apna Dal from Mirzapur. Before, she was an MLA from Rohaniya in Varanasi district, her father Sone Lal Patel was the most popular leader in his community in eastern Uttar Pradesh. Currently, Anupriya Patel is engaged in a fight with her mother and sister over political supremacy in the Apna Dal. The BJP, sources say, hopes to swing a large section of the Patel votes to its side by naming her a central minister.

Ajay Tamta

Ajay Tamta

Tamta, a 43-year-old Dalit leader, is a Lok Sabha member from Almora in Uttarakhand. Before, he worked as a minister in the Uttarakhand government. His induction in the Modi government, according to BJP sources, will give the party an opportunity to expand its support-base among SC-ST communities in the hill state.

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Ramdas Athawale

Ramdas Athawale

Athawale is a senior Dalit leader from Maharashtra and president of the Republican Party of India. His advocacy of the Ambedkar ideology, the BJP says, will be key in countering BSP chief Mayawati's widespread hold over the Dalit bloc. The RPI chief has also announced an alliance with the BJP for next year's municipal elections in Mumbai.

Arjun Ram Meghwal

Arjun Ram Meghwal

Meghwal is the chief whip of the BJP in the Lok Sabha and the chairman of the housing committee. A favourite of the RSS, he often commutes to parliament on a bicycle. Meghwal, a Dalit, is a leader with a sharp political acumen, represents Bikaner in the lower house. Recently, he actively participated in a seminar related to the AMU. He is seen as a likely replacement for minister Nihal Chand Meghwal.

PP Chaudhary

PP Chaudhary

Chaudhary is a Lok Sabha member from Pali in Rajasthan and is credited with presenting a record number of private bills and questions in the house. His attendance record is also impressive; a present mark in the 98 percent of the sittings. He has been awarded Sansad Ratna twice for his pro-active role in parliament debates. Chaudhary acted as a troubleshooter during the Jat reservation stir when he held talks with various stakeholders in the protests. He may replace minister Sanwar Lal Jat, party sources indicate.

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Parshottam Rupala

Parshottam Rupala

A member of the Rajya Sabha from Gujarat, he led the BJP's state unit for a long period. He was appointed the party's national vice-president under Amit Shah. Rupala is a prominent leader in the Patidar community although his ties with Chief Minister Anandiben Patel aren't as great as they were before, insiders say. His possible appointment in the council of ministers, BJP sources say, will help cement the BJP's relations with the Patidar community before next year's Gujarat elections.



Krishna Raj



Raj represents the reserved constituency of Shahjahanpur in the lower house. Before, she has also served as national general secretary of the BJP's women's cell. She's ranked among the party's influential women leaders in Uttar Pradesh. Her appointment, the party sources say, will increase the BJP's reach among the Dalits.



ALSO READ: Modi Cabinet 2.0: Who joins, who rises, and who goes out

Others listed to be promoted as ministers are Lok Sabha lawmakers SS Ahluwalia (West Bengal), Faggan Singh Kulaste (Madhya Pradesh), Ramesh Jigajinagi (Karnataka), Jasvantsingh Bhabhor (Gujarat), Rajen Gohain (Assam), CR Chaudhary (Rajasthan), Subhash Bhamre (Maharashtra) and Rajya Sabha members Vijay Goel, MJ Akbar, Mansukhbhai Mandaviya and Anil Madhav Dave.



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Farage said this was the right time to step down as the party leader as his aim of Brexit has been fulfilled.

Nigel Farage, the leader of the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP), at a news conference in central London; Photo: Reuters

By Reuters: The leader of Britain's anti-European Union UK Independence Party(UKIP), Nigel Farage, today said he would stand down after having realised his ambition of winning last month's referendum in favour of Brexit.

"I have never been, and I have never wanted to be, a career politician. My aim in being in politics was to get Britain out of the European Union," he said.

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I WANT MY LIFE BACK

"So I feel it's right that I should now stand aside as leader of UKIP."

Farage said, "During the referendum campaign, I said 'I want my country back'. What I'm saying today, is, 'I want my life back,' and it begins right now."

FARAGE NOT QUITTING FOR THE FIRST TIME

It is not the first time Farage has quit as leader of the party. He stood down in May 2015 after failing to win a parliamentary seat in last year's general election, only to withdraw his resignation three days later.

He said he would continue to support the party, and continue to watch Brussels "like a hawk" during the negotiations around Britain's exit from the EU.

BRITAIN'S NEW PM MUST BE FROM THE 'LEAVE' SIDE

He reiterated his view that Britain's new prime minister needed to be from the "Leave" campaign but declined to back a specific candidate out of Andrea Leadsom, Michael Gove or Liam Fox. Current frontrunner Theresa May backed "Remain".

Farage, 52, has been a member of UKIP since its 1993 birth and was first elected to the European Parliament in 1999.

Also Read:

Exclusive: India can deal with any eventuality arising out of Brexit, Economic Affairs Secretary tells India Today

Brexit vote shows UK leaders 'disconnected from reality' :Al Assad



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Despite being in majority, Modi government unwilling to take tough decisions, says Chidambaram.

By India Today Web Desk: Former finance minister P Chidambaram acknowledged that Congress leader Narasimha Rao was crucial to the economic reforms in the country. Talking to India Today on the occasion of 25 years of liberlisation, Chidambaram agreed that Rao was a pioneer and should be regarded as the father of Indian economic reforms.

The Congress leader also discussed the challenges, missed opportunities, and various historic moments of the UPA government in ushering economic reforms.

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"We have acknowledged Rao on numerous occasions as he handled politics on economic reforms well. The ideas implemented in 1991 were tentatively implemented in 1980s. However, Rao played an important role in the economic reform," he said.

The Congress did not miss an opportunity to bring reform, he said indicating that the current NDA government, which has a majority government, was unwilling to tougher decisions on economy.





Here's what he said: There was a crisis in 1991, when Mr Rao took office, we realized that it was an acute crisis. But there was no panic like today, we acted calmly, quietly without fanfare. We took the right steps in the first 30 days. I don't entirely agree with statements like economic reforms take place in India in the time of crisis. Although we do act in crisis, but there are examples when we acted when there was no crisis. In 1997, all the tax reforms and reforms in the finance sector were announced and all that were done without a crisis. In fact, it was a minority government which was counting its days. However, there was no sense of crisis. Nobody expected me to announce those major reforms in 1997 and in fact nobody would have found fault with me if I had presented a bland budget. Neither UPA1 nor UPA2 had an absolute majority, in fact we had 145 and 206 members of the Congress party in those two five-year periods. UPA 1 did the major reforms and without those reforms although not big bang reforms. You can't do big bang reforms every day. Even with big bang reforms you have to follow it up with more nuanced reforms and that was done in UPA1. 2009-10 was the years when we felt the full affect of the international crisis and our response was textbook namely stimulus and that caused us problems in the current account, the fiscal deficit, and in inflation. The present government is 282 "I told Mr Jaitley, use your 282 and repeal the retrospective clause. Why is that clause not repealed so far? Politicians as a class fear being seen as an economic liberalizer as it might get them less votes. If there are laws which are to be repealed and amended, do that. Use your once in 30 years majority and that straight away in one go. In one session you can change all these laws like the retrospective clause and Vodafone tax. Repeal it, make it perspective. When we were in govt, the GST bill was stalled by BJP without any reason. End number of times approached Sushma Swaraj's room to which Mr Arun Jaitley would be invited. We sit down and talk and her response would be, sorry Chidambaram the BJP has no appetite to pass any more bills for this government.

Also read:

P Chidambaram rewrote affidavit and he bypassed me, says GK Pillai





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Actor Nayanthara and director Vignesh Shivan, who were reluctant to comment on their relationship status, reportedly went on to announce on stage the love they share for each other.

By India Today Web Desk: Ever since the release of Naanum Rowdy Dhaan, rumours were rife that Kollywood beauty Nayanthara and director Vignesh Shivan were apparently dating. But the couple made no such statements officially.

Recently, at an award function held in Singapore, Nayanthara and Vignesh Shivan made their first appearance as a couple and were even asked to be seated together throughout the function, says a report in the Times of India.



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ALSO READ: After Kaashmora, Nayanthara to act in a bilingual

ALSO READ: Balakrishna to romance Nayanthara in his 100th film?



The two, who were reluctant to comment on their relationship status so far, reportedly went on to announce on stage the love they share for each other.

Vignesh, who received the Best Director Award for Naanum Rowdy Dhaan, just couldn't stop raving about Nayanthara - as a person and as an actor. He thanked her for "coming to the script reading and falling in love," to which Nayanthara reportedly blushed.

The love between the two was even more apparent when Nayanthara made her speech upon receiving the Best Actor (Tamil) award for the same film. She said, "I was full of doubts; I wasn't sure if this is a role I could pull off convincingly. But Vicky (Vignesh) had complete faith in me. He's the only one who encouraged me and told me that this is the time to try different things as an actor, and that no one else could do it but me. Thank you, Vicky."

Nayan apologised to the senior actors who were called to present her the award and said, "I actually wanted to receive this from him, so can I please call Vignesh on stage?"

Also, it is said that the audience was cheering and hooting for the couple. An official confirmation from the couple is still awaited.

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Tarishi Jain's body was flown from Dhaka to Gurgaon today (July 4) where she was cremated in the Hindu way.

By India Today Web Desk: "Terrorists have entered the restaurant. I am very afraid and not sure whether I will be able to come out alive. They are killing everyone here," this is what Tarishi Jain texted her father. Tarishi hid herself along with her two friends inside a toilet when heavily armed terrorists stormed into Holey Artisan in Dhaka's tony Gulshan area.

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Outside the washroom, armed young men were killing off people one by one amid chants of Allahu Akbar.

'WE WILL ONLY KILL FOREIGNERS'

"Bengali people, come out. You don't need to be so tense. We will not kill Bengalis. We will only kill foreigners," one of the terrorists shouted.

Dhaka attack: One of the terrorists was educated boy from rich family, who once met Shraddha Kapoor

What they meant was Bengali Muslims. Their test was simple: recite verses from the Quran. Those who spoke in Bangla and could recite some verses escaped harm.

Faraaz Hossain could. He too was cowering inside the washroom with Tarishi and Abinta when they were discovered by the terrorists. The terrorists made it clear: they were there for the expats and kuffar.

Dhaka bloodbath shows brainwashed terrorists getting younger: A look at the killers

FARAAZ REFUSED TO LEAVE WITHOUT HIS FRIENDS

The ISIS-inspired terrorists, also of their 20s, asked them the same questions. Faraaz could recite a couple of verses from Quran and was a bonafide Bangladeshi Muslim.

He was allowed to go. But he refused to leave his friends to die. He stayed put and was recovered the next morning, dead by the side of Tarishi Jain and Abinta Kabir.

THE UNFORGETTABLE STORY OF FRIENDSHIP

The three went to the American School in Dhaka. Tarishi's dad, originally from UP's Firozabad, has been in the textile business and he was based in Dhaka.

Faraaz was from the family that owned Bangladesh's biggest newspapers - The Daily Star (English) and Pratham Aalo (Bangla). Abinta Kabir also belonged to a prominent Dhaka family and was studying in the US like Tarishi.

Tarishi Jain's body was flown from Dhaka to Gurgaon today (July 4) where she was cremated in the Hindu way. Faraaz was buried in Dhaka according to Islamic traditions. Two friends, from two different countries, killed by hate but will live in memories of people they touched and every one who read about their story of friendship and the bravery of Faraaz Hossain.

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Also Read:

Dhaka attack: Pakistan rejects allegations of ISI involvement, slams Indian media

Dhaka attack: Bangladesh minister blames Pakistan government, ISI

Post Dhaka attack: Why an online magazine interview is giving India a headache



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By PTI: Dhaka, Jul 4 (PTI) One of the terroists, killed by Bangladesh security forces during a joint operation to free hostages at a cafe here, was a fan of Bollywood actress Shraddha Kapoor.

Nibras Islam, 22, who was killed on Saturday during a joint operation by Bangladesh security forces at the Holey Artisan Bakery where militants held several people hostage.

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In his Facebook page, Islam claimed he had met Bollywood Kapoor.

"In a video clip posted in Facebook on June 8 last year, Nibras was seen shaking hands with Indian actress Shraddha Kapoor," the Daily Star newspaper said quoting an unidentified police detective.

"Shraddha Kapoor you beauty!! The moment she holds my hand," read the text accompanying the video.

Islams friends told the newspaper he snapped contacts with them after moving to Malaysia to attend Monash University.

Videos and photos from Islams profile show him as a well-spoken, pleasant boy. His Twitter profile shows that he used to follow Shami Witness, an account linked to ISIS. PTI NSA AKJ NSA

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Oscar Pistorius is about to return to jail after his original conviction of culpable homicide was overturned and he was charged of murder

By AP: After his sentencing hearing last week, convicted murderer Oscar Pistorius was mistakenly ushered to a vehicle carrying Barry Steenkamp, father of Reeva, the girlfriend he killed. A police officer pulled open the sliding door before realizing the error. Surrounded by journalists and onlookers, Pistorius stepped away, made a phone call and was soon driving away in a car that had arrived to collect him.

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The mishap outside a Pretoria courthouse came toward the end of a three-year drama in South Africa's wood-paneled courtrooms as well as in the global arena of public opinion. It nearly thrust together two men described as broken - defense lawyers say the double-amputee Olympian is emotionally devastated, and the prosecution says Steenkamp is shattered by the loss of his daughter.

Ahead of the July 6 sentencing of the athlete, a television interview with Pistorius is reviving questions about the former star who, despite intense media coverage of his trial, seems unknowable to many who speculate about what exactly happened on the night he fatally shot Reeva Steenkamp in his home early on Valentine's Day 2013. Did he kill her intentionally or after mistaking her for an intruder, as he maintains? Did his tears on the witness stand express true remorse or were they an exercise in self-pity and a bid to garner sympathy?

The documentary on Britain's ITV, to be broadcast late Friday, appears to be an effort by Pistorius, a multiple Paralympic champion who also ran at the 2012 Olympics, to sway public opinion even as he has suffered setbacks in the courts. South Africa's M-Net will also screen the documentary.



TOO HARSH?

In interview excerpts reported by some media, Pistorius said he doesn't want to "waste" his life by going back to jail, where he already spent one year on an earlier conviction of manslaughter for Steenkamp's death that was overturned in favor of the murder conviction. An appeals court determined that Pistorius intended to kill - whether an intruder, according to his account, or his girlfriend, by the prosecution's account.

South Africa's minimum sentence for murder is 15 years in prison, though a judge can reduce that sentence in some circumstances. The prosecution, which has asked for 15 years, or the defense can appeal the sentence.

"If I was afforded the opportunity of redemption I would like to help the less fortunate like I had in my past. I would like to believe that if Reeva could look down upon me, that she would want me to live that life," Pistorius said in the edited interview. Pistorius also wept as he delivered his account of thinking an intruder was in his house, opening fire, realizing his error and trying to revive Steenkamp.

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Last week, chief prosecutor Gerrie Nel said it was "disrespectful" to Steenkamp and her family that Pistorius conducted the interview but declined to testify at his sentencing hearing.

Lawyers generally advise clients not to talk to the media while a case is underway because of possible legal complications. Earlier this month, Pistorius' uncle, Arnold Pistorius, said the family had declined many requests for interviews with his nephew to respect the legal process. He said ITV's request was granted in an effort to dispel what he described as the many inaccuracies and speculations that had arisen. (Also read: Oscar Pistorius threatened with gangrape in prison, claims family)



The image of a man overwhelmed by grief because of a tragic error captivated supporters of Pistorius, including those who wept and gasped last week when his lawyer asked him to take off his prostheses and walk on his stumps in the courtroom to show his vulnerability.

Barry Steenkamp was a picture of distress on the witness stand. He described how he has jabbed hard at his stomach and arms with the needles he uses for his diabetes medication to try to simulate the pain that his daughter must have felt. He also argued successfully for the judge to release graphic photos taken after she was shot, and some media have shown the images of Reeva Steenkamp with blood-caked hair and closed eyes.

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"Oscar has to pay for what he did," said Barry Steenkamp, adding that he would like to talk to Pistorius in private at a later stage.

Last week, no words were exchanged when Pistorius stood briefly at the door of the vehicle carrying the father of his dead girlfriend.

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A high-level BJP meeting will take place today at the party's headquarters in New Delhi to finalise the names.

By India Today Web Desk: With the forthcoming Uttar Pradesh Assembly election in mind, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to expand his Cabinet tomorrow with major changes expected in the distribution of portfolios. Some Cabinet ministers are likely to face the axe while some Ministers of State might be elevated.

Principal spokesperson of the government Frank Norhona tweeted that the much-awaited rejig of the Cabinet will take place tomorrow at 11 am on Tuesday. Sources in the government said the Rashtrapati Bhawan has been informed of an oath ceremony tomorrow.

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There were talks of Cabinet expansion for the past several months amid speculation that Modi could induct new faces from Uttar Pradesh which is going to polls next year. There is also a vacancy in the Council of Ministers after Sports Minister Sarbananda Sonowal became the Chief Minister of Assam.



Here are the latest developments in the story

"Cabinet expansion tomorrow (Tuesday) at 11 a.m.," Principal spokesperson and Director General of Press Information Bureau Frank Noronha said in a tweet. The Prime Minister has been holding consultations on the Cabinet reshuffle with senior party colleagues including BJP chief Amit Shah, Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. A high-level Bharatiya Janata Party meeting will take place today at the party's headquarters in New Delhi to finalise the names. On June 30, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had reviewed the performance of various ministries indicating a reshuffle. The Cabinet reshuffle will happen a day before Modi leaves on a four-nation Africa tour on July 7. While Dharmendra Pradhan and Piyush Goel are likely to be promoted, Ram Shankar Katheria and Nihal Chand are likely to be removed. Purushottam Rupala, Anupriya Patel, Ramdas Athawale, Ajay Tamta, Krishnraj, SS Ahluwalia, Mahendranath Pandey, Arjun Ram Meghwal, PP Chaudhary likely to be inducted in the Cabinet. In the possible reshuffle and expansion of his council of ministers, the Prime Minister is likely to keep regional balances especially in view of coming elections in key states like Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Punjab. It will be a first major ministerial reshuffle after Modi took over as the Prime Minister in May 2014. The last Cabinet expansion had taken place in November 2014. According to reports, there is a likelihood of smaller parties getting a berth in the Cabinet expansion.

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The Congress is waiting for Rahul Gandhi to come back from his vacation. Rahul will decide if Priyanka is going to campaign across the state.

The Congress is waiting for Rahul Gandhi's return from his vacation to decide on Priyanka Gandhi's role in UP polls

By Amit Agnihotri: Contrary to reports suggesting that the Congress has decided to go ahead with Priyanka Gandhi as chief campaigner for the UP elections, party sources in Delhi said no such decision has been made so far. The Congress, they said, is waiting for party vice-president Rahul Gandhi to come back from his vacation abroad. Rahul will decide if Priyanka is going to campaign across the state.

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An All-India Congress Committee (AICC) functionary closely involved in the state's affairs said the issue was still under consideration, and any decision can't be taken in Rahul's absence.

Rahul, who flew abroad on June 20, a day after he turned 46, is expected to return from his vacation soon.

ROLE UNCERTAIN

The exact role for Priyanka in UP will be decided between the two Gandhis. All reports about the Congress declaring Priyanka as the party's chief campaigner for the UP polls is pure speculation right now. The decision will taken only when Rahul is in the country," the AICC official said.

UP UNIT IN SUPPORT OF PRIYANKA

According to sources close to the Gandhi family, the speculation is the handiwork of the state unit which believes the party can do well in Uttar Pradesh only if Priyanka campaigns extensively. The Congress had won just 22 of the 403 seats in 2007 assembly polls and 28 in 2012. "A weak organisation and infighting among leaders have been two main causes for the poor results," they said.

Priyanka Gandhi

Priyanka has so far restricted herself to campaigning in the Gandhi family strongholds of Amethi and Rae Bareli, represented by Rahul and Sonia Gandhi in the Lok Sabha.

"She will be the star campaigner in UP," Congress legislative party leader Pradeep Mathur told Mail Today, reflecting a sentiment shared by lakhs of party workers across the state.

HER POPULARITY IN THE STATE WILL HELP

The entry of Priyanka, who is immensely popular in UP as she has a striking resemblance to her grandmother and former prime minister Indira Gandhi, as the lead campaigner for the crisis-ridden Congress could turn around the fortunes of the grand old party, acknowledged party leaders in UP. They recalled how Priyanka's sharp attacks had given jitters to the then BJP's prime ministerial nominee, Narendra Modi, while she was campaigning in Amethi during the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.

AICC sources, however, said the state unit simply wants a Gandhi to deliver a victory for them and should rather ponder why it has not been able to impress the voters over the past decades.

UP WIN IS IMPORTANT FOR CONGRESS

The Congress, facing attacks on the Gandhis from an aggressive BJP since the party lost the 2014 polls, is desperate for a win in UP, which would send a positive signal across the country.

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IMPROVE THE TALLY ON AGENDA

Though winning the state appears to be tall order, party strategists want the Congress to significantly improve its tally in the assembly and then be able to play a role in the formation of the next government.

As Sonia and Rahul were the only two winners in the 2014 national polls from UP which sends 80 members to the Lok Sabha, the family is taking a keen interest in the assembly polls slated to be held early next year.

CONGRESS GEARS UP

The induction of strategist Prashant Kishor a few months ago and the appointment of party veteran Ghulam Nabi Azad as the AICC general secretary in charge of UP recently indicate the Congress is investing its precious resources in the poll-bound state.

Azad had acknowledged that there was overwhelming demand from state leaders for Priyanka to be the face of the UP Congress, or at least that she should campaign for the party. Though a section of the party has concerns that Priyanka appeal to the voters might be limited because of the controversial land deals of her husband Robert Vadra, the general opinion among the rank and file is that her charm would certainly bring rich electoral dividends for the UP Congress.

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Also Read:

Congress prepares ground for Priyanka Gandhi's bigger role in Uttar Pradesh

Politics not Rahul Gandhi's cup of tea: Rebel Tripura Congress chief

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By PTI: New Delhi, Jul 4 (PTI) The Supreme Court today agreed to expedite hearing on a PIL to examine the issue whether divorce granted by a Church, set up under its personal law, could be considered valid under the Indian common law.

A bench comprising Chief Justice T S Thakur and Justice D Y Chandrachud allowed an interim application moved for early hearing in the case after former Attorney General and senior advocate Soli Sorabjee, appearing for petitioner Clarence Pais, sought an urgent hearing.

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"The application for early hearing is allowed. Hearing of the appeal is expedited," the bench said.

Pais, an ex-president of a Catholic association in Karnataka, said when oral triple talaq could get legal sanctity for granting divorce to Muslim couples, why could Canon law decrees not be made binding on courts of law.

He had alleged that many Catholic Christians, who married after getting divorce from Christian courts, faced criminal charges of bigamy as such divorces are not recognised by the criminal and civil courts here.

"It is reasonable that when the courts in India recognize dissolution of marriage (by pronouncing the word talaq three times) under Mohammedan Law which is personal law of the Muslims, the courts should also recognise for the purpose of dissolution of marriage Canon Law as the personal law of the Indian Catholics," the plea had contended.

The plea had contended that Canon Law is the personal law of the Catholics in the country and has to be applied and enforced by a criminal court while deciding a case under section 494 (bigamy) of the IPC.

"This is also applicable for sanction of prosecution considered for alleged bigamy of a Catholic spouse who has married after obtaining a decree for nullity of the first marriage from the Ecclesiastical Tribunal (Christian court)," it said.

The Centre, however, had opposed the plea saying Canon law could not be allowed to override Indian Christian Marriage Act, 1872 and Divorce Act, 1869.

"Since the power for dissolution of marriage has been vested in the court, there is no scope for any other authority including ecclesiastical tribunal to exercise power," the government had said. PTI SJK PKS MNL RKS ARC

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Okaz news website said the bomber died in the attack, and that no other deaths were immediately reported. The bomber was apparently headed in a car toward a mosque and hospital that are near the US consulate in Jiddah.

By AP: A suicide bomber carried out an attack early in the morning today near a US diplomatic site in the Red Sea city of Jiddah, according to state-linked Saudi news sites.

Okaz news website said the bomber died in the attack, and that no other deaths were immediately reported. The bomber was apparently headed in a car toward a mosque and hospital that are near the US consulate in Jiddah. Most of the consulate's staff had reportedly moved offices to a new location.

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Sabq news website reported that two security guards were wounded in the bombing.

US Embassy officials in Saudi Arabia and Interior Ministry officials could not be immediately reached for comment. A State Department spokesperson, who was not authorized to be named and spoke on condition of anonymity, said US officials are aware of reports of an explosion in Jiddah and are working with Saudi authorities to collect more information.

AL-QAIDA ATTACKS

A 2004 al-Qaida-linked militant attack on the US consulate in Jiddah killed five locally hired consular employees and four gunmen. The three-hour battle on the heavily guarded compound came amid a wave of al-Qaida attacks targeting Westerners and Saudi security posts.

SAUDI ON ISIS RADAR

More recently, Saudi Arabia has been a target of Islamic State group attacks that have killed dozens of people. The extremist group views the Western-allied Saudi monarchy and government as heretics. Saudi Arabia is part of the US-led coalition fighting the IS group in Iraq and Syria.

In June, the Interior Ministry reported 26 terror attacks had taken place in the kingdom in the last two years. Local affiliates of the IS group have targeted minority Shiites and security officials.

The attack comes just days before the end of the holy month of Ramzan, in which observant Muslims fast daily from dusk to dawn.

ADVISORY MESSAGES

The US Embassy in Riyadh regularly issues advisory messages for US citizens in Saudi Arabia. On Sunday, the embassy issued a message reminding anyone taking part in religious rituals or other public events to be aware of their surroundings. The message urged Americans to "remain aware of their surroundings, and take extra precautions when travelling throughout the country." It also advised citizens to "carefully consider the risks of traveling to Saudi Arabia."

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Jeddah suicide bomber identified as a Pakistani driver, Suicide bombers target security headquarters of Prophet's mosque in Medina and 2 possible explosions near a Shi'ite mosque.

By Reuters: Suicide bombers struck three cities across Saudi Arabia on Monday, in an apparently coordinated campaign of attacks as Saudis prepared to break their fast on the penultimate day of the holy month of Ramadan.

The explosions targeting U.S. diplomats, Shi'ite worshippers and a security headquarters at a mosque in the holy city of Medina follow days of mass killings claimed by the Islamic State group, in Turkey, Bangladesh and Iraq. The attacks all seem to have been timed to coincide with the approach of Eid al-Fitr, the holiday that celebrates the end of the fast.

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JEDDAH BLAST



A Saudi security official said an attacker parked a car near the U.S. consulate in Jeddah before detonating the device. The official said the government was checking the reports of blasts in Qatif and Medina.

In the only one of the three attacks that appeared to have caused many casualties, a suicide bomber detonated a bomb near the security headquarters of the Prophet's Mosque in Medina, the second-holiest site in Islam.

MEDINA BLAST

Saudi-owned al-Arabiya television said an initial death toll from the Medina blast included three suicide bombers and two security forces officers.

A video sent to Reuters by a witness to the aftermath of the Medina bombing showed a large blaze among parked cars in the fading evening light, with a sound of sirens in the background. A picture sent to Reuters showed a burnt and bleeding man lying on a stretcher in a hospital.

Other pictures circulating on social media showed dark smoke billowing from flames near the Mosque of the Prophet, originally built in the 7th century by the Prophet Muhammad, who is buried there along with his first two successors.

QATIF BLAST

In Qatif, an eastern city that is home to many members of the Shi'ite minority, at least one and possibly two explosions struck near a Shi'ite mosque.

Witnesses described body parts, apparently of a suicide bomber, in the aftermath.

A resident of the city reached by telephone said there were believed to be no casualties there apart from the attacker, as worshippers had already gone home to break their fasts. Civil defence forces were cleaning up the area and police were investigating, the resident said.



A video circulating on social media and purporting to show the aftermath of a Qatif blast showed an agitated crowd on a street, with a fire raging near a building, and a bloody body part lying on the ground. Reuters could not immediately verify the video.

TARGETING FOREIGNERS

Hours earlier a suicide bomber was killed and two people were wounded in a blast near the U.S. consulate in the kingdom's second city Jeddah.

The Jeddah blast was the first bombing in years to attempt to target foreigners in the kingdom. There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

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Islamic State has carried out a series of bombing and shooting attacks in Saudi Arabia since mid-2014 that have killed scores of people, mostly members of the Shi'ite Muslim minority and security services.

Police and groups of local volunteers increased security near mosques in Qatif after suicide bombings hit mosques in Shi'ite areas last year, killing dozens. Another suicide blast at a mosque used by security forces also killed 15 a year ago.

Also Read:3 dead as suicide bomber blows himself up in Medina mosque

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On Swami Vivekananda's 114th death anniversary, here are some lesser known facts about the "messenger of Indian wisdom to the Western world".

By India Today Web Desk: "Arise! Awake! And stop not until the goal is reached."

Swami Vivekananda, preacher of the Vedanta philosophies in the West, died at an early age of 39.

Narendra Nath Datta, acquired the name Swami Vivekananda when he became a monk. He was intrigued by spirituality and philosophy since childhood and went on to play a pivotal role in the spiritual enlightenment of the Indian masses.

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On his death anniversary today, we bring to you some lesser known facts about the founder of Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission:



Known for his eloquence, Swami Vivekananda scored 47% at the university entrance level examination and 46% in the Intermediate Arts. After the death of Narendra's father, the family went through a financial crisis. During that time, Vivekananda would tell his mother that he had lunch invitations and would go out only because others will be able to have a larger share. But, he did not have any such invitations and would either have very little or nothing to eat at all. Swami Vivekanada was considered a "shrutidhara", a person with prodigious memory. Other than studying Sanskrit scriptures and Bengali literature, Vivekananda studied Western philosophers as well. He was not all spiritual throughout, he had a phase of spiritual crisis and doubted the existence of God. In a meeting with his mentor Sri Ramakrishna, he asked him directly if he had seen God. It was Sri Ramakrishna who helped him out of this phase. Apparently, Swami Vivekananda had prophesied that he will not live for more than 40 years. On July 4 1902, he woke up early and went to the chapel at Belur Math to meditate. He then taught Shukla-Yajur-Veda, Sanskrit grammar and the philosophy of yoga to his students and went to his room by 7 pm to meditate again.He specifically asked not to be disturbed and died at 9:10 pm while meditating. He was so particular about this rules that he did not like to bend them at all. No women was allowed inside the monastery, and this rule was created by Swami Vivekananda himself. When one day he had high fever, his disciples fetched his mother but when he saw her he shouted, "why did you allow a woman to come in? I was the one who made the rule and it is for me that the rule is being broken!". Despite his BA degree, Narendra was jobless and had to go from door to door in search of employment during his youth.



Also read: Swami Vivekananda Jayanti: Why is National Youth Day celebrated on his birth anniversary?



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By India Today Web Desk: A 38-year-old man was sentenced to 10-week in prison for chanting 'Allahu Akbar' aboard a Birmingham-bound flight. Shehraz Sarwar's untoward behaviour led to widespread panic among the passengers.

Sarwar had repeatedly chanted Allahu Akbar and shouted 'boom' when the plane was about to land. His behaviour distressed several passengers on the Emirates Boeing 777 flight from Dubai on February 1.

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Following the incident, Sarwar a resident of Saltley area of Birmingham, was jailed for ten weeks at Birmingham Crown Court after he admitted his obnoxious behaviour.



PASSENGERS WERE REDUCED TO TEARS



Sources said that some of the 347 passengers burst into tears after they got frightened by the Sarwar's chanting followed by a turbulent landing. Sarwar had caused trouble from the moment he boarded the flight. He allegedly refused to put on his seat belt and was also seen throwing food.

Alex Warren, prosecuting, told Telegraph that there was terrible turbulence during the flight and some passengers were very frightened.

"Sarwar started chanting Allahu Akbar repeatedly and very loudly. People were getting distressed with his behaviour and when the plane finally landed he shouted boom," Warren said.

He added that the incident left some passengers in tears while one of them confronted Sarwar before being asked to sit down by the staff.



ACCUSED WAS UPSET OVER GRANDMOTHER'S DEATH



"Sarwar had been upset after attending his grandmother's funeral in Pakistan and had also not taken his medication, methadone," said Sarwar's lawyer Balbir Singh.

Singh added that Sarwar was scared during the flight and admitted that he said 'boom' upon landing. "He is very sorry for his actions and realises what distress this caused to other passengers," said Singh.

"Set in the context of the current political situation, chanting Allahu Akbar over and over again while on plane had a frightening affect on some of the passengers and even reduced some to tears," said Judge Fracis Laird QC who sentenced Sarwar to 10 weeks imprisonment.

Also read:

EgyptAir plane crash: Egypt hints at possible terrorist attack, hunt for debris continues



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Salman Khan is likely to take back home a slimmer pay cheque for the upcoming season of Bigg Boss.

By India Today Web Desk: Salman Khan who had taken a massive pay hike last season, has gone for a pay cut this time around. Any guesses, what made him cut his fee? If reports are to be believed, the actor has asked Bigg Boss makers to give a huge chunk of his fee to Being Human. Which means the actor will be paid much less compared to the earlier seasons.

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A source told Bollywood Life, "Salman has always hiked his fee for Bigg Boss, but this time he will be taking a pat cut. He wants Colors to put a chunk of money into Being Human."

Also read: It'll be stressful this time: Salman Khan opens up about hosting Bigg Boss 10



Last year, speculations were rife about Salman not hosting Bigg Boss 9 but reportedly Colors lured him back after giving him a massive hike. The actor is likely to be hosting two shows on small screen this eyar--Bigg Boss and The Farm (along with rumoured girlfriend Iulia Vantur).

According to media reports, the latest season of Bigg Boss will go on the floors after Sultan release on Eid.

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By PTI: Islamabad, Jul 3 (PTI) A US Senate delegation paid a rare visit today to a key tribal district along the Afghanistan border, an erstwhile stronghold of Taliban recently taken by the army, and expressed support for Pakistans counterterrorism campaign.

The four-member, bipartisan US Senate delegation, led by former presidential candidate John McCain, visited the restive North Waziristan tribal region, and later called on the Adviser to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz, Pakistan foreign ministry said in a statement.

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"McCain and his colleagues deeply appreciated the enormous success achieved by Pakistan in its counterterrorism campaign," the statement said.

Aziz reiterated Pakistans efforts to keep the Pakistan-US partnership on track and thanked McCain for his positive comments regarding the importance of bilateral relation, it said.

Earlier, McCain visited the North Waziristan tribal region, where army has launched a campaign in 2014 to flush out militants and destroy their bases in the remote mountainous region, straddling across the Afghanistan border.

The region, an erstwhile stronghold of al-Qaida and Taliban, is largely banned for foreigners and visits by foreign delegations are rare.

McCain also met countrys powerful army chief General Raheel Sharif in an overnight meeting and discussed matters of mutual interest and regional security.

The visit comes at a delicate time when relations between the two country are at a new low after US Congress in May blocked the subsidised sale of eight F-16 fighter jets to Pakistan, accusing it of not being serious enough in fight against terrorism. PTI SUA SUA

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Jagdish Sagar is one of the many high profile accused in the Vyapam case who has secured bail since the CBI took over the case in July 2015. Others include former minister Laxmikant Sharma, mining baron Sudhir Sharma.

Sagar is accused of having conspired to get admissions for more than 150 students in medical colleges through Vyapam.

The Indore based doctors name also cropped up in connection with the mysterious death of medical student Namrata Damor whose body was found on the railway tracks near Maksi in Ujjain.

Dr Jagdish Sagar's counsel Amitabh Gupta said that his client had received bail in both matters.

Jagdish Sagar was arrested in 2013 and has been in jail ever since.
By Indo-Asian News Service: India has advocated at the United Nations the imperative of implementing strong measures within Afghanistan to fight the resurgent Taliban and Al-Qaeda while expanding "coordinated politico-military efforts" beyond Afghanistan.



"We need to go much further in realising the well established objective of degrading the ability of the Taliban to fight while simultaneously denying safe-havens, finances and armaments," Nirupam Sen, India's permanent representative to the UN, told the Security Council on Tuesday while intervening in the debate on the situation in Afghanistan.



He referred to the attack on the Indian mission in Kabul as well as attacks on civilians, humanitarian workers and UN convoys as underlining "the barbarity of the foe that we face".



"The escalation in asymmetric attacks to include areas that were cleared of the Taliban and the Al-Qaeda is a deeply worrying sign," he said.



Sen proposed a three-pronged strategy to bring stability back to Afghanistan after decades of conflict.



Sustained international assistance for development and regional cooperation form the other two aspects of his strategy besides a full-spirited fight against terrorists.



Stating that capacity-building was a priority in India's assistance projects in Afghanistan, Sen added that India had recently raised its commitment to Afghanistan to $1.2 billion.



"We are also pleased to have completed the Zaranj-Delaram highway, which is one of three major infrastructure projects India, is undertaking in Afghanistan," Sen pointed out.



The ambassador called for patience and perseverance because improvement in Afghanistan will "continue to take place sectorally, partially and sometimes even episodically".



"It is for this reason that we reiterate the importance of an Afghan-led process of prioritisation of tasks," he concluded.

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By PTI: Basel, Jul 3 (PTI) Cautioning against expecting too much from central banks, RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan has said it is wrong on their part also to always claim a bazooka left up their sleeves, even as he asserted that life is "very difficult" in emerging markets.

In a panel discussion here on lessons learnt by the central bankers from the global financial crisis, he also took on the industrial nations for expecting the emerging markets to be "orthodox" in their monetary and economic policies at a time when they themselves have "thrown out the orthodoxy out of the window".

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He was speaking at a panel discussion after the Per Jacobsson Foundation Lecture, delivered by JPMorgan Chase International Chairman Jacob Frenkel, on the occasion of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) Annual General Meeting here.

The lecture took place on June 26, but its content has been made public now only. Those participating in the panel discussion included Bank of Mexico Governor Agustun Carstens and Bank of France Governor Francois Villeroy de Galhau.

The lecture took place within days of Rajan making public his decision that he would not opt for a second term as RBI Governor when his current three-year tenure ends on September 4.

Rajan, a former Chief Economist at IMF who is credited for predicting the global financial crisis, was here to attend the BIS Annual Meeting, as also a bi-monthly meeting of select central bankers from across the world here at BIS Tower.

Referring to Frenkels lecture that talked about unconventional monetary policies and the central bankers not being the only game in the town, Rajan said the question at the heart of his talk appeared why is the populism popular.

"In a way, he was making a desperate plea for orthodoxy and saying lets not abandon orthodox principles and I guess the converse of that is that populism has become popular.

"I think if you want to talk about the institutional and environmental situation which supported the orthodoxy, the 80s and 90s, one would guess that it was a society where the elites were respected, where there was a feeling that they could understand and interpret the policies for the masses.

"There was broadly a positive sum game... And actions were not interpreted as favouring one constituency versus another. There was a sense of coherence in the society, little more than today," he said.

Rajan further said that when there is trust in the elite and there is no common economic paradigm, a lot of competing paradigms come up, some of which contradict the laws of economics and very little trust is left in the institutions.

"Well, thats what we call an emerging market," he said.

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"Its the kind of environment we have worked in the past and we have tried to change that to try and say that there are some broad principles, there are institutions that we should build and yes that some people can be trusted, the experts can be trusted. It takes time to do that.

"But my sense is that what the crisis has done is that in the industrial countries, created the kind of conditions that bring you back to the conditions we experienced in the emerging markets," he added. MORE PTI BJ ABM

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Since the start of the Zika virus outbreak in Brazil in March 2015, there have been 1,271 confirmed cases and 57 of them were fatal.

By Neetu Chandra Sharma: While the Union Health Ministry is formulating fresh guidelines on Zika virus, a new study published in the Lancet revealed that there is further evidence found that Zika virus infection in the first trimester of pregnancy can result in placental and foetal damage and loss.

Scientists found that the Zika virus has been detected in the brain tissue of a deceased two-month-old baby in Brazil who was diagnosed with microcephaly, in the brain tissue of two newborns who died shortly after birth, and in the placenta tissue of two foetuses that were spontaneously aborted.

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FURTHER STUDIES NEEDED

The scientists have called for further studies to understand the exact mechanism of transmission. Since the start of the Zika virus outbreak in Brazil in March 2015, there have been 7,343 cases reported cases of microcephaly, of which 1,271 have been confirmed and 57 of the microcephaly cases were fatal.

RISE IN DEATHS

Dr Sherif R Zaki from the Division of High Consequence Pathogens and Pathology (DHCPP), Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, USA, and colleagues, analysed tissues from three post-mortem cases and two placentas. \

All five mothers reported symptoms of Zika virus infection during the first trimester of pregnancy. In three cases (two newborns who died within hours of being born, and one who died at two months), microcephaly was detected during pregnancy or at birth. The two other cases were foetuses spontaneously aborted at 11 and 13 weeks gestation.

THE MECHANISM OF THE VIRUS UNKNOWN

In the three fatal cases, Zika virus antigens were detected in the neurons and glial cells. Analysis of brain tissue showed damage and degeneration of cells, microcalcification (calcium deposits), and cell death.

Genetic analysis of the Zika virus samples showed the greatest match to strains isolated in Brazil during 2015. The authors say that the mechanism by which Zika virus may cause abnormalities is not yet understood, but that it's likely the result of the virus attacking the nervous system with subsequent damage to the brain and muscle impairment.

TRAPS TO TRAP ZIKA

Recently, a study by University of Oxford indicated that tropical climate zones such as of India harbor suitable environmental conditions for the spread of Zika, the Indian government geared up after the outbreak in Brazil and issued travel advisory.

When diagnostic and pharmaceutical companies are busy in coming out with tests and vaccines for the disease, Microsoft recently launched a prototype trap for detecting mosquito borne illnesses; marking the biggest innovation in trap technologies in decades.

As part of Microsoft Research projects, the trap is an update to Project Premonition, a novel autonomous system for monitoring, detecting and preventing emerging infectious disease outbreaks, such as the Zika virus.

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The prototype includes a custom-built Microsoft mosquito trap that allows entomologists collect faster and more efficient data to do their observation and prevention work. The trap is designed to only collect information on the type of mosquito an entomologist wants to track. Additionally, providing insights on aspects such as what time the mosquito was trapped, as well as what was the temperature, wind and humidity, when the mosquito flew in. Also Read:

Zika vaccine may be ready for emergency use this year, says developer

Zika virus can spread via transfusions: Brazil health officials

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Other than removing the need for an extension, another update will also enable users to cast a Chrome tab on Google Hangouts.

By Manish Sain: An update to Google's Chrome browser will now add Cast option in the browser's toolbar, unlike earlier where a user had to install a separate add-on. Other than removing the need for an extension, another update will also enable users to cast a Chrome tab on Google Hangouts.



According to a report by 9to5Google, Chrome 51 will add a Cast option in the Chrome Tools, however, the Cast extension will still be there. The option can also be accessed by right clicking anywhere in a tab. The option lets users select whether they want to cast a single tab or the whole desktop to the Cast device.



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There is another change in the Cast settings. Earlier the user could set resolution, bitrate, quality etc. Now the browser will adjust all these settings according to the content and strength of the network.



According to another report by Android Police, Chrome 52, which is in beta right now, will add the ability to Cast a tab into a Hangouts video. Google has already updated its support site with information on "Casting to Hangouts and Cloud Services from Chrome".



The service requires a user to enable Cloud Services, which appears in the dropdown menu on Cast toolbar icon. After this you just need to cast the tabs like you do with a regular device. You can read more about it on Google's support page.



The Chrome 52, which adds inbuilt Casting option, is already available. You can get it by updating your Chrome browser or simply downloading the latest version. The Chrome 52 is still in beta channels, so you'll have to wait till there is an official release.



--- ENDS ---
Will publicity rights help the individuals featured in

Kanye's typically tasteless new music video?



* Kanye West's 'Famous' music video: publicity rights vs the First Amendment The summertime is supposed to be the silly season: the time of year when frivolous news stories come to the fore. It's not been that way this year, but Kanye West is doing his best to change that. Welcome to the 103rd edition of Never Too Late.

Kanye Wests music video for Famous has sparked outrage for portraying naked celebrities in bed, in the form of life-like wax figures. It is not simply the nudity, but the individuals portrayed, which has led to criticism; Rihanna is seen lying next to former boyfriend and abuser, Chris Brown, alleged serial rapist Bill Cosby is featured, as well as Taylor Swift, Anna Wintour and Amber Rose. Emma Perot considers whether offended parties will be able to seek some remedy/recomopense based on their publicity rights.



* EU Trade Mark owners: Article 28 declarations - have you filed yours yet? Kanye Wests music video for Famous has sparked outrage for portraying naked celebrities in bed, in the form of life-like wax figures. It is not simply the nudity, but the individuals portrayed, which has led to criticism; Rihanna is seen lying next to former boyfriend and abuser, Chris Brown, alleged serial rapist Bill Cosby is featured, as well as Taylor Swift, Anna Wintour and Amber Rose. Emma Perot considers whether offended parties will be able to seek some remedy/recomopense based on their publicity rights.





Former Guest Kat, Darren Meale, of Simmons & Simmons, issues a reminder that you have until September 2016 to file to ensure your pre-22 June 2012 EUTMs cover all the goods and services you think they cover.





The IPKat was delighted to receive this paper from Prof. Dr. Winfried Tilmann of Hogan Lovells which suggests that it might be possible for the UK, post-Brexit, to nevertheless be involved in the Unitary Patent (European Patent with Unitary Effect or EPUE) and Unified Patent Court (UPC). Have a look at the comments section for some lively debate on the subject.







Nicola Searle gives her verdict on a new book by Michelle Rakiec and Stevan Porter about the evolving world of IP valuation and damages. "This book is handy for IP-savvy professionals, particularly US-based, who are not au-fait on the financial machinations of IP as an asset."









Nick Smallwood brings you snippets of IP news: the scale of global counterfeiting, the unitary patent, CIPA Star 2016, Mondelez's challenge to Mars' m&m trade mark in the Swedish courts.









What next for UK copyright after the decision to leave the EU? Eleonora says losing the dialogue between thoughtful UK judges and the CJEU will be one of the many great losses for UK copyright. The future is uncertain - some thoughtful posts in the comments section explore what might happen next.









Neil Wilkopf pays tribute to the achievements of this highly respected trade mark practitioner.





Nicola Searle brings you a summary of three interesting papers about patents from the September issue of Research Policy, a multi-disciplinary journal focusing on economic, policy, management and related issues posted by innovation.




Ali Moezzi, the father of two members of the Peoples Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI or MEK), is currently being held in Ward 8 of Evin Prison in Tehran. In a letter smuggled out of the prison, he spoke of the Iranians right to live freely and noted that the gathering focused on solidarity and perseverance by, and on behalf of, the oppressed Iranian people.

He wrote: What makes this gathering valuable is the loyal support of those who support freedom and democracy, which can pave the way to a new Iran. Peace be upon you the protectors of honour and freedom. Your presence is the proof of the Iranian peoples legitimate and reasonable demands. Your presence is the promise of victory and justice. The prospect that some eyes and ears cannot see or hear. It is on the basis of this presence that we announce: We will build one, two, three, 100, and a thousand Ashrafs [bastions of freedom].

The rally will address key human rights issues in Iran like the rate of executions, the unfair treatment of minorities and the restrictions on press freedom.

There have been over 2,400 executions in the three years since President Hassan Rouhani took office in Iran; nearly 1,000 in 2015 alone. The U.N. Special Rapporteur for 2014-15 stated that the execution rate of juveniles has reached the highest for five years.
The support was seen from a variety of personalities, including Rachel Treweek, Bishop of Gloucester, the Church of Englands first Diocesan Bishop, as well as John Pritchard, former Bishop of Oxford. Pritchard and Treweek are only two of the nearly 80 leaders which have pointed out the conditions of Christians in Iran under president Hassan Rouhani has egregiously worsened.

They have outlined that, Irans ruling theocracy is rightly a source of grave concern for human rights organizations and institutions with a particular interest in the protection of the rights of Christians Reports by the UN Secretary General, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran, and the US State Department all indicate that the repression of Christians has not only continued but intensified during the presidency of Hassan Rouhani.

Furthermore, the leadership claimed that, In such circumstances, we call on all Western countries to consider the deplorable situation of human rights in Iran, particularly the painful situation of Christians and the intensification of their oppression, in navigating their relations with Iran. We call upon them to precondition improvement of those relations on the cessation of oppression of Christians and on a halt in executions.

Understanding the importance of the Iranian opposition in these matters, the bishops and priests have thrown their support behind the Free Iran gathering that is to take place on the heels of the P5+1 nuclear agreement with the Iranian regime, asking world leaders to maintain caution in dealing with the oppressive regime.

In final, the religious leadership claimed the time has come for us to listen to the wishes of the Iranian people for freedom, including religious freedoms, and to add our voices to the grand international gathering known as Free Iran, to be held on July 9, 2016, in Paris to promote freedom and human rights in Iran.
[July 04, 2016] Process Spectroscopy Market Worth 22.04 Billion USD by 2020

PUNE, India, July 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The report "Process Spectroscopy Market (Molecular, Atomic, and Mass), Gas Chromatography (Process, and Natural Gas Chromatography), Process Analyzers (Liquid & Gas) , by Component (Hardware and Software User Interface), Industry, and Geography - Global Forecast to 2020", published by MarketsandMarkets, the Process Analyzers, Gas Chromatography, and Spectroscopy Markets worth 4.98 Billion USD, 3.90 Billion USD, and 22.04 Billion USD by 2020 respectively. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160303/792302 )

Browse 82 market data Tables and 121 Figures spread through 208 Pages and in-depth TOC on "Process Spectroscopy Market" http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/process-analyzers-market-148603279.html

Early buyers will receive 10% customization on this report. The major factors driving the growth of this market include the increasing adoption of liquid and gas analyzers in the process industries for monitoring process chemistry, including water quality and gases. The gas chromatography market is estimated to reach USD 3.90 Billion by 2020, at a CAGR of 8.60% between 2015 and 2020. The market is majorly driven by the increasing adoption of gas chromatography techniques in the process industries. Gas chromatographs help in measuring various parameters such as fatty acids, amino acids, fragrances, pesticide residues, and adulterants. The process spectroscopy market is projected to reach USD 22.04 Billion by 2020, at a CAGR of 8.72% between 2015 and 2020. The factors contributing to the growth of this market include the increased focus on drug safety regulations, where process spectroscopy techniques enable the detection of metals in drug samples. The process analyzers, gas chromatography, and process spectroscopy markets for the pharmaceutical industry held the largest share in 2014 The global process analyzers, gas chromatography, and Process Spectroscopy Markets are industry driven. Based on industry, these markets have been segmented into oil & gas, petrochemical, pharmaceutical, water & wastewater, thermal power, food & beverages, pulp & paper, metal & mining, cement & glass, and others. The global process analyzers, gas chromatography, and process spectroscopy markets for the pharmaceutical industry accounted for the largest share in 2014. These markets are expected to grow at a significant rate between 2015 and 2020, driven by increasing adoption of various analyzers in the pharmaceutical industry. In this industry, process analyzers offer drug safety by providing a variety of information on identity, content, quality, purity, and stability of pharmaceutical products. The prcess analyzers, gas chromatography, and process spectroscopy markets for the food & beverages industry expected to grow rapidly during the forecast period



The process analyzers, gas chromatography, and process spectroscopy markets for the food & beverages industry are estimated to grow at the highest rate during the forecast period. This growth can be attributed to the increasing adoption of gas chromatography and process spectroscopy techniques to determine key ingredients in the different phases of the food and beverages manufacturing cycle. The food & beverages industry requires real-time measurement of various unwanted by-products, which are required for the quality and safety of food products. Therefore, these techniques provide monitoring tools for supplier validation, process optimization, and final product testing in reduced costs and improved quality. The process analyzers (liquid & gas), gas chromatography, and process spectroscopy markets in the Americas held the largest market size in 2014

The process analyzers (liquid & gas), gas chromatography, and process spectroscopy markets in the Americas held the largest size of the global process analyzers market; however, the markets in APAC are expected to exhibit the highest growth rate during the forecast period. The major factors driving the growth of these markets include huge investments by the major players in the process industries such as pharmaceutical, food & beverages, petrochemical, water & wastewater, and oil & gas among others. The process analyzers and related techniques used in these industries help in identifying various hazardous gases and liquids, thereby providing optimum efficiency pertaining to production and maintenance. The major players in the global process analyzers (liquid & gas), gas chromatography, and process spectroscopy markets are ABB Ltd. (Switzerland), AMETEK Process Instruments (U.S.), Applied Analytics, Inc. (U.S.), Endress+Hauser AG (Switzerland), The Emerson Electric Company (U.S.), GE Analytical Instruments (U.S.), Mettler-Toledo International Inc. (U.S.), PAC L.P. (U.S.), Siemens AG (Germany), Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc. (U.S.), and Yokogawa Electric Corp. (Japan), among others. Inquiry Before Buying: http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Enquiry_Before_Buying.asp?id=148603279 The scope of the report covers detailed information regarding the major factors influencing the growth of the process analyzers (liquid & gas), gas chromatography, and process spectroscopy markets such as drivers, restraints, challenges, and opportunities. A detailed analysis of the key industry players has been done to provide insights into their business overview, products and services, key strategies, new product launches, mergers & acquisitions, partnerships, agreements, collaborations, and recent developments associated with the markets. Browse Related Reports Process Analyzer Market (Liquid), by Type (pH/ORP, Conductivity, Near-Infrared, Turbidity, Dissolved Oxygen, Chlorine, Liquid Density, MLSS, TOC, Aluminium, and Ammonia), Service (Pre-sale and Post-sale), Industry, and Geography - Global Forecast to 2022

http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/liquid-analyzer-service-market-72764152.html Know More About our Knowledge Store @ http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Knowledgestore.asp About MarketsandMarkets MarketsandMarkets is the world's No. 2 firms in terms of annual published premium market research reports. Serving 1700 global fortune enterprises with more than 1200 premium studies in a year, M&M is catering to a multitude of clients across 8 different industrial verticals. We specialize in consulting assignments and business research across high growth markets, cutting edge technologies and newer applications. Our 850 fulltime analyst and SMEs at MarketsandMarkets are tracking global high growth markets following the "Growth Engagement Model - GEM". The GEM aims at proactive collaboration with the clients to identify new opportunities, identify most important customers, write "Attack, avoid and defend" strategies, identify sources of incremental revenues for both the company and its competitors. M&M's flagship competitive intelligence and market research platform, "RT" connects over 200,000 markets and entire value chains for deeper understanding of the unmet insights along with market sizing and forecasts of niche markets. The new included chapters on Methodology and Benchmarking presented with high quality analytical info graphics in our reports gives complete visibility of how the numbers have been arrived and defend the accuracy of the numbers. We at MarketsandMarkets are inspired to help our clients grow by providing apt business insight with our huge market intelligence repository. Contact:

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[July 04, 2016] Global Managed Security Services Market (2016 - 2022) - BFSI Sector has Dominated the Managed Security Services Market in Terms of Revenue - Research and Markets

Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "Global Managed Security Services Market (2016 - 2022)" report to their offering. Managed security service offers a platform for third party vendors specialized in managing networks to handle network security of a company. Network security is outsourced to a specialist partner within the scope of this format, leading to an affordable, yet a reliable and effective alternative, which was otherwise a challenge. Such a business format assures organizations to have a secure environment to conduct transactions and not worry about security breaches. The data and other sensitive information remain safe and free from threats that otherwise are easily open to hacking by cyber criminals. Based on the application type, the global managed security services market is segmented into Managed Intrusion (News - Alert) Prevention System (IPS)/Intrusion Detection System (IDS), Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS), Unified Threat Management (UTM), Security Information an Event Management (SIEM), endpoint security and other applications. End point security would witness highest CAGR growth during the forecast period (2016-2022).



The verticals covered within the scope of the report covers organizations/companies ranging from banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI), retail, telecom and IT, healthcare, government manufacturing and other sectors, namely government, aerospace, power and utility. BFSI sector has dominated the managed security services market in terms of revenue contribution in 2015. Based on the deployment type, the global managed security services market is further segmented across hosted or cloud based deployment and on-premise equipment type. Further, the market is bifurcated into small & medium sized enterprises and large enterprises based on the organization size.

Companies Mentioned: AT&T (News - Alert) Inc.

Check Point Software Technologies

Cisco Systems, Inc.

Computer Science Corporation

Dell (News - Alert) Inc. (SonicWall Inc.)

Fortinet Inc.

HP Enterprise

IBM Corporation

Intel Corporation

Symantec (News - Alert) Corporation Key Topics Covered: 1. Market Scope and Research Methodology 2. Executive Summary 3. Market Overview 4. Market By Application Type 5. Market By Deployment Type 6. Market By Organization Size 7. Market By Vertical 8. Market By Geography 9. Company Profiles For more information visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/dbr9xw/global_managed View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160704005361/en/

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Los Amigos de la Universidad de Tel Aviv en Argentina realizaron una importante conferencia sobre la Situacion en Medio Oriente
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MATTOON (JG-TC) -- The City Council is scheduled Tuesday evening to consider making personnel changes within the Mattoon Fire Department and the Mattoon Police Department.

For the Fire Department, the proposed changes including promoting Capt. Keith Orndorff to shift captain and Engineer Rex Barnes to captain effective July 9. The council also will consider employing replacement firefighter Anderton Cole as a probationary firefighter, effective July 16, pending successful completion of a background check.

Regarding the Police Department, the council will consider appointing Officer Devin Patterson to regular employment status following the recent completion of his successful probationary period.

In other matters, the council will consider authorizing an intergovernmental agreement between Mattoon and the City of Effingham to provide any necessary investigation services concerning officer-involved deaths.

The proposed resolution for the agreement states that the Illinois Police and Community Relations Improvement Act requires each law enforcement agency to have a written policy regarding the investigation of officer-involved deaths.

Tuesday's meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. in the council chambers at City Hall, 208 N. 19th St.
GREENUP (JG-TC) -- Two men died in a house fire Saturday night at 518 North Mill St. in Greenup.

Cumberland County Coroner Chuck Layton said Timothy Thomas, 28, and his uncle, Darrell Albert, 60, were pronounced dead at 10:45 p.m. Saturday after the blaze.

Greenup Fire Protection District personnel were called to the location about 9:20 p.m. Both men lived at the house, as did Thomas' wife Valerie and two of his children, girls ages 2 and 4, Layton said. The Thomas family was outside when the fire started, according to the coroner.

Timothy went inside to try to save Darrell and didnt make it out," Layton said.

Greenup fire Chief Michael Carlen said officials are leaning toward an air conditioning unit in a bedroom window as the cause of the blaze.

Albert was not in that bedroom but was in another bedroom across the hall when the fire occurred, Carlen said. The intensity of the blaze stopped firefighters from being able to rescue the two men.

It was pretty hot, a lot of intense smoke. It was just way too hot for them, Carlen said.

Greenup firefighters were assisted by personnel from Toledo, Montrose and Casey fire protection districts. They cleared the scene around 3 a.m. Sunday, Carlen said.

The fire is still under investigation with assistance from the Illinois State Fire Marshal's office.
SPRINGFIELD -- Municipalities and utility companies that have been waiting many months for the Illinois Department of Corrections to pay power, water and sewer bills for prison facilities should see some money soon, the state comptrollers office said late last week.

The short-term budget deal that Gov. Bruce Rauner signed Thursday frees up $321 million for operational expenses in the states prison system. Those funds were held up in the yearlong budget impasse between the first-term Republican governor and the Democratic-controlled General Assembly.

As of last week, Corrections had racked up more than $34 million in unpaid utility bills at facilities statewide, according to records released to the Springfield bureau of Lee Enterprises in response to a request under the states Freedom of Information Act.

Rich Carter, a spokesman for Comptroller Leslie Munger, said checks should be going out soon.

Comptroller Munger knows the municipalities and utility companies have been waiting a long time to receive these payments, and she has directed staff to pay these bills immediately after receiving the vouchers from the Department of Corrections, Carter wrote in an email Friday.

The largest share of money -- $12.9 million -- is owed to Constellation Energy Services, a subsidiary of utility giant Exelon Corp. But the state is also in arrears to local municipalities that are home to correctional facilities.

The state owes the southern Illinois city of Chester nearly $1.2 million for utility services at the Menard Correctional Center.

To a city the size of Chester, it hurts us and it creates some extreme difficulties in moving money around and paying our bills, Mayor Tom Page told The Southern Illinoisan last week.

As of Friday afternoon, the mayors office hadnt received word of when the bills would be paid.

The situation is similar in Pontiac in central Illinois. The city just sent the state a nearly $800,000 sewer bill for the Pontiac Correctional Center.

City Administrator Bob Karls said Pontiac has had to make some adjustments to its plans as a result of the states overdue bills.

Weve kind of slowed down some capital improvement projects, he said, adding that it mostly involved work that was still in the design phase.

While hes happy that Illinois now has a partial budget, hell be happier when its bills are paid in full.

The sigh of relief will come when we get our checks, Karls said, adding that the situation is much less dire than when the state proposed closing the prison back in 2008.

Pontiac isnt the only central Illinois city waiting for its check from Corrections. Among others, the state owes $133,836 to Decatur, $293,187 to Taylorville and $561,695 to Vandalia. In the Quad Cities area, East Moline is owed $566,539.

Karls said Pontiac never considered disconnecting its prisons sewer service, but municipalities elsewhere grappled with the idea.

Leaders in the west-central Illinois city of Mount Sterling, which the state owes $313,575, weighed shutting off the water at Western Illinois Correctional Center. But the city council unanimously rejected the idea last month.

Municipalities have little leverage in the situation because if they shut off utilities, the Department of Corrections would have to remove inmates from the facilities. That, in turn, would call into question whether the inmates -- and the jobs of those who guard them -- would ever return.

If water had been shut off, it becomes a public health issue and the state would have no choice but to move inmates, Rauner spokeswoman Catherine Kelly wrote in an emailed statement. Before a facility could be reopened, IDOC would have to complete any repairs due to a water shut off, which would be subject to available appropriations, and have the entire complex pass inspection.
Prairie Orthopaedic and Plastic Surgery, PC is pleased to welcome Suzanne Sailer, MSN, RN, NP-C. Sailer has been practicing as an RN at the office for the past three years. She will now have clinic hours as a nurse practitioner and will be providing surgical assistance for board certified surgeons Patrick Hurlbut, MD, Gustavo Machado, MD and Kara Krejci, DPM.

Sailer received her Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Nebraska Wesleyan in 1992. She received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Creighton University in 1993. She then went on to receive her master's in nursing education from Nebraska Wesleyan in 2004. Sailer recently received her Master of Science in Nursing at Simmons College this past March. She is now board certified as a family nurse practitioner, is a member of Sigma Theta Tau honor society of nursing, and a member of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners.

Sailer has been a nurse for 23 years in many different capacities. These have included burn, pediatric intensive care, neonatal intensive care, pediatric trauma unit, adult telemetry, stroke unit, rehabilitation, and preoperative review for anesthesia. She has taught didactic nursing classes in pediatrics and health assessment, in addition to being a clinical preceptor. For the past eight years, she has been working in medical aesthetics and is certified in laser therapy and advanced injectables by the National Laser Institute in Scottsdale, Arizona. Sailer is now seeing patients at Prairie Orthopaedic and Plastic Surgery, PC a multispecialty practice offering diagnosis and treatment of upper and lower extremity musculoskeletal injuries, plastic, cosmetic, reconstructive and micro surgery, as well as medical aesthetics services.

The practice is located at 4130 Pioneer Woods Drive Suite 1. To make an appointment to see Sailer in the clinic, please call the office at 402-489-4700. To view all of our services offered, please go to our website at www.prairie-ortho.com. At Prairie Orthopaedic and Plastic Surgery, PC we treat all of our patients with individualized and compassionate care and we are committed to providing the highest quality healthcare available.
The recent dismissal of an Elkhorn man's drug case has followed on the heels of a Lincoln judge's ruling that the marijuana edibles found in his Porsche Cayenne couldn't be used as evidence against him at his trial.

The question: Did the Nebraska State Patrol trooper have a lawful reason to stop Blake Chance on U.S. 77 near Lincoln on March 15, 2015, to see if the SUV he was driving was insured?

Lancaster County District Judge Steven Burns found he did not.

In his May 26 order, Burns said Trooper Kurt Frazey "had nothing more than a hunch that was not supported by reliable facts sufficient to support a reasonable suspicion."

What Frazey had was an anonymous tip that Chance was returning from Colorado and that he'd been selling marijuana edibles in Elkhorn

Before he reached Lancaster County, two other troopers had spotted him driving east on Interstate 80 but had seen no traffic violations to warrant a stop.

Frazey spotted the Porsche on I-80 near Lincoln and followed it along along the interstate and then north onto U.S. 77.

He acknowledged that he saw no traffic violations either, but as Chance neared the edge of Lancaster County, Frazey decided to pull him over to ask for his insurance card after a check with dispatch indicated the insurance information for the 2014 SUV was "unavailable."

After Chance provided the card, Burns said, there was no evidence the trooper made any effort to check it out more or that he could have.

Instead, Frazey took Chance back to his cruiser and started asking him questions, including whether he would consent to a search of his vehicle.

Chance declined and was detained for the 40 or so minutes it took to get a drug dog there. The dog alerted to the odor of drugs, a search turned up 150 grams of THC edibles and Chance ended up charged with possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance, a felony that could have gotten him as many as four years in prison and two years of supervised release.

He fought the charge, arguing the stop was illegal.

After a motion to suppress hearing over three days this spring, defense attorney Sean Brennan argued the court should suppress the evidence because the trooper had formed an erroneous suspicion the SUV was uninsured based on an absence of information.

"A reasonable suspicion must be supported by articulable facts," he wrote in a brief. "Facts do not arise from the absence of information. Frazey, stopping Chance on a mere hunch, violated the Fourth Amendment," which prohibits unreasonable search and seizure.

Deputy Lancaster County Attorney Eric Miller argued in his brief that the anonymous tip to the patrol provided reasonable suspicion that criminal activity was afoot when put together with three other factors.

Frazey saw Chance turn off of I-80, which would've increased the time and mileage to get to Elkhorn, Chance seemed nervous, and he lied about where he'd been.

But, Burns wrote this in his order: "While an anonymous tip may be of some value when coupled with other information, by itself it does not establish either reasonable suspicion or probable cause." The absence of an insurance certificate on the SUV didn't make the tip more likely, he said.

As for the stop itself, the judge said even if the trooper had a reasonable suspicion, the stop exceeded what was constitutionally permitted.

Chance gave the insurance information to the officer right away, Burns said, and then the trooper invited him back to his cruiser under the "pretense" of checking out the papers.

"Once the trooper had the opportunity to examine the insurance certificate his investigation was concluded," Burns wrote.

Lancaster County prosecutors asked that the case be dismissed, and retired District Judge Karen Flowers did so on June 14.
A new policy aimed at cracking down on suspended driving in Lincoln has reduced the number of repeat offenders, Public Safety Director Tom Casady said last week.

In late February, the Lincoln Police Department launched an effort in which officers not only arrest the driver but also seize the vehicle.

Since then, the number of suspended driving tickets as a percentage of all traffic tickets issued has fallen, according to Casady's analysis.

March, April and May are the lowest months since January 2013, he said.

The policy came after a task force of police, prosecutors and residents last year reviewed state laws and local statistics to see what could be done to tackle the problem.

LPD issued almost 4,000 citations to suspended drivers in 2015.

Repeat offenders tie up police resources and are a drag on court dockets with some people being busted for driving on a suspended license dozens of times, police officials said.

Casady projects there would have been 159 additional suspended driving arrests in those three months had the city experienced the average rate for the previous 38 months.

Unlike other public safety crackdowns that fizzle after being announced with great fanfare, Casady expects this policy to be a sustained deterrent to repeat suspended driving.

"Youve taken away the instrument that they need: The car, Casady said.

"(They) can get another instrument, but theres a certain amount of time, effort and work that goes into that.

Under the policy, officers that pull over vehicles driven by a suspended driver will have the vehicle towed under a Nebraska public nuisance law.

The policy isn't directed at first-time offenders, Casady said.

"Officers are cutting drivers a pretty wide berth here because they are sensitive to the time involved," the public safety director said, noting it can take an average of 30 minutes for a tow truck to arrive.

But officers will have the vehicle towed if the offender isn't eligible for reinstatement, has been cited by LPD regarding a suspension in the last year or has two or more convictions for driving on a suspended license, according to the policy.

Cracking down on suspended driving should change the behavior of chronic offenders, he said.

A portion of those offenders might stop driving but others might just drive better so as to avoid detection by officers patrolling the streets, he said.

"Some of them do a lot of dumb things that bring them to the attention of the police," Casady said. "The dumbest of all is to be a driving a car when there is a perfectly sober, licensed driver in the passenger seat.

Casady understands that some people believe this policy hurts working people, but he said most of these arrests aren't occurring at times when people are going to work.

Rather, they peak during the early morning hours around bar close, he said.

"I think its true, its much more difficult for (those) who are low income to keep their insurance valid and their drivers license active and to have legal registration on their vehicle," Casady said.

"But I dont think that we want to encourage people to drive without license or registration or insurance, even though those things are all related to your ability to write a check."
IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

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. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security. Such has been the patient sufferance of these colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former systems of government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these states. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his assent to laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his governors to pass laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of representation in the legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved representative houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the legislative powers, incapable of annihilation, have returned to the people at large for their exercise; the state remaining in the meantime exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavored to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new appropriations of lands.

He has obstructed the administration of justice, by refusing his assent to laws for establishing judiciary powers.

He has made judges dependent on his will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent hither swarms of officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, standing armies without the consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the military independent of and superior to the civil power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his assent to their acts of pretended legislation:

* For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us;

* For protecting them, by a mock trial, from punishment for any murders which they should commit on the inhabitants of these states;

* For cutting off our trade with all parts of the world;

* For imposing taxes on us without our consent;

* For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of trial by jury;

* For transporting us beyond seas to be tried for pretended offenses;

* For abolishing the free system of English laws in a neighboring province, establishing therein an arbitrary government, and enlarging its boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies;

* For taking away our charters, abolishing our most valuable laws, and altering fundamentally the forms of our governments;

* For suspending our own legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated government here, by declaring us out of his protection and waging war against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large armies of foreign mercenaries to complete the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of cruelty and perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow citizens taken captive on the high seas to bear arms against their country, to become the executioners of their friends and brethren, or to fall themselves by their hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavored to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these oppressions we have petitioned for redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have we been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, enemies in war, in peace friends.

We, therefore, the representatives of the United States of America, in General Congress, assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the name, and by authority of the good people of these colonies, solemnly publish and declare, that these united colonies are, and of right ought to be free and independent states; that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the state of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as free and independent states, they have full power to levy war, conclude peace, contract alliances, establish commerce, and to do all other acts and things which independent states may of right do. And for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor.
It amazes me that pro-life individuals seem to think that "science" has concluded that life begins at conception ("Nebraskans react to abortion ruling," June 28). Logically, life does not begin; it is simply passed on from parents to progeny. For this to occur, both the egg and the sperm must be alive to form a viable zygote. Hence, the notion that life begins at conception is not a scientific conclusion. In the approximately 3.8 billion years that life has existed on this planet, it has been continuously passed on, it has evolved, and it has died. I dont care about peoples theological beliefs but please dont drag science into your illogical arguments.
The American experiment is based upon the audacious claim that a free people can govern themselves, turning neither to anarchy nor despotism. The true beauty of 1776 did not dawn until 1787 when the republic was solidified under the Constitution. However, our freedom rests not only on the Constitution but also on each of us. We cannot govern away every calamity. We must rely on the integrity and character of the citizenry. Liberty can only be sustained by a free people making choices that will benefit the greater good without trampling on the rights of the minority.

The polarization, apathy and cynicism of our age are worrisome. We have ceased to have important conversations, preferring to huddle in our ideological corners hurling digital memes at one another. Our leaders have settled for polarization leading to legislative inaction on the one hand and to executive overreach on the other. We ought to demand better. We ought to be better.

Donald Trump has promised to make America great again. The question of whether America is better or worse than it once was is a matter of perspective. The true mark of American greatness is seen when justice is sought for the oppressed, when liberty is not equated with license, when disagreements are argued with passion and civility, when we accept that our rights come also with responsibility and when our politics focus on the merits of policy rather than the mere strength of personality. When we strive for this we can achieve much, but when we fail we risk our liberty. Idealistic? Yes. However, the beauty of the American experiment is that the Constitution allows such freedom to flourish when it is paired with a virtuous people. Lets do our part to live up to the promise of our nation.

Jake Messersmith, Lincoln
Sen. Ben Sasse celebrated the 4th of July on Monday with U.S. troops in Afghanistan.

"Happy Independence Day from Camp Resolute Support," Sasse said in a statement from Afghanistan.

Sasse is traveling with a bipartisan congressional delegation to Pakistan and Afghanistan for meetings with troops, U.S. officials and national leaders in the host countries.

"It has been an honor to meet and thank some of the Nebraskans serving us in harm's way," he said.

"Recent attacks in the Middle East and Southeast Asia remind us that the threat of violent Islam is real."
The Fourth of July was celebrated Monday in the middle of the country in front of a big elm tree in a scene that might have been painted by Norman Rockwell.

There were kids and bikes and puppy dogs, Abraham Lincoln in his stovepipe hat, a colonial soldier, a bright red tricycle called Huffy Rock It, a 2-year-old dog named Scooby, mostly a chihauhua, who scored the most mileage with tours of Cripple Creek Park.

Two boys watched most of the proceedings from atop the overhanging branch of a tree at the back of the gathering. And there were plenty of stuffed animals and wagons on hand for the show.

This neighborhood celebration was first launched by Nancy Carr and has prospered with the help and guidance of Mary Hilton over the last dozen years.

"We had maybe 100 people the first year," Hilton said.

Monday's crowd grew to several hundred before the event ended with the singing of "God Bless America," a closing prayer and the lonely sound of "Taps" from a single trombone.

It was mostly a family crowd with kids in strollers and grandparents in lawn chairs and even a few wheelchairs.

Lots of songs and patriotic messages.

The Pledge of Allegiance was recited. The Declaration of Independence was read aloud.

They stood to sing "My Country 'Tis of Thee...."

The "Star Spangled Banner" was sung with hands over hearts.

All the military anthems were included with veterans saluting. And then they were introduced and were saluted.

A group of children gathered at the mike to sing "This is My Country."

Many of the adults showed up in star-spangled clothing and through it all kids ran across the lawn of the neighborhood park.

Lt. Gov. Mike Foley sat in a back row seat during the event. State Sen. Kate Bolz joined in the celebration. And former state Sen. Tony Fulton, now state tax commissioner, served as master-of-ceremonies for the proceedings.

Instead of a more normal steamy Fourth of July celebration, this one came with a cool breeze to go along with a cloudy sky.

And Norman Rockwell provided hot dogs at the end.
UNION GROVE  A mysterious noise emanating from an American Roller Company plant hasnt ceased  nor have the complaints about the sound from village residents who live near the facility.

Numerous residents took issue with a prevalent whirring, droning sound at the June 27 Union Grove Village Board meeting  a session attended by American Roller President Dan Cahalane and Operations Manager Randy Mittelstaedt.

American Roller designs and builds rollers used in the paper, printing, packaging, film, plastic and steel industries. The firm, which has customers all over the globe, also covers machine parts used in the food, mining, petrochemical and oil and gas industries with specialized, high-tech coatings.

Residents who live near a 52,000-square-foot plasma coating plant, completed in 2015 at 1440 13th Ave., said the noise has been an issue since last fall.

But officials at American Roller said they were first told about the problem in March and almost immediately worked to mitigate the noise. Decibel levels have dropped significantly since the spring, but a rhythmic, droning noise remains in the air, residents said.

Mary Carleton, who lives on Park Circle, less than a half-mile north of the plant, told the Village Board she cant sit on her patio.

I cant wind down, she said at the June 27 meeting. I can only spend 15 or 20 minutes outside with my coffee before I have to come back in.

Company officials said they are trying to find the source of the continuing droning, which appears to be different than the initial loud noise complaints from the fall.

Our engineers have not determined what the best corrective action is yet given this new information, said Nicolae Epping, the companys marketing specialist. Key is to understand the root cause of the droning and then take the correct action.

Corrective measures

At the board meeting, Mittelstaedt told the residents that the company has replaced bearings, re-leveled equipment to lessen vibrations, installed mufflers, and built sound barriers to enclose motors.

After those efforts, sound levels dropped between 10 and 17 decibels at three different spots, Mittelstaedt said. Plus, those efforts have allowed the company to better focus on what the issue could be, Cahalane said.

We are here to help solve the problem, Cahalane said.

Jeff Nimmer, another Park Circle resident, said he appreciated the corrections already made, but the issue isnt fixed.

The company could consider constructing a wall or some type of containment for the dust collectors, Nimmer said.

The Village Board and Mark Osmundsen, the villages director of public works, will continue to work with the company to hopefully solve the issue, village officials said.
RACINE COUNTY  The state's fight over how to fund road construction could land on Racine County's doorstep.

Gov. Scott Walker has directed the state Department of Transportation to "minimize" spending on major road construction in southeastern Wisconsin, where the ongoing Interstate 94 north-south project runs through Racine County.

But Assembly Speaker Robin Vos says he will fight to keep the I-94 project on track  possibly foreshadowing a battle between the Legislature and the governor's office.

"I am frustrated that the project, under Governor Walker's plan, is going to be pushed back even further, making the interstate more dangerous and more expensive," said Vos, R-Rochester.

Walker has instructed the DOT to submit its budget request by Sept. 15, rather than November as it usually does. Exactly how projects like I-94, the Zoo Interchange and others might be affected won't be known until then.

The Legislature will then take up the governor's full budget proposal next year.

Walker and legislators have struggled to fund transportation for some time, opting to borrow money to pay for construction. Last year, for example, the state budget included $500 million in borrowing for roads, with an additional $350 million approved in November.

Some legislators have called for the state to look into raising revenue, but in a letter to DOT Secretary Mark Gottlieb last week, Walker reiterated his opposition to a gas tax or vehicle registration fee increase.

"Raising the gas tax or vehicle registration fees without an equal or greater reduction in taxes elsewhere is not an option, and it would throw a wet blanket on our growing economy," Walker wrote.

He said large projects "should be prioritized based on our needs, not our wants. Large needs-based projects should have their designs reviewed to save taxpayer dollars while maximizing maintenance and safety."

Vos said he believes in an "all of the above" approach, saying the state should look at ways to generate new revenue, continue with an audit looking for waste in the department, investigate cost-saving ideas and prioritize projects.

Vos has said he does not want to pass the next state budget without a long-term plan to fund transportation.

"That is my intention, that we are not going to again kick the can down the road," he said. "We are going to come up with some long-term solutions, instead of just saying, 'We'll fix the problem by borrowing more money from our kids.' "

Vos is running for re-election against Democrat Andy Mitchell, who said the state should look more closely at fixing local roads and reconsider other state policies, like those relating to tax cuts or the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp., to free up money for transportation.

"I'm a bit of a skeptic that we need a lot of new construction," Mitchell said. "We need to focus more on fixing what we've got, especially the county roads, because that's an important part of the system for so many people."

Delays possible

No construction is scheduled on the freeway this year. For now, work on the north-south project is scheduled to resume in 2017 with the reconstruction of interchanges at Ryan Road and Elm Road and work on the I-94 roadway between the Racine/Milwaukee county line and Oakwood Road.

The state Department of Transportation in 2018 plans to reconstruct frontage roads in Racine County from Highway 20 to Highway KR as well as the intersection of Highway 20 and Highway C.

All that could change, however, depending on the state budget.

State Rep. Peter Barca, D-Kenosha, said a transportation plan is particularly important for the Racine-Kenosha area. Its location near Milwaukee, Chicago and other Midwestern cities gives the area a greater ability to attract distribution-type businesses which rely on a good infrastructure, Barca said.

"Distribution is a big part of our economy at this point. For them, it's vital you have good roads and bridges," he said.

Barca added that "the governor tells us what he's not going to do. I want to know what he is going to do."
RACINE  If Lake Michigan fishing continues as it has been lately, Salmon-A-Rama will be a lively, exciting contest this year.

On Sunday, fishermen and a charter boat captain said Lake Michigan salmon fishing has been stellar since early spring and were eager for the annual competition to begin. The nine-day Salmon-A-Rama starts Saturday and runs through July 17.

Eric Rambis, lieutenant commander deckhand at Reefpoint, said fishing has been strong, and he plans to win the $20,000 grand prize.

Randy Kisley, 36, of Mount Pleasant launched his Starcraft Fishmaster 196 at the Pershing Park boat launch about 2 p.m. Sunday, confident hed catch fish even at that time of day.

Then he and his fishing companions, Wally Cieczka and his 11-year-old son Matthew, went out and proved him right. Fishing from 2:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.  definitely not prime time for fishing  they went out and caught their limit. They netted all five sport species the lake offers: brown, lake and steelhead trout; and chinook, also known as king, and coho salmon that ranged from about 6 to 15 pounds.

Its the best fishing anyones seen in the last four years  especially for king and coho, said Kisley, a superintendent for a general contractor.

Theres been a lot of bait around, a lot of young alewives. So there are a lot of big, healthy fish.

There are a lot of 20-pounders around, Kisley said. You didnt see that last year.

Jeff and Trish Kloet of Roscoe, Ill., set out at 4:45 a.m. in their Four Winds boat and returned in early afternoon pretty satisfied with their seven coho salmon. Jeff estimated they weighed 4 to 6 pounds each.

He and Trish fished off Wind Point in 55 to 60 feet of water.

They were hitting, Trish remarked. We lost a couple.

The Kloets both are entering Salmon-A-Rama, and Trish proudly said their grandson won the Junior Division last year.

Racine native Josh Keeran, a Chicago fireman and captain of the charter boat First In at Reefpoint Marina, appreciates the dramatic change in fishing action from last year to this one.

Last year was one of the worst in my 24 years of fishing, he said. This year so far is great. Right now salmon fishing is some of the best in the lake.

In contrast, Keeran said fishermen on the Michigan side of the lake are struggling to find salmon.

Like Kisley, Keeran said salmon fishing is good now because of an ample supply of bait, the young alewives they crave.

Salmon follow their food, he said. Theres a lot of bait fish here.

Right now, salmon fishing is some of the best in the lake.  Josh Keeran,

charter boat captain
For anyone who has ever signed up for one service or another, had a problem with the company and then been told you are out of luck  just check the contract  there was a brief moment of glee last week when we read the news reports of a Green Bay man who had turned the tables on the aggravation of legal fine print.

But it was just a brief moment  until we realized that, once again, it was John Q. Public who would foot the bill in the end.

According to the news reports by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Cory Groshek, 33, of Green Bay, has been using an obscure section of the Fair Credit Reporting Act to claim his rights had been violated and then threatened to sue.

Groshek reportedly did this by applying for jobs at companies  including Wisconsin companies and even been offered jobs  and then waited to see if they would do a credit check on him.

Under the FCRA, a company that wants to obtain an individuals credit reports, which is common practice for a potential employer, must make a clear and conspicuous disclosure of the companys intention to do so in writing. The FCRA language also says the notifying document should consist solely of the disclosure.

Its right there in the law, which was passed in 1970.

And Groshek, who is not an attorney, managed to figure out that there was gold in that thar fine print. He reportedly began mining it two years ago by threatening to sue companies where he had sought employment that had done credit checks without making that clear and conspicuous disclosure.

According to the news reports, it turned into a cottage industry, one which has netted Groshek at least $230,000 in legal settlements. Some companies reportedly made the required disclosure in their job applications, others in other employment paperwork  not very conspicuously and not in a separate disclosure.

According to the newspaper account, Groshek has threatened to sue 46 companies and almost half of them have agreed to small settlements. Additionally, three companies didnt settle and are being sued in federal court.

Grosheks legal targets have included Time Warner Cable, which is fighting the legal action, Shopko, Target, Starbucks, Humana, U.S. Cellular, hhgregg. Goodwill Industries, Burlington Coat Factory and many others.

Its probably not a scam in the truest sense of the word, but it certainly is taking advantage of a technical oversight. We would hope that employers across the state, and across the country, put this little gambit high on their radar screens and direct their personnel offices to send out single page notices to any job applicant notifying them of a credit check.

Congress, too, might want to address the wording of the law and review whether they intended to create an opportunity for any individuals who are really not seeking a long-term job  just seeking a quick legal payday.
6 out of 8 fake doctors arrested from Birgunj released on bail

Six out of eight doctors arrested from Birgunj for allegedly presenting fake academic credentials have been released on bail on Monday.
Apex court quashes irrelevant writ

The Supreme Court (SC) on Thursday quashed a writ filed by two advocates seeking the courts intervention against the previous governments efforts to hand over the Kathmandu-Nijgadh Fast Track project to an Indian developer.
Bomb attacker arrested after four years on the run

A person who had been on the run for the past four years after setting off an improvised pressure cooker bomb within the District Development Committee's compound was arrested on Sunday evening.
Boy missing since 18 days still unaccounted for

A painstaking search for a 14-year-old boy who went missing 18 days ago is still continuing.
Campaign for planting 8,000 tree saplings kicks off

The tree plantation campaign has kicked off at the national forest area of Seridanda in Kudari VDC  1 with the slogan 'Plant tree and save forest, let us make Jumla district green'.
Caught in Kabul

Both Nepal and govts of donor countries have failed to provide any protection for migrant workers
CoAS inspects training for UN missions

Chief of Army Staff (CoAS) Rajendra Chhetri on Sunday visited Nepal Armys Birendra Peace Operations Training Centre in Panchkhal, Kavre to inspect and examine the pre-deployment training for military forces heading to UN missions.
Domestic airlines slash fuel surcharge

Airlines Operators Association of Nepal (AOAN) has slashed fuel surcharge by a minimum of Rs115 to a maximum of Rs384, effective from Monday.
DoP launches single day PP delivery

In a bid to revamp the passport distribution system, the Department of Passport under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has started providing passport in a single day by charging a fee of Rs 15,000.
Government doesnt walk the election talk

Almost a month after making an announcement to hold three elections within a year and a half, the government has done little to show that it is actually ready to conduct the polls on the specified dates.
Govt ratifies South Asia Wildlife Enforcement Network statue

The government on Monday ratified the Statue of the South Asia Wildlife Enforcement Network (SAWEN), a regional inter-governmental network formed to combat trans-boundary wildlife crimes.
Govt to resume plastic ban drive

The government has announced that it would resume the ban on use of plastic bags beginning late July. Citing poor monitoring for the failure of the previous ban, the Ministry of Population and Environment has assured of proper regulations this time around
Joshi-led Newar community backs Gathabandhan

The Newar community, led by scholar Satya Mohan Joshi, reached Khulla Manch in the Capital on Saturday and expressed their solidarity with the Sanghiya Gathabandhan that is staging the relay hunger strike since June 7 as part of its protest against the Constitution.
LGBTI community lauds UN decision to appoint independent monitor

The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersexual (LGBTI) community in Nepal has welcomed the United Nations decision to appoint an independent expert to look into cases of violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
Members see opportunity for new beginning in ties

The first meeting of the Nepal-India Eminent Persons Group starts in Kathmandu on Monday, which the EPG members say is open to reviewing the bilateral relations in the changed context.
Minister says recruiting firms fleecing workers

Minister for Labour Deepak Bohara has said the recruiting agencies are charging unfairly high sums in recruitment fees from Nepali migrants going to Malaysia against the free-visa-free-ticket schemea low cost recruitment policy that the government introduced last year.
NC should not assume sidelining UML with support from Maoist Centre: Dahal

CPN (Maoist Centre) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal has urged main opposition Nepali Congress to quit politics of revenge.
Nepal condemns terrorist attack in Dhaka

Nepal has strongly condemned the terrorist attack at a restaurant in Gulshan area of Dhaka, Bangladesh, on Friday.
Nepal to investigate Indian police pair's Everest summit claim

Nepal's government is investigating two climbers who claim to be the first Indian couple to conquer Everest.
New guard

If Maoists, NC wish to form new govt, they have to offer their roadmap to the people
No export to China this year through Korala

Despite overwhelming expectations, there has been no export to China through Mustangs Korala customs point this year. Imports, however, have doubled compared to last year.
NOC to clear all debts by end of fiscal year

Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) has said that it will clear all its debts by the end of this fiscal year.
Once laws are put in place, EC needs 120-day period to hold elections

Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli last month visited the Election Commission to enquire about its preparedness for new elections.
Proposal on purchasing petroleum products from China sent to Foreign Ministry

The Ministry of Commerce has sent a proposal regarding forwarding the process of purchasing petroleum products as per the bilateral agreement signed between Nepal and China to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Quake-hit abandon shelters, return to whence they came

The temporary shelters in Darechok VDC of Chitwan that were built to house the earthquake-displaced families from Dhusa village are being abandoned by their occupants.
Sikta irrigation project canal crumbles: Quality of work questioned

The quality of the construction of the main canal of the Sikta Irrigation Project has been questioned after a section collapsed when water was released into it during a test.
Saudi-based hospital doc pays Rs15m medical bill for Nepali worker

A doctor at Saudi Arabia-based Saudi German Hospital has paid the medical fee of a Nepali migrant worker amounting to Rs 15 million (510,000 Riyal).
Suicide bomber killed, two police wounded in blast outside U.S. consulate in Jeddah

A suicide bomber was killed and two other people wounded in a blast outside the U.S. consulate in Saudi Arabia's second city of Jeddah early on Monday, state TV said.
Sujata warns of grave danger if Oli-govt toppled

Nepali Congress leader Sujata Koirala has warned that seeking an alternative to Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli would lead the country towards grave danger.
WFP warns refugees could face severe food shortages next year

Nearly 15,000 Bhutanese refugees living in eastern Nepal, who are already receiving 30 percent less food items than required, could face the risk of severe food shortages next year if the UN food agency receives no additional funding.
Youth involvement essential for agriculture development: VP Pun

Vice President Nanda Bahadur Pun has stressed on modernisation, professionalisation and mechanisation for sustainable agricultural development.
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

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WASHINGTON (TNS)  When R.C. Roberson first saw the Declaration of Independence in person, the faces of her father, her son, her uncle and her cousin  all of whom have served in overseas wars  flashed before her.

Times have changed. Things changed. People change, said Roberson, a 78-year-old hospice care worker from Eagar, Ariz. But the idea, and the concept, is still there. If you dont believe me, go look at that piece of paper. Its the foundation of this country.

This Fourth of July is the 240th anniversary of the colonists declaring their independence from Great Britain by adopting the declaration. Set against perhaps one of the most raucous political climates in American history, what does this anniversary  and the Declaration of Independence itself  mean to Americans?

On a sunny afternoon last week outside the National Archives, which houses the Declaration of Independence, tourists gave no monolithic response. For some, it was a humbling experience to see the historical document in person. For others, it was a reminder of how far the United States has come in terms of racial equality  and how far it still has to go.

When she has a little time to spare, Lenora Holloman, 62, of Washington brings her son and her grandson to visit the archives. And though she likes to admire the historical significance of the document, and to teach her grandson about the progression of rights for African-Americans in the U.S. since the declaration was written, she admitted it doesnt mean much to her.

It really has nothing to do with me, she said. Because it didnt include my people at all.

Some also lamented better times that they view as long gone  the signatories of the Declaration of Independence are probably rolling over in their graves if theyre watching politics in the United States today, said Roberson  while others saw it as a reminder that politics in the 18th century were just as partisan as they are now.

You know, I think everyone gets really discouraged. Its very divisive, said Dain Ehring, 50, of San Francisco. But I read a lot of history. And it was equally divisive back then. You had (Samuel) Adams and (Thomas) Jefferson. You had (Aaron) Burr. It was incredibly divisive.

Because of the divided politics in the country, the very ideal that the declaration espouses  a voice for the people in the government  is a hard concept to understand right now for some, said Ehring.

You have half of the United States feeling like the other half is wrong and theyre right, he said. You have to remember that were all citizens.

Still, some visitors said the Declaration of Independence could be a reminder for politicians and citizens alike to put aside political differences. Nathan Haeger, 42, of Costa Mesa, Calif., said that for him, seeing the document in person was an awakening of sorts.

For those who come to see the declaration, he said, its a reminder of the fundamental values the country was built on and how hard-fought the battle was for independence.

It seems like weve gotten away from what its all about, he said. But when you come and see this, it kind of reminds you.

Haeger, a high school history teacher, said he gave the same lesson every year about the Declaration of Independence, and always tried to leave his students with one takeaway.

It just means freedom. We get to make our own decisions and not live any under real authority, Haeger said. If you look around the world  I try to teach my students to look at other places in the world. I mean, you dont get half the freedom we have here.
On this Independence Day, when many voters are bewildered about whom to vote for president 127 days from now, Muslims in America are even more perplexed about GOP candidate Donald Trumps slandering of them and their religion.

Things are less tolerant now even than after Sept. 11, said Wale Elegbede, a 38-year-old native of Nigeria who has lived in La Crosse for 17 years.

Mr. Trump definitely added fuel to the fire.  What hes saying is very dangerous talk, Elegbede said in an interview in his South Side home Friday.

My fear with Donald Trump is that he evokes a lot of anger. A leader needs to bring all together and lead to the promised land, he said.

Trump victimizes Muslims

Trumps insinuations that all Muslims are subject to suspicion of being terrorists and his threat to ban Muslims entry to the country, in effect, make Muslims victims of terrorism, Elegbede said.

We are already embedded. We are your neighbors, your friends, doctors, farmers. We are no different in American values. We want our children to prosper and a safe place to reach our God-given talents, said Elegbede, who has three children  Zarah, 13; Jacob, 13, and Idris, 3  with his wife, Audrey.

Elegbede, whose father is Muslim and whose mother was Catholic until converting to Islam of her own accord, came to La Crosse to attend the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, where he earned a bachelor of science degree in information systems.

Elegbedes extended family is a religious quilt, including a sister and cousins who are Christian and who respect each others beliefs, he said.

We celebrate Christmas with my Christian cousins and sister. Weve gone to church and they have gone to mosques, he said.

Regardless of religion, we have a common humanity  whether we call God God or Allah, he said.

Now a senior project manager in the Enterprise Portfolio Management Office and Center for Regenerative Medicine at Mayo Clinic Health System in Rochester, Minn., Elegbede previously worked in information technology in the Residence Life Department at UW-L, as IT manager at Peoples Food Co-op in La Crosse and in IT for Ashley Furniture in Arcadia.

Elegbedes own business, Unique Data Solutions, developed information systems for the lumber industry until the housing market dive crippled the demand for lumber.

When you have a family, you have to have a job, he said in explaining his career development, while retaining Unique Data as a side gig.

La Crosse phenomenal

La Crosse is phenomenal  great teachers, close-knit, safe, Elegbede said. Its a great place to raise a family.

Mirroring Elegbedes reason for coming to La Crosse for college is 21-year-old Yousaf Almazrou, who is from the Saudi Arabian capital of Riyadh and is president of UW-Ls International Student Association.

Almazrou, who is a junior majoring in business management and has a summer internship with an IT start-up in San Francisco, shares Elegbedes concern about the hostility Trump exhibits toward Muslims, other ethnic groups and women.

It has been disappointing to hear what he says, Almazrou said during a phone interview. I feel like the problem is he is transferring anger against people. While Trump is disappointing, I still have good feelings about the United States.

When he talks about the ban, friends text me and tell me to wait and not be sad because they dont feel that way, he said, adding that such messages are comforting.

I actually think hes not really into the ban. Hes playing with the fear that will lead him to the top. He says what people want to hear, Almazrou said.

Trump election would be shocking

Hes a smart man  Im not saying hes a stupid person, but hes playing to peoples hate, and hes one step away from the White House, Almazrou said. If he is elected, it will be shocking, like (leaving the EU) was in Britain.

If Trump is elected  I cant process that, he said.

Im very grateful to be in La Crosse, Almazrou said. People are responsible and caring. I love this place and I call it home.

That said, he added, My goal is to go back to Saudi Arabia after he graduates.

Laughing, he explained, My mom wouldnt let me stay here. Its tough on her for me to be gone so long. I need to pay back.

Elegbede and Almazrou participate in an interfaith group, a subcommittee formed in January in the La Crosse Interfaith Justice and Peace Network. The goal is to promote understanding among all religions and denominations, especially to help the 100 to 300 Muslims estimated in La Crosse  depending on whether universities are in session  feel safe and respected.

Were in this for the long haul to help Muslims dealing with Islamophobia, said Vince Hatt, former head of the Franciscan Spirituality Center who is chairman of the subcommittee.

Before being on the committee, Hatt said, I knew no Muslims, so I was not familiar with the religion. I had to read Islam for Dummies.

There is high energy and good feelings at our meetings, he said. Weve become a very dynamic, loving group.

While studying issues related to Islam, Hatt said, I was astounded to find out that some people spend $30 to $35 million a year to spread Islamophobia.

Claims that Islamic teachings would support terrorism have no credence, but people believe such campaigns and media reports that the Quran preaches violence, he said.

Trump didnt start it, but he is the result of it. No matter what happens to Trump, Islamophobia still will exist, Hatt said.

The hate-mongering also is the result of misinterpretations of Muslim beliefs, as are terrorists who use Islam to justify violence, Almazrou said.

In every faith, there are misinterpretations of the texts, he said, citing the Klu Klux Klans hijacking of Christianity to justify racial hate and murder of blacks.

That should not imply that all Christians are bad, but some people interpret that all Muslims are bad, he said.

Weve got more good texts than misinterpreted ones, he said. Among Muslims, a minority absolutely misinterpret the texts. There is no reason to advocate for killing  that is insane.

Many people blame Muslims for not doing enough to promote understanding of their religious tenets, Almazrou said, but he tries to do so himself.

Last spring, he arranged for a representative of the Council on American-Islamic Relations to speak at UW-L. The speaker stayed at the Radisson Hotel downtown, he said, adding that it ironically turned out to be the same day in April that Trump brought his disdain for Muslims to a rally that drew 3,000 to the La Crosse Center next door.

Culture vs. religion

A key facet of the enmity toward Muslims is the blurred line between culture and religion, which confuses the causes of some practices, Elegbede said.

Everything that happens in Saudi Arabia is not because of Muslims, but the culture, he said. I dont understand why women cannot drive. There is nothing in the Quran saying that.

The prophet married a successful businesswoman, he said. He was working for a woman.

Islam gave women the right to choose their spouses despite a common misconception that it forces arranged marriages, Elegbede said. Islam promotes education for women and to be in business. Islam supports womens rights.

Asked what he might say to Trump if he had a sit-down with the New York billionaire, Elegbede responded, I would say Muslim Americans are not the problem, and Muslims in general are not the problem and Islam is not the problem.

People who use Islam for their own personal and political purposes are the problem, and denigrating all Muslims because of the errant few sows doubt and divisiveness among Americans, he said.

Whoever is president has to bring people together. Thats how we are to prosper as a nation and as a community, not to build walls  and not just physical walls but also mental walls, said Elegbede, who describes himself politically as an independent.

After reflecting a bit, he added, If he wasnt a presidential candidate, I might say it differently, but I must respect the fact that he is a candidate.

If he was not a presidential candidate, I would say, What are you doing? he said.

If people find out more about us, they would see there is nothing scary about us. They would not have ill-conceived notions about Muslims, Elegbede said.

We are all different. There is richness in diversity, and we can learn from each other, not just my way is the only right way, he said.

My approach in life is have a more tolerant and inclusive country. I believe we are going to become more inclusive, he said. Even though it is bad now, if we open our hearts and learn, we will become inclusive.

One thing I want to tell other Americans: We are part of you. We are part of the fabric of society.
SPRING GREEN  There are toys like little green and tan Army soldiers, classic games such as Cootie, Yahtzee and Monopoly and racks of greeting cards.

The aisles under the pressed tin ceiling hold health and beauty products, laundry soap, pot holders, candles, picture frames and party supplies. The back corner is home to an extensive yarn shop while the front half houses womens clothing from popular lines like Woolrich, Tribal and Yest.

Need a stocking cap or sweatshirt to show your support of River Valley High School or maybe a pair of swim goggles and a few sand toys  its all here, packed into a 3,500 square-foot space that is a retail anomaly.

Ninas Department & Variety Store should have closed years ago just like virtually every other family-owned department store in the state. Instead, Ninas is a staple for the locals of Spring Green and a regular stop for the tourists who come to this village to take in a performance at American Players Theatre, browse Arcadia Books, tour Taliesin or camp at nearby Governor Dodge State Park.

Were a working store. There are, what they call, country stores, which look like an old-fashioned store but really its a tourist trap. You go in there and you cant find anything basic that you need, said Joel Marcus, the fourth generation of his family to own Ninas. With us, you come in and you find all these cool things but its still a real working variety store. All the basics for day-to-day living are here.

Small-town department stores arent yet extinct but theyre definitely endangered. Sheboygan Falls has Evans, an 18,500-square-foot store founded in 1936. Bradleys in Delavan was established in 1852 and has been in the same location since 1887, while the Tomah Cash Department Store opened in 1900 and has three floors and 30,000 square feet of merchandise.

Ninas is one of the oldest businesses in Spring Green. The Post House restaurant, founded in 1857, was destroyed by fire in 2004. The former State Bank of Spring Green building down the street is a restaurant and the former Royal Blue Grocery building is home to Country Sampler, a quilt and sewing shop. Hottmanns mens clothing and Jo Ans, a womens clothing store, have also disappeared from the downtown retailing landscape.

Ninas has remained true. And on Saturday the store will celebrate 100 years of ownership by the Marcus family with music, refreshments, door prizes and historical displays in the front windows.

Shoe strings, socks, clothes pins, silk flowers, irons, mens shirts, cookware and 52,000 other items will also help draw in the crowds.

This is not the same store that my great-grandfather purchased in 1916, Marcus said. The one constant is that were continually reinventing ourselves.

That philosophy helped the store survive the Great Depression and bankruptcy in the 1930s that shuttered his familys three other stores in southwestern Wisconsin. Frank Lloyd Wright was a customer for years and in the 1960s many referred to Ninas as a dime store but the Marcus family worked to change its image back to a department store. When Walmarts were constructed in Dodgeville and Richland Center in the 1980s, the store adjusted and, unlike many other small retailers of the time, was able to retain many of its customers.

In its early days Ninas sold groceries, work clothes for farmers and even furniture. Beginning in the mid 1930s, the store was called The Economy Store as a way to better market itself in the dire economy of the time.

Ninas is housed in a building constructed in 1911 by B.L. and I. W. Cohen who had come to Spring Green in 1905 to open a general store. The brothers had a disagreement and in 1916 sold the business and the building to Harris Marcus who had emigrated from Russia in 1884. He first arrived in New York, went to Chicago and ended up at the home of cousin, Max Marcus, who operated a store in Columbus north of Madison but had no work for him in the store.

But cousin Max set up Harris with a pack filled with sewing supplies and folds of fabric to peddle to farm women in the Wisconsin River Valley, a job he would do for nearly nine years.

As he sold he was able to amass money to buy a horse and saddle bags to sell and carry more merchandise and eventually buy a wagon so that he could carry all kinds of merchandise out to the rural areas, Joel Marcus said. By 1893 he was able to open his first small store in Muscoda. Its really an American success story.

The store closed in 1886 and Harris Marcus went back to peddling. Less than a year later, however, he opened another store in Muscoda that by 1912 had grown to a 15,000-square-foot department store. Branch stores followed in Boscobel, Viola and, in 1916, downtown Spring Green under the name of Harris Marcus & Sons.

In 1946, more than 10 years after the Muscoda, Bosobel and Viola stores had closed, the Spring Green store was renamed Ninas Inc., after Sam Marcus wife. When Sam died in 1946, George Marcus took over the family business until his death in 1978. Thats when Joel Marcus, a UW-Madison graduate, returned from law school in St. Paul, Minnesota, with the intention of closing the store.

I just couldnt bring myself to do it, Joel Marcus said. It was just the attraction of it being in the family and the history and what the store meant to the community. Theres no shortage of lawyers out there but there are very few people doing what I do at the store.

But Marcus, 63, doesnt do it alone. He has three part-time employees and his wife, Judy Swartz Marcus, whom he met through a yarn salesman. Marcus aunt owned the Knitting Tree in Madison and Swartz was working at a yarn store in Chicago. The rep thought the two might make a good couple.

A blind date was had in 1998 and Joel and Judy married in 1999. Joel now has a partner for life and Ninas a spectacular yarn selection that includes cotton, wool and silk and knitting books written by Swartz-Marcus, who managed a yarn store in Chicago for 13 years and has a strong background in textiles. When she first arrived, the sparse yarn department was located across from mens underwear. Its now in the former shoe department in the back of the store.

I had always eyed this little alcove so when shoes were done, I moved in and expanded it, said Swartz Marcus, 62, who grew up in Madison. When I came here the yarn selection was very minimal, like a dish cloth cotton and basic acrylic but I didnt want to alienate the local people. We depend a lot on tourism but we dont want to be a tourist store. We want a balance between what weve always been to the local people and attracting tourists. No customer is left behind.

Sales peak in December but August is a strong second thanks to the tourists and the many items made in America or not typically found in big-box retailers. They include socks from Vermont and handbags from Colorado.

In 2002, as the store was undergoing a $40,000 renovation, Judy and Joel changed the name of the store from Ninas Inc. to Ninas Department & Variety Store to help visitors recognize the stores mission.

We love the business, Joel Marcus said. Its fun to come to work every day and I like it because of the creative aspect to it. Im a big critic of the way retail has gone in recent years and this is my opportunity to sort of show how retail should be.
Wasnt it cute? Hillary Clinton and Elizabeth Warren looked like twins the other day in Cincinnati: Same blond bob haircut, bright blue blazers, white-hot rhetoric and matching grins when they excoriated Donald Trump.

Which is exactly why Warren will not get the vice presidential slot on Clintons ticket.

Clinton does not want a twin running mate. And while she needs Warren to help solidify the Democratic vote this summer, Warren could be less helpful in the general election.

Warren was the only female senator who did not endorse Clinton until it was painfully obvious Bernie Sanders was whistling in the wind. Friends of Hillary is a special club you cannot join too late.

Warren is on board now because there is nowhere else for her to go to stay viable in the party. Her task now is to help unite the party before the convention next month in Philadelphia. But she is dong such a good job and proving to be such an effective attack dog against Trump that Hillary will be able to choose someone else as her running mate. Instead of 20 percent of Sanders supporters who have been so miffed he didnt win they said theyd vote for Trump, only about 8 percent are still that aggrieved.

Is the country ready for two women on the same ticket? Probably, but why, if you are cautious Hillary, would you take the chance in what is likely to be a very close election?

The governor of Massachusetts, Warrens home state, is Charlie Baker, a Republican, and hed appoint a Republican to fill Warrens seat if she became vice president. Too risky. Also, Massachusetts will vote Democratic anyway. On the other hand, somebody safe, such as Tim Kaine, the Democratic senator from Virginia, not only could deliver a key state to Clinton but would be succeeded by a Democrat appointed by Democrat Gov. Terry McAuliffe.

If Clinton becomes president, she desperately needs a Democrat-controlled Senate to get anything done in her first 100 days. No matter who the next president is, Washington will still be politically divided; Republicans wont want to cave to a Democratic agenda and there is no way Democrats will agree to almost anything Trump has been proposing.

A major reason against putting Warren on the ticket is the antipathy she has earned from her outspoken criticism of Wall Street and her work setting up the Consumer Finance Protection Board. She is viewed as too liberal for many business leaders. While Warren is beloved by the progressive Democratic base, Hillary must win over some Republicans to win the White House, in part because the Libertarian Party candidate Gary Johnson and the Green Party candidate Jill Stein will cut into her votes as she fights Trump.

While Warren insists she would be ready to become commander-in-chief as vice president should anything happen to the president, she has no foreign policy experience, a telling weakness in the increasingly complicated global arena.

One of the vice presidents key attributes in modern times is to be able to work with Capitol Hill to try to bring about consensus. Despite the acrimony in Washington, Joe Biden, well-liked in Congress, did a surprising amount of behind-the-scenes negotiation for President Barack Obama. But Warren is considered too partisan and too much of a firebrand to fit into that role easily.

Kaine, who wants to run with Hillary, is ideologically closer to her than Warren is, and he has immersed himself in foreign policy issues in the Senate. He was also governor of Virginia, giving him executive experience. Again, he would be the safe choice, the candidate picked by conventional wisdom. Kaine also would not compete with Hillary or outshine her as the independent-minded Warren might tend to do. If Kaine seems dull right now, part of that is by design.

If Warren stays in the Senate, she will be free to perpetuate her cause of fighting the 1 percent and financial inequality. As a veep candidate, she would not be a good fundraising messenger to send to the wealthy seeking their donations. On the ticket or off, no matter what, she will campaign hard against Trump.

Of course, this has been a year of turning conventional wisdom on its head. But Hillary, who will turn 69 just before the November election, is not known for taking unnecessary political risks.
I vowed I would never vote for Donald Trump. I have written, at last count, seven columns explaining why he repulses me. That is still true; his being and character necessitate spiritual Dramamine. He is, to put it simply, the human equivalent of mayonnaise, the single most disgusting substance I have encountered in my 54 years on Earth.

And yet of course, the rest of this column will be devoted to why, barring some deus ex machina named Paul Ryan, I will be voting for him in November.

I dont expect you to care, one way or the other, about my choice. Friends will be puzzled, possibly angry, possibly pushed to the point of no return. I get that, and Im prepared to weather that exodus. The reason that I am turning myself into a hypocrite of the highest order at an epidermal level, is to keep myself from becoming a hypocrite at the deepest level of consciousness. I cannot put Hillary Clinton in a position to shape the Supreme Court.

This past week has been one that shook me to the core, and that is quite a hard thing to do these days. Life has sent me many disappointments over the past few years, and I have weathered some better than others but have, for the most part, survived. Men turning into women, or vice versa, is now to be accepted if one does not want to be considered a bigot. Same sex marriage has now become almost boring in its earnest claim on my attention. We have come a long way since Antonin Scalia predicted the apocalypse in his dissent to Lawrence v. Texas, the case that decriminalized sodomy. I am on the wrong side of history, and will remain there for consistency sake, but at least I have learned to live with what I consider to be an aberration. To quote my Pope (which I try not to do too often), Who am I to judge? Actually, its more like, Who really gives a damn about my judgment?

So, OK, Ive moved on and am dealing with the legalization of gay marriage at a comfort level somewhere between the ladies on The View and a Westboro Baptist. Yay me.

I look at Caitlyn Jenner and think that you can slap breasts on a man and let him pee next to you, but theres not enough Cover Girl in the world to hide that Adams apple. And still, you deal.

What I cannot do, as I realized this week, is live in a world where women who have just been told that they can terminate their pregnancies much more easily than they can acquire a tattoo can jump around in an estrogen-filled bacchanal in front of the Supreme Court and think that this is civilization. After I saw the reaction from abortion rights activists on Monday morning to the decision overturning Texas laws regulating abortion clinics, I felt sick. Lets call it mourning sickness.

I mourned many things, not the least of which were the children who would now never be born because five justices on the Supreme Court decided that it was much more important that their unwilling mothers not be inconvenienced than that a medical procedure be regulated.

But more than that, because I have been wearing spiritual black for those children for over 40 years now, I mourned the death of a belief to which I had clung for those same four decades: the idea that, at heart, Americans were decent people who really could acknowledge the difference between lies of convenience and inconvenient truths. I read someone elses column the other day that suggested Justice Stephen Breyer employed elegant words to send a simple message: Dont make s- up and expect us to buy it. The implication was that the regulations passed by Texas were simply a dishonest way of making abortion more difficult to obtain, not safer.

Frankly, I dont see the disconnect between those two principles, because while a plurality of the court in Planned Parenthood v. Casey did hold that the government could not unduly burden a womans ability to get an abortion even while trying to regulate it to promote her safety, there is nothing in that case or others that says, But hey, you have to give her abortions on a silver platter. The issue is what burden is undue, and Breyer and his friends in the majority bended over backwards to basically say pretty much anything.

Texas passed its laws in the wake of the horrific case of Kermit Gosnell. I always had the sinking suspicion that the pro-abortion voices that most loudly and stridently decried the Philadelphia butchers abortion mill were really upset because of the bad press for their beloved fundamental right. Nothing that happened this week has made me change my mind.

What has changed is my determination not to vote for Trump. Thats because it is not enough to not vote for Clinton. After the decision on Monday, she tweeted about how the decision was a victory for womens health. And it was then that I realized Ruth Bader Ginsburg was clinging to her gavel until a liberal could replace her, and the other four feminists (including Breyer and Kennedy) were in good health. Currently, the only thing standing between Clinton and the court is Trump.

I am like that animal, caught in a trap, who will do anything to survive, even if it means chewing off her paw. I am chewing off my paw by voting for the person running against Clinton. I am bleeding. But it is the only way that I can try to find my way to freedom from what is, to me, sophistry, egotism and barbarity.
U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson is seeking to prohibit Department of Justice officials from enforcing parts of the Americans with Disabilities Act at private voucher schools.

The amendment, which Johnson submitted to be included in the Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies Appropriation Act that has yet to pass, prohibits DOJ from enforcing provisions of the ADA that ensure equal access to public education.

Johnsons amendment says the provisions that protect students with disabilities from discrimination cannot be enforced in private voucher schools because the schools are not public, despite receiving public money in the form of a school voucher.

A spokeswoman for Johnsons Senate office said the amendment is meant to protect voucher schools from a hostile attitude the Obama administration and other Democratic lawmakers have toward voucher programs and comes months after the Obama administration closed a probe into the Milwaukee voucher system after a lawsuit alleging discrimination against students with disabilities.

The purpose of the amendment is to prohibit the DOJ from exerting jurisdiction over a private school if the school accepts a voucher payment from a parent, be it from one parent or hundreds of parents, spokeswoman Paige Alwood said.

She said DOJ treats private schools that may only have 10 percent of its student body attending using a voucher as schools that are subject to DOJ jurisdiction under Title II of the ADA, which covers access to government institutions.

This assertion by the DOJ could be devastating for low-income students and students with disabilities as it serves to discourage schools from participating in voucher programs, she said.

But state Superintendent Tony Evers said Johnsons amendment could threaten the protections the ADA provisions provide.

The role of a school, regardless of its governance model, is to educate all students equally and provide a safe environment to do that. Senator Johnsons amendment, in its simplest sense, targets a law that requires a school to accommodate students with disabilities with regards to accessing buildings, said Evers. I am not sure how that fits the spirit and values of any system of education.

School Choice Wisconsin president Jim Bender said the amendment will not keep DOJ from overseeing legal violations.

It wont, said Bender. It simply says that DOJ cannot use a flawed legal argument, unsubstantiated by any other legal body as they did in Milwaukee, to start investigations of possible Title II violations. Simple.

Long-standing debates

Johnsons amendment highlights longstanding and multi-faceted debates among voucher proponents, disability rights advocates and public school advocates over whether private schools that get taxpayer-funded vouchers should be subject to the same rules governing public schools.

Our position has always been because voucher schools receive public funding that they must comply with Title II of the ADA, said Disability Rights Wisconsin public policy director Lisa Pugh. We are obviously in opposition to Sen. Johnsons amendment.

Pughs group and the ACLU filed a federal civil rights lawsuit in 2011 arguing that voucher schools in Milwaukee were discriminating against students with disabilities by not accepting the students into their schools, based on Pughs position that any school that received public money should be subject to the same laws aimed at protecting students with disabilities that govern public schools.

The Obama administration closed the investigation that resulted from the lawsuit in late 2015, finding no wrongdoing.

The state Department of Public Instruction  which oversees the states four voucher programs  said Johnsons amendment would remove federal oversight of the treatment of students who attend private schools participating in the states voucher programs, including a new one specifically for students with disabilities.

(The amendment) would block any oversight from the state or the federal governments of the ADA in private schools (that) are in the (voucher) programs, said DPI spokesman Tom McCarthy. McCarthy said the agency has not completed a full analysis of the impact.

While McCarthy and Pugh said Johnsons amendment would remove oversight of ADA requirements in the states voucher program for students with disabilities, Bender said because the program uses only state dollars, federal rules dont apply in most of the program.

This is why the program has multiple audit requirements and DPI oversight. Plus, schools are required to publicly disclose what services and qualifications they have for teaching special needs students, said Bender. It also requires that the (individualized education plan for students with disabilities) be implemented or that an agreement be reached between the parents and school for services surrounding their child. Each child will have a unique agreement. The schools have to do quarterly updates to the parents.

Katy Schmidt, president of the Wisconsin Association of the Deaf, said the amendment gravely concerns her.

This is the first time that we have learned about this, and it gravely concerns me because there are several deaf and hard-of-hearing children who take advantage of the voucher to attend schools the parent(s) choose, or even deaf parents choosing to send their hearing children to school using vouchers, said Schmidt. By taking away ADA provisions that protect communication access, it will be very harmful to our community and potentially could set precedent for other programs. That really concerns us.

[Editor's note: This story has been updated to reflect a correction. In the original, the last name of Johnson spokeswoman Paige Alwood was incorrect.]
Winona police shoot at man after threat

Two Winona police officers shot at a man after being threatened with a gun early Saturday in the south bluffs, during an incident that led to a brief chase and shutdown of Interstate 90.

Two Winona Police Department officers, along with an unarmed reserve or off-duty law enforcement officer, attempted to pull over a the 1800 block of Garvin Heights Road.

During the incident the man pointed a black handgun at the officers, according to initial scanner reports. At that point both officers drew and fired their weapons, striking the man a single time, according to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.

The man has not been publicly identified, though scanner reports and jail logs identify him as Daryl Scott Jackson, 54, who was arrested early Saturday and booked later in the afternoon on initial charges of fleeing police officers in a motor vehicle and second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon.

Jackson fled with officers in pursuit, according to the BCA. The officers were soon assisted by Minnesota State Patrol Troopers and Winona County Sheriffs Department deputies, and continued the pursuit for about five miles.

The pursuit ended near the intersection of state Hwy. 43 and Interstate 90, with sheriffs deputies deploying stop sticks. Assisting law enforcement shut down the interstates westbound lanes for a period of time.

Officers observed Jackson start and stop his vehicle and talk on the phone, and he initially did not cooperate with requests to surrender, according to the BCA and scanner reports.

Jackson was taken by ambulance to Winona Health, transferred to St. Marys Hospital in Rochester and treated for a non-life-threatening injury to his neck, according to the BCA and scanner reports, and then released and booked into the Winona County Jail. It wasnt known whether the injury was caused by gunfire.

- Winona Daily News

Three arrested in Monroe County burglaries

Three people have been arrested in connection with a string of burglaries in Monroe County.

The Monroe County Sheriffs Office announced the arrests Friday. The three are also linked to burglaries in Juneau and Wood counties, authorities say.

The arrests came two weeks after the sheriffs office issued a notice warning about burglaries in the Tomah, Oakdale and Wyeville areas. The notice said some of the burglaries were committed in homes as residents were sleeping.

A sheriffs office sergeant said the names of the suspects wont be released until paperwork is completed and filed. The investigation remains open and further arrests are possible, according to the sheriffs office.

Although the suspects are in custody, the press releases said it is good practice to keep vehicles and homes locked to help deter these types of crimes.

- Tomah Journal

Man arrested after attempting to set fire to church

An alert resident may have saved a Trempealeau County, Wis., church from burning early Sunday.

A person called the Trempealeau County Sheriffs Department around 3:15 a.m. to report suspicious activity at St. Bartholomews Catholic Church in Trempealeau, Wis., according to the department.

A Trempealeau County sheriffs deputy and Galesville police officer responded, and observed an individual attempting to set fire to the church, according to the department. Following a brief pursuit on foot and a struggle, they arrested John Michael Humm, 19, of Trempealeau, the department said.

The fire was immediately extinguished by the Trempealeau Fire Department and First Responders, and caused only minor damage.

Hamm remained in custody Monday, with charges of arson, criminal damage to property, and resisting arrest referred to the Trempealeau County Attorneys Office.

The Buffalo County Sheriffs Department and Holmen Police Department assisted at the scene.

- La Crosse Tribune

Tomah police investigating armed robbery

The Tomah, Wis., Police Department is investigating an armed robbery that occurred late Thursday morning at the BeMobile Verizon Premium Wireless store.

A vehicle with Illinois license plates believed to be involved in the incident was located abandoned in the village of Oakdale, five miles east of Tomah.

A lieutenant with the police department said nobody was injured during the robbery.

Police say the suspects entered the store, displayed a handgun and demanded money from a store employee. The suspects took an undetermined amount of money and multiple electronic devices.

Shortly after the robbery, the Monroe County Communication Center received a call of an unoccupied vehicle parked Street in Oakdale. The vehicle description closely matched the one that left the robbery scene. Police identified the vehicle as belonging to one of the suspects, and it was impounded for evidence processing.

- Tomah Journal
Hundreds donned matching, golden-yellow t-shirts for the Remembering Jesse Parker Races Saturday at the Tomah High School. A few red, green or blue t-shirts from previous years races specked the crowd. Now in its sixth year, the race draws many returning participants.

The races honor Jesse Parker, who died in a car accident in 2009 at the age of 17. He dreamed of becoming an engineer, serving in the Peace Corps and bringing drinkable water to impoverished communities. As part of Remembering Jesse Parker Inc., the races support the local community as well as a partnership with Rotary International to build wells in Uganda. Not including funds raised by this years races, the organization has donated over $300,000 to various causes so far.

Jenny Parker, Jesses mother, said her family is grateful for the communitys continued participation.

Its such a beautiful outpouring of support, Parker said. Its about hope and about trying to make a difference.

Saturdays race began at 8 a.m. with a prayer and the national anthem. The July 4th vacation weekend didnt affect participation negatively  between 800 and 900 people signed up for the range of events.

Scott Nicol, one of the race organizers, said that people continue to sign up for the races, in part, because there are events for everyone in the family. The 1K Senior Stroll, Lil Firecracker runs, 100-yard Angel Run, 1K Special Needs Stampede, 5K walk/run and five-mile run provide options for people of all ages and abilities.

You can have four generations incorporated, Nicol said.

He also believes people want to support the organization, particularly those who understand the experience of losing a loved one.

I think a lot of people can relate, he said.

This years event was called Hope Rains, an optimistic response to a storm delay at last years races. The attitude of creating positivity from struggle fits well with the history of Remembering Jesse Parker, Inc., but this Saturdays weather cooperated perfectly. At 65 degrees and sunny, participants finishing the race could be overheard saying great weather, and beautiful weather.

Volunteers extending bottles of water and Gatorade greeted runners and walkers at the finish line, while other spectators clapped, gave high-fives and shook the sweaty hands of the finishers. Times from under 20 minutes for top-placing runners to over an hour for participants walking or pushing strollers.

This year, Chase Cayo of St. Michael, Minnesota, was first to finish the 5K.

It was Cayos fourth time running the race and his best time on the route, at 16:02.7. A cross-country runner for South Dakota State University, Cayo usually runs three to five 5K runs a summer, but the Remembering Jesse Parker Races stand out to him.

I think its really cool. Not a lot of races do anything like it, he said, referring to the organizations community engagement and well-building initiatives. Its really special.

Second place in the 5K was Trevin Nelson of Tomah finishing at 18:04.1.

Jenna Stott of Tomah was the first female runner to finish the 5K, at 20:28.1. She runs cross country for Tomah High School. This was her third year running the Remembering Jesse Parker 5K.

Stott felt good about her run, but admitted, Im tired, though.

The second-place female runner of the 5K was Amber Krause of Tomah, finishing at 22:26.9.

In the 5-mile race, Mike Dystra of Tomah won at 27:57.1. Runner-up was Spencer Holten of Madison at 30:48.6.

Laura Berry of Tomah was the first female runner to finish the 5-mile. Before the race, she said she wasnt running to win  she just wanted to get a good time. She finished at 35:40.8.

The runner-up for females in the 5-mile was Marsy Koca of Tomah at 38:48.0.

Joyce Barlow of Tomah won the 1K Senior Stroll at 11:57.0. Cassie Skogen of Tomah won the 1K Special Needs Stampede at 5:54.4.

Next years races will be held Saturday, June 17.
On 1 July national legislators from the political opposition as well as from Paraguays ruling Asociacion Nacional Republicana-Partido Colorado (ANR-PC), heavily criticised the state-of-the-nation address delivered that same day to congress by President Horacio Cartes.

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On 3 July representatives for Venezuelas main opposition coalition, Mesa de la Unidad Democratica (MUD), denied rumours of having agreed a secret pact with the government to abandon its push for a recall referendum against President Nicolas Maduro.

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On 1 July Mexicos national human rights commission (CNDH) appealed to the federal government and the countrys second largest teachers union, Coordinadora Nacional de Trabajadores de la Educacion (CNTE), to make the biggest possible effort to resume dialogue to resolve the conflict in the southern states of Oaxaca and Chiapas without the use of violence.

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In Ghana, some people believe certain jobs are only for men. But some Ghanaian women are starting to do traditionally male work, such as carpentry or jobs that require physical strength. And they are proving that men are not the only ones who can be tough.

Esenam Nyador is one of those women. She is one of three female taxi drivers in Accra. She is also a wife, mother of two and a student at the University of Ghana.

Nyador says she has gotten used to the strange looks she gets when she drives her taxi around town. She calls herself Miss Taxi.

She says the loan company and the taxi union originally rejected her when she first began her business.

They werent sure I would even be able to make up sales or have a good business to pay back their car, just because I am a woman. So they were like concerned about whether I wouldnt be open to car hijacking and theyll end up losing their assets in the long-term."

Nyador now has regular customers, many of them women. And she is finding creative ways to grow her business.

For example, she books her clients via social media, email or text message. And unlike most male taxi drivers, she charges set prices instead of haggling with her customers.

Selina Adjeley Annan also works in a male-dominated field.

Annan, a single mother, works as an electrician at Teshie. She remembers the day she applied for a job. The company she was applying to took apart a fluorescent tube and asked her to fix it. They took Annan more seriously when they saw that she was able to fix the tube.

Annan says that, now, salesmen have started sending clients to her. Like Nyador, Annan has found that some people would rather work with a woman.

Annan says that when customers see her instead of a male electrician, they are surprised and often say, I have never seen a woman electrician before.

All of the people Annan works with are men.

Eric Adjetey Otenkorang is one of her supervisors. He says there are limits to what Annan can do because she is a woman.

Otenkorang says that if the job is a little bit risky, he has the men handle it instead of Annan. He explains that some work is too heavy for a woman to do.

Taxi driver Esenam Nyador does not allow talk about womens limits slow her down. She says men are just used to being the only ones who work in certain jobs.

"It all started with menso I guess they have developed this sort of entitlement attitude.

But, Nyador says, that way of thinking is just a habit. She says in reality, there is no such thing as mans work.

Im Mehrnoush Karimian-Ainsworth.

Francisca Kakra Forson wrote this story for VOANews.com. Mehrnoush Karimian-Ainsworth adapted it for Learning English. Kelly Jean Kelly was the editor.

______________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

haggling  v. to talk or argue with someone especially in order to agree on a price

entitlement  n. the condition of having a right to have, do, or get something: the feeling or belief that you deserve to given something

We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section.
Mohamed Khairullah describes himself as an American mayor who happens to be Muslim.

Khairullah was born in Syria. He settled in the small American community of Prospect Park, New Jersey when he was 16 years old.

He was always interested in politics and decided to seek elected office after becoming a U.S. citizen in 2001. He won a seat on the Prospect Park City Council and has served as mayor for 10 years.

Khairullah says his religion has never been much of an issue for voters in this town of 6,000 people.

Despite our differences, we dont attack each other based on religion or ethnicity, you know? Our ethnicity is for us, for our families, for people we are raised with. And our religion is in the house of worship. Thats where it goes.

He says his religious beliefs provide a basic moral foundation.

I dont impose my religion when it comes to running the town. But my religion imposes on me the moral values that I operate with...

His term in office lasts until the end of 2018. The mayor is not seeking re-election this year, but two council members are. So he spends some of his time campaigning for them. He likes to communicate with Prospect Park residents by telephone and through social media.

Khairullah once worked as a teacher. Intashan Cowdhury, a former student of his, describes him as a dedicated family man.

Its a family-oriented community. And you need family-oriented people, like Mayor Khairullah.

Another former student, Priscilla Nunez, said he has good demeanor to be a teacher as well as mayor.

Hes very calm, I have to say, reminds me of my dad. Always spoke to us with respect...

While Khairullah seems at ease in his job as a politician, he has not forgotten his Syrian roots. He has visited Syria several times over the years. He says the trips were made to take food and medical supplies to people in need.

Its a challenge to the dictator and to people who support that dictator that despite all of the dangers, we are going to continue to support those people who have been abandoned by the international community and the world.

He involves his children in the humanitarian projects. He says he wants to teach them that humanity is more important than ethnicity or religious beliefs.

Khairullah has come a long way since arriving as a young man and having no idea he would someday be mayor of the town. But he still remembers an early hint at his political future.

I remember walking to high school here and seeing a sign that has an Arabic name on it, a political sign. Im like, Wow, this is crazy, amazing. So it planted a seed in my head.

Im Mehrnoush Karimian-Ainsworth.

Ramon Taylor reported this story for VOANews.com. Bryan Lynn adapted it for Learning English. George Grow was the editor.

We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page.

________________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

city council  n. a group of people who make and change the laws of a city

worship  n. the act of showing respect and love for a god

foundation  n. something that provides support for something

demeanor  n. a persons appearance and behavior

abandoned  n. left alone without needed protection or care
Global Witness says 2015 was the most dangerous year yet for environmental activists.

The group reports that 185 people across 16 countries were killed last year while defending the environment.

Global Witness is a non-profit organization that follows environmental issues and corruption around the world. The organization released a report called On Dangerous Ground in June.

The report says that on average, more than three activists were killed every week last year while defending the environment and land rights.

Global Witness campaign leader Billy Kyte spoke to VOA. He said the number of killings increased by almost 60 percent from 2014 levels. He blamed industrial growth for the problem.

"So we are seeing industries like mining, dam and agribusiness encroaching more and more into previously untouched areas rich in resources and coming into conflict with local communities..."

The Global Witness report said 42 deaths were related to the mining industry.

Brazil had the largest number of deaths, with 50 killings last year, the report said. The Philippines had 33 killings, the second largest number. Colombia had 26 killings. Peru and Nicaragua each had 12, while the Democratic Republic of Congo reported 11 killings.

Global Witness is not the only group following environmental killings. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, or IACHR, follows human rights in South and Central America. It reported that at least six land activists were killed in Brazil in early 2016.

Billy Kyte says the true number of killings has not been accurately reported because of fear and threats of possible attack. He blamed what appeared to be close ties between big business and government.

"So, in Africa it has been more difficult to get information. This may be because of oppressive regimes, which means it is harder to get data on how many people are being killed or threatened..."

Activists with a lot of media attention are often targets for violence or police action.

Nasako Besingi of Cameroon was threatened with jail time for opposing palm oil companies. In India, journalist Sandeep Kothari was beaten and burned to death for criticizing mining.

Global Witness is demanding better protection for environmental activists from governments. The group also asks for increased legal action against these crimes.

Im Patrick Merentie.

Anita Powell reported this story for VOANews.com. Patrick Merentie adapted her report for Learning English. George Grow was the editor.

We want to hear from you. Are environmental activists active in your country? Does the government protect the environment or environmental activists? Write to us in the Comments Section or on our Facebook page.

________________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

agribusiness  n. the business or industry of farming or agriculture

encroach(ing)  v. to gradually take or begin to use or affect something that belongs to someone else or that someone else is using

accurately  adv. done without mistakes or errors

regime(s)  n. a particular government

palm  n. a kind of tree that grows in tropical regions and has a straight, tall trunk and many large leaves at the top of the trunk
In the early years of American life, traveling religious workers called preachers helped to spread Protestant Christianity westward as the territory of the United States expanded.

Many of these preachers traveled on horses to lead religious services in small towns and places where only a few people lived.

Todays traveling preachers arrive in rural communities in cars.

It is Sunday morning in Unionville, Tennessee. Dan Sweet is leading services at the tiny Zions Hill United Methodist Church. It is 150 years old.

Sweet is one of a growing number of pastors who travel to small Methodist churches in rural areas of the United States.

During the week, Sweet works at a large engineering company that designs and builds government projects.

He says he has two full-time jobs.

I do this job seven days a week. The other job is five. The other job pays a whole lot better and it pays the bills. This is more a labor of love and it's a labor of what God has asked me to do.

Barbara Waterson has been attending religious services at Zions Hill Methodist Church since the 1960s. She is now one of just 20 remaining members.

Im just a small-church person. I love big churches, but I just love the fellowship of the small churches. Everybodys just a loving, spiritual family, and everybody gets along.

When the religious service ends at Zions Hill, Sweet drives 10 minutes to another church, Hickory Hill United Methodist Church. He leads another service there.

Methodists have been worshiping at Hickory Hill since before the Civil War. Sweet is helping them keep the church alive. He says he is surprised by the role he is in.

Early on in my life I did not attend regular worship services and actually it wasnt until about 10 or 12 years ago that I started where God really impressed upon me that it was time. Hed let me goof-around, goof-off long enough and it was time now to start doing His will.

The Pew Research Center says the number of Americans who attend church services regularly has been slowly decreasing for many years. The decline is especially sharp in the countrys older, traditional Protestant churches, like the Methodist churches Sweet visits each week.

Mark Chaves is a sociologist at Duke University. He researches religious trends in the U.S. He says other Christian churches should pay attention to what is happening to attendance at Methodist churches.

Chaves says other Christian groups, such as Southern Baptists, could see a similar decrease in attendance in the future.

Sweet says that unless new members join his small churches, the churches may have to close. But he says that it is not something he can control.

Ive only been facing it with them for about two years now. Theyve been facing it for quite a while, a longer while, and God always seems to bring in new people.

The United Methodist Church is based in Nashville, Tennessee. It says the number of traveling preachers serving Methodist churches is growing.

Im Marsha James.

Mike Osborne reported this story for VOANews.com. Christopher Jones-Cruise adapted it for Learning English. Ashley Thompson was the editor.

We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section, or visit our Facebook page.

_____________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

pastor - n. a Christian clergyman serving a local church

bill - n. a statement showing the cost of goods sold, services performed or work done

fellowship - n. friendly relations between people

gets along - v. to be or remain on good terms

worship - adj. of or related to religious services

goof around - v. to spend time doing playful things

trend - n. something is currently popular

decline - n. a drop or decrease in something
Lenovo unveiled the Moto Z line of smartphones in June, revealing a line of phones with 5.5 inch displays, Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processors, and support for a series of modules called MotoMods that you can snap onto the back of the phone to add features like high-quality speakers or cameras, extended batteries, and more.

But it looks like there may also be a cheaper model on the way.

Details leaked ahead of the official Moto Z launch suggested thered be a model with a less powerful processor, less RAM and storage, and a lower resolution display. Now it looks like model is on its way to India, at least.

Code-named Vertex, the phone is expected to feature a 5.5 inch, 1920 x 1080 pixel display a Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 processor, a 3,500 mAh battery, and either 2GB of RAM and 16GB of storage or 3GB of RAM and 32GB of storage.

The phone, which also seems to have the model number XT1635, showed up recently at the Geekbench website, and the benchmark listing confirms the processor and some other specs.

Now the phone has also been listed at the Indian import website Zauba, which confirms that the phone has a 5.5 inch touchscreen display.

That suggests that the phone, which may be branded as the Moto Z Play in some markets could be available for purchase in India soon. Its not clear if Lenovo-owned Motorola has any plans to offer the phones in other markets.

via TechUpdate3
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#AMASAJoburg will host a forum on the Establishment Survey. Join us for a high-level panel discussion about what happens now after AMPS. The panel will comprise industry experts from TNS South Africa, Publisher Research Council (PRC) and the Broadcast Research Council of South Africa. This discussion will be facilitated by AMASA Joburg's Gordon Patterson.

After almost 40 years of uninterrupted delivery, the last All Media and Products Survey (AMPS) was published in April this year. From, a local advertising and marketing perspective, the contribution that AMPS has made, cannot be understated and neither can its global reputation as a superb example of a single source survey.

We know that a lot of industry professionals are asking the question Now what happens seeing that the AMPS chapter has closed?

Fortunately almost two years ago, plans were initiated to ensure that there would be a research foundation for decision making in a post AMPS world. And while there are still areas in development, its clear from the progress to-date, that the new research will not only be a quantum improvement, but more importantly address the shortfalls of the previous approach.



Were entering a new era of media research in which all stakeholders play an equal role, where transparency is real and where effort will be invested in addressing the challenges of the future.



Theres more future ahead than history behind, so join AMASA and be informed.

This discussion will take place on Wednesday, 6 July at 4.30pm for 5pm at the Ster Kinekor Preview Theatre, Sandton.

AMASA Joburg is also introducing a sponsorship package for the monthly Forums. Clients and Media Agencies alike are invited to take up the opportunity to have brand presence during the AMASA Forums. If you or your client would like to be a sponsor of the next AMASA Forum, please get in touch with Quinton Scholes: moc.063nba@selohcS.notniuQ. The sponsorship will include; your brands banners up at the reception and foyer of the forum venue, opening closing billboards in the AMASA presentation.




Following its success in Cape Town in 2015, the One Show Diversity Boot Camp will be in two cities this year - Cape Town and Johannesburg on 4-8 July and 11-15 July respectively.

 Rawpixel via 123RF

Ross Chowles, executive creative director of The Jupiter Drawing Room Cape Town and member of the International Board of Directors for The One Club, explains that it is his mandate in South Africa to help raise creative standards through education programmes with an emphasis on black creative talent.

The Diversity Boot Camps have previously been held in America with great success. This year we are more than doubling our impact and will be reaching 140 students across Cape Town and Johannesburg. Our industry is still not representative of our country and taking the event to Johannesburg means we reach more black students, and expose them to international creative talent as well as an understanding of how agencies work.

Students will spend time with several of South Africas leading creative directors and will meet Kevin Swanepoel, CEO of The One Show, and two international guests and facilitators, Brandon Rochon of Kastner & Partners and Perry Fair of J Walter Thompson Atlanta.

The format for the boot camp is identical to that of the industry. Students will receive a brief on the first day that will be unpacked and tackled over the next four days. Teams will have a mentor and each day will round off with a presentation from an executive creative director from the industry.

At the end of each Boot Camp, the teams will present their ideas to a panel, which will then be followed by an award ceremony with Khaya Dlanga at the end of the day.

Because The One Club is a non-profit organisation, the following businesses, agencies and people have dedicated themselves to supporting this boot camp:

Woolworths



Vodacom SA



Agencies: Y&R, 99 cents, FCB, M&C Saatchi Abel, TBWA, Joe Public, The Jupiter Drawing Room Cape Town



Khaya Dlanga from Amstel

View last years One Show Diversity Boot Camp in Cape Town below:
Shares in struggling West China Cement plunged as much as 34% on Monday, 4 July, after a much-needed merger deal with the country's largest cement maker collapsed last week.

Major rival Anhui Conch Cement offered nearly $600m for a controlling stake in the firm late last year, but China's commerce authorities failed to approve it by the June 30 deadline, scuttling the deal, Anhui Conch said on its website Thursday, 30 June.

Hong Kong-listed shares of West China Cement dropped as much as 34% to HK$0.71 when it resumed trading Monday morning, compared to the previous close at HK$1.07. It was trading at HK$0.81 at 11am (0300 GMT).

It was believed the merger was part of an effort by Beijing to tackle overcapacity in the industry, which is dominated by inefficient, largely state-owned firms. A merger with Anhui Conch would also have given West China Cement, which posted losses of 309 million yuan ($46m) last year, a boost with better financing access.

Analysts believe the deal collapse is a "business decision" given the firm's weak books.

"Investors had doubted about its accounting practices... It was trading down for a very long time until an upcoming Anhui Conch deal gave it a boost. Now the stamp of confidence is gone," Jackson Wong, associate director for Simsen Financial Group in Hong Kong, told AFP.

Rumours the deal was in danger saw its shares plunge 33% in Hong Kong on Tuesday before they were suspended from trading. It has lost half its capitalisation in the last two trading days, according to Bloomberg News.

Wong said he believed Beijing would continue restructuring efforts despite the collapse of the deal.

"The Chinese government is still trying to push bigger players to merge with smaller players to improve capacity and efficiency," he said.

China's cement industry boomed during the country's three decades of massive investment in highways, airports, apartment buildings and office blocks, bloating to more than 3,300 firms.

Restructuring has been difficult as most major industrial firms have powerful political backers, making efforts to shutter or merge them particularly challenging in the face of vested interests.

Source: AFP
After launching a particularly virulent tirade against filmmaker Vikram Bhatt, Deshdrohi actor and self-proclaimed film critic Kamaal R Khan has now issued a public apology for his previous statements.

Kamaal claims his change of heart was brought about after he watched Vikram on a Facebook Live video for news website The Quint, in which Bhatt said that KRK needs to decide if he wants to be seen as a troll or a serious film critic.

Kamaal promptly decided that serious film critic it was, and decided not to troll anyone on Twitter (his preferred medium, although he does occasionally dabble in t on Facebook as well) herewith.

Today I watched @TheVikramBhatt on @TheQuint n he said-KRK has got big social media power so he should decide whether he wants to be..Cont..  KRK (@kamaalrkhan) July 2, 2016

Recognised as a troll only or respected critic n I am 100% agree with his statement. So thanks to @TheVikramBhatt for showing me right way.  KRK (@kamaalrkhan) July 2, 2016

Anyway thanks Mr. @TheVikramBhatt for giving me very good advise n I am sorry if I hurt you in the past. Cheers and best of luck for future.  KRK (@kamaalrkhan) July 2, 2016

Anyway thanks Mr. @TheVikramBhatt for giving me very good advise n I am sorry if I hurt you in the past. Cheers and best of luck for future.  KRK (@kamaalrkhan) July 2, 2016

I m sorry to all other Bollywood ppl also if I have hurt anyone by my statement or review. Today a new very serious type of critic has born.  KRK (@kamaalrkhan) July 2, 2016

He also rendered an unconditional apology to Vikram, who graciously accepted it.

He has apologized. He is has had the courage. Now leave him be. https://t.co/IhVkU8iwYA  Vikram Bhatt (@TheVikramBhatt) July 2, 2016

But its just a little difficult to believe in Kamaals newfound enlightenment.

The timing is just a little too suspect.

Vikram had, after all, threatened him with legal proceedings for defamation  a case he quite likely would have won considering the general tone of most of Kamaals comments. Two, Vikrams lawyer Rizwan Siddiquee  yes, the same advocate who is also representing Kangana Ranaut in her pitched battle against Hrithik Roshan  seemed very intent on making Kamaal sorry (and we dont mean in just the apologetic sense) for tarring his clients name. Then, an FIR was filed against Kamaal for molestation (possibly for the derogatory remarks he had made about actress Meera Chopra, as part of his rant against Vikram Bhatt).

Vikram had also launched an online petition to get Kamaal off Twitter.

Kamaal may have thought  or been advised  that saying sorry would get him out of a possibly protracted legal fight, his earlier bravado (he tweeted copies of Vikram Bhatts legal notice, as well as the Times of India report about the FIR being filed against him, with plenty of invective included in his captions) forgotten.

To be fair to Kamaal, he has apologised for his trolling before  though certainly not with as much frequency as he has given offense.

His apology to Vikram included one to all the other film industry people he has offended, saying that this marked the birth of a new kind of serious film critic.

Just like with all of Kamaals other attention-grabbing statements, well take this one with a pinch of salt.
New Delhi: The Commerce and Industry Ministry will organise a 'Startup Fest' in Hyderabad in September, with a view to showcase innovation and provide a collaboration platform.

The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) has requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to inaugurate the programme, an official said.

The main objective of this fest is to galvanise the startup ecosystem and to provide national and international visibility to the budding entrepreneurs in India.

"We have planned several sessions. Venture capital funds are also expected to participate in this," the official said adding the event is important part of strengthening the startup ecosystem.

The Startup Action Plan announced by the Prime Minister talked about such fests.

To bolster the ecosystem in India, the government has proposed to introduce startup fests at national and

international stages.

As many as 571 budding entrepreneurs have filed applications as on June 24, with the DIPP for recognition as innovative startups to avail tax breaks and other benefits.

In January, the Prime Minister unveiled a slew of incentives to boost start-up businesses, offering them a tax holiday and inspector raj-free regime for three years, capital gains tax exemption and Rs 10,000 crore corpus to fund them. India has the third-largest number of startups globally.

To boost financing, a 20 per cent tax on capital gains made on investments by entrepreneurs after selling own assets as well as government-recognised venture capitalists is also exempted. Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has asked the Finance Ministry to consider raising tax holiday for startups to seven years to encourage budding entrepreneurs.
The government on Saturday said Adani Port and SEZ Ltd (APSEZ) may have to pay higher penalty for causing environmental damage and violating green clearance and conditions at its Mundra project, after a media report earlier in the day stated the Ministry of Environment and Forests has actually waived off the penalty imposed on the company in 2013.

The UPA government had in 2012 imposed Rs 200 crore penalty on the company based on a report by a committee chaired by Sunita Narain, Director general, Centre for Science and Environment. The findings were made public through a Right to Information query and the committee recommended that APSEZ pay a penalty of one per cent of the total project cost or Rs 200 crore, whichever is higher.

After the Business Standard broke the news of the waiver, the environment ministry made it clear that its decision is 'much more stringent than asking for Rs 200 crore from APSEZL, said a report in The Hindu.

The ministry said APSEZL may have to pay a fine far greater than what was fixed by the UPA government in 2013, for the environmental damage caused by the construction of its port project in Mundra, Gujarat. The Ministry issued a statement signed by Bishwanath Sinha, Joint Secretary, ministry of environment, stating that the fine was 'not backed by any law under the Environment Protection Act and was not legally correct.'

After penalising the company in 2013, the UPA government in April 2014 had noted that the creation of ERF (environment relief fund) as not supported by any Law, Sinha has said. Not withstanding that, the NDA government has also accepted the recommendations of the Sunita Narain Committee and, in its statement, said it had imposed stringent conditions with open ended financial commitment by APSEZL.

The Adani group has also been fined Rs 25 crore by the National Green Tribunal for environmental damage caused by its Hazira Port in Gujarat.

The then Environment Minister, Jayanthi Natarajan had said that due to APSEZLs non-compliance of environmental clearance, there was widespread destruction of mangroves and deterioration and loss of creeks near the proposed North Port. Seventy-five hectares of mangroves have been lost in Bocha Island, which was declared as a conservation zone, the minister had said.
London: Tata Steel is set to freeze auction of its UK steelworks while it assesses the fallout of the Brexit

vote, a media report said on Sunday.

The Mumbai-headquartered steel giant had announced plans to auction its Port Talbot steelworks in Wales earlier this year.

However, The Sunday Times reported that the move has been put on ice as it assesses the fallout of the Brexit vote.

"The Indian giant will 'pause' the sale amid uncertainty over the impact of the decision to leave the EU," the

newspaper quoted sources as saying.

The board is yet to make a formal decision but is under less pressure to sell after a jump in steel prices, which has

cut losses at the south Wales site, the report said.

The company will reportedly stall the auction to await the outcome of a UK government deal to cut its 14 billion pound pension liabilities as well as talks on EU trade deals.

The decision may come as a blow to bidders, including the Indian-origin businessman Sanjeev Gupta-led commodities trader Liberty House and management buyout firm Excalibur.

The newspaper has also reported in the past that the Tata Group had already been leaning towards retaining the plant before the Brexit decision.

"The strategic review of our UK business continues. Like businesses across the UK, parties involved will be considering implications from the referendum. We remain committed to working towards the best possible outcome for our UK business," a Tata statement said.
TeamLease Services, a staffing company, has signed an agreement to acquire ASAP Info Systems Private Limited. The transaction remains subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals.

TeamLease will acquire ASAP Info Systems for an enterprise value of Rs. 67 crores through its wholly owned subsidiary, TeamLease Staffing Services Private Limited. The transaction, which will be immediately accretive to TeamLeases earnings per share, will be financed with existing financial resources and is expected to close before the end of August 2016.

Ashok Reddy, Managing Director and Co-Founder, TeamLease Services Limited said the transcation creates an opening balance for TeamLease to build an IT staffing business. The acquisition is also in sync with our strategy of margin expansion through new product verticals and new client segments

K J Suwresh, Director, ASAP Info Systems Private Limited said the company was confident that our combined capabilities and resources will create a formidable force in IT staffing.
Patna: A district court on Monday accepted that the controversial Humanities 'topper' in the Bihar Intermediate Examination, who has been arrested in connection with an examination cheating racket, is a minor.

Special Vigilance court judge Raghvendra Kumar Singh accepted that the girl is a minor on the basis of her matriculation certificate which mentioned her date of birth as 15 November, 1998, paving the way for her shifting from Beur model jail to a remand home.

The girl along with the Science stream topper had come into limelight after they gave ridiculous answers to questions on their subjects in a video which went viral, prompting an inquiry.

She was arrested by Special Investigation Team (SIT) as she emerged from a re-test of Bihar School Examination Board (BSEB) on 25 June and sent to Beur jail. But, as per her matriculation certificate she is 17 years, 3 months and nine days old and cannot be sent to jail.

Former member of the Juvenile Justice Board KD Mishra, who appeared in the court in favour of the girl, presented her matriculation certificate to claim that she is a minor.

The lawyer of the Bihar School Examination Board also did not oppose the matriculation certificate of the girl in the court on Monday. With the court accepting her as a minor, it meant that she would be shifted to a remand home from Beur model jail of

Patna.

The girl, from the controversial Bishun Roy college of Vaishali district, was taken into custody by Special Investigation Team (SIT) on the basis of arrest warrant issued by a Patna district court against her and three other rank-holders in the examination racket case.

Senior Superintendent of Police of Patna Manu Maharaj, who is heading the SIT, told PTI that the police will act in accordance with the court's order. While the girl is lodged in Beur jail, her parents have gone underground to escape arrest.

After a re-test on 25 June, on the basis of her poor performance not matching her rank in the Humanities stream and the evaluators' report, the BSEB had cancelled her result and the police took her in custody as she stepped out of BSEB that day.

Former BSEB Chairman Lalkeshwar Prasad Singh, his former JD(U) MLA wife Usha Sinha and Secretary cum Principal of Bishun Roy college in Vaishali Bachha Rai, alleged to be kingpins of the racket, are among 21 persons arrested in the case so far.
Patna: The Special Investigation Team (SIT) on Monday arrested Bihar School Examination Board's former Secretary Srinivas Chander Tiwari, in connection with the Class 12 toppers scam, police said.

"SIT has arrested Tiwari on the basis of evidence against him in connection with the toppers scam during the ongoing probe into it," Patna Senior Superintendent of Police Manu Maharaj, who is heading the SIT, said.

The SIT will present Tiwari in the court later.

Last month, the SIT arrested the board's former Secretary Harihar Nath Jha in connection with the Class 12 toppers scam.

The SIT also arrested former Board Chairman Lalkeshwar Prasad and his wife and former JD-U legislator Usha Sinha from Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh. Both are currently lodged in Beur Jail here.

Before that, SIT arrested Bachcha Rai, the alleged kingpin of the scam. Rai is director cum principal of the VR College in Vaishali district. He is lodged in jail as well.

The SIT had already arrested Class 12 'topper' in Arts, Rubi Rai, who said political science is all about cooking, after she failed in re-test. Her result was also cancelled.

So far, nearly 20 people have been arrested in the case, police said.

The scam surfaced after Aaj Tak TV channel showed a sting in which two Class 12 toppers could not answer even elementary questions about the subjects they 'topped' in.

The sting showed Rubi Rai, who topped the Class 12 exam in the Arts, saying: "Prodikal (read political) science is about cooking."

It also showed Saurabh Shreshtha, a Science topper, saying: "Most reactive element in the periodic table is aluminium."

Both Rubi Rai and Saurabh Shreshtha belonged to Bachha Rai's VR College.

The sting suggested that education in Bihar continues to be a very dubious affair with the possibility that cheating and fraud continue on a large scale with official connivance.
Agartala: The governors of Assam and Tripura have told the Border Security Force (BSF) to tighten their vigil on the border with Bangladesh following the terror attack on Dhaka.

Assam Governor P.B. Acharya visited the Sutarkandi border areas in Karimganj district on Sunday and held discussion with BSF officials, said police sources.

The governor has asked the BSF to keep "maximum vigil" along the winding border, a police official told IANS.

Twenty foreigners and Bangladeshis were slaughtered in a Dhaka cafe on Friday evening by Islamists, six of who were killed by security forces. A seventh terrorist was caught.

Acharya also met officials of district administration, and also talked to Border Guards Bangladesh officials, Karimganj Deputy Commissioner Manoj Kumar Deka said on Monday.

In Tripura, Governor Tathagata Roy met BSF officials on Sunday.

"We have apprised the governor about the steps taken along the India-Bangladesh border," BSF's Tripura Frontier Inspector General J.B. Sangwan told IANS.

He said: "We have alerted our troops to remain extra alert."

Tripura Director General of Police K. Nagaraj said the state government had asked the BSF to maintain a maximum alert along the border.

"Central paramilitary forces, Tripura Police and Tripura State Rifles are also keeping a close watch in the prevailing situation," Nagaraj told reporters on Monday.
A 10-year-old girl was raped and brutally murdered on Saturday by a man who had just been released from Sangareddy prison in Bolarum, Hyderabad, reported NDTV

The accused, 30-year-old Anil Kumar is a regular sexual offender, the channel added.

Kumar had been serving a prison term for 16 property offences, and also for raping and murdering a person, according to the Bolarum police, reported The Hindu.

A missing complaint was filed by the victim's parents at the Alwal police station, after she had gone missing on Saturday evening. The victims body was found near the military Cavalry Barracks around 10.30 pm, The Hindu report added.

Anil Kumar had lured the girl away from a toddy shop, where she had been with her mother. CCTV footage showed a man carrying the girl away from the liquor store, reported the International Business Times.

He then allegedly raped the minor and brutally killed her by smashing the girls head with a boulder, Bolarum police told The Indian Express.

"The accused is a repeat offender. 20 cases are pending against him. If we are not able to protect women and children, it is shameful," Congress spokesperson Manne Krishank told NDTV.

While the police remain on the lookout for the accused, the victim's body has been sent for a post-mortem examination, the channel added.
Eighteen-year-old Tarishi Jain, a student of University of California, Berkeley, had come to Dhaka on vacation and to spend some time with her family. Tarishi, along with two of her friends had gone to the posh Holey Artisan Bakery on Friday evening, with probably bagels and coffee on their mind. It was believed to be one of her favourite haunts in Dhaka, reported The Indian Express.

Tarishi and 27 others became the victims of one of the deadly terror attacks in Bangladesh. Tarishi's mortal remains arrived in India on Monday and the family will perform her last rites in Firozabad.

The teenager's father, who runs a garment business, has settled in Dhaka's Baridhara area, which incidentally just a few minutes away from where the attack took place. Tarishi had attended American International School of Dhaka before moving to California. Her Facebook profile shows, like a typical teenager, she was in tune with pop culture and fond of watching shows like Big Bang Theory, Friends and liked to listen to Taylor Swift and Pitbull. But for her, life was not all about about hanging out with friends and having a good time, a well-traveled and enterprising teenager, Tarishi was enthusiastic about the launch of EthiCAL - a clothing line to help underprivileged entrepreneurs start their businesses.

Her Facebook post on 5 April, said, "We are so excited to launch our new clothing line! Pleeease support us in our mission to help rising entrepreneurs and fight poverty all around the world."

Her Facebook profile also show that she was very close to her family.

She has dedicated posts to her mother and brother and for her, the International Students Association (ISAB) at Berkeley was a home away from home. She wrote on Facebook in January, "If I didnt have ISABfor real though, do I even have other friends?? Totally joking, come check out my amazingly diverse and awesome fam at our first general meeting at 102 Moffit!"

Tarishi was on a summer internship from the Subir and Malini Chowdhury Centre for Bangladesh Studies at Berkeley, according to Rediff.com. Professor Lawrence Cohen, director, Institute for South Asia Studies, was quoted as saying, " Tarishi was a dedicated student, passionate according to all I have spoken with about her work as a social entrepreneur." Devastated by the loss of Tarishi, her friends and faculty members are still under shock.

Tarishi had made a distress call at 1.30 am from the washroom of the Holey Artisan Bakery, which was the last time her family spoke to her.

"She told us that gunmen were around and that she had locked herself in one of the toilets of the restaurant," her uncle Rakesh Mohan Jain told IANS. They had tried calling her, but the calls remained unanswered. It was only answered at 6.30 am, but no one spoke from the other end, he added.

Her family in Firozabad was looking forward to Tarishi's visit to India on Sunday, reported The Hindu. "This is the biggest tragedy of our lives, the much expected celebrations at this house have suddenly turned into extreme grief, said Rakesh Jain told the daily.

With inputs from agencies
Bengaluru: Indian columnist and author Dinesh C Sharma has been named the winner of the Computer History Museum Book Prize for his book, The Outsourcer: The Story of India's IT Revolution.

The prize was given by the Special Interest Group for Computers, Information and Society (SIGCIS) for the History of Technology. It was presented to Sharma at the annual meeting of the society in Singapore on 26 June.

The award, which includes prize money of $1,000 comes from an endowment established by the estate of Paul Baran, a computer technology pioneer known for his contributions to packet-switched networking.

The Computer History Museum Prize is awarded to the author of an outstanding book in the history of computing broadly conceived, published during the prior three years.

Sharma's book, published by MIT Press in 2015, is a panoramic history of development of software and information technology in India spanning almost half a century.

The book is "well-grounded in sources and interviews" and "full of fascinating stories on the beginnings of computing in India," the award committee noted, according to a release issued here by Sharma.

Dinesh C Sharma is a Firstpost columnist
New Delhi: Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Monday said credit cannot be taken away from late Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao for the economic reforms driven by him in the 90s but Ayodhya "blotted his record".

"I don't think anyone denies Narasimha Rao was the political force behind the economic reforms, he handled the

politics of economic reforms.

"Both Dr Manmohan Singh and I on more than one occasion acknowledged that without him at the helm, we could not have done these reforms. Don't think anyone takes away credit from him for the economic reforms. There are other aspects to his government, I am afraid, blotted his record," he told NDTV.

Chidambaram, who was Commerce Minister under Rao, was asked whether he was talking about Ayodhya. "Obviously," he replied.

Asked whether that was why the Congress did not commemorate his birth anniversary over these years and he was being appropriate by the BJP as a leader they recognise, the former minister said "BJP will appropriate anyone, even its most severe critic. Point is, we gave him a befitting funeral in Hyderabad to which the PM, Mrs Gandhi and many others including me attended it."

He said a memorial has been erected for him in Hyderabad. It was not as though all memorials have to be erected in Delhi. Memorials can be erected in other parts of India and he was happy to describe himself as the son of Telugu country. And there is a memorial for him in Hyderabad, he said.

When asked should the party not remember Rao on his birth anniversary and told that there was nothing at the

Congress headquarters with even PM Modi tweeting about it, Chidambaram said, "Well these are perceptions. I think the party has never denied him credit for economic reforms. I don't think tweeting is the best way to remember anyone. Be that as it may, I have no comment on that".
The arrest of five Muslim youth from Old city of Hyderabad in connection with a terror plot has jolted the city and the community in particular  more so, since they are being accused of being part of an Islamic State terror module. Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi has now offered to extend legal aid to the five arrested youth. In an exclusive interview to T S Sudhir, Owaisi bristles at the 'attempt' to ''demonise the entire Muslim community''.

Q. The attack in Bangladesh late on Friday shows that Islamic State's terror network is at our doorstep, and that it has most likely made use of local help. Just last week, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in Hyderabad busted an alleged terror module. Isn't that reason enough to be really worried?

Owaisi: Why only Bangladesh? Why not Istanbul, Paris, Brussels? Islamic State terror is happening everywhere. Why focus only on Bangladesh?

Q. Because it is closer to home, and yet the NIA is getting more brickbats than kudos, especially from the Muslim community, which is accusing it of targeting Muslims. We can hardly shut our eyes to the problem at hand, can we?

Owaisi: If the credibility of the NIA is so low, the NIA has to take the blame for it. After all, it allowed Swami Aseemanand to walk free by not appealing against his bail in the Mecca Masjid case. How it behaved in connection with Sadhvi Pragya is well known, so much so that the court had to pass strictures against it. Also remember, 70 youth were picked after the Mecca Masjid blast in 2007, put in jail, tortured in custody, and then they were all acquitted by the court.

Q. Let us talk about the Islamic State. It is a real threat? And you know it too well because you have been threatened by its operatives on Twitter.

Owaisi: Yes they did and I gave it back to them in my own style. They called me a non-Muslim in their videos. I have always spoken out against the Islamic State. It is not enough to crush them militarily, they need to be crushed ideologically as well.

Q. So it is obvious that when five youth are arrested from the Old city area of Hyderabad and accused of being part of an Islamic State terror module, there will be anxiety about their footprints spreading in the city.

Owaisi: For the last two years, I have been saying that the social media campaign of the Islamic State is very strong. The way they campaign, I was certain some impressionable minds will get carried away.

Q. And do you think that they have?

Owaisi: Please note that some 300 to 400 people, who have joined the Islamic State, are from US, Europe. It is our responsibility to defeat their ideology. I am saying this as an Indian. It is a problem, yes. But, it is not a monster. Take it on.

Q. And how do you do that?

Owaisi: The Islamic State targeted Muslims initially. When they blasted the Prophet's companion's grave, it was very hurtful. All I am saying is that do not demonise the entire community. It is not spreading to every galli in the Old city. The society at large hates the Islamic State and its ideology. Who will allow such lumpen elements? It is the parents of those 14 youth who went to the police in 2014, when they found out that the youth had left home to go to Syria to try and join the Islamic State.

Q. So you are saying that while talking of Islamic State, the entire Muslim community is being tarred with the same brush?

Owaisi: That is exactly what the Islamic State wants. The entire Old city does not constitute of only Muslims, it includes non-Muslims as well. Did we have any communal riots after the Mecca Masjid in May 2007 or Lumbini Park or Gokul Chat blast in August 2007? IS does not want the grey zone to exist. And we are helping them by creating suspicion about Muslims.

Q. That includes mischievous plants about plans to put meat in a temple near the Charminar?

Owaisi: The remand report makes no mention of any plan to throw any meat into a temple. So where did it come from? It is laughable to imagine that terror organisations are buying meat for this purpose. Nonsense.

Q. Did all this convince you to offer legal help to the five youth, who have been arrested?

Owaisi: I am not saying release the boys. I am asking the NIA that will you be able to prove their guilt in court. Why should heavens fall if I offer them legal aid. The parents of the boys came and met me. They insisted they were innocent, and that there is no connection to the Islamic State. One of them said the Rs 15 lakh found in one of the houses, belongs to him and not to the man arrested. When Subramanian Swamy can appear for Asaram Bapu, no one raises a hue and cry. In any case, under our legal system, remember that the court will give them a lawyer. After all, even Ajmal Kasab was also given one. That is the greatness of our legal system.

Q. But you do realise that Asaduddin Owaisi will be demonised for helping five people who the premier investigation agency of the country says are alleged terrorists.

Owaisi: I don't care. I did not do any wrong. The court will decide. If they are able to convince the court of their innocence, so be it.

Q. There is a feeling that the victimhood narrative is playing out again, with the feeling being reinforced that Muslims are always arrested by the investigating agencies.



Owaisi: It has happened after so many instances of miscarriage of justice. I want them to be positive. We do not need negative thinking. If you think like a victim, you cannot fight for your rights.

Q. Is there apprehension that 2016 could be a repeat of 2007, when all those youth arrested were acquitted in the Mecca Masjid case?

Owaisi: Remember Mecca Masjid, Akshardham. Miscarriage of justice has happened in the past and the NIA's credibility is low.

Q. Is there fear that Hyderabad has emerged as a recruitment centre for the Islamic State?

Owaisi: Let us not use such words like recruitment centre. Nothing will happen. We have a strong commitment to stay together. Crushing terrorism is not the responsibility of one community. Hyderabadis and Indians will tackle them.

Q. Given the fact that some of those arrested are educated  have software engineering training  there is fear that an educated Muslim will find it difficult to get jobs. That he will be viewed with suspicion. Does that worry you?

Owaisi: That is for the media to answer. Don't generalise and give the impression that all educated Muslims are under suspicion. He is trying to work hard. Any terrorist would want a community to be demonised, isolated. Let us not do that.

Q. Would you ask for this case to be heard in a fast track court?

Owaisi: There is no need for a fast track court since it will be heard by the NIA court. File the charge-sheet quickly. Miscarriage of justice should never happen. Officers who are investigating should be held responsible, if charges are not proven in court. That is because the accused get convicted in people's eyes the moment they are arrested, the damage is irreparable. Zindagi kharab ho jaati hai.
Chandrapur: Maharashtra government will use Global Positioning System (GPS) and satellite mapping technology to monitor the forest cover in the state.

"The government will use GPS and satellite mapping technology to monitor the forest cover. We are keen to introduce such technologies with the help of companies and NGOs in the three next months," state Forest Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar said in Chandrapur on Sunday.

On the 'tree plantation' drive organised by the state government on 1 July across Maharashtra, he said, "Planting two crore trees in a single day was not the target. But it was an earnest attempt to make the drive a people's movement and I am overwhelmed by their response."

"In fact, people's participation has proved to be a great motivation for the government as over 2.82 crore saplings were planted on that day, which was well above our expectations," the minister said.

"In my experience, no government project is successful without active participation of common people," Mungantiwar said, adding, "The ultimate aim of the tree plantation drive is to make Maharashtra green and a better place for future generations."

According to the minister, the state government is working to launch 27 schemes which include, Tree Bank, Eco Battalion from Armed forces, Green Battalion through NGOs.
Lambasting the Nitish Kumar government over the poor state of education in Bihar, Jawaharlal Nehru Students' Union (JNUSU) president Kanhaiya Kumar on Sunday said that the state is not serious about the the education system, reported The Times Of India.

Speaking for the candidates of the Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC) and College of Arts and Crafts protesting against the change in schedule for their mains examination, Kanhaiya said that the government was wasn't paying heed to their demands.

According to The Telegraph, the student leader, who is on a four-day visit to his hometown in Bihar, said that he tried meeting the BPSC chairman and Nitish Kumar, however, he was not able to since "the two didn't give him time".

Furthermore, Kanhaiya Kumar also said that the state government is targeting 'topper' Ruby Rai, who was arrested after she failed to appear for the re-test twice, as she is a soft target and arresting a student is always easier.

Holding the state responsible for the Bihar Class XII board examination 'topper' scam, Kanhaiya said, "The state is not presenting a good governance model to the country and it appears as if students are considered a burden on society."

Kanhaiya has, for the first time, voiced his criticism on the JD(U) leader's governance.

The student leader, during his previous visit to Bihar in May, had supported Nitish Kumar's stand that the non-BJP parties should unite against the brand of politics practised by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the RSS.
Srinagar : In a major breakthrough, security forces have arrested seven Over Ground Workers (OGWs) of terror outfit Hizbul Mujahideen from Sopore township of north Kashmir's Baramulla district, police said on Monday.

The arrests were made in separate raids over the last few days and come close on the heels of security forces gunning down a top Hizbul Mujahideen commander and arresting two OGWs, hailing from the town, last week, said a police officer.

Mohammad Syed Malik, Sajad Ahmad Chopan, Ikhlaq Ahmad Sheikh and Showkat Ahmad Lone -- all residents of Bomai -- were arrested near Dangerpora crossing in the town, he added.

Three sets of police uniforms, four pairs of police shoes, nine sets of chains, 500 grams of RDX, four rocket-propelled grenades, a wireless set, an under barrel grenade launcher (UBGL), three IED circuits, a pressure mine, nine wireless antennae and a bayonet were recovered from them, the officer said, adding that a private car too was seized during the operation.

Three more OGWs -- Irshad Ahmad Lone of Tujjar Sharief, Abdul Majeed Bhat of Wahipora-Handwara and Zahoor Ahmad Bhat of Bomai - were arrested from Sopore town, he said, adding that the seizure made from them included a police uniform, two rifle grenades, six detonators and a wireless set.

All the seven arrested persons were booked under various sections of the Explosive Substances Act and the Indian Wireless Telegraphy Act, said the officer.

On 30 June, two OGWs were arrested along with a huge cache of arms and explosives from Amargarh bypass near Tarzoo.

On 28 June, self-styled divisional commander of Hizbul Mujahideen Samir Ahmad Wani was killed in a gunfight with the security forces at Nagri Hatmulla in Kupwara district.

Hailing from Sopore town, Wani was one of the most wanted militants in the valley.
Berlin: India on Monday underlined the need for countries to take pre-2020 climate actions to curb emissions and sought cooperation among countries in finance and technology sectors to tackle climate change.

"Cooperation is the key for taking (climate) actions. Every country is at a different stage of development. We need cooperation. We have the will to act," said Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar.

Javadekar said that India has already started the process of ratification of Paris Climate agreement and even during the recent meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Barack Obama, both emphasised that the process should be completed at the earliest.

"But we do not have the wherewithal to do it, not only in terms of finances, but particularly in terms of technology. When we talk of technology, Germany is most reliable name in many fields and therefore, there is finance, technology and mutual cooperation and walking the talk," Javadekar said at a joint press conference with German Minister Barbara Hendricks at the Seventh St Petersburg Dialogue in Berlin.

Since 2010, the annual dialogue has provided the opportunity for countries to engage in an informal exchange of experiences on international climate policy.

Javadekar said that on 5 October last year, Modi and German Chancellor Angela Markel issued a joint statement which is the "basis" of India-Germany partnership programme.

In a statement during the joint press briefing with Chancellor Merkel, Prime Minister Modi had said that he admired Merkel's leadership in combating climate change and both the countries had agreed on an India-Germany Climate and Renewable Alliance with a long term vision and a comprehensive agenda of combating climate change.

Modi had also said that he placed great value on Germany's assistance of over one billion Euros for India's Green Energy Corridor and a new assistance package of over a billion Euros for solar projects in India.

"What we have achieved in New York, we signed it (agreement). Now we have to implement it. So pre-2020 actions are also important and will also be discussed here in St Petersburg," Javadekar said adding that he was hopeful of the the outcome at this dialogue.
Bhubaneswar: The BJP's Odisha unit on Monday held a rally and staged a demonstration to demand strict action against those involved in the attack on a cavalcade of two Union minister in Bargarh on 24 June.

Several senior state Bharatiya Janata Party leaders participated in the demonstration in front of the Raj Bhavan.

The opposition party also submitted a memorandum to Governor S.C. Jamir to seek his intervention in the matter.

"The state government has failed to act against the ruling Biju Janata Dal's leaders, including MLAs and a state minister, involved in the attack on the Union ministers," state BJP President Basant Panda said.

He said the Governor has assured them of directing the Naveen Patnaik government to act against the culprits.

"The attack was clear for everybody to see. Windowpanes of a car were shattered. The culprits should get arrested immediately," said another BJP leader Arun Singh.

Claiming that the BJD resorted to violence in view of the BJP's growing popularity in Odisha, he pointed a finger at the Chief Minister's Office for the attack.

Senior BJP leader Bijay Mohapatra asked why the state government did not take action against police officials, including Bargarh Superintendent of Police, for failing to provide security to the Union ministers.

The cavalcade of Union ministers Santosh Gangwar and Sadhvi Niranjan and former Jharkhand Chief Minister Arjun Munda was allegedly attacked by BJD workers when they were on their way to attend the BJP's 'Vikas Ustav' in Bargarh on 24 June.

However, the BJD denied the charges.

"The state government has initiated action against those involved in the attack. The Revenue Divisional Commissioner has been asked to probe the matter," said BJD spokesperson Sameer Das.

He said the BJP is making it a political issue ahead of the panchayat elections.
A recent spat between the Shiv Sena and the BJP through their respective mouthpieces had made colourful references to Gabbar Singh and the jailoriconic characters from the film Sholay. After Uddhav Thackeray was referred to as the jailor, the Sena returned the favour by referring to BJP president Amit Shah as Gabbar Singh. Although the two characters never met in the celluloid version, a meeting between Thackeray and Shah was expected to take place in the context of the proposed cabinet expansion. But eventually, as it turned out, the meeting was not to be.

There appears to be yet another rift between the Shiv Sena and the BJP over the proposed expansion. The BJP's chief Amit Shah is meeting more than 16 MPs from his party. From Maharashtra, the leaders who met Shah included Ramdas Athawale(who has been nominated by the BJP to the Rajya Sabha), Vinay Sahasrabuddhe and Dr Subhash Bhamre. But no leaders from the Shiv Senanot even party president Uddhav Thackeray or Rajya Sabha MP Anil Desaicould meet the BJP chief on Monday. This comes even as the cabinet expansion is just hours away.

On last Tuesday, Shah is believed to have expressed his anguish over some recent incidents involving the Sena, leading the state unit of the party also to follow suit. Shah's criticism of the Shiv Sena had taken place during a high-level meeting held at the party's office in Nariman point organised by BJP state unit president Raosaheb Danve.

Party insiders told Firstpost that Shah was particularly unhappy over the fact that his photographs were displayed during demonstrations by the Shiv Sena against the BJP at various cities. The Sena had also burnt the effigy of Mumbai city president Ashish Shelar.

Meanwhile, Uddhav Thackeray told media persons at Shiv Sena Bhavan on Monday afternoon that there was a need for clarity on the part of the BJP. "The Sena will never stand helplessly on anybody's doors asking for anything. Earlier, the BJP had promised a cabinet berth and now they are only offering the post of a minister of state. They should be clear about what they are offering us," he said.

Sources told Firstpost that the Sena had asked for one cabinet berth and one post of minster with independent charge in the union government. However, the BJP is only willing to give them posts of two ministers of state. "While Anupriya Patel from Apna Dal is being given a cabinet berth although it has only two MP, the Shiv Sena, which has 18 MPs, is being sidelined," the source said.

Meanwhile, the new faces from Maharashtra will be RPI president Ramdas Athwale, BJP vice-president Vinay Sahasrabuddhe and Dhule MP from BJP Dr Subhash Bhamre. While Athwale is from the Dalit community, Sahasrabuddhe is a Brahmin, and Dr Bhamre from the Maratha community.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Monday attended a meeting with party president Amit Shah. Sources confirmed that after the expansion of Modi government's cabinet on Tuesday, an expansion of the Maharashtra cabinet is likely before 10 July.

The monsoon session of the Maharashtra assembly begins on on July 18. Earlier, CM Fadnavis had said, I am planning to carry out a cabinet expansion before the session. Insiders indicated that it is likely to happen before 10 July. The chief minister is on a tour of Russia tour from 10 to 16 July.

The rejig will be to ensure that all sections and regions are represented in the cabinet. There will be an effort to induct at least one cabinet member from north Maharashtra in the wake of the resignation of senior minister Eknath Khadse. Also, there will be at least two candidates representing the Other Backward Castes (OBC) community. After the resignation of revenue minister Eknath Khadse, Maharashtra has a total of 29 ministers, out of which 19 are from the BJP and 10 are from the Shiv Sena

The maximum permitted strength of Maharashtra's council of ministers is 42. Fadnavis indicated that he is unlikely to fill all the cabinet posts. At least five candidates from the BJP could be inducted, along with two from smaller alliance partners Rashtriya Samaj Party (RSP), Shivsangram Sanghatana and Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana. The names of Mahadev Jankar from the RSP, Vinayak Mete from the Shivsangram Sanghatana and the Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana's Sadabhau Khot have almost been finalised. All three will be ministers of state.

The Shiv Sena may get two more ministers of state. Kolhapur MLA Sujit Minchekar, Nanded's Pratap Patil Chikhlikar, Jalnas Arjun Khotakar, Jalgaon's Gulabrao Patil, and MLC Dr Neelam Gorhe in the race. Uddhav Thackeray will take the final decision after the cabinet rejig at the centre, sources said.

At present, the Shiv Sena members in the state cabinet are mostly from Mumbai and the Konkan region. By inducting faces from Marathwada and western Maharashtra, the Sena leadership wants to clear misconceptions about it being against rural interests. Further, it also wants to achieve a balance between different regions of the state.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Union Surface Transport and Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari on Sunday had separate meetings with RSS sarsanghchalak Mohan Bhagwat. Though what transpired in the meeting was not unknown, speculations were rife that the meetings were about the impending cabinet expansions at the Centre and state.
Going by the intense media speculation, it would seem that prime minister's impending Cabinet reshuffle is an event of deep import with far-reaching consequences. We are told that in one fell swoop, Narendra Modi in consultation with party president Amit Shah will remove ministerial deadwood and breathe fresh life into his Cabinet while simultaneously reaching out to OBCs, Dalits and sounding the poll bugle ahead of crucial Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections.

Beyond an administrative restructuring and filling up of posts that have fallen empty, the Cabinet rejig is unlikely to be an earth-shaking event. The reason is simple. Whether or not the council of ministers is juggled around, this was, is and shall remain exclusively a 'Narendra Modi government'. And consequently, the PM's performance or the perception and discourse around his performance would solely decide the fate of his government at the electoral hustings.

Under the Westminster model of Parliamentary democracy, though the prime minister is the head of government and leader of the council of ministers, examples abound in India's 69-year-old journey as an independent nation of PMs who were malleable, effete and overshadowed by either their ministerial colleagues or even party presidents who wielded real power behind the scenes.

Not so Modi. The manner of his rise from Gujarat to 7 Race Course Road in Delhi is noteworthy. The BJP saw in him its best chance to regain power after a 10-year UPA rule and subsequently, perhaps acting on poll strategist Prashant Kishor's suggestion, the party receded into the background during the run-up to the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. He was announced as the prime ministerial aspirant and if there was an internal consternation over it, those obstacles were duly removed. Modi became a larger-than-life figure overshadowing all peers past and present.

While running for the top post, Modi brought a taste of US Presidential style of campaigning in India. From technology-aided 'chai-pe-charcha' campaigns to simultaneous rallies through a 3D life-size hologram at over 4,000 events across the country to running a hugely influential 'achhe din' campaign on TV, it was Modi all the way. His charisma as an able, strong administrator and 'development agent' overshadowed everything else.

The campaign strategy was based on a calculation that the middle class and the young voters would be attracted to Modi's image as a 'doer' and his promise of 'development for all' would influence even the 'swing voters' who have been traditionally uncomfortable with BJP's policies. His image as someone who is incorruptible and disinterested in propagating his own family, it was thought, would add to the allure for an electorate who were tired to the bone with corruption and Gandhi dynasty antics.

Bloomberg, in a 2013 report, quoted a 21-year-old man from a Modi rally in Bangalore as saying: India has economic problems and only Modi can solve them He will create jobs and boost growth. He will stop the rupee from sliding. Gowda, said the report, was a factory worker in a Modi T-shirt who will vote for the first time in elections due in May 2014. He had listened to the hour-long Modi speech in a hot midday sun.

Three years and halfway into his tenure as a prime minister, there has been absolutely no change in Modi's image. He still remains the man firmly in charge of his party and unlike his predecessor Manmohan Singh, he runs the PMO with absolute control. And both he and his party still continue to project his image as a decisive and firm administrator.

When Modi, during the much-publicised Times Now interview, was asked if his government was serious about bringing home wilful defaulters and taking action against economic offenders who use their money power to stay clear of the arm of law, the prime minister's reply was telling.

"Firstly, this question is not in the minds of people. The people of India have confidence that if there's someone who can do this, it is Narendra Modi and he will do it. Citizens of the country have full faith

"I take this as an opportunity and I will show them what the law is," he said when asked if people are misusing the law.

Here, more than anywhere else, is an assertion by the PM that the electorate still looks to him for solution, not his Cabinet colleagues. It is too obvious a point to be made that Modi alone cannot be the government. But unlike many of his predecessors, Modi is given to micromanaging day-to-day administration, sometimes spending hours with officials and technocrats to thrash out a solution instead of setting a broad policy agenda and hiring the right people to execute it.

There could be debates about whether or not Modi's approach is the right one, but the point is he relegates his ministerial colleagues to almost non-significance. The Cabinet reshuffle, therefore, is likely to be only of academic importance when it comes to assessing the Modi government's performance.
For the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), arresting the principal secretary to the Delhi chief minister, Rajendra Kumar, on charges of corruption would certainly not have been an easy option.

More so because Kumar was co-operating with the investigation, and responded to all the summons served on him by the countrys premier investigative agency. The CBI could have continued its investigation by charge-sheeting him in the court.

The CBI, however, chose to arrest Kumar being fully aware that Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal would cry blue murder and call no less than Prime Minister Narendra Modi names  as he has done in the past. It is in this context that the arrest evokes intense curiosity. Has the CBI gathered enough proof against Rajendra Kumar, making his arrest inevitable?

The investigation has, so far, failed to produce a convincing case against Kumar. Sources in the CBI admit that an arrest becomes inevitable only when there are chances that the accused might influence witnesses or tamper with the evidence. None of these criteria apply to Kumar. Going by the service record, Kumar never came across an an officer with dubious integrity.

There is little doubt that the CBI has put much at stake by arresting Kumar, following his interrogation on Monday afternoon. Kejriwal and his colleagues would call it political vendetta unleashed by the investigative agency to please its political masters, who are at loggerheads with the AAP government in Delhi. And, the whole case would open a Pandora's box if its tenability in the court of law is questioned.

It seems that if the CBI fails to produce concrete evidence of Rajendra Kumars involvement in the corruption case, it could lead to one of the worst face-offs till date between the Centre and the government in the quasi-state of Delhi.

Perhaps nobody knows it better than the prime minister himself, as to how it pinches when the Centre launches a political vendetta. In his over a decade-long reign in Gujarat, he was at the receiving end of the Centres vindictive moves to incite bureaucracy and implicate them in false cases. The CBI was used brazenly to implicate politicians and bureaucrats, more often based on flimsy evidence than on tangible proofs.

Modis protestations back then acquired a ring of truth, and evoked public sympathy on a large scale. Needless to say, the CBIs shoddy investigation in this case would cast a slur on the image of a government that claims to pursue cooperative federalism and to follow a bipartisan approach on critical issues. It is bound to give enough leverage to Kejriwal to use it to advance AAP's political prospects in Punjab and Goa.

However, the proclivity of the CBI to be used as a cats paw for their political masters can hardly be undermined. On many occasions, the CBI bosses actions were guided by second-guessing their political masters and not on the basis of evidence collected during the investigation. CBI chief Anil Kumar Sinha has shown this tendency in the past, when he launched an attack on Vijay Mallya in a conference of bankers in Mumbai, a day before Mallya finally left for London.

By all indications, the arrest of Rajendra Kumar would require the CBI to reveal the evidence that implicates the senior IAS officer in the Rs 50 crore corruption case. Any prevarication on the CBIs part would not only reaffirm its image of a caged parrot  used euphemistically by the Supreme Court  but also vest it with predatory attributes. And such an insinuation would not be happy situation.
New Delhi: Congress remained tight lipped over reports that Priyanka Gandhi would be its star campaigner in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh and also on the issue of elevation of Rahul Gandhi as the party chief.

"Whenever it happens, you will know", party spokesman Jairam Ramesh told reporters quoting AICC General Secretary Ghulam Nabi Azad when asked about reports that Priyanka would lead the campaign in UP and address as many as 150 meetings.

He, however, dismissed suggestions that Priyanka taking centre stage in campaigning in Uttar Pradesh showed poorly on the leadership of Rahul.

Azad, who is in charge of party affairs in Uttar Pradesh, has already favoured Priyanka becoming pro-active in campaigning all over the state.

On Saturday, Uttar Pradesh Congress spokesperson Satya Dev Tripathi had said that Priyanka will step out of her family pocket boroughs of Amethi and Rae Bareli to campaign for the party all over the state.

Poll strategist Prashant Kishor, who has been roped in by the Congress to help and assist the party in Uttar Pradesh, has reportedly suggested that if Rahul declines to lead the party in the state, Priyanka by all means should.

Azad has also expressed the possibility of the party naming a Chief Ministerial candidate in UP.

Congress is in political wilderness in UP for the past more than 26 years which saw emergence of Mandal and Mandir issues and the rise of BSP.

Ramesh, who had earlier said that Rahul Gandhi would take over as party chief this year, today steered clear of questions on when the Congress Vice President would be elevated.

"Rahul has come back from his visit abroad and will be busy in Monsoon session of Parliament beginning 18 July and also on the campaign for implementation of the forest rights Act", Ramesh merely said.

Only last month, Ramesh had said in an interview "Rahul Gandhi is de facto Congress chief but he should become de jure" and make the party battle ready without waiting for anti-incumbency to build up against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Ramesh had insisted that the Congress vice president has "a lot of ideas on organisational restructuring and I hope he gets into position very soon. He is de facto, but he should become dejure".

Congress has witnessed reverses after reverses in elections since it lost power in the Lok Sabha polls in May 2014 and in which it posted its worst ever performance of 44 seats in the House of 543
Montreal: Justin Trudeau has made history by marching with tens of thousands of people in Toronto's Gay Pride parade, becoming the country's first sitting prime minister to participate.

Thunderous applause greeted Trudeau as he paraded down a main Toronto artery, waving a Canadian maple-leaf flag bordered with a rainbow.

The youthful politician, whose popularity is soaring, donned a salmon-coloured, button-down shirt and white jeans, taking selfies and shaking hands with those lining the parade route.

The colourful procession observed a minute of silence to pay respect to the victims of the 12 June nightclub massacre in Orlando, Florida that left 49 dead.

The city tightened security, but kept the enhanced measures discreet to maintain a festive spirit. Toronto police have not released an official attendance count, but organisers had expected one million attendees.

Trudeau also walked in the annual parade last year as head of the Liberal Party, then the opposition leader facing former president Stephen Harper's conservative government.

Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne  Canada's first openly gay head of a province  and Toronto Mayor John Tory marched alongside Trudeau.

The three politicians attended an outdoor worship service yesterday morning in the city's gay district.
Thiruvananthapuram: Amid reports that Marxist veteran VS Achuthanandan is set to be appointed Chairman of Kerala Administrative Reforms Commission, the LDF government on Monday decided to amend the relevant law to confer him the post with a cabinet rank.

A draft bill to amend the law related to the commission was approved by the state cabinet which met here, an official release said.

According to sources, the bill is envisaged to make necessary amendments in the present law to remove technical obstacles to confer Achuthanandan, also an MLA in the state Assembly, the post with cabinet rank.

If the 92-year-old CPM leader, who represents Malampuzha in the assembly, takes up the Chairmanship of the panel without amending the existing law, he may face disqualification for holding dual posts, they said.

The government was planning to present the bill in the ongoing assembly session itself, the sources added.

They said late party veterans EMS Namboodiripad and EK Nayanar had held the chairmanship of Administrative Reforms Commission in the past.

CPM General Secretary Sitaram Yechury and politbureau member Prakash Karat had recently made it clear that the party had taken a decision on the post to be given to Achuthanandan and it will be translated into an appropriate decision by the cabinet.

Achuthanandan led the LDF to an impressive victory in the 16 May assembly polls by vigorously campaigning for the front. The Left had decided on Pinarayi Vijayan as the chief minister citing Achuthanandan's advanced age and physical limitations.
Do you know Ajay Tamta of Uttarakhand or Krishna Raj of Shahjahanpur? In the list of 16 probable candidates expected to be sworn in as ministers for the Union of India on Tuesday, it would be difficult for even the most avid observers of Indian politics to recognise anyone  except maybe MJ Akbar, Vijay Goel, SS Ahluwalia and Ramdas Athavale  as public personae.

Take for example names like Faggan Singh Kulaste from Madhya Pradesh, Mahendra Nath Pandey from Uttar Pradesh, Arjun Ram Meghwal from Rajasthan, Subhash Bhamre from Maharashtra, and Mansukhbhai Mandavia from Gujarat; none of them ring a bell, or are known for their exceptional oratory skills or influence on national politics.

Yet, they figure in the list that has been doing the rounds in Delhi since Monday morning. The speculation about their induction is based on the assumption that all of them met BJP president Amit Shah on Monday, to convey their gratitude.

There is little doubt that Prime Minister Narendra Modi rarely goes by the personal charisma of a leader within the BJP. For him, the cabinet reshuffle is more of an administrative exercise than to uplift his governments image.

While there have been cabinet rejigs on four occasions since May 2014, the reshuffle is arguably the first of its kind; and that it comes ahead of major electoral tests for the ruling party at the Centre, is significant.

Tuesday's cabinet expansion and reshuffle would invariable bear the stamp of 'social engineering' to accommodate disparate social groups  like the Dalits, Kurmis etc  particularly in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, states that are poll-bound in January 2017.

Anupriya Patel, from Mirzapur constituency, has been roped in to counter the impact of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who of late has been touring across UP to wean away a sizeable chunk of Kurmi votes. Anupriyas own party  the Apna Dal  has exclusively cultivated Kurmis as its support base for the past two decades.

Anupriyas entry into the cabinet is expected to effectively neutralize the possibility of Nitish Kumar taking away a formidable section of the Kurmi votes. At the same time, the move is also intended to balance the caste equation, following the induction of another powerful Kurmi leader, Beni Prasad Verma, into the Samajwadi Party. Compared to an old and irrelevant Verma, a young and articulate Anupriya Patel would come across as a strong woman OBC leader, with a modern outlook.

Similarly, Mahendra Pandey of Chandauli  home district of Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh  is expected to be given a place in the council of ministers. Pandey again, is a young Brahmin face who has been quite active in the prime ministers constituency in Varanasi. Though a political featherweight, Pandey has been cultivated as a Brahmin leader who can replace an old warhorse like Kalraj Mishra  currently Union Cabinet Minister of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises.

The possible induction of Ramdas Athawale of the Republican Party of India (RPI) from Maharashtra, and Krishna Raj of Shahjahanpur in Uttar Pradesh, along with several other names of similar merit is symbolic.

Given the fact that the BSP supremo, Mayawati, commands an unwavering loyalty of 22 percent of Dalits in the state, the BJP has been making desperate overtures to reach out to marginal communities through this symbolism. Athawale can be used to burnish the pro-Dalit credentials of the BJP, which is largely considered as a party representing the interests of dominant castes, particularly the upper castes.

By all indications, the cabinet reshuffle and expansion on Tuesday is going to be a project of 'social engineering'  undertaken by the BJP in view of the upcoming 2017 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections and to balance caste equations elsewhere.

But apart from this political objective, the exercise is also aimed at correcting the administrative imbalances. For instance, the parliamentary affairs were grossly mismanaged in the Modi government. SS Ahluwalia and MJ Akbar are believed to have been brought in to engage with different political groups, and to leverage their access in different parties for the governments favour.

Similarly, Vijay Goel seems to be back in the reckoning as he is valued as an efficient colleague', much against the wishes of many senior leaders in the government. Similarly, Parshottam Rupala, a strong Leuva Patel leader from Gujarat, is tipped to have been taken in the cabinet because of his expertise in the agriculture sector. The performance of the agriculture ministry is rated below par within the government.

Apart from these administrative reasons, the cabinet reshuffle is likely to have less substance and much sound, for whatever its worth.
Hyderabad: AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi on Monday strongly defended his decision to provide legal aid to the five city-based youths arrested by NIA on charges of being involved in an alleged Islamic State terror module, saying there is nothing wrong in it.

"If legal aid is fundamental right, then why should these people have trouble or why are they in so much pain?" the Hyderabad Lok Sabha MP told PTI, hitting back at critics who slammed his move.

"If we as a nation can provide lawyer to a Pakistani dreaded terrorist (Ajmal Kasab), why not these Indian citizens who have been definitely charged, but it's now for NIA to prove beyond reasonable doubt their involvement. I don't know why they (his critics) are so much in pain when I am talking about fundamental rights," Owaisi said.

"Why isn't the same argument being used for the lawyers who are representing Aseemanand (Mecca Masjid blast case),

Pragya Thakur (Malegaon blast case)? Are you trying to say that those lawyers (representing Aseemanand and Pragya) are nationalists? And what I am doing it anti-national?" he asked.

Owaisi alleged that after Mecca Masjid blast in 2007, more than 80 Muslim boys were picked up, tortured, and kept in illegal detection for a week, and later on it emerged that they were not involved, and the then state government was forced to give Rs one lakh compensation to each of them.

He asked as to why the NIA had not appealed against the bail that was given to Aseemanand, who is "still an accused" in the case.

"Why did they (NIA) conveniently allow the 90 days to lapse? Why is nobody asking why has the NIA given clean chit

to Sadhvi (Pragya Thakur) which was later on struck down by the NIA court, and the NIA court had to say that she has prima facie case to answer for the conspiracy of Malegaon (blast) and also that motorcycle is in her name. So, why did the NIA discharge?" he further sought to know.

On BJP's allegation that he is giving "oxygen" to terrorists and he is "seen as standing with extremists",

Owaisi said: "To me it's quite perplexing that the latest video of ISIS shows me as a supporter of Hindu nation which India is not. And it calls me a non-Muslim. And then these people also call me names that I am supporting (terrorists).

"So, it's good. It clearly shows that I am a thorn for both Sangh Parivar and also ISIS," he added.

Owaisi had last week said his party would provide legal help to the five youths arrested by the NIA on charges of involvement in an alleged Islamic State terror module, but asserted his party does not support terrorism.
In a major blow to the Arvind Kejriwal-led Delhi government, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Monday arrested Delhi governments principal secretary to the chief minister, Rajendra Kumar, along with four other persons.

The case of Kumar is not new and it began way back in 2015, when for the first time another bureaucrat in the Delhi government Ashish Joshi acted as a whistleblower and demanded a probe against Kumar for the first time by moving Delhis Anti Corruption Branch (ACB). Joshi alleged that Rajendra Kumar had misused his power and position in granting favours to a private company.

The CBI action against Rajendra Kumar is not for the first time, as the investigative agency had raided the Chief Ministers Office and that of Kumar's in 2015.

Monday's turn of events has led to a blame game, as the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government has cried foul and conspiracy against them, while the BJP has accused Arvind Kejriwal of shielding its corrupt leaders and officials.

Is Prime Minister Narendra Modi intentionally targetting Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal?

The AAP government has cried foul and termed CBIs action as a "witch-hunt by Modi government".

Modiji is taking revenge of BJPs defeat in Delhi by targetting AAP MLAs and Kejriwals trusted officials one after another, alleged Delhis deputy CM Manish Sisodia in a hurriedly-called press conference on Monday.

In the last 23 years, no central government has stooped as low as the Narendra Modi government. Its a conspiracy to paralyse CMs office. First, the Centre transferred our 11 officers and now arrested Kumar, reveals their malafide intention. If, Kumar or anyone, whos wrong, should be punished, but whats the emergency behind arresting Kumar today all of a sudden? As Kejriwal is gaining popularity in Punjab and Goa and would win the assembly elections there, Modi government wants to destabilise us, he alleged

AAP spokesperson Ashutosh alleged, Its a political vendetta of Modi government. We dont know why Modi hates people of Delhi so much. He has unleashed Delhi police against our MLAs one after another. For the last six months, the CBI has been asking for evidences, and today all of a sudden, it arrested Kumar.

Reacting sharply, Delhi BJP president, Satish Upadhyay said, Rajendra Kumars corrupt practices happened during Sheila Dikshit and Kejriwal. Shielding corrupt officials and MLAs, the double standard of Kejriwal has got exposed.

What does the CBI say

The CBI in a press conference on Monday said that it has arrested five people including Rajendra Kumar on charges of bribing, misusing the office of power (CMO) and favouring and awarding contracts to a private company. The arrested persons will be produced before the court on Tuesday.

Who is Rajendra Kumar?

 Rajendra Kumar, a 1989 batch IAS officer of the Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Mizoram and Union Territories (AGMUT) cadre, was appointed the principal secretary (PS) to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in February 2015.

 He was the batchmate of Arvind Kejrwal in IIT Kharagpur.

 Also served as secretary to Kejriwal during the previous 49-day AAP government.

 Kumars longest stint has been with the Delhi government and he has served both under former CM Sheila Dikshit and under Arvind Kejriwal.

 He also held the position of secretary in urban development department and handled various departments, including power and transport.

Who is Ashish Joshi?

 Ashish Joshi, a 1992-batch Indian Post and Telecommunication Accounts and Finance Service (IP&TAFS) officer, was Member-secretary (Finance) of Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB) and member-secretary of Delhi Dialogue Commission, from where he was removed in May 2015. Allegations against Joshi were that he chewed tobacco and smoked cigarettes inside his chamber and violated conduct rules.

 Joshi as a whistleblower moved the Delhi governments Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) against Kumar on June 2015. He had written to the ACB Chief MK Meena against Kumar, accusing him of corrupt practices. He had demanded the ACB to probe the role of Kumar when he was with the departments of Education, IT and Health of the Delhi government.

 Joshi had alleged that Kumar, as director of Education (from May 2002 to February 2005) and later secretary (IT), secretary (Health) and commissioner (VAT), had allegedly set up various companies to award work orders of departments without tenders which caused financial loss to Delhi government.

 Joshi had further alleged that Rajendra Kumar created a computer lab called Caltoonz at Timarpur and EDUDEL MIS. Formed Endeavours Systems Pvt Ltd and used to supply stationery to Education Department.

 Joshi also alleged that Kumar as secretary (IT) in 2007 got Endeavours Systems Pvt Ltd empanelled with the PSU ICSIL and ensured IT-related work and SAP license worth more than Rs 50 crore be given to the said private company through ICSIL.

 Joshi also alleged that the Delhi government, despite knowing about the corrupt practices of Kumar, in April 2016, gave him the additional charge of chairman of Delhi Subordinate Services Selection Board (DSSSB) days after some alleged irregularities surfaced in the board.

The CBI has clarified that Rajendra Kumar, as a government employee, favoured a private company through five contracts worth Rs 9.5 crore between 2007-2014.

Details of the contracts

 2009: Rajendra Kumar as chairman, Delhi Transco, allegedly facilitated a contract worth Rs 40.5 lakh for the development of a comprehensive Management Information System to Endeavour System Pvt Ltd, without inviting tenders. The contract was given through a public sector undertaking ICSIL.

 2010: Rajendra Kumar, as secretary, Health and Family Welfare, allegedly facilitated the award of a manpower project in the department, worth Rs 2.43 crore, to the same private company through ICSIL without inviting tenders.

 2012 (May): As commissioner, Trade and Taxes, Kumar allegedly facilitated the award of a project for the development of a software application worth Rs 3.66 crore to the same company again through ICSIL. Though trade and taxes contracts were awarded through tenders, conditions were tailor-made to suit the company.

 2013 (July): As secretary (IT), Kumar facilitated the award of a facility management system project in the Trade and Tax department (VAT) worth Rs 45.50 lakh without inviting any tender.

 2014 (February): As secretary to Kejriwal, he facilitated the award of a project regarding the enterprise resources planning of the Delhi Jal Board worth Rs 2.46 crore to ICSIL.

 2014 (May): ICSIL reportedly handed over the project to a private company. Though this project was given in through a tender, the eligibility criteria were allegedly designed to favour the said private company.

 2015 (16 December): Charges were levelled against Rajendra Kumar under the Excise Rules for possessing more than the legal limit of liquor in his house.

Prior to this on 15 December, 2015, the CBI had conducted a series of 14 raids, including in the office of Arvind Kejriwal and the latter had termed it as vendetta politics.

The CBI had then said the raid wasn't conducted in Arvind Kejriwal's office but it was in the office of Principal Secretary to CM, Rajendra Kumar.

That day, reacting strongly against the CBI raid, Manish Sisodia had remarked, Bring evidence of corruption against me or CM Kejriwal or even a department peon, action will be taken. It was the AAP government that sacked its minister on charges of corruption. No other government does so. We've a clear policy that if someone found guilty of corruption, send that person to jail. But, we warn don't try to get into CM's office or any other department by using false charges and mala fide intentions. Both the Congress and the BJP are on the same page as far as using the CBI to create hurdles against their opponentsAt the end of the day long raid, when the CBI failed to get any evidence, the Modi-government said that 'we should mind our language' (use proper language). I ask them to mind their ways and actions. Agar woh apne karmo ke liye maafi maangenge, to hum apne shabdon ke liye maafi maang lenge (If they apologise for their actions, we'll apologise for the words we used).
In a fortnight or so, the Congress will take two major decisions.

At a rally in Uttar Pradesh  either at Lucknow or Allahabad  it will present Priyanka Gandhi Vadra as the face of the partys campaign for the Assembly polls. Simultaneously, it will push a Brahmin leader to the electoral frontline, either as the new chief of the state unit or the chief ministerial candidate.

The plan, finalised by election strategist Prashant Kishor, targets the two biggest flaws in the Congress strategy: One, lack of a strong high-command and two, absence of a credible chief ministerial candidate with the right kind of caste base.

For almost six months since he took over responsibility of the partys poll campaign, Kishor has been trying to win over the support of at least one major caste group in the state and then add Muslims voters to that support base. His face plus base strategy is aimed at wooing Brahmins, who constitute around 10 percent of voters, and then hoping that minority voters and a fraction of Dalits will gravitate towards the Congress after finding it a viable option  which the Congress isnt so far, because of its meagre vote share of around nine percent.

If planning moves on the chessboard could have helped win an election, Garry Kasparov would have defeated Vladimir Putin long ago. Unfortunately for Kishor, the success of his strategy would depend not on how the Congress moves its pawns on the UP board but on how people respond to the moves. And the endgame is still some months away.

But, the positive signal from within the party is this: Instead of doing the same thing again and again  putting Rahul Gandhi on the front and not naming a CM candidate  and hoping for a different result, it is trying a different strategy and showing the will to fight.

So, once Rahul returns from his summer sojourn at some undisclosed location, he will hand over the baton to his sister and watch the show from the sidelines, confining himself perhaps to managing the party while the sister interacts with voters.

Congress sources say Priyanka will campaign in around 120 Assembly constituencies. Internal surveys have convinced its leaders that its chances are bright in 152 seats; in another 60 seats it can put up a tough fight.

We will concentrate on 210-220 seats where a combination of Brahmin and Muslim voters can prove decisive. Voters from both these segments are in a flux, they have not yet made up their mind, a Congress leader told Firstpost.

Internally, the party is eyeing a more realistic figure. Its leaders agree in private that the party would be happy to double its 2012 tally and wins 45-50 seats. This figure, Congress leaders believe, will serve as the base for the party in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

Winning close to 50 seats, however, appears a difficult task at the moment. Several independent surveys and ground reports indicate the Congress is ahead in just about 25 seats, with the BJP and the BSP both vying to break the 150-seat barrier. The Samajwadi Party is a distant third and falling.

But Congress leaders see hope in the recent wave of defections from the BSP. They believe the Congress will gain more if voters start believing that Mayawatis party is not the clear front-runner, especially if Priyanka runs a strong and convincing campaign.

The party is eyeing Dalit voters too, especially the non-Jatavs, who have been gradually slipping from Mayawatis grasp. In 2014, the BSP lost 18 percent of its Jatav vote and 45 per cent other Dalit voters to the BJP. The Congress thinks some of them can return to the party because of Priyankas presence. But, since these voters flipped for the BJP in 2014, convincing them to support the Congress may remain a theoretical concept unless Priyanka pulls off a miracle.

There is no gainsaying though that the Congress will benefit from Priyankas presence. Her entry will energise party workers who have currently given up on Rahul and give them a reason to come out and seek votes for the party. Without her, the partys chances in the state are negligible.
Baghdad: Nearly 126 people were killed and 200 wounded in two bombings overnight in Baghdad, most of them in a busy shopping area as residents celebrated Ramzan, police and medical sources said on Sunday.

The attack on the shopping area of Karrada is the deadliest since US-backed Iraqi forces last month scored a major victory when it dislodged Islamic State from their stronghold of Falluja, an hour's drive west of the capital. It is also the deadliest so far this year.

Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi had ordered the offensive after a series of deadly bombings in Baghdad, saying Falluja served as a launchpad for such attacks on the capital. However, bombings have continued.

A convoy carrying Abadi who had come to tour the site of the bombings was pelted with stones and bottles by residents, angry at what they felt were false promises of better security.

A refrigerator truck packed with explosives blew up in the central district of Karrada, killing 115 people and injuring at least 200. Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement circulated online by supporters of the ultra-hard line Sunni group. It said the blast was a suicide bombing.

Karrada was busy at the time as Iraqis eat out and shop late during the Muslim fasting month of Ramzan, which ends next week with the Eid al-Fitr festival.

Videos posted on social media showed people running after the SUV convoy of Abadi as he departed Karrada after touring the scene, throwing pavement stones, bottles of water, empty buckets and slippers, venting their anger at the inability of the security forces to protect the area.

Another video posted on social media showed a large blaze in the main street of Karrada, a largely Shi'ite district with a small Christian community and a few Sunni mosques.

Reuters TV footage taken in the morning showed at least four buildings severely damaged or partly collapsed, including a shopping mall believed to be the target, and gutted cars scattered all around.

The toll climbed during the day as rescuers pulled out more bodies from under the rubble and people succumbed from their injuries.

Comments posted on social media accused security forces of continuing to use fake bomb detectors at checkpoints filtering traffic in Baghdad, five years after the scandal broke out about a device commonly known as the 'magic wand'.

A police officer in Baghdad confirmed these hand-held ADE 651 detectors were still in use. They were sold to Iraq and other nations by a British businessman who was jailed for 10 years in 2013 in the United Kingdom for endangering lives for profit.

Al Shaab attack

In a second attack, a roadside explosive device also blew up around midnight in a market in Al-Shaab, a Shi'ite district in the north of the capital, killing at least two people, police and medical sources said.

Iraqi forces on 26 June declared the defeat of Islamic State militants in Falluja, a historic bastion of Sunni insurgency, following a month of fighting.

Now the militants were "trying to compensate for their humiliating defeat in Falluja," said Jasim al-Bahadli, a former army officer and security analyst in Baghdad.

"It was a mistake for the government to think that the source of the bombings was restricted to just one area," he said. "There are sleeper cells that operate independently from each other."

Falluja was the first Iraqi city to fall to Islamic State in January 2014. Abadi said the next target of the Iraqi forces is Mosul, the de facto capital of the militants and the largest city under their control in both Iraq and Syria.
Eurosceptic MEP Nigel Farage, a major driving force behind Britain's vote to leave the European Union, on Monday stepped down as leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP).

"I have decided to stand aside as leader of UKIP," he said at a London press conference. "The victory for the Leave side in the referendum means that my political ambition has been achieved."

Nigel Farage has quit as party leader twice before, firstly in 2009 over party infighting and again in 2015 after failing to become an MP, but on both occasions decided to stay.

He insisted Monday that "I won't be changing my mind again, I promise you".

Nigel Farage, widely known as the architect of the Brexit campaign, said on Monday he will retain his seat in the European Parliament to see out the negotiations for Britain's exit from the EU following the country's 23 June vote.

The 52-year-old said that whoever succeeded David Cameron as prime minister should be a long-time Brexit campaigner and vowed to scrutinise negotiations over Britain's departure from the EU.

"I will watch the renegotiation process in Brussels like a hawk and perhaps comment in the European Parliament from time to time," he said. "Whilst we will now leave the European Union the terms of our withdrawal are unclear," Nigel Farage added.

"If there is too much backsliding by the government and with the Labour party detached from many of its voters, then UKIP's best days may be yet to come".

He also offered his services to "other independence movements springing up in other parts of the European Union," adding he was "certain that you haven't seen the last country that wants to leave the EU."

On 28 June, Nigel Farage told a jeering European Parliament that he had had the last laugh after Britain defied their warnings and voted to quit the EU.

He did not just earn the hatred of the EU members but was also rebuked by the chairman.

"What happened last Thursday was a remarkable result, it was indeed a seismic result, not just for British politics, for European politics but perhaps even for global politics too because what the little people did, what the ordinary people did, what the people who have been oppressed over the last few years and see their living standards go down  they rejected the multinationals, they rejected the merchant banks, they rejected big politics and they said, actually, we want our country back, we want our fishing waters back, we want our borders back, we want to be an independent self-governing, normal nation and that is what we have done and that is what must happen. And in doing so we now offer a beacon of hope to democrats across the rest of the European continent. Ill make one prediction this morning  the UK will not be the last member state to leave the EU," Farage said at European Parliament.

Britain's vote to become the first country to leave the EU is a shattering blow that threatens the survival of the post-war European project, officials and analysts said.

Meet the architect of Brexit, Nigel Farage.

With inputs from agencies
New Delhi: Contrary to reports appearing in the media, South Africa is actually quite supportive of India's bid for membership in the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), a senior official said on Monday ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to that country later this week.

They have been very supportive of India in the NSG, Amar Sinha, Secretary (Economic Relations) in the Ministry of External Affairs, said at a pre-departure media briefing here.

During the NSG plenary in Seoul last month, though China's name figured prominently for opposing India's membership bid, there were reports that some other countries like Austria, New Zealand and South Africa were also against the Indian bid.

Let me tell you before you ask me the question, that they (South Africa) have actually been quite supportive, Sinha said.

India formally applied for membership in the 48-member group on 12 May this year.
New Delhi: CPI on Monday condemned Baghdad and Dhaka terror attacks, saying the growth in fundamentalism world over was due to "wrong" policies of the governments which "put one section against another".

The Left party also claimed all terrorist outfits are "directly or indirectly" products of phobia created by the US.

"The growing fundamentalism of all kinds throughout the world is no doubt a result of the wrong policies of the governments which put one section against the other.

"It should also be remembered that all terrorist outfits are directly or indirectly products of terror phobia created by the US," the party said in a statement.

A suicide car bombing, claimed by Islamic State group, ripped through a busy Baghdad shopping district on Sunday, killing at least 200 people in the deadliest attack this year in Iraq's capital.

20 foreigners, including an Indian student, were brutally murdered by militants inside Holey Artisan Bakery in Dhaka's diplomatic zone, all possibly slaughtered on late Friday.

In the rescue operation, security personnel in that country killed six attackers, while one was captured alive on 2 July, ending Bangladesh's worst terror attack.
Melbourne: Australia's opposition Labor party leader Bill Shorten on Monday demanded Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's resignation, describing him as "the David Cameron of the southern hemisphere" who has made a "bad situation worse".

With the prospect of a hung parliament still looming, Shorten said that Turnbull should resign because he cannot command his own party and the Australian voters have concluded he is "out of touch".

"This is farcical. Turnbull clearly doesn't know what he is doing. Quite frankly I think he should quit," Shorten, 49, said.

He likened Turnbull to the outgoing British Prime Minister, Cameron, who found himself on the wrong side of the Brexit result.

"This guy is like David Cameron of the southern hemisphere," he said.

"He leads a divided party, he has had an election and he has delivered an inferior and unstable outcome."

"He has taken this nation to an election on the basis of stability. He has delivered instability.

"His own party know he is not up to the job, the Australian people know he is out of touch and he has given a Senate reform which involves two or three One Nation senators."

A confident Labor leader said he would work to deliver the stability Turnbull promised repeatedly at the election by reaching out collaboratively to the cross-benchers in the new parliament.

Shorten also said the prime minister had made a bad situation worse with Senate reforms.

Shorten's decision to up the ante against the prime minister comes as internal recriminations about the poor

election showing continue within the Coalition, and Senator Nick Xenophon is positioning himself as the new parliamentary kingmaker, signalling he is prepared to enter some form of minority government agreement with either Turnbull or Shorten.

Meanwhile, it is still not clear which party will form government after Saturday's vote.

Shorten upped the ante against 61-year-old Turnbull as the poor election showing continue within the Coalition, and Nick Xenophon is positioning himself as the new parliamentary kingmaker.

According to the latest update from Australian Electoral Commission, Labor had 71 seats while Turnbull-led

Liberal/National Coalition has 67. Counting will resume on Tuesday.
Dhaka: Seven members of an outlawed Bangladeshi Islamist group have been charged with the attempted murder of an Italian priest who was wounded in a shooting last year, police said on Monday.

The charges come as Bangladesh reels from the killing of 20 hostages  including nine Italians  over the weekend at an upmarket cafe in the capital Dhaka.

The priest Piero Parolari, who is also a doctor, was shot by unidentified gunmen in the northern Dinajpur district last November.

The Islamic State group said it was responsible for the attack  a claim promptly rejected by the government and

police.

Police later arrested four suspected members of the Jamayetul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), with two allegedly confessing their roles in the attack.

Police on Sunday pressed charges against seven JMB followers for the attack, recommending that they be given death sentences if found guilty.

Three of those charged remain on the run, including a student at a private university whose father is a Bangladeshi-origin Canadian citizen.

"All seven who are charged are JMB members. Two of them told a court as to how they planned the attack and who have supplied them weapons," Inspector Bazlur Rahman, who is leading the investigation, told AFP.

The government and police say homegrown extremists are responsible for the deaths of some 80 secular activists, foreigners and religious minorities killed over the last three years.

Police have also blamed the JMB for the killings during the siege in the heart of Dhaka's diplomatic zone which came to an end on Saturday morning.

They say the deaths are part of a plot to destabilise the country, and have blamed the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and its Islamist ally.

Last month Dhaka launched a nationwide crackdown on local jihadist groups, arresting more than 11,000 people, under pressure to act on the spate of killings.

But many rights groups allege the arrests were arbitrary or were a way to silence political opponents of the government.
Dhaka: Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Monday paid her homage to the victims of the Dhaka cafe attack victims during a memorial service at the Army Stadium in the city.

On the second day of the national mourning over the incident, Hasina placed a wreath on the casket of the victims, the Daily Star reported.

Twenty hostages, including nine Italians, seven Japanese, one US citizen and an Indian were killed when Islamist militants stormed the Holey Artisan cafe in the Gulshan area.

Two police officers were died and 30 others injured. After a 12-hour siege commandos rescued 13 people. Six attackers were killed in the raid. A seventh man was arrested and is still being questioned.

The Islamic State (IS) group said it was behind the attack.

Afterwards, it was opened to the relatives and general public for paying their tributes.

Through the process, the bodies were being handed over to the relatives.

The caskets were placed in a raised platform which bored the flags of India, Italy, Bangladesh, Japan and the US  commemorating the nationalities of the foreigners killed.

Braving a drizzle that was on since last night, relatives and friends of the victims and people from all walks of life poured in to pay their last tribute at scene.

Ambulances were kept stationed nearby to carry the caskets.
Hong Kong: As an international tribunal prepares to rule on Beijing's territorial claims in the South China Sea, officials in Washington, Tokyo and Southeast Asia are on tenterhooks.

Yet, in the words of one senior Chinese official, Beijing does not care.

On 12 July, the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague will rule on a case brought by the Philippines against China over its territorial claims and actions across the disputed waters and vital global trade route.

Beijing claims some 90 percent of the South China Sea, and the Philippines is challenging it under a United Nations maritime convention.

"We do not know, we don't care, in fact, when this arbitration decision will be made, because no matter what kind of decision this tribunal is going to make, we think it is totally wrong," China's ambassador to the UK, Liu Xiaoming, told Reuters at a recent lunch in London.

"It has no impact on China, on China's sovereignty over these reefs, over the islands. And it will set a serious, wrong and bad example. We will not fight this case in court, but we will certainly fight for our sovereignty."

Beijing's plans to ignore the ruling would represent both a rejection of the international legal order and a direct challenge to the United States, which believes China is developing islands and reefs for military, as well as civilian purposes in a threat to stability.

It would also significantly raise the stakes over dispute, according to lawyers, diplomats and security experts.

How Washington handles the aftermath of the ruling is widely seen as a test of its credibility in a region where it has been the dominant security presence since World War Two against an increasingly assertive China.

China in turn sees this as a matter of defending its territorial and political sovereignty against the United States.

Other nations laying claim to disputed areas of the South China sea felt emboldened to challenge China because they felt they had the United States on their side, Liu said.

"They probably believe that they have America (behind them) and they can get a better deal with China. So I'm very suspicious of America's motives."

So while Beijing scoffs at the imminent decision, it is also making an international PR effort to get its view heard.

Beijing has organised meetings with diplomats and journalists and has expressed its views in a slew of editorials and academic papers around the world.

"Manila has no leg to stand on," said one report in the China Daily's inaugural New Zealand edition.

Asian and Western diplomats said their Chinese peers were raising the issue constantly, and at all levels.

"It's relentless. We haven't seen anything like this in years," said one Asian-based Western envoy.

China says more than 40 countries back its position that such territorial disputes should be handled through bilateral discussions not international arbitration, although only a handful of countries have publicly voiced their support.

Both Chinese and Western analysts say the ruling is not just about the territorial claims in the South China sea, but speaks to broader Sino-U.S. tensions over China's rise.

"This is about exposing Washington's declining primacy," said Zhang Baohui, a mainland security expert at Hong Kong's Lingnan University. "China gains reputational power by showing the U.S. that it can't dictate Chinese actions."

Arguing the case

The law under which the Philippines has made its claim is the UN's Convention on the Law of the Sea, known as UNCLOS, which outlines what can be claimed from different geographic features such as islands and reefs. China is a signatory of the convention, one of the first international agreements it helped negotiate after joining the UN.

But Beijing says the issue is beyond the remit of UNCLOS and The Hague court because China has undisputable, historic rights and sovereignty over much of the South China Sea.

China's claims are expressed on its maps as the so-called nine dash line, an ill-defined U-shaped demarcation drawn up after the defeat of Japan in World War II.

Manila's case is based around 15 points that challenge the legality of China's claims and its recent reclamations on seven disputed reefs in the fishing and energy rich region.

Its also seeking support for the Philippines' right to exploit is 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

Sources close to Manila's legal team said they are confident of favourable rulings on enough points to create significant pressure on China's future moves in the waterway.

Many of Manila's arguments in court last November were couched in arcane legal terms, but to drive home the point about the scale of China's on-going building works, lawyers used a slide show.

Amsterdam's sprawling Schiphol airport was shown fitting neatly into China's new runways on Subi Reef.

"We knew the judges had all used Schiphol," said one source close to Manila's case. "We think they got the point."

United response?

Ahead of the vote, the UK, Australia and Japan are among countries that have joined Washington in stressing the importance of freedom of navigation and respect for the rule of law.

U.S. officials have also been pressing Southeast Asian nations to forge a united front on the issue, with limited success so far.

Vietnam, which has made a submission to the panel not ruled out taking its own legal action, on Friday called for a "fair and objective" ruling from the tribunal.

The G7 and EU groupings have stated that ruling must be binding, despite China's objections, while Vietnam gave a submission to the court supporting its jurisdiction.

Legal experts say that while the ruling is technically binding, no body exists to enforce UNCLOS rulings.

Concerns are growing among regional military and government officials that, regardless of the ruling, Beijing could launch fresh military action and re-building efforts to buttress its claims.

China may deploy fighter jets or missiles to its new facilities on the Spratlys, create an air exclusion zone or starting fresh reclamation work on shoals occupied within the Philippines, U.S. and regional military officials say.

Beijing says the reefs are Chinese territory and it is entitled to station "self-defence" equipment on its holdings as it sees fit to counter U.S. provocation.

In Washington, concern is particularly acute over whether China attempts to make permanent its sea-borne presence near the Scarborough Shoal, near the Philippines, by building on the reef.

Liu outlined various civilian developments completed and underway in the South China Sea. He said there were also military facilities being built, adding:

"I was asked why China is also building military facilities. You should ask the Americans. They made us feel threatened. It's not we (who) are threatening the Americans. They are so close to us."

The United States has been increasing its own military presence in the region where Malaysian, Vietnam, Brunei and Taiwan also have claims. France has also proposed to European countries that they take part in joint South China Sea patrols.

U.S. responses could include accelerated freedom-of-navigation patrols by U.S. warships and overflights by U.S. aircraft as well as increased defence aid to Southeast Asian countries, according to U.S. officials speaking on the condition of anonymity.

Liu said Beijing wanted to resolve the disputes through bilateral negotiations.

"We are not going to war with these countries, we do not want to have a fight with them," he said. "But we still claim our sovereignty over these islands."
A suicide bomber blew himself up outside a Shiite mosque in eastern Saudi Arabia, while another blast occurred outside one of Islam's holiest sites, the Prophet's Mosque in Medina, a Saudi-owned television channel reported.

At least two people have been killed, according to reports.

Al-Arabiya news channel showed images of fire raging in a parking lot with at least one body nearby.

"Suicide bomber for sure. I can see the body torn apart," said a witness to the attack in the Shiite-populated city of Qatif.

Nasima al-Sada, another resident, told AFP that "one bomber blew himself up near the mosque", frequented by Shiites in downtown Qatif on the Gulf coast.

Pictures said to be from the scene circulated by residents showed a small fire burning in the street, severed limbs and what appeared to be a severed head.

The blast, near the end of the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan, was the second suicide bombing on Monday in the predominantly Sunni kingdom.

Another bomber blew himself up earlier the same day near the US consulate in the Red Sea city of Jeddah, injuring two security officers.

Since late 2014 a series of bombings and shootings claimed by the Islamic State jihadist group in Saudi Arabia have targeted minority Shiites as well as members of the security forces.

Most of the attacks have been staged in Eastern Province, home to the majority of Shiites in the Gulf state.

In January, a suicide bomber attacked a mosque in the oasis region of Al-Ahsa, killing four people before worshippers disarmed and tied up an accomplice who had fired on them.

Last October in the Qatif area, a gunman fired on faithful marking the Shiite commemoration of Ashura in the Qatif area, killing five before police shot him dead.

Ashura is one of the holiest occasions for the Shiite faith.

In June last year, four Shiites died preventing a suicide bomber from entering the hall of Al-Anoud mosque in Dammam city adjacent to Qatif.

Days earlier, 21 people were killed in another Shiite mosque bombing in Eastern Province.

Groups claiming affiliation with IS said they carried out those blasts and the Ashura shooting.

During Ashura in 2014, gunmen killed seven Shiite worshippers, including children, in the eastern town of Al-Dalwa.

The interior ministry said the suspects had links to IS, which regards Shiites as heretics.

(With inputs from AFP)
Beijing: India must figure out how to earn international trust to get into the NSG instead of defaming China for its failure to do so, a Chinese daily said on Monday.

"India needs to perceive China objectively," the Global Times said in an editorial, commenting on how many in the Indian media were blaming Beijing for keeping India from the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG).

"The Indian public seems to be having a hard time accepting the outcome of the Seoul plenary meeting of the NSG late last month," it said.

"The country seems to be still stuck in the shadow of the war with China in the 1960s and many still hold on to the obsolete geopolitical view that China does not want to see India rise.

"However, New Delhi may have misunderstood Beijing, which can make a big difference in its strategic decisions," said the daily, which reflects the thinking of the Chinese leadership.

China, it said, no longer viewed India simply from a political perspective but far more from an economic one.

"Only by seeking common development between China and India can the two build a new international order and form an Asian century," it said, adding India's rapid economic development can actually help improve its relations with China.

"Chinese citizens may not realize the full potential of India, but in general they are attaching far more importance to the neighbouring country than ever before."

The Global Times said any country wanting to join the NSG would have to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) "but India is not a party to the NPT.

"The only exception is if India can obtain consent from all 48 NSG members, but several countries apart from China hold reservations in this regard.

"India had better put more efforts into figuring out how to obtain international trust rather than misinterpreting and defaming China," the editorial said.
On the eve of 4 July, American Independence Day, Brexit has been a blow to comfortable western certainties: a significant trope of the post-Second World War Bretton Woods agreement and the related Washington consensus has been damaged. This is the dictum that democracy and free and fair elections are self-evident universal goods, and that the western practice of these is the best, if not only, method. Now, not only are some people questioning direct democracy, but the very concept of democracy.

What is risible is that the biggest critics are liberal progressives.

There has long been a school of thought that referenda may not be the right answer for complicated questions. This conjecture has also been the basis of suspicions that Californias culture of Propositions, ie initiatives that are put on the ballot, may well have made the state a difficult place to do business, and prone to relying on short-term tactical solutions to long-term strategic problems.

One example is 1978s Proposition 2 , which limited property taxes to one percent of the assessed value. This popular (among homeowners, who tend to vote as opposed to renters, who tend not to vote) proposition has been blamed for astronomical housing costs in California (San Francisco and Los Angeles are among the most expensive in the country) and also for a sharp reduction in public funds available for libraries, police forces, schools and so forth. And California has some of the highest income taxes in the country, thus driving business away to more industry-friendly states.

There are other examples. For instance, the direct elections of heads of state in many nations have not necessarily produced the best candidates. Even in America, which enshrines its direct election of a president as some kind of 'Manifest Destiny and Motherhood and Apple Pie', it is hard to say that the best leaders have consistently emerged from the fray (of course, the indirect parliamentary system is equally capable of failure, and I shall discreetly refrain from naming names).

Of course, that is jarring for those brought up to believe that democracy is the best system, with the obvious corollary that more democracy must therefore be even better. Maybe there are diminishing returns for democracy. There is, for instance, an old legend from the Buddhas times about Magadha and Vaishali: The latter kingdom, being excessively democratic, was unable to stand up to the more top-down Magadha, and thus suffered a devastating military defeat.

Several people have in fact made a similar argument forcefully.

One, a Harvard University professor, Kenneth Rogoff, despaired at Britains failure

The Guardians David van Reybrouck went so far as to declare that elections are bad for democracy

Marc Taibbi in Rolling Stone pointedly commented on the fact that it is the very supercilious sniffiness of such people that has led to the sentiments behind Brexit

Thus, the Brexit vote is a watershed, almost as big as the fall of the Berlin Wall. There was the smug quip some years ago from Winston Churchill to the effect that democracy is the very worst system of government, with the exception of every other system. That old racist, safe in the certainties of the early 20th Century, was doubtless of the opinion that democracy was invented by the Greeks, and that the British were their lineal descendant. But there is reason to believe that government of the people, by the people, and of the people was well-known and practised in India.

On the one hand, there are the Uttiramerur inscriptions from Tamil Nadu; on the other hand there were independent republics in Northern India as well, as described by Steve Muhlberger of Nipissing University in Canada.

Thus, the western vanity that they alone discovered democracy is demonstrably false. But more interesting is the antipathy of self-declared progressive westerners towards democracy as soon as it produced a result that they didnt like. Let us remember that the entire point of the Arab Spring had been that it would produce genuine democracies by overthrowing dictators. But oddly enough, not a single Arab monarch was ever in trouble, as the West has had no qualms about being chummy with them.

In particular, it is remarkable that liberals everywhere are quite happy with authoritarian regimes abroad. Note how Democrats in the US have always been friendly with Pakistan: Hillary Clinton, Robin Raphel et al are just the latest. Self-proclaimed liberals, despite their loud protestations, like the guys in uniform, and dont like messy democracies. They believe someone has to guide democracies, and who better than themselves? Some 240 years ago, a bunch of Americans decided they had had enough of being told to do by a king, but their descendants, in turn, now tell others what to do.
The Bangladesh government attributes the deadly Sunday attack at Holey Artisan Bakery in Dhaka to Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh. However, according to monitoring group SITE, the Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the hostage siege at the cafe.

Sheikh Hasinas government insists that neither the Islamic State nor Al-Qaeda has yet gained a foothold in Bangladesh.

Let me make it clear again, there are no IS or Al-Qaeda presence or existence in Bangladeshthe hostage takers were all home-grown terrorists, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan said.

He further added, We know them (hostage-takers) along with their ancestors, they all grew here in Bangladesh... they belong to homegrown outfits like JMB (Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh).

Unlike the IS or Al-Qaeda, the JMB is an infrequently-covered terrorist organisation. For the past three years, writers, bloggers, gay rights activists have been killed in Bangladesh by dubious men. In April 2016, a secular blogger Nazimuddin Samad was murdered by machete-wielding attackers in Bangladesh, according to The Diplomat.

The New York Times quoted the chief of Bangladeshs police counter terrorism unit Monirul Islam as saying that JMB and Ansar al-Islam are two groups that fight against secularism. JMB is the reorganised offshoot of an organisation which was banned in 2005 for setting off about 500 bombs simultaneously all around Bangladesh.

According to South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP), JMB was formed in 1998 in the Jamalpur district by Shaikh Abdur Rahman and it was noticed in 2002 with the arrest of eight Islamist militants in the Dinajpur district.

In 2003, the JMB reportedly carried out seven bomb explosions in Dinajpur. In 2005, it coordinated almost simultaneous bombings all over the country and was banned on 23 February, 2005.

Through leaflets left at the site of explosions, the JMB said Were the soldiers of Allah. We have taken up arms for the implementation of Allah's law the way Prophet, Sahabis and heroic Mujahideen have done for centuries It is time to implement Islamic law in Bangladesh. There is no future with man-made law.

Evidently, the JMBs ideology is to replace the government of Bangladesh with a one based on Sharia law.

The Terrorism Research and Analysis Consortium (TRAC) says that the JMB opposes the political system of Bangladesh and seeks to build a society based on the Islamic model laid out in Holy Quran-Hadith. It is opposed to democracy and socialism, much like the Islamic State.

According to Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies, JMB has already terrorised people in western and south-western Bangladesh. Its main targets are members of the judiciary, public figures, intellectuals, minority groups, liberals and activists.

Interestingly, a CNN report suggests that JMB pledges its allegience to IS. However, no substantial proof of the same has been found yet. Global Security on the other hand, suspects it to be the youth wing of Al-Mujahideen or to be linked to Jagrata Muslim Janata Bangladesh.

According to SATP, the terrorist outfit is also opposed to cinema halls, shrines and NGOs. It aims is also to end practices that brought women out of their houses.

The New York Times reported that the terrorist group has trained about 100 madrassa students as killers and organises them in groups of four or five.

Since 2007, Maulana Saidur Rahman has reportedly been heading the JMB spiritually. It was suspected to be led by a triumvirate prior to 2007. Bangla Bhai functioned as second in command. However, both Rahman and Bangla Bhai were arrested on 26 may, 2010 and is undergoing a trial for the 2005 blasts.

Since 2005, the JMB has launched a series of suicide attacks on courthouses, killing a number of people, reported Global Security.

In 2007, the Bangladesh government executed six leaders of the group for killing two judges and conspiring the 2005 blasts. The group also has a seven member Mujlish-e-Shura, which managed the operational activities. Its network is spread all over Bangladesh.

The JMB is funded from individual donors from countries like Kuwait and Saudi Arabia or from some NGOs. According to Global Security, security forces recovered large amount of arms and ammunition from a madrasa run by an UK based charity organisation Green Crescent that is suspected to have links with JMB.

The JMB leaders have reportedly invested in a large number of shrimp farms and cold storages in south-western Bangladesh.

It also trains its cadres in making bombs and targeting foreigners. According to an official of the National Investigating Agency, the organisation was planning to topple the Bangladesh government in 2015 by establishing a network in India.

The terror attack in Dhaka on Sunday is also being linked to Pakistans ISI. Hossain Toufique Imam, the political advisor to Sheikh Hasina told NDTV that "Pakstan's ISI and Jamaat connection is well known... they want to derail the current government.

JMB is also reportedly spreading its base in West Bengal, Jharkhand and Assam.

These bases are being used for organising radicalisation programmes and funding collection drives.
Dhaka: The Islamists, who carried out Bangladesh's worst terror attack at a cafe in Dhaka, had slaughtered all the 20 hostages within 20 minutes of the brazen assault, a top police official said on Monday.

Inspector General of Police (IGP) AKM Shahidul Haque also rejected allegations by the media that police delayed the rescue operation.

"Many media are reporting that we had delayed the rescue mission but we did not. We completed the mission within 12 hours while countries like Kenya took four days to fight similar incident at one of their shopping malls."

"The gunmen had killed the hostages within 20 minutes of the attack," he said.

Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the killing of the 20 hostages and two police officers during the 12-hour siege that ended after the army stormed the Holey Artisan Bakery popular with expats in the diplomatic zone in Dhaka, killing six attackers and capturing one alive.

Hostages who were killed include 19-year-old Indian girl Tarishi Jain. Nine Italians, 7 Japanese, one American of Bangladeshi origin, and two Bangladeshis were also among the people who were killed.
Dhaka: Two of the five young militants who slaughtered 20 innocent people at the Holey Artisan Bakery in the Bangladeshi capital used to follow three controversial Islamists  Anjem Choudary, Shami Witness and Zakir Naik.

Nibras Islam, 22, used to follow two alleged suspected recruiters of Islamic State  Anjem Choudary and Shami Witness  on Twitter in 2014, reported The Daily Star.

Another young militant Rohan Imtiaz, son of an Awami League leader, propagated on Facebook last year quoting Peace TV's controversial preacher Zakir Naik "urging all Muslims to be terrorists".

A Pakistan-origin British citizen, 49-year-old Anjem is now facing trial in England for breaking the British anti-terrorism law.

Shami Witness is the Twitter name of 24-year-old Mehdi Masroor Biswas of Bengaluru in India, who is also facing trial for running propaganda for the Islamic State.

Biswas was arrested in December 2014 following an investigation into his Twitter account which was last active in August 2014.

Anjem's Twitter account became inactive from August 2015 after terror charges were brought against him.

Naik, a controversial preacher from India, is banned in the UK, Canada and Malaysia. He is widely popular in Bangladesh through his Peace TV, although his preaching often demeans other religions including other Muslim sects.

The Daily Star said this indicates that Nibras and Rohan did not become radicalised overnight. They have been consuming radical materials for one to two years before finally disappearing in February-March and reappearing as "killers" on Friday night's carnage at the Holey Artisan Bakery.

From their pictures posted by the Islamic State media and recirculated by the Search for International Terrorist Entities (SITE) Intelligence Group, it can be assumed that these young men received arms training after their disappearance, specifically to carry out the killing mission on 1 July, reported Daily Star.

Their attire with Islamic State logo in the backdrop, the automatic rifles held in their hands, reveal they underwent an organised training which is far from anything amateurish.

The killers released some of the hostages 15 minutes before the army-led operation codenamed 'Operation Thundebolt' on Saturday morning also showed the depth of their indoctrination  that they were ready to die.

The killers had uploaded grisly pictures of their horrendous deeds at the Holey Artisan Bakery by midnight Friday  which was re-uploaded by the Islamic State media.

These pictures widely circulated on the internet also reveal the mind set of the killers. All the women victims were blurred in the pictures. Militants say it is a sin to show pictures of women, who they do not mind killing or raping.
Dhaka: Two persons were arrested on Monday in connection with Bangladesh's worst terror attack at a cafe in Dhaka in which 22 people, mostly foreigners, were brutally killed by suspected Islamic State militants, as authorities stepped up probe into the international links of the hostage-takers.

Inspector General of Police (IGP) AKM Shahidul Haque, however, did not disclose the identities of either of the detainees or where they were being kept.

He said they were both physically unwell and will be quizzed after their condition improves.

"One of them is in hospital, the other is in custody," he said.

Earlier, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and the Bangladesh Army said one terrorist was captured alive from the site of the attack. However, the identity of the suspect was not disclosed.

"They (the attackers) may have some contact with international terrorist groups," he said.

Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the killing of the 20 hostages and two police officers during the 12-hour siege that ended after the army stormed the Holey Artisan Bakery popular with expats in the diplomatic zone here, killing six attackers and capturing one alive.

Hostages who were killed include 19-year-old Indian girl Tarishi Jain. Nine Italians, 7 Japanese, one American of Bangladeshi origin, and two Bangladeshis were also among the people who were killed.

"You have seen the pictures of the slain militants supplied to the media, we have found out the background of four of them," a senior police officer, familiar with the investigation, told PTI, preferring anonymity.

The official added that all the attackers were in their 20s. Four of them came from wealthy families and studied at elite schools and universities in Dhaka and abroad.

One of the slain assaulters was studying in a Malaysian university while his family said they had no idea that he returned home and took part in the attack.

He said the fifth youth who hailed from a village in northwestern Bogra and studied in a madrassa there led the attackers during the Friday night's massacre.

"This Khairul (of Bogra) was wanted by police for the past seven months for three deadly militant attacks in northwestern region...We understand it is him who led the Holey Artisan restaurant attack on that night," the official said.

According to mass circulation Prothom Alo Khairul was missing for the past several months. Bogra police had detained his parents for questioning.

One of slain attackers, private BRAC university student Rohan Imtiaz, was the son of a leader of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's ruling Awami League while his mother was a teacher Dhaka's posh Scholastica School.

The family reported him missing in December last year.

Of the five pictures of five bodies provided by police, four appeared to be the ones seen in the photos published by SITE in which the youths were seen smiling in front of a Islamic State black flag.
Faraaz Hossain has become a pseudonym for courage and character. The 20-year-old student who was killed by terrorists in Dhaka after he refused to leave without his friends is a hero; he is the stuff of legends.

On the surface, his decision to stay and die might strike some as foolish. After all, he was an outstanding business student at Emory College near Atlanta in the US, assured of a lucrative career and a social status. As Faraaz Hossains elder brother, Zaraif told an interviewer (The Times of India), he was "destined for greatness". All he had to do was walk away when the terrorists decided to let him go for being a Bengali and a Muslim, who could recite from the Quran.

That was the easy option, but that is not what heroes do. To embrace death while making a stand for what is right is what matters in the frame of eternity. It is why names such as Faraaz Hossain (the grandson of the Prophet, for whom Faraaz was named) and Spartacus live on for centuries as icons across the globe.

It is the sort of courage that Mahatma Gandhi showed when he walked across Calcutta and Noakhali to stop the rampaging and murderous communal mobs in 1947. Years of introspection, spiritual cleansing and a struggle for an all-embracing freedom had prepared Gandhi for that act of great personal courage. Nothing in Faraaz Hossains privileged young life is likely to have similarly prepared him.

It is in unexpected moments of great challenge that ones character is truly tested, though. And in that instant when Faraaz refused to leave with the grant of his life by murderous terrorists, he turned into an immortal hero  the kind about whom poems, dramatic works and epics are written, and whose legends are passed on to wide-eyed children.

Through his simple refusal to walk away, Faraaz Hossain turned on its head the narrative the terrorists might have wanted about their slaughter at the up-market Holey Artisan Bakery in Dhakas diplomatic enclave. From a horrifying tale of mayhem, Faraazs sacrifice turned it into a story of heroic courage in the face of evil. He transcended evil through self-sacrifice, echoing the example of many of the prophets and saints of the Abrahamic tradition.

Even as investigators are still piecing together what happened, a bakery worker is reported to have told a television channel that when he noticed a man had just slipped into the gate with weapons, he ran to the back shouting. Then he, along with many of his co-workers and others ran out the back way. Many of those who stayed put in the restaurant perhaps could not follow what that worker was shouting. However, it would seem likely that, being Bengali, Faraaz Hossain would have followed what the man was yelling. It is a measure of his character that he stayed with his friends instead of scampering off.

One of those friends was Abinta Kabir, who hailed from the US. The other was Tarishi Jain, an Indian student at Berkeley. Tarishi made a heart-wrenching telephone call to her father describing the terror and panic that night. It is possible that one of Faraaz Hossains motives in not leaving his women friends when the terrorists allowed him to go was that he felt responsible as a host of these visitors to Bangladesh. If so, he upheld the highest traditions of hospitality for which the subcontinent and some other parts of the world (including Bedouins) take pride.

It will be extremely tough for Faraaz Hossains family, relatives and friends to cope up with this tragic loss of a bright young life that was not quite yet in its prime. When grief does subside, however, they can take great pride in having been associated with an iconic hero of our troubled times. His name will surely be written in gold wherever civilisation and what we call humanity survives and thrives.
Berlin: A 25-year-old Muslim lawyer in Germany has won the right to wear a headscarf at work after a court ruled that there was no legal basis for the state of Bavaria to prevent her from doing so.

Aqilah Sandhu, a star student at Augsburg University law faculty, began a traineeship with the Bavarian judicial system after completing her state law exams, but was told in a letter that she was not allowed to interrogate witnesses or appear in courtrooms while wearing her headscarf.

The battle started after Sandhu successfully completed her state exams and started a traineeship with the Bavarian judicial system.

In July 2014, the highest court in the state sent her a letter informing her that she was forbidden from interrogating witnesses or fulfilling other legal duties as long as she continued to wear a headscarf, the Local reported.

"As soon as I saw the letter I knew it was unlawful," she told the court on Thursday.

She immediately asked for an explanation of the ban, to which she was told "(religious) clothing and symbols can impair the trust in the religious neutrality of the administration of justice."

But the state of Bavaria has no law forbidding legal trainees from wearing religious symbols, so Sandhu took the Bavarian legal system to court.

"I felt very strongly discriminated against. I felt neglected in my training," Sandhu was quoted as saying.

She described how she was excluded from certain activities of the traineeship because of her headscarf.

On one occasion the judge who was training her would only allow her to see pictures that were part of a court process after the process was over, as otherwise she would have had to step up to the judges' desk  an area she was forbidden from entering.

"I believe in the principle of merit here in Germany and I think it is a shame that I am being reduced to my outward appearance," Sandhu said.

Judge Bernhard Rothinger decided that the young lawyer was in the right, agreeing that there was no legal basis for the state's attack on her religious freedom.

Sandhu is now seeking compensation of 2,000 euors, Bild reported.

But the Bavarian state has rejected the court's decision and says it will appeal.

"I don't want legal apprentices sitting in court or carrying out other high duties of the state wearing headscarves," said Bavarian justice minister Winfried Bausback.

Last year the Constitutional Court ruled against blanket bans on teachers wearing headscarves  in force in half of Germany's 16 states  saying that they were "constitutionally limiting".
Thimphu: India and Bhutan have discussed ways to improve security along the international border and the possibility of opening a road, linking Arunachal Pradesh's Tawang with Assam via the Himalayan country.

Better security coordination along the Indo-Bhutan border, more trade between Bhutan and Indian states like Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and West Bengal, cultural exchange and a host of other issues were discussed by Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju with the top Bhutanese leadership, including Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay, during his two-day visit that ended yesterday.

During the meeting, the Bhutanese Prime Minister is believed to have cited various concerns of the people of Bhutan because of which the country is not yet ready for proposal like joint security along the border, sources said.

Bhutan has in the past cooperated with India and helped to flush out militant groups like United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) and National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) from the Himalayan nation.

Besides, there were several incidents in the past along the border in which Bhutanese nationals were attacked by NDFB militants.

"Honourable Prime Minister of Bhutan is known for his humility and vision. I am touched by his acknowledgement of my useful meeting with him. He has clear commitments for India and useful relation with neighbouring Northeastern India," Rijiju said.

Besides issues of cultural exchange, more trade with Arunachal Pradesh, Assam and West Bengal, better security coordination, Rijiju discussed with Bhutanese leaders how to improve relations in spiritual and religious fields.

"I raised the issue of road link of strategic Tawang with Assam via eastern Bhutan," he said.

Rijiju said he had "fruitful meetings" with Bhutan's Foreign Minister, Home Minister, Army Chief of Bhutan and discussed various issues with them.

During his meeting with Bhutanese Army Chief Batoo Tshering, the Minister discussed providing security at the Indo-Bhutan border and to the citizens.

"India-Bhutan friendship is unique which has direct bearing on Northeast India. It was a fantastic visit," Rijiju said.

Indo-Bhutan friendship is fantastic due to our shared cultural and spiritual heritage and common political interest, he said.

The Bhutanese prime minister said in a tweet that he had enjoyed hosting Rijiju in the country.

"Enjoyed discussing a range of issues with Kiren Rijiju, India's MOS of Home Affairs, this afternoon," Tobgay tweeted.
Beijing: A Chinese daily on Monday claimed that former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had "expressed support" for China's ambitious Maritime Silk Road plan but his successor Narendra Modi "changed" India's "attitude" towards the initiative by using delaying tactics.

"Indian strategists and the government believe there is some geostrategic design behind the 'Belt and Road' (Silk Road) initiative. Now, India has adopted opposing, delaying and hedging measures toward different parts of the initiative," an article published in the state-run Global Times said.

"When China initiated the MSR in 2013, then Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his national security advisor Shivshankar Menon expressed support and interest. But current Prime Minister Narendra Modi changed India's attitude toward MSR after he came into power," the article written by Liu Zongyi, a fellow of state-run Shanghai Institutes for International Studies said.

India, from the beginning has reservations over the strategic impact of the MSR on the Indian Ocean. Observers pointed out that India first sought details of the project since its outline was unveiled in 2014, it said.

"The final blueprint of the MSR which was part of the mega Belt and Road project was released by Chinese President Xi Jinping only in March last year during Boao Forum for Asia by which time Modi government was firmly in saddle," it said.

Vice President Hamid Ansari during his visit to Beijing in June said New Delhi had sought more details about the MSR.

China's Silk Road plan the name of which was subsequently changed to "Belt and Road" project moots a maze of roads and corridors connecting China with Asia and Europe.

Besides the MSR and BCIM, the plan includes China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), rail and road connectivity with Central Asia and Europe.

India has already conveyed its objection to CPEC as it goes through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, during her visit to Beijing last year, said India will not give a blanket endorsement to the MSR project but support where the synergies of the two countries meet.

While criticising India's approach to MSR, today's article in the Global Times also said China should increase maritime cooperation with India to dispel misgivings.

"China should improve connections and cooperation with the Indian Ocean Rim Association and other regional cooperation organisations in the Indian Ocean. At the same time, China should improve maritime cooperation with India," it said.
Beijing: Criticising the strong reactions from India over China blocking its bid to enter NSG, a state-run daily on Monday said India is "still stuck" in the 1962 war mindset as it called for a more objective evaluation of Beijing's stand.

"The Indian public seems to be having a hard time accepting the outcome of the Seoul plenary meeting of Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) late last month after India failed to gain entry into NSG," an oped-page article in Global Times said.

"Many Indian media (outlets) put the blame on China alone, accusing China's anti-India and pro-Pakistan motives behind its opposition. Some activists even took to the streets in protest against China and Chinese products and some observers said the incident would freeze the China-India relationship," the article titled 'China, India should drop obsolete view for cooperation' said.

The article asserted that "India's precautions" against China cannot be clearer.

The country seems to be "still stuck" in the shadow of the war with China in the 1960s and many still hold on to the "obsolete geopolitical view" that China does not want to see India's rise, it said.

"However, New Delhi may have misunderstood Beijing, which can make a big difference in its strategic decisions. In fact, China no longer looks at India simply from a political perspective, but far more from an economic one," the article said.

As New Delhi pushed its case to join the NSG last month, the Global Times, part of ruling Communist Party of China (CPC) publications, carried a number of articles including a hard hitting editorial claiming that China's stand is "morally legitimate" and the West has "spoiled" India.

Continuing to justify China's stand to block New Delhi's bid, Monday's article harped on the often repeated argument of signing the NPT being a must for India to join the NSG and that consensus is required for entry of new members.

"India needs to perceive China objectively. Joining the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) is a must for any country seeking NSG membership, but India is not a party to the NPT," the article said.

"The only exception is if India can obtain consent from all 48-NSG members, but several countries apart from China hold reservations in this regard. India better put more efforts into figuring out how to obtain international trust rather than misinterpreting and defaming China," it said.

Quoting Political scientist Zheng Yongnian who stated that that, "China's bilateral relationship with India is second only to the Sino-US relationship," it said ties with China are of great significance to India as well.

"The best option is for China and India to work together to boost their economic and trade ties. Only by seeking common development between China and India can the two build a new international order and form an Asian century," it said.
Dhaka: Seven militants who killed 20 people at a Dhaka restaurant made no demands and a person taken alive by police was only a suspect admitted in hospital, Bangladesh's home minister said on Sunday, rejecting Islamic State's claims of responsibility.

The gunmen stormed the upmarket restaurant in the diplomatic zone late on Friday and killed their mostly non-Muslim hostages, including nine Italians, seven Japanese and a citizen each from the United States and India.

Three of the six gunmen killed were under 22 years of age and had been missing for six months, Asaduzzaman Khan told Reuters in an interview at his Dhaka home.

Police and government officials have said the attackers were from well-off Bangladeshi families, a rarity and an indication that religious radicalisation was widening its scope.

Claiming responsibility, Islamic State warned citizens of "crusader countries" - that is, traditionally Christian western states - in a statement that they would not be safe "as long as their aircraft are killing Muslims".

It also posted pictures of five grinning fighters in front of a black flag who it said were involved in the attack, according to the SITE monitoring website.

But Khan said Islamic State was not involved, reiterating the government's position that home-grown militants were responsible for a spate of killings in the country over the past 18 months, including the latest one.

Asked about the photos, the minister pointed to a wall behind him and said: "If I fix a poster of IS here and stand with a machine gun, will it establish that IS is here?"

The minister has blamed Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh, which claims to represent Islamic State in Bangladesh but has no proven links to it.

Security experts believe the suspect, who was hospitalised with serious injuries, would be crucial to the investigation into the attack. Khan said it was not clear if he was involved.

Islamic State also claimed responsibility for two bombings overnight in Baghdad that killed nearly 120 people and wounded 200, most of them in a busy shopping area while residents celebrated the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.

Reacting to the two attacks over the past three days, Pope Francis asked people attending noon prayer at the Vatican in Rome to pray for the victims and their families.

Late on Sunday in Bangladesh, hundreds of men, women and children held a candle light vigil near Dhakas Shaheed Minar (Martyr's Monument) to pay respect to those who lost their lives.

"We don't want this," Nasima, a textile industry worker, told Reuters Television. "Please stop this, stop this, stop this from our society, from our country, I want to live in peace."

As Dhaka limped back to normal life, experts questioned the delay in launching the offensive against the militants. More than 100 commandos stormed the restaurant nearly 10 hours after the siege began, under an operation code-named 'Thunderbolt'.

Analysts say that as Islamic State loses territory in Iraq and Syria and its finances get drained, it may be trying to build affiliates in countries such as Bangladesh for jihadists to launch attacks locally and cheaply.

Rich Families

Deputy Inspector General of Police Shahidur Rahman said on Sunday that authorities were investigating any connection between the attackers and transnational groups such as Islamic State or Al-Qaeda.

He said the militants were mostly educated and from well-off families, but declined to give any more details. On Saturday police released pictures of five dead militants, most of them wearing grey T-shirts.

National police chief Shahidul Hoque said all the gunmen were Bangladeshis. "Five of them were listed as militants and law enforcers made several drives to arrest them," he said.

Whoever was responsible, the attack marked a major escalation in violence by militants demanding Islamic rule in Bangladesh, whose 160 million people are mostly Muslim.

Previous attacks have mostly singled out individuals advocating a secular or liberal lifestyle, or religious minorities.

Reciting Quran Verse

Friday night's attack, during the final days of Ramadan, was more coordinated than the previous assaults.

Gunmen singled out foreigners as soon as they stormed through the doors of the restaurant popular with expatriates. They ordered all Bangladeshis to stand up before the killing began, a source briefed on the investigation said.

The Bangladeshis were later told to close their eyes and recite verses from the Koran. One militant cursed a Bangladeshi for eating with non-Muslims during Ramadan, the source said.

The Islamic State-affiliated Amaq news agency claimed in a report on Saturday that the militants identified and released Muslim patrons from the Dhaka restaurant, SITE said.

The victims also included at least three Bangladeshis or people of Bangladeshi descent.

The militants hacked most of their victims with machetes, leaving their bleeding bodies on the floor.
Islamabad: The death toll from a flash flood in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province rose to 43 on Sunday, with over 40 injured and scores of others missing, officials said.

The provincial National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) said that Chitral district was the worst hit area where 31 people were killed, Xinhua news agency reported.

"The hill torrent washed away a mosque, a Pakistan army check post and nearby houses (35 full house damage, 47 partial house damage)," the NDMA said in a statement.

The torrential rain hit Ursoon village on Saturday night, which resulted in flash flood in the stream located near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, the statement added.

Express News reported that eight security personnel were killed and four others seriously injured when flash flood swept away their check post in the district.

It added that 32 people were also injured in separate incidents of roof collapse.

Separately, in Haripur district, four people were killed and four others injured when the roof of their work site collapsed near Tarbela dam area, Latifur Rehman, spokesperson for the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) said.

Rescue teams from Pakistani army, paramilitary forces and PDMA have launched a search and relief operation.

The Inter-Services Public Relations said in a statement that the troops have provided food, tents and medical aid to affected people in the Ursoon village.

An army helicopter has made five trips from Chitral to Ursoon and evacuated the injured, said the statement.

A search operation for missing persons is ongoing.
Karachi: At least six persons were killed and four others injured on Monday when the roof of a cold storage factory collapsed on them following a blast in Karachi in Pakistan.

The collapse in the New Karachi Industrial area was triggered by an explosion in the factory's ammonia gas tank which stirred a gas leakage, causing the roof of the factory to cave in suddenly.

Rescue and relief officials were dispatched to the spot.

Six persons were crushed to death while four others sustained severe injuries in the incident. All the injured were rushed to a nearby hospital where their condition was not immediately known, according to rescue officials.

"The blast took place due to a leakage in an ammonia gas tank and this caused the roof to collapse, killing six workers who were trapped under the rubble," one official said.

He said that the rescue workers and firemen were trying to clear the thoroughly damaged building in a bid to find out if there were any survivors.

In the wake of the incident, factory owner Muhammad Iqbal suffered a cardiac arrest and was admitted to a hospital. Enforcement of labour and safety requirements and laws in factories in industrial areas are often bypassed which leads to poor and unsafe working environment for workers and labourers.
Dublin: A Muslim group aimed at fostering peace and integration in Ireland has joined members of the countrys LGBT community to break fast during Ramadan, it was reported on Monday.

In an effort to display true Islamic ideals, the Irish Muslim Peace & Integration Council invited a whole host of people from outside the faith to share in the spirit of the holy holiday on Saturday.

Fasting is observed from dawn to sunset during Ramadan to display self-restraint and is one of the five pillars of Islam.

During the day, participants in the holy event must refrain from eating, drinking, smoking, sex, and other pleasures until nightfall.

As more than one billion Muslims worldwide celebrate Ramadan by fasting and appreciating the blessings given to us it is equally important for the Irish Muslim community to reach out to our neighbours as an example of true Islamic ideals, said Shaykh Umar Al-Qadri, imam and chairman of the council.

The shared Iftar dinner, the meal when the fast is ended, took place in Dublin and was also attended by Jewish holocaust survivor and guest speaker Tomi Reichental.

Al-Qadri has been an outspoken supporter of the LGBT community in Ireland, likening discrimination against gay and transgender people to that experienced by Muslims.

Following the Orlando shootings at a gay nightclub in Florida, he told the Irish Examiner that he stood with the LGBT community.

I stand with the LGBT community and I am against the marginalization of any group, he said.

It should not have happened. We are a minority ourselves, we understand what discrimination is.
London: A cross-party group of British MPs led by Indian-origin lawmaker Keith Vaz has called on the UK government to decriminalise sex work and prostitution, first time in decades that Parliament has considered the "polarising" subject.

The House of Commons' Home Affairs Select Committee (HAC) which is chaired by longest serving Indian-origin MP Vaz, had conducted a review into the practice and released its interim report last week.

"This is the first time that Parliament has considered the issue of prostitution in decades. It is a polarising subject with strong views on all sides," Vaz said in a statement.

"As a first step, there has been universal agreement that elements of the present law are unsatisfactory. Treating

soliciting as a criminal offence is having an adverse effect, and it is wrong that sex workers, who are predominantly women, should be penalised and stigmatised in this way. The criminalisation of sex workers should therefore end," he said.

The HAC said the UK Home Office should immediately change existing legislation so that soliciting is no longer an

offence and brothel-keeping laws allow sex workers to share premises, without losing the ability to prosecute those who use brothels to control or exploit sex workers.

The committee called for "zero tolerance" of organised criminal exploitation of sex workers and demanded legislation to delete previous convictions and cautions for prostitution from the record of sex workers, as these records make it much more difficult for people to move out of prostitution into other forms of work if they wish to.

"The committee will evaluate a number of the alternative models as this inquiry continues, including the sex-buyers law as operated in Sweden, the full decriminalised model used in Denmark, and the legalised model used in Germany and the Netherlands," Vaz said.

The interim report released on July 1 will be followed by final recommendations based on a study of the various models.

Britain has around 70,000 prostitutes who make an average of 2,000 pounds (USD 2,653 or Rs 1.7 lakh) a week, according to the report's estimates.

Sex workers in Britain charged an average of 78 pounds ($ 103 or Rs 6,925) for services and had around 25 clients per week.

Under present UK law, it is not illegal for consenting adults to buy and sell sex but soliciting it is not permitted.
Washington: Amid the clamor a year ago to release 28 still-secret pages of a congressional inquiry into the 9/11 attacks, the government quietly declassified a little-known report listing more than three dozen people who piqued the interest of investigators probing possible Saudi connections to the hijackers.

The document, known as "File 17," offers clues to what might be in the missing pages of the bipartisan report about 9/11.

"Much of the information upon which File 17 was written was based on what's in the 28 pages," said former Democratic Senator Bob Graham of Florida, co-chairman of the congressional inquiry.

He believes the hijackers had an extensive Saudi support system while they were in the United States.

"File 17 said, 'Here are some additional unanswered questions and here is how we think the 9/11 Commission, the FBI and the CIA should go about finding the answers,' " Graham said.

Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir denies any allegations of Saudi complicity, telling reporters in Washington earlier this month that there is "no there there."

Former President George W Bush classified the 28-page chapter to protect intelligence sources and methods, although he also probably did not want to upset US relations with Saudi Arabia, a close US ally.

Two years ago, under pressure from the families of those killed or injured on 11 September, and others, President Barack Obama ordered a declassification review of the 28 pages. It's unclear when all or some may be released.

The report by the two researchers, one of several commission documents the National Archives has reviewed and released, lists possible leads the commission could follow, the names of people who could be interviewed and documents the commission might want to request in looking deeper into the attacks.

File 17, first disclosed by 28pages.org, an advocacy website, names people the hijackers were in contact with in the United States before the attacks. Some were Saudi diplomats, raising questions about whether Saudi officials knew about the plot.

The 9/11 Commission's final report stated that it found "no evidence that the Saudi government as an institution or senior Saudi officials individually funded" Al-Qaida. "This conclusion does not exclude the likelihood that charities with significant Saudi government sponsorship diverted funds to Al-Qaida," the report said.

Releasing the 28 pages might answer some questions, but the disclosure also could lead to more speculation about the key Saudi figures investigated by the US after the attacks.
The Roundtable 'Exploring Health Tourism' gathered a group of international experts in Budapest, Hungary, to better understand and explore the growing segment of wellness and medical tourism. The meeting was convened by the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and the European Travel Commission (ETC), as part of their joint research programme, with the support of the Hungarian Tourism Agency.

The two-day event held in Budapest gathered experts from the World Health Organization (WHO), the European Union (EU), the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), the European Spas Association, the Global Wellness Institute and Spaincares among others. Representatives from the health-related tourism sector from Hungary, Lithuania, Malaysia and Mexico attended the event.

Gusztav Bienerth, Hungarian Commissioner for Tourism, highlighted the importance of health-related tourism in Hungary's tourism sector, as well as the role of the country in the global market of health tourism, while underlining the relevance of the event.

Discussions were based on the ongoing ETC and UNWTO research on health tourism, a complex and not yet well-defined segment. This report is the first attempt to set a coherent conceptualization of health tourism and define the motivations behind travelers looking for health-related services.

"The need to better understand an emerging, global, complex and rapidly changing phenomenon such as wellness and medical tourism has become essential to tap into its growth potential", said Marcio Favilla, UNWTO Executive Director for Operational Programmes and Institutional Relations.

"For ETC and UNWTO it is very important that we provide tourism authorities, managers and experts with a better understanding of the health tourism phenomenon and jointly cooperate to identify and provide a consistent terminology that lays the foundations for this promising sector", said Eduardo Santander, Executive Director of ETC.

Participants debated the taxonomy proposed in the research to agree on a consistent terminology to define and describe the system of travelling for health purposes. Furthermore, the Roundtable explored the latest trends shaping health tourism and how tourism destinations can tap into these opportunities.

The final report establishing common grounds for a health-related tourism taxonomy will be published by the end of 2016.

Additional information:

Full list of participants: the World Health Organization, the European Commission, the European Parliament, the World Travel and Tourism Council, the European Spas Association, the Global Wellness Institute, Spaincares, the Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council, the Mexican Council for the Medical Tourism Industry, the Lithuania Medical Tourism Cluster, the Lithuania State Department of Tourism, the Hungarian Tourism Agency, the Hungarian Hotel Association, the Danubius Hotels, Xellum and Intuition Communication.

The research 'Exploring Health Tourism' commissioned by ETC and UNWTO was prepared by Laszlo Puczko and Melanie Smith (Xellum), with the support of the International Medical Travel Journal (IMTJ).

About The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO)

The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) is the United Nations specialized agency fostering tourism as a vehicle for equal, inclusive and sustainable development. Working with its Member States, international organizations and the private sector, UNWTO promotes safe and seamless travel for all. UNWTO also works to make tourism the foundation of trust and international cooperation and a central pillar of recovery. As part of the wider UN system, UNWTO is at the forefront of global efforts to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, including through its ability to create decent jobs, promote equality and preserve natural and cultural heritage.

Follow UNWTO on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and Linkedin.

Rut Gomez Sobrino

Principal Media Officer

(+34) 91 567 81 60

UNWTO
WASHINGTON  Last month, Rep. Rodney Davis, R-Ill., cast a deciding vote to retain the ability of dreamers  undocumented immigrants brought here as children  to join the U.S. military.

Davis, from Taylorville, Ill., was one of 30 House Republicans to vote that way, out of a total of 240 Republicans who voted. Many Republicans referred to the practice as backdoor amnesty for those here illegally. But Davis voted to maintain the program, which would allow a quicker pathway to citizenship for those who serve.

I truly believe that anybody who is willing to fight for our country and came here through no fault of their own as a child ought to be given a special place in line to legally become an American citizen, Davis said in an interview in his office here.

Davis faces Democrat Mark Wicklund and independent candidate David Gill in the November elections, in a race that national Democrats targeted early as one of the seats theyd need to win to take control of the House in 2017.

In an age of party-line voting, Davis is not the only Illinois Republican with a twist. Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., also reflecting his states Democratic leaning, is among the GOP senators most likely to vote with Democrats. A recent illustration: Kirk voted with Democrats late last month on a series of gun-control votes in the wake of the Orlando nightclub massacre.

While standing with his party on issues such as gun rights, terrorism and defense spending, Davis has occasionally bucked his partys predominant position in three-plus years in Congress.

Examples:

 Earlier this year, he was one of 22 Republicans to vote against a provision prohibiting the temporary housing of undocumented migrant children without companions at U.S. military bases. It passed the House, 219-202, with overwhelming Republican support.

 He has cast several votes in favor of the use of medical marijuana. In May, for instance, Davis voted to allow the Veterans Health Administration to counsel patients to use marijuana, which is illegal under federal law, as a prescribed drug for pain and post-traumatic stress treatment.

While Rep. William Lacy Clay, D-St. Louis, also voted for that provision, Reps. John Shimkus, R-Collinsville; Ann Wagner, R-Ballwin; Mike Bost, R-Murphysboro; Blaine Luetkemeyer, R-St. Elizabeth; and Jason Smith, R-Cape Girardeau, all voted no. Overall, House Republicans voted against the provision, 187-54.

Davis has both philosophical and personal reasons for supporting medical marijuana. First, its a states rights issue, he said, and he points out that Illinois has for several years allowed the use of medical marijuana.

Secondly, he said, he had a friend from St. Louis whose young daughter suffered from constant seizures, and before dying recently, the little girl got the most relief from a cannabis oil. The friend moved his family to Colorado so his daughter could get treated, then back to St. Louis when Missouri allowed it, Davis said.

My wife (Shannon) and I have been blessed with three healthy children, but putting myself in his shoes I would have done the same thing to help my child get relief, Davis said. And it is sad that something that could work was not available.

He said he was not prepared to support total legalization of marijuana.

I think we have to see what happens in Colorado, what happens in Washington and Oregon, he said, of states that have legalized its use. They are the laboratory to find out if it is successful and the social implications that many are concerned about.

 Last summer, Davis voted to lift a ban on travel to Cuba, months after President Barack Obama had issued executive orders beginning a normalization process with the Cuban government.

Davis acknowledges he is bucking many Republicans views that normalization is wrong so long as the Castros are in power in Cuba. But he says he has the same goal as his GOP colleagues  to force out the Castro regime  but he thinks that normalizing trade and association with the Cuban people will hasten that.

Some of the folks I serve with had family members who were killed by the Castros (or were) kicked out of Cuba, so it is personal. I get that, said Davis, who traveled to Cuba in 2005 as a congressional staffer, and last fall as a member of Congress. I dont want to demean their position. All I want to say is we have the same goals.

Davis said that despite headline-catching rancor, including a recent Democratic sit-in calling for votes on gun restrictions, this Congress had passed major bipartisan legislation that has been signed into law by Obama.

He cited a new long-term transportation bill, a reform of No Child Left Behind that pushes more testing control back to localities and a streamlining of how the federal government plans for and pays for water projects. All are important for the region, he said.
Investigators are questioning some of the hostages who were rescued from Saturday morning's attack on an upscale restaurant in the Bangladeshi capitol of Dhaka that left 20 patrons and two police officers dead.



Officials say five of the 13 hostages rescued are still being held.It was not clear if the five are suspects or being questioned simply because authorities believe they could provide information that may be helpful in determining the origins of the attack.



Bangladeshi police chief A.K.M. Shahidul Haque said Monday that two men, including a suspected militant, are being interrogated. He declined to say whether the two men had been among those counted as hostages but acknowledged they were being treated in a hospital for injuries.



Meantime, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina paid her respects Monday at a ceremony honoring those killed during the siege.





The memorial featured flags and ambassadors representing those killed who were from India, Italy, Japan and the United States.Hasina spoke with family members of the victims.



The ceremony came on the second of two days of national mourning.



Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the terrorist attack, but any direct connection to the militant group has not been confirmed, and government officials deny IS involvement.



Bangladesh's home minister said Sunday the seven attackers, six of whom were killed, had absolutely no connection with Islamic State.



Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan said instead the jihadists were members of a homegrown militant group  Jumatul Mujahedeen Bangladesh, or JMB  which has been banned in the country for more than a decade.



National police chief Shahidul Hoque said authorities are investigating the possibility the attackers had ties with IS.



Kerry calls Hasina



U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry called Prime Minister Hasina Sunday to express condolences and offer support.A State Department release said Kerry "encouraged the government of Bangladesh to conduct its investigation in accordance with the highest international standards."

He also offered assistance from U.S. law enforcement, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation.



Bangladeshi police released photos and the first names of five of the six attackers who were killed.Police said their families had not been in contact with them for months.



The government has long insisted IS has no presence in the country.Prime Minister Hasina's government has blamed a string of attacks in the country on her political foes, saying they back militant groups in the country in an attempt to create chaos.

Among those killed are nine Italians, seven Japanese nationals, two Bangladeshis, one Indian and one American.Three of the victims were students at universities in the United States.Two Bangladeshi police officers were also killed early in the siege.Security forces rescued 13 hostages.



A U.N. spokesman said Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon hopes those behind the attack will be brought to justice and that regional and international efforts to prevent and fight terrorism must be intensified.



In a televised address to the nation Saturday, Bangladesh Prime Minister Hasina said her country would not let "conspirators succeed in their mission" to tarnish its image.She urged all citizens of Bangladesh to "come forward and help fight terrorism."



The attack began late Friday when the gunmen entered the Holey Artisan Bakery located in the diplomatic zone of Dhaka



The siege ended hours later when security forces stormed the building, killing six attackers and capturing one.Most of the victims were hacked to death, and their killers sent photographs of the carnage to Islamic State during the standoff.



String of terror attacks



Bangladesh has seen a number of attacks in recent months, mostly targeting secular bloggers, atheists and religious minorities.IS terrorists and al-Qaida in the Indian subcontinent (AQIS) have claimed responsibility for many of the attacks.



The United States declared AQIS a "foreign terrorist organization" Thursday and called its leader, Asim Umar, a "specially designated global terrorist."



Al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahiri announced the formation of the group on the Indian subcontinent in 2014 and Umar has appeared in al-Qaida publications as the leader of the Indian offshoot. Umar is believed to be based in Pakistan, but was born in India in the mid-1970s.
Prominent Democrats predicted their partys presumptive presidential nominee, Hillary Clinton, will not be indicted for her use of a private email server for official business as President Barack Obamas first secretary of state.

"Thats just not going to happen," said Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey, appearing on CNN's State of the Union program Sunday. "Thats something that, to me, is not within the realm of possibility."

Intrigue mounted after Clinton met for more than three hours Saturday with FBI investigators. The interview could be the final step before the Justice Department decides whether to indict or clear Clinton of wrongdoing.

"It was something I had offered to do since last August," Clinton said on MSNBC. "Ive been eager to do it, and I was pleased to have the opportunity to assist the [Justice] Department in bringing its review to a conclusion."

While Clinton wants to quell furor over an issue that will not go away, her expected Republican opponent, Donald Trump, pounced on Twitter, writing Saturday: "It is impossible for the FBI not to recommend criminal charges against Hillary Clinton. What she did was wrong!"

Not so, according to Clinton allies.

"I am not worried about it," Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown said Sunday on ABCs This Week program. "There will not be an indictment, and that means she did what many secretaries of state have done in the past."

While Democrats dismiss the possibility of formal charges against Clinton, revelations that she evaded State Department guidelines for electronic communication could reinforce broad public perceptions that she is secretive, unbound by rules that apply to everyone else, and untrustworthy.



In two recent public opinion polls, roughly two-thirds of respondents doubted her honesty or expressed concerns about her trustworthiness.

Its a stumbling block Clinton herself has acknowledged.

A lot of people tell pollsters they dont trust me. I dont like hearing that, and Ive thought a lot about whats behind it, she said at a campaign event last week. I take this seriously, as someone who is asking for your votes, and I personally know I have work to do on this point.

Republicans have long sought to exploit what they see as one of Clintons core weaknesses, with Trump referring to her as crooked Hillary and others alleging she has received special treatment.

"If she was not Hillary Clinton, if she was an under secretary of state who had done the same types of things, number one, he or she would have been fired, and, yes, they would have been brought up for prosecution by the Justice Department," said former Republican senator Rick Santorum, also on This Week.

Clintons FBI interview came days after a firestorm erupted over a meeting between her husband, former president Bill Clinton, and Attorney General Loretta Lynch, who bears ultimate responsibility for the governments investigation of Hillary Clintons emails.

"Certainly my meeting with him raises questions and concerns," Lynch admitted late last week. "I certainly would not do it again. But it really was a social meeting."

An unwritten rule in Washington is that wise officials avoid even the appearance of potential impropriety. Trump and other Republicans suggest the encounter proves the Obama Justice Department cannot conduct an impartial probe of someone the president has endorsed as his successor.

The White House insists its approach to the Clinton email investigation is "hands off."

"The presidents expectation is that this investigation will be handled just like all the others, which is that the investigators will be guided by the facts," said White House spokesman John Earnest.

Democrats hope the FBI probe concludes before the Democratic National Convention later this month. Meanwhile, Republicans are expected to hammer away at the controversy right up to the November election.
This July 4, Americans all across the country will celebrate the 240th anniversary of their countrys declaration of independence from British rule  with noisy parades, marching bands, barbecue parties and fireworks.

But at the Newseum building in downtown Washington, theres another, quieter celebration going on.

Reporting the revolution

The museum, dedicated to news and journalism, just opened 1776  Breaking News: Independence. The exhibit features one of only 19 known copies of the July 6, 1776, edition of The Pennsylvania Evening Post, the first newspaper to publish the newly adopted Declaration of Independence.

This extraordinary 240-year-old newspaper shows the Declaration of Independence as Americans first saw it  as front page news, says Cathy Trost, senior vice president of exhibits and programs at the Newseum.

In 1776, there were no television sets, computers or digital devices, as Patty Rhule, the exhibit development director points out. "Today we get news over our Facebook feeds or on Twitter or Instagram or on the radio or on television. Back then, newspapers were it. This is the way ideas were debated and discussed, where people argued pro or con to leave Great Britain."

All four pages of The Pennsylvania Evening Post are on display, along with other pages of the newspaper that offer a glimpse into the everyday life of Philadelphians in the 18th century. Among the items listed for sale in advertisements, for example, are sugar, spirits and very fine hay "of this years growth." Another listing offers a $2 reward for the safe return of a 5-year-old brown horse that had strayed from its owners pasture.

Interactive kiosks allow visitors to zoom in and explore the newspaper in high definition.

Telling the news in graphic detail

In addition to the historic newspaper, large, illustrated panels around the gallery use the format of a graphic novel to tell the story of how and why delegates from the 13 American colonies gathered in Philadelphia to break the bonds of British rule and forge a new nation.

"The words and images of Americas revolution come alive in this exhibit in dramatic graphic novel form to tell the story of how the colonial press fanned the flames and spread the news of the fight for freedom," Trost says.

And a Newseum-produced video features original, animated illustrations and interviews with journalist Sebastian Junger, political commentator S.E. Cupp and comedian Lewis Black.

One video segment is about Thomas Paine, a Founding Father who published a pamphlet called "Common Sense," presenting to his fellow colonists his arguments for American independence.

In another segment, Black explains how Benjamin Towne published The Pennsylvania Evening Post three times a week "in a town full of weeklies." "His dream," narrates Black, "was to create America's first daily."

Rhule says the exhibit ties in perfectly with the mission of the Newseum, which is "to champion, explain and defend free expression and the five freedoms of the First Amendment. So we want people to understand why it's important that we have free expression here, why it's important that we have a free press here, because without a free press, there pretty much wouldnt have been independence."
Hundreds of protesters marched in the streets of Nairobi Monday to denounce alleged extrajudicial killings by police and security forces.



Lawyers, accountants, human rights activists, motorcycle taxi drivers, and others marched to protest the deaths of human rights lawyer Willie Kimani, his client Josephat Mwenda, and Joseph Muiruri, their taxi driver.



The three men disappeared on June 23, after a court hearing in which Kimani was defending Mwenda against various charges. They are believed to have initially been taken to an administration police compound.



On Friday, the three mens bodies were found in a river about 70 kilometers from Nairobi.



Kenya's police chief announced that three police officers have been arrested in the case. A court ordered that they be held without bail for two weeks for investigations to be completed. Eric Kiraithe, a government spokesman, told the BBC there were no police "death squads" and that allegations of criminal officers would be fully investigated.



Not uncommon

However, Boniface Mwangi, a Kenyan human rights activist, says extrajudicial killings are not uncommon in the country.



It has been a habit by the Kenyan government, when they do not agree with someone, or when they have a problem with someone, instead of actually taking them through the proper government channels, they kill them, he said.

I think theres also fear among the professionals, because in the past theyve been killing a poor taxi driver, a suspected gangster, a terrorist, but theyve gone beyond that and now theyre killing professionals for doing their job.

Human rights activists have decried alleged extrajudicial killings by Kenyan police for years. Late last year, Kenya's Independent Medico-Legal Unit said it had recorded 199 killings by police in 2014 and another 97 in the first ten months of 2015.



True numbers unknown

But other activists said the true number of police killings is difficult to judge, because police usually deny shooting a victim, and many victims' families make only token efforts to pursue justice, due to lack of resources and/or fear of police.

Some of the protesters Monday carried coffins from Uhuru Park to the Supreme Court that said stop extrajudicial killings. Others carried buckets of red paint to symbolize bloodshed. Many of the protesters wore T-shirts that said stop police executions.



Activists said they were participating because they want justice and full accountability from the police. They also demand the resignations of the inspector general of police, the deputy inspector general of the administration police and the cabinet secretary for internal affairs.

Also, they want an inquiry into all extrajudicial killings in Kenya.



The Law Society of Kenya is planning another protest march for Wednesday.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Uganda on Monday, kicking off a four-country tour of East Africa. The trip is seen as a significant event for the region, which no Israeli leader had visited in 30 years.

However, the day was marred by controversy when Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni's repeatedly referred to Israel as Palestine during a speech.

The president was talking about Operation Entebbe, in which Israeli commandos rescued hostages from Uganda's Entebbe International Airport after an Air France flight was hijacked by Palestinian militants.

"The sad event, 40 years ago, turned into another bond linking Palestine to Africa," Museveni said. "I said this is yet another bond between Africa and Palestine because there were earlier bonding events."

Many Ugandans openly wondered on Twitter who could have written his speech, predicting that heads would roll for the mistake. Others called the mix-up "gafffetastic," while some wondered about Museveni's state of mind.

Israelis on Twitter also lashed out at the mix-up, calling the president's speech rambling and bizarre, and reporting that the Israeli radio broadcaster cut off the speech before it finished.

So far there has been no response from Netanyahu.

Ofwono Opondo, a spokesperson with the Ugandan government, quickly tweeted out a defense of the Israel/Palestine mix-up, saying, "The whole of that land was originally known as Palestine so Museveni's reference isn't wrong."

Palestinians claim the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Israeli-blockaded Gaza Strip as land for a prospective future state.

Opposition to commemoration

During the June 1976 hijacking, the airplane was flown to Entebbe. Then-president of Uganda, Idi Amin, threw his support behind the hijackers. However the standoff came to an end on the night of July 4th, when Israeli commandos stormed the airport and rescued 102 hostages.

The operation ended with 45 Ugandan casualties and one Israeli casualty, the older brother of Prime Minister Netanyahu.

The 40-year anniversary of the event was marked with reflections on the budding relationship between Israel and Uganda.

However, some Ugandans are appalled that the Ugandan government would commemorate the Entebbe raid. One Ugandan man, who did not wish to be identified, says he lost his uncle during the raid, and he doesn't understand why the breaching of sovereign borders is being remembered in a positive light.

"Today goes down as a sad day to these brave men who abandoned everything to serve their country. Netanyahu thinks his brother who died here is the only life that matters," he said. "It's betrayal. Ugandan soldiers stood up to defend the country's sovereignty from a foreign attack  it doesn't matter why they attacked  they breached our borders, our soldiers died in the line of duty. You can come here to celebrate the invasion and remember Netanyahu's brother? It's utter betrayal."

The Israeli prime minister will also be heading to Kenya, Rwanda and Ethiopia during his tour, in which he is expected to discuss issues of regional investment and security.
A new list of names that possibly links Saudi Arabia to the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in New York and Washington has come to light, even as President Barack Obama weighs whether to release a still-secret 28-page report about Riyadh's alleged connection to the funding of the attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people.

The document, known as File 17, lists more than 30 names of people, most of them Saudis, who met with or talked with at least some of the hijackers who commandeered commercial jetliners and crashed them into the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington. Fifteen of the 19 hijackers were Saudis.

A former U.S. senator, Bob Graham of Florida, who was co-chairman of the U.S. congressional inquiry into the 9/11 attacks, told the Associated Press that "much of the information" in File 17 was based on the 28-page report Obama is considering declassifying.

Graham believes the hijackers had an extensive Saudi support system in the United States before launching the attacks, saying that the secret 28-page segment of the massive official report on the attacks points "a very strong finger at Saudi Arabia as being the principal financier."

"File 17 said, Here are some additional unanswered questions and here is how we think the 9/11 Commission, the FBI and the CIA should go about finding the answers,'" Graham said.



File 17, first disclosed by 28pages.org., an advocacy group calling for the release of the secret document, lists the contacts that the Saudis had with the hijackers, many of them in the western U.S. state of California. Much of the information has been generally known for years, but the mystery of possible Saudi involvement in the 9/11 attacks remains of key interest in the United States.

The Saudi government has said repeatedly there is no truth to the allegations. Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir told reporters in Washington there is "no there there."

The 9/11 commission's final report concluded that there is "no evidence that the Saudi government as an institution or senior Saudi officials individually funded" the al-Qaida terrorist network in carrying out the 9/11 attacks.

But the report added, "This conclusion does not exclude the likelihood that charities with significant Saudi government sponsorship diverted funds to al-Qaida."
Saudi Arabia's Interior Ministry said Monday a suicide bomber blew himself up near the U.S. consulate in the western city of Jeddah.

The ministry said security guards grew suspicious of the man, and when they approached him he set off the blast. The explosion killed the bomber, and two guards were taken to the hospital with minor injuries.

The U.S. embassy in Saudi Arabia reported no casualties or injuries among the consulate staff. It reiterated travel warnings for Saudi Arabia, recommending Americans limit non-essential travel in the country.

In 2004, al-Qaida-linked militants stormed the consulate with grenades, triggering a gun battle with Saudi security forces. Five non-American staff members died in that attack.
The presumptive U.S. presidential candidates, Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton, are nearing the time when they will have to select their vice presidential running mates.



With the Republican national nominating convention set to start in two weeks and the Democratic convention a week later, the teams for both candidates are narrowing their lists of possibilities. They are gauging whether their respective choices could help their ticket in some way, as a plausible president should either Trump or Clinton die in office, or possibly help carry a state in the November national election.



Trump, a billionaire real estate mogul, has said he wants someone as a running mate who can help him navigate the political culture in Washington and advance his legislative program through Congress, since he has never held elected office before.

Several U.S. political analysts say his top choices are a former speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Newt Gingrich, who last held elected office in 1999 although he ran unsuccessfully for the Republican presidential nomination in 2012, and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, who ran against Trump this year for the 2016 nomination before dropping out and endorsing him.



While current Vice President Joe Biden, a Democrat, has endorsed Clinton's election, he suggested to Gingrich that he ought to join Trump's ticket if the one-time television reality show host asks him to be his running mate.



"Newt and I disagree," Biden said recently when he was at a conference with Gingrich. "He's one of the brightest guys I know. He knows the government, he knows the issues. I would feel better knowing that there was somebody there with the depth and gravitas on the issues that Newt possesses. That's a long way of saying the relationship, the personal relationship, really, really, really matters."



Trump has not tipped his hand on his selection yet, however, instead meeting with other possible choices as well, including Indiana Governor Mike Pence on Sunday and Iowa Senator Joni Ernst on Monday.



"The only people who are not interested in being the VP pick are the people who have not been asked," Trump said in a Twitter comment Monday.

Analysts say Clinton has a wide list of possible choices as well, among them Virginia Senator Tim Kaine, a one-time governor of the mid-Atlantic state; Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, who drew loud cheers for a sharp attack on Trump at a Clinton rally last week; two other senators, Sherrod Brown of Ohio and Cory Booker of New Jersey, and two members of President Barack Obama's Cabinet, Labor Secretary Thomas Perez and Housing Secretary Julian Castro.



Trump is expected to announce his choice in the days leading up to the start of the Republican convention in the Midwestern city of Cleveland, Ohio or even as it starts July 18.Clinton could wait for a few days after that to name her selection until she knows who Trump has picked.
The death toll from Sunday's suicide truck bombing in the Iraqi capitol of Baghdad continues to rise as more bodies are recovered from the rubble.

Iraqi officials said Monday at least 151 have died in one of the deadliest attacks in Baghdad since the American invasion of 2003.

At least 200 people were injured and officials say that number may continue to grow as rescuers dig through ash and rubble using shovels and their hands.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi ordered tighter security measures in Baghdad, but on the streets some Iraqis expressed anger over the government's inability to keep residents safe.



WATCH: Related video report

The U.S. Department of State condemned the attack, noting the blast was timed to coincide with crowds flooding the Karrada markets as Muslims broke their daily Ramadan fast.

"We will continue to unite the world against this evil, remove their safe havens, and uproot their global networks," the statement read.

The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the truck bombing, saying it targeted Shi'ites. The mainly Sunni militants consider Shi'ites heretics.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he is "appalled by the utter disregard for human life" shown by those responsible for the bombing.

U.S. National Security Council spokesman Ned Price said Sunday the United States remains united with Iraq in their combined efforts to destroy Islamic State.

Last week, the U.S. envoy to the coalition against Islamic State said he believes the coalition is moving at a tempo that will lead to the ultimate defeat of IS. Brett McGurk told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that IS territory has shrunk by almost 50 percent in the last 18 months.

But CIA Director John Brennan said a week earlier that Islamic State has no intention of slowing fading away, and instead it has been shifting its focus to ensure it remains the world's top terror organization.

The militants swept through large areas of northern and western Iraq two years ago. Iraq forces fighting on the ground and a U.S.-led coalition of airstrikes have reclaimed territory, including Fallujah last month, but Islamic State still controls several large cities such as Mosul.

Deadliest IS Attacks in Iraq This Year

June 9: Two suicide bombers kill more than 20 in Baghdad

May 17: Wave of bombs across Baghdad kill almost 70

May 11: Car bombs in Baghdad kill more than 75, deadliest attack was at Sadr City market

March 25: Suicide blast kills 30 south of Baghdad

March 6: Suicide truck bomber kills 47 in Hilla

February 28: Attacks across Baghdad kill dozens
Millions of Americans are celebrating their country's 240th anniversary of independence from Britain with traditional fireworks displays, parades, concerts and barbecues, amid heightened security following recent terror attacks in Bangladesh and Turkey.

Law enforcement officials say they have not received any specific threats against the United States, but heavily armed police officers, many accompanied by dogs, are patrolling airports, and train and bus stations.

Security has been enhanced in Washington, New York City and Chicago where hundreds of thousands of people gather annually to watch fireworks, listen to music and have picnics.

More than 1,200 newly sworn-in police officers in New York City are busy at work, along with the city's newly formed Critical Response Command, a heavily armed counter-terrorism force.

About 5,000 police are patrolling the streets of Chicago this extended holiday weekend, which is traditionally one of the most violent. Gun-related murders in Chicago have spiked this year. This weekend, at least 24 people have been shot, three fatally.

Eight security checkpoints are in place along Washington's Mall, where officers are searching all bags and coolers, and confiscating alcohol and marijuana.

The Department of Homeland Security is reminding citizens to be alert and to report anything unusual to authorities.



Festivities



President Barack Obama is commemorating the holiday at the White House, where the United Service Organization, which serves military families, is hosting a program featuring musical guests. While the planned picnic has been canceled due to rain, scheduled performances by singer Janelle Monae and rapper Kendrick Lamar will go on as planned indoors.

During his weekly radio address, Obama said celebrating Independence Day has become one of his favorite traditions. "We get to celebrate our freedoms while doing what we can to honor all those who served and sacrificed to make that freedom possible," Obama said.

A short distance away on the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol, the "Capitol Fourth Concert" will be held, featuring legendary musical performers Smokey Robinson and Kenny Loggins.

An historical feat may be accomplished this Independence Day at New York's Coney Island, where the traditional hot dog eating contest takes place and Joey Chestnut will attempt to regain his Mustard Yellow International Belt. He set a world record two years ago by eating 69 hot dogs in 10 minutes, but lost it last year after eight straight victories.

In Austin, Texas, 10,000 people will gather at a race track to attend a party hosted by country music legend Willie Nelson.

In keeping with tradition, many communities and individuals are lighting fireworks. Consumers spent $755 million dollars in 2015 on fireworks for personal use, a $60 million increase from the previous year, according to the American Pyrotechnics Association.

But traditional fireworks displays may not be an option this year in some parts of the United States. Fireworks have been banned in drought stricken Santa Barbara County, California and in some other dry communities in Western states.

History

On July 4, 1776, representatives of the 13 American colonies officially adopted the Declaration of Independence that announced the severing of ties with Britain.

The rebellion had begun the previous year and would continue until the United States and Britain signed the Treaty of Paris in 1783, which formally recognized the independence of the United States of America.

Although the Declaration of Independence states, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness," the document was drafted by Thomas Jefferson, a slave owner who later became the third U.S. president.

Jefferson was not the only slave owner to sign the document. About one-third of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, from the north and the south, owned or had owned slaves. George Washington, who also signed the decree and later became the country's first president, owned nearly 125 slaves, whom he freed in his will.

John Adams, the second president and Washington's vice president, did not own slaves, but supported a gradual process of abolishing slavery.

The issue of slavery was not settled until the Civil War ended nearly 80 years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
A former top presidential aide and consummate Chinese political insider was sentenced yesterday to life in prison for taking bribes, illegally obtaining state secrets and abusing his power in a downfall set off by an alleged cover-up of his sons death in a speeding Ferrari.

A court in the northern port city of Tianjin delivered the verdict against Ling Jihua nearly one month after the trial, which was held behind closed doors because the case involved state secrets, the official Xinhua News Agency said. Ling told the court he would not appeal, Xinhua said.

I accept all charges and the verdict, Ling told the court in comments broadcast on Chinas main evening news. I will not appeal the judgment pronounced by the chief judge.

Ling headed the ruling Communist Partys General Office under former President Hu Jintao, a position comparable to chief of staff for the U.S. president.

His fall has been a blow to the Youth League bloc within the party, which had centered around Hu and is seen as a contending force for Hus successor, Xi Jinping. Members of the bloc in the top leadership have seen their powers diminished since Xi took over, said Willy Lam, an expert on Chinese elite politics at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

After the verdict, Ling made a humble apology to the party and the authorities that have handled my case, according to video from the courtroom broadcast by state-run China Central Television.

He was shown expressing his gratitude to the court for offering humanitarian care of him. Chinese courts are controlled by the Communist Party.

Ling fell out of political favor in 2012, just ahead of a once-

in-a-decade power transition, when he was allegedly involved in the cover-up of his sons death in a speeding Ferrari with two nude or half-dressed women as passengers.

In September of that year, shortly before Xi Jinping replaced Hu as party chief, Ling was transferred to the partys United Front Work Department in what was widely seen as a demotion.

Soon afterward, Ling lost his remaining positions within the partys upper echelon. In 2013 he was made a vice chairman of the powerless advisory body to Chinas ceremonial parliament.

While working at the United Front Work Department and on the parliaments advisory body, Ling obtained a large amount of state secrets through his contacts at the General Office, violating Chinas rules on state secrets, Xinhua said.

The Xinhua report on the verdict made no mention of Lings brother, Ling Wancheng, who is believed to have fled to the United States with sensitive information about Chinas leadership and could deliver an intelligence windfall should he defect.

The New York Times reported that the Obama administration has rebuffed Chinese requests for Ling Wanchengs repatriation and has warned China about covert agents seeking his whereabouts on U.S. soil.

Lam, the political analyst, said Ling Jihua apparently had cooperated with the authorities and might have promised not to further divulge the secrets he obtained, since he was given only five years for illegally obtaining state secrets.

The lenient treatment is in return for his cooperation not to divulge state secrets he might have given to Ling Wancheng, Lam said.

Ling was sentenced to life imprisonment for taking USD11.57 million in bribes, either directly or through his wife and son, Xinhua said. Those who bribed Ling included provincial party chiefs and prominent businesspeople.

Ling also was given four years in prison for having used his powers to obtain favors, such as job changes, promotions, and property purchases, for his associates, Xinhua said.

He came under investigation in late 2014 and was formally arrested in July 2015. He was indicted in May. Didi Tang, Beijing, AP
The concession agreement between the telecommunications service provider CTM and the government was one of the major topics addressed at the Legislative Assembly (AL) on its plenary meeting held yesterday.

From a total of 18 spoken enquiries to the government during the period before the agenda, five were specifically focused on the concession.

According to the calculations of lawmaker Chan Meng Kam, the first to address the topic, the compensation that the executive would have to pay in case of a termination of the contract would amount to approximately MOP3.1 billion.

The legislator also highlighted the fact that when the government signed the mid-term review of the agreement back in 2009, the aim was to achieve market liberalization. However, five years have passed and the monopoly continues. Nowadays the market share of CTM is 100 percent of the [local] Internet [service] and on the telephone landline [privates]; and about 100 percent of data services. If the intention was to liberalize the market, then CTM has made a hostage out of the emperor to control the court, Chan Meng Kam said.

The lawmaker added that the agreement grants the company a contract cancellation fee of such size as to equate the concession to a fools deal, adding that, if the government continues to act foolish, CTM will be a maid bossing her own boss, urging the government to adopt a proactive attitude not just regarding CTM but also all other public utilities.

Also chiming in was Si Ka Lon, who claimed that the governments intention, as outlined in the five-year plan, to build a smart city is set to fail since the telecommunication networks do not meet a sufficient standard. He blames the networks inadequacy on the monopoly service of CTM.

In his opinion, the CTM monopoly is to blame for the lack of quality in services, the high rates and weak signals, adding that he urges the government to enact market liberalization for Internet services at a minimum.

Ella Lei and Kwan Tsui Hang also addressed the topic, assessing the terms of the contract to be unfair and unreasonable taking note of the fact that the assets from the concession that the company exploits, belong to the government and not CTM.

Kwan Tsui Hang termed the deal a fake liberalization since the concession continues to be solely operated by CTM. She cited several professionals from the business sector who according to Kwan have said that renting communication circuits in Macau is several times more expensive than in neighboring regions. Kwan also accused the telecommunications company of using [government] assets for its own benefit and enjoyment, stating that that now that the first five years of the so-called 5+5 contract are concluding, there is a great opportunity to review the terms.

Au Kam San, who slammed the alliance between the government and CTM, which in his opinion prevents competition and favors CTM, called for a mechanism to supervise concession contracts by the AL as a way to stop the collusion of interests between the government and businessmen.

only five articles were unblemished

On the sidelines of the plenary meeting of yesterday at the AL, legislator Leonel Alves justified the criticism of the technical writing of the Animal Protection Law in its Portuguese version. I noticed that only five articles were unblemished; all the others have writing problems, grammar issues and problems in the usage of terms. The worst is that some contain inconsistency on legal norms, he said.

According to the legislator the problem is not fully limited to the Portuguese version as he claims that other lawmakers said similar inconsistencies could be found in the Chinese version.

on the lawmakers agenda

Nam Van AnimArt cultural and leisure area contributed to an increase in the tourism and leisure [activity] offerings in Macau, according to Angela Leong. However the Nam Van space has been lacking in attractiveness due to a lack of promotion and the fact that is [located] in a hidden place. The lawmaker suggested the government to follow the example of Taiwan demarcating wider spaces to focus both the stakeholders and the strength of cultural and creative industries in one place transforming these areas in platforms with a real potential to boost these industries in the territory.

Hospital Song Pek Kei slammed what she called the rhetoric of governments high officials that have been claiming, the next five years will be brilliant for the health sector. The lawmaker criticized the strategy followed by the government to manage the construction and improvements to health service facilities.

According to the lawmaker the fact that the Health Bureau is responsible for the construction of the new hospital makes no sense, since they are experienced in terms of requirements for medical equipment but non-specialist in construction matters.

Land Law Mak Soi Kun and Zheng Anting said specialists and scholars from the legal sector regard the government practice of transferring the responsibility to correct their mistakes to the judiciary institutions as very problematic, and could lead the MSAR to suffer in terms of time, money and political reputation.

Mak Soi Kun added: The government continues to have a rigid interpretation of the deadlines imposed by the new Land Law highlighting that is acting in accordance with the law. He said that the idea to claim back all the expired concession lands without a care for accountability creates clear non-compliance in both legal and rational terms.
Israeli commandos have rescued 100 hostages, mostly Israelis or Jews, held by pro-Palestinian hijackers at Entebbe airport in Uganda.

At about 0100 local time (2200GMT), Ugandan soldiers and the hijackers were taken completely by surprise when three Hercules transport planes landed after a 2,500-mile trip from Israel.

About 200 elite troops ran out and stormed the airport building. During a 35-minute battle, 20 Ugandan soldiers and all seven hijackers died along with three hostages.

The leader of the assault force, Lieutenant Colonel Yonatan Netanyahu, was also shot dead by a Ugandan sentry. The Israelis destroyed 11 Russian-built MiG fighters, which amounted to a quarter of Ugandas air force.

The surviving hostages were then flown to Israel with a stopover in Nairobi, Kenya, where some of the injured were treated by Israeli doctors and at least two transferred to hospital there.

Speaking at the Israeli Knesset (parliament) this afternoon, Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin who ordered the raid said: This operation will certainly be inscribed in the annals of military history, in legend and in national tradition.

The crisis began on 27 June, when four militants seized an Air France flight, flying from Israel to Paris via Athens, with 250 people on board. The hijackers  two from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and two from Germanys Baader-Meinhof gang  diverted the plane to Entebbe, where it arrived on 28 June.

The hijackers  who were joined by three more colleagues  demanded the release of 53 militants held in jails in Israel and four other countries. Ugandas President and dictator Idi Amin arrived at the airport to give a speech in support of the PFLP and supplied the hijackers with extra troops and weapons.

On 1 July, the hijackers released a large number of hostages but continued to hold captive the remaining 100 passengers who were Israelis or Jews. Those who were freed were flown to Paris and London.

Among them were British citizens George Good, a retired accountant and Tony Russell, a senior GLC official, who arrived in London on Friday. The crew were offered the chance to go but chose to stay with the plane. The remaining hostages were transferred to the airport building.

The hijackers then set a deadline for 1100GMT for their demands to be met or they would blow up the airliner and its passengers. But their plan was foiled by the dramatic Israeli raid.

Courtesy BBC News

In context

The mission, originally dubbed Operation Thunderbolt by the Israeli military, was renamed Operation Yonatan in honour of Netanyahu  elder brother of Binyamin Netanyahu, who was Israels Prime Minister from 1996 to 1999.

The raid continues to be source of pride for the Israeli public, and many of the participants went on to high office in Israels military and political establishment.

Among them was Dan Shomron, who was in overall command of the rescue operation. He became Chief of Staff of the Israel Defence Force.

Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated during his second term in office in 1995.

Idi Amin was humiliated by the surprise raid. He believed Kenya had colluded with Israel in planning the raid and hundreds of Kenyans living in Uganda were massacred soon afterwards.

But from this time, Amins regime began to break down. Two years later Idi Amin was forced into exile in Saudi Arabia. He died in Jeddah in August 2003
The government should consider building public housing after it reclaims unused land plots, according to several participants in the weekly TDM outdoor program, Macau Forum. During the debate, it was suggested that the government should provide better-affiliated facilities at future public housing communities.

In 2015, the government provided more than 1,900 public housing units, and over 42,000 residents applied for the houses. Lawmaker Si Ka Lon considered the large amount of applicants as an indication that the region lacks affordable housing.

Kou Ngon Fong, president of Macao Tri-Decade Union, pointed out some recent opinions in favor of using public lands for purposes other than building public houses, such as public facilities. Kou contends that the government should build public housing as soon as the plots are back in its possession.

We should think: how can a community reap the benefits of public housings in terms of public facilities? posited Kou, he also suggested that the government think in advance regarding the building of the houses and providing better public facilities when owning empty plots.

In response, Iun Ioc Va, assistant coordinator of the Advisory Council of Community Services of the Islands, claimed that it is necessary to add more public houses but it is more important to make plans aiming for the future community development. A participant used the Seac Pai Van public housing to illustrate the negative impact that a lack of planning in the development of communities might cause. The Seac Pai Van public housing was built in the first instance, and only after that came the design for the development of a community. After so many years of changes, the facilities at Seac Pai Van are seriously lagging behind.

Wu Chou Kit, a member of the Urban Planning Council, also asked the government to plan before building. He indicated that a few private house buyers regret having bought their properties, after years of living in their homes, because the lands surrounding their houses have been approved for the construction of a power plant.

However, the aforementioned remarks, opinions and suggestions are believed by some people to be inert and incapable of contributing to any solutions concerning the public housing issues. Problems pile up because we have an incompetent government, said Iong Chong, one of the members of the audience at yesterdays forum. Our Chief Executive is interested in ribbon-cutting. He is not interested in work. The government is sleeping, it is incapable, said Iong.

Another member of the audience, Lam Meng, also commented that the government is not able to solve problems. The government is good at using money, [] if you have problems, go solve them by yourself, said Lam.

In conclusion, the four speakers urged the government to prioritize public housing, as long as the government possesses suitable lands. The speakers emphasized the importance of having public facilities and social services featured in the design of future projects. Staff reporter
The Education and Youth Affairs Bureau (DSEJ) has said in a statement that approximately 30 percent of non-tertiary schools are yet to cancel classes during the summer vacation. Leong Lai, Director of the DSEJ, claimed that her department continues to negotiate with these schools on the suspension of courses during summer time, according to a report by All About Macau.

Last week, the Macau Concealers revealed that Hou Kong middle-school reportedly forced students to participate in summer courses. In cases where the applicant was not enrolled in the summer program, the school requires the students to give a valid reason for not being present. Moreover, parents and students are also informed that the students are required to pay a monthly fee even if they only want to attend half of the program.

The DSEJ stressed that the Curriculum Framework for Formal Education of Local Education System states that no more than 195 school days can be assigned during one year. The DSEJ claimed that it has reminded local schools to gradually cancel summer courses, further declaring that current summer programs should be optional.

Director Leong reaffirmed on Saturday that the system limiting the number of school days to 195 intends to assist students in completing their studies within each semester. She also remarked that the department will keep in touch with schools to encourage them to arrange additional non-classroom activities for students in summer.
The Macau police notification mechanism with mainland security authorities has been operational since June 2001, the Public Security Forces Affairs Bureau (FSM) confirmed to the Times. A similar mechanism has existed in Hong Kong since 2001, but it apparently didnt work in the case of the missing booksellers.

Last week, the Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chun-

ying, revealed that he will talk with the Central Government in order to start discussions on a notification mechanism for cases of Hong Kong residents who are detained in mainland China.

The starting point, and to me its basic and fundamental, is that we want to know as soon as possible when a Hong Kong resident is arrested by a jurisdiction outside of Hong Kong. That applies to foreign governments and should also apply to the mainland, because we are two systems, Leung explained to the South China Morning Post.

Leungs contact with Beijing follows revelations made last month by bookseller Lam Wing-

kee. Lam is one of five booksellers who went missing for several months only to turn up later in mainland China, either detained or involved in investigations. According to the Associated Press, he returned to Hong Kong last month on the condition of providing information to Chinese authorities regarding buyers of the gossipy tomes on Chinas Communist leadership in which his company specialized in. However, Lam defied the orders and instead spoke out about his ordeal of being secretly detained on the mainland. His revelations sparked international concern that Beijing is eroding the one country two systems policy, which also applies to Macau.

The Times contacted the Government Spokesperson Office in order to find out if the MSAR is planning to introduce a mechanism similar to the one expected to be discussed between the Hong Kong Chief Executive and Beijing. We also inquired if there is any legal assistance provided by the MSAR government whenever a local resident is arrested in mainland China.

According to the reply sent in Chinese by FSM, the notification system was established via an agreement between the Office of the Secretary for Security together with the Office of Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan Affairs and the mainland Ministry of Public Security.

The agreement clarified that the mainland and Macau police authorities under the principles of mutual respect and support, as well as claiming to not interfere in each partys law enforcement operations, established the notification mechanism, under which both sides shall be responsible for giving notifications to the other party on the imposition of criminal compulsory measures, and unnatural deaths of residents of the other party, the FSM reply read, according to our translation.

The reply adds that the notification mechanism does not affect each partys implementation of its own imposition of criminal compulsory measures, and does not affect each partys protection of the right of the residents and their families.

FSM also noted that the Macau Secretariat for Administration and Justice and the Central Government are currently discussing a criminal justice assistance agreement.
A gaming research analyst has indicated that Macaus casinos might benefit from renewed interest soon, after newly elected president Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines said in his first cabinet meeting last week that he wants to stamp out online gambling.

Online gambling must stop. Its out of control, said Duterte just one day after he assumed office, as cited in The Philippine Star. I would suggest that sometime soon, licenses must be cut.

Although analysts said that the news was hardly a surprise, the comments did provoke a knee-jerk reaction in Philippine markets. Analysts cautioned not to read too much into the comment unless it is introduced as a policy.

However, following recent reports suggesting that Macaus gaming downturn could linger well into 2017 or later, a Sanford C. Bernstein analyst says that Dutertes latest suggestion could bode well for Macaus casinos.

The latest scrutiny could be a net positive for Macau casinos as these websites have previously targeted gamblers in China, wrote Bernsteins Vitaly Umansky in a note to Barrons Asia.

More importantly, it is unclear if any new government regulation or legislation could also target proxy betting in the form of online video streams occurring in junket rooms within Philippine casinos. Based on our channel check, Filipino junkets can generally receive a higher commission rate for such gaming activities, in the range of 1.3-2.1 percent of rolling chips, added Umansky.

Duterte explained that although the government is unable to collect taxes from online betting, that was not his main motivation for seeking to stamp out the practice. Well not exactly taxes [] I really do not want the proliferation of gambling all over the country, he emphasized.

The new Philippines president has been repeatedly criticized for his brash behavior and controversial statements. He has called for the death penalty to be reinstated and threatened to personally kill drug addicts, as well as encouraging his compatriots to do the same.

Duterte was also criticized last month for apparently endorsing the killings of corrupt journalists. Media groups condemned the statement believing that it could incite more murders in a nation that is already perilous for reporters. DB
Macaus gaming revenue fell less than analysts estimates in June as tourists and leisure gamblers helped boost the regions casinos including those owned by units of Las Vegas Sands Corp. and Wynn Resorts Ltd.

Gross gaming revenue fell 8.5 percent to 15.9 billion patacas (USD2 billion), the lowest level since September 2010 and marking 25 consecutive months of declines, according to data from Macaus Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau. That followed a 9.6 percent decrease in May and compares with the median estimate of an 9.5 percent drop by seven analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.

The mass market quietly continues to show modest growth  the market is heading into the right direction as we head into the openings of Wynn Palace and Parisian, said Grant Govertsen, an analyst in Union Gaming Group LLC. Macau gaming revenue could start rebounding from September driven by the new projects, he said.

Macaus casino operators have been shifting focus to tourists and recreational gamblers, with Wynn Macau Ltd.s Wynn Palace project scheduled to debut August 22 and Sands China Ltd.s Parisian expected to open September. Thats as the gambling slump in Macau extended beyond two years amid Chinas economic slowdown and corruption crackdown.

The $4.1 billion Wynn Palace will have 1,700 hotel rooms and feature a lake with gondolas and fountains, while the Parisian, costing $2.7 billion, will showcase a half-size replica of the Eiffel Tower.

Macau has been trying to reduce its reliance on gambling, which contributes about 80 percent of the former Portuguese colonys tax revenue. The citys government is planning stricter rules on the industry, including raising the entry threshold for gaming promoters.

Macau also banned phone betting in early May, a form of proxy betting favored by some high-stakes gamblers from China. The gaming regulator said June 17 it plans to introduce penalties for violations in its $30 billion gaming industry, as it plugs gaps in outdated laws including one banning phone-betting at casinos. MDT/Bloomberg
Tens of thousands of Hong Kongers took to the southern Chinese citys streets for an annual pro-democracy protest march Friday, as tensions persisted over the high-profile case of a bookseller secretly detained in the mainland.

Protesters waved placards calling for Hong Kongs independence from China and signs with photos of the bookseller, Lam Wing-kee, whose revelations last month about his ordeal rekindled concerns about Beijings tightening grip on the semiautonomous city.

Lam is one of five booksellers who went missing for months only to turn up later in mainland China, either detained or involved in investigations.

Their disappearances sparked international concern that Beijing was eroding Hong Kongs considerable autonomy and rule of law.

Lam returned to Hong Kong last month on the condition he provide information to Chinese authorities about buyers of the gossipy tomes on Chinas Communist leadership that his company specialized in. But he defied the orders and instead spoke out about his ordeal of being detained secretly on the mainland.

He was invited to lead this years procession but backed out hours before it began over safety fears, organizers said.

Albert Ho, a pro-democracy lawmaker who has been assisting Lam, said the bookseller noticed he had been followed by strangers the last two days.

He feels increasingly concerned about his own personal safety so he made up his mind and decided not to attend, Ho said, adding police had been notified. He said the identities of the people following Lam were unclear.

From Victoria Park, protesters set off in sultry heat on a route along streets lined with hundreds of police officers that ended at city government headquarters.

They called for Hong Kongs unpopular Beijing-backed leader, Chief Executive Leung Chun-Ying, to step down and for the Chinese government to grant the semiautonomous city full democracy.

Organizers said 110,000 people attended, while police there were 19,300 at the peak. The event is held on a holiday marking the day Beijing took control of Hong Kong in 1997 after more than a century and a half of British colonial rule.

Lams revelations add to growing fears that Beijing is clamping down on Hong Kongs civil liberties such as freedom of speech and eroding the one country, two systems principle governing mainland Chinas relationship with the city.

In a speech in Beijing, Chinese President Xi Jinping dismissed those concerns, saying no matter what difficulties and challenges we encounter, we are confident and determined that one country, two systems will never be shaken.

Billy Leung, a charity worker, said it was important to join the protest to voice anger over Lams case.

The fact that he and others were so blatantly made disappeared should be an alarm for everyone in Hong Kong. If you have a critical mind and you start criticizing what you think is not correct and not right, it could very well be you next time, he said. Kelvin Chan, Hong Kong , AP
During this time of year, colorful flags fill the narrow streets of Lisbons medieval Alfama district and the smell of sardines emanate from various stands, as residents celebrate Santos populares, the month of Popular Saints.

While historic traditions are still being celebrated in the neighborhood, Alfama is also one of the main areas in Lisbon undergoing tourism gentrification, as traditional cafes and restaurants give way to souvenir shops.

Not only are historic areas like this losing their original charm, but locals feel the unaffordable prices are driving them out of their city.

That was the subject of a debate at a conference organized recently by the Association for Heritage and Population of Alfama, which saw architects, sociologists, and other citizens get together to raise awareness about the effects of unplanned tourism.

The main objective of the debate was to get people together to understand that the course the country is taking is not the best one for people who live here, Maria Lurdes Pinheiro, head of the association, told Xinhua.

We also want to call the governments attention to these issues. What worries me the most is that the neighborhoods are being transformed solely for tourism.

We are not against tourism, but we want people to be able to live here, she added.

Portugal saw a record number of tourists visit the country in 2015, with over 10 million visitors and hotel revenue reaching around 2.5 billion euros (MOP24.74 billion). The country opened over 50 hotels last year and entrepreneurs have been redeveloping houses to rent for tourists in the old parts of the city.

Lisbon Mayor Fernando Medina has pointed out the benefits of tourism for the city, as the government tries to pick up the pieces after the country exited a 78-billion-

euro bailout in 2014, with unemployment still at 12 percent and debt hitting nearly 130 percent of GDP.

But as crumbling houses are revived and tourist accommodation soars, some locals fear they are being driven out of their own neighborhoods.

There is a lack of planning, and a devitalizing of historic neighborhoods, said Joao Seixas, professor of geography and regional planning at Lisbons Nova University.

Seixas pointed out that the governments ending rent control in 2012 led to a more dynamic market, but also had dire consequences.

It was positive, but at the same time, it led to precariousness, to evictions, he said.

Seixas suggested the government find a balance to benefit both proprietors and tenants.

Tourism and real estate investment exists because it is an attractive city and has an identity, he said. Benefits must be reverted to the citys quality of life. MDT/Xinhua
The recent Land Law and its enforcement has been fueling criticism by those who think the government is acting in an unfair way. The actions performed by the Secretariat for Transport and Public Works to reclaim the so-called idle lands have been controversial.

Developers, investors, law- makers, lawyers and real estate professionals consider the method of the current law enforcement is harming the image of Macau as well as the interests of those investing in the development of the territory.

Goncalo Mendes da Maia, a lawyer and partner of MdME Lawyers firm, which represents several interests in this dispute, told the Times that there are many exemplifiers of how several government departments are to blame for the current conflicting situation between the government and the land concessionaires.

The lawyer claims that the Land Law from 2013 is absurd, deeply unfair and that doesnt create a difference between those who breached the rules and those who didnt, treating everybody in the same way without distinction between the ones that are to blame and the ones that are not to [blame].

One of the most extreme examples may be the lands located in the Seac Pai Van area of Coloane were the majority of the land concessions in this area were granted back in 1990 for the industrial purpose of having a Quarry. The idea was then retracted in 1993 when due to the lack of success of the previous idea, the government asked all land owners if they wanted to change the purpose of the land to residential, which they accepted. However, the change was subjected to one condition: you can only develop the lands after we [the government] finish the urban planning for Seac Pai Van, which we are still working on, this was said in 1993 and remains until today, the lawyer said.

According to Mendes da Maia, during this period, hundreds of meetings were held with several government departments and officials that included the Land, Public Works and Transport Bureaus (DSSOPT) secretaries, and even consecutive chief executives. During these meetings, the promise was made that sooner or later this [the planning] will happen, and that the land concessionaires shouldnt be worried about [the problem].

The lawyer mentioned that his clients hopes were once again raised when in 2013 the Urban Planning Law was released. But nothing happened and now, 25 years after [the initial grant], the government comes to say: we know we were responsible but still you must give back the land, and these are the facts, he concluded.

In juridical terms, the same source says, both the old and the new [land] law allow the extension of the usage period for cause not imputable to the concessionaire, what generally means that in case the concessionaire cannot use the land by a reason that he is not the one to blame because its possible to request a renewal or an extension of that time to the Chief Executive.

Referring to the specific case of the lands in Seac Pai Van area, the lawyer added: We didnt even put this [request of a development time extension] as an option because there wasnt even a possibility to develop since there was no change on the land usage purpose to residential, and no other deadline was established for the development, he remarked.

Mendes da Maia says that what makes it worse is that in 2010 the government itself, by the hand of the Secretary Lau Si Io, decided that was necessary to investigate the case, ordering DSSOPT to study the so-called case of the 113 lands whose development period had expired.

After an in-depth analysis by a committee of specialists created by the DSSOPT, it was concluded that in 48 cases there was responsibility attributed to the concessionaires and those lands were to be reclaimed promptly. But there were another 65 lands the committee considered that the concessionaires were not responsible for the non-development. This means that in 2010, the government acknowledged that there is a difference and that these people need to be treated in a different way, he said, concluding: This is what makes sense. [] This is the base of our Roman legal system.

The lawyer states that in the origin of all the conflicts is the article in the law that states temporary concessions cannot be renewed. This does not recognize any kind of distinctions, attributing responsibility for this problem to both the government that allows this to happen and of the Legislative Assembly (AL) which approved this law.

The issue was last addressed on December 10, 2015 during the Policy Address debate at the AL, when two of the lawmakers who voted in favor of the approval of the law, Gabriel Tong and Leonel Alves expressed their concerns, with Alves stating clearly: I have been fooled, so I have to apologize to the people.

I voted for the current Land Law because I understood that common sense would prevail in cases where projects and loans for the development of the concessions had already been approved, he said, recalling a talk with the former secretary Lau Si Io in the AL committee where he was told that solutions to previous concessions would be found. Mr Alves at that time said, I asked what would be the solution. [Lau Si Io] said that a solution would be found at the time.

Gregory Ku, managing-director for Macau of the Real Estate consultancy company Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL), commented on the Land Law, saying: This is the most difficult topic to address in Macau, no one has a good answer to this, not even the government.

The realtor stated that from the government side, the position is quite clear at the moment with the Secretary for Transport and Public Works, Raimundo do Rosario saying that everything will be conducted according to the new Land Law, and he can make no decision aside from claiming the [land involved in] expired concessions. In the case of any objections the case has to go to the courts.

There isnt any new idea [from government side] regarding that because law is law thats what he said, Mr Ku recalled. In his opinion as a real estate expert, the current law is too strict because there are many different cases; in some of them there is obviously a problem from the government, as there are others where the problem is from the concessionaire. Due to this disparity, it is unnecessary to simply say that once a land concession is expired the government has to claim [the land]. I dont think this should be applicable to all cases.

Gregory Ku thinks that a reasonable and easy way to amend the current law would be to pass a mechanism of evaluation of the responsibility on the non-development of the land. In cases where the government is to blame, maybe they could give an extension lets say of five years or so to repair the problem, he suggested, adding that if the government really doesnt want to change the law, then it is necessary to have a more creative solution rather than go to the courts and drag the process out another 10 or 20 years. Maybe an arbitration procedure could work also as long as its decisions would have legal effects. He concluded by saying: Whatever is chosen, there should be a way of making it fast and fair because the current solution is really not good for the government as it is creating a bad image and scaring away international and even local investors that are hesitant and scared to invest in Macau as the Macau government is showing itself as a non-negotiable entity.

Mr Ku noted that there are structural problems and bureaucracies that take a long time, and that together with the uncertainty regarding the governments decisions in the future, it creates unexpected problems even in perfectly cleared lands.

Patrick Wong, a foreign investor in Macau for more than 12 years, agrees with Mr Kus belief that the government is scaring away investors. Mr Wong is also one of those involved in the Nam Van Development Company that held the land concession of the lots C and D of Nam Van lake area. To him, the current law is the most idling thing to Macaus future. It is beyond comprehension by a normal person, he said to the Times.

According to the investor, analysis is needed to assess why foreigner investors decide to invest in the territory. In his opinion, the key factor is that there is a very clear cut Basic Law that protects interests of foreigner investors.

When we come to invest, we need to be blessed by good lawyers as we cannot complete an acquisition of a transaction without a legal opinion. This is very important because without a very clear legal opinion, we would never have completed the deal, he added.

Mr Wong said that there was a procedure list starting from the Official Gazette notice and the alignment plan that would give the developers a clear idea on what could be built and where, followed by a very strict and complicated process of submissions and approvals by the DSSOPT that go all the way to different pile testing, among others.

You need approval for anything in Macau, even to test the piles required by DSSOPT you need a license. In my case, we tested 200 different piles on the land to give an idea of the procedures. But what matters the most is as you progress in your project there is a very clear indication from the government if they have the intention to let you continue. In our case, we stopped due to UNESCO, they said. They forced us to stop because they [the government] said that they needed a master plan for this area.

Mr Wong continued: What matters the most is not my case in particular but all the cases in a bundle, and a search on DSSOPT website under the information for land reveals clearly a separation between the 48 pieces of land that [in which the concessionaires] were considered guilty since the concessionaire didnt do their job. And those 65 [lands] which are considered not guilty, and this happens for four main reasons: 1- because the general building plan has been approved; 2- because you are in the process of changing the Gazette since after you are approved and you pay land premium and them you need to adjust the Gazette; 3- because of Master planning; and 4- you are in a legal dispute. And we are talking about something that was done by [former-Secretary] Lau Si Io in between 2009 and 2011. This results from a two-year study ordered by him while, at the same time, he was the one leading in the behalf of the government to construct the new land law, he recalled.

This can only make me fully believe that his legislative intention was not to blame these people as these points were also discussed in the AL Committee afterwards, Mr Wong remarked, stressing that these people [lawmakers] who voted in favor of the Land Law were led to believe that there were also solutions for those who were not guilty. He added that the other option is to believe that the former-Secretary Lau Si Io lied to the legislators.

Otherwise we are forced to believe that he completely lied to the AL members and he should be trialed for treason. But lets assume that is not the case, he concluded stating that in between the two options might be a third one in which this government is just having a misinterpretation of what former Secretary Lau did previously.

Land law impact to be discussed today

A Forum on the impacts of the Land Law to the investment, economy and society of Macau will be held this afternoon at the World Trade Center. The event is organized by the Nam Van Development Company Ltd. and will be attended by several experts. It aims to give to the public a clear idea on the status of the lands currently in process of being claimed by the government after the expiration of the concessions and namely the ones located on the lots C and D of Nam Van Lakes.

Govt reply: Secretary acting by the book

In a reply to the Times regarding the topic of the Land Law and the criticism arising regarding its current application, the Office of the Secretary for Transport and Public Works stated that since the laws entry into force back in 2014, the government has been dealing with related issues in accordance with the new legal provisions. The Secretary for Transport and Public Works has performed strictly according to that laws stipulations. In case there are opinions from society to change some of the law articles, those opinions will be dealt with according to the procedures applied.

tong delivers proposal to amend land law

One of the least satisfied lawmakers regarding the current situation of the Land Law is Gabriel Tong, who is also deputy director of the Law School of the University of Macau. He has stated that in his opinion the current interpretation of the Land Law is an absurd. According to newspaper Hoje Macau, Tong has already presented a proposal to the Legislative Assembly (AL) on making amendments to the current Land Law. This proposal aims to allow concessionaires to require a decision from the Chief Executive for either a suspension or extension on the concession period of a land based on the non-accountability of the concessionaire for the non development on the expected and originally assigned timeframe. I have high expectations that the proposal gets approval. It aims to solve a very serious situation in juridical terms, Tong said.
A new charge has been leveled against Macau billionaire and real estate developer, Ng Lap Seng, who is currently standing trial in New York on accusations of bribing United Nations officials.

In addition to the bribes allegedly handed to the recently deceased former president of the UNs General Assembly, John Ashe, Ng is now being charged with having provided benefits to one or more officials from the UNs Development Program (UNDP) to garner their support for the construction of a conference centre in Macau.

Also introduced last week by a federal grand jury in Manhattan, was the accusation that Ng and his assistant, Jeff Yin, had agreed to continue payments to Ashe even after he left office.

Prosecutors say that Ng provided over USD 500,000 in an attempt to secure Ashes support for a Macau conference centre that Ngs company would develop, and would serve as the billionaires legacy.

Last week it was reported that the former UN General Assembly president had died in a weightlifting accident when a barbell he was lifting from a bench dropped on his neck. It is being regarded as an accident according to police authorities.

The new indictment also expands the time frame of the allegeds crimes from 2014 to September 2015, when Ng and Yin were arrested.

Ngs Sun Kian Ip Group is tied to a USD1.5 million (MOP12 million) donation to the UN Office for South-South Cooperation, which focuses on promoting collaboration among developing countries, particularly in the southern hemisphere.

A UNDP audit released in May said that the funds had been partly used to cover the costs of a now-controversial conference in Macau in August 2015, which was co-sponsored by Sun Kian Ip Group.

According to UN sources, organizers had explained to UN delegates on arrival in Macau that the conference was a paperless event, and 64GB iPads with the companys logo engraved on their back were provided to attendees. No attempt was made to reclaim the devices at the conclusion to the conference and three UN staff members returned the iPads only after the commencement of the audit. DB
Lawmaker Ng Kuok Cheong told the Times that the Land Law can only be considered unfair by those that feel that they cannot earn so much money, so they feel its unfair.

To protect the general interest of Macaus population, the law is ok, because all the concessionaires got the land when Macau was still very poor and they had enough time to develop, especially after 1999, Ng argues. They already earn a lot of money from different lands. They already profit too much. I dont think the Land Law needs to be amended, he concluded, adding that most of lands not developed are due to the lack of ability of the developers to develop it and because they were granted too many lands at the same time, choosing to develop only the ones that were most profitable.

According to Ng, Macau benefits more if the lands are returned to the society and more public houses can be built on them.

Another lawmaker, Pereira Coutinho noted, it is a government competence to present any proposal regarding the need of amendments. Otherwise we might be doing things that are contrary to the original idea from the legislator [] that would be appropriate to listen to the government opinion on the matter as we cannot forget that this law was approved with a majority of votes.

Coutinho says that now is not the proper time to raise this matter. At the moment, there is a system that allows appeals to the courts and there is a jurisprudence on this matter, he stated.

Secretary Raimundo do Rosario has addressed this issue several times, most notably during his latest visits to the AL plenary. We are doing everything according to the law, he repeatedly stated, adding that he personally has no legislative power.

Lawyer Goncalo Mendes da Maia tends to agree: The secretary is a bureaucrat, not a decision maker. He is not the Chief Executive. Mr Mendes added he [the secretary] is correct when he says that with this law I can only declare the caducity of the lands as secretary he doesnt have another way to proceed.
Dozens of caimans are on the verge of death because of a harsh drought that has hit a wide desert zone of Paraguay known as the Chaco Boreal.

Owners of the areas San Jorge Hacienda have tried to rescue the adult and newborn yacare caimans by drilling 18 wells to collect water that is then transported to reservoirs normally used for cattle. During a recent visit, Associated Press journalists found two dead caimans in the area and several others agonizing in the mud. The yacare caiman is found in central South American, including the rivers of Paraguay.

The caimans were seen about a few miles outside of Fortin General Diaz, a small community with army barracks near the Pilcomayo River, which is born in the Andean foothills in Bolivia and serves as a natural border between Argentina and Paraguay.

The small fort for which the community is named for is about 310 miles west of the capital Asuncion and can only be reached by land by driving on an unpaved road. The waters from the Pilcomayo river stopped reaching this area after a massive flood earlier this year changed its course to Argentine territories. The entry point of the river into Paraguay remains blocked with sediment.

Everyone is demanding a final solution but theres no end in sight to this problem because the river goes where it wants to go, said Edwin Pauls, governor of the affected state of Boqueron. He added that wild animals such as capybaras, as well as the yacare caimans and other reptiles, continue to suffer during the drought.

The government of Argentinas Formosa province has been working to unclog the mouth of the river, which only receives abundant water twice a year through the melting of ice from the Andes.

Alcides Gonzalez, manager of a large farm in the area, said workers have relocated livestock to give the caimans a larger space to survive. Gonzalez said that some Mennonite communities living nearby have offered to donate food for the caimans. By Pedro Servin, AP
A protest yesterday against an incinerator in a southern Chinese town turned violent as some people attempted to break into government offices and police were injured, residents and authorities said.

The protesters in Lubu town in Guangdong province oppose a project to build an incinerator that would also generate power. Residents reached by phone said they had spontaneously taken to the streets by the thousands because they fear the incinerator might contaminate the air and drinking water.

The protest was sparked by an announcement Saturday afternoon by Lubu town government that land requisition work for the project and the project itself were being stopped, without giving any reason.

Residents said people were concerned the halt was just temporary. The notice was released by Lubu town government, but the project is led by Zhaoqing city government so the notice issued by the town government is not enough, said a resident and restaurant worker who would only gave his surname, Yu.

Protests against incinerators and chemical plants are becoming more frequent inChina as citizens concerns grow over threats to public health. Local governments are faced with the mounting challenge of disposing the waste generated in ever-larger cities, and public distrust over their ability to properly plan, build and manage such projects.

Local authorities tend to announce they will halt plans for incinerators after angry protests by residents, wanting to restore order.

Yesterday, Yu estimated that about 10,000 people had earlier gathered at the towns main street and near a national highway, and that 3,000 or more police officers were present.

A propaganda department of Zhaoqing citys Gaoyao district, which oversees Lubu town with a population of more than 70,000, said police were injured.

In a post on its official Sina Weibo account, Gaoyaos Communist Party committee propaganda department said that around noon some ordinary people who are unaware of the truth led by some troublemakers attempted to storm the Lubu town government and attacked and injured some police officers who were trying to maintain order. It said those people should surrender themselves to police and people at the government offices should leave the site immediately.

A man who answered the phone at the propaganda department said he could give no more details. A man who picked up the phone at Lubu police station said he wasnt authorized to talk to the media. A woman from Lubu government said there had been no protest at all and hung up.

The post by the Gaoyao propaganda department was removed later yesterday afternoon. Photos of the protest also posted on Sina Weibo had earlier apparently been taken down by censors.

A resident who only gave her surname, Lin, said the planned incinerator was only about 2 kilometers from the town and close to the Xijiang River, and residents had first protested in fewer numbers last weekend.

We worry about air and water pollution, she said. The river is a major source of our drinking water. Louise Watt, Beijing , AP
Thailand is smitten by Japan: Sushi restaurants fill the malls, Issey Miyakes luxury Bao Bao bags are all the rage and Thai tourists are flocking to Japan in record numbers to visit a country many view as a role model.

I love Japan. They really put their heart into whatever they do, says Aunyawee Sahachalermphat, 26, who has traveled to Japan more than a dozen times since studying there five years ago and owns at least 10 Comme des Garcons shirts, another popular brand that sounds French but is actually Japanese.

Like many Thais, she loves Japanese food and admires the quality of its products and its advanced, orderly economy that retains a respect for tradition. We look up to them, she says.

Japan, too, has a soft spot for Thailand, although it doesnt loom nearly as large in the public mind. Its seen more as a warm, easygoing tourist spot  a welcome break from Japans often onerous social codes  and a vital production and export hub for more than 4,500 Japanese companies, including behemoths such as Toyota, Honda and Canon.

All this has resulted in a mutual affection between these two nations thats rare in Asia, where historical, political and territorial tensions often complicate ties.

Typical of many in her generation, Aunyawee traces her positive feelings to watching Japanese cartoons such as Doraemon and Sailor Moon as a child. As an adult, she instinctively trusts anything Made in Japan and admires the courteous, subdued manners of many Japanese  widespread sentiments among Thais.

Economic and bureaucratic changes have helped foster these ties. Three years ago, Japan waived visas for Thais for up to 15 days, prompting tourist numbers to surge to nearly 800,000 last year, up five-fold from 2011.

As Thai incomes have grown and budget carriers such as AirAsia have intensified competition, trips to Japan have become more affordable. Likewise, Japanese tourists can now fly from Tokyo to Bangkok for about the same price as to Okinawa, in southern Japan.

There seems to be a cultural affinity between these two peoples  a gentleness, an aversion to conflict and an emphasis on proper etiquette  that creates a sense of familiarity and safety.

Yet there are still enough intriguing differences to make the other culture appealing in a non-threatening way.

Buddhism, for example, has influenced both countries, although in Thailand it plays a more overt role and it is epitomized by brilliantly colored temples and monks in orange robes, while in Japan it takes on a more subdued form. Both countries have royal families, although the Thai king holds greater sway over society than the emperor does in Japan.

Theres a kindred feeling with Thais, more so than with other Asians, said Mariko Uehara, an English instructor from Chigasaki, southwest of Tokyo, who recently visited Thailand for a second time since 2012. We have something in common that makes us feel secure. Some 1.38 million Japanese tourists came to Thailand last year, a similar level to previous years.

Japan and Thailand arent encumbered by historical baggage that has strained ties with their respective neighbors.

Tokyos ties with China and South Korea are tainted by territorial disputes and lingering resent

ment over Japans aggression before and during World War II. After briefly resisting Japanese troops, Thailand formally became an ally of Tokyo during most of the war and served as a supply base and so suffered less. Japans infamous Death Railway in western Thailand was built by British, U.S. and Australian POWs and thousands of other Asians.

Japans rosy image here has been partly shaped by popular books, TV dramas and movies.

Khu Kam, a novel that has been made into movies many times  titled Sunset on the Chaophraya in English  depicts a wartime romance between a Japanese naval officer and a Thai woman in the resistance. He manages to win her over before being killed.

Japanese food, once considered a delicacy in Thailand, has become more affordable and popular as more than 2,300 Japanese restaurants have opened up across the country, tripling since 2008.

Now a top reason Thais want to go to Japan is to eat authentic Japanese food  in Japan.

Chaitee Tandhanskul, a 29-year-old manager in his familys chemical business, says he makes bookings at restaurants in Japan weeks ahead of time, and bases his itinerary around those reservations.

Ive traveled many times to Japan just for the culinary experience, he said.

Japan is more popular than previous favorites Hong Kong or Singapore because its much more exotic and less robotic, said Chaitee, who also roams the country taking pictures.

Taking their cues from Thai fashion magazines and websites that highlight the latest Japanese styles, Thai women line up in Tokyo to buy Issey Miyakes Bao Bao brand bags, which can cost several hundred dollars and have become a staple of Bangkoks fashion elite. Shiseido cosmetics, Kenzo shoes and Casio G-Shock watches are also hot.

Many Thais also like Japan because it is safe and they believe they wont get cheated by shopkeepers or taxi drivers, said Kavi Chongkittavorn, a senior fellow at Chulalongkorn Universitys Institute of Security and International Studies.

The two countries economies have become increasingly intertwined.

Thailands importance to Japanese manufacturers was made plain when severe flooding here in 2011 swamped many factories and suppliers, disrupting markets as far away as Chicago and London, Japanese Ambassador Shiro Sadoshima said in an interview.

We need to think in terms of being in the same boat as they are  that whatever Thailand is doing well is good for Japan, too, said Sadoshima, who was surprised to find a big Ippudo restaurant in Bangkok serving ramen noodles native to his home island of Kyushu.

Its bigger and grander than the main shop in Japan, he said.

Japans official development aid to Thailand shows up prominently in places like the Thai-Japanese Bridge sign  with national flags  on a flyover at a major Bangkok intersection. Assistance from Tokyo helped build 14 of the 21 bridges across the Chao Phraya River that runs through the capital. Officials from the two countries are doing feasibility studies on three high-speed railway lines that would cross the country, the ambassador said.

Bangkok has a large Japanese community, many of whom live clustered in an area that resembles parts of Tokyo, with Japanese eateries and yakitori shops lining side streets and Thai hostesses calling out in Japanese. There are at least a couple streets of go-go bars devoted to Japanese customers.

Each country offers something appealingly different to the other.

The very discipline and proper etiquette that Thais admire about Japanese culture can become an enormous burden to some Japanese who find Thailands easygoing, accepting ways a welcome refuge.

Kazue Takenaga moved with her three children to Bangkok two years ago to escape the growing educational and social pressures facing her family, especially her 11-year-old daughter. Her husband had car parts factories in Thailand, so she decided to move here and enroll her children in an international school because the country and environment seemed more accepting and diverse than Japan, and yet also familiar.

Its so good that we came to Thailand, she said. Our familys overall health is much better. The lifestyle is much easier here. The thought of returning to Japan is daunting.

Thais, meanwhile, want to see and experience things in Japan they cant at home, like snow, cherry blossoms and colored autumn leaves  without traveling all the way to Europe or North America, said Tanong Prakuptanon, who runs a Japanthaifanclub Facebook page, which has tips for travelers and more than 230,000 followers.

Its different, but not too foreign, he said. Its a dream destination. By Malcolm Foster in Bangkok , AP
Australias era of political chaos continued on Saturday, with a general election failing to deliver an immediate victor and raising the prospect of a hung parliament.

Hours after the polls closed, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull sounded a confident tone despite early results showing his conservative Liberal Party-led coalition in a virtual tie with the opposition center-left Labor Party.

Based on the advice I have from the party officials, we can have every confidence that we will form a coalition majority government in the next parliament, Turnbull said in a speech to cheering supporters early yesterday morning.

Opposition leader Bill Shorten did not speculate on a Labor victory but celebrated the strong swing to his party only three years after it was convincingly dumped from power in the last election. There is one thing for sure. The Labor Party is back, he said in a speech to supporters.

Parties need to hold at least 76 seats in the 150-seat House of Representatives to form a government. When the count was suspended early yesterday, the Australian Electoral Commission said Labor was leading in 72 seats, Turnbulls coalition in 66 seats, and minor parties or independents in five seats. Counting was less clear in another seven seats.

The final tally was not expected to be known until tomorrow, after mail-in ballots and those cast ahead of Saturdays election were counted. In past elections, these votes have favored the conservatives.

Just two possibilities remain: The coalition will win by the slimmest of margins, or there will be a hung parliament.

Nick Xenophon, leader of the Nick Xenophon Team minor party, would not say yesterday which side his partys sole lawmaker in the House of Representatives might support in a hung parliament.

It still looks more likely than not that Malcolm Turnbull will have the numbers  just, Xenophon, a senator, told Nine Network television.

But if he doesnt, then its a question of sitting down in good faith with both sides to go through a number of key issues that are in the national interest, he added. These issues included maintaining manufacturing and farming jobs in Australia and reducing problem gambling in the community.

Turnbull called the rare early election  dubbed a double dissolution because both the House and the Senate are dissolved  in a bid to break a legislative deadlock over a bill that would have created a construction industry watchdog. But the result of the election may bring further deadlock: If neither party earns a majority of seats in the House, both Labor and the coalition will be forced to try to forge alliances with independent lawmakers to form a minority government.

Hung parliaments are extremely rare in Australia, with only two since 1940. The most recent was in 2010, when then-Prime Minister Julia Gillards ruling Labor Party was forced to secure an alliance with the minor Greens party and three independent lawmakers to form a fragile minority government. Three years later, the coalition swept to power after winning 90 seats.

Treasurer Scott Morrison said he thought the coalition would ultimately be able to form a majority government once all the votes were counted. But Labors only hope was to form a minority government.

Tony Abbott, the prime minister ousted by Turnbull in September in an internal party showdown due to poor opinion polling, declined to say yesterday whether he would have led a stronger campaign.

Im just not going to speculate on that. The fact is that I didnt, Abbott told reporters outside his Sydney home. Its obviously been an extremely tight result.

Saturdays elections continue an extraordinarily volatile period in the nations politics, where internal party squabbling and fears over sagging poll ratings have prompted five changes of prime minister in as many years.

Amid the chaos, Labor and the coalition each tried to paint themselves as the safer, more stable choice. But selling stability was a tough job for either party, both of which have been marred by infighting in recent years. Bill Shorten played a key role in ousting two of Labors own prime ministers in the space of three years, and Turnbull himself ousted Abbott less than a year ago. Up until 2007, conservative John Howard served as prime minister for nearly 12 years.

On Saturday, Shorten accused Turnbull of failing to deliver the economic reform and steady leadership Australians want.

Whatever happens next week, Mr. Turnbull will never be able to claim that the people of Australia have adopted his ideological agenda, Shorten told supporters. He will never again be able to promise the stability which he has completely failed to deliver tonight.

Monash University political expert Nick Economou said Turnbulls leadership had been terminally damaged by his decision to call the early election. It involved the longest campaign since 1969 and appeared to have delivered several hard-line social conservatives and right-wingers to the Senate that the moderate prime minister would have difficulty working with if his government survives, Economou said.

What an amazing amount of political damage Malcolm Turnbull has been able to inflict in a very short period of time as prime minister, Economou said. I think his credibility is shot to pieces.

Opinion polls had predicted a close race, but had largely tipped the government to win by a narrow margin. Several government ministers blamed the surprisingly strong result for Labor on what they dubbed a dishonest campaign that claimed the conservatives were threatening Australias universal health care system known as Medicare.

Even today people were talking about not being able to afford health care because we were going to get rid of Medicare. It was utter rubbish, Liberal Party Deputy Leader Julie Bishop told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. But what do you do when one party relies on a monstrous lie to get elected?

Two weeks before the election, Shorten ramped up his campaign on health policy by describing the poll as a referendum on the future of Medicare. A Labor government introduced the government-funded program in 1984 to provide free or subsidized health care for all Australian citizens and permanent residents.

Labor accused the government of planning to privatize Medicare  a claim Turnbull dismissed as an audacious scare campaign.

But aside from the privatization debate, Shorten also promised to better fund Medicare than the government. He vowed to increase the government subsidies paid to private doctors to treat patients. The government had frozen the subsidy rate for the next four years, with many patients likely to be charged more for consultations.

Shorten also promised to restore incentives paid to private companies to provide free X-ray and pathology services to patients. The government cut those incentives from July 1.

The government focused much of its campaign on a promise to generate jobs and economic growth through tax cuts to big businesses. Economic growth is a key issue for many Australians, who have seen thousands of jobs vanish from the countrys once-booming resources sector amid Chinas industrial slowdown.

Labor has said it will keep the higher tax rates and use the revenue to better fund schools and hospitals.

Saturdays uncertain result suggests the era of volatility in Australian politics is set to continue, said Deakin University political scientist Geoff Robinson. It was difficult for modern governments to make tough and unpopular decisions as tax revenues decline with the slowing Chinese economy and low commodity prices. Rod McGuirk, Canberra, AP
Members of Zimbabwe Republic Police are lucky to be alive after they were captured by an armed group of Renamo fighters from Mozambique.

The 3 lost their guns and were released without being harmed.

The incident at Sango Border Post indicates a volatile security situation on the other side of the Manica Province where Mozambique government forces are fighting Renamo bandits.

As civil conflict continues in the neighbouring nation, Zimbabwe police officers have been deployed to patrol the area near Sango Border Crossing to protect the Zimbabweans. The incident could create more tension after the three officers were later returned to Zimbabwe without their guns and identity particulars.

The three cops who were captured are Assistant Inspector Sibanda, Nyamukaiwa and Mjele. The three were part of a 14 member Support Unit team deployed to patrol the Sango border area.
MT. VERNON, Mo.  Ten years ago, Mike Meier, a fourth-generation dairy farmer, was about to call it quits. Workdays at his Monett farm were long and tiring, and he wasnt making much money.

Then his friend Tony Rickard, a regional dairy specialist who worked at the Southwest Research Center, told him about a pasture-based dairy operation there: 98 well-manicured acres, grazed and fertilized by 85 content, productive dairy cows, the Columbia Missourian (http://bit.ly/29tyhC4 ) reports.

The dairy operation, which opened in 1999, inspired many farmers to switch to pasture-based farming, where cows roam and graze on pasture rather than being confined and living on mostly dry feed.

Meier decided to give it a try  one last experiment before retiring.

Meiers father, whod been a confinement dairy farmer, was skeptical.

Do you really think this is going to work? Meiers father asked Rickard.

Rickard said, Yeah, he will do better than ever.

Mike Meier sold his machinery, which he calls the heavy metal, and converted his dairy with Rickards help.

The operation thrived. With conventional dairy farming, hed needed to give his cows 55 pounds of feed every day to produce 75 pounds of milk. With pasture-based dairy farming, his cows produce the same amount of milk on 10 pounds of feed in addition to grazing.

Meiers father was amazed. Meier couldnt believe he was making money and working less.

He wasnt alone among area farmers in discovering that a pasture-based dairy operation has economic, social and environmental benefits. The designer of the pasture-based dairy operation, Ron Young, said that during his time at the research farm, he helped create over 100 pasture-based dairy farms in southwest Missouri.

The university rarely has a program that was this successful, Craig Roberts, a state forage specialist, said.

The dairy operation became a hub for local dairy farmers, a place to exchange ideas and experiment with cross-breeding cows and different types of grass. Throughout the year, local farmers met up for pasture walks, going farm to farm learning new styles of dairying.

So in April 2015 when the Southwest Research Center announced it was ending  or refocusing  its pasture dairy experiment, Meier and other farmers who had looked to the Center for ideas, collaboration and support on their own farms were more than surprised. It made no sense to them.

They didnt know that an administrative assistant named Carla Rathmann, a friendly woman theyd met at events at the center, had contributed enormously to the pasture dairys demise. A recent internal audit investigation of the Southwest Research Center showed she embezzled more than $743,000 in university funds over a 15-year period, which contributed to the Centers total deficit of $1,012,629.

Rathmann pleaded guilty to one count each of mail fraud and credit card fraud on June 6 after a federal grand jury investigation that found shed embezzled $716,665 over nine years.

They ripped off our research farm. (Im) really upset with it, Meier said.

The idea

In the 1990s, Missouri lost more than one third of its dairies. There were 2,700 dairy farms in the state in 1993 and just 1,700 in 2000.

That, in part, inspired Rickard and Stacey Hamilton, a state dairy specialist, to do something about the decline. They thought a new pasture-based model would help, so they decided to convert part of the Southwest Research Center to a pasture-based dairy.

They approached the dean of the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources at the time, Roger Mitchell, and discussed the potential impact a pasture-based dairy at the Center could have.

Mitchell approved the concept and agreed to provide $20,000 and pay part of the labor the first two years  seed money.

The group also solicited funds from dairy agri-businesses and individual producers.

Once they had what they needed, they began construction in 1998. The dairy operation was launched, and milking began in 1999.

University Extension funded the educational side of the research center to help study and collect data from the dairy operation. Roberts, Rickard and Hamilton were a part of that team.

In 2006, the research farm hosted the first Missouri Dairy Grazing Conference for farmers to share their knowledge about pasture-based farming and new research. The conference attracted 200 people from 21 states, Ireland and New Zealand. So many people showed up that the conference had to hold some sessions at the National Guard Armory in Monett.

The dairy operation influenced at least one company to move to southwest Missouri: New Zealand-based Grassland Consultants, an international grazing dairy operation. The dairy owns 7,000 cows in the state, accounting for 8 percent of Missouris dairy cows.

The growth of pasture-based dairies slowed the decline in the number of dairy cows, according to an MU Extension report. In 2011 there were 95,000 cows in the state, and in 2013 there were 92,000 cows  25,000 of them pasture-based cows.

The number declined in 2015 to 88,000 cows, according to the Missouri Dairy Industry Revitalization Study published by MU Extension in January 2015.

Although the number of dairy cows is still falling in Missouri, every dollar of milk sales in Missouri contributes $3.12 to Missouris economy, according to the 2014 Extension report. From 2005 to 2014 the growth of new dairies created $100 million in new investment, $40 million in annual milk sales and 1,110 jobs, according to the report.

The glowing Extension report was from 2014. The Southwest Research Centers dairy operation closed the next year.

The closing

In April 2015, local newspapers reported that the dairy operation was switching its focus, one that didnt include dairy cows. They based the news on a release from the Southwest Missouri News, an MU Extension publication: Pasture-based dairy program at Southwest Research Center accomplishes goals, will refocus research efforts.

The news didnt make sense to farmers in the area.

When Meier heard of the closure, he called the dean of MUs College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources, Thomas Payne. He told Payne he couldnt understand why the pasture dairy was closing.

Payne decided to make the trip to Mt. Vernon, where he met with 20 local dairy farmers. Meier was there. He recalled that the farmers expressed dismay over the pasture dairys closing. Payne listened, but it was a done deal.

Bernie Van Dalfsen, a pasture-based dairy farmer from Reeds, 22 miles west of Mt. Vernon, recalled Payne blaming the closing on employment issues and financial losses, which seemed vague to Van Dalfsen.

It bothered him that the farmers hadnt had a chance to voice their concerns, that the decision had already been made.

Where did it all of a sudden go wrong? Van Dalfsen said.

A key factor

It was David Cope, hired as the Centers superintendent in July 2014, who discovered the financial irregularities. Cope has a banking background and didnt think the operation should be losing so much money. He became suspicious about those losses in March 2015, according to previous Missourian reporting.

According to the June audit of the Center, the last year that the dairy was in operation, 2014, it accounted for about one half of the Centers total deficit of $1,012,629. So, the dairys deficit was $468,784, and the general operations ran a deficit of $543,845. The successful dairy operations deficit didnt add up.

Rickard said that with research, deficits arent unusual. So it wasnt a surprise that the dairy operation was running a deficit. It was the amount of the deficit that was confusing, particularly because the dairy operation was at or below the level of other pasture-based dairy operations, he said.

Our dairy was doing economically well. We (Hamilton and Rickard) really didnt understand how it could be losing that much money, Rickard said. We were a little perplexed why they were saying that we were losing more money than we thought we were.

Rickard recalled one of the few instances that he saw the dairys expenses. He saw a cordless drill billed as a dairy expense  a drill that Rickard never saw. It made him wonder what other expenses were being attributed to the dairy.

But he didnt have access to the Centers books. He had to take her at her word when Rathmann said the research farm was losing money.

We didnt have access to all that information from the Center. There was nobody for us to argue with, Rickard said. In retrospect, now that everything has come out, even though I didnt see the numbers, it was obvious that we werent losing money. It was something else.

Cope cited other factors in the pasture dairys demise. For example, the dairys connection to MU meant that it had to adhere to certain labor rules that a privately owned farm wouldnt have to follow. There also were maintenance issues.

Former research farm manager Steve Stamate, who said he had experience at 10 dairy farms, said the Centers milking barn was the worst hed ever worked in.

It was alright for a prototype, but its not what it should be, Stamate said.

For example, the feeders, drains, platforms  even the slope of the floors  were incorrectly designed, he said. Those flaws made the barn hard to keep clean.

It bothered him that the barn was presented as a model.

This is what we started with, and then go to Bernie Van Dalfsen or someone elses (barn), and look at their barn because it was an evolution-type thing, and it got better and better, Stamate said.

Rickard said these complaints are new to him. He retired in 2014 and never had an issue with the maintenance.

I respect their opinion, but (when I was there) two years ago, no one told me we ever had an issue in there, Rickard said. I am sure there are always maintenance issues, but no different than that of anyone elses house.

Rickard said the maintenance issues would have cost no more than a couple thousand dollars to address and certainly didnt explain the deficit.

Cope said the closure seemed to be the most appropriate course with the information known at the time. By all accounts, he said, the dairy was an overwhelming success, but it had served its purpose.

Reactions and repercussions

Farmers and researchers say the pasture dairy brought farmers together around an idea and was a center of community.

We got to interact with each other and discuss what works for us and the center and each other, Van Dalfsen said.

It was also a way for farmers to test different types of grass, artificial insemination breeding and other ideas of potential benefits to farmers in the area. The research allowed farmers to experiment on a smaller herd of cows without putting their own milk production at risk.

Van Dalfsen said he misses that sense of community with other farmers.

We are now off in our own little world, he said. Its a lot easier when you can work together as a team. Because of that, we dont get together as we once did.

The closest grazing dairy research is now in North Carolina, he said. But the difference in climates and soil means that research isnt beneficial to Missouri farmers.

What applies to North Carolina doesnt apply here, Van Dalfsen said.

Meier also sees it as a loss for would-be farmers, including his own children.

Had that research farm not been there, I probably wouldnt be milking cows today, Meier said. With it being closed, you may not have some new farmers to start up grass-based dairies because the information is not available now.

Through pasture-based farming, Meier said he will able to retire sooner  2020, probably. But its too late to persuade his sons. He will be the last of a line of dairy farmers.

Farmers get more time to spend with their families when cows are grazing. Children of farmers are more likely to continue dairy farms because of the higher quality of life pasture-based dairies offer, Roberts said.

Meier agrees with that.

If we were doing grass-based dairy when the kids were growing up, they might have had a different attitude toward it because conventional (farming) is a lot of labor and not much return on investment, he said. They may have wanted to stay.
BOISE  State noxious weed officials are cautioning Idahoans to be on the lookout for poison hemlock, a dangerous noxious weed  typically seen in full growth around the state during this time of year  that can be fatal to all classes of livestock.

Poison hemlock can kill a horse or a cow within hours of them eating it, said Roger Batt, spokesman for the Idaho Weed Awareness Campaign. There are even documented cases where people have died from eating poison hemlock because they mistook the weed for some type of wild herb such as parsley, dill or fennel.

Poison Hemlock can grow up to 6-feet tall with a smooth green stem, usually spotted or streaked with purple spots. The leaves are finely divided and lacy, resembling a carrot-like leaf. The weed has flowers that are small, white and clustered and resemble the spokes of an umbrella. The poison hemlock root is fleshy and white and is the most toxic part of the plant. When crushed, poison hemlocks leaves and roots emit a rank, unpleasant odor often compared to that of a mouse or parsnip.

Though highly toxic, poison hemlock is very easy to control and eradicate with hand pulling and the use of broadleaf herbicide treatments. Always wear rubber gloves and protective gear when pulling this weed and place the plant into a plastic bag and dispose of it in a trash receptacle.

When using an herbicide labeled to control and eradicate poison hemlock always follow the label and safety instructions on that label, weed officials stress.

Poison hemlock typically grows in riparian areas, stream banks, canals and ditch banks and pastures. It is a biennial plant meaning it grows for two years, flowers, seeds, and then dies.

Landowners (whether federal, state, or private) need to be aware that Idaho law requires them to control noxious weeds on their lands, Batt said. One of the best ways to control noxious weeds such as poison hemlock is to learn how to identify them. If uncertain if something is a noxious weed, contact your county weed superintendent.

Poison hemlock can kill a horse or a cow within hours of them eating it. There are even documented cases where people have died from eating poison hemlock because they mistook the weed for some type of wild herb such as parsley, dill or fennel. Roger Batt, spokesman for the Idaho Weed Awareness Campaign
BUHL  Everyone comes back to Buhl in early July.

Whether its for class reunions, family reunions or Sagebrush Days  Fourth of July weekend is when the towns population doubles.

The Sagebrush Days parade is one of the highlights that draws the biggest crowds. The parade starts at 10:30 a.m. Monday at Sunset Bowl. Buhl resident Cassie Drinkall will sing the National Anthem and the Buhl Air Force will be doing the flyover.

Michelle Olsen, administrator at the Buhl Chamber of Commerce, said the parade will feature about 100 entries. The theme of this years Sagebrush Days is Honoring country and community.

It has been going on for more than 50 years, so its a valley wide tradition that people come over for Sagebrush Day, Olsen said. Its a good old-fashioned parade with peewee queens and barrel racing groups from Buhl.

The parade will be emceed by Lyle Masters and the parade marshals are Wayne and Betty Moberg.

He (Masters) is one of the best announcers in the valley, Olsen said. He knows everybody and I think thats what makes Sagebrush Days really unique and special and something to come back to. He tells stories about them (parade participants) as they come by. He makes it fun for spectators.

After the parade, everyone heads to Eastman Park where there are vendors, food and music. Swimming is free all day at the city pool.

Other Monday highlights include a fun run with 7 a.m. registration at the Furniture Room parking lot. The race begins at 8 a.m. There will be a pancake breakfast from 7 to 10 a.m. at West End Senior Center. A fire hose competition is schedule for noon, bingo at the West End Senior Center at 4 p.m., candy cannon at 4 p.m. by Popplewell Elementary School, followed by an anvil fired from a cannon by Buhl resident Dennis Knapp.

Its just what it sounds like, Olsen said. He packs it full of candy and shoots it out. He will do it twice. Its an actual anvil that he launches out of the cannon he has made.

And topping off the day will be fireworks at dusk.

Burmese Water Festival

Its too cold in southern Idaho to celebrate the Myanmar new year in April. Thats because the highlight of the celebration is dousing each other with water.

So members of the American Burmese Friendship Organization combine Burmese and American celebrations on the Fourth of July. The third annual Burmese Water Festival and Fourth of July Celebration will take place at noon Monday at Rock Creek Park. It will include music, dance, food and a water fight. This event is free and open to the public.

Ken Whiting, secretary/cultural advisor, said the group is a private, nonprofit group made up of Burmese refugees and community members.

Our members are from all walks of life, he said. We receive no federal or state or local dollars.

Whiting said the group is both a social group and one that helps people acclimate to their new community.

We transport a lot of people to doctors, Whiting said. We help people buy houses by going to banks and translating back and forth. About seven families have already purchased houses. They are starting to settle into the area and become full fledged taxpayers.

The group also helps adults learn English and teach children how to read and write in Burmese.

Most children speak English quite well and they speak Burmese, Whiting said. But they dont know how to read and write Burmese. We have them preserve some of their cultural identity.

The event Monday is the groups big celebration of the year. Attendees will have an opportunity to watch dance performances from the various ethnic groups in Burma. There will also be a lot of Burmese food that will hint at other cultural influences.

We are right between Indian and Chinese food, said Kyi Kyi Whiting.

Expect to eat samosas  dumplings with potato inside  rice noodles, Burmese-style chicken curry and flat bread. For dessert, try the sticky rice, banana dumplings and a mixture of coconut milk, tapioca and Burmese fruit.

College of Southern Idaho Fireworks

Find a grassy spot and look toward the sky.

Fireworks will start at 10 p.m. Monday at Twin Falls Fourth of July celebration on the College of Southern Idaho campus. The Twin Falls Municipal Band will play patriotic music at 8 p.m. in front of the Fine Arts Building prior to the fireworks show.

Since the fireworks will be launched near the CSI Health Science and Human Services Building on North College Road, that means road closures will affect getting to campus.

The sections of Falls Avenue, Washington Street and North College Road that surround CSI will be closed at 9 p.m.
TWIN FALLS  A new company has taken over Idahos multi-million dollar contract to provide medical-related transportation transportation for Medicaid patients.

Veyo took over rides statewide Friday under its three-year contract with the state. The company contracts with other transportation riders in most of the state to provide these non-emergency medical transport rides. It will also use independent drivers in some areas.

Veyo is expected to give 2,400 rides throughout the state its first day, said Department of Health and Welfare spokesman Tom Shanahan. In May, there were 8,599 Medicaid users who got 99,851 trips statewide.

Many users access the transportation services regularly, such as someone on dialysis or receiving developmental therapy, he said.

The contract amount is based on the number of Medicaid patients, and will be about $23 million a year if that number of enrollees, which is about 290,000 now, stays stable. American Medical Response had the contract starting in 2010, but Veyo scored higher when the contract was put out to bid this year, Shanahan said.

Twin Falls County represents the biggest chunk of Medicaid rides in the Magic Valley  Veyo expects to provide 28,400 rides there over the next six months, said company spokeswoman Whitney Wells. Cassia and Minidoka counties are next, with 5,000 and 4,000 rides expected in that period, respectively, followed by 2,900 in Jerome County and 2,500 in Gooding County.

Statewide, Wells said Veyo has more than 60 providers and more than 900 vehicles and expects to give 3,500 to 4,000 trips daily. She said the transition would create more efficiency, transparency, reliability and flexibility for providers and participants statewide.

Veyo is headquartered in San Diego and does business in Arizona, Colorado, Texas and California. The company debuted its use of independent drivers in Arizona in late 2015, although independent drivers wont be used in Region 5, which covers the Magic Valley, for now. Here, Veyo is contracting with A to B Services, A-1 Taxi and Trans IV for rides. There is some change in the providers; A-1 is a new provider, and two of the old providers, Country Connector and Karens Errands, didnt renew with Veyo, Shanahan said.

In many cases, Shanahan said, the ride service wont change much for the people using it.

Theyre probably not going to see a whole lot difference, he said. Theyre going to see the same drivers.

Not all the providers are happy with the new contract. Some of them started a website, idahoproviders.com, on which they complain about the rates and other issues with Veyo. The pages administrators didnt return a message seeking comment.

Susan Bergen, the head of Country Connector Transport, said in an email she worried about the use of independent drivers, which she said would replace some drivers who have been driving for the same clients for years with strangers the clients dont know. She said this would be especially hard on more vulnerable Medicaid clients such as the elderly, refugees and children with mental illnesses and disabilities, and that many of the providers under AMR werent signing up with Veyo.

Thousands upon thousands of children who cannot speak up when they are afraid or anxious or uncomfortable, she said. Children that do not know how to express their panic and apprehension will be picked and transported by a person who has no idea what their special needs are. Ride Share Drivers will have no idea that Johnny likes the window seat, or Timmy needs to sit behind an empty seat because he pulls hair. The familiarity will be gone and for what? It will be removed and replaced with a stranger because its a less expensive option.

Shanahan said the independent drivers would likely be used more often for those trips that arent scheduled in advance, with the regular providers ferrying people to and from prearranged appointments. He said they need to go through the same screening as the drivers who work for the transportation companies, including a minimum age of 23, a criminal background check and CPR certification.

The qualifications for independent drivers (are the) exact same as any other drivers, he said.

Shanahan said drivers would be able to either stay with AMRs old fee structure or switch to Veyos, which works out to less than AMR paid for a trip of less than six miles but more for a longer trip. The average trip in Region 5, Shanahan said, is a little more than 11 miles.
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The following editorial appears in Sundays Washington Post:

For several years, the Obama administrations Syria policy has been stuck in a cycle of failure. Secretary of State John F. Kerry negotiates deals with Russia to end the fighting or create a new government in Damascus, while warning that if they are not respected by Russian President Vladimir Putin or Syrian President Bashar Assad, the United States will consider other options, such as stepping up support for Syrian rebels. In every case, the Russian and Syrian regimes have betrayed their commitments, continuing to bomb civilian areas, employ chemical weapons and deny aid to besieged communities. And no wonder: Each time the U.S. response has been to return to the Russians, offering more concessions and pleading for another deal.

And so it goes again. Senior U.S. officials have publicly confirmed that Syria and Russia have grossly violated a cessation of hostilities negotiated by Kerry in February. They have continued to attack Western-backed rebels, deliberately targeted hospitals and other civilian infrastructure, and blocked aid convoys to besieged towns where children are starving to death.

Kerry warned that the consequence of such breaches would be a Plan B of stepped-up U.S. support for anti-Assad rebels. Instead, as The Posts Josh Rogin has reported, the administration delivered a new proposal to Moscow on Monday that offers Mr. Putin what he has been seeking for months: greater U.S.-Russian collaboration in targeting those anti-Assad rebels deemed to be terrorists. In exchange, Russia wouldagainpromise to restrain its own and the Assad regimes bombing of areas where Western-backed forces are located.

As several experts on Syria told The Post, it is a deal whose only tangible result would likely be the reinforcement of the Assad regimewhose relentless brutality has empowered the Islamic State and al-Qaida. The U.S.-Russian collaboration would target an offshoot of al-Qaida called Jabhat al-Nusra, whose forces are fighting the Assad regime in several areas, including the key city of Aleppo.

In practice, the Jabhat al-Nusra forces are intermixed with other rebel units; many Syrian fighters joined the presumed terrorists for practical rather than ideological reasons. An assault on them could have the effect of allowing the Assad regime to achieve what it says is its foremost objective, the recapture of Aleppo, tipping the balance of the civil war in its favor. The anti-Assad rebels backed by the West could be decisively undermined, even if Russia and the Syrian regime respected the no-bombing zoneswhich, given the history of past agreements, is a most unlikely prospect.

Administration officials claim they have no alternative but to go along with Putin. The former Plan B, more support for rebels, would merely lead to more fighting with little result, they say. Its the same logic that President Barack Obama has used to deflect proposals for U.S. action in support of anti-Assad forces since 2012even as the country, and the region around it, spiraled deeper and deeper into bloodshed, chaos and humanitarian crisis. Obama appears fiercely determined to learn nothing from his tragic mistakes in Syria. The latest U.S. proposal, if accepted by Putin, would compound the damage.
First, they came for Istanbul. On Tuesday night, three suspected Islamic State militants bombers launched a brazen assault on Turkeys main airport, exploding their suicide vests after gunning down numerous passengers and airport staff. At least 45 people were killed. The world panicked.

Next, they came for Dhaka. Gunmen whom many have linked to the Islamic State raided a popular cafe in an upscale neighborhood in Bangladeshs teeming capital. After a 10-hour standoff, authorities stormed the establishment; at least 20 hostages, mostly Italian and Japanese nationals, died at the militants hands. U.S. college students also were among the dead.

Then, they attacked Baghdad. In the early hours of Sunday morning, as hundreds of Iraqis gathered during the holy month of Ramadan, a car bomb exploded in the crowded Karrada shopping district. The blast killed a staggering number of peoplethe latest death toll is at least 121including many children. The area is predominantly Shiite, making it a choice target for the Sunni extremist group.

Its unlikely that this attack, just the latest in an unending stream of tragedy to envelop the Iraqi capital, will generate the same panic in the West as the earlier two incidents. For years now, we have become almost numb to the violence in Baghdad: Deadly car bombings there conjure up no hashtags, no Facebook profile pictures with the Iraqi flag, no Western newspaper front pages of the victims names and life stories, and only muted global sympathy.

Ever since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, and the bungled occupation that followed, Baghdad has been the site of numerous rounds of sectarian bloodletting, al-Qaida attacks and now the ravages of the Islamic State.

Public anger in the Iraqi capital, as my Washington Post colleague Loveday Morris reports, is not being directed at foreign conspirators or evenfirst and foremostat the militants, but at a much-maligned government that is failing to keep the country safe.
The rival National Oil Corporation created by the House of Representatives (HoR) in Tobruk has decided to merge with the countrys long time National Oil Corporation (NOC) based in Tripoli.

Chairman Mustafa Sanalla of the NOC said the agreement will send a very strong signal to the Libyan people and to the international community that the Presidency Council is able to deliver consensus and reconciliation.

The two companies reached an agreement in principle in May but talks to agree on its structure and leadership were finalized recently.

In a released statement, Sanalla said there is only one NOC and it serves all Libyans while Naji al-Maghrabi who was serving as the head of the eastern based oil company commended both sides for making a strategic choice to put our divisions behind us as there is no other way forward. Maghrabi will serve as a board member in the NOC.

Sanalla is hopeful that the U.N-backed Libyan authorities will now build on this success to bring unity and stability to other government institutions. As part of the agreement, the merged NOC will submit its report to both the HoR and the Government of National Accord. The companys headquarters will be relocated to Benghazi and the meetings of Board of Directors will also be held in the city too if security conditions permit it.

The countrys oil exports have drastically dropped since the clashes began in 2011. In May, it produced around 200,000 barrels per day after a political dispute between the eastern and western factions blocked loadings at Marsa al Hariga for more than three weeks but the NOC is optimistic that it will quickly increase production output to around 700,000 bpd when stability returns. Libya produced around 1,6m bpd before the 2011 uprising against Gadhafi.
UK has provided diplomatic protection for Israeli former Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni after London police summoned the Israeli former official for interrogation over alleged war crimes committed during the Israel-Gaza 2008-2009 conflict.

The move comes after Israel on Sunday vigorously criticised UK police interrogation warrant issued against its former Foreign Minister last week during her visit to London.

We would have expected different behavior from a close ally such as the UK, the Israeli Foreign Ministry said.

Israel will do all in its power to ensure that all of its citizens are not the subject of the cynical, political abuse of otherwise legitimate legal tools, it added.

Livni who headed the Israeli foreign ministry between 2006 and 2009 is criticised by the British pro-Palestine activists for her support to Israels 22-day war in Gaza which killed more than 1,400 Palestinians, many of them civilians and 31 Israelis among whom 10 soldiers.

Her London visit to attend a conference organised by the liberal Israeli newspaper Haaretz has been treated as an official state visit preventing the London police to question her.

The London police reportedly sought to clarify her position during the 2008-2009 Operation Cast Lead on Gaza against the Hamas movement.

The Israeli opposition figure was in 2014 in her position as Justice Minister subjected to a move by British lawyers Hickman and Rose who sought for her arrest for the killing of a Palestinian in the bombing of a police compound on the first day of Israels military assault on Gaza, which began in December 2008.

Also in 2011, she escaped an arrest warrant after British authorities issued again diplomatic immunity for her after the Crown Prosecution Service received an arrest warrant to arrest her over alleged war crimes.

In the 2009, Livni cancelled a visit to London after an arrest warrant was issued by Westminster magistrates court. Then British government in a bid not to irk Israel halted the legal procedure requesting prior approval from the Directory of Public Prosecution.
Authorities in the United Arab Emirates on Sunday warned their citizens to desist from wearing the traditional white gown dress and the headscarf during visits to foreign countries especially Western countries.

The advice came after a 41 year old Emirati citizen, Ahmed al Menhali, was manhandled by security forces at a hotel in Avon, Ohio, in the United States, when he was tipped off as a member of an Islamic extremist group.

In an audio message featured on Sky News, a woman, at the request of her sister working at the hotel, called the police saying there was a man at the hotel pledging his allegiance to ISIS and also had in his possession several disposable phones often used by would be assailants to avoid being traced or tracked. The girls father also made a call making similar allegations.

Speaking to UAEs The National newspaper after being freed, Menhali said he had always wore the traditional dress known as Kandura or Abaya on his travels abroad but had never had such experiences. I didnt think they were there for me. I assumed there was some sort of training exercise or event at the hotel but I was shocked to see them barge at me. He explained that they were brutal and he has sustained several injuries and bled from the forceful nature of their arrest. During his arrest, he had insisted that he was a tourist as it could be heard in the video footage published by WEWS News.

UAE has summoned a senior diplomat at the US Embassy to protest the abusive treatment of its citizen and demanded explanations with reports that the businessman was on a medical visit.

After the incident which lasted almost 10minutes, Menhali was sent to the hospital as he couldnt stand on his own and believed to have a stroke attack; not his first according to his medical history. The possibility of a lawsuit is looming as he is in consultations with his lawyers.
The Niger Delta Avengers (NDA) claimed five attacks on oil facilities in Nigerias southern oil-producing hub over the weekend.

The group said it had issued warning to oil companies to stop ongoing repair works.

This is the first time the avengers are claiming responsibility since June 16.

In messages posted on Twitter on Sunday, the NDA claimed to have destroyed a Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) crude pipeline in an unidentified location on Friday night. It said it destroyed two major crude oil trunk lines belonging to the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC), near Batan, on Saturday night and two major oil wells belonging to Chevron Nigeria Limited (CNL) near Abiteye, on Sunday morning.

Nigeria, an OPEC member, which was until recently Africas biggest oil producer, relies on crude sales for around 70 percent of national income. Most of its oil comes from the impoverished swampland Delta region.

Militants, whose attacks pushed oil production to 30-year lows in recent weeks, have called for a greater share of the countrys oil wealth to be passed on to the regions communities and for authorities to clean up areas blighted by oil spills.

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday urged community leaders from the Niger Delta to pacify people in the restive southern region.

The Nigerian government last month launched a $1 billion clean-up operation in Ogoniland, a region of southeastern Nigeria polluted by oil spills, including from Shell.
Mauritanian authorities have arrested nine anti-slavery activists on Sunday, Reuters reported.

The activists arrested in Nouakchott over the weekend are accused of public disorder in which several police officers were injured and a bus was burned.

Slavery is deeply rooted in Mauritanias caste-based society. Mauritania was the last country in the world to abolish slavery, in 1981.

Its not the first time activists are arrested for protesting against modern slavery in the West African nation.

Biram Ould Abeid, runner-up in the 2014 presidential elections and head of the Initiative for the Resurgence of the Abolitionist Movement (IRA), and his assistant Brahim Bilal Ramdane, were jailed last year with two other activists for belonging to an illegal organization and for violence against the police.

The Mauritanian government refuses to recognize anti-slavery groups including the IRA, which it claims spreads racist propaganda and incites civil unrest. Last year President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz declared that no slavery existed in Mauritania.

The Haratine people, one of Mauritanias largest ethnic groups, are still considered a slave caste in many parts of the country, with human rights campaigners estimating that 4% of the population live in conditions of domestic or agricultural slavery.
Four senior aides to ousted Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo have returned home from exile in Ghana more than five years after the 2010/11 post war violence.

The Paris based Jeune Afrique portal reports that the former Defense Minister Kadet Bertin and three of his colleagues returned to the West African nation following negotiations with the government and guarantees that they would not face charges related to the civil war.

Pascal Affi NGuessan, leader of Gbagbos Ivorian Popular Front (FPI) confirmed that the four men had returned by plane and met Defense Minister Alain Donwahi and Minister for Social Cohesion Mariatou Kone.

Ivorian president Alassane Ouattara last week invited refugees and military deserters who fled the country during the 2010/2011 post-electoral violence and as far back as the civil war that broke in 2002 to return home to build the country.

According to UNHCR, more than two thirds of the 300,000 Ivorians who fled their country during or after the conflict have returned home.

There are still 20,000 refugees in countries including Liberia and some 11,000 pro-Gbagbo Ivorians exiled in neighboring Ghana.

The return of refugees is a major priority of Ouattaras government to facilitate the national reconciliation program.
HAMILTON  The front corner of an irrigated bench hangs over the bank of Blodgett Creek a few miles north of town.

Yonder to the east runs a busy Highway 93. Beyond that is the Bitterroot River. And beyond that, somewhere, is St. Louis.

Ron Wilkins has lived with his family on this bench for 15 years. Hed always heard Capt. William Clark and his party once slept somewhere around here.

Im pretty sure this is close to where they were, Wilkins said last week.

Maybe.

Youd like to picture the scene of July 4, 1806, right here  sun rising over the Sapphires to shed light on Clarks overnight camp as 50 horses graze on the creek bottom. Sacajawea and her 17-month-old son, Jean Baptiste, are among the 23 humans who shed their ground covers of recycled sails, yawn and stretch to greet the 30th birthday of the United States. Then they saddle up and ride south up the Bitterroot Valley.

The Lewis and Clark expedition was 2 months from home after spending the winter on the Pacific coast. Confident and curious, the Corps of Discovery had made a daring division of forces the morning before at Travelers Rest on Lolo Creek, Meriwether Lewis heading north with nine men and his dog, Seaman, to explore the Marias River country almost to Canada, Clark bound for the Yellowstone River in southern Montana.

They wouldnt meet again until Aug. 12 near todays New Town, North Dakota, some 600 miles to the east.

They still had a lot of important work to do, said Ritchie Doyle, a long-time Captain Clark re-enactor and president of the Travelers Rest Chapter of the Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation.

Doyle and Bruce Mihelish, past president of the Travelers Rest Preservation and Heritage Association, conducted a bus tour Sunday to mark the 210th anniversary of Clarks 1806 journey up the Bitterroot to the Big Hole.

Among Clarks goals, Doyle said, was to locate a shortcut to the Jefferson River through the Big Hole Valley, cutting off a couple days from the westward route of the year before through Salmon, Idaho.

To get there hed have to get equipment and people across the Bitterroot River, which was running high in early July.

When hes thinking about crossing the river, he has men that cant swim. We think only half the men on the expedition could swim, which is hard for me to believe, said Doyle.

Clarks party was diverse. Not only did it include a Shoshone woman and her toddler hed nicknamed Pomp, but there were French-Canadians, French-Indians, Clarks black slave York, German-born Pvt. John Potts, and young men from Kentucky, Virginia, Pennsylvania and New Hampshire. At least three of the 23 were married with children  Sacajawea and her husband Toussaint Charbonneau, and Pvt. John Shields.

With Clark too was the expeditions oldest soldier, Shields, who turned 37 in 1806, and its youngest, Pvt. George Shannon, who turned 21.

After covering 36 miles on July 3 from Travelers Rest to Blodgett Creek, they made 30 more the following day, to a point south of Darby on the West Fork of the Bitterroot near its confluence with the East Fork.

Theyd knocked off early that morning for lunch, Doyle thinks a few hundred yards up Lick Creek  one drainage north of the Rock Creek that drains Lake Como. Clark didnt name it but others did later, noting the wildlife lick on a natural mineral deposit higher up.

In preparation for Sundays bus trip, Doyle pulled out his copy of the Gary Moulton journals last week at Lick Creek and read the July 4 entry, written in Clarks delightfully arbitrary spelling hand.

This being the day of the decleraton of Independence of the United States and a Day commonly Scelebrated by my Country I had every disposition to Scelebrate this day, Clark wrote.

No booze flowed. That supply had run out the previous Fourth of July during the portage around the Great Falls of the Missouri save a little reserved for sickness. Pierre Cruzatte, a master boatman and musician, was with the party but theres no indication he pulled out his fiddle and rosined up the bow as he had at Great Falls.

The Fourth of July celebration, according to Clark, consisted of a Sumptious Dinner of a fat Saddle of Venison and Mush of Cows.

The saddle of a deer is the backstrap and tenderloin. In their 1983 The L.L. Bean Game and Fish Cookbook, Judith Jones and Angus Cameron wrote, The saddle is  a noble roast. If you prepare it, make sure all your guests deserve it.

Clark clearly thought highly of his guests.

Whoever prepared the feast probably used venison juices in the Mush of Cows, which was Clarks way of spelling cous. As he had explained a few weeks earlier, the knobbed roots of the cous were collected from early spring until the camas root was ready to be dug in mid-June. The roots were pounded into cakes that were best when boiled to make a thick Musilage.

Doyle said it must have been an especially significant day for Clark, whose five older brothers fought in the Revolutionary War. One, John, was captured in the Battle of Germantown and later died of tuberculosis contracted on a British prison ship in New York Harbor.

I bet you he said something, besides writing later in the day in his journal, Doyle said. I would have loved to hear what he said.

***

That same afternoon, 60 miles to the north, Lewis was leading his party through the Missoula Valley and up the Blackfoot River. After overnighting near the mouth of Grant Creek, the five Nez Perce guides who accompanied or followed the expedition through the Bitterroots bid Lewis adieu. They refused to go any farther, fearing ambush by the Blackfeet. Perhaps because of that trepidation, neither of the surviving journal writers in the group  Lewis or Sgt. Patrick Gass  noted any kind of Fourth of July celebration.

He was in a hurry, Mihelish speculated.

Clark was on familiar grounds as he made his way up the west side of the Bitterroot. The entire expedition had come down the same valley but on the other side of the river, the previous September.

Not everyone was on the same map page. Clark referred to it as Clarks river. Sgt. John Ordway, the other published journal keeper in the group at the time, called it the flat head River.

Clark counted eight streams crossed in the first 18 miles out of Travelers Rest  4 of which were Small  before taking dinner, probably on Kootenai Creek west of Stevensville.

Mihelish, the Travelers Rest Chapters Lewis and Clark horse specialist, pointed out that the large herd of fresh horses  more than two per man  made for faster travel but also dictated where the party stopped. Here, Clark and Ordway both referred to a field of clover, smaller than either the white or red clover theyd seen.

The horses are excessively fond of this Species, Clark wrote.

After dining on venison, they continued through a series of small open plains covered with a great variety of Sweet cented plants, flowers & grass.

The Salish, who had welcomed the expedition in the upper Bitterroot the previous year, call the Stevensville area the equivalent of wide cottonwoods, said Doyle, citing The Salish People and the Lewis and Clark Expedition published in 2005 by the Salish-Pend dOreille Culture Committee and Elders Culturla Advisory Council of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes.

Next Clarks party came to numerous clearings scattered amid trees and brush (the Victor area) and either Scattered Trees Growing on Open Ground or Trees Standing in Water (the Hamilton area).

On up the river on July 4, they passed through Darby, an area that bears the Salish name translating to Place Where They Would Lift Something. According to the CSKT book, the name refers to a rock along an oft-used trail that passers-by would attempt to move. Sometimes, where strong men sometimes couldnt budge the rock, smaller people moved it easily. Bets would be laid on who could move it the farthest.

But it is said that when they would return to the spot, the rock would always be back in its previous location, the book said.

According to the stories, the rock was destroyed by non-Indians trying to discover what made it move around.

***

The hum of a hot afternoon last week turned into occasional roars as cars and trucks passed by on the West Fork Road headed for Painted Rock Reservoir, Trapper Creek Job Corps and other points.

Doyle knelt on the pine-needled floor of a woods near the intersection of the Conner Cutoff Road and spread out laminated pieces of the vast map Clark produced from the expedition.

He made four serious maps about his shortcut route to the Big Hole and, interestingly, theyre written on the back of Indian peace certificates, Doyle said.

Its a three-mile drive from U.S. Highway 93 to this cutoff road leading back to Highway 93 at Conner. The roads form a triangle inside which confluence of the Bitterroots East and West forks lies.

On the evening of July 4, Captain Clark and company turned up the West Fork and camped somewhere in the first three miles of the Conner Cutoff Road.

I sent out 2 men to hunt, and 3 in Serch of a foard to pass the river, Clark wrote.

As with the vast majority of the hundreds of Lewis and Clark camps across the West, the exact locations of the Fourth of July sites  Lewis eight miles up the Blackfoot, Clark here on the West Fork  are subject to interpretation.

Students of the expedition have come up with at least four possibilities for Clark, including Ted Halls proposed location on private property about 1 miles short of the Conner Cutoff Road. Hall, a retired engineer, has spent years tracing the westward overland route of the expedition and published "The Trail Between The Rivers" in 2000. Doyle agrees with Butte geologist Bob Bergantinos analysis that places the campsite near the cutoff road.

It would take extensive survey, peer review, tangible evidence and lots of luck to settle the debate in the eyes of the National Park Service, a process that Travelers Rest successfully went through 15 years ago to be designated a national historic landmark.

Thats exactly why the Lewis and Clark campsites arent included in our inventory of historic and archaeological sites, because we dont have enough certainty of location to put a dot on the map, said Mark Baumler, the Montana state historic preservation officer in Helena.

The statewide database has 57,000 locations, and the idea of adding Lewis and Clark sites has been discussed.

Ultimately we always come back to unless we have some evidence, its not going to help us to have these places come up in file searches if we dont really know theyre there, said Baumler. I do think people should be discussing them when theyre looking at putting in projects. It still comes up when local historians are commenting on environmental impacts.

So 210 years later, were left to wonder where exactly William Clark, John Colter, Sacajawea and the gang lay their heads that Fourth of July evening. Did they zonk out, dead weary from the 30-mile ride from Blodgett Creek? Did they toss and turn, worried about getting across the roiling river the next day? Were they within earshot of the horses snorting the ground for sweet-scented grasses? Did they lie awake pondering freedom, theirs as explorers of a vast uncharted country and that of a nation not many years off of its hard-won independence?

Youd like to picture that scene.
Native American girls face the highest rates of incarceration of any ethnic group. They are five times as likely as white girls to be sentenced to do time in a juvenile detention facility. Incarceration rates for Native American women are also disproportionately high.

For you this is probably just a startling statistic  for me it hits very close to home. My daughter is currently in her 12th year of a 20-year sentence for drug possession.

Its an all-too-common story on the reservation: our young people making serious mistakes with drugs and being sentenced to lengthy stretches in federal prison. When they go away, they leave behind their families and their culture. Sometimes they leave behind their own children, creating a cycle that is incredibly difficult to break.

There is no doubt the drug epidemic on our reservations is one of the greatest challenges we face. But it has also become clear that the main thing weve done to combat that epidemic  lock away the people who use drugs for decades  has not accomplished what we need it to.

Native Americans make up a disproportionate population in our prisons. Because crimes on the reservation are prosecuted in federal court, this is especially true for the percentage of Native Americans in federal prison.

Part of the reason Native Americans are so over-represented when it comes to incarceration is due to the mandatory minimum laws that were enacted by Congress in the 1990s. The mandatory minimum movement was intended to bring more consistency to federal sentencing by restricting the discretion of judges and setting in place rules to guide the appropriate sentence for similar crimes.

The majority of criminals behind bars today were sentenced under these mandatory minimum regulations. And most of those are incarcerated for non-violent drug offenses.

But the high incarceration rates, especially among minority groups, that resulted from mandatory minimums have also resulted in prison overcrowding and have become very expensive.

Those factors have prompted a real bipartisan movement in Congress to reform judicial sentencing. Thats come in the form of a bill called the Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act of 2015 (SRCA), which would reduce mandatory minimums for nonviolent drug offenders from 10 to five years, and give more discretion to judges in sentences for first-time offenders.

To be clear, the bill would actually increase sentences for serious drug offendersthose who are involved in production, distribution, or gang activity related to drug trafficking.

We need to continue to be tough on the individuals who have brought the scourge of drugs to our communities. But I believe more leniency is needed for our young people who make the serious mistake of using drugs. The SRCA will allow judges to do what they should be doing  judging each case and each individual on their own unique circumstance.

U.S. Sen. Steve Daines recently co-sponsored the SRCA, along with 14 Republican and 19 Democratic colleagues in the Senate. For that, I want to say a heartfelt thank you to our senator.

With significant and growing bipartisan support, there is a very good chance for the SRCA to pass into law this year. Thats a rare occurrence in Congress these days, but its heartening to see its possible. The only thing holding up a vote is Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. I hope youll join me in encouraging him to put this important measure on the schedule.

We have to do something for the thousands of Native American women who are behind bars, away from their families and their communities. Drugs have decimated our reservations, but lengthy prison sentences have not stemmed their impact, and have arguably made the situation on the reservation worse.
There will be a lot of blustering about freedom by politicians today, but you can bet there wont be any talking about one of the greatest opportunities for true freedom in the United States today. Namely, our incredible system of designated wilderness areas where anyone can roam free under the open sky and take in whats left of nature untrammeled by mankind.

Its been more than half a century since Congress passed the 1964 Wilderness Act and President Johnson signed it into law. Much like Yellowstone National Park, the preservation of large blocks of public land as wilderness is an American idea of which each and every American should be proud. These are not the kings hunting reserves, these are public lands open to all to enjoy, but not destroy.

While many individuals and organizations were involved in the passage of the original Wilderness Act, Montana enjoys the distinction of being home to one of the main movers  Stewart Brandy Brandborg, who was the head of the Wilderness Society when the act was signed into law. Born and raised in Montana, his father the forest supervisor for the Bitterroot National Forest for 20 years, Brandys dedication to the preservation of wilderness for future generations has never flagged and continues to this day with tremendous energy, despite heading into his nineties while still living surrounded by the beauty of his beloved Bitterroot Valley.

What Brandborg and his cohorts understood then  and what is even more evident now  is the tendency of human beings to overrun the natural world in their seemingly never-ending quest for wealth and resources. But those very activities that have taken mankind to unheard of heights of civilization have not been kind to our fellow creatures on the planet.

Road-building, massive clearcuts, damming rivers and dewatering them for irrigation, mines, gas and oil wells, fencing, extensive overgrazing, and development have all seriously reduced the once continent-wide wildlands to a mere fraction of their former size. Now, thanks to mankinds intrusion into the natural world, species hover on the brink of extinction, migratory routes used by wildlife for millennia have vanished under concrete and steel. Meanwhile, the spawning runs for anadromous fish such as salmon that provided vital streams of life to both man and wildlife are now disrupted by enormous dams that turn cold, clean, flowing waters into still, warm and often stagnant reservoirs.

These are are all very real, very well-documented impacts and easily observable to anyone who will take the time to look. The one place you will not find these harsh intrusions on the natural world is in wilderness, which is why it is the only true solution to the problems now facing so many species.

Unfortunately, although Brandborg and his fellow wilderness advocates stood strong and proud to support wilderness for wilderness sake, thats not the case with many of todays wilderness groups. Having largely abandoned championing wilderness as the last bastion of the world that once was, many of todays large and well-funded wilderness groups have turned to justifying wilderness designation by lauding the economic benefits rather than the preservation of still-existing ecosystems and the plethora of natural life they contain.

But pandering to the interests of resource extractors under the rubric of collaboration is a losing game. Nothing illustrates that more clearly than the recent announcement by Weyerhaeuser to shut down the former Plum Creek mills in Columbia Falls and then plead a log shortage as the cause. That Montanas highest elected officials bought that line without doing any research is shameful.

The truth is Weyerhaeuser hasnt bid on timber sales since its takeover of Plum Creek. Instead, the mega-corporation found it more convenient to blame environmentalists for trying to preserve whats left of Montanas forest ecosystems. And if anyone doubts the condition in which Plum Creek left its lands, a quick trip up Gold Creek off the Blackfoot will reveal the miles of weed-infested stumpfields that remain as Plum Creeks rapacious legacy.

On this Independence Day, we should be proud of the freedom wilderness provides us. Free to hike, camp, fish, hunt and wander in the mystery, beauty and silence of the natural world without intrusion from todays hectic, mechanized society. Wilderness needs no justification  and it would do a world of good for our politicians and their collaborator pals to understand that. As wilderness hero Brandy Brandborg still espouses, we need more, not less, wilderness in which we can all be free for generations to come.
There are myriad ways to celebrate the anniversary of our nations independence. Ways that wont terrify pets and wildlife, disturb sleeping neighbors, traumatize war veterans, cause serious injuries or start a wildfire.

Unfortunately, one of Missoulas favorite Fourth of July traditions isnt an option this year. For the first time in more than three decades, Southgate Mall wont be hosting its annual Independence Day celebration. The company that handles the fireworks for the event had to cancel due to unspecified changes in the industry, and the mall wasnt able to find a professional replacement that wasnt already booked, although it expects to have a contract in place in time for next year.

The Independence Day extravaganza at the mall has long offered a magnificent fireworks display managed by experts with the experience and knowledge to assure a safe, controlled spectacle that could be enjoyed by anyone in the valley. Thousands of pyrophiles packed the malls parking lot each year, and untold numbers more watched from their back yards, neighborhood parks or surrounding hillsides.

It was the perfect solution for those who couldnt imagine a Fourth of July without fireworks in a city that wisely prohibits most fireworks. The exceptions, spelled out in a city ordinance that took effect in 2014, are the smallest party poppers, snappers and sparklers. While these still require close supervision to ensure they dont cause injury or start a fire, theyre unlikely to provoke a call to the police.

Nevertheless, every year, city officials and police have gotten an earful from residents complaining about illegal fireworks. This year, with the fireworks display at the mall canceled, local law enforcement and fire departments are planning to devote extra resources to enforcing the fireworks ordinance, and to responding to any fireworks-related accidents.

The Fireworks Report Line is up and running 24 hours a day, and will continue taking called through Tuesday, July 5. The number to call to report a fireworks violation is 258-4850. The penalty for a first offense is a $100 fine plus court costs; a second offense jumps to $300.

However, rather than adding to the work of our already busy and hardworking emergency responders, lets all exercise a little common sense and opt for a legal method of celebration this Independence Day. Its the smart, safe thing to do.

Theres a good reason why fireworks are prohibited on all parks and recreation areas within the county, as well as state fishing access site and U.S. Forest Service lands. Last year, western Montana counties banned fireworks over the Fourth of July weekend due to extreme fire conditions. The lightning-caused Observation Point Fire burning in Ravalli County ought to be reminder enough: we dont need any additional fires.

Additionally, thousands of people in the United States are seriously injured by fireworks every year, and at least half a dozen people are killed in fireworks-related accidents. Last year, one of them was a 32-year-old Billings man who was struck in the neck by a mortar shell.

Fireworks are best left to the professionals, and we strongly recommend attending a professional event rather than attempt an amateur pyrotechnics show. There are plenty of nearby events from which to choose (see sidebar).

So fly those flags, thank a service member or veteran, or show some civic pride by doing something for your community. Be free, be proud  and be safe.
I have enjoyed and recreated on the public lands in the Blackfoot Clearwater area over the years and feel it is time for more permanent protection for this unique landscape.

The Blackfoot Clearwater Stewardship Project, a public-private stewardship project on the Lolo National Forest, offers an incredible opportunity for Montanas congressional delegation to support Montana values. Forest management goals, including the addition of 83,000 acres to the Mission Mountains, Scapegoat and Bob Marshall wilderness areas, would safeguard the West Fork of the Clearwater River (a stream crucial for bull trout) and the wildlife-rich slopes of the Swan Range above Seeley Lake. It would also provide permanent protection for grizzly bear, mountain goat, and cutthroat trout, expand snowmobile and mountain bike opportunities between Seeley Lake and Lincoln and expanded forest management for responsible timber harvests.

Since 2005 a collaborative group of wildlife advocates, community leaders, outfitters, timber industry representatives, snowmobilers and wilderness advocates have been working together to break the traditional deadlocks between different groups and views on the use of Montanas spectacular wild landscapes. This initial group would go on to call itself the Blackfoot Clearwater Stewardship Project.

Ten years after residents of Seeley Lake and Ovando took the gamble of working together rather than against each other, the Blackfoot Clearwater Stewardship Project is stronger than ever and has become the gold standard for collaborative efforts in the West. The proposal has evolved and is now up-to-date. Montana voters and taxpayers have done their homework and due diligence on this proposal. Now its time for Montanas congressional delegation to reward a decade of groundbreaking collaboration by getting the Blackfoot Clearwater proposal passed through Congress and onto the presidents desk.

Steve Seninger,

Missoula
Where has Gov. Steve Bullock been these last few years?

Veterans Affairs issues, infrastructure mal-investment, inviting unvetted refugees into our communities, laying down to the radical environmentalists, bringing zero job growth, not courting companies to move to the treasure state.

What has he been doing in office? I didn't vote for the governor but I still wanted to see him succeed. The more he could have succeeded the better our great state could have been these last few years. Instead, I hate to say it, but Bullock has been asleep at the wheel and it's now time for true leadership from a man who has a proven track record of building solutions.

Greg Gianforte is the right man to step up and work hard to bring jobs to our state; in fact, he's already done it. He'll work hard to court companies that are looking to relocate out of high-tax states like California and Washington to Montana, where our low taxes and strong work ethic are fertile ground for these high-tech and manufacturing jobs.

Greg Gianforte will clean up the state's VA issues, he'll rebuild critical infrastructure in a cost-efficient manner, he'll work for dual use on public land, he won't cave to the radical environmental terrorists who want to shut down progress, he'll protect our air, water and land for future generations. He'll tell the federal government we won't take unvetted refugees making our communities less safe.

Greg Gianforte is the right man at the right time for Montana.

Nathan Kalkofen,

Lolo
I can think of no better place to be than home in Montana to celebrate the fourth of July. Over the holiday weekend Ill be walking in the Livingston parade, honoring World War II veteran Louis Armentaro and spending quality time with my sweet wife Cindy and our loved ones.

In the midst of this holiday Im humbled as I reflect on the birth of American independence. The declaration of our founding fathers, 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, rings as true today as it did 240 years ago.

Over the weekend we will be celebrating democracy, freedom of speech, freedom of religion and years of defending these freedoms. Thank you to all our servicemen and women, our veterans and our military families for your selfless sacrifice and for protecting these liberties.

As Montanas U.S. senator I am honored to be your voice, to represent your family and your interests. Thats why I work so hard to ensure that Montanas voice is heard. Together we can remind Washington, D.C., that we know our state best and that its time for common-sense government reforms. Folks in Montana know that D.C. needs to look a lot more like Montana, and not the other way around!

From my family to yours, we hope you have a safe and happy Fourth of July. May God bless you and may God bless our great United States of America.

U.S. Sen. Steve Daines,

Bozeman
A 17-year-old girl was killed in a fiery car crash north of Kalispell on Sunday afternoon.

Flathead County Sheriff Chuck Curry has identified the girl as Madison Brooke Duke of Bigfork.

A spokesperson for the Montana Highway Patrol said that a sport utility vehicle went off U.S. Hwy 93 on the right-hand side, overcorrected, and then swerved back to the right, causing it to roll multiple times. The vehicle landed on its wheels, but caught fire.

Two witnesses ran up to the scene and removed the two occupants. The 19-year-old male driver was pulled out quickly, but it apparently took longer to pull out the 17-year-old female passenger.

Both occupants were transported to Kalispell Regional Medical Center, but the female was pronounced dead en route.

The male driver is in stable condition and was not severely injured. Montana Highway Patrol trooper Josh Nanna told the Associated Press that he doesn't think alcohol was a factor.

The name of the victim has not been released, and the accident is still under investigation.
Its always been clear that Shakespeare of Stratford and Shakespeare the player were one and the same, Mr. Shapiro said. But if you hold the documents Heather has discovered together, that is the smoking gun.

Ms. Wolfes discoveries began in the archives of the College of Arms in London, home to 10 heralds who are still charged with researching and granting coats of arms  arcane territory where many literary scholars might fear to tread.

Looking through the minutiae of the College of Arms is, even for Shakespeare scholars, almost unbearable, Mr. Shapiro said. We really owe Heather a debt of gratitude for wading in.

Ms. Wolfe said she began wondering if there wasnt fresh material to find there when she looked through a book edited by Nigel Ramsay, a historian at University College London, with whom she curated an exhibition on heraldry at the Folger in 2014. On one page, she was startled by something she had never seen before: a sketch of the arms with the words Shakespeare the player, or actor, dated to around 1600.

A similar image with the same text  a copy dating from around 1700  has long been known to Shakespeare scholars (as well as to authorship skeptics, who generally dismiss as unreliable any evidence dated after 1616, the year of Shakespeares death). But this earlier one, from the College of Arms, seemed to have gone unremarked on.

Ms. Wolfe started digging there and in other archives, and so far has gathered a dozen unknown or forgotten depictions of the arms in heraldic reference works called alphabets and ordinaries. I just started finding them everywhere, she said.
The Northern Rockies Ecosystem Protection Act, which lives up to its name, would protect the best of the last intact ecosystems and wildlands in the Rockies. For the first time, it has been introduced in the U.S. Senate thanks to Sens. Whitehouse, Boxer, Durbin, Markey, Menendez, Schumer, Shaheen, Stabenow and Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid.

NREPA is a grassroots bill written by scientists and citizens from the Northern Rockies including Missoulas own Dr. John Craighead and Mike Bader. Craighead was named by the National Geographic as one of the top 100 scientists of the 20th century.

It gives permanent wilderness protection to 23 million acres of Americas premier roadless lands in Idaho, Wyoming, Montana, Oregon and Washington.

It designates about 1,800 miles of rivers and streams as Wild and Scenic Rivers. Water is the lifeblood of the West and the cleanest, coldest water in the Northern Rockies comes directly from wilderness areas.

It creates thousands of new jobs. Much like the great work done by the revered Civilian Conservation Corps, NREPA puts people to work restoring over 1 million acres of damaged habitat and watersheds by restoring old clearcuts and logging roads. Puts people to work protecting the important wildlife corridors between Yellowstone and Glacier national parks instead of continuing to subsidize their destruction.

It saves taxpayers millions of dollars annually by reducing wasteful subsidies to the logging industry and closes loopholes that left many areas protected by the Clinton Roadless Rule open to clearcutting. For example, the Forest Service has proposed clearcutting in inventoried roadless lands along the continental divide and in the Gallatin National Forest near West Yellowstone.

It battles climate change by protecting the remaining public forests that are some of our nations best and most effective tools to reduce global warming. National Forests absorb an astounding 10 percent of the carbon that America creates and unlogged and old growth forests absorb the most carbon.

It reduces species loss and conflict by protecting remaining habitat for native species in the Northern Rockies that were here when the Lewis and Clark Expedition passed through and are still present 200 years later. The latest science tells us that wildlife populations cannot survive for long periods of time on isolated islands of habitat. Without plentiful habitat populations eventually become genetically weaken and suffer from inbreeding effects. Protecting these lands will help recover threatened and endangered species including bull trout, lynx, and grizzly bears as well as wolverine, fisher and many other species of animals currently facing inbreeding and, ultimately, extinction due to lack of connected corridors. The best place in the world we have a chance of stopping what has been termed the Earths sixth great extinction event is in western North America but only if we pass an ecosystem bill like NREPA.

It provides landscape-scale protection and connectedness. NREPA is a far better idea than the piecemeal wilderness proposals currently being lauded by groups such as the Montana Wilderness Association. Seeking a few small, isolated wilderness areas and ceding the rest to logging roads and clearcuts is supposed to create more jobs in the timber industry. But history shows the number of timber jobs will continue to decline due to technological advancement. Montanas wood products industry peaked in 1979 when 11,606 employees cut and milled 1 billion board feet of timber. In 1989, almost 1.3 billion board feet were harvested but only 9,315 people were employed. By 2006, 926 million board feet were cut and milled by 3,524 people. Due to mechanization, in 27 years employment decreased 70 percent while timber production only decreased 7 percent.

In summary, NREPA protects the environment, creates jobs in restoration, and saves taxpayers millions of dollars in logging subsidies simply by designating existing roadless areas as wilderness. Thats why distinguished U.S. senators like Nevadas Harry Reid have signed on as co-sponsors of S.3022, the Northern Rockies Ecosystem Protection Act. Its time for Montanas congressional delegation to face the historical facts of timber production and jobs, quit pushing more money losing logging and road-building, and start supporting the one proposal that promises to give future generations a chance to enjoy the diverse wildlife, clean rivers and majestic forested landscapes that were handed down to all Americans by generations past. Only NREPA does that.

-- Michael Garrity, executive director, Alliance for the Wild Rockies, Helena
I have lived in Missoula in the past and I enjoyed living there when I did. All three of my children were born in Community Medical Center so I do have good memories of Missoula.

I have been hearing in the news that there is a small group of people in Missoula who want to bring Syrian refugees into the city. All I can say is that the people of Missoula better stand up and let their voices be heard in opposition to this right now.

If you do not, you will regret the fact that you did not oppose this when you had the chance. All of Missoula will regret having allowed un-vetted Syrian refugees to come to their community. It probably will not sink in until something like Orlando happens there.

-- Stephen Geiger, Bozeman
Louisa-Muscatine CSD

Minutes of the June 29, 2016

Regular Meeting

The Board of Directors of the Louisa-Muscatine CSD met in regular session on Wednesday, June 29, 2016 beginning at 12:00 p.m. Board members present included Scott Wilson, Pam Lee and Tom Berryman by phone. Eric Schlutz and Barbara Thompson was absent. Also present was Supt. Mike Van Sickle.

President Wilson called the meeting to order at 12:00 p.m. Berryman moved, and Lee seconded, to approve the agenda as presented. Motion carried, 3-0.

Berryman moved and Lee seconded, to approve the consent agenda consisting of bills for approval. Motion carried, 3-0.

Lee moved and Berryman seconded to approve the purchase of 75 lockers with full height door stiffeners from Iowa Direct Equipment for a total cost of $22,500. Motion carried, 3-0.

Berryman moved, and Lee seconded, to adjourn the meeting at 12:05 p.m. Motion carried, 3-0.

Charles Domer, Secretary

Arnold Motor Supply 10.48; Andrea Avis 35; CenterPoint Energy Services 359.07; Columbus Comm School District 9549; Eastern Iowa Tire 1658.83; Greiner Well Service 4181.31; Rick Manning 300; Muscatine Community College 17618.39; Mississippi Bend AEA 85; Pacific Vision Contractors 65; Sadler Power Train 597.6; Safety-Kleen Corp 90; Shive Hattery 406.5; Wilton Community School Dist 6490.54; Greg Stephens 21
MUSCATINE, Iowa  The Alzheimers Association is offering free community education classes for persons newly diagnosed, family and professional caregivers, or anyone with an interest in caring for people with dementia on July 19 at Lutheran Living Senor Campus Event Center, 2421 Lutheran Drive, Muscatine.

Two classes will be presented, back-to-back. The first class, The Basics, 1-2:30 p.m., is a primary introduction to Alzheimers and related diseases. It explores how dementia differs from normal aging and how memory diseases are diagnosed and treated. The second class, 3-4:30 p.m. Caregiver Tips, is an overview of seven key components caregivers need to address when caring for a person with Alzheimers or a related disease.

Association spokesperson and class facilitator, Jerry Schroeder, adds, These classes are essential for anyone whose life is impacted by Alzheimers or a related illness. This is state-of-the-art information designed to help people diagnosed with dementia live safe and happy lives by giving them and their caregivers critical information and invaluable skills.

Those interested are encouraged to attend both classes, but may attend one or the other. Advanced registration is required for each class separately, by calling 1-800-272-3900. Or, to register online visit www.alz.org, browse to Caregiver Center, Community Resource Finder, Alzheimers Association Programs and Events. For more information contact Jerry Schroeder at 563-324-1022, ext. 8212, or at jschroeder@alz.org.
DES MOINES, Iowa, June 30, 2016  The U.S. Department of Agricultures (USDA) Farm Service Agency in Iowa has announced that dairy producers can enroll for 2017 coverage in the Margin Protection Program for Dairy.

The voluntary program, established by the 2014 Farm Bill, provides financial assistance to participating dairy producers when the margin  the difference between the price of milk and feed costs  falls below the coverage level selected by the producer.

The Margin Protection Program gives participating dairy producers the flexibility to select coverage levels best suited for their operation. Enrollment began July 1 and ends on Sept. 30, 2016, for coverage in calendar year 2017. Participating farmers will remain in the program through 2018 and pay a minimum $100 administrative fee each year. Producers have the option of selecting a different coverage level during open enrollment each year.

The USDA has a web tool to help producers determine the level of coverage under the Margin Protection Program that will provide them with the strongest safety net under a variety of conditions. The online resource, available at www.fsa.usda.gov/mpptool, allows dairy farmers to quickly and easily combine unique operation data and other key variables to calculate their coverage needs based on price projections. Producers can also review historical data or estimate future coverage needs, based on data projections. The secure site can be accessed via computer, Smartphone or tablet 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

To complete enrollment, producers must make coverage elections during the enrollment period and pay the annual $100 administrative fee that provides basic catastrophic protection that covers 90 percent of milk production at a $4 margin coverage level. For additional premiums, operations can protect 25 to 90 percent of production history with margin coverage levels from $4.50 to $8, in 50 cent increments. Once enrolled, dairy operations are required to participate through 2018 by making coverage elections each year. Producers can mail the appropriate form to the producers administrative county FSA office, along with applicable fees without necessitating a trip to the local FSA office. If electing higher coverage for 2017, dairy producers can either pay the premium in full at the time of enrollment or pay 100 percent of the premium by Sept. 1, 2017. Premium fees may be paid directly to FSA or producers can work with their milk handlers to remit premiums on their behalf.

FSA is also accepting applications for intergenerational transfers, allowing program participants who added an adult child, grandchild or spouse to the operation during calendar year 2014 or 2015, or between Jan. 1 and June 30, 2016, to increase production history by the new cows bought into the operation by the new family members. For intergenerational transfers occurring on or after July 1, 2016, notification to FSA must be made within 60 days of purchasing the additional cows.

Dairy operations enrolling in the new program must meet conservation compliance provisions and cannot participate in the Livestock Gross Margin Dairy Insurance Program.

For more information, visit FSA online at www.fsa.usda.gov/dairy or stop by a local FSA office to learn more about the Margin Protection Program. To find a local FSA office in your area, visit http://offices.usda.gov.

Since 2009, USDA has worked to strengthen and support American agriculture, an industry that supports one in 11 American jobs, provides American consumers with more than 80 percent of the food we consume, ensures that Americans spend less of their paychecks at the grocery store than most people in other countries, and supports markets for homegrown renewable energy and materials. USDA has also provided $5.6 billion in disaster relief to farmers and ranchers; expanded risk management tools with products like Whole Farm Revenue Protection; and helped farm businesses grow with $36 billion in farm credit. The Department has engaged its resources to support a strong next generation of farmers and ranchers by improving access to land and capital; building new markets and market opportunities; and extending new conservation opportunities. USDA has developed new markets for rural-made products, including more than 2,500 biobased products through USDA's BioPreferred program; and invested $64 billion in infrastructure and community facilities to help improve the quality of life in rural America. For more information, visit www.usda.gov/results.
MUSCATINE, Iowa  The United Way of Muscatine recently received a $5,000 donation from Kent Nutrition Group.

The funds are to be used for the Summer Food Service Program in Muscatine.

The Summer Food Service Program is designed to support families during the summer months when school is not in session by providing free meals to children under the age of 18. Meals are served at seven sites throughout Muscatine, Monday through Friday until Aug. 12. Last year, United Way volunteers served over 400 meals each day through this program. Those interested in more information may contact Nichole Sorgenfrey at nichole@unitedwaymuscatine.org or call 563-263-5963.

These funds are possible because of the commitment of Kent Corporation to feeding the food insecure. A few years ago two KNG suppliers (Elanco and NutraBlend) recognized that the daily nutritional need of some kids in the U.S. were not being met. They created a way for customers like KNG to contribute to a fund with the commitment of the customer to develop a fundraising program in their community to support local backpack programs and food pantries.

A portion of every dollar that KNG spends on ingredients goes into a fund that can be used as KNG designates for local food security efforts. The funds are intended to build awareness within the community, create a local fundraising program, as well as provide funding for the programs.

Kids who are food insecure dont learn as quickly as those who get enough to eat because if a child is hungry, all they can think about is where their next meal will come from. Backpack programs, Food Pantries, and Summer Lunch Programs like this one are organized to address the situations where individuals are food insecure due to circumstances outside of their control. In many cases, these meals are the only ones they receive away from school. Its an unfortunate fact that one out or every five children in Muscatine County is food insecure, and according to the Feeding America website, 10% of the residents of Muscatine County are food insecure.

As KNG President John Thorpe explained, The more feed we sell, the more ingredients we need, and the more money goes in the fund. Caring for the local community is an important part of our culture at Kent Corporation.

KNG is a division of Kent Corporation, a family-owned company founded in 1927.
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 []
Seven former SABC executives have written to President Jacob Zuma, Communications Minister Faith Muthambi and SABC chair Mbulaheni Maguvhe, criticising events at the public broadcaster.

The seven include former editor-in-chiefs for TV news Joe Thloloe and Allister Sparks, former news chief executive Barney Mthombothi, and former deputy CEO Govin Reddy.

They had helped transform the SABC into a true public broadcaster following the end of apartheid, to reflect a commitment to openness, fairness, and independence, both in its programming and the way it was governed, they wrote.

We write to express our grave concern at the extent to which the SABC has deviated from the clear principles of good public broadcasting that were laid down at the time of that transformation.

They criticise the enforcement of news censorship, the suspension of journalists as a gross violation, and the SABCs general abandonment of its mandate to provide an honest reflection of events in society.

This is a betrayal, not only of the South African public, which the SABC is called upon to serve without fear or favour, but also of many people in civil society, as well as broadcasting specialists from abroad, who worked hard to produce a public broadcaster to rival the best in the world, the letter read.

The news is censored. Editorial decisions are dictated from above. The public broadcaster that the SABC had become, with an editorial code that committed the corporation to fair, balanced and impartial journalism, free from outside influences, be they political or commercial, shows clear signs of reverting back into being a state broadcaster.

They called on the SABC to be a force for good, a well from which all its people could drink, and a reference point for a society in quest of unity.

The letter listed five changes they would like to see at the SABC:

An end to censorship of certain news items, which violated the principles of freedom of information and freedom of speech as enshrined in the Constitution.

The state of fear under which SABC employees were working was not conducive to good journalism or programming and had to stop.

Those found responsible for the censorship and victimisation of employees should be disciplined and fired.

The SABC needed to revert to the codes, principles and practices that were adopted at the time of transformation.

The SABC board should appoint a credible and independent task team to investigate the malaise at the corporation and allow all employees to give evidence without fear of victimisation.

The letter is signed by Brigalia Bam  former deputy chairperson of SABC board; Professor Njabulo S Ndebele  former SABC board member and University of Johannesburg chancellor; Joe Thloloe  former editor-in-chief, SABC TV news; Allister Sparks  former board member and editor-in chief, television news; Govin Reddy  former deputy CEO, SABC; Mathatha Tsedu  former deputy chief executive, SABC news; Barney Mthombothi  former chief executive, SABC news.

Methodist bishop slams media muffling at SABC

The Methodist Church of Southern Africa has also expressed concern about the alleged media muffling at the SABC.

Press freedom was a fundamental cornerstone of any democracy, Bishop Ziphozihle Siwa said on Monday.

Suggestions that this freedom is being compromised are cause for grave concern. The public has a right to free and unfettered news and information, especially from the public broadcaster that is the only source of broadcast media for millions, Siwa said.

This followed SABC chief operations officer Hlaudi Motsoenengs decision to no longer air footage of the destruction of property during protests, the suspension of several journalists who had criticised this decision, and the resignation of acting chief executive officer Jimi Matthews last Monday.

Siwa said allegations of self-censoring at the SABC were alarming.

By its very definition, the public broadcaster should serve the interests of the public, and it is in the interests of the public and public accountability, for them to know the good, the bad and the ugly, he said.

Siwa said the public could not be treated like children who needed to be protected from unsavoury aspects of life, or like an irrational individual who could not be trusted not to imitate what they saw and heard.

We lived through many years of pain because the media was driven by propaganda and we cannot allow this to happen again; what is happening at the SABC must be investigated and there must be urgent interventions. We must all defend media freedom, he said.

The church called on the SABCs leadership and the communications ministry to investigate and intervene urgently.

News24

More on the SABC

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The latest MyBroadband speed test results show that Seacom had the fastest average speeds of all fibre-based Internet service providers over the past month.

MyBroadbands speed test servers make use of Ooklas platform and are hosted in Teracos vendor-neutral data centres in Johannesburg and Cape Town.

Through NAPAfrica, all network operators at its peering points are provided with a free 1Gbps connection to the MyBroadband speed test platform.

MyBroadband filters speed tests based on network information from Internet service providers, and hosts over 40,000 broadband tests per month.

Fastest average fibre speeds

Seacomss average download speed was over 615Mbps, and its upload speed was over 832Mbps.

Fibre ISPs listed in the table below are ranked according to their average download speeds.

Highest average fibre speeds ISP Download (kbps) Upload (kbps) Latency (ms) Jitter (ms) Seacom 615,486 832,975 11 12 BitCo 325,988 349,948 8 8 XDSL FTTH 214,606 324,711 8 5 MWEB FTTH 57,357 41,537 17 9 iConnect 43,628 47,419 6 17 Cool Ideas 31,124 20,939 19 25 Cybersmart FTTH 27,114 15,979 5 9 Infinity Fibre FTTH* 21,148 39,792 16 20 *Low number of tests for tagged ISPs.

More on fibre

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Vumatels big Cape Town fibre-to-the-home plans

Telkom fibre now cheaper than ADSL

Telkoms impressive fibre and ADSL numbers

Cybersmart Lightspeed  300Mbps real-world speeds at less than R900 per month
Almost 100 staff of the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa) went on strike on Monday over a pay and human resource policies dispute.

Over 70 workers picketed outside Icasas head office in Sandton while another 27 staff went on strike across South Africa, said organiser of the strike Susan Mashinini.

The workers want a pay rise of 7% and bonus pay, back-dated to 2014. The workers also want human resource policies, such as a performance management system, scrapped.

These issues have been bubbling since 2014 when workers decided to abandon their memberships with the Communication Workers Union (CWU), Mashinini told Fin24.

At the time, Mashinini said the CWU was meant to help negotiate a planned restructuring at Icasa, but workers felt that the union failed to represent them properly.

Subsequently, the Icasa workers tried joining labour union Solidarity but then decided to rather consult a legal and human resources firm, which took their matter to the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA).

The CCMA then gave the Icasa workers the permission to strike as a deal couldnt be reached, said Mashinini.

They (Icasa management) havent given us a salary increase for two years, since 2014/15 because they said we are earning a lot, which we do not even know what informed that  where does that come from, theres no precedent, theres nothing, we dont know where that comes from, Mashinini told Fin24.

At that particular time, the very same people (Icasa management) who say we are earning a lot, they are driving X5s, X6  you name all these big SUVs  theyre driving them. And its worse off, its black on black, they are doing this on their own black brothers and sisters.

Im not trying to be racist here; Im not understanding why would they do that on us. You know when its your fellow man, you wear that expectation that he will treat you in a better way, said Mashinini.

The strike will only end when workers demands are met, said Mashinini.

When contacted for comment earlier on Monday, Icasa spokesperson Palesa Maleka said Icasa staff are not happy with some of the policies because they say they werent properly consulted.

But Maseka said work at Icasa, which regulates the communications and telecommunications industry in South Africa, is ongoing despite the strike.

Icasa still needs to issue its findings on a complaint about the SABC banning footage of protests on its broadcasts. The findings on the matter is expected by Friday, Maseka said.

Business continues, Maseka told Fin24.

There are those staff that are not striking, he added.

Meanwhile, unity among workers is scarce at Icasa, said Mashinini.

There is no unity at all. They are just intimidating, firing people. I dont know how many people have resigned, Mashinini told Fin24.

We are tired as workers, Mashinini said.

Fin24

More on Icasa

ICASA staff go on strike

SABC needs evidence to back up protest decision: Icasa
South Africa has tried to remove provisions from a United Nations resolution that would prevent countries from switching off the Internet for any reason, The Register reported.

Following the passing of the resolution, freedom of expression organisation Article 19 expressed disappointment with South Africa.

Democracies like South Africa, Indonesia, and India voted in favour of these hostile amendments to weaken protections for freedom of expression online, said Article 19.

The resolution was titled The promotion, protection and enjoyment of human rights on the Internet, and was adopted when more than 70 states supported it on 1 July.

States are bound to refrain from measures to intentionally prevent or disrupt access to or dissemination of information online.

This includes measures to shut down the Internet or part of the Internet at any time, such as during an election or in the aftermath of a terrorist attack, said Article 19.

South Africa votes against Internet for all

A human rights-based approach was also included in the resolution, to provide and expand access to the Internet.

South Africa was one of 15 countries that voted in favour of an amendment led by China and Russia to have this section removed.

Other countries which voted with South Africa included Burundi, Cuba, India, Indonesia, Kyrgyzstan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and Venezuela.

South Africa votes against human rights online

Another amendment aimed to remove references to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and language on freedom of expression from the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

States voting in favour of the amendment included South Africa, Bolivia, China, Cuba, India, Indonesia, Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and Venezuela.

The full resolution is available on Article 19s website.

More on Internet and media freedom

I dont even know what censorship is: SABC COO Hlaudi Motsoeneng

Media freedom not declining in South Africa: Communications Minister

Why Net Neutrality is bad for Internet users

Net neutrality in South Africa must be protected: ISPA

SA government wants net neutrality
Card skimming remains a big problem in South Africa, with many people falling victim to criminals skimming their bank cards to steal money.

Card skimming can take place at many locations, including ATMs and merchant points of payment, using devices which have been tampered with.

Personnel working at restaurants and shops, such as waiters and cashiers, are often provided with handheld skimming devices by card fraud perpetrators.

These handheld skimming devices often resemble the real thing, with only small differences noticeable.

To avoid falling victim to card skimming, it helps to know the difference between a real point-of-sales device and a skimmer.

First Calgary Financial has simple advice: if you cannot insert your chip card with your thumb pointed at the device and have your thumb remain fully on your card, do not enter your PIN.

The graphic below shows how to spot a point-of-sale card skimming device. Thanks to Krebs on Security for the information.

More on card skimming

Watch out for these card skimming and PIN theft tricks criminals use

The new way criminals are card skimming at ATMs
Vodacom is set to launch its new range of branded devices on 5 July.

As part of the launch, Vodacom released a teaser video showing a high-end device with a 16MP camera and fingerprint reader.

The teaser video is an extract of an advertisement for the Vodafone Smart Platinum 7 smartphone, Gearburn discovered.

Vodacom is expected to unveil the Smart Platinum 7 tomorrow, and follows Vodafone selling the device with the Vodafone Smart VR headset.

Vodacom declined to comment on the expected launch of the Smart Platinum 7.

Specifications Vodafone Smart Platinum 7 Dimensions 154 x 75.65 x 6.99 mm Weight 155g Operating system Android 6.0 Marshmallow Display 5.5 (1,440 x 2,560) Rear camera 16MP f/2.0 Front camera 8MP Storage, internal 32GB Storage, expandable microSD RAM 3GB Processor Qualcomm octa-core (4 x 1.8GHz + 4 x 1.2GHz) Snapdragon 652 Battery 3,000mAh Cellular data LTE, HSPA+

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New Motorola and Lenovo smartphones coming to South Africa

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Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 and Redmi 3 coming to South Africa

Cheapest smartphone in the world here soon
Many years ago a friend immigrated to the U.S. from the Philippines. He had a large family with several children under age 10.

I asked him what was most impressive about America to his children. He said, Toys R Us. The floor to ceiling abundance of toys was overwhelming to them.

After several recent short trips to Europe and the British Isles, I started to consider all the things I missed about our country.

Of course, there were many obvious things that we take for granted like road signs, common currency, traffic patterns and simple food choices.

As I thought, there are so many wonderful aspects of the United States of America that I truly love. Here are a few:

The average guy can make something for himself and his family here. He or she can live in pleasant surroundings, drive a nice car, own a TV and attend public schools.

One commentator asked a young man in India why he wanted to come to America, and he said, I want to live in a country where the poor people are fat.

Granted America has its share of problems. We have some racism and inequality.

Some say our society is vulgar and decadent. Others say we represent the Great Satan.

Naysayers can tear America down from nearly every side, but on this birthday of America, it is easy to understand why so many of the world want to come here.

The outgrowth of freedom and liberty is social mobility and opportunity.

Often to our own fault, Americans are free to travel, to move for better jobs, and literally to travel the world.

America is a country of achievers.

We work hard. If we are disciplined, we can become entrepreneurs. We can build things. We can possibly achieve great wealth.

For the most part Americans eat well, have access to quality health care and often live much longer than those from many countries. Of course there are exceptions.

Young people have endless opportunities. Their destiny is to look upward with little or no limit.

The parents of many of Americas billionaires were ordinary working folks. Their children had ideas, dreams and unlimited potential. I love this fact.

Some characterize Americans as naive and immature.

I like to think of us as virtuous and trustworthy. Few countries have the freedoms we take for granted.

We have the freedom to speak, to disagree, to vote, to worship, to tolerate dissent and more.

Of course, we have challenges ahead that will test our constitution.

Challenges are nothing new for America. We will meet them.

Our forefathers wisely wrote about our unalienable rights, namely life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. We must always remember them and protect them.

Happy birthday, America.
Zion-Benton High School Navy JROTC program in Illinois, taught in part by Naval Science Instructor Cmdr. Steve Schulte, a 1978 graduate of Napa High School, has been named the most outstanding unit in the nation this year by the Navy League of the United States, according to the Lake County (Illinois) News-Sun.

The 310-cadet unit was judged on academic performance, community involvement and general administration, according to the newspaper. It was founded in 1994 to educate students on how the military operates and to develop good citizenship, whether the cadets go on to serve in the armed forces or not.

After graduating from Napa High School, Schulte attended the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, graduating in 1982, according to his biography from the high school. He became a naval aviator and served in a variety of roles in posts throughout the West Coast and Pacific before serving as a catapult and arresting gear officer aboard the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln. He later served as executive officer and commanding officer of the Navy recruiting district in Chicago and finally participated in Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom from a base in Saudi Arabia.

He has been an instructor for the Zion-Benton High School Navy JROTC since his retirement from the Navy in 2003.

Schulte lives in Lake Bluff, Illinois, with his wife, Judi, also a 1978 Napa High graduate, and their daughter.
To many of those who helped fill up a neighborhood in north Napa, their neighborhood is more than a mere assortment of houses on a web of asphalt  doubly so when Independence Day comes around.

Hearthstone, a subdivision where Vindel and Winedale lanes meet, began to fill up with mostly single-story houses more than two decades ago, and one of its earliest residents has worked to make her neighbors feel both at home and part of a larger family. That spirit can be most easily seen on the weekend before the Fourth of July, when the intersection becomes the scene of a cookout and potluck draped in red, white, blue and neighborly cheer.

The homemade dishes and colors of Old Glory came out Sunday afternoon as about 20 guests  many of them present for the neighborhoods birth, with a few newcomers joining them  met for chicken skewers and chitchat for the 20th straight summer. After leading a brief prayer over the meal, Hank Hobbs quickly lightened the mood. Women and children first  youve got 30 seconds! he quipped.

Greeting the men and women at the canopies and tables was Eleanor Sheehe, who had donned a flag-colored scarf and sneakers for the occasion. A 20-year resident described as the community's "den mother" by her neighbors, the 94-year-old Ohio native began organizing a cookout with and for her fellow residents a year after her arrival, watching the party grow with the subdivision  including the arrival of four families on the same Labor Day weekend.

I like people, and I do a lot of volunteering, even at my age, said Sheehe as a gust starched a 6-foot-wide U.S. flag directly behind her picnic table. I thought it would be fun for us to get to know our neighbors; all of us do our part and pitch in.

Over the years, the block party  usually held on the weekend before July Fourth  became a sort of suburban mini-extravaganza, its numbers boosted by the number of young families that populated Hearthstone as its homes opened between 1994 and 2000. Picture albums passed around by the guests recounted egg-tossing contests, water balloon fights, even pint-size parades led by a resident on horseback.

Its quieter now than when the kids were here, a little tamer now, said Rusty Cassell, who moved into the area in 1995. We dont get to play the same games without the kids here.

With the neighborhood children largely grown and moved away, Sundays party was a gathering mostly for parents and grandparents, but the links among many neighbors appeared as strong as ever.

Its awesome; you feel like you dont want to move out. Its like extended family here, said Greg Wright, a former Silverado Middle School administrator who recalled Hearthstone residents checking on neighbors after the 2014 earthquake  turning off gas lines, righting overturned furniture and in at least one case mixing morning mimosas for homeowners.

Its good to get together here  get to know the new neighbors, get to meet the old neighbors, added Cassell.

With a wit and brightness of mood belying her years, Sheehe regaled her neighbors with tales of July Fourth parties past, holding her friends attention through both the humorous stories and the more somber updates of former neighbors coping with ill health and infirmity. But even with the passing of time, and uncertainty about whether future homeowners would keep up the same tradition, the hostess of the day was content to live in the present.

Havent thought about the future, she said calmly. I take every day as it comes.
Napa Countys latest efforts to buy Skyline Wilderness Park from the state for fair market value have sputtered.

Sen. Lois Wolk, D-Davis, earlier this year introduced a bill that would allow negotiations between the county and state on a possible deal. Wolks Senate Bill 1119 would authorize negotiations until 2021.

But Wolk a few weeks ago requested that the bill be placed in the inactive file and now the bill is dead, Wolk aide Caitlin OHalloran said on Tuesday. Moving the issue forward would probably require another bill at another time.

One issue is that the 850 acres of land that Napa County leases from the state for Skyline Wilderness Park for $100 annually is next to Napa State Hospital. The Department of State Hospitals is working on a system-wide master plan.

This state hospitals master plan is unlikely to be completed for several years, a state analysis of Wolks bill said. Until then, it is unknown how much land the state might need, if any, to accommodate a possible expansion of Napa State Hospital, it said.

The state might sell Skyline Wilderness Park to Napa County and then have to buy more land for the hospital, the analysis said. Senate Bill 1119 might ultimately result in future state expenditures.

Given these thoughts among state officials, Napa County Regional Park and Open Space District General Manager John Woodbury sees little chance of a Skyline bill passing and winning Gov. Jerry Browns signature.

The governor usually goes along with his administrations position, Woodbury said.

For now, Skyline Wilderness Park will continue operating in the hills southeast of Napa. People can go there to hike, bike and ride horses on miles of oak-shaded trails with views of the Napa Valley and the Bay Area. They can camp there and enjoy the sight of small Lake Marie.

Some park advocates fear that the state in the long run may have other plans for the land. The countys lease with the state runs until Feb. 19, 2030.

Dorothy Glaros is president of the Skyline Park Citizens Association, the nonprofit group that operates Skyline as a park for the county. She talked of assuring that Skyline remains a park forever, with no land removed from it and the potential to grow.

Napa County is also dealing with another Skyline Wilderness Park issue involving the state.

In 2009, the county passed a non-development zoning overlay for the park land. This overlay assures the land is to remain for recreation such as camping or for agriculture, should the state decide to sell it once the lease expires in 2030.

County officials said the zoning overlay removes the potential for estate homes being built on the site.

But the state General Services Department in October 2015 requested that the county remove this overlay, saying it violates the lease. The county and state in subsequent months have disagreed over whether the state filed a complete application.

In April, the county requested that the application include analysis under the California Environmental Quality Act on how removing the zoning overlay could affect traffic and water.

In a June 2 reply, state Senior Real Estate Officer George Carollo wrote that the state isnt subject to county zoning regulations. However, he wrote, the overlay could be construed as inversely condemning the states land because it devalues the property.

The countys application review seems unnecessarily complex and inapplicable to the state, Carollo wrote. He disagreed that an environmental analysis is needed, in part because the state has no project in mind and envisions no change in the Skyline Wilderness Park use.

As of Friday, the situation had yet to be resolved.
A commentator speculating on Brexit suggested that globally governments may be in a period of risk of a nationalist neo-isolationism. Governments are more concerned about the profits of the wealthy few than the people upon whose labor those profits depend.

This is also true of our local government. Our wine and hospitality industries are doing well, bringing increased tourism, but time and again in Planning Commission, Board of Supervisors, and City Council meetings, citizens' concerns about expanding or new projects and their effect on our community and environment, are effectively ignored.

Environmental protection always comes down to protections of local ecosystems. How different would the decisions be if our government considered first the living fabric of the earth and of the communities it supports? The health of a region is determined by the health of its watersheds. Essential to watershed health is the biodiversity of native plant life that acts to restore groundwater and promote healthy streams and rivers, as well as local water supply.

What if our governing officials first considered the impact of new or expanded projects on the local ecosystem and then the larger community? What will the project do to the neighborhood? Is there housing for increased labor force? Can the schools handle more kids, and what will it do to traffic?

Instead, weeks and months are spent on questionable DEIR reports that justify the project, regardless. What if our top priority was protection of our watersheds  and water? After all, isn't our government's duty to protect the common good  not the pleasure and the profit of the wealthy?

If the government is bought by special interests, then it is time for the people to act to protect what is common to us all: our watersheds, our water supply, the fabric of our community.

It is times like these that spawn initiatives like the Water, Forest, and Oak Woodland Protection Initiative. Many of you signed the petition to get the initiative on the ballot. Despite the 6,300 signatures, county resistance threatens its inclusion on the November ballot. Please contact your district supervisor to express your right to vote on the initiative on the November ballot.

Patricia Damery

Napa
St. Helenas newest affordable housing project is being named after a retired pastor who spent decades advocating for the rights of farmworkers and the poor.

Father John Brenkle, formerly of the St. Helena Catholic Church, was on hand June 29 for the ceremonial groundbreaking of Brenkle Court, an eight-unit sweat equity housing project on McCorkle Avenue.

Hes a unique blend of integrity, compassion and tenacity, and hes a constant inspiration to all of us, said John Sales of the nonprofit Our Town St. Helena, which is developing the project. Brenkle is on the board of Our Town.

Brenkle quoted St. Francis of Assisi, who advised believers not to seek honors or applause, but to graciously accept them when they come. He joked that Brenkle Court was on a dead-end street, which he said seemed symbolic for where I am in my life journey, and kidded about having his name displayed on the property in flashing neon lights.

Brenkle said hed been hesitant to join the board of Our Town because they were wonderful people, but they had no money. Ive been there and done that, and I know how hard it is to get anything done when you have no money.

He praised Our Towns Mary Stephenson for being the glue thats kept us together, and thanked the agencies that had contributed financially.

The ceremony was attended by elected officials including Rep. Mike Thompson, Mayor Alan Galbraith and Supervisor Mark Luce, and representatives of Our Town, the city of St. Helena, Napa County, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the nonprofit Rural Community Assistance Corporation.

Thompson called Brenkle one of my heroes, saying theres nobody whos done more for more people. Thompson said Brenkle understands the importance of dignity, community and loyalty. He has been a tireless warrior on the front lines to make sure that people are treated appropriately and that we have equal justice in our community, Thompson said.

During his 30 years at St. Helena Catholic Church, Brenkle advocated for immigrants, workers rights and farmworker housing. He helped start the Work Connection for day laborers, co-founded Napa Valley Ecumenical Housing, helped build Hunts Grove Apartments, Stonebridge Apartments and Vista del Valle, and served on a committee that established three farmworker housing centers Upvalley.

More than 60 percent of the construction labor will be done by the eight families who will own the houses. The eight units are split between two buildings, each with four two-story townhouses. Each will be 1,392 square feet, with 3 bedrooms and 1 bathrooms.

When the project was announced, 48 families applied to participate. They then underwent income and credit checks, and were screened for their willingness to do the work as part of a team.

Ten finalists will take part in a lottery in July to select the eight families. An official groundbreaking is expected toward the end of the year, with construction ending in early 2018.

The finalists earn an average income of $54,000, with an average family size of four. All of them live and work in St. Helena or Calistoga.

Were providing housing for people who are vital to St. Helena, who work in the wine industry, the hospitality industry and social services, said Stephenson, of Our Town. Theyre a part of our community, and for them to become homeowners is really going to benefit our community.

Stephenson said the St. Helena families are living at places like Stonebridge and Hunts Grove, so their departures will create vacancies for other families who are on long waiting lists for those two properties.

Mayor Alan Galbraith represented the city along with City Manager Jennifer Phillips, Planning Director Noah Housh and Senior Planner Aaron Hecock. Galbraith praised Our Town for its tenacity and for forming partnerships with various agencies.

Weve stated many times over the years that we want and need affordable housing, but weve not done a good job toward getting there, Galbraith said. This is a very important first step.

He praised Planning Commissioner Bobbi Monnette, who lives just a few doors down from the site, for meeting with neighbors and hearing their concerns. Galbraith said Brenkle Court has avoided the NIMBYism  an acronym for Not In My Back Yard  thats affected other projects around town.

Supporters praised the project as a successful public/nonprofit partnership. Everybody pulled together, Thompson said.

The city of St. Helena provided the land for $1, waived various city fees and plans to subsidize two of the houses that will be designated for families in the very low income category. The other six families will be in the low income range.

Based on the lands appraised value of $900,000, Galbraith estimated the citys total contribution at $1.1 million.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture provided a $550,000 technical assistance grant through its Rural Development program, and will issue low-interest mortgages. The project received pre-development loans from Napa County ($280,000) and the Rural Community Assistance Corporation ($220,000).

Stephenson said Brenkle Court is a great achievement for Our Town, which formed in 2008.

Weve been working for eight years, and this is our first shovel in the ground, she said.
In honor of the 100th birthday of St. Helena resident Chuck McKinnon, Rep. Mike Thompson (D-St. Helena) presented him with an American flag on Monday.

McKinnons birthday was on March 9 and the American flag was flown over the U.S. Capitol a few weeks later on March 23. Thompson told McKinnon the flag was flown at my request in your honor.

Thompson said, When I first went to Congress and I was told that I could have flags flown at the Capitol for special people on special occasions, I thought they probably put all the flags in an airplane and flew them over the Capitol. But they actually have somebody who runs them up the pole all day.

When asked how he had made it to 100, McKinnon told Thompson that he exercises, including riding a stationary bike, and indulges in an attitude adjustment hour with his wife, Janice, but he added, I only have one drink, but I make it last all night.

The McKinnons celebrated the Fourth of July with a small gathering and said Monday was their 10th anniversary in their Vineyard Valley home. They evacuated from New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, in part because Janice couldnt run her aviation company without power and phones, Chuck said.

Thompson spent Monday midday riding in a car at the annual parade that kicks off the Napa County Fair and was at the McKinnons house shortly after noon. He and his aide, Brad Onorato, couldnt spend a lot of time with the McKinnons, because Thompson was flying back to Washington.

Im going back today because were going to have a vote on a Republican gun bill tomorrow, Thompson said. One of the issues (on the gun control issue) is that people on the terrorist watch list can legally buy firearms, and weve been fighting to get one of the loopholes closed. We were told late last week that the Republicans were going to bring the bill to the floor. As I understand it, its not a very good bill.

He said theres been a lot of pressure on the Republican leadership to do something about gun violence, although he said he didnt know it would be so soon. In Thompsons opinion, the Republicans could have brought another compromise bill, that from Republican Sen. Susan Collins from Maine. They could have brought that to the floor and that would have passed easily, but they overreached, they brought up a bill that doesnt really protect the American people, Thompson said.

Thompson represents the 5th District and is the Democratic Gun Violence Prevention Task Force chairman. He participated in the 25-hour sit-in on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives in late June that was designed to force the Republican leadership to bring a gun violence compromise bill to the floor for a vote.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Allied leaders, meeting in Warsaw on Friday and Saturday (9 July), will take key decisions to strengthen the Alliances defence and deterrence and project stability beyond NATOs borders.

Since the Alliance's last summit in September 2014 in Wales, NATO has implemented the biggest reinforcement of its collective defence since the Cold War. We delivered a faster, a stronger, and a more ready Alliance, Mr Stoltenberg told a press conference at NATO headquarters on Monday (4 July). We now need to take the next steps. So at our Summit in Warsaw, we will agree to further enhance our military presence in the eastern part of the Alliance.

The Secretary General said that Allied leaders will agree to deploy four robust, multinational battalions to Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland. Further efforts to strengthen the Alliances deterrence and defence include a tailored presence in the south-east, based on a multinational brigade in Romania and steps to improve cyber-defence, civil preparedness and the ability to defend against ballistic missile attacks.

Mr Stoltenberg also said that after years of declining defence budgets, NATO estimates show that defence spending by European Allies and Canada is expected to rise by 3 percent  or 8 billion US Dollars  this year. The Secretary General welcomed the rise in defence spending but urged Allies to keep up the momentum.

Turning to the Middle East, the Secretary General said Alliance leaders will this week approve the deployment of NATO AWACS surveillance aircraft to support the Global Coalition to counter ISIL. He also said he expected NATO to agree on a new training and capacity building effort in Iraq and a role for NATO in the Central Mediterranean to complement the European Unions Operation Sophia.

Mr Stoltenberg said preparations for holding another meeting of the NATO-Russia Council shortly after the Warsaw Summit are ongoing. "We remain open to dialogue with Russia. The NATO-Russia Council has an important role to play as a forum for dialogue and information exchange, to reduce tensions and increase predictability," Stoltenberg said. He stressed that transparency and risk reduction should be on the agenda.

The Secretary General further underscored NATOs continued support for Afghanistan, including a continuation of the Resolute Support mission into 2017 and continued funding of the Afghan forces until 2020. He also outlined efforts to strengthen NATOs close cooperation with Ukraine, Georgia and the Republic of Moldova.
Ombudsperson to attorneys of Frances Montpelier: POWs trials in Azerbaijan are aimed at terrorizing Armenian society

Karabakh parliament to convene special session Sunday

Today marks 23rd anniversary of Armenia parliament tragedy

Newspaper: October 31 trilateral meeting in Russias Sochi to not be groundbreaking

US State Department: Armenia-Azerbaijan direct dialogue is key to resolving issues, reaching lasting peace

Armenia MOD: No wounded soldiers in military hospitals who are in severe or critical condition

Ukraine Presidents Office: Kherson direction situation changing unpleasantly for Kyiv

Raisi: Terrorist attack in Shiraz will not go unanswered

Turkey arrests doctor who called for investigation into chemical weapons use in northern Iraq

Blinken: China has decided that the status quo in Taiwan is no longer acceptable

Steven Mnuchin says China will face significant economic downturn that will affect rest of world

German government allows Chinese company to buy reduced stake in Hamburg port terminal

'Corridor' between Armenia and Azerbaijan becomes subject of heated debate in European Parliament

Awkward lunch: Macron humiliates Scholz in Paris

Polish government prepares for 'potential use of nuclear or chemical weapons' by Kremlin

Iran: Unknown shoot and kill 2 IRGC members

EU calls on defense ministers of bloc countries to coordinate arms purchases

What will Israeli defense minister discuss in Turkey

Erdogan: We cannot allow 'terrorist organizations' to take the issue of Sweden's membership in NATO hostage

KGB: Opponents of authorities will begin to rock situation in country in November-December

Finance Ministry: Armenia plans to increase pensions in July next year

Terrorist who carried out shooting in Shiraz is foreigner

Saudi Arabia slams countries for using emergency oil reserves to manipulate prices

Azerbaijani who fought in ranks of AFU killed in Kiev as result of Iranian drone strike

Konstantin Zatulin: You don't have to be Armenian to love Armenia and Armenians

Biden's approval rating approaches lowest level of his presidency just 2 weeks before election

White House tones down its previous optimism about the midterm elections

Ford Motor leaves Russian market by selling its stake in Sollers joint venture

Council of Lazarev Club considers ban on Konstantin Zatulin to enter Armenia outrageous trick

The New York Times: Saudi Arabia pissed off U.S. by derailing a secret deal

Samvel Karapetyan: Various forces are pushing Armenia away from Russia, this cannot be allowed

Dubai Silicon Oasis interested in cooperation with Armenia in IT sector

Jens Stoltenberg announces his intention to visit Turkey

Wiktorin: EU observation mission will ease tensions

Saudi Aramco: European embargo on Russian oil increases uncertainty in global oil market

Commander of Lithuanian Armed Forces against transfer of howitzers and air defense systems to Ukraine

Armenian Finance Ministry gives outlook on economic activity and debt ratio

Minister: Rehabilitation works after Azerbaijani Armed Forces' invasion continue

About 230 kilometers of roads are being built and repaired in Syunik

Bloomberg: Europe has more gas than it can use

Pashinyan says he would like to sign Armenian-Azerbaijani peace deal before end of year

168.am: President of Artsakh leaves for Russian capital

Armenia's Pashinyan: I will attend trilateral meeting in Sochi

Bloomberg: China's budget deficit since beginning of year approached record trillion dollars

PM: There is expectation that CSTO will adopt roadmap to restore Armenias territorial integrity

Pope receives Armenian FM

Armenia ruling party convention to be closed to media

Dollar falls, euro rises in Armenia

Kremlin: Russia has information that Ukraine is preparing terrorist attack using 'dirty bomb'

Governor underscores EU envoy to Armenias efforts in returning of Shirak Province POWs (PHOTOS)

Putin: US is using Ukraine as battering ram against Russia, CSTO, and CIS

Russian journalist Ksenia Sobchak leaves Russia

Russian military practices massive nuclear strike in response to nuclear attack of adversary

Germany restricts visas for Iranian passport holders

Belarus Foreign Minister visits Iran

Iran expands sanctions against EU

Zatulin says it is necessary to discuss relations between Russia and Armenia at different levels

Ardshinbank is the only company from Armenia with assigned ratings from the big three credit rating agencies

Armenia Security Council chief receives OSCE needs assessment mission members

Kremlin comments on deployment of American division in Romania

Iltalehti: draft bill on Finland's membership in NATO allows deployment of nuclear weapons

Kremlin informs about preparation for Armenia, Russia, Azerbaijan leaders meeting

Armenia envoy briefs Costa Rica president on South Caucasus situation

Legislature head on chances of Armenia leaving CSTO: There is very little time left for us to make decision

Mercedes confirms intention to leave Russia

Armenia parliament speaker: No document on table

Air-raid alarm sirens to be installed in Estonia

Armenia legislature head: PM will go to Sochi on October 31, meet with Russia, Azerbaijan presidents

US State Department: Armenia, Azerbaijan should decide whether Putin's invitation would be useful to them

US transfers to Ukraine first 2 NASAMS complexes

Armenia National Assembly speaker: Phrase about signing peace treaty by years end is tacit deadline

Armenia parliament speaker: We have 240 casualties as result of Azerbaijan attack

Armenia FM in Vatican, meets with Substitute for Holy See Secretariat of State for General Affairs

Israel president gives US intel on Iran UAVs in Ukraine

Copper prices are rising

World oil prices falling

Armenia MPs approve several changes to laws

FM: Armenia has never lost its belief in humanity despite facing many challenges, calamities

Canada embassy to soon be opened in Armenia

Biden: Russia would be making serious mistake to use tactical nuclear weapon

Margarita Simonyan says she is banned from entering Armenia

Newspaper: Artsakh Public Council establishment causes concern in political arena

First sneakers for horses created in US

India fines Google for $113 million

Mass dedicated to peace in Armenia is celebrated at Vatican

Saudi Arabia decides to be more mature guy in its quarrel with US

Biden says Russia would make 'serious mistake' if it deploys tactical nuclear weapons in Ukraine

Ukrainian media report on Dnipro rocket attack

Romania plans to intensify talks on Black Sea and military purchases

Karekin II and Aram I refuse to participate in World Armenian Forum

IMF Director: Ukraine's need for external financing could reach $5 billion month

Turkey continues to beat out gas discount from Russia and payment deferral from Gazprom

Alen Simonyan refuses to participate in fifth meeting of Russian-Armenian Lazarev Club

New Serbian government plans to invest 12 billion euros in energy projects

UN Security Council to meet at Russia's request over accusations that Iran is supplying drones to Russia

Leading Wall Street bankers warn of recession in US and Europe

Armenian FM tells Vatican secretary of state about Azerbaijani aggression

Secretary of Armenian Security Council holds telephone conversation with Biden's aide

IEA head: World still needs Russian oil to flow into the market

Norwegian police arrest man on suspicion of spying for Russia
YEREVAN.  The agreements that were reached at the Vienna summit shall be implemented.

Ambassador Piotr Switalski, Head of the European Union (EU) Delegation to Armenia, stated the above-said at a press conference on Monday.

In his words, the events of recent months have intensified the process and dynamics of settling the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Switalski noted the Vienna Summit has opened a new chapter, to some extent, in the efforts to achieve a fair and comprehensive settlement, and that a new and important summit in Saint Petersburg, Russia, followed the one that was convened in the Austrian capital city.

Head of the EU Delegation to Armenia stressed that the EU fully supports the efforts by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Minsk Group co-chairs.

The ambassador informed that the EU special representative for the South Caucasus will visit capital city Yerevan on Tuesday, and meet separately with the President and the FM of Armenia. He added that this visit attests to the fact that the EU wishes to assist the efforts of the mediators.

The EU ambassador noted, however, that it is not the time for public diplomacy. Nonetheless, as per Switalski, the EU continues to support efforts aimed at the resolution of the Karabakh conflict. Also, he expressed a view that the agreements that were reached at the Vienna summit shall be implemented, since they decide the road to conflict settlement.

In his words, the integrated approach toward the resolution of conflicts plays an important role in the EU strategy.

Ambassador Piotr Switalski also stated that the EU stands ready to participate in the implementation of a decision that could come about as a result of this process.
-- Published: Monday, 4 July 2016 | Print | Disqus Summary James Machuga, Senior Vice President of Merk Investments Advisor Services, makes his show debut.

Merk Investments suggests that every financial portfolio includes gold insurance, amid an environment of global currency devaluation.

Due in part to the growing theme of negative interest rates, the medium / long-range outlook for the PMs sector continues to improve.

Our guest outlines the options strategies used at Merk Investments, to divine currency volatility and impending market risk.

While equities / bonds appear to be overvalued, which might culminate in a considerable bear market correction, the precious metals are more fairly valued.

Merk Investments research indicates that the optimal investment portfolio melange requires a 20% gold investment.

Merk Investments offers safer alternatives such as a 100% gold backed ETF: ( OUNZ ).

Bob Hoye, senior investment strategist at Institutional Advisors returns with comments on Dr. Greenspan's recent call for a "Gold Standard."

Dr. Greenspan is now a professed "Gold Bug," and points out that all central banks keep tons of the "barbarous relic" in their stockpiles.

The former Fed Chair notes that under the former gold standard, 1870 to 1913, represents one of the most prosperous periods in US economic history.

In the dialogue, Dr. Greenspan placed the blame for the economic mess on Fiscal decision-making, accepting no responsibility for monetary policy.

Our guest likens the Brexit to the unshackling of modern feudalism, the fall of London's "Berlin Wall" may represent a great success for freedom.

Bob Hoye is also a gold bug - the PMs shares continue to benefit from significantly lower petroleum prices, which decreases overall expenses.

The Brexit gave the Fed policymakers a perfect excuse to halt rate hikes and even cut rates if needed in 2017, to the benefit of equities / PMs investors.

Bob Hoye, senior investment strategist at Institutional Advisors returns with comments on former Fed Head, Dr. Greenspan's recent call for US policymakers to return the monetary system to a "Gold Standard."

Dr. Greenspan is now a professed "Gold Bug," and points out that all central banks keep tons of the "barbarous relic" in their stockpiles.

The former Fed Chair notes that under the former gold standard, 1870 to 1913, represents one of the most preposterous periods in US economic history, which may imply a call for a new monetary system. In the dialogue, Dr. Greenspan placed the blame for the economic mess on Fiscal decision making, accepting no responsibility for monetary policy.

Our guest likens the Brexit to the unshackling of modern feudalism, the fall of London's "Berlin Wall" may represent a great success for freedom and a stumbling block to the globalist agenda of total control.

Bob Hoye is also a gold bug - the PMs shares continue to benefit from significantly lower petroleum prices, which decreases overall expenses, while improving profitability.

The Brexit gave the Fed policymakers a perfect excuse to halt rate hikes and even cut rates if needed in 2017, to the benefit of equities / PMs investors. Show Host Chris Waltzek About Chris Contact Host: gsradio@frontier.com NEW - Hotline - Q&A: 1-206-666-5370 Guest Biographies James Machuga Merk Investments Senior Vice President - Advisor Services James Machuga is the Senior Vice President of Adivsor Services and brings over 7 years of financial services experience to Merk Investments. Mr. Machuga holds a B.S. in Business Administration from Bryant University and has further developed his investment acumen through additional courses in Modern Portfolio Theory. Mr Machuga began his career at UBS Financial Services working with a wealth management group in Connecticut, before joining Fidelity Investments Institutional Services, Inc., in 2007. At Fidelity, Mr. Machuga was Senior II Regional Investment Consultant with the Wire-House Advisor Group, where he was responsible for the distribution and sale of Fidelity products to financial intermediaries. He holds FINRA Series 7 and 63 registrations. Mr. Machuga lives in Boston, Massachusetts and is actively engaged with the community through his volunteer activities focused on restoration and improving the ecological health of the Narragansett Bay region. He enjoys spending time with his family, traveling, competing in challenge course events and running. To send James Machuga a message, please: click here. Bob Hoye Institutional Investors With a degree in geophysics and a number of fascinating summers in mining exploration, one winter in "the bush" quickly led Bob into the financial markets. This included experience on the trading desk and in the research department of a large investment dealer, which led to institutional stock and bond sales. Bob's review of financial history provided the forecasting models designed to anticipate significant trend reversals in the sometimes alarming volatility typical of the transition from rampant speculation in tangible assets to fabulous speculation in financial assets. In anticipation of the latter opportunity, a monthly publication for financial institutions was started in January 1982. This competently covered the stock market, the yield curve, credit spreads as well as metal and energy prices. In 1998 the Institutional Advisors website was started as a forum for unique and reliable financial research .

Website: click here. Chris Powell, secretary/treasurer and director.

Powell has been managing editor of the Journal Inquirer, a daily newspaper in Manchester, Connecticut, since 1974. He began working at the paper when he left high school in 1967. He writes a column about Connecticut issues that is published in a dozen other newspapers in the state and Rhode Island and often appears on radio and television public-affairs programs in Connecticut. From 2004 through 2009 he was legislative chairman of the Connecticut Council on Freedom of Information. In 2006 he was inducted into the Academy of New England Journalists by the New England chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists and the New England Society of Newspaper Editors. In addition to the Connecticut Council on Freedom of Information, he is a member of the Connecticut, Manchester, and Vernon historical societies and the Churchill Centre.

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KABC-TV(ANAHEIM, Calif.) -- A 32-year-old man is in a medically-induced coma after recently suffering medical distress during an altercation with police in Anaheim, California, according to his family and lawyer, who said the incident was a case of police brutality.



The altercation happened Saturday morning after the Anaheim Police Department received a call of a suspicious male who had followed a woman to her home, according to a news release from the Anaheim Police Department.



Officers responded to the suspect, Vincent Valenzuela, outside of a 7-Eleven in Anaheim, said Sgt. Daron Wyatt, public information officer for the APD.



Valenzuela allegedly engaged the officers in a physical confrontation. While the officers attempted to take him into custody, he suffered respiratory and cardiac distress, Wyatt told ABC News Monday.



Officers immediately rendered first aid on Valenzuela before calling for paramedics, who responded and transported him to a local hospital, Wyatt said.



Valenzuela's family said that witnesses told them Valenzuela was stunned by a laser gun by the officers before going into cardiac distress.



Wyatt said he could not confirm if stun guns were used by officers during the incident.



The Orange County District Attorneys Office is leading an investigation into the incident, and the APD's Major Incident Review Team and the Office of Independent Review are also conducting concurrent investigations, Wyatt said. He added that the officers involved in the incident were wearing body cameras, which were activated at the time.



The body camera footage has been provided to the district attorneys office and will likely not be publicly released until the end of the investigation, Wyatt said.



Valenzuela's wife, Patricia Gonzalez, said at a news conference she hoped "somebody can come forward with a video so we can see what really happened." She added that surveillance footage from the 7-Eleven may have captured the incident but that the convenience store's "manager was not very cooperative with us."



The family's attorney, James Segall-Gutierrez, added that police are "always going to do this spin" and "[are] always going to give this sensational story of how it went down." He said he just wanted to "see evidence."



Sgt. Wyatt told ABC News Monday the family was originally not allowed visitation at the hospital since Valenzuela was technically in custody for possession of narcotics paraphernalia, resisting arrest and resisting arrest using force. However, the chief of police recently "made an exception out of compassion for the family."



Segall-Gutierrez did not immediately respond to ABC News' requests for additional comment. ABC News was not immediately successful in reaching Gonzalez, Valenzuela's wife, for additional comment.

Copyright  2016, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
Egypts Chamber of Diving and Watersports is celebrating the first Green Fins trainers to complete the Train the Trainer programme in Africa and the Middle East Region.

The Reef-World Foundationthe international coordinator of UN Environment Programmes Green Fins initiativehas successfully trained and certified three new Green Fins trainers from the Green Fins Egypt national team. They are now qualified to train new Green Fins assessors in the country, building capacity for the initiatives continued expansion in the country.

Due to the increasing demand for the Green Fins programme by dive and snorkel operators in Egypt, the Green Fins Egypt team has undergone the Green Fins Train the Trainer programme in October 2022. Reef-World developed the Train the Trainer programme to assist the national teams in becoming more independent and sustainable. Following the week of training, Egypt now has a national Green Fins team comprised of three fully certified Green Fins trainers and nine Green Fins assessors from the Chamber of Diving & Watersports (CDWS).

Chloe Harvey, Director at The Reef-World Foundation, said: The team behind Green Fins in Egypt are such a unique mix of individuals with decades of diving experience and more than 100,000 dives between them. The team is constantly breaking down barriers and thinking really innovatively to work with the industry to overcome some systemic patterns of behaviour. By building their capacity to now train new assessors, they are more sustainable as a national team and can plan ahead to ensure they have the right people in the right places to continue to drive change within the marine tourism industry. Im really hopeful that as the Green Fins network in Egypt grows, we can engage the right government agencies in further supporting the future sustainability of the Egyptian diving and snorkelling industry.

Green Fins Egypt was launched in September 2019. The programme was piloted in the South Sinai Governorate with the CDWS leading all Green Fins activities in the country. The plan is to strengthen sustainability within the marine tourism sector across Egypt by guiding operators towards a more sustainable operating model. Training and encouraging the adoption of the Green Fins management approach to reduce their impact on the marine environment.

Mostafa Hefny, Chairman of the Chamber of Diving & Watersports, said: Green Fins is raising awareness of the diving industry on the importance of sustainability and providing useful solutions to our problems. Egypt is leading the way in sustainable diving in the Middle East and African region.

Building on the successful pilot, Green Fins was then expanded to be available to all dive and snorkel operators across Egypt in 2020. The team was lucky to complete the roll-out before the pandemic hit and travel restrictions prevented further implementation. Despite the setback, the team has continued to assess Members where possible, and there are now Green Fins certified dive and snorkel operators in all of the key destinations in the Red Sea.

Lina Challita, Environmental Manager at the Chamber of Diving & Watersports, said: As a team, we are happy to become some of the few assessor trainers in the world. We hope to reach as many operators as possible and help with positive change in the industry.

Green Fins provides the only internationally recognised environmental standards for the diving and snorkelling industry and has a robust assessment system to measure compliance. The initiative aims to protect and conserve coral reefs through environmentally-friendly guidelines that promote a sustainable diving and snorkelling tourism industry.
FRANKFURT: German top-of-the-range car maker BMW announced on Friday that it is joining forces with US computer chip giant Intel and the Israeli technology firm Mobileye to develop self-driving cars.

The three companies "are collaborating to bring solutions for highly and fully automated driving into series production by 2021," they said in a joint statement.

The news comes amid growing interest in self-driving cars following tests over the past few years by Google and research by several major automakers.

"BMW, Intel and Mobileye are convinced that automated driving technologies will make travel safer and easier," they said.

The aim of the collaboration was to develop solutions that would enable drivers not only to take their hands off the steering wheel, but also reach a stage where they could also take their eyes of the road and ultimately their mind off driving, the statement continued.

The final stage would then be "driver off", or without a human driver inside.

"This establishes the opportunity for self-driving fleets by 2021 and lays the foundation for entirely new business models in a connected, mobile world," the partners said.

While the auto industry sees self-driving cars as the way forward, US electric car company Tesla announced earlier that a driver was killed in a car crash in Florida in May while using the "autopilot" self-driving mechanism on one of its models.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said it had opened a "preliminary evaluation" into the performance of the autopilot function in the wake of the crash.

BMW, Intel and Mobileye insisted that "the future of automated driving promises to change lives and societies for the better."

Nevertheless, "the path to get to a fully autonomous world is complex and will require end-to-end solutions that integrate intelligence across the network, from door locks to the data centre." they said.

"Transportation providers of the future must harness rapidly evolving technologies, collaborate with totally new partners, and prepare for disruptive opportunities."

Intel is the world's leading maker of computer chips while Mobileye describes itself as the "global leader in the development of computer vision and machine learning, data analysis, localization and mapping for Advanced Driver Assistance Systems and autonomous driving."

BMW is already a client of Mobileye. And last year it joined forces with its German rivals Daimler and Audi, the luxury subsidiary of Volkswagen, to buy the Here digital mapping service from Nokia.

BMW's Series 7 is able to park itself or keep in line while maintaining a safe distance behind the car ahead at speeds up to 210 kilometres per hour.

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NEW YORK: Social networking giant Facebook will soon make it easy for you to communicate with a global audience. The company is introducing a new software that automatically translates your posts to several different languages, a media report said.

The software makes your published posts visible to people in their preferred languages.

All you need to do is type up a post, click on a pull-down menu, and add up to 45 different language translations - ranging from French to Filipino to Lithuanian, tech website CNET reported.

The so-called "multilingual composer" is being tested only among a small group of users for now.

The social network said the feature is already being used by 5,000 Facebook Pages which are specifically for businesses and brands, but it will soon open for testing to the broader social network.

The software uses artificial intelligence (AI) to prefill the translation field when you add different languages to a post.

It utilises information like a user's location, language preferences and what language a person most commonly uses to post on Facebook to decide which version of the message to show.

According to Facebook, about half of its 1.65 billion users worldwide speak a language other than English.

The move is expected to allow people to spend more time on Facebook.

Read Also: BMW Teams Up With Intel, Mobileye To Develop Self-Driving Cars

BMW Teams Up With Intel, Mobileye To Develop Self-Driving Cars
It's almost 20 years since the initial release of 'Harry Potter' and the wizarding saga seems to be far from over. 'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them' hasn't even hit the cinemas yet and author J.K. Rowling is ready with the script for its sequel! In an interview with GSN, director David Yates said that Rowling, who is making her screenwriting debut with the 'Harry Potter' spin-off, has already finished the second one and has various ideas for the third, reports the Independent. "We've done the first one, she's written the second one, [and] she's got ideas for the third one," said the director of 'Fantastic Beasts.' Yates also discussed the difference between working on the past 'Harry Potter' adaptations - 'Order of the Phoenix,' 'Half-Blood Prince' and both parts of the 'Deathly Hallows' - and the upcoming film. He noted, "It's sort of lovely in a way. When we adapted the books, you would always have to leave out things that you hate leaving out because they didn't quite work within the structure of the storytelling for the movie, or the movie would just be far too long. With this, it's just pure Jo [Rowling] from the first page to the last page." 'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them' is all set to hit the UK theatres on 18 November. (ANI)
A new study has found that a simple scratch could increase your chances of having an IVF baby, but the researchers have urged caution over the findings, saying there is insufficient evidence to consider it for women. The review of randomised controlled trials evaluating endometrial scratching in women planning to have intrauterine insemination (IUI) or attempting to conceive spontaneously (with or without ovulation induction) suggests that endometrial scratching may well be beneficial in couples trying to conceive naturally or with IUI, although "the quality of the available evidence is low." Eight eligible trials with a total of 1180 women were included in the Cochrane review, in which endometrial scratching was compared to no intervention or a mock intervention. The primary outcomes were live birth/ongoing pregnancy and pain from the intervention. Following analysis, endometrial scratching appeared to increase the chance of clinical pregnancy and live birth compared to no procedure or a placebo procedure; the difference in outcome was statistically significant and appeared to roughly double the chance of live birth compared to no intervention. Researcher Sarah Lensen from the University of Auckland explained that endometrial scratching would increase the normal chance of a live birth or ongoing pregnancy from 9 percent over a set period of time to somewhere betweem 14 and 28 percent. However, the quality of the studies from which the result was derived was descibed as "very low-quality." "The results must be treated with caution," said Lensen, as most of the included trials were associated with a serious risk of bias. There was no evidence that endometrial scratching has any effect on miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy or multiple pregnancy. Pain during the scratch procedure was reported by one study as an average of 6/10. Lensen described endometrial scratching as "a cheap and simple procedure" which can be conducted without analgesia during a short clinic visit; it does, however, require an internal examination which is associated with pain and discomfort. The study is presented at the 32nd Annual Meeting of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology. (ANI)
In a tweet, Uttarakhand PCC chief Kishore Upadhyay said,"Dear @narendramodi ji Pls stop the step motherly treatment to UK & release a package of Rs 5000 cr for relief & rescue #UttarakhandCloudburst.''

Cloudburst occurred in Pithoragarh and Chamoli districts of Uttarakhand on Friday, leaving at least 30 people dead and several others injured.

The state government has stepped up the relief and rescue operations in the state following the incident.

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat has said the situation in the state was under control.Congress president Sonia Gandhi called up the Chief Minister to take stock of relief measures in the state.

In her telephonic conversation with Mr Rawat, Ms Gandhi sought details of the relief and rehabilitation measures in the state following the cloudburst.UNI AR JW SV SB 1418

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Mr Mishra marched to the office of the anti-graft agency from his house along with his supporters who were raising slogans and placards against the central government and the BJP.

Talking to mediapersons before entering into the ACB office, Mr Mishra alleged political vendetta at the behest of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and dared him to put former Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit behind bars in the alleged scam.

In a series of tweets this morning, the Water Minister said he was just an excuse and that real target was Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

He also accused Mr Modi of shielding Ms Dikshit in the scam.

Earlier, the ACB had registered an FIR against Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his predecessor Ms Dikshit in connection with the water tanker scam.

While Mr Mishra had filed a complaint with Lt. Governor Najeeb Jung and Prime Minister Narendra Modi against Ms Dikshit in the scam, Mr Kejriwal's name was included, on the complaint of BJP legislator Vijender Gupta, "for causing delay and not cancelling the contract for water tankers".UNI RG/AR AE SB 1443

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Police said the four were apprehended on charge of extorting money.

Among those held were two school teachers, who were also extorting money on behalf of the militant outfit.

Security forces have intensified operations against the outfit and efforts are on to close the net around its leader G Bidai, who is suspected to be holed up in the jungles of Bhutan.UNI SG PL SB AN1711

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An over 20,000 strong crowd at Ticket Pro Dome in Johannesburg and an equally enthusiastic Gujju community at Kasarani stadium in Nairobi, Kenya, eagerly awaits Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who would be on a five-day four-nation tour of Africa starting from July 7. During his African outreach, which starts from Mozambique and concludes with Kenya with South Africa and Tanzania in the middle of the itinerary, a heavy business agenda would be on the Prime Minister's table. The trip would also witness an emotional connect with Mahatma Gandhi, when Mr Modi will have a short train journey to Pietermaritzburg station, where the Father of the Nation was pushed out of a train, an event that changed the course of history. After a long gap, Mr Modi is returning to his "Madison Square" style meeting, with large number of Indian origin people registering to attend his public address to be held at iconic Ticket Pro Dome. A website dedicated to the event is getting an overwhelming response with huge rush to register for this prestigious event, which confirms that South Africans were eagerly anticipating the kind of life-changing motivational addresses that the Prime Minister has been delivering across the globe. For the event a variety of music, dance and cultural programmes are being planned as for the first time an Indian head of state will address a public gathering of this magnitude on South African soil.The SAwelcomesModi Organizing Committee is the lead agency for the Ticket Pro Dome event. More UNI MK AE RP1820 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0090-819170.Xml
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's Principal Secretary Rajendra Kumar, along with four others, were today arrested by the CBI on corruption charges, the investigative agency said today. Kumar faces allegations that while working in different positions between 2007 and 2014, he organised crucial contracts worth crores related to Delhi government from different departments to private company Endeavour Systems Pvt Ltd, which he promoted along with his associates.Agency sources said Kumar has emerged as the kingpin of the Rs 50 crore scam which started in 2006.More UNI RG-SM/AR AE RP1825 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0092-819236.Xml
The Nehru-Gandhi family scion and emerging Congress star campaigner Priyanka Gandhi Vadra today made a flying visit to her mother Sonia Gandhi's constituency to condole, on behalf of the family, the death of senior Congress leader and district president Umashanker Mishra, who passed away this morning. Amid heavy rains that lashed the city, when Priyanka reached the Tilak Bhawan, the district party office, to pay her floral tributes as she stayed just for around 30 minutes in Rae Bareli and again returned back to Lucknow to catch flight for New Delhi. On the occasion she told reporters that Unashanker Mishra was closely associated with her family and they have lost a sincere party leader in Rae Bareli. However, Ms Vadra refused to speak anything politics on the occasion when scribes asked her whether she would take active part in the coming assembly polls in the state. During her brief stay she also interacted with the family members of Umashanker Mishra and expressed her condolence. Party sources here said "Ms Vadra rushed for Rae Bareli after hearing the news of the death of Mr Mishra, who had held the post of District President here for the past 17 years. Ms Vadra reached Lucknow by a service flight around 1430 hours and immediately proceeded for Rae Bareli. She reached Rae Bareli at around 1530 hrs and after staying for around 30 minutes left for Lucknow to fly to New Delhi. Mr Mishra (93), a close family associate of Gandhi's, died due to heart attack in Lucknow at the residence of his son this morning and later brought here. His body was kept at the district party office at Tilak Bhawan for the party workers to pay their condolences. After Ms Vadra left for Lucknow, the body was taken for cremation at the Dalmau Ghats along the bank of the Ganga. Several Congress leaders who were slated to visit Rae Bareli to offer their condolences could not do so due to heavy rains since this morning.UNI XC-MB SHK 1753 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0138-819217.Xml
Ambedkar was born at Mhow on April 14, 1891.

According to official sources here, the Union Home ministry has requested the Madhya Pradesh government to issue a Gazette notification in this regard.

Sources also said that Union Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Thawar Chand Gehlot had written to Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu on the issue.

Renamed as Dr Ambedkar Nagar in 2003, the tiny township of Mhow, famous for pleasant climate almost throughout the year, is located 23 km from Indore and is essentially a cantonment area.

The Indian Army also runs a College of Combat for training its officers at Mhow.

--IANS nd/vd

( 152 Words)

2016-07-04-23:10:02 (IANS)
The Central Park was partially closed for police investigation after the explosion rocked the southeastern part of the park, near the corner of 5th Avenue and 62th Street, Xinhua reported.

The part of the renowned park remained closed throughout the afternoon, with heavy presence of law enforcement standing guard and evacuating tourists from the site of the blast.

It was yet unknown what caused the explosion but it may have been fireworks prior to the Independence Day holiday on Monday.

The victim was identified as Connor Golden, an 18-year-old from Fairfax Virginia, who was visiting New York from Washington for the holiday, according to local media.

Eyewitnesses said Golden was climbing a rock structure with two friends when he stepped on something that blew up, according to the police.

The police and paramedics rushed to the scene after a call came in at 10:53 a.m. local time. The NYPD bomb squad was also dispatched.

The victim suffered a severe leg injury and faced "a possible amputation," said a Fire Department of New York spokesperson.

--IANS sku/

( 212 Words)

2016-07-04-05:20:02 (IANS)


BEIJING, July 1, 2016 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), delivers a speech at a rally marking the 95th anniversary of the founding of the CPC at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, July 1, 2016. (Xinhua/Liu Weibing)

BEIJING, July 4 (Xinhua) -- A wide range of foreign media have paid close attention to the televised speech Chinese President Xi Jinping made upon the 95th founding anniversary of the Communist Party of China (CPC), especially to the contents related to Marxism, anti-corruption and territorial sovereignty.

The London-based Financial Times focused on Xi's stress on the CPC's continued devotion to Marxism by quoting his remarks of "The whole party should remember, what we are building is socialism with Chinese characteristics, not some other -ism," in an article on its website on Friday.

The article, titled "Xi Jinping pledges return to Marxist roots for China's Communists," also noted China's firm stance on maritime disputes and Xi's warning against any threats to China's security and Taiwanese independence.

The Associated Press seemed more interested in Xi's appeal for ideological unity, quoting "Marxism must be the basic fundamental, guiding principle, or the party would lose its soul and direction," in a report Friday.

The news agency said that the address demonstrated the Chinese leader attaches great importance to the reinforcement of ideological discipline and party rule.

Another key point picked up by foreign media's reports was China's anti-corruption campaign.

Praising the progress of China's anti-corruption drive in the past three years, Xi vowed in his speech to maintain a zero-tolerance stance regarding corruption.

Reuters pointed out in a report that Xi's address emphasized the biggest threat to the ruling CPC is corruption, and called Xi's campaign against graft "sweeping."

Reuters also considered China's claims on the South China Sea as "a muscular approach to protecting China's sovereignty."

Russia's Interfax news agency said in its report that under Xi's leadership, China has launched a far-reaching campaign against corruption within the ruling party, the government and the army in recent years, which has helped strengthen people's confidence in the CPC and further promote the country's reform.

Major media in Pakistan such as the Dawn, The News and Pakistan Observer, and those in Myanmar like Global New Light Of Myanmar and the Standard Time Daily, above all focused their attention on the CPC's resolve to fight corruption.

Moreover, Xi's attitude toward China's maintaining national security has attracted a lot of attention from foreign media.

Singapore's Lianhe Zaobao quoted Xi's "Chinese people do not make trouble, but we are not cowards when involved in trouble," commenting that it represents China's response to the arbitration on the South China Sea started by the Philippines.

The article said that the way Xi stressed this on such a significant occasion indicated that China will stick to its own development path and is not afraid of any super power.

The AFP stated in a report Friday that Xi has won popularity with the anti-corruption campaign, which has involved several former top-ranked officials when referring to his words on party rule.

Major media in Romania also held similar views and pointed that "China will never compromise on sovereignty, says Xi Jinping."

Related:

95 years on, Xi wants CPC motivated, confident, clean

BEIJING, July 1 (Xinhua) -- Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, on Friday called on his comrades to "stay true to the mission" taken up by the CPC 95 years ago.
ISLAMABAD, July 3 (Xinhua) -- Chairman of the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee, Senator John McCain, on Sunday visited Pakistan's North Waziristan tribal region which has almost been cleared of the Taliban and other militant groups.

The military said that McCain, accompanied by a congressional delegation including Senator Lindsey Graham and Senator Joe Donnelly, went to North Waziristan Agency to visit areas cleared of terrorists by the army over the past years.

"Having seen first hand, the erstwhile hide outs and communication infrastructure, been cleared of terrorists, the delegation was highly appreciative of Pak Army's accomplishment of cleansing the entire area of North Waziristan right up to Pak-Afghan Border," an army statement said.

The U.S. senators arrived in Pakistan on Saturday amid tensions over several issues including a halt to the subsidized F-16 fighter planes to Pakistan and the U.S. drone strike that killed Afghan Taliban chief Mullah Akhtar Mansour in May.

Pakistani civil and military leaders had condemned the U.S. attack which they believed also hurt efforts for the peace process in Afghanistan.

The delegation also met with wounded soldiers and officers who were seriously affected in the war against the Taliban and other militant groups and have now voluntarily rejoined the battlefield.

"The visitors appreciated the determination and grit of all affected Pakistani soldiers and their unparalleled sacrifice for their motherland," the statement from the army's Inter-Services Public Relations said.

They also held talks with Pakistani Foreign Affairs Adviser Sartaj Aziz, and commended the transparent process of the tribal regions' stabilization carried out by the Pakistan government, the Foreign Ministry said. Enditem


Photo taken on April 5, 2016 shows the lighthouse on Zhubi Reef of Nansha Islands in the South China Sea, south China. (Xinhua file photo)

PRAGUE, July 3 (Xinhua) -- Vojtech Filip, vice speaker of the Parliament of the Czech Republic and leader of the Czech Communist Party, said Philippine position is self-contradictory on the South China Sea case.

"I am convinced that in this respect the proposed arbitration is extremely premature, outside the framework of international law, and in its own way disrupts that which the Philippines have worked for in the past -- a unified approach to all countries that border the South China Sea," Filip told Xinhua in a recent interview.

"I consider the approach of China to be adequate, i.e. that they refuse to participate in the arbitration case," Filip stated.

Manila unilaterally initiated an arbitration case against China over maritime disputes in the South China Sea at the Permanent Court of Arbitration(PCA) in The Hague in early 2013 under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

China has pointed out that territorial issues are not subject to the UNCLOS, and that as early as in 2006 it declared -- in line with UNCLOS -- to exclude disputes concerning maritime delimitation from mandatory dispute-settlement procedures. Some 30 countries have also filed declarations of this kind.

On June 29, the PCA announced it will decide on the South China Sea case on July 12.

The Chinese government has repeatedly reiterated that it would neither accept nor participate in the arbitration.

Related:

Spotlight: Expectation of resumption of sound development of China-Philippines relations

BEIJING, July 2 (Xinhua) -- As the farce of arbitration on the South China Sea is to end soon, it is time for the new Philippine government of Rodrigo Duterte to stop the wrong foreign policy of its predecessor, so as to bring China-Philippines ties back to the track of sound development.
NAIROBI, July 3 (Xinhua) -- Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is due in Kenya on Monday for the first time where peace and security top his three-day visit in Nairobi.

Kenya's State House spokesman Manoah Esipisu said on Sunday both Kenya and Israel have also worked together in protecting their territories from the shared demon of terrorism.

"Kenya and Israel have long recognized that terrorism poses a global threat, and that it demands a global answer. That is why, over the years, we have worked together to protect our democracies, and to defeat extremism at home and abroad. We will continue that cooperation," Esipisu said in a statement issued in Nairobi.

He said the Israeli PM's visit comes at the invitation of President Uhuru Kenyatta, who extended it during his visit to Israel in February.

"This is his first stop on a tour of Africa. That he has chosen to start his visit here reinforces Nairobi's position as the gateway to the continent," said Esipisu.

The East Africa nation has established ties with Israel and collaborated on projects such as the ongoing maize irrigation project.

During his visit to Israel, President Kenyatta held fruitful discussions with Netanyahu, which took in matters of security, counter-terrorism, irrigation, energy, and agriculture.

"The same issues remain at the heart of this visit's agenda. The President is also keen to deepen trade and investment between Israel and Kenya, and he will be looking to engage the Israeli business leaders who will accompany Premier Netanyahu on this visit," Esipisu said.

He said a number of instruments and agreements governing investment and taxation have been negotiated by Kenya and Israel.

"During this visit, President Kenyatta and the Israeli Prime Minister will sign or reaffirm these agreements," he added. Enditem
BEIJING, June 20, 2016 (Xinhua) -- Wang Qishan (R), secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI), meets with President of the Cambodian Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU) Om Yentieng in Beijing, capital of China, June 20, 2016. (Xinhua/Ju Peng)

BEIJING, July 3 (Xinhua) -- China's central authority has started the 10th round of inspection work, with inspection teams having been deployed to 16 agencies and provincial regions, the top anti-graft body said Sunday.

According to the website of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI), inspection teams went to the State Council Legislative Affairs Office, the National Audit Office, Tianjin Municipality, Hubei Province and others.

A total of 32 agencies and provincial regions will be inspected, the CCDI said. Inspection teams will be deployed to four provincial regions that have been inspected in previous inspection work.

Discipline inspection teams dispatched by CCDI to agencies and provincial regions will also be inspected this time around.

Inspection teams will work in agencies and provincial regions for two months.

Inspection is aimed at uncovering harmful behavior by officials, including trading power for money, abusing power, and bribery, as well as harmful work styles such as formalism, bureaucracy, hedonism and extravagance.

The CPC began routinely sending teams to oversee the performance of officials in 2003, and the practice was formally written into the Party's Constitution five years later.

Related:

Ex-mayor of E Chinese city investigated for graft

Former environment official stands trial for graft

Local officials in China under graft investigation

BEIJING, June 30 (Xinhua) -- Three officials, from Anhui Province and Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, have been placed under investigation on suspicion of corruption, China's Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP) said Thursday.
UNITED NATIONS, July 3 (Xinhua) -- UN chief Ban Ki-moon on Sunday condemned terrorist attacks in the capital of Iraq, calling on the Iraqi government to bring "the perpetrators of this horrific crime" to justice as soon as possible.

The secretary-general "is appalled by the utter disregard for human life displayed by the perpetrators, who struck as residents prepared for Eid al-Fitr celebrations," said a statement issued here by Ban's spokesman.

A busy commercial district in southern Baghdad was hit by a car bomb on Saturday night, while a suicide bomber detonated his explosive-laden pickup truck outside a shopping center.

At least 126 people, including 25 children, and some 152 others wounded in the bomb attacks, the bloodiest attack this year in the country.

The Islamic State, also known as the ISIS or Daesh, claimed responsibility for the deadliest attack in Iraq, the third in a week.

Ban expressed his deep sympathy and condolences to families of the victims, and to the government and people of Iraq, the statement said. "He wishes the many injured a speedy recovery."

"The secretary-general appeals to the people of Iraq to reject any attempts to spread fear and undermine the unity of the country," it said.

"The secretary-general wishes the people of Iraq a peaceful remainder of the holy month of Ramadan," the statement added. Enditem
VALLETTA, July 3 (Xinhua) -- A one-week event focusing on the Square Kilometre Array (SKA), the world's largest radio telescope being built in South Africa and western Australia, will be held on July 4-10 at the University of Malta Valletta campus.

Organized by the University of Cambridge and the Institute of Space Sciences and Astronomy (ISSA) of the University of Malta, the event will enable 75 computer scientists, engineers and astronomers to discuss the science data processing of the radio telescope.

Kristian Zarb Adami, ISSA director and astrophysicist, said in a statement that the SKA has been built to answer some of the most fundamental questions about the universe. He said,"this meeting is laying the foundation of the software design that will truly transform the SKA from an ordinary radio telescope to a flexible cutting-edge instrument capable of searching the radio sky quicker than ever before."

The SKA project is an international effort to build the world's largest radio telescope, with eventually over a square km of collecting area. The scale of the SKA represents a huge leap forward in both engineering and research, the development towards building and delivering a unique instrument, with the detailed design and preparation now well under way.

Both South Africa's Karoo region and Western Australia's Murchison Shire are chosen as co-hosting locations for many scientific and technical reasons, from the atmospherics above the desert sites, through to the radio quietness, which comes from being some of the most remote locations on Earth.

Around 100 organisations are participating in the design and development of the SKA. Malta is an observer on the SKA Board. It is primarily working on developing software, control and management systems for the consortia. Enditem
UNITED NATIONS, July 3 (Xinhua) -- The president of the UN General Assembly, Mogens Lykketoft, expressed outrage on Sunday at the bombings in the Iraqi capital, which killed at least 126 people and left many more badly injured.

"This horrific act of violence perpetrated upon people, including many children, just going about their business during the Holy month of Ramadan is outrageous. This despicable attack is to be condemned in the strongest possible terms," Lykketoft said in a statement.

"Our thoughts and prayers go out to the victims and their loved ones. In the face of terror, we stand firmly with the people and Government of Iraq," the president said.

At least 126 people, including 25 children, were killed on Saturday evening in the terrorist attacks in a busy shopping district in Baghdad.

The Islamic State, known as the ISIS or Daesh, claimed responsibility for the deadliest terrorist attack in Iraq, the third in a week.

Earlier Sunday, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned the attacks, calling on the Iraqi government to ensure that "the perpetrators of this horrific crime are brought to justice as soon as possible."

The attacks were the bloodiest this year in Iraq where the army was fighting against the Islamic State militants. Enditem
by Maria Spiliopoulou

ATHENS, July 3 (Xinhua) -- Greek prominent entrepreneur Kyriakos Mamidakis was found dead in his house at the Athens northern suburb of Dionyssos on Sunday, the police said. The preliminary investigation by the authorities showed suicide was suspected.

The prominent entrepreneur aged 84 was found dead by one of his aides and his son-in-law with his handgun by his side, according to investigators.

Mamidakis was the co-founder and owner of Greek petrol company Mamidoil Jetoil.

On June 9, Mamidoil Jetoil had filed for bankruptcy and was granted temporary protection from its creditors.

The company he had established in 1968 with his two brothers, George and Nick, was facing great financial difficulties in recent years, and has amassed more than 300 million euros (334 million U.S. dollars) in debts to banks, suppliers, the state and employees, according to estimates.

Mamidoil Jetoil had expanded across the Balkans and was one of the largest petrol companies in the Greek market in terms of sales volume and turnover. In 2010, it controlled more than 600 gas stations.

When it filed for bankruptcy last month, the company was left with about 50 gas stations and 200 employees.

The late CEO and other company top manages had attributed the streamlining of its operations to the debt crisis which has hit hard Greece since 2010.

The prolonged deep recession affected economic activities, including the demand in fuel. Over the past six years, more than 2,500 gas stations have closed across Greece, according to market experts.

Combined with Greek banks' inability to finance businesses, the dramatic reduction of revenues gradually created cash flow problems.

The imposition of capital controls on June 29 last year was considered as a heavy blow to the company.

Greece traditionally had low suicide rates. Since the start of the austerity it has seen an increase in the number of people committing suicide. The rates have spiked by some 35 percent in the first two years of the crisis, according to official statistics. Enditem
NEW YORK, July 3 (Xinhua) -- The explosives that severely injured a young man in New York's Central Park on Sunday was likely an "experiment with fireworks or explosives," authorities said.

Commanding Officer of the NYPD Bomb Squad Mark Torre told a press conference that the Fourth of July holiday was a typical time of the year that the squad had dealt with a lot of homemade explosives experimentations.
LA PAZ, July 3 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) is set to present its latest report on Bolivia's coca crop next week, a top Bolivian official said on Sunday.

Bolivia's Deputy Minister of Social Defense and Controlled Substances, Felipe Caceres, said "the UNDOC will officially present the 2015 Monitoring Report on Coca Crops" at an event to be attended by government officials on Tuesday.

"The document provides information on the quantification of the extension of coca farming in regions being monitored," including parts of the departments of La Paz and Cochabamba, the official said.

In recent years, Bolivia has reduced and stabilized the number of hectares dedicated to coca farming to just over 20,000 hectares, according to the Bolivian News Agency (ABI).

In 2014, Bolivia registered the smallest area of coca cultivation since the UNDOC first began to monitor coca farming in 2003, the ABI said.

The reports have shown, "for the fourth year in a row, a net reduction in the surface area of coca cultivation," the official said.

Some 70 percent of the country's coca crop is grown in the region of Yungas de La Paz, 30 percent in Tropico de Cochabamba and less than one percent in Norte de La Paz.

The UNDOC regional representative in Bolivia, Antonino de Leo, has credited the drop in illegal coca farming to the government's policy of maintaining dialogue and building consensus with coca growers, ABI said.

However, the results of the UN reports have varied significantly with similar studies by the United States.

According to the Andean Information Network, a UNDOC study for 2009 "contrasted sharply" with a U.S. report in 2010, with the UN registering a one percent increase in coca cultivation, while the U.S. reported a more than 9 percent rise. Enditem
by Cesar Marino Garcia, Mao Pengfei

BOGOTA, July 3 (Xinhua) -- China is making a bold entry into the Latin American health market, most recently taking over the entire main pavilion at an international medical fair held earlier this week in Colombia's capital Bogota.

China's first-ever participation in the four-day Meditech, which ran from June 28 to July 1, was attention grabbing, as the organizers noted in a press release.

China "made a strong impression, with 21 distributors of medical equipment, from syringes ... to specialized devices that can treat disorders such as sleep apnea," the organizers said.

China's entry into the regional market coincides with a World Health Organization (WHO) report that says Latin America, Asia and the Middle East present the best outlook for the sector in 2017.

According to the organizers, another study by consulting firm PharmaLive shows China is the world's second leading market for medical devices, after the United States, providing large multinationals an attractive offer through low-cost labor, and stands poised to account for 25 percent of the global market share by 2050.

China's expansion in Latin America is underway, with Colombia serving as a gateway to the regional health industry.

Leo Xiao, a representative of Chinese firm Konsung, which manufactures oximeters -- devices that gauge the level of oxygen in the blood -- and other items, said his company's experience in Colombia has been positive.

"I believe the Colombian market has very great potential," he told Xinhua. "Colombia also has a very privileged position in the field of business in Latin America, and to date our clients' response to our products has been quite good."

China, Xiao said, has worked to raise the quality standards of its medical products in keeping with a government drive to strengthen national productive sectors.

Ursula Sanchez, projects chief at Corferias, the exposition center in Bogota that hosted Meditech, said China's participation in the fair helped to enrich the offer.

"It's the first time it takes part in Meditech and it brought the latest high-tech devices, in addition to various products and services," said Sanchez.

"China has been presenting, not just in this sector, but in all other industrial sectors, new technologies, new advances and new breakthroughs. It's a country of utmost importance," added Sanchez.

Among the newest products China featured at the fair were RESmart GII and RESmart Auto, two "smart devices" designed to treat sleep apnea with "technology that automatically adapts to the patient's breathing," the organizers said in the press release.

"What's new about these devices is that they offer the patient the option of forgoing an operation, which many avoid out of fear of pain or simply because they don't have the time," Luis Wang, of China BMC, the maker of the devices, told the organizers.

Kynetyk, a Chinese company already known in Colombia for its dental implants and other orthodontic products, presented a new line of medical items for the field of gastroenterology and urology.

"We have brought high quality products for these specialties, which we are just beginning to introduce into the regional market, the company's Executive Director Peter Wang told Xinhua.

"Our products have gone over really well at this fair ... we want to continue to attend future editions," he added.

In a few months, after organizers conclude their surveys of the event and the volume of sales transactions it generated, they will have a better idea of how companies fared, Corferias' Sanchez said.

"We have high expectations," she said. "China is a point of reference for us and we are very pleased to have them in this edition, and we hope they return for following editions of Meditech."

Some 70 companies from around the world took part in the fair, including those from Germany, France, Brazil, Holland, Spain and the United States. Enditem
NEW YORK, July 4, 2016 (Xinhua) -- Rescue workers arrive at Central Park in New York, the United States, on July 3, 2016. An explosion happened early on Sunday at New York's Central Park, leaving one man seriously injured. (Xinhua/Li Changxiang)

NEW YORK, July 3 (Xinhua) -- The explosives that severely injured a young man Sunday in New York's Central Park was likely an "experiment with fireworks or explosives," authorities said.

Commanding Officer of the NYPD Bomb Squad Mark Torre told a press conference that the Fourth of July holiday was a typical time of the year that the squad dealt with a lot of homemade explosives experimentations.

Torre said the squad had not found anything consistent with a constructed IED in the explosion, adding that the explosives could be made by somebody with a knowledge with chemistry.

"There's nothing to indicate that this was an explosive device that was placed in this area with a specific intend to harm any individuals," said Torre.

"At this time, we have no evidence that this is related to terrorism," said NYPD Deputy Chief John O'Connell.

"There're no specific credible threat directed at New York or the July Fourth celebrations," O' Connell added.

O'Connell said the police did not consider the victim and his two friends were part of the construction of the explosives.

The blast occurred when the 18-year-old man stepped on the explosives on a rock structure in the renowned Central Park, seriously injuring his left foot.

According to the police, the victim was undergoing surgery and his condition was stable.

Officials said the police were checking the park for any more explosives by looking through video surveillance camera footage, sending many police detectives and bomb-sniffing dogs, including some specially trained vapor wake detection dogs.

The investigation was still underway.
LOS ANGELES, July 3 (Xinhua) -- After a journey of more than five years, U.S. space agency NASA's Juno spaceship is set to reach its final destination Jupiter and begin its orbit around the largest planet in our solar system.

According to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), the probe will fire its main engine, beginning a 35-minute burn at 8:18 p.m. PDT (0318 GMT) on the evening of July 4 to be captured by Jupiter's gravity and go into the desired orbit.

"We are ready," Scott Bolton, principal investigator of Juno from the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio. "The engineers and mission controllers are performing at an Olympic level getting Juno successfully into orbit," he said in a statement on Saturday.

After the main engine burn, Juno will be in orbit around Jupiter. The spacecraft will spin down from 5 to 2 RPM, turn back toward the sun, and ultimately transmit telemetry via its high-gain antenna.

On Sunday, the solar-powered spacecraft crossed the orbit of Callisto, the outermost Galilean moon. The orbits of Ganymede, Europa and Io will be crossed on Monday. These four largest moons of Jupiter are named the Galilean moons because they were discovered by Galileo Galilei in 1609.

Assuming all goes smoothly, the 1.1 billion U.S. dollars mission will provide a lot answers to questions about Jupiter and help reveal a lot about the other planets in our solar system, including Earth.

Although it's well-known that the gas giant is made up primarily of hydrogen and helium gas, the planet's core remains mysterious.

"As Juno barrels down on Jupiter, the scientists are busy looking at the amazing approach science the spacecraft has already returned to Earth. Jupiter is spectacular from afar and will be absolutely breathtaking from close up," Bolton said.

During its mission of exploration, Juno will circle Jupiter 37 times, soaring low over the planet's cloud tops, as close as about 4,100 kilometers.

During these close passes, Juno's instruments will be collecting data and probe beneath the obscuring cloud cover of Jupiter and study its auroras to learn more about the planet's origins, structure, atmosphere and magnetosphere.

But before Juno can collect the data Lunine and other scientists are looking forward to, the space probe has to get into orbit. Even if everything goes well, orbiting near Jupiter is hazardous.

The planet is surrounded by powerful radiation that can fry any spacecraft that comes too near. It's spinning around so fast. Its gravity is like a giant sling shot, slinging rocks, dust, electrons, whole comets. Anything that gets close to it becomes its weapon.

"No spacecraft has ever flown this close to Jupiter. And the first time we go in, that's the most dangerous. We call it Jupiter Orbit Insertion," NASA said in a video.

"So the real trick is. We're going to go in close, get the data and get out."
TORONTO, July 3 (Xinhua) -- Canada's largest Pride parade in Toronto marked another milestone Sunday as a sitting prime minister marched for the first time in a colorful celebration that also paid tribute to Orlando victims in last month's shooting massacre in the United States.

"We have to speak up anytime there is intolerance or discrimination," said Justin Trudeau as the 36th annual parade kicked off in downtown Toronto.

Members of the crowd, some decked out in rainbow gear and outlandish costumes, posed for selfies with the prime minister while others chanted his name as he passed by.

But Trudeau downplayed his appearance at the parade as no big deal, noting he'd been attending Pride parades for years. "It shouldn't be a big thing that the prime minister is walking in the Pride Parade and from now on, it won't."

Prominent in the procession was a pair of marchers who held a large black banner that read "Orlando" and "We march for those who can't."

The prime minister said the Orlando tragedy was a reminder that "we can't let hate go by."

Trudeau, Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne and Toronto Mayor John Tory were all marching in this year's parade, marking the first time leaders from all three levels of government have participated in the event together.

When asked about how far Canadians have come to advance LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) rights, Trudeau said there has been a lot of progress.

"We owe a tremendous amount to everyone who has been fighting to get to the day we are today but we have a lot more work to do," he said.

The parade attracted tens of thousands of people to the downtown core and wrapped up a month-long Pride festivities in Toronto.

The Orlando shooting resulted in tighter security at the parade. Police officers, many wearing uniforms with the Pride rainbow on them, were visible even along streets adjacent to the parade route.

The parade briefly stalled when activists from the Black Lives Matter movement staged a sit-in on the parade route. The sit-in ended peacefully and the parade continued.
BERLIN, July 3 (Xinhua) -- The real nature of a dispute between China and the Philippines over the South China Sea is about territorial sovereignty, which is beyond the jurisdiction of an arbitral tribunal, a German expert has said.

Stefan Talmon, director of the Institute of Public International Law at the University of Bonn, said in a paper published recently that despite the Philippines' claims about issues such as "traditional fishing rights," the "actual controversy" in the case is about territorial sovereignty.

The Hague-based Arbitral Tribunal on the South China Sea established at the unilateral request of the Philippines has no jurisdiction over the case, as disputes over territorial sovereignty are not governed by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), Talmon said.

The arbitral tribunal will issue a final award on July 12. China has repeatedly said that it will neither accept nor participate in the arbitration.

Talmon also criticized the tribunal for failing to scrutinize the documents referred to by the Philippines in its submission and ignoring China's position before rendering an award on Oct. 29, 2015 when it ruled that it has jurisdiction over the case.

"The tribunal's finding on the true nature of the dispute is based on a misunderstanding of the disputes in the South China Sea," he said, calling the tribunal's award on Oct. 29, 2015 an example of "discounted justice."

In a recent interview with Xinhua, Talmon said the coming award would not help solve the disputes over the South China Sea, but rather have a "counterproductive impact" on the issue.

"There is a danger that the decision will be misused for political purposes and ultimately contribute to the hardening of positions of both sides," he said.
QUITO, July 3 (Xinhua) -- Two Chinese travelers who went missing while hiking around Ecuador's Rucu Pichincha Volcano were rescued on Sunday with the help of Chinese technology.

Aged 40 and 33, the two hikers were reported missing Saturday night to Ecuador's Chinese-designed ECU 911 emergency service. The nationwide integrated system used GPS to locate the pair, who were some 12.5 km west of the capital Quito.

"At 7:10 a.m. on Sunday, rescuers from the Fire Department and special police operations unit found the excursionists" and took them to a waiting helicopter and parademic, state news agency Andes reported.

"The hikers ... were not injured" and were soon reunited with their friends and family, the agency said.

Designed and built by China National Electronics Import and Export Corp., ECU 911 is an emergency warning and monitoring system that connects Ecuador's various security and disaster relief agencies.

Rucu Pichincha Volcano is a 4,698-meter-tall dormant volcano. It is a popular tourist attraction near Quito.
URUMQI, July 4 (Xinhua) -- When the sun began to set, tourists and locals crossed from China's largest mosque, Id Kah Mosque, and headed to the night market.

"Anyone who comes here can eat like a king," said Nurmamet Mametmin, who sells cold noodles in Khan Bazaar (King's Market) in Kashgar City, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

The 30-meter square is full to bursting with stalls selling the best of Kashgar cuisine: Roasted lamb, fried fish, pilaf, noodles, rice pudding with yogurt, and more besides.

The "city of bazaars," Kashgar has 20 large markets. Streets and alleys here have seen merchants and travelers for 2,000 years, as China's western-most city first rose to prominence as a trading post on the ancient Silk Road. Many locals have provided food and accommodation to travelers for generations.

Mametmin learned how to cook cold noodles from his father, who set up the stall in Khan Bazaar two decades ago.

The sun had not yet set, but Mametmin's stall was already crowded with customers. He busied himself with sprinkling chopped pepper, mashed garlic, sauce and vinegar on top of noodles before serving the dish to his ravenous customers.

"People eating at this hour are mainly tourists and residents who are not observing the holy month of Ramadan," he said. "More customers will come after dusk for iftar."

During Ramadan, the Islamic season of fasting and spiritual reflection, which lasts from June 6 to July 6 this year, Muslims fast from dawn to dusk.

Xinjiang, with some 24,000 mosques, is home to more than 13 million Muslims.

After serving a group of tourists, Mametmin, who had not eaten or drunk since sunrise, leaned on his stall, resting and waiting for more business.

When the sun went down, restaurants and stalls along the bazaar were crowded with Muslim customers who had fasted amid the summer heat.

"Ramadan is an occasion for us to learn to cherish and endure, and to cultivate peace in our mind," said local Eli Erken.

As night fell, the shouting vendors, chatting customers, sizzling pans, bubbling pots and clinking tableware filled the sweet, smokey air.

"I don't want to leave the city now -- the food is just so delicious," said tourist Jiang Tian, whose favorite Kashgar snack is roasted egg with honey.

"As tourism booms, our business does, too," said Mamut Aji. The fried fish vendor takes home 3,000 yuan (451 U.S. dollars) a month.

As the sun began to rise and the call to prayer echoed across the city, Muslims welcomed another day of Ramadan.
WELLINGTON, July 4 (Xinhua) -- The New Zealand navy has boarded 26 commercial fishing boats in waters around island nations as part of the effort to stop illegal fishing the southwest Pacific, the New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) said Monday.

Offshore patrol vessel HMNZS Otago began the operation in Fiji's exclusive economic zone, making 18 boardings on June 13-19.

The other inspections were carried out during patrols in Tuvalu, said HMNZS Otago Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Commander Andrew Sorenson.

"There were some breaches, but on the whole, all vessels were compliant and allowed us to board," Sorenson said.

The navy was checking that fishing boats were monitoring fishing activity and complying with the rules, and then reporting back to the Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency.

HMNZS Otago was carrying compliance officers from New Zealand's Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) and Pacific island nations.

"MPI places great importance on this patrol as it not only supports the Pacific islands' management of key fish stocks, but it also allows for the protection of our own domestic tuna fisheries, given the migratory nature of the various tuna species," MPI chief operations officer Andrew Coleman said.

The fisheries patrols were set to continue this month supported by a New Zealand air force P-3K2 Orion aircraft.

Commodore Jim Gilmour, the Maritime Component Commander, said the patrols were carried out to help detect and deter illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing activity on behalf of Pacific island nations.

"Vessels fishing for tuna are the current focus of our inspections," Gilmour said.

Overfishing of tuna is a major problem in the southwest Pacific, where small island nations lack the resources to properly patrol their vast territorial waters.
CANBERRA, July 4 (Xinhua) -- Australia's incumbent Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Labor leader Bill Shorten have on Monday entered talks with independent MPs in an attempt to form a minority government, as it looks increasingly unlikely either major party will win enough seats to secure a majority.

The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) says it could take up to a month to determine the final results from all electorates, while a clear result to determine a government might not be known until at least Wednesday.

As it stands, both major parties could form a minority government, in which they must secure support of independents to gain the 76 seat majority required to govern, members from both parties remain confident they can win the election.

Liberal Senator and Turnbull confidant Arthur Sinodinis said the Prime Minister would be entering dialogue with a number of crossbench MPs in an attempt to form a government. He said it was important for all parties to enter mature discussions in such a complicated situation.

"We on all sides have to work with the parliament the Australian people have delivered," Sinodinis said on Monday.

"So that means we have to have a dialogue. The Prime Minister has started by talking to the crossbenchers. I note Mr Shorten is doing the same thing."

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten was buoyed by the latest figures which suggest Labor had secured at least one more seat than the coalition, however both major parties were still short of the 76 seat majority required to govern.

"If we get enough seats we certainly can (form government). We are determined to stick to our word," Shorten told the press on Monday.

"We've got the best platform of any of the parties to form a 45th Parliament."

However political analysts are not as confident. Revered political commentator Dennis Shanahan from News Corp has said Australia is set to be "virtually ungovernable for the next three years" thanks to the close result, while a second election within 12 months "can't be ruled out".

Leading analyst Barrie Cassidy said the Prime Minister "blew it" when he disgruntled the far-right members of his party last year, and said it would be a "remarkable result" if the coalition were to form government from this point.

"I can't see that happening. We are well and truly in hung Parliament territory," he told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) on Monday.

Independent MPs who secured election over the weekend have also weighed in on the debate. Andrew Wilkie said both major parties were now aware their current policies were not cutting it for Australian voters.

"For a start, (they) will need to go back to the drawing board and rewrite a whole lot of their policy positions and rewrite their budget," he said on Monday

Fellow Independent Cathy McGowan said she wouldn't be brokering a deal with either the coalition or Labor, while Wilkie, formerly a Greens candidate, would not enter "an agreement" with the major parties to form a minority government.

"Neither the Labor Party nor the Liberal Party have a God-given right to rule," Wilkie said.

Conservative analysts have rued what was expected to be an easy victory for the coalition this election, with the nation's pre-eminent far-right commentator Andrew Bolt even calling for Turnbull's resignation in a petition published to News Corp websites on Monday.

Labor, too, had its chances according to the commentators. In Victoria, the Labor Premier Daniel Andrews was accused of trying to rip apart the volunteer-led Country Fire Authority.

The Prime Minister highlighted this in his campaign and promised to protect tens of thousands of volunteers, something which likely cost the opposition crucial votes in swing Victorian and national seats.

Voting ceased at 2:00 a.m. on Sunday following the election, and will not resume until Tuesday, when the deadline for postal votes expires. The coalition has maintained it expects strong results from postal votes, particularly in marginal seats in Queensland.
BEIJING, July 4 (Xinhua) -- At a time of heightened tension in the South China Sea, Washington and its allies have launched publicity campaigns against China, repeatedly using the "bully" tag to refer to China and its activities in the region.

The groundless accusation, however, has been refuted by experts, who pointed to the fact that China has never bullied any country in South China Sea disputes. Instead, it has exercised restraint to the greatest extent possible over this issue.

CHINA: NOT A BULLY, BUT A VICTIM

"China has never bullied the smaller claimants on the South China Sea issue," said Xu Liping, a senior research fellow with the National Institute of International Strategy at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

"Instead, it turns to safeguarding its sovereignty through the international rules and relative laws," Xu said.

The expert stressed that, instead of being a bully, China is actually the biggest victim in South China Sea disputes.

"China has never exerted its strengths to change the regional status quo, and its infrastructure construction has been carried out on its own islands instead of grabbing others," said Xu.

As many experts have observed, China has all along stood for peaceful settlement of territorial disputes through negotiation. It has dealt with the South China Sea issue in a constructive way, and always kept the doors for dialogue open.

However, without prior notice or exchanges, the Philippines filed for international arbitration over its disputes with China.

"The tribunal case regarding this case will only complicate and internationalize the South China Sea issue, which will forge a blatant betrayal of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC) signed by China and the 10 member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 2002," Xu said.

Ever since its initiation of the arbitration in early 2013 in the Permanent Court of Arbitration based in The Hague, Manila has closed the door for negotiation and has taken a series of provocative moves that infringed upon China's legitimate rights and interests.

Solely in March, the Philippines allowed the United States to have military access to five bases near the disputed waters with China under the renewed defense pact with Washington. It also leased military aircraft from Japan and obtained fighters and surveillance radars from South Korea.

According to Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Philippine military planes blatantly violated the airspace above the reefs of China's Nansha Islands for more than 50 times in 2015 alone.

"Is it how a big country bullies the smaller countries? Or is it the opposite?" Wang said in February in Washington.

In the interests of peace and stability in the region, China has exercised the utmost restraint, but nobody should doubt China's will to safeguard its core interests.

As a spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry put it, "China will never bully small countries, but we will in no way tolerate a small country making up excuses and hurting China's interests."

U.S.: A INVISIBLE HAND BEHIND SOUTH CHINA SEA

In some Western media reports on the South China Sea issue, China has often been described as a restless empire "bullying" smaller countries, "militarizing" the South China Sea, sabotaging "freedom of navigation" and challenging international law.

The intention behind such publicity campaign is to make China the scapegoat for the tense situation in the South China Sea region, said some experts, who pointed to the fact that the United States, in a very real sense, has been the invisible hand behind the rising tension in the South China Sea.

The heightened tension in the region is not an isolated incident but the result of the U.S. "pivot to Asia" policy, University of Houston Downtown Associate Professor Peter Li told Xinhua in a recent interview.

"To the United States, East Asia in particular occupies a strategic position in American foreign policy. However, we have to understand that the U.S. foreign policy has always been based on a shrewd calculation of the American national interest," he said.

"For example, in 1947, it was the United States that assisted the Chinese government in its recovery of the South China Sea islands. Yet, today, the United States has apparently changed its position. The change of the position, based on a new understanding of the situation in East Asia and the rising strength of China, does send a clear message to countries having territorial disputes with China, such as the Philippines," he said.

The process of strengthening the existing relationships has apparently given Manila the signal that its actions in the South China Sea are backed by the United States.

Boosting its alliance with the allies in the region, strengthening new relations with ASEAN countries, and consolidating existing security ties serve Washington's strategic objective of neutralizing China's position in the region, Li said.

"To the United States, China could be pulled into extended conflicts. Resources would have to be diverted to military preparations, affecting people's livelihood," he said.

Li said the U.S. naval actions in the region have sent a clear message to the parties involved in the disputes that Washington has a position at odds with China.

"In my opinion, the United States' taking sides in the conflict in the South China Sea both serves and undermines America's objectives," he said.

Shannon Ebrahim, a well-known South African commentator, wrote in a recent article that the more one delves into the reality of the South China Sea issue, clearer it becomes that the United States actually thinks it has a right to manipulate regional dynamics in China's backyard so as to encircle it as a rising superpower.

"In a very real sense the U.S. has been the invisible hand behind the rising tension, conducting joint naval exercises with claimants, orchestrating confrontational incidents with Chinese naval vessels, and even giving partial recognition to the Philippines' unilateral renaming of the South China Sea to the West Philippines Sea," she said in a commentary published in The Star newspaper in late May.

Referring to the U.S. concern of freedom of navigation, Ebrahim said, "China is equally committed to this principle, and has never attempted to hinder trade navigation in any way."

"In this case, China has international law on its side," she said.

"Despite attempts by neighboring countries to encroach onto the islands and take them over, China has proof of its sovereignty over them, going back centuries," Ebrahim wrote.
BEIJING, July 4 (Xinhua) -- The United States has complicated the situation in the South China Sea instead of playing a constructive role, an Australian expert on maritime security has said.

Sam Bateman, a former commodore who is now a professorial research fellow at the University of Wollongong's Australian National Center for Ocean Resources and Security, told Xinhua recently that the controversial arbitration process initiated by the Philippines in The Hague is highly likely to produce "a lose-lose outcome."

Bateman said that the South China Sea disputes will have to be resolved through negotiations among the countries directly involved.

"Agreements on sovereign issues are ultimately made on political grounds," he said.

Tensions in the South China Sea have been on the rise since the Philippines initiated an arbitration process in 2013, backed by the United States, who said it was not taking sides but has since sent warships near Chinese claimed islands to conduct its self-styled freedom of navigation patrols.

China has made it clear it rejects the arbitration process, which has been unilaterally initiated by the Philippines and runs counter to the spirit of international law, including the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). It also says the arbitration process is essentially related to sovereignty, which is not regulated by the UNCLOS.

Bateman wrote in a recent article that the brinkmanship in the South China Sea is dangerous, and that "the countries that are taking China to the brink are extra-regional players with often overstated interests in the South China Sea."

He questioned the U.S. move of sending warships to the South China Sea to conduct its self-styled freedom of navigation patrols.

"I believe the United States has complicated the situation in the South China Sea," he said.

The expert said eventually the only way out of the issue is joint management and joint development of the sea.

There is not the trust needed for the tribunal to play a constructive role. Actually, it is not only an obligation clearly set out in UNCLOS but also a necessity for countries to cooperate with each other in joint management of the sea, Bateman said.
WELLINGTON, July 4 (Xinhua) -- China's biggest building company will be working on a hotel project billed as China's biggest-ever investment in New Zealand's tourism infrastructure, the developer said on Monday.

New Zealand's Hawkins Group would be working in a joint venture with China Construction to build the Park Hyatt Auckland, on downtown Auckland's harbor front, after signing a contract with Beijing-based developer Fu Wah International Group.

Work on the seven-storey hotel, which would have a total floor area of 29,000 square meters and 195 rooms, was due to commence this month and completion was scheduled for late 2018.

Hawkins had experience and understanding of the Auckland waterfront environment, including the challenging ground and climate conditions, Richard Aitken, Fu Wah New Zealand general manager, said.

"Together with China Construction, they have the resources, experience and skills to deliver an outstanding outcome for Auckland," he said.

China Construction was one of the world's biggest construction businesses, with an annual construction turnover of around 100 billion U.S. dollars.

New Zealand Prime Minister John Key ceremonially broke the ground on the project in March.

Key was joined onsite by executives of Beijing-based property developer Fu Wah International Group, which is investing 200 million NZ dollars (143.56 million U.S. dollars) in the hotel, representing one of the largest foreign investments in New Zealand tourism infrastructure.

Fu Wah won development rights for the 195-room hotel after a global investor search process in 2013 led by the land owner, Auckland City Council organization Panuku Development Auckland.

It will be the first Park Hyatt hotel in New Zealand, and one of 37 worldwide.
DHAKA, July 4, 2016 (Xinhua) -- Bangladeshi social activists hold candles in memory of victims killed in an attack in Dhaka's diplomatic enclave Gulshan, Bangladesh, July 3, 2016. With all the national flags at government and semi-government offices and foreign missions down at half-mast, Bangladesh mourned on Sunday the deaths of victims of the country's first-ever hostage crisis involving militants. (Xinhua)

by Naim-Ul-Karim

DHAKA, July 4 (Xinhua) -- In the aftermath of Bangladesh's worst hostage crisis that left dozens of people, including 18 foreigners and two police officers dead, questions about the efficacy of the country's mechanisms to rein in militant threats are now being asked.

Owing to the government's feeble "special anti-militant drive," Bangladesh has become a global hotspot for dissenting voices from marginalized groups, both religious and secular groups, and foreigners, being murdered or targeted by militant groups on an almost daily basis.

Assailants severely injured a Hindu priest early on Saturday in the southwestern Satkhira district, a day after the killing of another Hindu priest and a Buddhist man in southeastern Banderban.

Earlier, two people, including a writer of an LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) magazine, were hacked to death by unidentified assailants in Dhaka, days after an English professor was shot dead in a separate incident.

Dozens of people including secularists and other religious groups have also been targeted in recent months.

Last month's special anti-militant drive has been heavily criticized for failing to detain the leaders and masterminds behind the militant groups.

Local reports said that of over 13,000 rounded up within a week only 200 were listed as militants.

Unfortunately no militant ringleader has subsequently been re-arrested raising questions about the efficacy of such a special anti-militancy drive.

Friday's hostage tragedy has once again revived questions as to the productiveness of such special anti-militancy efforts that have so far even failed to prevent militants from freely posting propaganda materials on public walls in Dhaka without getting caught.

Enraged over the deaths of 28 people in the attack on the Spanish restaurant in Dhaka's diplomatic enclave of Gulshan on Friday night, some experts point to the state's inept ability to institute mechanisms to deal with militants and the country's education system as contributing to such a tragedy, claiming that they pave the way to fostering a radicalized ideology.

From a political perspective, sources have also claimed that the killings happened because the state machinery ignored the threats for too long due to political convenience and administrative inefficiency.

In one of the worst tragedies in Bangladesh's history, nine Italians, seven Japanese, two Bangladeshis, an Indian and a Bangladeshi-born American were among the 20 hostages hacked to death by the terrorists who stormed the upmarket restaurant on Friday night.

Seven gunmen armed with blades, guns and explosives, also murdered two Bangladeshi police officers in the early hours of the attack.

The gunmen killed the victims soon after they stormed the Holey Artisan Bakery in Gulshan, a spokesperson from the Bangladesh Army told a media briefing on operation "Thunderbolt" that ended the 13-hour hostage crisis on Saturday.

The commandos managed to rescue 13 hostages and kill all but one of the terrorists and capture one.

The crucial question being asked among observers, however, is what was the aim of the hostage takers? As yet, the answer remains elusive. There were reportedly no demands made from the terrorists while they were holding the hostages during the siege.

The killing of innocent people also poses the question as to what has actually been achieved by the assailants.

Bangladesh faces a growing threat of militant violence with a string of incidents this year including the killing of several liberal activists and attacks on minority Shiite Muslims, a Christian priest and Hindu temples.

Almost every time after such an incident occurs, Islamic State (IS) claims responsibility while Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's government denies its presence in the country.

In the aftermath of Friday's heinous hostage crisis, security analysts said the government must realize that denials don't alter facts.

"So far we understand that that some of Bangladeshi banned radical groups have opened channels of communication with the IS kingpins in Iraq and Syria and declared solidarity with them," a Dhaka University professor told Xinhua, requesting anonymity.

He underscored the need for all-out efforts to detain local militant leaders who maintain channels of communication with IS kingpins in a bid to thwart violent attacks in the future.

"We hope we would not be remiss in asking if there is a crisis management group that would take up the central command and coordination in times of a situation like the one we have just encountered," wrote Brigadier General Shahedul Anam Khan, who is also associate editor of leading English newspaper The Daily Star, in an article on the matter.

"If not then there should be one that can assess the situation and initiate actions to save time and lives," Khan wrote.

An expert at a think tank in Bangladesh told Xinhua that there are so many unanswered questions that reveal the incapacity of the security agencies in handling the most sensitive matters related to militancy.

And all these must be addressed if the security agencies want the locals and foreigners to have faith in what they are doing in their daily contributions to society and international efforts to develop Bangladesh's economy and development, he said.

A notable security analyst said that an incident like this may reoccur if the masterminds behind the scenes remain untouchable.

Referring to many previous incidents involving militancy, he said dozens of lawsuits have been filed against the militant suspects but were subsequently dismissed.

"One culprit has been arrested for Friday's hostage crisis but it remains to be seen whether he will be punished when the dust finally settles," the analyst said.

Other experts have expressed the opinion that the culprit should be properly interrogated to reach the kingpins and ascertain the details of IS cells operating in Bangladesh.

They added that there is need for massive anti-militant drive free from political influence if the remittance-reliant Bangladesh economy is to continue its role in the global market.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has condemned the attack, reiterating her commitment to combating terrorism and militancy.

"None of the terrorists can stop our growth and progress. Come let us forget all our differences, and make Bangladesh a prosperous, golden nation," she said in a televised address to the nation on Saturday night.
HANOI, July 4 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam condemned a deadly attack on a restaurant in the Bangladeshi capital as "a barbaric and unacceptable act," the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) said on Monday.

"Vietnam wishes to extend its deepest condolences to Bangladeshi government and people, to countries whose nationals are killed in the siege as well as to the families of the victims," said MoFA spokesperson Le Hai Binh.

So far, there has on report on Vietnamese affected in the incident, said Binh, adding that Vietnamese people in Dhaka are advised to restrict their traveling and avoid going to crowded places.

Seven gunmen armed with blades, guns and explosives stormed a Spanish restaurant in Dhaka and killed 20 hostages, including 18 foreigners, on Friday night in Bangladesh's worst hostage crisis.
SEOUL, July 4 (Xinhua) -- Former chief executive of Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering, one of South Korea's top three shipbuilders, was summoned by prosecutors on Monday for questioning on suspicion of trillions of won (billions of U.S. dollars) of accounting fraud.

Koh Jae-ho, 61, who headed the troubled company from 2012 to 2015, appeared in the Seoul Central Prosecutors' Office to be questioned about whether he ordered the manipulation of account books, after his predecessor Nam Sang-tae was arrested last week.

Koh has been accused of ordering a 5.4 trillion-won (4.7 billion U.S. dollars) accounting fraud to overstate operation profits from 2012 to 2014 by underestimating production costs in offshore energy projects such as oil rigs and drilling ships.

Daewoo Shipbuilding posted operating profits of 440.9 billion won in 2013 and 471 billion won in 2014 each, but the company earlier this year restated operating losses of 778.4 billion won in 2013 and 742.9 billion in 2014 to reflect write-offs from the offshore energy projects.

Based on the rigged financial statements, the company offered about 200 billion won in bonus for executives and workers for the two years, while doing damage worth tens of trillions of won to investors by selling corporate bonds and bills.
RIYADH, July 4 (Xinhua) -- A suicide bomber carried out an attack early Monday near the U.S. consulate general in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, local media reported.

The attacker was killed in the car bombing, and no other deaths were immediately known, according to the Okaz news website.

The Sabq online newspaper said two security officers were injured "as a result of the failed bombing" on July 4, the U.S. Independence Day.

Most of the consulate general staff have reportedly been evacuated after the attack.

According to an AP report, the U.S. officials are aware of reports of the explosion and are working with Saudi authorities to collect more information.
Visitors view the models of the Long March-series carrier rockets during the 16th China Beijing International High-Tech Expo in Beijing, May 22, 2013. (Xinhua/Luo Xiaoguang)

BEIJING, July 23 (Xinhua) -- Long March-7, the latest rocket model of China's space program, is scheduled to perform its maiden mission over June 25-29, which would be the 230th launch mission of the Long March carrier rockets. Here is a brief overview of the series.

Long March-1

Long March-1 is a three-stage carrier rocket developed to send small payloads to low Earth orbit. On April 24, 1970, a Long March-1 rocket successfully sent the country's first satellite, the Dongfanghong-1, into space.

File photo shows Long March-1 (L), Long March-2C (R) and Long March-3 (C) at an exhibition in Beijing, Oct. 1992. (Xinhua/Lin Hui)

Long March-2

Long March-2 is a two-stage rocket, a base model of many rockets in the family.

On Nov. 26, 1975, a Long March-2 rocket successfully launched China's first recoverable satellite from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, making China the third country with that capacity.

The Yaogan XVIII remote-sensing satellite is launched on the back of a Long March 2C carrier rocket from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in Taiyuan in north China's Shanxi Province, Oct. 29, 2013. (Xinhua/Yan Yan)

A Long March-2D carrier rocket carrying the Tianhui-1C mapping satellite blasts off from the launch pad at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China's Gansu Province, Oct. 26, 2015. (Xinhua/Yang Shiyao)

Long March-2 was later modified into a number of models, including Long March 2C, 2D, 2E and 2F.

Long March-2F was designed for China's manned space missions, which has sent 10 Shenzhou spacecrafts and 10 astronauts into space over the years.

The Long March-2F carrier rocket carrying China's manned Shenzhou-10 spacecraft blasts off from the launch pad at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Jiuquan, northwest China's Gansu Province, June 11, 2013. (Xinhua/Li Gang)

A Long March-2FT1 carrier rocket loaded with Tiangong-1 unmanned space lab module blasts off from the launch pad at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China's Gansu Province, Sept. 29, 2011. (Xinhua/Wang Jianmin)

Long March-3

The developement of Long March-3 was completed in 1984, by introducing a third-stage into the Long March-2 using low-temperature liquid hydrogen and oxygen as propellants.

The Long March-3 series was well received by the international market.

A Long March-3A carrier rocket carrying the 22nd satellite in the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) lifts off from Xichang Satellite Launch Center, southwest China's Sichuan Province, March 30, 2016. (Xinhua/Wang Yulei)

A Long March-3B carrier rocket carrying a communication technology experimental satellite ready to blast off at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Xichang, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Sept. 12, 2015. (Xinhua/Bai Yu)

A Long March-3C carrier rocket carrying the 23rd satellite in the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) lifts off from Xichang Satellite Launch Center, southwest China's Sichuan Province, June 12, 2016. It was the 229th launch of the Long March carrier rocket. (Xinhua/Yang Zhiyuan)

Long March-4

Long March-4 and its variants are mainly used to send satellites into the geostationary orbit and the solar-synchronous orbit.

Carrying China's "Ziyuan I" 02C satellite, a Long March 4B carrier rocket flies into space from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in northern China's Shanxi Province, Dec. 22, 2011. (Xinhua/Yao Jianfeng)

A Long March-4C rocket carrying the Yaogan-27 remote sensing satellite blasts off from the launch pad at the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in north China's Shanxi Province, Aug. 27, 2015. (Xinhua/Yan Yan)

Long March-6

The maiden launch for Long March-6 was on Sept. 20, 2015. Fueled by liquid propellant--liquid oxygen and kerosene, the new carrier rocket is China's first carrier rocket that uses fuel free of toxicity and pollution. It will be mainly used for the launch of micro-satellites.

A new model of China's carrier rocket Long March-6 carrying 20 micro-satellites blasts off from the launch pad at 7:01 a.m. from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in north China's Shanxi Province, Sept. 20, 2015. (Xinhua/Yan Yan)

Long March-11

China successfully launched a Long March-11 rocket on Sept. 25, 2015. The solid propellant rocket is designed for launching micro-satellites.

Long March-7

The to-be-launched Long March-7 carrier rocket is a medium-sized rocket using liquid propellant that can carry upto 13.5 tonnes to low Earth orbit. It will transport cargo for China's planned space station and is expected to become the main carrier for space launches.

A Long March-7 carrier rocket was taken to the launch pad in Wenchang, S China's Hainan Province, June 22, 2016. (Xinhua/Li Guoli)

Long March-5

Designed as the country's strongest carrier rocket, Long March-5 has a payload capacity of 25 tonnes to low Earth orbit, or 14 tonnes to geostationary transfer orbit. It is scheduled to carry the Chang'e-5 lunar probe around 2017. Earlier reports said the Long March-5 will also make its debut later this year.
Photo taken on June 24, 2016 shows a damaged plant in Funing County, Yancheng City, east China's Jiangsu Province. (Xinhua photo/Ding Ting)

NANJING, June 24 (Xinhua) -- A total of 98 people were killed after severe storms in several towns in east China's Jiangsu Province on Thursday, local rescue headquarters said on Friday.

About 846 people sustained injuries, 200 of whom were seriously wounded, it said. More than 8,600 houses, two elementary schools and eight factory buildings were damaged in the counties of Funing and Sheyang, and parts of Yancheng City along the eastern coast of China.

Villagers search for their belongings at the debris in Beichen Village of Funing County, Yancheng City, east China's Jiangsu Province, June 24, 2016. (Xinhua photo/Ding Ting)

Intense downpours, hailstorms and a tornado battered parts of the counties at 2:30 p.m. on Thursday, destroying buildings, trees, vehicles and power lines. Gales of up to 125 km per hour battered several outer townships of Funing County, while in Sheyang, the winds reached 100 km per hour.

"The damage is terrible, I have not seen anything like this in years," said Zhou Xiang, head of Jiangsu fire corps and director of the rescue headquarters.

"The sudden tornado caught people completely off guard, resulting in a large number of deaths," he said. Most houses in the storm-hit area are low-rise brick homes, they were never built to withstand extremely powerful winds, he said.

Many deaths and injuries were caused by fallen power lines and pylons, he added.

An aerial photo taken by a drone on June 24, 2016 shows damaged houses in Danping Village of Chenliang Township of Funing County in Yancheng City, east China's Jiangsu Province. (Xinhua photo/Han Yuqing)

More than 1,300 police officers and 1,200 fire fighters have been called in for the rescue mission and providing help to displaced residents. At least 100 people were pulled out of the rubble, Zhou said.

The storm also destroyed a 40,000-square-meter solar panel factory,which is partly owned by the GCL System Integration Technology Co. Ltd.

"There are still hazardous chemicals, including ammonium gas and silane, at the factory. Currently, they have been contained and pose no risk to the public," said Zhou.

An aerial photo taken by a drone on June 24, 2016 shows damaged houses in Beichen Village of Yancheng City, east China's Jiangsu Province. (Xinhua photo/Li Xiang)

"WORST DAY OF MY LIFE"

Xie Litian lives in Donggou township at Funing County. The 62-year-old told Xinhua that when the gales came, it was like "the end of the world".

"I heard the gales and ran upstairs to shut the windows. I had hardly reached the top of the stairs when I heard a boom and saw the entire wall torn away," he said.

Villagers search for their belongings at the debris in Beichen Village of Funing County, Yancheng City, east China's Jiangsu Province, June 24, 2016. (Xinhua photo/Ding Ting)

As he ran downstairs, the roof collapsed. When the gales subsided and he managed to escape, all the other houses in the neighborhood were gone. At least three villagers he knew were dead. "This is the worst day of my life," he said.

Local people used Wechat social media to offer help. Xiang Shanfeng, a 31-year-old crane driver from Funing County, posted his phone number on Wechat and offered to help the rescue team with his crane. He helped pull dozens of people out of the rubble over the past seven hours.

A villager searches for his belongings at the debris in Beichen Village of Funing County, Yancheng City, east China's Jiangsu Province, June 24, 2016. (Xinhua photo/Ding Ting)

ALL-OUT RESCUE

President Xi Jinping, who is in Uzbekistan for a state visit and to attend a two-day summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, has ordered all-out rescue efforts and the prioritization of life-saving measures.

Authorities must make their utmost efforts to reduce casualties and facilitate resettlement of those affected by the extreme weather, he said. They must also strengthen meteorological monitoring and geological disaster assessment.

Premier Li Keqiang also ordered authorities to step up the search and rescue work and medical treatment for the injured.

A rescuer searches for the survivors in Beichen Village of Funing County, Yancheng City, east China's Jiangsu Province, June 24, 2016. (Xinhua photo/Han Yuqing)

Yancheng City has activated its highest response system following the extreme weather.

Over 503 base stations and 235 kilometers of cables were damaged, said the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. It sent emergency workers to repair the damaged telecommunication and power lines.

Rescuers search for the survivors in Danping Village of Funing County, Yancheng City, east China's Jiangsu Province, June 24, 2016. (Xinhua photo/Li Xiang)

The Ministry of Civil Affairs have sent emergency supplies, including 1,000 tents, to the disaster-hit area.

Tornados occasionally hit eastern and southern China during the summer, but rarely result in the scale of damage like the one in Yancheng. A similar disaster hit the city in March 1966.
KUNDUZ, Afghanistan, July 4 (Xinhua) -- Scores of Taliban militants have been killed and dozens others injured in the northern Kunduz and Badakhshan provinces over the past 24 hours, senior army commander in the northern region, General Hamidullah Hamid said Monday.

"Scores of Taliban rebels including 32 insurgents only in Raghistan district of Badakhshan province have been killed and dozens others injured since Sunday," Hamid told Xinhua.

Taliban commanders Qari Mustafa and Qari Basit are also among those killed during military operations over the past two days, the official said.

Several more Taliban insurgents have been killed in parts of Kunduz province over the past 24 hours, the official added.

The official, however, didn't say if there were casualties on security personnel.

Taliban militants haven't commented on the report.
TOKYO, July 4 (Xinhua) -- Tokyo stocks ended higher Monday with the benchmark Nikkei stock index advancing for a sixth straight day, on hopes Japan's central bank will unleash further easing measures along with other global banks' joint moves to counter Brexit's effects.

The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average closed the day up 93.32 points, or 0.60 percent, from Friday at 15,775.80.

The broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, meanwhile, ended 7.53 points, or 0.60 percent, higher at 1,261.97.

Notable gainers by the close of play comprised food, iron and steel as well as textiles and apparel-linked stocks.

The day's turnover was 1,602.1 billion yen (15.60 billion U.S. dollars).
by Xinhua writers Zhou Xiaozheng, Li Changxiang, Shang Yang

NEW YORK, July 3 (Xinhua) -- As the host of the September summit of the Group of 20 (G20) major economies, China has the opportunity to set the tone and agenda for the meeting and help all participants reach important consensus, a leading China expert in the United States has said.

It is "very much up to China" whether the 2016 G20 summit, scheduled for Sept. 4-5 in the east China city of Hangzhou, can produce some really encouraging outcome, said Stephen Orlins, president of the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations, in a recent exclusive interview with Xinhua.

"I think China is going to need to lead," said the veteran expert who has served on the current position for 11 years. "I think China in a lot of ways can lead."

Founded in 1999, the G20 has assumed increasing significance since its first summit was held in Washington D.C. in November 2008, when the world just slipped into the abyss of a global financial crisis.

As the world's second largest economy, China participated in all the 10 previous G20 summits, but is hosting the event for the first time.

"I think China being the host of the G20 is very much kind of a statement that China is now one of the most important economies in the world, and it is terrific that it is being able to do it," said Orlins.

As the world economy is still haunted by sluggish recovery, weak growth and market volatility, many are pinning hopes on the upcoming summit of the G20, which accounts for some 85 percent of gross world product, 80 percent of world trade and two-thirds of the world population.

A former banker and investor, Orlins said that he believes the world needs to seek new growth engines from innovation and clean industries, and that China as a global leader in both fields should steer the Hangzhou summit to achieve some breakthrough.

"We need to see more innovation that can be shared globally, and we need to see more movement towards industries which emit less carbon. I hope that's what comes out of the G20," he said. "With China as the host, it has the opportunity to set the tone and the agenda."

A lot of things in China's current development plan apply to other parts of the world, from Japan, the United States and Europe to Africa and Latin America, he observed.

"You look at the announcements of where China's economy wants to grow -- green growth, travel, tourism, technology and innovation, you would sit back and you say, you know, maybe we should do that worldwide," he said.

The expert went on to point out that China in recent years has proved itself to be a responsible stakeholder in the international system, citing the Beijing-proposed Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and the Belt and Road Initiative as "perfect examples."

"China is doing the right thing, creating an infrastructure investment bank to build up these places which need economic growth ... to invest in infrastructure in places where it can raise millions of people out of poverty," he said.

As economic observers found the Group of 7 summit held late May in Japan disappointing for failing to produce any concerted moves to boost global growth, Orlins noted that the G20 summit could be an even bigger challenge for the host country.

"It is very difficult to lead multilateral discussions. Seven is tough, 20 is even tougher, because you have more diverse interests among the participants," he said.

"But China has shown itself at times to be adept at working out consensus among groups," he stressed. "So we can hope that there are things China can do, to come up with a more concrete recommendation at the end of the G20 meetings."

Having been engaged in the promotion of U.S.-China relations since the late 1970s, Orlins also expressed confidence that the G20 summit in Hangzhou could help deepen mutual understanding between the two countries and boost bilateral ties.

U.S. President Barack Obama is expected to travel to Hangzhou for the summit, which would most likely to be his last visit to China in his eight-year tenure.

"Every time that an American president visits China, it is a benefit to U.S.-China relations. Every time that a Chinese president and an American president meet, it is a benefit to U.S.-China relations," said Orlins.

"So the mere fact that he (Obama) is going, even though it is a multilateral meeting, is a benefit to the relationship," he added.

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G20 ministers highlight renewable energy in Beijing communique

BEIJING, June 30 (Xinhua) -- G20 energy and natural resources ministers wrapped up a two-day meeting in Beijing on Thursday, discussing topics of renewable energy, chances and challenges on global energy development, and energy technology and innovation.

G20 members are encouraged to formulate development strategies and action plans to boost renewable energy investment and consumption, according to a Beijing communique and three other plans released after the meeting. Full story

Interview: Xi's G20 invitation to Sisi reflects strong China-Egypt ties: Egyptian official

CAIRO, June 25 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping's invitation to his Egyptian counterpart, Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi, to attend the Group of 20 (G20) summit to be held in China in September reflects the uniqueness of the China-Egypt relationship, an Egyptian official has said.
ISTANBUL, July 4 (Xinhua) -- Turkish police detained overnight one Russian and one Kyrgyz national with suspected links to the Islamic State (IS) in relation to the deadly attack on Istanbul Ataturk Airport, Turkish media reported on Monday.

According to the private Dogan news agency, the pair arrived from Ukraine and were netted at the airport.

Four thermal binoculars, three military camouflage suits, two passports with different names, three Kyrgyz identity cards and five birth certificates were found with them, Dogan said.

The news agency said a court in Istanbul court had remanded by Sunday 13 suspects, including four foreigners, linked to the bombing attack on Tuesday night.

Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim announced earlier that police had detained 29 IS suspects over the airport assault.

A total of 45 people were killed and over 200 others wounded in the triple attacks, in which three suicide bombers opened fire at crowds and then blew themselves up at the airport.

The three bombers have been identified as Uzbek, Kyrgyz and Russian nationals.

No group has claimed responsibility for the assault, but the Turkish authorities blamed it on the IS.
Bangladesh Army soldiers carry a coffin containing the body of a victim during a memorial service for those killed in a bloody siege at the Army Stadium in Dhaka, Bangladesh, July 4, 2016. (Xinhua Photo by Shariful Islam)

DHAKA, July 4 (Xinhua) -- In the aftermath of Bangladesh's worst hostage crisis that left dozens of people, including 18 foreigners and two police officers dead, questions about the efficacy of the country's mechanisms to rein in militant threats are now being asked.

Owing to the government's feeble "special anti-militant drive,"Bangladesh has become a global hotspot for dissenting voices from marginalized groups, both religious and secular groups, and foreigners, being murdered or targeted by militant groups on an almost daily basis.

Assailants severely injured a Hindu priest early on Saturday in the southwestern Satkhira district, a day after the killing of another Hindu priest and a Buddhist man in southeastern Banderban.

Earlier, two people, including a writer of an LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) magazine, were hacked to death by unidentified assailants in Dhaka, days after an English professor was shot dead in a separate incident.

Dozens of people including secularists and other religious groups have also been targeted in recent months.

Last month's special anti-militant drive has been heavily criticized for failing to detain the leaders and masterminds behind the militant groups.

Local reports said that of over 13,000 rounded up within a week only 200 were listed as militants.

Unfortunately no militant ringleader has subsequently been re-arrested raising questions about the efficacy of such a special anti-militancy drive.

Friday's hostage tragedy has once again revived questions as to the productiveness of such special anti-militancy efforts that have so far even failed to prevent militants from freely posting propaganda materials on public walls in Dhaka without getting caught.

Enraged over the deaths of 28 people in the attack on the Spanish restaurant in Dhaka's diplomatic enclave of Gulshan on Friday night, some experts point to the state's inept ability to institute mechanisms to deal with militants and the country's education system as contributing to such a tragedy, claiming that they pave the way to fostering a radicalized ideology.

From a political perspective, sources have also claimed that the killings happened because the state machinery ignored the threats for too long due to political convenience and administrative inefficiency.

In one of the worst tragedies in Bangladesh's history, nine Italians, seven Japanese, two Bangladeshis, an Indian and a Bangladeshi-born American were among the 20 hostages hacked to death by the terrorists who stormed the upmarket restaurant on Friday night.

Seven gunmen armed with blades, guns and explosives, also murdered two Bangladeshi police officers in the early hours of the attack.

The gunmen killed the victims soon after they stormed the Holey Artisan Bakery in Gulshan, a spokesperson from the Bangladesh Army told a media briefing on operation "Thunderbolt" that ended the 13-hour hostage crisis on Saturday.

The commandos managed to rescue 13 hostages and kill all but one of the terrorists and capture one.

Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina (L, front) pays respect to victims during a memorial service for those killed in a bloody siege at the Army Stadium in Dhaka, Bangladesh, July 4, 2016. (Xinhua Photo by Shariful Islam)

The crucial question being asked among observers, however, is what was the aim of the hostage takers? As yet, the answer remains elusive. There were reportedly no demands made from the terrorists while they were holding the hostages during the siege.

The killing of innocent people also poses the question as to what has actually been achieved by the assailants.

Bangladesh faces a growing threat of militant violence with a string of incidents this year including the killing of several liberal activists and attacks on minority Shiite Muslims, a Christian priest and Hindu temples.

Almost every time after such an incident occurs, Islamic State (IS) claims responsibility while Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's government denies its presence in the country.

In the aftermath of Friday's heinous hostage crisis, security analysts said the government must realize that denials don't alter facts.

"So far we understand that that some of Bangladeshi banned radical groups have opened channels of communication with the IS kingpins in Iraq and Syria and declared solidarity with them," a Dhaka University professor told Xinhua, requesting anonymity.

He underscored the need for all-out efforts to detain local militant leaders who maintain channels of communication with IS kingpins in a bid to thwart violent attacks in the future.

"We hope we would not be remiss in asking if there is a crisis management group that would take up the central command and coordination in times of a situation like the one we have just encountered," wrote Brigadier General Shahedul Anam Khan, who is also associate editor of leading English newspaper The Daily Star, in an article on the matter.

"If not then there should be one that can assess the situation and initiate actions to save time and lives," Khan wrote.

An expert at a think tank in Bangladesh told Xinhua that there are so many unanswered questions that reveal the incapacity of the security agencies in handling the most sensitive matters related to militancy.

And all these must be addressed if the security agencies want the locals and foreigners to have faith in what they are doing in their daily contributions to society and international efforts to developBangladesh's economy and development, he said.

A notable security analyst said that an incident like this may reoccur if the masterminds behind the scenes remain untouchable.

Referring to many previous incidents involving militancy, he said dozens of lawsuits have been filed against the militant suspects but were subsequently dismissed.

"One culprit has been arrested for Friday's hostage crisis but it remains to be seen whether he will be punished when the dust finally settles," the analyst said.

Other experts have expressed the opinion that the culprit should be properly interrogated to reach the kingpins and ascertain the details of IS cells operating in Bangladesh.

They added that there is need for massive anti-militant drive free from political influence if the remittance-reliant Bangladesheconomy is to continue its role in the global market.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has condemned the attack, reiterating her commitment to combating terrorism and militancy.

"None of the terrorists can stop our growth and progress. Come let us forget all our differences, and make Bangladesh a prosperous, golden nation," she said in a televised address to the nation on Saturday night.
Representatives attending the China-Ghana Economic & Trade Cooperation Forum held June 28 in Accra, Ghana. (Xinhua)

ACCRA, July 4 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese government has reiterated its support for Ghana in developing its Savannah zone through agriculture, infrastructure and technology development.

Opening a China-Ghana economic cooperation forum recently in Accra, Chinese Ambassador to Ghana Sun Baohong said food was critical in the development of every country.

"Food is the first necessity of the people. Agriculture is the source of people's food and clothing for survival and the foundation of national industrialization and economic development," she stressed.

In China, she said the government always attached great importance to agricultural development and established the four tasks of industrialization, informatization, urbanization and agricultural modernization to build a moderately prosperous society in an all-round way.

"While the four tasks are complementary and form an organic whole, yet without agricultural modernization to fulfill industrialization, informatization and urbanization would be like water without a source and a tree without roots," the ambassador noted.

Chinese firms attending the forum set up desks for business consultation and cooperation with local partners. (Xinhua)

Sun described the Savannah Accelerated Development Authority (SADA) zone as full of great potentials that needed to be harnessed for Ghana's development.

"SADA Zone abounds in natural resources, including up to 8 million hectares of land suitable for commercial agriculture, rich mineral resources such as gold, bauxite and manganese as well as inexhaustible renewable energies of solar, wind and hydro power.

"The Chinese side will, under the spirit of the forum initiatives, uphold the guideline on China's relations with Africa featuring sincerity, real results, affinity and good faith, encourage and support Chinese companies to explore cooperation in SADA Zone, and further lift China-Ghana economic and trade cooperation to a new high," she promised.

The SADA was established to bridge the developmental gap between southern Ghana and the Savannah belt comprising the Northern, Upper-East, Upper-West, Volta and Brong-Ahafo Regions.

The forum was therefore organized with the aim of promoting the joint development of SADA zone by China and Ghana to step into substantial stage, and facilitate the China-Ghana trade and economic cooperation to achieve more fruitful results.

Chinese firms operating in the various sectors of Ghana mounted desks to answer questions from potential partners.

Deputy Minister for Trade and Industry, Ibrahim Murtala Muhammad, lauded China's assistance to Ghana over the years.

"It is important to acknowledge that China has provided enormous technical and economic assistance within its capacity and made frantic efforts to promote the development of cooperation between the two countries. Infrastructural evidences are rife on the assistances the Chinese government has provided Ghana."
DHAKA, July 4, 2016 (Xinhua) -- Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina pays tribute to victims during a memorial service for those killed in a bloody siege at the Army Stadium in Dhaka, Bangladesh, July 4, 2016. Nine Italians, seven Japanese, two Bangladeshis, a Bangladeshi-born U.S. citizen and an Indian female were killed in the attack on the Spanish restaurant in Dhaka popular with foreigners last week. (Xinhua/Shariful Islam)

DHAKA, July 4 (Xinhua) -- Tributes poured in as Bangladesh Monday held a state ceremony to pay homage to the victims and their families of an attack at a restaurant in Dhaka's diplomatic enclave Gulshan.

On the second day of the two-day national mourning over the country's worst hostage crisis, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina placed floral wreath at the caskets of the victims at around 10:00 a.m. local time (0400 GMT) in the ceremony held at an Army stadium in Dhaka.

Hasina also stood in silence for a minute to honor the victims, after a wreath was placed on behalf of President Md Abdul Hamid, who is now in Bhutan on a state visit.

The caskets were placed in a raised platform which bored the flags of India, Italy, Bangladesh, Japan and the United States -- commemorating the nationalities of the victims.

Envoys of India, Italy, the United States and Japan also paid their respects at the caskets.

Diplomats from many other countries also placed floral wreaths at the caskets of the victims of Friday's attack.

Hundreds of relatives and friends of the victims and people from all walks of life also poured in to pay their last tribute at scene.

Twenty hostages, mostly foreign nationals, were killed when seven gunmen stormed in with guns and swords in the Gulshan's Holey Artisan Bakery on July 1.

Nine Italians, seven Japanese, two Bangladeshis, an Indian and a Bangladeshi-born U.S. citizen were among the 20 people hacked to death by the attackers on Friday night.

The gunmen also murdered two Bangladeshi police officers in the early hour of the attack.

Responsibility for the attack has been claimed by the Islamic State militant group. Six of the gunmen were killed while one was captured and detained alive.
JERUSALEM, July 4 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu departed Monday for Africa on his first visit there as prime minister, a trip seen as part of a quest to find new trade partners and allies to counter the Palestinians' increasing influence at the United Nations.

The last Africa visit by an Isaeli prime minster was by the late Yitzhak Rabin, to Morocco, in 1999.

In a video statement at the airport before his departure, Netanyahu said the "historic visit" is "very important from diplomatic, economic and security perspectives."

"I am pleased that Israel is going back to Africa in a big way," he said. "We are opening Africa to Israel again."

During the four-day tour, Netanyahu will visit Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, and Ethiopia.

The visit will begin with a meeting in Entebbe, Uganda, with leaders from seven African nations, including Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Ethiopia, Zambia, and Tanzania.

The Prime Minister's Office said that some 80 businesspeople from over 50 companies are accompanying Netanyahu to "forge commercial ties with African companies and countries." They will participate in economic seminars in Kenya and Ethiopia with local counterparts.

The visit comes after strengthening ties with African countries over the past years, with Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman touring the continent and meeting with African politicians and businessmen.

Dore Gold, a director-general at the Israeli Foreign Ministry, traveled to South Africa in March, in a bid to strengthen relations with the country, which is a staunch supporter of the Palestinians' struggle for statehood.

In turn, African leaders have visited Israel in recent years, including Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta and Liberia's President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.
PHNOM PENH, July 4 (Xinhua) -- Leaders of 147 non-governmental organizations, associations and trade unions in Cambodia on Monday issued a joint statement, expressing their support to Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen's stance over the South China Sea issue.

"We all back the stance of the Royal Government of Cambodia for not joining in issuing any statement that supports the arbitral tribunal's decision related to the dispute in the South China Sea," the joint statement said.

"We all insist that all parties concerned exercise utmost restraint, do not use force or threaten to use force on the issues of South China Sea in order to give possibility to the parties directly concerned to negotiate with each other based on the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC)," it said.

The joint statement also encouraged the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and China to work together to achieve a Code of Conduct in the South China Sea (COC).

The joint statement came after the Cambodian prime minister announced last week that the ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP) would not support, and more so would be against, any declaration by ASEAN to support decision of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in relation to the South China Sea disputes.

The prime minister said that the party considered the arbitral tribunal's upcoming decision as "the worst political collusion in the framework of international politics," the result of which would lead to division among ASEAN members themselves and between ASEAN and China.

He called on the parties directly concerned to resolve their disputes through peaceful negotiations and urged countries outside the region to cease their interference on the South China Sea issue.

In 2013, the Philippines unilaterally filed compulsory arbitration against China at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague with respect to the two sides' disputes in the South China Sea.

The Chinese government has reiterated its non-acceptance and non-participation stance in the case.

The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in its statement issued on June 8 that China has all along stood for peacefully settling territorial and maritime delimitation disputes through negotiations with states directly concerned on the basis of respecting historical facts and in accordance with the international law.

On issues concerning territorial sovereignty and maritime delimitation, China never accepts any recourse to third party settlement, or any means of dispute settlement that is imposed on it, the statement said.

Related:

Published German expert doubts arbitral court's jurisdiction over South China Sea dispute BERLIN, July 3 (Xinhua) -- The real nature of a dispute between China and the Philippines over the South China Sea is about territorial sovereignty, which is beyond the jurisdiction of an arbitral tribunal, a German expert has said. Stefan Talmon, director of the Institute of Public International Law at the University of Bonn, said in a paper published recently that despite the Philippines' claims about issues such as "traditional fishing rights," the "actual controversy" in the case is about territorial sovereignty. Full story

Spotlight: China never a bully in South China Sea: experts

BEIJING, July 4 (Xinhua) -- At a time of heightened tension in the South China Sea, Washington and its allies have launched publicity campaigns against China, repeatedly using the "bully" tag to refer to China and its activities in the region.

The groundless accusation, however, has been refuted by experts, who pointed to the fact that China has never bullied any country in South China Sea disputes. Instead, it has exercised restraint to the greatest extent possible over this issue. Full story

Chinese envoy calls for int'l cooperation on border control to counter terrorism

UNITED NATIONS, July 1 (Xinhua) -- All countries must strengthen cooperation on border control and enforcement to effectively stop foreign terrorist fighters from moving across borders, said a Chinese envoy here on Friday.

Wu Haitao, China's deputy permanent representative to the UN, made the remarks at a UN General Assembly meeting on global counter-terrorism strategy. Full story

Commentary: Smearing China not help resolve South China Sea disputes

BEIJING, July 2 (Xinhua) -- As an honest and responsible power, China has always abided by international law and basic norms governing international relations, and will continue to do so in the South China Sea issue while safeguarding its territorial sovereignty.

As the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague will announce the so-called "award" on July 12, a new smear campaign against China has emerged, this time by veteran Washington attorney Paul Reichler. Full story

Interview: China, Philippines should settle dispute between themselves: Serbian Scholar

BELGRADE, July 2 (Xinhua) -- A Serbian scholar and politician has urged the Philippines to settle the South China Sea dispute directly with China, warning failure to solve disputes bilaterally would result in permanent and even armed conflict.

Experience in the Balkans has taught us that when two sides fail to settle disputes bilaterally, the disputes would prolong and evolve into permanent conflicts -- even armed conflicts, Zarko Obradovic, an MP and vice president of the Socialist Party of Serbia, told Xinhua in a recent interview. Full story

Spotlight: Expectation of resumption of sound development of China-Philippines relations

BEIJING, July 2 (Xinhua) -- As the farce of arbitration on the South China Sea is to end soon, it is time for the new Philippine government of Rodrigo Duterte to stop the wrong foreign policy of its predecessor, so as to bring China-Philippines ties back to the track of sound development.

Since Duterte assumed presidency on Thursday, sparks of hope have arisen for resumption of sound development of relations between China and the Philippines after bilateral ties seriously deteriorated during the rule of former Philippine President Benigno Aquino III. Full story

Commentary: Loss outweighs gains for Japan's stubborn meddling in South China Sea

BEIJING, July 3 (Xinhua) -- Despite Beijing's repeated call that outsider countries play a constructive role on the South China Sea issue, Tokyo seems to have stepped up its meddling moves, at the cost of regional stability and without giving any thought to its relations with China.

In the latest of Japan's series of maneuvers to seek greater influence over the issue, Koro Bessho, Japanese ambassador to the United Nations, said on the first day Japan took over the monthly rotating presidency of the UN Security Council that he would put the issue on the agenda of the 15-member council if there is a request from its members, or other UN members. Full story

Philippine position on South China Sea self-contradictory: vice speaker of Czech parliament

PRAGUE, July 3 (Xinhua) -- Vojtech Filip, vice speaker of the Parliament of the Czech Republic and leader of the Czech Communist Party, said Philippine position is self-contradictory on the South China Sea case.

"I am convinced that in this respect the proposed arbitration is extremely premature, outside the framework of international law, and in its own way disrupts that which the Philippines have worked for in the past -- a unified approach to all countries that border the South China Sea," Filip told Xinhua in a recent interview. Full story

Interview: U.S. has complicated South China Sea issue: Australian expert

BEIJING, July 4 (Xinhua) -- The United States has complicated the situation in the South China Sea instead of playing a constructive role, an Australian expert on maritime security has said.
TIANJIN, July 4 (Xinhua) -- Former deputy head of China's national political advisory body Ling Jihua was sentenced to life imprisonment on Monday for taking bribes, illegally obtaining state secrets and abuse of power.

Ling accepted bribes totalling over 77.08 million yuan (11.6 million U.S. dollars) personally and through his family, according to the first-instance ruling by the First Intermediate People's Court of Tianjin.

He pled guilty and decided not to appeal, the court said.

Ling was vice chairman of the 12th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and head of the United Front Work Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, before an announcement at the end of 2014 that he was under investigation.

"I accept all the charges and submit to the judgement," Ling said in his final statement. "Today's trial will be engraved in my memory."

He said the trial was "solemn, meticulous, rational and civilized," embodying a combination of rule of law and humanitarian treatment.

"I sincerely thank the court, the procuratorate and [my] two attorneys," Ling said.
BEIJING, July 4 (Xinhua) -- Looking into the Philippines' submission at the Arbitral Tribunal on the South China Sea, many confusing concepts aimed at denying China's historical rights have been found. But they only serve to expose the Philippines' ignorance and prejudice.

EXAMPLE ONE: INTERPRETING OUT OF CONTEXT

In its arbitration statement, the Philippines claimed that the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) has never mentioned historical rights.

The Philippines undoubtedly misinterpreted the content of the convention. In fact, many articles of the UNCLOS recognize the concepts of "historic bays" and "historic waters."

For example, Article 15 of the convention states: "The above provision does not apply, however, where it is necessary by reason of historic title or other special circumstances to delimit the territorial seas of the two States in a way which is at variance therewith."

Some scholars believe that China's historical rights can be established from "historic bays" and "historic waters" in relevant articles of the UNCLOS.

Therefore, the UNCLOS offers strong support for China's stance, but not on the contrary.

EXAMPLE TWO: IGNORING JUDICIAL PRECEDENTS

The Philippines claimed that the historical rights mentioned by China had been clearly denied and abolished by the UNCLOS makers, attempting to imply that none of historical rights should be included in the international law.

In fact, however, no rights could come into being instantly and those rights established in history undoubtedly should be respected by the international law.

Several precedents in judicial practices also reinforced the claim for historical rights. The most typical one was the fishery case between Britain and Norway in 1949, which was related to historical rights.

The Norwegian royal family issued a decree in 1935, delimiting Norway's exclusive fishery area in accordance with Norwegian historical tradition, while Britain believed Norway's delimitation violated the international law and filed a law suit with an international court in 1949.

The court accepted the case as both Britain and Norway had agreed to accept the count's jurisdiction. In 1951, the court dismissed Britain's appeal and ruled that the Norwegian royal family's decree remained effective due to historical rights.

In addition, the continental shelf case between Tunisia and Libya, and the Gulf of Fonseca case between Salvador and Honduras, among others, dealt with historical rights.

Abundant judicial precedents have proven that "historical rights" have been a big factor in international judicial practices.

EXAMPLE THREE: ATTEMPTING TO MISLEAD THOSE CONFUSED

In its submission, the Philippines said that China's Nine-Dash line in the South China Sea lacks a link to the history, claiming that China's historical rights were a new proposal it put forward in 2009.

In fact, China was the first country to discover, denominate, develop and control the South China Sea islands. The Chinese people's navigation and trade on the South China Sea and jurisdiction over the area has a history of more than 2,000 years, which provides firm evidence for China's historical rights on the South China Sea.

French scholar Francois Gipouloux said in his book "The Asian Mediterranean" that before Southeast Asia was invaded by Western colonists, trade on the South China Sea was conducted by Chinese oceangoing ships, officials and the ships' crew were Chinese, and China's trade system was guiding the then trade rules on South China Sea.

Since the Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD), China has formed explicit jurisdiction over the South China Sea.

According to Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279 AD) work Zhu Fan Zhi, the South China Sea was governed by Zhenzhou (of today's Hainan Province) in the Tang Dynasty and by Qiongguan in the Southern Song Dynasty. In the Ming (1368-1644 AD) and Qing (1644-1911 AD) dynasties, South China Sea islands belonged to the Prefecture of Qiongzhou, Guangdong Province.

Through China's governmental and non-governmental promotion, cultivation, defense and maintenance in several dynasties, the South China Sea has become a tunnel, a platform and a network to lead neighboring countries to realize common prosperity in trade and economy.

History cannot be denied and is not allowed to be denied. By whatever legal means or with whatever arguments, China's historical rights are right there. Whether an arbitral award is to be issued or not, history and the rights it offers are indisputable facts.

As an old Chinese saying goes, an unclear mind can never make it clear to others. The Philippines' submission has ignored not only history but also existing judicial cases, which, along with the current arbitration case itself, will become a laughingstock in history.

Related:

Published German expert doubts arbitral court's jurisdiction over South China Sea dispute BERLIN, July 3 (Xinhua) -- The real nature of a dispute between China and the Philippines over the South China Sea is about territorial sovereignty, which is beyond the jurisdiction of an arbitral tribunal, a German expert has said. Stefan Talmon, director of the Institute of Public International Law at the University of Bonn, said in a paper published recently that despite the Philippines' claims about issues such as "traditional fishing rights," the "actual controversy" in the case is about territorial sovereignty. Full story

Spotlight: China never a bully in South China Sea: experts

BEIJING, July 4 (Xinhua) -- At a time of heightened tension in the South China Sea, Washington and its allies have launched publicity campaigns against China, repeatedly using the "bully" tag to refer to China and its activities in the region.

The groundless accusation, however, has been refuted by experts, who pointed to the fact that China has never bullied any country in South China Sea disputes. Instead, it has exercised restraint to the greatest extent possible over this issue. Full story

Chinese envoy calls for int'l cooperation on border control to counter terrorism

UNITED NATIONS, July 1 (Xinhua) -- All countries must strengthen cooperation on border control and enforcement to effectively stop foreign terrorist fighters from moving across borders, said a Chinese envoy here on Friday.

Wu Haitao, China's deputy permanent representative to the UN, made the remarks at a UN General Assembly meeting on global counter-terrorism strategy. Full story

Commentary: Smearing China not help resolve South China Sea disputes

BEIJING, July 2 (Xinhua) -- As an honest and responsible power, China has always abided by international law and basic norms governing international relations, and will continue to do so in the South China Sea issue while safeguarding its territorial sovereignty.

As the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague will announce the so-called "award" on July 12, a new smear campaign against China has emerged, this time by veteran Washington attorney Paul Reichler. Full story

Interview: China, Philippines should settle dispute between themselves: Serbian Scholar

BELGRADE, July 2 (Xinhua) -- A Serbian scholar and politician has urged the Philippines to settle the South China Sea dispute directly with China, warning failure to solve disputes bilaterally would result in permanent and even armed conflict.

Experience in the Balkans has taught us that when two sides fail to settle disputes bilaterally, the disputes would prolong and evolve into permanent conflicts -- even armed conflicts, Zarko Obradovic, an MP and vice president of the Socialist Party of Serbia, told Xinhua in a recent interview. Full story

Spotlight: Expectation of resumption of sound development of China-Philippines relations

BEIJING, July 2 (Xinhua) -- As the farce of arbitration on the South China Sea is to end soon, it is time for the new Philippine government of Rodrigo Duterte to stop the wrong foreign policy of its predecessor, so as to bring China-Philippines ties back to the track of sound development.

Since Duterte assumed presidency on Thursday, sparks of hope have arisen for resumption of sound development of relations between China and the Philippines after bilateral ties seriously deteriorated during the rule of former Philippine President Benigno Aquino III. Full story

Commentary: Loss outweighs gains for Japan's stubborn meddling in South China Sea

BEIJING, July 3 (Xinhua) -- Despite Beijing's repeated call that outsider countries play a constructive role on the South China Sea issue, Tokyo seems to have stepped up its meddling moves, at the cost of regional stability and without giving any thought to its relations with China.

In the latest of Japan's series of maneuvers to seek greater influence over the issue, Koro Bessho, Japanese ambassador to the United Nations, said on the first day Japan took over the monthly rotating presidency of the UN Security Council that he would put the issue on the agenda of the 15-member council if there is a request from its members, or other UN members. Full story

Philippine position on South China Sea self-contradictory: vice speaker of Czech parliament

PRAGUE, July 3 (Xinhua) -- Vojtech Filip, vice speaker of the Parliament of the Czech Republic and leader of the Czech Communist Party, said Philippine position is self-contradictory on the South China Sea case.

"I am convinced that in this respect the proposed arbitration is extremely premature, outside the framework of international law, and in its own way disrupts that which the Philippines have worked for in the past -- a unified approach to all countries that border the South China Sea," Filip told Xinhua in a recent interview. Full story

Interview: U.S. has complicated South China Sea issue: Australian expert

BEIJING, July 4 (Xinhua) -- The United States has complicated the situation in the South China Sea instead of playing a constructive role, an Australian expert on maritime security has said.
TOKYO, July 4 (Xinhua) -- Japan and the United States will amend an archaic pact that governs the way U.S. military personnel and base-linked civilian workers are dealt with legally following rising instances of crimes committed by U.S. service people in Japan, local media quoted government sources as saying Monday.

According to Kyodo News, Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida, Defense Minister Gen Nakatani, U.S. Ambassador to Japan Caroline Kennedy and Lt. Gen. John Dolan, commander of the U.S. military in Japan, will announce the plans to revise elements of the the Japan-U.S. Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) at a press conference on Tuesday.

The move comes as anti-U.S. sentiment on Okinawa Island, which hosts the bulk of U.S. military facilities in Japan, has been rising exponentially in the wake of a series of crimes involving U.S. military-linked personnel including murder, rape, assault and a number of drunk driving cases.

Calls have been made from both the prefectural and central government for SOFA to be revised, particularly from the former, as the pact is overly-protective of American citizens and contains loopholes whereby U.S. offenders can dodge prosecution in Japan as the bases are under U.S. legal jurisdiction.

"Japan and the United States are currently reviewing the treatment of Americans subject to the agreement and we are making final arrangements to swiftly compile effective measures," Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Koichi Hagiuda was quoted as telling a press conference.

The current pact does not allow Japanese prosecutors to indict U.S. military-linked personnel if crimes were committed when the offender was on official duty and investigators are not granted access to U.S. military bases and facilities in Japan in the pursuit of offenders, meaning the bases effectively offer criminals immunity from Japanese law.

Also at odds under the current agreement is the issue of the definition of a "civilian component", which refers to American civilians working for the military, but does not fully explain the details of their employment conditions or arrangements.

Under the new review of SOFA, the ambiguous definition and scope of "civilian component" will be clarified, local media quoted government sources as saying Monday.

The inadequacy of SOFA, first inked in 1960, has been under the spotlight following Kenneth Franklin Shinzato murdering a 20-year-old local woman in April while he was working as a civilian at the U.S. Air Force's Kadena Air Base in Okinawa.

The murder and rape, for which Shinzato was indicted last week, sparked mass protests and outrage from both Okinawa's local citizens and officials and drew widespread condemnation from the mainland too.

It also amplified the islanders' calls for their base hosting burdens to be eradicated and the U.S. bases kicked off the tiny island, which accounts for less than 1 percent of Japan's total land mass.

The latest move to amend the pact follows yet another drink driving arrest occurring in Okinawa on Monday involving a U.S. military service person.

Okinawa prefectural police on Monday arrested a serviceman from Kadena Air Base on charges of drunk driving in Naha City.

Christopher Aaron Platte, a 27-year-old staff sergeant, was arrested after driving on a road in the town of Chatan. The suspect failed an on-the-spot breathalyzer test that was administered after he was pulled over for weaving along the road.

Monday's arrest follows a similar incident on June 26 when police arrested Francis Shayquan, 24, a shop clerk at Kadena Air Base, on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol. Also in June, four American civilians at the Kadena base were arrested on drugs charges.

Prior to that, on June 4, Aimee Mejia, 21, a U.S. Navy worker, was charged with drunk driving after crashing her car head-on into two other cars and injuring two people as she sped the wrong way along a highway on the island.

Other incidents that have incensed both officials and citizens of Okinawa recently include the rape of a local women by a U.S. serviceman in a hotel in Naha, the capital of Okinawa, and a brutal assault on a female Japanese student by a serviceman on a civilian flight from the U.S. to Japan.




ST. PETERSBURG, July 4, 2016 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice Premier Liu Yandong (3rd L) attends the opening ceremony of China-Russia High-speed Rail Research Center and Sino-Russian High-speed Rail Development Workshop at the St. Petersburg State Transport University in St. Petersburg, Russia, July 3, 2016. (Xinhua/Lu Jinbo)

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia, July 3 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice Premier Liu Yandong said here Sunday that the field of transportation will be a key area for China-Russia practical cooperation. p Liu said this at the opening ceremony of China-Russia High-speed Rail Research Center and Sino-Russian High-speed Rail Development Workshop at the St. Petersburg State Transport University.

She said the establishment of the above-mentioned research center conforms to both countries' development strategies and long-term interests. It will provide technical and intellectual support to the Silk Road Economic Belt and the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), and can boost Sino-Russian cooperation.

She said a Chinese-Russian joint venture won the bid for the Moscow-Kazan high-speed railroad project last year, which, when completed in 2018, will be the first of its kind in Russia.

She said transportation cooperation and cooperation for regional economic integration create new objectives for high-speed rail technology research and development, personnel training, market operation and so on.

"We can see there is an unprecedented trend of cooperation between the two countries' higher education institutions," she added.

Liu also recalled the 60-odd-year history of the 9,000-km-long railway between Moscow and Beijing, which is known as "the symbol of Sino-Russian friendship."

She expressed the belief that deepened Sino-Russian cooperation in high-speed railway development will build up a "spiritual railway" between the two peoples, which will promote friendship and make new contributions to bilateral relations.

The Silk Road Economic Belt, part of Chinese President Xi Jinping's Belt and Road Initiative, aims to link China and Europe through Central and Western Asia by inland routes.

The EAEU is a customs union that groups Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan with a total population of 170 million.
DHAKA, July 4 (Xinhua) -- Bodies of the victims from the weekend attack at a restaurant in the Bangladeshi capital have been handed over to their relatives and embassies of their respective countries on Monday.

The bodies of the victims, including nine Italians, seven Japanese, two Bangladeshis, an Indian and a Bangladeshi-born U.S. citizen, were handed over during a state ceremony here in Dhaka.

On the second day of the two-day national mourning over the country's worst hostage crisis, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina placed floral wreath at the caskets of the victims at around 10:00 a.m. local time (0400 GMT) during the ceremony held at an Army stadium.

The caskets bored the flags of India, Italy, Bangladesh, Japan and the United States -- commemorating the nationalities of the victims.

Envoys of India, Italy, the United States and Japan also paid their respects to the victims.

Diplomats from many other countries also placed floral wreaths at the caskets of the victims of Friday's attack.

Hundreds of relatives and friends of the victims and people from all walks of life also poured in to pay their last tribute at scene.

Twenty hostages, mostly foreign nationals, were hacked to death when seven gunmen stormed in with guns and swords in the Gulshan's Holey Artisan Bakery on July 1.

The gunmen also murdered two Bangladeshi police officers in the early hour of the attack.

Responsibility for the attack has been claimed by the Islamic State militant group. Six of the gunmen were killed while one was captured and detained alive.
JERUSALEM, July 4 (Xinhua) -- The Israeli military said Monday it attacked two Syrian army posts overnight Sunday after an errant projectile from the war-torn country hit the border fence.

A military spokesperson said in a statement that the shooting from Syria was "unusual" in its extent, but it "hasn't posed a danger to our forces or the residents of the area."

The spokesperson added that the military "is determined to protect (Israel) and retaliate any unusual incident."

Israel is not involved in the ongoing battles in Syria, but it usually returns fire when errant shootings from the six-year-long war in Syria hit its territory.
DUBAI, July 4 (Xinhua) -- The Foreign Ministry of the United Arab Emirates has warned its nationals not to wear robe and head scarf when traveling abroad, days after an Emirati man was wrongfully accused of having links to the Islamic State (IS) in the United States.

In the traveling warning issued Sunday on its website, the ministry urged its citizens to avoid wearing the national dress during their travel overseas, especially in public areas for the sake of their own safety.

They asked those traveling abroad to abide by the dress codes of nations they are in and to take note of the ban on wearing face-covering veils in countries like France and Belgium.

The ministry also said that it had expressed discontent through the U.S. Embassy and demanded clarification over the incident.

The warning came days after the arrest of a 41-year-old Emirati national, identified as Ahmed al-Menhali, by Ohio police in a suburb of Cleveland, after the man in robe and head scarf was thought to be pledging allegiance to the IS via phone.

U.S. police and officials have offered apology to Menhali for the Hollywood-style farce, which was described by the latter as a very positive first step.

Menhali was in Ohio for treatment after having a stroke. He said he was considering hiring a lawyer after suffering a great deal of harm and embarrassment because of the incident.
ISLAMABAD, July 4 (Xinhua) -- At least five laborers were killed and four others injured when boiler of an ice factory collapsed in Pakistan's southern port city of Karachi on Monday morning, officials said.

Laeeq Ahmad, the administrator of Karachi, said that the factory's roof caved in following the explosion of the boiler in New Karachi area of the metropolis, the provincial capital of the country's south Sindh province.

Rescue teams have retrieved five bodies and four injured people from the debris and several people are still believed to be trapped under the rubbles.

Police and district administration had reached at the site and started investigations to determine the cause of the explosion of the boiler.
RAMALLAH, July 4 (Xinhua) -- Israeli forces have demolished two homes in Qalandia refugee camp in the West Bank that belong to families of two Palestinian men responsible for a knife attack last December that led to the death of two Israelis, including one by friendly fire.

Palestinian sources said Israeli forces raided the Qalandia refugee camp located between Jerusalem and Ramallah overnight and clashed with Palestinians, leaving five injured by Israeli gunfire, one of whom in critical condition.

An Israeli military spokeswoman said the forces demolished homes of Issa Assaf and Anan Hamed who were shot dead by Israeli soldiers near Jerusalem's old city last December.

Palestinian sources said the military forces razed the outer walls of the two homes, leaving their residents displaced.

Israeli authorities have undertaken home demolitions against Palestinians as deterence measures.

Palestinian officials and rights groups say these measures can be considered collective punishment.

Qalandia refugee camp, home to nearly 14,000 Palestinian refugees, is located within East Jerusalem area classified as area (C) under the Oslo Accords, where Israel retains full security and administrative control. However, being a refugee camp, it is under administrative supervision of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA).

According to the interim Oslo Accords signed between the Palestine Liberation Organization and Israel in 1993, the West Bank is divided into three zones: A, B, and C, with Area (A) being under Palestinian control, (B) being under Israeli security control and Palestinian Administrative control, and (C) being under full Israeli control.

Area (C) makes up more than 60 percent of the West Bank.

Mounting tensions between Palestinians and Israel since last October have led to the killing of over 200 Palestinians and 35 Israelis, according to official reports.
HANOI, July 4 (Xinhua) -- As of the end of June 2016, Vietnam has earned some 42 million U.S. dollars from exporting litchi to China, said a Vietnamese official on Monday.

There are about 170-200 trucks bringing litchi to China each day, said Nguyen Cong Truong, vice chairman of the people's committee of Vietnam's northern border province of Lang Son.

Litchi, famous for its succulent taste, is mainly produced in Vietnam's northern provinces of Bac Giang, Hai Duong and Hung Yen.

Statistics by Bac Giang's department of trade and industry showed that as of the end of June, Vietnam has exported over 62,863 tons of litchi to China via three border gates in northern Lang Son, Lao Cai and Ha Giang provinces.

In Luc Ngan district, the main bowl of litchi production in Bac Giang, there are over 250 Chinese traders working together with Vietnamese partners to buy litchi to sell to China.

This year, in Luc Ngan, the litchi output is estimated to hit 90,000 tons, some 15,000 tons higher than initial prediction, said the Bac Giang department of industry and trade on its website.

To date, Bac Giang has harvested nearly 80,000 tons of litchi and the crop is forecast to end by July 20.

According to Vietnam's Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT), this year, China remained the largest consumer of Vietnamese litchi.

The ministry also forecast that in 2016, Vietnam's two main bowls of litchi including Bac Giang and Hai Duong provinces will produce some 130,000 tons and 50,000 tons, respectively.

In mid-June, Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc approved the extension of opening hours of the customs clearance section in the country's northern border gate to boost litchi exports to China.

Meanwhile, the Plant Protection Department under Vietnam's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development exempted phytosanitary fees for exported fresh litchi batches by air from June 23.

According to the vice chairman of Lang Son people's committee, in addition to litchi, each day, there are over 100 trucks of dragon fruit, watermelon, and banana from Vietnam's central provinces to be exported to China via the province's border gate.
HANGZHOU, July 4 (Xinhua) -- Visitors to Wuzhen in east China may soon be able to get a lift between their hotel and tourist spots in the Venice-like town, after Baidu signed a deal with the local tourism agency to develop such services on Sunday.

Baidu and Wuzhen Tourism Co. will research which routes could be served by driverless cars and details like costs and how many vehicles will be needed before nailing down a more exact plan, said Wang Jin, Baidu's senior vice president and head of its autonomous driving division.

Wang did not say when the service might be launched.

Despite being a historic town dating back 1,300 years, Wuzhen, in Zhejiang Province, is also known as a technological pioneer after its IT infrastructure was upgraded over the past few years. It became the permanent host venue for China's World Internet Conference (WIC) in 2014.

Baidu debuted its driverless car at the second WIC in Wuzhen last year and generated a lot of excitement when it successfully completed a rigorous road test in Beijing in December.

The company said earlier this year that it would choose 10 urban locations to try out driverless cars in 2016. Wuzhen is the third after east China's Wuhu City and an automobile industrial park in Shanghai.

The driverless car's core operating system is called Baidu Brain, artificial intelligence that includes high-precision electronic mapping, positioning, sensing and decision-making and control systems thanks to Baidu's mining of big data.

Baidu is aiming to commercialize the driverless technology by 2018 and to achieve mass production of the cars by 2020.

Hinting at the kind of services that could be offered in Wuzhen, Wang said Baidu was open to working with regulators and other players in the automotive industry chain, and the cost of hiring a driverless car could drop below that of hiring a driver in the foreseeable future.
KUWAIT, July 4 (Xinhua) -- Kuwaiti security forces have carried out three operations against Islamic State (IS) cells inside Kuwait and in Syria, capturing six terrorist suspects, Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) reported late Sunday.

"Kuwait security agencies have carried out three pre-emptive operations in Kuwait and abroad that led to derailing a number of Islamic State (IS) plots targeting Kuwait and arresting several IS members," KUNA quoted the Interior Ministry as saying in a statement.

The statement did not say when the three operations took place.

Five Kuwaiti nationals were arrested, who all confessed to plotting attacks against the country, the statement said.

An unidentified Asian was also detained for alleged involvement in planning terrorist attacks, and police is still looking for a Gulf national who assisted one of the cells, KUNA said.

Talal Naif Raja, 18, who was arrested in the first operation, confessed to have been plotting suicide bombings against a Kuwaiti Shiite mosque and an interior ministry facility, the statement said.

In the second operation, Ali Mohammad Omar and his mother Hessa Abdullah Mohammad were captured and brought back from Raqqa in Syria. The two, both Kuwaiti nationals, admitted they had offered logistic support for multiple terrorist attacks.

The third raid busted an IS cell inside Kuwait, with two Kuwaiti nationals and an Asian arrested. The two Kuwaitis, identified as Mubarak Fahad Mubarak and Abdullah Mubarak Mohammad, said they hid a metal box used for terror attacks in a farm in the country's southernmost area of Wafra, according to the statement.

Two Kalashnikov rifles, ammunitions and an IS flag were found in the third raid.

The operations come a year after an IS-linked Saudi suicide bomber hit a Shiite mosque in Kuwait, killing 26 worshippers, the deadliest terror attack in the country's history.

In September 2015, a Kuwaiti court sentenced seven to death and jailed eight others over the bombing.
WELLINGTON, July 4 (Xinhua) -- New Zealand Prime Minister John Key will travel to Europe later this week in a bid to strengthen ties with both the European Union and Britain following last week's Brexit vote.

Key said Monday he would travel to Italy to meet with Prime Minister Matteo Renzi in Rome before heading to Paris where he will meet with French President Francois Hollande and Prime Minister Manuel Valls.

"Italy and France are important trading partners to New Zealand and important members of the European Union," Key said in a statement.

"I am looking forward to discussing how we can further strengthen those relationships in light of Britain's decision to leave the European Union. We will also discuss a wide range of other issues including the global economy and counter terrorism."

Prior to visiting Rome and Paris, Key would have an informal meeting with British Prime Minister David Cameron in London.

Meetings in Brussels might also take place if the necessary arrangements could be made.

"New Zealand has strong relationships with both the EU and the UK, and it is important that we reinforce both relationships now that Britain's referendum decision has been made," said Key.

From Paris, Key would travel to Indonesia for a two-day visit aimed at boosting New Zealand's economic and political links.

"I am looking forward to meeting with President Joko Widodo and discussing a number of areas where we have common links including in business, education and renewable energy," said Key.

"Indonesia is an important regional partner for New Zealand and a key player in Asia-Pacific. It is New Zealand's 13th largest two-way trade partner and we see huge potential to build that relationship further."

Key would be accompanied in Indonesia by Trade Minister Todd McClay and a senior New Zealand business delegation.
MANILA, July 4 (Xinhua) -- The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on Monday voiced concern over the displacement of nearly 13,000 people in Lanao del Sur province on Mindanao island in the southern Philippines.

In a statement, the ICRC said that continued clashes between government troops and an armed group in Butig town from late May to early June forced 12,500 people, mostly farmers, to evacuate to safer grounds.

"Thousands of civilians in Butig were forced to flee their homes in February, when the first clashes began. Some were able to return in April, and just when they started planting a new crop, they were forced to flee their homes again in May, when hostilities resumed," said Dominic Earnshaw, head of the ICRC office in Cotabato City.

"Now, many of the displaced are living with relatives and depend heavily on their kin and the authorities, as they are still too afraid to go back home," he said.

He added that civilian houses were also destroyed in the fighting, appealing to all sides "to exercise utmost precaution to protect civilians and their property."

Between June 8 and July 2, the statement said the ICRC, together with the Philippine Red Cross, provided food and household items to around 12,500 displaced residents.

"The distributions took place in Butig and neighboring Lumbayanague municipalities as well as in Marawi City. The ICRC-PRC assistance augmented the aid provided by the government and helped families meet their basic needs," the statement read.

"Each family has received 25 kilograms of rice, 12 tins of sardines, 2 liters of cooking oil, 2 liters of soy sauce, 2 kilograms of sugar, 500 grams of salt, and essential household items including two blankets, two mosquito nets, one sleeping mat, and one hygiene kit," the statement said.
BAGHDAD, July 4, 2016 (Xinhua) -- Two men walk in front of a destroyed building at the site of explosion in Karrada-Dakhil district in southern Baghdad, Iraq, on July 4, 2016. Iraq began on Monday a three-day national mourning for victims of Sunday's car bombing attacks in the capital city of Baghdad, as the death toll rose to 166. (Xinhua/Khalil Dawood)

BAGHDAD, July 4 (Xinhua) -- Iraq began on Monday a three-day national mourning for victims of Sunday's car bombing attacks in the capital city of Baghdad, as the death toll rises to 166.

An Interior Ministry source said at least 165 people were killed and 225 others wounded in a suicide bomb attack in Karrada-Dakhil district in southern Baghdad. Another one was killed in a separate car bombing in a market in northeastern Baghdad.

The Karrada-Dakhil bombing is the bloodiest attack this year in the country, where the army is fighting Islamic State militants.

The busy commercial district in southern Baghdad was hit by a car bomb at about 1:00 a.m. local time (2200GMT) on Sunday when a suicide bomber detonated his explosive-laden pickup truck outside a shopping center.

The three-floor building was destroyed, when many people were inside. Many of the victims were women and children, the source said. Rescuers said the explosion and the following huge fire killed all members in some families.

Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced three days of national mourning for the victims after he visited the blast site on Sunday. His convoy was attacked by dozens of angry residents who accused the government of failing to protect its people.

Local resident Mohammed Musa said: "now we demand a solution from the government, because since 2003 to 2016 we have been uncomfortable, we are in a difficult situation. And those people, all of them lost their money, property and lives and other things. Everything is gone."

As the commander-in-chief of Iraqi forces, Abadi ordered an intensification of security measures on the entrances of Baghdad and in other Iraqi provinces.

Sunday's powerful blast set fire to the shopping center and four nearby buildings while many shops and stalls were charred and destroyed, as well as dozens of civilian vehicles at the scene. The fire was put out in the afternoon and rescue operations continued till night.

Dozens of rescue workers, firefighters and civilians were removing debris and burned wreckage from dawn to the evening, looking for survivors and bodies.

The attack happened when many families and young people were in the crowded thoroughfare where many shoppers were preparing their families for Eidul-Fitr scheduled to start on Tuesday, which marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan.

Meanwhile, another car bomb went off in a market in northeastern Baghdad, leaving one dead and five wounded, the source added.

The death toll could rise as many wounded are in critical condition.

The bloody bombings have been claimed by the Islamic State (IS) group which said that one of its suicide bombers detonated his car bomb at a crowd of Shiite people in the predominantly Shiite district of Karrada-Dakhil, according to a statement posted online, which could not be independently verified.

During his visit to the explosion site in Karrada on Sunday morning, Abadi vowed to punish those behind the attacks, according to a statement issued by his office.

"The terrorist groups carried out such desperate deadly attacks as a result of being crushed in the battlefield," the statement said, referring to the government's recent victory of retaking Fallujah city from IS in the country's western province of Anbar.

Abadi also sent his condolences to the families of the victims and promised that "victory over these terrorist groups is very close."

The Iraqi government announced victory of retaking Fallujah, one of the last two strongholds of IS in Iraq, late last month, after almost a month of military operations.

The army is expected to be deployed to the northern Nineveh province, preparing to launch attacks against Mosul city, the country's second biggest city that fell into IS control two years ago.

In a statement issued on Sunday, Iraqi President Fuad Masoum condemned the deadly bomb attacks and called on the security forces to "take urgent measures to totally eliminate the sleeper terrorist cells and arrest the perpetrators."

"The sleeper terrorist cells are seeking to avenge the defeat of terrorist Daesh (IS) in Fallujah and other regions of the country," he said.

The IS has frequently targeted security forces and areas where crowds of people gather, including markets, cafes and mosques, across Iraq.

Observers said there could be more attacks against military targets and civilians in the future as the army advances to the last IS stronghold of Mosul.

Iraq has been hit by a wave of violence since the IS terrorist group seized large parts in Iraq's northern and western regions since 2014.

A report by the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq estimated that 662 Iraqis were killed and 1,457 others wounded in acts of terrorism, violence and armed conflict in June this year across Iraq.
BEIJING, July 4 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-general Ban Ki-moon will visit China from Wednesday to Sunday, the Foreign Ministry announced on Monday.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, Premier Li Keqiang, State Councilor Yang Jiechi and Foreign Minister Wang Yi will each hold meetings or talks with the secretary-general, Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei told a daily press briefing.

China hopes to take the opportunity presented by Ban's visit to improve cooperation with the UN, he said.

China will work with UN members to contribute to international relations with cooperation and mutual benefit as their core values, he added.

During his stay in China, Ban will attend the 10th anniversary of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and visit the training base of China's UN peacekeeping helicopter detachment and a 999 emergency rescue center in Beijing.

Ban will also visit Hangzhou and Suzhou in southern China.
FUZHOU, July 4 (Xinhua) -- It has only been a year and a half since Wang Zhenfeng started painting, but now the peasant woman is about to host her own painting exhibition in a famous Beijing art district.

A post comparing her work to that of Zhou Chunya, one of the most renowned living Chinese painters, brought her talents into the public eye. If it hadn't been for the online attention, it is hard to imagine the villager from eastern China's Shandong Province would be showing her work in the capital city.

In March, online art watchers stumbled upon her oil paintings of peach blossoms by accident. Many commented that her work approached the quality of Zhou's paintings.

One key difference: Wang's paintings sell for 200 yuan (30 U.S. dollars) each, while one by Zhou fetched a staggering five million yuan in 2013.

"There are too many people coming to buy my paintings these days," Wang told the Fujian Daily News in an interview last week. "It's too much pressure, and I cannot even concentrate on painting right now."

Before she became an online celebrity, Wang was just an ordinary peasant in Maerqiu Village, Pingdu City. She toiled over a field of more than 20 mu (1.3 hectares) while also working in a small shoe factory.

In early 2015, Wang's daughter, a teacher at an oil painting center, returned to the village and launched a campaign called "Everyone is an artist." She encouraged her mother to pick up the paintbrush.

But the idea sounded like castles in the sky to Wang.

"How do you expect a farmer to become a painter?" she said, laughing.

Wang's curiosity was piqued, however, so she agreed to complete several weeks of training. Shortly thereafter, she finished her first ever painting of a bucket in her house. The piece eventually sold for 200 yuan online to an artist from Hebei Province.

"I never thought paintings could help me make money!" Wang said.

In addition to the income, Wang has also found happiness in her new hobby. "In the past, I thought a person's life was all about getting married, having babies and raising children, which was quite tedious," she said. "Painting enlightened me."

While painting gave Wang an outlet for expression, it also brought her taunts from her fellow villagers. Her coworkers at the shoe factory once mocked her, saying, "You must be daydreaming!" and "Why does a farmer paint anyway?"

"If you are a painter, why are you still in the factory?" they said.

But Wang did not let it bother her. Her life revolved around painting. She would even get up in the middle of the night if inspiration struck.

Her work centers around subjects that evoke the countryside: endless fields, playful dogs running in a village and even farm machinery.

"There are so many lively subjects in rural China, and I have painted only a few," she said.

In March, she began painting the village's peach blossoms. She tried different angles and compositions. Some villagers eventually posted her work online, which drew massive attention and the comparison to Zhou Chunya.

Wang said she does not know Zhou, nor has she followed the online discussions. But one thing is for sure: her life has changed for the better.

Her art has attracted many fans, with admirers from Shanghai and Beijing coming to purchase her depictions of rural life.

In mid-April, Wang traveled to an ancient town in southeast China's Fujian Province with the help of an official at her daughter's painting center. She can concentrate on painting there, with the hope of becoming a professional artist.

The narrow alleyways, fish ponds, fields, mountains, streams and old houses in the town have given her new inspiration.

To her delight, Wang's paintings have been praised by professionals in the art industry. She has already established a small studio of her own in Fujian. Many social media accounts promoted her work free of charge, while local galleries have offered to display her art. All of this encouragement has made her more determined than ever to pursue her painting dream.

"Compared to my life in the past, I feel like I am living a newer and more meaningful life with painting," Wang said. "I will hold fast to my dream."

Wang has created about 100 paintings so far. She hopes to concentrate more on doing work she is satisfied with, rather than just making money from her paintings.

"I am hosting my own art exhibition at Beijing's 798 Art District in September, and I hope I can turn out the best work possible," she said.

Wang hopes more people from rural China can discover their dreams like she did, "no matter how late the day may come."
NEW DELHI, July 4 (Xinhua) -- The remains of the 19-year-old Indian girl killed in the attack on a Dhaka restaurant by gunmen last weekend arrived here Monday, said local media.

The remains of Tarushi Jain arrived at the Indira Ghandi International airport in Delhi form the Bangladeshi capital, to be received by officials of India's northern Haryana state where the girl hailed from.

The body would be taken the community center in Gurgaon outside Delhi for people to pay their last respects and the cremation would be held in the evening.

Tarushi Jain had come home from the United States for summer vacations in India and Bangladesh and gone out to Holey Artisan Bakery with two of her friends on Friday evening, when the gunmen stormed it, killing 19 other people, mostly foreigners.

Her friends were also killed in the attack.

Her father, Sanjeev Jain, has been running a garment business in Dhaka for over a decade, according to media reports.

India was shocked by Dhaka's attack and has beefed up security along its border with Bangladesh.
PARIS, July 4 (Xinhua) -- The dynamic partnership of China and France in the field of aerospace is an icon of the scientific and technological cooperation between the two countries, president of the French National Centre for Space Studies (CNES) Jean-Yves Le Gall said.

Sino-French partnership in the field of space develops in an exemplary way, and space is always in the agenda of each high-level meeting between the leaders of the two countries, Le Gall told Xinhua in a recent interview here.

China and France are long-time partners in the field of aerospace with an intergovernmental agreement signed in 1997, Le Gall said, adding that he would meet the director of the China National Space Administration (CNSA) in China on Monday.

According to Le Gall, cooperation between the CNES and the CNSA concentrates on two great missions, the China France Oceanography Satellite (CFOSAT) which is to be launched in 2018, and the Space-based multi-band astronomical Variable Objects Monitor (SVOM) which is to be launched in 2021.

With several projects of common interests, the two countries have complementary aerospace programs, which allow them to work together, Le Gall said. France brings its expertise in the development of aerospace instruments, while China offers its platforms to carry the instrument and launching.

For him, the development of China's aerospace sector in the past decades has been rather impressive. China's aerospace programs, which used to be largely related to applications, are being transformed into more complex scientific projects such as the moon explorer Yutu and the development of different climate applications.

Le Gall said there are three challenges in today's aerospace industry, namely innovation, climate and exploration of science.

France and China have already started their cooperation through CFOSAT and SVOM to address the latter two domains, he added.

Le Gall stressed the two countries should look at "how we can work on innovation" in order to have satellites that are more efficient but less expensive.

He reaffirmed that an international cooperation is absolutely a must to make more progress in space activities.

"I'm convinced that the next great steps will be taken through international cooperation," Le Gall said.
BEIJING, July 4 (Xinhua) -- China is highly concerned with Indian trade remedy measures against Chinese steel products, the Ministry of Commerce said on Monday.

The Indian government has launched an anti-dumping investigation into color-coated steel sheets imported from China. It is the fifth such probe against China from India this year, the highest record among WTO members, according to a statement on the ministry's website.

Countries have realized that global steel industry is experiencing difficulties due to sluggish economic growth and weak demand, but abuse of trade remedy measures would not help resolve industrial overcapacity, but hamper normal trade, the statement said.

China and India have broad room for cooperation in the industry, the ministry said, adding that it is hoped that the two countries can seek common development through trade, investment and technological cooperation and properly handle trade frictions.

The ministry said it hoped the Indian government could conduct a fair and transparent investigation in line with WTO rules, and refrain from trade remedy measures.
MANILA, July 4 (Xinhua) -- The widely circulated Philippine Daily Inquirer on Monday ran an editorial saying the Philippines can avail itself of the infrastructure lending program being offered by Beijing-based Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) to finance the country's massive infrastructure needs.

The editorial, headlined "China Funding Initiative," says the Philippines and other developing countries in the region will need the AIIB and benefit from it.

"The AIIB has been described as modern and multilateral, or China's '21st-century' answer to lenders like the World Bank, which has always been led by Americans, and the Asian Development Bank, which is dominated by Japan," says the editorial.

"And the Philippines will be better off borrowing through a more transparent AIIB lending window now," it says.

The ADB estimates that the region requires 750 billion U.S. dollars in investment annually until 2020 to fund its infrastructure needs, which the bank says it cannot finance on its own.

"The Philippines' infrastructure financing needs from 2010 through 2020 was placed at 127.12 billion U.S. dollars. This will require an annual investment of 11.56 billion U.S. dollars, which the government failed to fill in the past six year," the editorial says.

The Philippines has maritime and territorial disputes with China on the South China Sea. Diplomatic relations between Manila and Beijing soured when Manila brought the case to a U.N. arbitral tribunal in 2013.

But despite the Philippines' territorial dispute, the editorial says "it's possible for the Philippines to have strong trade and investment relations with the global economic powerhouse."

"One major avenue for this is the AIIB, which the Philippines joined at the last minute in December 2015," the editorial says.

Since its launch last January, it says the AIIB has approved four loans worth 509 million U.S. dollars for projects in Pakistan, Tajikistan, Indonesia and Bangladesh. "Multilateral lenders such as World Bank usually take more than a year to approve similar project loans," it says.

The bank could support projects under the Belt and Road Initiative, which aims to link Asia, Europe and Africa through the construction of massive infrastructure such as railways and ports.

The editorial says the Belt and Road Initiative is believed by some experts to even help ease tension around the South China Sea as it expands economic cooperation among neighbors in the region.

"Billions of dollars in investments are expected to pour into the construction of railway facilities, airports and sea ports and power plants that, in turn, would trigger the growth of job-generating factories. Beside, while it is true that the AIIB is linked to China's own economic and strategic goals, what is wrong in having better China-funded infrastructure in the country?" the article says.

The Philippines signed the Articles of Agreement of the AIIB in December last year, officially joining the newly-created multilateral institution aimed at boosting infrastructure development and connectivity.

In a statement before the signing, then Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima said Manila believes that AIIB "will augment and complement existing multilateral institutions in accelerating economic growth."

Last month, new Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez, through his spokesperson Paola Alvarez, told the Inquirer that the new administration of President Rodrigo Duterte will "definitely pursue joining the AIIB" to increase the country's spending.

"With (heavy vehicular) traffic and the lack of basic infrastructure projects being hindrances to Philippine economic prosperity, the membership of the Philippines to AIIB is surely something that the people will benefit from," the Inquirer quoted Alvarez as saying.
by Yoo Seungki

SEOUL, July 4 (Xinhua) -- Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering, one of South Korea's top three shipbuilders, is being rocked by estimated trillions of won (billions of U.S. dollars) of accounting fraud amid the ongoing restructuring process for Daewoo as well as other two shipbuilders.

Former chief executive of Daewoo Shipbuilding was summoned by prosecutors on Monday for questioning over the suspected accounting fraud.

Koh Jae-ho, 61, who headed the troubled company from 2012 to 2015, appeared in the Seoul Central Prosecutors' Office to be questioned about whether he ordered the rigging of account books, after his predecessor Nam Sang-tae who had led the company for six years from 2006 was arrested last week.

Koh has been accused of ordering an accounting fraud to overstate operation profits from 2012 to 2014 by underestimating production costs in 40 offshore energy projects such as oil rigs and drilling ships.

Daewoo Shipbuilding posted operating profits of 440.9 billion won in 2013 and 471 billion won in 2014 each, but the company earlier this year restated operating losses of 778.4 billion won in 2013 and 742.9 billion in 2014 respectively to better reflect write-offs from the offshore energy projects.

In terms of equity capital, the amount of accounting problems is estimated by prosecutors to have reached 5.4 trillion won (4.7 billion U.S. dollars) from 2012 to 2014. Prosecutors are now looking into all of about 500 shipbuilding and overseas energy projects, raising possibility for additional accounting fraud uncovered.

Based on the rigged financial statements, the company offered over 200 billion won in bonus for executives and workers in 2013 and 2014, while doing damage worth tens of trillions of won to investors by selling corporate bonds and bills.

In 2015 when the company posted 5.5 trillion won of operating loss, which was later restated at 2.9 trillion won in operating loss, Daewoo Shipbuilding provided an 87.7 billion-won bonus, or an average 9.46 million won per person in incentives.

The prosecution's special investigation bureau for corruption offenses, ordered directly by prosecutor general, dispatched about 150 investigators on June 8, raiding Daewoo Shipbuilding's headquarters in Seoul and its Okpo shipyard on the southern island of Geoje.

The homes of some of former Daewoo Shipbuilding executives were searched to confiscate account books, computer hard discs and internal documents. On the same day, the government announced a plan to restructure troubled shipbuilders and shipping lines.

In January, the company's audit committee filed a petition with prosecutors to investigate the mismanagement of former executives on growing suspicion over the shipbuilder having concealed huge losses from offshore oil and gas drilling projects.

More than 400 minority shareholders have filed a lawsuit against Daewoo Shipbuilding and its former executives, calling for some 24 billion won in compensation as they suffered losses from stock investment based on the manipulated accounts.

BIG DEAL BETWEEN DAEWOO, SAMSUNG

As Daewoo Shipbuilding struggles to survive by itself, expectations spread that the company, which is controlled by state-run Korea Development Bank (KDB), may go on sale. The government sought to sell the shipyard in 2008, ending up in failure.

The strongest potential buyer is estimated to be Samsung Heavy Industries, one of the country's top three shipbuilders along with Hyundai Heavy Industries and Daewoo.

Market watchers said the merging synergy would be the biggest between Daewoo and Samsung as their shipyards are located in the southern island of Geoje and they have a different specialty in drill ships for Samsung and LNG carriers for Daewoo.

Samsung Heavy, however, seems not in a position to acquire another troubled shipbuilder as it plans to float new shares to improve its unhealthy financial structure. The financial regulator and the KDB have refrained from the big deal, concentrating on the implementation of their self-restructuring plans.

Three key shipbuilders had submitted their own downsizing plans to the government to raise money as much as 10.35 trillion won by cutting back on workers by 30 percent and reducing overcapacity by 20 percent by the end of 2018.

Hyundai Heavy plans to raise 3.5 trillion won by selling non-core assets, and Samsung Heavy aims to secure 1.5 trillion won. Daewoo Shipbuilding will sell all of its 14 subsidiaries, reduce the number of yards from seven to five and spin off the unit of special ships to sell a part of its shares.

Concerns loomed about massive layoffs in the shipbuilding industry. According to the Korea Offshore & Shipbuilding Association estimates, as many as 63,000 workers in shipbuilders and their subcontractors would lose jobs by the end of next year.

Daewoo Shipbuilding, which has some 13,000 employees, plans to cut about 600 employees every year for five years through 2020. Samsung Heavy offered early retirement toward 1,500 workers this year alone, planning to cut 5,000 employees by the end of 2018.

Including workers in subcontractors of Daewoo and Samsung, as many as 30,000 people are expected by some to lose their jobs in the Geoje Island and its surrounding regions. Hyundai Heavy, which has shipyards in Ulsan on southeast coast, plans to lay off some 2,000 workers via early retirement.

In the country's southeastern province, the number of those who are made unemployed increased from 52,000 in January to 58,000 in February and 68,000 in March each. The equivalent figures for jobless rate rose from 3.1 percent to 3.4 percent and 3.9 percent respectively.

The labor ministry decided to designate the shipbuilding industry as a "special employment support industry" to help fired workers rehired and companies maintain their workers. But the top three shipbuilding companies were excluded from the support system as they have enough capability to keep their workers.

According to Clarksons, Daewoo Shipbuilding's Okpo shipyard ranked first in the world in terms of backlog of orders with 7,478,000 compensated gross tonnage (CGT) of 111 ships. It was followed by Samsung Heavy's Geoje shipyard with 4,397,000 cgt of 81 vessels and Hyundai Heavy's Ulsan yard with 4,335,000 cgt of 91 units.

As new orders for the three shipyards are widely forecast to drop this year, possibilities are high for workers to be laid off after the backlog projects end.
MADRID, July 4 (Xinhua) -- The number of people registered as unemployed in Spain fell by 124,349 people from May to June, according to data released on Monday by the Spanish Ministry of Employment and Social Security.

The total number of unemployed people in Spain stood at 3.8 million, which was the lowest figure since 2009, and the fall registered is one of the biggest for June, according to the Ministry.

The number of unemployed men fell by 70,892 people to 1.7 million while the number of unemployed women fell by 53,457 people to 2.1 million.

Unemployment increased by 410 people in the agriculture sector while falling in the rest. It fell by 84,760 people in the services sector due to start of the tourist season, by 14,545 people in the construction sector and by 13,614 in the industry sector.

Meanwhile, the number of people affiliated to the social security system increased by 98,432 people to a total of 17.7 million.

On a year-on-year basis, the number of unemployed people fell by 353,250 from June 2015 to June 2016.

Spain's acting Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said this data is very positive, pointing out that the target of achieving 500,000 jobs more every year is achievable.
BEIJING, July 4 (Xinhua) -- Heavy rain has killed 93 people in 11 Chinese provincial regions in four days, leaving another 19 missing.

Continuous rainfall since June 30 has destroyed 22,000 houses and forced 726,000 to relocate in provinces including Jiangsu, Hubei, Henan and Sichuan, the Ministry of Civil Affairs said Monday.

Floods have also damaged crops, roads, telecommunication and electricity facilities, stopping traffic and delaying trains in some regions, it said.

Authorities estimated an economic loss of 20.43 billion yuan (3 bln U.S. dollars).
BEIJING, July 4 (Xinhua) -- China on Monday slammed remarks by the Philippines' chief lawyer on the international arbitration of the South China Sea disputes, saying his comments prove the court is "only a mouthpiece for certain groups."

An international ruling this month is expected to deprive China of any legal basis for its claim to most of the South China Sea, the Philippines' chief lawyer in the case, Paul Reichler, told Reuters last week.

"It is no surprise for Mr. Reichler to know the Philippines' thinking, as its attorney, but it is strange that he seems to know what the ruling will be even before there is one," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hong Lei said when asked to comment on the lawyer's remarks.

"Reichler's comments prove the court is only a mouthpiece for certain groups. His words show the case filed by the Philippines has to do with sovereignty over islands and reefs as well as maritime demarcation," Hong said.

His remarks prove that former Philippines President Benigno S. Aquino III has been telling lies for years, Hong said.

The arbitral tribunal established at the request of the Philippines has no jurisdiction over the case, and the upcoming ruling will result from abuse of the law and is therefore invalid, the spokesperson said.

China's territorial sovereignty and rights in the South China Sea, backed on a historical and legal basis, are immune to the illegal ruling, Hong said.

Related:

Cambodia, Myanmar back negotiations over South China Sea by all parties concerned

PHNOM PENH, July 4 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia and Myanmar fully supported all parties concerned to negotiate with each other peacefully to resolve their disputes over South China Sea, Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen said on Monday.

The statement was posted on his Facebook page after a meeting with newly-designated Myanmar Ambassador to Cambodia Myint Soe at the Peace Palace in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh. Full story

Spotlight: China never a bully in South China Sea: experts

BEIJING, July 4 (Xinhua) -- At a time of heightened tension in the South China Sea, Washington and its allies have launched publicity campaigns against China, repeatedly using the "bully" tag to refer to China and its activities in the region.

The groundless accusation, however, has been refuted by experts, who pointed to the fact that China has never bullied any country in South China Sea disputes. Instead, it has exercised restraint to the greatest extent possible over this issue. Full story

Published German expert doubts arbitral court's jurisdiction over South China Sea dispute BERLIN, July 3 (Xinhua) -- The real nature of a dispute between China and the Philippines over the South China Sea is about territorial sovereignty, which is beyond the jurisdiction of an arbitral tribunal, a German expert has said. Stefan Talmon, director of the Institute of Public International Law at the University of Bonn, said in a paper published recently that despite the Philippines' claims about issues such as "traditional fishing rights," the "actual controversy" in the case is about territorial sovereignty. Full story

Spotlight: China never a bully in South China Sea: experts

BEIJING, July 4 (Xinhua) -- At a time of heightened tension in the South China Sea, Washington and its allies have launched publicity campaigns against China, repeatedly using the "bully" tag to refer to China and its activities in the region.

The groundless accusation, however, has been refuted by experts, who pointed to the fact that China has never bullied any country in South China Sea disputes. Instead, it has exercised restraint to the greatest extent possible over this issue. Full story

Chinese envoy calls for int'l cooperation on border control to counter terrorism

UNITED NATIONS, July 1 (Xinhua) -- All countries must strengthen cooperation on border control and enforcement to effectively stop foreign terrorist fighters from moving across borders, said a Chinese envoy here on Friday.

Wu Haitao, China's deputy permanent representative to the UN, made the remarks at a UN General Assembly meeting on global counter-terrorism strategy. Full story

Commentary: Smearing China not help resolve South China Sea disputes

BEIJING, July 2 (Xinhua) -- As an honest and responsible power, China has always abided by international law and basic norms governing international relations, and will continue to do so in the South China Sea issue while safeguarding its territorial sovereignty.

As the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague will announce the so-called "award" on July 12, a new smear campaign against China has emerged, this time by veteran Washington attorney Paul Reichler. Full story

Interview: China, Philippines should settle dispute between themselves: Serbian Scholar

BELGRADE, July 2 (Xinhua) -- A Serbian scholar and politician has urged the Philippines to settle the South China Sea dispute directly with China, warning failure to solve disputes bilaterally would result in permanent and even armed conflict.

Experience in the Balkans has taught us that when two sides fail to settle disputes bilaterally, the disputes would prolong and evolve into permanent conflicts -- even armed conflicts, Zarko Obradovic, an MP and vice president of the Socialist Party of Serbia, told Xinhua in a recent interview. Full story

Spotlight: Expectation of resumption of sound development of China-Philippines relations

BEIJING, July 2 (Xinhua) -- As the farce of arbitration on the South China Sea is to end soon, it is time for the new Philippine government of Rodrigo Duterte to stop the wrong foreign policy of its predecessor, so as to bring China-Philippines ties back to the track of sound development.

Since Duterte assumed presidency on Thursday, sparks of hope have arisen for resumption of sound development of relations between China and the Philippines after bilateral ties seriously deteriorated during the rule of former Philippine President Benigno Aquino III. Full story

Commentary: Loss outweighs gains for Japan's stubborn meddling in South China Sea

BEIJING, July 3 (Xinhua) -- Despite Beijing's repeated call that outsider countries play a constructive role on the South China Sea issue, Tokyo seems to have stepped up its meddling moves, at the cost of regional stability and without giving any thought to its relations with China.

In the latest of Japan's series of maneuvers to seek greater influence over the issue, Koro Bessho, Japanese ambassador to the United Nations, said on the first day Japan took over the monthly rotating presidency of the UN Security Council that he would put the issue on the agenda of the 15-member council if there is a request from its members, or other UN members. Full story

Philippine position on South China Sea self-contradictory: vice speaker of Czech parliament

PRAGUE, July 3 (Xinhua) -- Vojtech Filip, vice speaker of the Parliament of the Czech Republic and leader of the Czech Communist Party, said Philippine position is self-contradictory on the South China Sea case.

"I am convinced that in this respect the proposed arbitration is extremely premature, outside the framework of international law, and in its own way disrupts that which the Philippines have worked for in the past -- a unified approach to all countries that border the South China Sea," Filip told Xinhua in a recent interview. Full story

Interview: U.S. has complicated South China Sea issue: Australian expert

BEIJING, July 4 (Xinhua) -- The United States has complicated the situation in the South China Sea instead of playing a constructive role, an Australian expert on maritime security has said.
JERUSALEM, July 4 (Xinhua) -- Israel indicted Monday three Palestinians for their alleged involvement in a fatal attack in Tel Aviv, charging them with planning to carry out an Islamic State-style attack.

Two of the defendants, Mouhamed Khalid Mahamrah and Khaled Mahamrah, 21-year-old cousins from the West Bank city of Yatta near Hebron, were charged with perpetrating the June 8 attack in Sarona Market, a popular recreation center in Tel Aviv.

A third Yatta resident, Yunis Aish Musa Zin, was indicted of planning to carry out the attack together with them but did not follow through because of "technical reasons," according to a statement by the Shin Bet security service.

The Shin Bet said that Zin assisted the assailants in getting the weapons for the attack.

A military spokesperson said in a separate statement that investigations revealed that "the terrorists were inspired by the IS."

According to the Shin Bet, Mouhamed Khalid Mahamrah is a supporter of the IS, although neither he nor his cousin have ever formally joined the group.

The Shin Bet also said they originally planned to carry out a shooting attack on passengers in a train station in Tel Aviv. On the day of the attack, they decided to change their target and "randomly" picked Sarona Market.

Four people died in the shooting attack and 15 others were wounded.

Israel's Ha'aretz newspaper quoted a security official as saying that the decision to launch the attack was made in the wake of the arson murder of the Dawabsha family in the Palestinian village of Duma.

The attack came amidst a nine-month-old wave of violence, which has killed at least 214 Palestinians and 34 Israelis.

According to Israeli authorities, most of the Palestinians were killed during stabbing, shooting, and car-ramming attacks.


NAIROBI, July 4 (Xinhua) -- Kenya and the World Bank on Monday signed three credits and two grants agreements totaling 359.1 million U.S. dollars to finance the country's youth employment as well as health and education sectors.

Cabinet Secretary in the National Treasury, Henry Rotich, told a media briefing that the Kenya Youth Empowerment and Opportunities Project will receive 150 million dollars to assist 280,000 youth aged between 18 and 29 in accessing employment and earning opportunities.

"The youth project will respond to the high numbers of new young entrants to the labour market who are currently outpacing the capacity of the Kenyan economy to absorb them," Rotich said.

The project will also support young entrepreneurs, whose business ideas have a high potential to foster job creation and improve labor market information.

Moreover, the funding will finance the Transforming Health Systems for Universal Care Project that aims to improve the utilization and the quality of primary health care services.

"The total support of the heath project is 191.1 million dollars which consists of a loan of 150 million dollars, a grant of 40 million dollars and another grant of 1.1 million dollars," Rotich said.

The third credit of 18 million dollars will support a regional project on the Eastern and Southern Africa Higher Education Centers of Excellence.

The funding will be used by three universities that are expected to produce highly skilled graduates and applied research to address specific challenges.

Kenya and World Bank have developed Country Partnership Strategy where the bank pledged to provide support amounting to four billion dollars from 2014 to 2018.

According to the National Treasury, World Bank is currently Kenya's largest multilateral financing institution.
Chinese President Xi Jinping (L) holds a welcoming ceremony for Denis Sassou Nguesso, president of the Republic of Congo, before their talks in Beijing, capital of China, June 12, 2014. (Xinhua file photo)

BRAZZAVILLE, July 4 (Xinhua) -- The visit by Republic of Congo President Denis Sassou Nguesso to China, will be an opportunity "for high level exchanges between the top leadership of both countries, according to Chinese ambassador to Congo Xia Huang.

The Chinese diplomat made the remarks prior to the president's State Visit to China on July 4-8.

During the visit, the leaders of both countries are expected to discuss issues of international concern as well as African matters and issues concerning the Central African sub-region.

Speaking of pockets of tension in Central Africa, the Chinese ambassador said leaders of the two countries will try to come up with ways "to mobilize the international community to guarantee proper management of persistent crises in the region."

Chinese President Xi Jinping (L) and his counterpart, Denis Sassou Nguesso, president of the Republic of Congo, cut the ribbon for completion of a China-aided friendship hospital in Republic of Congo on March 30, 2013. (Xinhua file photo)

However, the visit will particularly focus on cooperation between the two countries, not only in terms of their strategic partnership, but also under the South-South cooperation framework as well as Sino-Africa cooperation.

Sino-Congolese cooperation grew stronger following the visits by Xi and Sassou-Nguesso in the two respective countries, especially Xi's 2013 visit to Brazzaville and Sassou-Nguesso's visit to China in June 2014.

Since 2014, new projects especially in infrastructure construction such as the Pointe Noire Mineral Port and a railway line linking Pointe Noire to Brazzaville have been launched.

Commenting on the two visits to China by the Congolese president in less than three years, Xia said "this was an exceptional case," adding that "it showed the quality of relations and deep trust between the two presidents."

Xia said China has been Republic of Congo's top commercial partner since 2006 and this trend will be maintained this year. Data showed the volume of trade reached 6.5 billion U.S. dollars in 2014 between the two countries.
ENTEBBE, Uganda, July 4 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday arrived in Uganda on his four-day African tour that will see him also travel to neighboring Rwanda, Kenya and Ethiopia.

In Uganda, Netanyahu will officiate at the commemoration of the 40th anniversary of the taking of hostage of over 100 Israelis.

The event is scheduled to be held here at Entebbe International Airport, 40km south of the capital Kampala.

On July 4, 1976, a group of Israeli commandos covertly raided Uganda's Entebbe International Airport on a rescue mission of 248 passengers aboard an Air France passenger plane that had been hijacked a week earlier.

The hijackers separated the 102 Israeli hostages from the rest of the group, and freed the others.

In the 90-minute night rescue operation, the Israeli hostages were rescued, but Netanyahu's brother Yonatan Netanyahu was killed.

During his visit, Netanyahu will also join regional leaders in a summit on terrorism.

The eastern African region has received a series of terror attacks from extremist groups. Some countries in the region have received training from Israel in combating terror.




BEIJING, July 4, 2016 (Xinhua) -- Yu Zhengsheng (R), chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, shakes hands with Tsai Eng-Meng, chairman of Want Want China Times Group, when meeting with a delegation from China's Taiwan led by Tsai Eng-Meng in Beijing, capital of China, July 4, 2016. (Xinhua/Yao Dawei)

BEIJING, July 4 (Xinhua) -- China's top political advisor on Monday urged the media across the Taiwan Strait to hold more exchanges and cooperation.

Yu Zhengsheng, chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, made the remarks when meeting with a delegation from Taiwan led by Tsai Eng-Meng, chairman of Want Want China Times Group.

Yu called for adhering to 1992 Consensus as the political foundation for peaceful development of cross-Strait ties.

1992 Consensus holds the One-China principle and stipulates that the mainland and Taiwan belong to one and the same China and cross-Strait ties are not ties between nations.

The so-called "Taiwan Independence" has no future, and all pro-independence activities will be opposed by the Chinese people, including Taiwan compatriots, said Yu.

Yu said exchanges between the press of the two sides have played an important role in strengthening mutual understanding. He hoped Want Want China Times Group to strengthen cooperation and exchanges with the mainland media, in a bid to make positive public opinion environment for safeguarding peaceful development of cross-Strait ties.
by Sikula

BRAZZAVILLE, July 4 (Xinhua) -- Republic of Congo President Denis Sassou N'guesso starts his State Visit to China from July 4 to 8, his first trip outside Africa since being re-elected during the March 20 presidential elections.

The visit will provide an opportunity for both sides to discuss issues of common interest, especially the situation in Central Africa as well as international affairs.

Dating back over half a century, the relationship between the two nations has continued to grow stronger over the years, yielding benefits for the people of both countries.

This can be seen in the number of reciprocal visits by the top leadership of both countries and the volume of trade that reached 6.5 billion U.S. dollars in 2014 between the two nations.

According to Chinese Ambassador to Brazzaville, Xia Huang, China has been Republic of Congo's number one commercial partner since 2006 and this trend will be maintained this year.

Statistics from China's ministry of commerce show that in 2014, Chinese exports to Congo reached a billion dollars against imports valued at 5.5 billion dollars.

During the same year, the Republic of Congo was China's sixth commercial partner in Africa and second in West and Central Africa.

Republic of Congo and China, which are both ranked as developing countries, have not spared any efforts to develop their friendly ties, solidarity and cooperation. The strategic partnership agreements signed between the two sides have helped boost their bilateral cooperation.

In the area of infrastructure for instance, China has supported the Republic of Congo to achieve its basic infrastructure development program.

Such projects include the construction of a 500 km road linking Pointe Noire to Brazzaville, Maya Maya airport in Brazzaville, 120 MW Imboulou hydroelectric dam and Liouesso power station (19MW), water production units, and roads linking the country to its neighbouring states such as Gabon.

The Nkombe agricultural pilot center, Mpila housing units and Mfilou Sino-Congo Friendship Hospital are additions to the long list of achievements under the Republic of Congo and China cooperation.

The cooperation has also seen the construction of a conference center and Alphonse Massamba-Debat stadium that hosted the first edition of All-Africa Games in 1965.

Each year, over 100 Congolese students enrol in Chinese universities. China supports the Congolese government's efforts in the area of professional training, environmental conservation, health and agricultural development.

Last year, the two countries created a bank dubbed Sino-Congolese Bank for Africa (SCBA), based in Brazzaville, with a capital of 100 million dollars.

In 2013, during Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to Brazzaville, various agreements were signed between the two parties. A year later, Sassou N'Guesso visited Beijing.

During his current visit to China, the Congolese leader will use the opportunity to present development projects that could be funded by China under the framework of China-Africa cooperation.
BEIJING, July 4 (Xinhua) -- A fire at a coal mine in northeast China's Liaoning Province has trapped 13 people underground, the national work safety supervisor said Monday.

The mine in Benxi City caught fire early on Monday morning and rescue work is underway, the State Administration of Work Safety said.
MOSCOW, July 4 (Xinhua) -- Russian authorities on Monday strongly condemned terrorist attacks in the Iraqi capital city of Baghdad, which killed at least 165 people and injured 225 others.

In a letter of condolences to Iraqi President Fuad Masoum and Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, Russian President Vladimir Putin said the barbaric crime had become "another evidence of the inhuman nature of terrorism."

Confirming Russia's readiness to continue to support the government and friendly people of Iraq at the anti-terrorist front, Putin said an effective combat against this evil of international terrorism requires the joint forces of the entire world community.

In a separate statement, the Russian Foreign Ministry expressed concern that militant radicals, hiding behind religious slogans, aimed to further incite sectarian strife in Iraq and in the region and undermine a possible national reconciliation in the troubled country.

On Sunday, two bomb explosions happened separately in southern and northeastern Baghdad. The Islamic State terrorist group, also known as Daesh, claimed responsibility for the attacks.
by Wang Bowen

BEIJING, July 4 (Xinhua) -- Cooperation with China will bring massive opportunities for Greece and many other countries, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras told Xinhua on Monday.

The Greek head of government is in Beijing for a five-day visit to boost bilateral cooperation and lure more Chinese investment to help revive his country's flagging economy.

"Greece serves as the portal into Europe both by land and by sea," the Greek leader told Xinhua, adding that Greece would like to conduct practical cooperation with China in various areas, following the "dragon head" project of the Piraeus Port.

Just days before Tsipras's China visit, Greek lawmakers ratified the acquisition deal between China's leading shipping company COSCO and the Piraeus Port Authority.

Under the deal, COSCO will pay 368.5 million euros (402.4 million U.S. dollars) to buy 67 percent of the shares of the port and take over the management.

Noting that his ongoing China trip aims to "build the body of the dragon" for future cooperation, the Greek leader said he would explore cooperation prospects in the fields of tourism, transport, culture, high-tech and such, with the Chinese side.

"We received 6 million foreign tourists last year, but Chinese tourists made up only a small proportion of that figure," the prime minister said. "Hopefully two-way tourism could be boosted through such measures as direct flights."

On Sunday, Tsipras met with Wang Jianlin, president of Wanda Group, a leading Chinese real estate developer who has in recent years invested heavily in the leisure industry, including cinema chains and theme parks.

According to media reports, the Chinese businessman expressed interest in the mass promotion of Greece's tourism among Chinese consumers. They also discussed the possibility of setting up movie production studios in Greece.

After his meeting with Wang, Tsipras visited the technology park of Huawei, China's largest manufacturer of telecommunications equipment.

During the visit, he proposed the creation of a technology park in Athens in collaboration with Huawei and suggested the Chinese tech giant reach out to the Greek technology city of Thessaloniki.

Coming to China with a large delegation of government ministers and business leaders, Tsipras is expected to witness the signing of an array of contracts.

When asked about the ongoing bidding process for the country's second largest port of Thessaloniki, Tsipras said the successful cooperation in the Piraeus Port makes China a desirable partner.

"We want to get a good offer. But China's interest is also on our mind," the Greek leader said.

The port of Thessaloniki is a major gateway into the Balkans. So far, several international shipping groups have expressed interest in the tender, including China's COSCO, Denmark's container terminal operator APM, and Philippines-based port operator ICTS.
Photo taken on July 2, 2016 shows an innovative 2-MW modular unit of solar thermo electric power (STEM) plant, which produces energy from sun and sand, and considered as a promising technology in renewable energey sector, was kicked off in Italy's Sicily. (Xinhua/Luo Na)

by Marzia De Giuli, Luo Na

SAN FILIPPO DEL MELA, Italy, July 4 (Xinhua) -- A plant which produces energy from sun and sand - a promising technology in renewable energy sector - has begun its operation in Italy's Sicily.

In the first 2-megawatt modular unit of solar thermo electric power (STEM) technology, solar radiation captured by 786 heliostats is concentrated on a secondary reflector made of flat mirrors, and subsequently focused in a receiver positioned at ground level.

The revolution is that for the first time ever, the receiver is based on a fluidized bed of sand, which is able to absorb, store and transfer heat to produce steam both for the conversion into electricity and other thermal uses, technicians explained to Xinhua at a ceremony to mark the launch of the plant on Thursday.

The daily output of the modular unit, which occupies a surface of 2.25 hectares in a northwestern area of the island region, is 20.5 tonnes of steam, with estimated 890 tonnes of CO2 emissions saved every year.

Not only this technology is totally clean, but gives the unprecedented possibility to store solar for use on demand at night and on sunless days, and all without batteries, Giovanni Valotti, chairman of Italy's largest multi-utility company A2A, stressed at the launch ceremony.

A2A inaugurated the plant at its integrated energy district San Filippo del Mela in collaboration with Magaldi group, an Italian specialist in environmental-friendly technologies, which patented STEM.

"Our key words are environmental sustainability and social responsibility," Valotti told journalists. "All leading companies in the world should have the objective not only to benefit themselves but to improve environment and society," Valotti elaborated.

An overall 180-million-euro (200.50 million U.S. dollars) investment planned by A2A at the site over the next five years also includes a biogas plant and a waste energy plant, he added.

However, with the threat of global warming accelerating, STEM is a significant international advance in concentrated solar power compared to existing systems which use molten salt for heat transfer and storage, said former South Australian premier Mike Rann, who took part in the launch ceremony along with local authorities.

"STEM can produce a huge amount of energy, is incredibly cost efficient and can have fantastic applications in many parts of the world where the sun shines like Australia, Asia and Africa," Rann, who has a special interest in renewable energy and also was one of the world first ministers for climate change, told Xinhua in an interview on the sidelines of the event.

"The sun provides enough energy every hour for the planet to be powered for all year, and if we are smart then we would grab it," he pointed out.

A2A CEO Luca Valerio Camerano wished Italy can have dialogue with China on this brand new technology. "Our idea is trying to explore whether we can export our green technology to China and help fill the existing infrastructure deficit there," he told Xinhua.

Another move that can be considered in the future, he added, would be to join hands with Chinese universities. "I think it would be key to develop that because we are aware of the depth of research and innovation in Chinese universities," Camerano added.

Mario Magaldi, the head of Magaldi group, said he wished that his family company with 120 years of experience in green solutions would be able to build reliable partnerships with China.

"Presently all big countries of the world are under pressure to develop clean energies. In this common effort, collaboration is fundamental to enhance good businesses that not only help save the planet but are more efficient and cheaper at the same time," he said.
HO CHI MINH CITY, July 5, 2016 (Xinhua) -- Photo taken on July 4, 2016 shows the signing ceremony in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Bank of China, other lenders and Cheng Yang Paper Mill Company signed here on Monday a syndicated loan of 168 million U.S. dollars. (Xinhua/Nguyen Le Huyen)

HO CHI MINH CITY, July 4 (Xinhua) -- Bank of China, other lenders and Cheng Yang Paper Mill Company signed here on Monday a syndicated loan of 168 million U.S. dollars.

At the signing ceremony, Wang Hao, general manager of Ho Chi Minh City Branch of Bank of China, said"Today, bankers and entrepreneurs from Guangdong Province of China, Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan and Thailand all come to celebrate the signing."

The syndicated loan is to help improve the competitiveness of Vietnam's paper-making industry, meet the higher demand of Vietnamese people for high-quality kraft paper and improve the living condition of local people, thus enhancing the cooperation between China and Vietnam in investment and trade.

According to Ho Chi Minh City Branch of Bank of China, Vietnam is confronting with more opportunities than challenges in the next few years. The branch will continue to improve its diversified banking services, and provide the best financial products and solutions to its customers in Vietnam.

Cheng Yang Company was established in 2003. In June 2015, the Hong Kong-based Nine Dragons Group, the largest manufacturer of recycled kraft-liner board in Asia, increased its stake ownership in Cheng Yang to 67 percent.

The total production capacity of the kraft-liner board paper mill expansion project in the city is 442,000 tons, with the products for sales mainly in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos.
BEIJING, July 1, 2016 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), delivers a speech at a rally marking the 95th anniversary of the founding of the CPC at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, July 1, 2016. (Xinhua/Liu Weibing)

BEIJING, July 4 (Xinhua) -- International scholars and experts Monday spoke highly of Chinese President Xi Jinping's recent speech at an event marking the 95th founding anniversary of the Communist Party of China (CPC).

On Friday, Xi, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, elaborated the Party's stances on how to enhance Marxism, advance national governance and promote China's peaceful development.

China should adhere to and never stray from the leadership of the CPC and socialism with Chinese characteristics, he said.

Sitaram Yechury, general secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), said that "the CPC has stuck to socialism in the past several decades, which has not only alleviated the population of the unprecedented amount of poverty in history, but also turned China into the world's second-largest economy. That is an achievement of historic significance."

He said Xi attributed the CPC's success over the past years to upholding Marxism as its guiding principle and enriching its content in real governance.

The CPC has combined Marxism with China's national condition, which has not only secured the great success of China's revolution and development, but also inspired Indian political parties and people that aim to pursue a development path suited to India's real condition.

Commenting on Xi's emphasis on strengthening the whole Party's confidence in "the path, theory, system and culture of socialism with Chinese characteristics," Qiao Fengxiang, chairman of the U.S.-China Friendship Association in the United States, said that what Xi had said is "innovative and very meaningful."

"One who wants to stride ahead should not forget the path that was trodden. No matter how far we will travel and how bright a future we will have, we should not forget what we have experienced and why we set out," said Xi in his speech.

Kuang Jinrong, president of Thai-China Cultural Industries Group Co., LTD, said Xi's remarks are extremely relevant since "the CPC has always stood with the Chinese people as close as flesh and blood."

Hisao Shintaku, chief of the Kanto Japan-China Peace and Friendship Association in Japan, spoke highly of Xi's points, noting that "it is important for the current CPC to remember what it has endeavored to achieve, and hence develop China in a modest and down-to-earth manner."

Xi vowed to maintain zero tolerance for corruption inside the Party. India's Yechury said Xi's vigilance against corruption would defend the CPC from harmful corrosion in and outside China, so as to ensure the Chinese people's confidence in socialism and the CPC's leadership.

Xi also pledged in his speech that China will always follow a path of peaceful development and mutual benefit.

Qiao of the U.S.-China Friendship Association said that upholding the goal of peaceful development will not only enable the CPC to lead China toward prosperity, but also improve its presence in global governance, so as to make greater achievements in promoting world peace and development.
By Naim-Ul-Karim

DHAKA, July 4 (Xinhua) -- The parents of Faraz Ayaaz Hossain, a student at Emory University in the United States and one of the victims of a merciless terrorist attack at a restaurant in the capital of Bangladesh's diplomatic Gulshan enclave on Friday night, wept openly at the brutal and senseless loss of their son, at a state memorial ceremony on Monday held in honor of the lives lost in the bloody siege.

Twenty-year-old Hossain, grandson of Latifur Rahman, chairman of Bangladesh's top Transcom Group and owner of the country's leading dailies the Prothom Alo and Daily Star, was slain by the assailants who stormed the cafe along with his college friend Abinta Kabir.

The Muslim student, who was among the victims of the carnage in Dhaka, refused to abandon his friends Kabir, a Bangladesh born U.S. citizen and Tarishi Jain from India, and was killed alongside others despite being given a chance to leave the Spanish Holey Artisan Bakery -- the scene of Bangladesh's worst hostage crisis involving militants.

Parents of Kabir whose family owns a popular retail outlet, Lavender Super Store, and a large business premises, and have investments in textiles and apparel, were also overcome with emotion during the ceremony at the loss of their young child.

Tears were also shed by the relatives and friends of the victims from Italy and Japan who also attended the ceremony to pay their respects at the scene.

The deep pain and sorrow in the faces of the victims' families and friends was palpable, particularly as ambulances began to slowly depart the scene carrying the bodies of the deceased.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina handed over the bodies to the relatives of the victims, with many in attendance, none more so than the relatives of the deceased, wailing loudly in the knowledge that their loved ones had been taken too early in the most savage of ways and would never be returning.

In the crisis that unfolded over some 13-hours, 20 hostages, mostly foreign nationals, were slaughtered by the militants who stormed the cafe heavily armed with guns, explosives and sharp weapons.

Despite the rain, relatives and friends of the victims and people from all walks of life flocked to the ceremony to pay their last respects at the state ceremony.

Hasina, her cabinet members and envoys of the victims countries, among other dignitaries, also paid their respects to the victims.

The families of the deceased, friends and diplomats, all wearing black badges, packed the ceremony as part of a two-day mourning program announced by the government. All of them were still visibly shaken and in a state of deep shock.

Hasina placed a floral wreath near the caskets of the victims at around 10:00 a.m. local time during the ceremony.

Hasina also held a minute's silence to honor the victims, after a wreath was placed on behalf of President Md Abdul Hamid, who is now in Bhutan on a state visit.

The caskets were placed on a raised platform which bore the flags of India, Italy, Bangladesh, Japan and the United States, in recognition of the nationalities of the hostages killed.

Envoys of India, Italy, the U.S and Japan also paid their respects during the ceremony.

Diplomats from many other countries also placed floral wreaths near the caskets of the victims of Friday's attack, the first such hostage crisis Bangladesh has witnessed.

Afterwards, the ceremony was opened up to the relatives and general public to pay their tributes.

Nine Italians, seven Japanese, two Bangladeshis, an Indian and a Bangladeshi-born U.S. citizen were among the 20 people hacked to death by the terrorists who burst into the restaurant on Friday night.

Seven gunmen armed with blades, guns and bombs also murdered two Bangladesh police officers in the early hours of the attack.

Responsibility for the attack has been claimed by the so-called Islamic State militant group, with six of the gunmen being killed as special forces and police brought the siege to an end and one being captured and detained alive.

Grief and disbelief not only struck the relatives of the deceased, but the entire Bangladesh nation after the news broke, with local people still in a deep state of shock and mourning.

The whole country has been observing a national period of mourning for the victims from Sunday to Monday with the national flag flying at half-mast across the country.

Over the last few days candle-lit vigils have been held across Dhaka and in other places, in commemoration of the victims.
RIYADH, July 4 (Xinhua) -- The Saudi Interior Ministry said Monday that the suicide bomber who detonated himself in Jeddah earlier in the day was a resident working in the kingdom, local TV station Al Arabiya reported.

The assailant, described as a man in his 30s, blew himself up in a hospital parking lot in Jeddah as security personnel approached him after he aroused their suspicion.

He died instantly, and two security personnel were slightly wounded and transported to hospital.

No other injuries were reported, but several cars were damaged.

The ministry's spokesperson added that more bombs were discovered at the blast location and successfully defused.

It was unclear what the bomber's intentions were as the area targeted included a mosque, security forces as well as the United States consulate.

Saudi Arabia has recently been targeted by deadly suicide blasts from sleeper cell members of the Islamic State militant group.
Asylum seekers collect clothes donated by locals at a makeshift camp outside the migrant reception center in Brussels, Belgium, on Sept. 3, 2015. (Xinhua/Zhou Lei)

BRUSSELS, July 4 (Xinhua) -- More than 4,000 asylum seekers in Belgium voluntarily returned to their countries of origin in 2015, Belgium's migration office spokesman said Sunday.

Out of the 35,476 asylum seekers that arrived in Belgium in 2015, 4,053 returned to their homeland out of their own will, the spokesman of Theo Francken, the Secretary of State to Asylum and Migration told Belga News Agency.

In the first five months of this year, the number of voluntary returns has already reached 2,050, of which 1,023 were destined for Iraq, the spokesman said, adding that the trend is expected to continue.

Belgium has installed in several major cities so-called "returned offices", which provide information to migrants on their voluntary return and help facilitate the procedure.

"We will hire more people (in "returned offices") to convince people to go back, because this is the best option," Francken was quoted by the Belgian broadcaster VRT as saying.

In 2015, Belgium received the highest number of asylum applicants since the year 2000, doubling the number of 2014. Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan are the top three countries of applicants' origins.
KIGALI, July 4 (Xinhua) -- Rwanda on Monday marked its 22nd anniversary of liberation.

July 4, 1994 is very important to Rwandans because it marks the end of 100 days of the 1994 genocide, which left more than a million people dead.

The main celebrations to mark the day was held in Rweru sector, Bugesera district, Eastern province where a model village, which includes a school, a health post and homes, were constructed to house more than 400 poverty stricken residents in the area.

Speaking at the celebrations in Bugesera, President Kagame said that today's struggle for liberation is about fighting poverty, self-dignity, mindset change and building the nation.

"The next stage of our liberation is to liberate ourselves from any obstacles that stand in the way of our development," he emphasized.

"As Rwandans, as Africans, we must be the ones to own and shape our future by continuing to liberate ourselves from what is holding us from achieving economic prosperity for our people."

Kagame expressed heartfelt gratitude for the contribution of the people of several countries in the region in Rwabda's struggle for liberation.

This year, activities to mark the liberation started two weeks ago whereby various projects were inaugurated by the Rwanda Defense Forces (RDF) in collaboration with public institutions.

The projects included supply of electricity and water to rural schools and health centres, and construction of schools and homes to disadvantaged people as well as rehabilitation of roads, among others.
JOHANNESBURG, July 4 (Xinhua) -- South African President Jacob Zuma will undertake a state visit to France.

During the visit from July 11-12, Zuma and his French counterpart Francois Hollande will exchange views on peace and security as well as development, with particular emphasis on support for the implementation of African Union's Agenda 2063, Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Maite Nkoana-Mashabane said in Pretoria Monday.

The two countries will further explore working together on global challenges including in areas such as illicit financial flows, climate change, UN Security Council reform, migration and terrorism, said Nkoana-Mashabane.

During the visit, Zuma will preside over the Centenary Commemoration of the Battle of Delville Wood on July 12.

The year 2016 marks the centenary of the Battle of Delville Wood, where thousands of soldiers died during World War I, especially those from the South African Infantry Brigade.

A South Africa-France business forum will also take place concurrently during the visit.

South Africa and France cooperate in areas such as energy, maritime, agriculture, science and technology, education, arts and culture, and defence, with an opportunity to expand in some areas. To this effect, Zuma and Hollande will witness the signing of a number of instruments during the visit, said the minister.

France remains an important source of foreign direct investment for South Africa.

In 2015, the overall volume of trade totalled 33.6 billion rand (about 2.3 billion U.S.dollars), with imports amounting to 1.7 billion dollars, and exports, about 619 million dollars.

According to the SA Department of Tourism, a total of 128,438 tourists from France visited South Africa in 2015, making France one of the highest sources of inward tourism. Enditem
iStock/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) -- Authorities are now saying an explosion in New York's Central Park on Sunday that left a Virginia tourist seriously injured was most likely an experiment gone wrong.

According to Lt. Mike Torre of the New York Bomb Squad on Monday, the blast was not caused by an explosive device but a mix of chemicals in a plastic bag. He also said the bag was "absolutely not" placed in the park with the intention of someone to step on it or touch it.

Instead, Torre thinks it was the work of a hobbyist.

"I'd refer to them as an explosive hobbyist or an experimenter," he said Monday. "There are people who are fascinated by this kind of things. The fascination grows around the Fourth of July, for obvious reasons."

And while many of hobbyists experiment in their backyards, for those in New York, their backyard is Central Park.

"It's sort of an ideal location conducive to conducting that kind of experiment or test," Torre said.

The 18-year-old victim remains seriously injured while authorities continue to investigate. Roberta Elizabeth Golden told ABC News affiliate WJLA-TV that her grandson Connor Golden was the victim and has already had his foot amputated. She also said he was going to have a second surgery to remove the rest of his leg below his knee.

Copyright  2016, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
By Dong Hua, Hoang Huong

HO CHI MINH CITY, July 4 (Xinhua) -- Under the scorching sun here on Sunday, a crowd of prolific Vietnamese readers occupied part of the Ho Chi Minh City Book Road to talk to six Chinese writers whose well-known novels and short stories will be translated into Vietnamese soon.

The six Chinese writers include Dong Xi, Fan Yiping, Huang Peihua, Li Yue Re, Zhu Shan and Tian Er. Most of them are members of the China Writers Association or leaders of China's local literary and art circles associations.

On Sunday morning in District No. 1 of Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh City, Dong Xi introduced his outstanding novel "Cuan gai de ming"printed in Vietnamese with the title of"Mong doi doi"(Dream of having a new life). His compatriots will also have their works published in Vietnamese in the coming days.

Dong Xi, born in 1966 in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in southern China, bordering Vietnam, talked to Vietnamese readers and reporters in an amiable and humorous manner. The fairly heavily built Chinese man answered many questions about China's ancient and contemporary literature, and literary cooperation between China and Vietnam.

Vietnam has translated many Chinese classical literary works, including the four great classical novels, namely "Water Margin,""Romance of the Three Kingdoms,""Journey to the West,"and "Dream of the Red Chamber," but the number of translated versions of Chinese contemporary works is still limited, Dong Xi told Xinhua.

"Therefore, when more and more Chinese novels and short stories are being translated into Vietnamese, Vietnamese readers will have more chances to understand more deeply about life and reality in modern China," the Chinese writer said, blossoming into a magnanimous smile.

He proposed the Vietnamese side translates more Vietnamese literary works into Chinese so that "we will have better understanding of contemporary life and thoughts of Vietnamese people, and the two peoples will realize that they have many things in common."

Fan Yiping, born in 1964 in Guangxi, who has had several novels adapted into television and feature films, including "The Missing Gun,"and "The Music Box,"echoed Dong Xi's statement, saying "China and Vietnam in general and Chinese and Vietnamese writers in particular are very close. As the saying goes, 'Better a neighbor near, than a brother far off'."

Fan Yiping continued"Presently at the Ho Chi Minh City Book Road today, I feel very surprised. I realize that Vietnamese people treasure reading and cultural exchanges like Chinese people do. In a nutshell, the two people share many similarities."

China in general and Guangxi in particular want to beef up exchange and cooperation among literary and art circles in various countries in the world, including Vietnam, the 52-year-old man said, noting that in Guangxi there is a center for such purposes.

Translator Nguyen Le Chi, founder and director of Chibooks Company, is one of the first Vietnamese people to buy the copyright of foreign books to publish them in Vietnam. She has succeeded in bringing China's contemporary literature to Vietnam.

"Most of Dong Xi's works have been adapted into feature and television films because they contain a lot of cinematic traits. Through them, readers can feel contemporary life clearly with a variety of color and sensational appeal. That's why I have chosen his works,"the Vietnamese translator and businesswoman told Xinhua.

Chi, who has either translated or published more than 30 foreign literary works into Vietnamese, said she wants to introduce more novels and short stories by foreign writers, including Chinese ones to Vietnam.

Many Vietnamese readers are as keen as mustard when it comes to reading Chinese literary works, both classical and contemporary, Chi said, adding that one of their favorite Chinese writers is Mo Yan.

In 2012, Mo Yan was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature for his work as a writer who with hallucinatory realism merges folk tales, history and the contemporary.

"I like China's classical literature because it is succinct and really meaningful. I also like its contemporary literature because it is very practical, and manifests various aspects of Chinese society nowadays," Thai Ha, a renowned reader from Ho Chi Minh City, told Xinhua.

The young woman said she often read novels by Mo Yan, Yu Hua and Dong Xi because she sometimes sees herself in the works, and always draws useful lessons from them. "I think that Vietnamese readers can know more about Chinese literature through novels adapted into movies," she said.

On Sunday evening at a book cafe on the city's Nguyen Hue Street, Vietnam's first pedestrian street, many Vietnamese young people were sipping coffee with milk, with their eyes glued to Vietnamese versions of foreign novels, including those by Mo Yan, Yin Yong, Yu Hua and younger Chinese writers such as Guo Jingming, Han Han and Jiu Dan. Enditem
TEHRAN, July 4 (Xinhua) -- The Iranian Foreign Ministry on Monday dismissed recent remarks by the new secretary general of the Arab League (AL) about the role of Islamic republic in the Arab world as "hasty and unconstructive," Press TV reported.

The ministry's spokesman, Bahram Qasemi, urged AL Secretary General Ahmed Abul-Gheit to avoid playing the blame game over the ongoing issues in the Muslim world and the Middle East region.

The Press TV said that in an interview with Egyptian newspaper al-Ahram on Sunday, Abul-Gheit leveled "unfounded" allegations against Iran and claimed that Tehran is interfering in the internal affairs of Arab countries, including Bahrain and Yemen.

"While the Arab League, in accordance with its Charter, must help settle crises among its members through peaceful means, it has supported the military offensive of an Arab country against another Arab country and approved aggression and fratricide," the Iranian spokesman was quoted as saying.

Repeating "baseless stances will make no change in the realities on the ground in the region," Qasemi said, adding that Muslim nations should focus their attention on the seizure of Palestinian territories by Israel and the terrorist groups as the common threats against the Muslim world. Enditem
GENEVA, July 4 (Xinhua) -- The number of journalists killed across the world increased from so far this year, reaching 74 people in 22 countries or three per week on average, the Geneva-based NGO the Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) reported on Monday.

According to a PEC press release, during the same period -- January to the end of June -- 71 journalists were killed in 2015, 66 in 2014, and 59 in 2013.

The PEC report showed that Afghanistan was the most dangerous country for journalists during the period, in which 10 journalists were killed.

Syria was the second on the list, with nine media workers killed, and Mexico followed with eight killed, then Iraq and Yemen with seven in each country.

The PEC strongly condemned the attacks and called on the governments to assume their obligations and bring the perpetrators to justice.

PEC Secretary-General Blaise Lempen said it was clear that unresolved and ongoing conflicts were the source of the high price paid by journalists for informing the general public.

"We must do more in the fight against impunity," Blaise said.

According to the PEC, there is also an alarming trend that a great number of media workers were intentionally targeted by radical organizations, in particular by the Islamic State (IS).

From January to June 2016, the NGO reported a dozen journalists killed by IS in Turkey, Syria and Iraq. The Taliban are also responsible for the killing of ten journalists in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Founded in June 2004 by a group of journalists from several countries, PEC is a non-governmental organization with special consultative United Nations (UN) status, whose aim is to strengthen the legal protection and safety of journalists in zones of conflict and civil unrest or on dangerous missions. Enditem
BENXI, July 5, 2016 (Xinhua) -- Rescuers work at the site of a coalmine in which a fire broke out in Benxi City, northeast China's Liaoning Province, July 4, 2016. The mine in Benxi City caught fire early on Monday morning and has trapped 13 people underground, the State Administration of Work Safety said Monday. Rescue work is underway. The administration said the fire was caused by illegal mining and urged local authorities to guard against secondary accidents. (Xinhua/Yang Qing)

BEIJING, July 4 (Xinhua) -- A fire at a coal mine in northeast China's Liaoning Province has trapped 13 people underground, the national work safety supervisor said Monday.

The mine in Benxi City caught fire early on Monday morning and rescue work is underway, the State Administration of Work Safety said.

The administration said the fire was caused by illegal mining and urged local authorities to guard against secondary accidents.

It ordered local authorities to pinpoint the cause of the accident. Anyone responsible must be held accountable.
Visitors view a magnetic resonance equipment at the 72nd China International Medical Equipment Fair (CMEF Autumn 2014) in southwest China's Chongqing, Oct. 23, 2014. (Xinhua/Meng Tao) (File Pic)

BOGOTA, July 3 (Xinhua) -- China is making a bold entry into the Latin American health market, most recently taking over the entire main pavilion at an international medical fair held earlier this week in Colombia's capital Bogota.

China's first-ever participation in the four-day Meditech, which ran from June 28 to July 1, was attention grabbing, as the organizers noted in a press release.

China "made a strong impression, with 21 distributors of medical equipment, from syringes ... to specialized devices that can treat disorders such as sleep apnea," the organizers said.

China's entry into the regional market coincides with a World Health Organization (WHO) report that says Latin America, Asia and the Middle East present the best outlook for the sector in 2017.

According to the organizers, another study by consulting firm PharmaLive shows China is the world's second leading market for medical devices, after the United States, providing large multinationals an attractive offer through low-cost labor, and stands poised to account for 25 percent of the global market share by 2050.

China's expansion in Latin America is underway, with Colombia serving as a gateway to the regional health industry.

Leo Xiao, a representative of Chinese firm Konsung, which manufactures oximeters -- devices that gauge the level of oxygen in the blood -- and other items, said his company's experience in Colombia has been positive.

"I believe the Colombian market has very great potential," he told Xinhua. "Colombia also has a very privileged position in the field of business in Latin America, and to date our clients' response to our products has been quite good."

Visitors view an angiography equipment at the 72nd China International Medical Equipment Fair (CMEF Autumn 2014) in southwest China's Chongqing, Oct. 23, 2014. (Xinhua/Meng Tao) (File Pic)

China, Xiao said, has worked to raise the quality standards of its medical products in keeping with a government drive to strengthen national productive sectors.

Ursula Sanchez, projects chief at Corferias, the exposition center in Bogota that hosted Meditech, said China's participation in the fair helped to enrich the offer.

"It's the first time it takes part in Meditech and it brought the latest high-tech devices, in addition to various products and services," said Sanchez.

"China has been presenting, not just in this sector, but in all other industrial sectors, new technologies, new advances and new breakthroughs. It's a country of utmost importance," added Sanchez.

Among the newest products China featured at the fair were RESmart GII and RESmart Auto, two "smart devices" designed to treat sleep apnea with "technology that automatically adapts to the patient's breathing," the organizers said in the press release.

"What's new about these devices is that they offer the patient the option of forgoing an operation, which many avoid out of fear of pain or simply because they don't have the time," Luis Wang, of China BMC, the maker of the devices, told the organizers.

Kynetyk, a Chinese company already known in Colombia for its dental implants and other orthodontic products, presented a new line of medical items for the field of gastroenterology and urology.

"We have brought high quality products for these specialties, which we are just beginning to introduce into the regional market, the company's Executive Director Peter Wang told Xinhua.

"Our products have gone over really well at this fair ... we want to continue to attend future editions," he added.

In a few months, after organizers conclude their surveys of the event and the volume of sales transactions it generated, they will have a better idea of how companies fared, Corferias' Sanchez said.

"We have high expectations," she said. "China is a point of reference for us and we are very pleased to have them in this edition, and we hope they return for following editions of Meditech."

Some 70 companies from around the world took part in the fair, including those from Germany, France, Brazil, Holland, Spain and the United States.
MOSCOW, July 4 (Xinhua) -- Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has signed a decree approving a food quality improvement strategy to be implemented by 2030, the government said Monday.

"In recent years, our people have become much more attentive to the issue and everyone is trying to buy quality foodstuffs, preferably Russian-made and fresh, and those produced with the right technologies," Medvedev said in an official statement.

The purpose of the strategy is to ensure food quality, to promote high-quality food products, and to ensure consumer rights in this regard, the statement said.

The strategy lays out 12 tasks, including improving the regulatory base in the field of food quality, quality monitoring of foods, establishing a quality management system for food production, and updating the requirements for food additives, according to the statement.

To implement these tasks, a detailed plan will be prepared with specific deadlines and responsible agencies, Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich said.

Several senior officials said Russia's ban on imports of various foodstuffs, imposed in response to economic sanctions by Western countries over the Ukraine crisis, has stimulated the development of domestic production.

However, the Russian agricultural watchdog Rosselkhoznadzor and health authority Rospotrebnadzor have reported multiple violations of quality and security demands in the process of production, storage and sale of domestic foodstuffs. Enditem
BEIJING, July 4, 2016 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (3rd L) holds talks with visiting Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras (3rd R) in Beijing, capital of China, July 4, 2016. (Xinhua/Wang Ye)

BEIJING, July 4 (Xinhua) -- China and Greece have great hopes for Piraeus port, as attested to by the meeting of Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and his Greek counterpart Alexis Tsipras on Monday.

Li met with Tsipras in Beijing on Monday afternoon, with much of their meeting focused on Piraeus.

Last week, by overwhelming majority the Greek parliament ratified an agreement giving China's COSCO Shipping a majority stake in Piraeus port authority. China expects Piraeus to become an important gateway into Europe.

According to a deal signed in April, COSCO will pay 368.5 million euros (419 million U.S. dollars) now and invest another 350 million euros (400 million dollars) over the next decade in infrastructure at the port.

Tsipras described Piraeus as a potentially important entry point for Chinese investment and goods into Europe.

Tsipras said logistics centers and industrial parks will be built and railways upgraded in central and Eastern Europe.

The prime minister said the project is an opportunity for China and Greece to cooperate in shipbuilding, finance, science and innovation, food, tourism, culture and education.

Li said China is ready for a second decade of the comprehensive strategic partnership with Greece, with sustainable and balanced trade growth and closer links in culture, education, science and tourism.

Li reaffirmed that China firmly believes in European integration and that a prosperous and stable European Union benefits all.

"We are looking forward to the upcoming China-EU leaders' meeting to send positive signals for consolidating strategic mutual trust, practical cooperation and promoting facilitation and liberalization of trade and investment," Li said, welcoming Greece's active role in China-Europe relations.

Earlier on Monday, China's top legislator Zhang Dejiang met with Tsipras.

Zhang, chairman of the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, said the NPC is ready to further enhance friendly ties with the Greek Parliament on legislation and governance, at all levels.
GENEVA, July 4 (Xinhua) -- As the holy month of Ramadan comes to a close, International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) President Peter Maurer urged leaders Monday to renew efforts seeking to ease the "unprecedented levels" of suffering and fear faced by civilians living in war-torn Syria and Iraq.

"People need leaders who believe in humanity, who protect, homes, schools and hospitals; who protect civilians and treat people they capture with respect; and who allow and facilitate neutral and impartial humanitarian help for those in need," Maurer said.

"We stand ready to talk to anyone, or to act as an intermediary so that more help, more assistance, can be delivered. When the guns fall silent, and they will do one day, it'll be that common respect for human dignity that will provide a way forward. And for the healing process to begin," he added.

The statement comes in the wake of deadly suicide car bomb attacks which shook Iraq's capital city Baghdad on Sunday.

At least 165 civilians were killed by the Islamic State-claimed attacks, with the death toll expected to rise as many of the wounded are in critical condition.

As well as facing the constant threat of terrorism, millions have been displaced by protracted fighting in both Middle-Eastern countries, while hundreds of thousands have lost their lives. Enditem


Photo taken on April 5, 2016 shows the lighthouse on Zhubi Reef of Nansha Islands in the South China Sea, south China. (Xinhua file photo)

ROME, July 4 (Xinhua) -- The South China Sea dispute between China and the Philippines suggest the attempt by the United States to contain China's role as regional and global power, an Italian expert said.

"The United States needs China to be economically strong, but it does not want China to develop further as a geopolitical actor," Domenico Moro, an economist and member of the political committee of Italy's Communist Refoundation party, told Xinhua in a recent interview.

"This is the background of the South China Sea tensions, and of the U.S. policies concerning the issue: the U.S. seems intent to contain China's rising role as regional and global power to preserve its ideological and cultural influence, and avoid a challenge to its hegemony," said Moro.

In January 2013, the Philippines unilaterally filed an arbitration case against China over the South China Sea dispute in the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in The Hague, the Netherlands.

China maintains the PCA has no jurisdiction over the case, which is in essence about territorial sovereignty and maritime delimitation, and insists the Philippines should abandon its arbitration request and return to bilateral negotiations to settle the issue.

The PCA is expected to announce its decision over the case soon.

A worrying side of the Philippine-China dispute is that it has been marked by increasing tensions in the South China Sea, with an intensifying activity of U.S. military aircraft and naval forces in the region, over the last months.

According to the expert, that would be part of an overall "aggressive approach" the United States and other Western powers have been showing towards various areas around the world in the last decades.

"The U.S. has been going through a decline in its economic power, and even more so after the global financial crisis of 2007-2008 hit the capitalistic system hard," the economist explained.

"During this declining phase, as every global power, it suffers the rising of other major actors, and China is indeed one of them," said the expert.

At the same time, the focus of the U.S. foreign strategy is gradually shifting from central Asia, the Middle East, and the Mediterranean area to the Asian region, according to him.

"The U.S. government wants to destine more and more resources to the Asian region, since it is aware its biggest competitor is indeed China," Moro said.

Yet, the expert believed such confrontational approach should not meet with a specular one from the Chinese side.

"China has indeed the right to defend its national interests, and (to do so) it must avoid falling into the confrontation trap the U.S. was able to set for the former Soviet Union," he explained.

The Soviet Union tried to win such direct confrontation, and drained much of its resources focusing on the nuclear arms race during the Cold War, and the 1979-1989 Afghan War.

"China should keep away from the same hook, and, while defending its legitimate interests, keep promoting its domestic economic growth," Moro suggested.

"Keeping a strong commitment for further domestic economic development and improvement of the living standards of its people is the best way to respond to the U.S. global challenge, because China's strength lies in its stability," said the expert.
BANGKOK, July 4 (Xinhua)-- Thailand's seafood export industry will likely prosper again now that the United States has upgraded this country's Trafficking In Persons status from Tier 3 to Tier 2, said a leading businessperson on Monday.

Thailand is believed to make up to 1.8 billion U.S. dollars in shrimps export to the world market throughout this year, accounting for a 10 percent increase from last year and some 700 million U.S. dollars in fish and squid exports throughout this year, marking an 8 per cent rise from last year, according to Pod Aramwatananond, head of the Thai Frozen Foods Association.

He forecast that Thai seafood export industry will likely rebound from sluggish trade and make more profits than in a previous year primarily due to Thailand's upgraded Tier 2 status pertaining to sustained crackdowns on human trafficking, especially in the country's fishing industry.

Migrant and under-aged workers had been found illegally employed aboard Thai fishing trawlers and at food processing plants and manufacturing factories in this country, resulting in last year's Tier 3 status set by the U.S. government.

The Thai Frozen Foods Association head commented that the European Union might as well consider easing restrictions on Thai seafood products bound for the European market following the U.S. upgrading of the Thai TIP status.

The EU had accused Thailand of failing to fight Illegal, Unregulated and Unreported fishing in its territorial waters in the Gulf of Thailand and Andaman Sea while the Thai authorities put the blame on many trawler owners for alleged abuses ranging from unlicensed vessels, unlicensed skippers and inoperable communication equipment to illegal migrant crewmen. Enditem
BERLIN, July 4 (Xinhua) -- German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Monday strongly condemned the recent terrorist attacks in Dhaka and Baghdad.

"There is no justification for these barbaric, inhumane acts," said Merkel, adding that international cooperation must be stepped up to stop the terrorist attacks.

The chancellor also expressed her condolences to the families of the victims who come from many countries.

The attacks showed once again that terrorism poses a global threat and the international community must stand up to terrorists jointly," said German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Monday.

"Only with the common and unwavering support of the international community, we will succeed in pushing back extremist terrorism and its deadly ideology piece by piece," he said.

Suspected Daesh operatives killed 20 people in a cafe popular with foreigners in the Bangladeshi capital of Dhaka, while two bombings in the Iraqi capital Baghdad killed more than 200 people over the weekend. Enditem
HANOI, July 4 (Xinhua)-- The replacement of leadership of People's Councils and People's Committees at provincial and municipal levels has been completed nationwide in Vietnam on Monday.

Key leadership positions of provincial and municipal People's Councils and People's Committees at all 63 cities and provinces have been elected for 2016-2021 tenure, according to the E-Portal of Vietnamese government.

After the election of deputies to people's councils at all levels being held in late May, cities and provinces have conducted elections of localities' key leadership positions.

The first session of the 14th National Assembly of Vietnam is scheduled to convene in late July when the country's top leadership, including president, prime minister, national assembly chairperson, among others, will be re-elected for 2016-2021 tenure. Enditem
NANJING, July 4, 2016 (Xinhua) -- Rescuers reinforce a temporary dyke in Shuren Middle School in Nanjing, capital of east China's Jiangsu Province, July 4, 2016. A section of the embankment of Yangtze River near the school was found continuing leakage Monday morning, and a temporary dyke was built to stop flood water. (Xinhua/Li Xiang)

BEIJING, July 4 (Xinhua) -- Heavy rain has killed 93 people in 11 Chinese provincial regions in four days, leaving another 19 missing.

Continuous rainfall since June 30 has destroyed 22,000 houses and forced 726,000 to relocate in provinces including Jiangsu, Hubei, Henan and Sichuan, the Ministry of Civil Affairs said Monday.

Floods have also damaged crops, roads, telecommunication and electricity facilities, stopping traffic and delaying trains in some regions, it said.

Authorities estimated an economic loss of 20.43 billion yuan (3 billion U.S. dollars).

In the worst-hit Hubei Province, torrential rain has affected 9.57 million residents in 79 counties and districts, leaving 38 people dead and 17 missing.

By 5 p.m., 308,900 people have been evacuated and of all, 234,900 need emergency living assistance, local authorities said.

In the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, water in 43 rivers has exceeded the warning levels and authorities have sent workers to patrol the river dykes, said Chen Guiya, an official with the Yangtze River Water Resources Commission.

Since the raining season started on June 18, Hubei has received a precipitation of up to 1,295 millimeters, with the single-day rainfalls in many regions being the largest in 100 years.

China's meteorological authority renewed its orange alert for heavy rain in the south and southwest of the country on Monday, saying heavy rain will hit the provinces of Anhui, Jiangsu, Hubei, Jiangxi, Hunan and Guizhou, and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region until Tuesday morning, with precipitation reaching 200 millimeters in some areas.

China has a four-tier color-coded system for severe weather, with red being the most serious, followed by orange, yellow and blue.
ARUSHA, Tanzania, July 4 (Xinhua) -- Three east African nations - Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda have embarked in a new project geared towards phasing-out Tuberculosis (TB) as per global target.

The TB project themed: Working To Empower Nations Diagnostic Efforts (TWENDE) is aimed at coming up with the regional roadmap to facilitate the eradication of TB within the World Health organization target of 2050.

TWENDE will be focusing on innovations in diagnostics as a way of preventing TB, early detection and treatment.

The project will be working with researchers at Kenya Medical Research Institute, Kilimanjaro Clinical Research Institute, Tanzania National Institute of Medical Research, Makerere University and CPAR Uganda Ltd.

Three East African countries are among the 22 TB high burden countries in the world and this project taps into the regional expertise of East African researchers, practitioners and policy makers to deal with the disease.

It is estimated that TB affects over 60 percent of people with HIV/Aids and it is one of the diseases that most disturbs diabetes patients.

However, before TB can be defeated, participants called upon concerted efforts to help reduce poverty in the region.

Speaking soon after launching the ambitious project here on Monday, Prof Gibson Sammy Kibiki, the head of the East African Community Health and Research Commission said: "If we want to fight poverty in the real sense, we have to fight diseases."

"When we bring together our expertise, we can translate our research into policy and practice," said Dr Nyanda Elias Ntinginya, the Principal investigator for TWENDE in Tanzania while underscoring the need to fight TB at regional level.

"TB knows no borders," Dr Nyanda said, highlighting the fact that East Africans are now mobile and therefore move with the disease.

He further called upon governments of East Africa to pay attention to poverty as it is a key driving factor in the spread of TB.

"TB is a disease of poverty, overcrowding and malnutrition," said Dr Ewan Chirnside from the University of St Andrews in UK which is the lead institution in the TWENDE consortium.

Prof Christopher Garimoi Orach from Makerere University added that poverty leads to TB through malnutrition and lack of access to medical care due to financial difficulties.

He called upon governments to invest in communities that are prone to TB by offering them social security. About 300,000 people in East Africa get TB every year.

Dr Evans Amukoye of KMRI said Kenya reports about 120,000 new TB cases every year. Dr Alphonse Okwera who heads Uganda's TB unit at Mulago Hospital says 50,000 cases are reported in Uganda while Dr Nyanda says 68,000 cases are reported in Tanzania.

Dr Okwera highlighted the bad alliance between HIV, AIDS and TB, as a deadly combination for victims.

"You cannot deal with TB effectively without dealing with HIV," added Dr Wilber Sabiiti, the lead researcher for TWENDE. Enditem
GAZA, July 5, 2016 (Xinhua) -- People unload Turkish aid shipments upon arrival in the Gaza Strip at Kerem Shalom crossing, July 4, 2016. The first shipment of humanitarian aid including basic food needs, garments, shoes and toys donated by Turkey, has reached the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip on Monday, officials said. (Xinhua/Khaled Omar)

GAZA, July 4 (Xinhua) -- The first shipment of humanitarian aid including basic food needs, garments, shoes and toys donated by Turkey, has reached the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip on Monday, officials said.

Turkish Consul General in Jerusalem Mustafa Sarnic, who arrived in Gaza on Monday, told reporters that the Gaza-bound Turkish container vessel Lady Leyla "is the beginning of the way for lifting the blockade imposed on Gaza."

The Turkish humanitarian aid was allowed into the Gaza Strip through the Israeli controlled commercial crossing of Kerem Shalom.

"This shipment is the start and we will go ahead towards lifting the blockade imposed on the Gaza Strip," Sarnic told a news briefing at Rafah border crossing point between southern Gaza Strip and Egypt.

According to the deal, Israel won't completely lift the blockade it imposed on the Gaza Strip right after Hamas violently seized control of the enclave and routed security president Mahmoud Abbas' security forces.

Turkey "will exert all efforts to help the population of Gaza and provide them with all needed services in all levels," Sarnic said.

Meanwhile, Yousef Ibrahim, deputy minister of the Palestinian social welfare authority run by Hamas movement, told reporters that ten trucks were allowed in the Gaza Strip on Monday and will be delivered to poor people.

"400 trucks carrying 11,000 tons of humanitarian aid were brought from Turkey, and they will be gradually allowed into the Gaza Strip," Ibrahim said.

Ibrahim said that the Turkish aid will draw a large smile on the faces of the poor children. According to official figures, rates of poverty in the Gaza Strip have exceeded 55 percent.

Sending the Turkish humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, which has been under a tight Israeli blockade since 2007, was part of the Turkish-Israeli reconciliation agreement signed in Rome last week.
RIGA, July 4 (Xinhua) -- More than 200 people gathered at a memorial built on the ruins of the Great Choral Synagogue here to honor the memory of the Jews killed during World War II to mark Holocaust Memorial Day on Monday.

Latvian President Raimonds Vejonis and parliamentary speaker Inara Murniece addressed people at the opening of the commemorative event, and speeches were also made by representatives of the Jewish community.

"Today, here, at the place where the Choral Synagogue was located in Riga, we commemorate all fellow human beings who were persecuted and killed only because they were Jews," the Latvian president said.

Vejonis noted in his speech that the mass killings of Jews during World War II did not take place without the participation of local Nazi collaborators and executioners and there was no justification for these crimes.

Latvia remembers Holocaust victims on July 4 because on this date in 1941 the Choral Synagogue was burned to the ground with people locked inside. Altogether, about 70,000 Jews were killed in Latvia under Nazi occupation from 1941 to 1945. Enditem
BEIJING, July 4, 2016 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (L) addresses the Greece-China Maritime Cooperation to Fuel Growth Bilateral Business Forum in Beijing, capital of China, July 4, 2016. Li Keqiang and Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras attended the forum Monday. (Xinhua/Wang Ye)

BEIJING, July 4 (Xinhua) -- China is committed to solving maritime disputes through dialogue and negotiation with countries directly concerned in line with international laws and on the basis of respecting historical facts, Premier Li Keqiang said Monday.

Li made the remarks at a China-Greece maritime cooperation forum held in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. Li and his Greek counterpart Alexis Tsipras attended the forum and deliver speeches.

Li said as a state party to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), China strives to safeguard the principles of the convention, stick to the path of peaceful development and oppose any maritime hegemony.

"China will not impose its own will on others," said Li. "Meanwhile, we will firmly safeguard China's legitimate rights."

China is willing to continue its cooperation with relevant countries so as to jointly maintain maritime peace and stability, the premier said.

He said the aim of the maritime cooperation forum is to work with Greece to forge ahead the harmonious development of maritime business and promote maritime cultural exchange.

On the project of the Piraeus port between China and Greece, Li said it is a model of bilateral cooperation of equality and mutual benefits and is an affirmative vote of Chinese enterprise for Greece.

Greek parliament ratified last week with an overwhelming majority the landmark agreement with China's COSCO Shipping for the acquisition of a majority stake in the Piraeus Port Authority, the largest port in Greece.

The project benefits from the stable international and regional environment and mutual trust accumulated in the past years between the two countries, Li said.

On China's economy, Li said it is not easy to achieve a growth rate of 6.7 percent in the first quarter and a continued steady development in the second quarter.

China is not a risk source for world economy, but a robust promoter of world economy and a firm defender of world peace, Li said.

He said China is glad to see Greece get out of the most difficult period, and hopes to see a stable and prosperous European Union.

Li called on both countries to work to liberalize and facilitate trade and investment so as to build a better future for China-Greece and China-EU cooperation.

Tsipras, for his part, said that Greece welcomes investment from China.

Hailing China's contribution to the global economy, Tsipras said China is playing a more and more important role in international affairs.

Greece is ready to integrate its development strategies with China, and further deepen mutually beneficial cooperation with China in various areas, he said.

Some 400 entrepreneurs from China and Greece attended the forum sponsored by China Council for the Promotion of International Trade. The first forum was held in Greece in June 2014.
BAGHDAD, July 4 (Xinhua) -- A rocket barrage on Monday hit an area near Baghdad international airport in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, a police source said.

It was not immediately clear whether the attack targeted a camp housing an exile Iranian opposition group located near the airport, or whether that attack caused any casualties, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity. Enditem
BRUSSELS, July 4 (Xinhua) -- NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Monday outlined the Warsaw Summit agenda, noting that NATO leaders will take key decisions to strengthen the Alliance's defense and deterrence and project stability beyond NATO's borders.

Stoltenberg told a press conference that since the Alliance's last summit in September 2014 in Wales, NATO has implemented the biggest reinforcement of its collective defense since the Cold War.

"We delivered a faster, a stronger, and a more ready Alliance," Stoltenberg added, "We now need to take the next steps. So at our Summit in Warsaw, we will agree to further enhance our military presence in the eastern part of the Alliance."

According to NATO's press release, NATO leaders will agree to deploy four robust, multinational battalions to Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland. Further efforts to strengthen the Alliance's deterrence and defense include a tailored presence in the south-east, based on a multinational brigade in Romania and steps to improve cyber-defense, civil preparedness and the ability to defend against ballistic missile attacks.

Stoltenberg said NATO is talking with Russia to hold another meeting of the NATO-Russia Council shortly after the Warsaw Summit. "We remain open to dialogue with Russia. The NATO-Russia Council has an important role to play as a forum for dialogue and information exchange, to reduce tensions and increase predictability," he said.

Defense spending will be another topic at the Summit. "The Warsaw Summit will renew our commitment to spend more on defense and to spend better," Stoltenberg added.

In addition, NATO leaders will discuss projecting stability beyond border by helping local partners to defend themselves. "We will agree to start training and capacity building inside Iraq, expanding our existing training for Iraqi officers in Jordan," he said.

The deployment of NATO AWACS surveillance aircraft to support the Global Coalition to counter Islamic State will also be approved at the meeting.

Stoltenberg further stressed NATO's continued support for Afghanistan, including a continuation of the Resolute Support Mission into 2017 and continued funding of the Afghan forces until 2020.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (C) introduces members of his delegation to Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni after arriving to commemorate the 40th anniversary of Operation Entebbe at the Entebbe airport in Uganda, July 4, 2016. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)

JERUSALEM, July 4 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu departed Monday for Africa on his first visit there as prime minister, a trip seen as part of a quest to find new trade partners and allies to counter the Palestinians' increasing influence at the United Nations.

The last Africa visit by an Isaeli prime minster was by the late Yitzhak Rabin, to Morocco, in 1999.

In a video statement at the airport before his departure, Netanyahu said the "historic visit" is "very important from diplomatic, economic and security perspectives."

"I am pleased that Israel is going back to Africa in a big way," he said. "We are opening Africa to Israel again."

During the four-day tour, Netanyahu will visit Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, and Ethiopia.

The visit will begin with a meeting in Entebbe, Uganda, with leaders from seven African nations, including Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Ethiopia, Zambia, and Tanzania.

The Prime Minister's Office said that some 80 businesspeople from over 50 companies are accompanying Netanyahu to "forge commercial ties with African companies and countries." They will participate in economic seminars in Kenya and Ethiopia with local counterparts.

The visit comes after strengthening ties with African countries over the past years, with Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman touring the continent and meeting with African politicians and businessmen.

Dore Gold, a director-general at the Israeli Foreign Ministry, traveled to South Africa in March, in a bid to strengthen relations with the country, which is a staunch supporter of the Palestinians' struggle for statehood.

In turn, African leaders have visited Israel in recent years, including Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta and Liberia's President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.
A general view shows the Israeli settlement of Qedar in the occupied West Bank, between Jerusalem and Jericho, on July 4, 2016. ( AFP PHOTO/ THOMAS COEX )

UNITED NATIONS, July 4 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Monday strongly criticized an Israeli decision to advance settlement plans in the West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem, reiterating that "settlements are illegal under international law."

"The secretary-general strongly criticizes the decision by Israeli authorities to advance plans to build some 560 housing units in the West Bank settlement of Maale Adumim, as well as the advancement of plans to build 240 housing units in a number of settlements in occupied East Jerusalem," said a statement issued here by Ban's spokesman.

"This raises legitimate questions about Israel's long-term intentions, which are compounded by continuing statements of some Israeli ministers calling for the annexation of the West Bank," said the statement.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has decided to allow the expansion of a West Bank settlement in the wake of the stabbing death of a 13-year-old Israeli-American girl, reports said on Sunday.

The United Nations and most countries regard the Israeli settlements as illegal because the territories they are built on were captured by Israel in a war in 1967 and are hence subject to the Geneva Conventions, which forbid construction on occupied lands.

Ban "reiterates that settlements are illegal under international law and urges the government of Israel to halt and reverse such decisions in the interest of peace and a just final status agreement," the statement said.

"The secretary-general is deeply disappointed that this announcement comes only four days after the Middle East Quartet called on Israel to cease its policy of settlement construction and expansion," the statement said.

On July 1, the United Nations and the Quartet released the first report of its kind, which analysed the impediments to a lasting resolution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and offered recommendations on the way forward, urging Israel to stop its settlement policy and Palestine to end incitement to violence.

Bedouin makeshift tents and structures are seen in front of buildings of the Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim, east of Jerusalem in the occupied West Bank, on July 4, 2016.

Israel has approved 560 new homes for the West Bank settlement of Maale Adumim, a spokesman for the settlement said on July 4, 2016 in a move likely to raise tensions following a series of Palestinian attacks. Netanyahu also gave approval for the planning of 240 new homes in east Jerusalem settlement neighbourhoods. (AFP PHOTO/THOMAS COEX)

The Middle East Quartet -- comprising the UN, Russia, the United States and the European Union -- has been working on the report since February.

To promote the peace process in the Middle East, the diplomatic group is seeking a two-state solution -- a secure State of Israel to live in peace with an independent State of Palestine.

In the report, the Quartet called on each side to "independently demonstrate, through policies and actions, a genuine commitment to the two-state solution" and to "refrain from unilateral steps that prejudice the outcome of the final negotiations."

Also on Monday, the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) confirmed that the Israeli authorities demolished two homes in Qalandia Refugee Camp in the occupied West Bank in the middle of Saturday night.

"Punitive home demolitions are a form of collective punishment which are illegal under international law," said UNRWA Spokesperson Chris Gunness. "They inflict distress and suffering on those who have not committed the action which led to the demolition and they often endanger people and property in the vicinity."

"UNRWA condemns punitive demolitions and reminds Israel, the occupying power, that under international humanitarian law it has an obligation to protect the occupied people and provide services," the spokesperson added.
CAIRO, July 5, 2016 (Xinhua) -- Photo taken on July 3, 2016 shows a child receiving medical treatment at the Children's Cancer Hospital Egypt 57357 in Cairo, Egypt. In the heart of Egypt's capital Cairo, thousands of children with cancer receive free treatment at the Children's Cancer Hospital Egypt 57357, the largest child cancer hospital in the world. Children's Cancer Hospital Egypt 57357, with 13 units, is considered a heaven for children with cancer not only from Egypt, but also from the Middle East and Africa. The hospital was built in 2007 and is completely depending on donations from Egyptians and people from all over the world through the non-profit Children's Cancer Hospital Foundation. (Xinhua/Ahmed Gomaa)

by Ahmed Shafiq

CAIRO, July 4 (Xinhua) -- In the heart of Egypt's capital Cairo, thousands of children with cancer receive free treatment at the Children's Cancer Hospital Egypt 57357, the largest child cancer hospital in the world.

"My daughter can go back to school now after she received cancer treatment here," Mahmoud Salama said as his six-year-old daughter received a chemotherapy treatment at the hospital.

His daughter suffered from constant headache four months ago and cannot concentrate well. The doctor gave her tests which showed benign brain tumor.

"I directly came here after she was diagnosed with benign brain tumor," said Salama, who lives in Tanta city, 92 km north of Cairo. "She was carefully diagnosed again and had a surgery to remove some fluids from the skull within less than 24 hours."

Although it is benign tumor, doctors warned that a resection operation might cause difficulties with sight, speech or movement, and suggested chemotherapy to freeze the tumor.

Salama said that the hospital is a great institution for fighting childhood cancer, adding that it provides care with highest quality for free and without any discrimination.

"I find no words to describe the great treatment and care at the hospital. I paid nothing since I came here although the treatment costs thousands of U.S. dollars," Salama said.

Shaymaa Mustafa, in her 30s, was carefully observing her five-year-son receiving chemotherapy session who came to the hospital in August last year.

"After several tests, my son was diagnosed with malignant tumor in the brain. He was directly transferred here where he had received a surgery to remove part of the tumor," she said, adding that the condition of her son is stable.

Children's Cancer Hospital Egypt 57357, with 13 units, is considered a heaven for children with cancer not only from Egypt, but also from the Middle East and Africa.

The hospital was built in 2007 and is completely depending on donations from Egyptians and people from all over the world through the non-profit Children's Cancer Hospital Foundation.

The interior furnishing of the hospital utilize natural light, and the selective use of color is intended to make it an appealing place for children. The patient rooms are single or semi-private to reduce the risk of infection for the immune-compromised patients.

This project helped the hospital achieve a 73.2 percent overall survival rate of the cancer patients, reaching the line of a 75-80 percent rate usually achieved in western countries.

It is also pursuing to create a new healthcare system for more scientific approaches practiced in management and treatment.

"We are treating thousands of children and there is a lot of pressure from the patients and the parents. Can you imagine a child coming to our hospital but we have no bed to offer?" said Dr. Hanaa Farid, director of Fundraising Department of the hospital.

The hospital is speeding up in building a new campus nearby which will hold five buildings on a land that has been allocated by the Egyptian government.

She added that the proton therapy building will be equipped with advanced radiotherapy equipments which will minimize side effects. It has a higher degree of tumor ablation and will also be available for adult patients.

"This will increase the number of patents coming from the Arab world, from Africa and even from Western Europe because this is only equipment in this area," she said, adding that it will bring more income to the hospital.

Meanwhile, a health sciences academy building will be available for Egypt and all countries in the region to breed a new generation of healthcare professionals, she said.

The colorful play areas in the hospital are always full of children, with many volunteers who come to breathe hope into these children through drawing, painting, music and play sessions.

"We are doing our best to ensure free healthcare with high quality to alleviate the suffering of children with cancer and their families," Dr. Farid said.
KHARTOUM, July 3 (Xinhua) -- Sudan's government on Sunday deemed a report published by the United States blacklisting Sudan as one of the countries not fighting human trafficking, as "unfair and lacking accurate information."

The United States publishes an annual report on human trafficking, and this year it lumped Syria and Sudan together with four other Arab countries.

The report also includes Russia and Iran, totaling 26 blacklisted governments which the United State's State Department believes are not fighting human trafficking.

"Regarding Sudan, the report lacks accurate information and was more inclined towards tarnishing the country's image in areas where Sudan has achieved remarkable success including the prevention of recruiting child soldiers and human trafficking," said the Sudanese Foreign Ministry in a statement on Sunday.

The statement refers to Sudan's efforts in combating human trafficking when Khartoum hosted an international conference on combating illegal migration in 2015 as well as Sudan's human trafficking legislation.

The ministry reiterated Sudan's commitment with respect to human trafficking, saying "Although the United State's report distorts Sudan's stance regarding these critical issues, Sudan will remain committed to its obligations towards the international community."

Sudan will follow through on the international laws it has signed and remain an active member of the international community in the face of such vital issues, it said.

According to the report, Sudan comes in the third category of countries not fully committed to the minimum criteria, stipulated by the laws in place to protect human trafficking victims, in addition to not exerting enough effort towards this issue, hence rendering the country on the receiving end of U.S. sanctions.

According to the report, U.S. President Barack Obama is expected to decide in 90 days whether to impose sanctions on the blacklisted countries or not.

The Third Category in the United State's human trafficking report contains six Arab countries including Sudan, Syria, Algeria, Djibouti, the Comoros Islands and Mauritania.

Other countries included in the report are Iran, South Sudan, Russia, Belarus, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Zimbabwe, Belize, Burma, Burundi, the Central African Republic, Haiti, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Gambia, Guinea Bissau, North Korea, the Marshall Islands, Suriname and Papua New Guinea.
German expert doubts arbitral court's jurisdiction over South China Sea dispute

BERLIN, July 3 (Xinhua) -- The real nature of a dispute between China and the Philippines over the South China Sea is about territorial sovereignty, which is beyond the jurisdiction of an arbitral tribunal, a German expert has said.

Stefan Talmon, director of the Institute of Public International Law at the University of Bonn, said in a paper published recently that despite the Philippines' claims about issues such as "traditional fishing rights," the "actual controversy" in the case is about territorial sovereignty. Full Story

Spotlight: China never a bully in South China Sea: experts

BEIJING, July 4 (Xinhua) -- At a time of heightened tension in the South China Sea, Washington and its allies have launched publicity campaigns against China, repeatedly using the "bully" tag to refer to China and its activities in the region.

The groundless accusation, however, has been refuted by experts, who pointed to the fact that China has never bullied any country in South China Sea disputes. Instead, it has exercised restraint to the greatest extent possible over this issue. Full story

Chinese envoy calls for int'l cooperation on border control to counter terrorism

UNITED NATIONS, July 1 (Xinhua) -- All countries must strengthen cooperation on border control and enforcement to effectively stop foreign terrorist fighters from moving across borders, said a Chinese envoy here on Friday.

Wu Haitao, China's deputy permanent representative to the UN, made the remarks at a UN General Assembly meeting on global counter-terrorism strategy. Full story

Commentary: Smearing China not help resolve South China Sea disputes

BEIJING, July 2 (Xinhua) -- As an honest and responsible power, China has always abided by international law and basic norms governing international relations, and will continue to do so in the South China Sea issue while safeguarding its territorial sovereignty.

As the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague will announce the so-called "award" on July 12, a new smear campaign against China has emerged, this time by veteran Washington attorney Paul Reichler. Full story

Interview: China, Philippines should settle dispute between themselves: Serbian Scholar

BELGRADE, July 2 (Xinhua) -- A Serbian scholar and politician has urged the Philippines to settle the South China Sea dispute directly with China, warning failure to solve disputes bilaterally would result in permanent and even armed conflict.

Experience in the Balkans has taught us that when two sides fail to settle disputes bilaterally, the disputes would prolong and evolve into permanent conflicts -- even armed conflicts, Zarko Obradovic, an MP and vice president of the Socialist Party of Serbia, told Xinhua in a recent interview. Full story

Spotlight: Expectation of resumption of sound development of China-Philippines relations

BEIJING, July 2 (Xinhua) -- As the farce of arbitration on the South China Sea is to end soon, it is time for the new Philippine government of Rodrigo Duterte to stop the wrong foreign policy of its predecessor, so as to bring China-Philippines ties back to the track of sound development.

Since Duterte assumed presidency on Thursday, sparks of hope have arisen for resumption of sound development of relations between China and the Philippines after bilateral ties seriously deteriorated during the rule of former Philippine President Benigno Aquino III. Full story

Commentary: Loss outweighs gains for Japan's stubborn meddling in South China Sea

BEIJING, July 3 (Xinhua) -- Despite Beijing's repeated call that outsider countries play a constructive role on the South China Sea issue, Tokyo seems to have stepped up its meddling moves, at the cost of regional stability and without giving any thought to its relations with China.

In the latest of Japan's series of maneuvers to seek greater influence over the issue, Koro Bessho, Japanese ambassador to the United Nations, said on the first day Japan took over the monthly rotating presidency of the UN Security Council that he would put the issue on the agenda of the 15-member council if there is a request from its members, or other UN members. Full story

Philippine position on South China Sea self-contradictory: vice speaker of Czech parliament

PRAGUE, July 3 (Xinhua) -- Vojtech Filip, vice speaker of the Parliament of the Czech Republic and leader of the Czech Communist Party, said Philippine position is self-contradictory on the South China Sea case.

"I am convinced that in this respect the proposed arbitration is extremely premature, outside the framework of international law, and in its own way disrupts that which the Philippines have worked for in the past -- a unified approach to all countries that border the South China Sea," Filip told Xinhua in a recent interview. Full story

Interview: U.S. has complicated South China Sea issue: Australian expert

BEIJING, July 4 (Xinhua) -- The United States has complicated the situation in the South China Sea instead of playing a constructive role, an Australian expert on maritime security has said.
BEIJING, July 1(Xinhuanet) -- The emergence of new technology has widened the horizon for film and video, and we need to adapt to that. We have to be innovative. Therefore we hope that we can strengthen the relation and cooperation with China in this field, said Roberto Stabile, Head International Department & Events at the Italian National Association of Cinematographic Audiovisual Multimedia Industries (ANICA), during a recent interview with Xinhuanet.

Furthermore, Italy is looking forward to undertake more cooperation regarding movies with China, as this will not only help the two countries to share their market and experience, but also broadens their international audience and brings about more cultural exchange, he added.

ANICA was established over seventy years ago and represents the Italian film industry and many other related industries in Italy. The goal of my current visit to China is to set up a permanent office of ANICA in Beijing, and to prepare the upcoming visit of the Italian Minister of Cultural Heritage and Activities and Tourism to China, said Stabile.

Following the technological developments of recent years, various forms of video content, including films, have stepped outside the traditional movie theater and television, and found other distribution channels, such as the Internet. Producing videos has also become less difficult, as many people for example started to use their smartphone to shoot videos and share them.

Regardless of how diverse the content, production, and distribution channels of video have become, the importance of movie theaters will not change, found Stabile. We pay attention to internet, mobile internet and other new means of video distribution, mainly to strengthen the distribution of films and video content. This will not have any influence on the production of traditional visual content itself. Our job now is to use these new media to add novel technology means and fresh distribution channels to the process of film making, he said.

Xinhuanet for example is a very important online medium, and we are honored to have the opportunity to work together with Xinhuanet. Through working together with important Chinese online platforms, we hope to combine our powers in carrying out events, to exchange ideas and productions, and to maybe even find the opportunity to co-produce a film together, mentioned Stabile.

Hollywood style films, based on big production and big investment, have had quite a big impact on the international film industry in recent years. These big productions put pressure on the room for development of film industries from other countries and regions, and have created a debate on how to integrate both commercial value and artistic quality in films.

Hollywood films are a challenge for Italian films as well. The first step we can take is to not pursue American films, and instead add more Italian characteristics and artistic features into our Italian films, Stabile elaborated.

According to Stabile, the commercial value and artistic quality of a film are equally important. Precisely this combination of commerce and art is what really makes a film successful, what impresses the world most profoundly. Also, balancing commercial value and artistic quality enables the film to be replicated in other parts of the world, he said.

Stabile continued: The cooperation between Italy and China is a very good way of dealing with current challenges. Italy can contribute with its longstanding artistic basis and filming experience, while China has an enormous market and very passionate producers. This combination will naturally give us a strong foundation and the strength to face the challenge.

Stabile especially points out that Marco Muller, former Chairman of the Venice International Film Festival and former Chief Advisor of the Beijing Film Festival, has brought the experiences of the Venice Film Festival to China and also let more Italian people know about the Beijing Film Festival. His work has made important contributions to the cooperation between Italy and China in the field of film, and can be seen as a good foundation to further build upon.

We will mostly focus on the possibilities for cooperation between Italy and China in the field of film. Italy is now considering and negotiating the co-production of a film with a Chinese party. We hope that we can let Chinese filmmakers shoot an Italian production in a Chinese way to find something new. At the same time we also want to distribute Italian productions through the Chinese internet, to support and enhance the further cooperation between the two countries in the field of film Stabile said.

We also welcome Chinese filmmakers to film in Italy, so Italys beautiful cities and landscapes, its solid technical basis and the well organized parties of the countrys Film Association can all contribute to their work. In that way, eventually both Italy and China can contribute to the shaping of a bilateral and sustainable cooperation, he added.

The Chinese film market is growing with unprecedented and astonishing speed. In a very short period of time, China has become the second largest film market of the world, and it could soon become the largest. To reach this position, China has fully relied on its vast domestic market. However, this could also be regarded as a weakness, as the Chinese market has been internalized and the level of penetration and access to the foreign market is insufficient. The cooperation between Italian and Chinese could be a great tactic for the Chinese market to enter Europe, and Italy, Stabile concluded.
PESHAWAR, June 28, 2016 (Xinhua) -- Tailors stitch clothes for the upcoming Eid al-Fitr festival in northwest Pakistan's Peshawar, June 28, 2016. Muslims around the world prepare to celebrate the Eid al-Fitr festival, which marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan. (Xinhua/Umar Qayyum)
WELLINGTON, July 4, 2016 (Xinhua) -- People carry models of dragons during a parade celebrating the Maori Language Week in Wellington, New Zealand, on July 4, 2016. Te Reo Maori (the Maori language) fever has hit the streets of New Zealand's capital with thousands of people turning up in celebration of the Maori Language Week from July 4 to July 10. (Xinhua/Su Liang)
Constable foils robbery

He then ordered the proprietor, Ping Leung, to hand over over cash from the register. The businessman became afraid and handed over $6,000.

As the bandit was about to flee the scene, a security officer called out the policeman that the bandit did not have a gun, but a wheel spanner, prompting the officer to spring into action.

The officer, PC Green, along with the security officer, nabbed the suspect and a report was made.

All of the stolen cash was retrieved.

The 20-year-old suspect was taken to the Arima Police Station where he was expected to be placed on an identification parade for similar offences.

Assistant Commissioner of Police Surujdeen Persad commended the officer for his timely intervention.

The suspect is expected to appear before an Arima Magistrate today.
Valsayn woman arrested for stealing

According to reports, the woman entered the store 9.99 Plus Tier accessories, at 80 Eastern Main Road, Arouca and spoke with the owner Victor Salina, 58, requesting certain items. As Salina proceeded to the back of the store to secure the items requested by the woman, she began placing a quantity of hair weaves into two large bags.

As she was about to exit the store, Salina raised an alarm and alerted the Arouca police. Woman Police Constable Mohammed and PC Khan who were on Mobile patrol responded and nabbed the suspect. She was taken to the Arouca Police Station where she was cautioned and charged with larceny
Best books on American revolution

In honour of this US holiday, I present today some of the best books on the American Revolution, one of the most fascinating events in world history. These are my favourite books about the revolution.

Those students who are planning to take the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT ), which is the entrance exam for US-based universities, should pay close attention to this list because the SAT includes reading passages from US history. Reading history is also an excellent way of building analytical skills.

When London Was the Capital of America by Julie Elswell  There was a time when the American colonies looked to London for education and culture.

Americans travelling to London were considered to be socially sophisticated.

Many American colonists did not want to be free from England.

This is a fascinating look at torn allegiances.

Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain Boys by Conrad R Stein  This biography of the legendary Ethan Allen chronicles Allens life with the highlight being the capture of Fort Ticonderoga with Benedict Arnold before Arnold became a turncoat. The Green Mountain Boys fought in the American Revolution and also fought for Vermont to be an independent state. Ethan Allens biography shows the disharmony and the territorial squabbles that emerged among the 13 original American colonies.

Betsy Ross and the Making of America by Maria R Miller - According to legend, Betsy Ross sewed the first American flag for General George Washington and the US colonies during the Revolutionary war. Miller presents a fascinating biography of Ross while showing just how much of Rosss esteemed reputation is fact and how much is fiction. History students will learn how to separate fact from legend in this biography.

Fur, Fortune and Empire, The Epic History of the Fur Trade in America by Eric Jay Dolin  Dolins riveting story of the North American fur trade shows how fur was a lucrative industry that the French and British fought to control in the 17th century. Before sugar, cotton, rice, tobacco and tea cultivation, there was the fur industry.

Hamilton by Ron Chernow - Hamilton is a massive biography, but a riveting read. Hamilton, a poor West Indian immigrant, shaped the fledgling US like no other founding father.

Hamilton: The Revolution by Linn Manuel- Miranda and Jeremy McCarter  With clear, crisp essays that are brilliant models for students striving to master the essay form, McCarter tells the story of how the Broadway musical of Hamilton (written by Manuel-Miranda) came about with ample pictures of actors and performances.

War of Two: Alexander Hamilton, Aaron Burr, and the Duel that Stunned the Nation by John Sedgwick  Journalist John Sedgwick tells the fascinating story of the rivalry between Hamilton and Vice President Aaron Burr. Based on research and the many letters that Hamilton and Burr exchanged, Sedgwick shows how the two famous leaders ended up in a duel that killed Hamilton.

Washington and Hamilton: The Alliance that Forged America by Stephen F Knott  They shared the same values and many of the same ideas about politics and government, but there couldnt have been two leaders more different than Washington, the first President of the US and Hamilton, the West Indian immigrant who set up the banking system and customs in the US. This book analyses why the two leaders formed such a close relationship and how that relationship shaped the fledgling US.

There are many great books about the US Revolutionary War, but this is definitely a good place to start.
HE WAS AT PEACE

This was the view of doctors - who along with Mannings family including his wife Hazel - witnessed his final moments of life on Saturday in the High Dependency Unit of the San Fernando General Hospital (SFGH). And as with so many of his political and personal decisions made over his 69 years of life, Manning was at peace even as he stared death in the face.

In fact, Manning - according to medical sources - turned down a recommendation by his doctors that he be immediately airlifted to Washington DC in the United States for specialised treatment, a day after he was rushed to the SFGH. His decision to stay in Trinidad and submit himself to local doctors was made on Wednesday last. That night, Head of Pathology at SFGH Dr Wesley Greaves and Cuban Haematologist Dr Victor Rodriguez, diagnosed Manning as suffering with acute myeloid leukaemia, a rare form of blood cancer.

Head of the Department of Medicine at SFGH and clinical neurologist Dr Kanter Ramcharan, took over management of Manning medical care. Ramcharan immediately perused Mannings medical reports and emailed same to a hospital in Washington DC. Manning and his relatives were advised that although the survival rate of persons afflicted with myeloid leukaemia was small, taking him abroad was an option they should consider.

But SFGH Medical Director Dr Anand Chatoorgoon, who witnessed Mannings last moments, told Newsday, Mr Manning told doctors that he loved the people of Trinidad and Tobago and had every confidence in our doctors.

He told the doctors, do what you have to do. He was a tower of strength and fully conscious. He did not want to go abroad. Mannings condition worsened on Thursday, but Dr Chatoorgoon said, the former prime minister maintained a level of dignity and calm despite whatever pains he may have been suffering with.

Chatoorgoon said this was the the hallmark of a true Statesman.

Chatoorgoon pointed out that when doctors in the High Dependency Unit (HDU) wanted to insert a urinary catheter into Manning, so as to monitor his level of urine, Manning told them he would do that simplest but most necessary of bodily functions, on his own.

DIGNIFIED TO THE END Manning also gently declined the offer of nurses for them put disposable undergarments on him. This man, this statesman, told them that he was dying, that he knew his death was imminent and that he wanted to maintain his dignity even right down to the end. And that is exactly what he did, Dr Chatoorgoon said.

On Thursday, Manning was taken from a private room because doctors wanted to monitor him around-the-clock. Patients in the High Dependency Unit were removed, Chatoorgoon said, and Manning was placed in a ward by himself.

I told the doctors in ICU, if a patient needs to be in the High Dependency Unit, let me know and I will arrange. Chatoorgoon explained that because of Mannings lung infection, it would have been more risky for Manning to have other patients too close to him. On Friday night Mannings breathing became laboured, Chatoorgoon said, but he was still conscious.

He had a strong mind. So we had to make a decision to assist him in breathing, but we wanted to see how far he would go on his own, while we tried to keep his blood pressure up, Chatoorgoon said.

Chatoorgoon added that he was awakened from sleep by a telephone call from consultant anaesthetist Dr Shastri Hardeo on Saturday at 4.38 am. Manning was in need of respiratory support or he could die struggling to breathe. But before Manning was hooked up to the ventilator, he was conscious. Manning, Chatoorgoon said, was told by the anaesthetist what was to be done.

DO WHAT YOU HAVE TO DO Chatoorgoon said that it was a brave and courageous Manning, who told the doctors including Ramcharan and consultant physician Kamille Abdool, Do what you have to do. Manning was sedated to allow a tube to be inserted into his lungs.

Very gently, doctors sedated him. I can tell you with all humility, Manning was courageous and graceful. He was a Statesman lying in bed, but a Statesman nevertheless.

He needed no comforting.

He took it like a man. I will always remember those words he said to us, Do what you have to do.Chatoorgoon said that Mannings wife and sister Petronella were notified that he was on his last legs. At 5.30 am on Saturday, Mannings vital signs began to fall perilously low such as his blood pressure, the hospital medical director explained.

Drugs were administered to stabilise the blood pressure just as the respirator was assisting in helping him breathe.

Chatoorgoon said that Hazel stood at the bedside and looked at her husband. Manning, he said, never appeared to be in pain nor was he groaning due to any discomfort. Shortly after being sedated, Manning slipped into unconsciousness as his vitals continued to fall. Doctors, Chatoorgoon said, comforted Mrs Manning and left the room to give her and other relatives privacy to spend their final moments with him. At 8.15 am, Mannings heart stopped beating and he was declared dead.

We looked after Mr Manning with the love and respect that he richly deserved. Although he would have benefited from better facilities overseas, he made the decision to stay with his people in his land down to the end. He remained lucid and calm to the end. His mind was alert up to the point when he had to be sedated.
Murder-for-hire plot foiled

The policeman was arrested on Saturday during the sting and shortly after he took possession of the money.

The 26-year-old police detective who has four years service, was placed in a cell at the Belmont Police Station shortly after his arrest.

Yesterday he was taken to Riverside Plaza where he was questioned and his statements were recorded.

The officer, who was based at the Southern Division, was expected to be charged with four offences.

According to reports, officers of the Professional Standards Bureau (PSB), under Assistant Commissioner of Police Harikrishan Baldeo, received information a week ago that the businessman who had initiated divorce proceedings, plotted with the policeman to murder his (the businessman) wife for US$8,000.

Officers carried out surveillance and on Friday night, PSB officers including ACP Baldeo, Supt Renwick, Insp Montrichard, Sgt Daniel and others positioned themselves in the vicinity of a police station in the Southern Division.

At about 3 am on Saturday, the detective who lives in the Marabella area, went to his private car where he placed something under the floor mat inside the car.

At this point, the PSB officers emerged from their hiding places and placed the officer under arrest.

A check of the car revealed the US$8,000. PSB officers then went to the officers Marabella home and carried out a search. The officers also searched the locker assigned to the officer in the police station where he worked. His cellular phone was seized. The phone was handed over to officers of the Police Cyber Crime Unit as part of the ongoing investigation. Officers then sought advice from the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) on the matter and they were expected to seek further advice yesterday, after interviewing the suspect. Newsday understands that the suspect faces three counts of misbehaviour in public office along with a fourth charge which was not revealed.

The businessmans wife was also expected to be questioned yesterday and be provided with police protection. Newsday understands that she was informed of the murder plot prior to the arrest of the officer and went into hiding as she is in fear for her life. Police investigators yesterday said no charges could be proferred against the businessman until further enquiries are made.

On Saturday, the suspects colleagues expressed surprise at his arrest. His relatives were contacted so they could provide fresh clothing and meals for the him.

Newsday understands that the officer is supposed to be served with a suspension notice today. Twenty police officers have been charged with various offences by officers of the PSB for this year thus far. The businessman is said to be involved in the used car industry. Newsday was told the businessman had initiated divorce proceedings against his wife of 20 years. They are parents of two children.
Imbert: $539M for RHA workers

In a statement, Imbert said that last Wednesday at 6 pm, the Finance Ministry received the proceeds of a bond raised from the local banking market in the sum of $2 Billion. He explained this financing arrangement was pre-planned and initiated at the beginning of June.

Imbert said the Health Ministry subsequently applied to the Auditor General through the Treasury Division for a grant of credit to effect cheque payments to the RHAs for the backpay. The credit was subsequently received.

As a result, the Health Ministry is expected to deliver the necessary cheques totaling $539 million to the four RHAs in Trinidad, for deposit by the RHAs into their respective accounts at the commercial banks yesterday (July 1).

Imbert said it is customary for commercial banks to hold cheques of this magnitude for up to 48 hours, after which funds can be made available to individual members of staff at the RHAs.

Therefore, it is anticipated that staff at the RHAs will receive their payments of their first instalments of backpay (50 percent of the total) from their respective commercial banks between Tuesday July 5, 2016 and Thursday July 7, 2016, since Wednesday July 6th, 2016 is a public holiday (Eid), he added.

During Fridays sitting of the House of Representatives, Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar claimed Government had not paid any workers the backpay owed to them. She also claimed that only 50 percent of the members of the countrys protective services were paid half the backpay owed to them, las month.

Earlier in the sitting, Opposition MPs protested when Imbert proposed that the House sit on Monday (today) to debate the Finance Bill Number Two 2016. Speaker Bridgid Annisette- George ruled in the Governments favour.
Time for region to ponder Carexit

The research may also endorse the view that strengthening regional mechanisms - including strengthening Latin America Caribbean policy - for foreign policy coordination was crucial, Pro Vice Chancellor (Global Affairs) at UWI, Dr Richard Bernal stated. Data generated from the multi-site research, Haughton said, could be used to establish programmes to improve positive sentiments toward Caricom and also to deepen relations among member states, she said.

The United Kingdom (UK) vote to exit the European Union (EU) - commonly referred to as Brexit, she said, means that it cannot be business as usual for Caricom and it was time the regional body deepen its relations among member states.

Speaking at a UWI symposium on Brexit Implications for the Caribbean last Wednesday at the Mona Campus, Jamaica, Haughton said CARICOM should be engaging its membership to determine areas of dissatisfaction and to establish reform mechanisms to address those concerns.

Citizens from Members State feeling marginalised because of limited or difficult market access or limited movement across Member States, she said, may feel pressured or may pressure their leaders for an in or out referendum. The lesson for the region, she said, is that CARICOM member states should all share a win-win strategy because a zero sum game would lead to national agitation and possibly an exit. Haughton was among the regions academics, professionals and politicians who on Wednesday argued that the region was not immune from the impact of the UKs exit called Brexit from the EU. Jamaicas former foreign affairs minister Anthony Hylton said the debate on leaving CARICOM has been ongoing.

To attempt to leave without addressing and adjusting the legitimate concerns of the Treaty of Chaguaramas and how it was structured, he said, would just put us in that category of lurching from one extreme to the next, and the belief that if something is not working well, then what we should do is get rid of it. Hylton does not believe that Member States have the option at this time to apply the Brexit option to CARICOM.

That would be a very simplistic and dangerous approach, he said noting that the region has learned a lot about the stance of the UK and the EU on their economies from negotiating the Cotonou Agreement and the Economic Partnership Agreements over the past two decades. We know where we are, what are the threats ahead, what is happening in the US, what is going on in Britain, and what could happen in Europe. We could see a dismantling of the globalization project, he said.

For small economies like ours, instability is not in our favour, he said. On the UKs exit, Bernal, former director General of the Caribbean Regional Negotiating Machinery said that where cooperation with the EU was concerned, CARICOM needs to deepen its Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) cooperation, and participation in EU/LAC networks.

Whether we like it or not, the EU sees us as Latin America and the Caribbean. We may not be comfortable with it, but that is where we are going to be, he said. Apart from CARICOM member states being affected, Professor Jessica Byron of Department of Government, UWI Mona Campus said that British Caribbean Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) will have major challenges in terms of having their voices heard beyond the UK where they have a limited voice, except in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

They have no access to British or European parliaments, she said, and their access to the EU was through Britain, and to the international arena through limited access by international organisations such as UN bodies. British Caribbean OCTs that sit in the Council of the OCTs in the EU, Byron said, may no longer have the seat once the UK exits, and they will not have the UK to speak on their behalf in the EU.

Noting the presence of French and Dutch OCTs in the region, she said, If we want to improve our links with the EU beyond Britain, we need to work a bit harder on incorporating the European territories in the Caribbean into regional networks like CARICOM. French and Dutch territories in the region, she said have applied to become associate members of CARICOM and the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States and their applications have been languishing in CARICOM since 2012. In addition, she said that dissatisfaction in OCTs like Anguilla and tight budgetary controls that the UK exercises on them, she said, may fuel discussions for independence of these territories.
Manning betrayed like Jesus

And like Julius Caesar and Jesus Christ, Manning was betrayed by those he trusted.

Khan in a statement of condolences yesterday reported that he served in the Parliament with Manning since 1995 and, enjoyed many discussions with him on issues that may not have been known to the public, including many of his challenges and antagonists who attempted to destroy both his career and his legacy. It therefore came as no surprise to learn that even on his deathbed, he still felt the ominous presence of persons who may have wished him harm. It was his vision to ensure that each arm of Government was outfitted with their own permanent facilities rather than being burdened by the lease agreements they endured prior.

This led to the establishment of the International Waterfront Complex and the building of many other infrastructural projects across the country, Khan said. It would be an understatement to say that these decisions were not popular with the persons who would have benefited from the former arrangement however, and Mr Manning was forced to pay a severe political cost as a result. Khan stated that Manning was once denied healthcare as a result of him not being allowed a loan from the banks to cover the costs, which was the reason he was forced to travel to Cuba and have the procedure done for free.

Newsday attempted to get clarification on this claim by Khan but calls to his phone went unanswered.

Khan continued: When he returned however, both to the country and to Government, he would face brutal attacks from these parties, through their media outlets, who attempted to tarnish his reputation to the state. Whether this is partially to blame for the deteriorating health issues that plagued his later years is unknown, but like Julius Caesar and Jesus Christ before him, he was unfortunately betrayed by those whom he trusted and served.

This being said, Patrick Manning would not allow external forces to dictate his actions, and he continued to build the nation as he saw fit.

For this, he will be remembered as a statesman and a leader who never compromised in the face of threats or hardships, and we can all learn from his example. It would therefore be a fitting homage, to rename the International Waterfront Complex in his honour, he suggested.
Mrs Carmona: Cherish those last moments

Carmonas words would have special resonance as only on Saturday last, former prime minister Patrick Manning died at the San Fernando General Hospital days after being diagnosed with a rare form of blood cancer. His State funeral has been planned for next Saturday.

Vitas House, an arm of the TT Cancer Society but with its own board headed by Dr Jacqueline Sabga, was founded in 2009 by Dr George Laquis as a 12-bed hospice.

As a free service funded by voluntary donations, Vitas House offers 24/7 medical and nursing care to terminally-ill patients who have exhausted their means, under the belief that no-one should be left to die alone.

Carmona said physical suffering has a palliative in the form of dignity, respect and genuine care. I lost my beloved father to the ravages of brain cancer and I recall that with every operation, his independence, his mobility and most of all, his sense of self had diminished, she related. She said she knows what a terminally-ill person experiences - the depth of his/her emotion, the sense of resignation, and the complexity of eventual acceptance.

I have walked that emotional gauntlet. As your Patron, I know the helplessness, the hopelessness and the pull and thug at the family fabric, she said. It made me realize, that it is not the quantum of years in our lives that really matters, but rather the quality of life in our years, more so, in those final moments. Carmona paid tribute to patients family-members including those strangers who, in the struggle, become family members. They are all required to manage financially, emotionally and mentally, the physical pain and emotional distress, that both their loved ones and adopted loved ones face. Nothing is more trying than seeing someone you love and adore, suffering and in pain. Personally she thanked Vitas House for helping a dear family friend, Alfred Tang Ming, who has since died but amid a sense of peace and comfort from the hospice.

However, she lamented a case where not everyone was sympathetic to the plight of a cancer patient and his family. I recall being told of the experience of a woman, a Ms Hadeed, whose father was diagnosed with cancer. Her finances did not afford for the requisite medication and she was referred to a doctor for assistance. Upon their arrival at the office, her terribly sick father had to stand in line and wait his turn.

This working woman called her boss to explain her situation, that she would be late for work. He held no genuine concern or empathy for her dilemma and his attitude was, isnt he going to die anyway? Saying the boss only concern was that his business opened on time, Carmona called for more empathy, especially from bosses whose employees relative is at deaths door.
Raymond urges greater transparency

Raymond made the statements during a Training Session on Freedom of Information at the Hyatt Regency, at which he urged the current administration to learn from past mistakes, when entering public-private partnerships and especially when entering negotiations with Sandals International.

I am right now trying to prepare a detailed article for the Sandals proposal, because there has been an expressed interest in Tobago. So I am considering, the Trinidad Hilton in St Anns, the Hyatt Regency and through that experience there has been some bad parts, largescale projects with these hotels which are international brands, there are these management agreements which are governed by confidentiality clauses, so when we are talking about being in the information age and the importance of understanding in a civilization, how can you get understanding if we dont have information, Raymond asked.

Raymond took time to express his dissatisfaction with the lack of information provided by NiQuan Vice President David Small in relation to questions of the companys ownership. Raymond went on to explain that a lack of disclosure in the execution of ones duties would allow corruption to run rampant.

There has been refusal to divulge how much Niquan is really paying for the gas, in addition to that the Vice President who is an Independent Senator David Small, was recently asked who is NiQuan and the gentleman refused to disclose who really owns the company, so the gas price is an important aspect of all of this. Who is getting control of our assets, what is the arrangement? The Training Session was hosted by non-profit organisation, Disclosure Today, which has focused on raising awareness on transparency and providing a readily accessible database of documents for public use. Recently the organization has worked towards offering free legal advice for persons involved in matters of transparency.
Chinas Ambassador bids TT farewell

It has been my most valuable experience as an Ambassador.

I came here with great expectations.

I can leave with great achievements and good memories.

I have been very busy but I feel very proud of my stint, he told Newsday.

I have kept a very close relationship with local community and made lots of friends.

You have always cared about, understand and supported me and I really appreciate this. I want to say that our friendship is the wealth I most treasured. I will miss you. Noting the long history of bilateral friendship between China and TT, Huang said this was deepened during his tenure.

The bilateral political relationship has been tightened, all levels of exchanges have become frequent, cooperation in different areas has achieved a lot and our all-dimensional friendship has been deepened. To be honest, the common interests we shared have reached unprecedented high level. I am really glad to see every improvement in bilateral relations between our two countries. I feel very honoured to be a participant and witness of this golden age of bilateral relations. Recalling his unfamiliarity with TT upon his arrival on June 6, 2013, Huang said even though his time here passed so fast...the memory will stay with me forever. Speaking at a farewell function at the Hyatt Regency, Port-of-Spain last week, Huang recalled that while he was unfamiliar with this land, back in 2013, I now find it inseparable from me. I really love the lyric in the National Anthem, here every creed and race find an equal place. In my mind, I am a member of Trinidad and Tobago. My second home is Port-of-Spain; in Tobago; in San Fernando and in Diego Martin. I used to think that I love the Caribbean scenery more, but now I realise that I love the people in Trinidad and Tobago more. Huangs sense of humour was evident when he expressed a sentiment often said by Trinis - God loves Trinidad and Tobago because God is ah Trini. He revealed to Newsday that his favourite local dish is doubles.

Gosh, doubles is the best food ever. Asked about the highlights of his time as Chinas Ambassador to TT, Huang said he was very proud to help coordinate the first official visit of a Chinese Head of State to the English-speaking Caribbean, in 2013.

Foreign Affairs Minister Dennis Moses noted in his address at the farewell function, the visit of Chinas President Xi Jingping, paved the way for the reciprocal visit of the then Prime Minister of TT, Kamla Persad-Bissessar and the official opening of the Embassy of the Republic of TT to Beijing in 2014, coinciding with the fortieth anniversary of the establishment of bilateral diplomatic relations between our countries. Political milestones were not all Huang was proud to have helped make a reality.

He told Newsday, we have set a new model for medical cooperation between our two countries and we have achieved fruitful results in cultural cooperation. The medical cooperation referred to included an extended visit in 2014 by a team of ten senior Chinese health professionals, including two neurosurgeons, one neurologist and a vascular surgeon.

The team provided much-needed specialised medical treatment to patients at the San Fernando General Hospital (SFGH) as well as skills training to local doctors.
70th anniversary of TT adult suffrage

July 1st marks the 70th anniversary of the first general election to be held under universal adult suffrage in Trinidad and Tobago. It was on this date in 1946 that all citizens over the age of 21 had the opportunity for the first time to freely decide who they wanted to represent them. The statement said that from the time of the first Legislative Council general election in 1928, up until 1946 only six percent of men over the age of 21 and women over the age of 30 were allowed to vote, based on their income and property qualifications.

(Later, the Republican Constitution of 1976 lowered the voting age to 18 years and so extended the franchise.) Adult suffrage was recommended by the Royal Commission of 1938, and was effected by the Trinidad and Tobago (Legislative Council) Amendment Order of 1945. In the first Legislative Council election under adult suffrage in 1946, Albert Gomes beat Tubal Uriah Buzz Butler for the North Port of Spain seat. electoral district. Elsewhere, Ranjit Kumar won the Victoria seat in the Legislative Council while the Tobago seat was won by APT James.

Other elected representatives were Patrick Solomon (Port of Spain South), Roy Joseph (San Fernando), Chanka Maharaj (St George), Clarence Abidh (Caroni), Timothy Roodal (St Patrick), and Victor Bryan (Eastern Counties).

In October that year the first County Council elections were held under Universal Adult Suffrage.

To mark this 70th anniversary, the Parliament Channel was yesterday due to broadcast feature programmes on these personalities and others throughout the day, and will also share them on social media platforms.
Dillon: One third murders are gang-related

Dillon said police figures show TT having 1,600 to 1,800 gang members, posing a threat to many communities by activities such as prostitution. Using data he traced the growth of gang murders over recent years. In 2010 were 75 gang murders out of 473 total killings. These numbers were in each successive year 95 out of 352 (in 2011), 144 out of 380, 197 out of 408, 142 out of 405, and last year 141 gang killings out of 420 total murders.

Dillon said that in the first six months of this year, some 178 firearms had been used in murders.

In that period the police had recovered 385 firearms plus 5,306 bullets. He also claimed that serious crimes had fallen in 2016 but still needs to fall more to a desirable level by certain inputs.

Dillon said 668 suspects now face murder charges (including 13 females), 91 face armed robbery charges, while 17 and 13 respectively await charges for assault and abduction respectively.

In the end the Bill which required a three-fifths majority, failed to pass, as the Opposition did not vote for it.
Honor student beaten to death by group of female bullies fellow students recorded the killing instead of intervening

A 16-year-old girl, Amy Joyner, was murdered in the school restroom of Howard High School of Technology in Delaware on Thursday morning just before classes were scheduled to begin. The teen was allegedly jumped by a gang of girls after she got into an altercation with another girl over a boy. The whole horrifying ordeal was allegedly caught on tape with police revealing that the murder was filmed on a cell phone.

(Article by Tara West)

CBS Evening News reports that at least one of Amy Joyners alleged attackers took cell phone footage of the brawl in the Howard High School of Technology bathroom. The startling footage shows Joyner being forced to her knees by another girl as her hair is pulled from behind. Shortly after, Amy would be killed when her head was smashed into a bathroom sink, leaving her with fatal injuries.

Wilmington police reports that at least one video exists of the incident and is helping police in identifying Amys attackers. In total, the police department says they have questioned three girls, all of which have been suspended from school. Mayor Dennis Williams says that the girls could spend a significant amount of time in prison for the death of Amy and that the stint in prison would be just.

Now they know theyre in very serious trouble and could spend a substantial amount of time in prison. Im a retired police officer. If the physical evidence shows that they are the perpetrators and a person loses their life, absolutely [they should spend substantial time in prison].

A senior at Howard High School, Suleida Zayas, claims that social media is playing a big part in the desire for teens to film fights. With fights being viewed ascool to upload online, Zayas says many students try to outdo each other.

Social media plays a big part in a lot of whats going on nowadays. Its cool to record a fight. Its cool to be on social media because of fight, and I think thats where a lot of us mess up.

With teens attempting to upload the best fight video, Williams says parents need to step up and stop the behavior before it turns deadly. As the father of three girls, Williams says he has experienced his own personal struggles but says that he won the battle by going toe-to-toe with her during a fight. He says parents need to step up to the plate and ensure their children arent partaking in these types of behaviors.

I had a rebellious one. Oh yeah. But I won the battle by going toe-to-toe with her. Parents need to step it up.

Another video posted to Instagram allegedly shows one of the girls believed to have been involved in the death of Amy being beaten by her classmates.

ABC 6 reports that with the alleged offenders in Amys death out of school, the community is in mourning. Following the confirmed death of sophomore Amy Joyner, makeshift memorials began popping up outside of the school. School resumed on Friday with grief counselors on site. Councilwoman Sherry Dorsey Walker, who is serving as a spokesperson for Joyner-Francis family, notes that Amy Joyner was not known for fighting or involving herself in this type of behavior. Instead, she says Amy was an honor roll student who had parents who were deeply involved in her life.

This not a young lady who was involved in street activity. This is an honor roll student, manager of the wrestling team, whose mother and father were very engaged in her life, as well as her siblings. She didnt condone violence. She was a lover not a fighter. Thats how she was.

Police note that none of the three girls believed to have been involved in the assault and murder of Amy Joyner have been arrested; however, police expect charges to be filed next week after the autopsy results are confirmed.

Read more at: inquisitr.com

Submit a correction >>
It is now estimated that 1 in 8 Americans are on serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI) antidepressants1 and a shocking 1 in 4 among women in their 40s and 50s.2 Yet the U.S. suicide rate of 38,000 a year has never been higher.3

(Article by Dr. Mercola)

Clearly the glut of SSRI prescriptions is not lowering the national suicide rate; rather there is compelling evidence that the popular pills are actually contributing to suicide.

SSRIs and Violence

The first suspicion that SSRIs can cause dangerous and unintended psychiatric effects was a Kentucky shooting in 19894 in which pressman Joseph T. Wesbecker entered his former workplace, Standard Gravure, killed eight people, injured 12 and committed suicide after being prescribed Prozac.

Families of the wounded and killed soon filed a lawsuit against Prozac maker Eli Lilly and Company, claiming the SSRI contributed to the violence. The case went to a jury that sided with Lilly.

Yet three days before the shooting, Wesbeckers psychiatrist had written Prozac? in his patient notes as a possible explanation of his bizarre behavior.

Since the Standard Gravure killings, psychiatrists, drug safety advocates and bereaved families have consistently tried to expose links between SSRIs and suicides but are hampered by mainstream safety data that deny a suicide link.

Study Suggests No Suicide Link Is Not to Be Trusted

However, a recent study suggests the no suicide links findings are not necessarily to be trusted, noting that: Therapists should be aware of the lack of proof from RCTs (randomized control trials) that antidepressants prevent suicides and suicide attempts.5

Dr. David Healy, professor of psychiatry at Bangor University and author of 20 books including The Antidepressant Era, The Creation of Psychopharmacology, Let Them Eat Prozac, Mania, and Pharmageddon, heartily agrees that the SSRI statistics given to the public is problematic.6

People havent had access to the data. There have been no publications around it. This is one of the biggest problems on which theres a huge amount of data, but to which weve got little or no access  If we were getting our drug information from The New York Times instead of medical journals, we would all be a lot safer. When the Times reporter Jayson Blair was found to have fabricated stories, he was history. But the editors and writers involved with journal fraud still have their jobs and the articles are not even retracted. In fact, Liz Wager, Ph.D., the chair of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) is herself Pharma-linked.

The COPE website said about Wager,7 its former chair, Liz provides writing, editing, training and consultancy services for various pharmaceutical companies (most recently AstraZeneca, Cephalon, Cordis Corporation, GlaxoSmithKline, Eli Lilly, Janssen-Cilag, Merck Serono, Mundipharma, Norgine, Novo Nordisk, Sanofi Pasteur and Vifor Pharma) at the time of the interview with Healy.

Healy estimates as many as 1,000 to 2,000 Americans on SSRIs kill themselves each year, when they otherwise would not have done so. Violent acts against others and birth defects are also linked to the pills, he says.

Suicides Linked to Antidepressants Number in the Thousands

Even as high level links between medical editors and the drug industry prevented accurate information from reaching the public, in 1997, drug safety activists launched a website called SSRIstories.com,8 which archived credible and published reports that cite the role of SSRIs and related antidepressants in suicides and other violent behavior.

There are now thousands of entries. The kind of energy, rage and insanity seen in a lot of crimes today was not seen before SSRIs appeared, said Rosie Meysenburg, a founder of the website in an interview shortly before her death.9

In addition to the thousands of suicides, there are two cases of women on the SSRI Stories site who stab a man close to 200 times and a case of a man who stabs his wife over 100 times and then goes next door to the neighbors house and stabbed the neighbors furniture about 500 times.

The SSRI stories archive includes people on SSRIs setting themselves on fire, violent elderly people (which is rare) and bizarre cases of kleptomania and female school teachers molesting their minor male students. The common denominator in all the recorded crimes is the drug.

Drug companies routinely blame suicides on the depression that was being treated, not the drugs  but the experiences of patients treated with the same drugs for non-mental indications like pain and the experiences of healthy volunteers cannot be written off as the disease.

The Dark Side of Cymbalta

In 2004, 19-year-old Traci Johnson who had no history of mental problems hung herself in the Eli Lilly Clinic in Indianapolis while testing the drug giants serotoninnorepinephrine reuptake inhibitor (SNRI) duloxetine, sold under the brand name Cymbalta, a type of antidepressant similar to SSRIs.10

The suicide did not delay the drugs approval and wide use. In 2008, the Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology describes a 37-year-old man with a stable marriage, stable employment and no history of mental problems trying to kill himself two months after being prescribed Cymbalta for back pain.

The patient was unable to state exactly why he wanted to commit suicide, wrote the four physician authors in the report, also noting that the man returned to normal when the drug was stopped.

The authors also report a 63-year-old man with no mental health history becoming suicidal two weeks after being put on Cymbalta for fatigue, insomnia and sadness, yet he too was unable to explain why he was having thoughts of wanting to die.

Other cases of healthy people committing suicide on Cymbalta have been reported11and many still remember the suicide of Carol Gotbaum at Phoenixs Sky Harbor International Airport who was on the drug. She was the stepdaughter-in-law of New York Citys public advocate at the time, Betsy Gotbaum.

Writing for Slate, reporter Jeanne Lenzer identified 13 suicides12 linked to Cymbalta besides Traci Johnson. Eli Lilly wanted to market the drug as a treatment for urinary incontinence too but withdrew its application and would not release the study data to Lenzer, she says. It may well have contained more evidence of suicide side effects.

The Drug Industry Still Fights Black Box Warnings Added in 2004

In 2004,13 in response to the outcry over antidepressant-linked suicides, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) directed drug makers to add a Black Box warning to SRRIs and related psychiatric drugs, highlighting suicide risks and the need for close monitoring of children and adolescents for suicidal thoughts and behavior.

Todays actions represent FDAs conclusions about the increased risk of suicidal thoughts and the necessary actions for physicians prescribing these antidepressant drugs and for the children and adolescents taking them. Our conclusions are based on the latest and best science. They reflect what we heard from our advisory committee last month, as well as what many members of the public have told us, said Dr. Lester M. Crawford, acting FDA commissioner at the time.

Unfortunately, then and now, drug industry funded doctors have tried to claim that the warnings scare doctors and patients away and heighten suicide. While it would be ridiculous to blame obesity on tighter restriction of obesity drugs, that is essentially what drug industry spokesmen have done with SSRI warnings and continue to do.

Even The New York Times was misled by such disinformation, reporting that SSRI warnings were causing a leap in suicides.

Journalist Alison Bass, however, revealed14 the paper on which the Times article was based was funded by a $30,000 Pfizer grant. The conclusions about higher suicides also turned out to be wrong because the researcher got his years mixed up.15

Contrary to drug industry claims about the warnings, the proportion of children and teens taking antidepressants actually rose in the U.S. after the Black Box was added from more than 1 percent to nearly 2 percent says Dr. Andrea Cipriani, associate professor in the department of psychiatry at the University of Oxford, in England.16

Still, both David Shern, Ph.D., president of Mental Health America, a group investigated by Congress for undisclosed industry funding17 and Dr. Charles Nemeroff, also investigated by Congress, blamed18 the Black Box warnings for rising suicides. Speaking to ABC News, Nemeroff said:19

I have no doubt that there is such a relationship. The concerns about antidepressant use in children and adolescents have paradoxically resulted in a reduction in their use, and this has contributed to increased suicide rates.

False Charges About Black Box Warnings Continue

Nemeroff left his post at Emory University in disgrace because of his drug industry links20 and a National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant he managed was suspended because of the conflicts of interest  a rare occurrence.21 Nor have the false charges about Black Boxes died down. Here is how a New York Times editorial read just last year.22

Worse, antidepressants, which can be lifesaving, are probably being underused in young people. Their use fell significantly after the FDA issued its so-called black-box warning in 2004, stating that all antidepressants were associated with a risk of increased suicidal feeling, thinking and behavior in adolescents. That warning was later extended to young adults. Its not hard to understand why. The FDAs well-intended warning was alarming to the public and most likely discouraged many patients from taking antidepressants. Physicians, too, were anxious about the admittedly small possible risks posed by antidepressants and were probably more reluctant to prescribe them. This very small risk of suicidal behavior posed by antidepressant treatment has always been dwarfed by the deadly risk of untreated depression  Parents and teenagers, and their doctors, too, should not be afraid of antidepressants and should know that they can be very helpful. Indeed, with careful use and monitoring, they can be lifesaving. The only thing we should all fear is depression, a natural killer that we can effectively treat.

Blaming underuse of drugs and falling sales on warnings that made patients or doctors anxious is not limited to antidepressants. Recently, industry-funded groups charged that warnings on the bone drugs called bisphosphonates about fractures and osteonecrosis of the jaw were scaring patients and doctors away and denying patients the drugs benefits.23

SSRIs Ignored in the Extremely High Rate of Suicide in the Military

During the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, troop suicides were higher than combat fatalities themselves and the majority of the suicides were among troops who had never even deployed.24 But when a long awaited Army report came out, it largely blamed soldiers themselves for the deaths, especially highlighting illegal drug usage and barely mentioning the huge number of troops on prescription psychoactive drugs. In fact, the word illicit appears 150 times in the Army report and psychiatrist appears twice.25

At the time of the Army report, 73,103 prescriptions for Zoloft had been dispensed to troops, 38,199 for Prozac, 17,830 for Paxil and 12,047 for Cymbalta.26 In fact 4,994 troops at Fort Bragg alone were reported to be on antidepressants by the Fayetteville Observer.

Four years after the Army report, researchers addressed the military suicides in JAMA Psychiatry27 again not finding or considering the high prescribing of SSRIs within the military. The authors had financial links to Eli Lilly, GlaxoSmithKline, Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceutical, Janssen-Cilag, Pfizer, Sanofi-Aventis, Shire and Johnson & Johnson.

In a series during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars called Medicating the Military, when SSRI use was mushrooming, Military Times reported:28

A Military Times investigation of electronic records obtained from the Defense Logistics Agency shows DLA spent $1.1 billion on common psychiatric and pain medications from 2001 to 2009. It also shows that use of psychiatric medications has increased dramatically  about 76 percent overall, with some drug types more than doubling  since the start of the current wars. Troops and military health care providers also told Military Times that these medications are being prescribed, consumed, shared and traded in combat zones  despite some restrictions on the deployment of troops using those drugs. The investigation also shows that drugs originally developed to treat bipolar disorder and schizophrenia are now commonly used to treat symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, such as headaches, nightmares, nervousness and fits of anger. Such off-label use  prescribing medications to treat conditions for which the drugs were not formally approved by the FDA  is legal and even common. But experts say the lack of proof that these treatments work for other purposes, without fully understanding side effects, raises serious concerns about whether the treatments are safe and effective.

Many military administrators have unabashed drug company links, like Dr. Matthew Friedman, former executive director of the Veterans Affairs National Center for PTSD,29 who admitted receiving AstraZeneca money in a video on the Centers site a few years ago (a video since taken down) and served as Pfizer Visiting Professor while helming a government organization.30

Recently, the Annals of Internal Medicine ran another study looking at military suicides without finding an antidepressant role. The studys editors at the Annals had links31 to Eli Lilly, Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson. Considering all the risks associated with antidepressants, it would be wise to use them as a very last resort. To learn more about safer treatment options, please see my previous article, Supplements Proven Beneficial for Your Mental Health.

Read more at: articles.mercola.com
So Congress will bail out Puerto Rico but wont lift a finger to save a retired miners pension?

(BigGovernment.news) Out of touch, tone-deaf, and dismissive are some of the best ways to describe why the House and Senate would pass a $73 billion debt restructuring bill (otherwise known as a bailout) for Puerto Rico but wont even consider legislation that would earmark money that is just sitting around to relieve an ailing pension fund for retired U.S. coal miners. Frankly, members of Congress from both parties (including the leadership) should lose their jobs over this.

As reported by AMI Newswire, a measure to rescue Puerto Rico from a $73 billion debt crisis finally passed Congress late Wednesday, as senators scampered out of town for a five-day recess, but only after overcoming a twist of opposition from lawmakers who wanted to protect pensions for coal miners.

The legislation to rescue the island passed the Senate on a 68-30 vote Wednesday night, after already clearing passage in the House. It is expected to be signed immediately by President Obama before the territory goes into a $2 billion debt default.

The Obama administration had gone into overdrive to lobby senators to vote for the bill, dispatching Treasury Secretary Jack Lew to arm-twisting duty on Capitol Hill.

The legislation protects the commonwealth of Puerto Rico from lawsuits while it renegotiates its debt and restructures payments. Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell on Wednesday said failure is not an option, and pronounced the finished product as the best and possibly the only action we can take to help Puerto Rico. Thats odd for the Senate majority leader to say something like that, since hes been a failed leader pretty much since he stepped into his current role.

The bill only passed after overcoming an objection from coal-state senators who were concerned about pension protections for coal miners. Those senators  Republicans Rob Portman of Ohio, Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia and Democrats Sherrod Brown of Ohio and Joe Manchin of West Virginia  had raised the pension issue with McConnell, of Kentucky.

At issue is the so-called Miner Protection Act, which Senate Democrats unveiled in March in the Finance Committee. That act would protect the pensions of approximately 100,000 retired miners who will see their benefit funds run dry at the end of December.

The bill would prevent cuts by using $3.5 billion in unused federal funds in the Abandoned Mine Land program, a trust built from taxes paid by coal companies to reclaim old and abandoned strip mines. In May, Democrats took the rare tactic of issuing an open letter to McConnell to insist on the legislation, and vowed to attach it to any must-pass legislation that came to the Senate floor.

McConnell himself told AMI Newswire he did not oppose the legislation, but wanted it to clear the Finance Committee first. I think we need to deal with that issue and the way to deal with it is through an open and transparent process, he said at that time.

Note to McConnell: There are probably fans of yours out there who believe that, but those of us who are familiar with bait-and-switch legislative tactics arent buying your excuse. You wanted to bailout Puerto Rico and now you have.

That said, the larger issue being pushed by Democrats is saving the Central States Pension Fund (CSPF), a 61-year-old mega-fund which manages $2.8 billion in annual benefit payments but was hit hard by the 2008 recession. The U.S. Treasury Department in May rejected a rescue plan application it received last September by CSPF administrators, that would have cut benefits for 270,000 retirees in the U.S. to maintain solvency, with some retirees seeing cuts of up to 70 percent.

Although the application was rejected, the Central States fund remains financially unstable, and Democrats have said up to $30 billion in aid may eventually be needed.

In the end, because Wednesday nights vote came just hours before Puerto Rico was scheduled to default, the Senate could not amend the bill as it was passed by the House, which meant the pension protections werent included. That prompted Brown, Capito and Portman to vote against the bill. Manchin did not vote, although a spokeswoman told AMI Newswire he would have opposed it.

There is no better example of just how divergent the political agendas of Congress and the American people are than this. Wed say shame on you, Congress, for neglecting American citizens in favor of others, but to be shamed youd have to have a conscience  and a soul  first.

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iStock/Thinkstock(JENSEN BEACH, Fla.)  What officials have called "unprecedented" toxic algae blooms in some of southern Florida's beaches and waterways is creating a messy 4th of July holiday for those in the area.



Thousands of residents and tourists have had to cancel plans to celebrate on the area's usually packed beaches -- keeping the majority of celebrations inland.



The algae, which has been described as "vile"-smelling and "guacamole-thick," still remained in the waterways of Martin County Monday morning -- more than two weeks after the first reports of algae blooms came in.



Florida Gov. Rick Scott has declared a state of emergency in four counties.



Numerous beaches along Florida's Treasure Coast were closed last week, and though most have since reopened, officials told ABC News that they still do not recommend that people go in the water and that the beaches could be closed at any point.



Bathtub Beach in Martin County remained closed to swimmers this morning due to the presence of blue-green algae.



The toxic algae bloom invasions started more than two weeks ago after the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Jacksonville, Florida dumped polluted water out of Lake Okeechobee to prevent flooding, according to officials.



"It has been a challenging year for south Florida, the Corps' district commander, Col. Jason Kirk, explained in a statement. "Our water managers have dealt with such large quantities of rain and runoff entering the lake that it would cover the entire state of Delaware in two feet of water."



But after seeing the algae first-hand and getting numerous complaints from residents, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced on Thursday it would start reducing the amount of freshwater flowing from Lake Okeechobee.



Meanwhile, officials said they are now investigating if the toxic algae-infested waters are to blame for some reported infection. Some residents complained of headaches, respiratory issues and even rashes since the algae arrived.



People have been seen wearing masks and others told ABC News they bought air purifiers for their homes and businesses.



"I live on the water and I cant even go out my back door. It smells vile," said Chris Palas, a mother who lives in Stuart, Florida -- one of the towns most affected by the algae.



Palas told ABC News that the stench has been making her whole family feel sick.



"The headaches, the sinus pressure is extreme," she said. "It is just an awful feeling. As a mom, I have a 5-year-old daughter and you just worry, how is this going to affect her long-term?"



Officials told ABC News that a clean-up plan has not been established yet, adding that they wish they had a quick solution but there isn't one.



Copyright  2016, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
Ministry of Mines will launch of National Mineral Exploration Policy

New Delhi, Mon, 04 Jul 2016 NI Wire

It is a consensus amongst geoscientists that India is endowed with large mineral resource and has geological environment for many others on account of similarity of geological set up with Australia, South Africa, South America etc. However, survey and exploration have been broadly concentrated on surficial and shallow mineral deposits. Exploration for deep and concealed deposits is a cost-intensive and high-risk enterprise which requires state-of-the-art technology and expertise.

In view of the above, the efforts made by the govt. agencies require to be extensively supplemented with the expertise and technological innovations available worldwide with the private sector.

The MMDR Amendment Act, 2015 has brought in transparency in allocation of mineral concessions in terms of Prospecting License and Mining Lease. The present regime of grant of mineral concessions provides for Non Exclusive Reconnaissance Permit (NERP) which does not allow seamless transitions to prospecting and mining licences.

On account of this, the private sectors do not seem to be enthused to take up high risk of exploration. Keeping this in view, National Mineral Exploration Policy (NMEP) prescribes for incentivising the participation of private companies in exploration.

Under NMEP, private agencies would be engaged to carry out exploration with the right to a certain share in the revenue (by way of royalty/premium to be accruing to the state government) from the successful bidder of mineral block after e-auction, which will be discovered by that private explorer. The revenue sharing could be either in the form of a lump sum or an annuity, to be paid throughout the period of mining lease, with transferable rights.

Government will also work out normative cost of exploration works for different kinds of minerals so that the exploration agencies could be compensated, in case they could not discover any mineable reserves in their respective areas. This will be an added incentive for exploration agencies to mitigate their risk of exploration.

1.The selection of private explorer is proposed to be done following a transparent process of competitive bidding.

2. Acquisition, processing and interpretation of pre-competitive baseline geoscience data play a pivotal role in successful exploration process. In this regard, the NMEP proposes the following:

i. The pre-competitive baseline geoscientific data will be created as a public good and will be fully available for open dissemination free of charge.

ii. A National Aero-geophysical Mapping program will be launched to map the entire country. It will help to delineate the deep-seated and concealed mineral deposits.

3. National Geoscience Data Repository (NGDR) will be set up. GSI will collate all baseline and mineral exploration information generated by various central and state government agencies and also mineral concession holders and maintain these on a geospatial database.

4. Government will coordinate and collaborate with scientific and research bodies, universities and industry for the scientific and technological research to address the mineral exploration challenges in the country. For this, the Government proposes to establish a not-for-profit autonomous body/ company that will be known as the National Centre for Mineral Targeting (NCMT).

5. State Governments have a key role in building up a steady stream of auctionable prospects. They will have to take up mineral exploration and complete to G3 or G2 level for auctioning. The States need to build up the exploration capabilities, technical expertise and infrastructure facility. The Central Government will provide support to States for capacity building from National Mineral Exploration Trust (NMET).

6. NMEP proposes to launch a special initiative to probe deep-seated/concealed mineral deposits in the country on the lines of UNCOVER project of Australia. The pilot project will be in collaboration with National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI) and the proposed National Centre for Mineral Targeting (NCMT)) and Geoscience Australia.

7. SBI Capital Markets Ltd (SBICAP) has been selected as consultant by the Ministry of Mines for development of detailed modalities of contractual framework for mineral exploration. The Ministry will provide handholding support to the State Governments in this process of engaging the private agencies.

Source: PIB
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Qatar Airways will be operating three flights a week from Doha to Marrakech, adding the Red City to its global destinations, Qatars flag carrier said in a statement on its website.

The inaugural flight, QR1395, landed in Marrakech Menara airport last Friday opening up the city to 150 air routes operated by Qatar Airways through its hub at Hamad International Airport.

The statement quoted Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive Akbar AL Baker saying that Marrakech is one of Moroccos most popular cities for tourists, and it is our pleasure to offer this vibrant destination to our customers.

The new Doha-Marrakech air route will be conducive for the promotion of Moroccos tourism as the country aspires to attract more Asian tourists.

With a population of almost a million, Marrakech is the fourth largest city in Morocco and the second Moroccan city served by Qatar Airways, with flights three times a week from Doha on Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday via Casablanca. The return flight from Marrakech travels directly non-stop to Doha.

Qatar Airways began its Morocco operations in 2002. Today, the company flies daily linking Casablanca and Doha. Qatars flag carrier has also forged a partnership with its Moroccan counterpart, Royal Air Maroc offering travelers connectivity to destinations throughout Morocco, Europe and Africa.
The governments controversial decision to approve waste imports from Italy for energy production by a cement plant is stirring a heated debate in Morocco, a debate that is becoming bitterer.

The move has angered ecologists and civil society militants fearing the country will become dumping site of Europe, increasing pressure on the moderate Islamist-led government.

The Environment ministry has tried to reassure the public to no avail, saying the RDF waste is used as a fuel and its importation is legal. The Refuse-Derived Fuel or Solid Recovered Fuel (SRF) is a fuel produced by shredding and dehydrating solid waste (MSW) with a Waste converter technology. RDF consists largely of combustible components of municipal waste such as plastics and biodegradable waste.

But the response of the Environment ministry has not eased the rising tension. Its explanation that the imported RDF waste is not harmful and provides energy to industrial operators has not convinced the local associations nor managed to soak up their discontent.

The Moroccan Coalition for Climate Justice calls on the government to publish all documents related to this operation to ensure its compliance with the local regulations and international conventions.

This row comes only few days after the Moroccan government enforced a ban on the production and use of plastic bags. Last October, the Moroccan parliament passed a bill banning the production, import, sale and distribution of plastic bags across the country. The bill entered into force on July 1st.

The move to ban plastic bags is part of a nationwide environment campaign launched in the North African country to go green as Morocco braces to host next November the 22nd Conference of the United Nations on Climate Change (COP22.)

Morocco is the second-largest plastic bag consumer after the United States. It uses about three billion plastic bags a year, according to the Moroccan Industry Ministry. That means, on average, that each one of Moroccos 34 million people uses about 900 bags a year.
France flatly rejected on Saturday claims by the Algerian state-owned new agency APS that diplomatic tension between Paris and Rabat led to the postponement of French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayraults week-end visit to Morocco.

I categorically deny (the claims by APS;) this is not the case. This is a technical postponement that is in no way linked to any political tension. France-Morocco relationships are booming, said Romain Nadal, spokesperson of the French Foreign Ministry.

This delay has nothing to do with the Sahara issue. Besides the two countries Foreign Ministers talked over the phone and a new date is being set, said the spokesman in a statement to MAP.

French top diplomat Jean-Marc Ayraults Friday through Sunday official visit to Morocco was postponed due to a timetable issue on the Moroccan side but France foreign ministry indicated that both sides are working on a new date for the trip, which may take place in the course of July.

Algerias APS last week reported that the trip was cancelled because of diplomatic tension between the two countries on the Western Sahara issue.

Nadal already on Thursday indicated that the Algerian claims were baseless and that the postponement has nothing to do with the Sahara issue.

Frances position is well known and unchanged.
First responders attend to the young man after the blast. Photo: Kena Betancur/AFP/Getty Images

Sunday morning in Central Park, an 18-year-old man suffered a partial amputation of his foot after accidentally stepping on a device New York police are calling an experiment with fireworks or explosives which, though clearly very dangerous, was not constructed to deliberately hurt anyone, and does not seem to be terrorism-related, according to ABC News.

The bizarre incident occurred in an area of the park near East 60th Street close to the entrance of the Central Park Zoo, and the cannonlike blast was heard blocks away, startling many, including attendees of the funeral for author and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Elie Wiesel that was being held nearby. According to the Daily News, the mans foot was all but gone as a result of the blast.

A wider shot of the scene. Photo: Andres Kudacki/AP

The teenager, identified as Connor Golden, was subsequently taken to Bellevue Hospital where he remains in serious but stable condition. Golden, a tourist from Virginia, was visiting the city for the Fourth of July weekend with two of his friends. One of those friends, 20-year-old Thomas Hinds, also from Virginia, told reporters that they were climbing down some rocks when it seemed like [Golden stepped] on something that was pressure sensitive. After hearing the loud explosion and seeing dirt fly up into the air, Hinds then noticed that Goldens foot had been severely mutilated.

#BREAKING: Explosion in Central Park injures man on rocks after landing on something that blew up @CBSNewYork pic.twitter.com/tNhIp3gQuz  Magdalena Doris (@MagdalenaDoris) July 3, 2016

I want to say someone planted a firework or bottle rocket, Hinds added, though he repeatedly told police and reporters that they were not playing with fireworks themselves. Hinds also said that Golden handled it pretty well, all things considered, though its likely that he was in shock after suffering the injury. Bystanders rushed to the groups aid, and first responders followed soon after. Goldens friends were questioned by police, but neither was taken into custody, and they are not considered suspects.

Stepped up security at Central Park after explosion injures man's foot. #nbc4ny pic.twitter.com/GT49G1BjJs  Lori Bordonaro (@Lori4NY) July 3, 2016

Regarding whether or not somebody laid some kind of firework-landmine in Central Park, the police didnt take any chances, sending in the bomb squad to investigate. At one point, it was reported that police were even closing and evacuating the park, but that turned out to be inaccurate, and it seems only a portion of the park was closed for the investigation.

In a press conference early Sunday evening, Mark Torre, the commanding officer of the NYPD bomb squad, told reporters that the blast was not caused by any kind of improvised explosive device, and that they did not believe it was connected to terrorism or any attempt to do harm. Instead. police think the device was likely some kind of fireworks experiment gone wrong, possibly created by a fireworks or explosive hobbyist whom they are now attempting to identify and find.

One witness who spoke with the New York Post commented, That was no normal firework. This wasnt an M80 or a cherry bomb. Some something much more serious. I saw a divot that reminded me of impact craters.

This post has been updated to include the results of the NYPD bomb-squad investigation.
Photo: VCG/Getty Images

Rebel Wilson, who just made her debut in the West End production of Guys & Dolls at the storied Savoy Theatre in London, steals scenes right and left in every comedy she appears in, but that wasnt always the case.

In an interview with The Daily Telegraph, Wilson attributed her success in comedy to her weight. She first realized this could be her edge up on others when she noticed a castmate in a play she herself had written was getting more laughs from the audience.

I was like: Oh. That girls getting a lot of laughs, a lot easier than me. What is it? Because I dont think theres much difference in talent. And I remember distinctly thinking: I think its because shes fatter. And then, I dont know if it was mega-conscious, but I thought: How can I get more laughs? Maybe if I was a bit fatter And then suddenly I was fatter, and doing comedy, she said.

Wilson also mentioned that shes able to gain and lose weight quickly because of a hormonal imbalance. Ill take six months off, and just do a total transformation. But then, so many people go: Dont you do it! But I think: Why not?

Of course, Wilson also deflected a personal question by joking her family is comprised of drug dealers, and that Idris Elba asked for her phone number after she flirted with him onstage during the BAFTAs but has yet to call. Its hard to tell if she was being entirely serious in her remarks about gaining weight, but what shes saying speaks to a larger issue at hand, which is that people find it easier to laugh at a person whos overweight than see her as a dramatic or romantic lead, aside from the hypersexuality of a character like Fat Amy in Pitch Perfect and its sequel. None of that seems to bother Wilson, who added, I saw my size as being an advantage, whereas so many women see it as a disadvantage.

Wilson, who sued Bauer Media for defamation over articles that accused her of lying about her age, had plenty to say about ageism. Hollywood IS age-ist. Thats why people do crazy s to their faces  out of desperation to look younger. But I think my career is based more on my personality, so it doesnt really matter. You tell em, Rebel.
it's terrifying how social media opened up accessibility for psychopaths to conglomerate

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for real. i heard one of their latest ways to communicate is through video games and consoles like the xbox.

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Actually, ISIL was formed during the time many of them were held in American prisions in Iraq. There was a really good piece about it last year where a former member of ISIL talked about how all these extremists were jailed together, had all this free time so they basically set up the new terrorist organization under the USA's watch and once they were freed they put their plans in motion. It was terrifying tbh.

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That is horrifying. Do you have a link by any chance?

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can ya link me to this?

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Was it this one: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/dec/11/-sp-isis-the-inside-story

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Simply senseless.

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Isn't the death toll up to 200 now?



My heart goes out to the people of Baghdad, I was reading about how this was their third major attack this year. I can't imagine what it's like to have to live that way.

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holy god, 200?!

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http://www.cnn.com/2016/07/04/middleeast/baghdad-car-bombs/index.html

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/07/iraq-baghdad-bombings-kill-23-160703045945293.html Different sources are telling me different things but CNN and Al Jazeera are now saying 200+

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I will update. Thanks.

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fuck isis so hard.

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They're trying so hard to maintain the notion ISIS' 'base' is muslims, meanwhile pic.twitter.com/DocuQmKYbA  Ayesha A. Siddiqi (@AyeshaASiddiqi) July 4, 2016



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You'd think that the fact that most ISIS victims are Muslims would tip people off to the fact that there's something else driving ISIS violence and oppression other than a set of generic Islamic beliefs.

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Right? Plus there's the fact that this is happening during RAMADAN.

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I feel like the US and allies should stop calling this terrorist organization Islamic State because I'm pretty sure what this terrorist organization does is not what Islam preaches. It should be called terrorist organization N whatever

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The attack targeted a Shia neighborbood. ISIS is a Sunni organization that views Shiites as heretical and kills them alongside non-muslims. They aren't all the same. ISIS is doing this claiming to support Sunnis against Shias.

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Ugh, in Australia we just elected two senators for a xenophobic party that ran on an anti-Muslim platform. These people claim to be 'for australians' and there's even a huge number of recent Asian immigrants (often Christians) who support this. I stupidly engaged with one on Twitter saying that Islamic extremists have killed 12 million Muslims since 1948 so we shouldn't close our borders to persecuted refugees and he told me he was going to find out where I worked and tell the most support rape (because of the koln rapes).



People are so fucking idiotic in their belief that they should vilify an entire religion for the acts of a few.

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one nation?

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a SENATOR said that to you??? what kind of scum??

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WHat the hell

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wtf @ at this comment

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interestingly, in america, a number of asian-americans are more likely to respond negatively to a political candidate who expresses anti-muslim sentiment than to someone who expresses general anti-immigrant sentiment.

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We're building a border around QLD tbh

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I'm so done, I'm so tired. And isis could leave little flags saying "we hate everyone that isn't us" and it will still be spun that they're Muslims and therefore all Muslims should be viewed as a risk.

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Didn't he already? "We don't have a leadership that will stop this!"

"Crooked Hillary will never be able to handle the complexities and dangers of ISIS." Blah blah blah

Fucking opportunist

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My heart goes out to those families

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I don't think this will ever stop and it's making me so depressed.



rip to those who died.

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so fucking terrible. RIP to the victims. :(

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This is horrible. Fuck ISIS and everyone involved with them.

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Monstrous. I can't fathom the kind of hatred and zealotry that would drive someone to do this. All those poor people, and the survivors, no one should have to live with that kind of fear. What does that do to a population? The children, growing up unsure and frightened if they can even celebrate the end of the school year in peace...it's enough to break your heart.

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this is so heartbreaking. You can't even feel safe when you're having a celebration. All those poor kids :(

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Someone on the first page said they read an article about how ISIL basically grew under the US' noses in the military prisons when they were all jailed together and had nothing but time on their hands.

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Shit! RIP, one of the greats.

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Too young :(



Take Woody and Roman instead

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yeah polanski is like 82, why isnt he dead yet?





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right??? seriously, 2016 is coming after everyone's favs...

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noooo :( RIP

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RIP to a great filmmaker </3

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Close Up was one of my favorite films I was introduced to in my undergrad and overall one of the best films I've ever seen. I can't believe he's gone.

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aw man. rip.



ew @ at godard quote. hes so fucking extra.

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omg noo :( he was so talented! rip

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Oh man, RIP. I remember when he was refused a visa for the New York Film festival after 9/11, that was some bullshit.



Iranian filmmakers are talented in the field of art cinema and deserve so much more than their nation can give them.

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RIP to a talented filmaker



On a side note thats OT, this is horrfying whats happening in Madinah right now...

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oops! wrong reply. It is taste of cherry btw :/

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I still haven't seen most of his greats. RIP.

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my favorite is the wind will carry us (ok they're all faves lbr but i prefer this over taste of cherry. close-up is flawless, we can all agree)

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A lot of people swear by Close-Up.

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I don't come to this sad shithole known as ontd anymore, but Kiarostami mean so much to me, i'm so sad rn i had to comment on this sad news



:( Btw, who cares what that overrated bish godard said

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did you really use someone's death as an excuse to complain about this site?

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naomicampbellshhesreachingyourhonor.jpg I just said that i don't come to this hateful site anymore, but because kiarostami mean so much to me (he's one of my fave directors) i had to leave a comment. Stop being so extra and learn how to read

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i'm really saddened by this news. there is only one kiarostami. his take on cinema-making is timeless. i always go back to him as a foundation. indebted to him for that.



they're really all dying off one by one. (not just the directors but the dps like nykvist or talent like nara.) say what you will about jlg but that cockroach is still kicking lol. and when he dies, he takes the whole era with him. well, my kind of era anyway.



so long & thanks for everything, a.k. you're a great loss.

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damn, rip

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ita

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And they all live in California

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does her nose have a butt?

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i'm sf happy she dyed her hair back to its superior color.



also why honeymoon, of ALL the songs in that album when there's blackest day.



i'm just going to wait for her next album at this rate.



Edited at 2016-07-04 09:21 pm (UTC)

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lol apparently this video's been out since december and no one found it til recently. I'm so mad she gives up on her eras so fast now. Blackest Day def deserved a video or even a weird italian esque Salvatore video.

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i know, why does she give up on them? :( I feel like lana could so big right now

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you're kidding me. lmao how was lanaboards not on this shit.



so this means this is not the one they made a casting call for ? there's hope for the blackest day yet. I love Salvatore, but I doubt she would since she wrote it for her dumb ex.



people keep giving me shit for this but i really hated her UV era, so I'm glad she ditched that quickly. I want her to revisit Paradise or her trailer trash aesthetic.

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CRUNCH THEM CHIPS IN MY HOLE

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Ok, but what does this mean?

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i think it's a festival she's playing

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Oh, I see. I didn't know about this one. She is also playing in Colombia and Monterrey later this year. I can't wait :D

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SOOO glad she dyed her hair back. great post OP, always love Lana posts <33

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i want her jacket

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She's so beautiful. Glad she's back to dark hair, she looks stunning with it.

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Ketchup chips>>>>>

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Okay I'm gonna need her to switch it up for the next album.

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I hope she does something totally different

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Same. Ugh I'm so over the same sounding songs and Instagram filter lol

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Her sister is named Chuck?

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Her real name is Caroline so Chuck is probably a nickname.

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Is her sister still dating Keegan Allen?

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I thought her sister's name was Chuck Buy Chips for a moment



Oh god. My reading comprehension is seriously failing these days.

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it was handed down from her Cherokee ancestors who lived out in the Valley, past the freeway

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the real biracial butterfly

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It isn't you; that title is atrocious. OP hasn't heard of punctuation, I guess.

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I swear I saw this video a while ago so I dont think it couldve really 'leaked' today

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it leaked maybe a week ago. we didn't have the full video until then. lana just posted clips.

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I know what you mean, I've seen it before too maybe in the honeymoon preview? Idk

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Yeah, iirc didn't she release like one long clip of her when Honeymoon (the song) was released?

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she released a clip but not the full video .

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This is the gif of 2016 tbh.





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mte queen wavvy

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Exactly, they're not exempt. I was sad to find out about how Wiesel really was, Night was such a good book

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MTE. I had no idea what he said but someone posted some receipts and educated my ass.

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Yeah, look at Polanski.

Going through horrible experiences doesn't suddenly make people decent.

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just read the article that was linked by max re: the armenian genocide and the title was worded...in a fucked way (i deleted a comment about him glossing over it because idt that was true). i wish max was more forthright about it, but you're right. being a victim of genocide doesn't mean you gotta endorse genocide.



Edited at 2016-07-05 01:32 am (UTC)

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ITA They're people after all and people are deeply flawed.

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not supporting elie wiesel and i completely disagree with his stance on palestine but this is extremely redundant and actually gross if you're not descended from holocaust victims and have no connection to them (activism etc). nobody does holocaust denial anymore except for extremists but it has become increasingly trendy to belittle the experience of the holocaust ("it wasn't so bad; there are worse tragedies/human rights abuses!") and its centrality to the global jewish population.

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whoa what the hell?

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But did he lie?

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Just read the entire timeline: https://twitter.com/MaxBlumenthal/status/749325868128833536

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you can recognize someone's contributions and also recognize that they were a hateful asshole. bad people do good things just as much as good people do bad things. life is complex. max didn't lie. elie said said really fucked up shit and most people don't know that. did it need to be brought up? no. but it's not like his ghost is haunting the twitter hashtag #ripeliewiesel

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Wow. It was like he was waiting to do that.

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ah, ok. that tweet came off as that.

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I've always admired Elie Wiesel greatly and was even was able to hear him speak once and was such an important memory for me/my life - but he definitely had a very complicated history at times. Anyone who has followed his life would likely say the same tbh.



Edited at 2016-07-04 11:10 pm (UTC)

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I question why he didn't call him out while he was still alive?

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He did, repeatedly.

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I assumed by the fact that this was worthy of news it meant he hadn't.

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He has called him out a lot when he was alive iirc. I don't follow him anymore tho because he and Rania Khalek are horrible towards black women on Twitter. Much like Elie, Max isn't perfect either.

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lol you think he hasn't and he's just being ~edgy~?

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He did. Better question: why weren't you listening?

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If they were awful while they were living I honestly don't care when they are getting called out when they are dead how soon that may be.



Just be a decent human being if you don't want people to talk bad about you when you're dead



Edited at 2016-07-04 11:12 pm (UTC)

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i think this is a perfect example of when things can't be simply black and white and you can't have a clearcut category or response.



like the fact that a comment in this post is "holocaust survivors can be shitty people too", as though it's about your ~fave~ being problematic even though you enjoyed their comic book movie...



seeing as he was put through horrors that literally defy the imagination because he was jewish... it stands to reason that his thoughts on israel would complicate one's ability to put him in a ~*~non-problematic~~*~ category.



i am 100% pro-palestine but i am not going to put my own reasoning against his when his reasoning is complicated by factors i could never begin to comprehend.



i am not 'excusing' or glossing over anything as no one should be painted as a saint or an unequivocally "good" person. but rather we can understand the difficulties of his experience in simply continuing to live and exist after his trauma.

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There's a difference between having a difference of opinion on a political situation and having a difference of opinion on human rights. The first being complicated by trauma, sure. The latter? Shouldn't be tolerated.



The idea that your history makes your denial of human rights understandable and beyond criticism is ridiculous. If you can't imagine your reasoning being more valid because another person's comes after trauma, then you are, ironically, fence-sitting. You can be compassionate towards trauma and still tell someone their ethics is a violation of human rights, and in fact you should do both of those things.

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"You can be compassionate towards trauma and still tell someone their ethics is a violation of human rights" - i agree completely. this was a perf comment.



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iawtc

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This.

So fucking much.

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I don't think people know that Nazi Germany allowed Jews to emigrate out for a time; almost no countries took them in. It was a fully public thing that if you could pay enough money and find somewhere to go, you could leave. After the Holocaust, Jews could go to newly-formed Israel and feel somewhat safe. Sure, it would be great if Elie were able to separate his experiences from his politics, but it's really rich for us to sit here in countries that wouldn't accept Jewish refugees, and wonder why he wouldn't agree with our stance on Israel. He didn't owe the American ideology a goddamn thing.

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good comment bb

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https://books.google.com/books?id=RJ5-svzhDuMC&pg=PA197&dq=elie+wiesel+gay&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjO3Ie699rNAhVGbD4KHbjfAcsQ6AEIHjAA#v=onepage&q=elie%20wiesel%20gay&f=false



http://wayback.archive.org/web/20070809153324/http://www.eliewieselfoundation.org/PressReleases/TurkishArmenianReconciliation.pdf I'd like to see those receipts.

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http://www.radoc.net/radoc.php?doc=art_e_holocaust_wiesenthal&lang=&articles=true



If that link doesn't work



http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:crfvP7S-JIUJ:www.radoc.net/radoc.php%3Fdoc%3Dart_e_holocaust_wiesenthal%26lang%3D%26articles%3Dtrue+&cd=15&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us For the Roma exclusion, here's an article from Ian Hancock about it.If that link doesn't work

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It wasn't like Wiesel was first to recognize the Armenian genocide but he did sign a letter recognizing it as a genocide in 2007.



Things were more complicated when it came to his thought on non-Jewish victims. In a sense, you could say he saw what the Jews went through as worse. Perhaps that had something to do with his personal experience. Perhaps it had to do with the FACT that Jews did experience things differently during the Nazi regime than most of the other victims (although Romani experience was very similar, from what I know). I don't at all want to diminish anything that non-Jew victims went through because a lot of it was the same- medical experiments, forced labor, murder- and most of it had the same outcomes- death and unimaginable trauma.As a whole, the entire destruction of the Jews was different from the non-Jewish victims of the Nazi regime. Even among other genocides, the Holocaust of the Jews is still considered unique in some of the top academic college programs in the United States.



That is/was how Elie Wiesel saw things. No omission, absolutely not, but no equation. That's what he said. It wasn't an opposition to them being memorialized, but to how they were being memorialized.



Is that better? Personally, I think so. Is it right? Definitely not something I can answer. Is it different? Yes, absolutely.



I'm too angry to bother with html.



I do not think he was perfect, nobody is, but I think there is a lot of misunderstanding and judgement towards him and his thoughts of these issues.



Edited at 2016-07-06 03:56 am (UTC) Because neither of them are true.It wasn't like Wiesel was first to recognize the Armenian genocide but he did sign a letter recognizing it as a genocide in 2007. http://wayback.archive.org/web/20070809153324/http://www.eliewieselfoundation.org/PressReleases/TurkishArmenianReconciliation.pdf Things were more complicated when it came to his thought on non-Jewish victims. In a sense, you could say he saw what the Jews went through as worse. Perhaps that had something to do with his personal experience. Perhaps it had to do with the FACT that Jews did experience things differently during the Nazi regime than most of the other victims (although Romani experience was very similar, from what I know). I don't at all want to diminish anything that non-Jew victims went through because a lot of it was the same- medical experiments, forced labor, murder- and most of it had the same outcomes- death and unimaginable trauma.As a whole, the entire destruction of the Jews was different from the non-Jewish victims of the Nazi regime. Even among other genocides, the Holocaust of the Jews is still considered unique in some of the top academic college programs in the United States.That is/was how Elie Wiesel saw things. No omission, absolutely not, but no equation. That's what he said. It wasn't an opposition to them being memorialized, but to how they were being memorialized.Is that better? Personally, I think so. Is it right? Definitely not something I can answer. Is it different? Yes, absolutely.I'm too angry to bother with html.I do not think he was perfect, nobody is, but I think there is a lot of misunderstanding and judgement towards him and his thoughts of these issues.

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http://articles.latimes.com/2006/jan/18/opinion/oe-shatz18 he also denied the Armenian genocide & opposed memorializing gay & Roma Holocaust victims

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i've gone into a research hole in trying to substantiate the claim re: roma and gay victims, and so far there aren't any real receipts. there is a wiki article that seems to quote him but when going to the source, the quote is in fact misattributed-- it comes from the author of a book, who is summarizing the arguments of another author, who is said to be talking about wile's feelings on the intentions of the genocide itself. it's definitely at the very least not as pointed as they claim, which makes that articles intentions very shady.

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http://www.radoc.net/radoc.php?doc=art_e_holocaust_wiesenthal&lang=&articles=true



If that link doesn't work



http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:crfvP7S-JIUJ:www.radoc.net/radoc.php%3Fdoc%3Dart_e_holocaust_wiesenthal%26lang%3D%26articles%3Dtrue+&cd=15&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us For the Roma exclusion, here's an article from Ian Hancock about it.If that link doesn't work

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"On March 7, 2000, he joined 126 Holocaust scholars in signing a joint declaration affirming that the Armenian Genocide was an incontestable historical fact and called on Western governments to likewise recognize it as such.



Earlier this year, he joined more than 50 other Nobel Laureates in endorsing a statement that recognized the Armenian Genocide.



On August 21, 2007 Abraham Foxman, the National Director of the Anti-Defamation League, said he consulted Elie Wiesel before issuing a statement acknowledging for the first time that the consequences of the Armenian atrocities were indeed tantamount to genocide. If the word genocide had existed then, they would have called it genocide.



http://www.huffingtonpost.com/harut-sassounian/eli-wiesel-is-right-on-ge_b_85943.html



idk i think wiesel should be condemned for some of this shit but if you look up what he said about the armenian genocide -"On March 7, 2000, he joined 126 Holocaust scholars in signing a joint declaration affirming that the Armenian Genocide was an incontestable historical fact and called on Western governments to likewise recognize it as such.Earlier this year, he joined more than 50 other Nobel Laureates in endorsing a statement that recognized the Armenian Genocide.On August 21, 2007 Abraham Foxman, the National Director of the Anti-Defamation League, said he consulted Elie Wiesel before issuing a statement acknowledging for the first time that the consequences of the Armenian atrocities were indeed tantamount to genocide. If the word genocide had existed then, they would have called it genocide.

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No, he didn't.

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Have you read the graphic novel Maus? It's about a son of a holocaust survivor who was struggling with the fact that his dad was kiiiinda a real dickhead.

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Yeah, this came to mind for me as well.

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I loved Maus. I think Vladek Spiegelman was proof that suffering doesn't make you a Saint or the epitome of empathy or understanding.

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i fucking love maus 1 and 2. read them in school as a kid

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Maus is amazing.

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Shit, Roman Polanski invoked his past trauma, as did his stans in the wake of his rape trial.

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Nuclear Suppliers Group backgrounder

At the recent visit of Indias Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the U.S. in May 2016, the closer relationship between the U.S. and India was clear. A logical step forward was further seen when U.S. President Obama stated his approval for India to join the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG). While this would be a great move for overall worldwide security and nuclear non-proliferation, there is a danger of greater tensions between India and Pakistan.

As an international group with a current membership of 48 countries, the NSG seeks to control the export and transport of nuclear materials, equipment and technology in an effort to prevent nuclear proliferation. It sets global rules for international trade in nuclear energy technology. Only NSG members are allowed to transport the material.

Any non-members face huge restrictions on their use and transport of nuclear material. This explains why Iran, a non-member, received sanctions and resultant controversy over its nuclear programme prior to the recent nuclear deal. Ironically, the NSG was first founded in 1974 in the wake of Indias nuclear test and first met in November 1975.

In effect, the NSG is a body to control the global nuclear industry. Significant members include the USA, Russia, the UK, Japan, Germany, France, South Korea and China. These are all states which have nuclear weapons or have a significant history with nuclear weapons as well as Cold War tensions associated with them. Ultimately the NSG is another potential body, along with the UN, NATO and the European Union, which can help to maintain peace and solve international disputes. Related: Long Term Outlook For Canadian Oil Sands Looks Bright

Indo-Pakistani nuclear troubles

Indias joining the NSG is significant because of its past history with nuclear weapons and the consequential tensions with its neighbour and rival Pakistan. Indias first successful nuclear weapons test in 1974 was met with alarm in the international community. The NSGs formation soon afterward reflected this alarm.

Tensions with Pakistan logically increased again and it is arguably because of India developing nuclear technology that Pakistan decided to pursue that technology as well. This animosity resulted in the two countries first successful nuclear weapons test in 1998. The Cold War theme of mutually assured destruction and the nuclear arms race seen between the U.S. and the Soviet Union was effectively played out again on a smaller scale.

Fears of nuclear war between India and Pakistan were high and it is still feasible in the present day. Indias joining the NSG will therefore be a positive move towards potentially stopping that. What will likely happen, and is already happening to some extent, is a closer relationship between the USA and India, economically and politically.

This will probably result in India moving further into the U.S. sphere of influence. The expansion of Indias nuclear industry is also possible and would be a strong move to meeting the energy needs of a growing population. This is relevant in a country where consistent electricity with no power cuts is still a luxury. Overall it would be a positive development.

However, the wider implications of Indias initiation into the NSG are less positive. Ultimately it has isolated Pakistan and put an end to any future talks between Pakistan and India, at least for now. This move could also push Pakistan closer to China, Indias current economic, and in some cases, political rival. Related: Giant Helium Find May Spell Trouble For Tanzania

The USAs reluctance to let Pakistan into the NSG as well, which Pakistan is now requesting, shows the underlying suspicions and mistrust of Pakistan. This stems from Pakistans past history with groups such as the Taliban and figures such as Osama bin Laden. Its also a result of long-running issues in Pakistan such as corruption and the power of the military.

For India, Pakistans history with nuclear technology is a source of concern given unconfirmed rumors that the head of Pakistans nuclear programme sold secrets to Iran and North Korea. Overall, if Indias ascension to the NSG is confirmed, then it would move closer to the West. This would happen simultaneously with Pakistans closer alignment with China and nuclear weapons-based tensions could reemerge on the subcontinent.

In conclusion, the U.S. support of India joining the NSG is a story which has not been publicised much, but is one which could be extremely significant for the U.S., India, Pakistan, China, and the Middle East region as well. The Cold War may have ended more than 20 years ago, but its legacy remains. From an economic perspective, Indias NSG ascension would continue the trend under Modi of making India much more attractive to international investment.

By Rayhan Chouglay via Global Risk Insights

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Times of hardship are times for consolidation, and Abu Dhabi has just announced whats probably the biggest M&A deal this year in oil. The emirate will merge its International Petroleum Investment Co (IPIC) and Mubadala Development Co., its two largest sovereign funds.

The decision, which will result in an entity holding some $135 billion in assets, comes in response to the persistently low oil prices, which have left the two funds  as well as their peers in the Gulf  with much lower than usual inflows as governments struggle with lower oil revenues.

Abu Dhabis government is no exception. The drop in oil revenues has prompted urgent steps to keep the economy going. Abu Dhabi will cut public spending by 17 percent this year, according to Bloomberg, which cited a bond prospectus issued by the emirate, along with calculations of the IMF that sees GDP growth this year to drop to 1.5 percent, from 4.3 percent last year.

Mubadala is a diversified fund, with interests in a range of industries from energy to telecom, to aerospaceboth at home and abroad. IPIC, on the other hand, focuses exclusively on oil and gas, and their related industries such as petrochemicals and plastics. The tie-up, according to analysts, makes perfect sense in the context of the cost-cutting drive and will help to stabilize revenue streams. Related: Oil Outages Come Back Online, Cause Large Downside Risk

One analyst, talking to Gulf News, said that the deal is unlikely to change the investment strategy of either of the funds: the main goal of Mubadala is to invest in sectors different from energy in order to provide alternative revenue sources for Abu Dhabi, while IPIC is firmly an energy investment business. The reason there will be no change in strategy, says Anita Yadav, is that the people who decide on the investments these funds are making, are ultimately the same. Still, the deal is seen as beneficial for the Abu Dhabi economy.

Some see the deal as a signal of more consolidation in the emirate. Its a fact that the announcement of the deal comes just a couple of weeks after Abu Dhabis two largest banks, National Bank of Abu Dhabi and First Gulf Bank, announced their pending tie-up. It would be only logical to expect that more M&A deals will follow, as the emirate seeks to organize its economy around a few mighty entities that will ensure its sustained growth. Though analysts seem to agree on the fact that more M&A deals are in the making, they did not specify in which sectors these will take place.

Still, consolidation was not the first choice of the Abu Dhabi government. Initially, asset sales were proposed for both of them. These, however, did not work out as planned, which is hardly surprising in the current energy market environment. A merger certainly makes more sense for IPIC and Mubadala  overlapping operations will be streamlined and unique operations will benefit both.

A smart move for Abu Dhabi and a new international energy giant with assets almost equal to those of Rosneft and exceeding those of ConocoPhillips and daily oil production of almost half a million barrels.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
OPEC is no longer functioning as a cohesive group. Is it time for OPEC to finally dissolve?

The major oil-producing countries in the world heavily depend on the income from oil. A sharp drop in oil prices has rendered them vulnerable to terrorist attacks and political uprising. As members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), these countries previously wielded power over oil prices and enjoyed the benefits of high oil prices.

Unfortunately, the oil cartel is no longer behaving like a cohesive group, and infighting among the member nations is doing more harm than good.

Add to that the emergence of the shale oil drillers with their short production cycle that has rendered ineffective OPECs capability to influence prices.

OPEC member countries are now struggling to fund their own budgets in the wake of falling oil prices, and as a consequence, are no longer in a position to help each other financially. The geographical distance between the nations also makes any coordinated action more difficult. Related: Oil Outages Come Back Online, Cause Large Downside Risk

Add to that the fact that whenever the group meets, Iran and Saudi Arabia are on opposing sides. One scuttles the proposal of the other and because of this, OPEC has been unable to pass any meaningful resolution during the past few meetings.

The combined effort of OPEC and Russia to freeze production has failed, with Saudi Arabia refusing to take part in any proposal that did not include Iran. The net result is that the countries no longer see any benefit from their OPEC membership.

The H.R. 4559 bill, which proposes a commission to investigate the OPEC, will further strain ties between the U.S. and the influential OPEC nations.

The group is no longer serving its purpose, leaving one to wonder if it is not high time for OPEC to dissolve.

The Gulf nations might be better served by strengthening the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). The member nations of the GCC (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates), are major oil producers who hold 40 percent of the world's oil reserves.

Due to their similar beliefs, oil dependency, and geographical closeness, they are in a much better position to help each other. However, in order to expand their reputation, they would need to follow the successful, single-market policy of the European Union and project a united front for all their business dealings. Related: Shilling's $10 Oil Prediction Is Not Completely Ridiculous

The GCC may also be better served by abandoning the policy of manipulating oil prices. The aim should be to leverage their respective oil behemoths, the Saudi Aramco, Qatar Petroleum and Kuwait Petroleumunited these three can significantly garner market share in Asia.

If they are able to do so, they will not only form profitable business ventures, they will also form strong political partnerships with the EU, the U.S., and the other Asian countries.

Its time the gulf nations abandoned the battle to control oil prices and work for their own good.

The remaining countries in the OPECthe weaker membersgain nothing from OPEC now that the larger, more powerful countries in the group have failed to protect their interests during the worst oil crisis in decades. They, too, will be better off forging ties with other friendly nations where their opinions are heard and respected.

By Rakesh Upadhyay for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Canadian gymnasts slam inaction by federal sports minister after toxic culture reports

Calls to investigate the "toxic culture and rampant child abuse entrenched in Canadian gymnastics" have gone unanswered for seven months, a group of more than 500 Canadian gymnasts said in an open letter released on Wednesday.
Corrie played her hand. She promised Stanis, as Rembski began to informally be called, a show in Brooklyn Heights, where he would make contact with an illustrious group of artists that preferred the quiet and intimate neighborliness to the hectic and rapacious atmosphere of Manhattan. It was an offer he could hardly ignore. And there was quite a bit of studio space in Brooklyn that he could avail himself of.

The combination of Corrie's personal lobbying, her charm, her determination, her love for Brooklyn culture and society, and her personal interest in Stanis was becoming a tour de force that even the stalwart and stubborn European could not ignore. He was succumbing, bit by bit, and perhaps to his benefit, for the competitiveness of the Manhattan environment, its inherent unfriendliness, and the high cost of living were wearing on his nerves. But he was still re]luctant to make the move.



Willie Winkie by Stanislav Rembski

(Image by Brooklyn Life magazine) Details DMCA



One evening in March, Corrie braved the cold winter air with her pet pup, Willie Winkie, who, for protection from the chill of the still-lingering frigid winter season, huddled under Corrie's coat as the two left their home and walked several blocks to the Borough Hall subway station. Corrie shuffled down the stairs, put her token into the turnstile slot, pushed firmly with her torso as the large wooden paddle-like appendages, designed to keep out all but fare payers, gave way with a series of clicks and rattles, tiptoed down some stairs and waited patiently on the stark gray subway platform. When their subway finally arrived, they entered one of the cars and pushed through a crowd of standing passengers to an empty seat. Snuggled between two riders on the wicker-like cushion of old, they awaited their stop amidst the eerie hum of the speeding train, Winkie whimpering now and then in ecstasy as he laid his head close to Corrie's shoulder underneath her coat.

It wasn't long before the car doors opened, and, rising from their seat and struggling toward the door as passengers politely gave them the bare minimum of space they needed to pass, Corrie and Winkie disembarked, climbed the slick cold steps to street level, and were off to Stanis's studio only a few blocks away, Winkie now walking alongside Corrie on a leash which she had carefully fastened to him. This inter-borough journey was to be an important salvo in Corrie's lobbying effort.

Arriving at the address she had written down on the back of an envelope, she nimbly climbed the stairs to Stanis's studio, and upon knocking at the door, was greeted by the man with sharp dark eyes, dark complexion and animated but polite manner. She removed her coat and unleashed Winkie to run the gamut of the studio, sniffing at some of the painted canvases and gnawing at lose pieces of paper lying about. Winkie was good at finding objects in the trash, and bringing them to the attention of his boss, even among important company such as the young Polish artist. But once Corrie settled down, she put Winkie out of her mind and focused on the task at hand.

Again she plied her charm--the sparkle in her eyes, the endearing smile, and lively conversation peppered with laughter--describing to Rembski the many benefits of a life in the fashionable Brooklyn Heights neighborhood. But she was careful not to lose her feminine demeanor in the process. She was not on a begging mission, but rather one of gentle persuasion. Rembski began to listen more seriously. He wanted to be where he was liked and appreciated. Why should he fight the teeming masses of Manhattan, the cold stone facades of its buildings, the brusque nature of people who could not stop for more than a second or two, and were always rushing to the next destination, without a moment to hold on to the present?

And what would he be giving up? Certainly, there was no lack of culture in Brooklyn. It had a major museum, a daily newspaper, a grand concert hall where the best orchestras and opera companies would perform. Opera was one of Stanis's favored art forms, and he would often hum a tune from the Magic Flute of Mozart or a more recent aria crafted by Puccini, who at that particular moment was probably in the midst of composing his last opera, Turandot. There was a strong, active art community in Brooklyn that had thrived there for at least a century. The borough lacked nothing. And Manhattan was only 10 minutes away by subway. Stanis began to think about the future. He needed to find a fertile ground not only for adding clients, but for engendering the kind and quality of art work he wanted to produce.

The two sat conversing for over an hour and a half, sharing what meager culinary resources--a coffee pot and a refrigerator--Stanis had to apply to the task of entertaining guests. Munching on some cheese and crackers and downing some of Stanis's home-brewed coffee, the time passed quickly as each told the other something of themselves and their aspirations. Stanis then walked Corrie around the chilly and dimly lit studio. He showed the work he had accomplished over the last few months. Two lovely portraits were still in the works--the one Nancy had posed for, which was in need of some final improvements, and one of Nancy's close school mate, a lovely girl of fourteen. Others had been finished, and were awaiting delivery to Stanis's clients. The subtle Rembrandt-esque technique, coupled with a dash of contemporary flair, characterized them all, and Corrie stood in awe of the breathtaking likenesses.

Not to waste this journey to Manhattan in the chilly winter air, Corrie had one more ace up her sleeve. She would invite the young artist to one of her personal soirees at the Henshaw home, usually reserved for close friends and family. Stanis's politeness did not allow him to decline such an invitation. But he may also have seen it as an opportunity for him to explore Brooklyn more deeply. How he would be treated, and how he would react, would be important steps in determining whether he would make the move to Brooklyn. So the date was set.

***

Two weeks passed as if it were two days, and the hour arrived when Stanis would be initiated into the inner sanctum of Brooklyn Heights society. As a seasoned socializer, Stanis knew that by chatting with the natives, eating, drinking and playing with them, he would be able to assess his chances in Brooklyn. So on that Saturday evening in March, he put on his muffler, donned his overcoat, walked to the corner, and down the subway steps, purchased a token and put it in the token slot, pressed his body against the old wooden turnstile, which gave way easily enough. Lucky for him, a subway came just as he alighted the passenger platform. He boarded the nearest car and took a seat with the other travelers who were headed for their own engagements that evening, his mind drifting to what the party would be like, what he would say, how he might impress those he had not met before. His thoughts turned to Corrie, whom he was already fond of, in spite of her being 18 years his senior, a fact she tried to conceal by using a fictitious age ten years less than her true age.

The subway screeched to a halt, and Stanis's mind snapped to attention. He rose, waited for the doors to open, and as they gave way, exited onto the passenger platform, walking out through the turnstile in turn after the other passengers that had disembarked with him. After trudging up the stairs leading to Court street, he met with the frosty air and the dank scent that is so characteristic of New York City. Lifting his head from the downward position he used to keep in the warmth, he scanned around for some street signs. Corrie had given him excellent directions to the house. After finding State Street, he hooked a right and walked down, past Clinton Street, then Henry Street, and now, he would watch the numbers on the right side of the street. He passed 83, then 81, finally, 79. Taking a deep breath in the cold night air, he proceeded to climb the 12 or so steps of the typical Brooklyn Heights townhouse, stopped at the door, and rang the doorbell--an action he would be repeating frequently in the coming years.

The door opened, and he was greeted by Cornelia, Esther and Nancy, as well as Herbert and Dr. Childs and his wife-- the Henshaw clan. Bruce Bromley, a corporate lawyer who would later gain notoriety for his legal advice to Congress on removing Harlem Representative Adam Clayton Powell Jr. from office, came with his wife who, incidentally, was the sister of famed novelist Faith Baldwin. Also present were Porter Steele, an attorney who moonlighted as an accomplished pianist and composer for the stage, and Nancy Ford, who, like Corrie, wrote for Brooklyn Life. The rest included a smattering of close family friends from the neighborhood.



The parlor of the Henshaw home on State Street, by Stanislav Rembski

(Image by Brooklyn Life magazine) Details DMCA



Upon entering, Stannis, like the other guests, was asked to write on a piece of paper something that he would not himself like to do, but that he would like to witness someone else doing. Parties at the Henshaws were no ordinary endeavors. They were filled with entertaining tasks that guests must participate in, thus keeping the event interesting and memorable. Stanis, having a bit of a conservative streak, submitted his suggestion. He was a rather serious person, and probably felt disarmed at having to participate in such antics. But he took it well, and fell into the fabric of the event.

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Reprinted from Truthdig

ACKVILLE, Pa. -- Tens or even hundreds of thousands of Americans, like those in the visiting room of the State Correctional Institution at Mahanoy, drove often for hours on the Fourth of July weekend to visit relatives or friends who are locked in cages . Millions suffered the painful absence this weekend of a father, a mother, a brother, a sister, a son, a daughter or a friend. These people, mostly poor people of color, understand a dark truth about the cruelty and ultimate intentions of the corporate state. They know that "freedom," "justice" and "liberty," especially if you are poor, are empty slogans.

"We live in one of the most un-free systems on earth," said the black revolutionary and author Mumia Abu-Jamal, whom I visited Saturday. "Mass incarceration is a reality endured by millions of people in prison and in the systems of repression that exist outside of prison. What does freedom mean to poor people who cannot walk freely down a street? What does freedom mean when they cannot find work? What does freedom mean when there is no justice in the courts? What does freedom mean when black people cannot attend a Bible study in a church without the fear of being murdered? Where is this American freedom they keep telling us about? I don't see it. Black folks are more in danger, and being killed in even greater numbers, than during the reign of terror that was lynching and Jim Crow."

Abu-Jamal, who is fighting off hepatitis C that the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections and the privatized prison medical service refuse to treat, scoffed when I asked him about the differences between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.

"Donald Trump is the real face of the ugly American empire," he said. "Yes, he ain't pretty. He ain't black. He ain't a woman. He has a fake tan and orange hair. His rhetoric is cruder. But his ideas are the same. The two major political parties are the abject servants of Wall Street and American empire uber alles. They each support militarism, at home and abroad. They each support the indiscriminant murder of civilians from drones. They each support the worldwide archipelago of secret prisons. They each support mass incarceration of poor people, the suspension of habeas corpus and torture. It is only their talk that is different. What is the difference between being beaten up by a black cop or a white cop? The only solution is to rise up to stop the cops from beatin' our asses and shootin' us in the streets, our homes and our cars. I can assure you voting for Hillary Clinton won't make a damn bit of difference. The Ku Klux Klan, after all, once served as the unofficial armed wing of the Democratic Party. You can't invest hope in an organization with a history like that.

"The black political elites, including Barack Obama, are powerless," he went on. "They are emblems. They are not the voice of black America. They are like a ventriloquist's dummy. They mouth the same words the white corporate masters mouth. They do not make white America uncomfortable. They do not name unpleasant truths. They never lifted their voices to denounce Bill Clinton's decision to massively expand our system of mass incarceration. And they do not lift their voices now. They go right along with the repression. And they are well paid for it."

Abu-Jamal, a journalist and author of books such as "Live From Death Row" and a former member of the Black Panther Party, is serving a life sentence in the killing of a Philadelphia police officer. Despite flagrant irregularities in his trial and evidence tampering, he was sentenced to death in 1982. His sentence was later commuted to life without parole. He spent 30 years on death row.

The prison's visiting room, with a wall lined by vending machines that only the visitors were allowed to use, was crowded with families. Children played in groups or ran across the floor, darting in and out of rows of chairs.

A guard, seated on a raised platform, periodically bellowed through a loudspeaker. He recited every admonishment twice. "Children must be supervised by an adult. Children must be supervised by an adult."

"...Like every prisoner must be supervised by a prison guard who is a racist and an idiot," Abu-Jamal muttered when one announcement ended.

Abu-Jamal understands that radical change exacts a high price. It takes years, sometimes decades, to achieve. It requires dedication, self-sacrifice, unwavering belief in a new vision of society, a trenchant understanding of the mechanisms of power, a willingness to suffer persecution, go to jail and even, when the elites truly feel threatened, face the daily possibility of being murdered. No political revolution was ever achieved without these qualities and this acceptance of risks and steadfastness.

"Black people will probably vote for Clinton," he said with resignation, "but this symbolizes the emptiness of hope. They fear Trump. They should look closely at the pictures from Trump's third wedding. Hillary Clinton is in the front pew of the church. Hillary, Bill, Trump and Melania are shown embracing at Trump's estate afterwards during the reception. These people are part of the same elite circle. They represent the same financial interests. They work for the same empire. They have grown rich from the system. The words they shout back and forth during political campaigns are meaningless. Trump or Clinton will deliver the same political result. They will serve, like Obama, corporate and military power. And if they were not willing to serve these centers of power they would not be allowed to run. Their job is to manufacture hope during election campaigns that ultimately end in betrayal. This is why they spend billions on elections. They need to feed the illusion that our voices matter, that we are participants in their closed systems of power.

"The liberals and the Democrats are in many ways more dangerous than the right wing," he said. "Repression and neoliberalism are more effectively instituted by Democrats such as Bill and Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama. They sound reasonable. But because what they do is hidden it is more insidious and often more deadly."

"Do not leave your trash in the cup holders. Do not leave your trash in the cup holders," the loudspeaker blared.

Abu-Jamal looked toward the guards, all of whom were white.

"Bill Clinton developed a rural employment program called prisons," he said. "Prisons are the economic lifeblood of these poor white communities. The only time these people have any contact with black people is when they put them in cells or escort them in shackles. Prisons are the gift William Jefferson Clinton gave to poor, rural whites that keeps on giving.
Reprinted from Mondoweiss

A few years ago writers got in trouble for using the phrase "Israel Firster." Now an outright supporter of Israel, Gary Rosenblatt, uses that phrase in the Jewish Week in a piece titled, "Israel-Firster's Seen Edging Toward Trump." Rosenblatt says that some voters care more about Israel than the U.S.

"Among 'Israel firsters' -- those who vote primarily on what they believe is best for Israel -- I find more and more people saying they may well vote for Trump, based on their dislike and distrust of Clinton and their reasoning that Trump will stand up for Israel more forcefully and openly than Clinton. "They note that Trump is against the Iran deal, highly critical of Obama, heaps praise on Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, wants to see the settlements expand, and pledges to move the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem."

This is important because the issue of dual loyalty is inherent in Zionism, especially as Israel has evolved to be totally dependent on the United States and on Jews inside the United States to compel American politicians to support Israel. And it is good that this issue is coming into the mainstream conversation.

It's good that American Jews will begin openly saying of other Jews that their first loyalty is Israel. It makes such a stance untenable: it will make it impossible for people who act on "what they believe is best for Israel" to hold high positions in foreign policy-making in the U.S. government. It demonstrates that the neoconservatives are losing oxygen slowly. And that those critical of Israel are having greater influence in the discourse.

Talking about dual loyalty was verboten for a good 30 years, ever since Gore Vidal attacked the Podhoretzes for dual loyalty in the Nation, and the scorn turned on Vidal; and the charge was said to be an anti-Semitic canard about the international Jew. (Scott McConnell treats that story in his new book Ex-Neocon).

But the problem still exists; the existence of Israel Firsters was an important factor in the drive to go to war in Iraq, and in opposition to the Iran deal; and in order to fight that crowd, you have to be able to state publicly what they're up to. A great number of American Jews have pointed out the dual loyalty problem, from Rabbi Melissa Weintraub to Peter Beinart to John Judis to Eric Alterman (list here). Last year Chuck Schumer told a Jewish audience there was a difference between American interests and Jewish interests over the Iran deal, and he had to back the American interest, and then he voted against the deal, and some charged dual loyalty.

Of course the issue is inherent in the rise of the neoconservatives, as both Norman Podhoretz and Irving Kristol said in the 1970s that there was a "Jewish interest" (Kristol's words) in the U.S. having a big defense budget so that it could help Israel. Some of those advocates became White House aides. Elliott Abrams said that Jews must stand apart from any society they are in except Israel, and he helped make US Middle East policy. And just last month Dennis Ross, the longtime peace processor, told a New York Jewish audience in what was presented as an off-the-record discussion that American Jews "need to be advocates for Israel" and not for Palestinians.

So it's good an American Jewish publication is acknowledging the question. Maybe we can have a mature conversation about the true agenda of many advocates in the Israel lobby at last. Maybe Dennis Ross won't be considered to be the next secretary of state.
I've just ended two weeks visiting cities in four regions of Russia. The one question that was asked over and over was, "Why does America hate us? Why do you demonize us?" Most would add a caveat -- "I like American people and I think YOU like us individually but why does the American government hate our government?"

This article is a composite of the comments and questions that were asked to our 20-person delegation and to me as an individual. I do not attempt to defend the views but offer them as an insight into the thinking of many of the persons we came into contact with in meetings and on the streets.

None of the questions, comments or views tell the full story, but I hope they give a feel for the desire of the ordinary Russian that her country and its citizens are respected as a sovereign nation with a long history and that it is not demonized as an outlaw state or an "evil" nation. Russia has its flaws and room for improvement in many areas, just as every nation does, including for sure, the United States.

New Russia Looks Like You -- Private Business, Elections, Mobile Phones, Cars, Traffic Jams

One middle-aged journalist in the city of Krasnodar commented, "The United States worked hard to make the Soviet Union collapse, and it did. You wanted to remake Russia like the United States -- a democratic, capitalist country in which your companies could make money -- and you have done that.

"After 25 years, we are a new nation much different from the Soviet Union. The Russian Federation has created laws that have allowed a large private business class to emerge. Our cities now look like your cities. We have Burger King, McDonalds, Subway, Starbucks and malls filled with a huge number of totally Russian business ventures for the middle class. We have chain stores with merchandise and food, similar to Wal-Mart and Target. We have exclusive stores with top-of-the-line clothing and cosmetics for the richer. We drive new (and older) cars now just like you do. We have massive rush hour traffic jams in our cities, just like you do. We have extensive, safe, inexpensive metros in all of our major cities, just like you have. When you fly across our country, it looks just like yours, with forests, farm fields, rivers and lakes -- only bigger, many time zones bigger.

"Most people on buses and in the metro are looking at our mobile phones with internet, just like you do. We have a smart youth population that is computer literate and most of whom speak several languages.

"You sent your experts on privatization, international banking, stock exchanges. You urged us to sell off our huge state industries to the private sector at ridiculously low prices, creating the multi-billionaire oligarchs that in many ways mirror the oligarchs of the United States. And you made money in Russia from this privatization. Some of the oligarchs are in prison for violating our laws, just as are some of yours.
Reprinted from Paul Craig Roberts Website

The Latest TSA Horror





"These people think they are God. They think they can do anything they want."

A partially blind, partially deaf young woman returning home from treatment for a brain tumor was brutally smashed to the ground by goon tug TSA "security" while her mother, a nurse, was shoved away.

The good tugs responsible should get at least 30 years in a maximum security prison for assault with intent to kill. But nothing will happen to them. Their corrupt bosses always cover up for the psychopaths who occupy so many "security" and police positions from which they exercise unaccountable brutality over those of us forced to pay their salaries.

This is America today. We are forced to pay for our own brutilization by a criminal element that has taken refuge in "security" that "protects us." We are in far more danger from the security forces allegedly protecting us than we are from terrorists. Indeed, the security forces are the terrorists.

Remember, during eight years of the Iraq War, US police killed more Americans than the US lost troops in combat. We needed our soldiers at home protecting us from the police, not over there "protecting" us from Iraqis who were not bothering us at all.

The only way to stop the continuous murder and brutalization of American citizens by "security" is to give the same jail sentences to the psychopaths, who comprise a large percentage of police, as are given to criminals without badges to hide behind. Until this happens, no one is safe, not even a handicapped young woman traveling home from a hospital with her mother.

The same prison sentences should be given to executive branch officials who initiate wars of aggression on the basis of lies and fraud. These officials are criminals, not "world leaders."

Read the article from the Guardian and weep for your lost country in which we are far less safe from "our" government than we were under King George. Indeed with Washington's record of destroying seven countries in 15 years, no one in the world is safe from the government of "the land of liberty."

America is now justice proof. "Security" has so thoroughly inoculated us against justice that justice cannot happen in America. Winning some taxpayer money in a civil lawsuit is not justice. Justice is prison for the goon thug criminals with badges.
A Declaration That Never Goes out of Style

By Steve Buckstein

Two hundred and forty years ago this July 4, the world was gifted with one of the most significant political documents ever written. It began with these words:

When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another

Thomas Jefferson authored the Declaration of Independence to set out the reasons for the American people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with Great Britain.

The Declaration also boldly stated:

We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, 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.

Before the Declaration, individuals accepted that Kings would run their lives. Afterward, they realized that they could run their own lives. As more people around the world discover this fact, thank Jefferson for inspiring mankind with the ideas and ideals they can use to take their lives back from Kings.

This year, for example, the people of Great Britain have just voted to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with the European Union in what became known as the Brexit election. While that vote is causing political and economic uncertainty in Europe and beyond, Jefferson and Americas founders would likely understand the causes which impel them to the separation.

Jefferson also realized that government and society are not synonymous. He argued that governments purpose is to protect the inalienable rights of the individuals that make up society. He understood that such rights are not granted by government; and that any rights government does claim to grant are really claims on someone elses right to life, liberty, or property. What would he think of todays politiciansand aspiring politiciansin Washington, D.C. and Salem, Oregon who propose law after law ordaining right after right?

Jefferson also understood that he wasnt elected President in 1801 to run the country. He was elected President to run the executive branch of a limited, constitutional government that coincidently he helped to create.

As we consider candidates for state and federal executive offices this year, remember that Jefferson might tell us we arent voting for any of these men or women to run the state of Oregon or to run the country. We are voting for individuals to run the executive branches of limited, constitutional governments. Outside those governments limited responsibilities, we should be free to run our own lives.

To reinforce these concepts, why not read the Declaration again this Independence Day and consider the power it hadand still hasto change our world for the better.

Steve Buckstein is Founder and Senior Policy Analyst at Cascade Policy Institute, Oregons free market public policy research organization. He was named the 2016 recipient of the Thomas Jefferson Award by the Taxpayer Association of Oregon and the Oregon Executive Club.
How many times have you gotten distracted and interrupted because of a pop-up or roll-out advertisement online? Almost Always.

While print ads were avoidable with you just flipping a page and not reading it, online advertisements are intruding.

But then AdBlocks came to the rescue. In a day you could dodge more than 500 ads if you were using the internet regularly, and that number is really something.

But that number costs a lot to the publishing companies, online content companies and newspaper websites.

Recently, leading English newspapers in India like Times of India and Hindustan Times blocked their content for readers who use AdBlockers. A notice is displayed requesting the readers to disable their AdBlocks in order to use their content.

While the move may come as a saving grace for publishers to boost their ad revenue model, it may irk consumers to the point of them staying away from such websites altogether.

Finding a middle way seems difficult as circulation revenue and advertisement revenue are just about the few factors that ensures sustainability for content.

So, how can this battle between access to websites and ad-blocks be avoided?

Perhaps looking beyond an advertisement-based revenue model can help tackle this issue.

Not all content websites depend on an ad revenue model and certainly not all companies can rely on an ad based revenue.

Here are a couple of other ways to generate revenues apart from or without advertisements:

Pay wall

New York Times and Wall Street Journal have been quite successful in implementing a pay wall and generating revenues. If you churn out exclusive and in depth content and have a good reputation, people will pay to read your website.



Sponsored content

This is a very lucrative way of generating revenues and it is not blocked by AdBlocks. There is a surge in sponsored content that ensures a increase in value in the near future.

Subscriptions

At the end of the day, good content is the King. Any content of high quality is bound to generate traffic and conversation. In this way publishers can create a platform for brands to reach audience through multimedia tools and options like e-books, native ads, galleries and videos for readers.
Ghana has been cautioned by the United States of America to increase its efforts to end modern-day slavery or risk losing millions of dollars in aid, including a $498 million Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) Compact.



Ghana has been listed as a Tier 2 Watch List country in the 2016 Trafficking in Persons Report, the second year in a row.



Trafficking in Persons Report is compiled by the US Department of State.



Any country ranked on the Tier 2 Watch List for two consecutive years must be downgraded to Tier 3 in the third year unless it shows sufficient progress to warrant a Tier 2 or Tier 1 ranking. Ghana has been on Tier 2 for two consecutive years.



If Ghana is downgraded to Tier 3 in 2017, it will become subject to restrictions on US assistance, including development aid and the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) Compact.



The United States currently provides more than $140 million per year in development aid to Ghana while the MCC Compact is worth more than $498 million.



Other U.S. programmes, including assistance in the areas of law enforcement; capacity building for state prosecutors; security and military assistance; and increasing the capacity of the Electoral Commission would all be subject to restrictions, the statement added.



Ghanas position means government is not fully meeting the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking in persons and failed to provide evidence of increasing efforts to combat severe forms of trafficking in the past year.



An estimated 103,300 people in Ghana  about 0.33 per cent of the population  are in modern slavery, with 85 per cent in forced labour and 15 per cent in forced marriage, according to the Global Slavery Index 2016 by the Walk Free Foundation.



When the foundation published the very first Index in 2013, an estimated 170,000 to 190,000 persons living in Ghana were being enslaved.



In the 2016 Index, the foundation says the main industries of concern for forced labour in Ghana are farming and fishing, retail sales, manual labour and factory work.



It also said an estimated 21,000 children work fishing along the Volta Lake and its environs.



The U.S. Ambassador to Ghana, Robert Jackson, in a statement, said trafficking is everywhere, but the ranking assesses the efforts made by governments to prevent trafficking, prosecute criminals and protect victims.



Unfortunately, despite some investigations and awareness campaigns, the Government of Ghana did not demonstrably commit to anti-trafficking efforts in 2015. Ghana must increase the resources it invests in anti-trafficking enforcement and protection activities and track and report the results of its efforts, he said.



However, key factors in Ghanas Tier 2 Watch List ranking include no demonstrable increase in prosecution efforts or assistance to victims; zero trafficking convictions in 2015; a decrease in the number of victims identified in the past year; inadequate funding and training for law enforcement and prosecutors; inadequate funding for victim protection and support services; insufficiently stringent penalties for trafficking; and reports of increased cases of corruption and bribery in the judicial system, which hindered anti-trafficking measures, the report said.



The Trafficking in Persons report recognises the trafficking problems we all know exist in Ghanaforced labour, child labour and sex trafficking of children and adults. It is important to note, however, that it is not the quantity of trafficking in any given country that is being evaluated. Trafficking exists everywhere, including in the United States. Rather, the ranking assesses the efforts made by government to prevent trafficking, prosecute criminals and protect victims.



Unfortunately, despite some investigations and awareness campaigns, the Government of Ghana did not demonstrably commit to anti-trafficking efforts in 2015. As such, Ghana is placed on the Tier 2 Watch List for the second consecutive year. Ghana must increase the resources it invests in anti-trafficking enforcement and protection activities and track and report the results of its efforts. This includes investigating trafficking cases; prosecuting and convicting traffickers; and providing assistance, protection and care for adult and child victims of trafficking, the US Ambassador said.



The US government pointed out that it has invested about $38 million in various communities and projects to reduce child labour, empower cocoa growing communities and in fisheries, to enhance working conditions for artisanal miners and fishers.



No one wants Ghana to slip to Tier 3 next year, said Ambassador Jackson. Not only is such a move catastrophic for the victims of trafficking, but it would also be disastrous to our development efforts in all areas: agriculture, education, security, governance, health and economic growth.



The Government of Ghana must increase its anti-trafficking efforts, for the immediate benefit of Ghanaian trafficking victims and the long-term benefit of all Ghanaians, Jackson warned.



The statement further gave recommendations to improve the Government of Ghanas anti-trafficking efforts, which included increasing funding and support for police and immigration service, as well as amending its anti-trafficking act legislative instrument to mete out stringent penalties.

Source: The Finder









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QUEENSBURY -- A Stony Creek woman who sold crack cocaine during a police investigation last year was sentenced Wednesday to 3 years in state prison.

Laura N. Cameron, also known as Laura Insogna, 30, pleaded guilty last fall to third-degree criminal sale of a controlled substance, a felony, for drug sales last summer in Lake George and Queensbury. She was arrested after an investigation by the Warren County Sheriff's Office.
National political analysts say theres a chance the 21st Congressional District race could be competitive, even though Democrat Mike Derrick lags in fundraising.

Mike Derrick hasnt raised the money he needs to be competitive with (U.S. Rep. Elise) Stefanik, Amber Phillips wrote in a recent Washington Post column on five House races to watch.

Stefanik, R-Willsboro, had $1.2 million on hand in her campaign fund, as of June 8, the most recent Federal Election Commission report, while Derrick had $277,052.

But we repeat, Phillips continued, in a true wave election, the candidate matters less than the party he or she belongs to.

Derrick said in a Post-Star interview on June 26 he is confident he can be like the fabled tortoise that ultimately beats the hare in a race.

As I focus on the voters in this district, were going to make this race very, very competitive, and were going to see outside money coming in, said Derrick, a retired Army colonel from Peru, in Clinton County.

Derrick said he has an aggressive campaign schedule planned for the summer, including more than a dozen house parties booked for July.

Its a great time across the North Country. Its a time when people are out and about at all sorts of parades and fairs and picnics and barbecues. Weve got a schedule that is full of those, he said.

But he also faces a second tortoise, metaphorically speaking, who previously ran in 2014 and already knows the trail.

Green Party candidate Matt Funiciello received about 11 percent of the vote in a three-way race in 2014.

If I can walk into a much larger name recognition number this time around, I believe I can double what my vote total was (in 2014), Funiciello said in an interview on Friday.

He started campaigning earlier and more aggressively this campaign but has raised little cash: just under $5,000, as of Friday.

If I can poll before the election happens at over 20 percent, it is then a three-way race, said Funiciello, a bread company owner and political activist from Hudson Falls. And many of the people  Democrats, Republicans, independents alike  will at that point say, Well, this guy is a viable candidate, and he actually does have a chance.

Stefanik said she is in a very strong position because of her accomplishments in her freshman term in the House.

Ive made good on the promises I made when I was running in 2014, she said in an interview on Wednesday. Im able to point to legislative results that are significant for this district, whether its Fort Drum avoiding the 16,000 cuts that were a potential as a result of sequestration, repealing sequestration for two years, repealing of the medical device tax.

Derrick said his status as a veteran is appealing to voters, and his steady contributions from individual donors will eventually catch the attention of national party and political action committee donors.

That kind of money will flow to competitive races, he said. So my approach is I am going to continue going back to voters of this district.

Derrick already is starting to attract attention from the national Democratic party, said U.S. Rep. Paul Tonko, D-Amsterdam, who is mentoring Derrick.

I think its happening. People are recognizing that he has the commitment, that he has the thoughtfulness, Tonko said in a telephone interview on Friday.

Funiciello said if Derrick does get a sudden infusion of Democratic party and PAC cash, national Republicans will pump that much more money into Stefaniks campaign.

This is (House Speaker) Paul Ryan hes up against. Its not just Elise Stefanik. This is a huge machine, Funiciello said.

Funiciello said he found it interesting that Stefanik recently wrote an op ed, published in The Post-Star, endorsing the concept of his proposal to restructure federal economic development and infrastructure funding to a block grant system in which local municipal governments have discretion over how the money is spent.

I believe Elise is playing a little game with that. Shes keeping me prominent, he said.

Stefanik said she wasnt reacting just to Funiciellos proposal, but also to local government officials who have asked for a greater role in decision-making.

The idea stems not just from Matt putting it forward, but local town supervisors and county legislators in other parts of this district, she said. I do think there should be more of a role at the local level in making those decisions.

Stefanik said she has an aggressive district focused schedule planned this summer.

I am really blessed to have such depths of support, she said. But I will continue to work hard to represent this district through the rest of this cycle and hopefully the next Congress.
GLENS FALLS  Don Burrows has a simple explanation for why he has been successful in working for the Salvation Army for 60 years.

I grew up poor on Pruyn Island, Burrows said last week. We paid $14 a month rent and we were always months behind. Its a good thing we had the Salvation Army.

In a lot of ways, its good the Salvation Army had Burrows, too.

On Thursday morning, after a celebratory breakfast at Kerries Northway Diner, Burrows, 78, worked his last day and is now headed into retirement to spend more time with his passion for classic cars.

I have a 51 Studebaker Commander. You dont see many of them any more, said Burrows, who has also owned a classic 1957 Chevrolet Belair, a 1955 Chevy and a 1970 Oldsmobile convertible. I love the car shows.

Burrows has worked in Glens Falls almost his entire career, with the exception of stints in Detroit, Trenton and Elizabeth, N.J. He spent 18 months working in Florida but came back north. For 14 years, he worked at the Salvation Army and as a security guard at the Aviation Mall.

Dons a very rare individual. He has been a prototypical employee, and you just dont get people who work at one place for 60 years, said Major David Dean, who is in his eighth year at the head of the Glens Falls group. He is as faithful as the day is long. Hes got a great awareness of the community and a great love for the Salvation Army.

He always went above and beyond what the average employee did, he added.

Dean and his wife, Cindy, also a Salvation Army major, knew of Burrows when they came to Glens Falls. Cindy Deans parents ran a Salvation Army facility in Albany and had run into Burrows many times.

Everyone knew him, and Don always knew what to do, Dean said. There were times, back in the day, when his job was simply finding a way to keep the doors open.

Speaking of Burrows job, he is retiring as the maintenance supervisor, but as might be expected in a 60 year career at a place like the Salvation Army, he has done a lot of everything.

I have worked with drug and alcohol programs and with alternative sentencing. I ran a gym program three nights a week, helped people however I can and taken care of the place, he said.

Lee Cleavland, the local groups lead social worker, has worked with Burrows for the last 28 years.

What impresses me most is his faithfulness and his determination, she said. Hes been here a very, very long time, and he has been able to adjust, she said. He definitely cares very, very much about the people.

I know he grew up in the Salvation Army. He understands what its like to be in a family in need, Cleavland added. Over the years, he has had a lot of jobs. There were years when it was just him and the commanding officers. He delivered food baskets. He picked people up. He did so many things.

Burrows went to Salvation Army camp for the first time at 11 years old. It was through the Salvation Army that he learned most families had three meals a day.

The food at camp was awful, but I loved it, said Burrows, who eventually tried to enlist in the military but was turned down because of hearing issues. I couldnt join that Army, so I joined the Salvation Army.

He started working for $20 a week, with no benefits, and has worked with 15 sets of officers.

I have worked with a lot of nice officers who made a lot of sacrifices, he said. Its a lot different now. We actually have eight staff members. I feel like its time for me to bow out, but I am going to miss a lot of people.

Even as he wound down his career, Burrows found himself reminded of his successes.

Last week, I ran into a guy here, and he told me how much I has helped him, Burrows said. He told me he had been sober for two years and had money in his pocket. That made me feel really good.
For more than 600 people, the day after the Fourth of July is a holiday all its own.

The spaces for the most popular hikes start filling up the first two days we open registration in March, hike coordinator Sarah Hoffman said of the The Lake George Land Conservancys annual Hike-A-Thon is a one-day event held July 5 every year.

It was first held four years ago, when about 400 hikers went to nine conservancy sites to celebrate the 25th year of the group.

We did it thinking it would be a one-shot deal, but people loved it, so we kept doing it, Hoffman said, noting this year the group added three new sites and will be hiking or paddling at 14 locations. People just love it. They look forward to it every year.

One of the major features of the event is aerial photographs of each of the groups taken by Carl Heilman, II, from a helicopter piloted by Bruce Mowery of North Country Heliflite.

Its exciting to add new sites each year, said Hoffman, who is the conservancys communications and outreach manager. Its essential for us in order to grow the event, and to keep the interest of our participants who want to try something new. Thats the spirit of the Hike-A-Thon  to get people excited to get out and explore new places around Lake George.

The three new sites this year are Rogers Rock/Little Slide in Ticonderoga, Pole Hill Pond Preserve in Bolton, and a paddle to Northwest Bay, also in Bolton.

Although the property that includes Rogers Rocks Little Slide is owned by the LGLC, there is no official trail to the view overlooking Heart Bay and the north end of Lake George. That hike was one of the first two to fill up, Hoffman said.

Thats not a place that is usually accessible, so a lot of people wanted to hike it, she said.

Pole Hill Pond Preserve is a state forest preserve managed by the LGLC. With a nearly 6-mile round-trip hike, its addition provides another option for those wanting more of a challenge.

The paddle to Northwest Bay will start at the state boat launch on Route 9N, and end at the tip of the LGLCs Loines Preserve, just at the mouth of the Bay. The 37-acre Loines Preserve was donated to The Nature Conservancy and transferred into the care of the LGLC in 2004.

Other hikes or paddles include two at Amys Park, as well as events at Anthonys Nose, Berry Pond Preserve, Cat Mountain, Cook Mountain Preserve, Gull Bay Preserve, The Pinnacle, Schumann Preserve at Pilot Knob, Terzian Woodlot and Thomas Mountain.

There will also be a climb on the face of Rogers Rock as part of the Hike-A-Thon. RockSport, an indoor rock climbing facility and outdoor guiding service in Queensbury, will lead a climbing group on the Slide during the event. Like the rest of the hikes and paddles, registration for that event is closed.

One hiker, Elizabeth Campagnone, will be flying instead, having won the drawing for a seat in the helicopter with the photographer, the pilot and office manager Cornelia Wells.
GLENS FALLS  The once glorious Glen Street mansion adjacent to Crandall Pond in Glens Falls has been sold to a Queensbury couple for $395,000, and their plans are to restore it to the grandeur it had when it was built a century ago.

But its going to take some work  and some money.

Thats the million dollar question, new owner Michael Seale said when asked how much money he thought it would take to restore it. Its probably why most people have shied away from it.

But Seale said renovating properties is what he does and he can likely do it cheaper than other buyers who would have to contract all of the work out.

A tour of the 1910 home on Saturday revealed a heavily damaged portico area from a large fallen tree limb, a blue tarp covering the observatorys broken glass panes, cracks in ceilings caused by missing slate roof tiles and a yard that is terribly overgrown and virtually hiding the house.

But it also revealed lots of potential. And Seales wife Melissas excitement over their purchase was infectious.

She pointed out original chandeliers, a Glens Falls-mined black marble fireplace, mahogany sliding doors and even a servants tube communication system, like kids use to talk to each other on a playground.

Ive always loved this house and it finally got to a price where I could convince him, she said. This house is a landmark house and has features you cant replicate today.

Although Michael said he is looking at the project as an investment, its clear Melissa is looking at it as an amazing preservation project.

History and historical architecture is a passion of mine and I couldnt wait to get my hands on this, she said with a huge smile. And not just for myself, but for the community. This house deserves it.

The Seales said it will likely take a year or so of work to restore the home and tentative plans are to move into it with their three children in the spring.

Were going to make this spectacular and bring it back to the glory it deserves to be, Michael said.

The home had been on the market since 2008 with an original asking price of close to $1.5 million. But time unoccupied didnt do it any favors and as it got more overgrown and as the interior and exterior deteriorated, the price kept dropping.

A Minnesota man had plans to buy it last year and turn it into a bed and breakfast, but those plans fell through, leaving the door open for the Seales.

The asking price at the time was $549,000. The house was recently re-assessed by the city of Glens Falls at $347,300, according to Mike Mender, assistant to Mayor John Diamond.

The 7,000-square-foot home has nine bedrooms, an observatory, a dual staircase to the second floor and the pillared portico overlooking Crandall Pond. The most recent owner was Seymour Segan, founder of Jonathan Reid clothing stores, who died in 2014. It has been vacant since 2008.

Michael Seale talked excitedly about this new purchase on Wednesday including some one-of-a-kind priceless features it possesses like its silk-screened wallpaper.

The wallpaper in much of the home is original and was actually manufactured in Glens Falls by the original owner George Tait, who owned Tait Paper and Color Industries.

Not only is it original, theres no other like it, he said.

As their 2-year-old son Michael ran around inside the home Saturday, Melissa also revealed what she called a camera obscura, which looked like a chip in the glass pane of a window in the room facing Crandall Pond.

If they wanted privacy, they could close the blinds around it and let light shine through it and it would project the pond on the wall over there, she said, illustrating the extensive research she has done. They could still see the pond.

Mark Levack, the Realtor who brokered the deal for his long-time client, is happy the house is off the market, although he lamented a little that it took so long and deteriorated so much in the process.

Its certainly nice to see someone who has a preservationist mindset is the new owner of the property, he said.

Diamond on Friday said he too is pleased that the old house will be coming back to life.

Im excited that someone has bought that property and is willing to invest a significant amount of money to refurbish it, he said. I think it will be a great enhancement to Glen Street and to the city.

On the Saturday tour, the couple spoke about the landscaping and how valuable and unique some of it is including a linden tree over the portico that was planted to provide a natural canopy, and a weeping pine tree in the front that appears to be dragging itself across the yard.

And few probably realize theres an Olympic-sized pool out back with a patio that until recently was so overgrown you couldnt walk along it, Michael said.

And there were these huge pollywogs in it that looked prehistoric, he said, his eyes wide.

And while the house will likely be their home, both said its a home they plan of sharing with the community in some form, perhaps to host charitable fund-raisers for groups they support.

We dont want to just keep it for ourselves, Melissa said. Wed like to share it and get more involved in the community utilizing the house.

And despite her already extensive research, she said she wants to learn more about the home and urged area residents with knowledge or pictures of it to email her at info@vintagethirty.com.

She explained her passion for historic buildings and clothing saying, Im kind of an old soul, I guess, always drawn back instead of forward.
QUEENSBURYTents and temporary store fronts have been popping up all over the region as July 4 celebrations near, taking full advantage of legal fireworks sales in New York, in their second year.

Under the 2014 law, certain types of fireworks are now legal to sell within certain periods leading up to July 4 and New Years.

While some local elected officials, including Lake George Mayor Robert Blais, have voiced concerns about allowing the sale of certain kinds of fireworks, consumers are flocking to buy the legal displays.

Joshua Seger, who sells for TNT Fireworks, has two locations along Route 9 in Queensbury, one in a storefront near T.J. Maxx in the Northway Plaza Shopping Center and a tent in the Wal-Mart parking lot.

Seger said sales have been growing steadily since they opened on June 28. On their first day he said they sold $500 worth of fireworks. On Saturday they sold $6,500 worth of merchandise with hopes to sell more in the coming days.

The days to (make money) are the first and the fourth, Seger said.

Under the agreement with TNT Fireworks, Seger and his staff receive 20 percent of the total sales. He is required to buy all the merchandise up-front, but at the end of the sales period, the company will reimburse him for anything he did not sell.

Seger said as long as they are selling fireworks, they are making money.

The first few days of business discourage a lot of the sellers Seger said. This being his second year, he said other sellers were coming to him with concerns that they would not do any substantial business.

I just said, Listen, dont worry, itll pick up.

Frank and Debra Jelley of Lake George, who own Cayman Tanning on Route 9 in Queensbury, came with their son Gavin to pick up some fireworks for the holiday. Frank said he supports the law within the bounds of common sense.

As long as its not like the crazy stuff, Frank said.

Though the family lives in Lake George, which puts on its own display every year, Frank said being able to set off their own at home is a nice change.

As of this year, the law prohibits fireworks that shoot high into the air and explode. Most of the legal fireworks are ground based displays which emit fountains of sparks and sparklers.

Peter Van Voast of Queensbury, who was also purchasing fireworks on Sunday, said he feels the lift on the ban was long overdue.

I think its been a long time coming, Van Voast said. I wish they would let us have real fireworks though.

Van Voast said he plans to use his fireworks to put on a display for the kids in his neighborhood. While he wishes the selection of legal fireworks was larger, he said he understands that there are safety concerns and not everyone can be prevailed upon to handle fireworks responsibly.

You cant fix stupid, he said.

Tamrea Wagner, who works at the TNT Fireworks location in the plaza, said ensuring there are no problems or safety concerns this year, might mean the legalization of more types of fireworks in the future.

I kind of promote safety, Wagner said. If you are setting off one of the big ones you should have a bucket of water or a hose nearby.

The more safety you get, the more you can sell next year, Wagner said.

Dave Gordon, who visited the TNT Fireworks location in the Northway Plaza on Sunday, said it is a welcome change being able to purchase fireworks closer to home. He said in previous years, before the ban was lifted, he would pick up fireworks in Florida on the way home from vacation.

While he is happy to have the ability to purchase fireworks locally, he said he feels the future of the law will rest on how the people purchasing fireworks handle them.

I think it will be OK as long as no one gets hurt, Gordon said.

Last year in Lake George, police and village officials received numerous complaints about fireworks being misused. Two fires, one involving a home and one involving a vehicle, were also linked to fireworks use.

According to the Warren County Sherriffs website, it received five calls related to fireworks on Friday and Saturday.
LAKE GEORGE  A full destination experience that will feature arts, craft liquors and a retail element could open as early as next year.

The Adirondack Collective plans to build a 5,000-square-foot structure, designed by Work Architecture Co. http://work.ac/ , that will house a museum, art gallery, a specialty food market and a distillery making bourbon, whiskey, vodka, gin and other craft beverages, according to Adirondack Collective partner John Missale.

 Its not just a distillery or just a market or just a museum, Missale said. These components all work together as a real destination experience, I think.

The project is privately funded, and Missale would not disclose how much will be spent to get the business going. But he said it is expected to employ 12 to 18 full- and part-time staff, at least during the summer tourism season.

The Adirondack Collective plans to build the structure on a vacant, 4-acre parcel between Bloody Pond Road and Route 9L, just northeast of the Studio Motel.

About a third of the two-story structure will be a distillery, with an estimated annual production of 50,000 liters, Missale said. The bulk of that, 15,000 to 20,000 liters, will be bourbon whiskey; another 10,000 liters will be vodka and 10,000 liters will be gin, Missale said. The remainder will be hard cider and other specialty beverages.

Missale, who lives in New York City, said his background is in alcoholic beverage marketing, and hes bringing on a world renowned brew master to run the operation, though he would not disclose that persons identity this week.

Missale is teaming up with a longtime Lake George resident, though that partner was not identified because she has yet to notify her current employer  in New York City  of her upcoming career change.

The Adirondack Collective building itself will have an open courtyard in the center, and the museum will include both a gallery space and space for artists to work on the second floor.

The gallery will feature a permanent collection featuring Adirondack art, and there will be space for temporary, rotating exhibits.

The Hen and Chickens Market, named for an island in Lake George, will feature artisanal foods and locally grown products sourced from within 90 miles of Lake George.

Plans for the year-round attraction have been put before town and village planners. Site plan approval could come as soon as August, as there has been no opposition to the plans, according to Dan Barusch, director of planning and zoning for the town.

Lake George Mayor Robert Blais said the project will include a wastewater pre-treatment system that will allow the Caldwell Sewer District to handle the additional development.

The village has no issues with it, Blais said. It doesnt fall under the moratorium, and as long as the pre-treatment happens, the village wastewater facility should have not issues with the added effluent. Thats expected to be 1,500 to 2,500 gallons per day, according to the plans.

The village has a moratorium on major commercial developments because it is struggling with sewage treatment issues. The plan is to replace an aged wastewater treatment facility with a state-of-the-art facility, but in the meantime, additional large-scale development is on hold.

Missale said the Adirondack Collective property will include several stormwater mitigation features, and the structure itself will be environmentally friendly.
STILLWATER  When asked why he moved to the United States from Bosnia 14 years ago, Izet Garibovic replied simply, freedom.

Overlooking the Saratoga Battlefield on Monday, 21 new Americans took their oaths of citizenship and became Americans.

The new citizens represented 13 different countries, including South Korea, The United Kingdom, Ecuador, Germany and China. They are 21 of 7,000 new citizens nationwide to take the Oath of Allegiance between June 30 and July 4.

Ive been waiting a long time for this, said Garibovic, who now lives in Albany. He added that being able to take the oath on the Fourth of July meant a lot to him.

Thats why I took this date, he said. I had options, but I took this one.

Amy Bracewell, superintendent of Saratoga National Historical Park, helped organize Mondays event. She said the program was meant to be special not only for new citizens and their families, but also for current citizens. It is a chance, she said, to remind people what it means to be Americans.

It encourages the rest of the community to remember our oath of citizenship, she said.

Having the event in one of the countrys national parks is also special. Prior to coming to work at the Saratoga Park, Bracewell worked at Mount Rushmore, where she said they held similar events on July 4 each year.

Its one of my most favorite events, Bracewell said. Our parks are a reflection of what we are, and what better place to welcome in new citizens?

Philippa Katz, originally from the United Kingdom, said she has been in the U.S. since 1994 but decided it was time to make it official. She said doing so on the Fourth of July made it even more exciting.

Im quite thrilled, she said. I have to say, Americans are quite excited when you become a citizen, which is nice.

Katz lives in North Hebron with her husband.

Julia Kim was only 5 when her family emigrated from South Korea. She said her father got a job and felt it was the best opportunity for his family. Kim is now a rising junior at Northeastern University studying international affairs.

For me, it is the quintessential American Dream, Kim said.

After she graduates in 2018, she hopes to travel to Korea and reconnect with family still living there, she said. She hopes to one day become an ambassador for the U.S.

Growing up in the U.S., Kim said she felt becoming a citizen was the logical next step for her.

I feel pretty American, so this seems like the right decision, she said.

Kims older brother Kevin said when he took his citizenship oath, it was in a simple courtroom. He said having an event for new citizens like Mondays ceremony makes it even more special.

The event began with a welcome from Superintendent Bracewell and a musket salute by the Saratoga National Historical Parks Musket Corps. Assemblywoman Carrie Woerner, D-Round Lake, spoke shortly after the oath of allegiance was administered.

In her address, Woerner welcomed the 21 new citizens, telling them what they could expect from their new country and what it would expect of them.

As citizens, we promise to fulfill our duty to support and defend the republic ... and in return for our promise to support and defend the country, we are promised the liberty to live our lives freely and with the certainty that we will be treated with justice and fairness by our government, Woerner said. These are the promises made by us and to us.

The salutation was delivered by Heather Mabee, the regent of the Saratoga chapter of The Daughters of the American Revolution. She said as news citizens they were ending one journey and beginning another. She encouraged the new Americans to never take their country for granted.

To be a citizen of this country is a real privilege for all of us, she said.
Warren County and the company that built the controversial natural gas cogeneration facility at the former county nursing home have been talking about a financial settlement of their dispute over whether the county lost money on the project, a settlement that could bring the county as much as $150,000.

County supervisors met in executive session Thursday to discuss the ongoing dispute with Siemens Building Technologies, with at least one supervisor urging his colleagues to move ahead with a settlement.

The talks relate to several private analyses of the Siemens natural gas cogeneration plant at the former Westmount Health Facility cost the county money instead of saving it, and the county has hired private counsel to look into litigating the matter.

The county sold the home last year, but Siemens has refused to sign off on the transfer of the cogeneration plant to the new owner of the nursing home. Siemens also alleged Warren County violated the project contract, so the county has continued to pay Siemens its monthly payments for the facility, with the nursing home owner reimbursing the county.

A number of supervisors would not talk about the proposal in recent days, saying they were directed not to discuss it with the media.

Amanda Naimans, a spokeswoman for Siemens, acknowledged there had been settlement talks but would not discuss financial parameters.

Siemens is dedicated to serving its customers in New York, and is trying to work in good faith with Warren County officials to resolve any issues around the Westmount Nursing Home project, she wrote in an email. Weve met with the Warren County Board of Supervisors about possible settlement regarding the project. Although we have yet to reach an agreement, the company remains committed to working with the county on any issues related to Westmount or any other county facilities.

Queensbury at-Large Supervisor Ronald Montesi would not detail settlement figures but said he is advocating for the county to settle with Siemens and move on. He said he asked his colleagues Thursday to agree to settle with Siemens, and he thinks there are enough votes on the board to make it happen.

I just think its time to move forward, he said.

Warrensburg Supervisor Kevin Geraghty, chairman of the county Board of Supervisors, said he could not discuss the issue Thursday and referred comment to county Attorney Brian Reichenbach. Reichenbach would not comment Friday for what he termed strategic reasons.

It was unclear whether the settlement proposal would include the countys concerns about the Siemens geothermal energy project at the county Municipal Center. Geothermal systems use the earths energy to heat and cool.

The Warren County Sheriffs Office is investigating that project, as it did the cogeneration project.

Queensbury at-Large Supervisor Doug Beaty would not discuss any settlement talks but said the county is moving forward on hiring an engineer to look at the geothermal systems performance. The county received proposals recently from 14 contractors willing to analyze the savings, or lack thereof, from the geothermal system.

In my view we still have a lot of work to do, he said.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) -- Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro is being vetted as a potential running mate for presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, according to a Democratic source familiar with the process.



Castro, 41, would be the first Hispanic candidate on a presidential ticket. His selection could help Clinton energize Hispanic voters and sharpen her contrast with presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, who has courted controversy with his anti-immigrant proposals and incendiary rhetoric.



Castro delivered the keynote address at the 2012 Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, the same prime-time role played in 2004 by Barack Obama, then an Illinois state senator.



As mayor of San Antonio, Castro led a successful effort to expand prekindergarten in the city. He was tapped by President Obama in 2014 to lead the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.



At every challenge that has faced Julian Castro, he has knocked it out of the park, said Christian Archer, a Texas-based Democratic strategist who worked with Castro in San Antonio.



Castro -- whose twin brother, Democratic Rep. Joaquin Castro, represents San Antonio in Congress -- lacks the experience of more seasoned potential running mates such as Tim Kaine, a current U.S. senator and former governor of Virginia, and Rep. Xavier Becerra of California, a top House Democrat.



And unlike Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and U.S. Labor Secretary Tom Perez, Castro is not favored by progressives, who criticized him over federal mortgage policy this spring.



But his supporters say the telegenic housing secretary could help broaden Clintons appeal.



Hes Gen- X, shes a baby boomer. He brings gender balance, he brings regional balance, said Henry Cisneros, a former HUD Secretary under President Bill Clinton and former San Antonio mayor.



As the Clinton campaign reviews his professional and personal records, Castro has continued to play coy.



At the Texas Democratic Convention last month, he told reporters he was not being vetted and downplayed the likelihood of his nomination.



Castro endorsed Clinton last October and campaigned with her around the country through the primary season.



"I am going to really look hard at him for anything because thats how good he is, Clinton said of Castro at a round-table in Texas shortly after his endorsement of her.



The Clinton campaign did not respond to a request for comment.

Copyright  2016, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
"It also provides a subsidy which is energy based for industrial and commercial customer, the statement added.

Reacting to the news on Citi FM Monday, the former boss of the Volta River Authority said "it is not true" government is subsidizing power, claiming that consumers "are being charged VAT, energy levies, street light among others and those have gone up from almost 1 to about 5 percent..."

He added:"when you say you are subsidizing something, it means you are charging below how much it costs. But here is the case that you are giving with the left hand, yet you are taking with the right It should be taken with a pinch of salt."

Wrekko Brobbey also accused government of trying to be "too smart" with Ghanaians by abolishing lifeline to people who use light for more that 50 units.
Speaking at the launch of the 2015 Chief Finance Officers (CFO) Survey Report by KPMG in Accra, Ms Quartey also allayed fears of investors who are adopting the 'wait and see' attitude.

We will keep to our budget and ensure that we dont overspend and that will help us to continue with the efforts we are making under the IMF programme. I dont see investors taking the wait-and-see approach due to the efforts we have made to cut the deficit, she said.

Our experience with 2015, a year of low revenues which was met with massive expenditure cuts, should give us hope. We have climbed down from a high budget deficit of 11.8percent in 2012 to 10.2percent in 2014 and further to 6.5percent in 2015 and there is every commitment to consolidate the gains we have made so far, she added.

In April, parliament assured the nation of a strict exercise of its oversight role on the national purse to ensure that there was no extra spending by Government in this election year.

The First Deputy Speaker, Mr Ebo Barton-Odro, in a discussion with a parliamentary and business delegation from Germany, said the Legislature in Ghana would keep an eye on the Ministry of Finance to spend within the approved budget.

As Ghana heads into a crucial elections this year, there are fears violence could erupt which will hamper business growth and scare investors.

Ms Quartey also highlighted government determination to improve business climate in the country.
According to the GES it will also ensure that the licenses of the various betting companies within the municipality are withdrawn to safeguard the education of the youth and students who patronise it.

Pupils in the various basic schools within the municipality sneak out of school to play jackpot in view of the little monetary benefits they derive from it while others are said to have dropped out of school.

Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) Simon Peter Asirifi announced that the assembly will get tough on operators who fail to comply at a recent meeting organised by the assembly.

The Assembly cannot sit down and watch these things to go on due to its consequences on the quality of education, he said.

Read also: Education
To hell with it, I even used to think that Wanlov should win musician of the year every year at the Vodafone Ghana Music Awards, but he never wins and that was my opinion and it cost me nothing. See?

But it would seem popular opinion in the Ghana music industry would need to be called on as the ultimate judge in the war that might follow after, M.anifest opened a can of worms with his latest single, godMC. With godMCs literal attack on [almost] everyone in the music industry, I can sense a beef brewing.

I reckon almost all the rappers M.anifest mentioned in the song (both directly and indirectly) would want to reply to him, but it is Sarkodies reply that I am looking forward to.

It is Sarkodies reply that might create the beef I expect. After all, majority of the song is full of punchlines that are direct jabs at the self-acclaimed King Sark. And a Sarkodie-M.anifest beef may be all that the Ghanaian music industry needs right now.

Where is the Ghanaian fans equal share of the Twitter rants, diss tracks and banter that accompanies a musical beef?

To steal a paragraph from my colleague, Joey Akan at Ringiers "Monday Musings", Beef in itself is good for the art. Although in the Western cultures, it tends to spill blood and result in loss of life, in Africa, our artistes and all their representatives lack that amount of conviction mixed with hatred to pull off a killing because of beef. No one has that guts, We are too conscious of our status to compromise our careers on it.

Sarkodie as rapper has become nothing less than an egomaniac, his latest songs are basically full of praise for himself and indirect jabs at anyone.

And for a while, he has gone almost unopposed with this just as he has gone unopposed in his claim to the title of King of Ghana rap.

I have seen beefs in music all over the world. I have paid special and close attention to G.O.O.D Music vs. YMCMB (essentially Common vs. Drake), Tinie Tempah vs. Chip, Drake vs. Meek Mill and a countless lot. Heck even Don Jazzy and Olamide has a good run at a good beef in Nigeria just like Cassper Nyovest and AKA did in South Africa. So where are the Ghanaian beefs? Where is the Ghanaian fans equal share of the Twitter rants, diss tracks and banter that accompanies a musical beef?

Our artistes really dont love themselves. Most of them are a bunch of haters unto themselves. They see anothers gains as a personal chance lost for them. They carry out ingenious plans to steal each others beats and choruses, and when that fails, they copy it and try to improve on it so as to take the shine off the other guy, thereby killing off his song. [Telemo and Ye Wo Krom on my mind here]

Honestly, ignore all the high-fives, selfies, bonding on Instagram, birthday shout-outs, supportive tweets and co-ordinated interviews. Deep down, and in muted conversations, when the cameras are gone, and the lights are off, theres anger, bad blood and bile. Thats when the real story is turned on, and the intrigue that scratches the underbelly of what we call celebrity lifestyle come to the fore.

Once in a while, this escapes into the open, and it becomes a good reason to follow the news. But almost all of it gets swept under the carpet due to compromise, bullying and media cowardice.

There have been light versions of what have looked like beefs, I have seen Kaakie and co fighting for the title of Dancehall Queen, Shatta Wale also fighting for Dancehall King etc but all of these have seemed like one-sided fistfights with the other party. There are no responses. And this is because the average Ghanaian artiste with his/her success (or little success) is just a character that exists in a careful state, they are afraid of upsetting their status quo; they are scared for their careers and secretly feel inadequate to start a fight or return a punch when one is thrown at them.

Sarkodies Bossy was an open invitation and it seem M.anifest just took it.

I am expecting the ensuing beef to mainly do three things;

1. Give Sarkodie a chance to wow his fans again : Sarkodie is a great rapper. No two ways about that, but for the past two years, it had begun to feel like he is just a rapper who knows how to use rhythm to his favor. Dont get me wrong, this is not a bad thing. But to actually claim the title of being the King of Ghana rap Sarkodie would have to also show that he is a good lyricist. King Sarks lyric are very much lacking in the dexterity and true wordplay that most people would expect from a true MC and this beef with M.anifest might be the one opportunity he gets to redeem himself.

2. Give M.anifest the leverage he needs : M.anifest is a DAMN better rapper than Sarkodie. Yes, you can breath in now, I have already said it. M dots delivery and wordplay is lightyears ahead of the current status of Sarkodie and I personally feel godMC has been far too late. M.anifest will get the perfect opportunity to show most Ghanaian music buffs what true lyricism is.

M.anifest is a DAMN better rapper than Sarkodie.

3. Revive relativity in the Ghanaian music scene : Fans adore truth. They love fallible humans, who they can project their personal misdemeanours, character flaws, and indiscretions. The current status of the rap scene in Ghana makes most musicians almost unrelatable to their fans, Sarkodie is always bragging now and M.anifest is always carrying himself with the air of collectedness that is not humanly possible. This thick sphere of pented-up emotion is just being covered by a delicate layer of fakeness which hopefully will get pricked by the Sarkodie-M.anifest beef and bring back some actual creativity to the industry.

The only person who seems to be winning at being relative to the fans is Shattawale, that much we cannot take from him, with songs like WMT, Kakai,Korle Gorno etc, he has kept touch with his fan base in most direct way any true musician can  through music.

I may be wrong, maybe this beef will not revive the Ghana music industry, maybe they will be no emotional purge, maybe it will not help us determine the good from the fake.

But I may be right too. Just imagine a M.anifest vs Sarkodie beef; a MsVee vs Kakai beef, an Eazzy vs Tiffany beef etc. How enthralling a contest that would be.
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Alistair Tairo Nelson, 41, and Godwin Ako Gunn, 39, turned themselves in at the offices of the BNI Sunday after news emerged that they were being sought by the BNI for threatening the lives of the judges, according to multiple media reports.

Nelson and Gunn made the threats on an Accra-based radio station Muntie 100.1 FM on June 29, 2016.

One of the panelist said: "I know where the judges live in Accra, I can show you. I know their quarters, the Supreme Court judges. I also know the High Court judges. Yes, Im telling you, God has a way to show If they like, they should bring it on. It will start in their residences, Im telling you, in their neighbourhoods. When we finish them, then it will be over. Then we will come and rule our nation because they dont wish the nation well. So they have to go. We will see them off to return to where they came from. So that those of us who wish the nation well will take control of the nation and rule it. So they should sit there, and feel that they are Supreme Court judges soLook, the EC is insulated, article 45. Go and check. You cannot do what you are doing there. You Supreme Court judges sitting there, what do you do for Ghana? Look at your judges accepting bribes, goats and GH100 and others. Are you not ashamed. Senior judges on the bench, by this time all of you should have resigned because of what your juniors were doing. Are you not ashamed?"

Meanwhile, the Ghana Bar Association (GBA) in a strongly worded statement condemned the two and also called for their arrest.

"The Ghana Bar Association condemns the threats on the lives judges in no uncertain terms. These threats are even more painful to the legal profession because they were ostensibly made on 29th June 2016, the eve of Martyrs Day, a day when the profession remembers the three High Court Judges and retired military officer who were kidnapped from their homes and murdered by agents of the state," the GBA said in a statement.

The statement added: "We hereby call on the Inspector-General of Police to cause the investigation of those matters, arrest of the gentlemen, charge them with the relevant offences and put them before court. We call on the Attorney-General to ensure that these gentlemen are prosecuted with all the force that she can muster and do her utmost to secure convictions of them. "

READ MORE:GBA fights for judges

Also the Deputy Interior Minister, James Agalga has assured judges that the state will provide security to Supreme and High Court judges in order not to compromise the security of justices.

He said "The security of our judges, and all those who work in the Judiciary, we place a lot of premium on their security. We will not allow anybody to resort to any conduct which will compromise the security of our Justices."
In a statement the company said the Electricity Company of Ghana Limited wish to inform their cherished customers that the utility relief by Government of Ghana is being implemented and therefore the reckonerwill guide Customers on money paid and the corresponding units to customers.

The new reckoner incorporates the directive for ECG to make the applicable electricity rate for 0-50 units of consumption inclusive so that all residential customers will enjoy the rate for lifeline customers. It also provides a subsidy which is energy based for industrial and commercial customer, the statement added.

Reckoner is a table or device designed to assist with calculation.

Below is the table released by the ECG to assist with the calculations.

According to the president, the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) will from July 1, 2016 begin implementing a new billing cycle which would address concerns of overbilling.

President Mahama said Because the electricity billing is done in monthly cycles, they have to start on the first of a month with the billing cycle. So I have asked Ghanaians to exercise patience, from first July theyd start the new billing cycle and Im sure that a lot of us will see some relief in the electricity bills.

Ive explained that the bills went so high because the waters in our hydro dams are low and hydro is the cheapest source of power. Now all the power we are produce is either with gas or with crude oil and these are more expensive that hydro.

But we are praying that this year the rains would be good so that the dams would recover. As we put in cheaper hydro power we will adjust the tariff to reflect the cheaper power we are getting.So I would ask Ghanaians to exercise patience, government is sensitive to what is going on and wed do our best to give them some relief the president said.

The Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) last month ordered the ECG to suspend the implementation of the current billing software until further notice.

This followed complaints from customers who use the post-paid meters that they are being overcharged after the new tariff implementation.

But in a statement, the ECG said it has taken note of the various complaints from customers and stakeholders regarding meters and billing.
John Jinapor said, a load shedding timetable will be released on Friday if the current shortfall in supply of fuel from Nigeria is not addressed by end of week.

The country is having to shed a total of 300 Mega Watts of power owing to the destruction of gas pipelines from Nigeria.

There is currently a generation shortfall because we are not getting a supply of electricity from Nigeria. Sahara Oil, our supplier from Nigeria have said they will restore supply by the 8 of July. And if that does not happen, then we will release a load shedding timetable.

The Volta River Authority uses only two kinds of fuel-Bonny light crude or Brass, and government has already paid for Sahara oil to deliver the fuel on the 23 of June.
The Director of Generation projects at MiDA, Mawunyo Robson says It was proposed initially, that by the 10 of June we would have issued the request for proposals. But we have a little challenge right now collating the comments and finalizing the documentation, and that is why I indicated that in the next couple of weeks, we should be done with analysis of the proposals he told Joy Fm.
Addressing the youth of the party in his office at the partys headquarters in Accra, Ernesto Yeboah said he is still at post as he is yet to receive an official letter from the party four days after a media announcement of a decision to suspend him and the party's General Secretary.

He said he would decide his next course of action if he receives any letter to that effect.

Some of the youth at the meeting have however vowed to ensure that he gets back into office.

The two were suspended by the Central Committee of the party.

Akomfrah and Ernesto Yeboah had openly criticised the flag bearer of the party, Ivor Greenstreet after he said there was nothing wrong with Mahamas decision to accept the car gift from the said contractor.

They subsequently petitioned the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice over the matter, arguing that the president disregarded the guidelines on conflict of interest in accepting the vehicle gift.
In Ghana, many people have been complaining that there are many spoilt ballots. And we are not taking time to analyse why the ballots, several of them, are spoilt. One of the causes is drunkenness. Somebody is drunk. They give him the ballot paper.

When he sees this one, he thinks that is the person (his preferred candidate). He would mark. Then, suddenly, he would see that it is not this one; its the next one. Then, he would mark that one, too. As soon as he marks the two, then, the ballot is spoilt. And that can come about because of alcohol, he said.

The former Deputy EC Chair made this known during the celebration of the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking held in Bolgatanga, Upper East regional capital.

The event was organised by Life out of Alcohol and Drugs Ghana (LOAD Ghana) in partnership with the Basic Needs Ghana.

The Council of State Member also indicated that some violence recorded during elections could also be blamed on drink-voting.

When you get drunk and you go to the polling station, you are likely to cause violence. Imagine that somebody went in the morning and got himself drunk. When he goes to the polling station, he is likely to disagree with almost everybody. Within a short time, he would begin to abuse people.People would get irritated. When they take him on, his support group may jump to his defence. In the end, we have one group here quarreling or fighting another group. People may start using sticks and what not. Thats what we call violence, explained Mr. Adeenze-Kangah, who was the guest speaker at the event.

Concerns have been raised over the years about the increasing figures of spoilt or rejected ballot papers during general elections.

866,817 votes were rejected from 2008 to 2012. The figure represents 1.76% of the 49,071,047 total votes cast at the two general elections.
According to the IGP, it is imperative for the police administration and other stakeholders to collaborate for peace ahead of the polls, adding that The Police has a long arm but it cannot reach out to everyone.

He said the police have already met with the organisers of the youth wings of the various political parties, party executives, the Presidential Candidates and their running mates, as well as representatives of the media.

The IGP also reiterated the fact that personal security details have been assigned to flag bearers and their running mates ahead of this years elections.

He said the move forms part of security arrangements being initiated to ensure a peaceful electioneering process.

According to him, the selected officers had been given the needed skills training and logistics to enable them to perform their duties effectively.

Mr Kudalors visit to the Region formed part of the IGP Dialogue Series. He interacted with the personnel in the region to ascertain their readiness in terms of skills, training and logistics for this years elections.
This prompted the United Nation to pass on Friday, a resolution condemning countries that restrict or interrupt access to the Internet. This new law will unequivocally condemns actions deliberately taken to prevent or prohibit access to information or spreading them online. The UN Council of Human Rights also made an appeal "to all countries to cease" such practices.

In 2015, the Access Now Group of the UN, which aims to monitor the respect of digital rights, recorded at least 15 Internet cuts worldwide, the figure for the first six months of 2016 is already more than 20.

Governments use these practices to control information or limit communications between the citizens of their country. After Turkey was plunged into the horror of the attacks in Istanbul airport and survivors turned to the Internet to communicate with their families, including using Facebook to signify that they were still alive, the Turkish government decided to block social networks .

In doing so, the country violated digital rights of its citizens that the UN has largely resolved to uphold. The bloc of nations condemns countries that use violence or intimidation to prevent citizens from exercising their human rights and fundamental freedoms on the Internet and states that Internet users are expected to have the same rights online as offline.
Not everyone was expecting a reply from the comedian, however he shocked fans when he told him, "You are able to do all things in the presence of God and man. I am your friend from this day. DM me your number and I will call you. Stay blessed."

AY recently revealed he spent nine years in the university after his father passed on.

According to him, "In December 1999 when my dad passed, It was difficult to take over his position as the first son. It became even more difficult when my mum decided to join him in no time.

Embracing the reponsibilities of taking care of my four sisters and two baby brothers wasn't the best message to preach to a waiting landlord whose rent must be paid in due time. The combination of being a big brother and father came with a price that kept me in Delta State University for 9 years as a student."
The actor took to his Twitter account today, July 4, 2016 to announce the birth of their daughter, Violet, who they welcomed two weeks ago.

Krasinski tweeted:

What better way to celebrate the 4th... than to announce our 4th family member!!!"

"2 weeks ago we met our beautiful daughter Violet #Happy4th.

In January, Blunt's rep revealed that the actress was expecting her second child with her husband, after welcoming their first daughter, Hazel in 2014.

Speaking during an interview with C magazine back in March, the British actress spoke of her latest pregnancy, saying:

The first pregnancy is the most self-indulgent thing in the world because you get massages and prenatal yoga and hypnotherapy CDs.

"During this one I forget that Im even pregnant. Im hoisting my 2-year-old around!

Blunt and Krasinski got married in a romantic wedding ceremony in July 2010 after dating for two years.

ALSO READ: Watch Emily Blunt as an FBI agent in trailer for new action film

Congrats to the happy couple.
The mom-of-four and former Spice girl member shared a flash back photo of their wedding back in 1999, when they tied the knot at LuttrellstownCastle in Ireland.

"I feel so loved and truly blessed My best friend,my love.The kindest man who inspires me every day. Happy Anniversary to the best husband and daddy in the world!! EVER! #HappilyEverAfter @davidbeckham @brooklynbeckham," she wrote alongside the photo.

Her husband, David also shared a photograph of the both of them sitting down on their wedding day. "Wow 17 years ago to this day this happened... I was lucky to meet someone who has the same drive and wanted the same things in life... We have created 4 beautiful children and I couldn't wish for a more loving and caring mummy for them... Happy anniversary, I love u," he captioned the photo.
Dutton said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos on Monday.

According to him, Nigeria is now the destination of choice of fashion enthusiasts.

ALSO READ:

``I think it is fantastic, I think it is becoming so well known internationally now, and it is having a bigger influence on world fashion.

``Nigeria ladies particularly, they are very fashionable people and they are really developing very quickly and their group influences is growing.

``I hope that we can also be joining them as Da Viva and giving them fantastic fabrics. 

This he noted would go a long way to enhance the profile of the local textile industry.
5. Gambia is a great travel destination for bird enthusiasts. With over 100 spieces of beautiful and rate birds, you may need extra notepads to record all the beautiful birds in The country.

6. The people of The Gambia have a vibrant culture with flourishing festivals. The Root Festival , Kanilai Festival and a range of festivals will keep you entertained no matter what time of the year you visit.

7. Also, The Gambia has an assortment of accommodation options to fit almost every budget with luxury hotels lining the coast, and affordability and industry being the mainstay of the Senegambia coast.

8. Yet another excellent reason to go to The Gambia is to see and experience historic slave towns that inspired classic films such as Alex Hayleys Roots .

9. The Gambia is uncommercialised and virtually untouched. Tourism plays an import role and employs a lot of locals. If you want to visit somewhere were the locals really benefit and not large corporations, This is the place
According to the report, Ovivare who is believed to be a gay man, was arrested by policemen from the Aguda Division of the State Command after he lured the young boy on his way back from school and raped him through the anus.

Ovivare's cover was burst after the boy's mother saw him coming out of the suspect's room and the boy complained to his mother that Ovivare had 'put his wee wee inside my bum bum.'

the victim's mother who said she was shocked at the child's complaint, said:

Normally, my son stays in the Head Teachers house after school, when I am not through with my work. So when we came home, I gave him food and bathed him.

After sometime he said, mummy I want to go outside and play. Since I was still busy with cleaning, I allowed him.

After sometime, when I did not hear his voice, I came outside and shouted his name. He ran out from a neighbours room. I asked him what he was doing there.

He said Brother Prince was kissing him and put his wee wee inside his bum bum. I checked my son and he had some bruises on his buttocks.

I rushed to Aguda Police Station. They took my statement, asked my son questions and he kept repeating the same thing. Then police referred me to Mirabel Centre at Ikeja Teaching Hospital.

The next morning, I took my son to Ikeja and the doctors did some tests. After examining him, they confirmed he was indeed assaulted.

At the hospital, they gave me some drugs and said they should make sure that the suspect is arrested. I went back to the station and came with police to arrest him.

I want relevant agencies to come to my help for justice. I need justice for this wickedness done to my child. My son is traumatised. He told me the suspect said he would kill him (my son) if he told me.

I have not been able to sleep for days now. I cannot even eat. How could this human being be this wicked?
Read her letter here:

"My name is Melvina, a 24-year-old graduate from a university in Nigeria. I live with my father and stepmother in Lagos. My parents separated when I was 15 and and my father got married to a Yoruba woman who has two children for him.

Before they got married, my stepmother had been divorced twice with five other children. Since I was their only child, I alternated my holidays between both parents but I preferred staying with my dad because he is the kind of father who makes out time to be with his kids and makes sure we get the best of life.

But my stepmother is a different kettle of fish. Though she carries out her duties as a mother, she is the type that keeps the limit and makes sure I do not cross it.

However, one thing I noticed with her even when I was young was that she loved parties and going out, especially when dad was out of town which was often.

At such times, she would claim she had to visit to visit her parents in her hometown and could spend up to a week and would only come back a day before dad arrived.

She would then warn us of serious consequences if we dared tell him she was not home all the time he was away.

Though the rumours were rife, I never suspected anything until two months ago when my boyfriend visited me from Port Harcourt and lodged at a guest house in Lekki.

I would go to spend time with him but always went back home because dad would skin me raw if I spent the night outside. On the day I saw my stepmother in the guest house, I had gone early to see my boyfriend because he was leaving that day.

I got to the guest house at about 7am and as I was walking in, lo and behold, I saw my stepmother walking out of a room with a man who used to frequent our house, especially when dad was not in town.

She had introduced him as her uncle but the way I saw them, there was no doubt they had spent the night together because the day before, she had told us she was going for one of her late uncle's remembrance.

Luckily, she did not see me as she was all over the man, hugging and kissing him as they walked out into his car.

I told my boyfriend what I saw but he warned me never to tell my dad but it pains me that though father has been a good husband, his wife still decides to cheat on him.

My head says I should tell him what I saw but my heart warns that it could be a recipe for disaster, both for the family and myself.

What should I do?

Melvina."

The teaser for the day was:

How Nigeria voted:

Yes, I will tell him - 57%

No, I will not be the one to break their marriage - 21%

I will warn her not to repeat such again - 23%

What she does with her life is none of my business - 10%
She didn't dare tell them she was also HIV positive.

"You just feel like everybody doesn't want you," said Olale, sitting with a dozen other HIV positive women, each with a small child on her lap, in a small home in Nairobi's Saika slums.

Olale, now 37, started the group in 2005 to provide other HIV positive women and young mothers with support in dealing with stigma, poverty and reproductive health issues.

Teenagers across Africa urgently need more information about sex to combat soaring rates of HIV and unwanted pregnancies, experts say, as widespread taboos and cultural conservatism prevent discussions in schools and homes.

"Where I come from, talking about the sex education with your girl is really difficult," Olale told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

However, a growing number of businesses, charities and individuals are seeking to fill the gap in information.

The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and Nailab, a Kenyan firm that supports technology startups, are behind the latest initiative, which targets entrepreneurs for their ideas on providing sex education through technology and social media.

Candidates in the I.AM campaign launched this month, have until August to submit their ideas before four winners are chosen to receive training, mentorship and funding to develop their ideas further.

"All girls, all boys must have comprehensive sexuality education," said Babatunde Osotimehin, UNFPA executive director. "That's really when they can make the choice in their lives."

CONSERVATIVE BACKLASH

Kenya pledged to improve access to sexual education and family planning services at the 2012 London Summit on Family Planning, but has had difficulty implementing new policies due to conservative opposition.

A bill to teach sex education and provide access to contraceptives in schools was introduced into Kenya's upper house of parliament in 2014, provoking a national outcry.

"People are fearing that when you're speaking about sex or when you're speaking about sex education, it's like losing your values," said David Opoti Inzofu a pastor at Nairobi's Riruta Christ Bible Church, who openly discusses family planning with his congregation.

"There is no day I can remember where my mother or my father sat with me and discussed with me about sex. Never."

Sex education and family planning are critical in delaying motherhood, reducing HIV rates and deaths from unsafe abortions, UNFPA says.

Some 29,000 young people aged between 15 and 24 are infected with HIV annually in Kenya, government data shows. New infections are spiking among adolescent girls who know less about HIV transmission than boys, it says.

One in five teenage girls are mothers, with some 13,000 dropping out of school each year to raise their children, UNFPA says.

Kenya is a hotbed of technological innovation in Africa, with technology giants such as Google, IBM and Microsoft setting up headquarters in Nairobi.

For an issue as taboo as sex, technology allows people to have anonymous and informative conversations without the fear of stigma or discrimination.

"(If) somebody builds a software that allows people to anonymously chat about their sexual challenges, and we see tens of thousands of young people using it - that will be the most exciting part of this," said Sam Gichuru, chief executive of Nailab.

Technology can also reach many more people than face-to-face groups like Olale's. Some 80 percent of Kenyans own a mobile phone, government data shows.

"A lot of these children are now getting access to mobile phones and technology," said Siddharth Chatterjee, UNFPA's representative in Kenya.
The Governor said Changes takes time, not only in the life of a person but more also in the life of a nation. This is a country that was ran down for 16 years by PDP. The APC government is going to achieve sincere change for Nigerians and we are working towards that.

He also said Even now that the umbrella has turned into three pieces, they are still boasting. When Edo was under one mans rule, those voices were loud, they would have told you whether or not there is vacancy in Osadebey Avenue. As you can see working together, strategizing together, mobilizing together, for refusing to agonize we are standing and they are down.

There is no way I would have been able to achieve all these without the encouragement that you (Ihonvbere) have always readily offered in a moment of doubt when we were strategizing.

Adams Oshiomhole also said the current hard economic situation in Nigeria will soon be over for the best.
According to the governor, 86 immigrants enter Lagos every minute of the day, which is the highest in any city in the world, and they have no plan to leave.

He noted that a situation whereby 27 states of Nigeria were bankrupt and 32 states generate less than 10 per cent of federal allocated revenue meant there were dislocations.

Ambode promised that the challenges facing the state in the areas of refuse disposal, education, security and the others, were being tackled frontally as a safer and cleaner environment would guarantee more prosperity.

He promised that within the next six months, technology would be deployed to ensure that more streets were lit and strategic areas have CCTV coverage.

The governor also said that education, healthcare, care of the aged and employment would be given more attention, noting that 67 per cent of the state population was under age 35.

Ambode also promised that 5000 buses would be purchased, in partnership with the private sector, to pave way for the phasing out of commercial motorcycles, tricycles and mini-buses currently defacing the metropolis.

He explained that the move would not increase unemployment as most of the mini-bus drivers would be retrained and re-orientated to man the new buses.
The Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen Tukur Buratai, conveyed the president's message during an operational visit to troops of 103 Battalion in Konduga on Sunday evening.

The president expressed satisfaction with the conduct of the troops and urged them to sustain the tempo. He assured the troops of government's commitment to their welfare and other needs that would enable them perform their tasks effectively.

The army chief later told journalists that the troops would sustain the tempo in all operations currently going on in the North East region.

He said troops would be enhanced to sustain the tempo of the operations even as the rains intensified. He emphasised the need for the troops to remain committed and disciplined in their respective duty posts.
The president, who personally served food to his guests, stated that his administration was conscious of their needs and desire but that the government met very poor conditions on ground.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the guests included some Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), Taxi drivers, hair dressers, motorcycle riders, barbers, transport workers, butchers, tailors, and junior staff of the campaign office of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The president pledged that the APC-led Federal Government would improve the nations medical services and other social amenities to uplift the quality of life of the less privileged members of the society across the country.

``Please, I want you to bear in mind as from today that we care about you, on daily basis. We will try and improve the medical care and other services so that you spend less time looking for treatment or looking for sympathy, he added.

On the ongoing fight against corrupt practices in the country, the president warned that those planning to deter his administration from fighting corruption in the country would face the consequences.

He said: "Whoever deters us from fighting corruption will suffer the consequences."

The President said that it was unfortunate that some members of the elite were self-centred and only cared for themselves.

He lamented that very little was on ground to show for the huge income the nation generated from sales of oil in the 16 years of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) rule.

President Buhari frowned at the inability of the past administrations to address the problems of epileptic power supply, railway and portable drinking water for the populace among other problems.

In a vote of thanks, a physically challenged, Musbahu Lawal Didi, commended the President for having the interest of disabled persons at heart.

He also urged the President to set up a Commission for the disabled so that their interest could be further taken care of.

Present at the dinner included the Vice-President, Yemi Osinbajo, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, and the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Babachir David Lawal.
The order is contained in statement issued by the Force Spokesman, Deputy Commissioner of Police, DCP Don Awunah in Abuja on Monday.

The statement said that under the I-Gs watch, the Nigeria Police Force would be people-oriented and problem solving Police. It enjoined Nigerians to give useful information to the Police as every information would be treated with the confidentiality it deserves.

The statement assured that the police would provide adequate security with robust and proactive patrols during and after the celebrations.

It enjoined Nigerians to be law abiding at all times for the peace, progress and development of the country. It reiterated that the cooperation of the public was very critical to the performance of the Police and administration of justice.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Commandant of the Corps in the state, Mr Babangida Aliyu, disclosed this when he addressed newsmen on the sallah preparations by the command in Sokoto on Monday.

"About 50 armed personnel are to be deployed for the exercise, while another 100 personnel and 20 armed personnel are to be on standby.

"All divisions, departments and units are to be fully involved in the operation. All operational gadgets are also to be deployed during the celebrations.''

Aliyu said that all Eid praying grounds, critical infrastructure, as well as public and private facilities are to be covered during the period on a round-the-clock basis. According to him, the command would also intensify its routine patrols and surveillance operations across the state.

Aliyu appealed to the people of the state to continue to be law abiding, so as ensure hitch-free celebrations. Meanwhile, the state police command says it had also concluded adequate arrangements to ensure successful sallah celebrations across the state.
The court also requested that the sureties should provide evidence of tax payment.

The Minister of State for Finance, Nemandi Usman was also granted bail with the same conditions.

Usman was arrested by the EFCC for allegedly receiving the sum of N2.5 billion from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

The EFCC prosecutor, Mr. Rotimi Oyedepo, revealed that Fani-Kayode committed an offence under Section 18(a) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) (Amendment) Act, 2012, punishable under Section 15(3)( 4) of the same Act, when he allegedly diverted the sum of N1.5b.

Justice Sule Hassan of the Federal High Court in Lagos, ordered the imprisonment of Femi Fani-Kayode on June 28, 2016.
A statement issued by the Army spokesman, Col. Sani Usman, said the first foiled attack occurred at 6.15 a.m.Usman said the first attempted attack was targeted at a camp for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) located on the outskirts of Mungonu.

He said the two suspected suicide bombers were killed by vigilant troops protecting the camp, while three civilians were injured in the attack.

"Today at about 6.15 a.m., two suspected female Boko Haram suicide bombers attempted to attack Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) fetching water at a borehole located about three kilometres, outskirt of Monguno.

Usman said the third suicide bomber that followed a different route detonated hers at 7.10 a.m. close to troops deployment along the same road.
Mr Uchenna Orji, the Commissioner for Agriculture and Natural Resources, made the announcement on Monday when he led the exco members and top government officials to supervise rice cultivation demonstration exercise at Government Farms in Ezillo, Ishiellu LGA.

``The programme is the first phase of the governors policy to engage every sector of the state in massive production of rice.

``140 hectares of land have been allocated to the exco members for rice cultivation under the Multipurpose Cooperative Societies requirements of IFAD and Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

``The remaining 1, 360 hectares are reserved for other cooperative societies and individuals that have already keyed-in into the policy through the IFAD and CBN Anchor Borrowers Programme, he said.

Orji described the governments agricultural programme as `all inclusive, adding that tractors would be mobilised to the various sites to achieve the desired objectives.

``It is expected that through the office of the Senior Special Assistant (SSA) on rice production, the tractors will be mobilised on Monday, he said.

In his remarks, Sen. Emmanuel Onwe, the Commissioner for Information and Orientation, said that the executive council decided that government appointees and civil servants must cultivate at least one or two hectares of land.

``This is to achieve the governments objective on commercial rice production and return the state to the summit of rice producing states of the country, he said.

Prof. Folusho David, Dean, Faculty of Agriculture, Ebonyi State University, Abakaliki, commended the policy and called on the government to sensitise farmers for active participation.
Yakubu told newsmen in Lokoja that the special force was deployed from Police Headquarters in Abuja on Sunday in fulfilment of the promise of the Acting Inspector-General of Police, Mr Ibrahim Idris.

He said that the team was sent to boost the ongoing clamp down on kidnappers and armed robbers who had held the state and its people to ransom for many months.

Yakubu said that members of the special squad had been deployed to different parts of the state.

He said that his command had mapped out strategies to provide maximum security before, during and after the Eid-elFitri celebration.
Jonathan, who was in company of his wife, Dame Patience, returned to the country after an international tour.

Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, led top government officials to welcome ex-president, the massive reception which, according to report, seemed like he was still in power.

After exchanging pleasantries with some associates, Jonathan was said to have interacted with Wike and some of his aides before departing to his hometown of Otuoke in neighbouring Bayelsa state.
According to The Cable, the EFCC spokesman, Wilson Uwujaren, confirmed Omisore's arrest on Sunday, July 3.

The former senator was arrested in connection with funds allegedly misappropriated by the office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) during the Goodluck Jonathan administration.

Prior to his arrest, Omisore had been declared wanted by the anti-graft agency for allegedly evading arrest, the claim which he denied and went further to sue the EFCC for defamation.

He also obtained a court injunction to stop the Commission from arresting him.
He made the call on Sunday, July 3, in Gwagwalada in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), insisting that violent reactions and protest were not solutions to grievances.

"Crisis is not something new in Nigeria, we have been going through crisis since I was born, we have been at it and doing our best to cope with it.

"Every government tries their best and the present government did not create the problem in the Niger Delta because the problem has been there and it is doing its best to tackle it.

"My general advice is that when people have grievances, they should be allowed to air their grievance and this must be done peacefully.

"It is the duty of government to open ways for dialogue and the responsibility of the aggrieved people to embrace peaceful resolutions, he said.
The state governor, Kashim Shettima stated this while speaking with newsmen in Maiduguri, the state capital on Sunday, July 4.

"I want to say that many Nigerians may be shocked to know that a total of N345 million is the overall amount received as cash donation by the state government from May 2011 to date, he said.

He explained that the Federal Government during the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan donated N200 million in four years.

"Lagos State Government gave N50 million in October, 2015, Edo donated N25 million in 2013, Kano gave us N20 million in 2013 and Adamawa donated N20 million in 2013.

"Ekiti donated N10 million in 2013, Osun and Kaduna State gave N10million and N5million respectively in 2013 while Unity Bank Plc. donated N5 million.

"There was a woman who prefers her name not to be mentioned; she donated N100, 000 cash," Shettima said.

He said that the state was spending N600 million every month to cater for the IDPs.

He also said that all other interventions had been in kind through donation of food items or medical supplies, which included donation of 1,200 bags of rice by Kebbi.

According to him Ebonyi donates 5,000 bags of rice, Taraba; three trucks of highland tea and Gombe; six trucks of assorted food items.

He said that were many other groups who visited and donated food items in the last five years but certainly not cash to Borno Government.

"We have received tremendous support from international community but no foreign country or any international partner within or outside the UN and major world donors gave any cash to our administration from 2011 to date for the IDPs," the Governor said.
Brig.-Gen. Stevenson Olabanji, the outgoing Commander of 2 Brigade Nigerian Army, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, made the call on Sunday, July 3, at an inter-denominational church service to mark 153 years of existence of the Nigerian Army.

He said the day was marked out to celebrate the living and honour officers and soldiers who paid the supreme sacrifice with their lives.

"The Nigerian army is celebrating its 153 years of existence, and over the years has remained a bastion of national unity and contributed to national development.

"The journey so far has been very interesting and challenging at the same time, but over the years the army has defended the country to its best abilities.

"During this time we have lost officers and soldiers, and so, today, we celebrate the living and remember our fallen comrades.

"We also pray that God should continue to provide for and protect the families of our lost heroes who sacrificed their lives for peace and prosperity of our country, he said.

Olabanji, who is on posting to command 3 Brigade Nigerian Army, Kano, said the army recorded several successes in the last one year in spite of daunting challenges.

He said that successes were recorded in the fight against insurgency and illegal oil bunkering among others.

Olabanji commended officers and soldiers of the brigade and residents of the state for their support during his time as brigade commander.

"I return all glory to God because it is neither my strength nor power that I was able to accomplish the little I achieved as Commander of 2 Brigade."

Similarly, Nigerian Army Officers Wives Association (NAOWA), also donated several bags of rice, cartons of indomie noodles, toiletries and other consumables to Saviours Orphanage in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
Few weeks after Kachikwu's appointment, Nigeria witnessed prolonged fuel scarcity across all states in the country. A situation which led to long queues at fuel stations with most Nigerians spending long period of time (or days in some cases).

Activities of militants (notably the Niger Delta Avengers) in the oil-rich Niger Delta region was also another major challenge Kachikwu had to grapple. The minister embarked on a trip to Gbaramatu kingdom in Delta State, on Thursday, June 16, 2016 to meet with representatives of the Niger Delta Avengers. The group however denied meeting with Kachikwu.

Most Nigerians had advocated the re-organisation of the petroleum ministry to solve the problems in the oil sector.

For these people, the decision of the Presidency to appoint Dr Maikanti Kacalla Baru as the new Group Managing Director of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) did not come to them as a shock.

The move has however been generating reactions among Nigerians. While some see it as a step in the right direction, others see it as another selective appointment in favour of Northern Nigeria which they say is contrary to the Federal Character Principle.

Until his appointment, Baru was Special Adviser (Upstream) to the Minister of State for Petroleum.
The state Commandant of NSCDC, Lawan Bashir-Kano made the announcement on Monday in Lafia, while briefing newsmen on the preparedness of the corps to ensure security of lives and properties during the festivity.

He said the deployment was in compliance with a directive issued by the headquarters of the NSCDC that its personnel be deployed to strategic locations and flashpoints across the state.

``The personnel so deployed are also responsible for the protection of critical national assets to forestall any form of vandalism of the facilities.

``The command has also increased surveillance and patrol in Lafia metropolis and other towns across the state to ensure that criminals are nabbed before they commit any crime, he added.
Obasanjo said this while playing host to the President, Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Commission, Mr Marcel de Souza, at his hilltop estate, Abeokuta.

The former president said it was high time the organisation started using single currency, adding that it would help boost the economy of all members of ECOWAS.

"We have decided that our unit of currency will be eco, let us now start using eco, let eco become our unit of currency.

"Single currency unit for ECOWAS states will bring about more development and growth among the states", he said.

He stressed that economic integration of West African countries would guarantee development of the sub-region.

He contended that ECOWASs founding fathers never envisaged that internal conflicts would so much engage the sub-regions attention.

"ECOWAS was established41 years ago, the expectation of all of us was very high, I think we will not be fair to ourselves if we do not say to ourselves we have not moved as fast as we expected.

"We must tell ourselves the truth that there has not been enough political will on our part to move the sub-regional organisation as fast and as far as we should have done", he said.

He advocated a reform that would enable member countries to move beyond movement of goods and services.

Obasanjo warned that the entire African continent would be sitting on a keg of gun powder as long as its leaders refused to pay adequate attention to youth unemployment.

"I have maintained that all of us in West Africa, and indeed in Africa, are sitting on a keg of gun powder for as long as we do not pay adequate attention to youth unemployment.

"A situation where more than 50 per cent of our youths are unemployed is extremely dangerous.

"We now have a situation in part of West Africa where people are dying of starvation. Is it that we are not producing enough food? Or if we are producing, are they not evenly distributed?

"It is shameful because that has led us to be begging international communities for supply of food to West Africa. It is not right", he said.

The former president, however, declared that he would always make himself available for the ECOWAS services.

"I will continue to make myself available in the service of ECOWAS, wherever you think my services will be needed, call upon me and am ready.

"What is important is that these communities of 320 million people will be lifted up, these communities should be marching along and we should get rid of internal conflicts.

Earlier, de-Souza said he was in Abeokuta to introduce himself to Obasanjo, as the newly appointed President of the Commission and to also get his advice and orientation on matters concerning ECOWAS sub-region.

He emphasised that he was inclined to visit Obasanjo because the former Nigerian leader had always showed commitment to ECOWAS, adding that he came purposely to seek guidance.
THE GUARDIAN NEWSPAPER

Fuel importers face fresh hurdles over $950M debt

Uncertainty is dogging in the supply of petroleum products for local consumption as some banks overseas have suspended short and medium-term credit lines to their Nigerian counterparts due to the inability of marketers to pay matured foreign currency obligations of over $950 million. READ MORE

Niger Delta Avengers attack five oil facilities

Militant group, Niger Delta Avengers (NDA) yesterday claimed it had bombed two Chevron oil wells as well as three Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC) and Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) trunk lines. READ MORE

Study links hot climates to violent crimes

Researchers in a study published in the journal Behavioural and Brain Sciences have established a correlation between hot climates and violent crimes. READ MORE

THE VANGUARD NEWSPAPER

EFCC arrest Omisore over N1.3B NSA cash receipt

AbujaSeveral months after being declared wanted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, former Osun State Deputy Governor, Senator Iyiola Omisore, was yesterday arrested by the operatives of the commission in Abuja. READ MORE.

Govt, militants' ceasefire in N-Delta collapses

WARRITHE temporary cessation of hostilities in the Niger Delta region broke down, weekend, as Niger Delta Avengers, NDA, blew up five oil and gas installations following its displeasure with the manner the Federal Government was managing and breaching the peace process. READ MORE

Revisit 2014 Confab resolutions now, traditional rulers tell Buhari

ABUJA-President Mohammadu Buhari has said that Nigerians must eschew ethnic-centrism and religious intolerance to move the country forward. READ MORE

BUSINESS DAY NEWSPAPER

FX Scarcity, legacy debt unsettled downstream petroleum sector

Foreign exchange scarcity and legacy debts are unsettling the downstream sector with the possibility of fuel scarcity recurring in no distant time, BusinessDay investigations show. READ MORE

After soured ties with IOCs, Nigeria seeks news friends in China

With little hope of improvement in the soured ties between Nigeria and its mainly western oil joint ventures like Shell and Exxon Mobil, Africas most populous country is now hoping it can find new allies in China to pull its oil industry back from a devastating decline. READ MORE.

States' chances of tapping capital market funds dim on low IGR

As Nigerian states battle tough financial conditions and search ways of expanding their sources of funds, they also face even more hurdles of tapping capital market resources due to current stringent requirements, BusinessDay finds. READ MORE

THE NATION NEWSPAPER

N4.745B 'fraud': Drama as EFCC holds Omisore

After about three months of hide and seek, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) yesterday arrested a former Deputy Governor of Osun State, Otunba Iyiola Omisore. READ MORE

Senate slams AFG over Saraki, Ekweremadu case

The Senate yesterday described Attorney General and Minister of Justice Abubakar Malami (SAN) as partisan, in the forgery case he is prosecuting against Senate President Bukola Saraki and Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu. READ MORE

Oando records N4.1B net profit in three months

Oando Plcs operational reports and audited financial statements indicate that the leading indigenous energy group recorded a net profit of N4.1 billion in the first quarter of this year. READ MORE

THE PUNCH NEWSPAPER

Abia crisis rages as AGF fails to resolve logjam

The Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami, said on Sunday that he had yet to offer any legal opinion on the developments which followed the June 27 judgment that sacked Governor Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State. READ MORE

Buhari receives, approves arms probe report

The presidential panel set up by President Muhammadu Buhari through the Office of the National Security Adviser to probe arms procurement between 2007 and 2015 has submitted another report to the President, The PUNCH has learnt. READ MORE

Manufactures lose N348.6B to new forex policy

Manufacturers who had outstanding dollar requests and Letters of Credit (applied for at N197/dollar) before the new foreign exchange policy came into existence lost approximately N348.6bn by Monday, June 20, 2016, the day the policy commenced, findings by our correspondent have revealed. READ MORE

EFCC arrests Osun ex-deputy governor, Iyiola Omisore

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has arrested a former Deputy Governor of Osun State, Senator Iyiola Omisore, who was declared wanted about a month ago. READ MORE

Avengers destroy NNPC, Chevron, others' facilitates in fresh attacks
Udoma said this at the 6th Session of the Economic Trade and Technical Cooperation Joint Commission held between Nigeria and China on Monday in Abuja.

According to him, the reduction will help narrow the trade imbalance between the two countries and encourage the export of agricultural products from Nigeria to China.

``There is therefore a need for mutual efforts to bridge the trade imbalance between the two countries.

``I am pleased to inform you that the Nigerian private sector is gearing up to participate in business opportunities in China and to tap on the current efforts of government to increase exports to China so as to bridge the current trade imbalance.

``In this regard, I wish to call on the Chinese Government to reduce the tariff on agriculture exports from Nigeria, which currently stands at five per cent.

``A reduction in tariffs will contribute to narrowing the trade imbalance between the two countries as it would encourage more exports to China from Nigeria.

``The current trade between the two countries averaged 5.9billion US dollars in the last five years.

Udoma explained that the session came on the heels of President Muhammadu Buharis visit to China, which stood as a landmark event in the annals of the bilateral relationship between the two countries.

He said the visit resulted in the two countries signing six cooperation agreements.

He recalled that the fifth joint commission session, which took place in Beijing, centered on a number of investment areas and financial aid among which was a 2.5 billion dollars loan extended to Nigeria.

The minister said the volume of trade between the two countries rose from 6.37 billion dollars in 2009 to 14.94 billion dollars in 2015 due to China's increased investment in a number of sectors.

Udoma said the 6th Session aimed at further strengthening the bilateral cooperation between the two countries.

``Accordingly, Exchange of Notes on feasibility study for three projects, Second Phase of Solar Powered Traffic Control Signal, Abuja, Agriculture Demonstration Centre and 2016 Bilateral Training Programmes will be signed, he said.

He reiterated that the sixth Ministerial Conference of the Forum of China-African Cooperation (FOCAC) in Dec. 2015 had a positive impact on the relationship between both countries.

According to him, the conference identified industrialisation, agricultural modernisation, infrastructure development, financial cooperation, trade and investment facilitation and green development as critical areas of cooperation.

He listed others as poverty reduction, public health, cultural and people-to-people exchange as well as peace and security.

``The Nigerian Government is currently working to finalise a shortlist of projects, which will be discussed during the FOCAC coordination meeting in Beijing later this month.

``In this connection, Nigeria will in particular, solicit assistance for the completion of the Abuja Light Rail Project and Greater Abuja Water Work Project.''

The minister emphasised the Federal Governments commitment towards improving the quality of governance by tackling corruption.

Udoma expressed Nigerias interest in expanding the scope of the existing cooperation while thanking the Chinese government for the support being rendered to Nigeria

Udoma also pledged Nigerias commitment towards the implementation of the Nigeria-China Friendship Cultural Centre project.

Also speaking, Mr Qian Keming, Vice Minister of Commerce of the Peoples, Republic of China, applauded the Nigerian governments efforts at stamping out corruption and insurgency as well as improving the socio-economic life of its people.

Keming said: ``This gives us further confidence in strengthening cooperation with Nigeria in moving forward.

``This session is significant to implement the outcomes of the state visit and concession visit between the two leaders and further promote the trade and economic cooperation between the two countries.

He said Nigeria had become Chinas largest investment destination and its largest project market in Africa.

``The investments made by chinas enterprises in Nigeria in various sectors have exceeded 13 billion dollars and the accumulation of projects completed has exceeded 33 billion dollars.

``The tie has led to oil development, industrial construction, transport, ICT, financial services and aero-space development in Nigeria.
In a bulleting jointly issued by the NLC, Trade Union Congress and JPSNC, and signed by the Chairman of the state NLC, Onu Edoka, and the TUC Chairman, Ojo Matthew respectively, all workers were directed to continue to shun work as a result of the government's move to blackmail the labour union leaders.

The state workers have been on indefinite strike since last week in protest of the non-payment of their salary arrears among other demands.

Government wanted to hide under the screening documents so that it can use our signatures for its illicit intention to lay off over 60 per cent of the workforce across the state," the bulletin said.
Makarfi who spoke in an interview with Daily Trust said those already linking PDP issues to 2019 were right.

It was known to the majority of the people that the former chairman, Modu Sheriff, assumed he was already the presidential candidate of the PDP and offering the position of running mate to different governors," Makarfi said.

We want to be allowed to finish this job within three months and go. So where is the hidden agenda here? Nobody has heard us campaign for any individual to succeed us. There is absolutely no hidden agenda for the Caretaker Committee. We want people to elect their national officers freely, he said.

He expressed the readiness of the caretaker committee to step down if its the decision of the party's leadership in other to give peace a chance.

They (party leaders) have been trying to make Sheriff see reasons why there should be peace. And whatever they come out with in the spirit of peace, even if it means that we vacate our positions, we will do so, he added.
The PDP also added that Osagie Ize-Iyamu remains the only recognised candidate who will stand in the elections.

The National Publicity Secretary of the Ahmed Makarfi faction, Prince Dayo Adeyeye said "In Edo, the Sheriff faction is saying INEC must recognise the candidate submitted by it (Sheriff faction). How would INEC take something from a man that is only a busybody to the party?

If a court had ruled that Sheriff is not the chairman of the PDP, how then would a court say that INEC should recognise a candidate recognised by Sheriff.

Adding that Sheriff is saying that he is the national chairman of the PDP by a court order even when the governors and other members of the party have rejected him. Some people are trying to use the judiciary to destroy Nigerias democracy.

An example is what is playing out in Abia State. But we are not going to allow our nations democracy to be destroyed. Nigeria has become a laughing stock and we must sensitise people to this because it (indiscriminate court injunctions) is a new development.

READ: Iduoriyekemwen is Edo guber candidate for Sheriffs group

People are trying to manipulate the judiciary for their own gains and this is dangerous for democracy. The PDP National Convention is supreme and Sheriff has no legal basis to parade himself as the PDP national chairman.

Justice Okon Abang of the Federal High Court, Abuja ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to only recognise the Edo and Ondo governorship candidates from the Ali Modu Sheriffs faction.
The Ekiti APC had sent 102 petitions to the Inspector General of Police (IGP) against the election that produced Fayose.

Writing over 100 petitions to the office of the Inspector General of Police (IGP) on an election conducted two years ago and was adjudged as free, fair and credible even by the international community, including the United States of America government is a demonstration of the APC desperation to throw Ekiti State into chaos just because the party lost power, Fayose said in a statement issued by his Special Assistant on Public Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka.

The statement said: "How many petitions should have been written against the Presidential Election if APC could write over 100 petitions against an election held in just 16 out of the 774 Local Councils in the country.

"The IGP should maintain the culture of professional policing and maintenance of rule of law as done by his immediate predecessor, Mr Solomon Arase. He should be mindful of being drawn into needless political fights orchestrated by some APC governorship aspirants in Ekiti State just because of fear of 2018.

Assuming but not conceding that offences were committed by anyone before, during and after the election held two years ago, the Ekiti State Police Command would have carried out its investigation and made anyone found culpable to face the law.

It should also be pointed out that it is the duty of the Attorney General of Ekiti State to prosecute anyone that committed any offence in Ekiti State and not that of the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF).

Most importantly, the IGP should be mindful of the reality that writing over 100 petitions to the police, two years after an election was won and lost and expecting the police to embark on wanton arrest of innocent Ekiti people is a clear invitation to anarchy and it is hoped that the new IGP wont begin his career as the number one police officer in Nigeria with the ridiculous action of running after PDP members in Ekiti State instead of focusing on the growing insecurity in the country.

Speaking further, the governor said; If the APC bad losers in Ekiti State are still making noise over an election they lost in all the 16 Local Councils in the State two years ago, Nigerians should ask questions as to whether it was through the use of security agents that the PDP won the Presidential, National Assembly and State House of Assembly elections last year.

The IGP should be mindful of the fact that as at today, dispute on the governorship election has become functus officio because as a general rule, once a tribunal has reached a final decision in respect to the matter that is before it in accordance with its enabling statute, that decision cannot be revisited.

The IGP should also be reminded that the US Department of State and other International Observers, which observed the election, praised security forces (including the police) for collaborating effectively in providing a safe environment free of major incidents.
Speaking to the National , Ahmed Al Menhali, said he was linked to ISIS because he was wearing traditional clothes, Slate reports.

They were brutal with me. They pressed forcefully on my back. I had several injuries and bled from the forceful nature of their arrest, he said.

This traumatic incident has led the countrys foreign ministry to issue a warning, asking citizens to think twice before wearing white robes, headscarf, and headband, abroad.

"For citizens traveling outside the country, and in order to ensure their safety, we point out not to wear formal dress while traveling, especially in public places," the message posted on Twitter, read.

The police chief and mayor has apologized to al-Menhali over the terrible incident.
The campus environment has been witnessing constant peaceful but very determined movements, gatherings, blockades, and at the height of it all, non-violent protests by members of the union over what they term corruption and mismanagement of funds by the immediate past Vice Chancellor, Professor Bamitale Omole and his team, of which the newly announced VC, Professor Ayo Salamiwas the Deputy Vice Chancellor (admin) during that term.

The current imbroglio is not an isolated incident, but a robust outburst against what is seen as impunity by NASU members who have repeatedly called for the former VC to be probed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission EFCC before leaving office.

Since, the emergence of Professor Omole as the VC of the institution in 2012, the NASU in OAU have embarked on numerous protests and industrial actions, often times in conjunction with the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities, SSANU, to express their desire for prompt payments of arrears owed and allowances unpaid which they attributed to embezzlement by the Omole-led administration.

ALSO READ: NASU dissolves OAU chapter over protest

Furthermore, in 2014, the student body, Student Union (widely called SUG) in the university embarked on a massive protest against what was thought to be highhandedness by the School authority over the increment of school fees which was done by the VC because, according to him, even smart phones were more expensive than the school fees current structure and that if students can afford to buy android phones, they could afford the new school fees.

These statements attributed to his person, made Prof Omole one of the most unpopular VCs in the history of the University since its establishment in 1962.

It is therefore a good pointer in analyzing the current situation in the university, as the new VC, Prof Ayo Salami is considered a stooge of the outgone VC, Prof Omole who has been accused of embezzling millions of naira in allowances accruing to NASU members throughout his tenure. Hence, the dogged resistance to the appointment of Prof Salami is seen as opposition to corrupt elements taking over the universitys structure once again to cover-up the atrocities committed by his predecessor.

Neutrals point to the developmental projects in the University like the ongoing construction of the new Senate building, the ongoing construction of the Faculty of Laws Library and Moot and Mock Court, the completed track at the Sport Complex, the installation of optic fibre cables for wireless network in the Universitys staff quarters and at halls of residence, as well as the installation of solar panels for clean and alternative power generation at halls of residence atr in line with best global practices.

However, critics highlight that these projects were initiated when allegations of corruption and embezzlement were levelled at Prof Omole and that the projects were implemented towards the end of his tenure so as to convince the Senate and any panel set up within and outside of the School that the monies hes been accused of diverting or misappropriating were put to proper and judicious use.

They also point to the fact during the visit of the Minister of Information in Nigeria, Alhaji Lai Mohammed during a function at the University, students called for the Minister to ensure that President Buhari gets the message to probe Prof Omole before he leaves office for alleged sharp practices, which the Minister responded among other things that any one accused of corruption under the current administration will be duly investigated. They claim it was after this fact that the former VC started his developmental project.

ALSO READ:

While speaking to one Mr Abayomi, he revealed that new cars, inflated prices for the Universitys expenditure, expensive personal residence renovations, approved hostel renovations were not executed even though funds were released, and that about 48 months of NASU allowances withheld by the Omole-led administration were the examples of sharp practices and the new VC Prof Salami will only continue the trend or at best cover-up his predecessor and that thats the reason for his appointment which they so vehemently oppose.

Amidst all the confusion and anger in OAU, two things are very clear, one is the fact that the matter is already before a court of competent jurisdiction, the Federal High Court sitting in Osogbo Osun State and verdict would be given on the 6th of July 2016 barring any last minute adjournment due to unforeseen circumstances.

Secondly, the opposition to the declaration of Prof Ayo Salami as the new VC of OAU will not be suppressed by any means except through a Court order or by means of dialogue and negotiations with NASU and SSANU members which will give assurances over the investigation of allegations about the past administration or the appointment of a different person as VC altogether, but no one is absolutely certain of how this will end, one can only hope for the best for students who have to stay at home for another few weeks for all these to be resolved.
Mr. Lawrence Success Umezinwa, a Political Science student of the school, wrote a letter to the Vice Chancellor, alleging that the security men, on orders of the Students Affairs (DSA) ejected him from the hostel.

According to SaharaReporters, the letter contained details of the alleged assault. Umezinwa narrated that he was summoned to a meeting with the security officers. He suspected that the meeting was in connection to a letter issued to him by the DSA directing his removal from office as the Chairman of Mariere Hall. He believed that the security men were meeting him to carry out the order.

The letter also revealed that the men, during the meeting, attempted to seize his mobile phone when he was in the process of recording said meeting.

ALSO READ: Hundreds protest in capital after student shot dead

According to Umezinwe, the meeting soon escalated to violence. Umezinwe disclosed that one of the security men forcefully poked his finger into his blind eye, another twisted his neck, removed his wristwatch and tore his shirt.

After the assault, they pushed him to his room to move out his possessions but they did not know which belonged to him or his roommate. According to sources, they then locked him out of the room and denied him access to it.

Narrating his ordeal in the letter, Umezinwa said, Ever since that happened I have not been allowed entrance into the hall. This has led me to sleeping around.

He also attached the eviction letter issued to him from the office of the Dean of Student Affairs, which ordered his removal from office as the Chairman of Mariere Hall of Residence and cited his failure to comply with a management directive to vacate the hall on 6 June as a reason.

Umezinwa is reportedly seeking that the situation be addressed by the managing body of the school. He described his treatment as "barbaric, uncivil, condemnable, and a breach of his fundamental human rights which calls for public concern."
Apparently, a SARFT subsidiary, the Movie Satellite Channel Program Production Centre, claims it has exclusive rights to a certain film, Xuebo Dixiao, which focuses on China's battles with Japan in the 1930s. According to the Chinese media subsidiary, Apple streaming the film led to it incurring huge losses.

Strangely, Apple did not even air the film directly. Yuoku HD, an App Store app whose parent company is also a defendant in the suit, streamed the video, which the SARFT subsidiary is urging the court to order both companies to pay a $7,500 fine, in addition to taking down the film.

This is Apple's second run-in with SARFT following an April incident in which SARFT was able to shut down iTunesMovies and iBooks. Apple also lost a trademark battle against a Beijing-based company which names its products IPHONE. More recently, Apple was also accused of cloning an unpopular Chinese brand's design for the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus.
The group has been responsible for a spate of attacks on gas and oil pipeline installations in the Niger Delta over the past few months. Between Friday, July 1 and Sunday, July 3, 2016, the group blew five pipelines.

Usually, the group gives details of their activities via its website, or its Twitter account @NDAVengers but today, Monday, July 4, 2016, the group's Twitter accounted has been suspended.

If you try to visit the group's Twitter profile, you will be faced with a message reading, Account suspended. This account has been suspended. Learn more about why Twitter suspends accounts, or return to your timeline.

This would fit perfectly in-line with Twitter's new drive to tackle terrorist and insurgent propaganda on its platform as it continues to tackle its stagnated user growth rate.

For the Niger Delta Avengers, this will not be the first time one of its information points will be shut down. Back in June, the group's website was shut down for unknown reasons. Less than 24 hours after that, the group launched a new one claiming that the site that went down was due to "maintenance".

That website never came back up, and the group has continued to use the new website, perhaps awaiting the completion of maintenance work on the old one.

Over the past few weeks, the Federal Government and the Nigeria Army has reiterated its desire to work with the militant group; with the Buhari-led administration hoping for some goodwill with a very publicised flag-off of the "clean-up" of Ogoniland, which makes up most of the Niger Delta region.
The bodies were found along the banks of the Ndjili River in Kinshasa's Limete commune, the director of the U.N. Joint Human Rights Office (UNJHRO) in Congo, Jose Maria Aranaz, told Reuters.

According to a 2014 UNJHRO report, police executed at least nine men in a 2013-14 anti-gang operation in Kinshasa, dumping some of the bodies into a river.

New York-based group Human Rights Watch said at least 51 people were killed in the operation with some of the bodies dumped in the larger Congo river.

Congolese authorities deny that it conducted the executions or dumped bodies. Last month, the government announced a fresh crackdown on Kinshasa's notoriously violent street gangs, known as kulunas.

Kinshasa's minister of security, Emmanuel Akweti, told Reuters that authorities will launch an investigation but that they did not yet have any theories to explain the deaths.

Witnesses and a local police officer said the bodies were discovered by fishermen on Sunday morning. They said the men appeared to be in their 20s and their faces and necks were swollen and severely disfigured.
The arrests were made in ten cities across Italy, Sicilian police said, and the suspects were accused of people smuggling, drug trafficking and various financial crimes in a swoop made possible by the testimony of an Eritrean man arrested in 2014.

His testimony allowed the police to raid a small perfume shop in central Rome on June 13, where they seized 526,000 euros ($585,000) and $25,000 in cash, as well as an address book containing information on the members of the ring, it said.

Europe's worst migration crisis since World War Two has seen hundreds of thousands of people pay smugglers to make the trip to Europe from Libya in often unseaworthy boats and dinghies.
President Macky Sall announced last week that the children, known as talibe, must be taken off the streets immediately, and that those who force them to beg would be fined or imprisoned.

Children are sent by their parents in Senegal or trafficked from neighbouring West African countries including Guinea-Bissau to Islamic schools, called daaras, where they are expected to receive food, shelter and teachings from the Koran, rights groups say.

But at least 50,000 children in daaras across Senegal are sent to beg in the streets to make money for teachers, known as marabouts, who beat them if they fail to bring in about 2,000 CFA francs ($3) per day, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW).

"This is the ideal time to talk with the Koranic teachers and invite them to put their daaras (Islamic schools) in order," Issa Kouyate, founder of Maison de la Gare, a shelter for street children in Senegal, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

Kouyate was hailed last week as one of nine global heroes in the fight against trafficking by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry at the launch of the annual Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report, which grades countries on their anti-slavery efforts.

Senegal prosecuted no trafficking suspects last year, and carried out inadequate law enforcement efforts against teachers who exploit children and force them to beg, which remains the country's main trafficking problem, according to the TIP report.

"The government must not bend under pressure from some of the teachers who wish to exploit children," added Kouyate, whose organisation feeds and clothes street children, provides them with education and seeks to reunite them with their families.

Senegal passed a law in 2005 aimed at stopping the abuse of the talibe but only a dozen teachers have been prosecuted.

"Despite the contributions of Kouyate and other partners in the fight against human trafficking in Senegal, particularly on the issue of forced child begging, there is still work to do," Kerry said at the Washington launch of the TIP report last week.
In the last month, Zimbabwe has witnessed spontaneous protests against government corruption, shortages of money and government plans to circulate local bank notes as the southern African nation struggles with a drought and a slowing economy.

Police spokeswoman Charity Charamba told reporters that anti-riot police had deployed in two townships outside Harare and arrested 30 people in connection with the violence.

Charamba said "all those who are inciting and engaging in violence that such misconduct will be severely dealt with."

A Reuters witness said taxi operators teamed up with residents in Epworth township, south of central Harare, to attack police with stones. Police fired teargas, beat up protesters and broke down doors at some houses, saying they were looking for organisers of the protest.

In Mabvuku township, to the east of the capital, police fired teargas as taxi operators blocked roads with stones and burning tyres, taxi driver Aaron Mapani said.
The four men, who included former Defence Minister Kadet Bertin, were persuaded to return following negotiations with the government and guarantees that they would not face charges related to the civil war.

Accompanying Bertin were Kacou Brou, leader of Gbagbo's Fesci youth militia, Yaon Franck, a presidential bodyguard, and Watchard Kedjebo, another militia leader.

But deep-seated tensions between supporters of Gbagbo and those of President Alassane Ouattara -- who won the war with French backing -- continue to simmer.

Pascal Affi N'Guessan, leader of Gbagbo's Ivorian Popular Front (FPI), confirmed on Saturday that the four men had returned by plane late on Thursday and met Defence Minister Alain Donwahi and Minister for Social Cohesion Mariatou Kone.

A government spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

"They're back," N'Guessan told Reuters by telephone. "It's good for reconciliation, but they also need to free all the political prisoners," he said, referring to members of Gbagbo's regime currently in jail for alleged war crimes.

Gbagbo is in custody at the Hague-based International Criminal Court on charges that, when he was attempting to hold on to power in 2011 despite losing an election, he or forces under him committed crimes including rape, murder and persecution.

His main youth militia leader Charles Ble Goude is also being held in The Hague, while his wife Simone is being tried at home.

Gbagbo's supporters and human rights groups complain that not a single senior member of the former rebel forces loyal to Ouattara has been jailed, despite plenty of evidence that they, too, orchestrated crimes.

"It is the justice of the victors, not justice based on truth," N'Guessan said.
Yet, in the words of one senior Chinese official, Beijing does not care.

On July 12, the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague will rule on a case brought by the Philippines against China over its territorial claims and actions across the disputed waters and vital global trade route.

"We do not know, we don't care, in fact, when this arbitration decision will be made, because no matter what kind of decision this tribunal is going to make, we think it is totally wrong," China's ambassador to the UK, Liu Xiaoming, told Reuters at a recent lunch in London.

"It has no impact on China, on China's sovereignty over these reefs, over the islands. And it will set a serious, wrong and bad example. We will not fight this case in court, but we will certainly fight for our sovereignty."

Beijing's plans to ignore the ruling would represent both a rejection of the international legal order and a direct challenge to the United States, which believes China is developing islands and reefs for military, as well as civilian purposes in a threat to stability.

It would also significantly raise the stakes over dispute, according to lawyers, diplomats and security experts.

How Washington handles the aftermath of the ruling is widely seen as a test of its credibility in a region where it has been the dominant security presence since World War Two against an increasingly assertive China.

China in turn sees this as a matter of defending its territorial and political sovereignty against the United States.

Other nations laying claim to disputed areas of the South China sea felt emboldened to challenge China because they felt they had the United States on their side, Liu said.

"They probably believe that they have America (behind them) and they can get a better deal with China. So I'm very suspicious of America's motives."

So while Beijing scoffs at the imminent decision, it is also making an international PR effort to get its view heard.

Beijing has organised meetings with diplomats and journalists and has expressed its views in a slew of editorials and academic papers around the world.

"Manila has no leg to stand on," said one report in the China Daily's inaugural New Zealand edition.

Asian and Western diplomats said their Chinese peers were raising the issue constantly, and at all levels.

"It's relentless. We haven't seen anything like this in years," said one Asian-based Western envoy.

China says more than 40 countries back its position that such territorial disputes should be handled through bilateral discussions not international arbitration, although only a handful of countries have publicly voiced their support.

Both Chinese and Western analysts say the ruling is not just about the territorial claims in the South China sea, but speaks to broader Sino-U.S. tensions over China's rise.
Punjabi among the four top mother tongues spoken in Canada after English and French

SGPC President objected to the cancellation of visas of a large number of the batch going to Pakistan
MUSCATINE, Iowa  Returning home to Muscatine in May, after a year of traveling, is the Muscatine Art Centers Portrait of Captain LeGrand Morehouse, which was loaned as part of the exhibit Painted Journeys: The Art of John Mix Stanley."

The exhibit premiered at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West, in Cody, Wyoming and was curated by Peter H. Hassrick of the Buffalo Bill Center and Mindy N. Besaw of the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art. The exhibit then traveled to the Gilcrease Museum in Tulsa, Oklahoma and the Tacoma Art Museum, in Tacoma, Washington. As noted in a recent article in The Wall Street Journal, the exhibit is the first comprehensive examination of Stanleys career. He is one of the most important American artist of his time, yet is often forgotten because of the tragic 1865 fire at the Smithsonian Institution that destroyed 150 of his Indian Gallery paintings. This exhibit brought together 60 of Stanleys works of the nearly 230 that survive.

Labeled by the Buffalo Bill Centers Director, Bruce Eldredge as beautiful and the rarest of the rare, the Muscatine Art Center was asked to lend the portrait from its permanent collection for the retrospective exhibit. He states that the artist and Captain Morehouse met in Galena, Illinois, in 1838. At the time, Stanley was an itinerate painter and Morehouse a young man starting out in business. They were both genuinely gracious men, both ambitious and both interested in art, one as a patron and one as a creative force. The Morehouse painting is considered one of Stanleys finest portraits from his formative years.

The painting is an important part of Muscatine history as well, as Morehouse has deep connections to Muscatine County and the Mississippi River. Born in New York in 1811, Captain LeGrand Morehouse moved to Galena, Illinois in 1836 and remained there until October, 1839, when he moved to Muscatine County where he purchased a farm on the Mississippi River near Montpelier. In 1849 Morehouse married Julia A. Loomis, a native of New York. After retiring as a riverboat Captain, they remained on their Muscatine farm until 1878, at which time he settled with his family in Buffalo Township, in Scott County. Together, they had seven children.

Morehouse was captain of and owned a controlling interest in the following packet steamboats: Iowa, Falcon, Montak, Newton Wagoner, Dubuque, and Lady Franklin. He was Captain of the steamer Lady Franklin during the Grand Excursion of 1854 when the President of the United States, Millard Fillmore and a large group- of eastern and western leaders celebrated the joint railroad-steamboat connection at Rock Island, Illinois.

The portrait was 1968 gift of Mrs. Ralph (Gail ) Reuling and Mrs. A.R. (Leila) Tipton, both of Muscatine, who were the great granddaughters of Captain Morehouse.
The Mercury News surveyed 240 local, state and federal law enforcement agencies in the San Francisco area, and found that at least 944 weapons have gone missing (stolen, lost, misplaced, no one knows for sure), from law enforcement agencies in recent years.

According to the report: Sniper rifles, a grenade/tear gas launcher, a sub machine gun, and many semiautomatic rifles just seemed to have vanished.

The paper uncovered an alarming disregard for the way many officers, from police chiefs to cadets to FBI agents, safeguard their weapons. Remember, liberals want to disarm law abiding citizens because we cant be trusted with a firearm.

These guns have been stolen from behind car seats, glove boxes, gym bags, dresser drawers and under beds. Theyve been left on tailgates, car roofs and even atop a toilet paper dispenser in a car dealerships bathroom. One officer forgot a high-powered assault rifle in the trunk of a taxi.

Maybe Congress can stage a sit-in until the police in the Bay Area can always account for their weapons. Its not that hard if theres accountability and consequences for losing a weapon.

Sadly, it took the murder of Kate Steinle by an illegal alien using a federal agents stolen gun, before anyone noticed this scandal and cover-up.

This is nearly 1,000 weapons on the streets in the hands of criminals, all obtained illegally in just one area of the country. Now, extrapolate this mess to the rest of the country.

Ken Moffett

Moline
SPRINGFIELD  Municipalities and utility companies that have been waiting many months for the Illinois Department of Corrections to pay power, water and sewer bills for prison facilities should see some money soon, the state Comptroller's Office said late last week.

The short-term budget deal that Gov. Bruce Rauner signed Thursday frees up $321 million for operational expenses in the state's prison system. Those funds were held up in the yearlong budget impasse between the first-term Republican governor and the Democratic-controlled General Assembly.

As of last week, Corrections had racked up more than $34 million in unpaid utility bills at facilities statewide, according to records released to the Quad-City Times Springfield bureau in response to a request under the state's Freedom of Information Act.

Rich Carter, a spokesman for Comptroller Leslie Munger, said checks should be going out soon.

"Comptroller Munger knows the municipalities and utility companies have been waiting a long time to receive these payments, and she has directed staff to pay these bills immediately after receiving the vouchers from the Department of Corrections," Carter wrote in an email Friday.

The largest share of money  $12.9 million  is owed to Constellation Energy Services, a subsidiary of utility giant Exelon Corp. But the state also is in arrears to local municipalities that are home to correctional facilities.

The state owes the southern Illinois city of Chester $1.2 million for utility services at the Menard Correctional Center.

"To a city the size of Chester, it hurts us, and it creates some extreme difficulties in moving money around and paying our bills," Mayor Tom Page told The Southern Illinoisan last week.

As of Friday afternoon, the mayor's office hadn't received word of when the bills would be paid.

The situation is similar in Pontiac in central Illinois. The city just sent the state an $800,000 sewer bill for the Pontiac Correctional Center.

City Administrator Bob Karls said Pontiac has had to make some adjustments to its plans as a result of the state's overdue bills.

"We've kind of slowed down some capital improvement projects," he said, adding that it mostly involved work that was still in the design phase.

Although he's happy that Illinois now has a partial budget, he'll be happier when its bills are paid in full.

"The sigh of relief will come when we get our checks," Karls said, adding that the situation is much less dire than when the state proposed closing the prison back in 2008.

Pontiac isn't the only central Illinois city waiting for its check from Corrections. Among others, the state owes $133,836 to Decatur, $293,187 to Taylorville and $561,695 to Vandalia. In the Quad-Cities area, East Moline is owed $566,539.

Karls said Pontiac never considered disconnecting its prison's sewer service, but municipalities elsewhere grappled with the idea.

Leaders in the west-central Illinois city of Mount Sterling, which the state owes $313,575, weighed shutting off the water at Western Illinois Correctional Center. But the City Council unanimously rejected the idea last month.

Municipalities have little leverage in the situation because if they shut off utilities, the Department of Corrections would have to remove inmates from the facilities. That, in turn, would call into question whether the inmates  and the jobs of those who guard them  would ever return.

"If water had been shut off, it becomes a public health issue, and the state would have no choice but to move inmates," Rauner spokeswoman Catherine Kelly wrote in an emailed statement. "Before a facility could be reopened, IDOC would have to complete any repairs due to a water shut off, which would be subject to available appropriations, and have the entire complex pass inspection."
Belle Fourche has been awarded a $6,901 grant from the South Dakota Department of Health for mosquito control.

Newell is listed to receive $3,716, and Nisland $2,048 in the grants.

Camp Crook receives $750.

According to a Department of Health news release, grant awards were based on the population of the applying jurisdiction and its history of human West Nile virus cases through 2015

The three Butte County communities together received one of the greater segments of about $500,000 in mosquito control grants.

Since the states first human case in 2002, South Dakota has reported 2,208 cases, including 696 hospitalizations and 32 deaths. Every county has reported cases.

Belle Fourche is one of the first communities to undertake a mosquito control program after West Nile became an increasing concern. The program includes control both of potential mosquito larvae and also neighborhood spraying.

According to the health department, including this latest round of grants, the state has provided local mosquito control programs with more than $6.5 million in support, in either direct grant funding or control chemicals, since the virus emerged in South Dakota.
It's not just "drought" hitting western South Dakota, it's a real fear of surface water contamination that literally can kill cattle.

That danger to livestock "is spreading like wildfire in this area," according to Robin Salverson, South Dakota State University cow-calf field specialist.

She added, "It's not getting any better."

Even several inches of rain won't likely add enough water to drought-depleted surface water sources.

Since thunderstorm rainfall tends to be spotty, she said,"We're going to need a gully washer" in general across western South Dakota.

The drought conditions have been evaporating surface water sources, concentrating such dissolved solids as salts and sulfites.

Salverson, who is based at the Lemmon Regional Center, said last week that she had tested surface water sources that normally serve livestock from the Missouri River to the Montana state line.

More than half of the 150 water samples she tested came out with dissolved solids over the red line for danger to cattle.

"It's a big deal," she said. Of samples collected over a two-week period, the state said 56 percent tested dangerously high for dissolved salts.

It's serious enough that she's even warning ranchers who have well water for their livestock.

"If you have a well, watch it," she said. If the well goes down, that could take cattle toward anything that looks like water on a given rangeland area.

She said surface water used by cattle should be tested: "Period."

"Call us to bring it in or in some cases we can go out," Salverson said. The water testing is a free service of the SDSU Extension Service.

Surface water usually used by cattle in the region could vary from stock dams to creeks.

SDSU regional centers in Rapid City and Lemmon, Butte and Harding County extension offices could test a clean sample of surface water.

Salverson said she's encouraging everyone to test surface water sources used by livestock, "especially if it's the only water source."

She said that the test for dissolved solids is the only way a rancher can tell if a stock dam or other water source is a potential danger to cattle.

"There is really no way to do it visually," she said.

Tests in Butte, Meade and Pennington counties have brought results of real concern.

"Polio has been occurring," Salverson said.

Along with bovine polio, she said the high concentration of salts can bring weight loss and possible death.

Earlier in the week she had said the poor water quality also was leading to blindness.

Regardless, she said, the poor water quality could lead easily to weight losses.

Sheep, another major livestock in northwestern South Dakota, also are a concern, according to Larry Prager, general manager at Center of the Nation Wool in Belle Fourche.

Prager said Friday, "Drought's drought."

"Sheep can deal with it better," he said, but that doesn't mean there's no concern among sheep ranchers in the area.

"It can still bring heat stress," he said.

Ranchers also are checking surface water areas for sheep bogged down in mud where they had been searching for water.

Butte County proclaimed the drought a local disaster, joining similar declarations in eastern Wyoming and neighboring South Dakota counties. That could bring federal aid to businesses and ranchers in affected areas, according to Brent Kolstad, regional coordinator for South Dakota Emergency Management.

Kolstad last week emailed West River counties in his region that assistance for water hauling and aid in wells, pipeline and tanks may be possible with a drought disaster declaration.
There are a lot of qualities that make South Dakotans some of the greatest people in America. Theyre humble, honest, and thoughtful, and they know a hard days work and the true value of a dollar better than anyone else. South Dakotans have an immense respect for what it means to be an American and are grateful for the extraordinary blessing of having been born here, the freest country in the world. More than that, though, they understand those blessings came with a price  an immeasurable amount of blood, sweat, and tears. All that to say, the true meaning of July 4 isnt lost on the people who call South Dakota home.

Independence Day is one of those holidays thats celebrated in different ways by different people, but all with an underlying sense of pride and patriotism. I think thats exactly what the men and women whove laid down their lives on our behalf would have wanted, and its a right for which our military heroes continue to fight and protect to this day.

For as many communities as there are across South Dakota, theres as many unique and enjoyable Fourth of July celebrations. The cowboys and cowgirls at Belle Fourches Black Hills Roundup and Rodeo, one of the oldest annual outdoor rodeos in America, will ride in the 97th annual event this year. The week-long experience includes a parade, fireworks, the Miss Rodeo South Dakota contest, and the big rodeo itself, of course. While youre in the Black Hills, the Crazy Horse celebration is a sight to see, considering it usually includes an explosion or two as the monument continues to take shape.

It goes without saying, but while each of those celebrations and the dozens more that take place across the state are worth seeing on their own, nothing quite compares to spending July 4 at Mount Rushmore. On any given day, youd be hard-pressed not to feel a rush of patriotism while visiting Borglums tribute to some of our nations Founding Fathers, but add the excitement of July 4 to the mix, and I dont think it gets more American than that.

Whether you and your family are camping, hiking, or firing up the backyard BBQ this Fourth of July, I hope its a safe, enjoyable, and memory-filled day. Wherever you are and whichever parade you attend, dont miss the steely-eyed men and women marching quietly near the front. They wont be tossing any candy and they wont be riding on a flashy float. For our veterans, carrying the stars and stripes has a little extra meaning that day, and its something we should always honor and never forget.
In this year of congressional gridlock, Congress has sent a bill to President Obama for his signature that is a major step in responding to our country's massive infrastructure needs.

Introduced in the Senate last November by Nebraska Republican Sen. Deb Fischer, along with Sens. Cory Booker, D-N.J., Steve Daines, R-Mont., and Gary Peters, D-Mich., the bill gained final approval from the Senate June 13, right after the House gave its approval to an identical bill.

The PIPES Act will reauthorize the gas and hazardous liquid pipeline and related programs of the Department of Transportation through Fiscal Year 2019, with a total funding of $720 million.

This is a major bipartisan achievement, with Republicans and Democrats supporting it in both the Senate and House.

The bill will enable the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) to hire much-needed pipeline inspectors and analysts with greater flexibility. It also will ensure coordination and collaboration on pipeline mapping, research, development and technology between the PHMSA, the industry and the public.

PHMSA programs include emergency response grants, one-call notification programs, state damage prevention programs, community pipeline safety information grants, and a pipeline integrity program.

The need for increased effectiveness of federal regulation of the pipeline industry has become clear in recent years with major disasters, including the explosion that gutted the M's Pub building in Omaha's Old Market district last January.

It was determined the fire was fueled by natural gas from a utility pipeline damaged by a Bemidji, Minn., excavation company drilling in the area. Federal authorities have now proposed only fining the company $4,900.

Oversight and accountability  and especially cooperation between the federal and state government  are key to preventing incidents like this from happening in the future.

Lawmakers are also seeking to prevent catastrophic oil pipeline breakdowns that have been so devastating, from California to Michigan.

Nebraskans' concerns about safety issues with the Keystone XL pipeline proposed to run through the state contributed to the Canadian company's plans being rejected by the federal government. There are similar pipelines elsewhere in the country and an oil spill from one of them would be devastating, regardless of where it happens.

This legislation, shepherded through the U.S. Senate by Fischer, will make sure that we apply lessons learned from past disasters and keep communities across the country safe.

 The (Neb.) Grand Island Independent
President Putin signs law on Russian National Guard

MOSCOW, July 4 (RAPSI)  Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a federal law on Russian National Guard, according to Presidential press-service.

On June 20, the State Duma Committee on security and fighting corruption has approved an amendment to the bill, extending the National Guards rights on using weapons, including, under certain circumstances shooting in crowds. On June 29, the bill was passed by the Federation Council.

On April 5, President Vladimir Putin signed a decree launching a major overhaul of Russias security agencies. According to the decree, Interior Ministrys interior troops should be transformed into the National Guard directly subordinated to the President. The legislation on National Guard gives the service a right to use special equipment and weapons.

The Presidential decree specifies the main duties of the National Guard, which should include fight against terrorism and extremism, participation in the territorial defense of the Russian Federation, protection of important state facilities and special cargoes, support for border guards, and monitoring of compliance with the law in the areas of arms circulation.

The Federal Law also establishes regulations for weapon trafficking until January 1, 2019.
Former oil company manager gets 7 years in prison for stealing $187.5 mln

MOSCOW, July 4 (RAPSI)  The Tagansky District Court of Moscow has sentenced Fyodor Khoroshilov, former manager of the Tyumen branch of the Siberian Oil Company (Sibneft), to 7 years in prison for embezzling about 12 billion rubles ($187.5 million) from VTB bank, RAPSI learnt in the court on Monday.

Khoroshilovs partner, Gendrik Mundut, received a 5-year suspended sentence.

Prosecutors asked to sentence Khoroshilov and Mundut to 9 and 7 years in jail respectively and impose a 750,000 ruble ($11,700) fine on each of the defendants.

Companies owned by Khoroshilov have reportedly obtained credits from VTB bank and its Cypriot subsidiary for field development since 2005.

In 1998-2002, Khoroshilov was manager of the Tyumen branch of the Siberian Oil Company (Sibneft) and had an oilfield development license for three fields in West Siberia where he planned to start drilling. In 2008, Khoroshilov stopped servicing the loan. In June 2009, VTB began filing claims against Khoroshilov with the High Court of London the total value of which eventually reached $800 million.

According to investigation, in 2006, Khoroshilov and Mundut, by acting together, used their authority to steal about 12 billion rubles belonging to the VTB bank by providing misleading information.
Investigation into murder of high-ranking policeman and his family complete

MOSCOW, July 4 (RAPSI, Diana Gutsul)  Four men have been presented with final charges in a criminal case related to the murder of the ex-head of Syzrans police Andrei Gosht and five members of his family, official representative of the Investigative Committee Vladimir Markin told RAPSI on Monday.

Four men, Mahmadali Ahmadov, Roman Fataliev, Islam Babayev and Orkhan Zohrabov were charged with robbery, murder of two and more people, attempted murder of a minor.

On the morning of April 24, bodies of six victims, four men and two women, were found in a living house of Ivashevka settlement in the Syzran area of the Samara Region. One of the victims is the former head of Syzran Andrei Gosht. Other victims were members of his family. At the moment of his death Gosht was holding a position of a Deputy Chief of Staff of the Interior Ministry Directorate for the Samara Region.
An open letter to businesses

It is once again summertime in Montana and for many businesses that means time to reseal and/or re-stripe their parking lots. Before taking on this task, however, there is one very important aspect of this process that I feel the need to bring to the attention of business owners  ensuring that accessible parking spaces are usable by people with disabilities and meet the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Specifically, When a business or state or local government restripes parking spaces in a parking lot or parking structure (parking facilities), it must provide accessible parking spaces as required by the 2010 ADA Standards for Accessible Design (2010 Standards) (ADA Compliance Brief: Restriping Parking Spaces, U.S. Department of Justice, 2015). Yes, restriping a parking lot is considered an alteration and when doing so, must be brought into compliance with current accessibility standards. Resealing and restriping a parking lot creates a simple and inexpensive opportunity to ensure accessible spaces are configured properly.

This may seem like a no-brainer to many, however, all too often businesses are still failing, even 26 years after the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act, to provide accessible parking spaces, in particular van accessible parking spaces, that meet the ADA Standards for Accessible Design. This failure to bring parking lots into compliance with accessibility standards means that many patrons who require the use of accessible parking simply will not be able to access your business and instead, will choose to shop elsewhere.

For a designated accessible parking space to be considered van accessible, the parking space must either measure 8 feet wide and have an adjacent access aisle that also measures 8 feet wide or measure 11 feet wide and have an adjacent access aisle that measures 5 feet wide. Van accessible parking spaces must also have a vertical clearance of at least 98 inches and have a sign indicating they are van accessible. One of every six (or fraction of six) accessible parking spaces, but always at least one (the first one), must be van accessible.

For further guidance on the accessibility requirements of parking lots when it comes to restriping, please refer to https://www.ada.gov/restriping_parking/restriping2015.pdf or contact Summit Independent Living (www.summitilc.org).

When restriping your parking lot(s), please do the right and lawful thing and make sure you provide accessible parking spaces that are in compliance with the 2010 ADA Standards for Accessible Design.

Travis Hoffman

Summit Independent Living
AFP/Getty Images(JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia) -- An explosion took place near the U.S. consulate in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

The blast, which happened in the early hours of Independence Day for the U.S., was reportedly caused by a suicide bomber, according to BBC.

At least two policemen were injured, local reports said.

A U.S. State Department spokesperson said, "We are aware of reports of an explosion in Jeddah, and working with Saudi authorities to collect more information now."

A worker at the consulate told ABC News that no employees were injured.

In 2004, militants stormed the consulate with explosives and machine guns in an attack that left nine people dead.

Copyright  2016, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
Dirgha Raj Prasai

In ancient time, Himwatkhanda-Nepal extended from Bramhaputra in the East to Hindukush in the west, Kailash Mansovar in the North and Ganga in the South. In ancient time Himwatkhanda Nepal disintegrated into many smaller nations. This area of the Himwatkhanda is the golden land. A veteran Rishi-Vasista (Hindus ascetic Guru) in a special Vedic scripture has mentioned about Himwatkhanda, Bharatkhande Utarayane Himalaya Tate Swarnabhumi, Swarnabhumi, meaning the northern part of Bharatkhande, the Himalayan mountains is the golden land and just haven. We can draw inference as to the greatness of this land. Kalidash in his Kumaar Sambhav has mentioned, The land from Eastern Himalayas to the Western Himalayas is the Arya land. Before the Muslim and English imperialism in Bharatvarsha there were more than 25 sovereign Hindu states. at that time, India was not called 'Hindustan.' But, before the Great King- Prithvi Narayan Shah, the creator of greater Nepal- had said- Nepal is the real 'Hindusthana' at 1800 Bs (1753, AD)

The identification of Himwatkhanda Nepal and Bharatkhanda-India are associated with the ancient Vedic Hindu religion. May all be happy in the world and let no one suffer from disease and be sad. May no one keep ill will towards another being? May all be liberal and compassionate? All humans of the world are our relatives. Basudhaiv Kutumbakam. May all receive equal amount of food, relation and shelter. Let us become a liberal character of compassion and be active for omnipresent. May all worlds be well? 'OM- Shanti' is Vedic Hindu customs cleansed indicative. The welfare and happiness of all is the supreme system which is the belief of the Vedic Hindu society. Dr. Basudev Krishna Shastri writes, Hindus worship the Sun. The light that emanates from Sun is common for all. Without water no living being can survive. This is everyones right. Such things are beyond divisions, and consumed by all as per their necessity. For the prosperity of human life there must remain equal right and prerogative among us. No one should be hindered from contributing to their nation. So it is mentioned in the Veda, Let us all rise for national awareness. This shows that Hindu religion is the vehicle that would show path to all human societies. Bramha- Bishnu-Maheshwor (the three Lords) is the guidance of Vedic Hindu life. In the ancient, Vedic Hindu religions the supreme is the ocean where anyone can swim anyhow.

The Sanskrit language was the popular language of ancient Nepal and India. A famous Scholar Max Mucller has written in his book- 'India-What Can it teach us'-' Sanskrit no doubt has an immense advantage over all other ancient language of the East. In a certain Sense we are still speaking and thinking Sanskrit or more correctly Sanskrit is like a dear aunt to use and she takes the place of a mother who is no more. Let us take a brief look at additional evidence to help verify the ides that Sanskrit was the original language of the world, and that it is connected with numerous countries and cultures. Latin and Persian are dialects of Sanskrit. Greek has borrowed a lot from Sanskrit. French & English are full Sanskrit words, roots and speech forms.

United HinduFront defines- The word "Veda" means knowledge, or wisdom. "Anta" means the culmination. The philosophical school of Vedanta represents the very highest teaching on the nature of man, God and creation in the whole of Sanatana Dharma-Hinduism. Even more, Vedanta represents the highest philosophical and spiritual teachings on earth. Vedanta is the culmination of all divine and human wisdom. An Indian Cultural analyst writes-'There is another hymn in Atharva Veda stating that we are all co-workers for prosperity and make riches flow amongst the people on the path of Dharma and Rta (A.V 1-15-2, 4). There is also a common prayer in Rig-Veda for the welfare of all human beings. We should create concord amongst the human beings, love each other as the cow loves the calf born to her, we all speak gently and in a friendly manner, let our water store be common and common also our share of food. Morning and evening let there be loving heart in all of us (R.V 10-191-2 to 4), (A.V 3-30-1 to 7).'

An American Scholar Dr Hiro Badlani writes in his book-'Hinduism: Path of the Ancient Wisdom'- 'The word Veda originate from the root Vid, which means 'to know'. The Veda scriptures are considered to be the divine knowledge perceived by the ancient sages, Rishis. The great truth which is remains unchanged even today. Hinduism is a vastly liberal religion. It openly and fervently uncurious and tolerates differences of opinion, use of discretion, and interpretation based on one's own circumstances and perception. In Hindu philosophy, 'Consciousness' is considered as a Divine Awareness' behind all the activity.'

Vedic Hindu ancient religion is the devotee of Panchadev (the five Gods). OM is the follower of Vedic Hindu Panchadev. A suffering man will remember one of the Pachayan Devs (the five Gods). Panchayan means- it is compulsory to worship the Gods Ganesha, Devi, Surya, Shiva and Bishnu. If one of them is discriminated while carrying out the ritual of worship then the worship will not be complete. However, some Hindu communities have developed their own definition which has created controversy in the ancient Hindu beliefs. We are all the same. We Hindus and Buddhists do not want to invite controversy and dispute. Nepal is stable as a Hindu and Buddhist nation. Our respect to our compatriot is based on the ancient Vedic Hindu religion. Our concern and that of Buddhists corresponds to each other. Goddess Kali is worshipped by all Hindus as a manifestation of Shakti - the fierce destroyer of all evil. Her peaceful manifestation is Goddess Durga. Like God and Goddess, Cow is known as a shrine for all Hindus and the Buddhists. The cow was venerated as the mother goddess in the early Mediterranean civilizations. The cow became important in Nepal & India, first in the Vedic period (1500 - 900 BCE). The lord Bhishma also observes that the cow acts as a surrogate mother by providing milk to human beings for the whole life. The cow is truly the mother of the world. Cows as Gifts of all gifts, the cow is still considered the highest in rural Nepal, India and the Hindu world. So the holy animal- 'COW' has declared a National animal in Nepal.

Swami Chandresh says, It is clearly mentioned in all Hindu scriptures as Geeta, Vedas, Yoga and Tantras that this particular religion is supposed for all people of the world. Hindu religion does not believe in creation of factions and conversion of religion. It believes in turning an animal-like man to a human and a human to God. In accordance with all Hindu scriptures a man earns his pride, power, knowledge and money through Karma. The Vedic Hindu religion was born of intense meditation, Yoga and deep interpretation of knowledge and truth carried out by Rishis (sages) in the steppes of Himalaya. It will be unwise to compare Nepals social conditions with Indian cultural lifestyle. India has been influenced by Muslim religion and Christian rule which had forced them into a slavish mentality for many centuries, and they have been forced to live in compulsion, and have been defiled. We Nepali people are somewhat fortunate in a sense that sovereignty of Nepal has not been defiled by foreigners.

Athmana Pratikulani Paresam nasamacharet meaning, don't do so for others which you dislike to do or talk. This is the chief policy of Hinduism. But, a concerning crisis seen in the Hindu communities is the growth of Vaisnav religion, Krishna Pranami, Jain, Shikh along with different definitions and interpretations of religious Gurus has created crisis in the Hindu communities. This has plunged the Hindu religion into controversy. There have been foul attempts to create artificial lacking in the OMKAR (followers of OM). The Cosmic Word OM becomes the raft of knowledge. According to Yajur Veda XL-17, this word OM is Brahma Itself. "OM Khamma Brahma"- OM Thy name is Brahma. Through this Word, He not only created Prakrti and Universe but also protects the same with the divine energy coming out of Shabad Brahma. This cosmic word OM is from the root Ava (to protect).

A cultural analyst Arvind Pradhan 'Vedic Hindu religion is almost as old as human-race means millions of year old. Jew religion is about three thousand years old. Jainism is about two thousand and five hundred years old. Christianity is about two thousand years old which means before 2 thousand years ago there were no Christians and no Christian country on this earth. Islam is about 14 hundred years old. Before 14 hundred years ago there was no Islam, no Muslim and no Muslim country on this earth. Sikh religion is almost 5 hundred years old means before 5 hundred years ago there was no Sikhs on this earth. The OMKAR (Vidic-Hindu, Buddhist, Jain and Shikh family of the ancient Hindu religion is facing crisis. Following the Vedic Hindu Pachayan Devs (the five Gods), Jain and Shikh are following their own beliefs. The cosmic word 'OM' is from the root Ava (to protect).

Many Hindu families have even stopped speaking due to this aura of competition that has pervaded the ancient Hindu religious communities. Due to the presence of evil imperialism the ancient Hindu religion has failed to organize itself. Panchayan is the religion of any Hindu. Those deciding to follow Baisnav, Krishna Pranami or Bramhakumari must not detach themselves from the mainstream Hindu religion. In order to make this possible the religious Gurus must not disseminate illusion among their followers in an unacceptable way. The religious followers that have grown with Rigved, Yarjuved, Arthaved and Samved recitals should not distort the truth of Srimad Bhagwat Mahapurana, and try attaining an imaginary enlightenment.

It is inappropriate to pollute the Hindu ocean by choosing the path of four streams when the main stream is available. We must reach understanding to rid the Hindu religion of the defects that were advertently or inadvertently born of us. There are people (some foreigners and brokers) wanting to destroy our civilization and create division within us. It is our duty to be alert of these things. We dont need the knowledge of foreign religions. Hindu world is in itself sufficient and Vedic Hindu religion is the pioneer of worlds civilization. The reality is that in Hindu world, we need only to evaluate the Bishnu Avatar then we will find the world in it. The ten avatars (incarnation) of God Bishnu, in order are- Matsyaroop (Fish), Kurma (tortoise), Baraharoop (pig), Narsighroop (lion and man), Baman (pigmy), (Brahman), Parashuram, Rama, Krishna, Buddha. We can infer that ancient Vedic Hindu religion has remained creative in guiding the civilization and human life. Hindus faith lies in Bhramha- Bishnu- Maheshwor. In this way it has the ancient Vedic Hindu religion bestowed its guidance in the growth of civilization and human life?

A famous scholar Stephen Knapp writes-' Vedic culture has been changing the world throughout the ages. The fact is that more Westerners than ever before are adopting the ways and philosophy of Vedic culture, whether it is through yoga and meditation, or adapting the philosophy of karma and reincarnation. Many are those who want to follow this path. I=m an example of that, and there are many more out there, and many more who want to but don=t know it yet. We need to be willing to share it with them. That itself is a great contribution to the world from the Vedic path. The more we uphold our principles and let others know why they are important, the more they will also adopt our ways'. Every nation has a unique cultural identity. The values, believes, ethos, conduct, moral compass, dress, personality, family values and demeanor of a given country are set apart from other countries. Muslim culture, African culture with many differences, American culture, Italian culture, Mexican culture, Chinese culture, etc are examples of their uniqueness in terms what they stand for. There are many differences among Hindus depending on their region and sub-regions. There are many traits that are unique to Hindus. Many scholars and people describe- Hindu culture as unity in diversity resulting in more tolerance. Never invaded any other country and never subjugated others for reasons of religious dominance. After all, we Hindu in the world are suffering from the nonsense money-minded brokers of Christian.

Yes! May I present the face of Christianity? 'When the missionaries came to Africa they had the Bible and we had the land. They said, 'Let us pray.' We closed our eyes. When we opened them we had the Bible and they had the land.' Bishop Desmond Tutu quotes (African Spiritual leader and Novelist, b.1931). So we Hindus are suspicious on the Christian activities.

The reality is that the Hindus' mind is universal, nonsectarian, non-religious, scientific, exploratory, methodical, sacred, logical, investigative, intuitive, objective and inclusive. It is with this kind of mindset, one can live in peace, wipe out terrorism, root out sectarian dogmas, value the human life, respect the dignity of individuals, practice non-violence, tolerate differences, value the freedom of expression, advocate the pluralistic believes, uphold the liberty for all, refrain from terror, abstain from destroying other civilizations, and live in peaceful coexistence. In Hinduism, each person is free to experience as much sensory pleasure and accumulate as much wealth as he or she desires, provided no hurt is caused to any one in the process. Only after satiating the desires the individual can finally liberate himself from material wants. The fact is that there's no part of life that doesn't contain its lessons. If we are alive, that means there are still lessons to be learned.

We are proud to be Nepali. We want to be free of foreign intervention pertaining to our national unity, our traditional culture, and we will be free. Since the ancient times democracy has been a system that has been exercised and recited in Himwatkhanda. We have been adopting as the chief policy of giving equal opportunity to all to exercise their freedom, and we have tried to provide food and shelter for all. Religious freedom is our belief. Everyone has the right to follow their own religion. However, by showing the attraction of money, Christians have been alluring people to convert their religion; they have become one of the destroyers the foundation of Hindu religion, which we regard as enemies. Against such people all Hindu world must unite. Due to the republican system, the country is standing on the verge of dismemberment in the last ten years.

The permanent institution- 'Monarchy' can put unites the cordial relation between Nepal, India and China. In between the two big neighbors-China & India, the monarchy had been playing a balanced role. Nepalese monarchy is identified the most convincing identity of Nepal's independence, cultural unity and safeguards the Indian culture and peace also. I think, majority Indian people also want peaceful Nepal with monarchy. So, Nepalese people need to reinstate the amiable Hindu monarchy. Nepal could remain an independent and sovereign country only because of monarchy. The monarchy was pivotal in integrating Nepal, establishing democratic and just society at par with the modern world. But why are the political parties so averse and negative towards monarchy? It is true that there are many countries which do not have monarchy still they could remain independent and prosperous. Nepalese king has ever acted or walked on the path which is against Nepal's national interest. Gorkha was one country since ancient time. This country is the result of the unification of 54 small countries or fiefdoms under the leadership of the monarchy. Some people lacking information about Nepal's geo-political stand point along with the cultural history as the king remained symbol of unity in diversity take as an obsolete and ancient institution, but not all countries with monarchy are deprived and destitute. In the context of Nepal, the political parties can always get along with monarchy.

We must all know that to bring secularism is to invite war. Regardless of who we are; Rai, Limbu, Magar, Gurung, Newar, Brahman, Chetri, Kami, Damai, Sarki, Maithali, Bhojpuri, Awadhi among others, we are all either Hindu or Buddhist. Some Sherpa, Tamang and Newars are affiliated to Buddhism. No matter who follows what Pashupatinath and Swayambunath lay in the same world? Vedic Hindu civilization religion is highly liberal in nature. Whether one worships an idol or one is either vegetarian or non vegetarian we are all Hindus. Hindus are free to live as they see fit. This religion is regarded as highly democratic and liberal. However, there are conspiracies in Nepal against Hindu and Buddhist religion. We Hindu in the world must act to save our identity. The ancient Vedic-Hindu civilization and religion must drape these religions that have chosen to go against humanity with the cloak of civilization and harmony. So, to keep intact all the identified symbols of Nepal, monarchy and Hindu kingdom must be in existence. Long live- 'Hinduism' in all over the world.

Email:dirgharajprasai@gmail.com
To protect one horned rhinoceros and fight against poachers, Assam government will form a Special Rhino Protection Force.

During the inaugural function of the week long 65th Van Mahotsav held at Gauhati University, Assam Forest Minister said that, the state government has taken initiative to protect wild animals including one horned rhinoceros and to fight against poachers.

Poachers had killed 11 rhinos including 9 alone in Kaziranga National Park (KNP) in the state in this year so far.

Speaking on the occasion Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal said that the identity of Assam across the world is its greenery and advocated for a synergistic approach between the government and the people to increase its green cover.

Deforestation being perpetrated by various vicious circles posed a great challenge to our society and we need to deal with it unitedly.

Annual celebrations of Van Mahotsav gives us an opportunity to lend our hands in plantations and increase our green covers and we need to take the celebrations to every nook and corner of Assam, Sonowal said.

Sonowal also asked the Forest Department to popularize scientific explanations of Van Mahotsav and help everybody to realize the need for trees in society.

Terming trees as the economic backbone of the State, Sonowal called upon everybody to work on a mission mode to plant saplings and increase green cover and contribute towards a flourishing state economy.

To imbibe love for the trees, Sonowal also urged upon parents to gift saplings to their children on birthdays. This would enable their children to generate love for trees, nature and environment.

Emphasizing that Rhinos as the pride of Assam, Sonowal called upon all sections of the people of the State to come forward and work as a deterrent against rhino poaching.

The Assam CM also requested them to consider rhino protection as their

state duty.

Sonowal also spoke on the need for a strong public opinion to protect and preserve the flora and fauna of Assam and exhorted on the need for a resolution to protect the rich biodiversity of the State.

Forest Minister Pramila Rani Brahma urged upon all sections of the people of the State to join hands for increasing the green cover and stop rhino poaching.

Principal Chief Conservator of Forest Darash Mathur, Principal Secretary, Environment and Forests Sanjeeva Kumar, Rector, Gauhati University Hari Prasad Sharma along with a host of dignitaries were present on the occasion.

The intention of this annual celebration is to improve the green cover, especially in un-forested areas

.

Started in 1950 by the Ministry of Agriculture, Van Mahotsav gives an opportunity to concerned department and other stake holders to accelerate their efforts in conserving forests and environment.

The State Forest Department has announced to plant 1.25 crore saplings over 6800 hectare of degraded forest areas across the State in this year.

(Reporting by Hemanta Kumar Nath)
Kathmandu, Nepal: CPN Maoist Centre Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal called on Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli at latters official residence on Monday.

The meeting between the do s taken meaningfully as it is held at the time when Dahal has repeatedly been demanding to handover the leadership of the government as per the nine point deal signed between the two major government allies.

It is said that the duo discussed on ranges of issues including the implementation of the new constitution. According to a source close to the office of the Prime Minister, Dahal reiterated the need of national consensus government to implement the constitution.

As a recent meeting of the CPN Maoist center had authorized Dahal to initiate dialogue to form a national consensus government, he went there to rememorize Prime Minister Oli about the nine-point agreement, a leader of the Maoist center said.
sacw.net - 4 July 2016

Subject: ABVA releases digitized version of its report aBlood of the Professionalsa

The AIDS Bhedbhav Virodhi Andolan (ABVA) is releasing the digitized version of its report titled aBlood of the Professionalsa a a report on the exploitation of professional blood donors by the blood banking system in India. The 31-paged report was prepared by Jagdish Bhardwajee, a professional blood donor in collaboration with ABVA around twenty-five years back in July 1991. The initial transcript was written in longhand in a public library; later it was typed on a mechanical typewriter and photocopies were circulated at a press conference held in July 1991. This is the only report of its kind in India written by a person who was forced to sell blood for a living.

Jagdish Bhardwajee, coming from a middle class background, had hit the pavement in 1981 while at the peak of his personal and professional life. He had suffered huge economic losses in his business and had to dispose off his Greater Kailash-II residence and car in a distress sale. His wife left him along with the only son the couple had. He overcame a spell of severe depression and struggled with his life on the pavement at Jama Masjid, Old Delhi. He found himself amongst people who were forced to earn their livelihood by selling their blood. Later he organized them under the banner of professional blood donors and launched a long agitation at Boat Club a the Hyde Park of Delhi a so that they get better remuneration for a bottle of blood! The organization acquired an all India banner. For about two decades Jagdish himself was selling his blood for a living; at times once a day and even thrice a day on occasions.

In 1990, Jagdish joined ABVA and was actively associated with it for over a decade. This report documents the lives and struggles of professional blood donors in India. In a public interest litigation filed by H.D. Shourie titled Common Cause vs. Union of India and Others [Writ Petition (civil) 91 of 1992], the Supreme Court had inter alia banned professional blood donation. Jagdish had filed an intervention application through advocate Laxmi Kant Pandey urging the court to have a rehabilitation policy for professional blood donors in the event the court was likely to ban professional blood donation. Though the judgement delivered on 4 January, 1996 victimised professional blood donors eventually, Jagdishas application was not even accepted. However the judgement was shortsighted as it has only resulted in driving the professional blood donors underground making them more vulnerable to exploitation and donating organs like kidney. As late as 27 January, 2015 the BBC reported in its news titled aBlood for sale: Indias illegal red marketa :

aThe illicit market in blood has simply moved underground, or in some cases, into the realms of the macabre.a

Jagdish Bhardwajee passed away in 2007 in his mid-fifties. He was suffering from diabetes for a number of years but apparently succumbed to chest T.B. No friend or relative could be contacted at the time of his death. The servant working at his place, his landlord and a few community people had taken his body for cremation. This report would not have been possible without him. To quote his own words from the report:

aMy personal experience which I have gathered in this field may not have been possible from the world outside the community of professional blood donors. I strongly feel that the knowledge I have so far attained in science, humanity and about the compulsions of poverty creating a professional blood donor, has left no room for any sorrow of my past loss. I feel it to be all in the course of being blessed with such knowledge in this competitive world.a

Read the report here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B5_-fAzc3ezucTBxdHJFX1FxbEU/view

AIDS Bhedbhav Virodhi Andolan Email: aidsbhedbhavvirodhiandolan@gmail.com
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Here's who is on the ballot in Saline County

Advance, in-office voting is underway in Saline County, as voters in the 2022 general election have several options on who and what to vote for.
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Watch It's A Disaster with David Cross & Julia Stiles via blockchain!

LBRY Announces Beta Release, Live Blockchain & Major Content Deals

240 years ago, a ragtag group of rebels declared their independence from the most powerful empire in the world. Despite the odds, they were confident that they had a system which worked better  it was more decentralized, closer to the people involved, and based on radical ideas that the old system was too slow to incorporate.

LBRY is proud to continue this tradition by announcing the beta release of our LBRY app and live blockchain this July 4th. This time, the old order is Big Media  the major record labels, book publishers, and movie studios that have managed to cling to their fiefdoms despite the potential of the internet to connect independent artists directly to their fans.

Its expensive to store and serve a bunch of content, so the market is dominated by the likes of Googles Youtube, Apples iTunes, and Amazons Kindle Store. By combining several new open-source technologies and key innovations, LBRY is able to cut out the middlemen. The result is a platform that no one controls but everyone can access  just like the internet itself.

With LBRY, content creators  be they filmmakers, musicians, writers, or software developers  are empowered to set their own price and release their works to the world with a few clicks of the mouse. There are no ads, no corporate censors, and LBRY takes no portion of your income. For consumers, it means there is finally an alternative to the big media stores and the murky world of BitTorrent  which doesnt have a payment system and therefore is run on goodwill.

The LBRY app we're releasing today is the first of its kind  a media marketplace powered by a blockchain and yet easy enough for your Grandma to use. The release includes a LBRY client with one-click installation for Linux and OS X. Initially, the beta is invite-only to allow a gradual scaling of the network. Invites can be requested at www.lbry.io/get.

Oscilloscope Laboratories and Emergent Order signed on as featured content partners for todays launch. So right from the start, beta users will be treated to the following premium films: Indie production houses have seen the potential in LBRY.. So right from the start, beta users will be treated to the following premium films:

Its A Disaster  lbry://itsadisaster

The sleeper hit dark comedy, starring David Cross and Julia Stiles, about four couples gathering for a regular brunch when they receive news of a disaster just outside the door. The film is considered a model of indie success.

Fight of the Century: Keynes vs. Hayek Rap Battle  lbry://keynesvhayek

This viral hit short film shows economic heavyweights Friedrich Hayek and John Maynard Keynes in a musical duel over which of their theories is correct. Sound boring? Tell that to the films millions of viewers so far.

In addition to watching these films and other pieces already uploaded to LBRY, there are several ways users can interact with the platform  and begin generating income  once they receive beta access:
Seguin, TX (78155)

Today

Except for a few afternoon clouds, mainly sunny. High 83F. Winds SE at 10 to 20 mph..

Tonight

Scattered thunderstorms in the evening, then mainly cloudy overnight with thunderstorms likely. Low 66F. Winds SE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 80%.
 Draft DNC party platform calls for abolition of death penalty ... which means? | Main | New Philippines Prez wasting no time executing deadly "tough on crime" plans 

The title of this post is the headline of this recent Roll Call article reporting on a notable meeting between a prominent advocate for federal sentencing reform and a prominent (former) "poster child" defendant representing the need for reform. The article includes a short video, and here are excerpts of a story that seems worth profiling on a weekend for celebrating US freedoms:

Sen. Mike Lee has told the story of Weldon Angelos prison term hundreds of times, describing the 55-year sentence over three marijuana sales in 72 hours as crazy and nuts.

An improbable set of events brought the two men together Wednesday in the Utah Republican's office on Capitol Hill. The recently freed Angelos hugged the lawmaker who made him a living symbol of the push to overhaul the nations sentencing laws.

Ive been telling his story a lot, Lee said during the meeting. A lot of the time I was telling this good story, I would sit there and wonder, actually, I wonder if hes going to care if Im using his name this frequently.

But your story was very helpful in explaining to people why we need this legislation and why we need to reform the law, Lee told Angelos, who has two sons, ages 19 and 17, and a daughter, age 13.

Angelos, 36 and the founder of a hip-hop music label, said he met others in prison with unjust sentences. He plans to tell his story himself in Washington in support of the bipartisan bill. The legislation appears unlikely to pass in this election-shortened year, and amid disagreements among Republicans in both chambers.

It kept me together, and my family, Angelos said to Lee. Your support was amazing and I just wanted to come here and thank you personally for supporting me and your commitment to criminal justice reform. Lee has credited Angelos' case, which has attracted national attention, for sparking his work to change sentencing laws.

The legal action that freed Angelos on May 31 is somewhat mysterious and extraordinary. There is recent action in his court case  but no sign of a judges order releasing him. Lee said President Barack Obama set in motion a way to reopen the case and seek his release. It wasnt a commutation or pardon but another type of action, Lee said. The senator, a former assistant U.S. attorney, is among dozens of people who have urged Obama to commute Angelos sentence, including former U.S. District Judge Paul Cassell, who sentenced Angelos.

That shows what a lot of extra attention on a case can accomplish, said Molly Gill, government affairs counselor for Families Against Mandatory Minimums, a group that flew Angelos to Washington this week and is working to end the types of sentencing laws that resulted in his sentence. But it also shows there are a lot a people who dont have and are never going to have that level of support, Gill said.

Lee said Angelos release does not undercut the need for the legislation, since there are others out there who cant get relief like Angelos. We know theres more to be done, Lee said. A provision in the bill would prevent prosecutors from stacking mandatory minimum sentences related to certain gun possession crimes together in one case. It would reduce that mandatory minimum sentence from 25 years to 15 years. It would also allow judges to reduce the sentence for prisoners who are in Angelos situation.

Angelos was a first-time offender who was arrested in 2002 after Salt Lake City police set up controlled drug deals between Angelos and a confidential informant.... A jury convicted him of 13 charges, including three counts of possession of a gun in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. Angelos in 2004 received a five-year mandatory minimum sentence for the first charge of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime; a consecutive 25-year sentence for the second, and another consecutive 25-year sentence for the third, FAMM said.

After nearly 12 years in federal prison, Angelos was surrounded Wednesday by the dark wood and art in Lees office. Its just overwhelming, Angelos said. I feel like Im in a dream.
SIOUX CITY | Mercy Medical Center has received the Mission: Lifeline STEMI Silver Achievement Award from the American Heart Association.

In order to earn this recognition, Mercy adhered to strict quality indicators in caring for STEMI patients.

ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction, or STEMI, is a full-blown heart attack caused by the complete blockage of a heart artery. "ST elevation" refers to a particular pattern on an EKG heart tracing and "myocardial infarction" is the medical term for heart attack.

The American Heart Association developed Mission: Lifeline to transform heart attack patient outcomes by connecting healthcare providers, prehospital providers and community stakeholders in a proactive system of care that saves and improves livesfrom symptom onset through cardiac rehabilitation.
BRONSON, Iowa | As people from far and wide flock to Bronson for its popular Fourth of July festival and fireworks show Monday, returning residents might notice something new on the corner of Pine and East First streets.

The cream-and-red structure is Bronson's new city hall and community center. Completed earlier this year, the building now houses the city council chambers, a community center, and offices for the Bronson Ambulance, the Floyd Township and city maintenance workers.

Mayor Dave Amick said the city decided to build the new structure, which is on the lot directly beside the city's maintenance building and previous city hall, because the old one had been on its way out for a long time.

"Our city hall was quite old and very small, cramped," he said. "It wasn't conducive for guests, and we had been looking at replacing it for quite some time."

Since the city's community building was also in poor condition, Amick said, the city decided to replace both at once.

The building cost just under $400,000 to build, of which the city paid about half up front using funding from the city's 1 percent local option sales tax. The other half is being financed through an interest-free loan from Woodbury County Rural Electric Cooperative, Amick said.

Additionally, Amick said a grant from the Missouri River Historical Development Board funded furniture and equipment, such as computers and printers.

The council had its first meeting in the new chambers in January of this year. It is still deciding what to do with the former city hall building.

"This building should last us for a long time," Amick said.

As she sat behind home plate watching Sunday afternoon's coed softball tournament at the city's ballfield, Bronson resident Cindi Petit said she's already enjoyed the added space in the city's new community center.

"I went to my nephew's graduation party there. It worked out very well," she said. "The kitchen facility was nice. It was organized well, and it cleaned up easily afterward."

City Hall isn't Bronson's only new addition this year. The county recently constructed a $1 million bridge on County Road D38, one of the city's outlets, just south of town. The bridge was paid for by 80 percent federal aid bridge funds and 20 percent county farm to market road funds.

Amick said the Fourth of July festival, which he estimates will bring several thousand to the town of 323, gives the city a chance to show both of them off.

"On the Fourth of July weekend, we see a lot of people come into the community that perhaps grew up here and always try to make it back," he said. "There will be opportunity for those folks to see the new building for the first time."

Amick's son, Bronson Fire Chief Jamie Amick, said when many return to town on Monday for the holiday, the new city hall will lie directly along the town's parade route.

"Everybody will see her tomorrow," he said.

Bronson's Fourth of July parade will start at 10 a.m. The city's annual fireworks show will be at dusk.
iStock/Thinkstock(ROME)  A body was found in the Tiber River Monday is thought to be Beau Solomon, a 19-year-old University of Wisconsin student who was on his first day studying abroad in Rome and had gone missing.



A spokesman for the John Cabot University, where he was a student, said in a statement on their website, "John Cabot University is deeply saddened to announce that the body of Beau Solomon, the missing American visiting student, has been found in the Tiber River."



"We express our most heartfelt condolences to the Solomon family and to all those who loved Beau," the statement added.



Police have not yet confirmed his death because no identification was found on the body and Solomon's parents have not yet identified him.



He was last seen late Thursday night at a bar with a group of classmates and was expected to attend a study abroad orientation meeting on Friday morning, according to ABC affiliate WKOW-TV in Madison, Wisconsin, but never showed up.



His roommate notified University officials that he was missing. Later that morning, it was discovered that his credit card had been stolen. Family members told WKOW that the card had more than $1,500 in additional charges.



His brother, Cole Solomon, told WKOW that it was unlike his brother to go missing.



"He's the most responsible kid ever," Solomon said. "This is just so uncharacteristic of Beau."



Beau was a cancer survivor and model student who was set to graduate college in only three years, according to family.



"He had over 15 to 20 procedures growing up throughout his life and was able to overcome all of that and still became a phenomenal high school athlete," Solomon explained, regarding his brother's battles with cancer as a child.



Beau's parents left for Italy Sunday afternoon to look for their missing son, a day before news of his death was reported.



Copyright  2016, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
SIOUX CITY | Charles City Hall, on the campus of Morningside College, is older than the college itself.

The place also served as host to President Barack Obama, who made a campaign stop at Morningside College on Sept. 1, 2012.

The three-story structure, made of a purplish Sioux quartzite, was constructed for the University of the Northwest, which lasted from 1890 to 1894, a boom period in Sioux City's history, an era featuring the lavish Corn Palaces, expansion and speculation.

This building, in fact, WAS the University of the Northwest. The hall housed classes and had students sleeping on the top floor each night. It was, it appears, the original "one-stop shop" in education.

"The classrooms were in the building, the lunchroom was in a classroom," said Tim Orwig, a Morningside College graduate who penned a history of his alma mater for its centennial just over two decades ago. "Students stoked the furnace in the basement and slept upstairs."

In 2016, students might still be sleeping upstairs at times, although on a napping level rather than overnighting. A couch serves as a welcoming mat of sorts for students who reach the third floor hallway, an area separating one classroom and the offices of four professors.

For decades, Charles City Hall was home of Morningside's Conservatory of Music, where students participating in the programs of legends such as Leo Kucinski and Paul MacCollin perfected their craft.

Dr. Rudy Daniels taught history here, a class that a young Tim Orwig, a 1977 West High graduate, took. Orwig ended up teaching for 12 years at Morningside. He left the college in 1999 and now teaches architectural and art history at both Northeast University and Boston College.

Orwig notes that the cornerstone for Charles City Hall was laid on July 4, 1890, making this building 126 years old.

"A Methodist bishop spoke (when the cornerstone was laid) and the land around the building was prairie," Orwig said. "The bishop said how proud he was that this would be a college that would educate both men and women."

The structure was completed in 1894, when it became the core of the newly formed Morningside College, which replaced a defunct University of the Northwest.

"The idea, like Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, was that the University of the Northwest would be financed by land sales in the suburb surrounding the college," Orwig said. "That worked fine until a bust hit."

When Bishop Wilson Seeley Lewis came to the college to take it over in 1897, he found this building in the middle of a field, corn planted in all directions. He challenged himself and his staff to work to make the school viable.

Lewis Hall, which stands just south of Charles City Hall, is named for President Lewis, who served the school for 11 years. The foundation of Lewis Hall matches the purple Sioux quartzite found at Charles City Hall.

How, then, did the name come to be Charles City Hall?

"Charles City College (in Charles City, Iowa) was founded by German Methodists," Orwig said. "There were a number of German-speaking Methodist congregations that needed ministers. Charles City College formed in 1891 and in 1914 it closed and merged with Morningside."

When it closed, Charles City College boasted 63 alumni. They immediately became Morningside alumni. The legacy of Charles City College lived on in 1958 when this hall was completely renovated and renamed after the alums of the college in northeast Iowa.

"What's funny is that many times I've heard people say that building was dismantled from Charles City, Iowa," Orwig said. The story lacks one key ingredient: The truth.

"The story makes me smile and take a break before I explain it to them," Orwig said.

Charles City Hall was gutted by a fire in 1914, but was rebuilt, as the durability of the Sioux quartzite became apparent. This site, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, was restored in 1989 and now houses classrooms and offices for the departments of history and political science, philosophy, religious studies and theater.

It also housed a sitting U.S. president just over four years ago. In fact, it became "headquarters" for White House staff traveling with President Obama, who entered Charles City Hall that day through a covered entry on the east side of the building, perhaps taking the same steps future leaders took on their way to history class, making local history some 126 years ago.
SIOUX CITY | Depending on your beliefs, the oldest artifact in the Sioux City Public Museum's collection -- a piece of iron ore -- could be between 4.6 billion and 541 million years old.

The dark brown chemical sedimentary rock came from the Mesabi range in northern Minnesota. It found its way into the Sioux City Public Museum in 2015, and like many items, it remains in storage.

Archival clerk Tom Munson said the museum averages around 250 to 300 donations a year and can't possibly display them all. Some artifacts simply don't fit with the museum's focus -- human cultural history since the 1930s.

"One of our qualifications to be accepted at the museum is that it has a Sioux City connection. Granted this (piece of iron ore) has a pretty weak Sioux City connection, it is a neat piece," he said.

Buildings of the Richardsonian Romanesque architectural style were constructed in the 1880s of Sioux quartzite, a pink stone from the same era as the piece of iron ore which has a much stronger connection to Siouxland. Sioux quartzite is found in Northwest Iowa, Southeast South Dakota and Minnesota.

"It is incredibly hard and was used in many, many buildings here in Sioux City," Munson said. "Sometimes you'll see this stuff crushed up and used as aggregate in concrete for streets and alleys."

The museum's oldest artifacts go beyond natural things:

Celt -- A Native American tool or weapon that is about 3,500 years old. A local archaeologist and collector likely found this ax, club or hammer in a river valley or a creek bed along the Little Sioux River in eastern Woodbury County.

Daguerreotype -- This early form of a photograph was made between the 1840s and 1860s. The museum has a daguerreotype of a member of Sioux City's Tackaberry family, which ran a wholesale grocery company from 1878 to 1924.

1865 land partitioning -- Sioux City was platted in the winter of 1854 by Dr. John Cook. The museum has a document that divides the land that would become downtown Sioux City between Cook, James Jackson and Milton Tootle.

1700s dress -- A two-piece dark brown faille dress features a jacket fitted with two pleated flaps and trimmed with two rows of metal buttons down the front. The sleeves have lace cuffs. The skirt has two overskirts. The museum received the dress in 1964 from Beatrice Viken, the wife of the late Andrew Viken, a boilermaker.

There are other artifacts at different locations throughout Sioux City.

13th CENTURY GRIFFIN

A sandstone griffin that once likely decorated the outside of a cathedral or large architectural building in Europe during the late Gothic period -- 1250 to 1275 -- is popular with children who visit the Sioux City Art Center.

The mythical creature with the body, tail and back legs of a lion and the head and wings of an eagle sits perched on a pedestal and encased in glass in front of the Community Gallery just feet from the visitor services desk where Beth Love works.

"They recognize that it's a griffin," she said of the Art Center's young visitors. "They think it's super cool and they wonder where it came from."

Time has worn away the griffin's face and one of its front paws. It's the oldest and most unique piece in the Art Center's collection.

"It beats everything in our collection by centuries," said curator Todd Behrens.

The griffin's exact origins are a mystery, according to Behrens. Before the Sioux City Art Center was established in 1938, the Sioux City Society of Fine Arts held exhibitions, lectures and classes throughout downtown Sioux City beginning in 1914. Behrens said the group began to amass an art collection. The griffin was one of the pieces in that collection.

"Most of the works that were donated through the society are late 19th, early 20th century paintings. This is the one truly unusual piece that came about," he said. "We don't know who it was from the community who had collected this and then turned it over to the Society."

1920s WAMPUS CAT PROPELLER

The oldest non-World War I piece of memorabilia on display at the Mid America Museum of Aviation & Transportation is a Wampus Cat propeller, which dates back to 1920.

The propeller was found on the banks of the Big Sioux River years ago and donated to the museum. Executive director Larry Finley calls it a rather unique find.

The Wampus Cat, a rather strange craft, looks like a Curtiss JN-4D Jenny without wings. Powered by an OX-5 engine, the Wampus Cat floated in the water during warm weather. In the winter, it was equipped with skis to traverse ice. It could travel up to 30 miles per hour on skis and 10 miles per hour floating.

The Wampus Cat itself was used out on the Big Sioux River between Iowa and South Dakota up until about 1923, Finley said.

In 1923, when the old iron bridge that connected Riverside to what is now North Sioux City was replaced, the Wampus Cat was used as a ferry to get from one side to the other. It could hold up to six passengers.

Finley said he doesnt know what happened to the actual body of the Wampus Cat that the propeller came from. Historical information provided to the museum states that when the Wampus Cat quit running it was dumped along the banks of the river.

1875 ATLAS

The Illustrated Atlas of the State of Iowa, which dates back to 1875, is the oldest book in the Sioux City Public Library's possession.

Although the atlas, which the library likely obtained by donation, is included in its catalog, Jessi Wakefield said no one has asked to look at the book during her first year as library historian.

"We do keep it locked in a different room that does have a little temperature control," she said. "They would have to ask if we had something like this."

But don't judge the book by its worn black cover.

The atlas contains 590 pages of detailed illustrations of places of interest in Iowa's 99 counties, biographical sketches of prominent government figures, an extensive appendix and maps of Iowa and the world. You can view a list of post offices, census data and life expectancy.

"Work was definitely put into this thing," Wakefield said, as she gently turned the atlas's yellowed pages on the Wilbur Aalfs Library's second floor.

The illustrations were done by A.T. Andreas. More than a thousand other people contributed to the atlas and their names take up many of its pages.
Although many of us go through great efforts to fireproof our home, we rarely bring this outlook into the workplace. While theres no replacement for a little bit of forethought and diligence, a fire at your place of business doesnt have to mean the end of your company altogether. In fact, approximately 60 percent of all U.S.-based businesses reopen their doors after a disastrous fire. Some companies have even gone on to achieve a great amount of success and profitability after such an event.

What to Do After a Fire

Determine the Responsible Party

The first thing you should do in the wake of a fire at your business is determine the responsible party. This depends on a number of different factors, including whether you lease or own the building, the exact cause of the fire and even your specific amount of insurance coverage. Keep in mind that some insurance policies only cover the contents of the structure and not the materials used in the actual construction of the building.

Sometimes, you may need to wait until an investigation has been completed by your local fire department, police department or insurance company. If this is the case, make sure to maintain communications for further information and instructions.

Safeguard and Secure Your Remaining Property

If the fire has caused significant damage to the exterior walls, doors, windows or roof of your building, youll want to act quickly in order to safeguard and secure your remaining property. Smoldering remains should be fully extinguished and any large holes should be temporarily patched. Not only will this prevent vandalism after the fact, but a little bit of effort can go a long way towards minimizing the overall amount of damage caused.

Contact Anyone Who May Be Affected

Next comes the daunting task of contacting anyone who may have been affected as a result of the fire. This includes employees, board members, external partners and, in some cases, customers. If any activities or services need to be postponed or suspended, make sure to communicate that news, too. The last thing you want to do after a fire is to leave your valuable employees and business partners in the dark about the future of your company.

Furthermore, dont forget to contact your insurance agent as soon as possible. A simple call or email will typically suffice, though large claims may require face-to-face consultation or even an on-site inspection of the damaged property.

Get Your Documentation in Order

Your insurance company will require proof regarding any claimed losses as a result of the fire, so be sure to have any pertinent documentation, including receipts, user manuals and credit card statements, at the ready. You may even want to take digital pictures or video of your property. Not only can this be used in determining your overall losses, it could serve as hard evidence in case any court proceedings should follow.

Repair and Restore Damage

If the structure isnt a total loss, you might be able to rebuild, repair and restore your business back to its original state. Extensive smoke damage, for example, can typically be cleaned up through a number of different tools so you can go on with business as usual after the restoration.

Initiate the Recovery of Sensitive or Critical Data

Depending on your exact case, you may need to take steps to recover any sensitive or critical data that was lost in the occurrence. Damaged servers, hard drives and even personal computers can all hold data critical to the day-to-day operations of your business.

If the situation warrants, you may even consider hiring a third-party that specializes in data recovery and restoration, specifically in the event of fire. Such individuals are more likely to be equipped with the right hardware and software tools than a company that offers general disaster recovery services. Most data recovery experts will also be able to work with you in order to introduce techniques in disaster recovery planning and data loss prevention.

Getting Back to Business

Once everything has been restored to order, its finally time to get back to business. Make sure to outline a comprehensive fire safety plan when moving forward, just in case your business experiences another fire. You might also consider increasing your insurance coverage for the future. After all, its better to be safe than sorry.

Republished by permission. Original here.
Indiana must list both spouses in lesbian marriages as parents on their children's birth certificates, a federal judge ruled Thursday, saying the state must end what she called a "discriminatory" practice of listing only the birth mother.

U.S. District Judge Tanya Walton Pratt granted summary judgment in favor of eight lesbian couples who sued the Indiana health commissioner, Dr. Jerome Adams, whose agency overseas birth certificates and county health departments. The couples argued that state law wrongly forces a spouse who did not give birth to go through a costly adoption process to be legally recognized as the child's parent.

Pratt said the state's practice violated the equal protection and due process clauses of the U.S. Constitution's 14th Amendment.

"There is no conceivable important governmental interest that would justify the different treatment of female spouses of artificially-inseminated birth mothers from the male spouses of artificially-inseminated birth mothers," Pratt wrote.

Similar cases have led to lawsuits in several other states. Both women spouses can now be listed on birth certificates in Iowa, Kansas and Utah, while lawsuits are pending in states including Wisconsin and North Carolina, said Jonathan Adams, a spokesman for Lambda Legal, which fights for the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.

During oral arguments in April, the state's lawyers maintained Indiana law is fair by allowing parental rights through either a biological relationship or an adoption. They said such a significant revision of state law to create marriage to a child's mother as a third source of parental rights should be done only through the Legislature and not imposed by a court.

The Indiana Attorney General's Office, which represented the state, has not yet determined whether it will appeal or seek to have the ruling put on hold, spokesman Bryan Corbin said.

Jeni O'Malley, a spokeswoman for the Indiana State Department of Health, said Thursday that the agency "abides by the law and will continue to do so."

An attorney for the couples, Karen Celestino-Horseman, said the ruling "obviously buttresses our contention that this shouldn't have been something that was litigated in the first place."

"These families are now put on the same level as opposite-sex couples," she said.

Under the law Pratt ruled against, children who had same-sex parents were viewed as "nothing more than a stepchild" of the parent not listed on a birth certificate, Celestino-Horseman said.

"Now these children will be able to claim the benefit of having both parents," she said.

Pratt also granted a motion to dismiss four local health departments - in Bartholomew, Marion, Tippecanoe and Vigo counties - as defendants in the lawsuit.
ISS Expedition 48-49 Soyuz Rocket Comes Together and Rolls to Its Launch Pad. NASA

The Soyuz spacecraft that will transport the next crew to the International Space Station was mated to its booster rocket and rolled out to the launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

On July 6, Soyuz Commander Anatoly Ivanishin and Flight Engineers Kate Rubins of NASA and Takuya Onishi of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency will launch aboard the Soyuz for a four-months mission to the station.
Last month's deadly Daesh (ISIL/ISIS) attack on Jordanian forces appears to further add to the idea that the Hashemite Kingdom is now seen by Daesh as even "worse than Americans," Amman-based journalist Aaron Magid wrote in an article which was published by the news website Al Monitor

The article came after at least seven Jordanian guards were killed and 13 more wounded in a suicide truck-bomb attack that occurred on the Syrian-Jordanian border area on June 21. Five days later, Daesh claimed responsibility for the attack.

According to Magid, by publicly claiming this attack, Daesh has "intensified its ongoing struggle against the Hashemite kingdom," almost two year after Amman joined the international anti-Daesh coalition in September 2014.
Hochhuth told the newspaper that he believes that Chancellor Angela Merkel does not genuinely want a conflict with Moscow, but is being dragged into one by Germany's ally from across the ocean. "The German government is too weak to prevent the deployment of 40 US missiles aimed at Russia," he insisted, adding that the deployment was an "extremely alarming development." The German press, meanwhile, mocks or simply ignores any commentary suggesting that Germany is not a sovereign country, he added.

According to the playwright, the recent uptick in NATO activity, from US and NATO parading a few hundred meters from the Russian border in Estonia to naval maneuvers near Crimea in the Black Sea, has led to a "situation which is extremely serious," with the dangers of a third world war "very high."

The United States, the artist emphasized, is a "unique and great nation," but also a danger to global peace, "because it has always had the Atlantic and Pacific oceans between itself and its opponents." The country "allocates 52% of its budget to the military, while having no enemies. It is forced to look for enemies overseas  for example in Korea or Vietnam."
The level of water was so high that it did not allow any traffic into Macheng city. Despite the dire situation, Li Shengping did not despair. The groom arrived to his bride's house on an inflatable boat, after which they were evacuated from the flooded city along with their relatives.
Even though the Mrs. Planet 2016 contest is already behind us, the photographs of the winner of this beauty pageant for married women are almost sure to cause a stir among Internet users.

 ,   !    @olesya.ponamarenko.88  19 2016  1:03 PDT

The crown of the most beautiful married woman in the world went to model Olesya Ponamarenko from the southern Russian town of Shakhty. This marks the second time a Russian contestant has won in a row.

   @olesya.ponamarenko.88  29 2016  8:21 PDT

According to the website Cosmo.ru, the 27-year-old won the title in a tight completion with her counterparts from Australia, Bulgaria, India, Macedonia, Malaysia, Serbia, Singapore, South Africa and Ukraine.

     ,      . #   @olesya.ponamarenko.88  13 2016  1:34 PDT

Shortly after the contest, Ponamarenko posted a whole array of her photos related to the contest on her Instagram account, where she sincerely thanked her fans for support.

 ,       . ,    ,   .#   @olesya.ponamarenko.88  23 2016  3:03 PDT

"Although I'm unable to reply to all the messages I have received, each of them is precious to me, and I hope that I lived up to your expectations. Honestly, I was very tired and I'm on edge. And I want to go home very much," she wrote.

#   @olesya.ponamarenko.88  1 2016  3:45 PDT

Ponamarenko, who has two academic degrees, currently works in the clothing design industry, Cosmo. Ru reported.

  @olesya.ponamarenko.88  6 2016  3:15 PDT

Additionally, she is at the helm of a model school and works as an acting director of the beauty studio in the city of Rostov-on-Don.

  !!!!!!!  "   2016"!!!!!!    @olesya.ponamarenko.88  27 2016  3:41 PDT

Interestingly, also taking part in the pageant was Olesya's little daughter Camilla, who managed to win the Little miss planet title.
Earlier in the day, it was reported that 27-year-old USMC Sgt. Christopher Aaron Platt from Kadena Air Base had been detained.

"Certain rules and strict discipline have been introduced, including restrictions on movement. They [rules] are compulsory indeed. I would like them to be respected," Hagiuda said.
According to Kyodo news agency , the revised agreement will be announced on Tuesday by Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida, Defense Minister Gen Nakatani, US Ambassador in Tokyo Caroline Kennedy and Lt. Gen. John Dolan, the commander of the US military in Japan.

The agreement, signed in 1960, came under review following an incident when former US Marine Kenneth Franklin was arrested in late May on suspicion of stabbing and strangling a 20-year-old Japanese woman near US Kadena Air Base in Okinawa. The woman, Rina Shimabukuro, disappeared on April 28 and was later found dead in a forest. Franklin has reportedly admitted to raping her and committing the murder.
One Nation is Australia's minor political party, whose members have never been elected to the Senate. The party's founder Pauline Hanson was a member of parliament in 1997, when the party was created.

On Saturday, the parliamentary elections were held in Australia. According to preliminary data, major parties are unable to secure an absolute majority in the parliament. According reports, as of Monday morning, the ruling coalition has gained 65 seats, the Labor party  67 seats and other parties had five seats with 80 percent of vote counted.

At least 76 seats in the lower chamber are needed to form a government without the need of post-election coalition.

The parliamentary elections are being held every three years in Australia. The voters regularly elect 150 legislators of the lower chamber and 38 out of 76 lawmakers of the upper chamber. After the upper chamber legislators dismissed two draft bills proposed by the government, Turnbull dissolved both chambers, thus making all 226 seats in parliament eligible for election.
India will showcase the efforts made by the state of Andhra Pradesh to save energy at the meeting. Visakhapatnam touts LED street lighting, which it has dubbed the Vizag Model of LED Energy Efficient Street Lighting.

Energy cooperation through joint research and technology projects is among the main objectives of the BRICS countries.

The Heads of Delegation of the Working Group on Energy Saving and Energy Efficiency will make a comprehensive plan on cooperation in energy saving and energy efficiency within BRICS during the meet.

Further, the Working Group on Energy Saving and Energy Efficiency meeting in Visakhapatnam will bring a consensus in the field of energy efficiency among BRICS countries, which will serve as a guiding tool for the BRICS efforts in energy saving and energy efficiency.

Although only 78.7 percent of India's population of over 1.2 billion had access to electricity in 2012 according to the World Bank, this represents a significant improvement over the last several decades; in 1990, the country had a population of less than 867 million and only 50.9 percent had access.

In India's BRICS partners China and Russia, everyone has access to electricity; 5.8 percent of China's population had no access in 1990. In Brazil, 99.5 percent of the population has access, and in South Africa, 85.4 percent had access to electricity in 2012, up from 65 percent in 1990.


New Delhi (Sputnik)Indias Intelligence Agency has submitted a detailed report to the Home Ministry about the grim security situation in the north Indian states of Jammu and Kashmir bordering Pakistan.

The Intelligence Agency warned the Home Ministry that separatist elements are increasing their sphere of influence after the series of terror attacks on security forces in the Kashmir valley in recent months.

According to Home Ministry sources, there has been a 47 percent increase in the militancy related incidents in the Kashmir valley. Similarly, illegal crossings over the Pakistani border also registered an increase of around 65 percent in 2016.
NEW DELHI (Sputnik)  The Bangladeshi police have detained two men suspected of links to a terrorist attack in a Dhaka restaurant, Police Inspector General Shahidul Hoque said.

"One of them is in hospital, the other is in custody," Hoque said as quoted by Bangladesh's The Daily Star newspaper, adding that both of them were not in good physical condition.

On July 1, a group of armed terrorists took dozens hostage inside a cafe located in a diplomatic quarter of the Bangladeshi capital of Dhaka. The attack has left 20 people, mostly foreigners, dead, while 13 hostages have been rescued by the country's security forces.
Kapoor, one of the world's most notorious smugglers, has been imprisoned in India since 2012 and awaits trial for ordering the theft of bronze Hindu gods from two temples. Kapoor allegedly obtained the pieces from antiquity trader Deena Dayalan, whose international activities came to light following his arrest in June, when 250 mostly stone pieces were seized from his properties.

An NGA statement released on Monday said the gallery would cooperate fully with investigations and would happily hand over the artifacts if they were indeed stolen.
The #trumpedup donut appeared on offer at Doughnut Time stores in celebration of Independence Day in the United States.

Celebrate 'Hair Dependence Day' tomorrow with our limited edition #trumpedup creation, filled with PB&J and topped with a fairy floss toupee. Only available for the 4th of July, nationwide!   DOUGHNUT TIME (@doughnut_time)  3 2016  2:36 PDT

The donut, which is filled with peanut butter and jelly, is called "Hair Dependence Day." The name comes from the pastry's cotton candy toupee topping, which resembles the frizzy hair of 'The Don'.

Watching on with envy. #trumpedup   DOUGHNUT TIME (@doughnut_time)  4 2016  12:48 PDT

According to the company, the donuts will only be available at the chain's stores on the Fourth of July.

In addition to the Trump-inspired treat, Doughnut Time created another special donut, decorated with miniature pretzels, pieces of Hershey's chocolate and little red, white and blue stars. The creation, named "Oh my Stars & Stripes," is served exclusively at Doughnut Time's store in Brisbane.

Every fourth of July, the United States of America commemorates the 1776 adoption of a declaration penned by Thomas Jefferson proclaiming the country's independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain.
In an interview with Sputnik, political analyst Vladimir Yevseyev urged Manila to show more readiness for a political accommodation with China over their South China Sea spat so that the two sides can bolster bilateral ties.

The interview came after the China Daily newspaper quoted unnamed diplomatic sources as saying that Beijing called on the Philippines not to consider the results of The Hague-based arbitration panel on the South China Sea, due to be announced July 12.

According to the newspaper, China made it plain that it will not resume negotiations with the Philippines if they are based on the decisions of The Hague arbitration court.
"When China initiated the MSR in 2013, then Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his national security advisor Shivshankar Menon expressed support and interest. But current Prime Minister Narendra Modi changed India's attitude toward the MSR after he came into power," the article claimed.

Besides the Maritime Silk Road, the plan includes the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and the Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar (BCIM) economic corridor. According to the article, India opposes CPEC and delays the process of BCIM, and has put forward its own interconnectivity projects and "upgraded Look East' policy to Act East' policy, to hedge the 21st century MSR."
These include the alleged rape and murder of a 20-year-old local woman last month, allegedly by a US contractor and former Marine.

Last month 65,000 Okinawans protested against the presence of US bases in the prefecture, but in spite of their demonstrations, which also spread to Tokyo, it appears that the Japanese government is not willing to renegotiate its defense agreement with the US.

Andrey Fesyun, a professor in East Asian Studies at Russia's Higher School of Economics, told Sputnik that the cycle of American criminality and Japanese protests, with little sign of change, looks set to continue because the Japanese government sees the Okinawa issue from another point of view  the economic one.

"Okinawa is an unprofitable region of Japan, where almost nothing is produced. There are only a few assembly plants there which are not that significant from an economic point of view. There are a few large banana and sugar cane plantations which are also not very important for the Japanese economy," Fesyun explained.

"That's why the US bases provide more than 90 percent of Okinawa's regional income. More than 60 percent of Okinawan citizens work at the US bases in one way or another, mainly by supplying the bases or in communications."

Fesyun said that complaints about the conduct of US servicemen and calls to revise Japan's defense treaty with the US come more often from Japanese civil organizations or trade unions.
ROME (Sputnik)  There is a risk of another terrorist attack in Bangladesh, the Italian Foreign Ministry said on Monday, calling on those planning to travel to this country to be very careful.

"Due to the presence of jihadist structures in the country, a risk of possible new attacks cannot be eliminated," the ministry said in an official traveling recommendation for citizens published on the specialized website Viaggiare sicuri.

The Foreign Ministry urged its citizens to be vigilant, especially in places where many foreigners are usually present, and to limit their movements if possible.
Two Japanese fighter jets took provocative actions at high speed flying directly towards a pair of Chinese fighter jets that were carrying out patrols over the contested region on June 17, the defense ministry said in a statement without specifying exactly where the incident took place.

Beijing alleges that the Japanese pilots used fire-control radar to light up the Chinese aircraft according to the statement. Japans senior military officer acknowledged there was a scramble, but denied any radar lock of the Chinese jet occurred or that the incident turned dangerous.
The same is true for Serbs in Kosovo. Sturgeon knows full well that she can garner support from the gutter by playing on ethnic hatred against the English and that her subservience to multiculturalism renders her invulnerable to even a whiff of criticism. Far from condemning racism against the English in Scotland, no matter how crude and vile it might be, the EU would always be able to spin it into an anti-colonial bogus sob story that would inevitably appeal to both Europes extreme left and extreme right.

The SNP doesnt hide its hatred of the English- they flaunt it. In 2014, the head of the SNPs University of Edinburgh branch racially abused even the British prime minister. Long before Sturgeon, Alex Salmond stoked racism against his own citizens in a bid to unify the SNPs dwindling voter base. During the 2014 referendum campaign, the SNP leader Gordon Wilson used openly Nazi language calling England a parasite nation and a southern cancer.

In a paragraph ripped from Mein Kampf, Wilson declared:

"The English are feeding off the lifeblood of the nation."

What kind of twisted mind can produce such rhetoric and if thats whats said in public by SNP chiefs, what does the SNP get away with in private?

While this might appeal to Nazis and leftist anti-imperialists on the lunatic fringes who believe the English are indeed truly evil, if not Zionist servants, and that England is ruled by a reptilian queen from another galaxy  its the sugar coating and hypocrisy by the multicultural EU that is the truly shocking part.

That is the danger. No one is worried about the loonies, its the European Commissions covert endorsement of racism in Scotland, a line of thinking identical to the EUs racist urges that led it to support Banderists and Pravi Sektor death squads in Ukraine.

The lesson is that wherever the EU needs to consolidate its power, flirting with Neo-Nazism is perfectly acceptable. The SNP stand in a long and despicable tradition of EU expansionism outsourced to Neo-Nazis in places as diverse as Croatia and the Baltic.

On Scotlands streets the results are tragic as the crude face of the SNPs ethnic nationalism hurts innocent people for no other reason that their accent, or their name. It was inevitable that the SNP, just like Hitlers SA, were able to turn racism into the politics of street intimidation during the 2014 referendum on Scottish independence when anti-English hate crimes spiked to appalling levels.

One Step Forward  Three Back

As the EU renews sanctions against Russia until Jan 2017, many claim that BREXIT will remove Americas most hawkish supporter from the European Council. The argument is entirely contradicted however by advocating for the readmission of Scotland to the EU. The SNP can be absolutely relied upon to tread the eurosocialist line and Washingtons diktats on any number of issues from sanctions and energy policy- to EU expansion eastwards. The SNP are ardent supporters of NATO and their October 2012 White Paper makes it clear that their first order of business in an independent Scotland will be to apply for NATO membership and that Scotland can offer excellent conventional capabilities to the Alliance.

While Britophobes might celebrate the SNPs beheading of the United Kingdom, an independent Scotland simply reestablishes Americas influence and the EU-NATO Axis expansionist drive eastwards: the SNP would provide the future lynchpin of an Atlantacism thoroughly polluted with the same type of racism as the Banderists and a renewed conviction within NATO that separatism pays. All of this means that Britophobes will be unable to resist the trap of once again, as in so many times in the past, of falling prey to their own hateful delusions. When amateur geopolitics, bigotry, and the plain stupidity of Britophobia mix- the cocktail is an irresistible elixir to those misguided by hatred of Great Britain: for the plain truth is that by far the vast majority of Scots will not be suckered into the SNPs rhetoric. This brings us to the last point, the naive belief of outsiders that Scots are a singularly malleable force ripe for foreign manipulation, another and oft repeated historical conceit. The SNP itself is no mob united by a single battle cry and its post-BREXIT begging to the European Parliament only ever spoke for a minority of Scots. Even within the SNP itself, 29% supported Vote Leave.

The SNP is then incapable of even mustering a real consensus on Scottish membership of the EU via independence within its own ranks, let alone the rest of the Scottish population. In short, like Scotlands most fervent Counter Reformation Catholics desperate to secure French support and the insurgent Jacobite clan lords plotting to restore the Stuarts, the SNP have sold the European Union a total lie: even despite BREXITs fallout, 44.7% of Scots against 41.9% in favour, refuse to consider a second Scottish independence referendum and therefore EU membership.

The SNP have been feted in Brussels as the true voice of Scotland. Yet this is only possible if the majority of Scots are ignored in the name of a master plan to clip Englands wings from the north. Humiliated and broken, the EU seems all too happy to believe what it wants to believe about Scotland and blinded by its hatred and fear of Great Britain, the eurocracy seems destined to wreck itself on Scotlands unknown shores. Trapped between cynical opportunists and the fools gold of the EUs multicultural superstate, Scots have an ingrained cultural memory that this is far from the first time they have been asked to risk all for the hubris of others.

The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official position of Sputnik.
These concerns were echoed by Guan Jianzhong, the President and Chairman of the Board of Dagong Global Credit Rating, during a recent interview in St. Petersburg.

"Actually credit ratings are largely politically biased. Dagong is only considering the debt repayment capacity of the central government," Guan Jianzhong said.

Anna Koroleva, a financial analyst at the Russian magazine Expert, told Sputnik that credit ratings can indeed be politically biased, and explained how it usually happens.

"You cant exactly say that these agencies are simply being told what to do; there is no direct political pressure involved. Nevertheless, credit rating agencies cater not just to the interests of domestic market, but, first and foremost, to those of large US and European investors. They take into account the factors that matter to large Western investors, which results in the aforementioned political bias, which is further exacerbated by the geopolitical situation and 'news background'," she said.

Koroleva pointed out that considering these factors, it is small wonder that many Western investors were spooked by the anti-Russian sanctions as they had to consider the risks of cooperating with Russia. However, their reluctance in turn created a great number of vacant niches in the Russian market, which did not escape the notice of investors from China and other Asian nations.

"As far as economic prospects are considered, no one denies that Russia is a huge country with tremendous possibilities, and that despite sanctions you cant ignore a market like that. Even the large Western investors understand that. The representatives of the top economies of the world  Italian, German, French  continue to declare that their business circles are against the political restrictions imposed against Russia; and theyre enviously eying the Russian market, which some of them were forced to abandon. Meanwhile, those who came to the Russian market in their stead gain considerable advantage over the companies that will come or will return there later, after the sanctions are lifted," she remarked.

Guan Jianzhong also observed that the Western countries "use the credit rating as a tool to protect their own profits, their own interests," pointing out that the financial crisis of 2008 was partially caused by the inaccuracy of existing credit ratings  an assessment that Koroleva completely agreed with.

"Theres no doubt about it. This is exactly why, after the source of the crisis was contained, a large number of investigations into the activities of these very credit rating agencies were launched in the West And these investigations continue to this day. Such reputational risks cause the credit rating agencies to conceal their mistakes, and sometimes even to bear considerable expenses merely to avoid litigation," she said.

Dagong Global Credit Rating was established in 1994 and is not formally affiliated with the Chinese government. According to a statement posted on the agencys website, Dagong started assigning sovereign ratings in 2010 in order to put an end to the US credit rating agencies monopoly.

The company currently intends to cooperate with Russias new national credit rating agency, and is preparing to open a subsidiary in the country.


MOSCOW (Sputnik)German arms exports hit a record high in 2015 despite criticism from the Green Party that the government was fueling civil wars in the Middle East. Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble admitted Sunday that the nations arms export guidelines were not "fit for Europe."

"Unfortunately, I cannot repeal it [the contract]," Gabriel told the Sueddeutsche Zeitung on Sunday.

Germany has been exporting tanks to Qatar, which is backing the government in Yemen's civil war between rebels and troops loyal to President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi.
In just three hours, Bojo  as he is sometimes called  had gone from being co-favorite for being next Prime Minister, to a man whose political career looked seriously wrecked.

But What of Michael Gove?

Even those favourably disposed towards the Justice Secretary and newspapers who support him on Brexit, have denounced what has widely been called a shocking betrayal.

Gove is not guaranteed to make it to the final two, in fact, it's rather unlikely given the ill-feeling his intervention has caused  so why did he stab his chum in the back?

If Gove was a nasty piece of work it would be easy to understand, but here's the interesting bit  he isn't. My politics is poles apart from Gove's, but my personal experiences of him have been positive.

Veteran left-winger George Galloway has said that the right-wing Gove was the only politician to go out of his way to ask how he was, after he had been brutally attacked by a pro-Israel extremist in a London street and had to go to hospital.

I am morally obliged to point out that the only leading politician to go out of his way for me after I was attacked was Michael Gove.  George Galloway (@georgegalloway) June 19, 2016

Did Gove only discover that Boris lacked leadership qualities in the last few days? Perhaps. Was it because of Boris's Daily Telegraph column in which he downplayed the importance of post-Brexit border controls, which stirred Michael into action? Possibly.

But there's other explanations too.

The key to the puzzle could be media mogul Rupert Murdoch. Gove, a journalist before he entered Parliament, worked for many years at Murdoch's Times newspaper.

ITV's political editor Robert Peston, said that at a Times business summit on Wednesday, Murdoch said he had doubts about Boris Johnson and that he wished Gove would run.

Important: at Times biz summit yesterday @rupertmurdoch said he had doubts about @BorisJohnson & wished Gove would run  Robert Peston (@Peston) June 30, 2016

Alistair Sloan  author of an upcoming book "What does Michael Gove really think?" noted on Twitter that Murdoch "vociferously praised" Gove at a gala event in New York, in March. The media mogul said that Gove had "qualities rare in modern politics: integrity, intellectual rigor and, rarest of all, personal courage."

Why Does Murdoch Favor Gove So Much?

Is it to do with Gove's strong dislike of the EU or is it more to do with his neocon views on foreign policy  he was a strong supporter of bombing Syrian government in 2013  and the contrast with Johnson's approach? Unlike BoJo, who was labeled a "Putin apologist" by the pro-Iraq war brigade for praising the way Russia had helped the Syrian army to evict Daesh  also known as ISIL  from Palmyra, and for saying that the EU was responsible for the troubles in Ukraine.

Gove is a signatory to the Statement of Principles of the ultra-hawkish Henry Jackson Society.

We've also seen a leaked email from Gove's wife, Sarah Vine, urging her husband not to "concede ground" to Johnson in talks  and saying that Rupert Murdoch (and Daily Mail editor Paul Dacre) "instinctively dislike Boris," but that they trusted Gove's ability enough "to support a Boris/Gove ticket."

The role of Chancellor George Osborne  another neocon  in sabotaging Boris's bid to be Prime Minister also needs to be discussed. We're told  by the Daily Telegraph, that Gove had regular weekly dinners with Johnson's bitter rival during the referendum campaign. On Sunday (June 3), Gove's team briefed the press that Osborne would continue as Chancellor, if Johnson won the leadership election  a claim which Johnson denied.

Things seemed to be decided at around midnight after the Conservative Party summer ball. Nick Boles, who had been part of Johnson's team, was seen "deep in conversation" with Gove. Boles switched his support to the Justice Secretary. Interestingly, like Gove, Boles was a signatory to the Statement of Principles of the Henry Jackson Society.

If May Is to Fail

Whether or not Johnson was the victim of a neocon plot, the intervention of Michael Gove has greatly increased the chances of Theresa May becoming the next Prime Minister.

Available at around even money yesterday, she's now around 1-4. Two of the country's most influential newspapers, the Daily Mail and the Sun have already thrown their support behind her. But while she's easily the most likely winner, we should remember that over the past year or so we've had our fair share of political shocks.

Throughout the referendum campaign, it was odds-on that Remain would win, but they didn't. And last year's Labour leadership election was won by a 100-1 shot, Jeremy Corbyn  a candidate, who the punditerati told us could not win.

@paulwrblanchard @shanedgj (a) Corbyn won't win; and (b) he won't get many 2nd prefs (why would anyone think him 2nd best?)  John Rentoul (@JohnRentoul) July 19, 2015

If May is to fail, then which of the other candidates could defeat her?

33-1 shot Stephen Crabb, the Work and Pensions Secretary who grew up on a council estate, is promoting himself as the "blue collar candidate." He could do better than expected, but his strong support for Remain is likely to count against him in the end (incidentally Crabb, is also a Henry Jackson Society signatory).

Dr Liam Fox, who's 50-1, is a strong Brexiter, but the fact that he had to resign from the government over breaking the ministerial code five years ago is hardly going to enhance his chances.

The strongest opposition to May could come from Energy Secretary Andrea Leadsom. Leadsom had a very low public profile before the referendum campaign, but impressed with her calm and accomplished performances on television debates. She was a strong supporter of Leave and could be the one Brexiters decide to rally behind in the leadership poll.

Available at 33-1 only a week or so ago (a friend of mine backed her at 25s), Leadsom is now down to 7-2 in the betting.

We don't know for sure who the next Tory leader will be. But after Michael Gove's intervention, it would be quite surprising if in September, Britain did not have its second woman Prime Minister.

Follow Neil Clark @neilclark66

The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official position of Sputnik.
May insists that negotiation stance should be elaborated and declared before the triggering of Article 50, because after that, changing things would be basically impossible.

Her rival Andrea Leadsom, on the contrary, insists that the UK should trigger Article 50 as soon as possible. She says this will send a clear message of certainty for business.

"What I do believe is that we need to get on with it. We need to seize the opportunity, it's not just about leaving the EU but it's about giving certainty to businesses, it's about saying to the world 'we're open for business, let's get some free trade agreements started as soon as we can," Leadsom said.

The Brexit process is likely to become the key point in PM race, as some, such as Ms Leadsom herself, as well as Justice Minister Michael Gove, believe the next leader should be the Leave supporter (which is not without logic, since the country voted for Leave), while the critics, including Ms May, say the country needs not just the "Brexit leader", but a leader who will rule the country effectively in every aspect.

Remarkably, the instant invoking of Article 50 is advocated by both a number of Conservative MPs inside British Parliament and by leaders of EU countries who suffer from extended period of uncertainty. The fear of oncoming destabilization has made the EU leaders to put pressure on Britain to invoke Article 50 as soon as possible.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  Poland has introduced monthly border controls with the Czech Republic, Germany, Lithuania, Slovakia, as well as at ports and airports amid the NATO summit scheduled for July 8-9 in Warsaw and ahead of the World Youth Day in late July, local media reported Monday.

According to the Rzeczpospolita newspaper, random border checks will be carried out on the basis of information provided by other states.

The so-called mobile border control will operate in 285 spots, where it is possible to cross the Polish border. Border guards will use specialized vehicles equipped with portable devices providing access to databases and equipment to verify the authenticity of documents, according to the media outlet.
"Europe came to a standstill after Brexit. A referendum against the EU instilled uncertainty in the leaders on both sides of the Channel. The fact that the Britons have turned their backs to the EU leads to a return to the level of small states," he wrote.

He also drew attention to the fact that the EU's most pressing issues are already being discussed by EU member states themselves, including Germany.

He recalled that the country had called on national parliaments to ratify the CETA trade agreement with Canada even though it is Brussels that should deal with foreign trade-related issues.

"Europe is taking a back seat on its own. The EU is rapidly losing its clout in the world where Russia, the United States and China remain major players," Muller pointed out.

He added that apart from world trade, the EU is also losing ground in terms of its military might and that its members have become dependent on the United States. According to Muller, Brexit led to the situation when economic sanctions, the EU's major foreign policy instrument, already do not work.

"Now the EU is even unable to deliver on its promises related to Ukraine, after the Netherlands rejected the association agreement in spring," he wrote.

Muller said that the ongoing turmoil also affects the financial markets, with the central banks of EU member states unsuccessfully trying to rectify the situation.
TBILISI (Sputnik)  The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe Parliamentary Assembly (OSCE PA) needs to undergo transformation to become a more proactive organization that develops action plans to solve global security challenges such as terrorism and migration , OSCE PA Vice-President and candidate for the organization's presidency Alan Neri told Sputnik.

"In the light of the worrying events we face and the fact that we are living in a time of great change, it is my belief and, indeed, my wish that the OSCE PA should play a central role and for that it needs to undergo some changes. OSCE PA needs to work on action plans, not just draft resolutions for the pressing issues such as immigration and terrorism," Neri, the first deputy head of the French delegation to the OSCE PA, said on the sidelines of the ongoing OSCE PA annual session in Tbilisi.

Neri believes that all nations within the OSCE area need to reunite against the terrorist threat as they did 70 years ago against the Nazi ideology.
"I hope we will be able to get to a position where we are able to say to those EU nationals who live in the UK, and to those Brits who live in EU countries: everythings fine, you can stay as you were. But we can't assume that. Weve got to negotiate that with our former EU partners," Hammond added.

On June 23, the United Kingdom held a referendum to determine whether or not the country should leave the European Union, with over 50 percent of the UK public voting in support of Brexit.

According to the Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, each EU member state can leave the bloc. Aiming to start the process of leaving the European Union, a member state must formally inform Brussels about its intention and, then, launch negotiations on abandoning the bloc. All EU treaties become rendered void when a final agreement is achieved or  if not  two years after the countrys notification.
Eurosceptic UK Independence Party (UKIP) leader Nigel Farage said on Monday he was resigning after achieving the goal of the United Kingdom withdrawing from the European Union.

Thank you to all my supporters in @UKIP and beyond. Delighted with the result we fought for so long to achieve. #BrexitBritain  Nigel Farage (@Nigel_Farage) 4 July 2016

"I came into politics from business because I believed that this nation should be self-governing. I have never been and I have never wanted to be a career politician, my aim in being in politics was to get Britain out of the European Union that is what we voted for in that referendum two weeks ago So I feel it's right that I should now stand aside," Farage said in an address in central London.





UKIP Leader @Nigel_Farage speaking on #BrexitBritain pic.twitter.com/Wixpnuhbqw  UKIP (@UKIP) 4 July 2016 He ruled out forming a new party, stressing that in case of the UK government backtracking on the withdrawal, the UKIP would continue its operations.
The woman was identified as a 37-year old American, named Jenny Teresa C. Ms Teresa C was arrested on Wednesday, after Mr Hawking's children alerted the police, stating they had received a series of messages that contained death threats that had been sent to their father's email and social media accounts.

The messages read, "I am going to kill you"; "I am next to you and can kill you." Stephen Hawking was in Tenerife at the time, participating in the first days of the Starmus Science Festival, which started on 27 June 2016.

"She had been pursuing Mr Hawking throughout the world and in the last few days had sent him grave threats through social media and to his personal email," Spanish police said in a statement.
During that time, Labour's Tony Blair used his pro-EU credentials to sign up to the Treaty of Amsterdam (1999) which consolidated a number of other treaties, and the Treaty of Nice (2001) which further consolidated the EU.

Controversially, Blair's successor, Gordon Brown, signed up to the Treaty of Lisbon (2007) which gave even more powers to the European Parliament and established a change of voting procedures in the European Council, a permanent president of the European Council, a new High Representative for Foreign Affairs and a new EU diplomatic service.

When David Cameron led the Conservatives back to power  in coalition with the Liberal Democrats  Farage used his media-friendly skills to pump up the volume for euroskepticism. Cameron's fatal flaw was not taking Farage and his crown more seriously. He blindly mocked the rise in support for the anti-EU party UKIP, reportedly describing them as a bunch of "swivel-eyed loons."

But Farage battled on  always available for a good quote and picture leaning against a bar drinking a pint of British real ale. He was a walking irony, being both a Europe-hater and married to Kirsten Mehr, a German national.

But he was winning significant support and he wound up both the country and the euroskeptics in the Conservative Party to such an extent that finally, in 2013, Cameron was forced to concede that he would make a manifesto pledge in the 2015 election to hold a referendum on the UK's membership of the EU before the end of 2017.

Nigel Farage has "done his bit, he says. True. UK close to break up, economy heading for the ditch, race hate on the rise  Adam Bienkov (@AdamBienkov) July 4, 2016

Farage stood as a candidate in the 2015 election, but lost the seat and promptly resigned, only to emerge two days later as the leader once more, after the party refused to accept his resignation.

The party only returned on MP  Douglas Carswell, who had defected from the Conservatives, in what many Conservatives took as a sign of trouble ahead.

By the time I get out of the queue, Nigel Farage will be UKIP leader again, and probably Prime Minister  Steve Anderson (@steveanderson87) July 4, 2016

The pied piper had done his work. With nothing more on his agenda, he finally said: "I want my life back" and left the stage.
Last year, the United Kingdom contributed 16.5 billion to the EU, accounting for about 10 percent of the bloc's total budget.

On June 23, the United Kingdom held a referendum to determine whether or not the country should leave the EU, with 51.9% of voters, or 17.4 million people, coming out to support Brexit. Total voter turnout was 72.2%.

Ahead of the referendum, Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn warned that Brexit could trigger a "domino effect" for other member states in Eastern Europe, adding that he believed that Britain's Conservatives and Poland's conservative and Eurosceptic Law and Justice government had "the same agenda regarding their critical stance toward the EU." Unlike the UK, which transfers more money to Brussels than it gets back, Poland is the largest recipient of structural funds in the bloc.


KIEV (Sputnik)Demonstrators in the western Ukrainian Lvov region partially blocked the road to Poland due to Warsaw's decision to impose temporary border controls in connection with the upcoming NATO summit, a local police spokeswoman said on Monday.

"The traffic is partially blocked. People walk on a pedestrian crossing and partially let the vehicles pass. The traffic has been resumed in one place. In two other areas, law enforcement officers have been raising awareness," Svetlana Dobrovolskaya told RIA Novosti.

Earlier in the day, Poland introduced monthly border controls and boosted checks with the Czech Republic, Germany, Lithuania, Slovakia, Russia, Belarus and Ukraine. Checks have also been increased in ports and airports ahead of the NATO summit scheduled for July 8-9 in Warsaw.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  NATO's enlargement policy is undermining the foundation of European security and damages the countries where the alliance is increasing its presence, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Monday.

"The continuation of NATO's expansion policy undermines the foundations of European security, destabilizes the European continent and, of course, damages the national interests of NATO's member states," Peskov told reporters.

Since 2014, NATO has been building up its military presence in Europe, using Moscow's alleged interference in Ukraine as a pretext for the move. Moscow has repeatedly denied the claims and warned NATO that the military buildup on Russias borders is provocative and threatens the existing strategic balance of power.
It's understood that Juncker's language about Northern Ireland and Scotland  including his meeting with SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon  ruffled feathers across the bloc, and were seen by Berlin as being "unnecessarily provocative."

#Brexit, if this does not trigger self-reflection and greater democracy of EU institutions, then they must go. #JunckerResign!!  Ivan Niccolai (@Ivan_niccolai) June 29, 2016

"This is not a time for institutional bickering," the source added, "but the pressure for him to resign will only become greater and chancellor Merkel will eventually have to deal with this next year."

The comments aren't the first to speculate on Juncker's position as EC chief, with Czech foreign minister Lubomir Zaoralek suggesting the 61-year-old should "contemplate quitting" after the UK voted to leave the bloc.

Will Juncker resign as Czech min urged? EC says as last week answer has two letters 'the first is N'  Danny Kemp (@dannyctkemp) June 27, 2016

"Right now I can't see the European Commission chairman as the right man for the job," Mr Zaoralek told local media.

"I don't want to call on anyone [to resign], but someone in the EU maybe should contemplate quitting, because [Brexit] is a responsibility someone should have assumed."

Integration at Heart of EU Divide

The disagreements across the EU are based on differing opinions over continued integration in the face of growing euroskepticism.

While Juncker, along with nations such as France and Belgium, have been strong proponents of further European integration, and have seen Brexit as a chance to speed up such processes, a number of other member states have rejected such ideas, with German officials arguing that a more pragmatic, less centralized approach to EU membership needs to be adopted in the wake of rising anti-EU sentiment.

Becoming increasingly clear that the real backlash against EU integration is about movement of labour, not capital  Jonathan Hopkin (@jrhopkin) July 1, 2016

A number of Eastern European member states have already expressed concern over Juncker's leadership, leading to reports Germany could team up and try and force him to step aside.

This division has also been evident in the response of various EU leaders to the UK's referendum decision to lave the EU.

Sturgeon know she must not overplay her hand. Idea of Scots voting to join the euro and much more EU integration seems rather fanciful.  Patrick O'Flynn (@oflynnmep) June 26, 2016

While German Chancellor Merkel has urged member states to give the UK time before triggering Brexit negotiations, others such as France have looked to place pressure on London to kick off talks sooner rather than later to avoid ongoing uncertainty.

UK government officials have argued that Article 50, the trigger needed to start Brexit discussions, should not be taken until either later this year or early 2017 to give officials more time to prepare for negotiations with Brussels.
Earlier, Poland's Rzeczpospolita newspaper explained that Polish authorities had enhanced controls on the country's border with Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. A Russian-Polish agreement on local border area traffic between Poland and the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad was also temporarily suspended as of July 4. Mobile, random border checks operating in 285 spots have also been established on the country's borders with the Czech Republic, Germany, Lithuania, and Slovakia, and at ports and airports.

The Russian-Polish agreement on local border movement stepped into force in July 2012. The agreement covers the entire Kaliningrad region, and parts of Poland's Warmia, Mazury and Pomerania regions. The bilateral agreement involves a simplified procedure for crossing the border, under which residents of the Kaliningrad region and the bordering Polish regions can cross the border with a valid passport and permit card, granting them the right to stay in the other country for up to 30 days at a time, and 90 days within a six month period.
A map hardly found on mainstream media shows NATO's expansion in the East, and the number of the drills NATO carried in each country in 2015 alone.

A graph, titled "a disproportionate comparison," shows the ratio between the military expenditure of NATO and that of Russia: 10 to 1.

Another map, "Russia activism in the Middle East and Central Asia," shows readers the nature and scope of the country's diplomatic and economic relations with this key part of the world.

Having dealt with the memes of "aggressive" and "isolated" Russia  and of "cash-stripped NATO"  the article touches upon President Putin's popularity.

"Economic betterment, especially during his first two terms, the order ('poryadok'), the political stability ('preyemstvennost' poltiki'), restored by Putin  sometimes even recurring to the use of force, like during the Second Chechen War (1999-2009)  create consensus around the leadership."

Although the establishment of a fully working capitalist economy remains paramount, "the openings of Russia towards the exterior, see WTO accession, should not put the security and stability of the country at risk," the article explains.

"And precisely to protect the country's political peculiarity, the Russian leadership disputes the alleged universality of the western political model, and counters it with the full legitimacy of a democracy declined with the concept of sovereignty."

Confidence in #Putin is low across Europe, but men more confident than women in many nations https://t.co/UvZfxLPGEQ pic.twitter.com/APAxiGR5To  PewResearch Global (@pewglobal) July 3, 2016

Sovereign democracy as a new political model is itself a tool of Russia's newly found soft power. It provides non-western countries with a model more respondent to their needs and circumstances.

"To Arab and Iranian eyes," explains Ugo Tramballi, foreign correspondent for Il Sole 24 Ore, Italy's financial paper "the asphyxiating American political correctness, at home and abroad, is that which makes Russia a more reliable partner in the fight against terrorism."

The drive to multi-polarity abroad, the establishment of a sovereign democracy at home, alongside a mix of diplomatic and military power, are thus the ingredients driving Russia's comeback as global player.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  Douglas Carswell, the UK Independence Party (UKIP)s first and only member of parliament, on Monday ruled out the possibility of standing in the UKIP leadership election after the current party leader resigned from the post.

Nigel Farage announced his resignation earlier in the day, saying he had achieved his goal of getting Britain out of the European Union in the June 23 referendum.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  The issue of whether the war in Iraq was legal or not lies beyond the Chilcot inquiry on what led the United Kingdom into the conflict, Robin Butler who chaired the 2004 Review of Intelligence on Weapons of Mass Destruction, said Monday.

Sir John Chilcots 12-volume report into the United Kingdoms part in the Iraq war is expected to be published on Wednesday, seven years after it was initiated and following repeated delays in publication.

"[The legality or illegality of the war in Iraq] wasn't the question that Chilcot was asked to deal with. What he was asked to deal with was what happened, not only in the lead-up to the war but during the war and after the war, and what lessons can be learned from it, so the legal issue wasn't actually put to him and of course his review team wasn't equipped properly to deal with that legal issue," Butler told BBC Radio 4's Today program.
TBILISI (Sputnik)  Georgia's minister of Internally Displaced Persons from the occupied territories, accommodation and refugees confirmed on Monday that Akhmed Chatayev, the alleged mastermind behind the recent suicide bombing attack in Istanbul, was backed by former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili , adding that Tbilisi may open an investigation into the issue.

On June 28 evening, three suicide blasts rocked Istanbul's Ataturk International Airport, leaving 42 people dead and more than 200 injured. Turkish media, citing sources in the prosecutor's office, reported that the terrorist act was plotted by Chatayev, a Russian citizen from the Republic of Chechnya who had been wanted by the Russian authorities for terrorism-related offenses but escaped to Europe and avoided extradition to Russia.

"This notorious terrorist has turned out to be an agent of Saakashvili and received funding from him. Saakashvili changed his passports one after another. Since we are talking about it, there is relevant evidence by the relevant bodies Presumably, an investigation will be started in connection with this and it will be very interesting to hear what Saakashvili has to say," Sozar Subari told reporters.
TBILISI (Sputnik)  All the EU treaties should be redrafted to focus more on peoples needs in order to keep the European project alive following Britains decision to leave the bloc, a member of the Italian delegation to OSCE PA told Sputnik on the sidelines of the OSCE PA annual meeting in Tbilisi.

"In order to keep the EU project alive, we need to redraft all the treaties. Politicians need to be close to people and not to the offices in Brussels," Guglielmo Picchi, who is also a vice president of the OSCE PA general committee on political affairs and security, said.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  In April, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Oleg Syromolotov met with EU's deputy head of common security and defense policy Pedro Serrano and counterterrorism coordinator Gilles de Kerchove in Brussels. The sides discussed further Russia-EU cooperation against terrorism.

"We have planned a continuation this fall, it will be held in Moscow and include the same participants. There is, of course, an ongoing exchange of experience," Chizhov told RIA Novosti.

The recent terrorist attack in Istanbul proves the importance of responding to information from other countries about such threats and the need for the revival of communication channels between Russia andthe EU.
'There Must Be Judicial or Political Reckoning'

Former Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond has been a fierce critic of Mr Blair, saying there "has to be a judicial or political reckoning" for the former PM's actions in sending British troops to Iraq.

"He seemed puzzled as to why [Labour leader] Jeremy Corbyn thinks he is a war criminal, why people don't like him," Salmond told Sky News.

Salmond: Coup against Corbyn planned to stop him calling for Blairs head after Chilcot



Blair will be savaged in"absolutely brutal" verdict  J Wallis Martin (@J_Wallis_Martin) July 4, 2016

"The reason is 179 British war dead, 150,000 immediate dead from the Iraq conflict, the Middle East in flames, the world faced with an existential crisis on terrorism  these are just some of the reasons perhaps he should understand why people don't hold him in the highest regard.

"[MPs] believe you cannot have a situation where this country blunders into an illegal war with the appalling consequences and at the end of the day there isn't a reckoning. There has to be a judicial or political reckoning for that."

Mr Salmond also drew a link between the attempt to remove Jeremy Corbyn from the Labour leadership and the imminent release of the Chilcot report, suggesting pro-Blair MPs wanted to protect the former PM from criticism.

Calls for War Crimes Investigation

There is speculation that Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn  an ardent critic of the Iraq War  will deliver a scathing criticism of Mr Blair when the Chilcot report is released on Wednesday.

One of Corbyn's closest political allies, shadow chancellor John McDonnell, told Sky he did not rule out calling for Blair to be prosecuted for war crimes, something Corbyn has echoed in the past.

"I want to see the Chilcot report. Nobody can comment on this until we see the report itself and I'm hoping that the report will be thorough and for me the importance is not Tony Blair or any individuals  it's about the processes so we never ever get into this tragic, tragic mess again with such loss of life," McDonnell said.

Blair himself has said he will wait for the report's release before responding, however it is expected that the findings will provide a damning indictment on the actions of the former prime minister leading up to the British and American-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.

Alex Salmond on #LabourCoup  he says it's all about Chilcot Report.



The coup leaders all supported the Iraq war! pic.twitter.com/vnVozb34YI  Jeremy for PM (@jeremyforlabour) July 1, 2016

The chances of Blair facing war crimes charges in the International Criminal Court (ICC) appears to be unlikely after The Hague-based court said the decision to go to war is outside its remit, meaning the ICC can prosecute individual soldiers for war crimes but not Blair.

The Chilcot Inquiry, initially set up by former UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown in 2009, will release its 2.6 million-word report on Wednesday.
RIGA (Sputnik)  Canada may become one of the countries, whose soldiers will be stationed in Latvia after the NATO summit in Warsaw but this does not mean that there will be 1,000 troops deployed, Latvian Chief of Defense Raimonds Graube said Monday.

"There won't be 1,000 soldiers from the same country on Latvian soil because, not only NATO, but we are also interested in many states participating in the exercises in Latvia," Graube said.

Last week, media reported that Canada was planning to deploy 1,000 soldiers to Latvia.
KIEV (Sputnik)  Ukraine will impose countermeasures against Russia the day after Moscow's restrictive measures come into effect, Ukraine's Minister of Infrastructure Volodymyr Omelyan said Monday.

"From our side, this decision [about countermeasures] will be imposed on the next day after these measures will be put into practice," Omelyan told reporters.

On Sunday, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed an amendment to the decree on providing economic safety and Russian national interests, adding Kyrgyzstan to the active legislature, stipulating that Ukrainian goods may be transferred to Kazakhstan only under certain circumstances. The decree was also prolonged till the end of 2017. The Ukrainian government issued a statement saying that Kiev had prepared countermeasures.


LONDON (Sputnik)The spokesperson told reporters that the Parliament would obviously have a role in finding the best way to move forward on the issue.

The spokesperson pointed out that Cameron had said that the next prime minister was due to address the issue of Brexit as a procedure, and now the country should get down to making preparations for this. She added that the United Kingdom was entitled to make the decision it made, and it should now be fully implemented.

On June 23, a nationwide referendum was held in the United Kingdom, in which 51.9 percent of voters supported the country withdrawing from the European Union. After the official results were revealed, Cameron, who had led the Remain campaign, said he would resign in October.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  Switzerland should create a national body to monitor and prevent Islamic radicalization, the countrys special task force Terrorist TRAvellers (TETRA) said in a report on Monday.

"The establishment of a national body, as a competence center dealing with religious issues of national importance from both cantonal and communal authorities as well as Muslim associations, should be examined," the report published on the Swiss Defense Department's website said.

The task force said that authorities of Swiss regions, cantons, should know local imams as part of a deradicalization strategy.
Any Swiss attempts to introduce immigration quotas are likely to contradict the country's existing free market access agreement with the EU, opening up increased uncertainty over the country's economy.

Almost two and a half years since Switzerland voted to cap immigration. Still no agreement with the EU.  Stephen Wilmot (@StephenWilmot) June 30, 2016

The EU has stated that without freedom of movement for its citizens, non-EU countries cannot have full access to the European single market.

Fears Brexit Could Hurt Swiss Talks

While previous talks were tense, there are now fresh fears in Switzerland that the EU will be less willing to provide concessions, in order to set an example to Britain.

European Parliament President Martin Schulz said talks between the EU and Switzerland look set to be difficult, because "free movement of people now plays a bigger role, in light of the imminent Brexit negotiations," he said.

Did brexiters realise that negotiating a single market deal would probably mean agreeing to free movement of people like Norway/Switzerland?  Hazel Kjrsen (@hazel_rhodes1) June 24, 2016

"We have to find a solution with Switzerland because we need each other. I believe Switzerland [needs] the EU a bit more than the other way round."

Many believe the Swiss issue will serve as a precursor to the UK's exit from the EU.

While many pro-Brexit officials believe the UK will be able to maintain single market access despite introducing immigration controls, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi have warned that market access is only available for countries that accept the free movement of people, goods and capital.

And this is why EU will *not* allow UK to pick 'n mix parts of Single Market. Just ask Norway or Switzerland. The EU will protect its dream  Sunny Hundal (@sunny_hundal) June 29, 2016

The Swiss impasse, and the country's need to introduce immigration legislation, has led to suggestions that a temporary solution with the EU may be needed to avoid breaching the February 2017 deadline.

EFTA/EEA member Switzerland is about to jettison free movement and Lichtenstein already has special deal to control immigration #brexit  Alan Day  UKIP PPC (@CoaghUKIP) June 30, 2016

"Switzerland has signed binding agreements with the EU which only come under serious threat if we do not find an interim solution," Schulz said, noting that both parties "must go a bit further" in each other's direction if a deal is to be agreed upon.

While Switzerland is part of the passport-free Schengen travel zone and has many bilateral agreements with the EU, it is not a member state of the bloc.


BELGRADE (Sputnik)Serbian police detected and arrested eight members of an organized criminal group on suspicion of involvement in activities linked to the smuggling of migrants, the Serbian Interior Ministry said Monday.

Raids that ended in the detention of eight suspects took place earlier on Monday in the residential areas of Subotica, Indjija, Backa Gradiste and Kursumlija. The suspects were charged with the illegal smuggling of dozens of migrants across the Serbian border to Hungary, and then to Austria.

"The criminal group found migrants on the territory of Subotica and Palic, and then organized their illegal border crossing near the village of Bajmok, where a group of Serbian nationals met migrants and brought them to Austria by cars," the ministry said in a statement.
"We demand that the court rules the decision on imposing mandatory quotas is invalid. I consider the quotas to be nonsensical and technically impossible. Our words are being proven true, the quotas have become a fiasco."

Slow Relocation

Of the 160,000 migrants involved in the scheme, only 2,783 have actually been relocated from Greece and Italy (as at July 1, 2016). Slovakia, which is due take in 802 migrants under the scheme, argues it has no power to keep migrants in if they wish to move on to Germany and other richer EU member states. Slovakia has only received 154 asylum requests this year.

Slovakia filed a lawsuit at the European Court of Justice in December 2015, demanding a ruling on whether the Commission had a right to impose mandatory quotas on EU member states. The case will put it on a collision course with European Council President Donald Tusk, who lauded its presidency.

With #Slovakia PM Fico for further bilateral talks ahead of our #EUCO meeting and informal EU 27 leaders meetings pic.twitter.com/ArxuCojdEb  Donald Tusk (@eucopresident) 28 June 2016

Slovakia, which is due take in 802 migrants under the scheme, argues it has no power to keep migrants in if they wish to move on to Germany and other richer EU member states. Slovakia has only received 154 asylum requests this year.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  A delegation of the Joint Investigation Team (JIT), headed by the Dutch police and Public Prosecutors Service, is set to arrive in the Russian capital this week to request legal help from Russian representatives in the probe into the Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 crash in Ukraine in 2014, JIT spokesperson Wim de Bruin told Sputnik on Monday.

"I may confirm that a delegation of the Dutch Public Prosecutors Service and the Police will visit Moscow this week. The delegation will meet with Russian authorities and discuss the request for legal assistance regarding the criminal investigation into flight MH17," de Bruin said.
EDINBURGH (Sputnik)  UK Independence Party (UKIP)s outgoing leader Nigel Farage plans to inspire other EU countries to follow Britains lead and exit the bloc as the head of the partys group in the European Parliament, a UKIP Scotland lawmaker in the EU legislature told Sputnik on Monday.

Farage announced earlier his decision to stand down as the leader of the pro-Brexit UKIP party after fulfilling his promise to have Britain out of the European Union. He still holds the office of the European Parliament member for South East England.

"What Nigel will be doing is that he will be in Europe, leading UKIP MEPs in Europe and heading up our group to make sure we get what we were promised  a Brexit. Our job will also be to liberate other countries in Europe that similarly want to leave. That is why he is going to step down from leading the Party because he has a much bigger job in Europe to do," David Coburn said.
UK Prime Minister David Cameron, who has not invoked Article 50, said after losing the Brexit referendum that his successor will be in charge of the withdrawal process.

Philip Moser QC, the joint Head of Monckton Chambers and a leading authority on European Law, told Radio Sputnik that the unprecedented situation created by Brexit presents many legal challenges.

"The Prime Minister is saying that he will use the treaty-making power of the crown, the royal prerogative, which is what we use to make treaties, and that doesn't require parliament. But the argument against this view is once you trigger Article 50, there's no way back, we're on a one-way street towards exit from the EU and if there's no agreement by the other states to extend then there's automatic exit after two years," Moser explained.

"It's a huge step to take without an act of parliament, and that's why the government has announced this morning that parliament will debate the Article 50 notice."
ROME (Sputnik)  Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who is recovering after heart surgery, will leave hospital on Tuesday, local media reported, citing hospital staff source.

Berlusconi, who successfully went through operation in San Raffaele hospital in Milan in June to replace aortic valve after a heart attack, will take rehabilitation therapy at home, the Corriere della Sera newspaper reported.

Berlusconi, 79, was the Italian prime minister three times, holding the post in 1994-1995, 2001-2006 and 2008-2011.
TBILISI (Sputnik)  Migrants discouraged from traveling to Europe using traditional routes in light of tougher border policies and the migrant swap deal between Brussels and Ankara may be forced to find another route to Europe through the Central Asia, Russia, Finland or the Balkan states, a member of the Greek New Democracy Party and of the country's delegation to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe Parliamentary Assembly (OSCE PA) told Sputnik.

On July 1, the EU border agency Frontex said in a report that the number of undocumented migrants crossing into Europe through the Western Balkan route fell by 84 percent in the first quarter of 2016, which was linked to more restrictive measures being implemented at a regional level and the closure of the Western Balkan transit corridor.

"There is a decrease in a number of the undocumented migrants. Probably, up to a certain point migrants have understood that they cannot pass to Europe so [it] may force them to find another route from the North. They will try to arrive through the Central Asia, Russia and Finland or the Baltic states," Makis Voridis, a former minister for infrastructure, transport and networks, said on the sidelines of the OSCE PA annual meeting underway in Tbilisi, Georgia on July 1-5.
BELGRADE (Sputnik)  Serbia will open two chapters in the negotiation process on the country's accession to the European Union on July 19, local media reported Monday.

According to the Radio Television of Serbia (RTS) broadcaster, the decision to open chapters 23 and 24 has been made on the sidelines of the summit between Western Balkan officials and EU leaders in Paris.

On July 1, the European Union decided not to open the two chapters dealing with the rule of law, the judiciary and human rights, while opening chapters with Turkey and Montenegro. Serbia's Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic said his country would request explanation from EU leaders regarding failure to open two accession negotiation chapters.
Officially, Kiev and NATO have kept tight-lipped about the content of the training scenarios, which in previous years has included maneuvers involving armored vehicles and army aviation, along with small arms fire training. However, photos by US Army Europe, and by Ukrainian political scientist Oleh Havich seem to clearly show that this year, training includes instructions on how to suppress unruly street demonstrators.

One of the photos in Havich's shared Facebook post features men in t-shirts and sweat pants gathered around an armored personnel carrier; another shows them simulating resistance to the APC, and throwing plastic water bottles at it. Finally, protesters in a makeshift shelter are shown being patted down against a wall. The photo for the US Army, meanwhile, shows a 'simulated detainee' with a blindfold on being taken to a checkpoint at an 'Enhanced Maneuver Training lane' during the exercise.

Commenting on the photos of the training exercise, Havich recalled that "in 2014, when the Berkut in Kiev dispersed the heroes of the Maidan, civilized Western countries insisted that the government was going against its own people, that Ukraine was a dictatorship, and that the use of force was a bloody crime against the people. However, after the change of power, the use of force against peaceful protesters appears to be a normal act by the authorities. Moreover, Western experts are beginning to instruct the Ukrainian military in this craft. I cannot call this anything but hypocrisy in relation to the Ukrainian people. And if western Ukrainians believe that they will not be touched if things go off, they are deeply mistaken."
The UK's decision to leave the European Union in a referendum held on June 23 means more uncertainty for Europe, which still hasn't overcome its recent difficulties, Grzegorz Kolodko, former Polish Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister told Sputnik Poland.

"At the moment there are more questions than answers, there is a growing feeling of uncertainty while there are a lot of events happening instantaneously, or almost at the same time. The EU still hasn't overcome the migrant crisis, and the economic collapse of Greece has only been postponed," Kolodko said.

Kolodko is worried by one of the wider implications of Brexit for Europe, the revival of ideas about a Europe divided along lines of development.
PRAGUE (Sputnik)  Slovak opposition says that the prime minister rents his apartment from Ladislav Basternak, who is alleged to have built an elite housing complex using misappropriated state funds. Kalinak is also accused of having ties Basternak, as well as of helping the businessman avoid persecution.

"No country in modern-day Europe has fallen so low," Ordinary People opposition party leader Igor Matovic said during the demonstration, the SME newspaper reported on Monday.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  Humanitarian aid has been delivered to low-income families in the Syrian provinces of Homs and Aleppo, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Sunday.

"Low-income families of Tell Shnan (Homs province) and Ain Assan (Aleppo province) have received four tons of humanitarian cargo, with flour, rice, canned meat and fish, and food products," the ministry said in a daily bulletin posted on its website.

Syria has been mired in civil war since 2011, with government forces fighting numerous opposition factions and Islamic extremist groups.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  According to KUNA news agency, the Kuwaiti security forces carried out several operations in the country and abroad, which led to derailing Daesh plots.

The media reported that a Kuwaiti national Talal Naif Raja had been arrested for planning to carry out attacks on Jaafari mosque in Hawali Governorate and on a Ministry of Interior's facility.

Furthermore, security forces managed to arrest several Kuwaiti nationals who travelled to Syria to join Daesh, the media said.
Cavusoglu noted that Ankara could allow Russia to use the base to fight Daesh in the region.

"We will cooperate with everyone who fights Daesh. We have been doing this for quite a while, and we opened Incirlik base for those who want to fight terrorists. Why not cooperate with Russia as well on these terms? Daesh is our common enemy, and we need to fight this enemy."
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  The new Syrian government will announce the date of its first session later in the day, Syrian State Minister for National Reconciliation Affairs Ali Haidar told Sputnik on Monday.

"Today, we will announce [the date]. The government was formed yesterday, I do not think that the first meeting will be held today, at the moment there is no precise information on this matter," he said.

In late June, Syrian President Bashar Assad tasked Electricity Minister Imad Mohammad Deeb Khamis with forming a new government. On Sunday, Assad issued a decree on the composition of the new government.
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MOSCOW (Sputnik)The Kremlin found out about about Turkey's proposal regarding the Incirlik airbase through the media and Moscow will need to analyze this "important statement," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Monday.

"I don't know if there have been any official military talks on this matter, whether they've had time to resume them. If I'm not mistaken, they have not. We really did hear this statement for the first time through the media. Of course, this is an important statement and it will need to be analyzed both politically and militarily," Peskov told reporters.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told local television earlier in the day that Ankara could allow Moscow to use the Incirlik military airbase in southern Turkey in its fight against the Daesh.
MOSCOW(Sputnik)  Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and newly appointed Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman have approved plans for the construction of 800 houses for Jewish settlers in East Jerusalem and the nearby West Bank settlement of Ma'aleh Adumim, local media reported Monday.

According to The Times of Israel newspaper, 560 houses are expected to be built in Ma'aleh Adumim, while 140 new units are to be erected in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Ramot and another 100 houses in the neighborhood of Har Homa.

According to the Haaretz newspaper, Israel has also approved the construction of 600 new housing units for Arabs in Givat Hamatos in East Jerusalem. However, Zeev Elkin, who is minister for Jerusalem affairs, criticized the decision, saying any houses for Arabs should be balanced through the construction of units for Jews in the same location.


MOSCOW (Sputnik)Russian President Vladimir Putin condemns the recent attacks in Baghdad and confirms Moscow's readiness to assist Iraq's leadership and people in the fight against terrorism, the Kremlin press service said Monday.

"The Russian president strongly condemned this barbaric crime, which serves as another evidence of the inhuman nature of terrorism, and expressed confidence in the need for the entire international community to join forces in order to effectively combat this evil. The Russian President confirmed the Russian side's readiness to continue supporting the leadership and the people of friendly Iraq on the counterterrorism front," the press service said in a statement.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  More than 3,400 Palestinians were arrested by the Israeli forces since the beginning of 2016, a report published by several Palestinian prisoner organizations revealed on Monday.

"The institutions concerned with prisoners affairs revealed that the Israeli occupation has arrested in the first half of 2016, 3412 Palestinians, including 706 children and 96 women and girls," the report issued by Prisoners Affairs Commission, Palestinian Prisoners Society, Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association and Al-Mezan Center for Human Rights showed.

A total of 6,326 Palestinians have been detained since the Palestinian popular uprising started in October 2015, the report found out.
YEREVAN (Sputnik)  Russia is concerned at the lack of separation between terrorist and opposition groups in the Syrian province of Aleppo and will continue working with US partners toward achieving that goal, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Monday.

Speaking at the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) ministerial meeting, Lavrov noted that Russian-US joint work on the cessation of hostilities continued at the military and diplomatic levels.

"Purely specific issues related to attacks on positions occupied by terrorists are being discussed. As part of this mechanism, we actively pursue from our US partners to fulfill commitments given long ago to delimit the opposition groups, which interact with the US coalition, from the Daesh and Jabhat al-Nusra. We will continue this coordination further counting on specific results", he said, referring to the terror groups banned in countries including Russia.
Accordingly, Gergerlioglu noted, President Erdogan was forced to take back his words and come to terms with giving up the dream of reviving the Ottoman Empire. "Sending the MV Mavi Mramara ship [to Gaza in 2010] was an act of muscle-flexing in relation to Israel. It was absolutely obvious that the country's leadership stood behind this action. Nevertheless, the government insisted that it had nothing to do with it. 'This was an act by civil society', they said. Meanwhile, we knew that the government was behind it, and so did Israel. It was expected, and 10 people died as a result."

After the incident, the activist recalled, the government expressed a 'tough and uncompromising stance' toward Tel Aviv. "This continued until Erdogan realized that his 'heroic rhetoric' and dreams of neo-Ottomanism were not bringing the expected results."

"Instead of a victory, Turkey admitted its defeat. The agreement concluded with Israel has turned us into a country which officially recognizes the legitimacy of the Gaza blockade. Ultimately, Turkey agreed to Israel's proposal, made six years ago, on the shipment of humanitarian aid through Ashdod, Israel, from where it will be delivered to Gaza by the Israeli side."

Furthermore, "in studying the text of the agreement, it is noticeable that it uses the expression 'humanitarian aid', but does not oblige Tel Aviv toward anything concrete. From a legal point of view, this formulation protects the interests of Israel, and provides it with certain assurances. But such details, of course, are not revealed to ordinary Turks."
The UNHCR however, has warned that an immediate return to the city would not be wise, despite poor conditions at the government-run camps. The UNHCR said that the city is still unsafe as explosives have yet to be cleared.

More than 85,000 people had to flee Fallujah in May as Iraqi troops backed by the Shiite militia advanced into their city to expel members of Daesh. The UNHCR has said that any return to Fallujah must be voluntary and that the process requires for the conditions on the ground to be conducive.

"This is why UNHCR insists that the return process has to be carefully planned and carried out on the basis of the international humanitarian principles of voluntary, non-discriminatory, safe and sustainable returns," the agency's mission in Iraq said in a statement.

Now that Iraqi authorities have recaptured the city, the vast majority of civilians wish to return home.

"While it is understandable that families want to return as early as possible, and many face harsh conditions in the displacement camps, it is important to ensure conditions are in place for that return to take place in safety and to be sustainable," UNHCR mission in Iraq stated.


MOSCOW (Sputnik)Several explosive devices were found on site of the suicide attack on US Consulate in the Saudi Arabian western city of Jeddah, the Saudi Interior Ministry said in a statement on Monday.

Earlier in the day, a suicide bomber blew himself up near the US consulate building, injuring two security officials.

The explosives were neutralized by local civil defense forces, the statement cited by Al Arabiya broadcaster said.
"At the plenary session of parliament, I appealed to the government to clarify the situation regarding information of secret talks between Syria and Turkey. However, we have not received a response officially refuting this information, nor a declaration explaining the details [of such negotiations]."

The lawmaker emphasized that Turkish lawmakers, including members of his party, "have the full right to receive detailed information on changes in the government's strategy on Syria, as we are the ones to feel the brunt of the leadership's misguided Syrian policy."

"The results of this policy include the explosion at the Ataturk Airport, which claimed dozens of lives," Baluken said. "In this connection, the Justice and Development Party is obliged to inform the Turkish public about what changes are envisioned in policy on the Syrian track."

Commenting on Ankara's broader foreign policy, Baluken pointed to several other major policy reversals that have already been made. "Based on the examples of relations with Israel, with Russia and with Egypt, we have seen the kinds of changes that are occurring in the government's foreign policy strategy; they are aware on the need to change tactics in order not to lose power. To that end, the ruling party is ready to do anything, and so we assume that the information on the negotiations with Syria is true. If the government insists that this information is false, let them make an official statement to the effect that such negotiations are not being conducted."

Asked about the likely main theme of the talks, the lawmaker suggested that it may very well be the Kurdish issue, "specifically [Ankara's] desire to challenge the status of the Rojava, [the area of northern Syria inhabited by Syrian Kurds]. Erdogan wants to establish contact with the Syrian government using anti-Kurdish rhetoric. We believe that this approach is fundamentally wrong. In doing this, Erdogan and the AKP are again committing the same mistakes again."
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  The Palestinian government condemns Israeli plans for the construction of 800 houses for Jewish settlers in East Jerusalem and the nearby West Bank settlement of Ma'aleh Adumim, spokesman for the government Youssef Mahmoud said Monday.

Earlier in the day, media reported that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and newly appointed Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman had approved the construction.

The campaign is aimed at escalation of tensions on the Palestinian territory, Mahmoud said in a statement, cited by the Palestine's WAFA news agency. The spokesman called for international community to deter Israel from continuing construction on the occupied lands.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  Baghdad International Airport in the Iraqi capital was attacked by mortar fire within days after a truck bomb killed some 200 in the city's central district, Arab television reported Monday, citing security sources.

The mortar shells appeared to fall across an area adjacent to the airport, according to the Al Jazeera satellite network.

Two people were reportedly injured in the attack in which the US military installation called Camp Liberty was said to be the target.
Russian Military Registers Four Ceasefire Violations in Syria in Past 24 Hours

The Russian center for Syrian reconciliation at the Hmeimim airbase registered a total of four violations of the ceasefire regime in Syria in the last 24 hours.

"The ceasefire has been observed in most provinces of the Syrian Arab Republic. Within last 24 hours, 4 ceasefire violations have been registered in the Damascus province," the Russian Defense Ministry stated.

The Russia-US brokered ceasefire regime in Syria came into force on February 27. The al-Nusra Front and the Daesh terrorist groups, which are outlawed in Russia, are not part of the ceasefire deal.
This is at least the fourth missile fired from Yemeni territory after the peace talks in Kuwait in April, with the mediation of United Nations. The fighting continued during the peace negotiations despite formal truce.

Saudi Arabia backs internationally recognized president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, who was forced to leave the country by the religious militia called Al Houthi, loyal to Yemeni the former president Ali Abdullah Saleh.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  The United States and Canada will carry out an observation flight over Russia's territory under the Open Skies Treaty, the head of the Russian Defense Ministry's Nuclear Risk Reduction Center said Monday.

"From July 4 until July 9, in the frameworks of the Open Skies Treaty, joint mission of the United States and Canada will hold an observation flight of the Canadian C-130 observation aircraft over Russia's territory," Sergei Ryzhkov said.

According to Ryzhkov, the aircraft will take off from the Tiksi airport in the Russian region of Yakutia.
Finland's ambition is to update its rapid response forces, which can be deployed quickly. The purpose of the future contract is therefore to enable the support for the operational troops with artillery equipment that features both a long range and good mobility on rugged terrain and on roads. The South Korean hardware is set to partially replace obsolete artillery during the 2020s and 2030s, Finland's Defense Ministry reported.

By its own admission, the Finnish army has studied the supply and prices on the international market for both new and used 155 mm self-propelled artillery systems, and is currently pondering the acquisition of South Korean K9 Thunder artillery pieces.

According to the Defense Ministry, the K9 Thunder artillery pieces are suitable for military training and appropriate for the Finnish conscript army due to their cost-effectiveness. The Finnish Defense Ministry believes that the Korean ACS will provide the necessary performance at minimum cost. Negotiations are still underway, which is why no details of the transaction have so far been disclosed.
Marie Le Pens Eurosceptic platform is not unique among the countrys presidential candidates with far-left Front de Gauche (FG) party leader Jean-Luc Melenchon also calling for France to leave the European Union citing the specter of undemocratic trade deals that risk poisoning the countrys citizens, undercutting its agricultural industry, and stripping its workers of basic protections.

Another presidential hopeful, Bruno Le Maire, a former secretary of state for European Affairs, has also demanded a referendum on redefining the European project but has not gone so far as to say that the European Union is broken beyond repair.

The emergence of two, possibly three leading presidential candidates in France demanding a so-called Frexit suggests that the issue will be front and center during the election season, but many analysts remain skeptical that any of these candidates will gain the traction needed to win.

However, recent public opinion polls show that selling the idea of the status quo may ultimately prove fatal to President Francois Hollande or former President Nicolas Sarkozys respective campaigns.
Mahin Khan was arrested in Tucson following an investigation by the FBIs Joint Terrorism Task Force and was booked into the notorious Maricopa County jail where he will be forced to endure long hours under the sweltering Arizona summer heat often exceeding 115 degrees Fahrenheit (46 degrees Celsius) and as an inmate will be required to wear pink underwear while incarcerated in the facility.

Attorney Generals Office spokeswoman Mia Garcia and FBI officials said Khans plans were not centered on the Fourth of July reassuring the public that they can safely celebrate the holidays in public places.
Sorenson resigned after a fourth accountability meeting held Thursday by the county's Republican Central Committee. The meeting was looking into her and party vice chairman Vic Ullrey's claims that her account was "hacked". The Colorado party chair refuted the claims.

Don Suppes, mayor of Orchard City, who is running for the Delta County Commission, acknowledged the resignation of Sorenson.

"There's no room for racism, intended or unintended, in society," he said. "It's best for the party, best for the county, that she step down," he said.

Earlier, Sorensen called the image a joke, reportedly saying, "I really don't care if people are offended by it," but later she admitted her responsibility.

Sorenson was also criticized for openly endorsing one of the Party candidates for the US Senate race, Darryl Glenn. More than 42 percent of Delta County GOP voters cast their ballots for him in the five-way race. Endorsement of a candidate during the intraparty contest is a gross violation of election law.

"That is one of the hardest parts of that job," Suppes said. "You have to stay neutral no matter how strong your feelings are one way or another. You have to stay neutral."

It is unknown if the Committee will pursue the investigation, as Sorensen's resignation effectively nullifies the case.
Parti Quebecois leader candidate Martine Ouellet said in a video posted her Facebook page Saturday that Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's recent statement calling Canada "one nation" is "reinventing history".

"It's a direct insult to the Quebec nation, an insult to everything our heritage represents," Ouellet wrote on Facebook.

On Canada Day, July 1st, Justin Trudeau said "today, we celebrate the day, exactly 149 years ago, when the people of this great land came together, and forged one nation, one country  Canada."


CAIRO (Sputnik)The normalization of relations between Russia and Turkey will provide for better coordination in the fight against terrorism in Syria, a member of the Moscow-Cairo-formed Syrian opposition delegation told Sputnik Monday.

"I think that the Russia-Turkey reconciliation will negatively affect extremist forces, both religious and secular. Mutual rapprochement will provide for better coordination in the fight against terrorism and for distinguishing between extremist forces and moderate Syrian opposition," Firas Khalidi said, adding that this rapprochement could have a positive impact on the upcoming meeting on Syrian reconciliation in Geneva.

According to Khalidi, the meeting may take place after July 20.
Recently, Norwegian Foreign Minister Brge Brende came under fire from the Norwegian Agency for Development and Cooperation ( NORAD ) for allegedly violating the government's assistance principles as the Clinton Foundation received 30 million kroner (roughly 5 million dollars) in funding last year alone.

One of the projects by the Clinton Foundation is aimed at replacing polluting diesel generators in tropical island states with solar, wind or geothermal power generators, the Norwegian newspaper Verdens Gang reported. This contradicts the Norwegian government's guidelines for international help, as none of the 27 countries included in the Clinton Foundation's program are featured in Oslo's list of intended beneficiaries.

Norwegian Foreign Ministry rejected the criticism of the obvious departure from its own foreign policy, as communication adviser Guri Solberg explained that support through multinational organizations is not covered by the same principles as direct assistance.
According to the statement, the two company chiefs have concluded that the "project is being implemented according to schedule and have expressed their confidence that the pipeline will be put into operation before the end of 2019."

BASF and its subsidiary Wintershall Holding GmbH, Germany's largest internationally active oil and gas producer, are Gazprom's partners on several developing projects, including the Yuzhno-Russkoye oil and gas field, several sections of the Achimov deposits in the Urengoy gas field, as well as the Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines.
TBILISI (Sputnik), Svetlana Alexandrova  In February 2015, a peace agreement was signed between Ukraines conflicting sides in Minsk, after talks of the Normandy Four countries, comprising Russia, Germany, Ukraine and France. The deal stipulates a full ceasefire, weapons withdrawal from the line of contact in eastern Ukraine, an all-for-all prisoner exchange and constitutional reforms, which would give a special status to the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk peoples republics.

"On [the issue of] Ukraine, it is a very complicated situation because of the Minsk agreements but we don't have any other option. A peaceful solution of the conflict is the only option," Tsereteli, who is a member of the Georgian delegation to the OSCE PA, said on the sidelines of the organization's annual meeting in Tbilisi, Georgia.

He stated that, if elected as the OSCE PA president, he will try to facilitate the implementation of the front provisions of the Minsk agreements to a greater extent and will work, together with other colleagues and the OSCE agencies and institutions, with both sides in the conflict.
"We are challenged by new wave of terrorism. It is, of course, a great challenge for the world. We have a huge migration flows because of terrorism, because of wars and conflicts. We have to identify the most effective mechanism and the most effective tools. We need all countries of the OSCE area on board. We need a bigger collective effort to tackle terrorism," Tsereteli, who is a member of the Georgian delegation to the OSCE PA, said on the sidelines of the OSCE PA annual meeting in Tbilisi, Georgia.

The election of the OSCE PA president and vice-presidents is expected to be held on the last day of the annual meeting that runs from July 1 to July 5. Aside from Tsereteli, candidates for the presidential post include two other OSCE PA vice-presidents, namely Austrias Christine Muttonen and Frances Alain Neri.
As people in the United States celebrate the 4th of July holiday today in commemoration of the revolution against Britain, Horne argues that the events of 1776 and the American Revolution in fact constituted a counter-revolution staged by a desperate elite who feared the end of slavery?

A scandal is rocking Japan as the President of TEPCO, the Tokyo Electric Power Company, admits that the corporation engaged in a coverup during the devastating Fukushima nuclear disaster. So far, there has been no real accountability for this historic disaster. Becker is joined by Kevin Kamps of Beyond Nuclear to talk about the coverup.

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization, an alliance between China, Russia and several former Soviet Central Asian Republics, is now joined by Pakistan and India. Political analyst Eric Draitser joins Becker to discuss if US unipolar domination is coming to an end.
Ari Rabin-Havt hosts The Agenda on Sirius XM. He collaborated with Media Matters for America on the book Lies, Incorporated: The World of Post-Truth Politics. He tracks to their source the lies that will not die, like death panels and climate change denial. Surprisingly, the shadowy, well-funded individuals that do this work aren't always motivated by the money. Remember Todd Akin's claim that "if it's legitimate (!!) rape, the female body has ways to try to shut the whole thing down?" Turns out he may have really believed that.

Also today: why did the judge in the trial of Stanford athlete Brock Turner ignore both mandatory minimum sentence guidelines and the prosecutor to bestow a sentence much lower than anyone expected? Guests Imani Gandy and Sajid Khan weigh in on what it means in court to be white, male, upper middle class, and a jock.

You can find Brad's previous editions here.
This decision was made after the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) had conducted searches at Onexim's offices on April 14, the Vedomosti newspaper reported, citing its sources, including a person who is said to have received an offer to buy part of the assets.

An Onexim spokesperson refused to comment on the issue, according to the media outlet.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  On Saturday, a source in the Kremlin confirmed to RIA Novosti previous media reports on the Astakhov's resignation after a number of compromising statements, including the most recent one, when the ombudsman said "So, how was your swim?" addressing a survivor of the deadly incident on a lake in the Russian northwestern Karelia region.

"Currently, Pavel Astakhov is on vacation I can confirm that after the return from vacation, he will leave this post. The president will sign a decree then," Peskov told reporters.

The spokesman added that Astakhov filed for resignation. Peskov said it was too early to say who would take the post.
The plane went missing last Friday after failing to make scheduled contact with rescuers. All ten crew members died in the crash. The last of the bodies were pulled from the charred wreckage earlier in the day. The black boxes received thermal damage.

"Experts from MAK [Interstate Aviation Committee, or IAC] have started deciphering flight data and pilot voice recordings," the MAK press office said.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  The controversial draft legislation was criticized by mobile operators claiming that the new law would result in an up to three-time increase in prices for their services.

"The [draft] bill does not offer to store information. The bill just gives a right to the Russian government to determine its stance in the course of two years whether it is necessary or not to store information, what amount and what kind of data should be stored. So the bill does not regulate this issue. The bill just sets the governments powers," Yarovaya, who drafted the legislation along with Viktor Ozerov, the head of the Arms Committee in the upper house, told Rossiya-24 TV channel.

She added that there were no reasons for increasing prices for communication services.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  Access to security areas will be restricted with a list of reasons for access denial to be created.

"In order to boost anti-terrorist defense of atomic facilities a security zone with special conditions of using [its] territory  a security area with a special legal regime  is established," the law says.
KIEV (Sputnik)  On May 30, head of the State Space Agency of Ukraine Lyubomyr Sabadosh said that Ukraine proposed to the United States joint development and production of rocket engines to replace Russias RD-180 that the US side buys for its space industry.

"I hope that this will not be such a sensation. We are planning to launch a jointly-developed rocket with the United States in the coming months. We have serious achievements in the cooperation on the launch," Chaly said in an interview with the Ukrainian television channel 5 Kanal.

Chaly added that Kiev had been unable to hold a joint meeting with representatives of the United States on cooperation in the space sector since 2008, but such a meeting took place some two weeks ago.
"I have been involved in the creation of educational audiovisual production for over 15 years, and decided to film this project in 2016 (the year when I turn 40), because the subject matter discussed in the film has tremendous social relevanceI researched many topics, and eventually one of my friends who had converted to Islam convinced me to make a film which would show our society that Islam is a cultural and religious choice that a person makes  that no matter what he or she remains a person, a citizen; that such a person has dreams, family, that like anyone else he or she runs into certain obstacles, and that in addition they must overcome prejudice against their religious choice."

Valentte explained that his goal was not to tell the history of Islam, but the story of individual Muslims, "poignant stories of people who have faced and continue to face obstacles to being a Muslim, their struggles in life, their dreams, and their efforts to protect their families. I want to bring about profound reactions from my audience, and to encourage our society to cease to associate the religion [of Islam] with terrorism. People of any religion can make bad choices, can be terrorists, thieves, pedophiles. Their choice of these ways of life has nothing to do with their religious choice."
He also went off on the effectiveness at which Donald Trump, in his view, disseminates messages of hate using social media outlets such as Twitter.

"An amoral internet permits a lie to travel around the world three times before the truth can get started, and we live in a place where lying is OK  where a lassitude develops where it doesnt matter what the truth is  and thats how its possible for someone like him to have advanced who is so clearly temperamentally unsuited and has no idea about governing," said Burns.

"The Republican Party has been extraordinarily successful at getting many groups of people to vote against their self-interest," he continued. "Evangelicals are voting for Donald Trump. What part of Donald Trump reminds you of Jesus Christ? Trump lusts after his own daughter on national radio, talks about womens bodies and breasts in such a disparaging way, and mocks them. How is this in any way Christian? When you make the 'other' the enemy, how is that Christian."
On the evening of July 4, the text of The Unanimous Declaration of the thirteen United States of America was unanimously approved and signed by President of Congress John Hancock and Secretary Charles Thomson.

The Declaration was then read out loud in public in front of the state house building and its first 200 copies have been printed by John Dunlap.

It was the first document in history that proclaimed the principle of national sovereignty as a basis of state organization and rejected the theory of a divine origin of power that prevailed at the time.

The Declaration of Independence stipulated the peoples right to revolt and overthrow a despotic government and proclaimed the fundamental ideas of democracy  the equality of all people and their "inalienable rights, among which are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."

The Declaration was not only the "birth certificate" of a new nation but also a landmark of American literature. Jefferson expressed its principles and ideas in figurative, concise and clear language.

OFFICIAL SIGNING
"Please accept our condolences on your loss," explained a letter from the Higher Education Student Assistance Authority of New Jersey. "After careful consideration of the information you provided the authority has determined that your request does not meet the threshold for loan forgiveness. Monthly bill statements will continue to be sent to you."

This is the letter that Marcia DeOliveira-Longinetti received when she applied to get a student loan forgiven after her 23-year-old son was murdered last year. The mother inherited nearly $20,000 in student debt on loans she cosigned on to ensure the young man could attend the University of Vermont in hopes that he may enjoy a middle-class lifestyle  hopes that were dashed all too soon.

"Were not going to be poor because of this," she explained. "But every time I have to pay this thing, I think in my head this is so unfair."
On Sunday, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed an amendment to the decree on providing economic safety and Russian national interests, adding Kyrgyzstan to the active legislature, stipulating that Ukrainian goods may be transferred to Kazakhstan only through determined check points, routes and with special customs convoy. The decree was prolonged till the end of 2017.

"The Ukrainian government raises the issue of violating the norms of international law by Russia in the World Trade Organization and in other international organizations, as well as with our international partners," the statement reads.


ANKARA (Sputnik)The number of Russian tourists holidaying in Turkey has started to rise amid the thaw in Russian-Turkish ties, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said on Monday.

"We are returning to the relations we used to have with Russia. In the tourist industry, challenged by the serious crisis, after Russia lifted restrictions, Russian tourists have started to arrive in Turkey, and the flow of tourists is going to rise," Yildirim said as he spoke at a meeting of the Turkish government.

On June 27, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in a letter addressed to Putin apologized for the downing of a Russian Su-24 attack aircraft by a Turkish jet in Syria and extended his condolences to the family of the pilot killed in the incident.
According to Polish Defense Minister Antoni Macierewicz, dispatching Polish soldiers to Kuwait is a historical event for the country.

"Your patrol flights, interaction with allies in the Middle East means that we will function as a single, supporting each other, mechanism," Macierewicz said at a ceremony to make the move in Warsaw.


MOSCOW (Sputnik)Russia and Cuba will sign an agreement on cooperation in the field of peaceful nuclear energy, the Russian government said in a decree Monday, published on Russia's official legal information website.

Russia's Rosatom nuclear corporation and the Foreign Ministry have been instructed to hold talks with the Cuban side and sign the deal, which has already received preliminary approval from Havana.
THESSALONIKI (Sputnik)  UNESCO refuses to maintain the ancient city of Tauric Chersonese in Crimea for political reasons, the speaker of Russia's lower house of parliament Sergei Naryshkin said Monday.

"Unfortunately, UNESCO stopped caring about the maintenance of the Tauric Chersonese monuments for political reasons," Naryshkin said, warning against the politicization of such matters.


MOSCOW (Sputnik)The ministry said it was notified last week, without being consulted beforehand, that Poland introduced border closures to residents of Russias Kaliningrad Region as a security measure to the NATO summit in Warsaw and World Youth Day in Krakow this month. The suspension takes effect on July 4.

"Based on the principle of reciprocity, Russia adopted response mirror measures against Polish citizens intending to visit the Kaliningrad Region. They will operate until Warsaw restores the previous order of movement in accordance with the mentioned agreement," the ministry said.

It further questioned the correlation between the 2011 Russian-Polish local border movement agreement governing two administrative units and security at the events held in cities over 100 miles to the south.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  The United States continues working with Russia to re-launch the cessation of hostilities in Syria and get political reconciliation underway , US Ambassador to Russia John Tefft said Monday.

"We are working together trying to find a way to get the cessation of hostilities in Syria back on track and to get the process of political accommodation, political reconciliation going again," Tefft told RIA Novosti.

US Secretary of State John Kerry is on the phone regularly with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to revive the ceasefire and start negotiations, the US diplomat stressed, saying "we are trying to do everything we can to support that process."
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law on Monday granting veteran status to Russian military personnel who fought in Syria, according to the document, published on the official government portal for legal information.

Russia conducted an aerial campaign in Syria from September 30, 2015 until March 14, 2016, when Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the withdraw most of the country's military contingent after accomplishing its objective.
New Delhi (Sputnik)  Mukatil, Istishadi or Al-Inghmasi  these are the three choices available to the fighters in Daesh, highly placed sources in the Indian Home Ministry told Sputnik.

Home Ministry sources said that, Whenever a new member joins the fold of Daesh they are given three choices. If the fighter wants to serve at the front then they are called Mukatil, while those who want to serve as a suicide bomber are called Istishadi and Al-Inghmasi. Jihadists from both categories do not expect to return, however Al-Inghmasi are held in highest esteem by the top echelons of Daesh.

This modus operandi of Daesh was revealed by Daesh suspects whom Indian Intelligence Agencies have arrested in different locations and they are now in the custody of National Investigation Agency (NIA).


MOSCOW (Sputnik)The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe's (OSCE) representative on freedom of the media, Dunja Mijatovi, welcomed Monday signing into law the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Improvement Act aimed at improving transparency and access to information in the United States.

This legislation signals a strong commitment to increase transparency and prioritize the improvement of access to information for citizens and journalists alike. Access to information is widely recognized as an essential human right, instrumental for media in its ability to gather reliable information. It is also a key OSCE commitment, Mijatovic said as quoted by the OSCE statement.

The amendments include a number of steps aimed at improving transparency and access to information including requiring federal agencies to make disclosable records and documents available for public inspection in an electronic format as well as making available for inspection in an electronic format records that have been requested three or more times.
Rideau Carletons Sunday, July 3 card was highlighted by a pair of $6,650 Winners-Over Not Listed Preferred events, one for each gait.

Unabating swept to the lead at three quarters to then advance to a 1:57.2 win in the Winners Over Trot.

With Rocky Boy setting splits of :28.4 and :59.4, Unabating moved first over before the half, towing Maximuscle second over. Rocky Boy lost the lead into the final turn, but fought off Maximuscle to take second.

Unabating, paying $7.50, is an eight-year-old Broadway Hall gelding out of the Malabar Man mare Malabar Memories. He is owned by Catheline Pelletier, trained by Gerard Demers, and was driven to victory by Guy Gagnon.

Meersburg and trainer-driver Ted McDonald shot by rivals to win the Winners Over Pace in 1:55 over Officially Rusty and pacesetter Mr Massimo. Sitting off fractions of :27.4, :58, and 1:26, Meersburg rallied with Officially Rusty past Mr Massimo, getting a half-length advantage in the final strides.

Returning $16.80, Meersburg is a five-year-old gelding by Sand Shooter out of the Jennas Beach Boy mare Belize. Hes owned by Julie Ferguson.

Live racing resumes Thursday, July 7. First race post is 6:30pm. For full results from Sunday's card at Rideau, click the following link: Sunday Results  Rideau Carleton.
Drivers Marcus Miller and Tim Tetrick both won three $20,000 first round divisions of Pennsylvania Stallion Series action for two-year-old pacing colts Sunday night at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono, but it was a member of that dying-off 'breed,' the trainer/driver -- Pat Lachance -- who guided the fastest freshman, Fullback, a 1:53.2 winner.

Lachance had the early lead with the winning Bettors Delight colt, then yielded to favoured Jo Pas Somebeach. In the stretch, Fullback came home like Jim Brown bulling his way to the end zone, closing into a :27.2 last quarter to beat out the pacesetter by a length and (like all the Stallion Series winners) taking a new mark for Lachance and the ownership of Down Easters Alroy Chow, Stanley Sclar, and transplant Del Cote.

Fullback returned 8-1 at the mutuel wickets; there was one other non-favourite among the septet of winners, and if given a choice of that horses handler between Miller and Tetrick, one would logically go for Miller, who guided two $50+ horses home the previous night. And indeed it was Marcus Miller beating out the chalk Artists Ruffles with the Dragon Again gelding Epic Union, also an 8-1 proposition, coming from second-over to win in 1:55.3 for trainer Erv Miller (at Goshen with daughter Hannah as she was honoured as Amateur Driver of the Year) and owners David and John Prushnok, Ervin Miller Stable Inc., and Paymaq Racing.

Father/trainer Erv Miller and driver/son Marcus also clicked with another son of Dragon Again, the colt Maconupwiththedragon, who led coast-to-coast in 1:53.4, with back fractions of :56.1 and :27.4, for owner Ronald Michelon. Marcuss third Stallion Series winner was behind the Les Givens-trained Ponder colt Ponderingjacksfame, another who led at every call, coming home in 27.3 to complete a 1:53.3 package fort Nanticoke Racing Inc., Jim Magno, and Joe Fonte.

Tetricks Stallion Series triple, all behind favourites as the paragraphs above imply, included back-to-back wins for trainer Jo Ann Looney-King and owner Paton Racing Stable Inc., with both timed in 1:54.2. First up was the Well Said gelding Hulk Hanover, who marched to the front in front of the stands en route to victory; the other gave Dragon Again his third siring credit as the gelding Donttellmeagain became the only winner to run his record to two-for-two with an early move en route to the biggest victory margin, six lengths.

Tetricks third triumph in the stake was behind Outcry, a colt who gave Well Said two winners in the first round action when he went to the lead early, backed off the half, then blitzed home clear in 1:57.3 for conditioner Mark Harder and owners Rick Phillips, Peter Venturini, and Deena Frost.

Miller and Tetrick made the Pocono winners circle their own gladiator ring on Sunday, each winning five times in the first 12 races, with one-race visits from Lachance and Andrew McCarthy. Both were on the track trying to score the knockout blow in the 13th and final race, and both were at their preferred odds -- Tetrick as second choice, Upset King Marcus at 24-1 -- but David Miller ruined this showdown by checking home first, with Tetrick and Miller at honours-even with their quintuples.

(with files from PHHA/Pocono)
THE Turks and Caicos Islands just concluded a successful stewardship of the 61st Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) health research conference in Providenciales.

During the four day event, the TCI also came out on top by officially launching  the Tourism Health and Safety programme  the first of its kind in the Caribbean.

The conference was officially opened on Thursday evening (June 23) at Beaches resort with CARPHAs Executive Director Dr James Hospedales and Premier and Minister of Health Dr Rufus Ewing delivering key addresses to the diverse gathering at the French Village.

The Premiers address focused on the theme of the summit  "Good Family Health: A Contributing Factor to a Strong Economy.

He observed that nations within the region need to get back to the basics of the family if they are to successfully address issues such as mental health, teenage pregnancy and the all too prevalent youth violence.

He further noted that most Caribbean countries are still grappling with the burden of chronic non-communicable diseases and the Zika virus, among other health threats.

The Premier stated that the financial and economic impact of these threats can make countries and individuals poor in an instant, and put to the delegates that the time for sharing ideas and looking towards implementation of these ideas, is now.

Meanwhile, CARPHAs Director focused more on the research side of things, and the need for implementation of these research findings which form policy, within the Caribbean region.

Dr Hospedales noted that funding for research is direly needed, stating that the newly formed CARPHA foundation will focus its energies on mobilising funding for future research in the coming months.

During the summit a silent auction was held by the foundation to garner resources for its coffers.

Dr Hospedales told the audience, comprising of public health professionals, policy makers, clinicians and students, that there is a need to strengthen the ethical framework for research, but just as important was the ability to translate research into policy and then implement same.

In this vein, the director outlined a number of policies the Caribbean needs to put in place sothat policies can be successfully implemented and effect change.

"The future of research in the Caribbean is going to play a very important role in guiding policy choices, in guiding practise in the region; and we need to do a lot of different things to make sure research is integrated into the planning of the Caribbean Cooperation and Health Phase four, which will be the policy agenda for the next five to ten years.

"We need funds, we need to strengthen the partnerships, we need to introduce implementation research, and we have a lot of presentation on the problem but we need more work on how you solve the problem; we need to increase policy relevant research, and build capacity in research that translates research data more into policy.

He stated that there needs to be legislation in the Caribbean countries, and that CARPHA will play its part to continue to champion the cause.

However, he noted that one of the gaps too often seen is that there is a lot of evidence, but no implementation; naming the Early Childhood development and the research work done on sickle cell as two areas where a lot has been done to gather information, but implementation is sorely lacking.

As for the TCI, the Premier is confident that the implementation is not as lacking as other places, noting that the research presented during the summit by team TCI will impact the countrys health policies as they feed right into the national action plan for non-communicable diseases and hypertension.

This years Health Research Conference was jointly hosted by the Government of Turks and Caicos Islands and CARPHA. Next years event will be held in Guyana under the theme Climate Change: The Environment and Human Health.




THE PEOPLES Democratic Movement (PDM) held its 41st national convention at the Kalookis restaurant in Providenciales on Friday (June 24) andSaturday (June 25) under the theme, victory is a must.





During the convention the five at-large candidates who will be competing in this upcoming general election were introduced.





Karen Malcom, founder of the Heart Foundation and Robert Been Jr. Local businessman, were introduced as the two new at-large candidates for the PDM, who will join Sharlene Cartwright-Robinson, Derek Taylor and Josephine Connolly, to complete the five candidates required.





On Saturday (June 25), the party held a business session where delegates learned in more detail about the work of the party around the islands, and they also received reports from various partys officers.





The election of officers took place during the session and Party leader, Sharlene Cartwright-Robinson, deputy leader Sean Astwood and national chairman Douglas Parnell were returned unopposed.





Others elected to to positions were: Karl Bain as vice chair, Patricia Saunders as second vice chair, Princie Harris as party whip, Joseph Connolly as assistant Treasurer, Gladyss Kennedy as assistant secretary general, Charles Garland as party Chaplain, Llewellyn Handfield as trustee, Charles Garland as trustee and Derek Taylor as trustee.




AFTER the shock of Britain's vote to leave the European Union, local politicians have expressed mixed views on the possible adverse political , economical and social implications this new development might have on the Turks and Caicos Islands.





On Thursday, June 23, the people of Britain voted for a British exit, or Brexit, from the European Union in a historic referendum.





The outcome has prompted jubilant celebrations among Eurosceptics, around Europe and sent shockwaves through the global economy.





Although it will take Britain at least two years to leave the EU, the shift has already changed the financial dynamics of the entire world.





It resulted in the slowing down of commerce in the UK and brought the British pound down to its lowest in history, not to mention the escalation of the volatility of the financial markets.





Since the Turks and Caicos Islands is a British Overseas territory, the risk of an economic and political change has boggled the minds of local politicians, who have since expressed mixed reactions to the referendum.





Leader of the Progressive Democratic Alliance (PDA),Oswald Skippings, in a release said: "The recent advent of BREXIT afforded the British people an opportunity to make a bold move to determine their own destiny, as they decided by majority, and to the dismay of their Prime Minister, to exit the European Union.





"While the British populace is uniting and embracing the timely opportunity to take authority and control of their destiny as it relates to issues such as their money, their immigration, their security, their jobs and their social services, the British Government and its local administrators, in collusion with locally elected officials, seem hell- bent on opening up our doors for mass immigration to the extent of widening the franchise, leaving our borders unprotected, facilitating the escalation of mass and dangerous crime, taking away from us the control of our money, and giving our jobs to foreign work permit holders, thereby impoverishing and disempowering our people.





Skippings noted that, the threat of a United Kingdom breakup has become even more real and does nothing to calm the fears of the global community, including the Turks and Caicos and its remaining Overseas Territories.





He said: "Moreover, during the next few years while Britain negotiates what their actual relationship with the EU will be, the possibility of an even greater economic fallout is possible.





"One possibility is that our free-flow immigration relationship with the EU will automatically change, along with the likely British passport changes, and the future of EU grant funds to the Turks and Caicos will also be uncertain.

"

"Closer to home, the economic stability of the United States is heavily dependent on its ability to negotiate mutually beneficial arrangements with allies and other friendly jurisdictions and because of the global political, economic and industrial intricacies, that ability may now decrease, not to mention that when the US sneezes, the Turks and Caicos catches influenza.





"However, regardless of past mistakes and misdeeds, we cannot as a Turks and Caicos people continue any longer to be apathetic and complacent and remain immersed and lamenting in our dreadful past, we must awake and arise and take our country back.





Skippings is adamant that this is a wakeup call for the Turks and Caicos leaders to end the political mediocrity and step up both their political and economic governance to avoid a relapse into recession and economic disruption.





The PDA leader noted: "Because of a Draconian Colonial constitution and an impotent political directorate, we are left drifting, merely going along with the flow,and now more than ever, we need gifted, bold and visionary political leadership with proactive, creative and innovative ideas.

"Leaders who are able to plan and put in place strong economic, social and political strategies and progressive policies that would demonstrate that we are prepared for self-determination when the Turks and Caicos people so decide.

"

"Therefore for this upcoming election, the Turks and Caicos electorate has to become more politically conscious and much more election savvy in order to end our subservient and powerless status and secure a comfortable, safe and prosperous niche in this global community, a universally coveted position that only the Progressive Democratic Alliance is equipped and committed to accomplish in these difficult and trying times for our Beautiful By Nature Turks and Caicos Islands and its disempowered people.





Also commenting on Brexit, the People`s Democratic Movement (PDM) National Chairman, Doug Parnell told the Weekly News that the decision of Independence is solely in the hands of the people of the Turks and Caicos.





In this regard he noted: "Brexit referendum should not be seen as a cause for hasty action. Independence is up to us, it shouldnt be something we jump to because of forced circumstances such as these.





"The Turks and Caicos constitution is an order in the Privy Council and has nothing to do with the European Union, so our relationship with the UK remains even though they have decided to exist the EU.





"One of the major differences is that some of the agreements between the EU and the UK that we are a part of ,may no longer apply to us but that will take some time to work out.





Parnell also believes that the Leader of the Turks and Caicos Islands should start forging direct relations with the British Government.





"I believe that we have to vigorously negotiate with the British Government for better terms in our constitution thats our first step, so that Turks and Caicos people could have more autonomy over their day to day affairs.





On the other hand, Governor Peter Beckingham, commenting on the UK`s decision said: "It is still too early to say what the timetable will be leading to the UKs departure from the EU. That will be the subject of negotiation between the UK and the EU, which will be led by the next Prime Minister.





"It will be a gradual process. The UK will remain a member of the EU until the negotiations are concluded.





"As I said to the Premier this morning, it is too early to say what impact Britains eventual withdrawal from the EU will have on TCI and the UKs other Overseas Territories.





He revealed that there is likely to be a meeting of the UK Overseas Territories Association with Foreign Office officials shortly where the TCI Government will be kept closely informed as negotiations progress.





Several attempts by this publication to reach the Premier and other Government officials on this issue proved futile.




hidden

IT industry body Nasscom has said telecom regulator Trai should give complete flexibility to apps and websites for deciding on provisions for rewarding free data to customers.

In its response to consultation paper of Trai on free data for telecom customers, the body also said operators should not have direct or indirect influence on the content that customers view on the Internet. It said the purpose of free data or concessions on data usage as reward is to encourage users to explore Internet.

"When the reward is given by the platform and not by the individual website, it should not have any conditions attached that translate into discrimination between websites and apps or have any conditions as to which websites and apps may be accessed, either implicitly or explicitly, including stipulations regarding technology or content," Nasscom said.

The body also said there should be no stipulations on how the data reward can be used by the customer, like restricting its use to specific websites. Nasscom in its suggestions invoked net-neutrality to keep intervention of telecom operators out of free data reward decision of websites or applications.

"Net Neutrality is a universal concept (recently upheld by the US courts as well as other nations in the past) where TSPs (telecom service providers), as access providers, have no power to influence consumer choice relating to services, applications, content that a consumer accesses. Therefore, TSPs should not have any direct or indirect influence on the content that customers view on the Internet," Nasscom said.

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) through its consultation paper on free data is exploring equivalent of toll free number for Internet space where customers can access websites without having to incur data charges. The regulator is looking at a framework, which should be compliant with the principles of net neutrality and it should be telecom network agnost.

Telecom industry bodies, Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) and Association of Unified telecom Service Providers of India (AUSPI), have questioned the points in the consultation paper talking about telecom agnostic platform.

The industry body has also questioned jurisdiction of Trai in case it wants to frame rules on free data without involving telecom operators. Various stakeholders have asked Trai to define net neutrality before framing rules for free data.

Member of Parliament Rajeev Chandrasekhar in his comments said: "TRAI must define Net Neutrality urgently and this definition must focus on preventing gatekeeping/cabelisation by telcos. Free data must not be regulated through an ex-ante ban, but on a case-by-case basis. Regulation must not dampen competition or innovation on the web."



PTI
tech2 News Staff

Google Play Store is the official way for Android users to get Android apps apart from several third-party app stores like Amazon Appstore, GetJar, F-Droid, Samsung Galaxy Apps,App Lib, Opera Mobile App Store to many other sources.

The company is rolling out an easier way for developers to offer their apps for beta testing in the form of 'Early Access' program. This is a more streamlined and easier way to become a beta tester. It is a far cry from the previously available method where the users had to request to join a Google+ group or register on beta tester page to join the beta testing. This will also help the developers monitor the feedback and gain a wider test crowd with an even wider range of devices.

Google's offering has undergone periodic overhauls with the slow rollout of new features including the rebranding from Android Market to Google Play store to integrate Google Music and Google eBookstore. Even though the apps are segregated differently to consume the specific type of media, the distribution is still integrated within the main Store app. Recently, the Google redesigned app icons for Play-branded apps including Play Store, Play Movies & TV, Play Music, Play Books and Play Newsstand.
hidden

Israel's Minister of Internal Security on Saturday accused Facebook and its founder, Mark Zuckerberg, of not doing enough to prevent incitement against Israel and said the social network was "sabotaging" Israeli police work. Israel has in the past said Facebook is used to encourage attacks and the government is drafting legislation to enable it to order Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and other social media to remove online postings it deems incite terrorism.

But the comments made by Gilad Erdan, a cabinet minister in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing coalition that oversees law enforcement, were particularly biting. He said Zuckerberg was responsible for Facebook policy and called on "the citizens of Israel to flood him in every possible place with the demand to monitor the platform he established and from which he earns billions".

A spokesman for Facebook in Israel said the company was not commenting on the minister's assertions. During an interview on Channel 2 television, Erdan said, "Facebook today, which brought an amazing, positive revolution to the world, sadly, we see this since the rise of Daesh (Islamic State) and the wave of terror, it has simply become a monster." "Facebook today sabotages, it should be known, sabotages the work of the Israeli police, because when the Israeli police approach them, and it is regarding a resident of Judea and Samaria, Facebook does not cooperate," he said, referring to the area of the West Bank.

"It also sets a very high bar for removing inciteful content and posts," Erdan said. Since October, Palestinians have killed 34 Israelis and two visiting U.S. citizens in a wave of street attacks, mostly stabbings. Israeli forces have shot dead at least 201 Palestinians, 137 of whom Israel has said were assailants. Others were killed in clashes and protests. Palestinian leaders say assailants have acted out of desperation over the collapse of peace talks in 2014 and Israeli settlement expansion in occupied territory that Palestinians seek for an independent state. Most countries view the settlements as illegal. Israel disputes this.

Israel says incitement in the Palestinian media and personal problems at home have been important factors that have spurred assailants, often teenagers, to launch attacks. Tensions over Jewish access to a contested Jerusalem holy site, revered by Muslims as Haram al-Sharif (Noble Sanctuary) and Jews as Temple Mount, have also fuelled the violence.

Reuters
tech2 News Staff

Did you know that a security camera can be used to take down websites? Arbor Networks, a cyber-security firm has discovered that the infamous Lizard Squad collective has been using compromised IoT devices, including CCTVs, to launch DDOS attacks against websites and take them down.

Lizard Squad have been around since 2014 and have primarily been known to target gaming services, particularly the PlayStation Network and Xbox Live. Theyve also claimed to be responsible for shutting down the entirety of North Koreas internet for a day.

Arbor Networks reports that Lizard Squads LizardStresser programits source code is freely available by the wayhas been taking over thousands of CCTVs, and possibly other IoT devices, to generate DDoS attacks exceeding 400Gbps in bandwidth.

DDoS attacks are Distributed Denial of Service attacks that, in laymans terms, flood a website or server with so much traffic that it gets overwhelmed. Its a distributed attack in that the traffic comes from thousands of sources, making it difficult for any security software to reliably block it.

Using CCTVs to generate DDoS attacks might seem strange, but most CCTVs and IoT devices are essentially stripped down, low-power PCs that are connected to the internet. These devices usually have full access to the internet and run stripped-down Linux operating systems, which wont have full security features. To make matters worse, most IoT devices use shared hardware and software to minimize costs and installation complexity. Passwords are also shared amongst entire classes of devces, making them much easier to compromise.

By themselves, these IoT devices arent very powerful, but LizardStresser takes over thousands of these devices to make for a more potent attack platform.

If nothing else, Lizard Squads nefarious activities have highlighted the importance of security on the IoT platform.
Kunal Khullar

Panasonic launched a new smartphone for the Indian market today to further expand its Eluga series. The Eluga Note is yet another smartphone that is priced under the 15K mark, which already has a variety of handsets competing against each other. Panasonic hasnt had a very strong presence in the market, but it relies on selling its products offline rather than going for online ecommerce retail stores. Here is what we think about the newly launched handset.

Design and build

Unlike many smartphone makers who are offering a metal build, Panasonic has gone for an all plastic build. The front panel looks strikingly similar to the LeEco Le 1s. However, the back has a removable, textured plastic panel. The back also houses the 16MP camera which slightly bulges out, along with a triple LED flash. The panel can be removed to reveal the two SIM card slots, a microSD card slot, and the removable battery.

The top edge has the 3.5mm audio jack, an infrared blaster port and the microUSB port. On the right edge you will find the power and volume buttons and at the bottom is the speaker and a microphone.

The overall design is balanced and the handset actually feels quite light, but it doesn't feel as premium as other smartphones like the Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 or even the Moto G4 Plus, which is again, a full plastic body smartphone.

Display

The Eluga Note offers a 5.5-inch IPS LTPS display with a 1920x1080 full HD resolution. The display looks pretty standard and offers good brightness and sharpness. The touch response was smooth and even the viewing angles looked fine. We couldn't test the sunlight readability but we dont think it would face any issues.

OS

The handset runs on Android 6.0 Marshmallow with the companys FitHome user interface which is very close to a stock look. Panasonic has been using this on almost all of its Eluga range smartphones which is a wise decision since a clean interface provides a more snappy experience. It didn't show any sign of lag and it felt smooth even while scrolling through apps or menus. The UI also comes with with a curved app drawer which only fills up half the display making it easier to reach all the icons with just your thumb.

Camera

A 16MP camera with an f/1.9 aperture sits at the back of the smartphone and a 5MP camera sits on the front to take selfies. We couldn't test the camera that much but what we saw wasnt bad at all. It seemed to work great under well-lit conditions, but we aren't sure if it's any good under low light.

Hardware

The Eluga Note is powered by a MediaTek MT6753 octa-core processor clocked at 1.3GHz along with 3GB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage. The storage can be expanded further by using a microSD card. The handset also features an infrared port to control appliances like TV, AC, etc. Connectivity options include 4G LTE with VoLTE support, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS with A-GPS and FM Radio. The hardware seems to work well but surprisingly, there is no fingerprint scanner, something which competitors are offering at even an even lower price range than the Eluga Note. On the battery front there is a 3,000mAh battery.

Bottomline

Panasonics attempt to enter the under 15k segment doesnt seem that impressive. We arent saying that the handset is bad, but it isn't as good as its competitors. Priced at Rs 13,290 it would take a beating from the LeEco Le 2 and the Xiaomi Redmi Note 3. A price tag of under 10K would have made more sense. But considering that Panasonic has kept away from online channels, it could probably sell some stock in markets where consumers rely only on brick and mortar stores rather than ecommerce websites.
tech2 News Staff

After the launch of the Xiaomi Mi Max, it is now time for another Mi device as the Chinese smartphone maker has put up another teaser which we assume is for another smartphone. The teaser simply shows the letters "2>5" which obviously has a deep meaning, but more interesting is the print in Mandarin below it.

The teaser that is specifically the China market, leaked out via a Weibo account and roughly translated, reads "No love for losers". We certainly cannot vouch for 100 percent accuracy with the translation, but it seems that Xiaomi may be teasing the second coming of the Mi Note in the form of the Mi Note 2. As for "2>5" this could indicate that performance differences between the Note 2 and the currently available Mi 5.

The Xiaomi Mi Note was launched and released almost a year ago. The smartphone seems to be forgotten because it barely made it outside the China market. It packed in a Snapdragon 801, 3GB RAM and a 13MP camera on the back.

Current rumours however point to some serious competition to international brands. The rumours say that Mi Note 2 will pack in a 5.7-inch Full HD display for the low-end models while the high-end versions will feature a Quad HD display. Coming to the rest of the bits, there will be multiple models available. A 4GB/32GB for RMB 2,499 (approximately Rs 25,205), 6GB/64GB at RMB 2,999 (approximately Rs 30,248), and a 6GB/128GB options priced at RMB 3,499 (approximately Rs 35,291). The pricing and details come via Mobipicker that again comes from another Weibo account, but nothing can be verified for now so do take the same with a pinch of salt.

Other details from the rumour mill hint at dual 12MP cameras, a 4000mAh battery and 3D Touch. This indeed seems like quite a contrast when you compare the smartphone to its successor. But then again the same can be said about the Mi 4 versus the Mi 5. Xiaomi seems to have moved on from its previous strategy where they went with older chipsets in new smartphones. Recently announced smartphones pack in the latest processors and this for now seems to be making things a lot more competitive for both local and international brands.

Talking about big smartphones, Xiaomi recently announced its Mi Max smartphone in India with prices starting from Rs 14,999. The phablet-sized smartphone packs in quick Qualcomm Snapdragon 650 along with 3GB RAM. The high end version features a Qualcomm Snapdragon 652, 4GB RAM and 128GB of internal storage that is priced at Rs 19,999. We reviewed the Xiaomi Mi Max and found it to be quite a capable road warrior.
Naina Khedekar

Last week, aviation technology venture TeamIndus by Bangalore-based Axiom Research Labs, launched a new competition called Lab2Moon encouraging youngsters to create an experiment to fly on board the TeamIndus spacecraft to the Moon in 2017. Those not in the know, TeamIndus is the only Indian team competing for the $30 million Google Lunar XPRIZE.

"The processes, interactions and methodology were adopting to achieve this feat reflects in the kind of team weve managed to build. Were not in this just to win, but to ensure weve pushed ourselves to re-engineer, integrate and constantly aim to do things better and more efficiently. Our mission is designed to be inclusive, democratic and driven by the people. We intend to demystify space for everyone. Which is why weve launched a few campaign to engage folks from across the globe, giving them opportunities to join our journey and make it their own," Sheelika Ravishankar, who looks at outreach and marketing, or what they call TeamIndus Jedi master for people capital, tells Tech2.

Explaining how TeamIndus was formed, Ravishankar said that the Google Lunar XPRIZE was announced in 2007 and they have been tracking the competition since 2008, hoping a team from India would register. Talking about what led to the formation of TeamIndus, Ravishankar explains, "We couldnt let a competition of this magnitude go without an Indian entry, so we registered. We started off as a handful of like minded people coming together and have grown to a 85+ strong team, of which we have about a dozen retired ISRO stalwarts who believe in us and work with us on this mission."

The company was founded in February 2011, and led by Rahul Narayan, an alumnus of IIT Delhi, along with Indranil Chakraborty, Sameer Joshi, Dilip Chabria and Julius Amrit. The team also includes retired ISRO experts including RV Perumal, PS Nair, NS Hegde, NC Bhat, among others. Talking about the team, Ravishankar says, "A recurring theme of many conversation is the fact that none of us had any experience in the aerospace industry. Each of us has successfully built companies, and as seasoned entrepreneurs and professionals, understood that the blueprint for building a company was the same irrespective of industry."

So, TeamIndus is building a spacecraft to land on the moon in late 2017 in a bid to win the $30 million Google Lunar XPrize. It is a global challenge to catalyse private enterprise in space exploration. Interestingly, it is the only entry from India with the task at hand to land on the moon, move 500 meters, while transmitting high-definition media from the lunar surface to earth. "Landing on the moon, is a feat previously accomplished only by the American, Russian and Chinese governments. TeamIndus, aims to be the next one in that club," Ravishankar adds.

Working with ISRO, Team Indus will use its PSLV launcher to send the spacecraft to the moon.It is working closley with several international partners for engineering and development. Its partners also include Tata Communications, sasken Technologies, LASP and Indian Institute of Science.

Nandan Nilekani of Infosys was roped in as an investor and adviser last year. However, Ravishankar refused to comment on funding or revenue. Right now, the company is trying to leave no stone unturned as it competes to land a robotic spacecraft on the moon before 31 December, 2017.

Video credit: PSBT India
Sony India today announced its stylish new home theatre systems; HT- RT5 and HT- RT3, perfectly accompanied by the powerful Sound bars- HT  CT790 and HT  CT390. The chic yet subtle home theatres are an innovation in design delivering superior audio quality.

These new Soundbar type Home Theatre have been launched keeping in mind the shift from Home Theatre to Soundbar globally. During a recent survey, it was observed that 90% of the people use Home Theatre through DTH, Smartphone, pen-drive or Disc. It has also been observed that 36% of conventional Home Theatre users are not satisfied with their system because of the complicated set-up and messy cables. With the new Soundbar type Home Theatre, Sony will be able to cater to this demand very well.

One can experience every note of sound with the uniquely conceived home theatre system; HT  RT3. Backed with surround sound bar system from Sony, the compact HT  RT3 makes cinema watching a reality for many consumers.

5.1 channel Real surround sound

Making up for an audio treat, the 5.1channel Real surround sound creates an experience delivering a phenomenal 600W of power through multi-angled and rear speakers. The dedicated external subwoofer works with a 3 channel Soundbar delivering true theatre surround sound. The two rear speakers ensure the delivery of a balanced, wide frequency audio response. Equipped with S-Master Digital Amplifier, the HT-RT3 produces only the purest sound quality by minimizing distortion. The HT- RT3 comes with a USB, HDMI-out x 1 and can be flawlessly synched with BRAVIA TVs.

Clean living room concept

Riding on its Clean living room concept, the slim design adds value to the living space. Setting up the HT-RT3 is refreshingly straightforward, with fewer boxes and wires to worry about than regular 5.1 channel systems. Simply plug it in to the TV via HDMI, wire up the speakers via the colour-coded connections.

One touch wireless listening with Bluetooth and NFC

The One touch wireless listening with Bluetooth & NFC makes streaming music through the sound bar easier. With Bluetooth on board, one can also enjoy music playback streamed wirelessly from the smartphone. One-touch connection via NFC technology further removes the need for complex set-up sequences.

Songpal App

Adding to the seamless experience, customers can browse music list of pen-drive from faraway place easily through the Songpal App without looking at the monitor. This application concept is called Smart remote commander and is supported by Android and iOS devices. Equipped with intuitive operations, customers can surf music in pen-drive from far away and enjoy their favourite songs through Songpal

The home theatre system from Sony gets uplift with the real 5.1 channel surround sound with full wireless speaker- HT RT5. The wireless rear speaker ensures for a well-balanced and fine audio output. With an impressive power output of 550W, the simple yet powerful home theatre system also comes with One touch wireless listening with Bluetooth & NFC- making for a smooth wireless connectivity. Taking cue from its counterpart, HT-RT5 is also in line with the clean living room concept and has an enabled Wi-fi system. With BRAVIA sync and Songpal compatibility, the HT-RT-5 is a perfect member of a sophisticate home setup. The HT-RT5 comes with a USB (music) and HDMI-in x 3 and HDMI-out x 1

The wireless Soundbars HT-CT790 and HT-CT390 come with Wireless Sub Woofers, enabling a rich bass experience. Both Soundbars come with One touch wireless listening with Bluetooth & NFC and can be used with an integrated Songpal App. The Soundbars aligned with the idea of exquisiteness too imbibe the concept of clean living room.

With 2.1 channel Wireless premium Sound Bar- Woofers, HT-CT790 delivers at each end of sound bar with rumbling lows and clear mid over a wide listening area. One can witness more emotion and excitement out of every scene and song with this slim sound bar. The S-Master digital amp reduces distortion for clean, detailed sound, and can stream audio in high-quality thanks to LDAC. The power output of 330W- brings music and movies to life in the volume and clarity they deserve.

A two- way driver at each end of the sound bar delivers balanced, full-frequency audio, enabling one to hear more of everything. The 15 inch (38 cm) wireless subwoofer can be placed anywhere for reinforced bass lines. Coming with S-Force PRO Front (virtual surround sound technology) it transports one at the heart of the movies by emulating theatre-style surround sound. The HT-CT790s slim 2.5 inch (6.4 cm) profile does not obscure the view, so one always sees the full picture. Wall-mounting is easy, too, and the sleek black design integrates seamlessly with the rest of the Home Theatre setup.The HT-CT790 is incorporated with One touch wireless listening with Bluetooth & NFC, Wi-Fi and can be easily synched with BRAVIA TVs.

Next in line is the 2.1 channel Wireless Sound Bar HT-CT390 a perfect companion for enjoying movies and music. A 300 W power output fills the room, while a wireless subwoofer adds depth for resounding bass lines. Drivers at each end of sound bar deliver a clear mid and high range, and a wireless subwoofer fills in the rumbling lows. The S-Force Front Surround emulates theatre style surround sound and the wireless subwoofer delivers hard-hitting bass for soundtracks. The HT-CT390s slim 2 (5.2 cm) profile is sleek and stylish and perfectly amalgamates with the entire home theatre setup.

HT-CT390s wireless and wired connections makes way for better quality audio thanks to HDMI (ARC), USB, optical and analog connections. The HDMI ARC (Audio Return Channel) connects the TV with a single cable for easier control and fewer cables, while the USB sticks are easily connected to play MP3 files.

The Soundbar comes with One touch wireless listening with Bluetooth & NFC and can be easily synched to BRAVIA TVs. Similar to its counterpart, the HT-CT390 is also Songpal compatible.

These newly launched products will be available in all Sony Center and major electronic stores across India.

Product Availability Price HT  RT3 4th Jul`16 Rs. 18,990 HT  RT5 18th Jul`16 Rs. 54,990 HT  CT790 16th Jul16 Rs. 35,990 HT  CT390 20th Jul16 Rs. 24,990

@Technuter.com News Service
At least five dead after passenger vessels collide on Barisal river

Two passenger vessels rammed into each other on a Barisal river leaving at least five people dead. Officials said that the mishap took place around 4am on Monday, which left at least four others injured. A Dhaka-bound launch collided with the steamer, which was heading for Barisal, said Barisal River Ports Assistant General Manager Abul Kalam. He said that the launch, Suravi-7 was almost empty while the steamer PS Mahsud was carrying around 700 passengers. The empty vessel rammed into the steamer. Kalam said that passengers have been moved to another vessel. This happens at a time when millions of Bangladeshis are heading back to their hometowns to celebrate the Eid-ul-Fitr. Fire service officials said that they have recovered bodies of five persons, including two females, who have been identified as 20-year-old Shima Aktar and 12-year-old Tamanna. The others are yet to be identified. The four injured have been taken to the Sher-e-Bangla Medical College Hospital in Barisal, said Fire Service Assistant Director Faruque Hossain. The local administration has formed a probe panel, which has been told to file its report within three days. bdnews24.com
Eid-ul-Fitr : Message of brotherhood and equality

M. Mizanur Rahman :

Eid-ul-Fitr is highly significant in human life. After maintaining the strict physical abstinence controlling all types of sensual passions throughout the month of Ramadan an able bodied Muslim fasts till the fall of dusk. It's all learning self-control of an individual to keep the body and mind purely devoted to the Omnipotent Almighty Allah. During this period a Muslim of either sex has to maintain self-control against indecent mannerism. The purity of human self is that Islam teaches us all along to maintain character towards humanism. Those all of us confide in loving fellow human beings undisturbed. Contrary to it is betrayal to Islam that a Muslim must keep in mind. Our great Prophet presented us after this abstemious month of Ramadan a brilliant day of enjoying Eid-ul-Fitr of universal union of humanity. We great one another blithely and joyfully hallowing Eid Mubarak!

Sadaqatul Fitr is payable to the destitute and have-nots positively before attending the Eid prayer. It is taught that every one of the have-nots must have share of the riches proportionately that must be paid off on the day before joining the Eid prayer. It is obligatory for every Muslim to abide by this code of conduct. Wants of the poor must be mitigated if not removed entirely.

In this context Islamic scholar Abul Hashim in his Introduction to 'The Creed Of Islam' cleared the vision as saying, "The pragmatic and operative aspect of the Holy Quran is divided into two parts--duty to God and duty to manDuty to God is private and personal and duty to man is the public and social part of the teachings of the Holy Quran. The novelty of the Holy Quran is that it makes performance of duty to God void and invalid when duty to man is ignored or is not duly performed."

Great poet Kazi Nazrul Islam's popular Islamic song :

After the end Ramadan fasting we got happiness of Eid ;

gladness tidings O my heart!

It's Allah that wants you to sacrifice yourself indeed!

Distribute some of all that you possess

Your jewelries, properties

In the name of the Almighty Allah !

Bring about the awakening of the sleeping dead Muslims!

Offer Jakat prior to performing your Eid prayer on the field of Eidgah!

This is that field where Muslims fought for Iman(Faith)

being some gazi and some were martyrs!

Forget all that enmities you breed rather be friends

and now shake hands.

Better unite the people of the world in the bond of love

conversion of Islam.

Those that fast all their life appear to have been fasting

time and again;

give them all that relief- to those orphans, and beggars!

Distribute sweet sirnee (gruel) on the plate of your Tawheed (Islam).

Your invitation would be granted by Hazrat Rasulullah it's ascertained.

Those who struck you throwing stones and bricks,

better build the 'Mosque of Love' by those stones and bricks.

This world would have been made heaven provided the people of the world would understand Islam as the code of conduct of human life. Islam is said to be the religion of man on plain cause of its ethics. Here equality in all respect among human beings without any distinction between the male and the female requires to be preserved. Both social and economic equality in Islam is just obligatory. While observing fast from the beginning of the month of Ramadan one has to realise the torment of those who remain hungry for want of food. So the person must do something to ensure that no one among his neighbours should remain unfed. Here is the soul-searching realisation of the person fasting in accordance with the tenet of Islam. You ask yourself as a Muslim how far you are obliged to perform your fasting properly. This is a great learning in Islam. It taught the Muslims to remain self-restraint (self-purified). The fasting of Ramadan symbolises a sort of Jehad -- a holy war waged against evils out of the soul. During this period abstinence is a boon while charity is an opportunity for the wealthy people to succor the suffering humanity in distress.

The month of Ramadan is against the greed of the rich people. They are warned to reduce their caprice and temptation to nil and practive charity. Fasting inspires one for self-rectification. Through this learning none of the Muslims can become the evildoers. Fasting also makes the mind of an individual balanced and patient towards recluse of purified soul where the spirit of love for the have-nots wakes up. Scientifically a moral obligation among human beings is built up here to bring about a serene and sacred compassionate heart from all of the social turbidity.

At the end of the month of Ramadan the great day of festival of Eid-ul-Fitr has come that is the most ecstatic joy of charity. After the prayer one embraces other to confirm amity according to Islamic brotherhood. In this performance there should not be made any difference between the rich and the poor, high and low, distinguished and undistinguished. Everybody should be treated equal irrespective of so-called social status. This is an example of social uniformity in Islam. Eid-ul-Fitr festival does neither invite competition of fashion shows nor allow undue privileges of unfair income or expenditure. This grand festival does not entertain fun or frolics, pomp and grandeur, aristocratic pride of passion or vaunt of riches. It is straight love for humanity as a whole. Be happy here making others happy. That is why there is distribution of sweetmeats among all irrespective of different sections in the society. This great festival was started by the great Prophet Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh) since his Hijrat (migration) in 622 AD from Makka to Yathrib (now Madina). At that time the people of Arabia got influenced by the Persian people in some of their culture, tradition and they used to celebrate Naroz and Mihirjan for a few days with funs and frolics, enjoying vulgar dances of women and drinking bouts of those highly placed people and gambling, unusual violence and conflicts often led them to bloodshed. Moreover there was a gulf of difference between the rich and the poor in celebration of this auspicious day of the New Year (Nawroz). These were absolutely incompatible with Islam. Hazrat Muhammad (Pbuh) was shocked having seen such immoral and inhuman carnival. He introduced Eid according to the Divine will. The zamat of Eid-ul-Fitr is a huge congregation of people seeking Almighty Allah's blessings for the benefit of all. And this great assembly of pleasant united people of all classes throng with the great expectation of love and amity among all. There is no bar on congregation on the part of Muslim women also. They can share such joy of prayer equally with their counterpart men. And that is why the poet sang :

O great Eid! O song of humanism!

Let all sorrow go, let all heart sing that psalm.

Welcome O Eid! Touch all hearts, welcome!



Delighting and lighting every human heart.

This is the green land

Which needs everything that's good.

Come O come to each abode.

O immortal Eid come!

Ward off sickness, suffering and diseases

and separation between man and man.

Let all strife and conflict of man is gone.

.. Overwhelming the mental horizon,

Let only good abide in the heart,

Welcome O welcome heart unto heart!*

Islam is the complete code of life. This message is inherent in different Ayats(verses) of Al-Quran. These verses are required to be interpreted by the wise academics properly and propagated among the common people in simple but explicit language so that no ambiguity takes place anywhere. It is observed that some of the interpreters boost on miraculous aspects of Behesht (Heaven) and Dojokh(hell) before the common people. They should also stress on the material side of Islam. Islam should not be complicated by contradictory interpretations.

The poet says :

Who says heaven and hell are far away?

Both heaven and hell, pious and devil exist among human beings.*

Religious ideals are not mere words of ethics. We must have them in our everyday life in practice. The very simple adage is to be considered that 'practice makes a man perfect'. perfect unity of human entity. Five times prayer in is obligatory for the Muslims. And each mosque is the local assembly house for the Muslims to strengthen the fortitude of faith without any distinction between the rich and the poor. This faith must have reciprocal interests both social and economic in order to make the community free from all material bonds and to live peacefully. Eid-ul-Fitr is the proof of that large assembly of the faithful to have the test of Islamic fraternity. Honestly speaking if Muslims used to practice their faith in the truest sense of terms the people of other faiths would also accept this religion of peace gracefully. Let us fortify that spirit of Islam faithfully by the grace of Almighty Allah.

Let us sing of Nazrul's song on Eid-ul-Fitr in unison:

"After the end of the fasting of Ramadan the Eid-ul-Fitr of our grand pleasure has come... Let's sacrifice our excess wealth to those have-nots expecting their shares of our riches."*



Eid-ul-Fitr should be considered as the demonstration of the Islamic faith towards unity among the faithful that inculcates discipline to bring about peace for social equilibrium politically and economically for the Ummah. This unity is not only for the Muslim community alone rather this is to be practiced by all the people of the world irrespective of their caste and creed in order to maintain peace and harmony among mankind. Islam shows this Divine way of life, which is to be followed by the human beings from here to eternity. This terrestrial affinity of Islam binds humanity in oneness without distinction where violence does not have place to exist and where every individual's interests have its inherent protection with natural discipline.

The eminent Bengali poet, orator, politician and patriot Mrs.Sorojini Naidu embellished Islam on Eid-uz-Zoha in 1915 in her poem 'The Prayer of Islam' thus-



We praise Thee, O Compassionate!

Master of Life and Time and Fate,

Lord of the laboring winds and seas,

Ya Hameed! Ya Hafeez!



Thou art the Radiance for our ways,

Thou art the Pardon of our days,

Whose name is known from star to star,

Ya Ghani! Ya Ghaffar!



Thou art the Goal for which we long,

Thou art our Silence and our Song,

Life of the Sunbeam and the Seed

Ya Wahab! Ya Waheed!



Thou dost transmute from hour to hour

Our mortal weakness into power,

Our bondage into liberty,

Ya Quadeer! Ya Quavi!



We are the shadows of Thy light,

We are the secrets of Thy might,

The visions of Thy primal dream

Ya Rahman! Ya Raheem!





This universal festival should not be treated as one day's performance. This performance of social and economic equality among human beings in the truest sense of terms and conditions that boosts harmonious affinity should be carried on perpetually.

...

*Welcome To Eid by poet M.Mizanur Rahman ( Under The Same Sky / Under The Same Sun).

*Poet Sk.Fazlal Karim, Tr.by M.Mizanur Rahman

*Lyrics by poet Kazi Nazrul Islam, Tr. by M.Mizanur Rahman

* The Creed Of Islam by Abul Hashim, p 34.

-*The author of this article is a poet, essayist, storyteller, translator and columnist.
The solution for mankind

The solution for mankind

K.M. Mahmood ur Rahman

In this mechanical and materialistic world, man has become far too pre-occupied with his worldly pursuits and in the competition for material gains. There is hardly any time for doing justice to the art of rational living. We have to recognise the fact that man is the dividing factor between body and soul. We spend far too much time for our bodily and worldly pursuits and have hardly any time to tend to the needs of our soul. This is indeed a pathetic situation despite mind boggling technological achievements of the modern world.

Despite the enormous technological advancement, the decadence of human values worldwide continues unabated and is making life increasingly tensed and complicated. This degenerating state of the modern world cannot be a part of an aspiration of healthy conscious human society. This complex social situation needs to be analysed so that remedial measures could be undertaken.

The consequence of such an unwanted transformation has already adversely affected the present day society. The same needs to be rectified in order to bring back the cherished 'happy state' of mankind through re-generation of a good and healthy mental attitude and mindset for a better society.

In an attempt to help people and bring about changes in habits and life styles, it is best initially to spend time and effort trying to educate and enlighten people and create understanding rather than to reprove and condemn. These are golden rules set by the greatest Prophet (Sm) which need to be applied in dealing with people, like for instance, the command to "Make things easy and not difficult for people," and his reminder that "He who is not merciful will have no mercy shown to him."

It is important to remember that while Islam may have the solution to the range of problems and crises facing mankind, it is not content merely with tinkering at unjust and oppressive systems. It is also concerned with reorienting human being in a direction that is in keeping with his/her innate values and needs, and equips him/her to discharge his God-given trust on this earth.

Islam is not just a mere set of rituals, nor is it lifeless dogma or some mysterious cult. It is rooted in belief in God and a universal concern for the human condition. Its concern is for mankind as a whole regardless of creed, race or colour. This is in keeping with the Quranic description of the role and message of the Prophet (Sm) as "mercy and a blessing to all creatures".

Islam provides the values for creating a better world. We need to be aware of these values and know how to apply them to our own life, to the lives of those around us and to our environment.

We need to be aware of developments not only in our neighbourhood but in the wider society in which we live, and also developments on a global level.

Each individual, each community and each society for the sake of self-interest and survival needs to be concerned with the global fate of mankind and the environment on which man and other creatures of God have their being. But there is above all the satisfaction, pleasure and reward of fulfilling his amaanah or trust that must impel man to have a more active concern for the human condition and the integrity of creation.

In today's world, da'wah (invitation to Islam) should aim at putting back meaning and purpose in people's lives, clearing and articulating their consciences so that the natural values can again shine forth, and the power of reason flourish so that they can once more acknowledge their Creator and Sustainer and look at problems and issues in their proper perspectives. Islam is both a message and a means for achieving those purposes.

It should be remembered that the mission of the noble Prophet(s), was from the outset a universal mission, for the Qur'an describes him as "a mercy or a blessing for all peoples". Islam is thus the birthright of every human being. No human being may be excused from the call of Islam.

It is inherent in human nature to know the unknown, to discover the undiscovered. We know change in life is a natural phenomenon as long as it changes for the better. As conscious human beings we have to make sure that things change for better and not for the worse. This unique situation has to be analysed and valued by the global Muslim Ummah to be able to tap its enormous treasure and potential in order to benefit mankind at large.

In summary, in the backdrop of the above, it is extremely important for us to capture the spirit and teaching of Islam and convey its message globally, with a view to transforming this world as a permanent abode of a happy state for the whole mankind. Prophet of Allah and his followers relayed the message of Qur'an and transformed the chaotic human society into a peaceful human community through a painstaking process.

As Muslims, it is incumbent on our part to educate ourselves on Islam and to convey its message effectively to reform and strengthen the moral values of mankind for the establishment of world peace, by condemning racism, social injustice and all sorts of human disparity, which Allah Almighty conveyed through His last and final message of Islam. At the same time, it is equally important for the Muslims to dispel the misgivings about Islam and convey its message of 'World Peace'.

It should be made clear that Islam believes that we all are children of Adam and Haoa (As) and that its message is beyond any race, time and space; as universal concept has always been to promote a bridge of 'Friendship' within the human race, irrespective of colour.

In the sight of Allah Almighty, all human beings are essentially the same there is no scope for any discrimination. It is only desirable for all human beings to learn from the last holocaust, the devastating consequences of World Wars I and II, the genocide in Bosnia and similar other devastations in Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon, Palestine and in so many other countries, and to acknowledge that such atrocities and oppressions will only continue to upset the social peace and harmony of this planet.

It's easier to start wars than to end them. It's easier to blame others than to look within ourselves. It's easier to see what is different about someone than to find the things we share. But we should choose the right path, not just the easy path. There's one rule that lies at the heart of every religion-which we do unto others as we would have them do unto us. This truth transcends nations and peoples-a belief that isn't new; that isn't black or white or brown; that isn't Christian or Muslim or Jewish. It's a belief that pulsated in the cradle of civilization, and that still beats in the hearts of billions around the world. It's a faith in other people, which we must consciously acknowledge.

The Holy Qur'an tells us: "Oh mankind! We have created you male and female, and we have made you into nations and tribes so that you may know one another". [Surah Huzurat : Verse - 13]

The Talmud tells us: "The whole of the Torah is for the purpose of promoting peace."

The Holy Bible tells us: "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God."

It is a statement of truth that Semitic religions i.e. Judaism, Christianity and Islam have same roots, lineage, heritage and belong to the same family. Almighty Allah must have some Divine reasons and rationale to bind the three religions in one thread. Followers of all three religions also worship at the same mosque at AI-Aqsa in AI-Quds. It is a common observable fact that disagreement and voice of dissent often can be found among brothers and sisters in the same family. Considering their proximity of relationship the followers of Semitic' religions should shun the path of hatred and dissension and work together for establishing peace, cohesion, understanding and amity among themselves for the very survival and well being of mankind. Their unity can totally change the face of the world and make it an abode of peace.

Almighty Allah further says in Holy Qur'an-Verse 84 & 113, 114 & 115 of Surah Al Imran. (84) Say: "We believe in Allah and in that which has been bestowed from on high upon us, and that which has been bestowed upon Ibrahim and Ismail and Isaac and Yakub and their descendants, and that which has been vouchsafed by their Sustainer unto Musa and Isa and all the [ other] Prophets: we make no distinction between any of them. And unto Him do we surrender ourselves". (113) [But] they are not all alike : among the followers of earlier revelation there are upright people, who recite Allah's messages throughout the night, and prostrate themselves [before Him]. (114) They believe in Allah and the Last Day and enjoin the doing of what is right and forbid the doing of what is wrong, and vie with one another in doing good works; and these are among the righteous.

(115) And whatever good they do, they shall never be denied the reward thereof : for, Allah has full knowledge of those who are conscious of Him.

The people of the world can live together in peace. We know that is Allah's vision. Now that must be our common goal here on Earth.

We can see a catastrophic situation exists in Palestine, Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Lebanon, Pakistan and the pangs of suffering humanity in some parts of Africa, South America, East Europe, India among other countries. The worsening situation in the above countries and areas continues due to lack of genuine attentions from the world community. What needs to be really felt is that too many tears have been shed. Too much blood has been spilled. Enough is enough. All of us have a responsibility to work for the day when the mothers of Israelis and Palestinians can see their children grow up without

fear ; when the Holy Land of the three great faiths is the place of peace that Allah intended it to be; when Jerusalem is a secure and lasting home for Jews and Christians

and Muslims and a place for all of the children of Ibrahim to mingle peacefully together

as in the story of Isra, when Musa, Isa and Muhammad (peace be upon them), joined in prayer. It is a well-known fact that Islam is an extension of Semitic religion. Muslim, Jews and Christian have essentially come from the same roots. The Mosque at Jerusalem (AI-Quds), Baitul Muqaddas (the Dome of the Rock) is the common Holy place for all

the 3 Semitic religions.

Prophet Ibrahim is the forefather of all the three communities. In Qur'an in Surah 17 Verse-1 Allah says : "In the name of Allah, the most Gracious, the Dispenser of grace" Limitless in His glory is He who transported His abd (banda) by night from the Inviolable House of Worship (at Makka) to the remote House of Worship (at Jerusalem) - the environs of which We had blessed - so that We might show him some of Our symbols : for, verily, He alone is Hearing, all-Seeing".

The dome of the rock was built by Umayyad Caliph 'Abdal-Malik bin Marwan in 692 CE in the old city of AI-Quds (Jerusalem). Masjidul Aqsa' (farthest Mosque) is at the South East of the Qubbat As-Sakhrah. The rock on which the most beautiful dome of the world stands is regarded as sacred by Muslims, Christians and the Jews alike.

The story of Isra (The night journey) has been narrated entirely in Sahih Al-Bukhari which clearly describes the above facts. As final religion for mankind from Allah Almighty, Islam teaches us to firmly believe in all the Prophets and the scriptures which were revealed to mankind from time to time throughout the ages.

This is in line with Islam's article of faith mentioned in Holy Qur'an.

Surah Al-Imran Verse 199 - And, behold, among the followers of earlier revelation there are indeed such as [truly] believe in Allah, that which has been bestowed from on high upon you as well as in that which has been bestowed upon them. Standing in awe of Allah, the not barter away Allah's messages for a trifling gain. They shall have their reward with their Sustainer - for, behold, Allah is swift in reckoning!

Surah Baqarah Verse (256) There shall be no compulsion in matters of faith.

Islam truly focuses on co-existence of all the races and religions. We know from history that in all the Islamic empires the civil and secular spirit were the essence of Islamic governance. In Holy Qur'an Allah says, "faith cannot be imposed" -- there is no compulsion on faith. When Baghdad was the seat of civilization the co-existence of Muslims, Christians and Jews was at its peak. It was the same in all other Muslim empires.

In conclusion, nobody can claim monopoly on virtues. As human beings we have to frankly admit our lapses, failings and drawbacks without going on blaming and scoring points against each other endlessly.

Words will remain words-what really matters is our attitude and conduct. What truly matters in the final analysis is our strength of faith in the message of Allah Almighty and the perseverance of doing good deeds, in the face of all adversities. A relevant verse from the Holy Qur'an is quoted :

In Surah-3- Verse-104 says Allah, "Let there arise out of you a band of people inviting to all that is good, enjoining what is right and forbidding what is wrong; they are the ones to attain felicity. "

In Qur'an, Allah says to follow the creed of Prophet Ibrahim, who is the fountain head of the three major spiritual streams i.e. Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Islam and Western civilization have the same roots, their dawning in the Fertile Cresent, the Monotheism of the Jews and the Christians, the classical intellectual culture of the ancient Greeks.

The two traditions are kindred spirits; alike in so many ways. Islam's legacy is intertwined with the West's and of the billions of Muslims who make it the second largest religion in the world. It is a living legacy, an elemental part of the great human venture that is world civilization.

"These time honoured words of wisdom should be kept fresh in the mind of all those human beings who will have to act as the conscious keeper for mankind for transforming our world into a beautiful abode of peace and happiness. In this tensed, materialistic world 'happiness' is the most sought after thing for every human being; therefore, all of us should work together to achieve our common goal for the benefit of mankind."

In summary, while we ought to face the challenge of dealing with the issues of this materialistic world for our bare survival and to accomplish this daunting task we should, however, rise to the occasion and make all endeavours to regenerate and revive the social and spiritual values of this degenerating society to be able to maintain a fine balance and equilibrium for a better tomorrow for the inhabitants of this whole planet. Needless to mention, this is definitely the crying need of the hour for the greater well being of the mankind.

"O you who have attained to faith! Be patient in adversity, and vie in patience with one another, and be ever ready (to do what is right), and remain conscious of Allah so that you might attain to a happy state". (Surah Ale-Imran Verse-200)



Islam and the Global Issues
Introduction to the structure and contents of the Quran

Prof Mohammad Najmul Ehsan Fatmi :

The Quran in Arabic comes from the root word 'qara'a' which means to 'call', to "proclaim" or to "recite" not silently but that which meant to be called proclaimed or recited aloud. Indeed, the very first Revelation sent down to Prophet Muhammad (Sm) through Angel Jibra'il began with the imperative form "Iqra" or "Proclaim in the name of your Lord .... 'and, since the whole of the Revelation which spanned almost twenty three years were essentially in the nature of Proclamation, the Quran is an acronym for it.

Although oral recitation or reading it loud has remained a central media through which its messages have been disseminated and transmitted, the need to document such huge volume of messages or revelations necessitated the use of all available modes of writing them down: parchment, leaves, the flat thigh bone of camel, flat boulders (or white slates) and the like. Those writing these Revelations down were the Scribes, the devoted companions of the Prophet. It was only when the Revelations began to get larger in volume that the Prophet himself took meticulous care in compiling and arranging them in systematic order and sequence.

The Quran uses narratives in many places to convey its messages but it is neither a historical document nor a chronological story of past events. In volume, it is about the same size as the New Testament but unlike it and the Hebrew Bible (which are collection of narratives and commentaries of different persons), the Quran are the direct words of Allah spoken to Prophet Muhammad (Sm) through the Angel Jibra'il and reduced to immediate writing under the Prophet's instruction and supervision. One divinely inspired result of such efforts we see in the millions of copies of the Quran available to us today which are exact copies of the original Revelations.

The Quran is organized into Surahs (which roughly correspond with Chapters in English) with each Surah or Chapter containing phrases or sentences called Ayats (literally denoting "signs") or what is loosely called Verses in English although such Verses of the Quran are devoid of any poetic connotation. There are 114 Surahs or Chapters in the Quran of varying lengths arranged not in chronological order of Revelation but according to the purpose and intent of Revelations the order or sequence of which was determined by the Prophet himself under divine instruction. Ayats within a particular Surah are not always complete sentences. They could be initials or the abbreviated letters of the Arabic language or just symbols or signs in nature and creation. The shortest of Surahs (103, 108 and 110) have only 3 ayats each, while the longest of Surahs (2) have 286 ayats or verses. Again, the shortest Surah (108) contains the least number of words (10) while the longest Surah (2) has 6100 words. The longest Surah (2) also has the longest verse in it (v.282). Each Surah has a separate subject matter which is reflected in the title or a heading involving some conspicuous word such as the Heifer, the Bee, accompanying the Surah. Some titles are not so apparent in their meaning, like for example, different letters of the Arabic alphabets serving as title of the Surah [Taha (20), Ya'sin (36), Swad (38) and Qaf (50)]. Although these letters have led to a lot of speculative thinking by the scholars, the best of such thinking should contend with the fact that their meaning is best known to Allah.

Although some Surahs are revealed at one go, others have been revealed piecemeal. The classic example of the latter being the first 5 verses of Sura Alaq (96) which were the first to be revealed also, and the rest of the verses revealed much later.

The verses in the Quran (Ayats) vary considerably in length. Although the Surah diminish in size from the second Surah (which is also the longest Surah in the Quran), this descending order is not always applicable. The total number of verses or ayats in the Quran is 6131. The shortest verses come in the earliest Surahs and are generally rhymed prose. As the verses become longer, circumstantial and educational, the rhymes become relatively infrequent. Since the longer Surahs were revealed during the latter part of the Prophet's life, the youngest Surahs are found at the beginning of the Quran while the oldest ones at the end.

All Surah have the same opening hymn, "In the name of Allah the Beneficent the Merciful" except for one (Surah 9: Taubah). However, the same opening hymn occurs twice in Surah 27 (an-Naml): in the beginning of the Surah and in verse 30, thus making the total number of such opening hvmns consistent with 114 separate Surahs or Chapters.

In matters of style and content, the Surahs vary considerably. While the shortest of the Surahs usually concentrate on a single subject matter, the longer Surahs deal with a wide variety of subject and topics in several brief sections. A singular exception is found in a relatively long Surah (Surah 12 - Yusuf) where we find the story of Prophet Yusuf told in the most sublime of language and style. The linguistic style of the Surahs also changes from short vivid and poetic expressions of the earlier Surahs to one of somber much detailed less vivid expressions found in the latter Surahs. This is understandable since with the passage of time and the increasing challenges faced by the nascent faith, the messages have to be so ordained.

The Quran has for practical and operational reasons been divided into separate parts or segments according to the purpose at hand, but never intended to change of modify the structure and contents of the Quranic arrangements. Thus, for example, we find that the companions of the Prophet dividing up the entire text of the Quran into 7 equal parts for ease of convenience in reciting the entire Quran in a week's time. There is another tradition of reciting the entire Quran in the month of Ramadhan (or fasting), and accordingly the Quranic text was divided roughly into 30 equal parts, or each part being recited per day. Still another practice, particular during the Tarawih prayers in the month of Ramadhan, has the Quranic text subdivided into 558 self-contained paragraphs or Ruku each corresponding to a single posture of bowing during the prayer in question. There are other interesting details highlighting the characteristics of Quranic Surahs and Verses.

Quranic scholars are mostly agreed on the locational revelation of Surahs : those revealed in Makkah and Madina, with the former accounting for almost three quarters of the entire Surahs (or 85 Surahs), the rest (29 Surahs) attributable to Madina. Some Surahs have been known to be revealed at places apart from Makkah or Madina, while others distinctly revealed in Makkah is classified as a Madinte Surah, the converse is true. Such minor differences have been resolved through a consensus criterion: a Surah is a Makkan or Madinite depending on whether it was revealed before or after migration to Madina. Although no definitive pattern or characteristics emerge from the two locational features, certain peculiarities underlie each setting. It is generally agreed that Makkah Surahs contain relatively short Ayats (verses), address the fundamentals of belief (or Iman), refer to the concepts of Heaven and Hell and the Day of Judgment, Creation of Adam and the force of evil (Iblis), focus on addressing the humanity at large (0' People, 0' Mankind), and are concentrated in the latter part of the Quran. The Madinite Surahs, on the other hand, contain relatively long ayats (verses), mostly deal with social and legal organization of the emerging Muslim community, focus on the Dos and Don'ts, rights and obligations of believers, nonbelievers and people of the book, and mostly address believers (O'you who believe).

Revelation, transmission and preservation of the Quran : Recorded history tells us that the Quranic Revelation spanned almost 23 years in non-sequential stages before it was time for the Prophet and his devoted Companions to compile and re-arrange the basic form as we see it today. Some of the earliest of the Revelations came very sporadically and the time interval between any two Revelations were as varied as one day or several months depending on the changing needs of the time. The longer the wait, meant, of course, more agonizing moments for Prophet Muhammad (Sm). Sometimes he wished the Revelation came when he needed them most, and he would then put off any decision contingent on an anticipated Revelation until such Revelation actually came to him.

Prophet Muhammad's (Sm) experience with Revelation was not easy and uniform though. We also know from recorded history how the very first Revelation had left him virtually trembling with fear just mustering just enough strength and courage to run home from his retreat in the cave of Hira to his beloved wife Khadija (Ra) exclaiming, "Cover me up, cover me up". Only when the comforting words of Khadija (Ra), and the reassurance of the promised and chosen Messenger of the Lord in the personage of Muhammad by the blind sage, Waraqah, a cousin of Khadija (Ra), that he slowly regained his composure. The second Revelation was not long in coming, and he soon realised that he was being Divinely strengthened and prepared to receive more of such Messages in the months and years to come. Asked once by Harith, son of Hisham, how Revelation came to him, the Prophet reported to have said,

"It comes to me sometimes as the ringing of a bell, and this is the hardest on me, and then it leaves me and I remember what the message says ; and sometimes the angel comes in the shape of a man and he talks to me and I remember what he says." [Bukhari 1:1]

As subsequent Revelations grew in size and frequency, Prophet Muhammad (Sm) took upon himself the task of compiling and documenting as soon as a certain Revelation was received. He would immediately get the Scribes to write it down and ask them to read and recite it back to him so that he could verify and authenticate it. Indeed, when certain Ayats (verses) were revealed, it was the practice of the Prophet to instruct the Scribe to write and place them in a particular Surah after or before certain groups of verses making them a consistent whole. He could do this with such effortless ease that everybody would be convinced of a definite divine hand in the compilation and arrangement of the Quranic texts. The following verses of the Quran allude to this :

And those who disbelieve say : Why has the Quran not been revealed to him all at once? Thus that We may establish thy heart by it, and We have arranged it well in arranging. " (25:32)

Surely on Us devolves the collecting of it and the reciting of it. (75: 17)

The concern with preserving the Quran was naturally in the minds of the Prophet and his devoted companions. Specifically, the Prophet would ensure that someone read and recite the Revelation directly in his presence or under an accredited and competent Reciter (or Qari), commit to memory, and finally, reduce them to writing in available materials. Although the whole of the Quran was thus read, recited and reduced to writing in scattered and fragmented forms, and the Prophet and the devoted Huffaz (plural of Hafiz) exactly knew the placement of each Surahs and their corresponding ayats (verses), the Quranic scholars are generally agreed that all the Quranic texts have not been brought under a single documented volume during the life time of the Prophet.

The first effort at compiling the Quran in one volume for ease of preservation and reproduction can be traced to the time of the first Khalifa, Abu Bakr Siddique (RA). It so happened that in the Battle of Yamama (11th Hijri or 632 CE) a large number of Huffaz perished and embraced martyrdom and if this foretold what would happen to the already dwindling number of such Huffaz, the Quran, it was revealed Scriptures argued, would suffer the same fate as the earlier. Umar bin Khattab (RA) (the second Khalifa) argued forcefully with the Incumbent Khahlifa, Abu Bakar Siddique (RA) why such a single compilation had become imperative. The reigning Khalifa was at first reluctant Since in his opinion, the Prophet would have done so if he had thought it was absolutely necessary. Umar bin Khattab ultimately prevailed over the Khalifa and Zaid bin Thabit, considered then the most competent of the four authorities on the Quran was given the responsibility of bringing about an authentic single volume with the help and assistance of the other noted Huffaz.

The compiled work of Zaid bin Thabit was kept with Hafsa (Ra) daughter of .the second Khalifa, Umar bin Khattab (RA) until a dispute rose .In the recital of some verse during the Salat (Prayer) in terms of their pronunciation. This was during the time of the third Khalifa, Uthman (RA). Apparently, different dialects got in the way certain verses were pronounced and these were reflected in some of the manuscripts in circulation then. Uthman (Ra) could realize the seriousness of the emerging problems and he constituted a commission headed by Zaid bin Thabit, the same Scribe who got the first compilation done during the reign of the first Khalifa Abu Bakar Siddique (Ra).

There were specific instructions from Khalifa Uthman: that the commission prepare a Master copy from the compiled collection, and If there any differences in the recitation of the Quran, the recitation of the. Quraish should be the standard for acceptance. Accordingly, four official copies were submitted to Khalifa Uthman (Ra) and the rest of compilations kept as individual copies were ordered to be destroyed. All future reproductions or copies must tally with this official one. Three such copies (on parchment or paper) are available which dates back to Uthman's time: one in Tashqand, the second in India Office Library, London, and the third, Tope Kapi Sarai Museum in Istanbul, Turkey. Fortunately, but not surprisingly, these copies exactly match with the Quranic texts currently in circulation all over the world.

The Protection of the Quran : a Divinely Ordained one

Since the Quranic Revelations through the last of Allah's Messenger, Prophet Muhammad, are the culmination of Allah's favour to mankind, the Quran is very emphatic on how Allah intends to do with His Message :

"We have, without doubt, sent down the Message; and We will assuredly guard it (from corruption)" - 15:9.

Although the mode of this divine "guarding", of course, remains in the domain of the All-Knowing Creator, the angels and mankind are also inspired by the same Creator to do their share of "guarding and protecting". This is manifest in the continuous glorification of Allah by the angels and in the rehearsing and reciting of the verses of the sublime Quran every single day by the devout Muslims wherever they happen to reside. But human frailties being what they are (and the history is replete with evidence of the fate of divine scriptures sent to earlier prophets getting corrupted and made extinct by the very people entrusted with its protection, the rabbis and the doctors of law), Allah has taken upon Himself the task of protecting the Quran

"Nay, this is a Glorious Quran (inscribed) in a Tablet preserved!' (85: 21 :22)

There are no further explanations of what is actually meant by a Tablet Preserved and this has led to scholars and commentators to speculate on its meanings. To ibn Kathir (in his Tafseer), the phrase means, it is among the higher rank groups (i.e., angels), preserved and protected from anything being added or taken away, or any alteration or changes. According to Muhammad Asad, a Quranic translator, "Some commentators take it (i.e. the expression, "the Preserved Tablet") in its literal sense and understand that it is an actual "heavenly tablet" upon which the Quran has been inscribed for all eternity; to many others the phrase has always had a metaphorical meaning : namely, an allusion to the imperishable quality of this divine writ. This interpretation is pointedly mentioned as justified by, e.g., Tabari, Al-Baghawi, Razi or Ibn Kathir, who all agree that the phrase "upon a well-guarded tablet" relates to God's promise that the Quran would never be distorted, and would remain free of all types of additions, diminutions and textual changes."

And indeed, the Quran has remained conspicuously so in its original and unaltered form even to this day attesting to Allah's promise of "guarding and protecting" it from any alterations, additions or deletions. No other divine scriptures can lay claim with regard to their originality and pristine characteristics.

The Protection and Dissemination of the Quran : a divinely inspired human efforts

Since the time the first of the Quranic Revelations came to the Prophet and directed him to Rehearse and Proclaim the Messages, it set into motion a process where awe and wonder gradually turned into a sense of urgency to spread them around. It took a while for the Prophet to realise what has indeed happened when the angel Jibra'il conveyed the first Revelation:

"Proclaim (read) in the name of thy Lord and Cherisher Who created -- created man out of a leach like clot. Proclaim! And thy Lord is Most Bountiful, He Who taught (the use of) the Pen, taught man that which he knew not." [96:1-5]

Trembling with fear and awed in amazement the Prophet ran home to his beloved wife Khadija (Ra) who gave him the much needed warmth and comfort for him to regain his composure. When he told his wife of this amazing experience, she knew that something miraculous had indeed happened for then she headed for his cousin Waraqa who when told of this event could only chant, "Holy! Holy!" "By Him in Whose hand is the soul of Waraqa, there hath come unto Muhammad the greatest Namus (the Greek Nomos, in the sense of the Divine Law or Scripture, here identified with the Angel of Revelation) even he that would come unto Moses. Verily Muhammad is the Prophet of this people. Bid him rest assured."

The rest is history - recorded events of monumental proportions that catalogue how the first of these Revelations and the subsequent ones were to spread and radiate all around. The Prophet himself as the first memoriser blazed the way the Quranic verses were to be preserved in the hearts and minds of the devout Muslims so that not a single verse was forgotten or ignored. This he made sure by reciting them to his companions on and off. The Divine Providence also made sure this process was kept up. Allah, through Angel Jibra'il used to refresh the Quranic memory of the Prophet once a year. Furthermore, the Prophet would often stay awake a greater part of the night in prayers and meditation with recitation of the Quran.

Prophet Muhammad also encouraged his companions to do the same by saying :

"'The most superior among you (Muslims) are those who learn the Qur'an and teach it." (Sahih Bukhari, 6:546)

He used to ask the companions to recite the Quran and liked to hear them recite it to him. This created as it were the first generation of Quran reciters and memorizers. Their numbers grew steadily until a significant number were martyred in the battle of Yamama. The Muslim Ummah then took several critical decisions to safeguard this tradition of preserving the Quran. One was to establish thousands of schools devoted to teaching the children and making them learn the Quran by heart. The other was to formalise the practice of documenting the Quran in written form (which however started in the early period of the Quranic Revelations with the Prophet endorsing the practice). There are no divine scriptures as voluminous as the Quran which is committed to memory in full by so many millions of people (including preadolescent children) down the centuries as the Quran is - a living proof of the miraculous nature of the Quran. This tradition forms a continuous unbroken chain from the Prophet Muhammad's time to date. Indeed, this verbal transmission of the Quran from one generation to the next, according to John Burton, "had mitigated somewhat from the beginning the worst perils of relying solely on written records. But written records had their merits in the context of the preservation of the Quran which were not available to earlier divinely inspired scriptures. Although each copy of the Quran was handwritten separately there was divine intercession as well. How else could one possibly explain why all handwritten manuscripts looked the same, differing only in the styles of writing them down. Handwritten manuscripts were cleared as a correct replica once they passed through a consistency check from the "memorised" version - a process termed "double-checking."

The Muslims are reminded again and again in the Quran how the "people of the Book" changed and altered their divine scriptures and sold them at "miserable prices".

There is among them a section who distort the Book with their tongues; (as they read) so that you would think it is a part of the Book but it is no part of the Book; and they say "That is from Allah" but it is not from Allah: it is they who tell a lie against Allah, and (well) they know it!" (3:78)

"Then woe to those who write the Book with their own hands, and then say: "This is from Allah" to traffic with it for a miserable price! Woe to them for what their hands do write and for the gain they make thereby." (2:79)

"O People of the Scripture! Why confound ye truth with falsehood and knowingly conceal the truth?" (3:71)

To millions of devout Muslims down through the ages, this warning has also served to instill in them a rock-like determination to do their part in preserving the Quran both in letter and in spirit.

--Rediscovering The Quran
Transaction may exceed Tk 70,000 crore

Kamruzzaman Bablu :

Bangladesh's domestic economy is roaring ahead of the biggest Muslim festival Eid-ul-fitr, with businesses and market experts predicting that more than Tk 70,000 crore will be transacted this year.

Sources said, Eid ul-Fitr has an impact on the country's economy, as products like clothes, footwear, food, cosmetics, jewelry and electronic gadgets are traded for billions of taka every year. This year is no exception.

During the current Ramadan, sales have multiplied many times over average monthly volume, though verifiable data was not available to support the claim.

Officials of the related sector said, there is no statistics available with the government and non-government institutions about Eid market economy. But Bangladesh Shop Owners Association (BSOA) makes an approximate estimate of Eid sales in the country every year.

BSOA said, about Tk 35,000 crore will be transected in readymade garments (RMG) market in the current year across the country including Dhaka city which is 15 per cent more than that of the last year.

About Tk 5,000 crore will be transected in RMG on the footpath shopping. Besides this, about Tk 10,000 crore will be transected in other sectors.

BSOA leaders told this correspondent on Sunday that about Tk 65,000 crore has already been transected in the market across the country, including Dhaka city. There will be more transactions in next few days.

A senior official of Bangladesh Bank told The New Nation, "There takes place 10 times more transactions during the Eid celebration than the other time. More than Tk 5,000 crore is transected every day after 15 Ramadan as per bank's records."

According to the Central Bank sources, retail sales in the country reached more than Tk 90,000 crore during the last two Eid festivals (Eid-ul-Fitr and Eid-ul-Azaha) leading to strong domestic demand and consumption.

So, the international lending agency estimates that about Tk 70,000 crore will be transacted during the coming Eid-ul-Fitr alone.

Former caretaker government adviser Dr Mirza Azizul Islam said political unrest affected the country's investment in the past. But the political situation now being calm and quite, domestic economy will be stronger.

Zaid Bakht, an prominent economist, said that the country will receive a lot of remittance from abroad in the run up to the Eid-ul-fitr.

Besides, he said, the garments workers will get about Tk 2,000 crore as bonus and government employees will get more than Tk 700 crore. Most of this amount will be expended for Eid shopping purposes. Beyond this, huge amount of money would be expended under non-government and private heads.

In 2015, about Tk 60,000 crore were transected, but this year it will be exceeded.
Faruk, Rozina in Eid Anandamela

Sheikh Arif Bulbon :

In 1979, Faruk and Rozina first worked together in the big screen under the direction of Narayan Ghosh Mita in a movie titled Chokher Moni.

Later they again worked together in 50 movies including under the direction of Narayan Ghosh Mitas Sukher Sangsar, Shaheb, Tasher Ghor, H Akbars Hasu Aamar Hasu, Fakhrul Hasan Boiragis Hisab Chai, Awkat Hossains Bondhu Aamar, etc. All of their acted movies were romantic story based.

That popular pair is appearing on the screen of Bangladesh Television in Eid-ul-Fitr. Rozina and Faruk will be seen to take part in gossiping in Eid Anandamela on BTV. Both Rozina and Faruk will tell many untold stories of their childhood and professional lives in the magazine. Besides discussion, they will also perform together in a song of their acted movie Punormilon, directed by Ibne Mizan. The song was rendered by Sabina Yasmin and Andrew Kishore.

While talking about his participation in Eid Anandamela Faruk told this correspondent, I enjoyed a lot taking part in the programme. It was very organised arrangement. I and heroine of my acted many movies Rozina took part in open discussion in the programme.

Rozina shared her feelings by this way, Faruk Bhai is really a nice person as I saw in film industry. From the beginning of my career I got many supports from him in the field of acting. I always honour him. I always pray for him as he can remain well. In Eid Anandamela, we discussed many things which will be liked by the viewers.

Produced by Mahbuba Ferdous, Eid Anandamela was totally coordinated by Director General of BTV Harun-ur-Rashid. It will be aired on Eid day after 10:00pm news on BTV.


Bangabandhu Adarsha Bastobayan League formed a human chain in front of Jatiya Press Club on Monday in protest against separatists\' attack in Holey Artisan Bakery in the city\'s Gulshan on Monday.
5 killed in Barisal launch-steamer collision

Five people including three women were killed in a head-on collision between a passenger launch and a Barisal-bound BIWTC steamer in Kirtankhola River at Charbaria area on Monday.

UNB, Barisal :

At least five people including three women were killed and five others injured in a collision between a passenger launch and a steamer in the Kirtankhola River

at Charbaria in Sadar upazila early Monday. The deceased could not be identified yet. Mohammad Mostafizur Rahman, deputy director (security and traffic) of BIWTA, said the accident took place when Dhaka-bound launch 'Surovi-7' collided with Barisal-bound BIWTC steamer 'PS Masud' carrying about 700 passengers in the middle of the river at around 4.50am, leaving five passengers of steamer dead on the spot. Five more passengers were also injured in the incident.

The injured were admitted to Barisal Sher-e-Bangla Medical College Hospital.

Seven firefighting units from Barisal fire station rushed to the spot and rescued the passengers trapped in the steamer. The rescued passengers later reached their destination by steamer 'MV Madhumati'. The salvaged steamer was dragged to Barisal river port through tug vessel 'Durbar'.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) temporally cancelled the route permission of 'Surovi-7' following the accident, its chairman Commodore Mohammad Mozammel Haque told UNB.

Besides, Department of Shipping formed a five-member probe body, headed by its chief engineer and ship surveyor Nazmul Haque, to investigate the incident, Shipping Ministry's Public Relations Officer M Jahangir Alam told UNB. The committee was asked to submit the report within 10 working days, he said.
Eid Mubarak !

Abdul Muqit Chowdhury :The continuos process of fasting to attain 'Taqwa'-to be 'Muttaqi' (righteous) has passed. We are going to celebrate the Holy Eid-ul-Fitr--symbol of equality and brotherhoord of the Ummah.Eid is the greatest Muslim festival. Eid-ul-Fitr and Eid-ul-Azha are the two main festivals in the Islamic calendar. At the end of the Holy Ramzan, the Muslims all over the world including Bangladesh celebrate Eid-ul-Fitr. 'Eid' means 'joy'. So the occasion conveys the message of 'joy'.We should seek forgiveness from Allah for our known and unknown faults and sins relating to the observance of fasting of Holy Ramzan. All the members of Muslim Ummah have the right to share the joy. It has been observed that the vast majority of the community is deprived of the joyful celebrations, because of their poverty. The poor, destitute and have-nots fail to share the joy. There is another section of people who are chained. Their lands are subjugated, dominated and ruled by alien tyrant rulers or their puppet representatives. They have become the victim of inhuman oppression and tyranny. These helpless people are also deprived of the 'joy' of 'Eid' celebration. Eid celebration should not exclude the ill-fated section of humanity under economic exploitation and alien atrocities and domination. Muslim Ummah has long been a victim of conspiracy, aggression and genocide. The recent decades also witnessed inhuman atrocities in the name of establishing peace. Some of the countries have lost sovereignty and people in those lands are groaning under repression. And the root cause of all defeat and disaster, is the deviation of Muslims from the spirit and injunctions of the Holy Quran and Sunnah. The division and conflict among the adherents to the Faith is an important factor which is the outcome of deviation contributing to the victory of the aggressors. It is a matter of deepest concern that the Muslims, who once dominated the globe, imparting justice and ensuring peace for mankind, lost hold of the Quranic teachings, and are living without sovereign entity in many countries. The Holy Quran contains many verses on Muslim Ummah and related affairs. There is guideline for their survival as a free, leading nation ensuring justice to mankind, upholding right and shunning evils-thus achieving the most prestigious role of teaching mankind the way of emancipation and salvation. Here, the number of the Suras and verses are given so that eagerful readers can easily get clear conception about the Ummah-related verses with meanings and comments of the most dependable scholars as may be available. Some of the verses are : 6:14, 163, 2:128, 22:78, 39:12, 49:17, 3:103, 6:159, 8:73, 9:71, 15:88, 21:92, 23: 52, 53, 48:29, 49:10, 51:55, 8:53, 13:11, 22:27, 2:113, 256, 3:20, 64, 4:80, 4:48, 10 :19, 99, 11:118, 16:93, 22:40, 25: 52, 42:8, 49.13, 50:45, 59:2, 109:6, 114:2, 8:53, 23: 43, 46, 2: 143, 201, 249, 3: 13, 110, 125, 139, 7: 86, 129, 137, 8:9 9:71, 10:2, 21:105, 22:78, 33:43, 40: 51, 48:1, 61:64 30:47, 3:13, 126, 150, 2:214, 8:10, 29:22, 30:5, 47, 33:17, 42:13, 31, 37: 116, 48:3, 29.The members of the Ummah, expecting positive change to have a bright future, should be dedicated in their struggle and be attentive to the message of warning revealed in the Holy Quran :"...Verily never will Allah change the condition of a people until they change it themselves (with their own souls). But when (once) Allah willeth a people's punishment, there can be no turning it back, nor will they find, besides Him, any to protect." (Sura Ra'ad 13:11)And for the cherished future : "So lose not heart, nor fall into despair : for ye must gain mastery if ye are true in Faith". (Sura Al-i-'Imran 3: 139)Eid Mubarak!
ISIS is enemy No 1 of Islam, says Saudi Mufti

Al Arabiya News :Saudi Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Aziz al-Sheikh termed militants of the Islamic State of Iraq andSyria (ISIS) and al-Qaeda "enemy number one" of Islam."The ideas of extremism, radicalism and terrorism ... have nothing to do with Islam and (their proponents) are the enemy number one of Islam," the Saudi-owned pan-Arab television news channel on its website reports quoting a statement issued by the kingdom's top cleric.He cited militants from ISIS, which has declared a "caliphate" straddling parts of Iraq and Syria, and the global al-Qaeda terror network.Last Wednesday, Saudi Arabia donated $100 million to the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Centre (UNCCT) to help combat terrorism."Terrorism is an evil that must be eradicated from the world through international efforts," Saudi Ambassador to the United States Adel al-Jubeir said during a ceremony at the United Nations in the presence of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon."The [UNCCT] is the only center in the world that has the legitimacy to combat terrorism," added al-Jubeir.Jubeir was joined by Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the UN Abdullah Al-Mouallimi who said that the UNCCT combats the kind of thinking "that stands behind terrorism."The United States, Germany and Britain have also donated to help run the UN center. ISIS has seized large parts of Iraq and drawn the first American air strikes since the end of the US-led occupation in 2011.On Monday, ISIS warned the United States it will attack Americans "in any place" if the raids hit its militants.The video, which shows a photograph of an American who was beheaded during the US occupation of Iraq and victims of snipers, featured a statement which said in English "we will drown all of you in blood."
Fresh terror attack feared

NSU teacher Hasnat Karim, his wife taken into custody, house searched by Detectives: Pak ISI and Jama'at linked, says PM's adviser

Diplomats in Dhaka visited Army Stadium on Monday and paid homage to victims who were killed in militants\' attack in Gulshan cafA - Holey Artisan Bakery.

Sagar Biswas :Intelligence agencies are apprehending fresh massive terror attacks in the country at key point installations or crowded places like super market and public gatherings before or after Eid-ul-Fitr. Taking the threat under consideration, the Police Headquarters have issued high alert across the country and brought all the important establishments under additional security arrangement, officials said on Monday. Top officials of Police, RAB and other intelligence agencies, including National Security Intelligence [NSI], recently sat in a meeting over the issue at Police Headquarters in the city. In the meeting, the Intelligence Officials informed that the militants could launch attacks even at railway station, launch and bus terminals before and after Eid. Especially, a twitter message has drawn attention of security officials where one Kamil Ahmed on July 4 posted: 'next attack Jamuna Future Park, mission July 20.' It is now viral on social media networks, including facebook. Director General of Rapid Action Battalion [RAB] Benjir Ahmed said: "I do urge the people to come to Eidgah maidan and offer their prayers without any fear. The security has been tightened at National Eidgah maidan." "The terrorists will not get such a scope at Eidgah maidan in which way they conducted attack at Gulshan dodging the security surveillance The Gulshan attack was certainly a most awful deed," the RAB Chief said. Meanwhile, the members of Counter Terrorism and Transitional Crimes unit conducted a search at Banani residence of North South University teacher Engineer Hasnat Karim on Monday afternoon. Hasnat, who was a hostage at Holey Artisan Bakery and released just before the army commando operation, was taken into the custody in the morning for interrogation, sources said. "Hasnat is under police custody along with his wife. He was in the restaurant on the night of attack and rescued on Saturday. At first, he was sent to Combined Military Hospital. Later, he was taken to Detective branch office," Deputy Commissioner of DMP Masudur Rahman said. In a video taken by a Korean national and loaded in facebook, it was seen that Hasnat along with his wife and children was present at the cafe at that time. The video also revealed that movement of Hasnat, wearing denim and t-shirt, was highly suspicious. He was seen several times with the militants on the roof and main gate of restaurant. In this backdrop, Inspector General of Police AKM Shahidul Haque said: "Different agencies have started investigation into the incident. Already two persons are under police custody. They are sick. They will be quizzed soon after their recovery." Refuting the allegation of delaying anti-militant operation, the IGP said: "There was no delay. Different countries have faced such situations and they took 4/5 days to rescue the hostages. In that case, we've rescued the hostages within 12 hours The militants tried to escape the scene after slaughtering 20 people within 20 minutes." On the other hand, explaining the reason behind the delay to start operation, Dhaka Metropolitan Police Commissioner [DMP] Asaduzzaman Mia yesterday said: "The police and RAB were prepared to conduct operation. But it was delayed for not getting clearance from the government high ups." In the meanwhile, Prime Minister's political advisor HT Imam on Monday told NDTV that Friday night's attack was likely enabled by Pakistan's powerful ISI [Inter Service Intelligence] or military spy agency. "Pakistan's ISI and Jamaat connection is well known... They want to derail the current government The manner in which the hostages were killed with machete suggests the role of a local terrorist group, the banned Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh [JMB]." Echoing the same, Awami League advisory council member Suranjit Sengupta yesterday said that Pakistan and Jamaat-e Islami are linked with the Gulshan terror attack. "The attack was launched to make Bangladesh an ineffective country." Quoting a high Bangladeshi security official, The Indian Express yesterday reported that an Indian intelligence agency had informed about possible militant attack during information exchange between the two countries two months ago. At that time, the Indian side also gave proof about training of Bangladeshi militants in the soil of India.
Homage to terror victims

PM places wreaths

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina paid homage by placing wreaths on the coffins of the Gulshan cafA victims at Army Stadium in city\'s Banani on Monday.

Staff Reporter :The nation on Monday paid deep respect and tribute to the fallen people who met the tragic end of their lives in a deadly terror attacks in a Gulshan restaurant in the city on Friday night.Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, her cabinet members, relatives of the deceased, government high ups, foreign diplomats and people from all walks of life bade a tearful farewell to the victims at Bangladesh Army Stadium on the second day of the two-day state mourning in memory of the victims of the barbaric act.Besides, advisors to the Prime Minister, parliament members, Chiefs of the three services and leaders of different political parties also paid homage to the victims of the terror attacks in Holey Artisan Bakery.The Prime Minister placed floral wreath at 10:00am on the altar of a podium erected in memory of the victims from home and abroad, after a wreath was placed on behalf of President Md Abdul Hamid. The President is now on a state visit to Bhutan. Commander M Minhaz Alam, a Bangabhaban official paid homage on behalf of the President.Two cascades of Bangladeshi Nationals Faraaz Ayaaz Hossain and Ishrat Akhond, covered with Bangladesh National Flag and cascade of one Bangladesh origin US citizen Abinta Kabir, covered with Bangladesh and US flags, were kept on the raised platform.The background of the podium was put up with the flags of Bangladesh, Italy, Japan, India and the United States in memory of the nationals of these countries, fell victims of the terror attacks.A banner in front the podium read "The people of Bangladesh deeply mourn for the victims of Holey Artisan Bakery tragedy."After placing wreath the Prime Minister stood in solemn silence to pay respect to the deceased. One-minute silence was observed.Sheikh Hasina talked to the relatives of the deceased and conveyed sympathy to them. She also talked to envoys of the United States, Japan, India and Italy.US Ambassador to Bangladesh Marcia Bernicat, Japanese Ambassador Masato Watanabe, High Commissioner of India Harsh Vardhan Shringla and Ambassador of Italy Mario PALMA also paid tributes to the victims.Relatives of the deceased, ambassadors of the friendly countries, central leaders of Bangladesh Awami League, 14-party alliance, FBCCI, BGMEA, family members of the deceased police officials and mayors of Dhaka north and south city corporations followed the Prime Minister in placing wreath to the terror victims.BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir placed wreaths on behalf of the party Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia and on behalf of the party. Party leaders Abdullah Al Noman, Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, Barrister Mahbub Uddin Khokon, ANH Aktar Hossain and Khairul Kabir Khokon were also present. The US Ambassador said, her country is ready to eliminate terrorism from Bangladesh.The Italian ambassador asked for more steps to strengthening security in Bangladesh. The envoy also said Italy will stay besides Bangladesh. The Indian High Commissioner also said as a neighbouring country, India always keeps in touch with Bangladesh in every crisis. After paying homage the bodies were handed over to the relatives of the victims. An Army officer handed over the death certificates to the relatives.Holey Artisan Bakery of Gulshan came under attack on Friday night by the gunmen. The assailants killed 22, including two police officials. Commandos stormed the bakery on Saturday morning and rescued 13 hostages alive.
2 AL leaders killed in Cox's Bazar

UNB, Cox's Bazar :

Two local Awami League leaders were killed by miscreants in Taknaf and Maheshkhali upazilas of the district on Monday.

In Taknaf, Sirajul Islam, 62, president of Teknaf Sadar union unit AL, was shot dead by miscreants at Pallanpara early Monday. Officer-in-charge of Teknaf Police Station Abdul Majid said a group of miscreants fired gunshots at Sirajul when he was sleeping at his house at about 1:30am, leaving him dead on the spot.

Informed, police recovered the body and sent it to Cox's Bazar Sadar Hospital

morgue for an autopsy.

A case was filed in this connection. Meanwhile, another local AL leader, who received bullet injuries in an attack by miscreants at the Sonadia Island in Maheshkhali upazila on Sunday night, succumbed to his injuries early Monday. The deceased was identified as Abdul Karim alias Nagu Member, 55, a member of Kutubjum union parishad (UP) and also president of the union unit AL.

Officer-in-charge of Maheshkhali Police Station Babu Chandra Banik said a group of miscreants fired gunshots at Nagu member and stabbed him indiscriminately on his way to home from Tarabi prayers around 10pm on Sunday, leaving him critically injured.
Japan to take back bodies of its 7 nat'ls today

UNB, Dhaka :Japan will take back the bodies of its seven nationals, who were killed in the terrorist attack at Holey Artisan Bakery in Gulshan-2 area of the city, by Tuesday after completing all the formal procedures, said an official on Monday.Earlier, at 10:10pm on Sunday, a special aircraft, usually used by Japanese Prime Minister and royal families, arrived at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport carrying 18 relatives of seven Japanese victims.Among the seven Japanese victims, five are males and two females. Japanese Senior Vice Foreign Minister Seiji Kihara is coordinating the processes with the government of Bangladesh. The special Japanese aircraft is staying at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport to fly back to Tokyo with the bodies and their family members. A special aircraft from Rome also landed at the airport last night to take back the bodies of nine Italian citizens who were killed in the terrorist attack on Friday.
Family discord drives children to militancy

M M Jasim :Country's sociologists and intellectuals think that the reasons behind the recent shooting incident at Holey Artisan Bakery in Gulshan are out of frustration, social disharmony, family discord, peer group problems and drug addiction. They said that most of the suspected militants were from well-off families, had higher educational institutions and English medium background. Professor Syed Anwar Husain, an intellectual and reputed teacher of History Dept. of Dhaka University, yesterday told The New Nation, "Most of the militants came from affluent families for three decades all over the world. They involved in militancy as they are very much frustrated about their life." "With the emergence of capitalism the existing social structure has started destroying. Family bondage has been decreasing. The parents do not take care of their children. That is why the children do as they wish. Taking the chance, members of militant groups target them and wash their brain to involve them in such kind of criminal activities. And, ultimately they complete mission as per the direction of the militant groups," Prof. Anwar said. He said, "The ethics, norms and values are decreasing day by day in the society. Due to lack of the social elements the criminal groups misguide the students from affluent families to be their part in the crime world."Sociologist AKM Jamal Uddin, a Professor of Sociology Department of Dhaka University, said, "The children of affluent families always pass their time in problematic environment. Either they live in broken families or their parents do not give extra time to make their children's future bright. Their parents are busy with their own activities. Most of the friends of the children are not good. They are involved in many irregularities. That is why the militant groups and criminal gangs easily capture the children and wash their brain." Prof. Jamal Uddin also blame the education system of the country what he said, "There are four types of education in the country which is not good for a society. It creates radicalism in a society. The criminal gangs take the advantage of the radicalism and divert our children to militancy." In the latest gruesome incident held at Holey Artisan Restaurant, it was seen that most of the attackers were from well-off families and had English medium backgrounds. They used to frequently visit the popular upscale eatery in Gulshan, said their friends and investigators.Nibras Islam, one of the attackers, was a student of Turkish Hope School in Dhaka and admitted to Monash University in Malaysia. Nibras had good relation with many celebrities as in a photo he was seen shaking hands with Indian actress Shraddha Kapoor. Rohan Imtiaz also attended Monash University after graduating from Scholastica School in Dhaka. His mother is a mathematics teacher at the school.One suspect, however, was a madrasah student from Bogra and later took preparation to admit at a private university. Another suspect, Meer Saameh Mubasheer, was due to take his A-level exams from Scholastica School.
Explosions near Medina and Qatif mosques

Al Jazeera News : Two explosions have struck near a mosque in the eastern Saudi Arabian city of Qatif, residents say. Saudi-owned al-Arabiya TV also reported a suicide explosion near the security headquarters of the Prophet's Mosque in Medina. In Qatif, on the Gulf coast, witnesses said a suicide bomber blew himself up outside a Shia mosque on Monday evening without causing any other injuries. They reported seeing body parts lying on the ground in the city's business district. "Suicide bomber for sure. I can see the body" which was blasted to pieces, a resident told the AFP news agency. Nasima al-Sada, another resident, told AFP that "one bomber blew himself up near the mosque", frequented by Shia Muslims in downtown Qatif, on the Gulf coast. Another witness told Reuters news agency that one explosion destroyed a car parked near a mosque, followed by another explosion just before 7pm local time. "We are in the last 10 days of Ramadan and those places are crowded because of that for Maghreb [sunset] prayers," Khaled Batarfi, a Saudi Gazette columnist, told Al Jazeera. Early on Monday morning, two security officers were injured as a suicide bomber blew himself up near the US consulate in the Red Sea port city of Jeddah.
Indian agencies warned Dhaka of terror strikes

The Indian Express :

INDIA'S intelligence services had warned of a heightened risk of an Islamic State strike on Dhaka in a series of assessments shared last month, a senior Bangladesh security official told The Indian Express.

The assessments did not contain any intelligence that could have directly helped prevent Friday's attack, but flagged evidence that Bangladeshi extremists

were training at secret facilities in India, said the official. They also warned of heightened Islamic State propaganda, he added. "The Indian warnings were one of many pieces of intelligence that jihadists were planning a major operation. There were some pieces of the puzzle available to us, but not enough to piece together a picture of the plot," said the Bangladeshi official. Bangladesh investigators, another official said, are now focusing their efforts on understanding the training and logistics behind the terrorists who carried out the Dhaka strike - timed to coincide with the last Friday of Ramzan, one of the holiest days of the month of fasting.

In April, the Islamic State's house magazine Dabiq had threatened future strikes in Bangladesh. And since 2014, the Jama'at-ul-Mujahideen - the main Bangladeshi terror outfit that has now branded itself the Islamic State - had staged a series of execution-style killings of foreign aid workers, religious minorities and political progressives using small arms and machetes. It had also conducted a number of bombings - some, allegedly, from stocks prepared at a secret factory in Burdwan, West Bengal. India's National Investigation Agency (NIA) detectives, who probed a 2014 explosion at the Burdwan facility, also said several men had been imparted bomb-making skills there. In September 2015, police had discovered a training camp in Daukhanagar, where Jama'at-ul-Mujahideen cadre had imparted basic courses to recruits on using arms.

This April, Assam Police arrested seven people from Chirang district on charges of running a Jama'at-ul-Mujahideen training camp in Amgrui village. Local cleric Joynal Abedin, police alleged, had been recruiting young men from nearby villages to join the camp.

There are large, fairly ungoverned areas along the India-Bangladesh border where arms training could pass undetected for quite some time," said an Assam Police officer. "Things are further complicated by the fact that there are a large number of criminalised insurgent groups in the region, who could potentially be providers of assault rifles and other weapons," said the officer.
President Joe Biden has decided to ban Russian oil imports, toughening the toll on Russia's economy in retaliation for its invasion of Ukraine. The United States generally imports about 100,000 barrels a day from Russia, only about 5% of Russia's crude oil exports, according to Rystad Energy. Last year, roughly 8% of U.S. imports of oil and petroleum products came from Russia. Gas prices have been rising for weeks due to the conflict and in anticipation of potential sanctions on the Russian energy sector. The U.S. national average for a gallon of gasoline soared 45 cents a gallon in the past week and topped $4.06 on Monday, according to auto club AAA. Should the US ban Russian oil imports over Ukraine war?

You voted:
The sextoy market is growing quite rapidly in India right now.

Although it is not a big trend, it is a hot topic on the internet as it is secretly expanding its market.

In this article, we will focus on sextoy and introduce recommended sextoy for Indian beginners of sextoy by gender.

India, the birthplace of the Kama Sutra, is very strict about sex.

Also, premarital sex is basically not allowed. Therefore, there are many people who are sexually restricted.

But what happens when you continue to be sexually restricted?

Frustration may build up and you may end up taking your sexual stress out on your partner.

If you are able to adopt sextoy in a timely manner, you can get rid of those problems.

I want to have more exciting sex than Im having now.

I want more variation in masturbation

I want to get even stronger pleasure than I do on my own.

If you have any of these problems, please stay with me until the end.

What is sex toys for Indian?

Sextoy, as the name implies, is a toy used during sex and masturbation.

It is a generic term for vibrators, Egg-vibrators, Electric massagers, dildo, handcuffs and condoms.

They are used to make regular sex more exciting or to make masturbation more pleasurable.

Because sextoy is very stimulating, it can help you to get rid of the problems and frustrations of being in a rut of sex with your partner for a long time, or if you are unhappy with the lack of pleasure in sex with your partner.

The ability to satisfy your desires with movement, texture, and size, which cannot be done by a normal human being, can help you to be satisfied with sex and, as a result, improve your relationship with your partner.

It is also said to help improve sexual dysfunction (inability to get an erection or ejaculate) and difficulty in feeling during sex (insensitivity), which is attracting more attention than in the past.

In recent years, the demand for sextoy has increased due to the spread of smartphones and the Internet and the increasing number of people using online shopping.

Even those who are concerned about the appearance of sextoy (and find it difficult to purchase) can now easily obtain it by using mail order.

In the case of online shopping, most of the stores have taken steps to ensure that the contents of the products delivered to you are not revealed, so you can purchase them without your family members knowing.

Until a while ago, you had to go to the store where the adult goods were sold to buy them, so it was quite a hurdle to overcome.

Also, many people may have an image that sextoy is somehow embarrassing to own.

But nowadays, some of them are so stylish and cute that you cant believe they are sextoy at a glance.

More and more people are using them for travel and outdoor use because they are not too bulky and are suitable for carrying around.

Sextoy situation in India

Before introducing the recommended sextoy for Indians, lets talk about one of the sextoy situations in India in recent years.

In India, due to the high concentration of population, the following six cities have particularly high sales of sextoy in India.

Mumbai

Kolkata

Bangalore

Delhi

Chennai

Hyderabad

These cities account for roughly 70 percent of sextoy sales in India.

In the future, the percentage of sextoy use will gradually increase in other cities in India as well.

If you never talk about sextoy publicly, that girl in your neighborhood might be a sextoy user too.

If you are interested in sextoy, you dont have to suppress your desire for it.

What are Sextoys for beginner?

Among all sextoys, sextoy for beginners are vibrators, dildo, masturbators, Sex Lubricants, and condoms.

Sex Lubricants and condoms, which are familiar to people who have had sex, are also a great beginners sextoy.

I will explain the details of each toy later, but there are many sextoy products that are painful to use and can only be used after some anal expansion.

I assume that the Indian readers of this article are people who have not had much experience with sextoy.

If such people use professional sextoy suddenly, they are at risk of injury or trauma.

Therefore, to introduce sextoy, you need to start with a beginners version and gradually become familiar with it.

Advantages of using sextoy for Indians

There are three advantages of using sextoy for Indians

You can masturbate in a wide variety of ways.

Can have stimulating sex

Can develop new sexual zones

If you try to masturbate with your own fingers or hands, it tends to be a pattern.

However, with sextoy, you can easily masturbate in a variety of ways.

You will definitely be fascinated by the attraction of new stimulation.

Also, your daily sex life will be more exciting than ever.

There are many things in sextoy that are visually stimulating and give you a strong and intense feeling of pleasure.

This allows you to see your partners promiscuity in a way that you wouldnt normally see it.

When you are in a relationship, sex with your partner may become a pattern, but it can also eliminate these problems.

It can also lead to the development of new sexual zones (which is the training of sexual stimulation to allow you to feel orgasms).

For more information on the development of new sexual zones, see the following articles

[Women's Erogenous Zone]How to find and develop, 7 hidden sexual zones !![In India] In this issue, we will dissect the female erogenous zone! ..." Many of you may be like that. Men, in particular, shou...

Thus, the use of sextoy can only be a good thing for the men and women of India.

Sextoy for beginner men in India

So, lets continue with the recommended goods for Indian sextoy beginners.

For ease of understanding, we will introduce them by gender. Lets start with the men!

The following five goods are recommended for novice Indian sextoy men

Masturbator

Cock rings

Love Doll

Sex Lubricants

Toys for the prostate

Lets check each one in detail.

Masturbator

The masturbator is a sextoy for men that elaborately reproduces a womans vagina, mouth, and anus, and is one of the most popular sextoy products.

It is used by men to masturbate, and it is popular because it provides stronger stimulation and pleasure more easily than using hands.

Most are made of good quality silicone, and their softness is something that cannot be achieved with ones own hands.

They can provide stronger pleasure than a real womans vagina, so be careful not to overuse them. (You wont be able to have an orgasm in a womans vagina anymore.)

Again Male masturbators are a wonderful toy. I do not need any favourite timing, bothersome bargaining. You do not have to worry too much.

Revolutionize your masturbation time! ! !

Made in Japan is a wonderful kinky toy.#sextoysindia #SexToyIndia #Japanhttps://t.co/4k70QGzoTP pic.twitter.com/tRVdxTKPpa   SEXToys India PR  (@SextoysIndia) November 12, 2018

Some of them are disposable, while others can be washed and used over and over again, so its fun to buy a few to use depending on your mood.

If you want to know more about masturbator, please click here

Really pleasant male masturbation and how to do it Are you in a rut with your daily masturbation routine? I'm going to show you five ways men masturbate that you might ...

[For Beginners] How to choose and use a male masturbator without fail Gentlemen.Have you ever used a masturbator? The person who sees this article is probably the one who has not experien...

Cock Ring

A cock ring is literally a ring-shaped sextoy that is worn on a mans penis.

It maintains an erection by binding the penis with a ring of rubber and blocking blood flow.

It is sometimes used as an accessory to be worn on the penis, and may be made of metal or plastic as well as rubber.

In some cases, cock rings have parts or vibrators attached to them that stimulate the vagina, so they kill two birds with one stone, giving a woman pleasure while maintaining an erection.

Cock rings are also sometimes used to treat erectile dysfunction.

It can help with erectile dysfunction, where the penis doesnt get hard when you get an erection or doesnt last long when you try to insert it.

Men who are prone to breakage or who are unsure of the hardness and size of their erections can use a cock ring to increase the size of their penis and maintain an erection for a longer period of time.

Cock rings vary in price from around RS700 to over RS2000 with a vibrator function.

Some of them do not fit your penis, so you should check the size of the cock ring before you buy.

You should know the size of your partners or your own penis when it is erect.

[Penis enlargement] What is a cock ring? Types and usage Cock rings can make your penis bigger and harder. It also makes sex with women more fulfilling and increases your sat...

Love Doll

Love dolls, also known as Dutchwives, are dolls with the appearance of a woman who can experience simulated sex.

There are dolls that look like a woman, but they have no face and only have their breasts and lower torso cut off, and some dolls are so realistic that they can actually be mistaken for real women.

Some expensive dolls can cost more than 1 million yen, and the quality of the doll is easily influenced by the price.

The higher the price, the higher the quality of the doll will be, the closer it will be to the real woman, and the cheaper the doll will be, the less elaborate it will be, making it look like a real doll! Something is wrong! That is also true.

You cant go wrong if you choose a balance between price and taste.

There are stores that allow you to make custom-made love dolls, so you can create a girl of your choice.

You can make a girl of your choice. You can start with inexpensive love dolls at first, and once you get used to it, you can try custom-made love dolls.

If you want to know more about Love doll, please click here

Thorough explanation of the charm of sex dolls! Have you ever heard of sex dolls that are used primarily for pseudo-sex purposes? It is a doll that is quite close to...

Sex lubricants

Sex lubricants are used as a substitute for lubricating fluid during sex or as a lubricant for men to use masturbator rules.

It is not uncommon for women to have difficulty getting wet, depending on their physical condition, or to have difficulty getting wet due to their constitution.

Forcing the penis into the vagina at such times can cause painful intercourse.

There are various types of Sex Lubricants, some with a warming effect, some with a cooling effect, and some with a scent.

Changing the Sex Lubricant used during play is recommended as a good sex accent.

If you want to learn more about Sex Lubricants, click here.

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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.

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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.
COBDEN  Todays Cobden looks different than yesterdays Cobden. Thats partly due to the influx of foreign laborers who came to work on farms and now live here full time.

Deep in the heart of orchard country in Southern Illinois, workers from Mexico and Central America have been integrated into the community.

Its a big change from decades ago, when migrants came and went, leaving little footprint in this Union County village and other regions of Illinois.

Its not unusual to see gentlemen sitting at a picnic table under the trees, playing cards or dominoes, and you may not hear a word of English, said Ron Duncan, a community and economic development educator with University of Illinois Extension. And yet, thats fine. Theres no issue there.

Barriers are indeed falling.

Bodegas offering native foodstuffs, authentic Mexican restaurants and specialty shops catering to Hispanics have sprung up all over.

Its my personal opinion, but you see a lot more engagement in the retail community by the Hispanic community than you would have years ago, Duncan said.

We see Hispanics engaging in the formal economy of the region. In the past, they were only relegated to the informal part of the economy. They are much more integrated, much more engaged in all sectors.

Eloy Salazar, executive director of the Chicago-based Illinois Migrant Council, said the federal H2A visa program, which provides farmers with migrant labor, has changed the makeup of foreign-born workers.

The number of workers in the state illegally has shrunk by nearly 11,000.

That has increased the number of requests for H2A visas, Salazar said.

We expect about 200 growers in Illinois to be filing applications to import foreign workers to do their harvesting. The remaining 23,000 farm workers in Illinois who come in or live seasonally are documented workers.

Nonprofit organizations such as the IMC have long provided assistance to foreign-born workers in Illinois orchards, vegetables operations, dairies and other labor-intensive farm operations.

But funding has been problematic. A migrant camp based in Union County recently closed.

The state budget crisis has affected many of those services. The state has been without a budget for more than a year, a victim of political wrangling in Springfield.

IMC, which provides job training and supportive services to migrant and seasonal farm workers in Illinois, wasnt getting the states share of its funding.

Regretfully, many of our efforts are being affected by the state budget crisis, Salazar said.

Weve had to suspend five or six different programs because there is no funding from the state. It is going to create some real hardships as we move into the peak season in Illinois for agricultural activity.

A stopgap funding measure was endorsed by the General Assembly and the governor Thursday to fund public schools and government operations. It's not clear yet if funding will be restored for these programs.

Meanwhile, the integration of Hispanic families into Union and surrounding counties is going well. There are welcoming arms on both sides, according to Duncan.

Its a two-way street. Its not that all Hispanic workers have become like us, he said.

Weve sort of met in the middle. There are also some things that we have adapted: the music, the festivals, the food. Its been a really interesting melting pot on a micro scale. So far, its been relatively successful.
ANDERSON  Orangeburg County teachers Lisa Felkel and Misty Williams were among 49 educators from across the state who recently learned how to incorporate agricultural lessons into their classrooms.

The South Carolina Farm Bureau Federation hosted its annual Ag in the Classroom Summer Teacher Institute June 6-10 in Anderson, where teachers of grades pre-K through 8 in public and private schools learned how to teach the importance of family farmers and domestically produced food, fiber, forestry products and fuel to their students.

It is so important that students learn where their food and resources come from, said Vonne Knight, SCFB director of ag literacy. Providing teachers with not only the information and lesson plans they need, but also the confidence to teach agriculture makes it easy for them to do just that.

In addition to instruction about their learning and teaching styles, institute participants also heard from agriculture and education experts from Clemson Universitys College Relations/Ag Careers Department, Department of Animal and Veterinary Science, the S.C. Ag Statistics Department, Clemsons apiculture specialist, and the S.C. Department of Agriculture. Participants also experienced two days of farm tours in the Upstate, including Major Farm, Berry Acres, Greenbrier Farms, Kings Sunset Nursery, Setzler Farms, and Satterwhite Farm.

The Ag in the Classroom program is so beneficial because we can educate teachers about the importance of agriculture, and those teachers are then going to take that back to their own classrooms of sometimes 30 students. The overall outreach of the program is unmatched, SCFB President Harry Ott said.

I never cease to be amazed at the positive agricultural impact this course makes in the lives of teachers from across the state during this one week, Knight said. Teachers leave with a greater understanding of and appreciation for agriculture. I have never been part of a more rewarding higher education experience.

Ag in the Classroom Institute participants received lesson plans aligned to the state curriculum standards to use in their own classroom this fall. They also left with resources they can use to teach students about agriculture and the benefits farmers add to the economy, the environment and the community.

Participants received three hours of graduate credit for recertification from Winthrop University, courtesy of SCFBs Ag in the Classroom Fund. Along with a modest registration fee, which many County Farm Bureau chapters reimburse to participants, sponsorships raised through the SCFBs Ag in the Classroom Fund cover the cost of tuition, room and board, resource speakers and tours, and materials for the week-long Institute.

If agriculture is to maintain its status as South Carolinas largest business sector  providing more than 212,000 jobs and more than a $42 billion impact on South Carolinas economy  weve got to help people understand the link between their food and fiber and the farm, Ott said. Farm Bureaus Ag in the Classroom program is a tool to help us accomplish that goal through our states teachers, and in turn to our states children.

The 2016 SCFB Ag in the Classroom Summer Teacher Institute was funded through support from the S.C. Ag in the Classroom Fund, S.C. Farm Bureau Federation, S.C. Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance Co., the S.C. Beef Board, the S.C. Soybean Board, the S.C. Peanut Board, S.C. Advocates for Agriculture, Newberry Electric Cooperative, AgSouth Farm Credit, Lynches River Electric Cooperative, and Edisto Electric Cooperative.

SCFBs Ag in the Classroom program also offers year-round no-cost in-service workshops to South Carolina pre-kindergarten through middle school teachers, schools, and school districts. To make a tax-deductible contribution to the 501(c)(3) Ag in the Classroom program, for more information, or to schedule an in-service workshop, contact SCFB Ag Literacy Program Director Vonne Knight at 803-936-4409 or vknight@scfb.org.
BAMBERG -- Bamberg County Council gave final third-reading approval to the countys $14.5 million spending plan for FY 2016-17 at a special called meeting on June 30.

The budget calls for a general fund of $6.9 million, along with separate accounts set up for special revenue ($4.3 million), enterprise ($1.1 million), debt service ($268,390) and capital projects ($1.9 million).

I think this year we were able to do some things for the employees and hopefully get a little boost in morale to see that we do care about them and to see that this building is a part of a new era, I hope, in Bamberg County, Councilman Trent Kinard said.

The meeting was held in the council chambers at the countys new courthouse annex building, which Bamberg County Administrator Joey Preston said will be fully operational in about two weeks.

I think if you look around in Bamberg County right now, youll see some great things, Kinard said.

Councilman Joe Guess Jr. said part of the reason the county has had to increase its budget, however, is because of the state General Assemblys continuing to not fully fund the Local Government Fund.

I think we have done the right thing by our employees, whereas they havent. They shorted us again on the Local Government Fund.  were about $250,000 short of what we should be getting under a statutory formula that is part of the law of the state of South Carolina that they have ignored for the past eight years, Guess said.

The new spending plan includes a 2 percent cost-of-living increase for county employees. The average employee with family coverage will also not have to pay $1,500 more per year in health insurance costs because the county is absorbing 100 percent of the increases in health insurance costs.

The budget also includes $2,500 to digitize microfilm records in the probate judges office in partnership with the S.C. Department of Archives and History. In addition, another $25,000 is included to begin updating the Bamberg County Detention Center to continue to meet minimum standards.

The county has also moved the continued development of its airport under its special revenue fund to identify funding sources and to initiate better accounting for the airport as a unique and separate entity.

With its capital reserve fund, the county has followed a plan to replace its aging fleet of vehicles and heavy equipment. A new motor grader is among the county's new heavy equipment purchases, with another grader to be delivered this month.

The proposed budget reflects a $68,160 shortfall in the county's road maintenance fund, largely because of the losses the county is incurring in the receipt of its $30 road user fee. The administrator has said the deficit would be made up from general fund transfers if needed.

The county is also continuing to trim the $2.8 million deficit its solid waste collection system has been running.
Americas bloody war for independence from Great Britain wasn't merely scenes compiled for a history book; it was bitter and bold and happened in The T&D region's own backyard.

Most notably, the Battle of Eutaw Springs was waged a few miles east of the town of Eutawville. The battle started about 9 a.m. on Sept. 8, 1781 and raged for nearly four hours.

British Col. Alexander Stewart began moving his contingent of about 2,000 men northwest along the Old River Road from Moncks Corner and set up near the freshwater spring on Eutaw Creek.

Stewart met his match there.

Gen. Nathaniel Greene, the southern commander of the Continental Army, guided a force of 2,400 Patriots to halt Stewarts invasion.

Experts say it was at the Battle of Eutaw Springs that the British strategy totally unraveled.

But the casualties to both armies were devastating.

The British lost almost 700, and the American casualties totaled about 500.

The role the Battle of Eutaw Springs played in the Revolutionary War was pivotal. It marked the end of the British strategy of gaining control of South Carolina's interior areas.

The site of the vicious battle covered about 170 acres. Firsthand accounts report that soldiers waded in puddles of blood on the battlefield while dead men still stood impaled on each others bayonets. Most of the dead were buried in mass graves.

Another significant aspect of the Battle of Eutaw Springs is that so many heroes of the American Revolution fought in it -- William Washington, Francis Swamp Fox Marion, Andrew Pickens, Lighthorse Harry Lee and Wade Hampton.

The battle also resulted in the death of the gallant British Maj. John Marjoribanks.

Since June 26, 1936, visitors have been able to visit nearly three acres of the original battlefield site. Thats when the United States Congress established the park as a memorial site.

Earlier in 1781, British forces began moving down from Camden to reinforce the garrison at Fort Motte in what is now Calhoun County.

If it hadn't been for a brave woman whose heart was focused on the Patriot cause for independence from Great Britain, an American siege would not have been successful.

The British forced Rebecca Brewton Motte out of her home. They then built a protective wall and a deep ditch around the home, which was described as a new mansion house  situated on a high, commanding hill.

A total of 150 British infantry men plus a few dragoons manned the non-artillery fort. However, when American forces learned of the movement on May 8, Gen. Marion and Col. Lee had their 380 troops dig trenches around the fort and laid siege.

Marion and Lee wanted British forces to immediately surrender. For Rebecca Motte, that meant making a big sacrifice -- her home.

Marion and Lee decided they could set the roof of Mottes house on fire and send the British running. Instead of lamenting the sure loss of her home, Motte said shed view the burning with delight if it drove out the British.

She even supplied the tools the Patriots needed to accomplish that strategy -- bow and arrows from East India given to her by her merchant brother.

After the Patriots fired several arrows at the four quarters of the roof and set the wooden shingles on fire, the British rushed to put out the blaze. They were met with American musket rounds, driving them back and forcing their surrender.

Moments later, soldiers from the British and the American armies worked side-by-side to put out the fire and save Mottes home.

Numerous other skirmishes, acts of heroism, newfound patriotism and loyalty to forging the new nation occurred throughout The T&D Region.
America is a God-fearing country with all that implies. America is the only major (first world) country in the world in which a majority of citizens still voluntarily take part in an active religion life. That is the primary source of American exceptionalism. -- Paul Johnson, famed British historian and author of "A History of the American Peoples."

Over the past decade, much debate has transpired over the term American exceptionalism." Two months after taking office, and while overseas speaking to allies, President Barack Obama had this to say about the term: I believe in American exceptionalism, just as I suspect that the Brits believe in British exceptionalism and the Greeks believe in Greek exceptionalism.

In April 2015, Donald Trump was asked to define American exceptionalism and replied: I dont like the term, Ill be honest with you."

Though the term was thought to be first coined be Alexis de Tocqueville in the 1830s and has remained constant throughout our history, we must ask ourselves whether or not America truly was, and is, objectively exceptional among nations?

Famed British historian Paul Johnson, author of A History of the American Peoples," said this about American Exceptionalism in 1998: America is a God-fearing country with all that implies. America is the only major (first world) country in the world in which a majority of citizens still voluntarily take part in an active religion life. That is the primary source of American exceptionalism.

Johnson further stated: America is and always has been a religious country. It was founded primarily for religious reasons. Religious belief and conflict was absolutely dominant until the end of the 17th century, and even after this point, the Great Awakenings were determining factors in what happened in America. The first Great Awakening, in the second quarter of the 18th century, was the spiritual and emotional engine of the American Revolution that brought the United States into being.

In fairness to both Obama and Trump, their responses about American exceptionalism appeared in the context of economics. Trump, for example, went on to explain that nations like Germany were eating our lunch economically and therefore we should not use a term claiming we are better than other nations.

However, Alexis de Tocqueville, the Frenchman who wrote of American rise to power in the 1830s, had this to say about what made America so unique and exceptional among nations: There is no country in the world in which the Christian religion retains greater influence over the souls of men than in America.

What de Tocqueville further wrote of American greatness is the key to our exceptionalism: I sought for the key to the greatness and genius of America in her harbors ...; in her fertile fields and boundless forests; in her rich mines and vast world commerce; in her public school system and institutions of learning. I sought for it in her democratic Congress and in her matchless Constitution. Not until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits flame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power. America is great because America is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great.

America grew quickly and around the time of its centennial was noted as having the world's largest gross domestic product. After World War II, America became one of the two largest military powers, and by the end of the Cold War was the sole military superpower. However, judging American exceptionalism solely in terms of economics or even military power is often misplaced.

In recent years, America has lost a great deal of the manufacturing base and faces economic rivals throughout the world. Military power has risen and fallen with the major wars. It would be wrong to brag of exceptionalism in those terms.

What has made America exceptional was articulated at our inception, in the Declaration of Independence. In the preamble of the Declaration, we the people of the United States told the world our rights come directly from our creator. Not power through monarchs, or delegated from government, but directly from God to individuals.

Further, that we the people invest government with certain limited powers to protect God-given rights. This philosophical understanding kept government limited and the people free to flourish. That resulting freedom has brought the economic power, but the source has been what Johnson spoke about: being a God-fearing nation.

As America celebrates 240 years, we must ask ourselves if we remain exceptional.

Though de Tocqueville praised the United States as being great because it was good (Christian), he also presented us with a warning almost 200 years ago: Cease to be good, and we will cease to be exceptional.

As we celebrate the exceptionalism of America, let us also take some time of introspection into who we are now. Have we given up our exceptionalism? Will we remain the nation founded with God as the source of all rights and blessings?

In the meantime, Happy Independence Day and let's all pray God continues to bless America as we bless him as a nation.

Orangeburg attorney Col. Bill Connor was the senior U.S. adviser to Helmand Province, Afghanistan, where he received the Bronze Star. He is the author of the book Articles From War. Among his multiple tours of duty in the Mideast, Connor served in a six-month peacekeeping mission between Egypt and Israel.
As we pause to celebrate the anniversary of our nations independence, it seems appropriate to consider the vital role played by the American military in the creation of our nation and its transformation of our world.

We are not a militaristic nation, but we are a nation that is deeply proud of its military. We are not a perfect people. We have made many mistakes. We have not always lived up to our noble ideals. It is important to remember what happened at Wounded Knee, My Lai and Abu Ghraib. But it is also important to remember the amazing things that the U.S. military has done in our world.

On April 19, 1775, British soldiers marched from Boston to Lexington and Concord to seize a cache of arms. They were confronted on the Lexington Green by citizen soldiers who were farmers, merchants and tradesmen. The shot heard round the world, so named by Ralph Waldo Emerson in his poem Concord Hymn, was fired later that day on the Old North Bridge. Liberty was not a gift of the English crown; she had to be taken by force by an armed rebel populace.

Later that year, American forces invaded British Canada. My own ancestor, James Van Rensselaer, was a citizen soldier in the siege of Quebec, and his commanding officer was Benedict Arnold.

The American Revolution is often portrayed in rosy colors due to its remoteness and patriotic outcome. It was, in fact, a horrendously bloody conflict. Recent scholarship has placed the total number of Americans killed in the American Revolution at around 25,000, out of a total population of the 13 colonies in 1775 of 2.4 million. Thus, more than 1 percent of the population was killed over the course of the wars nearly eight and half years.

After the American Revolution, we would fight Britain again in the War of 1812. We also fought our way westward across the continent, engaging in many brutal wars against the Native Americans.

In 1846, President Polk launched a war against Mexico. This was and remains a controversial chapter in American history. Congressman Abraham Lincoln opposed the war. Henry David Thoreau refused to pay taxes to support the war and was briefly jailed. Even Ulysses Grant, who fought in the war, condemned its prosecution in his memoirs. But without the Mexican-American War, the states of California, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, and New Mexico would never have been added to the Union. Without the Mexican-American War, the United States might never have become a coast-to-coast superpower.

Imagine for a moment what World War II might have been like had Polk not fought the Mexican-American War. It is unlikely that an American naval base would have been built at Pearl Harbor without Polk. If there had been a Pacific base, the Japanese would never have sunk the Arizona to start the war, because the state we call Arizona would have belonged to Mexico. If there had not been Alamogordo in New Mexico where the atomic bomb could be tested, would we have been able to drop an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, thereby ending the war? Without Polks war in the 19th century, the United States might not have been strong enough to deal with the challenges of fascism and communism in the 20th century.

Nearly a hundred years ago in 1917, America citizen soldiers went Over There with the American Expeditionary Force to fight the Central Powers in World War I. By 1918, German Kaiser William II would abdicate. In 1941, American citizens would get the call to combat Hitler and Imperial Japan. Just over seventy-one years ago, American soldiers liberated the Nazi concentration camps, such as Buchenwald and Dachau, thereby helping to end the Holocaust. Without American invasions at places like the beaches of Omaha and Anzio, the world would undoubtedly be a darker place.

After World War II, American forces remained engaged with Europe, joining NATO and garrisoning the nations of former adversaries during the Cold War. The Cold War was won without a shot being fired.

Today we face the threat of global terror networks that have perpetrated horrors in Brussels, Paris, San Bernardino, California, and, most recently, Orlando, Florida.

Our enemies must know that Americans do not love war for wars sake. To do so is the definition of fascism. We are and always have been reluctant warriors. But when provoked, we know how to fight, and we will endure until victory and a lasting peace is won.

Thanks to the courage and sacrifice of those American patriots who have served in our military and those that serve today, we are able to celebrate the Fourth of July and to confront the challenges that face us around the world.

This guest editorial is written by Christopher Kelly, co-author of America Invades: How Weve Invaded or Been Militarily Involved with almost Every Country on Earth and Italy Invades: How Italians Conquered the World. His newest book, An Adventure in 1914, will be published this fall.
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/By Azernews/

By Nijat Huseynov

The project of the Petlim container port construction in Ismir, Turkey, will cost $282 million, with 70 percent of shares owned by the Turkish company Petkim.

"According to the latest data, the construction will cost $282 million," Trend quoted a source at the Azerbaijani company SOCAR, which holds 57.5 percent of shares at the Turkish petrochemical complex Petkim.

Turkish Akbank has provided a loan of $212 million, while the shareholders allocated the rest 70 million, a source added.

Last year the company declared that the construction will be cost $400 million.

Earlier, the company reported that the first stage of Petlim construction set to be complete within a month with the first arrived containers in January 2016, and Petlim container port will become the third largest port in Turkey and the largest one in the Aegean Sea.

Petlim will be able to receive over 11,000 containers carried by the largest container ships.

The first phase of the project was finalized in April and transferred to the management of the Dutch APM Terminals company. Completion of the second phase is expected in autumn.

APM Terminals will pay $65 million to Petlim till the accomplishment of the project.

Within 15 years of commissioning the project, it expects to pay $47.6 million stable guarantee payments and 45 percent of excess revenues of the company, in later years Petlim will receive 35 percent of the total revenue APM.

"At the end of the 28-year contract the income will be divided between Petlim and operators in proportion of 70 to 30," said the source.

The contract over the managing the company for 28 years was signed the APM Terminals in 2013.

The shareholders of Petlim port are Petkim with a stake of 70 percent and Goldman Sachs with 30 percent of shares.
The whole world saw that the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is not frozen, Novruz Mammadov, deputy head of Azerbaijani presidential administration, chief of the administration's foreign relations department, said in an interview with local TV channels July 3.

He said that, there are several reasons for revival in the process of settlement of the conflict.

"Many people want to create a view that the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is frozen," Mammadov said. "However, as a result of recent Armenian provocations, the whole world saw that the conflict is not frozen."

According to him, in addition, the policy pursued by the President of Azerbaijan in relations with different countries - the EU, US, Russia, Turkey, Iran, committed visits to these countries, the results achieved during the negotiations and these visits have led to a common position - it's time to resolve the conflict, which has continued for almost 25 years.

"Therefore, today great attention is paid to the resolution of the conflict. After the April events, by the initiative of the US, a meeting was held in Vienna, and also at various meetings, Russia, and France stressed the importance of starting negotiations on the settlement of the conflict and the entry into a new phase. Now, considering the positions of the OSCE Minsk group member states, and the co-chairs themselves, you can see that there is an intention to move forward," Novruz Mammadov said.

He said that currently, Germany is trying to take a step on this issue.

Given the possibilities of Germany as the OSCE chairman, Berlin is interested in resolving the conflict, wants to help solve the problem, Mammadov said.

"In addition, some time ago during the Azerbaijani President's visit to Germany, this question was widely discussed at the meeting with the German Chancellor and the delegations. Azerbaijan President expressed his position, explained and justified a fair solution to the conflict. I think that the result of this was the German foreign minister's visit to the region," Novruz Mammadov said.

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.
/By Azernews/

By Gunay Camal

The danger and possible consequences of old nuclear power plants operating in the OSCE area were mulled as some 300 parliamentarians from 54 OSCE countries have gathered at the OSCE Parliamentary Assemblys 25th Annual Session in Tbilisi.

The Committee members discussed topics including transnational terrorism, regional cooperation, climate change, migration and the rights of refugees, enhancing OSCE early warning mechanisms to enable swifter action on international challenges, as well as questions related to the Chernobyl disaster, Azertac reported.

Azerbaijani parliamentarians made certain suggestions to the draft final document, as they proposed an amendment on closure of the old nuclear power plants in the active seismic zones, stating they were potential threat and should be immediately stopped, said Azerbaijani MP Kamran Nabizade said.

The Metsamor NPP, which has been operating in Armenia for several decades, is one of such plants posing an economic danger for the region. Environmentalists have long been concerned that the Armenian authorities refuse to close the outdated Metsamor NPP, any catastrophe at which could kill thousands in Armenia itself, and the whole region.

Metsamor NPP, located on high-seismic active zone, began to operate in 1976. The license for the exploitation of the station will expire on September 1, 2016. Nevertheless, the Armenian government has made the decision to prolong the date of exploitation of the plant for additional 10 years.

Doris Barnet, head of the German delegation to the OSCE PA, has supported the position of Azerbaijani parliamentarians, while the Armenian delegation called on the participants to protest the amendment.

But,the Committee members voted for the amendment made by Azerbaijani parliamentarians, urging to stop the use of the old nuclear power plants.




Iran and several members of the D-8 Organization for Economic Cooperation have implemented a preferential trade agreement.

Trade Promotion Organization of Iran has announced that the preferential trade agreement envisages economic cooperation between the Islamic Republic, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Turkey, IRNA news agency reported.

The sides had earlier decided to implement the agreement from 1 July.

Under the agreement the participating countries will give preferential access to 230 products.

The D-8 Organization for Economic Cooperation, also known as Developing-8, is an organization for development cooperation among Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Turkey.
The residential segment of Abu Dhabi remained relatively stable in terms of demand and supply during the first quarter of 2016, according to a report.



Due to a limited new supply that entered the market during the period (only 1,000 units), sale and rental prices on residential apartments and villas in the capital either remained stable or showed marginal decreases compared to Q4 2015, stated leading consultancy house PKF.



According to third party reports, the Q1 2016 residential sales segment in Abu Dhabi was characterised by low transaction volumes and stable sale prices.



As such, average sales rates remained similar to those achieved during the first quarter of 2015. However, areas that recorded significant decreases included: Al Bandar (eight per cent year on year) and Al Muneera (seven per cent y-o-y) in Al Raha Beach,



Both The Gate District on Reem Island and Al Ghadeer witnessed a seven per cent y-o-y fall in the sales rates, stated PKF in its report.



In terms of the rental market, apartments during the first quarter reported minor declines quarter-on-quarter (q-o-q) of between one and two per cent across most of the existing residential supply in Abu Dhabi.



However, when comparing the performance of the market in Q1 2016 to that of Q1 2015, minor growth patterns are noticeable, stated the PKF report.



Rental rates increased most significantly in budget living destinations, such as Al Ghadeer and Al Reef Downtown (11 per cent y-o-y). Rents in other locations such as Al Raha Beach and Reem Island recorded annual increases of between two and four per cent for the period.



Villa rental rates in Abu Dhabi recorded a two per cent q-o-q decline in Q1 2016, with Saadiyat Island still commanding the highest rates in the capital, it added.



New supply that entered the market during Q1 included The Wave on Reem Island (229 units), C39 at Danat Abu Dhabi (219 units) and Ali & Sons building at Rawdat (120 units).



Most of the upcoming supply in 2016 is expected to be concentrated on Reem Island (1,500 units), which is anticipated to put pressure on rents achieved in that area for the short- to mid-term, said the report.



In January, Arabtec won a contract worth Dh2 billion ($544 million) from Aldar Properties to build 1,017 villas on Yas Island. The project was intended to start construction works immediately. The project, once completed, will have a built-up area (BUA) of 440,000 sq m.



As part of a national housing strategy, Abu Dhabi Municipality started handing over 1,400 homes to Emiratis in March. Abu Dhabi City Municipality reports to place Emirati families' interests as the top priority when developing projects.



On the retail sector, PKF said no new developments entered the Abu Dhabi market during Q1 thus maintaining the retail GLA at approximately 2.6 million sq m.



A few retail developments within bigger mixed-use developments are set to be completed by end of 2016, however, mega retail projects are scheduled only for delivery in 2018-2019, when Al Maryah Central and Reem Mall are expected to be completed, which will add close to 340,000 sq m of new retail space to the market, it stated.



During Q1 2016, retail revenues remained under pressure with the trend for the remainder of the year indicating further reduction in consumer spending leading to further downward pressure on revenues.



In the short-term, a declining trend in retail spending is likely due to a weakening job market, reduced consumer confidence and lower spending power from residents thereby forcing retail tenants to renegotiate lease renewals with mall management with a focus on reduced rental rates, said the report.



Notwithstanding, the medium to long term outlook for the retail sector in Abu Dhabi is expected to grow on the back of high levels of disposable income and an increase in tourist arrivals. This pushes for the potential upgrading of the retail sector with newer and lareger regional shopping centres continuing to take over from the existing older stock, it added.



On the office sector, PKF said the demand continued to soften throughout Q1 as the government sector cut back on spending in response to the weakening hydrocarbon sector resulting in tenants in this sector delaying expansion or relocation plans.



However, some tenants in other commercial sectors opted to relocate to address and reduce capital expenses.



Despite an overall slowdown in the sector, the limited new supply counter balanced a negative impact on demand for the sector, which resulted in minor rental growths; more specifically within the Grade A office space as the supply in this segment continued to be limited, it stated.



According to a third party report, average rental rates for Grade A office space during Q1 stood at Dh1,900 sq m, representing a y-o-y growth of seven per cent.



During the same period, Grade B office space achieved rental rates of approximately Dh1,200 ($326) per sq m resulting in a y-o-y growth rate of five per cent.-TradeArabia News Service
Seven militants who killed 20 people at a Dhaka restaurant made no demands and a person taken alive by police was only a suspect admitted in hospital, Bangladesh's home minister said on Sunday, rejecting Islamic State's claims of responsibility.



The gunmen stormed the upmarket restaurant in the diplomatic zone late on Friday and killed their mostly non-Muslim hostages, including nine Italians, seven Japanese and a citizen each from the United States and India.



Three of the six gunmen killed were under 22 years of age and had been missing for six months, Asaduzzaman Khan told Reuters in an interview at his Dhaka home.



Police and government officials have said the attackers were from well-off Bangladeshi families, a rarity and an indication that religious radicalisation was widening its scope.



Claiming responsibility, Islamic State warned citizens of "crusader countries" - that is, traditionally Christian western states - in a statement that they would not be safe "as long as their aircraft are killing Muslims".



It also posted pictures of five grinning fighters in front of a black flag who it said were involved in the attack, according to the SITE monitoring website.



But Khan said Islamic State was not involved, reiterating the government's position that home-grown militants were responsible for a spate of killings in the country over the past 18 months, including the latest one.



Asked about the photos, the minister pointed to a wall behind him and said: "If I fix a poster of IS here and stand with a machine gun, will it establish that IS is here?"



The minister has blamed Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh, which claims to represent Islamic State in Bangladesh but has no proven links to it.



Security experts believe the suspect, who was hospitalised with serious injuries, would be crucial to the investigation into the attack. Khan said it was not clear if he was involved.



Islamic State also claimed responsibility for two bombings overnight in Baghdad that killed nearly 120 people and wounded 200, most of them in a busy shopping area while residents celebrated the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.



Reacting to the two attacks over the past three days, Pope Francis asked people attending noon prayer at the Vatican in Rome to pray for the victims and their families.



Late on Sunday in Bangladesh, hundreds of men, women and children held a candle light vigil near Dhaka's Shaheed Minar (Martyr's Monument) to pay respect to those who lost their lives.



"We don't want this," Nasima, a textile industry worker, told Reuters Television. "Please stop this, stop this, stop this from our society, from our country, I want to live in peace."



As Dhaka limped back to normal life, experts questioned the delay in launching the offensive against the militants. More than 100 commandos stormed the restaurant nearly 10 hours after the siege began, under an operation code-named 'Thunderbolt'.



Analysts say that as Islamic State loses territory in Iraq and Syria and its finances get drained, it may be trying to build affiliates in countries such as Bangladesh for jihadists to launch attacks locally and cheaply.



RICH FAMILIES



Deputy Inspector General of Police Shahidur Rahman said on Sunday that authorities were investigating any connection between the attackers and transnational groups such as Islamic State or al Qaeda.



He said the militants were mostly educated and from well-off families, but declined to give any more details. On Saturday police released pictures of five dead militants, most of them wearing grey T-shirts.



National police chief Shahidul Hoque said all the gunmen were Bangladeshis. "Five of them were listed as militants and law enforcers made several drives to arrest them," he said.



Whoever was responsible, the attack marked a major escalation in violence by militants demanding Islamic rule in Bangladesh, whose 160 million people are mostly Muslim.



Previous attacks have mostly singled out individuals advocating a secular or liberal lifestyle, or religious minorities.



RECITING KORAN VERSE



Friday night's attack, during the final days of Ramadan, was more coordinated than the previous assaults.



Gunmen singled out foreigners as soon as they stormed through the doors of the restaurant popular with expatriates. They ordered all Bangladeshis to stand up before the killing began, a source briefed on the investigation said.



The Bangladeshis were later told to close their eyes and recite verses from the Koran. One militant cursed a Bangladeshi for eating with non-Muslims during Ramadan, the source said.



The Islamic State-affiliated Amaq news agency claimed in a report on Saturday that the militants identified and released Muslim patrons from the Dhaka restaurant, SITE said.



The victims also included at least three Bangladeshis or people of Bangladeshi descent.



The militants hacked most of their victims with machetes, leaving their bleeding bodies on the floor.



A standoff of nearly 12 hours with security forces ended when the commandos stormed the building, killing six of the militants and capturing a seventh after attempts at negotiations proved fruitless, authorities said. They recovered explosives and sharp weapons from the scene.



HOME-GROWN GROUPS



Up until Friday's attack, authorities had maintained no operational links existed between Bangladeshi militants and international jihadi networks. Bangladesh has blamed JMB and another home-grown outfit for the wave of grisly killings over the past year and a half.



One line of inquiry being pursued was whether the restaurant attackers received any guidance from Islamic State or al Qaeda, an official in Bangladesh's counter-terrorism wing said.



"Pictures (uploaded on Twitter) indicate they might have been encouraged by ISIS (Islamic State) activities abroad," said Muhammad Zamir, a former senior foreign ministry official.



"But this does not show a direct link to ISIS. This is exactly what was done and disputed later in the case of the Orlando attack," he said, referring to the killing of 49 people last month by a man who pledged allegiance to Islamic State.



Friday's attack in Dhaka was the worst since 2005, when JMB set off a series of bombs throughout Bangladesh in the space of an hour that killed at least 25 people, mostly judges, police and journalists.



The authorities executed six top JMB leaders in March 2007 and police have continued to hunt for group members, often detaining suspected militants following intelligence tips.



In February, Bangladesh police arrested three JMB members suspected of killing a Hindu priest.



Islamic state has claimed responsibility for a series of other attacks in Bangladesh in recent months since first taking credit for a killing in September last year.



An Italian missionary was shot and wounded in the neck last November. Another Italian and a Japanese citizen were killed in attacks at the end of September and early October last year.



"Why will IS come here ... they are now in Iraq, Syria and sometimes in their neighbouring country they enter," minister Khan said. "We have no border with them. Why they will come here and how they will come here?"



"SAVE ME, SAVE ME"



In a run-down government hospital in Dhaka, two police officers who were on patrol duty on Friday night were treated for gunshot wounds, with bandages and plasters on their cheeks and legs. Behind their beds, a sheet of paper carried details of their wounds.



Struggling to speak, 30-year-old officer Pradip, who gave just one name, recalled rushing to the spot after receiving a message that night. A blood-smeared man lay in front of the restaurant, shouting "save me, save me".



The police officers called for backup after they were shot at from inside the restaurant.



"At some point, I felt blood was rolling down my cheek," Pradip said. "We did respond with fire and the attackers stopped. We then rescued the man, who was the driver of some of the Japanese citizens who were inside."



After meeting the officers in the hospital, police chief Hoque told Reuters they had gleaned some preliminary details on the identities of the attackers, but gave no details.



GARMENT INDUSTRY



The seven Japanese killed were working on projects for the Japan International Cooperation Agency, an overseas aid agency, Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said on Saturday.



Six of them were in Dhaka to work on a metro rail project, said Bangladesh's communication minister Obaidul Quader.



Italian media said several of the Italians victims worked in Bangladesh's $26 billion garment sector, which accounts for 80 percent of the country's exports.



Minister Khan said he did not believe the attack would have any impact on the garment industry or the country's economy.



But some disagree. A Bangladeshi garment exporter who supplies six European countries said his customers generally visit every two months but will now rethink that.



"I feel they will be afraid," he said, declining to be identified. "Even I am afraid."  Reuters
Gitex Technology Week, an upcoming IT trade fair in Dubai, UAE will showcase the largest area in show history for augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) technologies with 560 sq m of the show committed to AR and VR exhibitors.



From AR-enabled surgery to VR-powered education, experts from across industries will take the stage at Gitex Technology Week this year to share their innovative use cases of AR/VR technologies and provide a glimpse into the future of this game-changing technology.



The next 10 years of augmented Reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) technology development are set to redefine the future of both business and consumer processes and interactions in the region while GCC organisations are leveraging the new technology to enhance end-user experiences, according to new research conducted by growth partnership firm Frost & Sullivan in collaboration with Gitex Technology Week.



Augmented Reality - contextual information on mobile devices, projections, or wearables - and Virtual Reality which provides a fully-immersive digital environment, will be adopted across industries by 2025, the new report from Frost & Sullivan predicts.



Research reports corroborate predictions that the AR and VR market is booming, with IDC reporting that AR and VR hardware revenue is topping $2 billion globally for the first time this year. The firm further predicts that device shipments are set to grow 11-fold to 110 million by 2020.



AR and VR will be a giant step in transforming and democratising education and businesses, especially in medicine, where immersive technology can facilitate education and access-at-a-distance for medical care, said Dr Rafael Grossmann, who will be headlining Gitexs Healthcare Monday  an industry vertical conference dedicated to healthcare technology.



Dr Grossmann was the first person to stream a live surgical procedure with Google Glass. At Gitex, he will explain how UK-based healthcare company Medical Realities, led by colleague Dr Shafi Ahmed, live-streamed the first VR surgery from The Royal London Hospital, with 54,000 viewers virtually in the operating theatre.



From all around the world, they gained an exclusive point-of-view demonstration and interacted in real-time with the surgical event. Imagine how this level of interaction can deliver next-generation education for students worldwide, especially in developing countries, added Dr Grossmann.



In the GCC, organisations no longer need to imagine the impact of AR and VR  they are already deploying the technology in fascinating new ways. Programmes across industries in the GCC are eager to adopt AR and VR technologies to streamline processes and support the lives of employees, students and the general population. The new report from Frost & Sullivan highlights a number of unique AR and VR initiatives and projects in the region.



Public agencies have been quick on the uptake of AR and VR technology in the GCC, Frost & Sullivan says, highlighting a number of cutting-edge initiatives in the region. Sheikh Zayed Housing Programme, the agency that provides Emirati housing, has launched the My Virtual Home App, which uses AR to allow users to virtually tour readymade 3D housing models. The Dubai Road and Transport Authority (RTA) has launched Wojhati, a trip planning mobile app with GPS to help users plan, track, and share their mass transit routes. The RTA is also partnering with the Dubai Future Foundation for 25 per cent of Dubais road trips by driverless vehicles by 2030.



Education in the region is also being augmented with new technology, the report outlines. Providing students with VR experience, Abu Dhabis Masdar Institute has partnered with the Georgian startup InGlove to develop an interactive VR glove for construction, medical, military, and psychology simulations. Mohamed Ali Hammami, Head of VR at Qatar University, will attend Gitex Technology Week 2016 for the Gitexs Education Wednesday conference to present his work on the Middle Easts first VR studio, allowing for innovative courses and research tools, such as prototyping building and product models.



Also at Gitex this year, Qatars web design company Codea will share best practices in developing the AR shopping app Real Aug Shoppie, which provides personalised information and coupons when products are scanned. Marks & Spencers Middle East stores have launched Virtual Closet, using AR for customers to try on outfits and accessories.



"The potential for AR and VR can be reached now that the attention of SMEs and other stakeholders is focused on the different application areas. This is the reason why EuroVR gathers industrials, SMEs, and research institutes to stimulate research and practical uses for business competitiveness, said Marco Sacco, President of the European Association for Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality (EuroVR), a supporting partner at this years Gitex Technology Week.



Further supporting AR-powered mobile app innovation, Corinne Avelines, Global Head of Digital and eCommerce at paints and chemicals company AkzoNobel, will present a keynote on the companys Visualizer app, which uses AR for people to see the effect of painting rooms in different colours.



Held under the theme of Reimagining Realities, Gitex Technology Week 2016 aims to develop stronger business ties with the immersive technology ecosystem to drive AR, VR, and AI innovation. Attendees are set to include the ecosystem of hardware and software manufacturers, startups, app developers, and experts.



Gitex Technology Week 2016s focus on AR and VR demonstrates the Middle Easts strong potential for transformation. Driving the market, Gitex will be the regions most prominent platform for taking AR and VR out of the lab and into the mainstream. Attendees can experience innovations, hear industry insights from experts, and network with key players, said Trixie LohMirmand, senior vice-president, Exhibitions and Events Management, Dubai World Trade Centre.



Gitex Technology Week 2016 will from 16-20 October at the Dubai World Trade Centre.  TradeArabia News Service
The Zayed Future Energy Prize, the UAEs international awards for pioneers of a sustainable energy future, exceeded 10,000 entries over its nine cycles when submissions for the ninth annual awards closed recently.



A record 1,678 entries were received this year, an increase of 12 per cent on 2015. Nominations, accepted in the Large Corporation and Lifetime Achievement categories, account for 555 entries, while 1,123 submissions were made in the remaining categories.



Following a record year for global investment in renewable energy, the top-five countries by number of prize entries are the United States, India, Mexico, Colombia and China.



Olafur Ragnar Grimsson, president of the Republic of Iceland and chair of the Zayed Future Energy Prize Jury, said: The extraordinary growth that we see each year from the Zayed Future Energy Prize is a testament to the length and breadth of its reach and influence across the globe. Through this growth we see Sheikh Zayeds continuing legacy inspire and empower pioneers in the industry and improve conditions for communities in every region of the world.



In the Asia region, the UAE contributed the second highest number of Global High School category submissions, behind India. Taking into account all regions, the prizes home nation placed seventh out of 49 countries for entries received in this category, which grew by 50 per cent on 2015. Winning high school projects to date have resulted in a reduction of more than 1,000 tonnes of carbon emissions, benefitting 37,000 people in surrounding communities.



Dr Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, UAE Minister of State and director general of the Zayed Future Energy Prize, said: The prize continues to honour the legacy of our nations founding father Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan through the significant impact it is having on people across the globe. To date, the contributions and actions of the prize winners have improved conditions for more than 202 million people, and this is one of the ways in which the UAE is playing a fundamental role in driving a sustainable development and ensuring energy access for all.



During the ninth cycle, the prize accepted nominations to the Large Corporation category in place of submissions, for the first time. The nomination process is already used in the Lifetime Achievement category.



Of the 555 nominations, 205 were for large corporations and 350 were made for individuals. Submissions, accepted in the remaining categories, increased by 32 per cent to 578 made by small and medium enterprises and by 10 per cent to 260 by non-profit organisations.



Before the winners are announced at an awards ceremony during Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week in January, entries must undergo a four-stage evaluation process. Evaluation begins with due diligence by research and analysis before a shortlist is formed by the Review Committee. From the reduced shortlist, entries are examined by the Selection Committee, where a list of finalists is agreed upon. The process culminates in a meeting of the prize jury to select a winning entry in each category. Submissions in the Global High Schools category are considered by the Global High Schools committee following due diligence, before proceeding directly to the Jury.



International experts from a range of sectors, including energy, government, business and academia, are involved at every stage. The jury counts current and former heads of state, global leaders and world-renowned personalities among its past and present members.  TradeArabia News Service
Jordan-based Injaz Al-Arab, a non-profit organisation that promotes youth education and training in the Arab World, has been ranked as one of the top 100 most influential NGOs in the world by a Geneva-based organisation.



NGO Advisor, an independent media organisation, is the producer of the Top 500 NGOs - a series of reviews of the best non-profit organisations from around the world.



Currently on the fourth edition, the organisation combines sound journalism with comprehensive research to highlight innovation, impact, and governance in the non-profit sector, said a statement from Injaz Al Arab.



The list recognises the dynamics and innovations of the non-profit world and the level of impact its key players have on a social, economic, and humanitarian level.



Injaz Al-Arabs recognition is in great part due to its on-going initiatives to empower Arab youth and tackle unemployment across the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region, it said.



Akef Al Aqrabawi, CEO of Injaz Al Arab, said: "We are proud of the outstanding efforts and innovation that led NGO Advisor to rank Injaz Al Arab as one of the top 100 NGOs in the world for 2016.



This accomplishment is the result of the maximised efforts of our team under the umbrella of the great global network of JA Worldwide, he said.



This recognition is a testimony to our great dedication and commitment to promoting work readiness, financial literacy, and entrepreneurship amongst the youth in the region, Aqrabawi added.



Injaz Al-Arab is the regional operating centre of JA Worldwide, one of the largest global NGOs dedicated to addressing fundamental social and economic challenges facing young people by educating and empowering them to transform their future and own their economic success.



Over 2 million students have participated in a broad base of entrepreneurship training opportunities to date.-TradeArabia News Service
Egypt has reduced the arrears it owes foreign oil companies to $3.4 billion in 2015/16 from $3.5 billion a year earlier, Petroleum Minister Tarek El Molla told Reuters on Monday.

El Molla also said that Egypt received crude oil and natural gas from the foreign partners' share during 2015/16 worth $5.4 billion. Egypt paid them $5.5 billion.

Meanwhile, Egypt's EGPC issued a tender to buy up to 165,000 tonnes of 0.1 percent sulphur gasoil in five cargoes during August, according to the tender documents.

It requested cargoes of 30,000-33,000 tonnes for delivery into Alexandria or El Dekheila, with the delivery window for the first cargo set for August 10-12.

The deadline for submitting offers is July 14 at 1100 GMT, and offers will remain valid until July 21 at 2200 GMT. --Reuters
Royal Dutch Shell has asked Saudi Aramco for up to $2 billion as part of the breakup of their giant Motiva Enterprises refining joint venture in the US, the latest stumbling point in a partnership fraught with tension.



The payment would be compensation for the Saudi company retaining a larger share of the nearly two decade-old JV. Its split was announced in March and is expected to be completed in October but disagreements over the payment could postpone the final date, sources close to the talks told Reuters.



Under the agreement announced in March, Aramco will take control of Motiva's largest US refinery in Port Arthur, Texas, and retain 26 distribution terminals.



That underscored Aramco's strategy to expand its global refining footprint in order to secure markets for its crude oil and could also be part of its ambitious public offering plan.



Shell will become the sole owner of Motiva's Louisiana refineries in Convent and Norco, where it also operates a chemicals plant, as well as Shell-branded gasoline stations in Florida, Louisiana and the northeastern US.



Shell is focusing on developing its global chemicals business but also plans to sell $30 billion of its assets by 2018 to finance its $54 billion acquisition of BG Group in February, which will include several refining assets.



The Anglo-Dutch company is seeking $1 billion to 2 billion from Aramco to compensate for the Saudi company keeping a bigger stake in the JV, two sources close to the talks said. Aramco nevertheless believes the fee should be significantly lower, they added.



A Shell spokesman declined to comment. An Aramco spokesperson said the company does not comment on speculation.



Shell has indicated in the past it will receive a cash payment from Aramco as part of the deal, but the size of the cash consideration has not been disclosed before.



The payment is primarily due to Aramco retaining a larger refining capacity than Shell - the Port Arthur plant can process 603,000 barrels per day (bpd) while the two Louisiana plants jointly have a combined 473,000 bpd capacity.



The Texas refinery is also considered more advanced after extensive upgrading in recent years.



Additional infrastructure such as storage tanks and pipelines will also be included in the payment.



Refineries are generally valued according to the quality of the units as well as the outlook for its profit margins.



"It is a little bit of an awkward time for Shell to be holding out their hand for a lot of money because refining margins have come off recently," said Neil Earnest, President of Dallas-based consultancy Muse Stancil.



"The margin climate has shifted away from Shell towards Aramco in terms of any cash consideration that needs to be exchanged. Aramco will be saying that the cash consideration today should be lower because the short and medium term outlook for US refining margins is not as robust as it was."



Aramco has rapidly expanded its corporate headquarters in Houston and has hired several new traders in recent months, according to several sources.



Motiva's refined product trading business was separated from Shell's trading business in Houston in June 2015 after disagreements between the sides, and it has hired several new traders in recent months, trading sources said.



The Motiva JV was set up in 1998. Relations between the partners started to sour during a huge upgrade of the Shell-operated Port Arthur refinery, which suffered several setbacks and cost overruns which doubled the initial plan of $5 billion.



In 2012, the main refining unit at the heart of the expansion was damaged by a release of caustic chemicals, keeping the unit out of production for eight months and leading to acrimony between the partners as costs ballooned.



"The Motiva Port Arthur upgrade cost overruns were received very badly by Saudi Aramco and put the relation under a lot of stress," said Earnest.



Shell and Aramco continue to cooperate in two major joint ventures: the 50:50 Saudi Aramco Shell Refinery Co (Sasref) in Jubail, Saudi Arabia, and the Showa refining venture in Japan.-Reuters
Digital transformation isnt just a means to a competitive edge or an efficient business its crucial to success. Advanced document capture and information management solutions can help businesses in Bahrain automate and streamline workflows, empowering employees to get more done faster and right first time.



However, the big-picture promises of accelerated processes and stronger customer service can sometimes overshadow the complexities, including technical requirements and the challenge of gaining employee buy-in. By keeping in mind existing workflows and end-users needs, businesses can avoid the roadblocks to new technology adoption and see the full return on investment in upgraded equipment.



Mistake No. 1: Slow, Costly Integration



While new technology signals positive change for C-suite decision-makers and end users, it can also mean headaches for IT if integration isnt seamless and cost-effective. Connecting scanners to and installing capture software on every computer takes a significant amount of time, driving up implementation costs and delaying full integration.



Enter: Wireless technology. Scanners that function wirelessly within existing infrastructure and applications make integration simple and quick. In addition, thin-client web and mobile capture software is deployed and managed centrally via the web. This not only allows for a fast launch but also minimizes costs associated with upgrades (hardware & software) and ensures they take place at the same time, maximizing the softwares capabilities.



Mistake No. 2: Technology Isnt User-friendly



Across industries, employees face pressure to complete processes efficiently and accurately. While they can benefit from new technology aimed at helping them work faster, employees presented with a new solution often turn to legacy tools theyre comfortable using. If scanning technology has even a slight learning curve, the perceived cost of taking the time to become familiar with the device or software can override the downside of continuing to use time consuming, manual processes. Conversely, the more intuitive solutions are, the more quickly theyll become part of employees day-to-day routines.



Scanners that feature user-friendly touchscreens and can be configured to offer one-touch scanning allows employees to automatically start or continue a business process directly from the device. If the technology is easy to use and integrate into existing workflows, it can be adoptedand start producing results immediately.



Mistake No. 3: Ignoring BYOD



New technology also needs to be compatible with the devices employees use every day. The growth of cloud adoption and bring-your-own-device (BYOD) policies has contributed to the consumerization of IT and shows no sign of slowing down. According to Tech Pro Research , 60 percent of organizations already permit employees to use their personal devices for work, and 14 percent plan to begin doing so in the next 12 months. Allowing employees to work with devices they are familiar with not only makes them productive, but also helps reduce businesses IT infrastructure costs.



Some of the latest scanners offer wireless connectivity to mobile devices. Rather than having to power up a PC and connect to their organizations server every time they need to scan documents, employees can easily sync with the scanner from their smartphone or tablet. Using a mobile app, they can then access the scanned documents on their phones and cue up the associated business process at the touch of a button. This not only allows employees to be more efficient but ensures processes start sooner and are carried out fastera win for the business and its customers.



Mistake No. 4: Ineffective Change Management

An investment in hardware and software may streamline workflows, fuel productivity and meet mobile needs, but if its not introduced strategically, businesses risk employees not adopting it fully. A study by MIT Sloan Management Review and Capgemini Consulting reveals that while the vast majority of employees feel digital transformation is imperative, most believe its happening too slowly at their organization, suggesting a gap between how decision-makers and employees view these changes.



Derik Timmerman, co-founder and CEO of insights services provider Spreadsheet Sherpa, says there are three Ms to prioritize when leading technological change: the message, the messenger and the method. Before crafting a message, he recommends businesses consult with their employees and identify their frustrations with current technology.



Its not just any message that might make sense. Its understanding how to craft that message in a way that is directed like a laser right at the pain points of the people that need to adopt [the technology], he says.



Equally as important as developing messaging that resonates with employees is selecting a messenger whos respected and trusted. Someone who works alongside staff on the front lines is often a stronger choice for this advocate role than a manager because he or she can serve as a relatable example to the rest of the staff, Timmerman says.



Finally, the method by which the transformation is communicated and executed is crucial to its success. Timmerman suggests maintaining the focus on the common pain points discussed and how the technology alleviates or eliminates them.



Advanced information management solutions are central to lean, competitive operations. By taking measures to ensure smooth implementation and adoption of scanners and capture software, businesses in Bahrain can begin seeing results sooner and ultimately achieve greater ROI.



Emma Isichei is a worldwide category director, Capture Solutions at Kodak Alaris.
Biometrics are set to drive a significant improvement in protecting mobile phone users from a serious breach of their private data, according to axiom telecom, a leading mobile technology retailer in the region.



The recent International Trends in Cybersecurity Report by CompTIA found that almost 50 per cent of UAE businesses had experienced at least one IT security breach in the previous 12 months, with reliance on cloud computing and mobile technology forcing a change in security practices. Around 60 per cent reported a mobile-related security incident, including lost devices, mobile malware, phishing attacks, and staff disabling mobile devices security features.



The risk of criminals using a lost or stolen mobile phone to access important data is very real, with smartphones offering an instant connection to email, messaging and social networking accounts, as well as files kept in cloud storage, said axiom managing director, Faisal Al Bannai.



Your very identity is at risk of theft, yet a worrying number of users fail to activate their phones security features. The inconvenience of entering a PIN every time the user wants to unlock the phone is often cited as a reason for this. Using biometrics to unlock the phone can remove this inconvenience and help keep data secure, with fingerprint security already gaining acceptance.



Popularized by Apples TouchID feature, fingerprint recognition is now a common feature on higher-specification phones. It allows users to unlock a phone with a single touch, just as convenient as unlocking it by swiping a finger across the screen. A report from market intelligence firm Tractica has noted 2015 as being a tipping point for mobile biometrics, with fingerprints emerging as the most common form of biometric authentication. Tractica predicts the number of mobile phones being shipped with fingerprint recognition will surpass one billion per year globally by 2021, representing 34 per cent of the market.



However, the security of a fingerprint has been questioned. Traditional IT security relies on something you know, such as a password, or something you have, such as when you receive an SMS token to complete a credit card purchase online. Biometrics are also something you have  your fingerprint is unique, but tests have shown that fingerprint scanners can be fooled by a copy of the print  recognizing the pattern whether or not its attached to a finger.



The technology is getting better, but its not foolproof, said Al Bannai. The great benefit is for people who are currently choosing not to use any security for the phone. Even if thieves become adept at hacking fingerprints, there will at least be a delay between obtaining the phone and unlocking it, and that will give the phones owner some time to remotely disconnect the device from all their accounts.



For a higher level of protection, biometrics pave the way for convenient two-factor verification  you enter a PIN, using something you know to verify your identity, and then use a fingerprint, which is something you have, to confirm that it was you who entered the code. Anyone trying to break into the phone needs to know the PIN, and also somehow obtain a copy of your fingerprint. That is going to be very difficult.



Looking to the future, the next generation of mobile biometrics is already emerging. Technology exists to support face recognition  also problematic, with a Google experiment fooled by a photograph  along with the more secure iris scan and voice recognition. Al Bannai believes iris and voice are the most likely to gain mainstream acceptance.



Devices with iris scanners are already on the market, although they have yet to achieve widespread take-up, while voice recognition is tipped to be included in future versions of intelligent personal assistant systems, such as Apples Siri, Google Now and Microsoft Cortana, said Al Bannai.



A fingerprint is the most easily accepted biometric key, because it so closely replicates the way we are already accustomed to interacting with the device, but the most important aspect of fingerprint authentication may be as a step towards people accepting a range of other biometrics. Combined, these will lead to a quantum leap in terms of data security.  TradeArabia News Service
SACO The Serviced Apartment Company has unveiled its new aparthotel brand, Locke, which encapsulates the companys ambitious plans to drive the serviced accommodation sector forward.



Created for travellers who want to experience the unique and authentic wherever they are, Locke will combine the best aspects of boutique hotels and serviced apartments to deliver an enhanced new concept that meets the needs of todays business traveller.



Each Locke property will be designed to reflect the local neighbourhoods culture, taking inspiration from the local area to connect guests with like-minded locals and other travellers. Guests will experience bigger live / work spaces, innovative communal areas and a hotel-style service.



The first Locke property will open on Londons Leman Street in Aldgate in October 2016, with further properties due to be rolled out across the UK and Europe from 2017 onwards.



Consisting of a total of 168 apartments, divided into 105 studios and 63 one bedroom suites, Leman Locke will also offer guests two sky meeting rooms, the Locke Gym, two bars, all day dining and large amounts of indoor / outdoor lounge area, with ultrafast wifi throughout to accommodate the modern business traveller.



Stephen Hanton, CEO, SACO, said: The serviced apartment sector is the fastest growing part of the hospitality industry and we have developed Locke to offer todays travellers the best of a design-led hotel experience with at-home independent living.



SACOs mission is to reshape hospitality, and we are continuing to develop innovative concepts, using extensive research, and feedback and involvement from thousands of our customers.



Eric Jafari, managing director for SACO Property Group who has led the development of the Locke brand, added: John Locke was an enlightened thinker, before his time, who challenged the status quo. With Locke, we seek to create aparthotel-anchored communities that do the same.



Locke offers a unique take on aparthotel living. We understand that travellers no longer want just a comfortable nights stay. They want an experience and to feel a part of a community  which is why each of our properties are designed to immerse guests in the local area.



SACO currently operates and manages a portfolio of over 900 apartments in cities across the UK, and offers over 35,000 apartments across 220 key destinations in 50 countries through carefully selected partners. - TradeArabia News Service
Have an event, trend or general energy happening youd like to see in the Energy Journal newsletter? Send it to Star-Tribune Energy Reporter Benjamin Storrow at benjamin.storrow@trib.com. Sign up for the newsletter at www.trib.com/energyjournal.

Coal faces myriad challenges these days. Competition from natural gas, reduced demand and government regulation are the most popular reasons cited for the industry's decline. But there's one challenge that rarely gets mentioned in the litany of long-term issues facing the industry: shipping costs.

Transportation costs have increased in recent years, even as the price of coal itself has declined. The cost of average annual rail shipments from the Powder River Basin climbed nearly 20 percent between 2009 and 2014, the last year for which statistics are available. Spot prices on Powder River Basin coal are down 31 percent since the start of 2011.

The issue is of particular importance for miners in the Powder River Basin, who are half a continent away from many customers. Shipping costs generally account for two-thirds of their delivered cost. Put differently, shipping costs play a large role in determining whether coal is cheaper than its chief competitor, natural gas.

Rail companies' earnings have slumped on account of reduced coal shipments. BNSF profits fell from $1.05 billion in the first quarter of 2015 to $784 this year after recording a 33 percent decline in coal shipments. Union Pacific's first-quarter earnings were $979 million, down 15 percent from the same period last year. The Omaha, Nebraska-based railroad said coal shipments were down 34 percent over that period.

Neither railroad has shown signs of offering concessions to coal companies, despite some calls for them to do so. When financial analysts asked Union Pacific Vice President Eric L. Butler about the subject during a recent earnings call, Butler declined to comment. The railroad does not talk about specific contract negotiations, Butler said.

"I will say we negotiate aggressively and assertively, and we're in a very competitive environment," he said. "And for any particular contract negotiation, we probably have dozens, if not hundreds, of terms that we're negotiating. And like always, as markets change and we look to be competitive, we evaluate a bunch of those terms and conditions and what works for us and works for our customer base."

A BNSF spokesman could not be reached by press time.

Railroads have cut deals for coal companies in the past, said Matt Preston, an industry analyst at the consulting firm Wood Mackenzie. Norfolk Southern and CSX have offered lower shipping rates to protect eastern coal exporters, he noted. BNSF also offered improved terms to Powder River Basin producers around 2012, prompting a shift away from Union Pacific in the basin.

Still, Preston said he did not expect to see railroads make wide concessions to coal companies.

"My feeling is they are more interested in protecting their margins in general than aiding the coal industry," he said. "They make money shipping frack sands to gas drillers, too."

Both major railroads have likely paid off their infrastructure investments in the Powder River Basin, Preston said, reducing their incentive to protect the coal market.

"The railroads' business is shipping stuff, not just coal," Preston said. "Theyre moving onto some other market."

Fracking rule appeal

It's official: The government and environmentalists are appealing U.S. District Judge Scott Skavdahl's decision to block the Department of the Interior's proposed fracking rule. This move was entirely expected. Skavdahl's ruling was a big victory for Wyoming and other states, who argued the Interior had overstepped the limits of its authority. Only the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency can regulate fracking under the 2005 Energy Policy Act, they argued. But as we wrote two weeks ago, environmentalists see this as a blow not only to Washington's ability to regulate fracking, but to the government's authority to manage public land.

The Interior Department filed a notice of appeal with the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver shortly following the ruling. A collection of environmental groups, including the Sierra Club, Wilderness Society and Earthworks, followed suit a few days later.

All we can say at this point is: Stay tuned.

EOG Resources sued

Wyoming's largest oil producer is also in court these days. The Houston-based company was sued by a former worker, who claims the company did not pay overtime, according to the Houston Chronicle. Derrick Gabrielson argues the company paid a daily rate for a 12-hour shift. A former water operations coordinator, Gabrielson claims employees worked seven days a week.

Looking ahead, looking behind

This is a big week in Alpha Natural Resources' bankruptcy. A confirmation hearing concerning the company's plan to reemerge for Chapter 11 will be held Thursday. This is essentially the hearing where the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Virginia will decide whether to approve Alpha's restructuring plan.

Meanwhile, back at home, Wyoming continues to deal with the economic maelstrom left by the collapse of coal, oil and natural gas producers alike. I wrote about the efforts of one medical device manufacturer and the challenges it faces in retraining former energy workers. Read it here.
The number of Wyomingites who have obtained health insurance on the Obamacare exchange increased by 11 percent this year to 23,770 people, according to federal data.

The health care exchange  www.HealthCare.gov  is an online marketplace where people can shop for insurance plans if they do not receive coverage through work. The exchange is the result of the Affordable Care Act, which aims to reduce overall health care costs by requiring nearly everyone have coverage.

In 2016, the state only had one insurance company offering plans on the health care exchange: Blue Cross Blue Shield of Wyoming. WINhealth, an insurer that was previously offering plans, ceased operations in December. That meant all WINhealth customers had to re-enroll at HealthCare.gov. Much of this years increase reflects the former WINhealth customers, said Tracy Brosius of the Wyoming Institute of Population Health, an exchange education group affiliated with Cheyenne Regional Medical Center.

We are very pleased about this, that we did not lose enrollment  even with the changes in the plans that were available for consumers, she said.

Some of the states most rural counties had the largest increases in the number of people who had enrolled and paid for their policies, according to the data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. That includes Big Horn County, which had a 123 percent increase to 533 people, Weston County, which had a 91 percent increase to 237 people and Crook County, which saw a 78 percent increase to 390 people.

In the states largest-population areas, increases were also in the double digits: Natrona County had a 19 percent increase to 2,640 people, and Laramie County increased 15 percent to 2,820 people.

Fremont was the only county with a decrease between 2015 and 2016  13 percent, or a drop of 267 people.

Brosius said the reason for the decrease isnt known for certain, but it is largely believed to be due to a federal court ruling that the Northern Arapaho tribe is a large employer and must offer insurance under the ACA. Casino employees who were getting coverage from the exchange likely dropped the plans and obtained insurance through the tribe, she said.

Increases were experienced in some of the states large energy-producing counties: Campbell, up 58 percent to 1,072 people; Sweetwater, up 23 percent to 1,186 people; Converse, up 26 percent to 404; and Sublette, up 60 percent to 631.

A portion of those people who have enrolled and paid for plans may have been laid-off workers in oil, natural gas and coal. But not all of the new enrollees were laid-off workers, Brosius said.

A layoff usually qualifies a worker for a special enrollment period that is outside HealthCare.govs open enrollment period for the general population, which spans from November through January.

The new data is based on open enrollment and not special enrollment, Brosius said.

After March layoffs at Power River Basin coal mines, navigators traveled to the region and talked to unemployed workers about their health care options.

It was a lot of one-on-one counselling  depending on a familys current status, she said. Potentially it was better for them to go on the other spouses insurance plan, or to do the COBRA plan.

COBRA allows workers to continue to obtain health insurance through their former employers, by paying into the plans.

People who enrolled after the March layoffs were not reflected in the new federal data. But Brosius said enrollment numbers are likely increasing due to the laid-off workers and that will be shown in future federal reports.
So when they butt-stroked me to the head from an AK-47 and I was bleeding down the side of my face and they threw me back in the cell I could
A long pending agreement giving Casper and Natrona County rights to over 2,400 acre-feet of water, tied to the former Amoco Refinery, is now moving forward.

The water rights were part of the remediation settlement after the refinery shut down in 1998.

BP-Amoco has two water rights:

one for 6,000 acre-feet, about half of which is currently used in the former refinery sites reclamation efforts, including golf course irrigation;

another for 2,100 to 2,400 acre-feet, which has been leased to Central Wyoming Regional Water under a temporary-use agreement for about 20 years.

The current transfer petition being submitted to the Wyoming State Engineers Office would only be for the second, smaller right.

City Public Works Director David Hill said he anticipates the state will only grant what Central Wyoming Regional Water currently uses from the allocation (about 670 acre-feet per year), with the remainder reverting to state control.

Hill said the application was not submitted before because the water agency needed to establish a clear record of how much water was used in peak years. He further said the state discourages temporary-use water agreements becoming long term.

In another matter, the council gave its support to an application to the federal government that would make any place in Natrona County eligible for foreign trade zone designation. Currently only the Casper/Natrona County International Airport has that status.

The change is seen as a potential economic development tool that could attract new industry, and assist local manufacturers already selling equipment in other countries. Foreign trade zones can eliminate import and export tariffs, allowing businesses to be more competitive.

The Natrona County airport already houses a U.S. Customs inspection office, which is one of the requirements for having a foreign trade zone.

Casper City Councilman Bob Hopkins said the potential is significant.

Im not sure we can do anything better than to do this, Hopkins said. This is really a good move.

Natrona County Commission Chairman Forrest Chadwick said the county also endorses the wider designation, noting that local companies could then apply for designation at their existing locations without the expense or impracticality of moving their operations to the airport.

Airport Manager Glenn Januska, who initiated the proposal, said it could take around six months for the application to be processed by the U.S. Department of Commerce.
Bethany McGhees life fell apart the year she buried her son.

In November 2009, McGhees other two children, ages 2 and 3, were taken away after a vitriolic court battle. She lost her husband, the sole provider, to prison. Soon after, she realized she was pregnant.

The former stay-at-home mom went to work as a waitress, though she barely remembers those days. She would write down step-by-step directions and hold them as she drove to work. If she didnt, shed forget where she was going, and why.

There are a variety of reasons that people fall through the cracks, McGhee explained. For her, it was several tragedies hitting at once. For others its substance abuse, generational poverty or lack of skills, she said.

In the Cowboy State, one out of five households are living below self-sufficiency, according to a recent study, Overlooked and Undercounted  Struggling to Make Ends Meet in Wyoming.

The Wyoming Womens Foundation report is based on a benchmark similar to the poverty level. But the foundations definition of self-sufficiency is more nuanced.

The standard is the amount of income working families need to meet their basic needs without private or public assistance, and it varies by location and family composition, according to the study.

It factors in food, health care, child care and regional housing costs. Not meeting the self-sufficiency standard means a household doesnt bring in enough income to succeed, save and grow.

About 40 percent of Wyoming households that fall under the self-sufficiency standard lack health insurance. About 90 percent have at least one person working, and half have children in the home, according to the study. Proponents hope the study will help public service providers and nonprofits tailor their outreach to the needs in each community.

The data is not shocking, said Deanna Frey, director of Seton House, a transitional housing program in Casper for homeless single parents.

It confirms what social workers and housing providers already know: People are struggling to make ends meet and there are barriers to getting ahead.

I really want people to know  these are folks who only want the best for their kids, Frey said of her clients. They are not lazy. They are not unwilling to work. They are doing the best they can with the skills that they have.

From social service programs to minimum wage jobs, McGhee has seen how quickly a life can fall apart. Shes been through hell and back, she said.

She even worked while living at a homeless center. She stayed at Seton House for a time after her sons death.

McGhees journey out of devastation is ongoing. She works at a grocery store in Casper now, but only clocks about 25 hours a week, she said. At $10 an hour, her income is barely enough to keep a roof over her head, but shes good with money and with planning. Her 6-year-old daughter is in school, but in the summer, McGhee has the added expense of child care. She makes too much to qualify for Medicaid, she said.

Our folks are struggling because the income that they have is being swallowed by rent, and their basic needs, Frey explained. These are folks that are not blowing money on frivolous things. They are trying to make sure their kids are in a safe child care environment.

People need time to transition, additional job skills and education, she said.

Housing is wonderful, but without the other skills and the time to obtain those skills, it is going to be much more difficult for them, she added.

McGhee doesnt have the money to return to school, but shes praying for it. She wants to get her masters degree in counseling. She wants to help people like herself.

I knew that I could be alive. I just didnt know how or how long it would take, she said. I had to decide.
The warden of the Wyoming Medium Correctional Institution in Torrington has retired, the Department of Corrections announced recently.

Steve Hargett worked in corrections for more than 40 years, holding warden positions in multiple states. He is well-known for his hands-on approach, according to the Department of Corrections.

This business is all about people  our inmates and our staff he would often remind people, the department said in a written statement.

Hargett told his employees they had a responsibility to do whatever they could to make the prison safe for staff to work in and inmates to live in.

Hargett started his career in Wyoming in 2008 as warden of the Wyoming Honor Conservation Camp in Newcastle. Three years later he assumed the warden position in Torrington. He helped both facilities become accredited with the American Correctional Association.

During his time in Wyoming, Hargett created a wellness program that earned a Best Practices award from the National Commission on Correctional Health Care.

He began his corrections career in 1973 in Mississippi. Hargett started as a correctional officer and quickly rose through leadership positions to become a superintendent in the Mississippi Department of Corrections. His career took him to Arizona, Oklahoma, Colorado, New Mexico and Kansas, where he oversaw privately and publicly operated prisons and jails.

Hargett and his wife plan to move to Florida. During his retirement celebration in May, he told staff to keep believing that people can change and to keep giving inmates opportunities that will help them go on and have a better life, the Department of Corrections said.

The department has not yet chosen a new warden for the Torrington prison.
A little-known program in the Wyoming Department of Education will experience drastic cuts as part of the states latest round of budget reductions.

The Department of Education was asked to cut $1.6 million from its budget in the wake of lower-than-expected state revenue projections. Officials originally planned to make about 40 percent of those cuts in one place  Outreach Services for Deaf and Hard of Hearing. Its a program thats been in place for decades, run by an outreach team of four to five consultants, who travel the state assisting teachers, districts, students and the families of children who are deaf or hard of hearing.

The cuts will be less severe than originally planned. After a passionate response from the deaf community, the department reduced cuts to the program from 74 percent to about 50 percent, said Dicky Shanor, chief of staff for the agency.

By shrinking the program, the state will be stepping back from the hands-on approach its used for deaf students and their families, providing less individual consultation in favor of greater collaboration with school districts, he said. The five-person program will be reduced to two. Former program consultants will be moved to other units in the department that assist districts.

One familys protest

Gone are the days when a parent like Ella Jean Bellamy could call the outreach programs director, Janine Cole, for advice about her adopted daughters needs.

Angelina is 24 now, but when she was growing up in the Natrona County School District, the consultants from Outreach were frequently a source of support.

I couldnt have done it without them, Bellamy said.

Angelina arrived in the United States severely malnourished. At 22 months, the immigrant from the Republic of Georgia had an infection in her right ear that would leave her moderately to severely deaf on that side, and a left ear that lacked the tiny bones that make hearing possible.

From nearly the beginning of the girls life, the outreach program was in some way involved. Once Angelina reached school, the district offered audiologists, teachers and therapists, but over the years, there were many things to learn  both for the girl and her mother. They were lucky to live in Casper, Bellamy said. The larger districts like Natrona County, Cheyenne and Campbell tend to provide more in the way of services for the deaf and hard of hearing.

The outreach program is a central part of the deaf community in the state, responsible for the culture that helps kids understand their disability and feel connected to other students like them, Angelina said.

So when news of the cuts reached the Bellamys, the mother and daughter drove down to Cheyenne to protest. They are pleased their voices were heard, but remain concerned about the future of deaf services for Wyoming kids.

Kids that are deaf or hard of hearing, they need all the help they can (get) to be able to reach their full potential, Bellamy said. If they gutted this program, there would be more blocks theyd have to hurdle.

Replacing a school

The Department of Education has been involved in deaf and hard of hearing services since the 1960s, when a school for the deaf was opened in Casper. The school closed in the early 2000s, as deaf and hard of hearing children were integrated into local schools. At that point, the outreach program was formed to ensure that deaf children in the states schools were being provided for.

The original intent of the program was to support districts, not individuals, Shanor said.

It was great that we were able to do that, he said. Going forward, we go back to that core mission  to make sure those districts are ready if and when they get a kid with those needs. Our goal is to build that capacity and extend it in all 48 districts, regardless of whether they have students or not.

The Department of Education is legally obligated to support students with disabilities. Even if one child in a rural district has special needs, those needs must be met, Shanor said.

We are going to be able to keep up the same level of oversight and understanding of the needs out there. Its just that we are probably not going to be as interactive on the kid and parent level, he said. We dont think there is going to be any appreciable decrease for those children getting the services they need. Its going to come from different parties.

The change will take time, which the budget cuts dont provide much of. But the Education Department will give a one-time grant to Wyoming Families for Hands and Voices, a nonprofit advocacy and support group for the deaf and hard of hearing to help with the transition, Shanor said.

Meeting the needs?

In theory, the departments restructuring is possible. In practice, the deaf community in Wyoming has doubts, said Kimberly Reimann, former assistant director of Wyoming Hands and Voices.

The mother of a 17-year-old deaf student, Reimann was also on a team that worked directly with the outreach program on a recent federally funded project to increase career and life opportunities for deaf and hard of hearing children.

What Reimann wants is answers, she said.

In a letter to members of the Wyoming Legislatures Joint Appropriations Committee, she explained that technology cant replace the work the consultants do.

Face-to-face meetings are necessary when working with the deaf community, Reimann wrote. A consultant needs to be able to assess the acoustics of a classroom, the physical environment, and the interaction of the student with the teacher and classmates.

The number of deaf or hard of hearing students in the state is between 160 and 190, not including partially deaf students who are counted in official tallies by other special needs they may have, she said.

The outreach program is already overworked, making 600 on-site interventions last year alone, she said.

Its a travesty, Reimann said. They meet a huge need. While the deaf population is not a huge population, those children still need their needs met.

Her own daughter is on track to graduate next year. When her daughter was entering the school system, the departments program director drove to Casper and accompanied her on a school-by-school search. She advised her on little things  the teachers interactions with the students, the types of programs, the potential for technology.

Who will help families now? Reimann asked.

However, the Department of Education is doing the best it can under financial pressure, Shanor said.

Like most state agencies in Wyoming, the agencys budget has been scaled back multiple times this year.

In some ways the restructuring efforts will make better use of resources and staff, he said.

Its incumbent on us to provide these necessary services, he said. We are all trying to do our part to be efficient using less money.
CROW AGENCY, Mont.  Seven years ago following a near-fatal automobile collision, Warren Stevens was told that although he was lucky to be alive he might never walk again.

Yet recently he was riding a horse across a portion of the Little Bighorn Battlefield dressed as an 1876-era soldier with 22 other students in the U.S. Cavalry School. Although he admitted the work was hot and tiring, he seemed as giddy as a puppy.

Its a time machine, thats what I told my wife, said Stevens, a 61-year-old retiree from the aviation and aerospace industry in Southington, Connecticut. Ive stepped back in time.

In the process, he seemed to have regained the emotional vitality of his youth.

Battleground

On the 140th anniversary of the Battle of the Little Bighorn  an event considered one of the worst military defeats in U.S. Army history but one of the greatest victories by Indian tribes  re-enactors, students, volunteers and family have been mixing on the Real Bird property. Its the location for what has become an annual gathering at a portion of the actual battle site, Medicine Tail Coulee, and on land where Chief Sitting Bull and his band of Sioux were encamped.

This is hallowed ground, said Gary Stewart, a 57-year-old Salt Lake City man playing Brevet Lt. Col. Tom Custer in this years re-enactment  his 20th.

Wearing a blue shirt with the crossed saber cavalry insignia on the collar he held his restless horse as he chatted about seeing Indian ghosts on horseback, finding an ancient buffalo skull and his love for the history of the Battle of the Little Bighorn.

Everyone here has a passion for history and wants to find out what it was like, and this is as close as you can get, he said.

The school ended the weekend re-enacting the battle. Stevens planned to take part, even though he knows his character will die at the hands of his Indian adversaries.

Its not even over yet, and I want to come back, he said. The ride we took yesterday, the word fantastic seems to be an understatement. I cant believe the things Im doing on horseback. I cant imagine this getting any better, but I know it will.

Re-creation

Adding to the feeling of stepping back in time, canvass tents were pitched along the Little Bighorn River underneath the shading branches of cottonwood trees. A sign lying at the base of one read: 7th U.S. Cavalry Welcome to 1876. One tent bore a sutler sign  the traveling salesmen of the time who followed soldiers to peddle provisions. Over the top of a wood fire, large coffee pots were set on a grate to boil water.

Under a nearby awning Keith Herrin, the 44-year-old owner of the school whose other job is working for the National Guard in Helena, paused between hurried bites of a lasagna lunch to talk about the history of the school.

It was founded in the late 1990s by veterans who participated in making the Kevin Costner movie The Postman, a post-apocalyptic tale. They had such a good time on the film that they created the school, Herrin said. After working at all different jobs at the school following his introduction in 2004, he bought the operation in 2013.

Students, including women, pay up to $1,900 for an immersion that includes clothing, tack, a horse and chances to learn mounted horse maneuvers, shooting, saber fighting tactics and even basics like cleaning a saddle and washing clothes 1800s style. Many of the students are veterans, Herrin said, and about 30 percent are return visitors. Some students attended so many times that theyve become instructors. Another component of the students are horse people looking for something different, Herrin said, like riding the battlefield or taking part in the re-enactment.

It fills some desire to experience what it was really like rather than read about it in a book, said Mark Jacobsen, a Miles City volunteer who has been taking part in the re-enactment for four years and acts as the camp trumpeter. Being treated like a trooper, some of the basics of frontier life, the visitors from back East really enjoy that.

Lifestyle

For some, the step back in time extends beyond this Little Bighorn encampment.

Sharon Brown and her husband Mark, of Whitehall, have been taking part in re-enactments for more than 35 years. Sharon, who wore a small sheathed knife hung around her neck, has earned high praise for her ability to weave cloth and make clothes that are historically accurate down to the last detail. Shes even reproduced one-of-a-kind items for the National Park Service.

A nine-button pleated enlisted soldiers blouse copied from the original in the Big Hole Battlefield Museum was hand-stitched, taking her about three months to make working 10 hours a day. For a blouse she sells for $325, thats about a penny-and-a-half an hour in wages, she figured. The only other original is in the Smithsonian Museum.

Thats OK, Im not doing it for the money, she said, her handmade, full-length white print dress shifting in the breeze. Im doing it to see if I can re-create something.

She owns more than 800 original garments from which to learn about different sewing techniques of the era. She even has eight original sewing machines, the oldest from 1854, to match stitching of the time period.

Her husband, Mark, takes photographs similar to the age using a wet plate camera from 1860 that can require a 30 second exposure. He compares the process to going back in time a little bit.

Its not like George Orwells Time Machine, he said, but emotionally, culturally and educationally its a mission you are on.

Defender

For Gerry Schultz of Glendive, that mission has been to elevate the historical status of Pvt. Peter Thompson of Company C. While some historians have discounted Thompsons written recollections of the Battle of the Little Bighorn, the 62-year-old Schultz said he has been able to verify the survivors account.

Thompsons The Experience of a Private in the Custer Massacre so enthralled Schultz that he began researching the battles history and took part in his first re-enactment in 2009.

Paul Kicking Bear, a Los Angeles-area born Lakota Sioux, said visiting the Real Bird property and re-enactment has changed his life. His family never talked about their native roots, but hes found a reconnection to his ancestors by sleeping on the same ground where the Sioux and Cheyenne tribes numbering an estimated 11,000 were camped on June 25, 1876. To the tribes involved, it was the Battle of the Greasy Grass.

That was the most precious thing to me, to sleep and walk the ground my ancestors did, he said.

Disengage

Kicking Bear, 50, said he cant wait to leave Los Angeles for the annual gathering in Montana. It gives him a chance to de-escalate and disconnect while enjoying the history and the fellow re-enactors. Since he plays a hostile, he noted with air quotes, he enjoys ribbing his cavalry counterparts. His T-shirt depicted the profile of a 1800s-era soldier on horseback riddled with arrows.

Hey, they lose on this fight anyway, he said. Its not like theyre not expecting it. So I enjoy rubbing it in. I dont hide that. But its done in good humor, not in a resentful way.

He also takes the opportunity to educate the participants on the native view of the battle and the era. The entire camp seems to be an education that never stops. Depending on who a visitor talks to, everyone is a historian in some respect with an in-depth knowledge of some aspect of the time, battle or people involved.

This battle, this time period, has always been kind of my focus, said Mark Brown as he relaxed in the shade after conditioning his horse to the sound of mock gunfire in a nearby corral. Im frozen in it. Its been studied and studied. Its amazing, 140 years later and people are still coming up with ideas of what happened here.
WILSON  A truckload of potatoes is up for grabs after a truck tipped over on a Wyoming highway.

Shacorey Carter was not seriously injured Saturday night when the truck rolled on its side after his brakes failed while coming down a mountain.

Fifty-pound sacks of potatoes were being given away at the Big Bear Towing shop and there were plenty of potatoes left over.

Kirby Orme, of Big Bear Towing, says the potatoes will be given away until they start to sour, and then they will go to the dump.

The truckload of potatoes was headed to Buffalo, New York, where Carter lives.
CHEYENNE  In Montana, theres one to support the Yellowstone Park Foundation. Utah offers its own in recognition of bicycle safety. You can get one in Colorado to promote breast cancer awareness.

But in Wyoming, drivers dont get many choices when it comes to specialty license plates.

In fact, most of the 14 specialty styles Wyoming offers for general vehicles are restricted to various groups of military veterans.

Wyoming and California are tied for the third-fewest number of specialty plates available among the states, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Only Nebraska (seven plates) and New Hampshire (eight plates) offer fewer.

Specialty plate designs in Wyoming must be authorized by the Legislature, which has tended to not approve bills for such plates.

Failed proposals in recent years have included special plates for Native American tribes, a Friends of Coal plate, and a license plate specifically for residents who were born and graduated from high school in Wyoming.

Meanwhile, specialty plates in other states are generating revenue, both for the state and for the organization or fund that the plate benefits.

Colorado, for example, offers 88 specialty plates as of June 2016, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

The standard registration fee for each set of plates is $50, which is a one-time charge in addition to other registration costs and the fee, donation or certification required to obtain the plate. For example, obtaining the Denver Broncos license plate requires a donation to Denver Broncos Charities.

According to data provided by the Colorado Department of Revenue, the state has collected about $7 million in each of the last three fiscal years from that $50 fee.

That fee is split in half between the highway users tax fund and the license services cash fund.

While the state collects money from the plates, organizations and entities associated with the plates are also making money.

Colorados Wildlife Sporting license plate, for example, requires a $10 initial donation and $25 annual donation to a fund administered by Colorado Parks and Wildlife. The fund pays for developing shooting ranges and improving fishing access.

Almost 1,700 Wildlife Sporting plates have been issued since the plate became available Jan. 1.

In Montana, which has 235 specialty plates, about $3.5 million in donations for organizations was collected from specialty plates in fiscal year 2015 alone. That figure rises to almost $4 million when donations for collegiate plates are included.

Montana charges a $10 administrative fee and $10 production cost in addition to standard fees, and drivers must also pay a donation amount for the plate.

Some of the biggest beneficiaries in Montana include the Grizzly Scholarship Association, the Glacier National Park Conservancy, the Montana State Bobcat Club, Trout Unlimited and the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation.

The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation received more than $150,000 from the Montana plates in fiscal year 2015 alone.

The foundation currently has specialty plates in nine states: Montana, Idaho, South Dakota, Maryland, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, South Carolina, Wisconsin and Virginia.

The money raised in a given state goes to benefit programs within that state, said foundation spokesman Mark Holyoak.

Thus, money from Montana plates stays in Montana, and money from Idaho plates stays in Idaho.

Holyoak said the foundation wanted to begin a similar plate program in Wyoming several years ago, but it was unsuccessful.

Debbie Lopez, a spokeswoman for the Wyoming Department of Transportation, said the department is able to create specialty plates, but thats dependent on the Legislature.

If the Legislature approves, then we get them ready to go, she said.

Lopez said WYDOT can easily design new plates, though implementing the design itself and programming the printer takes several hours of staff time. License plates in Wyoming have been printed (versus stamped, or embossed) since the 2000s.

Some states offset the cost of specialty plate production through the extra fees drivers pay for the plates. Others charge organizations a fee to create the plates, with or without fees charged to drivers.

In Montana, organizations must pay a $4,000 fee to Montana Correctional Enterprises to pay for the cost of creating the plate  costs in addition to the fees drivers pay.

Colorado saves money by using a print on demand system in which specialty plates are only produced when ordered by a driver.

Creating specialty plates also varies by state.

Montana allows nonprofits and governmental entities to apply directly to the states Motor Vehicle Division to create a specialty license plate.

In Colorado, sponsoring organizations must be a 501(3) nonprofit or government agency and obtain signatures of 3,000 interested individuals for the plate.

The plate must then be approved by the Colorado Legislature before manufacture.
Et tu, Trey?

A day after the House Benghazi committee released a final report that left Hillary Clinton relatively unscathed, conservative activists  the conspiracy-minded ones who pressured House leaders to appoint the committee in the first place  rounded on Chairman Trey Gowdy for failing to deliver the goods.

To say I was disappointed would be an understatement, retired Adm. James Ace Lyons complained at a meeting Wednesday afternoon of the Citizens Commission on Benghazi, a coalition of far-right foreign-policy types. Chairman Gowdy is not a stenographer. ... He was there to make findings and conclusions. He had the information. He copped out, which is consistent that weve seen with all our congressional leadership.

Retired Gen. Thomas McInerney agreed that the American people want to know from a group that spent almost two years on it what the conclusions are. Thats what we pay you for, Mr. Gowdy.

Charles Woods, the father of Ty Woods, one of the four Americans killed in Benghazi, lamented that I really dont have closure as far as who made the decision not to rescue. And Roger Aronoff of Accuracy in Media, which convened the Citizens Commission at the National Press Club, complained that they put a bunch of transcripts in there, interviews, but they didnt weave it all together.

There were murmurs of agreement from participants when Lyons said of Gowdy: Regretfully, I dont think he measured up yesterday.

A woman in the crowd floated a new Benghazi conspiracy. Has someone in the GOP leadership gotten their fingers involved in watering down some of this to benefit Secretary Clinton? she asked.

Nobody rebutted this idea.

Herein lies a lesson for Republicans who are perpetually trying to appease the far right: Its a fools errand. They went to the tea party  and now theyre taking Donald Trump to the prom. Likewise, then-House Speaker John Boehner named the Benghazi committee because activists were dissatisfied that seven previous congressional investigations had failed to uncover major scandal material. Now an eighth has produced more of the same  and the agitators are as agitated as ever.

Two GOP members of Gowdys own committee were dissatisfied enough to write their own narrative drawing more sweeping accusations against Clinton and President Obama. Gowdy must feel the need for some cover: A day after delivering what was supposed to be the definitive account of Benghazi, his committee called in another witness for an interview. Democrats pointed out that the interviewee had just removed from his Facebook page the hashtag #IfYouVoteForHillaryYouAreBeyondStupid.

The Citizens Commission on Benghazi, which held Wednesdays event, is not the most reputable outlet. It dropped former CIA officer Wayne Simmons as one of its 11 members after the former Fox News commentator, who it turns out had no military or intelligence experience, pleaded guilty to fraud charges this spring.

Even without Simmons creativity, the group managed to produce a 73-page Benghazi report this week full of inventive accusations. They found troubling evidence that Obama and Clinton were deeply and knowingly involved in running guns to al-Qaeda in Libya, as well as a clear case of official U.S. government submission to the Islamic Law on slander.

They wrote that Clinton blocked U.S. military forces from attempting a rescue mission, and they attributed the decision to oust Libyas Moammar Gaddafi in part to financial interests of the Clinton Foundation.

They judged that Obama  one speaker referred to him as Barack Hussein Soetoro Obama  had an ideological commitment to expanding the Muslim Brotherhood. They even gave longtime Clinton confidant Sidney Blumenthal credit for the administrations support for the Libyan Muslim Brotherhood-led al Qaeda militias. In one elaborate theory, they tied those guarding the U.S. facilities in Benghazi both to Blumenthal and to the wife of a former chairman of the House Intelligence Committee.

They even faulted Ambassador Chris Stevens, who died in Benghazi, saying he rather romanticized the Libyan jihadis.

We see a field of smoking guns, Aronoff said.

Clearly. But the Benghazi committee didnt. Gowdy notably refrained from assigning blame or demanding accountability, Clare Lopez, of the Center for Security Policy and an adviser to the Ted Cruz presidential campaign, told the gathering. He also did not draw a connection between the dots.

Why?

I think he had his reasons  political, McInerney said. He speculated that congressional leadership had approved black operations to run weapons from Benghazi to Islamic State forces in Syria. Thats the dirty little secret that nobody wants out, he said.

Aha! So Gowdy himself is in on the Benghazi conspiracy.
Mexicos Senate has approved a bill to eliminate daylight saving time, putting an end to the practice of changing clocks twice a year. Some cities and towns along the U.S. border can retain daylight saving time, presumably because they are so linked to U.S. cities. The Senate approved the measure Wednesday on a 59-25 vote, with 12 abstentions. Those who opposed the measure said that less daylight in the afternoon could affect opportunities for children and adults to get exercise. And businesses like restaurants may have to close earlier as many crime-wary Mexicans often try to be off the streets after dark.
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador After becoming the worlds murder capital last year and posting an equally bloody start to 2016, this violence-torn Central American nation has seen its monthly homicide rate fall by about half.

The government attributes the drop to a tough military counteroffensive against the countrys powerful gangs, deploying a special security force and transferring imprisoned organized crime leaders to a maximum-security lockup to isolate them.

But the gangs also claim credit. The three main groups  the Mara Salvatrucha, Barrio 18 Revolucionarios and Barrio 18 Surenos  forged a nonaggression pact in March to try to reduce the killings.

In a joint video message, they said their aim was to convince the government that the crackdown was unnecessary.

Either way, killings in El Salvador dropped from 611 in March to 353 in April and 351 in May. There were 331 homicides in June, compared with 677 in the same month in 2015.

Last year, the country recorded more than 100 killings per 100,000 residents. That rate was so high that even if its halved for all of 2016, El Salvador would still be firmly in the top 10 for killings for any country not at open war, though its a fraction of the deaths seen in a war zone such as Syria, where casualty estimates run into the hundreds of thousands since 2011.

Authorities say most of El Salvadors dead are gang members slain by rivals on the streets and inside prisons, or in encounters with security forces.

The reduction in homicides is due to the effectiveness of the plans by police and the extraordinary measures by the government, especially inside prisons national police chief Howard Cotto said last week.

Authorities say isolating jailed gang leaders makes it harder for them to issue orders to their underlings out on the streets.

We have gradually been bringing the penitentiary system under control, and we are going to finish the job, Vice President Oscar Ortiz said recently.

The gangs see things differently. A senior member of one, the Barrio 18 Surenos, told The Associated Press that the killings have fallen because gang leaders ordered their street soldiers to stand down.

When we have wanted war, we have waged war on them, and right now we are not thinking that way, the gang member said, speaking on condition of anonymity to avoid being targeted by authorities. We want things to be solved in a different way.

He said he is part of a team that coordinates among the three big criminal bands, and all are open to dialogue and have agreed to maintain a cease-fire.

Experts say the government crackdown and the gang truce have both likely played a part in reducing homicides.

Jose Miguel Cruz, a specialist on Salvadoran organized crime at Florida International University, said the fact that the gangs are behaving less aggressively may suggest only that they are trying to keep a lower profile, not that the government has won the battle. He also worries that the lull in violence could be fleeting.

I fear that this is temporary, Cruz said. That it is going to last until the gangs figure out another way to confront the government.

When President Salvador Sanchez Ceren took office in 2014, he established a policy of confrontation with the gangs.

A former guerrilla, Ceren doubled down on that approach in March after gang members used guns and machetes to slaughter 11 people in the town of San Juan Opico, outside the capital  an attack whose brutality was shocking even for Salvadorans numbed by daily reports of death and mayhem.

Within weeks of the Opico massacre, the Salvadoran Congress approved legislation that included isolating gang prisoners and deploying 1,000 soldiers and police to pursue and dismantle the gangs. The government has recovered the hope that this country is now on the path to defeat crime, Sanchez Ceren said in mid-May.
ORLANDO, Fla.  When the first paramedics arrived on the scene of the Pulse nightclub shooting, they could still hear gunfire coming from inside the club.

In active-shooting cases, recent federal guidelines call for medics to put on body armor and go into potentially dangerous situations alongside police officers when possible. But paramedics Josh Granada and Carlos Tavarez didnt have bullet-proof vests and they never made it inside the nightclub. Instead, they treated the wounded across the street in the parking lot of a bagel shop.

In all, they made five trips to the emergency room, taking 13 victims to a hospital just a few blocks away. Could they have saved more lives if they had body armor and gone inside the Orlando nightclub, where 49 people were killed and 53 wounded in the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history? Its tough to know, they told The Associated Press.

Since the Columbine High School massacre in 1999 in Colorado, paramedics have struggled with how close they should get to active shooter scenes when they know there are wounded victims who need help. The federal guidelines suggest that victims chances of survival improve when paramedics go into the warm zone.

Paramedics have traditionally waited for an all-clear that its safe to go into an active-shooter situation.

But studies of past mass shootings have shown the value of having medical and rescue personnel who are properly trained and equipped to enter the warm zone to maximize victim survival, according to a 2014 policy statement from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

FEMA therefore encourages first responder agencies to develop this capability, the policy statement said.

At Columbine, some survivors believed a wounded teacher who bled to death over almost four hours could have been saved if hed been treated earlier.

Instead, firefighter-paramedics, as well as many officers, waited to go inside the school. Thirteen people were killed and 24 others wounded.

In the Pulse shooting, paramedic-firefighters stayed out of the danger zone, in part because Omar Mateen indicated to police negotiators that he had explosives, a claim that ended up being false.

This was a dynamic scene, said Bryan Davis, a district fire chief. We went from it being a shooter to now we possibly had an explosive device in possession.

When Granada and Tavarez arrived at a fire station a block away from the club, many of the wounded already had fled Pulse. They started treating a man who had collapsed with two bullets in his stomach. They drove him to the hospital and headed back.

All the ambulance units at this point were getting set up in the staging area because it was being communicated over our radio that the scene was not secure, Granada said.

The pair treated club patrons at the fire station and across the street, behind an Einstein Bros. Bagels shop, where police officers had dragged the wounded.

Last summer, Orlando firefighters trained with police officers in active-shooter scenarios where paramedics went into a school and mall alongside the officers. But at Pulse, the priority was setting up treatment areas away from potential gunfire, fire department spokeswoman Ashley Papagni said in an email.

Orlando paramedic-firefighters and ambulance technicians also arent equipped with body armor or vests, Papagni said.

Almost a dozen victims died at or en route to hospitals. Asked whether any could have been saved if paramedics had gotten to them sooner, Davis said, Its really hard to gauge what we could have or could not have done.
Knock knock, who's there? Yet another national publication singling out Tucson as a great place to eat.

This time we're in a list of five "oft-overlooked locales" that prove "top-tier dining isn't just limited to New York and Los Angeles anymore." A recent Wine Enthusiast article places Tucson at the top, above the "sophisticated eats" of Madison, Wisconsin and the "thriving bar-bites scene" in Baltimore.

The article does start off by saying that Tucson was "once a desert for great eats," but it's hard to get too mad about it. Because today, "Tucson blooms with enough unique restaurants to justify a food-focused trip."

Read the full article at winemag.com

But that's not all ...

Also this week, the Tucson bar scene made the pages of Phoenix New Times, Draft Magazine and even Food & Wine.

 Draft Magazine included Tap & Bottle in its list of "America's 100 Best Beer Bars." (Due out next month.) The article praises the "chalkboard menus, exposed beams and raw brick walls" that mark the "650-bottle strong cooler section" and the "21 tap lineup" in the bar.
HURF is not the most attractive acronym.

Say it out loud, and it sounds like a dog trying to bark just as a bad bowl of kibbles makes its way up and out the wrong direction.

However it may sound, HURF, or the Highway User Revenue Fund, is the most important source of funds for the building and maintenance of roads across the state. The pot of money, nearly $1.3 billion last year, is split between the state, counties and cities according to a formula that some Pima County officials say is due for an update.

As it stands, the state gets roughly half, cities and towns get around 30 percent, and counties get the rest.

The rub, in some peoples opinion, is how the county share is then divided up among Arizonas 15 counties, all of which no doubt have long and growing lists of road repairs and not enough money to tackle them.

This gets a little complicated, but with millions at stake and rough roads a perennial Pima County complaint, its worth understanding (the Road Runner must confess that he has only spoken with people who are experts on the matter, and is no expert himself).

The county HURF distribution formula takes two things into consideration and weighs them differently: each countys sales of gasoline and use of diesel fuel and other so-called use fuels relative to the rest of the state, which is 72 percent of the formula, and unincorporated population, which is the remainder.

With that formula, Pima County got nearly $41 million in fiscal year 2015 and Maricopa County got a few million shy of $100 million.

However, as County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry often points out, the population in unincorporated Pima County, is around 360,000, roughly 70,000 more than in Maricopa.

Thats why he is recommending that one of the countys lobbyists, Michael Racy, pursue changes in the HURF formula during next years legislative session so that the unincorporated population is weighted equally to gas sales. According to estimates in a June 16 memo, that change would have resulted in roughly $6 million more for Pima County last year.

This formula would be more equitable because it would reflect the fact that Pima County has a greater number of unincorporated residents, and hence, a greater demand for road repair, maintenance and improvements, Huckelberrys memo reads.

But it would have also led to a $15 million drop in Maricopas share and much smaller declines in Greenlee and La Paz counties.

Sounds like a tough sell in Phoenix, right?

But maybe not quite as hard as it seems at first glance, Racy says, adding he would push for a plan that would hold those three counties harmless, meaning other state revenues would be use to plug their HURF holes.

Where would that extra money come from? Whether its shifting vehicle licensing taxes, increasing the states 18-cent gas tax or other policy measures, Racy said that ideally, the formula reform would be a part of a larger state-level effort to take a look at ways to improve transportation funding.

Whatever the solution, he said it will be tough to accomplish, but we have to try.

There are precedents for success. In fact, Racy pointed out, the current county HURF formula was the result of legislative reforms in 1996 that for the first time took unincorporated population into account, which immediately benefited Pima County. The 1990s also saw reforms to sales tax distribution and the way counties pay for the state Medicaid systems long-term care program.

In every one of those examples, the Legislature recognized the inequity, Racy said.

However, a more skeptical state Sen. Steve Farley, D-Tucson, said, If we had the Legislature of the mid-1990s, I could do a whole lot of things that arent possible now.

I am very concerned that once you open up the HURF distribution formula, then you are going to have to go with whatever the majority decides. The majority of legislators are from Maricopa County, he said, adding later: This could backfire on us. Ive learned to be very careful about proposing something that could be used against you.

Farleys preference for increasing funds for road work in Pima County is finding ways to increase revenues for them statewide, instead of arguing over how were going to divide the pie. Where Racy and Farley have no disagreement is on the very real need to find a funding solution.

Were going to be driving on dirt roads in the entire state of Arizona outside of Maricopa County if we continue to do nothing, Racy said.

DOWN THE ROAD

On Tuesday, crews will start saw-cutting across Broadway at its intersection with Stone Avenue from 5 a.m. to 1 p.m. Travel restrictions will be in place weekdays as construction proceeds, though at least one lane will be open in both directions.

The work is part of the larger Stone Avenue-Drachman Street to First Street Roadway Improvement Project, which is slated to cost $2.5 million and will be completed next spring.

For motorists with Rocky Point plans, ADOT is set to start work on Arizona 86 east of Sells, also on Tuesday. Crews will be milling asphalt along a 2.5-mile stretch in preparation for paving slated to start Friday. Work will take place Monday through Saturday from 5 a.m. to 6 p.m., and pilot cars will lead motorists through one-lane sections. The project is expected to last three weeks.
Traffic restrictions

Interstate 10 will have the following ramp and road closures downtown from 9 p.m. to midnight for the Fourth of July A-Mountain Fireworks Display.

 The westbound I-10 off-ramps at 29th and Congress streets will be closed.

 The westbound I-10 frontage road at 29th and 22nd streets will be closed.

 The eastbound I-10 off-ramps at Congress and 22nd streets will be closed.

 Traffic on westbound Congress Street will be detoured to westbound I-10.
Divers recovered the body Monday of a Tucson man believed to have drowned in Apache Lake early Sunday morning.

Campers at about 2 a.m. Sunday reported seeing a man fall into the water, said Maricopa County Sheriffs Office Deputy Joaquin Enriquez.

Enriquez said the campers searched for the man on jet skis, but were unable to find him. He said a woman in the area later reported her husband Rodolfo Ruiz, 37, of Tucson, missing, the Arizona Republic reported.

Divers searched the lake, east of the Valley in Tonto National Forest, using sonar three times on Sunday but didn't find him before resuming the search on Monday. Divers recovered a pair of khaki shorts on Sunday believed to have belonged to Ruiz.

Enriquez said a family member told MCSO that Ruiz had been drinking and using drugs the night before and was "really intoxicated." The Sheriff's Office does not suspect foul play, according to the Republic.
Casino del Sol Fireworks

Samantha Branciforte gets a selfie with her son six-month-old Liam Fleury who is about to watch fireworks for the first time at the 22nd Fireworks Extravaganza at Casino del Sol Resort, at 5655 W Valencia Rd., outside Tucson on July 3, 2016.
Help India!

By Abdul Basith MA, TwoCircles.net,

Kozhikode: Fixing the dates for Ramzan and Eid has remained a topic of confusion and sometimes hot argument among Muslims across the world. Certain leaders of Muslim organisations, Ulema and Qazis own the power to decide up on the starting of a lunar month and there were several instances when some among them went wrong and the community didnt have a unified Ramzan or Eid even within a region.

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It would be embarrassing for the Muslim community to be unaware of the Islamic calendars prospects and possibilities like the teachings of Quran and Islamic history. The community has become victim to the confusions created by the communitys factional leaders.





Clerics sighting moon in Lucknow on August 30 2011



Christian calendars and other calendars prevalent now are erroneous and were subjected to too many corrections in the past. Islam is complete and it has worlds most effective and accurate calendar based on the different phases of a moons cycle.

The method the Muslim organisations have been adopting since times to decide on the starting of a month is to go in search of the hilal (moon) towards the end of a month, i.e. on 29th they will go in search of a hilal and if they went unsuccessful in finding it, they will complete 30 days for that month.

Moon sighting on last day of month is illogical

Abdul Shukoor T of Kozhikode office of Hijra Committee says: One cant see hilal on the new moon day as the hilal is visible before the naked eyes only after sun sets in the west on the first day of a lunar month. So it is like the ones who are firm on their decision that they will start a new month only after seeing the hilal will go wrong as they will start counting the second day of the lunar month as first because they baselessly consider the setting stage of the first day moon as a rising one, hoping that the next day is the first of a lunar month whereas scientifically too the fact is that it is impossible to see new moon on the night prior to the first day.

Quran asks to observe different phases of moon to set date

He quoted Quran verses [2:189] which tells that it is Ahilla [plural denoting different stages of hilal] which one has to observe to finalise the dates of a lunar calendar instead of going in search of a single days hilal, which is almost impossible to find on the night before the first day of a lunar month. He says that in hadees too the Prophet [SAW] used the plural form instead of hilal.

The scientific lunar calendar of Hijra Committee

So the method which these Muslims organisations have been following should be called illogical in view of the scientific advancements and opportunities available to prepare an ideal lunar calendar based on scientific observation of the moons phases and calculations based on it. The communitys hunt for hilal on the new moon day is equal to going in search of a black cat in the darkness. What they should do is rather different as in order to get precise on the dates of a lunar calendar they should closely observe the different phases of the moon admitting that the moons phase which they see after sunset is meant exclusively for that day which is about to set. Thus an effective, precise, scientifically proved lunar calendar can be prepared and we are successful in doing so, says the Hijra committee.

The irony is that the Kerala Hilal Committee [Mujahid], the Sunnis [both factions] have reported of being witness to the hilal when the difference of sunset-moonset was 10 minutes, 4 minutes and even 2 minutes; when science says that one can see the hilal by naked eye only when this difference is a minimum of 48 minutes. The Hijra committee notes that their lie and miscalculations deprive majority of Muslims in Kerala, on many occasions, the fast of the first day of Ramzan.

If a month has 30 days there will be 29 phases for the moon and if it has 29 days, phases which the moon undergoes will be 28. The last day of the lunar month, moon gets covered because the sun and the moon reaches the same line [faingumma] and the next day after which the moon goes invisible is the first day of a lunar month, Hijra committee asks if any of these Muslim scholars, religious faction leaders are capable of challenging this fact?

Hijra committee says that if one has to go in search of the Hilal to announce the start of a month they should go for the hilal at the time of Urj oonil Qadeem [at around fajr], ie the last visible phase described by Almighty Allah in Quran 36:39.This is the only way we could find a hilal and assess the first day of a month other than the setting one which we find by maghrib [which is already at least 12 hours late since the start of a lunar month].

Abdul Salam Sullami, a Hadith scholar of Kerala Madavoor Mujahid faction has written a book named Chandra Masa Nirnayam, Kanakkum Kazhchayum [lunar month determination, vision and calculation] published by Hijra committee of India. He asks Muslims to proclaim their freedom from their organisational tie ups at least on this issue and seeks them to raise questions before their factional leaders on whether they would accept the starting of a month announced at Mecca if the moon rise is at the same time in both the regions.

Last time on Eid-ul-Fitr the moon rise was at the same time in both these regions, still the religious faction leaders here in Kerala were initially reluctant to admit the Eid announced at Mecca saying that there must be faithful eyewitness statements on the appearance of Hilal from our own vicinity. They are not strict on whether the hilal must be witnessed on a specific Mahal basis or village wise and are not hesitant to proclaim the starting of a new month, if some body whom they believes is credible stands witness to the hilal, even if he is from a far away region where the moons rising time is different. What is it that takes them back from admitting the new month announced from Mecca when it is the same hilal that appears for the whole man kind across the earth at a time?, asks the Madavoor faction Hadith Scholar.

If we admit to the argument that moons rising time must be taken into consideration for different regions specifically, then the Almighty will have to send the new moon twice or thrice in two or three days for each region to announce their Eid and Ramzan and the result will be like when Lailathul Qadr happens at Kochi and a few countries abroad; Kozhikode, Kannur and Kasargod having a different moon rising will be blessed with Lailathul Qadr only the next day night, the arguments of a few Muslim organisational leaders in Kerala are these much illogical!, said Abdul Salam Sullami.

When asked to comment on this issue, Kerala Nadvathul Mujahideen [KNM] secretary and Hilal committee Chairman AP Abdul Qadar Maulavi was reluctant to give his opinion on these questions as he says every thing is well described in the Almanar calendar published by the Hilal committee and he says whatever they have to say it is there in the calendar published by them. He said he has nothing more to say on this regard through phone.

Sunnis reject Hijra Committees view

The Tirurangadi Wali-Qazi of the EK [Samastha] faction of Sunnis, Abdullah Maqdoom said that in Islam more than those mere calculations, it is the Prophets [SAW] hadees that matters. He quoted the hadees whereby the Prophet [SAW] asks the community to look for the hilal and if it not found on the 29th due to the presence of clouds the hadees asks to complete thirty days of fast. This should be our basis and not mathematical calculations, he said. We have seen scientists predicting rain and there are times where they go wrong, same way it is the Almighty who will have to decide on the appearance of the Hilal and the starting of a month. Our duty is to trace it on a credible basis and to exactly follow the instructions of our Prophet Muhammed [SAW].

Prophet asks to sight moon on 29th

He was reluctant to admit the argument that unlike rain, Almighty has set exact timings, orbits, rising and setting areas for the moon and the sun, which could well be explained and predicted on a scientific basis. He further added that these types of questions need to be answered based on different Masala in the Shariah and requires careful treatment rather than mere scientific calculations and reasoning ability.

P Hassan Musaliar, the Wayanad district Valiya Khazi of the AP [Kanthapuram] faction of Sunnis too was of the opinion that it is the clearly stated hadees which has to be followed instead of calculations and scientific explanations. There is no case of moons rising time being almost identical in Kerala and Saudi Arabia and so even if hilal is announced there, we will have to wait and find whether it appears here or not, based on which we will be deciding whether to complete 30 days or not and this is what the religion teaches, he said.

Moon Sighting in Mecca should be accepted by Muslims across the globe

[KNM] Madavoor Mujahid, Secretary CP Muhammed Sullami agreed to the Hijra committee version of lunar calendar and he too emphasised on the fact that if the hilal is announced at Mecca that is enough evidence to announce the start of a month any where in this world. He said that the months so fixed by Almighty Allah will start on the same day of the week and end on the same day of the week, throughout the world.

The special situation here in Kerala and most parts of the country is that the different Muslim organisations since times have been traditionally following the custom of looking for the Hilal and now a situation has reached where we too are forced to move on with the flow and take a practical approach which is rather forced. Though we now recognise that there are options like scientifically calculating and setting an accurate lunar calendar, as how the Hijra committee did, this will lead to differences as we are looking forward to a unified Ramzan and Eid along with all other Muslim organisations in Kerala. The only way to change the situation and to make these religious factions in Kerala accept such a unified scientific lunar calendar is to bring about a world wide consent on this regard, said the KNM Madavoor Salafi faction secretary.

Hijra Committee has taken care to inform Kerala Nadvathul Mujaahideen [KNM]- both factions, as well as Kerala Hilaal Committee that the Hijri dates published by them for this year are not according to the Manaazil [phases] of the moon. KNM and Hilal Committee uses the difference of sun set and moon set timings of Kerala. Hijra committee says this would not give the true lunar months, because if this difference is 2 minutes in Calicut, it may be Minus 2 minutes in Trivandrum and hence, the Mujahid factions will be this time compelled to have Eid on two different days, warns the Hijra Committee.

They accused that in the disguise of unity, both the Mujahid factions are joining hands with the Sunnis and accept whatever date the Sunni Qazis decide.

Hijra committee complains that both this Salafi and Sunni factions are alike when it comes to at least taking a look at what we are saying since times. With even the Mujahid and JIH factions turning a blind eye towards us, the Sunnis are far comfortable without even making our voice heard before the public. So it is high time the community should start discussing our suggestions and viewpoints and should bring about in-depth thoughts on this topic.

Link to the Hijra Committee, Hijra Calendar 1433: http://www.hijracalendar.com/HijraCalender1433.pdf

Link to the Hijra Calendar website:

http://www.hijracalendar.com/

Related links in TwoCircles.net:

http://twocircles.net/2010aug11/chaos_deciding_ramadan_and_eid_dates.html

http://twocircles.net/2009jul26/bihar_ngo_initiative_muslim_unity_through_ramadan_calendar.html
Help India!

Bengaluru : Four persons were arrested for allegedly severely beating three minor boys for stealing money in Bengaluru Rural district last week, police said on Sunday.

A criminal case has been booked under the Pocso Act against six accused, but only four have been arrested, as two others are absconding, Superintendent of Police, Bengaluru Rural, Amit Singh told IANS from Hoskote, 30km from here.

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The arrested are Masthan, Pasha, Zabiulla and Ayub, while Shamsher and Nurulla are still at large.

Meanwhile, three policemen, including sub-inspector Dayanand and constables Raju and Jairam of the Hoskote police station were suspended on Sunday for not filing the case against the suspects soon after the boys parents complained about the incident.

Though the incident occurred on Thursday (June 30), it came to light on Saturday after a video showing the accused beating up the boys went viral on social media and local news channels aired the footage.

According to the FIR, the boys, aged 14-15 years, went to a general store to buy a notebook but were caught by its owner Masthan for allegedly stealing money from his cash box, taken in a car to the outskirts of the town and beaten with iron rods and sticks after being stripped.

The parents, however, claimed that police refused to register their complaint and did not act against the accused till Friday even after the boys named them and gave their address.

Karnataka State Commission for Protection of Child Rights chairperson Kripa Alva sought a detailed report from police on the brutal assault of the minors.

I have directed police to investigate the case and appear before the commission on July 12 along with the accused, Alva told reporters here.


Help India!

By Masood Peshinam for TwoCircles.net

The paradox created by the National Investigating Agency (NIA) on the eve of the bail application of the Malegaon bomb blast accused Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur is beyond any reasonable and legal explanation. Its another matter that her bail application by the special NIA court was subsequently rejected.

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Sadhvi Pragya, who has been in custody for the last eight years, had sought bail on the basis of the charge sheet filed by NIA.

It may be recalled that NIA in its charge sheet field on May 13, had given a clean chit to Sadhvi Pragya along with five others citing the lack of evidence against her. The NIA while filing the reply in response to Sadhvis bail plea had given no objection.

Strangely enough, the NIA has given the clean chit to Sadhvi when Sadhvi herself has not gone for quashing of the FIR u/s 484 of CRPC in the High Court.

After filing of the charge sheet, the supplementary charge sheet can be filed when some absconding accused is arrested and the fresh facts and circumstances emerge in the course of the investigation. It is not the case of filing the supplementary charge sheet. The NIA has filed the charge sheet which contradicts the contents of the charge sheet filed by the ATS against all the accused including the Sadhvi Pragya.

Rohini Salien, former public prosecutor, rightly said that giving the Sadhvi Pragya a clean chit and recommending dropping of MCOCA charges was not in the province of the NIAs probe. According to her, recommending at this stage even before charges are framed to drop MOCOCA charges amounts to interference in the Court proceedings. Stretching its brief beyond its Jurisdiction NIA can well attract the contempt proceedings. The interveners can well initiate the contempt proceedings against the NIA for going beyond its brief. The Court can also take some remedial measures to this effect.

Reacting to the NIA crossing the limits, the Congress has come down heavily on the role of the National Investigation Agency in the Court proceedings to save Sadhvi Pragya. The Congress even sought an explanation from those in the corridors of power in Delhi to know who is in their government Manipulative hand and responsible for the miscarriage of Justice.

The Congress spokesperson said that the earlier investigation done by the Maharashtra ATS under the late Hemant Karkare were rubbished by NIA and described as dubious and questionable.

The late Hemant Karkare, an officer of impeccable integrity, had cracked the role of the alleged Saffron terrorist for the first time. Befor Karkare exposed the role of Sadhvi Pragya and other co accused, only Muslims were in the dock for the blasts, even when the victims were Muslims.

The reason given for Muslims turning terror on their community was that these would lead to riots in the country, which is nothing but the bunch of lies and far from convincing. Are Muslims living in the fools paradise to invite their own disaster by such stupid and mad actions? The Muslims in the country are on the weakest turf politically, economically and socially; their dignified survival is threatened every other day on one pretext or the other. They are promised the moon only on the eve of election. The community suffers victimization due to the prejudice operating at the different levels of government. However all cant be tarred by the same brush. A large share of population is not against the largest minority and crave for the rights and Justice. Gujarat is an example where non Muslims have not only disapproved of the alleged genocide but stoutly supported the victim Zakia Jafri.

It is relevant to quote Ram Punyani, an eminent analyst on Hindu-Muslim relation, who said that Muslim communalism is too weak to offer any threat. Muslims in India cannot even think of having the luxury of riots for the reasons best known. It is the political class which thrives on fomenting the communal clashes which helps it electorally. The present outrageous and incendiary scenario is too well known to need any recounting. Some of the Muslims might have been allegedly involved in the terror cases like their counterparts. These are the misguided and misled youth constituting an aberration. The terrorists should face the maximum punishment but there is no justification to set afloat the fictitious stories to implicate Muslims in false terror cases. It is to create the fear psychosis in the community to lower its morale and overwhelmingly marginalise it to silence its voice against any injustice done to it. It is easy to implement the hidden agenda no more hidden with the muzzling of the dissent.

In the context the former public prosecutor Rohini Saliens statement is no less significant when she alleged that she was approached by an NIA officer in June 2014 after the NDA government took charge at the Centre with a request to go soft on the accused including the Sadhvi Pragya and Col. Prasad Rohit.

The alleged intervention by the NIA in the said case to influence the outcome and other related fictitious stories set afloat not coming up to the subsequent judicial scrutiny makes one feel that whether NIA itself needs the clean chit? The Kaisers wife should be above suspicion.

Notwithstanding the not-so clean track record of some of the investigation, credit must go to late Hemant Karkare for exposing the other side in the Malegaon blast.

Karkares exposure triggered the allegation that there was the coercive collection of evidence. What is the logic in the allegation of forcing the alleged Saffron terrorists in giving the evidence? Where is the evidence to suggest that the alleged Saffron terrorists were forced into giving evidence? The falsehood herein cannot be sustained.

A.R. Antulay, once the golden lad of Congress, raised the issue of Karkares death in parliament and he had to pay the price of his political death. He went in to oblivion thanks to his own party disowning him. The situation culminated in to an extent that Antulays funeral was not even attended by the big wigs of his own party.

Instead of throwing muck at the sincerity of late Hemant Karkare in the Malegaon blast investigation, there is a need to strengthen the resolve to effectively combat the terror, whatever colour it may have. Any attempt to compartmentalise terror is not in the national interests. What is important is the prevalence of Rule Of Law and any attempt to undermine the Rule Of Law with the unjustified intervention is a myopic approach towards terror which is blatant departure from the cause of Justice. Justice along the sectarian lines would only breed insecurities harmful to the larger national interest. The national interest should occupy primacy over other interests.

The author is a lawyer based out of Kalyan, Maharashtra
The Mozambique civil War started in 1977 and lasted for two decades before it came to an end. Last year, some trouble started up again and Renamo Rebel veterans who operate near their old stronghold in the Gorongosa National Park area started blockading roads and ambushing vehicles in the Sofala province. Whilst the Government of Mozambique state that there is no chance of a full civil war erupting, in recent months, the incidents seem to be spreading. Alarmed by an influx of Mozambican refugees and concerned about the territorial integrity of their borders, Zimbabwedeployed members of the Police Support Unit to patrol along their border.

The Support Unit.

The Zimbabwe Republic Police Support Unit has a long history of being an elite armed combat unit. A troop of the Unit was deployed to patrol near the Sango Border Post on the Mozambique border. Sango was previously known as Vila Salazar and is a village in the Masvingo Province inZimbabwe. On the Mozambiqueside of the border isChicualacuala, previously named Malvernia. The small town is in the Chicualacuala District, of the Gaza Province which was not previously a Renamo stronghold.

Incident reportedly happened inside Zimbabwe.

Several Zimbabwe Newspapers, including the Zimbabwean, reported that whilst on patrol along the Mwenezi River near Sango, three members of the Support Unit were ambushed and abducted by suspected Renamo rebels.

ZRP national spokesperson Charity Charamba has not yet issued an official comment, but a source from Sango told the Zimbabwean that the incident took place last week and that it involved three members of a 14-strength unit. One was an Assistant Inspector and the other two were constables.

Weapons were taken from them.

The reports which were also carried by ZimEye News speculate that the incident could cause some tension between Zimbabwe and its neighbour.

The Police officers were allegedly captured and held by Renamo Rebels for four hours. During those four hours, they were questioned and had their identity papers and weapons taken away from them. The weapons involved a pistol and two loaded AK47 automatic rifles.

Remote area - fluid border.

The area is remote and fairly undeveloped and fluidity of movement across the border has a long history.

During the Rhodesian war, it was not uncommon for members of the original Support Unit to cross the border and visit Malvernia to buy small luxuries such as wine and tobacco. There has been no indication that the ZRP members involved in last weeks incident had crossed into Mozambique when they were captured.
Prostate cancer is the second leading cancer in men world-wide. Due to its heterogeneous nature, a considerable amount of research effort has been dedicated in identifying effective clinical biomarkers with a focus on proteins, messenger RNA and microRNAs [1]. However, there is limited data on the role and expression of long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) in prostate cancer exosomes [2]. This array dataset which is linked to our publication describes the profiling of human lncRNAs in prostate cancer and their exosomes from five different cell lines [3]. From this dataset, we identified a list of statistically significant prostate cancer lncRNAs which are differentially expressed in the exosomes compared to their parent cell lines. This dataset has been deposited into Gene Expression Omnibus (GSE81034).

Genomics data. 2016 May 26*** epublish ***

Alireza Ahadi, Samantha Khoury, Maria Losseva, Nham Tran

Noncoding RNA Cancer Laboratory, Centre for Health Technologies, Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology, University of Technology, Sydney, NSW, Australia., Noncoding RNA Cancer Laboratory, Centre for Health Technologies, Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology, University of Technology, Sydney, NSW, Australia., Noncoding RNA Cancer Laboratory, Centre for Health Technologies, Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology, University of Technology, Sydney, NSW, Australia., Noncoding RNA Cancer Laboratory, Centre for Health Technologies, Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology, University of Technology, Sydney, NSW, Australia; The Sydney Head and Neck Cancer Institute, Sydney Cancer Centre, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Australia.

PubMed http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27330995
Denali National Park is teeming with visitors this time of year and a bear that has previously charged at people did so again, but this time the grizzly made contact with a hiker. Three friends were on a trail when the bear came up to them biting and scratching one of the hikers, but then it left.

Grizzly attacked, left, and returned

A little while later the bear returned, but it was scared away when one of thehikers threw rocks at it and made loud noises. The hiker attacked by the grizzly was treated at a Denali park station by staff and then she went with her friends to an Anchorage hospital for further treatment, reports Fox News.

Same bear recently charged other hikers

It was a juvenile grizzlythat attacked the 28-year-old hiker at about 7 p.m. on Friday. The trio were hiking along the Savage Alpine Trail in Denali National Park.This same bear has charged other hikers along the same Savage Alpine trails. Back in June it charged a hiker and took food out of the day pack she had with her.

Officials at the park said that they've attempted to teach the bear to steer clear of humans, but their efforts haven't paid off. The park officials released a statement saying how this particular grizzly bear has charged several groups of hikers and it has obtained food from another hiker.

Grizzly to be hunted and killed

Now with this latest incident where the grizzly actually made contact with a park visitor by biting and scratching the hiker, they have no choice but to put the bear down.

In the last two weeks this bear's "erratic behavior" along with its "general interest in people" has put people in danger.The park is highly visited and the bear is now causing an unacceptable risk of danger to the people in the park. The officials stated that they will "locate and kill the bear as soon as safely possible."

Killing bear instead of relocating?

The hikers said as soon as the bear scratched and bit the one hiker in the group, it took off, but then it came back.

It does sound as if the bear was becoming too familiar with people, but they are in the bear's habitat, its not the other way around. Officials didn't say why they don't try to capture the bear and release it somewhere that is more remote than Denali Park. The area where the bear is now in the park is an area visited often by hikers, but Alaska is so vast that there are areas that are very seldom traveled by humans.
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Vanke A Shares slump by daily limit Updated: 2016-07-04 10:13 (chinadaily.com.cn)

Wang Shi, chairman of China Vanke Co, at a World Water Day Forum in Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong province. [Photo provided to China Daily]

The A shares of China Vanke Co Ltd, the country's biggest residential property developer, fell by the daily limit to 21.99 yuan ($3.31) at opening on Monday, after a months-long trading suspension.

Vanke announced it would suspend trading of its A shares on December 18 last year after Shenzhen-based financial conglomerate Baoneng Group's stake aggregated to 24.29 per cent, making it the largest shareholder of the company.

In announcing the trading halt, Vanke said it was planning to issue new shares for capital restructuring and assets acquisition, a move regarded as a way to resist Baoneng's control over the company.

In the following week, Vanke managed to win support from insurer Anbang Insurance Group Co, which raised its stake in Vanke to 7.01 per cent.

On March 13 this year, Vanke announced it had signed a preliminary agreement with subway operator Shenzhen Metro Group to acquire up to 60 billion yuan of property assets atop its subway lines.

On June 17, the company held a board meeting to vote on the plan to acquire a 100-percent equity interest in Qianhai International, held by Shenzhen Metro, by issuance of new shares, with the consideration preliminarily estimated at 45.61 billion yuan.

Vanke's second-largest shareholder, China Resources Co Ltd, opposed the move as it would significantly dilute its shareholding.

On June 26, Shenzhen Jushenghua Co Ltd and Foresea Life Insurance Co Ltd, units of Vanke's largest shareholder Baoneng Group, requested to hold an extraordinary general meeting to oust all 12 of Vanke's directors, including chairman Wang Shi.

China Resources, on June 30, said it had a different opinion on the proposal to oust the property developer's board and would restructure the board of directors and supervisors. It also responded to Shenzhen Stock Exchange's inquiry that it had not reached any agreement with Baoneng on voting.

Baoneng responded to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange's inquiry the same day that it put forward the ouster proposal to solve the problem of chaotic governance in the company, as well as give all shareholders an opportunity to nominate its directors and supervisors.

In a statement filed to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange on Saturday, Vanke said it would resume A-share trading on July 4 and that it planned to acquire an 100 per cent stake in the Shenzhen Metro Group's Qianhai International for 45.6 billion yuan, via a new share issue. Shenzhen Metro will account for 20.65 per cent of China Vanke's total shares, according to the plan.

In the latest statement released on Monday, Vanke said its board held a meeting on July 1, which vetoed the proposal to hold an extraordinary general meeting to dismiss all its directors.
Textile, garment exports to Central Asia, Russia increase sharply Updated: 2016-07-04 11:18 (Xinhua)

URUMQI - Textile and garment exports to Central Asia and Russia via ports in Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region have increased by more than 60 percent from the same period last year.

China has exported 16.57 billion yuan ($2.5 billion) worth of textiles and garments through ports in Xinjiang, according to the latest statistics released by Urumqi Customs.

The data show that 70 percent of exports went to Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan, with the former ranking first.

Following the China-proposed Belt and Road initiative and regional economic development, Xinjiang, which borders eight countries and boasts 29 national ports, has grown into a trading hub for garments, shoes, and daily necessities.

China has long been a top textile manufacturer for the world market. Xinjiang produces China's best cotton, and more of it than any other region. Xinjiang's cotton harvest reached 3.5 million tons, about 60 percent of China's total output, in 2015.

Leading textile and apparel producers have been transferring their business to Xinjiang, making the far northwest region a thriving textile and garment producer.

China's cabinet, the State Council, issued a guideline in June 2015 to bolster the textile and garment industry in Xinjiang in the hopes of increasing local employment and exports.

The country plans to build Xinjiang into a major textile base by 2020 to facilitate exports to its western neighbors, according to the State Council.
A dream job that never stops giving Updated: 2016-06-20 08:11 By Sophie He in Hong Kong(CHINA DAILY USA)

Alice Mong finds her job as executive director fascinating as she never has to do the same thing twice, and there are always new challenges and faces, which all go toward making what she calls "a fun and fulfilling" way of life. Edmond tang / china daily

Alice Mong, executive director of Asia Society Hong Kong Center, joined the team here in Hong Kong in November 2011.

The center at the time was poised to open at its new home at the Old Victoria Barracks, where it moved the following February, and Mong joined as a consultant.

Taiwan-born Mong grew up in the US, where her family immigrated in the early 1970s. As a student at the Ohio State University in the '80s, she chose International Relations as her major as she wanted to be a diplomat. Later she joined the state government of Ohio.

"When I worked for the state of Ohio, my job was to promote trade. Ohio was doing a lot of business with China, Hubei province in particular, so I moved to Hong Kong in 1992, to work for the Ohio trade office in Hong Kong. I stayed here for 11 years," Mong recalled.

Then she moved back to the US and worked in New York for nine years for two non-profit organizations, one of which was the Museum of Chinese in America.

"I joined the museum as director in 2009, when it was moving from a smaller space to a bigger space. During my two years as director of the museum, it grew from a local New York institution to more of a national mission."

From March to August of 2011, Mong was the interim executive of Asia Society Hong Kong Center.

"Then I decided that I could do more, and I fell in love with the mission, so I decided to accept a position as full-time executive director."

Mong said that working for Asia Society Hong Kong Center is a dream job for her, as she believes they are contributing something positive to Hong Kong and to the region, and they are trying to build understanding among people.

"The job is fascinating. I never do the same thing twice, every day we have new speakers, new and interesting content, and diverse members. For me personally it's fun and fulfilling."

Mong's business philosophy is based on respect and listening. "What fascinates me is people, everybody has their own story, and listening to them. My staff, my board and my members, everybody is very important, as we are building something unique here. We are all in this journey together, we need to work together to move forward."

Also, in terms of running the center, Mong said that she may have the knowledge about certain things, like how to run a nonprofit organization for example, but when it comes to the local audience, she believes her staff may understand it better than she does, so she tries to listen.

Mong said her suggestion to local youngsters is that they should never stop learning and never stop being curious even if they have graduated from university.

"In my senior year of college, I didn't know what to do, as it was the middle of the '80s, the US had had a major recession. So I stayed one extra year at college to get a business minor, and an internship for the state government which led me to my full-time job and my mentor," Mong said.

She stressed that graduating and getting a degree is not the end of learning, it is the beginning. Youngsters should continue to learn and be curious. "There are so many problems out there, and you youngsters can be the solution."

sophiehe@chinadailyhk.com
Foreign observers voice praise Updated: 2016-07-02 08:04 By Xinhua(China Daily)

CPC success due to its drawing from practical experience, experts say

As the Communist Party of China celebrated its 95th birthday on Thursday, international observers marveled at its sustained vigor and its glorious achievements in the country's development. Since the Party was founded in 1921, it has kept up with the times, steering the country in the right direction, and it has thoroughly changed Chinese society.

Some observers said it is enjoyable to see that the Chinese Communist Party and the Chinese government have made such tremendous achievements.

Italian Senate Speaker Pietro Grasso recently told Xinhua about the pleasure he took in seeing the progress made.

"I was quite impressed by what I saw when I visited China as senate speaker last October. Things there were completely different from 15 years before, when I had visited the country as a tourist," he said.

Susumu Yabuki, honorary professor of China studies at Japan's Yokohama City University, said: "After its birth, the Party led China in driving out the imperialists and in the struggle to gain independence in 1949. It then devoted itself to developing the economy and has made China a major economic power."

Experts attribute the Party's sustained success to the special attention it gives to updating its theories and guidelines by drawing on practical experience.

Nguyen Vinh Quang, a former minister at the Vietnamese embassy to China, said the Party has developed a socialist theoretical system with Chinese characteristics, which has guided the country's reform and opening-up and economic development.

Vichian Piakhong, vice-president of the Thai Young Chinese Chamber of Commerce, said the Party has repeatedly surpassed its former successes by adopting new notions and strategies as powerful tools, uniting and leading Chinese of all ethnic groups.

Ronnie Lins, director of China Studies Center in Brazil, noted that the Party has adopted the "new normal" economic theory and reset the pace and model of China's development. By shifting the focus from a high growth rate to more balanced, down-to-earth development goals, it will help China to advance steadily toward realizing the Chinese Dream.

Experts say the Communist Party of China has special advantages as a ruling party.

First, it is down-to-earth and ready to correct its mistakes.

The Party has made mistakes, but it has realized and corrected them, said Stephen Perry, chairman of Britain's 48 Group Club, a commercial group that has played a tremendous role in trade between China and Britain.

Second, the Party draws upon all useful opinions and keeps up with the times.

Perry spoke highly of its democratic centralism, noting that this has yielded great achievements, especially since 1978.

The Party listens to the people so its policies can reflect their minds, thus earning support from the public, Lins said.

Bambang Suryono, chief editor of Inhua Daily in Indonesia, said the Party is brave enough to embrace new things and evolve with the times.

The Party's successful guidance of China has not only helped change the country's destiny, but also advanced the common development of mankind, observers noted.

They laud China's leading role in pushing forward global trade, economic and investment cooperation, especially that among developing countries, which has benefited all countries.

Hans Hendrischke, a professor at the University of Sydney, said China is now widely participating in global value chains and is carrying out trade and investment cooperation with many countries. It has helped many countries overcome financial shortages and provided a huge market for its trade partners.

In recent years, the Party has put forward the concept of "the community of common destiny for all mankind" and the Belt and Road Initiative, with a view to seeking common development and benefiting the world.

If the initiative is carried out successfully, the countries involved will gain from the interconnection of infrastructure, bringing prosperity to the region.

The miracle of China's economic growth has become a model in development. With its rich experience, China can help other developing countries shake off poverty, Hendrischke said.

(China Daily 07/02/2016 page3)
Granny cooks breakfast for students for 24 years Updated: 2016-07-04 12:49 By Ma Chi(chinadaily.com.cn)

Mao Shihua grinds soybeans at her home. The 83-year-old sells affordable breakfast to students in Huangtankou Primary School in Huangtankou township in East China's Zhejiang proinve for the past 24 years. [Photo/Xinhua]

In the coastal province of Zhejiang, what can you buy with 0.5 yuan (8 cents)?

In Huangtankou, the answer is breakfast. For the past 24 years, 83-year-old Mao Shihua has been selling breakfast for 0.5 yuan each item to primary students.

Every day, Mao gets up at 1 am to prepare ingredients for the breakfast. At 5 am, she rides a tricycle loaded with her stall equipment to a place hundreds of meters away from Huangtankou Primary School, where she waits for her customers.

Four coal stoves, three frying pans, three aluminum pots and several plastic stools the stall of Mao Shihua is simple, but it is quite popular with the students at the Huangtankou Primary School.

"I started having breakfast here since I was a second-grader. The food here is the most affordable. In other places, merely a zongzi costs two or three yuan," said six-grader Lyv Zhihao.

Mao Shihua is picky about the quality of her food. She insists on using the best ingredients. The soybean milk is freshly ground and the eggs are cherry-picked. But she does not care about the money very much.

Asked about the profit her business makes, she could not give an exact answer. "I can roughly recover the cost," she says. Mao receives 1,040 yuan of pension each month and she spends some to cook breakfast for the students.

"We all know she could not make money. She even loses money," said Mao Yongsen, the owner of a neighboring breakfast stall. "The costs for ingredients today are not comparable with that of 24 years ago."
China vows to crack down on fake news online Updated: 2016-07-04 13:29 (Ecns.cn)

The State Internet Information Office of China has urged increased vigilance in cracking down on fake news on the Internet.

The office said in a circular that all news websites must ensure the reports they publish are "true, comprehensive, objective and impartial."

It forbids running news that sacrifices truthfulness for the purpose of being first, or directly quoting content on social networking platforms as news.

The circular has demanded that websites give credit to the original news source and bans publishing hearsay as news or distorting facts.

A number of heavyweight news portals, including Sina.com.cn, 163.com, caijing.com.cn, qq.com and toutiao.com were either fined or disciplined for running news that broke the rules, according to the office.

The office was established in 2011 to direct, coordinate and supervise online content management and handle administrative approval of businesses related to online news reporting.

An official said the office will maintain strict control over fake news and information, and further improve legislation to regulate the spread of news online.
Ling Jihua gets life sentence Updated: 2016-07-04 16:03 (Xinhua)

Ling Jihua, the former vice chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) National Committee, attends a meeting during this 2013 file photo. [Photo/Agencies]

TIANJIN - Former deputy head of China's national political advisory body Ling Jihua was sentenced to life imprisonment on Monday for taking bribes, illegally obtaining state secrets and abuse of power.Ling pled guilty and decided not to appeal, according to the first-instance ruling of the First Intermediate People's Court of Tianjin.
China consistent on disputes Updated: 2016-07-04 07:24 (China Daily)

Leading international law experts said any verdict by the Arbitral Tribunal on the South China Sea will be of no legal validity, at a seminar on the South China Sea Arbitration and International Rule of Law in the Hague on June 26. [Photo by Fu Jing/chinadaily.com.cn]

A tribunal at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague is due to make a ruling on the unilateral arbitration case submitted by the Philippines on its territorial disputes with China in the South China Sea on July 12. As that day draws nearer, the West has once again launched a propaganda offensive to try and bring shame on China.

Given that it is the former Philippine administration of Benigno Aquino III that breached the consensus reached between Beijing and Manila on the settlement of their bilateral disputes through talks, it is unreasonable for some Western media to label China as "challenging international law".

In doing so, the Aquino administration was the cat's paw of the United States, which was implementing its "return to the Asia-Pacific" strategy.

Globalization and multi-polarization remain irreversible and the time is gone when a superpower can dominate world affairs. In this globalized and multi-polar era, a single country cannot represent the whole of international society and so any attempts to determine world opinion and defame China will be unlikely to succeed.

It is China's consistent stance that it will not accept or participate in the unilateral arbitration case and that direct talks between the two parties involved should be held to resolve their dispute to maintain regional peace and stability. About 60 countries have openly expressed their support of this stance.

Such a stance is based on China's perception that the South China Sea issue involves complicated political and historical factors. By advocating direct talks as a way of resolving the dispute between the parties concerned, China aims to maintain international rule of law and bring conduct under the framework of the international legal bodies.
Gaokao reveals unhealthy college contest Updated: 2016-07-04 07:48 By Xiong Bingqi(China Daily)

The top scorer in 2015 national college entrance exam in Chongqing. [Photo/IC]

Peking University and Tsinghua University, the two most prestigious institutions of higher education, dived head on into a competition to attract top scorers immediately after the results of the national college entrance examination (known in Chinese as gaokao) were announced. Media reports say the two highest scorers from Hebei province were admitted by the two universities on the very night the results were announced.

The education authorities have instructed the exam departments not to release the details of the top scorers. But every year the top scorers have drawn the attention of the media, schools and the public alike, and the competition between the country's two top universities has exposed the unhealthy college admission criteria. The two universities' emphasis on scores reflects not only their weakness for top scorers, but also their neglect for cultivating talent.

Generally, good universities across the world organize follow-up surveys to analyze their graduates' performances and interaction with people in the real world, and adjust their admission criteria according to the results. Some reports suggest a few universities have reduced their admission quotas for Asian students after their surveys found that even Asian students who score high marks lack creativity and the ability to plan out their lives.

Chinese universities, which are focused on students' scores, generally don't conduct such follow-up surveys even after the reform of college admission rules. No wonder there is disconnection among Chinese universities' enrollment procedure, cultivation of talent and employment of their graduates.

The competition between China's two premier universities mirrors the poor attitude of Chinese universities when it comes to cultivating talent. The goal of independent college admission is to break the unified talent evaluation mode of gaokao and establish a multiple evaluation system to cultivate talent, instead of judging students only by their scores.

To push independent college enrollment, universities should stop focusing on students' scores in gaokao. What the Beijing universities have done is tantamount to telling the public that "what we really care about is still exam scores", not independent college admission norms.

College enrollment reform was launched in 2003 and regarded as a significant pilot program for gaokao reform. But even after 12 years, China's top two universities are still seeking students with the highest scores in gaokao, which is like saying the independent college admission reform has failed.

Their competition owes a lot to the fact that the independent college admission pilot program is still based on gaokao, that is, students who qualify for independent enrollment, too, have to take gaokao and their scores in the exam are still an important basis for their admission. So students and their parents are still focused on the scores.

Moreover, the pilot program has failed to help establish a two-way admission mechanism between colleges and students. Independent enrollment reform has increased colleges' right to choose students, but students still have limited rights to seek admission of their choice. Even today one student normally gets a call for admission from just one college.

Under such circumstances, colleges pay attention only to admission. The top criterion for good colleges becomes the number of top scorers they admit, not the cultivation of talents or the quality of graduates they produce.

Top institutions like Peking University and Tsinghua University still regard "how many top scorers we have" as the main criterion for university ranking, which in turn propels the unhealthy competition for securing high scores among students.

Therefore, the key to promoting gaokao reform is the strict implementation of independent college enrollment in the true sense of the term. Universities should explore different aspects of exams, conduct comprehensive evaluation and use multiple criteria to admit students so that candidates get to choose the college they want to study in.

The author is deputy director of the 21st Century Education. Research Institute.
Carrying Olympic torch for China Updated: 2016-07-04 11:16 By Ji Ye in Rio de Janeiro For China Daily(China Daily USA)

Pianist Lang Lang leads six Chinese participants in the Rio Olympics torch relay on June 30 in the famous waterfall city of Iguacu in Brazil. Li Ming / For China Daily

With the start of the first Olympic Games in South America a little more than a month away, Chinese concert pianist Lang Lang led six Chinese in the Rio Olympics torch relay on June 30 in the famous Iguacu waterfall city.

The torch relay continued its journey across the Brazilian Parana state. The distance covered 170 km and some 140 torchbearers. Foz do Iguau was the last town on the Olympic flame's route on June 30.

The six torchbearers, including Lang Lang and actress Jiang Yiyan, roused the passions of the locals. As the 75th torchbearer, Lang Lang was welcomed by warm Brazilians and Chinese. Numerous people accompanied him during his 200-meter relay journey.

"It's my third time to be a Summer Olympics torchbearer," he said. "To get in touch with the Olympics and its spirit one more time, I feel more powerful, and it will lead me to go forward."

Lang Lang is a celebrity in classical music circles. He was the first Chinese pianist to join the Vienna and Berlin philharmonic orchestras, and also was a UNICEF ambassador. He has created educational projects in Europe and Asia, been an advertising icon for famous brands, and represented China on the Western cultural scene.

Earlier on June 30, Lang Lang also gave a piano show just in front of the Iguacu waterfall, one of the most famous natural landmarks in Brazil. His show attracted many spectators.

The torch relay started on May 3 and is scheduled to arrive in Rio de Janeiro on Aug 5 after passing through 320 cities.

In the indigenous language of the region, Iguacu means "great water". It is a laconic label for what must be the most awe-inspiring waterfalls in the world: A series of about 275 cascades, up to 82 metres high, crash over a plateau that stretches 2.7km wide. In the rainy season, the volume of water here can dwarf that of waterfalls such as Niagara.

The surrounding subtropical rainforest is home to fauna such as tapirs, giant anteaters, howler monkeys, ocelots and caymans, as well as some 400 species of birds, such as the elusive harpy eagle.

"With the Olympic Games in Rio, the world will look at our continent with the attention it deserves," Argentine civil servant Flix Massa said. "People will discover cultural riches and coral beauties. Just look at how amazing this place is."
Shanghai firm buys SF office building Updated: 2016-07-04 11:16 By Ai Heping in New York(China Daily USA)

San Francisco is one of the hottest real estate markets in the US, and a Chinese company, Shanghai Lingang Economic Development, has purchased a downtown office building for $42.6 million.

"They view San Francisco as a very desirable place to make their first investment in the US. It's a gateway market," Erik Hanson of JLL, who represented Shanghai Lingang, told the San Francisco Business Times, which first reported the sale on June 28.

He said that while pricing has increased amid the tech boom, San Francisco's office properties are still relatively affordable compared to buildings in larger cities such as Hong Kong or London, making them attractive for international investors.

Shanghai Lingang's website said it was formed in September 2003 and has developed what is now called the Nanhui New City, a waterfront master-planned project on the Hangzhou Bay, southeast of Shanghai.

The building had been on the market for 16 months, and its sale netted its seller a 44 percent profit, said two people familiar with the deal, according to the Business Times. The seller, Market Street Real Estate Partners, bought the building at 755 Sansome Street for $29.5 million in February 2015.

The deal is another sign that buyers, including foreign firms, believe that San Francisco's office market will remain strong despite some turmoil in the technology sector and office buildings getting increasingly expensive, the Business Times said.

"The transaction shows there's continued demand" for San Francisco, Allan Serviansky, principal of Market Street Real Estate Partners, told the publication. "I think it's a safe haven."

aiheping@chinadailyusa.com
Sanhua HVAC business heating up Updated: 2016-07-04 11:16 By Charlene Cai in Washington(China Daily USA)

Zhang Daocai (third from right), founder and chairman of Sanhua Holding Group, and Lin-Jie Huang (fourth from right), Sanhua's vice-president and chief scientist, along with Sanhua employees stand in front of Mississippi-based R-Squared Puckett Inc, a manufacturer of air-conditioning and heating parts, after it was bought by Sanhua in 2012. Provided To China Daily

Honeywell, BMW, and General Electric have one thing in common: Some air conditioning and refrigeration parts used in their products come from the same supplier, China's Sanhua Holding Group.

The three brands represent the three industries that Sanhua's products are being widely used: HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) machines for commercial and residential buildings, air conditioning and thermal systems in automobiles, and home appliances that need cooling and heating functions.

Sanhua in Chinese means "three flowers," a coincidence that Sanhua's products have now blossomed in three areas. When Zhang Daocai founded Sanhua in 1984 in a small town in Southeast China, he hoped that the flowers of "management, technology, and talents" could lead his small refrigeration components factory to a bright future.

By focusing on technology, Sanhua has developed into one of China's leading manufacturers of cooling and thermal parts and systems, employing more than 10,000 people worldwide with production bases in China, North America, Europe and Asia.

Sanhua's dedication to innovation has won it big-name followers. According to Zhang Yabo, president of Sanhua and son of the founder, Carrier, the inventor and global leading manufacturer of HVAC machines, has signed a strategic agreement with Sanhua to co-develop a control system for Carrier's products.

"We also recently won a bid to provide electric expansion valve (EEV) to the leading electronic car manufacturer in the US, who has very high standard in energy efficiency," said Zhang, stopping short of naming the car company.

"Our valve smartly controls the temperature of the vehicle battery to enable it to run at the most energy efficient way," he said.

Sanhua is among the pioneers of Chinese companies to sell products in the US market, first through a trade company in 1990s, then establishing its own US operation in 2002 to manage sales and distribution.

Sanhua's US connection went deeper in 2007 when the company acquired Ranco, the inventor and world's leading manufacturer of four-way valve (FWV), which is used in HVAC machines to control the flow of refrigerant to switch between cooling and heating.

Sanhua continues to build upon Ranco. Its FWV product is now on its fourth generation, supplying leading global HVAC brands including Carrier, Trane, Honeywell and Goodman, along with other parts.

"The FWV we sell now is 80 percent smaller than the original Ranco size, which greatly reduced price and energy consumption," said Lin-Jie Huang, Sanhua's vice-president and chief scientist in charge of the company's R&D efforts worldwide.

Huang started his career in automotive research and design with General Motors as a research scientist upon receiving his PhD from the University of Pennsylvania in 1989. Before joining Sanhua in 2012, Huang was vice-president for global R&D at Danfoss, a Denmark-headquartered global producer of HVAC machineries.

"I chose Sanhua because of its dedication to innovation," said Huang, who holds more than 300 international patents and was admitted to the Innovation Hall of Fame at Delphi in 2004, a spinoff from GM and now the world's leading auto-parts manufacturer.

According to Huang, it took Sanhua five years to master the skills it takes to manage an acquired foreign company and maximize its value. The Ranco process prepared Sanhua well for its next phase of globalization.

Sanhua bought bankrupt AWECO Appliance Systems, a Germany-based producer of home appliance parts and system, in 2012, and moved the production base to Poland, where the cost of labor is one-third of Germany's, but kept and expanded the R&D team in Germany. AWECO started to generate profits in the last quarter of 2015.

Sanhua further expanded in the US in 2012, acquiring Mississippi-based R-Squared Puckett Inc (R2), a local manufacturer of precision heat transfer. Sanhua is using R2 as a base to expand its presence in the US, increasing its employees from about 20 to currently more than 150, adding production lines, and buying nearby lands to make the facility a campus to include logistics, service, and technology centers. Now the US operation accounts for Sanhua's 45 percent output.

Sanhua is also planning to set up an operation in Detroit to be closer to its customers in the automobile industry, who now include General Motors, Ford, Mercedes-Benz and BMW.

Sanhua's global footprint now also includes Mexico, India and Thailand. A facility in Turkey is in planning.

With its rapidly growing capacity worldwide, Sanhua's goal is ambitious: reaching $4.6 billion by 2020 and doubling that by 2025. How will it achieve that? Zhang's answer: relying on innovation to go green.

"We are dedicated to make products that are more energy efficient. That is our fundamental goal. We want to contribute to the environment," said Zhang, an engineering major with an executive MBA.

charlenecai@chinadailyusa.com
Manila urged to put aside upcoming ruling Updated: 2016-07-04 08:16 By Zhang Yunbi and Wujiao(China Daily)

Sources: China won't resume negotiations on disputes based on tribunal decision

China will not resume negotiations with the Philippines about disputes in the South China Sea if the discussions are based on the ruling of an arbitral tribunal in The Hague, according to sources.

The negotiations have been stalled for years, and the tribunal is due to announce its ruling on July 12.

The sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, are close to the issues between the two countries. The tribunal is in charge of the arbitration process that was launched unilaterally by the Philippines against China in 2013.

Many observers have voiced hopes that the chilly relations between Beijing and Manila will end after Rodrigo Duterte took office as the 16th Philippine president on Thursday.

"Manila must put aside the result of the arbitration in a substantive approach," one of the sources said.

The sources also said Beijing is ready to start negotiations on issues such as joint development and cooperation in scientific research if the new government puts the tribunal's ruling aside before returning to the table for talks.

China has rejected being part of the compulsory arbitral proceedings partly because the case involves sovereignty and maritime delimitation, which it declared in 2006 are issues that are not subject to any third-party arbitration.

Although the outgoing Philippine government said it had exhausted all diplomatic approaches before seeking arbitration, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said Manila did not embark on any serious two-way negotiations over the claims it had raised with the tribunal.

Wilson Lee Flores, an analyst and columnist for the Philippine Star newspaper, said he expects "more pragmatism and bilateral diplomacy to prevail in the Duterte government's dealings with China, instead of the past six years of confrontations".

Normalizing bilateral relations with China would help to balance the Philippines' foreign policy with its traditional ally the United States, Flores said.

Li Guoqiang, a senior researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences' Institute of Chinese Borderland Studies, said: "For all the disputes concerning the South China Sea, negotiation is the only choice and the only viable approach. Confrontation will never help to resolve the South China Sea issue."

Li said that no matter how the tribunal rules, he believes the situation will not go into free fall, but that the decision will possibly lead to some "new chaos".

"No matter how the new president acts on the ruling, diplomatic negotiation is second to none. Using the ruling as a condition for resuming diplomatic consultations will not be viable," Li said.

Zhu Feng, professor and executive director at Nanjing University's China Center for Collaborative Studies of the South China Sea, said it will be "a very important and ideal start" if the new Philippine government repairs ties with China.

He said this will be the case if it "effectively manages in a reasoned manner the impact brought by the ruling on the existing bilateral disputes between China and the Philippines".
Response to 'fully depend' on Manila Updated: 2016-07-05 02:52 By ZHANG YUNBI and WUJIAO(China Daily)

Actions by Philippines and others after arbitration ruling to set tone, sources say

After the ruling in the South China Sea arbitration case is unveiled next week, China's response will "fully depend" on actions taken by the Philippines and other countries, sources told China Daily.

The Arbitral Tribunal in The Hague, established at Manila's unilateral request despite China's objection, will announce its ruling on July 12. Washington, a major ally of Manila, has publicly pressed Beijing to accept the ruling.

Speculation on China's possible reactions to the ruling have been fueled partly by the fact that the case involves sovereignty and maritime delimitation.

Whether China's response will involve words or concrete measures will "fully depend on what kind of actions the Philippines and other countries will take based on the arbitration results", sources close to the matter said on condition of anonymity.

"If China then decides to take countermeasures, its counteracting paces and paradigms will fully conform to its own agenda and will not be framed by such actions (by parties including Manila)," one of the sources said.

Another source said "there will be no incident at all if all related parties put aside the arbitration results".

Some speculate that the PLA Navy drill in the South China Sea from Tuesday to July 11 is China's warning against the ruling. The Associated Press noted that the designated area for the drills covers China's Xisha Islands.

In response, the Ministry of National Defense said on Monday that the drill is "a regular exercise and was arranged in accordance with the annual plan".

There also has been speculation that after the ruling is announced, China will establish an air defense identification zone in the South China Sea or send troops to its Huangyan Island there.

"So far, no Chinese official has made such announcement," one of the sources said, adding that "China has never taken a lead in provoking for an accident or stirring up regional tension".

Meanwhile, the sources referred to major sovereignty-related incidents since 2010, including the Diaoyu Islands crisis prompted by Japan in 2012 and the Huangyan Island standoff brought by the Philippines earlier in the same year.

"But if there are more such provocations, China will not shy away from them," one of the sources said.

Jin Canrong, a professor of international relations at Renmin University of China, said that the wisest approach for the new Philippine Cabinet and the United States would be to embark on "a cooling treatment" by putting aside the ruling and refraining from hyping it.

Zhang Junshe, a senior researcher at the PLA Naval Military Studies Research Institute, said some people in the US prefer to contain China by enforcing the alignment between the US and its allies.

"The US has not fully respected China's core interests and major concerns  and the recent freedom of navigation actions by the US military in the South China Sea have worsened its mutual trust with China's military," Zhang said.

Contact the writers at zhangyunbi@chinadaily.com.cn
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HCM CITY  Viet Nams tra fish exports to China recorded strong growth in the first five months of the year, hitting nearly US$95 million, a year-on-year surge of nearly 73 per cent.

China is one of the three largest importers of Vietnamese tra fish, along with the US and EU, according to Vo Hung Dung, deputy chairman and general secretary of the Viet Nam Pangasius Association.

Exports of tra fish to Brazil have also surged, increasing 118.3 per cent to $32.8 million in the first five months of the year.

Total exports of tra fish reached 650.3 million in the same period, a rise of 5.5 per cent over the corresponding period last year, according to the Viet Nam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP).

The US remains the top importer of tra fish from Viet Nam with $152 million, accounting for 23.4 per cent of total exports, a rise of 12.9 per cent over the same period.

In the EU, Vietnamese exports of tra fish continued to fall in the first five months.

As of the end of May, exports to the EU reached $109.3 million, a fall of 8.1 per cent compared to the same period last year.

The four largest EU importers of tra fish from Viet Nam are the UK, the Netherlands, Spain and Germany.

Viet Nams tra fish exports are expected to reach $1.5 billion by the end of the year, a drop of 5 per cent from last year.

The US anti-dumping tax, catfish inspection programme and competition with white-flesh fish have all caused a decline in catfish exports, according to VASEP.

Viet Nams tra fish products are sold in more than 100 countries and territories. VNS
HCM City  The Mekong Delta city of Can Tho plans to solicit investment in and offer incentives to the information technology industry.

The Mekong Delta provinces have not got any high-tech park with proper infrastructure like HCM City and Ha Noi though human resources for the industry are plentifully available, Vo Hung Dung, director of the Viet Nam Chamber of Commerce and Industrys Can Tho branch, was quoted as saying by Thoi bao Kinh te Viet Nam (Viet Nam Economic Times) newspaper.

"They would like to develop the industry but have not been able to launch any project with a comprehensive incentive policy.

Last year out of 571 projects in which the region solicited investment, only two were in IT.

In March last year the Government approved the National Targeted Programme on developing IT industry by 2020 with vision to 2025.

Can Thos development and incentive policies are likely to be in line with this programme.

Viet Nam has become an attractive destination for high-tech companies and many have come, including Japans Sanyo, Matsushita, Sony, Fujitsu, Toshiba, Panasonic, and Nidec, the USs Intel and Microsoft, and South Koreas Samsung and LG.

All of them have factories with modern technologies in the country and continue to expand production.

HCM City houses most of the high-tech companies in its Sai Gon High-tech Park (SHTP).

As of April SHTP had 100 factories, including those belonging to Intel, SamSung, Nidec and Jabil.

Last year its exports were worth US$4 billion, four times the 2011 figure.

The average output of a worker in SHTP is 9.8 times that of workers in other industrial parks and one hectare creates an export value of $14 million. -- VNS
HCM CITY  The Viet Nam Cashew Association has suggested establishing a fund that will make cashew production sustainable.

It would also help strengthen linkages between cashew businesses and farmers, ang Hoang Giang, deputy chairman of the association, known as Vinacas, told its ninth congress held in HCM City last Friday to review the 2013-15 period and make plans for 2016-20.

The fund would raise money from four sources  the Government, cashew processors and exporters (US$1-$2 for every tonne of cashew exported), donors and others -- he said.

He said 50-70 per cent of the fund would be used for programmes to improve cashew fields, research into cashew strains and support farmers.

The remaining would be earmarked for research and instalment of processing machinery and equipment, improving product quality, hygiene and food safety, and trade promotion both at home and abroad, he said.

The fund would be managed by a trust, he said.

Vinacas will continue to focus on four key programmes: Working together with farmers; Cleaner production; Viet Nams cashew value; and Export development.

Nguyen uc Thanh, Vinacas chairman, said while exports of many agricultural products faced difficulties in 2013-15, cashew exports increased consistently in terms of both volume and value.

The country earned $2.5 billion from the export of 330,000 tonnes of nuts and cashew-based products last year, a year-on-year increase of 15 per cent in value and 10 per cent in volume, accounting for 9 per cent of total agricultural export earnings.

Average export price was $7,300 per tonne in 2015, 12 per cent higher than in the previous year. It was also the 10th consecutive year in which Viet Nam remained the largest cashew exporter.

Viet Nam in fact accounts for 50 per cent of the global revenue for cashew exports.

In the first half of this year it exported 156,000 tonnes for $1.2 billion.

Its products are available in more than 80 countries and territories, with the US, EU and China being key markets.

At the congress, Nguyen uc Thanh was elected to continue as chairman of the association for another term. - VNS
HA NOI  The Ministry of Industry and Trade will likely continue to require importers of complete built up (CPU) cars with less than nine seats to show proof that they are authorised dealers for foreign automakers. The requirement was mentioned in the ministrys Circular 20, which came into effect in June 2011 but was scheduled to become invalid on July 1 this year.

The regulations initial purpose was to tighten the import of CBU cars and compel businesses to ensure that after-sale services, such as warranty and maintenance, matched the manufacturers standards. It is said that meeting these standards is very difficult for businesses because foreign automakers always choose only one official supplier in a foreign country.

Insiders expect that the regulation will once again come into force because it has been included in a draft decree on trade and investment conditions. The draft has been sent to relevant ministries and sectors for suggestions.

Many auto importers in Viet Nam are eagerly waiting for the new decree.

If the regulation on auto imports is retained, importers who are authorised dealers for foreign automakers, can set their mind at ease and continue doing business as normal. But if the regulation is removed, all businesses, including those that are not authorised dealers for foreign automakers, can import CBUs to Viet Nam.

Speaking to baodientu.chinhphu.vn, deputy head of the ministrys Import-Export Department, Tran Thanh Hai, defended the regulation, saying that if the regulation on auto imports in Circular 20 was not put into the decree, it would lead to a series of negative impacts on the domestic automobile market.

Hai said that the lifting of the regulation would also put a halt to the national automobile industrys development planning already approved by the Prime Minister, which includes the plan to boost the development of domestic auto assembling and manufacturing businesses.

There are two additional factors that will push up auto imports in Viet Nam: the auto import tariff for ASEAN members becomes zero per cent as of 2018, and the countrys reduction of the special consumption tax on vehicles with small engine displacement has come into effect since July 1 this year.

"If the regulation is removed, it will accelerate auto imports, leading to social problems such as traffic jams and urban environmental pollution," Hai said.

Its not that the ministry does not want to remove difficulties for businesses, but the lifting of the regulation will likely cause unhealthy competition in the market, like it was before 2011 when Circular 20 had not yet been issued," he added.

In response to the draft decree, the Viet Nam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) has recently asked to abrogate the circulars regulation and not put it into the decree.

The VCCI said the requirement of having an authorised paper to become an official supplier of a foreign automaker had created advantages for some businesses that were authorised dealers.

Meanwhile, other businesses that did not have such a paper but wanted to import vehicles had to buy cars from authorised dealers to sell them in the market.

This not only led to unfair competition between the two groups, but also meant consumers had to pay a higher price for the imported vehicles.

The Ministry of Justice has also opposed this regulation in an official letter recently sent to the Government.

Earlier, many auto importers, official suppliers, the Viet Nam Automobile Manufacturers Association and the European Chamber of Commerce in Viet Nam, as well as the German Business Association in Viet Nam and the Viet Nam Business Forum, sent documents to Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc proposing to keep the regulations on auto imports in Circular 20.

They also expressed their concerns that if the regulation was removed, it would affect the domestic automobile industry and the auto market, lead to commercial fraud in auto imports, losses in tax and influence the interests and rights of domestic consumers.

According to a report from the General Statistic Office, Viet Nam imported an estimated 49,000 cars, worth US$1.18 billion in the first half of this year, decreasing by 11.2 per cent in quantity and 21.2 per cent in value compared with the same period last year.

May and June were a boisterous period for high-value auto imports. This is because businesses and consumers had tried to import vehicles with 10 seats and below and with an engine displacement of more than 2,500cc before July 1 when the increase of special consumption tax comes into effect.  VNS
Viet Nam News

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has ordered the closure of about 2.2 million hectares of natural forests in Central Highlands localities on June 20. The move aims to avoid the over-harvesting of wood after statistics from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development recently showed that about 300,000 ha of natural forest had been cleared during 2010-14. A lot of policy-makers, heads of localities and experts have applauded the Prime Ministers decision. Tin tuc (News) newspaper sat down to listen to comments on how to increase the effectiveness of forest management and protection in the coming time.

Ngo ong Hai

Ngo ong Hai, deputy head of the National Economic Committee

I highly agree with the Prime Ministers direction of closing natural forests as well as solutions to recover and develop our natural forests. I submit to the Government a request to quickly adjust regulations and policies regarding the management and protection of natural forests in order to fit with the current situation. For example, we need to concretise rules on the rights and obligations of individuals and organisations in exploiting and protecting our natural forests. Only when the rules are concretised will we have a foundation to force individuals and organisations to take more responsibility in forest protection. The Government is also advised to issue specific sanctions on localities heads if they fail in protecting and developing natural forests as committed.

Tran Viet Hung

Tran Viet Hung, standing deputy head of Central Highlands Steering Committee

I think peoples committees of all Central Highlands provinces should price their forestry land. Then based on theses assessments they can force individuals or organisations to pay compensation if they were given responsibility for a natural forest but failed to protect and develop it. The assessments would also be a foundation to calculate benefits that an individual or organisation could receive if they increased the timber volume in the forest area they are given to grow and protect. Raising the effectiveness of forest protection and improving the capability of forest management boards, forest rangers and relevant agencies are all key factors that the Government should pay more attention to in the coming time.

Pham Ngoc Nghi

Pham Ngoc Nghi, chairman of the Peoples Committee of Central Highland ak Lak Province

Our current system of managing and protecting natural forests has some shortcomings. Thus, I propose that the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development specifically instruct localities to implement policies on forest management under the Government Decision No 07/Q-TTG issued in 2012. The ministry is required to quickly release legal documents to clearly regulate the rights and obligations of State agencies in managing and protecting forests. The legal documents are expected to ensure higher effectiveness of managing and protecting forests throughout the country.

Nguyen Ngoc Lung

Nguyen Ngoc Lung, formerly head of the Viet Nam Administration of Forestry under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development

The State and the Government actually started to close natural forests in 1992. At that time, the ratio of natural forest cover was only about 27 per cent of the total forest area across the country. The forestry sector reported to the Government that it had failed to maintain the sustainable development of the national forests. In response to this situation, the Government decided to invest about US$52 million to green our forests.

At present, according to reports from the agricultural ministry, deforestation and changes in forest usage are to blame for the loss of forests. Some localities have chopped down natural forests to plant rubber and other industrial trees. Other localities have shifted into building hydro-power plants and transport works. To end the problem, authorised agencies have to join hands and take cohesive measures.

Cao Chi Cong

Cao Chi Cong, deputy head of the Viet Nam Administration of Forestry under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development

Before closing the natural forests in the Central Highlands area, all other natural forests in the country were closed. Now with the newly-issued decision of the Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, all our natural forests have been closed.

Until 2014, there were only three State-owned companies allowed to exploit wood from natural forests under the green light of the Government. The units included the Truong Son Forest Enterprises branch in central Quang Binh Province, the ak To Forestry Company based in Central Highlands Kon Tum Province and the ai Thanh Company located in Central Higlands ak Nong Province. The companies were permitted to exploit a total of 18,500 cubic metres of timber each year.

However, the agriculture ministry has submitted a proposal to remove permission to these companies at least for the next five to ten years, aiming to raise the quality of our natural forests. The movement is also hoped to bring illegal logging under control.  VNS
The attack on late Friday killed over 20 people and injured more than 40 others. Photo BBC

HA NOI  Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh offered condolences to Bangladeshi Foreign Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali over the heavy loss of life in a terror attack in the capital city Dhaka.

The attack on late Friday killed over 20 people and injured more than 40 others.

Le Hai Binh, spokesman of the Vietnamese Foreign Ministry, said yesterday that Viet Nam condemns terror activities in any form and considers the attack on civilians at the Holey Artisan Bakery in Dhaka on July 1 barbarous and unacceptable.

Viet Nam sends heartfelt condolences to the Government and people of Bangladesh, the countries whose citizens have been killed, and the families of the victims. We believe that the instigators will soon be punished appropriately, he noted.

He added that there hasnt been any information about Vietnamese citizens affected by the incident.

Staff members of the Vietnamese Embassy and the FPT company in Dhaka, located about 200 metres from the scene of the attack, are all safe. They have been advised to restrict their movements for a period of time and avoid crowded places after 6pm, Binh said.--VNS
Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong delivers a speech at the opening ceremony.

Viet Nam News HA NOI  The 12th Party Central Committee opened its third meeting in Ha Noi this morning under the chair of Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong. The meetings agenda focuses on working regulations of the partys agencies and recommendations on high-ranking State personnel, among others. In his opening speech, the party chief said the working regulations of the Party Central Committee, the Politburo, the Secretariat and the Commission for Inspection should be based on the previous rules and need to be specific, cohesive and reasonable, ensuring democracy will be promoted further and discipline will be well maintained. It was necessary to improve capacity and efficiency in the partys leadership and promote the autonomy, creativity and responsibility of other organisations in the political system, he added.

The 12th Party Central Committee opens its third meeting in Ha Noi this morning.  VNA/VNS Photo

The Party General Secretary asked Party Central Committee members to directly give feedback to draft regulations concerning inspection, supervision and enforcement of the Party Statute.

He also underlined the importance of personnel recommendations for State agencies in 2016-2021, calling it a crucial task.

At the 13th National Assemblys 11th session held in late March and early April this year, NA deputies had elected and approved the posts of president, prime minister, NA chairperson and 34 other leaders of State agencies, introduced by the Party Central Committee at its second meeting, he said.

At the current meeting, these posts will not be re-voted, but the remaining 13 posts that have not yet been introduced to the 12th Party Central Committees second plenum will go through a vote before being submitted to the 14th National Assembly for consideration, election or approval at its first session.

The third plenum will continue until July 8.  VNS
HA NOI  Ministries must intensify their actions to prevent all kinds of illegal river-bed mining and strictly punish those found to be illegally exploiting sand across the country, said Deputy Prime Minister Trinh inh Dung.

Deputy PM Dung has made a request to the Ministry of Public Security to strengthen their co-operation with local authorities in directing and supporting local police and people to take out effective measures against all acts violating river protection regulations.

The Ministry of Transport (MoT) should mobilise all efforts in implementing the Prime Ministers Directive No 03/CT-TTg dated 30/03/2015 on enforcement of policies and legislation on sand mining, according to the Deputy PM on Friday.

The MoT was also assigned to co-ordinate with and steer local authorities in evaluating the implementation of PMs Decision No 73/2013/Q-TTg on a pilot river-dredging and transport management programme.

It should report to the Prime Minister before the end of December this year, said the deputy PM.

Dung assigned the m inistries of Construction, Industry and Trade, and Natural Resources and Environment to work with, guide and urge city and provincial Peoples Committees nation-wide in evaluating and reviewing all mineral mining plans for the 2016-2020 period that needed to be submitted to the Government for adjustment or changes. Illegal mineral exploitation, especially of sand and gravel from river beds, has caused the erosion of most rivers across Viet Nam and has damaged farms and gardens along riverbanks for about a decade. These activities have not been properly controlled by the Government and local authorities, a report from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment recently revealed.

The situation had turned into an extremely complicated trend causing loss of resources, environmental pollution and adversely impacting socio-economic development and public security, the report said.

Environmental experts blamed the situation on the large number of miners who lacked knowledge of environmental protection laws. Many who saw the large profits that could be earned from illegal sand mining were willing to ignore legal regulations.

Police said violators used various underhanded techniques to hide from the law, such as working at night, employing poor labourers and even creating fake exploiting licenses.

Many exploiters planned their sand mining operations in rivers on a large scale. They built wooden ships with a capacity of up to a 100 tons and installed powerful pumps to suck sand from the bottom of rivers.

According to a recent police report, within a couple of hours at night, a ship can be filled to capacity and moves to a private port along the riverbank to sell its cargo. In some cases, ships can even approache riverbanks and directly sucked up sand with high powered pumps. If detected by authorities, offenders often will deliberately sink their ship to destroy the evidence. -- VNS
A French villa being torn down without permission. Situated on Binh Thanh Districts 237 No Trang Long Street.  Photo tuoitre.vn

HCM CITY  About 1,350 century-old houses and villas in HCM City, mostly in District 1 and 3, need thorough conservation and strict monitoring plans to avoid illegal dismantlement, city authorities say.

Authorities recently reported a French villa being torn down without permission. Situated on Binh Thanh Districts 237 No Trang Long Street, the villa was a European-style villa with outstanding architectural and cultural values from the early 1920s. Due to the high risk of it collapsing, it was recently demolished without authorities permission.

The houses owner said the request to demolish the villa was made to multiple agencies many months ago, but the demolition license is still pending.

So far, the villas entire roof and windows have been removed. Demolition workers were told to leave the site immediately when cease and desist orders from ward officials arrived.

Truong Xuan Tam from the Ba Ria  Vung Tau Province Bar Association told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper that since authorities delayed classifying and providing the villa with legal grounds for conservation, they have no right to prohibit the owner from demolishing the structure.

With full ownership rights, the owner is not restricted from demolishing his property, especially when it is in a state of serious disrepair.

Tam added that if the villa is classified as eligible for historical conservation, the owner is allowed to repair it only when authorities give the green light. In which case, authorities are required to fund the construction work.

According to Co Hiep, a member of HCM City Bar Association, Binh Thanh District Peoples Committee must immediately inform the landlord of the suspension period to avoid being sued for delaying to grant construction permits.

Authorities must negotiate with the owner to acquire the property if they want to designate it as a historic site, he said.

Hoang Minh Tri, deputy head of HCM City Research and Development Institute who is in charge of classifying villas, said this is the first villa to be dismantled without permission.

The villa on No Trang Long Street should be designated as "first category" - the official designation which includes structures which need the most attention from authorities, he said. Because these structures represent unique architecture, owners of these villas are not permitted to reconstruct or alter their interior design and structure.

The Department of Planning and Architecture reviewed the villa landlords repair request, but a license could not be issued yet because the department must wait for the official decision from the city Peoples Committee, Tri said.

But the institute has been working on detailed plans to preserve the villa and other significant old villas and houses, while creating preferential policies to protect property owners rights.

The conservation plans will be submitted to the city Peoples Committee for review next month, Tri said.

The city formed a steering committee to manage landscape conservation and to draft evaluation criteria for villa classification in August 2010. But due to financial, manpower, and other limitations, conservation work has faced various challenges.

To avoid similar issues in the future, the city Peoples Committee recently ordered agencies to impose strict monitoring measures to protect remaining historical properties from illegal demolition.

Properties that have deteriorated beyond repair will be dismantled, if permission is granted.

In late 2015, the city Peoples Committee approved a Department of Planning and Architecture plan to demolish 29 old villas in the city.  VNS
Delegates cut the ribbon to open a new medical technique building at the Thai Nguyen National General Hospital in the northern province of Thai Nguyen yesterday.  Photo cand.com.vn

THAI NGUYEN  A new medical technique building was unveiled at the Thai Nguyen National General Hospital in the northern province of Thai Nguyen yesterday.

The 15-storey building, covering 1,570 square metres of ground, features 250 beds and accommodates the departments of image analysis, biochemistry, microbiology and pathology, plus operating rooms and the surgical emergency ward.

The inauguration marked the completion of phase I of a project to upgrade the hospital.

The project was approved by the Ministry of Health in 2009 and carried out at a cost of over 498 billion VND (22.4 billion USD) funded through Government bonds.

At the ceremony, Minister of Health Nguyen Thi Kim Tien said she hopes the new building will improve local healthcare services, helping to ease overloading at hospitals in big cities and reduce patients medical expenses.

Following the inauguration, health ministry officials visited patients and planted commemorative trees on the hospital campus.  VNS
A shortage of high-quality labourers has caused headaches for a range of software companies in central a Nang City that wanted to do business with foreign countries.  Photo baodanang.vn

A NANG  A shortage of high-quality labourers has caused headaches for a range of software companies in central a Nang City that wanted to do business with foreign countries.

Statistics from the city Software Association showed that only 600 of 3,000 IT students meet the requirements of local software companies after graduating last year.

In the first six months of this year, there are up to 1,600 job vacancies related to the IT sector, including programmers, application developers and software managers, from more than 100 software companies in the city, the association said.

However, the companies failed to recruit high-quality labourers as expected.

Vy Van Viet, director of iViettech Education Centre, based in a Nang, said an engineer working in the software sector had to know how to create an application. But in schools, students were often taught about theory rather than actually creating or developing an application.

They were also lacking English and other soft skills needed to work effectively, he said.

According to software experts, the major reason recruiters rejected graduate students was because they failed to show recruiters their skills in developing or analysing an application.

Hunt for skilled software engineers

The citys Software Association said due to the shortage, the hunting of skilled software engineers had occurred among local software companies in recent years.

The occurrence of high-quality software engineers quitting their jobs after being offered higher salaries by other companies is quite common. The matter of human-resource change has put pressure on the companies.

In the short term, responding to the situation, software companies belonging to the citys software association had worked with each other to rotate skilled labourers in order to minimise changes in human resources as well as ensure benefits for each company, ang Ngoc Hai, of Daxon Active Viet Nam Co Ltd said to a Nang newspaper.

To fill the gap between the quality of graduate students and the quality of engineers that recruiters demand, companies should give training courses to graduate students so that they could meet requirements. It was believed to be an effective way to improve the quality of labourers, Vo Thanh Hai, vice principal of Duy Tan University said.  VNS
HA NOI  Surgeons of Ha Nois Heart Hospital have performed a successful operation on a newborn baby, weighing 1.5kg, suffering from severe heart disease.

The baby was born at 37 weeks in the northern province of Hai Duong. Six days after the delivery, the infant was admitted to Ha Nois Heart Hospital for special surgery for complicated heart problems.

Vuong Hoang Dung, a doctor with the hospitals Intensive Care Department, said the baby had been diagnosed with congenital heart defects, pale skin and jaundice.

The baby was at risk of heart failure.

The surgery, lasting an hour and a half, went well. The infant is in good condition and is still in the intensive care unit.

The baby will be discharged from hospital later this week, as scheduled.  VNS
HCM CITY  The HCM City Youth Union on Sunday launched its 15th Ky Nghi Hong (Pink Holiday) Campaign with around 40,000 volunteers.

The annual campaign, which lasts until August 14, focuses on five areas: environmental protection, building a civilised life and urban beauty; social security and gratitude activities; building new rural areas; charity activities toward the countrys seas and islands; and international volunteer activities.

The volunteers are organised in nine groups in the citys outlying districts, the South and Tay Nguyen (Central Highlands) regions, on near-shore islands and in Laos.

Phung Thai Quang, head of the HCM City Youth Unions Workers and Youth Division and head of the campaign, said the groups had surveyed the area where they took part in volunteer activities two months ago.

The volunteers are civil servants and State workers and employees in the city.

In environmental protection, building a civilised life and urban beauty activities, the campaign aims to guide households to classify rubbish at home and provide legal consultancy about administrative procedures for people and other works.

In social security and gratitude activities, the campaign will give 1,000 gifts for families subject to Government preferential policies and poor families, repair 10 charity houses, and present 50 scholarships and 50 bicycles for poor workers children.

The campaign seeks voluntary blood donors to donate at least 2,000 units of blood. After the launch ceremony, nearly 1,000 volunteers donated blood.

After the campaigns first day, the volunteers installed lights for 40 households and water meters for 30 households in Can Gio District, gave 50 breeder pigs and cows to poor households in outlying districts, and paved a road in Cu Chi District.

The volunteers also provided health check-ups and medicine for nearly 1,000 households in District 5 and District 6 on the first day.  VNS
HA NOI  National carrier Vietnam Airlines Flight VN237 was delayed by three hours this morning because the 787-9 Dreamliner aircrafts door was found to be askew on arriving at the boarding gate.

The flight had been scheduled to take off at 9:55am from Ha Noi to HCM City.

The carrier representative said another aircraft had been dispatched immediately to transport passengers while the 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft was under repair.

It was an unexpected thing, so the carrier offers its apologies and hopes the passengers will be understanding, he said.

The Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner is the latest version of the Boeing 787. The advanced technology on board helps save 20 per cent of the fuel required and reduces 20 per cent of emissions compared to other models.

The carrier said it has become the first airline in the Asia-Pacific region to receive and put into service the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner.  VNS
BAGHDAD  Iraq begins three days of national mourning on Monday for almost 120 people killed by a suicide bombing in a busy Baghdad shopping district claimed by Islamic State jihadists, the deadliest attack in the capital this year.

The blast hit the Karrada district early on Sunday as the area was packed with shoppers ahead of this weeks holiday marking the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.

Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced three days of national mourning for the victims as he visited the site of the attack, and his office said he had vowed to "punish" the perpetrators.

He also ordered changes to Baghdad security measures in response to the bombing, which security officials said killed at least 119 people and wounded more than 180.

The attack came a week after Iraqi security forces recaptured Fallujah from IS, leaving Mosul as the only Iraqi city under the jihadist groups control.

The blast set buildings ablaze, and crowds of people watched from the rubble-filled street as emergency personnel carried out victims and worked on the site.

A member of the civil defence forces said it would take "a number of days" to recover the bodies of the victims.

Hussein Ali, a 24-year-old former soldier, said six workers at his familys shop were killed, their bodies so badly burned they could not be identified.

"I will return to the battlefront. At least there, I know the enemy so I can fight him. But here, I dont know who Im fighting," Ali said.

Cowardly and heinous act

IS issued a statement claiming responsibility for the suicide bombing, saying it was carried out by an Iraqi as part of "ongoing security operations".

The jihadist group said the blast targeted Iraq s Shiite Muslim majority, whom the Sunni extremists consider heretics and frequently attack in Baghdad and elsewhere.

UN Iraq envoy Jan Kubis condemned the "cowardly and heinous act of unparalleled proportions," calling on authorities to bring those responsible to justice.

Officials said another explosion in the Shaab area of northern Baghdad killed at least one person and wounded four on Sunday, but the cause of the blast was disputed.

Bombings in the capital have decreased since IS overran large areas north and west of Baghdad in June 2014, with the jihadists apparently more concerned with operations elsewhere.

But the group has struck back against Iraqi civilians after suffering military setbacks, and in May, Baghdad was rocked by a series of blasts that killed more than 150 people in seven days.

A video posted on social media showed men -- apparently angry at the governments failure to prevent the carnage in Karrada -- throwing rocks at what was said to be Abadis convoy.

But the premier struck a conciliatory tone over anger directed towards him.

"I understand the emotional feelings and actions that occurred in a moment of sadness and anger," Abadi said in a statement.

With thousands of vehicles moving in and out of the city each day, such bombings are difficult to prevent.

But there are also flaws in security measures in the city, especially the continued use of fake bomb detectors at checkpoints years after the man who sold them to Iraq was jailed for fraud in Britain .

Abadi announced a series of changes to security measures following the Sunday bombing, including scrapping the fake detectors.
On the final day to bid for Lafarge Indias 11 million tonne (mt) business, foreign bidders including Mexicos Cemex and Chinas Anhui Conch Company are expected to be the most aggressive players.
At least 225 Daesh fighters were killed in Afghanistan's Nangarhar offensives over the past week.

Local officials said most of the casualties incurred to the insurgents by air raids by foreign troops that targeted the militants' hideouts in Kot district, reports Tolo News.

The clash between the Daesh rebels and the security forces started when the rebel group attacked security forces' outposts in the district.

Nearly 500 families have been reportedly displaced in Kot battle following the attack by the militant group.

Nangarhar governor Salim Kunduzi said that Daesh militants had torched nearly 90 houses in the district and the government will provide all facilities and assistance to the displaced families.
Delivering its commitment to provide expanded military aid to the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF), China has offered fresh military equipment to Afghanistan.

A cargo plane loaded with the military aid including transport vehicles and other military equipment landed in Kabul's Military Airport on Sunday.

The Office of the National Security Adviser said the military aid by China was received by National Security Adviser Mohammad Hanif Atmar and China's Ambassador to Afghanistan Yao Jing was also present during the hand over, the Khaama Press has reported.

This comes as Chief of China's People's Liberation Army Fang Fenghui during his visit to Afghanistan in March this year, announced fresh military aid of over $70 million, saying the latest aid will follow besides Beijing's ongoing cooperation in development and economic sector.

Fenghui also reiterating China's commitment to fight terrorism in the region as Afghanistan has a strategic location and acts as an important economic belt, which is continuously threatened by the terror groups.
CEDAR FALLS -- Riverview Womens Ministry is hosting the second annual Crafts and Arts Show with a bake sale from 1 to 4 p.m. July 14 in the Event Center.

Several local artisans will display their creations and art work, and a wide variety of baked goods will be available for sale.

Items will include blended teas, jewelry, baked goods, paintings, note cards, gift items such as bookmarks and magnets, bags, blankets, artist-made soaps and lotions, scarves, wood carvings and more. There is no admission or parking fee.

For more information, contact the Riverview Conference Center, 439 N. Division St., 268-0787 or riverviewcc@gmail.com.
OSAGE  For Darrel Harken, the death of his 20-year-old daughter, Grace, who was struck by a car while riding her bicycle near Osage, seems like it happened yesterday instead of nearly a year ago.

I drive by the spot twice a day, said Darrel, who lives in rural Riceville and works in Osage.

He was driving not far behind Grace on July 29, 2015, when the accident took place. Although he did not witness the crash, he came to the spot where she was lying by the side of the road shortly afterward.

He slid in the gravel beside her.

There was a lot of blood, he said. I was yelling her name, saying I loved her.

Grace didnt respond. She was taken by ambulance to the hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

The driver of the car, Courtney Lynn Johnson, 24, Osage, who, like Grace Harken was traveling east on U.S. Highway 218, admitted to texting while driving.

Johnson has been charged with two traffic violations and probably will only receive fines and a six-month suspension of her drivers license when she is sentenced July 15.

Darrel Harken called the penalty ridiculous.

He said he realizes Johnson didnt mean to kill anyone, and Assistant Mitchell County Attorney Aaron Murphy has explained under Iowa law all she could be charged with is simple misdemeanors.

But Harken said he is afraid the penalty is not enough to prevent more deaths.

It needs to be put in the hands of the Iowa Legislature, he said.

Assistant Iowa Attorney General Pete Grady said Iowa does not have a negligent homicide statute. If someone is to be charged with vehicular homicide or involuntary manslaughter, their behavior has to go beyond negligence, he said.

Iowa law states only those who unintentionally cause the death or serious injury of another person by driving while intoxicated, driving a motor vehicle in a reckless manner with willful or wanton disregard for the safety of others, eluding or attempting to elude a pursuing law enforcement vehicle or drag racing can be charged with homicide or serious injury by vehicle.

The Iowa Court of Appeals and Iowa Supreme Court have interpreted the law to mean a high standard of proof is needed for reckless behavior causing death, according to Grady.

One ruling states recklessness can only be proved if a defendant commits a public offense in such a manner it made it more likely than not the death of another would result and the defendant was aware of the risk.

Its very troubling from a traffic safety point of view as well as a public safety point of view, Grady said.

State Rep. Sharon Steckman, D-Mason City, said in her opinion someone who is texting while driving is engaging in reckless behavior, but Im not an attorney.

In March the Mitchell County Attorneys Office filed three simple misdemeanor traffic citations against Johnson: texting while driving with an enhanced penalty for causing a fatality, driving too close to a bicyclist and failure to maintain control. She pleaded guilty to the first two charges.

Murphy contacted the Iowa Attorney Generals Office for advice before filing the charges. He was told his understanding was correct: The most Johnson could be charged with was traffic violations.

Thats where we are at, Murphy said. I dont know if it is justice or not, but thats what the law is.

As far as the penalty, I think arguably there could be a 30-day jail sentence, but arguably there could be no jail time available, he said.

Ultimately the decision is up to the judge, according to Murphy.

He said the accident is a tragedy for everyone, including the Harken family and Johnson and her family.

Johnson could not be reached for comment.

Darrel Harken said although he is angry that Grace had to go, he is not vengeful.

He said the family has decided against filing a civil lawsuit against Johnson because its an unpredictable path.

Darrels wife, Christine, said her daughter, who was attending Prairie Bible College in Alberta, Canada, lived a life of love and loved the life she had.

She said Grace, the 2013 Miss Mitchell County Fair Queen, loved singing, going on mission trips and sharing her love of Jesus with others.

Christine said Grace believed in forgiveness.

Not forgiving wont bring Grace back, Darrel said.

But we have deep sadness. We miss her, Christine said.
Bus arsonist gets death penalty in China Updated: 2016-07-04 08:59 (Xinhua)

YINCHUAN - An arsonist convicted of setting a bus on fire in northwest China in January in an attack that killed 18 people was sentenced to death by a local court on Sunday.



Ma Yongping set a bus on fire using a bottle of gasoline on Jan. 5, motivated by his anger over a personal dispute, according to the Yinchuan Municipal Intermediate People's Court in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region.



The fire, which quickly burned the bus into an empty shell, also injured 32 others.



Ma appealed to the court on Sunday.
Advertisement

By Jim Waters

Jul. 03, 2016 | LEXINGTON, KY

By Jim Waters Jul. 03, 2016 | 11:07 AM | LEXINGTON, KY

Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton backs a federal minimum-wage hike from the current $7.25 per hour to $12 per hour and praised the New York City Wage Board's decision that fast-food workers should make $15 an hour.



This move was predictably divisive.



Retail workers wanted to know: "Hey, what about us? Why should only McDonald's burger flippers get this raise?"



But the divide caused by such unilateral and arbitrary decisions extends beyond New York's tussle between MeDonald's order takers, who now will be paid $15 an hour  at least those lucky enough to keep their jobs will be  and cashiers at Costco next door who remain at a $9 hourly wage.



Bernie Sanders, the sloppy Socialist and Clinton's fast-fading primary opponent, conveniently dodges any discussion about how his plan to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour will threaten complete removal of the bottom rung of the employment ladder for young, inexperienced, low-skilled and less-educated workers.



The real head scratcher here is that those are the very same people who form the core of the Bern's campaign constituency.



Heaping helpings of hypocrisy on the part of labor unions regarding minimum-wage hikes also accompany the head scratching.



The AFL-CIO wants the Los Angeles City Council to exempt unions from the city's $15-an-hour minimum wage, even after it led a campaign earlier this year to force such a wage hike on the entire state of California while vehemently opposing any exemptions for restaurant workers, nonprofits or other small businesses.



The higher such hypocrisy rises here, the dizzier I get.



Some Kentucky big-government politicians are following Sanders' strategy of avoiding any discussion about the unintended consequences of hiking the commonwealth's minimum wage while offering preposterous positivity about such a move.



For instance, House Speaker Greg Stumbo, D-Prestonsburg, categorically denied that his bill during this year's legislative session, which proposed an enormous 40-percent hike in the state's minimum-wage rate, would hurt Kentucky's unemployment rate, which currently stands higher than that of 30 other states.



Stumbo claims that unemployment rates actually fall in states that hike their minimum wages.



However, recent research by Jeffrey Clemens and Michael Wither at the University of California San Diego on the effect that the minimum wage had on the employment and income trajectories of low-skilled workers during the Great Recession reveals how 1.4 million jobs were destroyed by the increase of the federal minimum wage during the late 2000s.



The study reports that the federal government's minimum-wage increase from $5.15 on July 23, 2007, to $7.25 on July 24, 2009, caused the employment-to-population ratio to decline substantially  by 4 full percentage points among adults between 25 and 54 years old  and twice that amount among 15-to-24-year-olds.



Ben Gitis, American Action Forum's labor market policy director, notes a 22.5 percent average unemployment rate in 2013 among teens in states with minimum wages above the federal $7.25 federal mark.



Gitis claims that in Oregon and Washington  states often held up as trend setters by those obsessed with raising government-mandated minimum wages  teen unemployment rates increased by 8 percent and 9 percent, respectively, in 2013 alone.



But Sanders and his naive flock have little interest in, concern  or even knowledge about  the fact that when governments force businesses to pay a worker $15 to make a milkshake, the bottom rung of the employment ladder is removed and with it, the opportunity to give a greater number of young people the jobs and work experiences needed to help them climb the ladder of  and to  success.



Shepherd Stumbo apparently doesn't, either.



Jim Waters is president of the Bluegrass Institute; Kentucky's free-market think tank. Reach him at jwaters@freedomkentucky.com. Read previously published columns at www.bipps.org.
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Jul 4, 2016 | By Alec

It was almost impossible to miss. A few days ago, the internet became mesmerized by a remarkable optical puzzle by Japanese illusionist Kokichi Sugihara. Called the 'Ambiguous Cylinder Illusion', it featuring sets of plastic squares that turn into circles when reflected in front of a mirror. Even more mind-boggling, the effect is reversed when the model is reversed by hand. Fortunately, the mystery was quickly solved by 3D printing specialist Devon from Make Anything, who reverse-engineered the model to reveal that the shapes were neither circles or squares: but simply a shape that was right in between. Combined with the engrained perception conventions of our brains, the fantastic illusion is created.

It was one of those videos that showed the power of the internet. A video of Kokichi Sugiharas illusion (visible below) was posted on Reddit a few days ago, after which it quickly reached the far corners of the web. The direct views of the objects and their mirror images generate quite different interpretations of the 3D shapes. They look like vertical cylinders, but their sections appear to be rectangles, while in the other view they appear to be circles, Sugihara said.

The videos impact was huge. Collectively, the world wondered how on earth the shapes can transform through simple reflection. Engineer and artist Kokichi Sugihara created the installation for the Illusion of the Year contest, in which he ultimately won the second prize. But of course theres more to it than simple amazement. The Illusion competition emphasizes that they are seeking to expand our understanding of how our brains process information. How we see the outside world  our perception  is generated indirectly by brain mechanisms, and so all perception is illusory to some extent. The study of illusions is critical to how we understand sensory perception, and many ophthalmic and neurological diseases, they state.

Ultimately, the solution could therefore be found in how our brain processes visual information. In fact, the solution came within hours of the first clip coming online. Devon from 3D printing specialists Make Anything quickly posted a video called Ambiguous Cylinder Illusion/How It Works, which explained the trick.

As it turned out, the objects in question are neither circles or squares, but simply right between the two. Whats more, the square sides curve upwards, while he circle sides slop downwards, completing the illusion. As a result, it can appear as a circle or a square depending on the angle youre viewing it in. The different heights correct the geometric differences that are created. As a result, our brains  which are used to distinguishing between circles and squares  see what they expect to see.

Its a very clever trick that underlines the limitations of our own sensors. We cannot correct our interpretations although we logically know that they come from the same objects, Kokichi Sugihara explained. Even if the object is rotated in front of a viewer, it is difficult to understand the true shape of the object, and thus the illusion does not disappear. If you want to try it for yourself, you can download the STL file for Devons 3D printable cylinder on Thingiverse here.

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Jul 4, 2016 | By Alec

As several recent military conflicts have emphasized, warfare is changing. The focus is shifting to attrition, guerilla warfare and home front terror, and as a result many militaries are working hard to become more flexible and create military forces that can rapidly adapt to any situation. Its exactly why 3D printers are finding their way to warships for on-the-fly repairs and alterations. But a team of UK scientists and engineers from the University of Glasgow and BAE Systems are already looking much further than that. They are working on a chemical 3D printer called the Chemputer, which can grow highly advanced and bespoke unmanned aircraft in a matter of weeks.

This futuristic concept was unveiled ahead of this years Farnborough International Airshow. The Chemputer sounds like something that is coming straight out of science fiction, but this is molecular-level 3D printer that grows everything from wings to electronic systems is really under development. The idea, of course, is to quickly build military equipment close to the battlefield and adapt it to overcome any geographical, technological or numerical disadvantages an army might have. Whats more, the drones are envisioned to be highly functional, flying at ultra-fast speeds and high altitudes to even outpace missile systems and provide a rapid response behind enemy lines.

The developer is BAE Systems, which is very well known in military technology circles. The second largest defense contractor in the world, BAE Systems resulted from a 7.7 billion merger of Marconi Electronic Systems and British Aerospace in 1999. The companys focus is currently on multinational security, aerospace and defense, and it has headquarters in London and Farnborough, as well as operations all over the world.

As the company revealed, they are essentially looking to overcome production limitations in todays military environment. As all the necessary steps for aircraft production from design to production take years, its everything but efficient. Over the course of the 21rst century they will therefore focus on the production of bespoke UAVs, grown in lab environments in a number of weeks, by harnessing chemical growth procedures and encouraging evolution.

At the core of this concept is the Chemputer, which is being developed through BAE Systems collaborative open innovation approach to scientific innovation. To build it, the company tapped Prof Lee Cronin from Glasgow University, while BAE Systems provides industrial advice. The world of military and civil aircraft is constantly evolving and it's been exciting to work with scientists and engineers outside BAE Systems and to consider how some unique British technologies could tackle the military threats of the future, said Professor Nick Colosimo, a BAE Systems Global Engineering Fellow.

In a nutshell, they are envisioning a 3D printer that prints environmentally sustainable molecules, rather than objects or layered structures. With the help of additives and nutrients, these molecules will be encouraged to grow into any necessary (functional) shape. This is obviously extremely ambitious, but not impossible. Numerous researchers are looking into harnessing chemical synthesis, though it will take quite a lot of effort to make it suitable for the production of complex electronic systems. Alternatively, it could also be used to produce parts for large manned aircraft, which might be a more realistic initial goal.

But in any case, professor Cronin was the first to admit that even tiny, basic drones would be very challenging to grow chemically. This is a very exciting time in the development of chemistry. We have been developing routes to digitize synthetic and materials chemistry and at some point in the future hope to assemble complex objects in a machine from the bottom up, or with minimal human assistance. Creating small aircraft would be very challenging but Im confident that creative thinking and convergent digital technologies will eventually lead to the digital programming of complex chemical and material systems, he said. But one thing seems obvious: 3D printing's potential reaches much farther than plastic layers.

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Chris wrote at 7/6/2016 11:07:10 PM:Why not grow houses. not WAR materials!Shannon Norrell wrote at 7/6/2016 7:00:49 PM:What is the mechanism of action for the "ChemPuter" All I can find out about it is that it prints drones. This sounds like puffery. How does it work?Jim Horn wrote at 7/6/2016 4:24:38 AM:I'm not holding my breath. All aircraft performance is affected by weight so strength to weight ratio is vital. As such, optimized structural materials such as composites are intrinsically capable of yielding optimized performance. And all 3D printers are very limited there, at the very best. Further, aircraft consist of far more than their physical structure. There's also the hinges for moving controls, sensors and electronics to give it autonomy, a powerplant to make it go, fuel for same, and many other vital parts. Very little is 3D printable. I don't expect any 3D printers to do 7 nanometer geometry 10 layer metal depostition processors - the ion implantation alone rules that out. Makes for good headlines. But existing engineering is safe for some time.Mason Robb wrote at 7/4/2016 3:38:05 PM:Fascinating!




Jul 4, 2016 | By Alec

Additive Manufacturing Europe 2016 has just closed its Amsterdam doors, but featured a wide range of interesting workshops, speakers and perspectives on the 3D printing future. 3D printer manufacturers were of course also present in force, which highlighted a remarkable trend: FDM 3D printers are no longer confined to desktops. Very large 3D printers, tall enough to 3D print complete pieces of furniture, architectural models or even full-sized 3D selfies, are becoming more and more common. 3ders.org looked at some of the biggest machines at Additive Manufacturing Europe.

Double presence for Builders Extreme 2000 3D printer

Lets start with the 3D printer that was present twice, and brought by different companies: Builders Extreme 2000 3D printer. Until recently, it was the tallest FDM 3D printer that was commercially available, with a massive build volume of 700x700x1820 mm. Featuring an integrated heated bed, two nozzles and color-mixing options, its a very appealing machine that is perfect for very large 3D prints, as the model of the Empire State Building below illustrates.

Bottom: Pro1 filament.

But Builder wasnt the only company who showcased this 3D printer, as filament specialists InnoFil also brought one to showcase their excellent new InnoFil Pro1 filament. A 3D print job that would otherwise take 75 hours on a Builder, will take just 40 hours using Pro1, Roger Sijlbing, Sales Manager of InnoFil revealed. The newly available filament is actually a reinforced PLA compound that makes it suitable for engineering-grade 3D printing. Its stronger than ABS, has excellent bending properties, and its faster to print. We always say, do you want to print fast, or strong?. Large scale 3D printing could become more appealing than ever.

BigRep One 3D printer: the future of 3D printing farms?

Much less tall, but no less impressive, is the BigRep One 3D printer by the German company of the same name. Remarkably, they brought three 3D printers with them to Amsterdam, each with a 1 x 1 x 1 meter build size. All big enough to 3D print chairs, lamp shades and obviously lots of large scale prototypes. The chair itself took about twelve hours to 3D print with a 1mm nozzle, or about three hours with a 2mm nozzle. Our customers are mainly using it for molding and prototyping. Many print positives to make large molds that can be used for other production techniques, a company spokeswoman said.

But as she went on to argue, the BigReps biggest selling point is its price. When you look at similar 3D printers of this size, you quickly reach several hundred thousand euros or more. Our 3D printer starts at 50,000, so its affordable and offers smaller companies the opportunity to go into large scale 3D printing, she said. The 3D printers are already available, and BigRep is currently testing various 3D printable materials with an eye on professional prototyping such as including PLA-tech, which is more resistant than regular PLA, as well as various flexible and high resistant research materials.

But according to founder Rene Gurka, the size is not most important aspect of the BigRep; its operating system is. As he revealed, the real future of 3D printing is in 3D printing farms where multiple large scale models operate in unison and are maintained by a single system. The software automatically distributes the print jobs, but can also cut a large model into separate pieces. It enables us to 3D print an 8 meter long dinosaur model in several machines. This innovation could become a reality within several years, he added.

LeapFrog takes to skies with the XceL 3D printer

Even taller than the Builder is the LeapFrog XceL 3D printer, which has now been available for one month. It features a gargantuan build volume of 530 x 500 x 2300 mm  a magnitude that can barely be contained in a single photo. Costing just 25,000, its also very accessible for professional companies and has some very attractive features. A fully enclosed environment ensures a constant temperature and minimal warping, while it is run by a new software platform that optimizes workflow and is remotely controlled through Wi-Fi. According to the company, the simplicity of its software makes it easy to see how much material the printer has left and how much time is left on a single print job, while pause and resume functions can be activated remotely.

And that is certainly necessary, as the XceL can go through filament like you would not believe. It uses a 20kg filament spool right now, but the XceL features a filament recognition system that warns users when to replace the spool. It depends on your infill obviously, but if you make a full-sized print you can easily use more than one spool, a spokesperson said. We can deliver even bigger spools, but 20kg is quite portable. But the real question is: can you 3D print a full-sized person? We actually have one at the office, they revealed. The XceL 3D printer is now available.

Update: Here is the photo of full sized person 3D print provided by Leapfrog:

Economic 3D printing on a large scale with the Delta Wasp 3 MT 3D printer

But perhaps the most remarkable of all the large scale 3D printers on display in Amsterdam was the Delta Wasp 3 MT 3D printer by Italian 3D printing pioneers WASP. Not only is it the most flexible  being able to 3D print concrete, clay and plastics, and act as a CNC mill  its also the most economical. While we rely on expensive pre-made filament, the Italian machine simply 3D prints the low-cost plastic pellets that filament is made of. It can save up to $30 per kilo.

But the Delta Wasp 3 MT is more than just economical, its also remarkably accurate for a concrete and clay 3D printer. 3D printing at a layer resolution 0.5 mm and on a cylindrical build space of 100 x 100 cm, it can 3D print anything from concrete or clay parts for homes, or even solid plastic furniture in a single part. A chair needs anywhere from 8 to 15 hours to 3D print, depending on the design, WASP engineer Marcel Crisan says. We want to enable makers to 3D print furniture for homes. And with a milling toolhead, it could be a fantastic tool for any construction site. This Delta Wasp 3 MT 3D printer was unveiled two months ago, and is now available.

But of course WASP is mostly known for their even bigger concrete 3D printing innovations, for which they developed the 12 meter tall BigDelta 3D printer. That gargantuan model is also springing into action, but not in Amsterdam. As Crisan revealed, they have just begun work on a 3D printed clay and fiber house, which they are building near their Italian headquarters in the Bologna region. It will be six meters tall, and we eventually want to build a whole village and if everything goes right, we want to build homes for the poor all around the world. Our dream is saving the world, Crisan says.

Whats more, WASP believes they are in an excellent position when it comes to home 3D printing. All the others are only working in concrete, and thats not the only material you need for homes, they say. While no deadlines are in sight, WASP is dreaming big.

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I.AM.Magic wrote at 7/4/2016 2:38:28 PM:Impressive ! I wish there were more built parts and build time data.




Jul 4, 2016 | By Tess

Oregon based animation studio LAIKA has been a pioneering force in terms of 3D printed stop-motion animation. With popular films like Coraline (2009), Paranorman (2012), and The Boxtrolls (2014), the creative studio has established itself not only as a maker of inspiring and fun-loving animated films but has impressed with its technical abilities, even taking home the 2016 Oscar for Scientific and Technical achievements. With their latest film Kubo and the Two Strings, set to be released this August, LAIKA has done it again with even more 3D printing and detail than ever before.

Set against the backdrop of ancient Japan, the film tells the story of Kubo, a young boy who embarks on an amazing adventure with two sidekicks to save his family and find out more about his long-lost father, the worlds most famous samurai warrior. Even based on the trailer, the film looks exciting and fun-filled.

For us here at 3Ders though, the most fun comes from behind the scenes, where the people behind the animated film have worked for years to bring the characters, sceneries, and story to life. Like with their previous films, 3D printing has played a large part in Kubo and the Two Strings, as Laika has used the technology (along with many other processes) to physically create their films. That is, with a team of over 65 designers and craftspeople, Laika physically builds and creates every set piece and character you see in the film before even commencing the stop-motion filming process.

While Laikas stop-motion animation is undeniably at the fore-front of the medium, one of their most notable qualities is the impressive range of facial expressions that their characters can portray, achieved with rapid-prototype face replacement printing. In Paranorman, for instance, Normans face was made up of about 78 individual pieces and over 40,000 different facial expression masks were 3D printed for the character. Their most recent character Kubo, with a combination of 66,000 3D printed face pieces and a complex facial rig, is reportedly capable of over 22 million different facial expressions, an impressive first for the animation studio. For the faces, Laika has used a powder based 3D printing technology.

Director Travis Knight

The most notable print of the film is undoubtedly the character Moonbeast, a giant tentacled sea monster voiced by Ralph Fiennes. In fact, Moonbeast marks Laikas first fully 3D printed character in one of their films. The impressive character prop, which spans over three feet in size, is made up of 850 3D printed exterior pieces, and 250 internal armature pieces, which allow the 3D printed creature to be moved.

For Kubo and the Two Strings, Laika studios partnered with Stratasys, who with their state-of-the-art additive manufacturing systems and 3D printing know-how were able to offer the animation studio a more advanced way to create plastic parts and pieces for the film. As Brian McLean, director of RP printing at Laika explains, We found a new way to 3D print with plastic (for the non-human characters). We reached out to Stratasys and collaborated with their R&D in Israel. With access to new software and hardware, we reached a [greater] level of color and sophistication in a plastic-printed 3D part.

The film, which also stars Academy Award winners Charlize Theron and Matthew McConaughey, and Game of Thrones Art Parkinson as Kubo, will hit theaters on August 19th. Be sure to check it out to see Laikas latest feat in 3D printed, stop-motion, and CGI combined animation.

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Charles wrote at 7/5/2016 5:28:57 AM:Please don't spoil it. I want to see it fresh in theaters.




by Holly A. Case

Attila Kiss

Attila Kiss speaks beautiful English. He has been a simultaneous interpreterfrom Hungarian to English and English to Hungarianfor various intellectual and spiritual luminaries, among them the Dalai Lama, and for the European Union. When he speaks of interpreting, it is with uncanny precision, betraying an awareness that even speech is an act of simultaneous translation from thought to word.

Ten years ago, Kiss (pronounced Kish) was on an interpreting assignment for the EU in Brussels. One evening after work, he attended the screening of a new film on the 1956 revolution in Hungary. Heading back to his hotel he crossed through a park. Someone approached him, said Good evening, and then stabbed him with a knife. A struggle ensued. The man fled. Kiss spent a week in intensive care and underwent periodic operations for years thereafter. His attacker has never been identified or apprehended.

Interpretations of the episode began even prior to Kiss's release from the hospital. Initially the Belgian police thought he had gone to the park for a homosexual hook-up that went sour; they found no evidence to back up this hypothesis. Another of their theories involved a disgruntled student, upset about a grade. Their attention focused on one man, who was indeed a former student, but had not received a low grade from Kiss, and in fact counted as a family friend. And thus another narrative bubble burst over the case. One explanation remained. In the police report, Kiss had indicated that he believed his assailant to have been an Arab. The police ultimately concluded that he had been attacked by one of a group of young Moroccan fundamentalists who had been targeting EU officials. Given that Kiss was wearing a suit, carrying a laptop case, and walking in the vicinity of the EU Parliament, he may have been mistaken for a Union official.

Underneath the interpretations lay a realm of symbols and metaphors, tantalizing fragments of unfinished stories. One related to Kiss's passport, which he had been carrying in his breast pocket that night. The assailant's knife had cut into it, but its pages shielded his heart from the blade. Saved by citizenship, was the droll retelling. And another one: As a Renaissance scholar, Kiss had been scheduled to attend an international conference the following week whereat he was to deliver a paper on the history of early modern public anatomy theaters. Instead, he was anatomized himself: the anatomy theater came to him.

The incident was never covered in the Hungarian press. His students had at least a vague sense of what had happened because he was absent for the remainder of the term. Upon returning to Hungary, the interpreter still had to find words for what had happened. He chose my accident. For the sake of his small children, accident seemed better than the alternatives. And besides, Kiss reasoned, the assailant had not set out to kill him. Though the attack bore the hallmarks of a crime of passionmultiple stab wounds, nothing stolenit was, in fact, nothing personal. In a sense it was an accident; wrong place, wrong time, etc.

Kiss had recurring nightmares about being attacked, but says that consciously he never felt traumatized by the event and has never felt the need to visit a therapist. Speaking and thinking about it has nevertheless always been important to him: Narrative is mastery, he says, referring to Freud's explanation of recurrent nightmares as attempts to master unruly or disturbing experiences.

A few months after the event, when he was well enough, Kiss insisted on returning to Brussels for interpretation jobs, and has been back several times since. Each time he makes a ritual of visiting the place where he was attacked. It helps to process the thing, he says. And I was curious. What does he feel when going there now? Now it's just something interesting.

*

I've known about Attila Kiss for more than a decade, albeit secondhand, through a common friend who, like him, teaches at the university in Szeged in southern Hungary and has herself worked as a simultaneous interpreter. (Once she showed me the breathing and relaxation exercises interpreters use to cope with the stress of the job.) Kiss's accident surfaced in our many exchanges as a bizarre subplot to various other dramas that were playing themselves out in my friend's life at the time.

Last September I finally met Kiss in person during a visit to Hungary at the height of the refugee and migrant influx. Szeged, where I had spent a very quiet year studying abroad as a junior in college two decades earlier, had become the center of world attention as thousands a day crossed the border into Hungary on foot. In front of the city's main railway station, volunteers had set up an aid center where they distributed food, water, and information to the new arrivals. Although the Hungarian government responded to the influx with a xenophobic billboard and media campaign and then a high border fence, in Szeged itself over fifteen hundred peoplemany of them students and faculty at the universitydeclared their willingness to help the arrivals. Attila Kiss was one of them.

Aid hut outside the train station in Szeged (Sept. 11, 2015). Photo by Robert Polcz.

He described the volunteer work he did as largely indirect; contributing food, delivering supplies to the aid hut at the train station, contacting international friends, arranging donations, and working a couple of times as a translator. The situation is such a large-scale one that it immediately addresses you, and if you are human and if you are decent, you will just think about helping them, he told me. And then the next day, you'll start thinking But why haven't I helped others until now? Local children with leukemia, disabled people who can't go to the hospital, the homeless Why haven't I been doing that?' So you'll have this fight inside of yourself which you will have to come to terms with.

In his thinking about the volunteer work, there seemed to be a parallel to the splitting of the mind that Kiss sees as necessary for simultaneous interpretation. On the one hand you need to be present mentally in two languages, and that doubles your mind linguistically. But your mind is also doubled in time because, between when you listen to something coming in through the headphones and when you say something, there's a time lapse. And that time lapse makes you schizophrenic; you are present in two temporal dimensions at once. The better you are, the faster you are, but simultaneity can never be fully achieved. In his fifteen years as an interpreter, Kiss says he has approached perfect simultaneity only about ten times. That is a blissful experience, he smiled. A meditative joy. To reach this state is both a great feat, as well as a real danger, he continued. If you're good, you can lose track of who you are.

The reason the Hungarian government's xenophobic rhetoric has proven so powerful, Kiss believes, is because it tells Hungarians who they are. A totalitarian system always offers a very comfortable and easy identity to the general public by defining itself as the thing which is not the other. It gives you an identity, it gives you people to hate, and there are so many people who need other people to hate.

*

Kiss and I spoke in his office at the university, where he has been chair of the English Department for the past fifteen years. It was clear by the number of ameliorative conversations and interruptions prior to and during our conversation that he is considered both supremely competent and eminently approachable, a catastrophic combination (for those who possess it) in any profession, and especially rare in academe.

I had come to his office with many questions, but not quite knowing what to ask, or how. We discussed his path to becoming an interpreter. He told me that, as a young university student in the mid-1980s, he had taken an interest in Buddhism, which was not formally tolerated in socialist Hungary at the time. His fascination with the philosophical aspects of the religion brought him and other Hungarians into contact with aspiring Buddhists from around the world. He began translating Buddhist texts into Hungarian and doing ad hoc interpreting for Buddhist visitors. In the late 1980s, he was studying abroad at the University of Oregon, Eugene, and he might have stayed on in the US for a doctorate degree had the collapse of state socialism in 1989 not precipitated a period of uncertainty during which he opted to accept a teaching opportunity at his home university in Szeged in 1991. The university was looking to hire young faculty, fluent in English and up-to-date on trends in Western scholarship. Kiss was an ideal candidate.

When our conversation turned to the attack, his tone was calm. A person came up to me and wanted to kill me. It was bad, but somehow it never became a very traumatic memory to me, he began, although he later admitted: I'm just realizing that it's really not easy to talk about it, even after several years. It had happened at a time when Kiss felt completely safe. I was at the heart of the European Union, one kilometer from the institutions of the European Union. I was coming off of several successful days of work, and was in good spirits

I asked whether there were certain places, people, or events that had been tainted by or that he now associated with the experience. He hesitated for a moment. No, he said quietly. But there is an important thing I wanted to tell you. When you first wrote me that you'd like to have this interview, I initially thought it would be about the refugee crisis and the migrants and the group of volunteers, but then you also mentioned that I had had this accident, and of course there might be an interconnection between the two But it was actually then, when you wrote me, that I realized I had never really established a serious link between this event, in which I almost got killed, and the fact that most probably the man who attacked me was an immigrant. He was not attacking me because he was an immigrant.

*

Early in the interview, I had asked Kiss to relate some anecdotes under the heading Adventures in Interpreting. He told me a story about a Hungarian interpreter in the late 1980s who had been assigned the task of interpreting deliberations between the Hungarian socialist party secretary (essentially the head of state) and an IMF officer for a crucial loan.

The interpreter was aware that Hungary's solvency depended on securing that loan. She also saw that the party secretary was totally wasted, and instead of taking the negotiations seriously, he was relating lewd jokes and inappropriate anecdotes. Simultaneous interpreters, Kiss said, are also mediators between cultures as much as between languages. The interpreter faced a choice: to interpret what the party secretary actually said, or to improvise. She chose the latter. In that way she was totally unfaithful to the philosophy of the profession, but she may have saved Hungary for another five years. Hungary secured the loan, but the interpreter was sharply criticized by others in the profession for what she had done. It's difficult to decide what was the right thing to do in that situation, Kiss says. I personally believe my colleague did the right thing.

Towards the end of our conversation, I referred to the IMF-interpreter anecdote and asked Kiss whether he thought he was interpreting the details of his accident faithfully, or offering instead a narrative that he believed other people needed to hear. It is certainly a matter of interpretation that is at stake here, but this is my personal interpretation of the situation since the situation was mine, he said. Thus when I'm talking about it I'm not a professional interpreter, I'm a subjective one.

As a scholar of Renaissance drama, Kiss teaches a course on Literature and the Semiotics of Violence. Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus figures prominently in his scholarly work on the subject, especially the creation of a new language in the face of tragedy. In the third act of the drama, the title character discovers that vengeful enemies have mutilated his daughter Lavinia, cutting off her tongue and hands. She had become, Titus lamented, a map of woe who speaks in signs. In his grief, Titus vows to become her interpreter.

Thou shalt not sigh, nor hold thy stumps to heaven,

Nor wink, nor nod, nor kneel, nor make a sign,

But I of these will wrest an alphabet

And by still practise learn to know thy meaning.

In a short academic article on this scene from 2014, Kiss wonders whether Lavinia hasn't been doubly misused, first by her attackers, then by her interpreter father who claims to speak for her. I understood Kiss's statement about being a subjective interpreter better after reading this. Speaking for oneself, finding a language through which to relate a tragedy may seem impossible, but is absolutely necessary. There needs to be a narrative about this, he said. If I don't establish one, it's going to be much worse.
by Richard King

BEARDED MAN: Could you be quiet please? What was that?

WISEGUY: I dunno; I was too busy talking to Bignose.

SPECTATOR: I think it was Blessed are the cheesemakers.

BEARDED MAN'S WIFE: What's so great about the cheesemakers?

BEARDED MAN: Well obviously it's not meant to be taken literally; it refers to any manufacturers of dairy products.

 Monty Python's Life of Brian, 1979

The scene takes place at the edge of a crowd, which has gathered to hear  or to try to hear  Christ deliver the Sermon on the Mount. The punchline is delivered with a knowing air, as if nothing could be more natural than that Jesus would decide to set out his creed with a certain amount of poetic obfuscation. Well, obviously it's not meant to be taken literally  And yet, as we know, much ink will be spilled over precisely how literally to take Christ's words, and the words of many a prophet besides. Much ink, much blood, and an ocean of tears 

*

As I write this, Istanbul's Ataturk Airport is a scene of devastation and chaos. On Tuesday evening, local time, three attackers armed with guns and explosives laid siege to Europe's third busiest airport in what appears to be a well organised operation, one calculated to maximise casualties. The victims include people from Iraq, China, Tunisia, Jordan, Iran and Ukraine. Most of them, of course, were Turkish citizens. At this moment  around 1 am GMT on 29 June 2016  the death toll stands at 42, though some outlets put it at 41. Hundreds are injured. Thousands are grieving. The Turkish people are in shock, again.

In the coming hours certain statements will be made. Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan will come on television to say that this was a crime against humanity and an attack on Turkey's national soul, or sentiments to that effect. He will urge unity and resolve in the face of intimidation. Turkey must not give in to terror. He may well say that the dead are martyrs. Such platitudes are to be expected, and not all of them are to be despised.

In the days that follow this atrocity, however, the public discussion will broaden and deepen. What responsibility does the Turkish state bear for the terror attack in Istanbul? How is it related to Turkey's involvement in Syria and the Middle East more generally? The attack has been blamed on Islamic State, which doesn't sound unreasonable: it bears all the marks of that revolting outfit. But methods are one thing and motivations are another, and while the former can sometimes give a clue to the latter, the question of what Islamic State is  why it exists, what its members look forward to, how they justify their acts to themselves  is one freighted with political difficulty. Is this latest atrocity revenge or nihilism  a punishment for a particular policy, an attack on a way of life, or both? Much depends on the answers to questions such as these, and it is impossible to predict how the debate will play out. But one thing is almost certain to be said: at some point in the next few days someone will say, and be reported as saying, that whatever Islamic State represents it does not represent Islam.

The idea that religion is not to be blamed for the degradations of Islamic extremists now enjoys a sort of semi-official status in discussions about (or around) this issue. Here, for example, is Erdogan himself, addressing an audience in Chile earlier this year:

Islam never allows terrorism; this is one. Secondly, Islam and terror cannot be mentioned together. Third, ISIS is a terror organisation and it has nothing to do with Islam.

Remarkable only for the way its amplification reveals the flimsiness of the case beneath, this sentiment is, in all other respects, entirely typical of the rhetorical genre. Six days after the 9/11 attacks, George W. Bush declared that, notwithstanding the often violent divisions within the youngest of the world's three major monotheisms, Islam was a religion of peace. Islam and terrorists are two words that do not go together said the deputy assistant commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, Brian Paddick, after the 2005 bombing of the London Underground. The murder and attempted decapitation of British soldier Drummer Lee Rigby in London in 2013 was a betrayal of Islam said the British Prime Minister David Cameron in his statement to the House of Commons. Their hatred, their barbarism, has nothing to do with Islam said the Imam for the Paris suburb of Drancy in the wake of the Charlie Hebdo atrocity. Thus true religion is counted amongst the casualties, while words like evil and barbaric serve to distance the perpetrators from their own motivations  to recast ideology as pathology.

To a large extent, such assertions are aimed at preventing anti-Muslim sentiment  a noble and understandable objective. But it would, I think, be wrong to regard the mantra that this or that atrocity has nothing to do with Islam as merely expedient. After all, the idea that religious violence can be separated from religion in general is now popular, not just with politicians, but with many intellectuals too. The theologian Karen Armstrong has written of the myth of religious violence, while William Cavanaugh, in his book of that name, argues that this myth is used to legitimate neo-colonial violence against the Muslim world. Other thinkers have gone on the offensive. Critics of the so-called New Atheists, for example, suggest that it is the atheists, even more than the faithful, who are the enemies of moderation. The journalist Chris Hedges and the philosopher John Gray, both of whom have sizable followings, have suggested that the commitment to science and reason evinced by writers such as Lawrence Kraus and Daniel Dennett is itself a kind of religious belief. Is atheism the new fundamentalism? ran the motion in Wellington College, Berkshire  the scene of an IQ debate featuring Richard Dawkins and A. C. Grayling. In a neat reversal, it is the critics of religion who are themselves accused of practising blind faith.

They don't, of course, and never have. But ignore for the moment this clumsy equivalence and consider instead the plonking irony at the centre of the argument that Islamic violence has nothing to do with  is antithetical to  Islam itself. For in asserting that there is one true Islam from which, say, Islamic State has strayed, the commentator who condemns that group is himself revealed as a fundamentalist. And while this fundamentalist is much less lethal than the black-clad figure careering through the Iraqi desert with a copy of Islam for Dummies in his backpack, the effect of his pronouncements is to keep alive the idea with which that figure comes armed  the idea of an infallible text to which we should, in the last resort, defer. It involves no equivalence of my own to suggest that in this way so-called moderate religion incubates religious extremism.

By this I certainly don't mean to suggest that all those who derive comfort from the idea of a god are responsible for religious intolerance. Of the people who describe themselves as religious, many, if not most, would scorn the idea that there is a set of divinely dictated instructions, infallible in point of meaning and morality. In Europe especially, the effect of the Enlightenment has been to smash the authority of religious institutions and make a laughing stock of their principal claims. Increasingly, people who believe in God do so in a personal way, with no recourse to religious scripture or institutions. Such believers are in no way fundamentalist.

But problems arise when those other believers  the ones for whom ultimate truth is reducible to holy books like the Bible and the Qur'an  are accorded more or less respect on account of how moderate or not their interpretation of their particular holy book happens to be. For in that case we are merely condescending to those whose approach to life and morality is close enough to our own to be unthreatening, while at the same time refusing to challenge the idea that there is an ultimate, divine source of meaning and morality. To refer to religious moderates is thus to invite a category mistake. Such believers may be moderate in the sense that they are not violent or intolerant. But the claim they make is just as big as the claim made by extreme religionists. This is the claim to know, not just that God exists, but what He asks of humanity. As long as that claim remains uncontested, descents into religious violence are inevitable.

That this problem is as pronounced in the Islamic world today as it was in sixteenth-century Christendom is, or should be, obvious. That is not to say, of course, that colonialism, nationalism and economic imperialism play no role in the range of conflicts currently tearing the Middle East apart; or, indeed, that the role these things play can be easily separated from religious violence. But any explanation of those conflicts that fails to take account of religion, or that accords it only a secondary importance, is a very poor explanation indeed. Those who say that Islamic State represents a perversion of the Islamic faith are saying, in effect, that religious faith is not the problem. But not only is the notion of a perversion of faith a rather strange idea to begin with (how is possible to pervert a concept that scorns objective justification?), it is also exactly the idea advanced by those who would kill in the name of religion. In this sense, both Islamic State and those who criticise it in the name of Islam are different sides of the same denarius.

Such interpretative fundamentalism is certainly not peculiar to Islam; it runs through all the major monotheisms. Consider the beatitude Blessed are the peacemakers  the one misheard in Python's film. It sounds like an endorsement of pacifism; but many scholars suggest that peacemakers was commonly used to describe the Roman Emperors who presided over a period of stability in Judea. In fact, it was from exactly this interpretation that Saint Augustine derived his notion of just war  the idea that a war is justified if it brings about a larger peace. So, there are some circumstances in which Blessed are the peacemakers can be read as Blessed are the occupiers and even Blessed are the war-makers. Knowing what we know of Christ, and of his belief that the world was coming to an end, it is difficult to think that he would have approved of such a pragmatic interpretation of his words. But then who is to say?

The point is that the specific meaning of such preachments is a secondary consideration; the primary consideration has to do with their truth. And the claim to know the truth is no less grandiose when it comes from a liberal scholar of religion than when it comes from a holy warrior with a Kalashnikov. It isn't enough to view the Bible  or the Qur'an or the Torah  as metaphorical or contextual; all that does is shift the burden from literalism to interpretation (It's not meant to be taken literally ) Do the Qur'an's imperatives to wage jihad relate to a personal struggle against sin, to a political struggle against the infidel, or to both? I've no idea, and scholars can't agree. But it you believe that the Qur'an is the word of God, your statement about what is meant in this instance is necessarily a statement about what is true. Clearly, the moderate understanding is agreeable than the extremist one; but both are fundamentalist in the sense that they take a holy text to be the infallible and unalterable word of God.

*

There is a scene in Aaron Sorkin's TV series The West Wing in which US President Josiah Bartlett is attempting to win Congressional backing for his proposal to legalise gay marriage. One conservative Senator is proving difficult to convince, and so Toby Ziegler, an advisor to the President, attempts to reason with him personally. The Senator has religious reservations, which he puts in the form of a question to Toby: Do you believe the Bible to be literally true? Toby, who is liberal and Jewish, replies: Yes, sir. But I don't think either of us is smart enough to understand it.

This injunction against hubris sounds sane and bracing. But its effect lasts only as long as we choose to forget that there are many people in the world who do consider themselves smart enough to understand the word of God and who presume to tell the rest of us how to live in accordance with it. The Christian who accepts the Golden Rule  Do unto others as you would have them do unto you  but ignores Christ's injunction to take no thought for the morrow is, finally, only temporising. And while it's his right to try to have it both ways, he can hardly affect surprise (or can he?) when his fellow Christians call him out as a heretic. Religious violence has complex origins and one cannot reduce the extermination of the Amalekites, the holy wars of Christendom and Islamic fascism to a single cause. But nor can one remove from this equation the strange and fantastically powerful idea that when it comes to questions of ultimate truth one book has it over all the others. People who believe that are always predisposed to intolerance; and people who are predisposed to intolerance are always predisposed to violence.

And here they come again, with their bombs and their guns, insisting, upon pain of death and damnation, that Blessed are the cheesemakers means exactly what it says.

*

Visit me at The Bloody Crossroads
by Sue Hubbard

It seems a long time ago since the Tate Summer party to celebrate the opening of the new Switch House adjoining the original Bankside Power Station. It was a different world then. On the 16th June, the date of the party, we were still in Europe. The architects Herzog & de Meuron, who did the conversion, are a Swiss firm based in Basel. They have worked with Tate for 20 years, originally to transform Sir Giles Gilbert Scott's power station. Since Tate Modern opened in May 2000 it has had more than 40 million visitors, many of them from abroad, coming to sample the unique cultural pleasures of this multi-cultural city. As a result of Tate Modern's presence the surrounding area of the South Bank that includes Shakespeare's Globe, has turned from a web of grey streets into a buzzing cosmopolitan hub filled with street performers and food stalls selling cuisine from around the world. It's become a must-see landmark. To walk across the Thames on Anthony Caro's lightening-flash of a bridge, with its vistas along the river east and west, is to feel that you are at the centre of one of the most exciting global capitals of the world.

The night of the party  despite the inefficiency of the lifts and mounting queues  I went with friends up to the viewing platform on the 10th floor. The panorama is stunning. The city laid out below in 360-degrees with views of the Shard, Westminster Abbey, the Post Office Tower, Saint Paul's Cathedral and, down river, Wembley Stadium. This is a building designed and built in hope and optimism. A cultural temple that firmly puts us at the epicentre of the artistic world: inclusive, challenging, forward looking. At the opening party the place was awash with the great and the good: royalty, journalists and international art stars. The sense of possibility and optimism was palpable.

Then, to look more closely at the new displays, I went back the day after the news broke that we were to about to leave the EU and suddenly all the optimism I'd felt seemed to belong to different age. The past, it's said, is another country, where they do things differently. If we'd stayed in Europe I might have written about the building and the galleries in slightly different terms; certainly describing the interior of exposed raw concrete shooting up from the subterranean world of The Tanks', the sweeping concrete staircase and the perforated brickwork that allows for an extraordinary play of light, as sensational. But I might also have described it as bit hubristic and have suggested that the building often seems more dynamic than the art it contains. But now I haven't the heart.

Now I just want to rejoice in what the new Tate represents, its multi-culturalism, its diversity, its passion. Seventy-five percent of the art on show has been acquired since Tate Modern first opened. All of it may not be excellent  time will tell. But in place of the panorama of art history' dominated by Western European and North American art, the collection now takes a broader view, sharing multiple histories that don't just focus on the cannon of Western modernism. The displays mirror the shifts and changes of the contemporary world, the flux of movement and migration across continents. There are emerging artists from Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Eastern Europe who embrace diverse religions and cultures not always sympathetic each to the other. But art is a language with fluid and permeable borders. Alternative histories and local narratives are reappraised through the prism of international awareness. Ibrahim El-Salahi, for example, who was born in The Sudan and studied at the Slade School of Art before returning to Khartoum, draws on avant-garde painters such as Picasso, who, ironically, borrowed from African primitive art, as well as from Islamic calligraphy. There's also a good deal of work reflecting the nature of the modern city. In Kader Attia's Untitled (Ghardai) 2009, his cooked couscous citadel set among digital prints examines the social impact of colonialism through architecture. While Nil Yalter, who was born in Cairo but raised in Paris, investigates the sociology of ethnicity, identity, migration and class in his work Temporary Dwellings that explored, over a three year period, the lives of immigrant communities in Istanbul, Paris and New York.

There's also a new and important emphasis on women artists with a powerful display of Louise Bourgeois' matriarchal spiders and body parts, cages and womb-red drawings, along with a wunderkammer of her psychoanalytic fetishistic sculptures.

Digital technologies are represented by the Bloomberg Connects initiative in an array of new interactive spaces. Video as well as live performance has been given special prominence. From Tania Bruguera's police on horseback to Tino Sehgal's gallery attendants bursting into song. I've never been much of a fan of Sehgal's work, which seems to emphasise that live art, which grew out of the counterculture of the 1960s, feels contrived when orchistrated in an official art gallery as opposed to spontaneously in some scruffy downtown industrial space but people were stopping to watch.

Before Brexit, I might have been more nit-picky about the apparent thinness of some of the art in the new Switch House, which can look dwarfed and second best to the magnificence of the building. But, now, I simply want to endorse, in this rather bleak, xenophobic new Britain that we find ourselves in, the Tate's commitment to tell stories about modern and contemporary life which range across diverse histories and communities and make connections between artists across time and place. A discussion of how significant some of that art will be in the future, I'll leave to another day. For now, what's clear is that we've never needed galleries such as the Tate as much as we do now. Institutions that look out towards the world and show art that is inclusive, diverse, challenging and original. To visit Tate Modern and its optimistic new extension is a life affirming experience, one that stands in contradiction to the paranoia and xenophobia that is in danger of engulfing us.

IMAGE CREDITS:

Switch House, Tate Modern  Iwan Baan

Ricardo Basbaum Capsules (NBP x me-you), 2000 4 steel capsules, fabric, polystyrene foam, vinyl wall texts, booklets and audio 800 x 1810 x 2640 mm overall display dimensions variable Tate. Presented by the Latin American Acquisitions Committee 2004  Ricardo Basbaum

BMW Tate Live: Alexandra Pirici & Manuel Pelmus, Public Collection

www.suehubbard.com
No truth to rumor that schools are putting litter boxes in bathrooms

local
With the summer door-knocking season underway, Better Business Bureau Serving New Mexico and Southwest Colorado is warning consumers about deceptive sales tactics. BBB urges consumers to stay alert for unreliable solicitors and to have a plan in place when it comes to door-to-door salespeople.

Though many door-to-door salespeople operate honestly and represent reputable businesses, there are others who are only looking to make a sale and move on as quickly as possible  often leaving customers wondering if theyll receive the product or service theyve paid for or if theyve just been scammed. Its important to inquire about licensing and research the business before signing any contracts.

BBB offers the following tips on door-to-door solicitations this summer:

Ask for identification. A reputable seller will provide you with all of the information you request, including a photo ID and a business card.

A reputable seller will provide you with all of the information you request, including a photo ID and a business card. Verify the individual and the business. If youre interested in doing business with the solicitor, get everything in writing. Tell the solicitor you will look into it and get back to them. Research the business and contact them directly to verify the salesperson is an employee. Be sure to research the business at bbb.org.

If youre interested in doing business with the solicitor, get everything in writing. Tell the solicitor you will look into it and get back to them. Research the business and contact them directly to verify the salesperson is an employee. Be sure to research the business at bbb.org. Read the contract. Make sure you understand all of the terms and conditions before signing a contract. Watch out for high-pressure sales tactics and be aware that anything you sign could be viewed as a contract.

Make sure you understand all of the terms and conditions before signing a contract. Watch out for high-pressure sales tactics and be aware that anything you sign could be viewed as a contract. Know your rights. The Federal Trade Commissions Three-Day Cooling-Off Rule: https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0176-buyers-remorse-when-ftcs-cooling-rule-may-help gives the customer three days to cancel purchases over $25 that is made in their home or at a location that is not the sellers permanent place of business. Along with a receipt, salespeople should also include a completed cancellation form that customers can send to the business to cancel the agreement. By law, the business must give customers a refund within 10 days of receiving the cancellation notice.

The Federal Trade Commissions Three-Day Cooling-Off Rule: gives the customer three days to cancel purchases over $25 that is made in their home or at a location that is not the sellers permanent place of business. Along with a receipt, salespeople should also include a completed cancellation form that customers can send to the business to cancel the agreement. By law, the business must give customers a refund within 10 days of receiving the cancellation notice. Steer clear of scams. A classic tactic of less-than-reputable solicitors is to tell consumers they have extra product leftover from a job down the street and will perform the work for a minimal cost. Professional contractors typically know how much product is needed for a job and rarely have material leftover.

ABOUT BBB

For more than 100 years, Better Business Bureau has been helping people find businesses, brands and charities they can trust. In 2015, people turned to BBB more than 172 million times for BBB Business Reviews on more than 5.3 million businesses and Charity Reports on 11,000 charities, all available for free at bbb.org.
Bulletin board

The State Bar of New Mexico presents two free events on Wednesday. They are:

Civil Legal Fair for residents of Albuquerque and the surrounding area from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. at the 2nd Judicial District Court, 400 Lomas NW. Attorneys will be on hand to provide free consultations on a first-come, first-served basis for clients facing civil legal issues, except for family law cases. Types of cases handled include foreclosure, landlord/tenant, kinship/guardianship, immigration, public benefits, bankruptcy, wills/probate, power of attorney, unemployment and creditor/debtor. Attendance is limited to the first 25 attendees that qualify for low-income assistance. Participants should bring all related paperwork with them to the clinic. For more information, call 877-266-9861.

Divorce Options Workshop from 6-8 p.m. at the State Bar of New Mexico, 5121 Masthead NE. The workshop includes a presentation by a volunteer attorney, materials on divorce, and an open question-and-answer period. Call 505-797-6003 for registration or additional information.

The Greater Albuquerque chapter of the Retired Public Employees Association of California meets at 1 p.m. on Friday in Room 2 at the Los Volcanes Senior Center, 6500 Los Volcanes NW. The featured speaker will be Susan Burgener discussing Selection and Criteria for Assisted Living . Admission is free. For additional information, call Larry Sullivan at 505-242-4981.

Promotions

Rachel Silva has been promoted by Homewise Inc. to marketing manager. Silva previously was the Web marketing manager. Silvas new duties include leading the development of strategic and long-range plans; as well as design, execution and performance of integrated marketing programs and campaigns for the organization.

Welcome

Jeff McWhorter, CPA has joined Rael & With CPAs in Santa Fe as a senior manager. McWhorter has 30 years experience in public accounting.

Butt Thornton & Baehr PC has hired five new associates. They are Jay Athey, Jonathan Elms, Charles Kraft, Marc Shuter and Arsian Umarov .

Athey has a bachelors degree in communications from Flagler College and a law degree, cum laude, from Florida State University. He previously practiced civil litigation defense in Florida and Colorado.

Elms has a bachelors degree and a masters degree in business management, both from Texas Tech University, and a law degree from the University of Houston. His practice will focus primarily on workers compensation defense, business and commercial transactions, and estate planning and probate.

Kraft has a law degree from UNM. He previously worked as an assistant attorney general in Santa Fe and for the Public Defenders Office, representing clients from arraignment through trail with a particular emphasis on DWI.

Shuter has a bachelors degree in English, summa cum laude, and a law degree, magna cum laude, both from UNM. He previously worked for a medical malpractice defense firm, and as an assistant district attorney prosecuting white-collar, violent and property crime.

Umarov has a bachelors degree, cum laude, from the University of Memphis and a law degree from Texas Tech University. He previously worked for the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services and as an associate at John D. Wheeler in Alamogordo.

Robin Kvech, CPA has joined Homewise Inc. as controller. Kvech has 29 years experience in the areas of corporate and public accounting. He will oversee the activities of the corporate accounting department for the accurate and timely dissemination of financial management reports.

Change of address

Premier Meeting Planners LLC, a professional medical meeting and events management company, has moved to 4600 B Montgomery NE, Suite B-200 . For additional information, call 505-850-3058, email yb@pmplanners.net or visit www.pmplanners.net.

Applause

Heads Up Landscaping has been ranked #85 in Lawn & Landscapes Top 100 Rankings of landscaping companies in the United States. The Lawn & Landscape Top 100 is based on 2014 revenue from landscape profit centers and is reported by each company. Heads Up Landscaping is the only New Mexico company on the list.

Heart Hospital of New Mexico at the Lovelace Medical Center has received the Mission: Lifeline Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award for implementing specific high-quality improvement measures outlined by the American Heart Association for the treatment of patients who suffer severe heart attacks. This is the second year in a row the Heart Hospital of New Mexico at the Lovelace Medical Center has been recognized with this award.

Etc.

Jay Jenkins, president and CEO of Carlsbad National Bank in Carlsbad, has been elected president of the New Mexico Bankers Association for the 2016-17 fiscal year. Jenkins also serves as co-chair of the ABA Advocacy & Grassroots Committee. He has 18 years experience in the banking industry.

New Patents (Awarded June 29)

Red.com, Irvine, Calif., has been assigned a patent ( 9,380,220 ) developed by five co-inventors for optical filtering for cameras. The co-inventors are Anthony Wayne Davis, Los Alamos, Robert Rose, Trabuco Canyon, Calif., Thomas Graeme Nattress, Acton, Calif., Peter Jarred Land, Los Angeles, and James H. Jannard, Las Vegas, Nev. (Filed April 3, 2014)

(Awarded June 30)

SolAero Technologies, Albuquerque, has been assigned a patent ( 9,379,274 ) developed by three co-inventors for a solar cell panel and the method for manufacturing the same. The co-inventors are Benjamin C. Richards, Albuquerque, Charles F. Sarver, Tijeras, and Maria Naidenkova, Albuquerque. (Filed March 25, 2014)

Los Alamos National Security, Los Alamos, and B.P. Corp. North America, Houston, have been assigned a patent ( 9,378,310 ) developed by two co-inventors for material point method modeling in oil and gas reservoirs. The co-inventors are William Brian Vanderheyden, Katy, Texas, and Duan Zhang, Los Alamos. (Filed Oct. 11, 2012)

STC.UNM, Albuquerque, has been assigned a patent ( 9,376,452 ) developed by eight co-inventors for Rab7 GTPase inhibitors and related methods of treatment. The co-inventors are Angela Wandinger-Ness, Albuquerque, Larry Sklar, Albuquerque, Jacob Agola, Albuquerque, Zurab Surviladze, Albuquerque, Jeffrey Aube, Lawrence, Kan., Jennifer Golden, Olathe, Kan., Chad E. Schroeder, Lawrence, Kan., and Denise S. Simpson, Lawrence, Kan. (Filed May 15, 2014)

Earthstone International, Santa Fe, has been assigned a patent ( 9,376,344 ) developed by W. Gene Ramsey, Las Cruces, for foamed glass ceramic composite materials and a method for producing the same. (Filed Feb. 17, 2006)

Ortiz & Associates Consulting, Albuquerque, has been assigned a patent ( 9,380,414 ) developed by Luis M. Ortiz, Albuquerque, for systems, methods and apparatuses for brokering data between wireless devices, servers and data rendering devices. (Filed Feb. 26, 2013)

Sandia, Albuquerque, and the University of California, Oakland, Calif., have been assigned a patent ( 9,376,728 ) developed by four co-inventors for useful halophilic, thermostable and ionic liquids tolerant cellulases. The co-inventors are Tao Zhang, Richmond, Calif., Supratim Datta, Berkeley, Calif., Blake A. Simmons, San Francisco, and Edward M. Rubin, Berkeley, Calif. (Filed June 11, 2012)

Federal contracts

(Announced June 24)

R&M Government Services Inc., Las Cruces, won a $33,955 federal contract from the Defense Logistics Agency for circuit card assemblies.

(Announced June 25)

Iina Ba Inc., Farmington, won a $76,532.40 federal contract set aside for Native American small business from the U.S. Department of the Interiors Bureau of Indian Affairs for lead-based paint abatement services. The place of performance will be at Building 1 at the Window Rock Headquarters in Arizona.

(Announced June 28)

Honeywell International Inc., Albuquerque, won a $46,552 federal contract from the Defense Logistics Agency for aircraft component assemblies.

(Announced June 29)

Susan Archuleta, Truth or Consequences, won a $24,000 federal contract from the U.S. Department of the Interiors Bureau of Reclamation for janitorial services. The place of performance will be at the Elephant Butte Field Division in Truth or Consequences.

(Announced June 30)

Talihina Flooring & Construction LLC, Albuquerque, won a $33,557.76 federal contract set aside for Native American small business from the U.S. Department of the Interiors Bureau of Indian Affairs for the removal and installation of carpets and coves.
And so the UK votes to secede from the European Union  the Brexit movement prevails. I find this action ironic.

When the Treaty of Rome was signed in 1957, it created the European Economic Community, which later grew into todays European Union. The six original members were West Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg. The UK was not one of the original members because of its independence streak, its special relationship with the U.S., and because Brits have always considered themselves Brits first and Europeans second.

As the 1950s turned into the 1960s, the UKs economy, which struggled to recover during its rebuilding mode after the war, started to seriously hit the brakes. It was in the mid-1960s that the countrys leaders developed a strong urge to join the EU. This effort was thwarted by then-French President Charles de Gaulle, who never felt that the Brits respected him as an equal partner during WWII, and because the UK was snotty enough not to join the new European group in the first place. It took until 1973 for the UK to be voted in, 16 years after the formation of the original EU. By the time of its joining, West Germany and France had already developed secure leadership roles within the EU, which remain today.

It can be argued that the UK feels like it never rose to be a major leader within the EU, politically or economically. Those roles tend to lie with France and Germany. Unlike the rest of their European neighbors, the British have not physically been invaded and conquered on a large scale since the Norman Conquest of 1066. They are strong in their independence and firm believers in self-destiny.

However, a large part of the Brexit movement focused not so much on economic reasons, but on tightening up immigration flows to the UK. I also find this ironic as this is one of the most multifaceted countries I have ever visited in the world. The UK is a lot like the U.S. in the sense that there are people of every ethnicity and religious persuasion living there, and rightly so. The UK ruled a substantial portion of the world for the better part of four centuries. Its holdings included some of the most diverse regions on earth, stretching from North America, through Asia, and to the Middle East.

During one of my visits to the UK, I struck up a friendship with two brothers from Jordan who owned a small pizza-by-the-slice business in Piccadilly Circus. Both had left everything they had back home, a country the UK ruled until WWII, for a better life and were working night and day to make their business successful. I also met an Iranian worker at a Mexican-style tavern/cafe that drew my attention, having worked in Mexico most of my career. This gentleman was working two jobs to feed his family and was struggling to make ends meet. I asked him why he didnt return to his native country and he told me that his two kids were born in the UK, and it was now their country, the only one they knew, as it was his.

On subsequent trips, I met people in the UK of Indian, Pakistani, Sikh, Turkish and African descent. By and large, Brits traditionally have been polite and accepting of foreigners.

I thought about these people when I read the horrible reports in the UK of foreigners and immigrants being accosted, insulted and told, The vote is over, we won  go home, you dont belong here! I read about one account of a Polish mother on a bus with a baby in her arms being told to leave the UK and go back to Poland with her family.

This brought back sad feelings of the brief time I lived in American Falls, Idaho, when my father decided to sell his business in northern New Mexico and move to where his brother had settled as a dentist. Some of the people in town were gracious and welcoming to me. However, several actually told me to Go back to Mexico, you dont belong here, without knowing that my family had been on the North American continent, and what is now the U.S., for hundreds of years before their families came.

I chalked these experiences up to ignorance, although they were hurtful at the time. Years after having moved back to New Mexico, I vividly remember these experiences.

Britain has been one of the most welcoming countries in the world  that is part of its historical DNA. Cultures of the world have made the UK a beacon of leadership in the world. Now it is receiving a black eye because of its vote to leave the EU  and by the hateful actions of people who are making the country look like it never was connected to the rest of the world. Isnt it ironic that the UK has invaded, controlled and benefited from so many countries/peoples across the globe, but now a lot of Brits dont want foreigners in their country? We can only hope that this hateful anti-immigrant spirit is minimalized in our own country and Americans present a dignified image to the world as we enter into the last stages of our presidential election.

Jerry Pacheco is the executive director of the International Business Accelerator, a nonprofit trade counseling program of the New Mexico Small Business Development Centers Network. He can be reached at 575-589-2200 or at jerry@nmiba.com.
PNM and the PNM Resources Foundation contribute more than $3 million to New Mexico nonprofits and community partners each year to support economic, educational and environmental initiatives in the communities the company serves.

One of its core partnerships is with WESST, a nonprofit, small-business development organization committed to cultivating entrepreneurship throughout the state through training, consulting, incubation and lending.

Through our economic vitality giving efforts, we focus on economic development collaborations, support of local chambers (of commerce) and providing assistance to low-income-qualified families through programs that increase their energy-efficiency options and reduce their utility bills, said Amy M. Miller, director of community, environment and local government for PNM. We consider WESST to be one of the best partners we have in the economic development arena.

Technology Toolkit

Creating jobs and businesses is critical in New Mexico, Miller said, and PNM likes what WESST is doing to bring economic stability and higher living standards to the states diverse communities.

As part of its Job Growth Initiative, PNM helped WESST launch the Technology Toolkit, a program that helps New Mexico entrepreneurs effectively use technology in their businesses and provides streamlined, low-interest loans of $500 to $5,000 for tech purchases, such as hardware, software and Web development.

PNM understands the vision that WESST has to provide entrepreneurs with access to learning and loans that help them incorporate technology tools into their businesses, said Julianna Silva, managing director of the WESST Enterprise Center, one of seven certified small-business incubators in New Mexico. These resources are so pivotal in todays ever-changing digital landscape, and play a key role in how New Mexico entrepreneurs start and grow their businesses.

Toolkit workshops offer intensive training and consulting in online marketing, low-cost tech and financial applications and business uses for tablets like the iPad. Sample classes include break-even and cash-flow analysis using custom Excel models, selling online using ETSY, mobile tools for marketing and productivity, and QuickBooks basics.

WESST is able to help New Mexico entrepreneurs use technology wisely to grow sustainable businesses, Silva said, and the support of PNM has amplified our capacity to offer these important resources to small businesses in New Mexico. PNM has always been a tremendous partner in our work to advance economic development in the state.

Mutual admiration

PNMs collaboration with WESST goes back to the organizations creation: Two of WESSTs three founders were PNM employees, and PNM employees and company officers continue their involvement.

Besides PNMs organizational support, Miller said, some of us provide personal contributions to the organization (and) two of our officers also continue to be active in board and committee work to further WESSTs mission in New Mexico. WESST has a proven track record in creating a wide array of support to help entrepreneurs succeed in all parts of New Mexico.

In 2015, WESST provided training, consulting, incubation and financial services to 3,025 New Mexicans from its offices in Albuquerque, Roswell, Rio Rancho, Santa Fe, Farmington and Las Cruces. WESST clients employed more than 1,470 people, created 238 new jobs and generated more than $88 million in annual revenues.

For more information about the WESST Technology Toolkit, visit www.wesst.org/business-training/wesst-technology-toolkit/.

Finance New Mexico assists individuals and businesses with obtaining skills and funding resources for their business or idea. To learn more, go to www.FinanceNewMexico.org.

NAME: Agnes Noonan

TITLE: President

ORGANIZATION: WESST

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HOBBS  You can measure the slow-rolling oil bust in the thousands of frack tanks, water-hauling trucks and port-a-potties parked in dirt lots, out of service.

Or take stock of it at a popular steak restaurant, where a year ago the bar was packed

three deep after 5 p.m. and

25-year-old Irma Zamudio was pulling $900 a week in tips. Today, she says she is lucky to take home $500.

See it in the free rent signs hanging on housing complexes, at the unbelievably busy Palmer Drug Abuse Program, and on the now-quiet highways to the oil and gas fields around Loco Hills and Eunice, where pumpjacks bob like flocks of hungry birds, but drilling activity has all but dried up.

The avalanche in oil prices that began in mid-2014 and bottomed in February is pummeling New Mexicos oil producing regions the hardest  but the whole state is suffering as the oil and gas tax revenue that props up the state budget continues to drop.

Oil production in southeast New Mexico has only just begun to slip, with totals off just 1 percent in the first four months of the year, but drilling activity  and the thousands of jobs it supported in the region  has plummeted. Drill rigs in the field began disappearing last year, dropping from 104 in late 2014 to about 20 today.

In Lea County, which includes Hobbs, gross receipts fell 39 percent through April compared to the same period a year ago; it was the second-largest gross receipts decline in the state. The unemployment rate in Hobbs surged to 8 percent from 5.3 percent over the same time.

The fact of the matter is, our little community lives and dies on oil, said Larry Scott, president of Lynx Petroleum Consultants, a small oil and gas operator, and a Republican state representative.

The decline in oil prices was painfully swift compared to the climb.

A barrel of crude oil took 10 years to rise from around $11 in 1998 to $145 in 2008. With the exception of a short-lived dip in 2009, it took less than two years to slide from over $100 to under $28. The good times lasted a long time as oil booms go  so long that people began to believe it would last.

People got accustomed to having work all day every day, Scott said. When that goes on long enough, you forget that things can change.

Energy markets domino effect

Sharp movements in world energy markets can kick off domino effects in New Mexico that are felt in the industry, the local economy, the state budget and everyday lives. The domino effect of this downturn has gone something like this:

Drilling slows when oil prices drop below $65 a barrel, cutting off the flush production that comes from newly perforated wells.

Pumping at existing wells may continue as prices fall, but at slower rates as companies put off well maintenance. Historically, older wells also perform at lower rates than new wells, hurting production totals.

Although the price per barrel has been wavering between $45 and $50 in recent weeks, industry experts say thats not high enough for a turnaround.

When the number of rigs goes down as it has in the past year, you can imagine the effect on jobs and the community, said Charles Salles, deputy director of the states Legislative Finance Committee. It has a ripple effect. It has had a major impact on the states finances. We continue to be concerned today, even though oil prices have rebounded from where they were in February.

As the rigs and well service towers fall off the landscape, jobs directly connected to drilling, fracking and well maintenance vanish. Out-of-town companies that came during the boom pick up and go. Local companies tighten their belts, cutting hours and salaries, and laying off staff, or they file for bankruptcy. If they are fortunate, they find new markets for their services and muddle through.

Paco Hernandez rents trash trailers and portable toilets to the oil industry. J&J Rentals saw 60 percent of its business evaporate over the past year, but Hernandez found a buffer market in the construction industry, which has continued apace as homebuilders who couldnt put up houses fast enough during the boom continue to finish projects.

The community, its taken a big old hit here, he said. Weve been fortunate. We havent had to let go anybody. Were stable enough that we can withstand this and hang on.

The thousands of working people who came to work the boom begin to leave and homes for rent stand empty. Locals and those newcomers who choose to stay wait out the downturn on unemployment insurance or in lower wage jobs at fast food chains or Wal-Mart.

Gretchen Koether is president of the Hobbs realtors association. There were no

homes to be had for so many years that the Hobbs housing market is still absorbing demand, she said. Its the rental market that is taking the hit right now as renters buy homes or leave the area.

A major property manager tells Koether that two-thirds of her business is outgoing, Koether said, and 50 percent of those are giving notice because they found jobs elsewhere, and 50 percent are coming in and throwing their keys on the desk and saying they cant make it here anymore.

There are social consequences to the downturn, too

We see a big influx in people as the economy goes down, said Stewart Sroufe, executive director of the nonprofit Palmer Drug Abuse Program.

The impact is on the individual working in the field, working for one of these service companies, and all of sudden their salaries go to nothing, he said. Its not just mom and dad, its the children who are affected. Because of the loss of income, dad and mom are not holding it together. To ease the pain of not having money, youve got drugs and alcohol. Our meetings have gotten larger and larger. The good part is some people are seeking help.

Just a matter of time

The one thing Hobbs has always been able to count on is that what goes up will come down, and what comes down will go back up. Locals say its just a matter of when. In the meantime, the bust will continue to roll out its effects.

Activity levels will not bounce appreciably higher if oil stays in the range it has been in for the last six weeks or so, Scott said. But there are companies making plans for going back to work because of the lead time with regard to these permits.

The Oil Conservation Division of the state Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department has approved 310 drilling permits so far this year, ahead of the pace five years ago. Permits are good for two years and can be extended, but its unlikely that companies would act on those permits until prices return to the high 60s for a sustained period.

Another 1,200 wells have already been drilled, but not completed, as producers wait for the price to come up, according to Jim Griswold, OCD environmental bureau chief.

Hobbs Mayor Sam Cobb says this market contraction  the term he prefers to bust  is the second-worst he remembers in the five decades he has lived in Hobbs, second only to the market crash in the 1980s. But southeast New Mexico is in a much better position today than it was back then, when major energy companies picked up their things and fled.

Today, we have a much different scenario, he said. We are seeing a reinvestment. Some of the companies that sold oil and gas producing properties in the 80s are coming back in and purchasing some of their same assets back  Conoco, Shell, Chevron. Unrest globally and changes in technology  horizontal drilling and its suitability to this area  has made the Permian Basin, of which Hobbs, and Eddy County and Lea County are a part  competitive with any other oil field in the world. I think well see sustainability like weve never seen since before the 70s.

Irma Zamudio, the 25-year-old bartender who works at the popular steak restaurant, said her husband had been working in the oilfield since he was 18. Their whole adult lives were boom times  until the bust. He was out of work for a while before he found a job with the city of Lovington, for less pay, she said.

It really caught us by surprise, she said. We didnt save. In the back of our heads, we always knew it wasnt guaranteed. It can go back up and fall right back down again. Next time, well prepare for the worst.

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NEW DELHI (AP)  The bodies of the seven Japanese killed in a militant attack in Bangladesh returned home Tuesday as investigators in Dhaka searched for clues about the masterminds of the gruesome attack that left 28 dead.

A Japanese government plane took the bodies back to Tokyo's Haneda Airport, where the boxes covered with white cloth were lowered slowly in pairs from the cargo bay of the Boeing 747 and lined up on the tarmac.

Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida, Bangladesh Ambassador Rabab Fatima and other officials laid bouquets between the boxes.

In Dhaka, authorities were still holding five of the 13 hostages rescued when commandos stormed the restaurant in Dhaka's diplomatic zone Saturday morning, killing six of the attackers and capturing one. All five are Bangladesh citizens.

Dhaka Police Commissioner Asaduzzaman Mia said Tuesday that authorities are still questioning some of the former hostages, including a former teacher at a private Dhaka university and the son of an industrialist. He declined to provide more details about the investigation.

A second official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk about the ongoing investigation said authorities are looking into the backgrounds of the five people and questioning their families and friends.

It was not clear if the five are considered possible suspects, or if they are being held and questioned simply because authorities believe they might offer information about the origins of the attack.

The official confirmed investigators were speaking with a man described by local media as a Bangladeshi who was trapped inside the restaurant along with his wife and two children. The man, a former teacher at a private university in Dhaka, had returned to Bangladesh after living nearly 20 years in Britain.

Some photographs and several crude videos taken from an apartment near the Holey Artisan Bakery show the man talking to someone while attackers allowed him to leave before paramilitary forces launched the rescue operation on Saturday. The man's friends and police said one of the attackers was a student in the same department at the university where the man taught.

The attack  the worst violence in a recent series of deadly attacks to hit Bangladesh  has stunned the traditionally moderate Muslim nation and raised global concerns about whether it can cope with increasingly strident Islamist militants.

That the attackers targeted a popular restaurant in the heart of the diplomatic quarter of Bangladesh's capital signaled a shift in militant tactics. Previous attacks were carried out by gangs of young men wielding cleavers and machetes and hacking individual victims before fleeing.

Bangladesh police have said they are investigating whether the attackers had links to the Islamic State group, though the home minister insisted IS has no presence in Bangladesh and could not have guided the attack. The government has blamed the attack and other recent killings on domestic militants bent on imposing Islamic rule. The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Two police officers and 20 hostages  nine Italians, seven Japanese, an Indian and three students at American universities  were killed.

The Italian Foreign Ministry has issued a travel advisory saying it cannot exclude the possibility of further attacks in Bangladesh. It urged people to exercise the utmost prudence, particularly in places frequented by foreigners, and to limit their activities to only what was necessary.

Associated Press writers Katy Daigle, Nirmala George and Ashok Sharma in New Delhi and Ken Moritsugu in Tokyo contributed to this report.

 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Libertarian presidential nominee Gary Johnson on Sunday went where Hillary Clinton has refused to go, saying Donald Trump is clearly racist.

Based on his statements, clearly, Johnson said on CNNs State of the Union. I mean, if statements are being made, is that not reflective?

Critics of Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee  including some in his own party  have said that he makes racist statements, such as when he argued that a Hispanic judge is incapable of presiding fairly over a case involving Trump University. House Speaker Paul D. Ryan, R-Wis., called that the textbook definition of a racist comment. But most have stopped short of declaring that Trump is racist.

Clinton, too, has distinguished between what Trump says and who he is. When MSNBCs Rachel Maddow asked last month whether Trump is racist, this was Clintons response:

Well, I dont know whats in his heart, but I know what hes saying with respect to the judge, thats a racist attack. With the attacks on so many other people, he is calling them out for their ethnic background, their race, their religion, their gender. I dont know what else you could call these attacks other than racist, other than prejudice, other than bigoted.

For Johnson, averaging about 8 percent in national polls, calling Trump racist represents a notable ratcheting up of campaign rhetoric. The mellow former governor of New Mexico said during a CNN town hall on June 22 that he did not plan to engage in any sort of name-calling aimed at either of the leading major-party candidates. His running mate, former Massachusetts governor Bill Weld, called Trump a huckster at that event, though.

On Sunday, Johnson initially tried to focus only on Trumps comments  specifically his recent statement that he is looking at replacing Muslim Transportation Security Administration agents with veterans.

He has said 100 things that would disqualify anyone else from running for president, but (it) doesnt seem to affect him, Johnson said. And just turn the page, and heres the page turn: Now we have another reason that might disqualify a presidential candidate. That statement (about TSA agents) in and of itself  it really is, uh, its racist.

Johnson added that the stuff hes saying is just incendiary.

Incendiary, but do you think he himself is racist? asked CNNs Brianna Keilar.

At that point, Johnson said Trump clearly is.
FORT SUMNER  A 53-year-old Clovis man drowned Saturday night at Sumner Lake State Park, officials said.

Park Superintendent Ray Drake said he received a call about a possible drowning at 6:44 p.m. on Saturday. He said witnesses told him Ricky Boddy of Clovis was trying to dock his boat on the west side of the lake when it drifted away.

He jumped in to go get it, Drake said.

Its hard to say exactly what happened. The witnesses said they saw him swim a little and then he went down.

A dive team from the New Mexico State Police recovered the body at 2:29 p.m. on Sunday, Drake said.

The body was found near the area where witnesses reported they last saw the victim.

Drake said the Office of the Medical Investigator took the body as part of the investigation into the incident.

Drake said Boddy and family members had arrived at the lake on Saturday.
Larry Dohrn had picked the lock on his leg shackles, leapt from a prisoner transport bus window and carjacked an SUV last month, but when it came to getting out of the city, he needed help.

So he called an acquaintance who gave him a ride to a house in the East Mountains, according to court documents obtained by the Journal. Deputies say Dohrn, 48, killed himself in that house later that evening.

Dohrn, an inmate at the Metropolitan Detention Center, was being taken to the District Courthouse on June 22 for a hearing when he escaped, sparking a manhunt through Downtown Albuquerque.

Deputies found the SUV he had stolen around noon but didnt catch up with him until several hours later. He had holed up in a house in Manzano, and when the Bernalillo County Sheriffs Office SWAT team entered, they said they found that he had shot himself.

Felicia Romero, a BCSO spokeswoman, said the gun he used had already been in the house.

A couple of hours after Dohrns escape, a tipster called the sheriffs department saying a man had asked to use his cellphone near 11th and Silver SW, according to the documents. The tipster, who said he recognized Dohrn when he saw the news, gave deputies the phone number he had dialed.

That phone number led them to Earl Barela from La Joya, south of Belen. Barela told New Mexico State Police officers that Dohrn called him and threatened him and his family if he didnt come pick him up. He said he drove to Albuquerque and took the fugitive to a house that he said belonged to a man who is elderly and would not be aware of Dohrns escape.

Romero said Barela has not been arrested, but the case has been submitted to the District Attorneys Office to evaluate for possible charges. Barela could not be reached for comment.

She said the elderly man told deputies he didnt know Dohrn was wanted. He has not been charged, but his case will also be forwarded to the DAs Office, Romero said.

Nataura Powdrell-Moore, a spokeswoman for the Metropolitan Detention Center, said jail officials are still investigating the escape and no employees have been disciplined for it.

An arrest warrant filed prior to Dohrns death said the transport bus was playing loud music and was very noisy. Dohrn was able to break a window and jump out before officers noticed.

Powdrell-Moore said although initial reports indicated Dohrn had used a shaved-down handcuff key to pick his leg shackles, authorities have heard conflicting reports.

Other inmates have stated other items such as a paperclip, piece from a watch, staple (may have been used), she said. We are continuing to investigate, which includes speaking to all inmates from his pod, the bus, etc.
Americans will celebrate todays Fourth of July with dazzling displays of pyrotechnics, but fireworks of another sort could explode later this summer if the U.S. Forest Service and Congress cant agree on how to pay the bill for big blazes such as the Dog Head Fire that ravaged close to 18,000 acres southeast of Albuquerque last month.

I recently spoke with U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Sen. Tom Udall of New Mexico about fire funding in separate interviews. The two Democrats remarks revealed a disconnect between the Obama administration and Congress, with Udall describing Vilsacks near-term approach to wildfire funding as irresponsible.

Vilsack and Udall both support long-term legislation that would classify major wildfires as natural disasters to be fought using federal emergency money, similar to how the U.S. pays to contain and mitigate damage from floods and hurricanes. That proposal has been on the table for several years, but congressional consensus remains elusive.

As it stands now, the U.S. Forest Service is forced each summer to borrow heavily from other programs to pay the cost of fighting big blazes like the Dog Head that burned 12 homes in the Manzano Mountains. This so-called fire borrowing is gradually gutting other Forest Service programs, including some, such as forest maintenance, that can help prevent these fires in the first place.

Vilsack told me that this year he wont authorize any more fire borrowing within the Forest Service budget, period. So, if the agency runs out of cash to fight fires this summer, Vilsack said hell demand that Congress appropriate more money.

Were not going to continue to do what weve done over the years of bailing Congress out from its responsibilities here by borrowing, Vilsack told me. Were not borrowing this year, so if the funds run out Congress is going to either find additional resources, or fix this problem thats been growing more serious every year.

Were instructing the Fire Service to spend the money, so its not going to be there, Vilsack said. Thats, frankly, the only way I know to get Congress to a point where it will do its responsibility and its duty.

As the Dog Head Fire raged last month, at one point threatening as many as 1,000 homes, Udall called Vilsacks stated approach irresponsible.

If theyve run out of money and the secretary says were not spending any more money, then you are not fighting the fire that could go over to those 1,000 homes, Udall said. That seems to me to be irresponsible. If you run out of money and you dont do borrowing then youre not fighting fires.

Udall, a member of the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee, which controls the congressional purse strings, said he understands Vilsacks frustration, but that counting on Congress to deliver an emergency infusion of firefighting money on the fly as fires burn is an iffy proposition. Its worth noting that Udall did manage last month to convince his Senate colleagues to include an additional $600 million for firefighting in the 2017 federal budget.

You can deliver up a request for a supplemental appropriation, but weve had a very hard time doing appropriations and funding bills on time, said Udall. If right at the point you run out of money, you say, Were not going to spend the money and fight fires, I dont think thats the way to go.

Vilsack told me that last year, for the first time in the history of the Forest Service, 52 percent of the agencys entire budget was spent on fire suppression. Just 20 years ago that figure would have been about 16 percent, he said. There are myriad reasons for the increase, but federal officials cite climate change  and the longer, hotter and drier summers that result  as a chief culprit. Residential and commercial growth near forests also continues to spread like, well, wildfire, exacerbating the risk to life and property.

If (the percentage of the Forest Service budget devoted to firefighting) continues to increase, and it is projected to, if we dont change how we fund fire suppression, it will reach two-thirds of our budget in the not-too-distant future, Vilsack said. Its an unsustainable pace.

The political divide on this issue isnt strictly partisan. Some Republicans from the West favor classifying wildfires as natural disasters but others, including House Speaker Paul Ryan, contend doing so would set an expensive precedent. Others, such as Rep. Steve Pearce of New Mexico, contend more forest thinning would help get the problem under control.

Simply changing the way wildfires are funded will not solve the problems facing our national forests, Pearce said. To fix the problem, we must address the real problem: lack of effective management. The most effective way to prevent wildfires are thinning and controlled burns; however, these practices have not been properly utilized by this administration due to radical regulations supported by the far left.

We must fix these problems and begin to restore forest health across the West instead of simply throwing more money at the problem, which seems to be this administrations approach to most problems, Pearce said.

UpFront is a daily front-page news and opinion column. You can contact Journal Washington Bureau chief Michael Coleman at mcoleman@abqjournal.com.
Copyright  2016 Albuquerque Journal

The massive bleeding in New Mexicos oil and gas industry has subsided, thanks to

modest recovery in prices, but producers dont expect a major comeback anytime soon.

Overall, the view is still pessimistic, at best, said Gregg Fulfer, Lea County Commission chair and owner of Fulfer Oil and Cattle Co. in Jal. People have cut back, and there are no plans that I can see to gear back up yet.

Thats bad news, not just for business and government in southeast New Mexico, but for the state as a whole.

While the decline in oil prices may have reached bottom, the states tax income continues to plummet. The state may be looking at a deficit of $150 million to $175 million for the new fiscal year that began Friday. That follows on the heels of spending cuts in February as part of the fiscal 2017 budget.

That will be tough to deal with, said Sen. John Arthur Smith, D-Deming, who chairs the Legislative Finance Committee. Our  reserves are now in the 3 percent range. They had typically been in the 10 percent range.

A deficit of that magnitude could force officials to consider a special session of the Legislature, Smith said.

Oil prices have rebounded from a 12-year low of $27 a barrel in late January to about $46 today. But most producers in New Mexicos oil patch in Lea, Eddy and Chaves counties say they need about $65 a barrel for robust drilling to begin again. And with prices expected to remain significantly below that mark until at least 2017, few oil and gas companies and the service industries that support them are expected to hire back many of the thousands of workers who lost their jobs in the bust.

Most producers like me are just holding on now and hoping to get through this, Fulfer said. Everyone seems to be in a holding pattern. Its wait-and-see right now.

Start of crisis

The crisis exploded in mid-2014, when prices began to plummet after nearly a six-year run-up that had kept oil above $100 a barrel. Global oversupply driven by a surge in U.S. production, declining demand in a still-sluggish world economy, and aggressive oil pumping by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries despite oversupply produced a perfect storm that steadily pushed prices down.

Prices have rebounded somewhat since April, thanks to better-than-anticipated demand in China and India, as well as production disruptions in Nigeria and Canada. In addition, U.S. production, which remained resilient through the end of 2015, has finally begun to taper off.

U.S. output reached a record 9.4 million barrels per day last year, driven by modern drilling techniques that helped slice open massive, hard-to-reach oil and natural gas deposits in hard shale rock. But as of March, domestic oil production had fallen to 9 million barrels a day, and the U.S. Energy Information Administration now projects a fairly steady drop to about 8 million a day by 2017.

For producers, it will remain a tough slog through next year because oil prices remain highly volatile. For one thing, the world remains flooded with crude, said Daniel Fine, associate director of the New Mexico Center for Energy Policy at the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology. The U.S. currently has an inventory of about 525 million barrels of oil Thats an historic high, and it must first be physically sold and (consumed) before inventories return to normal levels, Fine said. As a result, any change in the balance of supply and demand and an upward trend in prices will remain slow or static until that excess inventory is completely liquidated.

OPEC nations, and in particular Saudi Arabia, are pulling the strings of world supply to push prices up or down as they wrest market share from U.S. competitors, Fine said. While oversupply and sluggish economies laid the foundation for the oil bust, it was OPECs mid-2014 decision to lift caps on its own production that pushed the market into freefall. That was the start of a historic price war aimed at undercutting U.S. shale producers who had cut into OPECs traditional market hegemony.

OPEC has won that war, said Fine, a former research associate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who participated in MITs World Oil Forum.

U.S. drilling for new oil and gas is at a near-halt, with the national rig count down from about 1,900 drilling rigs in early 2014 to just 424 operating as of mid-June, according to the oil-field service company Baker Hughes. In New Mexico, the rig count fell from just over 100 to 20 in the same period.

About $1 trillion in previously planned capital investment has fled from U.S. oil fields, and nearly 160 oil companies have gone bankrupt.

The price war has resulted in an OPEC-Saudi Arabia victory without question, Fine said. Southwest U.S. production has hit bottom.

Now, OPEC has moved to control volatility somewhat by setting a new price range of between $39 and $59 per barrel, at least for the next six months, Fine said.

Theyve moved from a hot price war to a cold war to retain market share, Fine said. Saudi Arabia retains spare capacity to supply at will 2 to 3 million barrels per day on the market, allowing it to control volume and prices to keep U.S. production in check.

Good for big firms

In the Permian Basin in New Mexico and West Texas, the climb back from $27 per barrel in late January has brought some relief, particularly for big, deep-pocketed producers like Chevron and Concho Resources, which can rapidly complete new oil wells theyve already drilled to take advantage of slightly higher prices.

But for hundreds of small and mid-sized independent producers in the Permian, recovery wont kick in until prices climb into the $60- or $65-per-barrel range and remain there.

I believe we hit bottom between $26 and $28 a barrel in January and February, but even with oil between $45 and $50 a barrel as it is now, I dont anticipate any significant improvement in activity levels, said state Rep. Larry Scott, R-Hobbs, who heads Lynx Petroleum Consultants in Lea County. I dont think folks will go back to drilling in any substantial manner until they see sustained prices at $60 or above.

Job losses

With prices hitting bottom and bouncing back a bit since January, the sharp slide downward in investment and employment levels in New Mexico has at least slowed, if not stopped. But things remain pretty depressed in the oil patch.

At least 6,000 people lost their jobs in the downturn  a number that goes as high as between 12,000 and 18,000 if direct and indirect jobs are included. Indirect jobs include areas like well servicing, equipment suppliers and people working in local hospitality and retail.

In Lea County, the unemployment rate climbed from 5.9 percent in May 2015 to 8.7 percent this May, according to the state Department of Workforce Solutions.

And, with few or no new wells being drilled or coming online, state officials are bracing for a drop in production as productivity at current wells tapers off.

So far, that hasnt happened. New Mexicos oil output for the first four months of this year reached 47.1 million barrels, down by about 565,000 barrels, or a little over 1 percent, from the same period in 2015.

When and if production does fall, the impact on state finances could be offset somewhat by the modest increase in prices, said Sen. John Arthur Smith.

For each $1 drop or increase in the price of oil, New Mexico loses or gains between $7 and $10 million in revenue.

Tax loss

But the bust in industry activity has also impacted state collection of other taxes. As of April, revenue from corporate income taxes was down by between 45 percent and 50 percent for the previous 12 months, and gross receipts taxes were down by between 8 and 10 percent, Smith said.

That could drive the states revenue shortfall for the new fiscal year that began Friday to as high as $175 million, he said.

If accurate, new, more-controversial measures may be needed, such as tapping into the states Tobacco Settlement Money, which holds about $230 million to $240 million in reserve, he said. But approval for that or other measures could require a special legislative session.

Weve never tapped into the tobacco reserve money before, Smith said. It would be the first time.

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See that little stream? We could walk to it in two minutes. It took the British a month to walk to it  a whole empire walking very slowly, dying in front and pushing forward behind.

 F. Scott Fitzgerald, Tender Is the Night

WASHINGTON  The walk began at 7:30 a.m., July 1, 1916, when British infantry advanced toward German trenches. In the first hours, eight British soldiers fell per second. By nightfall 19,240 were dead, another 38,230 were wounded.

World War I, the worst man-made disaster in human experience, was the hinge of modern history. The war was the incubator of Communist Russia, Nazi Germany, World War II and innumerable cultural consequences. The hinge of this war was the battle named for that little stream, the river Somme.

The scything fire of machine guns could not be nullified even by falling curtains of metal from creeping artillery barrages that moved in advance of infantry. Geoff Dyer, in The Missing of the Somme, notes: By the time of the great battles of attrition of 1916-17 mass graves were dug in advance of major offenses. Singing columns of soldiers fell grimly silent as they marched by these gaping pits en route to the front-line trenches.

William Philpotts judicious assessment in Three Armies on the Somme: The First Battle of the Twentieth Century is that the Somme was the cradle of modern combat, proving that industrial war could only be won by protracted attrition.

And hence by the new science of logistics.

The 31 trains a day required to supply the British at the Somme became 70 when the offensive began. The romance of chivalric warfare died at the Somme, which was what the Germans called Materialschlacht, a battle of materials more than men. Geographic objectives  land seized  mattered less than the slow exhaustion of a nations material and human resources, civilians as well as soldiers.

In the next world war, the distinction between the front lines and the home front would be erased.

In 1918, Randolph Bourne, witnessing the mass mobilization of society, including its thoughts, distilled into seven words the essence of the 20th century: War is the health of the state. Relations between government, the economy and the individual were forever altered, to the advantage of government.

Military necessity is the most prolific mother of invention, and World War I was, Philpott writes, a war of invention, pitting scientific-industrial complexes against each other: Gas, flame-throwers, grenade-launchers, sub-machine guns, trench mortars and cannon, fighter and bomber aircraft, tanks and self-propelled artillery all made their battlefield debuts between 1914 and 1918.

Attritional war had begun in earnest at Verdun, which occupies in Frances memory a place comparable to that of the Somme in British memory. And the Somme offensive was begun in part to reduce pressure on Verdun and to demonstrate that Britain was bearing its share of the wars burden.

In December 1915, Winston Churchill, then 41, said, In this war the tendencies are far more important than the episodes. Without winning any sensational victories we may win this war.

The war itself may have been begun by a concatenation of blunders, but once begun it was worth winning, and the Somme, this linear siege (Philpott), set the tendency for that. Germany, trying to slow the trans-Atlantic flow of materiel, resorted to unrestricted submarine warfare, which, five months after the Somme ended, brought the United States into the war and, in a sense, into the world.

The Somme ended on Nov. 18, with men drowning in glutinous lakes of clinging mud sometimes five feet deep. This was the war that British poet Rupert Brooke had welcomed as Gods gift to youth awakened from sleeping, as swimmers into cleanness leaping. By November a million men on both sides were dead  72,000 British and Commonwealth bodies were never recovered  or wounded. Twenty-two miles of front had been moved six miles.

But because of this battle, which broke Germanys brittle confidence, the wars outcome was discernible. Not so its reverberations, one of which was an Austrian corporal whose Bavarian unit deployed to the Somme on Oct. 2. Adolf Hitler was wounded on his third day in the line.

The battle of the Somme is, in Dyers words, deeply buried in its own aftermath. As is Europe, still.

Copyright, Washington Post Writers Group.
CHICAGO  Though summer tends to deliver a few opportunities to put our feet up and take it easy, hunger never takes a holiday.

But while many of us serve up juicy hamburgers and barrels of potato salad as a prelude to fireworks displays, more than 48 million Americans wont get enough to eat.

Thats because summertime is particularly difficult for both people who live with food insecurity and the organizations that help them access free food, according to Feeding America, the nations largest hunger-relief organization.

Not only are children who are on summer break missing the breakfasts and lunches they would have gotten at school, but parents, who are often subject to the fluctuations of weather for work, struggle to pay for expanded child care and extra food.

Simultaneously, the nations food banks scramble to staff pantries and events when individuals and groups of volunteers, such as the Scouts and school-based community service organizations, are off on vacation. And food pantries are not immune to the whims of weather.

Food banks in Arizona and New Mexico just dont do summer feeding because there arent enough volunteers, there isnt enough food, and not enough money to get food out to the remote rural areas scattered throughout counties, said Ross Fraser, director of media relations for Feeding America. And I repeatedly hear that in states with drought conditions, fewer crops are being planted, which means less donated fresh fruits and vegetables and more farmworkers who arent working enough to sustain themselves. Then the farmworkers end up turning to food banks in greater numbers just to get by.

In some places, the need is so great that food banks resort to unconventional ways to get food to the people who need it the most.

For instance, in Las Vegas, Nev., an ice-cream-style truck will deliver 300,000 meals to a variety of locations this summer, serving about 126,000 food insecure kids in the area. Similarly, Vermont has a Veggie Van Gogh, starry-night motif truck that delivers produce to housing projects, schools and clinics.

Dayton, Ohio, does massive food distributions monthly in arena parking lots that serve thousands of families at a time. So does Fort Smith, Ark., with its summertime Antioch in the Park event, which distributes food to approximately 1,700 individuals over the course of just three hours.

The Arkansas event is organized by Antioch Consolidated Association for Youth and Family Inc., led by Executive Director Charlotte Tidwell, who told me that the need is so great, and the large donations so plentiful, that its become necessary to hold events in the park just so there is enough space to accommodate the huge number of volunteers, pallets of food  and the people arriving to stock up.

We hold the event in the most low-income area of our community and the area that is most accessible since there is no public transportation (in Fort Smith), Tidwell told me.

But the park has its own challenges. Arkansas is very, very hot; its like the sun only shines on Fort Smith. Weve been out on days where its 100 degrees, and its a real challenge. Not only does the food need to be protected to stay safe, but the elderly come out and stand in the heat for it; people come out with their little children; veterans and other people with disabilities come out and wait in the heat for hours just to get some food, Tidwell said.

We have to have paramedics, nurses and emergency responders standing by. We have bilingual volunteers going up and down the long, snaking lines of thousands of people handing out cold water and distributing snacks for the kids. And we have volunteers to help those with disabilities transport their food.

Such is the challenge of feeding communities that are in dire need  communities where those seeking food assistance are likelier than not to be working poor.

Research indicates that underemployment is the biggest predictor of food insecurity among people living in the United States  more than half (54 percent) of Feeding Americas client households reported at least one employed person at some point in the past year.

Tidwell says that what local food banks need most is cash donations, because they get plenty of food but need funds to help distribute it to the neediest.

Every dollar counts. If you have a few to spare, consider feeding hungry fellow Americans your act of patriotism this holiday.

Copyright, Washington Post Writers Group.
First, they came for Istanbul. On Tuesday night, three suspected Islamic State militants bombers launched a brazen assault on Turkeys main airport, exploding their suicide vests after gunning down numerous passengers and airport staff. At least 45 people were killed. The world panicked; Ataturk International Airport is one of the busiest hubs in Europe and the Middle East, and among its most fortified. Are our airports safe, wondered American TV anchors. Could this happen on July 4th here?

Next, they came for Dhaka. Gunmen whom many have linked to the Islamic State raided a popular cafe in an upscale neighborhood in Bangladeshs teeming capital. After a 10-hour standoff, authorities stormed the establishment; at least 20 hostages, mostly Italian and Japanese nationals, died at the militants hands. U.S. college students also were among the dead. The Islamic States reach is growing far from the Middle East, security experts fretted. Foreigners are at risk all over the Muslim world.

Then, they attacked Baghdad. In the early hours of Sunday morning, as hundreds of Iraqis gathered during the holy month of Ramadan, a car bomb exploded in the crowded Karrada shopping district. The blast killed a staggering number of people  the latest death toll is at least 121  including many children. The area is predominantly Shiite, making it a choice target for the Sunni extremist group.

Its unlikely that this attack, just the latest in an unending stream of tragedy to envelop the Iraqi capital, will generate the same panic in the West as the earlier two incidents. For years now, we have become almost numb to the violence in Baghdad: Deadly car bombings there conjure up no hashtags, no Facebook profile pictures with the Iraqi flag, no Western newspaper front pages of the victims names and life stories, and only muted global sympathy.

The BBC has a timeline of the recent Islamic State-linked attacks in the city and elsewhere in Iraq, including a hideous week of bombings in Baghdad in mid-May:

9 June 2016: At least 30 people killed in and around Baghdad in two suicide attacks claimed by IS

17 May 2016: Four bomb blasts kill 69 people in Baghdad; three of the targets were Shia areas

11 May 2016: Car bombs in Baghdad kill 93 people, including 64 in market in Shia district of Sadr City

1 May 2016: Two car bombs kill at least 33 people in southern city of Samawa

26 March 2016: Suicide attack targets football match in central city of Iskandariya,killing at least 32

6 March 2016: Fuel tanker blown up at checkpoint near central city of Hilla, killing 47

28 February 2016: Twin suicide bomb attacks hit market in Sadr City, killing 70

And this is only in the calendar year. Ever since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, and the bungled occupation that followed, Baghdad has been the site of numerous rounds of sectarian bloodletting, al-Qaida attacks and now the ravages of the Islamic State. Despite suffering significant defeats at the hands of the Iraqi army, including the loss of the city of Fallujah, the militant group has shown its willingness and capacity to still brutalize the countrys population.

Public anger in the Iraqi capital, as my Washington Post colleague Loveday Morris reports, is not being directed at foreign conspirators or even  first and foremost  at the militants, but at a much-maligned government that is failing to keep the country safe.

The street was full of life last night, one Karrada resident told The Post, and now the smell of death is all over the place.
A 13-year-old New Jersey girl was killed in an all-terrain vehicle accident near Malaga southeast of Carlsbad Sunday night, according to New Mexico State Police.

State Police spokeswoman Elizabeth Armijo said officers were called to the crash near the Pecos River close to Malaga in Eddy County around 7 p.m.

They found that an ATV carrying two 13-year-olds had rolled over, critically injuring one of them, identified as Zoe Carr from Marlton, NJ.

She was rushed to the Carlsbad Medical Center where she died, Armijo said.

A 13-year-old boy who was also on the ATV was not seriously injured.

Armijo said officers are still investigating what caused the ATV to flip, but police dont believe alcohol was a factor.

Carr was not wearing a helmet, Armijo said.

This crash remains under investigation, she said.
A drunk driver crashed into an SUV carrying a family of six in Artesia Friday, hospitalizing three of the family members, including an 8-year-old girl who was still in critical condition Monday, according to New Mexico State Police.

Spokeswoman Elizabeth Armijo said Blake Bollema, 31, from Artesia, was driving a pickup truck north on 13th Street and ran through a stop sign at Highway 285 around 11 p.m. Friday.

He collided with an SUV full of six family members who were heading to Artesia from Roswell, injuring all of them, and ran away on foot, Armijo said.

All six family members were taken to a local hospital, and three who were critically injured  the mom, 8-year-old girl and 5-year-old boy  were airlifted to a hospital in Lubbock, TX.

The mom and 5-year-old had improved and were in stable condition Monday, while the 8-year-old was still in critical condition, Armijo said. Three other family members were not seriously injured and were released from the hospital.

About an hour after the crash, Bollema returned to the scene and said he was the driver of the pickup truck involved in the crash.

While talking to Mr. Bollema, officers smelled alcohol on his breath and observed signs of impairment, Armijo said. They took a blood sample from him to try to find out if he was drunk, and officers are still waiting to find out the results, she said.

Bollema was arrested and charged with aggravated DWI, three counts of great bodily harm by vehicle (under the influence of alcohol or drugs), fleeing the scene of an accident and failure to render aid, as well as a stop sign traffic violation.
India has more festivals than any other part of the world with its people bonded together by different faiths, customs, religions and its history living in celebrations of colours, lights, music and dance. Eid-ul-fitr is one such festival, celebrated by nearly 180 million Muslims in India and many others around the world at the end of the holy month of Ramadan (or Ramzan).

Celebrating the auspicious month of Ramzan, Discovery Channel will take its viewers on a spiritual journey to discover the essence of this festival. Watch the one-hour special SPIRIT OF INDIA: RAMZAN ON Wednesday, July 6th at 8 pm on Discovery Channel.

Fasting is arguably the most important practice in the month of Ramadan but the story unravels many other dimensions of the festival besides the regular prayers. There are are a number of other socio-religious practices that have to be strictly adhered to during this month, like being patient, doing charity, giving up materialist desires in order to free oneself from the worldly desires and strengthening the bond between man and God.

The programme presenter Danny Sura will take Discovery Channel viewers through the streets of Mumbai abuzz with festivities, will attend an Iftar Party near Jama Masjid at Santa Cruz, and later culminate his spiritual journey at the holy shrine of Moinuddin Chishti in Ajmer, Rajasthan.

The programme will also feature the tradition of people hugging and greeting each other and saying EId Mubarak that speaks volumes about the brotherhood that Islam is instilling in its followers and the significance of the Eid Namaaz or the KhutbathdeNamaz as an important prayer. The programme also follows the sermons by clerics, delivering messages of peace and goodwill and blessings for the people.

Tune in to Discovery Channel on Wednesday July 6th at 8 PM to witness the congregation of Muslim devotees offering their prayers to almighty, preparation of ancient cuisines and much more on this Eid-ul-Fitr.
Razorfish the world leader in helping global brands drive business transformation, part of the Publicis.Sapient platform, announced today the appointment of Mitika Malhotra as the Head of Business Development for North, based out of Razorfish Indias Gurgaon office.

Mitika has experience in Strategy and Business development across International and Domestic markets, planning and implementing sales, marketing, and business initiatives to support corporate objectives.

Prior to joining Razorfish, she was Group Head-Digital Business at Pulp Strategy (an Integrated Marketing Communications Agency) where she acquired as well as grew accounts of Michelin, Rolls Royce, Yamaha Music India, SRS group and other SMEs. Her focus was sharply on strategizing brand and business transformation solutions as she comprehends that seamless convergence of consumer behavior across channels is now the future.

Says Mitika, Razorfishs philosophy of Innovation resonates with the quote I live by: 'Most people get ahead during the time others waste. I am excited to be part of the story that the team here is crafting to set up new milestones.

Says Charulata, Ravi Kumar, CEO Razorfish India, We are constantly seeking highly curious people who have the energy and a razor sharp mind to persistently look for lateral solutions for the clients we partner. When I met Mitika, thats just what I saw in her. She is able to cut through the many layers and get to the core of a business need. She will be a key member of our Business Transformation Advisory team that partners new clients to set them off on the digital path.

Mitika adds, I have admired Razorfish for long for the vision and ability to drive the next level of digital around the world. The opportunity to lead Business growth for Razorfish in India and be part of the team that transforms business for some of the most prestigious brands is fantastic and I am excited to be part of this. 

Gaurav Pathak, COO and Head of Business Transformation, India adds, At Razorfish, we have a very strong team of highly specialized talent across creative, media and technology. Mitikas track record and reputation of partnering to build a strong business precedes her and we are looking forward to the energy she will bring on board.

Razorfish India is a full-service agency with digital and technology at the core, creating experiences that build businesses at the intersection of marketing and technology. Practice areas include web development, technology and innovation, emerging media, social influence marketing, mobile, advertising and brand creative, search, digital in-store, and omnichannel commerce.

Razorfish India has offices across( Strategy, Technology, Creative& Media) across Gurgaon, Mumbai and Bangalore.
Firozabad in Uttar Pradesh has been mourning 19-year-old Tarishi Jains death who was cremated on Monday evening.

Tarishi who died in the Dhaka terrorist attacks spent her childhood in Firozabad before her father shifted to Bangladesh for business.

There were speculations that Tarishis body will be brought to Firozabad for cremation, but her uncle Ajit Jain informed that her body was taken to Gurugram from Delhi airport.

The mortal remains were consigned to flames at a crematorium in Gurugram on Monday.

Haryana Education Minister Ram Bilas Sharma, Gurugram Deputy Commissioner T.L. Satyaprakash and other officials earlier this afternoon received Tarishis mortal remains at Delhis IGI Airport.

Union Power Minister Piyush Goyal, along with others, paid tribute to her at the community centre in DLF Phase-I, Gurugram.

The mood at the community centre was somber with relatives crying inconsolably while paying their tributes to Tarishi.

The minister was also seen consoling the aggrieved family members of the 19-year-old girl.

Tarishi, a student of University of California in Berkeley where she studied Economics, was in Dhaka on vacation. She had gone with two other friends to the Gulshan cafe where she was killed.
The Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) on Monday told the Bombay High Court that it had taken all the measures suggested by Maharashtra government, including setting up a control room in the city, to tackle vector-borne and water-borne diseases, including leptospirosis, H1N1, dengue, swine flu and malaria.

This was stated in an affidavit submitted by the civic body to the court which was hearing a public interest litigation filed by NCP corporator Dhananjay Pisal.

The affidavit also said that the civic body was properly utilising funds on public health earmarked in its budget.

The bench asked the petitioners lawyer Umesh Mohite to file a rejoinder on the issue and posted the matter for hearing on July 18.

The petitioner urged the court to direct formation of a special investigating team to probe how the civic body utilised the money allotted for public health.

According to the PIL, Rs. 3,700 crore were earmarked this year in the civic body budget for public health but the funds are not being utilised fully.

It has been observed from previous records that only 18 to 20 per cent of the funds kept aside for healthcare was used by the municipal corporation, the PIL added.

Stating that only one civic hospital has facilities to test samples for leptospirosis, the petition demanded that all municipal hospitals should have this facility so as to save crucial time in bringing a patient to the sample test centre as the delay could prove fatal for patients.

The PIL requested a probe into the failure of civic hospitals to provide medicine, equipment and staff for public health despite having a budget to tackle water-borne and vector-borne diseases.
Eurosceptic MEP Nigel Farage, a major driving force behind Britains vote to leave the European Union, on Monday stepped down as leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP).

I have decided to stand aside as leader of UKIP. The victory for the Leave side in the referendum means that my political ambition has been achieved, he told a London press conference.

The 52-year-old said that whoever succeeded David Cameron as prime minister should be a long-time Brexit campaigner and vowed to scrutinise negotiations over Britains departure from the EU.

I will watch the renegotiation process in Brussels like a hawk and perhaps comment in the European Parliament from time to time, he said.

Whilst we will now leave the European Union the terms of our withdrawal are unclear, he added.

If there is too much backsliding by the government and with the Labour party detached from many of its voters, then UKIPs best days may be yet to come.

He also offered his services to other independence movements springing up in other parts of the European Union, adding he was certain that you havent seen the last country that wants to leave the EU.

Farage has quit as party leader twice before, firstly in 2009 over party infighting and again in 2015 after failing to become an MP, but on both occasions decided to stay. He insisted Monday that I wont be changing my mind again, I promise you.
Both the deadly terrorist organisations, the al-Qaeda and the Islamic States have claimed a series of killings in Bangladesh over the past year, attacking liberals and foreigners. On Friday, militants stormed a restaurant in Dhaka and killed 20 people, all of them foreigners, in an attack claimed by the IS. Bangladeshs government has denied the involvement of foreign terrorist groups, but some security experts said the restaurant attack undermined that position. In a latest development, a regional branch of the al-Qaeda urged Muslims in India to revolt and carry out lone wolf attacks, a U.S. monitoring site reported, and days after the rival jihadi movement Islamic State (IS) claimed responsibility for Bangladeshs worst militant attack.

The call by al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) follows warnings by security officials and experts that the two groups are trying to outdo each other in the region and claim the mantle of global jihad. An online audio message purportedly from Asim Umar, head of AQIS, said Indian Muslims must follow the example of youths in Europe and strike against Indian police and senior officials, holding them responsible for communal violence. In it message, AQIS said Muslims were present in every part of India and must use their strength to reclaim power in a country, they ruled for centuries. Since its formation in 2014, AQIS has been trying to incite attacks, but Indias Muslims, who number more than 160 million, have been largely unmoved. Only a handful are known to have tried to join the IS, if various reports have to be believed.

Now the question remains here, why Muslims are falling in the trap of these terrorists organizations, and who is sponsoring them? Some studies indicate that one of the factors could be chauvinism or the distrust of the non-Muslims. Many Islamic countries actively and systematically promote the hatred of the Jews, the America and the West in general. You must see yourself as the victim and the non-Muslims as the autocrats in order to hate them enough to kill them. A great number of Muslims, perhaps the majority, are at this stage. Not all these Muslims are going to become terrorists, but a great majority of them are convinced that America and particularly the Jews are responsible for everything that is wrong in their lives.

The other factor that makes them susceptible to become terrorists is being hit by a crisis. Personal problems, especially if they are experienced at youth, seem greater than they actually are and tend to make life look meaningless. During these crises, people often seek spiritual guidance in their religions and some youngsters, out of desperation, may even commit suicide. Here is where the danger lies. When young Muslims in crisis seek spiritual guidance from their holy book, the mullas misinterpret the aayats of the Quran to them and seed hatred in them to become a jihadi aka terrorist in their minds. Life is already meaningless; suicide does not seem like a bad idea. In Islam, you can become a martyr  end your miserable life and gain the rewards of the afterlife too. This is like killing two birds with one stone.

Muslims are led to believe that America and especially the Jews who run the world by proxy (as the Malaysian PM, Dr. Mahathir said) are responsible for all their miseries. They see themselves as victims. Once they identify their alleged victimizers, they are ready to take their revenge  a revenge that is glorified by all the Muslims and is encouraged. Here is where the Quran provides them with guidance and confirmation. But that is not all. You also need the support and reassurance of others. The whole Islamic ethos encourages becoming a martyr. Therefore to say that just by reading the Quran, loving Muslims become terrorists is not entirely true. A whole range of conditions must be present for that to happen. The problem is that, all those conditions that prepare a Muslim to become a terrorist are also caused by their religious leaders and preachers. These conditions are not cultural, ethnic, political or economic, they are religious. The hatred of the Jews and the non-Muslims has its roots in the Quran. Most of the crises that Muslim youth face, like lack of opportunity and loss of hope are also the result of the failure of Islam in solving the real problems of Muslims and particularly the youth.

One more factor is the lack of self-esteem and the prevalent feeling of unimportance among Muslims, and Islams scholastic fiasco in rearing confident, positive and successful humans. Terrorists are losers who seek their glory in martyrdom. Few brainless conditioned Muslims, fall prey to every trap, be it emotional or religious, and they hold gun in hand without giving a thought that they collectively are tarnishing their religion and its people at large. Here question arise that, why Muslims fail to deal with such maniac? The simple answer is that they are divided in sects and some fears Allah and some fears them in the name of Allah, which make them unable to deal with each other.

(Any suggestions, comments or dispute with regards to this article send us on feedback@afternoonvoice.com)
[inlinetweet prefix= tweeter= suffix=]Two persons were arrested on Monday in connection with the Bangladeshs worst terror attack at a cafe in Dhaka in which 22 people[/inlinetweet], mostly foreigners, were brutally killed by suspected ISIS militants, as authorities stepped up probe into the international links of the hostage-takers.

Inspector General of Police (IGP) A.K.M. Shahidul Haque, however, did not disclose the identities of either of the detainees or where they were being kept.

He said both of them were unwell and will be quizzed after their condition improves.

One of them is in hospital, the other is in custody, he said.

Earlier, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and the Bangladesh Army said one terrorist was captured alive from the site of the attack. However, the identity of the suspect was not disclosed.

They (attackers) may have some contact with international terrorist groups, he said.

[inlinetweet prefix= tweeter= suffix=]Islamic State (IS) has claimed responsibility for the killing of the 20 hostages and two police officers during the 12-hour siege[/inlinetweet] that ended after the Army stormed the Holey Artisan Bakery popular with expats in the diplomatic zone here, killing six attackers and capturing one alive.

Hostages who were killed include 19-year-old Indian girl Tarishi Jain. Nine Italians, 7 Japanese, one American of Bangladeshi origin, and two Bangladeshis were also among the people who were killed.

You have seen the pictures of the slain militants supplied to the media, we have found out the background of four of them, a senior police officer familiar with the investigation said, preferring anonymity.

The official added that all the attackers were in their 20s. Four of them came from wealthy families and studied at elite schools and universities in Dhaka and abroad.

One of the slain assaulters was studying in a Malaysian university, while his family said they had no idea that he returned home and took part in the attack.

He said the fifth youth who hailed from a village in northwestern Bogra and studied in a madrassa there led the attackers during the Friday nights massacre.

This Khairul (of Bogra) was wanted by police for the past seven months for three deadly militant attacks in northwestern regionWe understand it is him who led the Holey Artisan restaurant attack on that night, the official said.

According to mass circulation Prothom Alo Khairul was missing for the past several months. Bogra police had detained his parents for questioning.

One of slain attackers, private BRAC university student Rohan Imtiaz, was the son of a leader of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasinas ruling Awami League, while his mother was a teacher Dhakas posh Scholastica School.
By inducting Dalit leaders in the cabinet, Modi government wants to send a message that it is keen to work for their empowerment.

With an eye on the 2017 Uttar Pradesh assembly polls, the Modi government is going ahead with cabinet expansion as 12 new faces will be inducted. More representation will be given to Dalits and OBC candidates as UP is going to prominently figure in the reshuffle. RPI leader Ramdas Athawale will be allotted a cabinet portfolio to woo voters from the backward community. The government which had received flak for handling the Rohith Vemula issue is going for a major damage control mode to induct more leaders from the Dalit community. Even opposition parties had criticised the government for denying justice to Vemula who had committed suicide after discrimination was meted against Dalit students in Hyderabad Central University.

Even RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwats comments pertaining to the review of reservation policy had cost the BJP dearly as it received severe drubbing in the Bihar assembly polls. RJD Chief Lalu Yadav had then challenged BJP and RSS to end reservations for Dalits and backward castes. By inducting Dalit leaders in the cabinet the government wants to send a message that it wants to work for their empowerment. The expansion of the Modi government will take place on Tuesday.

Shiv Senas Anil Desai, RPIs Ramdas Bandu Athawale, BJP national vice-president Vinay Sahasrabuddhe, BJP MP from Saharanpur Raghav Lakhanpal, Uttar Pradeshs Apna Dal leader Anupriya Patel, BJP MP from Bikaner Arjun Ram Meghwal, Gujarat BJP leader Purushottam Rupala, BJP MP from Darjeeling SS Ahluwalia and BJP MP from Almora Ajay Tamta will be inducted into the Cabinet, according to reports.

Dr Sanjeev Balyan, Union Minister of State for Agriculture and BJP MP from Muzaffarnagar may get promotion.

The Prime Minister has been holding consultations on the Cabinet reshuffle with senior party colleagues including BJP chief Amit Shah, Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.

Sources state that two new faces from Uttar Pradesh are likely to be inducted. Union Power Minister Piyush Goyal and State Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbabs Naqvi are set to be promoted.

Ramdas Athawale thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for this opportunity and promised to work for the welfare of backward castes.

I just talked to Amit Shah ji and he has given me the message of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He told me that I will be taking oath on Tuesday. I am very happy that Prime Minster Modi and party president have given us this opportunity, he said.

Athawale recalled that Dr Ambedkar was a minister in Indias first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehrus Cabinet and said that the RPI didnt get an opportunity after that.

But now the RPI is getting a representation in the Cabinet. All the Dalits of the country will be very happy. The Prime Minister will decide on the portfolios tomorrow. I will work for the Dalits and backward classes of the society, he added.
Nearly two and a half centuries on it is possible to see that powerful interests can buy their way into every aspect of a nations life defying almost every measure that was ever laid out against oppressive government. Just over half a century ago, as he left office, President Eisenhower famously warned about the military industrial complex and the domination of intellectual enquiry by commercial interest:

I have always been drawn to United States history so I hope it will not be taken amiss if I offer an Independence Day perspective of a British citizen: we are, of course, all heirs of that revolution one way or another across the globe: more so today than ever perhaps. Immediately speaking there are two striking facets (I just had to correct the typographic error strifing): the incredible historic dynamism of the nation created by this event but also the great amount of thought that the founding fathers went into trying to prevent the re-emergence of the tyranny which they had just escaped. Perhaps never has so much thought gone into avoiding oppressive government even if many of the leading participants in the new republic still regarded it as their right to own slaves.

Note: We first ran this post on 7/4/14. It's as relevant as ever, perhaps more, as SB277 has taken effect in California, removing almost all vaccine exemptions and punishing families. Why is it a country founded on freedom has so freely relinquished medical rights from coast to coast? By John Stone

Akin to, and largely responsible for the sweeping changes in our industrial-military posture, has been the technological revolution during recent decades. In this revolution, research has become central; it also becomes more formalized, complex, and costly. A steadily increasing share is conducted for, by, or at the direction of, the Federal government.

Today, the solitary inventor, tinkering in his shop, has been overshadowed by task forces of scientists in laboratories and testing fields. In the same fashion, the free university, historically the fountainhead of free ideas and scientific discovery, has experienced a revolution in the conduct of research. Partly because of the huge costs involved, a government contract becomes virtually a substitute for intellectual curiosity...



The prospect of domination of the nation's scholars by Federal employment, project allocations, and the power of money is ever present and is gravely to be regarded.

Yet, in holding scientific research and discovery in respect, as we should, we must also be alert to the equal and opposite danger that public policy could itself become the captive of a scientific/ technological elite.

As a commentary on this whistleblowing scientist David L Lewis recently bluntly wrote in the prologue to his book Science for Sale: How the US govern uses powerful corporations and leading universities to support government policies, silence top scientists, jeopardize our health, and protect corporate profits:

During my thirty-plus years as a research microbiologist in the Environmental Protection Agencys Office of Research and Development (ORD) and the University of Georgia, I experienced the far-reaching influence of corrupt special interests firsthand. As this book will describe, my dealings with civil servants, corporate manager, elected officials, and other scientists expose the ease  and disturbing regularity  with which a small group , motivated by profit or personal advancement can completely hijack important areas of research science at even our most trusted institutions.

In truth the problem of the takeover of government agencies was not new: half a century before Eisenhowers address Woodrow Wilson in presidential election speeches was warning:

If the government is to tell big business men how to run their business, then dont you see that big business men have to get closer to the government even than they are now? Dont you see that they must capture the government, in order not to be restrained too much by it? Must capture the government? They have already captured it. Are you going to invite those inside to stay? They dont have to get there. They are there.

But at least President Wilson could still talk about big business men. Coupled with the issue of the invasion of institutions and government by commercial/industrial interest is the lack  notably acute in the field of vaccines - of accountability and liability. In a valuable article of January 1999 veteran economist JK Galbraith highlighted the twin problems of the influence of powerful lobbies in government and the lack of liability for corporate fraud or failure, an insight which apart from anything else foreshadowed the banking collapse of 2008:

The fraud also conceals a major change in the role of money in the modern economy. Money, we once agreed, gave the owner, the capitalist, the controlling power in the enterprise. So it still does in small businesses. But in all large firms the decisive power now lies with a bureaucracy that controls, but does not own, the requisite capital. This bureaucracy is what the business schools teach their students to navigate, and it is where their graduates go. But bureaucratic motivation and power are outside the central subject of economics. We have corporate management, but we do not study its internal dynamics or explain why certain behaviors are rewarded with money and power. These omissions are another manifestation of fraud. Perhaps it is not entirely innocent. It evades the often unpleasant facts of bureaucratic structure, internal competition, personal advancement, and much else

The lack of accountability by business bureaucrats is compounded by their capture of the government bureaucracy:

A more comprehensive fraud dominates scholarly economic and political thought. That is the presumption of a market economy separate from the state. Most economists concede a stabilizing role to the state, even those who urgently seek an escape from reality by assigning a masterful and benign role to Alan Greenspan and the central bank. And all but the most doctrinaire accept the need for regulation and legal restraint by the state. But few economists take note of the cooptation by private enterprise of what are commonly deemed to be functions of the state. This is hidden by the everyday reference to the public and private sectors, one of our clearest examples of innocent fraud.

If we, for example, consider the pharmaceutical companies today, even when companies become liable for huge fines no individual ever seems to carry the can even to point of losing their job, let alone facing criminal charges: it is simply at best a calculated risk for shareholders. With vaccines since 1986 and Vaccine Injury Act the problem has become even worse since corporations themselves face no effective liability and enjoy a substantially captive and ever growing mandated market for their products, with zero financial incentive to ensure their safety.

There are further troubling aspects to this: generally speaking the government bureaucracy and the medical profession are even less frank about the risks of the products than the manufacturers: they enjoy a revolving door relationship with the manufacturers, notably when Centers for Disease Control director Julie Gerberding left her post to become head of Mercks vaccine division in the space of less than a year . The CDC is itself affiliated to the pharmaceutical manufacturers through non-profit organizations such as the CDC Foundation and Task Force for Global Health . The debate about autism and vaccine apart from anything else may well have been influenced by the fact that the most prominent autism charity, Autism Speaks, was endowed at its inception by CDC Foundation board member emeritus and billionaire Bernie Marcus to the tune of $25m. Marcus, founder of DIY empire Home Depot, also stated in an interview in 2006 :

The worst thing I could imagine is to be the CEO of a pharmaceutical company today. I cant think of an industry that has done more to alleviate suffering and improve the human condition than pharmaceuticals. Yet the industry is under a withering assault from plaintiffs lawyers and is depicted by some in the media as a pariah. I dont think that Jonas Salk could have developed the polio vaccine in todays legal environment.

This was a remarkable claim when pharmaceutical domination of the media was at its financial peak (see below) and effective litigation over vaccine damage had not been possible for 20 years.

The allegedly independent Institute of Medicine Review of 2004 of vaccine safety only slightly masked a complex of conflicted and corrupt relationships. Not only did it turn out that the CDC had instructed the IOM not to find anything , the IOM commissioned flawed and fraudulent studies in themselves controlled by the CDC by various means, notoriously studies co-ordinated by Danish indicted financial fraudster Poul Thorsen . None of these studies has ever been retracted, including a British study which made blatantly false claims about mercury exposure in the developing world in order to endorse World Health Organization vaccine schedule. They were recently cited again without irony before Congress by Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee chairman Thomas Insel, not only as if they were in any way valid but as if they were new science .

On top of this we need to consider the initiative of the Food and Drugs Administration under President Clinton in 1997 to substantially deregulate 'direct to the consumer' pharmaceutical advertising enabling the industry at a stroke to buy out the media. According to one source pharmaceutical advertising rose from $700m in 1996 to $5.41b in 2006 . This may have tailed off to about $4.5b in 2008-10 but the source of revenue would have been ever more critical to an ailing industry. The result of a government agency initiative  never even apparently discussed at a democratic level  was to lead either the exclusion of dissenting voices or organized hate campaigns against anyone who dares speak out of turn notably Andrew Wakefield , Jenny McCarthy and Katie Couric .

Meanwhile, the industry can buy or isolate virtually every politician out of the petty cash.

Happy Independence Day everybody, Happy American Revolution!








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Alien abduction is a subject that is often ignored by the mainstream media, despite many cases of alien abductions reported from around the globe on a frequent basis. In fact, such cases are very common in the North America. Recently, an employee of the State of Idaho reported being abducted by aliens in Caldwell, Idaho.

This report has been obtained from a testimony included in the database of Mutual UFO Network (MUFON) and was posted on 29 June, 2016.

The abductee tells us that on the night of the incident he and wife were on bed by 10 pm. He recalls waking up at 11 pm and feeling a buzzing sensation in his head.

As I was drifting off to sleep, I remember my head started to have a buzzing like sensation, and I heard a loud constant ringing in my ears (Tinnitus-like) that would not subside.

He says that he woke up to find himself floating above his bed and that he could not move.

I was in a zero gravity-like state, just floating above my bed. The ringing was slightly fainter in my ears, but still present. I could not move, and even though I tried to look to my right where my wife was in bed, I could not move my head.

He then talks about moving through the ceiling and the roof of his house when being pulled in a state of zero-gravity. He recalls being frightened and unnerved and that he does not remember seeing any spacecraft.

Everything then seemed somehow frightening, unnerving, yet serene all at the same time. I do not recall seeing any spacecraft above me per say, yet had the overwhelming sensation that there was something there.

The witness further talks about being pulled towards heaven and then waking up the next morning to find his wife doing laundry.

The next thing I recall is waking up in an excited like state, and noticing my wife was already awake, and doing laundry, folding it.

The above quotes were edited for clarity.

Do you believe that reports of alien abductions are true? Why do you think aliens abduct humans?
Turkish flags, with the control tower in the background, fly at half mast at the country's largest airport, Istanbul Ataturk, following the blast in Istanbul, Turkey, June 29, 2016. [Photo/Agencies]

Cracks in the international alliance against terrorism, particularly countries' inability to even agree on what constitutes terrorism and who is a terrorist, are compromising efforts to combat it.

The horrific terrorist attack on Istanbul's Ataturk Airport, which left 44 people dead and almost 240 injured, has tragically highlighted this once again.

The three suicide attackers have reportedly been identified as being Russian, Uzbek and Kyrgyz nationals, and Ahmed Chataev, a Russian citizen of Chechen origin, has been identified as the mastermind behind the atrocity.

That Chataev has long been wanted by Russia on terrorism-related charges but remained free as he enjoyed European protection testifies to the gaping hole in the international community's collective defense against terror, which Chataev and others are taking advantage of.

Chataev was put on a wanted list in Russia in 2003 for allegedly sponsoring terrorism and recruiting extremists. But he received asylum in Austria the same year, thanks in part to his claim that he lost an arm to torture in a Russian prison and was being persecuted in Russia.

The European authorities' faith in Chataev's innocence has been amazing considering the Russian warnings that Chataev had a "leading role" in training extremists for planned terrorist attacks in Russia and Western Europe, and obvious past clues of his links to terrorism.

Although he repeatedly escaped extradition with his refugee status, he finally made it onto the US Justice Department's terrorist list in 2015 for his role in recruiting extremists. According to the United Nations Security Council, he now has 130 terrorists at his disposal in Syria.

That Chataev has remained at large and was able to plot such an attack despite his role as a high-profile terrorist being apparent is more than just an embarrassment for the international community: It remains a mystery precisely why anti-terror agencies in related countries have been so ineffective in monitoring such a key terrorist suspect, particularly after he was identified as a terrorist by both the UN and US.

But the evident disagreement between Russian and European authorities over whether Chataev qualified as a terrorist obviously created the room in which he has been able to operate.

The attack on Ataturk Airport, Saturday's hostage crisis in Bangladesh, along with the latest threat by the Islamic State group to attack London's Heathrow airport around the US' Independence Day, should serve as an emergency call for true international solidarity in the fight against terrorism.

The international community must not let different definitions of terrorism and terrorists continue to create safe havens for terrorists and hinder anti-terror actions.
July 4, 2016

CAIRO  Recent days have witnessed a new cycle of conflict pitting the Muslim Brotherhood against Gamaa Islamiya. The latter was the Brotherhoods foremost ally following its fall from power on July 3, 2013. Yet Ibrahim Munir, the Brotherhoods deputy supreme guide, accused Gamaa Islamiya of responsibility for the violence that broke out during the period of former President Hosni Mubaraks rule. His accusation drove Abboud el-Zumar, a prominent leader and member of the Gamaa Islamiyas Shura Council, to demand that ties between the two groups be frozen.

Gamaa Islamiya was not just another member of the National Alliance to Support Legitimacy, which was founded in 2013 following the Brotherhoods ouster. It was the alliances largest partner after the Brotherhood and participated in protests and sit-ins across Egypts various squares. It paid much in the blood of its members to defend the Brotherhood.

To fully understand the extent of the current conflict between Gamaa Islamiya and the Brotherhood and the degree to which it has impacted the National Alliance to Support Legitimacy, as well as the much-discussed potential reconciliation between the Islamist movement and the state, Al-Monitor held a wide-ranging interview with Zumar, a prominent leader in Gamaa Islamiya considered not only one of its most important figures but its mastermind. He was an officer in Egypt's military intelligence before being imprisoned in 1981 on charges of assassinating former President Anwar Sadat. He was subsequently released from prison in 2011, following the January 25 Revolution, after becoming the oldest political prisoner in Egypt.

In the course of his interview with Al-Monitor, Zumar addressed many topics, foremost among them the issue of reconciliation with the state. He stressed Gamaa Islamiyas support for the notion of a comprehensive reconciliation with the state to end the state of perpetual conflict, and the belief that the nation is in need of someone to lead it out of its ordeal. He also expressed his view that the fall of the state at the present time would lead to destruction and chaos.

Zumar harshly criticized the current leadership of the Muslim Brotherhood, saying that it "has exhausted its allies," failing to heed Gamaa Islamiya's advice and "driving us into a brick wall." He said its platform is characterized by "condescension toward its comrades and excluding others" and it is "not fit to represent the other factions in any potential political negotiations.

Concerning the Muslim Brotherhood conditioning any reconciliation with the state on the return to power of President Mohammed Morsi, Zumar said that if the Brotherhood "sticks with the condition of Morsis return to power once again, then there is no point in entering into any negotiations with the state." He added, "It doesnt make sense that Morsi is now wearing a red prison jumpsuit, while a faction of the Brotherhood is still demanding his return to power.

Zumar said that carrying out the execution orders being issued against a number of Brotherhood leaders only sharpens the ongoing struggle and opens up the gateways to evil while foreclosing any attempts at reconciliation, out of the belief that President Abdel Fattah al-Sisis popularity has clearly declined since he assumed power.

The full text of the interview follows:

Al-Monitor: The National Alliance to Support Legitimacy was launched immediately after the Brotherhood fell from power with the goal of returning former President Mohammed Morsi to power once again. After the passage of nearly three years, where does the alliance stand?

Zumar: It is true, albeit very unfortunate, that the Muslim Brotherhood has slipped out of the alliance and effectively moved to the so-called Revolutionary Council. Its presence in the alliance is now very marginal, having failed to attend many of [our] meetings and downgraded its representation there. This has had a negative impact on the alliance.

I believe that the Brotherhood found what it was looking for in the Revolutionary Council, and therefore no longer cares about its partners in the Alliance to Support Legitimacy.

Al-Monitor: The recent past has witnessed a great deal of back and forth between the Muslim Brotherhood and Gamaa Islamiya, particularly following the statements of the Brotherhoods deputy guide who charged Gamaa Islamiya with responsibility for violence during the term of former President Hosni Mubarak. Why have relations between the Brotherhood and Gamaa Islamiya deteriorated in this fashion?

Zumar: Unfortunately, the current Brotherhood leaderships attack on Gamaa Islamiya was not the first of its kind. A few other Brotherhood leaders had previously attacked Gamaa Islamiya, and the latest attack by the deputy general guide of the Brotherhood, Ibrahim Munir, in the British House of Commons sought to lay blame on Gamaa Islamiya and disassociate themselves [from that violence]. It was unacceptable and unjustified. It confirmed that the Brotherhoods current leadership is not fit to represent the other [Islamist] factions in any potential political negotiations.

The Muslim Brotherhoods current leadership has exhausted its allies. It has not heeded our counsel, and it has insisted on driving us into a brick wall, despite our advice having proven sound time and again. The core problem lies in the fact that the Brotherhoods program is built on condescension toward its comrades and excluding others. I believe that this is one of the main reasons that prompted their fall from power so quickly.

Al-Monitor: You demanded that relations be frozen with the Brotherhoods present leadership due to this covert and overt attack on Gamaa Islamiya, so that sound relations could be re-established between you. What mechanisms are there for building strong ties with the Brotherhood? What conditions does Gamaa Islamiya have for establishing those relations?

Zumar: I did, in fact, propose that Gamaa Islamiya freeze relations with the current leadership of the Brotherhood because of what you mentioned earlier: the attack by Brotherhood leaders, both covert and overt, on Gamaa Islamiya, as well as their condescension and their desire to remain within the "Revolutionary Council Camp" while still [receiving] aid for their oppressed political activists, whom we are defending, among others.

The best evidence for the Brotherhoods condescension toward their comrades is that they would not apologize for the words that Ibrahim Munir let slip until after [we] called to freeze ties with them.

This proposal touched on the core of my convictions, that the Brotherhood's present leadership has failed to lead during this stage, and refused to evaluate its past experience at ruling Egypt. It has refused even to disclose to its allies what its future vision is concerning its crisis in Egypt. That is, if it really has any vision. It doesn't make sense for us to follow a leadership without knowing what its plan for the future is. This caused me to present this proposal to the council, which is concerned with the vision and decision-making.

I reiterate to you that sound relations cannot be built between Gamaa Islamiya and the Brotherhood in the shadow of these crises. If Gamaa Islamiya defeats it  and I think that it cannot  then we will have to think about how to deal with it.

Al-Monitor: How do you view the conflicts within the Brotherhood itself? Has the Brotherhood failed in developing itself and altering its operating mechanisms following its fall on July 3, 2013?

Zumar: The disputes within the Brotherhood have become clear to all. And, unfortunately, these conflicts have been reflected in the alliance. They have had a major influence on the alliance, weakening its performance. I believe that the reason for these internal conflicts racking the Brotherhood returns to the failure of the current leadership in achieving its goals  returning to power  and to their collision with reality, to their refusal to engage in self-examination or to accept any solutions to bridge the gap, particularly those solutions that have been proposed by some prominent religious scholars, such as Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi, the head of the International Union of Muslim Scholars. He launched an initiative in which he called on the Brotherhood to reconstitute the Brotherhoods [Leadership] Council and [Guidance] Office.

The best evidence for the existence of fundamental disputes within the Brotherhood is that the condition that Morsi return to power is not fully agreed upon internally even now, despite the gravity of that position. Indeed, it doesnt make sense that Morsi is now wearing a red prison jumpsuit, while a faction of the Brotherhood is still demanding his return to power, and discussing him serving out three more years of his term!

Al-Monitor: Some websites affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood have accused Gamaa Islamiya of making deals with the present regime to abandon it and withdraw from the alliance. What truth is there to this?

Zumar: This accusation is baseless, and there isnt a shred of truth to it. We, Gamaa Islamiya, have borne [the consequences of] the Brotherhoods failure despite our disagreement with them as to how best to govern the state, during Morsis administration. We advised them to be faithful, but they did not listen. It should be enough to show the falsity of this accusation to note that Sheikh Issam Darbalah died in prison, as did some of Gamaa Islamiya's leaders, including Sheikh Izzat al-Salamuni. Many of our leaders remain in prison, including Dr. Safwat Abd al-Ghanni, Sheikh Mustafa Hamzah, Sheikh Alaa Abu an-Nasr and others. For the last four straight years, the Egyptian authorities have not even permitted me to travel to perform the religious obligations of the hajj or the umrah. Put simply, any talk about deals with the state is categorically untrue.

Al-Monitor: Various political forces and members of the House of Representatives have called for reconciliation with the Islamist movement, for reintegrating it into society once again. Does Gamaa Islamiya support reconciliation with the state? What conditions does it have?

Zumar: We fully support the notion of a comprehensive reconciliation with the state, a reconciliation that will end once and for all this state of perpetual conflict, for the simple reason that the country needs someone to take it by the hand, lead it out of its ordeal and into future horizons of popular harmony and consensus.

Furthermore, we must distinguish fully between the Egyptian state and ruling regimes that come and go. This distinction demands that we stand alongside the Egyptian state and its institutions in order to prevent its collapse. Even if that means that an "undesirable" political regime would remain in power until reforms can be brought about through legitimate mechanisms, guaranteeing the enforcement of the popular will through the ballot box. For the fall of the state would, at the present time, mean chaos and destruction that would lay waste to [our] rights, shed blood in vain and cost lives without justification.

We as Gamaa Islamiya support any just political solution that is premised upon doing right by all the oppressed sons of this nation, whether they be members of the Muslim Brotherhood, members of the police, the army or civilians, along with the participation of all in building their country without marginalization and in accordance with a clearly delineated vision of the future.

Al-Monitor: Does Gamaa Islamiya set the return of Morsi as a condition for this reconciliation?

Zumar: In my personal estimation, Morsis term ended with his ouster on July 3, 2013, and the Egyptian state entered a new phase. Even the group that believes that Morsi must complete his term in office in its entirety [should acknowledge that] this period also came to an end on June 30 of the same year.

What concerns us now is how to get Morsi out of prison and dismiss all the charges against him. I believe this is a fundamental condition for any reconciliation with the state.

Al-Monitor: What will Gamaa Islamiya do if the Brotherhood sets Morsis return to power as a condition for reconciliation?

Zumar: The Brotherhood must know well that if it sticks with the condition of Morsis return to power again, then there is no point in entering any future negotiations with the state. Gamaa Islamiya, in making its decisions, will rely upon the Shura Council and General Council only.

Al-Monitor: Some have spoken about an impending initiative of Gamaa Islamiya with the present regime that would require the release of all its leaders from prison and returning them to political participation in exchange for withdrawing from the Brotherhood-led National Alliance to Support Legitimacy. Is Gamaa Islamiya ready to launch an initiative with the current regime?

Zumar: There are no initiatives with the state. These are merely rumors, and absolutely baseless ones.

Al-Monitor: What truth is there to the [reports of] conflicts within Gamaa Islamiya, especially after Sheikh Asim Abd al-Magid proposed founding the "Alliance of the Virtuous," which did not place the return of Morsi to power at the top of its list of priorities?

Zumar: There is no truth to [reports of] any conflicts within Gamaa Islamiya. Disagreement is a natural thing and a sign of [internal] democracy. Gamaa Islamiya has its institutions, the Shura Council and the General Council. The Development and Building Party has independent institutions of its own as well: the political office, the supreme council, the General Secretariat, the General Council. If a member of Gamaa Islamiya or the party presents a proposal, it will be discussed before the relevant body for a decision to be made. If it is agreed upon, then that proposal becomes the official position of the party or Gamaa Islamiya. If, however, it does not meet with acceptance, then it remains the personal opinion of the one who proposed it. We dont have any problem with proposing political opinions or proposals, whether inside Gamaa Islamiya or the party, since everyone abides by the final decisions reached by either the party or Gamaa Islamiya.

Al-Monitor: Gamaa Islamiya was founded with the goal of waging armed jihad in the 1970s. Then it undertook a number of revisions and announced that it had embarked on a peaceful course since the January 25 Revolution in order to achieve its goals through political participation. What are these revisions, and why did Gamaa Islamiya renounce violence?

Zumar: Gamaa Islamiya did not "renounce" violence, because violence has never been an integral part of its program. Not since day one. Gamaa Islamiya strives for peaceful preaching, but we were subjected to manifest repression in the era of President Mubarak. Many of our leaders were assassinated, many of our members were arrested, our mosques were assaulted, the sanctities of our members' homes were violated, pushing some of our members to taking up arms. But this was an exception to the rule.

Nevertheless, after a period of conflict, exploited by the Mubarak regime to tarnish the image of Islam and stigmatize it as [supporting] terrorism  of which it is innocent  the historic leaders of Gamaa Islamiya launched an initiative from a Sharia premise and a realistic vision. They launched a cease-fire initiative in 1997, until Gamaa Islamiya returned to its natural state of peaceful preaching, as it had been before. And after the revolution of Jan. 25, 2011, Gamaa Islamiya turned toward establishing a political party bearing the name Construction and Development. It received a license by judicial ruling, and began building the institutions of a party and choosing its leaders through free and transparent elections so that it might fulfill its role through a political vision characterized by wisdom, objectivity and awareness of the course of events, all within the framework of the constitution and the law.

Al-Monitor: Why did Gamaa Islamiyas leadership not take the initiative by proposing an initiative to the state, as happened in the 1990s?

Zumar: As I said, we might support any initiative, or accept any initiative aimed at reconciliation with the state. We are totally ready for this.

Al-Monitor: The state has faced a number of challenges, foremost among them armed groups in the Sinai Peninsula that have declared open season on members of the army, police forces and civilians. Whats your view of this?

Zumar: During the administration of Morsi, there was a real opportunity to effect a comprehensive resolution of Sinais problems, a resolution not limited to the security aspect alone, but one that would have relied on social development, putting an end to the problem of the marginalization of Sinai's inhabitants, who have been deprived of the right to own lands, the right to be appointed to important positions like that of an officer in the army, police or judiciary. These matters are very important. Indeed, they are no less important than security solutions.

In truth, the current political regime has recently begun to take an interest in solving Sinais problems and establishing development projects. But at least so far, these efforts have not borne any fruit on the [political] level.

Al-Monitor: Are those groups supported by the Brotherhood or any foreign entities?

Zumar: That is a question to be decided by the Egyptian judiciary alone, in the investigations that are currently ongoing on this matter.

Al-Monitor: Do you believe that the movement of political Islam, and in particular the Muslim Brotherhood, has lost its popularity on the Egyptian street?

Zumar: The Muslim Brotherhood is a large group and has undertaken massive efforts in the realm of charitable work. No one can deny this. Egyptian society now feels a vacuum following the cessation of its charitable activities. It suffices for me to say that the so-called Ramadan bags, which the Brotherhood used to put together to support the poor, have been greatly affected. Even some of the states institutions have hastened, in an attempt on their part to fill this void, to distribute large quantities of this support to citizens in poor areas.

As I said, I reject the idea that members of the Brotherhood or the broader movement of political Islam be removed from state institutions. That would constitute an act of injustice and an irreparable breach. Unless this principle is adopted, every faction that rises to power will exclude all others from institutions of state, and this must not happen.

Al-Monitor: Do you believe that the state will carry out sentences of execution against leaders of the Brotherhood after the stages of litigation conclude?

Zumar: In my view, the sentences of execution in and of themselves represent a problem confronting the government, insofar as [carrying them out] would create martyrs and open wide the gates of evil and conflict, as well as shut the door to [possible] resolution of these crises. Moreover, I imagine that the Court of Cassation, with its legal understanding, judicial wisdom and realistic view, can deliver the state from this awkward situation and cancel any orders of execution on its own. Especially if most of the charges are [some form of] incitement to violence, something that, in truth, does not comport with the Brotherhoods program.

Al-Monitor: After the passage of three years since the fall of the Brotherhoods rule, how do you view the term of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi? Do you believe that he still enjoys the same popularity that he did when he came to power?

Zumar: I believe that this period is a very sensitive and delicate one. The difficulties and problems are growing, even despite the massive efforts being taken to resolve them. Egyptians have seen the launch of many giant projects, but ones flawed by their inability to show any direct return for them. It would have been sounder had the first effort been focused on small and medium projects with a quick return for the average citizens income [at a time when] many are suffering from rising costs of living and dont believe that their hopes for improved incomes, hopes which have been promised to them by the president over two years ago, have been realized.

I recently wrote an article under the headline "Popularity doesnt last," in which I warned against being deceived by popularity, for it cannot be reconciled with [political] practice. This is what has happened with the popularity of President Sisi. It has clearly diminished, as many of his supporters have moved over to the opposition camp.

Yet he still has a ripe opportunity before him in what remains of his term. He can rearrange the priorities so that effecting a truce with God will stand at the top of the list. Such a truce would include dealing justly with the oppressed, establishing justice and bringing the corrupt to account. And, as I mentioned earlier, I believe in the importance of acting to convene a national reconciliation and restoring cohesion to the various divisions of the people so that they can truly act as one hand, as they did on Jan. 25. In such a way, they can finally secure the aspirations and goals of this revolution, as represented in providing a decent living, guaranteeing freedom and social justice. There is no doubt that this is possible if intentions are sincere and if we all resolve together to raise this country up into the ranks of the great nations.
July 4, 2016

ALEXANDRIA, Egypt  On the occasion of World Refugee Day June 20, six talented Syrian artists participated in an exhibition that was organized by the United Nations refugee agency field office in Alexandria with the cooperation of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, which hosted the event.

Aseer Al Madaien, the head of the UNHCR field office in Alexandria, told Al-Monitor that the reason for holding the exhibition was to support the refugees in expressing themselves.

The participants, whose ages ranged from 12 to 45, took part in the exhibition showcasing ink-and-pencil drawings as well as photographs. It was the first time that the participants had displayed their works to the public.

In an elegant dark suit and with a shy smile, Ghayth Utabashi, a 14-year-old Syrian refugee, welcomed the attendants who paused before his drawings. Utabashis drawings portrayed cartoon characters that he drew with pencil while watching them on TV.

Utabashi stopped going to school two years ago when he was unable to transfer his transcripts from his school in Cairo to a school in Alexandria. His family then decided that what he had studied was enough and that he should devote himself to drawing.

Utabashi's father told Al-Monitor that he tried to look for cultural centers so that his son could continue to study art. When he was unable to find a center, he decided to provide his son with all the tools he needed to practice drawing at home. Every day I sit and watch him draw and I feel very happy, even more than him. Maybe because now we are looking for any achievement and my sons accomplishments are an extension to my own accomplishments, Utabashis father said.

Utabashi told Al-Monitor that he is planning to specialize in drawing at the hands of a private tutor, as he cannot go to the College of Fine Arts that requires financial resources his family does not have.

Adnan Yabrudi, 20, participated in the exhibition with photographs of some of Alexandrias sights. Yabrudi began to practice photography in Egypt by taking photographs of his friends, who then encouraged him to create a Facebook page for his artwork. Through the Facebook page, Yabrudi began to receive requests to photograph concerts and private shows. Thus photography has become not only a hobby for Yabrudi, but also a source of income.

Yabrudi told Al-Monitor that he wishes he had his own camera so that he could save the money he spends on renting them. While he plans to continue photography, he said it will not be his primary profession. I want to study electronic engineering. Unfortunately, however, I am still in high school. I lost my [high school] certificate in Syria and I could not go to college, so I had to repeat high school in Egypt. he said.

Hala Awa, 28, stopped going to her college classes because of the war. Awa participated in the exhibition with mandalas and doodles that approach issues such as the suffering of Syrian children.

Talking about her art, Awa told Al-Monitor that she chooses her designs based on her own feelings. I didn't know the name of this art before and I did not learn it through lessons or tutorials. I was interested in drawing nature and fashion designs when I was in Syria. However, since I came to Egypt  and due to the changes that occurred in my life because of the war in Syria  I found myself drawing with ink and it was enough for me to express whatever crosses my mind in black and white surreal lines.

Awa is not the only one who took up drawing as a form of escaping reality. Tasnim Mansur, 14, told Al-Monitor about her own experience, saying, The first time I drew in Egypt was in prison.

In 2013, Mansurs family tried to travel by sea from Egypt to Europe, but they were arrested. Mansurs mother said, It was a painful experience. We were stuck in the water for six hours and we saw death with our own eyes. We were then detained at the police station for two months and Tasnim looked distracted the entire time. The UNHCR provided her with pens and papers and she started drawing and was able to overcome her overwhelming frustration.

Mansur participated in the exhibition with pencil drawings of different characters such as Aylan, the Kurdish toddler who was a victim of one of the illegal immigration trips. She told Al-Monitor that she wishes to go to Europe to study, that she hopes to become a doctor in the future and wants to continue drawing as a hobby.

Syrian artist Abir Ayubi participated in the exhibition with watercolor paintings of old Damascene houses, the Corniche of Alexandria and nature scenes. Ayubi told Al-Monitor that she works daily on her paintings from midnight until dawn, after she finishes her household chores.

She said that she had long wished to participate in an exhibition to see how the public would react to her paintings, but she never expected to participate in a big exhibition at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina. The exhibition encouraged me and I will start promoting my paintings so that I can use them as a source of living. Only God knows how hard it is for me to sell them. They are like my children, but I want to help my family, Ayubi said. Of course our situation now is completely different from when we were in Syria. There, I was only studying and obtaining certificates, and I was a member of the Syrian Fashion Designers Society. But I never had to work."

Ayubi talked about her husband, saying, He is my main supporter. His work as a craftsman made him value what I do. So he provides me with colored pencils and other tools, but the problem is that I cannot get good-quality colored pencils because they are expensive.

With crayons, Bayan Tayfour, 15, depicted the situation in Syria in a picture of men, women and children walking on a knife covered with blood. The image says that even if you kill us, we will still raise the flag of Syria, Tayfour told Al-Monitor.

Madaien believes that the works that did not revolve around war or refugees highlight the participants desire to continue life and see other aspects of it. She added, The young age of the participants was the most remarkable thing and it is an indication that we should focus on the youth. Of course, UNHCR pays attention to this age group, but today [the participants] say that they are present and more enthusiastic.
July 3, 2016

Irans Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei met with university students July 2. During the five-hour meeting, he addressed the students and later answered questions. In Iran, these Q&A sessions provide an opportunity for students to make longer statements of political positions couched as questions.

One of the questions that received a great deal of attention in the Persian-language media pertained indirectly to the fate of the Green Movement leaders who have been under house arrest for over five years without formal charges.

A picture of Mohammad Ali Kamfirouzi, there as a representative of the managers of student publications, standing behind a stage to the left of Khamenei was shared widely on social media. Kamfirouzi asked about the denial of some Iranians of their basic legal rights. Kamfirouzis statements about attributing lies and insults to former government officials without offering them the opportunity to respond due to illegal limitations were widely covered.

Kamfirouzi, whose father was killed in the Iran-Iraq War, said also that many people like him who are committed to the revolution distinguish the Islamic Republic from reactionary Islamic governments in the region by how it interacts with its critics. Kamfirouzi concluded his statement by asking Khamenei to please explain in what way [the government] should deal with me and people like me, who have criticism of the government.

According to his website, Khamenei responded to the issue of news outlets making accusations against former officials without providing them an opportunity to respond, saying, My position on the 2009 sedition is completely clear and this still raises sensitivities with me, Khamenei said. My criteria is to not support the leaders of the sedition or those who took advantage of it and until now have not renounced [their positions]. Khamenei also criticized those people who claimed to support the revolution and the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, yet have not made their positions on the sedition clear.

After the contested 2009 elections, presidential candidates Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, who later became known as the Green Movement leaders, were eventually put under house arrest for calling for the continuation of demonstrations against the election results. Mousavi, who served as prime minister in the 1980s; Karroubi, a former parliament speaker and former President Mohammad Khatami, who is essentially under a media ban, have been accused of supporting sedition in the country. These three officials have not been afforded an opportunity to respond to the various accusations by conservative officials and media. On a number of occasions, Karroubi has called on the government to formally charge him so that he can answer the charges in court.

The 2009 election, in which President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was re-elected, was perhaps the last election in which all stripes of Reformists had a significant presence. After the protest crackdown and the arrests of Reformist leaders and journalists, most Reformist politicians boycotted the 2012 parliamentary elections. During the 2013 presidential elections, Reformist groups supported moderate candidate Hassan Rouhani, and during the 2016 parliamentary elections, Reformists dramatically increased their presence in parliament. However, Reformists ran moderate conservatives on their electoral list and mostly only moderate Reformists made it through the vetting process of the conservative Guardian Council.

During his speech, Khamenei also criticized US policies against Iran. Though he did not explain the details, he accused the United States of bad promises and obstruction on the comprehensive nuclear deal between Iran and six world powers. Khamenei believes that both the US Congress, which is particularly hawkish on Iran, and President Barack Obamas administration, which has been more interested in de-escalating tensions, have enmity toward Iran.
July 2, 2016

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip  The Israeli-Turkish agreement that was announced June 28 ended a boycott that had lasted six years between the two countries in the wake of the Israeli attack on the Mavi Marmara. The ship was sailing as part of the Gaza Freedom Flotilla along the Gazan coast when it was attacked on May 30, 2010, claiming the lives of 10 Turks and wounding many others.

As a result, Turkey cut off relations with Israel and set three conditions before it would consider reversing this decision: a public Israeli apology for the attack, compensation for the families of the Turkish victims and the lifting of the blockade on the Gaza Strip. Two of these conditions were fulfilled and Turkey waived the third, but did ask for it to be attenuated by humanitarian and economic aid for Gaza.

The agreement, which divided Palestinians into supporters, opponents and others in between, provided a ray of hope to the citizens of Gaza. Although they had hoped Turkey would succeed in lifting the Israeli blockade, they appreciated the Turkish stance that supported them in several respects, including the demands to lift the blockade. Turkey also supported the Palestinians during the Israeli wars on the Gaza Strip.

For their part, Palestinian organizations demanded efforts to lift the Israeli blockade completely.

In this context, Mohammed Kaya, the head of the Turkish Humanitarian Relief Foundation in Gaza (IHH), told Al-Monitor that the foundation objects to the agreement that Turkey signed with Israel. He said that the foundation rejects Israels apology and compensation for the incident, and that its goal is to lift the blockade on the Gaza Strip completely. Kaya said that the economic and humanitarian projects that Turkey will be providing to Gaza will not succeed in lifting the siege nor can it do much to alleviate it, as the situation in Gaza can only be improved once the siege is completely lifted.

He warned that Turkeys agreement to pass on humanitarian aid to the Palestinians in Gaza through Israel's Ashdod port and Karam Abu Salem crossing in southern Gaza is an official recognition of the blockade.

In a statement June 27, the IHH said that it will not withdraw the lawsuit against Israel. The statement read, The families of martyrs asserted that they will not drop the lawsuits, and they will keep fighting to end the blockade. They will not accept Israels conceited 'kill now, pay later' logic.

For his part, the head of the Palestinian Governmental Committee for Breaking the Siege in Gaza, Alaa al-Batta, told Al-Monitor, We consider the economic projects that Turkey included in the deal with Israel to be a positive step that would only alleviate the siege without lifting it. He said he hopes Turkey, as well as all countries backing the Palestinian cause, will continue their efforts to help Gaza break its years of siege that have almost completely destroyed its economy.

Batta said, In truth, we had hoped the Turkish efforts would have led to lifting the siege completely. But the deal is an Israeli-Turkish issue, and we appreciate the package of economic projects destined for Gaza and included in the deal. These projects include the establishment of a power station that might alleviate the growing electricity crisis that has been plaguing Gaza for 10 years now.

He added that his committee is in constant contact with the Turks to help implement those projects and push through the humanitarian aid, which began arriving July 3. The committee will be in charge of distributing this aid.

Palestinian journalist Abdullah al-Hamarna told Al-Monitor, As a Palestinian, I appreciate any effort from the Arab or Muslim region to support the Palestinian cause and lift the blockade on Gaza. It is true that Turkey did not succeed in lifting the blockade, and this has caused us a great deal of pain because we did not expect it to normalize relations with Israel and leave us under siege. But we cannot forget its noble stance in demanding to lift the siege, either.

Youssef al-Jamal, an activist working on the boycott of Israel, told Al-Monitor, Normalizing relations with Israel at a time when it faces increased international isolation due to its crimes against Palestinians is an unforgivable crime.

In the same context, the dean of the Trade and Economy Faculty at Al-Azhar University in Gaza, Samir Abu Mudallala, told Al-Monitor, The Turkish projects included in the Israeli-Turkish agreement can alleviate the siege that has been plaguing the Gaza Strip for [almost] 10 years now. But these projects cannot in any way replace the issue of lifting the siege.

He said that Israel included in this deal the items it deems fit regarding the Gaza siege, as it views the Palestinian cause as a humanitarian issue, not a political one. This is why Israel approved the humanitarian and economic projects suggested by Turkey, but refused to lift the siege, which it does consider a political issue.

Abu Mudallala noted that Gazas economic system has collapsed under the siege and as a result of three wars Israel has waged in recent years. According to him, the unemployment rate has reached 44%, while the number of university graduates who are unable to find a job is estimated at roughly 13,000 out of 130,000.

He added that the only way to overcome the economic problems in Gaza is to completely lift the siege, not to offer some humanitarian aid. Several countries have been donating this kind of aid to Gaza ever since the siege was imposed. He said that if the siege is lifted, Gaza would need $1 billion a year to revive its economy and reconstruct its infrastructure.

Talal Okal, a political analyst and reporter for Al-Ayyam, told Al-Monitor, Turkey wants to return to its policy that is based on the zero-problems foreign policy with the world and that's why it concluded the agreement with Israel. Many problems such as terrorist bombings and the tense relations with the Syrian regime, Russia, Israel and Egypt are burdening the country now, and it is trying to get rid of them. The issue of the blockade on Gaza will not stand in Turkeys way.

He said that Hamas was betting more than any other Palestinian organization on Turkeys success in lifting the siege, due to the nature of the Hamas-Turkey relationship. But the Turks favored their own interests instead of others expectations, and Palestinians must do the same.

Okal considered the fact that Turkey agreed to send the aid through Ashdod and the Karam Abu Salem crossing an implicit acknowledgment from Turkey of the imposed blockade. He said that the only way for Turkey to help Gaza is through Israel.

Palestinians hope that the rekindled relations between Turkey and Israel will ease Israeli blockade on the Gaza Strip now and ultimately end it completely.
A 13-year-old Blount County girl has died after she sustained injuries while hanging a tire swing over the weekend.

While the Blount County Coroner did not identify the teen because of her age, officials from Oneonta Middle School identified the girl as Alexsis Payne.

Operations officer Tim Kent with the Blount County Sheriff's Office said that the girl was hanging the tire by a rope on Friday evening.

She climbed the tree and was attaching the rope when she fell.

Kent said that the rope wrapped around the girl's abdomen, and hanging from the rope left Alexsis injured.

Paramedics began CPR, but Kent said the teen was unconscious.

She was taken to a local hospital and later airlifted to Children's hospital in Birmingham.

"It's just a tragedy," Kent said.

Alexsis died Saturday evening at Children's.
One person was killed and two others injured in a fiery crash Saturday in Pickens County.

Alabama State Troopers Sunday evening said they are awaiting confirmation on the victim's identity from the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences. The crash happened about 4:20 p.m. on Alabama 17 near the 182 mile marker, about two miles south of Aliceville.

The fatality victim was a passenger in a 2005 Nissan Titan that left the road and struck a tree before catching fire, said Senior Trooper Reginal King. The driver and another passenger were taken to DCH Regional Medical Center in Tuscaloosa for undisclosed injuries.

King said the investigation is ongoing.
Murder victim Horacio Cooks was laid to rest Saturday and, just hours after a family gathering following the funeral, his first cousin was gunned down outside a Birmingham service station.

Tim Cooks, 26, was shot multiple times in the chest and stomach about 3 a.m. Sunday outside the Shell station on Third Avenue West. His family, still reeling from the June 18 shooting death of 28-year-old Horacio Cooks, said it's almost more than they can bear.

"We can't believe it,'' said Sandra Cooks, one of Tim's sisters. "Two deaths in two weeks. The family is really grieving."

Horacio was found dead of multiple gunshot wounds in Birmingham's Woodlawn community late that Saturday afternoon. Birmingham police received a report of a shooting at around 4 p.m. near the corner of 61st Street North and 1st Court North. Horacio was lying on the grass outside an abandoned house. He was disabled in that he was missing one leg, which family said he lost after he accidentally shot himself with a 12-gauge shotgun.

Authorities said Horacio was seen earlier on the day he was killed in the company of a white woman and two black men. Witnesses told police the victim, later identified as Horacio Cooks, was the woman's pimp, and they were both known to live in abandoned houses in the neighborhood. A 21-year-old man with more than a half dozen criminal charges already pending against him is charged with murder in Horacio's death.

Two weeks after his death, the large Cooks family gathered to remember their loved one. Tim Cooks was among those mourners. "Everything was just fine,'' Sandra Cooks said. Her mother and Horacio's mother are sisters.

Everyone left the family gathering between 11 p.m. and midnight. Sandra Cooks said she tried to call her brother Tim three times afterward, but got no answer. "That was unusual because he always answers,'' she said. "We were brother and sister, but we were also best friends. He was my heart."

Not able to reach him, she went on to sleep. "I got a phone call an hour later saying he'd been shot,'' she said. "When I got to the hospital, they said he had been shot in the chest area and the stomach area and he wasn't going to make it. It's very hard."

The family still isn't sure what happened, and said they are supposed to meet today with Birmingham homicide detectives. West Precinct Sgt. Kesha Bogus said officers were flagged down and told a man had been shot. When they arrived on the scene, Timothy was on the east side of the store, and rushed to UAB Hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Police evidence markers indicated up to a dozen shots may have been fired. "It was really out of the blue,'' Sandra Cooks said. "He didn't even tote a gun. What I believe is they tried to rob him. They said his pockets were turned inside out."

She said her brother, one of seven children, worked at Washee Quickee Car Wash and had two daughters, ages 2 and 6 months. "All he wanted to do was go to work, come home and be with his family. Usually if he wasn't with our family, he wasn't with nobody,'' she said. "I just don't understand how somebody just takes a man's life like that."

Another sister, Senethia Cooks, said she, too, was awakened to the news of her brother's shooting death. "It's a tough pill to swallow,'' she said. "He was a loving person. I couldn't believe it. I still can't believe it."

Anyone with information on the slaying is asked to call Birmingham police at 205-254-1764 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777.
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A jobs fair in mid May in Birmingham drew thousands seeking employment

The state, in an effort to help the unemployed find work and drive down Alabama's relatively high unemployment rate when compared to the nation, is finding some success in a series of jobs fairs it has been holding across Alabama.

Alabama Department of Labor Commissioner Fitzgerald Washington recently updated Gov. Robert Bentley on the outcome of regional job fairs that are being hosted by the labor department throughout the state.

About a year ago, the department launched an effort aimed at bringing down unemployment rates in counties with traditionally high rates. By working with local government and education officials, the labor department was able to bring employers to these mostly rural areas and connect job seekers with jobs.

Over the course of 2015, five job fairs were held in Dallas, Greene, Lowndes, Perry, and Wilcox Counties.

"Putting Alabamians back to work is a key part of my Great State 2019 plan," said Bentley in a prepared statement. "Anytime we have an opportunity to connect hundreds of employers with thousands of job seekers, everyone benefits. For an example, in Wilcox County the pre-job fair unemployment rate was 16.5%, now the post job fair unemployment rate is 13.5%."

As of May 2016, four of the five underserved counties have experienced significant drops in their unemployment rates.

In 2016, laid off coal miners and steel workers dominated the headlines. The labor department took a more targeted approach and conducted two job fairs in the West Alabama area, aimed at helping these workers get back on their feet. More than 1,500 job seekers turned out to meet with over 100 employers.

Additionally, a plan was put into place to bring the job fairs to the general public. So far, regional job fairs have been held in Tuscaloosa, Montgomery and Birmingham, with attendance nearing 10,000. Hundreds of unemployed Alabamians have found work through these efforts, and more regional job fairs are scheduled throughout the year, say state officials.

Following the Montgomery job fair in February, Todd Butler landed a management position at Home Depot. "I was out of a job, been looking for a couple of months," Butler said. "I couldn't believe the amount of people at the job fair."

Butler was one of 3,300 people who attended the job fair back in February. He spoke to 30 companies that day with Home Depot being his top choice. He says the new job has brought a new challenge and new focus to his life. "It's limitless," Butler said. "Home Depot is the largest home improvement company in the world. So, there's only upward to go from here."

"With each job fair we host, we are finding more and more interest, both from employers and job seekers," said Washington. "People are eager to put their best foot forward and find meaningful employment, and employers are constantly looking for great employees. We are pleased to be able to offer these services free of charge and are always looking for new and innovative ways to help Alabamians go back to work."

Four additional job fairs are scheduled for 2016 in the following areas: in August a Maritime Job Fair will be held in Mobile, in September job fair will be held in the Wiregrass Area, in October the Governor's Disability Summit will be held in Birmingham, and in November a second job fair will be held in Montgomery.
July 4 is a time to celebrate freedom and it's a great opportunity to honor those who have fought for our freedoms.

Restaurants, merchants and tourist attractions offer discounts for military personnel on July 4 and the surrounding days. Here are some of the best discounts:

Blue Star Museums - Museums around the country offer free admission to all active duty, National Guard and Reserve military personnel and their families. Offer is good through Labor Day. You can see the list of participating museums here.

Brides Across America - Military and first responders brides are eligible for free wedding dresses through the Brides Across America event. The event will be held July 5 - 21.

Buckle- Military members, spouses and dependents are eligible for a 10 percent discount at buckle.com.

GM - GM's military discount has been extended through July 8. It's open to all active duty, Reservists, National Guard members and retirees and their spouses.

Home Depot - All veterans are eligible for Home Depot's 10 percent military discount with a Department of Defense-issued ID or veterans driver's license.

Lowe's - Military personal - active, reserve or retired - as well as veterans are eligible for a 10 percent military discount.

Nike - Active, retired and reservist US Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, and Coast Guard personnel are eligible to receive a 10 percent Nike military discount on Nike.com and at US Nike retail stores. Valid military ID required.

Red Robin - Military members who sign up for Red Robin Royalty rewards program will save 15 percent on their bill. Valid military ID required.

Shoney's - 15 percent discount every day for military, police, fire department and EMT units. ID is required.

Toyota - $500 rebate towards purchase of a new Toyota for military, veterans, retirees and their dependents.

Under Armour - 10 percent off entire purchase for active duty, retirees, veterans, military Spouses, military family members, as well as a 10 percent off first responders discount for active Police, Fire and EMT customers.
Joey "Jaws" Chestnut is holding the Mustard Yellow International Belt again.

Chestnut won the title by downing 70 hot dogs and buns at the annual Nathan's Famous Hotdog Eating Contest held at Coney Island today (July 4). Chestnut beat last year's winner, Matt "The Megatoad" Stonie, by 17 more dogs and buns. Last year, Stonie broke Chestnut's streak of eight straight wins at the competitive eating showdown.

The 70-dog mark was the highest number ever eaten at the competition, coming in at one more than Chestnut's previous record of 69 dogs in 10 minutes. The number is short of Chestnut's previous record, however, set last month when he ate 73 1/2 dogs at a qualifying event.

Chestnut, a 32-year-old resident of San Jose, California, first entered the hot dog eating contest in 2007, capturing first place after eating 66 hot dogs and buns in 12 minutes. He also holds records for eating the most deep fried asparagus, pork ribs, steak, Matzo balls, bratwurst, hard-boiled eggs and pork rolls.

The women's competition was won by defending champion Miki Sudo, who ate 38 1/2 dogs to down her closest competitor, Sonya "Black Widow" Thomas, who ate 34 hot dogs.

Both Sudo and Chestnut won $10,000 in the contest.
Bear study photos 2016

Auburn University researchers have spent the last six years studying the Alabama black bear population's movements in order to learn more about their habits and their diversity. Many have been secured with collars so they can be tracked by satellite. Snares set up across the state catch bear fur allowing their DNA to be obtained and then studied. (Courtesy of Auburn University/Todd Steury)

It's that time of year for black bear sightings in Alabama.

"What happens is a lot of male juveniles hang out with mom for about two years, and then they basically decide to go off on their own," said Todd Steury, associate professor of wildlife ecology at Auburn University. "Either mom kicks them out ..., or they get brave enough to go out on their own or some other male chases them off because mom is ready to start breeding."

That leads to several 2 1/2 year old males left wandering - sometimes traveling long distances -- looking for a new home.

"Because they are young and not too smart and not too afraid of humans, they are traveling often long distances ... and end up going into places they shouldn't be," Steury said. "People aren't used to seeing them there, and they get noticed a lot."

Young bears have been spotted throughout east and central Alabama this year, including in Pelham, Heflin, Oxford, Lanett, Opelika, Alexander City and Tuskegee, according to AL.com reports.

Alabama Wildlife Federation Executive Director Tim Gothard said bears were also seen in Talladega, Clay, Washington, Mobile, Coosa, Wilcox and Cherokee counties.

More than 20 sightings, involving six to eight different bears, were reported on the Alabama Black Bear Alliance website since early June, Gothard said.

Where are these bears traveling from?

Steury has been tracking the state's black bear population's viability and movements as part of a university study since 2011, but he's still not totally sure where the bears are traveling from.

He suspects most of them, though, are migrating from northeast or central Georgia near Macon,

Steury said the black bear captured in Opelika on Wednesday was spotted in Valley two days before.

"Every few years, we have (a bear) that goes through Valley, and then he comes through Opelika, then Auburn and then moves on," he said. "We are pretty sure almost all of those are coming from a bear population in central Georgia near Macon.

"That is a really long way away, but that is where they all seem to be coming from,"Steury added. "That is the nearest bear population to Auburn really."

Authorities didn't disclose where the bear captured in Opelika was released, but Steury said he hoped the animal was placed in Talladega National Forest where there are few people.

Bears seen roaming through areas like Heflin and Oxford are likely traveling from north Georgia, he said.

"North Georgia has a ton of bears," Steury added. "They shot like 400 bears in north Georgia last year, and they shot 400 a year before that."

Bear hunting is legal in parts of Georgia largely during the fall and winter.

Steury said the estimated 15 bears living in north Alabama's Little River Canyon National Preserve migrated from north Georgia several years ago.

He said he hasn't been able to track any young males from Little River to see where they might be migrating. Some of the recent sightings could be some of those bears.

While there's no clear scientific data yet on where migrating bears are coming from, Steury said his team looks at the most likely routes for bears.

"Imagine we have a bear that makes it down to Heflin, it could come from Little River or it could come from north Georgia," he said. "The question is which is most likely. For a bear to come from Little River, it has to cross a big chunk of flat land that isn't very good habitat for bears - that whole area around Weiss Lake, Gulf farmland. It's not that great for bears to be in.

"Bears will usually move and follow certain habitats, which is why when bears come in from central Georgia to Auburn and Opelika, they always seem to follow the same route," Steury continued.

A bear from north Georgia would just need to move down the Appalachian Mountains into Talladega National Forest, he said.

"In some sense, even though, it is a further distance it is almost more likely," Steury said, because bears would be traveling through their natural habitat of forests with mature mixed pine stands.

Jackson County, in the northeast corner of Alabama, is "fantastic bear habitat," he pointed out, but no bears live there because no bears are living just north of there in Tennessee yet.

Bears living in Little River would have to travel through a valley where Fort Payne is, an interstate and farmland to get to Jackson County, which isn't likely, he said.

"Bears that are going to move out of Little River are going to tend to move north and south along those mountains, rather than cross that valley and head due north into Jackson County or due south through White's Lake and towards Talladega National Forest," Steury said.

Once these bears have finished traveling, where do they end up?

Researchers don't really know yet. Many bears, however, are tracked through their reported movements, Steury said.

"The one in 2008 it came through Valley, went down south through Beauregard, up north of Auburn, and that one veered south and turned back towards Tuskegee National Forest and got hit on the highway," he said.

Another bear sighted two years ago followed the same path, Steury said. His team followed it to Chambers County where they lost sight of it. The bear could have been killed or continued on to Talladega National Forest, he said.

Steury advises anyone who spots a bear to report it to local police, their local game warden or on the Alabama Black Bear Alliance website.
The Germans must take ownership of their past wrongdoings, victims say.

A previous version of this article mistakenly stated that Niema Movassat is the leader of the German Left Party. He is an MP of the German Left Party.

Beneath the striking sandstone massif of the Waterberg Plateau lies a walled graveyard and an ornate monument commemorating German soldiers who fell in battle against Namibias Herero people.

Fuelled by land disputes, the so-called Battle of Waterberg on August 11, 1904, marked the beginning of a what Namibians are calling a genocide that left an estimated 65,000 Ovaherero, or Herero people, and 10,000 Nama dead at the hands of the Germans by 1909. Around 2,000 German troops were killed during the same period.

In a corner of the expansive Waterberg graveyard, a small, hidden plaque serves as an afterthought to honour the fallen Ovaherero.

Its still like this all over Namibia, says Juan Proll, a German guide for local tour operator, Namibia Experience. The portrayal of Namibias colonial history remains very one-sided.

The current Ovaherero Paramount Chief Vekuii Rukoro agrees.

Namibia is now in the process of setting up a multitude of monuments to modern-day heroes, but there is still not a single monument to the Hereros  nothing about our ancestors who actually started the liberation struggle, he points out.

With formal negotiations concerning the recognition of a genocide now under way between the German and Namibian governments  due to be concluded by September 2017  Germanys legacy in Namibia is becoming an increasingly contested battleground. The impatient calls for redress for this dark and neglected chapter of history are getting louder.

Earlier in June, German Ambassador to Namibia, Christian Schlaga, speaking on behalf of the German government at a commemoration event, said, We know that those bitter and painful events of more than 110 years back are still causing pain today and that they cast a shadow over the relationship between Germany and Namibia.

Wounds have never healed

Most recently, at the beginning of April, hundreds of Ovaherero marched through the streets of Swakopmund, a Namibian seaside resort town still marketed to tourists as a little Germany.





The protesters carried placards that read: We are still in chains, Remove all Nazi monuments, We want our land and Germans, you will pay.

Many of the women were dressed in the distinctive floor-length gowns that the Herero adopted from the German missionaries a century before, while the men, some on horseback, wore military fatigues in honour of their fallen ancestors.

A prominent German colonial monument was defaced with red paint during the march.

For more than a decade, various Ovaherero and Nama activist groups, in Namibia and across the diaspora, have been campaigning tirelessly for Germany to pay reparations for the mass killings.

Kansas-based Ngondi Kamatuka is a descendant of the victims and the head of one such group: The Association of Ovaherero Genocide in the United States.

The wound of dehumanisation and brutality that the Ovaherero and the Nama people suffered at the hands of Imperial Germany has never healed, and it will never heal until justice is done, Kamatuka says. The Ovaherero lost their property and land. Genocide destroyed their culture and language.

Those Herero who survived the battlefield in Waterberg were subsequently hounded into the desert, where many died of starvation and thirst.

Survivors were rounded up and thrown into concentration camps. There, they were used as slave labour in the rapid construction of a new, prosperous German South-West Africa, as Namibia was then known.

The Ovaherero were soon to be joined by the Nama, who came to the anti-colonial fight some months later. Thousands of Ovaherero and Nama died in the camps due to poor living conditions.

The systematic rape of Herero and Nama women was also routine. A living testament to this, Kamatuka has German blood on both sides of his family as a result of sexual abuse.

The abuse that took place is a permanent stain on the soul of the Ovaherero, he says.

In a final insult, Herero and Nama corpses from the concentration camps were reportedly decapitated and their heads boiled and scraped clean of flesh. Their own people, sometimes their own relatives, were forced to carry out this work.

Then the skulls were sent to German museums and universities to be put on display, or to be used by scientists in support of dubious racial theories that would later shape Nazi ideology.

Over the next decades, up until Namibias independence in 1990, the history of the massacre was swept under the carpet by both the German colonial administration and the subsequent South African apartheid regime.

The former concentration camp on Shark Island, where thousands of bodies were thrown into the sea, is now a state-run beach resort frequented by sun-seeking holidaymakers, most of whom remain oblivious to the islands former use.

If you looked, you could literally pull the bones of our people out of the sand beneath your feet, says the Paramount Chief, Rukoro.

Genocide defines who we are as people

Today, the descendants of the Herero and Nama victims remain a dispossessed and disempowered minority in their own country.

Many, like Kamatuka, left Namibia long ago and have never returned.

Meanwhile, the Hereros expropriated ancestral lands are still owned by a few thousand German farmers descended from the perpetrators of the killings.

Land for the Herero constitutes the very existence of life, says Rukoro. Our people were robbed of their land and reduced to perpetual poverty, which became institutionalised through generations.

Thats what has become our heritage today. Genocide defines who we are as a people.

But according to the American author and journalist Mari Serebrov, whose historical novel Mama Namibia is based on the true story of a young girl who survived the Namibian massacres, the greatest injustice of all is that more than 100 years on, Germany has refused to officially acknowledge the genocide.

Not only Germany, but the rest of the world has ignored the fact that Germany intentionally set out to exterminate the Herero and Nama, Serebrov says.

As of June 2, more than 20 countries, including Germany, have officially recognised the 1915 Armenian Massacre in the Ottoman Empire as a genocide. But none of them has recognised the 1904-1909 genocide of the Herero and Nama in German South-West Africa.

German Left Party MP Niema Movassat told Al Jazeera that Germanys failure to recognise its own alleged genocide in light of the Armenian decision is embarrassing, and primarily motivated by legal fears rather than moral or political ones.

When we accept the Namibian genocide, we have to pay reparations. The German government fears having to pay money to the victims, and they have said as much, Movassat said.

Even now that official negotiations in Namibia have finally begun, the victimised minority groups and their representatives have been summarily excluded from the process, with Germany insisting on dealing solely with the Namibian sovereign government.

According to Serebrov, That makes as much sense as letting a rapist decide if he has indeed committed a rape and then determine what, if any, penalty he should receive.

Our exclusion will allow a deal where Germany does not have to pay any reparations at all, but will agree to increase its development aid to the Namibian government, Rukoro says.

So this way, its good for them and for the Namibian government and its budget; but there will be nothing in it for the Ovaherero and the Nama people. Whatever agreement is reached between the governments while we are excluded, it is a non-deal.

Movassats party has also expressed doubt about the ability of the current reconciliation process to bring a lasting satisfactory solution recognised by all parties.

Forgotten genocide: Namibias quest for reparations

With this in mind, the Ovaherero Traditional Authority (OTA) that Rukoro leads has been pursuing other avenues, and in May announced that it will be taking Germany to the International Tribunal in The Hague.

Rukoro says the OTA will very soon be approaching a private law firm in the United States with further lawsuits against both the German government and various German corporations that also built their empires on the back of Namibias concentration camps.

As the Ovaherero Genocide Committee secretary, Nokokure Kambanda Veii, states emphatically: We are fighting for what is ours with all means possible and will not give up until Germany pays.

Of what such a payment would entail, Kambanda says: For a starter, Germany should provide funds so that the Ovaherero and the Nama people can regain their traditional land by buying it back from the German farmers.

But reparations for the massacres are about more than funds. Rukoro says that they would also have to address education, health, and various social deficits that the Herero and Nama have suffered over generations.

The Germans must take ownership of their past wrongdoings, the chief says.

The German government has thus far ruled out direct financial compensation to the Herero and Nama.

According to Martin Schaefer, spokesperson for the German Foreign Ministry, the primary aim of the negotiations at this stage is to agree on a common assessment of the terrible past. He adds that this will serve as a basis for future projects that offer development prospects to the descendants of those who so terribly lost their lives.

While Schaefer says that the negotiations are fairly advanced, he says they are being hampered by internal political pressure from Herero and Nama groups.

According to Serebrov, there is much more at stake for Germany in the ongoing negotiations.

For decades, Germans have distanced themselves from the horrors of the Holocaust by blaming it on Adolf Hitler and the Nazis, she says.

Acknowledging that Germany was to blame for another genocide 40 years earlier would force them to look into the very soul of their ethos.

Follow Christopher Clark on Twitter @ManRambling
Kimbulapitiya, Sri Lanka  The heavy, metallic apparatus standing in R Lorrences garage seems out of place. Its design is simple: a pneumatic pump to help pack a mix of explosive chemicals into a slender plastic tube, exerting a powerful pressure.

It is the only machine in this little cottage firework factory  everything else here is made by hand.

My son designed this, Lorrence says, explaining with pride that the boy studied science in school. When the rocket is lit, it explodes upwards, whistling its way towards the sky.

Having made its debut just last year, it is the most sophisticated technology Kimbulapitiya manufacturers have access to.

This little village in the south of the island is known all over Sri Lanka as rathinna gammanaya  literally, the fireworks village.

However, when Kimbulapitiya makes headlines, it is rarely good news. Each year, on average, four or five people die in this rural community, says Lorrence, the founding chairman of the Fireworks Manufacturers Association of Sri Lanka and its current vice chairman.

This year alone, three young men succumbed to severe burns after an explosion flattened their workshop.

According to Lorrence, only 175 people have licences to produce fireworks in Kimbulapitiya. But he says the actual number of people involved is considerably larger.

This industry is the lifeblood of the area, and almost no household is exempt. When demand soars during such events as the Sinhala and the Tamil new year, or during the election season, villagers will churn out hundreds of thousands of fireworks.

Disregarding government regulations, people take the work into their bedrooms and kitchens. Labour laws are more strictly enforced than they used to be, but even children help with simpler tasks.

Gunpowder for us is like a relative; it is a friend. We have lived closely with it for a long time, Lorrence told Al Jazeera. If there is an accident, we remember it only for a week and then we go back to work. It is in our blood.

The majority of factories are small-scale operations, typically hiring six people or fewer during the off-season and expanding to a dozen or more at peak times.

Most are family businesses, with premises passed down from generation to generation, along with the knowledge needed to make the fireworks..

This is true of Surin Fernando, whose family has been in this business for 50 years. He owns the Mua brand of fireworks, while his sister Chamila produces her own range under the name Speeder. Both operate their businesses from their homes.

A dangerous process of trial and error

When Sri Lankas nearly 30-year civil war ended in 2009, the villagers spontaneously emptied their stores of fireworks as they took to the streets in celebration. It heralded a boom in their previously flagging industry, and the demand for their products has only increased since then.

IN PICTURES: Fireworks and dragon dances usher in Year of the Monkey

But today, they are struggling under the burdens of labour shortages, poor technology and expensive raw materials.

Chinese manufacturers who visited the village were astonished, says Lorrence, to discover that where they utilised some 125 chemicals in their products, their Sri Lankan counterparts used only seven. And what they do have can prove extraordinarily volatile.

Fernando admits that they do not always know the properties of the chemicals they work with. When they are experimenting with something new, it is a hazardous process of trial and error, he says.

In the workshops, people are in constant proximity to substances such as potassium nitrate, barium nitrate, aluminium powder, potassium chlorate and sulphuric powder. Factories produce around 24 different kinds of fireworks by hand. Often, the workers gather all the raw materials within easy reach, piling the finished goods on the other side.





This is why the mixers tend to be the most experienced workers in the community.

Suresh Prasanna Fernando is trusted by his employers at Jayahanda Fireworks to mix the chemical powders that others will use to fill the crackers.

Suresh is 24, but has been working in this industry since he was 14. With no formal training, he relies on the sight, smell and the texture of the powder as it is sieved to know if he has the proper mixture.

You have to be very careful, he says, in something of an understatement.

Today, however, he has been set to work churning out three triangular firecrackers. He sits with a pile of explosive powder between his legs with no mask or gloves, coughing from the gunpowder he inhales.

The powder settles all over his body, turning his skin silver. Each firecracker takes him just under 30 seconds to fold, fill and knot.

Sureshs efficiency is not unusual. Next to him, a man he calls Uncle Sarath produces some 10,000 to 15,000 of the smaller crackers in a single day. Sarath has been making fireworks since he was 11.

This is hard work, he says, but this is what I know to do, so I do it.

Workers such as Suresh and Sarath earn anywhere between 1,000 and 3,000 rupees (around $7  $20) a day working from 7am to 5pm.

Sona Ramesh, another part-time worker, says he is usually paid for every 1,000 skyrockets he produces.

The main problem is that we have no life insurance, Ramesh says. But even people who have lost family members in accidents keep coming back because there is no other way to earn.

He explains that it is not only the locals who are employed in the industry. Itinerant workers who appear at high-season are given a day or two of training and then sent to work, many not yet grasping that even a small spark is enough to level an entire workshop, says Ramesh.

A precarious business

KPN Jayatilaka and his wife, Lashika, own Jayahanda Firecrackers. As stipulated by government regulations, their workshop is on a 2.5-hecare property, and their home is some 150 metres away from where the firecrackers are made.

Its hard to meet the demand because the cost of the chemicals keeps going up, but we have to sell the fireworks at the same price, Lashika tells Al Jazeera.

They say their business is precarious due to unreliable labour. Also, when accidents happen, it is the owners who bear the full cost of compensating workers and their families. They are desperately in need of mechanisation, training and support from the government, which they hope will lead to safer chemicals being imported.

There is no lab for us to test the quality of the chemical, and so we have to just mix it and see. Sometimes it is a waste and we have to throw big batches away. But we have to be very careful because things like exposure to sunlight or even morning dew can trigger a fire or explosion, says Jayatilaka.

The manufacturers in the village were at the forefront of a drive to block fireworks imports into Sri Lanka, but Jayatilaka had a chance to look at the products that slipped through into local markets. There were skyrockets that exploded in many colours, and smaller crackers that went off like popcorn.

The packaging looked like beautiful chocolates. You couldnt even tell it was a firework, he says. We cant compete with that, but we are always trying to take things apart and learn how they work.

Manufacturers told Al Jazeera that they test their products frequently, but that the fireworks are so commonplace that they take little joy in them.

The only exception is the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes, an annual celebration held at the local Catholic church in February.

In the weeks leading up to the event, local manufacturers step up production but do not sell to distributors. Instead, they bring everything they have to the procession where they seek to outdo one another with large displays and a debut of new designs.

Whatever challenges their work throws at them, the villagers of Kimbulapitiya say they cannot imagine life without fireworks. Despite the deadly toll it takes, this industry has become inextricably tied to their notion of home, family, faith, tradition and identity.

Back at Thushara Fireworks, Lorrence remains optimistic about the industrys future. His children are internet savvy, he says, and he is eager to see what other innovations they can help him roll out.

Will his sons take up the family business? Lorrence says he thinks they will  Just hopefully in a better way than we have been able to do.
Persecution of the opposition and denial of the international links of Bangladeshi militants has made way for ISIL.

In a world of cause and effect, the nightmare that unfolded in Dhaka on Friday night was entirely predictable.

Since the opposition-boycotted 2014 elections, the most violent in its history, Bangladesh has steadily descended into a cycle of polarising politics, pitting the avowedly secular nationalist government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wazed against the countrys religious establishment, key allies of opposition leader Khaleda Zia.

With gusto, Sheikh Hasina has pursued the prosecution of leaders of the Jamaat-e-Islami, the countrys biggest religious party, for their alleged involvement in massacres of at least 300,000 civilians during the 1971 war of independence with Pakistan, won after India intervened militarily.





Despite widely voiced concerns about the fairness of the trials conducted by the Bangladesh International Crimes Tribunal, established by Sheikh Hasina in 2009, four Jamaat-e-Islami leaders have been executed since December 2013 for war crimes.

Murderous attacks

Parallel to the war crimes trials, there has been a steady stream of murderous attacks by terrorists on prominent secular activists, foreign NGO workers and members of religious minorities.

Some were claimed by militants claiming to be part of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS), while the responsibility for others has been assumed by the Ansarullah Bangla Team and Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh, affiliates of al-Qaeda.

READ MORE: The politics at play in Bangladesh war trials

On each occasion, however, the Bangladesh government has refused to accept that either of the global jihadi conglomerates were involved. Instead, the attacks have been dismissed by officials as the handiwork of local militants, painted as allies of the opposition amid plans to outlaw the Jamaat-e-Islami altogether.

Bangladesh's government has been creating a political vacuum at the same time as ISIL has reached out to struggling jihadi factions across South and Southeast Asia. by

On both counts, the Awami League administration has been playing with fire, with scant consideration for the consequences.

The war crimes trials are a highly emotive subject. By prosecuting Jamaat-e-Islami leadership figures, Sheikh Hasina has fulfilled longstanding demands that justice be brought to bear against the perpetrators of the 1971 genocide.

The counterview is that the Awami League, by criminalising the Jamaat-e-Islami, is working towards the establishment of the one-party state envisioned by the founder of Bangladesh, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the late father of Sheikh Hasina.

Political vacuum

Apparently, she is seeking to exclude political parties which have governed the country as often as the Awami League has from the democratic process.

Either way, Bangladeshs government has been creating a political vacuum at the same time as ISIL has reached out to struggling jihadi factions across South and Southeast Asia.

The ISIL outreach has sparked competition among sidelined and wannabe jihadis to prove themselves worthy of governorate status  and the money and power that comes with it  by staging outrageous attacks.

Some have been carried out by novices  such as the botched attack in Jakarta in January  while others have involved mature terrorist organisations such as Abu Sayyaf, responsible for an ongoing string of kidnappings in the southern Philippines.

The tactics employed by terrorists in Dhaka strongly suggest the involvement, at least in leadership roles, of hardened terrorists with significant overseas combat experience.

Seven men were involved, a common number for suicide-attack squads in Afghanistan and Pakistan where they are usually split into a few two-man teams supervised by an experienced commander.

It would be safe to assume that the attack involved one or more Bangladeshi terrorists from the several hundred who trained and fought alongside al-Qaeda and its affiliates in the Af-Pak arena between the late 1990s and the mid-2000s.

Switched loyalty to ISIL

Undoubtedly, some would have worked with al-Qaeda militants who have since switched loyalty to ISIL for the sake of empowerment and to feed the addiction to bloodshed that all terrorists acquire over a period of time.

ALSO WATCH: Bangladeshs new reality

Forced to lie low and impoverished by a lack of funding, such veteran killers are always plugged in to jihadi networks, hoping for an encrypted phone call to resurrect their careers.

Thus the governments argument that ISIL does not have a network in Bangladesh is irrelevant. In choosing to view the rising terrorism campaign through a domestic political prism, Sheikh Hasina is repeating the mistakes of the Pakistani counterparts she loathes.

When sectarian terrorism, similar to that ongoing in Bangladesh, first broke out in Pakistan in the late 1990s, the government narrative framed it as a proxy war fought on behalf of rival Middle Eastern actors. That state of denial confused public opinion and gave militants time and space to build the networks with which to launch a nationwide insurgency in 2007 that has since cost Pakistan dearly.

Sheikh Hasina is going to the other extreme by equating the opposition with the terrorists for political ends. Soon enough, she will discover that it does not take many militants to cause significant harm to Bangladeshs economy and her government.

They started with targeted murders, graduated to mass killings over the weekend, and will be looking to raise their profile further by attacking ruling party politicians and security forces personnel with improvised explosive devices.

The militants will also aim to use Bangladeshi territory to recruit disenfranchised Muslims in neighbouring countries, such as the Rohingya of Myanmar, and to launch cross-border terrorist attacks, most likely into India  as they did when Khaleda Zia and the Jamaat-e-Islami were last in power.

As the situation evolves, the government will find that terrorism cannot be fought by a one-party state. It requires a clear, honest narrative and unity among elected political forces. With the opposition absent from parliament and its leaders on trial, however, the signs are ominous.

Tom Hussain is a journalist and Pakistan affairs analyst based in Islamabad.

The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial policy.
Missteps by the Iraqi government, political parties and security forces could breathe new life into an ISIL recovery.

Michael Knights is the Lafer Fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. He specialises in the politics and security of Iraq. He has worked in every Iraqi province and most of the country's hundred districts, including periods embedded with Iraq's security forces.

The war against the self-styled Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) is accelerating, with major victories piling up.

Fallujah was liberated in five weeks and damage to the city was far less extensive than in prior victories in Ramadi and Beiji. ISIL fighters fleeing Fallujah were caught by Coalition and Iraqi aircraft and helicopters, with at least 240 vehicles destroyed and as many as 450 militants claimed killed.

In parallel to these operations, the Iraqi Army has deployed eight brigades north of the Mosul front and has been driving towards the city at a steady rate of around 15km a day. We can expect the city of Mosul to be isolated from the west by the Islamic New Year in October.





The assault on Mosul city may begin before the end of 2016 and may unfold more quickly than observers expect, liberating the main ISIL stronghold in Iraq.

If these victories unfold, Iraq will seem to the casual observer to have been returned to the security situation it faced in 2013, but is this really the case?

How bad things were

It has been so long since ISIL seized Fallujah and Mosul in 2014 that it is easy to forget how bad things were in 2013 when ISIL was merely a powerful insurgent group that could overrun police stations and mayors offices, launch coordinated multi-city bombing operations every eight days and assassinate local Sunni leaders at will.

READ MORE: Iraq: Beware the liberation of Mosul

In 2010, when al-Qaeda in Iraq was at its weakest, car bombings declined to an average of 10 per month (including six suicide attacks) and coordinated multi-city attacks occurred only three times a year.

In 2010, when al-Qaeda in Iraq was at its weakest, car bombings declined to an average of 10 per month and coordinated multi-city attacks occurred only three times a year. by

By 2013 the movement  reborn as ISIL  was undertaking an average of 71 car bombings per month (including 22 suicide attacks) and coordinated multi-city attacks every week.

In terms of overall incidents, Iraq suffered an average of 358 insurgent attacks in the first quarter of 2011, the low point for overall violence, versus an average of 1,213 in the first quarter of 2013.

Islamic State cells are already reverting to their old tricks in some areas where the group has lost control of terrain. Baghdad was hit by a powerful series of 21 bombings in April and May that killed 522 Iraqis, mostly Shia civilians.

But does this foreshadow a return to 2013 levels of violence or has Iraq changed in a range of subtle ways as a result of the current war?

In my view the war may have temporarily left ISIL in far worse shape than it was before 2014. In 2013 IS was in the ascendancy following years of assassinations and local-influence-building, full of big promises.

Today ISIL is scattering as a defeated force and local Sunnis have tasted the brutality of its rule and the disastrous impact of the military campaigns to remove ISIL.

Severe terrorism threat

This may temporarily suppress the level of insurgent threat presented by ISIL to levels closer to 2010-2011 than 2013 but the effect will not last for ever.

As long as Syria is insecure Iraq will face a severe terrorism threat, with ISIL and other jihadis sheltering in the civil war conditions in Aleppo, Homs, northern Lebanon and even southern Turkey.

Missteps by the Iraqi government, political parties and security forces could breathe new life into an ISIL recovery.

This is exactly what happened after al-Qaeda in Iraq was thoroughly defeated in 2007-2010, only to be reanimated by stalled sectarian reconciliation in 2010-2014.

READ MORE: The liberation of Mosul will have to wait

The murky situation in Diyala province, a cross-sectarian melting pot north of Baghdad, provides disturbing pointers. The Diyala River valley backs on to ungoverned spaces such as the Hamrin Mountains and Jallam Desert, east of Samarra. Local security forces are dominated by the Badr militia.

In response to an increasing pattern of ISIL roadside bombings, mortar attacks and firefights, the security forces are carrying out forced displacement of Sunni civilians, house demolitions and extra-judicial detention and killings  all activities that are proven to boost insurgent recruitment, driving the population and the terrorists together, not splitting them apart.

If Diyala is a harbinger for the rest of the areas liberated from ISIL, then we can expect an insurgency that repeats or even surpasses the intensity of 2013, which could spread insecurity across the country again, as opposed to mainly on the battlefields as it is today.

Michael Knights is the Lafer Fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. He specialises in the politics and security of Iraq. He has worked in every Iraqi province and most of the countrys hundred districts, including periods embedded with Iraqs security forces.

The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial policy.
Search for evidence and masterminds gathers pace as killers are described as rich and educated Bangladeshis.

Security officials in Bangladesh have stepped up a search for evidence and the possible masterminds behind a deadly attack in a popular cafe in the capital, Dhaka, as the prime minister visited a stadium where the bodies of the victims were taken.

At least 20 hostages, including 18 foreigners and two policemen, died in Friday nights attack, which was claimed by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) group  a claim denied by the government.

Six attackers were killed by paramilitary forces in the final stages of the 10-hour standoff at the Holey Artisan Bakery cafe, but one suspect was taken alive and was being interrogated by Bangladeshi intelligence.

TIMELINE: Bangladeshs soft targets

Authorities released photographs of the bodies of five attackers, along with their first names: Akash, Badhon, Bikash, Don and Ripon. Police said the men belonged to the banned domestic group Jumatul Mujahedeen Bangladesh, or JMB, and their families had not heard from them in months.

Asked whether they might also have had ISIL ties, Police Inspector General AKM Shahidul Hoque said authorities were investigating that possibility.

They do not have any religion

Although the police said ISIL links were being investigated, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan refuted on Sunday the possibility that the group directed the attack from abroad.

The government says the group based in Syria and Iraq has no presence in Bangladesh, and in the past has suggested that any claims of responsibility for violence waged in the South Asian country are simply opportunistic attempts at grabbing global attention.

They are all Bangladeshis. They are from rich families, they have good educational background, Khan said of the attackers.

IN PICTURES: Hostage drama in Bangladesh

The siege marked an escalation in the violence that has hit Bangladesh with increasing frequency. Most of the attacks in the past several months have involved machete-wielding men singling out individual activists, foreigners and religious minorities.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has blamed her political opponents of trying to create chaos by backing domestic fighters.





Anyone who believes in religion cannot do such an act, Hasina said on Saturday. They do not have any religion. Their only religion is terrorism.

On Monday, she paid her respects to the victims by visiting an army stadium where the bodies were kept. The bodies would be handed over to the families soon after, officials said.

US Secretary of State John Kerry has offered Hasina help to investigate those behind the killings in accordance with the highest international standards and offered immediate assistance from US law enforcement, including the FBI, according to a State Department spokesman.

Travel warnings issued

The 20 hostages who were killed included nine Italians, seven Japanese, three Bangladeshis and one Indian teenager. Thirteen hostages were rescued when commandos stormed the cafe on Saturday morning.

Another 25 officers and one civilian were wounded, and some of the rescued hostages had injuries. There was no information on their condition.

The attack was the worst in the recent series of attacks by hardline fighters in the moderate, mostly Muslim nation of 160 million.

Unlike in the previous attacks, the assailants were well-prepared and heavily armed with guns, bombs and sharp objects that police later said were used to torture some of the 35 captives.

WATCH: Bangladeshs new reality

The fact that the attackers targeted a popular restaurant in the heart of the diplomatic quarter of Bangladeshs capital signalled a possible change in tactics.

The restaurant overlooking a lake serves Spanish food and is frequented by residents of Gulshan, an affluent neighbourhood where most of the foreign embassies are located.

The hostages were asked to recite verses from the Quran, to prove themselves Muslim, according to a witness. Those who passed were allowed to eat. Those who failed were tortured and slain.

Western embassies issued travel warnings to their citizens, advising those in the country to be vigilant and avoid places frequented by foreigners in the diplomatic zone. The US embassy also urged its citizens and personnel to avoid travelling on foot or in open vehicles exposed to potential attackers.

In its claim of responsibility, ISIL said its operatives had targeted the citizens of Crusader countries in the attack, warning that citizens of such countries would not be safe as long as their warplanes kill Muslims. The statement was circulated in a manner consistent with past ISIL claims of responsibility.
After running divisive campaign to leave the EU, Farage quits, while Britain faces economic and political challenges.

British politician Nigel Farage, a leading proponent for the UKs withdrawing from the European Union in a recent referendum, has resigned as leader of the far-right United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP).

Farage, who announced his resignation on Monday, said that he would continue to support UKIP and help Britain become independent of the bloc.





I have never been, and I have never wanted to be, a career politician. My aim in being in politics was to get Britain out of the European Union, the 52-year-old said.

So I feel its right that I should now stand aside as leader of UKIP.

Farage, who has dedicated his career to campaigning against Britains EU membership, explained that his political career has been achieved.

What Im saying today, is, I want my life back, and it begins right now, he said.

Farage has previously quit as UKIP leader, in 2009 and 2015. His resignation last year was rejected by the party.

Political turmoil

A member of the European Parliament since 1999, the former commodities trader was often photographed with a beer in one hand and a cigarette in the other.

In interviews, he portrayed himself as a man of the people who simply wanted to take back control from the EU.

Educated at one of Englands top private schools, Dulwich College, Farage often called on his supporters to reject political elites.

His messages resonated with millions in England during the 2015 election, in which UKIP won 12.6 percent of votes, and more recently in the June 23 referendum, which saw 52 percent of Britons choose to leave the EU.

Farages resignation follows more than a week of turmoil in British politics after the June 23 referendum, in which Britain voted in favour of leaving the EU .

The day after the referendum, Prime Minister David Cameron  who led the campaign to remain in the bloc  announced that he would step down by October. That move opened the way for a leadership contest in the ruling Conservative Party.

UK: Lack of vision or lack of leadership?

Boris Johnson, the Conservative politician and former London mayor who led the Leave campaign, ruled himself out of the race to replace Cameron as prime minister.

Meanwhile, the opposition Labour Party faces its own crisis .

Several MPs have resigned, saying that they do not believe leader Jeremy Corbyn campaigned hard enough to convince Britons to vote to remain in the EU.

They also cited ineffective leadership as they stepped down from their posts.

Here is how some responded to Farages resignation on social media:

You know these are interesting times when Cameron, Boris & Farage all stepping aside within a week doesn't make you sing from the rooftops..  Melanie BE Griffiths (@MBEGriffiths) July 4, 2016

Nigel Farage says "I want my life back". So do we all, Mr Farage, so do we all.  George Monbiot (@GeorgeMonbiot) July 4, 2016

Nigel Farage quits, saying he "wants his life back" after ruining ours.  Jonny Geller (@JonnyGeller) July 4, 2016

So @Nigel_Farage quits UKIP, but he keeps his MEP salary and expenses paid by the European Union. The hypocrisy is strong with this one.  Ionut Roghina (@ionutroghina) July 4, 2016

Man who has taken pay check for being an MEP for 17 years claims he is no career politician. #Farage  Brian Klaas (@brianklaas) July 4, 2016

.@Nigel_Farage says he wants his life back. He should rather think about the lives of all those Brits he has cut off from #Europe. #Brexit  Manfred Weber (@ManfredWeber) July 4, 2016

Nigel Farage: 'I want my life back!' Thought you wanted your country back, you absolute coward  Billie JD Porter (@billiejdporter) July 4, 2016

Farage becomes UKIP leader again. Sorry, that's tomorrow's tweet.  David Schneider (@davidschneider) July 4, 2016

https://twitter.com/acommonlawyer/status/749917190565101568
New housing units to come up in illegal Jewish settlements on occupied Palestinian territory.

Israeli authorities have approved plans for the construction of 800 new housing units for Jews in illegal housing settlements across occupied East Jerusalem.

The scheme includes plans to build 560 new units in Maale Adumim, 140 in Ramot and about 100 in Har Homa and Pisgat Zeev settlements.

The decision taken by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman on Sunday will further raise tensions with Palestinians, who say that settlement expansion is a roadblock to a viable Palestinian state.

Settlements are considered illegal under international law and are a major sticking point for peace efforts between Israel and the Palestinians.

Netanyahu also approved the building of 600 Palestinian homes in Beit Safafa in southern Jerusalem, which was long delayed owing to Israeli objections.

READ MORE: Israel vows more settlements amid West Bank violence

Khalil Tafakji, the director of the Mapping and Geographic Information Systems at the Department of the Arab Studies Society, says the 800 units are part of a larger scheme in which Israel plans to build 850,000 new houses for its Jewish population by 2020.

These plans have been in the works for a while now. The Israeli government merely chooses to announce them in comfortable instalments, Tafakji, from the research centre based in occupied East Jerusalem, told Al Jazeera, adding that 450 settler homes are already under construction in Ramot.

It takes about a year and a half for the master plan on any settlement to go through the legal process. So, for these new houses, they can start issuing tenders and beginning construction any minute now.

The proposed homes for Palestinians in Beit Safafa, a neighbourhood that has long been a point of controversy, are part of a project proposed decades ago by the Palestine Development and Investment Limited Company (PADICO), but have not moved forward pending Israels permission, according to Tafakji.

The decision to approve the construction of new homes for Palestinians, he says, is merely a political game Israel is playing to appease the Palestinians.

Several Israeli settlements, including Gilo and Givat HaMatos, have been built on land confiscated from Beit Safafa, where about 12,000 Palestinians live.

READ MORE: Separation Wall  Palestine Remix

Since the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, Israel has built more than a dozen Jewish-only neighbourhoods housing about 200,000 Israelis in East Jerusalem, which it annexed after the war.





Anat Ben Nun, the director of Development and External Relations at Peace Now, an Israeli NGO that opposes settlement construction, says the answer to the conflict is not the expansion of settlements.

New housing units in the settlements will not prevent the next victims but rather strengthen the extremists on both sides, said Nun.

The real answer to terror is ending the occupation and reaching a negotiated agreement. Meanwhile, Israeli citizens will continue to pay the price of the extreme right-wing governments policies.

Since October last year, the occupied Palestinian territories have witnessed a surge in violence in the form of alleged attacks by Palestinians against Israelis, and mass arrests as part of security crackdown, point-blank shootings and raids by Israeli forces.

At least 200 Palestinians and 32 Israelis have been killed in the past eight months.

READ MORE: Israels stop-and-frisk law blatant racism

Amany Khalifa, a Palestinian activist and organiser at Grassroots Jerusalem, an umbrella NGO that supports Palestinian communities in occupied East Jerusalem, says she does not believe the expansion will change things on the ground as the bulding of new homes for Jews on Palestinian land has become a routine matter.

Israels main ideology is built on colonialism and settlement. They try to show us that they are improving our infrastructure by fixing a light or a road here or there, but in reality they are restricting the capacity for Jerusalems Palestinian residents, said Khalifa.

Since the Israeli occupation of East Jerusalem, rights groups such as BTselem have accused Israel of encouraging a Jewish majority and securing its sovereignty over the city.

At present, Palestinians make up about 40 percent of the citys population.

This has been done through several methods, including the building of the Separation Barrier that has been dubbed Apartheid Wall.

This is Israeli impudence  they do anything they want to without listening to any international criticism, Khalifa said from Jerusalem.

Follow Zena Tahhan on Twitter: @ZenaTahhan
Regulations revealed by rights group allow police to use live fire as first resort against Palestinians throwing stones.

Israeli police have been authorised to use lethal force as a first resort against Palestinians throwing stones, firebombs or fireworks, according to documents revealed by human rights group Adalah.

The latest open-fire regulations for Israeli police officers were approved and sent to officers in December, following two months of sporadic stabbing and vehicular attacks against Israeli civilians and security forces in Jerusalem, Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories.





The regulations include authorisation for officers to use live ammunition against Palestinians, including minors, suspected of throwing stones or firebombs, or those who appear likely to be about to commit such an offence.

It also gives police officers authorisation to use lethal force as a first option in such cases.

Previously, lethal force had been reserved as a final option for police officers when confronting violent Palestinian protests, only to be used after non-lethal means.

The regulations were partially revealed by the Israeli police to Adalah, the Legal Centre for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, after the NGO successfully petitioned an Israeli court for access to the documents.

On Monday, the group released excerpts which state that under the new regulations, an officer is permitted to open fire [with live ammunition] directly on an individual who clearly appears to be throwing or is about to throw a firebomb, or who is shooting or is about to shoot fireworks, in order to prevent endangerment, while the same response would be justified in a situation of stone throwing using a slingshot.

Unchecked use of force

Mohammed Bassam Mahajna, the Adalah attorney who filed the petition, said that the regulations allow officers to act in an unchecked and criminal manner, and permitted excessive use of force.

The chances that actions such as stone throwing or shooting of fireworks would present a life-threatening danger are extremely slim and there is no doubt that it is possible to handle such situations using non-lethal means, he said in a statement.

The new regulations contradict existing general guidelines according to which the use of a deadly weapon by officers is permitted only when there is substantiated fear of danger to the life of an officer or other individual, and only if there is no other means by which this danger may be prevented, he said.

The Israeli police spokesperson did not respond to Al Jazeeras request for comment before publication.

Since September 2015, a number of Palestinians have been killed by Israeli soldiers and police while appearing to pose no immediate threat to life, in incidents that have made rights groups raise questions over officers excessive use of lethal force.

Israels security cabinet initially approved the measures in September 2015 after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had announced a war on those who throw stones.

The move brought the Israeli police forces rules of engagement into line with the Israeli military operating in the occupied West Bank.

Israeli soldiers have faced criticism for the way they interpret the threat to life and their subsequent use of lethal force against Palestinians. In April, Israeli soldier Elor Azariya was charged with manslaughter after he shot to death a wounded Palestinian assailant in Hebron the previous month.

At least 214 Palestinians and 34 Israelis have been killed in a wave of violence that has rocked Israel and the Palestinian territories since October.
Benjamin Netanyahu embarks on four-country tour, becoming first Israeli prime minister to visit continent in 30 years.

Benjamin Netanyahu has arrived in Uganda at the start of a four-country trip to East Africa, becoming the first Israeli prime minister to visit the continent in at least 30 years.

Arriving at Ugandas Entebbes airport on Monday, Netanyahu said Israels raid to end a hostage crisis 40 years ago, in which his brother was killed, changed the course of his life.

The Entebbe rescue is widely seen as one of Israels greatest military successes. It also was a monumental event for Netanyahu, as the death of his brother, Yonatan, pushed him into the public eye and on a track that would take him to the countrys highest office.

This is a deeply moving day for me, he said. Forty years ago they landed in the dead of night in a country led by a brutal dictator who gave refuge to terrorists. Today we landed in broad daylight in a friendly country led by a president who fights terrorists.

Netanyahu travelled to Uganda with soldiers and pilots who were members of the rescue team.

An Israeli band played sombre tunes at the airport on the shore of Lake Victoria, to mark the anniversary of the Israeli rescue mission, during which three hostages were killed.

Aside from Uganda, Netanyahu is also scheduled to visit Kenya, Rwanda and Ethiopia.

In Uganda, Netanyahu will meet African leaders to discuss further cooperation and business opportunities, in a special summit to be attended by President Yoweri Museveni, as well as leaders from Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Ethiopia, Zambia and Tanzania.

Entebbe raid

On June 27, 1976, an Air France plane with 248 passengers was hijacked by two Palestinian and two German hijackers.

Most passengers were released, except the Israelis. The Israelis were freed and airlifted to Israel in a July 4 raid by Israeli commandos. During the operation, Kenya allowed Israeli forces to use its airspace, refuel and treat injured hostages.

I am not sure people in this country understand how deep is Israels appreciation of Kenyas role in the 1976 Entebbe raid, Yahel Vilan, the Israeli ambassador to Kenya, told Al Jazeera. People of my generation and older remember it as if it happened yesterday.

Al Jazeeras Charles Stratford, reporting from Entebbe, said that besides the obvious symbolism of Netanyahus visit, diplomacy, business and security issues were high on the agenda.

The Israeli prime minister has said words to the effect of being determined to get more friends in Africa, more allies on the continent, Stratford said.

Seeking trade partners

Diplomatic relations between Israel and African countries date back to the 1960s, but ties with most nations in the continent were severed in the wake of the 1973 Arab-Israeli war.

Relations were also not helped by Israels friendship with the apartheid regime in South Africa before its fall in 1994.

Before his East Africa visit, Netanyahu had told the cabinet that the trip was part of a major effort on our part to return to Africa in a big way.

In Kenya, Rwanda and Ethiopia, Netanyahu is expected to separately meet the nations heads of state and security and economic leaders, and to speak before the Ethiopian Parliament.

The trip comes at a time when Israel is launching a $13m aid package to strengthen economic ties and cooperation with African countries, said Netanyahus office. Israel would also provide African states with training in domestic security and health, it added.

With the visit of the prime minister, I believe that the relations of Kenya and Israel will be solidified and expanded, Albert Attias, chairman of the Jewish community in Kenya, told Al Jazeera.

This will give opportunities to the two countries expand their bilateral activities and add value to both Kenya and Israel, the businessman added.

Netanyahu is accompanied by approximately 80 business leaders from more than 50 companies in order to forge commercial ties with African companies and countries.
Seven ISIL suspects believed to be planning attacks on mosque and government building arrested, interior ministry says.

Kuwaiti police have arrested several suspects belonging to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group believed to be planning attacks across the country, the interior ministry has said.

Kuwait security agencies have carried out three pre-emptive operations in Kuwait and abroad that led to derailing a number of Islamic State [referring to ISIL] plots targeting Kuwait and arresting several IS members, an interior ministry statement said on Monday.

Those arrested included 18-year-old Kuwaiti Talal Raja, who was allegedly planning to bomb a Shia mosque and an interior ministry building during Eid holidays, said the ministry statement carried by state news agency KUNA.

The man allegedly confessed to plotting the attack, and had planned to deploy a suicide vest.

READ MORE: Kuwait says it busted international ISIL support cell

In the second operation, at least three people, including a 52-year-old mother and her son, were detained in Syria and brought back to Kuwait, the ministry said, adding that they admitted to providing logistical support to several terrorist operations.

Three more people, including a Kuwaiti policeman, were arrested in the third raid. Kalashnikov rifles, ammunitions and the black ISIL flag were all recovered from their possession.

The interior ministry statement, published overnight on Monday, did not say when the arrests took place.

All seven suspects confessed to being members of ISIL, also known as ISIS, which last year carried out a deadly attack at a Shia mosque in the oil-rich Gulf state  home to several US military bases. That attack left at least 27 people dead.

READ MORE: Seven sentenced to death over Kuwait mosque bombing

Kuwait launched a security crackdown in the wake of last years attack, which had been carried out by a Saudi suicide bomber.

The government said the bombing, Kuwaits worst ever such attack, was aimed at stoking sectarian strife in the majority Sunni state, where Shia Muslims comprise between 15 and 30 percent of the population.

Last November, Kuwaiti security authorities busted an international cell that was sending air defence systems and funds to ISIL.
With her husband dead and her three children in Israeli detention, Sanaa Balbul has spent the holiday alone.

Bethlehem, occupied West Bank  As Muslim families across the world gathered for the last Friday of Ramadan, Sanaa Balbul sat at home alone in her modest two-bedroom apartment.

A mother of three, Sanaa has spent the entire holy month of Ramadan alone, grieving for her family.

My parents are dead and my husband was killed by Israeli forces eight years ago. His parents have also passed. All of my brothers and sisters have moved out of the country to get away from the occupation, and all of my children are in Israeli prison, Sanaa told Al Jazeera in her small living room in the occupied West Bank city of Bethlehem.

Sanaas three children were separately arrested by Israeli forces earlier this year. Her 15-year-old daughter, Nuran Balbul, is serving a six-month sentence for allegedly possessing a knife on April 12 at Bethlehems 300 checkpoint between the occupied West Bank and Israel. Two months later, on the third day of Ramadan, Israeli forces stormed Sanaas house and arrested her other two sons, Mohammed, 25, and Mahmoud, 21. The two men have not been charged with anything.

READ MORE: West Bank  Activists use Facebook to halt Israeli raids

The Israelis didnt tell us why they were arrested or what they suspected them of, and they probably wont, because theyre being held under administrative detention, she said, referring to an Israeli policy in which Palestinians can be held without charge or trial for renewable six-month periods.

Sanaa does not believe that her daughter was carrying a knife, noting that she would never have attempted to use one against a person.

She likes to paint her nails and dance in front of the mirror and do girly things. She is a child and she likes childrens things, Sanaa said, her voice cracking as tears welled up in her eyes.





The imprisonment of her children has reawakened the pain of her husbands death, Sanaa said, adding she believes that her family is being targeted as punishment for her late husbands political activity.

On March 18, 2008, undercover Israeli forces shot dead Sanaas husband, Ahmad Balbul, a member of Bethlehems city council and the alleged leader of the Fatah movements military wing, al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, in Bethlehem. Ahmad was killed, along with three other Palestinians suspected of being involved in the Islamic Jihad military wing.

Nuran was only eight years old when her father was killed, and was not interested in politics, her mother said. According to Sanaa, Nuran got into a heated argument with Israeli soldiers at the checkpoint where she was arrested, after which they searched the 15-year-olds bag and allegedly found the knife.

I think they got into that argument, and the Israelis checked her ID and found out who her father was, so they put that knife on her to arrest her, Sanaa said.

An Israeli army spokesperson did not respond to Al Jazeeras request for comment on the case.

Sanaa has seen her daughter only once since her arrest, at the court hearing where she was found guilty of an attempted stabbing attack and sentenced to six months in an adult Israeli prison. A month after her detention, Nuran secretly sent a letter home to her mother through another prisoner who had been released.

He told me to go change because the soldiers were coming. A moment later, they blew down our door and came storming in with their dogs. by Sanaa Balbul, mother

Kids in the prison have tired hearts, the situation makes me sad, I keep praying for them, the letter reads.  Prison isnt sweet, I wish I could be there with you right now, I hope to be released before Ramadan so I can spend Eid with all of you.

But as her mother and brothers prepared to start the month-long holiday of fasting without her, Israeli forces detained Sanaas other two children.

My oldest son was staring out the window when he saw Israeli forces outside, Sanaa said. It was the middle of the night and he realised our home was being surrounded. He told me to go change because the soldiers were coming. A moment later, they blew down our door and came storming in with their dogs.

Once she realised that the soldiers planned to take both her sons, Sanaa said, she begged them to arrest her as well.

I told them to take me to my daughter; I would rather be in prison with her than home in this house alone  to stay here for what? I have nothing here. There is no reason to live in this home alone  I just sit and look at their photos online, she said.

READ MORE: Meet the youngest Palestinian female prisoner

The night raid was the second time her eldest son, Mohammed, was arrested by Israeli forces. When he was 17, Mohammed was held without charge or trial for a year before being released. Scared that he could meet the same fate as his father, Sanaa later sent him to Egypt to study.

It was a hard decision, but I just wanted him to be safe and have a chance to make something of his life, she said.

Mohammed studied dentistry for six years in Egypt before he came home a year ago and opened a dental practice in Bethlehem. He said he knew how much I had sacrificed to put him through school, so he came home to support our family, Sanaa said. He wanted to save money to build us a home. This one is very old and small.

Her other son, Mahmoud, has been studying to obtain a bachelors degree in psychology. Mohammeds fledgling dental practice was the sole source of income for the family of four.

Sanaa is not sure how she will survive her childrens detention. While she has started teaching Arabic at a small language office in Bethlehem, the income is not enough. She worries for her children, who need money to pay for their personal needs in prison.

I have no money to send them, Sanaa said, tears flowing down her face. This Ramadan has been a month of mourning for me, not a celebration. Everything seems to be bad right now; I am just barely holding on.
At least 45 dead after new Philippines president pledged major operation against drugs and criminality.

At least 45 people with suspected links to drug trafficking have been killed in four days since Rodrigo Duterte was sworn in as president of the Philippines, according to authorities.

ABS-CBN, the Philippines largest TV channel, reported on Monday that at least 29 drug and robbery suspects were killed in Bulacan province, near the capital Manila, since June 30, when Duterte took over the presidency .





Authorities said the suspects resisted arrest and shot at police officers.

Nine other killings were reported in Manila.

Duterte won the election in May on a platform of crushing crime. But his rhetoric has alarmed many who hear echoes of the countrys authoritarian past.

After his oathtaking on Thursday, Duterte said he wanted to get rid of drug traffickers, telling supporters to go ahead and kill them yourself as getting their parents to do it would be too painful.

Dutertes top police commander, Ronald dela Rosa, also told officers accused of drug links that he would not hesitate to change their birthdays to November 2, referring to the Day of the Dead, a major religious holiday in Catholic Philippines.

In Manila, Oscar Albayalde, regional police chief, said five drug dealers were killed on Sunday in a gun battle with police in a shantytown near the Malacanang presidential residence.

Rodrigo Duterte: Shoot a drug dealer, get a medal

My men were about to serve arrest warrants when shots rang out from one of the houses in the area, Albayalde told reporters, saying police returned fire and killed five men.

Four guns and 200g of crystal methamphetamine were recovered, police added.

Two other men were shot dead in separate sting operations in the Pasig district.

Two bodies were also found under a well-known Manila bridge on Saturday morning. Their faces were bound with duct tape and their shirts bore signs in Filipino saying Dont follow my example. I am a pusher.

A local reporter posted a photo of the bodies on Facebook.

Elsewhere, at least six alleged drug dealers and a policeman linked to drugs syndicates were killed in six other provinces across the country.

Media reports said more than 100 people had already died, mostly suspected drug dealers, rapists and car thieves, since Dutertes election win on May 9.

Azadeh Shahshahani, a human rights lawyer who has monitored rights abuses in the Philippines, told Al Jazeera that the killings set a worrisome trend in light of the comments issued by Duterte.

The president and his subordinates should remember that the accused should be afforded a fair process in an independent court of law regardless of the severity of the offence, per well-established principles of international law, Shahshahani, a director of the US-based group Project South, said.





Edre Olalia, secretary-general of the Manila-based National Union of Peoples Lawyers, also said the killings must stop.

The drug menace must stop. Yet the apparent serial summary executions of alleged street-drug users or petty-drug lords, which appear sudden, too contrived and predictable, must also stop, he said in a statement to the Reuters news agency.

The two are not incompatible.

In the northern province of Cagayan, officials said $19.23m worth of drugs from either China or Taiwan were seized on Monday.

The shipment was unloaded at sea and brought to shore by small fishing boats before delivery to Manilas Chinatown, according to Dela Rosa.

On Sunday, the communist armed group New Peoples Army issued a statement supporting Dutertes all-out war against drugs, saying it might conduct its own drug operations against soldiers, police and local officials.

With reporting by Ted Regencia: @tedregencia








Four security guards killed at Prophets Mosque in Medina in third attack to hit kingdom in one day.

Four security officers have been killed and five others wounded in a suicide attack outside one of Islams holiest sites, Saudi Arabias interior ministry said.

The bombing at the Prophets Mosque in the city of Medina was the third attack to hit the kingdom on Monday, following blasts in the cities of Jeddah and Qatif.

Photos of Medina posted on social media showed smoke billowing from a fire outside the mosque where Prophet Muhammad is buried.

Four security guards were martyred and five others wounded as a result of their opposition to the suicide attacker who detonated explosives near them as he was on his way to the mosque, the ministry said on Twitter.





The blast struck moments before sunset prayers when people were breaking their fast inside the mosque.

The mosque, which is also known as Al-Masjid an-Nabawi, is visited by pilgrims from around the world during the final days of the fasting month of Ramadan.

Qari Ziyaad Patel, 36, from South Africa, was at the mosque when he heard the blast just as the call to prayer was ending.

He said many at first thought it was the sound of traditional, celebratory cannon fire, but then he felt the ground shake.

The vibrations were very strong, Patel told the AP news agency. It sounded like a building imploded.

Saudi Arabias state-run news channel, Al-Ekhbariya, broadcast live video of thousands of worshippers praying inside the mosque hours after the explosion.

The mosque is considered to be Islams second holiest site after the Sacred Mosque, or Masjid-al-Haram, which surrounds the Kaaba in the city of Mecca.

READ MORE: Muslim world reacts after deadly blast

Following the attack in Medina, Muslims around the world expressed their outrage.

Irans Foreign Minister Javed Zarif, writing on Twitter, said: There are no more red lines left for terrorists to cross. Sunnis, Shiites [Shias] will both remain victims unless we stand united as one.

Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, tweeted: Its time we work together to save our religion from these deadly criminal gangs.

Qatif explosions

About the same time as the Medina blast, two other explosions struck near a mosque in the eastern city of Qatif on the Gulf coast.

Witnesses said a suicide bomber blew himself up outside a Shia mosque without injuring anyone else.

They reported seeing body parts lying on the ground in the citys business district.

Suicide bomber for sure. I can see the body which was blasted to pieces, a resident told the AFP news agency.

Nasima al-Sada, another resident, said one bomber blew himself up near the mosque.

A third witness told Reuters news agency that one explosion destroyed a car parked near the mosque, followed by another explosion just before 7pm local time.

There was no claim of responsibility for the attacks.

Earlier on Monday morning, two security officers were injured as a suicide bomber blew himself up near the United States consulate in the Red Sea port city of Jeddah.

Security officers became suspicious of a man near the car park of Dr Suleiman Faqeeh Hospital which is directly across from the US diplomatic mission. When they moved in to investigate, he blew himself up with a suicide belt inside the hospital parking, the interior ministry said.

Saudis interior ministry identified the attacker as Abdullah Waqar Khan, a Pakistani national in his early 30s. In a tweet, the ministry said that Khan, a driver, had moved to Jeddah 12 years ago to live with his wife and her parents.

Pakistan said on Tuesday that it was going to investigate whether the suicide bomber in Jeddah was one of its nationals.

We will investigate the claim that one of the bombers was a Pakistani who according to reports was living in Saudi Arabia for more than 12 years, a foreign ministry official told the DPA news agency on condition of anonymity.

In January, at least four people were killed in a suicide attack on a Shia mosque in the eastern al-Ahsa region.

In October, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing at a Shia mosque in Najran, in which at least one person was killed.

ISIL, also known as ISIS, also claimed responsibility for an attack at a mosque inside a special forces headquarters in the city of Abha in August 2015. Fifteen people were killed in that attack.
Suicide attacker killed and two officers wounded in blast near the US consulate in Jeddah, Saudi interior ministry says.

A suspected suicide bomber has died after blowing himself up near the United States consulate in Saudi Arabias city of Jeddah, the interior ministry has said.

Security officers early on Monday became suspicious of a man near the car park of Dr Suleiman Faqeeh Hospital, which is directly across from the US diplomatic mission.

When they moved in to investigate, he blew himself up with a suicide belt inside the hospital parking, the ministry said, adding that two security officers were lightly wounded.

The attack happened at about 2:15am (23:15 GMT) on July 4, the day when Americans celebrate their independence.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.

Later on Monday suicide bombers targeted mosques in in the cities of Medina and Qatif. Four people were killed in the attack in Medina, Islams second-holiest city.

General Mansour al-Turki, the interior ministry spokesman, told Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya television that the bomber in Jeddah was not Saudi but a resident foreigner.

Turki told state Al-Ekhbariya news channel that the suspect, in his 30s, was closer to a mosque in the area rather than to the consulate.

An investigation was ongoing, and some people were being questioned for their suspected links to the attack, security sources told Al Jazeera.

In a statement, the US consulate said there were no casualties or injuries among its staff, adding that it and the US embassy were in contact with Saudi authorities investigating the incident.

The US State Department also said that it was aware of the explosion in Jeddah and it was working with Saudi authorities to collect more information.

In 2004, five people stormed the US consulate in Jeddah with bombs and guns, killing four Saudi security personnel outside and five local staff within.

Three of the attackers were killed in the assault and two were captured.

In March last year the US embassy closed its main office, as well as consulates in Jeddah and Dhahran, for a few days over unspecified security concerns.
Drivers accuse police of corruption, saying officers seek to raise money by imposing hefty fines on their vehicles.

A protest by Zimbabwean taxi drivers against a police crackdown turned violent when residents in the capital, Harare, joined in and hurled rocks at police, who fired tear gas and water cannon to disperse the rioters.

Taxi and minibus drivers, along with company owners, accuse police of corruption, saying that they raise money for their operations by imposing hefty fines on their vehicles.

In the past month, amid rising unrest over economic woes, Zimbabwe has witnessed spontaneous protests against government corruption, shortage of money and government plans to circulate local bank notes.

The protesters closed roads and burned tyres in the eastern part of Harare on Monday, as local youth engaged in running battles against armed police wearing riot gear.





Officers responded with batons, tear gas and water cannon to disperse the crowds. Some schoolchildren were caught up in the violence as well.

Police spokeswoman Charity Charamba told reporters that anti-riot police were deployed in two townships outside Harare and arrested 30 people in connection with the violence.

The southern African country is facing a cash crunch resulting in banks running out of notes. The government has failed to pay June salaries to the majority of its workers.

Without public transport, many residents in Harare were forced to walk to work on Monday. More protests are scheduled for Wednesday.

Mondays clashes come days after residents protested in the border town of Beitbridge, 600km south of Harare, last Friday against restrictions on imports of basic goods from South Africa.

Zimbabwe has suffered years of economic decline and mass emigration since President Robert Mugabe took power in 1980, when the country won independence from Great Britain.
Klesiv, Ukraine  Trundling along the decrepit roads of this remote corner of northwestern Ukraine, past dreary villages and decaying bus stops, few would suspect that the ground beneath is abundant with amber, a gemstone valued around the world as jewellery.

In reality, the business here is booming  but the profits are whisked away into the shadows. The vast majority of the poorly regulated industry operates outside state control, funnelling hundreds of million dollars each year into the hands of illegal miners, smugglers and, critics say, the politicians and armed gangs who run the racket.

The closer you are to the trafficking, the more money it makes you, said local investigative journalist Dmytro Leontiyuk.

As Ukraine struggles to shake off its reputation as Europes most corrupt country, authorities here are proving how hard that can be by failing to rein in a lucrative trade that deprives the state of desperately needed cash.

The young miners of Donbass

Currently, only a handful of firms hold extraction rights. Officials say up to 300 tonnes are extracted from this part of Ukraine each year, feeding demand from buyers from as far away as China and the Middle East.

Activists say effective legislation would be a first step in regulating the business, even if few believe it would change things overnight. But a draft law legalising amber extraction is still sitting in parliament.

Meanwhile, brigades of miners toil in forests here in the Rivne region, and two neighbouring regions, are ravaging thousands of hectares of local land by uprooting trees and digging out amber from the soil.

Vasyl Bedriy, head of the regional branch of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), said they are only one part of a sophisticated and wide-ranging network.

The gemstone might be bought and sold several times before its smuggled to other Ukrainian regions, or across the border to Poland. Then there are those who physically protect the business, usually the police or security services, and those who ensure legal immunity in the courts, such as current or former local prosecutors, if it becomes necessary.



Dozens feared dead in Ukraine mine blast

All component parts are engaged, said Bedriy, describing the mechanism known locally as Ukraines amber mafia.

More recently, the trade recaptured national attention thanks to what observers say has been a redistribution of the spoils among political and criminal groups. Clues have emerged in recent months revealing what sort of players typically pull the strings.

For instance, the ex-deputy head of the regional SBU, who is also the son-in-law of a former deputy governor, is suspected by authorities of overseeing a scheme some critics believe earned up to $75,000 a day, according to local media. The head of Ukraines Anti-Corruption Bureau recently complained that an investigation into the official was stalled in the general prosecutors office.

Yet despite the huge sums of money collected by organisers, few of the serious profits trickle down to the tens of thousands of ordinary miners who work in the region, according to former amber miner Oleksandr Vasyliev,.

Ukraine: A dangerous game

Their average wage  about $30 a day, according to various estimates  is far above Ukrainian standards, but thats not factoring in the bribes that often have to be paid just to gain access to the fields.

For most, extraction remains the only viable way to make ends meet in the impoverished region. Even if they make the absolute minimum, said Vasyliev, who was elected to the regional council last year, people will still come out to work because theyve got nowhere else to go.

Vasyliev himself has been accused of controlling part of the business in his home district, but denies the charge and claims its a response to his efforts to legalise mining. On a dreary April morning, he criticised what he claims is a broader trend of venal officials profiting from the countrys lack of transparency.

Thats how were trotting into Europe, he said bitterly. By quietly robbing our own people.

Nevertheless, Ukrainian law enforcement is making a new push to crack down on the business. To coordinate the fight, the reformed National Police of Ukraine has set up a special task force near the epicentre of illegal mining, some 90km north of Rivnes eponymous regional capital.

Serhiy Knyazev, the newly installed regional police chief, said local law enforcement should target the higher echelons of the corrupt hierarchy instead of its workforce. Arresting common miners and confiscating their equipment will only further fuel local anger, he said.

People will simply rise up, said Knyazev, whose previous assignment included fighting cigarette smuggling in another Ukrainian region.

Illegal coal mines a lifeline in Ukraine

Thats exactly what happened here in Klesiv, a humdrum settlement of about 4,000, earlier this year. Clashes erupted between the police and miners during an attempt to shut down a local extraction site. While tensions have since calmed, a different order prevails elsewhere.

According to Leontiyuk, the local journalist, mining villages in more remote parts of the region are under such rigid control by miners and armed gangs that the outnumbered and under-equipped police dont even bother entering.

People exercise their impunity there, and total impunity at that, he said. Because objectively speaking, we just dont have a force that could compel them to quit mining.

The virtual anarchy that pervades this amber-rich part of Ukraine has even earned it a curious nickname: the Peoples Republic of Amber, a nod to the pro-Russian separatist regions of eastern Ukraine.

Vasyliev believes legislation would boost the local economy and help cut out corruption by encouraging miners to police one another. While they wait for politicians in Kiev to act, places such as Klesiv are sliding deeper into a cycle of destitution and lawlessness.

If Johnny will be able to do this legally, but Pete wants to keep mining somewhere illegally, then believe me, Johnny wont let him do it, he said. But when neither Johnny nor Pete have the opportunity, thats when you have a problem.
Opponents of President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi say he is failing to improve human rights in the country.

Over the past five years, Egypt has seen revolution and counter-revolution, a brief spell of civilian rule, then return to military rule.

President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi led the military coup in 2013. Since then, rights groups say the liberties of Egyptians have been eroded in every way possible.

The government has effectively banned protests. Thousands of civilians have been tried in military courts.

Hundreds have been sentenced to death following trials which have been criticised as unfair.

On Inside Story, we discuss the human rights situation in Egypt.

Presenter: Laura Kyle

Guests:

Ahmed Badawi  Senior researcher for the Centre for Middle Eastern and North African Politics at the Free University of Berlin.

Timothy Kaldas  Non-resident Fellow at the Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy.

Mohamed Khairat  Founder and Editor-in-Chief of news media organisation Egyptian Streets.
A dancer, a model and a fighter dream of overcoming their harsh realities to achieve wealth and success beyond the slum.

For the majority of Manilas slum dwellers, home is a school of hard knocks and the only way out of their desperate situations is in a box.

Generations have been born and will die in Tondo. But against the odds, a few do succeed in escaping the slums, and some even move on to better lives, achieving wealth and success beyond their wildest dreams.

Jessa Balote, 15, lives in Aroma slum where she shares one room with her family of nine. When they first arrived in Tondo, the family worked as scavengers  the default job for newcomers to the slums.

Elsewhere, mixed martial arts fighter Jessie Rafols faces hard knocks. He has become known as The Finisher and excels among fighters in the Philippines.

Growing up in the slum has given him a hunger for success, but disaster strikes, and six months of training may come to nothing after he injures his knee four weeks before a fight.

Fighting is not the only way to break out of the slum. Would-be model Justine, 17, is earning her way out, performing in pageant and fashion shows. But she is also seeing the murkier side of the industry, and finding that the reality of making a living through modelling is far from glamorous.

This six-part series follows the residents of Manilas Tondo slum as they live, love, survive and aspire in some of the worlds toughest living conditions.
Could the fashion world's idea of couture finally be changing?

French ready-to-wear brand Vetements debuted its spring 2017 men and women's collection earlier today in the corridors of Galeries Lafayette department store at haute couture week in Paris. As announced last month, designer Demna Gvasalia teamed up with 18 different labels, from Levi's and Juicy Couture to Manolo Blahnik and Comme des Garcons.

With the support of these commercial fashion brands, Vetements just made couture, arguably the most unapproachable kind of fashion, relatable.

Whether you consider yourself a follower of fashion or not, you've likely worn a piece by Dr. Martens, Champion, or Reebokthree other friends of Vetements that were featured in the new collection.

"The idea was always to take the iconic, the most recognizable product from their brand and put it into a Vetements frame, whether in terms of shape or construction," Gvasalia told New York magazine prior to the show.

The designer presented elements of these storied brands with a key Vetements twist. Take, for example, the label's newly introduced Juicy tracksuits, which were covered with bejeweled "Juicy" logo on the back of the pants and the sleeves. These pieces closely mirrored the brand's T-shirts from the fall 2016 runway, which were marked by acerbic wit and phrases such as "May the bridges I burn light the way."

In addition, the silhouettes of the oversize blazers, a collaboration between Vetements and Brioni, were roughly the same size and shape as pieces from past seasonsas were the oversize button-downs, the cult hoodies, and the mock turtlenecks.

While the thigh-high, jewel-toned boots worn on the runway today may not be easily wearable, renditions of down jackets made in collaboration with Canada Goose are more likely to fit right into your wardrobe.

"Every jacket we make is rooted in function, so it's a fun departure to partner with a visionary designer to present his interpretation of some of our iconic pieces," said Dani Reiss, CEO of Canada Goose, in a statement on the collaboration.

Couture week is the highest echelon of fashion week. The process of showing a collection at couture week alone is rigorous and tightly controlled by the Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture. After the designer and Guram Gvasalia, Demna's brother and Vetements's chief executive, decided to move their fashion show from October to July, the Federation Francaise de la Couture, the governing body of French fashion, selected the brand as guest members for this season's show.
UNICEF is launching today an urgent measles immunization campaign to protect 13,000 children displaced by fighting in the city of Wau, in South Sudan. The three-day campaign is focused on children aged six months to 14 years, who have been living in makeshift settlements in the city since the conflict erupted last Friday. In such []Source : http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Appa-sourceTheAfric...
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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

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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]
As another Independence Day is celebrated, I can't help wondering how we arrived at a time in our history when the international beacon of freedom has been relegated to a position of scorn and hatred in many parts of the world.

The Founding Fathers put together an ingenuous system of government designed to guarantee freedom in this new world, an ocean away from the tyranny of a monarchical regime. July 4, 2016 represents 240 years since they took a stand against King George III and fought a bloody war to end the servitude they had been born into. None of us can truly imagine the suffering they endured to carve out a sanctuary for themselves and their families and defend it against the British Empire, the dominant military force of its time.

For them, it was do or die, inasmuch as such treasonable action was punishable by death. Yet, having experienced the misery of life without freedom, they were willing to make that sacrifice.

With the Virginia House of Burgess undecided on whether to organize for military action against the encroaching British military force, Patrick Henry argued in favor of mobilization and ended his speech with words that have since become immortalized: "Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty, or give me death!"

Those words have echoed through the canyons of time, reminding generation after generation of the hardships endured to build a new nation, under God, with liberty and justice for all. Nevertheless, it seems that millions of Americans have become filled with the fetid odor of cynicism, cavalierly dismissing the courageous struggle that built the foundation for the prosperity they now take for granted. Academics, schooled in theoretical concepts, engage in self-indulgent debate, seeking to find moral equivalence between past and present.

As a Socratic exercise, it may have merit, but as a blueprint for the preservation of freedom and the destiny of a nation, it has no relevance. This experiment in democracy wasn't charted by perfect people; they were a motley combination of practitioners in many fields of endeavor. But the common thread among them was an indomitable spirit and the passionate thirst for freedom. That thirst, quenched for hundreds of millions during the last couple of centuries, is being challenged in retrospect, by the ungrateful heirs of those patriots. Some burn our flag, the symbol of liberty, while conveniently refusing to acknowledge that the freedom to do so is part of their ancestral heritage.

Others find fault with the former slaveholders among those early founding members, referring to them as a bunch of old, bigoted white men. Such rhetoric is merely a sophomoric attempt to juxtapose the cultural norms of vastly different eras. With food on your table and clothes on your back, it's easy to have an intellectual debate on the methods used to forge a civilization out of a savage wilderness. Thanks to those early crafters of this republic; the many statesmen who followed them; and the millions of decent, hardworking citizens who contributed to the effort, we are still the most coveted piece of real estate on the planet. We don't build walls to keep people in, but if we are to continue enjoying the bountiful lifestyle we've earned, we may be forced to build walls to keep them out.

In pragmatic terms, the United States is a lifeboat with a limited capacity to rescue the multitudes from a raging sea. The more humanity we take on board, the more water will fill our boat, weighing it down precipitously toward an ultimate capsize. We can reach out in heartfelt sympathy to the floundering masses, but at some point, we must recognize that one more passenger may take us all down to a watery grave.

The average person dares not contemplate making a decision of such magnitude. Nevertheless, in the interest of rational thought, someone must!

Few people are old enough to remember the mood of the country during World War 2, but America's sentiments can be readily understood by viewing the movies made during the war against the Axis powers in Europe. Even during the '50s, a decade after the troops were back home, the films continued to portray the greatness of our country and its fight for freedom around the world. It was a time of John Wayne, James Stewart, and Betty Grable  major stars whose patriotism was self-evident in the roles they played and the additional time they spent supporting the troops.

It was a time when families prayed together and proudly displayed flags in front of their homes to show their love of country and their support of the men in uniform. Legendary comedian Bob Hope was entertaining the troops at military bases around the world, accompanied by other major Hollywood celebrities. It was a time in our history when we knew the good guys from the bad guys. It was the time of heroes. However, since the turbulent '60s, with their anti-American rhetoric and their drug-induced revolution against propriety, we have witnessed an erosion of values that has sought to turn religion into a prohibited practice and patriotism into a foolish philosophy engaged in only by fascists.

History proves that the United States of America has always found its heroes in times of need. If past is indeed prologue, it will find its heroes again.
In January 2016, Congressman Alan Grayson said he would sue Senator Ted Cruz (R-Tex) over his eligibility to be President. Grayson told MSNBC that he would sue over Canadian-born Cruz's natural-born citizen status if the senator ever became the GOP nominee. Why? Because the Constitution means what it says and says what it means. In February 2016, Presidential Candidate Donald Trump jumped into the fray and said he was very seriously thinking about filing a suit to challenge Ted Cruz's eligibility to be President. Senator Cruz father was Cuban-born; his mother was American. He was born in Canada, lived there for years. Presumably, Mr. Trumps suit would have sought to determine if his competitor was a natural born citizen as stipulated by the U.S. Constitution.

Article II of the U.S. Constitution states: No person except a natural born citizen ... shall be eligible to the Office of President.

Congressman Grayson and Mr. Trumps threats of a lawsuit seemed to suggest Senator Cruzs birthplace in Canadaand that alonewould render him ineligible to be President of the United States. However, apparently only Democrats and the media are sufficiently credentialed to make the determination of defining the constitutional phrase, No person except a natural born citizen.

Where a Presidential candidate was born is not a de facto eligibility disqualifier for the Office of President. Senator John McCain was born to American parents while his father served in the U.S. Navy in Panama. Had he been elected, he would have been the first President born outside the 50 states. Senator Mitt Romneys father was born in Mexico, and the elder Romneys eligibility to run for President in 1968 was hardly questioned. George W. Romney was born of American citizens living in a Mormon Church colony in Chihuahua, Mexico.

What is going on here? Contrary to what the Democrats and the media have reported over the last eight years, with respect to the eligibility of the Office of President, as demonstrated above, its not where you are born but how you are born. Any discussion of the somewhat ambiguous Article II eligibility requirements for the Office of President, during the 2016 election season, conveniently ignored any discussion of Barack Obamas eligibility. Hes already President. At this point, what does it matter?

There has been no finer display and execution of media malfeasance and political disinformation than that of the eligibility of Candidate Barack Obama to be President. During the 2007 election cycle, Democrats and the media buttressed his eligibility to be President with an unrelenting campaign that having been born in Hawaii automatically made the Candidate Obamaa child of a Kenyan nationala natural born citizen of the United States. Newspaper and magazine articles steered away from discussing how the son of a Kenyan national could be the next President of the United States. He was born in Hawaii and that was sufficient.

The Left despises the U.S. Constitution and the Founding Fathers. From the Federalist Papers and the discussions at the time of the ratification of the U.S. Constitution, a Natural Born Citizen was never defined by the location of where a baby was born. From the Signing to today, those three words have always been a little obscure due to the lack of any single authoritative source to confer in order to understand the condition of citizenship the phrase recognizes. The Federalistblog provides the best background on the topic. One universal point most all early publicists agreed on was natural-born citizen must mean one who is a citizen by no act of law. If a person owes their citizenship to some act of law (naturalization for example), they cannot be considered a natural-born citizen. This leads us to defining natural-born citizen under the laws of nature  laws the founders recognized and embraced.

Under the laws of nature, every child born requires no act of law to establish the fact the child inherits through nature his/her fathers citizenship as well as his name (or even his property) through birth. This law of nature is also recognized by law of nations. Sen. Howard said the citizenship clause under the Fourteenth Amendment was by virtue of natural law and national law.

The advantages of Natural Law is competing allegiances between nations are not claimed, or at least with those nations whose custom is to not make citizens of other countries citizens without their consent. Under Sec. 1992 of U.S. Revised Statutes (1866) made clear other nations citizens would not be claimed: All persons born in the United States and not subject to any foreign power , excluding Indians not taxed, are declared to be citizens of the United States.

Rep. John A. Bingham commenting on Section 1992 said it means every human being born within the jurisdiction of the United States of parents not owing allegiance to any foreign sovereignty is, in the language of your Constitution itself, a natural born citizen. (Cong. Globe, 39th, 1st Sess., 1291 (1866)) *From the Federalistblog.

Did not Barack Obama Senior owe his allegiance to the foreign government, that country which is now Kenya? Unable to secure U.S. citizenship through a marriage of convenience, he returned to Nairobi, without his wife and child. The parents of John McCain and George Romney did not owe allegiance to any foreign sovereigntyboth mother and father swore allegiance to and were Americans. Those four American parents could recite the Pledge of Allegiance and they knew to turn to face the flag when they did.

If not for Democrat Party propaganda and media disinformation, what made Barack Obama eligible to be President in the first place? The Presidents father, BHO senior, was a British then a Kenyan national. Like the United States of America, the Brits and Kenyans have constitutions outlining the laws of the land. And like every country on the planet, the Kenya Constitution has firm citizenship by birth requirements: A person is a citizen by birth if on the day of the persons birth, whether or not the person is born in Kenya, either the mother or father of the person is a citizen.

Simply, Barack Obama II, with a Kenyan father and an American mother, was born under two constitutions, where one parent owed allegiance to a foreign sovereignty. Its not where you are born that counts to be eligible to be the President of the United States but how you are born. What nation doesnt recognize citizenship of children born to their own citizens wherever they may be? Some countries have constitutionally-mandatory military service requirements of its citizens even when they are born abroad.

If anyone had cause to sue over the eligibility issue regarding running for the Office of the President, it was Senator John McCain. To have the question of what constitutes natural born citizen answered once and for all, Senator McCain should have taken Senator Barack Obama to court; to the Supreme Court. McCain vs Obama. Dozens of Americans have tried to sue President Obama over his eligibility to serve as President but failed; they had no standing. Regarding standing, only another presidential candidate would have a case to sue another presidential candidate. See Bush vs. Gore.

Although there were issues with the candidacy of Senator Obamacould they overcome the constitutional hurdle of eligibilitycould they also negotiate the other hidden political landmine: the candidates religion. Democrats and the media refused to engage in a discussion about the religion of President Obamas father, that hes a Muslim. To do so would enter uncharted territory. Isnt a child born of a Muslim also a Muslim? Senator McCain turned himself into a pretzel anytime someone brought up this issue at a townhall meeting.

With the Republican candidate capitulating early on the tough issues of constitutional eligibility and Muslim-by-birth, the Democrats were emboldened. Their candidate wasnt a Muslim but a member of the Trinity United Church of Christ led by the Reverend Jeremiah Wright. All they had to do was skirt the U.S. Constitution through strong-arm politics, propaganda, and disinformation.

Senators McCain and Obama, all of Congress, Democrats far and wide, as well as the media knew of the constitutionally-mandated eligibility requirements for President. For the Democrats, the media, and the Candidate Obama, it was a game of chicken. Would the Maverick McCain call their bluff or would he fold? I submit, Barack Obama would not have been able to withstand the challenge. It would have required unsealing his sealed record history during discovery. Immigration documents. Passports. College applications. I suppose, afraid of being called a racist for bringing a lawsuit against an apparently ineligible candidate, however transformative he may be, trumped truth, justice, and the American way.

Out of 350 million people living in America, only Donald Trump was able to get President Obama to respond to the cries that there was something wrong with the Presidents eligibility, and the White House released his birth certificate, however bogus that document appears to be. American Thinker ran several articles on the issue. 1, 2, 3, 4, and others.

Little has been written on why the Candidate Trump mocked the senior Senator from Arizona. I submit Mr. Trumps issues with Senator McCain stem from the senators cowardly and abject failure to sue the Candidate Obama. If Senator McCain thought he was being noble by not challenging the bona fides of Barack Obama, he was not only sadly mistaken but wrong. It was an easy case to win. Senator McCain did not uphold his oath to uphold and defend the U.S. Constitution against a usurper of the Constitution. So much for being a Maverick.

And on the issue of allegiance. Many on the Right have tried to make the case, using his own words from The Audacity of Hope, that President Obama would stand with Islam and Muslims should the political winds shift in an ugly direction. Its hard to defend a man whose daily words and actions can be easily interpreted as being overly sympathetic to Islam and Muslims, to the detriment of America and Americans.

I think the Founders got it right; to avoid any split allegiance to another country or a religion, candidates seeking the Office of the President need to demonstrate they are Americans first, born of Americans, that they love this country, and that they will do whatever is necessary to protect and defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic. Our President is not doing any of that. He is not and never has been on the side of America.

Only one candidate today is on the side of America. And he demonstrated no fear to sue another candidate who may not have been eligible to run for President.

Mark is the author of espionage thrillers Special Access and Shoot Down.
Some people get their kicks from champagne. Others get them from selling and buying relics of Nazi Germany, or from remembrance and celebration of things from that evil regime. The ongoing present puzzle is the mentality and the motivation of those getting kicks from buying the socks worn by Adolf Hitler, the personification of evil and the mastermind of genocide, that were available for sale.

On June 20, 2016, an unnamed man who said he was Argentinian bought the socks for 18,000 euros at an auction in Munich, Germany held by the Hermann Historica International Auction House, a leading auction house. It was not immediately clear if the socks were washed before the auction.

That auction house is well known for its sale of historical objects and its liquidation of important collections. It claims that it procures objects of contemporary German history under strict conditions for museums, archives, and serious collectors. The catalogue of this special auction, titled "Hitler and the Nazi Grandees, a Look into the Abyss of Evil," was limited and generally unavailable, and the auction was closed to the press.

At this auction, more ghoulish than of genuine historical interest, the unnamed Argentinian bought 50 items of Nazi memorabilia. Included in his treasure trove were the splendid underwear of Field Marshall Herman Goering, bought for 3,000 euros, and Hitler's uniform jacket, made from finely woven field gray cloth, for which he paid 275,000 euros. This buyer for identification at the auction revealingly used No. 888, a reference to "88," the Nazi code masking "H," the eighth letter of the alphabet, indicating that the real meaning was "Heil Hitler." The motivation seems unmistakable.

In all, the 169 items at the auction that were sold for 900,000 euros included the beautiful leather boots owned by Goering; Hitler's trousers, the pockets of which were lined with leather to hold a gun he carried with him; the personal crockery of Hitler; the dresses of Eva Braun, Hitler's mistress; the manuscripts of Heinrich Himmler, head of the S.S., who oversaw the "Final Solution"; the brass container in which Goering had put the hydrogen cyanide phial he used to commit suicide; and sections of the ropes used to hang the major war criminals, including Julius Streicher, the extreme anti-Semite who published Der Sturmer, and Ernst Kaltenbrunner, the Austrian born senior leader of the S.S.

The Nazi items had been owned by Dr. John K. Lattimer, who was a U.S. medical officer during the War Crimes Trials in Nuremberg, where he cared for the prisoners as well as the allied forces staff. He kept his collection of Nazi memorabilia as well as items of naval and aviation interest, Native American culture, and objects associated with important historical figures, in his residence in New Jersey, where he died in 2007.

But Lattimer was not alone in his interest. This Munich auction was not the only sign of infatuation with the objects of Nazi Germany. At an auction in Chesapeake City, Maryland on March 18, 2016, Hitler's personal copy of his Mein Kampf, found in his apartment in May 1945, was sold for $20,000 to a U.S. buyer who won over 10 active bidders. In 2010, the unrelenting Holocaust denier David Irving sold Hitler's walking stick for 7,000 and offered strands of Hitler's hair for 1,000.

By coincidence, in the same week as the auction, a somewhat indecisive part confessional, part faux innocent comment on the Nazi regime came in a German TV documentary called A German Life, from a 105-year-old Munich lady named Brunhilde Pomsel, perhaps the last living person knowledgeable about and close to the Nazi center of power. She had been a well paid personal secretary to the vehemently anti-Semitic Josef Goebbels, Nazi minister for propaganda and advocate of the Holocaust. Pomsel had recorded all the voluminous words of Goebbels from 1942 to the day on May 1, 1945, when he shot his wife and poisoned his six children with cyanide before committing suicide.

On her 100th birthday, Pomsel, who once explained that it was an obligation, a mandatory duty to work for Goebbels, spoke of him in unflattering terms as narcissist, aloof, cold, a ranting dwarf (he was five-foot-five) but a big pig, well known for his seducing of many women, film stars and theater actresses, at his home, which he had stolen from a Jewish owner, on an island in suburban Berlin.

Though she had been at the center of power for three years, Pomsel claimed she was a "stupid and disinterested [sic] nobody from a simple background. I never knew about the Holocaust." Pomsel expressed sadness about the murder by Goebbels of his six children, but she expressed no similar emotion about the concentration camps or the Holocaust, which she claimed was unknown to her until years after the end of World War II.

In spite of the recent repugnant expressions of anti-Semitism and hostility to Israel by a number of members of the British Labour party, and some absurd allegations that Hitler in the 1930s was supporting Zionism, the news of a more sensible attitude toward Hitler is promising and suggests some degree of understanding about political reality.

After years of discussion of various alternatives, the Austrian minister of the interior, Wolfgang Sobotka, has suggested, but not yet decided, that the house where Adolf Hitler was born on April 20, 1889 in the small town of Baunau am Inn, Austria, might be demolished. It has been empty for some years, and the owner gets a sum  about $5,000 a month  from the government to keep it unused. Before that, the Austrian interior ministry had been the main tenant of the building. By agreement, it may not be used as a museum or in any historical context. The house was almost blown up after World War II, but it was left intact and given back to foreign owners.

The history of the house is familiar from all evidence of Nazi Germany. The family owners were Nazi sympathizers but managed to persuade the court investigating them that they had been victims of the Nazis and that the building should never have been taken away from them. Now the Austrian government, though still undecided, is determining the legality of the demolition. A committee of historians will make a recommendation.

Desirable though this is, it is more important for other committees throughout the democratic world to examine the appropriateness of Nazi sites on the internet and ads for the sale of Nazi memorabilia, flags, swastikas, and uniforms. Hitler was no joke and should not be enrolled in any public activity. The evil he did lives on after him. It is time to bury him, not to praise him.
On June 27, 1976, Air France Flight 139, in route from Tel Aviv to Paris, had a layover in Athens. There four terrorists, two from a German group and two from the Palestinian Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, hijacked the plane. After a stop in Benghazi, Libya, the flight continued to the airport in Entebbe, Uganda.

One hundred forty-eight non-Israeli and non-Jewish passengers were separated in a process hauntingly familiar to the hostages and were released in two separate groups. Ninety-four passengers and the 12 crew members remained. The four hijackers were joined by three more, and demands were made for the release of 40 terrorists from Israeli prisons and 13 from other incarceration.

Israel's policy of non-negotiation with terrorists was well known, but understandably, the families of the Israeli hostages begged for Israel's leaders to comply with the hijackers' demands.

On July 3, four C-130 Hercules jumbo planes left Israel with 190 elite troops plus 20 non-combatants to execute the most daring rescue operation in modern history. In six amazingly short days from the hijacking, the Israeli Defense Force assembled a crack team, collected intelligence from the released hostages and the Israeli construction firm that built the airport, quickly devised a complex plan, repeatedly rehearsed the rescue to precision, and argued the risks and mechanics of the rescue. Israeli officials entered into negotiations with the terrorists to buy much needed time.

The first C-130 landed at 1:00 AM at the Entebbe airport. Imitating Ugandan dictator Idi Amin, who had visited the hostages, a black Mercedes with soldiers in blackface rolled out of the plane and toward the terminal with the hostages. As they pulled up to the terminal, the soldiers burst in, yelling in Hebrew and English for the hostages to remain on the ground. They quickly found and killed all of the hijackers and within six minutes were escorting the hostages out of the terminal to the additional planes that had just landed, precisely as planned.

Three hostages were killed in the crossfire: Jean Jacques Maimoni (19), Pasco Cohn (55), and Ida Borochovitch (56). A fourth, Dora Bloch (75), had been taken to a hospital and was killed by Ugandan soldiers after the raid. Ten hostages were wounded.

Soldiers from the additional planes engaged Ugandan soldiers, killing over thirty, and destroyed eleven Mig jets on the ground. Five soldiers were wounded, and only one was killed by a sniper in the terminal tower: Yonatan (Yoni) Netanyahu, brother of Israel's current prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.

The planes took off with the soldiers and hostages 58 minutes after arrival. In spite of the wounded and the losses, the rescue force was prepared for much worse, and the operation was considered a remarkable success.

They had arranged to land in Nairobi, Kenya for refueling. Idi Amin took revenge on the Kenyans for assisting the Israelis, killing hundreds of Kenyans in Uganda and assassinating Kenyan agricultural minister Bruce McKenzie for his role by placing a bomb on his plane in 1978. A forest is planted in McKenzie's name in Israel.

All four Hercules aircraft landed at Israel's Ben Gurion Airport with the survivors on the morning of July 4, 1976, the two-hundred-year anniversary of our momentous declaration.

The raid on Entebbe was bold, precise, professional, and lucky. Any number of details could have gone wrong, with disastrous results. This moment of audacious heroism reflected the resolve of a people who refuse to compromise their right to exist. Entebbe served as an example that evil can be and must be confronted and defeated.

Happy Fourth of July.

Henry Oliner blogs at www.rebelyid.com.
Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Rodham, who later added her husband's name, Clinton, for her historic attempt at the presidency of the U.S. by clinging to her husband's, um, coattails, has engineered another historic first according to Scott Johnson of Powerline.

Her one on one with several agents of the FBI was a historic occasion; she is the first presidential candidate to be summoned by the FBI to give evidence as the subject of a pending criminal investigation.

He then adds:

The supplemental report by Jim Jordan and Mike Pompeo does an excellent job of setting forth Madam Hillarys duplicity on the Benghazi attack. Steve Hayes takes up this aspect of the supplemental report in The Benghazi lie in black and white. Like her husband, Clinton is a sickening liar. And that may not be her worst trait!

Hillary, speaking as a woman, you are a disgrace to women!
There are many interesting, if unsettling, similarities and differences between Hillary Clintons intentional use of a private, unauthorized email server to store her email communications while secretary of state and Julian Assanges aggressive solicitation, storage, and distribution of classified information through his WikiLeaks website.

Hillary Clinton established a private email server that could easily be hacked by internet hackers worldwide, and one has admitted to hacking her server. Assange obtained his information from computer specialists in the armed forces and other government sources over the internet. Hillary put her own emails, and responses to her emails, on her private server. She didn't need to rely on sources.

Assange agreed to the redaction of names. Hillary didn't need to be asked to redact names, since she redacted them herself.

Assange has publicly admitted to setting up an international server network to distribute classified information. Hillary Clinton went for years refusing to acknowledge the existence of a private server. Eventually, she gave the excuse that it was a mistake.

Assange never hid the fact that he distributed classified information, Hillary Clinton continues to deny that anything was classified, giving the excuse that nothing was marked classified. Assange never made the excuse that emails were not marked.

Assange is criticized for the fact that his release of classified information may lead to the death of intelligence operatives around the world. Hillarys information may have led to the outing of American CIA and State operatives around the world, but no one has seen this as a serious issue.

Assange has not considered running for any political office. Hillary Clinton is actively running to be president.

Assange openly boasts of his distribution of illegally obtained classified information. Hillary Clinton denied it for over two years and still refuses to cooperate and delays the release of information.

Hillary Clinton violated State Department protocols and procedures for handling classified communications. Assanges actions were never under the purview of government protocols.

Hillary Clinton made classified information available to anyone with a relatively low-level knowledge of hacking. Assange also made classified information available and enabled open access on his website WikiLeaks.

Assange, through his WikiLeaks website, did a great disservice to the American people as well as persons in other nations. Hillary Clinton also did a great disservice to the American people as well as persons throughout the world.

Julian Assange never took an oath to protect the confidentiality of the classified information he published on WikiLeaks. Hillary Clinton took an oath to protect the confidentiality of information she placed on her private, easily hacked server.

Julian Assange has been threatened with prosecution for violating the U.S. Espionage Act. Hillary Clinton has not been officially threatened with prosecution.

Assange has been called a hero for revealing documents the government wants to keep secret. Hillary Clinton has not been called a hero for failing to secure classified documents under her care.

Assange admits to distributing classified information. Hillary Clinton does not readily admit to allowing classified information to be distributed by hackers.

Assange obtains information from hundreds of government employees around the world. Hillary's emails were created by herself, other State employees, and her staff.

Hillary Clinton violated U.S. federal laws by establishing a private server. Assange did not violate any laws by establishing his network of servers; only the information he placed on them was a violation of law. For Hillary, both the use of a private server and the placement of State Department emails on it were violations of federal law.

Assange was not a government employee when he established WikiLeaks and his server network. Hillary was a high-level government employee when she established her illegal email server.

Assanges servers were not illegal. Hillary's server violates federal law through its very existence.

Assange merely passed along information emailed to him by others. Hillary created classified communications and hid them, in an insecure manner, on her private server.

Assange never knowingly destroyed the information placed on his servers; he wanted all the information made available to the world. Hillary Clinton deleted over 30,000 emails, which is itself another federal crime.

Assange and Hillary both made it possible for persons to use the internet to obtain classified information.

President Obama has stated that Hillary did nothing wrong. No president has ever said Assange did nothing wrong.

Assange exposed government impropriety, Hillary covered up her own impropriety.

Assange never profited personally from his activities. Hillary Clinton and her husband Bill Clinton both were paid millions through deals that may have been made through her server emails.

A military intelligence specialist, Bradley Manning, was kept in prison for three years without a trial for sending classified information to Assange over the internet. No one has admitted any wrongdoing in the setting up and use of Hillarys private server. Hillary's I.T. specialist cited Fifth Amendment immunity 125 times at one deposition and hasn't spent one minute in prison.
A new poll in the Netherlands shows that Geert Wilders would, if an election were held today, lead his Party for Freedom (PVV) to 36 seats, or 50% more than the seats that would be obtained by the nearest rival party.

The Brexit results appear to have significantly boosted the popularity of the PVV. The same poll conducted a year ago had the PVV projected to receive 20 seats, almost half the level of current support.

Euroskepticism appears widespread in the Netherlands. When asked their opinion about the statement that "[t]he EU has made a significant contribution to economic growth in the Netherlands," just 14% of PVV supporters and 50% of the overall public agree.

Similarly, only 14% of PVV voters and 51% of the public agreed that the "EU has helped to ensure that there are fewer wars in Europe."

Only 2% of the PVV base and 14% of the Dutch public want the EU to become one country. An overwhelming percentage (83%) of PVV voters and 46% of all Netherland residents believe that the EU will fall apart within a decade.

Almost all PVV supporters (91%) and half (49%) of the public want to eliminate the Schengen Agreement, which involved the abolishment of internal border checks between EU members.

Support for a full withdrawal from the EU is high among PVV voters (86%) and at nearly 40% among the general public. Similar levels of support are seen for removing the Netherlands from the Euro.

Just 20% of the public (down from 50% in 2011), and effectively no PVV supporters, want to see any more powers transferred to Brussels.

About half the public worries about the outbreak of another world war, and a similar proportion sees a likelihood of revolutions across Europe during the coming years. Both percentages are substantial increases compared to how the Dutch public felt five years ago.
As the United States celebrates its 240th anniversary of independence from England, the deadly Islamic carnage in Orlando and all over Israel; in the Brussels and Istanbul airports; and in Baghdad and Dakha, Bangladesh, plus the ongoing slaughter in Syria and the tensions with Russia, are a reminder that freedom isn't free.

As Israel combats its current wave of Muslim terror, it is also remembering the 40th anniversary of the rescue of Israeli hostages who were on an Air France flight from Tel Aviv to Paris hijacked by Arabs and Germans (some things never change) belonging to the Baader Meinhof Gang terrorist group. After separating the Jews from the non-Jews (some things never change), the terrorists flew the 102 Jewish hostages to Uganda's Entebbe airport. But in a rescue operation still being analyzed for its daring and planning, Israel freed its citizens.

For a week, they were held by terrorists from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and the Revolutionary Cells, a spin off of the German Baader-Meinhof Gang, a radical left-wing group. And on July 4, 1976, they were rescued by Israeli commandos in a daring military operation. In total secrecy, about 200 Israeli commandos flew in four Hercules cargo planes more than 2,000 miles to the East African state. In the middle of the night, they stormed the airport terminal where the hostages were being held, killed the terrorists and some Ugandan soldiers and flew all the remaining passengers, more than 100, back to Israel. Sadly, three hostages were also killed by the terrorists and one Israeli soldier, the older brother of Israel's current Prime Minister Binyamin (Hebrew for Benjamin) Netanyahu, also lost his life.

Israel National News's Arutz Sheva (Channel 7) has a transcript of some of the recently released recordings of the Israeli post-rescue analysis.

For the first time, the Ministry of Defense has authorized publication of audio recordings of the investigation by Air Force commander Maj. Gen. Benny Peled, immediately after the Entebbe operation which also cast new light on the preparations for the mission. (snip) The second recording is of Peled: 01:10 "I want to stress the importance of not drawing general conclusions from things that apply only to this specific operation. It would be bad for someone to try and generalize where there is no room for such generalizations ... We almost did not carry out this operation because we tried to take the 'Torah out of the Ark' and apply things to this situation that did not apply." I am speaking about the fact that there can be no [single] formula for an operation like this one, just as there can be no one formula for finding a wife. I also say that if our plan failed we had better plans were not carried. 3:20 "The goal of the operation was to rescue most of the prisoners and bring them home. Or at least to evacuate the captives to a non-hostile country... All the other plans were rejected because they were unable to accomplish this, even though those who suggested them thought that they could accomplish these goals. But after checking, they found that they could not accomplish [these goals]. For example, I suggested send five guys to kill five or ten terrorists and to join the hostages... [but] it was not reasonable that we would rescue the hostages and bring them back [in this way]..."

Remember, freedom not only is not free, but it must be constantly guarded. Israel, America, and the rest of the free world need to be constantly alert to protect our freedom, which can be snatched in an instant.

Happy Independence Day!
Last Saturday night, I caught the second episode of AMC's History of the West. This is a summary of the series:

Spanning the years 1865 to 1890, The American West, will show how  in the aftermath of the Civil War  the United States transforms into the land of opportunity. Viewers will be transported into the violent world of cowboys, Indians, outlaws, and lawmen. The 8-episode limited event series chronicles the personal, little-known stories of Western legends such as Jesse James, Billy the Kid, Wyatt Earp, Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull. The series features exclusive interviews with notable names from classic Western films, including Redford, James Caan, Burt Reynolds, Tom Selleck, Kiefer Sutherland, Mark Harmon, Ed Harris and more.

In the interest of full disclosure, let me say I am not an expert of the history of the American West. I love it, but I am not an expert. Therefore, I hope some of my AT friends will comment on the series.

Chapter 2 told the story of Jesse James, one of the West's most interesting characters.

Jesse and the gang decided to rob a bank in Northfield, Minnesota.

Why so far north?

The answer was that there was a connection between the small-town bank and the Reconstruction governor of Mississippi.

So Jesse and the gang hatched a plan to go north, rob the bank, and win one for the Confederacy.

They broke into the bank and killed a couple of employees, including the cashier who would not open the vault.

The plan did not work out, and Jesse and his brother were lucky to get out of town with their lives. Most of the gang was killed in a shootout with the locals.

So what happened? Say hello to the 2nd Amendment.

Word spread quickly that the bank was being robbed. There were also many hunters in town getting ready for the upcoming season.

Within minutes, the gang was being shot at by armed citizens protecting their bank and lives.

Eventually, these same armed citizens chased Jesse and Frank James out into the woods.

The James brothers got away, but Jesse went into hiding for a couple of years, according to the show.

Jesse's plan failed because the town was not a "gun-free zone." On the contrary, the locals had guns and were intent on using them to protect life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Maybe Robert Redford, the series executive producer, didn't realize it. However, he just created the best advertisement for the NRA ever.

Some in the left may say: "Well, that was the Wild West, and today is different."

Really? Wonder how many people in that disco in Orlando or government office in San Bernardino would agree with that!

P.S. You can listen to my show (Canto Talk) and follow me on Twitter.
In the late 12th century, Sultan Yaqub al-Mansur, the third Caliph of Almohad Dynasty that ruled over West Africa and Iberia, ordered the construction of a massive mosque and a minaret called Hassan Tower in Rabat, the capital city of Morocco. Yaqub al-Mansur had already built the iconic Koutoubia and El Mansouria mosques in Marrakech and the kasbah of the Udayas. During his reign the empire flourished in trade, architecture, philosophy and the sciences. His victorious military campaigns against the Christians saw the establishment of the Arabs for the first time in Morocco.

Yaqub al-Mansurs latest project was his most ambitious one. Hassan Tower was to be the tallest minaret in the world, and the adjoining mosque would have been the largest. This grand project was to be the centerpiece of his new capital and a celebration of the Sultans victory over the Spanish Christians at Alarcos. Unfortunately, Yaqub al-Mansur died in 1199, and construction came to an abrupt halt just four years after it began.

Photo credit: Diana K/Flickr

Today, the incomplete minaret, the vast marble floor, the surviving walls and some 200 columns indicate the huge dimensions the mosque would have taken if finished. The mosque could have received up to 20,000 worshippers at a time, which was quite out of proportions to the size of its city. Only in modern times did Rabat grew in size and population. In those times, it was still a village.

Hassan Tower stands 44 meters tall, about half its intended height of around 80 meters. The exterior of the rectangular minaret is ornamented with distinct patterns, each side sporting a different design. On the inside, the tower is ascended by ramps instead of stairs which allowed animals to carry heavy stones and building materials needed for the construction of the higher part of the tower. The ramps would have also allowed the muezzin to ride a horse to the top of the tower to issue the call to prayer.

Hassan Tower and the surrounding site was granted World Heritage Status in 2012.

Photo credit: leodelrosa/Flickr

Photo credit: Marina Sanz Biendicho/Flickr

Photo credit: Andrzej Wojtowicz/Flickr

Photo credit: Steven C. Price/Wikimedia

Sources: Wikipedia / Rough Guides / Morocco World News
About 47 kilometers east of the city Abancay, in southern-central Peru, lies the archeological site of Sayhuite or Saywite, described by historians as a center of religious worship for Inca people, who held rituals and ceremonies for the worship of water. The sites main attraction is a big granite block whose upper surface is ornamented with complex and mysterious figures resembling a three-dimensional relief map of an ancient city.

The Sayhuite Stone is about two meters long and four meters wide. The rock is carved with more than two hundred figures of geometric and zoomorphic shapes, mostly felines, reptiles, frogs, and serpents, that are sculpted into the likeness of a topographical hydraulic model, complete with terraces, ponds, rivers, tunnels, and irrigation channels. The relief map is on the upper surface of what appears to be the bottom half of a huge boulder. The rock is located on top of the hill called Concacha, where it is believed to have been transported since it is not a natural outcrop.

Photo credit: blog.rainbowasi.com

Many scholars and scientists believe that the Sayhuite Stone is a scale model of the Inca empire, and its various regions are represented by the carved figures of animals and other motifs. For instance, the jungles are represented by land animals such as monkey, iguana, jaguar, etc. while the coastal areas are represented by animals like pelicans, crab, shrimp, octopus etc.

While the precise meaning and purposes of this relic remains a mystery, some researchers believes that Sayhuite Stone was used as a scale model to design, develop, test, and document the properties of water flow for irrigation and other water projects, and to instruct ancient engineers and technicians in the concepts and practices of the craft. The rock also appears to be modified several times with new material, either altering the paths of the water or adding new paths altogether. The experiments might have been carried out by pouring actual water over the stone or even liquid mercury, as researcher Dr. Arlan Andrews suspects. There are notches carved along the edge of the stone to allow the liquid to pour out.

Watch this video of Dr. Arlan Andrews testing out the model by pouring water over it.

Photo credit: christcont/Wikimedia

Photo credit: giulio.biglia/Panoramio

Photo credit: Uladzimir Taukachou/Panoramio

Sketch of the Sayhuite Stone showing the various carved figures. Photo credit: www.lithos-graphics.com

Sketch of the Sayhuite Stone showing the various carved figures. Photo credit: www.lithos-graphics.com

Photo credit: blog.rainbowasi.com

Photo credit: blog.rainbowasi.com

Photo credit: blog.rainbowasi.com

Photo credit: Fredy Ramirez Almanz/Panoramio

Photo credit: Bruno Locatelli/Panoramio

Sources: Wikipedia / Raining Miro / laculturainca-cusi.blogspot.in
QiKU is a brand you may, or may not have heard of by now. This company was formed last year under Qihoo 360s arm, and weve seen only three QiKU-branded products to date. The company rebranded itself to 360, so their devices are no longer associated with the QiKU naming. The company had released their 360 N4 flagship handset back in May (while theyve also released the 360 F4). That handset is fueled by the Helio X20 64-bit deca-core SoC, and it comes with a 5.5-inch fullHD display, 4GB of RAM and a 3,080mAh battery. That being said, it seems like the company plans to introduce another handset soon, read on.

The company has released a 360 N4S teaser quite recently through social media in China. The 360 N4S is a name of the companys upcoming smartphone which will be released on July 15th in China, and thanks to a new leak, we now know its specifications. If you take a look at the second image in the gallery down below, youll get to see the phones partial spec sheet. This device will be fueled by the Snapdragon 652 64-bit octa-core processor, along with a whopping 6GB of RAM and 64GB of native storage. Android 6.0 Marshmallow will come pre-installed on this smartphone, and on top of it, youll be able to find 360s custom OS called 360 OS.

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As you can see, this will be a rather odd handset, at least in terms of specs. It will ship with a mid-range processor, and 6GB of RAM on the inside. This does seem like an odd choice by 360, but well see what happens, if the price is right, this handset might be in high demand once it launches. Unfortunately, we still dont know what will the phone look like, but it will probably resemble 360s previously released devices, which essentially means we can expect to see a rear-facing fingerprint scanner on the back of this phone, and three capacitive buttons up front. Considering this is basically a new variant of the 360 N4, it is possible that the company will keep its design intact, which means that the phone might sport a 5.5-inch fullHD (1920 x 1080) display in addition to what weve already mentioned.
Huawei is currently the third-largest smartphone manufacturer in the world, and the company has been selling quite a smartphones this year. Huawei actually has an opportunity to retain that position in 2016 as well, but well see what happens. That being said, Honor is Huaweis subsidy, and the company has been doing pretty well. Theyve introduced several smartphones this year, and the Honor 8 will arrive on July 11th. The device has been certified by TENAA (Chinas equivalent to the FCC) already, and its renders have surfaced earlier today.

It seems like the Honor 8 is not the only device the company plans to introduce in the near future. A new Honor-branded handset surfaced on TENAA (EDI-DL00), and were looking at a huge phablet here, but we still dont know what will Honor name this thing, we can only guess at this point. Anyhow, according to TENAA, this phablet will feature a 6.6-inch QHD (2560 x 1440) OLED display, along with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage (expandable up to 128GB via a microSD card). The device will be fueled by the Kirin 950 64-bit octa-core processor, and a 4,400mAh battery is also a part of this package, while it is not removable. The camera sensor details are not shared by TENAA, but we presume that it will include a 13-megapixel camera on the back and sport an 8-megapixel front-facing shooter. Android 6.0 Marshmallow will come pre-installed on this device, along with Huaweis Emotion UI (EMUI) user interface. This phablet will measure 178.8 x 90.9 x 7.18mm, while it will weight 219 grams. The device will be available in Gold and Silver color variants, though it seems like its back cover will be white, same as on the Honor 8.

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This phablet listing came out of the blue, we didnt see any indication that Honor plans to release such a huge device. We dont know its name just yet, but it has a lot of similarities to the Honor 8, so it is possible the company will use the Honor 8 brand here as well, which means they might call this device the Honor 8 Max, Honor 8 Ultra or Honor 8 Plus, something along those lines. Were only guessing, of course, well have to wait until the company officially announces this device in order to find out more.
Back in November of last year, ASUS had announced a list of its devices that will receive an update to Android 6.0 Marshmallow. The ZenFone 2 Laser and the ZenFone Max have already received the update last month. However, the Taiwanese company is starting to roll out the update to two more of their devices at the moment, namely the ZenFone Zoom (ZX551KL) and the ZenFone Selfie (ZD551KL).

Since this isnt an incremental update, users can expect a host of new features and apps to be pre-loaded in this update. The new features and apps which come with the update are, Google Calendar, Google Messenger, Facebook, Facebook Messenger and Instagram. However these features and apps only apply for the ZenFone Zoom. The ZenFone Selfie on the other hand, will receive Google Calendar, Google Messenger, Motion Gesture and the camera will now support Pano Sphere Mode. Some apps will also no longer be pre-loaded on these devices, once upgraded to Android Marshmallow. The apps are, ASUS Backup, Google Play Books, Google Play Games, Google Play Newsstand, Google+, ZenFlash,

Mirror, Remote Link, Party Link, PC Link, Photo Frame and Whats Next. Most of these apps can be downloaded from the Google Play Store though, so theres that.

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ASUS has also removed certain apps from the ZenFone Zoom and the ZenFone Selfie. The apps which will be removed are, Asus Email, Asus Calendar, Asus Messaging, Asus Browser and Asus Music. The company had announced this move earlier this year, back in February. These apps will no longer exist on these two devices once an update goes through. The company also suggests using apps such as Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Messenger, Chrome and Google Play Music for relevant services.

In a post on ASUS ZenTalk forum, the company has stated that users of both devices will have to manually download the firmware from their official website in order to update their device to Android Marshmallow, or users can wait for the OTA update to arrive. ASUS also warns all users that transferring apps to microSD card is not supported on Android Marshmallow and users should transfer all apps to internal storage before proceeding with the system update.
With audio and video streaming services gaining in popularity in India, Google is seemingly prepping to bring its premium streaming services to the country fairly soon. According to multiple posts on message boards like Reddit and social media sites like Twitter, subscription-based streaming services like Google Play Music and YouTube Red are apparently all set to make their debut in the country in the not-so-distant future. In fact, some of the posts on the aforementioned sites actually seem to suggest that users in the country are already seeing the prices listed in Rupees both on the Google Play Music mobile app as well as on the website, although, it doesnt seem to have been rolled out universally to all users across the region.

Whats interesting is that Google seems to be fairly aggressive with its pricing in the country, seeing as individual songs are listed at around the 15 Rupee (22 cents) mark, whereas entire albums are quoted at anything between Rs. 95 ($1.45) and Rs. 135 ($2), as per reports doing the rounds this Monday. While not the entire Google Play Music catalog is listed with Rupee price-tags, works of popular artistes such as British musician Adele and Canadian pop sensation, Justin Bieber, seems to be on the list. While theres no official word from Google on when it will officially launch subscription-based services for its audio and video platforms in India, if the latest developments are anything to go by, it shouldnt be too long before users in the country are able to access premium content from Google at discounted rates.

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Whenever Google chooses to bring Play Music and YouTube Red to India, the company will have to play catch-up with Apple, who launched its new music streaming service, Apple Music, in the country last year. Google will also have to compete with a whole host of local services that have been doing business in the country for some time now, like Saavn and Hungama. An increasing number of users are starting to subscribe to such services which have extensive catalogs of music in regional languages from the Indian subcontinent, like Hindi, Punjabi and Bangla. They also offer music and content from popular Bollywood movies, making them favorites among a large section of the countrys population. It remains to be seen how well Google competes with the established players, but with more companies vying for their eyes and ears, consumers in India are likely to be the winners in the end.
Modern smartphones are definitely wonderful things, but theyre not flawless. One of the main gripes with these hi-tech devices is security and the fact that they usually have a lot of vulnerabilities. While Google is more than aware of this problem when its omnipresent Android OS is concerned, it cannot fight this fight on its own as it relies on device manufacturers to adapt its regular security patches and roll them out to their products on a monthly basis. Unfortunately, while most manufacturers promised to keep up with Googles updates, they havent exactly followed through and are letting Google down despite a constant influx of new smartphone vulnerabilities that require fixing.

Of course, the professionals in the industry are well-aware of this issue and are relatively vocal about it. In fact, one of them recently went so far as to recommend people to only buy Samsung and Nexus devices. More specifically, the renowned security expert Gal Beniamini has demonstrated a huge security vulnerability which can be exploited on any device without Googles May security patch. According to latest reports, that means 57% of Android devices are at risk of having their full disk encryption completely bypassed. Beniamini, whos a member of Qualcomms Product Security Hall of Fame and someone who has contributed a lot to software security in recent years has found out that only the latest Samsung and Nexus devices have improved security in comparison to their predecessors. Because of that, he recommended consumers to only purchase new Samsung and Nexus devices as these are the only ones with seemingly optimal security on the market. More specifically, around 75% of the most popular Galaxy and Nexus models encompassed by the latest security survey were up-to-date with Googles patches. That isnt a stellar number, but its still significantly better than the aforementioned 57% average.

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In a similar test conducted in January, Beniamini found out that 60% of Android devices were not up-to-date with Googles latest security patch. He stated that this three percent improvement in half a year is marginal at best and device manufacturers should be pressured into doing more in terms of improving the security of their customers.
Rumors continue to circulate about the next addition to Samsungs Galaxy Note series, currently expected to be named the Galaxy Note 7. What happened to the Galaxy Note 6, you may ask? Samsung has apparently decided this year to skip a number in their traditional Note series naming convention, in an effort to avoid the assumption that the next Note is a generation behind the current Galaxy S models (the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge).

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The Note series has always been one of Samsungs best offerings, with top-of-the-line specs, and unique, well-thought out features. From the information that has been leaked so far, the Note 7 is expected to pack a Snapdragon 821 chipset, 6 GB of RAM, a 3600 mAh battery, IP68 water and dust resistance and, most likely, a curved display similar to the one found on Galaxy S7 Edge. Like previous models, the Note 7 will come with the S-Pen, Samsungs multi-functional stylus, which is one of the features that sets these devices apart from their competitors. The display will be a 5.7-inch 2560 x 1440 Super AMOLED display. However, a new listing on Zauba, an import tracker, suggests that there will be another version of the Note 7 (model SM-N930R4) that will be equipped with a 6-inch display. This could, of course, simply be a test unit and may not be representative of the final product (model SM-N930). However, Samsung has been known in the past to release different versions of the same device in varying sizes, such as the Galaxy S6 Edge and the S6 Edge plus. This is the first leak to support the idea that the device may include a larger display model, and there is not any more information at this point that can back up this theory.

The release date of the device is not yet known. Nor are the regions in which it will be sold, but based on past entries in the Note series it is reasonable to expect that it will be available from most major carriers in the U.S. and other major markets. There have been no official announcements regarding price, however, rumors suggest it will sell for between $750 and $800 when purchased without an accompanying service contract.
Samsung may be the largest smartphone manufacturer in the world ahead of companies like Apple, Sony, LG and other large multinationals, but the companys offerings are steadily losing popularity in the worlds largest smartphone market  China. While the South Korean tech giant continues to retain its top spot globally, China has been proving a particularly difficult market to address because of extreme competition. Samsung has not been amongst the biggest smartphone brands in the country for years now, but latest reports now seem to indicate that the company has, in fact, lost further ground to local brands in the country. According to a report published by Samsung on Sunday, the company has now slipped to the fifth spot on the list of the largest smartphone vendors in China.

The report, termed the Sustainability Report 2016, details information regarding the companys CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) activities as regards various economic, environmental and social causes. It reveals that the companys sales in China have now declined for the third successive year, resulting in a significant loss of market share over the period. Not only has Samsung lost market share in the country, but its overall revenues, too, have declined from 33 trillion won ($28.7 billion) in 2014 to 31 trillion ($27 billion) last year. While that in itself is disconcerting enough, it looks even worse when looked at in the context of the companys sales in 2013, when it earned as much as 40.1 trillion ($34.9 billion) won in revenues in the country. China accounted for around 15% of the companys overall business last year, as opposed to 16% in 2014 and 18% in 2013.

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Samsung may be doing comparatively better at the premium-end of the market, with the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge reported to have received over ten million pre-orders back in March. However, the company is also looking to earn back some of its lost market share in the mid and entry-level segments, having recently introduced the all-new Galaxy C-series of smartphones aimed specifically at the Chinese market. While its too early to judge whether those efforts have been successful of not, it is quite clear that the company has its job cut out if it truly wants to get back to anywhere near the top in the worlds largest smartphone market, where companies like Huawei, Xiaomi and now Oppo and Vivo are the brands to watch out for.
The top scorer in 2015 national college entrance exam in Chongqing. [Photo/IC]

Peking University and Tsinghua University, the two most prestigious institutions of higher education, dived head on into a competition to attract top scorers immediately after the results of the national college entrance examination (known in Chinese as gaokao) were announced. Media reports say the two highest scorers from Hebei province were admitted by the two universities on the very night the results were announced.

The education authorities have instructed the exam departments not to release the details of the top scorers. But every year the top scorers have drawn the attention of the media, schools and the public alike, and the competition between the country's two top universities has exposed the unhealthy college admission criteria. The two universities' emphasis on scores reflects not only their weakness for top scorers, but also their neglect for cultivating talent.

Generally, good universities across the world organize follow-up surveys to analyze their graduates' performances and interaction with people in the real world, and adjust their admission criteria according to the results. Some reports suggest a few universities have reduced their admission quotas for Asian students after their surveys found that even Asian students who score high marks lack creativity and the ability to plan out their lives.

Chinese universities, which are focused on students' scores, generally don't conduct such follow-up surveys even after the reform of college admission rules. No wonder there is disconnection among Chinese universities' enrollment procedure, cultivation of talent and employment of their graduates.

The competition between China's two premier universities mirrors the poor attitude of Chinese universities when it comes to cultivating talent. The goal of independent college admission is to break the unified talent evaluation mode of gaokao and establish a multiple evaluation system to cultivate talent, instead of judging students only by their scores.

To push independent college enrollment, universities should stop focusing on students' scores in gaokao. What the Beijing universities have done is tantamount to telling the public that "what we really care about is still exam scores", not independent college admission norms.

College enrollment reform was launched in 2003 and regarded as a significant pilot program for gaokao reform. But even after 12 years, China's top two universities are still seeking students with the highest scores in gaokao, which is like saying the independent college admission reform has failed.

Their competition owes a lot to the fact that the independent college admission pilot program is still based on gaokao, that is, students who qualify for independent enrollment, too, have to take gaokao and their scores in the exam are still an important basis for their admission. So students and their parents are still focused on the scores.

Moreover, the pilot program has failed to help establish a two-way admission mechanism between colleges and students. Independent enrollment reform has increased colleges' right to choose students, but students still have limited rights to seek admission of their choice. Even today one student normally gets a call for admission from just one college.

Under such circumstances, colleges pay attention only to admission. The top criterion for good colleges becomes the number of top scorers they admit, not the cultivation of talents or the quality of graduates they produce.

Top institutions like Peking University and Tsinghua University still regard "how many top scorers we have" as the main criterion for university ranking, which in turn propels the unhealthy competition for securing high scores among students.

Therefore, the key to promoting gaokao reform is the strict implementation of independent college enrollment in the true sense of the term. Universities should explore different aspects of exams, conduct comprehensive evaluation and use multiple criteria to admit students so that candidates get to choose the college they want to study in.

The author is deputy director of the 21st Century Education. Research Institute.
Nicola Sturgeon contradicts her European vision for Scotlands immigrants

Nicola Sturgeon cuts a Presidential figure. In July 2016, the BBC reported her words:

People from EU countries are an important part of Scotlands future. I am therefore seeking immediate guarantees from the Prime Minister, and all Conservative leadership candidates, that the residency status and the other existing rights of the 173,000 EU nationals living in Scotland will remain unchanged, now or in the future. This is a commitment that can and should be made and enforced now.

In July 2014, the Scotsman reported her words:

DEPUTY First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has warned that keeping an independent Scotland out of the EU could mean people from other European nations living in Scotland could lose the right to stay here.

At best shes no worse than the other political elite the electorate despise.

Anorak

Posted: 4th, July 2016 | In: Politicians, Reviews Comment | TrackBack | Permalink
(ANSA) - Rome, July 4 - The 20 hostages including nine Italians who were killed at a Dhaka restaurant on Friday were murdered in the first 20 minutes of the attack, police chief Shahidul Haque said Monday according to the Dhaka Tribune. "The gunmen had killed the hostages within 20 minutes of the attack," Shahidul Haque said.

"Many media are reporting that we had delayed the rescue mission but we did not. "We completed the mission within 12 hours while countries like Kenya took four days to fight a similar incident at one of their shopping malls".

The Italian authorities were reportedly irked at the failure of the Bangladeshi authorities to cooperate before the decision to launch a raid on the attackers.

Bangladeshi police have arrested three people in connection with the attack, judicial sources said Monday. A university teacher celebrating a birthday in the restaurant, Hasnat Karim, was detained after footage showed him smoking on the terrace with the attackers. The identities of the other two, who are in hospital, was not divulged. They were said to have had a role in the attack.

Claudio Taffuri, the head of the Italian foreign ministry's crisis unit, said that the bodies of the nine Italian victims will return to Italy as soon as possible. "The return of the bodies will take place in the shortest time possible," Taffuri told State broadcaster Rai. "It depends on the procedures". Taffuri said personnel from his unit has been in Dhaka since Saturday to help the embassy there and that he is about to fly out to Bangladesh.

Italy is mourning the nine Italians among the hostages killed in the attack on the popular restaurant in a diplomatic zone in the Bangladeshi capital.

Extremist Islamist group ISIS has claimed responsibility for the attack. But the Bangladeshi authorities have said the attackers were educated young people from well-to-do families who saw jihad as fashionable and had no links to ISIS. Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina attended a ceremony on Monday honouring the victims of the attack.

The foreign ministry in Rome has named the Italian victims as Adele Puglisi, Marco Tondat, Claudia Maria D'Antona, Nadia Benedetti, Vincenzo D'Allestro, Maria RiBoli, Cristian Rossi, Claudio Cappelli and Simona Monti.

Premier Matteo Renzi told Sky television Sunday that ISIS must be destroyed "without pity" and called for an "iron fist" strategy.

Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni and Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida spoke by phone on Monday about coordinating their governments' diplomatic and intelligence efforts against terrorism, the Italian foreign ministry said.

Seven Japanese were killed in the Dhaka attack.

The two ministers emphasised the importance of information-sharing between countries of the G7. The 2016 G7 summit was held in Japan and next year's summit will be held in Italy.


(ANSA) - Rome, July 4 - Police on Monday carried out orders from Palermo's anti-mafia investigative unit to detain 38 people in cities across Italy in connection with an alleged migrant-trafficking ring, which investigators said had its financial hub in Rome. Officers seized 526,000 euros and 25,000 dollars in cash from a Rome business along with a ledger containing the names of foreign citizens and references to payments, police said.

Investigators said the crime ring operated out of a business in Rome using a hawala value transfer system - a banking system that operates using brokers outside of traditional channels, in which no actual money exchanges hands.

Migrants arrived in Italy by boat and made false claims of family reunification, police said.

They said some of the main suspects also had a business dealing a drug from Ethiopia called catha (also known as "khat"), which is illegal in Italy.


ROME - A young Egyptian activist has called for the Italian government to exert greater pressure on Cairo for truth and transparency concerning the death of Italian researcher Giulio Regeni.



The mutilated body of Regeni, a Cambridge University graduate, was found in the outskirts of the Egyptian capital on February 3. The young human rights activist Abdelrahman Mansour, one of the founders of the 'We are all Khaled Said' Facebook page (which has more followers than any other in the Middle East and which was where the appeal began for the January 25, 2011 protests that led to the ouster of Hosni Mubarak ), also called for the stopping of all arms sales to Egypt.

Mansour was in Rome on Monday on the invitation of the ARCI association and will on Tuesday be taking part in a press conference at the Chamber of Deputies alongside Pia Locatelli, head of the human rights committee in the lower house of parliament, and Luigi Manconi, head of the same in the upper house.

The young activist said that he intends to bring ''attention back to the case of the kidnapping, torture and murder of Giulio Regeni and to call for an independent inquiry''. Italy, he noted, ''is one of the main suppliers of software for spying, probably the same technology that was used to wiretap the young Friuli-born researcher and the voices of thousands of Egyptians''.

In criticizing the government under Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, he said that ''about 40,000 people have been jailed, 300 were subjected to forced disappearances last year alone and 90 people have died in Egyptian police stations''. He stressed that the situation can still be changed.
Egypt's 2011 protestors have not given up, says activist 'Struggle continues from jail and abroad', Mansour

(by Cristiana Missori) (ANSAmed) - ROME, JULY 4 - Changing Egypt is still possible but it will not be free, one of the organizers of the protests that sparked the Egyptian uprising said in Rome on Monday.



The January 25, 2011 generation continues to fight from jail and abroad, the Egyptian human rights activist Abdelrahman Mansour said. Invited by the ARCI association to the Italian capital, Mansour will on Tuesday be taking part in a press conference at the Chamber of Deputies alongside Pia Locatelli, head of the human rights committee in the lower house of parliament, and Luigi Manconi, head of the same in the upper house. In Egypt, ''change is not impossible but it will have its cost'', said the young blogger from the most popular political Facebook page in the Middle East, 'We are all Khaled Said', which first called for protests in January 2011 that led to the fall of Hosni Mubarak. He noted that it was unclear what the future would hold, since anger among the population was still rising but said it was impossible that what happened in 2011 would happen again. Having got his degree in Communications, he and other well-known activists such as Wael Ghonim ''began to work with Mohamed El-Baradei, with whom we founded the Constitution Party.



We continued until June 30, 2013, but after what happened in Rabaa Al-Adaweya, with over 300 dead and dozens arrested - including some of my friends like Alaa Abdel Fattah and Ahmed Maher - I chose to leave Egypt and go to the US'', he said. Mansour is now a researcher at the University of Illinois. The young protest organizers are thus trying to work together again, even if they are in jail or abroad. Even though Egyptian intellectuals say that they allowed the revolution to be overtaken by the Muslim Brotherhood - the only ones able to fill the power void left by the fall of the former regime under Hosni Mubarak - the youths are not giving up, he said. ''In America or in Europe, we would like to create a platform to give a voice to Egyptians abroad, and we are setting up a network of associations. Together we can try to change things.'' Egypt is nonetheless in an extremely difficult period from an economic, political and security standpoint. ''We are living under a dictatorial regime and at a very delicate time,'' he said, ''with terrorism and the refugee crisis. And we must take this into account. However, the government is taking advantage of the situation by saying that everything that is against the regime is terrorism.'' Radical groups, he continued, ''were already there under Mubarak, especially in the Sinai, and things got worse with (Presidents, Ed.) Morsi and Sisi. Over the past few years, Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis'', a jihadist organization founded in 2011 and which pledged allegiance to the Islamic State (ISIS) in November 2014, changing its name to 'Sinai Province', ''has been growing''. Mansour said that the key was to find solutions at the social and economic level to prevent the spread of radicalism.



(ANSAmed)
ROME - Police on Monday carried out orders from Palermo's anti-mafia investigative unit to detain 38 people in cities across Italy in connection with an alleged migrant-trafficking ring, which investigators said had its financial hub in Rome. Officers seized 526,000 euros and 25,000 dollars in cash from a Rome business along with a ledger containing the names of foreign citizens and references to payments, police said.



Investigators said the crime ring operated out of a business in Rome using a hawala value transfer system - a banking system that operates using brokers outside of traditional channels, in which no actual money exchanges hands.



Migrants arrived in Italy by boat and made false claims of family reunification, police said.



They said some of the main suspects also had a business dealing a drug from Ethiopia called catha (also known as "khat"), which is illegal in Italy.
Egyptian activist urges Italy to demand truth in Regeni case Mansour wants greater pressure on Cairo

(ANSAmed) - ROME, JULY 4 - A young Egyptian activist has called for the Italian government to exert greater pressure on Cairo for truth and transparency concerning the death of Italian researcher Giulio Regeni.



The mutilated body of Regeni, a Cambridge University graduate, was found in the outskirts of the Egyptian capital on February 3. The young human rights activist Abdelrahman Mansour, one of the founders of the 'We are all Khaled Said' Facebook page (which has more followers than any other in the Middle East and which was where the appeal began for the January 25, 2011 protests that led to the ouster of Hosni Mubarak ), also called for the stopping of all arms sales to Egypt. Mansour was in Rome on Monday on the invitation of the ARCI association and will on Tuesday be taking part in a press conference at the Chamber of Deputies alongside Pia Locatelli, head of the human rights committee in the lower house of parliament, and Luigi Manconi, head of the same in the upper house. The young activist said that he intends to bring ''attention back to the case of the kidnapping, torture and murder of Giulio Regeni and to call for an independent inquiry''. Italy, he noted, ''is one of the main suppliers of software for spying, probably the same technology that was used to wiretap the young Friuli-born researcher and the voices of thousands of Egyptians''. In criticizing the government under Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, he said that ''about 40,000 people have been jailed, 300 were subjected to forced disappearances last year alone and 90 people have died in Egyptian police stations''. He stressed that the situation can still be changed.



(ANSAmed).




(by Cristiana Missori)

ROME - Changing Egypt is still possible but it will not be free, one of the organizers of the protests that sparked the Egyptian uprising said in Rome on Monday.



The January 25, 2011 generation continues to fight from jail and abroad, the Egyptian human rights activist Abdelrahman Mansour said. Invited by the ARCI association to the Italian capital, Mansour will on Tuesday be taking part in a press conference at the Chamber of Deputies alongside Pia Locatelli, head of the human rights committee in the lower house of parliament, and Luigi Manconi, head of the same in the upper house. In Egypt, ''change is not impossible but it will have its cost'', said the young blogger from the most popular political Facebook page in the Middle East, 'We are all Khaled Said', which first called for protests in January 2011 that led to the fall of Hosni Mubarak. He noted that it was unclear what the future would hold, since anger among the population was still rising but said it was impossible that what happened in 2011 would happen again. Having got his degree in Communications, he and other well-known activists such as Wael Ghonim ''began to work with Mohamed El-Baradei, with whom we founded the Constitution Party.



We continued until June 30, 2013, but after what happened in Rabaa Al-Adaweya, with over 300 dead and dozens arrested - including some of my friends like Alaa Abdel Fattah and Ahmed Maher - I chose to leave Egypt and go to the US'', he said. Mansour is now a researcher at the University of Illinois. The young protest organizers are thus trying to work together again, even if they are in jail or abroad. Even though Egyptian intellectuals say that they allowed the revolution to be overtaken by the Muslim Brotherhood - the only ones able to fill the power void left by the fall of the former regime under Hosni Mubarak - the youths are not giving up, he said. ''In America or in Europe, we would like to create a platform to give a voice to Egyptians abroad, and we are setting up a network of associations. Together we can try to change things.''

Egypt is nonetheless in an extremely difficult period from an economic, political and security standpoint. ''We are living under a dictatorial regime and at a very delicate time,'' he said, ''with terrorism and the refugee crisis. And we must take this into account. However, the government is taking advantage of the situation by saying that everything that is against the regime is terrorism.'' Radical groups, he continued, ''were already there under Mubarak, especially in the Sinai, and things got worse with (Presidents, Ed.) Morsi and Sisi. Over the past few years, Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis'', a jihadist organization founded in 2011 and which pledged allegiance to the Islamic State (ISIS) in November 2014, changing its name to 'Sinai Province', ''has been growing''.

Mansour said that the key was to find solutions at the social and economic level to prevent the spread of radicalism.
New phase of Libyan political accord after Ramadan, Kobler UN envoy calls again for Benghazi ceasefire

(ANSAmed) - CAIRO, JULY 4 - UN envoy to Libya Martin Kobler said Monday in a tweet that a new phase would begin for the application of the Libyan political agreement after the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. He also launched a fresh appeal for a ceasefire in Benghazi and dialogue to re-establish peace. Kobler underscored the need to create a new army in Libya and pledged to provide medical assistance to the troops of involved in the Al-Benyan Al-Marsous operation, affiliated with the Libyan Council of the Presidency in the fight against the Islamic State (ISIS) in Sirte. (ANSAmed).




ISTANBUL - Turkey said Monday it wanted to cooperate with Moscow in combating the Islamic State (ISIS) in Syria.



Foreign Minister Mevlet Cavusgolu seemed to suggest in an interview with state-owned TRT on Sunday that Turkey would also be willing to open its Incirlik air base to the country, but later denied that this was what he had intended to say. ''"We will cooperate with everyone who fights Daesh,'' he told TRT Haber in Sunday's remarks, using the term 'Daesh' to indicate the Islamic State. ''We have been doing this for quite a while, and we opened Incirlik Air Base for those who want to join the active fight against Daesh.'' ''Why not cooperate with Russia as well on these terms? Daesh is our common enemy, and we need to fight this enemy,'' he had added.

On Monday, Cavusoglu said that ''we said that we could cooperate with Russia in the period ahead in the fight against Daesh (Islamic State)...I did not make any comment referring to Russian planes coming to the Incirlik Air Base''.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan last week expressed regret over the shooting down seven months ago of a Russian warplane on the Syrian border and Moscow - which had broken off virtually all economic ties and banned tourists from visiting Turkish resorts - said that it would help rebuild relations.

Since last summer, the Incirlik base has been open to the US-led international coalition fighting ISIS.

Cavusgolu also announced that he had invited his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov - who he had already met with on Friday in Sochi - to Antalya on the Turkish coast to prepare a possible one-to-one meeting between Erdogan and Russian president Vladimir Putin. The meeting is expected to be held in late July or early August.



Turkey's FM 'ready to meet' Egyptian counterpart, but says progress needed on political prisoners

ISTANBUL - Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has sent a signal of openness towards Egypt, continuing the country's efforts to mend diplomatic relations with other nations in the region.

Last week Turkey signed an agreement with Israel reinstating diplomatic relations after six years, and Turkey's prime minister spoke for the first time with Russia's president since Turkey's downing of a Russian jet seven months ago.

Now Turkey is turning towards Egypt, with whom it was an ally during the government of democratically elected Mohamed Morsi. Morsi served for about a year before being ousted in July 2013 in a coup led by Egyptian army chief General Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, now Egypt's president.

"I'm ready to meet my counterpart; there aren't any problems on this," Cavusoglu said. "The Egyptians are our brothers. We want a strong, stable and safe Egypt. But Egypt has to take positive steps on political prisoners," he said on state broadcaster TRT, without specifically referring to Morsi.
Turkey's Cavusoglu 'ready to meet' Egyptian counterpart But foreign minister says progress needed on political prisoners

(ANSAmed) - ISTANBUL, JULY 4 - Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has sent a signal of openness towards Egypt, continuing the country's efforts to mend diplomatic relations with other nations in the region.



Last week Turkey signed an agreement with Israel reinstating diplomatic relations after six years, and Turkey's prime minister spoke for the first time with Russia's president since Turkey's downing of a Russian jet seven months ago.



Now Turkey is turning towards Egypt, with whom it was an ally during the government of democratically elected Mohamed Morsi.



Morsi served for about a year before being ousted in July 2013 in a coup led by Egyptian army chief General Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, now Egypt's president.



"I'm ready to meet my counterpart; there aren't any problems on this," Cavusoglu said.



"The Egyptians are our brothers. We want a strong, stable and safe Egypt. But Egypt has to take positive steps on political prisoners," he said on state broadcaster TRT, without specifically referring to Morsi. (ANSAmed).




Mohammed Al Katheeri, acting chief operations officer of Abu Dhabi Airports said: The service will further strengthen tourism between the UAE and Egypt and build Al Ains prominence as a growing international tourist destination.

The NIA 147/8 flights, on an Airbus A320 aircraft, operate every Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sundays. Until October 1 the flight departs Cairo at 1005 GMT, arriving in Al Ain at 1340 GMT, and leaves the UAE at 1440 GMT arriving in Egypt at 1830 GMT. In October the service will become bi-weekly, with flights on Fridays and Sundays.

A free shuttle service is available for passengers wishing to connect from Al Ain to Abu Dhabi and Dubai.
The aircraft, a 2006-built G550, N-G5V, which can seat up to 13 passengers, is operated by Executive Air Services (EAS), a Miami, FL based aircraft management, sales and charter company with 24 years experience. The new trans-Atlantic partnership will see Vertis Aviation supporting EAS international growth as the team focuses on developing charter business on behalf of the American operator in Europe, the Middle East and Asia.

We are very pleased to add this excellent aircraft to our portfolio and growing our existing relationship with well-respected operator, Executive Air Services. It brings another top quality, long range aircraft to our offering which we know will appeal to our international clients. It fulfills the demand from customers for intercontinental charters on a comfortable, well-appointed and efficient aircraft, commented Vertis Aviation COO Neil Turnbull.

Jeff Reis, managing director, executive Air Services said: In the current competitive landscape of long range charter, the relationship with Vertis Aviation allows us to tap directly into its existing network outside of the U.S. We know that their customers understand and appreciate the value of this type of aircraft which brings real value to our new relationship.
YEREVAN, JULY 4, ARMENPRESS. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu informed that the meeting of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russian President Vladimir Putin is likely to be held sooner than scheduled, Armenpress reports, he said in an interview with the Turkish TRT TV.

Probably meeting between Erdogan and Putin will be held in late July or early August, he said recalling that it had planned that the Presidents would meet in September during the meeting of the heads of G20 states.

He spoke about the readiness of Turkey to cooperate with Russia to fight against the Islamic State terrorist group. We cooperate with all in fight against the Islamic State. You know that we have opened the Incirlik airbase for all who fight against the Islamic State. Why not do the same with Russia?, Cavusoglu said.
YEREVAN, JULY 4, ARMENPRESS. The Ministry of Emergency Situations informs as of July 4, 04:00 all roads on the territory of Armenia are passable.

The Emergency Situations department of the Georgian Interior Ministry reported that the Upper Lars checkpoint has been temporarily closed due to rock fall. According to preliminary data the checkpoint will remain closed until July 10.

The vehicles which are stranded at the checkpoint may if possible continue traveling by ferries via the ports of Poti and Batumi.

Due to the rise of waters of the Terek River there is a danger of flooding.
YEREVAN, JULY 4, ARMENPRESS. A tent camp has been installed for Armenian citizens who remain in Upper Lars  where they can use the mobile WCs, food, and in case of necessity medical and psychological assistance, says Deputy Head of the Information and Public Relations department of the Ministry of Emergency Situations Nana Gndoyan.

According to her, the remaining people in the Upper Lars checkpoint are drivers who did not leave their vehicles to return.

Based on the Armenian Prime Ministers letter and the efforts of the Armenian Ministry of Emergency Situations, the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations carried out 6 flights and transported 289 Armenian citizens to Armenia, including 73 women and 31 children, she said.

Referring to media reports stating as if 50 more Armenian citizens are remaining in Upper Lars checkpoint, who are being mistreated by the Russian Migration service, Nana Gndoyan said : We have contacted the representative of Armenian Ministry of Emergency Situations in Russia, who informed us that these 50 persons are those who arrived after the 6th flight, they do not shelter in the camp, they just go to have information. According to the representative, they did everything in their powers for the people who are unable to stay at a hotel to use the tent camps, which were installed jointly by the Armenian and Russian ministries of emergency situations.

Asked if the Emergency Situations Ministry indeed has nothing else to do in Upper Laws, Gndoyan answered: We continue working, we cooperate with both North Ossetias Emergency Situations department, the Georgian Ministry of Interior and the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry, the tent camp is installed for the remaining drivers. We must also consider that our Ministry of Emergency Situations has no aircraft and has used the Russian ministrys plane, which has its own issues.

The Armenian Ministry of Transport and Communication said earlier that the Lars Checkpoint will be experimentally opened for light 4x4 SUVs on July 4 at 17:00.

Earlier on July 4 the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Armenia said the Georgian Emergency Situations Department reported the Upper Lars checkpoint will temporarily be closed until July 10 due to rock-fall.
YEREVAN, JULY 4, ARMENPRESS. The Central Bank of Armenia informs that on July 4 the USD exchange rate was 477.16 AMD which is an increase of 0.33 drams compared to the previous day.

Armenpress reports that the Euro increased by 1.37 drams forming 531.03 drams. British pound dropped by 0.85 drams forming 633.91 drams, Russian ruble increased by 0.03 drams reaching to 7.46 drams on July 4.

The prices for precious metals are as follows: the price for silver per gram is 295.16 AMD, gold-20,557.01 AMD, and platinum-15,939.35 AMD.
YEREVAN, JULY 4, ARMENPRESS. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia has strictly condemned the July 3 Baghdad terror attacks.

We strongly condemn the horrible Baghdad attack. We stand firmly with Iraq and its people in efforts to eliminate terrorism in all its forms, the MFA tweeted.

On July 3 a vehicle loaded with explosives blew up in the Karrada district of Baghdad, Iraq. According to latest reports, the death toll has risen to 200. The attack is the deadliest terror act in Iraq of the recent years. The Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the bombing.
YEREVAN, JULY 4, ARMENPRESS. On July 4 President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan sent a letter of condolences to Prime Minister of Iraq Haider Al-Abadi on terror attack in Karrada district of Baghdad as a result of which hundreds of innocent civilians were killed and wounded, press service of the Presidential administration informed Armenpress.

Armenia strictly condemns that terror attack which aims to incite a new wave of instability in Iraq, as well as in the region. The terrorists frightened with the victories of the Iraqi army in the battlefield spitefully target the civilians. During the holy month of Ramadan these terrible crimes against the civilians have no justification. We express our solidarity to friendly Iraq for its determined efforts to eradicate the terrorism existing in the countrys territory.

At this difficult moment of grief and loss, I express my deep condolences to You, the friendly people of Iraq, the families of the victims wishing them tenacity, and a speedy recovery to the wounded, the Presidents letter reads.
YEREVAN, JULY 4, ARMENPRESS. During the CSTO Foreign Ministers Council session the preparatory works of the Yerevan Council session to be held in October were discussed, FM Edward Nalbandian told reporters after the session.

One of the main challenges of the international community  issues related to the fight against terrorism were also on our agenda. The activation of cooperation between CSTO member states in different international formats was discussed, the regular update of instructions to diplomatic representatives of our countries in international organizations, the period of holding the 2017 political, defense and security consultations. A number of draft documents were approved during the session, Nalbandian said.

CSTO Secretary General Nikolai Bordyuzha said that the FMs council session was being held after the large scale terror attack in Baghdad, and stressed that the Ministers have expressed condolences on the large number of casualties.

We have paid serious attention to issues of defining counterterrorism measures in CSTO territory. You know this subject is primary for us. In this regard we are processing relevant programs in CSTO frameworks, which include measures of counterterrorism. And today these issues have thoroughly been discussed by the Foreign Ministers of CSTO member states, Bordyuzha said.

The CSTO Foreign Ministers Council session took place in Yerevan. Armenian FM Edward Nalbandian and CSTO Secretary General Nikolai Bordyuzha delivered an announcement after the session.
YEREVAN, JULY 4, ARMENPRESS. The Syrian army established full control over al-Mallah northern farm, part of al-Mallah southern farms, and two blocks of buildings near al-Lairamoun area in the northern countryside of Aleppo province after targeting the terrorist organizations dens and gatherings, Armenpress reports a military source told SANA on Monday.

The source confirmed that the armys operations resulted in killing a number of terrorists from the so-called Nour Eddin Ezzenki Movement and destroying their arms and equipment.

Army units confronted attacks of terrorist organizations in Aleppo and established control over al-Mahalij, Sarhil, the Police Building and a number of compounds in al-Layramon area after inflicting heavy losses on terrorists

Army units thwarted a terrorist attack launched by ISIS members on al-Mabouja village in the northeast countryside of Salamiya, killing and injuring many of them.

An army unit destroyed a vehicle and a mortar base for ISIS terrorist organization in Abu Hanaya village west of Salamiya city.

Meanwhile, an army unit, in cooperation with popular defense groups, killed a number of al-Nusra terrorists, injured many others and destroyed one of their heavy-equipped vehicles on the axis of Taldara- al-Ramlyia in the western countryside of Salamiya.
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Im off to Seattle this week for a couple performances of Resonance by the Seattle Chamber Music Society (SCMS). Resonance is scored for violin and three cellos, and Im really fortunate to have an outstanding group playing it: James Ehnes on violin and cellists Robert deMaine, Edward Arron and Jeremy Turner.

Resonance is dedicated to the memory of cellist Toby Saks.

I met Toby, the founder of Seattle Chamber Music Society (SCMS), in May of 2013, when I stayed in her home for a couple of days during part of my residency with SCMS. She took me on a hike of her beloved, adopted city that lasted several hours, and our conversation ranged over diverse topics, including music, philosophy, literature and exercise. I came away with a powerful impression of peaceful vitality. That impression was fortified on my next visit in July.

In August, the news of her death came as a tremendous shock to me. I had no idea that she had been ill, she was so generous with her time and attention. I recalled the story she told of passing to violinist James Ehnes the leadership of SCMS, an organization she had overseen in scrupulous detail for thirty years. When it came time for her to give it up, despite having invested a significant portion of her life to it, she did so without hesitation, and with no strings attached.

In the following weeks, I found myself unable to avoid trying to conjure Toby up in music. The result was Resonance, a work for three cellos and one violin. Its a canon, with the cellos leading and the violin following. The violin takes up the gestures of the cellos in a recognizable way, but with a personal stamp, much as Toby gave James a framework to take SCMS in his own direction.

Over the course of the piece, the cellos splinter off to wrap themselves around the violin line in a shadowy, warm embrace.

Performance details here.
All the latest Ashbourne news. Ashbourne is an historic market town in Derbyshire. Situated on the southern edge of the Peak District, it is known as the 'Gateway to Dovedale' and the 'Gateway to the Peak District'. Ashbourne is famous for the annual Royal Shrovetide Football Match, which has been played since at least 1667, although its origins may date back centuries earlier. Ashbourne became a Fairtrade town in March 2005. The popular Tissington Trail, which follows the route of the former Ashbourne to Buxton railway, starts on the edge of town. Keep up to date with the latest news from the town by signing up for our newsletter.
by Melani Manel Perera

The diocese of Kandy is collecting signatures to petition the government. Human rights advocates held seminars and protest marches. In 2015 the Sri Lanka Human Rights Commission received 413 complaints of police violence; so far this year, the number is 53.

Colombo (AsiaNews)  The diocese of Kandy, central Sri Lanka, has organised a petition to ask the government of President Maithripala Sirisena to stop the punitive methods used by police and guarantee justice to torture victims. Along with the Catholic Church, human rights groups held conferences, rallies and marches to remember the victims.

The dioceses Human Rights Office began collecting signatures for the petition. Torture continues to be used in a systematic manner by the police and the Attorney General does not enforce the law that punishes it, Diocesan Office director Fr Nandana Manatunga told AsiaNews. In fact, the special unit investigating such cases was dismantled under the previous regime of President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

In 1994, Sri Lanka approved the Torture Act, but police continue to use coercive methods to extract information or confessions. So far, the diocese has collected 4,846 signatures, "but the goal is to get 10,000 and involve other districts, Fr Manatunga said.

Last week two other initiatives were undertaken to draw attention to the problem of torture. The first, on 27 June, was a seminar held by an organisation called Right to Life Human Rights. Three torture victims took part in the event and told their story.

Awards were given to three human rights lawyers: Basil Fernando, a Catholic, who heads the Asian Human Rights Commission programmes; Lakshan Dias, also a Christian; and Upul Kumarapperuma, a Buddhist.

Commission executive director Brijo Francis complained that no mechanisms are in place to punish those who commit these crimes.

Professor Deepika Udugama, who heads the Sri Lanka Human Rights Commission, said that the United Nations addressed a number of recommendations to the government to "eradicate torture. Although she acknowledges that the administration faces major hurdles, work must be done by any means.

The other event was a march on 30 June that started off from the Human Rights Commission's headquarters and ended in Independence Square. In addition to the members of the Commission, President Sirisena, Sri Lankas minister of Justice, activists, students, and youth groups also took part.

Commission director Udugama said that in the last seven years the cases of torture have increased. Her Commission, she said, received 413 torture complaints against the government in 2015. This year there have been 53 complaints. Police use to torture to extract information; yet, crime is not going down.
The Chinese government already exercises widespread controls over the internet and has sought to codify that policy in law. Officials say internet restrictions, including the blocking of popular foreign sites like Google and Facebook, are needed to ensure security in the face of rising threats, such as terrorism, and stop the spread of damaging rumors.

Beijing (AsiaNews/Agencies)  As part of what the government calls a campaign against fake news and the spreading of rumors, Chinas internet regulator will launch a crackdown on the reporting of news gathered from social media.

In a statement issued late Sunday, the Cyberspace Administration of China said that online media cannot report any news taken from social media sites without approval.

It is forbidden to use hearsay to create news or use conjecture and imagination to distort the facts, it said. All levels of the cyberspace administration must earnestly fulfill their management responsibility for internet content, strengthen supervision and investigation, severely probe and handle fake and unfactual news, the regulator added.

The Chinese government already exercises widespread controls over the internet and has sought to codify that policy in law.

Officials say internet restrictions, including the blocking of popular foreign sites like Google and Facebook, are needed to ensure security in the face of rising threats, such as terrorism, and stop the spread of damaging rumors.

At the same time, to boost online control, the General Office of the Central Leading Group on Cyberspace Affairs (CLGCA) and the Communist Youth League recently announced plans to recruit nationwide 10.5 million Youth Volunteers for Internet Civilization, writes Willy Wo-Lap Lam, a major China expert.

As part of this effort, Each major university was assigned quotas of several thousand such volunteers whose job is to ensure that politically incorrect and Westernized materials are banished from the Internet and the social media.
Police arrest 15 people for producing and selling fake vaccines since 2003. Millions of doses could be involved. Minister of Health notes that phoney vaccines are not harmful; however, every child under ten should be vaccinated again. Calls for the death penalty for the culprits come from the ruling party.

Jakarta (AsiaNews/Agencies)  After weeks investigating, Indonesian police have revealed a health care racket involving Jakartas main hospitals.

The probe found that millions of doses of counterfeit vaccines have been distributed throughout the country since 2003 with the result that children have not been protected from polio or hepatitis B.

It is not yet known how far and wide the scandal goes, but in more than 10 years, doses of fake drugs could run in the millions.

To reassure the public, Health Minister Nila Farid Moeloek said that so far "no one has died. Vaccines are injected under the skin."

According to preliminary testing, the counterfeit drugs are not harmful since they are a mix of fluids and antibiotics.

The minister did however urge the public to revaccinate children under the age of 10. The procedure is free. The main danger is to see outbreaks of preventable diseases.

Police arrested 15 people in connection with the fake vaccines in four provinces in Java. Those arrested have confessed that they had operated the illegal business since 2003. The group of offenders includes a married couple in Bekasi (East Jakarta), who manufactured the vaccines out of their home.

In the capital, four major hospitals have used phoney vaccines, and many pharmacies have sold them.

The affair has sparked criticism across the country against the authorities for failing to detect the scam for more than ten years. A member of the President Joko Widodos own Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle has called on the government to show the culprits no pity.

Hospital directors, procurement officers, doctors and health care personnel who are found guilty of being involved [in the case] should be given the most severe punishment. To be sentenced to death, if necessary. So, dont hesitate. We have to act now, said Arteria Dahlan.

According to the lawmaker, distributing fake vaccines is an inhuman act. Why did they put profit before humanity? he asked.

He also warned that people might lose confidence in the government. Where was the government all these years?
Officials have named five out of seven men who carried the terroristic attack at the Holey Artisan Bakery cafe. They belong to well-to-do local families and studied in expensive private schools; the father of one is a member of the ruling party. The Islamic State claimed the assault, but Home minister refereed to local Islamic groups.

Dhaka (AsiaNews) - Bangladeshi officials have named five perpetrator terrorists who carried the attack at the Holey Artisan Bakery cafe in Dhaka and said they were known to police and belong to well-to-do local families. It emerged by the latest investigations on the last Friday massacre at the cafe very popular among foreigners in the heart of the capital. The investigations are going on and a candlelight vigil will be held today at 8 pm (local time) in remembrance of the 20 victims, most of them Italians.

The five men (seven in all, including one terrorist currently hospitalized and another one not yet identified) who assaulted the cafe shouting Allah is great in Gulshan district, in the heart of countrys capital, were identified after the Islamic State released photo of the five gunmen. They were later recognized by the SITE intelligence group (which monitors terrorist activities online).

The so-called Islamic State (IS) group said it was behind the attack but the government has denied this. Bangladesh's home minister said on Sunday that the attackers belonged to a local militant group which has been banned long since. They are members of the Jamaeytul Mujahdeen Bangladesh (JMB), Asaduzzaman Khan said. They have no connections with the Islamic State.

Investigators revealed also the name of another local Islamic group, the Ansarullah Bangla Team which is also linked to al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS).

The assailants were said to belong to well-to-do local families. They studied in private schools and universities also abroad, not in Islamic seminaries or madrassas, where many Islamist militant groups are thought to draw recruits from poor and marginalized families. The father of one is a former executive of Dhaka city unit of ruling Awami League, and he is also a deputy secretary general of Bangladesh Olympic Association.

In a state ceremony this morning, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina paid homage to the victims and placed a floral wreath at the Army Stadium in Dhaka. A candlelight vigil will be held today at 8pm. The event invited people to participate in this peace gathering towards morality, humanity and compassion for those who are not amongst us anymore.
This morning, the Chaldean Patriarch visited Baghdads Karrada district, scene of the latest Jihadi attack. So far the death toll stands at 165 with at least 225 wounded. Other sources claim more than 200 deaths. Government unity is needed to counter extremist violence. The Muslim world must realise that IS is a cancer eating away at Islam itself. Pope Francis prays for the victims and their families.

Baghdad (AsiaNews)  The Islamic State (IS) group is no longer thinking about geography", about controlling a territory, because it has "lost" militarily. Now its goal "is to hit everywhere, reaping as many victims as possible," spreading a message that "the whole world is its domain. This ideology is a real atomic bomb, said Chaldean Patriarch Mar Raphael Louis Sako speaking to AsiaNews.

This morning, the prelate visited the scene of "massacre," as the patriarch himself calls the week-ends bombing. "I saw parents look for their children in the rubble, he said. They were desperate because they could not find them. I lit a few candles, then I prayed with them, with these families, condemning this massacre against humanity, against religion . . . ".

Yesterday, Pope Francis expressed his sympathy the the victims of the twin bombing in Iraq (and the attack in Bangladesh). During the Angelus in St Peter's Square, the pontiff expressed his "closeness to the families of all the people killed and wounded in the attack that took place yesterday in Dhaka, and the one that occurred in Baghdad". Hence, Let us pray to the Lord, through the intercession of the Virgin Mary, that the Church may never lack in generous hearts, who work to bring the Heavenly Fathers love and tenderness to everyone.

Meanwhile, the Iraqi government has declared three days of national mourning following the Saturday night car bomb that killed at least 165 people and wounded 225 more. IS, which claimed responsibility, is believed to be behind the attack.

A refrigerator van packed with explosives blew up around midnight near the popular al-Hadi Centre in Baghdads Karrada district. Although it was late, the area was crowded with people shopping for eid al-fitr, which marks the end of Ramadan tomorrow.

Security sources report that whole families were killed, and that some people were even buried before their identities could be determined.

A second bomb exploded shortly afterwards in another predominantly Shia area north of the capital, killing another five people.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi visited the area on Sunday but his convoy was greeted by angry crowds.

His office announced tighter security measures, including improved vehicle inspection systems be installed at entry points into Baghdad and in other provinces.

The Chaldean patriarch told AsiaNews said that he was affected and saddened" by the attack. He understands the anger of the population against the government and the authorities."

I told the countrys leaders to put aside personal interests and boost unity and national cohesion. You need to protect the lives and property of citizens."

"I heard to the pain of the people, their disappointment. Now it's up to the government and politicians to promote reconciliation, to go beyond personal interests, and a sectarian culture of violence and revenge. The people want peace and help. "

In light of the bloodshed, the Chaldean Patriarch hopes to see Muslims come to grips with the situation. "The Muslim world must condemn this ideology, he said, and seek practical means to overcome it. Moderate teachings of Islam are needed, ones that practice tolerance and coexistence, cooperation and respect for human rights."

A change within the same Muslim religion must occur because terrorism and violence are a cancer for Islam itself."

Is propaganda claims that it is cleansing the world and that everyone is under their rule, the patriarch said. They want to provoke, cause panic, and make everyone feel insecure, everywhere.

In the coming hours, the patriarchate is expected to release a message to "our Muslim brothers for the end of Ramadan". Meanwhile, the Iraqi Church is continuing to help displaced people.

I sent US$ 50,000 to refugee families from Fallujah and Anbar Iraqi, Mgr Sako said. We have helped at least 2,000 Muslim families.

Now we are waiting for Mosul, where we must show our solidarity as well. (DS)
Two security officers were slightly injured as they tackled the man. He blew himself up in the car park of the Dr Suleiman Faqeeh hospital. It is opposite the US consulate. The US embassy in Saudi Arabia issued a warning after the attack, urging Americans to remain aware of their surroundings.

Jeddah (AsiaNews/Agencies) - A suspected suicide bomber has died after detonating a device near the US consulate in the Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah, the interior ministry says.

Two security officers were slightly injured as they tackled the man, but no one else was hurt.

The attack came in the early hours of US Independence Day and shortly before dawn prayers marking the start of the daily Ramadan fast.

There was no immediate word on who was responsible, but since late 2014 Saudi Arabian security officers and minority Shiites have been hit by deadly violence claimed by the Islamic State group. The leader of the group has reputedly called Saudi Arabia's Sunni rulers "apostate tyrants" and considers Shiites to be heretics.

Militants attacked the Jeddah consulate in 2004, leaving nine people dead.

The US State Department said it was aware of Monday's blast, adding that it "can confirm that all personnel under chief of mission authority are accounted for at this time".

Security guards became suspicious of a man in the car park of the Dr Suleiman Faqeeh hospital around 02:15 (23:15 GMT Sunday), interior ministry spokesman Maj-Gen Mansour al-Turki said in a statement.

The hospital is opposite the US consulate.

As the guards approached the man, "he blew himself up with a suicide belt inside the hospital parking," the statement said.

The US embassy in Saudi Arabia issued a warning after the attack, urging Americans to "remain aware of their surroundings, and take extra precautions when travelling throughout the country.
Catholic youth association campaigns in Arunachal Pradesh schools to raise awareness of drugs negative effects. At least one youth in ten has tried drugs. The State is a point of transit and production for drugs.

Itanagar (AsiaNews)  The Diocese of Miao, in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh, has decided to fight drug abuse among young people, a growing problem in this north-eastern corner of India.

To achieve this goal, local Church leaders have thought of getting students to speak to fellow students of the serious impact of drug use on their lives and the countrys future.

Last week the Inter-Collegiate Youth Association, a diocesan organisation, and the Women Welfare Society of Arunachal Pradesh organised a meeting at the Newman School in Neotan, a remote village in Changlang District.

The meeting is part of the drug abuse awareness campaign for school students. With this in mind, the two associations will visit every school in the state until 9 July.

One in every ten youth in Arunachal Pradesh has either tasted drugs or become its addicts, Newman School Principal Fr Felix Anthony told in Matters India.

Even though there is no official data as to the exact number of addicts, most youth here are taking drugs, not just opium but stuff like brown sugar (heroin) and so on, the priest added.

What is very alarming that even young students as young as 16 are addicted and their parents have no control over them.

Fr Anthony praised the diocese students for the meeting at his school, even though it is summer holiday.

The sharp rise in the number of drug addicts among students is very disturbing. They not only destroy themselves but their families and their society at large, the youth association president said.

When I was a student, there was no one to guide any one. You must listen to the advice of your seniors today for a better tomorrow, said Mossang, president of the Women Welfare Society of Arunachal Pradesh.

Narcotics enforcement and intelligence agencies that monitor illegal drug activities in the countrys north-eastern border areas warned in 2014 that the drug menace could threaten the very existence of the tribal population of Arunachal Pradesh.

Arunachal Pradesh has a population of 1.4 million inhabitants and borders Myanmar and China.

Its geographical location makes it a privileged point of passage for drug trafficking, but according to recent surveys, the state is increasingly becoming a producer.

The state accounted for 40 per cent of the total 2,530 acres of poppy crop destroyed across the country by the Narcotics Control Bureau in 2014-2015.
Yangon has accepted the request of the United Nations and to indicate the Islamic minority will use the formula "the Muslim community of Arakan State". The nationalists want to call them instead "Bengali" to emphasize their being illegal migrants from Bangladesh.

Yangon (AsiaNews/Agencies)  Thousands of Buddhist residents of Arakan State took to the streets on Sunday with buddhist monks to protest against the governments new term for those who self-identify as Rohingya.

The protests took place in 15 out of 17 townships of Arakan State (south-east) holding banners reading Arakan State Belongs to the Arakanese, and Bengalis must be called Bengalis.

The demonstrations were sparked by a request made by Burmas representative to the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council on June 17: that the term Muslim community in Arakan State should be used instead of the contentious terms Rohingya or Bengali. The following week, during the UNs special rapporteur on human rights in Burma visit, the Ministry of Information officially instructed state-owned publications to use the terms the Muslim Community in Arakan State.

Many Buddhist nationalists insist on calling the Rohingya Bengali, to suggest they are illegal migrants from Bangladesh, and consider the Rohingya label an illegitimate claim to belonging in Burma as a distinct ethnic group. Members of the muslim minority they are not citizens of Myanmar, and many live in isolation, locked up in refugee camps. Thousands try to escape each year to other countries of Southeast Asia.

Prior to the weekend protests, Arakanese nationalist groups from Sittwe last week sent an open letter  signed by about 500 residents and 70 Buddhist monks  to President Htin Kyaw and State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi objecting to the governments new terminology.

During a visit by US Secretary of State John Kerry on 22 May, The Lady said that the country needed enough space to deal with the Rohingya issue and cautioned against the use of emotive terms that she said were making the situation more difficult.
The Pontifical Council for Migrants and Itinerant releases a message for Sea Sunday 2016, which falls next Sunday 10 July, to "remind to all Christian communities and to each individual how important and essential are the seafarer profession and the shipping industry for our daily life.

Vatican City (AsiaNews)  The Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People issued a statement today ahead of Sea Sunday on 10 July.

In it, the Council stresses the hardships faced by those who make a living from the sea as well as the importance of the seafaring industry. It also appeals to bishops, especially those whose dioceses are on the sea, to establish and support maritime apostolates

The message notes that Almost 1.200.000 seafarers of every nationality (many of them from developing countries) on board of 50,000 merchant ships are transporting almost 90% of every kind of cargo. The unforgiving forces of the open sea and of the oceans expose ships to significant risk, and the seafarers are risking their life more than one way.

The physical life of the seafarers is at risk because aside from the hazards of the forces of the nature, piracy and armed robbery, shifting from one area to another and constantly evolving and adapting to new situations, continue to be a major threat to the security of the crew. Their psychological well-being is at risk when after having been at sea for days or weeks they are denied shore leave and prevented to leave the vessel.

The family life of the seafarers is in danger because their contracts force them to stay away from their families and loved ones for many months and often for several years on a row. Children are growing up without a fatherly figure while all the familys responsibilities are on the shoulders of the mother.

In view of this, the Pontifical Council goes on to call on Governments and competent maritime authorities to strengthening the implementation of the ILO Maritime Labor Convention (MLC) 2006, especially the Regulation 4.4 whose purpose is: To ensure that seafarers working on board a ship have access to shore-based facilities and services to secure their health and well-being.

Finally, on this occasion of the annual celebration of Sea Sunday we would like to remind to all Christian communities and to each individual how important and essential are the seafarer profession and the shipping industry for our daily life. We would like to call on the bishops, especially the ones of maritime Dioceses to establish and support the Maritime Apostolate as a visible sign of your affectionate attention to those who cannot receive ordinary pastoral care.
Man Shoots Down Trapped American Bald Eagle

Trending News: This Hero Decided To Rescue A Trapped American Bald Eagle In The Most American Way

Why Is This Important?

Because this is the most American thing to have ever happened since 1776.

Long Story Short

This true patriot decided to help out this poor American bald eagle by obliterating the branches that trapped it 75 feet up in the air.

Long Story

Veteran Jason Galvin spotted a tattered and very rare sight high up int he trees in Rush City, Minnesota. An American bald eagle trapped itself 75 feet off the ground by getting tangled in a rope and ending up hanging upside down for two, long, freedom-less days.

Luckily, Jason Galvin decided to freedom the eagle from its shackles and took out his .22 caliber rifle. In an interview with local news Kare 11, he stated: it was a good weekend for it to happen. Fourth of July, you know, thats our bird. I cant let it sit there. And he's gosh-darn right, he is. There's nothing more American than freeing an American bald eagle on this historic day. Cowboy hats off to him.

Related Reading: Trending News: Millennials Aren't As Proud To Be American

The US Army veteran had no way to access the branches so far up in the trees, so he made the most American decision since Budweiser decided to change it's name to America, and obliterated the branches with his rifle. It took reportedly over 150 shots to pulverize three branches to lodge the Eagle of Freedom free.

The patriotic act took over 90 minutes until the eagle plunged to the ground to be scooped up and delivered to the nearest rehabilitation center. Its health is still being assessed, but was reportedly already back to drinking and eating like a normal eagle would do.

Can you guess what the Galvins decided to name the rescued eagle? You guessed it: "Freedom."

Own The Conversation

Ask The Big Question

Is there a more American way to rescue a bald eagle?

Disrupt Your Feed

Who would shoot at an American bald eagle to free it? It could get hurt!

Drop This Fact

Young bald eagles take a good 4 to 5 years to develop the typical white head and tail.
Five minutes with Justine Rowe, Global Enterprise and Services GC at Telstra.



What made you decide to become a lawyer?



I have had an interest in the law since high school, completing work experience at the Central Law Courts in Perth  I might have only been doing filing and admin at the time, but I found the whole environment exciting and wanted to learn more  clearly I needed to get out more During law school I was more drawn to criminal practice but commercial is where I have landed. Engaging with people and problem solving still keeps me interested.



How long have you worked at Telstra and what brought you to this position?



After the excitement (or fizzer) of Y2K I moved from Perth to Melbourne to my first in-house position at CitiPower and Powercor Ltd. I joined Telstra in mid-2003 after being attracted to a role supporting one of Telstras largest business units  then known as Telstra Business & Government. I am still at Telstra and continue to be challenged.



Whats the strangest case youve ever worked on/been involved with?



A case relating to cork taint (although I still dont think you can beat the lure of a real cork in a bottle of wine).



If you could invite three people for dinner, dead or alive and excluding family and friends, who would they be and why?



Franka Potente to talk about Run Lola Run over and over, Aaron Paul to share the tales of the brilliant Breaking Bad series and Will Farrell to do a lip sync replay after dinner of Queen Bs Drunk in Love



Youre based in Perth  wheres the best place to go for a drink and/or dinner after work?



Perth continues to develop and surprise - our offices in Perth are on the doorstep of Northbridge and the City so we are spoiled for choice. Nothing beats the glorious coastline though and I have enjoyed the Shorehouse in Swanbourne over summer.



Whats the best piece of advice (work or personal) youve ever been given?



Ask for 100% of what you want.



Do you have any hobbies/interests outside of work?



Our 7 year old daughter and 5 year old son seem to dictate our interests of late  so Saturday morning netball and Sunday morning Auskick. The beach is our favourite in summer and the coastal walks dont go away any time of the year. Food, wine and travel are my faves though (along with dancing, but not as much these days I would like).



Complete this sentence: If I wasnt a lawyer, I would be



An actor  I have dabbled in amateur theatre and acting training, but working in-house with entertaining clients is keeping me engaged until Hollywood comes knocking.



What do you think will be single biggest issue facing the legal space in Australia in 2016?



Digital disruption.



If you had Malcom Turnbulls job for one day, what would you do?



Take a deep breath, remember why I am here and go forth being the best, authentic self I can be  what comes next is meant to be.



What do you love about your job?



Engaging my with team and stakeholders  the law is ok, but people keep me motivated.



What would you change about your job right now if you could?



Wave my magic wand and create a land where work and play are equal.


The Brexit will have to overcome an additional legal hurdle before the UK can begin leaving the European Union.



UK law firm Mishcon de Reya, acting on behalf of a group of clients, said that for legal certainty and to protect the UK Constitution and the sovereignty of Parliament, a full debate and vote in the UK Parliament needs to happen before Article 50 is invoked.



The result of the Referendum is not in doubt, but we need a process that follows UK law to enact it, said partner Kasra Nouroozi.



The outcome of the Referendum itself is not legally binding and for the current or future Prime Minister to invoke Article 50 without the approval of Parliament is unlawful.



Mishcon de Reya has been in contact with government lawyers since June 27, it said, just four days after the UK Referendum resulted in a vote to leave.



It has been urging the government to ensure the correct constitutional process is undertaken, it added, because not doing so will make the UKs withdrawal from the European Union unlawful.



Hanging in the balance is the political and economic relationship the UK will be forging with the EU and its 27 member-states, the firm noted, as well as whether or not legal challenges can be brought against the exit.



The law firm said Baron David Pannick QC and Tom Hickman will act as lead counsel in the action, along with Rhodri Thompson QC and Anneli Howard.
Dear forum members,



I am planning to apply for skilled employment assessment. I have a Bachelor's degree with majors in Applied Accounting. (Attained in March-2013) .



I am working as a Senior Accountant since September 2013 .



My query is: Will the assessment authorities deduct 2 years in my assessment? I have been reading many members from Engineering occupations stating that their assessments had deducted 2 years from their total experience.



Will this apply to me as-well? I am confused.



Please do let me know.
While carmakers re-examine petrol engines amid the diesel ban, many are turning towards hybrids to cater to the improving demand for such vehicles.

The uncertainty surrounding the acceptance of diesel in India has seen buyer interest sharpening around other forms of propulsion such as CNG, electric and even hybrid cars. The Toyota Camry Hybrid, for instance, which was first launched in 2013 and re-launched with a facelift in May last year, accounted for over 90 percent of total Camry sales (1,110 units) in April-March 2015-16.

With the increase in acceptability among Indians for hybrid cars, the Indian automotive segment is expected to see an increase in the launch of hybrids this year with the first one being the much-anticipated Volvo XC90 T8 Twin Engine Plug-in Hybrid carrying a price-tag of approximately Rs 1.05 crore (ex, showroom). Subsequently, Toyota is set to introduce the new edition of the Prius. Both the cars are expected to be launched around the festive season of Diwali later this year.

The XC90 comes with a 2.0-litre, turbocharged and supercharged four-cylinder petrol engine under the hood making 320hp. The motor combines with an 87hp electric motor driving the rear wheels only bringing the power up to 407hp. Talking about all-electric capabilities, the XC90 boasts of an over-40 km range, thanks to a 9.2kWh battery pack tucked into the SUVs central tunnel.

The Prius, on the other hand is the first model to be developed on the Toyota New Global Architecture (TNGA) platform  a modular set of components designed to offer quicker, cost-efficient development of new front and rear-wheel-drive models. The Japanese carmaker claims improved handling characteristics for models to be built on this platform, thanks to a lower-mounted powertrain, resulting in a lower centre of gravity. An updated version of the current 1.8-litre four-cylinder petrol engine powers the new Prius, in combination with a more compact nickel-metal battery-powered electric motor. It comes with three driving modes; Eco, Power, Normal, regenerative braking system, ABS, EBD and brake assist, front power seats and LED headlamps with DRLs.

But thats not all; Porsche is also mulling the introduction of the Cayenne S E-Hybrid with a launch likely scheduled for this year-end. The Cayenne comes powered by a 333hp petrol motor, combined with the 95hp electric motor and 10.8kWh lithium-ion battery pack. A total power rating of 416hp and a combined system torque of 590Nm enables the sprint to 100kph from standstill in 5.9 seconds. An electric range of between 18km and 36km can now be achieved, depending on driving style, the carmaker claims.

Volkswagen, too, is working towards introducing the Passat GTE in India. However, instead of doing a conventional launch, the company is planning to initially bring in just around 10 or 15 cars to establish how feasible it will be for our infrastructure  both the roads and the electric power grid. The carmaker is unlikely to assemble the GTE in India, hence high import costs are expected to drive up the price to around Rs 40 lakh. The regular diesel variant would bear an asking price of Rs 30 lakh (ex-showroom).

The Passat GTE is a plug-in hybrid, and can be charged from a power socket apart from being able to charge itself as it drives. The company claims fuel efficiency of 62.5kpl, and a driving range of 1,100km with an only electric range of 50km. A four-cylinder, 1,390cc petrol unit making 156hp combines with an electric motor to produce 218hp and 400Nm of torque.

The government has raised its focus on promoting hybrid and electric vehicles in a bid to lend a boost to the nascent hybrid and electric vehicle industry, which is likely to encourage more carmakers to introduce more such vehicles in the market. While it has rolled out benefits such as the FAME (Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric vehicles) scheme across the country last year, more recently, it reduced the excise duty on locally manufactured hybrid cars in Delhi. The latter resulted in prices of the Ertiga and Ciaz  equipped with the mild-hybrid systems  being reduced by Rs 55,000 to Rs 69,000 while the Toyota Camry Hybrid saw a significant price cut of Rs 2.30 lakh.
The lifting of the ban in Delhi-NCR could see the levy of a one-time green cess; Central government outlines scrappage policy, argues against cess.

The Supreme Court (SC) today reserved its order over a plea seeking to lift the ban on registration of diesel-engined passenger cars and SUVs over 2,000cc in Delhi-NCR. Automakers such as Mercedes-Benz India and Toyota Kirloskar Motor, whose sales have been adversely impacted by the ban, had filed an application in the SC against the ban.



The government told the SC that a new policy to combat pollution including scrapping of old diesel vehicles and a scheme to replace about 28 million automobiles registered before March 31, 2005, by BS IV-compliant ones by April 2017, is on the anvil, as per a PTI report.



Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi told a bench comprising Chief Justice TS Thakur and Justices AK Sikri and R Banumathi that the government is mulling providing monetary incentives to old vehicle owners for replacing them with BS-IV standard, and by 2020, there will be vehicles complying with BS-VI standards.



"Government will shell out Rs 50,000 to Rs 1,00,000 (to each old vehicle owner)," the Attorney General said. He made these submissions while placing before the bench the affidavit filed by the Ministry of Heavy Industry and Public Enterprise in which, it also opposed the suggestion that apex court will determine the amount of an environment tax likely to be imposed on owners of large diesel-engined vehicles at the time of registration.



"The likely imposition of green cess for diesel cars of more than 2,000cc will not be in consonance with the constitutional scheme of things as in terms of Article 265 of the Constitution, no tax can be levied without authority of law and such cess must be imposed through legislation by authority of Parliament, he said.



The PTI report quoted Rohatgi as saying, "The presumption that bigger diesel engines create more pollution is not correct as bigger diesel cars have better emission norms Banning the registration will show the inconsistencies in our norms and regulations. Huge FDIs are involved. Lakhs of jobs are there."



The SC had earlier said that it was willing to consider lifting the ban, subject to the levy of a one-time environment compensation cess. However, the central government, which has strongly come out against the ban, opposed the imposition of any environment cess and sought a time of six weeks to conduct a study on impact of diesel vehicles on the environment, according to reports.



In a bid to tackle the rising levels of pollution in Delhi-NCR, the SC had imposed a ban on the sale of diesel cars and SUVs with engine capacities over 2,000cc in the region, starting mid-December until its expiry on March 31, 2016. However, the apex court extended this ban on diesel passenger vehicles until the next hearing, which took place on April 30, 2016. It then extended the restriction for a second time until its next hearing on May 9, 2016.



The indefinite ban on sale of large cars has put many automakers in a state of disarray with the automotive body Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) saying the move points towards an erratic policy regime and has discouraged carmakers from investing in the country.
Based on the original groundbreaking Madass 50, only 150% madder, the 125cc version is like no other motorcycle.

Designed and manufactured by Sachs of Germany, who celebrate their 120th anniversary this year, the Madass 125 shares the minimalist philosophy of its smaller sibling.
The current model is a bit of a coproduction between the Stuttgart brand and the one from Wolfsburg. The two industry giants developed their vans (the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter and the Volkswagen Crafter) together, building them at the same plants and kitting them with a lot of similar parts. In fact, apart from the brand-specific exterior design, the areas where they varied most were the interior and the inside of the engine bay.With the new model, this cooperation seems to have come to an end with the two partners splitting ways and building their models independently. We don't know why that happened, but if this will free Mercedes-Benz to produce a more attractive van, then it's all good news. And even though it's still very early in the vehicle's development phase, it sure looks like the new Sprinter will borrow some design cues from the more stylish V-Class.The testing mule our collaborators managed to snap features the same set-up we've seen before with the new heavily camouflaged front end mounted on the current model's body. Whether there's also a new chassis underneath is anyone's guess, but judging by the way the bodywork fits, it's probably still the old one.Not the same can be said of the dashboard. Even though there's no clear picture from up-close, we can see there are plenty of changes, most easily recognizable one being the rounded air vents (which suggests the V-Class similarities could extend to the interior as well). The Sprinter has always been the Mercedes-Benz of the vans (with everything that comes with this title) so a certain level of luxury is to be expected. But it always needs to be dialed down to the commercial vehicle segment.All this attention towards design shouldn't harm the van's practicality in any way, which means the Sprinter will continue to offer everything the owner of such a vehicle could expect from it: large cargo space, wide openings, efficient diesel engines and, most of all, reliability. What the Mercedes-Benz van brings new to the table are the extended driver aid systems which should make operating the new Sprinter a breeze.With its launch estimated for 2018, the new van is still in its early stages of testing, so we'll get to see more of it soon. Meanwhile, the new Crafter appears to be ready for an unveil later this year , which might explain the split between the two manufacturers.
The choice of putting hybrid technology in a vehicle that does not have doors or even a windshield is peculiar, to say the least, but it comes from its engine supplier, Honda.While making the Lotus 2 Eleven look overweight, the Ariel Atom will eventually receive a version with hybrid technology.Fortunately, Atom fans who want to experience the car in its current form will get to do this for the next few years, as the Japanese automaker that supplies its engines to Ariel will not make the move too soon.Instead, Honda will begin trickling technology from the 2017 NSX to hot hatches, and only then will it be sent off to the United Kingdom to fit the Ariel Atom.In an interview with the Brits at Autocar , Ariel Motors boss explained that ongoing hybrid powertrain options from the Japanese company had been examined, but a more powerful setup is being expected.As Simon Saunders, Ariel Motors  boss, stated, the employment of hybrid technologies in an Atom will only bring more performance, so purists need not worry about the future of the lightweight model.Naturally, fuel economy will be improved with the new hybrid system, as will be emissions. The Ariel Atom will also move to Euro 6, and the company will still focus on attaining maximum performance from the powertrain.When asked about the potential of building an all-electric Ariel Atom, Mr. Saunders explained that it would make sense. However, do not start saving for an electric Ariel Atom just yet, as the company will move with the times, meaning that Ariel will probably wait for electric vehicle technology to advance and become financially feasible for a low-volume automaker. Even with a robust supplier like Honda, Ariel would still have to devise a business plan for the future electric Atoms, which will not be easy.
The house of Munich also reports that the price in Germany was set at 13,000 (19% German VAT included) making the Scrambler the most affordable boxer motorcycle BMW retails.No mentions were made as to when the BMW R nineT Scrambler will be available across the pond in the U.S. and Canada, but we guess it can't be too long until North American riders will be able to enjoy it. Also, BMW has not mentioned any prices for the US market, or any other market, for that matter.Speaking of prices, the bike with the highest price tag under the BMW R nineT Scrambler is the F800GS Adventure, a machine that is marginally cheaper at 12,300. Quite able when leaving the asphalt behind, the F800GSA is, however, an entirely different breed of machine. Follow the link to find out the new things about the BMW parallel twin machines The Scrambler is the first model in the all-new "Heritage world" BMW introduced last autumn at EICMA in Milan, as it looks like this is only the beginning. We talked to one of BMW Motorrad lead designers and he indicated that the Heritage world will soon be populated by more models.If BMW's Heritage World will be anything like Yamaha 's amazing Faster Sons and Yard Built programs we can expect more neo-retro machines to be unveiled this fall, both at the Intermot in Cologne and at EICMA.Recent rumors indicate that the Scrambler's family will be complemented by no less than three new R nineT models , but we estimate that more info about these will emerge as the fall bike shows are drawing nearer.Also, when it comes to the Heritage World, we cannot help remembering the BMW R 5 Hommage concept unveiled in May at the Concorso dEleganza Villa dEste 2016. Are we in for more BMW neo-retro goodies? We certainly hope so, so stay tuned!
While shortly missing its Q2 target for deliveries, the automaker explained that the difference appeared after 5,150 vehicles were still in transit at the end of the quarter.The amount of cars that were in transit at the end of the second quarter of 2016 was higher than expected, and almost double of what they had in the first three months of the year.Furthermore, Tesla Motors had so many cars in transit at the end of the quarter that just ended, that they accounted for a third of the number of cars that completed delivery in the period.The company went to explain that the situation was caused because of a steep production increase, which led to manufacturing almost half of the quarters total output in the final four weeks of the second quarter of 2016.At the moment, Tesla Motors is manufacturing approximately 2,000 vehicles each week, consisting of Model S and Model X cars.The American automaker will improve productivity to reach nearly 2,200 vehicles manufactured each week in the third quarter of 2016. Meanwhile, the fourth and final quarter of this year will have Teslas facility making 2,400 cars each week. Teslas expectation estimate that production at the mentioned levels will be fully supported by current order rates and backlog.Tesla is expected to deliver almost 80,000 vehicles this year, slightly below its published expectations. The automaker has significant plans for increasing production in the coming years, as it plans to make as much as 500,000 vehicles a year by 2018. To achieve the objective described above, Tesla would have to complete its battery factory in Reno, Nevada, as well as ramping up production in its Fremont facility, located in California.The massive increase in output planned by the end of 2018 is expected to happen thanks to the Model 3 , a car which is supposed to begin deliveries in late 2017. Tesla has received numerous orders for its most affordable product, but nobody knows if all of those who paid a refundable deposit will go through with their orders.
Either the little old lady has shrunk or that Rolls is bloody massive pic.twitter.com/PUa9Dmdh4O  Jeremy Clarkson (@JeremyClarkson) July 3, 2016

It's going to be a brutal day on the Grand Tour. I'm driving an Aston Martin DB11 across Tuscany.  Jeremy Clarkson (@JeremyClarkson) July 3, 2016





Pretty weird trio, isnt it? Two weeks before the thee amigos take to Johannesburg for the first studio recording of The Grand Tour, Jeremy Clarkson and his partners in automotive mayhem traveled to Tuscany. There, the boys drove around and about Tuscany, including in Siena, which is one of the most beautiful places on this big blue planet we call Earth.Jeremy Clarkson chose the Aston Martin DB11, James May went for the Rolls-Royce Dawn , and the secret American thats living in Richard Hammonds mind settled for the Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat . In terms of total output, the featured pic racks up 1,870 horsepower (1,895 PS) and 1,741 lb-ft (2,361 Nm) of torque.JC puts it best in his Facebook post: Let the weirdest comparison test of them all. Whereas the Aston Martin DB11 is the archetypal grand tourer, the Rolls-Royce Dawn is the most opulent four-seater convertible in its segment and the Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat is the most powerful muscle car the world has ever seen. This picture, then, can be summed up as an awe-inspiring clash of car cultures. Exciting stuff, alright.These said, we still have a lot of waiting to do until The Grand Tour starts airing on Amazon Prime. Officially, the car show is expected to premiere this autumn. In one of his Facebook Q&A sessions, James May teases us with an Octoberish, which is three months away from now.Other cars that are very likely to be featured in the first season of The Grand Tour include the Alfa Romeo 4C, Aston Martin Vulcan, Ford Mustang, Ford Focus RS, and a three-way showdown of the Ferrari LaFerrari, McLaren P1, and Porsche 918 Spyder.

UPDATE: The three amigos made a pit stop in Florence.




4 July 2016 12:47 (UTC+04:00)

By Gunay Camal

While life is quite dark for ordinary people in Armenia uploaded with thoughts how to earn money for tomorrow, it is quite smooth for state and government officials living without any disturbing burden.

The government of Armenia has recently announced a policy of saving to somehow cut the budget expenses and slowdown the economic crisis reigning in the country.

But as the Armenian media reports, the more the government urges to save the more cases of undue wastage revealed.

In May, Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamyan said the government will shift to a more saving regime, though the budget had been approved already. "We should curb that expenses where possible, for instance, transport costs of official trips, expenses on representation, spending on the service of official cars, etc.," Abrahamyan said, urging to shift to economy class services.

"The government has enough political will to implement all the necessary measures," the Prime Minister stressed, but not all ministers seem to hear the news.

Only a month after instructions of the Prime Minister on June 14, the Defense Ministry booked for Minister Seyran Ohanyan first class ticket cost 965,000 drams (over $2,000) for his two-day visit to Moscow.

And now, no matter what the arguments and justifications the Defense Ministry voices, the result remains the same: Seyran Ohanyan put himself above all and is not going to obey the rules, because already accustomed to comfortable conditions.

Almost the same situation is observed in other ministries. The government has recently announced a cut of 800 official cars, which was expected to be a serious signal for the official. However, it turns out that the minister for territorial administration and development minister, David Lokyan, cannot use an ordinary vehicle. The minister was in an urgent need of something expensive and high quality.

In late May, David Lokyan announced that no reduction will be in the staff of his ministry, but instead the number of employees will be increased.

He stated that to optimize the fleet of the ministrys motor vehicles four cars were reduced. But it turns out that the "economical Armenia" is generous enough to provide Lokyan with car LEXUS GX 4.6 GAS worth 16 million drams ($33,550).

Minister-Chief of Government Staff David Harutyunyan explained the purchase of the luxury car with the need to visit remote areas, while in social media Armenians thanked the minister for not buying helicopter and saving money.

As for saving regime, ordinary Armenians suggest to rename it into the regime of appropriateness and apply it for preferred and ordinary people seperately.

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Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
File photo of South China Sea. [Photo/Xinhua]

An unnamed official with the Ministry of National Defense told China Daily that the military's upcoming exercise in the South China Sea is "a regular one conducted by the Chinese navy in accordance with its annual plan".

The official was responding to reports that the People's Liberation Army will start military exercises in a designated area in the South China Sea from Tuesday to July 11.

According to a navigation alert issued by the Hainan Maritime Safety Administration on Sunday, the entry of ships will be prohibited, and the alert stated coordinates of the designated area for the exercises.

The exercise is ahead of a planned ruling by an arbitral tribunal in the Hague on July 12. The Associated Press observed that the exercise area covers China's Xisha Islands.

The Philippines sought unilateral arbitral proceedings under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea in 2013.

Despite Beijing's unchanged objection to the arbitration, the tribunal was established and registered at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague. The PCA announced last month that the tribunal will issue its finding on July 12.
4 July 2016 10:36 (UTC+04:00)

The situation on the line of contact between Azerbaijan and Armenia has remained tense as the Armenian Armed Forces shattered ceasefire a total of 9 times throughout the day, Azerbaijan`s Defense Ministry reported on July 4.

The ceasefire was violated in Gaymagli village in Gazakh region, Chilaburt village in Tartar region, Kuropatkino village in Khojavand region, as well as, nameless hills in Fuzuli region.

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.

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Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
4 July 2016 15:12 (UTC+04:00)

The EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus and the crisis in Georgia, Herbert Salber, has told Trend that he will visit Azerbaijan in July.

The exact date of visit was not announced. Last time, the EU special representative visited Azerbaijan on April 15.

Salber will hold a number of high-level meetings in Baku and discuss the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

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.

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Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
4 July 2016 15:26 (UTC+04:00)

Russia is making great efforts to resolve the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Mariya Zakharova, spokesperson for Russias Foreign Ministry, told reporters in Yerevan on July 4, Aysor.am reported.

To that end, she said, Russias Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is holding bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the meeting of Collective Security Treaty Organizations Council of Foreign Ministers.

We are making great efforts so that the settlement [of the conflict] would bring success, said Zakharova.

The meeting of the Collective Security Treaty Organizations Council of Foreign Ministers is underway in Yerevan.

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.

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4 July 2016 13:30 (UTC+04:00)

By Jakaya Kikwete

A week, it is said, is a long time in politics. That was certainly the case at the end of last month, when, in a single day, the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union, its prime minister, David Cameron, announced his resignation, and Britain and Europe, not to mention global markets, were thrown into turmoil.

When it comes to education, by contrast, a week can be the blink of an eye. Change happens over years, if not decades  and perhaps not even then. But, if successful, the establishment of a well-functioning education system can change a countrys face  and redefine its fate.

That is what happened in my country, Tanzania. From 2000 to 2009, primary-school enrollment rates in Tanzania more than doubled, from just over four million pupils to 8.5 million, or 96% of all primary-school-age children. In other words, at the primary level, Tanzania now boasts near-full enrollment.

Similar progress can be seen at the secondary level. Indeed, over the same nine-year period, the number of secondary schools in Tanzania more than quadrupled, from 927 to 4,102, and enrollment surged, from just over 250,000 students to nearly 1.5 million.

What changed? In short, Tanzanias leaders, including me, recognized the vital importance of a strong education system  and we committed ourselves to building one.

Of course, few would argue that education is not important. But, when governments are working to provide more tangible basic necessities  say, ensuring that citizens have reliable access to clean drinking water or road links to markets and hospitals  educational reform can often fall by the wayside. Given educations unmatched potential to enhance a countrys prospects, this is a mistake.

It is this understanding that impelled me, as President of Tanzania, to make education my number one priority. It was not an easy decision. I knew that some people would disagree with this approach, preferring to allocate more of Tanzanias limited public budget to building wider highways or taller government buildings, or to expanding the military.

But I also knew that investing in education meant investing in my countrys future, so I decided that, rather than sinking a great deal of money, sometimes unproductively, into these other areas, we would commit 20% of the annual budget to education. Those funds were applied not just to building more schools, but also to building better schools, through investment in teachers, books, and technology. After all, simply enrolling more kids would mean little if they were not given all the tools they needed to succeed.

Tanzania can serve as a useful model for other countries seeking to upgrade their education systems. But, although we achieved success on a limited budget, the challenge that fiscal constraints can pose should not be underestimated  especially for the low- and middle-income countries, often in Africa, that face the biggest educational challenges today.

As a member of the International Commission on Financing Global Education Opportunity, I have seen firsthand how often governments desire to move education up their list of priorities is thwarted by fear of budgetary shortfalls and domestic pressure. As a result, promises to achieve universal primary education are consistently deferred.

When a government commits to improving education, it is betting that equipping its citizens for an unknowable future will yield broad-based, society-wide progress. This is good not only for the country itself, but also for its neighbors, for which a more stable and prosperous neighborhood can only be beneficial. In fact, given the interconnectedness of todays global economy, better education in one country can bring benefits far beyond regional borders.

Clearly, the international community has an interest in supporting any government that makes the ostensibly obvious, yet practically difficult decision to place education at the forefront of its agenda. And, thanks to the visionary leadership of Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg, this imperative is receiving the attention it deserves. Indeed, it will be a central theme at this weeks financing commission summit in Oslo.

Tanzanias experience proves that transforming a countrys education system is possible, even if that country faces severe fiscal constraints. It is not quick or easy, and it often requires difficult trade-offs. But with a strong and sustained commitment to fulfill the promise of universal primary and secondary education  and a little international support  governments can ensure happier, more prosperous lives for their countries young people. One hopes that Tanzania is the first in a wave of countries putting education first.

Copyright: Project Syndicate: How to Transform an Education System

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4 July 2016 10:13 (UTC+04:00)

By Gunay Camal

The April escalation in Nagorno-Karabakh showed both the international community and OSCE Minsk Group mediators that in the twinkling of an eye an unresolved conflict can turn into a hot point.

In fact, the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh has never been a frozen conflict  not least when it comes to the human suffering. Each single exchange of fire, each damage and each human life claimed by the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict has been proving how costly and dangerous the conflict is.

Novruz Mammadov, deputy head of Azerbaijani presidential administration, chief of the administration's foreign relations department, believes that the whole world saw that the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is not frozen, pointing to it as one of the reasons to resume peace talks.

There are several reasons for revival in the process of settlement of the conflict, he said. Many people want to create a view that the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is frozen. However, as a result of recent Armenian provocations, the whole world saw that the conflict is not frozen."

Armenian militaries have once again showed their unwillingness to peace with renewing escalation in the Nagorno-Karabakh area. Dozens of Azerbaijani civilians living along the frontline suffered from the enemys aggressive activities that flared up on April 2.

The Azerbaijani side responded with a counter-attack, which led to liberation of several strategic heights and settlements. Military operations were stopped on the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian armies on April 5 with mediation of Russia.

Mammadov went on to say that the policy pursued by the Azerbaijani president in relations with different countries - the EU, US, Russia, Turkey, Iran, visits made to these countries, the results achieved during the negotiations have led to a common position - it's time to resolve the conflict, which has continued for almost 25 years.

"Therefore, today great attention is paid to the resolution of the conflict. After the April events, by the initiative of the U.S., a meeting was held in Vienna, while Russia and France at various meetings stressed the importance of launching negotiations on the settlement of the conflict and the entry into a new phase. Now, considering the positions of the OSCE Minsk group member states, and the co-chairs themselves, you can see that there is an intention to move forward," Novruz Mammadov said.

President Ilham Aliyev has met Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan twice in the past month and half first in Vienna in May, and the second time in St. Petersburg in June along with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Officials and observers have positively assessed the intensification of talks, along with the signs of more constructive spirit of the talks.

Mammadov further highlighted that currently, Germany is trying to take a step on this issue.

Given the possibilities of Germany as the OSCE chairing country, Berlin is interested in resolving the conflict and wants to help solve the problem, according to Mammadov.

"Recently, during the Azerbaijani president's visit to Germany, this question was widely discussed at the meeting with the German Chancellor and the delegations. The president expressed his position, explained and justified a fair solution to the conflict. I think that the result of this was the German foreign minister's visit to the region," Mammadov said.

The German chairmanship earlier asserted that Germany favors the intensification of the negotiations under the auspices of the OSCE Minsk Group on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

While the OSCE Minsk Group acted as the only mediator in resolution of the conflict, it failed to make any move to achieve a breakthrough in the peace process.

Azerbaijan and Armenia fought a lengthy war that ended with the signing of a fragile ceasefire agreement in 1994. Since the war, Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and over 1 million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities.
4 July 2016 12:09 (UTC+04:00)

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has sent a congratulatory letter to his American counterpart Barack Obama over the Independence Day  July 4.

The letter reads:

On behalf of the people of Azerbaijan and on my own behalf, I extend my heartfelt congratulations to you and through you the people of your country on the occasion of the national holiday of the United States of America  Independence Day.

Today, the relations between Azerbaijan and the United States are developing in all areas. Close and mutually beneficial cooperation in a variety of fields between the two countries has raised our bilateral ties to the level of strategic partnership.

Close cooperation and mutual support in ensuring energy security of Europe, in the fight against terrorism and in NATO-led peacekeeping mission in Afghanistan are the peculiarities of our partnership.

We also have great hopes, Mr. President, that the efforts of the United States, as a co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, and your personal efforts towards solving the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict caused by Armenia's territorial claims against Azerbaijan, liberating Azerbaijan`s occupied lands and ensuring the return of over a million Azerbaijani refugees and IDPs to their homelands will soon yield results.

On this joyful day, I wish you robust health, success in your activities, and the friendly people of the United States lasting peace and prosperity.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
4 July 2016 15:25 (UTC+04:00)

The Chamber of Deputies of the Argentine National Congress has adopted a resolution on the establishment of the inter-parliamentary friendship group with Azerbaijan, the Azerbaijani Embassy in Argentina reported.

Patricia Gimenez, second Vice President of the Chamber of Deputies will chair the group. Five out of seven MPs of the group are members of "Let's change" influential political bloc which is currently in power in Argentina.

Members of the group will closely cooperate with Azerbaijan and jointly work with the International Relations Committee of the Chamber of Deputies and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Worship in this regard, the resolution says.

The two countries cooperate successfully in the fields of ICT and agriculture. Argentina's high-technologies company INVAP, engaged in the construction and delivery of complex equipment, does business with Azerbaijans space industry.

The sides are also interested in the joint development of agriculture in both countries. Argentina has recently achieved positive results in agriculture with the aid of modern technologies and intends to share this experience with Azerbaijan.

---

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4 July 2016 16:00 (UTC+04:00)

By Amina Nazarli

Azerbaijan International Defense Exhibition, ADEX, was displayed at one of the world's largest international land and airland defense and security exhibitions -- Eurosatory.



Held in the French capital Paris from June 13 to 17, the exhibition brought together 1,572 exhibitors from 56 countries.

Caspian Event Organizers (CEO), the organizer of the ADEX exhibition, was the first company from Azerbaijan to participate in Eurosatory in its long history.

The Manager of the ADEX exhibition, Ulker Gasimova, noted that the debut participation of ADEX at the Eurosatory exhibition was a huge success.



Our team was very happy to see the Azerbaijani flag flown among those of the other participating countries. The visitors to the exhibition showed great interest in Azerbaijan and in the ADEX exhibition. There were a lot of useful meetings and negotiations about the participation in ADEX in Azerbaijan. Some 15 to 20 meetings were held daily, and the exhibition brochure was in great demand. We were also able to meet with exhibitors from ADEX 2014 and with this year's exhibitors who are already actively preparing for their arrival in Baku. Now, we will take the Eurosatory stand on the ADEX 2016 exhibition at the Baku Expo Center to be held on September 27-30, she said.

Since 2009, the Defense Industry Ministry has demonstrated its products at international exhibitions and now the ministry is preparing for the second Azerbaijan International Defense Exhibition "ADEX-2016" to be held in Baku. More than 100 international companies have passed registration to participate at the exhibition.

The Azerbaijani Army is one of the strongest, most highly-disciplined armies in the world and the leading in the region. It is equipped with new high-quality weapons made by domestic and foreign military-industrial systems.

Azerbaijans expanded military budget has lifted it to the top among its neighbors in the South Caucasus.

The country manufactures the Istiglal sniper rifle, Mubariz rifle, Orbiter-2M unmanned intelligence drones, Gurza armored patrol car, "Matador" and "Marauder" armored vehicles, anti-tank mines, etc.

Last year, the Defense Industry Ministry accomplished work over the creation of night vision devices, prismatic binoculars with a compass, mine fuses of different types and organized their production.

Azerbaijan, which is in war with neighboring Armenia over the latter's territorial claims during more than 20 years, keeps in focus the armament, working closely with leading companies and firms in various fields of military industry.

Azerbaijans military budget for 2016 is about $1.466 billion. The country's military budget exceeds the overall state budget of occupant Armenia by more than $1 billion.





Azerbaijan, leaves behind many CIS and regional countries to take its place among the first 70 strongest militaries of the world, according to the US-based Global Firepower survey center.

--

Amina Nazarli is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli



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4 July 2016 14:47 (UTC+04:00)

By Nigar Abbasova

Liquid funds of Azerbaijan's banks exceeded the normative requirements by 4 times, Rufat Aslanli, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Financial Market Supervisory Body told ANS TV channel.

Excess liquidity is currently observed in the banking sector of the country. Liquid funds in the banks correspondent accounts and cash offices exceed set standards fourfold. If banks do not issue loans they do not get income. No business voluntarily refuses income. The problem is that the projects that apply for a credit should be profitable and stable. Banks issue credits should they are sure of the projects success

He also mentioned that as much as 73 percent of bank credits were presented to business. Certain part of the credits was issued within the framework of the projects implemented in Azerbaijan by foreign investors.

Commenting on the issue of bad loans in the countrys banking sector Aslanli said that certain actions should be taken to solve the problem.

Softened credit conditions may extend opportunities of borrowers for the credit payments. Of course, banks face with the decrease of income nevertheless they are secured against losses. Losses which were triggered by the changes in the economic situation are divided between borrowers and banks. Majority of banks have already implemented the process of credit restructuring. Currently we monitor the process of credits payment, he said.

Insurance market

Commenting on the issue of stability enhancement in the country's insurance sector he said that the Supervisory Body is planning to take measures in this direction starting from the second half of 2016. He mentioned that the authority has already made an assessment of the sector and took a decision on creating competitive environment in the reinsurance market.

Insurance business stands for the transfer of financial risks. Risks are being submitted to the insurance companies which in their turn present one part of risks to the reinsurance companies. By submitting risks abroad we present a considerable part of proceeds for financing of foreign economy. Funds of the reinsurance companies partially return to the country only in the case of insurable events. Therefore we are interested in capitalized and stable reinsurance companies which may operate in competitive environment.

Funds collection in reinsurance sector amounted to 1.32 billion manats ($0.85 billion) in 2015. As much as 56 percent of the total volume of collections fell to a share of foreign companies while 44 percent accounted for local companies. Reinsurance payments totaled 23 billion manats ($14.9 billion), while 25 percent of the sum fell to a share of foreign companies.

Currently, 25 insurance and one re-insurance company operate in Azerbaijan.

The volume of insurance payments carried out via 25 insurance companies in the country amounted to 76.3 million manats ($49.8 million) in January 2016, according to Azerbaijan Insurers Association. The volume is 21.3 percent higher than the rate shown in the same period of 2015.

The amount of payments carried out by insurance companies were at the level of approximately 13.4 million manats ($8.7 million), which is 29.4 percent higher as compared to the rates of January 2015.

As many as 164 foreign reinsurance companies as well as 8 foreign brokers are registered in Azerbaijan. Unprofitability rate on reinsurance operations currently amounts to 8 percent for foreign companies while the rate for local companies is 28 percent. The figures are considered to be the signs of favorable conditions for foreign companies.

Banking sector

The chairman also said that the authority has developed an individual program on strengthening financial stability for every bank of the country.

We observed no serious problems in the banking sector as a result of thorough investigation in the sphere. However, we have developed a special program for each bank of the country taking into account processes that occur in the global and the countrys economy.

Touching upon the issue of share of the banking sector in the countrys GDP Aslanli said that the assets of the banks amount to 67 percent of the GDP, as much as 80 percent were formed as a result of devaluation as main part of the assets is kept in the foreign currency. However, Aslanli mentioned that most real ratio is 34 percent of the countrys GDP.

CBA switched to a floating rate of manat, the national currency of Azerbaijan on December 21, 2015 following intensifying external economic shocks. The exchange rate between the manat and US dollar changed from 1.0499 to 1.5500 after the shift.

Official exchange rate of the US dollar and euro to Azerbaijani manat was set at 1.5425 manats and 1.7176 manats, respectively, on July 4.

--

Nigar Abbasova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @nigyar_abbasova

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4 July 2016 11:54 (UTC+04:00)

The Central Bank of Azerbaijan (CBA) will attract funds from other banks of the country placed in form of deposits at an auction for the second time on July 4, the Bank reported.

Thus, Azerbaijani banks will be able to augment their funds with the help of the CBA at the auction which will take place on the Bloomberg trading platform.

The amount of the funds the CBA is willing to accept from the country's banks is 50 million manats.

The interest of the deposits other banks will place in the CBA for one months period will vary between 4.01 percent and 6.99 percent.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
4 July 2016 17:33 (UTC+04:00)

By Laman Ismayilova

Egyptian charter airline Air Cairo has suspended flights on the route Baku-Sharm El-Sheikh, the company's representation in Baku told Trend.

The company explained its decision with the low demand in this flight. The company noted that the flights will be resumed on August 1.

The tickets for the four-hour flight cost approximately $350. The company operated flights once a week.

Before, Airfare for the Baku-Sharm el-Sheikh flight on the Airbus A320 aircraft on both sides was $300.

The main reason for low demand for the flights in that direction is believed to be the unstable political situation in Egypt. However, the last devaluation of Azerbaijani national currency manat can also be another reason for low demand.

Previously, Azerbaijans State Civil Aviation Administration reported that opening of regular flights to Egypt would be possible if all necessary security regulations are taken.

Currently the number of Azerbaijani tourists travelling to Egypt is not high. However, it is estimated that the number of tourists from Azerbaijan will increase since Sharm el Sheikh is one of the most popular destinations for tourists in the Arabic world.

Air Cargo airline was established in 2003. Main base of the Airline is Cairo International Airport. The airline successfully passed the IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) for the fifth time in sequence and joined IATA by the end of August 2015.

--

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4 July 2016 12:43 (UTC+04:00)

By Laman Ismayilova

The clothing ceremony of the 7th international Silk Way music festival has been held in Azerbaijans Sheki region, Trend Life reported.

The event was held under support of Azerbaijan Union of Composers and Executive Power of the Sheki region under support of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

The closing ceremony featured the concert of Azerbaijan State Orchestra of Folk Instruments and the State Song and Dance Ensemble conducted by People's artist, Agaverdi Pashayev.

The final concert was remembered for the fantastic performance of Uzeyir Hajibeyov`s Cahargah composition, "Ladies dance" from legendary opera "Koroglu", "Jangi", Tofiq Quliyev`s "Qaytagi", fragments from the symphonic mugham "Kurd Ovshary" by Fikret Amirov and other songs.

In the end Artistic Director of the festival, Chairman of Azerbaijan Union of Composers, People's Artist, Firangiz Alizada, thanked the Executive Power of the Sheki region for hosting the festival at such high level.

The head of Sheki Executive power Elkhan Usubov, in his turn, expressed his appreciation to all the agencies who contributed to the 7th international Silk Way music festival and, in particular to the leadership of Azerbaijan Union of composers.

Commemorative gifts and a symbol of the festival were given to Agaverdi Pashayeva and Firangiz Alizada.

Holding such a grand music festival, which has become a wonderful tradition, in Sheki, is not by mere chance. For centuries this beautiful city, which is located along the route of the ancient Silk Road, was an important center of art and commerce.

Today Sheki is a unique place that has preserved the culture of urban planning inherent to medieval towns.

Rare historical and architectural monuments of the city - caravanserais, mosques, minarets, walls, bridges, etc. - wonderfully feature the ancient architectural style of Sheki.

---

Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Lam_Ismayilova

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4 July 2016 10:12 (UTC+04:00)

Prime Minister Binali Yildirim described Daesh as common scourge in a telephone call to his Iraqi counterpart after the terrorist group claimed responsibility for a deadly car bomb attack Sunday in Baghdad.

Yildirim offered his condolences to Haider al-Abadi during the conversation, according to a Prime Ministry source who spoke on the condition of anonymity due to restrictions on speaking with the media.

The Turkish prime minister said his country was ready to provide any support to the wounded and added that Iraqs territorial integrity was important.

A car bomb hit al-Karada, a busy shopping district in central Baghdad, early Sunday, killing at least 150 victims, while a separate blast killed five others at a market in the al-Shaab neighborhood.

The al-Karada attack was claimed by Daesh but conflicting reports have emerged about the cause of the second attack. Some have said it was another bombing, however, government officials have claimed it was the result of a fire.

The attack in Baghdad occurred just days after terrorists killed 45 victims at Istanbuls main airport on Tuesday in an attack blamed on Daesh.

---

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4 July 2016 10:43 (UTC+04:00)

A consortium of Hyundai, LG (South Korea) and Toyo (Japan) companies successfully continues the work on construction of a gas chemical plant in the Balkan region of Turkmenistan, the Neutral Turkmenistan newspaper reported.

Implementation of this unique project will make it possible to provide not only domestic needs of the country with high-quality products, but also expand its export opportunities, the article says.

The matter rests in complex processing of hydrocarbon gases into chemical products  81,000 tons of polypropylene and 386,000 tons of polyethylene per year, which are widely used in production of polyethylene pipes, packaging products, textile fibers, electrical appliances, synthetic carpets.

Some 49,000 tons of pyrolysis gasoline will be produced per year as a byproduct at the new enterprise.

The newspaper also noted that the new enterprise will be a unique complex for processing of feed gas into polymers, including such intermediate steps as purification of the feed gas, its division into fractions, thermal cracking of paraffin wax, as well as ethylene and propylene polymerization.

Installation of process and ancillary equipment of the plant should be completed at the enterprise by late 2016, according to the plan. Currently, its construction involves more than 16 foreign and domestic subcontractors, as well as over 1,000 units of construction equipment.

It is scheduled to commission the complex in September 2018. The project is estimated to be worth more than $3.4 billion.

Financial support is provided by the Japan Bank for International Cooperation, the Export-Import Bank of South Korea and the syndicate of participating financial institutions of Japan, Germany, France, Korea, China, Italy, Austria and Switzerland.

---

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4 July 2016 13:10 (UTC+04:00)

By Gunay Camal

The danger and possible consequences of old nuclear power plants operating in the OSCE area were mulled as some 300 parliamentarians from 54 OSCE countries have gathered at the OSCE Parliamentary Assemblys 25th Annual Session in Tbilisi.

The Committee members discussed topics including transnational terrorism, regional cooperation, climate change, migration and the rights of refugees, enhancing OSCE early warning mechanisms to enable swifter action on international challenges, as well as questions related to the Chernobyl disaster, Azertac reported.

Azerbaijani parliamentarians made certain suggestions to the draft final document, as they proposed an amendment on closure of the old nuclear power plants in the active seismic zones, stating they were potential threat and should be immediately stopped, said Azerbaijani MP Kamran Nabizade said.

The Metsamor NPP, which has been operating in Armenia for several decades, is one of such plants posing an economic danger for the region. Environmentalists have long been concerned that the Armenian authorities refuse to close the outdated Metsamor NPP, any catastrophe at which could kill thousands in Armenia itself, and the whole region.

Metsamor NPP, located on high-seismic active zone, began to operate in 1976. The license for the exploitation of the station will expire on September 1, 2016. Nevertheless, the Armenian government has made the decision to prolong the date of exploitation of the plant for additional 10 years.

Doris Barnet, head of the German delegation to the OSCE PA, has supported the position of Azerbaijani parliamentarians, while the Armenian delegation called on the participants to protest the amendment.

But,the Committee members voted for the amendment made by Azerbaijani parliamentarians, urging to stop the use of the old nuclear power plants.

---

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4 July 2016 14:32 (UTC+04:00)

The Kremlin found out about Turkey's proposal regarding the Incirlik airbase through the media and Moscow will need to analyze this "important statement," Sputnik International quoted the Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying July 4.

I don't know if there have been any official military talks on this matter, whether theyve had time to resume them. If I'm not mistaken, they have not. We really did hear this statement for the first time through the media. Of course, this is an important statement and it will need to be analyzed both politically and militarily," Peskov told reporters.

Earlier, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu didnt rule out that Ankara can allow Moscow to use the Incirlik military airbase for carrying out operations against the Islamic State (IS, aka ISIS, ISIL or Daesh) terrorist group.

The Incirlik base is located five miles north of the Turkish city of Adana near the Syrian border.

---

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Kern County may be spread far apart, but when tragedy hits, the county comes together.
A huge fire broke out at a bakery owned by Morrisons in Wakefield yesterday afternoon.

Around 50 firefighters were on hand to tackle the blaze at the Rathbones Bakery on Stephenson Way, which saw plumes of black smoke drift across the nearby M1 and burnt buns and bread flying through the air.

West Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service reported that around 80% of the 86,000sq ft building was on fire and firefighters were working through the night to get the blaze under control. Some staff were treated for smoke inhalation, but there were no serious injuries reported.

A spokesman for Morrisons told British Baker: There was a fire at our Rathbones bakery in Wakefield. All colleagues were evacuated quickly and safely. He added that the fire brigade was still in attendance on Monday morning, but there was no further news at present as they were unable to access the site as yet.

Morrisons acquired the whole of the Rathbones Kear bakery business in 2007, when it bought out the 20% stake owned by bakery entrepreneur Harry Kear.
A law inspired by teens lost at sea has gone into effect during the busy holiday weekend - an especially popular time for boaters.

New EPIRB law went into effect Friday



Bill inspired by loss of teen boaters last year in Atlantic



Law lowers registration fees for boaters with EPIRB

Florida House Bill CS-CS-HB 427 was approved by Gov. Rick Scott in March and went into effect Friday.



Better known as the EPIRB law, the legislation reduces registration fees for vessels equipped with an emergency position indicating radio beacon (EPIRB).



The legislation came about after Austin Stephanos and Perry Cohen disappeared in the Atlantic Ocean in their 19-foot boat out of Jupiter Inlet in July 2015. A Coast Guard search proved futile and the boys, both 14, were never found.



The size of a child's sippy cup, an EPIRB device acts as a GPS for the coast guard in case of an emergency.



"The EPIRB is the most important tool you can have to take the search out of search and rescue for us," said U.S. Coastguard spokesperson Michael De Nyse. "That's how we can find you, that's your positioning of distress that we can pinpoint."



The importance of an EPIRB was highlighted again last month as the Kimberly family, dad Ace and his two sons aged 14 and 15, and 17-year-old daughter, went missing in their sailboat in a storm off Englewood in the Gulf of Mexico. The bodies of Ace and daughter Rebecca were later found in the gulf.



The bodies of Donnie, 15, and Roger, 14, were never found.



The new legislation was created to make boaters have a plan in place before heading out to sea. The new law does not mean every boater is obligated to have one these locater devices, just an incentive to prevent any further tragedies.



" I have a Garmin on (his boat) that tells me plots and where Im at," said Manatee County boater Andrew Looper, who said he didn't have an EPIRB. "If that fails Im kind of screwed."



According to the legislation an EPRIB costs around $800, but officials say you can't put a price on a life.



"(It's) the one tool we recommend everyone has on their vessel," said De Nyse.


Tampa Police are searching for a missing man, but a woman who went missing in an unrelated case has been found.

Police searching for missing man; woman in unrelated case found



Marc Charles Miller, 61, sought; Shirley Ann Brooks, 63, found



Anyone with information asked to call Tampa Police at (813) 231-6130

According to officers, Marc Charles Miller, 61, was last seen in the area of N. 15th Street and E. Sligh Avenue on Thursday.



He is approximately 5-foot-8 to 5-foot-10 and weighs about 160 to 170 pounds. He has dark brown hair, salt-and-pepper facial hair and was last seen wearing a blue T-shirt and black pants.



Police say he is currently not taking any medication.



In a separate case, officers said Monday afternoon that a missing 63-year-old woman was found safe. Police said Shirley Ann Brooks, who suffers from dementia, was reported missing after disappearing from the area of N. Aster Avenue and E. Holland Street at about noon Sunday.



Anyone with information on Miller's whereabouts is asked to call Tampa Police at (813) 231-6130.


A man said that he met someone and ended up getting shot in the chest, St. Petersburg Police Department stated.

The 29-year-old man walked to the 4700 block of 23rd Avenue South to meet another man at around 3:50 a.m. on Monday.

But during the meeting, which police believe may have been drug-related, the 29-year-old man was shot in the chest, officials stated.

The victim ran from the area and called the police department and he was eventually taken to Bayfront Health St. Petersburg for non-life threatening injuries, police stated.

There is no further information at this time.
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Friends Agnes Northrup and Ethlyn Johnson have knitted more than 4,000 caps for Beaumont's newborns since 2002.

The pair, who met and live at Calder Woods senior living community, gather with their on-site knitting club at 1 p.m. every Wednesday. During those weekly sessions, they can complete about one-fourth of a newborn's knitted cap while socializing with other residents."I first started knitting pink and blue hats," said Johnson, 89. "Baby clothes started to change and I appreciated that, because I was tired of the same colors."

The women's hats come in a variety of colors - from sherbert shades of green and peach to soft whites and blues - and have different patterns, including stripes and zigzag designs.

Some of the caps, which are donated to Christus St. Elizabeth Hospital, even have yarn balls at the top.

"While you're knitting, it might as well be for something useful," Northrup, 96, said. "It's a very constructive activity and allows others to benefit, which I love."

Both Northrup and Johnson have been knitting since they were young women.

Johnson, an Oklahoma native, said she learned to knit when she was 13. She said she made sweaters for soldiers in World War I that were distributed through the American Red Cross.

Johnson said she and her late husband both knitted baby caps for newborn patients at a Baptist hospital in Houston, where she lived before moving to Beaumont. The couple donated more than 2,500 hours of their time for the project, she said.

Johnson said when her son was just a little boy she taught him how to knit using toothpicks.

Northrup, a San Diego native, said she learned to knit sweaters for her late husband more than 70 years ago. After she got more practiced, Northrup donated knitting projects to the Navy Relief Society of San Diego, where she racked up over 4,100 volunteer hours.

Northrup and Johnson, who were recently named Calder Woods' 2016 Volunteers of the Year, said in their free time they both knit in the comfort of their rooms while relaxing and watching television.

"I enjoy doing something that serves a greater purpose and allows me to give back to the community," said Johnson.

"It also helps me pass the time in my apartment when I watch television, and it keeps my mind engaged and active."

Since starting the Beaumont knitting program, both women have spread their knowledge of knitting to numerous other residents and even outside guests.

"At a time when not many people make anything by hand, it is impressive to see these women volunteer their time to create these welcome gifts to the babies of Beaumont," said Ben Mazzara, executive director of Calder Woods.

"The knitters are a huge asset to our community and contribute so much to others through the creation of these caps.

"They are special to everyone who receives them, and creating them brings such purpose to the residents' lives."

SFlores@BeaumontEnterprise.com
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July 4, 1983, was a day of local as well as national significance in the city of Orange.

Besides fireworks and patriotic music, fanfare accompanied the unveiling of a Texas state historical marker in front of Orange City Hall.

The marker, which contained a synopsis of the city's beginnings and growth, was typical in appearance and content. But the building housing city hall was anything but.

The structure was the former home of Edgar Brown Jr. (1894-1976), a member of the well-known Lutcher-Brown family, whose philanthropic influence is still visible in Orange.

Brown's father, Dr. E.W. Brown Sr., arrived in the city with his parents in 1871. In 1888, Brown Sr. married Carrie Launa Lutcher, whose father, Henry Jacob Lutcher, was one of the richest lumbermen in the U.S.

The elder Brown built a mansion on the corner of Eighth and Green streets that became adjacent to the red-brick home his son completed in 1924.

Keenly aware of his hometown's proximity to the Gulf, Brown Jr. had his Green Avenue home built to withstand hurricanes and windstorms. The entire structure has a steel frame and is supported by 6-foot square pilings driven eight feet into the ground.

Inside the house, the first floor included a living room, library, kitchen with butler's pantry, dining room, breakfast room and a bathroom. In 1924, a downstairs bathroom was a luxury.

The second floor had six bedrooms and three bathrooms. Brown later added screened- and glassed-in sleeping porches that could be enjoyed on warm summer nights.

The third floor was used for storage and had walk-in closets and a big playroom for the children.

A second structure built on the site was half as big as the home and was used as a garage and servants' quarters. To understand what "half as big" means, the servants' quarters had five bedrooms and two bathrooms upstairs. The downstairs garage had room for four cars with two stalls for horses.

The building also housed a large laundry room and a steam boiler to heat the servants' quarters and the main house.

Brown Jr., who attended Princeton through his junior year in 1917, first found success in banking and later took over a shipbuilding empire.

During World War II, his company, Levingston Shipbuilding Company, was honored for excellence in service to the Navy.

Later, Brown branched out into the lumber industry and several other endeavors.

Despite all of his professional accomplishments, Brown did not forget others. Probably Brown's greatest success was as a philanthropist. He gave money to the Orange chapters of the American Red Cross and Salvation Army, founded Girls Haven of Orange and donated a building to the Orange Community Players.

In 1943, Brown and his family moved from their home at 803 W. Green Avenue to their ranch on Highway 90, where contractors were building the family's Linden of Pinehurst mansion. The Green Avenue home was purchased by the City of Orange for $25,000.*

Until then, the city did not have a proper headquarters - only a few rooms above the fire station. Orange's population had swelled from about 6,000 to 30,000 during the war, and city administrators were desperate for more room.

In 1943, when the city moved in, the home's bathtubs, appliances and other fixtures not needed for business operations were removed. Over time, rooms were combined, doorways changed and structures added.

The servants' quarters became the city jail, and the old garage area was converted into a police station.

By 1970, the only room remotely similar to the original was the mayor's study, which Brown had used as his own study.

In advance of the country's bicentennial in 1976, a committee was created to restore that room. Brown donated some of his furniture to assist in the bicentennial project.

He died on Jan. 8, 1976, and was buried in the Brown family vault in Evergreen Cemetery.

Late last year, the city of Orange announced it would spend $2 million to purchase the First Financial Bank building and convert it into a new city hall.

Despite the purchase, the city has not yet made a decision about whether to sell the Brown building, City Manager Shawn Oubre said.*

Like his Green Avenue home, Brown donated his Linden of Pinehurst mansion and the surrounding 90 acres to the First Methodist Church, according to the Texas State Historical Association.

When the church's congregation was unable to accept the gift, the home was given to Lamar State College-Orange to be used as an education center.

Today, Linden of Pinehurst is known as the Brown Estate.

Southeast Texas Tales is a weekly feature that revisits regional history.

Terry-Maillet Jones is a freelance writer.

* This story originally stated that the Green Avenue home was donated in 1943, but the building was actually purchased by the City of Orange for $25,000. Also, this story stated that the city intended to sell the Brown house after relocating to the First Financial Bank Building, but Orange officials have not yet decided what to do with the building. The article has been changed.
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Elizabeth Goodman was on the phone in her kitchen with her youngest daughter when the call was dropped.

Ten minutes later, she heard from a friend that her daughter had been shot in her doorway on Hartel Street in Beaumont's South End, less than three miles from the Goodmans' home on Potts.

Mary Goodman, 41, wasn't the only one who was hit. Her 16-year-old daughter, Briana Goodman, was found shot to death in the backyard.

"To lose a child and a grandchild like that, I just don't understand," Elizabeth Goodman, 72, said in her first interview since the July 31, 2010 double slaying. "No one deserves to be killed in cold blood."

Elizabeth and Joseph Goodman, 77, mourn the loss daily. Pictures of anniversaries, birthdays, rodeo and zydeco events fill their home - reminders of what was stolen from them.

Briana Goodman, the youngest of 13 grandchildren, hoped to become a teen model in Houston. Her grandmother tore up an acceptance letter from a modeling agency she received four months after Briana's death.

Guiseppe Barranco/Photo Editor

"Briana was too young to die," Elizabeth Goodman said.

Six years after the deaths, the accused killer has yet to go to trial, and the Goodmans have grown impatient with the criminal justice system.

Three close relatives have died while waiting.

Joseph Kenneth Colone, 37, remains in jail on a $2 million bond in the killings - Jefferson County's oldest capital case, which is scheduled for trial in January 2017. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.

Colone, who unsuccessfully sought his release last year because of the trial delays, intends to plead not guilty.

"We're ready for closure," said Andre Goodman, 52, Mary's brother, who lives in Liberty County. "This has changed our lives. I don't even drive to Beaumont like I used to because I think about it every time I come here."

'Gaming the system'

The Goodmans said they believe Colone is "gaming the system" by attempting to delay the trial, but his is not the only case to linger in the system.

Of 230-plus active cases on the 252nd District Court trial docket, more than half date to before 2015.

After the Ninth Court of Appeals turned down his request to be released pending the trial, Colone's focus turned to prosecutors' pursuit of the death penalty.

Bob Loper, Colone's Houston-based attorney, unsuccessfully tried to have the state's death penalty law declared unconstitutional, which would eliminate it from consideration at trial.

Such suggestions are rarely given much consideration in capital cases, Loper admitted. But defense attorneys often challenge death penalty laws based on fear of innocent people being executed.

District Judge Raquel West ruled against Colone's attorneys. They preserved the issue for possible later appeal by an appellate attorney, since it was rejected at the trial level.

Loper was part of a defense team that in 2010 convinced a Houston judge to call executions unconstitutional.

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals stopped the judge's plans to hold a hearing on the matter. The capital murder suspect, John Edward Green, escaped the death sentence by pleading to a last-minute 40-year deal in 2011.

"This is not something new and novel, but it has been tried in many other cases," Loper said.

In Colone's case, Loper argues the law requirement for a jury to consider whether a capital offender has a likelihood of being a "continuing threat to society" is something not even members of the psychiatric community can do accurately.

The delays irritate Joseph Goodman, an aging and ailing man who wants to see his daughter's killer die before he does.

Andre Goodman points out other family members have died waiting for justice since 2010 - his and Mary's grandmother, an aunt and uncle.

"We're just sick and tired of nothing happening," Joseph Goodman said.

DNA calculations

Last year, the FBI notified crime labs across the country that data used to calculate the chances of someone's DNA being found at a crime scene was determined in error, though they downplayed the errors' impact.

Their methods drastically overestimated reliability of DNA results, from 1 in a billion, down to less than 1 in a 100.

DNA is key in the case against Colone, lead prosecutor Pat Knauth said.

Knauth did not want to comment on specific evidence for fear of contaminating the local jury pool, he said.

Colone's attorneys are still considering a push to have the trial transferred out of Jefferson County for a second time, a costly move that prosecutors do not want to make.

Prosecutors were ready to try the case this past April, but Colone's attorneys wanted more time to recalculate any DNA allegedly linking Colone to the crime.

"There's a lot of (DNA at the crime scene), some that's very crucial to the case," Knauth said.

The Goodmans call it "trial strategy," despite the discrepancies in DNA calculations becoming a nationwide issue, especially for already backlogged courts.

"It really threw a wrench into our program," Knauth said of DNA calculation errors. "(The defense attorneys) are doing a good job. It's what I would do if I was on the defense, present the same motion (to recalculate DNA)."

Outspoken victim

A probable cause affidavit supporting charges against Colone in a robbery a month before the double slaying names Mary Goodman as an eyewitness who recognized him at the scene.

She identified Colone by name and through a six-man photo lineup, according to the affidavit.

This is the theory prosecutors will present as motive for the killings.

Mary Goodman's willingness to speak up is consistent with how family members remember her.

"Mary was funny. She would tell you what's on her mind, whether you like it or not, and Briana was the same way," Andre Goodman said.

Andre last saw his sister, the youngest of the five kids, for their parents' 52nd wedding anniversary - the week before she was killed - and three weeks before that at the 70th birthday party for their Uncle Henry, who owned a rodeo and zydeco club in the Hillebrandt area.

Uncle Henry died in 2012. He was one of the family members who wanted to see a resolution in the slayings.

"We go through this every day," Andre Goodman said.

BScott@BeaumontEnterprise.com Twitter.com/BrandonKScott
SoutheastHEALTH in Cape Girardeau, Mo., will close one of its four hospitals in March, according to a KFVS news report.

On Tuesday, the health system said it plans to close Southeast Health Center of Reynolds County in Ellington, Mo., and its related clinics March 11.

"We understand that this won't be an easy time for many patients, providers and staff," SoutheastHEALTH's President and CEO Ken Bateman said in a statement quoted by KFVS. "However, we cannot compromise the financial strength of this entire health system by continuing to absorb losses."

SoutheastHEALTH acquired the Reynolds County hospital in 2013. In the three years of ownership, the health system has absorbed more than $17 million in operating losses. On average, the hospital does not fill more than two beds daily.

The closure of the hospital will affect its 45 full-time employees and 18 part-time employees. SoutheastHEALTH will attempt to relocate employees to other facilities in its system, and it will offer a severance package to employees who cannot be relocated, according to the report.

More articles on healthcare finance:

6 common characteristics of hospitals vulnerable to closure

15 things for healthcare leaders to know about Obama's 2017 budget

Hospital claims Medicare cheated it out of payments using flawed methodology
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Shareholders in the London Stock Exchange (LSE) have voted overwhelmingly to approve a proposed 21 billion merger with Germany's Deutsche Borse, despite Britain voting to leave the European Union.

The deal was backed by 99.89% of investors, with LSE saying: "Whether the UK is just European or a member of the EU, the merger will create a globally competitive, industry-defining market infrastructure group at the service of European industry."

The deal's future had been thrown into doubt by the Brexit vote, but shareholder approval will be seen as a major boost for its prospects.

Joachim Faber, chairman of the supervisory board of Deutsche Borse, has previously said that the vote to leave the EU "makes it ever more important to maintain and foster ties between the UK and Europe".

Some of LSE's largest shareholders include Qatar Investment Authority, Blackrock and Invesco.

Deutsche Borse investors can tender their shares until July 12 and the deal still faces regulatory scrutiny in several jurisdictions.

Professor John Colley, of Warwick Business School, said: " Brexit has undoubtedly clouded the future for the stock exchange link-up and raised concerns for employees, regulatory authorities, politicians and LSE shareholders. For shareholders, though, there are still clear benefits.

"LSE shareholders retain a strong position in the EU territories, while Deutsche Borse shareholders benefit from a greater global presence. Deutsche Borse would also be well positioned to provide the various markets that the EU may require to be operated within the Eurozone such as Euro trading. Their link with the LSE will be invaluable in facilitating this transfer of skills, expertise and people."
The UK is set to dramatically slash corporation tax rates to woo businesses deterred by Brexit  just as Northern Ireland is preparing to cut its own rate.

While the move places the UK in direct competition with the Republic for vital foreign direct investment, it will scupper Northern Irelands chances of attracting investment after the rate here falls.

Chancellor George Osborne has revealed plans to aggressively cut the tax to less than 15% as he outlined his plan to galvanise the British economy.

This would take Great Britain close to the 12.5% corporation tax rate which has been a cornerstone of the Republics economy and helped attract major employers including Apple, Pfizer and Google.

The move would also anger some other EU finance chiefs, who have been critical of the Republics low corporation tax rate and fear a race to the bottom.

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But it will dismay the Stormont Executive, which had advanced plans to slash the local rate to match the Republics 12.5% in 2018.

It was also a crucial part of the Fresh Start deal that had brought greater stability to Stormont, and sold the public as a key instrument in building the private sector employment here.

Economy Minister Simon Hamilton claimed recently that a cut in the rate of Northern Irelands corporation tax to 12.5% from 2018 would be a powerful lever that can stimulate economic prosperity.

SDLP South Down MP Margaret Ritchie questioned the Chancellor George Osborne on the impact that his decision will have on the competitive advantage devolving corporation tax was intended to provide Northern Ireland.

Ms Ritchie said: "Through his decision to cut corporation tax in Britain, the Chancellor of the Exchequer has undermined the competitive advantage Northern Ireland sought to achieve through the devolution of corporation tax setting powers. While not a solution entirely on its own, tax competitiveness was a carefully considered aspect of Northern Irelands economic strategy, and the impact of the Chancellors recent decision must be examined in detail going forward.

"While the Executive retains the power to lower corporation tax further should it need to, questions must be answered on how further reductions would impact the broader budget for devolved spending and on the likely effectiveness further corporation tax reductions would have on attracting new business to Northern Ireland.

"With the Norths economy already facing unprecedented levels of uncertainty as result of the EU referendum, the Treasury must now urgently look again at what other options can be pursued to help enhance the Norths economic competitiveness, such as a tourism exemption for VAT, greater financial support for small businesses and additional investment in skills and training."

Stormont Finance Minister Mairtin O Muilleoir said he would explore the Chancellor's proposal with him in forthcoming face-to-face negotiations.

"It is my intention to bring a report to the Executive on the corporation tax options post-EU referendum and following the latest announcement," he said.

"I remain committed to devolving corporation tax powers from London.

"There has been a dramatic change in circumstances since the referendum but it remains my contention that we can do a better job for our people with the devolution of more fiscal powers. Of course, access to the European market and free cross-border trade are essential to our future."

While Mr Osborne had previously indicated that he would slash the corporation tax from 20% to 17% by 2020, this goes much further.

In 2008, UK corporation tax was 30%, and now it looks set to become half that rate.

The Chancellor said the UK must show it is still open for business following the decision to leave the EU as he set out plans to create a super competitive economy.

Mr Osborne told the Financial Times: We must focus on the horizon and the journey ahead and make the most of the hand weve been dealt.

Mr Osborne, who had threatened tax and spending cuts through an emergency budget if Britain voted to leave, said he will wait for official forecasts before announcing any new measures. He said Britain faced a very challenging time and urged the Bank of England to use its powers to avoid a contraction of credit in the economy.

Jonathan Isaby, chief executive of the TaxPayers Alliance, said: The Chancellor is absolutely right to be considering a big cut to corporation tax, as it would show that the UK is ready to seize new opportunities in the global economy.

But Mr Osborne must be bold and cut the rate to 10% as soon as possible, to really demonstrate that we are open for business, with competitive conditions to match our talented workforce.

Its crucial that our politicians have a positive vision for British taxpayers outside the EU, and meaningful tax cuts to boost growth and prosperity are an excellent first step.
Director Michael Cimino, left, talks with actor Robert De Niro (wearing beret) during a break in the filming of The Deer Hunter. (AP Photo/Neal Ulevich, File)

Michael Cimino, the Oscar-winning director whose film The Deer Hunter became one of the great triumphs of Hollywood's 1970s heyday, and whose disastrous Heaven's Gate helped bring that era to a close, has died, aged 77.

Cimino, who had been living in Beverly Hills, died on Saturday.

Eric Weissmann, a friend and former lawyer of Cimino's, said friends had been unable to reach him by phone in the last few days and called the police, who found him dead in his bed.

He said Cimino had not been ill that he had known of.

Cimino's masterpiece was 1978's The Deer Hunter, a story of the Vietnam War's effect on a small steel-working town in Pennsylvania.

The film won five Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director for Cimino. It helped such emerging acting talents as Robert De Niro, Meryl Streep and Christopher Walken, who won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor.

"Our work together is something I will always remember. He will be missed," De Niro said of Cimino. Cimino's emerging career then took a U-turn with the 1980 movie Heaven's Gate, a Western starring Kris Kristofferson and Walken that was a critical and financial disaster.

Its initial budget of $11.5m would balloon to $44m after marketing. While those numbers are meagre by today's standards, at the time they were enough to hasten the demise of United Artists, and of Cimino's career.

He became an eccentric figure even for Hollywood, living in solitude, constantly changing his appearance, claiming allergies to both alcohol and sunshine.

Born in New York City, Cimino graduated from Yale in 1961. His first film was Thunderbolt and Lightfoot in 1974, starring Clint Eastwood and Jeff Bridges.
The pro-Brexit Secretary of State has summoned Northern Ireland's business leaders to a meeting to discuss last week's vote to leave the EU.

Theresa Villiers has asked all of the main business groups to take part in a discussion at Stormont House this morning where she will hear their concerns about the impact of the referendum result.

Although some of the industry bodies adopted an official neutral stance on the referendum, others including the CBI, campaigned hard for a Remain vote and have expressed deep disappointment in the result.

Ms Villiers will be asked to clarify the government's position on the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic. She has maintained her stance that there will be no restoration of border controls, but this has been challenged by many on the Remain side who believe that checkpoints are inevitable.

Industry leaders say this will drive up costs and will create a barrier to Northern Ireland's lucrative cross-border trade.

The meeting with the Secretary of State is one of a series of emergency summits attended by business leaders since last week's shock result.

Representatives of industry, unions and the voluntary sector attended a meeting called at short notice by Finance Minister Mairtin O'Muilleoir on Friday morning at the Belfast offices of the consultancy firm, PwC.

Mr O'Muilleoir said: "We recognised the need for honesty about the scale of the challenges and uncertainty arising from the EU referendum. We also agreed the importance of action from the Executive to protect our interests. This will require the Executive to be front and centre in any future negotiations to protect, for example, free movement of labour and trade, particularly on the island of Ireland."

Business groups are also scheduled to hold breakfast talks with senior officials of the Department for the Economy at a Belfast hotel this morning.

The discussion was planned some time ago to focus on the Executive's next Programme for Government, but the referendum result prompted the civil servants to put the issue of Brexit on the agenda.

"Unless we get confidence and stability restored soon we could talk ourselves into a mini recession," said Glyn Roberts, chief executive of the Northern Ireland Independent Retail Trade Association. "There's now a power vacuum at Westminster and that's very worrying.

"We need real leadership from politicians at Westminster and Stormont. The mood among business groups is quite downbeat, undoubtedly, but people are resolute. We need to see action and a clear plan at both national and local level. We're all agreed that we need to scope out what the challenges are address them."

Business leaders are also worried that international investors will suspend or cancel commitments and that the spectre of new tariffs and border controls will hit Northern Ireland's lucrative cross-border trade.
The DUP minister in charge of Northern Ireland's economy has said his job has become "a lot more challenging" since the UK voted to leave the European Union.

Simon Hamilton said he backed Arlene Foster's decision for the party to support Brexit, and added there was no point in lingering over the result as it was now time to deal with the consequences.

Asked on a number of occasions, the minister declined to reveal his personal position on Brexit, arguing that it was "time to move on".

In his first newspaper interview since taking over his new portfolio, Mr Hamilton told the Belfast Telegraph: "I don't want to go back over... the referendum has happened. We are now having to deal with the consequences of the result.

"My job as minister, I don't think it helps my job to start getting in to all of the 'this, that and the other' about the referendum, what happened and who said what. There's no point getting in to whether I supported one side or the other."

Mr Hamilton added: "I don't think it advances things at all to start to pick over what happened in the campaign, what people said or what people promised. The result is the result.

"The party's position was clear, and I supported the party's position."

He added that the United Kingdom and the Union overall was as "secure as it has ever been", and that First Minister Mrs Foster continued to have a "resounding mandate" to represent Northern Ireland despite the majority of people here voting to stay in the European Union.

Mr Hamilton said that while his role as Economy Minister "got a lot more challenging" because of the vote, he would fight for Northern Ireland's best interests, including free movement across the border.

Mr Hamilton's lead role in the Department for the Economy is his third ministerial post at Stormont.

The bulk of businesses and business groups here supported the Remain camp.

One survey, from the Northern Ireland Chamber of Commerce, said 81% of its members backed staying.

Mr Hamilton's predecessor Jonathan Bell had previously said he was in support of a reformed EU.

Addressing concerns about the likely impact on trade and commerce, Mr Hamilton said: "I completely understand the concerns that businesses have.

"Businesses don't like uncertainty, and this is a period of uncertainty."

He said companies he had spoken to had raised "long, lengthy lists of issues" about how Brexit could impact on trade.

"I can understand any and all emotions," he added.

"For many businesses, they are only starting to work through (the implications), and scenario planning.

"Many of them didn't expect what has happened. They are still getting to grips with the outcome as well."

Secretary of State Theresa Villiers is summoning business leaders to a meeting today to discuss the vote to Leave, while Mr Hamilton's department will also meet with companies later today.

He pointed out some firms saw certain opportunities in the Brexit result. "It is happening and we have to deal with the consequences (of Brexit). We are absolutely in contact constantly with people in the business community," he added.

Mr Hamilton said ensuring free movement between Northern Ireland and the Republic was key.

And he added that negotiating a deal for our businesses to sell into the EU Single Market was also crucial.

"There are a huge number of manufacturing firms who are selling quite a lot of their produce into the EU. Clearly they want to see that market protected, and to get free access into that market," he pointed out.

On the referendum outcome itself, he added: "I would happily admit that I was surprised by the result. I went to bed not long after polls closed and I expected it to be a tight result, perhaps 52-48 in the other direction."

Mr Hamilton said he would not be joining the hundreds of people here now applying for an Irish passport.

And he described David Cameron as a "very good Prime Minister", but wouldn't be drawn on who he favoured to replace him.
DUP MP Sammy Wilson has likened those calling for a second EU referendum to fascists.

While the UK voted in favour of Leave in the recent referendum, the majority of Northern Ireland votes opted for Remain.

The DUP was the only major party in Northern Ireland that backed the Leave campaign.

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In the wake of the result millions of people signed a petition calling for a second EU Referendum.

While in Northern Ireland another petition was launched calling on the Northern Ireland Assembly to refuse consent to leave.

Read more:

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On Monday morning speaking on the BBC Stephen Nolan show DUP MP Sammy Wilson likened those calling for a second Referendum to "fascists".

He said: "It really does annoy me.

"These people in my view, are little short of fascists

"They don't wish to have the democratic wishes of the people honoured.

He continued: "That's what fascists do. They wish to have only their views."

He added: "The decision was made that this was a decision which should be taken by a referendum. Politicians voted for legislation in the House of Commons as to the nature of the Referendum.

"The questions to be asked in the Referendum who would be eligible to vote.

"Having had the Referendum just because you don't like the result doesn't mean you then say it's not valid.

"What does annoy me is it is driven by people who would regard themselves as the elite in society - who have total disregard for the views of ordinary people."
People out at the Botanic Inn to watch Carl Frampton beat Scott Quigg. Sat 27th Feb 2016. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

People out at the Botanic Inn to watch Carl Frampton beat Scott Quigg. Sat 27th Feb 2016. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

People out at the Botanic Inn to watch Carl Frampton beat Scott Quigg. Sat 27th Feb 2016. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

People out at the Botanic Inn to watch Carl Frampton beat Scott Quigg. Sat 27th Feb 2016. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

People out at the Botanic Inn to watch Carl Frampton beat Scott Quigg. Sat 27th Feb 2016. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

People out at the Botanic Inn to watch Carl Frampton beat Scott Quigg. Sat 27th Feb 2016. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

People out at the Botanic Inn to watch Carl Frampton beat Scott Quigg. Sat 27th Feb 2016. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

People out at the Botanic Inn to watch Carl Frampton beat Scott Quigg. Sat 27th Feb 2016. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

People out at the Botanic Inn to watch Carl Frampton beat Scott Quigg. Sat 27th Feb 2016. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

People out at the Botanic Inn to watch Carl Frampton beat Scott Quigg. Sat 27th Feb 2016. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

People out at the Botanic Inn to watch Carl Frampton beat Scott Quigg. Sat 27th Feb 2016. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

People out at the Botanic Inn to watch Carl Frampton beat Scott Quigg. Sat 27th Feb 2016. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

People out at the Botanic Inn to watch Carl Frampton beat Scott Quigg. Sat 27th Feb 2016. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

People out at the Botanic Inn to watch Carl Frampton beat Scott Quigg. Sat 27th Feb 2016. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

People out at the Botanic Inn to watch Carl Frampton beat Scott Quigg. Sat 27th Feb 2016. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

People out at the Botanic Inn to watch Carl Frampton beat Scott Quigg. Sat 27th Feb 2016. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

People out at the Botanic Inn to watch Carl Frampton beat Scott Quigg. Sat 27th Feb 2016. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

People out at the Botanic Inn to watch Carl Frampton beat Scott Quigg. Sat 27th Feb 2016. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

People out at the Botanic Inn to watch Carl Frampton beat Scott Quigg. Sat 27th Feb 2016. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

People out at the Botanic Inn to watch Carl Frampton beat Scott Quigg. Sat 27th Feb 2016. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

People out at the Botanic Inn to watch Carl Frampton beat Scott Quigg. Sat 27th Feb 2016. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

People out at the Botanic Inn to watch Carl Frampton beat Scott Quigg. Sat 27th Feb 2016. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

People out at the Botanic Inn to watch Carl Frampton beat Scott Quigg. Sat 27th Feb 2016. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

People out at the Botanic Inn to watch Carl Frampton beat Scott Quigg. Sat 27th Feb 2016. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

People out at the Botanic Inn to watch Carl Frampton beat Scott Quigg. Sat 27th Feb 2016. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

People out at the Botanic Inn to watch Carl Frampton beat Scott Quigg. Sat 27th Feb 2016. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

People out at the Botanic Inn to watch Carl Frampton beat Scott Quigg. Sat 27th Feb 2016. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

People out at the Botanic Inn to watch Carl Frampton beat Scott Quigg. Sat 27th Feb 2016. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

People out at the Botanic Inn to watch Carl Frampton beat Scott Quigg. Sat 27th Feb 2016. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

People out at the Botanic Inn to watch Carl Frampton beat Scott Quigg. Sat 27th Feb 2016. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

People out at the Botanic Inn to watch Carl Frampton beat Scott Quigg. Sat 27th Feb 2016. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

People out at the Botanic Inn to watch Carl Frampton beat Scott Quigg. Sat 27th Feb 2016. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

People out at the Botanic Inn to watch Carl Frampton beat Scott Quigg. Sat 27th Feb 2016. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

People out at the Botanic Inn to watch Carl Frampton beat Scott Quigg. Sat 27th Feb 2016. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

People out at the Botanic Inn to watch Carl Frampton beat Scott Quigg. Sat 27th Feb 2016. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

People out at the Botanic Inn to watch Carl Frampton beat Scott Quigg. Sat 27th Feb 2016. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

People out at the Botanic Inn to watch Carl Frampton beat Scott Quigg. Sat 27th Feb 2016. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

People out at the Botanic Inn to watch Carl Frampton beat Scott Quigg. Sat 27th Feb 2016. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

People out at the Botanic Inn to watch Carl Frampton beat Scott Quigg. Sat 27th Feb 2016. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

People out at the Botanic Inn to watch Carl Frampton beat Scott Quigg. Sat 27th Feb 2016. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

People out at the Botanic Inn to watch Carl Frampton beat Scott Quigg. Sat 27th Feb 2016. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

People out at the Botanic Inn to watch Carl Frampton beat Scott Quigg. Sat 27th Feb 2016. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

People out at the Botanic Inn to watch Carl Frampton beat Scott Quigg. Sat 27th Feb 2016. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

People out at the Botanic Inn to watch Carl Frampton beat Scott Quigg. Sat 27th Feb 2016. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

People out at the Botanic Inn to watch Carl Frampton beat Scott Quigg. Sat 27th Feb 2016. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

People out at the Botanic Inn to watch Carl Frampton beat Scott Quigg. Sat 27th Feb 2016. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

People out at the Botanic Inn to watch Carl Frampton beat Scott Quigg. Sat 27th Feb 2016. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

People out at the Botanic Inn to watch Carl Frampton beat Scott Quigg. Sat 27th Feb 2016. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

People out at the Botanic Inn to watch Carl Frampton beat Scott Quigg. Sat 27th Feb 2016. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

People out at the Botanic Inn to watch Carl Frampton beat Scott Quigg. Sat 27th Feb 2016. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

People out at the Botanic Inn to watch Carl Frampton beat Scott Quigg. Sat 27th Feb 2016. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

People out at the Botanic Inn to watch Carl Frampton beat Scott Quigg. Sat 27th Feb 2016. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

People out at the Botanic Inn to watch Carl Frampton beat Scott Quigg. Sat 27th Feb 2016. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

People out at the Botanic Inn to watch Carl Frampton beat Scott Quigg. Sat 27th Feb 2016. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

People out at the Botanic Inn to watch Carl Frampton beat Scott Quigg. Sat 27th Feb 2016. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

People out at the Botanic Inn to watch Carl Frampton beat Scott Quigg. Sat 27th Feb 2016. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

People out at the Botanic Inn to watch Carl Frampton beat Scott Quigg. Sat 27th Feb 2016. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

People out at the Botanic Inn to watch Carl Frampton beat Scott Quigg. Sat 27th Feb 2016. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

People out at the Botanic Inn to watch Carl Frampton beat Scott Quigg. Sat 27th Feb 2016. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

People out at the Botanic Inn to watch Carl Frampton beat Scott Quigg. Sat 27th Feb 2016. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

People out at the Botanic Inn to watch Carl Frampton beat Scott Quigg. Sat 27th Feb 2016. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

People out at the Botanic Inn to watch Carl Frampton beat Scott Quigg. Sat 27th Feb 2016. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

People out at the Botanic Inn to watch Carl Frampton beat Scott Quigg. Sat 27th Feb 2016. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

People out at the Botanic Inn to watch Carl Frampton beat Scott Quigg. Sat 27th Feb 2016. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

People out at the Botanic Inn to watch Carl Frampton beat Scott Quigg. Sat 27th Feb 2016. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

People out at the Botanic Inn to watch Carl Frampton beat Scott Quigg. Sat 27th Feb 2016. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

People out at the Botanic Inn to watch Carl Frampton beat Scott Quigg. Sat 27th Feb 2016. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

People out at the Botanic Inn to watch Carl Frampton beat Scott Quigg. Sat 27th Feb 2016. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

People out at the Botanic Inn to watch Carl Frampton beat Scott Quigg. Sat 27th Feb 2016. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

People out at the Botanic Inn to watch Carl Frampton beat Scott Quigg. Sat 27th Feb 2016. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

People out at the Botanic Inn to watch Carl Frampton beat Scott Quigg. Sat 27th Feb 2016. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

People out at the Botanic Inn to watch Carl Frampton beat Scott Quigg. Sat 27th Feb 2016. Picture by Liam McBurney/RAZORPIX

Carl Frampton is on his way to America as the countdown gets underway for his New York showdown with Leo Santa Cruz.

It is just under one month until the Belfast boxer's clash with Mexican Leo Santa Cruz at the Barclays Centre in Brooklyn on July 30.

The Jackal's Army are expected to jet out to the Big Apple in their droves to see the WBA featherweight title bout.

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The 29-year-old Belfast man officially relinquished his IBF World super-bantamweight belt in order to challenge Santa Cruz, who is already a three-weight World champion.

Should the Jackal triumph he would become the first Northern Ireland fighter to win World titles at two different weights - having become the first Irish boxer to unify World titles after he outpointed Scott Quigg at the Manchester Arena in February.

Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Previous Next Close Carl Frampton celebrates defeating Scott Quigg in Saturday nights World Super-Bantamweight unification clash at the Manchester Arena. William Cherry / Presseye Carl Frampton will be honoured by Belfast City Council as the City Hall is illuminated in green and white on Sunday evening. William Cherry / Presseye Carl Frampton celebrates defeating Scott Quigg in Saturday nights World Super-Bantamweight unification clash at the Manchester Arena. William Cherry / Presseye Carl Frampton celebrates defeating Scott Quigg in Saturday nights World Super-Bantamweight unification clash at the Manchester Arena. William Cherry / Presseye Carl Frampton celebrates defeating Scott Quigg in Saturday nights World Super-Bantamweight unification clash at the Manchester Arena. William Cherry / Presseye Scott Quigg is lifted up into the air by trainer Joe Gallagher after his IBF & WBA World Super-Bantamweight Championship bout against Carl Frampton at Manchester Arena PA Carl Frampton (R) connects with a punch on Scott Quigg during their World Super-Bantamweight title contest at Manchester Arena on February 27, 2016 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images) Getty Images Carl Frampton (left) and Scott Quigg during their IBF & WBA World Super-Bantamweight Championship bout at Manchester Arena. PA Carl Frampton and Scott Quigg during Saturday nights World Super-Bantamweight unification clash at the Manchester Arena. William Cherry / Presseye Carl Frampton (left) and Scott Quigg during their IBF & WBA World Super-Bantamweight Championship bout at Manchester Arena. PA Carl Frampton (right) and Scott Quigg during their IBF & WBA World Super-Bantamweight Championship bout at Manchester Arena. PA Carl Frampton salutes the crowd prior to the World Super-Bantamweight title contest against Scott Quigg at Manchester Arena on February 27, 2016 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images) Getty Images Actor James Nesbitt, former jockey Sir Tony McCoy and Republic of Ireland manager Martin O'Neill watch the action at Manchester Arena. PA Scott Quigg enters the ring prior to the World Super-Bantamweight title contest against Carl Frampton at Manchester Arena on February 27, 2016 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images) Getty Images Carl Frampton (centre) in the ring before his IBF & WBA World Super-Bantamweight Championship bout against Scott Quigg at Manchester Arena. PA Scott Quigg (centre) in the ring before his IBF & WBA World Super-Bantamweight Championship bout against Carl Frampton at Manchester Arena. PA Northern Ireland manager Michael O'Neill pictured at the Manchester Arena as they prepare to watch Carl Frampton and Scott Quigg during Saturday nights World Super-Bantamweight unification clash. William Cherry / Presseye Gavin McDonnell (left) knocks down Jorge Sanchez during their Vacant WBC Silver & Eliminator Super-Bantamweight Championship bout at Manchester Arena. PA Actor James Nesbitt arrives at the Manchester Arena wearing a Northern Ireland shirt to watch the World Super-Bantamweight Title Fight between Carl Frampton and Scott Quigg at Manchester Arena on February 27, 2016 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images) Getty Images Ryan Burnett from Belfast with Anthony Settoul from France during their Vacant WBC International Bantamweight Championship contest on the undercard of the Frampton Quigg World Super-Bantamweight unification clash at the Manchester Arena. William Cherry / Presseye Paddy Barnes pictured at the Manchester Arena as they prepare to watch Carl Frampton and Scott Quigg during Saturday nights World Super-Bantamweight unification clash. William Cherry / Presseye Ryan Burnett hits Anthony Settoul with a right on his way to victory in the Vacant WBC International Bantamweight Championship at Manchester Arena on February 27, 2016 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images) Getty Images Tyson Fury watches the action at Manchester Arena. PA Tony McCoy watches the Ryan Burnett v Anthony Settoul fight from ringside at Manchester Arena on February 27, 2016 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images) Getty Images Marc McCulough, from Belfast, is defeated by Isaac Lowe from Morecambe after his corner threw in the towel during their Vacant Commonwealth Featherweight Championship contest on the undercard of the Frampton Quigg World Super-Bantamweight unification clash at the Manchester Arena. William Cherry / Presseye Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 27th February 2016 - Photo by William Cherry Marc McCulough from Belfast is defeated by Isaac Lowe from Morecambe after his corner threw in the towel during their Vacant Commonwealth Featherweight Championship contest on the undercard of the Frampton Quigg World Super-Bantamweight unification clash at the Manchester Arena. William Cherry / Presseye Barry McGuiggan pictured at the Manchester Arena as they prepare to watch Carl Frampton and Scott Quigg during Saturday nights World Super-Bantamweight unification clash. William Cherry / Presseye Hosea Burton knocks down Miles Shinkwin during his victory in the Vacant British Light-Heavyweight Championship at Manchester Arena on February 27, 2016 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images) Getty Images Carl Froch pictured at the Manchester Arena as they prepare to watch Carl Frampton and Scott Quigg during Saturday nights World Super-Bantamweight unification clash. William Cherry / Presseye Josh Taylor knocks down and stops Lyes Chaibi during his victory in the Super-Lightweight Contest at Manchester Arena on February 27, 2016 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images) Getty Images Carl Frampton's father Craig pictured at the Manchester Arena William Cherry / Presseye Charlie Edwards from Epsom defeats Luke Wilton during their Vacant WBC International Silver Flyweight Championship contest on the undercard of the Frampton Quigg World Super-Bantamweight unification clash at the Manchester Arena. William Cherry / Presseye Luke Wilton from Belfast and Charlie Edwards from Epsom during their Vacant WBC International Silver Flyweight Championship contest on the undercard of the Frampton Quigg World Super-Bantamweight unification clash at the Manchester Arena. William Cherry / Presseye Luke Wilton from Belfast and Charlie Edwards from Epsom during their Vacant WBC International Silver Flyweight Championship contest on the undercard of the Frampton Quigg World Super-Bantamweight unification clash at the Manchester Arena. William Cherry / Presseye David Teymur of Sweden celebrates his victory over Martin Svensson of Sweden in the Lightweight Bout during the UFC Fight Night at The O2 Arena on February 27, 2016 in London, England. (Photo by Christopher Lee/Getty Images) Getty Images David Teymur of Sweden celebrates his victory over Martin Svensson of Sweden in the Lightweight Bout during the UFC Fight Night at The O2 Arena on February 27, 2016 in London, England. (Photo by Christopher Lee/Getty Images) Getty Images Carl Frampton during the weigh-in ahead of his fight against Scott Quigg in the World Super-Bantamweight unification fight, at Manchester Arena. PA Carl Frampton takes part in a public work out at Intu Trafford Centre Getty Images Happy at his work: Scott Quigg at last nights public work-out at the Trafford Centre in Manchester Getty Images Raring to go: Carl Frampton and his coach Shane McGuigan take part in a public work-out at the Trafford Centre in Manchester last night Getty Images MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 23: Carl Frampton takes part in a public work out at Intu Trafford Centre on February 23, 2016 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Jan Kruger/Getty Images) Getty Images MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 23: Carl Frampton takes part in a public work out at Intu Trafford Centre on February 23, 2016 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Jan Kruger/Getty Images) Getty Images MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 23: Scott Quigg takes part in a public work out at Intu Trafford Centre on February 23, 2016 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Jan Kruger/Getty Images) Getty Images MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 23: Carl Frampton takes part in a public work out at Intu Trafford Centre on February 23, 2016 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Jan Kruger/Getty Images) Getty Images Carl Frampton poses during a public work out at Intu Trafford Centre on February 23, 2016 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Jan Kruger/Getty Images) Getty Images MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 23: Scott Quigg poses during a public work out at Intu Trafford Centre on February 23, 2016 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Jan Kruger/Getty Images) Getty Images Carl Frampton takes part in a public work out at Intu Trafford Centre on February 23, 2016 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Jan Kruger/Getty Images) Getty Images MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 23: Scott Quigg takes part in a public work out at Intu Trafford Centre on February 23, 2016 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Jan Kruger/Getty Images) Getty Images / Facebook

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Whatsapp Carl Frampton celebrates defeating Scott Quigg in Saturday nights World Super-Bantamweight unification clash at the Manchester Arena.

Frampton tweeted a picture as he jetted off from Dublin airport.

He said: "The next time I'm on a flight I'll be bringing a shiny new belt back home to Belfast. #AndTheNew #2WeightWorldChamp"

The next time I'm on a flight I'll be bringing a shiny new belt back home to Belfast #AndTheNew #2WeightWorldChamp pic.twitter.com/VoFnGItdCy  Carl Frampton MBE (@RealCFrampton) July 4, 2016

Very emotional leaving my girls and boy at Dublin airport today NYC here I come  Carl Frampton MBE (@RealCFrampton) July 4, 2016

NYC bound   Shane McGuigan (@McGuigans_Gym) July 4, 2016

Speaking to ESPN as he headed off to the states Frampton vowed he won't make the same "mistakes" as his last fight in America where he was floored twice in the first round by Alejandro Gonzalez Jr before going on to beat him on points.

Frampton told ESPN: "I need to show the American crowd what I'm capable of.

"I'm better than that, I'm a better fighter than I looked in the first round when Gonzalez put me down twice. It was disastrous but I came back and boxed quite well after that and won on points comfortably.

"That was me at 70 percent and I really need to be at my best to beat Santa Cruz because he's the best fighter I've come up against."

With just weeks to go before the fight Frampton's opponent has unleashed fighting talk ahead of the clash.

He told Behind The Gloves: "I am going to go 100% ready and hopefully not leave it to the judges and I'm going to hopefully knock him out or if not win with a clear decision.

He added: "I'm going to bring the fight. Stay on top of him and chase him. I'm going to make him fight. "
A tree trunk was left lying across one of the paths at Kilbroney Park in Rostrevor

Mountain bikers were directed into traps laid by saboteurs that included wire strung at head height across the course - which could have decapitated a racer.

The organiser of a time trial in the Mournes believes disgruntled hill walkers - unhappy at forest paths being used for such events - may have been behind the attack.

Glyn O'Brien from Newry, who ran the Vitus First Tracks Enduro Cup at Kilbroney Park in Rostrevor, slammed those responsible for putting wire and string at head height across downhill sections where riders can reach speeds of up to 40mph.

Ahead of the time trial, rocks and logs were also dislodged and placed on the track.

Mr O'Brien, who took part in yesterday's event, said fortunately the traps were spotted.

Police are investigating. A PSNI spokesman said: "This was an unbelievably dangerous thing to do. Whoever is responsible could have caused great injury to those participating had the route not been checked".

In yesterday's event, 200 bike riders hurtled down the Mourne Mountains.

Mr O'Brien said it went well and that all competitors were all still happy to take part.

He said the disruption took place overnight on Friday into Saturday ahead of practice sessions. There were no further incidents before the racing.

Mr O'Brien said it was disturbing to hear from other downhill bikers that similar incidents happen regularly in places like Cavehill in Belfast and Tollymore Forest Park in Newcastle.

He said: "There were five or six places where they had put the wire/string at head height and they had used our tape to re-direct riders into areas where the wire was. It is very thin and you wouldn't see it until the last minute.

"By the look of it I don't think it was kids who did this but this time I have a feeling it was maybe walkers who don't like bikers, who maybe feel mountain biking shouldn't be on those trails.

"I have heard of things like this happening but it is the first time it has happened at an official event, but it won't put us off next year. It is an annual event and it is a brilliant venue."

He said the Rostrevor race was officially organised with permission from the authorities and competitors came from across Ireland, Great Britain and even Australia.

He said a marshal noticed and was able to ensure the first riders were stopped.

"For the event the riders were happy to take part after everything was checked by the marshals, but the scary thing is what is to stop that person coming out again and doing the same thing when there are no marshals?"

He said marshals will now be briefed to check courses across Northern Ireland and searches of the tracks will take place before an event at Ballycastle Forest in August.

Mr O'Brien said the Rostrevor event contributes a significant amount of money to the area and he hoped it would "not create a negative vibe" and keep people away.
2/7/16 PACEMAKER PRESS A pro abortion rally took place in Belfast City Centre starting from Donegal Street making its way through the City Centre. Matt Bohill PACEMAKER PRESS.

2/7/16 PACEMAKER PRESS A pro abortion rally took place in Belfast City Centre starting from Donegal Street making its way through the City Centre. Matt Bohill PACEMAKER PRESS.

2/7/16 PACEMAKER PRESS A pro abortion rally took place in Belfast City Centre starting from Donegal Street making its way through the City Centre. Matt Bohill PACEMAKER PRESS.

2/7/16 PACEMAKER PRESS A pro abortion rally took place in Belfast City Centre starting from Donegal Street making its way through the City Centre. Matt Bohill PACEMAKER PRESS.

2/7/16 PACEMAKER PRESS A pro abortion rally took place in Belfast City Centre starting from Donegal Street making its way through the City Centre. Matt Bohill PACEMAKER PRESS.

2/7/16 PACEMAKER PRESS A pro abortion rally took place in Belfast City Centre starting from Donegal Street making its way through the City Centre. Matt Bohill PACEMAKER PRESS.

2/7/16 PACEMAKER PRESS A pro abortion rally took place in Belfast City Centre starting from Donegal Street making its way through the City Centre. Matt Bohill PACEMAKER PRESS.

2/7/16 PACEMAKER PRESS A pro abortion rally took place in Belfast City Centre starting from Donegal Street making its way through the City Centre. Matt Bohill PACEMAKER PRESS.

2/7/16 PACEMAKER PRESS A pro abortion rally took place in Belfast City Centre starting from Donegal Street making its way through the City Centre. Matt Bohill PACEMAKER PRESS.

2/7/16 PACEMAKER PRESS A pro abortion rally took place in Belfast City Centre starting from Donegal Street making its way through the City Centre. Matt Bohill PACEMAKER PRESS.

2/7/16 PACEMAKER PRESS A pro abortion rally took place in Belfast City Centre starting from Donegal Street making its way through the City Centre. Matt Bohill PACEMAKER PRESS.

2/7/16 PACEMAKER PRESS A pro abortion rally took place in Belfast City Centre starting from Donegal Street making its way through the City Centre. Matt Bohill PACEMAKER PRESS.

2/7/16 PACEMAKER PRESS A pro abortion rally took place in Belfast City Centre starting from Donegal Street making its way through the City Centre. Matt Bohill PACEMAKER PRESS.

2/7/16 PACEMAKER PRESS A pro abortion rally took place in Belfast City Centre starting from Donegal Street making its way through the City Centre. Matt Bohill PACEMAKER PRESS.

2/7/16 PACEMAKER PRESS A pro abortion rally took place in Belfast City Centre starting from Donegal Street making its way through the City Centre. Matt Bohill PACEMAKER PRESS.

2/7/16 PACEMAKER PRESS A pro abortion rally took place in Belfast City Centre starting from Donegal Street making its way through the City Centre. Matt Bohill PACEMAKER PRESS.

2/7/16 PACEMAKER PRESS A pro abortion rally took place in Belfast City Centre starting from Donegal Street making its way through the City Centre. Matt Bohill PACEMAKER PRESS.

2/7/16 PACEMAKER PRESS A pro abortion rally took place in Belfast City Centre starting from Donegal Street making its way through the City Centre. Matt Bohill PACEMAKER PRESS.

2/7/16 PACEMAKER PRESS A pro abortion rally took place in Belfast City Centre starting from Donegal Street making its way through the City Centre. Matt Bohill PACEMAKER PRESS.

Press Eye - Northern Ireland - 2nd July 2016 Amnesty International participate in a rally for choice in Belfast. Hundreds of people form Northern Ireland came together to stand against the abortion laws currently in operation in the province. Photographer - Matt Mackey / Press Eye

Press Eye - Northern Ireland - 2nd July 2016 Amnesty International participate in a rally for choice in Belfast. Hundreds of people form Northern Ireland came together to stand against the abortion laws currently in operation in the province. Photographer - Matt Mackey / Press Eye

Press Eye - Northern Ireland - 2nd July 2016 Amnesty International participate in a rally for choice in Belfast. Hundreds of people form Northern Ireland came together to stand against the abortion laws currently in operation in the province. Photographer - Matt Mackey / Press Eye

Press Eye - Northern Ireland - 2nd July 2016 Amnesty International participate in a rally for choice in Belfast. Hundreds of people form Northern Ireland came together to stand against the abortion laws currently in operation in the province. Photographer - Matt Mackey / Press Eye

Press Eye - Northern Ireland - 2nd July 2016 Amnesty International participate in a rally for choice in Belfast. Hundreds of people form Northern Ireland came together to stand against the abortion laws currently in operation in the province. Photographer - Matt Mackey / Press Eye

Press Eye - Northern Ireland - 2nd July 2016 Amnesty International participate in a rally for choice in Belfast. Hundreds of people form Northern Ireland came together to stand against the abortion laws currently in operation in the province. Photographer - Matt Mackey / Press Eye

Press Eye - Northern Ireland - 2nd July 2016 Amnesty International participate in a rally for choice in Belfast. Hundreds of people form Northern Ireland came together to stand against the abortion laws currently in operation in the province. Photographer - Matt Mackey / Press Eye

Press Eye - Northern Ireland - 2nd July 2016 Amnesty International participate in a rally for choice in Belfast. Hundreds of people form Northern Ireland came together to stand against the abortion laws currently in operation in the province. Photographer - Matt Mackey / Press Eye

Press Eye - Northern Ireland - 2nd July 2016 Amnesty International participate in a rally for choice in Belfast. Hundreds of people form Northern Ireland came together to stand against the abortion laws currently in operation in the province. Photographer - Matt Mackey / Press Eye

Press Eye - Northern Ireland - 2nd July 2016 Amnesty International participate in a rally for choice in Belfast. Hundreds of people form Northern Ireland came together to stand against the abortion laws currently in operation in the province. Photographer - Matt Mackey / Press Eye

Press Eye - Northern Ireland - 2nd July 2016 Amnesty International participate in a rally for choice in Belfast. Hundreds of people form Northern Ireland came together to stand against the abortion laws currently in operation in the province. Photographer - Matt Mackey / Press Eye

Press Eye - Northern Ireland - 2nd July 2016 Amnesty International participate in a rally for choice in Belfast. Hundreds of people form Northern Ireland came together to stand against the abortion laws currently in operation in the province. Photographer - Matt Mackey / Press Eye

Press Eye - Northern Ireland - 2nd July 2016 Amnesty International participate in a rally for choice in Belfast. Hundreds of people form Northern Ireland came together to stand against the abortion laws currently in operation in the province. Photographer - Matt Mackey / Press Eye

Press Eye - Northern Ireland - 2nd July 2016 Amnesty International participate in a rally for choice in Belfast. Hundreds of people form Northern Ireland came together to stand against the abortion laws currently in operation in the province. Photographer - Matt Mackey / Press Eye

Press Eye - Northern Ireland - 2nd July 2016 Amnesty International participate in a rally for choice in Belfast. Hundreds of people form Northern Ireland came together to stand against the abortion laws currently in operation in the province. Photographer - Matt Mackey / Press Eye

Press Eye - Northern Ireland - 2nd July 2016 Amnesty International participate in a rally for choice in Belfast. Hundreds of people form Northern Ireland came together to stand against the abortion laws currently in operation in the province. Photographer - Matt Mackey / Press Eye

Press Eye - Northern Ireland - 2nd July 2016 Amnesty International participate in a rally for choice in Belfast. Hundreds of people form Northern Ireland came together to stand against the abortion laws currently in operation in the province. Photographer - Matt Mackey / Press Eye

Press Eye - Northern Ireland - 2nd July 2016 Amnesty International participate in a rally for choice in Belfast. Hundreds of people form Northern Ireland came together to stand against the abortion laws currently in operation in the province. Photographer - Matt Mackey / Press Eye

Press Eye - Northern Ireland - 2nd July 2016 Amnesty International participate in a rally for choice in Belfast. Hundreds of people form Northern Ireland came together to stand against the abortion laws currently in operation in the province. Photographer - Matt Mackey / Press Eye

Press Eye - Northern Ireland - 2nd July 2016 Amnesty International participate in a rally for choice in Belfast. Hundreds of people form Northern Ireland came together to stand against the abortion laws currently in operation in the province. Photographer - Matt Mackey / Press Eye

Amnesty International participate in a rally for choice in Belfast. Hundreds of people form Northern Ireland came together to stand against the abortion laws currently in operation in the province.

Press Eye - Northern Ireland - 2nd July 2016 Amnesty International participate in a rally for choice in Belfast. Hundreds of people form Northern Ireland came together to stand against the abortion laws currently in operation in the province. Photographer - Matt Mackey / Press Eye

Press Eye - Northern Ireland - 2nd July 2016 Amnesty International participate in a rally for choice in Belfast. Hundreds of people form Northern Ireland came together to stand against the abortion laws currently in operation in the province. Photographer - Matt Mackey / Press Eye

Press Eye - Northern Ireland - 2nd July 2016 Amnesty International participate in a rally for choice in Belfast. Hundreds of people form Northern Ireland came together to stand against the abortion laws currently in operation in the province. Photographer - Matt Mackey / Press Eye

Press Eye - Northern Ireland - 2nd July 2016 Amnesty International participate in a rally for choice in Belfast. Hundreds of people form Northern Ireland came together to stand against the abortion laws currently in operation in the province. Photographer - Matt Mackey / Press Eye

Thousands of people have attended two separate rallies in Belfast, one for and the other against changes to the abortion law in Northern Ireland.

At the anti-abortion rally, a Catholic priest thanked unionists for their support while, at the pro-choice demonstration, supporters were told Northern Ireland is "half a century behind" on the issue.

Unlike other parts of the UK, terminations in Northern Ireland are legal only to protect a woman's life or if there is a risk of serious damage to her well-being.

Attorney General John Larkin QC and Stormont's Department of Justice are both appealing a landmark High Court verdict that the near blanket-ban on terminations is incompatible with human rights legislation.

As Northern Ireland awaits the outcome of the appeal, debate has been raging.

At the weekend, two demonstrations - one organised by Choice Ireland and the other by All-Ireland Rally for Life - each attracted around 1,000 supporters to the streets of Belfast city centre.

The pro-choice demonstration attracted representatives from trade unions, campaign groups and political parties.

People Before Profit MLA Eamonn McCann said the aim of the march was for society to recognise women's rights.

"It ought not to be a radical demand, it's a democratic demand for women to have the right to control their own bodies," he said.

"Everybody who believes in progress must support a woman's right to choose and this message is spreading inexorably.

Expand Close 2/7/16 PACEMAKER PRESS A pro abortion rally took place in Belfast City Centre starting from Donegal Street making its way through the City Centre. Matt Bohill PACEMAKER PRESS. / Facebook

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Whatsapp 2/7/16 PACEMAKER PRESS A pro abortion rally took place in Belfast City Centre starting from Donegal Street making its way through the City Centre. Matt Bohill PACEMAKER PRESS.

"We are half a century behind but we are catching up."

Meanwhile Aislinn (29), from Belfast, described the situation of accessing abortions in Northern Ireland as "shameful".

"I have a right to choose what happens to my body. I've been raised to know that women's rights are important and I'm grateful for that," she said.

Pro-choice activists including Diana King, who handed herself in to police in Londonderry earlier this year after buying abortion pills online, helped to conclude the event with a speech.

An anti-abortion rally organised by the All-Ireland Rally for Life began from Custom House Square.

Around 1,000 people were involved and held banners.

Expand Close 2/7/16 PACEMAKER PRESS A pro abortion rally took place in Belfast City Centre starting from Donegal Street making its way through the City Centre. Matt Bohill PACEMAKER PRESS. / Facebook

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Whatsapp 2/7/16 PACEMAKER PRESS A pro abortion rally took place in Belfast City Centre starting from Donegal Street making its way through the City Centre. Matt Bohill PACEMAKER PRESS.

Among the speakers who addressed the crowds was Fr Aodan Cearbhill from Dublin. "I'm delighted to be up here with my unionist brothers," he said. "We in the south think they give us a good example to follow on the issue."

Pro-Life campaigner Bernadette Smyth stated: "We need to keep fighting for every unborn child and ensure that those children are given life."
The survey also found that one in four groups felt vulnerable to cash flow issues

Social enterprises, charities and community groups are having to cope with significant cuts in Government funding, new figures show.

Almost a third (29%) of voluntary organisations have endured reductions during the last three months, and although a further 59% said they experienced no change, this equates in real terms to a decline, the Ulster Bank and CO3 Third Sector Index said.

The survey, which tracks quarterly changes, also found that one in four groups felt vulnerable to cash flow issues while one in five said their bank balance had worsened since March.

Despite the financial challenges, two-thirds (65%) of those questioned said their organisation has seen an increase in demand and one quarter (23%) said they had increased headcount.

Ulster Bank chief economist Northern Ireland, Richard Ramsey, said the figures suggest that many third sector bodies are adapting well to the new funding reality.

He said: "The challenging environment and the impact on some organisations is clear to see. But many organisations are actually seeing demand for their services grow and are able to increase their headcount. Some of the rising demand is no doubt being driven by need, resulting from, for instance, public sector cuts and inquiries about changes to the benefit system.

"However, there are also organisations who are becoming increasingly entrepreneurial, diversifying their service offering, and entering new markets. The challenge for the sector as a whole is to continue to adapt and to find new streams of revenue.

"This is particularly the case with a question mark now hanging over EU funding in the future. Three-quarters of respondents had previously identified the referendum as something that concerned them, and with a Leave vote having come to pass, there is now a real need for third sector leaders to envisage and contingency plan for a future without EU cash."

CO3 represents some 500 members which represent organisations with an annual income of over 100,000.

Chief executive Nora Smith said: "Cuts in Government funding, cashflow concerns and an increase in demand for services all point to a challenging environment for third sector leaders.

"Subsequently, Brexit compounds this uncertainty, and our engagement with our members tells us that the significant majority see it as a negative thing for their organisation.

"Whilst there is an understandable concern of the unknown, we are a resilient and dynamic sector, used to dealing with challenge, change and uncertainty. Moving forward it is central that we work in partnership with our political leaders and the Northern Ireland Executive to ensure that the services and work provided by our sector are protected."
Members of the regiment with Carol Walker, director of the Somme Association, with her father Teddy Colligan, mother Phoebe and other family members

The Royal Irish Regiment performing during the beating of the retreat at the Ulster Tower

Soldiers from the Royal Irish Regiment have provided a moving finale to the weekend of centenary commemorations in France to honour the thousands of their predecessors who fought and died at the Battle of the Somme.

Just as the start of the offensive 100 years ago was marked with a religious service - as was the enforced withdrawal of the 36th Ulster Division from the battlefield 24 hours later - so too was the remembrance at the Ulster Memorial Tower on Friday.

Several hundred people attended the beating the retreat in front of the war memorial.

The Royal Irish Regiment band took the lead in what was an emotionally charged evening on the very spot where the carnage of the Somme was so mercilessly played out.

The 40 musicians received a standing ovation as their performance culminated with a stirring rendition of a tune called The Path to Peace on the very site that, on July 1, 1916, that witnessed such calamitous war.

While rain had seen 3,000 people use cardboard boxes and chairs to keep themselves dry earlier on Friday, beating the retreat was enacted in unbroken sunshine.

And the picture postcard perfection of the stunning countryside around Thiepval was only enhanced by the sunlight dancing on what seemed like 40 shades of green in the fields and woods all around.

Also in stark contrast to the main ceremony on Friday was the fact there were no visible signs of security - instead there was a relaxed air surrounding the proceedings.

While there were no members of the Royal family in attendance at this event, there were dignitaries present, mainly French civic officials who were invited so that Somme Association representatives could say thank you for their help, past and present.

What they made of the contribution to the ceremony of a couple of Lambeg drums was unclear.

David McWhirter and Bob Paden from the Conlig drumming club played instruments adorned with paintings of the Ulster Tower and Helen's Tower near Bangor, on which the Somme memorial tower is modelled.

Mr Paden was sceptical of claims that Lambeg drums were played at the battle of the Somme.

"I think that's an urban myth. How would they have got them here? Even today the reality is that Lambeg drummers don't travel in Minis," he laughed.

The Royal Irish band didn't just play music; it also put on a spectacular marching display made all the more difficult by the narrowness of the path leading up to the tower.

But there were no mishaps and the band's repertoire included reminders of home, such as The Green Glens of Antrim and The Star of the County Down.

There was also an impromptu sing-along as the musicians struck up the wartime anthem, It's a Long Way to Tipperary. They also played the regimental march of a military unit from the past, the Royal Irish Rifles.

A number of Ulster politicians who represented local councils at Friday's ceremony stayed on for the beating the retreat.

One of them, councillor Jonathan Buckley from Armagh Banbridge and Craigavon Council, was on a personal mission as well.

He laid a wreath on the grave of his great, great grandfather Private Robert Warden at the Ancre cemetery.

"It meant a lot for me to be here. It has been a poignant weekend," he said.

Somme Association chairman Alan McFarland said he believed the commemorations at Thiepval had been a major success.

"I think we have done our ancestors proud with a fitting recognition of the sacrifices they made," he said.

The association's director Carol Walker had tears in her eyes as she reflected on the weekend.

"It has been absolutely brilliant, amazing. The beating the retreat was a magnificent way to bring the curtain down," said Mrs Walker, whose great grandfather Private Charles Grundy died a few days before the end of World War One.

Ulster Unionist leader Mike Nesbitt said he hoped the legacy of the Somme would be remembered long after the centenary of the Great War.

"I would like every schoolchild in the British Isles to at least have the opportunity to come here and see the battlefields and the trenches, and learn about the sacrifices of soldiers from every part of our islands including the south of Ireland," he said.

"We are searching for a shared future but we mustn't forget our shared past and the shared sacrifice on an unimaginable scale."

Upwards of 5,000 people from Northern Ireland visited cemeteries and memorials linked to the Somme in recent days.

At one point at the massive Lochnagar crater left by a huge British mine on the first day of the Battle of the Somme, no fewer than five bus-loads of visitors from the province were touring the site.

A number of ex-loyalist paramilitary figures have been among the visitors.
The USPCA has sacked its high-profile chief executive Stephen Philpott for gross misconduct.

Mr Philpott, who earned a salary of more that 80,000 a year, was dismissed following an internal investigation into the management of the organisation.

USPCA members said they were delighted with the news that Mr Philpott, who has headed Northern Ireland's leading animal charity for over a decade, had been fired.

One activist said: "Many members had become disillusioned and walked away from the organisation over the years.

"The USPCA is very close to the hearts of many people across Northern Ireland and hopefully it can now rebuild."

Mr Philpott did not respond to a request for comment last night.

The animal charity, which celebrates its 180th anniversary this year, wrote to its members last week informing them that Mr Philpott had been fired.

He was one of the most outspoken local charity bosses, regularly appearing on the media to talk about animal cruelty issues.

In a statement last night the organisation said: "The board of the USPCA have confirmed with great regret that the chief executive, Stephen Philpott, has been dismissed on grounds of gross misconduct.

"The dismissal related to aspects of his management of the charity following a comprehensive review conducted by an independent consultant, a full disciplinary hearing and exhaustive appeal process.

"An interim manager has been in place for a number of months and will continue to work closely with the board as they look at the management structure of the organisation going forward."

The USPCA said that the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland had been kept fully informed throughout the process.

Last September Mr Philpott presided at the official opening of the state-of-the-art USPCA animal hospital in Newry, which has a vet on duty full-time.

The organisation said it was the first hospital of its kind in Ireland.

Mr Philpott led the charity's campaign against puppy farms.

He also campaigned for a ban on fox hunting with dogs which, unlike the rest of the UK, remains legal in Northern Ireland.

Despite his high public profile, some long-standing USPCA members and ex-members did not support Mr Philpott's leadership.

In 2005 there was a major split in the organisation with lifelong members, who had raised questions about the charity's finances and direction, being expelled.

The USPCA board at the time said it had already answered numerous questions and had set out a clear financial statement in its audited accounts.

Members had also expressed reservations that the charity had moved its headquarters from Carryduff, on the outskirts of Belfast, to Bessbrook in south Armagh.

At the 2005 annual general meeting (AGM) in Newry security staff were employed to prevent the expelled members entering the meeting.

Founded in 1836, the USPCA is the second oldest animal charity in the world.

According to its latest report, its income in 2013/14 was 980,838.

Its income for the previous 12 months was over 2m.

Most of its income is money inherited in wills.

Mr Philpott was suspended by the USPCA in March.

His dismissal follows an independent inquiry that the charity's trustees initiated into aspects of its management over six months ago.

At its AGM in March USPCA members were informed that during a full review of its corporate governance procedures "issues of concern" were identified regarding its management.

USPCA chairwoman Helen Wilson last night moved to assure members that the charity's day-to-day work was continuing.

She paid tribute to staff who had worked tirelessly "to ensure that the service to animals has remained exemplary during a very difficult time".

She said: "The animal hospital is open seven days a week prioritising animal suffering and ensuring that all creatures in distress are treated with skill and compassion."

Ms Wilson said the charity had joined forces with the Trussell Trust, which operates food banks across Northern Ireland, to provide pet food parcels to help those in need who also have animals.

She said the charity's campaign and investigation work was also continuing.

"Our recent puppy trafficking campaign timed to coincide with BBC1 Panorama Dog Dealers investigative documentary is proof of this commitment," Ms Wilson added.
Alex Salmond has appeared to suggest the internal Labour party coup against Jeremy Corbyn is connected with the publication of the long-awaited Chilcot report into the Iraq war.

His comments come just three days before the publication of the inquiry into the 2003 Iraq war. Earlier reports have suggested Mr Blair, the former Prime Minister, and his contemporaries will be savaged in an absolutely brutal verdict.

In an article for the Herald, the former Scottish First Minister wrote: It would be a mistake to believe that Chilcot and current events are entirely unconnected. The link is through the Labour Party

I have been puzzling as to exactly why the Parliamentary Labour Party chose this moment to launch their coup against Jeremy Corbyn and just what explains the desperation to get him out last week. It can hardly be because of a European referendum where [Mr] Corbyns campaigning, although less than energetic, was arguably more visible than that of say the likely big political winner Teresa May?

He added: I had a conversation on exactly this point with veteran Labour firebrand Dennis Skinner. He answered in one word Iraq. The Skinner line is that the coup was timed to avoid Corbyn calling for Blairs head next Wednesday from the despatch box. Indeed many would say that when Corbyn stated that he would be prepared to see a former Labour Prime Minister tried for war crimes then he sealed his fate as leader of the Labour party.

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In a separate recorded interview, Mr Salmond added: Im just wondering what has actually provoked it now. They are saying its the European result I thought he campaigned perfectly OK Im sort wondering  and I know some other people are  if this is not a bit connected with the Chilcot report next week.

By many indications there is going to be a damning indictment of Tony Blair and his warmongering. Most of the people that are currently gunning for [Mr] Corbyn were among [Mr] Blairs keenest supporters  so Im wondering whether this is a pre-emptive strike about the Chilcot report because obviously Jeremy Corbyn has indicated he supports Tony Blair being held to account, as he should be. So I think theres a bit more to this than meets the eye. Never seen anything quite like it in a parliamentary party.

After the events of the past week, I wanted to talk directly to Labour Party members.https://t.co/mmLLLCIsL5  Jeremy Corbyn MP (@jeremycorbyn) July 4, 2016

The Inquiry, which was set up by former Prime Minister Gordon Brown in June 2009 to look into the run-up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq, will release its 2.6 million word report on Wednesday. It is expected to damage the reputations of a number of high-ranking officials.

Mr Salmond also told Sky News that there has to be a judicial or political reckoning for Mr Blair's role in the Iraq conflict.

He seemed puzzled as to why Jeremy Corbyn thinks he is a war criminal, why people don't like him, he added. The reason is 179 British war dead, 150,000 immediate dead from the Iraq conflict, the Middle East in flames, the world faced with an existential crisis on terrorism - these are just some of the reasons perhaps he should understand why people don't hold him in the highest regard.

We are waiting to see Chilcot producing the evidence, which we believe is there, which will allow action to be taken.

One way or another there are many MPs, and this is not a party political thing, this is across the political parties, who are absolutely determined that account has to be held to, he continued.

[They believe] that you cannot have a situation where this country blunders into an illegal war with the appalling consequences and at the end of the day there isn't a reckoning. There has to be a judicial or political reckoning for that.

Independent
An Taoiseach Enda Kenny and Northern Ireland First Minister Arlene Foster during a press conference at the North South Ministerial Council in Dublin Castle, Dublin. PA

Northern Ireland's power-sharing leaders are split over a proposed all-island forum to deal with the fall-out from Brexit.

First Minister Arlene Foster dismissed calls for a cross-border forum backed by Taoiseach Enda Kenny over the weekend.

But Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness has insisted there should be "no veto" on the proposed gathering, which would bring together business groups and other organisations on both sides of the border.

Speaking in Dublin at the North South Ministerial Council - set up during the peace process to cement relations - Ms Foster said there was no need for any formal all-Ireland talks.

"I believe that there are more than enough mechanisms by which we can discuss these issues on a north south basis," she said.

"Frankly I don't believe there are any mechanisms needed because we can lift the phone to each other on a daily basis if that were so needed."

Ms Foster, whose Democratic Unionist Party campaigned for a Leave vote, said it was time to "move on" with the UK negotiating in Europe on behalf of Northern Ireland.

But standing next to her at Dublin Castle, Northern Ireland Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness said all stakeholders, including businesses, should have a forum to put across their views on post-Brexit arrangements.

"I still think the forum suggestion is a good suggestion - I don't believe there should be a veto," he said.

Mr McGuinness said such a body would not undermine any party who did not want to take part.

Expand Close Northern Ireland First Minister Arlene Foster with Taoiseach Enda Kenny (left) and Northern Ireland Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness during a press conference at the North South Ministerial Council in Dublin Castle, Dublin. PA PA / Facebook

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Whatsapp Northern Ireland First Minister Arlene Foster with Taoiseach Enda Kenny (left) and Northern Ireland Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness during a press conference at the North South Ministerial Council in Dublin Castle, Dublin. PA

The Sinn Fein chief, whose party campaigned for a Remain vote, warned Northern Ireland could be "plunged back into the type of situation we were in prior to the Fresh Start Agreement last year" unless there is "collective agreement" on the way forward.

A majority vote in Northern Ireland to remain within the EU "cannot be lightly dismissed" by either the British of Irish governments, he added.

Some 56% of voters in Northern Ireland backed remaining within the EU.

Mr McGuinness also launched an attack on David Cameron.

"London is in chaos, the ruling Conservative Party are in chaos, and isn't it incredible that a British prime minister has resigned against the backdrop of calling a referendum that was driven by Ukip fascists and by the loony right of the Conservative Party?" he said.

Taoiseach Mr Kenny denied he had jumped the gun by suggesting an all-island forum before consulting with Ms Foster, saying he believed there is an opportunity for an "island conversation".

The premier said the body would not be a statutory assembly.

"That invitation is open to everybody but obviously it couldn't function effectively unless you have a buy in from everybody," he added.

Mr Kenny said very serious challenges lay ahead for both sides of the Irish border.

"We are heading into unknown territory," he added.
The latest Dublin gangland feud victim, David Douglas, was a key figure in the 'finance' wing of the IRA, according to sources.

The 55-year-old father of one was approached by a lone male gunman and shot in the head and chest on Bridgefoot Street, in the Liberties area of Dublin's south inner city, shortly after 4pm on Friday.

Douglas was an 'active service unit' (ASU) volunteer with the Provisional IRA employed in 'fund raising' for the organisation from the early 1980s.

He was caught by gardai during a robbery of a post office in Tallaght in which he fired a rifle at a garda. He received a 12-year sentence for attempted murder.

He was closely associated with the Dublin IRA group which transformed from a 'Concerned Parents' movement, which protested against drug dealers in the inner city, to extorting money from drug dealers before moving full-time into the trade itself.

He was sentenced to five years' imprisonment for possession with intent to supply 562,000 worth of cocaine in April 2008.

It is believed Douglas was targeted as he walked to his wife Yumei's shop, Shoestown, after a family funeral earlier in the day. He was taken to St James's Hospital, and later pronounced dead.

Gardai are investigating whether the murder is linked to the bitter feud between the Kinahan cartel and Hutch mob.

Douglas was associated with the IRA unit in Dublin which worked for the then major heroin and cocaine supplier in the state, 'businessman' and property speculator, Jim Mansfield.

Mansfield, who died in 2014, was importing drugs through Weston Aerodrome in Lucan, which he bought from the profits of drugs money laundering and his considerable legitimate profits from property development.

The drugs were supplied by the Kinahan operation in Spain and Belgium. The Garda Special Branch had for years known of connections between Mansfield/Kinahan and the Provo smugglers, who adapted their arms importation routes to drugs importation in the 1990s.

Garda sources said senior IRA finance officer Joe Cahill, one of Gerry Adams' mentors, called at Mansfield's home on the last Friday of each month to collect protection money for the 'movement' - when the Provos claimed to be fighting the "scourge" of drugs in Dublin.

Hours after Douglas was shot, a man posted a message on the Shoestown shop's Facebook page calling him "drug dealing scum".

Ms Douglas took to Facebook to respond: "I don't know what to say. Are you ... another evil come to us?"

Last night, she shared a message for her late husband, writing: "Hiya Dathi, just want say something. I know you must be somewhere, maybe sat on the sofa, I try to see you there, and say good night, as normal".
Taoiseach Enda Kenny is considering the development of an all-island forum to map out a way forward in the wake of Brexit.

While the plans have been welcomed by the SDLP and Sinn Fein, the Democratic Unionists said the Irish Government cannot speak for the region in any forthcoming negotiations.

The contentious EU referendum result is expected to top the agenda at a North South Ministerial Meeting in Dublin on Monday where political leaders will discuss co-operation on a number of common policies.

SDLP Leader Colum Eastwood said the proposed new forum was essential.

He said: " We believe that it is necessary to consider the issues and implications, not least in terms of helping to develop optimum coherence and consensus on how to minimise the adverse economic fallout and ensure growth on the island.

"We must ensure that any border which is erected is only operational around the island of Ireland, not across it.

"This week we have had confirmation that neither the British Government nor the Northern Ireland Executive have put in place contingency plans to deal with the fallout of the referendum result.

"Here on the island of Ireland, we must map the challenges, purposes and priorities that could most affect us, north and south, rather than following the impulses and bad decisions of the British Government."

Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams also welcomed the plan.

"Subject to seeing the details of the Taoiseach's proposals, I welcome the commitment to establish such a forum," he said.

"Any such forum must have island-wide participation and involve the Assembly parties, the Oireachtas, the European Parliament and civic society.

"The vote of the clear majority of citizens in the North who want to remain in the EU must be respected and defended.

"The Remain vote brought together unionists, nationalists, republicans and others in common cause on the same platform.

"Those who campaigned for a Leave vote should also be invited."

Some 56% of voters in Northern Ireland wanted to stay within the EU while 44% opted to leave.

Overall the UK voted to leave the UK by a slim majority of 52% to 48%.

During an appearance the BBC's Sunday Politics programme, the DUP's Sir Jeffrey Donaldson was adamant that the future of Northern Ireland should be decided by the UK Government and Stormont Executive.

"The Irish government will not be negotiating on behalf of Northern Ireland - it will be the UK government and the Northern Ireland Executive will be part of that," he said.
A two-year-old boy who fell from the sixth floor of a hotel was last night fighting for his life in a Dublin hospital. File image

A two-year-old boy who fell from the sixth floor of a hotel was last night fighting for his life in a Dublin hospital.

The boy fell from a balcony at The Strand Hotel in Limerick at around 1pm on Saturday, suffering severe injuries.

The toddler was treated at the scene by a local doctor before been rushed by ambulance to University Hospital Limerick.

He was transferred to Temple Street Hospital in Dublin hours later.

A source said the boy has "severe internal organ injuries" and "spinal fractures".

A hotel source confirmed the sixth floor was not booked for use, and it is unclear as to why or how the boy came to be there.

A hotel spokesperson said: "We are still trying to determine what exactly happened.

"We can confirm there was an incident at the hotel, around lunchtime, when a little boy came off the sixth floor.

"He is critically ill. The hotel's thoughts and prayers are with the child and his family."
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon will visit China on Wednesday, the Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei announced on Monday.

Ban will meet with President Xi Jinping, Premier Li Keqiang, State Councilor Yang Jiechi and Foreign Minister Wang Yi. Discussions will be held on China-UN cooperation, international affairs and major international issues.

He will also attend a meeting commemorating the 10th anniversary of the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and visit a training base for China's peace-keeping helicopter unit.

Ban's five-day trip will also bring him to Hangzhou in Zhejiang province and Suzhou in Jiangsu province.

"China values the key role played by the UN in international affairs, and firmly safeguard the international order and system with the aim and principle of the UN Charter as its core," Hong said.

"As this year marks the 45th anniversary of the restoration of China's legitimate seat in the UN, China hopes to take the opportunity of Ban's visit to further consolidate and deepen bilateral cooperation with the UN," he added.

mojingxi@chinadaily.com.cn
The Queen has called for "quiet thinking and contemplation" in her first public address since the EU referendum.

During a weekend speech at the opening of the fifth session of the Scottish Parliament, the monarch acknowledged an "increasingly complex and demanding world" in which "events and developments can and do take place at remarkable speed".

She recognised that "retaining the ability to stay calm and collected can at times be hard", but emphasised the importance of "hope and optimism", adding that the new session of Scottish Parliament was bringing with it "a real sense of renewal".

"One hallmark of leadership in such a fast-moving world is allowing sufficient room for quiet thinking and contemplation which can enable deeper, cooler consideration of how challenges and opportunities can be best addressed," she added.

While the Queen did not allude directly to the EU referendum result, her words have been widely viewed as an apolitical reference to Brexit and the political changes in Britain.

In response to the monarch's speech, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said Scotland "should play our part in a stronger Europe and a better world" during a highly political address to the chamber.

The Brexit vote has ignited calls for a new referendum on Scottish independence after 62% of the Scottish population voted for remaining in the EU.

Yesterday the Queen attended a church service in Edinburgh during her week-long visit to Scotland.

Hundreds lined the city's Royal Mile to catch a glimpse of the monarch and the Duke of Edinburgh as they visited the Canongate Kirk.

The Queen, who was wearing a matching jacket and hat in cornflower blue, was met by the kirk's minister, the Reverend Neil Gardner.
Contenders for the post of Prime Minister, Michael Gove and Andrea Leadsom, on the Andrew Marr show

Michael Gove - the Conservative leadership candidate who withdrew his support for fellow Brexit campaigner Boris Johnston - has criticised Northern Ireland's peace process.

In an uncompromising interview, he was told by Andrew Marr he was viewed as the "Frank Underwood" - the Machiavellian character from the US version of House of Cards - of British politics and had "betrayed" his friends.

But Mr Gove said putting friendship first in politics did not serve the country.

Pressed on his past comments describing the Northern Ireland peace process as a "moral stain" and a "capitulation to violence", he insisted the negotiations "could have been handled in a different way".

"There was a problem with the Northern Ireland peace process," he added.

The leading Leave campaigner also insisted the decision to quit the European Union would not lead to the break-up of the UK.

"I don't believe that we will need to go down that path," he said. "There is no appetite for a second referendum."

Last night, Mr Gove became the first of the Conservative leadership candidates to publish his tax returns during the campaign.

The Justice Secretary paid nearly 70,000 tax in the two years up to April 2015, the documents reveal.

Mr Gove's income in 2013/14 when he was Education Secretary was 117,786. The following year his earnings dropped to 96,071 when he became chief whip in Prime Minister David Cameron's reshuffle.

Meanwhile, Home Secretary Theresa May has demanded a "proper contest" for the Conservative leadership, as polling suggests she is racing towards victory. The frontrunner to replace David Cameron said she was not taking "anything for granted", adding there is a need for the arguments to be heard by Tory members.

Bitter recriminations over rival Mr Gove's decision to pull the rug from under Boris Johnson's leadership bid appear to have dented his prospects of taking on Mrs May in the final vote.

Mr Gove faces being pushed into third place in the bid to replace Mr Cameron by fellow Brexit campaigner Andrea Leadsom, whose support is growing.

Meanwhile, speaking on ITV's Peston on Sunday show, Mrs May dismissed the prospect of an early general election for the new prime minister as "another destabilising factor" for the economy.
Labour deputy leader Tom Watson is to hold emergency talks with trade union leaders after a fresh attempt to persuade Jeremy Corbyn to step down fell on deaf ears.

At a one-to-one meeting at Westminster, Mr Watson told Mr Corbyn he could not carry on as party leader without the backing of the party's MPs who last week voted overwhelmingly in favour of a vote of no confidence in him, Labour sources said.

Mr Corbyn was said to have responded by making clear he had no intention of leaving, and put out a video appeal to supporters to unite behind his leadership.

Sources said union leaders had "reached out" to Mr Watson to see if they could find a negotiated settlement, with talks expected to take place on Tuesday morning.

At the weekly meeting of the Parliamentary Labour Party at Westminster, Mr Watson told MPs: "It is the last throw of the dice."

Earlier Mr Watson met former shadow business secretary Angela Eagle and ex-shadow work and pensions secretary Owen Smith, who are both considering a challenge to Mr Corbyn if he continues to resist calls to go.

Both were said have agreed to hold back while there was still a chance of a negotiated settlement which would see Mr Corbyn finally walk away.

"They accept that is the right thing to do while there is a chance of some kind of deal," one source said.

"Tom said he is aware the window is closing very rapidly. The Parliamentary Labour Party have made their views very clear. I don't think they will regard any settlement that sees Jeremy remain in place as being acceptable."

Details of the meeting with the union leaders - where Mr Watson will be joined by the chairman of the PLP John Cryer - were still being thrashed out.

In his video, posted on the internet, Mr Corbyn insisted he was carrying on with the responsibility given to him when elected leader by an overwhelming majority of grassroots members and called for the party to "come together".

He swatted away claims he only half-heartedly campaigned for EU membership in the referendum and so contributed to the vote for Brexit, - which triggered the current crisis - pointing out that two thirds of Labour voters backed Remain.

He said the party has won every by-election it stood in since he became leader and increased majorities in some seats, while the membership had gone up by more than 60,000 in one week.

"We're now at the biggest membership we've been, certainly in all of my lifetime," he said.

"That membership wants and expects all of us - me as leader and members of Parliament, to work together in their interests, the interests of everyone in this country, to achieve a better society, better standards of living and real equality in the future.

"That's what the Labour Party stands for."

Mr Corbyn's message was compared to a "hostage video" by his critics, with one source dismissing the "continued acts of desperation" from the leader.

Earlier, Ms Eagle made clear she was ready to mount a leadership challenge if Mr Corbyn did not step down.

"There are many people, MPs, party members up and down the country, asking me to resolve the impasse and I will if something isn't done soon," she told Sky News.

"I have the support to run and resolve this impasse and I will do so if Jeremy doesn't take action soon."

The fear for the rebels seeking to oust Mr Corbyn is that if they do put up a challenger he could still win in a ballot of grassroots activists leaving him even more strongly entrenched in his position.

Meanwhile, it emerged that another frontbencher has quit following last week's mass resignations which saw more than 60 shadow ministers and parliamentary aides walk out in protest at his leadership.

Fabian Hamilton said he had told his Constituency Labour Party in Leeds North East he was standing down as a shadow Foreign Office minister as the party was divided and more than 80% of MPs no longer had any confidence in Mr Corbyn.
Nigel Farage has resigned as Ukip leader.

It follows the EU referendum vote for the United Kingdom to leave the European Union.

Mr Farage, 52, has had two stints as leader of the Eurosceptic party since 2006, and announced he was quitting the post after failing to win a Commons seat in the 2015 general election, only to change his mind days later.

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In a speech in London setting out Ukip's strategy for the post-referendum period, Mr Farage said: "During the referendum campaign, I said I want my country back. What I'm saying today is I want my life back, and it begins right now."

Mr Farage said his political career since first standing for Ukip in the Eastleigh by-election of 1994 had been "a long journey, not at every stage of the way an easy one, although most of it, I have to say, has been tremendous fun".

"Tough those it has been at times it has definitely all been worth it.

"I have never been and never wanted to be a career politican.

I now feel that Ive done my bit, that I couldn't possibly achieve more than what we managed to get in the EU Referendum.

Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Previous Next Close Leader of UKIP Nigel Farage takes the applause after addressing delegates during his keynote speech on September 20, 2013 in London, England. Members of the United Kingdom Independent Party have gathered at Central Hall, Westminster for the annual conference. Nigel Farage has predicted that the party will come first in next year's European elections, saying it is "growing up" after success in local elections. (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images) United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) member Nigel Farage takes a cigarette break as he campaigns on April 8, 2010 in Winslow, England. UKIP Member of the European Parliament, Nigel Farage, is standing in the constituency of Parliament's speaker John Bercow in the general election which is to be held on May 6, 2010. Electoral convention dictates that main political parties do not put up candidates in the current Speakers constituency. (Photo by Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images) A light aircraft lies in a field at Hinton Airfield after crashing on May 6, 2010 in Brackley, England. The aircraft was carrying United Kingdom Independence Party candidate Nigel Farage and towing a banner when it crashed. Farage was admitted to hospital after suffering facial cuts and injuries to the chest. (Photo by Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images) UKIP Leader Nigel Farage speaks at a press conference at the The Emmanuel Centre on July 4, 2016 in London, England. Mr Farage today said he would be standing down as leader of UKIP during a press conference to outline his party's plan for 'Brexit' following the referendum which saw the United Kingdom vote to leave the European Union. (Photo by Jack Taylor/Getty Images) Getty Images UKIP Leader Nigel Farage MEP, speaks at the final 'We Want Our Country Back' public meeting of the EU Referendum campaign on June 20, 2016 in Gateshead, England. Campaigning continues across the UK as the country goes to the polls on Thursday, to decide whether Britain should leave or remain in the European Union. (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images) Leader of the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) Nigel Farage poses with the party's new EU referendum poster in Westminster on June 16, 2016 in London, England. UKIP today launched their new advert as part of their campaign to leave the European Union ahead of the EU referendum on the 23rd of June. (Photo by Jack Taylor/Getty Images) UKIP leader Nigel Farage gestures to a member of the public while sitting down in a cafe for a cup of tea, during a walk about on June 13, 2016 in Ramsgate, England. Mr Farage will be spending the day driving around the region speaking to members of the public about the forthcoming EU referendum. Campaigning continues by all parties ahead of the EU referendum which takes place on June 23rd, 2016. (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images) Nigel Farage holds up a British Passport which he would like to see without European Union written on during his speach at the UKIP Spring Conference on February 27, 2016 in Llandudno, Wales. UKIP's annual national Spring Conference is being held for the first time in Wales during the Welsh assembly election campaign. The elections for the National Assembly will take place on May 5 with polls predicting UKIP could win nine seats in the Senedd. (Photo by Richard Stonehouse/Getty Images) Nigel Farage poses for a photograph as he unveils a new UKIP campaign poster for European Elections on May 11, 2014 in London, England. David Cameron has hinted he may take part in TV debates with the UKIP leader, but on the basis that other party leaders are also involved. (Photo by Matthew Lloyd/Getty Images) UKIP leader Nigel Farage arrives to speak at UKIP public meeting at Old Basing Village Hall on April 9, 2014 in Basingstoke, England. Mr Farage made the surprise visit and spoke about the recent resignation of the Former Culture Secretary Maria Miller. (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images) UKIP leader Nigel Farage attends a coffee morning at Coppins Community Centre, on April 13, 2015 in Clacton, England. Britain goes to the polls in a General Election on May 7. (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images) United Kingdom Independence Party leader Nigel Farage speaks during a conference in which the party's immigration policy was unveiled on March 4, 2015 in London, England. Farage stated that UKIP wants immigration to return to "normal" levels with around 20,000 to 50,000 migrants issued with work permits. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images) United Kingdom Indepedence Party (UKIP) leader Nigel Farage smiles as he holds a wash bag with writing on which reads 'Don't Panic' as he campaigns ahead of the general election on February 12, 2015 in Benfleet, England. Party leader Nigel Farage is making his fist major speech of the 2015 general election. He has stated that both the Conservative and Labour parties fear that UKIP will hold the balance of power in an election with no clear winner. (Photo by Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images) United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) leader, Nigel Farage, speaks to members of the public at a sold-out public meeting at Hoo Village Institute on November 4, 2014 in Rochester, England. Rochester and Strood will hold a by-election on November 20th following the defection of Conservative Party Member of Parliament, Mark Reckless to the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP). (Photo by Rob Stothard/Getty Images) UK Independence Party (UKIP) leader Nigel farage poses for photographs at party headquarters after Douglas Carswell won the Clacton-on-Sea by-election for UKIP on October 10, 2014 in England. Mr Carswell will become the first UKIP Member of Parliament. (Photo by Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images). (Photo by Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images) Nigel Farage speaks to the press after winning the Thanet Hustings to select the Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for the Kent Constituency on August 26, 2014 at The Odd Fellows Hall in Ramsgate, England. Nigel Farage beat four other candidates for the position and spoke to a packed hall about his plans to regenerate the area and his hopes of becoming Ukip's first MP. (Photo by Mary Turner/Getty Images) UK Independence Party (UKIP) Leader Nigel Farage addresses members of the public during a political meeting at the Armstrong Hall as he canvasses for votes during the local election on April 30, 2013 in South Shields, England. The UK Independence party leader, Nigel Farage, said that his party faced 'one or two teething problems' with its 17000 candidates for Thursday's local elections after the suspension of UKIP candidate Alex Wood, who was photographed making a Nazi salute. (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images) UKIP Leader Nigel Farage speaks at a press conference at the The Emmanuel Centre on July 4, 2016 in London, England. Mr Farage today said he would be standing down as leader of UKIP during a press conference to outline his party's plan for 'Brexit' following the referendum which saw the United Kingdom vote to leave the European Union. (Photo by Jack Taylor/Getty Images) Getty Images UKIP Leader Nigel Farage knocks on doors in a residential street as he campaigns for the forthcoming by-election on February 22, 2013 in Eastleigh, Hampshire. The by-election is being fought for the former seat of ex-Liberal Democrat MP Chris Huhne and will be held on February 28, 2013. (Photo by Matt Cardy/Getty Images) / Facebook

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Whatsapp Leader of UKIP Nigel Farage takes the applause after addressing delegates during his keynote speech on September 20, 2013 in London, England. Members of the United Kingdom Independent Party have gathered at Central Hall, Westminster for the annual conference. Nigel Farage has predicted that the party will come first in next year's European elections, saying it is "growing up" after success in local elections. (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

"And I should now stand aside as Ukip leader, he said.

Mr Farage said: "I have decided to stand aside as leader of Ukip. The victory for the Leave side in the referendum means that my political ambition has been achieved. I came into this business because I wanted us to a self-governing nation, not to become a career politician.

Ukip is in a good position and will continue, with my full support to attract a significant vote. Whilst we will now leave the European Union the terms of our withdrawal are unclear. If there is too much backsliding by the Government and with the Labour Party detached from many of its voters then Ukips best days may yet to come."

Mr Farage said he would not change his mind about quitting as he did in 2015.

He added: "I wont be changing my mind again, I assure you.

Mr Farage said he would not comment on who should succeed him.

"May the best man or the best woman win", he said.

Commenting on the race for Prime Minister Mr Farage said "we need a Brexit prime minister."

He said: "We have to have a Brexit prime minister".

But said he would not "damn any one of them by offering my support at this time".

"Any regrets no, we voted to leave the European union - hooray."

He added: "I got into politics to achieve something and I think we achieved it."

More to follow
David Douglas, his wife Yumei and the scene of the shooting last week. Credit Irish Independent

The wife of gangland shooting victim David Daithi Douglas has responded to online taunts that he was "drug dealing scum" and deserved to die.

The father-of-one died on Friday afternoon after being shot in the head and chest by a lone male gunman.

Douglas (55) was killed outside his wife Yumeis Shoestown shop on Bridgefoot Street, in Dublins south inner city.

Just hours after Douglas was shot, a man posted a message on the shops Facebook page describing him as drug dealing scum".

Ms Douglas took to Facebook to respond: I dont know what to say. Are you ... another evil come to us?

She also thanked her friends for their support and added that she will be ok.

Last night, she shared a touching message for her late husband, writing: Hiya Dathi, just want say something. I know you must be somewhere, maybe sat on the sofa, I try to see you there, and say good night, as normal.

She continued: Still remember that day, last kiss from you before I rush to the work, can't believe from that time we were in different world.

Ms Douglas ended the message noting that they were so happy to be together and that she would wait for you to come to my dream.

Douglas, who was living in Cabra, was the target of another assassination attempt last year and had previously been convicted of drug dealing.

In 2008, Douglas was sentenced to 10 years in prison, with five suspended, after he was caught with 8kg of cocaine, worth 562,000, concealed in a black holdall bag.

He was released from jail in 2013.

In November, an attempt on Douglass life was made when a car pulled up alongside him as he was walking his dog and shot him three times in the chest.

Speaking about the attack last year, Ms Douglas told the Herald that he had turned his life around since he was released.

I dont care about whatever his history is, but hes on the good way now, she said at the time.

Since he is out (of prison) two years ago, he didnt do anything wrong. I know he has some background history, but thats the past. Everybody wants to change.

Im from China and if you try to do good, you will get a chance to make your life.

Ms Douglas met her husband 14 years ago when she was working in a bar near his house, and together they have a daughter.

She described their time together as a happy life for me and him", adding: He enjoys his life and he loves all of us and his family.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has kicked off an historic four-nation tour of Africa in Uganda, saying his country's raid on the Entebbe airport 40 years ago, in which his brother was killed, "changed the course" of his life.

Speaking shortly after his arrival in Uganda, Mr Netanyahu praised Israel's commando raid on the airport which freed Israeli hostages from a hijacked plane.

"International terrorism suffered a stinging defeat," he said of the mission in July 1976.

The Entebbe rescue is a seminal event in Israeli history and is widely seen as one of the country's greatest military successes. It also was a monumental event for Mr Netanyahu, as the death of his brother, Yonatan, pushed him into the public eye and on a track that would take him to the country's highest office.

An Israeli band played sombre tunes at the airport on the shore of Lake Victoria to mark the anniversary of the Israeli rescue mission, during which three hostages were killed.

A relative of one of the Israeli hostages lit a memorial flame as Mr Netanyahu and Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni stood in silence.

Mr Netanyahu travelled to Uganda with soldiers and pilots who were members of the rescue team.

"This is a deeply moving day for me," he said. "Forty years ago they landed in the dead of night in a country led by a brutal dictator who gave refuge to terrorists. Today we landed in broad daylight in a friendly country led by a president who fights terrorists."

Mr Netanyahu will also visit Kenya, Rwanda and Ethiopia.

"After many decades, I can say unequivocally Israel is coming back to Africa and Africa is coming back to Israel," he said. "All of our peoples will benefit greatly from our growing partnership."

Mr Museveni said his government opposes the "indiscriminate use of violence". He said Uganda's government supports a two-state solution to the conflict between Israel and Palestine.

"The two of you belong to that area," Mr Museveni said, urging both sides to live "side by side in two states... in peace and with recognised borders."

Mr Netanyahu later attended a summit meeting of regional leaders focusing on security and the fight against Islamic extremists.

In addition to Mr Netanyahu and Mr Museveni, the meeting was attended by the leaders of Ethiopia, Kenya, South Sudan, Rwanda, Tanzania and Zambia.

A communique at the end of the meeting said the leaders "emphasised the need for increased regional and international co-operation in all fields, including cyber security and information gathering to confront this scourge."

Entebbe International Airport is where Mr Netanyahu's brother, Yonatan, was struck by a bullet as he led Israeli commandos in a daring rescue mission to rescue hijacked Israeli passengers.

Four decades later, Uganda has good relations with Israel, which is courting allies to counter Palestine's rising influence at the United Nations. While in Uganda, Mr Netanyahu will also attend a security-themed summit of regional leaders, including those from Kenya and Tanzania, said Don Wanyama, a spokesman for Uganda's president.

Although the rescue mission breached Uganda's territorial integrity, then-Ugandan president Idi Amin, who had taken power by force and ruled as a dictator, had become an increasingly isolated figure and would soon be forced out of power with the help of Tanzanian forces.

Mr Museveni himself led one of several exile groups that waged a guerrilla war against Amin, who was accused of many human rights atrocities and who died in Saudi Arabia in 2003.

Still, some Ugandans say Mr Netanyahu's historic visit should be a moment to mourn the Ugandan victims of the operation. Moses Ali, Uganda's deputy prime minister who served as a government minister under Amin, told Uganda's Daily Monitor newspaper that the rescue mission should not be celebrated by Ugandans.

"If you are siding with Israelis, then you can celebrate because it was their victory," he said. "If you are not, then you should be mourning our dead ones."

Israel wants African states to side with it at the UN, where the General Assembly overwhelmingly recognised Palestine as a non-member observer state in 2012. The Palestinians have used their upgraded status to launch a diplomatic offensive against Israel and its occupation of lands where the Palestinians hope to establish a future state.

"Israel has been on a mission to repair its image globally and more specifically within the UN where the Africa group has for decades now supported the Palestinian cause, and vote in general toward that end," said Angelo Izama, a Ugandan analyst who runs a think tank called Fana Kwawote.

As a key US ally on regional security, especially in violence-prone Somalia, Uganda is an attractive ally for Israel as well, according to Mr Izama.

"Washington views the Museveni administration as a regional hegemon, a key to the security of the wider region. Uganda's involvement in counter-terrorism in Somalia... and its significant expenditure on security goods, including arms and technology, are another reason" for Mr Netanyahu's visit, he said.

Mr Netanyahu's African trip has generated some controversy at home, due to the large size of his delegation, as well as the personal nature of the visit.

In an editorial published on Monday, the Haaretz daily praised Mr Netanyahu for strengthening Israel's ties with Africa, but suggested that he was largely driven by his own emotional involvement.

"Despite the expected success of the diplomatic and economic contacts, it's hard to shake off the impression that the entire trip would not be taking place were it not for Netanyahu's desire to take advantage of his official position in order to conduct a ceremony in the old Entebbe airport," it wrote.

Mr Netanyahu will travel to Kenya later on Monday.
A suicide bomber has reportedly detonated a device near the security headquarters of the Prophet's Mosque in Medina, Saudi Arabia, the state-owned al-Arabiya TV reports.

An explosion has struck near one of Islam's holiest sites in Saudi Arabia's city of Medina, as two suicide bombers struck in different cities, news websites reported.

Sabq news site reported the explosion, and other sites showed images of what appeared to be a fire outside one of the buildings overlooking the Prophet's Mosque. It was not immediately clear if anyone was killed or wounded in the blast.

The sprawling mosque where the Prophet Muhammad is buried is visited by millions of Muslims from around the world each year during pilgrimages to Mecca.

The area would have been packed with pilgrims for prayer during the final days of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which ends this week.

The Interior Ministry could not be immediately reached for comment.

Also on Monday evening, a suicide bomber and a car bomb exploded near a Shiite mosque in eastern Saudi Arabia, according to a resident there, several hours after another suicide bomber carried out an attack near the US Consulate in the western city of Jiddah.

The possibility of coordinated, multiple attacks across different cities in Saudi Arabia on the same day underscores the threat the kingdom faces from extremists who view the Western-allied Saudi monarchy as heretics and enemies of Islam.

Saudi Arabia is part of the US-led coalition fighting the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria.

The attack in the eastern region of Qatif did not appear to cause any injuries, said resident Mohammed al-Nimr, whose brother is Nimr-al-Nimr, a prominent Saudi Shiite cleric executed in January.

He said the bomber detonated his suicide vest when most residents of the neighbourhood were at home breaking the daily Ramadan fast.

Qatif is heavily populated by Shiites, who are a minority in the Sunni-ruled kingdom. Mr al-Nimr said that near the body of a suicide bomber was a car bomb that also went off around the same time.

The IS group's local affiliates in the kingdom have previously attacked Shiite places of worship, including an attack on a Shiite mosque in Qatif in May 2015 that killed 21 people.

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Earlier on Monday, the Interior Ministry said a suicide bomber had detonated his explosives when security guards approached him near the US Consulate in Jiddah.

The attacker died and the two security men were lightly wounded, according to the ministry statement, which was published by the state-run Saudi Press Agency. Some cars in the parking lot were damaged.

Interior Ministry spokesman Major General Mansour al-Turki was quoted in the statement as saying the guards noticed the man was acting suspiciously at an intersection on the corner of the heavily fortified consulate, near a hospital and a mosque.

The US Embassy in Saudi Arabia confirmed there were no casualties among consular staff, and said it remains in contact with Saudi authorities as they investigate.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.

The Interior Ministry did not say whether the bomber intended to target the US diplomatic compound, adding that an investigation is under way to determine his identity.

The state-run news channel al-Ekhbariya, quoting the Interior Ministry, said the bomber was not a Saudi citizen, but a resident of the kingdom. It gave no further details on his nationality. There are around nine million foreigners living in Saudi Arabia, which has a total population of 30 million.

Footage aired on the channel after the attack showed crime scene investigators and police casing the area for evidence and dusting for fingerprints. Al-Ekhbariya said security forces detonated six explosive devices found at the scene.

A 2004 al Qaida-linked militant attack on the US Consulate in Jiddah killed five locally hired consular employees and four gunmen. The three-hour battle at the compound came amid a wave of al Qaida attacks targeting Westerners and Saudi security posts.

More recently, Saudi Arabia has been a target of Islamic State attacks that have killed dozens of people. In June, the Interior Ministry reported 26 terror attacks in the kingdom in the last two years.

The US Embassy regularly issues advisory messages for US citizens in Saudi Arabia. In a message issued on Sunday and another one issued after the attack Monday, the embassy urged Americans to "remain aware of their surroundings, and take extra precautions when travelling throughout the country." It also advised citizens to "carefully consider the risks of travelling to Saudi Arabia."

In neighbouring Kuwait on Monday, security forces said they had arrested several suspects with alleged ties to IS, including an 18-year-old man who was planning to attack a Shiite mosque in the final days of Ramadan.

Officials did not say when the arrests took place. An IS affiliate claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing carried out by a Saudi man last year in one of Kuwait's oldest Shiite mosques. That attack killed 27 people.
Is it time to send in the police to storm Labour Party HQ and release the prisoner known as Jeremy Corbyn? In the past few weeks, Corbyn's been looking increasingly like a prime candidate for a home for the bewildered.

As someone who has always hated the EU but had been forced by his party to argue for Remain, he had a lacklustre campaign that did little to stem the flow of Labour voters to Leave.

As members of his front bench began resigning on the grounds that he wasn't up to the job, he looked defiant, but as they were joined by dozens more and he became a national laughing-stock, he looked desperate.

For someone who has deliberately avoided confrontation all his life, this must be unendurable.

An MP since 1982; until last year, when he accidentally became leader, Corbyn avoided spending any time with people whose politics he didn't share or who might criticise him.

When he wasn't marrying, divorcing and having affairs with the likes of Diane Abbott, who is as thick as he is and ten times as smug, Corbyn was industriously making speeches to small gatherings of the socialist faithful, demonstrating in favour of any anti-West or anti-Israeli cause that came along, and hosting meetings with supporters of such terrorist organisations as the IRA, Hamas and Hezbollah.

Now, with his party looking as if it might disintegrate, he has been given several chances to resign with dignity, but it's clear the hard-left are insisting he stay in his job.

Resignation rumours were swiftly slapped down by his chief aide, that implacable product of Winchester and Oxford, the class warrior and communist activist Seumas Milne, whose lifelong admiration for Stalin must be an inspiration in how to impose his will on others.

An article over Corbyn's name in the Labour-supporting Sunday Mirror said he would be staying on.

The most extraordinary development was a quote that same day from "a senior Labour source" said to be close to Corbyn, explaining why Tom Watson, elected as his deputy leader, who has been trying to broker an agreement, was being blocked by the leader's inner circle from seeing him.

Knowing that Watson's aides wanted him "to be on his own with Corbyn so that he can jab his finger at him", they decided this must not happen.

"He's a 70-year-old man," said the source.

(Actually, he's 67.)

"We have a duty of care."

There is, he added gravely, "a culture of bullying."

So we're being told by his supporters that the man who aspires to be Prime Minister is too old and fragile to be left alone with his deputy.

Talk about the Department of You Couldn't Make it Up!

Loyal Labour supporters are beside themselves, unable to make hay at the expense of a divided Conservative party because their party's plight is not just much more serious, but actually ridiculous.

But we shouldn't feel too sorry for Corbyn.

There is no doubt where his loyalties lie.

From the perspective of him and his intimates, unionists were - in Diane Abbott's words - "an enclave of white supremacist ideology", and the constitutional nationalists of the SDLP were beneath contempt.

Like John McDonnell, who also bosses him about, Corbyn was an enthusiastic speaker and supporter over many years at innumerable events commemorating "armed struggle", dead IRA terrorists and any violence against their state.

In 1984, Briefing, a hard-left magazine of whose editorial board Corbyn was general secretary, published an article in support of the Brighton IRA bombing that had killed five and injured 31.

Last week, having seen Corbyn ignore the bullying of a Jewish MP at a meeting on anti-Semitism in the Labour Party, Tom Harris, a Labour MP from 2001 to 2015, wrote that he no longer thought him "a nice man".

"Corbyn is a coward", he wrote, "who values the praise he gets from the wild-eyed Trots and misfits of Stop the War and the Socialist Workers Party far more highly than he values his duties as the leader of the country's (for now) second biggest political party".

Maybe, after all, the police should stay away and leave the prisoner to the tender mercies of his colleagues.
As one of the 16 million who voted for Remain, I have been appalled by the referendum result. The question now is what to do? England might have cast its lot with "yesterday", but Ulster seems to have a different dream.

As an Englishman, I know I need to tread carefully, so I offer the following with some trepidation, but in the hope that it will be treated in the spirit it is intended - as a contribution to the debate about Ulster's European future.

I have been thinking about the history of Great Britain, Germany and the EU. West Germany subsumed the old DDR into its federal structure and the new, enlarged Germany was accepted without demur as a member of the EU. The argument was that it was German reunification - not a new state joining.

In 1920, Scotland, the 26 counties of Eire and the six of Ulster were all part of the UK. A reunification of Scotland, Ulster and Eire would be a reunification of parts of the old British state - reunification of two parts with a third that happens to be a member of the EU.

This would bypass Spanish and French opposition to breakaway states gaining easy entry to the EU, for neither Corsica nor Catalonia have options of a reunification pathway.

I recognise that this could be anathema to many Ulstermen, but I would tentatively suggest that it does have some attractions, for the two communities each gain something.

The loyalists get immediate support from millions of Protestant Scots, so undermining their fear of Catholic domination, while the republicans and nationalists obtain a united Ireland.

For Scotland, it gives continued membership of the EU without having to face Spanish and French opposition and for Eire it gives the dream of a united Ireland. The federation would, of course, have to be carefully crafted, but that should not be beyond the wit of skilled constitutional lawyers and politicians if continued EU membership was the wish of the two current UK nations and Eire wanted a united Ireland.

This is a back-of-the-envelope idea of a federation of three polities. It is not fleshed out, but if the Germans could do it and the people of Ulster voted to remain in the EU, then even the outlandish, out-of-the box ideas might have legs.

M J ASHMORE

By email
The outcome of the EU referendum has left me, like more than 16 million other UK citizens, reeling. From that you will deduce that, unlike a majority of my age group, I was/am a Remain voter - and unapologetically so.

This is not the place to rehearse the Remain argument, it's obviously too late to do so.

However, I can engage in some hand-wringing and cringe at the utter misguidedness of voting Leave, though I can take some consolation from the fact that majorities in Northern Ireland, Scotland and London were Remainers.

Let me explain. I don't, indeed never did, nurture a starry-eyed view of the EU, never believing that it exemplifies a smooth, well-oiled decision-making machine: few Remainers did, or do. Its institutions appear sclerotic, remote and, for many, unaccountable.

It is, moreover, under extreme economic pressure and harbours within its borders populist movements and parties bristling with raw, hyper-nationalist sentiment, racism and xenophobia.

Grappling with such problems is a formidable undertaking, as is the task of confronting security threats, whether home-grown or foreign-based.

That the EU could, indeed should, have been more agile in the face of such challenges is a fair criticism. Nevertheless, in order to manage, if not resolve, these challenges demands integrated and collective responses.

To put it at its simplest, there is strength in numbers in pursuing political and economic stability in an increasingly uncertain, globalised world - an uncertainty that has been magnified by the UK's decision to take the Brexit door.

Leaving the EU is not to "take back control", whatever that means, nor is it to assert sovereign independence. The UK was sovereign in the EU and will remain so now that we have left. The EU was/is not a sovereign entity, let alone a sovereign state.

Decisions made by the 28 member states were and are agreed through a process of accommodation and consensus among member governments, not the European Commission: where proposals were deemed inimical to the national interest by the UK Government, they could be - and were - vetoed.

The consensual approach to decision-making in the EU exemplifies values and behaviours that we prize in our own devolved institutions.

Moreover, the UK exerted enormous power and influence in the EU, often in concert with France and Germany, accepting its obligations to our advantage, not least in relation to the single market, the world's most extensive, tariff-free trading bloc.

The vote to leave the EU renders the UK ever more vulnerable to market forces over which it cannot exert control.

Moreover, it will deprive us of access to the single market unless, that is, the new UK Government endorses the free movement of people from within the EU, a policy that Brexiteers will find it impossible to accept.

So, while Leavers assert our sovereign independence, which we never lost, we now run the real risk of jeopardising our economic future, let alone the damage that will be wrought to our place in the world.

Have no doubt that the process of negotiating a trade deal with the forthcoming 27-member EU will take years and years. The two-year time frame that will begin when the new Government triggers Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty will focus exclusively on the terms of departure. Thereafter, and only then, negotiations to effect the terms of a new deal with the EU will begin: the UK does not have the capacity to do both at one and the same time.

So, we are in for an extremely long haul. And the longer it takes the more uncertain our position becomes, not least because markets, like nature, abhor a vacuum.

In the run-up to the referendum it seemed to me unquestionably clear that the attendant risks of Brexit far outweighed the mooted benefits espoused by its advocates. And, note, that many of the apparent commitments made by Brexiteers - ending the free movement of people, spending an extra 350m per week on the NHS, remaining within the single market - are now turning to ashes.

Persuaded by sane, rational and, dare I say it, academic appraisals of the attendant risks of leaving the EU, I opted for Remain, as did a majority of electors in Scotland and Northern Ireland. For them, like me, risk-aversion was a factor influencing my decision.

One aspect of the Brexit campaign that I found especially disturbing was its anti-intellectualism. This was epitomised by Michael Gove's ill-judged, lofty and risible dismissal of "experts". It is more than faintly ironic that these very experts will be drawn on by the new Government as it embarks on the tortuous process of withdrawal. And experts, from within the civil and diplomatic service, academia, the legal profession, the private, public and voluntary sectors, will be key players in the process of redrawing our relationships with the EU and the wider world.

Voting Remain on the grounds that it minimised risk suggests a primarily negative motive. However, it is not negative to be risk-averse: on the contrary it is both sensible and necessary.

In deciding to go it alone outwith the EU the UK is now exposed to a much riskier future. Had the vote gone the other way, the means of risk management at our disposal would have been far more robust.

Anyway, we are where we are. But, wait a moment, where exactly are we?

Let's start on the domestic party front. Currently, the Labour Party is in utter disarray over Jeremy Corbyn's leadership. Until that is resolved the country is deprived of an effectual Opposition.

Indeed, if he wins the impending contest a weak Opposition will contribute to our collective disadvantage. He has to go, preferably gracefully.

Meanwhile, the Tory Party had been contemplating whether to replace one old Etonian Bullingdon boy David Cameron (below) with another, Boris Johnson, but it now has to look elsewhere given Johnson's withdrawal from the leadership race.

Whoever emerges as the new Prime Minister has to unite the party and, more importantly, the country: it is a decision that will be made ultimately by members of the Conservative Party, who constitute a miserly 0.003% of the UK electorate.

Herein lies a genuine difficulty. While the winning Remain vote in Northern Ireland, that included majorities in four unionist constituencies, does not - despite Sinn Fein's calls for a border poll - imperil its constitutional status, the vote in Scotland does threaten the unity of the UK.

Though there has been much made of the possibility of the Scottish Parliament withholding its legislative consent to Westminster legislation to withdraw formally from the EU - a route also available to our own Assembly - even if it did so, UK parliamentary sovereignty will prevail. However, that would by no means end the matter.

The Scottish independence genie is already well and truly out of the bottle, as Nicola Sturgeon has made clear. Although Cameron has assured the Scots, the Welsh and us that our devolved leaders will be involved fully in the Brexit negotiations, the terms of EU withdrawal must satisfy the Executives in Edinburgh, Cardiff and Stormont as well as the English.

Leave voters in the north-east of England, the Midlands, the Lincolnshire Wolds, Cornwall or the shires bordering Wales will not look kindly on a UK Government perceived to benefit the devolved nations at their expense.

Here the pressure on the DUP in general - and Arlene Foster in particular - will be intense. As a Leave-voting First Minister she must ensure that the resources available to Northern Ireland post-Brexit will, at the very least, match those available from our existing membership of the EU. In fact, Northern Ireland's current status as a net beneficiary of EU membership will require enhanced monies from the UK Treasury as tariffs are imposed by the remaining 27 member states, including at the border with the south: and have no doubt, the border will be reactivated. The only issue is how hard that border will be.

In short, the UK is in a pickle. It is abundantly clear that the Leavers do not have a plan, not even a Baldrick-like cunning one. So, is there space for cautious optimism?

No: for me and 16 million others the case is not proven. Taking refuge in tub-thumping notions of Britain's regained "greatness" is cold comfort: none can gainsay the strategic, political, economic and constitutional uncertainties that confront the UK for the foreseeable future, including an increasingly protectionist USA. And don't expect the EU to do us any favours.

EU membership helped the UK to avert political and economic decline, whereas departure threatens a new downturn. Many may console themselves with the thought that we Brits always find a way, that we'll muddle through and all will be well in the end. Try as I might, I am not persuaded.

Anyway, when I'm asked "What did you do in the referendum?", I'll be able, unlike the majority of my age group, to answer my children and grandson with a guilt-free face.

I fear for them, that Brexit will prove to be a classic case of be careful what you wish for.
Rebecca Millar defended her dad after he was mocked as a "knuckle-dragging contradiction" online.

Millar previously celebrated his hate symbol on social media saying it was the "best tattoo ever".

Ricky Millar pictured taking part in the Battle of the Somme centenary parade through Belfast city centre with Swastika tattoo clearly on show.

The daughter of a shamed loyalist who sported a Swastika tattoo at a Somme centenary parade last weekend says her father deeply regrets his Nazi marking.

Rebecca Millar leapt to the defence of her dad Ricky Millar after he was pictured in Sunday Life with a Swastika on his neck, saying he didnt get the tattoo for Nazi-related reasons.

However, east Belfast grandad Millar has previously boasted of his neo-Nazi credentials and even claims to be a member of the violent white supremacist gang Combat 18 while also being an ardent supporter of the state of Israel.

Brass-necked Hitler-loving Millar, who is normally prolific on his numerous social media sites, has been keeping his head down.

But he was widely condemned and ridiculed after the image of him parading in memory of the dead of the 1916 battle went viral on social media.

He was branded Thicky Millar and a knuckle-dragging contradiction after he was snapped marching in Belfast city centre last weekend with his Swastika clearly visible over his shirt collar.

Brazen Millar was also wearing a poppy on his lapel along with a badge of the UVF-linked sectarian murder gang the Red Hand Commando.

He walked with members of the procession who were wearing armbands of the original UVF, which formed part of the 36th Ulster Division of the British army, thousands of whom died at the Somme.

Responding to one Facebook commentator, Rebecca Millar posted: Hes not proud of the tattoo and he regrets it deeply.

In reply to another she wrote: I dont agree with most of his views but thats him. Hes his own person.

Expand Close Neo-Nazi Millar's bizarre support for Israel. / Facebook

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Whatsapp Neo-Nazi Millar's bizarre support for Israel.

He didnt get the Swastika because it was anything to do with the war, he has other beliefs, see instead of talking down about him actually praise him for being there.

But when Millar got his tattoo back in 2012 he took to Facebook to show it off, describing it as the best tattoo ever.

A friend then asked if he was still a member of the violent neo-Nazi organisation Combat 18 to which he replied Oh yes love, sure you have to, adding: Hail Hitler, Hail victory.

Expand Close Ricky Millar at a republican memorial in Milltown cemetery. / Facebook

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Whatsapp Ricky Millar at a republican memorial in Milltown cemetery.

The white supremacist group has been behind racist attacks on immigrants in the United Kingdom over the years and once launched a nail bomb campaign against ethnic minorities.

Despite idolising the Nazi regime, which murdered six million Jews in the Holocaust, Millar is also an extreme supporter of the state of Israel.

In 2014 Millar posted online: Israel should flatten Gaza. Long live Israel and later put up an image of the Israeli flag.

Millar is also an ardent anti-republican and is believed to be behind a graffiti attack on an IRA memorial in Belfasts Milltown Cemetery last month.

F*** the IRA and Ulster forever were sprayed on a Provisional IRA monument at the end of May.

Millar posted a picture online of himself in the graveyard captioned: We go where we want. Filthy Republican plot at Milltown with the poppy worn with pride. Oh the fun we had.

His friend, Ernie Devlin, was also present and wrote under a picture of himself: Me at the scum provie [sic] memorial plot in Milltown cemetery. Wish I had some bog roll but you want to see what I did to Thomas Begleys name.

Begley was killed in October 1993 when the bomb he was carrying went off prematurely, killing nine others.
This is the peeping Tom doctor awaiting the decision of a medical watchdog hearing into his creepy antics at Belfasts Royal Victoria Hospital.

Disgraced Dr Gareth Christopher Menagh, 33, appeared before a Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS) hearing last week in a case directly linked to his criminal conviction for spying on two female colleagues at the RVH.

Childrens doctor Menagh was found guilty of using a hidden phone camera to spy on the two women for his sexual gratification.

He was fined 6,000 at Belfast Crown Court in September 2014 - 2,000 on each of the charges.

But Menagh, who had an address in Newtownards, continued to work as a doctor and is understood to be working as a locum at hospitals in Shropshire.

The Queens University graduate went before a panel held by the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service in Manchester on Friday.

The hearing was held in private due to the sensitive nature of the details in the case with its decision due to be heavily redacted to protect the victims identities.

A judgment announcing whether Menagh, who previously worked as a paediatrician in Belfast and Coleraine, is impaired from practicing as a doctor is due to be published today.

Menagh was found guilty of making covert recordings of two of his female colleagues between September 2010 and January 2011.

He placed a mobile phone with a camera in an overnight changing room at the RVH on three occasions to capture the women getting undressed.

When interviewed by police he claimed that he didnt know the phone was recording and that he had left it there after getting changed in the room himself.

Before his case went before the courts he moved to the Causeway Hospital in Coleraine where he continued to practise but under strict conditions imposed by the GMC.

Menagh set up his own Lancashire registered company, GCM Locums Ltd in 2013.
Immigrants living in Assam state, who came from East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) before 1971, would have to reapply for citizenship with supporting documents, said the BJP, the party of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, picture at the partys national executive meeting in Allahabad, June 12, 2016.

Bengali Muslim Faizur Rehman sobbed helplessly while pleading for leniency when a court last month dismissed his claim of being Indian and ordered his detention.

He was born in India in 1949 but his name did not figure in its National Register for Citizens (NRC) because of a minor glitch, claims Rehman, a resident of Barpeta district in the northeastern Indian state of Assam.

According to the 1951 NRC, my name is mentioned as Faizul Bepari  probably an error on the part of the official who was updating the list then. The court said my name did not match with official records, Rehman, 67, told BenarNews before he was taken to a detention camp in Assam where suspected illegal immigrants are housed.

The states Foreigners Tribunal classified Rehman as a doubtful voter  or D voter  because he could not produce documents to validate his citizenship, according a court official.

Rehman is one of nearly 150,000 D-voters in Assam, which shares its border with Bangladesh, who live in fear of being left off of the NRCs final list after the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), piggy-backing on the promise to flush out all illegal Bangladeshi immigrants, came to power in state elections in May.

Rehman claimed that his father migrated to India from the former East Pakistan  now Bangladesh  in the 1930s, decades before the birth of Bangladesh in 1971.

But how do I prove it? he said. I am a poor laborer. I barely manage to make ends meet. I was more bothered about how my next meal would come than filing documents. I never thought I would have to prove my citizenship.

Rehman said he was aware that, like dozens of suspected illegal immigrants languishing in Assams six detention camps for failing to prove their citizenship, he, too, would likely never be able to get out.

Dhaka has never accepted India's claim of illegal Bangladeshi influx, making deportation difficult since it does not accept those who illegally crossed over to India as Bangladesh nationals.

What is happening to me is not right, Rehman said before being hauled off in a police van.

They should have known

During its polarizing election campaign, the BJP vowed to deport undocumented Bangladeshi immigrants, a large but unknown number of whom has settled in Assam and who arrived in India after 1971.

The party, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, said that although it would not deport some 2 million immigrants living in Assam who came to India from former East Pakistan before 1971, they would be barred from voting and would have to reapply for citizenship with supporting documents.

The last time the NRC, a process initiated by the Indian government to detect illegal immigrants, was updated in Assam was in 1951. The controversial procedure has picked up pace since the BJP won power in May, ending a 15-year reign of the All India National Congress, the principal opposition party.

The police are now, for the first time, creating an exclusive database of suspected and declared foreign nationals detained for illegally entering the country, a police source said, adding that this was being done under direction from the state government.

The government, while admitting that a vast majority of the poverty-stricken Assam residents who would not be able to produce valid identification documents would bear the brunt, said the NRC was the only way to check the illegal influx of Bangladeshis in the state.

Its natural for people who came to Assam decades ago to not bother about keeping documents. But for those who came from Bangladesh before 1971, they should have known that they would be asked to show documents sooner or later, Prateek Hajela, state coordinator of the NRC, told BenarNews.

All those who have names of their families or parental link in electoral rolls from 1952 to 1971, and can prove it, are considered to be genuine Indian citizens, Hajela said.

Discrimination against Muslims?

However, Muslim rights activists say the governments process of detecting illegal immigrants is aimed at de-franchising Bengali-speaking Muslims in Assam.

Through the NRC, the government is trying to create two types of citizens in the state, legal and illegal. The way the entire process has been designed, it appears as a mere tool to take away the political rights of Bengali-speaking Muslims, said Hafiz Ahmed, who heads a Guwahati-based NGO called Char Chapori Sahitya Parishad, which works to promote Assamese literature in the Muslim-dominated border areas of Assam.

Most of these people are bona fide Indian citizens, who possibly never kept any documents or lost them due to constant migrations from one place to another for work, Ahmed told BenarNews.

A senior official in the Bangladesh foreign ministry said it had yet to receive any information from the Indian side regarding the latest attempt to flush out suspected Bangladeshi illegal immigrants.

The intrusion of so-called Bengalis to India has been a long-standing issue between the two sides. India has been raising the issue at bilateral forums for several years, the director general-level official told BenarNews while requesting anonymity.

But we have yet to receive information on any fresh move by the Indian side on this issue following the latest legislative election [in Assam], he added.

Kamran Reza Chowdhury in Dhaka contributed to this report
Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida places flowers on a coffin of one of seven Japanese nationals killed in the terrorist attack in Bangladesh, at Haneda Airport, July 5, 2016. (AFP)

The parents of Simona Monti, one of nine Italians killed in the Bangladesh attack, cry on her coffin at the Ciampino military airbase, near Rome, July 5, 2016. (AFP)

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina places a floral tribute to the victims of the terror attack during a memorial service in Dhaka, July 4, 2016. (AFP)

Bangladeshis hold candles in memory of victims killed in the terror attack in Dhaka, July 3, 2016. AFP

Activists in Kolkata, India, hold a candlelight vigil to protest the terror attack in neighboring Bangladesh, July 3, 2016. AFP

Relatives of slain Indian teenager Tarishi Jain mourn during her funeral in Gurgaon, India, July 4, 2016. AFP

Relatives of slain Indian teenager Tarishi Jain carry her body for her last rituals in Gurgaon, India, July 4, 2016. AFP

A picture of Indian teenager Tarishi Jain, slain by terrorists at a cafe in Dhaka, is displayed prior to her funeral in Gurgaon, about 35 kilometers (22 miles) south of New Delhi, July 4, 2016. AFP

Relatives and friends of two victims of the terror attack in Dhakas Gulshan-2 diplomatic quarter mourn during their funeral in Dhaka, July 4, 2016. AFP

Men take part in a funeral for a victim of the bloody attack at the Holey Artisan Bakery in Dhaka, July 4, 2016. AFP

School girls carry a floral arrangement to pay their respects at a road block in Dhaka near the cafe where terrorists murdered 20 hostages, July 4, 2016. AFP

Updated at 3:10 p.m. ET on 2016-07-06

Funerals for victims of the July 1 and 2 terror attack at the Holey Artisan Bakery in Dhaka began Monday after Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina led a memorial service and released the bodies of the dead to families in Bangladesh and three other countries.

The death toll included 20 hostages hacked to death inside the cafe and two senior police officers who rushed to the scene after armed men stormed into the restaurant on Friday evening, July 1.

Six of the seven alleged assailants were killed when Bangladeshi army commanders stormed the restaurant about 10 hours later, rescuing 13 people still trapped inside.

The attackers reportedly separated Muslims from non-Muslims before slaughtering the latter, according to survivor accounts.

The dead hostages included nine Italians, seven Japanese, an Indian national, a U.S. citizen and two Bangladeshis, according to Inter-Service Public Relations, the publicity wing of the Bangladesh Armed Forces.
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Furniture retailer Lewis Group has made huge strides on the disclosure front, with its just released annual report providing critical insights into its operations and the quality of its debtors book.

The report includes its first detailed breakdown of its debtors book and a frank discussion of the effect of the tougher regulatory environment. However, an analysis of the information on its debtors has already prompted concerns that Lewis has not made sufficient provision against R641m of arrears it categorises as "satisfactory paid". The total value of the underlying loans in this category is R3.8bn.

Lewiss total book is valued at R5.9bn and the total provision for bad debt against this is R1.5bn. The bulk of this provision (slightly more than R1.3bn) relates to the "nonperforming accounts" category, which customers who have paid 65% or less of the amount due.

The impairment provision on the R641m arrears in "satisfactory" accounts is just R38m, and is to cover the in duplum rule, which limits the interest that can accrue on arrears. The notes to the accounts explain the decision to write off debts takes into account recent payment behaviour, payment ratings and age of the account.

Shareholder activist Dave Woollam welcomes the much improved disclosure on the debtors book, which, he says, now makes it possible for shareholders to get a better understanding of the companys most important asset. But he is concerned that Lewis is being too lax with the treatment of arrears in the "satisfactory" accounts.

"The one thing weve learnt from ... the collapse of African Bank is that firms have to take a firm stand with provisions." Woollam, who says more than 40% of the total book is in arrears, is adamant the firm has not made sufficient provisions.

After a public spat with Woollam at 2015s annual general meeting, Lewis undertook a review of the accounting policies attacked by Woollam. The policies, which relate to accounting for insurance, reinsurance and maintenance contracts, have been changed.

The corporate governance report includes a useful and frank description of the many difficulties that faced the company in financial 2016. It was referred to the National Credit Regulator for alleged breaches of the National Credit Act. In April 2016 the regulator again referred Lewis to the tribunal, this time for alleged breaches of the act relating to club fees and extended maintenance contracts charged to customers. Lewis is also opposing this referral.

Lewis was also served with summonses by current and previous customers for alleged breaches of the act in relation to delivery charges and extended maintenance charges.

Most recently, four Lewis directors  Johan Enslin, Les Davies, David Nurek and Hilton Saven  have been the subjects of a section 165 action taken by Woollam. He wants the four directors declared delinquent. The board is fighting the action, the first of its kind taken against listed company directors. It is due to be heard in the High Court in Cape Town on 18 August.
Famous Brands has bought a bankrupt tomato paste factory in the Coega precinct.

Kevin HedderwickPicture: Supplied

The factory is state-of-the-art and practically unused, Famous Brands said in its announcement on Monday. It cost R200m to build in 2010. The company did not say how much it had paid.

This acquisition follows a purchase of a chips factory, Lamberts Bay Foods, on 26 May in the groups drive to secure its supply chain by owning makers of key ingredients.

Between 30,000 and 35,000 tonnes of tomato paste was imported into SA every year because of a lack of local manufacturing capacity, Kevin Hedderwick, the groups strategic adviser responsible for mergers and acquisitions, said in the statement.

The group intends supporting local farmers by modelling its latest acquisition on Coega Cheese Company, which became a "very successful empowerment venture" called Famous Brands Fine Cheese Company (FBFCC).

"In 2013 we established FBFCC as a green-field venture, in which we co-opted local farmers to supply milk for the production of mozzarella, cheese slices and cream cheese for the group," Hedderwick said.

"When the dairy was initially commissioned in May 2013, our milk intake volumes were in the order of 16.5m litres per annum.

"That volume has grown to 38m litres of milk per annum. This joint venture has been a spectacular success for all of the partners in the business."

According to Famous Brands, the new partnership will provide much-needed employment in an economically distressed area. About 35 jobs will be created in the plant itself. It will also deliver substantial financial benefit for the farmers, who will gain an instant, robust market for their produce and the potential to develop that market over time.
Being faithful to one house is overrated. Proving this is an online service that facilitates domestic worker polygamy.

SweepSouth is a mix of Uber and Tinder that connects domestic workers with employers, but also allows either to accept or decline the job.

South African couple Aisha Pandor and Alen Ribic developed the app, which allows potential employers to book a cleaner for their home.

The domestic workers are able to approve which homes they clean and determine their working hours.

After completing the job both the employee and the employer submit written feedback, rating each other.

Pandor said: "We're not about old attitudes of madams and maids or exploiting people.

"That's why we're saying to our employees: 'It's up to you when you work, how and where you work'."

The enterprising couple started the business in June 2014 and have since created work for 1000 domestic workers and completed 50000 jobs.

SweepSouth uses the app to help cleaners manage their bookings. The service is available in Cape Town, Johannesburg and Pretoria.

Pandor said: "We had many conversations with domestic cleaners who complained about poor pay and that motivated us to use technology to connect cleaners with employers."

Domestic workers apply online and have to have a minimum of two years' experience, relevant referrals, no criminal record and a South African ID or a work permit.

They are accepted only once they've passed the interview, which includes a "cleaning test".

SweepSouth charges a set rate of R38 an hour, which is deducted only once the client is satisfied with the job.
As Brexit gives an extra boost to the gold price's strong showing this year, the real question is how to use the much-needed financial respite to make South African mines more sustainable.

Roger Dixon

The danger is that this windfall revenue will simply be used to repay debt and issue dividends to expectant investors.

These pressing demands should rather be tempered by considering where the business will be when the rand gold price weakens again. What mines need are bold strategic and technical efforts to improve productivity and drive these companies down the industry cost-curve in the medium to long term, says Roger Dixon, SRK Consulting corporate consultant.

Productivity rather than volume

The sector had regularly witnessed spikes in the rand price per ounce of gold during commodity cycles, which temporarily rescue the beleaguered industry, but masks the real problem of an unremitting and disproportionate increase in production costs.

It is vital that gold firms retain a focus on productivity rather than volume, and consider all their cost inputs  from labour and electricity to water and equipment. In other words, consider the number of ounces of gold produced per person on the mine, or per kilowatt of electricity consumed, he says.

A recent EY report shows that labour productivity in the South African gold sector had declined 35% in less than 10 years; even countries like Australia face this issue, with capital productivity dropping 45% since 2000.

Another industry consultant estimates recently that the average output per employee in South Africas mining sector had declined by 21% in the past 15 years  a compound rate of 2,9% per year; hardest hit was the platinum sector, with an average annual decline of 4,2% in kilograms produced per employee since 2001.

Survival of the industry at risk

Dixon warns that investors may prefer to take a shorter-term view that prioritises returns on a quarterly or annual basis, but he says this approach put the survival of the sector at risk. Also undermining the gold sectors ability to meet the productivity challenge was the tendency to cut away vital skills during difficult times.

Gold mines traditionally shed a range of valuable, high-level scientific and technical skills when profits are under pressure, as these roles are considered to have less immediate value to the rate of production. However, the sector pays the price for this, as these are generally the people who can innovate lower-cost production in the longer term.

Technology to do things differently

The industry had fallen behind in adapting and implementing innovations to regularly fine tune the various processes on mines, he said.

Technology and best practice guidelines are often available to help do things differently in our plants, at the rockface, and in other key cost-driving areas of operation, he says.

Hopes were raised in August last year when then-minister of mineral resources, Ngoako Ramatlhodi, announced governments Mining Operation Phakisa to convene stakeholders and find ways to transform the industry and increase investment. The initiative has recently taken steps to reinvest in mining research and development  a field suffering widespread neglect over more than a decade.

On a practical level, there is plenty that mines could be doing to raise their game. These range from cutting edge innovations  such as automated, real-time adjustment to metallurgical plants to optimise recovery and minimise costs  to systems that allow better monitoring and conservation of growing cost factors like water and electricity.

Alternative job opportunities for mineworkers

He says it was likely that jobs would be lost as productivity gains were made, but emphasises that many more jobs would be shed in any event if mines could not stay open.

While stakeholders need to address the question of alternative job opportunities for mineworkers, it can also be expected that mining posts will steadily become more skilled and better paid relative to the past. Sustainable and profitable mines are also more likely to create indirect jobs in their vicinity and beyond, with many benefits for the industry and economy as a whole.
Dhesigen Naidoo, CEO of the Water Research Commission (WRC), recently received the 2016 Water Award on behalf of the WRC, government and people of South Africa at the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation's 10th anniversary gala dinner.

Prince Albert II of Monaco and (from left to right) Laurence Tubiana, Maja Hoffman (representing Luc Hoffmann), founder and president of the LUMA Foundation and LUMA Arles et LUMA Arles, VP of the Tour du Valat Foundation, Dhesigen Naidoo of the Water Research Commission of South Africa ( FPA2)

The WRC was presented the award for its contribution for a better understanding of the environment and its outstanding work in South Africa in the field of sustainable water resource, water supply and sanitation.

Prince Albert II of Monaco handed the prize over to Naidoo at the Salle des Etoiles. The foundation was created by the prince in 2006, which is dedicated to environmental protection, sustainable development and focuses on climate change, biodiversity and water. In 2008, the foundation developed its awards program to honour key international figures and organisations for their exemplary work within its three priority domains of action. It also offers a tribute for raising awareness, supporting courageous ideas and recognising the work accomplished.

Ninth of the worlds population food insecure

Naidoo during his acceptance speech said the global deficit on access to safe water is according to UNICEFs latest figures - 9% or 663-million people, and dignified sanitation stands at 32% or 2.4-billion people. In addition, the FAO says that in spite of our remarkable efforts in the last 20 years, still 780-million people of one ninth of the worlds population are food insecure and live in hunger. We also know that the vast majority of these folk live in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. He explained that our countries have enthusiastically signed up to the Sustainable Development Goals in 2015 with the target of universal access to safe water and improved sanitation and possibly the end to hunger globally by 2030.

The WRC, together with its partners in South Africa, Africa and the World has committed itself to be the research, development and innovation partners to make this possible. Naidoo said, We, as a globally community must use this thin end of the wedge opportunity to invest in a leap-frogging strategy, facilitating a greener, more climate friendly water and sanitation revolution. One characterised by:

Fit-for-purpose water use encouraging reuse and recycling,



Point of use and decentralised treatment solutions with concomitant energy production,



Dry sanitation, and,



Waste beneficiation.

This has the real potential of low or even no external energy input moving us collectively to a lower carbon economy. This is done with a genuine belief that what happens in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia in the next 15 years will determine the character of the global carbon economy for the rest of the 21st century. It will fundamentally determine the climate change scenario of the century and beyond. Africa is on route to become the highest populated continent by 2050, 70% of whom will be urbanites and, at least half of them will live in 50 megacities that dont currently exist. This is an amazing greenfields opportunity.

Naidoo expressed the WRCs sincere gratitude for both this recognition and opportunity to share with the world what we consider a vital toolbox to ensure a greener more climate friendly, a greater biodiversity, sustainable future. He also invited the global community to the laboratory that is South Africa, Africa and the developing world, within which we can construct together the embryo of the world that we want to see for our children and the generations to come.
Peter Matlare's appointment as deputy CEO of Barclays Africa has met with some scepticism, as he was seen as being responsible for his former company, Tiger Brand's flour milling deal debacle.

Photo: Martin Rhodes/Business Day

Matlare resigned from Tiger Brands in December, and has taken the blame for the group's disastrous venture into Nigeria. It eventually had to write off R2,6bn on the flour milling business, which it sold back to Dangote Industries in 2015 for $1 after it bought a majority stake in the business, Dangote Flour Mills, for R1,6bn in 2012.

However, he has had a long relationship with Barclays Africa as a nonexecutive director since 2011, though he came under fire there too for attending only seven of the 10 board meetings in financial 2015.

Barclays Africa CEO Maria Ramos describes Matlare as "a seasoned executive who brings a wealth of skills and leadership experience". Matlare, who will become joint deputy CEO of Barclays Africa with David Hodnett, will be responsible for operations in the rest of Africa.

Hodnett, who will remain finance director and head of strategy, will continue to lead the process of separating Barclays Africa's operations from parent Barclays plc, which wants to sell its 62% stake in Barclays Africa to a level at which it could deconsolidate it - expected to be less than 20%. It is unclear how operational a role Matlare will have across Africa, but sources say that regulators in countries where the group operates have been unimpressed with the manner of Barclays plc's divestment, and there is work to be done to bring them back on board.

Investec Asset Management portfolio manager Chris Steward said Matlare's appointment would free up Hodnett for the more important task of extricating the two businesses.

"The timing is not ideal given that the Corporate and Investment Bank has become an increasingly important part of Barclays Africa's operations in the last few years."
On Thursday, 30 June, Cape Town Mayoral Committee Member for Transport Councillor Brett Herron gave a press conference to explain the future development of the Foreshore Freeway Precinct. This comes after a public outcry over the lack of affordable housing within the Cape Town inner-city.

The project spans a six-hectare portion of land under and between the unfinished freeways on the northern edge of the central business district (CBD). Bids for the project must include an unspecified percentage of affordable housing, which can be built within the development, or somewhere else within the CBD.

Herron said the percentage was undefined as the city believed if developers are given a target percentage, only that amount of affordable housing would be created. Now, developers will have to compete on how much affordable housing they will deliver.

Affordable housing will be made available to households that make between R3,500 and R15,000 a month. There will be a split between rented and owned housing.

The prospectus for the project will be issued on 8 July and will be on display at the Civic Centre for three weeks for public participation, which the Bid Evaluation Committee must take into account.

There is no deadline for the completion of the project yet. Bids will be required to give a timeline.

Ndifuna Ukwazi (NU) welcomed the announcement of the creation of affordable housing, since no affordable housing has been built since 1994.

However, NU remained skeptical about the amount of affordable housing and the accessibility to low-income families. Hopolang Selebalo, head of research at NU, wrote in a statement, The city's commitment to undoing the spatial legacy of apartheid cannot be demonstrated in a piecemeal manner.
The unnamed senior banker MTN said would be joining it as vice-president of strategy and mergers and acquisitions has been revealed: he is Barclays Africa Group's departing corporate and investment bank CEO, Stephen van Coller.

On Friday, Barclays Africa Group said Van Coller would retire on 30 September in its announcement that former Tiger Brands CEO Peter Matlare would be joining it as deputy CEO. In its announcement on Monday, MTN also said MTN Rwanda CEO Gunter Engling would take the role of acting chief financial officer following the resignation of Brett Goschen.

Monday's statement follows a 20 June announcement of a board shakeup at MTN in which Rob Shuter - the CEO of the European cluster of rival Vodacom's UK parent, Vodafone - was appointed as MTN's new CEO.

In its previous statement, MTN said: "With a view to increasing the company's focus on new revenue streams, MTN is pleased to announce the appointment of a new vice-president of strategy and mergers and acquisitions effective 1 October. The appointee has a wealth of banking experience.

"His substantial commercial experience will assist in the formulation of a revised strategy for MTN, particularly in the area of convergence between mobile telephony and financial services."

Source: BDpro
'Transport - a catalyst for socio-economic growth development opportunities to improve quality of life', is the theme of the 35th annual Southern African Transport Conference (SATC), which opens at the CSIR International Convention Centre in Pretoria today, 4 July 2016, and runs till 7 July.

 Pablo Scapinachis Armstrong  123RF.com

Event patron, SA Minister of Transport Elizabeth Dipuo Peters, will deliver the opening address. Other plenary speakers include Les Bruzsa Chief Engineer of the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (NHVR), in Australia and Dr Hernan de Solminihac from Chile discussing The importance of the road infrastructure development in the socio-economic growth of Chile.

At the conference today, SAs Deputy Director-General in Intergovernmental Relations, Malijeng Ngqaleni will present a talk titled, The public transport integration challenge: what role for the fiscal system?

The Deputy Director-General will be reflecting on the challenges of integration, including funding, planning and operations across different spheres of government. The intention of the talk is not to recommend a certain or particular system, but rather to discuss the broader principles around the challenges faced by South Africa in this context.

Key elements to be discussed:



What are the first steps toward integrated transport systems?



How can a financing system catalyse this?



What are the key steps moving forward?



How much will the status quo cost both the South African government and households?

Another critical element is how an integrated transport system deals with the different spheres of government in South Africa. Key integration across jurisdictions including provincial ones is an important topic.

For further information about the 35th annual SATC log on to www.satc.org.za.
[Newsmaker] Jacquie Myburgh Chemaly

Jacquie Myburgh Chemaly recently joined Times Media as editor-in-chief of Business Day Wanted. She has over 20 years of experience in the lifestyle media and magazine industry.

She's previously been editor of ELLE SA and VISI magazine, Food and Home Entertaining and Leading Architecture and Design. She is also the co-founder of the fashion charity, Vintage with Love, which raises funds for childhood literacy. What will your first order of business be? What will your first order of business be?

Chemaly: Im privileged to be joining Wanted just as Times Media Group launches wantedonline.co.za - were live from 1 August 2016. Set to become SAs premier luxury lifestyle portal, Wantedonline comes with the usual social media platforms and it is the first time that Wanted magazines unique luxury content will be accessible to everyone and not just the Business Day subscribers.

What is your core strategy as editor-in-chief of Business Day Wanted? What is your core strategy as editor-in-chief of Business Day Wanted?

Chemaly: Wanted has always been known for its strong content, presented in a unique fashion for the seriously discerning Business Day reader at leisure. My predecessors have always worked hard to find the best writers, photographers and stylists to entertain and inspire our readers as well as to look at stories from an unexpected angle. An important part of my strategy is to stay true to this priceless Wanted legacy.

The biggest trend to note in your industry? The biggest trend to note in your industry?

Chemaly: World-wide, luxury supplements are thriving while the news stand faces increasing pressure, so we need to make the best of this wave. Colour supplements offer luxury brands a unique opportunity to reach the numbers that come with newspaper readership - on beautiful glossy paper and surrounded by quality content.

What is your main business challenge? What is your main business challenge?

Chemaly: We know our readers are multi-media consumers and theyll be enjoying Wantedonline as much as the actual print magazine - especially since theyll be able to engage with us and their friends by sharing and commenting on our stories. Our business challenge will be to take our advertisers with us on this journey to discover the opportunities that lie in 360 degree publishing.

Most important attribute needed to do your job? Most important attribute needed to do your job?

Chemaly: Boundless curiosity and good shoes.

What inspires you? What inspires you?

Chemaly:The art of conversation. I seldom come away from a great conversation with a friend or colleague, without an idea for a story.

Tell us something about yourself not generally known? Tell us something about yourself not generally known?

Chemaly: My first name is Aletta but Ive always been called Jacquie. Ask my parents...

What's at the top of your bucket list? What's at the top of your bucket list?

Chemaly: To drive across the USA with the one man and two boys in my life.
South African global influencer marketing startup has been named winner of Start-Up Tel Aviv South Africa 2016, and will now head to Tel Aviv in September to take part in the DLD Festival.

Webfluential will now represent South Africa at the DLD Festival week, Israels largest international hi-tech gathering, featuring hundreds of startups, VCs, angel investors and leading multinationals.

Kirsty Sharman, global head of operations at Webfluential and the chosen attendee at the September event, said the company was excited about the opportunity to gain insight and experience in the international space and shine light on the South African technology scene.

Israel is one of the few markets that has perfected the recipe of exporting technology at scale. The opportunity to learn about that process from the worlds leading engineers, VCs and entrepreneurs is not something that comes along every day  so I feel honoured that Webfluential has been chosen to do that, she said.

The startup was chosen by a panel of judges that included Toby Shapshak, editor-in-chief of Stuff Magazine.

Israel is a widely acknowledged for its prowess as a mecca for startups and innovation. Start-Up Tel Aviv is not only a great competition for South African startups to be involved in, but also of the winner to get to Tel Aviv itself and experience that thriving epicentre of innovation, he said.

Webfluential is an interesting and unique company that is doing something very different with the social media market. Well done Kirsty Sharman and her team. Itll be interesting to see what new ventures come out of her trip to Israel where she will meet other innovations and venture capitalists.
Production of digital TV set-top boxes has been suspended pending the outcome of an application for leave to appeal the recent Supreme Court of Appeal ruling.

Halting production will further delay SA's migration from analogue to digital television broadcasting. The court's ruling in May set aside the government's decision not to add encryption software in the set-top boxes, which will be used to receive the digital TV signal as the country migrates from analogue broadcasting.

Initially the digital migration policy stated that the 5-million government sponsored boxes, which would be given to poor households for free, should not have the encryption system. But e.tv successfully challenged that in court. Communications Minister Faith Muthambi and M-Net have filed leave to appeal the Supreme Court of Appeal's ruling.

Confirming the halt in production, Universal Service and Access Agency of SA CEO Lumko Mtimde said that following legal advice it had received after the court's judgment, it "decided to suspend" production until a further "directive from the executive authority".

Three firms were appointed to manufacture 1.5-million of the 5-million boxes. So far only 447,458 boxes have been produced and by the end of May 6,348 boxes were distributed to households in some parts of the Northern Cape where the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) is situated.

Muthambi's spokesman Mish Molakeng said the distribution of boxes was continuing "unabated" and that the minister would soon announce the analogue switch-off date for the SKA area in the Northern Cape, which has been a priority area for the rollout.

Registration for free boxes in areas near Namibia, Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland and Zimbabwe has also started and so far more than 30,000 households have registered. Molakeng said that the department was looking at completing the migration to digital TV in about two years.

But the fight over encryption is likely to further delay the migration process. SA has missed its deadline to switch off the analogue signal more than a year ago. This means that the analogue signal will not be protected by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) against interferences.

The ITU said while it was not penalising or putting pressure on countries to fast track their migration programmes, if an analogue signal of a country was interfering with the digital system of a neighbouring country priority was given to the digital signal. This meant that if an analogue signal was interfering, it should be stopped.

The ongoing delay in migrating to the digital platform has been caused by a number of factors over the years, including disagreement over the technology standards that SA should adopt and most recently about whether the set-top boxes should have encryption.

Encryption is used by payTV operators to switch off nonpaying subscribers. E.tv believes that without encryption, audiences would end up with a second-rate viewing experience and be unable to access premium shows.

The move to digital TV is expected to result in more TV channels, better picture quality and a decrease in transmission costs. Moving to digital would also release the radio frequency spectrum that would be used for the deployment of much faster mobile networks.

Source: Business Day via I-Net Bridge
This week Vicinity Media announced the addition of BizNews, TVSA, Career, Skills and Jobs Portal, radio stations Algoa FM, OFM and Visi to its premium publisher network, taking the number of active premium publishers in the network into the mid-30's. Vicinity is currently capable of delivering 60 million location-relevant banners every month in what has now become one of SA's leading mobile networks.

Ollie Bryant, founder of SAs leading online catalogue, Guzzle, had this comment to make on Vicinity hitting the 30 publisher milestone:

"Having actively optimised passive ad revenue for some time, Guzzle was already achieving great revenues as a publisher. But Vicinity knocked things out the water with CPMs that far exceeded anything possible with Adsense and other AdExchanges. This means far higher revenues, and based on their location tech and skillset, more relevant ads for users."

Naeem Imam, National Online Sales Manager at Times Media, added: Vicinity have become our most valued mobile partner for two reasons: firstly, they generate a healthy monthly revenue across our platforms, and as importantly our audience is highly responsive to their location targeting, it is advertising, that judging by the analytics, the audience finds useful and relevant."

Vicinity Medias Chief of Publisher Relations, Charles Talbot, added that he has another 10 publishers already testing and is also turning his attention to African publishers to meet the growing regional advertiser demand at Vicinity.

VICINITY

Vicinity Media is a premium mobile advertising network that offers true proximity targeting to advertisers. Vicinity harnesses best-of-breed technology and location expertise to deliver street-level location targeting and driving mobile users into advertiser locations. Vicinity targets users further based on search term, handset type, time of day or day of the week, ramping up the relevance of mobile campaigns to never before achieved levels. Vicinity Media is bringing a Relevance Revolution to mobile.

Daryl van Arkel

moc.aidem-ytiniciv@lyrad

Neil Clarence

moc.aidem-ytiniciv@lien

+2711 021 8346/7/8




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The MEFs study, Mobile Messaging Report 2016, surveyed 6,000 mobile users across nine countries  Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Nigeria, South Africa, the UK and the US, and found that more than three-quarters of consumers (76%) have received communications from a business via SMS and 65% have done so via a chat app.

Facebook (56%), WhatsApp (50%) and SMS (42%) are the top performing channels used for talking with businesses, and many brands are taking to these platforms to connect with users. Also used are Instagram (21%), Snapchat (14%), WeChat (13%), Skype (13%), MMS (13%) and Blackberry Messenger (10%).

Furthermore, the demand for these types of services is growing, and currently 24% of retailers are leveraging SMS while 17% have a presence on a chat app.

The industry within which most consumers talk with businesses on a smartphone is financial services. A third (33%) of survey respondents said they had received an SMS from a financial services company and 22% have communicated with one via a chat app. Typically, account activation is the main reason for the contact (16% via a chat app and 17% via SMS) as well as balance checking. In fact, across all industries, confirming passwords was the most common chat activity.

Consumers have come to expect companies to communicate with them in real time about every aspect of the service life cycle and mobile messaging continues to lead the power of that engagement, said Rob Malcolm, senior vice president of corporate development of mobile messaging solutions provider Mblox, who supported the research.

Earlier this year, Facebook announced the introduction of chat bots for its Messenger app. The chat bots enable users to get information, or answers to customer service queries, quickly and efficiently without having to browse through websites. The bots work by using preset keywords that are assigned to specific responses or action. The social network now has more than 11,000 chat bots and around 23,000 developers.
Fighting close to where villagers have been relocated has forced some to flee. Some returned to their original villages for work. A village elder said that Min Aung has filed trespassing charges for farmers that have returned to work on their original farms. Elders have been attempting to resolve the conflict with the headmaster but so far they havent been able to reach an agreement.

The Burmese government has been relocating Kachin, Palaung and Chinese living in Pan Kai village group alongside of the Union Highway since 1992.

Translated by Thida Linn
Drugs and peace are the main challenges that are impeding development in Karen State, he told KIC.

It is sad to hear that some university students have been selling drugs to pay for their university fees because their parents cant afford them, Htoo Ka Paw said. Even middle and high school students are using narcotics, he said.

Saw Shwe Hla Win, a resident of Khale village that attended the meeting, said authorities have taken some action but more needs to be done to tackle the growing drug problem.

I dont feel satisfied. Its not just young people taking drugs, old people are also using. In our village there are many broken marriages and [drug addicts] are attacking their families with knives and becoming deranged.

A spike of violence and suicides reported around Win Yaw has been attributed to an increase of drugs. There have been reports of knife attacks and ten residents have already received treatment at the Ywarthargyi Rehabilitation Center, located in Rangoon region.

MPs told attendees of the meeting that the central government has allotted a budget of one million kyats for each township to deal with the drug scourge.

This was the first time MPs have met with the public since the 2015 Election, attracting leaders and residents from Khale, Myohaung, Ywarlay, Phayar Ngar Su, and Naung Day villages.

Story by Myat Oo Thar/KIC News

Translated by Thida Linn
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Ashada Masam 2019 Dates and Significance Festivals lekhaka-Staff

As the Hindu religion has come from different sources, it is full of rituals, stories, myths and beliefs. According to the Gregorian calendar, the ashada masam is the third month of the year and this year it falls in the months of July 3rd to and August 1st, 2019.

This is the monsoon season in India and the nature starts to throb again in life with the rain drops. The summer makes everything lifeless, whether it is the nature or the animal kingdom.

With the first drops of the rain, everyone starts enjoying the monsoon season. So, this is the most important significance of ashada masam that it brings new life to the nature.

Also Read: Significance Of The Word Om In Hinduism

Now, according to Hindu beliefs, ashada masam is the inauspicious month, as all the holy works like marriage, entering into a new house (gruhapravesh), wearing sacred thread (upanayanam), etc. are not allowed.

It is, therefore, known as Shunya Masam or the null month.

If you study the significance of ashada masam, you will get several myths and stories. May be all of those don't have any practical view, but those are interesting to know however.

Again, there is some importance of this month that has some scientific explanation. So, what is the significance of ashada masam? Here is the significance of ashada masam. Read on to know more.

1. No Occasions Are Held During This Time: According to the Hindu astrology, this month is regarded as an inauspicious month. So, no holy occasions like marriages, entering into new houses, etc, are take place during this time. Though the actual reason of this is vague, may be it is because of the inconvenience caused by the rainy season. 2. Couples Stay Apart: This tells the real significance of ashada masam. The theory behind it is that if a girl conceives during this time, she will give birth at the Chaitra month that is summer. She may go through more problems due to summer. So, people started believing in this as well. 3. Mother & Daughter-in-laws Stay Apart: It is quite weird though and difficult to find any reason behind this. But, in many households, this is still believed, wherein mother and daughter-in-laws stay apart during the ashada masam. Whatever the reason is, this time two rivals can work on their strategies to confront again! 4. Girls Apply Mehndi: Girls and women apply mehndi on their palms and feet. Beautiful designer mehndis make women look more beautiful. This is done because, earlier, people believed that the seasonal change would affect the skin and cause skin problems. Hence, covering your feet and palms with mehndi will help to get rid of those problems. 5. Pujas & Vratas: This is another significance of the ashada masam. Rath Yatra, Chaturmas Vrata, Palki Yatra, etc, are the popular vratas and pujas of the ashada masam and devotees celebrate these with devotion and dedication. 6. Marks The Beginning Of Monsoon Season: Though ashada masam is the time for not performing auspicious programmes, these pujas and vratas can be performed. If you concentrate on the rituals of this month, you will get the point that all rituals are indicating towards one thing and that is, it is the beginning of the monsoon season.
Barclays Africa group is planning to spread its wealth management and insurance services to Ghana, one of Africas leading economies, a development which will signify their commitment to offering non-bank financial services to the rest of the continent in the coming years.

This latest information was shared by Barclays Africa group Managing Director, wealth management and insurance, Lanz Zulu at an event which marked Barclays Botswana Lifes five years of existence in Botswana. Ghana (Barclays) is one of the best performing banks within our group. It makes business sense to start offering our investment and wealth management services, said Zulu in response to BG Business questions.

All things being equal, the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) listed lender will make its debut appearance in Ghanas wealth insurance and wealth management business in the next six months. Barclays Africa already has presence in Ghana. The subsidiary offers personal and corporate bank, to name but a few. It is highly likely that the looming expansion of Barclays Africa (wealth management and insurance) will be embedded within Barclays Ghana, as it has been the case with other subsidiaries. Zulu explained that by integrating all their banking units offers a competitive edge and assures them of clients.





BG Business understands that, once the Ghana wealth and insurance unit is established, next on the radar will be Botswana. The diamond-rich country is one of the best performing subsidiaries outside South Africa. Speaking at the same event Botswana Life Managing Director, Motshabi Mokone told guests that they have managed to operate successfully despite trading under an economically challenging environment.

In the past five years that they have been in existence, Barclays Botswana Life has managed to sit comfortably at the top three position in the life insurance industry. This could not have been possible if it was not for the hard work of staff and indeed our customers, said a content Mokone. Meanwhile, Zulu painted a rosy picture of the group going forward, despite the announcement that its parent, Barclays plc is pulling out of the company.

In March, the London-based banking group caught the market by surprise when it announced that it will sell its 62 percent stake at Barclays Africa. Zulu has reiterated that the bank is here to stay, and their continued expansion into Africa is testimony to that. For the year ended December 2015, Barclays Africa reported a 10 percent increase in profit. During the period headline earnings increased by 10 percent to R14 287m from R13 032m in its financial results ended 31 December 2015.
Letshego Holdings, a micro-lending behemoth has reiterated its plans of becoming a truly inclusive financial services group within the continent, the head of its local subsidiary has disclosed. Speaking on Tuesday night at a function for Botswana-Kenya businessmen and women, Letshego Botswana CEO, Frederick Mmelesi said their focus is clearly aligned at assisting low to middle income earners, who have been excluded by the financial system for years especially in Africas rural areas.

This is the plan that Chris Low and his executive committee will put much emphasis on going forward. Through a broad-based financial services offering underpinned by innovation and an inclusive finance agenda, we work to deliver simple, appropriate and affordable solutions to empower fellow Africans who are typically underserved or unbanked, Mmelesi told the event which was attended by business CEOs and diplomats from Botswana and Kenya respectively. The Letshego Botswana top executive, who has been with Letshego from day one, stated that one such example of financial inclusion is their low income housing finance offering.

The product is already a hit in Kenya, the biggest economy in Eastern Africa, where it has a portfolio of $20 million (P200million). The company has already started rolling the solution (low income finance product) to Botswana market and early signs show that demand will increase in the foreseeable future. Letshego Group Head of Corporate Affairs, Mythri Sambasivan-George said in an earlier engagement with BG Business. BSE listed Letshego, which has operations all over Africa, currently boasts a customer base of 300,000 borrowers and 100,000 savers. On another note, Mmelesi told the audience that, Letshego Kenya, which was opened some eight years ago, is the fastest growing subsidiary in Kenya providing credit services to small and micro-entrepreneurs, salaried employees, and civil servants. It was formally called Micro-Finance Africa.





Letshego, which will later this month (July) celebrate 18 years of existence, said its robust growth in Botswana and Kenya has been up-scaled by the healthy relations between the institution and governments of the two former British colonies. The Tuesday networking session also had speakers from Kenyan government. The function was done as part of a three-day visit to Botswana by Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta this week. During his stay in Botswana, Kenyatta, the son of founding President Jomo Kenyatta and his counterpart President Ian Khama discussed pertinent issues surrounding their socio-economic relations that span decades. The Kenyan President left on Wednesday morning.
With the Botswana Democratic Partys fondness of claiming credit for the countrys independence, the opposition political parties in Botswana are adamant that their role towards independence in 1966 and beyond has been of significant value.

Of the current 6 political parties in this country, only Botswana Peoples Party(BPP), Botswana Democratic Party(BDP) and Botswana National Front(BNF) existed before independence. Marx, Engels, Lenin and Stalin(MELS), Botswana Congress Party (BCP) and Botswana Movement for Democracy(BMD) were formed in the 80s, 90s and 2000s respectively.

Discussing the role of the opposition in a democarcy, Julius Kiiza of Makerere University said that, besides holding government to account for its commissions or omissions, the opposition provides the electorate with electoral alternatives. Parties present a viable alternative to the incumbent government by designing alternative ideas, principles and policies for governing society. Should the party in power let the voters down, the government-in-waiting takes over the reigns of power through free and fair elections, says Kiiza. The opposition parties are also expected to articulate the interests of the people they represent both during parliamentary sessions and the budget process. According to him, by Promoting responsible and reasonable debate, opposition parties promote a national conversation and pushes democratic discussion to a higher level of political development and maturity. Opposition parties help raise political consciousness in the country by teaching the people how politics affects their lives.





Kiiza further says that parties, including the opposition, are the training ground for future leaders. Shadow cabinet ministers, for example, typically conduct serious party business in their designated portfolios, he says adding that the participation of party members at their respective conferences and other party fora engender s the spirit of tolerance, enhance accountability and entrenches the culture of democarcy.

Mpho Molomo of the University of Botswana (UB) says this about opposition parties, They play a countervaillance role to government and make it more transparent, accountable and responsive to the people. The academic goes on to explain that, in trying to play their role, the opposition in Botswana was faced with daunting challenges such as financial constraints in a country where there is no political funding. At the same time, over the years, the BDP has had unfair advantage by receiving funding from external resources. According to him, the ruling party, in 1999, got P24 million from an undisclosed source. In typical Mafia style, the source of the money was only identified as Client under code name MRMDU 33XXXX in the bank telegraphic tranfer transcript, he stated. Opposition parties have complained that their efforts have been compromised by the ruling partys dominance of the public media at the expense of its competitors.

The challenges notwithstanding, the secretary general of the BPP, Shathiso Tambula maintains that his party has contributed hugely to the development of this country. The country is where it is today because we have played our role as an opposition party with alternative views. The BDP was in no hurry to change anything even after the attainment of independence. The BDP had no problem with the country using the South African Rand after leaving the British Pound at the occassion of independence until the BPP raised its voice resulting in the introduction of the Botswana Pula and Thebe, our own currency, said Tambula who also reminisced that, for some time, after independence motor vehicles had registration numbers with a P for Protectorate. For instance, the plate numbers, according to him, were BPA(Francistown), BPB(Serowe), BPD(Gaborone), BPE(Palapye), BPF(Lobatse), BPG(Kanye) and so forth.

Tambula added that it was the BPP that pressurised government to buy land from the Tati Company for settlement by some communities in and around Francistown. Our first manifesto said that a BPP government would introduce the old-age pension. We also talked about free education long back, said Tambula whose party came into being in 1960. He added that the BPPs demand for tribal equality has given hope to the minority tribes some of whom government has begun to recognise. For his part, the information and publicity secretary of the BNF, Moeti Mohwasa, says his party has shaped the modern day Botswana. The party was founded in 1965. Both in and outside parliament, we advocated for free education and when it eventually came, access to education increased manyfold, said Mohwasa who further attributed the introduction of Setswana in Parliament as well as the establishment of the Independent Electoral Commission(IEC) to agitation by the BNF.

The BNF spokesman gives credit for the lowering of the voting age from 21 to 18 years to the BNF. Elections in this country have always been unfair but we participated in them in the face of all the provocation. For exmple, the ruling party has always dominated the state media but instead of boycotting the elections in ptrotest, we hoped for the best and mobilised our people to go to the polls. We did not want instability in the country, said Mohwasa. The BNF official said that one of the achievemets of his party has been to organise labour to rise and fight for their rights. All in all, we have been a worthy opposition, added Mohwasa.

As a collective, the opposition has done a lot for this country. We have been peaceful even under the most difficult of circumstances. For example, we have, since independence, tolerated mismanagement of the elections by the BDP government which made it difficult for the opposition to win. This was not because we did not have the wherewithal to go to war. If the opposition were not tolerant, there could have been war. We perservered because we treasure peace. We love this country, declared Themba Joina, the founder of MELS in 1984.

Considering that we were formed as recently as 1998, there is no doubt that, looking at the motions that we have passed which were adopted by parliament, we have an admirable track record, said the vice president of the BCP, Dr Kesitegile Gobotswang. He noted with pride that his party successfully moved a motion seeking the exemption of basic food items from VAT. First time home owners were exempted from VAT when buying building materials, remembered Dr Gobotswang. His party tried to push through a motion for the inactment of the Freedom of Information Bill but the motion failed. Our motion on the Declaration of Assets and Liabilities motion was never given a chance by the BDP either, regretted Dr Gobotswanag. 

He also mentions his partys role in civil society activism. We are the only party in the country that sent out a mission to the CKGR at the height of the controversy to relocate the Basarwa by government. We produced a report and we are happy that, the High Court judgement that followed after the matter was taken to court had startling similarities with our findings. We have also published and distributed copies of the Democracy Alert whenever we saw the need such as during the public service strike, His party has also used platforms such as the Ombudsman and the courts to advance some of their activism.

The chairman of the BMD, Nehemiah Modubule contends that the BMD, formed in 2010, has been a game changer in the political landscape. For starters, the split of the BDP and resultant formation of the BMD has made it possible for the opposition to attain the unprecedented 53 percent of the popular vote in the 2014 general election which translated into 20 seats. Because of our contribution and participation in the cooporation talks, a total of three parties managed to go to the election as a united front. Previous efforts at uniting the opposition did not go far, said Modubule who noted that democracy in this country is much stronger thanks to the BMD. We are a force to reckon with, boasted the veteran of opposition politics.

While admitting that the opposition has contributed to this countrys democratic heritage at least by their very existence in the political space, the secretary general of the Botswana Democratic Party(BDP), Botsalo Ntuane, has found the opposition wanting with regard to meaningful contributions in Parliament. We would not be enjoying our status as one of the foremost democracies in the world if we didnt have an opposition that since independence has been permitted to operate feely without repression or harrassment, said Ntuane in a written response to an enquiry. Ntuane, however, said that the opposition has, for the past 50 years, failed to come up with workable alternative policies that resonate with Batswana. Voters need progressive and life affirming policies and not the grievance politics that increasingly seems to be the stock in trade of our opposition,
The epitome of patriotism is truth, unshakable truth. As such, it would be very unpatriotic of me to say anything other than the truth concerning Pelonomi Veson-Moitois campaign for the AU Commission Chairpersonship. With her campaign being as lacklustre as it is, surely Venson-Moitoi is provoking a humiliating defeat and a national embarrassment.

With AU Summit just around the corner, Venson-Moitoi must up her tempo or resign to the fact that she is running a losing battle. That does not mean I do not support her campaign, as a Motswana I am duty bound. But I am making an observation on an issue that is already raising concern not only in the SADC bloc but also continentally. There is already a growing concern from prominent persons and influential non-state actors in the continent that the current aspirants for AU Commission Chair are below par. Names of the former Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete and current Algerian Foreign Minister Ramtane Lamamra have been mentioned in the frantic search for a suitable person to replace Dlamini-Zuma who is due to end her term in a few weeks, having declined to run for a second term. This unfolding scenario has also seen voices from various quarters of the continent calling for postponement in the selection to next January Summit so that there can be an open and consultative selection process and the vibrant public debate that will go with it.

The argument is that, the five spelled out AU criteria for choosing the candidate, which are education; experience; leadership; achievement; and vision and strategy should only serve as a starting point. They argue that Africa should not be content with a person who simply meets the standards, but should demand the very person for the job and so far Dlamini-Zuma has set the bar high. The fact is, the selection of the AU Commission Chair a huge decision that could shape the fate of the organisation and the whole African continent for years to come. It is even more important given that the AU is more than just an inter-governmental organisation.





It is representation of the common demands of ordinary people across the continent for unity, dignity and emancipation. Who its chairperson is matters. Besides, it is a truly demanding job. It demands visionary leadership, political credibility and acumen, and managerial skills. It is not a job for a political crony, but someone who can truly reach out and inspire the African people. The person who will lead the AU Commission and guide the continent for the next four years, or possibly even eight. They will be in charge of realising Africas Agenda 2063 and implementing all current programmes, including overseeing the African peace and security architecture, the African governance architecture, and ensuring the AU is adequately financed. Its a hugely important post and Africans should care who fills it.

Although SADC is arguing that Venson-Moitoi should continue the incumbency because the current Chair, Dlamini-Zuma will not be serving a second term, it is becoming apparent that other countries are uncomfortable because of Botswanas firm support for the International Criminal Court, which the AU has rejected as biased towards Africa. However, there is already a counter-argument to this rotation thesis arguing that it focuses more on where the candidate is from rather than what the candidate is offering to the continent. They argue further that strictly adhering to the rotational-format could easily become a conduit for cronyism.

It is in this context that Venson-Moitoi should not only rely her campaign on the rotation-thesis, but also prove herself to the continent to be the best candidate to tackle the continents most serious challenges, such as negotiating peace agreements, dispatching peacekeepers, advancing regional integration, and promoting the principles of democratic constitutionalism. Key to her success is for Botswana and SADC, especially South Africa to launch an aggressive diplomatic campaign to ensure she gets the job. Surely Botswana will have to ride on South Africas regional and continental status to lobby. However, the paradox is that on the ICC issue, Botswana and South Africa are surely poles apart.
President Uhuru Kenyattas three-day state visit to Botswana this week couldnt have come at a better time. His message- lets trade together as Africans  including the launch of the Kenya-Botswana Business Forum Tuesday at the GICC, was equally poignant.

Any other business on his itinerary from Monday to Wednesday was incidental. And here is why.

Kenya is gearing to host the first-ever Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD VI) in Nairobi from 27th to 28th August this year. TICAD is a longstanding multilateral partnership between Japan and Africa that started in 1993. The last round of meetings known as TICAD V was held in Yokohama and produced a declaration of the same name and an Action Plan that runs until 2017.

Japan committed US$32 billion for Africas development under TICAD V targeting six key areas  boosting economic growth; accelerating infrastructure and capacity development; empowering farmers as mainstream economic actors; promoting sustainable and resilient growth; creating an inclusive society for growth and consolidating peace, stability, democracy and good governance.





In as much as it were a state visit, Kenyatta used the opportunity to also review Africas progress in respect of the priority areas identified in the Yokohama Declaration and its Action Plan 2013-2017, which are still ongoing even as TICAD VI is fast approaching. Kenyatta bemoaned the low volumes and levels of trade amongst Africas population, which is estimated to reach two billion people by 2050. In fact, intra-African trade is as low as 12percent while according to Kenyatta, trade with Europe is as high as 90percent.

The recent Ministerial Preparatory Meeting in Banjul as well as the Non State Actors sensitisation meeting in Nairobi, Kenya preceding it, also singled out this (low intra-African trade) anomaly blaming it on lack of cooperation between Africas regional economic communities, which were initially intended to be stepping stones to continental unity. Compounding this, is that poor governance, raging conflicts, acts of terror, ethnicity or tribalism, deficient infrastructure and lack of technical skills and have conspired to consign Africa into the backwaters.

This notwithstanding the Ministerial Meeting observed and noted some measure of progress under the Yokohama Declaration. For instance, the AUs continental framework for development - Agenda 2063  esteems the role of regional economic communities in boosting broad based and sustainable economic growth, hence the AU Commission is working with the RECs and African countries to implement the Minimum Integration Programme (MIP).

Other efforts implemented by Africa under the pillar of boosting economic growth include the AU Strategy for Enhanced Coordinated Border Management in Africa, which is being prepared and the adoption of a regional integration index to monitor and assess progress of continental integration. The negotiations for a Continental Free Trade Area by the COMESA, EAC and SADC covering half of the membership of AU, have also been launched and negotiations will enter into force next year.

To promote and facilitate effective use of natural resources, the African Minerals Development Centre is coordinating the African Mining Vision (AMV) and Action Plan. According to TICAD V progress report, domestication of the African Mining Vision is underway in several countries. President Kenyattas visit and his signing of Memorandum of Understanding on the water resources management and appeal for benchmarking exercise on Kenyas infrastructure sector, ought to be read within context.

As host of the TICAD VI Summit for which a Draft Declaration encapsulating the views of Africas private sector and civil society has already been designed and will be fine-tuned on August 26th, Kenyatta and his government are moving swiftly not only to build momentum for the summit, but also to position the country, East African Community (EAC) and its private sector to derive maximum benefit from the resources that will be allocated under TICAD VI to support the three thematic areas of industrialisation, health, sanitation and water and social stability.

The historic August 27-28 TICAD VI Summit will gather all the 54 African Heads of State and Government in one room at the Jomo Kenyatta International Convention Centre to sign what will be known as the Nairobi Declaration with the Japanese Prime Minister and the other co-organisers of the TICAD process, to wit World Bank, United Nations Development Bank and African Union Commission.

The draft Nairobi declaration, a copy of which Botswana Guardian has, runs under the theme Advancing Africas sustainable development agenda  TICAD partnership for prosperity. The document acclaims the twin principles of African ownership and international partnership which defines the engagement as well as the principle of alignment with Africas own agenda. Its for this reason that the Declaration calls on TICAD VI process to build on African Unions Agenda 2063 and its Ten Year Implementation Plan as well as the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

A product of extensive consultations between senior government officials including ministers, Japanese government, international partners and Africas civil society, the Declaration does however lament the decline of global commodity prices and the attendant debt sustainability issues and fiscal pressures this imposes on many undiversified African economies, which largely rely on primary commodity sector, especially the extractive industries. To address this, the declaration makes the case for value addition and beneficiation, a recurring theme, that was also emphasised by Kenyatta during his visit this week.

The Declaration also underscores the imperative of resilient and sustainable health system in maintaining and promoting national productivity and generating shared wealth drawing from the lessons of the outbreak of Ebola virus disease, which crippled socio-economic activities in the affected countries. Added to that, the burden of HIV, Malaria, Tuberculosis, Zika virus, as well as non communicable diseases is proof that Africas health systems need to be strengthened to be better prepared to prevent, detect and respond to public health crises.

Thankfully, Japan Government remains the single largest contributor to the Global Fund, indicating her commitment to the achievement of universal health coverage, which principle has been extended under TICAD VI.On the question of social stability, the Declaration suggests measures to stem the tide of rising radicalisation, acts of terrorism and violent armed conflicts which impede social cohesion, destroys livelihoods and deepens vulnerabilities. On this score the document calls for the promotion of inclusive and sustainable livelihoods to manage shocks and vulnerabilities to foster shared prosperity and underpin social stability.

Other measures relate to the impact of climate change on national habitats and ways to mitigate these using international and Africas frameworks such as COP 21; the upcoming 22nd session of the Conference of Parties to the UN Framework on Climate Change scheduled for Morocco; the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) as well as Africas Integrated Maritime Strategy, 2050.

As he left Botswana this week Wednesday, President Kenyatta and his entourage had sealed some agreements to cooperate with Botswana in the areas of trade and investment, mining, health and infrastructure development. Certainly, all these deals fall within the purview of AUs flagship projects and dovetail with the spirit and intent of TICAD VI.
On Brexit

Khama: Although recent events show that the United Kingdom is struggling a bit with that unity as a result of recent referendum, one thing I think we can learn in our Union- the African Union, is that the governments and parliaments on this continent should always consult our citizens on key issues of our sovereignty, whether they be immigration, free movements across the border, single currencies and the autonomy of our legal entity. It is very important as we were discussing coming here that we do that. I think we can learn no lesson on how to run a referendum, particularly as we were discussing. I hope the British High Commissioner is not here.

We have a situation in the UK recently where you can have the prime minister passionately trying to sell the UK to remain in the EU and then you have some of his ministers joining the opposition to say let us leave the EU. It is something we have not yet come to understand. Of course at our independence we tried to borrow a lot from the Westminster system, but obviously it has moved on because apparently they are doing things differently and maybe we need to go and benchmark how they are doing things now.

Kenyatta: I want to concur with my friend (Khama) to say that we have more that we can learn from each other, today we share much more in common because if we look at our historical past as we share a common colonial history, we were once told the sun never set on the British empire. But today, it looks like the sun is setting on the British isles. As Africans we need to ask ourselves if we want to ensure the sun never sets on Africa, what can we learn from each other so that we can pull on our respective strength to keep the hopes and dreams of our children alive, while at the same time respecting the sovereignty of our nations, but accepting that there are some areas where me must work in close collaboration in order to secure a common future for all of us.

On wildlife

Kenyatta: Both of our countries hold our wildlife in high regard and we have often stood together in conservation efforts including at the giant club earlier in Nairobi, and indeed we share many ideals. We are adamantly opposed to alcoholism and committed to curbing this. We have a stronger and more resilient relationship between our two countries and our people.

Khama: It is worth noting that both our Governments attach a lot of importance to wildlife conservation and management. In view of the enormous potential that this natural resource has in contributing to the growth of our respective economies, we need to do all in our power to ensure its preservation and sustenance for present and future generations. It is, however, disturbing that incidences of poaching and illegal trade in wildlife seem to be increasing on the continent.

On Business





Addressing Kenyatta, Khama further said he was pleased that in Kenyattas delegation there were members of the Kenyan business community. I am therefore confident that the Botswana-Kenya Business Seminar that you are scheduled to officiate tomorrow will provide an invaluable opportunity for our business community to further engage and build on the momentum that has been gained to further strengthen investment and trade relations between our two countries.

Sons of former presidents

Khama: I should perhaps also indicate that we share some common denominators, in that we are both the 4th Presidents of our respective Republics. We are also sons of the founder Presidents of our countries.

Peace and security

Khama told Kenyatta that another notable challenge which continues to elude a number of African countries relates to the maintenance of peace and security. As a result, many of our people still suffer unjustly in a continent that is endowed with immense natural wealth.

Whilst conflicts in some African countries remain unabated, I wish to commend your leadership and the tireless efforts of your Government to restore peace and stability in Burundi, Somalia and South Sudan.
Following the call out for a replacement of the last substantive General Manager for Air Botswana, Ben Dhawa, words doing rounds suggest former Commercial Services Director, Joe Motse is a man wanted back as the first employee of the national airline.

The Airline has since advertised the post.

Botswana Guardian has established that Motses name has been popping up around the corridors of the airline way before Dahwa took over in 2014. He was then tipped to take over the top post which government later on decided to delocalise by appointing Dahwa, a Zimbabwean national. He knows this airline more than anyone else. He grew up here and he saw Air Botswana rise and fall, we would be happy to have Motse as our GM. A source from the Airline informed this paper.

Transport and Communications minister Tshenolo Mabeo announced when appointing Agnes Khunwana acting GM last year that government would look for a citizen of Botswana for the coveted position. However, Motse, who is currently running his own tourism company called Transjoe Tours and Safaris, was a bit cagey with details in an interview with the Botswana Guardian. Im no longer with Air Botswana. I have not been tipped about anything. Please dont bring me into the controversy of the airline, he said.

He however confirmed to have seen the advert and that some airline staff members and people from the ministry have asked him to apply. People say that to me all the time and Im considering applying, he said, adding, Im trained for the airline and I know it inside-out.





Motse joined Air Botswana in 1996 as a Management Trainee and worked through various ranks before leaving in 2004 as a Marketing Manager. In 2008, he was elected as a Member of the Board for Air Botswana until 2010 when he rejoined the Airline employ as the Director, Commercial. Motse left the airline last year May, in what was described as a painful move by the general staff.

There were allegations that he did not enjoy working under the management of the then-general manager Ben Dahwa, who was sacked together with his board of directors over barely six months after Motses departure. The main purpose of the general managers job will be to report to the board of directors on development of the corporations strategy, advocating and building strategic partnerships to advance the interest of the national airline and creating shareholder value.

As an accountable manager, the general manager will also be responsible to Botswana Civil Aviation Authority on matters of statutory compliance and ensuring adherence to aviation standards and recommended practices as prescribed by the International Civil Aviation Organisation(IATA) and Operational Standards Audit in order to promote an efficient, safe and secure national transportation system. If he gets the job, Motse will be reporting to former Botswana Defence Force Commander, General Tebogo Carter Masire who was appointed to lead Air Botswana as board chairman, replacing Nigel Dixon-Warren early this year.
The BREXIT paradox is now upon sub-Saharan Africa. That is, as it turns out, what is politically the right move for the UK may turn out to be economic suicide. Or what may be the economic move for prosperity may turn out to be a diplomatic nightmare.

Already, fears of increased market volatility are apparent as evidenced by the pound sterling depreciation by amazing percentage points. As at the 24th June, the morning of the ground breaking outcome of the vote, the pound sterling was down 12percent on the USD and against the Euro it was down 9percent . This surely will result in a major shift in the trade decisions by prospective and incumbent investors in the days that will follow.

In this position note, we analyse the possible outcomes as a result of the referendum. The list is far from exhaustive as there are multiple diverging and sometimes parallel outcomes that can come as a result. But one thing remains absolutely certain: it will be a long, physically, politically and economically draining process for the pull-out to be finalised. The vote is just a stepping stone: what lies ahead for the UK, especially after David Cameron courageously threw in the towel, will be a long hard road.

Volume of trade





About half of the UK trade is with the EU. It leaves more questions than answers when a situation of this magnitude has taken this course. Trade statistics suggest that the three months ending April 2016 saw an increase in the deficit on trade in goods by 0.6billion. That is, imports increased by 2.7billion and exports by 2.1 billion bringing this to a record 24billion deficit in the three months. This is an indication of the confidence with which the business community has been endowed as a result of the BREXIT.

As at the G8 summit in Gleneagles, Scotland it was unanimously agreed that aid to Africa will be doubled and outstanding debts to some of the poorest countries will be eliminated. It was agreed that aid will be increased by at least 50 million with poor countries in Africa getting the lions share of the deal as half was to go towards Africa. HIV and AIDS, education and other public goods being a priority were to have increased investment from the UK. Now, the African child can only wonder. With the trade deficit widening, power shifting in the EU and economic might of the UK diminished, will this become a reality. But then again, there is very little to no influence on opening external trade for the UK by the EU. Therefore, some experts believe that a BREXIT will have no effect on the volume of trade by the UK.

On so many levels, a lot hinges on the type of cooperation that the UK will follow after this. The most likely for the sake of trade will be the Norwegian style EEA agreement in which the UK joins the European Economic Area and maintains full access to the single market, but must adopt EU standards and regulations with little influence over these. The UK still makes a substantial contribution to the EU budget and is unable to impose immigration restrictions.

trade costs

Indications are that trade with the UK and the EU will be a spectacle for economic spectators and pirates. If there was ever a right time to buy the pound, it must be after the shift in its weight following the BREXIT. It is evident that the deficit will widen further as UK goods, will become cheaper for the UK and expensive for the UK trade with the EU. This again will have considerably unfavourable effects on capital structures. There is bound to be some form of capital flight as investors will receive a blow on their wealth as the pound sterling plunges.

lower net contribution to the EU budget would reduce prises for Botswana

The European development fund (EDF), which is now doing its 11th leg (2014-2020), was budgeted at a staggering 30.32 billion euros which represented an increase from the 10th leg by 13percent . Now, this is essentially 30percent development aid of the EU. For those with mouths drooling at the time, sooner or later the reality is that what was promised may not be delivered. The UK contributes about 14percent of the EDF and just by rough calculation, this means a drop in the fund by 4.2billion euros, which far outweighs the increase that was achieved at 3.39 billion euros. This implies some change in what the poorest African countries were bound to receive. This again depends on the model of cooperation that will be adopted post the BREXIT.

Fall in incomes-Reduced trade will have dampening effects on productivity, resulting in reduced incomes and ultimately hurting economic growth. Immigrants have played a major role in the growth of the UK economy but now, the future is uncertain. With the use of the Solow growth model that is hinged on endogenous growth it has been proved on different studies that human capital spill-overs have a positive impact on regional productivity and growth. And, FDI as associated with positive technology and human capital spill-over from one country to the other. Therefore, in this regard, it will be reduced.

Some experts though are of a different view. Immigration problems and loopholes have been a thorn on the UK. An increased diminishing of employment prospects for a Briton was a concern because of immigrants. For the tax payer, it brought negative effects as the public good definitely has to be financed in order for immigrants to enjoy equal social amenities. That meant a decrease in disposable incomes and welfare for a Briton. But now, with the BREXIT, all these may be reversed. This means the EU has little to no influence on immigration policies for the UK hence they will most likely tighten the grip on their borders. This will result in a low subsidy by a BRITON on the public good hence increasing disposable incomes.

reduction in bargaining power

Now that the UK populace has voted out of the EU, bargaining power on the European front has been reduced. Though bilateral relations between Africa and UK will be strengthened, bilateral trade will be diminished largely due to reduced bargaining power. The process for the UK to re-negotiate relations will be a lengthy and economically taxing process. For African exports to the EU, this will have rough effects on their performance. Botswanas beef exports to the EU are now facing an uncertain future. The renegotiation of prices and entry into the wider continental market of the EU leaves the spectator confused.

On the one hand, the BMC, which has been struggling, will not be impressed by the outcome of the vote because of the cost of uncertainty. On the other hand, this may open a few doors which were closed by the inclusion of the UK in the EU. That is, the foot and mouth red tape that has been a thorn on the BMC beef export may be relaxed as bilateral relations improve. The EU markets importance on the UK cannot be understated. What is evident though is that given its importance to the UK, and if Norway is anything to go by, they will be forced into the same single market rules. Sadly, being outside the EU will hurt the UK influence and hence a reduction in bargaining power.

In conclusion, most of the effects of a BREXIT are now more speculative than definite. There is a need for quantitative trade models to be used to forecast the potential damage or benefit to economic growth for Botswana and Africa as a whole.
Diplomatic sources this week dropped a damning claim linking Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma to a plot to sabotage the candidacy of Botswanas foreign minister, Pelonoimi Venson-Moitoi for the position of Chairperson of the African Union Commission.

Venson-Moitoi and two other candidates Ugandas former vice president Dr. Specioza Wandira Kazibwe, 60, and Agapito Mba Mokuy, 51, the foreign minister of Equatorial Guinea - are vying to replace South Africas Dlamini-Zuma at the helm of the Addis-Ababa based Secretariat of the pan African body.

Said a source this week, Dlamini-Zuma is failing dismally in her bid to succeed her ex-husband as president of South Africa and is now having second thoughts about returning to the African Union Commission. And since she had already announced she would not be contesting a second term, her only way back, says the source, is to de-campaign the three candidates in the eyes of Africas presidents who will be voting in 18 days time in Kigali, Rwanda.





Asked to comment on this claims, Minister Venson-Moitoi, who was launched in Addis Ababa before Africas Ambassadors, would neither confirm or deny their veracity. I will not be drawn into such allegations, she said, adding her focus was on the elections. Other diplomatic sources that talked to this publication harbour very strong suspicions that Dlamini-Zuma is behind the campaign waged by Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), threatening to sponsor a motion to postpone the elections for Chairperson of the Commission during the 17-18 AU Heads of State and Government Summit in Kigali. Its just a ploy to buy time so that she can return to the seat, said one.

But Venson-Moitoi brushed aside any danger in such machinations, if ever they be proved true, saying the regulations of the AU are very clear about the conduct of elections. The elections are running, she said and asked if she was confident she has run a good campaign, she said she would cross the bridge when she gets to it. So far so good, I cant underestimate any of the contenders, she said this week Wednesday. Yet another source said there was a groundswell of opinion in Addis Ababa that Dlamini-Zuma is not happy that SADC had picked a strong and credible candidate in Venson-Moitoi, who had acquitted herself admirably in Dlamini-Zumas own backyard (South Africa), to succeed her.

The source pointed to a May 10 report of the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) allegedly written by the Daily Maverick, saying it is designed to de-campaign Venson-Moitoi. Southern Africas chances are gradually looking much brighter with this weeks state visit by Kenyan president, Uhuru Kenyatta to Botswana. It is believed that President Ian Khama sought his vote for the upcoming elections. Although Kenya is in east Africa, Kenyatta is said to not be in good terms with Ugandas President, Yoweri Museveni. Meanwhile, former President Festus Mogae, whos the Special Envoy in Venson-Moitois campaign is believed to be making inroads in north Africa, where he is mediating in the South Sudanese conflict between President Salvar Kirr Mayardit and his senior vice president and former rebel leader, Rieck Machar Teny Dhurgon.


A file photo.

BEIJING (BNS): A Chinese spacecraft, in a first-ever feat, has successfully conducted in-orbit refuelling of a satellite.



The Tianyuan 1, China's first in-orbit refuelling system for satellites, was lifted into space by an indigenous Long March 7 carrier rocket on June 25. It was also the maiden flight of the new Long March rocket, the Chinese media reported.



The mission also marked the first use of China's fourth and latest space launch centre in Wenchang, Hainan province, the China Daily reported.



The Tianyuan 1 spacecraft conducted nine in-orbit tests including the control and refilling of liquid in microgravity and accurate measurement of propellant, the news report said quoting the National University of Defense Technology in Changsha, Hunan province, which has developed the refuelling system.



The spacecraft recorded video and data when it filled three types of propellant tanks.



The results of these tests showed Tianyuan 1 has met designers' requirements, the university said, adding that the system features a high level of automation and stability.



Refueling with 60-kg of fuel can prolong a satellite's service by about 12 months, generating nearly 100 million yuan ($15 million) in revenue, the university further said.



"One of the major factors that determines a satellite's life span is the fuel it carries and when it is used. Many satellites were abandoned because their fuel was burned out even though their equipment could still function well," Wu Peixin, an aerospace industry observer in Beijing, was quoted as saying by China Daily.



He said that due to the technological complexity involved, only a handful of nations, including the United States and the former Soviet Union, have performed in-orbit refuelling tests.



"Therefore, in-orbit refueling technology is needed to enable satellites, spacecraft and space stations to work longer. This technology will also allow us to increase the operational range of space probes, helping to realize manned missions to Mars or asteroids," the analyst said.




The Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas is inducted into the 45 Squadron (flying dagger) of the IAF at a ceremony, at HAL (ASTE) in Bengaluru on Friday. Photo: PTI.

NEW DELHI (PTI): Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar Friday said Tejas, which was inducted into the IAF after a wait of 33 years, meets the critical lightweight fighter aircraft requirements of the force and will also be available for export to India's friendly nations.



While two Tejas were on Friday handed over to IAF by state- run HAL, Parrikar said that by 2025, 120 Tejas aircraft will be inducted into the Air Force.



"The induction of Tejas is a decisive step towards realising vision of 'Make in India' for the defence sector, he said.



Describing Tejas as a "beautiful" 4th+ generation aircraft with high manoeuvrability, Parrikar said it has a glass cockpit and state-of-the-art satellite aided Inertial Navigation System, digital computer based attack system, air- to-air missiles, stand-off air to ground weapons, precision guided munitions (PGMs), fly by wire controls and will also have air to air refuelling capability.



"Till date, there have been over 3,000 flights of LCA prototypes without a single accident. By 2025, 120 Tejas aircrafts will be inducted into the Air Force.



"It meets the critical lightweight fighter aircraft requirements of the force and will also be available for export to India's friendly nations," he said.



Defence sources said that Sri Lanka and Egypt have already evinced interest in the aircraft.



Parrikar said there was "no accountability" in the previous government and hence, there was so much delay in induction of the aircraft.



He recalled how he had undertaken at least 16-18 meetings to ensure that the IAF, HAL and other stakeholders were on one page.



The first squadron of the Tejas has been named 'Flying Daggers'.



The commissioning of the planes comes more than three decades after LCA went into development.



The squadron will be based in Bengaluru for the first two years before it is moved to Sulur in Tamil Nadu.



IAF, which plans to induct six aircraft this financial year and about eight in the next, has said Tejas will feature in its combat plan next year and would be deployed in forward bases also. LCA will eventually replace the ageing fleet of MiG-21 planes.



Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar also congratulated the DRDO team, Air Force, IAI of Israel and associated industries for the Hat-trick success of MRSAM weapon system.


Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 04/07/2016 (2306 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

With an expanding program portfolio and an ample list of clients, its no wonder Elite Safety Services has outgrown its former Victoria Avenue East facility.

The company recently moved into its brand-new complex at 1850 17th St. East. At nearly four times the size (12,508 square feet versus 3,300 square feet), the building has a large shop area for hands-on training in addition to classrooms, as well as office and administration areas.

We built a good, strong foundation with our programs and our services, and we added and developed relationships with clients that we trust  and that trust us, said director Marc Watt. We continue to offer services to them on a bigger scale  We have a number of nationwide clients that when they endeavour on new projects and new jurisdictions, take us with them.

Bruce Bumstead/The Brandon Sun Elite Safety Services Darren Brick and Marc Watt stand outside their new training facility on 17th Street East.

The company provides customized safety training and standby services to a wide variety of sectors, including industrial, construction, manufacturing and oil and gas. Fortunately, the oil downturn hasnt had a grave effect on the company, simply because of their diversity, Watt added.

We do all different energy sectors, including wind turbines and wind energy, hydroelectric energy, industrial facilities, agricultural facilities, feed mills  so were involved in all different aspects of safety because safety across the board is very similar and our instructors and staff are incredible, Watt said.

The company is training in Saskatchewan and northern Manitoba quite regularly, and people are coming into Brandon for training programs from across Canada. Their website proudly touts that it specializes in all aspects of the health and safety spectrum.

We have provided instructors, paramedics, confined space and rope rescue technicians, and even construction safety officers to some of Western Canadas most prominent companies, states Elites website.

Elites mobile treatment centres and medical trailers allow staff to provide medical assistance, drug and alcohol testing, fit testing, baseline vitals and blood work.

Now that they are settling into the new, much larger space, they are looking at expanding to include a new rope access training program.

Director Darren Brick explained how rope access has industrial uses, eliminating the need for costly and time-consuming scaffolding.

We can actually bring in a rope team and they can do something that you would normally have to bring in a crane or a scaffolding team to do, which can take a portion of the project two or three days to get done, he said.

A rope access team can come in and do that likely in a day or an afternoon, and have the exact same result in the end, but do it in a quarter of the time, and still do it safely.

Brick said rope access is already popular in Europe, and is starting to come to Canada, especially along the coasts. He hopes the new facility will be a hands-on hub for this type of training.

Its something thats new and interesting for us, and everybodys quite excited about it, Brick said.

Both Brick and Watt are former professional firefighter/paramedics  experience they believe adds credibility to their operation.

The safety business that were in now is very, very different, and its very much based on hazard assessments and making educated, calculated decisions and its very proactive, while the fire service is very reactive, Watt said.

Both Watt and Brick say they enjoy being on the prevention side.

Its nice to be on the other side of things and trying to prevent those accidents from happening, Brick said.

The company prides itself on its hands-on training, and Brick adds theyve become known for taking it to the next level.

We dont just talk to you about confined space  but we build them into trailers and bring them to you, he said. Now not only do you get to learn about them but you get to physically go inside them, you get to see a chemical thats not toxic leave the space if you do it properly.

The new facility was one of the first buildings in Brandon to comply with the National Energy Code of Canada for Buildings, which was adopted in Manitoba in 2014 and is now known as Manitoba Energy Code for Buildings.

The primary objective of this code is to limit the negative impact of building design and construction on the environment. It requires that commercial and institutional buildings be 25 per cent more energy-efficient than the previous code. This is achieved through requirements in the lighting, heating/ventilating, building envelope, service water heating systems and electrical power systems.

Stephanie Dornn, project manager with Excel-7 Ltd., explained the building is comprised of two different types of construction.

The front office area is made of Greenstone Structural Solutions, which comes in four-foot by 12-foot sections, she said. We built the whole front office Y-shape out of that, and then the back office is a Robertson steel building with steel panels.

The top view of the building was designed to look like a Siamese fire connection  with one side for classes and training and the other for office and administration.

After roughly five months of planning, construction began at the end of May 2015. The company moved in this May, and the 21 Brandon staff members are enjoying the new space.

It is like a big family here, everybody is very close, Brick said. I think that gets passed on to our clients as well  they see that, and I think thats been a big part of the success.

 jaustin@brandonsun.com

 Twitter: @jillianaustin
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 04/07/2016 (2306 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A market flooded with foreign honey and a fast-sinking selling price has local beekeepers worried theyll be ousted from their own industry.

When honey could be sold for $2.35 per pound in February 2015, Canadian beekeepers were quite happy. Now, however, local producer Will Clark would rather sit on two crops  last years and the one coming in  than sell at the current price, around $1.15 per pound, and lose money.

Although imported honey is supposed to meet the same standards Canadian honey is produced under, it often has lower labour costs and therefore is less expensive when sold in bulk.

Clark fears buyers are uninterested in his crop because theyve brought in too much from foreign producers, which caused the degradation of the selling price.

The biggest thing that we want to get out there is when you go to the grocery store and you look on a container of honey, youll see Canada No. 1 White. Its right on the front in big letters. The problem is that doesnt mean its from Canada. Thats just a grade, explained Clark.

If you look at the small print on the back, itll say a blend of Canadian and Chinese, or a blend of Argentine and Canadian honey. And so its cheaper, and the packer can sell it for cheaper, but the consumer is kind of misled.

Producers argue that the advertised grade implies the product is wholly, or at least mostly, homemade and want labels to reflect a products blend more accurately.

The Canadian Honey Councils concern with foreign competition has been growing for a number of decades. Most recently, their third vice-chair and the president of the Manitoba Beekeepers Association, Allan Campbell, started an online petition protesting companies that sell blended products.

Written this April, Campbell said the petition originated from a frustration at low prices and imports coming in from other countries at well below what is being reported, and well below Canadian prices.

While a bee farm can have operating costs of $1.50 per pound of honey produced, depending on the operation, Campbell has heard of foreign honey being bought for a unit prices as low as $0.33.

He wants industry to buy Canadian crops first.

The circumstances are further complicated by the ongoing genetically modified organisms debate, which can increase market competition when an importer prohibits GMO products.

When certain countries lock out (genetically modified) products, then anybody who had been selling honey to them from GM nations is now forced to go elsewhere. And I think thats why Argentinas become such a big competitor for us is they got locked out of the European market, which had been their traditional sales ground, Campbell said.

The MBA president has been told the Canadian Food Inspection Agency will implement some changes to the label policy this summer, but expects to see the selling price to remain low for the next year and a half.

For this time, commercial beekeepers like Clark, who owns Rivercrest Honey Farm southwest of Brandon, will have to manage their farms carefully.

Do I want to see supply and demand program like chicken, eggs, milk? asked Clark. (Im) not sure if thats really a great idea, but those guys are completely protected, right? They have a guaranteed price, guaranteed market, no worries.

 aantoneshyn@brandonsun.com

 Twitter: @AAntoneshyn
Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 04/07/2016 (2306 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The devils in the details, and right now, thats what the province is waiting for before committing to an inquiry into missing and murdered aboriginal women and girls.

Manitobas not alone. Other provinces are also looking for details, and quite rightly so  particularly since there are many jurisdictional questions.

<t-4>The Trudeau government moved quickly on its election promise to launch an inquiry into thousands of cases of the missing, a reset of Ottawas relationship with indigenous people. In January, it announced it would hold an inquiry in two phases to look at the issue. The first phase is over and the federal government now says the national inquiry should

have the authority to make recommendations within provincial and territorial jurisdictions to tackle the root causes of the issue of missing and murdered women and girls. However, the subnational governments must sign off on that encroachment, and the federal government did not provide much time or many details to the provincial governments. The second phase of the inquiry  the actual inquiry itself  was supposed to begin at the end of June.<t-3>

The provinces and territories have questions, including Albertas NDP government, which supports the idea of an inquiry but thinks the terms of reference are too vague. For Manitoba, Justice Minister Heather Stefanson says a lot of work has already been done in some of the areas under consideration, such as child welfare. The Phoenix Sinclair inquiry resulted in a two-volume report that examined the failure of the child-welfare system in terms of devolution. As Stefanson suggests, theres no need to reinvent the wheel on this issue when research already exists.

Bottom line is: whos going to pay for this? Its not an unfair question to ask, given the federal government has been criticized for shirking its fiduciary responsibilities toward First Nations, not only in Manitoba but across Canada. Provincial-federal jurisdictional battles over who pays for what service have often resulted in discriminatory practices, making it difficult for indigenous people to access health care, housing or other social programs.

However, since a large part of this inquiry is likely going to look at police practices when engaging with indigenous families, the province should step up to participate in this portion of the study. While the RCMP, which is responsible for policing on reserves and in the provinces rural areas, is federally mandated, police services such as Winnipeg police are controlled by the province. As justice minister, Stefanson should want to ensure that all is being done to help the close to 20 per cent of Manitobas indigenous population that resides in this city.

The Winnipeg Police Service has already faced some criticism  most recently for the way it handled 15-year-old Tina Fontaines case. Fontaines body was found dumped in the Red River in August 2014. An internal police investigation found the police had been in contact with her before her death, but they let her go, despite the fact she had been reported missing. No criminal charges against the constables were ever laid.

An audit of police practices in Winnipeg and other cities may provide statistics regarding the speed and quality of responses family and friends receive when reporting their loved ones missing. This would go a long way to help the healing for many families searching for answers, and may provide clear steps for the future  a promising start.

But so far, this has largely been a top-down process, with the federal government steering the process and expecting the provinces to follow its lead. Thats hardly fair. Good for Stefanson for demanding more answers before fully committing further.

 Winnipeg Free Press
Global conference Dublin Tech Summit has announced 500 complimentary tickets for Irish students to attend the two day event for free.

The event takes place in Dublins Convention Centre and across the citys Silicon docks on February 15-16, 2017.
Kildare Animal Foundation Wildlife Unit are caring for a family of hedgehogs.

They arrived at the shelter in June when a family from Tullamore transported them after their nest had been accidently destroyed.

They stayed with foster care initially and were then moved to the shelter.

The five hoglets in this family are lucky to still have their mother and workers at the shelter are enjoying watching them potter around.

"All five babies are thriving and are now eating independently. They will stay with us until they have reached the requisite weight for release."

Hoglet season is well underway and the Kildare Animal Foundation Wildlife Unit must provide round the clock care to hoglets that are brought in without their mothers.

They are syringe fed with puppy milk and probiotics.

The shelter is currently looking for volunteers for the "busy orphan/summer season".

"If you would like to be a part of the team and see Irish wildlife up close and personal in a rehabilitation setting then please drop us an email kafwildlife@gmail.com."

Follow their Facebook page here for more adorable updates.
Eimear O'Donnell was at home in Leitrim with her brother Sean when their Golden Retriever, Beau, decided to stir up some mischief by stealing Sean's phone.

Sean tried to get it back but Beau took the opportunity to have a little fun.

And a very funny standoff between man and dog began - Sean wasn't that amused but Eimear helpfully got the whole thing on camera, posting it to Facebook with the caption:

The worlds worst dog and I still wouldnt change him."

Her brother tries his best to be stern, chases him, tries to tackle him - but Beau is having the best time and he's not giving up his new toy.

In a second video posted in the comments, Eimear tries to help her brother out, advising him to hunker down and 'entice' him in.

But to no avail, as the dog leads him on a merry chase through a hedge.

Look at that face though! You couldn't stay mad at him.

And he did give the phone up eventually.
Former singing priest Tony Walsh faces a maximum sentence of two years in prison for raping a boy with a crucifix, a court has heard writes Sonya McLean.

Anthony Walsh (62) committed the offence and two other rapes of the same victim before the Criminal Law (Rape) Amendment Act came into effect in 1990, meaning that the maximum penalty the judge can impose on each offence is two years.

He is charged with indecent assault as that was the offence which existed at the time. He forced the child to have sex twice, once in the parochial house in his parish and on another occasion in a tunnel under the Phoenix Park. He also used a crucifix to rape the boy.

Walsh told the jury during the trial last month that he never knew the boy and said he never assaulted him.

Walsh, formerly of North Circular Road, Dublin 7 had pleaded not guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to five counts of indecently assaulting the boy on dates between January 1980 and December 1982. The boy was aged between 10 and 13 years old at the time of the abuse.

The jury of two women and ten men returned verdicts of guilty on all counts after approximately one hour of deliberation following a three day trial.

Today Garda Tara Corrigan told Fiona McGowan BL, prosecuting, that Walsh has 17 previous convictions, from 1995 to 2015, for indecently assaulting young boys and one girl.

Walsh fought two trials and pleaded guilty to the other offences. He is currently serving a sentence and is not due for release until 2021.

Judge Elma Sheahan adjourned the case to allow Ciaran OLoughlin SC, defending, submit relevant case law.

Mr OLoughlin submitted that, as the victim had made a statement to gardai in April 2011, it could have been dealt with the same time as Walshs most recent case in 2015. He suggested to Judge Sheahan that there was likelihood that the judge would have imposed a concurrent term and not extended Walshs term of imprisonment if this happened.

During the trial Walsh told the jury that his offending in relation to children started in 1980 and continued to 1986. He said a number of the children told their families what was happening and he was called in by the Archbishop in 1986.

He said he was sent for six months treatment in the UK and on his return home he was made a hospital chaplain.

He said he first came to garda attention in 1995 in relation to one incident. In 1997 he pleaded guilty to offences involving five boys in the period 1980 to 1986. Asked why he pleaded, Walsh replied because I was guilty.

He was sent to prison for ten years initially and this was reduced to six years on appeal. He was released in 2002.

In 2010 he pleaded guilty in two further cases and not guilty in one case but was convicted by a jury. In 2013 he pleaded guilty to two more cases. Walsh said that in 2015 he was convicted by a jury in relation to the sexual abuse of a girl.

He said that in 2002, four months after his release like a bolt out of the blue he was featured on the TV program Cardinal Sins.

I was stunned because I had served my time he told the court. There was no re-offending whatsoever and suddenly I was back into the law and the courts.

The victim told the jury that on the first occasions Walsh had sat him on his knee and pulled him backwards with a gyrating motion.

On further occasions Walsh sat him on his knee and then pulled down his trousers and underwear before fondling his genitalia. He said he remembered music playing sometimes which Walsh told him was Elvis.

He also recalled being bent over a sofa by Walsh who then put what he believed was his finger into his anus before then putting his penis into him. He said on another day he felt something being put inside his bum and afterwards saw a crucifix on the ground behind him.

He said on the final occasion Walsh asked him to go for a walk and brought him to the Phoenix Park. They went for a walk and into a tunnel were there was a mattress on the ground. Walsh pulled down his underwear and put his penis inside him again.
Neighbours of the family of a two-year old boy, who fell from the sixth floor of a hotel, said, they are praying he will make a full recovery. writes David Raleigh.

Meanwhile, gardai said they are continuing to investigate the circumstances that led to the toddler accessing the rooftop balcony at The Strand Hotel, Limerick, last Saturday.

According to neighbours, little Neil Shanahan was with his mother Martina and his infant brother, attending a coffee morning event at the hotel, when he wandered off in the direction of an elevator on the ground floor.

Neighbours said they believed the boy's older brother, who is aged six or seven, and who was born with cerebral palsy, was with his father Michael, as both enjoyed the hotel's leisure facilities, at the time.

The injured toddler rode an elevator to the top floor of the hotel before venturing out onto a rooftop balcony.

Gardai are interviewing hotel staff and harvesting CCTV footage as their investigation continues.

The boy is said to be in a critical condition at Temple Street Children's Hospital, Dublin, and is being treated for multiple injuries.

A woman, who was at the hotel at the time of the tragic incident, and who did not wish to be identified, said: "I am just devastated at what happened."

"My thoughts and prayers are with the family," she said.

Neighbours described Martina Shanahan as frantic, after she discovered her toddler son was missing and then critically injured outside the hotel.

"She kept shouting at staff to call the (emergency services). God love her," one neighbour said.

"They have one boy with cerebral palsy. The oldest boy is six or seven, and Neil is two." "They have a baby boy about eight or nine months old too," they added.

"It's horrible."

The neighbour described the Shanahan family as "very normal, hardworking people."

"Martina is a very friendly, a very outgoing woman," the woman said.

Another woman, living locally, said: "They're lovely neighbours, and I know Martina would go out of her way to help anybody."

Ms Shanahan was attending a get-together of members of the Farranshone Residents Association, when her young son went exploring the hotel.

"There was a friendly local group having coffee, and as to what happened after that I have no idea," a member of the residents association said.

"It's totally tragic. It's sad," they added.

A spokesperson for the hotel said they could not comment on speculation that a door leading to the balcony on the sixth floor may have been left open while it was been cleaned and prepared for a function that was booked to go ahead prior to the tragedy.

"I can't comment on anything, on - or - off the record," the hotel spokesperson said.

A source said Ms Shanahan had been "preparing to leave the hotel" when she looked for her son but he was nowhere to be seen.

"She was just preparing to leave, and she ran outside looking for him, and someone said they had seen him go up in the lift," the source said.

"It all happened in the space of seconds, one minute he was there, and the next, he was gone. It's horrendous."

Superintendent Derek Smart, Henry Street Garda Station, said while gardai were "treating it as a tragic accident", the circumstances which led to how the boy accessed the rooftop balcony were still being probed.

"The hotel is working very closely with us, as to the circumstances surrounding what happened," Supt Smart said.

He added: "We have been in contact with the HSA (Health and Safety Authority), because of the circumstances involved, but (Gardai) are maintaining the lead in the investigation, while continuing to liaise with the HSA."

Roisin Meaney, a well-known local author and neighbour of the Shanahan's, said: "We are all anxiously waiting for the news of the boy."

"We are all deeply shocked and we are all rooting for him to make a full recovery," she added
IBEC has said the Government needs to respond to plans by the UK to reduce its corporate tax rate.

The British Chancellor George Osborne has announced he wants to boost the UK economy after Brexit by lowering the UK rate below 15%.
A father and mother who were convicted of child cruelty are unlikely to be sentenced before October, a court has heard.

The pair were found guilty last May after a seven week trial which heard dozens of allegations of horrific sexual abuse against their young son.

A jury at the Central Criminal Court convicted the 64 year old father, who is from the UK, of nine counts of raping his son from the age of six years old and child cruelty. He was acquitted of raping the child with a poker.

The 38 year old woman, who is also from the UK, was convicted of child cruelty but found not guilty of sex assault relating to allegations she had sex or simulated sex with her child when he was between six and seven.

Both parents had pleaded not guilty to the offences which occurred between 2009 and 2011 in their Waterford home. The parents had originally faced a total of 82 charges but 60 of these were withdrawn following legal argument.

The mother was originally due to be sentenced today/yesterday (MON) at the Central Criminal Court. However Mr Justice Robert Eagar was told a psychological report on her was not ready yet.

The father was due to be sentenced next week but this will be delayed as a psychological report detailing the effects of the abuse on the child will also not be ready.

Mr Justice Eagar agreed to adjourn both matters to July 26 next. He said he would deal with the two accused in separate hearings and that he would likely not impose a final sentence before October.

The woman was present in court for the short hearing but not her husband. Both are currently in custody.
Dublin City Council will decide on busking by-laws at tonight's Council meeting.

The main issue is whether or not amplifiers will be allowed on Dublin's Streets.

High profile groups including Keywest want amplification to be allowed, but many are against the idea of their use in residential areas of the city.

Labour Party Councillor and Deputy Lord Mayor of Dublin Rebecca Moynihan said the use of backing tracks was another issue.

"One of the recommendations from the busking bye-laws is to take away backing tracks and the enforcement officers think that will significantly reduce the level of noise and complaints," she said.

"Use of backing tracks is quite a controversial thing. It's more street performance than busking."
The North cannot afford to be in turmoil, given the progress that has been made in recent years.

That is according to Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness, who is welcoming the plan to set up an all-island forum to look at the implications of Brexit.
British police investigating a religiously-aggravated hate crime in which a bag of rotten pork meat was thrown at a mosque are appealing for information.

A man approached Finsbury Park mosque in north London at about 4.15 am on May 26 several times and waited until there was no one around, before throwing the bag on to the steps.
Pope Francis has said his predecessor as pontiff is having trouble getting around, but remains sharp of mind and memory, according to an interview published on Sunday.

"His mind and his memory are intact, perfect," Francis said of Benedict XVI in the remarks published by La Nacion.

He also praised the 89-year-old emeritus pope as a "revolutionary".

Francis said Benedict's abdication "exposed all the problems of the church" and was itself "an act of government, his final act of government".

The interview was published five days after the current and former popes appeared together at an unprecedented Vatican ceremony celebrating the 65th anniversary of Benedict's ordination as a priest.

The event underscored the continuity from Benedict to Francis even as some conservatives have expressed nostalgia for Benedict's tradition-minded papacy.

In the interview, Francis said he avoids conflict with ultra-conservatives.

"They do their work and I do mine," he said. "I want a church that is open, compassionate, that accompanies wounded families. They say no to everything."

But he added: "I'm not a head-hunter. I've never liked doing that."

Francis waved aside suggestions that he has a cool relationship with Argentina's conservative new president Mauricio Macri, describing him as "a noble person".

He acknowledged that as archbishop of Buenos Aires, he had had a difference with Mr Macri, then mayor, when city officials declined to appeal against a court ruling that granted a marriage licence to a gay couple.

He said that was their only dispute in six years.

"That's a very low average," he added.
Fresh reports suggest that the death toll from the Baghdad truck bombing has exceeded 200 people.

Another 225 people have so far been reported injured in the attack that has been deemed the deadliest terror attack in Iraq since 2007.

Three days of mourning have been announced by the Government.

Earlier: The death toll from Sunday's devastating truck bombing in Baghdad has risen to 149, Iraqi authorities said, as Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi ordered new security measures in the country's capital.

The blast, claimed by the Islamic State (IS) group, was the deadliest terror attack in Iraq in a year and one of the worst single bombings in more than a decade of war and insurgency.

It underlined IS's ability to strike the Iraqi capital despite a string of battlefield losses elsewhere in the country and fuelled public anger toward the political leadership.

A suicide bomber blew up his explosives-laden vehicle in Baghdad's mostly Shiite Karada district, a favourite avenue for shoppers - especially during the holy month of Ramadan, with the streets and pavements filled with young people and families after they had broken their daylight fast.

Police and health officials said on Monday that the death toll had reached 149 but it was likely to increase even further as rescuers are stilling looking for missing people. At least 192 other people were injured, the officials said.

Hours after the bombing, Mr al-Abadi visited the attack site in Karada, but a furious mob surrounded his convoy, yelling expletives, hurling rocks and shoes at the prime minister's cars and calling him a "thief".

In a statement issued later on Sunday, the premier ordered that a scandal-ridden bomb detection device be withdrawn from service. He also ordered the reopening of an investigation on the procurement of the British-made electronic wands, called ADE 651s.

In 2010, British authorities arrested the director of the British company ATSC Ltd on fraud charges, prompting Iraqis to open their own investigation on alleged corruption charges against some officials. Iraqi authorities made some arrests, but the investigation went nowhere and the device remained in use.

As well as taking away the electronic wand detectors, Mr al-Abadi also ordered that X-ray systems be installed at the entrances of provinces. He demanded the upgrades of the capital's security belt, increased aerial scanning, an increase in intelligence efforts and the division of responsibility among various security units.

Iraqi and foreign officials have linked the recent increase in IS attacks - especially large-scale suicide bombings - with the string of losses IS has faced on the battlefields across Iraq over the past year.

Iraqi security forces, supported by US-led coalition air strikes, have retaken the cities of Tikrit and Ramadi, the Anbar provincial capital. Also in Anbar, Iraqi forces liberated Fallujah from the extremist group just over a week ago.

At the height of the extremist group's power in 2014, IS had deprived the government of control of nearly one third of Iraqi territory. Now the militants are estimated to control only 14%, according to the prime minister's office. IS militants still control Iraq's second-largest northern city of Mosul, north of Baghdad.
Update 11.30am: Nigel Farage added that he would keep up the pressure in Brussels as a member of the European Parliament.

"There will be a strong Ukip voice in that parliament during the negotiations.

"If we see significant backsliding or weakness or, frankly, appeasement from the British government we will certainly say so."

He indicated that Ukip - and potentially he himself - should play a part in the Brexit talks.

"I have no idea whether they want to ask me or anybody else in Ukip to be part of this. But we do actually as a party have some good knowledge of how Brussels works and we have got some pretty senior business figures amongst our supporters."

He added: "I'm not putting myself forward. I did spend 20 years in business and I have spent a lot of time in Brussels, I might have something to give if they want it. If they don't, that's fine."

Earlier Nigel Farage has announced he is stepping down as leader of Ukip, saying "I've done my bit."

He said of his decision: "I wont be changing my mind again, I can promise you" in reference to his previous resignation, which he reversed to run a campaign for Brexit.

"What I said during the referendum campaign is I want my country back. What Im saying today is I want my life back. And it begins right now," he said.

He said now that Brexit had been achieved, he felt it was time to step down, adding: "I'm not a career politician."

He said he did not believe there would be a general election in the UK this autumn, despite the Brexit result and despite leadership struggles in both the Conservatives and in the Labour party.

Of Brexit, he said: "There would not have been an EU referendum without Ukip."

Mr Farage said he would see out the remaining two years of his term as Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the South East of England.

"We need to stand up for ourselves" in the upcoming Brexit negotitaions, he said, warning against "appeasement".

Thank you to all my supporters in @UKIP and beyond. Delighted with the result we fought for so long to achieve. #BrexitBritain  Nigel Farage (@Nigel_Farage) July 4, 2016

Mr Farage, 52, has had two stints as leader of the Eurosceptic party since 2006, and announced he was quitting the post after failing to win a Commons seat in the 2015 general election, only to change his mind days later.

His statement, released by Ukip, said: "The victory for the Leave side in the referendum means that my political ambition has been achieved. I came into this struggle from business because I wanted us to be a self-governing nation, not to become a career politician.

"Ukip is in a good position and will continue, with my full support, to attract a significant vote. Whilst we will now leave the European Union, the terms of our withdrawal are unclear. If there is too much backsliding by the Government and with the Labour Party detached from many of its voters then Ukip's best days may be yet to come".
Eight suspected people-smugglers have been arrested in Serbia as part of efforts to curb the illegal transfer of migrants towards Western Europe.

Police said on Monday that the group smuggled several dozen migrants from Serbia over the border to Hungary and then to Austria, earning between 1,100 (920) and 1,200 (1,005) per migrant.
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The ACT's unions have warned of widespread exploitation of vulnerable workers as an audit revealed as many as one in four Canberra businesses did not pay their workers correctly.

The warning comes after 19 Canberra businesses were made to hand over more than $16,000 in back pay to 24 employees who had been short changed, on the back of a damning Fair Work Ombudsman audit.

Nineteen Canberra businesses have been ordered to pay $16,000 to 24 workers who had been shortchanged. Credit:Jessica Shapiro

Spot checks of 76 ACT businesses by the Ombudsman found less than 60 per cent fully complied with their workplace responsibilities.

One Nandos operator was found to have underpaid its workers more than $27,000 while another business was cautioned over breaches of workplace laws and warned action could be taken if there any more breaches.
The federal election returned Canberra's two lower house representatives Gai Brodtmann and Andrew Leigh with a comfortable majority, but not all suburbs gave a glowing endorsement.

Australian Electoral Commission data points to a strengthening Greens vote in the inner northern suburbs of Ainslie, Braddon, Turner, Watson, City and Lyneham.

ACT MPs Katy Gallagher, Andrew Leigh and Gai Brodtmann. Credit:Elesa Kurtz

The strong performance in Canberra's so-called "lentil-belt" pleased ACT Greens MLA Shane Rattenbury, who hoped the trend continued at the territory election in 2016.

AEC data uploaded on Monday afternoon showed the Greens polled higher than the Liberals on primary votes at eight booths in Fenner.
Local shares were poised for a positive MOnday but the shock election result has set up an uncertain start to the week.

What you need2know

Sharemarkets are set to struggle with the result in the short-term. Credit:Jim Rice

SPI futures up 32 points or 0.6% to 5235 at 8am Sydney time on Saturday

AUD at 74.98 US cents, 76.41 Japanese yen, 66.89 Euro cents and 56.21 British pence
Gerry Harvey's reported statement that this country needs a dictator is the sort of thing a world-class bozo would say. It's also the sort of thing your average mouth-breathing idiot down the pub would say before he was halfway into his first schooner, but the huge numbers of mouth-breathing idiots who'd agree with Harvey doesn't make his idea right. Just dangerous.

Steve Jobs had a famously short temper for dealing with them. He met bozos everywhere in business, many of them infesting his beloved Apple when he returned from exile.

A billion dollars doesn't make you smart. It just makes you rich. You can still be a bozo.

There's a lot of dangerous stupidity floating around this week, most of it masquerading as trenchant electoral analysis. If you had to reduce it to essences you'd be hard-pressed to go past one guest commentator who told the ABC that the Australian people voted for instability, "and they're going to get it in spades".

Nobody but an anarchist actually votes for instability, and real anarchists don't vote. Everybody who made their mark on Saturday, or in the weeks leading up to the ballot, had their own reasons for the choices they made.

They might have been good or bad reasons, based on research and hard, empirical data, or on witless emotional investments.

But just as everyone is the hero of their own story, their votes are generally cast in the hope of bringing forward their own version of a better world.

Yes, even those people who voted for Pauline Hanson. Their idealised Australia might be a grim and frightening place to most of us, but to them it recalls a simpler, less-conflicted time.
Turnbull packaged up the election as if it were a pressing critical choice and buttressed that claim with all the accoutrements of urgency including a full dissolution of both houses, and an extended eight-week campaign.

Yet his pitch underplayed policy and provided little during the campaign that justified that urgency. Its putative second-term agenda was a tiny fourth-term growth dividend which convinced no one. Even the promise of cleaning out the Senate became a miserable own-goal.

And for all that non-inspiration, the Turnbull team has been rewarded by the electorate with a non-verdict - and a non-mandate.

The scale of the failure is colossal. Turnbull's key promise in the final weeks was the assurance of that most valuable thing: stability. Indeed, this emerged as his key edge, his point of market differentiation over the unstable Labor-Greens-independents nexus.

Two points on this. First, stability is not a policy per se and can no more be promised than happiness. It is rather, the by-product of sound policy, effectively designed and successfully delivered. "Stability" in a democracy, is ultimately the people's to give and in this case, the people have expressly withdrawn it.
"You ask people in Melbourne how they feel about it as well." 'Out of context' She claimed her 1996 comments were taken out of context, and were meant to refer to the call for a crackdown on "a high intake of Asians  coming via New Zealand". Ms Hanson demanded greater transparency on what was being taught in Muslim schools and preached in mosques. "You can't deny the fact that in these mosques they have been known to preach hate towards us. Is that a society that we want to live in?" she said.

You're standing here having a go at me because I stand up for my culture, my way of life and my country "I don't believe it is  Do you want to see terrorism on our streets here? Do you want to see our Australians murdered?" One Nation also wants the wearing of the burqa and niqab banned in public places, and a net zero immigration policy. Asked if anyone else in Parliament shared her views, Ms Hanson pointed to George Christensen, the Coalition MP who has refused to resettle refugees in his north Queensland electorate. Ms Hanson indicated other parliamentarians were also sympathetic to her agenda but had been "stifled" by their parties.

'You're having a go at me' She then lashed out at reporters after repeated questioning over her contentious stance. "You're standing here having a go at me because I stand up for my culture, my way of life and my country. "Every day that I went to school I saw the Australian flag raised and it was instilled in me the pride, who I was to be an Australian and  I stand here before you and want to bring that to my country and floor of Parliament and you criticise me." Ms Hanson denied she was seeking a return to the White Australia policy, but suggested that multiculturalism "has not worked".

One Nation's agenda states it wants to abolish the Racial Discrimination Act and instead promote "assimilation, nationalism, loyalty and pride in being an Australian". Ms Hanson said on Monday: "We are a Christian country and that's what I'm saying  [former Liberal prime minister] John Howard said we have a right to say who comes into our country and I'm saying exactly the same." She claimed the cliffhanger election result showed voters had "no confidence in [Prime Minister] Malcolm Turnbull. They don't believe that Malcolm Turnbull is connected with the grassroots Australians." Mr Turnbull has previously said Ms Hanson was "not a welcome presence on the Australian political scene". Ms Hanson agreed with the suggestion she had picked up votes from disillusioned electors who could not vote for former prime minister Tony Abbott.

Asked whether she preferred Mr Turnbull or Mr Shorten, she replied, "To tell you the truth, I don't particularly like either one of them as the prime minister of this country." Ms Hanson said she was older, wiser and less "politically naive" than during her last parliamentary stint. "I haven't got the people around me who are out for their own self-interest or gains. I have taken on the leadership of this party with the gusto  to really make a change, a difference," she said. In 2003, Ms Hanson and party co-founder David Ettridge were jailed for three years each after being found guilty of fraud charges but the convictions were quashed 11 weeks later. On Monday Mr Shorten said Labor would work with all parliamentarians "whatever their political stripe", but would not compromise its principles.

"I have to say by contrast, remember what this election was about, according to Mr Turnbull. It was about stability. Mr Turnbull proposed Senate reform. He has made a bad situation worse," Mr Shorten said. "How on Earth did Mr Turnbull think that an idea of reform could end up with two or three One Nation senators in the Senate? This is farcical. Mr Turnbull clearly doesn't know what he is doing. Frankly I think he should quit." 'Successfully multicultural' Refugee Council of Australia spokesman Tim O'Connor said Ms Hanson's comments were inflammatory and unsubstantiated. The remarks could "cause great anxiety for many people in our community and should be rejected by our political leaders," he said.
The LNP's Ewen Jones says he doesn't blame Malcolm Turnbull for the massive swing he's suffered in his seat of Herbert, which he's in danger of losing.

Despite trailing Labor's Cathy O'Toole by 1084 votes, Mr Jones believes he can still retain the Townsville-based seat where Mr Turnbull, like Tony Abbott, had been well received.

North Queensland MP Ewen Jones is in danger of losing his seat in parliament. Credit:Andrew Meares

"Tony Abbott is very popular in Townsville, but if you've ever seen Malcolm come to Townsville his reception here has been absolutely fantastic," the two-term MP told ABC Radio.

"Malcolm was our best chance of being re-elected, we're not out of this yet and we can still form government."
Okay, friends. It's time to wrap this thing up for the day as we await the results of this cliff-hanger election.

A summary of our current conundrum:

Vote counting continues but is slow progress. Eight of those crucial seats remain too close to call and three more are very tight.

Malcolm Turnbull has taken "full responsibility" for the election result and Bill Shorten claims the Prime Minister is considering a snap election.

Michael Gordon analysis: Malcolm Turnbull's response could be the making of him - or his undoing.

Deputy Liberal leader Julie Bishop will do her first post-election interview tonight on ABC's 7.30 program.

And as a bonus, here is a quick outline of ABC election analyst Antony Green's latest predictions.

He's projecting it will be Labor 70, Coalition 70, Greens and Xenophon one each, and others with three (and five still too close to call).

"We think we're getting up to 70-70 with five others, which means if the Coalition wants to get to majority, if those numbers hold up they can't get there," he said.

"More of the seats which are in doubt are likely to be won by the Coalition, so I think it's more likely the Coalition will have more seats than Labor, but it looks a difficult task for them to get to a majority in their own right."

He said we'll have more figures come in "later tonight", the result of today's counting, with most of the seats decided by the end of the week.

"Only a seat which is under a few hundred would still be in doubt into next week."
Immigration Minister Peter Dutton has blamed bikies, union thugs, activists and "sneaky" Labor tactics for his plummeting popularity in the Queensland seat of Dickson.

As of Monday afternoon, Mr Dutton was ahead by just 1250 votes in a two-candidate contest with Labor's Linda Lavarch. It represents a 5.8 per cent swing against him - far more than that suffered by the Coalition nationwide.

Mr Dutton had been touted as an alternative deputy Liberal leader to Julie Bishop, but his political future now hangs in the balance. If he retains the seat, in Brisbane's outer north-west, it will be on the slimmest of margins.
"Ok miss, I'll check and make sure you are the cleanskin you are claiming to be ha ha."

That is what NSW Police Constable Vincent John Wendelin, 35, texted to a woman, named Katy, whom he had met on the online dating site eHarmony, on January 27, 2016.

Later, Wendelin decided to look up the record of his female friend using a police database system called COPS (Computerised Operation Policing System) while he was at work at Waverley police station.

He then sent another text on January 28, 2016.

"I noticed that when driving you occasionally feel the need for speed! ha ha! yeah I saw a few DV events but I didn't open them up and look at them, that's your private and personal stuff," he said.
A man has been charged with an alleged one-punch attack on his father in Brisbane's CBD that left the older man in an induced coma in hospital overnight.

Gold Coast man Mark English, 53, was walking along Ann Street opposite Central train station with his partner, Varri Telfer, about 4pm Monday, when his son spotted them and allegedly attacked.

Paramedics treat a man apparently coward punched on Ann Street in the Brisbane CBD. Credit:Jorge Branco

Police said the 25-year-old Teneriffe man had a "brief verbal exchange" with the couple before punching his dad in the mouth.

Mr English fell backwards and was knocked out when his head hit the concrete.
A toddler found dead in a home north of Brisbane had "horrific" injuries from head to toe and could have been dead for hours before emergency services were called, police say.

Mason Jet Lee, 21 months old, was found dead at a Caboolture South home about 12.30am on June 11, with wounds police say were "deliberately inflicted".

Police on Monday released some of the results from a post-mortem examination, showing Mason may have been sick or injured for up to a week before he died.

Detective Acting Inspector Ben Fadian called for anyone who may have seen the young child sick or injured at any time this year to come forward and help police in what had become a homicide investigation.
Police have apologised to the owners of a dog officers left dying by the side of a road.

Dash cam footage emerged on Monday showing police tending to the dog which had been struck by a four-wheel-drive on Saturday evening.

Police officers left a dog by the side of a road, assuming it was dead. Credit:Tom Threadingham

The officers can be seen lifting the dog and placing it on the side of the road before reversing into a parked vehicle.

News Corp reports the animal was later found by passersby who took it to an emergency vet where it was later euthanased due to the extent of its injuries.
A Queensland couple are appealing to keep their toddler "son" in Australia after the Immigration Department knocked back his visa application.

According to the director of their childcare centre north of Brisbane, Craig and Karen Wells adopted the two-year-old boy known as "Cal" in Papua New Guinea and brought him back to Australia.

Craig and Karen Wells want to keep "Cal" in Australia.

Since then Community Kids Deception Bay Child Care centre director Katie Voigt said he'd become a "much-loved" member of the community at the facility, north of Brisbane.

"This process has put a strain on the family physically, emotionally and financially," she wrote in a change.org petition that had gathered more than 1500 signatures by Tuesday morning.
There has been another State of Origin victory to Queensland with Brisbane's billion-dollar-a year fruit and vegie markets at Rocklea seeing off a hostile takeover bid by a Sydney venture capital firm.

Sydney private equity firm, VGI Partners in March 2016 offered $145 million to take over the operation of the Brisbane fruit and vegetable markets, which is run by Brisbane Markets Limited.

Brisbane Markets chief executive Andrew Young

Brisbane Markets' biggest shareholder is Queensland Chamber of Fruit and Vegetable Industries, which trades as Brismark.

Brismark owns 33.89 per cent of Brisbane Markets Limited and Sydney firm VGI Partners also owned 20 per cent of Brisbane Markets Limited.
Police are investigating whether a series of armed robberies on Brisbane's south side at the weekend may have been linked.

Robberies occurred at Wynnum, Morningside and Upper Mount Gravatt while at Oxley a shot was fired in an attempted armed robbery where the offenders failed to make off with any cash.

The moment a Morningside bottleshop attendant is attacked by armed robbers. Credit:Queensland Police

Of particular concern was the Morningside robbery of a bottle shop where the attendant was kicked in the face and suffered a broken nose despite complying with the assailant's demands.

"For no apparent reason they have kicked a bottle shop attendant," Superintendent Jim Keogh said.
It's a contentious question. Why did the giant kangaroos and rhino-sized wombats that once roamed Australia die out?

Scientists agree there are two contenders: climate change and humans. But they are fiercely divided over which caused the continent's megafauna to go extinct.

Tom Rich, curator for palaeontology at Museum Victoria. Credit:Jason South

Now, fresh results of a study at a renowned Victorian fossil site in the Macedon Ranges town of Lancefield 73 kilometres north of Melbourne has provided an answer.

Lead author of the research Joe Dortch from the University of Western Australia said climate change appeared to be the culprit in the mass deaths of megafauna living in the Lancefield region 50,000 years ago.
Artist Yves Klein was so happy with his discovery of a new ultra blue that he gave it his name and registered it as an invention with the French authorities two years before his death in 1960.

But scientists at Oregon State University may put International Klein Blue in the shade with the accidental discovery of a new pigment that is going on sale.

Professor Mas Subramanian and his team accidentally discovered a new blue pigment with applications for energy efficiency. Credit:Karl Massdam/Oregon State University

It's a vivid "near perfect" blue they believe solves the problems of safety, toxicity and durability that have dogged the search for the best blue going back to ancient times.

The unique heat-reflecting properties of "YInMn Blue" (named for its chemical components: Yrttrium, Indium, Manganese) also make it a candidate for keeping future cars and buildings cool, its discoverers say.
An academic expects to set the cat among the pigeons by alleging that one of our most celebrated colonial artists, S.T. Gill, was a convict.

Babette Smith says art historians have been openly hostile to her theory that Gill was a 13-year-old forger transported to Sydney in 1833, rather than a free settler to Adelaide.

Convict scholar Babette Smith claims celebrated Australian artist S.T. Gill was a convict. Credit:Pat Scala

Gill, who dropped dead outside Melbourne GPO in 1880, is best known for his humorous sketches of life on the Victorian goldfields.

But Ms Smith, a University of New England lecturer who has written books on convicts, and families' shame, believes he kept a dark secret.
More than a quarter of a tonne of ice  enough, police say for 2 million hits - has been seized in Victoria's biggest drug haul of the year.

Seven Australians and one Malaysian national, aged between 24 and 32, have been charged over the bust.

Police estimate the street value of the ice to be about $275 million.

The drugs, originating from China, were found hidden in packets labelled "Udon Noodles ' under the floorboards of three shipping containers which arrived in Melbourne about June 19.
With just a handful of votes separating the Liberal and Labor candidates in Chisholm, retiring Labor MP Anna Burke has spoken out about the distractions created by two key controversies.

The battle for the eastern metropolitan seat is the closest in Australia, with Liberal candidate Julia Banks ahead by just 66 votes on a two-party preferred basis early Monday afternoon.

Ms Burke, who won the seat from the Liberals in 1998, said voters may be trending back to the Liberal Party.
A four-year-old boy has been sexually assaulted by a 50-year-old Perth man who knew him, police claim,

The child was allegedly assaulted in 2013 with police charging a Dudley Park man with one count of sexual penetration of a child under 13 years of age on Wednesday, after a lengthy investigation.

The man has been bailed to appear in Perth Magistrates Court in September.

Meanwhile, another man was charged on Monday with several offences relating to the historic sexual assault of a 14-year-old girl more than 25 years ago, in 1989.

Police alleged the 51-year-old man attacked the girl in a vacant house in Girrawheen.
The leader of Britain's anti-European Union UK Independence Party Nigel Farage says he is standing down having realised his ambition of winning last month's referendum in favour of Brexit.

Mr Farage said on Monday he had "done my bit" following the referendum.

"I have never been, and I have never wanted to be, a career politician. My aim in being in politics was to get Britain out of the European Union," he said.

"So I feel it's right that I should now stand aside as leader of UKIP."
Latest News ANZ to launch digital home loans Full-year results show loan turnaround times 'back to normal'

ASIC appeals dismissal of petition against CBA and Colonial First State The case is over allegations of breached conflicted remuneration laws

With less than six years of industry experience, Deanna Ezzy isnt what you would call a mortgage veteran. And yet she is known as Canberras best female broker, the countrys 6th best performing female broker, and was ranked number 46 on Mortgage Professional Australias Top 100 Brokers list. In 2013, a mere three years into her career, Your Investment Property named her Mortgage Broker of the Year, and last year she was ranked number two in Choice Aggregations top performing brokers for NSW/ACT.A finance strategist at Trilogy Funding, Ezzy is undoubtedly a testament to the fact that broking is a profession in which the barriers to entry are relatively low, and career progress can, as she has proven, be incredibly rapid.Were so lucky in that, you know, you dont have to go to uni for four years. Its an industry where, if you get mentored right, you can move straight in, so I think its a big opportunityEzzy is quick to attribute much of her success to the mentoring she received, she says, when she was began working under Ed Nixon, the CEO of Trilogy Funding, who is still her boss today.He brought me on as a trainee broker. From the day I started he just gave me so much positive reinforcement  He would say to me, youre going to be a way better broker than I ever was! He just gave me all the support that I needed and I still get all the support I need, she says.This is particularly relevant given the recent release of the MFAA s Young Professionals Report, which stresses the importance of young brokers learning from the older generation of brokers, and the fact that Ezzy herself is considered a young professional.I think it should be mandatory, she says when asked her view on mentorship in the industry. Only because theres so much to know. I dont even know how you would start without a mentor  its 100% important. You definitely need someone there to help you out, Id say especially in the first twelve months.Ezzy believes that management that makes mentorship a priority not only creates a nurturing and supportive work environment for their young brokers to learn and succeed, but their business overall will benefit as well.[The Trilogy management] are quite smart in that they want their employees to grow and theyre quite open about the fact that the more we personally grow, the better the business is going to do, she says.But the path brokers are walking is not as seamless as it used to be, and as a specialist in investor lending, Ezzy has plenty to say on the topic of regulation. Off the back of APRAs speed limit changes at the end of 2014, Ezzy has noticed a big change in the value of loans she is writing.I think the regulatory changes for me have been probably more difficult than your average broker because we target investors. So many of my clients have multiple properties, and they were at a point twelve months ago where they could continue to invest - it was a lot easier to do stuff like get cash out and do renos, and the restrictions werent quite as tight, says Ezzy.Eighteen months on, however, these same clients are having to come to terms with a different regulatory environment that has a direct impact on them.And now, after all these regulation changes most of my clients have either slammed into a serviceability wall, where new calculators say they cant even afford what theyve got, and  theyre struggling. Im having to educate them all now on the fact that they cant do things as easily as they used to be able to and its meant a lot of work  and not being able to write the same amount of loans.The impact of APRAs 10% cap has had such an impact, that Ezzys lodgement value has halved in the past twelve months.There was a big lull for me personally in lodgements  and when I say lull it was between four and six million a month, so it was still ok, but the same time last year I think Tash, my assistant and I did a $14 million month. We were doing $10 million months, $12 million months.Ezzy is transparent about the fact that under these new conditions, brokers are having to work a lot harder for and invest more time in, their investor clients.I will do everything I can to exhaust all options for someone, so in a way its good, its probably what makes me a good broker, but at the same time it uses up a lot of time, I can find myself working too many hours and getting sick, she says, which, at the time of interview, she was.But rather than fight the new challenges, Ezzy says, its important that brokers adjust. The brokers that simply go with the flow and are malleable to the industrys ever-changing regulatory landscape are the ones that will succeed, she suggests. That means doing things like double-checking postcodes in the wake of the new postcode restrictions, and pulling up a new loan calculator in case things have changed overnight. theres a bit more work involved, she says.When it comes to the industry as a whole, Ezzy says there are a few things she would like to see operate differently, and one of her pet hates as a broker is channel conflict.You should be able to offer what the branch can offer and what mobile bankers can offer. Theres meant to be a level playing field  theres meant to be no channel conflict, but there is. Its a bit unfair, to be honest, she says.The problem is two-fold, according to Ezzy, who says that when banks undercut brokers, it makes those brokers not want to take loans to that bank again, and that means the broker starts to do the bank a disservice out of fear that the bank staff will try and take the loan.Its a bit frustrating, she says, adding that reviewing bankers commission structure could be an effective solution to the problem.I like the idea that when a loan is generated by a broker, that the branch [staff]  if they internally rewrite it - they dont get paid for it. I think thats a good thing  Id like to see it all streamlined, so that if you came and saw me and you wanted a NAB loan, for example, its exactly the same as what youll get in the branch.But Ezzy believes that the industry is still ripe with opportunity, and as the Secretary for Canberra Women In Business (CWB), she would like to see more women take advantage of this.I think theres a huge opportunity for women. There [are] not a lot of well-known or good female brokers. I love when I meet another female broker who is killing it, she says.The jobs really fun  and you never get bored and if youre good at it then the pays really, really good, and I think women dont know that about the broking industry and so its almost a bit of a missed opportunity.When asked what pearls of wisdom she could impart to assist other brokers in the industry, Ezzy has some very modest words of advice.Be nice  Stop being in the mindset of trying to get stuff and try and be more in the mindset of what you can give out to people, says Ezzy. I make a point of trying to make friends with everyone that Im dealing with ... and its so much easier [because] a) you get a much better outcome for your clients, but b) you get to work with your mates all day!
Latest News ANZ to launch digital home loans Full-year results show loan turnaround times 'back to normal'

ASIC appeals dismissal of petition against CBA and Colonial First State The case is over allegations of breached conflicted remuneration laws

The decision by the British public to vote in favour of leaving the European Union may hold some positives for Australian real estate investors looking to make an overseas play.With the British Pound having weakened against the Australian Dollar in the aftermath of the Brexit decision and some speculation of a possible correction for house prices to come, the UK may very well be a market for Australian investors to keep an eye on.Its certainly something Im going to keep my eye on. I definitely think there will be some opportunities there at some stage, but right now theres a still a lot of uncertainty and a lot of things are still up in the air, Todd Hunter, founder of buyers agency wHeregroup, told Australian Broker's sister publication, Your Investment Property.At the moment there might be some opportunities at the higher end of the market where people just want to get out straight away, but for the everyday mum and dad investor its a market they should monitor for a little while longer before making any decisions, Hunter said.While global share markets dived following the Brexit result, Hunter said investors shouldnt expect the property market to follow suit.You dont usually see price corrections of 30% or 40% overnight. Outside of the GFC we havent really seen anything like that, Hunter told Your Investment Property.Its going to take a little while for things to settle and to really see what will happen with prices so youll need to have a little bit of patience.While Australians may have to wait things out a while before conditions really suit them, Hunter, who is an experienced overseas investor having been very active in the market in the US in recent years, said they should put that time to good use in researching the market in the UK.You do need to do your research. Its more than just saying you want to buy overseas; you need to really know the market. Really know where over there are the good areas to buy and which arent.There were thousands of Australians who were burned buying in the US recently because theyve bought in the wrong areas.Theyve bought in neighbourhoods that are dangerous and theyre just never going to see any improvement from what theyve bought.While researching the actual property market is vital, Hunter said any investor considering entering an overseas market needs to go further in that and ensure they are working with quality operators and that they have a comprehensive understanding of other aspect such as the lending market of the country in question.For Australian investors with dreams of a UK property in their portfolio, that last point in particular will likely be important as UK lenders currently have little appetite for foreign borrowers.While Australian investors looking to buy in the UK wont have the same hoops to jump through that foreigners looking to buy in Australia face as there is no British equivalent of the Foreign Investment Review Board, British lenders are even less welcoming to offshore buyers than Australian lenders are.The four or five major lenders wont lend to Australian residents for a number of different reasons. Some of the smaller regional lenders might, but then youre getting into a real patchwork of different arrangements then, Shane McNally, director of Exfin, told Your Investment Property.The way the Australian lending market is now, it is trending towards becoming as difficult here for foreign borrowers to get access to finance as it is in the UK now, McNally said.This was all pre-Brexit as well. With the uncertainty that is around now we would anticipate that arrangements would get even tighter.
With less than nine months to go until the start of the Apprenticeships Levy, the Builders Merchants Federation (BMF) has issued a briefing paper to all its members to outline changes that the UK government is making to the way apprenticeships are structured and financed.

Whitehall is shifting the burden of responsibility for investing in apprentices from taxpayers to employers. Ministers are also making other far-reaching changes to the funding, standards and administration of apprenticeships that affects employers who take on apprentices.

The BMF has been tracking the policy since it was first announced by the Chancellor of the Exchequer exactly 12 months ago to assess consequences for merchant and supplier members. The briefing concentrates on the proposals affecting businesses that fall within the scope of the new Levy to help BMF members plan ahead and prepare their internal operations accordingly.

The central idea is a compulsory Apprenticeships Levy on employers throughout the United Kingdom. It will apply to businesses with a paybill of more than 3m a year. In the briefing, the BMF alerts its members that medium-sized businesses employing between 100-200 staff will become liable to pay it when it comes into force on 6 April, 2017.

Publishing the new briefing, John Newcomb, managing director of the BMF, said: The BMF did not ask for a compulsory levy to be imposed on our members. There is a case for greater employer participation in the training and funding of apprentices, but I am not convinced these proposals are the right ones.

Trying to meet a fixed date of 6 April, 2017 is risky. Getting this right must take precedence over forcing the pace of change. No-one wants to re-visit this in a year or two to put things right. The absence of clarity on how it will operate in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland is concerning.

The Apprenticeships Levy is part of a complex but concerted move by the UK government to boost productivity and employment, and improve vocational training and skills. Changes to Corporation Tax and National Insurance Contributions are being made to incentivise employers to invest more.

Mr Newcomb added that when more information is known, another briefing will be issued direct to BMF members, especially on arrangements affecting employers not liable to pay the Levy, but who do currently take on apprentices, or plan to in the future.
Kerridge Commercial Systems (KCS), a software supplier of software to the merchant industry, has reached an agreement to acquire Mincron Software Systems, based in Houston, Texas, and its successful suite of products.

This acquisition is a key strategic investment for KCS and a welcome development for Mincron. The companies will form one of the strongest ERP offerings for the distributive trades in North America.

KCS has over 800 distributive trade customers worldwide, focusing on wholesalers/distributors/retailers and merchants in the construction, industrial and other sectors.

In parallel, Mincron has a 30-year history of delivering ERP solutions to a similar customer profile - businesses that need to source effectively, stock efficiently, sell profitably and service competitively. The acquisition of Mincron by KCS follows the successful acquisition and integration of Cary, North Carolina-based Dancik International in July 2015.

Mincron will continue to focus on product innovation, including maintaining and supporting the existing SmartDistributor product suite while providing customers access to other products and services from the KCS portfolio.

Ian Bendelow, KCS Group chief executive officer, said: "This is another key strategic acquisition for us and our second in North America in as many years. It strengthens our geographical presence in the North American market and provides a further platform for growth in this important region. Mincron aligns with our successful business strategy of focusing on trading and business management solutions for the distributive trades, including wholesalers, distributors, retailers, merchants and resellers.

"Our customers will benefit from this acquisition through greater strength and depth in our North American team to support our functionally rich solutions to meet their business goals & challenges."

Wendy Berger, general manager of Mincron, said: "The acquisition by KCS brings together two great companies with similar history, culture and customer profile. The combined resources will further strengthen the KCS brand in North America and I look forward to being part of the Group and leading the Mincron team into a new era of opportunity."

As executive vice president for KCS Group in North America, Alan Cross will support Wendy Berger and the Mincron team and help to ensure that that benefits of being part of the larger group are available to all customers.
News / Africa

by Staff reporter

South Africa will continue to talk to Zimbabwe to find a "mutually beneficial" solution to violent protests in Beitbridge, International Relations Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane said on Monday.The protests in the border town started on Friday, triggered by strict new import regulations by Zimbabwe, which affected cross-border traders.According to reports, 71 people had been arrested so far.South Africa was aware of Zimbabwe's prohibition of certain imports from SA, which took effect on Friday, Nkoana-Mashabane told reporters in Pretoria.She said SA understood from Zimbabwe that the measures were to protect local industries and "increase capacity". The ban included products like bottled water, furniture, building materials, steel products, cereals, potato crisps, and dairy products."Importers are supposed to apply for special licences and give reasons why they have to import specific products."She said the Democratic Republic of Congo, Zambia and Malawi were affected by the import restrictions, since they also used the Beitbridge border post for imports from SA."Zimbabwe remains one of our strategic partners in the region, and this has translated into good economic relations between the two countries having to be looked at," Nkoana-Mashabane said."We will continue to engage Zimbabwe for a solution that is mutually beneficial."
Opinion / Columnist

"We have been conditioned to think that only Politicians can solve our problems, but at some point, maybe we will wake up and recognise that it was the politicians who created our problems" - Ben CarsonThe recent protests in the border town of Beitbridge, Zimbabwe marks a fundamental turning point in the Zimbabwean body politic. A turning point by way the people responded to government policy foisted down their throats. Statutory instrument 64 of 2016, an ill-conceived statutory provision attempting to control the importation of basic commodities, not available in Zimbabwe saw an embarrassing climb-down by the Zimbabwe government. When a government elected however controversially goes for so long feeding half-baked policies to a citizenry already weary from years of mis-governance, there is bound to be a reaction at some point. In the words of Frantz Fanon "We revolt simply because for many reasons, we can no longer breathe". Given- Zimbabweans have not always reacted this way to their government's waywardness. We have been known to be a gentle people, a malleable people  a people that are kicked in the teeth by its government from time to time without response. A people with a high threshold for pain and suffering.From fear to Speaking outFear: our major undoing over the years- a factor that has not gone unnoticed to our fellow African brothers and sisters. And indeed many have asked, "why do you Zimbabweans tolerate such nonsense from Mugabe"  well, it is not a secret that as a people we had been conditioned to fear Mugabe and his dreaded CIO. The CIO, (abbreviation for the Central Intelligence Organisation), a military style intelligence unit that has over the years been associated with orchestrated motor vehicle accidents for those who disagreed with the establishment. Known for abductions and enforced disappearances. So, whenever a group of Zimbabweans meet in their numbers and the politics of their country becomes a subject- fear was instantly noticeable. This scenario was common everywhere Zimbabweans meet Diaspora and all. The fear factor has kept us psychological captives for so long. Government workers (civil servants) go for months without pay, no reaction. You deposit your money in the local banks, a process that is almost instant, but you queue for days if not weeks to withdraw a fraction of it. A patient and resilient people we have been: Surviving against all odds: a humorous people, we laughed at our problems and prayed for a better tomorrow.A changing Political CultureIt is truism that you can push a loyal person to a point that they become disloyal and turn against you. Not too long ago Zimbabweans relied on political parties to offer leadership and instruction on how to deal with the ills of the nation. We have had many political parties come and go. Some have been effective and have caused the government to re-think some of its policies. Some have been fly by night political parties; they have come and gone as quickly as they came. In all these political parties, there has been one constant. The tendency to re-cycle the same leaders who previously held positions of authority in political parties they have broken away from or left.A cursory examination of all the political parties in opposition today in Zimbabwe reveals and confirms this sad development. Mobility in the context of politics has been hampered by this political culture bottlenecking the top. Consequentially, incrementally, Zimbabweans have come to develop and trust more in themselves in determining their political future. Campaigners like Pastor Evans Mawarire with their flagship #ThisFlag have gone a long way in raising awareness amongst Zimbabweans, friends of Zimbabwe, regarding the extent of the rot and mis-governance in Zimbabwe. And indeed he has led the way in changing the political culture from fear to speaking out. The people of Zimbabwe now realise and accept that they do not have to be subservient to a political party or its leader to impact or change the status quo. The political culture that existed before, that saw political parties as the only vehicles of political expression has gone. It is the end of an era and the beginning of a new one. Parallels can be drawn between the Arabs springs with what is afoot in Zimbabwe. The citizens of Zimbabwe are readying itself to confront a government that has failed them dismally. And as in all tournaments exercise and preparation come beforehand. Localised protests like the one we just witnessed in the border town of Beitbridge is one. Protests in the Unity Square in the capital city Harare are all symptoms of a very sick country.Government Policy: Too little to lateIn the last few months the Government of Zimbabwe passed a series of bills into law, including the controversial Statutory Instrument 64 of 2016 introducing controls over the importation of basic commodities. The other contentious law brought online are the provisions under 24:24 of the Bank Use Promotion and Suppression of Money Laundering Act, threatening unspecified action to citizens that are found with more than US 200 dollars on their person and those that do not bank their business proceeds within a specified number of hours. I will dwell more on the former and the later will be a subject for another day. Statutory Instrument 64 of 2016 was arguably, if one is to consider the views of business as expressed through the act  to control the importation of specified basic commodities in an attempt to shower up local industry  a very foolish idea. So, Zimbabweans are to buy local, albeit to keep the money circulating within industry in Zimbabwe. Interestingly, there is no functional or consistent supply of basic commodities at reasonable prices. Even when the Zimbabwe economy resembled some degree of normality back in the 90's, the concept of cross border and "Wenera" was nothing new. Zimbabweans have been buying from South Africa, Botswana and other neighbouring countries for decades. The argument that our people are being used by Nigerians and Indians to buy goods in South Africa for their shops in Zimbabwe is neither here nor there. The point is someone is earning a living without the input of government.Policy Discord, Priorities upside downIt is not a secret that the government of Zimbabwe is broke. It is not a secret either that government expenditure on things that do not improve the livelihoods of Zimbabweans is very high. For instance, Government officials, including the president himself spend millions on foreign travel alone. It is not a secret kuti when President Mugabe travels; he does so with a minimum of 100 people, which include officials, security details and others. All this happens against a government that is failing to pay government salaries. Furthermore, we have a government that is buying expensive foreign assembled vehicles against a possibility of buying locally assembled Willowvale Motor Industries vehicles. All this points at upside priorities and policy discord. Policy discord in the sense that Mike Bhima, Industry and Commerce Minister Support bills that do not focus on industrial rejuvenation. This policy discord is not lost to all our friends and those countries that would help us. No country will make money available to a country that spends and spends and spends on things that do not improve the livelihood of the man in the street. It is therefore not surprising that the Paris club refused to entertain Patrick Chinamasa's begging bowl. If at all the Zimbabwe government must learn from the recent protests in Beitbridge that it is no longer business as usual. You cannot continue to come up with policies that impoverish citizens with no response. That time is now gone. The Political culture that took Zimbabwe's citizens for granted has now come to an end. In the absence of a fundamental paradigm shift on the part of government, the people's revolution beckons: A revolution that will usher in leaders that will be accountable at the instance of the people. Leaders that can be hired and fired by the people if they fail in their mandate. Handei tione.---------The writer Lloyd Msipa is a Zimbabwean Lawyer based in the United Kingdom. He writes in his personal capacity
Federal authorities investigating Bob Menendez, reports and adviser say

The investigation by New York prosecutors is reportedly connected to the 2017 trial in which the senior U.S. senator was acquitted.
Elie Wiesel, the prolific Nobel laureate who survived the horror of the Holocaust, penned 57 books, passed away on 2 July, 2016 at the age if 87. Born in Romania, the American Jewish writer and political activist Eliezer "Elie" Wiesel was very vocal about the rights of the Jews and wrote about the atrocities that Jews went through in ghettos.


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As tyre imports continue to rise, forcing the domestic industry to operate at 60 per cent plant utilisation, job losses are beginning to mount at ancillary units, is the complaint.
Aggrieved with the Centre and Coal India (CIL) for not making a headway in forming a Joint Bipartite Committee for Coal Industry (JBCCI), which will negotiate with the workers over a salary hike, the five central trade unions are thinking of resorting to industrial action, in case JBCCI doesnt take shape by July 15.
After years of talking about it, DLF might finally take some action in bringing down its accumulated pile of debt. News reports suggest that the promoters of DLF would infuse Rs 10,000 crore in the company through a preferential allotment. The promoters will be receiving this huge sum of money in lieu of sale of their stake in their rental business.
In a senior level auto movement, a former executive has joined Tata Motors as head of marketing for its passenger vehicle business. Vivek Srivatsa, a former product group head (marketing) at the country's largest car maker has joined Tata Motors, the country's sixth largest passenger vehicle company.

A Tata Motors spokesperson confirmed the development. Srivatsa joins in place of Delna Avari (former marketing head) who exited the company in April to start her own venture.
Fashion portal Jabong, long scouting for buyers, is more optimistic of a deal, having achieved unit-level profitability during the first quarter. Investors of Jabong, backed by German incubator Rocket Internet, are in talks with multiple players to sell the company.
The latest indicator that is in the slow lane has come from the real estate space. According to real estate consultant Knight Frank India, the sector, which commanded almost a fourth of total commercial real estate space leasing last year, has slipped significantly.
Mumbai realtors expect the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC)'s single-window clearance for construction to be a game changer, which could lead to the much-needed correction in prices of residential property. At present, obtaining construction permits accounts for 46 per cent of the total cost of construction, say experts.
Ltd (RIL) has got approval from the Ministry of Environment & Forests (MoEF) to drill eight additional exploratory wells in Tamil Nadu. The company plans to invest around Rs 800 crore to drill these new wells.

An Order, signed by Lalit Bokolia, additional director, MoEF, on June 30 , 2016 stated that the Ministry has given environmental clearance to the project under the provisions. The Ministry also listed several conditions in the Order.

The proposal was considered by the Expert Appraisal Committee (industry) in its meetings in February 2014 and April 2016. Project proponent and the EIA consultant Bhagavati Anna Labs Ltd have presented the EIA/ EMp report as per the TOR.

EAC has found the report and additional information to be satisfactory and in full consonance with the presented TORs. The Committee recommended the proposal for environment clearance.

RIL has been awarded exploratory rights for hydrocarbons prospecting in the offshore block under the New Exploration Licensing Policy III (NELP III).

The Block is located in the Bay of Bengal off the east coast of India between Puducherry and Karaikal off Tamil Nadu.

It is a deep water block with the water depth varying between 400 and 3500 m. The block cover an area of around 10655 sq.km with its nearest boundary about 22 kms from the shore.

As on date RIL drilled nine wells and discovered the presence of hydrocarbons in three wells. Seismic data and the drilling campaign in the lock revealed the presence of hydrocarbons in the block area.

Hence, RIL is planning to carry-out the additional eight exploratory/ appraisal well drilling to establish the reservoir capacity and commercial viability of hydrocarbons in this block area.

Total cost of the project is around Rs 800 crore.
Engineers applying to small and medium businesses or start-ups in Bengaluru could be in for a disappointment as many of these have decided to hire only diploma holders.
Tata Sons, holding company of the Tata group of companies, will invest another Rs 3,000 crore into unlisted subsidiary Tata Teleservices Ltd via the Compulsory Convertible Preference Shares (CCPS) route. The board of Tata Teleservices, led by Chairman Cyrus Mistry, approved the CCPS issue on rights basis on June 24.
The Madras High Court has issued an interim order, restraining automobile major Bajaj Auto and others from an advertisement which allegedly disparages the TVS Motors' product TVS XL 100 by comparing the fuel efficiency on the basis of false figures. The court has issued two weeks' notice to Bajaj Auto and others.
Over the next three years, research and rating agency, ICRA, expects the domestic tyre demand to report a six-seven per cent volume growth, supported by a broad-based revival in automotive original equipment manufacturers (OEM) demand.
'We are very reluctant because price rise has an impact on the demand as well as the volume growth', he said
Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh, Harsh Vardhan Shringla, on Monday said that New Delhi is grateful to Prime Minister for her gesture shown to 19- year-old Indian Tarishi Jain and other victims of the Gulshan terror attack.

Shringla said that Prime Minister Hasina met with the families of all victims.

"She met the families of police personnel, who died. And I think this is quite unexpected and extraordinary gesture, considering the pre-occupation the Prime Minister faces at this point of time. I think she made a point to express condolences and solidarity with the victims of this terrorist attack. All I can say is that on behalf of my country we are grateful to her for the gesture," Shringla told ANI.

Shringla said the body of slain Indian hostage Tarishi Jain has been flown to New Delhi.

"I have just been to the airport to see off our daughter Tarishi. She has just left Bangladesh and gone back home with her parents. And Prime Minister told me that she is deeply distraught from what has happened," he said.

Tarishi, a student of University of California in Berkeley where she studied Economics, was in Dhaka on vacation. She had gone with two other friends to the Gulshan cafe where she was killed.

Shringla further said that Prime Minister Hasina has also expressed condolence to her Indian counterpart Narendra Modi.

"Bangladesh Prime Minister wanted me to convey condolences to our Prime Minister Narendra Modi, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and she said that we will be resolute in the fight against terrorism," he added.

Prime Minister Hasina on Monday paid homage to the victims of the Gulshan attack at the Army Stadium in Banani.

The people from all walks of life also paid homage in solidarity with the victims.

Nine Italians, seven Japanese, one Indian, one Bangladeshi American and two Bangladeshis were killed in the terror attack at Holey Artisan Bakery in Gulshan on Friday night.

Besides 20 people, two senior police officers-Banani Police Station officer-in-charge Salauddin Ahmed Khan and Detective Branch Assistant Commissioner Robiul Islam were killed while trying to rescue the hostages.

The 12-hour-long hostage crisis at the cafe popular with foreigners ended after a two-hour long assault by armed forces' commandos killing six gunmen.

One assailant has been held by the security forces.

Though Islamic state has taken responsibility for the attack, the Bangladesh government clearly rejected the claims and said the attack did not have any link with any international terrorist organisation and it was home grown.

The Bangladesh authorities even blamed Pakistan's ISI for the attack.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
In wake of the Dhaka terror attack that claimed the lives of 22 people, including foreign nationals, India's High Commissioner to Bangladesh, Harsh Vardhan Shringla, on Monday said that a fresh travel advisory will be issued to Indian citizens for their safety and security.

High Commissioner Shringla said that a number of e-mails and other messages were being received from potential visitors to Bangladesh asking whether they should visit the country or not.

"In the light of the terrorist attack, we would need to review where things stand. Based on that, we will issue a fresh travel advisory. Periodically, we do issue advisories. We are separately also receiving a number e-mail, other messages from businessmen, other potential visitors to Bangladesh asking whether they should come or not for the meetings and based on their individual cases we are advising them on what they should do," he told ANI.

Shringla said that a week ago the High Commission had issued a travel advisory to Indian citizens to be cautious and careful about going to public places and to avoid unnecessary exposure.

" We are also in touch with Indian community and we propose to take a meeting quite soon with all community representatives to advise them on what they could do, what they should not do. And also try and create some system whereby we can quickly alert as many as people through mass message or other means of communicating with our citizens in Bangladesh," he added.

He also expressed his condolences over the death of 19-year-old Indian Tarishi Jain, one among 20 hostages killed in the Gulshan terror attack.

I would like to reiterate my condolences, but also those of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and all the people of India," he said.

Shringla said that he met Tarashi's parents Sanjeev and Tulika

Jain before her mortal remains were flown to New Delhi for last rites.

"I said that at this point of your grief, we are all with you. All Indians are united and expressing grief for the family of this young Indian girl who at the prime of her life was killed in this terrorist attack," he added.

Tarishi, a student of University of California in Berkeley where she studied Economics, was in Dhaka on vacation. She had gone with two other friends to the Gulshan cafe where she was killed.

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Monday paid homage to the victims of the Gulshan attack at the Army Stadium in Banani.

The people from all walks of life also paid homage in solidarity with the victims.

Nine Italians, seven Japanese, one Indian, one Bangladeshi-American and two Bangladeshis were killed in the terror attack at Holey Artisan Bakery in Gulshan on Friday night.

Besides 20 people, two senior police officers-Banani Police Station officer-in-charge Salauddin Ahmed Khan and Detective Branch Assistant Commissioner Robiul Islam were killed while trying to rescue the hostages.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), given its recent anti-immigrants election campaign in Assam and the perception that the Republican administrations have been friendlier towards India, should have found an alter ego in Republican presidential candidate . But the Indian diaspora in the United States, even its more prosperous sections, have conveyed to the BJPs overseas arm that they were unlikely to support Trump in the US presidential elections due in November.
The increase in intensity and coverage of rainfall over the past weekend has resulted into a sharp decline in the deficit so far this season. Rain forecast to cover the remaining uncovered parts of Rajasthan and Gujarat in 48 hours.
The state government would soon invite Expression of Interest (EoI) from international air operators to run flights from the Bhubaneswar airport to South East Asian hubs such as Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia.

"To begin with, we are keen to have outbound flights from Bhubaneswar to the South East Asia countries.The objective of floating the EoI is to ascertain from the international carriers on the options they can offer for running international flights to and from the Bhubaneswar airport. The options can be on fare structure and frequency and timing of the proposed flights", said a state official.
Banks can no longer complain that policy transmission is getting hampered due to liquidity tightness. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has honoured its promise of keeping the banking sector liquidity in a neutral zone, or no-deficit, no-surplus mode and this should now force banks to cut rates.



In March, the banking sector liquidity deficit touched the Rs 2-lakh-crore mark, as the government kept its cash balances with the central bank instead of spending it in the market.



In its April policy, RBI said it would now inject durable liquidity in the system whenever needed and would bring the liquidity deficit to a neutral zone.



On July 1, the banking system liquidity was surplus of Rs 4,656 crore, including marginal standing facility (MSF), which the banks access in case of emergencies. Excluding the MSF, the banking system liquidity was in deficit of only Rs 44 crore.



In a media interaction after the April policy, RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan made his priorities clear: We have now given them (banks) more liquidity, so transmission should take place, he said, adding there will be no uncertainty about liquidity now.



Since then, the central bank has injected Rs 80,000 crore of long-term liquidity through secondary market bond purchases through its open market operations (OMO). The governments surplus cash balances with RBI has now come down to zero even as there has been reduction in cash in circulation, noted India Ratings and Research.



The impact is already evident in overnight money market rates as well as T-bill rates, which have softened 20-40 bps (basis points) since the start of FY17, the rating agency said in a note, adding there was still scope for OMO purchases.



Additionally, foreign currency non-resident (B) deposit redemption and an increase in currency-in-circulation from end-1QFY17 (first quarter of FY17) will be a major determinant for the next round of OMO purchases, it said.


While speaking to the media in the capital today, the Minister of State for Civil Aviation, Dr. Mahesh Sharma informed that a major effort was underway to operationalize numerous airports in the State of Uttar Pradesh. This is an outcome of a Review meeting that was held earlier in the day which was chaired by Dr. Mahesh Sharma. The meeting was attended by Secretary, Civil Aviation, Shri R.N. Choubey, senior officers of Airports Authority of India, Director, Civil Aviation, Uttar Pradesh Government and District Magistrates of the concerned Districts in Uttar Pradesh. .

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Dr. Mahesh Sharma informed that 400 crore assistance will be provided by the Centre for developing the airports in Agra, Allahabad, Kanpur and Bareilly. This would be done within a period of one and a half months. He said an airport in Kushinagar will also be developed, for which the State Government had provided 200 crore and the work is being executed by RITES and would be complete with a year. .

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The Minister said that a Committee had been set up, comprising of two senior officers from the Ministry and two officers from the Uttar Pradesh Government. This Committee will study the feasibility of developing no frills airports in Meerut, Faizabad and Moradabad. .

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Dr. Mahesh Sharma also informed that the case of constructing airport in Jewar had been sent to the Ministry of Defence for their NOC. The Minister informed the media that the push for developing airports in small towns was a natural follow up to the Regional Air Connectivity Scheme that had been announced last week. .

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UM/NP/AC
Commerce and Industry Minister, Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman hosted a bilateral meeting with Mr Malik Samarawickrama, Minister of Development Strategies and International Trade of Sri Lanka, on 4th July 2016 during his two day visit to India on 4-5 July 2016. .

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During the meeting, both the leaders emphasised upon the excellent and warm relations between India and Sri Lanka and expressed satisfaction on the level of engagement between the two countries, encompassing the spheres of trade and investment. The leaders noted that India-Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement, made operational in March 2000, has been beneficial to both countries.

Both leaders discussed several issues related to bilateral trade and investment. .

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The leaders reviewed progress of the proposed Economic and Technology Co-operation Agreement (ETCA) between India and Sri Lanka and agreed to start negotiations on an expedited track for an early conclusion of the Agreement, preferably before the end of the year. They noted that an Indian delegation is visiting Sri Lanka shortly in this regard. The leaders agreed that early harvest measures may be negotiated but these would come into effect on the date the Agreement comes into force. Minister Samarawickrama appreciated the workshop organised by India in Colombo on 4th March 2016 to increase awareness about Indian Standards and Regulations and resolve the perception about application of Non-Tariff Measures by India against Sri Lankan exports. .

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Both leaders also agreed to hold a meeting of the reconstituted India-Sri Lanka CEOs Forum at an early date. .

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As part of the National Perspective Plan, prepared under the Sagarmala Programme of the Ministry of Shipping, 7 Multi-Modal Logistic Parks (MMLPs) were proposed in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Odisha, Telangana, Uttarakhand and West Bengal. The potential sites were identified based on comprehensive study of the container cargo movement across the country and are located in the proximity of important industrial clusters. This will be advantageous for the transportation of containerized cargo. .

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Taking this forward, Container Corporation of India (CONCOR) has informed that domestic operations have already commenced at 1 MMLP in Pantnagar (Uttarakhand) and MMLPs at 4 proposed locations - Nagulapally (Telangana), Siliguri (West Bengal), Naya Raipur (Chhattisgarh) and Jharsuguda (Odisha), which are under development stage. For the other 2 locations North Madhya Pradesh / Chhattisgarh border (Singrauli) and Nagaur (Rajasthan), action will be initiated with a detailed area-wise analysis. .

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While the MMLPs in Telangana, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, and Uttarakhand, are being developed by CONCOR, the MMLP in West Bengal is being developed under PPP mode. At Nagulapally (Telangana), 16 acre of the proposed 60 acre MMLP is being developed at a total investment of Rs.120 Crore. The MMLP at Jharsuguda (Odisha) is under construction over an area of 27.41 acre with an investment of Rs.100 Crore. In Raipur (Chhattisgarh), the MMLP is under construction in an area of 103 acre with an investment of Rs.207 Crore. The MMLP in Uttarakhand has been commissioned at Pantnagar with an investment of Rs.120 crore in a joint venture between CONCOR and SIIDCUL (State Infrastructure Industrial Development Corporation of Uttarakhand) .

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For the other 2 proposed MMLPs in Rajasthan (Nagaur) and Madhya Pradesh/Chhattisgarh (Singrauli), detailed traffic assessment would be conducted to assess the potential of the multimodal hubs. .

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Sagarmala is the flagship programme of the Ministry of Shipping for promoting port-led development in India. It aims to achieve capacity expansion and modernization of sea-ports along Indias coastline, enhance port connectivity to the hinterland, facilitate port led- industrialisation to promote trade and sustainable development of coastal communities. The National Perspective Plan (NPP) prepared under Sagarmala Programme was released in April 2016 by the Prime Minister. More than 150 projects have been identified which will mobilize investment of over Rs. 4 lac Crore and generate close to 1 Crore new jobs, including 40 lac direct jobs, over a period of 10 years. These projects are expected to generate annual logistics cost savings of close to Rs 35,000 Crore and provide boost to Indias merchandise exports by $110 billion by 2025. .

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India has said that cooperation in finance and technology is needed to take further actions on climate agreement. In his opening remarks at the joint press conference with German Minister, Ms. Barbara Hendricks at the Seventh St. Petersburg Dialogue in Berlin, Germany, Minister of State (Independent Charge) of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Shri Prakash Javadekar, said that pre-2020 actions are important. The Minister underlined the Joint Statement by Prime Minister Modi and Chancellor Angela Merkel in October 2015. .

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The following is the text of Environment Ministers opening remarks at the Joint Press Conference in Berlin today: .

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I am really very hopeful of the outcome of St. Petersburg Dialgoue, which is the 7th edition, in this beautifully designed hall, I have never seen a more beautiful hall anywhere and therefore, the result too will be positive. .

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As far as the Ratification is concerned, India has already started the process. Recently when our Prime Minister was in Washington, in a meeting with President Obama, he also emphasized that the process has to be at the earliest and we have already started working in the direction. Cooperation is the key for taking actions further, because every country is at a different level of development.

We need cooperation, we have the will to act, but we do not have the wherewithal to do it, not only in terms of finances, but particularly in terms of technology. When we talk of technology, Germany is the most reliable name in technology in many fields and therefore, there is finance, technology and mutual cooperation and walking the talk. What we have achieved in New York in UN is that we signed the agreement and now we have to implement it. So, pre-2020 actions are also important and they will be discussed here in Petersburg Dialogue. .

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Coming to todays efforts, on 5th October 2015, Prime Minister Modi and Chancellor Angela Merkel, both issued a Joint Statement and I think that is the basis of Indo-German partnership programme. We actually appreciate and we can think of emulating it at a future date. But by 2050, you will be meeting 80 per cent of your energy needs through renewable energy. That is the most laudable thing. Our earlier target was only 20 Giga Watts of solar energy. When Prime Minister Modi assumed office, we upscaled it by 5 times and made it 100 Giga Watts. Other renewable energy like wind energy, now we have opened it for offshore also." .

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The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee has extended his greetings and felicitations to the Government and people of the Peoples Democratic Republic of Algeria on the eve of their Independence Day (July 05, 2016). .

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In a message to His Excellency Mr. Abdelaziz Bouteflika, the President of the Peoples Democratic Republic of Algeria, the President has said, On behalf of the Government, the people of India and on my own behalf, it is with pleasure that I convey warm greetings and felicitations to you and to the friendly people of the Peoples Democratic Republic of Algeria on the occasion of your Independence Day. .

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India and Algeria have maintained close relations since the era of your struggle for independence. With the establishment of diplomatic relations between our two countries, our bilateral relations have expanded in various fields of mutual interest. .

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India sees Algeria as one of the leading economies of Africa and the developing world. Our major companies have been partnering with Algerian entities for more than three decades and have executed some of the important projects in Algeria in cooperation with Algerian counterparts. .

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My Government was happy to receive your Trade Minister and your Minister of Maghreb Affairs, the African Union and the Arab League, when they represented Algeria in the 3rd India-Africa Forum Summit held in New Delhi in October 2015. .

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My Minister of State for Petroleum was very happy to host and interact with your Minister of Energy during the 4th India-Africa Hydrocarbon Conference in New Delhi in January 2016. .

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These interactions have added new dimensions to our multifaceted bilateral cooperation. .

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I look forward to working with you to strengthen the ties of friendship and cooperation between the Governments and peoples of Algeria and India." .

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The leader of the insurgent right-wing UK Independence Party said on Monday he was stepping down after realising his ambition to win a vote for Britain to leave the EU, the latest twist in a dramatic reshaping of the nation's politics.
Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Monday paid her homage to the victims of the Dhaka cafe attack victims during a memorial service at the Army Stadium ihere.

On the second day of the national mourning over the incident, Hasina placed a wreath on the casket of the victims, the Daily Star reported.

Twenty hostages, including nine Italians, seven Japanese, one US citizen and an Indian were killed when Islamist militants stormed the Holey Artisan cafe in Gulshan area.

Two police officers were dead and 30 injured. After a 12-hour siege commandos rescued 13 people. Six attackers were killed in the raid. A seventh man was arrested and is still being questioned.

The Islamic State (IS) group said it was behind the attack.

Afterwards, it was opened to the relatives and general public for paying their tributes.

Through the process, the bodies were being handed over to the relatives.

The caskets were placed in a raised platform which bored the flags of India, Italy, Bangladesh, Japan and the US - commemorating the nationalities of the foreigners killed.

Braving a drizzle that was on since last night, relatives and friends of the victims and people from all walks of life poured in to pay their last tribute at scene.

Ambulances were kept stationed nearby to carry the caskets.
It was a few days after Britain had startled itself and much of the world by electing to leave the European Union in the "Brexit" referendum, and Narrinder Bahia and Arvin Singh were sitting on the grass in Hyde Park, trying to take in what had happened.
Italian Ambassador to Bangladesh, Mario Palma, today called on world community to unite its efforts in fighting terrorism with emphasis on closer cooperation between the intelligent services.

"This is the message of the moment we have to unite our efforts and this means also technical cooperation in fighting terrorist. I mean a closer cooperation between the intelligent services, a closer cooperation between the police, every kind of police. Every country has different police, statures, they have to cooperate more among their service and share whenever it's possible, all the information we need to fight this act," he said as people from all walks of life paid homage to the victims of the Gulshan attack at the Army Stadium in Dhaka.

Expressing his condolence to the victims of the terror attack at Holey Artisan Bakery in Gulshan, the Italian Ambassador said that more about peace and harmony should be taught to youngsters in their schools.

"The message we have to teach in our school, the good message of harmony, of cooperation, of love against hate. I feel so sorry, so sorry also for the young people who did it. They were educated young men. We cannot allow this to happen again in our society," he added.

Nine Italians, seven Japanese, one Indian, one Bangladeshi American and two Bangladeshis were killed in the terror attack.

Saddened by the inhuman act, Palma said that Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renz has asked the people to be strong during this hour of grim.

"The reaction is that our prime minister said loudly to fight, to be strong, to go ahead. The response to the terrorism is to feel always able to live our daily live without accepting the limitation the terrorist will like to impose on us. We are free men, we are free women," he said.

The ambassador asked people not to pay attention to the messages of hate, death and instead subscribe the best message for life and love.

He said that Italy stands united with Bangladesh.

"To my citizen and all my Bangladeshi friends be strong. We have to react in a way that gives the right messages to the people who want to destroy the social harmony between us. Italy and Bangladesh they have a very very rich tradition, diversity inside both countries. I see this unprecedented attack is also an attack the very identity of Bangladesh," he said.

"You deserve all the cooperation and sympathy by your friends from all over the world. The same kind of sympathy who gave you a great support for your struggle to achieving independence. Now we have to unite our efforts to make this independence bearing fruits in term of social, economic and cultural advancement. We will be with you and you please be with us. Be with Italian people in this moment very difficult moment," he added.

Meanwhile, security continues to be tight at all sensitive points in the capital, with police checking all vehicles especially in the secured diplomatic area where the gruesome hostage killings took place.

US Secretary of State John Kerry had also called the Bangladesh Prime Minister and offered her assistance from American law enforcement, including the FBI, in the wake of the terror attack in Dhaka.

State Department spokesperson John Kirby said that the Secretary yesterday encouraged Bangladesh to conduct its investigation in accordance with the highest standards and offered immediate US assistance in this regard.
Syria's President Bashar al-Assad endorsed on Sunday the new government, which maintained many of the old ministers.

On June 22, al-Assad issued a decree, tasking Minister of Electricity Imad Khamis with forming the new government, as the new prime minister replacing Wael al-Halqi, Xinhua cited the state news agency SANA as saying.

With Khamis as the new prime minister, the new government brought 14 new ministers and four ministers of state to the 32-seat cabinet.

Few of the key ministries that received a change are the Information Ministry, which is now claimed by Ramez Tarjaman, the former director of the national Syrian TV, replacing Omran al-Zoubi.

The Electricity Ministry, which was headed by Khamis in the previous government, the Industry Ministry, the Economy Ministry, the Oil Ministry and the Ministry of Finance.

Major ministries were kept unchanged, as Fahed Jassem al-Fraij remains the Minister of Defence and Walid al-Moallem continues to be the Foreign Minister.

The Interior Ministry also retained its old Minister Muhammad al-Sha'ar, while the Ministry of Justice maintained Najm al-Ahmad as its minister.

The new government did not include any of the home-based opposition figures.
Tesla Motors delivered 14,370 vehicles in the second quarter, missing its forecast of 17,000 units because of what it called an "extreme production ramp" that saw half of the quarter's production in the final four weeks. The maker of electric cars and energy storage devices now expects to deliver about 50,000 cars in the second half, according to a statement on Sunday. That means 79,180 Model S sedans and Model X sport utility vehicles shipped for the full year, slightly below its previous range of 80,000 to 90,000. Even after increasing its production, the carmaker has had ...
Hopes of major liquidity infusion from the central banks has pushed global equity up in the past few sessions. The Nifty and Sensex have participated enthusiastically in this rally and both have hit 2016 highs. Raghuram Rajan's last policy review in early August will be eagerly awaited. The Reserve Bank of India meet will follow on the heels of policy meets from the European Central Bank, the US Fed and the Bank of Japan, all in late July.
Agri-commodities are not behind in keeping Indian exports low. Rather they have fallen to a five-year low in 2015-16 according to data provided by Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA).From a pick of $42.84 billion in FY14, agri exports are falling but the fall was sharper with 17% decline in FY16 to $32.09 billion and except sugar and couple of other small items in top ten of the agri export basket, all commodities exports declined.

In FY13 Guar gum was top revenue generating export item in agri basket with $3.9 billion is now not even in top 10 list.



Marine products, buffalo meat, rice including basmati have been top contributors in exports basket and all have seen a significant fall in exports.
Equity mutual fund schemes in the banking and infrastructure sectors have made the most money for investors in the past month. During a period when world stock remained volatile amid unfolding of the 'Brexit' event, these schemes offered returns in excess of six per cent.
was trading higher by 6% to Rs 195 on the BSE after the company announced that US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) has completed inspection at its manufacturing unit situated at Waluj, Maharashtra.
Pakistani national Shehraz Sarwar, who chanted 'Allahu Akbar' during turbulence on a Birmingham-bound Emirates flight earlier this year, has been jailed.

38-year-old Sarwar was arrested for using threatening words, throwing food and towels around causing uproar in the aircraft as the people feared a terrorist attack.

He has now been jailed for ten weeks at Birmingham Crown Court, reports the Express Tribune.

Sarwar had earlier during takeoff refused to fasten his seat belt.

As the pilot lined the plane up to land, he became aggressive. Moreover, it is reported that there was also severe turbulence on the plane at the same time.

Prosecutor Patrick Sullivan said that Sarwar's behaviour before these words was obnoxious. Though he fell asleep for about three quarters of the flight, but when he woke up he threw a towel back at a member of the staff who had offered him one.

Sullivan added that Sarwar also was also hitting his head with his hand and the people were distressed and upset by his behavior.

As Sarwar, a resident of Birmingham, pleaded guilty to the charges, his lawyer, Balbir Singh, said that he had been affected by the death of his grandmother and hadn't taken his medication.

Meanwhile, a passenger said they thought that Sarwar was going to set off a bomb aboard the flight.
Proposing to break wall between the government and private organizations, the ASSOCHAM has written to the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) and the National Security Advisor offering to set up a national data bank from billions and trillions of e-transactions and exchange of information, to be used for the common citizens as also for the country's strategic needs.

In identical letters to the PMO and NSA Ajit Doval proposed creation of Cyber 'National e-Information Data Bank' of Classified and Heritage Documents for National Archive'.

The proposal involved creation of a 'Central Co-ordination Committee', under guidance of National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS).

"While a similar concept has now been proposed by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG), we had submitted a blueprint way back in December," ASSOCHAM Secretary General D S Rawat.

The chamber's letter stated that with the advent of 'Information Super Highway' the real issue lies in deriving 'Intelligent Information out of Junk data' that can help take cognitive decisions to its various stakeholders.

The assimilation, mining, analysis and dissemination of any information of 'National' importance is a critical part of the activities of many governmental and private agencies and institutions.

Attempts have to be made for nation-wide co-ordination and regulation of information resource management.

Today with the quantum growth in volumes, variety and velocity at which data is generated on every click in this electronic age the availability and practical use of such intelligent information is one of the most immediate needs in the data-rich landscape of tomorrow.

However, a clear legal framework is required to legitimize the need for creating National Data Bank of e-Information of Classified and Heritage documents for National Archive which can be integrated with 'National Information Policy' demarcating information into broad three categories - information in public domain, information to be used by Government agencies for generation of social security No/ID, passport, voter ID etc and classified information restricted by law.

This program can also be integral part of Central Governments 'Digital India and e-Governance' initiatives preserving the 'Classified Information', 'Written Heritage', 'Intellectual Property Right' (IPR), the 'Right to Information' along with the 'Rights of Citizens' encompassing golden rules of open standard for data access, flexibility, quality and transparency of data, legal conformity along with maintaining best practices and professional standards, allowing interoperability.

"Today the value potentials of 'Big Data Management' are widely recognized at all levels by the Government. The data collected from public domain when analyzed and maintained over time, its potential can be fully ascertained. Data that may be non-sensitive in nature could be used by public for scientific, economic and developmental purposes."

Various agencies trying to extrapolate the benefits of various e-governance programs feel the need to share large amount of data generated residing among the entities of the government of India. This calls for a need to leverage these data assets which are disparate lying in isolation with various government Agencies working in silos.

This is also leading to duplication of data resulting in effective loss of efforts and loss of effective planning and co-ordination amongst various agencies.
Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina paid homage to the victims of the Gulshan attack at the Army Stadium in Banani here on Monday morning.

The 12-hour-long hostage crisis had ended on Saturday morning after a two-hour long assault by armed forces' commandos killing six gunmen and capturing one alive.

Nine Italians, seven Japanese, one Indian, one Bangladeshi American and two Bangladeshis were among the 20 killed in the terror attack at Holey Artisan Bakery in Gulshan on Friday night.

Two senior police officers-Banani Police Station officer-in-charge Salauddin Ahmed Khan and Detective Branch Assistant commissioner Robiul Islam also lost their lives while trying to rescue the hostages.

While Salauddin was laid to eternal rest at Banani Graveyard in Dhaka, Robiul was buried at her village home in Manikganj.

Meanwhile security continues to be tight at all sensitive points in the capital, with police checking all vehicles especially in the secured diplomatic area where the gruesome hostage killings took place.

US Secretary of State John Kerry had also called the Bangladesh Prime Minister and offered her assistance from American law enforcement, including the FBI, in the wake of the terror attack in Dhaka.

State Department spokesperson John Kirby said that the Secretary yesterday encouraged the Bangladesh to conduct its investigation in accordance with the highest international standards and offered immediate US assistance in this regard.
A Kashmiri IT professional, who left the state and settled down in Bangalore for better career prospects, strongly feels there is need for a change in the Valley's education system.

Basharat Amin Shah, a product of Institute of Technology (NIT), Srinagar, is one among the many bright students of the state who have made a bright career for themselves in different parts of the country.

Shah said he is deep-rooted to his homeland and keeps visiting the place often. He also heaped praise on his adopted home Bangalore, which he feels is better developed than rest of the country.

"Kashmir is my motherland and I am deep-rooted with that state. It lacks those avenues which take you to the heights of your career. So, my next choice was Bangalore, which I felt is more close to my native - be it weather, its people or their behaviour - it resembles more to Kashmir. Development wise, it is better than rest of the country," he said.

After completing his engineering from NIT, Shah did his Masters from Iran and moved to Bangalore a decade ago. Basharat currently works as a senior manager at Aricent Technologies.

"Last year, I visited Srinagar for campus recruitment. I felt very good to visit a place where have studied and now recruiting the people for your organization. I keep visiting Srinagar for work purpose also," he added.

Basarat and his Bangalore-based Kashmiri friends are also planning to set up an institute with modern teaching facilities in the Kashmir Valley.

Basharat said Kashmiri youth are bright and can do well in the corporate world, but "it takes time for them to settle".

"We need to bring change in the style of education in Kashmir. Like in Bangalore, the industry contributes and recommends the syllabus. But in Kashmir, we are going with the conventional system of education," he said.

Several others like Basharat Amin have set an example for the youngsters in the valley who are gradually making use of the best available opportunities across the country.
Basharat Amin Shah is one among many educated people from Kashmir valley who have made a bright career for themselves. Hailing from Srinagar city, Basharat Amin Shah is an IT professional based in Bangalore.

After completing his engineering from NIT, Srinagar he did his masters from Iran and moved to Bangalore a decade ago to avail better career opportunity.

Currently, Basharat works as a senior manager at Aricent Technologies.

"Kashmir is my motherland and I am deep-rooted with that state. It lacks those avenues which take you to the heights of your career. So, my next choice was Bangalore, which I felt is more close to my native - be it weather, its people or their behavior - it resembles more to Kashmir. Development wise, it is better than rest of the country," said IT professional, Basharat Amin Shah.

Living happily with his wife and twin daughters Basharat is deep-rooted with Kashmir. He has visited the valley several times, especially as part of campus recruitment for his company.

He said that last year he visited Srinagar for campus recruitment and felt good to visit a place where have studied and now recruiting people for your organization.

Basarat and his Bangalore-based Kashmiri friends are also planning to set up an institute with modern teaching facilities in the Kashmir valley.

The Kashmiri youth are doing very good. I have lot of people from Kashmir who are doing very good in my organization. But, it takes time for them to settle.

We need to bring change in the style of education in Kashmir. Like in Bangalore, the industry contributes and recommends the syllabus. But, in Kashmir we are going with the conventional system of education.

People like Basharat Amin have set an example for other youth in the Kashmir valley to avail the best available opportunities across the country.
Days after the arrest of former Bihar School Examination Board (BSEB) secretary Harihar Nath Jha over his alleged involvement in the Intermediate toppers scam, another former secretary Nivas Chandra was on Monday arrested in connection with this case.

This takes the total number of arrests in the case so far to over 20.

According to reports, ever since former BSEB chairman Lalkeshwar Prasad Singh and his wife Usha Sinha were arrested from Varanasi in this case, the couple have been alleging that it was Harihar Nath Jha who was the mastermind in the entire scam and that they had no role in it.

The issue came to limelight last month after a video of Ruby Rai, the controversial Humanities 'topper' in the Bihar Intermediate Examination, went viral in which she described political science as "prodigal science" and stated that political science, a subject she virtually aced, teaches cooking.

Soon, a seven-member expert committee was constituted and Rai was asked to appear before the committee. The panel cancelled her result after the review.

Rai was then sent to judicial custody till July 8 after her arrest on June 25 in connection with this case. However, she was on Monday shifted from Beur jail to remand home on grounds that she was a minor.

Rai had secured 444 marks out of 500 in the arts stream. However, on camera she did not even appear to know the number of subjects in her course.

The Bihar School Examination Board (BSEB) had earlier on June 4 cancelled the results of two toppers, including Sourabh Shrestha, of the Intermediate (Science) examinations after they failed to prove their merits in a re-test.
Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) Secretary General, Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir today accused the Awami League government of not being sincere in forging national unity to tackle militancy in the country.

Alamgir said that that Bangladesh Nationalist Party chairperson and former prime minister Khaleda Zia has called for national unity.

"Our chairperson [Khaleda Zia] has already called for a national unity to rid Bangladesh from present crisis," the Daily Star quoted him as saying after paying homage to the victims of Dhaka attack.

"But the government doesn't want it that's why it is imposing various pre-condition to BNP for the unity," he added.

Khaleda on Saturday called upon the government to forge national unity among all political parties to tackle the militant issue.

Array

But Hasina's Awami League leaders on the same day ruled out Khaleda's appeal saying the party will have to sever its relation with anti-liberation war element Jamaat before the unity.

Fakhrul alleged that the ruling party is imposing conditions as it is not in the interest to forge national unity to tackle militancy.
Ruby Rai, the controversial Humanities 'topper' in the Bihar Intermediate Examination, was on Monday shifted from Beur jail to remand home on grounds that she was a minor.

This came after a district court in Patna accepted that she was a minor on the basis of her matriculation certificate which mentioned her date of birth as November 15, 1998.

Rai was earlier sent to judicial custody till July 8 after her arrest on June 25 in connection with this case.

The girl, from the controversial Bishun Roy college of Vaishali district, was taken into custody by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) on the basis of arrest warrant issued by a Patna district court against her and three other rank-holders in the examination racket case.

Rai came to limelight last month after a video went viral in which she described political science as "prodigal science" and stated that political science, a subject she virtually aced, teaches cooking.

Soon, a seven-member expert committee was constituted and Rai was asked to appear before the committee. The panel cancelled her result after the review.

Rai had secured 444 marks out of 500 in the arts stream. However, on camera she did not even appear to know the number of subjects in her course.

The Bihar School Examination Board (BSEB) had earlier on June 4 cancelled the results of two toppers, including Sourabh Shrestha, of the Intermediate (Science) examinations after they failed to prove their merits in a re-test.
The Madras High Court on Monday ordered a probe into the seizure of Rs 570 crores in Tirupur district during polls.

Officials on poll duty had recovered the money from three trucks during the elections in May.

DMK leader TKS Elangovan had filed a complaint alleging that the trucks had bogus registration numbers and that the currency bundles had Axis Bank seal, even though the cash was claimed by State Bank of India.

The DMK has alleged that the officials had conspired together and created fake documents to claim the money belonged to SBI.

Earlier, a senior SBI official had said that such transportations are routine, and that the SBI chest at the Coimbatore main branch alone has a capacity to hold Rs 1,500 crore, with Rs 900 crore the average limit at any point of time.
Condemning the Dhaka terror attack in which 20 hostages were hacked to death, Defence expert P.K. Sehgal has said that it was an attempt to reduce the credibility of the Bangladesh Government and instil fear in the minds of people.

Sehgal said that by carrying out the attack in one of the most high-on security area, the attackers wanted to send a message that there is no safe place in Bangladesh and that they can reach everywhere.

"The area chosen was such; it is the safest, secure and protected area in Dhaka. It houses diplomats, hi-end NGO's and wealthy people and there are many security posts, in spite of that attack this took place. A huge number of arms and ammunition were carried in to the restaurant, a very clear message was being sent to the government of Bangladesh, that no place is safe and secure in Bangladesh, we can reach anyplace and every place," Sehgal told ANI.

"They are trying to reduce the credibility of Government of Bangladesh, put fear in the minds of people of Dhaka and Bangladesh," he added.

Sehgal further accused Pakistan to be the mastermind behind the attack, adding that Islamabad is not able to tolerate prospering relations between India and Bangladesh.

"Apparently Pakistan is back of all terrorist activities that are taking place in India, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. This has been accepted without an iota of doubt, the type of planning and coordination that went in to this attack clearly indicated hand of somebody who was expert in this," said Sehgal.

"Pakistan also does not like the strengthening relations between India and Bangladesh, ever since Sheikh Haseena took over as the Prime Minister, the relation between the two nations are on up-swing. Hence, Pakistan is trying to do everything to spoil the atmosphere coming in to being between India and Bangladesh," he added.

Nine Italians, seven Japanese, one Indian, one Bangladeshi American and two Bangladeshis were among the 20 killed in the terror attack at Holey Artisan Bakery in Gulshan on Friday night.

Two senior police officers-Banani Police Station officer-in-charge Salauddin Ahmed Khan and Detective Branch Assistant commissioner Robiul Islam also lost their lives while trying to rescue the hostages.

Meanwhile security continues to be tight at all sensitive points in the capital, with police checking all vehicles especially in the secured diplomatic area where the gruesome hostage killings took place.
17-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer produced yet another dominating performance as he brushed aside Steve Johnson of America to race into the quarter-finals of the men's singles event here at Wimbledon on Monday.

The Swiss maestro trounced his American opponent Johnson 6-2, 6-3 ,7-5 in the fourth-round contest that lasted for one hour and 37 minutes.

With the win, the third-seed also equaled Jimmy Connors' Open-era record by reaching his 14th Wimbledon quarter-final.

Federer will now face Croatia's Marin Cilic, the 2009 U.S. Open champion, for a place in the semi-finals.
Hewlett Packard Enterprise has announced a strategic alliance with Docker, Inc., the company behind the open platform that enables organizations to build ship and run distributed applications on any infrastructure.

Through a joint worldwide enterprise alliance agreement covering sales, go-to-market, engineering, support, services and knowledge sharing, HPE and Docker are collaborating to help customers transform and modernize their datacenters to benefit from a more agile development environment.

At the heart of this alliance is HPE's Docker ready server program, unique to the server industry, which ensures HPE servers are bundled with Docker Engine and support. This enables customers to create distributed applications that are portable across any infrastructure.

By combining the strength of the number one cloud infrastructure provider with the leader in containerization, HPE and Docker will deliver hybrid infrastructure solutions and an application portfolio ranging from legacy to micro services applications, fully supported by HPE.

"In order to survive and thrive in the idea economy, companies must transform the IT experience so that lines of and developers can innovate faster, smarter and fearlessly," said Director Servers Hewlett Packard Enterprise India, Vikram K.

"Hewlett Packard Enterprise is innovating across its entire datacenter portfolio to help customers with that transformation. Together with Docker, we are making it easier for IT to deploy and manage containers, while giving organizations solutions that optimize their investments and power a new generation of applications that are the business," added Vikram K.

"By 2018, more than 50 percent of new workloads will be deployed into containers in at least one stage of the application life cycle." The joint HPE and Docker solutions will help fuel this trend by delivering HPE's Composable Infrastructure combined with Docker's Container-as-a-Service (CaaS) approach to provide the kind of predictability and management enterprise IT expects. This will be accomplished by the creation of a bi-directional application lifecycle that fosters a shared partnership between developers and operations teams."

"The default availability of Docker's technology on every HPE server and HPE's hyper-converged platform enables enterprises to take advantage of the benefits of containerization while leveraging their investments in existing systems and process," said Ben Golub, CEO of Docker.

"Having a strategic alliance that starts with Docker Engine but extends to include our commercial end-to-end platform, Docker Datacenter provides HPE customers with a comprehensive solution that covers all of their requirements over time.

Enterprises leveraging this joint solution can achieve immediate efficiencies while focusing on existing applications, which can include a 20X optimization on their infrastructure, while shipping their applications 13X faster.
The first two-day meeting of the Eminent Persons Group on Nepal-India Relations (EPG-NIR) began on Monday in .

The meeting would finalise the body's agenda, time frame, code for its members, as well as working procedures.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Kamal Thapa inaugurated the opening session this morning. Later, exclusive close-door discussion by its eight members- four members each from Nepal and India will be held, reports the Himalayan Times.

The Nepali EPG members include former foreign minister Bhekh Bahadur Thapa, former chief commissioner of the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority Surya Nath Upadhyay, former law minister Nilamber Acharya and CPN-UML lawmaker Rajan Bhattarai.

The Indian side includes lawmaker and senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Bhagat Singh Koshyari, former vice-chancellor of Sikkim University Mahendra Lama, former Indian ambassador to Nepal Jayant Prasad and VIF senior fellow BC Upreti.

A joint report containing recommendations for both the governments on improving bilateral relations in the changed context will be made by the body.

According to reports, the body has been given two years to come up with a comprehensive report on anything that needs to be updated, adjusted or amended in all exiting bilateral treaties, agreements, understandings, including the Peace and Friendship Treaty of 1950.

The formation of EPG was decided upon Nepal's proposal during the third Nepal-India Joint Commission meeting in July 2014.

It was finally given shape after both countries announced names of EPG members during Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli's visit to India this February.
Siddharth Mehariya, the son of independent Rajasthan legislator Nand Kishor, arrested for allegedly mowing down three people from his BMW car was on Monday sent to three-day police custody.

Three people were killed and five others injured when a BMW car allegedly driven by Siddharth rammed into an auto rickshaw and a police PCR van near St Xavier's School in the city late on Friday night.

Siddharth's lawyer Deepak Chauhan said that the charges levied against his client were false, adding a person named Ramesh was responsible for the accident.

The lawyer further said that Ramesh later on went to the police and said he was responsible for the accident.

The police alleged that 20-year-old Siddharth was driving the vehicle in an inebriated state.

The incident occurred at around 1.50 a.m. when Siddharth and his cousin Jayant (19) were heading to Jyoti Nagar in a BMW.

The three victims were identified as Jethanand, Kailash and Vishnu.

Siddharth had cried foul, saying he was not driving the car and it was his driver who caused the accident.

He also refused to the allegations levelled by the police, saying wherever a big car and youngsters are involved, there is doubt of alcohol consumption.
The Communist Party (NCP) on Monday advised the Bangladesh Government to wait and interrogate the arrested terrorist in connection with the Dhaka terror attack in which 20 hostages were hacked to death before deriving to any conclusion.

NCP leader Majeed Memon told ANI, "It is little too early to conclude because the probe would go on now since one the terrorist have been caught alive and I am sure that his sustained interrogation will throw substantial light on the background, the motive, the participation, the conspiracy all aspects of the crime."

"Although the advisor to the Honourable Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has already made a public statement that it was not foreigner's hands that were local terrorists who have done this. But I believe it is little too early to conclude. They have also said that there can be a possibility of Pakistan's hand in this. But I believe we should wait before giving any judgment and let the arrested boy be subjected to interrogation," he added.

Speaking to ANI, Bangladesh Information Minister Hasanul-Haq Inu said that the attack on the innocent people was made to embarrass the government and create a political situation which ferments conspiracy.

"This is an attack by the home-grown terrorists of Bangladesh and they are out to unsettle the elected constitutional government and install a pro-religious fundamental government," he said.

The Minister also asserted that the attack did not have any link with any international terrorist organisation.

"It is totally a home-grown terrorist network, but there is a fashion nowadays across the world, wherever there is attack, the attackers boast that they are connected with IS, Taliban or Al Qaeda," he said.

Speaking about the involvement of ISI, he said that the investigation agency of Pakistan did have connections with the Jamaat-e-Islami armed cadres in the past.

" Pakistan was a political enemy of Bangladesh for many years. When Sheikh Hasina came to power, they were very tough to home-grown terrorist networks and even on the cross border terrorism. She was dismantling the high doubts of the cross border terrorists and at the moment I can say that armed networks have been dismantled," he added.

Nine Italians, seven Japanese, one Indian, one Bangladeshi American and two Bangladeshis were among the 20 killed in the terror attack at Holey Artisan Bakery in Gulshan on Friday night.

Two senior police officers-Banani Police Station officer-in-charge Salauddin Ahmed Khan and Detective Branch Assistant commissioner Robiul Islam also lost their lives while trying to rescue the hostages.

Meanwhile security continues to be tight at all sensitive points in the capital, with police checking all vehicles especially in the secured diplomatic area where the gruesome hostage killings took place.
The Nepal Ministry of Commerce has sent a proposal to China regarding the process of purchasing petroleum products as per the bilateral agreement signed between the two countries.

An agreement to import petroleum products to Nepal from China and constructing depots at three places was signed during Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli's visit to China in April this year.

During a meeting on Monday, Minister of Commerce and Supplies Ganeshman Pun said that they have formed a taskforce and sent the report to the Foreign Ministry, regarding importing petroleum products from Beijing.

The government has made a plan to import 33 per cent of total demand of the petroleum products from China, reports the Kathmandu Post.

Pun said that a discussion would be held through diplomatic channel as issues related to tax and transport are still unclear in the report.

At the meeting, Managing Director of the Nepal Oil Corporation Gopal Bahadur Khadka said that the process for purchasing 450 gas bullets has also been forwarded and that upgrading and reconstruction task of depots was underway.

Also, Chairman of the Consumer Welfare Protection Forum, Jyoti Baniya, and Chairman of the National Consumers Forum, Premlal Maharjan, demanded action against those creating artificial shortage of the petroleum products and promoting black marketing in the name of disruption of Narayangadh-Muglin road section.
Advocate K Karuna Sagar, who has lodged a complaint against AIMIM chief over his remark to provide legal help to five arrested IS suspects, said on Monday that Owaisi has no right to help those who are ideologically extreme.

Seeking a sedition case against Owaisi, Sagar said that he was boosting the morale of anti- people and was assuring them of legal aid despite their untoward acts and intentions.

"I feel sorry for him, he has made a wrong choice. There are thousands of Muslims languishing in the court of India without any legal aid. If he is to give legal aid for his community particularly he can, but not to the person who are ideologically extreme and conspiring," Advocate Sagar told ANI here.

"There are revelations in the interrogation by the NIA, where the IS module who has been arrested by the NIA, have pledge their allegation to the IS chief Al-Baghdadi," he added.

Expressing confidence on positive outcome of the complaint, he said the police have sent the grievance to the legal opinion.

"I have filed a complaint before the SHO of the Saroor Nagar Police against AIMIM chief Owaisi for his controversial remarks being given by him on July 1, 2016 in Macca Masjid on Friday. He stated that his party is going to give legal aid to the five IS module who have been conspiring a blast in Hyderabad and who are in the custody of NIA," he added.

As Owaisi came under attack after his remark, BJP and JD(U) demanded strict action against him with immediate arrest.

The Janata Dal (United) has demanded his arrest besides the cancellation of membership as a parliamentarian.

"There is uniform civil code in many states..so does that make those states Hindu or Catholic? But it definitely creates the Islamic states. Owaisi is the greatest anti- . He said he will provide legal aid to the people associated with the ISIS. Such kind of persons should be put behind the bars and their Parliament membership must be cancelled," JD (U) leader Ajay Alok told ANI.

Minister of State for Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi also said Owaisi's statement boosted the morale of the terrorists.

"One should not fall so low in politics that they begin to appear favouring terrorists and terrorism. Play politics and take on the opposition, but don't do something which shows that you are on the side of terrorism," Naqvi said.

Condemning Owaisi's decision to back the IS suspects, he further said that his decision would not be accepted by anyone across the country regardless of his or her religion.
Refuting allegations of their involvement in the gruesome terror attack in a Dhaka cafe which claimed 22 lives, Pakistan on Monday targeted Indian media for carrying out provocative stories.

In a statement, the Pakistan Foreign Office said such reports are utterly baseless and unfounded.

"In response to the media queries regarding allegations of Pakistan's involvement in Dhaka's terrorist attack, the Spokesperson stressed that these are highly regrettable, irresponsible and provocative stories being carried in the Indian media. They are utterly baseless and unfounded. Pakistan strongly rejects such allegations," Pakistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.

Drawing the attention to the remarks by the Adviser to the Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Gowher Rizvi, the statement said that Rizvi refuted the Indian media story attributed to him regarding Pakistan's involvement as "utter nonsense" and a proof of the Indian media's malicious intent.

"Rizvi said he never issued any statement or spoke to any TV channel on this issue. Rizvi contacted Pakistan's High Commissioner to Bangladesh to confirm that he has not issued any statement against Pakistan and that the Indian media reports are false," the statement said.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a statement also said that Rizvi has advised the Pakistan's High Commissioner to convey this clarification to the Government of Pakistan, to avoid any misunderstanding between the two countries.

The statement read that Pakistan deeply appreciates Gowher's timely rebuttal to the Indian media's reports.

"Pakistan has strongly condemned the terrorist attack in Dhaka and expressed solidarity with the Government and the brotherly people of Bangladesh and offered condolences and sympathized with the families of the victims," the statement added.

In the end, the statement read that Islamabad itself being one of the biggest victims of terrorism condemns terrorism in all its forms and manifestations.

"Being itself one of the biggest victims of terrorism, Pakistan welcomes Gowher Rizvi's call for international cooperation to fight the menace of terrorism," the statement read.

Nine Italians, seven Japanese, one Indian, one Bangladeshi American and two Bangladeshis were killed in the terror attack at Holey Artisan Bakery in Gulshan on Friday night.

Besides 20 people, two senior police officers-Banani Police Station officer-in-charge Salauddin Ahmed Khan and Detective Branch Assistant Commissioner Robiul Islam were killed while trying to rescue the hostages.

The 12-hour-long hostage crisis at the cafe popular with foreigners ended after a two-hour long assault by armed forces' commandos killing six gunmen.

Though Islamic state has taken responsibility for the attack, the Bangladesh government clearly rejected the claims and said the attack did not have any link with any international terrorist organization and it was homegrown.

The Bangladesh authorities even blamed Pakistan's ISI for the attack.
With an objective at consolidating the gains that India has made at the India-Africa Forum Summit (IAFS) and further strengthening and reinvigorating bilateral ties with the African partners, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will kick off his four-nation visit to Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania and Kenya from July 7.

The Prime Minister will begin his five-day visit starting with Mozambican capital Maputo.

"This is the third segment of high-level visits that was planned to Africa as a follow up to IAFS. The first of course was of the Vice President from May 30 to June 5 to Morocco and Tunisia, followed by our own President going to Ghana Ivory Coast and Namibia from June 12-18. So, in the first half of this year, this is the third segment, which covers four countries in five days," said Amar Sinha, Secretary, Economic Relations, Ministry of External Affairs, at a media briefing on Monday.

Underlining the importance of the first visit by Prime Minister Modi to the African mainland, Sinha said, "All these four countries, if you look at the map, are our maritime neighbours across the Indian Ocean. These are all our gateways to the (African) mainland and a number of landlocked countries which are also our important partners. So, basically the Indian traders also rely on ports in these countries whether in Mombasa, Beira or further down in South Africa."

Stating that the focus of this visit would be on energy, Sinha said, "Mozambique is the third largest exporter of natural gas after Qatar and Australia. Then food security; we are importing large number of food items, particularly pulses like arhar, tur and moong, as these countries are major sources of pulses."

Talking about the Prime Minister's interaction with the Indian diaspora, he said: "All these three countries, of course varying degrees, but we have sizable diaspora: Kenya 80,000, Tanzania 50,000, Mozambique 20,000 and of course South Africa has more than a million. The Prime Minister will be meeting the diaspora in all the four countries, but both in Johannesburg and Kenya, he will be addressing them in a large format, because the response was so overwhelming that we had over 10,000-15,000 registrations in a day by people who wanted to come to listen to him."

"Besides these, the maritime dimension also dictates the choices of these countries, which are very-very important, as they are all members of the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA). So, we are interested in blue economy and maritime security as well," he added.

Sinha further said these countries are also members of International Solar Alliance, which is our initiative. "So we are looking at consolidating the gains that we have made at the IAFS," he added.

Noting this is the first visit by the Prime Minister to the African mainland, Sinha said, "All these visits are happening after a long-long gap: Mozambique after 34 years, where Mrs (Indira) Gandhi was the last to visit; Kenya after 35 years; and South Africa after 10 years. Tanzania was visited by former prime minister Manmohan Singh in 2011."

MEA official spokesperson Vikas Swarup had earlier last week said Prime Minister Modi will have bilateral discussions with Mozambican President Filipe Nyus on July 7 to strengthen bilateral ties between both sides and enhance development cooperation.

"From 8th to 9th July in South Africa, the Prime Minister will have meetings with President Jacob Zuma and other senior leaders across the political spectrum to further enhance our historical relations with South Africa. With South Africa we cooperate and work closely also in multi-lateral fora like BRICS, IBSA, G20 and BASIC," he added.

The Prime Minister is also expected to visit Johannesburg, Pietermaritzburg and Durban during the visit.

Pietermaritzburg is the place where Mahatma Gandhi was thrown out of the train compartment.

The Prime Minister will have meetings with President John Pombe Joseph Magufuli in Tanzania on July10 to further enhance mutual cooperation and understanding on major issues of common interest.

The Prime Minister will be in Kenya the next day where he will have bilateral discussions with President Kenyatta.

Prime Minister Modi will also address students in the University of Nairobi during the visit.

"The visit of the Prime Minister to the African mainland reflects India's desire to further strengthen and reinvigorate bilateral ties with our African partners which were renewed at the successful India-Africa Forum Summit-III in October last year. The visit will provide opportunities to build on close contacts at the highest political level and enhance mutual cooperation and understanding on major issues of common interest," Swarup added.
The mortal remains of Tarishi Jain, who was among the 20 hostages killed in a gruesome terror attack in Dhaka's Gulshan cafe, has been handed over to her family for the last rites.

Haryana Education Minister Ram Bilas Sharma, Gurgaon Deputy Commissioner T.L. Satyaprakash and other officials earlier this afternoon received Tarishi's mortal remains at Delhi's IGI Airport.

Union Power Minister Piyush Goyal, along with others, paid tribute to her at the community centre in DLF Phase-I, Gurugram.

The mood at the community centre was somber with relatives crying inconsolably while paying their tributes to Tarishi.

The minister was also seen consoling the aggrieved family members of the 19-year-old girl.

Tarishi, a student of University of California in Berkeley where she studied Economics, was in Dhaka on vacation. She had gone with two other friends to the Gulshan cafe where she was killed.

On Saturday, she was among the first victims of the Dhaka's siege to be identified. Her friends Abinta Kabir and Faraaz Hossain were also killed in the attack.

Nine Italians, seven Japanese, one Indian, one Bangladeshi American and two Bangladeshis were killed in the terror attack at Holey Artisan Bakery in Gulshan on Friday night.

Besides 20 people, two senior police officers-Banani Police Station officer-in-charge Salauddin Ahmed Khan and Detective Branch Assistant Commissioner Robiul Islam were killed while trying to rescue the hostages.

The 12-hour-long hostage crisis at the cafe popular with foreigners ended after a two-hour long assault by armed forces' commandos killing six gunmen.
In the brutal murder case of software engineer S.Swathi, the prime accused Ramkumar has been remanded to 14 days judicial custody.

City Metropolitan Magistrate Gopinath visited him at the hospital and recorded his statement about the gruesome killing of the Infosys staff on 24th last month at Nungambakkam railway station.

The accused was brought from Tirunelveli to Chennai this morning and was admitted into the Royapettah Government Hospital as he slit his throat in an attempt to commit suicide before he was arrested from his hideout in the Meenakshipuram village near Sengottai in Tirunelveli on Saturday.

The Dean of the Royapettah Government Hospital certified that the accused is fit to talk to the Magistrate.

Meanwhile, Ramkumar continues to undergo treatment in the hospital amidst heavy security.
The shares of Tata Motors rallied 3.7 percent intraday Monday after witnessing strong growth in Jaguar Land Rover's US sales and India's passenger vehicles in June.

Luxury car maker Jaguar Land Rover estimated a total of 8,448 units sale in June, registering a whopping 44.2 percent growth compared with 5,860 units sold an year-ago period.

The sales increased 125.4 percent to 2,743 units and Land Rover rose 22.9 percent to 5,705 units compared with corresponding period of last fiscal.

Overall, JLR sales continued to be strong as in May reporting a solid 18 percent growth year-on-year by selling 44,946 units. That was largely supported by Jaguar sales (up 90 percent against 49 percent in April), largely driven by F-Pace and XE sales in the US.

However, Tata Motors has registered an eight percent growth by selling 44,276 units against 40,869 units on yearly basis, supported by passenger and light commercial vehicles sales.

The company estimated that domestic sales grew by eight percent to 38,673 units and exports rose by 11 percent to 5,603 units compared with an year-ago period.

Light commercial vehicle sales increased 14 percent while medium and heavy commercial vehicle sales declined 11 percent YoY.

Tata Motors in its filing reported that passenger cars sales jumped 37 percent to 11,705 units in June YoY as hatchback sales grew by over a 100 percent at 7,126 units due to strong demand for the recently launched Tiago.

The scrip of Tata Motors was quoting at Rs. 473.00, up Rs. 15.10, or 3.30 percent on the BSE.
Two security officers were injured when a suicide bomber blew himself up today near the American consulate in Saudi Arabia's Red Sea city of Jeddah.

The Dawn reports that that the bomber was apparently headed in a car toward a mosque and hospital that are near the US consulate in Jeddah.

So far, US Embassy officials in Saudi Arabia and the Interior Ministry officials have not commented.

A State Department spokesperson, stated that said US officials are aware of reports of an explosion in Jeddah and are working with Saudi authorities to collect more information.

Saudi Arabia is part of the US-led coalition fighting IS in Iraq and Syria.
Kishore Darda, the chairman of Yavatmal Public School Committee, which runs the Yavatmal Public School, was on Monday sent to one-day police custody on charges of negligence following reports of alleged molestation of girl students by two teachers.

Darda was arrested from Nagpur in the early morning hours today following violent protests by the parents of a few girl students against the alleged molestation of their wards by two teachers - Yash Borundia and Amol Shirsagar.

The police custody of the two teachers, who were arrested four days ago in connection with this case, was today extended till July 7.

The protesting parents were adamant that Darda should also be arrested on the charge of negligence.

Earlier on Sunday, as many as 22 policemen were injured in a clash with the protesting parents, who were demanding Darda's arrest.
With the Supreme Court set to hear the Delhi Government's plea seeking a stay on the Delhi High Court's proceedings in the tussle between the Centre and the Delhi, Swaraj Abhiyan founder Yogendra Yadav on Monday expressed hope that the 'never ending' fight between Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung and AAP led government comes to an end.

"It is good that the matter is in front of the Supreme Court. It's been one and a half year and we have seen nothing but Lieutenant Governor vs Delhi Government," Yadav told ANI.

"Somebody has to end this, in the end the matter is in front of the apex court. I hope that the Supreme Court gives a clear verdict, so that at least people of Delhi come to know who is governing the capital and most of all this never ending fight between Lieutenant Governor and Delhi government ends," he added.

The apex court will today hear the Delhi Government's plea seeking a direction that the high court be restrained from delivering its judgement on issues including the scope of powers of the city government to exercise its authority in performing public functions.

A bench headed by Chief Justice T.S Thakur will hear the plea in which it has been claimed that only the Supreme Court has jurisdiction under the Constitution to deal with issues relating to the powers of states and the Centre.

The AAP Government, in its appeal, has alleged that its power to do public services in Delhi has been adversely affected.

On May 24, the high court had reserved its verdict on the plea of the Delhi Government seeking a stay on the proceedings on the petitions arising out of its standoff with the Lieutenant Governor over powers to appoint bureaucrats in the capital and other issues.
The Minister of State for Civil Aviation, Dr. Mahesh Sharma has informed that a major effort was underway to operationalize numerous airports in the State of Uttar Pradesh.

Dr. Mahesh Sharma informed that 400 crore assistance will be provided by the Centre for developing the airports in Agra, Allahabad, Kanpur and Bareilly. This would be done within a period of one and a half months.

He said an airport in Kushinagar will also be developed, for which the State Government had provided 200 crore and the work is being executed by RITES and would be complete with a year.

The Minister said that a Committee had been set up, comprising of two senior officers from the Ministry and two officers from the Uttar Pradesh Government. This Committee will study the feasibility of developing no frills airports in Meerut, Faizabad and Moradabad.

Dr. Mahesh Sharma also informed that the case of constructing airport in Jewar had been sent to the Ministry of Defence for their NOC. The Minister informed the media that the push for developing airports in small towns was a natural follow up to the Regional Air Connectivity Scheme that had been announced last week.

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Coal India rose 1.1% to Rs 313.50 at 09:51 IST on BSE after the company on provisional basis achieved 99% of targeted production at 42.72 million tonnes in June 2016.

The company announced the monthly coal production and offtake performance market hours on Friday, 1 July 2016.

Meanwhile, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 173.55 points or 0.64% at 27,319.70

On BSE, so far 38,000 shares were traded in the counter as against average daily volume of 5.12 lakh shares in the past one quarter. The stock hit high of Rs 313.80 and low of Rs 310.90 so far during the day. The stock had hit a record high of Rs 447.25 on 5 August 2015. The stock had hit a 52-week low of Rs 272.05 on 12 April 2016. The stock had outperformed the market over the past 30 days till 1 July 2016, rising 1.21% compared with 1.12% rise in the Sensex. The scrip had also outperformed the market in past one quarter, gaining 7.75% as against Sensex's 7.42% rise.

The large-cap company has equity capital of Rs 6316.36 crore. Face value per share is Rs 10.

Coal India and its subsidiaries on a provisional basis achieved 99% of targeted production at 42.72 million tonnes in June 2016. With respect to coal offtake, 95% of target was achieved for the month. The total offtake stood at 44.96 million tonnes in June 2016.

Coal India's consolidated net profit rose 0.2% to Rs 4247.93 crore on 0.7% decline in total income to Rs 22904.36 crore in Q4 March 2016 over Q4 March 2015.

State-run Coal India is India's biggest coal miner. The Government of India currently holds 79.65% stake in Coal India (as per the shareholding pattern as on 31 March 2016).

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Modulus USA alleges infringement of copyright of software

Financial Technologies (India) announced that the Company has received copy of Notice of Motion and Suit filed by Modulus Financial Engineering Inc, USA (Modulus) at the Hon'ble High Court, Bombay, alleging infringement of Copyright of software with reference to the license Agreements entered into with them since 2008.

The Company denies any such infringement as alleged and is taking appropriate measures in consultation with the legal Counsel of the Company. The Company believes that the impact of the suit is currently not readily ascertainable.

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On 21 July 2016

Gujarat Narmada Valley Fert. & Chem. will hold a meeting of the Board of Directors of the Company on 21 July 2016 to approve the Unaudited Financial Results for the First Quarter ended June 30, 2016.

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Key benchmark indices may extend recent gains tracking firmness in Asian stocks. Trading of Nifty 50 index futures on the Singapore stock exchange indicates that the Nifty could gain 40.70 points at the opening bell.

In overseas stock markets, Asian stocks edged higher after recouping early losses led by gains in Chinese stocks. In mainland China, the Shanghai Composite was currently up 1.5%. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index was currently up 1.75%. US stocks rose for a fourth day on Friday, 1 July 2016, with the S&P 500 Index posting its best week since November, amid optimism on American growth and as central banks continued to signal support in staving off fallout from Britain's decision to leave the European Union. US market will remain shut today, 4 July 2016, on account of Independence Day.

Closer home, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 187.51 crore on Friday, 1 July 2016, as per provisional data released by the stock exchanges. Domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 907.05 crore on Friday, 1 July 2016, as per provisional data.

Among corporate news, Hero MotoCorp said its motorcycle sales rose 1.32% to 5.49 lakh units in June 2016 over June 2015. The company said it reported sales growth of 6.07% to 17.45 lakh units in Q1 June 2016 over Q1 June 2015 in spite of subdued rural demand.

The company said it will soon introduce Splendor iSmart 110 motorcycle in the market - the first motorcycle to have been completely developed by the in-house research and development (R&D) team at Hero MotoCorp.

The company further added that with the implementation of the 7th Pay Commission and the forecast of the above-average monsoon, it is optimistic about a pick-up in sales momentum. The announcement was made after market hours on Friday, 1 July 2016.

Tata Motors said that its total passenger and commercial (including exports) rose 8% to 44,276 vehicles in June 2016 over June 2015. Domestic sales of Tata commercial and passenger vehicles rose 8% to 38,673 units in June 2016 over June 2015. Passenger vehicles sales in the domestic market grew 22% to 12,509 units in June 2016 over June 2015. Sales of passenger cars rose by 37% to 11,705 units in June 2016 over June 2015, as Tata Motors hatchback sales grew by over a 100% at 7,126 units in June 2016, due to strong demand for the recently launched Tiago.

Sales of Tata Motors Light Commercial Vehicles (LCVs) rose 14% to 16,017 units in June 2016 over June 2015. Medium & Heavy Commercial Vehicles (M&HCV) sales fell 11% to 10,147 units in June 2016 over June 2015. The overall commercial vehicles sales in the domestic market rose 2% to 26,164 units in June 2016 over June 2015.

The company's sales from exports rose 11% to 5,603 units in June 2016 over June 2015. The announcement was made after market hours on Friday, 1 July 2016.

Coal India and its subsidiaries achieved 99% of targeted production at 42.72 million tonnes in June 2016. The company achieved 95% of targeted offtake at 44.96 million tonnes in June 2016. The announcement was made after market hours on Friday, 1 July 2016.

Shares of State Bank of India (SBI) and Reliance Industries (RIL) will be watched. SBI and RIL signed shareholders' agreement on 30 June 2016 for setting up payments bank. the subscription and shareholders' agreement was signed by RIL as promoter with a 70% equity contribution and SBI as joint venture partner with 30% equity contribution on 30 June 2016. All requisite regulatory and statutory approvals will now be sought for operationalizing the payments bank. The announcement was made after market hours on Friday, 1 July 2016.

Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) announced on Saturday, 2 July 2016, that its board has accorded an in-principle approval for exploring the acquisition of TM Harbour Services. TM Harbour Services is engaged solely in providing tug services to The Dhamra Port Company (DPCL), a wholly owned subsidiary of APSEZ. The acquisition will help the company provide effective and efficient marine services to DPCL. The acquisition is subject to due diligence, final negotiations between the parties and obtaining of requisite regulatory approvals.

UltraTech Cement turns ex-dividend today, 4 July 2016 for dividend of Rs 9.50 per share for the year ended 31 March 2016 (FY 2016).

Stocks of public sector companies and index heavyweight ITC led the latest upmove for the two key benchmark indices, with the barometer index, the S&P BSE, piercing the psychologically important 27,000 level on Friday, 1 July 2016. The Sensex rose 145.19 points or 0.54% to settle at 27,144.91, its highest closing level since 27 October 2015.

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Key benchmark indices held firm and were hovering close to their intraday highs in early afternoon trade. At 12:20 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 221.16 points or 0.81% at 27,365.96. The Nifty 50 index was currently up 63.80 as points or 0.77% at 8,392.15. Firmness in Asian stocks boosted sentiment.

The Sensex rose 225.96 points or 0.83% at the day's high of 27,370.87 in mid-morning trade, its highest level since 26 October 2015. The barometer index rose 148.62 points or 0.54% at the day's low of 27,293.53 at the onset of the trading session. The Nifty rose 66.45 points or 0.79% at the day's high of 8,394.80 in mid-morning trade, its highest level since 20 August 2015. The index rose 44.30 points or 0.53% at the day's low of 8,372.65 at the onset of the trading session.

In overseas stock markets, Asian stocks edged higher led by gains in Chinese stocks as expectations increased that central banks might ease monetary policy following Britain's vote to leave the European Union last month. In mainland China, the Shanghai Composite was currently up 1.88%. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index was currently up 1.56%. US stocks rose for the fourth day on Friday, 1 July 2016, amid optimism on American growth and as central banks continued to signal support in staving off fallout from Britain's decision to leave the European Union. US market will remain shut today, 4 July 2016, on account of Independence Day.

Closer home, the broad market depicted strength. There were more than two gainers against every loser on BSE. 1,749 shares rose and 748 shares declined. A total of 188 shares were unchanged. The BSE Mid-Cap index was currently up 0.89%. The BSE Small-Cap index was currently up 1.21%. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex.

ONGC jumped 4.57% and was the top gainer from the Sensex pack.

Metal & mining stocks gained as copper prices rose in global commodity markets. JSW Steel (up 0.42%), Hindustan Copper (up 1.67%), Vedanta (up 2.29%), Hindustan Zinc (up 2.76%), Jindal Steel & Power (up 1.98%), Tata Steel (up 1.56%), Steel Authority of India (Sail) (up 2.06%), and National Aluminum Company (up 1.76%) gained. Bhushan Steel shed 0.48%.

High Grade Copper for September 2016 delivery was currently up 1.26% at $2.245 per pound on the COMEX.

Hindalco Industries gained 0.88% to Rs 125.90 after hitting 52-week high of Rs 126.40 in intraday trade.

NMDC rose 0.53%. The company has reduced the prices of lump iron ore to Rs 1700 per WMT with effect from 3 July 2016 from Rs 1800 per WMT fixed for June 2016. The prices of fines iron ore kept unchanged at Rs 1460 per WMT with effect from 3 July 2016 compared with prices fixed for June 2016. The announcement was made during market hours today, 4 July 2016.

The BSE Metal index had outperformed the market over the past one month till 1 July 2016, rising 8.41% compared with 1.61% rise in the Sensex. The index had also outperformed the market in past one quarter, rising 14.45% as against Sensex's 7.42% rise.

Realty stocks also rose. DLF (up 1.85%), Omaxe (up 0.9%), Indiabulls Real Estate (up 0.88%), Unitech (up 1.93%), Housing Development & Infrastructure (HDIL) (up 0.44%), and Oberoi Realty (up 1.33%) edged higher.

The BSE Realty index had outperformed the market over the past one month till 1 July 2016, rising 8.15% compared with 1.61% rise in the Sensex. The index had also outperformed the market in past one quarter, rising 21.95% as against Sensex's 7.42% rise.

Jaiprakash Associates rose 1.86% after the company announced on Saturday, 2 June 2016, that the joint lenders forum meeting held to review the progress made so far on the corrective action plan, approved by the lenders in January 2015, has agreed for invocation of strategic debt restructuring (SDR) taking 28 June 2016 as reference date, subject to approval of lenders. Further, the company has informed that a meeting of the board of directors of the company is scheduled on 4 July 2016, to review the progress of the divestment plans and other related matters.

MPS jumped 5.85% after the company announced that it has completed the acquisition of Magplus, a leading digital platform company for creating and distributing content apps, based in Sweden and USA. The announcement was made on Saturday, 2 July 2016. Magplus was a part of Bonnier Growth Media which is the venture arm of media conglomerate Bonnier and home to some of the fastest growing companies in the group.

Rahul Arora, CEO, MPS said that the acquistion of Magplus has enhanced the company's platform capabilities and expanded its reach into newer publishing markets including enterprises and magazine publishers.

Seamec rose 6.21% after the company said that HAL Offshore (HAL), the promoter of the company was awarded a letter of intent (LoI) by ONGC for charter hire of multi support vessel for the scope of work for three years. It has been agreed by and between the company and HAL for chartering the vessel SEAMEC - II by the company to HAL along with the marine crew only, Seamec said. The total contract value for three years will be about $27.69 million, the company said. The announcement was made during market hours today, 4 July 2016.

Meanwhile, monsoon rains have reportedly covered nearly all of India except some parts of Gujarat and Rajasthan, while the remaining region is likely to be covered this week. Rainfall has picked up in central and northern India in the last few weeks, helping to narrow the rainfall deficit in the current season to 6%, sharply down from 18% in the first week of June. The monsoon is expected to be above average this season. The monsoon is important for the farm sector, as around 70% of the country's farmlands are rain-fed. The rains have an impact on the whole economy, as rural spending on consumer goods depends on the rainfall.

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Hero MotoCorp said its motorcycle sales rose 1.32% to 5.49 lakh units in June 2016 over June 2015. The company said it reported sales growth of 6.07% to 17.45 lakh units in Q1 June 2016 over Q1 June 2015 in spite of subdued rural demand. The company said it will soon introduce Splendor iSmart 110 motorcycle in the market - the first motorcycle to have been completely developed by the in-house research and development (R&D) team at Hero MotoCorp. The company further added that with the implementation of the 7th Pay Commission and the forecast of the above-average monsoon, it is optimistic about a pick-up in sales momentum. The announcement was made after market hours on Friday, 1 July 2016.

Tata Motors said that its total passenger and commercial (including exports) rose 8% to 44,276 vehicles in June 2016 over June 2015. Domestic sales of Tata commercial and passenger vehicles rose 8% to 38,673 units in June 2016 over June 2015. Passenger vehicles sales in the domestic market grew 22% to 12,509 units in June 2016 over June 2015. Sales of passenger cars rose by 37% to 11,705 units in June 2016 over June 2015, as Tata Motors hatchback sales grew by over a 100% at 7,126 units in June 2016, due to strong demand for the recently launched Tiago.

Sales of Tata Motors Light Commercial Vehicles (LCVs) rose 14% to 16,017 units in June 2016 over June 2015. Medium & Heavy Commercial Vehicles (M&HCV) sales fell 11% to 10,147 units in June 2016 over June 2015. The overall commercial vehicles sales in the domestic market rose 2% to 26,164 units in June 2016 over June 2015. The company's sales from exports rose 11% to 5,603 units in June 2016 over June 2015. The announcement was made after market hours on Friday, 1 July 2016.

TVS Motor Company said its total sales rose 11% to 2.47 lakh units in June 2016 over June 2015. Total two-wheeler sales rose 13.8% to 2.39 lakh units in June 2016 over June 2015. Domestic two-wheeler sales rose 16.4% to 2.06 lakh units in June 2016 over June 2015. Scooter sales rose 10.3% to 67,539 lakh units in June 2016 over June 2015. Motorcycle sales rose 7.6% to 95,465 lakh units in June 2016 over June 2015. Three-wheeler sales fell 35.77% to 7,128 lakh units in June 2016 over June 2015. Total exports fell 9.09% to 39,112 lakh units in June 2016 over June 2015. Three-wheeler exports fell 0.18% to 33,173 lakh units in June 2016 over June 2015.

Coal India and its subsidiaries achieved 99% of targeted production at 42.72 million tonnes in June 2016. The company achieved 95% of targeted offtake at 44.96 million tonnes in June 2016. The announcement was made after market hours on Friday, 1 July 2016.

Shares of State Bank of India (SBI) and Reliance Industries (RIL) will be watched. SBI and RIL signed shareholders' agreement on 30 June 2016 for setting up payments bank. The subscription and shareholders' agreement was signed by RIL as promoter with a 70% equity contribution and SBI as joint venture partner with 30% equity contribution on 30 June 2016. All requisite regulatory and statutory approvals will now be sought for operationalizing the payments bank. The announcement was made after market hours on Friday, 1 July 2016.

Bosch announced after market hours on Friday, 1 July 2016, that its board has approved buyback of 8.78 lakh fully paid up equity shares, or 2.796% equity, of the company at Rs 23,000 per share. The buyback offer aggregates to Rs 2019.76 crore, representing 24.99% of the paid-up share capital and free reserves. The buyback is subject to approval of the shareholders through a postal ballot process. The board has noted the intention of Robert Bosch GmbH, promoter of the company, to participate in the buyback.

Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) announced on Saturday, 2 July 2016, that its board has accorded an in-principle approval for exploring the acquisition of TM Harbour Services. TM Harbour Services is engaged solely in providing tug services to The Dhamra Port Company (DPCL), a wholly owned subsidiary of APSEZ. The acquisition will help the company provide effective and efficient marine services to DPCL. The acquisition is subject to due diligence, final negotiations between the parties and obtaining of requisite regulatory approvals.

Wockhardt said it has given corporate guarantee to secure term loan of $250 million facility availed by Wockhardt Bio AG, a subsidiary of the company. The announcement was made after market hours on Friday, 1 July 2016.

Indian Hotels Company said that Samsara Properties, the company's indirect overseas wholly-owned subsidiary, has sold 51.75 lakh class 'A' common shares of the face value of $0.01 each of Belmond, representing 5.1% of the total outstanding class 'A' common shares for a net consideration of $49.57 million. The sale proceeds are being utilized largely for retirement of debt. Post the above sale, Samsara Properties continues to hold 0.44% of the class 'A' common shares of Belmond. The announcement was made after market hours on Friday, 1 July 2016.

Jaiprakash Associates announced on Saturday, 2 June 2016, that the joint lenders forum meeting held to review the progress made so far on the corrective action plan, approved by the lenders in January 2015, has agreed for invocation of strategic debt restructuring (SDR) taking 28 June 2016 as reference date, subject to approval of lenders. Further, the company has informed that a meeting of the board of directors of the company is scheduled on 4 July 2016, to review the progress of the divestment plans and other related matters.

Jubilant Industries said that considering the unfavourable market conditions, the management of the company's material unlisted subsidiary, Jubilant Agri and Consumer Products, has decided to temporarily discontinue the operations of its manufacturing facility located at Rajasthan with immediate effect till further intimation. The facility was engaged in the production of single super phosphate.

The revenue contributed by this manufacturing facility for the financial year ended 31 March 2016 was Rs 4.01 crore and its networth as on 31 March 2016 was Rs 50.43 crore, constituting 0.66% of the company's consolidated revenue and 22.22% of the company's consolidated net worth. The announcement was made after market hours on Friday, 1 July 2016.

Camlin Fine Sciences said that the qualified institutional placement (QIP) committee of the company has approved the closure of the QIP on 1 July 2016. The committee approved the issue price of Rs 85.40 per share, which is at a discount of Rs 4.49 per share, to the floor price of Rs 89.89 per share, for the equity shares to be allotted to eligible qualified institutional buyers pursuant to the QIP issue. The announcement was made after market hours on Friday, 1 July 2016.

Mahanagar Telephone Nigam (MTNL) said it has received income tax refund worth Rs 112.95 crore for the assessment year 2000-2001. The amount includes Rs 52.35 crore towards interest on refund. The announcement was made after market hours on Friday, 1 July 2016.

Snowman Logistics clarified after market hours on Friday, 1 July 2016, that investment in its proposed project at Krishnapatnam be approximately Rs 17 crore, which will be financed through internal accruals.

Earlier on 22 June 2016, the company had informed that it was setting up a new facility at the Gateway Distriparks Logistics Park in Krishnapatnam which will have a capacity of 3,500 pallets of temperature controlled and dry warehousing. This facility can be further scaled up to 10,000 pallets in a phased manner within the next two years. The location is 7 kms from Krishnapatnam port, which currently services the requirements of Southern and Central Andhra Pradesh such as the newly developed Sri City industrial region, Eastern Karnataka, Northern Tamil Nadu and Eastern Maharashtra. The facility is scheduled to become operational by March 2017 and will cater to the EXIM trade including sea-food, meat, dairy products, pharmaceutical products, fruits and fruit pulp, the company added.

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For Rs 67 crore

Team Lease Services announced that the Company has signed definitive agreement to acquire Bangalore based ASAP Info Systems, through its wholly owned subsidiary, Team Lease Staffing Services for Rs 67 crore.

The transaction, which will be immediately accretive to TeamLease's earnings per share, will be financed with existing financial resources and is expected to close before the end of August 2016.

ASAP Info Systems offers IT staffing solutions to various MNCs and domestic companies with over 1,000 associates and 171 core employees as of date. ASAP is a Tier 1 staffing provider to reputed MNC'S. ASAP Info Systems operates through its offices across India, Bangalore being its corporate office and has branches across Chennai, Hyderabad, Gurgaon and Pune.

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TeamLease Services rose 2.68% to Rs 1,105.70 at 12:07 IST on BSE after the company announced the signing of a definitive agreement to acquire ASAP Info Systems.

Meanwhile, the BSE Sensex was up 215.50 points, or 0.79%, to 27,360.41.

On BSE, so far 11,000 shares were traded in the counter, compared with an average daily volume of 11,739 shares in the past one quarter. The stock hit a high of Rs 1,134 and a low of Rs 1,064 so far during the day. The stock hit a record high of Rs 1,207.70 on 16 February 2016. The stock hit a record low of Rs 790 on 28 April 2016. The stock had outperformed the market over the past 30 days till 1 July 2016, rising 16.66% compared with 1.12% rise in the Sensex. The scrip had also outperformed the market in past one quarter, rising 19.51% as against Sensex's 7.42% rise.

The small-cap company has an equity capital of Rs 17.10 crore. Face value per share is Rs 10.

TeamLease Services announced during trading hours today, 4 July 2016, that it will acquire ASAP Info Systems for an enterprise value of Rs 67 crore through its wholly-owned subsidiary, TeamLease Staffing Services. The transaction, which will be immediately accretive to TeamLease's earnings per share, will be financed with existing financial resources and is expected to close before the end of August 2016. The transaction remains subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals.

Bangalore headquartered ASAP Info Systems realized revenue of approximately Rs 63 crore with earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) of approximately Rs 11 crore in the financial year ended March 2016 (FY2016). ASAP Info Systems offers IT staffing solutions to various MNCs and domestic companies with over 1,000 associates and 171 core employees as of date. ASAP is a Tier 1 staffing provider to reputed MNCs. ASAP Info Systems operates through its offices across India, Bangalore being its corporate office and has branches across Chennai, Hyderabad, Gurgaon and Pune.

TeamLease said it has long serviced IT companies for non-IT staffing positions and expects ASAP to help continue expansion in the space after merging its current offices.

Net profit of Team Lease Services rose 34.41% to Rs 9.14 crore on 25.31% rise in net sales to Rs 654.04 crore in Q4 March 2016 over Q4 March 2015.

TeamLease Services provides human resource services. Its services span the entire people supply chain of human resources, covering employment, employability and education. Its employment services include staffing solutions, recruitment services and compliance services. The company's employability offerings include different types of learning and training solutions for retail, institutional and enterprise customers.

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At least 19 persons were arrested in Spain as part of an international operation against child pornography on Monday, officials said.

The arrests were made for the possession and distribution of images which show abuse and sexual exploitation of minors, Xinhua news agency reported.

The operation in Spain was launched when the American working group at the Cybercrime unit of Interpol alerted that Spanish internet users were exchanging files with images and videos of the sexual abuse of minors.

The joint operation saw the arrest of 60 more people in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, the US, Guatemala, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, the Dominican Republic, Uruguay and Venezuela, with over 200 searches carried out in 47 cities.

Investigators were now analysing several files in order to try and identify the victims, many of whom could still be suffering from abuse.

The Spanish Civil Guard confirmed that 14 minors in Spain and two in Colombia have already been identified as a result of the operation.

Many of the victims were first contacted through a "well-known" social networking site.

--IANS

ask/lok/bg
The death toll from a flash flood in in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province rose to 43 on Sunday, with over 40 injured and scores of missing, officials said.

The provincial National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) said that Chitral district was the worst hit area where 31 people were killed, Xinhua news agency reported.

"The hill torrent washed away a mosque, a army check post and nearby houses (35 full house damage, 47 partial house damage)," the NDMA said in a statement.

The torrential rain hit Ursoon village on Saturday night, which resulted in flash flood in the stream located near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, the statement added.

Express News reported that eight security personnel were killed and four seriously injured when flash flood swept away their check post in the district.

It added that 32 people were also injured in separate incidents of roof collapse.

Separately, in Haripur district, four people were killed and four injured when the roof of their work site collapsed near Tarbela dam area, Latifur Rehman, spokesperson for the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) said.

Rescue teams from Pakistani army, paramilitary forces and PDMA have launched a search and relief operation.

The Inter-Services Public Relations said in a statement that the troops have provided food, tents and medical aid to affected people in the Ursoon village.

An army helicopter has made five trips from Chitral to Ursoon and evacuated the injured, said the statement.

A search operation for missing persons is ongoing.
Asean Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR) urged the Myanmar government to end discrimination against the Muslim minority in Myanmar.

The call comes after repeated incidents that targeted the country's Muslim minority population, including an anti-Muslim protest by thousands of Buddhists and monks, in Rakhine state on Sunday, EFE news reported.

"The government, led by State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, has been telling the international community to 'just trust us' to handle the situation in Rakhine state and address discrimination against Rohingya and other Muslim communities," APHR Chairperson Charles Santiago said in a statement.

"Events like these prove they must do much more to earn that trust," he added.

On June 23, another mosque was burnt by a Buddhist mob, which also ransacked a Muslim cemetery in Waw, located in the Bago region and 262 km (163 miles) from Naypyidaw.

On July 1, a Buddhist mob burnt a mosque in Hpakant, in the state of Kachin.

Violence against the Muslim minority in Myanmar had broken out in 2012, following the rape and murder of a Buddhist nun by three Muslims.

Since then, more than 200 people have died and around 150,000 Muslims -- most of them ethnic minority Rohingyas who are not recognised as citizens by the state -- remain in camps for the displaced in Rakhine, in precarious conditions.

--IANS

ksk/vt
Industry chamber Assocham said on Monday that it has offered to set up a national data bank from the billions of e-transactions for use for India's strategic needs, as well as by common citizens.

The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham) said in a release here that it has written to the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval offering the "creation of a cyber 'National e-Information Data Bank' of classified and heritage documents for national archive" as a "proposal to break wall between the government and private organisations".

"With the advent of the 'information super highway', the real issue lies in deriving intelligent information out of junk data that can help various stakeholders take cognitive decisions.

"With the quantum growth in volumes, variety and velocity at which data is generated on every click in this electronic age, the availability and practical use of such intelligent information is one of the most immediate needs," Assocham said.

"While a similar concept has now been proposed by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG), we had submitted a blueprint way back in December 2015," said Assocham secretary general D.S. Rawat.

Underlining the need for nationwide co-ordination and regulation of information resources, Assocham noted, however, that a clear legal framework is required for creating such an archive "which can be integrated with the National Information Policy, demarcating information into broad three categories - information in public domain, information to be used by government for generation of social security number ID, passport, voter ID etcetera, and classified information restricted by law".

The industry chamber said there is "need to leverage these data assets which are disparate, lying in isolation with various government agencies working in silos".

"This is also leading to duplication of data resulting in effective loss of efforts and loss of effective planning and co-ordination amongst various agencies," it said.

--IANS

bc/vd
Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and opposition Labour party leader Bill Shorten on Monday began talks with independent MPs in an attempt to form a minority government.

The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) said it could take up to a month to determine the final results of Saturday's election, while a clear result to determine a government might not be known until Wednesday, Xinhua news agency reported.

So far, the AEC tally has Labour leading in 69 seats and the ruling Liberal-National coalition leading in 64 seats.

Five seats were listed as close, and another six as "not yet determined". Counting of pre-poll, postal and absentee votes will resume on Tuesday.

At least 11 of 150 lower house seats remain in doubt.

As it stands, both major parties could form a minority government, in which they must secure support of independents to gain the 76 seat majority required to govern, members from both parties remain confident they can win the election.

Liberal Senator and Turnbull confidant Arthur Sinodinis said the Prime Minister would be entering dialogue with a number of crossbench MPs in an attempt to form a government. He said it was important for all parties to enter mature discussions in such a complicated situation.

"We on all sides have to work with parliament the Australian people have delivered," Sinodinis said on Monday.

All 150 seats in Australia's lower house, the House of Representatives, were being contested at this election, as were all 76 seats in the upper house, the Senate.

Nearly a quarter of Australians voted for a lower house candidate from outside the major parties. Results for the Senate vote are expected to take several weeks.

It is the first time in decades that all the seats in both houses have been contested in a single election. The double-dissolution election, as it is known, was called by Turnbull in an attempt to break a deadlock over industrial relations legislation.
Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Monday paid tribute to the 20 hostages, most of them foreigners, and the two policemen who were killed in the almost 12-hour terror siege on a cafe in Dhaka on Friday evening.

Monday marked the second day of national mourning after seven jihadis (six of whom were killed and one arrested) attacked the Holey Artisan Bakery, located in the Gulshan diplomatic area of Dhaka and frequented by many foreigners, on Friday.

The assault, which ended on Saturday, was claimed both by the Islamic State (IS) and the Al Qaeda branch in the Indian subcontinent.

Prime Minister Hasina placed a floral wreath and stood in silence for a minute to honour the victims, after a wreath was placed on behalf of President Abdul Hamid, who is currently in Bhutan on a state visit, bdnews24 reported.

After paying her respects, Hasina met relatives of the victims at the ceremony held at the Army Stadium.

Through the process, Hasina handed over the bodies to the relatives.

The caskets were placed in a raised platform which bored the flags of India, Italy, Bangladesh, Japan and the US - commemorating the nationalities of the foreigners killed, the Daily Star said.

Relatives and friends of the victims and other people poured in to pay their last tribute at scene. Envoys of India, Italy, US and Japan also paid their respects at the caskets.

The caskets of three Bangladeshis were taken to Army Stadium. The rest, of foreign nationals, were kept at Combined Military Hospital, officials inside the military said.

Body of the Indian national was taken away by relatives this morning. Bodies of nine Italians were being handed over around noon. The bodies of seven Japanese will be handed over later in the evening.

The 20 hostages were found dead on the premises.

Thirteen hostages were rescued after the siege ended.

--IANS

ksk/vm
The government on Monday said that it has sought an NOC (no objection certificate) from the Ministry of Defence for construction of an airport at Jewar in the Gautam Budh Nagar district of Uttar Pradesh, adjoining national capital city Delhi.

According to Minister of State (MoS) for Civil Aviation Mahesh Sharma, the push for developing airports in small towns was a natural "follow up" to the regional air connectivity scheme (RCS).

He spoke after a review meeting between the officials from the civil aviation ministry and the Uttar Pradesh government on development of airports in the state.

The government on last Friday unveiled the draft regional air connectivity scheme policy document with the intent to provide air connectivity to unserved and remote regions.

At that time the minister said that the new RCS policy, when implemented, might cause congestion at the IGI Airport, for which there was a need to develop another airport in the National Capital Region.

Currently, the ministry has two proposals for development of an additional airport in the NCR -- Jewar in Uttar Pradesh and Bhiwadi in Rajasthan.

The minister announced the formation of a committee of senior ministry and state government officials, which has been tasked to study the feasibility of development of "no frills" airports in Meerut, Faizabad and Moradabad.

Besides, the minister said, a major effort has been undertaken to operationalise numerous airports in Uttar Pradesh.

The minister also revealed that Rs 400 crore assistance will be provided by the central government for development of airports at Agra, Allahabad, Kanpur and Bareilly.

He pointed out that an airport in Kushinagar will also be developed, for which the state government has provided Rs 200 crore.

--IANS

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The mortal remains of 19-year-old Tarishi Jain, who was among the 20 hostages killed in a gruesome terror attack in Dhaka, was on Monday brought here by her family for the last rites.

The cremation was held at the Shiv Murti Cremation ground near IFFCO Chowk in Gurgaon's Sector 29 on the Delhi-Gurgaon expressway.

Central and state ministers were among those who paid tributes when the body arrived from Dhaka.

Haryana Education Minister Ram Bilas Sharma, Gurgaon Deputy Commissioner TL Satyaprakash and other officials earlier on Monday afternoon received Tarishi's mortal remains at Delhi's IGI Airport.

Union Minister of State for Power Piyush Goyal, Union Minister of State Rao Inderjit Singh, other Haryana MLAs along with others, paid tribute to her.

Tarishi, a student of University of California-Berkeley, was in Dhaka on vacation. She had gone with two other friends to a cafe in the upscale Gulshan area where she was brutally killed by Islamist terrorists.

On Saturday, she was among the first victims of Dhaka's siege to be identified. Her friends Abinta Kabir and Faraaz Hossain were also killed in the attack.

Nine Italians, seven Japanese, one Indian, one Bangladeshi American and two Bangladeshis were killed in the terror attack at the Holey Artisan Bakery in Gulshan on Friday night.

Tarishi's father, who runs a garment business in Bangladesh for the last 15-20 years, has a flat in Sector 32 of Gurgaon.

The family members decided to cremate her in Gurgaon as it would be difficult to take the body to her native place in Firozabad in Uttar Pradesh by road.

The Bangladesh government handed over the body of Tarishi to her relatives on Monday morning in Dhaka, following which her moral remains were flown to Delhi.
Researchers, including one of Indian origin, are developing a new flying technique for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) or drones that will help the machines visually coordinate their flight and navigation just like birds and flying insects do.

The drones will be able to do their work without human input, radar or even GPS satellite navigation, said the team from University of Queensland.

"We study how small airborne creatures such as bees and birds use their vision to avoid collisions with obstacles, fly safely through narrow passages, control their height above the ground and more," said lead researcher and Professor Mandyam Srinivasan.

"We then use biologically-inspired principles to design novel vision systems and algorithms for the guidance of UAVs," he added in a university statement.

At first glance, insects and birds have very different brains in terms of size and architecture, yet the visual processing in both animals is very effective at guiding their flight.

"Bees' brains weigh a 10th of a milligram and carry far fewer neurones than our own brains; yet the insects are capable of navigating accurately to food sources over 10 km away from their hive," said Srinivasan.

The team compares the flight of bees and budgies in particular because they are easy animals to study.

"The study of their behaviour could also reveal some of the basic principles of visual guidance in a number of organisms including humans," he noted.

Comparing the flight behaviours of these animals using high-speed cameras will lead to drastically improved UAV guidance systems.

"These UAVs could be incredibly useful for applications like surveillance, rescue operations, defence, and planetary exploration," Srinivasan explained.

--IANS

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Researchers from the University of Leuven (KU Leuven) in Belgium have built a very sensitive electronic nose with metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) that can detect pesticides and nerve gas in very low concentrations.

"MOFs are like microscopic sponges. They can absorb quite a lot of gas into their minuscule pores," said post-doctoral researcher Ivo Stassen.

The chemical sensor can easily be integrated into existing electronic devices.

"You can apply the MOF as a thin film over the surface of, for instance, an electric circuit. Therefore, it's fairly easy to equip a smartphone with a gas sensor for pesticides and nerve gas," added professor Rob Ameloot.

The best known electronic nose is the breathalyser. As drivers breathe into the device, a chemical sensor measures the amount of alcohol in their breath.

This chemical reaction is then converted into an electronic signal, allowing the police officer to read off the result.

"We created a MOF that absorbs the phosphonates found in pesticides and nerve gases. This means you can use it to find traces of chemical weapons such as sarin or to identify the residue of pesticides on food," added Stassen.

This MOF is the most sensitive gas sensor to date for these dangerous substances.

"Further research will allow us to examine other applications as well," Professor Ameloot noted in a university statement.

"MOFs can measure very low concentrations, so we could use them to screen someone's breath for diseases such as lung cancer and multiple sclerosis (MS) in an early stage," he added.

--IANS

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Energy, food security, diaspora interactions, maritime cooperation, trade and the India-initiated International Solar Alliance will be high on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's agenda when he goes on a four-nation tour of Africa, his first to that continent's mainland, this week, a senior official said on Monday.

Modi's visit to Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania and Kenya from July 7 to 11 is expected to consolidate the gains made during the third edition of the India Africa Forum Summit (IAFS) held here in October last year, Amar Sinha, Secretary (Economic Relations) in the Ministry of External Affairs, said at a pre-departure media briefing here.

He said Modi's visit will also be the third segment of India's high-level engagement with Africa this year after Vice President Hamid Ansari's visits to Morocco and Tunisia and President Pranab Mukherjee's visits to Ghana, Ivory Coast and Namibia.

Sinha said that energy and food security would be a key area of focus during his day-long visit to Mozambique on July 7.

"I say energy because Mozambique is the third largest exporter of natural gas after Qatar and Australia," he said.

Mozambique is also the destination of nearly a quarter of Indian investments of nearly $8 billion in Africa, he informed.

Trade with Mozambique jumped five-fold in the last five years and is now hovering around $2 billion.

A memorandum of understanding on food security is also expected to be signed with Mozambique.

"We also hope to sign an MoU on government-to-government purchase of pulses from Mozambique for India," Sinha said.

Another MoU is also likely to be signed in the civil aviation sector as no Indian airline flies to Africa.

Interactions with the diaspora will be a key feature during the five-day tour of the Prime Minister.

While South Africa has over 1.2 million people of Indian origin, Kenya has 80,000, Tanzania 50,000 and Mozambique 20,000.

Apart from the regular community interactions, Sinha said Modi would address two large diaspora rallies - one in Johannesburg on July 8 and the other in Nairobi on July 10.

With all the four countries being maritime neighbours of India, maritime cooperation will be another key area of focus.

"They are all members of the IORA (Indian Ocean Rim Association)," Sinha said.

"So, we are interested in blue economy in all its connotations and maritime security."

During his visit to South Africa on July 8 and 9, Modi will spend the first day in the twin cities of Johannesburg and Pretoria and the second day in Durban, home to around 800,000 people of Indian origin, making it the city with the largest Indian population outside India.

While in Johannesburg and Pretoria, apart from the regular bilateral engagements, Modi, along with South African President Jacob Zuma, will address a large business meeting.

"South Africa, of course, traditionally has seen a huge presence of Indian companies," Sinha said.

"Over 150 Indian companies have invested there," he said, adding that investments are to the tune of around $3 billion.

"Similarly a large number of South African companies have invested in India."

India is also interested in South African technology for coal gasification and deep mining, according to Sinha.

On July 9, Modi will leave for Durban where he will visit Mahatma Gandhi's Phoenix Ashram and take a train ride to Pietermaritzburg in memory of the incident in 1893 when Gandhi was thrown out of a train compartment on account of his skin colour.

A major highlight of Modi's visit to Tanzania on July 10, apart from his regular official engagements and interaction with the Indian community, will be a meeting with a group of "solar mamas".

"Solar mamas" are women who have been trained in harnessing solar energy at the Barefoot College at Tilonia village in Ajmer, Rajasthan.

"He (Modi) will also be meeting a group of 40 or so solar mamas from different parts of Africa," Sinha said.

"This connects with our new (International) Solar Alliance as we already have a cadre of well trained people even at the village level who are solar technicians."

On July 11, during his visit to Nairobi, Kenya, Modi, apart from his regular official engagements, will visit the United Nations Office, one of the four major UN office sites where several different UN agencies have a joint presence.

"Plus he will be addressing students in the University of Nairobi, which, interestingly, was set up by a group of Indians," Sinha said.

--IANS

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has rejected allegations by Israel's public security minister that the social media giant bears responsibility for acts of terror in the country and accused of not cooperating with Israeli police.

Reacting to Gilad Erdan's comments which he made on a TV channel over the weekend, said there was no place for content encouraging violence, direct threats, terror or hatred on our platform," Haaretz daily reported on Monday.

"The public security minister also blamed for the fact that no one on Facebook had reported the posts of the terrorist who murdered (Palestinian teenager) Hallel Yaffa Ariel in her sleep, in which he had said he wanted to die a martyr's death," the report added.

"However, plenty of Palestinians have been arrested and tried for far less than that - for instance, for "liking" certain posts or changing their profile pictures," the report said.

Facebook, however, replied in a statement: "We work regularly with safety organisations and policymakers around the world, including Israel, to ensure that people know how to make safe use of Facebook."

In a bid to answer critics that it has not done enough to tackle online racist and hate speech at a time when Europe is going through a refugee crisis, Facebook has started a new initiative to counter extremist posts on the social networking website in Europe.

Called "Online Civil Courage Initiative", it is based in Berlin and supported by the German Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection.

According to Facebook, it will invest 1 million euros in European non-governmental organisations that are fighting online extremism.

"Facebook is not a place for the dissemination of hate speech or incitement to violence. With this new initiative, we can better understand and respond to the challenges of extremist speech on the Internet," said Facebook chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg, while announcing the initiative in Berlin.

CEO and founder Mark Zuckerberg has also reiterated that hate speech has no place on Facebook and in its community.
The Narendra Modi government is taking all major decisions unilaterally without discussing them in Parliament, CPI-M General Secretary Sitaram Yechury has said.

"The government is taking all key decisions on its own and bringing nothing to Parliament, be it foreign policy matters, strategic alliances or defence cooperation," Yechury told IANS in an interview.

The Communist Party of India-Marxist leader recalled that although the earlier UPA-II government also signed the 123 Nuclear Deal with the US, it was discussed in Parliament multiple times.

"The agreements they have signed now with the US commit India as a junior strategic partner of the US, conducting joint naval exercises along with US and Japan in the South China Sea and allowed automatic entry of FDI in our economy. And there is no discussion in Parliament on such important matters which have lasting impact on our interests," Yechury said.

He said while these could be executive decisions, as the Modi government asserts, "the executive is accountable to the Parliament".

The Left leader said that some of these decisions were not exactly in India's interests, especially when it comes to maintaining healthy and cordial relations with the neighbouring countries including China.

"The NDA government has committed to provide logistical support to the US for any military intervention that the US chooses to undertake. What happened to our independent foreign policy?"

He said that while India was trying to replace Pakistan as the US strategic partner in South Asia, Washington continued to provide arms and F-16 jets to Islamabad.

"Where is this government taking India to? It is taking the country to a hyphenated existence with Pakistan. That is their foreign policy. And that is how the US treats us."

On Foreign Direct Investment, Yechury said the Modi government, in contravention of the BJP's earlier stand, had given full access to foreign capital including in defence.

This, he asserted, would harm the interests of Indian workers.

"Foreign capital now has unprecedented access to our markets, our resources, our cheap labour. Foreign capital can maximize their profits while Indian workers will suffer."

The CPI-M leader questioned the Modi government's intentions vis-a-vis the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill.

"We have been asking the government for two years to hold an all-party meet to build a consensus over GST. But there is no word from the government. They are treating it as a bilateral between them and Congress.

"We doubt if they (government) actually want the Bill passed because in the past Narendra Modi himself and another BJP Chief Minister, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, have opposed it."

Accusing the Modi government of weakening the country's federal structure, Yechury said the present GST Bill would make states completely dependent on the Centre.

He called for safeguards so that the central government won't hold back money that belongs to the states, particularly those run by parties opposed to the Bharatiya Janata Party.

(Asim Khan can be contacted at mohd.a@ians.in)

--IANS

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An MoU was signed between the Himachal Pradesh government and the Employees State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) on Monday regarding the transfer of ESIC Hospital and Medical College in Mandi town to the state.

It was signed by state Principal Secretary (Health) Prabodh Saxena and ESIC Regional Director Ashok Chandra here where Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh was among the dignitaries present.

Constructed at a cost of Rs.924.82 crore, the hospital has been given on lease to the state for 99 years, an official statement said.

The state has to refund Rs.285.23 crore in five annual installments beginning after two years from the start of the college, which will have 100 MBBS seats for the college.

The college complex has four blocks, a library, a five storey administrative block, a nursing college and seven museums.

It is equipped with 500-bed facility and a 40-bed casualty department.

Health Minister Kaul Singh told IANS that the session in the ESIC Hospital and Medical College would start next year.

Spread over an area of more than 31 acres on National Highway 21, the medical college was announced by the previous United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government in 2007 but the successive BJP government had withdrawn the notification.

The college building was inaugurated on March 5, 2014, and a Medical Council of India team had also inspected the building.

However, when the BJP-led National Democratic Government came into power at the centre, it had decided not to go ahead with the ESIC colleges.

--IANS

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Iraq began a three-day national mourning on Monday for victims of Sunday's car bombing attacks in Baghdad as the toll rose to 180.

The Islamic State terrorist group has claimed responsibility for Sunday's suicide bombing in central Baghdad shopping area of Karrada, which also left over 230 people injured, Efe news reported.

In a statement on social networks, the IS said the attack had targeted "a group of renegades", referring to Shia Muslims.

According to an Iraqi interior ministry spokesperson, the toll could rise as many injured are in a critical condition.

The Karrada-Dakhil bombing was the bloodiest attack this year in Iraq, where the army is fighting Islamic State militants.

The busy commercial district in southern Baghdad was hit by the car bomb around 1.00 a.m. when a suicide bomber detonated his explosive-laden pickup truck outside a shopping centre.

The three-floor building was destroyed when many people were inside. Many of the victims were women and children. Rescuers said the explosion and the following huge fire killed all members in some families.

Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced three days of national mourning for the victims after he visited the blast site on Sunday.

His convoy was attacked by dozens of angry residents who accused the government of failing to protect its people.

Local resident Mohammed Musa said: "Now we demand a solution from the government because since 2003 to 2016 we have been uncomfortable, we are in a difficult situation."

"And those people, all of them lost their money, property and lives and other things. Everything is gone."

As the commander-in-chief of Iraqi forces, Abadi ordered intensification of security measures at the entrances of Baghdad and in other Iraqi provinces, Xinhua news agency reported.

Sunday's powerful blast set on fire the shopping centre and four nearby buildings while many shops and stalls were charred and destroyed, as were dozens of civilian vehicles at the scene.

The fire was put out in the afternoon and rescue operations continued till night.

Dozens of rescue workers, fire fighters and civilians were removing debris and burned wreckage from dawn to the evening, looking for survivors and bodies.

The attack happened when many families and young people were in the crowded thoroughfare where many shoppers were preparing their families for Eid ul-Fitr scheduled to be celebrated on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, another car bomb went off in a market in northeastern Baghdad, leaving one dead and five wounded, the source added.

During his visit to the explosion site in Karrada, Abadi vowed to punish those behind the attacks.

"The terrorist groups carried out such desperate deadly attacks as a result of being crushed in the battlefield," he said, referring to the government's recent victory of retaking Fallujah city from IS in the country's western province of Anbar.

The IS has frequently targeted security forces and areas where crowds of people gather, including markets, cafes and mosques, across Iraq.

Observers said there could be more attacks against military targets and civilians in the future as the army advances to the last IS stronghold of Mosul.

Iraq has been hit by a wave of violence since the IS seized large parts in Iraq's northern and western regions since 2014.

--IANS

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The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday staged a protest against Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and alleged that he is the "mastermind" behind the Quran desecration case in Punjab.

"Arvind Kejriwal is the mastermind behind this case," Delhi BJP unit chief Satish Upadhyay said here.

"They are doing vote bank politics, which is hurting the unity and integrity of the nation. And it is not for the first time they are doing it, they have done it during the assembly elections too," the BJP leader alleged.

"We are demanding immediate arrest of Naresh Yadav," Upadhyay said.

"The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has always posed as the most honest party, now they should tell from where they brought Rs 1 crore to pay Vijay," Upadhyay questioned.

Slamming AAP leaders, Upadhyay said: "They should have felt ashamed before indulging in such activities during the holy Ramzan month."

AAP legislator from Mehrauli in Delhi Naresh Yadav was booked by Punjab Police in the desecration case after main accused Vijay Kumar claimed he was paid Rs 1 crore by Yadav to do so.

Sangrur police had arrested Vijay Kumar, Gaurav and Nand Kishore on charge of desecration of the Quran and said they belonged to right-wing Hindu organisation VHP.

There was arson in Malerkotla on June 24 night after pages of the holy book were found dumped near a drain.

A mob attacked and set Akali Dal MLA Farzana Alam's home on fire leading to communal tension.

The mob also exchanged gunfire with police, leaving several injured.

--IANS

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Rome, July 4 (IANS/AKI) People smugglers murdered migrants who were unable to pay for their passage across the Mediterranean, harvested their organs and sold them to Egyptian traffickers, an Eritrean informant allegedly told Italian prosecutors.

The horrifying claims were made public by investigators in a probe that led to the arrest on Monday of 38 suspected traffickers, among them an Italian, on the orders of prosecutors in the Sicilian capital Palermo.

The Eritrean informant testified to prosecutors after he was arrested in Italy last year during an earlier phase of the probe during which a total 24 people were held.

He told prosecutors that he decided to turn state's evidence after a migrant shipwreck off the southern Italian island of Lampedusa in October 2013 in which 366 people died, including many Eritreans, who had sail from Libya.

"I am testifiying because there have been too many deaths. The shipwreck off Lampedusa of October 3, 2013 particularly got to me although I had no part in it," the informant allegedly stated.

--IANS/AKI

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Rome, July 4 (IANS/AKI) More terror attacks in Bangladesh cannot be ruled out and visitors need to show "maximum caution", the Italian government said on Monday.

The statement came after Islamists attacked a cafe in Dhaka and killed 20 hostages, including nine Italians.

"We advise fellow citizens in Dhaka to be vigilant and to exercise maximum caution, especially in areas popular with foreigners," Italy's foreign ministry said in advice to travellers on its website.

"Travel, especially on foot, should be limited to essential movements. Heightened vigilance is particularly advisable during local religious festivals," the advice continued.

Besides the nine Italians, seven Japanese, an American and an Indian citizen and two Bangladeshi hostages were slaughtered by militants during Friday's attack on a popular bakery in Dhaka's diplomatic area.

Six of the attackers were killed in a gunfight with the commandos while the seventh was captured alive. Two Bangladeshi policemen died during the assault, which was claimed by the Islamic State group.

Most of the attackers were reportedly from rich families and had studied in elite private schools and universities. One of the dead gunmen was the son of a ruling party politician, it has emerged.

--IANS/AKI

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Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on Monday said he supports better representation of women in armed forces but their assumption of combat roles should be a gradual process.

"I am totally for women empowerment and greater role of women in armed forces, but the change has to be gradual," Parrikar said here in response to a query on women's participation in combat situations at an event organised by FICCI Ladies Organisation (FLO) here.

India got its first batch of three women fighter pilots last month when Flying Officers Avani Chaturvedi, Bhawana Kanth and Mohana Singh were commissioned into the Indian Air Force.

Parrikar said he cannot allow women naval officers' deployment on submarines which are not amenable to gender segregation.

"But yes, ships can be modified to suit women's needs and hence they can be deployed on ships," he said.

The minister ruled out reservations for women in defence forces.

"I don't believe in reservation; I believe in affirmative action," he said, adding that there cannot be any compromise with the security of nation's borders, which is the armed forces' primary duty.

"If you can usher in change without compromising on the primary purpose of the forces, it is well and good," he said.

Asked how 100 per cent foreign direct investment (FDI) in defence sector gels with 'Make in India,' Parrikar said the FDI is not going to hurt the domestic industry catering to defence sector.

"Allowing 100 per cent FDI in defence is just an enabler; major global defence companies will invest when they are sure of orders from India and other countries," he said.

"Tie-ups with foreign companies having technology with major Indian companies, including Tatas and Mahindra, are already on and huge foreign investment is in pipeline in the defence sector," the minister added.

--IANS

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Michael Cimino, Oscar best director winner for his seminal Vietnam War drama "The Deer Hunter", has died at the age of 77 in Los Angeles.

His body was found by police Saturday at his home after friends said they were unable to reach him by phone, Xinhua reported.

According to the Los Angeles County Coroner's website, Cimino died on Thursday at his residence, but the office did not give the reason of death, pending further investigation.

Cimino was born in New York City on February 3, 1939. He directed eight films in his career.

In 1979, Cimino won an Oscar and a Golden Globe best director award for "The Deer Hunter", which also won four other Oscars including Best Picture.

Some film makers expressed their appreciation for Cimino after he passed away.

"Our work together is something I will always remember. He will be missed," actor Robert De Niro said in a statement Saturday.

"I wish I had paid tribute to Michael Cimino while he was alive, " tweeted William Friedkin, who directed the landmark 1970s films "The French Connection" and "The Exorcist."

"He was an important and masterful film maker. We will always have his work."

--IANS

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A three-member team of the Press Council of India (PCI) arrived here on Monday for a three-day visit, during which they will study the ground realities of the problems journalists face from security forces and insurgents and formulate some guidelines for the in the insurgency-afflicted northeastern region.

The members of the PCI sub committee are Ravindra Kumar who is also editor of The Statesman, Kasuri Amarnath and C.K. Neikareni.

Ravindra Kumar told reporters at the Tulihal international airport that the sub-committee shall formulate some guidelines which may be approved by the PCI for implementation in the region.

"The ball was set rolling in Nagaland when some underground organisations forced the press to publish their handouts and these were not to the liking of the government.

"In Manipur, the NIA (National Investigation Agency) was not amused by the coverage of the underground news. The government issued a notification asking the to abide by the PCI recommendations on the matter. It is against the freedom of the press guaranteed by the constitution if the press is restrained in publishing news," he said.

During their stay, the sub-committee members shall talk with the Manipur government representatives, officials of the security forces and journalists.

"Press in most of the northeastern states is sandwiched between the government and the insurgents over the publication of the underground reports and sub-committee shall try to find a way out," said Ravindra Kumar.

The sub-committee members have appealed to the journalists in Manipur to come and narrate their experiences. Some editors and journalists in Manipur were killed and others injured. Police, army and paramilitary personnel had also beat up and harassed bona fide reporters on several occasions.

--IANS

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Actress Sakshi Agarwal, who made her acting debut with last year's Tamil horror thriller "Yoogan", says her days of experimentation are over and she's gearing up for good opportunities from the entire southern industry.

"I signed my first four films in quick succession, simply because I wanted to try my hands at different genres and get as much as exposure as possible. When I signed these films, I didn't even think much about who I was going to be paired with. What was really important for me was that I was learning," Sakshi told IANS.

Having tried her hands at different genres, she's ready to take the plunge.

"I've been exposed to both good and bad things in the industry in the last one year, and I feel I've evolved as a person and as well as an actor. I'm done experimenting, and it's time to be open for good opportunities," she said.

In this week's Tamil release, "Kavita Kannadasan Kaadhalika Poraanga" aka "KaKaKaPo", Sakshi has a pivotal part to play.

"You could call it a heroine-centric film. Despite the presence of a battalion of comedians, the story revolves around my character. It's about the first kiss in a girl's life but the story has been treated in a comical way and there's no room for anything controversial," she said.

Sakshi has an introductory song in the film, which is directed by Vijay.

"It's a song which explores the navarasas. I make an appearance in nine different getups and each one is unique," she added.

Describing the film as a live action comic book, Sakshi said it also has elements of fantasy.

"Apart from oodles of comedy, the film also has shades of fantasy. With so many characters aimed to entertain audiences, it will be like watching a live action comic book," she said.

Asked if she didn't feel lost amid the presence of ensemble cast including Robo Shankar, Karunas, Powerstar Srinivasan and Mayilsamy among others, Sakshi said: "On a personal as well as professional level, I learnt a lot from them."

Sakshi's next Tamil outing will also be with "KaKaKaPo" director Vijay.

--IANS

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Award-winning director Steven Spielberg has shared that he takes pride in Hollywood star Christian Bale's success.

"I take great pride in young actors who started off doing films with me and have then made careers for themselves," Spielberg told the Mail on Sunday newspaper, reports femalefirst.co.uk.

"Nothing Christian Bale does has ever failed to impress me. He is fearless and he was fearless when he was 12 years old. I am impressed more and more with each role he takes. But in a quiet place in my own life I'll say, 'That's my boy'," he added.

Among the actors that Spielberg has developed a particular rapport with is Harrison Ford, who starred in the popular "Indiana Jones" franchise.

The director said he relished working with Ford and was always amused by what they managed to get away with.

"We always look at each other and say about the movie we are making, 'Are we really going to get away with this?' "

While making "Raiders of the Lost Ark", Spielberg adopted the curious idea of making biscuits alongside auditioning actors.

"We had a place called The Egg Company that George Lucas had built right across the street from Universal Studios," he said.

Speilberg shared that every actor who came in, had to meet him in the kitchen.

"The great thing about cooking is that an actor comes in to meet the director and the actor is usually terrified, especially if they are new, inexperienced actors. Cooking just puts us all on a level playing field," he added.

But despite his reputation in Hollywood circles, Spielberg said that he has been rejected by actors also.

--IANS

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Ignoring the appeals of Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan and Chief Justice of India T.S. Thakur, lawyers in Telangana on Monday decided to continue their strike till their demands including bifurcation of the high court were met.

The Joint Action Committee (JAC) of advocates announced the decision after a delegation met Narasimhan, who is governor of both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.

The governor advised the advocates to first call off the strike so that courts can resume functioning. He told the delegation that their demands could be resolved through talks.

However, the JAC leaders told media later that the strike will continue till all their demands were met.

Telangana High Court Advocates Association president G. Mohan Rao said they have decided to continue the strike.

The striking lawyers have been demanding revocation of nine judges suspended by the high court for protest over appointment of Andhra origin judges to subordinate courts in Telangana, withdrawal of orders for appointment of judges of Andhra nativity and bifurcation of high court.

The High Court of Judicature at Hyderabad has been serving as the common high court for both Telugu states for two years.

CJI Thakur had also advised the lawyers on Sunday to call off the strike when a delegation of JAC leaders had met him in Delhi to seek his intervention. They also sought recall of the high court's acting Chief Justice Dilip Bhosale. The CJI, however, asked them to first end the strike and start attending the courts so that public are not put to further inconvenience.

The lawyers had been agitating for over a month to protest allocation of Andhra origin judges to subordinate courts by the high court. The crisis deepened last week after judges joined the protest.

Taking a serious note of the rally taken out by judges to Raj Bhavan and enmass resignations submitted by them, the high court suspended nine judges and three employees of Ranga Reddy district court for indiscipline.

--IANS

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British Home Secretary Theresa May on Monday refused to rule out the deportation of European Union (EU) nationals living in Britain, amid fears that guaranteeing their rights could lead to a "huge influx" of migrants.

May, who has emerged as the frontrunner in the race to succeed Prime Minister David Cameron as the leader of the ruling Conservative party, said that although she wanted to "guarantee the position" of EU citizens currently living in Britain, their future could be up for negotiation, The Independent reported.

"She was saying it is unwise to promise right now that all EU nationals living in Britain should be able to stay indefinitely. The reason for that is if we did that the same rights would have to apply to any EU national who comes to Britain before we leave the EU," an official said.

"If we made that promise you could just see a huge influx of EU nationals who would all want to come here while they have that chance."

The official also made it clear that the issue was a "negotiating point".

"What is important is there will be a negotiation here as to how we deal with that issue of people who are already here and who have established life here and Britons who have established a life in other countries within the EU," May told local media.

Responding to her comments, Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron demanded that the Britain-based EU nationals should be given complete assurances that they would have the right to stay in the country indefinitely.

The party, which has committed to standing in the next election on the platform of securing Britain's place in the EU, added that the future status of these people is not clear beyond any renegotiation period, leading to uncertainty.

"It is utterly outrageous that Theresa May won't give Europeans living, working and paying taxes in Britain certainty that they will have the right to stay here. The Liberal Democrats would," Farron said.

"We call on the Home Secretary to offer a cast iron guarantee that the futures of all those Europeans residing here can be in Britain," he added.

Candidates vying to replace Cameron were urged to guarantee that the 3 million EU nationals already living here were not deported if and when Britain quits the bloc.

Britain on June 24 voted to exit the EU after almost 40 years of being a member of the now 27-member regional bloc.

--IANS

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Director Govi says actress Trisha Krishnan, known for her work in films such as "Athadu" and "Stalin", is the real hero of forthcoming Telugu horror-comedy "Nayaki", which releases in cinemas on Friday.

"Although I have two male leads, Trisha is the hero of the film. She worked very hard on this project, shed weight and underwent complete makeover to play her part. I don't think any leading actress would compromise so much for the sake of a film," Govi told IANS.

In the film, Trisha displays two different looks.

"In one of her avatars, she plays a 16-18 year old character. I didn't have to tell her how she should look for the character. When I narrated the story, she understood what was expected from her to do justice to the role," he said.

Govi calls "Nayaki" a retro horror-comedy, a genre that hasn't been attempted before.

"Trisha will be mostly seen in the 1980s look. The story will go back and forth in time. The film is 98 percent comedy and two percent horror," said Govi, adding that without Trisha's support they couldn't have completed the project on time.

"We shot the film simultaneously in Telugu and Tamil. It's not easy to complete a bilingual in 48 days but Trisha ensured that the project was not delayed at any cost.

"For her role in the 1980s, it'd take her easily five hours to wear costumes and make-up. Nevertheless, she never complained or threw tantrums. She was very understanding and patient throughout the course of the shoot," he added.

Model-turned-actor Ganesh Venkat Raman is paired with Trisha in the film, which also features Jayaprakash, Satyam Rajesh, Brahmanandam and Sentrayan in important roles.

For the first time in her career, Trisha has crooned in "Nayaki".

"She sang a three-minute promo song. One minute of the song will be used as the title track and the rest of it will feature in the film," Govi said.

--IANS

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Dubai, July 4 (IANS/WAM) The UAE has made a significant commitment to supporting stability and law in Yemen by extending military support to the Saudi-led coalition against the Al Houthi insurgency and in fighting Al Qaeda, said a Dubai-based daily.

UAE forces are taking their skills learnt from action in Afghanistan and Somalia to lead the way in training thousands of Yemeni troops, the Gulf News paper said in its editorial on Monday.

The UAE has already made a huge contribution to the successful fight against the Al Houthis, driving them out of Aden and forcing them back to the north, where there is a now a rough ceasefire as talks continue.

"But during the year-long fight against Al Houthi militants, Al Qaeda took the opportunity of the chaos of war to grab control of large swathes of territory in the east of Yemen," the Gulf News said.

"It seized Mukalla, Yemen's third port, and took control over territory that it had never held before. It then used these assets to raise a steady income of tens of millions of dollars to support their dangerous terror plans."

This is why the UAE had to act, and it has worked with the Yemenis and the Americans in the background to successfully evict Al Qaeda from Mukalla, the daily said.

This was a significant blow to Al Qaeda because not only was Mukalla one of their major assets in Yemen, but the Yemeni branch of Al Qaeda is seen as one of the most effective in the network. Its defeat is a significant loss to Al Qaeda's morale and reputation.

The daily said the UAE was also working to rebuild Yemen and has made a substantial contribution to restoring Aden to good working order, often in a very practical way such as helping sort out its battered hospitals, police force and even its air traffic control.

"It is to be hoped that the latest round of talks in Kuwait go well under the leadership of the UN, so that a Yemeni unity government can be formed, which will include the Al Houthis and others. If there is peace in the north, then the UAE and others in the coalition to support Yemen can focus on the next tasks of eliminating Al Qaeda and rebuilding a prosperous Yemen," the paper said.

--IANS/WAM

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In the prosperous district of Kannur in one of India's most prosperous states, Kerala, Eramangalathu Chitralekha, 39, was the first Dalit woman to drive an autorickshaw in 2005. Her new profession immediately angered the upper castes, who taunted her and threatened violence. One day, that year, her autorickshaw was set ablaze. In 2013, it was damaged beyond repair. The district collector gifted her a new autorickshaw in June 2014, but on March 4, 2016, it was destroyed again.

Chitralekha is unclear about her future, but she is clear that she is a victim of Hinduism's deep-rooted caste discrimination. "My house was ransacked by Nair (upper caste) men. My son was humiliated and forced to drop out of school after eighth grade when stories started doing the rounds that I was a woman of loose morals," she said. "He's 22 now and still to find a job."

Chitralekha is a Pulaya, a people termed adiyar, or slaves, in her village of Edatt. "We are low born," she explained. "We are not permitted to draw water from the same well or eat from the same plates or drink from the same glasses used by the upper castes."

The destruction of Chitralekha's autorickshaw was one of numerous crimes reported in 2016 against Dalits, lowest of Hindu castes: From stopping the entry of Dalits into temples-in Uttarakhand, a bridegroom in Haryana, a community in Karnataka-to burning homes and beating women, the murder of a Dalit who married an upper-caste woman in Tamil Nadu and the rape and murder of a law student in Kerala.

These incidents are random snapshots of violence against scheduled castes (SCs) and scheduled tribes (STs) nationwide in 2016, for which data has not yet been compiled. It is unlikely that crimes against SCs and STs - up 40 per cent and 118 per cent over five years to 2014 - will buck the trend visible in National Crime Records Bureau data.

Not only do SCs and STs - who comprise 25 per cent, or 305 million, of India's 1.2 billion people - endure historic and systemic discrimination, as the first part of this series showed, they are targets of growing violence, as they attempt to improve their lives in the world's fastest-growing economy.

No shortage of laws, but discrimination is endemic

As the relentless attacks on Chitralekha show, education and prosperity are no guarantee that attitudes will change. With India's highest literacy rate and seventh-highest per capita income, Kerala also has among the highest crime rates against SCs and STs relative to its population.

In absolute terms, in 2014, most crimes against SCs were registered in Uttar Pradesh (8,075) followed by Rajasthan (8,028) and Bihar (7,893); the most crimes against STs were registered in Rajasthan (3,952), Madhya Pradesh (2,279) and Odisha (1,259).

There is no shortage of laws to address the violence against India's disadvantaged castes and tribes.

Specific laws include the Protection of Civil Rights Act, 1955, and the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989. Specific laws include the Protection of Civil Rights Act, 1955, and the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989. Besides, the Indian Penal Code (IPC), which governs most crime in India, has adequate legal provisions - if implemented.

"Whenever I filed a complaint against the goons, the police would let them go scot-free," said Chitralekha. "The second time I went to lodge a complaint, the sub-inspector threatened to arrest me, instead."

However, better reporting and registering appears to be a reason for the rising numbers of crimes against SCs and STs, from 33,412 (SCs) and 5,250 (STs) in 2009 to 47,064 (SCs) and 11,451 (STs) in 2014.

But the reluctance to register cases continues, as our conversations with Dalit survivors of violence indicated.

Kancha Ilaiah, director of the Centre for the Study of Social Exclusion and Inclusive Policy of Maulana Azad National Urdu University, Hyderabad, said rising violence against SCs and STs was a backlash to growing assertiveness.

As Dalits grow assertive, and jobs scarce, an upper-caste backlash

According to NCRB data, 704 murders and 2,233 rapes against SCs and 157 murder cases and 925 rapes against STs were reported in 2014.

"They (upper castes) are feeling insecure because of the progress of the SCs and STs," said Ilaiah. "It is the natural course of history. The upper castes are still stuck in a world where the Dalit and the tribal are untouchables, to be treated as slaves."

In February 2016, when the national capital region of Delhi was rocked by violent agitators demanding reservations for upper-class Jats, Dalits were attacked indiscriminately, and some reported killed.

Those riots were a manifestation of India's inability to create enough employment for the million young people who join the job market every month. Organised industry added no more than 500,000 jobs in all of 2014, as IndiaSpend reported in February 2016. Upper castes, said experts, battle amongst themselves but join to keep Dalits out of the race.

Low convictions in crimes against SCs/STs

Compared to a 45 per cent conviction rate for all IPC cases, no more than 28 per cent of crimes against SCs and STs end in conviction, according to NCRB data.

"Our police carry their caste with them; even when they are on duty, they practice discrimination," said Ilaiah.

Former Maharashtra Director General of Police Rahul Gopal confirmed official discrimination. "There were instances where the police discriminated against people from the lower castes," he said.The Prevention of Atrocities Act is of little help."

(End of two-part series)

(04.07.2016. In arrangement with IndiaSpend.org, a data-driven, non-profit, public interest journalism platform. Himadri Ghosh is a Bangalore-based independent reporter. The views expressed are those of IndiaSpend. The author can be contacted at respond@indiaspend.org)

--IANS/IndiaSpend

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Director Indra Kumar says he plans to start "Total Dhamaal" with actor Sanjay Dutt next year.

During an interaction on "Magic Makers", an interactive show at #fame that connects the makers of a film with fans, Kumar spoke about the third instalment of the "Dhamaal" series, read a statement.

He said "Many actors were keen to play the lead for the sequel of 'Double Dhamaal', but I was sure that if there is a sequel, then it will be with actor Sanjay Dutt only. I waited for over three years for him, and next year, I plan to direct Sanjay in the sequel which will definitely be a 'Total Dhamaal' for viewers and his fans."

Sanjay, who walked out a free man from jail earlier this year, 23 years after his legal problems began over his possessing an assault rifle, has been getting projects galore. He was to start an untitled film with Siddharth Anand, but it got delayed as the director has asked for more time for pre-production work.

In the meantime, Kumar is all set for the release of "Great Grand Masti", which is to release on July 22.

The director, who received bouquets and brickbats in equal measure for the thriller comedy film "Masti", said: "While in India, people appreciate Hollywood films like 'Hangover', I thought why not make a film in Bollywood along similar lines.

"In Bollywood, an adult comedy film is considered as a taboo. It is high time people grow up and learn to appreciate good films irrespective of the genre."

Nevertheless, he went ahead and made "Grand Masti" after nine years.

When quizzed on why actor Tusshar Kapoor, the co-producer of "Great Grand Masti", was not considered for the upcoming film, he said: "There was no compulsion to cast him, and apart from Aftab (Shivdasani), Vivek (Oberoi) and Riteish (Deshmukh), there was no need for the fourth lead in the film."

--IANS

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The anxiety was palpable in the faces and voices of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders on Monday. Some were busy accepting congratulatory messages and even discussing the portfolio they were likely to be offered. There were also others who were crestfallen. The media had discussed their names as possible inclusions in the expansion of the council of ministers.
Australia's election has produced no clear winner, but government finances are the obvious loser. Fragmented politics make it even harder to rein in the country's budget deficit and broaden the tax base. Still, solid economic growth means can weather a bit of uncertainty.
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will campaign beyond family pocket boroughs of Rae Bareli and Amethi in the run up to the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls, say sources in the Congress party. The elections are due by February 2017.
In a major reshuffle, government today issued transfer and posting orders of 48 officers including 16 from the IPS, eight HPS, five IAS and 19 HCS ranks with immediate effect.

Among the police officers who were shuffled include 12 Superintendents of Police (SPs) of districts including Rohtak, Jind and Panipat.

The IPS officers who have been shuffled include K Selvaraj, Director General Police Housing Corporation Panchkula, who has been posted as Commandant General, Home Guards and Director Civil Defence.

Rajvant Pal Singh, Director V and S, HVPNL, Panchkula has been posted as DGP OSD Rules Police headquarters.

B K Sinha, ADGP, State Vigilance Bureau (SVB) and Bhondsi Complex, who was awaiting posting, has been posted as Special DG SVB and DG Bhondsi Complex, an official statement here said.

K K Sindhu, Director, Police Academy and ADGP Madhuban Complex has been posted as DG Madhuban Complex.

A S Chawla, IGP Administration Police headquarters and C S Rao, IGP Law and Order will swap their respective places of posting.

Rakesh Arya, SP Jind has been posted as SP Rohtak in place of Shashank Anand, who goes in same capacity to Jind.

Maneesh Chaudhary, awaiting posting orders, has been posted as SP Yamunanagar in place of Sumer Partap Singh, who becomes SP Kaithal in place of Sumit Kumar, HPS, who has been posted as DCP West, Gurgaon.

Rahul Sharma, SP Panipat and Rajesh Duggal, HPS officer who is at present SP Palwal will swap their respective places of posting.

Deepak Gahlawat, SP Mewat has been posted as SP Administration police headquarter.

Kuldeep Singh, SP Railways has been posted as SP Mewat.

Among other HPS officers, D K Bharadwaj Commandant, Ist India Reserve Battalion (IRB) has been posted as Additional SP Sonepat.

The five IAS officers who were shuffled include S K Gulati, Chairman, Haryana Mineral Ltd, New Delhi and Additional Chief Secretary, Social Justice and Empowerment Department has been posted as Additional Chief Secretary, Printing and Stationery Department, Haryana.

Roop Ram Jowel, Additional Chief Secretary, Industrial Training and Printing and Stationery Department, Haryana has been posted as Additional Chief Secretary, Industrial Training Department and Forest and Wildlife Department.

Sameer Pal Srow, Managing Director, Haryana Tourism Development Corporation Ltd, Director and Special Secretary, Urban Local Bodies department and Mission Director, State Urban Livelihood Mission and State Urban Development Authority has been posted as Director and Special Secretary, Information, Public Relations and Cultural Affairs and Languages and Grievances Department.

Shekhar Vidyarthi, Director and Special Secretary, Welfare of Scheduled Castes and Backward Classes, Managing Director, Backward Classes and Economically Weaker Section Kalyan Nigam Limited, Director and Special Secretary, Social Justice and Empowerment department has been posted as Director and Special Secretary, Urban Local Bodies and Mission Director, State Urban Livelihood Mission and State Urban Development Authority in addition to his present duties.

The Haryana government today also issued posting and transfer orders of 19 HCS officers with immediate effect.

Among the HCS who have been transferred include Vandana Disodia, Additional Director (Admn), Secondary Education and Joint Secretary to Haryana School Education Department and Additional State Transport Commissioner (Road Safety) has been posted as Additional Director (Admn), Ayush and Additional State Transport Commissioner (Road Safety).
Around 17 people were today arrested for staging demonstration in front of West Bengal assembly demanding justice in Saradha chit fund scam, a senior Kolkata Police official said.

The 18 - 15 male and two female supporters of All Bengal Chit Fund Depositors and Sufferers' Forum - were arrested at around 3 PM for staging protests before the state Assembly, he said.

The supporters, mostly those who lost funds depositing in the Saradha Scam, were demanding "justice", he added.

"All of them were arrested by the Hare Street Police Station and then brought at the Central Lock up in Lalbazar.
Three Nepal nationals have been arrested in connection with theft of Rs 25 lakh from the office of a financier in Lahori Gate area here, police said today.

The three gang members -- Deepak (22), Kamal Thapa (22) and Farman (19) -- were arrested from Anand Vihar ISBT when they were planning to leave for Nepal, Deputy Commissioner of Police (East) Rishi Pal said.

Rs 53.91 lakh in cash were recovered from them, he said.

A complaint of theft of Rs 25 lakh was lodged by financier Mony Agarawal at Lahori Gate police station on June 27.

"During interrogation, it was revealed that Kamal worked as a collection agent for Agarwal and knew the movement of cash through hawala and planned to steal the money thinking that their employer will not register a complaint of theft of the unaccounted money," said the officer.

Efforts are on to nab two absconding members of the gang, he added.
Four Palestinian youths were wounded in clashes today with Israeli forces who were demolishing the West Bank homes of two assailants' families, a Palestinian health official said.

One of the four was seriously wounded, Ramallah hospital director Ahmad Bitawi said.

The Israeli military said troops were in the Qalandiya refugee camp demolishing the homes of the families of two Palestinians who stabbed and killed an Israeli near Jerusalem's Old City in December.

The assailants in the December attack were shot and killed by Israeli guards, and a second Israeli died after apparently being shot mistakenly by police in the confusion.

During today's demolitions, Palestinian demonstrators opened fire on soldiers, the army said. Soldiers tried to disperse the crowd using stun grenades and rubber bullets, then opened fire toward the "main instigators," it said.

The clash came after a few days of increased violence. On Friday, a Palestinian gunman ambushed a family traveling in a car in the southern West Bank, killing an Israeli man and wounding his wife and two teenage children.

The day before, a Palestinian teen stabbed a 13-year-old Israeli-American girl to death as she slept in her bedroom in a West Bank settlement.

The attacks prompted Israel to send hundreds of troops to the area and impose a closure on the Hebron district, where many of the recent attacks have originated.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also said Israel will reduce the amount of tax revenues it collects on behalf of the Palestinians each month, saying it would offset money Palestinian officials give to families of attackers.

Also today, Israel's Shin Bet security agency said it has arrested two Palestinians who helped two Palestinian gunmen carry out a deadly shooting attack at a Tel Aviv cafe last month.

The Shin Bet said the gunmen drew inspiration from the Islamic State group, but were not recruited to IS and did not receive training from it. Four Israelis were killed in the attack and others were wounded.

Over the past nine months, Palestinians have carried out dozens of stabbings, shootings and attacks using cars against civilians and security forces, killing 34 Israelis and two visiting Americans. During the same period, Israeli troops as well as some armed civilians have killed about 200 Palestinians - most of them said by Israel to be attackers.
President Pranab Mukherjee wants to connect five village panchayats in Haryana directly with the Rashtrapati Bhavan to develop these as smart villages and ensure the works are carried out as per people's aspirations, according to a senior official.

On July 2, Mukherjee had inaugurated a smart model village pilot project under which five villages of Haryana adopted by him - Dhaula, Alipur, Harichandpur and Taj Nagar in Gurgaon district and Rojka-Meo in Mewat district will be developed as Adarsh Gram.

Addressing special Gram Sabhas in Dhaula and Harichandpur villages of Gurgaon district today, the President's Secretary Omita Paul said, "New techniques would be used for making the villages smart. We have come here to assist you and also make available the resources."



She said smart villages of Haryana would be developed on the pattern of development works done in the Rashtrapati Bhavan in the last three to four years, a state government release said.

Top ranking institutes of the country have been included in the team for developing the smart villages, Paul said, adding people have to come forward if they want to make their villages "smart".

"Responsibility for upkeep of the area to be developed under this project would be on the villagers. Hence, it is important for the villagers to assist the team for making this project a success," she said.

Additional Deputy Commissioner of Gurgaon, Viney Pratap Singh said this is the first time that panchayats will be directly linked with Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Paul asked the villagers to form a group of seven to eight people to assist the team of Rashtrapati Bhavan Secretariat in developing "smart villages" and prepare a list of four to five major projects so as to complete these in a phased manner.
A six-year-old girl was allegedly raped and killed by a teenage boy who hid her body in a large cooking vessel in his house near here, police said.

The 16-year-old boy, a school dropout, has been arrested and remanded to custody in a government observation home today, they said.

The girl, a class II student of Thelunganur off nearby Mettur, went missing on July 2 evening after she went out to play and her father Raja, a fisherman, lodged a complaint with police yesterday.

During investigation, police was told by locals and friends of the missing girl that the victim was led away by a boy of the same area.

Although the boy, a school dropout feigned innocence, police found the body of the girl with injuries over her face, and stomach dumped in the vessel in his house.

He allegedly confessed that he raped, assaulted and killed the girl by strangulating her.

"He was produced before the District Juvenile Justice Board today which remanded him to custody till July 18 in a Government Observation Home here," Kolathur Police Inspector S Viswanathan said.

"Case for offences under several IPC sections including trying to destroy evidence has been registered against the accused. We have also invoked the POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) Act," he told PTI.

He said the boy was 16 years old. "He has completed 16 years and two months.
Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan today declined to comment on whether he has signed the biopic on India's first astronaut Rakesh Sharma.

"I have not signed any film yet. I have just begun to read scripts and explore the possibility," Aamir told reporters here at an event when asked whether he will do Rakesh Sharma biopic or not.

Gossip mills are abuzz that the 51-year-old actor will be seen in the biopic on Sharma.

The "Lagaan" star feels it is unfair to talk about a film that he is yet to sign.

When prodded further whether script of Rakesh Sharma biopic is the one film that he is reading, Aamir said, "It is not fair to talk about a film till I sign it. There are lot of people who approach me and they do it with confidence.

"When someone narrates me the script I don't tell anyone about it. And if I don't do it (film), then it is said Aamir rejected the film and why he did and all these things come up," he added.

The "Ghulam" actor feels people approach him with faith and he likes to uphold that.

"When people (director) come to me they come with faith and I like to uphold that. Whichever script I hear one will never come to know about it. So, I will neither confirm nor deny your question," he added.

Rakesh Sharma is a former Indian Air Force pilot who flew aboard Soyuz T-11, launched in April 1984, as part of the Intercosmos programme.

Sharma was the first Indian to travel in space.
AAP MLA Naresh Yadav, who has been booked and summoned in connection with the alleged June 24 Malerkotla sacrilege incident, along with party members today met the Punjab Police chief who assured them of "fair and impartial" probe.

The AAP delegation, led by party's Punjab in-charge Sanjay Singh, met Director General of Police (DGP) Suresh Arora at his office here after which Yadav said he was ready to join the probe.

"We have told the DGP that we came to Chandigarh as soon as we came to know about the case. We are ready to join the investigation," Yadav told reporters after the meeting.

"We have also clearly told the DGP that if they find any evidence against me regarding sacrilege incident, they can hang me," he said.

The Punjab Police chief assured the AAP delegation that "free, fair and impartial" investigation would be carried out into the matter.

Yadav, AAP MLA from Mehrauli, had been booked in connection with alleged sacrilege incident after one of the accused claimed that he had acted at the behest of the legislator.

The MLA was booked under various sections of IPC including 109 (punishment of abetment if the act abetted is committed in consequence and where no express provision is made for its punishment), 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth etc and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony), 295 injury or defiling place of worship with an intent to insult the religion of any class).

Punjab Police has asked him to appear on July 5 for questioning.

Asked about the reported phone calls between accused Vijay and Yadav, the DGP said "These are under investigation. I can tell you that I have told the AAP delegation that we will conduct a free, fair and impartial investigation."



Senior AAP leader and incharge of Punjab, Sanjay Singh said there should be no doubt that AAP MLA will not join the investigation.

"We are not running away from investigation, we will fight against any false allegations leveled on us. AAP does not believe in the of hatred. If there is any evidence in any audio or video recording or through money transaction against our MLA which points at his role, you hang him. But do not make false accusations. The DGP has assured us that fair investigation will be conducted," he said.

AAP had termed it as a "political conspiracy" to defame the party ahead of 2017 assembly polls.

In Amritsar, Delhi Chief Minister and party national convener Arvind Kejriwal yesterday hit out at the ruling SAD-BJP combine, alleging they were feeling "jittery" as AAP will sweep 2017 assembly polls and have stooped low to hatch conspiracy to defame the party.

Three persons--Vijay Kumar, Nand Kishor Goldy and Gaurav-- had been arrested by Sangrur police on June 27 in the case.

Vijay, an accused in the case and resident of Delhi, had claimed that he "did at the behest of Yadav".

Violence erupted after the alleged sacrilege incident in Malerkotla on June 24 in which a mob had attacked the house of local Akali Dal MLA Farzana Nissara Khatoon, wife of former Punjab DGP.

Several policemen including a DSP were injured as about 300-400 protesters had indulged in stone pelting and torched a car.
Punjab police today said it will seek an arrest warrant against AAP MLA Naresh Yadav, who has been booked in connection with the alleged June 24 Malerkotla sacrilege incident, from the court once it collects "strong evidence" against him.

"We are investigating the matter. When we collect strong evidence against him (Yadav), we will seek warrant from the court and then, we will arrest him," said Sangrur SSP Prithpal Singh Thind.

He said summons have been issued asking the MLA to appear before the police for questioning tomorrow.

"A Punjab police team today handed over the summons to his (Yadav's) brother in Delhi and we have been told that he will appear tomorrow to join the investigation," the SSP said, adding that the MLA will also be confronted with the accused.

Punjab police had claimed that the MLA's name had cropped up during the questioning of the accused who were arrested for their alleged role in the sacrilege of a religious book in Malerkotla.

Police had also claimed that there were telephonic exchanges between the accused and the AAP MLA.

Yadav, the AAP MLA from Mehrauli, was booked in connection with the alleged incident of sacrilege after one of the accused claimed that he had acted at his behest.

The MLA was booked under various sections of the IPC including 109 (punishment of abetment if the act abetted is committed in consequence and where no express provision is made for its punishment), 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth etc. And doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony) and 295 (injury or defiling place of worship with an intent to insult the religion of any class).

Delhi-based Vijay, one of the accused in the case, had claimed that he committed the act "at the behest of Yadav".

Meanwhile, Yadav, along with other AAP members, met the Punjab DGP today who assured them of a "fair and impartial" probe into the matter.

"We have told the DGP that we came to Chandigarh as soon as we came to know about the case. We are ready to join the investigation," Yadav told reporters after the meeting.
After an online petition called for saving orphanages run by an NGO in Maharashtra which face closure due to lack of registration, Union Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi has stepped in to "examine" the issue and asked the state government to "intervene".

The orphanages, run by an NGO of Sindhutai Sapkal, have rescued thousands of children, the petition claimed and appealed to Gandhi and Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to look into the matter.

Responding to the petition, Gandhi today tweeted, "Examining the issue of orphanages run by Smt. Sindhutai Sapkal. Have asked the Maharashtra Govt. To intervene."



The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, makes it mandatory for all orphanages and children's homes to be registered under it even if they have a licence under any other law.

A senior ministry official said "as per the JJ Act, all childcare institutions are supposed to register themselves and this wasn't done (in this case). We have intervened and told them to file their registration form afresh, which they have done. They will be subjected to whatever checks and balances are there (before they are registered)."



The petition by journalist Sucheta Dalal on Change.Org reads, "Sindhutai Sapkal is called Mai by 1000s of children who she has helped raise through her numerous orphanages across Maharashtra. Today she is being asked to shut down her orphanages by the state government."



Dalal claimed that Maharashtra government did not cooperate with Sindhutai who has been trying to get her NGO registered since 2011.

"She has been honoured with numerous awards, including the prestigious Holkar Award by the government of Maharashtra. Now the same government is targeting her, sabotaging her incredible work," the petition alleged.
With an aim to connect more global destinations, leading state-run airline Air India will launch Ahmedabad-London-Newark flight from August 15 and Delhi-Madrid in December, and also plans to expand its fleet size in next four years, a top official said today.

"We will be launching the Ahmedabad-London-Newark flight from August 15 and Delhi-Madrid from December as part of our growth plan," Air India Chairman and Managing Director, Ashwini Lohani, told reporters here.

Lohani arrived here for taking part in a programme on the occasion of opening of AI area manager's office, which was inaugurated by Madhya Pradesh Chief Secretary Antony DeSa.

"We have launched a number of new flights. We have already launched flights from Delhi for San Francisco and Vienna. Next year we are planning to launch five-six more flights, including Washington, Scandinavian countries and Africa. We are heading towards growth," Lohani said, replying to a question on the issue of profitability.

To a query on the current fleet size, he said at present there were 133 aircraft in the AirIndia group.

"In next four years we will have 232 planes," he said.

On relaxation in 5/20 rule (five years operation in domestic sector and 20 aircraft) for launching international operations, the CMD, while welcoming it, said ultimately it will benefit the passengers as competition will increase.

"It is a good decision as it will enhance competition and will ultimately benefit air passengers. Now any airline having 20 aircraft can launch international operations straightaway," he said.

Referring to the issues related to Dreamliner planes, he said there were some problems in its design since the beginning but it was sorted out.

Air India has ordered for 27 Dreamliners and has so far received 21 planes and six more are in the pipeline.

On the issue of connectivity with Bhopal, Lohani said AI would make its hub in the state so that more flights will originate from here.

When asked if it will be in Bhopal or Indore, he said at present Air India had more contact with the state capital.

On the issue of launching international flights from Bhopal or Indore, he said it will not be available for Bhopal, but it may start for Dubai from Indore in near future.
An AirAsia India aircraft's tyre was damaged at the parking bay after arrival at the airport here from New Delhi today, causing delay in the return flight.

"AirAsia India flight i5 725 from New Delhi toBengaluru encountered a tyre damage at the parking bay afterarrival at Kempegowda International Airport Bengaluru (KIAB),"the airline said.

The airline's Engineering and Safety teams have reviewed the damage and rectified the defect after athorough inspection, AirAsia said.

Subsequently, AirAsia India flight i5 726 from Bengaluru to New Delhi departed at 12.44 PM from here, it said.

The airline's ground staff had notified all guests at the boarding gate about the delay, it said.

"Safety and security of our guests and crew members is of utmost importance to us at AirAsia as a group. The airline will put its best foot forward in providing safety, comfort and convenience to all its guests," it added.

According to the schedule on the airline's website, the flight was to leave at 9.10 AM.
Albania's main opposition Democratic Party has made a criminal complaint against Prime Minister Edi Rama, accusing him of illegally funneling USD 80,000 to US President Barack Obama's re-election campaign in 2012 in return for a photograph of the two men together.

The Democrats today brought the case to the Prosecutor General's office, saying Rama, who was then the opposition leader, paid the money in violation of US and Albanian laws to gain access to a campaign event in San Francisco.

Last week Bilal Shehu, 48, a US citizen of Albanian origin, pleaded guilty in federal court in New Jersey to willfully making foreign contributions and donations to the Obama campaign.

Rama has denied paying for the tickets, although he acknowledged meeting Shehu at the event.
Argentinian President Mauricio Macri said today that his country's claim to the Falkland Islands remained unchanged following Britain's vote to leave the EU.

"Brexit or not, our claim will never change," Macri told reporters in Brussels after talks with European Union leaders.

Britain's vote to leave the EU in a referendum on June 23 has cast uncertainty on the country's global position, including whether European states would continue to back Britain's possession of the Falklands.

Spain said after the vote that it was closer to asserting control over Gibraltar, the rocky outcrop on its southern tip, following the Brexit vote, prompting London to jump to the defence of its overseas territory.

"That is something long-lasting and we hope one day that we can discuss (the issue with Britain). Without that we cannot discuss other cooperation with Britain," Macri said.

"It is something I have already discussed with Cameron, I hope that with the next English prime minister we can find the space to start this dialogue. It will take years but it is important to start."



Britain and Argentina fought a short but bloody war over the Falklands in the South Atlantic in 1982 after Argentine troops invaded and then prime minister Margaret Thatcher sent a naval task force.

The conflict claimed the lives of 649 Argentine soldiers, 255 British soldiers and three islanders.

In 2013, almost 100 percent of the Falkland Islands' residents voted in favour of remaining under British rule.
A 34-year-old man, who set fire to a bus in a social revenge attack that claimed 18 lives earlier this year, has been sentenced to death in China.

Ma Yongping set fire to a bus using a bottle of gasoline on January 5.

Yinchuan Municipal Intermediate People's Court in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region sentenced Ma to death yesterday.

The fire, which quickly burned the bus into an empty shell, also injured 32 others.

Chinese prosectorssaid Ma resorted to set the bus on fire to vent out his anger after failing to resolve a financial dispute with a construction contractor amounting to USD 46,000.

China in recent years has witnessed a spate of social revenge attacks by disgruntled people who vent out their anger and frustration with attacks on people.

While there was such arson attack were carried out on buses, China also witnessed a spate of knife attacks on school children in different part of the country.

Chinese official said that the attacks were carried out by disgruntled elements and mentally deranged people.
In run up to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) polls due next year, the BJP has decided to retain its Mumbai unit chief Ashish Shelar, in an apparent bid to keep its recalcitrant ally Shiv Sena on leash.

"Every party has the right to strengthen and widen its base. BJP too wants power in BMC. At such a time, the party will need an aggressive leader and Shelar fulfils that criteria. Thus, he would be given a second opportunity to bring the BJP to power in the civic body with a majority," BJP spokesperson Atul Shah told reporters here today.

BJP will hold a formal meeting in Central Mumbai tomorrow to elect the party president of the island city.

According to sources, Shelar, keen to become a minister in state cabinet, was not much interested to work on the same post.

However, addressing media last week, Shelar clarified that he would abide by the party decision, whatever it be.

Miffed with the Sena's repeated criticism of the BJP over a host of issues, Shelar had recently openly targeted Sena president Uddhav Thackeray and that party's mouthpiece 'Saamana'.

He had threatened that copies of 'Saamana' could be burnt by BJP cadres if Sena continues mocking BJP president Amit Shah and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Meanwhile, state unit BJP president Raosaheb Danve said the decision of an alliance with Sena for BMC polls would be taken at an appropriate time.

The richest civic corporation having 227 corporators has been ruled by Shiv Sena-BJP combine.
Australia may have to return to India two more precious artefacts including the 12th-century statue of a Hindu goddess with fresh evidence emerging that they were bought from an illegal smuggling ring, a media report said today.

The National Gallery of Australia in Canberra said in a statement that it was possible that the two other sculptures would also be returned to India.

"The NGA has conducted thorough provenance research into these two sculptures and is working closely with Indian authorities on the next steps.

"The Crennan Report, which the NGA released in February, identifies these sculptures as having suspect and insufficient provenance and it is certainly possible they will be returned," it said.

In 2014, then Australian prime minister Tony Abbott had returned a Dancing Shiva from the NGA and a stone 'Ardhanarishvara' from the Art Gallery of New South Wales to India on his visit.

The Gallery has already returned a 5.6 million Australian dollars worth of statue bought from a smuggling network in 2008.

There was a mounting evidence that an 1,800-year-old limestone carving showing a scene from the life of Buddha, and a 12th-century statue of the Hindu goddess Pratyangira were also stolen, illicit antiquities trade expert Jason Felch said.

"Investigators here in the United States have had evidence for some time that those objects were supplied by illegal traders in India," Felch was quoted as saying by ABC.

The possibilities emerge as Indian investigators believe two more artefacts were linked to the network, the report said.

Disgraced US-based Indian art dealer Subhash Kapoor, who was jailed in India and is accused of running an international smuggling racket, sold the two sculptures to the National Gallery of Australia (NGA) in Canberra, the report said.

Felch said Kapoor had provided the museum with documents claiming the objects had been out of the country for some time, when in fact the statues had recently been smuggled out of India.

The gallery paid 800,000 dollars for the Buddha and nearly 340,000 dollars for the goddess Pratyangira in 2005, it said.

India has launched a crackdown on Kapoor's suppliers in India and arrested trader Deena Dayalan. The Australian newspaper has reported authorities believed Dayalan sold Kapoor the two sculptures.

"Dayalan allegedly organised networks of thieves who would break into Indian temples and steal these objects. He would then arrange for their export to Manhattan, where they were packaged and readied for market by Kapoor and then sold onto museums," Felch said.
Supreme Court today reserved its verdict on pleas seeking modification its order banning registration of diesel-run SUVs and high-end cars with engine capacity of 2000 CC and above in Delhi and NCR, indicating that such vehicles may be allowed to be registered again on payment of one per cent of ex-showroom price as green cess.

The Ministry of Heavy Industry and Public Enterprises, which supported the automobile giants' in bid for modification of the order, however opposed the court-mandated imposition of green cess on buyers of big diesel cars and SUVs.

"The likely imposition of green cess for diesel cars of more than 2000 cc will not be in consonance with the constitutional scheme of things as in terms of Article 265 of the Constitution 'no tax can be levied without the authority of Parliament," Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi told a three- judge bench headed by Chief Justice T S Thakur.

"The presumption that bigger diesel engines create more pollution is not correct as bigger diesel cars have better emission norms," Rohatgi told the bench which also comprised Justices A K Sikri and R Banumathi.

"Are you (AG) appearing for automobile companies or the Centre," the bench asked Rohatgi.

"I am appearing on behalf of Ministry of Heavy Industry and Public Enterprises. Banning the registration will show the inconsistencies in our norms and regulations. Huge FDIs are involved. Lakhs of jobs are there," Rohatgi said and referred to data to show that diesel cars, which are half of the engine capacity of big vehicles like Landrover, emit more particulate matters (PM).

The top law officer said the Centre was willing to conduct a "multi-pronged study" on diesel vehicles' effect on environment and imposition of green cess and would come back to the court, and, in the meantime, the stay on the registration of big diesel vehicles should be lifted.

"Who is stopping you from doing the study," the bench then asked.

The bench, which had earlier said it may allow registration of diesel vehicles again in Delhi ands NCR, today reiterated it and proposed that the green cess to be levied could be one per cent of purchase value of such vehicles and reserved the order.

At the outset, senior advocate Gopal Subramanium, who is



appearing for Mercedes Benz, said diesel cars also conformed to the emission standards prescribed under BS-IV and moreover, there were plans to leapfrog to BS-VI in next few years.

He said companies like Audi and BMW, which manufactured cars with engine capacity just below 2000 cc, were being benefited as the order bans cars of 2000 cc and above.

The Mercedes counsel said the company was willing to pay one per cent of the purchase price of the car either in an escrow account or with the court registry provided the ban is lifted.

Subramanium also referred to the existing tax structure with regard to diesel and petrol vehicles to drive home the point.

During the hearing, the Attorney General said the Centre was working on a "multi-pronged" approach to mitigate pollution and one of the measures was to ensure that old vehicles, which pollute the most, are "scrapped".

Advocate Aprajita Singh, who along with senior advocate Harsh Salve is assisting the court as amicus curiae in the 1984 PIL filed by environmentalist M C Mehta, opposed the plea of automobile majors and the Centre on grounds including the doctrine of "inter-generational equity" and precautionary principle.

She said it would not be correct for the Centre to say that the apex court cannot determine aspect of imposition of cess and referred to the top court's earlier directions imposing Net Present Value in cases of forest degradation.

She also said the suggestion for one per cent imposition of green cess was not proportionate and cited the study that proportional differentiation in diesel rates was 20 per cent.

She said the study has also revealed that one out of every three children is prone to lung infection and therefore, the concept of "inter-generational equity" cannot be ignored.

While she was making the submission at the fag end of the hearing, the bench said, "why are you presuming that we are vacating the order".

Earlier, on June 29, the court had said it was open to lifting the ban on registration of heavy diesel vehicles in Delhi and NCR subject to a levy of one-time environment compensation cess.
Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina today led the nation in paying homage to the 20 slain hostages, including an Indian, at a solemn ceremony here as the country mourned the victims of the worst terror attack on its soil.

Diplomats, politicians and people from across the different strata of society paid tributes and placed wreaths during the ceremony at the Bangladesh Army Stadium in Dhaka cantonment which drew a huge crowd despite drizzle.

Islamist militants hacked to death 20 hostages after they stormed a cafe popular with expatriates and diplomats in Dhaka's diplomatic zone on Friday.

At the ceremony, the caskets, bearing the flags of India, Italy, Bangladesh, Japan and the US -- signifying the nationalities of the foreigners killed -- were placed on a raised platform.

Hasina placed floral wreaths at the caskets of the victims.

Autopsy on the bodies had been conducted earlier at the Combined Military Hospital (CMH) in Dhaka.

Of those killed, 18 were foreigners -- Nine Italians, 7 Japanese, one American of Bangladeshi-origin and an Indian, 19-year-old Tarishi Jain, were among those killed. Two other Bangladeshis were also among the hostages slaughtered.

The bodies of two Bangladeshis and one Bangladeshi-born US citizen were handed over to the relatives for subsequent rituals and burial after the ceremony that was held on the second day of the two-day nationwide mourning declared in the country.

Officials said the rest of the bodies of foreign nationals would be handed over to the respective embassies.

Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the killing of the hostages, mostly foreigners, and two police officers during the 12-hour siege that ended on Saturday after the army stormed the Holey Artisan Bakery, killing six attackers and capturing one alive.

However, Bangladesh has blamed "homegrown" Islamist terrorists and Pakistan's spy agency ISI for the country's worst terror attack, ruling out the role of the Islamic State.
Well-educated and hailing from wealthy families, the gunmen who killed 20 hostages in a Bangladesh cafe defy the increasingly outdated stereotype of jihadists from poor backgrounds who have been radicalised in madrassas.

Six young men were shot dead Saturday at the end of the all-night siege in a Dhaka cafe claimed by the Islamic State group.

One may have been an innocent bystander, but among the remaining five are a graduate of Bangladesh's leading private university, an 18-year-old student at an elite school and the son of a ruling party official.

As jihadist groups such as IS focus their recruitment efforts on disenfranchised middle class youth, government efforts to eradicate extremism become ever more complicated.

"They are all highly educated young men and from well-off families," Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan told AFP. Asked why they would have become jihadists, Khan said: "It has become a fashion."



While the Bangladesh government has continued to deny IS has a foothold in the country, the group claimed the attack and its associated news agency, Amaq, posted pictures of the five gunmen posing with weapons.

Similarly in militancy-ravaged Pakistan, the government denies that the jihadist network has a formal presence in the country.

But a Pakistani security official recently told AFP that authorities had busted several IS recruitment cells focused on a similar affluent demographic.

Taj Hashmi, a Bangladeshi who teaches security studies at the Austin Peay State University in the United States, pointed out that many of the Saudi hijackers behind the September 11 attacks were also from wealthy families.

But he says that middle-class youth have been providing Islamist terror groups with footsoldiers since long before the emergence of IS.

"Marginalised and angry people from the higher echelons of society have been swelling the ranks of Islamist terrorists for the last 30-odd years," he said.

Bangladeshi authorities have so far only released code names of the cafe assailants after interrogating a gunman who was captured alive, but they have released photos of their bloodied corpses.

Friends of one confirmed his identity as 22-year-old Nibras Islam who had been studying at the Malaysian campus of Australia's Monash University before going missing in January.

A school friend remembered him as popular pupil.

"He was a good athlete whom everyone admired," the friend told AFP on condition of anonymity.

After leaving school, Nibras went to North South University (NSU), a private university which came to prominence when one former student tried to bomb the Federal Reserve Bank in New York in 2012.
Taking serious view of burning the effigy of the Chief Justice of Madras High Court by lawyers as part of their indefinite boycott of courts protesting recent amendments to the rules under the Advocates Act, Bar Council of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry today said the action would be dealt with in stringent manner in accordance with the law.

"It is very painful to note that some of the legal fraternity of state of Tamil Nadu burning the effigy of the Hon'ble Chief Justice of Madras High Court. We strongly condemn the acts done by the unruly, unbecoming professionals and it is a clear case of professional misconduct," BCTP said in a press release here.

"BCTP will not keep quiet. The Bar Council viewed this issue very seriously and deal with the same very stringent manner in accordance with law," it said.

A section of lawyers of the Madras High Court started indefinite boycott of courts on June 28 protesting the recent amendments to the rules under the Advocates Act even as the Registrar General announced the constitution of a five-judge committee to look into their objections.

As part of their protest, the effigy of Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul, the Chief Justice of the Madras High Court, was burnt by some lawyers.
The police remand of Rajastan MLA Nandkishore Maharia's son Siddharth, who allegedy hit an autorickshaw and a police van killing three persons and leaving five others injured, was on Monday extended for three days.

Siddharth was allegedly driving the BMW car at a speed of around 100 km/hr in the wee hours in C-scheme area on Saturday. The car first hit the autorickshaw and then rammed the PCR van nearby.

Of the four men who were in the autorickshaw, three were killed while one was injured. Four policemen including an Assistant Sub-Inspector were also injured.

As per the breath analyser test conducted soon after the incident, Siddharth's alcohol level was found to be 152 mg/100 ml, while the permissible limit is 30 mg/100 ml, police had said.

He was arrested under section 304 of IPC (Punishment for culpable homicide not amounting to murder). However, Siddharth had claimed that he was not driving the car and also denied having consumed alcohol.

He was produced in the court of metropolitan magistrate in Jaipur on Monday where his police custody was extended for three days.

Siddharth was admitted to SMS hospital last evening for some injuries and uneasiness and was taken back to the hospital from the court on Monday, investigating officer Kamal Nain said.

In a twist to the case on Sunday, a man named Ramesh had appeared in a local court where Siddharth was produced and claimed he was driving the car when the mishap occurred.
The Cabinet Secretariat will properly scrutinise all before these are introduced in the Monsoon Session of Parliament.

In a communication to secretaries of all central government departments, the Cabinet Secretariat has said all ministries were earlier requested to send to it proposals seeking approval of the Cabinet for proposed legislation to be introduced in Parliament, well before commencement of session to enable proper scrutiny.

The ministries have been asked to ensure that any such proposal is sent to the Cabinet Secretariat well in time, after completing all procedural requirements including requisite inter-ministerial consultations, it said in the order issued on Friday.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu has said that at least 25 new are likely to come up before Parliament.

The Monsoon Session is scheduled to commence on July 18 and go on till August 12.

In another directive, the Cabinet Secretariat has asked all ministries to complete inter-ministerial consultations in a time-bound manner.

Each ministry has been advised to circulate the proposal for consideration of the Cabinet or Cabinet committees to all the departments concerned business of which is likely to be impacted by the proposal and that the entire process of consultations be completed in two weeks' time.

It is accordingly reiterated that the requirement of completing inter-ministerial consultations in a time-bound manner be ensured in all cases including while formulating or amending policies, guidelines and decisions by ministries or departments where such action may impact the transaction of business allotted to other ministries or departments, it said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi was tonight quoted as saying that tomorrow's expansion of his ministry will reflect "budget focus and priorities".

Modi, who met a group of journalists here, talked about various other issues, including the Dhaka carnage with regard to which he pressed the need for the world to unite to fight against terrorism.

During the interaction, he referred to the expansion of his Council of Ministers tomorrow and said it is "reflect the budget focus and priorities", according to one of those present.

Modi said the four-point agenda on minimum government for maximum governance was expeditious clearance of office files, improving ease of doing business, reduced time for Cabinet note finalisation and government no longer working in silos, the journalist from Business Standard reported on the website of the newspaper.

"(It is) not correct to say economic growth in India will be jobless. Focus (is) on creating more jobs in retail sector. Model law (has) already (been) passed," he said.

"I am in favour of promoting the personal sector for creating more jobs," the Prime Minister said, adding Banks Board Bureau will act as an agent to distance ownership from management.

He said subsidies reforms have made headway with kerosene and urea.

Entire leakage of subsidised kerosene in Chandigarh has been plugged and there are no complaints of urea shortage after more production and neem-coating, Modi said.

He said 70 per cent of 125,000 beneficiaries of loans under Jan Dhan Yojana for women and people belong to scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and other backward castes.

Talking about the Dhaka carnage, Modi said it was a reminder to the world to unite to fight against terrorism.

He said it was time to give a bigger push to adopting the United Nations resolution to define terrorism through the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's Principal Secretary Rajendra Kumar was among five persons arrested by CBI today in a graft case, sparking a vicious attack by a livid AAP on the Centre, accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi of taking revenge for Delhi poll loss.

As the arrests over allegedly showing undue favours to a private company in award of government contracts worth over Rs 50 crore triggered a full-blown confrontation between the Centre and the AAP, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said never has any central government "stooped to such low level".

The Centre was also accused of "political vendetta" and "paralyzing" governance in Delhi. "Mr Modi, even if you only leave us with just peons, we will run the government with them," Sisodia said.

Kumar, a 1989 IAS officer of UT cadre, was called along with Tarun Sharma, a Deputy Secretary in Kejriwal's office, besides three other private persons for questioning at the CBI headquarters this morning.

After being questioned for half a day, the CBI decided to place the two officers under arrest along with a close aide of Kumar, Ashok Kumar and owners of a private firm Sandeep Kumar and Dinesh Gupta.

The CBI had registered a case against Kumar and others in December last year alleging that the officer had abused his official position by "favouring a particular firm in the last few years in getting tenders of Delhi government departments".

The charges pressed by the CBI are under sections 120-B of IPC (criminal conspiracy), and 13(2), 13(1)(d) of the Prevention of Corruption Act (Criminal conspiracy, criminal misconduct etc) for allegedly favouring a private company --Endeavour Systems Pvt. Ltd.-- in bagging five contracts.

The CBI alleged that the accused persons had entered into a criminal conspiracy and caused a loss of Rs 12 crore to the Delhi Government in award of contracts between 2007 and 2015, and claimed that the officials had taken "undue benefit" of over Rs three crore while awarding the contract.

"The CBI has today arrested five persons including a senior civil servant, Government of Delhi, another official of Delhi government, two directors of a Delhi-based private company and a private person.

"The allegations relate to bribery and abuse of official position by the said senior civil servant and others to favour a Delhi based private company in award of contracts of Delhi government," CBI's Chief Press Information officer R K Gaur said, adding the arrested accused persons will be produced before court tomorrow.

"There is a conspiracy to paralyze the CM office. Principal Secretary and Deputy Secretary to CM have been arrested while Assistant secretary was transferred to Andaman.

"All has happened in just one day...This is the lowest levels to which a Central government has stooped, from the time Delhi has had an elected government in 1991," Sisodia told reporters.

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi is taking revenge of his party defeat in Assembly elections from the people of Delhi by arresting, transferring our officers and creating hurdles in our works, but we are not scared of these things," he added.

Sisodia earlier had tweeted, "Modi ji, let me tell you - we've been elected by ppl of Delhi, we shall run an effective govt for them despite all your attacks on us! (sic)."



Senior AAP leader Ashutosh called the arrest of Kumar as "political vendetta" and attacked Modi, questioning whether he hates Pakistan more or the AAP.

(REOPEN DEL 48)



CBI claimed said that bribe worth Rs 3.3 crore was paid to the accused through fake work orders relating to various computerisation related work and for supply of software and hardware.

The agency alleged that Kumar had been favouring the company all through his earlier stints in various departments under the Delhi government.

Kumar while working as Chairman-cum-Managing Director of Delhi Transco Ltd got a pay roll system developed through the accused persons' firm despite the fact that it was already in place by Noida-based Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (CDAC) and spent Rs 47 lakh on it.

It was an unnecessary expenditure, the CBI claimed.

Kumar while working as Secretary health from July 2010 to April 2011, as Commissioner in Trade and Taxes department (also known as VAT department) from May 2011 to October 2012, and then as Secretary in Urban Development department from March 2014 and till last year allegedly favoured the firm with the connivance of Ashok Kumar for unlawful gain to all of them, they said.

Ashok Kumar is Rajendra's school mate and was a former Delhi government official who later resigned and allegedly conspired with Kumar to cheat the government.

This is the same case in which CBI had come under scathing criticism from court which directed it to return documents sought by the Delhi government seized during December 15, 2015 raids on Kejriwal's office.

"The CBI cannot retain the documents in the garb of the argument that investigation is in progress without whispering the fact in what manner they are related to the present case (against principal secretary Rajendra Kumar).

"The acceptance of vague reasons like investigation is still in progress implies that CBI is recognised with unbridled power to investigate even in violation of the relevant laws and regulations," Special CBI Judge Ajay Kumar Jain had said in his order in January this year.

The case was registered on a complaint from former Delhi Dialogue Commission (DDC) member Ashish Joshi to the Delhi government's Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) earlier last year. The complaint was forwarded to CBI in July last following which the agency registered an FIR after a five-month probe.

According to CBI, the five contracts were allegedly awarded to Endeavour Systems when Kumar was holding various posts in the Delhi government and include a project for the development of a comprehensive management system to Endeavour Systems without any tendering process.

The CBI alleged that as Secretary, Health, in the Delhi government, Kumar facilitated the award of a manpower project to the firm without inviting tenders.

The CBI claimed, as commissioner, trade and taxes, Kumar helped the firm bag a contract for development of software applications for his department.

He was also accused of committing irregularities in award of contract for a facility management system for the trade and taxes department. As secretary to the Chief Minister, he allegedly facilitated the award of Delhi Jal Board contract for enterprise resource planning to the firm.
The CBI today arrested Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's Principal Secretary Rajendra Kumar and four others in connection with a case of showing undue favours to a private company in award of government contracts worth over Rs 50 crore.

Kumar, a 1989 IAS officer of UT cadre, was called along with Tarun Sharma, a Deputy Secretary in Kejriwal's office, besides three other private persons for questioning at the CBI headquarters this morning.

After being questioned for half a day, the CBI decided to place the two officers under arrest along with a close aide of Kumar, Ashok Kumar and owners of a private firm Sandeep Kumar and Dinesh Gupta.

The CBI had registered a case against Kumar and others in December last year alleging that the officer had abused his official position by "favouring a particular firm in the last few years in getting tenders of Delhi government departments".

The charges pressed by the CBI are under sections 120-B of IPC (criminal conspiracy), and 13(2), 13(1)(d) of the Prevention of Corruption Act (Criminal conspiracy, criminal misconduct etc) for allegedly favouring a private company --Endeavour Systems Pvt. Ltd.-- in bagging five contracts.

The CBI alleged that the accused persons had entered into a criminal conspiracy and caused a loss of Rs 12 crore to the Delhi Government in award of contracts between 2007 and 2015, and claimed that the officials had taken "undue benefit" of over Rs three crore while awarding the contract.

"The CBI has today arrested five persons including a senior civil servant, Government of Delhi, another official of Delhi government, two directors of a Delhi-based private company and a private person.

"The allegations relate to bribery and abuse of official position by the said senior civil servant and others to favour a Delhi based private company in award of contracts of Delhi government," CBI's Chief Press Information officer R K Gaur said, adding the arrested accused persons will be produced before court tomorrow.
Property consultant CBRE India today said it has opened a new office at Kochi in Kerala to provide various services to the customers.

"With a dedicated office and the right resources, CBRE is strategically positioned to further enhance its service offerings to customers, while supporting the growth of the real estate sector in the region," CBRE said in a statement.

Kochi, which was recently announced as part of the Government's Smart City initiative, has gained strategic importance in recent years. The city has witnessed increased demand for office space for large corporate occupiers, investors and developers.

CBRE manages close to 4 million sq ft under asset services and more than 8 million sq ft in project management in the city. It now offers a full suite of services across 10 locations and has a presence in over 30 cities in India.

"The real estate market in South India, especially Kochi is at the threshold of future development. We already have a strong presence in Kochi and work with the leading occupiers and developers there. Opening an office there was a natural progression," CBRE South Asia, MD, Advisory & Transaction Services Ram Chandnani said.
Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh on Monday asked the Maharashtra government to achieve better results in the agriculture sector this year.

He told this to senior state agriculture officials while reviewing the progress of central schemes like Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY) in the state.

"Singh urged the officials to ensure that 2016-17 should still be better in terms of achievements in various sectors of agriculture in the state," an official statement said.

The minister said 34.27 lakh soil health cards have been issued so far in the state under the soil health card scheme, for which the Centre has allocated Rs 50.03 crore to the state government for this financial year.

Under PMKSY, district irrigation plans have been prepared in nine out of 34 districts in the state, he said.

Singh also said that the central government plans to set up a Farm Machinery Training and Testing Institute in Maharashtra, for which 35 hectare land has been identified in Jalgaon district.

"Necessary action is being taken to start the institute in this financial year 2016-17," the statement said quoting the minister.
Hitting out at the Centre over the arrest of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's Principal Secretary Rajendra Kumar and an another officer, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia today accused it of "paralysing" governance in Delhi and said never has any central government "stooped to such a low level".

Sisodia also questioned the timing of arrest of Kumar, Deputy Secretary Tarun Sharma and transfers of eleven officers.

"There is a conspiracy to paralyse the CM office. Principal Secretary and Deputy Secretary to CM have been arrested while Assistant Secretary was transferred to Andaman.

"All has happened in just one day...This is the lowest levels to which a central government has stooped to, from the time Delhi has had an elected government in 1991," the Deputy Chief Minister told reports here.

CBI today arrested Kejriwal's Principal Secretary Rajendra Kumar, Deputy Secretary and three others for allegedly abusing their official position and favouring a private company in securing government contracts worth over Rs 50 crore.

Sisodia alleged the BJP-led central government was adopting "such tactics" as the Aam Aadmi Party is "going to win" Assembly polls in Punjab, Goa and garner massive support in Gujarat.

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi is taking revenge of his party's defeat in Assembly elections from the people of Delhi by arresting, transferring our officers and creating hurdles in our works, but we are not scared of these things," he alleged, adding, the AAP government will effectively run for Delhiites despite the "Centre's attack".

"Modi ji, let me tell you - we've been elected by ppl of Delhi, we shall run an effective govt for them despite all your attacks on us! (sic)," he tweeted.

Sisodia also slammed the Centre for transferring eleven officers, who were working with the state government, allegedly without any meeting of the Joint Cadre Authority (JCA).

"11 senior officers have been transferred out of Delhi in a single day that is too illegally without meeting of Joint Cadre Authority. Senior officer handling major project of large-scale development of unauthorised colonies in next one year has been transferred to Andaman.

"Senior officer in-charge of ambitious project of installation of CCTV cameras in all government schools has also been transferred to Andaman," he said.

Annoyed over the sudden transfer of Delhi government's eleven officers, Sisodia dared the Centre to give the AAP dispensation only peons with whom they can run governance in the national capital.

He further said Delhi has 300 sanctioned DANICS posts, but it has only 65 officers working with the city administration, adding that now eight have been transferred.

"Andaman, which has 24 sanctioned DANICS posts, has now 23 DANICS officers. In a total, Andaman has now 31 such officers," he said.
A USD 1.5 billion Chinese offer for Swiss airline catering firm gategroup has just failed to meet the minimum acceptance level by the first deadline, the two companies said.

Conglomerate HNA Group -- best known as the parent of Hainan Airlines -- bid 53 Swiss francs per share for Zurich-based gategroup in April, a more than 20 percent premium to its share price before the offer.

HNA owned or had acceptances from a total of 63.6 percent of gategroup shares by the July 1 deadline, just short of the 67 percent threshold for the deal to go through, both firms said.

HNA said on its website it could extend the offer, and Bloomberg cited Pascal Furger, Zurich-based analyst with Bank Vontobel, as saying: "The deal will go through."



The Swiss firm's management has endorsed the offer.

HNA earlier said it intends to delist the company but pledged to retain gategroup's current management and keep it headquartered in Switzerland.

It is one of a series of giant Chinese acquisitions overseas, including another by HNA, which said in February it would pay USD 6.0 billion for US tech firm Ingram Micro.
Congress will raise in Parliament during the Monsoon Session the issues of Adani Port and SEZ Ltd. (APSEZ) being spared a hefty fine of Rs 200 crore for environmental damage during construction of Mundra port and the alleged Rs 20,000 crore GSPC scam when Narendra Modi was Gujarat Chief Minister.

Congress spokesman Jairam Ramesh alleged that the Modi Government has removed restriction on construction and the fine on APSEZ, knowingly to benefit its promoter.

Ramesh, a former Environment Minister, said the erstwhile UPA government had in 2013 imposed a fine of Rs 200 crore on the company and that the present NDA dispensation has "waived the penalty".

Replying to a question, he said the Modi government took this decision at the end of 2015. He claimed that along with waiving the penalty, the government lifted the ban on construction of Mundra North port.

"We believe in Satyamev Jayate, Modi Govt believes in Adanimev Jayate," he said, taking a dig at the BJP-led dispensation at the Centre for its perceived closeness with the promoter of APSEZ.

Ramesh also targeted the government, alleging it has given 5,000 acres of forest land to the Adanis for a coal mine project in Sarguja district, ignoring provisions of the Forest Rights Act.

He claimed that this has been done despite the fact that the Supreme Court had ruled that without approval of Gram Sabha, there can be no mining.

"They are acting against the law, the Supreme Court and the Adivasi communities," he alleged.

Ramesh said Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi will launch a six-month campaign in Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh on the "betrayal" on the Forest Rights Act.

On the Mundra issue, the Environment Ministry in a statement had yesterday claimed that its action in the matter was "much more stringent" than asking for Rs 200 crore from APSEZL.

The alleged GSPC scam involves Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation (GSPC) Ltd., which was established in 2005 when Modi was chief minister of the state.
Veteran Congress leader Manas Bhunia was today appointed as the chairman of the PAC in the West Bengal Assembly amid opposition by his own party which wanted to offer the post to CPI-M leader Sujan Chakrabarty.

The Congress and the Left Front members walked out of the House in protest after Speaker Biman Banerjee announced the name of Bhunia as PAC chairman.

Later, Leader of Opposition Abdul Mannan told reporters, "The Speaker's office is being used by the TMC to serve its own political interest."



The Congress said Bhunia should tender his resignation from the post of PAC chairman.

Congress chief whip Manoj Chakraborty said, "How can he (Bhunia) go against the decision of the party? He has to resign from the post of PAC chairman."



State Congress president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury also said Bhunia should tender his resignation.

Leader of Opposition Abdul Mannan during the day wrote to the Speaker extending their support to Left Front Legislative party leader Sujan Chakraborty for the post of PAC chairman.

Bhunia during the recess held a closed-door meeting with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in her chamber.

Bhunia's name was later announced as the chairman of the PAC by the Speaker, following which the Congress and the Left Front walked out of the House in protest.

The Speaker later told reporters that he had followed the convention by offering the post to the main opposition and followed the rule 255A.

Asked whether Bhunia had betrayed the party, Mannan said, "If someone tries to play into the hands of the ruling party then it is his matter but everybody should remember one thing that people are watching us. I will inform my party high command,."



Bhunia declined to make any comment when asked. He walked out of the meeting of Congress legislators called by Mannan.

Sujan Chakraborty said, "The Chief Minister is playing dirty politics to break the alliance of Congress and CPI-M.
DMK today said Centre taking up the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) amounted to "stirring up a hornet's nest" and claimed it was not easy to implement such a code in a country of diversities.

In order to bring a uniform civil code, "a consensus must have to be created" among political parties and various other stakeholders in the country, DMK President M Karunanidhi said.

In a letter to his partymen, he said that it was not easy to bring about such a code in a country where different faiths and castes followed different practices for generations.

"At a time when the there are thousands of issues waiting to be addressed, when economic and judicial reforms are increasing, taking up UCC, a problem sans any priority, amounts to stirring up a hornet's nest," he said.

Karunanidhi said veteran RSS leader Guru Golwalkar had reportedly argued against implementing such a code. "The BJP rulers at the Centre should keep this in mind," he said.

Although the BJP had not stuck to its assurance on implementing UCC in the past, raking it up again has led to questions among many "if it had been done with an eye on the polls" in Uttar Pradesh next year, he said.

Recalling his party's 'consistent' opposition to UCC, he said most laws covered all sections of society and the Constitution of India had allowed the Muslims "faith-based laws" only in the areas of marriage, and management of Waqf property among others.

While "personal laws" existed in other countries, the key difference between them and India was the concept of "unity in diversity," he said, adding, Muslims and social activists have been opposing a common civil law for long.

Criminal and penal laws being followed in India have been common for all, but certain provisions covering divorce and adoption had been allowed on the basis of faith, he said.

He said that even different sub-groups of Hinduism followed different practices. "Under such circumstances, a common civil law covering all the faiths and castes can neither take shape nor is it practical," he said.

Implementation of such a code will lead to apprehensions among people over their rights to religion, culture and language, he added.

Last week the Union Government had asked the Law Commission to examine the issue of the Uniform Civil Code.

The Department of Legal Affairs had asked the Commission, a recommendatory body, to submit a report on the matter.

The move assumes significance as the Supreme Court had recently said it would prefer a wider debate,in public as well as in court, before taking a decision on the constitutional validity of 'triple talaq', which many complain is abused by Muslim men to arbitrarily divorce their wives.
Deepening cooperation in areas of hydrocarbons, maritime security, trade and investment, agriculture and food will be major focus of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's five-day visit to four key countries of African continent beginning Thursday.

The four countries -- Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania and Kenya, are considered gateway to many landlocked African nations and Modi, on his first bilateral visit, will try to bring a new momentum to India's ties with the continent where China has been trying to increase its clout.

The Prime Minister's visit comes within weeks of President Pranab Mukherjee and Vice President Hamid Ansari travelling to Africa with an aim to strengthen and reinvigorate India's ties with the nations of the continent.

Briefing the media, Amar Sinha, Secretary, Economic Relations, in the Ministry of External Affairs said a number of pacts will be signed with each of the four countries in a variety of areas during the Prime Minister's visit.

India imports large quantity of pulses from Africa and, during the visit, a pact with Mozambique is likely to be firmed up for long-term procurement of the commodity beginning with procurement of 100,000 tonnes. The government has been drawing a lot of criticism over the past few months over rising price of pulses.

Under the agreement, India may support a network of farmers in the country who will be given logistical support, technology and seeds and pulses will be procured from them through government agencies.

India will also look at expanding cooperation with Mozambique in the hydrocarbons sector. Mozambique is the third largest exporter of natural gas after Qatar and Australia and a number of Indian companies including ONGC have invested heavily in the hydrocarbons sector in that country.

Modi's first destination will be Mozambique where he will have bilateral discussions with President Nyusi on July 7. On the second leg of his tour from July 8 to 9, Modi will be in South Africa.

On July 10, the Prime Minister will visit Tanzania and, on the final leg of his trip, he will travel to Kenya.

The Prime Minister will address the Indian community in all the four countries. He will address large gatherings in Johannesburg and Nairobi which have significant number of Indian origin people.

"We are looking at consolidating gains of the India -Africa Forum Summit," said Sinha.

India had organised a four-day summit here with African



countries in October last year which was attended by representatives of 54 African nations, including heads of state and government of around 40 countries.

In South Africa, the Prime Minister will visit Johannesburg, Pretoria and Durban.

On the second day of his stay, Modi will undertake a journey by the historic train which was taken by Mahatma Gandhi to Pietermaritzburg. Gandhi was thrown out of the train when he refused to follow the order to move out of a first class compartment in which coolies and non-whites were not allowed to travel. The Prime Minister will take the last 15 kms of the journey to Pietermaritzburg, besides visiting the Pheonix ashram.

His visit to Kenya will be first in 35 years by an Indian Prime Minister, while to Mozambique it will be after a gap of 34 years. It will be a visit to South Africa by an Indian Prime Minister after 10 years, said Sinha.

He said all the four countries are gateway to a number of landlocked countries in Africa and Indian traders rely heavily on ports of thse countries to export goods.

Sinha said ways to expand security cooperation, particularly in the maritime domain, with the four countries will be a major dimension of the trip. The focus will also be on exploiting the blue economy and increasing the overall trade ties. The blue economy places emphasis on access to necessities such as health and education by implementing a local system of production and consumption based on what you already have.

He said reform of the UN Security Council and India's bid for permanent membership will figure in talks, adding Africa has been supporting New Delhi on it.

India's current trade with Africa is around USD 75 billion and it has granted a whopping USD 7.4 billion for various developmental and capacity building projects in the past four years. India has implemented nearly 140 projects in 41 African countries during the period.

Asked about China's growing activities in Africa, Sinha said the continent has tremendous requirement for infrastructure building and India does not see any "contradiction" as everybody can chip in. At the same time, he said India was not scrambling for minerals and other resources in Africa.

In Mozambique, Modi will have bilateral discussions with President Nyusi, while in South Africa he will have extensive deliberations with President Jacob Zuma and other senior leaders across the political spectrum.

India is looking at deeper engagement with South Africa in defence manufacturing besides close cooperation in areas of coal gasification and deep mining as the country has expertise in them.

Sinha said contaray to media reports South Africa was supportive of India's bid for membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group at its pleanary meeting in Seoul last month.

In Tanzania, he will hold talks with President John Pombe Joseph Magufuli on a range of issues, while in Kenya, he will have bilateral discussions with President Kenyatta. India was keen to have deeper sports ties with Kenya, particularly in long-distance running.

The Prime Minister will also address students at the University of Nairobi. He is likely to announce a number of Line of Credits (LoCs).

Modi will address the Indian community in stadiums in both Nairobi and Johannesburg.
A district court here today accepted that the controversial Humanities 'topper' in the Bihar Intermediate Examination, who has been arrested in connection with an examination cheating racket, is a minor.

Special Vigilance court judge Raghvendra Kumar Singh accepted that the girl is a minor on the basis of her matriculation certificate which mentioned her date of birth as November 15, 1998, paving the way for her shifting from Beur model jail to a remand home.

The girl along with the Science stream topper had come into limelight after they gave ridiculous answers to questions on their subjects in a video which went viral, prompting an inquiry.

She was arrested by Special Investigation Team (SIT) as she emerged from a re-test of Bihar School Examination Board (BSEB) on June 25 and sent to Beur jail.

But, as per her matriculation certificate she is 17 years, 3 months and nine days old and cannot be sent to jail.

Former member of the Juvenile Justice Board K D Mishra, who appeared in the court in favour of the girl, presented her matriculation certificate to claim that she is a minor.

The lawyer of the Bihar School Examination Board also did not oppose the matriculation certificate of the girl in the court today.

With the court accepting her as a minor, it meant that she would be shifted to a remand home from Beur model jail of Patna.

The girl, from the controversial Bishun Roy college of Vaishali district, was taken into custody by Special Investigation Team (SIT) on the basis of arrest warrant issued by a Patna district court against her and three other rank-holders in the examination racket case.

Senior Superintendent of Police of Patna Manu Maharaj,



who is heading the SIT, told
A Delhi court has issued production warrant against a British national wanted in a child abuse and trafficking case in the Philippines, following his arrest in Goa last month in pursuance to a Red Corner Notice.

Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Shunali Gupta issued the warrant against Lennox James Ellis on an application moved by the Centre seeking his provisional arrest for extradition purpose.

Ellis, who is in judicial custody, was arrested in Goa on June 8 in pursuance to a Red Corner Notice issued by the Interpol at the behest of the Philippines government.

"It is submitted that the FC (fugitive criminal) is wanted by the requesting State (Philippines) for facing trial for violation of Republic Act..., Anti Child Abuse Law and for Qualified Trafficking in persons under Republic Act... Before the regional trial court of Davao City (Phillipines)...

"Perused the application. Issue production warrant against FC through Assistant Director CBI Interpol for July 11," the court said.

The application moved by advocate N K Matta, who appeared for the Centre, said that Ellis was required to face trial in child sexual abuse and trafficking case committed last year.

The Republic of Philippines had issued Red Corner Notice against the accused earlier this year.
A special court here today asked CBI to file its reply by July 7 on the plea of Peter Mukerjea, former media baron and a co-accused in Sheena Bora murder case, seeking the statement of a secret witness submitted to the court by the central agency.

Special CBI Judge H S Mahajan directed CBI to file its reply by July 7 on Peter's application.

The central agency, in its supplementary charge-sheet filed in February, has submitted a statement of an unnamed witness in a sealed cover.

CBI had said that they are not revealing the identity or the statement of the witness as investigation was going on.

Meanwhile, the court allowed Peter's lawyer to meet him in Central prison at Arthur Road here on July 8.

The special court on Friday gave copies of Shyamwar Rai's confession to co-accused Sanjeev Khanna and others on a Bombay High court directive.

Rai was the first accused to be arrested in the case in August 2015, taking the lid off the murder, after he was picked up in connection with an arms case.

The trial court recently allowed Rai to turn an approver in the case and become a prosecution witness.

Indrani Mukerjea, Khanna and Rai had allegedly strangled Sheena (24), Indrani's daughter from an earlier relationship, inside a car in April 2012.

Meanwhile, the court extended the judicial custody of Indrani, Khanna and Peter till July 18. Rai was not produced today.

The trio were arrested in August last year, while Peter was arrested in November. According to CBI, Peter was part of the murder conspiracy.

Sheena's body was found in a forest in Raigad. The crime, which came to light in August last year, is allegedly linked to certain financial dealings.
Veteran communist leader and former World Peace Council president Romesh Chandra passed away today in Mumbai, the CPI said in a statement.

Ex-member of national executive of the CPI, Chandra died at around 3 PM in the Maharashtra capital due to old age, party leaders said. He was 94.

"Chandra's was witness to the historic peace movement. He made hefty contributions towards the movement. His demise is a big loss," CPI Maharashtra secretary Bhalchandra Kango said.

According to the Left party's statement, Chandra had taken part in freedom struggle as a student leader and later joined CPI and went on to become its national executive.

Chandra, who joined the Council headquarters in Helsinki as its president and played a role during cold war era, had addressed United Nations' General Assembly as peace body's leader many a times, the highest number of times as an Indian, the party said.

A recipient of Lenin Peace Award, Chandra had also worked as the editor of CPI's central organ New Age.

"The Central Secretariat of the CPI pays its respectful homage to one of its prominent leaders and sends party's condolences to the bereaved family," the CPI said in a statement.

Chandra is survived by his son Firoze. His wife, from whom he had taken divorce, had passed away last year, Kango said.
Credibility, accountability and transparencyis the magic mantra to be followed by IPS officers to succeed, Uttarakhand Governor K K Paul today said.

He told this to a batch of IPS officers under training from the National Police Academy (Hyderabad), who met him at the Raj Bhawan today in the course of their countrywide tour as part of their training.

"Credibility, accountability and transparency (CAT) is the magic mantra for you to succeed as police officers. The three qualities will not only help you win the confidence of people but also make it easier for you to solve their problems," Paul, a former IPS officer himself, told the visiting batch of IPS trainees from Hyderabad.

Called 'Bharat Darshan' the nationwide tour is an important part of the training of IPS officers by which they visit various states of the country in groups.

This gives them the opportunity to become familiar with the social, geographical, political and other conditions of the states they visit.

Dehradun SSP Sadanand Daate was also present during the meeting, an official release here said.
Curfew remained in force in the violence-torn Nungei locality in Thoubal district today but the situation showed signs of returning to normal since the June 27 clashes between two groups of neighbouring villages.

The tense situation which gripped the area following the June 27 violent clashes between residents of two neighbouring villages in Nungei also subsided but curfew will be there as a precautionary meassure, a senior police officer said.

Personnel of Manipur police commandos and CRPF continued round the clock vigil.

Meanwhile, displaced villagers of Nungei Meetei hamlet, numbering around 400, told local media they will not return to their homes unless the government provided enough security.

The displaced persons have taken shelter at Lillong Chajing in Thoubal district and Iram Siphai in Imphal West district ever since the June 27 incident, according to JAC Convenor Khaidem Sanjay.

A teenager was killed in gunfire and at least 12 persons were injured in the June 27 incident which was marked by stones pelting, reports said.

To control the situation, state police and personnel of 2nd Indian Reserve Battalion deployed at the area had to resort to blank firing, police had earlier maintained.

Security forces also lobbed tear gas shells and hurled smoke bombs to disperse the mob on June 27.

Tension had brewing in the two neighbouring villages since a firing incident on April 11 in which 9 women (Meira Paibis) received gunshot injuries after being fired upon by unidentified miscreants, the officer said.

The state government is taking up relief work for the displaced villagers by conducting medical camps under the supervision of Thoubal Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Dr. N Jayantakumar.

Several local bodies are also extending assistance to the refugees.
The father of a toddler killed by an alligator at Disney last month told rescue officials two alligators were involved in the attack, according to emails from the Reedy Creek Fire Department.

Matt Graves said he was attacked by a second alligator as he tried to reach his 2-year-old son after the boy was pulled into the water outside Disney's upscale Grand Floridian Resort.

Captain Tom Wellons described his interaction with the Nebraska father in emails to his supervisors obtained by The Orlando Sentinel.

Wellons said Graves initially refused to leave the area as rescuers searched for little Lane Graves even though the father needed stitches and antibiotics from gator bite marks. Wellons said he eventually persuaded Graves to get medical treatment, promising he could return afterward.

"This incredibly sweet couple insisted on showing us pictures of their happy son. (The) mom kept referring to him as her 'happy boy,'" Wellons wrote in the emails.

On the way to the hospital, Graves shared "the horror that he experienced" as his son was being pulled into the water and "how another gator attacked him as he fought for his son," according to the email to supervisors.

The emails were forwarded to Orange County officials to alert them there may be a second gator. The boy's body was discovered intact about 15 yards from the shore, six feet underwater.

Signs posted in the area advised against swimming but did not warn of alligators.

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officials have said they're "confident" they caught the alligator that killed the boy.

Agency records listed 15 alligators caught on Disney property from the beginning of this year through May. It didn't include the six trapped since the June 14 attack.

Walt Disney World recently erected "No fishing" signs on several properties. Fishing at Disney World is now limited to excursions. Netting was also added to the rope fences that were installed after the attack and hotel beaches are now being staffed by employees and closing at night, except during fireworks.

Disney has beaches at eight hotels and at the Fort Wilderness campground.
Aam Aadmi Party government today made frantic but unsuccessful efforts before the Supreme Court to ensure that its lawsuit for declaration of powers of Delhi as a state be heard along with its plea to restrain Delhi High Court from delivering verdict on a host of issues, including the scope of its powers.

The first effort was made before a bench comprising Justices J S Khehar and Arun Mishra. Since Justice Khehar recused from hearing the plea for passing an order to restrain the High Court from delivering the verdict on scope of powers of Delhi Government which still did not enjoy full statehood under the Constitution, the bench declined to go into the second plea of the lawsuit.

"It is not for us to say anything on the separate lawsuit you have filed. We are not dealing with the matter. It means we are not going to say anything," the bench said, when senior advocate Indira Jaising urged that there should be an order that both the matters be listed for hearing before an appropriate bench tomorrow itself.

Her plea was also objected to by Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi, who said he was not giving his consent for listing both matters together as there was a proper procedure for it which the Delhi Government must follow.

He said such a plea can be mentioned before the Chief Justice who was still holding the hearing at the time.

Jaising then entered into a minor spat with Rohatgi over the procedure for seeking hearing of Delhi government petition on Tuesday and said he cannot backtrack from his consent given earlier.

Rohatgi said he also did no expect a senior lawyer like her not following the procedure of the court.

To this, Justice Khehar in a lighter vain said "Mr. Attorney General, you cannot withdraw your consent given to a woman."



Rohatgi said it was not about withdrawing consent, but the procedure which needs to be followed.

After the hearing was over before the bench of Justice Khehar, Jaising along with a team of lawyer rushed before the bench headed by CJI and just before it was to rise for lunch, she made the second attempt on behalf of the Delhi Government.

However, Justice Thakur along with Justice D Y Chandrachud, also declined the plea saying "the suit has nothing to do with the matter (which was listed today)".

The Chief Justice said the bench hearing the matter will



decide whether the civil suit will be heard along with it or not.

"It (suit) will be listed when the court will decide to list," the CJI said, adding that "the suit will be heard and go on its own way."



"The two matters have to be heard in two different ways," Justice Thakur said referring to the appeal and the lawsuit.

Earlier, the apex court had agreed to hear the Delhi government's plea seeking a direction that the High Court be restrained from delivering its judgement on issues including the scope of its powers to exercise its authority in performing public functions.

In its plea, Delhi government has claimed that only the apex court had jurisdiction under the Constitution to deal with issues relating to the powers of States and Centre.

It has been alleged by the AAP government that it has been unable to function as most of its decisions are either annulled or changed by the Centre at the behest of Lieutenant Governor (LG) Najeeb Jung on the ground that Delhi is not a complete state.

In its appeal, it has alleged that its power to do public services in the state has been adversely affected. It also raised a question as to whether the Union of India can take over all powers of the state government.

There is an ongoing power tussle between Delhi government and LG on various issues including the control over Anti- Corruption Branch and power to transfer or retain bureaucrats.

The HC had on May 24 reserved its verdict on the plea of AAP government seeking a stay on the proceedings on petitions arising out of its standoff with the LG over powers to appoint bureaucrats in the national capital and other issues.

The AAP government had sought a stay on proceedings on the ground that the issues involve a dispute of "federal nature" between the Centre and Delhi government and the Supreme Court had exclusive jurisdiction to deal with them.

A total of 11 cases arising out of the confrontation between the LG and Delhi government are being heard together by the high court.

Delhi government had on May 28 last year approached the high court challenging the Centre's notification of May 21 giving the LG absolute powers to appoint bureaucrats in the city.
The Islamists, who carried out Bangladesh's terror worst attack at a cafe here, had slaughtered all the 20 hostages within 20 minutes of the brazen assault, a top police official said today.

Inspector General of Police (IGP) AKM Shahidul Haque also rejected allegations by the media that police delayed the rescue operation.

"Many media are reporting that we had delayed the rescue mission but we did not. We completed the mission within 12 hours while countries like Kenya took four days to fight similar incident at one of their shopping malls."



"The gunmen had killed the hostages within 20 minutes of the attack," he said.

Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the killing of the 20 hostages and two police officers during the 12-hour siege that ended after the army stormed the Holey Artisan Bakery popular with expats in the diplomatic zone here, killing six attackers and capturing one alive.

Hostages who were killed include 19-year-old Indian girl Tarishi Jain. Nine Italians, 7 Japanese, one American of Bangladeshi origin, and two Bangladeshis were also among the people who were killed.
A 20-year-old Bangladeshi student, who was at the Dhaka cafe when it was stormed by suspected ISIS militants, had the option of fleeing to safety after the hostage-takers let him go but chose to stand by his friends including the Indian victim and was subsequently killed.

Faraaz Ayaaz Hossain has garnered widespread praise on social media, with netizens hailing him as "hero".

Hossain, who was studying at Emory University in Atlanta, US, had come to Bangladesh on his summer holidays and visited the Holey Artisan Bakery with two foreign friends - Abinta Kabir, a US citizen and also a student of Emory University, and Tarishi Jain, an Indian and a student of the University of California, Berkeley.

When the captors came to know about the women's citizenship they refused to release them. They, however, allowed Hossain to flee, according to a freed hostage.

Hossain refused to leave his friends and was subsequently killed.

Businessman Rezaul Karim, whose son, daughter-in-law and two grandchildren were taken hostage but later freed, told The Daily Star: "My daughter-in-law told me that she heard a Bangladeshi youth refused to leave the restaurant when militants offered to free him."



"They wouldn't let two of his friends go," he said.

Twenty people were killed in the 12-hour siege on the cafe in the diplomatic area in the Bangladeshi capital by suspected ISIS militants on July 1.

Netizens came out in rich tributes for the youth for being the "hope" at a time the so-called Islamists carried out the country's worst hostage crisis during which those who could not read out verses from the Quran were reportedly tortured.
Two of the five Bangladeshi militants who hacked to death 20 people at a restaurant in Dhaka's diplomatic zone used to follow three controversial Islamists, including Indian Islamic preacher Zakir Nayek.

Militant Rohan Imtiaz, son of an Awami League leader, propagated on Facebook last year quoting Peace TV's controversial preacher Nayek "urging all Muslims to be terrorists", the Daily Star reported.

Nayek, a popular but controversial Islamic orator and founder of Mumbai-based Islamic Research Foundation, is banned in UK and Canada for his hate speech aimed against other religions. He is among 16 banned Islamic scholars in Malaysia.

He is wildly popular in Bangladesh through his Peace TV although his preaching often demeans other religions and even other Muslim sects, the report said.

Another Dhaka attacker Nibras Islam, 22, used to follow two alleged suspected recruiters of Islamic State - Anjem Choudary and Shami Witness - on Twitter in 2014.

Shami Witness is the Twitter account of 24-year-old Mehdi Biswas, who is also facing trial in India for running propaganda for the Islamic State. He was arrested in December 2014 following an investigation into his Twitter account which was last active in August 2014.

Biswas was charged for operating the "single most influential pro-ISIS Twitter account".

49-year-old Choudary, a Pakistan-origin British citizen is now facing trial in England for breaking the British anti-terrorism law. His twitter account became inactive from August 2015 after terror charges were brought against him.

Choudary allegedly told his supporters to travel to territory controlled by the "barbaric regime" in Syria and Iraq.

"This means at least in the case Nibras and Rohan, they did not become radicalised overnight. They have been consuming radical materials for one to two years before finally disappearing in February-March and reappearing as 'IS killers' Friday night at the Holey Artisan Bakery in Gulshan," the paper said.

From their pictures posted by the ISIS media and recirculated by the SITE Intelligence Group, it can be assumed that these young men received arms training after their disappearance specifically to carry out the mission on June 1.

"Their attire with IS logo in their backdrop, the automatic rifles held in their hands reveal they underwent an organised training which is far from anything amateurish. That the killers released some of the hostages 15 minutes before the army-led operation on Saturday morning also showed the depth of their brains being washed-that they were ready to die," the paper added.
The Commerce and Industry Ministry will organise a 'Startup Fest' in Hyderabad in September, with a view to showcase innovation and provide a collaboration platform.

The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) has requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to inaugurate the programme, an official said.

The main objective of this fest is to galvanise the startup ecosystem and to provide national and international visibility to the budding entrepreneurs in India.

"We have planned several sessions. Venture capital funds are also expected to participate in this," the official said adding the event is important part of strengthening the startup ecosystem.

The Startup Action Plan announced by the Prime Minister talked about such fests.

To bolster the ecosystem in India, the government has proposed to introduce startup fests at national and international stages.

As many as 571 budding entrepreneurs have filed applications as on June 24, with the DIPP for recognition as innovative startups to avail tax breaks and other benefits.

In January, the Prime Minister unveiled a slew of incentives to boost start-up businesses, offering them a tax holiday and inspector raj-free regime for three years, capital gains tax exemption and Rs 10,000 crore corpus to fund them.

India has the third-largest number of startups globally. To boost financing, a 20 per cent tax on capital gains made on investments by entrepreneurs after selling own assets as well as government-recognised venture capitalists is also exempted.

Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has asked the Finance Ministry to consider raising tax holiday for startups to seven years to encourage budding entrepreneurs.
Delhi Police has told the National Green Tribunal that Delhi Jal Board (DJB) was claiming commercial rates for its residential complexes and it has no specific records of the water connections installed at various locations.

"There is only one meter installed at police buildings which is being used for both residential quarters and commercial building. Therefore, DJB is claiming commercial charges in place of residential charges even for residential complex of Delhi police officials," the police said in an affidavit filed in the NGT.

The city police has further claimed that DJB had no proof of the bills and meter readings in respect of their pending claims because majority of the bills were 8 to 10 years old.

"As on date, the issue of exact quantum of payment is undecided due to the reason that DJB has had no evidential proof of the bills and meter readings in respect of their pending claims because majority of the amount is of old bills (more than 8/10 years).

"This matter was brought to the notice of Police Headquarters for the first time in May 2014 and the outstanding payment against Delhi Police was shown at that time was about Rs 114 crore. Since then most of the outstanding payment against Delhi Police has been cleared," the affidavit filed by Delhi Police said.

The affidavit was filed by the city police in response to a plea filed by Delhi resident Sanjay Kumar through advocate Gaurav Bansal, alleging that the police has not paid its water bills amounting to over Rs 232 crore.

Refuting the contentions made in the plea, Delhi Police said the department has disputed certain bills and the issue of non-payment of disputed bills is pending adjudication under the Delhi Water Board Act, 1998. It is submitted that cess cannot be levied upon the Delhi Police until the due amount is adjudicated.

Delhi Police said that DJB has not provided exact quantum



of claims till date and "until the complete adjudication of the disputes between the Delhi Police and Delhi Jal Board takes place, water cess cannot be paid".

"In violation of Article 14 of the Constitution, the Delhi Police personnel and their families are being denied the benefit of free water upto 20,000 kilo litre per month and on the other hand DJB is recovering double payment one from the residents i.E. Delhi Police personnel who are residing in the department quarters and the others from the Delhi Police department," the affidavit said.

"It is also on record that earlier water meters were not installed by DJB at majority of the locations and where they had installed water meters the same was either faulty or were not giving readings. Besides, instances have also come across where some of the water meters have been buried in mud etc," it said.

The tribunal had earlier issued notices to the Delhi government, Delhi Jal Board, Delhi Pollution Control Committee and Delhi Police.

The plea had sought directions to Delhi Police to pay the pending water bills including water cess to Delhi government so that the amount could be used by it for the welfare of the people of the national capital.
Domestic operations have commenced at the multi-modal logistics park (MMLP) at Pantnagar in Uttrakhand, Shipping Ministry said today.

The logistics park is one of the seven such facilities which are being set up in states, including Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal, under the Sagarmala programme to boost container cargo movement.

Container Corporation of India (CONCOR) has informed that domestic operations have already commenced at MMLP in Pantnagar (Uttarakhand), and MMLPs at Nagulapally (Telangana), Siliguri (West Bengal), Naya Raipur (Chhattisgarh) and Jharsuguda (Odisha) are under development stage, the ministry said in a statement said.

"For the other two locations - North Madhya Pradesh/ Chhattisgarh border (Singrauli) and Nagaur (Rajasthan), action will be initiated with a detailed area-wise analysis," it said.

As part of the National Perspective Plan, prepared under the Sagarmala programme of the Ministry of Shipping, seven multi-modal logistic parks (MMLPs) were proposed in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Odisha, Telangana, Uttarakhand and West Bengal.

While the MMLPs in Telangana, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, and Uttarakhand, are being developed by CONCOR, the MMLP in West Bengal is being developed under PPP mode.

The MMLP in Uttarakhand has been commissioned at Pantnagar with an investment of Rs 120 crore in a joint venture between CONCOR and SIIDCUL (State Infrastructure Industrial Development Corporation of Uttarakhand), it added.

Sagarmala is the flagship programme of the Ministry of Shipping for promoting port-led development in India.

It aims to achieve capacity expansion and modernization of sea-ports along India's coastline, enhance port connectivity to the hinterland, facilitate port led- industrialisation to promote trade and sustainable development of coastal communities.

The government said these projects are expected to generate annual logistics cost savings of close to Rs 35,000 Crore and provide boost to India's merchandise exports by USD 110 billion by 2025.
DU teachers were today divided over the boycott of evaluation and admission process since May 24 in protest against new UGC norms to ascertain their academic performance.

Teachers have been boycotting evaluation of UG examinations since May 24 in protest against amendments to UGC regulations that, they argue, will lead to job-cuts to the tune of 50 per cent and drastically decrease pupil-teacher ratio in higher education. The boycott was later extended to undergraduate admission process as well.

However, a section of teachers today opposed the move saying it may jeopardise career of students.

"The teachers noticed that the career of many students have been put under jeopardy due to the continuing evaluation boycott and students are making desperate calls to their teachers to know about the development in this regard.

"We express dismay and displeasure over the manner in which teachers' strike is continuing without paying any heed to the difficulties that students and parents are facing due to the dissociation call of DUTA...An admission boycott call can in no way be justified," a statement said.

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.

Terming it to be an "unethical" mode of protest, students had urged the teachers to end the boycott fearing delay in results following which the faculty members had decided to end the boycott for final year students.

"Delay in the result of first and second year students will also hamper the workload adjustments and calculations as this will be required to make a case for continuation of adhoc teachers. Teachers decided to give a call to other fellows to start participating in the admission and evaluation process," statement from a group of 200 faculty members said.
ED today attached assets worth Rs twenty crore of a Hyderabad-based firm in connection with its money laundering probe against it in a case of alleged bank fraud to the tune of over Rs 126 crore.

The agency took over the case from CBI and investigated it under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and a total of 21 movable and immovable assets of the firm identified as Ms Sheetal Refineries Limited and its Directors have been attached.

The agency, in a statement, said the firm caused "loss to the State Bank of Hyderabad (SBH) by way of furnishing forged and fabricated balance sheets, invoices among others."



"The total value of attached assets is RS 9.53 crore having a market value of Rs 20 crore approximately," it said.

Enforcement Directorate (ED) said its probe "revealed that the firm availed various credit facilities from SBH, Hyderabad by submitting fudged and fabricated financial statements and bogus invoices. They (firm) submitted bogus invoices to bank as if goods were purchased against Letters of Credit in the name of suppliers and later such funds received back by them through other accounts.

"In this process, they also floated one proprietary firm in the name of an employee for diversion of funds. Further, certain portion of such diverted funds were used for personal use for purchase of immovable properties among others," the agency said.

Investigation also revealed, it said, that the firm had a total outstanding amount payable to SBH of about Rs 126.74 crore as against the value of the properties taken over possession by banks under SARFAESI Act of Rs 87.63 crore (market value) and thereby causing "huge loss" to SBH.

In an another case in Kerala, the agency attached assets worth Rs 72 lakh in connection with its PMLA probe in an alleged chit fund-like scheme run by one Rajesh K in the state.

The agency said Rajesh "collected an amount to the tune of Rs 13.23 crore from various investors after promising attractive returns from supermarket retail business but instead run illegal money chain business with the help of an associate."



It said Rajesh allegedly created companies to "mislead and collect funds from the public which were never returned."



ED took over the case after taking cognisance of a Kerala police FIR in the case and the alleged illegal scheme was spread in various districts like Kannur, Thrissur, Kottayam and some in Karnataka.

An attachment of assets under PMLA is done to ensure that an accused is not able to derive benefits of their ill-gotten wealth and the affected party can appeal against this order within 180 days of the order before the Adjudicating Authority of the Act.
Mobile-based fintech startup Eko has tied up with National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) to launch Aadhaar-based remittance service that will allow the former's 12.5 million customers to send and receive money in a hassle-free manner.

"Eko has successfully integrated with Aadhaar Based Remittance Service (ABRS) extended by NPCI," the fintech firm said in a release.

"With the advent of this association, customers will reap various benefits as transactions will be made independent of information like bank name, account number, IFSC code, etc. that are currently required for any financial transfers," it added.

The association will ease remittances for Eko's 12.5 million customers with hassle-free transfers to bank accounts linked with Aadhaar card, Eko further said.

Eko said it is amongst the few wallet issuers or Prepaid Payment Instruments (PPI) issuers which provide this facility.

"The partnership with the Aadhaar system is certain to bring forth a revolution in offering hassle-free yet secure financial transactions to customers," said Abhishek Sinha, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer, Eko India Financial Services.

Dilip Asbe, Chief Operating Officer, NPCI said: "This development will enhance customer convenience towards remittance services. With Eko, we are opportunely exploring feasibility of using Aadhaar as a factor of authentication for payment transactions."



It is also in line with the RBI's vision of building best of class payment and settlement systems for a 'less-cash' India, he said.
The first meeting of the Nepal- India Eminent Persons Group, which is to review key bilateral pacts including the Peace and Friendship Treaty of 1950, began here today with the Nepalese Foreign Minister asking the group to ensure that Indo-Nepal ties remain free from "hiccups".

Nepal's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Kamal Thapa inaugurated the two-day meeting, which was followed by a close-door discussion by its eight members - four members each from Nepal and India.

The meeting would finalise the body's agenda, timeframe, code of conduct, as well as working procedures, The Himalayan Times reported.

Thapa said Nepal and India "are linked by the same profile of geography that begins from the high Himalayas and run down to the Gangetic plain."



"The spirit of our relations emanates from deep cultural affinity that began in the dawn of our civilization. The relations are so extensive and multidimensional, formal documents and treaties alone cannot capture the essence of our relations," he said.

He also acknowledged the "hiccups" in the bilateral ties.

"At times, differences and misunderstandings or even feelings of suspicion arise between us. Without any obvious reason, sometimes, the smooth relations suddenly face odd moments," Thapa said adding that the group was conceived to ensure that such differences do not arise.

The EPG members from Nepal are former foreign minister Bhekh Bahadur Thapa, former chief commissioner of the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority Surya Nath Upadhyay, former law minister Nilamber Acharya and CPN-UML lawmaker Rajan Bhattarai.

Senior BJP leader Bhagat Singh Koshyari, former vice-chancellor of Sikkim University Mahendra Lama, former Indian ambassador to Nepal Jayant Prasad and Vivekananda International Foundation senior fellow BC Upreti represent the Indian side.

The body is expected to review the entire gamut of Nepal-India relations as well as update or amend all exiting bilateral treaties, agreements, understandings, including the Peace and Friendship Treaty of 1950.

The formation of the EPG was decided upon Nepal's proposal during the third Nepal-India Joint Commission meeting in July 2014.
The ruling BJP in Gujarat, where Assembly polls is slated for 2017-end, is expecting "good representation" from the state when the Union Cabinet is expanded tomorrow.

"We expect Gujarat to get good representation in the Prime Minister Narendra Modi led cabinet when it is expanded. The expectation stems from the meeting of Gujarat BJP MPs (called by party chief Amit Shah)," said state BJP President Vijay Rupani here today.

Rupani and state BJP spokesperson Bharat Pandya will attend the Cabinet expansion ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Gujarat is represented in the Council of Ministers by Haribhai Chaudhary (MoS Home), Mohan Kundariya (MoS Agriculture) and Mansukh Vasava (MoS Tribal Affairs) - all Lok Sabha MPs. In 2014 general elections, the BJP won all the 26 seats of Gujarat.

If one counts representation from Rajya Sabha, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and HRD Minister Smriti Irani also represent Gujarat.

The names doing the round for getting berth in the Council of Ministers are of recently elected Rajya Sabha member Purshottam Rupala, Lok Sabha MPs Mansukh Mandvaia and Jaswantsinh Bhabhor.

While Rupala and Mandavia are Patels, Bhabhor is a tribal leader of Gujarat BJP.

The induction of new faces from Gujarat in Union Cabinet is expected to be driven by the 2017 state election factor.

Meanwhile, the state BJP has postponed a two-day meet of MPs from Gujarat in view of the Cabinet expansion. The meeting, which was to start today, was called to discuss citizen-related problems in Gujarat and how they can be resolved with help from the Centre.

"The meeting has been postponed due to Cabinet expansion. It will now take place at a later date," Rupani said.
Devendra Surana, Managing Director of Bhagyanagar India Ltd, has been appointed Chairperson of FICCI Telangana State Council.

He succeeds Sangita Reddy, Joint Managing Director of Apollo Hospitals. Reddy handed over the Chairmanship to Surana on completion of her tenure on Sunday, the apex business organisation said in a statement here today.

Similarly, M Prabhakar Rao, CMD, NSL Group, will be the Chairman, FICCI Andhra Pradesh State Council, it said.

FICCI Telangana and AP State Council, Hyderabad since 2010 was under the leadership of Reddy as Chairperson.

Surana was Co-chair for FICCI Telangana and AP State Council earlier and is the Past President of Federation of Andhra Pradesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FAPCCI).

Surana said, "It is a great honour to be Chairperson for FICCI Telangana State Council. I look forward to full support and cooperation from Government, industry and media to ensure that we work together to achieve FICCI's vision 'Industry Voice for Policy change'."



Rao-led NSL Group has diversified interests in the fields of hybrid seeds, sugars, textiles, renewable power and development of IT infrastructure. The Group's combined revenues exceed Rs 6000 crore with operations spread across the country.

"I feel honoured to take the responsibility of leading FICCI in Andhra Pradesh. There are lots of opportunities in the new state needing entrepreneurial involvement and through FICCI, I shall try to contribute in developing the potential in various sectors in the state of Andhra Pradesh. I seek the support in this endeavour from the members of FICCI all across the country," Rao said.

Mr Nirankar Saxena, Senior Director - Centre for



Innovation & Technology Commercialization, FICCI highlighted the proposed incubation centre will be a Technology Transfer Facilitation centre. This is first time ever in India, technologies coming out of DRDO FICCI ATAC program (Accelerated technology assessment and commercialization) program and other defence technologies for civilian application will be incubated at a facility to develop such technologies into market-ready models which will have potential to scale to next level. It will create competitiveness in local economy and also generate employment and wealth.

Father Kinley D'Cruz, Director of Don Bosco College of Engineering stated the Don Bosco along with FICCI intends to utilise the collective experience of the incubation team with support from academic, scientific and entrepreneurial expertise to build world class technology commercialization facilities in Defence related sector.

Mr Len Denton, Director - Government & Industry Relations - IC2 Institute at University of Texas Austin stated that its time to take the innovation from laboratory to last mile. The vision & mission is to integrate innovation with the solution needed.

Riding on the success of various innovation & technology commercialisation programmes especially DRDO FICCI ATAC programme, FICCI partnering with Don Bosco College of Engineering is the outcome of the learning from the DRDO FICCI ATAC program that many of the DRDO technologies from the program can be adopted for non-defence applications also if it goes through a TBI focussing on adopting defence innovation.
A day after five Indian fishermen were arrested by Sri Lankan Naval personnel, five more fishers were today held by the island nation authorities for allegedly trespassing into their territory.

Five fishermen set out for fishing in a country boat from Pamban near here and they were later apprehended by Sri Lankan Naval personnel, Fisheries Department Deputy Director K T Gopinath told PTI.

Local fishermen, however, claimed that six men went out for fishing in that boat and if Lankan authorities had arrested five, they wanted to know the status of the sixth man who reportedly accompanied them.

Yesterday, hours after five fishermen were arrested, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa shot off a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging him to take steps to secure their release.
A foreign suicide bomber blew himself up near the American consulate in Saudi Arabia's western city of Jeddah in the early hours of US Independence Day today.

Two security officers were slightly wounded, the interior ministry said, as the American embassy in Riyadh reported no injuries among US consulate staff.

General Mansour al-Turki, the interior ministry spokesman, told Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya television that the bomber was not Saudi but a "resident foreigner".

Millions of foreigners, many from Muslim-majority nations in the Middle East and Asia, work in the kingdom.

The ministry did not specify if the bomber had intended to target the consulate, but an investigation was now under way.

The Jeddah incident came during a wave of attacks claimed by the Islamic State group or blamed on the jihadists, including a suicide bombing in Baghdad on Sunday that killed more than 200 people and recent attacks in Bangladesh and at Istanbul airport.

It happened before the end this week of the holy month of Ramadan, when Muslims fast from dawn until dusk.

The interior ministry said security personnel became suspicious of the man near the parking lot of a hospital which is across from the US diplomatic mission.

When they moved in to investigate at around 2:15 am (2315 GMT Sunday) the man "blew himself up with a suicide belt inside the hospital parking lot", the ministry said.

A picture carried by the Sabq online newspaper, which is close to authorities, showed a large body part lying on the ground between a taxi and the open door of another car that was peppered with holes.

In a security notice on its website, the American embassy noted media reports of "a suspected suicide attack near the US consulate in Jeddah" early on the morning of July 4.

"The US embassy and consulate remain in contact with the Saudi authorities as they investigate the incident," it added, urging Americans to "take extra precautions when travelling throughout the country".

In March last year the US embassy closed its main office, as well as consulates in Jeddah and Dhahran, for a few days over unspecified "security concerns".

The US consulate in Jeddah was targeted in December 2004 when gunmen opened fire and lobbed explosives at the compound, killing five people, in an attack blamed on Al-Qaeda.

It was not immediately clear who was behind today's incident, but since late 2014 Saudi security officers and minority Shiites have been hit by deadly violence claimed by IS.
Billionaire French industrialist Serge Dassault, of aviation and software giant Dassault Group, went on trial Monday for allegedly stashing millions of euros in tax havens.

The 91-year-old Dassault, who is also a member of the French Senate with the conservative Republicans party, is France's third wealthiest person with a net worth estimated by Forbes magazine of $14.8 billion (13.3 billion euros).

The tycoon has been caught in a complex legal web, accused of crimes ranging from tax fraud to buying the votes of poor families of immigrant backgrounds in the southern Paris suburb of Corbeil-Essonnes where he was mayor for 14 years.

His trial on Monday relates to charges he stashed some 31 million euros from French tax authorities in Luxembourg, Liechtenstein and the Virgin Islands.

The existence of the secret bank accounts emerged during a separate investigation into Dassault, over vote-buying in elections in 2008, 2009 and 2010 in Corbeil-Essonnes.

Dassault was mayor of the town from 1995 to 2009.

Dassault was charged in April 2014 with vote-buying, complicity in illegal election campaign financing and exceeding campaign spending limits.

He was charged alongside seven other people, including his friend and current mayor Jean-Pierre Bechter.

Dassault admits using his vast personal wealth to help residents of Corbeil, but denies any payouts were made in exchange for electoral support.

Witnesses who claim to have been paid have told investigators that in return for support, residents could expect money for driving lessons or help with finding accommodation subsidised by the local council.

In May a court heard the money has fuelled violence, threats and extortion in the small town.

A close ally of Dassault's Younes Bounounara was sentenced to 15 years in prison for attempted murder in May for shooting a man who filmed Dassault admitting he had given money to Bounounara.

French satirical newspaper Canard Enchaine later revealed that Dassault had given Bounounara 1.7 million euros that he had not shared out as planned.
The government has brought about a change in its approach to disaster management from a relief- centric to a holistic and integrated coverage of the entire matter, Home Minister Rajnath Singh said today.

Addressing members of the Consultative Committee of Parliament attached to the Ministry of Home Affairs, Singh said the new approach includes prevention, mitigation, preparedness, response, relief, reconstruction and rehabilitation of both man-made and natural disasters.

The Home Minister said this approach is based on the conviction that development cannot be sustainable unless disaster mitigation is built in the development process.

Singh told the MPs that the National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM) has been entrusted with the responsibility for human resource development, capacity- building including training and education, research, documentation and policy planning in the field of disaster management.

The Home Minister said the government had on February 5 announced setting up of a southern campus of NIDM in Andhra Pradesh at a cost of Rs 70.87 crore in two years.

Singh said an annual conference of Relief Commissioners /Secretaries of the Department of Disaster Management of states and UTs has been organised by the Home Ministry before the onset of southwest monsoon to review the preparedness and discuss other disaster management related issues.

He also appreciated the work of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) constituted for the purpose of specialised response to a disaster or disaster-like situation.

He said that at present 12 battalions of NDRF are located in various parts of the country to assist the state governments as and when required.

"NDRF has emerged as a visible, vibrant, multi-skilled, hi-tech and stand-alone force, capable of dealing with all types of natural and man-made disasters," he said.

The Ministry has sanctioned Rs 882.24 crore last year for raising office buildings, training infrastructure and residential buildings at 10 battalions and 10 team/companies locations.
The mortal remains of Indian teenager Tarishi Jain, who was among those hacked to death by Islamic militants in a terror attack at a Dhaka restaurant, was today received at the Capital's international airport by Union Power and Coal Minister Piyush Goyal.

Tarishi, a student at UC Berkeley, was among 20 foreigners brutally murdered by the militants inside the Holey Artisan Bakery in Dhaka's diplomatic zone during the weekend.

She was on vacation in Dhaka. Her father runs a garment business in Bangladesh for the last 15-20 years.

Goyal later accompanied the body, along with her parents to Gurgaon, officials said.

Among the killed foreigners were eight Italians and seven Japanese. Commandos had launched an assault killing six attackers and capturing one alive, ending Bangladesh's worst terror attack.

Delhi Lt Governor Najeeb Jung, Union minister Rao Inderjit Singh, Haryana minister Ram Bilas Sharma, Congress leader Raj Babbar and M S Bitta paid tributes to Tarishi Jain, whose body was kept at the DLF Phase I community Centre for some time to allow people to pay tributes.

Raj Babbar gave a condolence letter sent by Congress president Sonia Gandhi to Tarishi Jain's family members and expressed grief on the death of young girl.

Tarishi's last rite was performed by her brother Sanchit at around 4:15 pm at the cremation ground at Iffco Chowk.
CPI today condemned Baghdad and Dhaka terror attacks, saying the growth in fundamentalism world over was due to "wrong" policies of the governments which "put one section against another".

The Left party also claimed all terrorist outfits are "directly or indirectly" products of phobia created by the US.

"The growing fundamentalism of all kinds throughout the world is no doubt a result of the wrong policies of the governments which put one section against the other.

"It should also be remembered that all terrorist outfits are directly or indirectly products of terror phobia created by the US," the party said in a statement.

A suicide car bombing, claimed by Islamic State group, ripped through a busy Baghdad shopping district yesterday, killing at least 200 people in the deadliest attack this year in Iraq's capital.

20 foreigners, including an Indian student, were brutally murdered by militants inside Holey Artisan Bakery in Dhaka's diplomatic zone, all possibly slaughtered on late Friday.

In the rescue operation, security personnel in that country killed six attackers, while one was captured alive on July 2, ending Bangladesh's worst terror attack.
The Bombay High Court today asked Central Railway and Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai to seek expert advice from the Defence Ministry for constructing a temporary foot over bridge (FOB) at Sandhurst Road in south Mumbai so that people need not cross railway tracks.

The temporary FOB was required as the Hancock bridge was demolished earlier this year and that it would take time to reconstruct it.

The high court was hearing a public interest litigation filed by activist Kamlakar Shenoy, raising concerns after the death of a student who was using the railway tracks to cross over from one side to other earlier this year following the demolition of the bridge.

Both the railways and the civic body had earlier told the court that it would not be feasible to construct a temporary bridge at the spot.

A division bench of Justices S S Kemkar and M S Karnik, however, asked both the authorities to contact the Defence Ministry and seek advice from it.

The court observed that the army has posts in remote areas in the country and hence, may be able to help and provide its expertise.

The court, meanwhile, directed the corporation to start mini-bus services, possibly within every five minutes for people to cross from one side to the other.

The civic body agreed to this suggestion and assured the court that the bus service will start soon.

The court then posted the matter for further hearing on July 27.
The Gujarat High Court today directed the state government not to finalise students' admissions for medical colleges while allowing it to continue with the admission process.

A division bench of Chief Justice R Subhash Reddy and Justice V M Pancholi, today passed oral instructions directing the government not to finalise students' admission in the colleges for medical, para-medical and dental courses in institutes in the state.

The judges gave the directions while hearing a petition challenging government's decision to abolish 15 per cent NRI quota.

The bench, however, allowed the government to continue with the admission process till the next date of hearing on July 11.

Government counsel told the court that there is no question of finalising admission as NRI quota is filled based on the National Eligibility Entrance Test (NEET) marks, the second round of which is yet to be held.

Also, admission in medical, para-medical and dental colleges for 2016 is at an initial stage with only application being invited so far.

An NRI student, Prati Patel, had challenged the constitutional validity of the Gujarat Professional Medical Educational Colleges or Institutions (Regulation of Admission and Fixation of Fees) (Amendment) Ordinance, 2016, issued last month, whereby it abolishes 15 per cent seats reserved for NRIs and merging them with management quota for self-financed colleges.

Patel said in her petition that she came to Gujarat to seek admission in medical colleges under NRI quota and hence she decided not to seek admission in any college in the USA from where she hails.

"The decision to abolish the quota also violates a Supreme Court's order in 2006 that created the quota in the first place," she said in the petition.

The state government, in June this year, abolished 15 per cent NRI quota by passing an Ordinance on the ground that it was not benefiting students from the state. The quota has been merged with the management quota for self-financed colleges.
Industrialist Trailokya Mishra, his wife Ashamanjari and son Sabyasachi, facing a dowry harassment case, were today granted an interim relief by the Orissa High Court when it restrained the state police from arresting them till July 29.

The industrialist family was facing arrest in the dowry harassment case brought against them by Sabyasachi's wife Lopamudra Mishra.

Taking up the anticipatory bail applications filed by the Mishra family, Justice S K Mishra directed the police to submit in the court the relevant case records and posted the next date of hearing on July 29.
A search vessel has recovered all underwater human remains from the EgyptAir flight MS804 crash site in the Mediterranean, Egyptian investigators said.

The John Lethbridge, a privately owned deep-sea survey and recovery vehicle, is now headed to Alexandria to hand over the remains to prosecution and forensic authorities in the presence of members of the investigation committee.

The remains will then be transported to the forensic authority in Cairo for DNA tests, the committee said in a statement yesterday.

The ship, which was contracted by the Egyptian government, will continue to search the crash site in order to confirm no other remains are left behind, the investigators said.

The two black boxes -- the data recorder and the cockpit voice recorder -- were recovered by the crew of the John Lethbridge last month.

The investigating committee on Saturday said the memory chips of the cockpit voice recorder are not damaged and showed the possibility of retrieving the records which could possibly unravel the mystery of the crash.

Last week, the committee said it has extracted data from the plane recorder. The recorded data highlighted that smoke was detected from the lavatory and avionics bay, which confirms earlier reports about smoke signs.

It also said the recovered debris from the plane's front showed signs of high temperature damage.

EgyptAir flight MS804 from Paris to Cairo crashed into the Mediterranean Sea about 280 kms from the Egyptian seacoast on May 19, with 56 passengers and 10 cabin crew on board.

The wreckage was recovered from the Mediterranean Sea floor earlier this month.

Egyptian officials have suspected terrorism, but no group has come forward to claim credit.

Evidence from the wreckage will enable investigators to build a forensic picture of what occurred. The black boxes offer the best clues to determining why the plane went down.
Greenhouse gas emissions have caused the Indo-Pacific Warm Pool - the largest area of warm water in the world - to get hotter and increase in size, scientists have warned.

The pool stretches about 14,484 km along the equator and 2,414 km from north to south. It is an area of ocean with an average temperature of more than 28 degrees Celsius and can reach up to 30 degrees in places.

Researchers, including those from Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) in Australia and Ocean University of China, also found that if the Indian Ocean section of the warm pool expands more than the Pacific part, it leads to an increase in rainfall in the western Indian Ocean.

But if this is reversed, it results in a decrease in rainfall over east Asia.

As water warms, it expands and the region has experienced the "world's highest rates of sea-level rise" in recent years.

Five small islands in the South Pacific recently disappeared and six others were partially destroyed by the rising tide.

Since the warmth of the water can drive moisture and hot air high into the atmosphere, it has a significant effect on the weather experienced by countries in the region, increasing the risk of severe cyclones.

Only 12 to 18 per cent of the warming had occurred naturally with the rest caused by greenhouse gas emissions, Seung-Ki Min, of Pohang University in South Korea, was quoted as saying by 'The Independent'.

The size of the pool has been shown to oscillate in 20-year cycles, getting bigger and warmer then contracting and cooling.

However the researchers said overall it had warmed by 0.3 degrees Celsius and increased in size by about a third over the last 60 years.

"The IPWP (Indo-Pacific Warm Pool) is Earth's largest region of warm sea surface temperatures, has the highest rainfall, and is fundamental to global atmospheric circulation and hydrological cycle," the researchers wrote in the journal Science Advances.

"The region has also experienced the world's highest rates of sea-level rise in recent decades, indicating large increases in ocean heat content and leading to substantial impacts on small island states in the region," they said.
With NPA-saddled banks trying to raise money from sale of non-core assets, global credit information company TransUnion has raised its stake in its Indian subsidiary Cibil to 77.1 per cent by buying out ICICI Bank and Bank of Baroda's holding in it.

The American company's holding, which earlier stood at 66.1 per cent, has now risen to 77.1 per cent, an updated shareholding pattern shared on Cibil's website said.

ICICI Bank has sold its six per cent stake in the company, while Bank of Baroda has sold its five per cent holding, a comparison of the shareholding patterns disclosed earlier with the updated one reveals.

The Reserve Bank has recently permitted 100 per cent foreign direct investment in the CICs subject to certain conditions like diversified ownership at the acquirer entity and directors' nationality being Indian.

Cibil, which began operations in August 2000, was formed as a joint venture between banks and TransUnion. Many lenders, including State Bank of India, HDFC have sold stakes to TransUnion in the past.

Managements of both ICICI Bank as well as Bank of Baroda have guided towards intentions to sell stakes in non-core assets in the aftermath of RBI's asset quality review, which led to erosion of profits.

Bank of Baroda has reported record losses in Indian banking history in the December 2015 and March 2016 quarters, while ICICI Bank has seen declines in profits.

Details around the money raised by the two lenders by selling their stakes to TransUnion were not immediately available.

Shares of both ICICI Bank and Bank of Baroda witnessed strong buying in today's trade on BSE and the scrips closed above both the sectoral indice as well as the benchmark.

The ICICI Bank scrip closed almost 3 per cent up at Rs 247.55 a piece, while Bank of Baroda was up 2.08 per cent at Rs 159.80 a piece. The BSE's benchmark Sensex closed 0.49 per cent up, while the sectoral Bankex was up 0.60 per cent.

After this transaction, the remaining shareholders in Cibil are Indian Overseas Bank (5 per cent), Union Bank of India (5 per cent), Bank of India (5 per cent), Aditya Birla Trustee Company (4 per cent), India Alternatives Private Equity (2.9 per cent) and India Infoline Finance (1 per cent).
India and Bhutan have discussed ways to improve security along the international border and the possibility of opening a road, linking Arunachal Pradesh's Tawang with Assam via the Himalayan country.

Better security coordination along the Indo-Bhutan border, more trade between Bhutan and Indian states such as Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and West Bengal, cultural exchange and a host of other issues were discussed by MoS for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju with the top Bhutanese leadership, including Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay, during his two-day visit here that ended on Sunday.

During the meeting, the Bhutanese Prime Minister is believed to have cited various concerns of the people of Bhutan because of which the country is not yet ready for proposal like joint security along the border, sources said.

Bhutan has in the past cooperated with India and helped to flush out militant groups such as United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) and National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) from the Himalayan nation.

Besides, there were several incidents in the past along the border in which Bhutanese nationals were attacked by NDFB militants.

"Honourable Prime Minister of Bhutan is known for his humility and vision. I am touched by his acknowledgement of my useful meeting with him. He has clear commitments for India and useful relation with neighbouring Northeastern India," Rijiju said.

Besides issues of cultural exchange, more trade with Arunachal Pradesh, Assam and West Bengal, better security coordination, Rijiju discussed with Bhutanese leaders how to improve relations in spiritual and religious fields.

"I raised the issue of road link of strategic Tawang with Assam via eastern Bhutan," he said.

Rijiju said that he had "fruitful meetings" with Bhutan's Foreign Minister, Home Minister, Army Chief of Bhutan and discussed various issues with them.

During his meeting with Bhutanese Army Chief Batoo Tshering, the minister discussed providing security at the Indo-Bhutan border and to the citizens.

"India-Bhutan friendship is unique which has direct bearing on Northeast India. It was a fantastic visit," Rijiju said.

@KirenRijiju enjoyed having you in our Kingdom. Hope to see you again soon.  Tshering Tobgay (@tsheringtobgay) July 4, 2016

Indo-Bhutan friendship is fantastic due to our shared cultural and spiritual heritage and common political interest, he said.

The Bhutanese Prime Minister said in a tweet that he had enjoyed hosting Rijiju in the country.

"Enjoyed discussing a range of issues with Kiren Rijiju, India's MoS of Home Affairs, this afternoon," Tobgay tweeted.
Indian companies have created over 10,000 jobs in with an investment of more than $4 billion since 2003, the country's trade minister said on Monday, ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit here this week.

Modi is expected to be accompanied by a high level business delegation for two business meetings on Friday including for a Business Forum in Pretoria which will be preceded by a meeting of the South Africa-India CEOs Forum.

"A total of 82 Indian projects in with a total capital expenditure of 62 billion rand ($4.2 billion) between January 2003 and January 2016 were recorded from 60 companies," Minister for Trade and Industries Rob Davies said at a media briefing.

He said that these investments have created 10,660 jobs.

India's leading sectors were software and IT services (17 projects) and financial services (14 projects).

India is now South Africa's sixth largest trade partner, with trade in last year being almost 95 billion rand, with a trade surplus in favour of India.

Trade with India represented 4.9% of South African imports and 4.1% of exports.

South Africa's trade statistics show that India's exports to increased from 29 billion rand in 2011 to 54 billion rand last year, while South Africa's exports to India increased from 24 billion rand in 2011 to 41 billion rand.

South African companies have also grown their investments in India with a total of 24 projects. The leading sectors for South Africa's investment in India were the financial sector, machinery and equipment and software and IT services.

Davies said efforts were underway to promote South African exports, especially value added products.

The minister highlighted government interventions undertaken to turn the trade imbalance around, including participation in the India International Trade Fair last year and the seventh Investment and Trade Initiative in February.

Since trade was resumed in 1994 after nearly four decades of aparheid-era isolation, Indian companies have invested heavily in numerous sectors in South Africa, especially in the mining industry, financial services, pharmaceutical sector and manufacturing.

Davies singled out Tata and CIPLA for their investment in South Africa.

Tata is one of the biggest investors today after moving in early when democracy dawned with the release of Nelson Mandela, who became the first democratically elected South African President.

Tata has invested in mining, ICT, hospitality, automotive and energy. CIPLA has supported the roll out of ARVs in South Africa and making medicines more affordable to patients in supporting improved healthcare as one of Government's key priorities.
India and Sri Lanka today agreed to start negotiations on fast-track basis for the proposed Economic and Technology Cooperation Agreement (ETCA) and conclude the talks before end of the year.

The issue among others was came up for discussion during the meeting between the visiting Sri Lankan Minister for Development Strategies and International Trade, Malik Samarawickrama, and Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman here.

"The leaders reviewed progress of the proposed ETCA between India and Sri Lanka and agreed to start negotiations on an expedited track for an early conclusion of the agreement, preferably before the end of the year," the commerce ministry said in a statement.

An Indian delegation is visiting Sri Lanka shortly in this regard, it said.

The leaders also agreed that early harvest measures may be negotiated but these would come into effect on the date the agreement comes into force, it added.

The two sides noted that India-Sri Lanka free trade agreement, made operational in March 2000, has been beneficial to both the countries.

Both leaders discussed several issues related to bilateral trade and investment.

Further it said that the ministers agreed to hold a meeting of the reconstituted India-Sri Lanka CEO's Forum at an early date.

The bilateral trade between the countries stood at USD 6 billion in 2015-16 as against USD 7.45 billion in the previous fiscal.
Criticising the strong reactions from India over China blocking its bid to enter NSG, a state-run daily today said India is "still stuck" in the 1962 war mindset as it called for a more objective evaluation of Beijing's stand.

"The Indian public seems to be having a hard time accepting the outcome of the Seoul plenary meeting of Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) late last month after India failed to gain entry into NSG," an op-ed page article in Global Times said.

"Many Indian media (outlets) put the blame on China alone, accusing China's anti-India and pro-Pakistan motives behind its opposition. Some activists even took to the streets in protest against China and Chinese products and some observers said the incident would freeze the China-India relationship," the article titled 'China, India should drop obsolete view for cooperation' said.

The article asserted that "India's precautions" against China cannot be clearer.

The country seems to be "still stuck" in the shadow of the war with China in the 1960s and many still hold on to the "obsolete geopolitical view" that China does not want to see India's rise, it said.

"However, New Delhi may have misunderstood Beijing, which can make a big difference in its strategic decisions. In fact, China no longer looks at India simply from a political perspective, but far more from an economic one," the article said.

As New Delhi pushed its case to join the NSG last month, the Global Times, part of ruling Communist Party of China (CPC) publications, carried a number of articles including a hard hitting editorial claiming that China's stand is "morally legitimate" and the West has "spoiled" India.

Continuing to justify China's stand to block New Delhi's bid, today's article harped on the often repeated argument of signing the NPT being a must for India to join the NSG and that consensus is required for entry of new members.

"India needs to perceive China objectively. Joining the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) is a must for any country seeking NSG membership, but India is not a party to the NPT," the article said.

"The only exception is if India can obtain consent from all 48-NSG members, but several countries apart from China hold reservations in this regard. India better put more efforts into figuring out how to obtain trust rather than misinterpreting and defaming China," it said.

Quoting Political scientist Zheng Yongnian who stated that that, "China's bilateral relationship with India is second only to the Sino-US relationship," it said ties with China are of great significance to India as well.

"The best option is for China and India to work together to boost their economic and trade ties. Only by seeking common development between China and India can the two build a new order and form an Asian century," it said.

"The obviously cooperative attitude has wide representation as an increasing number of people now care about economic progress more than anything else and believe that India's rapid economic development can actually help improve its relations with China," it said.

The article said that many regions in China are looking for business opportunities in fast-growing India. Chinese citizens may not realise the full potential of India, but in general they are attaching far more importance to the neighbouring country than ever before.
Ahead of the eighth annual Summit of BRICS in October this year, India will host a meeting of the heads of anti-narcotics agencies this week to discuss issues related to narco-terrorism and money laundering among the member-nations.

The one-day meeting on July 8 will be hosted by Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) and the agenda of the high-level meeting is expected to revolve around illicit drug trafficking including diversion of precursors and chemicals, usage of new psychoactive substances, maritime drug trafficking, narco terrorism and drug money laundering.

"All the BRICS nations (Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa) will discuss ways to enhance cooperation to effectively deal with these issues and keep an effective monitoring on illegal narcotics transport happening between these nations.

"A number of probes related to narcotics smuggling and drug trafficking in the past have been seen to be connecting dots between the BRICS nations and the meeting is expected to thrash out issues related to this," a senior official said.

India has taken over the BRICS Chairmanship this year, for the second time after 2012, and it will host the eighth annual Summit of the forum in Goa in October in its capacity as chair of the bloc comprising the five countries which account for 42 per cent of the world's population and a combined GDP of over USD 16 trillion.

The meeting of the Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs) on drugs matters will also discuss various trends being observed in the last 5-6 years and a joint accord is also expected to be signed at conclusion.

An action plan to jointly combat the menace is also expected to be drawn up during the day-long meeting.

NCB will lead the deliberations from Indian side during the meeting while officials from Union Home Ministry, police and border guarding forces like BSF will also participate.
Acclaimed Iranian film-maker Abbas Kiarostami has died at the age of 76 in France following a battle with cancer, Iranian media reported today.

Kiarostami, who won the coveted Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 1997 for "Taste of Cherry", left Tehran last week to undergo treatment in France, the ISNA agency said, adding that his death had been confirmed by Iran's House of Cinema.

One of the brightest stars of Iran's cinema, Kiarostami was born in Tehran in 1940 and rose from relatively humble origins before becoming part of the so-called Iranian New Wave of cinema in the 1960s.

He stayed on in his country after the Islamic revolution in 1979, but had been working internationally for the past decade.

The agency IRNA reported that he had undergone several unsuccessful operations in Iran between February and April, and that his body would be repatriated for burial.
Israel has approved hundreds of new settler homes in the occupied West Bank, an official said today, in a move likely to further raise tensions following a series of Palestinian attacks.

The approval comes days after a key international report warned that Israel's settlement expansion and confiscation of Palestinian land were eroding the possibility of a two-state peace settlement.

The report from the diplomatic Quartet -- the United States, European Union, United Nations and Russia -- also called on Palestinians to halt attacks and incitement to violence.

Under the new approval granted by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman, planning for 560 new Jewish homes in the large Maale Adumim settlement east of Jerusalem will be allowed to move forward.

The Maale Adumim mayor was informed of the decision on yesterday night, a spokesman for his office told AFP. The settlement founded in 1975 already has a population of more than 37,000.

Netanyahu also gave approval for the planning of 240 new homes in settlement neighbourhoods of annexed east Jerusalem, as well as for 600 units for Palestinians in the city's Beit Safafa district, media reported.

The offices of Netanyahu and Lieberman refused to comment on the reported approvals, which follow calls inside Israel for a harsh response to the latest spate of Palestinian attacks.

On Thursday, 13-year-old Israeli-American Hallel Yaffa Ariel was fatally stabbed in Kiryat Arba settlement on the outskirts of the flashpoint West Bank city of Hebron.

Her 19-year-old Palestinian assailant was then shot dead by a security guard.

A day later, Sarah Tarayra, 27, was shot dead after drawing a knife on Israeli forces in Hebron. She was a relative of the Kiryat Arba attacker.

Also last Friday, 48-year-old Israeli Michael Mark was killed when his car was fired on by suspected Palestinian gunmen south of Hebron.

Israel the same day announced a lockdown in Hebron as it searched for the gunmen and it reduced the monthly tax payments to the Palestinian Authority as a retaliatory measure.
Israeli forces demolished the West Bank homes of two Palestinian knifemen whose December attack led to the death of two Israelis, including one by friendly fire, the army said today.

The overnight demolitions took place in the Qalandia refugee camp, between Jerusalem and Ramallah, with four Palestinians wounded in ensuing clashes, an AFP reporter said.

A military spokeswoman said the forces had razed the homes of Issa Assaf and Annan Hammed, who were shot dead during a December 23 attack near Jerusalem's Old City.

"Armed with knives, the two assailants stabbed pedestrians at the scene, brutally killing rabbi Reuven Birmajer and wounding a civilian," the spokeswoman said. "In addition, Ofer Ben Ari was killed" by security forces who shot Assaf and Hammed dead.

"During the demolition, multiple violent riots erupted," with Palestinians throwing rocks and opening fire, the spokeswoman said. Israeli forces eventually opened fire at "main instigators," she said.

Four Palestinians were lightly wounded in the clashes, according to an AFP reporter.

Israel routinely demolishes homes of Palestinian assailants in what it says is a means to deter further attacks. Rights groups say it amounts to collective punishment, with families forced to suffer for the acts of relatives.

A wave of violence since October has killed at least 214 Palestinians, 34 Israelis, two Americans, an Eritrean and a Sudanese.

Most of the Palestinians killed were carrying out knife, gun or car-ramming attacks, Israeli authorities say.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrives in Uganda today for a rare four-day tour of sub-Saharan Africa, seeking new trade partners and marking the 40th anniversary of a hostage rescue in which his brother died.

In a statement just before his departure, Netanyahu called the first visit by an Israeli premier to the region in decades "historic". He is expected to land in Uganda around 1:00 pm (1000 GMT.)



The trip comes at a time when Israel is launching a $13-million aid package to strengthen economic ties and cooperation with African countries, said Netanyahu's office.

Israel would also provide African states with training in "domestic security" and health, it said.

After Uganda, Netanyahu will travel on to Kenya, Ethiopia and Rwanda, but he is also meeting other African leaders at a summit in Uganda.

"Coming on a journey like this is also very important from diplomatic, economic and security perspectives and I am pleased that Israel is going back to Africa in a big way," Netanyahu said in a statement, adding: "We are opening Africa to Israel again."



The Arab-Israeli conflict drove a wedge between African countries and the Jewish state in the 1960s.

Following wars between Israel and its neighbours in 1967 and 1973, North African nations led by Egypt put pressure on sub-Saharan African states to cut ties with Israel, which many did.

Relations were not helped by Israel's friendship with the apartheid regime in South Africa before it fell in 1994.

In an interview with Uganda's Daily Monitor newspaper ahead of his visit, Netanyahu said his visit was an attempt to thaw relations.

"I'm very open about it, that's true," Netanyahu said, according to the paper.

Beyond diplomacy and trade, the trip will have deep personal meaning for Netanyahu.

His brother Yonatan was killed in July 1976 as he led a commando raid in Entebbe, Uganda, to free passengers aboard an Air France plane hijacked by two Palestinians and two Germans.

Uganda's deputy foreign minister Henry Okello Oryem told AFP Netanyahu would be given a 19-gun salute on arrival, before "proceeding to the 40th anniversary commemoration ceremony at the old airport terminal."



He later takes part in an anti-terrorism summit alongside leaders from Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, South Sudan and Zambia, before heading to Nairobi later on Monday.
Italy's interior minister says police and prosecutors have cracked a transnational network dedicated to migrant trafficking.

Palermo-based authorities have detained 38 people suspected of being in the ring: 25 Eritreans, 12 Ethiopians and one Italian.

Interior Minister Angelino Alfano says the authorities dealt "a harsh blow" to the criminal network, which used Rome for its financial transactions hub.

Palermo police say in a statement that an Eritrean man who was arrested in 2014 collaborated with authorities, providing for the first time "a complete reconstruction of criminal activities" of migrant trafficking involving operations both in North Africa and Italy.
The Jammu and Kashmir Institute of Management, Public Administration and Rural Development (IMPARD)today signed an MoU with the Administrative Staff College of India (ASCI) here for collaboration between the two institutions in skill development and e-governance.

The agreement was signed at the ASCI campus here in the presence of J&K IMPARD Vice-Chairman and Director General Arun Kumar and ASCI Director General Paramita Dasgupta, ASCI stated in a release.

The initiative would open new opportunities for collaboration between the two institutions in the areas of public private partnership, skill development, e-governance and digital India, high impact corporate social responsibility, project management, financial management, de-centralised planning, disaster management, innovations in public services and 'Swatch Bharat', it said.

"ASCI is pleased to sign the MoU and we are willing to take up programmes for the benefit of J&K officers," Dasgupta said.

ASCI was established here in 1956 at the joint initiative of both the Union government and the industry as an independent and autonomous public purpose institution.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa today greeted Governor Rosaiah on his 83rd birthday and wished him good health and peace to serve the country for many more years.

She called Rosaiah over phone and conveyed her greetings. Also, she sent a bouquet of flowers to him and a letter conveying her best wishes, a government release said.

"On the joyous occasion of your 83rd birthday, I have great pleasure in conveying my warm felicitations and best wishes to you," she said in her letter to him.

"I pray that the Almighty may grant you many more years of good health and peace to serve the nation and the people as you have always been doing."



Meanwhile, son of Rosaiah, Sriman Narayanamurthy today called on Jayalalithaa at the Secretariat alongwith his wife and invited her for the wedding of his son Anirudh in Hyderabad on August 14.
Close on the heels of AAP MLA Naresh Yadav being booked in connection with an alleged sacrilege incident, Arvind Kejriwal today accused the ruling SAD-BJP alliance in Punjab of indulging in communal politics.

"Since AAP has emerged as a serious challenge to these communal forces, they (SAD-BJP) are not keeping any stone unturned to defame the party," he alleged while addressing an event organised by Punjab Christian United Front here.

Violence had erupted after the alleged sacrilege in Malerkotla on June 24 in which a mob even attacked the house of local SAD MLA Farzana Nissara Khatoon, wife of a former Punjab DGP. Several policemen, including a DSP, were injured as about 300-400 protesters hurled stones and torched a car.

Kejriwal said, "If AAP comes to power in Punjab next year, it will not tolerate sacrilege incidents and bring all those who conspired in such inhuman acts to the fore."



"It is shameful that to defame AAP, they (SAD) did not even spare the holy book," he alleged and said, "AAP is not here for the play politics but for the change in the political system."



In Punjab, all sections of the society are fed up with the "mis-governance, rather non-governance" of the SAD-BJP alliance. AAP would be voted to power in the state with a thumping majority, the party's national convener claimed.

"Drugs are being supplied to every nook and corner of Punjab under political patronage. Instead of cracking down on drug suppliers, police is registering fake cases against drug addicts," Kejriwal alleged, adding all such fake cases would be withdrawn after AAP forms government.

He also said, "Once voted to power, we will put Revenue Minister Bikram Singh Majithia behind the bars."



"It will be a fight between AAP and the grand alliance of SAD-BJP-Congress as the latter will contest the polls under a secret understanding," Kejriwal claimed.

Hitting out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he alleged "After becoming the Prime Minister, most of the time, Narendra Modi is in flying mode. Whenever he lands in India, he is always in planning mode to disturb the Delhi Government by creating hurdles in the ongoing developmental works."



"Unlike BJP, which rolled out a series of 'dreams' including 'achche din' as poll promises but later on termed those as 'chunavi jumle', AAP believes in fulfilling all its all promises, which is evident in Delhi," Kejriwal claimed.

Prominent among others who addressed the gathering include state convener of AAP Sucha Singh Chhotepur, MP Bhagwant Mann and senior leader Gurpreet Ghuggi.

Earlier, on his way to Gurdaspur from Amritsar, Kejriwal paid obeisance to Gurudwara Kartarpur Sahib in Pakistan from Dera Baba Nanak.

(REOPENS DES 24)



Kejriwal claimed that with elections in Punjab round the corner, the Malerkotla sacrilege incident which was "politically motivated" is being "blown out of proportion" by the SAD-BJP government.

"This is an election year and the Badal government is going all out to defame me and my party. I have been told that Sangrur police have been specifically told to implicate some members of my party in the case. Had it not been for the polls, the incident would not have happened," he claimed.

Since June 24, when the incident took place, police had been blaming VHP but now suddenly they trained their guns on AAP, Kejriwal said.

"Just a day before I started my three-day Punjab tour, the investigators suddenly started targeting my party colleagues. I have been told that this is being done allegedly at the behest of the ruling party," he claimed.

"This shows that the SAD-BJP alliance fears my party, which is gaining in strength with each passing day. The Badals are hitting below the belt," Kejriwal alleged.

In wake of the protests by SAD and Congress over the sacrilege incident, the Sangrur district administration, ahead of Kejriwal's visit to Malerkotla, has clamped Section 144 of CrPC prohibiting assembly of more than 10 people in one place.

The AAP national convener, who was earlier in the day in Phagwara of Kapurthala district, faced stiff protests from various religious bodies over the MLA's alleged involvement in the case. Heavy police force have been deployed in the area to prevent any untoward incident.

Sangrur Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Preetpal Singh Thind said, "Summons were issued to the MLA, who will be questioned tomorrow (Tuesday). We are investigating the matter."



"He (Yadav) told us that he would come to Patiala by 11 AM on Tuesday for questioning. His brother has received the summons. We told Yadav about the allegations levelled against him, let's see what he says," the SSP said.

About Kejriwal's visit to Malerkotla, the SSP said, "We will provide full security to him.

Meanwhile, addressing a 'Dalit Sammelan' at Phagwara,



Kejriwal sounded a note of caution to the members of the community, alleging that "RSS and its protege BJP" would end reservation whenever they got opportunity.

"Though the RSS chief backtracked from his statement when he realised that it will harm BJP's poll prospects, it exposed the mindset and conspiracy of RSS and BJP about Dalits and reservation," he said.

Eyeing Dalit vote-bank, the largest concentration of which is in the Doaba region, he asked, "How can anyone even think of doing so when condition of Dalits have not improved a bit even 70 years after independence."



Declaring that AAP will work to uplift the Dalits when it comes to power in Punjab, the Delhi Chief Minister claimed that over 90 per cent Dalits had voted for his party in the national capital and they still stands with the party as it had done what it had promised.

Blaming the BJP government at Centre for the death of Rohith Vemula, a Dalit scholar of Hyderabad University, Kejriwal claimed, "Rohit and four other Dalit students were suspended because they propagated Ambedkar's philosophy and ABVP could not digest it."



Refering to a Dalit girl's rape, chopping of a Dalit man's hand's and feet in Abohar and killing of two Dalit people, reportedly AAP supporters in Ludhiana of Punjab, he claimed, "the days of Akalis were numbered".

If AAP comes to power after the Assembly polls next year, it will form a SIT to probe all these cases of atrocities on dalits and ensure justice to them, Kejriwal said.

He promised the "Delhi model of education" and alleged that the rulers of the state had "kept the condition of government schools dismal" so that children of the poor and Dalits could not progress.

"We will improve the condition of government schools within five years to impart quality education to Dalit children," Kejriwal said.

Asking the gathering to contribute money, time and go door to door for AAP, he said one person should contact 200 other people to conveying AAP's philosophy and seek vote for the party.

The Scheduled Caste leaders hailed Kejriwal's promise to open a Skill University in name of Kanshi Ram in the state. Kanshi Ram's nephew Lakhbir Singh also spoke on the occasion.
A senior Sierra Leonean diplomat kidnapped in Nigeria last week is alive and in good health, officials in Freetown said today.

Alfred Nelson-Williams, defence attache and deputy head of Sierra Leone's high commission in Abuja, was abducted on July 1 while travelling to Kaduna, 200 km north of Nigeria's federal capital, according to a security official in Kaduna state.

"We are certain he is alive," presidential spokesman Abdulai Baytraytay said in a televised address.

"Sierra Leone has sent a special envoy to Abuja as an intermediary to open a line of communication between the alleged kidnappers and our high commission," the spokesman said, adding that security considerations meant he was unable to explain how he knew Nelson-Williams was alive.

Sierra Leonean "President Ernest Bai Koroma is very concerned over the kidnap... And is in around-the-clock contact with the president of Nigeria on the matter," said Baytraytay.

Citing a diplomatic report, Deputy Information and Communications Minister Cornelius Deveaux said the kidnapped official was "in good health."



"We continue to have complete confidence in the ability of the Nigerian authorities to handle the matter" Deveaux said, adding that he had no information about whether a ransom had been demanded. There have been media reports that the kidnappers had sought a 40 million-dollar ransom.

Kidnapping for ransom is very common in Nigeria.
Supreme Court today dismissed a plea of former Kerala Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan seeking CBI probe into the Kozhikode ice cream parlour sex scandal, saying it would not become party to "political battles where people have political vendetta and rivalries".

It asked the CPI(M) leader to approach the trial court with his grievances about investigation and closure report filed by the Special Investigation Team (SIT).

"Supreme Court won't become party to political battles where people have political vendetta and rivalries. If you have any grievances about the probe and the report filed by the SIT, you can raise it before magistrate and High Court," a bench headed by Chief Justice T S Thakur and Justice D Y Chandrachud said.

Senior advocate K K Venugopal appearing for Kerala government said Achuthanandan's plea was politically motivated.

The bench said a proper way or procedures needed to be followed which cannot be scuttled.

The apex court had in 2013 sought response from Kerala government and others on a plea of the veteran CPI(M) leader seeking a CBI probe into the Kozhikode ice cream parlour sex scandal whose accussations first surfaced in 1997.

Achuthanandan had alleged that criminal justice has been subverted in a systematic manner in this case that can be rectified by only ordering an independent probe.

The Kerala High Court had dismissed his plea seeking a CBI probe in the case allegedly involving Industries Minister P K Kunhalikutty.

Achuthanandan had approached the high court stating that the probe following fresh disclosures made in 2011 by K A Rauf, a close relative of Kunhalikutty, was not done properly and hence only a CBI probe could bring out the truth.

The high court had however noted that even though the court was not going into the details of the investigation, from what had been pointed out on the lapses in the probe, it appeared to be grave and the petitioner could approach the magistrate's court if he had any grievances.

The alleged sex racket in early 1990s involved an ice cream parlour in Kozhikode as its base which had led the media to flag it as the "ice cream parlour sex case". The parlour was allegedly used as a cover for running the sex scandal.

The case has since then been vigorously taken up by Achuthanandan and was dismissed by the Supreme Court which gave clean chit to Kunhalikutty, an Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) leader, in 2006.

Though Kunhalikutty never became an accused in the case, he had come under cloud in the wake of the scandal and even had to quit the ministry then.
Kuwaiti security authorities have broken up three Islamic State cells plotting "terror" attacks in the oil-rich Gulf state, the interior ministry said today.

Five Kuwaiti nationals were arrested, including a policeman and a woman, who all confessed to plotting attacks against a Shiite mosque and an interior ministry target, the ministry said in a statement.

All members of the three cells also confessed to being members of the Islamic State jihadist group.

Kuwaiti police are still looking for a Gulf man and an Asian who assisted one of the cells, the ministry said.

The action against the Islamist cells comes a year after an ISIS-linked Saudi suicide bomber blew himself up in a Shiite mosque, killing 26 worshippers in the worst attack in .

A court sentenced one man to death and jailed eight for assisting the Saudi bomber.

Among those arrested in the latest police action was 18-year old Talal Raja who confessed to have been plotting a suicide attack against a Shiite mosque and an interior ministry installation by the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan tomorrow, the ministry said.

The second cell consisted of a mother and son who were arrested in Syria in the ISIS-controlled Riga and brought back to Kuwait, the ministry said. It provided no details of how they were arrested.

The 28-year old son had cut short his petroleum engineering study in Britain to join the ISIS after his younger brother was killed while fighting for the group in Iraq, the ministry said.

The third cell comprised of two Kuwaitis, one of them a policeman, who were seized along with two Klashnikov rifles and ammunition. The pair confessed to plotting attacks in the country, the ministry said.

In November last year, Kuwaiti police busted an cell led by a Lebanese man that was sending air defence systems and funds to the Islamic State group.

Several suspected ISIS members and sympathisers were tried in the Gulf emirate for a suicide bombing last month claimed by the group.
L&T Infotech today said it is targeting to double its revenues in the next three to four years through acquisitions and organic growth.

"We will be doubling the revenues in the next 3-4 years," L&T Group's Executive Chairman A M Naik told reporters at a roadshow ahead of its IPO.

The company had posted a topline of USD 887 million in 2015-16. Over the last five years, its revenues have grown 17-18 per cent, but dropped to 13-14 per cent during last fiscal due to slowdown in the performance of the oil and gas sector because of depressed commodity prices.

Naik said the over Rs 1,200 crore to be raised through the offering, which will be the third public issue from the diversified Group, will be deployed for acquisitions and working capital requirements.

For acquisitions, the company will focus on the North American and European markets which contribute a bulk of its revenues at present, L&T Infotech Chief Executive and Managing Director Sanjay Jalona told reporters.

He however declined to give any futuristic guidance and answer queries on the size of the acquisitions or the technologies it will focus on.

Jalona said there will be a "negligible impact" from the UK's exit from the European Union as the country contributes only about 2 per cent of the company's revenue.

Europe contributes 17 per cent of its overall revenues, of which 11 per cent comes from the Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden, including their associated territories) alone, he said.

Jalona said the Brexit vote, which will entail separation of businesses between the UK and continental Europe for its clients, may well turn out to be a business opportunity for the outsourcing sector.

"...As companies separate from the UK and the EU it would be an opportunity...But only time will tell us," he said.

Meanwhile, Uday Kotak of Kotak Mahindra Group, among the lead managers for the IPO, said despite multiple "obituaries" written about the IT segment over the years, the sector continues to be attractive as it has shown resilience in the face of challenges.

Kotak attributed the jump in the primary market issuances,



which touched a nine-year high in the quarter to June, to the quality of the issues and the pricing. "Quality IPOs, which are well priced, are best way of expanding the primary markets."



Naik said the company has chosen to offer shares at a lower valuation to increase the retail investors' interest, for whom it is also giving a discount of Rs 10 per share.

He added L&T wants to grow the investor interest in the scrip, which will lead to a better price discovery post-listing as well.

Reminiscing from the days of formation of the IT firm, Naik said the engineering, procurement and construction major spun it off into a separate unit to arrest attrition.

He said between 1985 and 2000, the company lost 10,000 skilled manpower to IT "bodyshops" across the world and it is at this juncture that it decided to branch out and win business as a standalone entity.

Serving external clients, beyond the L&T Group, would entail lucrative career opportunities for the staff who get to work from client locations across the world, he said.

This branching out, and further splitting of the business, has helped the Group have two companies with a combined revenue of over USD 1.5 billion, he said.

L&T Infotech's issue will hit market on July 11 with its initial public offer that can fetch up to Rs 1,243 crore.

The price band for the offer, entailing sale of 1.75 crore shares, has been fixed at Rs 705-710 per scrip.
Sri Lanka's new central bank chief Indrajit Coomaraswamy today assumed charge and pledged to work independently and uphold its credibility amid allegations that the office of the governor had become politicised.

The 66-year-old Sri Lankan Tamil economist also said that the responsibility of the central bank was to create a sound macro-economic fundamentals with financial sector stability.

"The government elected by the people have sovereignty, reposed in them. However, the monetary law sets out some very specific responsibilities in the central bank. It is up to us to fulfil those responsibilities in a technocratic, objective and free way. That is not to say we should be criticising the government of the day. That is not our business. But there are channels through which we can get independence advice to the government," he said.

Coomaraswamy became the 14th governor of the central bank and will have a six-year term.

He replaced Arjuna Mahendran whose term was not extended by President Maithripala Sirisena who bowed to pressure to replace him after he was accused of leaking information to his son-in-law's firm, which allegedly made millions of dollars in profits from central bank bond auctions.

"I have spoken to our leaders about this - that the central bank does its work independently and in a technical way and discreetly advises the government but what we think is the best way forward for those segments of policy and practice for which the central bank has responsibility," he said.

Coomaraswamy said the bank was "one of the great institutions in this country".

"I am acutely aware that a primary responsibility, arguably the primary responsibility of the governor, is to uphold this reputation and credibility," said the 66-year-old former director of economic affairs at the Commonwealth Secretariat, an intergovernmental agency of Commonwealth countries in London.

Since 1948, the central bank had allowed politics to trump economics for most of its life and it has not stop creating artificial booms.

Mahendran has consistently maintained his innocence and had indicated he wanted to stay on after his term expired on June 30.
Lawyers at Tis Hazari court today struck work to protest Delhi government's recent order transferring three police stations of west district to south- west district under the Dwarka courts.

Delhi Bar Association (DBA), which has called for the strike, said the lawyers would stay away from work tomorrow also and claimed the government's order was "arbitrary and illegal" and was passed without consulting the association.

In June, Delhi government decided to reorganise west and south-west civil districts, sessions division, metropolitan areas of capital, to ease administrative access for people.

By this order, three police stations - Uttam Nagar, Vikaspuri and Janakpuri from West district under Tis Hazari Court, were transferred to South West district so as to enable the cases under their jurisdiction be filed in the sessions division at the Dwarka Court Complex.

Advocate Sanjeev Nasiar, President of DBA, termed today's strike as successful and said the lawyers are likely to meet the Lieutenant Governor tomorrow to apprise him about the situation and the "repercussions of the illegal order".

"DBA has submitted objection to the order and placed its proposal for return of order passed by Delhi government with direction to reorganise all districts of Delhi for convenience of litigants, lawyers and other stake holders," he said.

The decision by the AAP government to transfer the three police stations were taken a Cabinet meeting.

The order had, however, said the existing criminal cases relating to police stations of Uttam Nagar, Vikaspuri and Janakpuri, which were filed and are pending in the Sessions Court at Tis Hazari should not be transferred to the Sessions Court at Dwarka.
Kerala-based PDP leader Abdul Nasser Madani, granted bail in 2008 Bengaluru blast case to visit his ailing mother, arrived in Kochi by a private airlines after a day-long delay caused by security formalities, which triggered a protest here by his supporters.

He was accompanied by a team of Karnataka Police officials.

Earlier, he was not allowed to board a flight at the airport in Bengaluru here on security grounds by IndiGo airlines.

However, later the airlines allowed him to board in their flight.

A rousing welcome was accorded to Madani by his supporters, who were waiting for his arrival since morning outside the Kochi international airport at Nedumbassery.

Talking to reporters outside the airport, Madani alleged that he suspect there was a "planned move" to delay his travel to Kochi even after securing a boarding pass at Bengaluru airport.

"I am grateful to Almighty for granting me an opportunity to celebrate Holy Ramadan with people of Kerala and my parents after six long years," he said.

Madani also thanked the people of Kerala and media for extending their support to him at a time when he was undergoing a period in which he was "denied justice."



He, however, refused to say anything on the case against him in Karnataka.

After reaching Kochi, the PDP leader headed towards his home in Anwarssery in Kollam district.

A special National Investigation Agencycourt based on the Supreme Court directions had recently fixed thedate for his travel to Kochi from Bengaluru from July 4 to July 12.

It had directed the city police to provide necessary security arrangements.

Madani had been arrested in connection with the July 2008 serial blasts in Bengaluru that killed one person and injured several others.

Earlier in Kochi, supporters of Madani staged a violent



protest outside the airport and allegedly smashed glass at the counter of Indigo for allegedly refusing to carry their leader to Kochi from Bengaluru.

Police used force to push out around slogan shouting supporters of the jailed leader from the domestic departure area of the terminal building sensing that their protest was turning a big security threat for the airport, police said.

Amid melee, they allegedly broke the glass counter of the Indigo airline located at domestic departure area of the airport, they said.

According to Kerala Police, around 500 supporters of Madani had gathered outside the terminal to receive the PDP leader on his arrival by the Indigo flight at noon.

They ended their protest after they got an assurance that Madani will reach by air in the night.

Earlier, listing out the instructions to be strictly adhered to by all concerned for carriage of person under judicial custody/ administrative control as per the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) regulations, IndiGo had said in Bengaluru that as an airline, it always complies with the security agencies regulations.

As per the BCAS Regulations, it said, the policing authority responsible for carriage of a prisoner by air shall indicate classification of such prisoner as dangerous or otherwise in their application addressed to the Commissioner or Regional Dy Commissioner of Security, BCAS.

Also, it stipulates that a minimum of two escorts of the policing authority shall be required for one prisoner who is classified as dangerous by the policing authority.

It also noted that aircraft operator should not accept a prisoner and escort(s) as passengers unless concurrence has been obtained in advance from the BCAS and other operators that may be involved en route and at the intended final destination.

In such cases sufficient advance notification must be given to operator so that prior agreements can be obtained, the airline added.
A man has been acquitted of the charge of raping his sister-in-law after the death of her husband by a Delhi court which said the case was "not free from suspicion".

The court said facts of the case showed that the woman wanted to marry her husband's younger brother after the death of her spouse, but when the accused refused to tie the knot with her, she lodged the complaint against him.

"It is gathered from the facts and circumstances that the woman wanted to marry the accused after the death of her husband but somehow the accused was not willing. It made the woman annoyed and she lodged the complaint," Additional Sessions Judge Sanjiv Jain said, while acquitting the man, a resident of Govind Puri in south Delhi.

The court said the investigating officer did not try to find out the relation of the woman with her in-laws after her husband's death and whether marriage talks were going on between her and the accused.

"I am of the view that this case is not free from suspicion. It would be highly unsafe to base the conviction of the accused on the basis of evidence and material available on record. I, therefore, acquit the accused of the offence punishable under section 376 IPC giving him benefit of doubt," the judge said.

According to the prosecution, the woman lodged a complaint at Govind Puri Police Station against the man in June 2014, alleging that her brother-in-law had raped her when nobody was at home. She alleged that when she told her mother -in-law about the incident, she fought with her and threatened to throw her out of the matrimonial house.

During trial, the man claimed that he was falsely implicated in the case by the woman as she used to pressurise him to marry her after the death of her husband and when he refused, she filed the complaint against him.

The court, in its judgment, said the inconsistencies, improvements and contradictions coming in the woman's testimony go to the root of the case and her deposition cannot be said to be of sterling quality. No implicit reliance can be placed on her, it said.
A 40-year-old electrician, whose right hand was crushed in an accident by a rashly driven mini bus, has been awarded a compensation of over Rs 22 lakh by a Motor Accident Claims Tribunal (MACT) here.

The tribunal directed National Insurance Company Ltd, with which the offending vehicle was insured, to pay Rs 22.10 lakh to Faridabad resident Ram Yash Kumar Mahto, who was riding a motorcycle at the time of the accident.

It also awarded a compensation of Rs 15,000 to Mahto's relative Dilip Kumar, who was the pillion rider, for his injuries.

"In view of the testimony of petitioner Ram Yash Kumar Mahto and injured Dilip Kumar coupled with criminal record, it is sufficiently proved that Mahto and Kumar suffered injuries in the accident caused due to rash and negligent driving of offending vehicle being driven by respondent number 1 (bus driver)," MACT Presiding Officer Neena Bansal Krishna said and held that Mahto suffered 50 per cent of permanent disability.

According to the petition, the incident took place on the night of September 26, 2013 when Mahto and Kumar were returning home in Faridabad in Haryana from their shop in East of Kailash in South Delhi on the motorcycle.

They stopped at a traffic signal at Mathura Road and when it turned green, Mahto started his bike and a rashly driven mini van tried to overtake them and hit the bike.

Both victims fell down and Mahto's right hand was crushed under the wheels and Kumar suffered injuries. They were taken to AIIMS Trauma Centre. Mahto said his right hand's fingers and thumb were amputated and he had to undergo several surgeries.

Seeking compensation, Mahto said he was running a business of electrical repairs and contracts and earning Rs 50,000 per month.

The driver and owner of the bus alleged that the petitioner has misled the tribunal and not approached the forum with clean hands.
A 19-year-old tourist has lost his left leg after getting seriously injured as he stepped on what appeared to be a firework while strolling in the popular Central Park here.

Connor Golden, who was visiting from Virginia, stepped on an explosive material that had been left behind as he was with walking in the park yesterday. A report in the New York Times said investigators believe the material was part of an "experiment with fireworks".

Police officials, who declined to call the material a device, said they did not believe it was connected to terrorism.

"It is not unusual for the public to make or try to create homemade fireworks around the Fourth of July," said John O'Connell, a deputy police chief for counter-terrorism with the New York Police Department.

The incident occurred just a day before the American Independence Day holiday on July 4, a time when the city is inundated with tourists from all across the world. Various firework displays are planned across the city as well as the country to commemorate the holiday.

After the explosion, Golden lay against a boulder with his left leg below the calf severely wounded. The NYT report said someone had tied a strip of blue fabric around his leg as a tourniquet before emergency workers carried him from the park on a stretcher.

Golden was taken to a nearby hospital and his condition was said to be serious but stable. The bizarre accident forced the amputation of Golden's left leg below the knee.

Lieutenant Mark Torre, the commander of the Police Department's bomb squad, said he believed Golden had encountered homemade fireworks that did not appear to be designed to explode from contact.

"Their goal is to make a loud noise," Torre said, "maybe make a flash".

The material, he said, could have been left behind days ago.

Posts on social media described the scene as grisly and said the victim has been left bloodied and maimed with the explosion.

Police also dismissed reports that authorities were shutting down the 843-acre Central Park as erroneous, but fear and anxiety had been stirred around the park.

"We are worried," Giselle Brown, 42, said in the report as she sat on a bench on Fifth Avenue with relatives visiting from Nicaragua. "We want to know exactly what happened".

Later on Sunday, a swath of the park remained cordoned off as investigators from the Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation were still at work.
Manipur Chief Minister O Ibobi Singh today appealed to the people of Nungei Meetei villages, having taken shelter at relief camps at Lilong Chajing, to return to their home.

Ibobi told media the differences between the two groups, following the June 27 violence, have been resolved.

All the differences between the two groups have been sorted out with the involvement of respective JACs, he said.

Curfew remained in force in the violence-torn Nungei locality in Thoubal district during certain period of the day but the situation showed signs of returning to normalcy since the June 27 clashes between two groups of neighbouring villages, a police officer said earlier in the day.

Displaced villagers of Nungei Meetei hamlet, numbering around 400, earlier told local media they will not return to their homes unless the government provided enough security.

The displaced persons have taken shelter at Lillong Chajing in Thoubal district and Iram Siphai in Imphal West district ever since June 27, JAC Convenor Khaidem Sanjay said.

A teenager was killed in gunfire and at least 12 persons were injured in the said incident which was marked by stone pelting, reports said.
The Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) today told the Bombay High Court that it had taken all the measures suggested by Maharashtra government, including setting up a control room in the city, to tackle vector-borne and water-borne diseases, including leptospirosis, H1N1, dengue, swine flu and malaria.

This was stated in an affidavit submitted by the civic body to the court which was hearing a public interest litigation filed by NCP corporator Dhananjay Pisal.

The affidavit also said that the civic body was properly utilising funds on public health earmarked in its budget.

The bench asked the petitioner's lawyer Umesh Mohite to file a rejoinder on the issue and posted the matter for hearing on July 18.

The petitioner urged the court to direct formation of a special investigating team to probe how the civic body utilised the money allotted for public health.

According to the PIL, Rs 3,700 crore were earmarked this year in the civic body budget for public health but the funds are not being utilised fully.

It has been observed from previous records that only 18 to 20 per cent of the funds kept aside for healthcare was used by the municipal corporation, the PIL added.

Stating that only one civic hospital has facilities to test samples for leptospirosis, the petition demanded that all municipal hospitals should have this facility so as to save crucial time in bringing a patient to the sample test centre as the delay could prove fatal for patients.

The PIL requested a probe into the failure of civic hospitals to provide medicine, equipment and staff for public health despite having a budget to tackle water-borne and vector-borne diseases.
Twelve people including two children died and 30 were injured when their bus turned over today near the Mexican tourist resort of Cancun, emergency services said.

The bus crashed in the early hours in a wooded area of the Carrillo Puerto municipality, said Reyes Silvestre, head of the local civil protection rescue team.

There were 50 passengers on board, all Mexicans, Silvestre told AFP. The bus had driven some 200 kilometers (120 miles) from the Veracruz region headed for Cancun.

"Among the 12, there was a baby who died at the scene of the accident, and another child whose exact age we do not know, who died while being transferred to hospital," Silvestre said.
A Chinese daily today claimed that former prime minister Manmohan Singh had "expressed support" for China's ambitious Maritime Silk Road plan but his successor Narendra Modi "changed" India's "attitude" towards the initiative by using delaying tactics.

"Indian strategists and the government believe there is some geostrategic design behind the 'Belt and Road' (Silk Road) initiative. Now, India has adopted opposing, delaying and hedging measures toward different parts of the initiative," an article published in the state-run Global Times said.

"When China initiated the MSR in 2013, then Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his national security advisor Shivshankar Menon expressed support and interest. But current Prime Minister Narendra Modi changed India's attitude toward MSR after he came into power," the article written by Liu Zongyi, a fellow of state-run Shanghai Institutes for International Studies said.

India from the beginning has reservations over the strategic impact of the MSR on the Indian Ocean, observers herepointed out that India first sought details of the project since its outline was unveiled in 2014, it said.

"The final blueprint of the MSR which was part of the mega Belt and Road project was released by Chinese President Xi Jinping only in March last year during Boao Forum for Asia by which time Modi government was firmly in saddle," it said.

Vice President Hamid Ansari during his visit to Beijing in June said New Delhi had sought more details about the MSR.

China's Silk Road plan the name of which was subsequently changed to "Belt and Road" project moots a maze of roads and corridors connecting China with Asia and Europe.

Besides the MSR and BCIM, the plan includes China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), rail and road connectivity with Central Asia and Europe.

India has already conveyed its objection to CPEC as it goes through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, during her visit to Beijing last year, said India will not give a blanket endorsement to the MSR project but support where the synergies of the two countries meet.

While criticising India's approach to MSR, today's article in the Global Times also said China should increase maritime cooperation with India to dispel misgivings.

"China should improve connections and cooperation with the Indian Ocean Rim Association and other regional cooperation organisations in the Indian Ocean. At the same time, China should improve maritime cooperation with India," it said.

"Western scholars forged and hyped China's 'string of



pearls strategy' in the Indian Ocean, and some Indians believe that MSR is just an alternative wording that sounds more pleasant and is used to replace the string of pearls strategy," the article said.

"The so-called string of pearls strategy is a military and geostrategic design. But Chinese leaders define the 'Belt and Road' initiative as the top-level design of China's opening-up and economic diplomacy in the new era and Chinese solutions and suggestions toward world peace and development," it said.

"India's reaction toward the 'Belt and Road' initiative is a part of its Indo-Pacific strategy under which India takes precedence of geopolitics over geoeconomics cooperation," it said.

Indian hedging strategy toward the 'Belt and Road' has very strong military and strategic implications. The 'Belt and Road' initiative is an economic cooperation, and China will invest a large amount of capital along the route that India cannot match, it added.

"Modi's visit to three Indian Ocean countries in March 2015 shows that India is determined to adopt an asymmetrical strategy to secure a dominant position in the Indian Ocean through bolstering military and security cooperation with these island nations," it said.

Also India enforced its military and strategic coordination with the US, Japan and some Southeast Asian countries which have islands disputes with China in the South China Sea, it said.

"So in the Indo-Pacific region, there is competition between geoeconomic cooperation and geopolitical cooperation. India, the US and Japan want to hedge economic and trade cooperation initiated by China with their military and security cooperation. This situation does not benefit the advancement of the 'Belt and Road' initiative," it said.

To deal with the situation, China should make clear its purposes in the Indian Ocean, "specially the security of sea lanes of energy and trade, the security of overseas investment and the security of overseas Chinese, to build strategic trust with Indian Ocean countries, especially India," it said.

Also China should step up efforts to improve maritime economic cooperation, maritime interconnection, civil cooperation, disaster relief cooperation, legal cooperation and other maritime security activities, providing more international public goods collectively with other countries, to ensure the security of sea lanes and freedom of navigation in the Indian Ocean, it said.

"In the long run it is necessary to build a stable regional security architecture. China should continue to advocate new security concepts and make efforts to build an inclusive and democratic regional security architecture," it said.
Bringing out of the cold storage several airport projects in Uttar Pradesh in view of the assembly polls early next year, the NDA government has put them on the fast track with two of them -- Allahabad and Agra -- likely to be operational in a couple of months.

All these airport project were initiated during the erstwhile UPA regime.

At a review meeting held here to assess the progress on the development of seven regional airports in the state and implementation of the proposed regional connectivity scheme (RCS), the Civil Aviation Ministry has adviced the UP Government to complete the obstacle survey for the Jewar airport in Gautam Budha Nagar at the earliest.

National airports operator AAI had signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the UP government in February 2014 for the development of no-frill airports /civil enclaves at Agra, Allahabad, Bareilly, Kanpur, Faizabad, Meerut and Moradabad.

Agra and Allahabad will start operations immediately under the regional air connectivity scheme, while flights from the two other regional airports Bareilly and Kanpur will commence from later this year, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Mahesh Sharma, who took the review meeting along with senior Ministry and AAI officials as well as senior officials from UP Government, told reporters here.

The Ministry had on July 1 rolled out the draft regional connectivity scheme which seeks to boost flying with measures such capping of fares fare for a one-hour flight of approximately 500 km on a fixed-wing aircraft or on a 30-minute helicopter ride at Rs 2,500, providing Viability Gap Funding (VGF) - which would be financed through Regional Connectivity Fund (RCF), among other.

According to Sharma, the airports at Moradabad, Meerut and Faizabad are also expected to be operational with Uttar Pradesh agreeing to invest Rs 100 crore each on their development.

The Master Plan for these seven projects have already been prepared by the AAI and the state government has started the land acquisition proceedings.

The land will be available for Agra, Allahabad, Bareilly and Kanpur airports by October, later an official release said.

The State Government has requested that the land requirement for Meerut, Faizabad and Moradabad should be reworked, the release said adding it was also decided to revise the complete Master Plan within one month's time to enable UP government start land acquisition proceedings.

According to Government, there are 394 unserved and 16 under-served airports in the country.

UP alone has 27 such airports/airstrips out of the total 394.

There are about 30 such airports which can be used for



operations without incurring any extra cost on their revival, Civil Aviation secretary R N Choubey had said last week.

Besides, the government has also announced that it would provide funds for revival of another 60 airports.

This was the first meeting between the Civil Aviation ministry and a state government, since the draft policy roll out and assumes significance in view of the assembly polls in the state in early 2017.

The Ministry plans to have similar meetings with other states as well in its bid to seek an early implementation of the ambitious scheme,



The release also said that state government has submitted application for getting the site clearance for the proposed Jewar airport from the Steering Committee.

"It was advised that the obstacle survey to be completed by the state government at the earliest so that the application for site clearance can be processed," the release added.
Police today said they will probe allegations by a farmer in Beed district that a moneylender sought his daughter and daughter-in-law for "company" to free his land from mortgage.

"We have initiated action on the farmer's claims and will take appropriate action against the moneylender," Beed SP Anil Paraskar said.

IPS officer said chairperson of the State Women's Commission Vijaya Rahatkar also called him and sought a report on the matter.

"In April, police received a complaint about the land being seized from the farmer by the moneylender. However, it is only yesterday that the farmer Inder Munde from Dharur tehsil in Beed district mentioned that the moneylender Bhagwan Bade sought his daughter and daughter-in-law for "company" to end the mortgage on his land," he said.

"We got to know this fresh angle from reports. The farmer hasn't come forward to register complaint, but we have initiated an inquiry and will take action accordingly," Paraskar said.

Munde said the moneylender made this shocking demand despite repayment of the loan taken from him.
A top official of state power distribution company is in trouble after a dalit organisation today lodged a police complaint accusing him of posting a morphed picture mocking BSP supremo Mayawati on social media.

"In the objectionable post, Mayawati has been portrayed as 'Miss Universe' along with satire against the reservation policy and Indian constitution," Boudh Yuva Jagran Manch president Dipak Wagh told reporters.

He said they have lodged the complaint with cyber cell of police against the Madhya Pradesh West Power Distribution Company Limited's Additional Superintendent Engineer Dhruv Sharma.

Wagh alleged that Sharma in his Facebook account posted Mayawati's "objectionable picture" after doctoring it on June 26.

"In the morphed photo, former UP Chief Minister Mayawati is shown wearing a Miss Universe crown. The satiric caption of the photo read: 'Wonder of reservation at Miss Universe Contest' while a smiley added to the post in English stated: 'Laughing out Loud', he claimed.

The dalit leader said the photo speaks of the officer's "Manuwadi" mind (casteist attitude).

"His act was against the constitution. Therefore, we demand that not only criminal proceedings should be launched against him but he should also be sacked from government job," Wagh said.

Meanwhile, Cyber Cell in-charge Ravikant Daheriya said that Wagh's complaint was being looked into but Sharma has not been booked yet.

When contacted, Sharma merely said "I will put forth my side when police questions me".
Three suicide bombers struck in Saudi Arabia today in a rare incidence of multiple attacks in the kingdom where the Islamic State group has previously staged deadly attacks.

There were no immediate claims of responsibility.

The latest explosion occurred at one of Islam's three holiest sites, the Prophet's Mosque in Medina in the kingdom's west where Mohammed is buried, Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya channel reported.

Other blasts occurred in the Red Sea city of Jeddah near the US consulate and in Shiite-dominated Qatif on the other side of the country.

The interior ministry said two security officers were wounded in the Jeddah bombing.

Residents of Qatif said only the bomber died in that attack, blowing his body apart near a Shiite mosque.

Al-Arabiya said the Mecca incident occurred during sunset prayers after which Muslims break their fast during the holy month of Ramadan, which ends Tuesday.

It showed images of fire raging in a security forces parking lot with at least one body nearby.

The Prophet's Mosque is particularly crowded during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which is supposed to be a time of charity but has seen spectacular attacks around the region.

Sunni extremists from IS claimed, or weer blamed for, a suicide bombing in Baghdad yesterday that killed more than 200 people as well as other attacks in Bangladesh and at Istanbul's Ataturk airport.

At about the same time as the Medina blast, another bomber killed himself in Qatif, residents there said.

"Suicide bomber for sure. I can see the body" torn apart, said one witness to the attack in Qatif.

Nasima al-Sada, another resident, told AFP that "one bomber blew himself up near the mosque", frequented by Shiites in downtown Qatif on the Gulf coast.

No bystanders were hurt, she said.

Another witness, who gave his name only as Ayman, told AFP there were two explosions near the mosque.

"One of them was from a car parked outside the mosque and in which there was a man who was, unusually, not joining the prayer," Ayman said.

Pictures said to be from the scene and circulated by residents showed a small fire burning in the street, severed limbs and what appeared to be a severed head.

Since late 2014 a series of bombings and shootings claimed by IS in Saudi Arabia has targeted minority Shiites as well as members of the security forces, killing dozens of people.

Most of the attacks have been staged in Eastern Province, home to the majority of Shiites in the Sunni-majority Gulf state.

Today's first bombing, near the US consulate in Jeddah,



was carried out not by a Saudi but by a "resident foreigner," General Mansour al-Turki, the interior ministry spokesman, told Al-Arabiya.

Millions of expatriates, many from Muslim-majority nations in the Middle East and Asia, work in the kingdom.

Turki told state Al-Ekhbaria channel that the suspect, in his 30s, was closer to a mosque in the area than to the American consulate.

"Investigations (are) ongoing to find out the goals and motives of the bomber," said Turki.

He also said on the channel's Twitter account that "devices that failed to explode (were) found in the vicinity of the site".

The American embassy in Riyadh reported no injuries among US consulate staff.

The interior ministry said security personnel became suspicious of the man near the parking lot of a hospital which is across from the US diplomatic mission.

When they moved in to investigate at around 2:15 am (2315 GMT Sunday) the man "blew himself up with a suicide belt", the ministry said.

A picture carried by the Sabq online newspaper, which is close to authorities, showed a large body part lying on the ground between a taxi and the open door of another car that was peppered with holes.

The attack coincided with the July 4 Independence Day holiday in the United States.

"The US embassy and consulate remain in contact with the Saudi authorities as they investigate the incident," it added, urging Americans to "take extra precautions when travelling throughout the country".

IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has called for attacks on Saudi Arabia, which is taking part in the US-led coalition bombing the jihadists in Syria and Iraq.

The group also considers Shiites to be heretics.

Despite the upsurge in attacks against Saudis, foreigners have rarely been targeted in recent years.
A 25-year-old Muslim lawyer in Germany has won the right to wear a headscarf at work after a court ruled that there was no legal basis for the state of Bavaria to prevent her from doing so.

Aqilah Sandhu, a star student at Augsburg University law faculty, began a traineeship with the Bavarian judicial system after completing her state law exams, but was told in a letter that she was not allowed to interrogate witnesses or appear in courtrooms while wearing her headscarf.

The battle started after Sandhu successfully completed her state exams and started a traineeship with the Bavarian judicial system.

In July 2014, the highest court in the state sent her a letter informing her that she was forbidden from interrogating witnesses or fulfilling other legal duties as long as she continued to wear a headscarf, the Local reported.

"As soon as I saw the letter I knew it was unlawful," she told the court on Thursday.

She immediately asked for an explanation of the ban, to which she was told "(religious) clothing and symbols can impair the trust in the religious neutrality of the administration of justice."



But the state of Bavaria has no law forbidding legal trainees from wearing religious symbols, so Sandhu took the Bavarian legal system to court.

"I felt very strongly discriminated against. I felt neglected in my training," Sandhu was quoted as saying.

She described how she was excluded from certain activities of the traineeship because of her headscarf.

On one occasion the judge who was training her would only allow her to see pictures that were part of a court process after the process was over, as otherwise she would have had to step up to the judges' desk -- an area she was forbidden from entering.

"I believe in the principle of merit here in Germany and I think it is a shame that I am being reduced to my outward appearance," Sandhu said.

Judge Bernhard Rothinger decided that the young lawyer was in the right, agreeing that there was no legal basis for the state's attack on her religious freedom.

Sandhu is now seeking compensation of 2,000 euors, Bild reported.

But the Bavarian state has rejected the court's decision and says it will appeal.

"I don't want legal apprentices sitting in court or carrying out other high duties of the state wearing headscarves," said Bavarian justice minister Winfried Bausback.

Last year the Constitutional Court ruled against blanket bans on teachers wearing headscarves -- in force in half of Germany's 16 states -- saying that they were "constitutionally limiting".
NASA's solar-powered Juno spacecraft, launched nearly five years ago, is set for a rendezvous with Jupiter, when it enters the orbit of the most massive planet in our solar system tomorrow.

The spacecraft will complete a burn of its main engine, placing it in orbit around the king of planets, NASA said.

During its mission of exploration, Juno will circle the Jovian world 37 times, soaring low over the planet's cloud tops - as close as about 4,100 kilometres.

Juno will probe beneath the obscuring cloud cover of Jupiter and study its auroras to learn more about the planet's origins, structure, atmosphere and magnetosphere.

During Juno's orbit-insertion phase the spacecraft will perform a series of steps in preparation for a main engine burn that will guide it into orbit.

The burn will impart a mean change in velocity of 542 metres per second on the spacecraft.

It is performed in view of Earth, allowing its progress to be monitored by the mission teams at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Lockheed Martin Space Systems in the US, via signal reception by Deep Space Network antennas in California and Australia.

After the main engine burn, Juno will be in orbit around Jupiter. The spacecraft will spin down from 5 to 2 revolutions per minute (RPM), turn back towards the Sun, and ultimately transmit telemetry via its high-gain antenna.

Juno starts its tour of Jupiter in a 53.5-day orbit. The spacecraft saves fuel by executing a burn that places it in a capture orbit instead of going directly for the 14-day orbit that will occur during the mission's primary science collection period.

The 14-day orbit phase will begin after the final burn of the mission for Juno's main engine on October 19.

"We are ready. As Juno barrels down on Jupiter, the scientists are busy looking at the amazing approach science the spacecraft has already returned to Earth," said Scott Bolton, principal investigator of Juno from the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio.

"Jupiter is spectacular from afar and will be absolutely breathtaking from close up," said Bolton.

Juno's name comes from Greek and Roman mythology. The mythical god Jupiter drew a veil of clouds around himself to hide his mischief, and his wife - the goddess Juno - was able to peer through the clouds and unveil Jupiter's true nature.
Nearly 22,000 Muslims have applied for Haj pilgrimage from Madhya Pradesh against the quota of 2,708 sanctioned to the State.

This was stated by Madhya Pradesh Haj Committee Secretary Dawood Ahmed Khan here today.

He said flight service for Haj pilgrims to Saudi Arabia from the State is expected to start from August.

"The schedule for the Haj will be released shortly," he added.
Nepal has launched a probe to verify the claims made by an Indian police couple of having scaled Mount Everest after it was alleged that they faked their expedition to the peak's summit by morphing photographs.

Tarakeshwari and Dinesh Rathod, who are serving as constables in Pune Police, had claimed on June 5 that they became the first Indian couple to scale the Everest on May 23.

They had obtained summit certificates from Nepal's Department of Tourism by allegedly submitting doctored photos showing them on the top of world's highest peak.

Laxman Sharma, chief at the Mountaineering Department under Nepal's Ministry of Tourism, said authorities are probing the Everest climb made by Rathore and his wife.

"The climbers have already returned to India and we have asked Makalu Adventure, the local agency that managed the expedition for clarification regarding the matter within 24 hours," he told PTI.

The couple were issued climber's certificates from the Nepal government after they presented a photograph of themselves on the 8,850-metre (29,035-foot) summit.

Other climbers, however, say the couple never reached the summit and used some trick photography to earn their climbing certificates.

Satyarup Siddhantha, a climber from Bangalore, accused the couple of plagiarising his summit photos which were taken when he scaled Everest on May 21, the Himalayan Times reported.

A source at the Tourism Department also said they have a doubt about the genuiness of the claim made by the Indian couple.

If the accusation is found to be true, the couple would lose their certificates and be banned from climbing any mountains in Nepal, officials here said.

A probe has also been ordered in India to verify their claims after a group of mountaineers approached Pune Police alleging that the two have faked their expedition.

During the busy climbing season this year, which follows two years of disasters on the mountain, 456 people scaled Everest.
Danish director Nicolas Winding Refn says he once turned down the opportunity to direct James Bond movie "Spectre".

The film, which saw director Sam Mendes returning to helm his second 007 movie, grossed USD 880 million worldwide and won the best song Oscar.

The 45-year-old director said he prefers to do small films like "The Neon Demon" instead of taking the reins of a world-renowned franchise.

"I just know this way I can do whatever I want, and that outweighs any money anyone can give me," he told the Telegraph.

Refn was apparently also offered films like "Wonder Woman" and "Barbarella" remake but he turned them down.
Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray today said BJP central leadership has not held any discussion with him on the Union Cabinet expansion and that his party will not stand on anybody's doors seeking favours.

Asserting that his party will not beg for favours shedding self-respect, the Sena chief hinted that even in 2014 when the NDA swept to power, his party did not get its due.

"At that time (the BJP) offered us Minister of State. then said we will get a Cabinet berth. We say whatever we get, we should get with respect. We will not beg for anything.There have been no discussions with Delhi on Cabinet expansion," he said.

Thackeray said getting ministerial berths was a secondary issue for him and that he would put forward his views if discussions were to take place.

"People from various political parties are joining the Shiv Sena. I have been busy attending to them and thus have not got the time to discuss the Cabinet expansion. One thing is clear. The Sena will never stand helplessly on anybody's doors asking for anything," Thackeray said here.

Referring to the Maharashtra Cabinet expansion, which according to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis would happen before he leaves for his Russia tour early next week, the Sena chief said, "I and the CM have only had superficial discussions. I will announce the intricacies once a detailed discussion happens."



The much-talked about expansion of the Union Cabinet is set to take place tomorrow morning.
One person was killed and six other members of a family were feared washed away when the car in which they were travelling skidded off the road and plunged into swollen Beas river in Mandi district.

The eight occupants, hailing from Pandoh in Mandi district, were returning in the car from the famous Sikh shrine at Manikaran when the mishap occurred last night near Aut on Kiratpur-Manali National highway, about 180 kms from here.

An infant and four women were among those missing while one body has been recovered from Larji Dam, police said.

The lone survivor has been admitted to a hospital at Mandi.

"Search operation was hampered due to darkness last night. It has resumed and efforts are being made to locate the others but chances of finding any survivor are very remote," apolice officer, engaged in the operation, said.

Local people and divers are assisting in the search operation. The chances of the victims being swept away into Larji Dam are quite high, he added.
One of the terroists, killed by Bangladesh security forces during a joint operation to free hostages at a cafe here, was a fan of Bollywood actress Shraddha Kapoor.

Nibras Islam, 22, who was killed on Saturday during a joint operation by Bangladesh security forces at the Holey Artisan Bakery where militants held several people hostage.

In his Facebook page, Islam claimed he had met Bollywood Kapoor.

"In a video clip posted in Facebook on June 8 last year, Nibras was seen shaking hands with Indian actress Shraddha Kapoor," the Daily Star newspaper said quoting an unidentified police detective.

"Shraddha Kapoor you beauty!! The moment she holds my hand," read the text accompanying the video.

Islam's friends told the newspaper he snapped contacts with them after moving to Malaysia to attend Monash University.

Videos and photos from Islam's profile show him as a well-spoken, pleasant boy. His Twitter profile shows that he used to follow Shami Witness, an account linked to ISIS.
A force of 18,000 security personnel will be deployed in Ahmedabad to guard the annual Lord Jagannath rath yatra, which will be taken out on Wednesday.

"For Ahmedabad, which will witness it's 139th rath yatra (on July 6), around 8,000 security personnel have been sanctioned by the DGP office. This is in addition to the city's own force of around 10,000 policemen," V M Pargi, in-charge of Additional Director General of Police (ADGP)- Law and Order, at a press conference here today.

"Ahmedabad rath yatra passes through communally sensitive areas of the city and all these security personnel will be on bandobast duty. Apart from the main rath yatra, local police as well as security forces will be on their toes to guard 148 small processions held in different parts of Gujarat that day," he added.

The total length of the rath yatra procession stretches up to 1.5 km and covers around 15 km route before returning to Jagannath temple in Jamalpur area after almost ten hours of journey.

This additional force of 8,000 personnel include two Inspector General of Police (IGs), 22 Superintendents of Police (SPs), 60 Deputy SPs, 160 Inspectors, 300 Sub Inspectors (PSIs), 2,000 constables and head constables, 1,500 recruits undergoing training.

City police will also get help from 15 companies of the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF), such as Border Security Force and Rapid Action Force. In addition, 45 companies of State Reserve Police would be deployed along the route. Each company consists of around 70 to 90 armed men.

"We will deploy 15 companies of CAPF and 45 companies of SRP on that day. One unit of Chetak Commando, having 32 armed commandos, will also be deployed," said Pargi.

The procession usually has 18 elephants, 100 trucks, and 30 akhadas (local gymnasiums), which will cover a distance of 15 km during the day. The raths of Lord Jagganath, his brother Balbhadra and sister Subhadra will be pulled by Khalashi community as per the age old tradition.

Taking into consideration Prime Minister Narendra Modi's suggestion about increasing cooperation with police force of other states, Gujarat police have called in two SRP companies from Nagaland and Assam.

"Our PM made this suggestion during last year's DGP conference held at Kutch. Responding positively to our request, the union Home Ministry has already sent two SRP companies from Nagaland and Assam. One of the companies from Nagaland consists women personnel," Pargi said.
AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi today strongly defended his decision to provide legal aid to the five city-based youths arrested by NIA on charges of being involved in an alleged ISIS terror module, saying there is nothing wrong in it.

"If legal aid is fundamental right, then why should these people have trouble or why are they in so much pain?" the Hyderabad Lok Sabha MP told PTI, hitting back at critics who slammed his move.

"If we as a nation can provide lawyer to a Pakistani dreaded terrorist (Ajmal Kasab), why not these Indian citizens who have been definitely charged, but it's now for NIA to prove beyond reasonable doubt their involvement. I don't know why they (his critics) are so much in pain when I am talking about fundamental rights," Owaisi said.

"Why isn't the same argument being used for the lawyers who are representing Aseemanand (Mecca Masjid blast case), Pragya Thakur (Malegaon blast case)? Are you trying to say that those lawyers (representing Aseemanand and Pragya) are nationalists? And what I am doing it anti-national?" he asked.

Owaisi alleged that after Mecca Masjid blast in 2007, more than 80 Muslim boys were picked up, tortured, and kept in illegal detection for a week, and later on it emerged that they were not involved, and the then state government was forced to give Rs one lakh compensation to each of them.

He asked as to why the NIA had not appealed against the bail that was given to Aseemanand, who is "still an accused" in the case.

"Why did they (NIA) conveniently allow the 90 days to lapse? Why is nobody asking why has the NIA given clean chit to Sadhvi (Pragya Thakur) which was later on struck down by the NIA court, and the NIA court had to say that she has prima facie case to answer for the conspiracy of Malegaon (blast) and also that motorcycle is in her name. So, why did the NIA discharge?" he further sought to know.

On BJP's allegation that he is giving "oxygen" to terrorists and he is "seen as standing with extremists", Owaisi said: "To me it's quite perplexing that the latest video of ISIS shows me as a supporter of Hindu nation which India is not. And it calls me a non-Muslim. And then these people also call me names that I am supporting (terrorists).

"So, it's good. It clearly shows that I am a thorn for both Sangh Parivar and also ISIS," he added.

Owaisi had last week said his party would provide legal help to the five youths arrested by the NIA on charges of involvement in an alleged ISIS terror module, but asserted his party does not support terrorism.
Online aggregator of branded hotels OYO Rooms has inked an pact with Uttarakhand Tourism Development Board (UTDB) to develop better stay experiences for the visitors in the state.

As per the Memorandum of Understanding signed, the partnership is to develop tourism-related hospitality ecosystem in the state, Oyo Rooms said in a statement.

OYO Rooms will use its expertise in standardising the hospitality real-estate units and make local homestays better equipped to suit the need of visitors and tourists, it added.

OYO Rooms Chief Operating Officer Abhinav Sinha said: "The pace of our efforts is aligned towards ensuring that while infrastructure is upgraded and standardised, the local ecosystem is not disrupted."



The standardisation process, will be followed by listing and marketing these properties on OYO's channels, the statement said.

"We are confident that OYO's expertise in standardising and marketing large inventories to customers in different parts of India will drive immense value to this partnership," UTDB CEO Shailesh Bagauli said.

The partnership would boost the tourist traffic to the state, Bagauli added: "We look forward to our joint efforts contributing to increased tourist influx and a better stay experience for visitors to Uttarakhand."



Founded in 2013 OYO Rooms operates in more than 180 Indian cities with a network of around 6,000 hotels.
In a heart-warming gesture, the Pakistan High Commission has for the first time sent 'Eidi' to over 500 nationals of that country lodged in various Indian jails, ahead of the 'Eid' festival.

"Pakistan High Commission sends 'Eidi' to Pak prisoners in India; efforts on for their early release and repatriation," the Pakistan diplomatic mission tweeted.

Eidi is a gift in form of money or otherwise from elders on the occasion of Eid.

According to the Pakistani sources, this is for the first time, the High Commission has shown such gesture to the prisoners from that country.

"There are 505 Pakistani prisoners lodged in various jails in India. We have sent the money orders to jail authorities to put them in the account of the respective prisoners," the sources said. However, they did not divulge the amount sent to each prisoner.

They also said there were "problems" with the postal department in sending money to the prisoners. "We took up the matter with higher postal authorities after which the issue got resolved," they added.
A Pakistani-origin man was today jailed for 10 weeks for triggering panic and frightening passengers on a UK-bound flight by shouting "Allah-o-Akbar" and "boom".

Shehraz Sarwar caused alarm with his behaviour during turbulence on-board an Emirates Boeing 777 from Dubai to Birmingham in February this year.

"There was terrible turbulence during the flight and some passengers were very frightened. The defendant started chantingAllah-o-Akbar over and over again and very loudly. People were getting very distressed with his behaviour. When the plane finally landed, he shouted 'boom'," prosecutor Alex Warren told Birmingham Crown Court.

"It left some passengers in tears while one man angrily confronted the defendant before being told to sit down by cabin staff. Police were then called and the defendant was arrested," he said.

Warren informed the court of Sarwar's previous convictions for dishonesty and violence, Birmingham Mail reported.

Judge Francis Lairdrebuked the 38-year-old for misbehaving and being "arrogant on-board".

"Set in the context of the current political situation, chantingAllah-o-Akbar over and over again while on a plane had a frightening affect on some of the passengers and reduced some to tears. Incidents such as these on planes are taken very seriously by the courts and due to the circumstances I have no alternative but to send you to prison for 10 weeks," the judge said.

Sarwar's defence lawyer Balbir Singh admitted his client had been "foolish" to shout boom but argued that he had been upset after attending his grandmother's funeral in Pakistan.

"Sarwar was scared during the flight. He prayed, chanting Allah-o-Akbar, which translates as God is Great. When the plane landed he did shout out 'boom'. It was a very foolish thing to do. He is very sorry for his actions and realises what distress this caused to other passengers," Singh said.

However, the judge told Sarwar that over and above the jail term he would be placed on licence with a 12-month supervision order when released.
Pakistan today rejected media reports about its involvement in the terrorist attack in Bangladeshi capital Dhaka that killed 20 foreigners including an Indian as "baseless, irresponsible and provocative".

Pakistan's Foreign Office spokesman Nafees Zakaria issued a statement in response to media queries regarding reports of the involvement of Pakistan's spy agency ISI in last week's terror attack on a popular restaurant in Dhaka.

"These are highly regrettable, irresponsible and provocative stories being carried in the Indian media. They are utterly baseless and unfounded. Pakistan strongly rejects such allegations," he said in the statement.

He drew attention to the statement by the Adviser to the Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Gowher Rizvi, refuting a media report that was attributed to him regarding Pakistan's involvement in the attack, as proof of the Indian media's "malicious intent".

"Prof Rizvi contacted Pakistan's High Commissioner to Bangladesh to confirm that he has not issued any statement against Pakistan and that the Indian media reports are false. He also advised Pakistan's High Commissioner to convey this clarification to the Government of Pakistan, to avoid any misunderstanding between the two countries," the Foreign Office spokesman said.

He said Pakistan deeply appreciates Rizvi's timely rebuttal of the reports.

Zakaria said Pakistan has strongly condemned the terrorist attack in Dhaka and "expressed solidarity with the government and the brotherly people of Bangladesh and offered condolences and sympathised with the families of the victims".

"Pakistan condemns terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. Being itself one of the biggest victims of terrorism, Pakistan welcomes Prof Gowher Rizvi's call for international cooperation to fight the menace of terrorism," he said.
Determined to break the gender barrier in the armed forces, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar today mooted the idea of raising an all women battalion and stationing of women on warships besides opening the doors of the National Defence Academy and Sainik schools for them.

However, Parrikar made it clear that the "affirmative action" towards empowerment of women will be done gradually without compromising main task of armed forces which is national security.

He said the government has been successful in breaking the "psychological barrier" with the induction of women as female fighter pilots.

The Defence Minister, credited with the path breaking move of allowing IAF women pilots in combat role, said that even though India is a country of Jhansi ki Rani and Durga, women have been made to stay away due to various reasons.

"When I became the Defence Minister, I thought that we need to do a strategic move," he said noting that normally armed forces are male dominated.

If the Army and the Navy are opened up for combat roles for women, India will join the small club of countries in the world, including US, Israel, to have such a system.

"There is a thinking that soldiers will not listen to a Commanding Officer who is a lady because they are not trained to do that. I don't agree with this as the only restriction today is infrastructure," he said speaking at a seminar organised by FICCI FLO, the women wing of the industry chamber.

"In combat roles also there can be women. Why not have a complete women team, battalion of women. So the question of women officers leading a men's team, if there is question of initial resistance to it, can also be taken care of," he said.

Parrikar said that sometime in future, he will sit with the chiefs of all forces.

"I don't understand why we can't place women on ships. At this stage I will not support a submarine operation because submarines are designed for unigender or one area for staff. There are no separate areas for women.

"But ships can be modified and new ships can be designed to have facilities for women," he said adding that there is also a question of taking women officers through NDA.

He said there are demands from across the country for Sainik schools to have girl students. "This cannot be done in dis-joined manner otherwise girls will get into Sainik schools but they will not get entry, all this aspects are being looked into," he said.

Ruing that it took nearly four months for the file on induction of women in combat role to reach him despite his prodding, Parrikar said, "I support women rights, empowerment but I believe changes have to be done in a gradual manner because if you don't do that there will be problems," he said.
Advertising watchdog Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) has once again pulled up yoga guru Ramdev-promoted for running misleading advertisement campaigns that disparage competitors products.

The ASCI said unfairly denigrates products of its rivals in the ads.

The Consumer Complaints Council (CCC) found Patanjalis claim for its Kachi Ghani Mustard Oil that rival makers are selling mustard oil adulterated with oil made by solvent extraction process with neurotoxin containing Hexane, was not substantiated.

Also, the claim is grossly misleading by exaggeration, the ad regulator said in its list for April, 2016, in which it upheld 67 complaints against several .

Besides, Patanjali also failed to substantiate its claims for Patanjali Fruit Juice, where it had dubbed rival drinks as expensive juices containing less pulp.



According to the regulator, the ad was accompanied by reference to the prices of other branded juices and by implication unfairly denigrates the entire class/category of fruit juices.



Similarly, it also failed to substantiate its claims in the ad for cattle feed Patanjali Dugdhamrut as other mix three to four per cent urea and other non-edible things in their cattle feed.



ASCI also held Patanjali Ayurveds ads for toothpaste Patanjali Dant Kanti as misleading as it did not substantiate claims of it being effective against pyorrhoea, swelling and bleeding of gums, yellowing of teeth, sensitivity and bad breath and provides a natural shield against germs.

When contacted, a company spokesperson said the firm was looking into details and exploring legal options.

In May, ASCI had rapped for false and misleading claims in its advertisements, including for its hair oil and washing powder brands, while issuing the list for March.

ASCI has also pulled up like Nissan Motors, Tata Motors, Amazon, Pernod Ricard India, Reckitt Benckiser, Colgate-Palmolive, Procter & Gamble Hygiene & Health Care, Hindustan Unilever, Idea Cellular, Reliance Industries.

It upheld complaints against an ad of Nissan Sunny, where Nissan Motors has shown the driver speaking on the phone, vehicles coming from the wrong side, cars overtaking from the wrong side and the driver not wearing a seat belt.

According to ASCI, it "encourages dangerous/unsafe practices and manifests a disregard for safety".

Similarly, Apollo Tyres was pulled up by ASCI for showing a man riding a scooter on the footpath to get ahead of the blocked traffic, which is in violation of traffic rules.

Tata Motors also failed to substantiate its claim for its commercial vehicle Signa as "higher productivity through improved comfort and fleet utilisation", "Superior incab experience".

It also pulled up Reliance Industries for an ad of Reliance Jio Infocomm in which the company has claimed that "Financial year 2016-17 will be the first full year of commercial operations of Reliance Jio."



According to ASCI, "it is factually wrong and likely to mislead the consumers as the advertiser has not started its commercial services".

Two-wheeler maker Suzuki Motorcycle India was also pulled up for its ad of Suzuki Gixxer. The advertisement claims Suzuki Gixxer as the "Most Awarded Bike of the Year 2015-16", with a picture of 19 awards shown at the bottom of the advertisement, which was false and misleading, as Suzuki Gixxer had won only six awards in 2015-16, ASCI had said.
Lauding Lord Swraj Paul and his family, Britain's former Prime Minister Gordon Brown has said their "dynamism and contribution" to the community has changed the lives of many people across several countries.

Brown praised the leading NRI industrialist and his family while addressing an event at London Zoo yesterday in memory of Paul's daughter Ambika and son Angad Paul, who tragically passed away last year.

"One of the great, special families of our time and our generation is the Paul family," said Brown, currently the United Nations' Special Envoy for Global Education.

"There are a few great families in this world whose enterprise has created jobs for thousands of people, whose charitable work has made life better for perhaps millions of people. There are few very special families whose dynamism and contribution to the community has changed the lives of so many people, not just in one country but working in many countries -- India, America and elsewhere to enrich our lives," he said.

The Labour party stalwart also paid tribute to Ambika Paul, who died of leukaemia when she was just four-years-old in 1968 and for whom one of her "great joys during her short life" was her ability to go around the London Zoo.

"And so in memory of her life, throughout these last 40 years, the Paul family has made it possible for millions of children to enjoy the surroundings of this zoo," he said, in reference to Lord Paul's generous donations to the zoo over the years.

"We also celebrate today the life of Angad Paul, a brilliant man with huge achievements in the film industry, steel industry, motor car industry. Not just in Britain, but in Europe, America and in the Indian subcontinent too," Brown said in reference to the Caparo Group's former CEO who passed away last November.

Paul, in his tribute, described his children as the "light of our lives" who will be remembered with "our heartfelt love and gratitude".

"She (Ambika) was an angel who changed our lives. After her passing, we had a son Angad, who was born two years after she died. We always saw this as a gift of god for which we were thankful. Angad was full of energy, ideas, enthusiasm and a passion for life. His life ended tragically, far too soon. We will always remember him, just as we remember Ambika," he said.

Paul said Angad's inspiration really brought Caparo into the 21st Century.

"Soon after he began working at Caparo, he went to India and started building plants there and we now have more than 30 sites under the Caparo banner," he said.

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Lord Jim O'Neill, the British economist best known for coining the phrase BRIC, also paid a personal tribute to Angad and his "joyful spirit".

The Indian high commissioner to the UK, Navtej Sarna, concluded the "solemn celebration" with words of praise for Lord Paul's "human touch" and "tremendous contributions" to India-UK relations.

"He has unfailingly shown a care and affection at every occasion," he said.

Lord Paul was joined by his wife, Lady ArunaPaul, and other members of his family at the event attended by hundreds of guests from different walks of life in the UK.
People's Democratic Party (PDP) leader Abdul Nasser Madani, an accused in Bengaluru serial blasts who was granted permission by a court here to visit his ailing mother in Kerala, was not allowed to board a flight at the airport here on security grounds.

IndiGo airlines said he was not allowed to fly onsecurity grounds.

"Mr. Abdul Nasir Maudany (Madani) who was scheduled to travelon 6E-407 from Bangalore to Kochi on July 4, 2016 was notaccepted to fly on grounds of the security requirement," IndiGo said in a statement said here.

It said "This passenger was escorted by the local police authorities - this required permissions from the security regulator.

"Following the protocol, the staff requested the passenger to present the required documents, failing which the passenger was asked to procure the necessary permission to fly on board," it said.

A special National Investigation Agencycourt based on the Supreme Court directions had recently fixed thedate for his travel from July 4 to July 12.

It had directed the city police to provide necessary security arrangements.

Listing out the instructions to be strictly adhered to by all concerned for carriage of person under judicial custody/ administrative control as per the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) regulations, IndiGo said as an airline, it always complies with the security agencies regulations.

As per the BCAS Regulations, it said, the policing authority responsible for carriage of a prisoner by air shall indicate classification of such prisoner as dangerous or otherwise in their application addressed to the Commissioner or Regional Dy Commissioner of Security (CA), BCAS.

Also, it stipulates that a minimum of two escorts of the policing authority shall be required for one prisoner who is classified as dangerous by the policing authority.

It also noted that aircraft operator should not accept a prisoner and escort(s) as passengers unless concurrence has been obtained in advance from the BCAS and other operators that may be involved en route and at the intended final destination.

In such cases sufficient advance notification must be given to operator so that prior agreements can be obtained, the airline added.

Madani had been arrested in connection with the July 2008 serial blasts that killed one person and injured several others here.

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City Police later said Madani was sent to Kerala by



another flight around 7 pm.

"He has been sent by a flight, around 7 pm," Additional Commissioner of Police (Crime) K V Sharath Chandra told
The arrest of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's Principal Secretary Rajendra Kumar by CBI today is "unprecedented" and it is the lowest level to which the Centre has stooped since 1991 when an elected government first came to power in Delhi, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said today.

Reacting angrily to the arrest of Kumar, a 1989 batch IAS officer of UT cadre, Sisodia alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was misusing his powers to destabilise the Delhi Chief Minister's Office as AAP was surging ahead in many poll-bound states like Punjab, Gujarat and Goa.

"The arrest of Kumar is part of a conspiracy to paralyse the Chief Minister's office and the AAP government. Prime Minister Modi has hatred towards AAP government and the arrest of two senior officials of Chief Minister's Office is part of the conspiracy," Sisodia said addressing a press conference.

Kumar, an IIT alumnus, Deputy Secretary Tarun Sharma and three other private persons were arrested in connection with a case of showing undue favours to a private company in award of government contracts worth over Rs 50 crore during the previous Congress government.

Referring to the probe by the Anti-Corruption Branch into the tanker scam, Sisodia asked why Water Minister Kapil Mishra was being interrogated when Sheila Dikshit was an accused in the scam that had taken place during her chief ministership.

"There is a conspiracy to paralyse the Chief Minister's office as the Principal Secretary and Deputy Secretary to the Chief Minister have been arrested. Even an Assistant Secretary has been transferred to Andamans and all this has been done in one day.

"This is the lowest level to which a Central government has stooped from the time Delhi has had an elected government in 1991," Sisodia said, alleging arrest of Kumar was just a pretext as the main aim was to destabilise the Chief Minister's office due to political reasons.

On the tanker scam, he wondered why the accused are not being questioned by the probe agency and why those who sought a thorough investigation were being "targeted".

"We are doing well in Goa, Punjab, Gujarat and Modiji is rattled by that. That is why he is resorting to this kind activities," he said.

Kumar was appointed Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister in February last year when the Aam Aadmi Party came to power for the second time. The allegations against Kumar pertains his tenure in various positions under the Dikshit dispensation.

"11 senior officers have been transferred out of Delhi on a single day, that too illegally without meeting of Joint Cadre Authority.

"Senior officers handling major projects for development of unauthorised colonies have been transferred to Andamans. Modiji, even if you only leave us with just peons, we will run the government with them," Sisodia said.

He said, "Today, one of our ministers, Kapil Mishra was called for questioning by the ACB. This is clearly an attempt to paralyse our government. All this is happening because AAP is winning the elections in Punjab and Goa and garnering massive support in Gujarat."



The CBI had conducted a raid on Kumar's office at the Delhi Secretariat last year on December 15, triggering a huge confrontation between the Delhi government and the Centre.

Kejriwal had come in open defence of Kumar and had slammed Centre for the raid.

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Sisodia accused the Prime Minister of "misusing" Union Home Ministry, CBI, Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) and Delhi Police to paralyse the Chief Minister Office where there has been no senior officer now after arrest of CM's Principal Secretary and Deputy Secretary and transfer of Additional Secretary to the Chief Minister.

He also alleged that Modi government has put all its force in "destroying" the Delhi government by resorting to "bad tactics".

He also accused the Centre of using Punjab's Badal Government against the AAP government by arresting an AAP MLA who has been named in the FIR in connection with alleged Quran 'desecration' in Punjab.

"Modi government has today transferred our nine officers who were engaged in carrying out various works including development in unauthorised colonies, construction of rooms and installation of CCTV cameras in government schools.

"The people of Delhi want to ask Modi ji as to why he is not allowing development works in unauthorised colonies, schools and other field. Modi ji is doing hatred politics against the AAP Government which was elected by the people," the Deputy Chief Minister told reporters here.

The officers who have been transferred by the Union Home Ministry have completed their term of being posted outside Delhi. There transfers have been done without the meeting of Joint Cadre Authority (JCA) which is "illegal", Sisodia further said.

He also said that Centre is "misusing" the ACB to "implicate" Water Minister Kapil Mishra despite the fact that he was a complainant in the alleged water tanker scam liking former Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit.

"Why hasn't the ACB summoned any minister and officer during their tenure as the tanker scam had taken place (in 2012). But, they (ACB) have summoned our minister who was complainant in the case," he said.

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A home ministry official said there are 34 posts of all India services of which 24 are being filled up in Andaman and Nicobar with the approval of a joint cadre authority set by the ministry.

There are 11 DANICS officers in Andaman and the posts are being filled up as per prescribed norms, the official said.

DANICS officers are not appointed with the approval of the joint cadre authority since they are not all India service officers.

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"We have got to know from a source in CBI that the investigation agency head was reluctant to arrest Rajendra Kumar, but another officer, who is close to BJP chief Amit Shah and was a part of the investigation in the case, has told Shah that the agency will definitely arrest Kumar," Sisodia told reporters here.
Police today arrested four members of an inter-state gang of smugglers and seized nine rifles and 100 cartridges from a Suta mill check post under Mufassil police station of Bihar's Siwan district.

Officiating Superintendent of Police Rajesh Kumar said that acting on a tip off, police arrested the four smugglers during vehicle checking.

The police seized nine rifles, 100 cartridges, nine fake arms licenses, eight fake voter identity cards, six fake Aadhaar cards, two ATM cards, three mobile phones, two diriving licenses apart from a MUV bearing the registration number of Uttar Pradesh from their possession, SP said.

Those arrested are- Raj Kishore Rai, Chandrashekhar Singh, Vijay Kumar alias Bijli Yadav, all residents of Khagaria district of Bihar while the driver Sandeep Vashishtha is the resident of Kanpur in UP, he said.

During interrogation, they told the police that they used to sell one arms alongwith license between Rs 3 to 4 lakh.
A group of youth today indulged in stone-pelting after police fired in air in self-defence on hearing a "suspicious sound" and mistaking it to a militant attack in Pulwama district of south Kashmir.

"A suspicious sound was heard at Muran Chowk at around 1420 hours following which the police deployment in the main town fired around 10 rounds in self-defence, mistaking the noise as a militant attack," a police officer said.

He said the aerial firing caused panic in the busy area as shopkeepers abandoned their shops and rushed to safety along with pedestrians and vehicle operators.

However, as the situation emerged and it was clear that the blast was apparently caused by a firecracker, a large group of youth indulged in stone-pelting on the security deployments.

Police immediately swung into action and chased away the protesters, the officer said, adding the situation returned to normal after an hour-long clashes between the two sides.
A police official was gunned down today by three armed militants while he was offering prayers in a mosque in Quetta in Pakistan's troubled Baluchistan province.

Malik Mushtaq, a Station House Officer who was presently posted with the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), was shot dead when he was offering prayers in a mosque in Chaman Patak in Quetta, a senior police official said.

He said that three armed men entered the mosque and gunned down Mushtaq who was offering prayers at that time.

"Mushtaq died on the spot after receiving several bullets in his chest," he said.

Police rushed to the spot soon after the incident and cordoned off the area while the deceased was shifted to the Civil Hospital, Quetta.

No group has claimed responsibility of the attack but in recent days police and security officials have again come under attack by suspected militants in Quetta.

Last Wednesday, four Frontier Corp personnel were killed in an ambush on their vehicle in Quetta.

Reports say that around 35 police personnel have been killed in several cases of targeted killings and bomb blasts in the provincial capital since January 2016.
A police personnel was today allegedly abducted by suspected Maoists in Chhattisgarh's Sukma district, police said.

The victim, assistant constable Ganga Madkam, was abducted this afternoon when he was on the way to Dornapal from Polampalli on his motorcycle under restive Polampalli police station area, Sukma Superintendent of Police Indira Kalyan Elesela told PTI.

The policeman, recruited by the state police as part of auxiliary personnel, was posted with Polampalli police station.

According to the information available so far, Madkam, who was heading to Dornapal, was stopped near a bridge close to Polampalli by a group of cadres, who took him into the deep forest, he said.

Security forceshave been rushed to search the area where the alleged incident was reported. However, no communication has been received so far about his whereabouts, the SP said.
Poverty, illiteracy and early death await disadvantaged children, according to a UNICEF report.

Based on current trends, 69 million children under 5 years of age will die from mostly preventable causes, 167 million children will live in poverty, and 750 million women will have been married as children by 2030--the target date for the Sustainable Development Goals--unless the world focuses more on the plight of its most disadvantaged children, said the report released by Maharashtra Governor C Vidyasagar Rao here today.

The state of the world's children, UNICEF's annual flagship report, paints a stark picture of what is in store for the world's poorest children, if governments, donors, businesses and international organisations do not accelerate efforts to address their needs.

The report notes that significant progress has been made in saving children's lives, getting them into school and lifting people out of poverty.

Global under-five mortality rates have been more than halved since 1990, boys and girls attend primary school in equal numbers in 129 countries, and the number of people living in extreme poverty worldwide is almost half of what it was in the 1990s.

But this progress has been neither even nor fair, the report says. The poorest children are twice as likely to die before their fifth birthday and to be chronically malnourished than the richest.

Across much of South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, children born to mothers with no education are almost three times more likely to die before they are five than those born to mothers with a secondary education. And girls from the poorest households are twice as likely to marry as children than girls from the wealthiest households.

Although education plays a unique role in levelling the playing field for children, the number of children who do not attend school has increased since 2011, and a significant proportion of those who do go to school are not learning.

Globally, about 124 million children today do not go to primary and lower-secondary school, and almost 2 in 5 who do finish primary school have not learnt how to read, write or do simple arithmetic.

Acknowledging education to be one of the key instruments



in promoting equity, the focus of the report launch in India was on education.

The report was digitally released by the Governor at Raj Bhavan.

It points to evidence that investing in the most vulnerable children can yield immediate and long-term benefits. Globally, cash transfers, for example, have been shown to help children stay in school longer and advance to higher levels of education.

On an average, each additional year of education a child receives increases his or her adult earnings by about 10 per cent. And for each additional year of schooling completed, on average, by young adults in a country, that country's poverty rates fall by 9 per cent.

Inequity is neither inevitable, nor insurmountable, the report argues. Better data on the most vulnerable children, integrated solutions to the challenges children face, innovative ways to address old problems, more equitable investment and increased involvement by communities - all these measures can help level the playing field, it says.

Rao said "Providing every child with a fair chance is the essence of equitable development. As this report shows us, promoting equity is a practical and strategic imperative to reduce the inequalities that undermine our society."



"I am confident that the government will take note of the report, as it shares UNICEF's vision of a fair chance for every child. A different and better future is possible for children from disadvantaged sections if we employ a multi- sectoral approach, invest in equity and strive to find new ways of financing efforts to reach them," he said.

Swadheen Kshatriya, Chief Secretary, Government of Maharashtra, said "The government of Maharashtra is committed to address all needs of minus 9 months to 5 year age group children. We have already initiated various steps to address the healthcare, nutrition, education and protection needs of both mothers and children."



"We are also committed to integrate our efforts across all sectors to tackle any kind of deprivation that can inversely affect the mothers or children. To take our efforts further we are keen to adopt Comprehensive Maternal Infant Young Child Nutrition policy.

Rajeshwari Chandrasekar, Chief of Field Office, UNICEF Maharashtra, said, "It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men."



"I believe that what happens in early childhood does not stay in childhood. The experiences children have in their early lives and the environments in which they have them exert a lifelong impact," she said.
India today underlined the need for countries to take pre-2020 climate actions to curb emissions and sought cooperation among countries in finance and technology sectors to tackle climate change.

"Cooperation is the key for taking (climate) actions. Every country is at a different stage of development. We need cooperation. We have the will to act," said Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar.

Javadekar said that India has already started the process of ratification of Paris Climate agreement and even during the recent meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Barack Obama, both emphasised that the process should be completed at the earliest.

"But we do not have the wherewithal to do it, not only in terms of finances, but particularly in terms of technology. When we talk of technology, Germany is most reliable name in many fields and therefore, there is finance, technology and mutual cooperation and walking the talk," Javadekar said at a joint press conference with German Minister Barbara Hendricks at the Seventh St Petersburg Dialogue in Berlin.

Since 2010, the annual dialogue has provided the opportunity for countries to engage in an informal exchange of experiences on international climate policy.

Javadekar said that on October 5 last year, Modi and German Chancellor Angela Markel issued a joint statement which is the "basis" of India-Germany partnership programme.

In a statement during the joint press briefing with Chancellor Merkel, Prime Minister Modi had said that he admired Merkel's leadership in combating climate change and both the countries had agreed on an India-Germany Climate and Renewable Alliance with a long term vision and a comprehensive agenda of combating climate change.

Modi had also said that he placed great value on Germany's assistance of over one billion Euros for India's Green Energy Corridor and a new assistance package of over a billion Euros for solar projects in India.

"What we have achieved in New York, we signed it (agreement). Now we have to implement it. So pre-2020 actions are also important and will also be discussed here in St Petersburg," Javadekar said adding that he was hopeful of the the outcome at this dialogue.

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Modi in his statement last year with Merkel had also said that both the countries looked forward to a concrete outcome at the 2015 Conference of Parties (COP21) in Paris that strengthens the commitment and the ability of the world, especially of poor and vulnerable countries, to transition to a more sustainable growth path.

"India has already started the process of ratification (of the agreement).

"Recently when Prime Minister Narendra Modi was in Washington and had met President Obama, they emphasised that the process (of ratification) has to be done at the earliest and we (India) have already started in that direction," Javadekar said.

He said that India has upscaled its solar energy target by five times and plans an expansion of 100 GW of solar energy.

"By 2050 you will be meeting 80 per cent of energy needs through renewables. That's most laudable. Our earlier target was only 20 GW of solar energy.

"When Modi came (to power), we upscaled it by five times and made it 100 GW. Other renewables like wind energy, we have opened it for offshore as well," Javadekar added.

In reply to a question on what has changed for India which was earlier reluctant to join agreements, Javadekar said that it is because the country has a Prime Minister who leads from the front, takes challenges head on and has the will to fight climate change.
The Centre has given environment clearance to the Chennai-based Ramco Cements for expansion of its captive power plant at Alathiyur in Tamil Nadu at a cost of about Rs 21.42 crore.

The company has proposed augmenting of the power generation capacity of the Captive Power Plant (CPP) at Alathiyur by adding 6 mw turbines based on air-cooled condensers, taking the total power generation to 42 mw.

"The Environment Ministry today gave green clearance to the Ramco Cement's proposal to expand the Alathiyur power plant capacity," a senior government official said.

The clearance has been given to the project subject to certain conditions. The cost of the project is estimated to be Rs 21.42 crore, the official said.

As per the proposal, the company will use imported coal from Indonesia in CPP. The coal supply agreement was made in July 2014 with Devendral Coal International for the uninterrupted imported coal supply.

At present, 490 tonnes per day (TPD) coal is used and on augmentation additional 80 TPD will be required, therefore a total of 570 TPD will be required for generating 42 mw power.

Among the conditions specified, the company has been asked to use coal with sulphur and ash content not exceeding 0.8 per cent and 14 per cent, respectively.

The company has been asked to control fugitive emission of fly ash so that no agricultural and non-agricultural land is affected.

That apart, it also has to install high Efficiency Electrostatic Precipitators (ESPs) to ensure that particulate emission does not exceed as per existing norms.

Ramco Cements has two plants in Tamil Nadu (Alathiyur and Ramasamy Raja Nagar)and one each in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka with a total cement production of about 14.45 million tonnes per annum.

The company produces Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC), Portland Pozzolana Cement (PPC) and Slag Cement (PSC) which are marketed in the brand name of 'RAMCO'.
Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram today said credit cannot be taken away from late Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao for the economic reforms driven by him in the 90s but Ayodhya "blotted his record".

"I don't think anyone denies Narasimha Rao was the political force behind the economic reforms, he handled the politics of economic reforms.

"Both Dr Manmohan Singh and I on more than one occasion acknowledged that without him at the helm, we could not have done these reforms. Don't think anyone takes away credit from him for the economic reforms. There are other aspects to his government, I am afraid, blotted his record," he told NDTV.

Chidambaram, who was Commerce Minister under Rao, was asked whether he was talking about Ayodhya.

"Obviously," he replied.

Asked whether that was why the Congress did not commemorate his birth anniversary over these years and he was being appropriate by the BJP as a leader they recognise, the former minister said "BJP will appropriate anyone, even its most severe critic. Point is, we gave him a befitting funeral in Hyderabad to which the PM, Mrs Gandhi and many others including me attended it."



He said a memorial has been erected for him in Hyderabad. It was not as though all memorials have to be erected in Delhi. Memorials can be erected in other parts of India and he was happy to describe himself as the son of Telugu country. And there is a memorial for him in Hyderabad, he said.

When asked should the party not remember Rao on his birth anniversary and told that there was nothing at the Congress headquarters with even PM Modi tweeting about it, Chidambaram said "Well these are perceptions. I think the party has never denied him credit for economic reforms. I don't think tweeting is the best way to remember anyone. Be that as it may, I have no comment on that.
India Post, the world's largest mail delivery network, is carving out a separate vertical to manage banking services, a move that will help it win RBI nod for interoperability of its ATMs with those of PSU .

India Posts, which had last year won a licence to operate a payment bank, has not been able to move much on starting operations.

"We wanted interoperability of the ATMs of Post Offices with other . RBI said we can allow it only if Post offices create a separate bank vertical because RBI has jurisdiction over only . The Postal department has taken a positive approach and created a separate vertical," a ministry official said.

The vertical will be based out of Bengaluru.

Interoperability will allow individuals to transfer money from their Post Office account to their accounts in any bank. Besides, the Post Office ATMs can be used for withdrawal of money from the bank accounts.

The official, further, said the vertical will be created to operationalise the Post Bank licence and ultimately it would get merged suitably with the Post Bank.

DoP has 28,000 departmental post offices and 1.50 lakh rural post offices across the country.

The Postal Department is proactively setting up ATMs and micro ATMs in its rural post offices so as to tap its wide network for financial inclusion.

"RBI said this separate vertical of the Postal department is open for banking regulation. The RBI is favourably considering the option to provide interoperability," the official said.

"This will help in moving towards a less cash economy. Post Office has its branches even in the remotest areas where banking mitras or business correspondents cannot reach. Interoperability will allow leveraging the reach of Postal department," the official added.

With the formal structure of Post Bank likely to take around a year and half, the government wants to kick start its operations in parts by first putting into use the ATMs of Post Offices.

India Post plans to roll out 10,000 ATMs and 20,000 micro ATMs across the country by the end of this year.

India Post payments bank will primarily target unbanked and under-banked customers in rural, semi-rural and remote areas, with a focus on providing simple deposit products and money remittance services.

The Union Cabinet last month cleared a proposal to set up India Post payments bank with a corpus of Rs 800 crore.

Payments banks can accept deposits (initially up to Rs 1 lakh per individual), offer Internet banking, facilitate money transfers and sell insurance and mutual funds by piggy-backing on existing retail or other networks. Besides, they can issue ATM/debit cards, but not credit cards.

The Postal payments bank, which will be run by Chief Executive Officer, will be professionally managed and there will be a officials from Department of Posts, Department of Expenditure and Department of Economic Services etc on its board.
A robber was today allegedly beaten to death and another was seriously injured while they were attempting to flee after looting a manager of a bank in Patti area here, police said.

Pawan Kumar Verma, manager of SBI branch, was intercepted by three motorcycle borne assailants and was looted off one lakh near Barahupur village at gun point, they said.

When Verma raised alarm the accused - Sonu Singh and Monu Singh - were nabbed by the villagers, while their acomplice Manoj managed to escape, they said.

Both the accused were assaulted by the local residents and were taken to a hospital, where doctors declared Monu brought dead, police said.

Sonu, who sustained serious injuries, has been referred to Allahabad for treatment, they added.
Kerala government today announced Rs five lakh compensation to the family of a 50-year old tribal man, who was trampled to death by a wild elephant in high range Wayanad recently.

Family members of Gopi alias Surendran of Marmala tribal settlement in Kenichira in Wayanad would get Rs five lakh as compensation and an insurance amount of Rs one lakh, state Forest Minister K Raju said.

"Besides Rs five lakh compensation, steps have already been taken to get the family the insurance amount of Rs one lakh," he said in a release here.

A sum of Rs 25,000 was sanctioned for the cremation expenses, the release added.
In a scathing attack, Congress today alleged that ruling BJP in Goa is "funding" the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) to divide votes in forthcoming Assembly polls.

"AAP is financed by BJP in Goa. They are funded to the extent that they divide votes. They cannot be taken seriously," Congress Goa spokesperson Trajano D'Mello told reporters here.

He was referring to the statement made by Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar in which he purportedly said AAP will help BJP as they are "good in creating sensational news".

"The illicit relationship between BJP and AAP has been exposed after the statement made by the chief minister. Their relationship has been made public," D'Mello said.

AAP has already announced its intention to contest all 40 seats in the polls, due early next year.

AAP convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal recently said his party will spoil the prospects of Congress and BJP in the coastal state and will win a minimum of 35 seats out of total 40.

Responding to a query, D'Mello ruled out any alliance with independents during the elections.

"There are other players who claim to be opponents on the floor of the House but has unwritten understanding with the BJP. Congress will never hand hold of such legislators and parties during election," he added.
A Russian couple from Fiji are thought to have been murdered and dismembered after human body parts washed up on a beach in the Pacific island nation.

The Fiji Sun said two pairs of feet wrapped in netting and weighed down with stones were found on June 24 at Natadola beach, a popular tourist destination.

Further searches uncovered more remains, with speculation connecting the grisly find to the disappearance a week earlier of Russian couple Yuri and Natalia Shipulin.

Lead investigator Luke Navela said DNA tests with the Shipulins' relatives back in Russia had confirmed the link, and police now believed they had been murdered and dismembered, the Sun reported.

Citing police sources, the newspaper said detectives had information a chainsaw was missing from the couple's farm on the main island of Viti Levu.

The Fiji Times reported that the couple moved to Fiji in 2011 and were leasing the farm and operating a photography business.

A friend, fellow Russian Alla Mallerich, described the pair as "soul mates".

"Yuri was a happy, easy going man who loved life, loved Fiji and he had plans to build his life in Fiji," she told the newspaper.

Social media pictures show a middle-aged couple smiling while drinking cocktails and beers in the sun.

However, their business partner Andrew Luzanenko told the Fiji Sun in the days after their disappearance that they had financial difficulties after the farm was devastated by Super Cyclone Winston earlier this year.

Luzanenko, who also lived at the farm after moving from Russia earlier this year to co-manage it, said the couple left "without even speaking to me".

The investigation is continuing, with navy divers on Monday scouring waters off Natadola beach looking for more remains.
Taking strong exception to AAP's



use of the image of the Golden Temple on the cover of its election manifesto, Union minister and Punjab BJP president Vijay Kumar Sampla said the party leadership should apologise to the people of Punjab.

"I was shocked to see the photo of Sri Harimandir Sahib on the cover of AAP's manifesto, but when I saw the 'broom' election symbol super-imposed on the holy sarovar, I was angry and sad at the same time. Has our politics fallen to this level?" Sampla said in a statement.

He said the Aam Aadmi Party was "destroying" the glorious traditions of Punjab. AAP national convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, and party leaders Ashish Khetan and Sanjay Singh must apologise to Punjabis for this.

"Ashish Khetan says his party's manifesto is the Bible, the Gita and the Guru Granth Sahib for him. Let me tell it to Kejriwal and his gang -- no manifesto, no document, no piece of paper, no matter how important, comes anywhere close to our holy scriptures.

"Millions of people across the world bow their head before these scriptures. People marry in front of these holy texts. We find consolation and guidance in these when a loved one dies. We pray before them. Now, Kejriwal and Khetan want us to treat their manifesto like holy granths. Shame on them," Sampla said.

The Punjab BJP President said all those present during the release of this manifesto and those involved in preparing, designing and publishing it must apologise to the entire country for hurting the sentiments of Sikhs, Hindus and Christians.

"At a time when an AAP MLA is facing serious accusations of committing a sacrilege..., the party feels no shame in committing yet more sacrilege by making casual comments about religious scriptures. It shows the bankruptcy of AAP and Kejriwal," he said.
The Supreme Court today agreed to expedite hearing on a PIL to examine the issue whether divorce granted by a Church, set up under its personal law, could be considered valid under the Indian common law.

A bench comprising Chief Justice T S Thakur and Justice D Y Chandrachud allowed an interim application moved for early hearing in the case after former Attorney General and senior advocate Soli Sorabjee, appearing for petitioner Clarence Pais, sought an urgent hearing.

"The application for early hearing is allowed. Hearing of the appeal is expedited," the bench said.

Pais, an ex-president of a Catholic association in Karnataka, said when oral 'triple talaq' could get legal sanctity for granting divorce to Muslim couples, why could Canon law decrees not be made binding on courts of law.

He had alleged that many Catholic Christians, who married after getting divorce from Christian courts, faced criminal charges of bigamy as such divorces are not recognised by the criminal and civil courts here.

"It is reasonable that when the courts in India recognize dissolution of marriage (by pronouncing the word talaq three times) under Mohammedan Law which is personal law of the Muslims, the courts should also recognise for the purpose of dissolution of marriage Canon Law as the personal law of the Indian Catholics," the plea had contended.

The plea had contended that Canon Law is the personal law of the Catholics in the country and has to be applied and enforced by a criminal court while deciding a case under section 494 (bigamy) of the IPC.

"This is also applicable for sanction of prosecution considered for alleged bigamy of a Catholic spouse who has married after obtaining a decree for nullity of the first marriage from the Ecclesiastical Tribunal (Christian court)," it said.

The Centre, however, had opposed the plea saying Canon law could not be allowed to override Indian Christian Marriage Act, 1872 and Divorce Act, 1869.

"Since the power for dissolution of marriage has been vested in the court, there is no scope for any other authority including ecclesiastical tribunal to exercise power," the government had said.
Ahead of UN Secretary General Ban-Ki-moon's visit, China today lashed out at the UN arbitral tribunal hearing the Philippines' petition on the disputed South China Sea, saying it has become a "mouthpiece of certain countries".

China's stern statement came a day after it barred all civilian ships from entering into areas of naval drills in the disputed waters of the SCS.

The Maritime Safety Administration of China yesterday said military exercises in certain waters of the SCS will be held from tomorrow to July 11, and all civilian vessels will be prohibited from those areas, state-run Global Times reported.

The military drills will finish one day before the UN arbitration court announces its decision on the SCS caseinitiated by the Philippines against China's maritime claims in the resource-rich area.

The Philippines lodged the case against China in early 2013, saying that after 17 years of negotiations it had exhausted all political and diplomatic avenues to settle the dispute.

Beijing, which asserts sovereignty over almost all of the South China Sea despite rival claims from Southeast Asian neighbours, insists that the Permanent Court of Arbitration has no jurisdiction over the issue and has boycotted the proceedings.

Reacting to the Philippines' chief lawyer Paul Reichler's comments that China risks "outlaw" status if it rejects ruling of the tribunal on the SCS which will be delivered on July 12, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said, "It seems he also knows what the ruling will be and the ruling definitely reflects his beliefs."



"Judging from what he said it proves that arbitral tribunal is the mouthpiece of certain countries," he said, in a veiled reference to the US, which is backing the Philippines and other countries challenging China's claims on the SCS.

Hong was replying to a question on Reichler's comments that the Permanent Court of Arbitration, based in The Hague, would rule in Manila's favour on July 12.

Reichler had said that though he did not know the contents of the ruling, he was confident it would favour his client Philippines which questioned China's claims over the reefs and islands in the SCS.

Hong, however, said that the arbitral tribunal has no jurisdiction over this case and its ruling therefore is invalid.

"China sovereignty and relevant rights were forged over long course of history and upheld by successive governments. This illegal ruling will not affect China's sovereignty and maritime rights and interests," he said.

Hong's criticism against the tribunal comes ahead of Ban's four-day visit to China starting from July 6 at the invitation of Beijing.

China attaches high importance to Ban's visit, Hong said,



adding the UN Secretary General would have talks with President Xi Jinping, Premier Li Keqiang and other leaders and discuss China-UN corporation, international situation and major hot-spot issues.

He also said China values core role played by the UN in international affairs.

China Resolutely safeguard the international order and international system with the principles of UN charter at its centre, he said.

China claims almost the whole of the SCS. Its claim, however, is strongly contested by the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan.
Silver prices soared by Rs 2,155 to trade at 28-month high of Rs 47,715 per kg at the bullion market today.

The white metal prices have risen by nearly 44 per cent since January 1 this year.

Gold also edged higher by Rs 100 to Rs 30,650 per ten grams.

Sentiment remained extremely bullish after the white metal vaulted USD 21 in global market for the first time in two years as investors sought precious metals as haven assets following the UK's vote to leave the European Union, bullion traders said.

The weakening of the US dollar against its rivals too raised appeal for the precious metals, they added. Moreover, an increased offtake by domestic industrial units and coin makers buoyed the sentiment.

"Speculative buying activity in anticipation of further rise in its prices, also helped the white metal to trade above the Rs 47,000 level", said Rakesh Anand, a Delhi-based jeweller.

Globally, silver climbed 7 per cent to USD 21.13 an ounce and gold surged 1.2 per cent to USD 1,357.63 an ounce in Singapore, the highest level in more than two years.

In the national capital, silver ready continued its upward journey for a sixth straight day and climbed Rs 2,155 to trade at Rs 47,715 per kg, its highest level since March 5, 2014 when it closed at Rs 47,400 per kg.

Silver weekly-based delivery too went past the Rs 46,000 level by recording a hefty rise of Rs 1,600 to Rs 46,800 per kg.

Tracking silver, its coins also spurted by Rs 2,000 to quote at Rs 76,000 for buying and Rs 77,000 for selling of 100 pieces.

On the other side, gold of 99.9 and 99.5 per cent purity were up by Rs 100 each at Rs 30,650 and Rs 30,500 per ten grams respectively.

Sovereign, however, ended flat at Rs 23,400 per piece of eight grams.
Annoyed over transfer of 11 officers from Delhi, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia today alleged that the Centre has hatched a conspiracy to "destabilise" the AAP government by taking away bureaucrats who are in-charge of several development-oriented departments in the capital.

"A conspiracy is being hatched to paralyse the Delhi government. Today, we received transfer orders of nine officers working with the AAP government. Two days ago, two officers were also transferred. The way our officers are being transferred hints at a conspiracy against the AAP government," he said.

"Sanjeev Jha who was looking after development works in unauthorised colonies has suddenly been transferred to Andaman. Additional Secretary to CM, Gitika Sharma was also transferred. Special Director (Shashi Kaushal), who was looking after development works in government schools, was also transferred," he said.

Sisodia claimed that after sensing "defeat" in the upcoming Assembly elections in Punjab and Goa, the BJP-led dispensation is in the process of destabilising the elected government in Delhi.

"The 11 officers have been transferred without any meeting of Joint Cadre Authority (JCA). Delhi has 300 sanctioned DANICS posts, but it has only 165 officers working with the city administration, adding that now eight have been transferred.

"Andaman, which has 24 sanctioned DANICS posts, has now 23 DANICS officers. In a total, Andaman has now 31 such officers," he said.

The Deputy Chief Minister alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is taking "revenge" for his party defeat in Assembly election in Delhi by creating hurdles.

"All has happened in just one day...This is the lowest levels to which a central government has stooped, from the time Delhi has had an elected government in 1991," the Deputy Chief Minister told reports here.
Rural areas in Maharashtra can now access clean drinking water at a nearby ATM outlet, thanks to the 'Jal Jeevan' initiative by Deeya Shroff, a class 9 student in Mumbai.

The first water ATM which is already operational in Sholapur in Maharashtra, caters to approximately 300 families residing in the area, who previously had to walk for miles to source clean drinking water.

Moved by their plight, Deeya began researching on water scarcity related issues and reached out to Eureka Forbes with her project objective.

With the company's help, she came up with a plan to set up water ATMs in different rural regions of the country.

"There were bureaucratic hurdles and process delays, but I followed up with the administration till I got a go-ahead," she says.

The first water ATM was inaugurated in January this year, after Deeya managed to raise an amount of Rs 15 lakhs by reaching out to individuals and government officials and a resilient struggle with the municipal commission to get permission for the proposed ATM site.

Deeya was awarded a gold medal recently at the 6th annual Pramerica Spirit of Community Awards programme for her "extraordinary" contribution to community service.

The awards, launched in the year 2009 are a school-level recognition programme for volunteer community service with an objective to encourage efforts of school children currently engaged in voluntary community service.

Besides receiving certificates of excellence, gold medals, and a cash prize of Rs 50,000 each, winners of the programme are also given an opportunity to go to Washington DC, to participate in several global events.

"Most of us at some point in our lives have felt strongly about a cause. But few of us have actually done something about it.

"You have actively participated in and initiated projects which you believed in. The programme is our way of letting you know that we appreciate the remarkable work that each one of you are doing," says Anoop Pabby, MD, CEO, DHFL Pramerica Life Insurance Co Ltd.

Joining Deeya in the act of exemplary community service was Nikhiya Shamsher from Greenwood High School in Bengaluru, who took upon herself the responsibility to make education accessible for the underprivileged children through the medium of a school campaign that soon transformed into a community service initiative.

Nikhiya's campaign saw her distribute brochures, put up



posters and send emails to parents of all her fellow students in the school in order to motivate them to participate in the cause and donate bags, books, stationery etc.

"We may not be able to solve the world's problems, but we can make the little part of the world where we live, a better place," says Nikhiya.

To expand the reach of her initiative, she designed a website, sent her story and prospective plans to journalists, urging them to spread the word and soon there were textbooks, notebooks, school bags, shoes, jackets, lunch boxes, water bottles and various stationary items pouring in.

Taking her programme a step forward, Nikhiya started "Yearn to Learn" that sought to arrange for laboratory facilities at schools that provide free education.

"Children from these schools have no access to experimental learning and miss out on a very important aspect of understanding science and math," she says.

To raise funds for the establishment of laboratories, Nikhiya organised a 15 day online crowd funding campaign, from where she managed to collect over Rs 4.18 lakhs including donations.

'Yearn To Learn' has set up 11 laboratories in 3 schools in Bangalore, one of which has decided to share its labs with other government schools to trickle down the benefits to maximum number of students.

14 other finalists in the Individual Category and seven students in the Group Category received Certificates of Achievement and silver medals for their efforts.
Taylor Swift and Tom Hiddleston couldn't keep their hands off each other while they're celebrating the Fourth of July with her squad at a star-studded party over the weekend.

The pair looked lovey dovey as they packed on the PDA throughout the July 3 bash taking place at a beach near her home in Rhode Island.

Sporting a red two-piece and a temporary tattoo of American flag on her arm, Swift, 26, is seen in some photos obtained wrapping her hands and legs around her new beau while surrounded by famous faces like Cara Delevingne, Ruby Rose, Gigi Hadid and Karlie Kloss, reported Ace Showbiz.

Hiddleston, 35, meanwhile, proudly wore a white tank top with the word "I (heart) TS" printed on it.

Also part of the fun afternoon were pregnant Blake Lively, who flaunted her baby bump in a colorful two-piece, and her husband Ryan Reynolds. At one point, the two and the rest of the gang posed for some photos together.

Swift and Hiddleston have just returned from their romantic trip in the UK and Rome.
Amidst an outpour of grief, Tarishi Jain, the 19-year-old Indian girl who was killed along with 19 others in the Dhaka terror attack, was cremated here today.

Tarishi's brother Sanchit performed the last rites at around 4:15 pm in a cremation ground at Sukhrali village near IFFCO Chowk as family members suffered in silence.

Earlier, the mortal remains of the 19-year-old student of University of California in Berkeley, US, where she studied Economics, were brought from Dhaka to Delhi where her family members, Minister of State for Power and Coal Piyush Goyal was present. Goyal received the body.

The body was then taken to Gurgaon DLF phase-1 F Block community centre where it was kept for two hours to enable an estimated 200 people, including Goyal and Haryana Education Minister Rambilas Sharma, to pay their respects.

Tarishi was among the 20 hostages killed in a gruesome terror attack in a restaurant popular with foreigners and expats in upscale Gulshan locality of Dhaka on Friday night.

Daughter of a garments manufacturer with business interests in Bangladesh, she was in Dhaka on a vacation.

Heart-rending scenes prevailed at the community centre with 200 relatives of Tarishi and other mourners crying unconsolably. Rambilas Sharma tried to console the aggrieved family members of the 19-year-old girl.

The media was not allowed to enter the cremation spot by Gurgaon police.

Among others who paid their respects to Tarishi were Delhi LG, Najib Jung, Rao Indrajeet Singh and Congress leader Raj Babbar.
Shortly before she was hacked to death at a Dhaka restaurant, Tarishi Jain, the Indian girl killed in the terror attack there, hid in a toilet from where made a frantic phone call to her uncle for help.

According to Tarishi's uncle Ramesh Mohan Jain, "on the night of the terror attack, she called me and narrated the entire terrible incident.

"She was in a deep fear and hid in a toilet from where she called me when terrorists were searching for her. She was calling for help but I couldn't save her", said Ramesh weeping inconsobly at the funeral of the girl here.

Tarishi, 19, a student of the University of California, had gone to the restaurant Holey Artiste in Gulshan locality of Dhaka with her friends. She was on a holiday in the Bangladesh capital on Friday last.
Tata Power today announced that it along with its subsidiaries and joint ventures spent Rs 47.02 crore under corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives in fiscal 2016.

"The company standalone spent (on CSR was) Rs 29.01 crore as against the required Rs 28.29 crore as per the CSR Act, its subsidiaries and joint ventures spent Rs 18.01 crore," Tata Power said in a BSE filing today.

According to the statement, through this, the company reached out to more than 250 villages/urban pockets across 7 states, benefiting over 15 lakh people.

Tata Power group companies have aligned their CSR policy to five thrust areas - Primary Education with focus on girl child, Health & Drinking Water, Livelihood and Employability, Social Capital and Infrastructure, and Inclusive Growth.

The programmes have been rolled out across plant locations and the impact will be mapped via timelines and outcome indicators.

The CSR Initiatives are undertaken through the developmental arm - Tata Power Community Development Trust across all its locations.

Speaking on this, Tata Power Chief Sustainability Officer Vivek Talwar said in the statement: "Tata Power's focus on CSR has been on designing and deploying sustainable programmes, where the community takes ownership of the programs in the true spirit of participatory development."



There is a sharper emphasis on capacity building of the community, which has led to better impact of programmes on health, access to affordable energy, water management and sanitation, Talwar added.

Now, Tata Power is working to develop an Aspirational Strategy for all its locations which would lay down the goals which the community would attain in its pursuit of socio-economic empowerment.

Tata Power would continue to facilitate the process of development through collaborative processes, and seeking and sharing knowledge from key stakeholders.

In FY16, the company reached out to more than 230 schools covering over one lakh students through various educational initiatives.

The company provided 6,700 households with access to sanitation facility benefiting over 36,700 children. Model Village programs saw progress in the field of water securitisation at Jawhar (Thane), Solar Micro Grid connectivity at remote villages of Pune, promoting tribal education at Kalinganagar (Odisha) to improving agricultural productivity at Jojobera & Maithon (Jharkhand).
The accused in the murder of a woman IT employee here, arrested last week and hospitalised in Tirunelveli after attempting suicide while being nabbed, was today brought to the city and admitted to a government hospital where a magistrate remanded him in judicial custody.

Twenty-four-year-old P Ramkumar was brought in an ambulance from Tirunelveli Government Medical College Hospital with a medical team and police escort and admitted to the Government Royapettah Hospital in the early hours, police said.

The XIII Metropolitan Magistrate S Gopinathan visited Ramkumar at the hospital and remanded him in judicial custody for 15 days, police said.

Ramkumar was arrested on July 1 from his house in T Meenkakshipuram village in Tirunelveli district in connection with the June 24 sensational murder of at Nungambakkam railway station here.

He had attempted suicide by slashing his neck when surrounded by police following which he was undergoing treatment at the Tiruneveli hospital.

Tirunelveli First Judicial Magistrate Ramadoss had yesterday visited Ramkumar at the hospital in Tirunelveli and gave authorisation to bring him here with police security and medical personnel.

Ramkumar allegedly killed Swathi after she resisted his attempt to befriend her. He had also reportedly told Swathi that he was in love with her, which she rejected.
Turkish aid arrived in the Strip today via Israel, after the two countries restored ties frozen over a deadly Israeli raid on a Gaza-bound Turkish ship in 2010.

Turkish and Palestinian officials welcomed 10 truckloads of supplies, including food parcels, toys and children's clothing and shoes as they reached the impoverished territory in time for the Muslim Eid celebrations on Wednesday, marking the end of Ramadan fasting.

"These are the first Turkish aid trucks into Gaza," Mustafa Sarnic, Turkey's ambassador to the Palestinian Authority, told a press conference near the Kerem Shalom crossing with Israel.

"Turkey will continue its efforts to help the residents of the Strip and to help solve the water and power crisis."



The Panama-flagged Lady Leyla container ship docked at southern Israel's Ashdod port on yesterday after sailing from Turkey.

Its contents were unloaded, inspected and sent on to the Hamas-run Strip, hit by three wars with Israel since 2008 and under an Israeli blockade.

Youssef Ibrahim, the Hamas deputy minister of social affairs, said the 11,000-tonne shipment would be distributed to those most in need by his ministry along with the Turkish and Palestinian Red Crescent societies.

It was due to be the first of many, he added.

"These 10 trucks are part of 400 trucks of Turkish aid for Gaza."



Turkey had initially pushed for a lifting of Israel's years-long blockade of Gaza as part of the negotiations to normalise ties, but Israel rejected this.

A compromise was eventually reached allowing Turkey to send aid through Ashdod rather than directly to the Palestinian enclave.

Israel says the blockade is necessary to prevent Islamist movement Hamas from receiving materials that could be used for military purposes.

But UN officials have called for it to be lifted, citing deteriorating conditions in the territory.

Turkey's ruling Islamic-rooted AKP party has friendly ties with Gaza's Hamas rulers, and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been a vocal supporter of the Palestinian cause.
Two suspected Islamic State jihadists have been detained at Istanbul's Ataturk airport, the Dogan agency reported, less than a week after it was hit by a triple suicide attack.

Dogan said the two suspects held late yesterday were Kyrgyz nationals, identifying them only by their initials, K.V and F.M.I, aged 25 and 35 respectively.

Police found night-vision binoculars and military-style clothes in their suitcases, the agency said, along with two passports in different names.

They were questioned by anti-terror police in Istanbul. It was not clear whether they had been leaving or arriving at the airport.

Their detention came as 13 suspects, including three foreigners, were charged yesterday over the June 28 gun and suicide bomb assault at the airport that killed 45 people including 19 foreigners.

Officials believe the Islamic State group was behind the attack, the worst in a series to hit Turkey's biggest city this year.

In total police have detained 29 people "including foreigners" in connection with the airport carnage, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said yesterday.

Of more than 200 people injured, 49 are still in hospital including 17 in intensive care.

Authorities believe the attackers were a Russian, an Uzbek and a Kyrgyz national.

State agency Anadolu has named two of them as Rakim Bulgarov and Vadim Osmanov, without giving their nationalities.

Central Asia's former Soviet republics have been a major source of foreign jihadists travelling to fight with IS and other extremist groups in Iraq and Syria.

Turkish media have identified the strike's organiser as Akhmed Chatayev, the Chechen leader of an IS cell in Istanbul who allegedly masterminded two other deadly attacks that killed tourists in the city.
An anonymous group of British companies have come together to mount a legal challenge against taking the UK out of the EU without an act of parliament, it emerged today.

Law firm Mishcon de Reya, which has refused to identify the companies behind the challenge, believes that activating Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty without a vote in parliament would be in breach of rights established by the European Communities Act of 1972.

Article 50, once invoked by the UK government, triggers the process of Britain's exit from the European Union (EU) following last month's referendum in favour of Brexit.

"The result of the referendum is not in doubt, but we need



a process that follows UK law to enact it. Article 50 simply cannot be invoked without a full debate and vote in parliament," Kasra Nouroozi, a partner at Mishcon de Reya, told the 'Financial Times'.

"The outcome of the referendum itself is not legally binding and for the current or future prime minister to invoke Article 50 without the approval of parliament is unlawful," he said.

Mishcon said it had been in correspondence with government



officials to seek assurances over the process.

However, the UK government lawyers believe the country's executive did have the power to activate Article 50.

European leaders have said Britain should not delay leaving the EU, with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker saying the UK does not have "months to meditate" over Article 50.

Once the official exit procedure is triggered under Article 50, there is a two-year time limit to negotiate an exit deal from the EU.

The two-year negotiation period under Article 50 can be extended only with the unanimous agreement of the remaining 27 member states of the EU.

If there is no extension, the UK ceases to be a member of the EU on the conclusion of an agreement within the two years, but in any event two years after notice has been given.

"As the prime minister said in the Commons, we have now got to look at all the detailed arrangements, and parliament will clearly have a role in making sure that we find the best way forward," said a Cabinet Office spokesman.

"It will be important to ensure in moving ahead that the interests of all parts of the United Kingdom are protected and advanced," he said.

In the historic June 23 referendum, the UK voted to leave the EU after 43 years as 52 per cent of the Britons favoured quitting the 28-member EU while 48 per cent supported staying in the bloc.
The Japanese operator of fast fashion giant Uniqlo has banned non-essential travel to Bangladesh and ordered its staff there to stay at home, days after militant Islamists killed foreigners in a bloody siege.

Tokyo-based Fast Retailing, which operates Uniqlo, said it had told 10 Japanese employees not to leave their houses "until further notice", a company spokeswoman said.

The clothing giant added that it was cancelling all but vital travel to the South Asian country after 20 hostages were killed when heavily armed gunmen stormed an upmarket eatery in Dhaka.

Seven Japanese nationals were among the dead, which also included Italians, an Indian and a US citizen.

Fast Retailing has nine Grameen Uniqlo retail stores around Dhaka, where some of the employees work, and a production office, which coordinates with local producers, the spokeswoman said.

"We have taken necessary security procedures," she added.

"Obviously we are taking this situation seriously."



Uniqlo is one of about 240 Japanese firms with offices in Bangladesh.

Engineering conglomerate Toshiba said it has ordered staff to avoid non-essential travel to Bangladesh until July 10, a company spokesman said.

Toshiba, which said it had "a few" employees in Dhaka, had earlier warned staff against business trips outside the capital. Dhaka was added to the list after this weekend's attack.

Several Japanese companies, including general contractors Obayashi and Shimizu, have reportedly ordered employees in the country to stay at home.

The five Japanese men and two women killed in the attacks were involved in development projects with the government-run Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

Although a quarter of its 160 million people still live below the poverty line, Bangladesh has clocked growth of around six percent nearly every year since the turn of the millennium.

That's largely thanks to garment exports, the lifeblood of its economy, accounting for more than 80 percent of total outbound goods last year.

Between them the nation's clothing factories employ more than four million people, most of them impoverished rural women.
US-based Modulus Financial Engineering Inc has filed a suit against 63 Moons Technologies Ltd at the Bombay High Court alleging infringement of copyright of its software, a charge denied by the latter.

63 Moons Technologies (formerly Financial Technologies (India) Ltd) said it has received a copy of notice of motion and suit filed by Modulus alleging infringement of copyright of its software with reference to the licence agreement entered into with them since 2008, a BSE communique said here.

The Jignesh Shah-promoted company has denied any such infringement and said it is taking appropriate measures in consultation with its legal counsel.

The company said it believes the impact of the suit is currently not readily ascertainable.
The National Green Tribunal today directed the Railways to "strictly" impose fine of Rs 5,000 on those throwing waste on rail tracks and act against them effectively.

"There are jhuggies and even permanent buildings adjacent to the railway tracks. Why do you permit them to throw dirt on the tracks? Why can't you stop even (people from) a single building to throw waste on the tracks?



"There are many buildings from New Delhi station to Subzi Mandi station which throw garbage daily, why don't you stop them? If you strictly impose a penalty of Rs 5,000 on them, they won't dare to do it again," a bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar said.

The tribunal also directed the Railways to produce a list of offenders who have been fined till date for throwing garbage and other waste on tracks.

Additional Solicitor General Pinky Anand, appearing for the Railways, assured the bench that the work of cleaning tracks was a "continuous" one and the PSU behemoth was taking all requisite action against the violators.

During the hearing, the tribunal also slammed Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB) for the delay in relocation and rehabilitation of slum clusters near the railway tracks.

The counsel appearing for DUSIB told the bench that the work of survey in jhuggi clusters was going on and the process of identification of slums, which are to be shifted to flats, would commence shortly.

On the last date of hearing, the bench had directed the Railways to ensure that all tracks entering the national capital are "absolutely clean".

The green panel had earlier slammed Railways over human defecation and other waste on rail lines and directed the authorities to expeditiously decide on rehabilitation of slum clusters located near the tracks.

It had also asked the authorities to impose a fine of Rs 5,000 on those defecating and throwing waste on tracks and act against them effectively.

The NGT had in December last year imposed a cost of Rs five lakh on Railways for failure to keep tracks and platforms in New Delhi station clean, after noting "definite negligence" and "intentional lack of will" on the part of all authorities.

The tribunal's direction had come on a petition filed by lawyers Saloni Singh and Arush Pathania, alleging that railway authorities had failed to perform their statutory duties and were indirectly responsible for causing pollution at railway properties, particularly on the tracks.
Police today claimed to have solved a murder case in north Kashmir s Bandipora district by arresting the victim's wife and her paramour.

Police Station Hajin yesterday received information that body of Fayaz Ahmad Dar, a resident of Vijipara Hajin, was lying in the bathroom of his house.

It was recovered and Special Investigation Team (SIT) was constituted to probe the case, a police spokesman said here today.

During investigation, the deceased's wife Zamrooda Begum was questioned about the murder of her husband but she denied having any information about the incident.

She was further questioned about her phone number and she stated that she does not have any mobile phone from last two years.

However, her claim was contradicted by her teenage children, who stated their mother was having a mobile phone and was using it covertly, the spokesman said.

He said the investigation revealed the deceased had doubts on her wife of having illicit relations with Showkat Ahmad Bhat, a resident of Kumina Baharabad Village of Hajin, due to which some differences had developed in their wedlock.

Accordingly, Bhat was brought into police custody for questioning, during which he said he had illegal affairs with Zamrooda and had grown closer to her during past few years, the spokesman said.

The spokesman said the investigation revealed that few days ago, Bhat and Zamrooda hatched a criminal conspiracy to murder Dar.

On the intervening night of July 2 and 3, Zamrooda contacted her paramour and asked him to come to her house and kill her husband, police said.

At about 2230 hours, Zamrooda had kept the window of the room open to let Bhat in. They went to the room of the deceased and killed him in his sleep.

Bhat held the deceased tightly by his hands and sat on his chest while Zamrooda pressed tightly on the neck until his last breath, the spokesman said.

He said the duo has been arrested.
The Secretary of the Jawaharlal Darda Education Society was today arrested in connection with a case of molestation of girls in kindergarten and primary classes by two teachers here.

The arrest of Kishor Darda, the Secretary of the education society that runs Yavatmal Public School, comes in the wake of violent protests by parents of a few girl students against alleged molestation of their wards by Yash Borundia and Amol Shirsagar, who were arrested four days earlier in the case.

The protesting parents were demanding that Darda, the Chairman of the school's management committee, be also arrested on the charge of "negligence" on the part of authorities.

A case was registered against the members of the management committee under Section 21 (failure to report an offence against children) of POCSO Act.

The school's principal was held two days ago and Darda was arrested early this morning in Nagpur, Wadgaon Road police station in-charge Devidas Dhole said.

He will be produced in court later in the day, the officer said.
A special investigation team (SIT) today arrested the secretary of Jawaharlal Darda Education Society, Kishor Darda, in connection with a case of molestation of girls in kindergarten and primary classes by two teachers here, a day after parents held a violent protest.

Police also booked a woman teacher of the society-run Yavatmal Public School, Tasleem Nasreen in connection with the case.

Darda, also chairman of YPS management committee, was arrested from Nagpur international airport in the wee hours. He was produced before a local court which remanded him in police custody till tomorrow.

"We have arrested Kishor Darda from Sonegaon (airport) of Nagpur and brought him to Yavatmal. We produced him before the court and obtained his police custody till July 5," said Sanjay Deshmukh, head of local Crime Branch.

He said the court has extended by seven days the police custody of main accused teachers, Yash Borundiya and Amol Kshirsagar, who were arrested four days back.

Apart from Bourndiya and Kshirsagar, police have so far arrested school principal Jacob Das and Darda.

Yesterday, at least 40 people, including policemen and media persons, were injured when a protest by some parents in front of Darda's residence against the alleged molestation incident turned violent and police resorted to lathi-charge.

YPS is founded by Congress leader Vijay Darda in 2006.

According to Wadgaon Road police, over 200 parents have lodged complaints in police station today against the teachers and management of YPS on various counts, following an appeal made by Special Divisional Commissioner of Police (Amravati Region) Sanjeevkumar Singhal who is camping in the city since yesterday.

A team led by Education Secretary Nandkumar is also in the city.

When contacted, district collector Sachindra Pratap Singh said he is awaiting a report from the school.

Meanwhile, police today booked around 1500-2000 people, allegedly part of the mob that resorted to violence yesterday, under various sections of IPC for damaging public property.

A bandh against the school management was observed in Arni, Digras and Ghatanji tehsils of the district today. In Ghatanji, the agitators set on fire copies of a Marathi newspaper.

A release from the district collector office has informed that regular classes of YPS would commence tomorrow.

As per the release, Primary Education Officer Suchita Patekar has been appointed as the coordinator of the school by the state government who would monitor day-to-day functioning of the school.
In an effort to broker a peace deal between the ethnic-based insurgent groups of Myanmar and the Myanmar government, former Mizoram Chief Minister Zoramthanga today left for Bangkok to meet representatives of 16 such militant groups.

Zoramthanga, a former Mizo National Front (MNF) underground leader, told PTI, "The militant groups are in the process of formulating their demands to the Myanmar government for continuation of parleys and wanted to learn about the Mizo Peace Accord signed between the Indian government and the erstwhile underground MNF in 1986."



He said his meeting with the representatives of the 16 militant groups would mainly be held in Chiangmai and Bangkok in Thailand.

The former Mizoram chief minister said that the Myanmar insurgent groups have more faith in the new civilian government than the military junta and were optimistic on the outcome of the negotiations.

The ethnic-based militant groups including Kachins, Karens, Chins, Was, Arakanese and Shans have been fighting for regional autonomy for years and a few groups recently signed a ceasefire agreement with the government in the presence of Zoramthanga and India's National Security Adviser (NSA) Ajit K. Doval.

The MNF chief had been involved in the Myanmar peace process at the invitation of the ethnic-based militant groups and the Myanmar government.
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Battling successive markdowns in valuation by investors and third-parties, Flipkart's Chairman Sachin Bansal has said such cuts are their "opinions" and cited the case of Uber to illustrate that it will not impact fundraising plans of the e-commerce major.

"That (markdowns) does not matter. If you look... they did it to Uber as well. Uber raised (money) at a higher valuation.

They did it to one more company, they also raised money at higher valuation," Bansal told PTI on the sidelines of an event when asked about the recent markdown by Morgan Stanley.

"I think it does not matter, people have their own opinions and it is their own opinion," he added.

Asked if this will impact the country's largest e-commerce company's fund raising plans in the future, Bansal said, "Absolutely not".

He added that Flipkart is well capitalised at present and is not looking for fresh funds.

In its second consecutive action in as many quarters, Morgan Stanley Mutual Fund Trust, an investor in the company, in May lowered its estimate of the valuation of the Bengaluru-based e-commerce company by 15.5 per cent to USD 9.39 billion.

At its peak, Flipkart was valued at over $15 billion.

A host of its investors have marked down their valuation estimates by up to 39 per cent in the recent past.

Flipkart, which competes with Amazon, Snapdeal and others in the domestic e-commerce market, had raised money at a valuation of over $15 billion during one round of fundraising last year.

The skyrocketing valuations was one of the biggest reasons for the larger public to notice the growth of such startups.

But in their bid to expand their base, these companies started giving huge discounts to customers, which dented their profitability.

According to reports, many e-commerce firms have rejigged their business models to focus on profitability.

Describing the global investment scenario as "a little shaky right now", Bansal said companies like his continue expanding despite the loss of investor interest.

Flipkart expanded its customer base by 100 per cent last fiscal and is targeting to achieve a similar growth in 2016-17 as well, he said.

Asked about the government's move to allow retail stores to remain open round the clock, Bansal said this will not impact online sellers.

He was quick to add that e-commerce penetration in the country is very low with only 2 per cent of the overall shopping happening online, while this is between 8 and 10 per cent in markets like China and US.
Online fashion e-tailer Jabong is on the look-out for buyers as company's owners AB Kinnevik and Rocket Internet are reluctant to pour in more funds in highly competitive e-commerce market in the country, Livemint reported.

Among those in the fray to buy Jabong are Snapdeal, Future Group, Flipkart's fashion portal Myntra and Aditya Birla's ecommerce venture Abof.

The talks are led by Kinnevik chief executive Lorenzo Grabau, who was in India last week to meet executives at Snapdeal, Abof, Future Group and Flipkart, the website reported.

Jabong is owned by Global Fashion Group, which has a presence across 27 countries.

Swedish investment major, Kinnevik AB, is the largest shareholder of GFG. Kinnevik is leading the negotiations with buyers on behalf of Rocket Internet, which owns another 21% of GFG.

Earlier this year, Rocket Internet backed online furniture retailer FabFurnish was sold to Future Group.
Foreign investors brought in over Rs 3,700 crore into Indian stock markets in June, taking the total to more than Rs 20,600 crore so far this year, mainly on hopes of a good monsoon.

It follows a staggering inflow of more than Rs 32,000 crore in preceding three months (March-May).

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) turned net buyers of equities in March after pulling out a massive Rs 41,661 crore from the market in the previous four months (November-February).

"Good monsoons should drive improvement in earnings in 2016-17 and India remains a long-term structural story. Better near-term as well as long-term catalysts might have led to higher flows," Quantum AMC Associate Fund Manager Equity Nilesh Shetty said.

According to data available with depositories, FPIs net invested Rs 3,713 crore in the stock market last month.

However, they pulled out Rs 6,220 crore from the debt market during the period under review.

So far this year, FPIs have invested Rs 20,648 crore in equities while withdrawing Rs 12,105 crore in the debt market, resulting in a net inflow of Rs 8,543 crore.
Michael Norgaard Jensen, MD, Carlsberg India, talks to Sumant Banerji about tackling uncertainties in the domestic liquor industry.

How is the alcohol industry contributing to the government's 'Make in India' idea?

It is a great idea, but the foundation of that is predictability. You cannot have laws coming in left, right and centre constantly. That makes investments too much of a gamble. India is one of the most complicated markets in the world; a bit like managing all of Europe before 1972. To uncomplicate, we concentrate only on a few key cities. We pick a state in India and treat it with a piecemeal approach.

How has the prohibition in a few states affected the industry? How do you counter the clamour for a complete ban in more states?

Prohibition has not helped in curbing alcohol consumption. If you make things difficult to access then the 'forbidden fruit syndrome' comes into effect. If the government wants to put a curb on it, fine; but create a difference between liquor and wine or beer; promote responsible drinking. You need to drink lots of beer to get sloshed, but with hard liquor, it's easy. And your taxation is promoting the latter, instead of the former. Bihar is a political experiment. It is not the right solution. It's far easier to regulate smartly, which the government did earlier.

Did you have to adapt to India's different preferences in beer?

The beer we sell here is adapted to the Indian palate. An average Indian does not like to have too bitter a beer unlike a European. The main ingredients of beer are the same across the world, but how much hops we put in or how much bitter it is, varies. The bias towards strong beer with high alcohol content is not new. Some East European markets have beers that have even higher alcohol content, but calling a beer strong or light is unique to India.


The headline indices Sensex and Nifty50 hit their fresh 2016 highs last week with stock market investors shedding Brexit fears and taking into account favourable progress of monsoon, pay hikes for government employees and a couple of other policy measures at home.

While benchmark indices may have recovered all of their losses since over 600-point fall on Brexit day, it was the broader indices that outperformed Sensex and Nifty during the same period.

Sensex and Nifty added nearly 3 per cent last week, while the BSE Midcap and BSE Smallcap indices gained over 5 per cent and 6 per cent, respectively.

Among 261 midcap stocks, 40 hit their fresh 52-week highs.

Of them, 25 stocks gained in excess of 5 per cent, while 12 stocks such as Motilal Oswal, DCM Shriram, Dalmia Bharat and Atul Ltd gained between 10 per cent to 18 per cent.

Among 758 smallcap index stocks, 91 hit their fresh 52-week highs and gained up to 27 per cent. 12 among these 91 stocks, added over 15 per cent in just a week.



A2Z Infra Engineering (27.10 per cent), Jay Shree Tea & Industries (20.87), Tata Coffee (15.04 per cent) and Dhampur Sugar Mills (19.19 per cent) were the major smallcap stocks to hit their fresh 52-week highs last week.

Sectorally, stocks from the automobiles, agriculture, finance, chemicals and construction sectors were the major movers during the week.

"Domestically, monsoon continues to progress well. Apart from this, approval to the recommendations of 7th Pay Commission is expected to support consumption growth in the economy," said Dipen Shah, Sr Vice President & Head PCG research, Kotak Securities.



ALSO READ: Pros and cons of 7th Pay Commission for market and economy

The pay hikes for government employees will amount to Rs 1.02 lakh crore, or nearly 0.7 per cent of GDP and will further lubricate the economy in the spending- investing cycle. In this backdrop, stocks of two wheelers, real estate firms, consumer durables and consumer staples are likely to do well in the medium term.

Shah of Kotak also said that on the investment side, government capex continues to remain strong and companies are indicating optimism on revival of private sector capex.

"These factors should support economic growth, going ahead, which bodes well for the long term performance of the equity markets," the expert added.

Govt also created a level playing field for online and offline retailers by amending Shops and Establishment Act to allow shops to remain open 24X7 subject to certain rules.

National Mineral Exploration Policy cleared by Cabinet is another policy push that will incentivize the participation of private companies in exploration.

"National Mineral Exploration Policy cleared by Cabinet will open up huge untapped potential of up to 90 per cent hitherto not explored, to the private sector for exploration and mining, a big milestone in itself," said Jimeet Modi, CEO, SAMCO Securities.


Extending gains for the sixth consecutive session, the S&P BSE Sensex on Monday gained 134 points to hit fresh 2016 high, while the broader Nifty50 closed above its key 8,350-mark.

The headline indices rallied, in line with their Asian peers, as worries over Brexit faded and domestic factors such as expectations of a good monsoon and economic reforms continued to support market sentiment.

Key stocks that buzzed in today's trade:



1)State Bank Of India: Shares of SBI settled the day 1.53 per cent up on BSE after the public lender has raised Rs 911 crore by selling 5 per cent of its stake in National Stock Exchange (NSE) to Mauritius base foreign investor Veracity Investments Ltd.



2)Tata Motors: Shares of Tata Motors closed the day 2.36 per cent up on BSE after the company reported 8 per cent growth in sales at 44,276 units in June. The company had sold 40,869 in the same month last year.

3)Hero MotoCorp: Shares of Hero MotoCorp declined 0.05 per cent on BSE even after the country's largest two-wheeler maker reported 1.32 per cent increase in sales at 5,49,533 units in June.



4)Punjab National Bank: Shares of PNB rallied 7.36 per cent on BSE after the bank declared its marginal cost of funds based lending rate (MCLR) for one year at 9.40 per cent.

5)Adani Ports: Shares of Adani Ports closed the day 4.36 per cent up on BSE after the Union environment ministry has withdrawn its demand for a Rs 200 crore restoration fund from Adani Ports & SEZ for damage to the environment imposed during the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, the biggest penalty for green violations, said a media report.

6)Indian Hotels Company: Shares of Indian Hotels settled the day 1.16 per cent up on BSE after the company informed its overseas subsidiary Samsara Properties has sold 51.75 lakh class A shares of Belmond for a consideration of $49.57 million (over Rs 330 crore) to pare debt.


Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has said the government's intention is to keep taxation rate moderate and emphasised that the tax department needs to start trusting the assessees to increase the number of taxpayers in the country which currently stands at a mere 5.4 crore.

At the same time in a strong message to tax evaders, Jaitley said such people would face serious action and that the government is plugging the escape routes.

A senior IT official told Mail Today that the finance minister had on Saturday participated in a conference with the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) as they influence the mindset of tax payers and have to guide them in the right direction. The Finance Minister said, gradually the corporate tax would be brought down to 25 per cent so that all companies have surplus income which they can reinvest and increase economic activity and employment in the country.

The awareness programme on the Income Declaration Scheme, 2016 saw Jaitley addressing ICAI members along with senior CBDT officials through video conferencing.

About the Income Declaration Scheme 2016 - which can be availed till September 30 - Jaitley said it provides a good opportunity for anyone to disclose domestic income for which filing has not been made before.

"Once a return is filed, the source of income is not going to be questioned. Whatever disclosures are made they are not going to be used for any other collateral purpose or be shared At the same time Jaitley warns tax dodgers of dire consequences my biz with anybody... Confidentiality will be respected," he explained.

The scheme, which opened on June 1, allows domestic black money holders to declare their conealed wealth by paying a tax and penalty totalling 45 per cent.

Effective rate of taxation has become very reasonable and such an opportunity may not visit an assessee ever in future again where he will get the opportunity to pay taxes, a nominal penalty and convert all his assets to be tax-compliant, Jaitley said.

Speaking on the occasion, CBDT Chairman Athulesh Jindal said the ongoing disclosure and declaration scheme is not an immunity scheme and that any comparison with previous amnesty schemes would not be correct.

Jindal noted that in the last two years, more than Rs 40,000 crore of undisclosed income has been detected as a result of search and seizure operations and surveys. Prosecutions were also launched in 1,220 cases over the last two years, he said, adding that information sharing mechanism is also being strengthened.
The government is trying to promote hospitality industry and air travel through initiative like e-visa and building more airports, but in an interview with VIVAN MEHRA of Business Today, RAJ RANA, CEO, South Asia of Carlson Razidor Hotel Group, said that overall improvement in tourism and travelling can only happen through building better roads in India. It will increase the speed of travel and also the occupancy in hotels, feels head of India's largest international hotel chain. He also talked about company's future plan in India and impact of online travel sites on hotel industry. Edited Excerpts.

Q. Even though the Carlson Hotel Group entered India quite early, your expansion started very late. So how important is India in Carlson's Plans?



A. I would say that Asia-Pacific is extremely important in Carlson Rezidor's plans and in that market India, China and Indonesia are the largest demand areas given their population and size. We have ambitious targets for these three countries. If you look at India specifically, today we are in the pole position by the number of hotels. We have 76 operating hotels with another 44 in the pipeline. We started with a great flagship at highly visible location - The Radisson Blu Plaza at the Delhi Airport, that helped us in getting traction.

Q. Does India figure in the top three markets globally? Your growth percentage planned?



A. If you look at the growth percentage, then of course India would definitely be amongst probably the top 3-5 markets, because most of the growth is happening now in either the Asia-Pacific, the Middle-East region or to some extent in Africa. These are the markets where there is more opportunity. We are targeting to grow from 110 hotels today to 170 hotels by 2020 in India.



Q. You mainly follow a franchise plan, can you explain the cost that a franchise plan entails?



A. I would like to correct you - today 75 per cent of portfolio is managed and 25 per cent of portfolio is franchised. But, the perception persists because in the beginning our portfolio split was 50-50 per cent. But in the last few years we have been pushing more into management. However, the market reality is that today owners are savvier. Their children are educated in hospitality, there are more consultants available, so we are not opposed to franchising, in fact, we are very keen on selective franchising, but dominantly we still are into management.

Q. Can you give us an idea about costing across your various chains? What is the rough costing per rooms?



A. The fees in the industry are not specific to brand, but they are definitely specific to the market and business model ie. franchised vs managed. For almost all brands, including Carlson Brand, we charge a royalty fee, marketing fee and reservation fee, as a percentage of room revenue for a franchised model. While in the managed model, we have a base management fee as well as an incentive management fee because we also drive gross operating profit. A small percentage is taken of that as well in case of managed hotels. The fee is standard across the range. If you look at the royalty fee, it ranges anywhere from 3.5 to 4.5 per cent. This is not for us but across the industry.

Q. So average room development cost would be around 30-40 lakh? Is that correct?



A. Yes room development cost are of course different than the fee that we charge. Each brand has certain specifications and the cost differs from brand to brand. A Country Inn and Suites room may cost minus the land value Rs 40 lakh a room and a five-star hotel may cost a crore. Radisson may cost Rs 85 lakh to Rs 1 crore a room.

Q. Can you give us an idea about ROI? Do you assure something? Does location play an important role on returns?



A. Yes in real estate, it is indeed location. For example, one could be on a major highway, but if you are not at the right exit then you might not really be on the highway. So location is in fact the key factor to attract the demand because the demand is all around, but there is also competition all around. We encourage owners to engage third party companies to do feasibility studies so that they are comfortable with the study and then we guide them to the right brand that fits for that location. We want the owner to be successful because it's the long-term relationship of 15 years. We don't want it to start on the wrong foot. So expectations are monitored and kept realistic. For managed hotels we develop budgets which are signed off by the owners and then it is our obligation to do our best to deliver to the budget.

Q. How long is your break-even point, or what is the lifetime span?



A. We are able to achieve gross operation profit in the first 1-2 years, which is remarkable. For example our hotel in Guwahati, or any other hotel where there is little competition, we see properties getting operating profit very quickly. Each case is an individual situation. Those having more leverage will feel slightly more pressured for getting net profit , but we deliver gross operating profit very quickly.

Q. Tourist arrivals have seen a dip in the last couple of years, how does that impact your plans?



A. Hand-in-hand, because our business is totally linked. I will link this with a few factors. One, the traveler- how many people are travelling? Whether they will be domestic or international? India is still dominantly a domestic market, where majority of people staying in the hotel are domestic travelers, unlike what some people may think. Corporate executives and leisure business mainly come from within the country. Of course there is an international component which comes in as well.

As far as leisure is concerned, the international component varies in seasonality. I wish India were a larger MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions) destination for inbound, which is currently a small proportion probably because of lack of large infrastructural facility such as a massive conference space available in places like Florida, Las Vegas or Singapore. And then of course we have a growing demand of other kind of travelers as well, like medical tourism. So it's a mix of all these things.

In metro cities, the larger share is corporate traveller. In secondary or tertiary cities most number of traveller are tourists, particularly religious tourists, depending upon the location. For example Ajmer, Katra, Haridwar, Varanasi are dominantly religious tourism, while other places like Goa are of course leisure destinations. But metro cities dominantly receive corporate travellers.

Q. What are your plans for tier-2 and tier-3 cities, considering it's a big market?



A. The demand in tier-2 and tier-3 is big, particularly if there is an airport. The government is pushing for more and more airports in smaller cities. In fact, I have heard the government is planning more direct investment into airports to places where there are no airports. Improved infrastructure, particularly connectivity, and states giving more incentives in certain zones are making secondary tertiary cities more viable for mid-scale brands. So, we are very focused on those brands.

As far as acquisition is concerned, we sometime find that when we conduct our studies for acquisition, existing independent hotels in many cases don't meet fire safety standards, which is very important for international brands like ours. Therefore, cost of upgrade is so prohibitive that it doesn't make sense. This spurs building new inventory. But we are anxiously trying to get into these markets with brands like Park Inn by Radisson and Radisson Red.

Q. How is India's performance in last couple of years?



A. The hospitality industry has been in pain, it is not a secret. I would say that the demand-supply equilibrium had totally fallen apart, with supply side of the equation outstripping demand. In market like Delhi NCR, Hyderabad, Bangalore, or even Pune there were a lot of problems, but we are now seeing that supply is slowing down. In many cases owners have either delayed the opening date because of funding problem or are just waiting for some more time.

The softening in the supply side and growth in demand has allowed this excess supply to be absorbed in fairly orderly manner and we have seen since the last quarter of 2015, occupancy has actually gained for the industry as well as for our own portfolio. There is a saying "with occupancy going up, rates are bound to follow". The problem with rate is that it accelerates on the way down, but take baby steps on the way up, so we are hoping that it will gradually start going up.

Q. What's the impact of AIR BNB and OTA (online travel agency) on the business?



A. OTAs have a bigger impact at present than Airbnb. OTAs are here to stay. We only look to partner with OTAs if they help us in selling our hotels, particularly distressed inventory. With partial consolidation happening in the overall industry, the hotel groups are now able to stand up or have better negotiating power with the OTAs. OTAs also realise that they have a role to play . We are seeing their margins becoming little bit more palatable to the hotels.

Q. What is the philosophy for your group regarding over inventory?



A. Rates are dynamic and rooms are a very perishable commodity. Hotels like airlines have started dynamic pricing for all available rooms. Even last room pricing has started in our hotels and many of our hotels have revenue optimising managers who are skilled just for that. It sometime becomes complex because you are also watching your competitors. So we are seeing rates becoming more dynamic than they were few years ago.

Q. The government is looking proactive but the hotel industry has hardly been benefited. How can the government help?



A. I think the government has helped in some ways. For example, the electronic Visa on arrival is definitely a step in the right direction- having them available at more airports is also a right thing. Govt had made a proposal that India should allow a single category, multiple entry Visa; which means business, convention, medical tourism or just tourism, all clubbed together as one single Visa which brings down the visa cost and facilitates ease. But it will not happen without taking bold decisions like this. The speed of connectivity and the cost of travel need to improve. For example, if you look at western countries, the cost of travel for a family of four is less and they can even travel 200-300 miles in a car in a few hours. But in India, travelling 200-300 miles becomes prohibitive because it takes lot of time and is inconvenient.

So speed of travel needs to be improved. The government has announced more airports, but we need to improve the speed of travel by road as well and till that happen, travel in India will not take off. Today I assure you that there are many families who would love to jump in a car if roads are safe. The speed of travel has to improve, particularly by road, so the mass travel starts in India and people can explore more and more.

Q. What about land pricing, isn't it the biggest hurdle for hotels at this moment?



A. Yes, for building a hotel, cost of land is still the biggest hurdle. The other challenge is the cost of funding, which is also high because we do not have industry status yet and hotels don't fall under the most-favoured category in lending. So every owner has to consider these two factors before building a hotel. Apart from that there is also the issue with tenure of funding. The loan period is also shorter and hotels have to ramp up quickly to avoid becoming non-performing assets. So we make sure to educate our partner owners that it's a long-term investment.


The probe into an alleged fraud committed by Kingfisher Airlines Ltd has hit a major roadblock. According to a report in Livemint, the airline's books of accounts have vanished.

Executives at now defunct Kingfisher Airlines have told officials of the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) that an IT services vendor took away computers and servers with the accounts information of the airline that contained details of unpaid dues.

With no data on company's financial accounts, the investigations into airline's financial accounts has hit a major obstacle. In 2012, when the Vijay Mallya promoted Kingfisher Airline shut shop, the comapany had neither paid its employees nor refunded the passengers who had booked tickets with the airline.

In March this year, former tycoon Vijay Mallya fled to London amid demands from consortium of public sector banks for his arrest over non-payment of dues to various government-owned banks.

SFIO, which works under the ministry of corporate affairs, has asked for details from former employees of the airlines, banks and audit firms about various loans taken by the airline and collateral for those loans.
India has slipped to 75th place in terms of money held by its citizens with banks in Switzerland, while the UK remains on top.

India was placed at 61st place last year, while it used to among top-50 countries in terms of holdings in Swiss banks till 2007. The country was ranked highest at 37th place in the year 2004.

As per the latest annual update on Swiss banks, released by Switzerland's central bank SNB (Swiss National Bank), the total money held there by foreign clients from across the world fell by nearly 4 per cent to Swiss franc (CHF) 1.42 trillion (about Rs 98 lakh crore) at the end of 2015.

In terms of individual countries, the UK accounted for the largest chunk at about CHF 350 billion or almost 25 per cent of the total foreign money with Swiss banks.

The US came second with nearly CHF 196 billion or about 14 per cent. No other country accounted for a double-digit percentage share, while others in the top-ten included West Indies, Germany, Bahamas, France, Guernsey, Luxembourg, Hong Kong and Panama.

India was ranked 75th with CHF 1.2 billion (about Rs 8,392 crore), which is not even 0.1 per cent of the total foreign money in Swiss banks and is the lowest for the country in at least two decades or since 1996 -- the first year for which full comparable data is available.

Pakistan was placed higher at 69th place with CHF 1.5 billion -- a shade better than 0.1 per cent of total foreign money parked with Swiss banks.

India was also lowest ranked among the BRICS nations -- Russia was ranked 17th (CHF 17.6 billion), China 28th (CHF 7.4 billion), Brazil 37th (CHF 4.8 billion) and South Africa 60th (CHF 2.2 billion).

Others ranked higher than India included Mauritius, Kazakhstan, Iran, Chile, Angola, Philippines, Indonesia and Mexico, while a number of so-called tax havens were also placed above, including Jersey, Cayman Islands, Cyprus, Marshall Islands, Bermuda, Belize, Gibraltar, Isle of Man, Seychelles and St Vincent and the Grenadines.

All offshore financial centres together held CHF 378 billion in Swiss banks. The total for developing countries stood at CHF 207 billion, while the same for the developed countries was much higher at CHF 833 million.

India was ranked in top-50 continuously between 1996 and 2007, but started declining after that -- 55th in 2008, 59th in 2009 and 2010 each, 55th again in 2011, 71st in 2012 and then 58th in 2013.
Curb on the flow of black money and investors maintaining distance from the realty sector have led to a drastic cut in the prices of properties in NCR.

While prices have come down by upto 40 per cent over the last few years, it has hardly helped in lifting the spirit of the realty market. Fewer demands from investors have resulted in the piling up of a large number of unsold inventories in NCR.

Critics might differ on the Narendra Modi government's efforts to curb the flow of black money into the economy, but, its impact is clearly visible in the real state sector. A reality check by MAIL TODAY revealed that parking untaxed wealth into the realty sector has become almost impossible. Dealers claimed that this has turned investors away from the sector resulting into the drastic decline in prices of properties.

Reality check

Posing as a prospective buyer, MAIL TODAY reporter spoke to some property dealers in the NCR and most of them said that it is almost impossible to use large amounts of unaccounted money for buying properties. "You can at the most invest Rs 3-4 lakh in purchasing a flat. Rest of the money will be paid through cheques or through net banking," said Manoj Tyagi, a property dealer in Greater Noida.

He explained, "There is a lot of scrutiny by IT department and other authorities. You need to use a PAN number for every big transaction. Whenever you transfer Rs 3-4 lakhs or more from one account to another, bank officials will ask for details of the money's source," added Tyagi.

Situation is not better in the secondary market either when you want to buy a flat from an investor. "Most people these days want money in the form of cheques. They know that too much of black money can't be utilised as you need to mention the PAN number for every big transaction," said a dealer from Noida.

The dealers also feel that as an end user this is the right time to purchase a flat. "You are paying less than what you were paying about three-four years ago. A two-bedroom flat is available within Rs 35 lakhs that too with many schemes. Under subvention schemes, you need to pay only five per cent at the time of booking and the rest during possession," said Dharmendra, a realty broker in Noida.

Surveys by various agencies only verify the trend. According to the latest report by real estate consultant Jones Lang Lasalle, the NCR has witnessed the country's highest unsold inventory figures at almost 1,70,000 units. The unsold inventory is highest in Noida, with over one lakh units while the remaining unsold inventory is in Delhi, Ghaziabad and Faridabad.

Santhosh Kumar, CEO Operations, Jones Lang LaSalle India, said that piling up of inventories in last few years has resulted into drastic reduction of prices. "On an average, the realty market in NCR areas has seen a price fall by 40 per cent. Developers have come out with many schemes to attract customers but that has failed to lift the spirit of the market," Kumar said.

Kumar said that the main reason for a large number of unsold flats is the trust factor. "Due to many reasons, trust factor has somewhat vanished from the sector. Developer should concentrate more on construction and complete the projects on time. Only then, trust will build up," added Kumar.

What went wrong

Similarly, a recent study by ASSOCHAM says that the NCR residential market has an estimated 2,50,000 units of unsold inventory which is approximately 35 per cent of the units under construction due to delay in regulatory clearances and litigations. The report further said that the ticket prices (of) three-bedroom, two-BHKs and single room flats have seen correction by 35 per cent in Noida, 30 per cent in Gurgaon and 25 per cent in some key areas of Delhi but still, the demand stays subdued.

Geetamber Anand, chairman and managing director of ATS Infrastructure and president of the Confederation of Real Estate Developers' Associations of India (Credai) does not agree with the number of unsold inventories projected by various surveys. "It is not right to say that lakhs of flats are unsold in NCR areas. We will soon come out with our own data on this," said Anand, adding that there are too many options of ready to move-in flats and people are more interested in them.




Focusing on increasing its market share in india, Panasonic has launched the Eluga Note in India.

Featuring a 5.5-inch, full-HD LTPS display, the Eluga Note packs in a 3,000-mAh battery and weighs 142 gm. Operating on Android Marshmallow with Panasonic FitHome user interface. It is powered by an octa-core processor paired with 3 GB of RAM and 32 GB of internal storage. It is equipped with a 16-MP rear camera with triple LED flash and 5 MP front facing camera.

"Panasonic is an offline brand, focusing on brick-and-mortar channel. India is the headquarters for mobile phone business for Panasonic and the company is now looking at selling its phones outside India as well," says Pankaj Rana, Business Head - Mobility Division, Panasonic India.

The company has launched three smartphones in the last month, which are focused on design. The Eluga Note will compete against the Redmi Note 3, Le Eco Le 2 and Moto G4.


New data released today by JLL shows that 2.3bn of commercial property has traded in last 3 months in Ireland and year-to-date total volumes now stand at 2.9bn.



The figures show that investment volumes in the second quarter were boosted by 4 large deals greater than 80 million which accounted for 60% of this total.

This included the sale of Blanchardstown Town Centre, which comprised Blanchardstown shopping centre, 2 retail parks and office space. Green Property sold the Centre and it was purchased by Blackstone for 950 million.

The other significant sales were One Spencer Dock (Dublin 1 office), which was purchased by a Middle Eastern fund for over 240 million, Project Kells (Dublin office portfolio) purchased by Meyer Bergman and BCP from Aviva for 93 million, and LXV, St Stephens Green (Dublin 2 office), which was purchased by CNP Insurance for 85 million.



Associate Director and Head of Research at JLL, Hannah Dwyer said, "It is difficult to gauge where investment volumes will end up at this point in the year. Ireland is well-positioned from an occupier and investor perspective to benefit from some of the post-Brexit uncertainty, and we are expecting to see a positive short-term bounce in demand from these sectors."

She added, "However, we cannot ignore that we are entering a very sensitive period for global markets, and Irelands close links to the UK is of concern from an economic perspective. It is too early to predict how Brexit will unfold and its longer-term impact on the Irish economy."

Source: www.businessworld.ie

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A new Business Startup Package has been launched by Bank of Ireland today which will provide a range of supports to help start and grow a successful business.



The Bank has also partnered with a number of professional organisations to offer a suite of digital, legal and financial support to startups launching their new enterprise.



Bank of Ireland is now collaborating with FCR Media, one of Irelands leading Digital Marketing Agencies, to offer new business startup customers a years free online presence as part of the new package. The free offer includes a web page, a dotcom domain, free hosting with unlimited bandwidth, 24/7 security protection, a listing on www.goldenpages.ie and access to FCR Medias Business Centre to manage their listing.



Head of Small Business at Bank of Ireland, Declan Galvin says, "We are delighted to offer startups a competitive suite of business supports through our new business startup package."

He added. "Access to professional services is a key component when starting out in business and our new offer provides free access to these professional consultants at a time when cash flow is really important."

Source: www.businessworld.ie
Apple Inc fought back on Friday against Spotify's claims that the U.S. tech giant had hampered competition in music streaming by rejecting an update to the Swedish service's iPhone app.

The two companies have gone head to head in the battle for music streaming customers since Apple Music was launched in more than 100 countries last year.

Apple's entry into the field sparked concerns from music streaming companies such as Spotify, which have argued that the 30% cut Apple takes of subscriptions in its App Store give its own service an unfair advantage. Spotify General Counsel Horacio Gutierrez reiterated those concerns in a letter to Apple first reported on Thursday as he protested the rejection of the latest version of the Spotify app.

But Apple General Counsel Bruce Sewell countered that the company deserves a cut of transactions in the App Store for its work operating the marketplace, according to a copy of a letter to Gutierrez seen by Reuters. Sewell insisted that Apple was treating Spotify as it would any other app maker, in keeping with antitrust law.

"We understand that you want special treatment and protections from competition, but we simply will not do that because we firmly adhere to the principle of treating all developers fairly and equitably," Sewell wrote.

Gutierrez claimed Apple's rejection of Spotify's app raised "serious concerns" under competition law in the United States and Europe and the move was causing "grave harm to Spotify and its customers," according to technology publication Recode.

A Spotify spokeswoman confirmed the accuracy of the report. A spokesman for Apple declined to comment.

Launched a decade ago, Spotify is the world's biggest paid music streaming service with about 30 million paying users in 59 markets while Apple Music has some 13 million.

Companies such as Spotify have sought to sidestep Apple's App Store cut by encouraging consumers to sign up for their services online. Apple forbids developers from promoting alternative payment methods within their apps.

In late May, Spotify submitted a version of its app that removed the in-app purchase feature, which triggers Apple's cut, and included an account sign-up feature that violated Apple's rules, Sewell wrote. Apple rejected the app and asked Spotify to submit again, but the new version had the same problems, Sewell said.

Music streaming is a crowded field. Alphabet's Google Music and YouTube also compete with Spotify and Apple Music to attract users prepared to pay for music, as does Pandora Media Inc and rapper Jay Z's Tidal.

Amazon.com Inc is also preparing a standalone streaming service, sources have told Reuters. (Reuters)

Source: www.businessworld.ie

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SALT LAKE CITY (AP)  Utah health officials are grappling with a rising youth suicide rate thats nearly tripled since 2007 and is now the leading cause of death among 10 to 17-year-olds in Utah.

A state report released this month shows Utahs youth suicide was 8.5 per 100,000 people in 2014, the most recent data available.

In 2005, the rate was 3.4 per 100,000.

Health officials, suicide prevention advocates and educators have been working to curb suicides, but officials dont know why Utahs child suicide rate is more than double the national rate and climbing.

State health officials havent been able to find any clear causes behind the states growing rate, but the health department is working to launch an in-depth study, said Andrea Hood, a suicide prevention coordinator at the Utah Department of Health.

Hood said there are some risk factors found more frequently in Utah and other Rocky Mountain states that may explain why suicide rates are higher in those states than the national average.

Residents in Utah move more frequently, which could leave them with fewer social connections and support. There are also theories that lower oxygen levels at higher altitudes can contribute to higher suicide rates and a western, rugged mentality of self-reliance may keep some from seeking help for depression. Utah and other Rocky Mountain states also have higher rates of gun ownership.

Firearm owners arent more likely to die by suicide, but people who commit suicide are more likely to use guns if they own them than any other method, Hood said.

That extends to children, as nearly half of the youth who have died from suicide in recent years used a firearm. To try to prevent that, advocates are encouraging gun owners to ensure their weapons are secure and last year, Utah began distributing 40,000 free cable gun locks.

Much of the work to combat youth suicides is done in public schools. The state has worked to get prevention programs in every school, offering help to parents, teachers, administrators and students about watching for signs of depression, risk factors for suicide and intervention.

State law requires all teachers to undergo two hours of training about youth suicide prevention, and Utah lawmakers in 2013 required the state office of education to hire a full-time suicide prevention coordinator.

The goal is to train the gatekeepers, the people that are on the front lines with the kids, said Cathy Davis, the suicide prevention specialist with Utahs state education office.

You want to create this great safety net for kids because its really taking all of us to help prevent suicide, Davis said. Its just making everybody alert to the signs of suicide, what to look out for, what signs of depression are in youth.

Davis and other advocates are also pointing to a new smartphone app Utah lawmakers voted to create last year called SafeUT, where people can have confidential and anonymous chats with crisis counselors at the University of Utah Neuropsychiatric Institute.

Officials say the app helps technologically-savvy young people connect with help outside of a traditional phone hotline. In addition to using the app to text, call or submit tips about depression and suicide, the app allows students to speak to someone about bullying, threats of violence, drug problems and more.

Students need skills to know how to navigate the terrain of adolescence. Its a tough area, I think for a lot of kids, Davis said. That gives them a safe way to text and access help.
SALT LAKE CITY  A Utah veteran says he is missing a car, military medals and a uniform after he was deceived and robbed by someone he thought was a fellow marine. He believes the con man could be in Logan, and is now asking Cache Valley residents to be on the lookout.

While visiting his gym in downtown Salt Lake City, Kurt Harris said he met John Michael Manning, a personal trainer. Harris said Manning told him he was also a marine.

He had a couple of marine tattoos on his sleeves, Harris said. He talked like a marine, he acted like a marine. There was another marine that worked there as well as a personal trainer, he was completely fooled. He was a really convincing guy. I did ten years and I had no reason not to believe he wasnt a marine.

Harris said Manning told him he had an altercation with a roommate and needed a place to stay for a few nights. Harris agreed to let him stay. It was soon after that Manning disappeared. So did Harris car, his military uniform, ribbons, certificates and medals. His military photographs and schoolwork were saved on two different MacBook computers, which also went missing.

Every photo I have is gone, Harris said. All my graduate work, all my undergraduate work. Its all disappeared.

After I found out everything was stolen, I called the cops. The cops were like, he has no military records, he has never been in the military.

Harris has since received tips that lead him to believe Manning was or may be in Logan. Since the robbery he has been contacted by two different people who use the dating website PlentyOfFish. Those two both claim to have connected with Manning on the site. The website, which shows a users location at the time of their last login, said that as of Friday night, Mannings was in Logan.

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It is the missing military items that trouble Kurt the most.

Everything else is replaceable, he said. Ive had those uniforms since I joined the Marine Corps. Thats when things really hit home for me.

The stolen car is a 2008 black Dodge Charger with Marine Corps license plates, but Harris thinks he may go as far to paint the car to sell the car for quick money.

Harris said those with information should call Salt Lake City Police at (801) 799-3100.
Contributed photo Liana Salas, lifeguard and water safety instructor, reaches the floating child mannequin to show the importance of getting to the child promptly during a safety event.

SHARE Contributed photo Liana Salas, lifeguard and water safety instructor, reaches the floating child mannequin to show the importance of getting to the child promptly during a safety event.

By Jamil Oakford, jamil.oakford@caller.com

No matter what body of water families spend their summer by, safety is key to ensuring responsible fun.

With 52 drowning deaths statewide, Nueces County accounts for six children deaths. In June a 6 year old girl drowned in an apartment pool on Nodding Pines. In May a 16 year old boy died while swimming in a man-made lake near Oso Parkway and a 12 year old girl drowned in an apartment pool on Cimarron Boulevard. In April a 13 year old boy drowned near Bob Hall Pier and in March a 13 year old girl and 4 year old boy died after the boat they were on capsized in Corpus Christi Bay.

Ahead of a big outdoors holiday weekend, the Corpus Christi Natatorium and Texas Department of Family and Protective Services hosted a water safety demonstration Friday.

The first tip for drowning prevention Natatorium supervisor Emmalee Winters doled out was the importance of watching children near water. Whether in a pool at home or at the beach, adults need to designate someone to keep watch.

"Our lifeguards are told they have 10 seconds to notice a problem in the water and 20 seconds to get to them," Winters said. "Most adults don't get that luxury when out with family because it isn't their sole focus. There's a lot going on. But there needs to be someone there to look after them."

Family and Protective Services media specialist John Lennan also said the person designated to watch must be distraction-free.

Even parents who don't know CPR play a vital role in saving a drowning child's life, Winters said.

"The very first thing is to call EMS," she said. "This is the No. 1 step to getting them the medical help they need."

She also suggested once child is pulled from the water and EMS has been contacted, parents give chest compressions. Keeping arms straight, the American Heart Association suggests 30 firm compressions to the beat of Bee Gees' hit "Staying Alive."
Natalia Contreras/Caller-Times About 10,000 people attended the 47th annual Rockport Art Festival. The festival featured artists from throughout the nation and offered activities for children, live music and food.

SHARE Natalia Contreras/Caller-Times Aviana and Vance Buescher decorated clay pieces they purchased at the Rockport Art Festival kids area Sunday. Their mother, Victoria Buescher, said the family attends the festival every year.

By Natalia Contreras of the Caller-Times

Aviana Buescher, 8, and her bother Vance, 5, got to do one of their favorite things Sunday.

They spent time painting and shopping for art to give to their grandmother for their birthday.

The siblings from Ingleside and their mother Victoria Buescher were a few of thousands who attended the 47th annual Rockport Art Festival on Saturday and Sunday at the Rockport Harbor.

Victoria Buescher said this is the seventh time they've driven there to check out the art.

"We come every year and the kids always want to come to the festival's kids area because they can paint and shop for art pieces," Buescher said. "We enjoy it because we get to see artists from all over and it brings a little bit of culture to the area."

The art festival is hosted by the Rockport Center for the Arts, and it featured about 120 artists from Texas and throughout the nation. Live music and food was offered inside an air-conditioned tent for patrons.

Rockport Center for the Arts executive director Luis Puron said the festival is the organization's biggest fundraiser of the year and it's made possible with the help of about 300 volunteers.

"The purpose of this festival is to support artists and to showcase their work," Puron said. "These are master artists and master craftsmen. Every year we strive to do better, we want to make sure that everybody knows about this festival and about Rockport."

Joey Blazek of Beaumont was the festival's poster artist this year. His work, "Orchestrated Chaos" was selected as the official image of the event.

This is also Blazek's fourth year to showcase his art at the festival and an exhibition of his work will be featured through July 30 at the Rockport Center for the Arts.

"This is my favorite festival. This is my first festival that I ever showcased at," Blazek said. "I prefer the smaller festivals like this one. I get to meet a lot of people and every time it gets better and better."

Fused glass artist Frank Thompson of Lake Charles, Louisiana, said this is his second year showcasing his work at the festival.

He said he has been to about 20 art festivals in different states and by far the Rockport Art Festival is one of his favorites.

"I love the area, people are very friendly here. It's an intimate festival and you get to meet the artists and hear the story behind the work," Thompson said. "The fact that is a coastal area and my style is kind of Caribbean, it's almost a perfect match."

Twitter: @CallerNatalia
SHARE Robert Knudsen, White House photographer, John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Boston President John F. Kennedy greets National Poster Children for the Muscular Dystrophy Association. Pictured from left: Patty Duke, National Youth Chairman, MDA; C. Leigh Whitaker; Mrs. Whitaker, Robbie Whitaker, age 7, and Kerrie Whitaker, age 6.

I was born in 1939 in the Midwest. Our house was surrounded by woods, and I well remember the peacefulness and tranquillity of my youth.

But even at ages 3 and 4, I was aware that we were at war. I had toy soldiers to play with and knew that real soldiers could get hurt  though I had little idea of what war and death really were.

It was a steep climb up the hill to Mrs. Stevenson's house next door to us. She had a big porch overlooking the woods and would invite me over to visit. Mrs. Stevenson was a refined lady who wore lipstick  even on Tuesday mornings at home  and was always well-dressed. She said she'd show me how to make stretchers for my injured soldiers. "Bring some twigs from the woods."

I had a goodly supply of twigs the next time I climbed the steep hill. Mrs. Stevenson cut out rectangular shapes from white cloth and showed me how to tie the corners onto the ends of two twigs to make a stretcher. I could now carry my injured toy soldiers to the Red Cross  or military field hospital.

I wondered why Dad wasn't coming home from the shop. He and three or four other men repaired electric motors for factories as part of the war effort. Working late at the shop one night  and in the darkness at the rear of the second floor  he fell down an elevator shaft, breaking an arm and a leg. Confined to a hospital bed in traction for weeks, he worried about the shop's keeping up with demand.

I went off to kindergarten at our small township school three months after the D-Day invasion at Normandy in 1944. There was an American flag with its bright red, white, and blue colors in the corner of the classroom, and we would recite the Pledge of Allegiance. And we regularly sang, "My country 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty  land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrims' pride." But my America was still largely one of Thanksgiving feasts and Christmas presents  not really knowing that fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, were still dying for that sweet liberty.

Only later in life did I begin to understand why Dad wasn't coming home from the shop and why there were row upon row of white crosses above the cliffs of Normandy. I learned that Bedford, Virginia, lost 19 of her sons on the beaches at Normandy, a horrific toll for a tiny town in the foothills of the Alleghenies. I was gradually becoming an American.

In the late summer of 1953, I was about to start my freshman year of high school. I was still awake with the radio on while my sister and parents slept. The Korean conflict was winding down, and my brother was still serving in the Coast Guard. His best buddy, Leigh Whitaker, was an army medic in Korea, his unit being overrun in an attack south of Seoul. Most were killed, Leigh disappeared, and for the past 37 months was an MIA, missing in action.

A final list of returning POWs  prisoners of war  was being read off on the radio. Suddenly the words came crackling over my bedside radio, "Charles Leigh Whitaker, Cincinnati, Ohio." I shot out of bed to wake up my sister and parents. "Leigh's coming home."

Newly married, my wife and I were living in Boston in 1963 when President Kennedy was assassinated, shocking the nation and particularly his home state where we were. Only later did I see the photo of Leigh Whitaker, his wife and children with President Kennedy at the White House a few months before the assassination. Leigh and Joyce's two children were the National Poster Children for Muscular Dystrophy.

Civil rights marches, sit-ins, Martin Luther King Jr.'s stirring "I have a dream" speech. The awareness of the limited liberty that blacks, other minorities and women had was a disturbing but real echo of those words, "My country 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty." Sweeter for some than others.

I now have a fuller understanding of what it means to be an American. All gave some, and some gave all. The boys from Bedford, POWs, army and navy nurses, my Dad's repair shop were all part of a larger, longer effort to grant a full measure of liberty to all Americans.

What experiences shaped your understanding of being an American? Has it changed with the ebb and flow of world events and personal triumphs and tragedies? Let us all reflect on what American has been, is today and should be in the future. And God bless America on this 240th celebration of our independence.

James F. Burns is a retired University of Florida professor.
Ekande Frederic on January 19, 2016, failed to overturn his 2012 10-year sentence by the Mfoundi High Court in Yaounde.

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The liquidator of the defunct Credit Agricole bank that collapsed in the mid 1990s, Ekande Frederic, will remain in prison until the end of his 10-year sentence handed down by the Mfoundi High Court in Yaounde on June 28, 2012. He was found guilty of embezzling 799 million FCFA, being money recovered from creditors of the State-owned farmers bank.



The Supreme Court in Yaounde on Tuesday, January 19, 2016, dismissed the application to squash the sentence, saying the reasons advanced were unfounded. Earlier, Advocate General Mr. Justice Ngatcha had argued that given the gravity of the matter, if Ekande was granted bail, he might never return to the country since he has bank accounts in France. In his appeal, Ekande, who, according to his counsel, Barrister Mong Antoine Marcel, was absent in court because he is seriously down with diabetes and a heart condition, wanted to be acquitted in order to travel abroad for treatment.



He believes that given the manner in which Credit Agricole was created, the funds he embezzled could not be termed public, thus he should be set free. Ekande Frederic was jailed for embezzling 799 million FCFA during his tenure as Credit Agricole liquidator from 1997 to 2001. He swindled the money through several bank transfers to his accounts in Societe Generale bank in Paris, France.

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Nga Roseline, a foodstuff trader, fled from her captors in the forest following her abduction in Emana, Yaounde on October 5, 2015.

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Nga Roseline, 46, a mother of three from the Eton tribe in the Centre Region, is said to have been abducted at Emana, Yaounde on October 7, 2015, at 11 pm. She later found herself in the forest in a place near Oku in Bui Division of the North West Region with her three kidnappers, another woman and seven girls aged 10 to 13 years. Nga Roseline, who lives in Saa in Lekie Division of the Centre Region, is a foodstuff trader or buyam-sellam in Yaounde.



Talking to CAMNEWS in Kumbo recently with Rev. Sister Julienne Tonfack of the Congregation of St. Annes Convent, Tobin, Kumbo, interpreting, Roseline, (reportedly married to a certain Mama Wanderin), said she went to the market at night to buy wares with other women. They boarded a vehicle at Emana, Yaounde for Saa at about 11 pm, but she later found herself in a forest near Oku. She was kept in the forest from October 5-12, 2015 when she escaped. She revealed that after sometime, the seven girls were taken away from the rest of the group.



The foodstuff seller recounted how she fled from her captors after going to excrete unaccompanied. After wandering through the forest, she later came across a group of shepherds at about 3 am on October 12, 2015. They later took her to a nearby village from where she trekked till she saw a signpost with the name Oku.



With the aid of Good Samaritans, Nga Roseline was able to get to the nearest town, and eventually to Kumbo where she sought assistance from Tobin Catholic Mission. According to Rev. Fr. Charles Mbuntum, the Parish Priest of the Tobin Catholic Mission, he took the woman to the Police Station Kumbo where they took her statement before she was allowed to go.



Father Mbuntum said after a second thought, he decided to take her to the Senior Divisional Officer for Bui before paying her transport back to Yaounde. The First Assistant SDO for Bui, Dr. Mohamadou, who received them, sent the lady back to the police for further investigations in Kumbo and Saa Police Station.



In a similar incident, Stanley Tata, a student from the Bambui Major Seminary, is reported to have been kidnapped from a tax he boarded for Bamenda and was found after one week in a forest in Bafut.

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Last minute preparations are underway across the country to mark the end of the fasting which is also the celebration of the feast of Ramadan.

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In just a few days Muslims in Cameroon will end the 30-day fasting period 2016. According to some Muslims the exact date for the fasting will only be known with the appearance of the moon which is expected is expected either on the 4th or 5th of July.



At the Briqueterie neigbourhood in Yaounde yesterday, June30, 2016 business was at its peak. During these last days of the fasting tailors are working hard to satisfy their customers. In some of the tailoring workshops visited, customers especially women, were waiting anxiously to check if their dresses were ready.



One of the tailors, Sani Alassan said preparations are going on well. He said his team is working extremely hard to finish the pile of work before the feast to satisfy their clients. He said during these remaining days they also sell already made dresses for people who did not have time and the means to buy materials before sowing. They sell the three piece gandoura for children, the saro, jumper, monde arabe, wrapper and blouse for women in different designs and sizes etc. The prizes vary according to the quality and design.



Families are also busy preparing for the festivities according to their means. Mrs. Hadja Aissatou Dala said she has already bought the basic needs for the family such as dresses for the children and other items. She said she will only buy food stuff on Monday since the feasting will end on Monday. She said her Sunday and Monday will be reserved for beauty saloons. She explained that during those days the women will do the traditional make up notably Hausa nail polish, body designing and plaiting.



As the fasting gradually comes to an end, Muslim faithful intensify prayers and acts of charity as recommended by the holy book, the Koran. Moulioum Rihana said during the last 10 days of the fasting there are two prayer sessions- from 7:00 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. and from midnight to 3:00 a.m. After that, the fasting begins till 6:00 p.m. She also said before going to the mosque, all Muslims are obliged to offer sacrifice. It is also a time for reconciliation with others before even beginning with the fasting.

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The United States of America Embassy in Yaounde yesterday, June 30 celebrated the 240th Anniversary of the Independence of the United States of America.

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US citizens and embassy staff were joined by Cameroon government officials, members of the diplomatic corps and other guests to celebrate the event at the embassy on Thursday, June 30, 2016 from 6:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Ambassador Michael S. Hoza in the invitation letters specified that all guests had to be subject to security procedures. He said one smaller personal bag had to be permitted.



South Africa: Warning to Fraudsters



Information at the South African High Commission in Yaounde states that any applicant allowed entry into the country due to any misrepresentation or false declaration on their application forms or who stay in South Africa in contravention of visa conditions shall be guilty of an offence and liable to conviction, fine or imprisonment as an illegal foreigner.



It is therefore deemed a criminal offence to present any forged or fraudulent documents on application for entry into South Africa. At the level of the High Commission, should any such fraud be detected, the matter will be handed over to the Cameroonian Police authorities and names of such as individual forwarded to the Department of Home Affairs in South Africa.



Turkey: Ambassador Multiplies Contacts



The Ambassador of Turkey to Cameroon Murat Ulku is currently multiplying contacts in the country with the intention of communing and better understanding the country. Within the framework of such contacts, he organized diner sessions in his residence spanning from June 22 to 28, 2016.



The sharing sessions have as guests some government officials, members of the diplomatic corps and religious leaders. The Yaounde fellowship sessions come after his tour to the Far North Region of Cameroon during which he handed some food stuff to the Governor destined for refugees of the Minawao camp. The humanitarian gesture comes within the context of the Ramadan fasting period.



Switzerland: Free Application for Schengen Visa



Authorities of the Embassy of Switzerland in Cameroon say Schengen visa applications and appointments are made online and free of charge. Information from the Embassy state that visa appointments are made uniquely using telephone N 652 22 21 21 or on www.swiss-visa.ch. The appointments are made from 8: 00 a.m. to 12: noon.

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"We're propping up an industry, the track is in Canberra, but it's essentially a NSW track. It's got 93 per cent of trainers from NSW, it may as well be over the border," she said.
One aspect that should change is excessive risk aversion. Over the past 10 years of writing these columns, the Australian Public Service has become notably more risk averse. It reflects incentives, many of which come not internally but from ministers. No matter how much successive governments have said they want innovation and risk-taking, in practice, when risks have eventuated, the public servants involved have been blamed and pilloried. The other incentive that makes a huge difference is selection and promotion decisions. In a climate where any hint of a mistake in a career history means a person is not promotable, it's no wonder public servants avoid risk: taking risks inevitably means a mistake or two along the way. In some departments, risk management has become a synonym for risk avoidance, and people are considered good risk managers if they never do anything. Reforming risk avoidance will require change not only at the senior levels of the APS but also to the culture of blame-finding among ministers and politicians. This is not impossible. Other jurisdictions (for example, New Zealand and NSW) have worked out ways to innovate and bring progress in the public service without a blame culture.
Orange has signed an agreement to acquire 100% of Sun Communications share capital. Sun Communications is the leading cable TV operator in Moldova. The acquisition of Sun Communications will, in theory, enable Orange to prepare itself better for the convergence which is sweeping through the telecoms market.

Orange plans to reinforce its position as the leading convergent operator in Europe providing fixed broadband, fixed and mobile voice services as well as pay TV services. The acquisition of Sun Communications is part of this strategy. Orange Moldova is the largest mobile operator in the country with over two million customers, providing high-quality 4G coverage to 84% of the population.

Sun Communications is one of the main Pay TV providers in Moldova by customer base and offers digital and cable TV services under the brand SunTV to customers in Chisinau, Balti, and Cahul. With over 172 channels and 25 HD channels on offer, SunTV is one of the largest providers of cable TV services with over 100,000 active customers. Sun also offers internet and VOIP (Voice over IP) services to over 38,000 customers in Moldova, offering up to 300Mbps connectivity.

The transaction will allow Orange to enter the fixed and Pay TV services market and offer new and innovative services to the new entitys customers, particularly offers and services across fixed, mobile and pay TV services.

The completion of the transaction remains subject to the approval of competition authorities.
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.
According to the information on the Delhi University's website, the results for the postgraduate entrance examinations for the 2016 session will be declared today, July 4, 2016.

The PG entrance test of the Delhi University was held from June 19 to June 23, 2016. As per the schedule, the results for the same are likely to be declared today on the official website of the Delhi University.

The registrations for the university's postgraduate programmes was done online from April 28 to May 30, 2016.

The PG Entrance test is a selection process for admissions of the selected candidates into Master degree courses offered by the university.

For the first time, Delhi University has conducted the entrance test outside Delhi to make it easy for the out-station students. The test was conducted in Bengaluru, Jammu, Kolkata, Nagpur and Varanasi along with Delhi.

DU PG Entrance test exam pattern: the entrance test consisted of objective type questions which was unlike the previous years subjective type questions.

Note: Candidates who want to obtain their copy of OMR Response Sheet shall request the same within 7 days from the date of declaration of the results.

Candidates have to pay Rs 500 in the form of demand draft for the OMR Response Sheets.

About 1.29 lakh students appeared for the DU PG entrance test. The test is conducted by the Delhi University for admissions into its 69 postgraduate courses offered at various college affiliated to the Delhi University.

The admissions to these PG courses are done through the entrance test, where 50% seats are filled through the test while the other 50% is reserved for the students of Delhi University.

After qualifying the DU PG entrance test, the candidates will have to attend the interview/group discussion session held at the university. The schedule for the interview session will be available once the results are announced.

Selected candidates will have to pay the the admission fee by July 18, 2016. The academic session will commence from July 20, 2016.
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VW boss Matthias Mueller rejected calls to compensate owners in Europe over the diesel emissions scandal just like the company did in the US, were it struck a the $15 billion deal with the authorities.



Last week Europes Industry Commissioner Elzbieta Bienkowska called the company to also compensate European owners of its rigged diesel-powered vehicles, stating that it would be unfair for them to be treated differently from US customers just because of the different legal system, Reuters reports.

We have a different situation here (in Europe), Mueller was quoted as saying by German newspaper Welt am Sonntag. He also stated that, while VW was on a solid financial footing, replicating the US deal in Europe would be proven tough for the company to cope with financially. Mueller said he spoken to Bienkowska in Brussels this week about the matter.

You dont have to be a mathematician to realize that compensation at arbitrarily high levels would overwhelm Volkswagen, he said. In the U.S. the (emission) limits are stricter, which makes the fix more complicated. And taking part in the buyback is voluntary (for customers), which is not the case in Germany, for example.

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Seats foray into the SUV segment could continue beyond the recently launched Ateca with an even larger model, which is under consideration for the turn of the decade.



Previewed by the brands 20V20 concept shown last year, which was eventually scaled down and morphed into the Nissan Qashqai rival, the large Seat SUV has been discussed by the companys UK chief, Richard Harrison, with Autocar.

The large SUV is interesting. When we saw the concept we all went, we want one of those to sell! But on reflection, it will push us up to a price point that is currently unfamiliar for our customers. We have to earn the right to sell cars there, and that is not where our center of gravity is now. In time, though, Id love to see it.

If it gets the green light, then it will go up against the Nissan X-Trail and Renault Espace, among others, and could also gain a more performance oriented Cupra version, which could make its way to the Ateca too, eventually.

Im fighting all the time for the Cupra range to be expanded, and we have to take it beyond the Leon and Ibiza, but all I can say for now is that there are various concepts in the consideration box, Harrison added.

Aside from the Ateca and its possible larger sibling, the manufacturer is also considering a smaller SUV, which will share styling cues with the next-gen Ibiza, while riding on the VW Groups most compact version of the MQB platform. Its rumored to go on sale next year, with the Nissan Juke, Renault Captur, Opel Mokka and Peugeot 2008 in mind.

Note: Seat 20V20 Concept pictured

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Photo: Contributed

Scholarships from Rick and Yasmin Thorpe and friends are inspiring graduating high school students from Penticton and Summerland to make the most of their studies as they step into the classrooms of Okanagan College this fall.

Eight students hailing from three different high schools assembled at the colleges Penticton campus on last month to receive their entrance scholarships.

Meeting students and their parents is rewarding for us, said Yasmin. The parents appreciate the assistance and the students are keen to talk about what they hope to achieve with their studies and their futures.

Education opens so many doors, said Rick. Yasmin and I feel incredibly proud to have been able to make a difference in the lives of students over the years.

Scholarship recipient Hector Carlos, of Penticton Secondary School, is one of those students reaching for the stars with a little help from the Thorpes.

I am determined to obtain a degree in physics and astronomy, said Carlos, who plans to complete the Associate of Science Degree program at the college before heading to the University of Victoria to finish his Bachelor of Science. This scholarship is going to motivate me even more to achieve my goal and will reduce my stress along the way, so I can focus on my learning instead of student debt.

Born in Mexico, Carlos immigrated to Canada in 2002 and moved to Penticton in 2008.

I am excited to make my own way in the world. This scholarship is going to help me to transfer my acquired knowledge and skills into a profession that will allow me to lead a productive life.

Honor Hollman, also a Grade 12 student at Penticton Secondary, is considering a career in education, social work, or nursing; she will take the first step toward that future when she begins the Associate of Arts Degree program at the College in September.

I am very excited to receive this award, said Hollman, and I cant wait to see where it takes me in the future.

I really hope to give back to the community through my future career, so I look forward to paying it forward and using this award not only to benefit myself, but to get to a place where I can benefit others one day.

The Thorpes have a long history of championing education in the region, having supported students at Okanagan College and UBC Okanagan for more than a decade.

2016 marked the 10th anniversary of the Rick and Yasmin Thorpe & Friends Entrance Scholarships for Okanagan College, which were established in 2006.

To mark the occasion, the Thorpes awarded 10 $2,500 bursaries.

Since inception, $92,750 has been awarded from the Thorpes fund to 43 recipients at Okanagan College.

The Rick and Yasmin Thorpe & Friends Scholarship assists students who are graduates of, or will be graduating from, a secondary school located on the west side of Okanagan Lake, from Penticton to Killiney Beach, registering in fullatime studies at the college.

The award also supports students already enrolled at the college who are continuing their studies.

Recipients must be undertaking courses in business, viticulture, agriculture, engineering, tourism/hospitality, trades, technologies, English or creative writing, science and nursing.

We are constantly amazed at the generosity of our donors in Penticton, said Donna Lomas, Regional Dean for the South Okanagan-Similkameen. The Thorpes have been deeply supportive of the College over the years, including spearheading the fundraising campaign for the Jim Pattison Centre of Excellence.

Awards like these send a message to students that the community and the College are behind them and invested in their futures.

The application deadline for the 2017 Rick and Yasmin Thorpe & Friends Scholarships will be in early March 2017.

Students are encouraged to review the application guidelines at www.okanagan.bc.ca/awards or [email protected] for more information.
Photo: Deborah Pfeiffer

The Penticton and Wine Country Chamber of Commerce has moved to 102 Ellis St.

They are still renovating at the location, but will welcome walk-ins the first week in July.

"We are thrilled to be downtown in our own bricks-and-mortar building that is even more accessible to our membership," said executive director Brandy Maslowski.

The chamber, previously located in the visitor centre, made the move because construction of the new casino is now underway at the site.
Photo: Contributed

Community Foundation South Okanagan Similkameen is expanding the Neighbourhood Small Grants program into the South Okanagan Similkameen regions through co-funding partnerships with Vancouver Foundation and the City of Penticton.

Residents in the South Okanagan/Similkameen can apply for a grant of up to $500 to bring people together and build community in their neighbourhood.

The grants help connect and engage residents in their community by encouraging them to come up with their own ideas for how their neighbourhood can be strengthened.

The purpose of these grants is to bring people closer together, to build a stronger sense of belonging, and to make connections between citizens, said executive director Aaron McRann. The grants are small because the money is meant to serve as a catalyst for action.

"The real impact comes from real people doing things that matter for their neighbours. Neighbourhood Small Grants are intended to be big enough to matter and small enough to do."

Small grants of up to $500 are available for projects by local residents (not charities), and the grants are administered through their program partner organizations and resident advisory committee members  all local community volunteers.

Neighbourhood Small Grants applications opened June 27 and the deadline for applications is Friday, July 29, 2016.

The grants program was created by the Vancouver Foundation in 1999 and is based on a simple, but powerful idea: when people feel a sense of connection and belonging to their neighbourhood, they are more likely to be engaged in activities that make it a better place to live.

For more information on the program and to apply online, go to www.cfso.net
Photo: CTV

Police say fire fighters from across the Lower Mainland have been called in to help fight a blaze burning in a conservation area in suburban Vancouver.

The Delta Police Department said in a release Sunday afternoon that the fire had forced the evacuation of a nearby industrial area.

The B.C. Wildfire Service was called in Sunday afternoon to help fight the blaze.

Donna MacPherson with the Coastal Fire Centre said about 26 provincial firefighters were assisting along with a helicopter and airtankers.

Police have closed Highway 17 from Highway 99 to the Nordel Connector, and traffic is being diverted.

Delta police posted a plea on Twitter, asking people to not stop and take pictures of the blaze.

They say doing so "simply causes more traffic delay and issues."

It's not clear what caused the fire.

Burns Bog is a 30-square-kilometre nature reserve southeast of Vancouver.

Provincial fire crews are helping to fight a blaze burning in a conservation area in suburban Vancouver.

Donna MacPherson with the Coastal Fire Centre says the B.C. Wildfire Service was called Sunday afternoon to assist local fire fighters with a blaze in Burns Bog in Delta, B.C.

The provincial wildfire service is sending 26 firefighters and a helicopter, and has also requested airtankers.

MacPherson says the fire was reported to be about 10,000 square metres.

It's currently unclear what caused the fire.

Burns Bog is a 30-square-kilometre nature reserve southeast of Vancouver.
Photo: Contributed

Surrey RCMP is currently on scene following a report of a body in the 9800 block of 130 Street of Surrey.

At approximately 1:50 p.m. Sunday July 3, police received a report from witnesses of a body in the 9800 block of 130 Street.

Upon attendance, a decease person was located. The cause of death and the identity have not been confirmed. The area was cordoned off for further investigation, said S/Sgt Joe Johal.

Officers are interviewing witnesses and canvassing the area for further information. Surrey RCMPs Serious Crime Unit is currently investigating and more details will be released as they become available.

Anyone with further information who has not already spoken to police is asked to contact Surrey RCMP at 604-599-0502, to remain anonymous call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or solvecrime.ca.
Photo: Getty Images

British Columbias fresh blueberries are known as small wonders and now they are being welcomed in a big market.

This is the first full season B.C. blueberries are being shipped to China. Agriculture Minister Norm Letnick visited Blueridge Produce in Langley today as workers are busy packaging fresh blueberries for the journey to China.

Last summer, a small amount of fresh blueberries were sent to the country to ensure that the packing-and-shipping process met all the requirements in the agreement between the governments of Canada and China. The test run was a success.

Now British Columbia will increase the amount of fresh blueberry shipments to China this season and B.C. blueberry growers could be looking at the potential of up to $65 million in exports a year, once the agreement is fully implemented.

British Columbia is one of the largest highbush blueberry-growing regions in the world, producing about 96 per cent of the Canadian production of cultivated blueberries. In 2015, B.C. farmers harvested about 70,000 tonnes of blueberries, an increase of seven per cent. Exports of B.C.s blueberries accounted for $218 million, up more than 29 per cent from 2014.

The British Columbia government is focused on increasing agrifoods exports to other countries and building the overall B.C. agrifoods sector to a $15-billion-a-year industry by 2020. Building markets is one of the key priorities in the BC Agrifood and Seafood Strategic Growth Plan. The effort is being supported by a network of 13 international trade offices, B.C. trade missions and the development of direct-cargo flights out of YVR.

The B.C. blueberry industry is excited about expanding international markets and especially this new opportunity to provide our healthy, sweet and quality fresh B.C. blueberries to China. 2016 will be the first full season of shipments to Mainland China and our registered growers and suppliers have been working hard to ensure the highest standards. British Columbia is one of the few regions able to ship fresh blueberries to China and today our growers celebrate access to this valued Asian market, said Debbie Etsell, BC Blueberry Council.
Photo: Contributed

Police are investigating after a body was located in a wooded area off the Massey exit to Highway 97 near the Pine Center Mall in Prince George.

On July 3, around 10:50 a.m., RCMP found a body in the bushes after receiving a report that a male had been assaulted near that location.

The City Detachments Major Crime Unit and Forensic Identification Section have been called in to assist and will be working alongside of the coroners service. At this time no direct link to the Highway exists and there are no concerns about ongoing public safety, said Sgt. Todd Wilson.

The male victim has not yet been positively identified and no further details are currently available.

Anyone with information about this incident or who may be responsible, is urged to contact Prince George RCMP at 250-561-3300 or anonymously contact Crime Stoppers at1(800)222-8477, online at pgcrimestoppers.bc.ca (English only), or Text-A-Tip to CRIMES (274637) using keyword "pgtips.
Photo: Google Maps

Police are seeking witnesses in a fatal motorcycle crash on Highway 12 near Lillooet, Saturday afternoon.

A 61-year-old male resident of Hope was killed when he lost control while travelling north, about 15 kilometres south of Lillooet.

The motorcycle was going downhill and through a series of curves at the time of the collision; 40 km/h advisory speed signs are posted prior to the curves.

A southbound pickup received minor damage on its rear driver side.

A second motorcyclist was travelling ahead and did not witness the crash.

Any witnesses are asked to contact Cpl. Andrew West of Central Interior Traffic Services in Ashcroft at 250-453-2216.

The accident remains under investigation.

 NewsKamloops.com
A daredevil who climbed Vancouvers Trump Tower has posted new video of him climbing the Goldstream trestle bridge near Victoria.

Joseph McGuire scaled the Trump Tower last year, and made headlines again last April after a serious fall at the Fairmont Hotel in Vancouver.

McGuire suffered arm, shoulder and spinal injuries in the nine-metre fall.

If I die, then hey  at least I enjoy what I do, McGuire told CTV at the time.

In the latest video, McGuire and another man scale the trestle bridge without safety gear, dangling more than 100 metres above the ground.

Such stunts have landed McGuire in trouble. McGuire was charged after scaling the 24-storey Eau Claire Tower in Calgary last year.

He was ordered to perform community service and warned others not to risk their lives.

This was one of the turning points of my life that helped me to assess my reasons for what I do. Chasing novelty is never ending, he said at the time.

Its unclear if authorities will pursue any action over his most recent stunt.

 with files from CTV Vancouver
Photo: Contributed

A veteran who fought for the right of Sikhs to wear turbans inside Royal Canadian Legion halls was laid to rest on Sunday.

I can assure you there is no way I would be the minister of national defence if it wasn't for Lt.-Col. Pritam Singhs education in Canada and around the world, Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan said at the funeral, Sunday, in Surrey.

Pritam Singh Jauhal served alongside Allied Forces in the Second World War as a member of the Indian Army. He died June 26 at the age of 95.

Jauhal made headlines in 1993 when he challenged a legion rule prohibiting the wearing of hats and headgear inside its halls.

In his fight, which saw the legion issue a formal apology, Jauhal even sent a letter to the Queen.

It is sacrilege for Sikh men to remove their turbans in public.

Jauhal came to Canada in 1980 to join his children, who had immigrated earlier.

 with files from CTV Vancouver
Photo: The Canadian Press

UPDATE: 6:35 P.M.

About 90 per cent of a peat bog south of Vancouver is expected to regenerate in the coming years, but it could take a century before the entire area recovers from a fire that tore through it on Monday, says the head of a conservation society.

Eliza Olson, founder of the Burns Bog Conservation Society, said the 30-square-kilometre nature reserve in Delta is believed to be the largest undeveloped urban wilderness area in North America.

"That's one of the beauties of having Burns Bog here in the water table," she said in an interview Monday.

"Because it's at the mouth of the Fraser River, it's an estuary-raised bog. You normally don't find a raised bog this far south."

A fire reported at Burns Bog on Sunday was about 50 per cent contained by Monday afternoon, with crews hoping to fully contain the flames by Tuesday morning at the latest.

Chief Dan Copeland of the Delta Fire Department said the blaze was 78 hectares in size, and about 80 firefighters from a number of jurisdictions were battling the fire.

How the fire started was unclear, he said, but a team of investigators from the Delta Fire Department and B.C. Wildfire Service were working to determine the cause.

Burns Bog is one of North America's largest peat bogs and flames can sink under the dry peat, where they burn out of sight.

But ground conditions and a quick response from firefighters kept the flames from burrowing beneath the peat, Copeland told a news conference Monday afternoon.

"We were able to get to it quick enough and soak it down so it didn't get deep into the peat," he said.

Fighting the fire is still tricky, he added, because of the area's soggy terrain.

Delta police have said it could take at least a week to extinguish the fire.

An evacuation order for businesses near the blaze was scheduled to be lifted Monday night. Highway 17, a major thoroughfare that cuts through Delta, was expected to remain closed from Highway 99 to the Highway 91 connector for several days.

Mayor Lois Jackson said the fire is a "major emergency" and the community was under provincial emergency status.

She said Metro Vancouver was monitoring air quality as smoke had drifted into Vancouver, but conditions improved since Sunday and it had not issued a general advisory.

UPDATE: 4:20 p.m.

A fire burning in a suburban Vancouver conservation area is now about 50 per cent contained.

Chief Dan Copeland of the Delta Fire Department says crews have made significant progress on the fire in Burns Bog and hope to have it fully contained by Tuesday morning at the latest.

The 78-hectare blaze started Sunday morning and there were concerns flames could sink under the dry peat and burn out of sight.

But Delta Mayor Lois Jackson says crews have determined the fire did not go underground because crews responded quickly.

Delta police Chief Neil Dubord says an evacuation order for a nearby industrial area will be lifted Monday night.

The flames and heavy smoke prompted police to close a portion of Highway 17 because of the fire, and Dubord says those road closures are expected to remain in place for several days.

UPDATE: 8:45 a.m.

The Burns Bog fire southeast of Vancouver has been 10 per cent contained, with crews hoping to fully contain the flames by the end of Monday.

Delta fire Chief Dan Copeland says the blaze is between 50 and 70 hectares in size, and 80 firefighters are battling the fire.

Copeland says one firefighter is being treated in hospital after suffering from a medical condition, but he declined to give further details.

Delta Mayor Lois Jackson says the fire is a "major emergency," and the community is under provincial emergency status.

She says Metro Vancouver is monitoring air quality as smoke has drifted into Vancouver, but it has not issued a general advisory yet.

Highway 17 remains closed from Highway 99 to the Highway 91 connector, and some businesses have been evacuated.

ORIGINAL: 6 a.m.

A fire burning in a suburban Vancouver conservation area has jumped the highway, forcing roads to close and businesses to be evacuated.

The blaze in Burns Bog was first reported around 11:40 a.m. Sunday and gusting winds fuelled its growth throughout the afternoon, said Delta fire chief Dan Copeland.

Delta police issued a statement late Sunday night that said the fire had grown to between 55 and 70 hectares in size, and was expected to take at least a week to extinguish.

The statement added that a Delta firefighter had been hospitalized due to a medical condition aggravated by the environment at the scene of the fire.

Copeland acknowledged that the blaze was giving crews a hard time.

"We were struggling. We had heavy winds this afternoon," he said. "They were a bit unpredictable. They were shifting on us and it was quite a dynamic fire."

Smoke appeared to have drifted into downtown Vancouver by early Monday morning, causing a heavy, acrid smell in the air.

Provincial crews were called in to help early Sunday afternoon. Donna MacPherson with the Coastal Fire Centre said about 26 provincial firefighters, and several airtankers and helicopters were assisting.

Other fire departments in the region, including from Metro Vancouver, also provided backup as the flames spread, eventually jumping Highway 17 and forcing police to evacuate an industrial area.

Delta police chief Neil Dubord said the evacuation was a precautionary measure.

"Certainly everyone is concerned about their businesses, but at this point in time, we don't feel that there's any threat to the businesses," he said.

Police also closed Highway 17 between Highway 99 and the Highway 91 Connector, diverting traffic around the fire, and the Fraser River was temporarily closed to marine traffic so airtankers could scoop water.

Dubord said it was unclear whether the roads would reopen in time for rush hour traffic Monday morning.

There was no indication Sunday evening of what caused the fire, Copeland said.

The fire chief described the blaze as a grass fire, and said embers from large deciduous trees are falling, creating spot fires.

"It's very dangerous," Copeland said. "It's very smoky."

The geography of Burns Bog also presents a challenge for fire crews.

Located southeast of Vancouver, the 30-square-kilometre nature reserve is one of North America's largest peat bogs, and the fire can get under the dry peat where it will burn out of sight.

"If a fire gets underground in that peat, it can run a long way and pop up somewhere else. So it's a very major concern in that regard," said Delta Mayor Lois Jackson.

It's not the first time Jackson has witnessed a major fire in the area. She was mayor in 2005, when a blaze in Burns Bog grew to more than two square kilometres and took more than a week to put out.

The mayor said Sunday that she hasn't had time to think about the previous blaze.

"We're throwing everything we've got at this fire to get it out as soon as we can. Obviously it's a very tricky fire to fight," Jackson said.
Crime Stoppers is asking the publics assistance in locating the following male who is wanted on a province-wide warrant as of July 4, 2016.

Corey Martin Cody (DOB 1972-07-06) is wanted for one count of assault and two counts of breach of undertaking.

Cody is described as a 43-year old Caucasian male, 59 tall and 186 lbs. He has brown hair and blue eyes.

Crime Stoppers will pay cash for information leading to the arrest of this suspect. If you see him, do not approach him.

Call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS, go to www.crimestoppers.net or text to CRIMES (274637) Keyword: ktown.

RCMP File # 2015-22607

Photo: Crime Stoppers Kelowna's most wanted is Corey Martin Cody.

This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.
Photo: The Canadian Press British Conservative MP Andrea Leadsom launches her campaign to be the party's new leader, Monday.

The head of the U.K. Independence Party, Nigel Farage, resigned Monday as party leader, the latest British political chief to tumble amid the political turmoil following the country's vote to leave the European Union.

Farage's departure makes him the third major political figure to announce plans to step aside rather than take ownership of the tumultuous times ahead as Britain navigates its departure following the June 23 referendum. An odd power vacuum has replaced the boisterous predictability of British politics.

"During the referendum campaign, I said I want my country back. What I'm saying today is I want my life back, and it begins right now," Farage told reporters.

Farage joins Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron, who said he will step aside to allow a successor to deal with the negotiation process to extricate Britain from the EU's single market of some 500 million. The favourite to replace him, prominent "leave" campaigner Boris Johnson, declined to stand for the Conservative leadership. The opposition Labour Party is having its own troubles, with leader Jeremy Corbyn clinging to office despite having lost a confidence vote by his party's lawmakers.

Farage was instrumental in the campaign to have Britain leave the EU, championing the issue of immigration. A much-criticized campaign poster featuring thousands of migrants massed at the border alongside the words "Breaking Point," typified fears that fueled some Brits' decision to vote for a British exit, or Brexit.

"The victory for the 'leave' side in the referendum means that my political ambition has been achieved," Farage said. "I came into this struggle from business because I wanted us to be a self-governing nation, not to become a career politician."

Farage said he would retain his seat in the European Parliament to see out the negotiations for Britain's exit from the EU. He defended his taunting of other lawmakers in the chamber last week, arguing he wanted Britain's voice to be heard.

Meanwhile, other politicians rushed to try to seize the moment and win a chance at power. British Energy Minister Andrea Leadsom launched her bid to lead the Conservative Party, pitching herself as a passionately pro-"leave" candidate who can both unite a divided Britain and strike a good deal with the European Union.

Leadsom is one of the least-known among the five candidates to replace Cameron, but gained attention as one of the strongest voices for a vote to leave the EU. She's targeting her pitch at Conservatives who think the next prime minister must be someone from the winning side of the referendum.

The Conservative front-runner, Home Secretary Theresa May, was on the losing "remain" side.

Leadsom, who went into politics after a career in financial services, says she would keep the negotiations on an exit deal with the 27 other EU countries as short as possible, because "neither we nor our European friends need prolonged uncertainty."

And, unlike May, she says EU citizens living in Britain would be guaranteed the right to stay. She says "we must give them certainty. There is no way they will be bargaining chips in our negotiations."

Earlier, Britain's Treasury chief announced plans to cut U.K. corporation tax to less than 15 per cent to encourage companies to invest and ease business concerns about the country's vote to leave the EU.

Treasury chief George Osborne says the cut is meant to underscore that Britain is "still open for business," despite the referendum result. A cut of about 5 percentage points brings Britain in line with Ireland's 12.5 per cent rate.

Osborne told the Financial Times it was time to "make the most of the hand we've been dealt." He is urging the Bank of England to use its powers to avoid "a contraction of credit in the economy."

Some businesses based in London are considering leaving for other cities like Dublin, Amsterdam, Frankfurt or Paris to benefit from the large EU common market.

Amid the uncertainty, a prominent law firm says it may go to court to force a vote in Parliament on the referendum. The law firm Mishcon de Reya , acting on behalf of a group of anonymous clients, argues that the referendum was not legally binding and that it is up to Parliament to have their say before the next prime minister invokes Article 50, triggering the start of negotiations for a U.K. departure from EU.

Cameron has insisted that it will be up to the next prime minister to enact Article 50.
Photo: Contributed

A landfill thief has finally been caught after months of stealing.

Oliver RCMP received 27 reports of thefts from the SIBCO landfill site located off Black Sage Road, since February.

At the same time Osoyoos also experienced a similar increase in thefts.

According to Cpl. Brian Evans thieves were stealing scrap metal and used batteries from the site.

Despite efforts from the RDOS to secure the sites, the thefts continued, primarily due to the remote and secluded location."

An aggressive strategy was put forward by police to curtail the theft problem.

Then on July 3, efforts paid off when officers apprehended a suspect inside the landfill.

Brian Barata, 38, of Oliver has been charged with attempted theft under $5,000 and possession of breaking and entering tools.

His next court date is scheduled for July 20 in Penticton.

Evans said landfills are private property and that accessing the site after hours is a criminal offence.
Photo: The Canadian Press

Blast walls, sandbags, and guards with machine pistols manning checkpoints ring the Israeli diplomatic compound in the leafy Cairo suburb of Maadi.

But inside the Embassy, which doubles as Ambassador Haim Koren's residence, you'd hardly notice any of the animosity traditionally felt by the Egyptian masses, for all the upbeat assessments of the future.

On a recent night at the compound, some two dozen Egyptians came for an iftar dinner, the traditional breaking of the fast during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which ends Tuesday. But the vast majority of them  including a cook wearing a Star of David T-shirt  were embassy employees.

"This is one of the best times we've ever had" in terms of co-operation between governments, said Koren, a veteran diplomat and fluent Arabic speaker posted here since 2014. "There's good co-operation between the armies, we have understandings about the Sinai Peninsula, and basically, we see (eye-to-eye) on development of the region."

After decades of wars followed by years of an uneasy peace, Israel has emerged as a discreet ally to Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, along with powerhouse Saudi Arabia and smaller, wealthy Gulf Arab countries.

El-Sissi, who as army chief overthrew his elected but divisive successor, the Islamist Mohammed Morsi in 2013, was heavily supported by those Gulf states. He has helped Israel further isolate the Hamas militants ruling the Gaza Strip, the tiny slice of Palestinian territory wedged between Egypt and Israel. Hamas had close ties with the former Egyptian leader and is rooted in Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood.

Israel often praises Sissi for his tough stance on militants, and considers him a key ally in what it sees as a shared battle against Islamic extremists.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and el-Sissi often speak on the phone. Last May, Netanyahu welcomed what he described as el-Sissi's "willingness" to help advance the peace process with the Palestinians, after el-Sissi said that Egypt's relations with Israel could be warmer if it made peace with the Palestinians.

"We have common enemies in the sense of terrorism, or if you like, radical Islamic terrorism, emerged from the same root no matter if it happens to be Hamas or the Muslim Brotherhood, ISIS, Jabhat al-Nusra or al-Qaida," Koren said. El-Sissi "understood quickly that we are all in the same boat," he added.

Israeli military officials believe that despite ideological differences, Hamas militants in Gaza are co-operating with extremists affiliated with Islamic State or other armed groups in Egypt's neighbouring Sinai region. They praise Egypt's crackdown on Hamas' cross-border smuggling tunnels, which had been a main conduit for weapons into Gaza, and say the Egyptian military is doing an admirable job in a fierce battle against IS militants in Sinai.

Israel has allowed Egypt to move heavy weapons like tanks, artillery and attack helicopters into the restive Sinai Peninsula to fight extremists including a local Islamic State affiliate, overlooking provisions in the landmark 1979 peace treaty between the two countries. The two sides also are considered to have close intelligence ties.

But the relationship remains complex. Israel closed its embassy in Cairo during the tumult that followed the 2011 uprising against longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak, when outraged crowds attacked it over the killing of five Egyptian policemen by Israeli forces chasing militants in the Sinai. It didn't reopen its embassy, now at the residence further from the city centre, until September 2015.

Leading figures across Egypt's political spectrum still reject full normalization of Egyptian-Israeli relations, with many professional associations and labour unions banning members from visiting Israel. Last year, parliament voted to expel a contentious member after he had dinner at the embassy, and in the uproar that ensued, one newspaper published a photo of Koren with devil's horns superimposed on his head.

Attempts at outreach to the Egyptian people can also backfire: Earlier this year a new Arabic-language Facebook page set up by the embassy was flooded with insults and anti-Semitic comments, with some likening Jews to pigs and others calling them killers over the long-running conflict with the Palestinians  a popular hot-button topic in Arab countries.

"Our aspiration is to come closer to the Egyptian people," through cultural policy and social media, Koren said. "But we understand, it's a long process, there's a long way to go. That's why the stability of Egypt is important, and also the success of its economy."

Koren himself ventures outside his diplomatic compound only under heavy guard. His family remains back in Israel, and he frequently returns home.

Spokesmen for the Egyptian Foreign Ministry and presidency did not respond to request for comment on the topic, underlining its sensitivity. But jets carrying Israeli officials arrive regularly at Cairo's international airport, where they are sometimes whisked away in official cars.

Egyptians who travel to Israel, even for religious pilgrimages, face scrutiny from their own state security forces, as do individuals entering the embassy compound, in the foreigner-friendly suburb of Maadi.

Koren said that despite the successful free trade areas for manufacturing known as QIZ zones, "it's going very slow" with regard to developing Israeli expertise in sectors that could benefit the Egyptian economy, such as agriculture, irrigation and solar power.

"Media here used to say that we were poisoning the seeds of the vegetables," for example, he said. Over the years a variety of myths have been perpetrated in the media  from attractive, HIV-positive women being sent to Sinai to infect Egyptian men, to sharks imported into the Red Sea to scare off tourists.

One boost to the relationship is Israel's lack of any official commentary on human rights issues, unlike some Western nations or sometimes the United States, Koren said.

"We are not interfering in those domestic issues," he said. "We don't think it's our role to educate or to preach for any kind of way that someone should run Egypt or any other country."
Photo: Contributed

A man has been charged after a brutal stabbing on Granville Street.

Vancouver Police say they found a 27-year-old victim covered in blood at 2 a.m. Saturday after he was stabbed numerous times.

The attack happened after two men were fighting inside a bar on Granville Street.

"Staff removed the two men from the bar, but they again began to throw punches on the street until one of them allegedly pulled out a knife and stabbed the other multiple times," said Vancouver Police.

He was taken to hospital with serious, but non-life-threatening injuries.

Vancouver resident Amandeep Singh Grewal, 21, has been charged with assault with a weapon and aggravated assault.

"Some reports of the stabbing suggested police were still looking for a suspect in this incident. In fact, officers stopped and arrested a man believed to be involved a short distance away," said police.
IEEE: welcome to Texas

ICR Research By

Published 06 July 2016

The 58th IEEE-IAS/PCA Cement Industry Technical Conference was held between 15-19 May 2016 at the Gaylord Texas Resort Centre in Grapevine, Texas, USA. Supported by a 176-stand exhibition, the event attracted more than 970 delegates from 28 countries and presented a wide range of technical papers as well as featuring panel discussions and tutorials. By ICR Research, UK.

The importance of Texas in the US cement industry was made clear by Conference Chair, Scott Nielson, at the start of the 58th IEEE-IAS/PCA Cement Industry Technical Conference. Cement plants in Texas produce 15Mta of cement, 13 per cent of total US cement output  more than Australias total cement production, he noted.

Jeff Austin III, commissioner of the Texas Transportation Commission, delivered the conferences keynote presentation by highlighting the importance of the Fixing Americas Surface Transportation (FAST) Act in providing the country with funds for critical highway construction in the next three years, and Texan initiatives such as Proposition 7 which will authorise stable funding for transportation in the state.

To continue reading this story and get access to all News, Articles and Video sections of the CemNet.com website, please Register for a subscription to International Cement Review or Login
Indonesia: SCG Indonesia's sales revenue up 18% YoY

04 July 2016

SCG Indonesia, a subsidiary of the Thai cement conglomerate Siam Cement Group (SCG), saw its sales revenue increase 18 per cent YoY to IDR1.39trn (US$103m) in the first quarter, mainly from cement sales.



SCG Thailand reported that revenue from SCG Indonesia's sales contributed 3.43 per cent of the company's profits in the first quarter, which was equivalent to US$3bn, according to a company statement.



"For the ASEAN [Association of Southeast Asian Nations] region, where economic growth continues at a steady pace, SCG's investment plans are on track, with the cement plants in Indonesia and Cambodia now in commercial operation," SCG president and chief executive, Roongrote Rangsiyopash, said in the statement.



The company said construction on its first cement plant in Java, operated by subsidiary Semen Jawa, was completed and commercial operations began in the 4Q15.



The company operates three core businesses: cement production, chemicals and cement packaging. It has operations in several ASEAN countries, including the Philippines, Cambodia and Myanmar.







Published under
Egypt: new licences may threaten Misr Cement

ICR Newsroom By 04 July 2016

The Egyptian government will announce the results of the license 8 tender on 30 July, which will see the addition of new production capacity to compete with current companies in the market. Beltone Financial said that the future of Misr Cement-Qenas market share is under threat, as the company currently occupies the second position in the market, following Cemex.

Beltone has predicted that cement prices in the country will remain low, at a price of EGP500/t (US$56.33/t), until 2018, compared to EGP700 (US$78.86) in 2016. This is due to the extensive supply, based on the current production capacity.

Meanwhile, Alexandria Portland Cement saw a 70 per cent decrease in production capacity due to diesel, heavy fuel oil and clinker shortages. A source at the company has said that it has resorted to importing clinker to offset the shortage.

Published under
Some living organisms thrive under extraordinary conditions, such as the deep sea. But just how do they withstand the enormous pressure?

Researchers at the Ruhr-Universitat Bochum and the Technische Universitat Dortmund have examined how the interactions between solvents and biomolecules change at high pressure. With infrared spectroscopy and computer simulations, they analysed the behaviour of the small molecule TMAO  short for trimethylamine oxide  in a pressure range from one bar to ten kilobars. These results could help us understand how organisms have adapted to life in the deep sea on the molecular level.

The team of the Bochum Chair for Theoretical Chemistry, headed by Prof. Dr. Dominik Marx, cooperated with the Dortmund Work Groups for Physical Chemistry of Prof. Dr. Roland Winter and Theoretical Physical Chemistry of Prof. Dr. Stefan M. Kast in the context of the Universitatsallianz Ruhr.

Life under extreme conditions

Not only micro-organisms but also larger animals, such as fish, thrive at extreme pressures in the deep sea. How they master this challenge on the molecular level has been little understood until now. It is known that, at high pressures, small molecules that stabilize protein structures accumulate in the cells of these creatures. One such molecule is TMAO. Just how it works, however, has remained a matter of speculation until now.

Spectra change systematically at rising pressure

The team of Roland Winter used Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy to record how the spectra of TMAO change with increasing pressure. In a diamond anvil cell constructed especially for the purpose, the researchers varied the pressure from normal conditions up to the kilobar range.

The vibration spectra obtained in this way provide insight into the structure of the molecule itself and also into the way in which its immediate solvent environment adapts to the pressure. The scientists observed that some bands of the spectrum shifted to higher frequencies, but also that individual peaks changed their form in a characteristic manner.

The two groups of Dominik Marx and Stefan Kast, both working theoretically, confirmed these findings with ab initio simulations and calculations based on liquid state theory. From the data, the team elucidated the molecular cause of the experimentally observed spectral changes.

More hydrogen bonds

At low pressure, the negatively polarized oxygen atom of the TMAO molecule creates three hydrogen bonds with the surrounding water molecules in almost all cases. At high pressure, however, according to the computer simulations, about half of all TMAO molecules have four hydrogen bonds. That is a drastic change in the solvation behaviour. We have never seen anything like this before, says Dominik Marx.

We can still only speculate whether this effect can actually explain how folded proteins and biomolecular processes in water together with TMAO can withstand extremely high pressures, adds Roland Winter. This is exactly what we want to find out together in further studies in our High Pressure Research Group.

With their combination of methods, the Dortmund and Bochum researchers have the right tools at their disposal. Coupling infrared spectroscopy with our theoretical methods based on the electronic structure of the molecules provides an outstanding tool for gaining new insights into the world of extreme biophysics, which is very difficult to access experimentally, says Stefan Kast.
D'Antignay Brashear, mother of 4-year-old shooting victim Kavan Collins, talks with the media outside Comer Children's Hospital in Chicago on June 29, 2016. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)

We barely flinched when we heard the news of a 4-year-old boy who was shot in the face while walking hand-in-hand with his mother the other day.

We didn't get as tearful or upset as we did the first or second or third time a child became a victim of Chicago's ruthless gun violence.

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This time, we didn't seem as angry. We were not as shocked that such a senseless act of violence against a child could happen in Chicago.

Perhaps we have gotten too accustomed to the violence. And for that, we should be ashamed.

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It's not that young Kavan Collins doesn't deserve compassion. He does.

He was innocently walking along a neighborhood street with his mother and younger brother when a stray bullet seemingly came out of nowhere. When his mother looked down at him, blood was coming from his mouth. There was blood all over him, she said. He was crying.

So why weren't we more outraged?

Maybe it's because, by the time of Kavan's shooting, we already had invested the bulk of our emotions on 3-year-old Devon Quinn.

The toddler was sitting in a car with his dad on Father's Day when a stray bullet hit him and landed near his carotid artery, leaving him paralyzed from the chest down and unable to breathe on his own.

Neither Devon nor his father was the intended victim. They happened to be in the line of fire when a reputed gang member, celebrating the life of a slain gang member, opened fire on a group of rival gang members. Now, a baby who had not long ago learned to stand on his own might never walk again.

It sounds ridiculous, doesn't it?

But these are the kinds of tragedies that happen in Chicago during the shooting season.

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When the temperature rises, so does the violence. And our children too often end up in harm's way. Coming off the Fourth of July weekend  typically the most violent holiday of the summer  we simply have no more emotional capital to spend.

June was a very costly month.

Jaylene Bermeo, 6, was shot in the back June 6, 2016, in Chicago's Palmer Square neighborhood. (Family photo)

There was 6-year-old Jaylene Bermeo, shot in the back and critically injured while drawing with chalk on the sidewalk in front of her aunt's home. The gunman, police said, was aiming at gang members inside the house.

Four days later, a 5-year-old girl was shot in the foot. She was standing outside of a home when several people came out of an alley and began firing. We never learned her name.

Then there were Devon and Kavan.

Those were just the babies. Only midway through the year, around 2,000 people have been shot in Chicago  an average of about 10 a day. That's more than New York and Los Angeles combined.

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What kind of city allows this to happen? And to do nothing, what kind of people are we?

Kavan will still need plastic surgery for the physical damage. But his mother worries about the emotional toll.

Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 64 Chicago police officers investigate where two men and one woman were shot on the 3300 block of W. Ohio St. in the East Garfield Park neighborhood early July 5, 2016. (E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune)

"My son is going to have to walk around with a scar on his face for the rest of his life," she said tearfully. "How am I going to explain (this to him when he looks in the mirror and sees his face?)"

Maybe she should tell him the truth  that he lives in a city where children are never safe, even when grasping their mother's hand. And in Chicago, she should explain, everyone talks about how much they detest the shootings but in reality, feel powerless to stop them.

We are emotionally drained right now. We can't seem to muster the same empathy as we used to when we see videos of grieving mothers, taped-off crime scenes and residents talking about how bad it is out there.

We've watched them too many times. We have grown accustomed to the tears of others. And perhaps numb to their obvious pain.

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In the weeks ahead, most of us will go along our merry way as Chicago comes alive with the joys of summer  the Taste of Chicago, concerts on the lawn of Millennium Park and fireworks at Navy Pier. We will try to forget that all around us, babies are getting shot.

In some neighborhoods, parents will not dare to allow their children outside for fear they will fall victim to the cycle of violence for which there is no pause button. Secretly, all of us will long for the return of a horrid winter  our only hope for the slightest relief.

Because we are convinced that no one can stop the violence. Not the mayor, not the police, not the perpetrators who are in so deep they have lost all sense of being.

And certainly not citizens like us. We are too tired, too disinvested to try.

So I will sit back and let the violence flow and others will join me in this peaceful place of ignorant bliss. Together, we will cross our fingers and hope that the shootings somehow stop or at least stay far away from us. Though we already know that they will not.

How can I be so sure?

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Because this is the city Chicago has become. And these are the kind of people we are.

dglanton@tribpub.com

Twitter @dahleeng
Jasean Purdis, 21, works as a youth leader at the Center on Halsted, encouraging teens to be tested for HIV. (Abel Uribe / Chicago Tribune)

Under normal circumstances, Jeffery Erdman would be encouraged by the drop in the number of people testing positive for HIV.

Instead, the decrease is another emblem of the damage wrought by Illinois' historic budget stalemate  damage that in some cases can't be reversed by the eleventh-hour budget deal struck by Gov. Bruce Rauner and lawmakers last week.

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The yearlong impasse forced many health departments and social service agencies to scale back HIV screening and halt community outreach programs. So while new HIV cases in Chicago's collar counties plunged by 50 percent, experts say that was in part a consequence of fewer people being screened. Testing is down nearly 70 percent in some areas, said Erdman, assistant director for programs at the nonprofit Illinois Public Health Association.

"I'm worried," he said. "It means that people are not getting tested in the numbers that they were, which means we're not identifying new positives, which means people are walking around with HIV infection and they don't know it."

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The consequences can be life-threatening. Those who have the virus but are not tested will not seek treatment and may unknowingly spread the virus to someone else.

The association is among the largest of dozens of organizations that have seen their HIV services hit hard over the past year. Like other social service organizations that rely on state funding, many groups that work on HIV prevention have laid off staff, slashed hours or scaled back services. Some have said they are no longer interested in working with the state if it lacked a budget.

Erdman said his organization has received only about 14 percent of the $2.1 million it was supposed to get from the Illinois Department of Public Health in the past year.

The department provides about $5.4 million annually for groups that provide HIV prevention, testing and education. Those agencies have been most affected by the inaction in Springfield, while the state's AIDS Drug Assistance Program has remained intact thanks to federal funding.

The stopgap budget deal approved Thursday will pay the state's HIV bills for the past year and provide "some money" for the new fiscal year, department spokeswoman Melaney Arnold said.

But a number of experts and advocates say the temporary reprieve is not enough: It won't allow them to test and treat someone who should have been diagnosed months ago, rebuild critical community relationships or rehire the qualified workers who found employment elsewhere after losing their jobs.

"There are long-term effects to the public health infrastructure that will impact Illinois far into the future," said Dr. Magda Houlberg, chief clinical officer for Chicago's Howard Brown Health, a community health center that focuses on the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.

While the temporary budget will provide some relief, it will give some HIV service providers only 65 percent of their previous funding levels, said John Peller, president and CEO of the AIDS Foundation of Chicago.

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"Should organizations deny HIV testing to every third person who walks in the door?" he said.

That HIV remains a highly stigmatized disease further complicates prevention efforts. Unlike cancer or diabetes, an HIV diagnosis can further marginalize people in higher-risk populations like men of color who have sex with other men, transgender women, and syringe drug users and their partners.

Steve Kamenicky has spent decades trying to kick his heroin addiction. After a former girlfriend was diagnosed with HIV many years ago, he has sought testing regularly.

"I'm thankful I didn't contract it," the 58-year-old said. "Most of the people I know who had it have died."

He credits Chicago Recovery Alliance's HIV testing and needle exchange program for helping him stay alive.

He said he is looking to get back into treatment and has been placed on a waiting list for a local methadone clinic.

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"I don't want to be doing this for the rest of my life," he said.

Howard Brown Health performed more than 9,400 HIV tests and identified 132 new HIV cases in Chicago in 2015. The homeless, particularly youth, also are vulnerable, Houlberg said.

"People are most concerned with their basic survival," she said. "That makes it more difficult to negotiate safer sex."

Lack of stable housing compounds the problem for some teens and young adults, who face additional challenges of poor access to medical care and scarce resources. They can also be difficult to locate, and they don't often fit the stereotype of a homeless person living under an overpass or on Lower Wacker, said Karen A. Reitan, executive director of the Public Health Institute of Metropolitan Chicago, which serves suburban Cook County.

Providers have learned to be creative to try to reach these populations, promoting their screening services in bars and clubs and providing late-night testing in parking lots, Reitan said.

Many organizations that rely on the institute for funding are unable to offer even the bare minimum of services because the nonprofit received less than half of its $1.7 million state grant, she said. Testing has fallen by 35 percent in suburban Cook County, Reitan added.

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"We will see these clients that we haven't been able to serve in a year or two," Reitan said. "They will be in an emergency room really sick with HIV that could have been prevented. I don't doubt that ultimately people will die because of the budget impasse and the lack of services and our inability to be out in the community doing the work that we know saves lives."

Jasean Purdis took his first HIV test at the Center on Halsted in Chicago's Lakeview neighborhood when he was 16, which he called "the age that youth go wild."

"I wanted to respect my body and take care of myself," said Purdis, now 21.

Purdis, who identifies as bisexual, said he's thankful he's been tested multiple times. He uses his position as a youth leader at the center to encourage teens to do the same.

"I think it's important that they know their status," Purdis said. "There are a lot of things going on in their life, and that makes a difference."

The LGBT community center has managed with a slimmer staff and without reimbursement for the $200,000 it's owed from the state, but it's unclear how much longer it can continue with the same level of care, said spokesman Peter Johnson.

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Through its grant, the organization has identified or confirmed 13 new HIV cases in the past year. The majority were teens and young adults between 16 and 29, an age group Johnson called the "new face of HIV."

The tests, which cost the center about $175 a piece, are free to the public.

"The state of Illinois and Chicago have very lofty goals of decreasing the incidence of HIV in our communities, but that is only coupled with funding," Johnson said. "If you're not going to fund these services, the opposite will happen. There will be less education, less testing, less linkage to care for people who test positive, and you'll see the incidence of HIV increasing."

Another casualty of budget cuts was a long-running program that provided HIV testing to recently released inmates downstate. The Jackson County Health Department, which ran the program, also cited the budget impasse when it announced in April it would close its offices on Fridays.

"Here we have a program where we're serving the prisons and the parolees in the lower 19 counties, and we didn't get a dime," said director Miriam Link-Mullison. "These are not decisions that particularly felt good, but my goal in reducing programming and taking less state money is to be less reliant as an agency on an unreliable partner."

Although it meant dipping into discretionary funds and placing an employee on furlough, staff members at South Suburban HIV/AIDS Regional Clinics have stepped up their roles as partners to other organizations with similar missions when those groups shut their doors, said Diane Clay, prevention and patient care coordinator of the Oak Forest-based group.

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"We had two clinics close in our area," Clay said. "We've been getting their clients. People are calling daily saying, 'I heard you guys are doing testing.'"

In some cases, the state health department has used federal money for programs that should be funded through the state. The Pediatric AIDS Chicago Prevention Initiative, which runs a perinatal HIV hotline and supports new mothers who test positive for HIV, received more than half a million in federal dollars from the state after being on the on the brink of closure.

Earlier this year, the group joined more than 60 service providers in suing Rauner over the state's failure to pay them.

Executive Director Anne Statton asserts that the money for HIV prevention services would save the state as much as $35 million a year in averted costs.

"Of all things, public health and communicable diseases are the province of the government," Statton said. "You can argue that maybe mental health isn't public health or child care or housing aren't public health, but I don't know how you argue that communicable diseases are not public health."

deldeib@tribpub.com

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Chicago's Independence Day fireworks display is viewed by people along the lakefront at the Adler Planetarium on July 3, 2009. (Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune)

Gloomy skies on Monday chilled the usual Fourth of July heat, but they won't mask the night's fireworks.

"In terms of cloud cover, there's definitely a good chance for it to linger around into the evening, right around the fireworks' time frame," said National Weather Service meteorologist Stephen Rodriguez.

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But because the swath of gray sky is expected to remain high off the ground, he said, "it shouldn't hinder that visibility too much."

Temperatures will stay in the low 70s throughout the day and night, Rodriguez said, on a day when the high historically reaches 84 degrees.

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Still, celebration organizers are anticipating hordes will flock to Chicago's shoreline Monday evening regardless of weather conditions, drawn to the city's only lakefront fireworks show like moths to crackling, dazzling fits of light.

Melrose Pyrotechnics, the Indiana-based company behind Navy Pier's Fourth of July fireworks, will kick off its biggest show of the year at 9:30 p.m. sharp. In the hours leading up to the show, most of the display's preparations were already complete, said Bob Kerns, the company's director of operations.

Over the past few months, he said, a team of engineers has spent close to 60 hours orchestrating Navy Pier's 15-minute celebration. Most of that work involved carefully synchronizing each of the show's 4,000 to 5,000 individual effects with specific crescendos, cymbal crashes and riffs.

"The music dictates the work, (so) every program is quite labor-intensive," he said. "We're already working on next year's Fourth of July."

It's by far Melrose Pyrotechnics' busiest season. Kerns said the company puts on about 300 fireworks displays during the week of Fourth of July, Kerns said.

"New Year's will never even come close," he said.

The month around the July Fourth holiday also tallies the highest number of fireworks-related injuries in the U.S.

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Last year, the month accounted for more than two-thirds of the more than 10,000 fireworks-related injuries treated in U.S. hospital emergency rooms, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

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On Sunday afternoon, Bridgeview canceled its fireworks show after one prematurely detonated. A pyrotechnician was hospitalized with burns to his hands and arms. Those fireworks were not provided by Melrose Pyrotechnics.

To accommodate the influx of traffic, CTA has additional rail and bus service along routes serving Navy Pier, the Loop and lakefront areas. Event organizers said once Navy Pier reaches its capacity, the site will close its gates.

In honor of the upcoming Olympics  which begin Aug. 5 in Rio de Janeiro  Navy Pier's fireworks will kick off in "Olympic spirit," Kerns said, and will also feature country music and Tchaikovsky's "1812 Overture." Despite the intensive preparation involved, the explosive nature of Kerns' work means he won't see it come to fruition until the public does.

"We can watch a computer screen of just data and know exactly what it will look like  or pretty darn close to what it will look like," he said, "but there's no way of knowing for sure until you actually see it live."

mrenault@tribpub.com

Twitter @MarionRenault
Chicago police officers investigate where two men and one woman were shot on the 3300 block of W. Ohio St. in the East Garfield Park neighborhood early July 5, 2016. (E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune)

Thirty-two people were shot in 15 hours between about noon on Monday and 3 a.m. on Tuesday to end the July 4th weekend, doubling the total number of gunshot victims from the three previous nights, according to police.

Among the wounded were a 5-year-old girl and 7-year-old boy playing on an Englewood street and two adults who were nearby at the time, according to police.

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The two were in the 5500 block of South Hermitage about 11 p.m. when at least one person started shooting, hitting the children. The younger was first taken to Saint Bernard Hospital and Healthcare Center by family members before being transferred to Comer Children's Hospital. The older child was taken to Comer Children's Hospital by paramedics.

Two children, ages 5 and 8, were shot in the leg while playing with sparklers in the West Englewood neighborhood on July 4, 2016. (John Kim/Chicago Tribune) (Chicago Tribune)

Police lay markers next two shell casings in the middle of Hermitage and more markers next to a separate location of shell casings further north in the block, on the sidewalk. Officers taped off Hermitage from Garfield Boulevard to 56th Street as officers scanned the street for evidence. Family members gathered at Comer Children's Hospital, where both kids ended up.

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Relatives said the kids were outside playing with fireworks when a person started shooting, though there was at least one other person with the shooter. They had emerged from a gangway looking suspicious, relatives said, and the shooting started not long after that. Though police said the boy was 7, relatives said he was 8.

The girl and the boy, who are cousins, were playing outside in a group of children when the shooter emerged from the gangway and fired shots, according to family. Dozens of people were on the block, and people scattered.

The girl was the first one the family realized was shot. Her cousin, Darryl Smith, drove her to Comer Children's Hospital.

"I literally ran through every red light," he said as he stood outside Comer's early Tuesday morning.

A couple of minutes later, relatives realized that the 8-year-old was also shot. An ambulance took him to the hospital. Both children suffered leg wounds from the shooting. The boy was in surgery because his ankle broke as a result of his injury.

Two other adults were shot in the same incident but didn't show up to the hospital until some time after the shooting. A 30-year-old woman and a 19-year-old man were each shot in the left leg and walked into the University of Chicago Hospital seeking treatment.

Another boy, 11, was shot in the 2000 block of South Western Avenue about 11 p.m. He was taken to Saint Anthony's Hospital with an injury that he thought was caused by errant fireworks. Medical professionals looked at the wound and determined it was caused by gunfire, according to police.

The attacks raised the number of people shot in the city over the Fourth of July weekend to at least 60, according to data collected by the Tribune. Among those, four people were fatally shot over the weekend holiday.

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Of the 60 shot over the weekend, 28 were wounded between about noon Sunday and 3 a.m. Monday morning.

A fifth person killed over the weekend was stabbed in a domestic-related incident, police said.

In other shootings:

Two people were shot in the 800 block of North Lavergne Avenue in the Austin neighborhood about 3:05 a.m. They were in a car at a stop sign when someone shot at their car, police said. A male victim from that shooting who is between 18 and 25 years old, later walked into West Suburban Medical Center seeking treatment for the gunshot wound. A 30-year-old woman who accompanied him was also shot in the back. She was transferred from West Suburban to Stroger Hospital in critical condition, police said.

A few minutes earlier, a 28-year-old man was shot in the 1000 block of North Latrobe. He also walked into West Suburban about the same time as the victims from Lavergne. He's in good condition. It's not clear how he came to be shot.

Three people were shot near the corner of Ohio Street and Christiana Avenue the East Garfield Park neighborhood just before 3 a.m. A 24-year-old woman was grazed and taken to Stroger in good condition, police said. Two men, 34 and 36, were each left in serious condition with multiple gunshot wounds. The 34-year-old was taken to Stroger and the 36-year-old to Mount Sinai, police said. Someone inside a gold Chrysler fired at a crowd as they were standing outside, police said.

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A 35-year-old man walked into Advocate Trinity Hospital seeking treatment for a gunshot wound about 2:45 a.m., police said. He wasn't sure where he was shot but police found his shot-up car near 92nd and Merrill Avenue, police said. Investigators later determined he had been shot in the 1900 block of East 87th Street.

Someone shot a 22-year-old woman in the 6800 block of South Campbell Avenue about 2:30 a.m. She's in serious condition with head and shoulder wounds, police said. She was sitting in a parked car when a man walked up and opened fire, police said. She was taken to Christ Hospital.

A 19-year-old was shot in the leg in the East Garfield Park neighborhood about 2:15 a.m. He was near the corner of Pulaski Road and Wilcox Street when he was shot but was uncooperative, police said. His condition was stabilized at Stroger Hospital.

Three people were shot in the 1100 block of North Ridgeway Avenue in the Humboldt Park neighborhood about 1:35 a.m. A 34-year-old man died at the scene. A 29-year-old woman was shot in the right leg, right knee and right shoulder and was taken to Stroger Hospital in serious condition. A 31-year-old woman was shot in the right hand and taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, police said. The man was talking to two women, who were sitting in a car, when an argument started and two people fired toward the man, hitting him and the two women.

Someone shot a 26-year-old woman in the right leg in the 11500 block of South Racine Avenue in the West Pullman neighborhood. She also suffered a graze wound to her head. She was walking into a home on the block about 1:35 a.m. when she heard an argument and then gunfire. She was taken to Roseland Hospital and doctors there stabilized her condition.

A 20-year-old woman was grazed downtown during a shooting near Jackson Boulevard and Michigan Avenue, police said. The shooting happened about 1 a.m. The woman was treated by paramedics from Ambulance 41 at the scene. The shooting happened as she saw a group of young men running toward her.

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Someone shot a man in the Brighton Park neighborhood about 12:40 a.m., police said. The incident happened in a gas station at Archer Avenue and 39th Place. The 23-year-old man shot was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital in serious condition.

A 26-year-old man walking through an alley in the 6200 block of South Drexel Avenue about 12:20 a.m. was shot in the face by someone who fired at least 20 rounds toward him. He was confronted by three people, one of whom opened fire, and was taken to Stroger Hospital in critical condition after he was shot, police said.

Someone shot a 15-year-old boy in the first block west of State Street on 79th Street about 12 a.m. Tuesday. He was walking out of a store when someone stepped out of a car and fired toward the boy, hitting him in the leg. He's in critical condition at Comer Children's Hospital.

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Two teens were shot in the 10500 block of South Yates Boulevard about 11:35 p.m. They were in a car when someone in another car fired toward them, hitting them both. A 17-year-old girl was shot in the right shoulder and a 19-year-old man was grazed in the back, police said. Both were treated at Advocate Trinity Hospital.

A man in his 30s was killed Monday night in the 6900 block of South Clyde Avenue in the South Shore neighborhood. Police responded to a traffic crash and found him in the street, shot in the abdomen. The man was taken to Stroger Hospital in critical condition, police said, but later pronounced dead. That happened about 9:20 p.m.

About the same time, two men were shot in the 5700 block of South May Street, police said. A 24-year-old man was shot in left hand, back and right leg and taken to Stroger Hospital and a 37-year-old man wounded in the same incident was taken to Saint Bernard Hospital and Healthcare Center in good condition. He had a leg wound. Someone on foot fired shots toward them, hitting them both.

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A 24-year-old man was left in critical condition with a chest wound from a shooting in the 1800 block of West Erie Street about 9 p.m., police said. He was at a party when someone on a bike fired toward the man, hitting him in the chest.

About 8:30 p.m., someone shot a 29-year-old man in the leg in the 7200 block of South Artesian Avenue. He was outside in a crowd when someone walked up and shot him in the leg. He's in good condition at Advocate Christ Medical Center.

About 7:15 p.m. a 32-year-old man shot shot on the 1700 block of North Mozart Street in the Logan Square neighborhood, police said. The man was walking when he was shot in the left knee, police said. The man, who is a gang member, was taken to Stroger Hospital, where his condition stabilized, police said.

At 2:15 p.m., a person was shot on the 1500 block of West Garfield Boulevard in the Back of the Yards neighborhood, said Officer Thomas Sweeney, a police spokesman. A 17-year-old was in a vehicle that was stopped when another vehicle pulled up and shots were fired, hitting the teen in the shoulder, Sweeney said. The teen was taken to Saint Bernard Hospital, where his condition had stabilized.



At 1:25 p.m., a 33-year-old man was shot on the 9800 block of South Ingleside Avenue in the Cottage Grove Heights neighborhood on the South Side, Sweeney said. The man was shot in the buttocks and leg and was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center, where his condition was stabilized. The man was on the street when a van pulled up and people exited and began firing.



Around 12:15 p.m. in the Princeton Park neighborhood on the Southeast Side, a 27-year-old man was shot on the 200 block of West 95th Street, Sweeney said. The man was shot in the legs and was taken to Little Company of Mary Hospital in good condition, Sweeney said.
Broward County, Florida, launched a remarkable experiment a decade ago. Instead of depending on teachers and parents to nominate children for IQ testing leading to gifted designations, the district gave a preliminary giftedness test to all second-graders.

Most of us assume the way we select gifted children catches nearly all students ready for advanced instruction. But Broward County schools proved otherwise, according to economists David Card of the University of California at Berkeley and Laura Giuliano of the University of Miami.

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All second-graders took a short test on shapes and designs. Those who scored well were given a three-hour IQ test. That produced a big jump in the number of third-graders who met the IQ standards for the district's gifted program. The additional students were disproportionately poor, black or Hispanic and more likely to have parents who spoke a language other than English.

The increase was mind-bending.

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"With no change in the minimum standards for gifted status," the authors said in their paper for the National Bureau of Economic Research, "the screening program led to a 180 percent increase in the gifted rate among all disadvantaged students, with a 130 percent increase for Hispanic students and an 80 percent increase for black students."

When the program began in 2005, non-disadvantaged students needed a minimum 130 points on the IQ test to receive gifted services. Students who were poor or still learning English had a 116-point threshold. Even with that adjustment, only 28 percent of gifted students in third grade were Hispanic or black, in a district where those ethnicities make up 60 percent of the total enrollment. Thirteen elementary schools in poor neighborhoods had no third-grade gifted students at all.

Under the new system, parents and teachers could still nominate students they thought should be IQ tested. Parents could have their students tested privately and submit those scores. "There is a thriving private market for IQ testing in the district," the researchers said, "with many psychologists offering first-time IQ tests and re-testing for children who failed to meet the state mandated standards on an earlier test."

In Broward County, some experts expressed concern that even if poor and minority students tested well enough to take gifted classes, they would not have the middle-class study habits and parental support to succeed. Card and Giuliano cited suggestions that "the newly identified students may also disrupt the quality of gifted services for other students, undermining the value of the program."

But when the researchers looked at the distribution of test-score gains for third- and fourth-graders, there was no sign of the disadvantaged students having any disruptive effect on the scores of gifted students selected from the usual families. The data suggested that "the newly identified students benefitted even more from participating in gifted education" than the students who had been identified under the traditional system, the researchers said.

Why did the teachers and parents who nominated gifted candidates miss so many disadvantaged children? Poor and immigrant children tend to have lower test scores and grades on average, the researchers noted, which might have led people to assume that few of them had the intellectual potential of more-privileged kids.

Today, Broward has more students designated as gifted than ever before, district spokeswoman Cathleen Brennan said. Most Washington-area school districts have also moved to testing all students, but nationally, little has changed.

National Association for Gifted Children board chair George Betts said, "Few states require universal screening for giftedness." He also said, "Gifted education programming is not mandated across the country, [and] universal screening is expensive." The standard educator and parent referrals, he said, are not enough to identify all gifted students.

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That seems obvious. It is time for school districts to explain what their designated gifted children are getting that is important, and why they don't offer it to minority and poor kids who are just as smart.
Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-OK) was forced to land his small plane during severe weather in Oklahoma. (Larry French / Getty Images)

KETCHUM, Okla.  Severe weather forced U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe to land an airplane at a small airport in Oklahoma, his spokeswoman said Sunday night.

Donelle Harder, a spokeswoman for the Oklahoma Republican, said Inhofe was out flying Sunday evening when the weather forced him to land in Ketchum, about 70 miles northeast of Tulsa. Much of the state was under a severe thunderstorm watch Sunday.

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The 81-year-old senator, an avid pilot, "walked away and is now at home with his family celebrating" the July Fourth holiday, Harder said in a statement.

Inhofe was flying with another local pilot, each in separate planes, said Harder, who didn't respond to further questions about the incident.

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FAA spokesman Lynn Lunsford said the agency had received a report that a pilot veered into some brush to avoid a deer on the runway at Ketchum. The agency did not release the pilot's name but said the person was not injured. The FAA is investigating.

Inhofe has over 11,000 flight hours, according to a biography on his website. He has been a pilot for decades and is known for flying to campaign stops across the state.

In 2011, the senator ran afoul of the FAA when he landed a plane on a closed runway at a rural South Texas airport even though there was a giant yellow X and trucks on the runway. Workers on the ground scrambled to get out of the way.

Inhofe's son, Perry Inhofe, died in a small plane crash in November 2013.

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Participants stand to recite the Pledge of Allegiance at the Western Conservative Summit in Denver on Friday. (David Zalubowski / Associated Press)

Reporting from Denver  To understand the dilemma Colorado Republicans wrestled with at a conservative gathering this weekend, one only had to look at the range of speakers, whose positions on Donald Trump ran the gamut from enthusiastic support to vehement opposition.

Trump himself came to Colorado for the Western Conservative Summit, an annual weekend-long confab organized by a local Christian university. As did Hugh Hewitt, the radio personality and one-time Trump skeptic turned reluctant supporter. Yet so did Ben Shapiro, a conservative writer staunchly against Trump.

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Perhaps nowhere does Trump's candidacy vex Republicans more visibly than Colorado, which is home base for the latest effort to block his nomination at this month's national convention, and where Republicans faced Trump's ire during the primaries for its complex caucus system.

"We call it the Frontier State for a reason. There's a lot of independently minded thinkers out here," said state GOP Chairman Steve House. "We have a lot of unaffiliated voters for a reason. I think that it's just that we have delegates who are not convinced he's the right guy."

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Trump tried to make amends, acknowledging the pivotal role this swing state will play in November. "We do have to win Colorado," he told a crowd of several thousand Friday. "I'll be back a lot."

He also gave a nod to two of the state's core conservative constituencies  gun rights advocates and evangelical Christians. But the mentions struck some attendees as discordant.

"He's at a think tank aligned with a conservative Christian college. And then he says, 'Are there any evangelicals here?' It's a weird way to talk about it when you're in [front of] this audience," said Ryan Call, a former chairman of the Colorado Republican party.

That may not be harmful for an unconventional politician like Trump, Call said, who could tap into Colorado's independent voters.

"He is rewriting the playbook," Call said. "He is coming at it from a very different orientation and perspective of what makes up a Trump voter. I will tell you, they don't make up traditional Republican voter in a lot of ways."

But Trump also dwelt on his past squabbles with the state's establishment, lamenting the complicated delegate selection process that left him without any loyalists in its delegation to Cleveland. In the spring, Trump loudly denounced the system as corrupt, stoking a pushback against state Republicans that was so fierce that House received death threats.

Trump turned off some summit-goers by bringing up his complaints about the state's delegate process again.

"He's here to unify, supposedly, and get us on board with his message. And he comes and drives a dagger in us again," said Kendal Unruh, a Denver-based schoolteacher and longtime conservative activist who said Trump's original tirade against the Colorado caucuses hardened her opposition to him.

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She has since become one of the most public faces of the "free the delegates" movement that seeks to enable convention delegates to vote for whomever they'd like, instead of being bound to the results of their state's caucus or primary.

House, the state party chief, said he was not taking a position on the effort, but said he didn't expect it would make a difference even if the delegates were unbound.

"I don't think enough delegates will vote against him who are currently pledged to him to matter," he said.

At the gathering, Trump had a contingent of vigorous backers, including former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who dismissed the movement as "Republicans Against Trump  or RAT for short."

Republican Senate candidate Darryl Glenn, looking to unseat incumbent Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) in a closely watched race, pledged to stand with Trump and pleaded with attendees to do the same.

But the anti-Trump faction was also prominent at the weekend gathering. Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse, one of the Republicans most ardently against Trump, spoke to student groups and at a donor dinner, where, according to attendees, he talked about the importance of virtue and how neither candidate struck him as having strong enough morals to earn his support.

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Some of the most vocal Trump holdouts in conservative media, including Erick Erickson and Shapiro, were also given prominent speaking slots.

"Conservatism is in danger of slaughtering its principles on the altar of Trump," Shapiro said in scathing remarks that drew a mix of boos and cheers.

Jeff Hunt, the director of the Centennial Institute, the conservative think tank that organized the event, said he heard objections from all sides about the conference's mixed fare.

"'Why are you inviting Donald Trump? He's not a conservative.' I heard that from the Ben Sasses of the world," Hunt said. "And then from the other side I heard, 'Why are you inviting Ben Sasse and Erick Erickson? Because right now if we want to advance conservatism, we need to stop Hillary Clinton.'

"Listen, this isn't about one particular election," he added. "We're family here. If we can't get together at the Western Conservative Summit, where can we get together?"

Outside the gathering, anti-Trump protesters tangled with supporters. Three people were arrested on Friday according to Denver police, two for public fighting and another for interference.

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Inside the convention center, many summit-goers expressed a grudging acceptance for their party's likely nominee.

"Of the 17 candidates, he was the bottom of the heap for me," said Tim McTavish, who runs an online-giving platform for nonprofits. Nevertheless, he came around to Trump this weekend, swayed by the pragmatic argument of preventing a Democratic president from filling likely Supreme Court vacancies.

Joan Tupper, a retiree from Arvada, said she had initially preferred Texas Sen. Ted Cruz.

"I'm pretty much a Coloradan that way," she said. But she sides with Trump over Clinton for the general election.

Still, she appreciated the debate rippling through the weekend summit; it's one happening in her own family.

"My twin sister  she does not like Trump at all," said Tupper, 82. "She'd vote for Hillary before she'd vote for Trump."
Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley once declared, "A newspaper is the lowest thing there is." But this city's newspapers have seen plenty of high points too. As Tribune Publishing is renamed Tronc and the entire industry seems to be fighting for its digital future, let's take a look at Chicago's rich history of newspapers.

1. After the Iroquois Theater fire killed 602 people in 1903, reporter Walter Howey was quick to the scene. Howey, who would later be the model for the unscrupulous editor in the play "The Front Page," worked for the City Press Association, which supplied copy to newspapers. Near the fire scene, Howey reportedly paid a bookmaker $20 for exclusive use of a phone and then hired a kid to buy a box of straight pins and put one in the wire of every public phone nearby, rendering them inoperable for other reporters.

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2. John Kennedy was a Chicago newspaper reporter for three months in 1945. After convalescing from his World War II injuries, he took a job with the Chicago Herald-American that was arranged by his powerful father. But JFK didn't cover local news  he immediately got plum assignments in San Francisco and Europe. The future president soon tired of journalism, however, writing: "Instead of doing things, you were writing about people who did things."

President John F. Kennedy on Nov. 2, 1962, speaking about the Cuban missile crisis. Kennedy was a Chicago newspaper reporter for three months in 1945. (Associated Press)

3. Kennedy wasn't entirely right  sometimes journalists do things. The Chicago Sun-Times' Roger Ebert wrote the script for the campy hippie sex film "Beyond the Valley of the Dolls." Wallace Rice, a writer for the Chicago Tribune and other papers, designed the official Chicago flag. Others, like Kennedy, left journalism to find their true calling. Harold Ickes, a reporter for the Tribune and the Chicago Record, later served as U.S. interior secretary, overseeing many aspects of the New Deal. And let's not forget William Veeck Sr., a sportswriter for the Chicago American who became a Cubs executive, helping the team win National League pennants in 1929 and 1932.

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4. If Tribune Publisher Col. Robert McCormick had had his way, American English would be simpler, with such words as agast, altho, burocracy, cigaret, distraut, fantom, missil, reherse, skilful, subpena, thoro, trafic, warant and yern.

In the 1980s the Chicago Sun-Times once featured a mascot named Wally the Self-Respecting Fish. (Chicago Sun-Times)

5. The Sun-Times once featured a mascot named Wally the Self-Respecting Fish. The cartoon mascot appeared briefly in the mid-'80s after Rupert Murdoch bought the Sun-Times and top columnist Mike Royko jumped to the Tribune with a famous declaration: "No self-respecting fish would want to be wrapped in Murdoch's publications." Wally served as a front-page rebuttal  a fish "wrapped up" in all the good things in the Sun-Times. But the bitter rivalry with the Tribune was front and center. In fact, Wally's first appearance included a Page 1 jab at the Tribune's first family: "Wally Says: Find Out Why Col. McCormick's Mom Hated Him, Page 5."

6. Fake bylines were once common in Chicago newspapers. Tribune movie reviewers used the pen name Mae Tinee (as in "matinee"). Twin sisters Eppie Lederer and Pauline Phillips gave advice as Ann Landers and Abigail Van Buren. Other writers used the pseudonyms Old Rural and Peregrine Pickle. Chicago anti-lynching crusader Ida B. Wells wrote in newspapers as Iola and Exiled, but that didn't fool her enemies. A Memphis, Tenn., editor once sent a telegram reading: "Lee Walker, colored man, accused of raping white women, in jail here, will be taken out and burned by whites tonight. Can you send Miss Ida Wells to write it up?"

7. Robert Abbott, whose Chicago Defender newspaper inspired civil rights activism throughout the country, encountered prejudice from blacks and whites over his dark complexion. When Abbott became a lawyer, a lighter-skinned African-American attorney warned him that he was "a little too dark to make an impression on the Illinois courts."

8. Chicago's gay newspapers Windy City Times and Outlines carefully tracked Barack Obama's evolving position on same-sex marriage. In an Outlines candidate survey when Obama ran for the state Senate in 1996, he supported gay marriage. Two years later, he was "undecided." In 2004, when he ran for the U.S. Senate, he had fully backtracked on gay marriage, though he favored civil unions. In a 2004 interview with the Windy City Times' Tracy Baim, he said, "I am not a supporter of gay marriage as it has been thrown about, primarily just as a strategic issue." Obama remained opposed when he ran for president in 2008. But as public support climbed, he favored same-sex marriage during his 2012 re-election bid.

9. Chicago newspapers have had plenty of "scoops." The Sun-Times invented its own exclusive in the 1970s by opening a fake bar called the Mirage and waiting for government officials to solicit bribes. The Chicago Daily News uncovered evidence that helped crack the Leopold-Loeb murder case in 1924. And the Tribune was so far ahead on Spanish-American War news that its editor telephoned President William McKinley to inform him of the U.S. fleet's victory in Manila Bay. But the Tribune's World War II reporting wasn't so welcome. A Tribune report on the Battle of Midway exposed the fact that the U.S. had broken the Japanese navy's code. President Franklin Roosevelt tried to bring up the Tribune on charges, but a Chicago grand jury declined.

10. Chicago's mainstream newspapers were enthusiastic about the death sentences for five anarchists in the 1886 Haymarket bombing even though no evidence linked them to the explosive. One of the five, Louis Lingg, cheated the hangman. A dynamite cartridge was smuggled into his cell, and he ignited it in his mouth, blowing off half his face. He died after six hours of agony. That grim news inspired a peppy headline in the Chicago Inter-Ocean: "Lingg's Suicide Saves the Use of a Fifth Rope."

Mark Jacob, the Tribune's associate managing editor for metropolitan news, is a former editor at the Sun-Times and co-wrote a book about the Daily News. Thanks to former Sun-Times staffers Bob Mutter, Jeff Johnson and Joe Pixler for help in tracking down Wally.

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mjacob@tribpub.com

SOURCES: "John F. Kennedy: A Biography," by Michael O'Brien; "Tinder Box: The Iroquois Theatre Disaster 1903," by Anthony P. Hatch; "The Defender: How the Legendary Black Newspaper Changed America," by Ethan Michaeli; "Ida B. Wells-Barnett and American Reform, 1880-1930," by Patricia A. Schechter; "Royko: A Life in Print," by F. Richard Ciccone; "Obama and the Gays: A Political Marriage," by Tracy Baim; "Encyclopedia of American Journalism," edited by Stephen L. Vaughn; "Historical Dictionary of the Great Depression, 1929-1940," by James Stuart Olson; imdb.com; biography.com.
Secretary of Labor James J. Davis speaks at the 42nd annual Loyal Order of Moose convention, which merged with a Fourth of July celebration, July 4, 1926, in Mooseheart, Ill. Davis "emphasized the influence of the Spirit of '76 on American life today, and expressed an optimistic view of the country's future." (Chicago Tribune historical photo / Chicago Tribune)

James G. Blaine, a 19th century Republican Party notable, wasn't good at reading the political tea leaves. Three times he made an unsuccessful bid for the presidency. Yet he had a keen eye for the essential contours of our nation.

"The United States is the only country with a known birthday," Blaine observed.

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That is not exactly true  plenty of countries, many also former British colonies, proudly celebrate their independence days.

But by marking our nation's birth each summer, we can look at the Fourth of July as a kind of historical graph paper. On it, we can plot how we've been doing since 1776, when the signers of the Declaration of Independence boldly announced: "We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal."

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Accordingly, the day is traditionally an occasion for speech-making. In 1783, a Boston town meeting prescribed an annual July Fourth oration: "In which the Orator shall consider the feelings, manners and principles which led to this great National Event as well as the important and happy effects whether general or domestic which already have and will forever continue to flow from the auspicious epoch."

Given those grandiloquent specifications, it is not surprising that July Fourth witnesses a certain amount of vacuous rhetoric. John Burroughs, a popular writer of the 19th century, observed: "That which distinguishes this day from all others is that then both orators and artillerymen shoot blanks."

Some speakers have known better than to try to top the Declaration of Independence's lofty sentiments. They have simply read Thomas Jefferson's words. In 1898, the Tribune asked two participants in Chicago's first celebration of the holiday to share their memories of July 4, 1830. They recalled that a certain Dr. Egan "attempted" to read the Declaration of Independence. The occasion was also marked by the crowd's consumption of several barrels of whiskey.

Yet some years, events have demanded a full speech from the U.S. president. So consider the accompanying excerpts of remarks by Abraham Lincoln, Woodrow Wilson and Franklin D. Roosevelt, delivered on July Fourth in years when our nation was at war.

The year that Wilson spoke, the Tribune reported that the Fourth of July had become a celebration of freedom for another people too. On July 4, 1918, with France threatened by a German invasion, honors were paid to U.S. soldiers and Marines who had fallen in France's defense:

"Old women and children living in the vicinity of American cemeteries fairly smothered the graves of America's heroic dead with fresh flowers."

Yet despite being born during a war, and defended in subsequent wars, the United States of America doesn't mark the anniversary of its independence with martial display or chest-thumping nationalism. Unless it's deployed overseas, a local National Guard unit might march in a town's parade  and, of course, we cheer. They're our young men and women, and in their faces we can glimpse the Minutemen who defended our as-yet-unborn nation at Lexington and Concord.

But then come the 4-H clubs, volunteer fire companies, antique cars and tractors, veterans' organizations, high school bands, baton twirlers and clowns throwing candy to the children. Afterward there are backyard barbecue parties. As columnist Erma Bombeck once observed, that kind of July Fourth speaks realms about America:

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"You have to love a nation that celebrates its independence every July 4, not with a parade of guns, tanks and soldiers who file by the White House in a show of strength and muscle, but with family picnics where kids throw Frisbees, the potato salad gets iffy, and the flies die from happiness. You may think you have overeaten, but it is patriotism."

rgrossman@tribpub.com

President Abraham Lincoln in an address to Congress on July 4, 1861, shortly after the beginning of the Civil War:

Abraham Lincoln is shown in 1860. (FPG, Getty Images)

"This is essentially a people's contest. On the side of the Union it is a struggle for maintaining in the world that form and substance of government whose leading object is to elevate the condition of men; to lift artificial weights from all shoulders; to clear the paths of laudable pursuit for all; to afford all an unfettered start and a fair chance in the race of life.  Our popular Government has often been called an experiment. Two points in it our people have already settled  the successful establishing and the successful administering of it. One still remains  its successful maintenance against a formidable internal attempt to overthrow it. It is now for them to demonstrate to the world that those who can fairly carry an election can also suppress a rebellion; that ballots are the rightful and peaceful successors of bullets, and that when ballots have fairly and constitutionally decided there can be no successful appeal back to bullets."

President Woodrow Wilson at Mount Vernon on July 4, 1918, as American forces were engaged in World War I:

President Woodrow Wilson is shown in an undated file photo. (Associated Press)

"I am happy to draw apart with you to this quiet place of old counsel in order to speak a little of the meaning of this day of our nation's independence. The place seems very still and remote. It is as serene and untouched by the hurry of the world as it was in those great days long ago when General Washington was here and held leisurely conference with the men who were to be associated with him in the creation of a nation. From these gentle slopes they looked out upon the world and saw it whole, saw it with the light of the future upon it, saw it with modern eyes that turned away from a past of which men of liberated spirits could no longer endure  We here in America believe our participation in this present war to be only the fruitage of what they planted. Our case differs from theirs only in this, that it is our inestimable privilege to concert with men out of every nation what shall make not only the liberties of America secure but the liberties of every other people as well."

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President Franklin D. Roosevelt on July 4, 1942, not quite seven months after the United States entered World War II:

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt sits at the steering wheel of his special automobile with hand controls at Warm Springs, Ga., on April 4, 1939. (Associated Press)

"Never since it first was created in Philadelphia, has this anniversary come in times so dangerous to everything for which it stands. We celebrate it this year, not in the fireworks of make-believe but in the death-dealing reality of tanks and planes and guns and ships. We celebrate it also by running without interruption the assembly lines which turn out these weapons to be shipped to all the embattled points of the globe. Not to waste one hour, not to stop one shot, not to hold back one blow  that is the way to mark our great national holiday in this year of 1942. To the weary, hungry, unequipped Army of the American Revolution, the Fourth of July was a tonic of hope and inspiration. So is it now. The tough, grim men who fight for freedom in this dark hour take heart in its message  the assurance of the right to liberty under God  for all peoples and races and groups and nations, everywhere in the world."
Dear Tom,

We will be headed to northern Wisconsin in July. What are the chances of seeing the northern lights?

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 Peter Gottstein

Dear Peter,

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It's certainly possible, but not likely. The frequency of auroral displays does increase dramatically as one travels north from Chicago, peaking with as many as 100 annual sightings in Alaska and northern Canada. However, autumn and winter are the most common times for viewing the aurora borealis as the period of darkness increases from its summertime minimum. That being said, the northern lights can occur at any time of year, even in summer, following a major solar flare. That was the case in August 2000 when an impressive display was visible as far south as Colorado and southern Illinois, surprising many who were searching the night skies for the annual Perseid meteor shower.
Residents talked about local and national issues at the 19th annual 4th of July American Dialogue in Batavia Monday morning at the City Council Chambers. (David Sharos / The Beacon-News)

While July 4th holiday celebrates America's independence, the desire for free speech and exchange of ideas has often marched along with it.

That has been the focus an annual event in Batavia.

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On Monday morning, the 19th annual "4th of July American Dialogue" was held at the City Council Chambers at 100 N. Island Ave.

Event organizer Roger Breisch, who also has served as the former head of the local Chamber of Commerce, said he approached the Batavia mayor two decades ago the program.

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"I wanted to see if we could have this local dialogue on the 4th of July and discuss ideas  things people care about regarding their community and their country," Breisch said. "When it started  we had 15 to 20 people and the last few years, it's been only about a half dozen but we still enjoy it."

Breisch said discussions have not centered on political parties but more on local history, issues, and how "as a country and a culture  we seem to have lost our way."

"Over the years  the best outcome of this has been how people leave this and go on to become volunteers or members of the League of Women Voters," he said. "Some of them don't know the other people in the room and they get to know one another and the relationship blossoms into something else."

Monday's session, where participants talked about how social media has changed the political landscape because of increased political awareness, began with an informal coffee and bagels session. It was followed by an informal discussion in which participants sat in chairs. The group didn't use tables..

"I believe tables set up a barrier, both literally and figuratively," Breisch said.

Eight others joined Breisch in a circle discussion that began as he lit a candle in the center on the floor, saying that the practice "reminds us of when people would sit around the tribal fire."

Terri Hoehne, of Batavia, said she wanted to see what happens at event.

"I want to listen and learn and see if there is a way we can be informed other than what you read about in the headlines," Hoehne said. "My questions are about if democracy is working and what can we do to make it work better. I feel some things are missing and we've been falling apart in some areas."

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Geneva resident Molly Gurbal said she was a first time participant and described the concept of the American Dialogue as "intriguing."

"Friendly discussion expands the mindset and challenges us to see things differently," she said.

Richard Henders, of Batavia, said he has lived in the community for 30 years and that his only regret is "we didn't move here sooner."

"I feel other people's thoughts and ideas are important and I'm here to listen," Henders said. "Today in our nation  there seems to be divisiveness and anger, which I feel is an indication of passion, given the strength of these feelings. Keeping things on a dialogue level and how we discuss things can be meaningful."

St. Charles resident Gary Leonard came along with his son, Eddie, who is currently on leave from the Air Force where he is stationed at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada. While Gary Leonard said he was there "to listen and hear others talk," his son Eddie praised Batavia and said the discussion group "is the core of how we get things done."

"People have to talk in order for there to be progress," he said. "You have to do things with other people."

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Discussion Monday also was on how social media affects issues of democracy.

Mayor Jeffery Schielke admitted that "being a mayor is much more difficult than it was years ago because of all the logistical issues, social media, and other things."

Some offered their first impressions of the community.

The Leonards were joined by Luke Glader of Minneapolis, who said he currently works for the Illinois Air National Guard. Glader said he was impressed with Batavia and with Illinois as a possible new residence.

"I love the community here and they've given me an awesome welcome," he said. "If this is a sample of what things are like  I'm excited to live here."

David Sharos is a freelance reporter for the Beacon-News.
With the scope and penalties of Chinas social credit system being further clarified in 2021, legal and regulatory compliance has become more important than...
For those unfamiliar with the Monkey King, otherwise named Sun Wukong, he is a popular character from "Journey to the West," a sixteenth-century Chinese epic that tells the tale of monk Xuanzang's journey to India, helped along the way by the mischievous Monkey King.

A poster for "Monkey King 2" [Photo / Mtime.com]

"Monkey King 2" sees the monk save the Monkey King (Aaron Kwok) from his imprisonment under a mountain, where he has been kept for 500 years  or since 2014, where we left the Money King at the end of the first installment. Freed by the monk, Monkey King is now bound to his service and must help the monk battle against the myriad demons that stand between him and his destination.

Throughout the film, Monkey uses his arsenal of martial-art skills, magical abilities, and his trusted cudgel to protect the monk from this installment's bad guys  the child-snatching White Lady/White Bone Demon (played by Gong Li) and a blood-drinking king (played by Fei Xiang) who all want a piece of the monk's flesh (monks' flesh is a cure-all and bringer of immortality).

From the outset, White Lady and her demon friends pursue the monk and his team. Her aim is to eat the monk and avoid being reincarnated. What seems like a simple mission is thwarted time and time again by the Monkey King.

In fact, it is Aaron Kwok's acting, and Sammo Hung's action-direction, along with breath-taking CGI that shows how far the Chinese industry has come in only a few years, that makes this film so popular. The action and the visuals don't give the viewer time to think about the inconsistent narrative.

In her first attempt to ensnare the monk, White Lady  in the guise of a harmless old weaver woman  uses spider-silk to secretly bind the monk. This ability comes out of nowhere, is not explained, and never gets used again. The silk-thread seems to be sewing together a plausible way for the White Lady to capture the monk without revealing herself to be a demon.

Similarly, later in the film it turns out that the White Lady's snow-capped lair is protected by an army of the undead but no explanation is given as to how these skeletal warriors came to be on top of a snowy mountain other than to provide the script-writers with another vehicle to show off Kwok's martial arts and China's CGI abilities.

White Lady inexplicably has the ability to use these skeletons  now shattered by the Monkey King's kicks and punches  to turn herself into a giant skeleton, which provides the film with its end-level boss and its last piece of over-the-top action.

Some of this might be explained by cultural differences and knowledge. "Journey to the West," on which Monkey King is based and from which there have been countless TV and cinema retellings, is a part of Chinese lore. Where a western viewer might not understand what's going on, Chinese viewers will come to the film with a fountain of knowledge that will fill in the gaps. After all, why explain to the viewer what they likely already know.

Odd narrative and cultural backgrounds aside, it is easy to see why "Monkey King 2" topped box-office charts in February by making $117 million in opening week (double the first movie's first week intake). This is a film that does not pretend to be an installment of a massive epic like "Lord of the Ring" movies or its less liked sibling "The Hobbit," but more a chance to see awesome fighting scenes set against a backdrop of top-range special effects. If you're to see the film, make sure you check your disbelief at the door so you can better enjoy the ride.
The story opens on a winter night when two hungry children are on the hunt for a fat cat during the big famine in Ukraine in 1933. Deep in the woods, the two brothers were separated. A big blow hit Pavel on the head. He falls prey to a man who is on the hunt as well, but not for the cat...

Tom Rob Smith's multi-million selling trilogy: "Child 44," "The Secret Speech," and "Agent 6."

Fate has its ways. Twenty years later, when the two brothers reunite, Pavel has become Leo Demidov, a secret police agent in Stalin's Soviet Union. Andrei has taken on Pavel's name, and has murdered at least 44 children who were of the same age as he was when Pavel left him in the woods.

While Pavel spent his whole life trying to forget the past, Andrei concentrated his life on bringing Pavel back home,  even if it meant killing innocent children in the winter months so that he could leave tracks through the snow.

Could you execute your own sibling? Would you betray your spouse to save yourself or your parents? Could you torture, or endure it? These are just a few of the dark choices Leo must face in the bone-chilling thriller "Child 44" by Tom Rob Smith.

"It's easy in most of today's societies to be a good person because, fundamentally, the societies are good; we're liberal, we're tolerant, we're about people achieving what they want to achieve in a sweeping sense," Smith said at a recent book talk at M on the Bund.

"But when your society is asking these terrible things of you, how easy is it to buck it? How easy is it to shrug that off, and how easy do you get caught up in that?"

Born in 1979 to a Swedish mother and an English father, Smith was raised in London where he lives today. After graduating from Cambridge University in 2001, he completed his studies in Italy, where he studied creative writing for a year. After these studies, he worked as a scriptwriter.

His first novel, "Child 44," about a series of child murders in Stalinist Russia, appeared in early 2008 and has since been translated into 17 languages.

The Chinese translation of his books came out in 2012 when Smith came to China for the first time in promotion of the "Child 44" trilogy that includes the sequels  "The Secret Speech" and "Agent 6."

Set in the fear and repression of the Soviet society under Joseph Stalin, Leo Demidov's personal hell has truly been paved with the best of intentions.

The idealist war hero and rising star within Stalin's State Security force has ordered the execution of thousands of his countrymen, or worse, dispatched them to the infamous gulags, believing "enemies" of the country were doubters of the society.

But when he obediently dismisses the brutal 1953 murder and evisceration of a colleague's young son as nothing more than an accident, the narrow path of lies on which his career is founded suddenly veers into a nightmarish landscape of his own worst fears.

For Chinese readers who remember the 50s and 60s, the horrors come not from a few uncomfortable scenes of violence and torture in the book, but the exposure of the agonizing paranoia of an era when sons turned against their fathers, wives denounced their husbands, and friends became aliens; when love itself was a political lesson and personal choice be tailored to the country's needs; when casual conversations were rare and tendency to speak one's mind could cost you your life.

"This is an idealism that has gone wrong," Smith said, "Leo is someone who is fundamentally a good person. In the attempt to arrest someone who is genuinely guilty, he is then persecuted for it. It's an interesting redemption for him, and then an endeavor to prove that he is worthy of being loved."

Tom Rob Smith teamed up with Emilie Wang for questions and answers at M's LitFest.

How did you get started in creative writing?

Neither of my parents has much education. They made a living by selling antiques. It seemed very unlikely that I'd take up writing as my career. But I have always loved stories and storytelling. I'll just keep doing it as long as I am interested.

Where did you come across such a topic featuring the KGB agent?

History, actually. I was working on a screen adaptation of a short story by science fiction writer Jeff Noon when I happened upon the true-crime case of Soviet serial killer Andrei Chikatilo. Russian books always looked intimidating, but I was not deterred. It took me six months to do research on the topic, reading everything from Robert Conquest's "The Harvest of Sorrow" to Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's "Gulag Archipelago" to yes, even Martin Cruz Smith's "Gorky Park."

What's the process of your writing?

Everyone has his own schedule. Mine is to sit up and write from 6am to 2pm every day, eight hours straight. Sometimes I will hold the story for a whole day, just to wait for the inspiration. In screenwriting, I think about set pieces a lot. And that's something I applied when I wrote "Child 44," to keep the story moving at the right pace so that the readers are hooked.

Did you ever get lost in your novel with your characters?

No, I am not that involved. I have heard stories about (fashion designer) Alexander McQueen, who would sew pieces of his own hair or skin in the clothes he designed. Some people think of him as a pervert, while I can perfectly understand. It's a reflection of his elaborate storytelling, craftsmanship of the highest level. All things come at a price.
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People queue to enter the IKEA shopping mall in Hangzhou, capital of east China's Zhejiang Province, June 25, 2015. The first IKEA shopping mall opened here on Thursday, which is the 17th IKEA, the world-renowned furniture retailer, opened in China. [Photo/Xinhua]

Many Chinese consumers are complaining over Swedish furniture maker IKEA's decision to exclude the Chinese market from a massive recall plan.

But the manufacturer says a recall is not necessary in China as the product in question meets all design standards in the country.

While more than 35 million dressers are being recalled from North America, the very same IKEA model is still being sold in Guangzhou.

The recall was launched after six children in the United States and Canada lost their lives in tipping and entrapment incidents associated with the dressers.

But consumers in China and Europe are not in the plan.

Xiang Li, marketing manager of the company's branch in Guangzhou, explains why.

"This model is sold not only in China, but also in other regions outside the United States. It's also sold in European Union countries. This product meets the mandatory safety requirements of EU and our country."

Installation instructions on how to attach chests of drawers and dressers to the walls are seen in IKEA's Guangzhou store.

The manager says the installation accessories are included when purchasing the product.

She strongly urges consumers to follow the proposed steps during assembly.

"If one follows the instruction to install the product, it's safe. In fact, our packaging specification repeatedly emphasizes the steps of anchoring. If required by the consumers, we will resort to a third party to provide them with paid installation services."

But such precaution is not enough to calm down local consumers.

"They should use larger labels to remind parents because many of them can't be aware of such a problem."

In North America, the recall covers chests of drawers and dressers which do not meet the performance requirements of the U.S. voluntary industry standards.

The company is offering a full or partial refund between 70 and 200 U.S. dollars on chests of drawers and dressers sold from 2002 through last month.

So far, the municipal Consumer Council in Shenzhen has appealed to IKEA to extend the same recall to China.

It argues that IKEA should not discriminate against Chinese consumers.
"China's economic growth has provided business opportunities for the Netherlands,"said Andre Driessen, deputy head of mission at the Royal Netherlands Embassy to China. He added that China and the Netherlands were jointly building an extensive cooperation partnership and that much headway had been made in sectors such as politics, economy, culture, education, environmental protection, and health care.

Deepening China-Netherlands Relations

In recent years, China and the Netherlands have seen frequent political and economic exchanges.

In March 2014, Chinese President Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan visited the Netherlands. In October 2015, King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima of the Netherlands paid a state visit to China following Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte's visit in March the same year. At his meeting with the Dutch King, Xi Jinping said that China and the Netherlands had achieved all-round interconnectivity, which offered a unique advantage for strengthening the Belt and Road cooperation. King Willem-Alexander emphasized that the Belt and Road Initiative was a great opportunity that was well worth the cooperation of the whole world with China.

President Obama has voiced support for Chinas hosting of the G20 Summit, thus sending a positive message as regards stimulating sustainable global economic growth to the international community.

Driessen commented that the frequent interaction between the high-level leaders of China and the Netherlands and their explicit attitudes manifested that the two sides attach great importance to their strategic partnership. He also noted that last year, King Willem-Alexander not only led government officials but also a trade delegation that covered sectors such as agriculture, food, life science, and health to China. Both state leaders witnessed the signing of 15 memorandums and cooperation agreements.

The bilateral exchanges between China and the Netherlands in fields such as the economy, trade, and culture have maintained good momentum and increasingly deepened. In terms of economy and trade, the Netherlands has been China's second largest trade partner in the EU for 12 consecutive years since 2003. China is currently the largest trade partner of the Netherlands outside the EU and its second biggest source of investment. In terms of people-to-people and cultural exchanges, more and more cultural projects have been delivered, and the number of Chinese tourists to the Netherlands has been on the rise. In 2015, Chinese holidaymakers booked 436,000 nights in Dutch hotels, a rise of 33 percent over 2014. According to Driessen, the Netherlands plans to provide more convenient visa services to Chinese tourists by expanding the current four visa application centers in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Chongqing to 11 around the country. KLM Royal Dutch Airlines and its cooperative partners now run 40 to 50 flights weekly between Amsterdam and eight Chinese cities.

King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands visits Dashilan historical and cultural district near Tiananmen Square in Beijing on October 26, 2015.

"The state visit of the Dutch King and Queen to China last year was the highlight of our bilateral relations,"said Driessen. "This year Dutch diplomatic organs in China are willing to deepen the open and pragmatic cooperation between China and the Netherlands,"he added.

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On September 3, 2015, a ground-breaking ceremony marking the building of the CRRC Corporation Limited manufacturing center was held in Springfield, Massachusetts in the United States, where the pioneering Chinese railroad engineer Zhan Tianyou, or Tien Yow Jeme (1861-1919), once studied. Sun Shouping, vice director of the international business division of CRRC Changchun Railway Vehicle Co., Ltd., assistant president and marketing director of CRRC MA Corporation, witnessed the historical moment.

My First Overseas Project

"I have wept many times because of the great pressure and anxiety that comes with my job. But my devotion to the work encourages me to persist until contracts are signed. I always feel proud when new purchase orders are secured with the foreign market," said Sun Shouping when recalling her 12 years of overseas sales experience.

Sun Shouping, winner of the Provincial May First Labor Medal, gives a speech at the award ceremony in March 2016.

Sun has been in charge of negotiation and execution of multiple projects in Iran, Turkey, Mexico, Argentina, Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia, and has successfully sold 1,200 "Made in China" vehicles in her career with an accumulated contract volume of over US $2 billion, accounting for 40 percent of the company's whole overseas sales.

"I will never forget the first project I independently fulfilled, the 105-vehicle subway project in Tehran," she said. In 2003, Tehran's subway project was the company's sole overseas contract. The project introduced brand new products featuring updated international technical standards in Iran, and the core systems were all imported. It was an unprecedented challenge for the company from project management and implementation to foreign subcontracting and process control. Sun Shouping took charge of a total of 15 contracts for imported systems.

Every day, Sun hustled between the financial department and warehouse, busy with payments, taking delivery of goods, checking materials, account clearing, and negotiating with subcontractors.

Diligent and smart, Sun Shouping soon discovered the disparities between Chinese companies and foreign enterprises. She created a statistical management system for contracts to maintain a well-organized program.

"Learning from foreign companies, I made our own styled Non-Conformance Report (NCR) to settle common disputes in the subcontracting process and insisted on its execution in our company. From then on, the time taken to rectify defective products was significantly reduced, which boosted the efficiency of claim settlements," Sun Shouping said, explaining that she felt she had "grown up" together with the project.

Sun began a new chapter of her career after the completion of the Tehran subway project, and quickly became a mature manager through marketing overseas programs in Iran, Turkey, Mexico, Argentina, Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia.

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Rescuers evacuate a little girl in Shouquan Village of Huaining County, east China's Anhui Province, July 2, 2016. Due to heavy rainfall, rescuers were sent to Shouquan Village to evacuate more than 60 villagers trapped in flood early Saturday morning. The National Meteorological Center (NMC) and the Ministry of Water Resources warned of high risks of mountain torrents in parts of Anhui, Hunan, Guizhou and Tibet from Friday evening to Saturday evening, suggesting residents take necessary precautions. (Xinhua/Wang Tianxiang)

Heavy rain has left 14 people dead and 8 others missing in south China since Thursday, the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters said on Sunday.

Storms have hit most of southern China since Thursday, pushing water levels in rivers to dangerous levels and swelling many reservoirs.

Some 9,000 houses collapsed and 710,000 hectares of crops have been damaged. Combined losses have been estimated at around 9.1 billion yuan (1.37 billion U.S. dollars).

Two rounds of rainstorms are forecast to hit southern regions over the next ten days. Nepartak, the first typhoon of the year, is expected to bring gales and downpours to eastern coastal areas next week.

The country's weather authority suggested people in southern areas reduce outdoor activities on rainy days and take precautions against possible floods and landslides.

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Photo taken on July 3, 2016 shows the scene of a waterlogged street in Xuancheng City, east China's Anhui Province. Many regions in Anhui were flooded due to heavy rainfall in recent days. [Photo/Xinhua]

Continuous rainfall over the past two weeks in parts of China has left at least 61 people dead and 14 others missing, local authorities said Sunday.

In central Hubei Province, torrential rain has left 34 people dead and 11 others missing. In eastern Anhui Province, 27 people have died and another three went missing, according to local authorities.

In Anhui, a level-IV emergency response was launched Sunday by the National Commission for Disaster Reduction and the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

In order to aid disaster relief work, authorities allocated 3,000 tents and 3,000 folding beds to the province, in addition to 5,000 quilts.

Over 17 million people have been affected by the rain in the two provinces, with 974,000 people relocated. The rain also destroyed over 400,000 rooms and affected 1.4 million hectares of crops.

Several monitoring stations at Dongting Lake in central China's Hunan Province have reported rising water levels over the weekend as more water flowed into the lake.

More torrential rain is expected on Sunday night through Monday in the province, according to meteorological authorities in Hunan. It also warned of landslide, floods and other geological disasters.

More than 20,000 people in the province have been relocated as rainfall ruined houses and crops in the region.

China's largest fresh water lake Poyang Lake, located further downstream of the Yangtze River in east China's Jiangxi Province, also began to take in water amid continuous rainfall.

To prevent floods, authorities in Hubei deepened a reservoir by blasting its bottom with explosives.

Heavy rainfall has also forced authorities in the province to cancel 28 train services from Sunday to Tuesday. Expressways in the province have been disrupted 16 times.

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Mao Shihua grinds soybeans at her home. The 83-year-old sells affordable breakfast to students in Huangtankou Primary School in Huangtankou township in East China's Zhejiang proinve for the past 24 years. [Photo/Xinhua]

In the coastal province of Zhejiang, what can you buy with 0.5 yuan (8 cents)?

In Huangtankou, the answer is breakfast. For the past 24 years, 83-year-old Mao Shihua has been selling breakfast for 0.5 yuan each item to primary students.

Every day, Mao gets up at 1 am to prepare ingredients for the breakfast. At 5 am, she rides a tricycle loaded with her stall equipment to a place hundreds of meters away from Huangtankou Primary School, where she waits for her customers.

Four coal stoves, three frying pans, three aluminum pots and several plastic stools the stall of Mao Shihua is simple, but it is quite popular with the students at the Huangtankou Primary School.

"I started having breakfast here since I was a second-grader. The food here is the most affordable. In other places, merely a zongzi costs two or three yuan," said six-grader Lyv Zhihao.

Mao Shihua is picky about the quality of her food. She insists on using the best ingredients. The soybean milk is freshly ground and the eggs are cherry-picked. But she does not care about the money very much.

Asked about the profit her business makes, she could not give an exact answer. "I can roughly recover the cost," she says. Mao receives 1,040 yuan of pension each month and she spends some to cook breakfast for the students.

"We all know she could not make money. She even loses money," said Mao Yongsen, the owner of a neighboring breakfast stall. "The costs for ingredients today are not comparable with that of 24 years ago."

It is the love for children that lies behind Mao's affordable breakfast.

"I love kids. Even when I see kids on TV, I want to hug them," she said.

Mao says she wants to cook breakfast for those students coming to school early in the morning from their home in mountainous regions and she wants to make her breakfast available to every student, even those from poor families.

Mao would call each student coming to her food stall "mei", which is a nickname for children in the local dialect. "Boys are my grandson and girls are my granddaughter," she said.

For students at the Huangtankou Primary School, the taste and smell of Mao's food has become their shared memory for the hometown.

After retiring from the army and coming back to Huangtankou in 2011, Mao Lei found the breakfast stall of Mao Shihua was still there with the familiar tastes and smile, just like when he was a student. That made him feel the hometown has not changed.

The food on the breakfast stall are not special in flavor, said Mao Lei, "but they are full of affection."

Mao Shihua has declined her four children's persuasion that she goes to live with them in cities. "I have not stopped laboring for my life. I will fall ill if I just watch TV and stroll all day," she said.

Although the business is toiling for an elderly woman, Mao says the three hours she sells breakfast every morning is the time she feels the most happiness in a day.

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We first met Sherab Gyaltsen, director of the Xuebugang Neighborhood Committee of Zham Town in Nyalam County, in Zham Community in Xigaze, Tibet. At that time, the township leading group was about to complete its term of office. Sherab and the village committee members were hence carrying out statistical work on voter information.

Zham Community formerly housed staff of the Xigaze Municipal Party Committee, but after the earthquake in Nepal last year, the committee decided it should be used to re-house those affected by the quake. Now, more than 300 families from Xuebugang live in the spacious and secure houses in Zham Community.

After the earthquake, Sherab (right) asks villagers about their living conditions in the temporary settlement. [China Today]

On April 25, 2015, a massive, 8.1 magnitude earthquake struck Nepal, affecting 19 counties and districts in Chinas Tibet Autonomous Region. Neighboring Nepal, Nyalam County and Gyirong County were the hardest hit areas. Despite bearing the loss of four family members, Sherab organized the work to transfer and re-house the victims.

Father will never give up on you

Recalling the disaster, Sherabs speech slowed and his brows furrowed.

A few days before the earthquake, a storm had blown down a big tree that blocked the way to a pasture. At noon on April 25, after a meeting with the neighborhood committee, Sherab decided to go to the pasture to check out the situation in spite of the rain.

Upon leaving home, the ground started to shake and rumble, and the massif near the village collapsed instantly. The rolling rocks and breaking trees churned up soil and dust. Narrowly missing falling debris, Sherab stumbled back to his home only to find that a huge rock had smashed the roof and crashed into the office building of the neighborhood committee on the other side of the road.

His wife, granddaughter, grandson, and their nanny had been killed by the impact. He heard his daughter, Tsering Chozin, crying for help.

Eight-month-old Sangye Tsering and her aunt at the relocation site. [China Today]

Dont be afraid, dads here, Sherab shouted, desperately digging away at the rubble to save his daughter. But as soon as he had cleared away the rocks, more would tumble down in their place. His house was buried by falling rocks.

His daughter had suffered multiple fractures in her legs and had no feeling in her lower body.

Eventually, Sherab dug his daughter free, hoisted her onto his back, and ran downhill to the border checkpoint, where there were already more than 200 people. All around he could see the faces of traumatized victims and the cracked and tumbledown buildings where his home once stood. Sherab proposed to Nyima Dhondup, Party secretary of Xuebugang neighborhood committee, the transfer of all the victims to Lixin Village, which was much safer.

Shared loss

The doctor will take care of you here. I need to take the others to Lixin Village, Sherab told his daughter as she slipped in and out of consciousness. Then he beckoned everyone to follow him. After more than three hours of walking, over 270 locals arrived in Lixin Village. All the houses in Xuebugang had collapsed and were razed to the ground. And Sherab had left behind his severely injured daughter and departed relatives amongst the ruins.

The time from April 25 to 29 might well have been the longest four days in the lives of thousands of people in Zham Town. Hideous megaliths on the cliff could engulf everything at any time, and the next aftershock could send precarious structures crashing down in an instant.

Despite deep sorrow at losing his loved ones, Sherab carried out the rescue work in minimal time, kept the survivors calm, carried goods and materials to and fro, and arranged accommodation for those in need.

Donations of TVs and satellite dishes were made to quake victims in efforts to ease their plight. Penpa Tsering is shown above with the TV he has just received. [China Today]

Because of its position on the mountain, Zham Town was no longer a safe place to live after the earthquake. A decision was made to evacuate everyone at once. Sherab and other CPC members called on every household to pack up and get ready to leave.

Several old people in the pasture were reluctant to leave, but Sherab knew the dangers of staying there so he and Nyima went to the pasture to appeal to the residents there to go downhill as soon as possible.

Sherab is a capable person and he was the first CPC member in our village. The locals hold him in high esteem so villagers generally comply with what he says, said Nyima.

At 9 pm on April 29, the last group of people left the town. It was only then that Sherab noticed that his clothes and shoes were worn out and that he hadnt even brought one thing with him from his home.

As the head of our neighborhood committee, I could not think of only my family and ignore the safety of other people, Sherab said.

Seek help

Sherab made sure he was available for people who needed him at the relocation sites in Lhaze County, patrolling the tents equipped with a walkie-talkie.

In Lhaze, Sherab was very active in solving our problems. He comforted us and asked householders to look out for us, said one villager, Dawa, who regardeds Sherab as a good director who always has peoples interests at heart.

When Dawa wanted to build a house, it was Sherab who negotiated with the town government and helped him clear away hill stones behind his old house to make way for the new one. When villager Sangnu was seriously ill, it was Sherab and other cadres who raised funds for her medical treatment in Lhasa. It was also Sherab who helped a young couple find a place to hold their wedding ceremony.

One week after the earthquake, Sherab finally had time to visit his daughter in Xigaze. She had just had an operation. Where is my mom? Where are my children? she asked in tears. Sherab could say nothing but bow his head silently in tears.

Sherab was a victim of the earthquake, but he is also a CPC member. This is the choice of a Party member, he said.

Now, people are living in new settlement buildings and finding jobs. Since most of them were tradesmen, the local government set up stalls for them in the market, and everyone receives a RMB 15 subsidy each day and a total allowance of RMB 5,000 each year, said Sherab.

Those affected by the quake have resumed their daily life. Sherab continues his efforts to seek benefits and strive for development opportunities for local people.
Legislation on China's civil code has formally begun. Through the code, China hopes to establish a country under the rule of law with better protection for civil rights.

During the top legislature's bi-monthly session last week, senior lawmakers reviewed the civil code's draft general rules, which were submitted for a first reading.

This week's review marked the formal beginning of the legislative process for the civil code, which is a collection of laws designed to cover private law.

According to the Legislative Affairs Commission of the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, there are two steps needed to codify the laws. The first is to legislate the general rules, and the second is to integrate separate existing civil laws into a code, which is expected to be enacted in 2020.

It is important for China to legislate the civil code as part of the country's socialist system of laws with Chinese characteristics, said Yin Zhongqing, a member of the NPC Standing Committee, when deliberating the draft in a group discussion.

In 2011, China announced that a "socialist system of laws with Chinese characteristics" had been established on schedule, covering every area of economic, political, cultural, social and ecological development.

China aims to make the code as historic as its predecessors, the Napoleonic civil code and German civil code.

Unlike the common law systems in the United States and Britain, which have a doctrine of judicial precedent, civil law legal systems are based on codified core principles. Civil codes in civil law systems are considered key indicators in judging the quality of legal systems.

In 1952, Chinese jurists began drafting the civil code, but stopped due to political turmoil. And there was no condition for a civil code at that time, as civil law was not compatible with the planned economy of the era.

In the 1980s, Chinese jurists and lawmakers integrated a number of civil laws and enacted a simple General Principles of the Civil Law.

Rather than compiling a civil code, China has enacted a series of separate civil laws in the past decades, such as the Property Law, the Tort Liability Law and the Law of the Application of Law for Foreign-related Civil Relations.

At the Fourth Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in October 2014, the CPC vowed to build a socialist country with rule of law and to strengthen legislation work, especially the codification of civil laws.

Civil rights

Jurists and lawmakers hope the civil code can better protect civil rights and embody the core values of the Chinese nation.

Protecting civil rights is the core of civil law. The draft general rules stipulate that personal liberties and human dignity are protected by the law. The draft also stipulates that natural persons enjoy basic rights to life, health, name, reputation, and privacy, among others.

"Napoleon once said his glory lay not in his military achievements, but the civil code that would rule after his death. Why is the civil code important? Because the Constitution sets limits for public power, while the civil code upholds private rights," said Qiao Xiaoyang, an NPC Standing Committee member and head of the NPC Law Committee.

For ordinary people, the civil code is like an announcement or guarantee letter of their rights, added Qiao.

Xu Xianming, deputy head of the NPC Law Committee and a jurist, said civil law is a symbol of a country with real rule of law, and China's civil code must abide by some basic principles of private law.

Civil codes originated from ancient Roman law. In modern times, there have been two historic civil codes: the French Napoleonic Code in 1804, and the German Civil Code.

The separation of public and private law originated in Roman law.

Civil laws are private laws. Civil laws protect private matters from interference from public powers  a key principle of rule of law. This is the common principle from Roman law, and China must abide by it, according to Xu.
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CNN anchor Richard Quest says he's impressed with the quality of China's business travel market. (Photo provided to China Daily)

Richard Quest, the CNN anchor, insists there is nothing fake about his larger than life on-screen personality.

"Oh yes, absolutely. You couldn't do it an hour a day, five nights a week and 260 shows a year, if it wasn't the real you," Quest, 54, says.

"It might be an exaggerated version, but I am not playing a part. The viewer would eventually see through you as being a fraud."

He was in China filming for his show Business Traveller and presenting Quest Means Business live from Beijing.

He made his first visit to the country 10 years ago and has returned a number of times since.

"But I am a relative newbie in China. I find the place fascinating, absolutely fascinating, particularly the contradictions."

The TV presenter, who is also CNN's aviation correspondent, is perhaps best known in China for his coverage of the disappearance of a Malaysia Airlines plane that went missing in March 2014, with 12 crew members and 227 passengers on board. There were 152 Chinese citizens on that flight.

Quest has just published a book The Vanishing of Flight MH370: The True Story of the Hunt for the Missing Malaysian Plane.

He believes the key to finding the aircraft is in being able to further analyze the data, rather than just constantly searching the ocean.

"The problem is where do you look? You can't just keep extending the zone. It is too big. Until you can (further) mine that Inmarsat (British satellite telecommunications company) data, all those satellite handshakes, you might as well suspend the search until there is more accurate information as to where it could be to go back out again."

Quest says he doesn't support the theory that the plane's captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah committed suicide by deliberately crashing it.

"There is no evidence. He had been with Malaysia Airlines for 25 years and for 15 years as captain. In all other previous cases of suicide, the pilots have crashed the plane immediately. They haven't taken it on a long run down to the southern Indian Ocean for seven hours."

Quest believes the most likely scenario is that the pilots and everyone on board became unconscious as a result of some catastrophic technical or mechanical failure.

"Yes, the ghost plane scenario. Look, I agree it can be quite difficult to come up with that scenario but I think it is the most likely."

The journalist was born in Liverpool and partly brought up in Leeds, where he eventually studied law before being called to the bar as a barrister, although he never practiced.

He began his career as a trainee with the BBC in 1985 before becoming its North America correspondent in New York, where he established himself as a high-profile broadcaster. He moved to CNN in 2001 and has a regular presence on the network. He divides his time now between homes in New York and London.

"I go between the cities, maybe once or twice a month. My mother, who is 86, and my sisters live in London. I like living between the two places. I know people are going to think this sounds like those horrible twee Sunday Times lifestyle profiles. They are going to think what has this to do with the price of fish in Scunthorpe," he says, laughing.

Away from work, Quest is a big film buff, one of his favorite movies being The Devil Wears Prada.

"It is a film I can watch again and again. I have nearly completed watching every Best Picture movie at the Oscars going back to 1929," he says.

One of Quest's reasons to visit China this time was to report on the business travel market.

China overtook the United States as the world's largest business travel market last year, according to the Global Business Travel Association. The sector was worth $291.2 billion in China compared with $290.2 billion in the US.

He says he is impressed with the quality on offer from both Chinese airlines and hotel providers.

"I took a couple of domestic flights, and they were as good as any I have taken in the United States. I went economy with Air China from Beijing to Xi'ana short hop of only two and a half hoursand the plane was full. Admittedly, the food offering was a little unusual but it was no worse than what I get back of the bus on British Airways."

He takes a keen interest in the Chinese economy but still remains concerned about the global economy.

"We are certainly out of the Great Recession, but I think we are in a much more difficult area. We are into a long hard slow trudge."
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Radical rebel groups have handed over the body of a slain Syrian pilot they had killed earlier to the the Syrian authorities, a monitor group reported on Sunday.

The body of Lt. Col. Nawras al-Hasan, who had been executed by the rebels when he parachuted his crashing warplane over a rebel-held areas east of Damascus last week, was delivered to the Syrian authorities, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Al-Hasan was executed by rebels from the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front in the town of Jairud in the eastern countryside of Damascus.

The state news agency SANA said al-Hassan was on a training mission when his plane malfunctioned and crashed, after he ejected himself.

However, the rebels said they downed the plane.

On Saturday, the Observatory, which relies on a network of activists on ground, said the Syrian air force carried out intense airstrikes and shelling on Jairud, killing 43 people, and injuring tens of others, some in critical conditions.

The shelling of Jairud appeared to be a retaliation for the slain pilot.

On Sunday, the Observatory said there is information that the rebels of the Nusra Front and likeminded militant groups were evacuating their posts in Jairud, following the intense shelling.
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A series of large-scale joint anti-terror exercises kicked off Sunday with the participation of the Chinese People's Armed Police Force (CAPF) and Russia's newly-formed National Guard.

A soldier of Chinese People's Armed Police Force tries Russian equipement during the joint exercises in Moscow, Russia, on July. 3, 2016. [Photo/Xinhua]

The special drills are being held from July 3 to July 14 in Russia's Moscow and Smolensk regions. China's Snow Leopard and Falcon commando units, as well as the Russian National Guard's Vityaz unit, are participating in the exercises.

Liu Zhijun, deputy director of the CAPF's Exercises Department, said this is the third time for the two countries' interior forces to hold such exercises, which center on tactical skills in combating terrorism to boost practical cooperation between the forces of both sides.

Participants from China and Russia will conduct a host of drills in a joint manner, with a view to exploring effective methods in joint anti-terror campaigns to boost their abilities in this regard, he added.

Sergei Chenchik, chief of staff of the Russian National Guard, spoke highly of the discipline of the CAPF, saying Russia is ready to launch a new stage of cooperation with China and to carry out common tasks based on the two countries' comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination.

Russia's National Guard was created in April following the order of Russian President Vladimir Putin, in a bid to better fight terrorism, organized crime and drug trafficking across the country.
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After a journey of more than five years, U.S. space agency NASA's Juno spaceship is set to reach its final destination Jupiter and begin its orbit around the largest planet in our solar system.

This illustration depicts NASA's Juno spacecraft at Jupiter, with its solar arrays and main antenna pointed toward the distant sun and Earth. [Photo/Xinhua]

According to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), the probe will fire its main engine, beginning a 35-minute burn at 8:18 p.m. PDT (0318 GMT) on the evening of July 4 to be captured by Jupiter's gravity and go into the desired orbit.

"We are ready," Scott Bolton, principal investigator of Juno from the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio. "The engineers and mission controllers are performing at an Olympic level getting Juno successfully into orbit," he said in a statement on Saturday.

After the main engine burn, Juno will be in orbit around Jupiter. The spacecraft will spin down from 5 to 2 RPM, turn back toward the sun, and ultimately transmit telemetry via its high-gain antenna.

On Sunday, the solar-powered spacecraft crossed the orbit of Callisto, the outermost Galilean moon. The orbits of Ganymede, Europa and Io will be crossed on Monday. These four largest moons of Jupiter are named the Galilean moons because they were discovered by Galileo Galilei in 1609.

Assuming all goes smoothly, the 1.1 billion U.S. dollars mission will provide a lot answers to questions about Jupiter and help reveal a lot about the other planets in our solar system, including Earth.

Although it's well-known that the gas giant is made up primarily of hydrogen and helium gas, the planet's core remains mysterious.

"As Juno barrels down on Jupiter, the scientists are busy looking at the amazing approach science the spacecraft has already returned to Earth. Jupiter is spectacular from afar and will be absolutely breathtaking from close up," Bolton said.

During its mission of exploration, Juno will circle Jupiter 37 times, soaring low over the planet's cloud tops, as close as about 4,100 kilometers.

During these close passes, Juno's instruments will be collecting data and probe beneath the obscuring cloud cover of Jupiter and study its auroras to learn more about the planet's origins, structure, atmosphere and magnetosphere.

But before Juno can collect the data Lunine and other scientists are looking forward to, the space probe has to get into orbit. Even if everything goes well, orbiting near Jupiter is hazardous.

The planet is surrounded by powerful radiation that can fry any spacecraft that comes too near. It's spinning around so fast. Its gravity is like a giant sling shot, slinging rocks, dust, electrons, whole comets. Anything that gets close to it becomes its weapon.

"No spacecraft has ever flown this close to Jupiter. And the first time we go in, that's the most dangerous. We call it Jupiter Orbit Insertion," NASA said in a video.

"So the real trick is. We're going to go in close, get the data and get out."
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A worker at the Terra Natura wildlife park on the eastern coast of Spain was killed by an Asian tiger late on Saturday night after leaving a door to the animal's cage open.

Terra Natura confirmed the victim was a woman who had worked at the park for eight years and she was killed due to "a loss of concentration," leaving the door to the tigers' area half open.

One of the animals took advantage of the open door to go into the area where the worker was and then attacked and killed her.

Terra Natura has issued a communique explaining that the park "has a strict security protocol for the management of the animals."

The worker came into direct contact with the animal while she was carrying out cleaning work in the interior cages, according to the park.

"Only authorized personnel" had access to where the attack took place and that it was "not in public view," according to the park.

"As soon as the attack was detected, emergency services were called, after which the animal was sedated," informs the park, which "deeply regrets" the death and "sends its condolences to her family and friends. Enditem
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At the invitation of Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, Papua New Guinea's Prime Minister Peter O'Neill will visit China from Tuesday until Sunday.

O'Neill was chosen as the country's prime minister in August 2011 and he was reelected a year later.

Born in the country's Southern Highlands Province on Feb. 13, 1965, O'Neill had acted as Papua New Guinea's Minister for Labor and Industrial Relation, Minister for Public Service, Minister for Finance and Treasury and Minister for Works.
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United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has condemned the terrorist bombing in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad Sunday that reportedly killed more than 100 people in a busy shopping street  an attack which the top UN official in that country described as an "avenge by the terrorists of Da'esh who have suffered defeats at the battlefront."

The Secretary-General "condemns" the terrorist attack and "is appalled by the utter disregard for human life displayed by the perpetrators, who struck as residents prepared for Eid al-Fitr celebrations," Mr. Ban's spokesperson said in a statement.

The Secretary-General appeals to the people of Iraq to reject any attempts to spread fear and undermine the unity of the country, calling on the Government to ensure that the perpetrators of this horrific crime are brought to justice as soon as possible, the spokesperson added.

In the statement, Mr. Ban expressed his deep sympathy and condolences to the families of the victims, and to the Government and people of Iraq, wishing the many injured a speedy recovery. He also wished the people of Iraq a peaceful remainder of the holy month of Ramadan.

According to preliminary reports, a bomb hit a neighborhood of Karada shortly after midnight, and Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL/Da'esh) has claimed responsibility.

Jan Kubis, the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Iraq and head of the UN Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI), joined Mr. Ban in condemning the terrorist bombing.

"This is a cowardly and heinous act of unparalleled proportions, to target peaceful civilians in the closing days of the holy month of Ramadan including shoppers preparing for the Eid-ul-Fitr holiday. This shows Daesh's wanton intentions to kill, maim and demoralize," said Mr. Kubis.

"The terrorists of Daesh who have suffered defeats at the battlefront are seeking to avenge their losses by targeting vulnerable civilians," Mr. Kubis added.

He also said that despite the pain and agony, the Iraqi people will not surrender to the designs of those terrorists, will continue to reject their ways through displaying steadfast national unity and will eventually triumph.

Mogens Lykketoft, the President of the UN General Assembly, has also condemned the attack.

"This horrific act of violence perpetrated upon people, including many children, just going about their business during the holy month of Ramadan is outrageous," he said."This despicable attack is to be condemned in the strongest possible terms."
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Spanish Civil Guards confirmed the arrest of 19 people on Monday as part of an international operation against child pornography.

The 19 arrests for the possession and distribution of images which show abuse and sexual exploitation of minors were made in 13 different provinces covering virtually all part of the country.

The operation in Spain was launched thanks to information received from the American working group at the Cybercrime unit of Interpol alerting that Spanish internet users were exchanging files with images and videos of the sexual abuse of minors.

As well as the 19 arrests in Spain, the joint operation saw a further 60 people arrested in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, the United States, Guatemala, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, the Dominican Republic, Uruguay and Venezuela, with over 200 searches carried out in 47 cities.

Investigators are now analyzing hundreds of thousands of files in order to try and identify the victims, many of whom could still be suffering abuse.

The Spanish Civil Guard confirms that 14 minors in Spain and two in Colombia have already been identified as a result of the operation.

Many of the victims were first contacted through a "well known" social networking site and continue to work to discover if this child pornography network has links to others.
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Up to two dozen Taliban militants including 11 would-be suicide bombers were killed as a suicide vest went off accidentally in the southern Zabul province with Qalat as its capital 340 km south of Kabul on Monday, deputy to provincial police chief Ghulam Jilani Farahi said.

"A group of Taliban militants were playing with a suicide jacket in their hideout in Khak-e-Afghan district today morning when the device exploded suddenly killing 24 insurgents including 11 suicide bombers on the spot," Farahi told Xinhua.

Taliban outfit hasn't commented on the subject.

Taliban militants are in control of the restive Khak-e-Afghan district in Zabul province over the past couple of years.
URUMQI - Textile and garment exports to Central Asia and Russia via ports in Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region have increased by more than 60 percent from the same period last year.

China has exported 16.57 billion yuan ($2.5 billion) worth of textiles and garments through ports in Xinjiang, according to the latest statistics released by Urumqi Customs.

The data show that 70 percent of exports went to Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan, with the former ranking first.

Following the China-proposed Belt and Road initiative and regional economic development, Xinjiang, which borders eight countries and boasts 29 national ports, has grown into a trading hub for garments, shoes, and daily necessities.

China has long been a top textile manufacturer for the world market. Xinjiang produces China's best cotton, and more of it than any other region. Xinjiang's cotton harvest reached 3.5 million tons, about 60 percent of China's total output, in 2015.

Leading textile and apparel producers have been transferring their business to Xinjiang, making the far northwest region a thriving textile and garment producer.

China's cabinet, the State Council, issued a guideline in June 2015 to bolster the textile and garment industry in Xinjiang in the hopes of increasing local employment and exports.

The country plans to build Xinjiang into a major textile base by 2020 to facilitate exports to its western neighbors, according to the State Council.
A man receives a phone call while hand-holding a billboard advertising air conditioners made by TCL Group in Nanjing. [An Xin/For China Daily]

May onwards, as summer temperatures soared in China, so has the number of searches for "air conditioner" on online marketplaces such as Tmall.com, Taobao.com, Suning.com and JD.com.

Industry observers foresee a 40 percent year-on-year surge in online sales of air conditioners in 2016. This is despite overall sales shrinking since last year.

Statistics from the Beijing-based market research firm China Market Monitor Co Ltd showed that the online sales of air conditioners in China are expected to reach 18.9 billion yuan ($2.87 billion) this year, up 36 percent.

"The online sales of air conditioners in China will see rapid growth in coming years as more and more people are feeling comfortable buying big-ticket items online. Also, there is improvement in after-sales service," said Liu Long, an analyst specializing in white goods research with China Market Monitor.

Liu projects that by 2019, about 29 percent of air conditioner sales will likely be via online channels, compared with 13.6 percent in 2015.

Compared with other major household appliances such as refrigerators and washing machines, air conditioners have the lowest adoption rate online. This signals strong growth potential, he said.

Air conditioner is the kind of product that requires good pre-sale promotions and excellent after-sales support so that customers can enjoy a better shopping experience, said Xue Youwei, manager of air-conditioner procurement and sales unit with JD.com.

"For example, a refrigerator doesn't need to be installed. A customer will know how to do it himself after the home delivery. But for air conditioners, you need to send a professional team to consumers' homes to make the machines work," he said.

This is the main reason why online sales of air conditioners took off later than other appliances.

According to China Market Monitor, about 23 percent of the refrigerators in China were sold online in 2015. The corresponding figure for washing machines was higher at 27.3 percent.

E-commerce giants such as Alibaba Group Holding Ltd and JD.com are making sure online shoppers receive the same quality of after-sales service as offline shoppers. They have also speeded up delivery times.

In 2013, Alibaba signed a deal with home appliance maker Haier Group to form a joint venture to build a logistics and service network to deliver household appliances and other large items across China.

The move gives patrons of Alibaba-backed Tmall factory-to-home logistics support for large items as well as post-delivery assembly and installation of appliances.

Xue of JD.com said the Beijing-based e-commerce major has 50 warehouses across China that support delivery of major home appliances, sometimes on the same day in certain regions, if the online order is placed before 11 am.

The Beijing-based company has been working with several air-conditioner brands to make sure delivery and installation of the devices are done promptly after the online sales.

The overall sales of air conditioners in China have been rather sluggish for the past several years mostly due to cooling of the country's property market.

China Market Monitor said overall sales of air-conditioners are expected to fall 5.4 percent to 130.1 billion yuan this year.
China's supply-side reforms have shown signs of speeding up, which could boost investor confidence in the medium term. [Geng Yuhe/For China Daily]

The Chinese stock market could rise higher this week as fears of the repercussions of the British vote to leave the European Union will likely ease, analysts said.

"The global forecast for China markets seems upbeat on fading concerns over the Brexit developments while economic data continues to display signs of improvement," said Lukman Otunuga, research analyst at ForexTime, an online foreign exchange trader.

"The Shanghai Composite Index could venture higher as the renewed risk appetite encourages investors to seek riskier assets," Otunuga said.

The People's Bank of China, the central bank, was believed to have intervened in the foreign exchange market last week to stabilize the Chinese currency and to ease investors' anxiety in the wake of the Brexit vote.

The benchmark SCI gained 2.74 percent last week to 2932.48 points.

Some analysts said despite the uncertainty surrounding the post-Brexit scenario, the domestic economic trend will continue to anchor investors' mood toward the A-share market in coming months.

Gao Ting, head of China strategy at UBS Securities, said in a recent report that while global risk appetite will continue to fluctuate this week and may affect the Chinese stock market, domestic economy and the policy outlook remain the A-share market's core concerns.

"May's economic data are mostly in line with market consensus, with economic activity basically stabilized and credit growth back to normal," Gao said in a research note.

He said China's macroeconomic policies will continue to stay supportive in coming months, and the effect of the previous policy of steady growth and credit support will help maintain economic growth momentum at the current level.

Wang Yi, a strategist at Great Wall Securities Co Ltd, said the economic data in May was in line with expectation, which reinforced the weak economic fundamentals.

"Investors should in particular take note of the substantial decline in private fixed-asset investment in May, which reflected a low level of willingness to expand capacity by private capital," he said.

But Gao at UBS noted that China's supply-side reforms have shown signs of speeding up, which could boost investor confidence in the medium term.

"In our view, once there is substantial progress on capacity removal (eg, announcement of the list of zombie enterprises and non-performing loan disposal measures), the A-share market's medium-term confidence will be greatly boosted.

"Given that fundamentals and liquidity remain neutral overall, the market may remain at the current level. We continue to prefer value-oriented sectors such as home appliances and food and beverage," he said.

Raymond Ma, portfolio manager at Fidelity International, said that while China's macro data remains weak, investors should keep an eye on innovations, which are viewed as the new growth driver over the next decade.

"The growing number of low-cost engineers, China's rising commitment to R&D, the rapid development of China's internet ecosystem, as well as the establishment of supply chains of global leading IT companies in China will speed up and open up new fronts in the area of innovation," he said.
Shares in companies in the supply chain of biopharma and healthcare services surged in Shanghai and Shenzhen last week.

The biggest gain was made by Er-Kang Pharmaceutical Ltd, which rose 10 percent. Analysts expect further rises in such stocks in the July-September quarter.

According to Shanghai-based Wind Information Co Ltd, a financial information provider, more than 180 companies listed in Shanghai and Shenzhen, out of the more than 220 that are focused on biopharma and healthcare sectors, gained last week. Their overall performance rose some 2 percent.

In the long run, as supply-side reforms deepen, more profit-making opportunities will arise in stocks of companies engaged in technology innovation, analysts said.

For example, makers of blockbuster drugs will likely increase their market shares as general drug prices fall.

The trend marks a turnaround for the sector that underperformed for most part of the first half of this year. For instance, these shares gained only 0.6 percent in June against A shares' overall gain of more than 2 percent.

A research note from Fuzhou-based Industrial Securities Co Ltd attributed their not-so-robust performance to regulators' adjustment of prices of drugs.

Also, some companies whose valuations were high over the past few months, particularly those whose stocks rose more than their profitability, saw their share prices correcting in June.

Challenges remain as drug prices fall due to regulators' efforts to make them affordable for the masses. Some concept-driven, capital-intensive technologies, which have been valued highly but have not yet produced any proven research results yet, are causing concern to investors, analysts said.

So, firms with blockbuster drugs in their offerings and those with high-caliber research and development teams are more likely to increase their market share in the long run, they said.

A research note from Guangfa Securities said declining drug prices make competition fiercer. If many drugmakers focus on the same category of drugs, or even similar drugs under different brands, the smaller players may risk losing market share to bigger ones when the market consolidates.

The pharmaceutical and healthcare research team of Haitong Securities said they believe as supply-side reforms deepen, more drugs, health check-ups and tests will likely be covered under the public healthcare system and the social security system.

And medical appliance makers, raw material suppliers to drugmakers and healthcare service providers will likely see higher sales as demand from those with diabetes, blood diseases and tumors is expected to rise.

Game-changing drugs and technologies such as those to combat tumors, DNA sequencing for anti-cancer drug development, and providers of exclusive healthcare and examination services, may benefit the most from a fast-changing market, the Haitong research note said.

Data of the first two quarters of 2016 showed sales of prescribed drugs, particularly those for medical treatment, surpassed expectations. Demand for contract research organizations, excipients, and drug import and export trading solutions remains robust, it said.

According to Northeast Securities Co Ltd, retailers that enable online purchases of over-the-counter drugs and online-to-offline purchases of prescribed drugs, will see higher growth than physical drugstores in the long run.
An employee works on an assembly line producing automobiles at a factory in Qingdao, Shandong Province, March 1, 2016. [Photo/Agencies]

The Chinese government will further improve private investment in the country, take measures to solve difficulties in enterprises gaining funds, and reduce business burdens.

China's State Council said it would further inspire initiative, unleash potential and encourage innovation in the private sector, according to a circular on the government's official website.

The National Development and Reform Commission, together with related departments, will set up a supervision group. It will launch a special inspection to provinces and cities that saw a big drop in private investment beginning in the middle of July.

Meanwhile, the country will put efforts to create a fair, open and transparent competitive market and further open access to civil airports, telecommunication operation, oil and gas exploration and development.

On June 22, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang called on central and local government departments to take concrete steps to boost private investment, after hearing reports from a related inquiry at a State Council executive meeting he chaired.

Private investment has been playing a vital role in China's economic development in recent years. It now accounts for 60 percent of China's gross domestic product, 80 percent of jobs, and over 60 percent of Chinas total fixed asset investment.

Private investment is of critical importance for China to maintain stable economic growth, secure employment and reform its economic structure.
A pedestrian walks past a fashion store of Louis Vuitton (LV) in Fuzhou city, southeast Fujian province, June 12, 2016. [Photo/IC]

Both the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong continue to experience a slowdown in spending on luxury goods, with a slowing economy dampening consumer confidence, according to Deloitte China.

David Lung, the company's managing partner, consumer products and retail sectors, made the remarks after reviewing the third annual Global Powers of Luxury Goods report, published by Deloitte Global on June 7.

The report found that the average sales of each of the top 100 luxury goods companies reached $2.2 billion in 2015.

Salvatore Ferragamo SpA earned 321 million euros ($358 million) in revenue for the January-March quarter this year, down 1.8 year-on-year, according to its interim financial results for the 2015-16 fiscal year, ending on March 31.

The Asia-Pacific region, its top market in terms of revenues, saw revenues fall by 3 per cent year-on-year in the January-March quarter, mainly due to deterioration of the business in Hong Kong and Macao. The retail channel's revenue recorded a fall of 6 per cent.

Prada Spa, which is traded on the Hong Kong stock exchange, saw its profit for the full year to January 31 fall 26.6 percent to 3.3 billion euros, from 4.5 billion euros.

Clearly, the economic environment became tougher for luxury goods players in 2015 and the first quarter of this year.

Difficult times in Asia had a significant impact on sales throughout the region, especially in Hong Kong and Macao, where a decline in local consumption and tourism hurt harder than elsewhere, the report said.

The Asia Pacific market's net sales fell 4.4 per cent year-on-year to 1.08 billion euros in 2015, despite being Prada's leading market, due to the downturn in Hong Kong and Macao.

The Chinese market ended the year with net sales of 705.8 million euros, down by 8.3 percent.

The Deloitte report examined and listed the 100 largest luxury goods companies globally for 2015, based on sales.

China is still driving much of the volume growth in luxury travel products, and this will continue as the next generation of potential luxury shoppers enter the workforce and start accumulating wealth.

Overall, Chinese consumers are the travel sector's biggest spenders and they remain strategically important for luxury brands. There are more than 400 million millennials in China, which is more than the working populations of the US and Europe combined.

Prices are no longer their primary concern; instead, they are more interested in buying brands and products with high quality and character, the report said.

Many wealthy Chinese tourists are staying away from the Hong Kong market, the report said. The middle class consumers who used to visit Hong Kong mainly for shopping are now turning to overseas markets or cross-border e-retailers for better prices.

On the Chinese mainland, the slowing economy has resulted in reduced spending; the government measures against luxury gifts in the corporate sector have also had an impact.

"There is a shift in the luxury path-to-purchase. Empowered by social networks and digital devices, luxury goods consumers are dictating increasingly when, where and how they engage with luxury brands," said Patrizia Arienti, Deloitte Global's fashion and luxury sector leader, EMEA region.

"They have become both critics and creators, demanding a more personalized luxury experience, and expect to be given the opportunity to shape the products and services they consume."

Ira Kalish, chief economist, Deloitte Global, said, "The global luxury goods sector is expected to grow more slowly this year, at a rate many retailers may find disappointing."

"The growth rate is slowing in important markets such as China and Russia, although some markets continue to perform well and there are pockets of opportunity across the globe. India and Mexico, for example, are growing quickly, and the Middle East offers further growth potential."

The key findings of the report also include luxury's new normal  that the luxury goods sector has now passed the mid-point of the "decade of change". The first half was characterized by the Chinese consumer and the explosion in the use of digital technology. The second half of the decade is expected to be characterized by discipline.

The external environment is likely to change in crucial areas, including an evolution in consumer buying behaviors, the merging of channels and business model complexity, an increase in international travel, the growing importance of the millennial consumer, and the continued impact of the global economy, according to the report.

To be sure, demand for luxury goods is growing. Sales for the world's 100 largest luxury goods companies continued to grow despite economic challenges, although the rate of growth was less than that in previous years.

Profit margins were higher than the previous year and the polarization of company performances was greater, with more high performers achieving double-digit sales growth and profit margins, while others experienced double-digit sales decline.

Italy is once again the leading luxury goods country in terms of the number of companies. With 29 companies in the top 100, it has more than double the number based in the US, which has the second-largest number.

However, Italian companies account for only 17 per cent of luxury goods sales among the top 100  these predominantly family-owned Italian companies are much smaller, with average luxury goods worth $1.3 billion, compared to $3.1 billion for US companies, the report said.
BEIJING - The State Council is planning to dispatch inspectors in mid-July to regions that have huge but sharply slowed private investment.

The inspection teams will consist of officials from the National Development and Reform Commission and other relevant departments, according to a notice released by the General Office of the State Council on Monday.

The notice did not specify which provincial-level regions will be targeted.

The State Council will also inspect the implementation of measures streamlining administration, overhauling market regulation and optimizing government services in the second half of 2016.

Official data showed that private fixed-asset investment increased 3.9 percent year on year in the first five months of 2016, compared with an 11.4-percent growth in the same period last year.

A State Council executive meeting on June 22 revealed some local governments' failure to fully implement the pro-private investment measures as was found during official surveys in May.

Private firms were treated unequally, having difficulty raising funds and suffering from heavy financial burden, according to the surveys.

Monday's State Council notice asked local governments to mend their ways and do as required by a string of documents released since the incumbent central government was formed.

The notice reiterated commitments to widen market access, create a level playing field and reduce financial burden for private investors.

The private sector created about 60 percent of China's GDP and around 80 percent of jobs. Private fixed-asset investment accounted for more than 60 percent of the total.

It is significant to boost private investment that can help steady economic growth, create jobs and facilitate supply-side structural reform, said the notice.
WELLINGTON - China's biggest building company will be working on a hotel project billed as China's biggest-ever investment in New Zealand's tourism infrastructure, the developer said on Monday.

New Zealand's Hawkins Group would be working in a joint venture with China Construction to build the Park Hyatt Auckland, on downtown Auckland's harbor front, after signing a contract with Beijing-based developer Fu Wah International Group.

Work on the seven-storey hotel, which would have a total floor area of 29,000 square meters and 195 rooms, was due to commence this month and completion was scheduled for late 2018.

Hawkins had experience and understanding of the Auckland waterfront environment, including the challenging ground and climate conditions, Richard Aitken, Fu Wah New Zealand general manager, said.

"Together with China Construction, they have the resources, experience and skills to deliver an outstanding outcome for Auckland," he said.

China Construction was one of the world's biggest construction businesses, with an annual construction turnover of around $100 billion.

New Zealand Prime Minister John Key ceremonially broke the ground on the project in March.

Key was joined onsite by executives of Beijing-based property developer Fu Wah International Group, which is investing NZ$200 million ($143.56 million) in the hotel, representing one of the largest foreign investments in New Zealand tourism infrastructure.

Fu Wah won development rights for the 195-room hotel after a global investor search process in 2013 led by the land owner, Auckland City Council organization Panuku Development Auckland.

It will be the first Park Hyatt hotel in New Zealand, and one of 37 worldwide.
Clement K.M. Kwok, managing director and chief executive officer of The Hongkong and Shanghai Hotels The Hongkong and Shanghai Hotels' chief Kwok outlines the philosophy that drives the company

Clement Kwok seems a little tense when he first enters the room for the interview, which is understandable. He's in town for the unveiling of the newly renovated Peninsula Beijing, and he must be feeling the weight of millions of dollars on his shoulders.

To be precise, $135 million.

The Hongkong and Shanghai Hotels, Limited has invested 890 million yuan to meet the expectations that arise "if you dare call yourself one of the best hotels in the world".

The hotel, after being a leading one in the capital city since 1989, was beginning to tire a little and losing its attractiveness as other luxury hotels opened one after another. The company decided on the renovation in 2013, aiming to keep it at the cutting edge in the currently oversupplied market.

Engineering expertise was utilized to reduce the previous 525 rooms and suites to just 230. They are now among the largest in Beijing, and fine materials such as jade, white marble and red sandalwood, as well as high-quality craftsmanship have been employed to ensure the hotel has the necessary appearance to match expectation.

The money has also been invested to ensure the guest experience is enhanced by technology and in-room amenities, including bedside and desk tablets that can be pre-set in 11 languages to control all room functions and gain access to room service menus with a simple tap.

Managing director and CEO of HSH, Kwok has been up since early in the morning going round the hotel trying to ensure that everything is ready, or at least as ready as can be, for when the curtain goes up.

"If you are Peninsula, you can't afford to fail," he said.

While an interview is probably one of the last things he feels like doing at the moment, with the media gathering to pass judgment on whether it thinks that money has been well spent or not, once he has established that he doesn't want to talk about himself"I would prefer to just focus on my professional life"fears that he might be somewhat tongue-tied, prove to be unfounded. Indeed he talks eloquently about his role and the business with almost boyish enthusiasm.

Which is apt, since he said the company is still in the youthful stage of its development and growth strategy, even though it is celebrating its 150th anniversary this year, and the Peninsula Hong Kong, which first gave birth to the high expectations, is 85 years old.

"The legacy is added-value, of course, but by itself it's not enough," he said. "You are always judged by your latest product."

With three new hotels in the pipelineLondon, Istanbul and Yangonhe's probably in for a few more stressful mornings.

But he said the company is building for the future; and "it's an exciting time for us as a group".

He credits this to the leadership of HSH Chairman Michael Kadoorie, who, he said, has "a vision for the Peninsula brand and what it represents".

The most fundamental principle, Kwok explained, is it is committed to being an owner as well as an operator.

"We are not trying to have just as many hotels as possible; we want to be at the ownership table every time. Preferably with at least 50 percent, as then you have control."

He said that this means the company has a completely different philosophy and a different complexion compared with most of the hotel companies, which now operate as management companies relying on volume for economies of scale.

The Peninsula Hotels portfolio comprises only 10 hotels in operation, with the three aforementioned projects in development. Other major hotelier brands such as Marriott or Hilton offer thousands of hotels worldwide.

To make this work, he said, "one of the most important things is for our staff and our people to understand what it is we are trying to do".

As the group has expanded around the world, he said that is something that has been reinforced and strengthened, and this is clearly something he takes pride in"I have been here for 14 years, and during this time I certainly feel that I have increased the quality of communication.

"As a publicly listed company we don't forecast results, but we are optimistic for the outlook of the global hospitality industry in 2016, and our commercial properties division is holding up well and we expect a stable performance," he said.

Close-up

Clement K.M. Kwok, managing director and chief executive officer, The Hongkong and Shanghai Hotels, Limited

Age: 56

Career: Began with Price waterhouseCoopers in London, then moved to Barclays de Zoete Wedd. In 1986, he returned to Hong Kong to work with Schroders Asia where he was appointed head of corporate finance in 1991. From 1996 to 2002, he served as the finance director of MTR Corporation. He joined HSH in 2002.

Honor: He was made a Chevalier de l'Ordre National de la Legion d'Honneur by the French government in 2015.
Staff from Midea Group show how its smart kitchen works at an international electric home appliance expo in Berlin, Germany. [Photo/Xinhua]

Phones or watches may be smart enough to detect sound, light, motion, touch, direction, acceleration and even the weather, but they can't smell.

That's created a technology bottleneck that companies have spent more than a decade trying to fill. Most have failed.

A powerful portable electronic nose, said Redg Snodgrass, a venture capitalist funding hardware start-ups, would open up new horizons for health, food, personal hygiene and even security.

Imagine, he said, being able to analyse what someone has eaten or drunk based on the chemicals they emit; detect disease early via an app; or smell the fear in a potential terrorist. "Smell," he said, "is an important piece" of the puzzle.

It's not through lack of trying. Aborted projects and failed companies litter the aroma-sensing landscape. But that's not stopping newcomers from trying.

Like Tristan Rousselle's Grenoble-based Aryballe Technologies, which recently showed off a prototype of NeOse, a hand-held device he says will initially detect up to 50 common odors. "It's a risky project. There are simpler things to do in life," he said candidly.

The problem, said David Edwards, a chemical engineer at Harvard University, is that unlike light and sound, scent is not energy, but mass. "It's a very different kind of signal," he said.

That means each smell requires a different kind of sensor, making devices bulky and limited in what they can do. The aroma of coffee, for example, consists of more than 600 components.

France's Alpha MOS was first to build electronic noses for limited industrial use, but its foray into developing a smaller model that would do more has run aground. Within a year of unveiling a prototype for a device that would allow smartphones to detect and analyse smells, the website of its US-based arm Boyd Sense has gone dark. Neither company responded to emails requesting comment.

The website of Adamant Technologies, which in 2013 promised a device that would wirelessly connect to smartphones and measure a user's health from their breath, has also gone quiet. Its founder didn't respond to emails seeking comment.

For now, startups focus on narrower goals or on industries that don't care about portability.

California-based Aromyx, for example, is working with major food companies to help them capture a digital profile for every odor, using its EssenceChip. Wave some food across the device and it captures a digital signature that can be manipulated as if it were a sound or image file.

But, despite its name, this is not being done on silicon, says CEO Chris Hanson. Nor is the device something you could carry or wear. "Mobile and wearable are a decade away at least," he said.

Partly, the problem is that we still don't understand well how humans and animals detect and interpret smells. The Nobel prize for understanding the principles of olfaction, or smell, was awarded only 12 years ago.

"The biology of olfaction is still a frontier of science, very connected to the frontier of neuroscience," said Edwards, the Harvard chemical engineer.

That leaves startups reaching for lower-hanging fruit.

Snodgrass is funding a startup called Tzoa, a wearable that measures air quality. He said interest in this from China is particularly strong. Another, Nima, raised $9 million last month to build devices that can test food for proteins and substances, including gluten, peanuts and milk. Its first product will be available shortly, the company said.

For now, mobile phones are more likely to deliver smells than detect them. Edwards' Vapor Communications, for example, in April launched Cyrano, a tub-sized cylinder that users can direct to emit scents from a mobile appin the same way iTunes or Spotify directs a speaker to emit sounds.

Japanese startup Scentee is revamping its scent-emitting smartphone module, said co-founder Koki Tsubouchi, shifting focus from sending scent messages to controlling the fragrance of a room.

There may be scepticismhistory and cinemas are littered with the residue of failed attempts to introduce smell into our lives going back to the 1930sbut companies sniff a revival.

Dutch group Philips filed a recent patent for a device that would influence, or prime, users' behaviour by stimulating their senses, including through smell. Nike filed something similar, pumping scents through a user's headphones or glasses to improve performance.

One day these devices will be commonplace, said Avery Gilbert, an expert on scent and author of a book on the science behind it, gradually embedding specialised applications into our lives.

"I don't think you're going to solve it all at once," he said.
Senior people constitute the majority of passengers in public buses in Nanjing, Jiangsu province. [Geng Yuhe/For China Daily] Old citizens receive life-transforming digital help via govt information program

These days, when people over 80 in Beijing take a bus, see a doctor or spend money, their activities are digitally tracked by the government, as part of an effort to improve services for the country's rapidly growing elderly population.

The data amassed with each swipe of the multi-purpose "Beijing Connect" old person's card goes into a massive database of the elderly in the capital. City authorities hope the information will enable them to better cope with their burgeoning population of over-60s, which already stands at 3 million.

Though geared toward the elderly, the program demonstrates how China more broadly is using big data to better direct the use of government resources for the country's 1.4 billion people. Beijing's strategy is to use new technology and internet to innovate and propel China's transformation to a services-based economya strategy that Premier Li Keqiang has said "will trigger a new Industrial Revolution."

In a sophisticated example, Beijing municipal government is collecting the disparate data on the elderly in order to predict what services will be needed in the future. This is to make sure it has the necessary budget and services in place, by taking into account people's decreasing mobility, for example, said Bai Qiang, vice president of the Beijing Community Service Association, a city government agency.

"All of the data we are collecting now, including visits to parks, the use of public transport and (numbers of) shopping trips, will help us to predict whether the elderly will become disabled in the future," Bai said.

The thinking is that if an elderly man is paying fewer visits to parks or taking buses less, that will show up in the data. The government can then judge what the disability rate will be in the future and prepare a budget plan in advance, Bai said.

Cardholders interviewed said they weren't concerned about a loss of privacy and praised the program as far more convenient than the coupons the government used to give them for the same services.

"I've no worries. Elderly people don't have any secrets," said Liu Huizhen, 84, who was using her card to buy steamed bread in a small supermarket.

"It's hard for elderly people to count coin-by-coin," Liu said. "And when you take the bus you just swipe the card, it's very simple and convenient."

The State Council issued a plan to promote big data in August, calling for the accessing and sharing of government data to improve governance. In response, the southern province of Guangdong on April 25 announced a strategy promoting the collection and use of big data. Areas targeted included: the integration of air and water monitoring information with pollution forecasting; the creation of electronic medical records; and the sharing of information on tourists traveling to scenic spots, to better manage traffic.

The Guangdong plan also called for the collection of population data on the elderly and a "comprehensive analysis" of their service needs, similar to what Beijing is now offering.

While China is still behind countries such as the United States, Britain and Germany in terms of the development of big data infrastructure, it is unique in its commitment to the project and the speed with which it is progressing, said Zhang Yue, managing director of The Boston Consulting Group in China.

Although China's national and local governments, ministries and departments are the owners of a large quantity of financial, residential and other data, they have yet to share the information among themselves, Zhang said.

"The government has realized that if they want to really take full advantage of (what is in) their possession they need to integrate those, otherwise the value of the data is quite limited," she added.

However, none of those efforts are as wide-ranging and integrated as Beijing's own multi-purpose card, which is slated to be expanded to cover the nearly 20 million people aged 60 and older who live in Beijing and the neighboring regions of Hebei and Tianjin city by the end of 2018.

The card functions as ID and gives free access to public transport and public parks. The government also tops up the card with 100 yuan ($15) each month, and cardholders can activate an additional function to enable them to use it as a bank card onto which money can be transferred from an account.

Rogier Creemers, who researches China's governance of technology at the University of Oxford, said China is a world leader in the degree to which it is integrating such functions.

"What allows China to do something like this is the fact that behind everything you have a single unified network of power, which is the Chinese Communist Party," Creemers said.

Some cities, like Nanjing, have social security cards with an e-payment function that can be used for public transport and medical treatment and are available to all residents, not just the elderly. Shanghai, China's most populous city, has just introduced a card for people 65 and over. It distributes government subsidies, offers discounts in restaurants and free rides on public transport and can also be used as a bank card.

"What we are doing is not monitoring, but collecting the data," he said. "All the data we collect aims to enable the government to provide better services to the elderly. For example, if we detected that a type of service was in great demand, we would get in touch with the relevant companies to request a discount."
The shadow of an attendee sits on a podium wall during a Lenovo Group Ltd news conference in Hong Kong, China, May 26, 2016. [Photo/VCG]

Lenovo Group Ltd, the world's largest personal computer maker, is encouraging employees to start up businesses through its "Dream Lab", an internal innovation and entrepreneurship platform.

Excellent innovative items will be chosen by Lenovo's senior executives and outside investors to enter into the "Dream Lab", a tech startup accelerator founded last August that provides seed four-month support to early-stage ventures.

The entrepreneurial items come from the daily life of the employees. The staff could put forward any good entrepreneurial ideas, which are not enforced to be consistent with the company's main business direction.

"The 'Dream Lab' actually offers a training platform, which teaches employees how to write a business plan if they have an entrepreneurial idea. During the process, some employees may find they are not suitable for starting a business, thus it will retain talent for the company," said Wang Qianying, vice president of innovation management of Lenovo Group.

Wang added their own jobs will not be affected as most staff-members explore innovation in their spare time or at weekends.

There have been four startup items standing out from numerous candidates in the first season, which cover e-sports, VR and other intelligent hardware. And five items started external financing in the second season.

"Even though the excellent startup teams finally leave Lenovo, they could also be connected to us to some degree," said Wang, adding this connection includes the support from capital and resources.

Moreover, artificial intelligence, big data, intelligent wearables, intelligent interaction and healthcare would be the concerned areas.
China has successfully carried out its first in-orbit refueling test, which observers say means it can now prolong the life span of its satellites and spacecraft.

Tianyuan 1, the country's first in-orbit refueling system for satellites, was lifted into space by a Long March 7 carrier rocket on June 25 during the rocket's maiden flight.

The mission also marked the first use of China's fourth and latest space launch center in Wenchang, Hainan province.

Tianyuan 1 has conducted nine in-orbit tests including the control and refilling of liquid in microgravity and accurate measurement of propellant, according to the National University of Defense Technology in Changsha, Hunan province, which developed the system.

The spacecraft recorded video and data when it filled three types of propellant tanks. The results of these tests showed Tianyuan 1 has met designers' requirements, the university said, adding that the system features a high level of automation and stability.

Refueling with 60 kilograms of fuel can prolong a satellite's service by about 12 months, generating nearly 100 million yuan ($15 million) in revenue, the university said.

Wu Peixin, an aerospace industry observer in Beijing, said that due to the technological complexity involved, only a handful of nations, including the United States and the former Soviet Union, have performed in-orbit refueling tests.

"One of the major factors that determines a satellite's life span is the fuel it carries and when it is used. Many satellites were abandoned because their fuel was burned out even though their equipment could still function well," Wu said on Sunday.

"Therefore, in-orbit refueling technology is needed to enable satellites, spacecraft and space stations to work longer. This technology will also allow us to increase the operational range of space probes, helping to realize manned missions to Mars or asteroids."

Wang Ya'nan, editor-in-chief of Aerospace Knowledge magazine, said China operates about 140 satellites in space, so it will benefit greatly once it uses in-orbit refueling technology to service its space assets.

The recent tests performed by Tianyuan 1 will pave the way for large-scale resupply and refueling for China's future manned space station, he added.

As part of China's manned space program, a Long March 2F rocket is scheduled to launch with the Tiangong II space laboratory in mid-September.

In April next year, a Long March 7 is due to transport the Tianzhou 1 cargo spacecraft to dock with Tiangong II.
Twenty-one people who police say violated the law during a protest on Sunday against the planned construction of a garbage incineration plant in Zhaoqing, Guangdong province, have been taken away for questioning.

"The lawbreakers threw stones and bottles of mineral water at police and other law enforcement personnel during the protest in Lubu township in Zhaoqing's Gaoyao district," said Duan Jianxin, an official in the city's publicity department. "Some police officers were injured."

Police urged those who violated the law during the protest to give themselves up, he said.

Duan, who was at the scene to help maintain order, declined to provide details about the protest, citing the ongoing investigation.

"After being educated and persuaded, the villagers have dispersed, and the situation has been resolved," Duan told China Daily on Sunday.

According to a statement from the Gaoyao district government, several hundred people gathered in front the Lubu government building to protest construction of the incinerator at 9 am on Sunday.

More than 1,300 protesters and onlookers were recorded during the peak hours. The gathering caused a heavy traffic jam in the area, the police said. They encouraged residents to abide by the law when expressing themselves to government departments, and to avoid believing and spreading rumors.

Order was restored by about 2:30 pm.

Some villagers said they were worried the project would create air and water pollution after it begins operation.

Sources in the Zhaoqing bureau of environmental protection said the incineration plant is a key environmentally friendly project for the city, located in western Guangdong.

The incinerator is designed to burn 365,000 metric tons of garbage annually, while generating more than 94 million kilowatt-hours of electricity. It would handle 1,500 tons of garbage a day and serve more than 1.6 million residents from Zhaoqing's Duanzhou, Dinghu and Gaoyao districts, as well as some people in Deqing county, which is under the administration of Zhaoqing.

The project meets the State's environmental requirements, sources said.
Hainan aims to become a world-class medical tourism destination within five years by developing the Boao Lecheng international medical tourism pilot zone, according to a provincial official.

Lu Junhua, deputy governor of Hainan province, made his remarks on Wednesday at the 2016 World Medical Tourism and Global Healthcare Congress in Boao.

The three-day congress has gathered more than 300 medical tourism industry executives and investors from around the world.

The Boao Lecheng international medical tourism pilot zone, the first of its kind in the country, was approved by the State Council in 2013. It enjoys nine preferential policies, including special permission for medical talent, technology, devices and drugs, and an allowance for the entry of foreign capital and international communications.

The pilot zone also has permission to carry out leading-edge medical technology research, such as stem cell clinical research.

Since its establishment, 20 projects with a total investment of 19.8 billion yuan ($2.9 billion) have been set up in the pilot zone, with another 15 projects approved.

Nine investment projects, with a total contract value of 8.4 billion yuan, were agreed to at the congress in Boao. Five of them relate to the pilot zone.

Hainan, with its subtropical climate and coastal scenery, has many advantages that will help with the development of its medical tourism industry, said Jonathan Edelheit, CEO of the Medical Tourism Association.

However, he cautioned that "more international cooperation is still needed, especially in doctor and nurse's training".

Han Yingwei, the director of Hainan's Health and Family Planning Commission, also cautioned that a lack of medical talent and supporting infrastructure may hamper the pilot zone's development.

However, Lu, the deputy governor, said Hainan would overcome these challenges to meet its goal.

Tourism on the island has seen rapid growth since its designation as an international tourism destination by the State Council in 2009. Last year, about 50 million tourists visited Hainan.
Xinjiang beckons visitors to experience life in four countries along new routes

China's northwestern Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region is expected to get more high-end visitors after the launch of cross-border tours to the Altai Mountains, where China, Russia, Mongolia and Kazakhstan come together.

With the approval of the Altai area as a cross-border tourism cooperation zone, more favorable policies on visas, transportation, and tax-free shopping will be introduced for the convenience of tourists from the four countries.

Tourists can choose to travel between China, Russia, Mongolia and Kazakhstan, or take a tour with multiple stops in various places in the Altai Mountain area.

According to the regional tourism authority, in 2016 alone 15 groups will travel between China and Mongolia; 10 groups will cross the borders of China, Mongolia and Russia; eight groups will travel between China and Kazakhstan; and five will include China, Mongolia, Russia and Kazakhstan.

The name Altai comes from Mongolian and means "gold mountain". The area covers Altai in China's Xinjiang region, Altai Krai and the Altai Republic in Russia, the East Kazakhstan region of Kazakhstan, and the Bayan-Olgii and Khovd provinces of Mongolia, where more than 5 million people occupy 780,000 square kilometers.

Yang Xinfeng, deputy director of the Altai Tourism Bureau, said the bureau promoted the cross-border routes to tourists starting last year, and the market has responded vigorously.

"The first cross-border trip, a group driving their own cars between China and Mongolia, started in July last year. So far, we've had nearly 300 tourists participating in these routes," Yang said. "Cross-border tourism has contributed to Altai tourism.

"In 2015, we received 179,600 inbound visits from tourists, an increase of 8.95 percent year-on-year. The inbound tourism revenue reached 294 million yuan ($44.2 million) in 2015, up 8.85 percent."

"Still, bottlenecks are there," Yang said. "China and the other three countries haven't mutually recognized driver's licenses, which limits the development of driving tours around the Altai Mountains. The visa application process is also time-consuming and expensive."

Hu Xianchun, manager of Xinjiang CITIC International Travel Agency, said the cross-border travel routes are not just for tourists within Xinjiang but are open to the whole country.

"The Altai Mountains have abundant tourism resources, including the best ice and snow scenery," Hu said.

"However, the price is still relatively high. So it is more popular among high-end tourists instead of the general public," he said.

A 14-day standard tour costs around 17,000 yuan, while a driving tour costs more than 30,000 yuan, Hu estimated.

Hu said the tourism industry in Xinjiang is facing some downward pressure, and the cross-border travel routes will be a stimulator.

"Compared with other tourism destinations, the transportation cost in Xinjiang is relatively high," Hu said.

"Besides, Xinjiang is not a tourism destination that will attract tourists all year. The best time to visit Xinjiang is from June to August. This is a relatively small window for us," he said.
HOHHOT - A limestone mine explosion on Sunday morning in north China was triggered by explosives used by locals, according to a police investigation.

The explosion, which occurred at about 2 am at Urad Front Banner in North China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, has left six people missing and one person injured.

The injured person, surnamed Wang, told police that he and six other locals tried to blast a small hilltop to reach the limestone underneath using explosives made from three tonnes of compound fertilizer.

The blast occurred while they were making the explosives.

Police said no authorization has been issued to mine limestone in the area.

Wang has been sent to the hospital and local authorities are still searching for the six missing.
TAIYUAN - Rescuers have managed to contact on Sunday night eight of the 12 people trapped in a coal mine in North China's Shanxi Province after it was flooded on Saturday night.

Eight people trapped in the mine shaft in Jincheng City have been reached by phone, the rescue headquarters told Xinhua at 8:30 pm on Sunday. Rescuers are still searching for the four others.

The flooding occurred at around 10:53 pm Saturday when 94 people were working in the shaft, 82 of whom were evacuated.
Schueco, a German solutions provider for windows, doors and facades, launched its largest showroom and training center in Shanghai on June 17 to expand its brand awareness among customers in China.

The showroom and training center, covering more than 1,300 square meters, displays Schueco's latest aluminum products, including a window integrated anti-smog ventilation system designed specifically for the Chinese market.

The company said the center will allow it to better understand its customers and react to their demands quickly.

"In previous years, we focused on partners and developers, but now we are focusing on customers. They can feel and touch the products (in the center)," said Andreas Engelhardt, managing partner and chief executive officer of Schueco.

Since it established offices in China in 1999, Schueco has achieved near double-digit growth annually in China.

"Our market share in China is small because we are an expert in special and high quality products. Our goal is a minimum two-digit growth year-by-year," Engelhardt said. "We are fulfilling that. It is not a five-year plan on paper."

"You cannot enter into a market that is not familiar with your high-quality products. You need to start with training," said Engelhardt. "Our decision is to double or triple the number of our training facilities."

Schueco has positioned itself in China with its concept of quality. The company believes that quality is a key problem in China's current windows, doors sand facades system market.

"We focus on high-end residential market and quality commercial projects," said Joerg Westphal, executive senior vice-president of Schueco. "We are not entering a pre-existing market. We are creating a new market."

The increasing demand for quality products in China offers tremendous opportunities, Westphal said.

"The mind of Chinese people is changing. They are asking for quality and comfort," said Guenter Strauss, executive director of the company's China division.

"We are not willing to bring cheaper prices to the market. Investors are asking for long-term and useful buildings that will not break down after two or three years. That is our clear strategy  to focus on that market," Engelhardt added.
Online media banned from publishing unverified contents (Xinhua) Updated: 2016-07-04 13:47

BEIJING - Online media basing news reports on contents made on social media must verify them before publication, China's Internet regulator said on Sunday.



News websites must accredit these sources, and they are banned from fabricating stories or distorting facts, according to a notice issued by the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC).



The CAC has punished some major websites which have fabricated stories this year, including sina.com, ifeng.com, 163.com and the site run by one of the country's biggest Internet companies, Tencent.



In one notorious case, a journalist from the respected Caijing Magazine wrote a story in February based on fabricated online content describing a village in northeast China where villagers do not respect the elderly and women are promiscuous. The story went viral.
CHANGSHA - Torrential rains in central China's Hunan Province have disrupted train operations, a railway company said Monday.Since midnight on Sunday, when rain battered the province, more than 100 trains have been forced to stop, delay or detour along five railway lines, including one connecting Shanghai and Kunming, capital of Yunnan Province, said a manager with Guangzhou Railway Group.Up to 27 railway sections along the five lines were reported to have been affected by rain-triggered landslides or flooded rail beds, said the manager.An expressway bridge under construction collapsed because of the rain around 10 a.m. Monday morning in Yiyang City, Hunan, creating a barrier lake near a national-level road. The flooding has disrupted traffic along the road.Also in Yiyang City, around 3 tonnes of gasoline and diesel oil leaked out of a gas station at 3 a.m. Monday, forcing nearby residents to temporarily relocate, according to the city publicity department. The contaminated floodwater flowed into a nearby river, and authorities are monitoring the water quality and are prepared for an emergency response plan for drinking water contamination.More torrential rain is expected Monday in the province, according to meteorological authorities in Hunan. It also warned of landslides, floods and other geological disasters.
Rescue workers save a pregnant woman from a flooded area in Tongren, Guizhou province, on Monday. Heavy rainstorms have caused flooding and landslides in the city's six districts and counties. [Photo by Ke Youchuan / For China Daily]

Flooding and deadly landslides closed highways and interrupted train and air travel as heavy rain in central and eastern China further raised the levels of the Yangtze River and its tributaries on Monday.

The middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze could see water levels surpass warning levels, with rainstorms continuing to batter the river basin areas, according to the forecast by flood control authorities in Hubei province on Monday.

China Three Gorges Corp, which runs the world's largest hydropower station, is fully prepared for possible challenges and flooding that might occur along the upper reaches of the Yangtze, said Wang Yuhua, deputy chief engineer at the company's cascade dispatch and communication center.

"Due to the heavy rainfall this year, we need better prediction of weather conditions well in advance so we can better rearrange work to deal with the flooding," he said. "Normally, the longer the period in which we are able to forecast, the better we can schedule the reservoirs."

The situations in the middle and lower reaches of the river were still serious.

The rainstorms have triggered landslides as well as flooding in Anhui, Hunan, Hubei and Guizhou provinces, forcing railway companies to cancel at least 53 scheduled trains, according to railway bureaus in Chengdu, Wuhan, Shanghai and Guangzhou.

The cancellations stranded thousands of passengers at railway stations in Huaihua and Xiangtan in Hunan province, as railway companies were forced to close the lines due to damage from the rainstorms.

The heavy rain also triggered a number of landslides in Anhui, Hubei and Guizhou provinces.

In Hubei, a landslide hit a village in Qichun county on Monday morning, burying four people. Rescue efforts were hampered by blocked roads, which made it difficult for large machinery to enter the affected area.

In Tongcheng, Guizhou, a landslide hit five houses early on Monday morning and buried seven people.

In Anhui, landslides triggered by rainstorms had killed at least six people in Jinzhai county as of Sunday evening, local media reported.

Hou Liqiang, Lyu Chang and Zhou Lihua contributed to this story.




Ling Jihua, a former State-level official, was sentenced to life in prison for taking bribes totaling 77.08 million yuan ($11.6 million), illegally obtaining State secrets and abusing power, a court ruling said on Monday.

Ling, 59, former vice-chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference National Committee, pleaded guilty and decided not to appeal, a court video broadcast by China Central Television showed on Monday.

"I accept all the charges and submit to the judgment," Ling said in his final statement. "Today's trial will be engraved in my memory."

He said the trial was "solemn, meticulous, rational and civilized", embodying a combination of rule of law and humanitarian treatment.

"I sincerely thank the court, the procuratorate and (my) two attorneys," Ling said.

Ling was also deprived of his political rights for life and had his personal assets confiscated, under the verdict given by the First Intermediate People's Court of Tianjin. He served at the General Office of the Communist Party of China's Central Committee from 1995 to 2012, and was head of the office for five years, a position comparable to that of the White House chief of staff in the United States.

He later served as head of the CPC Central Committee's United Front Work Department before being investigated on suspicion of graft in late 2014.

The court said it carried out a closed trial on June 7, since State secrets were involved. Judicial organs fully protected Ling and his legal team's litigation rights while handling the case, the court said.

Judges found that Ling, taking advantage of his positions, had sought or promised to seek profits or promotion opportunities for a number of bribers, either senior officials or businesspeople, including Lou Zhongfu, Cui Xiaoyu, Pan Yiyang, Wei Xin, Li Chuncheng, Bai Enpei and Huo Ke.

Ling had extorted or accepted bribes personally or through his wife, or knowingly allowed his wife and his son, Ling Gu, to accept or extort bribes, according to the court.

While serving as head of the United Front Work Department of the CPC Central Committee and deputy head of the CPPCC, Ling illegally obtained a large amount of classified materials through Huo, then-head of the secretariat of the CPC Central Committee's General Office, as well as through others. This seriously compromised the country's secrecy system, the verdict said.

Ling also abused his power to assist two people named in court only as Chen and Zhang, as well as their relatives, with job transfers, property purchase, promotion and change of residential status, resulting in substantial losses in terms of public property and national interests, according to the verdict.

Ling is the latest senior official, or "tiger", to be found guilty in the country's ongoing anti-graft campaign. A commentary published on Tuesday in People's Daily, the official newspaper of the CPC, said Lings sentence again shows the Party's determination and strong resolution in fighting corruption.

It called on all Party members, particularly officials and leaders, to learn profound lessons from Ling's case and to fully respect Party regulations and State laws.

The article also said Ling's case, which was conducted strictly according to law, shows that China's anti-graft campaign has been carried out appropriately under the legal system.

Xinhua contributed to this story.
In a meeting without neckties, Premier Li Keqiang and his Greek counterpart vowed on Monday to forge a famous Greek port into a top-level one in the Mediterranean, following the approval of a landmark concession deal.

The visit to Beijing by Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras came after the Greek Parliament approved on June 30 the purchase by China Cosco Shipping Corp of a majority stake in the Piraeus Port Authority.

The company signed an agreement with Greeces privatization fund in April to acquire a 67 percent stake in the PPA.

In a light start, Li took off his tie at the meeting at the Great Hall of the People, as Tsipras vowed not to wear a tie until Greece walks out of the shadow of its debt crisis.

We are willing to make efforts with Greece to forge the Piraeus Port into a top-level port and logistics center in the Mediterranean, and make it a major gateway on the China-Europe Land-Sea Express Route and Asia-Europe interconnection, Li said.

Piraeus is at the southern end of the China-Europe land-sea route, a transport line under construction that starts in Hungary and runs through Serbia and Macedonia. The line is expected to ensure faster delivery of goods between China and Europe.

In 2008, China Cosco secured a 35-year deal to operate two container terminals in the port.

Li also noted that Beijing has paid great attention to changes in the situation in Europe.

We firmly support the integration of Europe and have always believed that a prosperous and stable European Union is in the interests of all sides, he said.

Tsipras said the approval of a deal on the Piraeus Port is expected to usher in greater bilateral cooperation covering not only trade, but also culture, tourism, shipping and emerging technologies.

The two premiers witnessed the signing of nine cooperation agreements, including one confirming the ports date of transfer.

Tsipras is on a five-day visit to China that started Saturday. He also will visit Shanghai.

Wang Yiwei, an expert on European studies with Beijing-based Renmin University of China, said the port will be a flagship project in maritime cooperation between China and Europe.

It will also greatly raise Chinas negotiating power in the global shipping industry, as Greece plays a notable role in it, he added.


Primary school students and officials in Qinhuangdao, Hebei province, display a painting during an activity in May to promote clean politics and the fight against corruption. Cao Jianxiong / For China Daily

The CPC plans to strengthen efforts to combat graft, in line with Party policy since its foundation.

Editor's note: This is the fifth in a series of articles China Daily will publish in the next few days looking at the structure, history and influence of the Communist Party of China as it celebrates the 95th anniversary of its foundation.

Disciplinary officials and anti-corruption experts have pledged that the fight against corruption will never end and will be intensified to ensure that the Communist Party of China will be free of graft.

In 2012, President Xi Jinping made the anti-corruption drive a top priority, saying the leadership would fight graft relentlessly and impose strict supervision of Party members. In 2013, Xi said every Party member is subject to Party discipline and supervision, irrespective of whether they are a "tiger" (a high-ranking official) or a "fly" (those at the lower levels).

In June last year, former national security chief Zhou Yongkang became the biggest "tiger" to be caught in the anti-corruption net when he was convicted of graft, abuse of power and disclosing State secrets. He was later sentenced to life imprisonment.

In January, Wang Qishan, head of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, the nation's top anti-corruption watchdog, said the fight would be intensified to the point that officials will be so aware of the consequences of corrupt activities that they will refuse to engage in them. In April, Han Jinping, deputy director of the CCDI's Case Supervision and Management Department, said the anti-corruption efforts would continue and the pace would not drop.

Last year, disciplinary departments nationwide investigated 330,000 allegations, finding evidence of corruption in 317,000 of the cases. About 336,000 officials have been subject to internal Party punishments, and 14,000 case files have also been sent to the courts, she said. Since 2012, cases have been filed in 31 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities, while a number of sectors, including the environment, sports, State-owned enterprises, financial institutes and the legal authorities have also seen a rise in the number of cases of corruption.

"Some people said the fight would be put on hold after a few 'tigers' fell from grace, but that's absolutely incorrect," Han said. "The fight is ongoing, and a number of provincial-level officials have been investigated since the start of the year." She added that corruption at the grassroots will be one of the main points of focus because "the closer the graft comes to the public, the more damage it will cause".

An ongoing battle

Although many people believe the Party's anti-corruption drive started at the 18th National Congress in 2012, when the central leadership announced strong measures to fight graft, it really started when the Party was founded in 1921. During the Party's 90th anniversary in 2011, He Zengke, an anti-corruption expert and senior researcher at the Central Compilation and Translation Bureau, said the CPC has always been vigilant. The strict governance of members and strict penalties for those who breach discipline or break the law have been central to Party management since its foundation, he said.

In a 2011 interview, Li Chengyan, director of Peking University's Research Center for the Construction of Clean Government, said anti-graft efforts would be strengthened in line with the Party's history. "I believe that a complete, scientific and efficient anti-corruption system, including a range of punishments, education and supervision, is the key for the fight," Li said.

An exhibition at the Central Party School shows that the first anti-corruption edict was issued in 1926.

Under an anti-corruption document signed by Mao Zedong in 1933, officials found guilty of making 500 yuan (equal to $75 now, but a huge sum in the 1930s) or more through graft would face the death penalty.

Xie Busheng was the first to be sentenced to death after he was found guilty of illegally selling publicly owned goods and murdering an army doctor. Mao highlighted an anti-corruption drive at the time, saying that no one should attempt to interfere with the party's fight against graft. "If we fail to clean up corruption, we will lose authority and public support," he said.

In 1952, two officials in Tianjin, Liu Qingshan and Zhang Zishan, were sentenced to death for corrupt activities. Although some Party members pushed for the men to be reprieved and allowed to make amends, Mao insisted that the sentence be carried out because "other officials will take notice and learn from their example".
Anti-graft officials check whether gifts given to workers at the forestry bureau in Gutian county, Fujian province, break Party rules. Wei Peiquan / Xinhua

Yang Kai is always impressed by the passion shown by his younger colleagues and their understanding of how new technology can assist in the fight against corruption.

Even though he has been an anti-graft investigator for more than 20 years, Yang believes that it's important to learn from his younger colleagues, because "corruption has changed and multiplied in tandem with the rapid development of the country". He said the growth of the internet offers new avenues for corruption, and he looks to his junior colleagues to use their skills to solve cases.

"I find it difficult to use technology to collect evidence. So, to learn these techniques I encourage my younger colleagues to participate in educational programs - after all, they have a better understanding of the technology. Later, we have interactive sessions where the senior members of the team learn from the younger officers," said the 46-year-old from the procuratorate in Beijing's Dongcheng district.

A technical office has been set up to allow the investigators to search for information online. "We urge them to use big data and instant-messaging services to collect and analyze information."

The process is a two-way street, and Yang's long service enables him to spot clues that his less-experienced colleagues may miss.

Wang Enze, 26, said the senior investigators are masters of detecting illegal activity from a few simple clues.

"It will take us (junior investigators) a long time to master those skills," he said.

Both Wang and Yang have worked with members of the CPC's disciplinary department to investigate major cases, and they have witnessed a renewed intensity since 2012.

"Before, two investigators could handle cases concerning low-level officials, but now the cases are becoming increasingly complicated. Many involve higher-ranking officials, so four or five investigators are required to deal with them," Wang said.

Before, Wang rarely worked outside Beijing, but for the past three months he has made weekly visits to the port city of Tianjin to investigate a case involving a high-ranking official.

"That has shown the official the urgency of the anti-corruption drive and made him realize that the Party's self-discipline is the top priority," he said.
The work of the disciplinary inspection authorities always leaves a deep impression on people, and I think that contributes to our officers' careful and responsible attitude when handling cases. The expression "have a cup of tea" is code for being questioned about disciplinary problems.

The close attention we pay to our work means the central leadership's fight against corruption has strong public support. However, the attention paid to some issues shows that our work is still misunderstood.

For example, some residents think uncovering disciplinary violations often relies on reports filed by officials' illicit lovers, but that's a misunderstanding. Actually, we conduct a lot of research into officials suspected of breaking the rules, but that's not to say that those sorts of reports aren't important.

Preliminary investigations and collecting evidence are the first things we do when someone is under suspicion, and our departmental committee decides whether we will file a case.

If they are found guilty of violating discipline, officials face a range of punishments. The committee decides what that will be. Sometimes they have to attend education sessions or are simply given a warning. A notice of inspection will also be delivered to their department.

If someone is alleged to have broken the law or Party rules, they are sent to the judicial bodies for further investigation. If we fail to pay attention to flaws or minor matters, those small disciplinary errors could develop into future crimes.

I remember an official who demanded several million yuan from people, but that started because he became accustomed to little gifts, such as cigarettes and wine.

It was a pity. He was born in a rural village, but he was well-educated and achieved his position partly thanks to the efforts of his parents. I'll never forget they got down on their knees in front of me after they were told about his violations.

The system is more humane than it used to be. The rights of officials under suspicion are better protected nowadays; they are allowed to rest between sessions, see a doctor or call their families, or even ask for psychological assistance.

We once delayed questioning an official whose child was preparing for the national college entrance exams to avoid putting extra pressure on the family.

Gu Yicheng spoke with Cao Yin.
As the starting point for the eastern route of the 21st Maritime Silk Road, the coastal city of Qingdao in Shandong province has a prime position in the new Eurasia Land Bridge, and is a strategic pivot point for China's maritime cooperation.

According to official government statistics, Qingdao's outbound investment with countries along the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road totaled $7.46 billion during the 12th Five-Year Plan period (2011-15). The amount was three times higher than its original goal of $1.8 billion.

The city's companies reported combined revenue of $15 billion for contracting overseas construction projects during the same period, compared with their original target of $5.5 billion.

In the first quarter of 2016, Qingdao's businesses registered 51 outbound investment projects with agreed investment from the Chinese side reaching $4.16 billion, a 528.6 percent increase from the previous year. To date, investment totaling $579 million has been put into place.

Since 2014, the city's government and business representatives have visited a number of countries and regions along the Belt and Road, including Pakistan, Cambodia, Poland, the Czech Republic, Sri Lanka, Seychelles and Mauritius.

In the spring of 2016, Qingdao Party chief Li Qun led a delegation that included leading local enterprises such as Qingdao Port, Tsingtao Brewery, Hisense, Haier, Qingdao Beverage Group and Aucma, to Hungary, Romania and Britain.

During the visits, more than 100 mutual investment agreements were reached.

Qingdao has also cooperated with the Export and Import Bank of China, using its Silk Road funds to help a number of local companies expand their business into the global market.

At present, overseas acquisitions have become a focus for Qingdao-based companies' cooperation with Belt and Road countries.

Zhang Xinqi, mayor of Qingdao, said an increasing number of Qingdao-based companies have grown into competitive multinational companies in recent years.

"As a result of their overseas operations, our companies have obtained new technology, new talent pools, and learned about new practices in different countries," he said.

Overseas operations

The Shandong Electric Power Construction Corporation III is building the S Alam Power Station, a 1,320 Megawatt supercritical coal plant in Bangladesh with a contract amount of $1.86 billion - the largest overseas project contracted by a Qingdao company.

In 2001, Haier built its first factory in Pakistan, and in 2006 it partnered with the country's Ruba Group to build the Pakistan Haier and Ruba Economic Zone in a bid to accelerate Chinese enterprises' overseas investments.

Haier is now the second-largest home appliance brand in Pakistan. Its sales revenue in the country reached $230 million in 2014.

Qingdao's CNQC Qingjian Group has established partnerships with Haier, Hisense, and a number of other Qingdao-based multinational companies to develop overseas industrial parks and manufacturing bases.

One such example is Hisense's Appliance Industrial Park in Atlantis, South Africa, which has already attracted 14 companies and generated a total annual revenue of $150 million. The project has created more than 3,000 jobs and contributed annual taxes of up to $50 million.

Since 2014, Qingdao's companies have built four overseas commerce and industry centers in Singapore, South Korea, Germany and the United States as platforms to help Qingdao-based companies invest and operate in foreign countries.

To date, Qingdao has established sister-city relationships and friendly ties with more than 30 cities and regions in 17 countries. The connections have laid a solid foundation for the city's companies to play an active role in the global economy.

In another development, Jimo, a county-level city in the north of Qingdao, has in recent years been accelerating its outbound investment, and this is especially true of its thriving private sector firms.

In March, the city's Jifa Group increased its investment in Cambodia by $2 million, and the exporting and manufacturing group Xueda invested $10 million to build a new plant in the country. In addition, Sentury Tire increased investment in its project in Thailand by $80 million, taking the total to $238 million, making it the largest Qingdao-funded manufacturing project in Thailand.

"By investing in countries along the Belt and Road, enterprises from Qingdao have not only lowered their production costs and enlarged their sales networks, but also created a large number of jobs in their investment destinations, thereby improving the livelihoods of local people," said Qingdao vice-mayor Liu Mingjun.

xiechuanjiao@chinadaily.com.cn

With rapid development in trade and investment, Qingdao is on track to become an international metropolis. Zhang Xiao / For China Daily Qingdao's white sand beaches are a popular setting for shooting wedding pictures. Keguo / For China Daily It was the venue for the 2008 Olympic Games' sailing events, and the city remains China's top city for aquatic sports. Zhang Yan / For China Daily Qingdao Port reported a cargo throughput of 430 million tons in 2015, ranking it among the world's top seaports. Provided To China Daily

(China Daily 07/04/2016 page6)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu heads to Africa this week, where Israel has found much-needed partners in the battle against Islamic militants and allies in countering the rising Palestinian influence at the United Nations.

Netanyahu will also visit the site where his brother was killed in a 1976 military raid on a hijacked airliner in Uganda, a seminal event that helped cement his hard-line ideology.

Israel is hoping that the visit - the first by an Israeli prime minister to sub-Saharan Africa in three decades - will usher in a new era in which it provides African states with security and agricultural assistance in return for support in international forums.
FAW-Volkswagen is the joint venture between FAW Group and Volkswagen Group in China. The country is now considering ending the cap on the stake foreign automakers can have in a JV with local partners. Provided to China Daily

Industry insiders divided on whether or not move would benefit or blight China's car market

China is considering ending the limit on the stake foreign carmakers can have in joint ventures with local partners, a move that would place increasing pressure on Chinese brands.

Speaking at the Summer Davos in Tianjin last week, Xu Shaoshi, minister of the National Development and Reform Commission, said the government is looking into lifting the current 50 percent cap, which acts as a protection for domestic automakers.

It is not the first time senior Chinese officials have indicated a possible change to the policy that was officially announced in 1994 and demands that foreign automakers who want to produce cars in China must establish joint ventures, in which their stake must not exceed 50 percent.

In April, Miao Wei, minister of industry and information technology, said China may remove the cap in three to five years.

He said pressure to lift the cap is coming mainly from foreign governments, with the US having voiced strong dissatisfaction with the current situation during bilateral investment discussions.

Industry insiders believe lifting the cap would fully expose Chinese automakers to competition from international rivals, but they are divided on whether or not the move would be a positive one for the country's auto industry.

Dong Yang, executive vice-president of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, is a firm advocate of the protective policy.

He warned in 2014 that Chinese brands would be "killed in the cradle" if foreign automakers were allowed to become more independent from their domestic partners, saying whoever supports removing the cap is "a traitor to the country".

His worries are understandable. Almost all the major international brands, including Volkswagen, Toyota and GM, have joint ventures in China, and these have been the dominant players so far in the market.

Statistics from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers show that eight of the top 10 makers of passenger cars by sales in 2015 were joint ventures, and the two Chinese brands that made it into the top 10 occupied the seventh and ninth positions.

But despite this situation, many believe that removing the cap will not have disastrous results.

Li Feng, president of BAIC Motor, said the future of any joint venture depends on both the successful cooperation of the parties involved and their ability to complement each other, because "business is business".

BAIC Motor has joint ventures with South Korea's Hyundai and Germany's Daimler.

Li Shufu, chairman of Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co, has been a longtime advocate for the removal of the cap.

He said the move would encourage competition and thus benefit consumers, according to the Beijing Morning Post newspaper.

"The policy is like parents giving excessive protection to their kids, said Li. "But such protection will not ensure their prosperous development and will, instead, weaken their abilities in innovation and competitiveness."

Jia Xinguang, a senior auto analyst in Beijing, said removing the cap may force Chinese automakers to stand on their own feet.

"The government has realized that investments alone will not result in competitiveness and the only way to force them to change is to put them in the real market," he said.

While some brands are currently struggling, others are performing positively.

Great Wall's Haval SUVs are among the most popular ones in the Chinese market, electric carmaker BYD has become well known for its new-energy cars, and the latest additions to Geely's lineup are winning recognition throughout the industry for their design and performance.

Statistics from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers show that in the first five months this year Chinese-brand SUVs have a market share of almost 57 percent, and Chinese-brand MPVs, 91 percent. They together pushed the portion of Chinese passenger vehicles to 43 percent, a 1.2 percent growth year-on-year.

In addition to the progress made by Chinese brands, Zhu Guohua, assistant to Chery's general manager, said new technological trends such as autonomous driving, new-energy cars and connectivity are giving Chinese carmakers more bargaining power in negotiations and cooperation, because China is outpacing many other countries in those aspects.

His views have been echoed by Cui Dongshu, secretary-general of the China Passenger Car Association.

"Negotiations between the two parties in a joint venture will be based on actual conditions and foreign brands won't necessarily have an automatic advantage in such discussions. As far as the cap is concerned, it is just a matter of time before it is lifted and companies should not be too worried about it," he said.

lifusheng@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 07/04/2016 page18)
[Photo by Gao Zanmin/China Daily]

How should a filmmaker acknowledge his source material? Many may err on the side of imprudence and a few on the side of caution. But with copyright material, it can be a process of trial and error as everyone involved follows the learning curve of respect.

On June 28, a Beijing district court issued its verdict on the infringement case that involves a best-selling novel and its film adaptation. Last year, Zhang Muye, whose pen name is Tianxia Bachang, accused makers of Chronicles of the Ghostly Tribe of several violations, among which were the filmmakers' failure to give him credit and their butchering of his original novel.

The movie opens with a line that says it is adapted from the first volume of The Adventures of Three Tomb Raiders, but it does not mention Zhang's name. The court found this credit insufficient and has ordered the producers to apologize to Zhang and add his name to the film as the original author. As for the other claim, for which Zhang was seeking 1 million yuan ($151,500) in compensation, the court ruled in favor of the defendants, saying the filmmakers have the right to make certain changes to the original literary source.

The Chinese screen saw two adaptations from The Adventures of Three Tomb Raiders last yearfirst by Lu Chuan and shortly afterward Wuershan's Mojin: The Lost Legend. The confusion was the result of Zhang, who sold the film rights to different buyers, the first four volumes to one buyer, who hired Lu to write and direct the first volume, and the other four volumes to another who hired Wuershan, who in turn hired Zhang as one of the screenwriters.

Both adaptations veered drastically from the novel and both filmmakers gave me the same reasons for creating new stories.

Chinese regulators do not allow on the screen supernatural phenomenon or illegal activities like tomb raiding, and the episodic narration of the novel does not lend itself to a feature film. Well, Mojin does contain tomb raiding, but the heroes are thrust into it by circumstances.
A belief in leading from the front Updated: 2016-07-04 08:01 By Sophie He in Hong Kong(HK Edition)

Michael Bayley says Royal Caribbean International's cruise ships in Hong Kong will launch trips to ports on the Chinese mainland, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Malaysia, Thailand and other regional destinations. Parker Zheng / China Daily

Michael Bayley, president and CEO of Royal Caribbean International, joined the company in 1981, in what was his first job after graduating from college with a degree in business administration.

Bayley, who is originally from Wales, then learned from a friend that a cruise company was hiring.

"I thought that I could do that for a summer. Just go sailing during the summer and maybe meet some beautiful girls, so I applied and got a job at the front desk. Then I found this was so great, so I never left."

Bayley said he really enjoyed working at the front desk as he got to meet the guests and talk to people, and he had a lot of fun doing that.

"Working at the front desk is one of my favorite positions in the company."

Following taking on a variety of onboard and shore-side positions with increasing management responsibility, Bayley was named president and CEO of Royal Caribbean International in December 2014.

Bayley said his "secret" of being promoted so quickly in the company is that he worked extremely hard.

"One time I had a business psychology analysis test. The conclusion was I would work extremely hard to avoid being told what to do," he laughed, adding that all of his superiors loved to have him as their employee.

Bayley said his business philosophy is that he always tries to stay practical, remembering that everything the company does is all about the customers and their experiences.

"We need to remember that all the time. That the only reason we have a business is because we make people happy, and that should always be a key focus."

He said he motivates his staff with his own passion, as he loves the job he has and the cruise industry so that people around him are all very passionate about the job, and since he works hard and has a high standard, his staff naturally would want to work hard to meet that standard.

The cruise industry is great for youngsters, said Bayley, adding that when a young person has just graduated from college, they are looking for adventure and excitement, they want to travel.

So if they join a cruise line like Royal Caribbean International and the company will train them in hospitality or in other areas of expertise, they will develop very good people skills, work with people from all over the world and have a life full of adventure.

He suggested that youngsters, no matter in which industry, should work hard in order to have a chance to be successful.

"People in the US often put stickers on the bumpers of their cars to motivate themselves. I remember this one bumper sticker that said: It took me 25 years to become an overnight success."

Bayley stressed that for anybody who succeeds, no matter in which area, they would have to work very hard so they could be the very best of themselves. It takes a lot of work to succeed, there is no magic trick and no short cuts.

sophiehe@chinadailyhk.com

(HK Edition 07/04/2016 page7)
The EU-China Urban Development Committee and Chase Shanghai Financial Valley reach a deal to build the EU-China Science and Technology Finance Center in Jiading district, Shanghai. [Photo/jiading.gov.cn]

Jiading district in Shanghai will be home to the EU-China Science and Technology Finance Center. It was announced recently, at a meeting between the EU-China Urban Development Committee and Chase Shanghai Financial Valley.

The center will focus on serving enterprises in the financial valley, offering them cooperation opportunities, and introducing some of Europe's advanced technologies in China, as well as promoting the valley's cooperation with top European universities and research institutes.

Chase Shanghai Financial Valley, a financial service provider, started operating in Jiading in 2015, and has progressed well with the opening of its wealth management and technology incubation centers, which are currently home to more than 30 tech startups.

The Valley offers a wide range of services including wealth management, funds, business incubation, financial leasing, and factoring.
Leading international law experts said any verdict by the Arbitral Tribunal on the South China Sea will be of no legal validity, at a seminar on the South China Sea Arbitration and International Rule of Law in the Hague on June 26. [Photo by Fu Jing/chinadaily.com.cn]

A tribunal at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague is due to make a ruling on the unilateral arbitration case submitted by the Philippines on its territorial disputes with China in the South China Sea on July 12. As that day draws nearer, the West has once again launched a propaganda offensive to try and bring shame on China.

Given that it is the former Philippine administration of Benigno Aquino III that breached the consensus reached between Beijing and Manila on the settlement of their bilateral disputes through talks, it is unreasonable for some Western media to label China as "challenging international law".

In doing so, the Aquino administration was the cat's paw of the United States, which was implementing its "return to the Asia-Pacific" strategy.

Globalization and multi-polarization remain irreversible and the time is gone when a superpower can dominate world affairs. In this globalized and multi-polar era, a single country cannot represent the whole of international society and so any attempts to determine world opinion and defame China will be unlikely to succeed.

It is China's consistent stance that it will not accept or participate in the unilateral arbitration case and that direct talks between the two parties involved should be held to resolve their dispute to maintain regional peace and stability. About 60 countries have openly expressed their support of this stance.

Such a stance is based on China's perception that the South China Sea issue involves complicated political and historical factors. By advocating direct talks as a way of resolving the dispute between the parties concerned, China aims to maintain international rule of law and bring conduct under the framework of the international legal bodies.
A view of Hong Kong's Central business district. Edmond Tang / China Daily

Hong Kong faces great economic uncertainty and unprecedented market volatility, and given the Brexit chills, analysts expect a contraction. In fact, John Tsang Chun-wah, the Hong Kong Special Administration Region's financial secretary, has warned that the city's economy faces its "worst time in 20 years". Growth has more than halved to about 2.5 percent over the past five years.

The writing has been on the wall for Hong Kong since the outbreak of the global financial crisis, yet critical decisions have been delayed. The SAR's old growth drivers are still necessary but not enough to propel growth, because the West can no longer absorb Asian imports, and the Chinese mainland's economic growth has slowed down.

Last spring, concerns about Hong Kong's economy led some rating agencies to downgrade their outlook to negative, after doing the same for the mainland. But while the mainland can still rely on catch-up growth, Hong Kong's aging economy has to adjust to stagnating growth and income polarization.

In the past, Hong Kong's property developers reduced risks by relying on prudent financial policies, funding flexibility and recurring income streams. Today, those positives have been offset by rising supply, slower growth, and the United States Federal Reserve's future rate hikes.

True, retail sales can still contribute to Hong Kong's growth, but they cannot do so without mainland residents' critical role as consumption engines. Also, the SAR's thriving tourism sector is not viable without mainland residents, who comprise by far the largest group of tourists to Hong Kong. Actually, without the mainland, Hong Kong would be left with only half its trade and a quarter of its foreign investment.

Hong Kong is highly vulnerable to Brexit spillovers, too. Outside the European Union, it has perhaps the largest trade, investment and financial linkages with the United Kingdom. And because the value of Hong Kong dollar is rising on the back of the US dollar as investors seek safe havens, Hong Kong faces even greater headwinds than Singapore.

Last year, Hong Kong's exports to the UK and the rest of the EU comprised 14 percent of the total, relatively the highest in Asia and thus exposed to Brexit and EU risks. In contrast, the mainland's Belt and Road Initiative will allow Hong Kong to continue to benefit from trade and investment.

In the past, Hong Kong was the mainland's financial gateway to the world. But that role has been gradually taken over by Shanghai and other mainland cities, which makes Hong Kong's attractiveness as a financial hub non-viable without regional economic integration.

In the coming years, the current trends will become more prominent. During Hong Kong's reunification with the motherland in 1997, the US economy was almost 10 times bigger than China's. Europe was still integrating into a regional block. And Hong Kong's living standards were 11 times higher than those on the mainland.

Todayalmost two decades laterthe US economy is only about 40 percent larger than that of China. Europe faces fragmentation threats. Hong Kong's living standards are on average about 3.7 times higher than those on the mainland, but almost at par in certain districts of Shenzhen in Guangdong province.

Moreover, income polarization in Hong Kong has soared to alarming levels, according to the Gini coefficient, which some say is worse than those in Brazil or Zimbabwe in international comparisons.

Worried over the gloomy prospects, Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka-shing recently suggested raising profit tax to boost public spending and narrow the wealth gap. In the absence of hope, the political despair even among a few may undermine the living standards of many in the future.

But Hong Kong has a choice. By participating in the mainland's economic growth it can alleviate transitional pains and move to greater equity. To thrive, small and open economies need growth, integrationand hope.

The author is the founder of Difference Group and has served as research director at the India, China and America Institute (USA) and visiting fellow at the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies (China) and the EU Centre (Singapore).
New Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte (pictured) is expected to advocate "more pragmatism and bilateral diplomacy", according to Wilson Lee Flores, an analyst and columnist at the Philippine Star newspaper. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Sources: China won't resume negotiations on disputes based on tribunal decision

China will not resume negotiations with the Philippines about disputes in the South China Sea if the discussions are based on the ruling of an arbitral tribunal in The Hague, according to sources.

The negotiations have been stalled for years, and the tribunal is due to announce its ruling on July 12.

The sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, are close to the issues between the two countries. The tribunal is in charge of the arbitration process that was launched unilaterally by the Philippines against China in 2013.

Many observers have voiced hopes that the chilly relations between Beijing and Manila will end after Rodrigo Duterte took office as the 16th Philippine president on Thursday.

"Manila must put aside the result of the arbitration in a substantive approach," one of the sources said.

The sources also said Beijing is ready to start negotiations on issues such as joint development and cooperation in scientific research if the new government puts the tribunal's ruling aside before returning to the table for talks.

China has rejected being part of the compulsory arbitral proceedings partly because the case involves sovereignty and maritime delimitation, which it declared in 2006 are issues that are not subject to any third-party arbitration.

Although the outgoing Philippine government said it had exhausted all diplomatic approaches before seeking arbitration, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said Manila did not embark on any serious two-way negotiations over the claims it had raised with the tribunal.

Wilson Lee Flores, an analyst and columnist for the Philippine Star newspaper, said he expects "more pragmatism and bilateral diplomacy to prevail in the Duterte government's dealings with China, instead of the past six years of confrontations".

Normalizing bilateral relations with China would help to balance the Philippines' foreign policy with its traditional ally the United States, Flores said.

Li Guoqiang, a senior researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences' Institute of Chinese Borderland Studies, said: "For all the disputes concerning the South China Sea, negotiation is the only choice and the only viable approach. Confrontation will never help to resolve the South China Sea issue."

Li said that no matter how the tribunal rules, he believes the situation will not go into free fall, but that the decision will possibly lead to some "new chaos".

"No matter how the new president acts on the ruling, diplomatic negotiation is second to none. Using the ruling as a condition for resuming diplomatic consultations will not be viable," Li said.

Zhu Feng, professor and executive director at Nanjing University's China Center for Collaborative Studies of the South China Sea, said it will be "a very important and ideal start" if the new Philippine government repairs ties with China.

He said this will be the case if it "effectively manages in a reasoned manner the impact brought by the ruling on the existing bilateral disputes between China and the Philippines".
Improved relations between China and the Philippines are in sight through deeper people-to-people engagement, according to former Philippine president Fidel Ramos, who has urged the countries' leaders to meet soon.

Fidel Ramos, the Philippine president from 1992 to 1998 who steered the country through an economic crisis

Relations could improve in the coming year, the 88-year-old told China Daily, as he urged the countries to promote more interaction among young people in areas such as education, art and music.

Rodrigo Duterte, the new president of the Philippines, has proposed opening bilateral talks with China after the ongoing arbitration tribunal announces its ruling on the South China Sea disputes. Ramos said the countries had continued talks through various informal channels despite the recent turbulence in diplomatic ties.

For example, the business communities in both countries have engaged in "back-channel" talks to ensure the continuation of trade activities, he said.

Ramos said he hopes Duterte will meet with President Xi Jinping soon, preferably in his first year in office. Their cabinet colleagues should also meet at an early date, he added.

He called for the Philippines to play a bigger role in China's Belt and Road Initiative, which comprises the strategic Silk Road Economic Belt and 21st Century Maritime Silk Road and seeks to connect China with Europe, Asia and Africa through closer trade, infrastructure and people-to-people cooperation.

As the Philippines is on two of the world's most important oceanic trading routes, the Pacific Ocean and the South China Sea, Ramos said it should occupy an important place in the maritime route.

With regard to the new administration, he believes it is essential for Duterte to build an inclusive economy, which can benefit and empower people in general.

Ramos, who served as president of the Philippines from 1992 to 1998, steered the country through an economic crisis. During his time in office, the annual GDP growth rate averaged 5 percent.

The country is now one of Asia's fastest-growing economies and recorded a GDP growth rate of 6.7 percent in the first quarter of this year.

However, as the Philippines continues to be affected by socio-economic inequality, Ramos said he is concerned about the gap between the rich and poor in terms of income, housing, education, health and life expectancy.

If the nation can "spread the benefits of growth" for six to 10 years, including throughout the six-year term of the Duterte administration, the country could successfully improve people's livelihoods, Ramos added.

What they say

"I fervently believe that positive breakthroughs can happen for the now-problematic Philippine-China relations if the highest leaders, as well as top-level diplomats, can directly sit down to dialogue, to constantly communicate in order to focus on common interests rather than to exaggerate irritants or worsen points of disagreement."

Wilson Lee Flores, analyst and columnist at the Philippine Star newspaper

"Downplaying the arbitration may be an ideal choice that will lead bilateral relations out of the deadlock. ... The arbitration case is a hot potato left by former Philippine leader Benigno Aquino for his successor. The best way to tackle it is by putting the ruling aside. Then the two sides can return to the bilateral consensus made by past administrations and resume bilateral negotiations for a peaceful settlement."

Chen Qinghong, researcher on Southeast Asian studies and an expert on the Philippines at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations

"Based on the body language of (Rodrigo) Duterte and the Chinese ambassador, it seems the new Philippine president is intent on reviving bilateral relations by separating the territorial disputes from broader economic relations, which have suffered in recent years. ... But it is still up to the Duterte and Xi Jinping administrations to explore a way to overcome tensions and find a peaceful way forward."

Richard Heydarian, political analyst at De La Salle University in Manila

"The arbitration has given some major countries outside the region a chance to stir up the situation there, escalate tensions, and make the South China Sea issue into a geopolitical problem. They forced the (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) countries to take sides. ... As the ASEAN has played a peaceful role in tackling the South China Sea issue, Manila unilaterally seeking arbitration is a betrayal of the ASEAN."

Xu Liping, senior researcher on Southeast Asian studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences
RIYADH - A suicide bomber carried out an attack early Monday near the US consulate general in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, local media reported.

The attacker was killed in the car bombing, and no other deaths were immediately known, according to the Okaz news website.

The Sabq online newspaper said two security officers were injured "as a result of the failed bombing" on July 4, the US Independence Day.

Most of the consulate general staff have reportedly been evacuated after the attack.

According to an AP report, the US officials are aware of reports of the explosion and are working with Saudi authorities to collect more information.
Actions by Philippines and others after arbitration ruling to set tone, sources say

After the ruling in the South China Sea arbitration case is unveiled next week, China's response will "fully depend" on actions taken by the Philippines and other countries, sources told China Daily.

The Arbitral Tribunal in The Hague, established at Manila's unilateral request despite China's objection, will announce its ruling on July 12. Washington, a major ally of Manila, has publicly pressed Beijing to accept the ruling.

Speculation on China's possible reactions to the ruling have been fueled partly by the fact that the case involves sovereignty and maritime delimitation.

Whether China's response will involve words or concrete measures will "fully depend on what kind of actions the Philippines and other countries will take based on the arbitration results", sources close to the matter said on condition of anonymity.

"If China then decides to take countermeasures, its counteracting paces and paradigms will fully conform to its own agenda and will not be framed by such actions (by parties including Manila)," one of the sources said.

Another source said "there will be no incident at all if all related parties put aside the arbitration results".

Some speculate that the PLA Navy drill in the South China Sea from Tuesday to July 11 is China's warning against the ruling. The Associated Press noted that the designated area for the drills covers China's Xisha Islands.

In response, the Ministry of National Defense said on Monday that the drill is "a regular exercise and was arranged in accordance with the annual plan".

There also has been speculation that after the ruling is announced, China will establish an air defense identification zone in the South China Sea or send troops to its Huangyan Island there.

"So far, no Chinese official has made such announcement," one of the sources said, adding that "China has never taken a lead in provoking for an accident or stirring up regional tension".

Meanwhile, the sources referred to major sovereignty-related incidents since 2010, including the Diaoyu Islands crisis prompted by Japan in 2012 and the Huangyan Island standoff brought by the Philippines earlier in the same year.

"But if there are more such provocations, China will not shy away from them," one of the sources said.

Jin Canrong, a professor of international relations at Renmin University of China, said that the wisest approach for the new Philippine Cabinet and the United States would be to embark on "a cooling treatment" by putting aside the ruling and refraining from hyping it.

Zhang Junshe, a senior researcher at the PLA Naval Military Studies Research Institute, said some people in the US prefer to contain China by enforcing the alignment between the US and its allies.

"The US has not fully respected China's core interests and major concerns  and the recent freedom of navigation actions by the US military in the South China Sea have worsened its mutual trust with China's military," Zhang said.

Contact the writers at zhangyunbi@chinadaily.com.cn
Manila has chance to reset bilateral relations (China Daily) Updated: 2016-06-01 08:43

Under the leadership of outgoing President Benigno Aquino, the Philippines saw a freefall in relations with China, and the divergences with Beijing truly outgrew the bilateral framework.

The scenario could have been dramatically different had the Aquino administration accepted Beijing's offer to negotiate to keep the territorial disputes between the two countries from derailing overall relations.

Now, with Aquino outgoing as president and Rodrigo Duterte incoming, many entertain the hope that a reset button on relations can be pressed. Chinese President Xi Jinping included.

In his congratulatory message to Duterte, Xi expressed the wish that "both sides can work hard to push Sino-Philippine relations back onto a healthy development track".

This friendly overture is aimed at opening up a fresh chapter for ties in the post-Aquino era, and opens a window of opportunity for Beijing and Manila to rethink, readjust.

Given the messy state of affairs Duterte has inherited from his wayward predecessor, particularly the pending arbitration the Aquino administration initiated, China-Philippine relations could well be the first diplomatic hot potato for Duterte.

Beijing is not so naive as to expect Duterte to eat his own words on what he insists to be Philippine sovereignty. But Xi's message did show there are ways out, so long as Beijing and Manila share the political will and talk.

The territorial disputes between Beijing and Manila are not a long story. And the two countries generally got along well, even with the disputes. Their disagreements did not get in the way of overall relations until a few years ago, after instigators from outside the region stepped in and fanned the flames of discord.

Duterte, who will be sworn in on June 30, is yet to announce his policies toward China and on the South China Sea issue. However, he told the press on Sunday he wants friendly relations with China, and confirmed he is open to direct talks. He is also open to the possibility of joint exploration for resources with China. He even said he has an interest in Chinese assistance to meet his country's infrastructure needs.

From improving infrastructure to creating jobs and reducing poverty, Duterte has daunting development tasks to tackle. China's Belt and Road Initiative could be of great help with these, if the two governments can find a way to manage their disputes and clear the ground for cooperation.

(China Daily 06/01/2016 page8)
The United States and some of its allies are using international forums to sensationalize the South China Sea disputes, especially the arbitration case initiated by the Philippines in January 2013.

Although China rejected the notice of arbitration by the Philippines in February 2013 and made it clear that China will neither accept nor participate in the arbitration, the Philippines handed in a request for arbitration to the Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration in March 2014 with 15 submissions.

Despite China's strong opposition, the arbitral tribunal announced in late October 2015 that it can judge on seven of the 15 submissions, and linger over some other submissions.

However, the truth is that the arbitral tribunal has no jurisdiction over this case according to international law.

China's 2006 Declaration on Optional Exceptions made in accordance with Article 298 of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, clearly excludes disputes on maritime delimitation from compulsory arbitration.

At the heart of the disputes between China and the Philippines is the latter's illegal occupation of Chinese reefs and islets in the South China Sea. Categorizing maritime features is in essence subject to territorial sovereignty, which is beyond the scope of UNCLOS. Hence the arbitral tribunal has accepted submissions over which it does not have jurisdiction in the first place.

Manila claims China's Meiji Reef, Ren'ai Reef, and Zhubi Reef are low-tide elevations that can't claim territorial sea, an exclusive economic zone or continental shelf. However, to judge whether a maritime feature is an island, reef or low-tide elevation is an inseparable part of territorial sovereignty. Terra nullius is not entitled to any maritime rights, so it will be nonsense to discuss the maritime rights of a feature if the sovereignty is not made clear first.

That the arbitral tribunal has turned a blind eye to the Philippines' self-evident attempt to muddle the issue constitutes an abuse of power that may deal a blow to its credibility in settling international disputes under the Convention.

As for their disputes over maritime delimitation in the South China Sea, Beijing has repeatedly informed Manila that it will not accept the arbitration case in accordance with Article 298 of the Convention. Should the court's ruling touch upon relevant appeals by Manila, such as the one including Meiji Reef and Ren'ai Reef as part of its continental shelf and exclusive economic zone, the arbitral tribunal will inevitably be judging on the sovereignty of the islands and reefs involved in this case. Should the arbitral tribunal make a judgment on this, it would in fact not only arbitrate the sovereignty of the Meiji Reef and Ren'ai Reef, but also delimitate the seas of China and the Philippines. However, any territorial dispute is far beyond the arbitral tribunal's jurisdiction. The Chinese government has consistently called for candid negotiations with the Philippines, which is in line with several bilateral agreements between the two countries, as well as the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea signed by China and ASEAN countries in 2002.

In other words, Manila has failed to fulfill its commitment to rule-based dispute management, and placed a ticking time bomb in regional stability. The arbitral tribunal is conniving in the Philippine's attempt to violate agreements.

The final ruling, if it's a result of well-orchestrated misinterpretation of international laws including UNCLOS, will inject more uncertainties into the regional order and serve as an unwanted precedent that may "inspire" other countries to take articles out of context while dealing with similar maritime disputes.

China has every reason to dismiss the unlawful arbitration case.

The author is deputy director of the China Institute for Marine Affairs attached to the State Oceanic Administration.

(China Daily 06/03/2016 page9)
Editor's Note: On 10 June 2016, the Chinese Society of International Law (CSIL) released a paper entitled The Tribunal's Award in the "South China Sea Arbitration" Initiated by the Philippines Is Null and Void. The executive summary of the paper is as follows:

On 22 January 2013, the Philippines unilaterally initiated arbitration with respect to certain issues in the South China Sea ("Arbitration"). China has maintained its solemn position that it would neither accept nor participate in the Arbitration, having stated that the tribunal constituted at the unilateral request of the Philippines ("Arbitral Tribunal" or "Tribunal") manifestly has no jurisdiction.

On 29 October 2015, the Tribunal issued its Award on Jurisdiction and Admissibility ("Award on Jurisdiction" or "Award"), in which it found that it had jurisdiction over some of the Submissions made by the Philippines, and reserved consideration of its jurisdiction with respect to the other Submissions to the merits phase. This finding is full of errors in both the determination of fact and the application of law.

Chinese sailors take part in a rescue drill in the South China Sea. Yang Guanyu / Xinhua

I. The Tribunal errs in finding that the claims made by the Philippines constitute disputes between China and the Philippines concerning the interpretation or application of the UNCLOS

According to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea ("UNCLOS" or "Convention"), the jurisdiction of the Tribunal is limited to "disputes concerning the interpretation or application of this Convention". To establish its jurisdiction in the present Arbitration, the Tribunal must be satisfied that disputes exist between China and the Philippines with respect to the claims made by the Philippines, and that the disputes, if they existed, concern the interpretation or application of the UNCLOS.

In international practice, to determine the existence of a dispute, it must be first demonstrated that specific subject-matters on which the parties disagree have come into existence before the judicial or arbitral proceedings are initiated, and further demonstrated that there is "clash of propositions" or "point of contention" on the same subject-matter or claim.

In its Submission No. 3, the Philippines argues that Scarborough Shoal (Huangyan Dao) generates no entitlement to an exclusive economic zone or continental shelf. In its Submission No. 4, it argues that Mischief Reef (Meiji Jiao), Second Thomas Shoal (Ren'ai Jiao) and Subi Reef (Zhubi Jiao) are low-tide elevations that do not generate entitlement to a territorial sea, exclusive economic zone or continental shelf. In its Submission No. 6, the Philippines argues that Gaven Reef (Nanxun Jiao) and Mckennan Reef (Ximen Jiao) (including Hughes Reef (Dongmen Jiao)) are low-tide elevations that do not generate entitlement to a territorial sea, exclusive economic zone or continental shelf. In its Submission No. 7, it argues that Johnson Reef (Chigua Jiao), Cuarteron Reef (Huayang Jiao) and Fiery Cross Reef (Yongshu Jiao) generate no entitlement to an exclusive economic zone or continental shelf.

In order to prove that these claims constitute disputes between China and the Philippines, the Tribunal must show, with factual proof, that prior to the initiation of arbitration the Philippines had made such claims to China and the claims had been positively opposed by China. The Tribunal should have done this, but it did not.

In fact, there exists no real "clash of propositions" between China and the Philippines with respect to the Philippines' Submissions. China has always maintained and enjoyed territorial sovereignty over and maritime entitlements of the Zhongsha Islands (including Huangyan Dao (Scarborough Shoal)) and the Nansha Islands (including the above-mentioned eight features such as Meiji Jiao (Mischief Reef)), each in their entirety. The Philippines formulates its claims regarding the status and maritime entitlements of certain individual features as separate ones. The two States have never exchanged views with respect to the subject-matters concerned in the Philippines' Submissions. These facts reflect that the propositions of China and the Philippines concern different issues and do not pertain to the same subject-matters. With no positively opposed disagreements, the relevant claims do not constitute disputes between China and the Philippines. However, the Tribunal distorts China's arguments and erroneously finds that there exist disputes between China and the Philippines with respect to the latter's relevant claims.

Even if a claim constituted a dispute, the Arbitral Tribunal would still have no jurisdiction over it if it does not concern the interpretation or application of the UNCLOS. When dealing with the Philippines' Submissions No. 1 and 2, the Tribunal finds that the relevant dispute between China and the Philippines is "a dispute about historic rights in the framework of the Convention". However, "historic rights" had come into existence long before the conclusion of the UNCLOS. They originated from and are governed by general international law including customary international law, and rules of customary international law regarding "historic rights" operate in parallel with the UNCLOS. Accordingly, disputes concerning "historic rights" do not concern the interpretation or application of the Convention. The Tribunal makes a sweeping conclusion that the relevant claims constitute a dispute concerning the interpretation or application of the UNCLOS, without identifying specific provisions to which the "dispute" relates, and whether a real link exists between the "dispute" and the specific provisions of the Convention. The Tribunal's conclusion is thus groundless in law.

II. By exercising jurisdiction over subject-matters about territorial sovereignty in essence, the Arbitral Tribunal acts ultra vires, beyond the authorization of the UNCLOS

The Philippines' claims concern, in essence, territorial sovereignty over several maritime features in the South China Sea. The resolution of the claims would require a determination of territorial sovereignty over relevant maritime features in the first place. And the real object of the Philippines' claims and practical effect of dealing with them would inevitably have a significant impact on the territorial sovereignty claims of both China and the Philippines. The Tribunal finds that none of the Philippines' Submissions reflect disputes concerning sovereignty over maritime features. This finding, however, not only contravenes the principle that "the land dominates the sea" in international law, but are also contrary to the provisions of the Convention on maritime entitlements.

The objective link between the Philippines' claims and the issue of territorial sovereignty over certain maritime features in the South China Sea is such that a decision on the latter is the precondition to deciding on the former and the Tribunal errs in treating the Philippines' claims in isolation from sovereignty.

In its Submissions No. 1 and 2, the Philippines argues that China's maritime claims in the South China Sea have exceeded the extent allowed under the UNCLOS. In practice, however, without first having determined China's territorial sovereignty over the maritime features in the South China Sea, the Arbitral Tribunal will not be in a position to determine what maritime rights China enjoys and the extent to which China may claim maritime rights therein, not to mention whether China's claims exceed the extent allowed under the Convention.

The Philippines' Submissions No. 3 through 7 concern the status and maritime entitlements of certain maritime features. According to international law, including the UNCLOS, the maritime entitlements generated by a maritime feature belong to the costal State that has sovereignty over the feature, rather than the feature itself. The UNCLOS, in its regulations on territorial sea, contiguous zone, exclusive economic zone and continental shelf, explicitly ties the maritime entitlements to the coastal State in respect of the maritime zone in question. If the status and maritime entitlements of a feature are considered in isolation from its holder's sovereignty, there will be no "real" disputant party, as a subject of international law, and such claims can not constitute a "real" dispute. Moreover, whether or not low-tide elevations can be appropriated is a question of territorial sovereignty in itself. Thus, with the issue of sovereignty over the features undetermined, the Tribunal puts the cart before the horse by determining that it has jurisdiction over the above Submissions.

The Philippines' Submissions No. 8 through 14 concern the lawfulness of China's activities in the South China Sea. In practice, however, to determine the lawfulness of China's activities in the South China Sea, the Tribunal has to first decide on the holder of maritime entitlements with respect to the maritime zones where the activities took place, which derives from the sovereignty over the land territory. It would be impossible to deal with the above Submissions without first ascertaining the territorial sovereignty over the features in question.

The Arbitral Tribunal selectively neglects the real object and practical effect of the Philippines' initiation of the Arbitration, namely to deny China's territorial sovereignty in the South China Sea.

There is abundant evidence showing that the real object of the Philippines in initiating the South China Sea Arbitration is to deny China's territorial sovereignty over Huangyan Dao (Scarborough Shoal) and the Nansha Islands. For instance, on 22 January 2013, the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs released a Q&A on the arbitral proceedings, which explicitly described the purpose of the case as "to protect our national territory and maritime domain" and stressed not "surrendering our national sovereignty".

The Arbitral Tribunal also fails to evaluate objectively the practical effect of its processing of the Philippines' claims on China's territorial sovereignty in the South China Sea. China has always enjoyed sovereignty over the Nansha Islands in its entirety. The islands, reefs, islets and shoals etc., as inseparable components of the Nansha Islands, all form part of China's land territory. The Nansha Islands, taken as a whole, is capable of generating a territorial sea, exclusive economic zone and continental shelf. The Philippines' claims that features such as Mischief Reef (Meiji Jiao), Second Thomas Shoal (Ren'ai Jiao) and Subi Reef (Zhubi Jiao) are low-tide elevations which are incapable of appropriation, and requests the Tribunal to decide on the status and maritime entitlements of a small number of selected maritime features of China's Nansha Islands. If the Tribunal takes jurisdiction over and supports the claims, it will amount to an attempt to deny China's territorial sovereignty over the Nansha Islands as a whole.

III. The Tribunal disregards the fact that there exists an issue of maritime delimitation between China and the Philippines, distorts Article 298 of the UNCLOS, and acts ultra vires to exercise jurisdiction over claims concerning maritime delimitation

There exist between China and the Philippines a delimitation geographical framework and overlapping claims of maritime entitlements. None of the nine features in the South China Sea that are concerned in the Philippines' Submissions is over 400 nautical miles from the baseline of the Philippine archipelago. As China has been all long taking the Zhongsha Islands and the Nansha Islands as a unitary whole, respectively, to claim territorial sea, exclusive economic zone and continental shelf, while the Philippines has been claiming such rights based on its coast, there is obviously an issue of maritime delimitation between the two States. Any determination of the status and maritime entitlements of features will have an inevitable effect on the future delimitation between them. The Philippines' claims regarding the status and maritime entitlements of features constitute an integral part of maritime delimitation between China and the Philippines. In 2006, China made a declaration in line with Article 298 of the Convention, explicitly excluding "disputes concerning sea boundary delimitation" from the applicability of compulsory procedures, including arbitration.

The term of "disputes concerning sea boundary delimitation" under Article 298 of the UNCLOS includes, but is not limited to, "disputes over maritime boundary delimitation itself". The Tribunal, in an attempt to cut the objective link between the status and maritime entitlements of features on the one hand, and maritime delimitation on the other, narrows the interpretation of this term down to "disputes over maritime boundary delimitation itself". This is not in line with international law, international practice and the teachings of publicists, and is inconsistent with the drafters' intention to limit the application of compulsory procedures by Article 298.

IV. The Tribunal disregards the fact that there exist between China and the Philippines agreements to settle the relevant disputes through negotiation, distorts Article 281 of the UNCLOS, and erroneously exercises jurisdiction over the claims

The Tribunal's exercise of jurisdiction over the Philippines' claims is subject to fulfillment of the terms in Article 281 of the Convention. This article provides that if the Parties have agreed to seek settlement of the dispute by a peaceful means of their own choice, the dispute settlement procedures provided for in the Convention apply only where no settlement has been reached by recourse to such means and the agreement between the parties does not exclude any further procedure.

Article 281 of the Convention employs the term "agreement" without prescribing any limitation on form. The terms of "have agreed to" and "agreement", as interpreted in accordance with their ordinary meaning pursuant to the customary rule of treaty interpretation as reflected in Article 31 of the 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, refer to the unanimous expression of intentions or consensus. They stress the act of consensus itself, rather than the form or vehicle which gives expression to the consensus.

A series of bilateral instruments issued jointly by China and the Philippines and the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea ("DOC") jointly signed by both States confirm the consensus of settling disputes in the South China Sea through negotiations, which constitute an agreement under Article 281 of the UNCLOS excluding any means of third-party dispute settlement procedure.

The Tribunal holds that neither the bilateral instruments nor the DOC constitute binding agreements between China and the Philippines, and proceeds on the basis to determine that there exists no agreement between the two States on the means of dispute settlement. This is a distortion of the term "agreement". Its approach runs counter to the ordinary meaning of the relevant provisions of the UNCLOS and its drafters' intention.

V. The Tribunal errs in finding that the Philippines had fulfilled the obligation to "exchange views" on the means of dispute settlement with regard to the claims it made

The Tribunal's exercise of jurisdiction over the Philippines' claims is also subject to the fulfillment of the precondition set in Article 283 of the Convention. This article requires that when a dispute arises between States Parties concerning the interpretation or application of the UNCLOS, the parties to the dispute shall proceed expeditiously to an exchange of views regarding its settlement by negotiation or other peaceful means.

In the present Arbitration, the Tribunal confuses the subject-matters of the exchange of views, taking the consultations and exchange of notes verbales between China and the Philippines on the sovereignty over certain maritime features in the South China Sea as the evidence for the exchange of views with respect to disputes concerning the interpretation or application of the UNCLOS. The Tribunal relies on facts that occurred before the so-called "disputes" arose as the evidence of exchange of views on the "disputes". It deliberately lowers the criteria for the fulfillment of the obligation to exchange views, thus rendering Article 283 of the UNCLOS practically meaningless.

VI. The Tribunal is neither objective nor impartial, and its Award deviates from the object and purpose of the dispute settlement mechanism of the UNCLOS and impairs the integrity and authority of the Convention

The UNCLOS is "a package-deal instrument". In the present Arbitration, the integrity of the UNCLOS is impaired by the Tribunal which interprets and applies the relevant provisions in such a manner that it isolates the issue of the status and maritime entitlements of certain features from the sovereignty over the features, and from maritime delimitation. The Tribunal applies double standards in the interpretation and application of the relevant rules, acts partially in determining the facts, and does not comply with internationally prevalent rules in the admission of evidence.

The Tribunal makes every effort to expand and misuse its power arbitrarily. The vicious precedent that it sets may open the "floodgate of abuse lawsuits" regarding maritime disputes, which will impair not only China's vital and lawful rights and interests, but also the vital interests of States Parties in peaceful settlement of disputes under the UNCLOS, especially the right to freely choose the means of dispute settlement. Accordingly, it will damage the international legal order of the oceans and harm the overall interest of the international community.

The fundamental purpose of the dispute settlement mechanism under the UNCLOS is to contribute to the settlement of maritime disputes peacefully. Vital to the achievement of the above objectives is to interpret and apply the dispute settlement mechanism under the UNCLOS in good faith and in a comprehensive and integral manner, and to find the facts and admit the evidence in due diligence and in accordance with the law. In the present case, however, the Tribunal fails to fulfill the above requirements and acts ultra vires. As a result, the disagreements between China and the Philippines on relevant issues in the South China Sea have not been resolved but further intensified, and the tense situation in the South China Sea has not been alleviated but aggravated. These acts of the Tribunal run counter to the fundamental purpose of peaceful settlement of disputes of the UNCLOS.

In conclusion, the Tribunal's establishment of jurisdiction over the Philippines' claims is thoroughly erroneous. It is obvious that what the Tribunal has made is essentially a political decision. The Tribunal's exercise of jurisdiction ultra vires has been questioned by a large number of scholars of international law from China and abroad. Ex injuria jus non oritur. Any decision that the Tribunal may make on the substantive issues will not have any legal effect.

(China Daily 06/11/2016 page4)
Manila should drop arbitration (China Daily) Updated: 2016-06-16 07:55

In a recent statement on the dispute with the Philippines in the South China Sea, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs reiterated China's adherence to the settlement of the disputes through bilateral talks.

It urged the Philippines to immediately stop the unilateral arbitration case it has launched and return to the road of bilateral talks to resolve the South China Sea dispute.

It is widely believed that the Philippines' unilateral arbitration case not only further complicates the South China Sea issue, but also risks bringing its ties with China to a dead end. It is thus sensible for the Philippines to stop the arbitral procedures as early as possible for the sake of bilateral ties.

Beijing and Manila reached an explicit bilateral consensus that the disputes should be settled through bilateral talks. By initiating the arbitration, the Philippines has not only breached that consensus, but also the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea and the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.

This explains why China's stance on the arbitration case has won the endorsement of international law experts, including those from the United States, the United Kingdom, Russia and Argentina, who find China's "non-acceptance and non-participation" stance reasonable and talks as the correct way to settle the dispute.

Some insightful Philippine experts and scholars have also urged Philippine president-elect Rodrigo Duterte to hold bilateral talks with China, believing such talks are the right approach to re-build bilateral mutual trust.

China and the Philippines have witnessed ever-expanding cooperation in multiple fields since diplomatic ties were established in 1975. With the conclusion of China's talks with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations on a bilateral free trade area, ties between the Philippines and China can embrace more opportunities for development.

Manila should not allow itself to be swayed by negative factors from the positive track on which general Sino-Philippine cooperation has been progressing.

(China Daily 06/16/2016 page8)
The Philippines has filed a case against China in the The Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration over the South China Sea dispute. But on June 26-27, just days before the court is expected to give its ruling, a group of scholars and experts of international law from China, the United States, the Netherlands, India and other countries participated in a seminar in a hotel just blocks away from the PCA in The Hague to discuss the South China Sea arbitration case and international rule of law. The discussion was organized by Leiden University's Grotius Center for International Legal Studies and the Institute of Boundary and Ocean Studies of Central China's Wuhan University.

Five of the legal experts, including Abdul Koroma, former judge of the United Nation's International Court of Justice, held a press conference to question the PCA's questionable acceptance of Manila's case.

The experts, some of whom have worked as legal advisers to governments and, on some occasions, as arbitrators in the international disputes, agreed that the arbitral tribunal on the South China Sea was not set up with the consent of the disputing parties even though it claimed to have followed the rules of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.

Emphasizing that the issue is about territorial and boundary dispute, Beijing has rejected the initiation of Manila, which believes the dispute is about maritime entitlement. Under UNCLOS, the Permanent Court of Arbitration has no jurisdiction on sovereign disputes. And China and the Philippines have never entered into an agreement authorizing the PCA to set up a tribunal to act as an umpire. So, the experts said, China has taken the right measures to safeguard its interests and they are in the spirit of international rule of law.

The experts also warned against the dangerous trend of playing up the role of the PCA. Established more than 100 years ago, the PCA is not a court but an organizer of arbitral tribunals to resolve disputes among member states, and even private parties can file a case in contractual disputes.

As to the tribunal on the South China Sea, there are five arbitrators, four of whom are from Europe. Some experts have questioned why nearly all of them are Europeans and how they can be expected to play a fair role. Since many mistake the PCA as a real court and China has not agreed to appear there, some are under the wrong impression that China has defied international law. But the fact is that the current United Nations legal framework cannot help resolve sovereignty disputes and therefore China doesn't need to turn up for the case.

This was highlighted in the papers the experts especially wrote for the seminar, which also said the international law has its limits in resolving differences between states.

Observers have also warned against another harmful trend-that of some powers using international law to serve for their own purposes and point the finger at their competitors or rivals. Some have even named the United States, blaming it for the escalating tensions in the South China Sea and urging it to play a constructive role by engaging stakeholders in peaceful talks.

As the arbitration has hit a dead end, the experts have urged Manila to withdraw the case and return to the negotiation table with Beijing and other parties in the region. Some of the mare cautiously optimistic that the Philippines would do so, because it is a wise and the best possible way of resolving bilateral disputes. China has always been saying that.

The author is deputy chief of China Daily European Bureau. fujing@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 06/29/2016 page9)
An arbitral tribunal with widely contested jurisdiction will issue a ruling on July 12 on the South China Sea case unilaterally initiated by the Philippines, the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague said on Wednesday.

Rodrigo Duterte, the newly sworn-in president of the Philippines, has sent signals that China and the Philippines deserve better ties. But to ensure that bilateral ties improve, Duterte has to take a new approach to Manila's disputes with Beijing in the South China Sea, especially because the Permanent Court of Arbitration's ruling on the arbitration case will further deteriorate China-Philippines relations.

Irrespective of what The Hague-based court says, however, the ruling will not have any impact on China.

Complicated as they appear to be, the South China Sea disputes between Beijing and Manila are essentially about territorial claims and maritime delimitation, which are beyond the jurisdiction of the Permanent Court of Arbitration. The Philippines has illegally laid claim on some reefs and islets of China's Nansha Islands, including Zhongye Island, since the 1970s, and renamed them "Kalayaan Island Group". It also opposes China's inherent sovereignty over Huangyan Island, which it used to call "Scarborough Shoal". But these disputes are neither reflected in the Philippines' arbitration nor related to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

In 2006, China exercised its right under Article 298 of UNCLOS by making a declaration excluding compulsory arbitration; more than 30 countries have made similar declarations. In other words, Beijing's refusal to accept or participate in the so-called arbitration is in accordance with international law, whereas Manila's unilateral behavior is unlawful and unreasonable.

For decades, the Chinese government has been making efforts to maintain peace and stability in the region while trying to resolve disputes through negotiations and consultations between the states that have territorial or maritime disputes with Beijing. The successful maritime delimitation of Beibu Bay with Vietnam in 2000 is a case in point.

As for China and the Philippines, their territorial disputes should be addressed peacefully by the two sides themselves through consultation and negotiation, according to Article 4 of the Declaration on Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea, which was agreed in 2002. Their joint statement on the South China Sea issue in 1995, too, makes similar propositions, which means the arbitration case unilaterally filed by Manila is a violation of the international law.

In addition, the ruling of the arbitration court will not be legally binding on the Beijing-Manila disputes over territorial claims and maritime delimitation in the South China Sea.

China discovered and named the islands in the South China Sea about 2,000 years ago. Its territorial rights are clearly declared by the Declaration of the Government of the People's Republic of China on the Territorial Sea of 1958 and the Law of the People' s Republic of China on the Territorial Sea and the Contiguous Zone of 1992. These two documents make it clear that Dongsha Islands, Xisha Islands, Zhongsha Islands and Nansha Islands belong to China, and therefore will legally nullify the arbitration court's ruling.

The author is a professor of law at Wuhan University, Hubei province.

(China Daily 07/01/2016 page9)
China is defending not only its territorial sovereignty but also world peace and stability in its fight against the arbitration unilaterally initiated by the Philippines on the South China Sea issue.

The Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration, which accepted Manila's unilateral case against Beijing, said on Wednesday that it would issue a ruling on July 12.

Since January 22, 2013, when Manila initiated the arbitration, Beijing has been reiterating that it will neither participate in the arbitration nor accept its ruling. So by acting with disdain for China's concerns, the arbitration court risks opening a Pandora's box in the South China Sea, which could have dangerous consequences.

From the very beginning, the arbitral tribunal, set up on the basis of the Philippines' illegal actions and claims, has had no jurisdiction over the issue.

The tribunal disrespects the fact that Beijing and Manila have agreed to settle their dispute in the South China Sea through bilateral negotiation and that the arbitration proceedings under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea do not apply to the maritime dispute between the two sides.

Since the Philippines' request is essentially about territorial sovereignty and maritime delimitation, the arbitral tribunal has also turned a blind eye to the declaration made by China in 2006 on optional exceptions in accordance with UNCLOS, which excludes, among others, disputes over maritime delimitation from arbitration and other compulsory dispute settlement procedures. Some 30 countries have made similar declarations.

Therefore, the tribunal has violated UNCLOS, too, and expanded its jurisdiction and abused its power by hearing Manila's case. No matter what the court ruling is, it will be illegal.

By unwisely proceeding with the Philippines' case, which breaches international law, the tribunal has not only helped escalate tensions between Beijing and Manila, but also undermined regional stability and the international maritime order.

China's stance of neither participating in nor accepting the results of the arbitration does not mean it cares a hoot about international law, instead it shows China's commitment to upholding its rights vested in it by the world order.

The role international conventions play in safeguarding the world order can never be underestimated. Since the end of World War II, they have contributed to the relatively stable international relations despite the changes in the global balance of power, and helped the international community formulate hundreds of treaties to regulate countries' behaviors. In fact, without these conventions, the current world order would be threatened.

But when such conventions are misused by non-relevant countries, as has happened in Manila's arbitration case, they have to be countered. The United States, a country from outside the region, has been trumpeting the importance of the rule of law in international relations even though it has not signed the UNCLOS. And by supporting the Philippines and the tribunal, the US has only exposed its hypocrisy.

For the US, violations of international conventions can be called acts of strategy, because it has been militarizing the South China Sea with the increasing presence of its defense forces in the name of opposing the "militarization" of the waters and the region.

With regard to territorial issues and maritime delimitation disputes, China does not accept any third-party intervention or any imposed solution. Beijing will continue to be a responsible player and contributor within the established international order, upholding international law and basic norms governing international relations as enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations. It will also continue to negotiate and work with states directly to resolve bilateral disputes in the South China Sea.

As such, the Philippines and countries supporting it have to swallow the "award" (as the ruling is being called) of the arbitration tribunal.

The author is a writer with Xinhua News Agency.
A formation of the Nanhai Fleet of China's Navy on Saturday finished a three-day patrol of the Nansha islands in the South China Sea. [Photo/Xinhua]

The People's Liberation Army will start military exercises in a designated area in the South China Sea from Tuesday to July 11, ahead of a planned ruling by an arbitral tribunal in the Hague this month.

According to a navigation alert issued by the Hainan Maritime Safety Administration on Sunday, entry of ships will be prohibited, and the alert stated coordinates of the designated area for the exercises.

The Associated Press observed that the exercise area covers China's Xisha Islands.

The Philippines sought unilateral arbitral proceedings under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea in 2013.

Despite Beijing's unchanged objection to the arbitration, the arbitral tribunal was established and registered at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague. The PCA announced last month that the tribunal will issue its finding on July 12.
(Photo : Getty Images, Nicolas Asfouri) US Secretary of State John Kerry (L) speaks with China's President Xi Jinping (R) at the Great Hall of the People at the end of the eight round of U.S-China strategic and economic dialogues in Beijing, China.

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According to Leslie Gelb from the Council on Foreign Relations, "Nations do not fear China's military might; they fear its ability to give or withhold trade and investments," Foreign Affairs reported.



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(Photo : Getty Images/Rahman Roslan) A member of the Malaysian Navy makes a call as their ship approaches a ship belonging to the Chinese Coast Guard during an exchange of communication in the South China Sea on in Kuantan, Malaysia.

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While China and the Philippines remain divided over the South China Sea, Beijing has reacted strongly against Manila's attempts to seek a third party solution to the maritime dispute. Beijing has refused to accept the juisdiction of the Permanent Court of Arbritation in Hague, Netherlands over the case.



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Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has said that he is willing to work out a solution to the impasse by having a "conversation" with China, presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella said last Friday.



Experts say it is only common sense for the Philippines to play smart in the contest with a superpower like China.



Addressing his cabinet at the presidential palace, Duterte said that Manila would not to "flaunt" the possibly favorable ruling of the case by the Permanent Court of Arbitration.



According to CCTV, the tribunal has said that it would be handing down the ruling on July 12. China has stepped up diplomatic efforts to gather support for its position as the date of the ruling draws near. The court's ruling is widely expected to go in favor of the Philippines.





According to the South China Morning Post, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hong Lei has underscored the fact that the dispute is ultimately an issue between China and the Philippines and the arbitration court has no jurisdiction in the matter.



"With regard to territorial issues and maritime delimitation disputes, China does not accept any means of third party dispute settlement or any solution imposed on China," Hong said.



Meanwhile, Xinhua has criticized the role played by the US in the dispute. "China is defending not only its territorial sovereignty but world peace and stability when fighting against the obstinacy displayed in the South China Sea arbitration," the state-run news agency said.



Neighboring countries like Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia, and Taiwan are also staking a claim in the South China Sea where US$5 trillion worth of trade passes every year. Experts say a victory for the Philippines in the court would undermine Chinese claims and encourage smaller nations in the region to take a similar step.



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TagsSouth China Sea, territorial disputes, china philippines dispute, china philippines dispute latest news
(Photo : Getty Images) A KUKA AG robotic arm installs a dashboard of a Daimler AG Mercedes-Benz S-Class vehicle on the production line in Sindelfingen, Germany.

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Germany's Voith GmbH has agreed to sell 25.1 percent of its Kuka AG stake to China's Midea group for $1.3 billion, the mechanical engineering group said in a statement on Sunday.



The deal has paved the way for the Chinese bidder to takeover Kuka. German politicians have scrutinized the agreement. To ease concerns, Midea has vowed to keep Kuka's board independent and refrain the restructuring the company including preserving its headquarters, factories, and jobs until the end of 2023.



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Till Reuter, Kuka's CEO, backed the deal, explaining that it will not only allow Kuka to undertake its strategies more quickly but also to remain as a German group.



Meanwhile, Hubert Lienhard, Voith's CEO, said that the company's investment in Kuka was a "major strategic success." The value of Voith's shares doubled after it bought into the robot maker firm in December 2014.



"I am convinced that Voith is one of the winners for this takeover bid," he said, adding that the proceeds of the deal would be allocated to digital project investments including robotics, sensors, IT security, to name a few. The fund will "give us flexibility for investments in organic growth as well as attractive acquisitions," Lienhard said in a statement.



Midea, China's biggest appliance manufacturer, already owned 13.5 percent of Kuka's shares. It made an offer of about $128 per share to acquire at least 30 percent of the company.



Reuter said that the company had private discussions with potential investors last week to make sure that the Chinese company does not acquire over 49 percent of Kuka's shares.



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(Photo : YouTube Screenshot) China is planning to have the world's largest city by 2030.

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China is planning to build the largest city in the world by fusing nine big cities into one gigantic megacity.



With a current population of about 57 million people within a 15,000-square-mile-perimeter, China's Pearl River Delta is now about the same size as West Virginia but with a population 30 times bigger.



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The megacity combines several different cities including Dongguan, Foshan, Guangzhou, Huizhou, Jiangmen, Shenzhen, Zhaoqing, Zhongshan, and Zhuhai.



Each of these cities has an estimated population between 2 million to over 14 million individuals. Fourteen years from now, China plans to unite these cities into a powerful megacity, with an economic output of around $2 trillion.



The Chinese government first announced this project in 2008 after the population increased in the nine cities, hitting the 1-million mark.



To realize its Pearl River Delta dream, construction of various infrastructures including bridges, factories, highways, hospitals, and railways has been scaled up. Authorities have also started demolishing dilapidated buildings and constructing high-rise residential towers to make room for a traffic hub.



However, there is no uniformity in the construction process. Like the case in Guangdong province, developers build sky rise buildings first before eliminating shanties down, thus jarring the cityscapes.



Other problems include air pollution and water pollution. Furthermore, with China's plan to move 80 million people within the borders of Pearl River Delta by 2030, the government is faced with the challenge of convincing citizens to relocate.



More than half 64 percent of Chinese citizens are still residing outside the urban areas of Pearl River Delta. Therefore, a number of apartment buildings are empty. However, the Chinese government plans to allocate $322 billion to draw people from outside the borders toward the megalopolis.



If all these plans are realized, the Pearl River Delta will be well-connected, making travel easier and faster. For instance, traveling time from Hong Kong to Guangzhou will be cut to under an hour instead of the usual two hours and 48 minutes.



"Within a few decades, this window of opportunity will close... and future generations will be left to deal with the consequences of how we urbanize today," a World Bank report stated.



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(Photo : China Photos/Getty Images) Swimmers pack the Dameisha Bathing Beach on Aug. 1, 2006 in Shenzhen of Guangdong Province, China.

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China's population is facing a major demographic structural shift, as the nation adjusts to an ageing society and a shrinking labor force.



According to Zheng Zhenzhen, a researcher from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), the nation's population is expected to slip to 1 billion by 2100, China Business News reported.



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Zheng explained that this figure, which represents a 33 percent drop in China's population, will be the same as the country's population way back in 1980.



Her forecast supports a medium variant estimation carried out by the United Nations Population Division (UNPD) that predicted China's population to fall to about 1 billion before the start of the new century.



However, data from the National Bureau of Statistics show that the total fertility rate (TFR) in China stood within 1.04 to 1.26 percent levels from 2010 to 2013.



Similarly, a census conducted among one percent of the nation's total population in 2015 concluded that the TFR during that period was 1.25 across the country.



The results of a research conducted by Cai Fang, Vice President of CASS, revealed that the nation's massive workforce has contributed to about 27 percent to the economy over the past three decades.



However, the dividends resulting from the country's vast demographics are expected to decline in the coming years.



According to demographic researcher Yao Meixiong, China will experience a sizeable decrease in its youth population, a rapid rise in the proportion of elderly citizens, and an unbalanced gender distribution among people at the marriageable age.



These developments could all lead to a shortage in the labor supply, weaker consumption and innovation capabilities, and inadequate propulsion for the national economy, Yao noted.



Zhou Tianyong, the Deputy Dean of the International Strategic Research Institute of the Party School of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, agrees with Yao's analysis.



"The rapid decline in population growth rates, the trend of baby bust, the contraction of the 22 to 44-year old labor force, and the rapid aging of the society, may result in a wave of downward movement in the national economy as well as a middle-income trap featuring a population trap, which is different from the situation in other countries," Zhou said.



To address these concerns, experts stressed the need for the Chinese government to implement far-sighted policies that are in line with China's declining population.



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(Photo : YouTube Screenshot) China Vanke has refused to grant Baoneng's call for an extraordinary shareholders meeting.

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Property developer China Vanke has refused to call an extraordinary shareholder meeting (EGM) as requested by its largest stakeholder Baoneng, the company announced on Sunday. Baoneng is seeking to oust the CEO and members of the board of China Vanke.





Vanke's board is yet to release a formal response to why it is not granting Baoneng's request. The company made the announcement without giving any further explanation on the decision during a stock exchange filing. The developer said it would inform the shareholders who sought for the EGM about its decision.



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The China Vanke saga began after financial conglomerate Baoneng, which holds a 24 percent stake in the company, opposed the real estate giant's $9.3 billion deal to make Shenzhen Metro Group its biggest investor. Baoneng claimed that the agreement would only result in dilution of shareholder equity and earnings.



Furthermore, it claimed that China Vanke's management appears to be controlled and manipulated by "insiders" and is thus is not competent to represent investors' interests.



On the other hand, China Resources, the second-largest shareholder, has said it does not support Baoneng's proposal. The company did not give reasons why it is opposing the Baoneng's move. However, China Resources said it would consider a future board restructuring "from a perspective that is beneficial to the company's development."



Meanwhile, following a six-month suspension, shares of China Vanke Co. plunged by 10 percent when it resumed trading in Shenzhen on Monday. In the mainland stock market, the A shares, which have been stopped since December 18, dropped to 22 yuan ($3.30). On the other hand, its Hong Kong-traded bourse increased by 1.2 percent to 13.17 yuan ($1.98), cutting its decline to nearly 32 percent in 2016.



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(Photo : Don Arnold/Getty Images) Lou Lu from China and Karen Zhang from Sydney check out merchandise inside the Myer city store during the Boxing Day sales on Dec. 26, 2015 in Sydney, Australia.

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Selling Australian products to people in China has become a lucrative business for Chinese students who are studying in the Land Down Under.



An example is Carol Lin, 25, who arrived in Sydney in July last year as a Chinese international student and is now studying English at an ELS language centre.



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And what has made her stay in the country amazing aside from its fantastic tourist spots?



She now earns up to $3,000 a week by selling Blackmores and baby formula to her people back in China.



To be clear, the business of selling Australian health products to China isn't a novel undertaking.



But for many international students from the mainland like Carol, it's a fairly easy way to earn some extra cash while gaining an education in Australia.



And correction, please. This business has enabled them to earn quite a sum.



Carol's game plan? Planning. Lots of it.



She related that before coming to Australia, she had already researched the market and found that selling Australian health products to China through WeChat was a lucrative business.



Also, many of her Chinese friends studying in the country had already set up their own online shop on the messaging platform.



Most of them were sourcing well-known Australian goods such as a2 Platinum Formula and Bellamy's Organic for friends and family back in their hometown.



The huge success of this business model has been spurred by, one, counterfeit products and fake Australian brands being sold in China, and two, the increasing number of Chinese international students in Australia who have tapped into this demand for high quality health goods.



However, what makes this type of online business worrisome is that they operate operate as an unregistered entity without paying taxes.



But the ones running these thriving online shops don't seem to mind the risks, as they have the potential to reap in an insane amount of money.



n a good week, Lin could earn as much $2,000 to $3,000 - a far cry from the $23 an hour wage that regular university students in Australia earn, and has enabled her to make a strong case that selling Australian products to China is a winning proposition.



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(Photo : Getty Images) China's State Grid is poised to buy a controlling stake in Brazil's CPFL Energia.

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China's State Grid International Development Ltd. is set to acquire a controlling stake worth $1.8 billion in CPFL Energia SA, Brazil's biggest power distributor announced on Friday.



According to CPFL in its securities filing, Camargo Correa SA, one of the biggest private conglomerates in Brazil that cover engineering, real estate, textile, and shipbuilding, is selling its 23 percent stake.



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China State Grid, which is the world's largest utility, is poised to pay 25 reais (51.29 yuan; $7.72) for each of Camargo's 234 million CPFL shares.



Meanwhile, the deal is still to be finalized; thus, other interested shareholders still have the chance to either outbid the Chinese company or sell their stakes on equal terms, which could further increase the size of the deal, Camargo Correa said. The proposal is still subject to the Brazilian antitrust regulators' approval.



Camargo Correa has been under investigation for a corruption case involving state-controlled oil company Petrobas. This affected its operations and has led to questions about the company's ability to pay its debts. Now, the company is trying to sell its assets to resolve its financial crisis.



On the other hand, China's State Grid plans to expand more than the power transmission assets it is already managing in Brazil.



In a separate deal, China's Three Gorges Corp has announced that it is taking over two of the largest hydroelectric dams in Brazil.



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(Photo : Cancan Chu/Getty Images) Workers clean a river which has been polluted by chemical waste from incinerators at Lianjiao, Foshan city, Guangdong province, China. Protesters took the streets recently in Lubu after plans were unveiled for an incinerator to be set up near the Xi River.

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Thousands of residents in Southern China took to the streets to protest against plans for a new incinerator on Sunday. The incident resulted in some police officers getting injured.



According to the BBC, around 3,000 officers were deployed in Lubu after up to 10,000 protesters got violent. Some demonstrators reportedly tried to break into a government office during the demonstration.



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Around 21 protesters were taken into custody as they were deemed responsible for sparking the unrest. Some police officers were reportedly injured during the protest. However, it was not clear how many of them were hurt and how serious their injuries are. Some civilians also suffered from injuries.



There are plans to set up the incinerator near the Xi River, which is the main water source of water in the area. Residents fear that the incinerator could affect the water and air quality of the area. "We worry about air and water pollution. The river is a major source of our drinking water," a resident identified as Lin said.



Meanwhile, the local government has announced that the project would be postponed. It is unclear what the reason is for the delay. However, residents have voiced doubt that the government would abandon the project despite the postponement, The New York Times reported.



"The notice was released by Lubu town government, but the project is led by Zhaoqing city government so the notice issued by the town government is not enough," a resident, identified as Yu, who is a restaurant worker, said.



Protests against incinerators and chemical plants have become more frequent in China as citizens have become more concerned about the threats these facilities pose to public health.



Local governments face a growing problem with waste disposal as well as the public's distrust over the ability of the governments to plan, build, and manage incinerators and chemical plants.



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Tagschina, protesters, residents, incinerator, southern china, Lubu, Lubu residents, garbage disposal
(Photo : National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year Contest) Hong Kong amateur photographer Anthony Lau's "Winter Horseman" has won the 2016 National Geographic Traveler Photo contest.





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Hong Kong amateur photographer Anthony Lau has been named as the grand prize winner of the 2016 National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest.



Lau bagged the grand prize for his photo Winter Horseman, which was awarded first place in the People category of the photo contest. The photo is of a horseman charging out of the morning mist during winter in Inner Mongolia.



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"The Winter in Inner Mongolia is very unforgiving. At a freezing temperature of minus 20 and lower with constant breeze of snow from all direction, it was pretty hard to convince myself to get out of the car and take photos. Not until I saw Inner Mongolia horsemen showing off their skills in commanding the steed from a distance, I quickly grab my telephoto lens and capture the moment when one of the horseman charged out from morning mist, Lau said in an interview.



According to Lau, the photo was shot while he was staying in Mongolia in December 2015, when the temperature reached between 20 to -30 degrees Celsius (about -4 to -22 Fahrenheit). He added that the Winter Horseman photo was taken during his photography tour to the Saihanba National Forest Park.



The entries in the 2016 National Geographic Traveler Photo contest were taken from the previous two years. BBC reported that the photos, including Anthony Laus work, were selected from three categories: People, Cities, and Nature.



Aside from Anthony Laus winning photo, 2016 National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest also awarded top winners under the Cities and Nature categories. Tokyos Takashi Nakagawa won the Cities category for his picture of a tranquil moment at Ben Youssef Madrasa in Marrakesh and Hokkaidos Hiroki Inoue Nature's entry won for his emotional portrait of two red foxes playfully racing each other in Biei.



Prizes for the winners include a seven-day Polar Bear Safari for two at Churchill Wild-Seal River Heritage Lodge and a National Geographic Unique Lodge of the World, according to CBS News.



The panel of judges that picked Anthony Laus entry was comprised of Corey Arnold, contributing photographer for National Geographic Magazine; Anne Farrar, National Geographic Travel director of photograph; and photographer and filmmaker Foster Huntington.



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TagsHong Kong, National Geographic Traveler 2016 Photo Contest, National Geographic, photo contest, Hong Kong Anthony Lau, Anthony Lau Winter Horseman
(Photo : Getty Images) Two farmers load rice straw onto a tricycle in a field in Yugan County of Jiangxi Province, China.

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China is expected to harvest 140 million tonnes of grains in summer this year, the country's agriculture minister revealed in an interview with People's Daily on Sunday.



The anticipated volume is the same as last year.



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Han Changfu, the current Minister of Agriculture, cautioned that this year's output might be affected by El Nino and that grain prices' volatility might weigh on farmers' income.



China is expecting more than 550 million tonnes of grain this year.



Meanwhile, Russia is planning to export half a million tonnes of grain to China this year, Alexander Tkachev, Russian Agriculture minister, revealed in a statement last month.



"China opened the grain market for us. We were let in and now the market will decide [on the volume]. Around half a million tonnes may be, wheat, barley. Grains. Half a million this year," he said.



China's COFCO Agri plans to open a Canadian crop trading office in Winnipeg as soon as farmers harvest their new crops, which is expected to be between August and October, a statement by the state-own agricultural trader read on Tuesday.



"At a time of tremendous demand pull from China, we see our new Canadian office as key to connecting Canadian farmers to the Chinese Market," Matt Jansen, COFCO Agri's chief executive officer, said.



The upcoming office will be dedicated to trading canola and its processed products including oil and meal as well as wheat, barley, and soybeans.



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(Photo : Getty Images) Chinese state media Global Times on Monday urged New Delhi to objectively evaluate Chinas tough stance against India's NSG membership.

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India should not overreact but objectively evaluate China's tough stance against India NSG membership, China's state-run Global Times reported on Monday.





"The Indian public seems to be having a hard time accepting the outcome of the Seoul plenary meeting of Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) late last month after India failed to gain entry into NSG," a remark in an oped-page article in Global Times read.



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The state-owned newspaper directly accused India of being stuck in the shadow of the past war fought with China. It also claimed that New Delhi has a narrow-minded geopolitical view that the Chinese government does not support India's economic rise.



The open editorial argued that New Delhi has completely misunderstood Beijing, claiming that China no longer looks India from a political perspective, but from an economic one. It said that several regions and provinces are seeking investment opportunities in the fast-growing India.



The article also took a swipe at the nationwide protest In India against China's NSG stance. "Some activists even took to the streets in protest against China and Chinese products and some observers said the incident would freeze the China-India relationship," the article reads.



The article reiterated China's stand that India must sign a Nuclear Proliferation Treaty (NPT) before joining the NSG. However, New Delhi has still not signed with the NPT, and experts claim India is unlikely to sign the treaty.



Indian media and political parties across the spectrum heavily criticized Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government for failing to secure the NSG membership. Many have described the Modi government's failure to convince China on the NSG membership as a major foreign policy failure.



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Hobby Lobby celebrates America in July 4th ad Guest Reviewer | 04 July, 2016 by Michael Foust

OKLAHOMA CITY (Christian Examiner)  Americans across the country this weekend learned of the nation's Christian heritage thanks to a full-page Hobby Lobby ad that proclaimed "In God We Trust" and included 14 quotes from Founding Fathers and others referencing the United States' ties to Christianity.

Hobby Lobby runs full-page, faith-themed holiday ads each Christmas, Easter and Independence Day.

"'Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord. Psalm 33:12,'" the ad read at the top of the page.

The words "In God We Trust" were surrounded by quotes, such as:

-- Benjamin Franklin: "I've lived, sir, a long time, and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth: That God governs in the affairs of men. If a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid? We've been assured in the sacred writings that unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it. I firmly believe this, and I also believe that without His concurring aid, we shall succeed in this political building no better than the builders of Babel."

-- George Washington: "It is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor."

-- John Adams: "We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other."

-- John Jay (first Supreme Court justice): "The Bible is the best of all books, for it is the word of God and teaches us the way to be happy in this world and in the next. Continue therefore to read it and to regulate your life by its precepts."

The advertisement also included quotes from the Supreme Court and from Congress.

A 1844 unanimous Supreme Court ruling read, "Why may not the Bible, and especially the New Testament, without note or comment, be read and taught as a divine revelation in [schools]  its general precepts expounded, its evidences explained and its glorious principles of morality inculcated? ... Where can the purest principles of morality be learned so clearly or so perfectly as from the New Testament?"

A Senate Judiciary Committee report in 1853 declared, "We are a Christian people...not because the law demands it, not to gain exclusive benefits or to avoid legal disabilities, but from choice and education; and in a land thus universally Christian, what is to be expected, what desired, but that we shall pay due regard to Christianity?"

As the Hobby Lobby website tells the story, founder David Green got the idea for the ads during Christmas 1995, when he "was reading the Christmas advertisements, including those for his own store, and he felt commissioned by God to do something different."

"Hobby Lobby was selling all kinds of crafts that customers used to celebrate Christmas, yet David Green was struck by the lack of any testimony in newspapers regarding the meaning of the holiday," the company website says.

Eventually, the company expanded into Easter and Fourth of July ads.
Chewbacca mom sparks joy at July 4 celebration with 'God Bless America' Editorial Staff | 04 July, 2016 by Joni B. Hannigan

GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas (Christian Examiner)  The woman whose infectious joy sparked the heart of a nation expressed her joy in a different way July 4 weekend when she sang "God Bless America" before a celebration in her hometown July 3.

The all-American Candace Payne, known now as the "Chewbacca mom" whose viral video was viewed by over 81 million, has made the rounds of Facebook and Star Wars headquarters, and even has a Hasbro toy that looks like her.

People wanting to understand what makes her smile have invited her to events from east to west and north to south where she has expresssed positive and uplifting joy.

CONTINUE STORY BELOW VIDEO:

In May, Payne told Christian Examiner in an exclusive interview that her joy comes from her faith in Jesus Christ.

"As far as the joy aspect, it is much deeper than the Chewbacca mask," Payne said. "It was fun watching it go viral and fun watching people get some joy out of it, too," but at the core of real joy is faith.

READ MORE: Breaking: The story behind the woman in the Star Wars Chewbacca mask

She told the Christian Examiner she had been a worship leader since she was 14, and she sang, played the guitar and wrote music.

At the Lone Stars and Stripes Celebration July 3 Payne admitted she was on stage before the largest audience ever, to sing.

And she did not falter, not once: "God Bless America!"
Government disputes ISIS's claim of responsibility for terror attack in Bangladesh restaurant 04 July, 2016 by Gregory Tomlin , |

DHAKA, Bangladesh (Christian Examiner)  The government of Bangladesh is rejecting the claim that the Islamic State (ISIS) carried out the devastating terror attack that killed 22 people  including an American  in the capital city on Friday.

Police say the seven terrorists who stormed the Holey Artisan Bakery, a restaurant that caters to westerners in the upscale diplomatic district, belonged to Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh, a relatively new terror group that may have been responsible for several other acts of terror in recent years. Police said there is no proven link between the group and ISIS.

The connection, however, is indisputable.

All of the attackers, which attempted to force the victims to recite the Quran, were reportedly under the age of 22 and from well-known families. Prior to the attack, the men were photographed in front of the black flag of the Islamic State which contains the Shahada or Muslim confession, "There is no god but god [Allah] and Muhammad is his messenger."

ISIS released the photographs immediately after the attack and later its media arm, the Amaq News Agency, also released a statement claiming it was behind the attack. It also posted a series of graphic photos from inside the restaurant where 20 tourists and locals, two police officers and six of the gunmen died.

The ISIS statement warned citizens of "crusader countries" in the West that their citizens would not be safe abroad "as long as their aircraft are killing Muslims."

This is also not the first time the police have dealt with the Islamic State in Bangladesh. In 2015, an ISIS operative was captured in Dhaka. Police said the man arrested, Abdullah Al Ghalib, was a recruiter for ISIS and a military trainer for the terror group.

ISIS is only one terror group operating in the country. In other incidents, secularist bloggers and members of the Christian minority have been murdered by al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) or other terrorists who have never stepped forward with a claim of responsibility.

Ironically, ISIS is losing territory, but it is expanding its reach. In addition to the truck bomb detonated in Baghdad, Iraq, on Sunday, killing more than 150, the group has also claimed responsibility for an attack on army troops in the Philippines that claimed 23 lives earlier this year.
home Faith China demands share of church donations amid stricter religious regulations

The Chinese state has implemented stricter regulations, including demanding a share of church money and donations in its ongoing efforts to clamp down on Christian churches.

According to China Aid, a watchdog that monitors and exposes Christian persecutions in China, the communist and atheist state recently implemented a tighter grip on Zhejiang province by demanding churches to submit their church income and donations to the government.

The publication also cited an unnamed source who described the current state of affairs for churches in Pingyang County, Wenzhou.

"The government officials will interfere with church affairs, managing our donations and some large-scale projects," the source said. "We have to obtain their (the government's) permission if we would like to buy equipment or decorate the church. We will have to ask for permission for any expenses more than a few thousand yuan."

Earlier this year, China Aid reported at least 2,000 state-backed church demolitions in Zhejiang province. About 50 of these demolitions took place in Wenzhou. The authorities use the country's "Three Rectification and One Demolition" beautification campaign as an excuse to declare most church buildings or crosses as illegally constructed or in violation to the state's policy on building constructions.

Aside from its beautification campaign, the Communist Party also pressures churches to observe the "five transformations" that include "localizing religion (through adopting local architectural styles for church buildings), standardizing management, indigenizing theology (by contextualizing sermons), financial transparency and adapting Christian teachings."

A Christian member of the Houshi Church, the largest house church in Guiyang that's also targeted by the state in its religious persecution, granted an interview with China Aid in conditions of anonymity, where he revealed that some of their arrested church members had discovered a document confirming the existence of a state-run command and control center dedicated to persecuting Christian churches.

Despite or because of the persecutions, the Chinese Christians believe that Christianity is only growing in the country.

He said, "In China, even though there is so much persecution, the church still grows."
home US Independence Day 2016 celebrations marked by tight security across America

The United States celebrated the July Fourth holiday on Monday with parades, baking contests and picnics draped in red, white and an extra layer of blue, as police ramped up patrols because of concerns about terrorism and gun violence.

Millions of Americans marked independence from Britain with celebrations as boisterous as a music-packed party by country music legend Willie Nelson for 10,000 people at a race track in Austin, Texas, and as staid as colonial-era costumed actors reading the Declaration of Independence at the U.S. National Archives in Washington.

"It's a good day for reflecting on the positive things about America - the sense of freedom that you can go after and achieve whatever you want," said Helen Donaldson, 48, the mother of a multi-ethnic family of four adopted teens living in Maplewood, New Jersey.

Donaldson, a white Australian immigrant, cheered with her two New Jersey-born African-American daughters, both 12 and dressed in red, white and blue, as a recording of the Star Spangled Banner played to kick off a children's relay race. Nearby, in the baking contest tent, 13-year-old Nate Fisher entered his cherry blueberry tart into competition.

"I have high hopes," he said, flashing a smile.

History was made in the traditional hotdog-eating contest at New York's Coney Island when long-time champion Joey "Jaws" Chestnut took back the Mustard Yellow International Belt from last year's upstart winner Matt Stonie. Chestnut set an unofficial new world record by downing 70 hotdogs in 10 minutes - topping his previous record of 69 franks. In the women's division, Miki Sudo successfully defended her title by eating 38 hotdogs in 10 minutes.

With the holiday taking place days after attacks in Baghdad, Dhaka and Istanbul, the New York Police Department deployed eight new "vapor wake" dogs, trained to sniff out explosives on a moving target in a crowd.

The department's presence this holiday was boosted by nearly 2,000 new officers just days after they graduated on Friday from the New York City Police Academy.

"You're going to see a lot of people in heavy vests, helmets and long guns and they can respond at a moment's notice to any incident," NYPD Chief of Department James O'Neill told a news conference. "There's also a lot you won't see."

CHICAGO BRACED FOR VIOLENCE

Police in Chicago, which has seen a spike in gun murders this year, announced a stepped up presence with more than 5,000 officers on patrol over the long weekend, traditionally one of the year's most violent, said Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson. Local media said that by early Monday evening at least 33 people had been shot over the holiday weekend, most of them in tough neighborhoods on the city's south and west sides.

Dry weather forecasts across the country thrilled fireworks lovers, although some spots in Michigan have been so rain-starved that pyrotechnic shows were canceled in a handful of communities near Detroit because of the risk of fires.

A 19-year-old tourist in New York's Central Park suffered a severe foot wound on Sunday after an apparent homemade firework exploded when he jumped off a rock and stepped on the device, authorities said.

In Compton, California, a 9-year-old girl's hand had to be amputated when she was injured after unwittingly picking up a lit firework, local media said.

In New York City, more than a million people were set to pack balconies, rooftops and the East River's banks for the 40th annual Macy's Fireworks display, which the department store said would showcase more than 56,000 pyrotechnic shells and effects.

The musical accompaniment features the United States Air Force Band playing patriotic numbers including "This Land is Your Land" and "Stars and Stripes Forever," and Grammy-winning vocalist Jennifer Holliday will sing "America the Beautiful."
home World Christian woman back in Iran prison after temporary release on health grounds

A jailed Christian woman in Iran is back behind bars after authorities refused to grant her leave extension despite her medical treatment still halfway to go.

Maryam Naghash Zargaran returned June 27 to Evin prison, the country's most notorious jailhouse, to complete her four-year sentence after authorities refused to grant an extension to her medical leave. They even threatened to seize the title deed used as her bail if she stayed any longer, said a report by Mohabat News.

"Her mother went to the court on Sunday asking for an extension to her leave, but they refused. She was told her daughter has stayed out of prison beyond her leave and needs to return to prison today," a separate report quoted an unnamed source close to the Zargaran family as saying.

The Iranian government granted the ailing Christian woman a temporary leave on health grounds on June 6 after she had spent 11 days on hunger strike to protest the authorities' refusal to grant her much-needed medical treatment. Aside from her heart condition of Atrial Septal Defect (ASD), she also complained of numbness in the hands and feet as well as pain in her joints and spinal column.

"She got time from prison but there is still a high possibility they will have to take her back after a week or so," Pastor Saeed Abedini wrote on a Facebook post a day after Zargaran's temporary release from prison.

Abedini added his thoughts then, "I think they allowed this to shut down the news."

"I saw her, and she looks like she is just one step from death," wrote Abedini, the pastor with a Muslim background.

Abedini started the Saeed Ministries and referred to Zargaran in a previous post as one of the first women to become Christian after his own sisters. He also said that Zargaran had helped him build churches even before he became a pastor. When the Iranian authorities imprisoned members of the Saeed Ministries, Zargaran chose to serve her prison sentence even after she managed to escape to Turkey.
home Faith Rick Warren: The USA, Microsoft, Hollywood, all will not last forever

Pastor Rick Warren declared only two things that would last forever and Microsoft, Hollywood, and United States of America are not any of those things.

The world-renowned evangelical leader and best-selling author glorified God and God's kingdom when he wrote an article for his website Friday, July 1.

"A thousand years from today, if there's still earth here, there won't be a Microsoft," wrote Warren.

He continued, "There won't be a Hollywood a thousand years from today. There won't be a United States of America, because no earthly kingdom lasts forever. There won't be all of the things we think are so great."

Upon making his seeming forecast, Warren drove home his point to emphasize how much people needed to be part of God's family. Not only is this a way to glorify God, said Warren, but this family is the only thing that's going to survive forever.

"There are only two things that are going to last forever: God's Word and God's people," declared the senior pastor of Saddleback Church.

He then encouraged people to be part of a local church where they can belong to a spiritual family. He emphasized that a local church needs to be an instrument to love and help a person grow in the search for biblical truth and wisdom. He also said this should be an avenue to give back and share one's talents.

He believes joining the Church is much more than a career or a hobby because it all drives down to making a difference such as changing people's lives.

"I make no apology in saying to you that maybe joining a spiritual family will be the most significant thing you do with your life," said Warren.

The author of "The Purpose Driven Life" just finished a three-day Purpose Driven Conference held on June 28-30 at the Lake Forest, California campus of Saddleback Church, where he aimed to share his 36 years of experience as church planter in Saddleback.
5 reasons why evangelical support for Trump is complicated

If you're interested religion and politics in America, there's a good chance that you've read reports, studies, and commentaries about Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump's courting of evangelical Christians. Trump even hosted a closed door event where he worked hard to persuade more than 900 evangelicals that he is worthy of their support.

While many high profile evangelical pastors and political leaders have embraced Trump, with James Dobson even declaring that Trump has recently converted to Christianity, this awkward embrace of Trump and the evangelical leaders who had once opposed him isn't the whole story. Underneath the narratives about evangelicals taking Trump's side is a far more complex picture that undermines some of the charges of evangelical hypocrisy.

Comparing Trump to Bush

While Trump appears to have the support of 62 per cent of evangelicals according to current polls, Mitt Romney and George W Bush both enjoyed the support of more than eight in 10 evangelical voters. In other words, there's roughly a 20 per cent drop in evangelical support for Trump compared to previous Republican candidates.

While we can assume that roughly 10-20 per cent of evangelical voters are already progressives who will vote for Democrats or independents, this drop in past evangelical support shouldn't be overlooked. Do we know who the 20 per cent of evangelical voters are who have opted to not support Trump? Can we expect their numbers to increase as they learn more about Trump in the run up to the election?

Evangelicals were split in the primaries

While it's true that evangelicals and Christians in general voted for Trump in the primaries, it's also critical to remember that there were two strong evangelical candidates running against him who remained in the race: Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz. John Kasich also had strong Christian credentials. Since the several Republican primaries used variations of a winner-take-all format that awarded all delegates to the state's winner, Trump amassed victories in the midst of a divided evangelical vote.

Trump never won a clear majority of evangelical voters, even in the religious south. Evangelical voters were always spread out over the other candidates. Some have even argued that evangelicals helped slow Trump's advance in primary states such as Ohio.

It's the economy!

Moral issues drive only a small minority of evangelical voters, and so it's far more likely that Trump's tough talk on immigration and focus on economic issues motivated his supporters regardless of religion. In fact, the bigger story of this election is how populist movements have attempted to subvert the two-party system that has largely become beholden to corporations and wealthy donors.

Several journalists have suggested that Trump's success in the religious south is more likely a product of correlation than causation. Trump's focus on serving blue collar conservative voters and fighting for their interests has resonated with voters regardless of religion.

As more evangelicals acknowledge defeat in the culture war against same sex marriage and take abortion battles to the state level, Trump has filled a void among conservatives who have largely neglected the working class. In fact, the evangelical support that Trump enjoys may largely be a matter of some evangelicals struggling to choose between two troubling candidates and deciding Trump is the lesser of two evils since Hillary has long been taboo for conservatives.

National evangelicals v local pastors

If you asked the average American evangelical who Max Lucado is vs Robert Jeffress, it's likely that the majority will know who Lucado is, while Jeffress is more well known in his own Dallas, Texas area. Jeffress is one of Trump's evangelical advisers, while Max Lucado is a beloved, bestselling author who has written a scathing critique of Trump.

In addition, while Trump supporter Franklin Graham occupies the Graham family legacy and boasts a large social media following, it's no small thing that Albert Mohler of the Southern Baptist Convention has used his significant clout to call out Donald Trump. While Trump can boast that some big names in the realm of evangelical politics have taken his side, several of the household names in American evangelicalism oppose him. In other words, Lucado is far more representative of American evangelicalism than pastor Robert Jeffress or a politician like Michele Bachmann.

Church attendance correlates with opposing Trump

One of the most important ways that sociologists of religion distinguish between evangelicals who practise their faith and cultural evangelicals who are less active with their faith is church attendance. Of course this isn't a perfect measurement, but it helps us get a better handle on major evangelical trends, and it's particularly revealing when it comes to Trump.

Among evangelicals, only 35 per cent who attend church weekly support Trump, while 55 per cent of those who seldom attend church voiced support for Trump. While it's fair to say that even 35 per cent of church-attending evangelicals is too high a number to support a man whose life appears opposed to biblical morality, the Bible's commands about welcoming strangers and the teaching of Jesus to love our neighbours and even our enemies, it's at least reassuring to know that the evangelical movement has hardly migrated to Trump en masse.

I personally stand among the ranks of evangelicals who are deeply disturbed by the rise of Donald Trump, and I could name hundreds of evangelical scholars, pastors, and authors who also feel this way. Many evangelicals lament the fact that so many Christian leaders have supported him. There's no silver lining to this story in that sense. Rather, we have a complex picture of the evangelical movement that is fractured, divided, and hardly speaking with one voice about the candidacy of Donald Trump.

Ed Cyzewski (MDiv) is the author of Coffeehouse Theology, A Christian Survival Guide, and The Contemplative Writer. He writes at www.edcyzewski.com and is on Twitter as @edcyzewski.
Bangladesh PM urges terrorists to stop killing in the name of religion

Bangladesh's Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has pleaded with extremists to stop killing in the name of religion.

"Islam is a religion of peace. Stop killing in the name of the religion," said Hasina after 20 hostages were murdered by Islamist terrorists at a restaurant in Dhaka.

Calling for everyone in Bangladesh to work together to combat extremism, she continued: "Please stop tarnishing our noble religion. I implore you to come back to the rightful path and uphold the pride of Islam."

She declared two days of mourning as she addressed the nation on television.

Twenty-two people, two of them police officers, were murdered during the terrorist attack on Holey's artisan bakery when seven gunmen wielding firearms, bombs and swords took all the customers hostages. The victims were held for 13 hours until the army led a rescue attempt, freeing 13 hostages. Six terrorists were killed during the rescue and one is in custody.

The dead included Simona Monti, the sister of an Italian priest, who was expecting a baby in two months, US citizen Abinta Kabir, aged just 19, a student at Emory University, and Nadia Benedetti, managing director of London-baed company StudioTex.

According to the BBC, the attackers were not students from Islamic madrassas or seminaries but come from well-to-do families and studied in private schools and universities.

It is believed the restaurant was targeted because it was known to be popular with foreigners.

Hasina urged communities to set up anti-terrorism committees across Bangladesh, which she said was the victim of an attempt to ruin its reputation.

"By holding innocent civilians hostage at gunpoint, they want to turn our nation into a failed state," she said.

"Anyone who believes in religion cannot do such acts. They do not have any religion, their only religion is terrorism."

The physician and author Taslima Nasreen was among those who responded.

She tweeted that Bangladesh had degenerated into an Islamic fundamentalist country.

She also said:

Hasina mourning,paying homage to victims of #dhakaattack?She was silent when secular bloggers,gays,Hindus were killed by Islamic terrorists.  taslima nasreen (@taslimanasreen) July 4, 2016

Earlier she tweeted:
Battle looms in Church of England over 'blessings' for gay marriage

Evangelicals are preparing to block what they believe is an attempt to introduce same-sex blessings to the Church of England.

Nearly 500 members of the the General Synod, the Church's parliament, will meet in York this weekend. They will spend three days behind closed doors in the final round of "shared conversations" discussing the Church's response to same-sex relationships.

Conservatives believe that after the York meeeting, the Church's bishops will discuss the issue and then draw up a plan for some form of "pastoral accommodation". This plan will go back to synod when it meets in London in February, a source told Christian Today.

And it could take the form of an authorised service of "welcome" or even blessing for people in same-sex relationships.

Bishops and regional groups from the dioceses have over the last two years been holding shared conversations where church leaders and church members from across the spectrum have been sharing their points of view and their experiences.

The shared conversations are overseen by Canon David Porter, who heads the Archbishop of Canterbury's reconciliation ministry and was involved behind the scenes in helping bring about Northern Ireland's Good Friday Agreement.

Father Andrew Foreshew-Cain, who represents London diocese on General Synod and is married to his partner Stephen Foreshew, told Christian Today: "There has to be some accommodation towards the progressive affirming wing of the Church."

There is unlikely to be any attempt to change the definition of marriage.

However, progressives are hoping for a move towards allowing church services of recognition for civil partnerships and same-sex marriages.

Calling such services "blessings" would be problematic but they could be given another name such as "services of welcome".

Any new liturgy authorised by the Church will require a two-thirds majority in the General Synod.

Currently, conservative evangelicals and other opponents of gay marriage hold more than one third of seats in the House of Laity so even a limited attempt to offer a liturgical welcome to gay couples currently stands little chance of getting through if it has even the slightest indication that the union is recognised.

Foreshew-Cain estimates that hundreds, possibly thousands of Church of England parish churches currently use unauthorised liturgies such as those published by Changing Attitude website to bless gay partnerships. He said: "There has to be change. The conservatives are not going to be able to stop it."

He said he was attacked at synod. "I have been told to my face that I am a false preacher. I asked this person whether they thought I was a Christian. They refused to answer the question. We have got to get beyond this. The bishops have got to show some real leadership. They have to recognise the Church must move. The Church must recognise what has happened in society, and the shift that has happened in the Church itself. We cannot continue to be held hostage by a small minority of older conservatives."

A source told Christian Today that conservatives will not hesitate to block any move towards even limited recognition by the Church of same-sex partnerships.

A leading conservative evangelical defended the orthodox stance.

He said: "There is already common practice among evangelicals of praying for and caring pastorally for all sorts of people without suggesting that they are converted or endorsing their lifestyle. It may be praying for a follower of another faith on the street who is distressed, praying with an unmarried couple who have no intention of marrying or of following Christ but who want their child baptised, or praying with a gay couple who are asking the church to publicly affirm and celebrate their relationship but who have been gently and respectfully reminded of the Church's official teaching and the Scriptural vision for human flourishing which underlies it."

He said the many who advocate pastoral care of those with same sex attraction or self-identifying LGBT people according to traditional orthodox models and who cannot bless or affirm same sex relationships, are not doing so because of homophobia, fear of being excluded from their own group, lack of listening or engagement with testimonies and theological arguments. "It is because of their understanding of the Scriptures, the character of God and the nature of humanity, and their desire to stand with the worldwide church in making disciples and opposing potentially harmful cultural trends."

The Church of England currently allows informal prayers to support same-sex relationships.

Its own weddings website says: "The law prevents ministers of the Church of England from carrying out same-sex marriages. And although there are no authorised services for blessing a same-sex civil marriage, your local church can still support you with prayer.

"Church of England ministers can not carry out or bless same-sex marriages, but your local church is still there for you. At any time you are welcome to come and pray with us, or ask us to pray for you. You might just need space for yourself to pray  some churches or cathedrals are left open at certain times so anyone can go in."

According to the Norwich diocese, there is "no realistic expectation of achieving consensus" on these matters in the foreseeable future, and so the Archbishop of Canterbury has stressed the importance of working at reaching "good disagreement".

The concept of "pastoral accommodation" came up in the Pilling Report, published in 2013 by a working group on human sexuality chaired by Sir Joseph Pilling. It was this report that recommended the listening process that became the shared conversations.

A 2013 Church report, Men and Women in Marriage, also acknowledged the importance of finding forms of "pastoral accommodation" to address the pastoral needs of those in "hard circumstances or exceptional conditions".

The ethics scholar Oliver O'Donovan, a former professor at New College Edinburgh and at Oxford, told Pilling: "A pastoral accommodation is a response to some urgent presenting needs, without ultimate dogmatic implications."

He suggested a pastoral accommodaton could be "to find a way of acting, then, that is charitable, modest, provisional, ideologically light, keeping the Church's mind flexible and open, a way of acting that has more of the experiment than the conclusion about it, does not base itself on sweeping assertions of fact or principle that turn out to be false coinage which nobody can honour."

Another document published to accompany the shared conversations, Grace and Disagreement, says: "A pastoral accommodation is a way of making that pastoral offering without endorsing the circumstances through which the situation arose or giving moral approval to every element in a messy state of affairs."

Evangelical opponents of gay marriage believe however that it is impossible to separate any form of authorised pastoral accommodation from doctrine. Anything that will keep the conservatives happy, will go nowhere near far enough for the liberals.

One leading evangelical, with an open mind on this issue, said: "I'm worried that there is a terrific battle ahead. If they try and force it through, it will be a bloodbath."
Boris Johnson on Brexit: Government needs positive plan to combat 'hysteria'

Boris Johnson, who shocked Britain last week when he decided not to stand to replace outgoing Prime Minister David Cameron, criticised the government on Monday for not having a positive plan to make a British exit from the EU work.

Johnson, who led the campaign to take Britain out of the European Union, said "hysteria" had gripped those who had supported staying in the bloc, and the government needed to explain the truth about the impact of Brexit.

"There is, among a section of the population, a kind of hysteria, a contagious mourning of the kind that I remember in 1997 after the death of (Diana) the Princess of Wales," Johnson wrote in the Daily Telegraph.

"It was wrong of the Government to offer the public a binary choice on the EU without being willing  in the event that people voted Leave  to explain how this can be made to work in the interests of the UK and Europe. We cannot wait until mid-September, and a new PM."

Johnson, one of the most prominent Brexit campaigners, had been expected to join the contest to be the new Conservative leader after Cameron announced he would quit following the referendum vote to leave the EU.

However, he pulled out when his ally, Secretary of State for Justice Michael Gove, decided to run for the job himself, calling Johnson's abilities into question, which Johnson's supporters described as an act of Machiavellian treachery.

A new leader is expected to be in place by early September.

Johnson said fears about the impact of leaving the EU had been wildly overdone, saying the stock market had not collapsed and the emergency budget with spending cuts and tax rises had not materialised as Chancellor and Remain supporter George Osborne had warned.

Conservative MP Ben Wallace, who was running Johnson's campaign, said he thought Gove himself was unfit to be the leader himself, calling him a gossip.

"Michael seems to have an emotional need to gossip, particularly when drink is taken, as it all too often seemed to be," Wallace wrote in the Telegraph.
Centenarian best friends bare secret to long life and enduring friendship: Faith in God

On July 23 this year, Bernice Underwood will turn 100, joining her two best friendsGladys Butler and Ruth Hammettas centenarians. A fourth friend, Leona Barnes, would have turned 100, too, this July, but she passed away last May.

Remarkably, they have been the best of friends for almost their entire livesfor 94 years!

The four grew up in Washington, D.C. in the early 1900s at a time when there were horses and wagons, instead of cars, on the streets, according to Butler.

The four really old friends were featured in a CBN News special earlier this year. The video clip of their interview on the CBN News Facebook page got more than 13 million views with comments coming from all corners of the world!

The video also led to interviews with other national news outlets, book offers and speaking engagements.

In all those interviews, questions inevitably cropped up on how they manage to live this long, how they maintain their zest for life, and what has been keeping their friendship intact through all these years.

To all these questions, the three have one answer: Their faith in God.

"That's the way we live and her parents and all of our parents were friends. Church people. Church-going people, and that kept us united together," said Barnes.

"All of our parents were friends, church-going people," she said. "And that kept us united together.... We had neighbours that looked out for one another. If you were sick, they would reach across the fence and give you soup."

Underwood, Butler and Hammett attended Mt. Zion Baptist Church as children. Barnes joined them in the evenings after homework and chores.

The video shows the four women sitting on a pew at Mt. Zion, laughing and smiling as they reminisce the past.

"I am thankful... to get to the age that I am," said Butler.

When asked what's their secret, Butler said there is none.

"It's only by the grace of God that we're here, and I praise Him every day and thank Him every day for being here because He's the only one keeping me."

Barnes agreed.

"Honey, ain't nothing like faith in God... You have to have faith in God. I'm sorry for preaching. I just have to tell it," she said.

Hammett is suffering from early-onset dementia. But when CBN News asked her what her favourite hymn was, she started singing "I Surrender All." As she sang "all to Jesus, blessed saviour, I surrender all," everyone in the room had tears rolling down their cheeks.

The women were honoured, one of them posthumously, at a well-attended celebration at Zion Baptist Church on June 18.

Even though Barnes didn't live long enough to attend the celebration, she told CBN News earlier that she would enjoy every single moment of life until God called her home.

"It's just a blessing from God that we're here and we take each day as it comes, and I do. Each day that I wake up in the morning I say 'Thank you. Jesus. This is just one more day that You've given me that You didn't have to,'" Barnes said.
Children at illegal ultra-Orthodox school almost drowned on hiking trip

An illegal faith school for ultra-Orthodox Jewish boys ran a hiking expedition to Dover in which a group of 34 children and two adults nearly drowned and had to be rescued by emergency services.

The students were dressed in ultra-Orthodox clothes instead of hiking gear during the outing on 6 June, and could not understand warning signs because they cannot speak English, according to The Independent.

Compounding the danger, organisers of the trip apparently first attempted to contact community leaders as the tide came in, instead of the emergency services amid fears over the school being discovered.

The school, which is based in Hackney, East London, bans 'secular knowledge' and only teaches religious texts in Yiddish and Hebrew. It is one of dozens operating illegally in the Stamford Hill area of Hackney, with up to 1,000 pupils attending lessons from 6am to 11pm in cramped buildings, an investigation by The Independent has revealed.

According to the investigation, the Government has known about the school which organised the hiking trip for five years, and a number of similar illegal schools for several years.

Pupils reportedly tried to deny they attended the school, claiming to be on a day out as a group of friends. But a reporter from The Independent visited the school site, where members of the public confirmed that the school was involved in the incident.

Internal documents seen by The Independent show that Hackney Council first knew about the school in 2011.

A spokesperson for GesherEU, a charity which supports people leaving the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community, said: "This is not the first time children's lives have been put in danger by, apparently, incompetent staff. Next time we could be seeing mothers wailing at the funerals of their sons or daughters unless ministers, the Department for Education and Hackney listen to our call for these settings to be properly monitored, for them to employ properly trained staff, and to ensure that these children are given the skills and secular education they will require to have choices and contribute to society when they are older.

"Both the Department for Education and Hackney continually say that they are liaising with each other, and nothing seems to happen. We know that the legislation relating to the monitoring, safeguarding and education standards in independent schools, unregistered settings and for home-educated children, is confusing and that it is inadequate when fundamentalist religious bodies are set on following their own narrow curriculum. We urge them to go to the ministers responsible to push through urgent changes to the legislation to give them the powers to make real change."
Christians in Muslim countries want Bible in hard copy, not digital  and they're risking their lives to get God's Word

Bible translators are only now finding out that believers in underground churches, mostly in Muslim-dominated countries, prefer to have the old-fashioned hard copy or paper edition of the Scripture rather than the modern digital copy.

Wycliffe Associates' tech guru David Reeves says the requests for paper-edition Bibles caught them by surprise. Before, they had been focusing on apps and digital Bibles, according to Mission News Network.

"They really want to have this [Bible in hard copy]. They can have it in their hands, it doesn't require any power, it doesn't need to be recharged, and they can hide it in various locations," Reeves says.

He says this realisation has presented them with new challenges. Many of the believers who yearned for copies of God's Word live in countries where the Bible is banned.

This means that printing copies of the translated Bible will have to be secretly done inside those countries since transporting them from the outside would be more dangerous.

"They've got to do it themselves quietly back someplace where no one's aware of it," Reeves says.

Wycliffe Associates thus thought of producing a machine compact enough to transport secretly and yet good enough to print thousands of copies of the New Testament.

The project was a huge success.

"A Print On Demand system just kind of blend in and hide. Our brothers and sisters are using them to print freshly published Scripture in places we otherwise wouldn't be able to get them to," Reeves says.

Among these places are countries in the Middle East, Indonesia, Ethiopia, and north-eastern Nigeria.

"Our brothers in the Middle East in the past year printed over 190,000 publications, either books or short booklets, things like that, just in the one year they've had the equipment in their locations," Reeves says.

Nevertheless, printing the Bible is still a dangerous undertaking.

"There are security risks, and our brothers and sisters realise that. They're willing to take those risks and some even paid with their lives in taking those risks. Early this year in the Middle East we had a location where it was discovered and four brothers were killed there at that location. One survived, but we'll replace that system because they wanna keep printing," Reeves says.
Church of England can't play 'happy families' over the gay issue, say conservatives

The Church of England can no longer play "happy families" over the deep divisions that exist on the gay issue, according to leading conservatives.

Andrew Symes of Anglican Mainstream, the conservative evangelical organisation, said he was not surprised that the Reform grouping had pulled out of the "shared conversations" on human sexuality.

He accused the Church of England leadership of a "flawed, manipulative and dishonest process where the result appears to have already been decided."

The latest part of the process took place at a recent meeting of the Church's bishops, when gay and transgender clergy and laity shared their stories with the bishops who were then split into small groups and urged to open up about their own sexuality.

The Bishop of Buckingham Alan Wilson subsequently claimed in a new book that as many as one in ten bishops were secretly gay. The campaigner Peter Tatchell has threatened to "out" these bishops if they do not out themselves.

The latest statements from the evangelical wing show how deep the divisions go and how difficult if not impossible it will be to bring about reconciliation.

Mr Symes said: "When the facilitated conversations, now known as shared conversations, were first mooted, many Anglicans who take an orthodox and conservative position on sexual morality believed that this would be a good opportunity to express their views clearly, hear opposing views, and tease out the profound theological and philosophical differences underlying the approaches to the Christian faith."

He predicted that some kind of separation might need to occur within the Church of England, but said this could be done with "good disagreement", without the rancour and litigation that marked the process in North America.

He warned that the recognition of all different theological positions as equally valid for Christians was never going to work.

"The Conversations have as a clear aim the establishment of two integrities within the C of E, where those who believe same gender sexual relationships are sinful, and those who believe they are from God and should be celebrated, should learn how to live together in the same church with good disagreement," he said.

"But given the pressure from Government, media and the prevailing culture it is very difficult to see how the conservative view on sexual ethics would continue to be tolerated if the C of E changed its policy to allow the blessing, and perhaps later, marriage of same sex couples in those churches that wanted to accept this."

Mr Symes added: "What we need now is not pretend 'happy families', but an honest, serious discussion about the future of the Church of England given the unresolveable differences that exist."

Earlier, the Reform council called on its members not to participate in the conversations.

Preb Rod Thomas, the chairman, said: "It is difficult to see how the process of shared conversations can command credibility if those who are most committed to the Church of England's official teaching are in effect excluded.

"If this project is not to collapse, then decisive intervention from the House of Bishops is needed now. The shared conversations must acknowledge that Scripture remains authoritative for the Church of England and that the outcome of the conversations is genuinely open-ended. Unless that is clarified and the recently announced new objective is withdrawn, we cannot see a way forward."

Reform also called for Bishop Wilson to be admonished for "his refusal to uphold the teaching of the church and guidance of the House on matters of sexuality."
Churches at the forefront as Londoners say no to racism

On a beatiful summer's morning, people gathered at Underground, rail, tram and bus stations to say no to racism and remind Londoners that there is strength in diversity.

The demonstrations were organised by London Citizens - the London branch of community organising coalition Citizens UK.

It draws it membership from faith groups, charities, unions and schools - with Christian groups and churches making up the biggest chunk of the membership.

Members of St George-in-the-East, St Paul's Shadwell and St Mary's, Cable Street joined together at Shadwell DLR station to hand our badges which said, "Love London: No Place For Hate."

Rev Alexandra Lilley, Curate at St Paul's, Shadwell told Christian Today: "We're here to show that a tiny minority are not going to spoil it for everyone. London is diverse and we want to show love and hope for our community."

Canon Dr Angus Ritchie, Priest-in-Charge at St George-in-the-East said, "London has a strong tradition of welcoming people from all backgrounds which we continue to champion. As London Citizens we are clear that there is no justification for hate crime, and our members wish to show that love will always trump hate. The rise in incidents is extremely concerning, and so alongside displaying solidarity we urge any individual who has been impacted to report the incident to authorities."

Commuters were offered a sticker to wear on their way to work but many were also given a leaflet which explained what to do in case of being the victim of, or witnessing, a racist incident on public transport or elsewhere. Calling the police is essential in such a case - and many of those demonstrating today were determined to intervene and show solidarity with victims of racist incidents.

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan said he was delighted to see the demonstrations of solidarity which were taking place across London - from Wimbledon to Walthamstow and from Finchley to Ilford.

Khan said, "As a Mayor for all Londoners, I take seriously my responsibility to defend the capital's fantastic diversity. I will operate a zero tolerance approach to any attempt to hurt and divide our communities, and I have asked the Met Police to be extra vigilant in tackling this deeply worrying rise in hate crime. London doesn't just tolerate difference, it celebrates it, so it's great to see London Citizens' members rallying together to show that there is no place for division in our communities. I urge anyone affected by abusive behaviour to report it to the police immediately, and for Londoners to pull together and rally behind this great city now more than ever."

Racist incidents have reportedly risen sharply since the UK's decision to leave the EU 10 days ago, with incidents on public transport especially prevalent. Faith communities have been among the first to respond to the crisis - with many reaching out to local places of worship - especially given that it is currently Ramadan.

Churches of many different shapes and sizes are members of Citizens UK, including Black Majority Churches, Roman Catholics, Anglicans, Methodists, Salvation Army, Independent churches and more.
CofE denies changes to 'shared conversations' on sex and scripture

The Church of England has denied strongly that any change has been made to the objectives of the so-called "shared conversations" on sex and Scripture.

The denial follows warnings by conservatives that they would be forced to pull out of the talks because they effectively "excluded" those Anglicans who remained committed to the Church of England's traditional teachings on sexuality.

The war of words between the centre, liberal and conservative wings that is following the recent meeting of the College of Bishops illustrates how intractable the divisions remain.

The Church administration pointed to a media statement earlier this month from the council of the conservative Reform group in which it expressed its dismay that the objectives of the shared conversations "had been changed" at the bishops' meeting. In support of this claim, the council referred to the media statement released after the meeting claiming that it introduced a "new objective".

The Church in its latest missive insisted the objectives of conversations remained the same as those set out in June this year by the Bishop of Sheffield. "These objectives remain unchanged. No new objective has been added."

The Church continued: "The media statement did not report on the contents of the discussions held at the meeting of the College as those conversations were confidential to the groups. It was no more than a general report of the proceedings and should not be over-interpreted."

Earlier this week, Andrew Symes of Anglican Mainstream, the conservative evangelical organisation, warned that the Church of England can no longer play "happy families" over the deep divisions that exist on the gay issue. He was not surprised that the Reform grouping had pulled out of the "shared conversations" on human sexuality.

He accused the Church of England leadership of a "flawed, manipulative and dishonest process where the result appears to have already been decided."

At the bishops' meeting, gay and transgender clergy and laity shared their stories with the bishops who were then split into small groups and urged to open up about their own sexuality.

The Bishop of Buckingham Alan Wilson subsequently claimed in a new book that as many as one in ten bishops were secretly gay. The campaigner Peter Tatchell has threatened to "out" these bishops if they do not out themselves.

Mr Symes said: "When the facilitated conversations, now known as shared conversations, were first mooted, many Anglicans who take an orthodox and conservative position on sexual morality believed that this would be a good opportunity to express their views clearly, hear opposing views, and tease out the profound theological and philosophical differences underlying the approaches to the Christian faith."

He predicted that some kind of separation might need to occur within the Church of England, but said this could be done with "good disagreement", without the rancour and litigation that marked the process in North America.

He warned that the recognition of all different theological positions as equally valid for Christians was never going to work.

"The Conversations have as a clear aim the establishment of two integrities within the C of E, where those who believe same gender sexual relationships are sinful, and those who believe they are from God and should be celebrated, should learn how to live together in the same church with good disagreement," he said.

"But given the pressure from Government, media and the prevailing culture it is very difficult to see how the conservative view on sexual ethics would continue to be tolerated if the C of E changed its policy to allow the blessing, and perhaps later, marriage of same sex couples in those churches that wanted to accept this."

Mr Symes added: "What we need now is not pretend 'happy families', but an honest, serious discussion about the future of the Church of England given the unresolveable differences that exist."

The Reform council earlier called on its members not to participate in the conversations.

Preb Rod Thomas, the chairman, said: "It is difficult to see how the process of shared conversations can command credibility if those who are most committed to the Church of England's official teaching are in effect excluded.

"If this project is not to collapse, then decisive intervention from the House of Bishops is needed now. The shared conversations must acknowledge that Scripture remains authoritative for the Church of England and that the outcome of the conversations is genuinely open-ended. Unless that is clarified and the recently announced new objective is withdrawn, we cannot see a way forward."

Reform also called for Bishop Wilson to be admonished for "his refusal to uphold the teaching of the church and guidance of the House on matters of sexuality."
Donald Trump sparks furious row after sharing white-supremacist tweet

Donald Trump sparked a furious row over antisemitism after he tweeted a photo of Hillary Clinton next to a Star of David against a background of dollar bills.

The presumptive Republican presidential nominee was accused of "dog whistle" racism as the image came from a white-supremacist and neo-Nazi movement. The tweet was first shared by Trump at 9.37am on Saturday but such was the backlash on social media that by 11.19am it had been deleted and the star, linked to the Jewish symbol, was replaced with a circle.

The image first appeared on /pol/, according to the news site Mic.com. The far-right messaging site first shared the message more than a week before Trump's campaign did. It appeared under a thread named HillHistory.jpg, a possible nod to the neo-Nazi code for "HH" or "Heil Hitler", according to Mic.com.

Jonathan Greenblatt, chief executive of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), said he was "alarmed" that Trump had not spoken "out vociferously against these anti-Semites and racists and misogynists who continue to support him".

He said: "It's been outrageous to see him retweeting and now sourcing material from the website and other online resources from this crowd."

But Corey Lewandowski, Trump's former campaign manager and sidekick, defended him and denied the image was offensive.

"This is the same star that sheriff's departments all across the country use all over the place to represent law enforcement," he said on Sunday. He rubbished what he saw as an attempt to "attack Donald Trump for something that really isn't there".

But on white-supremacist forums Trump was praised for his support.

"The evangelicals will listen to his pro-Israel statements, while we will listen to his signals," Andrew Anglin wrote in the racist site Daily Stormer, according to the Washington Post. "By pushing this into the media, the Jews bring to the public the fact that yes, the majority of Hilary's [sic] donors are filthy Jew terrorists."

The New York billionaire has indeed made efforts to emphasise his pro-Israel credentials. He has boasted that his daughter Ivanka is a convert to Judaism.

The Trump campaign did not respond to requests for comment about the tweet or the decision to delete it.
Escaped prisoner who became Christian minister faces return to jail after 37 years

An escaped prisoner convicted of the manslaughter of his wife, who went on to become a Christian minister having assumed the identity of his dead cousin, has been tracked down by authorities 37 years later.

Bill Burchfield, 67 and from Georgia, faces returning to prison for up to ten years after he was located by detectives in Laurel County, Kentucky.

Burchfield, who adopted the name of his late cousin Harold "Bill" Arnold, twice escaped jail after being sentenced to 15 years of hard labour for voluntary manslaughter in 1979, according to The Economist.



He broke out of the Jackson County Correctional Institute in 1975 before being captured and having his sentence increased to 16 years. Then, four years later, he successfully escaped a landfill site, reportedly after asking to relieve himself in some bushes.

Burchfield had pleaded guilty to the voluntary manslaughter of his wife Vera Sue in 1973, arguing that it was an accident and that a gun he was holding went off by mistake when she tried to wrestle it away from him.

The case is not well recorded because there was no trial due to Burchfield's guilty plea and because one of his former lawyers has since died and another cannot remember the case.

A petition in Laurel County demanding Burchfield's release has attracted hundreds of signatures. "Bill Arnold is as good a man as I've ever met," said Tom Johnson, an acquaintance the town. "I never know'd anybody that'd say he'd wronged them."

Jason Kincer, Burchfield's lawyer, said: "Shouldn't [his] debt be mitigated by the life that he has lived?"

Burchfield, who is awaiting charges for his escape, said: "I always tried to treat people the way I wanted to be treated. I think my cousin would be proud."
London church saves public over 300k per year through homeless work

A church in north London is saving the public purse over 300,000 per year by offering a home to 50 destitute men addicted to drugs or alcohol or suffering mental health problems, according to a new report.

The Highway House church in Tottenham has been running the project for seven years and, according to the Institute for Health and Human Development at the University of East London, for every 1 invested, 5-8 is returned to society.

Members of the church's congregation, themselves not generally wealthy and many from immigrant backgrounds, contribute between 10 and 20 per cent of their incomes and raise around 80,000 per year.

According to the institute's report out today, this saves councils: almost 110,000 a year in temporary accommodation; more than 92,000 in reduced burden on unemployment benefits; over 73,000 on the alleviation on mental health services; almost 25,000 on reduced strain on Accident and Emergency and around 3,500 on reduced crime.

Marcia Bravo, a carer with two daughters who earns about 15,000 per year and gives 10 per cent of her salary to the project, told the Guardian:

"Giving so much money goes against human desires," she said. "My daughters and I have to make sacrifices and it's not easy. My friends think I'm stupid. There are lots of things I could do with the money I donate every month: take my daughters on holiday, for example. But I can do that later: these men need help now."

Hannah Adu, who earns 20,000 a year as a self-employed advocate adviser, added: "If I sat down and did a risk or financial analysis, I would never help these men. But then I would never see the transformation: they arrive off the street, completely broken and leave with dignity and hope."

Hospitals across London, including University College London hospitals, East London and City mental health trust, Guy's and St Thomas's and the Royal Free hospital refer men to the church, and police give the church's address to people in need of help.

The church made space for the men by clearing an area previously used for Sunday school and youth club, with worshippers stacking chairs against its walls after services.

David Lammy, the MP for Tottenham, told Christian Today: "I salute the valuable work that Pastor Gyasi and Highway House Church have long undertaken in our local community. The support they provide is a lifeline for the men who rely on their services and who are struggling to cope with destitution and homelessness after years of austerity and cuts. Without Pastor Gyasi and Highway House Church's support these men would be very vulnerable indeed. The figures released today demonstrate how valuable that work is both in human and economic terms and although it is heartening to hear stories of local families who are themselves on low incomes contributing significant sums of money to support these members of society it raises wider questions about how costs are borne in austerity Britain."
Nigel Farage resigns as UKIP leader: 'I want my life back'

Nigel Farage has resigned as leader of UKIP saying he has done his bit.

At a speech in London on Monday morning, Farage said after the UK voted to leave the European Union he "couldn't possible achieve more". He told journalists gathered: "During the the referendum I said I wanted my country back ... now I want my life back."

First elected party leader in September 2006, Farage said he was leaving UKIP in a "pretty good place" and would not be changing his mind as he did when he quit after the 2015 election.

Leading the party was "tough at times" but "all worth it" he said and added: "The victory for the 'leave' side in the referendum means that my political ambition has been achieved. I came into this struggle from business because I wanted us to be a self-governing nation, not to become a career politician."

But Farage, who has been a member of the European Parliament since 2009, will still lead UKIP's ground in Brussels.

The controversial leader has had a volatile relationship with UKIP's only MP, Douglas Carswell, who has made it clear the dislike is mutual. Minutes after Farage announced his resignation Carswell, who is a Christian and regular churchgoer, tweeted a smiley face.

In questions after his speech Farage refused to support Carswell as the next leader of UKIP and simply said he wanted the best man or woman to win.

When asked about Carswell's response, Farage jibed that the Clacton MP does not often smile so it was good to see he was happy. He added he would not put much money on Carswell becoming the next UKIP leader.

But he said a new leader would be in place by the party's autumn conference.

He insisted he was not a career politician but did not rule out standing to be MP at the next election.

Farage is credited with forcing David Cameron into holding a referendum, despite the Prime Minister's firm belief the UK was better off remaining part of the EU. Farage said he hoped there would not any "weakness or, frankly, appeasement" in the negotiations to follow and said there could not be any compromise on freedom of movement. He added the next Prime Minister must be someone who voted to leave.

"We need a prime minister who recognises that we've got the trump cards," he said.
Pope Francis: I will not bow to conservative critics

Pope Francis has pledged he will not be deterred from making changes by the strong rhetoric of the ultra-conservative wing of the Catholic Church. But nor will he chop off their heads, he said.

There are some people in the Church who say no to everything, he admitted.

He will not live in fear of them or go around looking over his shoulder, but nor will he fight them. "I don't chop off heads. That was never my style. I've never liked doing that," he said. He said he does not and has never liked conflict.

Pope Francis was talking in an interview Joaquin Morales Sola of La Nacion in Argentina.

He said they had a job to do, just as he did, but he wants "an open, comprehensive Church" that walks with wounded families. "They will say no to everything. I continue on my way without looking over my shoulder. I repeat: I reject the conflict. I want a Church that is open, understanding, that accompanies wounded families," he said.

Using an analogy from trade of carpentry, and one that is often used in Rome when describing how to resolve problems by promoting people to positions in the Vatican, he continued: "Nails are removed by applying pressure to the top. Or, you set them aside to rest when the age of retirement arrives."

He also said his predecessor Pope Benedict XVI how has difficulties getting around but "his head and his memory are intact, perfect."

He also defended Benedict's resignation, which he said clarified the problems of the Church. "It had nothing to do with personal things. It was an act of government, his last act of government."

Sola's questions were mainly about Mauricio Macri, current President of Argentina, who was Mayor of Buenos Aires when the Pope was the city's Archbishop. Pope Francis denied that relations between him and Macri were chilly. In 2009, after Argentina's first gay marriage was celebrated in Buenos Aires about a year before gay marriage was legally allowed, the future Pope warned that it set a "serious precedent".

The Pope admitted there had been issues between them but these were resolved.

"We had some other problems, which we spoke about privately and which we resolved privately. And the two of us always respected the privacy agreement."
Samsung Gear S3 release date: rumors of a variant with Rolex-like case and band from de Grisogono true?

It was previously reported that the Samsung Gear S3 looks similar to a Rolex watch that contains the word de Grisogono. This was posted by Tizen Cafe last month. However, it is still unknown if this is a real-deal or is just an edited photo.

Phone Arena reported that upon closer inspection, the leaked image contains a logo that bears resemblance to the logo of de Grisogono. Letters can also be seen on the watch's face but are very hard to read. The posted images also looks like promotional photos for the upcoming smartwatch, the luxury and limited editions. The two leaked images are a bit over-exposed and of low quality, but a moon-phase and three sub-dials are recognizable in the second picture.

De Grisogono is a luxury jeweler based in Geneva, Switzerland established by Fawaz Gruosi, an expert when it comes to black diamonds. The company also revealed earlier that they are working with Samsung and would release their own version of the Gear S3, a luxurious version.

Meanwhile, the Samsung Gear S3 is internally known as Solis and is said to contain the Tizen OS, just like its predecessor. It was previously rumored that the South Korean tech giant will not try to use Google's Android Wear OS again on their devices because of battery efficiency and platform issues, Trusted Reviews stated. However, Samsung made it clear that they did not make any statement with regards to the Android Wear.

The Samsung Gear S3 Is also expected to continue with its round-face design, have the rotating bezel for control and manipulation and a slightly larger display, and feature a much wider selection of watch faces and bands.

Fans are expecting that the Samsung Gear 3 will be revealed at IFA 2016 in Berlin.
Sister, servant and leader: Who was Phoebe in the Bible?

With only 50 odd words  or two verses  dedicated to her in the Bible, you could easily miss Phoebe in your reading of Romans. But that would be a shame.

Although few words are given, the ones chosen reveal a woman of faith who served her church both spiritually and financially.

Romans 16:1-2 says: "I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a deacon of the church in Cenchreae. I ask you to receive her in the Lord in a way worthy of his people and to give her any help she may need from you, for she has been the benefactor of many people, including me."

In this short passage, Paul refers to her both as a deacon and as a patron of many  including himself. She is the only woman in the Bible to be described as being both of these things.

Paul is writing to the Romans about her because he has sent her with the letter he has written. He trusted her with his message, and wanted her to be well received when she got to Rome.

Whether Phoebe actually had the role of "deacon" has been highly debated  as you might imagine  as it would set a precedent for women in leadership that many wings of the church would dispute.

The Greek term used here is "diakonos". What is confusing is that the word itself can be translated two ways: either as a Christian designated to serve with the overseers of the church, or more generally to a servant. One holds a spiritual authority, one doesn't. Interestingly, whenever this word is referring to a man in Paul's writing, it has unequivocally been translated as "minister".

Three things we can learn from Phoebe:

1. Paul valued women

It is most likely Paul entrusted Phoebe  maybe with others  to travel to Rome and deliver his letter to the church there. This implies that he trusted and valued her, both in character and in strength. He recommends her to the Roman church, in the same way that he did Tychicus (Colossians 4:7-9) and Epaphroditus (Philippians 2:25-30). She was seen as powerful and strong, carrying authority as a trusted messenger.

2. God uses women as leaders

Whether or not Phoebe held the office of deacon, it is clear that God was using her to spread the good news. Whether she was a minister or a servant she was evidently serving the church.

She was undeniably a patron to many, showing a Godly character of generosity and that she would have had some money behind her. It's unlikely she was married as her husband isn't mentioned, which would have been convention, so she probably made the money herself.

There have always been female leaders in God's kingdom  look at Deborah, Miriam and Lydia  and Phoebe was one of them.

3. God puts his followers in family

Paul refers to Phoebe as "our sister". We are so familiar with this terminology, that it is easy to miss the significance. She was his sister-in-Christ and therefore a member of both his and the Romans' spiritual family. As we follow Jesus, we are invited into family with other believers. This family is one of hospitality and generosity, as shown by Paul's command to the Romans to welcome Phoebe "in the Lord in a way worthy of his people". Although they are yet to meet, the Roman Christians are to welcome Phoebe as a sister, for they are part of the same family.
The Chilcot report: what is it, what will we learn and why does it matter?

In March 2003 Tony Blair persuaded a heated House of Commons to vote for British forces to join the US in invading Iraq. The move was highly controversial because it came less than two years after the atrocities of September 11, 2001, and appeared to be a reaction to that event despite there being no obvious link between the New York attacks and Saddam Hussein's Iraq.

We know from published sources, including books by the journalist Bob Woodward, that George W Bush's Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld and Vice President Dick Cheney were searching for an Iraq link immediately after 9/11, and also that President Bush told Blair four times in the build up to the war that he didn't need British troops, yet Blair was insistent on paying the "blood price".

9/11 is the crucial context to the Iraq war because it is believed that Blair decided on that day to commit to doing whatever Washington wanted, effective handing British foreign policy to the US. Initially the British prime minister sought a second UN resolution and pushed for Europe to come on board but when it became clear this was not possible he pressed ahead anyway.

Criticism of British involvement in the Iraq war has so-far centred around claims by the government that Saddam had 'weapons of mass destruction' [WMD] that posed a threat to the west, and were, in the words of one colourful London Evening Standard headline at the time, "Just 45 minutes from attack".

However, equally important is the question of when exactly Blair committed to military action, as we shall see.

What is the Chilcot Inquiry?

The Iraq Inquiry, known as the Chilcot Inquiry, has been a long time coming. Set up under Gordon Brown in June 2009, it began taking evidence in November 2009, concluding that process in February 2011. It is finally published on Wednesday.

The inquiry has been chaired by Sir John Chilcot, a former civil servant, and its website states that: "[The] purpose of the Inquiry is to examine the United Kingdom's involvement in Iraq, including the way decisions were made and actions taken, to establish as accurately and reliably as possible what happened, and to identify lessons that can be learned. The Inquiry is considering the period from 2001 up to the end of July 2009."

The remit means that the aftermath of the war -- in which 179 British troops had died by February 2009, 4,491 US service members were killed by 2014, and countless Iraqis since 2003 -- will be examined.

The other members of the panel are academic and author Sir Lawrence Freedman, former diplomat Sir Roderic Lyne, and Deputy Chair of the British Council, Baroness Usha Prashar. One other member of the panel, the academic and military historian Sir Martin Gilbert, died in February 2015.

The report cost 10m and is reportedly over two million words long. It was meant to be published by the end of 2011 and the long delay has attracted widespread, cross-party criticism, including from prime minister David Cameron.

Is Chilcot the first inquiry into Iraq?

No. Chilcot is the third British inquiry relating to the Iraq invasion. In January 2004 the Hutton inquiry published its findings into the death of weapons scientist Dr David Kelly, who apparently committed suicide in July 2003 after becoming embroiled in a row between the BBC and the government over reports into alleged misuse of intelligence on WMD. Although the report raised very valid criticisms of the way in which the BBC handled its reporting, it was widely dismissed as a 'whitewash' in favour of the government.

In July 2004 the Butler inquiry into the use of intelligence found that claims about WMD were "seriously flawed" and "open to doubt". But the report found no evidence of "deliberate distortion" of the intelligence material or of "culpable negligence".

Why is the timing of Blair's decision to join the invasion crucial?

Of all the thousands of documents the inquiry is expected to examine, one stands out: the 'Manning memo' of 14 March 2002.

A full year before the invasion which was presented as an if-all-else-fails, last-minute decision, Blair's foreign policy advisor David Manning wrote to Blair after dining with Condoleezza Rice, Bush's National Security Adviser. He wrote:

We spent a long time at dinner on Iraq. It is clear that Bush is grateful for your support and has registered that you are getting flak. I said that you would not budge in your support for regime change but you had to manage a press, a Parliament and a public opinion that was very different than anything in the States.

Yet in February 2003, on the eve of war, Blair said:

I detest [Saddam's] regime, but even now he could save it by complying with the UN's demands.

If the inquiry is to retain any credibility, it must, at the very least, provide authoritative answers about this contradiction.

What will happen to Blair?

Many people are expecting (and hoping) that Blair will be the focus of the inquiry's criticisms. A clue that he will be came when it was recently reported that Alastair Campbell, Blair's former director of communications, has not received a letter from the inquiry team.

Only individuals who have received details of the criticisms will face scrutiny, it is believed. (Blair's former foreign secretary Jack Straw, for example, is among those believed to be facing heavy criticism.)

However, those wanting Blair to be tried as a war criminal look set to be disappointed as a report at the weekend said that prosecutors at the International Criminal Court have ruled out such a move.

Nonetheless, MPs from the Scottish National Party [SNP] and the Labour left are reportedly preparing to use an ancient law to impeach Blair, effectively barring him from public office in the UK.

What will we really learn from Chilcot?

Despite it being longer than Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace, it is possible that we will not learn much that is new from Chilcot's report. We know that Blair had effectively signed up to the invasion by 2002, and that his staff and intelligence figures colluded to exaggerate and simplify evidence of the threat Saddam allegedly posed. Instead of re-running that debate, Chilcot may have chosen to focus much of his criticism on the aftermath, widely accepted, even by Blair, to have been woefully unplanned.

However, some argue that Iraq was the biggest British foreign policy disaster since the Suez disaster of 1956, and unless it comes in for strong, clear and comprehensive criticism, the Chilcot inquiry will do nothing to restore faith in British politics, itself currently in crisis.

What has been said in relation to God and the invasion of Iraq?

As early as October 2003, Rowan Williams, then Archbishop of Canterbury, told relatives at a service of remembrance for dead military personnel at St Paul's Cathedral that US and UK leaders will be "held to account" over the invasion. With Blair looking on, he added: "We have to go back and test what has happened in the light of the original vision; we have to find out what we have learned, what now looks different, where our integrity has been stretched or challenged."

In March 2006, Blair himself told the interviewer Michael Parkinson: "Well, I think if you have faith about these things, then you realise that judgment is made by other people." Pressed further, he added: "If you believe in God, [the judgment] is made by God as well."

In the US, the former McCormick Theological Seminary President Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite wrote in the Washington Post on the war's ten-year anniversary that it was a "moral, fiscal and geopolitical disaster for the United States," which "broke the rules of war by ignoring them or so completely 're-defining' them that they lost their meaning."

At the same time, the Florida pastor and peace activist Craig Watts wrote in Red Letter Christians that the Iraq invasion was "immoral and unjust" and that "only those who view the world through the thickest ideological lens and those who have benefited the most economically claim the war was 'worth it.'"
US grants asylum to Baptist minister deported from Kazakhstan

The US has granted asylum to a Baptist minister and his family who were deported from Kazakhstan.

After nearly three years of legal wrangling, the US Citizenship and Immigration Service has agreed to give asylum to Viktor Lim, who was born in Uzbekistan and is of Korean ancestry.

Lim, who moved to Kazakhstan in 1993 to pursue his education as a mechanical engineer, became a Christian after several years there.

He attended seminary and then started a small congregation in Kazakhstan, where he sought citizenship. However, for around seven years, the minister reportedly endured threats, police searches at home, surveillance and interrogation.

"My perception is they were intimidation tactics to get him to shut down the work he was doing there," said David Baay, the lead attorney for the Houston team that provided the Lim family free legal services.

According to a report on Kazakhstan by the US Commission on International Religious Freedom: "The country's restrictive 2011 religion law bans unregistered religious activity and has been enforced through the closing of religious groups, police raids, detentions and fines...The law's onerous registration requirements have led to a sharp drop in the number of registered religious groups, both Muslim and Protestant."

In 2013, Lim was convicted of operating as an unregistered foreign missionary after a brief hearing in which he was denied legal counsel. The conviction came after Lim was initially arrested in 2008, with the charges being dropped before his being arrested again five years later.

Lim and his family secured tourist visas from the US consulate and moved to Houston, Texas. The process of seeking asylum has taken nearly three years.

"Viktor provided credible evidence of a very real threat to his life and libertyand that of his familyif they were denied asylum and returned to Kazakhstan," Baay said.
When is Eid al-Fitr 2016?

Eid al-Fitr is the Islamic celebration to mark the end of Ramadan, Muslims' month of fasting.

In the UK Eid al-Fitr will start on Wednesday 6 July and run for three days until Friday 8 July.

But timings around the world are more complex. Because the month of Ramadan and the Islamic calendar are based on the moon, it is sometimes difficult to tell when the fast will end and the party begins.

Technically the fast is over when Muslims catch the first glimpse of the new moon in the sky, marking the beginning of the next month of Shawwal. Some will wait until they have seen the new moon themselves but many will judge it based on the calculated time in their country or by the declaration from Saudi Arabia.

Countries celebrate Eid al-Fitr at different times, depending on when the moon appears for them.

The USA and Canada will share the same dates for Eid al-Fitr as the UK so most Western Muslims will celebrate together on 6th, 7th, 8th July.

But other countries vary in both when they start Eid and how long it lasts for. Indeed for many Islamic countries it is the main event in their annual calendar and is celebrated with several days of public holiday.

Below are the dates for some other countries.

- Saudi Arabia: 11-day holiday from Thursday June 30 until Sunday July 10.

- Qatar: 11-day holiday from Sunday July 3 until Monday July 11, including the July 1-2 weekend.

- UAE and Bangladesh: nine-day holiday from Friday July 1 until Saturday July 9.

- Oman: five-day holiday from Tuesday July 5, until Saturday July 9.

- Pakistan: four-day holiday from Tuesday July 5, until Friday July 8.

- Turkey: nine-day holiday from Saturday July 2 until Sunday July 10.

You can find out all you need to know about what Muslims do on Eid al-Fitr here.
Conor Knighton didn't take the easy route when he proposed a "CBS Sunday Morning" story on the National Park Service's centennial.

His idea approved, he's in the midst of a yearlong journey to spend time in each of the 59 national parks. His "On the Trail" reports air every two weeks, and this past Sunday's piece about Depression-era park improvements was the weekly show's cover story.

To accomplish this "assignment," Knighton, 35, gave up his Los Angeles-area apartment, put his belongings in storage and is spending much of the year in budget motels and a Subaru provided by the segment's sponsor.

And he swears that he's loving it.

More Information 'CBS Sunday Morning' When: 8 a.m. Sundays Network: CBS See More Collapse

"When I'm at these parks, I constantly have to remind myself that 99 percent of the people who are there are on vacation," he said by phone from outside Shenandoah National Park in Virginia. "They planned a year for this. And I'm there for work?"

His goal was to avoid the sort of stories you might see at a park's visitors' center, realizing they would quickly become boring.

Knighton began his journey by hiking in the dark on New Year's Day to a mountaintop in Maine's Acadia National Park to catch the first rays of sun to hit the U.S. mainland in 2016. He produced a story about what happens to a park, and the surrounding communities, during the desolate offseason.

He's donned scuba gear to examine underwater shipwrecks in Florida's Key Biscayne, shown how time has changed the appeal of the hot springs in Arkansas and detailed the competition for tourists' attention at caves in Kentucky. One story examined overcrowding in Utah's four national parks, although Knighton concluded, "There are worse places to be stuck in traffic."

"It's a very weird headspace to be in," he said, "because I'm constantly trying to experience the park where I am, I'm writing a piece for a park that I visited two months ago and I'm planning a piece for a park that I'm visiting two months from now."

Rand Morrison, executive producer of "CBS Sunday Morning," acknowledged some skepticism but praised Knighton for delivering interesting stories. Getting a sponsor calmed worries about how much it would cost.

"It helps that he was willing to basically camp out for the year," Morrison said. "We're hardly spending lavishly."

Knighton said one of the saddest moments came "when I realized it made financial sense to sign up for the Chili's rewards program," even though he's been trying to sample native cuisine.

He drives to most destinations - parks in Alaska, Hawaii, the Virgin Island and American Samoa are exceptions - and travels only with a cinematographer.

"I'm at peak '90s music knowledge right now because that's the only station (we) ... can agree on," he said.

Knighton said he's enjoyed getting to know lesser-known parks, like the rock-climbing mecca Black Canyon in Colorado, and is eager to go to American Samoa.

"Half the work is done for me because I'm just mentioning that they exist, and for half of the country, that is news," he said.

Knighton said he knows how he wants to wrap up his year but is keeping that a secret. While his plan was to be out for a year, Morrison is a little more flexible. He said he's willing to cut it short if he feels the stories have run their course, or even go longer.

"It hasn't run out of gas yet," Morrison said.
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Although it may seem hard to believe today, there was a time when Houston was known less as an international health care hub than a backwater with a problem-plagued medical school.

And then from Louisiana came a son of Lebanese immigrants named Michael Ellis DeBakey.

DeBakey, a cardiovascular surgeon who arrived in 1948 to run the Baylor School of Medicine's surgery department, which was then broke and on probation, spurred a major transformation of the department and helped make the Bayou City into the health care powerhouse it is now.

"You can go anywhere in the world  to Moscow, or Milan  and everybody knows about Houston and surgery at Baylor," said Dr. O.H. "Bud" Frazier, the current director of cardiovascular surgery research at the Texas Heart Institute. "It's because of Michael DeBakey."

More Information DEBAKEY MILESTONES 1945: Awarded U.S. Army Legion of Merit Award for studies leading to development of mobile army surgical hospitals, or MASH units. Also during this time, he helped to establish the system of treating military personnel returning from the war, a concept that evolved into the Veterans Administration Medical Center System. 1950-53: Developed Dacron artificial grafts for cardiac bypass surgery. 1953: Performed first removal of blockage in carotid artery, the blood vessel that feeds the brain. 1965: Appears on the cover of Time magazine. Duke of Windsor refers to DeBakey as ''the maestro.'' First demonstration of open-heart surgery transmitted over satellite to Geneva. 1968: DeBakey's team performs first heart transplant at The Methodist Hospital. Directed first successful multi-organ transplant when a heart, two kidneys and a lung were transplanted from a single donor to four separate recipients. 1969: Appointed president of Baylor College of Medicine. Awarded Presidential Medal of Freedom with Distinction. 1987: Awarded National Medal of Science by President Reagan. 1996: Visits Russia where he is a consultant during President Boris Yeltsin's quadruple bypass surgery. Is named Baylor's chancellor emeritus. 2004: U.S. Food and Drug Administration gives humanitarian approval to a small-scale DeBakey LVAD for use in children awaiting heart transplants. Famed American heart surgeon Dr. Michael DeBakey performs open-heart surgery in Saudi Arabia on May 25, 1978. Dr. Michael DeBakey gives a briefing on June 8, 2000, at The Methodist Hospital, following the implantation the day before of a heart-assist pump into a 31-year-old woman. DeBakey is holding the device to show where it fits in the chest. See More Collapse

Many others contributed to the city's reputation, Frazier added, noting R. Lee Clark's leadership at MD Anderson Cancer Center. But DeBakey started it through his ambitious efforts at Baylor and Houston Methodist Hospital.

It was impressive for a man who almost did not come to Houston at all. DeBakey turned down the Baylor job twice, in part because he did not like that the fledging school's clinical rotations were scattered all over the city. Once he took the job, however, he stayed until 1993, and then served as chancellor emeritus of the medical school.

As the late author Thomas Thompson wrote in 1970, "DeBakey built a department of surgery at Baylor and at The Methodist Hospital, which was to become one of the most celebrated in the world, a galaxy of young stars. In a city where 25 years ago there was practiced medicine of the most mediocre sort, there sprung up in a swampy area 6 miles south of downtown ... one of the handful of distinguished medical centers in the world."

How did DeBakey do it? He seldom slept, according to colleagues, allowing him time to promote the department and perform an estimated 60,000 operations. He gained attention through influential innovations and by caring for high-profile patients, such as then-Russian President Boris N. Yeltsin. And he had a knack for recruiting unique talents, including Frazier and Dr. Denton A. Cooley, a major star in his own right who later became a bitter rival.

For DeBakey, who died in Houston on July 11, 2008, two months before his 100th birthday, the city's transformation was just one in a long line of breathtaking accomplishments.

Considered by many to be the greatest surgeon ever, the Lake Charles, La., native gained acclaim as the father of modern cardiovascular surgery. He is credited with inventing more than 50 surgical devices used to repair hearts and arteries, developing a crucial open-heart surgery tool known as the roller pump and performing one of the first coronary artery bypass surgeries and the first successful surgical treatment of potentially deadly aneurysms of various parts of the aorta.

In World War II, he helped develop the Mobile Army Surgical Hospital (MASH) units, and later helped establish the Veteran's Administration Medical Center Research System.

His countless awards included the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest honor given to a United States citizen, which DeBakey received from then-President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1969.

One prominent distinction eluded him  and led to his epic feud with Cooley.

In 1969, Cooley performed the first implantation of an artificial heart. The patient, a man named Haskell Karp, lived with the heart for 65 hours before dying shortly after the transplant of a more permanent heart.

The feat quickly drew international attention, but it took a controversial turn when DeBakey said the artificial heart was identical to one under development in the Baylor labs and had been used without permission.

Cooley countered that he had built the heart privately with another doctor and had to use it to save Karp's life, but he still was censured by the American College of Surgeons and later resigned from Baylor.

The former colleagues barely spoke for nearly four decades, only reconciling shortly before DeBakey's death.

Still, even the feud managed to help the development of the Houston medical community, according to Frazier. "It kept them wanting to move things forward and enhance their contributions to the field, which were enormous," Frazier said.

In the operating room, DeBakey earned a reputation as a demanding, steady-handed and tireless surgeon.

Those attributes may have come from his parents. His father, Shaker Morris DeBakey, was a hard-working businessman and pharmacist, and his mother, Raheehja DeBakey, taught him how to sew. Later, after also learning how to tat, he would introduce artificial arteries made from Dacron  he reportedly sewed the prototype on his wife's sewing machine, using fabric bought at Foley's, in downtown Houston.

Dr. George P. Noon, a Baylor surgeon who participated in the quintuple bypass surgery performed on Yeltsin in 1996, said he remembered appreciating the professionalism that DeBakey brought to the difficult case.

"As you can imagine, there was a lot of interest at the time, and politically it could have been a disaster," Noon said. "But he treated him just like an other patient."

Noon and others who operated with DeBakey, said it was sometimes a frustrating experience because DeBakey did not take kindly to even the smallest of mistakes and did not hesitate to chew out a colleague. Some were even fired for minor infractions.

"He demanded excellence in the performance of patient care and surgery and if that wasn't met, he would let you know," Noon said.

Late in life, DeBakey benefited from his own work. In 2006, he suffered an aortic aneurysm, a condition for which he pioneered the treatment. He is believed to be the oldest person to have survived the procedure.

DeBakey maintained a regular surgical schedule into his 80s and continued to work up until the last weeks of his life.

Two days before he died, DeBakey called Frazier and said he wanted to partner on a procedure to put an artificial heart in an animal. The operation never took place.

Today, some of the surgical instruments and techniques that DeBakey pioneered have fallen out of favor. The heart surgery world is now focused on the use of catheters, which have allowed patients to experience less risk and recover faster.

"Michael DeBakey's legacy of innovation and pushing the envelope set the stage for the advancements that we are having today," said Dr. Michael Reardon, a thoracic and cardiac surgeon at Houston Methodist Hospital. "He would have not only encouraged this innovation, but he would have probably be leading it himself."
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A Houston man shot Sunday morning near the Madrasah Islamiah mosque remained in the hospital Monday but was recuperating well, his wife said.

Arslan Tajammul, a 30-year-old optometrist, was shot about 5:30 a.m. Sunday around the corner from the southwest Houston mosque, during what police said appeared to be an attempted robbery.

Houston Police Department spokesman Victor Senties said Tajammul was standing next to his vehicle in the parking lot of an apartment complex on the 6700 block of DeMoss Drive at the time of the incident.

Kaleem Siddiqui of the Houston chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations said Tajammul was on his way to the mosque for morning prayers. Senties said he could not verify that information.

Authorities found no evidence to suggest the attack was a hate crime and had yet to determine the number of suspects as of Monday.

Speaking outside of Ben Taub Hospital, Tajammul's wife, Syeda Bokhari, urged members of the community to resist jumping to conclusions about the shooter's motives.

"Regardless of why he did it, the truth is that Muslims live in an increasingly scary reality," Bokhari said during a news conference. "The message of hate comes from a small portion of our society, and we cannot let that narrative overcome us. As the American community, Muslim or not, we have to reply with a message of love and light."

Bokhari declined to provide additional details about the circumstances of Tajammul's shooting, citing HPD's ongoing investigation.

The Houston branch of CAIR called for increased security measures at mosques and around events related to Eid Al Fitr, which is Wednesday and marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan.

"Due to the rash of hate incidents and attacks we have seen across the country within the last week, the tragic shooting of one of our beloved Greater Houston community members and the anti-Muslim political climate, we urge local community leaders to seek increased police patrols in the areas surrounding mosques and at all Eid Al Fitr prayers and celebrations," CAIR-Houston executive director Mustafaa Carroll said. "Community safety is of the utmost importance, and we applaud the Houston Police Department for its prompt show of concern and action following today's shooting."

Two Muslim men were reportedly shot in Minneapolis last Wednesday, and a man was beaten Saturday outside a Florida mosque.
A man was shot in the head early Monday morning following an attempted robbery at a Midtown Jimmy John's sandwich shop, reports say.

Police have told KTRK that a worker at the sub shop in the 2500 block of Bagby was unlocking the door to open the store around 7 a.m. when a man with a gun approached and pistol whipped him with the apparent intention of robbing him. The worker is reported to be badly beaten, and his condition is unknown at this time.
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>>MORNING LEDE: "Texas accused of ignoring mentally disabled in nursing homes," by The Associated Press' Betsy Blaney: "It took more than 40 years for Leonard Barefield to finally get to choose where he lived.

:The intellectually-disabled Texas native moved to a group home in Lubbock in September after he had first lived in near slavery conditions for more than three decades in a squalid house in Iowa and worked at a turkey processing plant there for 41 cents an hour. After being freed by social workers from that situation, he was sent in 2008 to a nursing home in Midland, Texas.

"His plight is not uncommon in Texas, where people with such disabilities are routinely warehoused in nursing homes, according to a lawsuit brought by Barefield and other disabled people. Advocates for the intellectually-disabled  a condition affecting reasoning and learning  say Texas is violating the Americans with Disabilities Act and other federal laws by denying services that could allow more than 4,000 people to live in the community.

"The state denies it is exploiting the disabled, saying it is committed to providing them with the highest quality of services."

PODCAST SUBSCRIPTIONS: Yes, you can now have our Texas Take podcast delivered each week to your phone. Easy. Simple. Quick information. Go to this link to sign up, at the top right side of the landing page. Take a minute to sign up today.

BUDGET TRIMS: "Call for state budget cuts includes plenty of exemptions," by the Houston Chronicle's Mike Ward and Andrea Zeliniski: "In what has become a biennial rite of summer, Texas' top three officials on Friday directed state agencies to plan on spending 4 percent less in the next two years, even though legislative leaders already are predicting the next budget will be at least that much larger than the current one.

"The directive from Gov. Greg Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and House Speaker Joe Straus comes as the state is expected to start next year's budget process with $10 billion less to spend because of lagging oil and gas revenues.

"Between that and the ongoing pressure from many Republican leaders to reduce taxes again, the tension between cutting and growing spending already has lawmakers and interest groups in Austin calculating their next moves, even as some of the state's biggest costs  including border security, child protective services, health care and mandatory school funding  are exempt from cuts under Friday's directive."

HOUSTON RACE: "In unusual Senate race, Democrats vie to replace Ellis," by the Texas Tribune's Patrick Svitek: "In the span of a month, a Texas Senate seat will have been vacated and effectively filled, an unconventional turn of events that has Houston Democrats scrambling to replace one of their most venerated legislators.

"The highly abbreviated contest is unfolding in Senate District 13, where Rodney Ellis is vacating his seat of 20-some years to serve on the Harris County Commissioners Court. His successor on the ballot will be picked July 16 by precinct chairs in the Senate district, which is spread across Harris and Fort Bend counties.

"The race was sparked by Ellis' election last month as the Democratic nominee for Harris County commissioner, a post he is all but guaranteed because no Republican is on the ballot in November. Winning the nomination virtually ensured him the job. The same is true for Senate District 13, meaning whomever can win the support of a majority of the precinct chairs later this month will likely succeed Ellis in the Senate."

COURT BLUES: "U.S. Supreme Court messes with Texas Republican leaders," by the San Antonio Express-News' Peggy Fikac: "No sooner did the U.S. Supreme Court last week strike down key state abortion restrictions than the internet was whooping  or weeping  over a photo of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg underscored with the words, "Messed with Texas."

"It is not the first time the Lone Star State has found itself on the wrong side of the U.S. Constitution in the court's eyes, with Ginsburg among those siding against policies embraced and driven by Texas Republican leaders.

"The nation's highest court has shaken the foundation of those policies and in doing so has highlighted the enormous impact the next president will have on Texas and the nation with at least one justice appointment."

ABORTION LESSON: "Here's what happened when Texas cracked down on abortion clinics," by the Los Angeles Times: "In the year after Texas adopted a restrictive new abortion law, two trends surfaced quickly.

"The number of women who were able to obtain medication to induce abortions plunged 70%. At the same time, the number of women who underwent the actual surgical procedure increased, even though more than half the state's abortion clinics had closed.

"The immediate effects of the 2014 law  which was deemed unconstitutional in a landmark Supreme Court ruling this week are reflected in figures released Thursday by the Texas Department of State Health Services.

INTERACTIVE EXTRA: "Explore licensed handgun carriers in Texas," Houston Chronicle

CAPITOL DAYBOOK: No meetings scheduled.

SPEED READ

Grimes County residents turn out against toll road, Texas Tribune

Abortions plunged in 2014 in El Paso, on border, USA Today

Campus Carry Concerns Drive Another Texas Prof to Resign, Texas Observer

Tomlinson: Oil companies could leave taxpayers with abandoned wells, Houston Chronicle

Abbott ad asks British businesses to 'declare independence', Texas Tribune

QUOTE TO NOTE:

"Donald Trump can ultimately make the case for himself. But Donald Trump, like most Americans, like most Republicans, believes in protecting America's core national interests," U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., during an interview with NBC's Meet The Press on Sunday.

RACE TO THE WHITE HOUSE

>>CLINTON GRILLED: "FBI interviews Hillary Clinton for more than 3 hours in email probe," by The Washington Post: "FBI agents interviewed Hillary Clinton for 3 hours Saturday morning  a signal that the investigation into her use of a private email account while she was secretary of state is drawing to a close.

"Clinton campaign spokesman Nick Merrill said in a statement Saturday that Clinton "gave a voluntary interview this morning about her email arrangements while she was Secretary," and added, "She is pleased to have had the opportunity to assist the Department of Justice in bringing this review to a conclusion."

"Asked if the interview, which took place at FBI headquarters, was businesslike and civil, Clinton told MSNBC that it was 'both.' "

BAGHDAD BOMBING: "Bombing Kills More Than 140 in Baghdad," by The New York Times: "As celebrations for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan stretched past midnight into Sunday in central Baghdad, where Iraqis had gathered to eat, shop and just be together, a minivan packed with explosives blew up and killed at least 143 people  the third mass slaughter across three countries in less than a week.

"The attack was the deadliest in Baghdad in years  at least since 2009  and was among the worst Iraq has faced since the American invasion of 2003. The bombing came barely a week after Iraqi security forces, backed by American airstrikes, celebrated the liberation of Falluja from the Islamic State, which almost immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.

"Even as fires still blazed Sunday morning at the bombing site, Iraq's machinery of grief was fully in motion: Hospitals tried to identify charred bodies, workers sorted through the rubble searching for more victims, and the first coffins were on their way to the holy city of Najaf and its vast cemetery, always expanding, where Iraq's Shiites bury their dead. By Sunday evening, a worker at the cemetery said more than 70 bodies had arrived, and many more were expected on Monday."

INTERACTIVE EXTRA: "Little chance of charges from Clinton's emails," Houston Chronicle

UPDATES

Trump draws rebuke for his tweet with an image of Clinton and a Star of David, Washington Post

Why Trump won't get dumped in Cleveland, Politico

Crunch time for Clinton's VP contenders, Politico




AUSTIN -- TexIt, the joked-about secession plan for the Lone Star State, is a no-go for state officials.

But Brexit? An opportunity, they say.

State officials on Saturday launched a social media blitz on London to urge British business to do business in Texas, an economic development pitch designed to capitalize on Britain's vote to exit the European Union.

And on the Independence Day weekend, to boot.

Officials said the "aggressive digital and social media push" highlights Texas' low-tax, business friendly atmosphere, with banner ads on the Financial Times home page and 7,000 other London-based websites with Twitter and Facebook promotions targeting business.

As British companies look for new opportunities and partnerships outside the EU, Texas is "wide open for business," the campaign notes.

"Declare independence from high taxes" and "celebrate economic freedom" by relocating or expanding in Texas, the campaign's messaging goes.

The campaign promotes that Texas "is a leader in job creation and exports and offers no corporate or personal income tax, fair regulations, strong infrastructure and a skilled workforce.," according to a statement released by Gov. Greg Abbott's political office. The campaign is being paid for by TexasOne, Abbott's privately funded non-profit economic development organization.

"Independence Day is the perfect opportunity for Texas to launch this campaign in the U.K.to highlight how Texas offers companies the freedom to prosper and is a beacon of opportunity," Tracye McDaniel, President and CEO of TexasOne,said in a statement.

"Texas is inspiring a business revolution."

No immediate reaction from the Brits, who might still be thinking about that other revolution from their government that Americans -- including Texans -- are celebrating this weekend.
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.
BNM anunta concurs pentru postul vacant de expert principal expert consultant responsabil de dezvoltarea procesului de raportare catre BNM
Toyota announced Wednesday it is recalling 1.43 million vehicles for defective airbags and another 2.87 million vehicles for faulty fuel emissions controls.

Toyota Motor Corp. said it has not received any reports of injuries or fatalities related to either recall. Some 932,000 vehicles are involved in both recalls, so the total number of affected vehicles is 3.37 million.

The first recall for defective airbags affects Prius hybrids, Prius plug-ins and Lexus CT200h vehicles produced between October 2008 and April 2012  743,000 vehicles in Japan, 495,000 in North America, 141,000 in Europe, 9,000 in China and 46,000 in other regions.

The faulty air bags are not related to recent massive recalls of Takata airbags that have ballooned to millions of vehicles and affected nearly all major automakers. In Wednesdays recall, Toyota said a small crack in some inflators in the airbags on the driver and passenger sides may expand, causing the airbags to partially inflate.

The airbag manufacturer, Autoliv Inc. based in Stockholm, Sweden, said it is cooperating fully with the recall. It said in seven incidents, side curtain airbags in Prius cars partially inflated without a deployment signal. All of the cars were parked at the time with no one in them and there were no reported injuries, Autoliv said.

The cause of the defect is still under investigation. Autoliv estimated the cost of the recall to it at $10 million to $40 million.

The second recall affects various Prius models, the Auris, Corolla, Zelas, Lucas and Lexus HS250h and CT200h produced from April 2006 through August 2015  1.55 million vehicles in Japan, 713,000 in Europe, 35,000 in China and 568,000 elsewhere, but none in North America.

Toyota said cracks can develop in the coating of emissions control parts called the canister, possibly leading to fuel leaks.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Avon police officers arrest a Muslim man Wednesday.

AVON, Ohio -- An Avon hotel clerk who falsely accused an Emirati man of pledging his allegiance to ISIS may face criminal charges, the police chief said.

Officers stormed the Fairfield Inn and Suites on Colorado Avenue Wednesday evening with assault rifles drawn and arrested Ahmed Almenhali of The United Arab Emirates. He was dressed in a head wrap and traditional Muslim attire.

Police then spoke to the hotel clerk, who told officers the man did not make any statements related to ISIS.

A woman identified herself as the clerk's sister and told a dispatcher that the clerk told her to call police on a recording of the 911 call.

"There's a male in a headdress with multiple disposable phones pledging his allegiance to ISIS, which is very panicky," the woman said.

The woman said the clerk was texting her from the hotel about a "suspicious man."

A man then called 911 and said he was the clerk's father. The man told a dispatcher that the clerk sent him a text saying she was "terrified."

911 Avon police

No one answered the phone at the hotel clerk's family's Lorain home Monday.

Almenhali was in town because he was undergoing treatment at Cleveland Clinic, Avon Police Chief Richard Bosley said.

"We feel bad for what happened to Mr Almenhali," Bosley said Monday. "He was just a man checking into a hotel room and this should have never happened."

Almenhali collapsed after he was arrested and was rushed to a nearby hospital.

"People need to report accurate and true information, and don't base their statements on any bias or prejudices that they may have," Bosley said.

Almenhali's English was limited. He could be heard in a video of the arrest repeatedly asking officers "What is this?"

Video of the incident has gone viral and the arrest has drawn international scrutiny.

The United Arab Emirates on Sunday warned its citizens to avoid wearing traditional garments when traveling abroad.

Avon Mayor Bryan Jensen said he knew people would be upset, but he is shocked at the international attention the incident has garnered. He has gotten calls from reporters around the world, including the United Kingdom.

"No one wanted to embarass or humiliate anyone and unfortunately, that's what happened here," Jensen said. "As this case unfolds, we're sure people will see that what our officers did was justified."

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Police officers screaming with guns drawn were following department protocol when they mistakenly arrested an Emirati man, Avon Mayor Bryan Jensen said.

(Youtube)

AVON, Ohio -- Police officers screaming with guns drawn were following department protocol when they mistakenly arrested an Emirati man, Avon Mayor Bryan Jensen said.

"Based on the information our officers had when they answered the 911 call, they took the steps that are part of our police department's standard response protocol," Jensen said in a statement posted on the city's website. "This is a very unfortunate incident and does not reflect our community."

Video of screaming Avon police officers pointing assault rifles at the bewildered man has drawn international scrutiny.

The United Arab Emirates on Sunday warned its citizens to avoid wearing traditional garments when traveling abroad.

Police mistakenly arrested the man Wednesday after officers responded to 911 calls about a man in a Colorado Avenue hotel lobby "in full head dress with multiple disposable phones pledging his allegiance to ISIS," WEWS-TV reported.

The sister and father of a worker at the Fairfield Inn and Suites told police there was a "suspicious male at the front desk with disposable phones, two of them, in a full headdress," the TV news station reported.

After arresting the man, police spoke to the clerk and found out that the man did not make any statements related to ISIS.

The man collapsed on the ground for unknown reasons. An ambulance that was already at the scene transported him to St. John Medical Center, according to WEWS-TV.

Jensen, the police chief and law director apologized to the man Saturday night during a meeting at the Cleveland office of CAIR, The Council on American-Islamic Relations. Video of the meeting was posted online.

"No one from the police department meant to disrespect you," police Chief Richard Bosley told the man. "You should not have been put in that position."

Jensen and Bosley could not be reached and a dispatcher said a report was not available Monday morning.

Read Jensen's entire statement below.

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Broadview Heights 82-Avery.JPG

Petros Development Corp. has an option to buy land at the northwest corner of Royalton and Avery roads in Broadview Heights. Petros wants to build offices and homes there.

(Bob Sandrick, special to cleveland.com)

BROADVIEW HEIGHTS, Ohio - A Broadview Heights developer wants to construct two office buildings and 23 homes at the northwest corner of Royalton and Avery roads, just west of Interstate 77.

However, Petros Development Corp. would first need voters to rezone the site. In August, City Council's Growth, Planning and Zoning Committee will discuss whether to place a rezoning issue on the ballot next year.

Councilman Jennifer Mahnic said it's too early to offer an opinion of Petros' plan but added she likes the idea of new homes at Royalton and Avery. She said the area is picturesque, with a valley and wetlands.

"I'm seeing people wanting to move into the city, and they want to build, but there's not a lot of places left in the city to do that," Mahnic said. "And with new medical facilities (by University Hospitals and MetroHealth Medical Center) opening near the freeway, employees will be looking for places to live."

Petros has been busy in the state Route 82 corridor lately - and at least two of his projects have generated controversy. In 2014, Petros started building Town Centre Village, a cluster-house subdivision off Town Center Drive in Broadview Heights, before council approved the development.

Early in 2015, Petros was approved for 36 lots in the final phase of the Wiltshire subdivision. Petros originally asked for 41 lots but lowered the number after Wiltshire residents protested.

In November, Brecksville voters will decide whether Petros can build 59 stand-alone cluster houses on 25 acres at Snowville and Brecksville roads.

According to Petros' June rezoning application and the Cuyahoga County Fiscal Office website, Petros has an option to buy three lots totaling about 10 acres at Royalton and Avery.

On the site, Petros would build two 2,500-square-foot office buildings, with a parking lot in between, fronting Royalton. The 23-home subdivision, with a single street and cul-de-sac off Avery, would stand just north of, and behind, the office buildings.

Petros said the homes would be similar to colonials in Town Centre Village, which also contains 23 lots, and where prices are in the $300,000 range.

Now, the Royalton-Avery site is zoned a conversion district, which allows offices. Petros wants voters to rezone the land into a special planning district B, which allows mixed uses, including offices and homes.

Voters created special planning districts A and B, along with the conversion district, in May 2013. District A, centered at Royalton and Broadview Road, is a multi-use retail, office and residential zone. The city hoped the new zoning would bring more of a town-center feel to the area.

Special planning district B, which surrounds district A, is also multi-use but is geared more toward office and residential. City officials believed district B would complement the town center.

The conversion district, centered at Royalton and Avery, east of districts A and B, allows offices on land now zoned residential.
Ambulance

Investigators do not know if alcohol or drugs were factors in a Lorain County crash that claimed the life of a 34-year-old man early Monday morning.

(File Photo)

GRAFTON TOWNSHIP, Ohio -- Investigators do not know if alcohol or drugs were factors in a crash that claimed the life of a 34-year-old man early Monday morning.

Fire fighters had to use heavy equipment to free Heder T. Abreo, of Valley City from the wreckage.

Abreo was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash that happened at 1:20 a.m. on State Route 303 at Mennell Road in Grafton Township, according to a State Highway Patrol news release.

Abreo was northbound on Mennell Road in a 2005 Volkswagen Passat. The Volkswagen ran a stop sign at the intersection, the patrol said.

Katherine G. Norris, 28, of Dayton, who was eastbound on State Route 303 in a 2010 Toyota Corolla, hit the Volkswagen.

A passenger in Norris' car, 31-year-old Emmaline M. Fabich of Medina, was flown by helicopter to MetroHealth Medical Center in Cleveland. Information about her condition was not available Monday morning.

Norris was taken to Medina Hospital with unknown injuries.

All were wearing seat belts.

The Elyria Post of the Ohio State Highway Patrol is investigating the crash.

If you wish to discuss or comment on this story, please visit our crime and courts comments section.

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AKRON, Ohio -- Jennifer Perez was the prototypical housewife. She cared for three kids, kept the house spotless and lived for hosting family gatherings, especially holidays.

Her glazed ham and pistachio pudding were unrivaled. That all changed when her husband died in a drunken-driving crash in Indiana. She began taking prescription pain pills.

That led to heroin.

Perez was 35 when she died on April 30, 2015 of a fentanyl overdose in Akron. She left behind three children ages 16, 14 and 11.

"That was her whole world," her mother, Angela Bice said. "It just collapsed on her. She broke down."

Perez lived most of her life free of drugs, Bice said. As a child, she was interested in computers and won awards during competitions while attending Elmhurst High School in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

"As a kid growing up, she was an awesome big sister," her brother James Reese said. "She would always take me clothes shopping at the beginning of the school year. She drove me and my friends around to different stuff, like roller skating or carnivals. She was great to hang out with."

Perez married Amado Perez in 2005. The two grew up together in the same neighborhood and had been on-and-off sweethearts throughout their teens.

"She was so happy," said Reese, 10 years her junior. "She cried halfway through the ceremony. Just being there was great. You felt the vibes. She was happy back then."

In 2007, Amado was on an out-of-town work trip. He and a few co-workers were relaxing and drinking. One of the sober co-workers offered to drive them to Applebee's, where he got drunk, Bice said. The driver crashed into the back of semi truck, killing Amado.

"I was 16 at the time. I remember hearing my sister crying and screaming," Reese said. "I'd never seen her like that."

Perez had a tough time coping with her husband's death. Friends gave her pills, sometimes prescription narcotic painkillers, to help her.

"They were just trying to help calm her down, help her sleep," Bice said. "It just led to addiction."

While driving a moving truck to Florida, she swerved to avoid another car and the large truck rolled over five times.

She got in another car crash a year later and took prescription pills for both.

The family moved to Akron in 2013. Perez, who was diagnosed with bipolar disorder at age 33, befriended a couple that lived down the road who used heroin. She started using soon after, Bice said.

"I didn't know it at first," Bice said. "She just started acting odd. Holidays were always her thing. But one Thanksgiving she spent the whole day in the bathroom with those two."

Bice said she first learned about her daughter's heroin use when she almost died of an overdose in 2014 on what would have been her husband's birthday.

"I was in shock," Bice said. "Up to that point, her life was totally about her kids. But you can't do that and take care of kids."

Bice took custody of the three kids. After three days in the hospital, Bice said it seemed her daughter turned the corner.

"It was like I had my daughter back," Bice said. "She said she just wanted to get her kids back."

About eight months later, Bice said she started noticing signs that Perez was using again. She snapped at everyone and called her children names. She fought often with her oldest daughter.

"When she was on it, she just didn't have a heart," Bice said. "She just didn't care."

On April 30 of last year, Sophia called her mom and said that she wanted to pick up an outfit from her house. Perez told her to call her back later because she was on the phone. Sophia didn't hear from her, so she walked over to her house.

She went upstairs and found her mother dead in her bedroom. Reese said that he and his sister had a falling out when she started using heroin again.

"What eats me up everyday is that the last time we talked we got in a big fight and I told her I can't wait 'till she dies," Reese said. "Now I always watch what I say. I never end a phone conversation without saying 'I love you.'"
Alligator Drags Toddler

In this June, 17 file photo released by Walt Disney World Resort, a new sign is seen posted on a beach outside a hotel at a Walt Disney World resort in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., after a 2-year-old Nebraska boy killed by an alligator at Disney World. Matt Graves, the father of the toddler killed by an alligator at Disney on June 14, told rescue officials two alligators were involved in the attack, according to emails from the Reedy Creek Fire Department. (Walt Disney World Resort via AP, File)

(AP)

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Florida (AP) -- The father of a toddler killed by an alligator at Disney last month told rescue officials two alligators were involved in the attack, according to emails from the Reedy Creek Fire Department.

Matt Graves said he was attacked by a second alligator as he tried to reach his 2-year-old son after the boy was pulled into the water outside Disney's upscale Grand Floridian Resort.

Capt. Tom Wellons described his interaction with the Nebraska father in emails to his supervisors obtained by The Orlando Sentinel. Wellons said Graves initially refused to leave the area as rescuers searched for little Lane Graves even though the father needed stitches and antibiotics from gator bite marks. Wellons said he eventually persuaded Graves to get medical treatment, promising he could return afterward.

"This incredibly sweet couple insisted on showing us pictures of their happy son. (The) mom kept referring to him as her 'happy boy,'" Wellons wrote in the emails.

On the way to the hospital, Graves shared "the horror that he experienced" as his son was being pulled into the water and "how another gator attacked him as he fought for his son," according to the email to supervisors.

The emails were forwarded to Orange County officials to alert them there may be a second gator. The boy's body was discovered intact about 15 yards from the shore, six feet underwater.

Signs posted in the area advised against swimming but did not warn of alligators.

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officials have said they're "confident" they caught the alligator that killed the boy.

Agency records listed 15 alligators caught on Disney property from the beginning of this year through May. It didn't include the six trapped since the June 14 attack.

Walt Disney World recently erected "No fishing" signs on several properties. Fishing at Disney World is now limited to excursions. Netting was also added to the rope fences that were installed after the attack and hotel beaches are now being staffed by employees and closing at night, except during fireworks.

Disney has beaches at eight hotels and at the Fort Wilderness campground.
AX163_4A99_9.JPG

In this Nov. 19, 2012, file photo, President Barack Obama and then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrive at Yangon International Airport in Yangon, Myanmar. Obama will campaign with Clinton this Tuesday in North Carolina.

(Carolyn Kaster, Associated Press)

Hillary Clinton met with the FBI on Saturday morning and "gave a voluntary interview" that was "about her email arrangements, according to a statement from spokesman Nick Merrill, reports ABC News.

A Clinton aide said the interview at the FBI headquarters in Washington, D.C. lasted for about three and a half hours.

"It was something I had offered to do since last August. I have been eager to do it," Clinton said in a phone interview with "Meet the Press" a few hours later. "I was pleased to have the opportunity to assist the department in bringing its review to a conclusion," adding that the interview was civil and business-like.

The controversial interview was not the only event of the Clintons' holiday weekend; Hillary and Bill attended the Broadway show "Hamilton" later Saturday, even posing for a photo backstage with the cast. Clinton will host a special performance of the show next week as a fundraiser for her campaign. Read more at ABC News.

Clinton and presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump will both hold campaign events in North Carolina on Tuesday, reports CBS News.

President Obama will campaign alongside Clinton for the first time this year at an event in Charlotte, just hours before Trump holds a rally in Raleigh.

Both presumptive nominees appearing in North Carolina says a lot about the importance of the state and how crucial it could be for both campaign in November.

"I told her that the state is winnable. I think she believes that in her core," said Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx, a former Charlotte mayor, describing a recent conversation with Clinton. "North Carolina is a classic battleground state. It's a state with people who are hungry for progressive change." Read more at CBS News.

The race for Clinton's VP pick is intensifying. When asked Sunday on ABC's "This Week," Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown repeatedly said "I'm simply not going to speculate" on whether the Clinton campaign has reached out to vet him to be her running mate.

"You've heard my answer," he told host Martha Raddatz. "That's what you're going to get. And talk to the Secretary Clinton campaign."

New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker is singing a similar tune, reports CNN. On CNN's "State of the Union" on Sunday, Booker said, "I'm just referring questions about the vice presidency to the woman who is going to have to make this decision," adding, "You should talk to the Clinton campaign."

His answer is quite different than what he told MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell last month, when he said, "I'm not being vetted." Read more at CNN.
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Five-star wide receiver Tee Higgins of Oak Ridge, Tenn., included Ohio State in his top five last month, but was always considered to be a long shot for the Buckeyes.

On Monday, Higgins announced his commitment to Clemson -- the team that was considered the favorite -- during a video he created with Bleacher Report. Higgins chose the Tigers over Ohio State, Mississippi, Florida State and Clemson.

Rated the No. 3 wide receiver in the 2017 recruiting class in the 247Sports composite rankings, the 6-foot-5, 188-pound Higgins has never visited Ohio State, but there were rumblings about him visiting for Urban Meyer's Friday Night Lights camp on July 22. It's unclear whether Higgins will still unofficially visit Ohio State.

Though Higgins is a top-five receiver prospects, Ohio State is still involved involved with other top-five receivers in the country, including five-stars Donovan Peoples-Jones of Detroit (Mich.) Cass Tech, Trevon Grimes of Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) St. Thomas Aquinas and Tyjon Lindsey of Corona (Calif.) Centennial. Another wide receiver who could end up being in Ohio State's 2017 class is four-star Jaylen Harris of Cleveland Heights.

Watch Higgins' July 4-themed announcement video below:
Mideast Emirates Travel Advice

In this Feb. 8, 2016 file photo, Emirati officials visit an exhibition at the World Government Summit in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. In a tweet late Saturday, July 2, 2016 from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs warned its citizens to avoid wearing traditional garments when traveling abroad after an Emirati man was handcuffed last week in Ohio over terrorism fears. Local media reported Sunday that Emirati national Ahmed al-Menhali was detained at gunpoint last week while wearing a traditional white kandura, or ankle-length robe, and headscarf in Avon after a hotel clerk raised suspicions he could have links to the Islamic State group. (AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili)

(AP)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) -- The United Arab Emirates has warned its citizens to avoid wearing traditional garments when traveling abroad after an Emirati man was handcuffed in Avon over terrorism fears.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a tweet late Saturday that Emiratis should avoid wearing the garments for their safety. A separate ministry statement urged women to abide by bans on face veils in parts of Europe.

Emiratis to heed dress code abroad https://t.co/mTc0tn73RY pic.twitter.com/zrFdmj1no9  The National (@TheNationalUAE) July 3, 2016

Local media reported Sunday that Emirati national Ahmed al-Menhali was detained at gunpoint last week while wearing a traditional white kandura, or ankle-length robe, and headscarf in Avon after a hotel clerk raised suspicions he could have links to the Islamic State group.

WEWS-TV posted police camera video footage of al-Menhali's arrest and a later meeting where Avon officials offered their apologies.

A clerk at the Fairfield Inn & Suites on Colorado Avenue had her sister call 911 claiming a man dressed in traditional Muslim clothing was on the phone pledging allegiance to ISIS, WEWS-TV reported. Police quickly realized that did not happen and they released the man. He fainted shortly afterward.

That man was later identified as Almenhali.

Body camera video showed officers handcuffing and searching Almenhali. He was hospitalized with minor injuries.

Avon Mayor Brian Jensen, and the city's police chief and law director apologized to the man Saturday night during a meeting at the Cleveland office of CAIR, The Council on American-Islamic Relations, the TV news station reported.

"It is a very regrettable circumstance that occurred for you," Avon Police Chief Richard Bosley told Almenhali. "You should not have been put in that situation like you were."

Cleveland.com reporter Chanda Neely contributed to this story.
The Bank of Israel bought "hundreds of millions" of dollars of foreign currency on Monday, dealers said, after the shekel continued to strengthen for a fifth straight session. One dealer at an Israeli bank said the central bank started buying at a dollar-shekel rate of around 3.84. The exchange rate, which quickly moved to 3.85, had weakened to 3.90 on June 27 in the wake of the Brexit vote.

The central bank declined to comment. Its move came after financial newspaper TheMarker reported that the bank's intervention policy had come under fire by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's chief economics advisor, Avi Simhon, who was quoted as saying that intervention was tantamount to a protective tariff that raises prices for consumers by deterring import competition. He argued, according to TheMarker, that only exporters are harmed by an appreciating shekel and they would be able to absorb a 10 percent appreciation of the currency. A spokesman for the prime minister's office could not immediately comment. The Bank of Israel has been buying dollars since 2008, boosting its foreign currency reserves by some $70 billion to $96.5 billion. Its policy is aimed at protecting exports, which comprise about 31 percent of economic activity. "The Bank of Israel's position ... has not changed," the central said on Monday. "The hardship facing Israel's exports industries cannot be ignored, especially given its importance to growth and productivity in Israel."

Ariel Jerozolimski | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Bendable smartphones could be a reality in five years, Lenovo's head of mobile told CNBC, after the Chinese technology firm recently showed off a flexible device that can wrap around a user's wrist.

Last month, Lenovo unveiled a concept product called the CPlus, which has a 4.26-inch flexible display and runs Google's Android mobile operating system. While the product is not currently on sale and may never see the light of day, if Lenovo does decides to commercialize the product, it could do so within five years.

"We will discover a whole new suite of opportunities with flexible displays," Aymar de Lencquesaing, co-president of Lenovo's mobile business group, told CNBC during an interview last week at the Viva Technology conference in Paris. TWEET

"It's hard to put an exact time frame on it. I think this is a product that could come to market in the next five years ... the next couple is a bit aggressive, in particular because the equation of technology, novelty and price point. So you have to have a product that you can deliver the market that makes it a good value proposition."

Lenovo has been experimenting with new features on smartphones in an overall market which is slowing, as device makers look to differentiate their products from rivals. The Chinese firm recently unveiled an augmented reality smartphone. Samsung is also reportedly working on bendable phones which could be released in 2017, according to Bloomberg, citing unnamed sources.

It comes as Lenovo - which also owns Motorola - faces intense competition from younger Chinese upstarts such as OPPO and Vivo. Lenovo, which was in the top five list of vendors by market share at the end of last year, got knocked out by these new rivals, according to research firm International Data Corporation (IDC).

The company is now trying hard to ramp up its market share to compete with the likes of Samsung, Apple and Huawei - the three biggest smartphone players.

"The phone industry is such that you have two players with more than 10 percent share and many others under 10 (percent), we are one of them. We are going to try to continue to aggressively gain share to get to market position that gives us a scale effect," Lencquesaing told CNBC.

Offline sales key

People check out the computers on display at the Miami Marlins Park, in Miami. Getty Images
The U.K. is still reeling from the ramifications of the vote to quit the European Union (EU).



Its government and opposition are in disarray as the nation searches for a new prime minister and potentially, a new leader of the opposition.



Outlook for the country is dim, the pound is only slightly off of a 31-year-low, and Bank of England Governor Mark Carney warned Thursday further stimulus measures may soon be needed.



Britain has yet to invoke the Article 50 of the Lisbon treaty, which will officially begin negotiations to leave the EU. Commentators have agreed that the process could be drawn out and create uncertainty in the short-term.



With the dust yet to settle, for this week's Trader Poll tell us who ticked you off most over Brexit:


Britain voted 52 to 48 percent on June 23 in favour of quitting the European Union , with the referendum splitting the country along several lines such old versus young, England and Wales versus Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Germany should offer citizenship to young Britons living in Germany given that it was largely older voters in England and Wales who voted for ' Brexit ' in last month's referendum, German Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel said on Saturday.

"That's why we shouldn't just pull up the drawbridge," Gabriel said at a European conference of his Social Democrat (SPD) party in Berlin.



Gabriel, who is also Vice Chancellor, said Germany should think about what it could offer young Britons and added the SPD had always been in favour of allowing people dual citizenship.



"Let's offer it to the young Brits who live in Germany, Italy or France so that they can remain EU citizens in this country," he said.

The opposition Greens party has also called for Germany to make it easy for Britons living in Germany to get a German passport.



Volker Bouffier, premier of the German state of Hesse - home to Germany's financial capital Frankfurt - told German newspaper Welt am Sonntag that "quite a number of Brits" were currently applying for German citizenship.

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The Brexit vote immediately sparked speculation about which country may be the next weak spot in Europe. And increasingly, it's clear the answer may be Italy. Seventeen percent of bank loans in Italy are bad, according to a Monday report in the Wall Street Journal. That figure, which comes out to a combined 360 billion euros ($401 billion) in bad debt, is more than three times the bank loans that were bad in the U.S. on a percentage basis at the height of the financial crisis.

Rome, Italy Sylvain Sonnet | The Image Bank | Getty Images

The report comes as investors are already on edge due to an upcoming referendum on sweeping political changes and a report suggesting that Italy could be prepared to bypass European banking regulations.

The Financial Times reported Sunday that Italy might "defy the EU (European Union) and unilaterally pump billions of euros into its troubled banking system if it comes under severe systemic distress  despite warnings from Brussels and Berlin over the need to respect rules that make creditors rather than taxpayers fund bank rescues." Citing "several officials and bankers familiar with the plans," the FT said Italy's threat had raised alarm along Europe's regulators "who fear such a brazen intervention would devastate the credibility of the union's newly implemented banking rule book during its first real test." A spokesman for Italy's Prime Minister Matteo Renzi denied the report, saying "Italy has no intention of defying Brussels on the banks. We respect the rules and prefer market solutions for our banks," Reuters reported. On Tuesday, Italian Economy Minister Pier Carlo Padoan said a precautionary liquidity boost was available for Italian banks if necessary, but not recapitalization, Reuters reported. Italian banking stocks were among the worst faring stocks on the pan-European STOXX 600 index on Monday and ended mixed on Tuesday. Italian households hold about 29 billion euros ($32.17 billion) worth of bank-issued bonds that are subject to being written down or converted into equity in case those banks need to rescue themselves through a so-called "bail-in," according to an April report from the Bank of Italy. Those regular pensioners and depositers who have invested in higher-yielding bonds could, under EU rules, take a haircut in case of a recapitalization. For domestic political reasons, Renzi wants to avoid that outcome, which has set him at odds with the Union.

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Shares of Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena (BMPS) tumbled on Monday and declined more than 19 percent on Tuesday. Trade was halted at times, according to Reuters. This came after the European Central Bank told BMPS on Monday it must cut the bad loans on its books by 2018. BMPS is believed to be the oldest bank in the world and is one of Italy's largest financial institutions.

Italy's Ubi Banca and Unicredit pared Monday's sharp losses on Tuesday, while Banca Popolare dell'Emilia Romagna closed roughly flat. "The fact is, the Italian government is up the proverbial creek without a paddle with its banks, unable to bail them out and stuck with a portfolio of up to 360 billion euros ($400 billion) of non-performing loans that are strangling the life out of the Italian economy," Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets, said in a Tuesday note. "Of those loans, (BMPS) it is estimated, has about 48 billion euros worth, and with a market capitalization of about 1 billion euros, it's not hard to see where its problems lie," he added. The U.K.'s Brexit referendum has injected greater uncertainty into European growth forecasts, including Italy's. That in turn has created worries about higher loan losses at the country's banks, coupled with falling government bond yields that further hurt financial institutions' margins. EU banking union rules are designed to shift losses on to shareholders, bondholders and large depositors rather than taxpayers in the event of another financial crisis like the one experienced in 2008, when taxpayers in some countries bore the brunt of collapsing banks having to be rescued by national governments. Italy's banking system is considered to be one of the most vulnerable in the euro zone with a high level of non-performing loans (NPLs)  estimated to total 360 billion euros ($400.7 billion)  overshadowing the sector. Societe Generale's global research analysts led by Patrick Legland noted on Monday that Italy's somewhat sclerotic banking system was "still fragile," facing "specific headwinds related to the disposal of their NPL market, while bankruptcy processes and time for repossessions deter investors."

Renzi makes a gamble

As well as rising financial risks, Italy is also facing potential political instability in the coming months when it is due to hold a referendum on constitutional reform, a vote seen as a make-or-break event for Prime Minister Renzi, by the end of October.

Former Prime Minister Mario Monti told CNBC at the weekend that the referendum was a "gamble." "It is true that Mr. Renzi made a bit of a gamble by unnecessarily putting his prime ministership on the line (in the case that) he loses the referendum," Monti told CNBC at a conference in Aix-en-Provence in France.

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Brexit is raising hopes about a reverse 'brain drain' as migrant workers head out of the U.K., but experts say Britain's losses might not mean gains for central and eastern Europe. Poland's Deputy Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki this week said Brexit would allow the government to invite some of its emigrants back home, according to Reuters, putting a positive spin on fears of job insecurity for thousands of workers across Britain.



Krakow, Poland Maria Sward | Getty Images

"Central and east European governments hope for a 'reverse brain drain', especially the Baltics, which have experienced substantial outflow of young educated people in recent years," Otilia Dhand, a senior vice president and eastern European expert at Teneo Intelligence told CNBC via email. "But others, too. For example, Hungary is suffering from labor shortages; most notably health care and IT  exactly the kind of workers that have all left for London," Dhand said. Estimates by the Office for National Statistics suggest that between the first quarter of 2015 and the same period this year, non-UK nationals from the EU working in Britain increased by 224,000 to 2.15 million The influx of workers to Britain is believed to have hit a nerve with a number of U.K. voters, with the Vote Leave campaign promising to crack down on immigration. But with banks like Goldman Sachs predicting a mild recession for Britain in light of the Brexit vote, an economic slump could drive migrants out much quicker than new immigration laws, Richard Jackman, a professor of economics at the London School of Economics told CNBC. "If there is a recognition that the level of immigration hadn't been much affected by EU freedom of movement, but it's just high because the economy is growing and it's easy to get jobs, then restrictions, in terms of quotas (don't really matter)," he said.

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It was a result that forced the ouster of the British Prime Minister, sent shockwaves across financial markets and raised doubts over the fate and composition of the European Union.

Just how did experts get it this wrong?

The U.K. EU referendum vote prompted a global massive market selloff as markets were priced in expecting a remain outcome. More than two trillion dollars were wiped out globally, the largest drop on record.

Leading up to voting day, the vast majority of polls predicted the remain side would prevail, however the final results gave the leave side a victory margin of more than one million votes.



According to SurveyMonkey's Chief Research Officer, Jon Cohen, young voter turnout and the death of Lawmaker Jo Cox are the likely largest factors in the discrepancy between polls and the final outcome.



"The Remain campaign was heavily dependent on support among younger voters and they simply didn't show up," Cohen told CNBC.



The murder of Cox in the days leading up to the vote, triggered new challenges in polling, even though it was difficult to determine how the tragedy would influence polling.



"After the assassination, the Remain side became more vocal and were willing to share their opinions about Brexit than were leave voters," Cohen said. "It was a very difficult environment to gauge an opinion in."
Hugh McCulloch, the subject on the face of the $20 notes of the Third Charter Period and secretary of the Treasury from 1865 to 1869 and again from 1884 to 1885, will be the subject of a presentation in Iowa on July 28.

The subjects and schedule for the July 28 Higgins Museum of National Bank Notes seminar in Okoboji, Iowa, is set. The first presentation, by Wendell Wolka, is National Bank Notes; McCullochs Early Insights  the Treasury secretary who appeared on some $20 national bank notes.

The subjects and schedule for the July 28 Higgins Museum of National Bank Notes seminar in Okoboji, Iowa, is set.

The full-day event begins with introductions at 8 a.m. and is followed by a presentation titled National Bank Notes; McCullochs Early Insights by Wendell Wolka. This refers to Hugh McCulloch, the subject on the face of the $20 notes of the Third Charter Period and secretary of the Treasury from 1865 to 1869 and again from 1884 to 1885. He was also the first comptroller of the currency, serving from 1863 to 1865 when more than 800 national banks were chartered.

Lee Lofthus will speak on National Banking Inside the Treasury, followed by Frank Potters discussion of the family story behind the First National Bank of Harlan, Iowa.

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Following a lunch break, talks will be presented by Mark Hotz on national bank note collection insights, and by Peter Huntoon, who will discuss Building Great Arizona and Wyoming National Collections.

To register as a participant at the seminar, contact museum curator Larry Adams at 712-332-5859, or email him at ladams@thhigginsmuseum.org. The registration fee is $75 or $65 for individuals who are members of the co-sponsoring Central States Numismatic Society, Society of Paper Money Collectors, or Professional Currency Dealers Association organizations. Send registrations and remittances to the Higgins Museum, 1507 Sanborn Ave., P.O. Box 258, Okoboji, IA 51355. The fee includes a welcome reception at the museum and a catered lunch break.
Collectors will be able to order the Uncirculated 2016-P Harpers Ferry National Historical Park 5-ounce silver quarter dollar beginning July 14.

Sales by the United States Mint of the Uncirculated 2016-P Harpers Ferry National Park 5-ounce silver quarter dollar are scheduled to begin at noon Eastern Time July 14.

The coin, to be offered at $149.95 each, has a maximum mintage limit of 30,000 coins.

The combined total between the Uncirculated version of the coin and bullion version of the coin, which is not available to everyone directly from the Mint, may not exceed 150,000 coins.

That means the initial maximum mintage for the bullion version is 120,000 coins. But, should demand warrant, additional bullion coins could be produced, cutting into the 30,000-coin maximum mintage of the Uncirculated version.

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There is no household ordering limit for the Uncirculated version.

What's the diffference between the bullion and Uncirculated coins?

The bullion and Uncirculated versions are struck on the same coinage press at the Philadelphia Mint. The Uncirculated version receives a post-strike finish and bears the P Mint mark; the bullion version has neither.

The Mint offers the Uncirculated version of the 5-ounce silver coins directly to the public, with pricing subject to potential change weekly based on metal price fluctuations.

PRECIOUS METALS BASICS: How does the bullion market work?

The bullion version is not available to everyone directly from the Mint. It is sold to authorized purchasers approved by the U.S. Mint to purchase bullion coins. The authorized purchasers buy the coins from the Mint based on the closing London PM spot price on a given day, plus a premium of $9.75 per coin. The coins are then sold to other dealers, collectors and investors at a further small markup.

The Uncirculated version is meant more as a collector's item, while the bullion coin is meant as a tool to invest in silver. The bullion coin's value is in its silver content, which one can expect to fluctuate with silver's spot price.

More about Harpers Ferry

The reverse design on the coins honoring Harpers Ferry National Park, which has parts located in West Virginia, Virginia and Maryland, features a rendering of John Browns Fort. The fort is the site of the abolitionists last stand during his raid on the Harpers Ferry Armory.

But Harpers Ferry is significant for more than just John Brown.

"The history of Harpers Ferry has few parallels in the American drama," the park's official website reads. "It is more than one event, one date, or one individual. It is multi-layeredinvolving a diverse number of people and events that influenced the course of our nation's history. Harpers Ferry witnessed the first successful application of interchangeable manufacture, the arrival of the first successful American railroad, John Brown's attack on slavery, the largest surrender of Federal troops during the Civil War, and the education of former slaves in one of the earliest integrated schools in the United States."

The reverse design was executed by U.S. Mint Artistic Infusion Program artist Thomas Hipschen and engraved by U.S. Mint Medallic Sculptor Phebe Hemphill.
An avid Facebook user, T. Gale Thompson wanted this post widely spread after his death: You are living a miracle, a mysterious experience, which you will not experience again, do not make judgments of your own experiences, but just let them be. ... All of life can be a blessing.
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The Missourians Opinion section is a public forum for the discussion of ideas. The views presented in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Missourian or the University of Missouri. If you would like to contribute to the Opinion page with a response or an original topic of your own, visit our submission form
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By Jody Callahan of The Commercial Appeal

Memphis police are looking for a suspect who may have been wounded when an officer opened fire Sunday afternoon, officials said.

The incident happened around 4:45 p.m. in the 3700 block of South Mendenhall, a police spokeswoman said while cautioning that the information is preliminary. Officers were assisting a burglary victim who had been told where his stolen items were. Two suspects showed up, police said, but ran when they saw the police.

The officers gave chase when one of the suspects allegedly turned and pointed a weapon. One officer fired; it was unknown whether anyone was hit, however.

Police are still trying to locate the suspects.
Logan Boldon, 18, is a Centennial Volunteer Ambassador with the Student Conservation Association who just started a year-long stint with the Smokies. His primary duty at the park is reaching out to millennials to promote national parks stewardship and conservation. (special to the News Sentinel)

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By Morgan Simmons, Knoxville News Sentinel

The National Park Service's centennial slogan is "Find Your Park," and that's just what Logan Boldon has done.

Boldon recently began an internship as a Student Conservation League Volunteer Ambassador at the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

The 26-year-old from Mentor, Ohio, also is transgender.

Over the next year he'll serve as a liaison between the park and surrounding communities with a special focus on reaching out to people of all backgrounds and walks of life, including the LGBT community.

"It's important that our national parks reflect the diversity of American culture," Boldon said. "The LGBT community is a minority; it's only been in recent years that we've gained recognition. I want to help show that our national parks are places where everyone can feel safe and protected and express themselves."

Boldon's innermost concept of self as a male rather than a female began at an early age. In middle and high school he cut his hair like a boy and experimented with cross dressing, and was bullied as a result. In college, Boldon struggled to resolve his gender identity.

The natural world was Boldon's most reliable sanctuary. At age 19 he took an internship with Hopewell Culture National Historical Park in Ohio, and after that he volunteered at Gulf Island National Seashore in Florida.

In December 2014 he came out as transgender.

"I haven't had surgery or hormone treatments," Boldon said. "That stuff doesn't define me. What does define me is my love for national parks, and sharing that with others."

On June 24, President Barack Obama designated a new national monument at the site of the Stonewall uprising in New York City to honor the LGBT equality movement. The new Stonewall National Monument will protect the Stonewall Inn, a bar in Greenwich Village that was the scene of riots on June 28, 1969, that sparked the modern LGBT-rights movement.

Boldon credits Smokies' Superintendent Cassius Cash and the park staff for making him feel welcome. Half of the park lies in North Carolina, a state that recently passed a law requiring that transgender individuals use restrooms that correspond to their sex at birth. Boldon's supervisors, however, assured him that being federal property the park is not bound by North Carolina law, and that visitors to the Smokies are welcome to use restrooms that best align with their gender identity.

Boldon said the park has given him considerable leeway to reach out to the LGBT community as a representative of the National Park Service, especially in the wake of the mass shooting that occurred at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, on June 12.

"The National Park Service is really the story of everyday Americans," he said. "As parks go forward into the next 100 years, they really need to be adaptable and dynamic. It's important to tell the story of all America, not just parts of it."

Boldon said he especially appreciates the rich assortment of plant and animal life that makes the Smokies' 800 square miles one of the most biodiverse places on the planet. A biology major and self-described "nature nerd," he admits to being more at home by himself on a mountain trail than speaking in front of a crowd.

"Part of why I wanted to come to the Smokies is because I'm shy and naturally pretty terrified of people," Boldon said. "If I can survive in the most visited national park in the country, I can make it anywhere."
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Doctors say that paid meals, travel, honoraria and other forms of compensation from the pharmacology and medical device industry do not influence medical decisions.

And maybe they don't in many cases. Who can tell if an individual doctor is immune to such influence?

No matter. Physicians who want to maintain their credibility will find better ways to stay up to date on the latest developments in their field than accepting gifts from industry reps.

Wishful thinking has legislators and other political officeholders immune to the influence of lobbyists and donors, too. The typical response to questions about influence in the political realm is that contributions to re-election campaigns, gifts, meals and the like may help a little bit with access, but nothing more.

But the public can be excused for assuming that a donation buys more than a bit of time to make a pitch.

Health care consumers feeling the burden of rising, sometimes unexpected costs  those four-figure bills that suddenly appear because a provider called in on the case turns out to have been "out of network," for example  are naturally suspicious.

Some degree of skepticism can be expected when consumers read that in Tennessee the average hospital had 71 percent of doctors accepting some form of payments the last year for which numbers are available, compared with a national average of 66 percent.

Or that 59 out of 62 doctors at one of those hospitals, Saint Francis Hospital-Bartlett, led the state in the percentage of doctors receiving payments for speaking engagements, meals, gifts, travel, consulting or other interactions with the pharmaceutical and medical device industry.

The payments, documented by the nonprofit investigative news organization ProPublica on the website Dollars for Docs, are legal.

But studies have found that doctors with financial ties to the industry are more likely to prescribe expensive brand-name medications than those without relationships, reporters for The Commercial Appeal and The Tennessean reported last week.

Even doctors who received just one meal from an industry representative prescribed a higher proportion of brand names, according to a recent study published in JAMA Internal Medicine.

It would be wrong to assume that all doctors are inappropriately influenced through industry contacts or to deny this highly competitive industry the right to market its products.

But more hospitals should follow the lead of Vanderbilt University Medical Center, whose revised conflict-of-interest policies in 2014 yielded the lowest share of doctors  38 percent  taking industry payments statewide.

And the Sunshine Act, which requires the industry to report compensation to doctors, must be maintained, along with a provision that allows doctors to dispute reports that they don't believe are accurate.

Health care consumers, as well as the doctors who treat them, deserve no less.
I always say the future of the Apple Watch will be built one app at a time, one year on, what are the killer apps for the smartwatch?

Apple Pay

This is the app I use the most on Apple Watch. I use it to pay for public transport; to buy groceries; at almost every shop; when Im eating out or when Im having a quiet drink with friends. Apple Pay on Apple Watch has save me at least twice when Ive forgotten to bring cash with me. I think its great. The convenience and ease-of-use makes this a go-to solution, though I would like supermarket loyalty cards to be built into the exchange in some way. If you dont use Apple Pay on the Watch yet, you really should. (Free).

iTranslate

Another app that has stood the test of time is iTranslate. Ive used this when traveling through Europe and I cant stress how much help it has been. The app can translate what I say from English into over 90 other languages. All I need to do is record my words (tap the mic button) and then those words will be translated and displayed on the screen  but I tend to use the speaker button to make the Watch speak the translated message. Yes, it isnt going to help me translate in depth conversation, but if I want to buy a meal, ask about something on the menu, or pick up product pricing or clothing sizes, its incredibly useful. (Free).

Activity

I cant claim to be the most active man in the world. Partly this is because I spend way too much time in front of my Mac/iPad writing articles about technology, digital health and the need to exercise; and partly this is because Im lazy and have you seen the cost of gym membership? All the same I get a lot out of Activity app, it tells me when I should stand up; the circles help me get a grip on just how unfit Im becoming and the step counter  well, I do try to walk at least 10,000 steps each day. Apples really onto something with Watch as a fitness tracker, and as new features, sensors and interesting new ways of using this information are developed this will play an ever more important part in your day. (I also use BeatTune on my Watch to check my heart rate). (Free)

Streaks

Despite not being as active as I want to be, I do try  and Ive found Streaks to be a brilliant app to help improve how effectively I manage to build better habits. The principle is simple  think of just a few habits you want to improve and the app will provide you with a bunch of tools to help you build better habits. Want to walk more? Read more? Win more Apple Design Awards? (Streaks won one this year). Every time you complete a task your streak is recorded, and the app works with Apples Health app to help you track what you do and hopefully improve your habits. Its a neat way to help you successfully make significant lifestyle changes. (Free)

Communications

I dont do email using my Apple Watch, though as I have some VIP contacts and look out for notifications when new messages from them come through. I also take and make calls and handle messages using the Watch  I find calling particularly useful as the mic is good enough that I can continue working while I chat. Messaging is pretty good too  you can create your own canned responses and you can also dictate unique responses into the Watch. (In the system)

Uber

The Uber Apple Watch app is a great way to get a ride fast without needing to pull your iPhone out on an unfamiliar street. I imagine well see similar apps appear from other such services, and fully expect London taxis will introduce their own take on this app  and why wouldnt they want to compete? (free)

Sleep++

This app uses the motion tracking sensors in Apple Watch to monitor your sleep patterns, passing the data over to your iPhone where youll find the insights you need to help improve your sleep. (free)

Dark Sky

I still think Dark Sky on Apple Watch is absolutely the best up-to-the-minute weather app youll find. It offers lots of detail and a host of additional info with a single swipe. ($3.99)

I hope youve enjoyed this short collection  what are your favorite apps for Apple Watch?

Google+? If you use social media and happen to be a Google+ user, why not join AppleHolic's Kool Aid Corner community and join the conversation as we pursue the spirit of the New Model Apple?

Want Apple TV tips? If you want to learn how to get the very best out of your Apple TV, please visit my Apple TV website.

Got a story? Drop me a line via Twitter or in comments below and let me know. I'd like it if you chose to follow me on Twitter so I can let you know when fresh items are published here first on Computerworld.
The decision we took on the 23rd June was a great moment in history.

Not just a historic opportunity for our country but for Europe as a whole.

Perhaps the biggest moment since the Berlin Wall came down.

We are not leaving any of our historic ties with our European friends,

We are choosing freedom away from the stifling EU institutions.

Through NATO we remain bound through the 1949 treaty to come to the defence of Europes democracies if they are attacked.

The nations and peoples of Europe remain our close friends, staunch allies and key trading partners.

I believe, however, that our vote to leave the EU will be a positive wake up call for those European elites who have been far too complacent about

Youth unemployment that is wrecking lives in S Europe

The declining share of world trade that threatens Europes progress, and

The failure of the Brussels machine to respond to globalisation

Because of our decision on June 23, we are no longer bound to that EU model.

We will have our freedom back.

***

Today I want to talk first about our future place in Europe, second about building a greater Britain and then, third, about why I am the best choice to lead our country forward.

I want to start with the result of the referendum and the clear choice of the British people.

The result is final.

It must be respected and I will respect it.

The United Kingdom will leave the European Union.

Freedom of movement will end and the British parliament will decide how many people enter our country each year to live, work and contribute to our national life.

Billions of pounds more will be invested in the NHS from the savings we make from cancelling our EU membership fee.

The laws and regulations that govern the British people will be made in Britain  and not Brussels.

And at elections the British people will be able to appoint or sack politicians, secure in the knowledge that EU bureaucracy cannot undermine their wishes.

I intend to keep the negotiations as short as possible.

Neither we nor our European friends need prolonged uncertainty and not everything needs to be negotiated before Article 50 is triggered and the exit process is concluded.

My team will set out trade, border and security agreements  our renegotiation will be in the hands of a dedicated Cabinet colleague.

I emphasise dedicated.

The team that I will assemble to lead Britain out of the EU will consult opposition politicians, business people, farmers, trades unions and trade negotiators.

I will closely consult with colleagues from the Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish devolved parliaments, as well as here in Westminster, to make the most of the huge opportunity that lies ahead.

I will do everything in my power to keep the United Kingdom United.

***

And this brings me on to my second of three themes for today.

The next prime minister must bring the nation together.

The EU referendum didnt cause divisions but it certainly did reveal them.

Many people are shocked at the result but they really shouldnt be.

What I would like to say to them is please:

Dont be afraid;

We havent lost our senses;

We havent stopped caring about each other;

We havent stopped loving our families and children;

We havent stopped loving our country either;

Weve just rediscovered our Freedom!

***

Its very obvious that many fellow citizens are unhappy with the way the economy works for them.

So it wont be enough to protect the working people of this country by just reducing the flow of low-skilled labour  although that is necessary.

When there is room for tax cuts they must be focused on the low-paid.

The importance of wealth and job creation is core to all my beliefs but the richest people of Britain should know that they will not be my priority.

Britain will make her way in the world by investing in the skills of her people  not by expecting them to adopt unacceptable conditions.

And those people who have become rich by winning boardroom pay rises that bear no relation to company performance should be aware that I find this unacceptable.

Too few people in my old field of financial services were ever brought to book for their part in the 2008 crash.

***

Ill continue to build on the good work that George Osborne has done in reducing the deficit. We have to get our house in order.

The Chancellors sound northern powerhouse project needs to be supercharged, and I wont forget that Sunderland was one of the first to make very clear, last Friday morning, the desire for change.

I will appoint a key minister for housing and try my hardest to keep him or her in the job for the rest of the parliament. I want a minister who thinks of nothing other than how to use a bigger housing budget to deliver on the aspirations of the working people of this country.

As well as spending more on roads, railways and broadband Ill make rapid decisions on airport expansion.

Business needs certainty.

I will prioritise new trade deals with the fastest growing parts of the world, a simpler tax system, and an immigration policy focused on bringing the most talented people to our country.

Workers rights under my leadership will be protected and enhanced, as my friend Gisela Stuart MP and I made clear during the referendum debates.

The national living wage, the apprenticeship levy and Michael Goves important pupil premium will all be safe under my watch.

And I commit today to immediately guaranteeing the rights of our EU friends who have already come here to live and work.

We must give them certainty  they will not be bargaining chips in our negotiations.

***

Finally, why me?

It was a big decision to put myself forward to lead our country. One that was driven by my absolute conviction that our future, and that of our children and grandchildren, will be so much better outside the EU.

But my real passion in politics is my desire for social justice  for a transformation of our society.

For nearly two decades Ive been chairing and founding new charities to support the earliest years of life. There is no doubt that the period from conception to the age of two is critical it is during this period that the lifelong emotional capacity of a human being is largely set up.

Being able to learn, being able to make friendships, to hold down a job, to have a sense of self-worth. These sound very basic, but for too many in our country these things are elusive.

And theres a financial angle to this. The choice our country faces is simple: We spend more on early intervention or we spend much more later on picking up the pieces of lives that struggled at school, struggled in work, and all too often found themselves without hope.

I am certain we can change that, and my absolute commitments it to the emotional health of our nation.

***

So, what else have I done?

Ive been in business for 25 years, running businesses large and small and working in charities.

I know from long experience how our economy works.

I know how to strike a deal in a tough negotiation.

I know, as a woman, how to succeed in a mans world and how to fight the unfortunate prejudice that many working mums experience.

Ive sat on the Treasury select committee.

Ive been City minister and Energy minister.

I set up and led the Fresh Start Project with the support of over a hundred MPs. Together we oversaw the biggest ever investigation into EU laws that any parliamentary group has ever undertaken.

Through that Group, I am better prepared for the coming negotiations than anyone else.

I know I can do the job.

I know I can seize the great opportunities for the UK in leaving the EU, and I am confident I can do it in a way that reaches out to those who didnt vote for it.

I know I can deliver more fairness for people who have struggled to make their way.

Finally, I want to make an appeal to the country. Our democracy is the oldest in the world. We are the mother of all parliaments. We have led the world in human rights. Lets show the world that we can disagree. We can disagree strongly, but lets also show them that we treat each other with respect.

I believe this nation can become the greatest on earth. Our future is not written until we, the people, write it.

As your prime minister my ambition will be to guide our country to the sunlit uplands   a future for our children and grandchildren of aspiration, tolerance and hope.
Lord Flight is Chairman of Flight & Partners Recovery Fund, and is a former Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury.

There is lots to say about the impact of Brexit on UK politics, on the EU itself and on its survival, and on the EU economies  as well as the reasons for the Leave win. But I am writing today about Brexit and the City.

The first obvious point is that nothing changes until the expected Article 50 terms of exit are completed, which could take four years. At a macro level, the importance of our financial service exports to the EU should not be exaggerated. Some 50 per cent of our total financial services are exported, of which only 30 per cent go to the EU  i.e. 15 per cent of the total. This represents 1.2 per cent of GDP.

The largest exporter is investment management, of which 80 per cent is non-EU and, for EU Retail Fund exports, most firms already use Luxemburg or Dublin UCITs (i.e: mutual funds based in the EU). 88 per cent of insurance exports go elsewhere than the EU: to North America and Asia.

The most affected sector is investment banking, in which 80 per cent of EU capital markets business is done in London. While the big players already have operations on the ground in continental Europe, these are the institutions which may move significant numbers of staff out of London to their continental European operations.

The financial services industry is of major importance to the UK economy. In aggregate, it employs 2.1 million people and raises 66.5 billion a year in tax, and, together with other related services exports  in particular, legal  earns around 75 billion a year of overseas income. There are also obvious multiplier economic effects from the expenditure of those working in the sector. It is, therefore, a valid point that we do not want our biggest industry damaged as a result of Brexit.

Going forward, the issues are what sort of deal we should aim for; how should we organise and negotiate it; with whom should we negotiate, and how strong is our negotiating position.

First of all, we will need a tough negotiating team coming under the Cabinet Office and not the Foreign Office. I believe this should be led by Michael Gove and include a number of senior politicians: for example, Oliver Letwin, Nigel Lawson, Norman Lamont and Peter Lilley; and include talented business representatives such as Luke Johnson. I also consider it would be wise, from a domestic perspective, to include Nigel Farage.

Before we activate Article 50 (assuming we take this route rather than the Vienna Convention route) I believe it would be sensible to negotiate and reach Heads of Agreement, in which, post Article 50 being moved, the task will be to thrash out the substantial legal documentation required.

While ultimate agreement will need to be with the EU, I believe we would also be wise to work closely with Germany in formulating the Heads of Agreement. Our negotiating position is, in principle, strong  reflecting both the EUs current account surplus with the UK of in excess of 100 billion, and that the EU could not impose a harsh settlement on the UK to prevent a domino effect while at the same time seeking to nurse the Eurozone economy back to health.

Failure to mend fences with London would risk a financial and economic crisis which would expose the disastrous economic and financial effects of monetary union. As Pier Carlo, Italys Finance Minister, has commented: There is a cocktail of factors that could lead to disintegration and we face a double reaction from Brexit  financial and political. The EU already faces the need to shore up the Italian banking system, which is faced with the risk of a banking run  which may require massive ECB support.

There are also domestic political considerations to consider. While there was a Brexit majority, close to 50 per cent voted to remain and, in particular, there will be a need to get the required measures through Parliament, where there is a substantial anti-Brexit majority. My judgment is, therefore, is that the new UK Government would be wise to opt for a sensible, compromise package for the next few years: to retain Single Market passporting, and agree to contribute a reduced amount to the EU Budget. The loss of EU income of 12 billion net per annum next year and beyond is a major financial issue for the EU.

The ideal package would be a Free Trade deal between the UK and the EU; the UK withdrawal from free movement of EU citizens, and the passporting of financial services  based on equivalent regulation applying to the UK financial services exported to the EU, and as provided for under MiFID 2 (rules for markets in financial instruments), effective in 2018.

In practise, this may be most easily achieved via the EEA membership option, but with an adequate reduction in migrant flows, either by going back to the pre-Maastricht rules guaranteeing only the right to work, or following the Lichtenstein model  i.e: becoming a member of both the EEA and EFTA  with an opt-out on the migration issue.

The City has broadly indicated that it could live comfortably with the EEA option, or with a hybrid variant, safeguarding EU passporting rights for financial services. I believe this would also be acceptable to a Parliamentary majority and provide for a safe withdrawal from the EU in managed stages. The likely price of such an arrangement would, however, be some continuing UK contribution to the EU Budget.

Looking through the inevitable, political rhetoric, particularly by the Commission, I believe a hybrid EEA arrangement would be acceptable to Germany and to the EU as a whole. Francois Villeroy de Galhau, Frances Member of the European Central Bank, has already commented that Britain could keep access to the Single Market and its passporting rights if it opts for this sort of arrangement. German industry is very clear they do not want a tariff war which they have estimated could cost the German economy three per cent of GDP.

Whatever Jean-Claude Juncker may say, most EU Governments have woken up to the reality that the more Europe they push for, the more Eurosceptism they get back. EU policy will be forged by an emerging directorate of Angela Merkel, Francois Hollande and Italys Matteo Renzi.

Without automatic passporting, the risk is that the main investment banks seek to move a few thousand staff to Frankfurt or Paris, which would be damaging to Londons international reputation and the wider economy  but the truth is that Europe needs the services of London just as much, if not more than London needs its financial exports to Continental Europe.

There is no European financial capital anywhere approaching London in terms of its expertise, depth of markets, money-raising abilities and international cover. London is a crucial raiser of funds for EU businesses. The last time that Germany tried to develop Frankfurt as a competitor to London, it failed. The whole EU structure is, moreover, in a highly delicate state with the departure of the UK. I also believe it is wise to be magnanimous in victory.

There are, however, two other separate  though related  territories in which the new UK Government should establish talented task forces, including tough representatives of business. The first is to negotiate separate free trade agreements with the US, India, China, Australia and New Zealand. There is a group of US Governors and Senators interested in a Free Trade Agreement with the UK which they believe would be acceptable to the USA, and who view keeping the UK united as a national security priority. The Governments of Australia and New Zealand have already indicated their support for such free trade arrangements.

The second is the need for a blitz on unnecessary and economically damaging regulation across the full sweep of economic activity. In the financial services sector, regrettably, equivalent regulation would need to be retained for financial exports passported to the EU. But, for the domestic economy and other overseas markets there is a raft of EU driven regulation which could be got rid of  i.e: the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive, MiFID II, the Bonus Cap, short-selling bans, and the Prospectus Directive. It should be remembered that one of the main ingredients of Ludwig Erhards huge success in reviving the German economy in the 1950s and 1960s was a blitz on unnecessary and damaging regulation. The UK habit of being overzealous and often gold-plating EU regulation requirements needs to end.

I do not believe there is the need for either a rurther Referendum on the package to be negotiated by the new Government  or for a general election, unless the Government is voted down in the Commons on a major aspect of the proposed Brexit package.

Finally, there is the need for detailed research into the extent of the UKs potential financial exposure, as a member state, to the European Investment Bank, European Central Bank and European Financial Stabilisation Mechanism in the wake of a Eurozone banking crisis, since we ourselves will remain a member state until Article 50 exit arrangements are completed. We also need to ensure that our post-Brexit deal with the EU puts an end to such potential financial liabilities.
Project Fear, as it was dubbed, backfired on the Remain campaign in the referendum. Even when audiences laughed at the Prime Ministers warnings live on television, the pro-EU campaign banked on the assumption that people would scorn the warnings in public but heed them in the privacy of the ballot box. No doubt one reason they believed this to be the case was the reassuring polling from Lord Cooper and Populus, which told them they were still in the lead  and which turned out to be badly wrong.

As a result, they ran a Chicken Licken campaign  the sky was about to fall in in terms of economic collapse, an end to trade with the EU and beyond, and even war.

Unlike the eponymous Licken, whose gullible nature led him to be eaten by Fox-lox before he could discover that the acorn which had struck him was not in fact a symptom of the end of days, weve had a chance to see whether those dire predictions  and in some cases threats  have turned out to be true.

Some who believed all the claims have been awaiting their occurrence with indecent glee, but most are genuinely fearful of the consequences of a Leave vote.

So, 11 days after the vote, whats the state of play?

War

Im pleased to report that the apocalyptic horse is still securely in its stable. France and Germany are still getting on fine, Belgium and Poland remain inviolate, and the EU itself has shown no signs of sending an expeditionary force across the Channel. It was never wise to suggest otherwise  the reason we do not make war on one another is that we are allies, and even more importantly we are democratic allies. As I wrote at the time:

The very idea is not only an insult to voters intelligence, it is an insult to the very friends and allies whom his speech purports to represent. Happily, Europes peace and civilisation hangs by much stronger threads than the existence of a British EU Commissioner  and it would continue without him. Our European neighbours are perfectly capable of living peacefully without British membership of the EU.

More seriously, NATO remains intact and intelligence sharing between the UK and her allies continues. Neither has been harmed or threatened with disruption for the very good reason that continuing our security relationships is mutually beneficial. If anything, our role in the transatlantic alliance has been strengthened by avoiding the risk, laid out by Lord Guthrie when he switched from Remain to Leave, that the EUs push for a European Army would disrupt NATO.

The punishment budget

Shortly before the referendum, George Osborne and Alistair Darling jointly published what came to be known as the punishment budget, an emergency programme which they claimed would need to be implemented within a couple of months of a Leave vote. At the heart of the threatened plan were 15 billion of spending cuts and 15 billion of tax rises, caused by Brexit plunging Britain into penury.

In reality, we have heard a rather different plan from the Chancellor in recent days. Its true that he has abandoned his aim of abolishing the deficit by 2019/20. However, given his record of missing every other deficit target to date (and the decision in the Autumn Statement to use money discovered down the back of the OBRs sofa to cancel planned cuts rather than reduce borrowing), its fair to say that the referendum is his excuse, rather his reason, for doing so.

Today we learned a bit more, via an interview with the FT. For a start, apparently there isnt going to be an emergency budget after all:

He is now striking a more cautious note, awaiting official forecasts before announcing any new measures in the Autumn Statement.

And the talk of higher taxes and lower spending  which never seemed like a plausible response to the recession that was being predicted  has vanished as well. Instead, Osborne is planning tax cuts  specifically a further reduction of Corporation Tax from 20 per cent to 15 per cent.

The market collapse

As the economic disaster of a Leave vote unfolded, we were told to expect a collapse in the markets. However, that hasnt quite occurred.

The FTSE 100 is currently trading at a higher value than at any point since August 2015. Various commentators are keen to point out that it features a disproportionate of multinationals and also that it is aided by the fall in the value of sterling, meaning it isnt the perfect measure of the strength of the UK economy. Thats true  although plenty of those same voices were happy to cite it as a dire indicator when it dipped immediately after the result, so its a bit rich to try to have it both ways. Whatever your view, its a fact that it isnt doing too badly right now.

The FTSE 250, we are told, is a better measure altogether, featuring as it does more UK companies. Its down on the steady level it held during most of the referendum campaign, undeniably. However, its still currently above the level it held through much of February, which was not a notable time of economic disaster.

To put recent market movements into context, here are the charts of each FTSE index over the last five years:

You may still think the changes weve seen in the last few days are negative  but neither of those charts bears out the dire warnings of economic collapse following hot on the heals of a Leave vote.

Trade

The final way in which we were told Brexit would be disastrous was in terms of trade. We would be ignored by the world if we werent in the EU, and the EU itself would set out to punish us in order to discourage its remaining members from following the same route. (Remarkably, Wolfgang Schauble, the German Finance Minister, has now confirmed on the record that it was Osborne who encouraged him to issue such warnings.)

These, too, have not come to pass. For a start, we have at least two years until we actually leave the EU, so for now everything stays the same. As we reported last week, in the US  Britains single biggest trading partner  there is growing pressure for a swift trade deal with Britain. Australia, South Korea, India and New Zealand are already reported to be keen on striking deals with us, too. The reason for this is simple  we are still a major economy, and we are about to regain the freedom to arrange our own trade relationships, to mutual benefit.

The gloomy forecasts of punitive behaviour by the EU itself also appear to be retreating into the distance, too. While Juncker and the Brussels establishment have tried to talk tough, there are growing signs that they will be reined in, others  including Merkel and Schauble himself  now speak of pragmatism. The troubles of the EU have always been due to the insistence that political goals should override economic and democratic requirements. Given the disastrous experience of the Euro, the migrant crisis and now the loss of the UK, theres every possibility that balance will be reversed  to our benefit and to theirs.
It is perhaps ironic that the very lady who first coined the term Nasty Party to describe the Conservative Party of yesterday is the candidate attracting such opprobrium for her position on immigration.

Unlike most of her rivals, including Liam Fox (who is otherwise taking a strong line on free movement), Theresa May has refused to offer EU nationals living in the UK a cast-iron guarantee that they can continue living here after Brexit.

This isnt to say that the front-runner for the Tory leadership is talking about sending them home. In her interview on Peston she said:

But of course, as part of the negotiation, we will need to look at this question of people who are here in the UK from the EU, and I want to be able to ensure that were able to not just guarantee a position for those people, but guarantee the position for British citizens who are over in other member states, in other countries in Europe and living there.

This reluctance to guarantee the position of EU nationals is going down very badly in the press, and doesnt seem to reflect the wishes of the electorate either  British Future polling finds 77 per cent even of Leave voters favour letting people who are already here continue to live here.

Mark Wallace has previously set out how the Leave campaign, and UKIP, made it clear that it was not a vote to remove EU nationals already living here.

Why might the Home Secretary be struggling with a commitment that her rivals appear to have no trouble making?

It could be that, after so long in the Home Office, May is most familiar with the details and reality of the immigration issue and therefore has the best grasp of how it might play out in Brexit negotiations.

After all protecting the status of EU citizens in the UK, as British Future puts it, doesnt necessarily simply involve having the right to continue living here: their current status also allows them to be joined by family members and draw on the welfare system, for example.

She is also on-record as anticipating a surge of EU immigration prior to Brexit changing the rules, and be trying to discourage that, exhibiting some of that steeliness and toughness as a negotiator which are so often cited by her supporters.

If this is the case, the Home Secretary would do well to clarify what her red line position on EU nationals is: work, but not welfare? Protection for those who moved here before the referendum, but not after?

Whatever it is, both Conservative members and EU nationals living in Britain deserve to know. The former to make an informed choice on our next leader, and the latter to be spared years of needless uncertainty about their futures here.
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Women's rights campaigners, not just of Britain but also US, Canada, western European countries, Egypt, Turkey, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, have written a strongly-worded open letter to the countrys Home Secretary raising serious concerns about the government's independent review into discriminatory Sharia courts in Britain. The letter accused the independent review of having limited scope because of its inappropriate theological approach, adding, it would do nothing to address the discriminatory effect and intent of the courts on private and family matters.Those who have signed the letter from India include Jawaharlal Nehrus niece Nayantara Sahgal, a well-known writer and campaigner for secularism, who shot into prominence following her decision to return the Sahitya Akademi Award in protest against the NDA governments failure to safeguard cultural diversity. Others from India are Bader Sayeed, founder-president of Roshni; Hasina Khan, feminist activist of Bebaak Collective; Kuljit Kaur, Womens Rights Campaigner; Madhu Mehra, Partners for Law in Development; and the organization Partners for Law in Development.The letter was organized by UK-based activists Pragna Patel of the Southall Black Sisters, Gina Khan and Maryam Namazie or the One Law for All, and Gita Sahgal of the (Centre for Secular Space.The letter states that, rather than taking a human rights approach, the UK government has constituted a panel and terms of reference more suited to a discussion in theology than one which serves the needs of victims whose human rights are violated.The letter states that by making these religious appointments, the government has lost a vital opportunity to examine the discriminatory nature of not only Sharia bodies but all forms of religious arbitration fora including the Batei Din.Giving examples, Nizamie says in an email alert, The panel chair, Mona Siddiqui is herself a theologian. One of the scholars, Sayed Ali Abbas Razawi, is the joint secretary for Majlis Ulama-e-Shia, which sends delegations to the Islamic Republic of Iran. In his sermons, he has supported the death penalty in Islamic states, advised Muslims to go into government and change the system and says women dressed in "tight clothing" are "corrupted".Then, she says, there is Qari Muhammad Asim, who speaks of "men retain[ing] their wives in marriage" and sees women in relation to their male guardian: "Each women is someones mother, daughter, sister or wife". He also trivialises violence against women by saying "women as well as men can be victims of domestic abuse".Both the scholars advising the panel are on Imams Online, the Nizamie says, adding, Khola Hasan, a judge at the Islamic Sharia Council, is a contributing editor to Imam Online. Clearly, Imams and Islamic scholars cannot investigate themselves (click HERE to see video).Referring to "Women and Sharia Law: The Impact of Legal Pluralism in the UK" by Elham Manea published in May 2016, Nizamie says, it documents the harmful and life threatening consequences for vulnerable minority women in matters pertaining to the family.Testimonials gathered by campaigners highlight some of the emotional, mental and physical effects of the courts on women and children, she adds.The letter seeks to establish a thorough and impartial judge-led human rights investigation, which will fully examine arbitration in family matters, and whether violations of human rights are condoned or even promoted by Sharia bodies.The violation of human rights being condoned, Nizamie says, include women's testimony being worth half that of a man's, marital rape, sexual violence and domestic abuse, the age of consent, guardianship, forced marriage, honour based violence, ritual abuse, child custody and child protection, polygamy, divorce, sexuality, inheritance, inter-religious relationships, female dress codes and abortion.The letter says, Broader issues such as the treatment of religious minorities including minority sects in Islam and decisions pertaining to apostasy and blasphemy must also be examined to understand the full range of threats faced by people affected by religious laws, and indeed, by the State promoting these laws.It adds, The law and not religion is the key basis for securing justice for all citizens. Campaigners urge the government to do the right thing and ensure that the same principles of human rights, equality before the law, duty of care, due diligence and the rule of law are applicable to all British citizens.
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Alzheimer's Association Program: "Healthy Living for Your Brain and Body," 9:30-10:30 a.m. July 12 at the Henderson County Public Library, 101 S. Main St., Henderson, Kentucky ($5 donation suggested, $15 fee for professionals). Registration is required by calling 800-272-3900.

Alzheimer's Association Memory Cafe: For people with memory loss and their caregivers, 2-3:30 p.m. July 13 at Audubon State Park in Henderson, Kentucky. Registration required by calling 800-272-3900.

FA (Families Anonymous): a 12-step fellowship for the family and friends of those individuals with drug, alcohol or related behavioral issues. Meetings are at 10 a.m. Saturdays at Methodist Temple, 2109 Lincoln Ave. Use the Kelsey Avenue entrance, second floor. Information: 812-550-5777.

Bereavement support group: Meeting 5:30-7 p.m. the fourth Tuesday of each month in the large group meeting room, second floor of Central Library, 200 SE MLK Blvd.

Men's bereavement support group: Meeting 9-10:30 a.m. the second Monday of each month in Room 204 at Deaconess VNA Plus, 610 E. Walnut St.

Support group for bipolar/manic-depressive disorder: Meeting 7 p.m. the first and third Wednesday of each month, Kempf Bipolar Wellness Center, third floor of St. Mary's Rehabilitation Institute, 3700 Washington Ave. Information: 812-485-4934.

Survivors of Suicide support group: Meeting 6:30 p.m. the first and third Monday of each month, Methodist Temple, 2109 Lincoln Ave. Information: Mental Health America at 812-426-2640.

Mending Hearts pregnancy loss support group: Meeting 6:30 p.m. the first Tuesday of each month, Gift Conference Room, off the lobby of St. Mary's Hospital for Women & Children, 3700 Washington Ave. Information: 812-485-4204.

Men's cancer support group: Meeting 5:30 p.m. the second Tuesday of each month, St. Mary's Epworth Crossing Community Conference Room, 100 St. Mary's Epworth Crossing, Newburgh. Information: 812-485-5725.

Stroke support group: Meeting 10 a.m. the fourth Wednesday of each month, St. Mary's Community Education Room at Washington Square Mall, 5011 Washington Ave. Information: 812-485-5607.

ALS support group: Meeting 6:30 p.m. the second Tuesday of each month, Meeting Room E, Deaconess Gateway Hospital. The support group is for patients, caregivers and survivors who have lost someone to Lou Gehrig's disease.

Women's cancer support group: Meeting 5:30 p.m. the second and fourth Monday of each month, St. Mary's Epworth Crossing Community Conference Room. Information: 812-485-5725.

Pulmonary fibrosis support group: Meeting 4 p.m. the second Tuesday of each month, Room 1420, Deaconess Hospital, 600 Mary St. Information: 812-450-6000 or deaconess.com/calendar.

COPD/asthma support group: Meeting 4 p.m. the fourth Tuesday of each month, Room 1420, Deaconess Hospital, 600 Mary St. Information: 812-450-6000 or deaconess.com/calendar.

Parkinson's support group: Meeting at 5:30 p.m. the first Tuesday of each month, Room 350, Deaconess Physician Center, 600 Mary St. Information: 812-450-6000 or deaconess.com/calendar.

Tri-State Multiple Sclerosis Association support group meetings: 10 a.m. the second Saturday of each month, Tri-State MS Association Office, 971 S. Kenmore Drive, Evansville (contact Nita Ruxer at 812-479-3544 or Sharon Omer at 270-333-4701); 10 a.m. the fourth Saturday of each month, Gibson General Hospital, fifth floor, first room on the right, 1808 Sherman Drive, Princeton, Indiana (contact Alice Burkhart at 812-782-3735); 11 a.m. the second Tuesday of each month, Twilight Towers, in the cafeteria, 1648 10th St., Tell City (contact Terri Hasty at 812-649-4013 or Gayle Taylor 812-719-2417); 10 a.m. the third Saturday of each month, Daviess Community Hospital, Washington, Indiana (contact Cindy Kalberer at 812-254-6735 or Fran Neal at 812-259-1565); 10 a.m. the first Saturday of each month, Calvary Missionary Baptist Church, 2360 Green River Road, Henderson, Kentucky, (contact Meg Burnley at 270-826-9507 or Debbie Whittington at 270-827-8298); 6 p.m. the second Monday of each month, Owensboro Health Healthpark, 1006 Ford Ave., Owensboro, Kentucky; and 11 a.m. the first Saturday of each month, Fairfield Memorial Hospital in the board room of Horizon Clinic, 303 NW 11th St., Fairfield, Illinois (contact Kathie Hill at 618-847-8452).

Compiled by Leah Ward,

leah.ward@courierpress.com.
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during the NRA Annual Convention Leadership Forum Friday at Freedom Hall. May 20, 2016. (Photo: Alton Strupp/The Courier-Journal)

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By David M. Jackson, USA TODAY

Donald Trump says he's spending part of Monday's holiday with a potential running mate pick: Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa.

"I look forward to meeting @joniernst today in New Jersey," Trump tweeted. "She has done a great job as Senator of Iowa!"

Trump also took to social media to praise two other lawmakers reported to be on his veep shortlist, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence and Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton.

Trump, who met with Pence over the weekend, said he as "very impressed" with the Indiana governor and his family.

Cotton "was great on Meet the Press yesterday," Trump said in a separate tweet. "Despite a totally one-sided interview by Chuck Todd, the end result was solid!"

Trump's short list also reportedly includes former House Speaker Newt Gingrich of Georgia, Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey, and Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama.

Ernst told the Des Moines Register last month she had not been contacted by the Trump campaign, and did not expect to be.

If she was being considered, she said at that time, "somebody, I think, would have reached out to me. Nobody has reached out.

Ernst is the first woman ever elected to Congress from Iowa and the first female combat veteran ever to serve in the Senate.

Largely unknown two years ago, Ernst broke through a crowded 2014 GOP primary field to win the nomination for Senate with a campaign ad in which she said her rural roots and experiences castrating hogs would serve as training for how she would cut pork in Washington. She also had the backing of former Alaska governor Sarah Palin, who is now a Trump ally.

Ernst went on to beat four-term Democratic Rep. Bruce Braley for the Senate seat previously held for decades by liberal hero Tom Harkin.
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By Shari Rudavsky, USA TODAY NETWORK, Indy Star

Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield will be keeping closer tabs on its members to identify those who may be at risk of a prescription painkiller addiction.

The companys Pharmacy Home Program uses patient data to flag policy-holders who overuse medications and puts them on warning to change their behavior. If they do not comply within 60 days, they will be asked to choose one pharmacy through which they must fill all of their prescriptions.

Anthem officials say that the program stemmed from concerns over growing rates of prescription painkiller misuse and overdose deaths.

Were in a really unique position as insurers because were seeing real-time medical and pharmacy data, said Colleen Haines, head of Anthems clinical and specialty pharmacy team. Were going to target those members that are really at high-risk.

Many states, including Indiana, have prescription drug monitoring programs that contain records of every controlled substance dispensed. But these only work if doctors check the database before prescribing, and with overloaded schedules, many fail to do so.

Even more overt red flags can go unnoticed. Research has shown that after an overdose, nine out of 10 patients will receive more prescriptions for the medicines they misused. About 70 percent will receive it from the same provider who wrote the original prescription, said Dr. Liza Bonanno, Anthems medical director for behavioral health.

About a decade ago, patients could easily go from doctor to doctor, getting scrips for painkillers and insurance would cover those, said Dr. Darrin Mangiacarne, chief medical officer at Fairbanks, an addiction treatment center. Now, programs like this one may lead to earlier intervention.

What were seeing here is a natural progression from those old days when anyone could get opiates at any time to the Affordable Care Act model, when were trying to manage patients, he said. Honestly, I think this is a good step in the right direction.

The one potential downside, Mangiacarne added, would be for a patient who is put in the program, goes out of town, and then runs out of pain pills. Still, he said, he suspects programs like this will become more prevalent within the next five years.

Anthem has had a similar program in place for many of the Medicaid programs it runs nationwide. Indiana, for instance, has the Right Choices program, which targets members who use their Medicaid in an excessive way or a pattern that is inappropriate, according to the Indiana Medicaid website.

People who have many prescriptions filled by multiple providers would be targeted for the new program as would those who visit the emergency room too often for non-emergency care. A person who enters the program will be assigned to one pharmacy, one primary care provider and one hospital.

The most recent data shows that 2,554 Medicaid beneficiaries were enrolled in Indianas Right Choices program, just under 0.2 percent of the total Medicaid and Healthy Indiana Plan population, according to Marni Lemons, a spokeswoman for Indianas Family and Social Services Administration. That number does not distinguish between those in the program for inappropriate emergency room use or for inappropriate prescription practices.

Programs like these worked so well the company decided to extend them, Haines said.

In Anthem, this became a best practice so that we wanted to do this on a broader scale, she said. It (opioid abuse) is becoming epidemic. Its not just in one line of business but across the common population.

In April, Anthem sent out hundreds of letters to insurance members nationwide who in a 90-day period had: filled five or more controlled substance prescriptions or 20 or more prescriptions in general; who had visited three or more providers for controlled substance prescriptions or 10 or more providers; or who had filled controlled substances at three or more pharmacies or prescriptions in general at 10 or more pharmacies.

Of the people contacted, 24 percent had filled prescriptions for more than 10 controlled substances in this time period, 19 percent had seen five or more prescribers and 13 percent had visited three or more pharmacies, Haines said.

Those who do not modify their behavior within 60 days will be told to choose one pharmacy at which to have all their prescriptions filled. The insurer will then notify all the patients providers about his or her choice. Prescribers will also be told about options for referring patients to behavior health programs to help them address substance abuse issues, Bonanno said.

Patients with certain diagnoses, such as cancer or sickle cell anemia, known to produce chronic pain are exempt from the program.

Those who enter the Pharmacy Home Program may wind up with better care overall, she added. Not only will a single pharmacist be in a better position to pick up any potential drug interactions, the program will head off larger issues down the road, Bonanno said.

The best option is just to prevent people before they become dependent on it.  the aberrant behavior, the doctor shopping, to nip that in the bud and become more aware of it before it really progresses to the point where the brain is out of balance, she said.
SHARE Zach Evans / Courier & Press An Evansville Police Dept. body camera.

By Zach Osowski, zach.osowski@courierpress.com

INDIANAPOLIS  The 2016 session may have been highlighted by what didn't get done, but lawmakers still passed more than 250 new laws during the short session.

Many of those 250 went into effect on Friday. Here's a look at some of new laws.

Body cameras

One of the biggest laws is Indiana's new policy on police body cameras. While the General Assembly didn't require police agencies to use body cameras, it did pass more comprehensive rules on how agencies should use them and when and how the public can access body camera footage.

Before the new law, the public could request to view a video from a specific incident and it would have been up to the police agency to argue why the video shouldn't be released if they refuse. Any disagreements would be settled by a judge.

Members of the public involved in a police activity will now be allowed to view the footage prior filing a complaint if they feel like they were wronged by a police officer.

Already, Indiana is feeling the effects of the law as agencies decide whether it's worth it to comply with the new law. The Clarksville Police Department announced earlier this month they are not going to use body cameras anymore, saying the new law was too burdensome. Meanwhile, the Evansville Police Department has seen complaints go down since instituting body cameras.

EPD spokesman Sgt. Jason Cullum told the Courier & Press that having the footage for investigations has been helpful in handling complaints in timely fashion.

"Being able address a complaint quickly is seen as good service," Cullum said. "Even if they don't agree with the findings, (complainants) don't feel like they were stonewalled."

Veterans' bills

The General Assembly also spent a considerable amount of time on during the 2016 session on veteran's bills. Starting last Friday, more money is now available for the funerals of Indiana National Guard members, and a fund will be established for burials of deceased veterans with no living family members.

Lawmakers also more clearly defined what a Hoosier veteran is, and promised more money for the Hoosier Military Family Relief Fund. In all, 13 bills were passed; nine took effect Friday.

Sen. Jim Tomes, a Vietnam veteran, was a driving force behind some of the bills, and sponsored several more. He praised the legislative efforts.

Others

Indiana will also begin building a database of convicted child abusers after an Indiana boy was killed by a baby sitter who had a history of child abuse offenses.

Dubbed Kirk's Law, SB 357 will create a registry similar to the state's sex offender registry in which Hoosiers can see if someone has been convicted of child abuse. Lawmakers hope this will prevent parents from hiring the wrong people to watch their children. The list will be compiled and maintained by the state's courts system and will be fully active within a year.

Indiana is bringing back an old law requiring Hoosier drivers to move their cars off of the road if they are involved in a property damage accident with no injuries. The new law is an attempt to reduce secondary crashes that occur when damaged vehicles continue to sit in a road, blocking traffic. Indiana State Police officials said secondary crashes, especially on multi-lane highways are often more serious and result in injuries, even if the original crash was simply a fender-bender.

"Our intent is to educate the public that if they are involved in a property damage crash, they have a statutory requirement to remove their vehicles from the roadway," Indiana State Police Superintendent Doug Carter said in a statement.

This law now applies to all government maintained roadways  not just highways  and those involved in the crash are advised to move their cars only when it is safe to do so. Failure to comply will now result in a class C infraction and could carry a fine, although state police said tickets were unlikely.

Indiana's new law regarding the sale of pseudoephedrine at pharmacies technically went into effect Friday, but the rules of the new law are still being worked out. Pharmacy patrons won't see any changes in how they buy Sudafed until the state board of pharmacy finalizes new rules, including the definition of a "patient of record."

Lawmakers stopped short of requiring a prescription for Sudafed, which is often used in cooking meth. Instead, they increased the legal protections for pharmacists who refuse to sell Sudafed to customers and banned those convicted of a drug-related felony from purchasing pseudoephedrine.
Hillary Clinton leads Donald Trump by 12 points in a Bloomberg poll out June 14, 2016. (Photo: AP)

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By Susan Page and Fernanda Crescende, USA TODAY

Democrat Hillary Clinton's lead over Republican Donald Trump has narrowed to five percentage points, a new USA TODAY/Suffolk University Poll finds, in a groundbreaking presidential election that is sparking feelings of alarm for most voters.

The nationwide survey shows a sharply polarized electorate that believes the country is headed in the wrong direction, feels less safe living in the United States than they used to, and gives negative ratings to the both presidential candidates.

Sixty-one percent report feeling alarmed about the election, swamping the 23% who are excited. Few are bored: Just 9%.

"I can appreciate how it might be desirable to have someone that is outside the political realm bringing a new perspective, but at the same time the complete lack of electoral experience is scary," Gurleen Chadha, 23, a medical student from Los Angeles, said of Trump in a follow-up phone interview after being polled. She's supporting Clinton, the presumptive Democratic nominee.

On the other hand, Michael Perrotta, 48, an account executive for a trucking firm on Long Island, worries about Clinton's integrity. "She has a lot of investigations, and it's a little questionable," he said. He's backing the presumptive Republican nominee. "I am sure Donald Trump is no angel, but he doesn't have that special-interest thing."

Clinton now leads Trump by five percentage points, 45.6% to 40.4% (Rounding would make the lead six points.) That's closer than two months ago, when she led in the USA TODAY survey by double digits, 50%-39%. Since the poll last spring, both candidates have consolidated their claims to their parties' nominations but neither has seen a significant bump in his or her standing. Indeed, Clinton's support has dropped by almost five points.

When Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson and Green Party candidate Jill Stein are added to the list of options, Clinton's lead over Trump drops to four points, 39%-35%. Johnson is backed by 8%, Stein by 3%.

"On one side, you have Hillary, who is being investigated by the FBI, and then you have Donald Trump, who has diarrhea of the mouth," said Jay Brooks, 31, an engineer from Huntsville, Ala. "I don't think either of them are electable or would be a good president."

Brooks backs Johnson, but the third-party contenders face an uphill campaign despite expectations they will be on the ballot in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Fifty-one percent of those surveyed have never heard of the Libertarian candidate; 59% have never heard of the Green Party candidate.

The poll of 1,000 likely voters, taken by landline and cell phone from June 26 to 29, has a margin of error of plus or minus three points.

Clinton commands more positive allegiance than Trump. By more than 3-1, 74% to 22%, Clinton supporters say they are mostly voting for her, not against him. Trump's backers are more evenly divided on their motivation: 48% are mostly voting for him; 39% are mostly voting against her.

Still, Trump supporters are a bit more likely to say they're "excited" about the election, 27% compared to 24%. Clinton supporters are a bit more likely to say they're "alarmed," 62% to 56%.

And those in both camps vow their views are set in stone: More than nine of 10 of Clinton supporters and of Trump supporters say they is no chance they would switch to the other side. Just 12% of those surveyed are undecided, a smaller percentage than in the Suffolk Poll taken during the summer of the presidential race four years ago.

In the survey, 53% have an unfavorable opinion of Clinton; 60% have an unfavorable opinion of Trump. Nearly one in five respondents hold a negative view of them both -- a swing group whose lesser-of-two-evils choice could determine the outcome of a competitive election, says David Paleologos, director of the Suffolk University Political Research Center.

"Despite their negative feelings toward both candidates, when asked to choose between the two, 26% chose Trump, 19% picked Clinton, 44% were undecided and 11% refused a response," Paleologos says. While Trump has a slight edge, "the majority are up for grabs as these voters grapple with holding their noses and picking one of them or opting for a third party option. Or staying home, come November."

Among key demographic groups, Clinton leads Trump overall because of her strength among female voters, 50%-38%. Male voters split almost evenly, with 43% for Trump, 41% for Clinton.

Trump leads by nine points among whites, 47%-38%, while Clinton leads among Hispanics by more than 2-1 and among African Americans by 10-1.

Both parties now are making final preparations for their national conventions, an opportunity to generate enthusiasm and shape impressions, especially among those voters who are just beginning to pay attention to the election. The Republican convention opens in Cleveland on July 18 and the Democratic convention in Philadelphia on July 25.

Partisan voters express strong opinions about a key decision each nominee will face: Choosing a running mate.

Republicans by 3-1 say Trump should pick a vice-presidential candidate who has Washington experience. Just one in five of those who voted in GOP primaries or caucuses this year say he should pick another outsider to shake things up.

Democrats by 2-1 say Clinton should pick a running mate with the sort of progressive positions that mark her primary rival, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, or Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren. Just one in four of those who voted in Democratic primaries or caucuses say she should choose someone with more centrist views.

"I would vote for Bernie Sanders if he was a candidate, but given he won't be, I am voting for Hillary," said Scott Hillstrom, 30, a tech specialist from Orem, Utah, though he offered her only a tepid endorsement. "I don't want Trump to be elected, and I can stomach her being president."

Asked to name the most important issue facing the next president, two issues dominate: Jobs and the economy, cited by one in four, and terrorism and national security, cited by one in five.

Just 5% choose guns and crime as the top issue among a list of 13 options. When asked specifically about gun control, however, more than half say they would like it to be a significant subject of debate in this year's campaign. More than three of four support a proposal to ban gun sales to people who are on the no-fly list. By 56%-34%, they back Clinton's proposed ban on assault-style weapons.

"I don't think anybody needs a weapon that holds more than 10 rounds of ammunition, except law enforcement," said Tim Cook, 61, a retired janitor from Tulsa. "If it takes you more than 10 rounds to bring down a deer, you don't need to be hunting."

But Jacqueline Quinn, 49, an elementary-school teacher from Tampa, is skeptical it would make a difference. "Unfortunately, I don't think a lot of changes in the gun laws will stop the crazy people from getting guns, because I feel like if people want to harm others, they will find a way."

Trump's proposal to temporarily ban Muslim immigrants, a position he has since modified, is supported by 41%; 49% oppose it. Among Trump voters, though, two-thirds support a ban.

Among all those surveyed, 54% say Muslim Americans are loyal citizens and allies in the battle against terrorism; just 24% say they need to be subjected to special scrutiny because of the threat of terrorism from their communities. But on this there is a sharp split: Clinton supporters by 73%-9% call Muslim Americans loyal citizens. Trump supporters by 42%-31% say they warrant special scrutiny.

"First off, you got to realize that Muslims believe if you are not a Muslim, you must be killed; that's in their Bible," said Francis De Cerio, 65, of Thorndale, Penn. De Cerio, who runs a small business installing fireplaces, supports Trump. (His interpretation of the Koran is disputed by Muslim scholars.) "Now you want somebody like that living next to you?"

"That's not what America is all about," Ashley Freeman, 25, a lab technician from Minneapolis who supports Johnson, said of the proposed ban on Muslim immigrants. "It's not about banning people based on their religion from coming into our country."

For what it's worth, Clinton voters are much more confident than Trump voters that their candidate will win when the votes are counted in November. Six in 10 Trump supporters, 62%, predict victory for him. Nine of 10 Clinton supporters, 89%, say she will prevail.
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Executive Summary

The pattern of military escalation on the Armenia-Azerbaijan border and Line of Contact (LoC) around Nagorno-Karabakh (NK) since at least 2011 meant it should not have been the surprise it was when major fighting broke out on 2-5 April. In combat that evoked powerful nationalist emotions in both countries and included use of multiple-launch missile systems, heavy artillery, tanks, attack drones and highly trained special forces, Azerbaijan seized small but strategically important pieces of land, and up to 200 people on both sides were killed. That and the acute threat a graver escalation could draw in powerful neighbouring countries have focused the much-needed political attention of key international actors and produced an opportunity to find a peaceful solution to a generation-old conflict, often mistakenly called frozen. It is essential that the parties, urged on by France, Russia and the U.S., as co-chairs of the Minsk Group (MG) of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the diplomatic point body, make a decisive push for progress in peace talks.

Resumed military escalation would likely be far more destructive than the April flare-up. There is a serious risk that long-range ground-to-ground missiles would be used and casualties, particularly civilian, be much higher in the effort to gain a decisive ground advantage. In the wake of the April fighting, the publics in Armenia and Azerbaijan are more ready for military solutions than at any time in 25 years. Russia sees itself as the regional arbiter which is bound to intervene, not least because of its tight treaty relations with Armenia. Besides mutual affinity based partly on ethnic kinship, Turkey has military cooperation, a critical energy partnership and close political and economic relations with Azerbaijan. It links normalisation of relations with Armenia, including reestablishment of diplomatic ties and opening of their border,  to progress on resolution of the conflict.

The regional context has changed profoundly in the last year, increasing the potential for wide fallout if fighting resumes. Moscows and Ankaras ties are strained. Iran is still defining its approach to the region but has flagged an interest in a greater role. Russia and the West remain at odds, with differences in Eastern Europe perhaps even greater than in Syria. Interests do align in pushing for progress on the NK conflict, but Moscow, which profiles itself as the key mediator and security guarantor, also seeks thereby to strengthen its strategic stake a region it considers a sphere of privileged interest, including by forging a closer relationship with Baku. Moreover, while Moscow has the political will and clout to drive the process, its regional role has been divisive, so it needs the other co-chairs to make the process genuinely credible. France and the U.S. should ensure this cooperation is indeed substantive.

The talks the Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents agreed to on 16 May to pave the way for negotiations on a comprehensive settlement can be a chance to get a peace process back on track. However, the statement issued after the follow-on talks in St. Petersburg on 20 June suggest momentum might already be weakening. All the Minsk Group co-chairs should engage in the mediation effort at a senior political level in order to lend it the necessary weight and sense of urgency. For progress toward an eventual comprehensive settlement to be possible, there must also be parallel movement on confidence and security building measures (CSBMs), including the OSCE investigative mechanism agreed in Vienna to establish responsibility for ceasefire violations. The co-chairs should maintain pressure on the sides to offer concessions, specifically on Armenia to hand over occupied Azerbaijan territory, and on Azerbaijan to accept strong, internationally-backed security guarantees and an interim status for NK. They should also engage Turkey, to encourage it to use its leverage in support of the peace process.

The EU should continue to give its strong political support to the Minsk Group, including through its bilateral relations with Baku and Yerevan, and the leverage negotiation of new agreements with both can provide. It could make a special contribution, in conjunction with key European Union (EU) member states, particularly Germany  the present OSCE chairman-in-office (CiO) and the EU Minsk Group members  by putting on the table concrete offers of assistance to bolster security and other CSBMs. The EU should also plan what substantial expert and financial contribution it could make to a future post-conflict reconstruction effort, including restoration of communications, such as railway rehabilitation.

Finally, the OSCE High Level Planning Group should step up preparatory work on a future peacekeeping force, including by exploring possible contributions. There will be much politics around the composition, but discussion is needed to galvanise planning. The ultimate product could range from deploying monitors drawn from the armed forces of member states to where the opposing armies face each other and civilians from the different ethnic communities live in proximity to each other, to substantial support for the local police.

None of this would yet mean achievement of a final resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. But if there is early and coordinated action on the return of occupied territories to Azerbaijan, establishment of credible measures to guarantee security and an interim status for Nagorno-Karabakh, a genuine possibility that the peace process could break out of its current impasse and move forward in a positive direction could take shape.
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Halloween activities for 2022

See what all goes bump in the night around Somerset County this Halloween season.
I-75 crash kills three in south Marion County

First responders said multiple vehicles were involved in the crash, which killed three people on I-75 near the Marion County and Sumter County line.
Opinion Wordle

The next day I woke to find myself in a WhatsApp group titled Quordle is Awesome!! A small group of three. There was no getting out of it now.
Comrade Corbyn won the Labour leadership because he reached out to an eclectic coalition of Lefties, Marxists, environmentalists and the idealistic young.

The self-styled champion of the downtrodden now faces a potential challenge from Angela Eagle, who resigned as Shadow Business Secretary last week as part of the plot to oust him.

And where did Eagle, a Merseyside MP, plan her tactics to replace the bearded Trotskyite? In the exclusive 1,000-a-year Ivy Club in central London, thats where.

Corbyn, the self-styled champion of the downtrodden, now faces a potential challenge from Angela Eagle, who resigned as Shadow Business Secretary last week as part of the plot to oust him

Much loved by celebrities such as Stephen Fry and Queen guitarist Brian May, the achingly cool private members club is the last place you would find Corbyn, who prefers to relax on his North London allotment.

But Eagle was there on Friday lunchtime with two advisers discussing whether to mount a challenge today or tomorrow.

She was overheard saying, I shouldnt have cried, in a reference to breaking down in an interview on Radio 4 about Corbyn.

(When asked if her resignation was an emotional decision, Ms Eagle could be heard stifling her tears.)

Eagle was at The Ivy with two advisers discussing whether to mount a challenge today or tomorrow

One of the advisers replied: It made you look human, but you cant do it again.

Warning her colleagues that the party could split, Eagle declared her admiration for German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Eagle may be an Angela, but shes no Merkel.

Hard-Left members of the Corbyn-supporting Momentum movement in Eagles Wallasey constituency have threatened to have her deselected as an MP if she challenges the Labour leader.

No doubt theyll be thrilled to hear shes plotting Comrade Corbyns downfall from one of the most exclusive celebrity haunts in London.

Talking of allotments, Jeremy Corbyn, despite the imminent coup, is full of beans. Literally.

Broad beans are this years bumper crop and are already on the table Chez Corbyn, the green-fingered class warrior excitedly tells the New Statesman. I planted them in October and they are very resistant to frost. There must be 10 or 20 bags worth left to pick.

Diehard Corbynista Diane Abbott asked Justine Greening what steps she has taken to assist people in the Indonesian province of Davao del Norte affected by the drought. The International Development Secretary replied: There is no province called Davao del Norte in Indonesia. With friends like that, no wonder the Corbyn cult has descended into farce.

YENTOB'S EXCESS BAGGAGE

Alan Yentob may have departed the BBC last year, but the former creative directors expenses live on.

The Corporation craftily slipped out the senior manager hospitality figures just as Boris Johnson abandoned his Tory leadership bid.

Yentob, whose BBC expenses were notoriously chaotic, successfully submitted 1,300 of overdue travel and hospitality claims dating back to May 2014.

As they say, nice work if you can get it.

Alan Yentob may have departed the BBC last year, but the former creative directors expenses live on

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

Education Secretary Nicky Morgan, taking time out from backing Michael Gove for the Tory leadership, tweeted about the chaos on Corbyns front bench: Looking forward to the third Shadow Secretary of State for Education to take up post this week  otherwise Ill be asking questions to myself on Monday.

TWEET OF THE WEEK

Veteran Labour MP Paul Flynn, 81, back on the front bench for the first time in 27 years, said: Crisis ahead! If all the Blairites resign from the Shadow Cabinet who will be left to leak the confidential business?

JOKE OF THE WEEK

The trouble with committed pacifists like Jeremy Corbyn is they dont carry a sword to fall on.

IT WAS ALL GO FOR BREXIT BOJO

No one can fault Boriss work rate in the referendum campaign. A Loughborough University analysis of media appearances shows that Johnson made 379, followed by Nigel Farage on 182, and Michael Gove on 161.

David Cameron topped the poll with 499, with George Osborne in third place for Remain on 230. But what of the other leadership contenders?

Theresa May lagged in 14th place with only 29 appearances, proof positive that she kept a low profile to ensure she never offended either side.
Whether prepping for the pool or enjoying a summer staycation, holiday season is well and truly here.

Forget about frazzled hair, melting makeup and scorched skin and get your glow on with this months You Magazines beauty box, bursting with the hottest products for summer.

SUN SHADE

Forget about frazzled hair, melting makeup and scorched skin and get your glow on this summer

Great sun protection is an all-time summer essential and even more so for hot holidays. The trick is to apply some SPF protection daily (every few hours if youre beach bound) and pay special attention to easy-to-forget places (back of the neck, ears and tops of feet) to avoid painful and unsightly burning.

Hawaiian Tropic Satin Protection (L) is oil-free so no more beach breakouts, while St Tropez new Gradual Tan In Shower is a revolutionary formula that you apply while in the shower for a streak-free golden glow (R)

As well as being seriously sore, sun damaged skin is also more prone to ageing and increases your risk of developing skin cancer so always pop a bottle of sun cream in your beach bag.

Hawaiian Tropic Satin Protection is not only oil-free (no more beach breakouts), extremely water resistant and nourishing (it contains shea butter and vitamins C and E to keep skin super soft) but it also smells like holiday with a blend of exotic botanical and coconut scents.

BRONZE BABE

Beautifully bronzed skin is a must-have accessory for the summer months and thanks to favourite self-tanning brand St Tropez you can get a believable, glowing tan without any of the skin damage.

Sun damaged skin is also more prone to ageing and increases your risk of developing skin cancer so always pop a bottle of sun cream in your beach bag and don't forget you can fake the perfect tan!

St Tropez new Gradual Tan In Shower is a revolutionary formula that you apply while in the shower for a streak-free golden glow.

Simply apply in circular motion to cleansed skin, wait three minutes and rinse off. Holiday prep has never been so easy!

PERFECT POLISH

Whether youre festival-bound or simply rocking your open-toe sandals in the city, youll need a fresh slick of paint on your toes.

Rimmel London 60 Seconds Super Shine By Rita Ora in Glaston-Berry is the ultimate summer nail polish; the pink neon shade translates seamlessly from beach to bar and the formula is long-lasting and high impact meaning you only need to apply one coat. Oh, and it dries in 60 seconds.

Rimmel London 60 Seconds Super Shine By Rita Ora in Glaston-Berry is the ultimate summer shade (L) while Illamasqua Precision Ink in Abyss has a waterproof, glossy black formula- perfect for the beach

LASTING EYELINER

A flick of eyeliner makes for an amazing sunshine selfie but between the heat, the humidity and the swimming, its all too easy to be a victim of the dreaded poolside-panda eyes.

Avoid any mishaps with Illamasqua Precision Ink in Abyss  the waterproof, glossy black formula has an ultra-fine tip meaning youll get a precise line thatll last all day long.

IN-FLIGHT DELIGHT

We all know how planes' air conditioning can wreak havoc on our skin, drying it out before youve even touched down at your destination.

Aethic LAir Bien Remarkable Re-Hydration In Flight Face and Hand Cream (L) was designed for cabin crew so is perfect for dryness on flights, while Carmex Moisturising Lip Balm will stop your lips getting chapped (R)

Make sure you always have a tube of Aethic LAir Bien Remarkable Re-Hydration In Flight Face and Hand Cream in your carry on.

The nourishing hand cream was specially designed for cabin crew after they experienced dry hands while jet-setting across the world and contains Amaranth Oil and Goji Berry extract to moisturize and refresh hands.

Another in-flight must have is Carmex Moisturising Lip Balm, a firm favourite in the beauty world that banishes chapped lips and leaves them plump and smooth.

The lip saving balm contains petrolatum, which acts like a bandage on dry lips creating a protective water barrier to ward off harsh conditions and also lanolin, which is renowned for its moisturising properties.

Resultime Regenertating Collagen Gel is a one-stop shop for holiday skincare; a dream for packing!

MULTI-TASKING SKINCARE

We all know that packing for holidays is tricky business, which is what makes Resultime Regenertating Collagen Gel an absolute lifesaver.

The multi-tasking wonder contains Vectorised Micro-Collagen, alongside 14 other key ingredients that plumps, hydrates, firms and repairs the skin making it your one-stop shop for holiday skincare.

Also, because of its soothing qualities and ability to accelerate the healing process it makes the perfect after-sun treatment.

CLEVER CLEANSING

Summer skin means a great makeup remover and it doesnt get much fresher, or sweeter smelling, than White Rabbit Skincare Lime & Coconut Cleansing Water.

White Rabbit Skincare Lime & Coconut Cleansing Water (l) is perfect for properly removing all your sun-cream and make up through the summer while Alpha H Liquid Gold (r) revitalising dull and lacklustre skin pre-holiday

The citrusy elixir contains multiple nourishing skincare ingredients like Lime Oil (which, as well as being a mentally uplifting scent, also has antiseptic, antibacterial and toning properties), which have all proven to be kind to skin, non-irritating and thoroughly cleansing.

SKIN PREP

A few weeks before your holiday, treat your complexion to Alpha H Liquid Gold. The multi-awarding winning formula acts like an overnight facial, stimulating cell regeneration, revitalising dull and lacklustre skin and banishes blemishes and pigmentation all thanks to its miracle ingredient Glycolic Acid, which lowers the pH of the skin stimulating cellular healing activity.

Forget the lotions, potions, serums and heat protectants and rely on Philip Kingsley Swimcap as your ultimate summer hair savior for perfect beach waves

HOLIDAY HAIR

Forget the lotions, potions, serums and heat-protectants and rely on Philip Kingsley Swimcap as your ultimate summer hair savior. The conditioning treatment contains UV protection to prevent sun damage and colour fading and also protects against the drying effects of both salt and chlorinated water (as well as preventing that not-so-sexy green discolouration).
Wishing for a new man, a new job or a new pair of designer shoes may seem like a futile whim, but if you make a wish tonight and you do it right, your dreams might just come true.

Thats because tonight will be a dark moonless night - the first night of the new moon.

We all already know that the position of the sun in the sky can affect our mood and choices, but did you know that the moon has a deeply significant impact on our actions and behaviour, too?

Wishing for a new man, a new job or a new pair of designer shoes may seem like a futile whim, but if you make a wish tonight and you do it right, your dreams might just come true

Well, after more than 25 years as one of the worlds top astrologers, a former protege and long-time friend of the late Jonathan Cainer, Im convinced that whatever you wish for at the time of the new moon could have a stronger chance of happening than wishing it at any other time of the month.

You may still be sceptical, but remember the moon must be pretty powerful if it can govern the tides.

The sun sign in which each new moon falls will carry characteristics of that sign, subtly flavouring it and holding potent clues to help you target and focus your wishes.

WHAT TO WISH FOR... CANCER: The new moon is in Cancer now and the energy is focused on family so make your wishes family oriented and get in touch with your nurturing side. LEO: The August new moon is in fun, flirtatious Leo so your wishes could work on spicing up your love life VIRGO: The new moon in Virgo (in September) will have a tidy-up feel to it so add de-cluttering to your wish list LIBRA: The Libran new moon in October could be the best time to grapple with relationship issues as this is the sign of partnership SCORPIO: Power struggles should be addressed later in October when the new moon in Scorpio appears possessiveness and jealousy are part of the Scorpio energy SAGITTARIUS: Your focus should turn to travel plans in November when the wandering sign of Sagittarius is at its most influential Advertisement

... AND WHEN CAPRICORN: The best time to address career problems might be December when the new moon arrives in the ambitious sign of Capricorn AQUARIUS : the first new moon of 2017 is influenced by Aquarius. This is a great time to wish for new ideas or solutions because the Aquarius energy is all about looking to the future PISCES: Your February wishes will be influenced by Pisces mystical powers, making this a great time to dream big ARIES: Marchs new moon is influenced by Aries - the first sign of the zodiac. So mark this as a clean slate for new moon wishes. Fiery, enthusiastic Aries energy will infuse plans with drive and determination TAURUS: Make the most of the new moon in Taurus (April) to assess finances and capitalise on the energy of the charging bull GEMINI: By Mays new moon the Gemini influence will make it the best time to get together with siblings or neighbours, especially if you havent been on good terms Advertisement





Heres how you can make it happen for you...

TIME IT RIGHT

Astrologers believe there are eight phases of the moon, and for hundreds of years tradition and folklore have declared that each moon phase is good for performing certain activities.

Of all the phases, the new moon is thought to be a highly potent time to explore your dreams, visualising yourself achieving them and so allowing them to blossom and flourish.

Mark the new moon in your diary each month. The exact date and time will vary according to where you are in the world, but each new moon is about 30 days after the next.

Today - July 4 - is new moon day for the UK and the new moon commences at midday. Your best wishing window is within eight hours (so up until 8pm), but youve got a little time in hand as the process still works until the new moon is three days old.

1: Sit down somewhere quiet where you can properly focus. Decide on your top ten wishes for the coming four weeks (see how to wish panel below), and read your wishes out loud slowly and carefully, one by one.

Then - and this is an important part of the process - visualise each wish as having already come true. Imagine how you would/will feel if and when the wish comes true. Hold those feelings. Imagine the joy you would feel.

Astrologers believe there are eight phases of the moon, and for hundreds of years tradition and folklore have declared that each moon phase is good for performing certain activities

Give yourself time to really indulge in your fantastical desires and pretend to yourself your dreams have already come true. Revel in the feeling of the wish fulfilled.

2: Next, write down or sketch out a drawing of what it is you want. The more energy you invest in the process, the better your results are likely to be. This process will help you visualise your wish coming true and make sure you really do believe it. When that happens, you can start making the changes necessary to ensure that it happens.

3: With each wish or wish-picture, devise a strong positive affirmation that backs up your wish and write that down, too. For example, you could write I am in love! if youre wishing for love. Or I love my new job! if you want to make a career change. Dont skip through this bit, it is important.

4: Next, go through each wish in turn and think about how you intend to make it happen (your intention).

For example, if your wish is to find a new job, your first step towards that could be to start networking and pay closer attention to job adverts. Or if you want to meet a partner, a first step would be to join a dating site.

You cant rely on the new moon alone to get you to where you want to be, so set out your intentions.

If youre wishing for a promotion, think: I intend to put together a strong pitch for a pay rise or I need to investigate other job opportunities to strengthen my bid or I will strive to go the extra mile and really impress my boss.

5: Seal the deal. Once your new-moon wishing process is complete either meditate or sit in silent contemplation.

You might be cynical about this bit, but meditation has been scientifically proven to decrease anxiety, and even if sitting cross-legged is not your style, giving your brain a few minutes of silence gives you the chance to clear some clutter, providing space for your wish.

You cant rely on the new moon (pictured behind Glastonbury Tor) alone to get you to where you want to be, so set out your intentions

BOOST THE POWER

Set aside one minute twice a day throughout the month to visualise your new-moon wishes coming true.

Write out your affirmations at every opportunity, over and over again (Im so happy to have been offered a promotion) and imagine youre telling a friend the great news as you write.

ARE YOUR NEW MOON WISHES WORKING?

As you move through the month be on alert for demonstrations of your new-moon wishes in action. If you wish for an exotic summer holiday, dont be surprised if a travel brochure drops through your letterbox. Think of this as a sign, which means that you are getting closer to your dream. Be patient, have faith, and keep wishing.

As each new moon approaches, review your wish list from the previous month, and check which, if any, came true. Look at each wish, and give it a mark out of 100, based on how likely it is to come true.

Be honest with yourself. The percentage you award to each dream/wish is pretty much the likelihood of it coming true.

You might want to consider revising any wish you award less than 50 per cent. Instead, work on those that are edging closer, and thank your lucky stars for those that have fallen into place.

YOUR SPECIAL NEW MOON FOR WISHING

Look out for your own special new moon - the one superpowered by your birth sign. It only occurs once a year, when the new moon is in the 11th house of your star sign to significantly boost your wishing power. Make your new moon wishes every month, but whatever happens, do not miss this one special new moon for you. .

Here are each star signs next super-powered new moon:

Virgo - July 4, 2016

Libra - August 2, 2016

Scorpio - September 1, 2016

Sagittarius - October 1, 2016

Capricorn - October 30, 2016

Aquarius - November 29, 2016

Pisces - December 29, 2016

Aries - January 28, 2017

Taurus - February 28, 2017

Gemini - March 28, 2017

Cancer - April 28, 2017

Leo - May 25, 2017

If the new moon is on your birthday, it is a big sign that exciting developments and changes lie ahead - so get wishing.

THERES ALWAYS NEXT MONTH...

Dont worry if you miss your wishing window over the next few days because you are perfectly placed to harness the power of the moons cycle to maximise the power of your wishes next month.

Dont worry if you miss your wishing window over the next few days because you are perfectly placed to harness the power of the moons cycle to maximise the power of your wishes next month

There are eight phases of the moon: new moon, waxing, first quarter, gibbous (or bulging), full, waning, third quarter, and balsamic just before the next new moon.

Astrologers believe each phase is charged with potential.

The new moon is the ideal time to plant the seeds of your future dreams, so that the power of the waxing moon can work with you to expand and explore those dreams.

Initially, you might not be able to see what you are really wishing for, but the wishes will emerge and become clearer, just as the sliver of the waxing crescent moon appears in the night sky.

As the moon gets closer to fullness, your vision should be building momentum - use the moons power to steel your determination and silence any doubts.

At the gibbous moon, your plans should be bulging with potential, but this is the best time to review them and make tweaks if necessary so you are ready when the full moon emerges as the high point of the lunar cycle, for everything to come to a head.

The full moon is when your wishes should come true, or, at the very least, you should get a strong sign that things are going in the right direction.

LUNAR FACTS A waxing moon is moving from new to full, and gets bigger in the sky. A waning moon is moving from full back to new and gets smaller every night. The moons phases happen as a result of the changing angles between the earth, moon and sun as the moon orbits the earth, causing different amounts of the moon to be lit up and visible. Advertisement

Whether your wishing works this month or not, the full moon marks the time to look back over the past month, let go of any negativity and move forward.

Forgive anyone or anything that has hurt you in the past four weeks because the clearer you are now, the better able you will be to sow more seeds at the next new moon to come.

It is best to relax and regroup as the moon wanes, growing smaller each night, but when the moon enters its balsamic phase (ten days after the full moon) its time to start to think about your dreams again.

This is a great time to stop any habits that arent good for you and end relationships that arent working. You need to be focused and clear for the upcoming new moon phase in order to be ready for your future dreams.
Having seen his late tycoon father Sir James's dream fulfilled of a referendum being held on Britain's membership of the EU, now financier Ben Goldsmith has another reason to crack open the champagne.

His wife, model-turned-caterer Jemima has given birth to their first child, a daughter named Eliza. 'We couldn't be happier,' Ben tells me. 'Little Eliza and her mother are both well  Jemima was a Trojan.' The elated mum shared this picture with friends yesterday.

Ben, whose father founded the Referendum Party in 1994, has three children with his first wife, banking heiress Kate Rothschild. They divorced after she had an affair with American rapper Jay Electronica.

Model-turned-caterer Jemima Goldsmith has given birth to a daughter named Eliza and shared this picture with friends yesterday

Ben Goldsmith, pictured with Jemima, said Eliza and her mother are both well and that his wife was a 'Trojan'

Almost a year after Princess Charlotte was baptised, her Honiton lace christening robe has been given another outing.

The gown, which is a replica of a lace and satin robe made for Queen Victoria's eldest daughter in 1841, was worn by Isabella Alexandra May, the second daughter of Lord and Lady Frederick Windsor, for her christening at the Kensington Palace chapel last weekend.

My exclusive photo shows the Bishop of London, the Rt Rev Richard Chartres, pouring Holy Water onto the forehead of Isabella above the chapel's font.

Isabella, who is the eighth child to wear the gown, was watched adoringly by her parents, Lord Freddie and his actress wife Sophie Winkleman, the half-sister of Strictly Come Dancing presenter Claudia. Also present were the baby's doting grandparents, Prince and Princess Michael of Kent.

The Bishop of London, the Rt Rev Richard Chartres, pours Holy Water onto the forehead of Isabella Alexandra May above the chapel's font

Country set's party trick: Glow-in-the-dark sheep

While most of us are lucky to celebrate birthdays with a few balloons and streamers, Britain's most tireless socialites go to extreme lengths to decorate their parties.

At fashion blogger Alice Naylor-Leyland's 30th celebration this weekend, the sheep at her husband Tom's Cambridgeshire estate, Stibbington House, had their fleeces dyed bright colours.

At Alice Naylor-Leyland's (pictured) 30th celebration this weekend, the sheep at her husband Tom's Cambridgeshire estate, Stibbington House, had their fleeces dyed bright colours

Guests enjoying the decorations included Alice's party-loving pals Princess Beatrice, model Cara Delevingne's sister Chloe and underwear designer Marissa Montgomery. Other attractions included a petting zoo of Shetland ponies and an outdoor dancefloor.

Historian who's no stick in the mud

There aren't many academics who could make history seem glamorous while wading through a muddy field in Wiltshire.

But Tudors expert Dr Suzannah Lipscomb achieved the feat this weekend at the Daily Mail Chalke Valley History Festival.

Combining a summery blue patterned dress with a mackintosh and green wellies, Dr Lipscomb gave a talk about the mysteries of Henry VIII's will.

Combining a summery blue patterned dress with a mackintosh and green wellies, Dr Suzannah Lipscomb (pictured) gave a talk about the mysteries of Henry VIII's will

The 37-year-old author has won over TV historian Dan Snow. 'I'm a huge fan of Suzannah's work,' he told me. 'History is dominated by men, and it's a big problem. Women are bringing the fun and sexiness back into history  it's great.'

It's one of England's most famous stately homes and the ancestral seat of Princess Diana's family, but Althorp has failed to live up to the standards set by Earl Spencer's latest wife.

Canadian divorcee Karen Gordon, who became the third Countess Spencer in 2011, is redecorating Althorp in what is said to be a 'major overhaul'.

'This idea of having guests walk across a hallway to use the bathroom isn't really working for me,' sniffs Karen. Althorp now boasts a bouncy castle in the state dining room.

'When I came here as a child with my sister, it was my grandfather's house . . . we weren't allowed to touch anything or even speak that much,' admits Lord Spencer. 'I think I can hear him right now, quietly revolving in his grave.'

Has David Cameron quietly committed his first act of sabotage against Brexit? The civil servant he's put in charge of extricating Britain from the EU is Oliver Robbins, who previously worked at the Home Office. Robbins was so unimpressive and uninformative at a recent meeting of the Home Affairs select committee that he was sent out of the room by chairman Keith Vaz  by which time, his ears were bright red.
Hoda's daughter Rose, three, also wore a dress and swimwear by the label

The Sydney siblings wore multiple dresses and bikinis by the designer

When sisters Hoda Waterhouse and Rey-Hanna Vakili stepped out on the streets of Sicily, they did so in such style, their holiday snaps look they are straight from the pages of Vogue.

Their envy-inducing Italian holiday saw them sunbathe on yachts in bikinis and enjoy family time at five-star hotels in the coastal town of Taormina... but it was their fashion choices that really stood out.

The sisters, from Sydney, wore multiple matching designs by luxury Italian fashion house Dolce and Gabbana, which together were worth a staggering AUD$13,300.

Sisters in style: Hoda Waterhouse (pictured right with her daughter Rose) and her sister Rey-Hanna Vakili (left) are enjoying a family holiday in Taormina, Italy

Fashion forward: Hoda, 30, and her daughter regularly wore matching Dolce and Gabbana dresses on family outings

Beach bums: Rey-Hanna, who previously worked for Vogue's Anna Wintour, soaked up the sun in a AUD$1,080 Dolce and Gabbana swimsuit, her niece Rose in a matching one costing AUD$255

Boating babe: Rey-Hanna lounged aboard a yacht in an AUD$381 bikini top

Rey-Hanna, who has worked as an assistant to Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour and previously dated Australian television presenter Jason Dundas, shared incredible photos of their family style to Instagram.

The brunette beauty and her sister stood out from the crowd in patterned dresses by the luxury designer, their summer sandals swapped for stilettos.

One photo showed Hoda and Rey-Hanna wearing matching Dolce and Gabbana designs - Hoda in an AUD$2,147 print silk dress and Rey-Hanna an AUD$4,200 gown.

Family affair: Together the sisters wore a staggering $13,300 worth of Dolce and Gabbana dresses

Bold and bright: Here Hoda wore an AU$2,147 print silk dress and Rey-Hanna an AU$4,200 gown

Tulips and Rose: Rey-Hanna wore a tulip printed AU$3,150 dress as she held hands with her adorable three-year-old niece

Hoda, an architect, is married to bookmaker and horse racing royalty Tom Waterhouse.

Taormina holds sentimental value for the family; Hoda and Tom tied the knot there in 2011, followed a year later by Tom's sister Kate and her husband Luke Ricketson.

Her husband and their two children, baby William and three-year-old Rose, joined them on the trip, with Rose wearing her very own Dolce and Gabbana designs too.

Hoda and Rose stepped out for dinner one night in matching Dolce, with Rose wearing an AU$534 brocade dress by the designer.

But their love for the label did not stop at dresses, with Rey-Hanna wearing two bikinis by the brand.

Designer duo: The designer-clad holiday was the envy of many on Instagram who expressed their love for the clothes

Now THAT'S a holiday: Their opulent clothes were only matched by their extravagant lifestyle, which saw them board yachts and tan in the sun

La Dolce Vita: The women smiled and waved to the camera as they walked through the streets

'Loving the Dolce': Out with the family, little Rose wore a AU$534 brocade dress by the luxury Italian designer

One photo showed the tanned beauty reclining on a yacht, playfully posing with a bunch of grapes.

There she was wearing a daisy and red rose printed Dolce and Gabbana bikini top, which retails for AU$381.

She also shared a photo wearing a matching Dolce and Gabbana swimsuit with Rose.

The pair wore citrus printed designs, with Rey-Hanna's bikini costing AU$1,080 and Rose's one piece AU$255.
Lisa Squire (right) is preparing to meet the sexual predator who raped and murdered her eldest daughter Libby (left), 21, in Hull in 2019. Polish butcher Pawel Relowicz (inset), 26, was convicted of the crime last year. Relowicz has agreed to see Mrs Squire, who has become a dedicated anti-violence campaigner fighting for women's rights. 'I get that he has to know he has some control over it,' she says. 'He has committed the worst offences imaginable and the prospect of seeing the mother of the person he killed must be quite difficult. He may be a bit nervous,' she concedes both with understatement and astounding magnanimity. 'It's quite a brave thing for him to do. I don't hate him, I really don't. I find anger and hatred incredibly draining, so I choose not to go down that route. Just trying to muddle through life without Libby is hard enough and there are days when I don't even want to mother my other three children, or go to work, or walk the dog. I just want to wallow in my Libby world.'
With her tousled hair swept back, Bella Hadid gave a sultry look to the camera.

At 19 years of age Hadid has made a name for herself in the fashion industry, and going by her latest photo shoot by Harpar's Bazaar Australia and the creative team, it's not hard to see why.

Hadid has appeared on the August cover of Harper's Bazaar Australia, her enviable figure clad in Chanel and Tiffany&Co.

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Sultry: Bella Hadid, 19, has appeared in the August edition of Harper's Bazaar Australia

The American beauty is the younger sibling of Victoria's Secret model Gigi Hadid, 21.

She was styled for the shoot by Bazaar Australia's fashion editor Karla Clarke, who dressed her in incredible pieces by Chanel and Tiffany&Co.

One photo showed the model dressed in a soft pink lace dress as she slouched on a chair, the designer gown slipping effortlessly off one shoulder.

Designer influence: The 19-year-old beauty was styled by Bazaar Australia's fashion editor Karla Clarke in Chanel and Tiffany&Co

Hadid's make up was done by Victoria Baron of M.A.P.

Her full lips were further accentuated with a dark-hued lipstick, and her skin was perfectly highlighted.

The model's light-coloured eyes received coats of mascara, but overall the natural look let her stunning features shine through.

Cover girl: The model was named 'fashion's new darling' by the magazine

Sister act: Bella is the younger sister of modelling sensation Gigi Hadid, 21, who walked for Victoria's Secret

Hadid's hair was styled off her face for the shoot, her tousled locks given a wet-look.

The sultry look was created by Jenny Kim of M.A.P, and the model look mature beyond her 19 years.

The shoot was done by Georges Antoni at The Artist Group, and came after the star visited Australia to walk in Mercedes Benz Fashion Week 2016.

Red carpet glamour: The model was recently in Australia for Mercedes Benz Fashion Week 2016

High profile: The modle was named as the face of Misha Collection's resort '17 campaign and newest line, Misha Gold

Down Under: She shared her trip to Australia on social media, and posed in front of the Harbour Bridge

The magazine cover had the headline 'Ciao Bella!' and labelled the model 'fashion's new darling'.

According to The Daily Telegraph, Hadid cashed in an eye-watering $400,000 to walk the runway for Misha Collection as part of MBFWA.
While the rest of us sit and shiver at our desks, Instagram's leading ladies are heating up.

With winter well and truly upon us the 'it girls' of Instagram have packed their bags and jetted abroad with their sights set on the summer sun.

Models such as Tash Oakley and her friend Devin Brugman, Nicole Warne and Gabrielle Epstein have left winter behind for the warm waters of the Mediterranean.

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Chasing summer: While the rest of us sit and shiver at our desks, Instagram's leading ladies are heating up (pictured is blogger and founder of clothing label SLINKII, Pia Muehlenbeck, in the Philippines)

'I could stay here forever': With winter well and truly upon us the 'it girls' of Instagram have packed their bags and jetted abroad with their sights set on the summer sun

Endless holiday: Models such as Tash Oakley and her friend Devin Brugman, Pia Muehlenbeck (pictured), Nicole Warne and Gabrielle Epstein have left winter behind for warmer waters

And it seems Greece is the destination of choice.

There, the bikini-clad bloggers are soaking up the summer sun as they laze by the water, swim in the sea or set sail on a yacht.

Gold Coast model Gabrielle Epstein has been in Greece for the past two weeks where she spent her time 'getting lost in the alleys of Mykonos' and going for quad rides in Little Venice.

Kicking it in Greece: In Greece, the bikini-clad bloggers are soaking up the summer sun as they laze by the water, swim in the sea or set sail on a yacht

Hard life: Gold Coast model Gabrielle Epstein has been in Greece for the past two weeks where she spent her time 'getting lost in the alleys of Mykonos' and going for quad rides in Little Venice

A photo of the bikini-clad blonde on board a yacht received more than 44,000 likes.

'Beach hopping around the Isle,' she captioned the photo.

Gabrielle is joined by blogger Nicole Warne, who goes by the Instagram name Gary Pepper Girl.

The digital influencer is there to celebrate the ten year anniversary of Net-A-Porter and Zimmermann.

Luxurious: A photo of the bikini-clad blonde on board a yacht received more than 44,000 likes

All in a day's work: The stunning blonde has been snapped adventuring around the picturesque coast

'Greece has always been my number one destination to visit but for four years now we've always had to change our plans,' she wrote on Instagram.

'I can't believe this is my first time here, it honestly feels like a dream.'

Nicole hopped aboard a yacht to 'explore the coastline in Mykonos' a glass of champagne in hand.

Blogger life: Gabrielle is joined by blogger Nicole Warne, who goes by the Instagram name Gary Pepper Girl

Chic: The digital influencer is there to celebrate the ten year anniversary of Net-A-Porter and Zimmermann

A Bikini A Day: If there is one person who knows how to lead a bikini-clad lifestyle it's Tash Oakley

Bronzed: The Bondi resident (left) is co-creator of the blog A Bikini A Day alongside her friend Devin Brugman (right), and together the pair have jetted to Greece for some fun in the sun

If there is one person who knows how to lead a bikini-clad lifestyle it's Tash Oakley.

The Bondi resident is co-creator of the blog A Bikini A Day alongside her friend Devin Brugman, and together the pair have jetted to Greece for some fun in the sun.

'Everything's just peachy here in Greece,' Tash wrote on Instagram alongside a photo of her in a peach-coloured bikini.

Enviable: The ladies have shared a number of snaps which show them partying it up on the coast

Postcard worthy: The stunning blonde showed off her bronzed skin as she wandered her way along the picturesque Grecian beaches

From where you'd rather be: The rest of us can only dream...

She might not have jetted as far as Europe, but Instagram model Pia Muehlenbeck is still soaking up the sun.

The founder of clothing label SLINKII and the blog Finding The Finer has been sitting pool-side in the Philippines.

'I could stay here forever,' the brunette beauty wrote alongside a photo of her posing in a red bikini, a giant coconut in hand.

'I can't begin to explain how epic this place is,' she said.
A Disney-obsessed art undergraduate, 21, has such a penchant for the brand that she's splurged 22,000 on memorabilia.

Beth Louise Carr has splurged her entire student loan and all her spare cash from her part-time job on trips to Disney Land - and thousands of toys.

She has so many Disney toys she's turned an entire room of her house into a fairy-tale bonanza - but her boyfriend, Lee Creighton, 21, is so worried about her spending that he's banned her from visiting Disney stores in the UK.

Beth Louise Carr, 21, from Sunderland, fell in love with Disney after watching Beauty and the Beast as a toddler. Since then, the fine art student has collected thousands of toys, visited Disney Resorts nine times all over the world, and has now transformed her spare room into a fairy-tale bonanza

Beth, from Sunderland, fell in love with Disney after watching Beauty and the Beast as a toddler.

Since then, the fine art student has collected thousands of toys and visited Disney Resorts all over the world nine times.

Boyfriend Lee has tagged along to most of Beth's Disneyland trips but now claims he has banned her from all UK stores as her home collection has spiralled out of control.

Beth said: 'I now have thousands of Disney toys all over the house and I own five Disney outfits, with a wardrobe filled with Disney inspired T-shirts and accessories.

'I have filled the kitchen cupboards with Disney mugs, glasses, vases and cutlery. I love nothing more than watching a Disney film.'

Her boyfriend, Lee Creighton, 21, has tagged along to most of Beth's Disneyland trips but now claims he has banned her from all UK stores as her home collection has spiralled out of control

Speaking about her obsession, Beth said: 'I now have thousands of Disney toys all over the house and own five Disney outfits, with a wardrobe filled with Disney inspired t-shirts and accessories'

Beth added: 'I'm normally an easy person to buy birthday presents for but because I have so much Disney stuff now, they all now struggle to find ornaments or toys I don't already have'

'I've also visited Disney museums including the Walt Disney Family Museum located in San Francisco, California, expressing my admiration for Walt Disney himself.

'Growing up it was an escape for me, I didn't have the best upbringing but Disney always managed to put a smile on my face.

'I created my fairy-tale room after realising I didn't have enough space for all my possessions. I add to my collection every year, buying up to three stuffed Disney toys at once and now it's huge, I think it would be worth thousands.

'Because I kept going to Disney stores every week and spending loads each time, my boyfriend, Lee, has now banned me from all UK stores.

'I don't take him too seriously though and I know deep down he fully understands how much I love it.

'He wanted an Xbox room or a gym room in our spare room but when I asked him where all of my Disney stuff would go, he agreed that I needed a special place for it all.'

Beth has visited Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, as well as Disneyland in California - and has been to Disneyland Paris seven times.

Although she says her favourtie film is Beauty and the Beast, her favouriter Disney character is Stitch and she can't wait to visit the resort again later this year to see some of her favourite characters.

Beth has visited Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, as well as Disneyland in California - and has been to Disneyland Paris seven times

She explained: 'Lee fully respects how much I love Disney and we take as many photos when we're there together'

She added: 'I'm going again in November to Walt Disney World Orlando Resort and I can't wait, it gets me through the year knowing I'll be visiting Disney.

'Lee will be coming too, he fully respects how much I love Disney and we take as many photos when we're there together.

'Now I have my Disney room, I feel as though I have my own very small piece of the fairy-tales at home.

'My friends who come and visit think I am crazy but I don't care, I absolutely love it.

'I'm normally an easy person to buy birthday presents for but because I have so much Disney stuff now, they all now struggle to find ornaments or toys I don't already have.'

Beth also has quite a few limited addition, rare Disney resort's pins and teddies, such as Ray from Princess and the Frog but said she wouldn't sell any of it

The fine art student is now even able to use her Disney obsession in practice while studying at university and on placement.

Beth said: 'I always wanted to be a Disney sketch artist and that's what got me into art in the first place.

'I currently have a temporary art placement where I create crafts at a theatre in Sunderland.

'I love to create Disney art; I have completed many self negotiated fairy-tale themed projects at university where I frequently study the art created by the Walt Disney Company. I work at Nando's part-time alongside university so I have extra money to fund my love of Disney.'

Beth has continued her love for Disney when it comes to naming pets, too. She said: 'I name pets after Disney characters, my cat is called Ariel and my gerbils were called Mike and Sully.'

After collecting Disney merchandise for all of her life, Beth now claims she has some very unique pieces.

She said: 'I have some very rare Disney collections, including a pin from the Walk in Walt's Footsteps tour that I did in the US where I had a VIP tour of Walt Disney's very own private apartment located above the firehouse on Mainstreet USA in Disneyland Resort, Anaheim.

BETH'S SPENDING BREAKDOWN DISNEY TRIPS TO FLORIDA : 6,000 DISNEY TRIPS TO CALIFORNIA AND LA - 3,500 DISNEY TRIPS TO PARIS - 10,500 DISNEY PRINCESS COSTUMES - 100 DISNEY TOYS - 2,000 DISNEY DECOR - 300 TOTAL: 22,400 Advertisement

'I also have quite a few limited addition, rare Disney resort's pins and teddies, such as Ray from Princess and the Frog, I'm not sure how much they are worth but I would never sell any of it anyway as it's all so precious to me.'

Disney is renowned for its movies and Beth can't wait for their most recent live-action release.

She said: 'There's a Beauty and the Beast film upcoming and I've never been more excited to see anything more in my life.'

Whenever an opportunity arises to dress up, Beth always jumps at the chance to use her Disney outfits.

Beth said: 'I've been to numerous fancy dress parties dressed as Marie from The Aristocats, along with Minnie Mouse and Cinderella dresses that I've had over the years.

'I had the best fancy dress party on my 16th birthday, which my friends all attended.

'Me and my boyfriend have gone as Rapunzel and Flynn Rider on a Disney themed university night out.

'I can't help how much I love Disney, I'm just drawn to all their merchandise whenever I'm at the shops, I can't see my collection getting any smaller, when I see something I like, I just buy it.'

She said: 'I have some very rare Disney collections, including a pin from the Walk in Walt's Footsteps tour that I did in the US where I had a VIP tour of Walt Disney's very own private apartment located above the firehouse on Mainstreet USA in Disneyland Resort, Anaheim'
After an action-packed day out in London yesterday, it was a quick change for Sarah Ferguson as she donned her finery for a glittering gala dinner at the British Museum.

Fergie, 56, joined friends Tamara Beckwith and Lady Victoria Hervey for the FIA Formula E Visa London ePrix gala dinner following the daytime racing event on Sunday night.

The mother-of-two slipped into an elegant, off-the-shoulder black gown and waist-cinching belt for the star-studded event, adding a pair of dangling earrings and wearing her signature red locks in barrel curls.

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Fergie joined friends Tamara Beckwith (left) and Lady Victoria Hervey (right) for the FIA Formula E Visa London ePrix event on Sunday night, after watching the races at Battersea Park earlier in the day

Sarah also posed for photos with rumoured ex-boyfriend Manuel Fernandez, in what was the second time they have been spotted together in one week

Her long-term friend Tamara Beckwith wore a beaded white fishtail gown with a furry shrug, while Lady Victoria Hervey stunned in a flared jumpsuit covered top-to-toe in sequins.

Sarah, Duchess of York, who is mother to Princess Beatrice, 27, and Eugenie, 26, had spent the day watching the racing at London's Battersea Park, however she seemed more interested in chatting to her friends.

She also posed for photos with rumoured ex-boyfriend Manuel Fernandez, in what was the second time they have been spotted together in one week.

Proving that there is no bad blood between them, the pair smiled broadly as they posed for photos.

Fergie slipped into an elegant, off-the-shoulder floor-length gown and waist-cinching belt for the star-studded event, adding a pair of dangly earrings and wearing her signature red locks in barrel curls

Fergie and Manuel smile for photos at the British Museum

Fergie, who was married to Prince Andrew for ten years, opted for a laid-back look with a dark green bomber jacket and matching leather cross-body bag.

She wore an asymmetric black dress and pointed lace-up heels, adding a touch of glam with some subtle gold jewellery.

Fergie was reportedly dating half-Irish, half-Spanish internet entrepreneur Manuel since being introduced by a mutual friend in early 2014 and, despite the eight-year age gap, insiders said at the time she was 'besotted' with him - despite the pair insisting they were just good friends.

While Sarah opted for black, Lady Victoria (right) stunned in a flared jumpsuit covered top-to-toe in sequins

Earlier in the day, Sarah was in London's Battersea Park for the FIA Formula E Visa London ePrix (joined by rumoured former flame Manuel Fernandez, left)

They made several public appearances together at a string of high-profile events and, last September, the pair attended Sir Bob Geldof's wedding in the South of France.

People close to the pair insisted they were just friends, even after they were spotted holidaying in Cannes together in May 2014, followed by a trip to Asturias, Spain in June.

However, in March a source told the Sun they had called it a day. 'Manuel's not been around for several weeks and apparently he finished it with her,' they said. 'She's been very tearful and weepy.'

Fergie is joined by (left to right) Tamara Beckwith, Manuel Fernandez, and Tamara's husband Giorgio Veroni

Girls' day out: Fergie poses for a photo with Lady Victoria Hervey (far left) and Tamara Beckwith

The Duchess lived at Royal Lodge in Windsor with her former husband, Prince Andrew, but finally moved out of the home in August 2015 - nearly 20 years after their divorce.

Manuel, meanwhile, has devoted his life to campaigning against domestic violence following the brutal murder of his 50-year-old sister Maria Stubbings in 2008.

The businessman is the co-founder of a lifestyle internet venture called vVoosh, which channels 10 per cent of its profits through a charitable foundation supporting causes including the Duchesss Children in Crisis charity.

Sarah chats to Lord Sebastian Coe (left) and Spanish business man Alejandro Agag for Day Two of the event

Fergie was reportedly dating internet entrepreneur Manuel since being introduced by a mutual friend in early 2014 and, despite the eight-year age gap, insiders said at the time she was 'besotted' with him.

In a rare interview with the Daily Mail in 2002, Fergie confessed her fears that she may never find Mr Right.

She said: 'I think any man who took me out would have to take on an awful lot, really.

'There's the public scrutiny, a mad family - the Fergusons, I mean, not the other family - and two granddaughters of Her Majesty.
Whether she's hosting a charity gala for dignitaries at Buckingham Palace or scaling a mountain in Bhutan, it's fair to say the Duchess of Cambridge rarely has a hair out of place.

So when she visited a war memorial in northern France last week, braving unseasonably chilly temperatures and blustery winds, she took extra precautions to ensure her tresses remained intact.

Holding her perfectly-coiffed chignon firmly in place, however, was not just a handful of kirby grips - but a hairnet of the sort beloved by octogenarians.

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The Duchess of Cambridge visited the Thiepval War Memorial in Picardy, northern France, last week for the Somme centenary commemorations. She kept her hair in place with a hairnet worn under her pillbox hat

Celebrity stylist Jason Collier thinks the Duchess may spark a trend with her latest look: 'With Kate showcasing the trend it is sure to be a huge hit this season; if Kate approves, so do we'

Barely perceptible from a distance, Kate's secret weapon which was attached from underneath her pillbox hat averted any hair faux-pas.

But could the humble hairnet be making a comeback? The Duchess wouldn't be the first to experiment with the elasticated accessory in recent months; in May, Kate Moss's sister Lottie wore one on the red carpet for a Cannes premiere.

Even style harbinger Kim Kardashian took a series of sultry Snapchat videos wearing one while delivering snacks to staff at her sister Kylie's lip kit factory.

And net was all over the AW16 catwalks in various guises; as veils, as fascinators and even on the clothing.

Isabel Marant sent her models down the catwalk in elaborate net headpieces for her Paris Fashion Week show in March, while Gucci's models wore Duchess-esque pillbox hats adorned with swathes of colourful netted material.

Barely perceptible from a distance, Kate's secret weapon which was attached from underneath her pillbox hat averted any hair faux-pas as she braved chilly temperatures and high winds in France last week

In May, Kate Moss's younger sister Lottie wore a blonde hairnet on the red carpet for a Cannes premiere

Just last month, Kendall Jenner, Irina Shayk, Joan Smalls and Bella Hadid were snapped backstage at Givenchy's Paris show swathed in dinner lady-style hairnets.

So could Kate's latest look be a nod to the kitsch-chic movement? Celebrity stylist Jason Collier, who has worked with Victoria Beckham, Sienna Miller and Eva Longoria, certainly thinks so.

'With fashion trends at the moment "kitsch", is making a comeback so it is no surprise that the hairnet has made an appearance. I can see the hair net taking the reigns for some quirky fashion looks this season.

'I think Kate is making a true style statement, although very subtle and matched to her hair, her hairnet is on trend when paired with her classic pillbox hat.

Just last month, Kendall Jenner, Irina Shayk, Joan Smalls and Bella Hadid were snapped backstage at Givenchy's Paris show swathed in dinner lady-style hairnets

Isabel Marant sent her models down the catwalk in net headpieces for her Paris Fashion Week show in March (left), while Gucci's models wore Duchess-esque pillbox hats adorned with swathes of netted material (right)

HOW TO CREATE KATE'S CHIGNON 'A great look for hairnets is a braided up-do like Kate's,' Jason says. 'Skirimply pull back the hair into a low ponytail and braid and fold it back on itself and pin with kirby grips. Place a hairnet over the bun to save any hair from falling and to add a vintage twist. 'The hairnet disguises any hair-woes and is a brilliant hack for creating any braided up-dos and a posh look. I am sure this trend will be going mainstream soon enough, with a stress on coloured hairnets clashing with hair colour and hats.' Advertisement

'We have seen a great deal of hair nets on the catwalks for AW16 and they are all about making more of a statement and with Kate showcasing the trend it is sure to be a huge hit this season; if Kate approves, so do we.'

Jason calls the humble hairnet a 'sophisticated look' which he says Kate could adapt by teaming brighter colours like electric blues and greens with her hats.

'The hairnet Kate is wearing is a typical traditional fine silk hairnet and is teamed perfectly with her pillarbox hat and pleated bun,' he explains.

Jason says a hairnet is perfect for keeping flyaway hair at bay, and to save your bun from falling and drooping.

And when it comes to trying one for yourself, he says it can be used to create a half-bun, or 'hun' - but adds that it's vital you use the correct colour.
They say that they are considering having more children together

vasectomy so the couple had IVF in Norway

A couple with a 26-year age gap are celebrating the birth of their miracle baby - despite strangers assuming they're father and daughter.

Sarah Leigh-Bergin, 31, from Nantwich, Cheshire, first met husband Mike, 57, in 2004, when she was 19 and he was 45 - and tied the knot seven years later.

Although some of their family and friends had their reservations at first, they now fully support their relationship.

Mike and Sarah Leigh-Bergin have celebrated the birth of their first child Joshua despite a 26 year age gap

Sarah, who is 26 years young than her husband, finds herself correcting strangers who think Mike is her father.

So when the couple started trying for a baby, they knew they would receive remarks about Mike being their child's granddad.

As Mike underwent an irreversible vasectomy 20 years ago, it was impossible for them to conceive naturally.

With the odds stacked against them, Sarah and Mike refused to give up on their dream of starting a family, and after finding a clinic in Norway, it took three attempts of IVF before she fell pregnant in September last year.

The couple were thrilled and on June 5, Sarah gave birth to baby Joshua, weighing 6lbs 10oz.

They decided to tell their story in Fertility Road magazine to show other couples that age is just a number and to promote IVF clinic's outside of the UK.

The couple are describing Joshua as a 'miracle' baby as Mike had a irreversible vasectomy and the couple had to resort to IVF

Despite the odds being stacked against them the couple conceived Joshua after three rounds of IVF. Pictured: Mike with Joshua (left) and just after her was born (right)

The couple went to a clinic in Norway to have the procedure before Sarah fell pregnant in September last year

Sarah, a social worker, said: 'Joshua is mine and Mike's first baby together and we couldn't be happier that we've now got our perfect family.

'Me and Mike have faced critics during our relationship, some people find our age gap uncomfortable.

'But in reality, we are just a normal couple who love each other unconditionally.

'I've had a few people refer to Mike as my dad when we're out and about and now Joshua is here, people will assume he's his granddad because of the age gap.

'We both just brush it off though, there's no reason why we would be offended, it is what it is.'

However, Mike admits that he is understanding of people's attitudes towards their relationship, having a daughter himself.

Sarah and Mike have a 26 year age gap and say that they are often mistaken for father and daughter

They said that they knew that people would make comments about Mike looking like Joshua's granddad when he was born

Sarah added: 'Mike has said himself that if his daughter brought home a man 26 years older than her, he would question things too.

'My parents did ask questions, with some people assuming we had hidden motives for being with each other, but once they saw us as a couple, they could see how much we loved each other, they are now over the moon the have a grandson.

'Me and Mike had always wanted to start a family together and we often talked about it at the beginning of our relationship as I didn't know if it would be possible but I knew we would need help either way.

'In 2014 I started to research different IVF clinics, due to being turned down by the NHS for treatment because Mike had a vasectomy.

'I also had unbalanced hormones and polycystic ovaries making it impossible to conceive naturally.

Although people did question the couple's motives for being together they said that once their family saw how happy they were they were thrilled that Mike and Sarah could have a baby together

'It cost 2,000 each time we tried IVF in Norway rather than the usual 7,000 we calculated it would cost us in the UK, after three attempts I actually fell pregnant, we couldn't believe it.

'Seeing the blue line appear on the pregnancy test was the best moment of our lives and then watching my bump grow was incredible.

Mike and Sarah still have two embryos left and say they are considering having more children

'Now Joshua is here and he's three weeks' old our whole experience feels worthwhile, it was an emotional rollercoaster having two failed attempts but we always tried to stay positive.'

The couple are now back home and looking forward to the future together.

Sarah said: 'Apart from being sleep deprived, we are doing perfectly fine with Joshua back at home.

'He gave us a scare in hospital as he picked up an infection and needed to be placed in high dependency unit for a few days, all we could do it change his nappy and stroke his skin through the incubator.

'But after 12 days he was allowed home and we could finally take over and look after him full time.

'I also wanted other people to know that despite mine and Mike's age gap that couples can still conceive and have their own children even if they're facing problems like we did.

'I couldn't be happier now I'm a mum, and although I'm sure myself and Mike will get some remarks about his age as we push baby Joshua around together, we are determined to be great parents.'

The pair are even discussing the possibility of having more children in the future.

They added: 'We still have two embryos left, so hopefully we may go out to Norway again and try to give him a brother or sister someday.'

Fertility expert at Fertility Road, Tone Jarvis-Mack, said: 'Like most of our readers they wanted to find out more information about fertility clinics and the treatments available so they could make an informed decision.

'After a very positive experience meeting Dr Hausken at the Fertility Show in London they decided to travel to Norway to start their own fertility journey.

'From the outset Mike and Sarah knew the odds were stacked against them with a variety of medical problems.
She works extremely hard to maintain a toned body and it seems that Millie Mackintosh's efforts are paying off.

The former reality TV star-turned-business woman, 26, who is a walking advert for the healthy lifestyle she preaches, displays her gym-honed physique in a new beauty shoot to celebrate her latest cosmetic collaboration.

Millie, who found fame on Made In Chelsea, has teamed up with beauty box subscription service, Birchbox, to launch her own curated box.

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Millie Mackintosh showcases the results of her gruelling summer body workout regime as she unveils her new beauty collection

Entitled 'Never-Ending Summer', the collection was apparently inspired by 'sunset hues and bohemian summers'.

Millie, who trained as a make-up artist and started out as Caggie Dunlop's make-up artist on Made In Chelsea, has used her beauty know-how to create her own piece of make-up for the box, too.

Millie has create the LOC x Millie Ultra-Gloss Lip Pencil in Bohemian Rose. Designed and named by Millie herself, she says the punchy pink shade is universally flattering and also has a nourishing formula that leaves lips 'beautifully hydrated too.'

Entitled 'Never-Ending Summer', the collection with Birchbox was apparently inspired by 'sunset hues and bohemian summers'

Millie, who trained as a make-up artist, has create the LOC x Millie Ultra-Gloss Lip Pencil in Bohemian Rose to go inside the subscription box

Designed and named by Millie herself, she says the punchy pink shade is universally flattering

Last week, the socialite hosted her own party at an event to celebrate her new collaboration. The former Made In Chelsea star looked lovely in a powder blue shirt maxi dress as she arrived at the Bloomsbury Hotel in London.

Missing out on the evening was her new boyfriend and former Made In Chelsea co-star Hugo Taylor.

Millie and Hugo, who previously dated for six months back in 2011, started seeing each other again in March - just weeks after the socialite split from husband Professor Green.

After weeks of rumours, the pair finally went public with their reconciled romance in Monaco in May, a few days after her divorce was granted from the rapper after two and a half years of marriage.

Speaking about her romance with the sunglasses designer, she told The Telegraph last weekend: 'Im great. Hes great. Im very happy, thats all I can say.'

While she gushed over Hugo, the fashion designer was wholly less forthcoming with talk of her ex-husband as she said: 'I cant really talk about it. Its for legal reasons.'

Babe in blue: Millie Mackintosh looked lovely in a powder blue maxi dress as she arrives at the Birchbox party in London on Thursday
Queen Maxima showcased her signature style this afternoon as she opted for a colourful oversized hat while greeting the president of Greece as he arrived in the Netherlands.

The Argentinian-born royal was pictured in a wide-brimmed cherry coloured headpiece as she welcomed Prokopis Pavlopoulos to The Hague.

The Queen, 45, was joined by husband King Willem-Alexander as the royal couple hosted a lunch for visiting Greek President and his wife Vlasia Pavlopoulou at the Noordeinde Palace.

Queen Maxima showcased her signature style this afternoon as she opted for a wide brimmed hat as she welcomed the president of Greece and his wife on the first day of their two day visit to the Netherlands

Today marks the start of the Greek couple's two-day visit to the country with the aim of strengthening the relationship between the two nations.

The two couples appeared to already be getting along famously this afternoon as they were pictured laughing together ahead of the lunch.

Maxima looked the picture of elegance in her berry coloured hat which matched her silk tropical sunset printed dress from Valentino and plum belt.

The Argentinian born royal paired her berry red accessory with a Hawaiian print silk dress from Valentino

King Willem-Alexander joined Maxima as they welcomed Prokopis Pavlopoulos and his wife Vlasia Pavlopoulou at the Noordeinde Palace in The Hague

Maxima and husband King Willem-Alexander (pictured) hosted the lunch. The visit of the Greek dignitaries aims to strengthen the relationship between the two nations

The mother-of-three added a little glamour to her daytime look with a low chignon and sophisticated makeup.

Vlasia looked elegant in an all-over metallic gold suit which she partnered with a sparkly gold clutch for this afternoon's events.

The distinguished guests joined the King and Queen of the Netherlands in the dining room of the Noordeinde Palace.

Maxima, although looking glamorous, appeared to have forgotten her table manners as she did not remove her hat throughout the meal

The atmosphere was a jovial one with many of the guests pictured laughing and joking with the Queen

Plenty of other Dutch dignitaries joined the royal couple in a bid to welcome the president and his wife this afternoon.

Maxima, although looking glamorous, appeared to have forgotten her table manners as she did not remove her hat throughout the meal.

The atmosphere was a jovial one with many of the guests pictured laughing and joking with the Queen.
He said worst thing was remembering she was on Tesco Mobile

Joe Lee tweeted about his mother not picking up her mobile phone

A man who described Tesco Mobile as 'absolute poverty' was slammed by the phone provider in a hilarious Twitter exchange.

Joe Lee said the worst thing about his mother not answering her phone was her voicemail reminding him that her network provider is Tesco Mobile.

But determined not to ignore the insult, the official Tesco Mobile Twitter account replied with the snarky remark: 'Nah the worst thing is your own mother blatantly ignoring your calls.'

Joe Lee tweeted that the worst thing about his mother not answering her phone was her voicemail reminding him that her network provider is Tesco Mobile

The official Tesco Mobile Twitter account replied with the snarky remark: 'Nah the worst thing is your own mother blatantly ignoring your calls'

The cutting response has since been retweeted and liked more than 1,000 times.

Others took to Twitter to comment on the funny exchange, with some suggesting they were now considering changing phone companies.

Adam wrote 'Well done, epic put down. My favourite in a while', while Rachel Shearman added: 'That's absolute gold. Bravo Tesco'

Conan Murray wrote 'I might transfer to tesco mobile now...', to which Tesco Mobile replied: What are you waiting for?'

Others took to Twitter to comment on the funny exchange, with some suggesting they were now considering changing phone companies

Caitlin tweeted 'Omg this has made my day', while Jack added 'You've just been ended by Tesco Mobile'.

And one customer was feeling very smug about being a Tesco Mobile customer. Naomi Davis wrote: 'Loving you work. This is why I love being on Tesco Mobile!'

It is not the first time that Tesco Mobile has been involved in a comical Twitter exchange.

In May, a teenager was given too much change when buying a packet of Jaffa Cakes at Tesco using a self-checkout machine.

He tweeted Tesco with his thanks - but the refused to 'grass' on the self-checkout till by telling the representative which store he had been shopping at.

Caitlin wrote that the exchange had 'made her day' while Rachel described it as 'absolute gold'
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A selection of outfits worn by the Queen is to go on display at Buckingham Palace as part of an exhibition marking the monarch's 90th birthday this year.

The show, called Fashioning a Reign: 90 Years of Style from The Queen's Wardrobe, showcases royal outfits from occasions such as family weddings, official portraits and state visits, including some that have never before been put on public display before.

The Buckingham Palace exhibit, which forms part of the summer opening of its State Rooms to the public, is one of three such royal fashion displays taking place at the monarch's official residences, including Windsor Castle and the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh.

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The exhibition at Buckingham Palace showcases outfits from royal engagements as well informal occasions. Around 150 outfits will be shown in three different locations, and the content of each exhibition has been selected to have particular association with the location

The exhibition will feature a blue and gold evening dress, which the monarch wore during a state visit to The Netherlands in 1958 (right). Sir Norman Hartnell was also responsible for the ensemble worn by The Queen for the wedding of her daughter, Princess Anne

The most recent collection of outfits, which will be open to the public from July 23, features a pair of overalls worn by the monarch while serving in the wartime Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS) as well as formal outfits including two custom-made gowns.

During the Second World War, the then Princess Elizabeth became the first female member of the Royal Family to join the Armed Services as a full-time active member, serving in the ATS with the honorary rank of Second Subaltern.

The Princess undertook wartime training and was issued with the standard battledress uniform of a wool serge jacket and trousers, worn with a shirt and tie, and a service cap with the badge of the regiment.

Another standout piece, a sweeping turquoise silk shift dress with silver floral embroidery by Hardy Amies, was worn by the Queen for an official portrait in the White Drawing Room at Buckingham Palace by Cecil Beaton in 1968.

The exhibition features a pair of overalls worn by the monarch while serving in the wartime Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS). During the Second World War, she became the first female member of the Royal Family to join the Armed Services (pictured right, in April 1945)

Visitors can also see the outfit that Her Majesty wore to her daughter, Princess Anne's wedding to Captain Mark Phillips in November 1973 (pictured). The royal blue coat dress with diamond-shaped buttons and matching hat (below) was also designed by Sir Norman Hartnell

The Queen's outfit for her daughter Princess Anne's wedding (left); A turquoise silk shift dress with silver floral embroidery by Hardy Amies, was worn by the Queen for an official portrait in the White Drawing Room at Buckingham Palace by Cecil Beaton in 1968 (right)

Hardy Amies began designing for The Queen in 1950, when he made outfits for Princess Elizabeth's royal tour of Canada. In 1965 The Queen wore an elegant turquoise silk-organza shift dress by Amies during an historic State Visit to the Federal Republic of Germany.

The bodice of the dress is embroidered with silver thread and embellished with sequins, beads and diamantes in a design inspired by the rococo interiors of Schloss Bruhl, where a State Banquet in The Queen's honour was given by President Lubke.

Three years later, in 1968, The Queen wore the same dress for her official portrait by Cecil Beaton.

The selection of outfits worn by the Queen is to go on display at Buckingham Palace as part of an exhibition marking her 90th birthday. At the Palace of Holyroodhouse, for example, the use of tartan in royal dress is explored, while at Windsor Castle magnificent evening gowns worn on official occasions will be contrasted with Elizabeth's fancy-dress costumes, from wartime family pantomimes at the Castle

Visitors will be treated to an an outfit by designer Angela Kelly (left), which she wore to the wedding of Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge at Westminster Abbey on 29 April 2011 (right). The crepe-wool beaded primrose dress and coat have a matching hat

The exhibition will also feature a dazzling pale blue and gold evening dress designed by Sir Norman Hartnell, which the monarch wore during a state visit to The Netherlands in 1958.

Visitors can also see the outfit that Her Majesty wore to her daughter, Princess Anne's wedding to Captain Mark Phillips at Westminster Abbey in November 1973. The royal blue coat dress with diamond-shaped buttons and matching hat, was also designed by Sir Norman Hartnell.

They will also be treated to an an outfit by designer Angela Kelly - the Queen's official dresser since 2002 - which she wore to the wedding of Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge at Westminster Abbey on 29 April 2011.

The crepe-wool beaded primrose dress and coat have a matching hat adorned with handmade silk roses and apricot-coloured leaves.

The exhibition - Fashioning a Reign: 90 Years of Style from The Queen's Wardrobe - opened earlier this year at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh. The Queen wore this gown with a sash of Royal Stewart tartan for the Gillies Ball at Balmoral Castle in 1971

This dress, from the Edinburgh part of the exhibition, was worn in 1962 for the King of Norway's visit (Her Majesty wearing the gown, right)

The exhibition at Buckingham Palace is one of three separate special displays in celebration of the Queen's 90th birthday at each of Her Majesty's official residences during 2016. A total of around 150 outfits will be shown, and the content of each exhibition has been selected to have particular association with the location.

At the Palace of Holyroodhouse, for example, the use of tartan in royal dress is explored, while at Windsor Castle magnificent evening gowns worn on official occasions will be contrasted with Princess Elizabeth's fancy-dress costumes, from wartime family pantomimes at the Castle.

The Holyroodhouse part of the exhibition went on display earlier this year, focusing on significant events in the Queen's life, her support of British craft and design and tartan in royal dress.

Among the dozens of outfits on display will be the elaborate embroidered gown worn by the Queen for the wedding of her sister Princess Margaret and Antony Armstrong-Jones in May 1960.

The Edinburgh collection also houses the traditional robes worn by the Queen at the Order of the Thistle, a ceremony honouring men and women who have held public office or who have contributed in a significant way to national life and is the highest honour in Scotland

Some of the Queen's beloved hats from throughout her early life and reign will also go on show in the exhibition (pictured)

The showstopping turquoise dress and matching bolero jacket were designed by Norman Hartnell, the British couturier who created Princess Margaret's wedding dress.

Hartnell, who first worked for the then Princess Elizabeth in the 1940s, also created the evening gown worn by the Queen with a sash of Royal Stewart tartan for the Gillies Ball at Balmoral Castle in 1971. It will also form part of the exhibition.

Originally introduced by Queen Victoria, the ball is given for neighbours, estate and castle staff when the monarch is in residence.

Another centrepiece of the show will be the outfit worn by the Queen for the official opening of the Scottish Parliament on July 1 1999. She looked resplendent in a purple coat made of a silk-wool blend with a green silk-crepe and lace dress, and a shawl of purple and green Isle of Skye tartan, woven on the Isle of Lewis.

The Queen wore this elegant ivory dress with embroidered gold detailing to a state banquet in Bangkok in 1972 when she was 46

Following the exhibit in Edinburgh, the dresses will be displayed at Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle later in the year. Pictured: The jewelled ballgown from when Her Majesty visited America as a guest of President Eisenhower, right

The Sandra Murray-designed outfit was teamed with a matching hat by milliner Philip Somerville, trimmed with a bow and dark green feathers.

The collection will also play host to the traditional robes showcased by the Queen during the Order of the Thistle.

The silk cape and feathered hat are worn at the ceremony, which honours men and women who have held public office or who have contributed in a significant way to national life, and is the highest honour in Scotland. It is second only in precedence in the UK to the Order of the Garter.

Clothing from her childhood will also feature, including double-breasted coats worn by then Princess Elizabeth and Princess Margaret during an official visit to the Palace of Holyroodhouse with King George VI and Queen Elizabeth in 1937.

The purple coat and green dress with matching hat the Queen wore to open the Scottish Parliament in 1999 are on display in Edinburgh

As well as the monarch's historical outfits some of her beloved hats will also go on display at the exhibition.

A vintage green cap decorated with white flowers by Simone Mirman worn by her majesty on tour in Australia in 1973 can be seen in a glass cabinet.

In the same display is an ornate floral bonnet worn by the Queen in Australia three years earlier. She and the Duke of Edinburgh visited the country to celebrate the bicentenary of Captain Cook's landing.

The Holyroodhouse display will be followed by shows at Buckingham Palace from July 23 and Windsor Castle from September 17.

In total, around 150 outfits worn by the Queen will go on display to the public across the three venues.

Piece of history: An elegant turquoise gown designed by Norman Hartnell was worn by the Queen to Princess Margaret's wedding in 1960
Brave volunteers have agreed to appear naked in front of their flatmates - and a national television audience - in a unique TV experiment to find out what they can't live without.

In new Channel 4 show Life Stripped Bare, the contestants are literally stripped of everything from their clothes to their mobile phones to see how they cope.

Channel 4 said of the premise: 'At a time when most have us have too much stuff - with the average Brit owning 1,000 items, while checking their phone 200 hundred times a day - what do we really need to be happy?

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Flatmates Jon and Laura, both 30, from Chorlton, Manchester, are two of the people who agreed to take part in a new Channel 4 show where they are stripped of all their possessions

The pair hand in their mobile phones to see how they cope without them

Participants on the show have to hand in all their possessions for three weeks and get one item a day back of their choice

Jon and Laura admit they didn't expect to be walking around naked in front of one another when they agreed to be flatmates

Twentysomethings Tom, Andrew and Georgia celebrate getting back some of their possessions as they take part in the unique show

'To find out, three households take part in a life changing experiment. For 21 days, all their possessions will be stripped away - even their clothes - and every single item in their home put into storage.'

Under the rules of the show, the participants 'must not buy or borrow anything, apart from food and drink' while 'carrying on with their daily routine - work, relationships and social lives'.

They will be given one item back a day for the 21 days so must decide what they want more - will it be shoes or mattress? Their phone or a pair of pants?

Flatmates Jon and Laura from Chorlton, Manchester, are two of the people who agreed to take part.

The 30-year-old professional photographers appeared on BBC Breakfast on Saturday to talk about the experience.

Jon admitted he didn't expect to be walking around naked in front of Laura when they first agreed to move in together but he said 'it was strange at first but we soon got used to it.'

The participants' houses were stripped of all furniture and Laura missed her home comforts

A mattress was one of the first things Jon and Laura wanted back after clothes

Jon walks the streets in his reclaimed dressing gown as the show goes on

The participants items are all places in storage and they face a tough decision every day to decide an item to take back and what they can carry on without

The pair with disposable incomes gave up their designer coffee machine, Mercedes, and all their furniture for the experiment and were surprised by what they missed the most.

Laura learnt that something as simple as a good night's sleep made all the difference to her happiness and wellbeing.

She admitted she was desperate to get her mattress back as soon as possible as 'it was really uncomfortable trying to sleep on a hard floor and then try and get through the next day.'

Meanwhile Jon said he surprised himself by opting to have a cardigan back before his mobile phone - but he chose comfort over connection as 'we filmed during winter and it was really cold.'

Also taking part is East London fashion designer Heidi, who owns 31 bikinis and is a self-confessed social media addict.

Fashion designer Heidi, also took part and was shocked at how exposed she was without her curtains (not to mention her clothes)

Heidi is a social media addict and had to get used to living without her mobile

Heidi tries to navigate the streets without her clothes on during the experiment

Heidi was delighted to get her mattress back early on in the process

She was also keen to have her home comforts returned admitting a couple of days into the challenge: 'All I want is my mattress.'

She said relying on the kindness of strangers and her friends and family helped her get through the three weeks, in which she is seen dashing through the streets naked, hiding behind bus shelters to preserve her modesty.

'When you have nothing people actually make the whole world of difference,' she said.

Twentysomethings Tom, Andrew and Georgia in Cardiff also give up their 2000 items and have to learn how to adapt their usual busy social lives when they don't have a phone, home music system or going out outfits.

At the end of the experiment, those taking part can decide if they want everything they had taken away returned, or if there is anything they've discovered they would rather carry on living without.
A mother-of-three who struggled to accept her changed postpartum body has taken back her confidence with a sexy photo shoot alongside her husband.

Melanie Varney, from Vancouver, British Columbia, and her husband Gabby Mason were lucky enough to welcome three children in the space of a year - 364 days to be exact - with Melanie giving birth to a son on March 11, 2013, and twin girls on March 10, 2014.

But despite marveling in the wonders of motherhood, Melanie found her postpartum body to be totally alien to her.

Putting it out there: Melanie Varney, from Vancouver, British Columbia, and her husband Gabby Mason posed for an intimate photo shoot to help her build body confidence after having three children

Wonder woman: Melanie gave birth to a son on March 11, 2013, and twin girls on March 10, 2014

The bump: After having the twin girls, Melanie said that her body confidence was shot, and her body looked to her like 'that of a stranger'

'I was on top of the world with what my body had just produced, but the reflection of myself in the mirror was that of a stranger,' Melanie told Huffington Post.

Then, recently, a photographer she worked with on her art and clothing company West Coast Karma, Trina Cary, put out an open call online asking for a couple to model for an intimate shoot together in a lake.

Gabby and Melanie decided to volunteer, and serendipitously they were just the perfect fit for what the photographer was looking for.

'Lately I have been inspired by nudity because its raw, vulnerable and empowering,' Trina told the publication. 'I want to teach women and men how to be confident again. You dont have to be perfect in every way to be beautiful, you just have to own your flaws and embrace your differences.'

Taking the leap: When she saw photographer Trina Cary put out an open call for a couple to pose in a lake, Melanie decided to volunteer

A tale to tell: Melanie and Gabby's struggle to conceive and Melanie's subsequent insecurities fit perfectly with the message Trina wanted to send

United front: Melanie hoped that the shoot would help her 'see myself the way my husband saw me'

Baring all: The photos feature the couple in various states of undress, in and out of the lake's waters

Melanie's story and struggles complimented Trina's goals entirely. She and Gabby had gone through trials and tribulations in their quest to build their family, spending more than a year trying to conceive and dealing with the heartbreak of miscarriage during that time.

Going into the shoot, Melanie hoped to learn how to 'feel happy with "Mel," not just "mom,"' and also to 'see myself the way my husband saw me'.

The couple agreed to pose in and out of the water, in different stages of undress, without a lick of editing done on any of Melanie's well-earned marks of motherhood.

'I wasnt able to choose the angles, suck in my tummy or filter over my bits. I felt vulnerable, but at the same time empowered,' she said.

Helping hand: Some of the images in the steamy shoot see Gabby helping to cover up his wife's intimate areas

Snuggled up: Others features the couple snuggling up underneath a large blanket on the banks

Arty looks: Melanie said that she 'felt vulnerable, but at the same time empowered' by the shoot

Getting it done: Trina aimed to show the mom that she was just as beautiful now as before her pregnancies

The photos, some in black and white and others in color, show the couple embracing each other, running their hands over each other and tenderly kissing.

In some of the steamy shots, Gabby's hands cover up his wife's breasts, while in others the pair embrace under a blanket.

Trina put the spotlight on showing Melanie just what her husband sees, as well as show her that she is just as beautiful as she was before bringing three babies into the world.

Even Gabby himself told his wife that after the shoot he felt he 'may have gotten just as much out of the shoot as I did,' Melanie explained.

Added benefits: Gabby also said he felt empowered by the shoot after seeing the photos

Looking up: Trina did her best to show the beauty of a postpartum body as well as 'a husband, who is still in awe of her'

More to say: Both Trina and Melanie hope that the shoot helps other mothers learn to accept their forms

'Dudeoirs seem to be a bit of a joke in the media, but the truth is that men have confidence issues as well,' said Trina. 'They also worry about how other people, and especially their partners, view them.'

Both Melanie and Trina hope that the photos will help other moms who feel insecure try to embrace their postpartum bodies.
The Duke of Cambridge has encouraged everyone to challenge bullying in a video message released to mark the first ever National Stand Up To Bullying Day.

William, 34, said the issue is not just confined to the playground and can affect anyone, regardless of age and background.

National Stand Up To Bullying Day has been spearheaded by The Diana Award charity, which was set up in memory of Princess Diana.

The Duke of Cambridge has encouraged everyone to challenge bullying in a video message to mark the first ever National Stand Up To Bullying Day

The Duke recorded his message at Kensington Palace in May after hosting a round table discussion about the issue with Diana Award recipients and supporters.

He said it was 'our collective responsibility to be alert, and to be ready to challenge the behaviour we see around us'.

'We all have a role to play to ensure that we do not stand by, but instead stand up, and put a stop to bullying,' William said.

'Bullying is an issue which can affect any one of us, regardless of age, background, gender, sexuality, race, disability or religion.

William, 34, said the issue is not just confined to the playground and can affect anyone regardless of age and background

He warned that for young people in particular, bullying can have a profoundly damaging and long-lasting effect

'It can happen for many reasons, it is often stupid and cruel, and can take many forms.'

He added that the rise of technology means that bullying can feel 'unrelenting', and that for young people in particular, bullying can have a 'profoundly damaging and long-lasting effect.'

William said that more than 16,000 young people in the UK are absent from school each year due to bullying.

He added: 'To shatter their trust in relationships and faith in the world around them at such a young age can have a lasting impact on their mental health and state of mind.'

But he also warned that adults were affected by bullying as well.

William said it was 'our collective responsibility to be alert, and to be ready to challenge the behaviour we see around us'

'It is important that we recognise that bullying is not just confined to the playground or classroom, and it does not only affect children and young people', the Duke said.

'It exists all around us - in people's homes, in their workplaces, and in their wider communities,' the Duke said.

'Research shows that victims of bullying can become more susceptible to depression, anxiety and suicidal thoughts, and experience difficulties in maintaining healthy relationships.

'This cannot be allowed to continue. And it is why I am supporting The Diana Award Stand Up to Bullying Campaign. It is our collective responsibility to be alert, and to be ready to challenge the behaviour we see around us.

'We all have a role to play to ensure that we do not standby, but instead stand up, and put a stop to bullying.'

The Duke recorded his message at Kensington Palace in May after hosting a round table discussion about the issue with Diana Award recipients and supporters

Research by YouGov commissioned by The Diana Award shows that 81 per cent of people say that bullying was commonplace in school, with 64 per cent believing it is widespread throughout society.

Just over half of people questioned reporter that bullying is commonplace at work.

The survey of 2,000 adults in Britain aged between 18 and 55 also revealed that over two thirds knew someone who had been bullied - but a third of adults said they had never challenged bullying behaviour.

A host of celebrities - including Sir Ben Kingsley, Will Poulter, Christopher Eccleston, Ben Cohen, and James McVey from The Vamps - also appear in a video.

They are seen to physically stand up to signify their support for the campaign.
Laura Bever, 27, has a tangle of blood vessels beneath her skin in her face that diverts blood away from the brain - and could trigger a fatal stroke

A mother has described the horror of living with a huge egg-shaped ticking time bomb in her face which could kill her at any moment.

Laura Bever, 27, from Tucson, Arizona, first felt a worrying pain in her top lip and gums three years ago.

Over time, it developed into a lump doctors that doctors were baffled by.

After numerous trips to hospital - and seeing the long tumor running through her face - a shocked ear, nose and throat specialist diagnosed her with a deadly arteriovenous malformation (AVM).

This is a tangle of blood vessels beneath the skin that diverts blood away from the brain - and can trigger a fatal stroke.

Ms Bever, a mother-of-two, claims she was turned away by doctors for two years because they feared her face would suffer irreparable damage.

This is despite her pleas that she would rather be healthy than pretty.

Last year she found a surgeon who tried to destroy the tumor.

Sadly, this failed and has the tumor has continued to grow in size, expanding through her nose and lip.

Another specialist has recently offered to operate on her, but Ms Bever has to wait until next year due to insurance problems - and is concerned her AVM will continue to grow.

Until then, she must try to stay calm and avoid stress, as hormones released while stressed could increase the swelling of the potentially lethal tumor.

Ms Bever, who works in tech support, said AVMs are nicknamed ticking time bombs because the more blood that flows into them, the more it weakens the walls of the blood vessels, which can be fatal.

'The tumor stretches across my entire top lip and goes through to the base of my nose, it's the shape of an egg and causes me a lot of pain,' she said.

'When I was going through a lot of emotional stress, it increased the size of my AVM because of the hormones that were released.

'Now I'm trying to escape from anything stressful - even crying hurt my face too, so I have to take walks or distract myself.

'Everything I do revolves around my AVM and trying to remain happy to keep stress-free and any avoid hormonal changes - it's like trying to be little miss happy.

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The mother-of-two has arteriovenous malformation (AVM). The tumor of blood vessels stretches across her entire top lip and goes through to the base of her nose. 'It's the shape of an egg and causes me a lot of pain'

The mother-of-two, pictured here before the AVM grew, said she is desperate to have further surgery next year

Ms Bever, who has a daughter (pictured) and a son, is appealing for help to fund her surgery

Ms Bever said her problems started three years ago when she noticed a small veiny patch under her nose which started to become painful.

It was only when an ENT checked her sinuses that they discovered it was AVM.

She struggled to find doctors willing to operate and has since had two unsuccessful surgeries with the tangled mass growing back worse than ever.

'I wasn't angry because AVMs are unpredictable and difficult to treat, I was just relieved that at least someone was willing to try to save my life,' she said.

'Now a specialist has offered to operate I have to wait until next year as I only have insurance that covers my medical care while I'm in this state and the surgeon is in Arkansas.

'I have been warned that waiting such a long time could have repercussions, the damage could be much greater and riskier, but I don't have any other choice.

Until she can have surgery, she must try to stay calm and avoid stress, as hormones released while stressed could increase the swelling of the potentially lethal tumor

'I've got to accept that it will continue to grow between now and then and all I can do is pray that my body can cope with it.'

Ms Bever first believed the sore dry skin underneath her nostril was caused by extreme eczema in late 2013.

Following her diagnosis, she spent two years trying to find someone to operate on her without luck until last year.

'I was offered radiation treatment but it would make me lose all of my teeth and could cause me to develop cancer, even then there would only be a 10 per cent chance of shrinking it.

'After the two failed surgeries I nearly gave up hope, but knew I had to keep battling for my children.

'I'm on low doses of blood pressure medication now that calm my nerves, without it I'd be a lot more stressed.

'I'm trying to keep positive, monitor my adrenaline and to keep my stress levels down.'

Ms Bever has started a GoFundMe page in a bid to raise money to pay for surgery.

AVMs are believed to affect 0.02 per cent of the global population, accounting for 18 in 100,000 people, and can affect any part of the body with blood vessels.

The cause is unknown but most research to date suggests it is tied to blood flow issues during fetal development.

Many sufferers do not see symptoms until their late 20s when the gradual build-up on neurological damage begins to have a more marked affect on day-to-day life.

Some will never show symptoms. Female sufferers commonly experience a severe onset of symptoms during pregnancy when their blood pressure is high.

Lucas Elijovich, associate professor of neurology and neurosurgery at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, said the growths were often linked to hormones.

'Over time AVM growth can cause disfigurement to the adjacent tissue and has a risk of bleeding if the AVM erodes the skin surface.

'There can be causes that activate growth and activity within AVMs, the most well-known trigger is to do with the hormones.

'Stress is linked to hormones and over time lesions can grow, particularly during puberty or pregnancy where there is a rapid change in hormones.

'The best treatment, embolization on its own or combined with surgery, is largely dependent on the AVM location and which technique will allow definitive treatment of the entire AVM.

'The decision is made by what will cause the least amount of collateral damage to adjacent facial tissue and delicate structures like the eyes which could have cosmetic or functional consequences.'
Like most people, Janine Summers had suffered from the occasional headache, but earlier this year she started experiencing headaches that were really quite different.

They occurred every few days and the pain was excruciating.

If I bent over I got this sudden intense throbbing in the front of my head, says Janine, 44, from Preston.

Over-the-counter painkillers were of little use and her GP referred her to her local hospital. Within days, the divorced mother-of-one was told she needed urgent surgery to remove a brain tumour.

It came as a huge shock when in April, Janine Summers tried to buy travel insurance for a Christmas trip to the Caribbean with her 13-year-old daughter Abbie and was quoted ten times her normal rate (file photo)

However, it was not cancerous, so there was no chance of it spreading and no need for chemotherapy. It came as a relief to hear it was benign, says Janine.

Once she had the tumour removed, Janine was looking forward to resuming life as normal, and doctors said she needed only routine checks.

So, it came as a huge shock when in April, Janine tried to buy travel insurance for a Christmas trip to the Caribbean with her 13-year-old daughter Abbie and was quoted ten times her normal rate.

She had existing cover through AXA with her Halifax bank account. For a 10 monthly fee, she received travel insurance, mobile insurance and car breakdown cover.

After my illness, I rang my insurer to let them know, she says. I was transferred to the medical specialist team at AXA and was told Id have to pay a premium of 258.

Furthermore, the increased premium would not cover any complications arising from her tumour diagnosis or surgery  even though shed made a full recovery.

I was incensed. I had been given the all clear and told it was extremely unlikely the small bit of tumour left would affect me again.

I asked the call handler why I was being charged so much and how could I be a higher risk. She was very sympathetic, but the quote was generated by her computer.

Janine abandoned plans for her dream holiday because the cover on top of everything else would have been prohibitively expensive.

The Financial Services Ombudsman says claims over pre-existing medical conditions make up a large part of its workload.

Consumers must declare a diagnosed medical condition at the time they buy travel insurance, or update their insurer if they are diagnosed with a serious illness after the policy began.

Insurers are then entitled to exclude cover for any illnesses and treatment costs, or charge a higher premium.

However, as the Ombudsman warns on its website: Some insurers try to exclude from cover not only pre-existing medical conditions but also any conditions that arise between the start of the policy and the start of the trip.

'We generally take the view that this is not fair and reasonable.

Futhermore, there is no agreed definition of what constitutes a serious illness.

When lung cancer survivor Julie Costin, 63, from Greenwich, South-East London, looked for cover to attend a friends wedding on the Greek island of Santorini, she was astonished at the premiums quoted

The Financial Services Ombudsman says that insurers only need to be informed when there has been a fundamental change in health  such as heart attack or cancer.

But what angers customers like Janine is that, even when they have made a full recovery, they can still be penalised  even years later.

Julie Costin, 63, used to enjoy an annual two-week summer break in Spain, for which insurance would cost around 15 per trip.

But this year, when the divorced secretary from Greenwich, South-East London, looked for cover to attend a friends wedding on the Greek island of Santorini, she was astonished at the premiums quoted.

The lowest was 700 and the highest was 2,500, says the mother-of-one.

The reason was that in 2012, Julie was diagnosed with lung cancer. She had surgery to remove the top half of her right lung followed by chemotherapy.

The treatment was successful and six months after her diagnosis, Julie returned to work.

Six-monthly checks in the four years since have confirmed she remains cancer-free.

And having quit smoking on the day of her diagnosis, she says she is healthier than she has been for years.

And having quit smoking on the day of her diagnosis, Ms Costin says she is healthier than she has been for years, and managed to find insurance for just 22.50 with InsuranceWith (stock photo)

I said to one call handler I was probably more likely to die of a heart attack on holiday or get hit by a car than fall ill with cancer again.

Julie did eventually find insurance for just 22.50 after a friend referred her to InsuranceWith  set up by Fiona Macrae, who also struggled to find affordable cover after suffering breast cancer.

The Association of British Insurers says policies are designed to offer broad cover to as many people as possible.

To keep costs down, this means excluding or charging a premium for existing conditions such as respiratory illnesses, heart conditions and any mental illness.

The ABI insists premiums reflect the risks involved. It says anyone who cant find reasonably priced cover should contact the British Insurance Brokers Association to help identify specialist insurers.

Janine, meanwhile, feels shes being punished for having been ill.
Causes symptoms such as leg pain and a 'creepy crawly' feeling in the legs

Compared with serious illnesses such as cancer and heart disease, restless legs syndrome (RLS) may sound relatively innocuous.

But this surprisingly common condition  which affects an estimated three million people in Britain  can have far-reaching health consequences.

It causes symptoms such as leg pain and a creepy crawly feeling at the bottom of the legs and feet, typically at night.

Most of those affected also experience limb-jerking during sleep.

In some cases, the same restless feelings can spread to the arms, torso and even the head.

If iron levels in the blood are low  below 50 microgrammes per litre  doctors will often prescribe a small daily iron supplement to help combat restless legs syndrome in pregnant women

Yet until recently the only treatments were powerful prescription medicines that can cause serious side-effects.

But this is changing. Just last week came news of a new device strapped around the foot that was shown to improve symptoms for 90 per cent of patients in tests.

If further tests confirm this, it will be a welcome development for a condition that  while in mild cases can disrupt sleep, causing drowsiness and concentration problems during the day  can have serious implications for health.

Studies in recent months have found patients with restless legs syndrome are more likely to have high blood pressure  putting them at increased risk of heart attack or strokes  or type 2 diabetes.

Other research has found that a third of those who become depressed because of the impact on their lives have contemplated suicide.

Professor Kailash Bhatia, an expert in RLS at the Institute of Neurology in London, says few people, including many GPs, fully appreciate the impact it can have.

Some can become suicidal. They tend to be the ones who dont respond to medication, and we dont know why some respond and others dont.

Until recently, scientists have had little idea about the cause.

Whats known is that it can run in families, and the most popular theory is that RLS is due to depleted levels of the brain chemical dopamine, which controls muscle activity and movement.

Restless leg syndrome causes symptoms such as leg pain and a creepy crawly feeling at the bottom of the legs and feet, typically at night

Its not known why dopamine levels should decline, but everyones levels are known to tail off towards the end of the day. If the brain is already producing less of the chemical, this would explain why symptoms often peak in the evening.

Dopamine-boosting drugs, such as levodopa, also used to treat Parkinsons disease, are often prescribed to block severe symptoms but can have side-effects such as nausea, constipation and extreme drowsiness.

Those with milder symptoms may be given iron supplements.

Studies show that depleted iron levels in the blood can trigger the symptoms of RLS, probably because iron helps dopamine transmit messages from the brain to the nerves.

This explains why one in five pregnant women or those with very heavy periods are prone to RLS, and may be part of the reason why women are more susceptible than men.

Studies have found patients with restless legs syndrome are more likely to have high blood pressure, putting them at higher risk of heart attacks

Iron is stored in tissue by the protein ferritin. If its levels in the blood are low  below 50 microgrammes per litre  doctors will often prescribe a small daily iron supplement.

If they are much lower, larger intravenous doses of liquid iron may be needed.

Id advise people to get their ferritin levels tested before taking an over-the-counter iron supplement, says Dr Martin Lee, a consultant neurologist at the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital.

It can cause unpleasant side-effects such as constipation.

Last weeks announcement about the 260 Restiffic wrap device which is strapped around the foot was significant because it is drug-free.

It applies constant pressure to muscles in the foot to relax them, and signals the brain to relax the leg muscles.

In a trial of 30 people, 27 reported fewer symptoms and better sleep, says the Journal of the American Osteopathic Association.

As WELL as treatments, experts say there is also an urgent need for better awareness. The charity RLS UK says many live with the condition for ten to 20 years before it is correctly diagnosed. It often gets mistaken for arthritis, says Dr Lee.

Patients I see for the first time are often in their 40s or 50s, but have had restless legs since their teens. Some drink huge amounts of whisky to try to get to sleep. Others have lost jobs because of the effect on their concentration.

Some experts believe that those affected should have regular health checks.

A major U.S. study, published in the Journal of Sleep Research, found the rate of strokes and heart attacks was four times higher in men with restless legs than a healthy group.

Another study from Gdansk University in Poland found night-time blood pressure readings spiked if patients had RLS.

Dr Lee agrees that regular checks for people with RLS could be worthwhile, as he says its highly likely that it plays a role in heart disease.
Women a third more likely to have a bay boy if they took aspirin before sex

Women who take an aspirin before sex may increase the likelihood of conceiving a baby boy, suggest researchers.

In a recent study, women with a history of miscarriages were more likely to give birth to a male child after taking aspirin around the time of conception compared with women given a placebo.

In fact, aspirin increased the likelihood of having a boy by nearly a third, reports the Journal of Clinical Investigation.

Taking aspirin before sex increases the likelihood of having a boy by nearly a third, scientists have found

Previous research showed that recurrent miscarriage is linked to increased inflammation in the womb.

The theory is that the immune system sees the developing embryo as a foreign body, attacking it with inflammatory compounds and immune cells.

This inflammation may further reduce the likelihood of the woman having a boy because male foetuses are thought to be more vulnerable.

In Britain, there are slightly more female births than males.

External harmful factors, such as stress, pollution or smoking around conception have been associated with a reduction in the number of males, and suggest male embryos are more vulnerable for some reason.

Aspirin is a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory used to treat pain, fever and inflammation. Several small trials have shown that it increases the pregnancy rate among women undergoing IVF.

In the latest study, researchers at the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development in the U.S. gave 1,228 women who had a history of miscarriages a low-dose aspirin to take before sex or a placebo pill (folic acid) for as long as they were attempting to get pregnant.

Several small trials have previously shown the non-steroidal, anti-inflammatory drug used to treat pain and fever increases the pregnancy rate among women undergoing IVF

Thirty-one per cent on aspirin had a boy, compared to 23 per cent on the placebo. And those on aspirin who had boys had reduced inflammation, suggesting the drug had an effect.

Aspirin before conception seems to ensure the chance of a male embryo being rejected is reduced, says Professor Simon Fishel, president of CARE Fertility clinics.

It is a very interesting conclusion and more studies are needed to confirm if it is a potential solution to the apparent excess of female babies for women with evidence of inflammation.
The Islamic State-inspired attack in an upmarket eatery in Dhaka that has taken the lives of 20 hostages, two policemen, and six terrorists, should be a watershed in the fight against Islamist radicalism in Bangladesh.

But whether or not it is depends vitally on the dynamics of domestic politics, where the increasingly authoritarian Awami League government of Sheikh Hasina is locked in a no-quarter-given battle against her rival Bangladesh National Party President Khaleda Zia.

Islamism

India and the international community need to make it absolutely clear to the two Begums that their battle, which has allowed Islamism to flourish in their country, is now providing space for the Islamic State and the Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) to spread their roots and become an existential threat to Bangladesh.

Concerted international pressure needs to be put on Sheikh Hasina (left) and Khaleda Zia to get their act together, before ISIS spreads its roots in Bangladesh

India, and indeed the world, cannot afford to sit by idly while this happens.

Given Bangladeshs location, happenings there have a vital bearing on our security, and we need to confront this emerging challenge with determination, sophistication and a cool head.

Islamism is not a new factor in Bangladesh. It has deep roots going back to the years that led to the partition of the country in the 1930s. As such, Islamist groups like the Jamaat-e-Islami, the Islami Okiya Jote, Khelafat Majlis, and a clutch of other organisations have been active for years, but their context has been largely local, even though some have advocated a global Islamic Caliphate.

There is, of course, another sinister element, Pakistans ISI, which has funded and used several of these groups to launch attacks against India.

Pakistani proxies like the Lashkar-e-Tayyeba are active in Bangladesh, again with a view of using it as a springboard to attack India. Even violent outfits like Harkat-ul Jihad Islami and Jamaat-ul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) have functioned in a local context. These groups have been involved in attacks on writers, poets, bloggers and free thinkers since the attack on Shamshur Rehman in 1999.

Indian family members place floral tributes near the site of the Dhaka terrorist attack, in homage to the victims of the slaughter that left 20 dead and many more injured

In 2016 we have seen an increase in such assaults in the killings of Nazimuddin Samad, Rezaul Siddique, and Xulhaz Mannan, as well as in the targeting of Hindu temples and priests.

However, and importantly, the context has changed in recent years with international Islamist groups like Al Qaeda, Hizb ut-Tahrir, and now the Islamic State, which earlier found South Asia a difficult prospect, establishing a foothold in the country.

The recruitment efforts of both AQIS and the Islamic State have benefited from poaching from local jihadi outfits. But most importantly, they have gained from the inability of the government to effectively deal with the jihadists.

In many instances, the people attacked by them have been thrown into jail and charged with blasphemy.

Mainstream

Perhaps the most difficult task confronting India and the international community is to persuade the mainstream political forces to moderate their competition to prevent radical forces from gaining ground.

Islamism has been encouraged by South Asian dictators to consolidate their power. Zia-ul Haq in Pakistan and Zia-ur-Rehman in Bangladesh moved simultaneously in 1977 to Islamise their respective states.

Subsequently another dictator, HM Ershad, declared Islam to be the state religion of Bangladesh in 1988.

In both Pakistan and Bangladesh, Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI) played a key role in supporting their moves.

In Bangladesh, Zia lifted the ban on the outfit which had supported Pakistani repression of Bangladesh in 1971. Today, the Jamaat-e-Islami remains one of the least understood, but most pernicious vehicles of Islamism in both countries.

The alliance of the BNP with the JeI makes any effort to deal with Islamism in Bangladesh difficult.

Surveillance

While there is no need for alarm, we in India need to step up surveillance and ensure that we can separate the hard-core motivators and trainers from the gullible and naive youths who stray into the process and are then brainwashed.

Border Security Force (BSF) personnel keep vigil along the India-Bangladesh Border at Shivrampur, near Balurghat in West Bengal

In July 2015, Mail Today reported on the manner in which the authorities in Hyderabad detected 20 young individuals in the process of being radicalised through a mixture of the internet and their social networks.

Instead of arresting them, the authorities counselled them and now maintain a watch on them. The process is not easy and requires specially-trained personnel which are in short supply.

It is easy to slam suspects in jail and use third-degree methods, a process that surely results in hardening the radicals into fully-fledged militants and terrorists.

The experience of Egypt with the Muslim Brotherhood (the ideological progenitor of JeI) has revealed that simple repression is not enough to deal with the situation.

At the diplomatic level, concerted international pressure needs to be put on the two Begums to get their act together.

Bangladesh needs to be assisted in putting in place a deradicalisation strategy, along with better quality counter-terrorism procedures.

The situation must be dealt with subtlety and care, rather than blundering into another global war against terrorism which actually catalysed the formation of the Islamic State.
BJP ideologue and right-wing mascot Syama Prasad Mookerjee - projected by the party and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) as the unifying hero of Jammu and Kashmir who was martyred for opposing Article 370 - was in favour of a military solution to the Kashmir problem.

He had claimed that then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru was opposed to the idea.

The information came to light as several records concerning the late founder of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh (BJS) - precursor to todays Bharatiya Janata Party - emerged during the two-week-long exhibition on Mookerjee at the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library (NMML).

Syama Prasad Mookerjee was a BJP ideologue and right-wing mascot - as well as a Nehru baiter

The statements by Mookerjee referred to here are part of the 1952 Lok Sabha Debates, volume -II, part-II).

The exhibition was inaugurated by BJP chief Amit Shah, and has been billed as a subtle undermining of Congress-Left dominance over the institution.

The BJP went on to attack Congress veteran Jaipal Reddy for his remarks made in connection with Shahs opening speech at the inauguration of the Mookerjee exhibition at NMML.

But while Shah had castigated Nehru for taking the Kashmir tangle to the UN, calling it a historic blunder, Reddy had advised Shah to read history - pointing that Mookerjee was part of the Nehru cabinet when the decision was taken.

Though Mookerjee accepted that he was part of the cabinet when the decision was taken in the Parliamentary speech of August 7, 1952, he also opened a veiled attack on Nehru as he referred to the extraordinary circumstances under which that decision was taken.

BJP chief Amit Shah (left) inaugurated the Mookerjee exhibition. Congress veteran Jaipal Reddy (right) has stepped in to school the BJP leader on his claims about Nehru.

Anirban Ganguly, director of the Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee Research Foundation (SPMRF) and a member of the BJPs policy research department, said:

Instead of advising the party president to read history, Reddy should brush up his own knowledge of history. He, like a true Congressman, continues to mislead people when he says that Mookerjee resigned as Sheikh Abdullah was not being effectively checkmated, which is squarely false. He should straighten the confusions in his reading of Indias post-independence history. He should dwell on how to explain the Nehru-beholden faction-ridden Congress post Sardar Patel, when it had become a one-man driven sycophantic conglomerate.

Mookerjee was indeed critical of the United Nations (UN) in his speech of August, 7, 1952, made in the lower House of the Parliament.

In any case, it does not seem as though we are going to get much or anything at all out of the UNO, he said, with regard to Nehru taking the Kashmir matter to the international body.

Talking about the territory of Jammu and Kashmir that was captured by Pakistan under the pretext of a tribal attack on the state from across the border in 1947, Mookerjee termed it a national humiliation.
At least 40 people are feared dead after a downpour in Uttarakhand triggered flash floods and landslides over the weekend, a state official said.

Several more people are still missing, a spokesman at the chief minister's office, Om Prakash Sati, said on Sunday, with remote Chamoli and Pithoragarh the worst-affected districts.

A team from Aaj Tak visited Ghat block in Chamoli district, where the cloudburst has wreaked havoc.

Six houses were washed away along with those inside them, after three successive downpours hit the surrounding hills and the river swelled with excess water.

Rescue mission: Army, paramilitary and police personnel are searching for survivors in the debris in the landslide-hit Pithoragarh and Chamoli districts of Uttarakhand

Perilous: Reports suggest the mudslides may have buried people under 10 feet of sludge, with efforts still underway to find the victims

Shambhu Prasad Pandey, who saved his children with great difficulty, saw the house he had laboured to build washed away in front of his eyes. His family has now taken shelter in a temple nearby.

Many more such families are waiting for help, without drinking water or electricity.

In Jakhni village several people are said to be buried under 10 feet of slush. The iron bridge here was badly damaged due to the flood, which claimed the houses of around 70 people, killing the helpless residents and their livestock.

Those who survived somehow are living under shanties made of plastic sheets. An State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) team is on the spot and searching for any survivors.

Brave rescue teams are doing all they can to reach the stranded, while the river is still dangerously high. Several homes have been washed away by the force of the water.

Three more bodies have been recovered from the debris in the flood-hit villages of Pithoragarh, raising the death toll in rain-related incidents in the state to 40

Three days have passed since the downpours began in Uttarakhand, and the authorities are finding it difficult to provide aid to those stuck in villages near Pithoragarh.

Dharchula highway is still closed, and the road to the worst-hit village via Pithoragarh is out of action.

Forces from the Indo Tibetan Border Police Force (ITBP), Assam regiment, SDRF and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) have been deployed to help evacuate people.

Mohanchand, a victim of calamity-hit Pithoragarh, is desperately hoping his family will be reunited after they got stuck in the debris. Four of the five family members have been rescued, but the search for one is still ongoing.

Assam regiment commandant, Rakesh Manocha, said: Nine bodies have been found and search for the rest is going on. The heavy downpours have been creating a lot of problem in rescuing the people. We are trying to sensitize the villagers. The bodies were found at the radius of six kilometres.

Many roads have been seriously damaged by the floods, presenting a further challenge to relief teams

Three more bodies recovered as search for the missing continues

Three more bodies were recovered from the debris in the flood-hit villages of Pithoragarh, raising the death toll in rain-related incidents in the state to 40.

The Army, and para-military and police personnel are carrying out ongoing searches for the missing.

According to the Disaster Mitigation Centre, three more bodies were recovered from Bastadi and Nauleda villages of Pithoragarh district.

ADG (law and order) Anil Raturi said the Army had recovered an elderly woman alive from Pithoragarh on Saturday, and has shared the information on Twitter.
Delhi's excise department officials are facing serious threats from the liquor mafia.

One official, Sandeep Sheron, was attacked by the liquor mafia and suffered three fractures to his skull, as well as a broken collar bone.

The incident is typical of the harassment and abuse faced by these officials on a regular basis.

The excise department is under a lot of pressure as the daily target of seizures has increased. These officials are always unarmed, and suffering from staff shortages.

Officer Sandeep Sheron (left) was tipped off about an Innova car being used to smuggle liquor. When he stopped the vehicle, the driver allegedly rammed the car into him, fracturing his skull and collar bone.

Sources claim Sandeep received a tip-off about smuggling while he was with his ailing son in hospital.

An EIB official who requested anonymity explained: On June 27, Sandeep was with his son, who was in the ICU, when he got information about smuggling of liquor bottles in an Innova car.

"A team of four to five officials went to this place near Britannia Chowk. We stopped the driver of the suspected vehicle, and while we were recovering bottles the driver hit the accelerator, hitting Sandeep who was thrown several feet away.

"The victim was immediately taken to a nearby hospital from where he was transferred to the same hospital where his son was admitted.

According to Sandeep, he was left with a fractured skull.

I have suffered a fracture just above my left eye. Theres another one near the ear and another fracture at the back of my head. Also, my collar bone is completely broken. Thankfully, my son is fine now, Sandeep said.

Sandeeps father, Dharampal, said: My son lost his memory for a few days. He couldnt recall anything. Now he is alright, but he has become very forgetful. Doctors have advised him complete bed rest for two months. He is young, so he is recovering fast.

Meanwhile, other officials are claiming that they are also facing serious threats from the mafia.

That these officials have to deal with such situations without weapons is a matter of grave concern.

We dont have arms to deal with them. In case they attack us, we are completely helpless. We dont have anything to protect ourselves with. Also, recently, our targets have doubled, due to which we are working day in and day out, an EIB official said.

Officials claim that there are supposed to be around 60 officials in the EIB department responsible for such operations. But only 40 to 45 members are on the job right now.

There are only 40-45 people on the job, divided equally into nine teams. We have to work across Delhi and it is practically impossible to work on every tip-off. We are already understaffed. Our current target is 3,000-4,000 bottles per teams, which was earlier 2,000-2,500 per month. Targets are being decided by senior officials after analysing previous smuggling data and information, the official added.

They also claimed that smugglers are becoming restless and do not hesitate to attack officials.
From female cadets in National Defence Academy (NDA) to ending the domination of boys in Sainik Schools - if Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar gets his way, women will soon march into new frontiers for the Indian armed forces.

It took more than two decades for women to be inducted as fighter pilots in the Indian Air Force (IAF) and their battle for securing a permanent commission was equally challenging.

Unfortunately there are still many no-go areas for women in the armed forces.

Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar has told the FICCI Ladies organisation that women have a major role to play in the future of India's armed forces, promising to eliminate the remaining 'no-go' areas

Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, who addressed FICCI Ladies organisation on Monday, is open to expanding role for the women in the forces.

Parrikar spoke of modified 'women-friendly' warships, and a prestigious training institution for girl cadets.

He even said there could one day be female-led battalions in the armed forces.

The Army has resisted the move so far even though the central police forces have taken the lead.

The officials acknowledged that the time has come to challenge the status quo but a great battle of the minds has to be fought before women are allowed to take up bigger roles.

Parrikar talked about India being a country of Jhansi ki Rani and the Goddess Durga to drive home the point that they have been kept away from the forces for far too long.

Parrikar about India being a country of Jhansi ki Rani and the Goddess Durga to drive home the point that they have been kept away from the forces for far too long.

When I became the Defence Minister, I thought that we need to make a strategic move, he said.

The three services has opened a lot of new fields for the women officers but assigning them combat roles was ruled out until the IAF allowed them to become fighter pilots.

The navy still doesnt allow women officers on warships. The Army does not have women officers in combat roles.

There is an idea that soldiers will not listen to a commanding officer who is a lady because they are not trained to do that. I dont agree with this as the only restriction today is infrastructure, said Parrikar, in opposition to the claim that male troops would not respond to women Commanding officers (COs).

In combat roles also there can be women. Why not have a complete womens team; a battalion of women? So the question of women officers leading a mens team - if there is question of initial resistance - can also be taken care of, he suggested.

Indian Flight Cadets from the Indian Air Force Acedemy (IAF) march during the combined graduation parade

The defence minister has promised to take it up all his suggestions with the service chiefs.

I dont understand why we cant place women on ships. At this stage, I will not support a submarine operation because submarines are designed for male staff, he said, adding there are no separate areas for women.

But ships can be modified and new ships can be designed to have facilities for women, he said.

The change has to be brought in a gradual manner, he emphasised while talking about the demands to open Sainik schools for girls.

He said if girls are allowed in Sainik schools, they should also be given entry into NDA just like the boys.
If you are British of European, own a VW Group car affected by the emissions cheating scandal and had your hopes up about receiving compensation, think again.

That's the sentiment expressed by Volkswagen CEO Matthias Mueller in an interview with a German newspaper on Sunday, less than a week after the carmaker confirmed it had agreed a bumper 14.7bn deal to payoff US owners.

The under-fire boss said a similar package for European owners - including 1.2million drivers in the UK - would 'overwhelm' the its finances.

Compensation? No chance: Volkswagen has rebuffed calls to recompense drivers in Europe who own Dieselgate-affected models. This is after agreeing a $14.7bn package for motorists in the US

Mueller gave an interview with German newspaper Welt am Sonntag after coming under pressure to offer owners a similar compensation package to that recently agreed in the US.

European Industry Commissioner Elzbieta Bienkowska said it would be unfair to European owners to be treated differently to affected VW buyers in the US just because of a different legal system.

However, Mueller told the paper: 'We have a different situation here [in Europe].

'In the U.S. the [emission] limits are stricter, which makes the fix more complicated. And taking part in the buyback is voluntary [for customers], which is not the case in Germany, for example.'

The carmaker could now face a massive backlash from owners and representatives from across Europe.

Last week, consumer association Which? called for VW to reconsider their position on compensation for owners.

'Volkswagen customers in the UK will rightly question why a deal is being offered to US consumers when there is nothing on the table for the 1.2 million owners affected in this country,' Alex Neill, director of policy and campaigns at the consumer charity said.

'VW must not be let off the hook, the Government should intervene and stand up for UK consumers.'

Under-fire Volkswagen, CEO Matthias Mueller, said a compensation package for European owners affected by Dieselgate - similar to that of the 15bn agreement in the US - would 'overwhelm' the automaker

But Mueller said it would not only be inappropriate for a US-style package but also unaffordable for the global car-making powerhouse.

'You don't have to be a mathematician to realise that compensation at arbitrarily high levels would overwhelm Volkswagen,' he said.

The decision now leaves the VW Group in an increasingly difficult position to not only repair the brand's image but also see out the year-long recall process to rectify affected cars owned by disgruntled motorists.

'We need to be patient, this transformation process will not be completed tomorrow,' he added.

'We need to show when modifying cars in the workshops that we have understood [the problem] now. We must succeed at convincing our customers again.'
'The important thing is the fundamentals of the business are incredibly strong. We need to maximise the value that we can secure from the portfolio. After that the share price takes care of itself.'

Distilled down to a catchy slogan that might go on a t-shirt or mug, the above might read: 'Keep Calm and Carry On'.

The words are those of Redx Pharma chief executive Neil Murray and they reveal a steely resolve.

Some might view the slide in the Redx share price as suggestive of a struggling company. But nothing really could be further from the truth.

Looking ahead: Some might view the slide in the Redx share price as suggestive of a struggling company. But nothing really could be further from the truth

Liquidity has been a problem and is the downside of having a pukkah blue chip investor base that boasts Seneca Partners and Axa Framlington.

The professionals buy and hold for the long-term. They dont trade in and out of stock. This can have the unintended consequences  namely the aforementioned drift in the value of the stock.

The 'fundamentals' of the business, a developer of early-stage treatments for cancer and drug-resistant infections, havent altered in the last year. Theyve only improved.

And certainly there has been no loss of support from the investor base, which backed Aprils 10million share placing.

In fact two new institutions were added to the register. Household names Aviva and Legal & General really seem to like the Redx story.

And the tale, as told by Murray, is an interesting one as Redx is in areas of research that are really hot at the moment.

REDX AT A GLANCE Ticker: REDX Value: 27million Current price: 27p Year-high: 116p Low: 24.93p

It is developing treatments that use the bodys own immune system to fight the disease, or that attack cancer stem cells.

It is also working on classes of antibiotics that might one day help head off the time-bomb caused by drug resistant infections.

When we last spoke to Murray the mantra was to partner these new compounds early; indeed it already had collaborations with AstraZeneca and the NHS.

The latest fundraising has provided Redx with a little more financial flexibility and the opportunity to take promising candidates to the clinical trial stage.

Its Porcupine inhibitor is being propelled along this pathway and should undergo first-in-man studies to assess its safety in the first quarter of next year.

Initially it will be given to cancer patients with solid tumours to confirm safety, though the treatment is likely to be focused on difficult to treat cancers, such as pancreatic and gastric cancers.

Improved: The 'fundamentals' of Redx, a developer of early-stage treatments for cancer and drug-resistant infections, havent altered in the last year

Porcupine inhibitors are a new and potentially breakthrough method of fighting the killer disease.

They work by targeting cancer stems cells that can often lie dormant after traditional treatment and are associated with a recurrence of the illness. Kill the stem cells and you have a chance of eradicating the disease completely.

Novartis currently is the only drug major with a Porcupine inhibitor in the clinic and Redx is using the Swiss giants compound as its benchmark with a view to coming up with something better.

It is also developing the next-generation of Brutons tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitors for the treatment of leukaemia.

Redxs BTK will be one of the second-generation of compounds with fewer side-effects than the market leader Imbruvica (often referred to as Ibrutinib).

Importantly, the companys drug is targeted at overcoming resistance that patients have developed to the current gold standard treatment.

'We have come up with a series of compounds that are not only clean and selective for BTK, dialling out the side-effects but which have been specifically designed to work in patients who are suffering from Ibrutinib resistance,' said Murray.

Redx hopes to have selected a candidate by the end of this year ready to go into the clinic in early 2018.

Thats far from the end of the story for the oncology pipeline, which includes a Smoothened inhibitor for basal cell carcinoma (a form of skin cancer).

Advanced: Redx is developing treatments that use the bodys own immune system to fight the disease, or that attack cancer stem cells.

It is also developing a compound that inhibits IDO, a pathway active in many cancers and it is working on a number of other targets in the emerging area of immuno-oncology.

Outside of the field of cancer it has teamed up with the Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospital NHS Trust to develop drugs to tackle gram-positive bacteria such as MRSA.

'Critically, these are novel drug scaffolds, so they are potentially the first new class of antibiotics in a generation,' said Murray.

'One of the main reasons that we are facing such a critical shortage of antibiotics that still work is because our industry has been unable to create new classes of drugs.'

Not just that, they are designed in a way to make it very difficult for the bacteria to evolve resistance. Redx also has a program developing drugs to combat Gram-negative strains. It is having some early success with gonorrhoea where the venereal disease has become resistant to the traditional drugs.

Now back to the share price and, in particular whats likely to get it jump started.

A 'catalyst moment' will come when the firms porcupine inhibitor goes into clinical trials. Redx is also looking for partners in the late-preclinical phase for some of its projects and drugs.

So, for instance, the IDO inhibitor will probably only work in combination, making it an excellent candidate for a very early-stage collaboration.

'One of the challenges of this industry is we are not selling widgets. So deals are lumpy and infrequent,' said Murray.
Netto is set to disappear from British high streets and retail parks once again as Sainsbury's announced today it is ending its joint venture with the budget supermarket.

Sainsbury's is closing its 16 stores, putting 400 jobs at risk, as it bows to the might of the discount supermarkets Aldi and Lidl and looks to focus on its Argos takeover.

Sainsbury's set up the joint venture with Netto's Danish owner Dansk Supermarket on a trial basis just two years ago. The move brought Netto back to the UK once again after it left in 2010 when its stores were bought by Asda.

The plan was to allow Sainsbury's to use Netto play the discounters at their own game - keeping prices at rock-bottom by selling a limited number of products - without affecting its Sainsbury's brand.

All over: Sainsbury's is to end its venture with budget supermarket Netto, closing 16 stores and putting 400 jobs at risk as it focuses on its Argos takeover and bows to the impact of the discounters

However, following a strategic review Sainsbury's boss Mike Coupe today signalled changing dynamics that took into account trading data, customer feedback and expansion costs as reasons to wind the operation down.

Staff will go through a consultation in the coming weeks, with the supermarkets expected to close in August. It is understood that Sainsbury's will attempt to redeploy affected staff where possible.

The traditional supermarkets have been battling against their budget rivals since they started to gain popularity among cash-strapped shoppers during the financial downturn.

However, even as households' budgets have gradually improved, the popularity of Aldi and Lidl shows no signs of slowing down.

Savvy shoppers have switched in their droves, enticed by their offering of good-value basics and cut-price luxury.

Aldo and Lidl have continued to make inroads in the supermarket wars, with a rolling study last month from Kantar Worldpanel showing they had a record 10.5 per cent joint share of the grocery market in the three months to June 19.

Kantar also said 58 per cent of Britons visited one of the two German discounters in the past 12 weeks, with Lidl sales increasing by 13.8 per cent and Aldi by 11.5 per cent on a year ago.

Traditional supermarkets Sainsbury's, Tesco, Morrisons and Asda have been battling to win back market share, employing various strategies.

Morrisons tried for some time to price match Aldi and Lidl, but has since given up.

Tesco, meanwhile, has been investing millions in cutting the prices of everyday items.

Sainsbury's has been scrapping multi-buy promotions and ditched its brand-match guarantee in favour of overall lower prices.

The Sainsbury's venture with Netto was part of this same battle, allowing it to take on Aldi and Lidl through the Netto brand, while also continuing to provide its millions of customers the same Sainsbury's offering.

Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar Worldpanel, said: 'British consumers are eager and willing to shop with discount retailers but even with Sainsburys help, Netto couldnt match the competition it faced from the likes of Aldi and Lidl.'

He added: 'Despite a 20-year history predating this joint venture, Netto lacks this brand awareness and credibility in its latest incarnation, and any retailer looking to learn from this experiment should note that this isnt something which can be achieved without significant investment.'

Sainsburys chief executive Mike Coupe said: Since we first envisaged the trial, almost three years ago, the grocery sector has evolved significantly and we launched our strategy 18 months ago to address these changing dynamics.

To be successful over the long-term, Netto would need to grow at pace and scale, requiring significant investment and the rapid expansion of the store estate in a challenging property market. Consequently, we have made the difficult decision not to pursue the opportunity further.

The value of the 20million joint venture will be written down to zero and Sainsbury's is also expected to incur cash costs of around 10million to wind the business down.

Back to basics: Sainsbury's is ditching its Netto experiment, but will try to redeploy staff in other areas

Sainsburys and Dansk relaunched Netto in the UK with five trial stores in the North of England opened by the end of last year.

A version of Netto previously traded in the UK, from 200 stores. But it closed and the properties were sold to Asda in 2010.

Mr Coupe added: We have made the difficult decision not to pursue the opportunity further and instead focus on our core business and on the opportunities we will have following our proposed acquisition of Home Retail Group.

Sainsburys 's 1.4billion takeover of Argos-owner Home Retail Group is expected to complete in the third quarter of this year although the deal still faces scrutiny from the UKs competition watchdog.

The Competition and Markets Authority said in May it was looking into whether the tie-up with Home Retail could result in a 'substantial lessening of competition'.

The CMA is considering comments on the deal and should decide whether to launch an inquiry by July 25.

Last month, Sainsburys - Britain's second-biggest supermarket chain - posted a 0.8 per cent decline in like-for-like sales excluding fuel for the second quarter although that was slightly better than forecasts for a 1.4 per cent drop.

The sales fall still marked a setback after a return to quarterly like-for-like growth for the first time in more than two years in the previous three months, when sales edged 0.1 per cent higher.
High street retailer Superdrug has enjoyed a 62 per cent jump in profits, with the group's expanding designer fragrance range proving particularly popular with shoppers.

The firm - part of privately-owned international health and beauty group AS Watson - saw its full year operating profits swell to 62.2million, up from 38.3million a year earlier, as sales rose by 5.4 per cent over the year.

Make-up and beauty sales saw strong growth, up by 11 per cent for the year, and, in the perfume section, Marc Jacobs, Dolce & Gabbana and Gucci all sold well.

Fragrant boost: Superdrug enjoyed a 62 per cent jump in annual operating profits, with the group's expanding designer fragrance range proving particularly popular with shoppers

Superdrug said the addition of in-store services including eyebrow shaping, nail treatments and 'Glitter Lips' also helped boost sales.

AS Watson runs more than 12,000 stores in 24 markets, and is owned by Hong Kong conglomerate CK Hutchison Holdings and Singapore sovereign wealth fund Temasek.

Peter Macnab, chief executive of AS Watson health and beauty UK, said: 'We have had a strong year and are pleased with the company's performance.

'Looking to the future our strategy remains to offer customers everyday accessible health and beauty, giving them the products they are looking for at great prices, in a vibrant store environment.'

Superdrug said it plans to open seven new stores this year, adding to its estate of 787.

The expansion comes with Superdrug's main rival, Boots - part of US giant Walgreen's Boots Alliance - currently undergoing a period of change at the top.

Smelly: Sales of luxury fragrance, including those from Marc Jacobs, proved popular with Superdrug shoppers

Last month, Boots UK boss Simon Roberts announced he was stepping down from the role to 'pursue new opportunities.'

Roberts, president of the pharmacy chain and high street retailer, will quit this month as part of a major shake-up of the group's senior management team.
The so-called Chicken King of Britain could be about to gobble up the Bernard Matthews turkey empire.

Businessman Ranjit Boparan, whose 3bn food empire includes 2 Sisters Food Group  which owns an array of businesses  and fish and chip brand Harry Ramsdens, is eyeing up troubled Bernard Matthews.

The Norfolk-based turkey business is owned by private equity firm Rutland Partners but has been struggling in recent years.

Talking turkey: Businessman Ranjit Boparan is eyeing up troubled Bernard Matthews

The company previously came under fire for its Turkey Twizzlers that have been heavily criticised by celebrity chef Jamie Oliver amid health claims. Turnover has slid at Bernard Matthews, down from 346m three years ago to 276.7m last year.

Rutland has invested millions of pounds to turn it around and cut costs but is thought to now want to sell it on.

Boparan recently bought family-friendly food chain Giraffe from Tesco.

In 2011 his firm bought Northern Foods for 342m. Boparans businesses also include Goodfellas pizzas and Foxs biscuits, which is owned under the 2 Sisters Food Group. The firm processes six million chickens a week and makes 30million hot cross buns a year.

Boparan and his wife Baljinder founded their food firm in 1993. Their operations include factories and processing plants across the UK as well as chicken processing plants in the Netherlands and Poland. The business employs more than 23,000 in its 2 Sisters company, whose brands also include Hollands pies and frozen food firm Green Isle. It also controls more than 700 farms in the UK.

There are a handful of food groups and producers eyeing Bernard Matthews. It was founded in 1950 by Bernard Matthews, who died six years ago. He started the business with 20 eggs and an incubator. It was bought by Rutland in 2013.
Activist investors are calling for John Menzies to split in two and hire a chairman.

The distribution firm, which started as a bookshop in 1833 but now focuses on airport logistics, is facing mounting pressure from German-based Shareholder Value Management (SVM).

Under pressure: John Menzies started as a bookshop in 1833 but now focuses on airport logistics

SVMs demands follow similar calls made last year by Swiss investment firm Lake Street Capital.

The German fund has built up a 7 per cent stake in John Menzies and said the company should be split to separate its newspaper and magazine distribution business from its aviation services arm.

SVM is calling for a new, independent chair after Dermot Jenkinson replaced Iain Napier in the role in May.
Tight-lipped: Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi

The Demolition Man was the unlikely nickname earned by Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi when he was elected on a promise to shake-up the political establishment.

But it is one that he now threatens to live up to outside his own country, as the premier of the eurozones third biggest economy threatens to smash even greater cracks in the EU.

While many in Europe have been focused on the fall-out from Brexit, another battleground has been raging as Italy desperately tries to come up with a plan to rescue its struggling banks.

It has pitted 41-year-old Renz, Italys youngest-ever prime minister, against German Chancellor Angela Merkel, in a row over rigid EU rules. It is the ambitious outsider and one-time fencing champion  who still keeps a sword in his office  versus the steely pragmatic German.

In essence, Italy has come up with a plan to bail out its banks, and Merkel has rejected it because it is against EU legislation.

Hard-line elements in Italy suggest it should simply flout the rules to save the Italian banking system, which is crippled with 301bn of bad debts.

For many the bailout bust-up highlights how the UK is not alone in being exasperated by the red tape from Brussels which prevents individual nations from making their own decisions.

It also underlines a further stereotypical (but no less true) cultural divide within the single currency: between Italians who are used to a more laid-back approach to rules, and Germans who are sticklers for the very letter of the law.

When he was elected two years ago, Renzi staked his political future on being able to turn Italys finances around.

He believed Italy should have taken steps to reform its banks five years ago, but this is a country crippled by instability  it has had 63 governments since the Second World War  making it almost impossible for leaders to make any important decisions.

H IS first challenge was to cut the spending deficit, but after initially falling, in the six months to June it rose to 23bn.

As a proportion of its GDP its debt is now the euros second biggest behind Greece at 139 per cent.

More pressing in recent months, though, has been the challenge of supplying Italys banks with cash. Share prices at some lenders have collapsed in 2016, with the worlds oldest bank Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena falling 60 per cent  a lender which has already been restructured twice and still is in poor health. Having also slumped at the start of the year, many have dropped a further 30 per cent since the Brexit vote. Whats not helped is the obscure structure of Italys banks which are owned by foundations  business leaders and politicians  rather than shareholders.

Had Italy begun the process of bailing-out its banks in 2010 it would have been able to benefit from weaker EU rules, and been able to pump money in to them.

But since then, the EU has ruled out this practice, as it is deemed a breach of state-aid rules  regulations that are supposed to prevent unfair competition. It is the same legislation that prevents the UK government from ploughing money into its steel industry.

This is where the battle between Brussels, and more specifically Merkel, and Italy now lies.

The debts of Italys banks are a third of the eurozones total. Recent estimates suggest the Italian economy is 35bn short of capital to pay off some of these debts. Last week, in the wake of the Brexit vote, Renzi asked Brussels to suspend its rules for six months to allow the Government to set up a 35bn rescue fund. Merkel said no.

In April, Italy created a fund to help provide assistance for struggling lenders. The Atlante fund  named after Atlas, the Titan god who held up the sky  has already helped two lenders stay afloat.

But this wont be enough in a country with 500 banks. It has been suggested that Italys new plan is to increase the capital at the banks, or provide a fund that will buy bad loans off Italian banks at above market prices.

THE DEMOLITION MAN Interviewed earlier this year, Matteo Renzi held up a fencing sabre. Asked on whom hed most like to use the blade against, he sliced the air and grinned, saying: The banks! Since being elected PM in 2014 aged 39, Renzi has been determined to take on the culture of cronyism and bureaucracy which have for so long categorised Italian politics. His enemies call him Il rottamatore, the demolition man. Renzi agrees: Im the scrapper. Im cleaning up the swamp. Such modernising idealism have earned him inevitable comparisons to Tony Blair. He was born the second of four children into a Catholic family. His wife is a Latin teacher and they have three children. At 27 he appeared on Italys version of Wheel of Fortune winning 30,000.

Italian banks cant raise capital like this in the normal market because of fears about the health of the wider Italian economy.

It is in stark comparison to UK lenders, such as Lloyds, which last week issued a 700m bond on the US market and found it seven times oversubscribed.

The bailout would be in breach of the state-aid rules. So again, when the Italians went to Brussels with their plan, Merkel said no. At the weekend she said: We have established specific rules as far as recapitalisation of the banks is concerned.

She added: We cant come up with new rules every two years. The Commission is ready to help, but so far it has not been convinced by what has been proposed by Italy.

If Italy doesnt receive support it could mean multiple bank failures, which could mean huge losses for ordinary savers who own 230bn of bank bonds.

With the eurozone nervous following Brexit, Renzi is publicly hoping to win favour with the EU. He knows they want a financial crisis as little as he does. The International Monetary Fund has long warned that the poor health of Europes banks has hampered the recovery as they cant lend to small businesses.
The boss of budget airline Flybe has called on the Government to cut flight taxes in half as Britain copes with the 'serious and lasting damage' of a Brexit vote.

Flybe's chief executive Saad Hammad has written to Chancellor George Osborne in a bid to get Air Passenger Duty slashed by 50 per cent.

Mr Hammad said the tax had become a 'critical issue' amid jittery markets and the looming possibility of an economic slowdown.

Calls for cuts: Flybe's chief executive, Saad Hmmad, has called on the Government to cut flight taxes in half as Britain copes with the 'serious and lasting damage' of a Brexit vote

The chief executive said APD was curbing growth and has a 'stranglehold' on regional economies.

He added: 'HM Treasury has previously argued that it cannot abolish APD given the scale of its contribution to the public finances.

'In the absence of outright abolition, Flybe firmly believes that APD could be amended in a fiscally neutral manner to deliver an economic benefit to the UK regions, a stated aim of the Government.

WHAT IS AIR PASSENGER DUTY? A UK government tax on all flights departing from the UK. For a domestic economy ticket, the duty is normally 13. But, for other classes of travel, this can be as much as 78. For long-haul flights, the economy rate is 73, climbing to a whopping 438 for certain flights. The rate varies depending on the class of travel and the final destination. Since 1 March 2016, children aged 12-15 no longer pay Air Passenger Duty when travelling in economy.

'This could be achieved by lowering the levy at regional airports by 50 per cent in line with what is being planned in Scotland, funding it through an increase at the large, slot-constrained airports in London such as Heathrow and Gatwick.'

In response, a spokesman for the Treasury said: 'The Government is committed to making sure APD is a fair tax for airlines and passengers - that's why we've made it cheaper to fly through freezing APD for most passengers since 2012, exempting children and reducing the number of bands, meaning it's now lower for many more long-haul destinations.

'Airlines already pay no tax on the fuel used in international flights, no VAT on international flights and unlike in many other countries, no VAT on domestic flights.'

At present, a passenger taking a domestic flight within the UK can be charged 19 times the tax per mile of a passenger taking a long-haul flight, Mr Hammad said.

Reducing the levy by half would remove the 'unfairness' in the system, the Flybe boss added.

Unfair: A passenger taking a domestic flight within the UK can be charged 19 times the tax per mile of a passenger taking a long-haul flight, Flybe's boss Saad Hammad said

Last year, data from HM Revenue & Customs revealed that Britons forked out 3billion in APD in 2014.

In 2015, the Government abolished APD for children aged between 12 and 15. Since March 2016, this policy has been extended to all children under 16 years of age.
Adil Khan, 51, (inset) and Qari Abdul Rauf, 52, (top) had been told they are to be deported from the UK for the public good after being part of a gang convicted in 2012 of a catalogue of serious sex offences against young girls. Judges Charlotte Welsh and Judge Siew Ling Yoke, a diversity and community relations judge, released their 31-page legal ruling today stating that Khan had shown a 'breathtaking lack of remorse' and in his and Rauf's case there was a 'very strong public interest in their removal.' A decade after they were jailed and following a legal battle involving multiple legal challenges and appeals up to the Court of Appeal, both have been told their challenge against deportation on human rights grounds has failed. In June, their appeal against deportation was heard before an Immigration Tribunal. Khan got a girl, 13, pregnant but denied he was the father, then met another girl, 15, and trafficked her to others - using violence when she complained. He was sentenced to eight years in 2012 and released on licence four years later. Rauf, a father-of-five, trafficked a 15-year-old girl for sex, driving her to secluded areas to have sex with her in his taxi and ferry her to a flat in Rochdale where he and others had sex with her. He was jailed for six years and released in November 2014 after serving two years and six months of his sentence. The Rochdale grooming gang's abuse was dramatised in a BBC programme called Three Girls (bottom).
The United Arab Emirates urged citizens to avoid wearing traditional clothes when traveling abroad after a businessman visiting the US was handcuffed at gunpoint because a hotel clerk spread false reports that he was an Islamic State suspect.

Ahmed al-Menhali, who was wearing a white, ankle-length shirt along with a headscarf and headband, suffered a 'light stroke' when he was detained at gunpoint last week in Avon, Ohio.

Al-Menhali was handcuffed and searched in an incident that was widely reported in the Emirates, prompting an apology from a number of American officials.

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Ahmed al-Menhali (pictured) was wearing traditional clothes common in Arab countries when a hotel clerk spread false reports that he was an ISIS suspect

In the footage of the arrest, al-Menhali was pressed to the ground outside a hotel in Avon, Ohio and handcuffed after police approached him with at least once assault rifle drawn

The 41-year-old man was released once the mistake was realized but had to be hospitalized for three days (pictured) after suffering a 'light stroke,' according to CNN

Al-Menhali has been in the US on a tourist visa since April while he is seeking medical treatment for several conditions.

He was trying to check into Fairfield Inn and Suites on June 29 when a receptionist notified her sister about a man 'in full head dress with multiple disposable phones pledged his allegiance to ISIS' before two calls were made to police, CNN reported.

Al-Menhali was wearing a thawb or kandura, the long traditional shirt common among men in the UAE and other Arab countries.

In video footage that emerged from the arrest, Al-Menhali was wrestled to the ground and handcuffed by police who approached with at least one assault rifle drawn.

The 41-year-old man was released once the mistake was realized but had to be hospitalized for three days after fainting and suffering a 'light stroke' according to CNN.

A foreign ministry twitter account issued a warning on Saturday without referring to the incident directly.

The tweet stated: 'For citizens travelling outside the country, and in order to ensure their safety, we point out not to wear formal dress while travelling, especially in public places.'

On Saturday, a Foreign Ministry Twitter account focusing on citizens traveling abroad posted a message (pictured) in Arabic urging its citizens to stay safe by avoiding the traditional dress

Barbara Leaf, an American ambassador to the United Arab Emirates, said: 'The unfortunate incident that Mr. al-Menhali endured in the U.S. is deeply regrettable.'

The UAE's Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement after it summoned Ethan Goldrich, the US Deputy Chief of Mission at the US Embassy in Abu Dhabi for an apology.

'He emphasized that the United States respects the right of different nations to wear their national dress, adding that this incident was an exception which was totally unacceptable,' the statement read.

Avon's Mayor Bryan Jensen also issued an apology and said authorities were reviewing the incident for possible charges against the hotel clerk.

Al-Menhali called his treatment 'brutal' and Barbara Leaf, an American ambassador to the United Arab Emirates, said: 'The unfortunate incident that Mr al-Menhali endured in the U.S. is deeply regrettable'

In an interview with The National on Saturday, Al-Menhali called his treatment 'brutal'.

He said: 'I didn't think that they were there for me. I assumed that there was some sort of training exercise or event at the hotel but I was shocked to see them barge at me'

Police Chief Richard Bosley told Al-Menhali that 'no one from the police department [wanted] to disrespect you', according to WEWS-TV.

'That was not the intent of any of our officers. It is a very regrettable circumstance that occurred for you. You should not have been put in that situation like you were.'

'There were some false accusations made against you,' Mayor Brian Jensen said. 'And those are regrettable. I hope...the person that made those can maybe learn from those.'
A traditional Wild West shooting arcade was banned from Phoenix's Independence Day celebrations because of recent mass shootings in the US.

Prescott Pete's Highfalutin Shooting Gallery, run by Pete and Valerie Fowler, was deemed inappropriate by organizers of Fabulous Phoenix 4th.

Mr Fowler said his 'family friendly' business would struggle if it was shut out of major events like today's in Arizona which is set to attract 100,000 people.

'If [the decision] had happened immediately following the shooting in Orlando, I would have been a bit more understanding, but this was just out of the blue,' Pete Fowler said.

Prescott Pete's Highfalutin Shooting Gallery, run by Pete and Valerie Fowler, was deemed inappropriate by organizers of Fabulous Phoenix 4th (file photo)

The business's owner, Mr Fowler, said his 'family friendly' arcade would struggle if it was shut out of major events like today's in Arizona which is set to attract 100,000 people (file photo)

'For us to make this business work, we have to get into big events like Fabulous Phoenix 4th.'

'We supplied enough reference material for them to see that we're not shooting people or glorifying it. It's just a fun amusement.

'But apparently, a historically correct shooting gallery is promoting violence.'

On June 12, gunman Omar Mateen murdered 49 people at Pulse gay nightclub in Orlando. It is the worst act of terrorism in the US since 9/11 and the deadliest attack on LGBT people in American history.

But the Fowlers said they were shocked by the decision because the state has gun-friendly laws and is closely associated with the history of Wild West.

The most famous shootout in Wild West history, the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, involving gunslingers Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday, happened in Tombstone, Arizona.

Pro-gun Hot Shots TV called the decision to ban the shootout arcade 'an absolute freaking joke'

The 1957 film 'Gunfight at the OK Corral', based on the famous shootout, starred Burt Lancaster, Kirk Douglas, Rhonda Fleming

Gregg Bach, a spokesman for City of Phoenix Parks and Recreation Department, told the Prescott Daily Courier it was a straightforward decision for the organizers. And he insisted the shooting arcade was rejected before the Orlando attack.

'The planning committee was not comfortable with an exhibit/game that presented guns in a fun or glorified way,' he said.

A rejection letter stated: 'Everyone agreed that you have a great exhibit, but the City of Phoenix is very conscious about the perception of violence given the current climate.'
A Rolling Stone article describing the brutal gang-rape of a University of Virginia (UVA) student was dubbed 'our worst nightmare' by staff as they slowly realized it was built on a foundation of lies, newly released documents show.

'We're going to have to run a retraction,' wrote Sabrina Rubin Erdely, author of 'A Rape on Campus,' the now-discredited November 2014 story that ultimately saw the magazine facing multi-million-dollar lawsuits.

The email - titled 'our worst nightmare' - can be found among hundreds of pages of notes, correspondence and other information released Friday that shed light on the piece's construction, reception - and collapse.

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'Nightmare': Rolling Stone's November 2014 story 'A Rape on Campus', which detailed the gang-rape of a girl at the University of Virginia (UVA) started protests and a national conversation - but none of it was true

Lawsuit: UVA associate dean Nicole Eramo (left) says she was portrayed as a 'villain' who tried to silence the supposed victim. She is suing Rolling Stone and the article's author, Sabrina Erdely (right) for $7.5million

FROM 'A RAPE ON CAMPUS' 'There was a heavy person on top of her, spreading open her thighs, and another person kneeling on her hair, hands pinning down her arms, sharp shards digging into her back, and excited male voices rising all around her. 'When yet another hand clamped over her mouth, Jackie bit it, and the hand became a fist that punched her in the face. The men surrounding her began to laugh.' Describing the moment she supposedly passed out from pain, it continued: 'Someone handed her classmate a beer bottle. Jackie stared at the young man, silently begging him not to go through with it. 'And as he shoved the bottle into her, Jackie fell into a stupor, mentally untethering from the brutal tableau, her mind leaving behind the bleeding body under assault on the floor.' From Rolling Stone's 'A Rape on Campus' Advertisement

The 9,000-word story recounted the supposed rape of a girl known only as 'Jackie' at the hands of seven pledges at UVA's Phi Kappa Psi fraternity in September 2012.

According to the article, Jackie - not her real name - went to a fraternity party with 'Drew', a junior at the university who led her to a darkened bedroom where he and six other pledges cold-bloodedly beat and raped her for three hours.

Later, the article claimed, Jackie went to Nicole Eramo, an associate dean of students at the university.

Eramo, the article said, offered her three options: file a complaint with police, take part in an internal trial with the Sexual Misconduct Board and a dean as a judge, or directly face her attackers.

The article claimed that Eramo did not emphasize any particular choice - and quoted a spokesperson from the rape survivor advocacy group SurvJustice as saying: 'This is an alarming trend that I'm seeing on campuses.

'Schools are assigning people to victims who are pretending, or even thinking, they're on the victim's side, when they're actually discouraging and silencing them.

'Advocates who survivors love are part of the system that is failing to address sexual violence.'

The article led to protests on campus, graffiti on the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity house, and national discussions about rape culture on US campuses.

But an investigation by Charlottesville police found no evidence to back up Jackie's claims and details in the lengthy narrative did not hold up under scrutiny by other media organizations.

Rolling Stone and Erdely both apologized and the article was pulled from online.

Now Eramo - who sued Erdely and Rolling Stone for $7.5million, saying the article cast her as the 'chief villain' of the story - has made emails and other Rolling Stone documents unearthed in her suit available to the public.

Documents: Eramo has revealed documents and emails gleaned during her suit that show how the article collapsed after its publication. Pictured: the Phi Kappa Psi house in which the rape allegedly took place

The documents reveal inconsistencies with Jackie's story, whose last name is redacted in court documents, and missteps by Erdely, who said she found no reason to believe Jackie wasn't credible throughout her reporting.

For example, according to a transcript of her deposition, Erdely said she was aware that Jackie had initially told her roommate she was attacked by five men, but later said it was actually seven men.

Erdely also noted at one point that Jackie's mother's profile on Facebook said she herself went to Providence College, even though Jackie said her mom went to Brown.

When asked in her deposition whether that raised any red flags about Jackie's credibility, Erdely said 'it didn't seem to be all that important.'

Jackie said she had scars on her back from the attack, but her boyfriend said he had never seen them, Erdely's notes say.

Erdely said in her deposition that she made a mental note to bring it up with Jackie's mother, but ended up never speaking to her.

The journalist went back to Jackie after other reporters started raising questions about the accuracy of the story, according to the documents.

She talked to Jackie early on the morning of December 5, and when she asked for help in finding her attackers, 'it spiraled into confusion,' Erdely's notes say.

Protests: The publication of the article led to protests on campus, including this one during a Board of Visitors meeting about sexual assault at the university

'By the time we ended our conversation, I felt nearly certain that she was not being truthful,' the writer said in her notes.

'Then I called her friend Alex, who has been a valuable resource; and I found out that over the past day, Alex has also come to the conclusion that Jackie has probably been lying.'

In her deposition, Erdely called it the 'most devastating moment' of her career.

Libby Locke, an attorney for Eramo, said in an email Sunday that Erdely knew Jackie's story changed materially over time and published the 'false and defamatory article despite serious red flags and without any real due diligence.'

Attorneys for Jackie and Erdely didn't immediately respond to messages seeking comment on Sunday.

'(I) discovered, in the early morning hours, that the person who I had absolutely believed and trusted had, for whatever reason, turned out not to be credible,' Erdely said in her deposition.

'And I didn't know whether what we had published was truthful or not.'
Controversial politician Pauline Hanson is officially back.

The divisive One Nation leader managed to successfully resurrect her political career and is now headed for the Senate following the 2016 federal election.

But as the former fish and chip shop owner prepares to head back to parliament, we take a look back at the last time she was at the helm almost 20 years ago.

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Controversial politician Pauline Hanson is officially back after the One Nation leader managed to resurrect her political career at Saturday's federal election (pictured) almost 20 years after she was last in parliament

Ms Hanson rose to prominence in 1996 when she won the lower house Queensland seat of Oxley.

After her first year in parliament, Ms Hanson decided to record a video in 1997 in case she was ever assassinated given her controversial views.

'Fellow Australians, if you are seeing me now, it means that I have been murdered,' she said in the clip.

'Do not let my passing distract you for even a moment... For the sake of our children and our children's children, you must fight on.'

She was widely criticised for her maiden speech in parliament back in September 1996 where she controversially said Australia was being 'swamped by Asians'.

'I and most Australians want our immigration policy radically reviewed and that of multiculturalism abolished. I believe we are in danger of being swamped by Asians,' Ms Hanson said.

'Between 1984 and 1995, 40% of all migrants coming into this country were of Asian origin. They have their own culture and religion, form ghettos and do not assimilate.

'Of course, I will be called racist, but if I can invite whom I want into my home, then I should have the right to have a say in who comes into my country. A truly multicultural country can never be strong or united.'

Ms Hanson, a former fish and chip shop owner, rose to prominence in 1996 when she won the lower house Queensland seat of Oxley

Ms Hanson was widely criticised for her maiden speech in parliament back in September 1996 where she controversially said Australia was being 'swamped by Asians'

Following her exit from federal politics in 1998, Ms Hanson continued to make headlines for the next two decades, including during a stint on Dancing With The Stars in 2004

In that same speech, Ms Hanson touched on white settlement and indigenous Australians.

SOME OF ONE NATION'S POLICIES: Call for an inquiry or Royal Commission to determine if Islam is a religion or political ideology Ban the Burqa and Niquab in public places Ban Halal certification Zero net immigration - we replace the numbers that leave Australia with new migrants The Family Law Court will be abolished and replaced with a Family Tribunal Advertisement

'I am fed up with being told, 'This is our land'. Well, where the hell do I go? I was born here, and so were my parents and children. I will work beside anyone and they will be my equal, but I draw the line when told I must pay and continue paying for something that happened over 200 years ago.'

As Ms Hanson was gaining more attention for her views, 60 Minutes ran an interview with her in 1996 called 'The Hanson Phenomenon'.

During the interview, reporter Tracey Curro asked Ms Hanson if she was xenophobic.

Ms Hanson responded by saying: 'Please explain?'.

Her response became infamous and was used by satirical character Pauline Pantsdown, created by political satirist Simon Hunt, in what became a hit song called 'I don't like it'.

Mr Hunt told the ABC he had fielded dozens of messages since Saturday's election asking if Pauline Pantsdown will be making a comeback following Ms Hanson's successful election.

Ms Hanson was jailed for electoral fraud in 2003 for three months but later had the sentence quashed. Ms Hanson claimed she spent some of that sentence in solitary confinement

After her first year in parliament, Ms Hanson decided to record a video in case she was ever assassinated given her controversial views. The footage was leaked in 1997

Following her exit from federal politics in 1998, Ms Hanson continued to make headlines for the next two decades as she tried to make a political comeback on numerous occasions.

She was even signed to appear on Dancing With The Stars in 2004 where she finished runner up behind Bec Hewitt.

It came a year after she was jailed for electoral fraud but later had the sentence quashed. Ms Hanson claimed she spent some of that sentence in solitary confinement.

Now, she is back in the headlines again given her successful election to a Queensland senate seat.

Her policies and opinion are a talking point yet again with her views on immigration and Islam.

Ms Hanson has said she will call for a royal commission into the religion of Islam if elected, however One Nation ran its campaign on a raft of policies on the economy and primary industries.

She has insisted she will be able to work with any party on the floor of parliament, despite comments from Malcolm Turnbull, among others, that she is unwelcome in Australian politics.

'The fact is I'm not there for Malcolm Turnbull, I'm not there for Bill Shorten, I'm there for the people of Australia.'

One Nation leader Pauline Hanson, pictured arriving at Brisbane Magistrates Court, was jailed for electoral fraud in 2003. The conviction and sentence was later quashed
Militant teachers have threatened more national strikes as thousands of schools are expected to close or be forced to slash timetables tomorrow.

Members of the National Union of Teachers are walking out in the industrial action aimed at protecting pay and conditions, with further dates already being considered.

The NUT has warned the majority of England's schools will be affected tomorrow either through 'complete closure, partial closure or reduced timetable'.

The NUT has warned the majority of England's schools will be affected tomorrow either through 'complete closure, partial closure or reduced timetable' (file photo)

Education Secretary, Nicky Morgan, made a last-ditch attempt to avert the 'damaging' strike over the weekend in a letter to the union's acting general secretary, Kevin Courtney.

She attacked the action as 'counterproductive', adding it would 'harm children's education, inconvenience parents and damage the profession's reputation in the eyes of the public'.

Mr Courtney denied her accusations that the NUT was 'playing politics with children's futures' and challenged her claim that the schools budget was being protected in real terms.

However, he revealed the NUT's national executive is planning to meet at the end of this month to discuss further action.

He said: 'Four thousand people (teachers) have joined the union in the last week, which gives you some flavour of popularity (of the action)

'On this ballot mandate, we can call for future strikes. We will be actively considering further action at our executive in July. We have decided we will look at that question.'

More than 200,000 NUT members in England were balloted for 'discontinuous strike action' in May, with a turnout of 24.5 per cent  below new rules in the Trade Union Act 2016, which gained royal assent in May.

Education Secretary, Nicky Morgan (pictured), made a last-ditch attempt to avert the 'damaging' strike over the weekend in a letter to the union's acting general secretary, Kevin Courtney

This legislation, which comes into effect later this year, states industrial action will only be lawful when there has been a ballot turnout of at least 50 per cent.

Mr Courtney pointed out the new Act is not 'retrospective' and the NUT does not have to launch a fresh ballot for future potential strikes.

'It could be that we take more action in the Autumn term,' he added.

The NUT is demanding the government increase funding to schools and education, guarantee terms and conditions in all types of schools and resume negotiations on teacher contracts 'to allow workload to be addressed'.

Mr Courtney said: 'The strike is about the underfunding of our schools and the negative impact it is having on children's education and teachers' terms and conditions.'

He added: 'We would apologise for the inconvenience it causes parents. We're deliberately taking the action now when it doesn't disrupt exams so we're minimising the disruption.'

Kevin Courtney (middle) denied Nicky Morgan's accusations that the NUT was 'playing politics with children's futures' and challenged her claim that the schools budget was being protected in real terms

In her letter to the NUT, Ms Morgan described the strike as 'unnecessary'.

'I am sorry that you have chosen the path of disruption over negotiation and discussion,' she added.

NUT members last held a national strike two years ago, together with members of the NASUWT, leading to thousands of schools across the country being forced to shut.

During the March 2014 action over pay, pensions and conditions almost 3,000 of England's schools closed completely while many had to implement reduced timetables.

Four months later NUT members walked out again in a national strike alongside the unions, Unison, GMB and Unite.

The Department for Education reissued its 'handling strike action in schools' guidance last week. It said headteachers must take 'all reasonable steps to keep the school open for as many pupils as possible'.
He was arrested at the side of the road in Beaufort about 12.30pm

the facility during the

Police are looking for Theo Briggs, 24, who

Police have arrested a 24-year-old man who escaped from a correctional facility in the early hours of Monday morning.

Theo Briggs was arrested by the side of a Beaufort road around 50km away from the Corella Place facility at around 12.30pm on Monday afternoon.

Corella Place in Ararat, a city in south-west Victoria, houses sex offenders who are still on supervision orders after they've served their sentence.

Briggs was convicted in 2009 after breaking into a home armed with a knife and raping a woman inside. The Age reports, that there were several children in the home at the time and he was caught after falling asleep in the bed.

Police have arrested Theo Briggs, 24, (pictured) who escaped Corella Place correctional facility in the early hours of Monday morning

Victoria police Acting Commander Peter De Santo said Theo Briggs made his escape at about 1am on Monday morning after cutting off his ankle bracelet.

Briggs was residing at Corella Place under a supervision order after his release from prison.

After his 2009 arrest, another two-and-a- half years was added to his sentence in 2012, after he broke into supported outreach accommodation in the Victorian suburb of Reservoir.

A woman with an intellectual disability, woke to find Briggs in her bedroom with a knife.

He stole her bankcard from her purse and prescription medication, The Age reports.

Corella Place houses some of Victoria's worst sex offenders and is often referred to as the Village of the Damned.

There are no walls surrounding the facility, but offenders living there are monitored with GPS ankle bracelets and cannot leave without permission.

Residents at Corella Place are often taken on escorted day trips to nearby towns and to Melbourne.

Andrew Darling escaped from the facility in July 2014, like Briggs, he also cut off his electronic tracking bracelet.

Darling, who escaped on foot, was convicted of raping a 13-year-old girl in 2000 after breaking into her familys home to commit a burglary.

He was released from Port Phillip Prison in May 2009 but went missing from his Ararat home the day after he was released. He was arrested in Ballarat after more than a week at large.

It was discovered Corella residents could cut off their ankle monitors with a pair of scissors, during a court hearing about the security of Corella Place.

Corella Place in Ararat houses some of Victoria's worst sex offenders and is often referred to as the Village of the Damned

Corella Place houses sex offenders who are still on supervision orders after they've served their sentence

Theo Briggs was arrested in 2009 after breaking into a home armed with a knife and raping a woman inside. He was caught after falling asleep in the bed

The Corella Place correctional facility made headlines just last month in June, when convicted paedophile, Gregory Sedgman, who sexually penetrated two 14-year-old girls began dating a case worker he met at the facility

The 40-year-old has a 12-year history of dark sexual offences, including his involvement in a child porn ring and seven counts of rape against two young teenage girls.

He began dating a case worker, who resigned from Corella Place when her colleagues found out about her inappropriate relationship.

Sedgman reportedly wants to move to Horsham in regional Victoria with the case worker after he is released from the facility.

Andrew Darling, also escaped from the facility in July 2014. He was convicted of raping a 13-year-old girl in 2000 after breaking into her familys home to commit a burglary
The former Labor leader commended Ms Hanson for her

'Swamped by Asians': Pauline Hanson has returned to the political scene after picking up a Senate seat - and she believes her party could claim up to SIX

Pauline Hanson has said people in Sydney and Melbourne feel they have been 'swamped by Asians' - decades after she shocked the country with similar remarks.

At a combative press conference on Monday, the newly elected far-right politician was asked about her 1996 maiden speech where she said Australia was 'in danger of being swamped by Asians'.

Ms Hanson said: 'You go and ask a lot of people in Sydney, at Hurstville or some of the other suburbs.

'They feel like they have been swamped by Asians and regardless of that now, a lot of Australians feel that Asians are buying up prime agricultural land, housing.

'You ask people in Melbourne how they feel about it as well.

'I was taken completely out of context and when I said that in my maiden speech it was to draw attention to our immigration.'

A reporter pointed out she was repeating herself: 'You just said it then'.

Ms Hanson then said her famous speech was about an influx of Asian migrants 'from New Zealand' in the 90s.

While celebrating the resurrection of her political career, Ms Hanson also:

said her number one priority was 'cleaning up the Family Law Act and the child support' (sic)

discussing Islamic schools, said: 'Do you want to see terrorism on our streets here?'

claimed her far right One Nation party has a 'couple' of Muslim members

attacked Islam: 'They say it's a religion of peace. We know that's not true either'

called for Royal Commission into Islam but said 'you can't deport the Muslims that are here'

said she is 'definitely not sold' on climate change - but has an 'expert' in her party

revealed she is concerned about her safety but is 'older and I think...wiser' at politics

Combative: Ms Hanson believes Muslim immigration to Australia should be stopped and is concerned by Asian influence on the country, but recently said she didn't want to be labelled a racist

She also believes as many as six One Nation senators could elected. ABC election analyst Antony Green has predicted the party will win at least three.

Ms Hanson's reappearance on the national stage was welcomed by Labor leader Mark Latham who congratulated her on a 'gutsy' return to federal politics.

Latham said the Prime Minister may regret telling Ms Hanson was 'not welcome' in parliament after Saturday's election appears to have marked the One Nation leader's political resurrection.

The former Labor leader commended the controversial politician for 'marching forward' after an eighteen year lull in her career.

'I don't agree with what Pauline says about Muslims and climate change but you've got to say for someone who was last in the parliament 18 years ago and was actually jailed, falsely jailed for her political activities... what a gutsy, amazingly tenacious woman to get through to still be on her feet,' he told Sunrise on Monday morning.

'I congratulate Pauline Hanson as a test of character - she's come through with bells on,' he added.

Ms Hanson easily gathered enough votes to be elected after eight unsuccessful attempts, returning to politics proper for the first time since 1998.

Ms Hanson believes Muslim immigration to Australia should be stopped and is concerned by Asian influence on the country, but recently said she didn't want to be labelled a racist.

Former Labor leader Mark Latham has congratulated Pauline Hanson for her 'gutsy' return to federal politics, despite Malcolm Turnbull snubbing her ahead of a potentially hung parliament

Her other priorities include stimulating the economy in the regions, ridding the streets of the drug ice and getting people into jobs.

Before the election on Saturday, many expected Ms Hanson to do well due to senate voting reforms and the dramatic decline in support for the Palmer United Party in Queensland.

The double dissolution also meant she required half the usual votes, it was reported.

This comes after Ms Hanson announced she hadn't heard from either major parties since the election.

This comes after Ms Hanson announced she hadn't heard from Malcom Turnbull since the election and joked that he may have 'lost her number'

When asked if the prime minister had called her yet, Ms Hanson said 'no, I think he has lost my number'.

Asked if the opposition leader had been in contact, Ms Hanson laughed.

'You've got to be kidding,' she told Seven Network.

'At this point I am totally independent, maybe not like everybody else.'
A devastated family is grieving the loss of an eight-year-old boy who died after being trampled to death by a startled cow.

George Carter was helping his father, Peter Carter, exercise some of the family's 20 cows at their home in Georgetown when one of them became startled and trampled the child, the Essex District Attorney's Office said.

'You are not supposed to bury an 8-year-old,' Carter told WCVB. 'It was just very quick.'

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A devastated family is grieving the loss of eight-year-old George Carter (right with his father Peter Carter) who died after being trampled to death by a startled cow

Devastated father, Peter Carter (pictured), said he wishes he could 'turn the clock back' after his son, George, was trampled to death by one of the family's cows in Massachusetts

Carter and his son George (pictured together) were exercising some of the family's 20 cows at their home in Georgetown when one apparently became startled and trampled the child, the Essex District Attorney's Office said

The little boy was taken to Anna Jacques Hospital where he was pronounced dead from injuries sustained from the incident.

Carter said a pregnant female cow got spooked and trampled his son.

He told WCVB: 'She came flying by me with him tangled up in the rope and by the time I caught up with him, he was gone.'

Carter said he still doesn't know what spooked the cow.

Carter owns 24 cows that he raises for beef. Investigators said the cows have passed all routine inspections

The Essex District Attorney's Office said police went to the home after receiving a call regarding an injured child at 12.45pm Saturday.

George had been dragged around by the cow at the time of the incident, WFXT reported.

Peter Carter had a broken leg and was released from the hospital at 6pm Saturday, the TV station reported.

He told FOX 25: 'We haven't figured out to tell a three-year-old that the brother she loves very much is no longer here. Because I don't know how to. I don't know how to do it.'

Carter owns 24 cows that he raises for beef.

Investigators said the cows have passed all routine inspections. Massachusetts State police are investigating but no foul play is suspected.

Carter said as soon as George could walk, he was with the animals. 'The biggest thing I would like to do is turn the clock back.'

A GoFundMe page called 'George Carter Memorial Fund' has been set up and has raised nearly $5,000.

George had been dragged around by the cow at the time of the incident and his father, Peter (pictured), suffered a broken leg and was released from the hospital at 6pm Saturday
The Queensland state branch of Labor has admitted it was responsible for sending out the 'fake' Medicare privatisation messages ahead of Saturday's federal election but denies trying to deceive voters.

Texts were sent from an account called Medicare but the ALP branch claimed it did not intend to make them appear as if they had come from Medicare.

'The message was not intended to indicate that it was a message from Medicare, rather to identify the subject of the text,' the spokesman said in a statement.

The Australian Federal Police is examining the source of the texts amid claims thousands may have been sent.

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The message (above) was sent out before the federal election on Saturday. The Queensland state branch of the ALP has claimed responsibility but said it did not intend to make them appear to have come from Medicare

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull launched a scathing attack on the so-called 'Mediscare' text messages during his speech to the party faithful on Saturday night in Sydney

The Government called on Opposition Leader Bill Shorten to confirm he was not behind an anti-Liberal Party text message campaign

Cliffhanger: There are at least 13 seats still in doubt following Saturday's federal election

'This matter is now being evaluated and whilst this occurs it would not be appropriate to provide further comment,' a spokeswoman said.

The Queensland ALP party spokesperson also disputed the idea that voters would have been deceived by the text, given the prominent role Medicare had played in Labor's campaign.

'The message was consistent with Labor's message throughout the campaign. There should be no surprise that this was not a government message.'

Labor has come under fire over the text message, which appeared to identify the public health insurer as its sender.

'Mr Turnbull's plans to privatise Medicare will take us down the road of no return,' the message read. 'Time is running out to Save Medicare.'

Federal Labor is refusing to apologise for the so-called 'Mediscare' campaign the Turnbull government blames for a voter backlash against the coalition.

'That is the most acute example of sour grapes I've ever seen,' Deputy Leader Tanya Plibersek told ABC radio on Monday of Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's claim that Labor ran a systematic dishonest campaign.

'Medicare was at risk at this election and I don't apologise for reminding people that there is a philosophical fundamental choice here.'

Ms Plibersek dismissed a possible police investigation into how a text message to voters on Saturday carried Medicare branding, saying it was an 'absurd proposition from the Liberals'.

Some social media users questioned the legality of the messaging campaign

Labor's Queensland branch has been revealed to be behind the 'fake' Medicare messages which was sent to voters on election day. The texts are now under police investigation

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull called the message 'an extraordinary act of dishonesty' in a speech to party faithful following the election.

'As voters went to the polls, as you would have seen in the press, there were text messages being sent to thousands of people across Australia saying that Medicare was about to be privatised by the Liberal Party,' Mr Turnbull said in the speech.

'The SMS message came from Medicare. It said it came from Medicare. An extraordinary act of dishonesty.'

The office of Health Minister Sussan Ley warned voters to beware of the 'desperate and deceitful' messages and called on Opposition Leader Bill Shorten to confirm he was not behind the campaign.

The messages were in concert with Labor's campaign slogan that a vote for Labor was a vote to 'save Medicare' but the Queensland branch insists Medicare was supposed to be the 'subject' matter only in texts

'Australians can spot a fake when they see one and Labor's Medi-scare campaign is the biggest fake of all,' she said.

Others took to social media to slam the campaign.

'Has anyone else received this text message? Is Labor pretending to be Medicare?'

'Got this text from 'Medicare' today. Clearly from ALP. Deceit of the highest order. How is this legal?'

'Tempted to vote for the person who didn't text spam me' wrote another.

The Labor Party has been arguing a Coalition proposal to look into privatising Medicare backroom payments systems will lead to full-scale privatisation.
Boris Johnsons camp accused Michael Gove of being shifty, unprincipled and untrustworthy last night after extraordinary claims emerged about his alleged duplicity.

Less than two hours before the Justice Secretary announced his intention to stand as Tory leader, his team emailed Mr Johnsons advisers to promise they would be turning up at his campaign launch.

The former London mayors aides believe the message proves Mr Gove was deliberately keeping Mr Johnson in the dark for as long as possible to inflict maximum damage to his campaign.

Less than two hours before the Justice Secretary announced his intention to stand as Tory leader, his team emailed Mr Johnsons advisers to promise they would be at his campaign launch

Mr Gove was yesterday forced to deny allegations that he was a political serial killer who betrayed both David Cameron and the ex-mayor.

The Justice Secretary was accused of humiliating Mr Johnson and destroying him publicly by abandoning him and running his own campaign for Tory leader.

In a bruising interview on the Andrew Marr Show yesterday, the host laid out damaging accusations against Mr Gove, describing his role in Mr Johnsons political demise as a brutal kind of political knife-work.

Mr Gove claimed he took the decision to stand very late last Wednesday evening, reflected on it overnight and then  after discussing it with colleagues  made his final resolution early on Thursday morning.

The Justice Secretary was accused of humiliating Mr Johnson and destroying him publicly by abandoning him and running his own campaign for Tory leader

His campaign manager was ringing MPs around 7am asking them to come to a meeting at which Mr Gove would tell them he was running.

But around the same time  7.08am  one of Mr Goves special advisers sent an email to Mr Johnsons camp saying the Justice Secretarys supporters would be attending the ex-mayors launch later that day.

The email contained a list of MPs who would be turning up, including Nicky Morgan and Dominic Raab, who later signed off Mr Goves leadership bid.

Less than two hours later, at 9.02am, Mr Gove announced that he himself was going to stand for leader.

A senior campaign source in Mr Johnsons camp said: Its not the crime that proves some long-held plan, but the cover-up that proves it. Goves cover-up started before he even committed the crime.

Shifty, unprincipled, and untrustworthy, Gove was determined to leave Boris no room for manoeuvre and no room to react. It was a coup.

It came as allies of Mr Johnson told The Sunday Telegraph that Mr Gove was a Machiavellian psychopath who was always plotting to knife his friend.

For his part, Mr Johnson has told friends he regrets his decision to pull out of the leadership race and could have won if he made the final ballot, it was reported

But Mr Gove said he had decided to launch his own campaign for the Tory leadership reluctantly because the former mayor of London lacked grit.

He told Mr Marr his actions were not the result of personal ambition but a desire to serve his country by doing what is right.

And in a newspaper interview he claimed the episode proved he had the steel which would mean he could stand up to Vladimir Putin on the world stage.

He told The Sunday Times: I think one thing that people could say after this week is whatever else you say about Michael Gove, he is a man who is prepared to stand up for what he believes in and take the consequences.

He added: Youve got to take a particular step, not to flinch, so I think Vladimir Putin, if we had the option to meet  which Im sure we will if I am elected as prime minister  will know that whatever else I am, I am not a soft touch.
So-called helicopter parents are being urged to pull back and help children solve problems for themselves, after a study found their intrusiveness makes youngsters self-critical, anxious and depressed.

The findings come from a study by the National University of Singapore, which assessed 263 seven-year-olds from 10 schools over four years between 2010 and 2014.

Researchers determined whether parents were intrusive by giving each child a puzzle to complete within a time limit. Parents were told they could offer help at any time - and those who regularly intervened were then assessed for more controlling traits.

So-called helicopter parents are being urged to pull back and help children solve problems for themselves, after a study found their intrusiveness makes youngsters self-critical, anxious and depressed

Of those parents children, 60 per cent were found to be increasingly self-critical, while 78 per cent showed signs of socially-prescribed perfectionism, described as a rejection of personal flaws based on the expectations of society.

Child behaviour expert Professor Mark Dadd, of the University of Sydney, said: The study speaks (of) the importance of parents being able to pull back and help the child problem solve themselves rather than just jumping in.

He called for information to be made available to parents about the risks of controlling behaviour.

Its about helping parents, not in a coercive or blaming way, but empowering parents to have the skills to facilitate their childrens ability to independently problem solve, he said.

Its important that we make this good education available online and in parenting programs, to point out the importance of encouraging independent problem solving in children.

The study said that children with intrusive parents became afraid of making mistakes and often put blame on themselves for not being good enough - putting them at increased risk of developing anxiety, depression and even suicide.
The Great British Bake Off star Paul Hollywood managed to woo back his wife, Alexandra, after he betrayed her with Marcela Valladolid, his sultry fellow judge on the U.S. version of the hit BBC programme.

Hollywood will, however, need more than smooth talk to win over the former creditors of his speciality baking business.

For I can reveal that his company has failed to pay back a single penny of the money it owed when Paul Hollywood Artisan Bread went into liquidation two years ago.

Paul Hollywood Artisan Bread went into liquidation two years ago, but the company has failed to pay back a single penny of the money it owed

The business, which made expensive loaves  including Roquefort and almond sourdough, stocked by Harrods at 15 a loaf  owed a total of 60,000 to creditors including a leasing company, energy firm EDF and HM Revenue & Customs.

The last unpaid debt means that Hollywood, who is paid around 500,000 per year by the BBC, has left taxpayers out of pocket.

The liquidator recovered just 12,000, which was enough to cover the accountancy and fees, but not to repay any of those owed money by the firm, which Hollywood set up in 2007. 'The actual return to creditors was nil pence in the pound,' confirms the liquidation report.

Creditors will have reason to be angry at being left out of pocket by Hollywood, as freshly published accounts for his other company, Paul Hollywood Ltd, reveal that it made profits of almost 1.4 million. His eponymous firm's profits went up by almost 400,000 in a year.

The last unpaid debt means that Hollywood (pictured), who is paid around 500,000 per year by the BBC, has left taxpayers out of pocket

He channels earnings from Bake Off and his books through Paul Hollywood Ltd, and has now used its funds to set up another associated business, HJP Media. He has invested nearly 900,000 in HJP Media and its accounts show he has paid back a loan of 1.4 million in cash which he had borrowed from the firm, including interest of 34,000.

Artisan Bread is not the former baker's first business failure.

Earlier in his career, he had to call in liquidators when his first bread firm built up debts of 262,000. It was dissolved in December 2005, leaving some creditors fuming. At the time, his spokesman insisted 'the majority of creditors were compensated'. This time, his spokesman could not be reached for comment.

Dame Eileen Atkins was so devoted to her film producer husband Bill Shepherd that she once spurned heart-throb Colin Farrell's advances.

Sadly, the celebrated actress, 82, is now mourning the loss of Bill, who has died aged 73. 'Bill had been very ill,' a friend tells me.

Dame Eileen Atkins (pictured) was so devoted to her film producer husband Bill Shepherd that she once spurned heart-throb Colin Farrell's advances

Former ad man Shepherd never lost his appeal for Dame Eileen, who cheekily described how Hollywood star Farrell, now 40, tried to slip into bed with her while on location. 'I don't know how I held out, but I did,' she later disclosed.

'I enjoyed getting him out of my room for about an hour.'
Two women with permanent make-up tattoos who suffered facial burns after having MRI scans have prompted a clamp down on risky types of ink.

Patients needing MRI scans are at risk of temporary burns and swelling on the skin associated with iron oxide which can often be found in some inks.

The magnetic field produced by an MRI can reportedly creates an electrical current in the ink which heats the skin, particularly around sensitive areas.

Swelling around tattooed skin (pictured) is an example of what patients could suffer from when going in for an MRI scan, because of the chemicals within some inks. Although only 10 cases have been reported in 30 years

Both women suffered severe pain around their eyes and lips only seconds after being in the MRI, New Zealand Herald reported.

Although permanent damage was not made to their skin temporary swelling and redness occurred.

The Auckland clinic, which did not want to be named, said that both women will not be able to have MRI scans in the future and reported the matter to the Health Ministry's Medsafe division.

Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Radiologists spokesman Dr Quentin Reeves told New Zealand Herald that 'the risk of permanent damage is extremely low'.

The magnetic field produced by an MRI (stock) can reportedly create an electrical current in the ink heating the skin, in particular around sensitive areas

With only 10 cases reported in the last 30 years he added: 'Most times the burning and prickling sensations can be controlled with wet towels over the tattoo.'

Iron oxide in tattoo pigments have been associated with the issue and Dr Reeves has urged tattoo artists using inks with higher iron oxide not to.

There are often cases in which a patient can do a CT scan but in some situations there are no alternatives to an MRI.

A clamp down on makeup tattoo inks was prompted when two New Zealand women suffered facial burns linked to 'permanent cosmetics' (stock) after going for MRI scans

An MRI is used to investigate and diagnose conditions such as tumours, joint and spinal injuries or diseases and soft tissue injuries of internal organs such as the brain and heart.

Medsafe are aware of the issue and an investigation into the risk of burning from tattoos has been started.

Although there is nothing in the health bylaw about commercial tattooing according to the Government's Tattoo and Permanent Makeup Substances Group Standard inks with hazardous properties were not approved.
A Queensland teenager has set off on his bid to become the youngest pilot to fly a single-engine aircraft around the world.

Lachlan Smart, 18, flew his Cirrus SR22 single engine aircraft out of Sunshine Coast Airport on Monday morning just after 4am reported the ABC.

He is flying to the city of Nadi in Fiji for his first stop in a seven-and-a-half week adventure, where he plans to land in 24 countries and fly more than 45,000 kilometres.

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Teenager Lachlan Smart (pictured) is attempting to be the youngest pilot to fly solo around the world in a single engine aircraft

Mr Smart (pictured) set off on his attempt just after 4am on Monday morning, bound for the city of Nadi in Fiji

The current world record holder is American Matt Guthmiller who completed the journey in 2014 aged 19, flying a single-engine 1981 Beechcraft Bonanza.

Former record holder Australian Ryan Campbell, who completed a circumnavigation in 2013 as a 19-year-old, is acting as a Mr Smart's mentor.

Mr Smart told the ABC he has spent the past two-and-a-half years preparing for the trip.

He said he decided in 2013 to take on a challenge that was a bit more adventurous than your average day in school.

'We live in an age of endless opportunity and there are so many things that we could be doing and so often we miss that bit of self-belief and motivation,' said Mr Smart.

'I want to see more young people get out there and give life a go.'

He said 'I think you'd be crazy if you weren't a little bit nervous with a journey like this'

A crowd of people gathered at Sunshine Coast Airport on Sunday afternoon to farewell Mr Smart

Mr Smart (pictured in his aircraft the afternoon before taking off) plans to stop in 24 countries over the seven-and-a-half weeks, clocking up a total of 45,000km

After Fiji, he plans to island hop his way across the Pacific towards Hawaii, before he crosses the Pacific Ocean and heads into the mainland of the US.

He then plans to fly up to Canada, across to Iceland, through Europe, then to Egypt, Oman, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Indonesia and then back down into Australia.

Mr Smart said one of his major inspirations was solo sailor Jessica Watson.

In 2010 Ms Watson became the youngest person to sail solo, non-stop and unassisted around the world.

Mr Smart (pictured flying) told the ABC he has been preparing for the big trip for the past two-and-a-half years

Mr Smart (pictured right) said one of his major inspirations was solo sailor Jessica Watson, who became the youngest person ever to sail solo, non-stop and unassisted around the world in 2010

Mr Smart said nerves were keeping him on his toes, and that was a good thing.

'I think you'd be crazy if you weren't a little bit nervous with a journey like this,' he said.

His mother Vanessa Sprague said she was very proud of her son.

'I'm OK, I know the plane is safe and we have all the safety measures,' she said.

'I've been flying enough with Lachie to just see how he handles so many situations.'

The trip will be documented on social media and his website Wings Around the World.
T-junctions should be replaced by mini-roundabouts to make roads safer for older drivers, a report claims.

Ministers were told roads should be redesigned so they are more accessible for the countrys ageing population.

The Older Drivers Task Force called for T-junctions to be scrapped, as figures show over-75s are twice as likely to be killed than the average motorist while negotiating them.

Instead, it said mini-roundabouts should be installed  making it easier for pensioners to pull out into traffic.

The Older Drivers Task Force called for T-junctions to be scrapped, as figures show over-75s are twice as likely to be killed than the average motorist while negotiating them (stock image)

The report said: Given that the percentage of serious accidents at T-junctions increases significantly with age after 65, and that this does not happen at roundabouts, it would be worth studying the value of installing mini roundabouts at busy T-junctions with little or no change to the kerb lines.

The Government backed report also called for the greater use of segregated slip roads on motorways and A roads, which would lead into a proper lane.

The change would mean older drivers no longer having to look over their shoulder when joining busy roads.

Other pensioner-friendly ideas included wider white lines in the middle of the road, more traffic lights at crossroad junctions, reflective backing on signs to make them more visible and larger lettering on road markings.

Experts warned that large numbers of pensioners were being put off driving by roads designed for use by fit, middle-aged motorists, which risked leaving them isolated because they could no longer visit family or friends.

The report, seen by The Times newspaper, said that 4.7million Britons aged 70 or over had a valid driving licence in 2014  but that this was expected to rise to 8.5million over the next 20 years.

Andrew Jones, the roads minister, said the report calls for action from a number of sectors, including government, and we will consider the recommendations carefully.

The task force, which was created by the Road Safety Foundation and the insurer Ageas, with support from the government, also called for drivers to be given eye tests from the age of 60.

But it said that motorists should not be forced to renew their licence until they are 75. Currently this has to be done aged 70, a rule that has been unchanged for 50 years.

T-junctions should be replaced by mini-roundabouts to make roads safer for older drivers, a report claims (stock image)

John Plowman, chairman of the task force, said: People are living longer, healthier, more active lives, and driving longer.

The number of drivers over 85 will double to one million by 2025, many without access to public transport.

This influx of older drivers has important economic and social value but it also presents road safety risks if we dont adapt. Getting to grips with these risks, without limiting the independence and freedoms of the elderly is an important policy challenge.

Prior to the release of the report, he told The Daily Telegraph: We want older drivers to stay driving for as long as possible, we dont want to put them off.

The key point is that we are living longer and they are healthier. If you tell them to think about driving assessments they may well just give up driving which puts them at risk.

They lose the social contacts that they had, they are more likely to get depressed and isolated and put a greater burden on the care system.
Former underwear firm boss Beverley Williams, 62,(pictured) was hanged - in effigy - from a mock gallows when she was sent to shake up bootmaker Le Chameau

Its upmarket wellies are favoured by young Royals including the Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry.

But when a British boss was sent to shake up working practices at one of Frances most famous bootmakers, the reaction of employees was savage.

Former underwear firm boss Beverley Williams was hanged - in effigy - from a mock gallows amid a tide of anti-British protests.

The dramatic dispute came after bootmaker Le Chameau was bought by a London investment firm in 2012.

Ms Williams, 62, was brought in after a successful high street fashion career during which she launched the Tammy Girl brand before later becoming a top executive with the La Senza lingerie chain.

However, despite having successfully worked in China and North America, her stint at the firms Normandy factory has degenerated into a bitter clash of cultures, the Sunday Times reported yesterday.

A series of disputes saw the Anglo-French relationship become increasingly fractious, culminating in the vicious Battle of the Boots, it said.

Trouble began when she introduced a modern computer system and a leather cutting machine, exacerbated by her habit of observing them from a landing above the factory floor when they took their frequent coffee breaks, the paper reported.

It said workers took to calling her Maggie, after Margaret Thatcher, because she was so demanding, also complaining that she didnt speak French and had to use an interpreter.

The dramatic dispute came after bootmaker Le Chameau was bought by a London investment firm in 2012. Described as the most luxurious wellington boot on the market, Le Chameaus leather-lined flagship model costs an eye-watering 340 per pair

I was not the most popular person, they would have preferred a French boss, she told the paper.

Its not a pleasant thing to happen. Its very extreme. Ive worked and travelled in many countries, but this is a tough one.

However she insisted: We cant stay stuck in the past.

Furious bootmakers staged a mock-hanging of Ms Williams as well as burning a Union Jack in the courtyard

The final straw came at the end of last year that their Normandy factory was to be shut and production would move to Morocco.

Furious bootmakers staged a mock-hanging of Ms Williams as well as burning a Union Jack in the courtyard.

One, Jean-Jacques Beaudouin, 58, accused her of not knowing anything about handmade boots and buying unneeded machinery.

Alain Lebas, the companys union representative, told the paper: There were certain problems, absenteeism and so on, its true. But that could have been sorted out.

French staff have been further aggrieved by rumours that the headquarters would be moved from Paris to London, but in the end only the sales and marketing teams are crossing the Channel.

Described as the most luxurious wellington boot on the market, Le Chameaus leather-lined flagship model costs an eye-watering 340 per pair.

It is by no means the first time French workers have taken dramatic action in defence of their rights  to the detriment of their economy, according to many observers.

There were shocking scenes last year when Air France staff furious at 2,900 job losses stormed a meeting of senior management in Paris, ripping the shirt from one executives back and forcing him to flee over a fence for safety.
The daughter of former treasurer Wayne Swan reportedly devised Labor's successful 'Mediscare' campaign that left the Australian public concerned Medicare would be privatised by a Malcolm Turnbull-led Government.

Midway through the eight-week election campaign, Erinn Swan, the head of the Australian Labor Party's digital team in Melbourne, devised the plan to have former prime minister Bob Hawke appear in a digital advertisement, according to The Australian.

The 30-second ad was uploaded to YouTube on June 11 and gained enough momentum to be shown on television 24-hours later.

'Everybody knows you don't set up a Medicare privatisation taskforce unless you aim to privatise Medicare,' Mr Hawke said in the clip.

Daily Mail Australia contacted the Australian Labor Party's Melbourne headquarters, but they declined to comment.

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Erinn Swan (pictured with father Wayne), reportedly devised Labor's 'Mediscare' campaign that left public worried Medicare would be privatised under Malcolm Turnbull's government

Midway through the eight-week election campaign, Erinn Swan, the head of the Australian Labor Party's digital team in Melbourne, devised the plan to have former prime minister Bob Hawke appear in a digital advertisement

'Everybody knows you don't set up a Medicare privatisation taskforce unless you aim to privatise Medicare,' Mr Hawke (pictured) said in the clip

Daily Mail Australia contacted the Australian Labor Party's Melbourne headquarters, but they declined to comment (pictured: Erinn, far right, with her family, including father Wayne, centre)

ALP's short advertisement was funded by online donations after they pitched their idea to digital advertising and an email list of around 300,000 contacts.

Mr Turnbull, who claimed the scare campaign had 'cost [The Coalition] some votes,' fronted reporters, announcing Medicare would 'never, ever' be privatised under his government.

Labor released a second advertisement in response, with clips of former prime minister John Howard claiming he would 'never' introduce a GST and Tony Abbott saying there would be no cuts to health or education.

Former federal treasurer Wayne Swan is pictured here with Erinn at their Brisbane home in 2013

Mr Swan is pictured here with Erinn (far right), wife Kim (left) and son Matt

Ms Swan (pictured with father and former treasurer Wayne Swan) reportedly devised Labor's successful 'Mediscare' campaign

Mr Turnbull (pictured), who claimed the scare campaign had 'cost [The Coalition] some votes,' fronted reporters, announcing Medicare would 'never, ever' be privatised under his government

Shots of Mr Turnbull denying Medicare would be privatised was looped in with the other prime minister's 'empty' promises at the end of the clip.

On Saturday, thousands of anti-Liberal Party text messages were sent to voters just hours before the polls closed.

The messages, which claim to have been sent from Medicare itself, said: 'Mr Turnbull's plans to privatise Medicare will take us down the road of no return. Time is running out to save Medicare'.

During a speech to supporters on Saturday night, Mr Turnbull (left) said the police would investigate the text messages and the AFP confirmed it was looking into the source

On Saturday, thousands of anti-Liberal Party text messages were sent to voters just hours before the polls closed

During a speech to supporters on Saturday night, Mr Turnbull said the police would investigate the text messages and the AFP confirmed it was looking into the source.

'The SMS message came from Medicare. It said it came from Medicare. An extraordinary act of dishonesty,' Mr Turnbull said in his speech.

A spokesperson from the Labor campaign denied any knowledge of the message campaign.
Tony Abbott said the next prime minister will need to make 'tough decisions on spending' as he flashed a wallet full of fifty dollar notes after the election.

The former prime minister had his wallet and phone in hand when he was approached by reporters after a bike ride outside his home in northern Sydney on Sunday morning.

Mr Abbott tried not to criticise his successor Malcolm Turnbull as he discussed how difficult it would be for the Coalition to pass legislation without a majority government.

But a rogue camera operator managed to shift the attention towards the bright yellow notes hanging out of the politician's wallet.

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The former prime minister had his wallet and phone in hand when he was approached by reporters after a bike ride outside his home in northern Sydney on Sunday morning

Mr Abbott was discussing the consequences of a 'fractured senate' when a rogue camera operator shifted the focus towards the bright yellow notes hanging out of his wallet

'The real Americanisation of our politics is the growing difficulty that the executive has getting its legislation through parliament,' Mr Abbott said as he empathised with his Liberal colleagues who lost their seats.

'This is a real problem, particularity for a government that needs to make tough decisions on spending, tough decisions on a whole range of areas - economic and security.'

The camera panned down to Mr Abbott's wallet on three occasions during the impromptu interview, twice zooming in so viewers could get a good look at the wad of cash inside.

Social media users were quick to comment on the bizarre amount of money Mr Abbott had taken out on a ride, while others questioned why the camera drew attention to the 'overflowing' wallet.

Social media users were quick to comment on the bizarre amount of money Mr Abbott had taken out on a ride, while others questioned why the camera drew attention to the 'overflowing' wallet

'Wish my wallet looked like Tony Abbott's,' one woman wrote.

'Sky News should sack the cameraman for zooming in thrice on Tony Abbott 's wallet and cash,' argued another.

Mr Abbott celebrated on Saturday night after retaining his Sydney seat of Warringah, despite a 9.7 per cent swing against him.

He was competing for the blue-ribbon Liberal seat with former Australian Idol host and independent Warringah candidate James Mathison and Labor's Andrew Woodward.

Mr Abbott celebrated on Saturday night after retaining his Sydney seat of Warringah, despite a 9.7 per cent swing against him
This is the tender moment that shows the modern family of Bill and Chloe Shorten after weeks on the federal election campaign trail.

The opposition leader was supported by his wife, their six-year-old daughter and his two step-children on Sunday as they enjoyed some family time in a park near their home at Moonee Ponds in Melbourne.

Mrs Shorten was pictured holding hands with her teenage children Rupert, 15, and Georgette, 13, while her daughter Clementine, who she shares with Mr Shorten, was held tightly by her niece Alexandra.

Chloe Shorten held hands with her two children Rupert, 15, and Georgette, 13, while her daughter Clementine who she shares with Mr Shorten, was held tightly by her niece Alexandra in Melbourne on Sunday

The Labor leader was supported by the same family members as he took centre state on election night as he eagerly awaited the polling results.

Mrs Shorten's eldest two children are from her previous marriage to architect Roger Parkin.

Clementine is the only biological child of Mr Shorten.

He was married to Deborah Beale until 2008 before he left her for Chloe - the daughter of former Governor-General Quentin Bryce.

Mrs Shorten fell pregnant with the couple's daughter while they were each going through their respective divorces.

Opposition leader Bill Shorten had breakfast with his family at Moonee Ponds in Melbourne on Sunday after an eight week election campaign came to an end

Mr Shorten was married to Deborah Beale (pictured) until 2008 when he left her for Chloe - the daughter of former Governor-General Quentin Bryce. Mr Shorten and Ms Beale did not have any children together

Mr Shorten and his six-year-old daughter Clementine played on play equipment on Sunday as a media pack watched on intently

The family time on Sunday came after eight weeks of criss-crossing across the country in the lengthy election campaign.

They had a late breakfast and took a gentle stroll along the Maribyrnong River before Mr Shorten was forced to step away and address the media pack who had tagged along.

Mr Shorten and his six-year-old daughter were earlier pictured playing together on the monkey bars and swings of nearby play equipment.

'There are good swings and better swings,' the opposition leader joked as he pushed his daughter.

'That's a zinger.'

'(Clementine) can do this for an hour guys,' Mr Shorten said as the media watched on intently.'

Chloe Shorten and her family (L-R: Alexandra, Clementine, Georgette and Rupert) stood by as Bill Shorten addressed reporters following the election on Saturday

Chloe Shorten helps cover six-year-old Clementine's ear as the crowd cheers at an election party

The same family members were present alongside Mr Shorten on election night as he took centre stage to thank supporters after the polling booths closed
Texas Gov Greg Abbott isn't on board with a 'Texit' but is seizing a chance to take advantage of Brexit.

Abbott announced Saturday the state will run digital ads on British websites over the July 4th weekend urging companies to 'declare independence from high taxes' and relocate to Texas.

The campaign follows Britain's vote to leave the European Union and is funded through Texas One, the state's quasi-governmental marketing arm.

Texas Gov Greg Abbott (pictured) isn't on board with a 'Texit' but is seizing a chance to take advantage of Brexit. Abbott announced Saturday the state will run digital ads on British websites over the July 4th weekend urging companies to 'declare independence from high taxes' and relocate to Texas

Abbott spokesman John Wittman said he didn't have specifics on how much the ads cost.

The British vote reinvigorated Texas secessionist groups that in May nearly forced a floor vote on its fringe cause at the state Republican convention.

And presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump brushed aside the idea last week.

He said: 'Texas will never do that because Texas loves me.'

Abbott told radio host Sean Hannity on Friday that he didn't think secession from the US was the best route for the state, Buzzfeed reported.

The Lone Star State Gov said he doesn't see a break with the US happening the way Britain voted to leave the European Union last week.

He said that Texans believe 'we need the United States to be more like Texas'.

'In fact, I believe America longs to be the way the Texas is.'

But although Abbott has long accused the Obama administration of impeding on state sovereignty, the governor says Texas isn't going anywhere.

He said that 'sovereignty is a key component of a nation' and 'asserting sovereignty of a state, of a nation is essential'.
A United Airlines flight bound for Los Angeles has made an emergency landing after the plane hit a flock of birds.

Flight UA840 departed Sydney Airport at 9.45am on Monday but was forced to turn around about 10.30am.

The Boeing 777 landed back at its origin a 11.13am after it is thought the plane hit a bird while it was in the air, a United Airlines spokesman confirmed to Daily Mail Australia.

A United Airlines flight bound for Los Angeles has made an emergency landing after the plane hit a flock of birds

Emergency crews came to the scene after the jet made its landing and guided it to the gates.

The plane landed safety after dumping its fuel, which was captured on video by passengers, and no one was injured.

'We're making sure our customers are being taken care of and they are on the next flight out,' the spokesman said.

A spokeswoman added: 'United Airlines flight UA840 from Sydney to Los Angeles on Monday, 4th July returned to Sydney International Airport right after take-off due to a possible bird strike.

'United Airlines confirmed the aircraft safely returned to the airport at 11.13am and the flight has been cancelled.

'United Airlines is currently working to reaccommodate passengers on the next available flight and apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused.'

Emergency crews came to the scene and remain on site after the jet made its landing

The spokesman said the plane landed safety and no one was injured. Pictured is a map of the plane's route

Travellers on-board told Daily Mail Australia passengers looked worried as they came in for their landing.

Passenger Kip Hale, who lives in Washington DC, posted a video of the plane dumping fuel on his Instagram page.

'Unbeknownst to me, we apparently hit birds during takeoff and flight crew spotted bird strike damage to the plane,' he said.

'In the process, they decided to make the plane lighter by dumping our fuel. A tad unnerving to watch this out your window.'

Mr Hale told Daily Mail Australia the mood on the plane shifted after the fuel dump started and lasted between 20 to 30 minutes.

'The whole plane was went tense and apprehensive when they started dumping the fuel,' he said.

'It lasted for the entire way after we turned around and got back to the airport. It was this constant reminder what had happened.'

The Boeing 777 landed back at its origin at 11.10am after the plane hit a bird while it was in the air, a United Airlines spokesman confirmed to Daily Mail Australia. Above is a stock image

Mr Hale said he heard other passengers had witnessed the plane hitting the birds and had been left traumatised.

'It may have shaken the plane in that local area when it happened,' he told Daily Mail Australia.

Another passenger Erik Kuebler said about 15 minutes into the flight he looked out of the window and could see fuel coming out of the wing.

'Within seconds the first officer came on the intercom to say that the plane had struck a flock of birds and we would be making an emergency landing back in Sydney and they needed to dump fuel from the plane,' he told Daily Mail Australia.

'We landed safely within 10 minutes with only a few bumps coming on. Aftr being followed by emergency vehicles to the gate we were able to safely depart the plane.'

Mr Kuebler said some of his fellow passengers got a bit antsy during the landing.

'When the plane came in for [a descent] to land you could see people get worried or scared look on their face but no one made a fuss about it,' he said.
Harriet Wran has won the right to stand trial for murder before a judge only, beginning on Wednesday.

Wran, 28, the youngest daughter of former New South Wales premier Neville Wran, is accused of murdering drug dealer Daniel McNulty at a notorious housing commission block in inner Sydney in 2014.

She also faces a charge of aggravated robbery with wounding before NSW Supreme Court Justice Ian Harrison.

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Harriet Wran (pictured) has won the right to a judge-only murder trial rather than face a jury. The trial is due to begin on Wednesday

Jill Hickson-Wran, Harriet Wran's mother, has sworn to stand by her daughter during the trial. She is pictured arriving at the NSW Supreme Court to hear the news that her daughter will face a judge only in proceedings starting Wednesday

Harriet Wran told her family to abandon her as her trial will be too hard on them but her mother, Jill Hickson-Wran (pictured centre) said she will stand by her daughter regardless

Harriet Wran has been in prison awaiting her trial in the New South Wales Supreme Court for two years

Wran was set to face a trial by jury in June but after a string of delays - including 11th-hour guilty pleas from Wran's two co-accused, Lloyd Edward Haines and Michael Lee - her barrister Phillip Boulten SC on Monday sought leave to apply for a judge-alone trial, which was not opposed by the Crown.

The daughter of ALP political icon Neville Wran reportedly told her family she wants them to abandon her as she faces charges of murdering a drug dealer.

Wran, 28, is charged with being a principal in the second degree to the 2014 murder of Sydney drug dealer Daniel McNulty, and told her family that supporting her through her trial would be too hard for them.

Her mother, Jill Hickson-Wran, has vowed to give her support regardless.

Harriet Wran is escorted to a prison van at the NSW Supreme Court on June 20

Since being in jail, Ms Wran has written letters to former boyfriend Dennen Chew, reportedly revealing how she regretted using the drug ice

It is alleged that on August 10, 2014, Harriet Wran (above) and two others - Lloyd Edward Haines and her then boyfriend Michael Lee - murdered McNulty in a drug den.

Jill Wran (centre) arrives at the NSW Supreme Court in Sydney on Monday

Wran, the daughter of the late former NSW premier Neville Wran, whose estate was estimated at $40 million, is also charged with wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and robbery in company.

She's been in jail for the past two years after being refused bail.

It is alleged that on August 10, 2014, Wran, and two others - Lloyd Edward Haines and her then boyfriend Michael Lee - murdered McNulty in a drug den.

Lee changed a plea of not guilty of murder to guilty less than a week before he was due face trial.

Harriet Wran was allegedly involved in the murder of a known ice dealer, Daniel McNulty (pictured), in 2014

Since being in jail, she has written letters to former boyfriend Dennen Chew describing the conditions, apologising for the way their relationship ended and telling him she wished she had never used the drug methamphetamine (ice).

The letters revealed Ms Wran was told not to write to anyone she had used with, but she decided to ignore those orders, The Sunday Telegraph reported

Jail is pretty much what youd imagine  a dirty, tiny cell with a waifer (sic) thin mattress, creepy writing all over the walls and a metal toilet in arms length from the bed, Ms Wran wrote.

She was concerned with putting on weight in jail because 'theres little else to do in here except eat.

The young woman goes on to explain she is allowed to study via distance from jail.

Ms Wran's family hired eminent barrister Phillip Boulten SC and solicitor David Giddy to represent her.

Ms Wran's family has reportedly hired eminent barrister Phillip Boulten SC and solicitor David Giddy to represent her

Former NSW Premier and Labor icon, the late Neville Wran, pictured with his wife Jill in 2001
Rushed to hospital her left hand and fingers on her right were amputated

Firework exploded causing blast injuries to her face and both her hands

Someone tossed one in front of the nine-year-old who had picked it up

Her family say a group of kids were spotted messing around with fireworks

Girl was playing in a Compton city park with dozens of children Saturday

A nine-year-old girl has lost her left hand and fingers on her right hand in a suspected illegal fireworks blast in a California park.

The youngster, who has not been named, was playing at Burrell-MacDonald Park, in Compton with dozens of other children at around 12.30pm on Saturday when the explosion occurred.

She was rushed to a nearby hospital where her left hand had to be amputated. The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said the girl's fingers on her right hand were also removed in the blast and she suffered blast injuries to her face.

The girl was injured after a someone tossed a firework near the nine-year-old who had picked it up not realizing it was lit. It exploded in her hand (pictured is a stock image of fireworks unrelated to the blast)

Her family told the Los Angeles Times there had been around 50 children in the city park when one group of kids began playing with fireworks.

Someone had tossed a firework near the nine-year-old who had picked it up not realizing it was lit. It exploded in her hand.

Her family say they are still waiting to see if the girl will require any more surgery but said her condition in hospital is stable.

Police are investigating the incident over the suspected use of illegal fireworks and are hoping to track down the group who were playing with explosives.

A nine-year-old girl has lost her left hand and fingers on her right hand in a suspected illegal fireworks blast in a California park (pictured is Burrell-MacDonald Park, in Compton)

Anyone with information about the explosion that can aid detectives in their investigation was urged to call Det. Everett at (323) 881-7500.

The horrific incident took place just one day before another fireworks-related injury occurred in New York's Central Park where a 'homemade' firework tore apart a tourist's leg.

Connor Golden, 18, had his left foot 'severely mutilated' when he stepped on something as he was climbing rocks with friends Thomas Hinds, 20, and Matthew Stabile, 18.

Despite fears that the explosive was a terrorist device, cops say it was more likely a pre-Independence Day 'experiment' by a chemistry enthusiast, and that the chances of Golden - or anyone - triggering the explosive were low.

It had been placed in an area where 'no-one would ordinarily step' and police believe it was not intended to harm anyone. Golden and his friends were not involved in building the device.

The teen was taken to a nearby hospital to undergo surgery. His condition is described as 'stable'.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission says there is an average of 230 fireworks-related injuries near and on the 4th of July.
Brian Browning, 53, was resentenced to 21 years in jail after killing his wife. He is pictured being put into a prison van at the Supreme Court in Melbourne

A man who stabbed his wife to death as she slept before dropping the knife in front of their horrified daughter was resentenced to at least an extra two years in jail after trying to blame his actions on sleeping pills.

Brian Browning, 53, claimed he killed his wife of 20 years, Cathy, 47, after swallowing at least six tablets at their home in Skye, Melbourne, nine days after they decided to separate in 2013.

The father-of-two was found guilty of murder and jailed for 18 years with a non parole period of 14 years after Victorian Supreme Court Justice Lex Lasry said Browning had not shown 'significant remorse'.

However, on Monday the Court of Appeal in Melbourne overturned the decision and resentenced him to 21 years in jail with a non-parole period of 16 years. Prosecutors agreed that Judge Lasry's original sentence was not tough enough, the Herald Sun reports.

The court found the original sentence given out needed to be harsher 'given the nature of Brownings offences and the various aggravating features'.

Browning said he had been hallucinating throughout the night before getting out of bed, finding a kitchen knife and attacking his wife as she lay in her daughter's bed - just a week before Christmas.

The couple's teenage daughter, Amy, came running in the room after hearing her mother's screams and saw Browning drop the knife before he uttered 'b****' and walked out of the room, the court heard.

During the murder trial, defence lawyer George Georgiou said an excess of sleeping pills containing sedative doxylamine had caused a drug-induced psychosis.

He said Browning suffered from post-traumatic stress syndrome and claimed his mental health had deteriorated in the days before the attack because of the break-down of his marriage and that he cracked under the pressure of it all.

Psychiatrist Lester Walton, a key witness in the trial, told a previous hearing that Browning had possibly been suffering from the 'pressure-cooker effect' when he killed his wife.

But he said he had never come across a case of doxylamine-induced psychosis in his experience.

Clinical pharmacologist professor Christopher O'Callaghan told the jury it was unlikely that the dose of doxylamine taken by Browning during the night had caused involuntary or unintentional actions.

Speaking outside court, Mrs Browning's mother Anne Spark said the sentence could never be enough.

'It's just we've never seen any remorse. At least he was found guilty of murder, I was thankful for that because I felt she got justice then,' she said.
and avoided a deer which was on runway

But he managed to land

An 81-year-old US senator crash-landed his plane in a severe thunderstorm and narrowly missed a deer on the runway.

Oklahoma senator Jim Inhofe, whose own son died in a crash in 2013, was unscathed after he was forced into an emergency landing in Ketchum, Idaho, last night.

The flying enthusiast was out in his small Harmon Rocket propeller plane, described as 'beyond total performance', when he hit trouble.

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Oklahoma Senator, Jim Inhofe, whose own son died in a crash in 2013, was unscathed after he was forced into an emergency landing in Ketchum, Idaho last night (file photo)

The flying enthusiast was out in his small Harmon Rocket propeller plane, described as 'beyond total performance', when he hit trouble (file photo)

When rain turned into a heavy thunderstorm the senator, who was flying alongside another plane, decided he had to get to safety.

Inhofe's skills in the cockpit were tested as he approached the runway at the small airport about 70 miles northeast of Tulsa at around 7pm.

Jim Inhofe's son, Perry, died in a plane crash in 2013

But the drama didn't stop after landing as he swerved to miss a deer and crashed into shrubs.

Donelle Harder, a spokesman for the Oklahoma Republican, said he 'walked away' and is now at home with his family celebrating the July 4 holiday.

Skilled pilot Inhofe, who has more than 11,000 cockpit hours, is known for flying across states whilst on the campaign trail.

The Federal Aviation Administration would not say who was flying the plane, but the senator's spokesman confirmed he was at the controls.

There were no passengers onboard the senator's plane. A FAA crash investigation is now underway.

Inhofe's son, Perry Inhofe, died in a plane crash in November 2013.

The FAA criticised the senator in 2011 when he landed a plane at a rural South Texas airport even though there were workers on the closed runway and a giant yellow X on the tarmac.
A father and his two young daughters have been shot dead in a targeted attack described as 'pure evil' by investigators.

Police in a Chicago suburb say the fatal shooting of 29-year old Dionus M. Neely, ten-year-old Elle Neely and three-year-old India Neely was carried out at about 2.20am on Saturday.

Their bodies were found at a home in Hazel Crest after officers responded to a report of gunshots. They were taken to hospitals and died of their injuries resulting from multiple gunshot wounds.

Thirty-nine-year old Dionus M. Neely (right) and his daughters ten-year-old Elle and three-year-old India (left) were shot dead at their home

Neighbor Joanne Polzin told NBC Chicago she heard the mother screaming. 'She was just wailing, "my babies, my babies",' Ms Polzin said.

Mr Neely reportedly had a tattoo on his shoulder with the phrase 'death before dishonor'.

Hazel Crest Police Chief Mitchell Davis III confirmed on Sunday that detectives currently have no suspects in what he called a targeted attack.

'Anyone who could kill a three-year-old and a ten-year-old, no matter what the circumstances, is nothing but pure evil as far as I'm concerned,' he said.

A GoFund Me page has been set up to help raise money for the mother of the murdered girls, pictured

Mr Davis said authorities don't believe there's a threat to the public and have determined the killings were not a murder-suicide.

'There's not a madman out killing kids, there's a madman who killed some kids. There's not somebody running rabid,' the police chief said.

He asked anyone with information to come forward.

The girls' aunt, Joi Chambers, told WLS-TV they were 'happy, happy children' who loved singing and dancing.

Footage from the scene shows the house where the tragedy unfolded boarded up

A child wrote a heartbreaking note to the family and left it outside the house where the two girls were killed

A GoFund Me account has been set up to support the young girls' mother, with a friend writing 'this beautiful, smart, funny hardworking mother of five lost her husband and two of her daughters'.

The mother and her three surviving children escaped the attack without injury.

Footage from the scene shows the house where the tragedy unfolded boarded up and a heartbreaking note from a child laid nearby.

The Neely house has reportedly been targeted by gunfire before and the Chicago Tribune reports Dionus M. Neely's criminal record includes drugs charges from 1998 to 2008.
Pauline Hanson has saved Bill Shorten the trouble of approaching her to ask if she will support his bid to be prime minister by ambushing the Labor leader on live radio.

The One Nation leader said she would be interested in working with Mr Shorten to achieve their common goals if he would be willing to run a 'government for the people' when she unexpectedly called into KIISFM as he was being interviewed on Monday morning.

'I am sick of the same old rhetoric and I want a government for the people and Bill if you head down that track youll have my full support,' she said after inviting him to join her for a sit-down at Parliament House.

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An impromptu on-air conversation between Bill Shorten and Pauline Hanson has been likened to an 'awkward Tinder date'

Mr Shorten - who will be trying to forge a political alliances ahead of a predicted hung parliament - didn't seem too enthusiastic about the spontaneous exchange.

'I'll bear that in mind,' he responded curtly, with radio host Sophie Monk comparing the brief chat to an 'awkward Tinder date'.

Ms Hanson, who on Saturday made her triumphant return to politics for the first time since 1998, suggested the pair use their political clout to initiate a royal commission into the banking sector.

'I think we should work on it together Bill, don't you? It's an absolute disgrace what's happening,' she said, echoing his earlier calls for a formal investigation.

Mr Shorten - who will be trying to forge a political alliances ahead of a predicted hung parliament - didn't seem too enthusiastic about the spontaneous exchange

Ms Hanson, who on Saturday made her triumphant return to politics for the first time since 1998, suggested the pair use their political clout to initiate a royal commission into the banking sector

Labor held a slight majority in the House of Representatives when vote counting ceased early Sunday morning

Ms Hanson also sided with Labor's stance on marriage equality, but said she would support a referendum and plebiscite so politicians could not 'change it at their will', unlike Mr Shorten who simply wants an open vote.

'I'm not quite there on that one, but that's okay,' Mr Shorten said distancing himself from the One Nation leader.

The controversial far-right politician went on to explain that she wants the Australian people to be informed and make more decisions when it comes to upcoming legislation changes, adding that she is sick of 'caretaker' politicans 'selling our country out'.

Host Matty Acton asked Ms Hanson about comments made by Labor Senator Sam Dastyari about sharing a halal snack pack to celebrate her win, giving Mr Shorten the opportunity to have a little jibe at the soon-to-be senator.

Host Matty Acton (left) asked Ms Hanson about comments made by Labor Senator Sam Dastyari about sharing a halal snack pack to celebrate her win

This gave Mr Shorten the opportunity to have a little jibe at the soon-to-be senator who is against halal certification

'They're very tasty,' he cut-in.

'You're a halal man are you, Bill?' Acton asked.

'I'm willing to try food from anywhere in the world,' he said.

'It's shame if you're following halal.. we can't go into some of these places now and buy bacon because it's been taken off the menu. That was something that was very Aussie to me,' she said.
Advocate: Mariam Veiszadeh was the target of trolls after questioning Pauline Hanson's policies

A lawyer and Muslim advocate has been targeted with racist abuse on Facebook after she posted a status questioning the xenophobic policies of Pauline Hanson and her political party.

Mariam Veiszadeh posted a list of election policies held by One Nation and questioned whether Islamophobia would become embedded in Australia given Ms Hanson's controversial political party views.

Ms Veiszadeh's Facebook page was very quickly flooded with harsh and racist comments from some of Ms Hanson's supporters after she won a Queensland senate seat in the election.

'Having Pauline Hanson in the Senate means that whoever forms a majority government will have to negotiate with her and her fellow One Nation Senator to buy their support to get legislation through the Senate,' Ms Veiszadeh wrote.

'She will have 2 votes in the Senate which is a powerful position to be in. In return for her support she will no doubt make demands.'

Ms Veiszadeh continued to say that 'hate, vitriol, xenophobia and normalised Islamophobia' would become embedded in society if Ms Hanson continued to spread her views.

'Honestly, being a Muslim in every corner of the world means that you're hated and vilified (at varying degrees) by a growing vocal minority,' she wrote.

The One Nation leader managed to resurrect her political career at this year's federal election after gaining a Queensland senate seat

'Whether it's being slaughtered at the hands of ISIS or indirectly via Western forces (collateral damage) in the East or vilified and abused at the hands of neo-nazi far right political groups in the West - there's no escaping it.'

Some of the policies Ms Hanson and her One Nation party want to introduce include calling for a royal commission to determine is Islam is a religion or political ideology and ban halal certification and the burqa in public places.

Ms Veiszadeh, who is a Muslim, has been copping a barrage of abuse on her Facebook page since she first posted about it on Sunday morning.

'People all around the world are sick of having to change our ways & our culture to suit Islam..... You have had your time dealing with weak politicians but it is coming to an end.... The people have spoken & have woken up to what's going on!' Jeremy Reading wrote.

A person going by the name Bruce Jenner wrote: 'Too bad you leftist oppressed fool!, we have had a gutfull of halal certification extortion tax and we want the disgusting burqa banned too, Oh and Pauline Hanson is going to block the asylum seekers from coming here too......we are loving this! (sic)'.

Most comments were of such a harsh natures that Ms Veiszadeh was forced to add to her post reminding people of the potential legal consequences of cyber-harassment.

In an additional Facebook post on Monday, Ms Veiszadeh said while Ms Hanson was entitled to be in the senate given she was elected, remarks by politicians should be held to a high standard.
Almost 300kg of methamphetamines have been found hidden in three shipping containers from China at a Victorian port.

The drug, also known as ice, was uncovered by Australian police beneath floorboards of the containers.

Police say they busted an international drug syndicate after monitoring the delivery of the containers to a Melbourne factory.

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Almost 300kg of methamphetamines disguised as udon noodles have been found hidden in three shipping containers from China at a Victorian port

The drug, also known as ice, was uncovered by Australian police beneath floorboards of the containers

The street value of the drugs was $275 million and there was enough for 2.75 million hits of ice.

Investigators say they found the 275 kilograms of methamphetamine, divided into one kilogram parcels, secreted under floorboards and metal pallets in June.

It was the biggest methamphetamine seizure in Victoria this year.

In a controlled operation, the containers were delivered to a Bayswater factory last week and people accessing them were monitored.

Police say they busted an international drug syndicate after monitoring the delivery of the containers to a Melbourne factory

The street value of the drugs was $275 million and there was enough for 2.75 million hits of ice

Properties in South Yarra, Braybrook, Bayswater, Brunswick, Box Hill and Glen Waverley were then raided.

The joint operation was conducted by the Australian Federal Police, Victoria, Australian Border Force, Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission, and the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre.

Victoria Police assistant commissioner crime command Stephen Fontana said tracking the containers led to the discovery of several alleged drug rings.

'In effect, what you've got is a major wholesaler has brought it in and then we've had a number of other syndicates involved that distribute it and we've identified two of those different groups through the arrests we've made,' he told a Melbourne press conference.

Investigators say they found the 275 kilograms of methamphetamine, divided into one kilogram parcels, secreted under floorboards and metal pallets in June

Victoria Police assistant commissioner crime command Stephen Fontana (second from left) said tracking the containers led to the discovery of several alleged drug rings

One Malaysian man and seven Australians, aged 24 to 34, have been charged with drug offences.

Three men were charged with commercial drug importation and the other five were charged with attempting to possess and trafficking a commercial quantity of methamphetamine.

Five men, including the Malaysian national, will appear in the Melbourne Magistrates Court on Tuesday over the bust, while the remaining three will appear in court in October.
Bodies from the doomed EgyptAir flight that crashed over the Mediterranean sea in May have been recovered by a search vessel, investigators have announced.

All of the bodies located so far have been brought up to the Mauritian-based ship John Lethbridge, which is taking them to Alexandria, Egypt, before returning to begin the search anew.

The Egyptian Aircraft Accident Investigation Committee said that the John Lethbridge had 'retrieved all the human remains that were mapped at the crash location,' BBC News reported.

The bodies of some of the 66 victims of EgyptAir flight MS804 were recovered from the Mediterranean Sea Sunday, investigators said, but other victims of the crash - which occurred May 19 - have yet to be found

The recovery of the bodies was overseen by both Egyptian and French forensic doctors, as the plane had been en route from Paris to Cairo when it plunged into the sea on May 19.

The remains will be studied by prosecutors and forensic specialists in Alexandria. They will then be shipped to Cairo for DNA analysis.

It's not yet known how many of the 66 people who were killed in the crash have been found.

Once the remains have been returned to land, the John Lethbridge will head back out 'to conduct a new thorough scan of the seabed and to search for any (more) human remains,' the committee said.

On Wednesday it was announced that a black box recorder from the flight had revealed smoke was detected in one of the toilets before the crash.

In a statement investigators said: 'Preliminary information shows that the entire flight is recorded on the FDR since its takeoff from Charles de Gaulle airport until the recording stopped at an altitude of 37,000 feet where the accident occurred.

'Recorded data is showing consistency with SCARS messages of lavatory and avionics smoke,' the committee added, referring to the Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System, which routinely downloads maintenance and fault data to the airline operator.

The plane had sent a series of warnings indicating that smoke had been detected on board through SCARS.

Recovered wreckage from the jet's front section showed signs of high temperature damage and soot, the committee said.

On Wednesday search teams announced they had salvaged both of the 'black box' flight recorders (pictured); investigators have been analyzing the information found on them

Those were the first physical signs that fire may have broken out on the A320 airliner, in addition to maintenance messages indicating smoke alarms in the avionics area and lavatory.

The committee said these findings would need further analysis to discover the source and reason for the marks.

The second black box, the cockpit voice recorder, is still being repaired in laboratories belonging to France's BEA aircraft accident investigation agency, where the data chips from both recorders were sent after the devices were retrieved.

The BEA is involved in the investigation because France is both the flight's point of origin and home to Airbus, the plane's manufacturer. Fifteen of those killed were French.

A United States National Transport Safety Board investigator is also involved, since the plane's engines were built by a consortium led by the U.S. company Pratt & Whitney.

If intact, the cockpit recorder should reveal pilot conversations and any cockpit alarms, as well as other clues such as engine noise.

No explanation for the disaster has been ruled out, but current and former aviation officials increasingly believe the reason lies in the aircraft's technical systems, rather than sabotage.

The Paris prosecutor's office opened a manslaughter investigation on Monday but said it was not looking into terrorism as a possible cause of the crash at this stage.

The crash is the third blow since October to Egypt's travel industry, which is still suffering from the 2011 uprising that ended Hosni Mubarak's 30-year rule.

A Russian plane crashed in the Sinai Peninsula in October, killing all 224 people on board in an attack claimed by Islamic State.

In March, an EgyptAir plane was hijacked by a man wearing a fake suicide belt. No one was hurt.
As police made the critical call to storm the Lindt cafe after gunman Man Haron Monis executed hostage Tori Johnson, their radios failed, an inquest has heard.

When snipers reported Mr Johnson had been shot dead, with the words 'hostage down', the commander of the Tactical Operations Unit attempted to activate an emergency action trigger.

The words 'Echo Alpha this is Tango Charlie - commit the EA,' were broadcast over the police radio network which were required for police to enter the building.

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Hostages run from the Lindt cafe during the siege in December, 2014. An inquest has heard radios failed moments before police stormed the Lindt Cafe

An inquest has heard an emergency trigger to allow police into the building failed to be heard

Katrina Dawson (let) was killed after being hit by police bullet fragments. Cafe manager Tori Johnson was shot dead by the gunman before police stormed the building

Family and friends of the hostages read messages of support at the shrine set up in Martin Place in the days after the Sydney siege in December, 2014

But there was no movement at the front line nor confirmation over the airwaves.

As he tried to broadcast the message again only seconds later, his deputy, who was standing beside him at the forward command post, intervened.

'I stopped him and said, 'No, let me' in case his radio wasn't working a second time ... I took the initiative to make the call,' the former senior Tactical Operations Unit member told an inquest into the stand-off.

Because there had already been a delay, he shortened the command and also fast-tracked the authorisation process.

'All teams commit the EA,' he broadcast, before repeating the code word three times.

Heavily armed officers then stormed the cafe at 2.13am on December 16, 2014, shooting Monis dead more than 17 hours after the siege began.

A flower tribute built up in the days after the Sydney siege honouring the hostages including the two who were killed, Katrina Dawson and Tori Johnson

Another hostage, Katrina Dawson, was also killed after being hit by police bullet fragments.

Problems with the radio system also prevented anyone from receiving reports that Monis had fired a second shot at 2.09am, the former officer confirmed.

Monis fired the first shot at 2.03am as six hostages escaped, shattering the glass above their heads and rupturing what looked like a sprinkler or fire extinguisher.

The forward command post was never told that Mr Johnson had been seen on his knees at 2.06am because of the radio issues.

The ex-officer told the inquest that police snipers should have kept trying to broadcast their reports using radios and mobile phones.

Hostages flee the Lindt Cafe in Martin Place in the early hours of December 16, 2014

Police could go days without encountering any radio problems but when the network did falter, it would break down two or three times in one day, the former senior tactical officer said.

'Murphy's Law is that it always happens at a critical time,' he said.

The inquest continues in Sydney.

Similar occurrences in police communication failure during critical times of the siege have also been heard in the inquest, reported The Australian.

When a police sniper tried to contact Tactical Operations Unit about Mr Johnson being forced to his knees with his hands on his head shortly after 2.03am, the message was not received.

This information would have 'significantly changed the decision making process of police at the time' the tactical commander told the inquest.

Fears that Monis' first shot at 2.03am could have been a tactic to draw police into the cafe before detonating a bomb were also speculations made, the inquest heard.
Under fire: Michael Gove, pictured today, is not fit to be Prime Minister according to rival Boris Johnson's team

Michael Gove is unfit to be prime minister and a threat to national security because he has an 'emotional need to gossip, particularly when drink is taken', Boris Johnson's most senior aide said today.

Ben Wallace has launched yet another excoriating attack on the Justice Secretary for betraying the former Mayor of London hours before he was about to launch his own leadership campaign.

Mr Wallace said that the MP had been 'at his home rehearsing for his speech unaware that the press knew before him' that Mr Gove had withdrawn his support and was launching his own bid.

He also revealed today that campaign chief Lynton Crosby was 'ashen white' after taking a call from Michael Gove and said: 'He has done the dirty on us, mate'.

In an article for the Daily Telegraph, the Northern Ireland minister said: 'When I was a government whip and Michael was the chief whip, the office leaked like a sieve. Important policy and personnel details made their way to the papers. Michael seems to have an emotional need to gossip, particularly when drink is taken, as it all too often seemed to be'.

And comparing the two men he said: 'Boris is many things, but nasty he is not. I remember when he made his decision to back Brexit I pleaded with him not to. I said it would lose him the leadership. But he said sovereignty mattered more than anything.

'At the time David Cameron was negotiating hard in Brussels. Boris agreed it would be dishonourable to pull the rug from under the PM as he sat at dinner with EU leaders trying to get the best for the UK. So he waited till he was back. Gove didnt. That says it all'.

Mr Wallace has already said the Justice Secretary should share the fate of unfortunate Game of Thrones character Theon Greyjoy.

Greyjoy was tortured and brutally castrated in one of the most gruesome scenes from the hit TV series, then his genitals were posted to his family.

Allegations: Ben Wallace, who was running Boris Johnson's campaign for the top job before his betrayal, said Michael Gove is untrustworthy and a gossip when drinking

Mr Johnson, meanwhile, has claimed Remain supporters have been consumed by the type of 'hysteria' last seen after the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, since Britain voted to leave the European Union.

Anger: Mr Wallace (pictured) also said that Mr Gove withdrew his support when Boris was prepping for his campaign launch not knowing he had been betrayed

He called for the Government to make a clear statement immediately stating EU nationals already in Britain would not be hit by Brexit and reassuring voters that the 'future is very bright indeed'.

Free trade with Britain was overwhelmingly in the economic interests of the other members of the bloc and the country could still lead the way on security matters in Europe, he said.

In his column for The Daily Telegraph, he wrote: 'There is, among a section of the population, a kind of hysteria, a contagious mourning of the kind that I remember in 1997 after the death of the Princess of Wales.'

Mrs May, Mr Gove, Stephen Crabb, Andrea Leadsom and Liam Fox will continue to vie for the support they need from MPs to make it on to the ballot paper ahead of the first round of voting on Tuesday.

The Home Secretary has been backed by a number of senior figures in the party, including Leave campaigner Chris Grayling and Defence Secretary Michael Fallon.

Mrs May has failed to meet the Government's target to cut net migration to the tens of thousands but Mr Hammond insisted she was committed to controlling immigration.

He told the newspaper: 'Having worked with Theresa in government for six years, I have seen her determination in standing up to vested interests, her commitment to controlling migration from outside the EU and her tireless work to keep this country safe.

'I know that she has the qualities and the character to take our country forward and, with her quietly determined, down-to-earth style, to reunite us after the referendum, behind a plan to address the deep divisions in our society that it has exposed.'

Rivals: Boris Johnson's allies have warned there is a 'deep pit in Hell' waiting for Mr Gove after his betrayal - but the Justice Minister said he had lost faith in Boris and suggested he did not fully believe in Brexit

Mr Gove's leadership bid is all the more extraordinary because Mr Gove had previously said he should not be prime minister because: 'I don't have what it takes'.

THE EIGHT HOURS THAT CHANGED THE FACE OF BRITISH POLITICS Michael Gove threw his hat into the ring for the Tory leadership in one of the most extraordinary political coups in decades - here is how the day unfolded: 8.57am: Michael Gove tells Boris Johnson he will be standing as Tory leader. 9.02am: Mr Gove issues a statement confirming his candidacy. 9.17am: Andrea Leadsom, another leading Tory Brexiteer, launches her own leadership bid. 9.35am: Chris Grayling, yet another senior member of Vote Leave, introduces Theresa May at her expected leadership campaign launch. 9.57am: Asked why she should be Prime Minister, Mrs May declares it's because she would be best at the job. 10.55am: Dominic Raab, a close of Boris Johnson who today wrote a newspaper column endorsing the ex-London Mayor, appears on Sky News to back Michael Gove. 11.10am: Nicky Morgan and Jeremy Hunt, who both revealed they were considering leadership challenges, drop out and back Michael Gove and Theresa May respectively. 11.44am: Mr Johnson arrives at the St Ermin's Hotel in central London for his leadership campaign launch. 11.53am: Mr Johnson reveals the 'punchline' in his speech is he is not running for leader. 12.00pm: Nominations close. Five candidates have filed papers - Mrs May, Mr Gove, Ms Leadsom, Liam Fox and Stephen Crabb. 4.38pm: Tory MP Jake Berry tweets there is a 'very deep pit reserved in hell' for Mr Gove. 17.02pm: After hours of clips of him insisting he was neither capable of or interested in being Tory leader and Prime Minister, Mr Gove gives an interview explaining he decided to run after allies said 'Michael - it should be you!' Advertisement

In one of the most extraordinary days in politics for decades, yesterday, Boris Johnson's allies warned there is a 'deep pit in Hell' waiting for Michael Gove after the Justice Secretary stabbed his fellow Brexit champion in the 'back, chest and side' by sinking his leadership bid at the 11th hour.

Mr Gove said Boris was not up to being Prime Minister and questioned whether his 'heart and soul' were in taking us out of the EU before launching a leadership campaign himself.

Just an hour or so after he changed his mind Mr Johnson pulled out as his support fell through the floor and his hopes of being PM were left in ashes.

Within hours Mr Johnson, who had been the hot favourite, was using an event that had been intended as his campaign launch to rule himself out.

Tory MP Jake Berry posted on Twitter: 'There is a very deep pit reserved in Hell for such as he. #Gove'

And an aide is said to have texted a journalist: 'Gove is a c*** who set this up from the start.'

Mr Johnson's father Stanley said Mr Gove knifing of his son was Shakespearean.

He cited the famous Shakespeare rebuke from Julius Caesar after his friend Brutus stabbed him. ''Et tu Brute' is my comment on that,' he told BBC Radio 4. 'I don't think he is called Brutus, but you never know.'

Boris Johnson had been favourite to succeed David Cameron after leading the Remain campaign to victory - but his support drained away

In his bowing out speech, Mr Johnson said the next Prime Minister had to seize Britain's 'moment to stand tall in the world'.

'But I must tell you, my friends, you who have waited faithfully for the punch line for this speech, that having consulted colleagues and in view of the circumstances in Parliament, I have concluded that person cannot be me,' he said.

'My role will be to give every possible support to the next Conservative administration, to make sure that we properly fulfill the mandate of the people that was delivered at the referendum and to champion the agenda I believe in.'

Mr Gove and Boris Johnson were close allies during the referendum battle, jointly leading the Vote Leave campaign. Mr Gove had been due to run his colleague's leadership campaign

Tory MP Ben Wallace, a key ally of Boris Johnson, joked about castrating Mr Gove during a discussion about what Game of Thrones characters politicians resembled

Mr Gove said the ex-London mayor lacked 'that executive authority, that strength of purpose, that clarity'.

And he said: 'Boris could have chosen to go on (for the leadership). The fact he didn't is telling.'

Mr Gove insisted: 'If you put friendship and personal relationship before what is right, you are not serving your country.'

Mr Gove said he took the decision 'very late' on Wednesday evening after talking to close colleagues and wife Sarah Vine.

He insisted he had tried to ring Mr Johnson to tell him about the decision 'but the clock was ticking' in the leadership contest.

'I came to the conclusion reluctantly after throwing my heart and soul for four or five days into trying to get Boris to become the next leader of the Conservative Party he could not do that job,' he said.

Mr Gove added: 'Boris had the opportunity to build a team, Boris had the opportunity to lay out a particular vision in the last 24 hours and I felt that he did not step up to that challenge.'
When Pauline Hanson storms into Parliament House once again - this time as a federal Senator - she'll be bringing a small army of supporters with her.

ABC election analyst Antony Green has predicted Ms Hanson's far right One Nation party may pick up three seats in the Senate according to Monday's vote totals.

'She will win one in Queensland... they'll probably almost certainly win one in New South Wales, highly likely to win one in Western Australia,' Mr Green said.

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Party leader: One Nation founder Pauline Hanson is projected to win a federal Senate seat for Queensland

Team: Pauline is pictured with possible One Nation senators Brian Burston (left) and Rod Cullerton (right)

If that's the case, Ms Hanson will be joined by long time New South Wales party operative Brian Burston - who she once sacked - and West Australian farmer Rod Culleton.

Mr Burston has the most political experience. The Hunter Valley politician has been a One Nation heavyweight since the party was founded in the 1990s.

He served as national director but was expelled from the party executive by Ms Hanson in 2000 when the party was consumed by internal warfare.

At one point, Ms Hanson was locked out of the party's Manly office. The pair 'kissed and made-up' about a decade ago.

Mr Burston may be joined on the crossbench by Mr Culleton, who has protested the banks on behalf of farmers who they have foreclosed on for many years.

Ms Hanson recruited the Williams, WA, farmer - who has been evicted from his own property - after seeing him give evidence to a public inquiry about farm foreclosures and banking practices.

'He is winning the battle to keep farmers on their properties,' she told Farmer's Weekly earlier this year.

Number two? Hanson is hoping candidate Malcolm Roberts will snag a second Queensland seat for the party

Ms Hanson also is hoping to pick up a second senator in Queensland, where Hanson's election led critics to call for the state to 'Quexit' - or leave - Australia.

But Mr Green said the party were highly unlikely to win the second seat, which would fall to climate sceptic and former coal miner Malcolm Roberts.

Regardless of the result of the ballot, another familiar face is also likely to grace the corridors of Federal Parliament.

Former Peter Slipper staffer James Ashby has become a key aide to Ms Hanson throughout her campaign, flying her around in light plane and handling media inquiries.

It will take weeks before the Senate vote count is complete. The House of Representatives result is expected to become clearer this year.

One of Ms Hanson's top aides of late is former Peter Slipper staffer James Ashby - her pilot
Anger: Boris Johnson said today Project Fear 'hysteria' since the Brexit vote has gripped Britain causing a 'contagious mourning' not seen since the death of Princess Diana

Boris Johnson said today Project Fear 'hysteria' since the Brexit vote has gripped Britain causing a 'contagious mourning' not seen since the death of Princess Diana.

Instead of 'basic truths' the public has suffered 'the most thoroughgoing government attempt to manipulate opinion since the run-up to the Iraq War', he said.

Mr Johnson said 'it was wrong of the Government' to not explain how leaving the EU would work to give them comfort for the future, accusing them of refusing to make a positive case.

Mr Johnson also condemned the 'Lefties' abusing him in the street and demanding a new referendum saying their campaign was merely 'fashionable among our nose-ringed friends'.

He added: 'It was the first time I had ever heard of trendy socialists demonstrating in favour of an unelected supranational bureaucracy'.

But in his first Daily Telegraph column since pulling out of the Tory leadership race he did not mention Michael Gove's betrayal or his Tory leadership U-turn.

Instead he published his own plan for Brexit because he believes the Government don't appear to have one.

The Leave campaign leader said that 'among a section of the population' there has been 'a kind of hysteria, a contagious mourning' since the vote to leave.

He said the recent protests and crowds of young people is 'not about the EU project per se', but about them and 'their own fears and anxieties that are now being projected on to Brexit'.

Mr Johnson said these fears were 'wildly overdone' and set out his 'basic truths'.

'The reality is that the stock market has not plunged, as some said it would - far from it. The FTSE is higher than when the vote took place,' he added.

'There has been no emergency budget, and nor will there be.

'But the crowds of young people are experiencing the last psychological tremors of Project Fear - perhaps the most thoroughgoing government attempt to manipulate public opinion since the run-up to the Iraq War.'

He said it was time for the nonsense claims that the older generation had stolen the future of youngsters, to end.

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Dawn chorus: Mr Johnson said he woke to the sound of pro-EU protesters outside his house (pictured) writing them off as 'Lefties' and 'North London radicals'

Silence: Mr Johnson said the Government had not made a positive case for Brexit - but failed to mention Michael Gove's betrayal in his first column since his failed leadership bid

He added: 'It was wrong of the Government to offer the public a binary choice on the EU without being willing - in the event that people voted Leave - to explain how this can be made to work in the interests of the UK and Europe.

'We cannot wait until mid-September and a new PM. We need a clear statement, now of some basic truths.'

Mr Johnson, in setting out his truths, said there was 'no risk' to EU nationals currently residing in the UK and said immigration will continue in a 'controlled' way - 'neutralising the extremists'.

He also said it was 'overwhelmingly in the economic interests' of other countries to work out a free-trade deal with the UK - with many economies from around the world already applying to do free-trade deals with Britain.

Anger: Mr Wallace (pictured) also said that Mr Gove withdrew his support when Boris was prepping for his campaign launch not knowing he had been betrayed

Mr Johnson said the country 'can supply leadership in Europe on security and other matters' but at an 'intergovernmental level', adding 'the future is very bright indeed'.

He set out his own five-point plan for Brexit:

1. There is no risk whatever to the status of the EU nationals now resident in the UK and immigration will continue

2. It is in the economic interests of EU countries to do a free-trade deal with UK with no tariffs or quotas

3. More free trade deals with other countries - and some have already asked for one

4. Supply leadership in Europe on security and other matters

5. 'The future is very bright indeed'

Michael Gove is unfit to be prime minister and a threat to national security because he has an 'emotional need to gossip, particularly when drink is taken', Boris Johnson's most senior aide said today.

Ben Wallace has launched yet another excoriating attack on the Justice Secretary for betraying the former Mayor of London hours before he was about to launch his own leadership campaign.

Mr Wallace said that the MP had been 'at his home rehearsing for his speech unaware that the press knew before him' that Mr Gove had withdrawn his support and was launching his own bid.

He also revealed today that campaign chief Lynton Crosby was 'ashen white' after taking a call from Michael Gove and said: 'He has done the dirty on us, mate'.

In an article for the Daily Telegraph, the Northern Ireland minister said: 'When I was a government whip and Michael was the chief whip, the office leaked like a sieve. Important policy and personnel details made their way to the papers. Michael seems to have an emotional need to gossip, particularly when drink is taken, as it all too often seemed to be'.

And comparing the two men he said: 'Boris is many things, but nasty he is not. I remember when he made his decision to back Brexit I pleaded with him not to. I said it would lose him the leadership. But he said sovereignty mattered more than anything.

Tory MP Ben Wallace, a key ally of Boris Johnson, joked about castrating Mr Gove during a discussion about what Game of Thrones characters politicians resembled

'At the time David Cameron was negotiating hard in Brussels. Boris agreed it would be dishonourable to pull the rug from under the PM as he sat at dinner with EU leaders trying to get the best for the UK. So he waited till he was back. Gove didnt. That says it all'.

Mr Wallace has already said the Justice Secretary should share the fate of unfortunate Game of Thrones character Theon Greyjoy.

Greyjoy was tortured and brutally castrated in one of the most gruesome scenes from the hit TV series, then his genitals were posted to his family.

Tory MP Jake Berry posted on Twitter: 'There is a very deep pit reserved in Hell for such as he. #Gove'

And an aide is said to have texted a journalist: 'Gove is a c*** who set this up from the start.'
A woman wearing a Tokyo Disneyland t-shirt and a Kathmandu brand vest was found dead inside a suitcase floating on a river in Western Australia.

Major Crime Squad Detectives have asked the public to assist in identifying the woman, whose body was discovered by fishermen on the Swan River in North Fremantle, Perth, at 7.45am on Saturday.

Pictures released by Western Australia Police showed the contents of the large blue 'SB Polo' travel bag and what the deceased woman was wearing at the time.

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Police have released an image of the woman whose body was found in a suitcase on Saturday morning

The blue suitcase was found around 7.45am a few hundred metres from Western Australia Water Police headquarters in North Fremantle, Perth

The woman has been described as being of Asian appearance, about 158cm tall, about 59kg and aged between 35 to 45 years old.

A post-mortem is expected to confirm the cause of death and the nature of her alleged murder.

Detective Senior Sergeant Chris Taylor from the Major Crime Squad said: 'Our focus at this stage is identifying the woman.

'We are working with local, national and international partners in an effort to identify her.'

The body belongs to an Asian woman about 158cm tall and weighing about 59kg. The woman is believed to be around 35 to 45 years old

The woman was wearing a dark blue Kathmandu sleeveless vest and black T-Shirt bearing a logo from Disneyland, Tokyo

Distinctive ceramic tiles such as the one above were also found inside the suitcase

Sergeant Taylor said that it was not known when the woman had died or how long the suitcase has been in the water or how it got there.

Earlier reports suggested the woman may have died in the past week, but these have not been confirmed, a police statement read.

'We encourage anyone who saw suspicious activity on the Swan River over the past week to come forward,' he added.

The discovery of the body in the suitcase has led police into a murder inquiry according to an earlier report made by Western Australia police.

Detective Senior Sergeant Chris Taylor said: 'The Major Crime Squad are treating this matter as a homicide and are investigating the circumstances surrounding her death'

Major Crime Squad Detectives have asked the public to assist in identifying the woman, whose body was discovered by fishermen on the Swan River in North Fremantle, Perth, at 7.45am on Saturday

Earlier reports suggested the woman found by fishermen floating in the Swan River (pictured) may have died in the past week, but these suggestions have not been confirmed

The grim discovery was made by fisherman the day of the Federal Election a few hundred metres from the Water Police headquarters in North Fremantle.

Police divers spent several hours working from Mosman Park jetty in search of clues, reported Perth Now.

This is the second body to be found on the shore of Swan River in East Fremantle in just over a month.

Sean Mitchell, 37, was last seen at a Murray Street beer cafe in Perth at about 5pm on May 20 and later that evening called to say he would be boarding another friend's yacht on Swan River.

Police divers spent several hours working from a jetty in search of clues around the North Fremantle area (stock)

A member of the public discovered a body in the water in the vicinity of Chidley Point Reserve in Mosman Park on Monday May 30 about 1.5 kilometres south of where Mr Mitchell boarded the boat.

A bag of Mr Mitchell's belonging were found by a diver at Blackall Reach May 22 which included personal items including the 37-year-old phone, reported The Western Australian.

A search party went out for the Samson resident on May 25 and the following day a yellow dingy believed to be used by Mr Mitchell was found on the beach at Chidley Point.

It is believed Mr Mitchell may have used the dingy to row to shore from the yacht.

Sean Mitchell (pictured), 37, was last seen at a Murray Street beer cafe in Perth at about 5pm on May 20 and later that evening called to say he would be boarding another friend's yacht on Swan River

Officers forensically examined the yacht and dingy but said the examination did not provide any further clues, reported ABC.

Western Australia Police initially suspended the land and air search on Monday, until they were alerted of the body by a member of the public.

Police spokesman Samuel Dinnison told Perth Now: 'It is believed the body is that of missing man Sean Mitchell, however at this time no formal identification has been completed.

'Mr Mitchell's family have been advised of this development.

'No suspicious circumstances have been identified.'

The 37-year-old's family have since been notified by police and a coroners report is being prepared.
Shehraz Sarwar caused mass panic when he began shouting as the Emirates Boeing 777 from Dubai hit rough skies on its descent

A plane passenger who left holidaymakers in tears when he chanted 'Allahu Akbar' and 'boom' on a turbulent Birmingham-bound flight has been jailed for 10 weeks.

Shehraz Sarwar caused mass panic when he began shouting as the Emirates Boeing 777 from Dubai hit rough skies on its descent.

The 38-year-old, of Saltley, was jailed after admitting using threatening words and behaviour.

Birmingham Crown Court heard some of the 347 passengers were left in tears after becoming frightened by his shouting during a turbulence-hit landing on February 1 this year.

Mr Alex Warren, prosecuting, said Sarwar had caused difficulties from the start of the flight, twice refusing to put his seat belt on during take-off and throwing food around the cabin.

He said: 'There was terrible turbulence during the flight and some passengers were very frightened.

'The defendant started chanting Allahu Akbar over and over again and very loudly. People were getting very distressed with his behaviour.

'When the plane finally landed, he shouted 'boom'.

'It left some passengers in tears while one man angrily confronted the defendant before being told to sit down by cabin staff.

'Police were then called and the defendant was arrested.'

Mr Warren said Sarwar had previous convictions for dishonesty and violence, though his last conviction was in 2006.

Mr Balbir Singh, defending, said Sarwar had been upset after attending his grandmother's funeral in Pakistan. He added: 'There was considerable turbulence.

'One of the cabin crew, with 14 years experience, said it was the worse landing she had ever experienced.

Families and children were left distraught after Shehraz Sarwar's outburst on the Emirates Boeing 777 plane

'Mr Sarwar was scared during the flight. He prayed, chanting Allahu Akbar, which translates as God is Great. When the plane landed he did shout out 'boom'.

'It was a very foolish thing to do and he can't really explain why he said it. It was the height of foolishness.

'He is very sorry for his actions and realises what distress this caused to other passengers.'

The 38-year-old caused panic aboard the flight when he became animated and started throwing food around. He was prosecuted at Birmingham Crown Court (pictured)

Judge Francis Laird QC told Sarwar: 'Set in the context of the current political situation, chanting Allahu Akbar over and over again while on a plane had a frightening affect on some of the passengers and reduced some to tears. You misbehaved and you were arrogant onboard.

'Incidents such as these on planes are taken very seriously by the courts and due to the circumstances I have no alternative but to send you to prison for 10 weeks.'
Theresa May and Philip Hammond have been dubbed the 'Top Gear' ticket

Theresa May has secured the backing of Cabinet colleague Philip Hammond as she surges ahead in the race to become PM.

Mr Hammond insisted the Home Secretary had the 'steady hand, steely nerve and sound judgement' to lead the country through the turbulent Brexit process.

The latest endorsement comes as Mrs May is thought to have secured support from more than 100 MPs in the leadership contest - putting her well ahead of her four rivals.

It raises the prospect of Mrs May and Mr Hammond ending up in 10 and 11 Downing Street respectively. The alliance has been dubbed a 'Top Gear' ticket because they share names with two former presenters of the BBC show.

Writing in the Daily Telegraph, Mr Hammond said: 'To get the best deal will need a steady hand, a steely nerve and sound judgement.

'The deal we get, and with it Britain's economic future, will depend on our next prime minister having those qualities.

'That is why I back Theresa May as the person best equipped to protect our nation's interest in these challenging times.'

Meanwhile, bitter recriminations are still raging over Michael Gove's decision to betray Boris Johnson and launch his own leadership bid.

Ben Wallace, who ran the former London mayor's abortive campaign for the top job, branded the Justice Secretary an 'untrustworthy gossip' who was was unfit to become PM.

He also revealed today that election guru Lynton Crosby was 'ashen white' after taking a call from Mr Gove letting him know about his defection. The Australian strategist - who delivered David Cameron's surprise general election win last year - said: 'He has done the dirty on us, mate.'

In an article for the Daily Telegraph, the Northern Ireland minister said: 'When I was a government whip and Michael was the chief whip, the office leaked like a sieve. Important policy and personnel details made their way to the papers. Michael seems to have an emotional need to gossip, particularly when drink is taken, as it all too often seemed to be'.

And comparing the two men he said: 'Boris is many things, but nasty he is not. I remember when he made his decision to back Brexit I pleaded with him not to. I said it would lose him the leadership. But he said 'sovereignty mattered more than anything'.

Allegations: Ben Wallace, who was running the campaign by Boris Johnson (pictured right) for the top job before his betrayal, said Michael Gove (pictured left today) is untrustworthy and a gossip when drinking

'At the time David Cameron was negotiating hard in Brussels. Boris agreed it would be dishonourable to pull the rug from under the PM as he sat at dinner with EU leaders trying to get the best for the UK. So he waited till he was back. Gove didn't. That says it all'.

Mr Wallace has already said the Justice Secretary should share the fate of unfortunate Game of Thrones character Theon Greyjoy.

Greyjoy was tortured and brutally castrated in one of the most gruesome scenes from the hit TV series, then his genitals were posted to his family.

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Mr Johnson, meanwhile, has claimed Remain supporters have been consumed by the type of 'hysteria' last seen after the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, since Britain voted to leave the European Union.

He called for the Government to make a clear statement immediately stating EU nationals already in Britain would not be hit by Brexit and reassuring voters that the 'future is very bright indeed'.

Free trade with Britain was overwhelmingly in the economic interests of the other members of the bloc and the country could still lead the way on security matters in Europe, he said.

In his column for The Daily Telegraph, he wrote: 'There is, among a section of the population, a kind of hysteria, a contagious mourning of the kind that I remember in 1997 after the death of the Princess of Wales.'

Mr Johnson studiously failed to mention the events that led to his decision to quit the leadership contest.

But Mr Wallace said that the MP had been 'at his home rehearsing for his speech unaware that the press knew before him' that Mr Gove had withdrawn his support and was launching his own bid.

In an article for the Daily Telegraph, the Northern Ireland minister said: 'When I was a government whip and Michael was the chief whip, the office leaked like a sieve.

'Important policy and personnel details made their way to the papers.

Anger: Mr Wallace (pictured) also said that Mr Gove withdrew his support when Boris was prepping for his campaign launch not knowing he had been betrayed

'Michael seems to have an emotional need to gossip, particularly when drink is taken, as it all too often seemed to be.

Mrs May, Mr Gove, Stephen Crabb, Andrea Leadsom and Liam Fox will continue to vie for the support they need from MPs to make it on to the ballot paper ahead of the first round of voting on Tuesday.

The Home Secretary has been backed by a number of senior figures in the party, including Leave campaigner Chris Grayling and Defence Secretary Michael Fallon.

Mrs May has failed to meet the Government's target to cut net migration to the tens of thousands but Mr Hammond insisted she was committed to controlling immigration.

He told the newspaper: 'Having worked with Theresa in government for six years, I have seen her determination in standing up to vested interests, her commitment to controlling migration from outside the EU and her tireless work to keep this country safe.

'I know that she has the qualities and the character to take our country forward and, with her quietly determined, down-to-earth style, to reunite us after the referendum, behind a plan to address the deep divisions in our society that it has exposed.'

Former chancellor Lord Lawson backs Gove for next PM

Justice Secretary Michael Gove's Tory leadership bid has been endorsed by former Chancellor Lord Lawson.

The peer, who played a prominent role in the EU referendum campaign, praised the way Mr Gove had 'led from the front'.

Lord Lawson, in charge of the Treasury during Margaret Thatcher's premiership, said the minister was 'the best-equipped candidate' among the field of five.

He said: 'Michael led from the front in the referendum. He campaigned with patriotic conviction and made the case with intellectual authority. We could not have achieved victory without him.

'Michael also has a good understanding of both economic and foreign policy. He is the best-equipped candidate for Prime Minister.'

Former chancellor Lord Lawson said Michael Gove had 'led from the front' during the referendum battle
He has gathered a cult following on Instagram of more than 127,000 people

A weightlifter dubbed the Iranian Hulk will take to the battlefield to fight ISIS as a volunteer soldier.

Sajad Gharibi, 24, from Iran, is said to weigh nearly 24 and a half stone and almost all of it is muscle.

He announced on social media to his 127,000 followers he is joining Iranian forces fighting ISIS extremists occupying Syria.

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Enormous: Sajad Gharibi, 24, poses topless on a rooftop to show off his incredible size in preparation to fight extremists

Persian Hulk: The young man's muscles can barely be contained inside his white vest and he is on his way to Syria to fight ISIS

Gharibi puts much of his size down to genetics, but because of his frame he has had to deny ongoing rumours he is the executioner for ISIS known as The Bulldozer, according to 9 News.

Little is known of the Iranian Hulk's personal life, but ending the terrorists' regime in war-torn Syria is said to be close to his heart.

The giant man with a fierce expression has a cult following on Instagram where he posts about what he does best - weightlifting.

But his Instagram account doesnt feature the type of food and workout posts most weightlifters and workout obsessives share, instead it displays an array of gobsmacking topless photos of himself and unpretentious pictures of him going about his day to day life.

His huge frame and bulging muscles have earned him the name of Hulk or Hercules.

He can lift more than 180kg, which is more than he weighs, and competes in the powerlifting category of competitions.

He has also participated in bodybuilding competitions representing his country.

Bulking up: The 24 stone beast lifts a large weight in one of the many photos on his Instagram account

Proud: The Iranian appears confident with his size and happy to show it off to his more than 127,000 followers

Wide: He can lift more than 180kg, which is reportedly more than he weighs

Competitive: Gharibi takes part in the powerlifting category of competitions

Since getting gaining a following on his social media accounts, the Persian Hercules has quickly become an internet sensation as netizens express their amazement at his impressive build.

He writes in Persian but uses English hashtags such as #strongman #strongbody #big #mucsles and #powerful.

In his free time, Gharibi also likes to take pictures with objects that look smaller when held next to him.

In one photo he sidles up to a can of Fanta orange, in another he poses with a can of Red Bull in a shop and in another he wraps his enormous arm around a normal sized friend.

Comparison: Gharibi likes to take pictures with objects that look smaller when held next to him

Unique: His Instagram account doesnt feature the type of food and workout posts most workout obsessives normally post
A 15-year-old boy has been arrested on suspicion of murder after a teenager was stabbed to death by a gang of youths who chased him on bicycles in Notting Hill, west London.

The 17-year-old, named locally as sixth form student Fola Orebiyi, was attacked in Portobello Road at around 8.45pm last night, after witnesses said a fight had broken out nearby.

He collapsed just two doors down from the shop unit which featured in the 1999 Hugh Grant film Notting Hill, and although police and paramedics, including an air ambulance, rushed to help him, he was pronounced dead at the scene.

A teenage boy, named locally as sixth form student Fola Orebiyi (pictured) has been stabbed to death after being chased by a gang of youths on bicycles in Notting Hill, west London. Fola, who was studying for his A levels, was described today as a 'lovely boy' as friends paid tribute to him

Detectives launched a murder investigation into his death and arrested a suspect, who is being questioned at a central London police station.

The victim's family were told of the tragedy and this morning said they were too upset to speak.

Witnesses said the boy had been chased into Portobello Road after a fight broke out on a neighbouring estate.

A teenager, who wished to remain anonymous, said: 'I know what happened, he was protecting a friend over a silly beef which turned violent.'

A mother-of-one said she watched police resuscitate the teen after he collapsed.

The woman, who asked not to be named, said: 'It was traumatising.

'It took half an hour for the ambulance to arrive even though there are hospitals all around.

'I spoke to the person who called the police and he said it took them so long to get here.

'The police were all on him trying to resuscitate.

'All I could see were his feet and lots of blood.

'I'm a mum, for me this is so sad, that's someone's child. That's someone's baby.'

Pictured are police and paramedics at the scene. Emergency services had battled to save the teenager

One said the teenager, who was studying for his A Levels at a nearby school, had been stabbed in the neck in front of shocked passersby and tourists, while drinkers in the Portobello Star pub rushed to try to help him.

'People saw him fall down and try to get to his feet again,' witness Mark Gettleson told the Evening Standard. 'Police and paramedics tried to resuscitate him for a long time, they did everything they could.'

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A Metropolitan Police spokesman said officers had been called at 8.45pm last night by the London Ambulance Service after a report that the boy had been stabbed

He added: 'It's absolutely tragic another young man has died on our streets.'

Another neighbour added: 'There were lots of kids gathering around the area on bikes before it happened. Police said the youngsters chased him on their bikes.'

One resident told of the 'awful' scene, which saw paramedics working on the boy outside La Cave a Fromage cheese shop.

The elderly woman, who wished to remain anonymous, said: 'I was watching TV when I heard an awful commotion downstairs.

'I watched out of the window and could see the reflection of a police car.

'There were loads of people including paramedics with orange vests on. There was a crowd of people watching.

'We could see paramedics working on him, there was blood everywhere.

Flowers had been left at the scene this morning (left), in tribute to the dead boy, who collapsed on this stretch of pavement (right)

Floral tributes left in honour of the teenager at Portobello Road earlier today

'Then, suddenly, they all stepped back and we knew they didn't step back because he'd survived.

'A young boy was murdered here. It is such a waste of a child's life. It's just awful.'

The woman said this part of Portobello Road has a low level of crime.

She said: 'This is a low crime area, not so much as a pick pocket comes by here.'

Today, friends paid tribute to Fola, who had just sat his AS exams, laying flowers in honour of him at the scene.

Dion Morina, 17, said he went to school with Fola at Holland Park School, and learned his friend had been stabbed via a text message.

Police and forensic officers working at a block of flats, close to where the teenager was killed

A forensic officer searches for clues outside the block of flats, a short walk from where Fola died

'Social media was alight last night but the first I heard was from a friend who texted me asking 'is Fola dead?',' he said. 'I thought it was a sick prank so me and my friends came down to Portobello Road.'

'It was horrible. We don't understand what's happened.'

He added: 'He was a sociably guy, he loved being with his friends. He loved football and definitely wanted to go to university.'

One woman, the mother of one of his childhood friends, said Fola was a 'lovely boy'.

'My son and Fola were friends since they were in nursery,' she said. 'He was such a lovely boy.

'He was so intelligent and never in any gang. I am just so sad.'

A teenage boy, who had brought flowers, said he had been friends with Fola through playing sport.

'We played football together and knew each other from the local area,' he said. 'All his friends are distraught. We just wanted to pay tribute to him.'

Police officers speak to potential witnesses at the scene last night. No arrests have been made

He collapsed outside cheese shop La Cave a Fromage (left), just two doors down from the shop unit which featured in the 1999 Hugh Grant comedy Notting Hill (right)

A Metropolitan Police spokesman said officers had been called at 8.45pm last night by the London Ambulance Service after a report that the boy had been stabbed.

She added: 'Officers attended the scene and immediately implemented first aid and CPR to an injured male.

'London Ambulance Service and London' Air Ambulance arrived shortly after.

'The victim was pronounced dead at the scene. Next of kin are aware.'

A post-mortem examination will take place on Tuesday at Westminster Mortuary.

The 16-year-old was attacked in Portobello Road at around 8.45pm last night, after witnesses said a fight had broken out nearby. Pictured is the police cordon at the scene last night
Harrowing pictures have emerged showing a second obese executioner beheading a man for 'mocking Islam' in front of children in the ISIS' stronghold of Raqqa.

The horrifying images emerged at the same time as the increasingly-besieged terror group shared pictures of its 'softer side' - showing militants handing out advice on giving to charity during Ramadan.

And it is not the only vile 'execution' to happen in recent days: another series shows a man's head sawn off with a knife. His supposed crime was 'pledging allegiance to the infidels'.

Vile: This man was accused of 'mocking Islam', according to ISIS, who circulated these pictures of his murder in front of a large crowd men and boys in the extremists' stronghold of Raqqa, in Syria

Horrific: The murderer looks like the obese killer dubbed 'The Bulldozer', who was captured last month

Obese executioner: The 30-stone jihadIi (pictured above) became infamous as one of ISIS's most feared executioners - until he was caught, topless, by the Syrian army

The pictures from the Raqqa murder shows a man sitting on a chair in a town square, surrounded by a crowd of men and boys, some who appear to be little older than seven or eight.

The bespectacled executioner - who bares more than a passing resemblance to The Bulldozer, the obese killer captured by the Syrian army last month - is seen wielding the massive weapon, apparently taking off the man's head in one sweep.

In one picture, members of the crowd seem to be smiling as the medieval punishment is carried out.

The pictures appear to have been circulated as the extremist group struggles to hold onto Manbij, currently encircled by the Syrian Democratic Forces, a Kurdish-dominated group aided by U.S. special forces that also includes Arab fighters.

ISIS have already been driven out of Fallujah, which had been their biggest base in Iraq.

Should it lose Manbij, it will lose one of its most crucial supply routes to Raqqa - dealing the evil extremists a double blow.

Barbaric: This man was accused of 'pledging allegiance to the infidels' - and had his head sawn off with a small knife by a man who hid behind a mask to protect his identity

Image control: However, the group also shared pictures of it advising people on charitable giving during the holy month of Ramadan, which comes to an end this week

Hypocrites: Their call for people to be charitable is at odds with their violent actions. In the last week, the group has claimed responsibility for the deaths of at least 162 people in Baghdad and Bangladesh

As ISIS comes under increasing pressure, so it has apparently increased its suicide attacks.

At least 142 people are now thought to have lost their lives in the Baghdad bombing on Sunday, while 20 people were murdered in Bangladesh by men swearing allegiance to ISIS.
A Royal Navy engineer returned the lost wallet of a British man he found in Amsterdam after taking it on a 1,300-mile European road trip.

Matthew Dunn found the lost leather wallet of Londoner Roy Somers on the pavement in the Dutch capital while touring with the Royal Navy Black Cats display team.

After finding 450 in currency, a selection of credit cards and a driving licence inside, he decided it would be better to send it back to its owner after returning to the UK.

Mr Dunn, 27, and his friends then took a series of photos of the wallet in various locations during their tour of Europe and uploaded them to Facebook.

A Navy air team took a lost wallet they found in Amsterdam around Europe, taking photos of it along the way, before returning it to its British owner

The wallet was found by Matthew Dunn, who posed with it in front of Iron Maiden's jumbo jet

Mr Dunn, from Yeovil, Somerset, said: 'If you lose your wallet, it's one of the worst feelings in the world - your life is inside it.

'Because the owner was UK-based and it had his address on the driving licence, we thought we might as well take it back to the UK with us and post it.

'I thought it would be quite amusing for him see all the things his wallet got to do while he was stuck back at work in the UK, and that maybe next time he'd be more careful not to lose it.'

Wally flew in the display team's Wildcat and Chinook helicopters, was photographed at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin and got a selfie in front of metal band Iron Maiden's private jet.

The road trip saw the wallet travel from Amsterdam to a Dutch air base, on to Berlin and back again, before a return journey through the Netherlands, Belgium and France, arriving back in the UK via Eurostar on June 8.

The men then took the wallet around Berlin, posting photos of him at the city's sights online

They took the wallet with them sightseeing, snapping photos of themselves with it in Germany

The adventure clocked up 1,300 miles across land, air and sea. Mr Dunn then posted the wallet, recorded delivery, back to its owner.

Mr Somers, 49, who had cancelled his cards and assumed he wouldn't see the wallet again, said: 'A week after I got back, Matt got in contact saying he had my wallet - I thought it was really nice he'd taken the time to let me know.

'I had a great holiday but I think, bizarrely, my wallet had an even better time - who would have thought they'd take it on a Chinook?'

At Mr Somers' insistence, Dunn and his peers took money for a round of drinks from the wallet, but the Navy man claims his good deed was never about the reward.

He said: 'I just wanted to give Roy a bit of a giggle and show there are still some people in the world that are a little bit nice.

'Being part of the Forces you do try to do good things for people and, maybe one day, he'll come watch one of our air shows, knowing his wallet is an honorary member.'

The wallet was photographed the men in a number of aircraft as they moved around Europe
A leaked report into a surge in sex crimes by immigrants at German public swimming pools is a 'grave concern', according to officials.

The secret report's authenticity has been confirmed by the authorities in Dusseldorf which outlines the particular worry over rapes and sexual abuse of children.

It comes just months after the nightmare scenes in Cologne on New Year's Eve when hundreds of women were sexually abused by marauding gangs of migrants and less than a month since an Iraqi migrant was jailed for raping a 10-year-old boy in an Austrian swimming pool.

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The migrant was jumping from the diving board at Theresienbad pool (pictured above) when police came to arrest him with the man now sentenced to six years jail

Out of control: Footage of New Year's Eve in Cologne shows the celebrations going terribly wrong as police try to control the huge crowds of revellers where hundreds of women were sexually abused

The internal report was issued for officers of the Criminal Commisariat 12 - responsible for sex crimes and missing persons - and states: 'The K12 can confirm a surge in sex crimes at these establishments.

'In particular rape and the sexual abuse of children in bathing establishments have given us grave cause for concern.

'The perpetrators are, for the most part, immigrants.'

The Bild newspaper revealed the document on Monday - just six months after the nightmare scenes in Cologne on New Year's Eve when the German welcome mat for refugees was well and truly rolled up.

In and around the main railway station on December 31 hundreds of women were sexually abused and robbed by marauding gangs of migrants as the police failed to tackle the situation.

Ever since then the number of migrants - men from sexually repressive Muslim countries - attacking scantily clad women and children at swimming baths has continue to soar.

Many cities, including Munich and Berlin, have posted charts in numerous languages stating that women wearing skimpy bathing costumes are not telegraphing that they are available for sex and must not be touched inappropriately in any way.

The memo from the Duesseldorf sex crimes unit comes as the open-air pool season in Germany is in full swing.

It stemmed from a meeting of sex crime officers on June 15 in which the escalating incidents - including two rapes at a swimming pool - were discussed.

The clarification of the cases was 'particularly difficult' because of the numbers of people in the mobs.

Officers vowed to improve their policing methods including more photofits of suspects together with accurate description of their clothing at the time of the attacks.

A police spokesman confirmed the authenticity of the document and said it was a meeting designed to assure the quality of investigative work and that there had been a meeting.

Groups of young men light fireworks into the crowds during the New Year festivities, which police later admitted were out of control

One woman can be heard shouting for someone not to touch her in the background of the video

Last week in Austria a 13-year-old girl said she was attacked by an immigrant man at a public baths.

But she kept changing her story and in the end admitted she made it up.

This was not the case in December last year, when a 10-year-old was raped in an Austrian swimming pool by an Iraqi migrant.

The asylum seeker, who had not had sex for four months, said it was a medical emergency when he raped the boy in a swimming pool changing room.

The 20-year-old, who had been taken to the Austrian swimming pool Theresienbad, pictured, to be taught how to integrate into his now community, was found guilty of serious sexual assault and rape of a minor and was sentenced to six years in jail.

The young victim loved going swimming at the local pool in Vienna but now suffers from severe post-traumatic stress disorder and panic attacks

The man, who had fled to Austria through the Balkan refugee route in September last year, hung his head in shame before he was sentenced for the horrific crime which left his victim suffering post-traumatic stress.

The migrant had been taken to the pool in December 2015 with a 15-year-old helper and translator who was helping him to integrate into life in the Austrian capital Vienna.

But while there, the 20-year-old man dragged a boy, 10, into the change rooms and attacked him.

The boy, known only as Goran, was also the son of an immigrant family from the Balkans who grew up in Austria with his Serbian mother.

The horrific attack was so violent that the young boy needed to be treated at the Children's Hospital, and is now plagued by massive post-traumatic stress disorder.

Goran went to a lifeguard in tears after the attack but the Iraqi involved in the attack was so brazen that he had not even left the swimming pool.

Instead, he was jumping off a three-metre diving board when police arrived to arrest him.

He told police the attack was a sexual emergency as he had not had sex for four months after leaving his wife behind and coming to Austria as an asylum seeker in September 2015.

The pool's lifeguard immediately called police who immediately hand-cuffed the man

Court Psychiatrist Gabriele Woergotter confirmed the 10-year-old victim now suffers frequent panic attacks.

The courts awarded the victim 4,730 EUR (3,750 GBP) compensation.

The man faced up to 15-years in prison under Austrian law - but was given a lower sentence apparently due to his young age, and previous good behaviour.

The court also took into account the man's 'adverse living conditions' when deciding on the sentence.
A 17-year-old has told of her ordeal after a mob of 'foreign youths' sexually assaulted dozens of females at a Swedish music festival.

At least 35 aged between 12 and 17 reported being attacked during the 'Party in the Park' festival in Karlstad, 250 miles from Stockholm in Sweden's Varmland County on Friday and Saturday night.

Some of the alleged victims reported being 'kissed and groped' in scenes similar to the Cologne New Year attacks, in which dozens of women reported being assaulted.

One 17-year-old victim has waived her right to anonymity to describe how an attacker targeted her while she was watching music at the popular event.

Alexandra Larsson (pictured) told MailOnline she was molested on Friday night having been looking forward to attending the festival for months

Police say the attacks happened during the 'Party in the Park' festival (pictured) in the city of Karlstad, 250 miles from Stockholm in Sweden's Varmland County on Friday and Saturday night

Alexandra Larsson told MailOnline she was molested on Friday night having been looking forward to attending the festival for months.

She said: 'Everything was okay at the beginning of the evening. But things got out of hand during the last concert with John de Sohn that started at midnight.

'At first we were pushed right up against the stage by the massive crowd. Everyone around us behaved really badly and my friends told a couple of boys to quieten down.

'They were then threatened by the boys who said you will die, b***h. But the verbal abuse was just beginning. It would become much worse.

'We managed to walk away from those boys after a while and started watching the concert. That was when I felt the first touch against my bottom.

'Then someone took the liberty of grabbing my butt really hard. I turned away and said to the group of boys behind us that this was not okay, but I did not know who had done it. After a while, I felt someone running his fingers between my legs touching my genitals. Luckily, I had jeans on me.'

After the harassment, she turned around and said to the group of young men standing next to her that they should stop what they were doing. But everyone around her claimed to be innocent.

About 20 000 visited the festival every day during the three-day festival which was free. The majority of the visitors were teenagers

It then happened again, she said.

'I turned around and screamed right out that "whoever it was - you're a pig!" I told my friends what had just happened and they were all shocked. Me and my girlfriends decided to leave the concert, because we could not see who it was. It was just a sea of people.'

Ms Larsson described a feeling of powerlessness as the festival she and her friends had been looking forward to was completely destroyed.

'It was creepy. Someone stood around me and groped me and I had no idea who it was. It was sick. We had come there to have fun, but the festival only lasted 20 minutes for us because it was so uncomfortable.

'The groping was at first a bit innocent. Just a touch on the bottom. Something that you can do by mistake in a big crowd of people. But it became worse and worse after that. The one touching me was becoming more and more rough every time.

She said that the boys around them were about 17 or 18-years-old but 'those standing behind me were not from a Swedish background.'

'They were probably immigrants. I hate to say it. But it is the truth,' she said.

'I have reported this to the police, but it feels like a drop in the ocean. I saw girls that came crying from the audience, including an old childhood friend who is two years younger. She cried so much that it broke my heart.

'The same thing had happened to her in front of the stage. A bunch of teenagers hidden in the crowd had grabbed her bottom, breast and genitals .

'I think that at least hundreds were molested at the festival. There are probably loads of unrecorded incidents. Girls who have a low self esteem might think that it is their fault - that perhaps they did something wrong to provoke it. But they are wrong. Nobody gets to touch a woman without her own permission.

At least 35 girls aged between 12 and 17 have reported being sexually assaulted by 'foreign youths' at a Swedish music festival, it has emerged (file picture)

'I have heard of others who had been grabbed during previous festivals. But it was sick being subjected to it myself, especially because it was so rough. It was like a punch in the face that it actually happened.

'I could see crying girls everywhere around me when I left the festival. I don't know if they all had been groped, but most of them probably had been violated in front of the stage.

Ms Larsson said that she was 'strong and could cope with it' but added: 'When a 14-year-old girl who is not as strong becomes a victim, she can be completely destroyed. That is what is so sick. It happens all the time but we can not do anything about it.

'I do not know what to think, it is so wrong. Everyone thinks it's wrong but nothing happens. There are large festivals with several thousand people and these mass incidents create a powerlessness for both the police, security guards and especially for visitors who become victims.

'The perpetrators will be so anonymous in the audience that they will get away with sex crimes. That is the main problem, that the perpetrators get away with it.

'It's not okay. I should be able to go to festivals and have fun like everyone else without being afraid. It is wrong, really wrong, but that's the feeling I have after yesterday. It's damn hard that ordinary people who just want to have fun should have to suffer just because someone thinks it's fun to violate.

She said that she believed the problem was spreading 'because attackers know they will not get caught'.

But she added that police took it 'really seriously' when she reported the incident and is hoping that this will lead to something.

'I will not visit the festival again. It was so uncomfortable, I do not want to risk that happening to me one more evening.

'I talked about this with my father and my three brothers. They were all devastated when they heard about what had happened. Especially my father who told me that normal men know that they are not allowed to touch women who do not want to be touched. He cannot understand what kind of moral guidance these boys must have.'

The touring 'Party in the Park' festival had about 20,000 visitors every day between Thursday and Saturday

The touring festival had about 20,000 visitors every day between Thursday and Saturday.

It was free and the majority of the visitors were teenagers. The bands playing were mostly Swedish and 1980s act 'Europe' were headlining.

Police reported that the perpetrators linked to the assaults were 'young men, who are foreigners'.

They have arrested two boys, both living at a nearby asylum centre for unaccompanied refugee children.

Meanwhile the tabloid Expressen has talked to a concerned mother who said that the security guards' response when her daughter reported that she had been molested was 'that is just something that happens when you are at a festival'.

Her daughter described what happened to her, adding: 'I was standing up and danced when a guy came from behind and held me down and started humping against my body. It was horrible.'

Breitbart reports that the promoter of the Putte i Parken festival said he found the behaviour of his staff unacceptable and that they should lose their security licences.

Up to 24 of the reports related to alleged assaults during the festival while a further 11 happened afterwards, according to Breitbart.

Expressen said one victim had been at the festival with six young friends - five of whom were also molested.

The incidents happened about a week after the Swedish police started its new campaign against groping.
Michael Jackson's ex-wife Debbie Rowe has reportedly been diagnosed with breast cancer.

The 57-year-old's estranged daughter Paris Jackson is unaware of her mother's diagnosis, TMZ claims.

The pair reportedly stopped speaking more than a year ago and in May this year the 18-year-old stopped following her mother on social media.

Rowe responded on Facebook saying it was 'one of the saddest things in this world is to see a child grow up hating one of their parents because they only got one side of the story.

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Michael Jackson's ex-wife Debbie Rowe (left) has reportedly been diagnosed with breast cancer. She is pictured here with daughter Paris (right)

Paris Jackson, pictured here in Los Angeles in March, is said to be unaware of her mother's diagnosis

She was married to Jackson from 1996 to 1999 after meeting him while working as a nurse at the dermatology clinic where he was was being treated for vitiligo.

The superstar divorced Lisa Marie Presley the same year that he met Rowe and she went on to give birth to the late star's son Prince, 19, in 1997 - three months after they married.

The shock news comes after Rowe had a cancer scare two years ago.

At the time, she turned down a marriage proposal from her long-time friend Marc Schaffel because she feared for the worse.

However, her illness turned out to be sarcoidosis - an auto-immune disease that is not life-threatening - and after getting the all-clear from her doctor the former nurse agreed to marry Schaffel, who is The King of Pop's former business manager.

Rowe was married to the King of Pop from 1996 to 1999. They are pictured here together in 1997

Rowe agreed to marry Jackson's business partner Marc Schaffel. She previously turned him down because of cancer fears

Her relationship with the record producer isn't a problem for the children. She told TMZ: 'The kids have known him since they were little and they like him a lot.'

Their love bloomed in the years after her divorce from Jackson, who died in 2009.

'We just remained friends. He's helped me with a lot of things and friendship sometimes turns into relationships and that's what happened,' she said.

Rowe lives on a horse ranch in rural Palmdale, in Los Angeles County.

On Friday, Paris was spotted kissing her 26-year-old boyfriend Michael Snoddy in Malibu, California.

Paris was seen out and about with her boyfriend Michael Snoddy in Malibu on Friday

Rowe is seen here with her engagement ring shortly after accepting Marc Schaffel's proposal in 2014

Michael Jackson and Debbie Rowe showing off their baby son Prince in Germany. The couple were married for three years

She recently wrote a moving Instagram post about the personal struggles she has overcome. Paris said that she knows her troubled past will always be a part of her, but her tattoos serve as reminders that she can overcome anything.

'Sure I will always carry my past with me, but I see ink as a way of changing for the better, always improving. they represent strength for me,' she wrote.

'I look back at my old self and then I look in the mirror, and I see a fighter looking back at me. I'll always keep fighting, and encouraging others to stay strong. We all go through hell every now and then but it makes us the warriors of love we were meant to be.'
European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker (pictured blocking his ears to the media at last week's crunch EU summit) is under growing pressure after being blamed for Brexit

Jean-Claude Juncker is under mounting pressure to quit as European Commission president after a growing number of member states have blamed him for Brexit and a number of other crises.

Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor, could move against the arch-federalist as Europe plots major reforms to cope with Britains withdrawal and fights to stop the contagion of Brexit spreading.

A German government minister said yesterday said she could move to oust the unpopular Mr Juncker as early as next year.

Denmark, Sweden and the Netherlands have now been joined by Czech Republic and Polish governments expressing concerns and the foreign ministers from the two eastern European countries have called on Mr Juncker to resign.

Slovakia, which currently holds the rotating six-month presidency of the EU, will put the powers of Mr Juncker and the European Commission at the centre of their summit of 27 EU heads of states on September 16 when they meet informally without Britain to plot a new way forward.

European leaders blame Mr Juncker for failing to respond to the Greek debt crisis and the refugee crisis that engulfed the continent last year and some believe he made both situations worse.

An anonymous German minister told the Sunday Times: "The pressure on him [Juncker] to resign will only become greater, and chancellor Merkel will eventually have to deal with this next year,"

However there is no mechanism for removing a European Commission president.

Mr Juncker would have to resign himself if European leaders want him to go before his term ends in 2019, but critics hope that with the support of the powerful Ms Merkel, they can force him out.

The former Luxembourg prime minister, 61, has also been criticised for his reported drinking problem.

Concerns over his alcohol consumption were a point of criticism during his bid to become president, with officials worried over his reported habit of drinking cognac at breakfast and claims he drinks large quantities of claret and brandy during negotiations.

But EU officials have dismissed calls for Mr Juncker to resign as predictable.

The splits among European leaders over the future direction of the EU could offer Britain advantage in negotiations over its new relationship with the union.

A senior UK government source told the Daily Telegraph that everyone is determined that negotiations take place with the European Council of 27 member states and not the European Commission and eurocrats, who may want to exact revenge on Britain for deciding to cut ties with Brussels.

Jean-Claude Juncker (pictured alongside European Council president Donald Tusk last week) is under mounting pressure to quit as European Commission president after a growing number of member states have blamed him for Brexit and a number of other crises

The world queues up to win trade deals with Britain after Brexit: America is clamouring for a deal while talks are set to begin with Australia, South Korea and India

Countries are lining up to enter trade talks with Britain in the wake of the decision to leave the European Union, it was claimed last night.

American politicians are clamouring for an agreement, while talks could soon begin with Australia, South Korea and India.

New Zealand has also offered up its top negotiators to help in the difficult task ahead.

The country will be free to negotiate its own deals after quitting the EU, and business secretary Sajid Javid (pictured) is already preparing for a hectic schedule of visits to countries across the world

In the wake of Brexit, nations outside Europe are eyeing opportunities to increase trade with Britain for the first time in decades.

The country will be free to negotiate its own deals after quitting the EU, and business secretary Sajid Javid  who campaigned for a Remain vote  is already preparing for a hectic schedule of visits to countries across the world.

US House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan has called for the US to start negotiating a new free trade deal with Britain to show solidarity and ensure a smooth relationship post-Brexit.

Mr Ryan, the former Republican vice-presidential candidate and one of the party s most senior politicians, said the UK was Americas indispensable ally and needed to be helped after it parted ways with the EU.

His comments on the issue are in stark contrast to those of Barack Obama, who warned before the referendum that that a UK out of the EU would be at the back of the queue for trade deals with the US.

US House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan has called for the US to start negotiating a new free trade deal with Britain to show solidarity and ensure a smooth relationship post-Brexit

Mr Ryan said: We need to emphasise that they are our indispensable ally. We have a special relationship, and I think that does mean we should have a trade agreement with Great Britain.

David Cameron has met top business advisors and said companies must not be fixated on the EU and should strive to carve out new opportunities beyond.

Mr Javid will lead trade missions to attract inward investors.

Former Waitrose boss Lord Mark Price, who is now trade minister, is set to visit China, Hong Kong and Brazil.

Officials in Australia and South Korea have also been in touch to discuss new partnerships, and discussions with India could begin soon.

And New Zealand has offered to lend its battle-hardened negotiators to help Britain out.

Its trade minister Todd McClay said Britain was a long- standing friend and he wanted to be useful in any way we can be.

Yesterday the US ambassador to Britain warned that Britains decision to leave the EU could still have serious economic consequences for the country.

Matthew Barzun  who was formerly Barack Obamas chief fundraiser  told BBC Radio 4s Desert Island Discs that the President was right to warn Britain in April that it would end up at the back of queue as a result of Brexit.

In an interview recorded after the referendum, Mr Barzun says it is naive to think that the UK could now somehow jump further ahead of its trade rivals.

He adds: The tone in which it was said, there was nothing punitive about it.

The point was, you are at the front of the queue right now - he was saying back in April - because we are doing this big trade deal with the European Union, of which you are a member.
A British stag party is among the first to fall foul of Magaluf's strict new rules for tourists - after walking through the town in just G-strings.

Tourism chiefs in the Spanish holiday resort, which is desperate to change its image, say they are disgusted and ashamed by the behaviour of some visitors and have already called in the police.

Magaluf recently introduced a raft of new laws concerning drinking in the open-air, pub crawls and going topless into bars away from the beach.

Members of a stag party from the UK have already been ticked off for taking to the streets with hardly any clothes on.

A British stag party is among the first to fall foul of Magaluf's strict new rules for tourists - after walking through the town in just G-strings

'One member of the group was naked and another two just had thongs on,' said a council spokesman.

Holidaymakers have been warned that breaching the regulations in communal places could result in fines of up to 600 euros.

The resort is trying to swerve its 'anything goes' image in favour of family tourism but faces an uphill battle.

The local council says merry tourists seem to think it is acceptable to wear very few clothes as they go from pub to pub in high spirits.

Residents agree and some have even put out black flags outside their homes or businesses to demand civic tourism.

Tourism chiefs in the Spanish holiday resort, which is desperate to change its image, say they are disgusted and ashamed by the behaviour of some visitors and have already called in the police

They say nudism is creating a very bad image for the resort and is offensive, especially to children.

Being caught in public without any clothes on or the bare minimum is punishable under the new rules with a fine of between 100 and 600 euros.

This falls under the 'disrespect' clause which defends the 'right of people who use public spaces not to suffer discomfort as a result of the lack of respect for minimum guidelines the way of dressing' by another person.

The police say anyone caught will first be warned about their behaviour and if they ignore it, they will be prosecuted.

It is understood that in the case of the stag party, they were warned to cover up and did so.
Two suspected ISIS jihadists have been arrested carrying night-vision binoculars, fake passports and military-style clothing through Istanbul's airport - less than week after suicide bombers killed 45 people at the transport hub.

The men - thought to be Kyrgyz nationals - were detained late on Sunday night at Ataturk Airport, according to the Dogan news agency.

One of Tuesday's suicide bombers is said to have been from Kyrgyztan, while the other two were understood to be of Russian or Uzbek origin.

The men - thought to be Kyrgyz nationals - were detained late on Sunday night at Ataturk Airport. Pictured: Last Wednesday, the day after the terror attacks which killed 45 people and injured hundreds

The three suicide bombers who blew themselves up in Istanbul's Ataturk airport (pictured) were originally from ex-Soviet states - including one from Kyrgyzstan

So far 45 people have died following the attack on Tuesday night, which saw the three men walk into the airport and open fire before blowing themselves up.

No one as yet has claimed responsibility for the attack, but the Turkish government believes ISIS was behind it, and there are suspicions that the men were part of a Russian-speaking unit of jihadis, led by a one-armed Chechen warlord Akhmed Chataev.

The two men arrested on Sunday have been identified only by their initials, K.V. and F.M.I., aged 25 and 35 respectively.

It is unclear if they were arriving or leaving Ataturk Airport, which is still recovering from the co-ordinated attack on Tuesday night.

Police found night-vision binoculars and military-style clothes in their suitcases, the agency said, along with two passports in different names.

The same day, 13 suspects, including three foreigners, were charged over the June 28 attack.

In total police have detained 29 people 'including foreigners' in connection with the airport carnage, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said Sunday.

Of more than 200 people injured, 49 are still in hospital including 17 in intensive care.

No one as yet has claimed responsibility for the attack, but the Turkish government believes ISIS was behind it, and there are suspicions that the men were part of a Russian-speaking unit of jihadis

Thirteen suspects, including three foreigners, were charged over the June 28 attack, which has left 17 people still in intensive care, and a further 32 recovering in hospital. Pictured: A woman cries at a memorial

Authorities believe the attackers were a Russian, an Uzbek and a Kyrgyz national.

State news agency Anadolu has named two of them as Rakim Bulgarov and Vadim Osmanov, without giving their nationalities.

Central Asia's former Soviet republics have been a major source of foreign jihadists travelling to fight with IS and other extremist groups in Iraq and Syria.
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Just hours after Nigel Farage quit as Ukip leader after declaring he had 'done my bit' by winning the EU referendum Douglas Carswell branded him 'electorally disastrous'.

This morning Mr Farage said the Leave campaign could never have happened without 'the People's army of Ukip', adding: 'I couldn't possibly achieve more than I managed to get in that referendum'.

But Mr Carswell, Ukip's only MP who fell out with Mr Farage and called on him to resign at the end of last year, reacted to news of his resignation by posting a smiling sunglasses emoji on Twitter.

When asked about Mr Farage's stance on immigration Mr Carswell told the BBC: 'We went too far, and I criticised it when we went too far ... and it's not just morally wrong, it's electorally disastrous.

'This is a decent, generous country. People have a legitimate right of feel a sense of anger with their politicians but the answer to that is not to play on people's fears and anger but to promise the hope of something better.'

Meanwhile Suzanne Evans, the partys former deputy chairman, said she would absolutely want to stand to replace him as leader of Ukip.

She temporarily had the top job following last years General Election after Mr Farage resigned as leader  and was then reinstated only three days later.

But she is currently serving a six-month suspension after being accused of briefing against Ukip.

Douglas Carswell (pictured right), Ukip's only MP who fell out with Nigel Farage (pictured left this morning) and called on him to resign at the end of last year, reacted to news of his resignation by tweeting a smiling sunglasses emoji on Twitter

Announcing his resignation at a press conference in central London this morning, Mr Farage said: 'During the referendum campaign I said I want my country back. What I am saying today is I want my life back.'

Mr Farage was famously re-appointed Ukip leader days after resigning after last year's General Election, but insisted this morning that 'this time I mean it, I'm not coming back.'

But Mr Farage took a dig back at Mr Carswell after learning of his unconventional reaction.

'Well I'm pleased that he's smiling, because that's not something I've seen very often from him, so it's obviously very good news,' the outgoing Ukip leader said.

Relations between Mr Farage and Mr Carswell worsened earlier this year when the MP's close ally Suzanne Evans was suspended from Ukip for six months after speaking out against allegations of homophobia in the party.

Mr Carswell ruled himself out of running in the leadership contest, telling the BBC: 'I'm certainly not going to stand to lead Ukip.'

Ms Evans said this morning she 'would very much like to stand' to be the new leader but said the governing NEC would have to readmit her to the party at its emergency meeting this afternoon.

Reacting to the news, Ukip's only MP Douglas Carswell simply tweeted a sunglasses emoji. Him and Nigel Farage have not seen eye to eye for months after Carswell called on him to stand down a the end of last year

Announcing his resignation this morning, Nigel Farage (pictured left) said the Leave campaign could never have happened without 'the People's army of Ukip', adding: 'I couldn't possibly achieve more than I managed to get in that referendum'

Nigel Farage (pictured this morning) was famously re-appointed Ukip leader days after resigning after last year's General Election, but insisted this morning that 'this time I mean it, I'm not coming back'

But Mr Farage will prefer a figure from his side of the party to replace him, such as fellow MEPs Steven Woolfe, Ukip's immigration spokesman or Paul Nuttall, the deputy leader.

An emergency meeting of the party's governing NEC will meet to discuss the timetable for the forthcoming leadership contest and a new leader is expected to be in place by the time of Ukip's annual conference at the end of September.

As he announced his resignation this morning, which came as a surprise to many, he said he wasn't a 'career politician' and decided now was the right time to step aside, but will continue in his role as an MEP until Britain officially cuts ties with Brussels.

WHO'S IN THE RUNNING TO REPLACE NIGEL FARAGE AS UKIP LEADER? DEPUTY LEADER PAUL NUTTALL THE EARLY FAVOURITE AFTER FARAGE SAYS THE PARTY'S 'GREATEST POTENTIAL' LAY IN ATTRACTING LABOUR VOTERS Paul Nuttall (left) and Steven Woolfe (middle) would both fit Nigel Farage's preference for his successor after he said this morning that the party's 'greatest potential' lay in attracting Labour voters, but Diane James (right) has also been tipped as she might be a less divisive figure Nigel Farage's resignation has sparked a leadership contest, with the new Ukip chief to be announced at the party's annual conference at the end of September. The early contenders are: Paul Nuttall, the deputy leader, is the early favourite and was quick to appear on TV channels shortly after Farage's resignation. He insisted today was a chance to pay tribute to Farage's achievements but the North West England MEP has been tipped as someone who can make progress on Ukip's success in Labour strongholds across northern England. Steven Woolfe, Ukip's immigration and financial affairs spokesman, has been a rising star in the party and a confident media performer. He is also an MEP for North West England, where Ukip has performed strongly in Labour heartlands in recent elections. Woolfe and Nuttall would both fit Farage's preference for his successor after he said this morning that the party's 'greatest potential' lay in attracting Labour voters. Suzanne Evans, is a close ally of Ukip's only MP Douglas Carswell, who has already ruled himself out of running for leader. She said this morning she 'would very much like to stand' to be the new leader but after being suspended for six months earlier this year for speaking out against homophobia in the party she will need the party's ruling NEC to overturn her suspension. She served as deputy leader until her suspension this year and is the party's Parliament spokesperson and as a former journalist she is a regular and confident media performer but she will be opposed by Farage. Arron Banks, the multi-millionaire businessman who has bank-rolled Ukip over the last few years, has revealed he is considering a leadership bid. He will meet Mr Farage, a close ally, in the coming days to discuss his leadership ambitions. Diane James, joint deputy Ukip leader and MEP for the South East of England played a prominent role in the EU referendum and could be the least divisive figure for leader. Reacting to Farage's resignation today James, Ukip's home affairs and justice spokesperson, congratulated Farage on winning Brexit and said it was 'time for a holiday' and a 'deserved rest'. Patrick O'Flynn, MEP for East of England, is another former journalist who like Farage is confident in front of the camera but has also fallen out with Farage in the past. Peter Whittle stood for Ukip in May's London mayoral elections but managed to pick up just 3.6 per cent of the votes. But he broke through for Ukip in the capital by winning a seat on the London Assembly along with David Kurten. Suzanne Evans (left) said this morning she 'would very much like to stand' to be the new leader but after being suspended for six months earlier this year for speaking out against homophobia in the party she will need the party's ruling NEC to overturn her suspension. Patrick O'Flynn (pictured middle), MEP for East of England, is another former journalist who like Farage is confident in front of the camera but has also fallen out with Farage in the past. P eter Whittle (right) stood for Ukip in May's London mayoral elections but managed to pick up just 3.6 per cent of the votes Advertisement

He refused to endorse any of the Tory leadership contenders despite his close ally and major Ukip donor Aaron Banks publicly backing the Brexit supporter Andrea Leadsom.

I now feel that I've done my bit, that I couldn't possibly achieve more. I won't be changing my mind again, I assure you

But the outgoing leader said the next prime minister should be someone who backed leaving the EU and left the door open to him joining the negotiation team.

Mr Farage said this morning: 'I have decided to stand aside as Leader of UKIP.

'The victory for the 'Leave' side in the referendum means that my political ambition has been achieved.

'I came into this struggle from business because I wanted us to be a self-governing nation, not to become a career politician.

'UKIP is in a good position and will continue, with my full support to attract a significant vote. Whilst we will now leave the European Union the terms of our withdrawal are unclear.

'If there is too much backsliding by the Government and with the Labour Party detached from many of its voters then UKIP's best days may be yet to come'.

Nigel Farage (pictured right this morning being approached by a protester) refused to endorse any of the Tory leadership contenders despite his close ally and major Ukip donor Aaron Banks (pictured with him, left, during the EU referendum campaign) publicly backing the Brexit supporter Andrea Leadsom

Nigel Farage (pictured arriving at his press conference this morning) said the Leave campaign could never have happened without 'the People's army of Ukip', adding: 'I couldn't possibly achieve more than I managed to get in that referendum'

Announcing his resignation at a press conference in central London this morning, Nigel Farage (pictured arriving at his press conference this morning, said: 'During the referendum campaign I said I want my country back. What I am saying today is I want my life back'

But despite resigning the leadership, Mr Farage insisted: 'Ukip's best days are yet to come.'

And he appeared to leave the door open to returning to lead the party 'if we do not get a satisfactory Brexit deal' by 2020, saying: 'Watch this space'.

Mr Farage said his political career since first standing for Ukip in the Eastleigh by-election of 1994 had been 'a long journey, not at every stage of the way an easy one, although most of it, I have to say, has been tremendous fun'.

WHAT'S THE PROCESS FOR PICKING A NEW UKIP LEADER AND WHEN WILL WE KNOW WHO'S REPLACING NIGEL FARAGE? Each candidate hoping to take part in the leadership contest must receive the backing of at least 50 fully paid-up members of Ukip drawn from at least 10 different constituency associations or branches. Members who are facing disciplinary action are excluded from taking part, so Suzanne Evans will be barred from standing unless the NEC overrule her suspension. All candidates receiving the required nominations will then be put forward to a ballot of all paid-up members of the party who have been signed up for at least 14 days before the deadline for the receipt of ballot papers. The winner of the contest - and the new leader - will be the candidate who wins a simple majority of the votes cast. If there is only one leadership candidate they automatically become the new leader. In the event of a contest, the winner will be announced at the Ukip annual conference in September. Advertisement

He added: 'Tough though it's been at times, it's all certainly been worth it.

'I came into politics from business because I believed that this nation should be self-governing. I have never been and I have never wanted to be a career politician.

'My aim in being in politics was to get Britain out of the European Union. That is what we voted for in that referendum two weeks ago, and that is why I now feel that I've done my bit, that I couldn't possibly achieve more than we managed to get in that referendum.

'So I feel it's right that I should now stand aside as leader of Ukip. I will continue to support the party, I will support the new leader, I will watch the renegotiation process in Brussels like a hawk and perhaps comment in the European Parliament from time to time.

'I'm also very keen to help the independence movements that are springing up in other parts of the European Union, because I'm certain of one thing - you haven't seen the last country that wants to leave the EU.

'It has been a huge chunk of my life, doing this, and it's not easy perhaps when you feel a degree of ownership of something to let it go. But has come at a cost to me and perhaps to those around me. During the referendum campaign, I said I want my country back. What I'm saying today is I want my life back, and it begins right now.'

Mr Carswell was scathing of Mr Farage's hard-line approach on immigration when asked about his resignation this afternoon. Ukip's only MP told the BBC: 'We went too far, and I criticised it when we went too far...and it's not just morally wrong, it's electorally disastrous.

'This is a decent, generous country. People have a legitimate right of feel a sense of anger with their politicians but the answer to that is not to play on people's fears and anger but to promise the hope of something better.'

Yesterday Mr Farage joined Rupert Murdoch, Liam Fox and a host of others at a garden party for Britain's rich and powerful.

Pictured wearing extraordinary Union Flag shoes, the trio socialised at a garden party hosted by billionaire Evgeny Lebedev at his London mansion, and it was captured by Lily Allen who was also at the event.

The pop star took a series of photographs and videos of the men at the event believed to be at Stud House, Mr Lebedev's grand home within the parklands of Hampton Court.

Mr Murdoch was seen deep in conversation with Dr Fox, the pro-Brexit campaigner who is one of five Tory MPs vying to be the next prime minister.

Nigel Farage was the face of Brexit celebrations as the Leave campaign won a shock victory in last month's EU referendum

Nigel Farage will continue as an MEP until Britain officially cuts ties with Brussels, where he will continue to clash with EU chiefs to ensure Britain secures the best possible deal. Last week he clashed with Jean-Claude Juncker, the European Commission chief, but before the special session of the European Parliament the pair embraced (pictured)

NIGEL FARAGE: STRAIGHT-TALKING 'MAN IN THE PUB' WHO EMBODIED UKIP FOR A DECADE AND FINALLY SUCCEEDED IN HIS AIM OF TAKING BRITAIN OUT OF THE EU After announcing his resignation as Ukip leader today, Nigel Farage (pictured today, left) will now be able to enjoy a summer with his German wife, Kirsten Mehr (right), who he married in 1999 Nigel Farage leaves the national stage as one of the most divisive - and successful - politicians of modern times. Loved by his supporters for his 'man in the pub,' straight talking image but hated by liberals who view him as a 'Little-Englander' immigrant-bashing hark back to the 1960s. He was once a Conservative activist during his time as a metal trader in the City but quit the party in protest at John Major's decision to sign the Maastricht Treaty in 1992, which gave birth to the EU as we see it today. Farage, born and raised in Kent, was a founding member of Ukip a year later and six years later was elected to the European Parliament - keeping his seat in the Brussels Parliament in the three consecutive elections. While he was a minority Eurosceptic voice mocked by all sides when he first arrived in Brussels, in 2014 he led Ukip to winning its first national election as 23 Ukip MEPs were elected to Brussels. And as he said in a gloating speech to fellow MEPs last week, Farage said: 'When I came here 17 years ago and said I wanted to lead a campaign to get Britain to leave the European Union you all laughed at me. Well I have to say you're not laughing now are you?' But having served two stints as Ukip leader, stood unsuccessfully to be a Ukip MP for Westminster elections five times and carried the party through a constant barrage of racism allegations, Farage today decided it was now time to spend more time with his family. The once lone voice for Brexit who ended up speaking for a majority of the nation hinted he was now weary of the constant warfare of front-line politics, stating: 'I want my life back, and it begins right now.' He will now be able to enjoy a summer with his German wife, Kirsten Mehr, who he married in 1999 and was his second marriage after divorcing Grainne Hayes in 1997. Farage looks forward to spending time with his four children, including his eldest son Sam, 27, who he hadn't seen for nine months until he took time out of campaigning on the eve of the EU referendum to have dinner with him after he returned from a trip to South Africa. One of Nigel Farage's lowest points came on polling day at the 2010 General Election, when he was nearly killed in a plane crash after a Ukip banner became entangled in his aircraft. He emerged from the wreckage with cuts to his face and was seriously injured (pictured) Nigel Farage has had to battle constant allegations of racism during his leadership of Ukip and as recently as last month he was accused of stooping to racist imagery with the infamous 'Breaking Point' poster (pictured) depicting streams of refugees fleeing to the EU Sam is one of two sons Farage has from his marriage with his first wife and they both work in the City. And like their father, Sam and his brother Thomas attended Dulwich College in south London. Farage also has two young daughters with his second wife Kirsten - Victoria, born in 200 and Isabelle in 2005. When he appeared on Gogglebox in 2014 he admitted spending too much time in politics and not enough time with his young daughters, describing it as his biggest regret. He will be able to spend the summer reflecting on 23 years of highs and lows in Ukip, during which he led the party twice. One of his lowest points came on polling day at the 2010 General Election, when he was nearly killed in a plane crash after a Ukip banner became entangled in his aircraft. He emerged from the wreckage with cuts to his face and was seriously injured. But he returned later that year to the role of leader, which he had given up to fight another parliamentary election. Farage's first stint as leader began in 2006, when he won 45 per cent of the vote in the leadership election - 20 per cent more than the runner up. He has had to battle constant allegations of racism during his leadership of Ukip and as recently as last month he was accused of stooping to racist imagery with the infamous 'Breaking Point' poster depicting streams of refugees fleeing to the EU. But a week later, Farage saw his decades-long campaign for Britain to quit the grip of Brussels triumph in the narrow 52 per cent to 48 per cent victory for the Leave side in the landmark referendum. Advertisement

'It's his annual resignation!' Internet jokers have a field day with hilarious memes over Nigel Farage stepping down as Ukip leader

Nigel Farage quit as Ukip leader today but some have written it off as his annual resignation.

Internet jokers have suggested that he may even stand as a candidate in the race to replace himself because his previous resignation only lasted three days.

Mr Farage said today he was quitting to he get his life back and insisted: 'I won't be changing my mind again, I promise you' because he believed has 'done his bit'.

But it appears many don't believe him and suggested it is a ruse to become leader again.

Critics have accused Mr Farage of leaving at a time when Brexiteers such as him and Boris Johnson have quit frontline politics even though they secured the result they wanted.

MailOnline has compiled the best of the memes spreading across the internet today:

Is he going: After Nigel Farage's last resignation lasted three days some have questioned whether he'll stand again

Satire: Some have called today's announcement his annual resignation after his track record

Angry: Charlotte Church launched this sweary tirade after Mr Farage declared he was quitting to get his life back

Resignation: Mr Farage's decision to resign came days after previous Tory frontrunner Boris Johnson was forced out of the race

Reaction: Ukip rival Douglas Carswell posted a smiley emoji when news of Mr Farage's resignation emerged, leading to this meme about party HQ

Now Farage quits (again) too. Not one right wing leader has the courage to deal with the mess they've created... pic.twitter.com/kPZ88QAQlY  Jennifer Garrett (@JMAGarrett) July 4, 2016

Much loved: Twitter was also full of messages of support and thanks for Mr Farage, who has spent years fighting for Brexit

Comparison: This internet wag said that the recent resignations could be compared to the famous scene from the Monty Python's Holy Grail

Smiley face: How Nigel Farage's rival Douglas Carswell responded when he found out he'd resigned

Ukip's only MP Douglas Carswell responded to news of Nigel Farage's resignation as leader this morning by simply tweeting out a smiley face emoji with sunglasses.

It signals he is delighted that Mr Farage has finally heeded his advice to stand aside as leader to allow the party to appoint a fresh face.

But Mr Farage took a dig back at Mr Carswell after learning of his unconventional reaction.

'Well I'm pleased that he's smiling, because that's not something I've seen very often from him, so it's obviously very good news,' the outgoing Ukip leader said.

Ukip's only MP Douglas Carswell responded to news of Nigel Farage's resignation as leader this morning by simply tweeting out a smiley face emoji with sunglasses

It signals Douglas Carswell (pictured last week) is delighted that Mr Farage has finally heeded his advice to stand aside as leader to allow the party to appoint a fresh face

The pair have not seen eye to eye for months after Mr Carswell went public over his call for Mr Farage to quit and his close ally Suzanne Evans was suspended from Ukip for six months earlier this year after speaking out against allegations of homophobia in the party.

Ms Evans said this morning she 'would very much like to stand' to be the new leader but said the governing NEC would have to readmit her to the party at its emergency meeting this afternoon.

Mr Carswell is unlikely run because of his long-standing dispute with Mr Farage.

But Mr Farage will prefer a figure from his side of the party to replace him, such as fellow MEPs Steven Woolfe, Ukip's immigration spokesman or Paul Nuttall, the deputy leader.

In what appeared to be a sarcastic response to Mr Farage's resignation, Mr Carswell told the Spectator later today: 'I'm inconsolable. Nigel deserves a lot of credit for getting the referendum and I wish him well.'

Nigel Farage's Union Flag shoes are the talk of Twitter after Lily Allen snaps them at billionaire's garden party also attended by Rupert Murdoch and Liam Fox

Nigel Farage has caused an online frenzy after wearing extraordinary Union Flag shoes to a garden party thrown for Britain's rich and powerful.

The MEP, who sensationally quit as Ukip leader today, was seen drinking what appeared to be a large gin and tonic while chatting with Rupert Murdoch and billionaire Evgeny Lebedev at his London mansion.

And inspired by Leave's victory in the EU referendum it appears Mr Farage couldn't resist wearing Union Flag shoes, which you can buy for 65 online.

Pop star Lily Allen took a series of photographs and videos of the men at the event believed to be at Stud House, Mr Lebedev's grand home within the parklands of Hampton Court.

Mr Murdoch was also seen deep in conversation with Dr Liam Fox, the pro-Brexit campaigner who is one of five Tory MPs vying to be the next prime minister.

Caught on camera: Rupert Murdoch tries to raise a smile while stood next to billionaire Evgeny Lebedev and Nigel Farage, who wore Union Flag shoes to the event

Covert: Lily Allen filmed Mr Murdoch and Liam Fox chatting over lunch after she was seated behind the pair, who were sat across from Nigel Farage and his wife Kirsten

Reaction: Twitter got particularly excited about Nigel Farage's distinctive Union Flag shoes

Mr Farage, who resigned as Ukip leader today, will have known he was going to quit when he attended the party.

Lily Allen's first picture from the event showed Australian billionaire Mr Murdoch looking grim-faced while chatting with Mr Lebedev and Mr Farage.

In the caption Lily Allen called Mr Murdoch 'Voldemort' after the evil wizard from Harry Potter and the Ukip leader 'Fromage', adding she hoped she was not sitting next to them saying: 'I might be sick'.

DAILY MAIL COMMENT: MUCH MOCKED FARAGE CHANGED BRITAIN For years he was relentlessly sneered at and abused by supporters of every other party, yet Nigel Farage can genuinely claim to have been one of the most influential political figures of recent times. Gutsy and tenacious, his achievement in taking Ukip from a fringe protest party to top the poll in the 2014 Euro elections was truly astonishing. More than anyone, he recognised the depth of anger and disenfranchisement felt by ordinary people in huge swathes of Britain from the Thames estuary to Labours northern heartlands. In particular, he articulated their very real concerns over mass migration when others feared being branded racist. And of course, without him there would have been no EU referendum because David Cameron would have avoided calling it and the public would have been denied the democratic opportunity to express their disdain for life under the Brussels yoke by voting leave. For that alone, Britain owes Mr Farage a debt of gratitude. Advertisement

Around an hour later guests were moved to a marquee to sit down for lunch where Rupert Murdoch sat next to Tory right-winger Liam Fox across from Nigel Farage and his wife Kirsten.

Lily Allen found her self sat behind them at lunch so filmed Mr Murdoch and the Tory leadership hopeful chatting.

Ms Allen decided to give her own commentary while filming them over her left shoulder.

Captioning her video 'Liam Fox, Murdoch and Farage, breaking bread here', she then spoke to camera and said: 'Rupert Murdoch and Fox. Say hi guys', before calling them 'w***ers'.

As the party appeared to be winding down she filmed Mr Murdoch and his new wife Jerry Hall walking towards Mr Lebedev's mansion with the caption 'nappy change'.

The photograph of Murdoch, Lebedev and Farage caused a great deal of interest on Twitter and was liked or re-tweeted thousands of times, mainly because of the Ukip leader's Union Flag shoes.

@pamelawharfe tweeted: ;Farage's get up!! Will the shoes be compulsory post #Brexit?'

Geraldine Mc Parland said today: 'So Nigel Farage has quit as leader of UKIP party.. who will step into these particularly awful shoes to replace him

Ian Hyland wrote: It will take a brave man to step into Nigel Farage's shoes. Especially those bl***y awful shoes he was wearing yesterday.

Luke Baker said: Yesterday he was wearing these lovely shoes. Today @Nigel_Farage resigns and says 'the real me will now come out'.'

John Bates tweeted: 'Don't judge a man until you've walked a mile in his shoes.' Unless he's Nigel Farage. And wearing those shoes.

As well as the destruction of the European Union, Mr Farage also has a passion for shoes, once saying: 'There are two things in life I can't bear. David Cameron and unpolished shoes'.

Mr Murdoch and Mr Farage have met several times in recent years as the Ukip leader raised the profile of his party.

In 2014 it was revealed he met Rupert Murdoch in his New York offices after filming interviews for some of the mogul's news channels, including Fox News.

The Ukip leader was then summoned to Murdoch's NewsCorp Manhattan office after taping a segment for Fox News's Sean Hannity and Neil Cavuto shows.

During an advertisement break, Cavuto turned to Farage and said: 'Sir, the boss wants to see you... the big boss,' it was reported.

In 2013 the outspoken party leader praised Mr Murdoch - whose many publications were heavily scrutinised in the wake of the phone hacking scandal - as a 'remarkable bloke' after being invited to his home for dinner.

They ares said to have discussed the possibility of a UKIP pact with the Tories, but only if David Cameron was ousted as leader.

Mr Murdoch later claimed Mr Farage was 'reflecting opinion' and suggested new leaders are 'emerging on distant horizon'.

Partygoers: Lily Allen photographs Nigel Farage as he walks into the marquee during lunch, which was also attended by pro-Remain campaigner and actor Sir Patrick Stewart
Scarred for life: Jack Taylor, 22, was left needing 19 stitches after his face was 'torn like paper' when a stranger slashed him with a broken key in a brawl

A fancy dress reveller had his face 'torn like paper' when a stranger slashed him with a broken key during a Hallowe'en night out.

Jack Taylor, 22, was left needing 19 stitches and is now scarred for life after violence flared while he was standing outside a city centre bar with his girlfriend.

The man who attacked him, 50-year-old Brian Murray, has now been jailed for four-and-a-half years after he admitted wounding with intent.

Mr Taylor, who read his victim impact statement at Murray's sentencing hearing, outlined the effects the assault in Newcastle has had on him.

He said: 'I have made a lot of excuses not to go out with friends, I can't trust strangers and I've been living in fear of being attacked again.

'I am conscious of my scar, I have had to grow a beard to cover it.'

Mr Taylor, a factory worker, from North Shields, said his job and future employment prospects have also been affected by what happened to him.

Prosecutor Kevin Wardlaw told Newcastle Crown Court trouble flared on Hood Street in the city centre in the early hours of November 1.

It remains unclear what started the violence, but both men threw punches.

Mr Wardlaw added: 'The defendant produced from his pocket a key. The key was sharp having been broken, and he slashed Mr Taylor across the face, causing the injury he sustained.

'Mr Taylor described the sound of paper tearing as the wound was inflicted.'

Murray, of Kenton, Newcastle, who has previous convictions for violence, was arrested after a media appeal for information.

Jailing him, Judge Stephen Earl said: 'There was what can only be described as a street brawl between the two of you.

'As to who did what first and how it started, there is some confusion. But the reality is clear, at some point during that street brawl between the two of you, you withdrew some keys and you drew that key, broken as it was, across the face of Mr Taylor, causing him irreparable damage.

'He is going to carry that for the rest of his life.

Mental scars: Mr Taylor, a factory worker, from North Shields, said his job and future employment prospects have been affected by what happened to him on a Hallowe'en night out in Newcastle city centre last year

Impact: Speaking about the ordeal last November, Mr Taylor said: 'I will be scarred for life and over nothing. If it had been two inches lower I could be dead and two inches higher I would have been blinded'

'I have seen and heard from Mr Taylor and it is clear that this will have a long-term effect upon his life.'

Paul Caulfield, defending, said Murray was sorry for what he had done.

He added: 'He thinks about it every day, wishes he had never got involved. He is clearly showing remorse.'

Speaking about the ordeal last November, Mr Taylor said: 'I will be scarred for life and over nothing. If it had been two inches lower I could be dead and two inches higher I would have been blinded.'

Mr Taylor, his girlfriend Chloe Dowds and several friends travelled into Newcastle at around 11.30pm on Saturday, October 31 last year.

The group went straight to MSA bar, on Hood Street, where they stayed until around 1.30am.

After leaving, Mr Taylor said he noticed a man, who looked to be in his 50s, shouting at a woman outside.

He said: 'I just went over and told him to move on. Then he started shouting at me and at Chloe.'

Mr Taylor was standing outside a bar with his girlfriend Chloe Dowds (together left) when he was attacked by Brian Murray (right), 50, who has been jailed for four-and-a-half years after he admitted wounding with intent

Mr Taylor claims he suddenly felt what he thought was the stranger's hand running down his face.

He said: 'It was just like someone was ripping paper on my face.

'I didn't really know what was happening at the time and I didn't think anything of it.'

But when Mr Taylor returned to his friends and saw the look of horror on their faces he realised something was very wrong.

'When I went back to my mates everyone was pointing at my face,' he added. 'I looked down at my sweater and there was blood all over it.

'Then I touched my face and there was blood all over my hand.'

Realising he had been injured Mr Taylor chased after his attacker and caught-up with him. But his distraught girlfriend followed and begged him to leave Murray.

Police arrived at the scene withing minutes and drove the couple to the Royal Victoria Infirmary.

'I didn't realise how bad my face was until I got to hospital because there were no mirrors around,' Mr Taylor said. 'Then Chloe took some pictures. I didn't think it was that bad until I looked.
Ms Tickner said that she had met Mr Wendelin on eHarmony,

A Sydney cop has pleaded guilty to looking up police records of a woman he met on a dating website, a court has heard.

One of the searches Vincent John Wendelin, 35, allegedly ran was for a woman named Katy Tickner, who has since told police she met the constable via dating website eHarmony in 2015.

Court documents indicate Ms Tickner texted Mr Wendelin on January 27 to ask if he had looked her up yet.

Sydney police officer Vincent John Wendelin, 35, allegedly searched for a woman named Katy Tickner, who has since told police she met the constable via dating website eHarmony (pictured) in 2015

A Sydney cop has pleaded guilty to looking up police records of a woman he met on a dating website

'Ok miss, I'll check and make sure you are the cleanskin you are claiming to be ha ha,' Mr Wendelin is said to have replied.

An audit of the Computerised Operational Policing System (COPS) revealed Mr Wendelin searched Ms Tickner's name in the database the following morning.

He later texted her again, telling her: 'I noticed that when driving you occasionally feel the need for speed!'

Ms Tickner later told officers she had only met Mr Wendelin face-to-face once, the court heard.

Mr Wendelin, faced the Downing Centre Local Court for the first time on Monday and pleaded guilty to a charge of accessing restricted computer data.

According to a statement of facts tendered in the case, the Professional Standards Command was investigating 'a number of complaints' against Mr Wendelin earlier this year and conducted an audit of his use of the database as part of those inquiries.

The offence carries a maximum penalty of two years' imprisonment, or a $50,000 fine, or both.

Mr Wendelin was placed on restricted duties in May and is next due to face court later this month.

Mr Wendelin, faced the Downing Centre Local Court (pictured) for the first time on Monday and pleaded guilty to a charge of accessing restricted computer data




A British ISIS fighter who once tried to glamourise his life as a jihadi by posing with a jar of Nutella, has blown himself up in a deadly suicide attack in Iraq.

Known only as Abu Hurairah al-Britani, an ISIS propaganda photo shows the straggly-bearded jihadi smiling just moments before his fatal mission.

The British fighter was reportedly used as a 'shock trooper' in an ISIS attack on Iraqi army troops and Shiite militia forces at the village of al-Sheikh Ali near the town of Baiji.

British ISIS fighter Abu Hurairah al-Britani who once tried to glamourise his life as a jihadi by posing with a jar of Nutella, has blown himself up in a deadly suicide attack in Iraq

An ISIS propaganda photo shows the straggly-bearded jihadi smiling just moments before his fatal mission

MailOnline understands the jihadi is the same British national who mocked an American news network by bizarrely posing with a jar of Nutella.

The British man posted a photograph of himself holding a jar of the popular hazel and chocolate spread in a bid to taunt the West about the 'five star' lifestyle of jihadis in Syria.

Abu Hurairah, whose real identity is unknown, is understood to be the fourth British national to die carrying out a suicide bomb mission near the strategically important oilfields of Baiji, northern Iraq.

Kabir Ahmed, a convicted criminal from Derby, is believed to have been the first British fighter to blow himself up at Baiji.

The 32-year-old reportedly killed eight Iraqi police officers and injured 15 other men near the town of Baiji.

The father-of-three was one of three men to be jailed in 2012 for handing out hateful leaflets which demanded that gay men were hanged in Derby.

The British fighter was reportedly used as a 'shock trooper' in an ISIS attack on Iraqi army troops and Shiite militia forces at the village of al-Sheikh Ali near the town of Baiji (file picture)

A second British man, known only as Abu Hajar al-Britani, blew himself up in a suicide mission in November 2014.

The most recent British suicide bomber at Baiji was teenager Talha Asmal, originally from West Yorkshire.

Asmal was part of a quartet of suicide bombers who killed 11 people in June 2015.

The 17-year-old from Dewsbury, who adopted the name Abu Yusuf al-Britani, is believed to be Britain's youngest ever suicide bomber.

ISIS propaganda photographs from the two pronged attack revealed that three suicide bombers targeted the local headquarters of an Iraqi Shi'ite militia group in al-Hijjaj - close to the oil refinery.
A pensioner sent his Polish neighbour a heart-warming note slamming the racist 'idiots' who carried out hate crimes following the Brexit vote.

John Ridgwell, 84, from Luton, wrote to teacher Anna Rydzowska, telling her 'your countrymen were the bravest of the brave' in the Second World War.

Ms Rydzowska is originally from Wroclaw and moved to the UK in 2004. Since the referendum result, which will see Britain leaving the European Union, there has been a spike in hate crimes against Poles and Muslims in particular.

That made the note all the more overwhelming for the 58-year-old grandmother-of-three.

John Ridgwell (left), 84, from Luton, wrote to teacher Anna Rydzowska (right), telling her 'your countrymen were the bravest of the brave' in the Second World War

Pensioner John Ridgwell (left) sent his Polish neighbour Anna Rydzowska (right) a heart-warming note slamming the racist 'idiots' who carried out hate crimes following the Brexit vote

The letter reads: 'Dear Neighbours, please ignore the idiots demonstrating against Polish people.

'As far as most of us are concerned you are the nicest and most hard-working in Europe, and are an asset to any country.

'If these idiots read their history, they would find out that your countrymen and servicemen were the bravest of the brave.

'God bless you all, John.'

Ms Rydzowska, a special needs teacher, said: 'When I saw the note pushed through the letterbox and read it I was very emotional - I had tears in my eyes.

'It was two days after the EU referendum and my community was very sad and unsettled - we were just lost and in shock.

'Most people, even Brits, didn't expect what happened. It was really surprising in a bad way.'

Ms Rydzowska, whose specialist subject is Classics, including Latin and Greek, said she was grateful for the support.

She said: 'It's nice to know there are some supportive people who like us and it's not necessarily only the young people who want to stay within the union.

'Most of us are hard-working people. Obviously we have some black sheep just like every nation but it's good to know that not everyone hates us.'

Ms Rydzowska (right) is originally from Wroclaw and moved to the UK in 2004. Pictured (left) is Mr Ridgwell's letter

Former London prison officer and grandad-of-10, Mr Ridgwell, said he felt compelled to write the note of support following news of anti-Polish protests and attacks across the UK.

He said: 'I've had so many good Polish friends since the end of the war up until now and I was so annoyed when I saw what was in the papers and on TV.

'I've always found my Polish friends to be great company and incredibly hard working, and I was just really angered by it all.'

Meanwhile, a series of 'unity events' will be held outside rail and Tube stations in London today to show support for people affected by the increase in racist and xenophobic abuse since the EU referendum result.

London Citizens, the community organising alliance, said the aim was to show solidarity with communities. Many London Citizens members have faced abuse personally. They will spread the message 'Love London. No place for Hate'.

JOHN RIDGWELL'S LETTER TO ANNA 'Dear Neighbours, please ignore the idiots demonstrating against Polish people. 'As far as most of us are concerned you are the nicest and most hard-working in Europe, and are an asset to any country. 'If these idiots read their history, they would find out that your countrymen and servicemen were the bravest of the brave. 'God bless you all, John.' Advertisement

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: 'As a Mayor for all Londoners, I take seriously my responsibility to defend the capital's fantastic diversity. I will operate a zero tolerance approach to any attempt to hurt and divide our communities, and I have asked the Met Police to be extra vigilant in tackling this deeply worrying rise in hate crime.

'London doesn't just tolerate difference, it celebrates it, so it's great to see London Citizens' members rallying together to show that there is no place for division in our communities. I urge anyone affected by abusive behaviour to report it to the police immediately, and for Londoners to pull together and rally behind this great city now more than ever.'

Esmat Jeraj, a member of South London Citizens, who was racially abused earlier this week, said: 'This demonstration of love and solidarity is organised by communities coming together to show that all are welcome and that there is no place for hate of any form in London.
The FBI are on the hunt for a serial bank robber nicknamed the 'Straw Hat Bandit'.

Police say the man entered a PNC Bank in North Wales, Pennsylvania, on Saturday with a semi-automatic handgun and a dubious disguise.

Dressed in a dark-coloured suit jacket, light-coloured shirt and a navy tie, he wore a tan hat and a handmade mask with eye holes cutout.

The suspect entered a PNC Bank wearing a straw hat and a makeshift mask with two eye holes cut out

Police say he was armed with a semi-automatic handgun and escaped on foot after stealing an undisclosed amount of cash

The man, wearing white gloves, ordered terrified customers to the floor before demanding money from the tellers, police say.

The Montgomery Township Police Department and the FBI believe the same man could be behind 10 other bank robberies in Pennsylvania.

The string of crimes date back to June 2012 when the Colonial American Bank in Horsham was targeted by a man in similar attire.

Police describe the man as white, about 6ft tall, in his 50s or older with a muscular to stocky build.

He escaped the bank on foot with an undisclosed amount of cash.

The PNC bank is offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to his arrest and conviction.

In June 2012, the Colonial American Bank in Horsham was targeted by a man in similar attire (pictured)
Bill Shorten has been grilled by Waleed Aly over the Labor party's Medicare campaigning in the lead-up to the election and denied his success was due to 'fraud'.

The Australian Labor Party leader appeared on Monday night's issue of The Project where Aly got stuck in - particularly about 'fake' Medicare privatisation messages.

Aly asked Mr Shorten if his success in the election came 'on the back of fraud' after the messages, which claimed Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull would privatise Medicare, were sent out.

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The Project host Waleed Aly grilled Labor party leader Bill Shorten about potentially fraudulent 'fake' Medicare messages

Bill Shorten denied that the election result was on the 'back of fraud' following his party's Medicare campaign

The message (above) was sent out before the federal election on Saturday. The Queensland state branch of the ALP has claimed responsibility but said it did not intend to make them appear to have come from Medicare

Some social media users questioned the legality of the messaging campaign

But while Mr Shorten quickly denied it was the source of success for his party, he said the move, by Queensland Labor, wasn't part of a national campaign.

'If Malcolm Turnbull is complaining he lost the election because of a text ... [and] doesnt get the message about Medicare, hes learnt nothing out of this election,' he said.

Aly wasn't letting Mr Shorten off the hook yet, though.

He asked him: 'if this [the messages being fraudulent] is true, would you want to see criminal charges laid?'

Mr Shorten said he didn't want to get ahead of himself and said he'd wait and see what happened with Mr Turnbull's request that the AFP investigate.

Labor's Queensland branch has been revealed to be behind the 'fake' Medicare messages which was sent to voters on election day. The texts are now under police investigation

The messages were in concert with Labor's campaign slogan that a vote for Labor was a vote to 'save Medicare' but the Queensland branch insists Medicare was supposed to be the 'subject' matter only in texts

Earlier, the Queensland state branch of Labor admitted it was responsible for sending out the 'fake' Medicare privatisation messages but denied trying to deceive voters.

Texts were sent from an account called Medicare but the ALP branch claimed it did not intend to make them appear as if they had come from Medicare.

'The message was not intended to indicate that it was a message from Medicare, rather to identify the subject of the text,' the spokesman said in a statement.

The Australian Federal Police is examining the source of the texts amid claims thousands may have been sent.

The Government called on Opposition Leader Bill Shorten to confirm he was not behind an anti-Liberal Party text message campaign
A top law firm is refusing to name 'hundreds' of business figures and academics behind a bid to prevent the new Prime Minister formally triggering our exit from the EU without agreement from the House of Commons.

Mishcon de Reya is taking action to ensure MPs have their say before Downing Street invokes Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty.

If successful, the bid could hand MPs - three quarters of whom supported Remain - the power to delay our departure and control the terms.

David Cameron has insisted it will be the duty of his successor to trigger the mechanism after he resigning in the wake of the referendum's bombshell Leave victory.

Theresa May (left) has indicated she would not trigger Article 50 this year if she becomes PM. But rival Andrea Leadsom (pictured today) says it should be activated as soon as possible

Home Secretary Theresa May, the favourite to take over as PM, and Justice Secretary Michael Gove have suggested they would not push ahead with the move this year.

But Andrea Leadsom, who supported Brexit, has insisted Article 50 should be activated as soon as possible to give investors and the public certainty.

Former deputy prime minister Nick Clegg today suggested that the Treaty mechanism should not be used until after a general election has been held - potentially as late as 2020.

Tony Blair has also hinted there could be a second referendum before a final decision is taken on whether to Leave.

The latest manoeuvre by Mishcon de Reya raises the prospect that there would have to be a vote in the Commons before proceeding with Article 50 - potentially taking the decision out of the hands of the PM.

Some MPs who campaigned for Remain have stressed the referendum was advisory and suggested the impact should be minimised or even ignored.

CONSTITUTIONAL ROW THREATENS TO DERAIL BREXIT MOVE The row over who triggers Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty may seem technical - but it could be crucial to our future relationship with the EU. It had been widely assumed that the Prime Minister would be able to notify fellow leaders of our intention to leave at a Brussels summit. Many believe the premier can do that under so-called royal prerogative - the same powers that allow him to declare war on the country's behalf. But the Mischon action challenges that notion, arguing that in fact only parliament can consent to Article 50 being invoked. The lawyers say a Commons vote would be required - and as only a quarter of MPs supported Brexit they may not willingly comply. Pro-EU politicians could gang up to delay the process indefinitely on the grounds that the country is not ready to start leaving. Or they could use the vote as leverage to demand the government negotiates terms that keep us tied in as closely as possible to the EU. If whoever takes over as PM chooses to press on without a vote, there could well be a full-on court battle and a constitutional crisis, which risks paralysing the country at a key moment. Advertisement

Among those thought to be involved in the Mishcon bid is entrepreneur Alex Chesterman.

Mr Chesterman, who founded the Zoopla property site, circulated an email to other business figures urging them support the move to ' that this once in a generation issue is handled properly under UK law', according to the Guido Fawkes blog.

The legal firm is adamant that Parliament must have its say, and has been in correspondence with government counterparts to seek assurance over the process and plan to pursue it through the courts if they are not satisfied.

Kasra Nouroozi, a Mishcon de Reya partner, said: 'We must ensure that the Government follows the correct process to have legal certainty and protect the UK Constitution and the sovereignty of Parliament in these unprecedented circumstances.

'The result of the Referendum is not in doubt, but we need a process that follows UK law to enact it.

'The outcome of the referendum itself is not legally binding and for the current or future prime minister to invoke Article 50 without the approval of Parliament is unlawful.

'We must make sure this is done properly for the benefit of all UK citizens. Article 50 simply cannot be invoked without a full debate and vote in Parliament.

'Everyone in Britain needs the Government to apply the correct constitutional process and allow Parliament to fulfil its democratic duty which is to take into account the results of the referendum along with other factors and make the ultimate decision.'

Sources at the firm said 'hundreds' more Britons had come forward wanting to join the action since it had emerged publicly.

But they said the identities of those involved would be confidential unless the issue ended up in a public court battle.

The sources also refused to say whether the firm was funding the action, or was being paid by the individuals and businesses.

EU governments have put pressure on London to invoke Article 50 as soon as possible to ensure a speedy withdrawal as the negotiating process takes up to two years.

Formally launching her Tory leadership bid this morning, Ms Leadsom reiterated that she wanted to trigger Article 50 as soon as possible.

'I intend to keep the negotiations as short as possible,' she said. 'Neither we, nor our European friends, need prolonged uncertainty and not everything needs to be negotiated before Article 50 is triggered, and the exit process is concluded.'

The Mishcon de Reya offices in central London. The firm has never shied away from controversy

She also said she would guarantee the rights of EU nationals living in Britain - in contrast to Mrs May who has refused to give such a commitment.

Leadsom, a former energy minister and Economic Secretary to the Treasury, joined other candidates in ruling out a new general election following the leadership contest.

She also said she would keep the United Kingdom together despite calls in pro-EU Scotland for a second independence referendum after last month's EU vote.

Conservative lawmakers will gradually whittle down the five contenders to just two, starting on Tuesday, before grassroots party members vote in early September to decide the winner.

Energy minister Andrea Leadsom formally launched her Tory leadership bid today
The 305m ship will lead Russia's Navy presence in the

VLADIMIR Putin is preparing to send Russia's biggest battleship to Syria to crush ISIS at source.

The Admiral Kuzetnov is poised for dispatch in the autumn equipped with jet fighters and armoured helicopters ready to fight the terrorist group.

The move comes after the attacks on Bangladesh, where 20 hostages were hacked to death in a Dhaka restaurant, and Baghdad where 125 people were killed in a car bomb in the Iraqi capital.

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The Admiral Kuzetnov is poised for dispatch in the autumn equipped with jet fighters and armoured helicopters ready to fight the terrorist group

Vladimir Putin makes the move comes after the attacks on Bangladesh, where 20 hostages were hacked to death in a Dhaka restaurant, and Baghdad where 125 people were killed in a car bomb in the Iraqi capital

The giant ship can carry up to 41 jets and 18 helicopters on board and is 305m in length

It will be based close enough to the Syrian coastline so that Russian troops can complete military tasks and return back

The huge ship can carry up to 41 planes and 18 helicopters and is 305m long.

It will be based close enough to the Syrian coastline so that Russian troops can complete military tasks and return back, a source told TASS.

The military-diplomatic source said: 'The General Staff has prepared a plan for involvement of the deck aircraft in delivering strikes on terrorist groups in the Syrian Arab Republic, where the crews will practice taking off the carrier to deliver strikes on ground targets.'

In a joint effort between the Admiral Kuzetnov's crew and militants located at the Hmeymim Base, the Latakia airbase in Western Syria, strikes will be carried out in close coordination.

'The Admiral Kuznetsov," which will lead the Russian Navys permanent grouping in the Mediterranean Sea, will be close to the Syrian shore 'so that the deck aircraft have enough fuel to complete the military tasks and return back,' the source added.

On July 1, Russian Deputy Defense Minister Yuri Borisov said Russias Project 11435 aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov will receive the Kamov Ka-52K (NATO reporting name: Hokum-B) helicopter this year (2016).

A military and diplomatic source told TASS earlier that the aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov would arrive in the eastern part of the Mediterranean Sea in autumn.

The ship is currently undergoing shipbuilders trials in the Barents Sea after repairs.

One of the 41 potential jets on board the battleship which hopes to bury ISIS' strongholds in Syria

ADMIRAL KUZNETSOV, JEWEL OF THE RUSSIAN FLEET Speed: 29 knots (33mph)

Max range: 8,500 nautical miles

Crew: 1,690

Weight: 43,000 tons

Length: 305m

Launched: 1985 Advertisement

ISIS suffered further set-back on Sunday when the Iraqi town of Fallujah was declared fully liberated on Sunday.

Only scattered signs of ISIS's self-declared 'caliphate' remain in Fallujah, a city west of Baghdad which was seized by anti-government fighters in early 2014 and later became a key jihadist stronghold.

Iraqi forces declared victory on the weekend after government troops routed the remaining ISIS fighters from the city's north and west under the close cover of US-led coalition airstrikes.

The battle, which began May 22, was the latest in a string of territorial defeats for ISIS in Iraq over the past year.
Beijing has announced military exercises in the disputed South China Sea after saying it will ignore a UN tribunal expected to confirm it has no claim to the area.

Up to seven days of drills will take place from Tuesday in an area east of China's Hainan Island and encompassing the Paracel Islands.

It comes ahead of an arbitration court ruling on China's sweeping claims to the sea - with the country widely expected to ignore the verdict.

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Beijing has announced military exercises in the disputed South China Sea after saying it will ignore a UN tribunal expected to confirm it has no claim to the area (file picture)

China is boycotting the case before The Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration in which the Philippines is challenging the validity of the nine-dash line that China uses to demarcate its claims to most of the South China Sea.

The court has said it will make a ruling on July 12.

China regularly holds military exercises in the South China Sea. The Paracel island chain is controlled by Beijing but also claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan.

This morning, Beijing indicated it was ready to start negotiations with the Philippines s if Manila ignores the ruling next week.

The Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei have overlapping claims with China in the area.

Beijing has rejected the arbitration case, claiming the court has no jurisdiction and saying it wants to solve the issue bilaterally.

In recent weeks it has ramped up its propaganda campaign downplaying the outcome of the case.

Negotiations between China and the Philippines could cover 'issues such as joint development and cooperation in scientific research if the new government puts the tribunal's ruling aside before returning to the table for talks', the China Daily said.

Beijing is said to be building new artificial islands in the disputed South China Sea. Pictured: Fiery Cross Reef in the Spratly Islands

China's main, government-run English newspaper did not name its sources but identified them as 'close to the issues between the two countries'.

'Manila must put aside the result of the arbitration in a substantive approach,' it quoted one source as saying.

China's Foreign Ministry last month said the two countries had agreed in 1995 to settle disputes in the South China Sea 'in a peaceful and friendly manner through consultations on the basis of equity and mutual respect'.

China and the Philippines have held many rounds of talks on the proper management of maritime disputes, though have had no negotiations designed to settle the actual disputes in the South China Sea, it said.

In the arbitration case, the Philippines is contesting China's claim to an area shown on its maps as a nine-dash line stretching deep into the maritime heart of Southeast Asia, covering hundreds of disputed islands and reefs.

'Objectively the tribunal has no jurisdiction over the dispute,' Sienho Yee, a law professor at the China Institute of Boundary and Ocean Studies at China's Wuhan University, told Reuters in a government-arranged interview on Friday.
Found disfigured with a face like a horror movie character, Braille the kitten has now inspired legions of fans after her miraculous recovery where her eyes had to be sewn shut to save her life.

The eight-week-old cat may not look as cute and fluffy as most kittens her age, but she looks far prettier than her previous gruesome appearance when she was found abandoned in Philadelphia.

Owners Erin Signor, 22, and Sara Konnecke, 25, say their foster pet is now being held up as 'beacon of hope' for people and animals with disabilities.

WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT

'Beacon of hope': Meet Braille, the eight-week-old kitten who had to have her eyes removed to survive

Braille was discovered neglected on the streets at five weeks old and rushed to the Animal Care and Control Team Philadelphia, where Sara works.

She could barely eat or breathe, weighed just 11oz, and had a respiratory infection so bad she could not see.

One of her eyes was crusted shut, and the tissue in the other had gone into proptosis so was bulging out of the socket to try and expel itself from the body.

It looked so bad that Braille would have to be put down.

But Sara, of Cherry Hill, New Jersey, would not let the shelter euthanize the kitten, and agreed to foster her to save her life.

Abandoned: She was abandoned in Philadelphia with a respiratory infection so bad she could not see

Miraculous recovery: Braille is now getting better day by day after she nearly had to be put down

Couple Sara and Erin, who also live with cats Daisy and Lily, refused to give up hope despite the kitten needing hot compresses and medication every few hours.

They have now praised her 'fearsome warrior spirit' after her successful bilateral enucleation surgery.

Mechanical engineer Erin said: 'The first night we took Braille home I actually cried for hours because of how lethargic and distressed she was.

'We honestly had no idea if she would make it, and wondered if she should have been humanely euthanized to end her suffering.

'But Sara assured me she had seen kittens pull through incidents like this and she was determined we could save her.

Caring: Owners Erin Signor, 22, and Sara Konnecke, 25 refused to give in and decided to foster the kitten

Online star: The couple then set up a Facebook page for the kitten, which now has over 1,600 fans who follow the updates on her condition.

'After Braille's surgery we took her back home and she purred for the first time ever.

'It was almost as if we had brought home a new kitten!'

The couple then set up a Facebook page for the cat, which now has over 1,600 fans who follow the updates on her condition.

'At first we were very reluctant to share photos of Braille due to the gruesome nature of the photos,' said Erin.

'But we decided to share her story when Sara's sister Erika, who previously was too upset to look at her eye, saw her post-surgery photos and couldn't believe how different she looked.'

'Fearsome warrior spirit': Braille is not out of the woods yet but is getting better day by day

Vets had to remove Braille's eyes despite her light weight, when she sneezed and her right eye ruptured.

They decided to remove both eyes to reduce the risk of infection of discomfort.

'To us, the pictures with her stitches are so much less gruesome that her 'before' photos and it just shows her fearsome warrior spirit,' said the owner.

'Fortunately, we haven't had a single negative comment about her appearance yet - we think because everyone knows she's going to get those stitches out and be a beautiful little girl!

'We really hope Braille's story will give as many people as possible in all situations hope.

'Hope to beat illnesses, live life to the fullest while facing blindness or other disabilities and even just to remember how precious life itself is.'

Vets had to remove her eyes despite her weighing just 317g, when she sneezed and her right eye ruptured

Happy at last: Braille can now groom herself very well and enjoys sniffing everything around her

Erin added: 'She is so special to us due to her amazing drive and will to continue fighting, even while on death's doorstep.

'We know she's not out of the woods yet but have full confidence she'll grow up to be a strong, healthy, blind cat.

'We also hope Braille will raise awareness of how normal having a cat with a disability is and persuade other people to consider fostering a cat or kitten with a severe upper respiratory infection.'

Braille's condition has been improving day by day, she can groom herself very well and enjoys sniffing everything around her.
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A three-week-old Asian elephant is overcoming her rare tendon disease after round the clock care at Melbourne zoo, and has managed to stand up for the first time.

The elephant was born with congenital carpal flexure, which restricts the 100kg calf from putting her front feet flat on the ground  and means she cannot stand to feed from her mother.

Vets from Werribee Zoo and staff from the equine clinic at the University of Melbourne were brought in alongside an equine physiotherapist to help save the animal, and head vet Dr Michael Lynch has called Monday's success a 'small win'.

The elephant was able to stand after casts which were applied to her front legs to help them stretch out were removed, with zoo staff only there to help her balance.

However the calf is still struggling to feed orally on the 80/20 mix of an elephant formula and her mother Num-Oi's milk, and Dr Lynch says she has had to receive the supplements intravenously.

The muscles in her hind legs have also become weaker, so there is still a long road ahead.

Dr Lynch said the elephant calf was a 'real fighter'.

'She really wants to get up,' he said.

'She's frustrated if the feeding's not going well, she gives little roars.

'Of course everyone's fallen in love with her and is admiring her spirit and her will to keep on going.'

She won't have to do it alone though  the calf and Num-Oi spend time together twice a day, and Dr Lynch says the two are showing interest in each other.

The baby calf is finally able to stand after it was diagnosed with a rare tendon disease at birth, and visits twice a day with her mother (pictured)

Mother Num-Oi stands at the base of the elephant barn where her calf is being cared for. The two are able to touch trunks through a grille

Num-Oi's (pictured) milk provides 20 per cent of the elephant calf's food. The milk is mixed with elephant formula

The elephant calf is kept hidden away while she works with vets from a nearby zoo and a equine physiotherapist to get better

Num-Oi, the calf's mother is pictured with her best friend Kulab at the Melbourne Zoo on Monday

Num-Oi was quite distressed when her calf was diagnosed with the rare condition which affected her legs but calmed quickly

Dr Michael Lynch, head vet at Melbourne Zoo, said the calf was a 'fighter' and was well loved by staff

Num-Oi played up to cameras at Melbourne Zoo on Monday while Dr Lynch spoke to media about her calf's condition
Oscar Pistorius is likely to receive less than the minimum 15-year prison sentence for murdering Reeva Steenkamp, legal sources have claimed.

The disgraced Paralympian is due to be sentenced on Wednesday for murdering his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp at his home in Pretoria, South Africa, three years ago.

He was was freed from prison in the South African capital last October after serving one year of a five-year term for culpable homicide - the equivalent of manslaughter.

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Oscar Pistorius is likely to receive less than the minimum 15-year prison sentence for murdering Reeva Steenkamp, legal sources have claimed

The disgraced Paralympian (right) is due to be sentenced on Wednesday for murdering his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp (left) at his home in Pretoria, South Africa, three years ago

An appeals court later upgraded the conviction to murder, which has a minimum standard sentence of 15 years.

But due to his time already spent in jail and mitigating factors such as his disability, he may be given a lesser term.

Pistorius, 29, shot Steenkamp to death in the early hours of Valentine's Day in 2013, claiming he mistook her for a burglar when he fired four times through the door of his bedroom toilet.

Judge Thokozile Masipa, who heard the original trial, will deliver the sentence three weeks after a court hearing that marked another episode of high drama in the long-running case.

Pistorius, sobbing heavily, hobbled on his stumps across the courtroom to demonstrate his physical vulnerability as his lawyers argued he should not return to jail on account of his anxiety disorder and depression.

Pistorius was was freed from prison in the South African capital last October after serving one year of a five-year term for culpable homicide - the equivalent of manslaughter

'I don't think he will get the 15 years,' Ulrich Roux, who is unaffiliated with the case but has followed it closely, told AFP.

'His personal circumstances and the disability will be taken into account. One possibility is that part of the sentence may be suspended.'

At the sentencing hearing, prosecutor Gerrie Nel argued that the double-amputee sprinter should be given a lengthy jail term as he failed to show any remorse for the murder.

Nel also criticised Pistorius for filming a television interview, despite claiming to be too unwell to give evidence in court.

In the interview - his first since the killing - Pistorius said that he believed Steenkamp would want him to devote his life to charity rather than return to prison.

'If I was afforded the opportunity of redemption, I would like to help the less fortunate,' he said.

'I would like to believe that if Reeva could look down upon me that she would want me to live that life.'

Due to his time already spent in jail and mitigating factors such as his disability, Pistorius may be given a lesser term

Pistorius, 29, shot Steenkamp to death in the early hours of Valentine's Day in 2013, claiming he mistook her for a burglar when he fired four times through the door of his bedroom toilet

At a June court hearing, Steenkamp's father 73-year-old Barry broke down during his testimony as he called for Pistorius to 'pay for his crime' of murdering Reeva, a model and law graduate.

Pistorius, who pleaded not guilty at his trial in 2014, has always denied killing Steenkamp in a rage, saying he was trying to protect her.

The sentencing may not be the end of the saga that has gripped South Africa and the world, as Pistorius or the state could launch a final round of appeals.

If jailed on Wednesday, he would likely return to the hospital section of Kgosi Mampuru II Prison in the capital Pretoria, separated from the general population of inmates.

Since his release, Pistorius has lived under restrictions at his uncle's mansion in Pretoria.

Supreme Court of Appeal judges in December described the sprinter's testimony at his trial as 'untruthful' and delivered a damning indictment of the original verdict.
Hannah Berry has been awarded compensation after claiming dentists failed to spot gum disease

A woman has won 35,000 in compensation over claims dentists failed to spot her gum disease meaning she will lose thirteen teeth.

Hannah Berry, of Exeter, went for check-ups after experiencing sensitivity but said two dentists misdiagnosed her.

The 28-year-old says the failure of dentists meant she developed gum disease and she is now set to lose 13 of her teeth which will have to be removed.

The personal assistant has now been awarded 35,000 compensation - although neither dentist has admitted liability.

Ms Berry said: 'I nearly fainted when I was told the news that I could suffer widespread tooth loss. I felt so angry and upset.

'I had only been told by my dentists to brush gently so as not to upset my teeth and gums, not that I was about to lose teeth.'

Her dental troubles began she visited her then local dentist Dr Michael Espach of Broadway Dental Practice in East Sussex in 2008 as she wanted to ensure her teeth were in good order before spending a year abroad in Morocco.

The Exeter resident had been experiencing sensitivity in one of her teeth and wanted to make sure everything was fine.

She was diagnosed with a hyper-sensitive nerve, but says the dentist failed to tell her she was already suffering from significant levels of gum disease which were visible on an x-ray he had taken.

She said: 'The diagnosis of a hyper-sensitive nerve was nothing serious so I presumed I had otherwise healthy teeth and gums.'

By 2011, Ms Berry had moved dental practices to the Clock Tower Dental Practice in Exeter.

X-rays of her teeth show black gaps between molars, a sign of bone loss due to gum disease

And there she says she was told by Dr Carmen Turcu-Iorga her oral health was good and was not aware that her teeth and gums were deteriorating.

She moved from the area in 2014 and it was her new dentist in Guildford, Surrey, who broke the news to her she had gum disease.

Ms Berry was told that it had been left untreated for so long and that she faced the very real risk she would lose multiple teeth.

The Clock Tower Dental Practice in Exeter says it has changed management since Ms Berry visited

After law firm, Dental Law Partnership took up her case, she received a payout without the dentists accepting responsibility.

She said: 'This was clearly a case of not being given the right information, being left alone and not being treated by dentists who we all put our trust in,' she said.

'My local practice in Guildford are doing all they can to help me, but the private appointments and level of extensive treatment I need which the specialist told me will result in 12 to 18 months of treatment are not only going to be painful, they are also going to be extremely expensive.

'I was horrified at how much my teeth are going to cost me now to get fixed and I am only 28 years old.

'Thanks to Dental Law Partnership, they have got me the money I need to pay for the problems to be fixed. Without this, I would not be able to be this calm.'

Eddie Coyle, head of clinical operations and commissioning at Oasis Dental Care said: 'The Clock Tower Dental Practice in Exeter was acquired by Oasis Dental Care from Den Dental Group in 2014, a number of years after Ms Berry had received her dental treatment there.

'As a matter of course the Oasis Clinical Team undertakes stringent quality reviews of each practice we acquire, which contributes towards our 100 per cent compliance record with the Care Quality Commission.

'We provide regular and ongoing clinical training for all of our dentists across the UK to ensure these high standards are maintained.'
Thousands of starving people are trapped in towns with no access to aid

Red Cross released the footage as they warn of humanitarian crisis

No people can be seen walking the streets of the

Incredible drone footage has captured the extensive damage to the city of Ramadi.

A mere shell of its former self, the buildings are entirely gutted, rubble is strewn everywhere and no people walk its streets.

The International Committee of the Red Cross released the footage of the 'ghost town' of Ramadi as part of a call to leaders to bring an end to conflict. The city was taken back from the Islamic State group in December after heavy fighting devastated much of the Iraqi city.

The International Committee of the Red Cross released the footage of the 'ghost town' of Ramadi which was taken back from the Islamic State group in December after heavy fighting devastated much of the Iraqi city

A mere shell of it's former self, the buildings are entirely gutted, rubble is strewn everywhere and no people walk its streets

It shows demolished buildings and a hospital scarred by fire, its ground floor reduced to mangled wire and rubble. An ambulance parked nearby is riddled with bullets.

The head of the ICRC, Peter Maurer, also features in the video as he begs leaders in both Syria and Iraq to show vision and courage to end the conflicts in the two countries. His message was timed to coincide with the end of the holy month of Ramadan, a period of charity and celebration.

'Even as Ramadan comes to an end, many ordinary people are living in abject fear and terrifying uncertainty,' Maurer said. 'A humanitarian catastrophe is unfolding. And, make no mistake, the situation is getting worse. For everyone.'

The haunting scenes come as the top U.N. official in Syria today demanded immediate and unconditional humanitarian access to tens of thousands of people trapped in four towns, warning of starvation.

Aid must be allowed to reach Madaya, Zabadani, Foua, and Kafraya, the U.N.'s resident coordinator, Yacoub El Hillo, said in Damascus.

Madaya and Zabadani, just outside the capital, are encircled by pro-government forces, while rebels are blockading Foua and Kafraya, in the country's northwest.

The towns have been besieged since last year, with aid convoys allowed only sporadically to replenish food and medical stocks. The last delivery was made in April.

It shows demolished buildings and a hospital scarred by fire, its ground floor reduced to mangled wire and rubble. An ambulance parked nearby is riddled with bullets

The head of the ICRC, Peter Maurer, also features in the video as he call on leaders in both Syria and Iraq to show vision and courage to end the conflicts in the two countries

Aid group Doctors Without Borders says 16 people died in Madaya from siege conditions in January, even after aid was allowed in.

El Hillo said the U.N. is 'calling on all parties involved to ensure this doesn't happen again.'

He also urged combatants to allow medical evacuations.

Activists in Madaya have launched a campaign to evacuate the journalist Abdelwahab Ahmad, who was hospitalized from a bullet wound last week.

Ahmad had drawn attention to the siege through a media campaign last December. The images and clips of emaciated children transmitted from the town sparked an international outcry.

Wafiqa Hashem, a schoolteacher inside Madaya, said residents were burning blankets and clothes in their stoves after running out of other sources of fuel.

The U.N. says 62,000 people are trapped in the four towns. Their fates are linked through a reciprocal agreement between rebel groups and the Syrian government.

For each medical evacuation from a government-besieged town, for example, a patient must be evacuated from a town besieged by rebels, and vice versa.

U.N. officials have said the agreement obstructs aid delivery, and El Hillo said it should be scrapped.

The hospital is just one of the man damaged buildings. Jan Egeland, the U.N. humanitarian adviser for Syria, said last week that only 60 percent of people in besieged areas have 'really gotten help'

'The people need leaders who believe in humanity, who protect homes, schools and hospitals, who protect civilians and treat people they capture with respect,' Maurer said

'Even as Ramadan comes to an end, many ordinary people are living in abject fear and terrifying uncertainty,' Maurer said. 'A humanitarian catastrophe is unfolding. And, make no mistake, the situation is getting worse'

The haunting scenes come as the top U.N. official in Syria today demanded immediate and unconditional humanitarian access to tens of thousands of people trapped in four towns, warning of starvation

An estimated half million people are trapped in 18 areas the U.N. classifies as besieged, though the independent monitoring group Siege Watch puts the number at one million. Pro-government forces are responsible for most of the sieges, according to observers.

It was not until late June that the U.N. was able to reach the last of the 18 areas with aid, and officials say they need open corridors, not one-off deliveries.

Jan Egeland, the U.N. humanitarian adviser for Syria, said last week that only 60 percent of people in besieged areas have 'really gotten help.'

The fight to retake Ramadi involved airstrikes by Iraq and the U.S.-led coalition, as well as several bombings by IS, which also booby-trapped several buildings. More than 100 civilians died trying to return to Ramadi after IS was pushed out.

'The people need leaders who believe in humanity, who protect homes, schools and hospitals, who protect civilians and treat people they capture with respect,' Maurer said.

An estimated half million people are trapped in 18 areas the U.N. classifies as besieged, though the independent monitoring group Siege Watch puts the number at one million
Bank worker Adam Lancelot, 39, forged a court document to keep his 60,000-a-year job in the City

A bank worker who forged a court document to keep his 60,000-a-year job in the City asked a judge is this serious as he was jailed for six months.

In July 2012, Adam Lancelot, 39, was convicted of receiving hundreds of pounds in council tax benefit while working for big names such as Barclays Wealth and Bank of America.

Two years later, in September 2014 he started working in the compliance department for exchange firm Worldwide Currencies Ltd, in the heart of the square mile, the Old Bailey heard.

But after just a few days in the job, where he was responsible for making sure his firm followed the rules of the financial market, bosses discovered his murky past and suspended him from the post.

Lancelot, from Seaford, East Sussex, then used a forged document, purporting to be from Maidstone Crown Court, saying he had been acquitted of the benefit fraud charges on appeal.

He had also used the document to bully media outlets who had covered the case into removing all traces of his criminal history.

However, checks of the courts records revealed the document was a crude forgery and Lancelot was reported to the police.

He made full admissions to officers and pleaded guilty to a single charge of fraud by false representation at the City of London Magistrates Court.

Lancelot claimed he had only forged the document to catch out the press, insisting that his earlier case had been misreported.

As he tried to avoid being imprisoned, Lancelot said he had been offered a job as a porter at Eastbourne hospital and said he was now remorseful for what he had done.

But after Judge Brendan Finucane QC told him there was no alternative but to impose a six-month prison sentence, Lancelot moaned: Is this serious? Can I appeal the decision? Not allowed to speak, as he was led down to the cells.

It was both clever and manipulative, and undermines the court system, bringing it into disrepute, said the judge.

The court heard Lancelot was cautioned on August 30, 2002 by Surrey police for obtaining property by deception, and on November 2, 2006 he was handed a 12-month conditional discharge for handling stolen goods.

Six years later, on 24 July 2012, Lancelot was convicted of four counts of making false statements or representations relating to benefits claims at Central Kent Magistrates Court.

Lancelot made full admissions to officers and pleaded guilty to a single charge of fraud by false representation at the City of London Magistrates' Court (pictured)

He was sentenced to 300 hours unpaid work and ordered to pay 500 in prosecution costs.

Judge Finucane told him: Following that conviction, you had in the past been involved in employment in the City and you sought in the time after that, in September 2014, a job with Worldwide Currencies Ltd as a new head of compliance.

The advert led to you being employed and you started work on 29 September 2014.

During this time an external audit was taking place in the company focusing on the compliance department.

The auditor recognised your name as having been mentioned in the newspapers regarding benefit fraud.

He informed your employers, who made searches and discovered a large amount of newspaper articles relating to you.

Lancelot was suspended but claimed in an interview with senior management he had been acquitted of the charges on appeal and emailed a document as proof.

This was clever and manipulative conduct and indeed your effort, while not perfect, was pretty good and designed to fool your employers and show you had appealed those convictions and succeeded Judge Brendan Finucane

That document to the initiated in the court system was not very difficult to detect as a forgery but in relation to those who are not members of the court system... This was clever and manipulative conduct and indeed your effort, while not perfect, was pretty good and designed to fool your employers and show you had appealed those convictions and succeeded in your appeal so you no longer had those convictions, said the judge.

That document also appears to have been sent to the newspapers in an attempt to deter them from reporting about your previous convictions of which you felt very strongly they had been unfair, he continued.

I make no comment on this either way and you are certainly not punished in this court for that activity.

Lancelot sought 10,000 in libel damages from the Daily Telegraph for reporting his conviction, citing the damage to his reputation and job prospects.

He said Worldwide Currencies had failed to ask him about his previous convictions before offering him the job, stating they had failed to do their due diligence.

At a previous hearing, Lancelot claimed his forgery was just to catch out the press because they had reported inaccurate information on him in the past.

The press say I earn 5,000 a day as a banker, Im not a banker, they didnt verify the facts. I produced a forged document to try and catch them out because they never do their research,' he said.

Then, in this unlikely case they did check it.

Ive been in every single newspaper. I used Mishcon de Reya to try and remove it from the press. The Telegraph was the only one that was determined not to remove it.

He added that he had provided the press with sheaves of documents, including his bank statements, to prove that he had never been earning 5,000 per day.

He continued: I used the document to try and catch them out, to say: Are you really serious - through depression and not having a job I decided to apply for a job on a much lower salary than I would normally have.

I had joined the firm and within two minutes someone had Googled my name as you do and they cancelled the employment because I had not been honest.
A police officer conducting a traffic stop was killed early Sunday after a drunk driver plowed into him in Louisiana.

Sergeant David Elahi of the Sterlington Police Department in Louisiana was speaking with a individual he had stopped just before 5am when an SUV driven by Tracy Govan hit him and two other officers.

Elahi, who was in his late 20s, was pronounced dead at the scene while his fellow officers, who are not being named at this time, were treated for non-life threatening injuries.

Sunday was set to be Elahi's last shift on the force, though he had recently pushed the date back to July 17 according to Police Chief Barry Bonner 'to get some personal matters taken care of.'

He was also engaged to marry his fiancee Dana, the mother of his young daughter.

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Tragedy: Sergeant David Elahi (above with his young daughter) of the Sterlington Police Department in Louisiana was killed early Sunday morning after being struck by a drunk driver

Gone too son: Elahi was pronounced dead on the scene while two other officers were injured in the crash

The Ouachita Citizen reports that investigators arrested Govan, 44, at the scene and booked him on charges of vehicular homicide, vehicular negligent injury, improper lane usage and failure to move over for emergency vehicle on the shoulder after determining he was impaired at the time of the crash.

He was released Sunday evening on an undisclosed bond.

The force of the impact ripped the door off of Elahi's police vehicle. One of the injured officers was hit with flying glass while standing on the other side of the squad car while the second injured cop was sitting in the car when it was hit.

The woman that Elahi had stopped was also sitting in the car but avoided suffering any injuries. She had been waiting for someone to pick her up after being cited for driving with a suspended license.

More details are expected to be released on Tuesday.

Courtesy KNOE-TV

Awful: Elahi, who was in his late 20s, was the father of a young daughter and engaged to marry his fiancee Dana (above)

Jailed: Investigators arrested Tracy Govan (above) and booked him on charges including vehicular homicide after determining he was impaired

'Our thoughts and prayers go out to officer Elahis family and the Sterlington Police Department during this time of grief,' said Louisiana State Police Superintendent Colonel Mike Edmonson in a statement.

'This is a tragedy that could have been avoided.'

In addition to his upcoming, nuptials, Elahi has been hoping to focus more on his real estate company and Monroe Jumpers, his party rental business.'

'David was probably the hardest-working individual I've ever met,' said Sterlington Police Chief Barry Bonner.
A man who has been divorced three times has now found love with a life-size plastic doll but says it took more than a year to learn how to have sex with her.

Murray, from Queensland in Australia, fell in love with his 6ft doll Noni despite the fact that she cannot walk or talk and is made of plastic.

He told the ABC it took him and Noni a long time to build the deep intimacy they now share.

He said he experiences levels of 'ecstasy' when they have sex that is nowhere near what he gets with other women.

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Murray went through three divorces and four other sex dolls before he finally settled down with Noni

'It took me over a year to learn how to make love to dolls. Once I got over that massive learning curve they can take you into realms you didnt know existed,' Murray said.

One day shell be into BDSM. They next itll be, hold me close and cuddle.

He told the ABC his doll Noni has moods, a particular sense of style and wears her own scent.

When he sold one of his previous dolls he had to throw out all her clothing because Noni wouldnt wear it.

Noni is Murray's fourth doll but he said he hopes they are together until he dies. He bought his first sex doll in 2008 after his third divorce.

Murray is pictured dressing his plastic partner Noni in racy lingerie. He said he had to throw out the clothes from his old doll because Noni refused to wear them

Murray is one of an increasing number of Australian men turning to life-size plastic dolls for companionship and love.

The global trade in plastic love dolls has become a million dollar business in recent years.

More and more men like Murray are turning to dolls, which are becoming increasingly accepted and mainstream.

Factories in China, Japan and America pump out dolls on an industrial scale and there are forums and public meetings for men who use them.

Some men even feel comfortable enough telling their families and girlfriends that they keep a love doll on the side.
The father-of-three then attacked the officer in his car, according to police

An off-duty police officer shot a man dead in front of his horrified wife and children after a near-miss crash in Brooklyn.

Two cars almost collided on Atlantic Avenue and Bradford St. in Cypress Hill around midnight on Sunday.

Delrawn Small, 37, got out of his Kia EX and approached the cop car and punched the officer repeatedly in the head through an open window, according to police.

Two cars almost collided on Atlantic Ave. and Bradford St. in Cypress Hill around midnight on Sunday. The incident ended with Delrawn Small (pictured) being shot dead

Small, 37, got out of his Kia EX and approached the other car involved, a Nissan Altima, in this area

The officer, who had just finished his shift and was on his way home, pulled out his service weapon and killed Small, authorities said.

But another account told by a witness claims it was the officer who was the aggressor.

Construction worker, Lloyd Banks, 43, told The Daily News: 'Delron and the cop's car almost hit each other. And Delron got out of the car and the cop just jumped out and started screaming.

'He just shot him right there on the street. Delron was unarmed. His wife and kids were still in the car. They saw everything.'

Small was pronounced dead at the scene but his body remained on the street covered in a plastic sheet for around four hours after the shooting.

Paramedics took the officer, who was not in uniform, to Jamaica Medical Center where he was treated for bruises to the head.

Small's brother Ali found out about the shooting from Banks and a second brother, Bryan Williams.

'My little brother was driving in the car with his family on his way to see me,' the 43-year-old said, identifying the children as two teenage girls and a newborn son.

Speaking to NBC, he said witnesses told him the officer shot 'on impulse.' He also defended his brother, saying that he left his car because he didn't want to argue in front of his family.

'The only reason he got out of the car was because the family was in the car. He was concerned. He wanted to question the guy, like, what's your angle?' Small said.

'And that was his angle... he killed him.'

NYPD's Force Investigation Division is reviewing the shooting. Officers are still stationed outside the hospital as detectives continue their work in the area pictured

Small's family held a news conference later Monday demanding a full investigation.

NYPD's Force Investigation Division is reviewing the shooting. Officers are still stationed outside the hospital as detectives continue their work.

The off-duty officer has not been identified but it is known that he works for the 79th Precinct in Bedford-Stuyvesant.

Eric Soufer, a spokesman for New York Attorney General Eric Scheniderman, said prosecutors had obtained a search warrant for the officer's car and were 'actively reviewing the case.' The attorney general's office had also been in contact with police and Small's family, he said.

The attorney general is authorized to investigate police shootings when either the person killed is unarmed or there are questions about the threat they posed.

The police department was also investigating, Police Commissioner William Bratton said. Investigators gathered surveillance video and interviewed the officer, Bratton said.

But Bratton, citing the ongoing investigations, warned that it was too early to say whether the officer was justified in his actions and said police are still trying to determine what sparked the traffic dispute.
More than a thousand Australians have signed an online petition urging Pauline Hanson to join Senator Sam Dastyari for a delicious halal snack pack on the streets of Sydney.

The petition also welcomed Ms Hanson, the leader of the One Nation party, to provide 'facts to support her unpopular statistic' that '98 per cent of Australians' don't want Halal certification.'

Mr Dastyari, the Labor Senator for New South Wales, also shared the petition on his Facebook page - racking up thousands of likes and unleashing torrents of criticism directed at Ms Hanson.

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Over a thousand Australians have signed an online petition urging Pauline Hanson to join Senator Sam Dastyari for a halal snack pack

Sam Dastyari looks very pleased with himself as Pauline Hanson reacted to his halal snack pack jibe

Despite Mr Dastyari's offer, Ms Hanson emphatically refused his offer, saying she didn't believe in halal certification

An example of a halal snack pack, including halal meats, hot chips and cheese, usually with garlic, chilli, barbecue sauce and hummus

The petition is a reference to a joke that Mr Dastyari cracked while speaking to Ms Hanson during 7 News' live election coverage on Saturday, quickly riling the new Queensland senator.

Ms Hanson, the leader of the One Nation party, was all smiles as Mr Dastyari congratulated her, but her face dropped when he offered to take her for a halal snack pack.

'Right now, I will invite you to join me in Sydney and I will take you out for halal snack pack out in the western suburbs of Sydney whenever you want,' he said.

Mr Dastyari - grin on face - was clearly pleased with her reaction.

'It's not happening. Not interested in halal thank you. Not interested in it. I don't believe in halal certifications,' Ms Hanson said, waggling her finger in the air.

A smug-looking Dastyari attempted to cut Ms Hanson off, saying they'd have an 'interesting time' in the senate together.

But she continued, claiming that '98 per cent of Australians' didn't want halal certification.

A halal snack pack comes in a styrofoam backs and includes halal meats, hot chips and cheese, usually with garlic, chilli, barbecue sauce and hummus.

Mr Dastyari grins at Ms Hanson's reaction to being invited out for a halal snack pack in Sydney's western suburbs

One Nation's Pauline Hanson arrives at her election-night function in Ipswich, west of Brisbane, on Saturday night

The online petition quickly collected hundreds of comments criticising Pauline Hanson for her position on halal-certified Australian foods

At the time of publication, 1,320 people had signed the online petition, which quickly collected hundreds of comments labelling Ms Hanson 'racist scum' and 'un-Australian.'

'The popularity of the HSP in Sydney and Melbourne is a testimony to Australia's multicultural spirit - a spirit that Mrs. Hanson fails to appreciate. I'm signing this petition because a decent HSP might change this,' wrote one man.

'Halal snack packs are the bomb. Every real Australian knows it. Show us you're a real Australian' challeneged another.

Ms Hanson succeeded in finally re-entering politics after a 20-year hiatus and eight failed attempts to be re-elected.

She's recently said U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump was copying her policies, which focus on stopping Muslim immigration to Australia, stimulating the economy in the regions, ridding the streets of methamphetamine and getting people into jobs.

This year's double dissolution election meant she only required half the usual number to be elected.

New South Wales Labor Senator Sam Dastyari pictured in Canberra in 2014
Bill Shorten has tried to redeem himself and show he does know how to eat a sausage sandwich after being ridiculed on Election Day for biting into one from the side.

The Australian Labor Party leader used the unorthodox technique on Saturday, much to the outrage of voters.

But when he appeared on Channel 10's The Project on Monday, they brought out a sausage and gave him a second chance.

It was a case of second time lucky as he bit into the sausage from the end.

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Australian Labor Party leader Bill Shorten demonstrates correct sausage sandwich eating technique

The Project hosts handed Mr Shorten a sausage sandwich while he was on the show so he could show them how it was done

Luckily, Mr Shorten demonstrated proper technique the second time round, eating his sausage sandwich from the end rather than from the side

Opposition leader Bill Shorten headed to Strathfield North Public School polling booth in Sydney's west for a traditional Election Day sausage sizzle

Mr Shorten has been criticised on social media for his sausage eating technique

He'd tried to justify his earlier poor form, saying the roll was so crusty the 'teeth of a great white' would have been needed to bite into it

He was quizzed as to why someone would eat a long roll from the middle.

His logical response was: 'you do if you're looking for the meat'.

Mr Shorten had headed to Strathfield North Public School polling station in Sydney for a traditional Election Day sausage sizzle on Saturday morning.

Some social media comments suggested sandwiches shouldn't be eaten from the side

'If Bill Shorten can't eat a sausage sanga properly how can he run the country,' one said

The betting market has the Coalition near certainties to be re-elected, though the polls are much tighter

Bill Shorten's eating technique sent social media into a frenzy on Election Day

'If Bill Shorten can't eat a sausage sanga properly how can he run the country,' one social media user said

The leader of the Opposition has been criticised on social media for his sausage eating technique, with some social media comments suggesting sandwiches shouldn't be eaten from the side.

'Shorten mainlining a sausage in bread from the side could be his downfall,' one said.

'If Bill Shorten can't eat a sausage sanga properly how can he run the country,' another added.

Earlier, the Leader of the Opposition was seen powering along Sydney's Darling Harbour for a pre-dawn run on Saturday morning.

Mr Shorten, 49, has reportedly shed up to 15 kilograms to be in shape for the 55-day campaign, the longest in more than 50 years.

Leader of the Opposition Bill Shorten and Labor candidate for Reid Angelo Tsirekas at Strathfield North Public School on Election Day
This is the tense moment a policeman smashes a car window to save the life of a sweltering puppy panting for its life inside.

Officer Anthony Giorgio, of the Pensacola Police Department in Florida, rescued the desperate puppy as outside temperatures hit a baking 94F.

Dramatic body-cam footage shows the cop shatter the front passenger seat window as the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel sounds like it is taking its final breaths.

This is the tense moment a policeman smashes a car window to save the life of a puppy panting for its life

Hero: Officer Anthony Giorgio is seen smashing the window on his body-cam to save the King Charles Spaniel

The Pensacola Police Department posted an image of the pooch to Facebook; it was rescued just in time

But the dog is rescued just in time and given water by startled onlookers who hand the officer bottles to help out.

The pup had reportedly been trapped for at least half an hour according to witnesses at the scene.

The heat index, how hot it really feels, was a whopping 108F.

Officer Giorgio said: 'I put my hand in the car and could feel that it was hotter inside the car than outside,' reports WKRG News.

'I called my sergeant and let him know what I had, and he instructed me to make entry and I broke the window with my police baton,' he added

The Pensacola Police Department posted an image of the puppy and the car window on Facebook.

The baby pup had reportedly been trapped for at least half an hour according to witnesses at the scene

Sweltering: The heat index, how hot it really feels, was a whopping 108F in the Escambia County car park

They wrote: 'Don't. Just don't. If you leave your dog in a hot car and that dog is suffering, we will do whatever we have to do to free him. Or her. Doesn't matter, we like both kinds of dogs.'

'We will drive your pooch to the caring folks at the Escambia County Animal Shelter and we will drop you off with the caring folks at the Escambia County Detention Facility.'

'You will both receive attention, food, and shelter, albeit different kinds. So, don't.'

The young pup is given water by startled onlookers who hand the officer bottles to help save its life

Officer Giorgio said it felt even hotter inside the car than it did outside when he broke his way into the vehicle

Dr. Mark Sprayberry, who treated the puppy, called Officer Anthony a 'hero'.

He said: 'Our police officers are our good friends, and they are here to help us, cause if he hadn't, that puppy probably would have died.'

The law in Florida states that if you see a trapped animal, before you break a window you have to make sure they are in distress.

The broken window: The law in Florida states that if you see a trapped animal, before you break a window you have to make sure they are in distress

Pensacola police wrote: 'Admittedly, it is a judgement call.

'If you did this, you would have to be able to articulate the facts that led you to believe the animal was suffering to be held not liable.'
A family of suspected Iranian migrants including three children have been arrested on suspicion of entering the UK illegally after being spotted travelling in the back of a lorry on the M25 in Kent.

The stowaways, believed to be two adults and three children all of the same family, were discovered hiding among stacked crates in the back of the lorry as it travelled near Dartford, Kent, on Saturday.

Dramatic pictures show the suspected immigrants crammed behind large dark green crates in the back of the large white vehicle, as it is stopped in a traffic jam on a section of the busy motorway.

The stowaways, believed to be two adults and three children all of the same family, were discovered hiding among stacked crates in the back of the lorry (pictured) as it travelled along the M25 near Dartford, Kent

The Home Office confirmed that all five were arrested after police were called to reports at 1.35pm.

A spokesman confirmed that the Iranian migrants had now been passed to immigration officers.

He said: 'Two adults and three children were arrested on suspicion of entering the UK illegally and passed to immigration officers for interview.

'The family group from Iran have made immigration applications and these will now be considered in line with immigration rules.'

The discovery is the most recent in a spate of groups of migrants and refugees being found hidden in the back of goods lorries.

Last week, a group of 12 migrants was rescued by an airport worker who heard banging from inside a refrigerated HGV parked at a service station.

And last month seventeen more migrants were detained in Kent after they were found in the back of a lorry - just 13 miles from where a boat full were rescued two days prior.

The Home Office confirmed that all five were arrested after police were called to reports at 1.35pm in Kent

Photographs show the suspected migrants crammed into the back of a lorry on the M25 near Dartford in Kent

The suspected illegal migrants entered Britain by 'clandestine' means, according to Kent Police, and contained a mixture of men and women from Sudan, Ethiopia and Eritrea.

The fourteen adults - aged between 22 and 46 years of age - were arrested on suspicion of entering the UK illegally.
A Labour MP has been threatened by racist thugs calling for him to be murdered like his colleague Jo Cox.

David Lammy, who represents Tottenham, has called in the police after he and his staff were bombarded with threats online and malicious phone calls.

The London-born former minister says he has received nearly 500 abusive Facebook messages, as well a huge number of threatening emails.

MP David Lammy has received a barrage of racist abuse and death threats since calling for a second referendum on the EU. Some of the messages called for him to be killed like tragic MP Jo Cox (right)

He posted some of the most vile threats which have been aimed at him on Facebook, with some referencing the murder of fellow MP Jo Cox, who was shot in West Yorkshire last month.

One of the messages posted by a Wayne Eldridge said: 'Another one that needs to be shot in the head!'

An email he received starts: 'I wish you the same fate as that b**** got stab [sic]', before making disgusting comments about his mother and children.

Mr Lammy said today: 'Over the past ten days I have received a barrage of abusive, racist and threatening messages. The police have asked me to report all of these incidents and I will continue to do so.

'My staff have also been abused whilst going about their work.'

After posting a defiant message on Facebook, he added: 'My message is clear. I'm not going anywhere. I will continue to stand up for my constituents and what I believe in.

'I was born here and I am very proud to be British, but the outpouring of hatred, xenophobia and racism unleashed in the wake of the EU referendum is not the Britain that I know.'

The MP posted on Facebook to show some of the most horrific of the hundreds of messages he has received

Mr Lammy says the hate messages increased after he wrote a piece for The Guardian newspaper calling for a second EU referendum.

The murder of Jo Cox as she arrived for a constituency 'surgery' meeting in Birstall on June 16 shocked the country and has raised fears about the security of politicians.

Her attack came a week after Conservative Gavin Barwell was threatened outside his constituency office in Croydon.

Following an investigation into an earlier incident, House of Commons authorities now offer members security briefings.

But some have said politicians are too open to attack as the location of their offices is public knowledge.

The UK has seen a 57 per cent rise in race-hate crime following the referendum decision to leave the EU.

BBC Radio Coventry and Warwickshire breakfast show host Trish Adudu was called a 'n*****' and told to 'go home' by a cyclist in Coventry shortly after the vote.

Muslim halal butchers, Kashmir Meat & Poultry butchers in Walsall, West Midlands, later told how thugs threw a petrol bomb into the shop.
The American ambassador to the United Arab Emirates has expressed regret over the violent arrest of an Emirati businessman who was detained in Ohio over terrorism fears after he entered a hotel dressed in traditional clothing.

Ahmed al-Menhali's treatment outside a hotel in Avon, Ohio, became front-page news in the Emirates, a key U.S. ally that is home to the commercial hub of Dubai, and prompted the federation's government to formally summon a U.S. diplomat for an explanation.

'The unfortunate incident that Mr. al-Menhali endured in the U.S. is deeply regrettable,' Ambassador Barbara Leaf said in a statement on Facebook early on Monday.

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Avon Police Chief Richard Bosley (right) and Mayor Bryan Jensen apologize to Ahmed al-Menhali, after he collapsed after an encounter with police in Avon, Ohio, who detained him over terrorism fears

'We were heartened to see that the city Mayor and Chief of Police met with Mr al-Menhali and apologized, saying no disrespect was intended and that it was regrettable that he was put in that position because of a false accusation.'

Her statement came after Avon Mayor Brian Jensen and Police Chief Richard Bosley met with al-Menhali on Saturday to apologize for the error.

Al-Menhali, 41, was detained at gunpoint on Wednesday while wearing a traditional white kandura, or ankle-length robe, and headscarf after a hotel clerk raised suspicions he could have links to the Islamic State.

A 911 caller identifying herself as the clerk's sister told police he had multiple disposable phones and was 'pledging his allegiance or something to ISIS,' according to audio of the call posted by Cleveland's WEWS-TV.

Police camera footage showed officers detaining and searching al-Menhali before determining he was not a threat.

Al-Menhali was asked to lie on the ground and drop his phone by police officers pointing weapons at him. He was then handcuffed and searched.

He collapsed moments after he was released and was briefly hospitalized.

Ahmed Al-Menhali's(above) treatment outside a hotel in Ohio became front-page news in the Emirates

Al-Menhali (pictured in hospital) said he didn't realize that police were targeting him and was shocked when they came at him, adding that he suffered several injuries during the arrest

Al-Menhali said he didn't realize that police were targeting him and initially thought he was witnessing a training exercise, according to The National, a government-owned daily in the Emirati capital of Abu Dhabi.

He had been in the U.S. since April for medical treatment after suffering a stroke, according to the paper, and was trying to check into Fairfield Inn and Suites in Avon.

The married father-of-three said he was shocked when they came at him, adding that he suffered several injuries during the arrest.

'They were brutal with me,' he told the paper.

'They pressed forcefully on my back. I had several injuries and bled from the forceful nature of their arrest, he added.

'I didn't think that they were there for me. I assumed that there was some sort of training exercise or event at the hotel but I was shocked to see them barge at me.'

The clerk 'went off and texted her sister and said I pledged my allegiance to ISIS, al-Menhali told Al Jazeera.

Al-Menhali, 41, was detained at gunpoint on Wednesday while wearing a traditional white kandura, or ankle-length robe, and headscarf after a hotel clerk raised suspicions he could have links to the Islamic State

In the footage of the arrest, al-Menhali was pressed to the ground and had handcuffs put on him before they realized he was not a threat and released him

The sister and her father then called 911, according to the network.

Al-Menhali also said he believed he may have suffered another stroke during the arrest.

He has hired a lawyer to pursue the case, telling Al Bayan that he had received no apology from either the police or the hotel.

Avon officials have since met with al-Menhali and offered their apologies.

Mayor Jensen said the Islamic State allegations were 'unfounded.'

Police Chief Richard Bosley told al-Menhali that 'no one from the police department [wanted] to disrespect you', according to WEWS-TV.

'That was not the intent of any of our officers. It is a very regrettable circumstance that occurred for you.

You should not have been put in that situation like you were.'

Jensen added: There were some false accusations made against you. And those are regrettable. I hope... the person that made those can maybe learn from those.'

Al-Menhali called his treatment at the hands of officers 'brutal.' Above, he is pictured after being released by officers who held him down on the ground

Al-Menhali, who has been in the United States since April for treatment after a stroke, said he believed he may have suffered another one during the arrest

Officials are still contemplating charges against the clerk who made the false accusations, WEWS-TV reported.

Leaf's statement came hours after the Emirates' Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation summoned the U.S. deputy chief of mission Ethan Goldrich in protest.

In a statement, the Ministry said Goldrich had apologized.

'The US Deputy Chief of Mission apologized for the incident and affirmed that the embassy will be in contact with the concerned authorities in the State of Ohio to clarify the matter,' it said.

'He emphasized that the United States respects the right of different nations to wear their national dress, adding that this incident was an exception which was totally unacceptable.'

The ministry's American affairs director, Rawda al-Otaiba, expressed concern over the way police treated al-Menhali and said he was defamed when policed released footage of the incident.

The Emirates has responded to the incident by warning its citizens to avoid wearing traditional garments when traveling abroad.

In a statement , the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it had summoned US Deputy Chief of Mission Ethan Goldrich (pictured) over the incident, and he apologized

On Saturday, a Foreign Ministry Twitter account focusing on citizens traveling abroad posted a message (pictured) in Arabic urging its citizens to stay safe by avoiding the traditional dress

On Saturday, a Foreign Ministry Twitter account which issues advice to traveling citizens posted a message in Arabic urging them to not wear traditional outfits in foreign countries to 'preserve their safety.'

The Foreign Ministry, in a message posted on its website in Arabic and English, also urged citizens to abide by the laws of countries they are visiting.

It alerted women to countries in Europe whose laws prohibit wearing of face covers, without referring to the incident in Avon.

The seven-state UAE federation is a member of the U.S.-led military alliance against the so-called Islamic State and hosts American military personnel and warplanes at a large air base outside Abu Dhabi.
The Kennedy clan gathered at their Hyannis Port compound on Cape Cod over the weekend for their annual Fourth of July festivities, and took some time to attack Donald Trump.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s daughter Kathleen, better known as Kick, posted a photo at 7pm on Saturday of a pinata of The Donald from a family party.

'It's yuge party!,' wrote Kick in the caption of the Instagram post, which also showed some of her family members milling about in the background.

She later deleted the Instagram post just before 11am on Monday, after 230 people liked the photo.

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Bashed: The Kennedy clam gathered at their family compound in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts over the weekend for their annual Fourth of July party with a Donald Trump pinata (above)

Dad and daughter: Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s daughter Kathleen (above in 2011), better known as Kick, posted the photo, with the caption: 'It's yuge party!'

Family digs: Robert Jr. and his siblings Joseph II, Kathleen and Rory have all publicly endorsed Hillary Clinton (Kennedy compound above)

The post was liked by a number of Kick's famous friends including Glenn Close, Hardball host Chris Matthews' son Thomas, model turned E! reality star Jessica Joffe, singer Santigold and publishing heiress Anne Hearst, who commented on the photo: 'Is that a pinata ? Very funny.'

Former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg's daughter Georgina also liked the post as did Jamie Johnson, who produced and directed the 2003 documentary Born Rich about children born into wealthy families.

Ivanka Trump was one of the stars of the documentary, as was Georgina.

Georgina, who said in 2015 that she would likely vote for Hillary Clinton, spoke about Trump in an interview earlier this year, saying: 'Ive learned to separate the politician from the man, because its something I always had to do with my father.'

She then added while speaking with W Magazine: 'Donald Trump and his family have always been very close [to me]. Im good friends with his kids. I was not looking forward to having to watch our fathers go against each other.'

Bloomberg had been looking at a third party run earlier this year but ditched the idea after Clinton began to pull ahead of rival Bernie Sanders in the polls, afraid that if he ran against Clinton and Trump it would end with the Republican nominee winning the race.

Georgina said she was relieved when she learned her father was no longer considering a run for the highest office in the land.

'I obviously think he would have been great at it, and I would have been very supportive of him entering it,' she explained.

'But as his daughter, I am very grateful he did not enter it just because Ive been through campaigns and the mud-slinging before on a much smaller level, and it was not something I was really looking forward to being involved with on a much larger level.

'When you watch the news, you cant sit there and think, "Wow Id love one of my parents to be involved in that fight."'

Burn: Jamie Johnson, who directed and produced the 2003 documentary Born Rich starring Ivanka Trump (pair above) and Georgina Bloomberg, liked the photo on Instagram

She's with her: Glenn Close, who performed as Hillary Clinton in a bit during this year's Tony Awards (above) also like the post, as did Chris Matthews' son Thomas (on right with his father in 2012)

Fan: Georgina Bloomberg (above with Ivanka Trump and her daughter Arabella) liked Kick's post on Instagram

Meanwhile, the lack of Trump love from America's most famed political family comes as no surprise, with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. supporting Clinton back in 2008 when she ran against Barack Obama in the Democratic primary.

He even came to her defense when she was attacked over comments she made about his late father, who was killed in California during his presidential campaign.

With Obama racking up victory after victory and being close to clinching the nomination in June 2008, Clinton was asked why she had not made the decision yet to drop out of the race.

She responded to this by saying: 'My husband did not wrap up the nomination in 1992 until he won the California primary somewhere in the middle of June, right? We all remember Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in June in California.'

That quote, given to the Argus Leader, shocked many from both parties and dealt what some believed was the final blow to her failed campaign.

Robert Kennedy Jr. however came to her defense, saying in a statement at the time: 'It is clear from the context that Hillary was invoking a familiar political circumstance to support her decision to stay in the race through June. I have heard her make this reference before, also citing her husband's 1992 race, both of which were hard-fought through June.'

He then added: 'I understand how highly charged the atmosphere is, but I think it is a mistake for people to take offense.'

Second thoughts: Kick (above) later deleted the Instagram post of the Trump pinata just before 11am on Monday

Family affair: The Kennedys posing at the compound during their Fourth of July party in 2015 (above)

John and Jackie: John F. Kennedy and wife Jackie at the compound in 1953 (above)

Robert Jr.'s brother Joseph II, a former member of the US House of Representatives from Massachusetts, and Joseph's son Joseph P. Kennedy III, a current member of the US House of representatives from Massachusetts, have publicly endorsed Clinton in the current race.

Other family members who have gone of the record as backing Clinton include Kathleen Hartington Kennedy Townsend (former Lieutenant Governor of Maryland and daughter of Robert) and Rory Kennedy (documentary filmmaker and daughter of Robert).

Some of the family's biggest names have yet to publicly endorse any candidate however, most notably Caroline Kennedy, the daughter of John and Jackie.

Both she and her now deceased uncle Ted Kennedy split with the family back in 2008 by backing Obama during the Democratic primary over Clinton.
A couple were found dead inside a Texas home just minutes after police received a mysterious 911 tip from inside the residence.

The deceased, both in their 50s, were found in The Woodlands at 3.19pm on Saturday with gunshot wounds in the head, police said.

Police believe the 911 call, which came from inside the home in the 100 block of North Mews Court at 3.11pm, was placed by the man before he committed the suspected murder-suicide, the Houston Chronicle reported.

The caller told the dispatcher they would find two people dead inside the home and then hung up, KHOU.com reported.

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A man and a woman were found dead inside a Texas home just minutes after police received a mysterious 911 tip from inside the residence. The property in The Woodlands is seen taped off above, as police investigate

Police believe the call was made by the man before he committed the suspected murder-suicide. Pictured above, officers at the scene investigate

Police arrived on the scene minutes later to find a man and woman had both been shot in the head in a bedroom near the back of the house.

According to Lieutenant Dan Zientek of the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office, the man placed the call prior to the killings in a suspected murder suicide, Woodlands Online reported.

'It's believed the person who fired called 911,' Lt. Zientek said.

Investigators believe it was a murder suicide but they are awaiting results from an autopsy. An investigation is ongoing and the identities of the two have not been released.

Just two hours earlier, also in Texas, a boyfriend is believed to have killed his girlfriend at a home in Fresno.

The Fort Bend County Sheriff's Office said the incident happened about 1.30pm Saturday in the 1800 block of Purple Cherry Lane.

FBCSO spokesman Bob Haenel said the couple was reportedly breaking up, and the woman had expected her boyfriend to come to the house to collect his belongings.

The identities of the duo have not yet been released.

Investigators believe it was a murder suicide but they are awaiting results from an autopsy. Pictured above cops at the scene in The Woodlands

The bodies in the Woodlands murder were found in a 3,298-square-foot home with an estimated value of about $700,000 according to numerous property websites.

Investigators arrived on the scene to find a Mercedes-Benz SUV with a temporary licence plate expiring on August 7, 2016, still parked in the driveway.

The Woodlands was named one of the 16 cities in America where 50 percent of households earn more than $100,000 a year in a 2013 study reported by the Huffington Post.
Workers at the iconic Aga Rangemaster factory have been threatened with the sack after a spate of racist incidents following the Brexit vote.

Bosses were forced to send a letter to all staff members following a number of incidents where 'unacceptable remarks' were made to Eastern European workers.

The firm is based in upmarket Royal Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, which voted against Brexit with 58.8 per cent of people voting Remain.

But staff have since been warned they could be sacked if there are any further comments made to foreign workers.

Workers at the iconic Aga Rangemaster factory have been threatened with the sack after a spate of racist incidents following the Brexit vote. Bosses were forced to send this letter to all staff members following a number of incidents where 'unacceptable remarks' were made to Eastern European workers

AGA Rangemaster's stoves are seen as an icon of British country life with the company manufacturing stoves in Warwickshire since 1830. The firm is based in upmarket Royal Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, which voted against Brexit with 58.8 per cent of people voting Remain

The notice, which was sent to all workers, states: 'Following the referendum vote it has come to the company's attention that a small number of disparaging and inappropriate comments have been made to our employees from outside of the UK.

'Any further instances of this behaviour will result in disciplinary action up to, and including, dismissal.

'If an employee feels they have been subjected to any unfair treatment or negative behaviour they should inform their manager immediately.

'Any person - be they an employee, a contractor, visitor or on a temporary contract - should be treated with respect and courtesy.'

The letter was leaked by an anonymous employee and it is not known how many incidents have been reported at the site since the Brexit vote on June 23.

But one worker said: 'Tensions have been noticeably higher since the decision to vote leave.

'I saw that Leamington voted to remain but there must be some people working here who were happy with the out result.

'I think a lot of people see it as their opportunity to tell workers from Eastern European backgrounds what they really think.

THE LETTER IN FULL Following the referendum vote on Thursday last week it has come to the company's attention that a small number of disparaging and inappropriate comments have been made to our employees who have joined the company from countries outside of the UK. Any further instances of this behaviour will result in disciplinary action up to and including dismissal. If an employee feels they have been subjected to any unfair treatment or negative behaviour they should inform their manager immediately. Any person be they an employee, a contractor, visitor, or on a temporary contract should be treated with respect and courtesy. Advertisement

'There hasn't been any major incidents but I've heard comments like "go home" said during arguments.

'I don't remember any incidents before the referendum, it is a shame that racism is creeping back into the workplace. I'd hoped we'd seen the last of that sort of nonsense.'

Yesterday, a spokesperson for AGA said: 'We are really proud that our company has a truly diverse workforce and a team of people of all nationalities who work happily side-by-side across all our UK operations.

'Over the past few days there have been a couple of isolated incidents where unacceptable remarks have been made to a few of our colleagues who are from Eastern Europe.

'This has never happened before so we wanted to immediately make it clear that this sort of behaviour will not be tolerated and therefore have put up the notice.'

The warning was pinned up on a notice board at the factory after 'a couple of remarks were made by two employees'

AGA Rangemaster's stoves are seen as an icon of British country life with the company manufacturing stoves in Warwickshire since 1830.

They become such a symbol of middle England that novels written around life in the countryside have become known as 'Aga sagas'.

But sales of the cookers, which typically cost around 2,500, suffered after the financial crisis and the Leamington Spa based firm was forced to lay off 750 workers last year.

The company was snapped up by the American-based Middleby Corporation - a global leader in the foodservice equipment industry - for 129.2million last September.

Despite its recent woes, AGA hauls in revenues of more than 260million and produces around 65,000 ovens each year.

Celebrity fans include chefs Jamie Oliver and Marco Pierre White, while Mary Berry said owning one is like 'joining the best club in the country, when you meet another owner it is like discovering an instant friend.'
A Fox Business producer is seen grinning at a charity event just a week before she was arrested for cocaine possession, and dragged into a court looking dazed and glum.

Katie Welnhofer, 30, was one of 18 highly-educated, white collar New Yorkers indicted in a drugs bust last week.

The Northwestern graduate was allegedly caught up in an undercover operation by the NYPD and has been accused of having cocaine delivered to her Chelsea apartment at least twice by a livery cab service.

Seven days before she was taken into custody, on Wednesday June 22, she mingled with colleagues at a Building Homes For Heroes event to honor Fox News host Sean Hannity.

She was pictured at a table with Greg Kelly, the host of Fox's Good Day New York and the son of former NYPD commissioner Ray Kelly.

Fox Buisiness producer Katie Welnhofer (left) is seen smiling with colleagues at a dinner in New York to honor Sean Hannity, just a week before she was arrested for allegedly being part of a cocaine ring. Greg Kelly, the host of Fox's Good Day New York and the son of former NYPD commissioner Ray Kelly, is pictured far right

On Thursday the Northwestern graduate was paraded through court in handcuffs and a jumpsuit as she was charged with cocaine possession

Guests enjoyed a lavish meal at New York's Battery Park restaurant.

Fox and Friends co-host Anna Koiman shared the picture of her table on Sunday afternoon, four days after Welnhofer was connected to the cocaine ring.

The group of high-flyers were paraded through a New York court on Thursday and Friday following their arrests.

Welnhofer was led into court wide-eyed and wearing a jumpsuit, a day before her 30th birthday.

Judge Edward McLaughlin described the alleged buyers as 'ne'er-do-wells'.

Chipotle's Chief Marketing Officer, a Merrill Lynch banker and a real estate associate where among those collared alongside Welnhofer.

The 30-year-old looked dazed as she listened to Judge Edward McLaughlin slam her for her part in the alleged criminal enterprise

She then left the court in handcuffs and was led back to the cells. She was behind bars for her 30th birthday

Seven days before she was taken into custody, on Wednesday June 22, she mingled with colleagues at a Building Homes For Heroes event to honor Fox News host Sean Hannity (file picture)

Cops started wire-tapping a network of alleged dealers to the elite when they found details of who had dealt drugs to a Wall Street banker who leaped to his death from the roof his apartment building last year.

Those charged as buyers are:

Thomas Michaelsen, 36, Director of marketing, Blackheath Beverage Group. Educated at New York University and Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, New York.

Kenneth Martinez, 31. A former server at Wassail, a 'vegetable-focused' restaurant in the Lower East Side, he is alleged to have repeatedly bought cocaine and had it delivered to his work place.

Katie Welnhofer, 29, works on Mornings with Maria on Fox Business. She was raised in Wilmette, Illinois and is a graduate of Northwestern. It is her 30th birthday on Friday.

Mark Crumpacker, 53, is Chief Creative and Development Officer at Chipotle. He leads the company's real estate, design, construction, and facilities functions worldwide.

Austin Dodson, 24, attended Dickinson College where he played Lacrosse

Christopher Dodson, 28, He is a client associate at Merrill Lynch

Christian Jewett, 31, CNA Insurance underwriting consultant . He previously lived in the East Village and on Wall Street. He attended Wake Forest University and St John's Prep School, a private Catholic school in Danvers, Massachusetts.

Roman Yoffe, 36, of Battery Park is a tax accountant running his own company RVY Accounting Services. He is married to a lawyer who is pregnant with their child. According to their 2008 New York Times engagement announcement Yoffe's parents live in Stratford, Ontario.

Alexander Mallory, 31, lives in Greenwich Village and attended Williams University. He is founder and educational director Competitive Edge Tutoring

Kyle Holmes, 27, lives in Astoria, Queens. He is a Senior Associate at Marwood Group - a healthcare focused financial services firm.

They were all charged with the criminal possession of a controlled substance in the seventh degree, according to court documents seen by Daily Mail Online.

The judge made most of them post bail. When Welnhofer asked through defense attorney Gary Koos to be freed without any money being involved, McLaughlin rejected it, the New York Post reported.

'I think maybe its just for persnicketiness on my part, I think someone who is either a user or addicted is inherently unreliable, so I am not sanguine about the prospects of you remembering your court appearance,' he said. She was told she could only be freed on $15,000 bond or $4,250 cash payment.

According to her Facebook profile, Welnhofer is from Wilmette, Illinois. Before joining Fox Business, where she produces for 'Money Honey' Maria Bartiromo, she worked for One World Sports

She has been accused of having cocaine delivered to her apartment on at least two occasions

Judge McLaughlin also told Dodson, who is alleged to have purchased more than $7,600 in cocaine that he had 'so much money, I'm sure he'll be able to post', setting bond at $30,000 or cash alternative at $7,500.

Eight of the alleged customers are still to be named as they have yet to be arraigned.

They include a woman who ordered $1,400 of 'white' to be delivered to her hotel by Hernandez, the indictment says.

Another customer who has still to be named requested 'killer stuff' and bought it from Hernandez on Lexington Avenue at East 58th Street.

A week later the same customer bought cocaine after Hernandez said 'I got it like you want it today', the indictment alleges.

It followed a year-long investigation into a massive drug ring that sold $75,000 worth of cocaine and operated from the Lower East Side.

She is seen here in a bikini on a selfie taken inside a dressing room

Three kingpins Kenny 'Jay' Hernandez, Felix Nunez and Oscar Almonte were also arrested.

They allegedly used livery services to deliver cocaine to customers throughout Manhattan.

The probe is believed to have begun after investment banker Thomas Hughes jumped to his death from his 24th floor luxury apartment in May last year.

Reports suggest police found the number of his dealer on his cell phone when they searched his home.

Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance said: 'Drug dealers profit by sowing seeds of addiction that destroy lives, families, and communities.

'We are dedicated to stemming both the supply and demand for dangerous narcotics, and the crime that accompanies the market for illegal drugs.'

'I thank my Office's prosecutors and our partners at the NYPD, and in particular, the undercover detectives who put their lives at risk to protect our City's residents,' said Police Commissioner William J. Bratton.

Kenny Herndandez, the alleged leader of the cocaine ring, walks into court to face the judge

'This narcotics operation was organized and discreet, but it could not withstand the precision of this long-term investigation'.

'Selling cocaine in a variety of bars and clubs throughout Manhattan, the ringleader also allegedly sold to NYPD undercovers on more than a dozen instances.

'I commend the brave work of all the investigators who built this case, along with the Violent Criminal Enterprises Unit at District Attorney Vance's Office.'

From June 2015, they were allegedly obtaining, transporting, processing, packaging, selling, and delivering large quantities of powder cocaine to customers throughout Manhattan, the indictment reads.

Hernandez oversaw the ring and personally conducted the vast majority of the sales, including eleven separate sales to undercover detectives.

As detailed in the indictment, members of the ring allegedly used car services to deliver the drugs to buyers, including to delis, restaurants, bars, apartments, hotels, and the buyers workplaces.

Christopher Dodson, a client associate for Merrill Lynch, was one of those collared in the operation

The defendants delivered to locations across Manhattan, including the Lower East Side, the Upper East Side, Chelsea, the Financial District, and Midtown, as well as areas of Brooklyn and Queens. Many of the sales took place in delis or Duane Reade and CVS pharmacies.

Customers generally paid between $200 and $300 per transaction.

Welnhofer and the Dodsons were arraigned in Manhattan Criminal Court on Thursday morning.

According to the indictment, Welnhofer made two purchases of cocaine - one in March and one in May - to an address on West 25th Street.

The producer was led into the court in a jumpsuit with handcuffs and with her hair pulled back. She was held on $15,000 bail.

According to her Facebook profile, Welnhofer is from Wilmette, Illinois. Before joining Fox Business, where she produces for 'Money Honey' Maria Bartiromo, she worked for One World Sports.

The Northwestern University graduate has also been a producer of Good Morning America and had stints at Inside Edition and CNBC.

In November 2014, she attended Eric Trump and Lara Yunaska's lavish wedding.
Police are investigating after two young British holidaymakers were allegedly raped by two men in a street in the South of France.

The women, a teenager aged just 16 and her friend, aged 20, had gone to the beach in Nice in the early hours of Saturday morning when they met the men, who offered to go for a drink with them.

But instead of taking them to a bar, they led them to a quiet area near the station where they were allegedly dragged into a corner and assaulted.

The women, a teenager aged just 16 and her friend, aged 20, had gone to the beach in Nice in the early hours of Saturday morning when they met the men, who offered to take them for a drink

According to Nice Matin, the girls - who were staying in a hotel in the city centre - reported the incident to police, who immediately launched a hunt for the men, said to be about 20.

It is thought the men were local to the area, and had offered to take them to a bar.

Police launched a hunt, and arrested two men, neither of whom have been charged with the crime.

However, one was charged with a different offence after becoming aggressive towards the officers.

Police have confirmed they are continuing to search for the alleged assailants.

The French Riviera city had been one of the hosts of Euro2016, with English fans descending on the city for the match against Iceland which saw them kicked out of the competition.
Military buffs with a spare $85,000 in their back pocket can now buy their very own British tank.

The tank is listed on trading website Gumtree and boasts a hulking 105mm rotating gun and a grunty 240hp diesel engine.

It comes complete with British Army insignia, camouflage markings and an Anzac poppy pinned to the front.

A British Army tank has been listed on online trading website Gumtree for $85,000

The tank comes complete with British Army insignia, camouflage markings and an Anzac poppy pinned to the front

The tank is an Abbott 433 model that was built for the British Army in 1965.

It was imported to Australia and the Gumtree listing describes it as being in very good condition.

The tanks 105mm rotating gun has been deactivated to meet Australian regulations.

The Abbott was a trusty workhorse used by the British Army for thirty years until it was decommissioned in the mid-1990s.

It was designed as an amphibious vehicle which could navigate bodies of water as well as rocky terrain.

It is still used by some regiments in the Indian Army.

The tank is being sold by Geoffrey Bloor, a resident of the Western Australian city of Mandurah.

It was listed on February 15 and has been viewed more than 5,000 times since it went online.

The listing for the vehicle states: Only genuine enquiries please.

No track kickers.

The tank has a mammoth 105mm rotating gun and can be snapped up for $85,000 in the city of Mandurah, Western Australia
Vast majority of US adults are at least moderately proud to be Americans

Sharpest decrease comes in young adults who went from 60 to 34 per cent

Patriotism peaked in 2003 following 9/11 but has declined ever since

The proportion of Americans who are 'extremely proud' of their motherland has hit its lowest point in 16 years.

Only 52 per cent now say they fall into that category, according to a Gallup poll unveiled this Fourth Of July weekend.

Patriotism peaked in 2003 due to the rally effect that followed 9/11 but has decreased ever since - and this year marks a new low in a 16-year trend.

The sharpest decline came in young adults, with only a third of them joining the extremely proud group.

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Patriotism peaked in 2003 due to the rally effect that followed 9/11 but has decreased ever since - and this year marks a new low in a 16-year trend, as shown in this Gallup graph

Gallup asked 1,025 adults across all 50 States as well as the District Of Columbia if they were extremely proud, very proud, moderately proud, only a little proud or not at all proud to be Americans.

Out of these 1,025 adults, 52 per cent said they were extremely proud - an 18-point drop since patriotism peaked at 70 per cent in 2003.

This decline comes after seven years of relative stability from 2006 to 2013, a period that saw the Great Recession and Barack Obama's election and first term as president.

About 57 per cent of US adults said they were extremely proud to be Americans during that time.

Gallup asked 1,025 adults if they were extremely, very, moderately, only a little or not at all proud to be Americans. Pictured, the proportion of people who said they were extremely proud in each subgroup

But the proportion of extremely proud Americans has declined over the past three years, hitting 54 per cent last year.

This could be related to American's increasing dissatisfaction with what is happening inside their country, Gallup noted.

In January 2003, 55 per cent of Americans were satisfied with the way things were going in the US - and 69 per cent of them were extremely proud of their country.

But that was the last time that a majority of Americans were satisfied with the state of current affairs according to Gallup.

That proportion has remained mostly below 30 per cent since 2007 and hit 29 per cent in Gallup's most recent update.

In June 2016, 29 per cent of US adults said they were very proud to be Americans and 13 per cent declared themselves moderately proud.

Only five per cent said they were only a little proud and one per cent were not at all proud.

Americans of all ages and backgrounds have experienced a decline in patriotism since 2003, but the sharpest decline came in young adults between 18 and 29 years old.

In 2003, 60 per cent of young adults said they were extremely proud to be Americans - a feeling shared by only 34 per cent of them now.

Today's young adults are also one of the few subgroups that are significantly less likely to be patriotic than before 9/11, according to Gallup.

Back then, 51 per cent of them fell in the extremely proud category. Since none of today's 18 to 29-year-olds were in that age group at the time, this could mean millennials are less patriotic than young adults in previous generations.

Meanwhile political liberals are also one of the least patriotic subgroups nowadays, with 36 per cent of them declaring themselves extremely proud to be Americans - compared to 53 per cent for moderates and 61 per cent for conservatives.

On the other hand, Republicans, conservatives and people between 50 to 64 years old display the most patriotic sentiment, with 68 per cent, 61 per cent and 64 per cent of them respectively saying they are extremely proud of their country.

It is unclear how the current presidential campaign will affect patriotism, Gallup said.

But, the company noted, millennials' increasing reluctance to call themselves extremely proud to be Americans could signal of further declines in patriotism in future years and decades.
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The call came in late May, just weeks before Ramadan began: ISIS told supporters to make the Holy period 'with Gods permission, a month of pain for infidels everywhere'.

That call has turned what should have been four weeks of peace and charitable giving into a bloodbath which has spread from Florida to the Philippines, leaving more than 800 dead at the hands of Islamic State's supporters across the globe.

Extremists have killed people as they sat with friends in a cafe in Bangladesh, executed Syrian families for trying to flee their clutches and stabbed a policeman to death in France.

In the first four weeks, almost 30 people a day died at the hands of an ISIS extremist - including many children, and the vast majority fellow, peaceful Muslims who do not agree with the group's twisted mentality.

In the last four weeks, hundreds of people have lost their lives at the hands of ISIS extremists - from Orlando, in Florida, to the Philippines and Bangladesh - and that is only the ones which have been reported

Iraqi firefighters and civilians evacuate bodies of victims killed after a car bomb went off in Baghdad, Iraq, on Sunday, killing at least 149 people - including children. It was the latest in a series of attacks by ISIS supporters

This was ISIS' worst attack during Ramadan, a period in which the group have killed almost 30 people a day after the terror group's spokesman encouraged their followers to turn it into a 'month of pain for infidels'

That call has spread around the world, with ISIS jihadis striking a cafe in Bangladesh on Friday, killing 22 people, including aid workers and holidaymakers during a terrifying hostage siege

People help an unidentified injured person after a group of gunmen attacked a restaurant popular with foreigners in a diplomatic zone of the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka

According to the New York Times, ISIS' spokesman told followers to 'make it, with Gods permission, a month of pain for infidels everywhere' at the end of May.

Fawaz A. Gerges, of the London School of Economics, told the paper: 'There is no doubt in my mind that Al-Qaeda, its various affiliates and now ISIS use Ramadan as a watershed, as a marker to inspire and motivate their followers and supporters worldwide.'

On the first day of Ramadan, it was reported the terrorists executed 65 people - among them university students - at dawn in Mosul, Iraq.

And the killing continued, spreading from the Middle East throughout the world.

It reached America on June 12, when 49 clubbers lost their lives after Omar Mateen opened fire in Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, which had been packed with friends enjoying their Saturday night.

The next day, policeman Jean-Baptiste Salvaing and his wife Jessica Schneider were killed in another 'lone wolf' attack, just outside Paris.

Then, last Tuesday, three suicide bombers stormed Ataturk Airport in Istanbul, shooting at anyone who got in their way, before blowing themselves up.

So far, 44 people have died, with 17 more fighting for their lives in intensive care.

Three days later, a gang of militants pledging allegiance to ISIS burst into a cafe in Dhaka, Bangladesh. According to reports, they killed anyone who could not recite the Koran - including a pregnant woman.

The attack came three days after three suicide bombers (one pictured left) - believed to be ISIS-affiliated - struk at Turkey's Ataturk Airport. Pictured: A man carries a wounded boy away from the airport (right)

So far, 44 people have died - not including the three attackers - with 17 more still fighting for their lives

More than two weeks earlier, on June 12, Omar Mateen went on a rampage at Pulse nightclub (pictured) in Orlando, Flordia. Mateen told hostage negotiators he was carrying out the attacks in the name of ISIS

A total of 49 innocent people lost their lives in the attack, which he said was retaliation for US bombing ISIS

Twenty-two people died - including a Muslim graduate who refused to leave his friends behind to die alone.

But the country which has suffered the most is Iraq, where ISIS militants are desperate to hold onto what territory they can after making huge losses to the army.

Baghdad was rocked by several suicide bombings, the extremists targeting fellow Muslims during the Holy Month.

The worst came on Sunday, just days before Ramadan comes to an end. More than 150 were killed - with that figure still rising - when they hit a busy shopping centre.

Children and adults alike burnt alive as fire engulfed the buildings.

Executions have also continued throughout Ramadan. This man was accused of 'mocking Islam', according to ISIS, who was killed in a square in the extremists' stronghold of Raqqa, in Syria

ISIS once again used children to execute their enemies. A video of young boys killing captured members of the Taliban in Afghanistan emerged last week

This man was accused of 'pledging allegiance to the infidels', and was killed in Syria by ISIS

In neighboring Syria, at least 20 worshipers at a Shia shrine in Damascus were killed on June 11, while for those living under ISIS rule life was just as blood-thirsty.

People were executed throughout the month for crimes such as sorcery, mocking Islam or simply being a journalist.

The Syrian Observatory of Human Rights claims the real death toll for Ramadan is much higher in fact, with people being crucified every day for breaking fast, according to Newsweek.

Families trying to flee the crazed group have also been executed en masse.
Police have confirmed that Chris Evans (pictured leaving BBC Radio 2 this morning) is being investigated over allegations he sexually assaulted a woman in the 1990s

Police have confirmed that Chris Evans is being investigated over allegations he sexually assaulted a woman in the 1990s.

In a statement today the Metropolitan Police confirmed that a woman had made an allegation of 'non-recent sexual assault, said to have taken place in the Tower Hamlets area of London in the 1990s.

It has previously been reported that Evans, 50, is to be questioned in the next few days after a former colleague complained about him.

'An allegation of non-recent sexual assault was made to police on May 23,' a police spokesman told MailOnline.

'The allegation was made by a woman against a man, and relates to incidents in Tower Hamlets in the 1990s.

'There have been no arrests and no person has been interviewed under caution.'

Between 1992 and 1994, Evans hosted Channel 4 morning show The Big Breakfast, which was broadcast at a house in Bow - located within Tower Hamlets.

Sources told The Sun that the Radio 2 presenter will be spoken to 'in the near future' by officers investigating the complaint made by a former colleague.

The claims come just two months after he was accused of grabbing a colleague's breasts and 'flashing her almost every day for two years'.

The woman said she worked with Evans in the 1990s and she was 'bullied' by him after rejecting his advances, with her complaints falling on deaf ears.

But Evans has hit out at what he has called a 'witch hunt' around him that has had a 'devastating' effect on his family.

Speaking anonymously in May, the woman said she was 'sent to Coventry' after spurning the Radio 2 DJ's advances and that he 'told colleagues not to talk to her'.

The former colleague said she was speaking out to prevent others becoming victims of his 'bullying behaviour'.

She said she sought legal advice over her claims several years ago, particularly around the 'flashing', which she said was a tactic to 'punish those who didn't do what he wanted'.

It comes after several of the presenter's former colleagues took to social media also accusing him of bullying.

The woman said she was 'not surprised' to hear those allegations and said she was eventually prescribed anti-depressants after becoming 'burnt-out' and 'traumatised by Evans', who she claimed 'knew he could get away with it'.

The new series of programme, which Evans took over after Jeremy Clarkson was fired when he punched one of the show's producers, has been plagued with controversy ever since filming got under way

Evans leaving the BBC this morning. The claims come just two months after he was accused of grabbing a colleague's breasts and 'flashing her almost every day for two years'

She added she was 'gobsmacked and appalled' Evans got the Top Gear job with the BBC and called for him to be investigated over all recent claims made against him.

But the star himself has called the allegations 'ridiculous' and has denied ever being a bully.

In May, speaking ahead of the Top Gear relaunch, he told the Daily Mail: 'Yes, I lose my rag. But not like I used to. I used to be a big shouter and screamer. But I don't bully people. And I didn't get my willy out. I wouldn't be showing it off like a megalomaniac  I wish I had reason to.'

He also told the Sunday Mirror: 'All these bullying claims and other allegations are just ridiculous.'

He described how he and wife Natasha and their two young children Noah, seven, and Eli, four, live a 'normal life' in a small area and said the accusations amounted to a 'witch-hunt'.

Evans has previously been accused of bullying colleagues when he worked on The Big Breakfast in the 1990s.

His former radio sidekick John Revell claimed he was 'out of control' and that BBC bosses were too scared to stand up to him.

Evans rejected these ideas, saying: 'I'm not a bully. But of course if you sling enough mud, some will stick to the wall.

'Is it hurtful to see your wife - or your children - upset? Of course it is.'

Mark Linsey, Director of BBC Studios and Bob Shennan, Controller of Radio 2, have also denied claims that Evans had a 'volatile' working behaviour.

He said: 'The assertion that Chris Evans' behaviour at Radio 2 since beginning work at Top Gear has been in any way below BBC acceptable levels is completely untrue.'

Mr Linsey added: 'Since taking on Top Gear alongside his Radio 2 breakfast show, Chris has displayed even greater commitment and professionalism.

'He remains a team player, a huge asset to the BBC and continues to show outstanding leadership in all he does on radio, television or for Children in Need.'
Sparks flew and a hubcap rolled off before they escaped into bushland

Three teenagers tried to evade police after driving over road spikes

Dramatic footage captures the moment sparks fly from a stolen car and a hubcap rolls off as it is being followed by a police helicopter.

The stolen Holden Captiva was caught speeding at 180 kilometres an hour in a 100 zone on Friday night on video footage obtained by 7News.

Images from the Queensland police helicopter show the car continue to speed through road spikes, causing sparks to fly from the car and a hubcap to roll across the road.

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Three teenagers drive 80km/h over the speed limit despite driving over road spikes, causing sparks to fly

A short distance later, a hubcap is seen rolling off the car across the road

Police chose not to pursue the teenagers on the ground due to safety concerns, but monitored the situation from the sky.

About 11pm, Queensland police officers told their NSW counterparts that the car was approaching the border.

They tried to chase the car but when the Captiva drove on to the wrong side of the Pacific Highway officers were forced to stop chasing.

Eventually, the car stopped on Tamarind Drive at Ballina, and the three teenagers abandoned the vehicle and hid in bushland, where they were found by police with the help of infrared technology in the POLAIR helicopter.

A 15-year-old boy was charged with police pursuit  not stop drive dangerously, drive manner dangerous, drive conveyance without consent of owner, driver never licensed and receive property stolen outside NSW.

Two girls, aged 16 and 18 were charged with being carried in conveyance.

All were refused bail. The 15-year-old boy and 16-year-old girl have appeared at a Children's Court and the 18-year-old appeared at Ballina Bail Court on Saturday.

The car continued to speed away from police, and at one stage began to drive the wrong way on the Pacific Highway
A police murderer is on the run after escaping a pre-release detention centre in South Australia.

Police are searching for Gordon Marshall, 48, after he failed to return to the Adelaide Pre-Release Centre at Northfield after day leave.

Marshall was sentenced to life in prison with a non-parole period of 12 years after shooting dead Constable Lyncon Williams in the northern Adelaide suburb Blair Athol, in August 1985.

Police are searching for Gordon Marshall (pictured), 48, after he failed to return to the Adelaide Pre-Release Centre at Northfield after day leave

A South Australia Police spokesperson said Marshall was being kept in the low-security prison and was on day leave on Monday when he was due to return to the centre on Grand Junction Road at 6.30pm.

But upon returning this evening he ran from staff.

Marshall was 17 when he shot Constable Williams in the chest on August 29, 1985, according to the Adelaide Advertiser.

The officer had reportedly been called to a street in Blair Athol to reports of a man shooting at homes with a rifle.

A South Australia Police spokesperson said Marshall was being kept in the Adelaide Pre-Release Centre (pictured) and was on day leave on Monday when he was due to return to the centre

Constable Williams had been due to be married before he was killed.

Marshall, who has partial brain damage, has escaped from detention twice before, once in 1986 and again in 1995, which saw his sentence extended.

Marshall is described as Caucasian, 165cm tall, 80kg with blonde/brown hair. He was wearing a hi-vis jacket, jeans and sandshoes.
A Latina Donald Trump supporter has said she agrees with his comments that 'Mexicans are rapists' as she campaigns for the controversial presidential candidate on the south Texas border.

As a 24-year-old Latina and daughter of an undocumented Mexican immigrant, Miriam Cepeda may not be your typical Trump supporter.

But that has not stopped the self confessed 'Trump girl' from throwing her support behind the Republican and she campaigns for the candidate just a few miles away from where the billionaire plans to build his giant wall on the border.

Cepeda has even defended The Donald's most outrageous claims that Mexican immigrants are 'rapists and drug dealers', during an interview with CNN.

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Miriam Cepeda, a Donald Trump supporter, has said she agrees with his comments that 'Mexicans are rapists' as she campaigns for the controversial presidential candidate on the south Texas border

'It's the truth,' she told the network. 'If you look at his comments, he's the only candidate that's been upfront with what's happening in the world.

'I first hand have seen  friends that are getting involved with illegal activity that's associated with drugs or human trafficking. It's an issue that people need to realize is reality.'

The real estate mogul's controversial outburst have left him trailing Democratic candidate rival Hillary Clinton in the Latino vote, with just 22 per cent compared to her 69 per cent. Clinton is also leading over Trump among female voters, with 52 per cent to is 35.

It means it's a tough job for Cepeda who spends her free time campaigning near her home in Texas' Hidalgo County - where 90 per cent of the population are Hispanic or Latino.

'I get shot down maybe four (out of) five times,' said the 24-year-old, who admitted her Trump signs are often swiftly destroyed and vandalized. 'But at the same time, it just takes one positive feedback to keep you going.'

The self confessed 'Trump girl' (pictured) campaigns for the candidate just a few miles away from where the billionaire plans to build his giant wall on the border

The history student at University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley, recently threw a 'Pachanga 4 Trump' party at the local Republican Party office for around 80 supporters (pictured)

While Cepeda does not formally work with Trump's campaign, she said she began campaigning for him earlier this year and even met her hero at San Antonio fundraiser on June 17.

The history student at University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley, recently threw a 'Pachanga 4 Trump' party at the local Republican Party office for around 80 supporters.

She is even hoping to become a paid staffer for the campaign.

'He's right about everything he says,' she said of her strong support for Trump. 'If we don't have a strong border, we don't have a nation,' she said.

Cepeda is also a big fan of his daughter Ivanka who she described as being a perfect role model for women juggling a career and a family.

While the ambitious supporter continues to campaign for the Republican candidate, Trump has done little to help boost his own ratings among the Latino and Hispanic voters.

The real estate billionaire, who kicked off his campaign for president by announcing he was planning to build a giant wall on the border with Mexico, recently doubled-down on his claims that Mexican immigrants were 'rapists,' 'killers' and 'drug dealers.'

While the ambitious supporter continues to campaign for the Republican candidate, Trump has done little to help boost his own ratings among the Latino and Hispanic voters (pictured near the US-Mexico border on July 23)

Emollient: Trump appeared to give ground in this tweet but quickly went back to his original position and doubled down on CNN on Saturday

Appearing on CNN on Saturday, the Republican businessman-turned-politician exploded at the media and retail companies that have cut ties with him over the claim, which he trumpeted during his presidential campaign announcement speech last year.

'They're bringing drugs, they're bringing crime, they're rapists,' he said then. 'And some I assume are good people, but I speak to border guards and they tell us what we are getting.'

He added: 'All I'm doing is telling the truth!'

Trump has continued to defend his point of view, citing statistics but not putting a human face on the victims of what he sees as an illegal-immigrant-generated crime wave.

He said on CNN that it was Univision's digital platform, Fusion, which first reported on an epidemic of women being raped in the process of sneaking across the U.S-Mexico border.

'Well, if you look at the statistics of people coming, you look at the statistics on rape, on crime, on everything coming in illegally into this country, it's mind-boggling!' Trump said.

'It's unbelievable when you look at what's going on. So all I'm doing is telling the truth.'

While many Hispanic voters were furious over Trump's claims, he has found support among some who agree with his foreign policy.

Cepeda insists that a strong border is essential for the United States' future, while many at her mixer agreed he was the only candidate suitable to fix the issues at the border.
The father of terrorist Omar Mateen won't let his son's June 12 killing of 49 people in an Orlando nightclub spoil a good Fourth of July!

Seddique Mateen, to whom Omar was born in New York in 1986, told the Daily Mail Online he considers Independence Day 'a day of pride' that he'll celebrate Monday  just as he has celebrated the annual holiday since arriving in the United States from Afghanistan in 1980.

Here wearing red, white and blue, Seddique Mateen told the Daily Mail Online he considers Independence Day 'a day of pride'

On tap today for the family of the killer whoperpetrated American history's bloodiest mass killing in retaliation for U.S. bombings in Afghanistan: A backyard barbecue, according to Omar's dad.

'It's our decision what to do (on the Fouth of July),' the elder Mateen said as he stood in the doorway of his posh home in Port St. Lucie, Florida. 'It's our pride day.

'We'll put up the flags around the yard and celebrate the Fourth of July. We're going to have a barbecue and we're going to enjoy ourselves.'

Already, Mateen had a small U.S. flag planted in a flower bed over the weekend, and another hand-held Old Glory laid on the dashboard of the aging Mercedes Benz SLK 350 parked in the driveway of his $160,000-home.

Meanwhile, the killer's modest apartment in nearby Fort Pierce, Florida, remained empty this weekend as Omar Mateen's wife, Noor Zahi Salman, has yet to return since the FBI raided the place, according to neighbors.

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Mateen had a small U.S. flag planted in a flower bed over the weekend. He was also planning a Fourth of July celebration with family and friends

A hand-held Old Glory laid on the dashboard of the aging Mercedes Benz SLK 350 parked in the driveway of his $160,000-home

'We're seen nobody coming in and out of that place since the shooting,' a neighbor said from behind her closed door.

Omar Mateen pledged allegiance to ISIS during a phone conversation with authorities during the shooting

A wreath hung on the door of Mateen's condo and members of a Christian group left a card with the address of its church as well as the hours of services.

The couple's aging Honda car is still on the parking lot. Law enforcement stickers that once sealed the doors have been cut, indicating someone has been inside the car since FBI agents searched it hours after the massacre.

Wife Salman remains a suspect in the shooting after she admitted to driving Omar Mateen throughout the area to case possible target. Government officials have asked a federal grand jury to consider charges against her but grand jury proceedings are secret.

As of today, Salman is free.

'She is out of state,' Seddique Mateen said Sunday. 'But I don't know where she is. She's not here.'

Americans celebrate the Fourth of July today in commemoration for the signing of the Declaration of Independence, in which the 13 colonies made themselves free from English rule.

Shortly after midnight slightly more than three weeks ago, Omar Mateen got inside the Pulse nightclub near downtown Orlando. There, a mostly gay clientele of 320 party goers enjoyed Latin night.

A note on the door of Mateen Sr.'s home reads: The families have been answering every question and been very cooperative throughout this time'

Mateen, who pledged allegiance to ISIS during a phone conversation with authorities during the shooting, was armed with an assault rifle and a handgun. He opened fire about 2 a.m., sparking a three-hour standoff involving more than 100 Orlando area police.
The magic of Istanbul has been seducing visitors for centuries, from its array of historic mosques and palaces to its stunning views over the sparkling Bosphorus.

But for people working in the once-thriving tourist trade, the ISIS atrocity at the city's airport on Tuesday represents one more nail in the coffin for an industry already reeling from a string of attacks this year.

Nineteen foreigners were among the 45 people killed at Ataturk airport by suspected ISIS jihadists, and analysts say the attack may have been a deliberate attempt to weaken the Turkish state by hitting its tourist industry.

One shopkeeper revealed he did not blame tourists for staying away and admitted even he was scared in the wake of recent attacks.

For people working in the once-thriving tourist trade, the ISIS atrocity at the city's airport on Tuesday represents one more nail in the coffin for an industry already reeling from a string of attacks this year. Merchants wait for customers at the Grand Bazaar

The magic of Istanbul has been seducing visitors for centuries, from its array of historic mosques and palaces to its stunning views over the sparkling Bosphorus - but now the streets are empty

But Orhan Sonmez, said it had been' disastrous' for his company which offers tours of the Hagia Sophia, the cavernous former mosque and church that is now a museum.

'All my life I've been a tour guide. Most of us have come to a turning point where we don't know if we can go on. It's tragic.'

Restaurants sit empty in the Sultanahmet tourist district, and five-star hotel rooms can be booked for bargain prices.

In happier years the queues outside the Hagia Sophia might have stretched an hour or longer at this time of year -- today you can walk straight in and share the place with just a smattering of other visitors.

To add to the ghost town feel, many Istanbulites have left the city for Bayram, a nine-day nationwide holiday that began Saturday.

ISIS had already been blamed for a January suicide blast that killed 12 German tourists in Sultanahmet, while three Israelis and an Iranian died in another on the Istiklal shopping street in March.

The TAK, a radical Kurdish group that has carried out several attacks in Turkey this year, also warned foreign tourists to stay away after it killed 11 people in an Istanbul car bombing in June.

Nineteen foreigners were among the 45 people killed at Ataturk airport by suspected ISIS jihadists

Analysts say the attack may have been a deliberate attempt to weaken the Turkish state by hitting its tourist industry

The United States, Germany and several other countries have warned their nationals against threats in Turkey, which is a candidate to join the European Union.

Those still arriving say they are enjoying the peace and quiet, while taking a philosophical approach at a time when jihadist attacks have gone global.

'This could happen in any city -- it's an unlucky lottery,' said Irish visitor Nessa Feehan, perusing Sultanhamet's empty shops as she whiled away a stopover on her way to India.

'The people are really friendly, and I really think I'll come back and spend some more time here.'

In May, Turkey suffered its worst drop-off in visits in 22 years -- down 35 percent from a year ago -- as an industry which ordinarily brings in 30 billion euros (25billion) went into free fall.

This was partly a result of a Russian ban on Turkish package holidays that Moscow had slapped on Ankara over a bitter diplomatic row.

That ban was lifted last week as the two countries made up -- cause for celebration in the resort province of Antalya, where Russians traditionally come to sun themselves in their droves.

The United States, Germany and several other countries have warned their nationals against threats in Turkey, which is a candidate to join the European Union. A man is pictured infront of a travel agency in Istanbul

That will be a boost for the tourist industry as a whole, but Russians tend to plump for all-inclusive deals on Turkey's turquoise coast rather than heading to Istanbul to soak up history.

'If it goes on like this, many shops will close,' said Ismail Celebi, worrying at a string of prayer beads in one hand as he sat at the gleaming counter of his jewellery shop.

'I'm thinking of moving to America. I can't make money here.'

The large Chinese tour groups still arriving are about the only bright spot on the horizon, said Celebi, adding that they spend 'crazy money'.

'But it's not enough,' he said. 'We need Americans, we need Europeans.'

His shop is just a stone's throw from the scene of the Sultanahmet bombing that left a dozen Germans dead six months ago - and Celebi said he didn't blame people for not wanting to come.
Two men involved in a video showing a man riding a moose as it tried to cross a lake in Canada have been charged with harassing wildlife.

The shocking video, which went viral after it was posted on YouTube last year, begins with a man in boardshorts standing at the front of a boat while the group chase the animal through the water.

There are strict laws under the British Columbia Wildlife Act that ban anyone from behaviour that would 'worry, exhaust, fatigue, annoy, plague, pester, tease or torment' an animal.

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A man was filmed preparing to leap on to the back of a terrified moose as it bounds through a lake in Canada

Two men, named by CTV Vancouver as local men Bradley Crook and Jaysun Pinkerton, have now been charged with harassing wildlife with the use of a boat, attempting to capture wildlife and hunting big game that was swimming.

In the video, as the boat nears the helpless moose, one of the men can be heard saying: 'Get up there, let's get on this thing.'

Seconds later, the vessel is within inches of the bewildered creature and the man claps his hands in anticipation before leaping onto its back.

The man straddled the moose as it swam off in another direction as his friends on board roared with laughter.

As the boat inched closer before the man jumped off and straddled the animal as it was starting to swim

The video was captured in 2014 in a remote area west of Fort Nelson in British Columbia

The footage has been seen hundreds of thousands of times on YouTube, sparking an investigation

One can be heard saying: 'I've never seen something so awesome.'

The man salutes his own efforts by raising his right fist in the air, holding on to the moose with his other hand.

Moments later, the distressed animal finally shrugs off the man who falls sideways into the water.

After the incident, which is believed to have taken place at the picturesque Tuchodi Lake, near Fort Nelson in British Columbia in 2014, B.C.'s Conservation Officer Service launched a year-long search for the men involved.

The man managed to ride the moose for seconds before he was thrown off into the water

One can be heard saying 'I've never seen something so awesome' his friend rides the moose

The accused are due to appear in court on August 8 in Fort Nelson.
The parents of a five-year-old boy with cerebral palsy awoke on Saturday to find their car had been stolen with their son's customized wheelchair inside.

Mother Rosy Mintz, who is eight months pregnant with her second child, recently depleted her resources moving to a new apartment with boyfriend Austin Johnson and their son Keaton.

But residents in Tooele, Utah, have rallied around the family, donating a new car and more than $3,000 to replace wheelchair.

Rosy Mintz, who is eight months pregnant with her second child, recently depleted her resources moving to a new apartment with boyfriend Austin Johnson and their son Keaton (pictured) who has cerebral palsy

The family's Honda Civic was stolen on Saturday morning, and Mintz (left) wrote on Facebook: 'I hope whoever stole my car last night sees this! You didn't just steal our only car you stole my disabled sons wheelchair!'

The post was shared more than 2,400 times and residents in Tooele, Utah quickly jumped in to help the family (pictured, Mintz with Keaton)

Mintz filed a police report after the car was stolen, and wrote a Facebook post that was shared more than 2,400 times.

She included a photo of Keaton, writing: 'I hope whoever stole my car last night sees this! You didn't just steal our only car you stole my disabled sons wheelchair!'

Mintz said the car may have been stolen because it was wired for expensive stereo equipment, although the subwoofer and amplifier had long been removed from the 1999 Honda Civic.

'This happened at a real stressful time. We don't have any extra money to save for a car at all. That is not an option for us,' the pregnant mom told Deseret News.

The most devastating loss was Keaton's wheelchair, which was eventually found discarded at a Walmart.

But the customized seat and back were both missing, rendering it useless for the boy, whose neurological disorder makes it difficult for him to walk.

Mintz estimated it would cost about $5,000 to replace the parts.

'They're pretty much his legs. My girlfriend, she's a stay at home mom, and she's eight months pregnant. Carrying around a 5-year-old, that's about 35 to 40 pounds, really isn't easy,' Johnson told KUTV.

The mom said: 'We don't have any extra money to save for a car at all. That is not an option for us,' but a local dealership donated a SUV (Right) after hearing about their ordeal (pictured left, their car before it was stolen)

The most devastating loss was Keaton's wheelchair, which was eventually found discarded at a Walmart. But the customized seat and back were both missing, which would cost about $5,000 to replace

More than 82 people have chipped in to raise $3,160 on their GoFundMe page, while others donated a car seat as well as a $100 gift card for gasoline

Video courtesy of KUTV

The family has received an outpouring of support in the past two days, and more than 82 people have chipped in to raise $3,160 on theirGoFundMe page.

A local dealership got wind of their story and generously donated a SUV on Sunday, while other Tooele residents contributed a car seat for Keaton as well as a $100 gift card for gasoline.

On Saturday night, Mintz wrote: 'I am sorry if it takes time to reply to people. We are taking a little break from Facebook to enjoy some family time.

'Thank you everyone for all the support it means the WORLD to us!!!!! We can't even explain how much we appreciate it all!'

Police are reviewing surveillance footage as they continue the investigation into the family's stolen car.
If the Zionists make a wrong move they will be attacked', the state claims

Deputy head of the Guards said his country stands with Palestinian state

are ready to be fired, according to Iran's Revolutionary Guard

Iran has 'more than 100,000 missiles' ready to fire at Israel, according to the country's Revolutionary Guard.

Hossein Salami, deputy head of Iran's Revolutionary Guard, said his country stood with the 'dispossessed' Palestinian state and had long-range weapons ready to fire from Lebanon.

'Today, the grounds for the annihilation and collapse of the Zionist regime are [present] more than ever,' he told Iranian Tasnim News Agency.

Hossein Salami, deputy head of Iran's Revolutionary Guard, said his country had long-range weapons ready to fire from Lebanon (an Iranian Emad long-range ballistic missile pictured) (stock image)

There are 'tens of thousands of destructive long-range missiles' ready and 'aimed at occupied' Israel.'

'If the Zionists make a wrong move, all the occupied territories will come under attack from dedicated fighters and, God willing, the territories will be liberated,' Salami warned.

A senior official of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard, whose role is to protect the country's Islamic system, said Israel's Iran Dome anti-rocket system was vulnerable, according to Fars News Agency.

Iran's president Hassan Rouhani has said his country needs to pursue its 'national interests more than before' following this nuclear deal.

World powers lifted severe economic sanctions on Iran in January after atomic scientists said the country had restricted its nuclear activities.

Missile launchers in an underground tunnel at an unknown location in Iran (stock image)

Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has called on student associations who share the Islamic faith to establish a 'unified anti-US and anti-Zionist front'.

'By using advanced means of communication and in cyberspace, general campaigns can be formed by Muslim students based on the opposition to the policies of the US and the Zionist regime of Israel so that when needed, millions of young Muslim students create a big movement in the Islamic world,' he told Tasnim.

Anti-Israel rallies were held across the country on Friday, with protesters condemning the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories and chanting 'death to Israel.'
ATO is currently pursuing Mr Mehajer's company for $1 million in taxes

The transfer, which is legal, attracted the attention of authorities

He allegedly transferred $20 million to one or more bank accounts Lebanon

Former Auburn deputy mayor Salim Mehajer is being investigated by police after he allegedly transferred $20 million to Lebanon.

New South Wales Police have reportedly prepared a report on the alleged transfer, believed to have been sent by the Sydney property developer to one or more accounts in Lebanon, according to The Australian.

The alleged transfer, which is legal, reportedly drew attention from authorities amid the number of legal battles Mr Mehajer is currently involved in, including his failed property development company and the sacking of Auburn Council.

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Former Auburn deputy mayor Salim Mehajer (pictured) is being investigated by police after he allegedly transferred $20 million to Lebanon

New South Wales Police have reportedly prepared a report on the alleged transfer, believe to have been sent by the controversial Sydney property developer to one or more accounts in Lebanon

According to the report, the Australian Taxation Office is also pursuing Mr Mehajer for $1 million in unpaid taxes from his failed property development company SM Project Developments taxes.

Police and the ATO refused to comment on the report into the alleged transfer.

In response to questions about the $20 million transfer, Mr Mehajer told the newspaper that his personal and company transactoins 'are carried out under strict legal advice'.

Mr Mehajer has previously denied he lobbied Auburn City councillors to change their mind to win property contracts after an inquiry last month investigated allegations that councillors made development decisions that benefited themselves and family members before they were sacked in February.

He said he was upset when his request to have half of a $650,000 deposit he paid for a council-owned car park returned was refused.

The alleged transfer reportedly drew attention from authorities amid the number of legal battles Mr Mehajer is currently involved in, including his failed property development company and the sacking of Auburn Council

According to the report, the Australian Taxation Office is also pursuing Mr Mehajer (pictured with wife Aysha) for $1 million in unpaid taxes from his failed property development company SM Project Developments taxes

The council later decided to return $325,000 of the deposit.

Mr Mehajer denied claims a council decision not to extend a time limit needed to secure the car park contract before he was a councillor influenced his decision to run in the election.

He also quashed suggestions his success had strong ties to his previously jailed developer father Mohamad Mehajer.

In response to questions about the $20 million transfer, Mr Mehajer told the newspaper that his personal and company transactoins 'are carried out under strict legal advice'

'He had a small contribution but 90 per cent of my success is myself,' he said.

Mr Mehajer first made headlines after his wedding - believed to have cost an estimated $50million- saw Mr Mehajer fly into the reception in a helicopter despite his fear and a video of him dancing on a plane on his way to his honeymoon was released not long after.

A street was shut down for the purpose of recording a 'feature film' of the extravagant wedding in Lidcombe in Sydney's western suburbs.
She was taken to the hospital, where doctors could not save her

Explosion sent fragments in Heims' direction and one hit her in the head

The rear portion of the barrel blew out when someone fired the cannon

Lori Heims, of Edgewood, was at a party in a Greeley backyard Saturday

A 55-year-old woman has died after a homemade cannon exploded during a house party.

Lori Heims, of Edgewood, Iowa, was injured after gathering with friends in a backyard in Greenley Saturday, authorities said.

Someone fired the loaded cannon around 11.40pm and the rear portion of the barrel blew out, according to investigators.

The blast sent fragments flying towards Heims and one of them struck her in the head, KWQC-TV reported.

Lori Heims, of Edgewood, Iowa, was injured after gathering with friends in a backyard in Greenley Saturday, authorities said. She was first taken to the Regional Medical Center in Manchester (pictured)

Heims was taken to the Regional Medical Center in Manchester, then transferred by helicopter to the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City,CBS 2 wrote.

Doctors were unable to save Heims, who was pronounced dead at the hospital.
The Mayor of Rio has warned officials are doing 'a terrible job and completely failing' in their duty of policing violent crime just weeks before the Olympics are due to kick off.

Mayor Eduardo Paes hit out at the state government as police officers who haven't been paid properly in months stood at Rio de Janiero's main airport, holding banners reading 'Welcome to Hell'.

But the police are not the only ones facing financial ruin thanks to the city's dwindling finances: it has been claimed there is no money to pay the salaries of doctors and nurses, with hospitals on the point of collapse.

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Mayor Eduardo Paes hit out at the state government as police officers who haven't been paid properly in months stood at Rio de Janiero's main airport, holding banners reading 'Welcome to Hell' (pictured)

Mr Paes comments came after a mutilated body washed up on the shore next to the venue for beach volleyball last week.

Meanwhile, figures show murders in the first quarter of 2016 are up 15 per cent on the same period last year.

Non-lethal crimes like street robberies are also on the rise, highlighted by the hijacking on Friday of a truck carrying some 335,000 worth of television equipment to be used for Olympic news coverage.

In an interview with CNN, Mr Paes said: 'This is the most serious issue in Rio and the state is doing a terrible, horrible job.

'It's completely failing at its work of policing and taking care of people.'

Those arriving at Galeao International Airport were greeted with the sign: 'Welcome to hell. Police and firefighters don't get paid, whoever comes to Rio de Janeiro will not be safe.'

Figures show murders in the first quarter of 2016 are up 15 per cent on the same period last year

Rio police began staging street protests last week, saying that they have not been fully paid for months as Rio state hovers on the edge of bankruptcy.

An emergency federal bailout received last week means late salary payments are expected to be made this week, according to Brazilian news reports.

The hospitals are also on the verge of collapse, according to whisteblowers who spoke to Portuguese television channel RTP Channel.

They claimed they were forced to 'improvise' because needles and painkillers ran out on a regular basis.
Andrea Leadsom is fighting because she has the courage of her conviction, writes KATIE HOPKINS

Do you remember the two men who launched themselves on an Islamist attacker on a packed commuter train in Belgium? Or the unarmed Tunisians chasing a gunman off the beach, begging him to stop shooting the tourists?

Do you ask yourself  what would I do? Would I be as brave?

Faced with an armed man yelling Allah Akbar, would you run towards your attacker? Could you make your legs move? Could I give up my role as mum in the hope of saving someone else's child?

Or would I hide and wait for the end to come?

In truth, we cannot say. We can only hope we would find the courage to do the right thing at the time. And to hope to be brave.

I find myself wondering the very same thing as I watch the fatalities at Westminster this week. Boris Johnson's career ended by the 'suicide bomber of Westminster', Michael Gove, Corbyn bleeding to death by a thousand cuts, Cameron cutting off a pound of flesh to save being judged by the scales of time, Farage cruelly ousted from a cause he devoted his whole life to achieve. Resigning today, the truth is he just wants his life back.

Many of you will have sat on your sofa watching the news wondering who the hell would want to work in politics?

Who would want to put themselves into that hotbed of thieves and vipers? Who would run towards that bloody scene?

I'm planning on hiding in Cornwall just to escape the suffocating angst of the city. To get away from the anger of the liberals, the protests of the young, to lazy to vote.

But others, having seen the carnage, are still brave or foolish enough to throw their hat into the ring and face the fray.

They should be given credit for that, at least.

Some have nothing to lose and everything to gain. Theresa May is a perfect example. Having lain under the bleeding corpse of Cameron until the chaos subsided, she has somehow found her spleen.

She has no kids to cry for her, no real job to fall back on, no endearing qualities or social skills. No collegiate to cheer her name. Nothing to lose.

For her, the gamble is worth it. The corpse of Cameron has been cleared, leaving her exposed for exactly what she is. She hid from the battle, in order to save herself for the war. And very soon her cowardice will reveal itself.

Teflon Theresa has no choice but to stagger into the fray.

Far braver than the Remainer in Kitten Heels is another woman.

Andrea Leadsom (left) has a reputation in the City as a professional, a banker and a trust fund manager. She has had an actual job and commanded respect  not owed to her by party allegiance. Meanwhile, Theresa May has no kids to cry for her, no real job to fall back on, no endearing qualities or social skills, writes Ms Hopkins

She watched as the dagger dove deep into the heart of Boris and is wading thigh-deep through blood to staunch the flow; to push back against the fickle, cowed into buyers remorse for voting Leave. To make people believe they voted the right way, to give us courage, to remind us 'we will have our freedom back'.

That woman is Andrea Leadsom. She is fighting because she has the courage of her conviction.

A mother with three children, she has most to lose. The very little things she loves most in this world may be about to watch her thrown to the lions. It will hurt them as much as it hurts her. She is exposing her family. Something Chuka Umunna only withstood for three days when he launched his bid for Labour leadership. And no one depends on him  for good reason.

Andrea also has a reputation in the City as a professional, a banker and a trust fund manager. She has had an actual job and commanded respect  not owed to her by party allegiance or ambitions to rise up the greasy pole, but because she is good at what she does.

She will have to tolerate this reputation being tarnished by fools.

She has a track record for being calm in the face of attack and able to make her voice heard when the Ginger Dwarf from the North would seek to drown her out with her own brand of nationalist babble.

Undoubtedly she will be called a racist, a casual insult to discredit anything she says.

And most importantly  Andrea Leadsom comes from the winning team. Team Leave. She is a Brexiteer.

Where is the democracy in being lead out of Europe by Theresa May....when she campaigned to keep us in it? That's like following a wolf into the wood. Climbing into a rubber inflatable to cross the Med whilst the captain in full scuba gear tells us everything is going to be OK. Like trusting Angela Merkel on migration. Or Gove, on anything.

Should the 52% have to tolerate this? No, we should not.

I have to shove my head in the freezer and pour frozen peas in my ears just to cool my thudding brain.

Theresa May has failed to protect our white girls in Rotherham. She has lectured our police force whilst failing to protect our borders. Even now, she refuses to set a deadline on reducing migration. She will not campaign to leave the European Convention on Human Rights, underpinning the nonsense of the European Court of Human Rights which gives murderers and rapists a right to a family life.

We need a British Bill of Rights for people who respect our laws and live in tolerance. As Austria's Norbert Hofer has said, 'To those [in Austria] who go to war for the Islamic State or rape women  I say to those people, 'This is not your home'.'

Our country needs a leader who sits on the right side of history and is committed to Leaving the EU and invoking Article 50.

A bunch of liberal elites in London I already trying to make it law that Article 50 can only be passed as a bill through parliament  which sits against the will of the people. We need strong leadership, fast.

Andrea Leadsom can provide this. She is willing to run into the line of fire. She is a woman who understands family comes first. She is a worker who has commanded respect in a real job in the real world. And she is batting for the 52%.
The man accused of sending Australian ISIS recruits to Syria cancelled his own trip two days after hearing fighters in the country had no toilet paper.

Hamdi Alqudsi, 41, was planning to travel to Syria when his alleged recruits sent him WhatsApp messages detailing the squalid conditions fighters lived in, a court has heard.

In the messages the men revealed they slept on spongy mattresses, used dirty toilets, had no toilet paper and used buckets of water to wash instead of showers, reported The Daily Telegraph.

A court has heard how alleged ISIS recruiter Hamdi Alqudsi cancelled his own trip to Syria two days after hearing fighters lived in squalid conditions

In a conversation with alleged recruit Mehmet Biber, Alqudsi asked him about his life as an ISIS fighter.

Alqudsi asked: Tell me about where you sleep, what you use to clean yourselfgive me a detailed picture please brother.

Biber responded that jihadis slept on spongy mattresses tossed on the ground and squatted over holes instead of using toilets.

Toilet paper dusnt exist, Biber wrote.

Alqudsi asked one of his alleged recruits: 'Tell me where you sleep, what you use to clean yourself. Give me a detailed picture brother'

Alqudsi told another alleged recruit, Caner Temel, that he needed to cancel his trip to Syria two days after the conversation with Biber.

He said his father was having an operation on his knee and he therefore needed to stay home to care for his sick mother and brother.

He said: As soon as [my father] is able to get back on his feet, God willing he can go back to taking care of mum then I will leave immediately.

Tyler Casey and his wife Amira Karroum (above) died in January 2014 in Aleppo. Casey is one of the men Alqudsi is accused of helping enter Syria

Alqudsi is currently appearing before Sydneys Supreme Court where he is accused of masterminding the travel of Australian ISIS recruits into Syria.

He denies seven counts of recruiting and assisting people with the intention of facilitating their entry into Syria for hostile activity.

Alqudsi allegedly orchestrated the movements of Tyler Casey, Caner Temel, Mehmet Biber and Muhammad Abdul-Karim Musleh.

Casey, who had changed his name to Yusef Ali, was killed alongside his wife Amira Karroum in an airstrike in Aleppo in January 2014 while Temel died in the same year.
Donald Trump defended his use of an online meme to attack Hillary Clinton that featured a six-point star  the Jewish Star of David  which the presumptive GOP nominee said was a 'sheriff's star' instead.

'Dishonest media is trying their absolute best to depict a star in a tweet as the Star of David rather than a Sheriff's Star, or plain star!' Trump tweeted Monday after a weekend's worth of news reports had come out about the origin of the graphic.

It accuses Clinton of being the 'most corrupt candidate ever,' words scrolled over a six-point star and $100 bills.

The graphic was made by an anonymous 'comedian' named @FishBoneHead1 on Twitter, who tweeted at the Hill Newspaper, which was covering the controversy, to show journalists the original file, which the individual had tweeted out starting on June 15.

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The billionaire businessman tweeted the graphic Saturday morning at 8:47 a.m., but deleted it about two hours later, replacing it with a photo-shopped version of the meme with a circle in the star's place

Today Donald Trump tweeted out a defense saying the six-point star in a graphic he tweeted out wasn't a Jewish Star of David, but a law enforcement star, which also has six points

Donald Trump sent out two versions of the image - one with a Star of David (left) and one with a circle (right) after the original image started getting panned by critics

Twitter user FishBoneHead1 originally tweeted the image on June 15, which Donald Trump than tweeted out Saturday morning

In communication with the Hill newspaper, FishBoneHead1 took credit for the 'original file,' which included a controversial use for the Jewish Star of David

The Trump version went out Saturday morning at 8.47 a.m. with the message 'Crooked Hillary -- Makes History!' and also included a Fox News poll that found 58 per cent of voters believe that the former secretary of state is 'corrupt.'

It was juxtaposed against a black and white image of Clinton with a riff from her own presidential campaign statement about how she would make history as the first female nominee of a major political party.

Then there's the red Star of David emblazoned with the words, 'most corrupt candidate ever!'

Behind Clinton's photo there are $100 bills scattered around in piles.

About two hours after putting the post up, the real estate mogul sent out another tweet that replaced the Star of David with a circle, though used the same text.

Trump deleted the original post, though opened himself up to controversy and charges of antisemitism, with the implication that Clinton's fundraising comes from corrupt Jews.

As for the origin of the image, FishBoneHead1 describes himself as a 'comedian' who will 'probably offend you if you are Liberal, Politically Correct, Feminist, Democrat or Piers Morgan.'

The comedian's Twitterfeed is filled with controversial imagery including a cartoon of a blonde woman welcoming Muslim refugees  who then gets her head cut off.

The Twitter user who created the Star of David graphic rails against political correctness and suggests Americans should be more wary of 'Islamists'

FishBoneHead1 portrayed the Democrats as whining babies for holding a sit-in in the aftermath of the Orlando terror attack. The comedian suggested in another tweet that Americans should blame radical Islam over guns

The Twitter user also suggested that President Obama was elected thanks to 'liberal white guilt' and brought up the president' Nobel Peace Prize win as well

In another tweet the user shows the House Democrats during their sit-in, with cartoonish words over the group saying 'Waaah! Waaah!'

In another, there's a photo of President Obama speaking to a packed crowd. 'Liberal White Guilt,' the tweet reads. 'Can get you a Presidency and a Nobel Prize even when you are a total failure.'

Other tweets bring up Bill Clinton's infidelity and mock Democrats for suggesting that hatred of gay Americans and guns were bigger issues in the Orlando shooting than gunman Omar Mateen's pledge to fight for ISIS.

'Fight liberal stupidity,' that tweet advises.

After its creation, FishBoneHead1's graphic was then shared on /pol/, according to Mic.com, the 'politically incorrect' 4chan discussion board that attracts dialogue from neo-Nazis, anti-semites and white supremacists.

The image appeared there as early as June 22, but has since been deleted.

Later Sunday afternoon, FishBoneHead1 deleted his or her Twitter account.

The campaign generally attributes images used by Trump's Twitter account, but did not to so for this particular meme.

The fallout for posting the Star of David version was quick.

A communications staffer for Clinton's campaign, Josh Schwerin, tweeted and asked why a Star of David was used on the image.

Political columnist Ana Marie Cox wrote the 'Symbolism here is pretty... unsubtle.'

Twitter users, pictured above, expressed their outrage over the ad by the presidential hopeful

Before Trump took to Twitter today to defend himself, his former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski did so Sunday during an appearance on CNN's State of the Union.

'A tweet is a simple tweet, and the bottom line is you can read into things that aren't there,' Lewandowski, who was recently hired by CNN as a contributor, said.

'This is a simple star ... it's the same star that sheriff's departments across the country use all over the place to represent law enforcement.

'To read into something that isn't there is... I think that's the mainstream media trying to attack Donald Trump for something that really isn't there.'

He added that the Trump campaign put a new tweet up with a circle, but said that Clinton is corrupt.

When Lewandowski was pressed about why the campaign would release an updated version of the graphic without the star, he deflected and said the criticisms were 'political correctness run amok.'

For years, Trump has been known for using his Twitter account that has more than nine million followers to insult and attack his rivals.

And during this intense presidential campaign Trump has received criticism for retweeting others including messages from white supremacists.

Trump's former campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski (above), defended him on CNN on Sunday. 'A tweet is a simple tweet, and the bottom line is you can read into things that aren't there,' he said

In addition, the presumptive Republican nominee has fought accusations in the past of anti-Semitism and racism.

In March, while speaking to the largest pro-Israel lobby in the United States, AIPAC, Trump declared his love for Jewish people and Israel.

'I love the people in this room,' Trump told AIPAC attendees. 'I love Israel. I've been with Israel so long in terms of - I've received some of my greatest honors from Israel.

'My father before me. Incredible. My daughter Ivanka, is about to have a beautiful Jewish baby.

'In fact, it could be happening right now, which would be very nice as far as I'm concerned.'

During a CNN debate, Trump also said: 'I have a lot of  I have tremendous love for Israel. I happen to have a son-in-law and a daughter that are Jewish, OK? And two grandchildren that are Jewish.'




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Violent clashes between Zimbabwean police and protesters resulted in 30 arrests as a riot broke out over economic hardship, police brutality and Robert Mugabe's government.

Demonstrators were forced to lie down in the dusty roads as machine gun-wielding officers fired warning shots and rounded up civilians in Harare.

One taxi driver can be seen getting a savage beating from six riot cops, another man has his head stood on by an officer carrying a machine gun and bloodied protesters are pictured running from the mayhem.

As well as a number of economical and political issues affecting workers, the protest was ironically about police brutality in the country.

Savage:Taxi driver surrounded by six riot cops who kick him and beat him with truncheons as another demonstrator escapes the fracas

Down in the dirt: Four police officers in riot gear carrying guns as they force protesters to the ground in Harare

Blood on the streets: One protester is helped away from the riots while a child (far right) watches on in horror having been caught up in the action on the way to school

Smoking barrel: A Zimbabwean police officer fires a warning shot as the riot gathers pace in the capital

Brutal: A protester has his face shoved into the dirt by a machine gun-wielding police officers boot as one of his colleagues goes after another civilian with a truncheon

Police in Zimbabwe's capital have fired tear gas, water cannons and warning shots during riots by minibus drivers and others protesting alleged police harassment.

The violence in Harare, in which 30 people were arrested, came amid a surge in protests in recent weeks because of increasing economic hardship and alleged mismanagement by the government of President Robert Mugabe.

An Associated Press journalist saw protesters severely beat two police officers with sticks, then take their uniforms and helmets and wear them.

The protesters blocked roads leading into the centre of the city on Monday, forcing many people to walk up to six miles (10km) to get to work.

The violence in Harare, in which 30 people were arrested, came amid a surge in protests in recent weeks because of increasing economic hardship and alleged mismanagement by the government of President Robert Mugabe

Outnumbered police later sought to negotiate with the crowds after failing to disperse thousands of protesters, who were concentrated in Harare's eastern suburbs

Rioters threw stones at police and vehicles, and some children on their way to school were caught up in the chaos.

Outnumbered police later sought to negotiate with the crowds after failing to disperse thousands of protesters, who were concentrated in Harare's eastern suburbs.

Many rioters were young men who cannot find regular employment and make a living from drivers by charging a small fee to load passengers into minibuses.

Some police were seen firing live ammunition into the air to ward off the crowds. They also brought in police dogs.

The drivers' grievances stem from anger over numerous roadblocks that police sometimes set up in city streets, which drivers allege are to demand bribes.

Police said they had reduced the number of roadblocks after complaints from parliamentarians, tourism operators and others.

Many rioters were young men who cannot find regular employment and make a living from drivers by charging a small fee to load passengers into minibuses.

An Associated Press journalist saw protesters severely beat two police officers with sticks, then take their uniforms and helmets and wear them. A demonstrator, not involved in the attack, can be seen carrying two sticks

Burning issue: Mugabe, 92, has ruled the southern African country since independence from white minority rule in 1980, scoffing at frequent allegations of human rights violations

Thirty people were arrested for inciting the protests, police spokeswoman Charity Charamba said.

"We have information and intelligence on the identities of some criminal elements who are behind the social unrest," Ms Charamba said at a news conference.

Such acts of defiance and clashes with the police are rare in Zimbabwe, although the government deployed the army against 1998 riots over soaring food prices.

Mugabe, 92, has ruled the southern African country since independence from white minority rule in 1980, scoffing at frequent allegations of human rights violations.

Frustrations over rapidly deteriorating economic conditions in Zimbabwe, compounded by dissatisfaction over alleged government corruption and incompetence, have resulted in near-daily protests in recent weeks.

On Friday, protesters burned a warehouse at Beitbridge, a busy border post between Zimbabwe and South Africa, over a Zimbabwean decision to ban a wide range of imports.

Seventeen people appeared in court on Sunday over the Beitbridge protests and were charged with public violence.

Separately, state hospital doctors and other government workers said they will strike over the government's failure to pay their June salaries on time.

Down and out: Frustrations over rapidly deteriorating economic conditions in Zimbabwe, compounded by dissatisfaction over alleged government corruption and incompetence, have resulted in near-daily protests in recent week

Hands up: A protester is surrounded by three riot police officers as he cowers against a wall

Nowhere to go: The drivers' grievances stem from anger over numerous roadblocks that police sometimes set up in city streets, which drivers allege are to demand bribes

Grounded: Finance minister Patrick Chinamasa has been pleading with Western countries to unlock financing for Zimbabwe in the form of loans that were halted close to two decades ago

Finance minister Patrick Chinamasa has been pleading with Western countries to unlock financing for Zimbabwe in the form of loans that were halted close to two decades ago.

The financing dried up due to failure to repay debts as well as international sanctions imposed because of concerns over democratic rights.

Some recent political protests have been notable for their brazenness.

Police said they are looking for Lumumba William Matumanje, a former ruling party activist who used an obscenity to denigrate Mugabe while launching his own political party last week.

People have often been sent to jail for such conduct in Zimbabwe.

Last month, video footage showed an anti-government protester shouting in the lobby of an upmarket hotel in Harare and haranguing police until they move in and drag him away.

The video shows a protest by activists angry at Vice President Phelekezela Mphoko's alleged 18-month stay in a 400 US dollars (300) a night hotel suite in the capital.

Activist Sten Zvorwadza was charged with threats to commit malicious damage to property and was freed on 200 US dollars (150) bail.

The majority of Zimbabwe's citizens survive on just one US dollar (75p) a day, the official statistics agency says.
prosecutors told their organs were used in illegal transplants

Egyptian organ traffickers bought 'hundreds' of men, women and children from people smugglers so they could kill them to be used in illegal transplants, it has been claimed.

Nuredin Atta Wehabrebi, the first senior people smuggler to break ranks to expose the cruel industry, told prosecutors in Sicily that migrants who couldn't pay for the next part of their journey across the Mediterranean were sold to traffickers for $15,000 (11,250).

He claimed an Egyptian criminal gang killed them and used their organs in illegal transplants.

Nuredin Atta Wehabrebi told prosecutors in Sicily that migrants who couldn't pay for the next part of their journey across the Mediterranean - like these people had - were sold to traffickers for $15,000 (11,250)

Wehabrebi revealed: I was told that those who could not pay were handed to some Egyptians, who killed them to take their organs for resale in Egypt, for the sum of $15,000.

'The Egyptians arrived with equipment for the extraction of organs and for transporting them in cool bags.

The new allegations emerged as prosecutors in Sicily ordered the arrest of 38 more alleged members of the gang, accused of trafficking related offences.

A raid in Rome on Monday morning on the alleged financial transaction centre netted half a million euros in cash.

Wehabrebi, a 32-year-old Eritrean who was arrested in 2014 for his part in the trade in death and misery, has decided to turned states witness after the death of 800 people in the Mediterranean in April 2015.

Racked with guilt, Wehabrebi claims he then decided to collaborate to bring his former colleagues to justice.

There have been too many deaths in the sea, he said in a statement to Sicilian prosecutors explaining his decision to turn states witness.

The Egyptian criminal gang killed them and used their organs in illegal transplants. He turned state's witness after saying he was horrified by the number of people dying as they crossed the sea

People only know about a minimal number of them. Eight in ten Eritrean families have lost someone on the boats.'

Hundreds of thousands are currently fleeing the totalitarian regime in Eritrea where there is forced lifetime conscription and the worst human rights abuses on earth, according to the UN.

According to the International Organisation for Migration, 225,095 migrants and refugees have arrived in Europe by sea so far this year.
spies said the new recruits have betrayed their motherland

Veteran spies in Russia have reacted in horror after a show of strength by newly graduated agents in a cortege of black Mercedes Gelandewagens.

The cavalcade by recently-qualified 007s from Vladimir Putin's espionage ranks has stunned Cold War specialists schooled in staying in the shadows.

The brash automobile parade through the streets of Moscow with horns blaring was variously reported as being by rookie agents from the foreign intelligence section of the FSB spy academy.

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Show of strength: Newly graduated FSB agents form a cortege of black Mercedes Gelandewagens in Russia

Brazen: The brash automobile parade took place through the streets of Moscow with horns blaring

The FSB was once headed by Putin, who was also a KGB agent in Germany during the Cold War.

Putin has declined to comment on the scandal but the Kremlin today (MON) demanded the matter should be dealt with by academy and service chiefs.

To veterans, it is shocking that rookie agents would show their faces.

As shock sank, footage of the ostentatious procession of black Gelandewagens in Moscow was posted on videos accompanied by the famous Emperor March from the American Star Wars movies.

Retired FSB general-major Alexander Mikhailov told REN-TV that the graduates had betrayed their motherland.

He was furious that photographs and names of future agents were made public on the web, and blamed the recruits for their spy high jincks..

'It is a treason,' he thundered.

'A full betrayal of their service.

Shocking: footage of the ostentatious procession of black Gelandewagens in Moscow was posted in videos

Participants: Reported as rookie agents from the foreign intelligence section of the FSB spy academy

Videos of the parade were accompanied by the famous Emperor March from the American Star Wars movies

'Nobody knows where these guys will serve. How can you post online photographs of those who are already serving in the FSB?

'Half of them should be fired, and the other half should start their service with reprimands.'

A member of a Gelandewagen fan club confirmed the cavalcade involved graduates from a leading spy academy in Moscow.

'The party was so massive, it was not possible to hide it,' he explained.

'If only the hired cameraman had not 'flashed' their faces in YouTube, it would not be a problem.

Putin's new recruits: The FSB was once headed by Putin, who was also a KGB agent during the Cold War

'It is not forbidden to wave from the open windows of the car.'

One picture shows dozens of the alleged spies posing for a celebration photograph, their faces plainly visible.

Bloggers have unflatteringly compared the graduate spies with Russia's 'golden youth', the scions of oligarchs notorious in Moscow for their playboy lifestyles.

There are certain to be recriminations over the unprecedented scenes in Moscow.
It has now been 20 years since TWA Flight 800 exploded in mid-air just 12 minutes after taking off from New York's John F. Kennedy Airport en route to Paris, and many are still questioning just what caused the crash that killed all 230 people on board.

The National Transportation Safety Board spent four years looking into the cause in what would become the lengthiest and most expensive investigation in the history of American aviation before publishing their findings in 2000, which stated the explosion was likely caused by a short circuit in the plane's fuel tank.

That scenario seemed implausible however to many, including numerous eyewitnesses who saw the crash from on the ground in Long Island, and in his new book TWA 800: The Crash, the Cover-Up, and the Conspiracy author Jack Cashill takes a look at some of the alternate theories.

The most common is that some sort of missile or rocket hit the plane, and that there was a government cover-up to keep what really happened a secret.

That strike to the outside of the plane may have come from a terrorist or even a US Navy ship according to conspiracy theorists, claims that were both declared untrue by the FBI a little over a year after the crash.

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Tragedy: It has been 20 years since TWA Flight 800 crashed off the coast of Long Island 12 minutes after taking off from JFK Airport in New York City ( the plane being reassembled)

Gone: All 230 people on board the flight, headed to Paris, died in the explosion (wreckage floating in the Atlantic above)

Crash: The National Transportation Safety Board spent four years looking into the cause and declared it to be a short circuit in the plane's fuel tank

Flight 800 was a Boeing 747-131 that had completed over 16,000 flights and been in operation for 25 years when it departed on the evening of July 17 from New York City.

The plane exploded and crashed into the ocean just after 8:30pm as it made its ascent to 15,000 feet eight miles off the coast of East Moriches in the town of Brookhaven, located just west of the Hamptons.

Some who had seen the explosion and crash immediately took action to see if they could find any survivors, including an Air National Guard helicopter that was only miles away and even a few narby residents who were out on the ocean on boats.

The helicopter was eventually forced to turn away due to debris from the plane that was still falling from the sky, while those who approached the burning wreckage in boats said that the smoke was so bad it became impossible to breathe or get close to the scene.

Recovery of the bodies began the next day, a task that took 10 months before all 230 victims were identified.

Wreckage also began being removed from the water soon after, with investigators piecing the plane back together in hopes of getting some idea as to what happened to the doomed aircraft.

The best information at first came from the witnesses who saw the crash, and many told the same exact story of seeing something shoot up towards the plane just before the explosion.

Of the 755 individuals that the FBI spoke with who witnessed some aspect of the crash, at least 258 described seeing a streak of light prior to the plane's explosion while close to 100 said that they watched that streak travel from the Earth up towards the aircraft.

Different story: Of the 755 eyewitness who spoke to the FBI, 258 described seeing a streak of light heading towards the plane before the explosion (wreckage loaded on to a flatbed above)

Putting it back together: Cashill speaks with eyewitnesses again and those who have never spoken before who believe they saw a rocket or missile

Allegations: He also examines claims of a possible government cover-up involving the FBI and CIA

Cashill spoke to some of these witnesses for his new book, including the woman considered by many to be one of the most crucial people the FBI interviewed after the crash, Witness 73.

The woman's identity has never been revealed, but she is one of the few people who was closely watching the plane when the explosion occurred.

She had been visiting friends when she decided to go down to the beach around 8:30pm, just before the explosion brought down the aircraft.

The FBI report stated in its summary of her interview: 'While keeping her eyes on the aircraft she observed a "red streak" moving up from the ground toward the aircraft at an approximately a 45 degree angle. The "red streak" was leaving a light gray colored smoke trail. The "red streak" went passed [sic] the right side and above the aircraft before arcing back toward the aircrafts right wing.'

Witness 73 described the streak as looking like 'an upside down NIKE swoosh logo.'

She continued to watch as the streak connect with the plane according to the report, which said: 'She then observed a fire at the aircraft followed by one or two secondary explosions which had a deeper sound.

'She then observed the front of the aircraft separate from the back. She then observed burning pieces of debris falling from the aircraft.'

Cashill uncovers shocking new information in speaking with Witness 73 for his new book though, including claims that someone inside a government agency may have attempted to discredit her statement by falsifying records.

Scary: One woman known as Witness 73 described the streak that hit the plane as looking like 'an upside down NIKE swoosh logo.'

Reenactment: The angle which the plane was seen as falling out in a CIA animation was questioned by some eyewitnesses

All the pieces: It took 10 months to identify all the bodies of the dead, which had to be retrieved from the water

Cashill also revisits interviews he did with eyewitnesses from his 2001 documentary on the same subject, Silenced: TWA 800 and the Subversion of Justice.

Among those he spoke to were Mike Wire, who was building a bridge in nearby Westhampton at the time of the explosion.

Wire said in the documentary that he watched a white light as it 'zig zagged' from the beach up in the air before it 'arched over' and disappeared from his view.

Seconds later he saw 'an orange light that appeared to be a fireball' and heard four loud explosions as the plane fell from the sky.

He was only interviewed once however, and even that is not as shocking as the story of David McClaine.

McClaine submitted a report about what he saw almost immediately after the crash as he was a pilot flying from Boston to Trenton going in for a landing when he watched the aircraft explode right in front of him.

In his new book TWA 800: The Crash, the Cover-Up, and the Conspiracy (above) author Jack Cashill takes a look at some of the alternate crash theories

Cashill reveals in his book however that despite the vantage point, the fact that he was more familiar with planes than any other eyewitness and that he was the first to actually report the explosion he was not interviewed by the National Transportation Safety Board until 1999, three years after the crash.

Meanwhile, the CIAs Deputy Director for Intelligence released a statement about the crash in 1997, saying: 'Our analysis demonstrates that the eyewitness sightings of greatest concern to us  the ones originally interpreted to be of a possible missile attack  took place after the first of several explosions aboard the aircraft  combined with the total absence of physical evidence of a missile attack, [this] leads CIA analysts to conclude that no such attack occurred.'

The findings by the CIA and FBI do not add up however to Cashill, as he explores in his book.

"'The single greatest structural cause for the September 11th problem was the 'wall' that segregated or separated criminal investigators and intelligence agents, Attorney General John Ashcroft told the 9-11 Commission in April 2004,"' Cashill told DailyMail.com.

'Thanks to a treasure trove of recently unearthed CIA documents we now know that the FBI and CIA ignored the "wall" and collaborated from day one of the TWA 800 investigation. The CIA had no other role but to discredit the 258 FBI witnesses to a missile strike.

'Overseeing the TWA 800 investigation was deputy attorney general Jamie Gorelick. In 1995, Gorelick wrote the wall memo. In 2004, Gorelick sat on the 9-11 Commission.
The creator of Dad's Army has said the wartime comedy remains so popular decades after it first aired because it reminds people of a time when they could be proud to be British.

The series, based around the Home Guard during World War Two, originally ran in the 1970s but repeats still attract more viewers than big budget shows such as The Hollow Crown.

Jimmy Perry, 92, who created the sitcom with David Croft, has said it found such success both then and now because its depiction of stiff upper lips and the blitz mentality sparks a patriotism in its viewers.

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Jimmy Perry, 92, said the wartime comedy remains so popular decades after it first aired because it reminds people of a time when they could be proud to be British

The wartime comedy series, based around the Home Guard during World War Two, originally ran in the 1970s

Speaking ahead of today's home video release of a Hollywood remake of Dad's Army, Mr Perry said: 'People are always knocking our lovely country, [Dad's Army] is something that says 'Well, excuse me, we won in the end''.

This is ironic given that the BBC almost decided never to air the show in the first place in fear that its gentle ribbing of the Home Guard could be seen as mocking the British war effort.

In its heyday, the show attracted as many as 18 million viewers, which the modern repeats on BBC2 are watched by as many as 1.36 million people (June 13-19, 2016).

This is more than the 840,000 (May 16-22, 2016) who tuned in to watch star studded productions such as the BBC's Shakespeare adaptation The Hollow Crown.

The creator of Dad's Army said the sitcom found success because its depiction of stiff upper lips and the blitz mentality sparks a patriotism in its viewers

On this enduring success, Mr Perry said: 'I'm delighted and I don't say that in a boastful way. It was real. George Bernard Shaw said: 'The first thing you've got to remember when you're writing comedy is that you've got to have reality'. That has always been my motto, it's got to be real.'

With shows such as Porridge and Steptoe and Son being brought back in modern reincarnations - and with the relative success of the recent Dad's Army film - there has been speculation that the series could return to screens with new material.

However, Mr Perry was quick to distance himself from such an ideas. He said: 'I don't want to do that. The television version was good because of its originality and if you brought it back... if they want to do it it's up to them but I'm too old to have arguments, so that's it.'
A pregnant woman who lost her husband and unborn son when their family car was hit in a head-on crash by a driver overtaking at 70mph in a 40mph zone, a court heard today.

Simon Lewis, 33, died in a 'cloud of smoke' when Kyle Kennedy, 29, smashed into him while overtaking his car in the New Year's Eve tragedy.

His unborn son Simon Lewis Junior died three days later in hospital - as wife Amanda was left mourning her son and husband.

Amanda Lewis (left), with her husband Simon Lewis (right) and their daughter Summer (front)

A court heard Kennedy was driving at up to 70mph in the 40mph limit when he tried to overtake a van.

But Kennedy allegedly clipped it and then smashed straight into Mr Lewis' car.

Cardiff Crown Court heard how the force of the impact dislodged the engines of both cars and sent them across the road.

Prosecutor Matthew Cobbe said: 'Simon Lewis was driving, his wife Amanda Lewis was in the passenger seat and their daughter was strapped safely in the back.

'Kyle Kennedy was driving a Peugeot in the opposite direction, he was driving dangerously and as a result of that he collided with the car being driven by Simon Lewis. Simon Lewis died at the scene.

'Amanda Lewis was heavily pregnant at that time and suffered injuries. Three days later She underwent an emergency Caesarian section and the baby died.'

Kyle Kennedy allegedly clipped it and then smashed straight into Mr Lewis' car

Witnesses described seeing a 'cloud of smoke' as Kennedy smashed into Mr Lewis' car at Lamby Way in Tremorfa, Cardiff.

Mr Cobbe said: 'This was absolutely dangerous driving, his excessive speed and the dangerous overtaking manoeuvre that he performed by pulling out without any view gave Simon Lewis no chance of taking any avoiding action.'

Pictured is Kyle Kennedy who was driving the car

Witness Jessica Brown was driving along Lamby Way, Cardiff at the time when Kennedy overtook her before approaching a van and trying to overtake that.

Mr Cobbe said: 'Jessica Brown couldn't see what happened but just saw a cloud of smoke.

'She was asked to estimate the speed he was driving. She described it as 'motorway speed' and said he was travelling at about 70mph.

'The collision was such that the engines from both cars were dislodged.'

Collision investigator PC Gareth Davies said Kennedy was driving with 'target fixation' by speeding up to other vehicles trying to overtake.

Mr Cobbe said: 'Mr Davies concluded he had fixated on the van and clipped it heading into the path of Simon Lewis' car.

'Simon Lewis had insufficient time to take any avoiding action. The force pushed the Daihatsu backwards, spinning it into a nearby hedge.

'Simon Lewis was pronounced dead at the scene, his then unborn baby was born prematurely by Ceasarian section. Simon Lewis Junior died as a result of having been born early.'

Kennedy, from Cardiff, denies two counts of causing death by dangerous driving but pleaded guilty to causing death by careless driving.
Chemistry teacher Scott Whitlock, 45, (pictured) has been jailed for 16 months after police discovered 505 abuse images at his home

A disgraced private school teacher who discussed abusing a caged child before killing them in a 'sick fantasy' was today jailed for 16 months.

Chemistry teacher Scott Whitlock, 45, taught at the prestigious Kimbolton School in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, when he was arrested in June last year.

His crimes were discovered after his estranged partner discovered the twisted files on his computer.

Police then launched an investigation and raided Whitlock's home in Bedfordshire on June 15 last year.

They discovered 505 abuse images as well as correspondence online with other paedophiles where he lived out sick fantasies, Cambridgeshire Crown Court heard.

Tim Brown, prosecuting, said: 'She had asked Mr Whitlock to leave when she discovered photos on a computer in the household.

'She had discovered a memory stick that he had left behind.

'She investigated the memory stick on her computer and discovered a series of files where indecent material was stored.

'These included photos of girl pupils which were not in themselves indecent but were associated with files that were indecent.'

Police later examined Whitlock's computer which revealed he regularly talked with numerous other paedophiles online.

During this correspondence he shared one indecent image.

He also came very close to one fellow abuser, called Phillipa.75 - who it later emerged was a man.

They would live out sick fantasies online over the nine month period before his arrest, the court heard.

In them, Whitlock and Phillipa played adults with young daughters called Pippa and Naomi respectively, who they would abuse in sick roleplays.

Mr Brown added: '(They discussed) the possibility of acquiring a crated child and abusing it, killing it and disposing of the body.

'There are graphic representations of the manner of the abuse and the manner the child would have been killed.'

Whitlock taught at the prestigious Kimbolton School in Huntingdon, Cambridge, (pictured) and has now been jailed for 16 months

On his arrest Whitlock claimed a break in at his house may have caused the files to be on his computer.

He later changed this and admitted one charge of possessing and one charge of making indecent images of children.

He also admitted one charge of distributing an indecent image of a child and one charge of publishing obscene material which related to the sick child murder fantasy.

Whitlock, of Little Headlands, Bedford, was jailed for 16 months for all four offences.

Jailing him at Cambridge Crown Court, judge Jonathan Howarth said: 'Over a period of nine months you were in contact with like minded individuals where you discussed fantasies in relation to you in particular you engaged in discussions which are frankly horrifying.

'You were engaging in roleplay or scenarios that would sicken any normal minded person.

'It was lurid and detailed. It shows that you clearly have a precondition for children in sexual offences.'

Cambridge Crown Court (pictured) heard Whitlock discussed the possibility of acquiring a crated child and abusing it, killing it and disposing of the body

Whitlock must also sign the sex offenders' register for 10 years after his release and be subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for 12 years.

He is the second teacher from Kimbolton School to face charges of sexual offences against children.

Fellow teacher Simon Ball, 42, of London, has been charged in on seven counts in connection with sexual relations with young girls.

Ball, 42, has pleaded not guilty to all charges and will go on trial at Peterborough Crown Court on November 14.

He was arrested in February last year and the charges relate to allegations involving four girls between 2001 and 2012.
Shocking footage has emerged which shows the moment a man put his arm around two young girls and tried to abduct them from a paark before they managed to run away.

Greater Manchester Police have released CCTV footage of a man they would like to speak to in connection with an attempted abduction in Moss Side on Sunday June 5.

At about 8.45pm that evening police were called to reports of a man who was repeatedly approaching young people on Claremont Road.

Greater Manchester Police have released CCTV footage of a man they would like to speak to in connection with an attempted abduction in Moss Side (Pictured: The man can be seen wrapping his arms around the girls)

At one point the man walked up to an 11-year-old and 12-year-old girl outside Freddy's Chicken. He then put his arm around both of the girls and guided them towards a small park off Claremont Road.

Fortunately the girls managed to get away from the man and ran home to tell their parents.

He is described as being a black man aged between 40 and 50, overweight, wearing a pink long sleeved shirt and a white cap.

Detective Constable Phil Bainbridge, for GMP's City of Manchester team, said: 'Fortunately, the girls ran away and immediately told their parents what had happened.

The man can be seen approaching the two girls as they consider crossing the road in Moss Side, Manchester

'We have been carrying out a number of enquiries, including reviewing CCTV, as well as patrolling the area.

'We would encourage parents to speak with their children about the dangers of talking to strangers.

'We would ask children to never go off with anyone they do not know, get into a vehicle with a stranger, accept gifts off a stranger or wander off on their own.'

Anyone with any information is urged to call police on 101 quoting incident number 2686 of 5 June 2016. Alternatively, information can be passed on anonymously by calling Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
Muslim leaders across the Middle East have condemned a terrorist attack on Islam's holiest site during the final few days of Ramadan which left four people dead.

Saudi Arabia's supreme council of clerics said the blasts 'prove that those renegades... have violated everything that is sacred'.

In Iran, the Shiite leadership called for Muslim unity after the fanatics attacked Sunnis in Saudi Arabia.

Four people have been killed after a suicide bombing at the mosque where Muhammad is buried, one of Islam's holiest sites

Evening prayers were coming to an end at the Prophet's Mosque in Medina, Saudi Arabia when the bomber struck

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Twitter: 'There are no more red lines left for terrorists to cross. Sunnis, Shiites will both remain victims unless we stand united as one.'

Lebanon-based Shiite militant group Hezbollah - which Saudi Arabia accuses of supporting 'terrorist acts' across the region - also denounced the Medina attack as 'a new sign of the terrorists' contempt for all that Muslims consider sacred.

Four people have been killed and five injured after a suicide bombing at the mosque where Prophet Muhammad is buried - one of Islam's holiest sites.

Evening prayers were coming to an end at the Prophet's Mosque in Medina, Saudi Arabia when the bomber struck.

He detonated his device near a security building outside the mosque, killing himself and four security officials.

The Saudi Press Agency claimed Abdullah Qalzar Khan was responsible for a suicide attack outside the US Consulate in Jeddah

Several cars caught fire and local media showed images of flames outside one of the buildings overlooking the Prophet's Mosque.

The area was packed for prayer during the final days of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which ends in the kingdom on Tuesday.

Millions of Muslims visit the sprawling mosque each year during pilgrimages to Mecca.

Qari Ziyaad Patel, 36, from Johannesburg, South Africa, was at the mosque when he heard a blast just as the call to sunset prayers was ending.

People were breaking their fast with dates so the mood was subdued, he said. Many at first thought it was the sound of traditional, celebratory cannon fire, but then he felt the ground shake.

'The vibrations were very strong,' he said. 'It sounded like a building imploded.'

Altayeb Osama, a 25-year old Sudanese visitor, said he heard two large booms about a minute apart as he was heading toward the mosque for sunset prayers.

He said police and fire trucks were on the scene within seconds.

'It was very shocking that such a thing happens in such a holy place for Muslims, the second holiest place in the world. That's not an act that represents Islam,' Osama said. 'People never imagined that this could happen here.'

Several cars caught fire and local media showed images of what appeared to be a fire outside one of the buildings overlooking the Prophet's Mosque

Thousands of worshippers gathered to pray inside the Prophet's Mosque just hours after the blast.

The Interior Ministry said: 'Security forces suspected a man who was heading towards Al-Masjid al-Nabawi (the Prophet's Mosque) as he passed through a visitors parking lot.'

'As they tried to stop him, he blew himself up with an explosive belt causing his death, and the death of four security personnel,' said a statement which added that five others were injured.

The victims were all members of the Saudi special emergency forces run by the interior ministry. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Saudi security personnel gather at the site of the suicide attack near the security headquarters of the Prophet's Mosque

Saudi Emir of Medina Faisal bin Salman bin Abdulaziz (centre left) and security officers inspect the site of the suicide attack

Two other bombers blew themselves up earlier Monday on opposite sides of the kingdom, which has previously been targeted by the Islamic State group of Sunni extremists.

In Shiite-dominated Qatif, on the Gulf coast, residents said a suicide bomber blew himself up outside a mosque frequented by the minority community.

Another suicide bomber stuck near the US consulate in the Red Sea city of Jeddah, injuring two security officers.

The attacker who blew himself up outside the US consulate in Jeddah has been named as Pakistani resident Abdullah Qalzar Khan.

THREE BOMBERS IN ONE DAY 8.30am - Suicide bomber detonates device near U.S. diplomatic site in the western Saudi city of Jeddah. Two reported injuries 8.30pm - Bomber targets mosque in the largely Shiite region of Qatif in the east. No reported injuries 8.50pm - Bomber attacks Prophet's Mosque in Medina. Four killed and five injured Advertisement

The possibility of coordinated, multiple attacks across different cities in Saudi Arabia on the same day underscores the threat the kingdom faces from extremists who view the Western-allied Saudi monarchy as heretics and enemies of Islam.

Saudi Arabia is part of the US-led coalition fighting the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria.

The attack in the eastern region of Qatif did not appear to cause any injuries, said resident Mohammed al-Nimr, the brother of executed Saudi Shiite cleric Nimr-al-Nimr.

He said the bomber detonated his suicide vest when most residents of the neighbourhood were at home breaking the daily Ramadan fast.

Qatif is heavily populated by Shiites, who are a minority in the Sunni-ruled kingdom. Mr al-Nimr said that near the body of a suicide bomber was a car bomb that also went off around the same time.

Earlier on Monday, the Interior Ministry said a suicide bomber had detonated his explosives when security guards approached him near the US Consulate in Jeddah.

The area by the Prophet's Mosque was packed for prayer during the final days of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which ends in the kingdom on Tuesday. Pictured: Damaged vehicles at the site of the suicide attack

The sprawling mosque where the Prophet Muhammad is buried is visited by millions of Muslims from around the world each year during pilgrimages to Mecca

The attacker died and the two security men were lightly wounded, according to the ministry statement. Some cars in the parking lot were damaged.

Interior Ministry spokesman Major General Mansour al-Turki said that guards noticed the man was acting suspiciously at an intersection on the corner of the heavily fortified consulate, near a hospital and a mosque.

The US Embassy in Saudi Arabia confirmed there were no casualties among consular staff, and said it remains in contact with Saudi authorities as they investigate.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.

The Interior Ministry did not say whether the bomber intended to target the US diplomatic compound, adding that an investigation is under way to determine his identity.

Saudi policemen stand guard at the site where a suicide bomber blew himself up in the early hours of July 4, 2016 near the American consulate in the Red Sea city of Jeddah

The state-run news channel al-Ekhbariya, quoting the Interior Ministry, said the bomber was not a Saudi citizen, but a resident of the kingdom.

There are around nine million foreigners living in Saudi Arabia, which has a total population of 30 million.

Footage aired on the channel after the attack showed crime scene investigators and police casing the area for evidence and dusting for fingerprints.

Al-Ekhbariya said security forces detonated six explosive devices found at the scene.

Recently Saudi Arabia has been a target of Islamic State attacks that have killed dozens of people. In June, the Interior Ministry reported 26 terror attacks in the kingdom in the last two years.

The US Embassy regularly advises US citizens in Saudi Arabia. In a message after the attack Monday, the embassy urged Americans to 'remain aware of their surroundings, and take extra precautions when travelling throughout the country.' It also advised citizens to 'carefully consider the risks of travelling to Saudi Arabia.'

In neighboring Kuwait on Monday, security forces said they had arrested several suspects with alleged ties to IS, including an 18-year-old man who was planning to attack a Shiite mosque in the final days of Ramadan.
Officer can be seen staggering away after car narrowly missed him

It ploughs into the Opel killing driver and two passengers,

an overtake and swerved across the road

A police officer narrowly escaped death as a car smashed straight into a parked vehicle he was standing next to in a dramatic crash that left three dead.

The man was giving directions to the driver of the blue Opel Combo van when an out of control silver Skoda Octavia ploughed across the road and into the stationary car

Video footage filmed on the dashcam of another vehicle shows the Skoda veer across two lanes and smash into the rear of the van before overturning and crashing into a wall near the Ukrainian capital city of Kiev.

Video footage filmed on the dashcam of another vehicle shows the Skoda veer across two lanes

It smashes into the rear of the van before overturning and crashing into a wall near the Ukrainian capital city of Kiev

As the cloud of dust fades the shocked officer can be seen staggering away into the road just a few feet away from the mangled wreckage of the two vehicles.

The 49-year-old driver of the Opel Combo had pulled over to ask the policeman for directions to Ukraine's second largest city of Kharkiv, 300 miles away when tragedy struck.

Witnesses said the Skoda driver lost control while overtaking and ended up swerving from the far left lane into the van parked to the right hand side of the road.

Tragically the 34-year-old Skoda driver and two passengers were killed outright while another woman was rushed to hospital with serious injuries.

The Opel driver and two female passengers were also taken to hospital for treatment.

As the cloud of dust fades the shocked officer can be seen staggering away into the road just a few feet away from the mangled wreckage of the two vehicles

Tragically the 34-year-old Skoda driver and two passengers were killed outright while another woman was rushed to hospital with serious injuries

Amazingly the police officer escaped with just a small cut on his face and a bruise on his thigh and was otherwise unhurt

The video of the horrific accident has gone viral after being uploaded on social media and local internet forums

Amazingly the police officer escaped with just a small cut on his face and a bruise on his thigh and was otherwise unhurt.

The video of the horrific accident has gone viral after being uploaded on social media and local internet forums.
A Texas high school student left homeless after the death of his mom has graduated top of his class and even won a full college scholarship.

Liyjon DeSilva was abandoned after spending years living between different relatives following his mother's death when he was just five years old.

But even while he was spending his nights sleeping in parking lots or on park benches in southwest Houston, Texas, he said he never considered missing school.

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Liyjon DeSilva, who was left homeless after the death of his mom, has graduated top of his class (pictured in his graduation gown)

The student, who spent three years living on the streets, shared a hug with his delighted principal Jonathan N. Trinh at the ceremony

'What else am I supposed to do? It was either be that or a low life, I could have thrown everything away,' he told KTLA 'I have a chance, why not just keep going?'

It would be three years before staff at Margaret Long Wisdom High School realized one of their top students was living on the streets.

Jonathan N. Trinh, the high school's principal, was shocked when he discovered that one of his students was homeless and he and the rest of his staff decided to help.

With his own money, the principal paid for DeSilva to stay in a hotel while counselor Jessica Smith who was working for 'Communities in Schools' found someone willing to let DeSilva stay at their home rent free.

With a roof over his head, DeSilva could concentrate on his studies and in May, he graduated in the top five percent of his class.

Liyjon DeSilva was just five years old when he lost his mother (pictured with him as a baby) and spent the next few years living with between different relatives until he was finally just abandoned

Even while he was spending his nights sleeping in parking lots or on park benches in southwest Houston, Texas he never considered missing school (pictured at his prom)

Teacher Jaqueta Dunn was amazed by the student's incredible work ethic despite his hardships.

'It's unusual to meet a kid who has so many challenges but still continues to push forward,' she said.

As he stepped onto stage, in his hat and gown, the 20-year-old shared a hug with his principal who helped him turn his life around.

But that was not the end of story.

He has also won a full scholarship to Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota after one of his teachers nominated DeSilva for the Posse scholarship.

The award provides a fully paid scholarship for students with 'extraordinary academic and leadership potential' who are sometimes overlooked by traditional colleges selections processes.

After such a difficult past, DeSilva said he was finally looking forward to a bright future.

After such a difficult past, DeSilva said he was finally looking forward to a bright future

Jonathan N. Trinh, the high school's principal, (left) was shocked that one of his students was homeless and personally paid for DeSilva to stay in a hotel while counselor Jessica Smith (right) found someone willing to let DeSilva stay at their home rent free

'I had no family, I was homeless, I went through child abuse, I went through family using drugs,' said the student, adding that his family had even tried to send him to Africa because 'my father didn't want me.'

'I went through some of the worst places to live.

'Where am I now, I am alive and well and blessed. I feel on top of the world.

'You give somebody that one shot, they can hit the bulls eye. Just that one shot can make the difference.'

And it seems his entire school is behind him.

'I think he knows we're all behind him and pushing for him to succeed,' said teacher Marla Morrow.

Smith has set up a crowdfunding site to help him buy materials not covered by the scholarship, such as a computer, airplane tickets and warm clothes.

'Liyjon has inspired us all with his strength and resilience,' she wrote on the page which has already raised more than $12,000.
A budget airline boss has called on the Government to cut flight taxes in half as Britain deals with the 'serious and lasting damage' caused by Brexit.

Flybe chief executive Saad Hammad said Air Passenger Duty should be slashed by 50 per cent and funded by a tax hike at the UK's major international airports.

In a letter to Chancellor George Osborne, Mr Hammad said the turmoil in the financial markets and the threat of an economic slowdown meant the cost of the levy was now a 'critical issue'.

Flybe chief executive Saad Hammad said Air Passenger Duty should be slashed by 50 per cent and funded by a tax hike at the UK's major international airports

He said the Air Passenger Duty (APD) was hindering growth and had a 'stranglehold' on regional economies.

He added: 'HM Treasury has previously argued that it cannot abolish APD given the scale of its contribution to the public finances.

'In the absence of outright abolition, Flybe firmly believes that APD could be amended in a fiscally neutral manner to deliver an economic benefit to the UK regions, a stated aim of the Government.

'This could be achieved by lowering the levy at regional airports by 50 per cent in line with what is being planned in Scotland, funding it through an increase at the large, slot-constrained airports in London such as Heathrow and Gatwick.'

Mr Hammad said the move would boost regional airports and local economies, while removing 'market distortions' and 'unfairness' to English passengers caused by the APD cuts in Scotland and Wales.

He wants to lower the levy at regional airports by 50 per cent, funding this through an increase at the large, slot-constrained airports in London such as Heathrow and Gatwick (stock image)

He added: 'A decrease in APD at regional airports would help address the disproportionate impact on the UK regions of the current APD regime whereby a typical domestic passenger can be charged up to 19 times the tax per mile of a passenger on a long-haul flight.'

He said the tax cut would also 'provide an economic incentive' for using spare runway capacity at regional airports while the UK waits for a decision on a new runway at Heathrow.

A spokesman for the Treasury, said: 'The Government is committed to making sure APD is a fair tax for airlines and passengers - that's why we've made it cheaper to fly through freezing APD for most passengers since 2012, exempting children and reducing the number of bands, meaning it's now lower for many more long-haul destinations.
Diane Bell, 50, climbed into Lamara Bell's (pictured) hospital bed and begged her 'Please don't go', four days after she was found critically injured in a car crash on the M9 last year

The mother of a woman who lay trapped next to her dead boyfriend for three days after a car crash has revealed how she cradled her daughter and begged her 'Please don't go'.

Diane Bell, 50, climbed into Lamara Bell's hospital bed and cradled her, four days after she was found critically injured next to her partner John Yuill, 28, in a crash on the M9 near Stirling on July 5 last year.

Her mother revealed that she had kissed her face and promised to look after the 25-year-old's two young children before Miss Bell died.

The grieving mother from Falkirk, had kept a four-day vigil beside her daughter.

Speaking almost a year after Miss Bell's death, she told The Mirror: 'I got in bed with Lamara. We had the covers over us.

'I had my arm around her and was kissing her face.'

Miss Bell lay undiscovered for three days after the crash as police failed to follow up a reported sighting of their car leaving the road.

She was found confused but conscious when firefighters rescued her, but died in Glasgow's Queen Elizabeth University Hospital days later. Mr Yuill was found dead at the scene.

Miss Bells brother Martin, of Falkirk, Stirlingshire, said on his Facebook page last year after the crash that his sister was definitely 100 per cent conscious when discovered and thought that she had only been in the car for minutes, rather than days.

This knowledge had fuelled the familys assertion that she may well have survived had she been found earlier.

Her brother wrote: She was able to tell them her name she added four years on to her age and told them she was 29... she did also say she was only in the car for 20 mins... And she told the fire fighter to f*** off and that is defo something my sister would say.

Miss Bell, 25, was found critically injured next to her partner John Yuill, 28, in a crash on the M9 near Stirling on July 5 last year (pictured police searching woodland where the car was found)

Her mother revealed that she had kissed her face and promised to look after the 25-year-old's two young children before Miss Bell died

They also said she was still moving around trying to get out the car but was trapped.

Miss Bell's death was shrouded in controversy as report from watchdogs highlighted 'weaknesses' in the force's call handling - as the crash was reported by a member of the public the day it happened, but only followed up three days later.

Mr Yuill (pictured), 28, is believed to have died on impact in the devastating crash

Police had been conducting a missing persons search in the meantime, appealing for information on the couples whereabouts after a camping trip.

Later that month it emerged that Police Scotland had called Miss Bells phone nine days after she died, leaving her a voicemail message.

Ms Bell said those at fault for the delayed response to reports of the wrecked car needed to take responsability and be found 'accountable'.

She added: 'I believe 100 per cent that she would still be here if the police had got to her sooner.'

A senior officer had visited the family to apologise for the mistake that saw a constable leave the message on July 21, saying: Lamara, we are looking to speak to your sister Rebecca [in reality her cousin]. if you have seen her, can you give us a call back.

HM Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland (HMICS) was charged with carrying out an urgent review of procedures following her death last year.

HM Inspector of Constabulary Derek Penman said staffing levels at the Bilston Glen contact, command and control centre - where the initial call regarding the fatal crash was received - were insufficient and had resulted in 'low levels of performance'.

Lee Burt, the father of Lamara's son Kieran, and the boy's grandfather, slammed the reports findings, insisting it 'delivers a damning indictment on Police Scotland's call handling processes.'

In a statement released by lawyer Aamer Anwar, they said: 'Lamara Bell was not an isolated incident, despite what they wanted everyone to believe.

Miss Bell lay undiscovered for three days after the crash as police failed to follow up a reported sighting of their car leaving the road (pictured a hearse carrying the coffin of Lamara Bell at her funeral last year)

Miss Bell's death was shrouded in controversy as report from watchdogs highlighted 'weaknesses' in the force's call handling (pictured junction 9 on the M9 where the car went off the road)

'It is clear that Police Scotland was not ready for national changes in call handling but went ahead despite concerns for safety and introduced 'unacceptably high levels of pressure' on staff.

'Of course human error is inevitable, but the fact that Police Scotland does not even have "systematic processes for recording adverse incidents or near misses" suggests a dangerously cavalier approach to such incidents.

'Sadly it took Lamara's death to expose a systemic crisis at the heart of the call handling system.'

WHY DID POLICE TAKE SO LONG TO DISCOVER TRAGIC COUPLE? Sunday early hours: Miss Bell and Mr Yuill vanished from camp site where they were staying with friends Sunday late morning: A car crash is reported to Police Scotland at Junction 9 on the M9 Monday: A police appeal is launched naming Miss Bell and Mr Yuill as missing Wednesday 10.50am: More than three days after the crash police discover the couple in the wreckage of the car Thursday: Miss Bell is admitted to Glasgow's Queen Elizabeth University Hospital Sunda: The 25-year-old mother-of-two dies Advertisement

They said Kieran is 'at the heart of this tragedy', describing him as boy who 'never stops speaking about his mum'.

The statement said: 'Some mornings he will wake up a happy boy because he dreamt of Lamara, but it is heart-breaking when a little boy tells you he misses his mum and the sound of laughter changes to silence.

'Kieran's family will try their best to fill his life with love but they will never be able to fill the void left by Lamara.

'The family have two primary concerns, the first is that such a catastrophe should never happen again, but second is the question of accountability.

'Police Scotland are guilty of failing communities across Scotland, whilst their approach to the complaints of call handlers can be described as at best 'ad-hoc' and at worst 'shambolic'.

'Lives still remain at risk and if the authorities genuinely care about Kieran's loss and what happened to Lamara, then they must hold to account those in the leadership of Police Scotland who appeared to have had such a reckless disregard for public safety.'

In their report, inspectors slammed Police Scotland for creating a working environment where 'weak management' and 'axed control rooms' added to an all-round bad atmosphere.
The decision to invade Iraq was made before Tony Blair publicly announced it 'but they were looking for a reason' to do it, the head of the Royal Navy at the time has said.

Admiral Lord West, who was first sea lord when the war began in March 2003, said he was told by 'some b******' to ready his forces in preparation for the conflict.

Lord West said: 'I think there had been a decision that we were going to invade Iraq, that that was going to happen, but they were looking for a reason to actually do it.'

It is not known when Admiral West, who served as a security minister in Gordon Brown's government and is now a Labour peer, was asked to prepare his forces.

The decision to invade Iraq was made before Tony Blair publicly announced it 'but they were looking for a reason' to do it, the head of the Royal Navy at the time has said

He told The House magazine: 'Of course Blair and everyone else will say, 'No, we didn't make the decision until right up to it'. You can always say that, can't you?

'But I would not have told the fleets, the Royal Navy and the Marines, to be ready for war in the northern Gulf by the end of the year.

It is not known when Admiral West, who served as a security minister in Gordon Brown's government and is now a Labour peer, was asked to prepare his forces

'I would not have sailed the Mine Counter-measures Force for the Middle East so they were in place for operations.

'You don't wake up in the morning and think that. Some b****** told me to do it. That's why I did it.

'All the people involved say, 'We hadn't made our decision right up until the UN resolution', and all these other things.

'Well, you can argue that you never make the final decision till you make your decision.

'But, actually, they'd bloody decided. That's the reality.'

He added the findings of Sir John Chilcot's report would be seized on by activists in the Momentum movement that is loyal to Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.

Sir John is due to publish his long-awaited report on the Iraq War on Wednesday. Admiral West said: 'If they find that people did certain things that were wrong, they should be exposed.

'It will be used by Momentum and people like that to say how awful these Blairites are. But I don't think it will do what we wanted it to do, which was to let people really study it to learn the lessons.
Samantha Derbyshire, 23, a former special constable who had just fulfilled her dream of becoming a full-time officer, suffered a minor collision with the central reservation of the M61

A policewoman was killed yesterday as she stepped from her damaged car after crashing on a notoriously unlit stretch of motorway only to be hit by a lorry.

Samantha Derbyshire, 23, a former special constable who had just fulfilled her dream of becoming a full-time officer, suffered a minor collision with the central reservation of the M61 near Bolton.

But when she climbed out of her Ford Fiesta to inspect the damage, she was hit by an HGV coming up behind and suffered fatal injuries.

The accident happened on a stretch of motorway where a coroner and police have previously urged Highways England to install street lamps.

Last night her devastated family paid tribute as police chiefs said it was a tragedy that she had died before she had the chance to serve her community.

In a statement, her family said: Sam was our fun loving, beautiful, amazing daughter, sister, granddaughter, and niece.

She was also such a funny, clever and amazing friend but also a fantastic, enthusiastic Special Constable which she worked so hard to achieve. She was so proud of this and loved it.

She had recently been informed that she had passed her entry tests and had been accepted to join GMP as a constable later this year.

She was so looking forward to this; it is all she has ever wanted to do.

We as a family are devastated by what has happened to Sam and couldnt be any more proud of her.

She was better than all of us and lived her life to the full every day. We will miss her greatly.

Greater Manchester Chief Constable Ian Hopkins said: First and foremost, my heartfelt condolences are with Samanthas family at this deeply distressing time and we are doing all we can to support them.

She had also recently been successful in her application to become a police officer and this mornings tragic incident means she will sadly not get the chance to fulfil her dream.

To be taken from her family and friends at such a young age is terrible and a great loss to the force; she will be greatly missed.

The accident happened on a stretch of motorway where a coroner and police have previously urged Highways England to install street lamps

Chief Inspector Mike Walmsley, of the forces Special Constabulary, said her colleagues were devastated by the loss of such a happy, dedicated and positive member of the Bolton team.

Sam was passionate about working in the police and making a real difference in the communities she loved to serve, he added.

Sam was both highly respected and liked by all who were fortunate enough to work with her.

She made her first arrest only hours into her first tour of duty and has impressed since. Sam will be greatly missed by all of us who knew her.
Wrote last month in a letter to the woman assaulted by ex Stanford University swimmer Brock Turner: 'I am filled with furious anger'

Joe Biden said in an interview published Sunday: 'Now's the time to put the pedal to the metal'

This includes the president, the vice-president and their wives as well as members of the Cabinet

Top members of the administration will not go to institutions who do not investigate allegations of sexual assault seriously

Barack Obama and Joe Biden have pledged to stop visiting universities that do not take a strong stance against sexual assault.

Their wives and members of the Cabinet will follow suit as top members of the administration boycott institutions that do not thoroughly investigate accusations of assault or do not punish perpetrators seriously, White House officials told the Washington Post Sunday.

The Vice President said in an interview with the newspaper he would like the government could 'take away their money'.

Biden wrote an emotional letter last month to the woman who was sexually assaulted by ex Stanford University swimmer Brock Turner, telling her: 'I am filled with furious anger, both that this happened to you and that our culture is still so broken.'

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Barack Obama and Joe Biden (pictured last month) have pledged to stop visiting universities that do not take a strong stance against sexual assault

The Vice President told the Washington Post in an interview published Sunday: 'Now's the time to put the pedal to the metal.'

Obama's administration launched the 'It's On Us' campaign in 2014, urging every citizen to take action against sexual assault on campus.

'An estimated one in five women has been sexually assaulted during her college years - one in five,' the President said at the time.

'Of those assaults, only 12 per cent are reported, and of those reported assaults, only a fraction of the offenders are punished.'

The White House asked survivors of sexual assault to talk to their friends honestly and openly and provided a list of additional steps, urging everyone to intervene, inquiring if someone looks like they need help, understanding that lack of consent meant rape, and never blaming the victim.

Biden talked to Obama about violence against women before the president's election in 2008, the Washington Post reported.

The vice president asked that staff to work on the issue be placed within his own office instead of the Department Of Justice.

'He said, "Okay."' He knew how strongly I felt about it,' Biden told the Washington Post.

'He always thought it was an awful abuse of power. But as his daughters grew, he became more explicitly focused on it.'

The Department Of Education is currently conducting 253 investigations at 198 higher education institutions about the ways they address sexual violence.

THE WHITE HOUSE'S GUIDELINES AGAINST SEXUAL ASSAULT ON CAMPUS Talk to your friends honestly and openly about sexual assault.

Don't just be a bystander -- if you see something, intervene in any way you can.

Trust your gut. If something looks like it might be a bad situation, it probably is.

Be direct. Ask someone who looks like they may need help if they're ok.

Get someone to help you if you see something -- enlist a friend, RA, bartender, or host to help step in.

Keep an eye on someone who has had too much to drink.

If you see someone who is too intoxicated to consent, enlist their friends to help them leave safely.

Recognize the potential danger of someone who talks about planning to target another person at a party.

Be aware if someone is deliberately trying to intoxicate, isolate, or corner someone else.

Get in the way by creating a distraction, drawing attention to the situation, or separating them.

Understand that if someone does not or cannot consent to sex, it's rape.

Never blame the victim. Source: The White House - It's On Us Advertisement
She was warned she may face a fine but said she'd pay it if it meant she could support her country on July 4

But decided to re-hang the message after the terrorist attacks in Orlando

A cafe owner has refused to take down her 'God bless America' banner after officials ordered her to remove it before July fourth.

Jennifer Aquino had asked to hang the patriotic message outside The 5 Mile Cafe, in Penfield, New York state, from Memorial Day through to Independence Day.

But she was outraged when her request was denied as it breached the town's strict banner allotment policy, Fox News reports.

The 5 Mile Cafe has refused to take down its 'God bless America' banner after the busines was ordered to remove it before July fourth

The family business owner agreed to take down the banner and hang it up inside the restaurant instead.

But after the Orlando massacre last month - the worst mass shooting in American history - the restaurateur decided to re-hang it as a patriotic show of support for the US in the face of terrorism.

'I decided on my way to work that I was going to put it up regardless of the town telling me I couldn't,' she said. 'So I put it up.'

Jennifer Aquino (pictured with husband Salvatore) had asked to hang the patriotic message outside The 5 Mile Cafe from Memorial Day through to Independence Day

Within hours she had received an email ordering her to take it down or face a possible fine for breaking the rules.

Town supervisor Tony LaFountain said Penfield restricts businesses to posting banners for a maximum of three weeks, after residents complained they were 'trashy' and were taking over the town.

But Aquino insists the rules breach her First Amendment rights and refused to remove it.

'I didn't take it down and I was willing to pay the fine,' she said. The (message on the banner) means a lot to me - especially during this time in our country with all that's going on with terrorism.'

I just can't believe that I can't have this banner up and be supported by the town board.'

It seems that many people agree.

Since posting about her experience on Facebook, The 5 Mile Cafe has been inundated with hundreds of messages of support from Americans from all over the country.

Jennifer Aquino was outraged when her request was denied by officials who told her it breached the town's strict banner allotment policy, but agreed to take down the banner and hang it up inside the restaurant instead (pictured)

But after the Orlando massacre last month - the worst mass shooting in American history - the restaurateur decided to hang it up anyway as a patriotic show of support for the US in the face of terrorism (diners outside the restaurant and its banner)

Staci Elder Hensley congratulated the family-run business for fighting for their rights.

Hensley, from Oklahoma, said: 'Bravo for standing up to the anti-American nonsense that's infected our country,' she said.

'We Okies stand with you and with our country. God bless YOU, as well as America.'

Mary Ellen Barker added: 'America supports you...not the PC police in your small town...Paint a flag on the roof, and then paint a banner on the front of the building...erect a 30 ft cross, and claim religious liberties...see what they do then!'

Aquino, who has several veterans in the family, said she was appalled that something like this could happen in the United States.

'We are very patriotic here at the cafe  all year round not just this time of year.

'I have a cousin who fought in Desert Storm so that we could have the freedom to hang a banner that says, 'God bless America.'

So far, the cafe has not received any notice of a fine. The business is planning to remove the banner after today.
A devastated family has been left homeless after a teenager accidentally burned down their home with fireworks.

Investigators told FOX News that the teen unintentionally shot fireworks into their neighbor's home in Graham Saturday night.

The fire started on the side of the home and quickly spread to the home's attic.

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A devastated family has been left homeless after a teenager accidentally burned down their home (pictured) with fireworks

Investigators said the teen unintentionally shot fireworks into their neighbor's home in Graham Saturday night. The fire started on the side of the home and quickly spread to the home's attic

'It rapidly spread, and when we got here, we had a pretty involved attic fire at the time,' Graham Fire & Rescue Assistant Fire Chief Steve Richards told the network.

The incident occurred at the home of Kathy Heller who had lived in the Pierce County, Washington, home for 15 years.

She told Fox News that after accessing the damage she'd nearly lost everything that she owned.

'The pictures that I had of my husband who passed away, all gone,' she said.

No one was at the home when it caught fire.

Heller was returning from dinner when she saw firefighters blocking her street, according to Fox.

She said she didn't think they were at her home and instead thought 'it was a neighbor's house' on fire.

'It was very scary and we had two dogs in the house but luckily our neighbors were able to kick the door in and get our dogs out.'

Graham firefighters say this could've easily been avoided, as with most fires and injuries related to fireworks.

'You don't realize it until it happens to you how really dangerous it is,' said Heller.

The incident occurred at the home of Kathy Heller who had lived in the Pierce County, Washington, home for 15 years. Heller said all of the photos she had of her late husband were destroyed. Pictured is the charred home after firefighters put out the flames

Heller was returning from dinner when she saw firefighters blocking her street. Neighbors rescued her two dogs who were in the home at the time




Two elderly Buddhist nuns have allegedly been robbed at knifepoint in a temple invasion.

The two women, aged 81 and 88, were in the sleeping quarters at the Phuoc Hue temple at Wetherill Park in Sydney's west on Monday night when two men forced their way in.

The attackers were allegedly armed with a knife and threatened the two elderly nuns.

Two elderly nuns were at the Phuoc Hue temple at Wetherill Park in Sydney's west on Monday night when two men forced their way in armed with a knife and stole charity money and an iPad

One of the men reportedly pushed the 81-year-old woman to the ground while the other attacker stole cash from the charity tin and an iPad.

The two men then fled the temple before police could arrive.

Paramedics treated both women for shock, while the 81-year-old nun has been taken to Fairfield Hospital for observation.

Detectives from Fairfield Local Area Command set up a crime scene and are still investigating.

Police are urging anyone with information to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
Theresa May has warned EU leaders she will demand a good deal for Britain if she wins the Tory leadership race.

The Home Secretary said she would insist on holding informal negotiations before triggering Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty - despite counterparts having dismissed the idea.

The tough line came as Mrs May looked set comfortably to win the first ballot of MPs - putting her on track to take over from David Cameron in No10.

She had MPs banging on the walls during hustings last night as she said Trident nuclear submarines should be renewed as soon as possible.

More than 130 MPs have now declared their support.

The pitch by her nearest rival, Andrea Leadsom, last night was described as a 'car crash' by some politicians present. One MP said some were so bored 'people were talking to each other and playing on their iPads.'

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Rivals: Theresa May, pictured today, is said to have had MPs banging on the walls during the private Tory party hustings for MPs last night, but Andrea Leadsom is said to have suffered a 'car crash' leaving bored MPs on their iPads

Clear lead: In a head to head with Andrea Leadsom Theresa May would win by 63 per cent to 31 per cent in a Tory party members vote, according to a YouGov poll for The Times

In an interview with the Evening Standard, Mrs May pointedly refused to accept the idea that negotiations could not happen before she triggered Article 50 - the formal mechanism for Brexit.

'In the European negotiations I have been involved in, you often have preliminary talks before you actually reach the formal position,' she said. 'This will be a point of discussion.'

She also signalled that she would look to include senior figures such as Michael Gove and Boris Johnson in a unity Cabinet if she wins.

'I think it is hugely important as a party that we come together ... We are not Leavers or Remainers now, we are Conservatives in Government with a job to do,' Mrs May said.

An early poll of Tory members today revealed that Mrs May is ahead of her rivals in every respect, sometimes by more than 50 percentage points.

The Conservative faithful believe she is the strongest leader, the best to negotiate Britain's EU exit and understands what it takes to win elections.

In a head to head with Andrea Leadsom she would also win by 63 per cent to 31 per cent, according to a YouGov poll for The Times.

As Tory MPs voted in the first round of the fight to succeed David Cameron, Mrs May delivered a stark warning about the nation's security. She declared in an article in the Mail that she is the candidate to keep Britain safe from so-called Islamic State.

In a direct appeal to the Tory right, she also said Trident nuclear submarines should be renewed as soon as possible to confront the growing threat posed by Russia.

In contrast, MPs thumped the walls of the committee room when Mrs May spoke to show their support.

Mr Davis said Mrs May understands the big issues with 'impressive clarity'. He decided to back her after holding talks with her and Mrs Leadsom over the weekend.

Ten Cabinet ministers and 112 MPs have now backed Theresa May (pictured) to be the next prime minister

Last night her old foe Boris Johnson dramatically announced he was backing Andrea Leadsom. In a snub to Mrs May he said her rival's financial experience was crucial.

Mrs May called on Mr Cameron, who has put most major announcements on ice, to hold a Commons vote on the nuclear deterrent within weeks.

The latest two senior ministers to sign up are Environment Secretary Liz Truss and Communities Secretary Greg Clark. The remaining four candidates can boast only three Cabinet ministers between them.

Energy minister Mrs Leadsom has moved into second place with 40 declarations. Michael Gove is struggling to pick up MPs angry at the way he knifed former leadership favourite Boris Johnson last week and is stuck on 32.

Work and Pensions Secretary Stephen Crabb is on 24, while former defence secretary Liam Fox has 13 supporters. The MP with the least votes will be eliminated tonight. Others might drop out if they perform badly.

Last night Boris Johnson (pictured) dramatically announced he was backing Andrea Leadsom and not May

The huge lead enjoyed by Mrs May led to speculation that she could 'lend' votes to other candidates in order to determine who gets through to the final ballot of Tory members.

Mrs Leadsom, who, unlike Mrs May, campaigned for Brexit, is the candidate best placed to challenge the Home Secretary.

But Mrs May's allies denied she would try to manoeuvre Mr Crabb or Mr Gove on to the final list of two names. One said: 'Theresa has no interest in those sort of games.'

Last night, an internet poll for the Conservative Home website said Mrs Leadsom had the support of 38 per cent of activists  a single point higher than Mrs May. Between them, the pair mop up 75 per cent of the vote. Mr Gove, who had topped the survey in recent months, polled 13 per cent.

Liam Fox was on 5 per cent, a point behind Stephen Crabb on 6 per cent.

Mrs Leadsom was embarrassed over the weekend after the Mail on Sunday highlighted quotes she gave to Hansard Society in 2013. She had said she was In, adding: 'I don't think the UK should leave the EU. I think it would be a disaster for our economy.'

Each of the candidates were given 15 minutes at a hustings run by the 1922 committee of backbench MPs last night.

Tory MP Mark Pritchard Tweeted: 'Scorecard (speeches) Gove (6/10), Fox (8/10), May (9/10), Crabb (7/10), Leadsom (6/10).' Mrs Leadsom's pitch to MPs was described by her rivals as a 'car crash'. She told backbenchers that she wanted to discuss three issues: 'Bankers, Brussels and babies.'

One MP accused her of rambling and said she lost the room when she 'ended up talking about the frontal cortex of a baby's brain'.

Another witness added: 'People were talking to each other and playing on their iPads.'

One cabinet minister reportedly said: 'Only four out of the five contributions we heard tonight were sane.'

Andrea Leadsom (pictured) was embarrassed over the weekend by quotes she gave to The Times in 2013, when she said: 'I don't think the UK should leave the EU'

In her Mail article Mrs May says that  unlike the other leading candidates  she has years of experience dealing with grave threats to national security.

On Trident  an issue of huge importance to Tory MPs  she says: 'When it comes to the nuclear deterrent, the national interest is clear, the Conservatives are united, and we have waited long enough.

'The House of Commons should, before the summer recess, vote on Britain's next-generation nuclear deterrent  and we should get on with getting it built.'

Holding an immediate vote on Trident would plunge Labour leader Mr Corbyn into a fresh crisis.

The majority of his MPs back the nuclear deterrent but he is likely to advocate a free vote  triggering massive new internal rows.

WHO BACKS WHO IN THE TORY LEADERSHIP CONTEST SO FAR Here are the MPs whose allegiances have been verified by the Press Association: THERESA MAY (129): Peter Aldous; Lucy Allan; Heidi Allen; Stuart Andrew; Caroline Ansell; Edward Argar; Harriett Baldwin; Guto Bebb; Richard Benyon; Sir Paul Beresford; James Berry; Andrew Bingham; Nicola Blackwood; Karen Bradley; Steve Brine; James Brokenshire; Robert Buckland; Simon Burns; Neil Carmichael; James Cartlidge; Alex Chalk; Rehman Chishti; Greg Clark; James Cleverly; Therese Coffey; Damian Collins; Tracey Crouch; Byron Davies; Mims Davies; David Davis; Caroline Dinenage; Flick Drummond; Sir Alan Duncan; Jane Ellison; Michael Ellis; Tobias Ellwood; Graham Evans; Michael Fallon; Kevin Foster; George Freeman; Mike Freer; Sir Roger Gale; Sir Edward Garnier; Mark Garnier; Nusrat Ghani; Richard Graham; Helen Grant; Chris Grayling (Proposer); Damian Green; Justine Greening (Seconder); Dominic Grieve; Andrew Griffiths; Ben Gummer; Sam Gyimah; Robert Halfon; Philip Hammond; Stephen Hammond; Matt Hancock; Richard Harrington; Greg Hands; Sir Alan Haselhurst; Oliver Heald; Peter Heaton-Jones; Damian Hinds; George Hollingbery; Kevin Hollinrake; Kris Hopkins; John Howell; Ben Howlett; Nigel Huddleston; Jeremy Hunt; Nick Hurd; Margot James; Jo Johnson; Andrew Jones; David Jones; Marcus Jones; Simon Kirby; Julian Knight; Kwasi Kwarteng; Mark Lancaster; Dr Phillip Lee; Brandon Lewis; David Mackintosh; Alan Mak; Jason McCartney; Patrick McLoughlin; Stephen Metcalfe; Maria Miller; Wendy Morton; David Mundell; Sarah Newton; Caroline Nokes; Jesse Norman; Guy Opperman; Mike Penning; Andrew Percy; Claire Perry; Stephen Phillips; Chris Philp; Sir Eric Pickles; Victoria Prentis; Mark Prisk; Mark Pritchard; Will Quince; Amber Rudd; David Rutley; Antoinette Sandbach; Grant Shapps; Alok Sharma; Alec Shelbrooke; Henry Smith; Julian Smith; Sir Nicholas Soames; Anna Soubry; Mark Spencer; Caroline Spelman; Graham Stuart; Hugo Swire; Maggie Throup; Kelly Tolhurst; Liz Truss; Robin Walker; Chris White; Craig Whittaker; Gavin Williamson; Rob Wilson; Sarah Wollaston; Nadhim Zahawi ANDREA LEADSOM (40): Steve Baker; John Baron; Julian Brazier; Andrew Bridgen; David Burrowes; Sir Bill Cash; Philip Davies; Nadine Dorries; James Duddridge; Iain Duncan Smith; Chris Heaton-Harris; James Gray; Chris Green; Gordon Henderson; Stewart Jackson; Bernard Jenkin; Boris Johnson; Tim Loughton; Charlotte Leslie; Julian Lewis; Peter Lilley; Karen Lumley; Penny Mordaunt (Proposer); Anne Marie Morris; James Morris; David Mowat; Sheryll Murray; Andrew Murrison; Owen Paterson; Neil Parish; Dan Poulter; Tom Pursglove; John Redwood; Andrew Rosindell; Bob Stewart; Michael Tomlinson; Craig Tracey; Martin Vickers; Theresa Villiers; William Wragg (Seconder) MICHAEL GOVE (25): Adam Afriyie; Sir Henry Bellingham; Nick Boles; Conor Burns; Alberto Costa; George Eustice; Michael Fabricant; Suella Fernandes; Nick Gibb; John Hayes; Andrea Jenkyns; Robert Jenrick; Daniel Kawczynski; Jack Lopresti; Andrew Mitchell; Nicky Morgan (Proposer); Bob Neill; Dominic Raab (Seconder); Jacob Rees-Mogg; Sir Desmond Swayne; Anne Marie Trevelyan; Ed Vaizey; Shailesh Vara; Angela Watkinson; John Whittingdale STEPHEN CRABB (22): Alun Cairns; Maria Caulfield; Steve Double; Philip Dunne; John Glen; Luke Hall; Simon Hart; James Heappey; Simon Hoare; Sajid Javid (Proposer); Johnny Mercer; David Morris; Mark Pawsey; Andrew Selous; Chris Skidmore; Chloe Smith (Seconder); Gary Streeter; Julian Sturdy; Edward Timpson; Craig Williams; Mike Wood;Jeremy Wright DR LIAM FOX (6): Robert Goodwill (Proposer); Sir Gerald Howarth; Scott Mann (Seconder); Paul Maynard; David Nuttall; Iain Stewart Advertisement

I'll make sure we build new Trident right now

By Theresa May

As Home Secretary, I have been the Cabinet minister responsible for counter- terrorism for the past six years. Every week, I receive a personal briefing from the director general of MI5.

I chair a weekly security meeting with representatives of all the country's security and intelligence agencies, military and police.

I am a member of the National Security Council. I am, at times of high alert, called upon to chair meetings of Cobra, the Government's committee for dealing with emergencies. And every day I am given operational intelligence briefings about threats to our national security.

Those threats are serious. The collapse of Syria led to the emergence of Islamic State, the brutal organisation that not only wants to attack Western countries but has ambitions to build a permanent, functioning terrorist state. Its intentions are well-known, but it is far from the only threat we face. There is Boko Haram in Nigeria, Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula in Yemen, similar groups operating in Libya, Al Shabaab in East Africa, and terrorist planning taking place in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Theresa May, Home Secretary, Conservative leadership candidate and Member of Parliament for Maidenhead, walks in the grounds of Houses of Parliament on July 4

With such a diverse and rapidly changing terrorist threat, I know that some people say we should question some of the received wisdom when it comes to Britain's defence and security. With the danger mainly coming from terrorist organisations, they say, the need for significant, conventional military forces has changed. With other nation states no longer the main concern, they argue, the need for Britain to retain its own nuclear deterrent is no more.

I disagree on both counts. The world has become a more dangerous place than it has been for many years, and a Conservative Government I lead will make a strong defence an important priority.

It is vital for our national interest that we maintain what is the most significant security and military capability in Europe  backed up by our commitment to spend 2 per cent of gross domestic product on defence  and that we are able to project our power around the world. In particular, it is crucial that we maintain our independent nuclear deterrent.

For while it is true that the terrorist threat has grown more serious, it does not mean we no longer face a threat from conventional enemies in the form of other nation states.

And it certainly does not mean there will be no threat from nuclear states in the coming decades.

We have all witnessed the renewed belligerence of Russia in recent years, most notoriously in the case of its illegal annexation of Crimea, and Vladimir Putin is intent upon upgrading Russia's nuclear forces. The Russian military has increased the number of nuclear exercises it conducts, while Putin threatens to base nuclear forces in the Crimea and Kaliningrad, the Russian exclave on the Baltic Sea that neighbours Poland and Lithuania.

In a direct appeal to the Tory right, she also said Trident nuclear submarines (pictured) should be renewed as soon as possible to confront the growing threat posed by Russia

North Korea also continues to defy international law with its nuclear programme. It is the only country in the world to have tested nuclear weapons in this century. Pyongyang says it has withdrawn from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, and its provocative flaunting of its nuclear capabilities is something that we should continue to worry about.

These are the reasons the Strategic Defence and Security Review  a process in which I, as Home Secretary, played an active role  concluded that there is a 'continuing risk of further proliferation of nuclear weapons' and warned that we cannot 'relax our guard' or 'rule out further shifts which would put us under grave threat'.

In the face of such strong evidence, it would be sheer madness to contemplate even for a moment giving up Britain's independent nuclear deterrent. And there is no room for compromise, and no room for cheese paring.

We need a full fleet of four submarines, capable between them of providing what the military call 'Continuous At Sea Deterrence', or permanent, around-the-clock cover.

Doing so will send an important message that, as Britain leaves the European Union, we remain committed to working alongside our Nato allies and playing our full role in the world. That is what I know the prime minister and Michael Fallon, the defence secretary, will be telling our allies when they attend the Warsaw summit this week.

A lot of parliamentary business has, for obvious reasons, been put on hold until the leadership election is complete and a new prime minister is in post.

But when it comes to the nuclear deterrent, the national interest is clear, the Conservatives are united, and we have waited long enough.
As Home Secretary, I have been the Cabinet minister responsible for counter-terrorism for the past six years. Every week, I receive a personal briefing from the director general of MI5.

I chair a weekly security meeting with representatives of all the country's security and intelligence agencies, military and police.

I am a member of the National Security Council. I am, at times of high alert, called upon to chair meetings of Cobra, the Government's committee for dealing with emergencies. And every day I am given operational intelligence briefings about threats to our national security.

Those threats are serious. The collapse of Syria led to the emergence of Islamic State, the brutal organisation that not only wants to attack Western countries but has ambitions to build a permanent, functioning terrorist state. Its intentions are well-known, but it is far from the only threat we face. There is Boko Haram in Nigeria, Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula in Yemen, similar groups operating in Libya, Al Shabaab in East Africa, and terrorist planning taking place in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Home Secretary Theresa May (pictured) explains how the world has become a more dangerous place than it has been for many years

With such a diverse and rapidly changing terrorist threat, I know that some people say we should question some of the received wisdom when it comes to Britain's defence and security. With the danger mainly coming from terrorist organisations, they say, the need for significant, conventional military forces has changed. With other nation states no longer the main concern, they argue, the need for Britain to retain its own nuclear deterrent is no more.

I disagree on both counts. The world has become a more dangerous place than it has been for many years, and a Conservative Government I lead will make a strong defence an important priority.

It is vital for our national interest that we maintain what is the most significant security and military capability in Europe  backed up by our commitment to spend 2 per cent of gross domestic product on defence  and that we are able to project our power around the world. In particular, it is crucial that we maintain our independent nuclear deterrent.

For while it is true that the terrorist threat has grown more serious, it does not mean we no longer face a threat from conventional enemies in the form of other nation states.

And it certainly does not mean there will be no threat from nuclear states in the coming decades.

We have all witnessed the renewed belligerence of Russia in recent years, most notoriously in the case of its illegal annexation of Crimea, and Vladimir Putin is intent upon upgrading Russia's nuclear forces. The Russian military has increased the number of nuclear exercises it conducts, while Putin threatens to base nuclear forces in the Crimea and Kaliningrad, the Russian exclave on the Baltic Sea that neighbours Poland and Lithuania.

North Korea also continues to defy international law with its nuclear programme. It is the only country in the world to have tested nuclear weapons in this century. Pyongyang says it has withdrawn from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, and its provocative flaunting of its nuclear capabilities is something that we should continue to worry about.

These are the reasons the Strategic Defence and Security Review  a process in which I, as Home Secretary, played an active role  concluded that there is a 'continuing risk of further proliferation of nuclear weapons' and warned that we cannot 'relax our guard' or 'rule out further shifts which would put us under grave threat'.

The Home Secretary said: 'It is vital for our national interest that we maintain what is the most significant security and military capability in Europe'

In the face of such strong evidence, it would be sheer madness to contemplate even for a moment giving up Britain's independent nuclear deterrent. And there is no room for compromise, and no room for cheese paring.

We need a full fleet of four submarines, capable between them of providing what the military call 'Continuous At Sea Deterrence', or permanent, around-the-clock cover.

Doing so will send an important message that, as Britain leaves the European Union, we remain committed to working alongside our Nato allies and playing our full role in the world. That is what I know the prime minister and Michael Fallon, the defence secretary, will be telling our allies when they attend the Warsaw summit this week.

A lot of parliamentary business has, for obvious reasons, been put on hold until the leadership election is complete and a new prime minister is in post.

But when it comes to the nuclear deterrent, the national interest is clear, the Conservatives are united, and we have waited long enough.
Home Secretary Theresa May is expected to release hers imminently

Mr Crabb earned more than 100,000 in the 12 months to April 2015

Andrea Leadsom was under more pressure to reveal her tax records

Andrea Leadsom (pictured) was under more pressure to reveal her tax records after Stephen Crabb became the second Tory leadership contender to do so

Stephen Crabb became the second Tory leadership contender to reveal his tax records last night, heaping fresh pressure on Andrea Leadsom to do the same.

The Work and Pensions Secretary's returns showed he earned just over 100,000 in the 12 months to April 2015  and overpaid 255 in tax.

The move will pile pressure on Mrs Leadsom, the Energy Minister and a former banker, who is yet to release details of her tax affairs despite facing growing questions over her complex financial arrangements.

Fellow candidate Michael Gove has released his while Home Secretary Theresa May is expected to release hers imminently.

Yesterday Iain Duncan Smith, who is backing Mrs Leadsom's leadership bid, insisted her tax returns were 'really quite boring' as she continued to resist calls to publish them in full.

Mr Duncan Smith said he had seen them and claimed she was 'not at all embarrassed' by them.

But her apparent reluctance to publish the returns immediately has raised questions over her financial affairs.

The former City banker has refused to release them to the public unless she is chosen as one of the final two MPs in the Conservative Party leadership contest.

As an MP and Minister, Mrs Leadsom is paid an annual salary of 98,740. It is not known what other earnings, if any, her tax returns show.

She is already facing questions over her finances after it emerged she set up a children's trust to hold shares in a buy-to-let firm, a tactic often used to reduce inheritance tax.

There is no suggestion she has acted unlawfully. Her spokesman said she would publish her tax return at the end of the initial stage of the Tory leadership selection process.

It is understood she has told fellow MPs they are welcome to visit her office to discuss her financial arrangements but she is apparently unwilling to release the documents more widely for fear of setting a precedent for all politicians.

Mr Duncan Smith claimed that the trust for Mrs Leadsom's children was only worth 'about 100'.

He told Radio 4's The World At One: 'We are not going to play silly games about trying to bully individuals to publish their tax returns  she said she was going to do it, she has given that commitment.

'Her door is open to fellow MPs to come and talk to her and have a look at anything they want about her tax returns right now that offer has been made... She is not at all embarrassed by them and I have to tell you they are very boring.'

Mrs Leadsom, 53, and husband Ben, 50, also a banker, set up the buy-to-let company, named Bandal Ltd, in August 2003. The couple, who have three children, were 50/50 shareholders in the firm.

The Work and Pensions Secretary Stephen Crabb (pictured) became the second Tory leadership contender to reveal his tax records

Records show they took out mortgages to buy three properties in Oxford. One was from a Channel Islands branch of Kleinwort Benson Bank Limited, a private bank specialising in wealthy clients.

In 2005 Mr and Mrs Leadsom transferred 24 shares in the company to a trust for their children. Tax experts say such arrangements are commonly used to avoid inheritance tax.

Then, in February 2014, Mrs Leadsom resigned as director of Bandal Ltd, two months before she was appointed Treasury Secretary.

That same month, the couple's eldest son Frederick was appointed director, two months after he turned 18. Mortgages on the properties were repaid in July 2014.

The Northamptonshire South MP told a local newspaper at the time: 'Bandal Ltd is a totally UK company that is eligible for tax on all its profit. There is no offshore element of Bandal Ltd and there are no tax avoidance schemes.

'I have paid tax on absolutely everything I have earned with the only exception being the year I worked for Barclays in Sydney, Australia.'

Fellow candidate Michael Gove has released his while Home Secretary Theresa May (pictured) is expected to release hers imminently

In April this year, the same month Mr and Mrs Leadsom's second son Henry turned 18, he was also made director of Bandal.

The latest accounts for the company show the business owned properties valued at 1.6m and had 440,000 cash in the bank.

The couple's own home, in Slapton, Northamptonshire, was also bought with a mortgage from Kleinwort Benson, for 1.3 million in 2007.

Mr Crabb's tax return shows he had a total income of 101,198 in the year to April 2015.
Theresa May and her supporters last night clashed with her leadership rivals over whether the 2.2million EU citizens living in the UK should be allowed to stay permanently

Theresa May and her supporters last night clashed with her leadership rivals over whether the 2.2million EU citizens living in the UK should be allowed to stay permanently.

MPs who backed Brexit  led by Mrs Mays main opponent, Andrea Leadsom  said migrants who had already settled in the UK were this countrys friends and must not be sent home.

But the Home Secretary dug in on her position that the rights of EU nations would be part of the UKs Brexit negotiations and there could be no guarantees.

Immigration minister James Brokenshire, who is a key supporter of Mrs May, said that allowing everybody to stay here could trigger a new influx ahead of Brexit being implemented.

Foreign Secretary Foreign Hammond, who is also backing Mrs May, said it would be a mistake to give a guarantee that all could stay, when the EU had not given the same commitment to the 1.2million British citizens living on the continent.

He said he hoped a deal could be struck with other EU countries so both groups of people can carry on exactly as before.

But he warned those advocating a unilateral commitment were selling our people out too cheap.

The row opened up clear water between the rival camps. Mrs Leadsom, Work and Pensions Secretary Stephen Crabb and Justice Secretary Michael Gove have all said the 2.2million EU nationals who are in the UK should have their rights protected.

Mrs Leadsom declared yesterday: I commit to immediately guaranteeing the rights of our EU friends who have already come here to live and work.

We must give them certainty - they will not be bargaining chips in our negotiations.

But Mr Brokenshire said there was a danger of a fresh surge in immigration  with EU migrants looking to get residency rights before Brexit comes into force.

He said: It has been suggested the Government could now fully guarantee EU nationals living in the UK the right to stay.

MPs who backed Brexit  led by Mrs Mays main opponent, Andrea Leadsom  said migrants who had already settled in the UK were this countrys friends and must not be sent home. Pictured: Migrants in France

This would be unwise without a parallel assurance from European governments regarding British nationals living in their countries.

Such a step might also have the unintended consequence of prompting EU immigration to the UK.

In the Commons, Mrs Mays position was attacked by MPs who campaigned for Brexit.

Labour MP Gisela Stuart, who chaired the official Vote Leave campaign during the referendum, said: People are not bargaining chips.

It is deeply, deeply offensive to assume that this is a country that retrospectively changes the rights of its citizens. It is a duty of a government to allow people to live and arrange their lives and be able to make predictions.

Tory MP Anne Main said: Nobody on the official Leave campaign raised the prospect of sending people away and deporting people.

This has been raised by the Home Secretary and it is a catastrophic error of judgment for someone who wishes to lead this country to even suggest those people who are here legally, working with families and settled, should be even part of the negotiations.

Sarah Wollaston, the Tory MP who chairs the Health Select Committee, said 55,000 NHS workers qualified elsewhere in the EU along with 80,000 members of the care sector.

She said: They need security not just now but in the long term because the workforce crisis is one of the biggest challenges facing the NHS.

The Home Secretary dug in on her position that the rights of EU nations would be part of the UKs Brexit negotiations and there could be no guarantees. Pictured: A refugee camp near Dunkirk, France

Senior Tory backbencher Andrew Tyrie said: Protecting their rights is the only ethical position that can be taken and whats more, the longer the uncertainty about this question persists the greater the risk of the economic downturn and economic consequences.

Shadow home secretary Andy Burnham attacked Mrs May for making threatening comments about the uncertain status of EU nationals following the vote to leave.

Mr Burnham, who has three children with his Dutch wife, said Mrs Mays ill- judged comments over the weekend undermined family life in Britain, including his own.

Divisions have also opened up over the issue of free movement.

Yesterday Mr Hammond  who is backing Mrs May  said there must be a trade off between controls on free movement and access to the single market.

But ex-defence secretary Liam Fox yesterday said Brexit must mean a complete end to free movement from the EU, even if that results in the UK having to leave the single market.

Ex-defence secretary Liam Fox yesterday said Brexit must mean a complete end to free movement from the EU, even if that results in the UK having to leave the single market

He said the referendum result was a verdict on free movement, adding: It is quite clear that the public rejected the concept of free movement, and that the price of including such free movement as part of a trade deal would be regarded as a betrayal by the British people.

I do not believe that you need to be in the single market to sell into the single market. And if the price of the relationship with the single market is free movement of people, its a price Im not willing to pay.

Mr Fox also said that he would seek a deal to allow EU citizens currently living in the UK to be granted full rights to remain  provided UK citizens living in Europe were also allowed to stay.
Happiness is the most common emotion felt by arrestees in America - and North Carolinians are the most carefree of them all - according to LA Criminal Defense Partners.

The law firm examined over 30,000 mugshots across America and ran them through Microsoft Cognitive Services, an online tool that can detect emotions.

It also gave a break down of which crimes yielded happy mugs.

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The most 'joyful jailbirds' are those who have been arrested for contributing to the delinquency of a minor, followed by cruelty to animals, child sexual abuse, vandalism and resisting arrest.

And the state that wins the prize for the happiest arrestees overall is North Carolina. Other perky suspected offenders included Nevada, Indiana, Maine and New York.

But while a staggering 59 per cent of arrestees appeared to be overwhelmingly happy upon being hauled in, the next most common emotion was sadness, at 21 per cent.

The saddest arrestees in America hailed from West Virginia, Montana, Idaho, Utah and Oregon.

And the top alleged crimes of sad arrestees range from cruelty to animals, driving under influence and obscenities.

Contempt is the most common emotion felt by New Jerseyans, according to the survey, while arrestees from Idaho, Oregon and Missouri were shortly behind.

Perhaps not surprisingly, the alleged crimes that prompted this emotion most were gang activity and witness tampering.

Other common emotions included fear and surprise, which were both the highest in Hawaii, disgust, which was most common in California, and anger, which is most common in Maryland.

Unusual mugshots have long been a source of interest and amusement among the general public, and not without good reason.

The Smoking Gun, a site with a well known fondness for posting the best and brightest police booking photos, compiled a run-down of the most memorable mugshots of the year previous - and there were some sights to behold.

From the girl in zombie makeup arrested twice on Halloween night to the Arkansas eye shadow enthusiast who batted blue and pink-lidded eyes at the camera after allegedly shoplifting a trove of the stuff, these suspects' photos really say it all.

But showing them all how it's done is Jeremy Meeks, who became an internet sensation after his 'criminally handsome' mugshot went viral

They are cautionary tales of what not to do when you're planning on breaking the law--like wearing an 'I love meth' t-shirt while using the drug, wearing a 'Drunk as s***' shirt while driving under the influence or selling marijuana while proclaiming 'All my friends are baked' on your person.

Perhaps what these photos are trying to tells us is to just steer clear of novelty t-shirts.

Other ways to avoid having your mug shot make it into a year's end round-up: don't being an attractive young woman, don't pose with a plastic bag over your head, and don't be Justin Beiber.

But showing them all how it's done is Jeremy Meeks, who became an internet sensation after his 'criminally handsome' mugshot went viral, with many suggesting he is the world's best looking convict.

As of March this year, Meeks, a married father-of-three, was released from jail and is currently in a transitional home where he is adjusting to life on the outside and his new-found fame.
Not many politicians leave the scene with a smile on their faces, but Nigel Farage managed it. He quit as Ukip leader yesterday and looked distinctly perky to be doing so.

Ive done my bit, he said, voice upbeat, a little lift in his toes. With a mirthful shake of the shoulders, he argued he couldnt possibly achieve more than he did with last months stunning Brexit vote.

During the referendum I said I wanted my country back. What Im saying today is, I want my life back!  and it begins right now, thank you.

Not many politicians leave the scene with a smile on their faces, but Nigel Farage managed it. He quit as Ukip leader yesterday and looked distinctly perky to be doing so

With that he skipped off Emmanuel church centres stage to shake hands with Ukip chairman Steve Crowther.

Had the hour been any later, he might have then made for the nearby Westminster Arms for a beer, but not even Brother Farage sinks pints at 10.10am. Well. Not on a Monday in early July. This is a man of stern discipline. Hed wait until at least 11am, thank you.

It was only understandable for him to try to grab himself some attention as Westminster continued to have a collective attack of the vapours. The current political upheavals are in large part thanks to Mr Farage and his underestimated Peoples Army. Theyre going to miss him.

He hinted that the pressures had at times been awful. Success had come at a cost to me and those around me, he said. Other politicians might at this point have done a lower-lip wobble and thanked their loved-ones, but Mr Farage is too English for that touchy-feely stuff.

Had the hour been any later, he might have then made for the nearby Westminster Arms for a beer, but not even Brother Farage sinks pints at 10.10am

Not that he is giving up politics entirely. He said he looked forward to helping various independence movements in Europe.

You havent seen the last country that wants to leave the EU, he said, impishness in his voice.

Fashion note: Though it was a humid day, Mr Farages long-standing press aide and smoking buddy Gawain Towler was making no concessions to the warmth.

To do so, in Towlers eyes, would have been faintly metrosexual. And so he was buttoned proudly into a three-piece country rig, the waistcoat and sturdy brogues worthy of a terrier-man on the Brecon Beacons.

Half an hour later, the press pack had decamped to a smallish room at the Cinnamon Club, a curry house round the back of Westminster Abbey.

This was where Andrea Leadsom was about to make her Tory leadership launch.

Her MP supporters included Iain Duncan Smith, Peter Lilley, John Redwood, Owen Paterson, Stewart Jackson, Steve Baker, Julian Lewis.

Also there: Tim Bell, once Mrs Thatchers bright young man, these days a more slick-haired, tobaccoey presence.

One of the Leadsom campaign banners said @andrealeadsom with a line under the real in the middle. They are presenting Energy Minister Leadsom as a rooted outsider  someone, as Defence Minister Penny Mordaunt put it, who exudes warmth and empathy and communication skills. Was she trying to suggest that Theresa May lacks those skills? I am shocked.

Mrs Leadsom went out of her way to praise George Osborne, Labour Leave campaigner Gisela Stuart and even Michael Gove (she praised his pupil-premium policy).

The one person she should perhaps also have complimented was Boris Johnson.

On the North East of England, Leadsom said: I will not forget that Sunderland was one of the first to vote for Leave. Tory activists might well warm to her

Later, in the Commons, I saw a Mrs May aide, George Hollingbery (Con, Meon Valley), sidle up to Boriss friend Kit Malthouse (Con, NW Hampshire). What a schmoozer the millionaire Hollingbery is: Polished loafers, grey socks, buttoned jacket, pink shirt, dark suntan, slicked hair and general air of raffish intrigue. A deputy chief whip in the making?

As for Mrs Leadsom, she did well, though I wish she would not start answers with the word so.

She pinched some Gove ideas about ending fat-cat excesses. She had a good riff about early intervention with sink-estate children. She was cheerful about the referendum result.
People have been making fun of a university building in Zhengzhou, China with some internet users comparing it to a toilet.

The building will house the Students Employment Centre at the North China University of Water Resources and Electric Power, reports the People's Daily Online.

The structure is a new addition to the university and has not yet been put to use.

Weird building: People have been making fun of the university's latest building saying that it looks like a toilet

Bathroom? Unfortunately the blue roof of the shed which is on top of the building doesn't help the claims

The building is home to the Students Employment Centre and is expected to open soon

The circular building has an unfortunate blue roofed shed on top which adds to the look of a toilet.

According to Chinese media, the toilet has been touted as a new state of the art space for students who will be able to enjoy plenty of sunlight in the cylindrical section of the building.

People have been discussing the building on Chinese social media site QQ.

One user wrote: 'Who is so wicked as to design a university building in the shape of a toilet? This time the CCTV pants building and this one would make a good pair!'

While another commented: 'Whatever it looks like, health and safety is most important.'

And another said: 'Oh everyone! It looks like a toilet!'

Earlier this year, China's State Council issued new guidelines on urban planning that will curb the construction of 'weird and odd shaped buildings' in the country.

However many odd shaped buildings with interesting themes still remain.

Funny building: The offices of Wuliangye Group in Yibin, who make Chinese rice wine, looks like a giant bottle

Odd: The Galaxy building sits in Beijing's ChaoYangMen district and stands out among the buildings

The Kempinski Hotel on the outskirts of Beijng is a prime example of the country's weird buildings

Sheraton Hot Spring Resort, lit up at night, in Huzhou, Zhejiang. The luxury hotel and resort has earned itself nicknames such as 'Horseshoe Hotel' and 'Doughnut Hotel'

A little out there: The golden circle building is located in Guangzhou, south China's Guangdong province

The council called for buildings to keep in line with its cultural heritage along with being economic and green.

The guidelines state that designs should match the urban landscape and embody China's national character.

In 2014, Chinese President Xi Jinping gave a speech in which he called for 'no more weird buildings' in the country.

The state council said that those who break the rules will be held accountable.

The teapot-shaped, about 130 feet tall, is part of the Wuxi Wanda Cultural Tourism City Project in east China

Known as the 'Bird's Nest', the iconic stadium was at the forefront of the 2008 Olympic Games

A building in Shenyang shaped like a giant traditional Chinese coin has been chosen as one of the world's ugliest buildings

These two buildings have gain fame in China for looking like a pair of giant trousers. On the left is the office building of China Central Television Station in Beijing, on the right is the Gate of Orient in Suzhou
German car maker BMW has announced that it is joining forces with US computer chip giant Intel and the Israeli technology firm Mobileye to develop self-driving cars.

The three companies 'are collaborating to bring solutions for highly and fully automated driving into series production by 2021,' they said in a joint statement.

The news comes amid growing interest in self-driving cars following tests over the past few years by Google and research by several major automakers.

The future of BMW could see driverless cars rolled out by 2021 in an effort to make travel 'safer and easier'. Pictured is the German car firm's i3 electric car

GERMANY'S SELF-DRIVING CARS Germany's premium auto makers are at the centre of thecountry's global reputation for meticulous engineering. But with the expected shift in focus from a car's body toits brains, the risk is that the expertise will accumulate insilicon valley or in China, rather than Germany's carmakingregions of Bavaria and Baden-Wuerttemburg. BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen's Audi are each making an effort to build a hub forautomotive software and services. They clubbed together to buydigital map maker HERE from Nokia last year to createa neutral platform where smart cars can share data on road andtraffic conditions. BMW's own recent hiring included a 200-strong digitalinnovation team in Chicago, most of whom had worked for Nokia,the Finnish mobile phone pioneer. Advertisement

'BMW, Intel and Mobileye are convinced that automated driving technologies will make travel safer and easier,' they said.

The aim of the collaboration was to develop solutions that would enable drivers not only to take their hands off the steering wheel, but also reach a stage where they could also take their eyes of the road and ultimately their mind off driving, the statement continued.

Eventually the companies plan to create fully-automated ridesharing solutions.

The final stage would then be 'driver off', or without a human driver inside.

'This establishes the opportunity for self-driving fleets by 2021 and lays the foundation for entirely new business models in a connected, mobile world,' the partners said.

While the auto industry sees self-driving cars as the way forward, US electric car company Tesla announced earlier that a driver was killed in a car crash in Florida in May while using the 'autopilot' self-driving mechanism on one of its models.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said it had opened a 'preliminary evaluation' into the performance of the autopilot function in the wake of the crash.

German carmaker BMW joined forces with US computer chip giant Intel and the Israeli technology firm to develop self-driving cars

BMW, Intel and Mobileye insisted that 'the future of automated driving promises to change lives and societies for the better.'

Nevertheless, 'the path to get to a fully autonomous world is complex and will require end-to-end solutions that integrate intelligence across the network, from door locks to the data centre.' they said.

'Transportation providers of the future must harness rapidly evolving technologies, collaborate with totally new partners, and prepare for disruptive opportunities.'
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A solar-powered spacecraft, with three special passengers onboard, is currently spinning toward Jupiter for the closest encounter with the biggest planet in our solar system.

Nasa's Juno spacecraft is set to fire its main rocket engine early tomorrow morning to slow itself down from a speed of 165,000 mph (265,000 kph) and slip into orbit around Jupiter.

Hitching a ride are three 1.5-inch Lego figures depicting the 17th century Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei, the Roman god Jupiter, and the deity's wife Juno - all made from aluminium to withstand the Jupiter's harsh environment.

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Unusually for a robotic space mission, Juno is carrying passengers - three Lego figures depicting the 17th century Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei (left), the Roman god Jupiter (right), and the deity's wife Juno (centre). Lego made the figures out of aluminium rather than the usual plastic so they could withstand the extreme conditions of space fligh

In Greek and Roman mythology, Jupiter drew a veil of clouds around himself to hide his mischief. From Mount Olympus, Juno was able to peer through the clouds and reveal Jupiter's true nature.

Juno holds a magnifying glass to signify her search for the truth, while her husband holds a lightning bolt.

The third Lego crew member is Galileo Galilei, who made several important discoveries about Jupiter. He used a telescope to confirm the phases of Venus and discovered the four largest satellites of Jupiter - named the Galilean moons in his honour.

'Of course, the minifigure Galileo has his telescope with him on the journey,' Lego said in a statement.

By drawing attention to these Lego characters, Nasa aims to inspire the next generation of spacecraft engineers by encouraging children to explore subjects such as science and technology.

But they are on a suicide mission. Juno, along with its three passengers, meets its demise in 2018 when it deliberately dives into Jupiter's atmosphere and disintegrates  a necessary sacrifice to prevent any chance of accidentally crashing into the planet's potentially habitable moons.

NASA'S JUNO MISSION The Juno probe is due to reach the gas giant on at 3.18am GMT Tuesday morning after a five-year, 1.8 billion-mile journey from Earth. It will enter a long polar orbit flying to within 3,100 miles (5,000 km) of the planet's swirling cloud tops. Once in orbit around Jupiter, Juno will skim to within just 4,200 km of the planet's clouds once a fortnight - too close to provide global coverage in a single image. The Earth-based observations supplement the suite of advanced instrumentation on the Juno spacecraft, filling in the gaps in Juno's spectral coverage and providing the wider global and temporal context to Juno's close-in observations. No previous spacecraft has orbited so close to Jupiter, although two others have been sent plunging to their destruction through its atmosphere. To complete its risky mission Juno will have to survive a circuit-frying radiation storm generated by Jupiter's powerful magnetic field. The maelstrom of high energy particles travelling at nearly the speed of light is the harshest radiation environment in the Solar System. To cope with the conditions, the spacecraft is protected with special radiation-hardened wiring and sensor shielding. Its all-important 'brain' - the spacecraft's flight computer - is housed in an armoured vault made of titanium and weighing almost 400 pounds (172kg). Juno was launched on 5 August, 2011. During more than 30 orbital flybys of the Jovian world, it will probe beneath the obscuring ammonia and hydrogen sulfide cloud cover and study the auroras to learn more about the planet's origins, structure, atmosphere and magnetosphere. Juno's name comes from Greek and Roman mythology. Jupiter, the father of the Roman gods, drew a veil of clouds around himself to hide his mischief. But his wife - the goddess Juno - was able to peer through the clouds and reveal Jupiter's true nature. Advertisement

During its mission of exploration, Juno will circle the Jovian world 37 times, soaring low over the planet's cloud tops.

With Juno on autopilot, the delicately choreographed move comes without any help from ground controllers.

If successful, scientists will for the first time be able to see what lies beneath Jupiter's atmosphere, and help unlock secrets about how the solar system formed.

Juno is travelling through a hostile radiation environment, 'but it should be able to withstand it,' said Kenny Starnes, programme manager for Lockheed Martin, which built the spacecraft.

Juno's camera and other instruments were switched off for the arrival so there won't be any pictures at the moment the spacecraft reaches its destination. Scientists have promised close-up views of Jupiter when Juno skims the cloud tops during the 20-month, $1.1 billion (828m) mission.

The fifth planet from the sun and the heftiest in the solar system, Jupiter is known as a gas giant  a ball of mainly hydrogen and helium  unlike rocky Earth and Mars.

With its billowy clouds and colourful stripes, Jupiter is an extreme world that likely formed first, shortly after the sun. Unlocking its history may hold clues to understanding how Earth and the rest of the solar system developed.

Named after the Roman god Jupiter's cloud-piercing wife, Juno is only the second mission designed to spend time at Jupiter.

Scientists are using the Hubble Space Telescope to watch Jupiter's aurora (pictured) for more than a month in the hope of trying to unravel what causes these enormous light shows. The ultraviolet and X-ray aurora on Jupiter occur continuously on the giant planet and are the size of the entire planet Earth

Juno is in a harsh radiation environment, so its delicate electronics are housed in a special titanium vault. Eventually, Juno will succumb to the intense radiation and will be commanded to plunge into Jupiter's atmosphere to avoid any collision with the planet's moons. Pictured is a 1/5 scale model size of the solar-powered Juno spacecraft

Galileo, which launched in 1989, circled Jupiter for 14 years, beaming back splendid views of the planet and its numerous moons. It uncovered signs of an ocean beneath the icy surface of Europa, considered a top target in the search for life outside Earth.

Juno's mission: To peer through Jupiter's cloud-socked atmosphere and map the interior from a unique vantage point above the poles.

Among the lingering questions: How much water exists? Is there a solid core? Why are Jupiter's southern and northern lights the brightest in the solar system?

There's also the mystery of its Great Red Spot. Recent observations by the Hubble Space Telescope revealed the centuries-old monster storm in Jupiter's atmosphere is shrinking.

The trek to Jupiter, spanning nearly five years and 1.8 billion miles (2.8 bn kilometres), took Juno on a tour of the inner solar system followed by a swing past Earth that catapulted it beyond the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.

Along the way, Juno became the first spacecraft to cruise this far out powered by the sun, beating Europe's comet-chasing Rosetta spacecraft. A trio of massive solar wings sticks out from Juno like blades from a windmill, generating 500 watts of power to run its nine instruments.

Plans called for Juno to swoop within 3,100 miles (5,000 kilometres) of Jupiter's clouds  closer than previous missions  to map the planet's gravity and magnetic fields.

Juno launched in 2011. This image shows an Atlas V rocket carrying the Juno spacecraft lifts off from Space Launch Complex-41 in Cape Canaveral, Florida. It was the first step in Juno's 1.8 billion-mile voyage to the gas giant planet, Jupiter

JUNO'S MISSION IN NUMBERS  1.8 billion miles (2.8 billion kilometres) That's the total distance travelled from launch to arrival. Juno's journey wasn't a straight shot. Because the rocket that carried Juno wasn't powerful enough to boost it directly to Jupiter, it took a longer route. It looped around the inner solar system and then swung by Earth, using our planet as a gravity slingshot to hurtle toward the outer solar system.  3,100 miles (5,000 kilometres) That's how close Juno will fly to Jupiter's cloud tops. It will pass over the poles a total of 37 times during the mission on a path that avoids the most intense radiation, before it plunges into the planet's atmosphere.  48 minutes, 19 seconds That's the time it takes for radio signals from Jupiter to reach Earth. During the encounter, Juno will fire its main engine for about a half hour to slow down. By the time ground controllers receive word that it started, the engine burn would have been completed, and if all goes as planned, Juno would be in orbit.  20 months That's how long the mission will last. Because Juno is in a harsh radiation environment, its delicate electronics are housed in a special titanium vault. Eventually, Juno will succumb to the intense radiation and will be commanded to plunge into Jupiter's atmosphere to avoid any collision with the planet's moons.  Nine Juno carries a suite of nine instruments to explore Jupiter from its interior to its atmosphere. It will map Jupiter's gravity and magnetic fields and track how much water is in the atmosphere. Its colour camera dubbed JunoCam will snap close-ups of Jupiter's swirling clouds, polar regions and shimmering southern and northern lights.  Three Three massive solar wings extend from Juno, making it the most distant solar-powered spacecraft. The panels can generate 500 watts of electricity, enough to power the instruments Advertisement

Juno is an armoured spacecraft  its computer and electronics are locked in a titanium vault to shield them from harmful radiation. Even so, Juno is expected to get blasted with radiation equal to more than 100 million dental X-rays during the mission.

Last week, stunning new images and the highest-resolution maps of Jupiter at thermal infrared wavelengths showed a glowing view of Juno's target, a week ahead of the Nasa mission's arrival at the giant planet.

The maps reveal the present-day temperatures, composition and cloud coverage within Jupiter's dynamic atmosphere, and show how giant storms, vortices and wave patterns shape the appearance of the giant planet.

The high-resolution maps and images were created from observations with the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile, using a newly-upgraded thermal imager called VISIR.

This left composite image of photographs made by Cassini on December 29, 2000 shows the Jupiter. The Great Red Spot, a fierce storm larger than Earth, can be seen. In recent years, it has been mysteriously shrinking. The right image shows a close up view of the region

Jupiter on fire! In preparation for the imminent arrival of the Juno spacecraft, astronomers used ESO's Very Large Telescope to obtain spectacular new infrared images of Jupiter using the VISIR instrument. This false-colour image was created by selecting and combining the best images obtained from many short VISIR exposures at a wavelength of 5 micrometers

The observations were taken between February and June 2016 to characterise Jupiter's atmosphere ahead of Juno's arrival.

'We used a technique called 'lucky imaging', whereby individual sharp frames are extracted from short movies of Jupiter to 'freeze' the turbulent motions of our own atmosphere, to create a stunning new image of Jupiter's cloud layers,' said Dr Leigh Fletcher of the University of Leicester.

'At this wavelength, Jupiter's clouds appear in silhouette against the deep internal glows of the planet.

WHAT ARE JUPITER'S GREAT UNKNOWNS? Water Like the sun, Jupiter is a ball of mostly hydrogen and helium. It was probably the first planet to form. Jupiter is 11 times wider than Earth and with 300 times the mass. Juno will hunt for water in Jupiter's atmosphere, which may help explain how Earth got its water. Previous spacecraft found only a trace amount in Jupiter's atmosphere, but scientists think they didn't look deep enough. Juno carries an instrument that can pierce through thick clouds to measure the water content. Great red spot A world of swirling clouds and colourful stripes, Jupiter's most prominent feature is the Great Red Spot, a fierce storm in the atmosphere larger than Earth that has lasted for centuries. In recent years, the spot has been mysteriously shrinking. Once an oval about 25,500 miles wide (41,036 kilometres) in the late 1880s, the spot shrank to its smallest observed size in 2014  the shape of a circle about 10,250 miles across (16,495 kilometres). Juno will study how deep into the atmosphere the Great Red Spot extends in an effort to understand what may happen next to Jupiter's trademark. Auroras Earth's dazzling southern and northern lights are dim compared to Jupiter's auroras, the brightest in the solar system. Earth's polar lights are triggered by solar storms, which occur when a cloud of gas from the sun slams into the planet's magnetic field. Jupiter's powerful auroras are sparked by the planet's own rotation. Jupiter is the fastest-spinning planet in the solar system, taking just 10 hours to complete a rotation. As Jupiter spins, it drags its magnetic field around with it. Juno will observe the light show and learn about the driving forces behind it. Polar regions The first peek of Jupiter's poles came in 1974 when Pioneer 11 flew by en route to Saturn. Juno will get a more detailed look by passing over Jupiter's polar regions. During the next year, the spacecraft will circle Jupiter 37 times from pole to pole  a path that will cover the whole planet. At its closest approach, Juno will skim within 3,100 miles (5,000 kilometres) of Jupiter's cloud tops. Advertisement

'Images of this quality will provide the global context for Juno's close-up views of the planet at the same wavelength.'

Dr Fletcher and his team have also used the TEXES spectrograph on NASA's Infrared Telescope Facility (IRTF) in Hawaii regularly to map Jupiter's changing appearance.

The team made observations at many different wavelengths, optimised for different features and cloud layers in Jupiter's atmosphere, to create the first global spectral maps of Jupiter taken from Earth.

'These maps will help set the scene for what Juno will witness in the coming months.

'We have seen new weather phenomena that have been active on Jupiter throughout 2016.

Juno carries a suite of nine instruments to explore Jupiter from its interior to its atmosphere. It will map Jupiter's gravity and magnetic fields and track how much water is in the atmosphere

This view compares a lucky imaging view of Jupiter from VISIR (left) at infrared wavelengths with a very sharp amateur image in visible light from about the same time (right)

These include a widening of one of the brown belts just north of the equator, which has spawned wave patterns throughout the northern hemisphere, both in the cloud layers and high above in the planet's stratosphere,' said Dr Fletcher from the University of Leicester's Department of Physics and Astronomy.

'Observations at different wavelengths across the infrared spectrum allow us to piece together a three dimensional picture of how energy and material are transported upwards through the atmosphere.'

Both sets of observations were made as part of a campaign using several telescopes in Hawaii and Chile, as well as contributions from amateur astronomers around the world, to understand Jupiter's climate ahead of Juno's arrival.

Jupiter's powerful magnetosphere extends up to two million miles into the space around the planet (illustrated) and is thought to be responsible for sending charged particles in the space around it hurtling at high speeds towards the poles

The huge aurora on Jupiter (pictured) are thought to be caused by solar particles and volcanic debris in the space around the giant planet being accelerated towards the poles by its powerful magnetic field

The ground-based campaign in support of Juno is led by Dr Glenn Orton of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Once in orbit around Jupiter, Juno will skim to within just 3,100 miles (5,000 km) above Jupiter's clouds once a fortnight - too close to provide global coverage in a single image.

The Earth-based observations supplement the suite of advanced instrumentation on the Juno spacecraft, filling in the gaps in Juno's spectral coverage and providing the wider global and temporal context to Juno's close-in observations.

'The combined efforts of an international team of amateur and professional astronomers have provided us with an incredibly rich dataset over the past eight months,' said Dr Orton.

'Together with the new results from Juno, this dataset will allow researchers to characterise Jupiter's global thermal structure, cloud cover and distribution of gaseous species.

False color images generated from VLT observations in February and March 2016, showing two different faces of Jupiter. The bluer areas are cold and cloud-free, the orange areas are warm and cloudy, more colorless bright regions are warm and cloud-free, and dark regions are cold and cloudy (such as the Great Red Spot and the prominent ovals). The wave pattern over the North Equatorial Band shows up in orange.

We can then hope to answer questions like what drives Jupiter's atmospheric changes, and how the weather we see is connected to processes hidden deep within the planet.'

No previous spacecraft has orbited so close to Jupiter, although two others have been sent plunging to their destruction through its atmosphere. To complete its risky mission Juno will have to survive a circuit-frying radiation storm generated by Jupiter's powerful magnetic field.

The maelstrom of high energy particles travelling at nearly the speed of light is one of the harshest radiation environments in the Solar System.

To cope with the conditions, Juno is protected with special radiation-hardened wiring and sensor shielding and its all-important 'brain' - the spacecraft's flight computer - is housed in an armoured vault made of titanium and weighing almost 400 pounds (172kg).

Dr Scott Bolton, Juno's principal investigator from Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, US, said: 'We are not looking for trouble, we are looking for data.

'Problem is, at Jupiter, looking for the kind of data Juno is looking for, you have to go in the kind of neighbourhoods where you could find trouble pretty quick.'

Juno will study Jupiter's composition, gravitational and magnetic field, and search for clues about the planet's formation and the source of its raging winds, which can reach speeds of 384 mph (618 kph).

It will also deliver stunning colour photos via its JunoCam camera, which has a wide field of view geared for panoramic images.

To provide electrical power, the spacecraft carries three huge solar panels, each 29ft long and almost 9ft wide.

The previous record for a close approach to Jupiter was set by the American space agency Nasa's Pioneer 11 spacecraft which passed by the planet at a distance of 27,000 miles (43,000 km) in 1974.

Only one previous spacecraft, Galileo, which visited Jupiter and its moons from 1995 to 2003, has orbited the planet.

Galileo made wide orbits at distances of hundreds of thousands of kilometres that kept it out of serious danger from the radiation, although it suffered a number of technical 'anomalies'.

JUPITER'S GIANT AURORA Jupiter's auroras were first discovered by the Voyager 1 spacecraft in 1979. A thin ring of light on Jupiter's nightside looked like a stretched-out version of our own auroras on Earth. But later, astronomers discovered the auroras were best visible in the ultraviolet. Scientists also discovered the planet has X-ray aurora too. Jupiter's aurora are larger than our entire planet and unlike those on Earth, occur almost continuously. This suggests that the mechanism causing this light show is different from that on Earth. While Earth's Northern and Southern lights are triggered by energetic particles from the sun slamming into gas atoms high in the atmosphere, Jupiter appears to have another source. Scientists believe its powerful magnetic field accellerates charged particles from the space around it towards its poles, to cause similar interactions. The volcanic moon Io spews oxygen and sulfur ions into Jupiter's spinning magnetic field, which sends them hurtling towards the planet below. Upon entering the atmosphere, their electrons are first stripped away by molecules they run into, but as they slow down they start grabbing electrons back. The 'charge exchange reaction' produces intense X-ray auroras. Yet scientists have been baffled as to how Jupiter's magnetic field accelerates these particles. Advertisement

The spacecraft sent a small probe on a one-way trip through the clouds of Jupiter, and was eventually itself crashed onto the planet at the end of its mission.

As a further safeguard, Juno is programmed to follow a long orbital path that avoids Jupiter's radiation belts as much as possible.

Despite these measures, the probe is not expected to last much longer than its planned lifespan of 20 months. At the end of he mission, Nasa plans to send the probe headlong into the Jovian atmosphere to collect as much data as possible.

Chief radiation monitoring investigator Heidi Becker, from Nasa's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, said: 'Over the course of the mission, the highest energy electrons will penetrate the vault, creating a spray of secondary photons and particles.

'The constant bombardment will break the atomic bonds in Juno's electronics.'

Juno was launched into space by an Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on August 5, 2011. The mission is part of Nasa's New Frontiers programme of robotic space missions which last year saw the New Horizons probe obtain close up views of dwarf planet Pluto

A plaque dedicated to Galileo and provided by the Italian Space Agency is also on board.

Measuring 2.8 ins (7.1 cm) across, it shows a portrait of Galileo and a text penned by the astronomer in January 1610 while observing Jupiter's four largest moons - later to be known as the Galilean moons.

Juno was launched into space by an Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on August 5, 2011.
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Battlefields of the future could enable armies to respond quickly to threats by growing unmanned aircraft in the field.

In a futuristic vision of warfare, British defence firm BAE Systems has described its plans for a radical new concept for developing new prototypes of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).

Called the Chemputer, its developers claim the concept could provide a significant advantage by slashing production times from years to just a matter of weeks.

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Grow your own drones: British defence firm BAE Systems has announced its plans to develop a 'Chemputer' in which prototypes could be 'grown' rapidly (concept illustrated). The firm, which is working with researchers at the University of Glasgow, says the production process could potentially slash the time it takes to develop novel unmanned vehicles to a matter of weeks

GROWING DRONES IN VATS The 'Chemputer' could provide a significant advantage by slashing production times from years to a matter of weeks. Advanced chemical engineering processes would see small-scale drones and components produced in large vats. Advertisement

According to the firm, advanced chemical engineering processes would see small-scale UAVs produced in vats, which could rapidly speed up the time it takes for components to form.

An animation visualising the Chemputer shows vats of blue liquid in which parts are grown from crude materials, before the finished product  a complex drone  emerges at the end of the cycle on a production line.

While still in the concept phase, BAE is working with researchers at the University of Glasgow to develop the design, headed by Professor Lee Cronin, from the universitys school of chemistry.

Details of the concept are minimal, with little in existence to compare the concept with, but it would effectively take rapid prototyping of 3D printing to a new level, with BAE claiming it could speed up 'evolutionary processes and chemical reactions'.

Professor Nick Colosimo, a BAE Systems global engineering fellow, said: The world of military and civil aircraft is constantly evolving and it's been exciting to work with scientists and engineers outside BAE Systems and to consider how some unique British technologies could tackle the military threats of the future.

An animation visualising the Chemputer shows vats of blue liquid in which parts are grown from crude materials, before the finished product  a complex drone  emerges at the end of the cycle on a production line. The first step of the process would involve the injection of crude materials into the vat (illustrated)

BAE claims that the Chemputer would work by 'speeding up evolutionary processes and chemical reactions', with the raw materials transforming from an amorphous blob (left) to a complex structure (right)

While still in the concept phase, BAE is working with researchers at the University of Glasgow to develop the Chemputer (illustrated), headed by Professor Lee Cronin, from the universitys school of chemistry

Professor Cronin added: This is a very exciting time in the development of chemistry. We have been developing routes to digitize synthetic and materials chemistry and at some point in the future hope to assemble complex objects in a machine from the bottom up, or with minimal human assistance.

Creating small aircraft would be very challenging but Im confident that creative thinking and convergent digital technologies will eventually lead to the digital programming of complex chemical and material systems.

Ahead of next week's Farnborough International Airshow, BAE has also revealed its aspirations for super fast rapid reaction aircraft which could travel at hypersonic speeds.

The British firm has already invested more than 20 million ($26 million) in Reaction Engines Limited, the company developing the rocket engines for the futuristic Sabre aircraft.

According to BAE, these engines could be used for a wide range of applications, including faster commercial aircraft as well as reducing the costs associated with reaching space.

It says that military aircraft flying at speeds of Mach 5.0 would be able to reach crisis situations in a fraction of the time of current jets by travelling high above the Earths surface.

The concept but would effectively take rapid prototyping of 3D printing to a new level, giving armies a tactical advantage in the field

By 'growing' the main components of UAVs in the Chemputers, armies could have a rapid production line where they simply install the more complex components (such as an engine or guidance and targeting systems) before the vehicles are launched into the field (right)

Such large scale rapid production would enable armies to respond rapidly to emerging threats, giving them a tactical advantage

BAE has also revealed its aspirations for super fast rapid reaction aircraft which could travel at hypersonic speeds (illustrated)

The defence firm says that military aircraft flying at speeds of Mach 5.0 would be able to reach crisis situations in a fraction of the time (illustrated left) of current jets by travelling high above the Earths surface (pictured right)
The deepest parts of the ocean are so different to the surface that they are home to a host of unusual and mysterious creatures.

One of these alien-like creatures has come to light recently, in a video filmed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

A 'ghost' fish has been caught on camera, marking the first time a fish in the Aphyonidae family has been seen alive.

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A 'ghost' fish has been caught on camera, marking the first time a fish in the Aphyonidae family has been seen alive. Video of the fish was captured during an expedition on NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer to explore the unknown and poorly known areas deep waters of the Mariana Trench

THE WORLD'S DEEPEST TRENCH The Mariana Trench is the deepest part of the world's oceans located in the western Pacific Ocean, to the east of the Mariana Islands. The trench is 1,580 miles (2,550 km) long but has an average width of only 43 miles (69 km). The distance between the surface of the ocean and the trench's deepest point, the Challenger Deep is nearly 7 miles (11 km). Director James Cameron became the first solo diver to reach the bottom of Challenger Deep in 2012. Advertisement

The video of the fish was captured during an expedition on NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer to explore the unknown and poorly known areas deep waters of the Mariana Trench.

The Mariana Trench is the deepest part of the world's oceans.

In an average person's home or office, the atmospheric pressure is about 14.7 pounds per square inch (101 kPa) but at the bottom of the Mariana Trench, it is more than 16,000 PSI (110,000 kPa).

The pale fish looks almost like an alien creature with its yellow eyes.

'This is the first time a fish in this family has ever been seen alive,' said Bruce Mundy, fishery biologist with the NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service. 'This is really an unusual sighting.'

Seen while exploring a ridge feature at a depth of around 8,200 feet (2,500 metres), the fish measured about 0.3 feet (10 centimetres) long.

It is in the same order (Ophidiiformes) as cusk eels, but belongs to a distinct family (Aphyonidae).

According to the experts, this is the first time that a fish in the family Aphyonidae has ever been seen alive.

Seen while exploring a ridge feature at a depth of around 8,200 feet (2,500 metres), the fish measured about 0.3 feet (10 centimetres) long. The alien-like fish reminded some workers at the NOAA of a character from fantasy films

LIFE IN THE TRENCHES Ocean trenches are some of the most hostile habitats on earth. Pressure is more than 1,000 times that on the surface, and the water temperature is just above freezing. No sunlight penetrates the deepest ocean trenches, making photosynthesis impossible. Organisms that live in ocean trenches have evolved with unusual adaptations to thrive in these cold, dark canyons. In general, life in dark ocean trenches is isolated and slow-moving. In December 2014 a new record was set for the deepest fish ever seen in the world, at an incredible depth of 26,722ft (8,145 metres). The snailfish was found at the bottom of the Mariana Trench, and broke the previous record by almost 1,640ft (500 metres). Advertisement

The sighting was not only exciting because it was the first time the fish has been seen alive, but also because it provides the first evidence this family of fish is a bottom-feeding family, the researchers said.

This means the animal feeds on or near the bottom of a body of water.

Whether or not this family is bottom-feeding has been a source of argument in past.

'Some of us working with fish have wish lists, you know, a sort of bucket list of what we might want to see,' Mr Mundy added.

'And a fish in this family was probably first on those lists for a lot of us.'

The alien-like fish reminded some workers at the NOAA of a character from fantasy films.

'Our interns think that the fish looks like Falkor, the dragon from the Neverending Story,' one of the video's narrators, a NOAA scientist, says.

The Neverending Story was a German fantasy novel by Michael Ende that was first published in 1979, then subsequently made into several films.

Some viewers noted it seemed like a fish version of the ghost octopus seen during an expedition this February.

The Mariana Trench is the deepest part of the world's oceans. It is located in the western Pacific Ocean, to the east of the Mariana Islands. The trench is about 1,580 miles (2,550 km) long but has an average width of just 43 miles (69 km)

Some interns at NOAA said the fish (left) looks like Falkor, the dragon from the Neverending Story (film prop pictured right). The Neverending Story was a German fantasy novel by Michael Ende that was first published in 1979, then subsequently made into several films

Unlike most cephalopods, the little octopus found by the NOAA Deep Discoverer lacked pigment, making it ghostlike and mysterious, and every bit adorable.

The discovery was made during the first operational dive of Okeanos Explorer's 2016 season on February 27.

Researchers planned to collect geological samples from the Necker Ridge in order to determine its possible connection with Necker Island (Mokumanamana).

But, during its mission, the remotely operated vehicle called Deep Discoverer found something extraordinary  a small octopus sitting on a rock.
The International Space Station orbits the Earth at a height of 250 miles (400km).

Anyone can get a glimpse of the station, which is visible to the naked eye when skies are clear, as it passes above Earth.

But new pictures show the ISS from a different angle - looking down from above.

Scroll down for see the space station's location

Can you see it? The International Space Station is hidden in the clouds as it orbits the Earth at a height of 250 miles (400km). Picture was taken by Nasa's Landsat 8 satellite, which orbits at a height of 428 miles (705 km) above Earth, 178 miles (286km) above the ISS

RARE ISS UNDERFLIGHTS The satellite happened to be orbiting above the same part of the planet as the ISS on 19 June, when the images were taken, which does not happen often. 'On average ISS underflights seem to happen a few times a year,' said Michael Gartley, a scientist at Rochester Institute of Technology. Other underpasses in the Landsat 8 archive have occurred this year on April 17, February 23, last year on May 1 and July 4, and in 2013 on June 27 and May 3. Advertisement

The pictures that make up the moving image shown below were taken by Nasa's Landsat 8 satellite.

Landsat 8 orbits at around 428 miles (705 km) above Earth, 178 miles (286km) above the ISS.

The satellite happened to be orbiting above the same part of the planet as the ISS on 19 June, when the images were taken, which does not happen often.

'On average ISS underflights seem to happen a few times a year,' said Professor Michael Gartley, a scientist at Rochester Institute of Technology.

Other underpasses in the Landsat 8 archive have occurred this year on April 17, February 23, last year on May 1 and July 4, and in 2013 on June 27 and May 3.

Landsat 8, which launched in 2013, is a more advanced version of the previous satellites and is able to capture a greater array of light, including deep blue and infrared.

The eight images that make up the moving image were all taken looking at different parts of the electromagnetic spectrum.

The first image in the sequence depicts the satellite's high-resolution observations of blue and green light.

The second depicts blue light, third is violet, fourth is near infrared, fifth is red light, sixth is green and the seventh is shortwave infrared while the eighth is a different band of shortwave infrared.

The International Space Station orbits the Earth at a height of 250 miles (400km). Anyone can get a glimpse of the station, which is visible to the naked eye when skies are clear, as it passes above our heads. But new pictures show the ISS from a different angle - looking down from above

The image was taken as the space station and satellite both passed over the state of Odisha in eastern India, shown on map

STATS AND FACTS: THE ISS Construction of the ISS began on 20 November 1998. It supports a crew of up to six, with crews split into groups of three. The station orbits at a height of about 255 miles (410km). It has a total mass of about 990,000 pounds (450,000kg) and has living space roughly equivalent to a five-bedroom house. It completes an orbit of Earth every 92.91 minutes and moves at 17,100 miles (27,600km) per hour. It has now been in space for more than 5,900 days, during which time it has completed more than 92,000 orbits of Earth, and has been continuously occupied for more than 13 years. Advertisement

The offsets, or motion, in each image is due to the relative speed of the two spacecraft, the altitude of Landsat 8, and the fact the images were taken at slightly different times.

'[Earth-observing satellites] present an unlikely tool for aiding the space situational awareness community in their task of monitoring the growing population of low-Earth orbit space objects,' Professor Gartley said.

'Although the frequency of underflights of space objects is low, the resulting signatures can provide well-calibrated location information.'

The Landsat 8 is not the only satellite capable of capturing this type of image.

The Landsat 7 and 5 satellites have caught glimpses of the ISS in the past, while the Advanced Land Imager (ALI) on the EO-1 satellite has a design that makes it possible to image the underflights of orbiting spacecraft.

Professor Gartley has also developed an algorithm that systematically searches the archive of ALI imagery for underflights, and he is currently working on a similar algorithm for the Landsat 8 archive.

Construction of the ISS began on 20 November 1998. It supports a crew of up to six, with crews split into groups of three. The station orbits at a height of about 255 miles (410km)

An artist's impression of the Landsat 8 satellite orbiting Earth. Google explained that the 8th in the line of satellites captures images with greater detail and truer colours, as well as capturing more images each day than its predecessor

CAN YOU SPOT THE STATION FROM YOUR CITY? The space station is normally visible to the naked eye with clear skies, letting anyone sneak a peek at ISS. Nasa's 'Spot the Station' website tells people when the ISS will be able to be seen from their own city, how long it should be visible and at what point in the sky. The website tells people when the ISS will be able to be seen from their own city, how long it should be visible and at what point in the sky. Use the module below or visit the website to see when the ISS will be visible for you Advertisement

Earlier this year an image taken from the space station showed just how tiny the Earth  and everything in it  can appear from the astronauts' point of view.

The photograph was taken 250 miles (400km) above Earth, and showed a single aircraft flying just above the Great Exuma Island in the Bahamas.

The aircraft is so small that it can only be seen when zooming in, shown as a white silhouette against the blue ocean.

The plane was not the target of the image. Instead, the astronaut wanted to capture the small island cays in the Bahamas and the prominent tidal channels cutting between them.

Can you spot it? This image taken by an astronaut on the ISS shows an aircraft passing over the Great Exuma Island in the Bahamas

The plane can be seen in the boxed area in this image. The astronaut originally wanted to capture the small island cays in the Bahamas and the prominent tidal channels cutting between them
Finding the perfectly ripe pear has always been as much instinct as science.

Often, the only real way to be sure was to take a bite  a kind of fruit Russian roulette.

The jeopardy results from the fact a pear can quickly go from rock hard to sweet and juicy and then a watery mush in a matter of days.

Now food scientists believe they have come up with a technique to guarantee perfectly ripe pears.

Finding the perfectly ripe pear has always been as much instinct as science. Often, the only real way to be sure was to take a bite  a kind of fruit Russian roulette. Now food scientists believe they have come up with a technique to guarantee perfectly ripe pears.

HOW DOES IT WORK? Ripening occurs in fruit when starches are converted into sugar. When apples are picked commercially a substance called SmartFresh is applied to hold them in a state of suspended animation. The synthetic compound works by preventing the ripening gas ethylene from working, which in turn stops starch being converted into sugar. Professor Amit Dhingra, who works in the department of horticulture at Washington State University in the US, is using this same solution with pears, but he has gone a step further and found a way to reverse it. The key is to wash them in a solution that first stalls the ripening process and then, when they are wanted, a fog containing special compounds that can turn it back on again. Advertisement

The key is to wash them in a solution that first stalls the ripening process and then, when they are wanted, a fog containing special compounds that can turn it back on again.

This control of ripening, combined with selling pears in juicy fresh slices is being promoted as a way to challenge the dominance of apples on the nation's tables.

At one time, fruit like apples, pears and strawberries were seasonal. There was a short window, a few weeks or at most months, when they came off the farm and were in their prime.

Any excess might have been processed for jams and juices or canned and frozen. A lot was simply thrown away.

However, farmers and food scientists have developed growing, storage and packaging techniques that have made a lot of fresh fruit and vegetables available 52 weeks a year.

Vast, refridgerated warehouses where the oxygen has been reduced can dramatically slow the ripening process.

The air inside packs of pre-washed salad is also modified to reduce oxygen to increase the shelf life.

Ripening occurs in fruit when starches are converted into sugar.

When apples are picked commercially a substance called SmartFresh is applied to hold them in a state of suspended animation.

The synthetic compound works by preventing the ripening gas ethylene from working, which in turn stops starch being converted into sugar.

Professor Amit Dhingra, who works in the department of horticulture at Washington State University, is using this same solution with pears, but he has gone a step further and found a way to reverse it.

He said: 'Apples that were harvested a year ago and stored in a controlled atmosphere seem as fresh as this year's crop.

The control of ripening, combined with selling pears in juicy fresh slices is being promoted as a way to challenge the dominance of apples on the nation's tables

'Getting a nicely ripened pear is harder than winning the lottery.'

Pears, unlike apples, are not ripe when picked off a tree, so when the same SmartFresh process is applied it produces a good-looking but inedible fruit.

Prof Dhingra, dubbed 'Yogi Pear' by some fruit growers, found a way to get around this after studying the pear's genome and identifying a metabolic compound that could restart the ripening process.

'What we did was mix this compound in water and soak the fruit in this water for 24 hours. Then five days later we found that the fruit had ripened beautifully,' he said.

Prof Dhingra and his team have now developed a process by which they can ripen SmartFresh treated pears en masse in a controlled food storage centre by using an ambient fog containing the new compound.

Sliced pears are seen as the most commercially viable option of introducing the fruit to the mass market after the success of sliced apples in supermarkets and fast food restaurants.

The professor has signed a partnership with US food company, Crunch Pak, which had success selling sliced apples as an alternative to fries in fast food restaurants.
Saturn's largest moon Titan is the only place in the solar system, other than Earth, where rainfall and seasonal liquids erode the landscape.

This makes it one of the most interesting worlds to study in our solar system.

Now a new paper has proven that a molecule present on Titan's surface could help prebiotic reactions occur in the moon's atmosphere.

This could make Titan an even more promising candidate for testing whether life can develop without water.

Clouds on other worlds in the solar system can reveal active cycles, like the water cycle on earth or the methane cycle on Titan. This artist's rendition shows Nasa's Huygens probe floating in a lake on Titan

MYSTERIOUS WORLD OF TITAN Titan is the Saturn's biggest moon and sixth furthest away. It's the second biggest in the solar system, only beaten by Ganymede, one of Jupiter's moons. It's often described as a planet-like moon because it is 50 per cent bigger than our moon and 80 per cent more heavy. The most exciting feature of Titan is that it has methane and ethane clouds. These clouds have formed lakes, rivers and seas of methane and ethane, and the moon has a climate including wind and rain. It even has seasonal weather patterns like earth. Titan's methane cycle is like earth's water cycle, but at a much lower temperature. Advertisement

When astronomers hunt for alien life, one of the ways they try to distinguish planets capable of hosting life from others is by looking in the 'habitable zone'.

This means the planet must be the right distance from its host star to be capable of hosting liquid water.

The reason scientists look for liquid water is that it is the key to life as we know it.

Worlds like Titan are too cold for liquid water to exist on the surface.

The extreme cold of the moon puts liquid water out of reach, and it is buried 31-62 miles (50100 km) below a frigid ice crust.

But some scientists are exploring the possibility of whether a different kind of life could come about on these types of places.

In a paper published today in the journal PNAS, a group of scientists modeled whether a certain type of life-giving reactions might be possible under the conditions present on Titan.

Their simulations found a polymer, called polyimine, which forms from hydrogen cyanide (HCN), could drive chemistry on the surface of the moon.

'We are postulating that the polymers form on the surface of Titan from hydrogen cyanide that has sedimented out after being made in the atmosphere,' Professor Jonathan Lunine from Cornell University in New York, co-author of the study, told MailOnline.

Worlds like Titan are too cold for liquid water to exist on the surface 9artist's impression pictured). The extreme cold of the moon puts liquid water out of reach, and it is buried 31-62 miles (50100 km) below a frigid ice crust

CAN LIFE REALLY EXIST WITHOUT WATER? A study in November 2014 argued that alien species could exist on planets that contain an exotic substance known as 'supercritical' carbon dioxide, rather than water. This type of CO2 is created when liquids and gases reach their temperature and pressure thresholds, creating a supercritical fluid that has features of both a liquid and gas. Carbon dioxide becomes supercritical when its temperature exceeds 305 degrees Kelvin (32C) and its pressure goes beyond 72.9 the standard atmosphere at sea level. On Earth, it's increasingly used in application such as dry cleaning or to sterilise medical equipment, but astrobiologists at Washington State University believe it could also be capable of sustaining life. Study co-author Professor Schulze-Makuch and his team compared enzymes in carbon dioxide and in water, and found that they were more stable in supercritical CO2. Advertisement

'Our work shows that this polymer can make structures conducive to the chemical processes leading to life, and absorbs sunlight at wavelengths of light for which Titan's thick atmosphere is fairly transparent,' Professor Lunine told MailOnline.

'This sweetens the pot for going back to Titan (after Cassini) to look for life or the chemical reactions that might be precursors for life.

'In the lakes, seas and shorelines discovered by Cassini, in the gulleys discovered by the Huygens probe that landed on Titan, some or all of the necessary chemical steps leading toward life might be underway, with polyimines playing an important part.'

'Whereas the surface pressure is similar to that of Earth, the temperature is extremely low and the dominant liquids are methane and ethane,' the authors wrote.

'This makes Titan a test case for exploring the environmental limits of prebiotic chemistry and addressing the question of whether life can develop without water.'

The authors looked at data from Nasa's Cassini-Huygens measurements from the surface and the atmosphere of the moon.

These measurements suggest HCN polymers might have developed on the surface of Titan, from products of atmospheric chemistry.

The researchers then performed simulations to test whether the presence of one of these HCN polymers would allow prebiotic reactions to occur in the moon's atmosphere.

'Using quantum mechanical calculations, we show that polyimine has interesting electronic and structural properties that could potentially facilitate prebiotic chemistry under cryogenic conditions akin to those on Titan,' the authors said.

Research by scientists at Cornell University last year, including some of the same authors on the new paper, uggested life in the universe may be abundant in more places than we thought.

The life they proposed, called an azotosome, would be composed of small organic nitrogen compounds and be capable of functioning in liquid methane temperatures of -180C (-292F).
An ultra-hot exoplanet not much larger than Earth may experience trillions of lightning flashes in just one hour.

Astronomers say the entire surface of this exoplanet, called Kepler-10b, could be made up of constantly erupting volcanoes, causing its atmosphere to be extremely electric.

Along with Kepler-10b, researchers have predicted the lightning patterns of numerous exoplanets based on observations from storms throughout the solar system, including those on Earth, Venus, Jupiter, and Saturn.

An ultra-hot exoplanet not much larger than Earth may experience trillions of lightning flashes in a span of just one hour. Astronomers say the entire surface of this exoplanet, called Kepler-10b, could be made up of constantly erupting volcanoes, causing its atmosphere to be extremely electric

WHAT THEY FOUND According to the team, planets with high volcanic activity are likely to have the largest lightning flash densities. The team considered multiple scenarios for the lightning activity at Kepler-10b, using data from the eruptions of Mount Redoubt, Alaska in 2009 and Eyjafjallajokull, Iceland, in 2010. If Kepler-10b is covered mostly in volcanoes, the researchers determined it should experience between 100 million and 2 trillion flashes in the time it takes to travel across its star. They also looked at less explosive exoplants, including the gas giant HD 189733b. This blue planet is roughly the size of Jupiter, and is thought to experience about 100,000 lightning flashes per hour. based on data from storms on Jupiter and Saturn. Advertisement

In a study published recently to the journal arXiv, researchers led by Gabriella Hodosan of the University of St Andrews, UK, investigated the occurrence of lightning on several exoplanets and brown dwarfs.

Eventually, astronomers may be able to detect radiation from these lightning bursts when the planets travel across their stars, according to New Scientist.

These objects were divided among six categories: Earth-like planets, water worlds, rocky planets with no liquid surface, Venus-like planets, giant gas planets, and brown dwarfs.

According to the team, planets with high volcanic activity are likely to have the largest lightning flash densities.

Such objects include the rocky planets Kepler-10b, described as a 'hot, tidally locked rocky super-Earth,' and 55 Cancri e.

'These planets supposedly do not have permanent liquid oceans on their surface. However, they still may host a chemically active atmosphere that forms clouds and produces lightning,' the authors wrote.

'Lightning production on these planets may also be caused by volcanic activity or electrostatic discharges caused by dust collision (e.g. in dust devils.)'

The team considered multiple scenarios for the lightning activity at these exoplanets, using data from the eruptions of Mount Redoubt, Alaska in 2009 and Eyjafjallajokull, Iceland, in 2010.

This allowed for the possibility of both high and lower flash densities.

'For example, if we assume that the surface of these planets is covered by almost constantly erupting volcanoes, the flash densities could be very high, like during the phase one of the Mt Redoubt eruption,' the authors explained.

'However, the surface is still covered by volcanoes, but they don't erupt as frequently, or the frequency of explosive eruptions is less, then a smaller flash density can be used, like during the eruptions of Eyjafjallajokull.'

According to the team, planets with high volcanic activity are likely to have the largest lightning flash densities. If Kepler-10b is covered mostly in volcanoes, the researchers determined it should experience between 100 million and 2 trillion flashes in the time it takes to travel across its star

If Kepler-10b is covered mostly in volcanoes, the researchers determined it should experience between 100 million and 2 trillion flashes in the time it takes to travel across its star.

This period, just two hours for Kepler-10b, is when astronomers are best able to study exoplanets.

The researchers also looked at less explosive exoplants, including the gas giant HD 189733b.

This blue planet is roughly the size of Jupiter, and is thought to experience about 100,000 lightning flashes per hour.

This was determined based on data from storms on Jupiter and Saturn.

Understanding lightning activity on exoplanets could help to provide clues on the possibility of life on alien worlds, according to New Scientist.

Lightning can help to form the molecules necessary for the evolution of life.
A Birmingham dad has told how his dream five-star holiday turned into a 'sickness nightmare' after his whole family was struck down by gastroenteritis.

David Wright, from Sheldon, booked the two-week trip to Le Royal Holiday Resort in Egypt with Thomas Cook.

But he immediately became concerned with hygiene at the resort after allegedly facing soiled sun loungers, discoloured swimming pool water and having drinks served in filthy glasses.

David Wright and daughters Chloe, 16, and Danielle, 12, at the Le Royal Holiday Resort in Egypt. They were struck down by gastroenteritis during their five-star break

David Wright became immediately concerned with hygiene at the resort. Pictured are allegedly soiled sun loungers the family encountered

David, his wife Tracy and daughters Chloe, 16, and Danielle, 12, began to feel unwell within just a few days of their stay.

They all later suffered symptoms including agonising abdominal pain, diarrhoea, nausea and dehydration during their break.

'It was just hideous,' said 51-year-old David.

'My main concern was obviously for the girls but Tracy and I were so ill too, it was such hard work.

'It was deeply upsetting seeing how distressed the girls were.

'It was supposed to be a lovely family holiday where we would all get to spend quality time together away from home life, but instead it was a nightmare.'

On their return from the holiday in August 2013 the family instructed lawyers at Irwin Mitchell to take action.

The legal team secured settlements for Tracy, Danielle and Chloe but Thomas Cook has so far refused to agree a pay-out to David.

The family said they suffered symptoms including agonising abdominal pain, diarrhoea, nausea and dehydration during their break at the Le Royal Holiday Resort in Egypt (pictured)

David, his wife Tracy and daughters Chloe, 16, and Danielle, 12, (pictured) began to feel unwell within just a few days of their stay

The family said that during their stay they noticed that the resort had discoloured swimming pool water

Jatinder Paul, from Irwin Mitchell, said: 'This was far from the luxury, care-free break David and his family hoped for and their distress was only heightened by their concern for each other as one-by-one they all fell ill.

'No holidaymaker expects to fall ill from a serious illness such as gastroenteritis, but David and his family expected a five-star experience at the Le Royal Holiday Resort - which had been open for just a year - and got anything but.

'It's very disappointing that after settling the cases for three of the family, Thomas Cook, is still dragging its heels as we seek to resolve David's case.

'We hope they will work with us to agree a fair settlement without the need for court.'

David and his wife Tracy said they immediately became concerned with hygiene at the resort after having drinks served in filthy glasses

The legal team secured settlements for Tracy, Danielle and Chloe but Thomas Cook has so far refused to agree a pay-out to David

A spokeswoman from Thomas Cook said: 'Nothing is more important to us than the safety and wellbeing of our customers.

'It is never our intention to disappoint our customers, and we are always concerned to hear of any sickness reported while on holiday.

'We are liaising closely with Mr Wright's solicitors and hope to reach an agreement shortly.'
A honeymoon is supposed to be one of the best holidays of your life - but it doesn't always go according to plan.

Brides and grooms have taken to confessions app Whisper to anonymously reveal disastrous and scandalous events that took place after they said 'I do'.

One woman reveals how she cheated on her husband during their break, another couple shared how they booked a prostitute and another revealed the misery of having to share their rental with their whole family.

Brides and grooms have taken to confessions app Whisper to anonymously reveal the disastrous and scandalous events that took place after they said 'I do'

One woman on the app revealed how her husband abandoned her during their honeymoon.

She said: 'My husband left me five days after our wedding... on our honeymoon in Mexico. Turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to me.'

Another revealed a similarly bad experience during a 'romantic' break.

The user wrote: 'My husband got drunk on our honeymoon and told me he never wanted to marry me. He doesn't remember saying it...'

Two users, meanwhile, revealed that sex was the last thing on the agenda of their trips.

One user said they didn't make love once during their trip and another confessed that they accidentally booked a twin room for their stay.

They wrote: 'I'm actually happy about it as it means we'll have less sex.'

Some couples enjoyed a more amorous break, however.

'My husband and I got a hooker together,' one poster confessed. And one woman said: 'I cheated on my husband on our honeymoon.'

Among the secrets shared, one woman revealed how she cheated on her husband during their break

Some honeymoon tales involved lovebirds suffering from illnesses during their stay.

'I got alcohol poisoning from rum punch and spent the whole day in hospital,' one honeymooner wrote on the confessions site.

Another posted: 'I threw my back out on our honeymoon to Hawaii. I couldn't walk. And the horrible part is I had just lost my virginity.'

And one spouse said that they came down with a cold sore and flu on their wedding day, which lasted through the entire honeymoon.

'My voice was so gone I could hardly say my vows,' they shared, in addition to another person saying they broke their toe in the pool on the first day of the holiday.

A further confession read: 'I got my period on the night of our wedding. Then on the honeymoon, we both had strep.'

One couple were forced to house their sister's family after their rental, located on the same island, almost burned down

Some occasions were ruined by family members.

One couple was forced to house their sister's family after their holiday home, located on the same island, almost burned down.

'She and her whole family (husband, two boys and our mom) moved into our rental for two days while it aired out,' they wrote.

But another said: 'I'm on my honeymoon alone with my husband... at my in-laws' vacation home. He won't have sex with me because it's his parent's house. Worst honeymoon.'

One considered divorce during the trip, and another said they stressed about their upcoming abortion

Other confessions focused on worries that couldn't be shaken off.

One considered divorce during the trip, another said they stressed about their upcoming abortion, and a groom admitted that his wife didn't realise the only reason they were in Cabo was because he gambled their budget on a pool game, but thankfully doubled it.

And it appears that the memory of the honeymoon lingered for long after the trip, as one of the confessions revealed.

'I regret getting married,' one said. 'My wife got pregnant on our honeymoon and now I can't leave.'
Two beaches in Italy are offering refunds to tourists who have booked a spot in the sun but had their day ruined by miserable weather.

The Jesolo tourist board, which oversees two beaches near Venice on Italy's Adriatic coast, is refunding guests who have booked a sun lounger - costing between 13 and 18 a day - on days which suffer hourly rainfall that exceeds 3mm between the hours of 11am and 5pm.

The campaign has been dubbed 'a tan or your money back' and hopes it can attract more visitors to Italy after it suffered its dampest June in decades.

Two beaches in Jesolo (pictured) are refunding guests who have booked a sun lounger - costing between 13 and 18 a day - on days which suffer hourly rainfall that exceeds 3mm between the hours of 11am and 5pm

But there's a catch.

Refunds are only available to customers who have booked the sun loungers in advance online, and paid a special insurance fee of 1.

The two beaches offering the deal include Oro Beach, which boasts 900 sun lounger plots, and Green Beach, which has 300.

A spokesperson for Jesolo's tourist board told local publication La Nuova Venezia: 'We are offering the service to anybody who wants to spend their holiday in Jesolo.

'We're striving to become a place where tourists from across Italy and the EU long to visit.'

According to statistics hub Revolvy, Jesolo was once hosting six million tourists per year, but numbers have since dropped to around 4.5 million due to competition from new resort towns.

Refunds are only available to customers who have booked the sun loungers (pictured) in advance online and paid a special insurance fee of 1

Nevertheless, the PR move has attracted global coverage, so the tourist board remains hopeful.

You could, of course, just dodge the online booking system, avoid the 1 just-in-case fee, and check the weather forecast yourself.
Advertisement

They may have to make a hefty withdrawal from Gringotts, but for Harry Potter fans, it'll be worth it.

This summer wannabe witches and wizards will be able to have breakfast in the Hogwarts Great Hall, courtesy of Warner Bros Studio Tour London.

The studio is hosting two Breakfast At Hogwarts events in August and says that diners will watch dawn break over the Hogwarts castle model - which took 40 people seven months to build - while enjoying an exclusive breakfast reception. It doesn't come cheap, though, with tickets costing 75.

Scroll down for video

Warner Bros Studio Tour London is hosting two spellbinding Breakfast At Hogwarts events, which includes seeing the Great Hall laden with cereal boxes of Pixie Puffs and Cheeri Owls

Magical surroundings: Wannabe witches and wizards can explore the Great Hall, which was built at the studio located in Watford

Breakfast canapes will be munched at the Hogwarts castle model, which took a team of 40 people seven months to build from scratch

After enjoying the most important meal of the day in style, guests will have the chance to access the Studio Tour before it opens to guests

However, Warner Bros is rustling up a good boozy spread - including bucks fizz, bacon brioches, mini croissants and fresh fruit kebabs. And guests will be given early access to the Studio Tour where the Great Hall will be specially dressed for breakfast as it was in the film series right down to the boxes of Pixie Puffs and Cheeri Owls on the trestle tables.

Staff members dressed in full Hogwarts uniforms will join them in the Great Hall for a complimentary souvenir photograph at the breakfast table.

After this, Potter enthusiasts will be able to explore authentic sets and discover the behind-the-scenes secrets at the studios where filming took place.

Highlights of the tour include seeing inside the cosy Gryffindor common room, Dumbledore's office, the Weasley kitchen at The Burrow and Platform 9 , which houses the original Hogwarts Express. And of course, a tankard of butterbeer is complimentary.

One of the studio tour's most recent additions is the chance for guests to step inside Harry Potters childhood home, number four Privet Drive, which will be available during the breakfast experience.

Guests will receive the perfect keepsake from the experience - complimentary souvenir photographs taken in the wizarding school's famous dining room

The boozy breakfast ticket includes the choice of bucks fizz, tea and coffee - and a selection of tasty breakfast canapes

Nibbles in the Great Hall will include bacon brioches, mini croissants and fresh fruit kebabs (left). The dining room in Watford was used for filming in the Harry Potter franchise (right)

The unique experience doesn't come cheap. Tickets will be on sale from July 6 at 10am BST on the website, costing 95pp for adults and 75pp for children

Tickets will be on sale from July 6 at 10am BST on the website, costing 95pp for adults and 75pp for children.

Only 300 are available and the Sunday events will kick start at 8.30am on August 21 and 28.

Included in the ticket price is a free souvenir guidebook and a return shuttle bus to Watford Junction.

Warner Bros. Studio Tour London  The Making of Harry Potter opened its doors on March 31, 2012.

After breakfast, Potter enthusiasts will be able to take pictures of costumes worn by the characters in the eight-film franchise

There will be an opportunity to see real sets used in the filming of the movies, such as Diagon Alley, home of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes shop

The breakfast experiences will take place on August 21 and 28 in Watford. Pictured is Mr Mullpepper's Apothecary in Diagon Alley
She's been building up to a big birthday celebration.

And it looks like Lindsay Lohan's big 3-0 party lived up to high expectations on Sunday.

The actress welcomed in her next decade with her 22-year-old rumoured fiance Egor Tarabasov and pals at a lavish and lively bash on the Greek island of Mykonos.

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Celebrations: Lindsay Lohan's big 3-0 party lived up to expectations on Sunday

The Freaky Friday child star sat on Egor's knee as she posted a video to Instagram of them singing along to Happy by Pharrell.

And no doubt she has plenty to be happy about - as he made sure it was a birthday to remember for the star.

She captioned the video: #nofilter #LILOIS30 #loveandlight peace and happiness comes with a price but you can still be strong enough and wise enough from those that teach you @leicachick to have it all.'

Party-time: The actress welcomed in her next decade with her 22-year-old rumoured fiance Egor Tarabasov and a lively bash on the Greek island of Mykonos

The @leicachick reference appears to be Jamie Lee Curtis, who played her mother in the 2003 Disney remake.

Lindsay lifts her sunglasses in the video and checks out her appearance for a few moments before making eyes at her younger man.

She looks tanned and relaxed, with long dark lashes framing her eyes.

Close couple: The Freaky Friday child star sat on Egor's knee as she posted a video to Instagram of them singing along to Happy by Pharrell

Look at me: Lindsay lifts her sunglasses in the video and checks out her appearance for a few moments before making eyes at her younger man

Who's that girl: She is transfixed by herself mometarily as she looks tanned and relaxed, with long dark lashes framing her eyes

She's happy: She captioned the video: #nofilter #LILOIS30 #loveandlight peace and happiness comes with a price but you can still be strong enough and wise enough from those that teach you @leicachick to have it all'

Eyes for you: The couple look very loved up in the short video

Good energy: They seem to be having fun together against a backdrop of wall and leaves

Her big day: She has plenty to be happy about - as Egor made sure it was a birthday to remember for the star

It's the milestone birthday she no doubt has been long looking forward to, as Jamie Lee Curtis was also seen on a screen wishing her a happy birthday.

The star also joked: 'The really good news about you getting older, is that you're so old now that you can do a remake of Freaky Friday...where you're playing the mom!'

Lindsay also received a video message from Rita Ora and was joined by pals including socialite Hofit Golan at Rakkan beach bar on the island.

Screen mum: Jamie Lee Curtis was also seen on a screen wishing her a happy birthday

Having fun: She was joined by socialite Hofit Golan at Rakkan beach bar on the island for the party

Egor - dressed entirely in white - is seen making a speech - and telling Lindsay 'you're the most important thing in my life.'

Her friends gathered to sing happy birthday to Lilo as a huge cake covered in sparklers was brought out.

She is also seen dancing on a table and smashing china plates in the style of a Greek wedding.

Practice run? Egor - dressed entirely in white - is seen making a speech

Common goals: The 22-year-old told Lindsay 'you're the most important thing in my life'

On Saturday she shared a drive with the hunk in a convertible, with her Snapchat followers.

Top down, Lindsay was in high spirits as she flashed a peace sign to the camera.

'It's my birthday!!', read the message on the video. 'God bless the world!!'

The star was surrounded by her pals, who sat in the backseat, while Egor took a seat to her right.

Take a deep breath: A huge cake covered in sparklers was brought out

Go shorty! Her friends gathered to sing happy birthday to Lilo

Egor was glued to his phone once Lindsay turned the camera to him, seemingly unaware the spotlight was focused on him for a moment.

Lindsay is now based in London with her fiance, who she has been vacationing with in recent weeks.

The couple have been virtually inseparable since meeting at a party in late 2015.

Mwah! Egor and Lindsay have been inseparable since starting dating, and are both seen here celebrating her birthday as she blows a kiss for the camera with gal pals

According to Page Six he is throwing the bash for Lindsay on the Greek island of Mykonos.

Lindsay said an interview with Vanity Fair that she is 'looking forward' to what the future holds.

'I have learned a lot over time,' she said, in the email interview. 'I am in a wonderful place in life and look forward to the near and far future and projects that I am working on.'

Asked if she had any regrets, the actress replied, 'I wouldn't call things regrets, per se.

'I cant turn back time. But if I could, I would have listened more to my mother and gone back home to N.Y.C. earlier in life and chosen my friends more wisely.'

Joyride! Lindsay Lohan looked on top of the world as she flashed a peace sign to the camera while celebrating her 30th birthday on Saturday

#nofilter #LILOIS30 #loveandlight peace and happiness comes with a price but you can still be strong enough and wise enough from those that teach you @leicachick to have it all  A video posted by Lindsay Lohan (@lindsaylohan) on Jul 3, 2016 at 9:08am PDT

Let them eat cake  @lindsaylohan #lilois30 #mykonos #whoseyourbestfiend #greeceistheword A video posted by J U L I E T A N G U S (@julietangus) on Jul 2, 2016 at 3:06pm PDT
This year's contestants on The Voice were reportedly put on an alcohol ban after engaging in scandalous behaviour, such as hooking up with one another and with crew members.

An insider spoke to this week's issue of Woman's Day magazine, and claims that the real drama has been happening away from the stage.

The source told the publication that putting the contestants together in a hotel was 'worse than high-school' and said: 'The first pair to hook up were Ellen and Nuz [from The Koi Boys].'

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Kicking things off: An insider spoke to this week's issue of Woman's Day magazine and claims that the real drama has been happening away from the stage. According to the report Ellen and Nuz have hooked up behind the scenes

The show's producers reportedly found out about the backstage antics and immediately put an alcohol ban on the contestants.

Ellen and Nuz were both single during their time on the show.

The insider also claimed that Mitch's chemistry with other contestants got him into some trouble.

Bad boy: The insider also claimed that Mitch's chemistry with other contestants got him into some trouble

Scandal: An insider claimed that: 'Things reached a head when Mitch's girlfriend rocked up to the live shows and he had to confess he'd been seeing Lexi' (Pictured)

'Things reached a head when Mitch's girlfriend rocked up to the live shows and he had to confess he'd been seeing Lexi,' claimed the insider.

Single dad Jack quickly became a fan favourite during the series with his touching story and love for his daughter.

The 22-year-old allegedly hooked-up with a crew member, although the insider claimed: 'He couldn't turn down the attention from his female fans either!'

Fan base: Single dad Jack quickly became a fan favourite during the series with his touching story and love for his daughter

Drama: The 22-year-old allegedly hooked-up with a crew member and the insider claimed 'He couldn't turn down the attention from his female fans either!' Pictured with Lexi

Since their time on the show The Koi Boys have been proudly posting snaps to their social media accounts of them with their growing fan base of females.

The contestants appear to have developed a close bond during their time on the show and regularly feature on each other's social media feeds.

In previous seasons of The Voice the drama has been mostly contained to the judges with fiery clashes between Jessie J and Delta Goodrem making headlines.

The Voice Australia grand finale will air on Channel Nine on Sunday at 7pm.
She left fans bemused back in February this year when wearing that infamous 'vagina' dress during the Oscars.

And now Sunrise presenter Edwina Bartholomew seems to have suffered another wardrobe malfunction.

The 32-year-old Channel Seven star was stoked to be sporting a glamorous pink gown from Myer on Saturday while attending the Premiers Games Appeal Dinner in Adelaide, but unfortunately the dress split 'right up the wazoo', very soon after she put it on.

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Awkward! Sunrise presenter Edwina Bartholomew suffered a wardrobe malfunction on Saturday while attending the Premiers Games Appeal Dinner in Adelaide, after her pink dress split 'right up the wazoo'

Taking to Instagram, Edwina informed her fans that she quickly had to find a replacement frock on the night, her emergency attire of choice being a sleek black dress borrowed from a Brazilian dancer.

'That moment your split, splits right up the wazoo and you have to steal a dress from a Brazilian dancer #aycurumba (sic),' the media personality wrote, next to a post showing photos of the two dresses.

She also shared a closeup snap, revealing the severity of the wardrobe malfunction.

Letting rip: Taking to Instagram, Edwina informed her fans that she quickly had to find a replacement frock on the night, her emergency attire of choice being a sleek black dress borrowed from a Brazilian dancer

Glitz and glamour: Edwina quickly slipped into this shimmering black number - pictured at the event with water polo champion Nathan Portlock

Mix and match: Edwina shared a photo the stylish accessories she had chosen to team with her pink dress

This comes after Edwina hit the red carpet the Oscars in Los Angeles back in February, in a Rachel Gilbert ice blue gown that had heads turning.

After posting images of her outfit to social media, the Sunrise reporter left her followers bemused, thanks to the unusual detailing at the front of the outfit.

One Instagram user asked: 'Nice but why is there a uterus on your dress?'

Controversial: Back in February, her Oscars dress left some social media fans bemused with many comparing the detailing on the front of her ensemble to 'a part of a female anatomy'

Mixed: The reactions varied on social media

And on Facebook one commentator wrote: 'Your face and body are to die for.... But, sorry, the thing on the dress looks like a part of a female anatomy. I know I am not the only person thinking this....'

The comment, which had attracted 196 likes at the time of publication, was followed by a user writing: 'Loose the Vajayjay and it would have been perfect.'

But not everyone saw the resemblance with one Instagram user writing: 'how does this look like a vagina????'

It appears that Edwina was unaware of the comparisons being made regarding the detailing of the dress and alongside her snap she wrote: 'Channelling Elsa from Frozen in @rachelgilbertau,' on her Instagram page.

Edwina ensemble consisted of a crepe skirt with what is described on the designer's website as 'a silk gazar sculptured detail' - which caught the eye of social media users.

While many were quick to point out Edwina's usual outfit complimented the 32-year-old on her outfit.

One Instagram fan wrote: 'Oh you look lovely - that colour is gorgeous on you!'

The Australian designer of the outfit, Rachel Gilbert, is known for creating intricate hand embellished designs for event wear as well as bridalwear.

Edwina later responded to what she has now coined 'Vajayjaygate'.

Speaking to Kyle Sandilands and Jackie 'O' Henderson on their KIIS FM radio show, she said: 'Hahaha I did know they might call it "the vagina dress" and I still wore it anyway!'

She also took to Twitter to make light of the situation.

'Vajayjaygate. Lucky I didn't put it in the middle,' she wrote to her fans.
Charlotte McKinney knows what her best assets are.

And thanks to her plunging white lace dress on Sunday, everyone else in Malibu does too.

The 22-year-old looked stunning in the short, long-sleeved number, as she shopped in the LA sun.

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Flaunt it: Charlotte McKinney shows off her fab legs and plenty of cleavage in short plunging lace dress as she celebrates July 4 weekend

The 5'7" model flashed her fab legs in a pair of tan suede cowboy-style boots.

Her only accessory was a pair of oversized shades, while she let her famous long blonde hair flow down around her shoulders.

The Floridian beauty's boyfriend, 42-year-old Stephen Dorff was nowhere to be seen; instead, she hung out with a male and a female friend.

Hot: The 22-year-old looked stunning in the short, long-sleeved number, as she shopped in the LA sun

Made for walking: The 5'7" model flashed her fab legs in a pair of tan suede cowboy-style boots

Stunner: Her only accessory was a pair of oversized shades, while she let her famous long blonde hair flow down around her shoulders

The trio shared a laugh as they chatted together and waited for the valet to return with their cars.

The couple have been dating since March of 2015, but sparked rumours they had split towards the end of the year because they had not been seen together for a number of months.

Charlotte - who shot to fame via racy Carl's Jr ad - just finished filming what will be her biggest film to date: Baywatch.

Out and about: The Floridian beauty's boyfriend, 42-year-old Stephen Dorff was nowhere to be seen

Mates: Instead she hung out with a male and a female friend

Ride: The trio shared a laugh as they chatted together and waited for the valet to return with their cars

I'll be ready: Charlotte - who shot to fame via racy Carl's Jr ad - just finished filming what will be her biggest film to date: Baywatch

She has an as-yet-disclosed role in the upcoming reboot alongside Dwayne Johnson, Zac Efron and Alexandra Daddario, as well as the original Mitch Buchannon, David Hasselhoff.

She was also spotted on the set of comedy drama Literally Right Before Aaron in Los Angeles on Monday.

That same week she debuted her new ad campaign for Guess' lingerie line on Instagram, sharing a sultry black-and-white photo.

Rising star: She has an as-yet-disclosed role in the upcoming reboot alongside Dwayne Johnson, Zac Efron and Alexandra Daddario, as well as the original Mitch Buchannon, David Hasselhoff

Sultry: The model shared a peek of her upcoming Guess lingerie adverts with fans on Instagram this week
She's among 22 beautiful women vying for the heart of Richie Strahan on the new series of The Bachelor Australia.

But swimwear designer Noni Janur certainly has an unfair advantage in the sex appeal department.

The Bali-based beauty, 25, displayed her flawless curves in a racy shoot last year for photography website Life Without Andy.

Busty: Newly-announced The Bachelor contestant Noni Janur (pictured) showed off plenty of sex appeal in a leopard print swimsuit for a racy photo shoot published last year

Noni, who hails from Queensland, looks simply stunning in the artistic photo session published online in August.

Taken six months before she filmed The Bachelor, the images show Noni posing in a leopard print swimsuit by a private pool.

The Gold Coast model also flaunts her incredible figure in a jacuzzi before cooling off under an outdoor shower.

Model behaviour: The Bali-based beauty displayed her flawless curves for website Life Without Andy in August

Steamy: Taken six months before she filmed The Bachelor, the images show Noni flaunting her curvy figure in a jacuzzi and by an outdoor swimming pool

In a handful of photos, Noni shows off her perfect bikini body in a steamy bathroom with her wet hair slicked back.

With her striking natural looks on display, she gazes dreamily at the camera as she provocatively arches her eyebrows.

Noni also flashes plenty of sideboob while standing on a diving board in her one-piece, which can barely contain her ample assets.

Meanwhile, she flaunts her very shapely derriere before diving into the pool for a mid-day swim.

Glamour: In one of the photos, Noni gazes out of the bathroom window as she offers a glimpse of sideboob

Flawless: Despite being a swimwear designer by trade, Noni is also a natural in front of the camera

Taking the plunge! Noni flaunted her very shapely derriere before diving into the pool for a mid-day swim

Over the weekend, Daily Mail Australia revealed that Noni runs her own swimwear business, Balini.

She also has an impressive 21,000 followers on Instagram, and often models her designs at the beach in Bali.

On Friday, she was spotted enjoyed a girls' night out with fellow Bachelor contestant Kirralee 'Kiki' Morris in Sydney's Double Bay.

Slippery when wet! Noni changed into a different one-piece before cooling off under an outdoor shower

Beach bum! Over the weekend, Daily Mail Australia revealed that Noni runs her own swimwear business, Balini - and also has an impressive 21,000 followers on Instagram

Reality TV fame: Noni (far right, in red dress) was recently announced as part of the Bachelor 2016 line-up
PR maven Roxy Jacenko is still adjusting to her new normal after husband Oliver Curtis was put behind bars for two years for insider trading.

But on Monday, the blonde carried on like usual as she made her way into work at her Sweaty Betty offices.

The 36-year-old took to Instagram to share her signature elevator selfie, swapping the pricey designer threads of late for activewear as she prepared for what was no doubt another busy day.

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Ready to go: PR maven Roxy Jacenko made her way into work at her Sweaty Betty offices on Monday in her activewear days after husband Oliver Curtis was sent to jail for two years for insider trading

The mother of two showcased her trim figure in Lorna Jane leggings that average around $100 and a black Theron NYC jumper - which costs $340.00 full price.

She held up her mobile phone with her The Daily Edited phone case and clutched paper in her spare hand and keys with a Louis Vuitton fluffy bag charm that cost upward of $1,000.

Posing with her aviator shades and wearing light make-up, Roxy captioned the shot: 'Casual Monday's (sic),' adding a love heart emoticon.

Glamour girl: Roxy showcased her expensive taste when she took to Instagram on Saturday with an image of herself posing inside an elevator wearing an outfit thought to be worth more than $5,000

It comes after she posed for another elevator selfie, clad in a Scanlan Theodore coat (worth $1,800), Goyard handbag (worth over $3,000), Ray Ban sunglasses (worth over $200) and The Daily Edited phone case (worth $49.45).

Roxy's husband Oliver was jailed for two years on Friday after a lengthy trial in Sydney where he was found guilty of conspiring to commit insider trading in 2007 and 2008.

Roxy was by his side throughout court proceedings, arriving at court on her husband's arm dressed in a parade of designer outfits.

Past week: Oliver Curtis was jailed for two years on Friday after a lengthy trial in Sydney where he was found guilty of conspiring to commit insider trading in 2007 and 2008

Loving wife: Roxy was by his side throughout court proceedings, arriving at court on her husband's arm dressed in a parade of designer outfits

Dedication: On Friday Roxy returned to work after her husband's sentence was handed down

On Friday, Roxy returned to work after her husband's sentence was handed down.

Oliver handed her his wedding ring, watch and a wad of $50 notes before being led away from the dock.

On Saturday, Roxy put on a brave face -no doubt for the sake of her children Pixie, four, and son Hunter, one - posing up for a cute family snap on Instagram.

Goodbye: Oliver handed Roxy his wedding ring, watch and a wad of $50 notes before being led away from the dock

Family first: On Saturday, Roxy put on a brave face - no doubt for the sake of her children Pixie, four, and son Hunter, one - posing up for a cute family snap on Instagram

The personality spoke to Domain in an interview published after Oliver went behind bars, saying her dream home would be in Los Angeles.

'Right now, Los Angeles, a city not unlike Sydney  cosmopolitan, large homes with space on big blocks and a time zone that means I can work our Sydney office hours with ease,' she said in the article published on Monday.

The Sydney-based personality first started in the housing market when she was 21.

Her dream of a big house in LA, and the lavish Woollahra pad she sold for $8 million last year, are a far cry for her very first property - a $337,000 two-bedroom flat in Double Bay.
It's been 10 days since her husband Oliver Curtis was jailed for insider trading.

And Roxy Jacenko seems to still be getting the hang of single parenting with her children Pixie, four, and Hunter, two, more interested in playing with their iPads than making chit-chat over breakfast.

The PR maven shared a snap of the two well-dressed tots in the lift to her North Bondi flat with their heads down, as they stared at the tablets.

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Breakfast buddies? Roxy Jacenko shared a snap of her two well-dressed tots Pixie and Hunter in the lift to her North Bondi flat with their heads down, as they stared at the tablets

'Breakfast buddies - clearly my small chat is rubbish if this is anything to go by...' she wrote on Instagram.

The pair are, as usual, decked out in expensive designer clothes with Hunter dressed smartly in a blue and white checked shirt and Polo Ralph Lauren sweater vest.

Pixie rocks a more casual look in a white printed T-shirt, jeans and a puffy navy blue jacket, topped off with one of her signature bows.

Cooking time: Later in the day, a photo was shared on Pixie's Instagram account showing her cooking with a pal

Average Sunday: The kids played elaborate dress up at home, Pixie sporting a huge braided blonde wig and Hunter in a Superman costume

In another photo posted to Pixie's Instagram, which Roxy controls, the kids enjoyed a day of dress ups at home - likely while their mother was hard at work.

Pixie slipped into a long white dress with colourful detailing and sported a huge braided blonde wig with a blue tiara perched on top, while making a diva-like pout face.

Hunter is dressed in a superman costume with the puzzling addition of a very floppy yellow hat, while clutching a child's toy in his right hand and the side of his pants with the other.

Hungry: Hunter was pictured sprawled on the couch eating fried food next to Roxy's laptop. the toddler pulled a face with his mouth full and held the greasy morsels in both hands

'Just your average Sunday under the watchful eye of you know who. Told Ol boy @huntercurtis14 to close his eyes and hold on tight,' Roxy wrote next to the image in Pixie's persona.

Later Hunter was pictured sprawled on the couch eating fried food next to Roxy's laptop. the toddler pulled a face with his mouth full and held the greasy morsels in both hands.

'EOFY paperwork got me like...' Roxy wrote on Hunter's Instagram.

Looking on the bright side: On Saturday Roxy shared a photo of her and her children enjoying some time together in Bondi after her husband Oliver Curtis was sent to jail

The Australian PR guru has been putting on a brave front, especially for the sake of her young children, since her husband was sentenced to two years behind bars.

Taking to Instagram on Saturday, the 36-year-old shared a photo of herself in Sydney's beach-side suburb of Bondi, as the entrepreneur spent time with her children.

'What a team !!! @huntercurtis14 @pixiecurtis (sic),' the blonde beauty captioned the outdoor snap.

The image showed the trio sitting on a balcony, with Hunter's lunch box of sandwiches and a drink bottle in sight.

Moments earlier, the mother-of-two shared a few more snaps.

Delicious spread: Earlier on the PR maven shared a photo of some freshly cooked prawns being served at celebrity chef Matt Moran's restaurant called North Bondi Fish

What a view: Another photo showed the picturesque waterfront scenery the family had the pleasure of enjoying

One was of a plate of fresh prawns, served at celebrity cheff Matt Moran's North Bondi Fish restaurant, while another showed the picturesque waterfront scenery the family had the pleasure of enjoying.

Earlier that morning, Roxy shared an image of herself posing inside an elevator wearing an outfit thought to be worth more than $5,000.

She was clad in a Scanlan Theodore coat (worth $1,800), Goyard handbag (worth over $3,000), Ray Ban sunglasses (worth over $200) and The Daily Edited phone case (worth $49.45).

Mother and son: Roxy also shared this snap of her one-year-old son Hunter holding a toy hair dryer

The post comes after Roxy's husband Oliver was jailed for two years on Friday after a lengthy trial in Sydney where he was found guilty of conspiring to commit insider trading in 2007 and 2008.

Roxy was by his side throughout court proceedings, arriving at court on her husband's arm dressed in a parade of designer outfits.

Before his sentence was handed down last week, she pleaded with the court not to jail him, giving an emotional character reference in which she described him as their children's 'primary carer'.

'Pixie and Hunter adore their dad. He's fun, tolerant, uncomplaining and loving. They screech with excitement as soon as they see him and no one else matters to them  not even me.

Fashionista: Earlier that morning, Roxy shared an image of herself posing inside an elevator wearing an outfit thought to be worth more than $5,000

'Because of my work hours, I would describe Oli as the primary carer of Pixie and Hunter.

'Oli is a kind, considerate and reliable man. I have no doubt that he will never be involved in anything like this again,' she said.

On Friday, Roxy returned to work after her husband's sentence was handed down.

Oliver handed her his wedding ring, watch and a wad of $50 notes before being led away from the dock.
Rosie O'Donnell confirmed she has sole custody of her three-year-old daughter Dakota during an 'Ask Ro' Q&A on her website Thursday.

When a fan called Cathy asked the 54-year-old comedian if she shared custody of Dax with ex-wife #2 Michelle Rounds, she replied 'I do not.'

A fan named Diane then asked the 12-time Emmy winner if the 44-year-old former executive-search consultant is out of the adopted child's life, and she replied 'Yup.'

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'Forever': Rosie O'Donnell confirmed she has sole custody of her three-year-old daughter Dakota during an 'Ask Ro' Q&A on her website Thursday

When a fan called Cathy asked the 54-year-old comedian if she shared custody of Dax with ex-wife #2 Michelle Rounds, she replied: 'I do not'

A fan named Diane then asked the 12-time Emmy winner if the 44-year-old former executive-search consultant is out of the adopted child's life, and she replied: 'Yup'

On October 21, Rounds' attorney William London told Page Six outside Manhattan Supreme Court that the warring couple agreed to 'joint legal custody' of little Dakota.

It was surprising considering Michelle had been rushed to Nyack Hospital on September 22 after overdosing on pills and alcohol in an alleged suicide attempt.

So perhaps the amendment to their custody agreement was made when Rosie and Rounds - who began dating in 2011 - officially finalized their divorce March 31.

O'Donnell, who's vowed to never wed again, captioned a seaside snap on Sunday: 'Independence feels amazing - happy july 4th #beachVACATION!'

Out of the picture: On October 21, Rounds' attorney William London told Page Six outside Manhattan Supreme Court that the warring couple agreed to 'joint legal custody' of little Dakota (pictured in 2013)

Unstable? It was surprising considering Michelle had been rushed to Nyack Hospital on September 22 after overdosing on pills and alcohol in an alleged suicide attempt

Happier times: So perhaps the amendment to their custody agreement was made when Rosie and Rounds - who began dating in 2011 - officially finalized their divorce March 31 (pictured in 2014)

O'Donnell, who's vowed to never wed again, captioned a seaside snap on Sunday: 'Independence feels amazing - happy july 4th #beachVACATION!'

The Hillary Clinton supporter is also on holiday with her four children with first wife Kelli Carpenter - Vivienne, 13, Chelsea, 18, Parker, 21, and Blake, 16.

Rosie - born Roseann - will next compete on The Match Game hosted by Alec Baldwin, which airs Sunday at 10pm on ABC.

The former talk show host will likely reprise her role as foster care worker Rita Hendricks on the fourth season of The Fosters, which resumes July 11 on ABC Family.

Chelsea's back! The Hillary Clinton supporter is also on holiday with her four children with first wife Kelli Carpenter - Vivienne, 13, Chelsea, 18, Parker, 21, and Blake, 16

'Tonight!' Rosie - born Roseann - will next compete on The Match Game hosted by Alec Baldwin, which airs Sunday at 10pm on ABC
They're veterans when it comes to strutting their stuff on the red carpet.

So it was no surprise to see Petra Nemcova, Jennifer Garner and Naomi Campbell putting their collective best foot forward at the amFAR dinner in Paris.

Braving the rain on Sunday night, the three women all opted for black frocks as they attended the star-studded party in the French capital.

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Shimmering into view: Petra Nemcova pulled out all the stops for her evening out at the amFAR dinner in Paris, on Sunday

Back in black: Also braving the rain on Sunday night were Jennifer Garner and Naomi Campbell, and it seems all three women were on the same wave-length as they opted for black frocks

Petra, 37, made sure she brought a sprinkle of glitz to the affair in her sparkling black ball gown.

Slipping into a daring black dress, which featured cutaway panel detailing on the front, the Czech model managed to inject a edge of raciness into a classic evening staple.

And thanks to the sequinned ball gown's form-fitting design the model was able to flaunt her incredible figure to the max, whilst still retaining a restrained and graceful air.

She accessorised her look subtly with a sparkling necklace, a muted black watch and a tiny metallic clutch.

Wearing her blonde locks loose and in a sweeping mass of gentle teased waves, the Happy Hearts founder allowed her hair to spill down over one shoulder.

Jennifer, 44, opted for a dress in a similar vain to Petra's, and chose an asymmetrical gown that clung to her slender curves.

Showing some skin: Petra, 37, made sure she brought a sprinkle of glitz to the affair in her sparkling black ball gown, which featured cutaway panel detailing on the front

Symmetry is overrated: Jennifer, 44, opted for a dress in a similar vain to Petra's, and chose an asymmetrical gown that clung to her slender curves

Featuring a sweeping low-cut neckline, the ALIAS star exposed more than a hint of her decolletage, whilst also showing a flash of cleavage.

Adding a pair of black stilettos to her look, the mother-of-three defined and accentuated her figure in the form-fitting number.

She accecorised her look as befitting a Hollywood A-Lister, and wore a glittering diamond statement necklace draped delicately around her neck.

Sparkling on the night: The movie star (pictured with Donatella Versace) accecorised her look as befitting a Hollywood A-Lister, and wore a glittering diamond statement necklace draped delicately around her neck

A youthful look: Naomi meanwhile went for a slightly racier take on black tie chic, and wore a racy see-through mini dress

Naomi meanwhile went for a slightly racier take on black tie chic, and wore a racy see-through mini dress.

Featuring semi-sheered, layered panel design, the Streatham-born icon's thigh-grazing number allowed her to show off her incredible figure and lithe pins to the max.

Rounding her outfit off, the stunning model wore a pair of plain black stilettos, whilst she subtly accessorised her look with a dainty few pieces of jewellery.

Wearing her long chestnut locks loose and around her shoulders, the model's choppy fringe helped to highlight and frame her every youthful features.

Fashionista supreme: Donatella wore a pink fitted gown which featured a thigh-high slash up the middle

Princess chic: Shanina Shaik looked to have taken some fairy tale inspiration for her frock

Slick Rick: Adrian Brody went for a quirky twist on a classic tailored look, and wore patent black jackboots with his dark two piece suit

Contrasting looks: Anna Cleveland (L) and Olivia Palermo (R) both put on leggy displays, but opted for contrasting frocks
Former Biggest Loser Australia contestant-turned-host Fiona Falkiner has been soaking up the sun while globetrotting everywhere from America to Greece.

And while in Thailand, the blonde beauty stripped off yet again to a black string bikini on Sunday.

Posing poolside, the 33-year-old flaunted her ample curves as she enjoyed a sunset while staying at the Santosa Detox and Wellness Center.

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If you've got it, flaunt it! Former Biggest Loser Australia contestant-turned-host Fiona Falkiner flaunted her ample curves in Thailand stripping to a bikini on Sunday

Posing near the pool's glass railing, Fiona's silhouette sizzled in the fading light.

The blonde beauty had pulled her hair back off her face into a high bun and sported a smile on her face.

The personality kept her caption blank and instead just used a water emoticon.

Documenting her trip: At the weekend, Fiona also posed fora selfie in Phuket, wearing a black top with a multi-coloured halter neck bikini underneath

At the weekend, Fiona also posed for a selfie in Phuket, wearing a black top with a multi-coloured halter neck bikini underneath.

She wrote alongside the image: 'Tides out.'

While there, she's also kept up her workout routine, including heading to the gym and enjoying meditation.

She shared on Instagram what her workout mantra is, saying she likes to be healthy and fit.

'I don't focus on perfection I focus on being strong and healthy, no one is perfect! Just be the best you you can be.'

Working up a sweat: While there, the TV persoanlity also kept up her workout routine, including heading to the gym and enjoying meditation

Fiona - who shed an impressive 30 kgs in 2006 on The Biggest Loser Australia- has been travelling in recent months.

She has enjoyed time in the US, including in New York and also in The UK's London.

The star also went to Italy's Amalfi coast, Germany and the Greek Islands.

Beach babe: Fiona - who shed an impressive 30 kgs in 2006 on The Biggest Loser Australia- has been travelling in recent months
Like their famous model daughters, Yvonne Tozzi and Sharron Bingle have formed a close friendship growing up together in Sydney's South.

And as the pair both relishing in becoming grandmothers, Yvonne has cheekily admitted she is already matchmaking for her granddaughter, Echo, and Sharon's grandson, Rocket Zot.

Appearing together on The Morning Show Monday, Tahnya and Cheyenne Tozzi's mother told co-host Kylie Gillies in her mind, 'They're already married off.'

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Matchmaking: Yvonne Tozzi (right) joked about planning to marry off her new granddaughter Echo with Sharron Bingle's (left) grandson Rocket Zot, as the lifelong friends appeared on The Morning Show on Monday

Sharon was sat beside her and said with a laugh: 'I never thought about that actually!'

Co-host Larry Emdur joined in on the fun and jokingly said: 'King and Queen of The Shire! That's what'll happen down there.'

Kylie went on to ask them about them about their new roles as grandmothers but both women admitted it has been hard because their grandchildren don't live close to home.

New roles: The show's co-hosts Kylie Gillies and Larry Emdur went on to ask them about life as grandmothers but both women admitted it has been hard because their grandchildren don't live close to home

Doting: Yvonne said: 'Well unfortunately like with Sharron, the kids, they aren't living in Cronulla, they're not basing themselves here'

Yvonne said: 'Well unfortunately like with Sharron, the kids, they aren't living in Cronulla, they're not basing themselves here.

'You know our dream of walking the kids in the pram along the esplanade, and doing that, might have to be put on hold for a while but it will happen.'

Her eldest daughter, Tahyna Tozzi, 30, gave birth to her daughter Echo Isolde Macmanus on the 5th of May this year.

This is the first child for Tahyna and her partner Tristan McManus.

Proud mother: Her eldest daughter, Tahyna Tozzi, 30, gave birth to her daughter Echo Isolde Macmanus on the 5th of May this year

Baby bliss: Meanwhile, Sharon's daughter Lara recently announced that she is expecting her second child with husband Sam Worthington. Pictured with son Rocket Zot who was born in 2015

Meanwhile, Sharon's daughter Lara recently announced that she is expecting her second child with husband Sam Worthington.

The couple welcomed their first child together, Rocket Zot in March 2015 after keeping her pregnancy under wraps for several months.

Lara and Sam were married in 2014 and relocated to the US in the same year, basing themselves in New York.
Dianna Agron looked ladylike in her pastel-yellow floral frock while attending Paris Fashion Week at the Hotel de la Paiva on Sunday.

Stylist Samantha McMillen also dressed the 30-year-old SAG Award winner in a patterned tweed coat, gold clutch, and silver peep-toe heels.

As usual, the McQueen thespian kept her make-up minimal and wore her ombre locks in waves as she sat on a carpet with High-Rise starlet Stacy Martin.

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More spring than summer: Dianna Agron looked ladylike in her pastel-yellow floral frock while attending Paris Fashion Week at the Hotel de la Paiva on Sunday

Joining Dianna and the 25-year-old Miu Miu model at the Miu Miu Club and Croisiere 2017 collection presentation was The Path actress Emma Greenwell.

The three-time Grammy nominee prominently showcased her four to six-carat diamond engagement ring valued around $100K from fiance Winston Marshall.

It's unclear when she and the 27-year-old Mumford & Sons rocker will wed, but they're celebrating their first anniversary this month.

Winston's two-time Grammy-winning British band will next perform Sunday night at Openair St. Gallen Festival in Switzerland.

Fashionista in France: Stylist Samantha McMillen also dressed the 30-year-old SAG Award winner in a patterned tweed coat, gold clutch, and silver peep-toe heels

Who needs chairs? As usual, the McQueen thespian kept her make-up minimal and wore her ombre locks in waves as she sat on a carpet with High-Rise starlet Stacy Martin (R)

Talented trio: Joining Dianna and the 25-year-old Miu Miu model at the Miu Miu Club and Croisiere 2017 collection presentation was The Path actress Emma Greenwell (R)

Mellow yellow: The three-time Grammy nominee prominently showcased her four to six-carat diamond engagement ring valued around $100K from fiance Winston Marshall

Agron last spoke out June 13 the day after the Orlando mass shooting, which left 49 dead and 53 injured.

'I do not consider owning a gun to be a part of our natural born heritage,' the Glee alum - who boasts 4.7M followers - wrote.

'We need more regulations, more understanding, more compassion, more love, less fear, less prejudice, more love, more love and more love. Teach the beauty of kindness, of understanding, of just, fair thinking. I have never been so frustrated with the state of our beautiful country.'

Bride and groom-to-be: It's unclear when she and the 27-year-old Mumford & Sons rocker will wed, but they're celebrating their first anniversary this month (pictured April 29)

On tour: Winston's two-time Grammy-winning British band will next perform Sunday night at Openair St. Gallen Festival in Switzerland (pictured January 29)

'I do not consider owning a gun to be a part of our natural born heritage': Agron last spoke out June 13 the day after the Orlando mass shooting, which left 49 dead and 53 injured

Dianna has four films scheduled for release this year.

The Georgia-born blonde will next play former CIA operative Tess Chandler in Headlock alongside Andy Garcia, Justin Bartha, and James Frain.

And in the sixties-set nun drama Novitiate, Agron portrays Sister Mary Grace opposite Melissa Leo and Denis O'Hare.

Four films out this year: The Glee alum will next play former CIA operative Tess Chandler in Headlock alongside Andy Garcia, Justin Bartha, and James Frain

Cloistered: And in the sixties-set nun drama Novitiate, the Georgia-born blonde portrays Sister Mary Grace opposite Melissa Leo and Denis O'Hare
Khloe Kardashian admitted she felt 'sad' and 'empty' on Sunday's episode of Keeping Up With The Kardashians after her brother Rob revealed he and Blac Chyna were expecting a baby.

Holding her head in her hands, Khloe could barely look at her brother and barely managed to grunt 'congratulations' when he told her his girlfriend was pregnant with his child.

Addressing the camera, she admitted: 'I don't know my emotions right now. I feel more empty and unresolved than anything else and I'm internally sad.'

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Good news: Rob Kardashian told his sisters Kourtney, Kim and Khloe that he was expecting a baby on Sunday's episode of Keeping Up With The Kardashians

Rob broke his baby news to his three stunned sisters after they learned via social media about his engagement while a family vacation.

After telling them about his engagement, Rob revealed he had one more piece of news and Kim, Khloe and Kourtney immediately guessed that Blac was pregnant.

'You have to understand I've been trying to do this,' a defensive Rob explained. 'This was really my decision, it really wasn't hers, on dad's grave, on everything.

Internal sadness: Khloe said she was 'internally sad' after hearing about the pregnancy

Head in hands: Kim took the news well while Khloe buried her head in her hands and offered an insincere congratulations to her brother

'She didn't want me to say anything to mom and you guys until she was three months, but I want mom and you guys involved,' Rob said.

While Kim and Kourtney offered their congratulations, Khloe continued holding her head in her hands while muttering 'congratulations' reluctantly.

Rob said: 'I'm excited. I know you guys probably feel weird. I don't expect you to be all happy but I'm sure you will eventually.

Coming clean: Rob sat down to explain the situation with his famous sisters

'She's not a bad girl at all. She's really loyal and she helps me a lot with trying to get back on track.

'I want you all a part of it because it's going to happen. There needs to be a talk between all of you guys because she's not going anywhere. She knows I'm going to be in her life, she knows you guys aren't going anywhere. I don't want it to be where y'all don't have a relationship. That's just weird.'

Kim agreed: 'Obviously things aren't going to be perfect overnight and I think we should talk.'

Good times: The eldest sibling Kourtney and Rob shared a laught together

Before breaking his baby news, Rob had sat down with Kourtney, Kim and Khloe to explain why he didn't forewarn them about his engagement.

During a tense discussion, the sisters admitted they felt hurt that they only learned the news from social media rather than from Rob directly.

Rob explained: 'I gave her the ring and then I got on the knee after. It happened spontaneously, so that's why you guys weren't in the loop because I was going to do this regardless. I just didn't know when.'

Mixed reaction: Kourtney and Khloe offered congratulations while Khloe appeared distraught

After Kim said she wished he had texted his family members to tell them the engagement reports were true, Rob fired back: 'You think I'm going to post some fake s*** just because I'm a media whore? Never in my life. It's the first time I've ever proposed to someone in my life. Why would I joke with that?

'It's a two-way street. You guys could easily have picked up the phone and called me. No I'm not going to talk to you when you guys are in a room with Tyga and on a ski trip with family members. You act like I'm supposed to just call you guys and just say ''oh this and that'' when you hate this girl.'

Kourtney told her brother: 'We're happy for you but we're allowed to be hurt that you didn't tell us, but you're also allowed to do it in your own way.'

Family meeting: Kourtney absorbed what Rob was saying about the family

Kim added: 'We see that you're happy and that's all that matters to us really.'

Khloe, however, still seemed unimpressed by her brother's news and, calling her mother in Dubai, said: 'There's nothing we can do. What's done is done.'

Kris, who travelled onto the Maldives from Dubai, said: 'I'm having another grandchild and I'm Rob's mom. I need to be as loving and positive as possible for him because that's what they need right now.'

Doting mother: Kris Jenner was determined to support her son Rob

On vacation: The momager was on vacation with boyfriend Corey Gamble when Rob met with his sisters

Khloe was blindsided even further when Kylie posted a photo on social media of her and Blac Chyna together.

'I'm just so confused,' she said. 'Seeing this picture of Kylie and Chyna together I legit thought it was photoshopped at first.'

Answering a call from Kylie, she said: 'Did you forget to tell me something? I'm seeing screengrabs from Twitter and I'm like ''what?' this is crazy. You're a beast''.'

So confused: Khloe was confused even more when she saw a pic of Kylie and Rob's fiancee Blac Chyna on social media

Sitting down to explain the situation to Khloe, Kylie said: 'Rob called me about the whole situation and I was like ''I'm done, I'm over it''.

'Her and mom were going back and forth for a while. Mom was being kind of like mom, for sure. She said ''I don't have a problem with any of you guys, I don't have a problem with the sisters, we didn't do this out of spite, it just happened''.

'Then her and I were talking about Tyga a lot and what went down in the beginning. She was like ''He would still text me'' and I already knew that. T told me everything. I saw all her text messages. We just talked a lot.'

Explaining it: Kylie displayed much more maturity than Khloe over the situation and explained it to her older sister

Working out: Kylie birefly joined Khloe and Kourtney for a family woirkout

She added: 'I feel like a weight has just been lifted off both of our shoulders and I feel like that's all we needed.

'At this point we just need to be one big happy family because some things we just can't control. You guys should talk. People need to make up and get over things,' Kylie said as she showed a great deal more maturity than her older sister Khloe.

Khloe said: 'I don't know why I need to have a sit down with Chyna because I don't have any issues with Chyna. I find it weird that Rob doesn't think him and I should have a sit down before anything else.'

Sit down: Khloe said she wanted Rob to have a talk with her before anything else

Kris, meanwhile, appeared to have made peace with Rob and Chyna's relationship, telling the camera: 'It feels so good to have had the conversation with Rob and Chyna. Just being with them and hearing what they had to say and to see how in love they are is amazing.

'He's a grown man and he needs to make his own decisions and I need to learn to let go a little bit,' Kris said.

Kylie also revealed to her family that she was suffering from excruciating anxiety ahead of her lip kit launch.

Lip kit: Kylie was dealing with anxiety over her upcoming lip kit launch

Asked what she was doing when she noticed it the most, she said: 'When I'm working a lot. It's really hard to explain but it's something in your mind  how your brain works  you overthink a lot.'

Sitting down with Kim and Kourtney, she said: 'I feel like I've been dealing with anxiety for so long, it's just a thing. Some people are born for this life and some aren't and I just know I'm not supposed to be famous. I can feel it deep down inside.'

'I'm not either, for sure,' Kourtney agreed.

Fame game: Deep down inside Kylie said she knew she wasn't supposed to be famous

Her too: Kourtney agreed that she also wasn't supposed to be famous

A shocked Kim replied: 'I am' and winked.

Despite her worries, Kylie's latest lip kit launch was a success.

Her website survived more than 100,000 customers and the line sold out in less than 30 minutes.

Kris told her teenage daughter: 'I think you've just launched an empire.'

Lip launch: Kylie and Kris were there for the lip kit launch
He's the former Bachelorette 'villain' who once famously said: 'I didn't ask to be a model, it just kind of came to me'.

But it seems David Witko's days as an 'international male model' are finally over - as he has announced his retirement on Instagram this week.

'Officially hanging up my boots!' wrote the 33-year-old reality TV star on Monday.

Take a bow! Ex-Bachelorette star David Witko (pictured) was known for his status as an 'international male model', but he announced his retirement in an emotional Instagram post on Monday

David thanked his agency, Chadwick Models, as well as his overseas representatives - because he is, of course, an 'international' model.

He paid tribute to his 'amazing clients' and declared his career had been an 'epic ride', but did not specify his future plans.

'This will allow me to focus on other work and personal projects which I am very passionate about,' he wrote, adding: 'Wishing everyone only the best!'

On Monday, a spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia that David will be focusing on his new skincare product ASTETIKA, which launches 'around November'.

Retiring: David declared his career had been an 'epic ride', as a spokesperson confirmed his plans to launch skincare product this year and his brand ambassadorship for Melbourne whiskey Pure Scot

They added: 'He has also been given the opportunity to represent and be a brand ambassador for a new, award-winning Melbourne owned scotch whisky called Pure Scot.'

David rose to fame following his brief yet memorable stint on The Bachelorette last year.

He outraged fans by repeating his status as an 'international male model' - and quickly earned himself the reputation of series 'villain'.

TV role: David (front row, far left) rose to fame following his brief yet memorable stint on The Bachelorette last year - earning himself the reputation as series villain due to vain TV persona as an 'international male model'

Later, David faced a public backlash after calling Sam Frost a 'bully' on Twitter over remarks she made about him during an online Q&A session.

David subsequently told Daily Mail Australia that Network Ten producers had 'trained her well'.

Sam previously dismissed him from the show in a tense rose ceremony, which saw David criticise her for 'judging (him) a little too quickly'.



EX-'INTERNATIONAL MALE MODEL' DAVID WITKO'S RETIREMENT SPEECH Officially hanging up my boots! A big thank you for the love and support and kindness to @chadwickmodels and all my agencies o/s (overseas) and amazing clients, it was an epic ride! This will allow me to focus on other work and personal projects which I am very passionate about. Wishing everyone only the best! #2016 #independenceday' Advertisement

Backlash: After being dismissed by Sam Frost on The Bachelorette, David faced a public backlash after calling her a 'bully' on Twitter over remarks she made about him during an online Q&A session

Meanwhile, David revealed in December that he did not regret taking part in the TV series, despite his overwhelmingly negative portrayal.

'No, I don't regret it, I think it was a fantastic experience,' he told the AAP. 'The reason why you go on a show like that, is because, number one, you want to know what it's all about.

'I was a little bit shocked in regards to the public's reaction, but I think I've shaken it all off now, like Taylor Swift says, and haters gonna hate.'

'I think it was a fantastic experience': David revealed in December that he didn't regret taking part in the TV series, despite his negative portrayal, adding: 'Like Taylor Swift says, and haters gonna hate'

Emily Simms - who played a similar role as 'villain' on The Bachelor last year - came to David's defence on social media in October.

'A lot of people on reality shows who are portrayed as horrible, are the complete opposite... And a lot of people who are portrayed as being as sweet as pie, are the complete opposite,' she wrote.

'Anyone that actually believes everything they see on a reality show as being real, lives in la la land. Let them keep living there David.'

After The Bachelorette, David was romantically linked to pop star Delta Goodrem - who he appeared with in a 2012 TV commercial for Swisse.

Support: 'A lot of people on reality shows who are portrayed as horrible, are the complete opposite': Emily Simms (pictured), who played a similar role as 'villain' on The Bachelor, came to David's defence last year
He wears a suit to work and has probably never fired a gun in his life.

But last week Today Show host Karl Stefanovic was decked out in camouflage and wielding a rifle as he spent a day training with the Australian Army in its biggest exercise of the year.

In a segment aired on Monday morning, the 41-year-old was given an honorary promotion to Captain Karl and ran around the battlefield before riding in a tank.

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Captain Karl: Today Show host Karl Stefanovic was decked out in camouflage and wielding a rifle as he spent a day training with the Australian Army in its biggest exercise of the year

The report contained numerous cringeworthy moments including awkward banter about filthy moustaches, and whether troops were allowed to speak unless he spoke to them.

Karl arrived at the exercise via a military plane (but was not allowed to parachute out like the troops) and after being given his rank insignia was kitted out with equipment.

When receiving his helmet he was asked 'how big would you say your head is? to which Karl replied fairly big, I won a Gold Logie.

'Sorry sir':The 41-year-old was given an honorary promotion to Captain Karl and ran around the battlefield before riding in a tank

Mucking around: The report contained numerous cringeworthy moments including awkward banter about filthy moustaches, and whether troops were allowed to speak unless he spoke to them

'That's a filthy mo': Karl addresses the troops

After learning how to shoot the standard-issue Steyr AUG assault rifle, which can fire 11-14 rounds a minute, he rode to the mock battlefield in an armoured vehicle.

The TV personality did not seem to enjoy the ride very much as he was thrown around the cabin as it drove over the rough scrubland.

He then rushed out the back of the carrier straight into the firefight and practiced running between cover while firing at targets.

Coming in hot: Karl arrived at the exercise via a military plane

Grounded: Sadly for him he was not allowed to parachute out of the plane like the troops

'A couple of minutes of this is so tiring. Sometimes the battle in these exercises can go for hours upon hours  I'm stuffed already, he said while panting.

Later the squad pretended Karl had been shot and he was dragged across the field to be evacuated the same way he arrived.

But he didnt stay dead, returning soon after manning the machine gun at the top of a tank as it belted its way across the terrain.

Taking aim: Karl learned how to shoot the standard-issue Steyr AUG assault rifle, which can fire 11-14 rounds a minute

Best day ever: He appeared very excited after shooting off a number of bullets

'Much bigger weaponry, much smoother ride  it's my kind of thing, Karl said, clearly having a lot more fun.

Back in the studio after the segment was over, clearly jealous co-host Lisa Wilkinson and Karls stand-in Ben Fordham joked about how insufferable he would be when he got back to work.

'Can you imagine when he comes back, it was hard enough to shut him up after the Sydney to Hobart, can you imagine now that he's Captain Karl?' Ben said.

Lisa was quick to highlight how his experience showed how fit and well-prepared Australian soldiers are, since Karl was by no means out of shape.

Bumpy ride: The TV personality did not seem to enjoy the ride in an armoured veichle very much as he was thrown around the cabin as it drove over the rough scrubland

In think thick of it: He then rushed out the back of the carrier straight into the firefight and practiced running between cover while firing at targets

Tuckered out: 'A couple of minutes of this is so tiring. Sometimes the battle in these exercises can go for hours upon hours  I'm stuffed already, he said while panting

'Carl is very fit, he goes to the gym several times a week and he was tuckered out, she said.

The exercise, named ExHamel, involved 8,000 Australian troops plus thousands from New Zealand, Britain and the U.S.

Reaction to the segment on social media was mixed, with some on the programs Facebook page thinking it made a mockery of the military, others using it as an opportunity to debate gun laws, and some just excited to see Karl in uniform.

Karl you do it for five minutes and youre exhausted, one wrote.

Big guns: After the 'battle' Karl was manning the machine gun at the top of a tank as it belted its way across the terrain

'Much bigger weaponry, much smoother ride  it's my kind of thing, Karl said, clearly having a lot more fun.

Hopefully this will give you a newfound respect for our service men and women who do this day in and day out both at home and overseas. Do you think they earn their money now?

So they chuck a rank slide on this guy and give him a weapon just like that? another said.

I must be a bit confused, but to me this looks like a bit of downplaying and a bit of a mockery of what it is to be in the military.

A few commenters brought up Karls previous outspoken defence of Australias strict gun laws and how that contrasted with him relishing firing one.

Karl you do it for five minutes and youre exhausted': Reaction to the segment on social media was mixed

Wait a minute. Is that Karl 'I hate guns and nobody needs them' Stefanovic with a rifle? one wrote, while another thought similarly: Thought Karl hated guns? Why is he using them?

Another thought the experience might help change the morning show hosts mind on the issue.

Good job Karl. Maybe you'll see that rifles are only as dangerous as the person holding it and that they're not really all that scary. If you ever want to come out clay target shooting you're welcome to come along any time, he wrote.

When another viewer pointed out that soldiers using firearms was different to private gun ownership, the commenter issued a follow up.

'Mockery': Some on the programs Facebook page thought it made a mockery of the military

Why do the military and police have firearms to protect themselves or the country, yet we the average citizen is not aloud such liberties? he wrote.

Why is it, he is allowed to handle a fully functioning automatic battle rifle with little to no training at all. Yet people who have held a firearms licence for 20+ years for lawful firearm ownership cannot even own a semi-automatic rimfire rifle?

Two women whose partners are involved in the exercise praised the show for helping life morale and show the country what was happening.

A few commenters brought up Karls previous outspoken defence of Australias strict gun laws and how that contrasted with him relishing firing one

'Good job Karl': Another commenter thought the experience might help change the morning show hosts mind on the issue

Debate rages: When another viewer pointed out that soldiers using firearms was different to private gun ownership, the commenter issued a follow up

My husband has been on this ex now for well over a month and this was brilliant to watch!, she wrote.

My kids got to see where dad was and there is no doubt you would have boosted morale not just with the troops but also the families at home! Cheers Capt Carl!

Another commented: My partner has been on this ex for well over a bloody month. They make it look like fun in these videos but it's bloody miserable and freezing.

A serving soldier chimed in to provide some perspective: Welcome to the very small fun part of the army.

Perspective: Two women whose partners are involved in the exercise praised the show for helping life morale and show the country what was happening

Another commented: My partner has been on this ex for well over a bloody month. They make it look like fun in these videos but it's bloody miserable and freezing'

It seemed running around with a gun in uniform only added to Karls sex appeal with some members of his audience, with several women  and one man  gushing over his appearance in the segment.

Karl! Looking sexy in that uniform, one said, while another wrote Karl in a uniform, can this get any better?!?!

A third impressed viewer simply said: Is there anything he can't do?

One bloke was not afraid to show his affection either: Man crush Monday, he wrote, followed by a star-struck emoticon.

It seemed running around with a gun in uniform only added to Karls sex appeal with some members of his audience, with several women  and one man  gushing over his appearance in the segment
She's never been shy about showing off what she's got in daily racy photos.

And Skye Wheatley upped her game on Sunday, sharing a very risque mirror selfie clad in just her lacy white underwear on social media.

The former Big Brother Australia star flaunted her pert derriere in the Brazilian-cut panties, giving a cheeky display to her 270,000 Instagram followers.

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Raunchy! Skye Wheatley flaunted her pert derriere in a very risque mirror selfie clad in just her Brazilian cut lacy white underwear, giving a cheeky display to her 270,000 Instagram followers

The 22-year-old was somewhat less complimentary of her look, writing in the caption to criticise herself for not doing enough exercise to reach the high standard of toning set for herself.

'Lazy Sundayzzz in #dontsquatwontsquat,' she wrote. 'p.s loving the cellulite dimples on my left cheek probably should squat...'

The social media enthusiast showed off her toned legs and impressive hamstring muscles as she stood on a fluffy white rug in her bedroom.

That's different! Skye uncharacteristically covered up in another shot from the same afternoon in an attempt to hock the wares of a designer she is fond of

The side-on stance also revealed her ample assets that looked perky despite her well-publicised allegedly botched boob job she has frequently complained about.

In another shot from the same afternoon, Skye uncharacteristically covered up all but a hint of cleavage in an attempt to hock the wares of a designer she is fond of.

The platinum blonde threw on a thigh-length beige jacket tied together at her middle, worn over the top of a white dress that peaked through around her chest and knees.

But first, let me take a selfie! The 22-year-old displayed her surgically enhanced curves in a busty crop top and skinny jeans on Instagram on Friday

Syke finished the outfit with a sexy pair of knee-high suede boots that were tight enough to draw attention to her trim pins.

It seems Skye Wheatley is feeling more confident than ever as she again displayed her busty curves on Instagram on Friday.

She shared a photo of herself wearing a racy crop top, skinny jeans and thigh-high boots.

The Gold Coast beauty displayed her gym-honed legs and impossibly small waist in a pair of slinky white trousers.

She exposed her bronzed cleavage and midriff in a skimpy top that clung tightly to her surgically enhanced curves.

With a pink coat draped over her shoulders, the former barista flaunted her doll-like proportions while posing for the mirror selfie.

Surgically enhanced: The platinum blonde is known for her plump lips and doll-like proportions

Fashionista: The former barista, from the Gold Coast, has over 270,000 Instagram followers

Meanwhile, Skye recently confirmed she is back together with her former boyfriend Cameron McCristal.

The couple began dating a year ago but abruptly ended their relationship in January, Skye confirmed to Daily Mail Australia.

'We broke up, my life is s*** right now... It's a long story', she said, before adding cryptically: 'I got told a few things. Something had happened.'

Reunited! Skye confirmed she is back together with her ex Cameron McCristal (right) on YouTube last week

Back on: The couple began dating a year ago but abruptly ended their relationship in January

But last week, Skye released a YouTube video of herself and Cameron driving around Brisbane together.

The couple put on an affectionately display as the electrical engineer tried to correct his girlfriend's driving.

When they first started dating last year, Skye said:'He's so kind and looks after me, he really makes me laugh... he pretty much laughed me into bed.'
On Saturday night they enjoyed dinner together at trendy restaurant Nobu in West Hollywood.

And on Sunday Ryan Seacrest and his new mystery blonde stepped out again, this time to try out Soho House's latest location that's just opened in Malibu.

The TV personality and the stunner arrived at the oceanfront members club with a group of friends.

Staying close: Ryan Seacrest stepped out for the second day running with a stunning mystery blonde as the pair visited the just opened excluisve eatery Soho House in Malibu on Sunday

The former American Idol host was dressed casually in pale jeans with a white cotton shirt that he left untucked.

He had a pair of sunglasses tucked into the open-necked shirt and a turquoise sweater slung across his shoulders.

His companion wore a sleeveless white dress that featured laces up each side, and her long hair tumbled in highlighted waves down her back.

Stunner: The statuesque beauty wore a sleeveless white dress that featured lacing up the sides of the bodice and left her long hair to cascade in golden waves down her back

Stayed cool: The former American Idol host appeared relaxed as he and his date waited to enter the exclusive members club venue

Social holiday: The radio host and TV personlity was also joined by a group of friends that included several leggy blondes

Stylish: Ryan, 41, was casually yet smartly dressed in pale jeans with an untucked white cotton shirt with canvas slip-on shoes and a sweater slung over his shoulders

Ryan, 41, has dated a string of gorgeous blondes - including Julianne Hough and Shana Wall - but never married.

On Saturday, the E! producer and radio personality had walked alongside the statuesque stunner as they arrived at Nobu.

His blonde pal wore an off-the-shoulder black dress with a thigh high slit up the front.

She carried a black leather Chanel handbag and rounded out her chic ensemble with brown strappy heels and a thin choker necklace.

Who's that girl? On Saturday night, Ryan and the blonde were spotted arriving for a July 4 holiday party at Nobu in West Hollywood
She's in the giddy throes of newly-wedded bliss.

And Catherine Tyldesley looked the picture of happiness, relaxation and health as she joined her new husband Tom Pitfield on their idyllic honeymoon in Dubai recently.

The 32-year-old Coronation Street actress revealed her amazingly trim, toned figure in a pretty little bikini for her sun-soaked jaunt at the popular Le Royal Meridien Hotel.

Fun in the sun: Catherine Tyldesley looked truly sensational as she enjoyed her blissful Dubai honeymoon with new husband Tom Pitfield recently

The mother-of-one - who tied the knot with Tom in May - revealed her whittled waistline and enviably taut tum in the tie-side briefs, complete with a tropical multicoloured pattern.

As well as her flat stomach on show, Catherine drew attention to her ample chest in the push-up halterneck swimwear top.

Showing that she's been blessed with good genes, the blonde bombshell strode through the surf on lithe, long legs, not an inch to pinch on her stunning frame.

From the cobbles to the shore! The mother-of-one - who tied the knot with Tom in May - revealed her whittled waistline and enviably taut tum in the tie-side briefs, complete with a tropical multicoloured pattern

Making a splash: The 32-year-old Coronation Street actress revealed her amazingly trim, toned figure in a pretty little bikini for her sun-soaked jaunt at the popular Le Royal Meridien Hotel with her spouse

Boat ride: Catherine covered her svelte curves with a sexy cut-out black swimsuit - once again flaunting her fantastic ample bosom - as she and her husband hopped onto a small boat for a ride out to sea

She wore her long locks loose and wavy, keeping it casual and giving her the ultimate beach babe appearance.

The Corrie stunner's new husband Tom also revealed his flawless physique, showing off a toned torso and pecs in nothing but a pair of orange swimming trunks.

Later in the day, Catherine covered her svelte curves with a sexy cut-out black swimsuit - once again flaunting her fantastic ample bosom - as she and her husband hopped onto a small boat for a ride out to sea.

Wheee! Tom and Catherine protected themselves with lifejackets as they sped across the waves on a Great Big Mable

They also indulged in a speedy ride on a large inflatable, crashing across the waves while enjoying an adrenaline rush.

Catherine and Tom were also snapped enjoying a romantic date at the Buddha Bar at the Grosvenor House Hotel, with the Eva Price actress looking a vision in a black off-shoulder printed maxi-dress.

And, although the couple are now back in the UK afteir their honeymoon, Catherine made sure to share some personal snaps from the getaway on her Instagram page.

Feeling wistful along with a collage, she wrote: 'Could do with being back here right now! #Dubai #royalmeridian #sunplease.'

Love: Catherine and Tom looked sunkissed and stylish as they enjoyed a date night during their idyllic honeymoon

Flirty: The Eva Price actress looked a vision in a black off-shoulder printed maxi-dress for the date at Buddha Bar at the Grosvenor House Hotel

The look of love: The Corrie star couldn't take her eyes off her new husband, the father of her one-year-old son Alfie

The smitten pair - who are the proud parents to one-year-old son Alfie -were clearly still enjoying themselves shortly after tying the knot in their wonderful wedding ceremony at Cheshire's iconic Colshaw Hall.

Revealing her elegant white lace dress while posing for Hello! magazine, she gushed over her big day: 'It was my dream come true. I had been looking forward to this moment for so long. Tom and I are very traditional and it was important for us to show our deep commitment to each other.

'The night before I was so excited that I could hardly sleep for thinking about it, and when I walked in, the sight before me blew me away.

'It was picture perfect. There were scented candles and beautiful flowers - and most importantly of all, there was Tom.'

Her groom was equally enthusiastic about their special day: 'She looked so beautiful. This lady changed my life the moment she walked into it.

'She is the most caring and beautiful woman I've ever met.'

Fitness fanatic Catherine and personal trainer Tom started dating in March 2014, with the actress falling pregnant with their son Alfie a few months later.

They announced Catherine's pregnancy shortly after their engagement in August 2014.

Take me back! After returning from their first holiday as husband and wife, Catherine posted some wistful throwbacks on Instagram
She has just returned from a relaxing getaway to the Gold Coast and Byron Bay with her two-year-old daughter Aleeia.

But it seems as though it's back to business as usual for Jodi Anasta who was spotted cutting a stylish figure while running errands in Sydney on Monday.

The 31-year-old actress was seen sporting an all-black ensemble as she showed off her slender frame and trim pins in skintight exercise leggings.

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Back in black: Jodi Anasta was spotted running errands in skintight leggings in Sydney on Monday, following a getaway to the Gold Coast and Byron Bay with her two-year-old daughter, Aleeia

Readjusting to the chilly Sydney weather, she paired her black tights with a knitted jumper featuring braided details and a high-neck.

And she completed her activewear-themed outfit with a pair of trendy white sneakers and round shades.

The mother-of-one appeared to be juggling a collection of folders and papers and she accessorised with a black Mon Purse back pack - a label for which she has designed a collection.

Sleek and simple: Readjusting to the chilly Sydney weather, she paired her black tights with a knitted jumper featuring braided details and a high-neck

Although wearing a casual ensemble, the star's perfectly tousled hair and touch of make-up added a glamorous edge.

Jodi shares daughter Aleeia with estranged husband Braith Anasta.

The couple married in 2012, however, they announced their 'trial separation' in December last year after they were spotted in a heated argument in a park in the Sydney beachside suburb of Coogee.

Apart from the holiday, the Neighbours newcomer has been romantically linked to a new man, Sydney multi-millionaire Jason Huljich.

Stylish as always! Although wearing a casual ensemble, the star's perfectly tousled hair and touch of make-up added a glamorous edge

In her activewear: She completed her outfit with a pair of trendy white sneakers and round shades

According to The Daily Telegraph, the brunette beauty was spotted getting cosy with the executive director of Centuria Capital at Sydney hotspot Miss Sippy at the weekend.

The publication reports that the couple were seen 'in deep conversation and cuddled up' in a corner of the Double Bay establishment.

Sources report the actress and Jason looked 'extremely happy' to be in each other's company before the mother-of-one left separately with friends at 8pm.
He won a legion of fans when he played Dr Derek Shepherd, aka McDreamy, on Grey's Anatomy.

So after leaving the medical drama last year, it looks like British fans of Patrick Dempsey were overwhelmed with joy to see him back on TV screens on Sunday.

The American actor, 50, made a guest appearance on the series finale of Top Gear, with Twitter reacting with great enthusiasm.

McDreamy in the driving seat: Patrick Dempsey made a guest appearance on the series finale of Top Gear, with Twitter reacting with great enthusiasm

Fans - both male and female- took to the micro-blogging site to express their joy as Patrick enjoyed a lap in the rally car in wet conditions.

Many female viewers even declared the addition of the actor had made them tune into a show they would normally never watch.

One Twitter user wrote: 'Watched @BBC_TopGear for the first time tonight just because @PatrickDempsey was on it.'

A second viewer echoed her sentiments: 'Don't even like #TopGear but #mcdreamy is on it!!!! Patrick Dempsey is just something else.'

Showing his skills: The 50-year-old impressed fans as he drove the rally car in wet conditions

Excitement: Top Gear viewers - particularly women - took to Twitter to express their joy over his appearance on the show

Another was so enthralled, they even suggested he co-host the show: 'Patrick Dempsey as top gear host...Also LaBlanc & Harris & Reed and GET Guy Martin! If you make it people will watch #topgear #bbc.'

One male viewer even declared the actor was now his 'man crush': '@PatrickDempsey on @BBC_TopGear was great. Massive fan on Patrick and he is a serious car enthusiast! Major man crush #topgear.'

Having impressed with his driving skills on the show, another viewer asked Top Gear to bring him back to try a dry lap.

Car talk: Comedian and actor Greg Davies joined Patrick on the sofa on the last episode of the current series of Top Gear

She tweeted: '@achrisevans Please get @PatrickDempsey back on to do a dry lap! Love to see what he can do in the dry #TopGear2016.'

Patrick was on the show to promote Bridget Jones's Baby, which hits cinemas in September.

As fans of the actor he will, he's a serious driving enthusiast and has described it as 'more than a hobby'.

He said at the 2014 German Grand Prix: 'It's all-consuming in many ways. I couldn't imagine not racing right now. It really keeps me motivated. It's all I think about on a daily basis.'
Lara Stone spent a late night at the Chiltern Firehouse on Sunday, attempting make a swift exit by taxi in the dark.

The Dutch model was dressed down for the celebrity hotspot, sporting a make-up free complexion and Beyonce's trendy activewear.

The 32-year-old was in female company when she was spotted piling into a black taxi outside the Marylebone nightspot.

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Late night: Dutch model Lara Stone was pictured clambering into a black taxi after a late night at Chiltern Firehouse in London on Sunday

Though casual in a sleeveless hoodie emblazoned with the brand, Lara's look benefitted from an edgy pair of leather trousers.

She put her best foot forward in hidden heels trainers, outstretching her lithe limbs as she clambered into the London cab.

In the same vein as her barefaced complexion, Lara plumped for a messy and effortless up-do with her platinum locks.

Heading home: She made a beeline for a waiting ride with girlfriends in her company

A little weary: She looked a little weary with her hair scraped back into a low, messy up-do

With a black bucket bag swinging from her side, she kept a light, khaki jacket handy but braved bare arms for the ride home with her gal pal.

Lara seemed to be enjoying a girls' night, despite recently finding companionship with millionaire art dealer Helly Nahmad.

The duo shared two evenings out in London last week; one at Scott's restaurant and one at Cuckoo club in London's Mayfair.

Heading home: The stunner was sporting Beyonce's activewear line with trainers

This week has been a busy one of the work front for mum-of-one Lara nonetheless, since she has been in Amsterdam.

The model was celebrating the launch of Vogue: The Book Netherlands' third issue at the Amstel Hotel.

Naturally, the blonde bombshell - who was formerly married to British comedian David Walliams - is the coverstar of the annual summer bumper issue.
After enjoying a whirlwind - and rain-soaked - trip to London, Alessandra Ambrosio is now settling into a luxury family vacation off the sunny shores of Ibiza.

On Sunday, the Victoria's Secret Angel, 35, stepped off her yacht enjoy a swim in the sea and run-around with her fiance Jamie Mazur and their children: daughter Anja, seven and son Noah, four.

And the Brazilian beauty showed exactly why she's one of the world's most coveted models, as she turned heads in a stunning white string bikini, in which she displayed her lithe frame.

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Soaking up the sunshine: Alessandra Ambrosio was spotted soaking up the sun on an Ibiza beach on Sunday

She complemented her flattering skimpy swimwear with a pair of stylish brown tinted sunglasses, while a statement necklace gave her ensemble an extra touch of pizzazz.

The star initially stepped off her luxury sea vessel wearing a patterned turquoise sarong with a purple hem, quickly removing it once she was ready to enjoy a swim and run on the beach.

And, as she attempted to cool off in the sweltering summer temperatures, Alessandra was also seen sipping a cold red beverage while enjoying some beach time with family and friends.

Affectionate: The Victoria's Seret Angel was seen hugging her fiance Jamie Mazur as they took in the scenery

Itsy bitsy...: Supermodel Alessandra wowed in a flattering white string bikini, which showed off her lithe frame

Keeping cool: As she enjoyed her day in the sweltering heat, the stunning brunette sipped on a cold beverage

Family time: The Brazilian beauty enjoyed some playtime with daughter Anja, seven and son Noah, four

A moment to reflect: The couple lovingly looked on, as they watched their offspring and friends run around

Great body of work: A day before hitting the beach, the star was spotted doing yoga on her luxury yacht

Doting mother: Alessandra kept a close eye on her children as they waded into the welcoming waters

Playing in the shade: As the sun shone brightly over the tourist haven, she guarded her eyes with sunglasses

As she watched her children gleefully play together on the beach, Alessandra smiled as she hugged her beau, who was dressed for the sunshine in a white T-shirt with taupe patterned shorts,

Although Alessandra's work keeps her very busy as she hops around the globe for shoots, the model recently revealed that when it comes to her relationship, distance keeps the spark 'alive'.

Speaking to Cosmopolitan she said: 'I travel all the time, so I think that helps keep the spark alive, because its not like Im here every day. Im not an everyday-at-home kind of person.'

Layered: Alessandra arrived on the beach in a patterned turquoise sarong, featuring a purple hemline

Swimming in style! The stunning model's lookalike daughter Anja looked adorable in a burnt orange swimsuit

It's all in the details: She complemented her flattering swimsuit with an eye-catching statement necklace

Leading the way: She kept a loving hand on Noah as she led him through the beach's shallow waters

Queen of the castle: She also got down and helped her son and a friend dig into the sand to make sandcastles

The look of love: As the couple lapped up the fun-filled atmosphere, they barely kept their eyes off each other

Jet-setter: Last week, she was spotted in London, and days before that she enjoyed family time in Berlin

And they're off! Alessandra showed off her athletic skills as she raced her children down the beach

Oh mother! Noah appeared to be having the time of his life as he ran alongside his famous mother

'Even with the kids, we try to make time for ourselves, just me and him.

'But I want to be with my kids the most, so once or twice a week well go to dinner, me and him or with friends, after we put the kids to sleep.'

In the same interview, Alessandra also revealed that she always wanted to be a young mother.

She added: 'I wanted to have kids at 20, so 26 was already old for me! I felt it was great timing and I took off a whole year.'

The long engagement: Alessandra and Jamie became engaged in 2008, but have yet to exchange nuptials

Centre of attention: The star shared a laugh with her beau Jamie and a pal as she continued to enjoy the sun

Coveted: In 2004, the beauty was selected as the first spokesmodel for the Victoria's Secret PINK line

Looking for something? Little Noah appeared to be searching for seashells as he wanted with a cup in his hand

A family that runs together...: The athletic crew spent a lot of their time on the beach running together

Home is where the heart is: Alessandra's two children were born in the Brazilian city of Florianopolis

Cheeky! She gave onlookers a view of her pert bottom as she bent over during her time on the beach

Attentive: The doting mother ensured her offspring were enjoying themselves throughout the sun-kissed day

Off dry land: The photogenic family later boarded a boat so they could make their way back to their yacht
The contestants were warned it would be the toughest week yet on MasterChef.

And on Monday night, the difficulty of the pressure test dish proved too much for Theresa Visintin.

The mother-of-three, who was eliminated in May and returned to the show in the Returning Contestants Challenge, said her farewells in an emotional goodbye.

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'I'm really proud': Theresa Visintin said farewell to the MasterChef kitchen for the second time on Monday night

Not right: Theresa's dessert was too sweet because she used too many cherries in her jam

'I have loved every minute', she said after judgement was handed down.

Adding: 'I'm really proud for what I have done.'

She reflected on her return to the show, and how she has grown as a cook, saying: 'I've discovered who I am.

Intense: Theresa (R) battled it out against Mimi Baines (C) and Trent Harvey (L) to recreate Peter Gilmore's deceptively simple lamington dessert from Bennelong restaurant

'And over the time, being back, every time I make a dessert, I just love it.

'I've realised now, that's my happy place, when I'm whimsical and silly.'

Theresa, Mimi Baines and Trent Harvey sweated it out in the kitchen to recreate one of renowned chef Peter Gilmore's desserts - his deceptively simple lamington from Bennelong restaurant.

Theresa was determined not to let the pressure test become her undoing, however, she admitted she was nervous.

Farewell: It was emotional farewell to Theresa, who was looking forward to seeing her family again

Of the challenge ahead, she said: 'It is going to be one of the hardest pressure tests ever set.'

'There's so many elements. I'm really nervous,' the 44-year-old said.

And although she seemed focused throughout the challenge, one mistake early on proved an issue in the final dish.

Instead of weighing her cherries with the pits still inside, she weighed the cherries after removing the pits, meaning her quantity was much higher.

Her undoing: She had a fantastic week on the show, really coming into her own, however Monday night's episode broke the home cook

This in turn, sweetened her jam far too much.

Liking the taste of the cherry element, the mother decided to add 'a little bit more of the jam'.

However after finally tasting it, she realised something was not right.

'I can't understand why the jam isn't tart enough. I added the right amount of pitted cherries.

'I don't have time to fix it,' she resolved.

Taking care: Although she seemed focused throughout the challenge, one mistake proved an issue in the final dish

When it came time to taste, Peter Gilmore said it was the 'smoothest-looking' of all the desserts.

However, the balance of sweet and sour wasn't there, and it came down to Theresa's jam lacking tartness, and her ice-cream being too sweet.

Meanwhile, Mimi got off to a very strong start, despite it being the aspiring chef's first pressure test.

However it didn't take long for Mimi to trip up, forgetting to set her timer as her sponge cooked in the oven.

Pushed to the end: The mother-of-three felt good about her cook but was unaware of making her dish too sweet

'I can't believe what I've just done,' the 26-year-old said.

'I haven't pressed start on my timer for the sponge and I have no idea how long it's been in the oven for.'

Adding: 'This could be an absolute disaster'.

Lucky for Mimi, she put her sponge in the oven at roughly the same time as Trent, who kindly told her he'd let her know when to take it out.

'Relying on Trent is a massive risk, but it's the only option I have,' Mimi said.

In it to win it: Mimi got off to a very strong start, despite it being the aspiring chef's first pressure test

And it seemed to pay off, as Mimi's sponge appeared perfectly cooked.

However the struggles for the 26-year-old weren't over, as she made another mistake due to not reading the recipe carefully enough.

She added nearly 300g more of the coconut cream base to make her parfait, making the consistency completely wrong.

After a visit from Peter Gilmore and judge George Calombaris, Mimi admitted she'd made a 'massive mistake' but decided to add more of the other ingredients to bring the ratio into balance once again.

Oops: The 26-year-old forgot to set her timer for her sponge, therefore had no idea when to take it out of the oven

She managed to complete her dish in time, however on first impression, the judges weren't blown away with her presentation.

Judge Gary Mehigan noted: 'Doesn't look great does it?'

And George agreed, however her flavours were 'dead-set' and all the elements were spot on.

But it was Trent, 29, who came through with flying colours, beginning the challenge with confidence.

On a roll: Trent came through with flying colours and began the challenge with confidence

'I've learnt a lot since coming into the competition and I feel pretty comfortable with desserts these days.

'So if I just follow the recipe and try and work as fast as I can, hopefully it should be alright,' the level-headed electrician said.

He had a very focused and smooth cook, delivering an impressive version of Peter Gilmore's dessert to the judges.

Relief: The 29-year-old was pleased with his efforts, and so were the judges, praising the 'bright acidity' of his jam

And although the surface of the lamington wasn't perfect and the portions weren't precise, the judges were impressed with the coconut shards and the 'bright acidity' of the jam.

Peter Gilmore is the mastermind behind two finale pressure tests - the infamous Snowball and Chocolate Ethereal.

And his lamington on Monday night's episode required 32 steps to cook the recipe, and another 17 steps for plating-up.
He's returned to playing iconic character Jason Bourne, a good nine years since The Bourne Ultimatum flick.

And while Matt Damon is back looking as fiercely strong as ever for the latest film in the franchise, he says he's pulled back from performing all of his own stunts for the action thriller.

The 45-year-old's comments come after he was spotted with a black eye and scratches on his forehead during the filming of Jason Bourne earlier this year.

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Cautious: Actor Matt Damon says he's pulled back from performing all of his own stunts for the action thriller Jason Bourne

Speaking to Daily Mail Australia on the red carpet at the Sydney premiere of Jason Bourne on Sunday, the actor said: 'I do as much as I can but whenever its like going to be a little sketchy, I always let the professionals do it because theyre really good at what they do'.

In March earlier this year, the talented movie star was spotted filming scenes for the fifth instalment of the Bourne franchise in London.

At the time, he was seen sporting a purple bruise beneath his right eye and a series of scratches on his forehead, suggesting his character had survived a bit of rough-and-tumble in the spy flick.

In action: The actor told Daily Mail Australia, 'I do as much as I can but whenever its like going to be a little sketchy, I always let the professionals do it because theyre really good at what they do'

On set: The 45-year-old's comments come after he was spotted with a black eye and scratches on his forehead during the filming of Jason Bourne earlier this year

When speaking to The Today Show on Sunday, Matt said it's 'a workout to get into shape to the play the character'.

'You are running jumping and fighting, doing all sorts of things,' he told Channel Nine's Richard Wilkins.

'I've got like 16 stunt guys who jump in and help me.'

The film Jason Bourne will mark the first time Matt has starred in a Bourne movie since 2007's The Bourne Ultimatum.

The star: The film Jason Bourne will mark the first time Matt has starred in a Bourne movie since 2007's The Bourne Ultimatum

Packing a punch: Matt pictured during a fighting scene in the new flick

It comes after the lightly regarded spin-off picture The Bourne Legacy, which starred former makeup artist Jeremy Renner as a relatively generic super agent.

The new Bourne film, which is directed by Paul Greengrass, sees Damon star alongside fellow A-listers Julia Stiles, Alicia Vikander, Vincent Cassel and Tommy Lee Jones.

Matt walked the red carpet at the Sydney premiere of the film on Sunday night, with co-star Alicia Vikander also making an appearance to greet media and fans.
She's the busy mother-of-two who has carved a successful career as a leading lady.

But Naomi Watts made time for her loved ones as she was joined by partner Liev Schreiber and their children while taking a break from filming in Montreal.

The 47-year-old was seen hanging 100 feet above ground as the family took to climbing ropes of an 18th century pirate ship on Saturday.

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Time out: Naomi Watts, 47, proved that she makes time for her loved ones as she was seen climbing ropes of a pirate ship on Saturday in Montreal with partner Liev Schreiber and their boys

Clad in comfortable attire, the Hollywood star teamed a fitted nautical style shirt with a pair of stonewash jeans and basic white trainers.

Keeping safety a priority, the actress donned a yellow hard hat and harness as she looked on with caution.

Naomi let her blonde tresses fall in loose waves around her face and appeared to sport a fresh face.

Hanging around: Later seen to get into the swing of things, Naomi broke out into a grin as she manoeuvred across the wooden boards

Later seen to get into the swing of things, the Mulholland Drive star broke out into a grin as she manoeuvred across the wooden boards.

Her family were close by with Liev even calling out 'This is a bad idea!'

The American director and screenwriter was seen wearing a light green button-up shirt that was rolled up at the elbows and pair of fitted indigo jeans.

Family ties: Her family were close by with partner Liev Schreiber even calling out 'this is a bad idea!'

The blonde beauty has been busy filming upcoming drama The Glass Castle in Montreal.

Based on Jeannette Walls' best-selling memoir, the film tells the story of a young girl who escapes from her troubled background to become a successful writer.

The Australian who was born in England but raised in Sydney, told Hello! Magazine in May that she is being offered better roles since turning 40.

'I dont want to curse myself by saying this, but Im going to, I guess things are pretty OK for me,' she claimed.

'There arent an abundance of roles but things are OK. I strongly believe the roles over 40 are far more in-depth, far more developed,' she added.

'Fantastic day in the park': The actress took to Instagram a week ago sharing a fun snap with her castmates as she took to filming The Glass Castle

Naomi has two sons Sasha, eight, and seven-year-old Samuel Kai, with Liev.

Liev and Naomi have been together for 11 years and are based in New York City.

The lovebirds have worked on three films together: The Painted Veil in 2006 as well as Movie 43 and The Bleeder in 2012.

Out and about: Pictured here with her young sons in New York back in May

Basketball fans: Back in January the celebrity family enjoyed courtside seats while watching a Knicks game in New York
She's due to give birth to her second child any day now.

So Luisa Zissman has been having fun with the last days of her pregnancy as she drew a smiley face on her baby bump.

Having enjoyed a sunshine break to Marbella a few weeks ago, the former Apprentice star, 29, shared a holiday photo on her Instagram.

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Happy bump: Reality TV star Luisa Zissman shares a cute photo of her baby bump covered in suncream from her recent holiday to Marbella

The baking entrepreneur was seen reclining on a lounger in a gold crochet two-piece with a face painted on her belly in suncream.

Captioning the image - taken when she was eight months pregnant - she wrote: 'In Marbella #happybump #pregnantbump.'

Meanwhile, Luisa also revealed she was celebrating her first wedding anniversary with her Irish millionaire husband Andrew Collins on Monday.

The pair, who share a 17 year age gap, tied the knot at the Chateau de la Napoule, a waterside castle just outside Cannes last summer after a year and a half of dating.

Blushing bride: Luisa shared a photo of her Galia Lahav wedding gown on Monday as she shared an image of her nuptials from last July

The couple never shared photos of their wedding publicly as the 46-year-old businessman is very private.

So it was a surprise to see Luisa sharing a rare glimpse of her Galia Lahav wedding gown on Instagram on Monday.

She wrote: 'Happy anniversary to me. A year has flown by so quickly & now we await the arrival of our little princess. Life is perfect @galialahav @brownsbride #galialahavbride #wedding.'

Luisa revealed in April she was six months pregnant with her first child with Andrew - a sibling for her six-year-old daughter Dixie from her first marriage to businessman Oliver Zissman.

Luisa and Andrew started dating in late 2013, a few months after she found fame on The Apprentice, where she was the runner-up.

Low-key: Luisa's second husband, Irish millionaire Andrew Collins is very private and prefers to stay off his wife's social media

The business tycoon, who is said to be Ireland's 231st richest man with a 36million fortune, proposed to Luisa with a 1.5million Boodles ring in Paris in October 2014.

Luisa has fought to keep her marriage private from the media, previously writing on her social media accounts: 'My personal life is my business, whether I am married or not is nothing to do with anyone but me, my friends and family.'

She remains on good terms with her first husband Oliver - founder of Total Fitness - who she split from in 2012 following three years of marriage after he allegedly cheated on her.

In an interview two years ago, she said: 'I just don't hold bad feeling over it. S**t happens. People have affairs. It was hardly the end of the world.

'We werent exactly happily married and jumping into bed every night having amazing sex so it was kind of a good thing.'
She's a beauty blogger and knows a thing or two about how to achieve porcelain skin.

And the sun is clearly Zoe Foster's bug bare as she holidayed with radio host husband Hamish Blake and their son Sonny in Sicily.

The 35-year-old author took to Instagram on Monday sharing a bare faced snap of her pigmentation caused by exposure to the sun writing: 'Friggen [sic] hyperpigmentation [is] storming in.'

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Honest: The sun is clearly Zoe Foster's bugbear as she holidayed with radio host husband Hamish Blake and their son Sonny in Sicily

She went on: 'The worse it gets, the harder it is to shift, and my belief is that it's uneven skin tone - not wrinkles - that makes the skin look aged.'

The mother of one says she knows all the 'tricks' to keep the brown blotches at bay - inhibitors (Aspect Pigment Punch), antioxidants, physical/zinc oxide-based sun protection (Invisible Zinc) and wide-brimmed hats and sunglasses.

But she concluded: 'That it has flared up again so rapidly (I kind of blame the Fraxel I had five years ago...) reminds me that, A) thermal heat certainly does cause melanin production, B) hyperpigmentation is the biggest bitch in bitch town.'

Made up: The 35-year-old is holidaying in Italy with her family and shared snap of her with her freckles covered

Ravishing: Zoe and Hamish are holidaying in Italy, with Zoe also sharing shots of the local scenery including the coastline

Family snap: Zoe and son Sonny have been lapping up the Italian delights

She added she would deal with the persistent problem when she returns to Australia with usual program of peels, AHAs and microdermabrasion.

Zoe and Hamish, 34, are holidaying in Italy, with Zoe also sharing shots of the local scenery including the coastline and one of herself in a hat and black dress by the sea.

She captioned the shot humorously , writing: 'Okay honey, so make it look like I was just sitting here drinking my espresso and you were walking past - with my phone somehow, don't overthink it - and you HAD to take a photo of this classic Sicilian scene. Just leave out my Crocs, yeah?'

He's 'fresh': Hamish Blake has also posted pictures of Italian food including pasta to his social media account and shared one shot of himself posing near a local food and drink stand
Simon Pegg has vowed to promote the latest Star Trek film in memory of his co-star Anton Yelchin, who tragically died in an accident last month.

The 46-year-old actor and comedian explained how the cast were dealing with the shocking death as they promoted the latest film in the franchise - Star Trek Beyond - which comes out later this month.

Speaking about the Russian-born actor to Magic Radio, the star said: 'He should still be here, but we have to make this about Anton now.

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Sadness: Simon Pegg has vowed to promote the latest Star Trek film in memory of Anton Yelchin, who tragically died in an accident last month

'And we talked about how hard it was gonna be to get out there and bang the drum for this movie when weve lost one of our family.'

'But for his sake and for his memory were gonna make it. Its something that we just now have to contend with,' he added.

Simon, who plays Scotty in the film series, has collaborated with Anton - who plays Pavel Chekov - in three Star Trek reboot films over the last nine years and they had a close working relationship.

Anton died on June 19 at his home in Studio City, California, in a freak accident after his 2.5 ton Jeep rolled into him and crushed him into a brick mailbox.

The body of the actor, who was just 27 when he died, was found at around 1am on his driveway by a friend.

Tragedy: The 46-year-old actor and comedian was explaining how the cast and crew were dealing with the death of his co-star Anton (left) as they promoted the latest film in the franchise

The friend had visited Anton's house after growing concerned when he failed to attend a planned rehearsal and found the star trapped by his car, which was in neutral with its engine still running.

An LAPD spokesperson told the Hollywood Reporter: 'It appears he momentarily exited his car and it rolled backward, causing trauma that led to his death.'

Zachary Quinto, who plays Commander Spock in the Star Trek films has also paid tribute to his co-star in an interview with Stephen Colbert on The Late Show this month.

Freak accident: Anton died on June 19 at his home in Studio City, California, after his 2.5 ton Jeep rolled into him and crushed him into a brick mailbox

'I think our goal has to be to just celebrate his incredible life and honor him as much as we can,' he said.

'It was a terrible loss not only to us personally, but I think to the industry and audiences. He was such a talent.'

Anton was born in Saint Petersburg in Russia, the son of well-known professional figure-skaters Irina and Viktor Yelchin.

Successful career: Simon has collaborated on three Star Trek Reboot films over the last nine years and they had a close working relationship

Untimely loss: The body of the actor - who was just 27 when he died - was found at around 1am on his driveway by a friend

After 15 years as the stars of Russias Ice Ballet, the Yelchins fled to the United States as political refugees when their only child was still a baby.

The star was raised in Los Angeles and attended the University of Southern California, but began acting as a child, taking his first professional role at age nine in A Man Is Mostly Water.

Anton has four more films being released posthumously - including the family drama We Don't Belong Here alongside Cary Elwes, Catherine Keener, and Riley Keough.
She now lives in Los Angeles with her American husband Brian Perri and their baby daughter.

So no wonder Italian model Elisabetta Canalis wants to head home to Sardinia when it comes to her summer holidays.

The brunette beauty, 37, showed off her enviable physique in a multi-coloured bikini as she enjoyed a day at the beach with her family.

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There's no place like home: Italian model Elisabetta Canalis soaks up the sun with her daughter Skyler in her native Sardinia on Monday

Mummy's little angel: The nine-month-old looked like she was having fun on her mother's shoulders

The mother-of-one, who famously dated George Clooney five years ago, was making the most of the sunshine as she topped her tan in the two-piece.

The former showgirl waded into the Mediterranean for a dip with her nine-month-old daughter Skyler, who looked adorable in her waterproof top and nappy.

The baby giggled with delight as her mother gave her ride on her shoulders as they soaked up the warm weather.

Hot to trot: The brunette beauty, 37, showed off her enviable physique in a multi-coloured bikini

Doting mother: The former showgirl looked in her element with her daughter as they walked along the beach

Family life: The Italian was joined by her American husband, orthopedic surgeon Brian

Also joining them was Elisabetta's husband, orthopedic surgeon Brian, 48, who looked beach ready in his blue swimming trunks.

Elisabetta was born and brought up in Sardinia, with her father Cesare working as a radiologist in University of Sassari's clinic.

When it came to marry Brian, it was no surprise to see Elisabetta choosing her hometown for the location for the nuptials.

Tender moment: The couple, who married nearly two years ago, shared a kiss as they enjoyed a dip in the Mediterranean with their daughter

Snug as a bug in the a rug: Elisabetta wrapped up her daughter Skyler up in a towel to dry her off

Trim and toned: The mother-of-one looked fabulous as she sauntered along the beach

Come to mama! Elisabetta threw her arms open towards her daughter

Hometown girl: Elisabetta was born and brought up in Sardinia, with her father Cesare working as a radiologist in University of Sassari's clinic

The pair wed in September 2014 after a whirlwind romance after they started dating in late 2013.

Prior to Brian, Elisabetta famously had a two year romance with Hollywood A-lister George, before splitting in June 2011.

The actor then dated wrestler Stacy Keibler for just under two years before they parted ways in summer 2013.

Her biggest role: Elisabetta is clearly loving life as a mother to her little girl

Cool down: Elisabetta waded into the Mediterranean for a dip with her daughter Skyler, who looked adorable in her waterproof top and nappy

Famous ex: Prior to Brian, Elisabetta famously had a two year romance with Hollywood A-lister George, before splitting in June 2011

Loved up: The pair wed in September 2014 after a whirlwind romance after they started dating in late 2013

Both Elisabetta and Stacy are said to have ended their romance with George over his reluctance to settle down and start a family.

He then met human rights lawyer Amal Alamuddin in September 2013 before tying the knot in a lavish over-the-top ceremony in Venice a year later.

Meanwhile, Stacy went on to marry businessman Jared Pobre just eight months after dumping Clooney and went on to give birth to daughter Ava in August 2014.

Broody: Elisabetta was said to have ended her romance with George over his reluctance to settle down and start a family

California based: The couple spent most of their time in Los Angeles where Brian has a surgery

Splish splash: Elisabetta entertained her little girl as she splashed in the sea

Trim: The Italian star has retained her impressive bikini body after giving birth

Seeking shade: The model then brought her daughter for a break from the hot sun under a parasol

Moving on: Elisabetta leaped to worldwide fame during her high-profile romance with George Clooney

Family portrait: The trio then retreated to a nearby beach club
As stars across America celebrate Independence Day at a long list of pool and beach parties, Gerard Butler opted to mark the occasion at a gathering that didn't require him to don swimwear.

The Scottish actor, 46, was spotted looking casual in jeans and a grey button-down shirt as he headed to a pre-Fourth of July dinner party at Nobu in Malibu, California, on Sunday night.

And despite being a screen star, he was outshone by his 39-year-old girlfriend Morgan Brown, who wowed as she walked beside him in a stunning pink dress, boasting a thigh-high slit.

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Fine dining: Gerard Butler and his girlfriend Morgan Brown were spotted attending a pre-Fourth of July dinner party in Malibu, California, on Sunday night

She teamed her gown with a nude pair of vertiginous open-toed heels, which lengthened her shapely tanned legs, making her stand almost as tall as her hunky beau.

Her glossy brunette tresses cascaded behind her shoulders in soft waves, while she kept her makeup light and natural.

Carrying a multi-coloured clutch bag, she chatted intently with Gerard as they mingled with a host of other well-heeled guests at the celebratory gathering.

Casual: The actor cut a casual figure in a pair of blue jeans, which he teamed with a grey button-down shirt

Stunning: His belle made while the glamorous arrival, wearing a plunging pink dress with a thigh-high slit

Gerard and Morgan started dating in May 2014 following his split from Romanian model Madalina Ghenea, 27, the previous year.

The couple are believed to have reunited in April, following a brief split earlier this year.

They were separated for months while Gerard traveled the globe promoting his movies London Has Fallen and Gods Of Egypt.

Sky high: She teamed the gown with a nude pair of vertiginous open-toed heels, lengthening her shapely legs

Making waves: Her glossy brunette tresses cascaded beyond her shoulders and down her back in soft waves

However, he has since been back in Malibu, California, in recent weeks and has frequently been spotted with the brunette beauty.

During their split, Gerard was romantically linked with British pop star Rita Ora after they were seen together in a Los Angeles hotel in January.

An insider told Us Weekly the pair dined together and hugged before retiring to a suite.

I've got your back! As the couple mingled with guests, Gerard was seen resting his hand on Morgan's back

Jet-setters: The couple recently returned from a whirlwind trip to the sun-kissed Pacific state of Hawaii
It's been 10 days since her husband Oliver Curtis was jailed for insider trading.

And it seems PR Queen Roxy Jacenko's shopping habits haven't changed, as she revealed she bought two expensive purchases on Monday night - totalling $5,129.

The 36-year-old uploaded two separate snaps of the different items - a pram for her two-year-old son Hunter, and a silk Gucci bomber jacket for herself.

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Single mother...for now: Roxy Jacenko revealed she bought two expensive purchases on Monday night - totalling $5,129 - a pram and jacket for herself. Pictured with son Hunter, two, and daughter Pixie, four

Pricey: The emerald green Gucci jacket is worth $4,180 and adds to Roxy's over-flowing collection of designer threads

Clearly wanting only the best for her children, the four-wheeled Baby Jogger City Premier pram retails for $949 and the colour is a stylish indigo.

She has captioned the snap: 'Voila!!!! With the assistance of two toddlers we assembled this beauty!'

She then tagged her son Hunter and said it was his 'new whip for checking out chicks on Bondi Beach promenade!'

''Voila!' The pram she purchased for her son Hunter retails for $950 and comes in a stylish indigo

Fashionista: She also shared an image of herself on Saturday posing inside an elevator wearing an outfit thought to be worth more than $5,000

Her second snap on Monday night revealed a little treat for the working mother: a much-sought after embroidered Gucci silk-satin bomber jacket.

The emerald green item is worth $4,180 and adds to Roxy's over-flowing collection of designer threads and accessories.

It features an intricately-designed embroidered pattern and a bold red and khaki striped waistband.

She shared a flat-lay photo of the stunning jacket, alongside the caption: 'Evening deliveries of the best kind'.

Breakfast buddies? Roxy Jacenko shared a snap of her two well-dressed tots Pixie and Hunter in the lift to her North Bondi flat with their heads down, as they stared at the tablets

The PR maven shared a snap earlier in the day of her two well-dressed tots in the lift to her North Bondi flat with their heads down, as they stared at the tablets.

'Breakfast buddies - clearly my small chat is rubbish if this is anything to go by...' she wrote on Instagram.

The pair were, as usual, decked out in expensive designer clothes with Hunter dressed smartly in a blue and white checked shirt and Polo Ralph Lauren sweater vest.

Cooking time: Later in the day, a photo was shared on Pixie's Instagram account showing her cooking with a pal

Pixie rocked a more casual look in a white printed T-shirt, jeans and a puffy navy blue jacket, topped off with one of her signature bows.

In another photo posted to Pixie's Instagram, which Roxy controls, the kids enjoyed a day of dress ups at home - likely while their mother was hard at work.

Pixie slipped into a long white dress with colourful detailing and sported a huge braided blonde wig with a blue tiara perched on top, while making a diva-like pout face.

Average Sunday: The kids played elaborate dress up at home, Pixie sporting a huge braided blonde wig and Hunter in a Superman costume

Hunter could be seen dressed in a superman costume with the puzzling addition of a very floppy yellow hat, while clutching a child's toy in his right hand and the side of his pants with the other.

'Just your average Sunday under the watchful eye of you know who. Told Ol boy @huntercurtis14 to close his eyes and hold on tight,' Roxy wrote next to the image in Pixie's persona.

Later Hunter was pictured sprawled on the couch eating fried food next to Roxy's laptop.

Hungry: Hunter was pictured sprawled on the couch eating fried food next to Roxy's laptop. The toddler pulled a face with his mouth full and held the greasy morsels in both hands

The toddler pulled a face with his mouth full and held the greasy morsels in both hands.

'EOFY paperwork got me like...' Roxy wrote on Hunter's Instagram.

The Australian PR guru has been putting on a brave front, especially for the sake of her young children, since her husband was sentenced to two years behind bars several weeks ago.

Taking to Instagram on Saturday, the doting mother-of-two shared a photo of herself in Sydney's beach-side suburb of Bondi, as the entrepreneur spent time with her children.

Looking on the bright side: On Saturday Roxy shared a photo of her and her children enjoying some time together in Bondi after her husband Oliver Curtis was sent to jail

'What a team !!! @huntercurtis14 @pixiecurtis (sic),' the blonde beauty captioned the outdoor snap.

The image showed the trio sitting on a balcony, with Hunter's lunch box of sandwiches and a drink bottle in sight.

Moments earlier, the mother-of-two shared a few more snaps.

One was of a plate of fresh prawns, served at celebrity cheff Matt Moran's North Bondi Fish restaurant, while another showed the picturesque waterfront scenery the family had the pleasure of enjoying.

Delicious spread: Earlier on the PR maven shared a photo of some freshly cooked prawns being served at celebrity chef Matt Moran's restaurant called North Bondi Fish

What a view: This photo showed the picturesque waterfront scenery the family had the pleasure of enjoying

Earlier that morning, Roxy shared an image of herself posing inside an elevator wearing an outfit thought to be worth more than $5,000.

She was clad in a Scanlan Theodore coat (worth $1,800), Goyard handbag (worth over $3,000), Ray Ban sunglasses (worth over $200) and The Daily Edited phone case (worth $49.45).

Roxy's husband Oliver was jailed for two years after a lengthy trial in Sydney where he was found guilty of conspiring to commit insider trading in 2007 and 2008.

Roxy was by his side throughout court proceedings, arriving at court on her husband's arm dressed in a parade of designer outfits.

Mother and son: Roxy shared this snap of her one-year-old son Hunter holding a toy hair dryer

Before his sentence was handed down, she pleaded with the court not to jail him, giving an emotional character reference in which she described him as their children's 'primary carer'.

'Pixie and Hunter adore their dad. He's fun, tolerant, uncomplaining and loving. They screech with excitement as soon as they see him and no one else matters to them  not even me.

'Because of my work hours, I would describe Oli as the primary carer of Pixie and Hunter.

'Oli is a kind, considerate and reliable man. I have no doubt that he will never be involved in anything like this again,' she said.

Past week: The posts come after Roxy's husband, Oliver Curtis, was jailed for two years after a lengthy trial in Sydney where he was found guilty of conspiring to commit insider trading in 2007 and 2008
She recently revealed that she amicably co-parents her daughter Betsy with her ex-husband Lee Mead.

And Denise Van Outen looked as though she couldn't be happier with her parenting duties as she took her six-year-old girl out to lunch at a branch of Italian chain Carluccio's in London over the weekend.

The 42-year-old TV personality looked typically cool in a black Balmain tee and form-fitting camouflage pants as she balanced a pair of shades on her wavy blonde mane.

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Family fun: Denise Van Outen looked as though she couldn't be happier with her parenting duties as she took her six-year-old daughter Betsy out to lunch at a branch of Italian chain Carluccio's in London on Saturday

The former Big Breakfast host ensured maximum comfort in a trendy pair of patent trainers and opted for a quilted black bomber, which she shrugged off inside the restaurant.

Opting for a spot of glamour, Denise ensured her eyes were laden in mascara and her cheeks contoured to perfection.

Betsy wore a striped skirt and matching leggings along with a hoody as she clutched on to a Lego shopping bag and engaged her mum in conversation.

Denise also gave her a helping hand and held on to her toy pram while they scurried along with friends.

In disguise: The 42-year-old TV personality looked typically cool in a black Balmain tee and form-fitting camouflage pants as she balanced a pair of shades on her wavy blonde mane

Trendy mum: The former Big Breakfast host ensured maximum comfort in a trendy pair of patent trainers and opted for a quilted black bomber, which she shrugged off inside the restaurant

Flashing back to her childhood: Denise gave her daughter a helping hand and carried her toy pram

Doing every bit her best as a mother, Denise - who is now in a long-term relationship with stockbroker Eddie Boxshall - ensures she remains a healthy relationship with her thespian ex Lee.

She revealed on ITV1's Lorraine last month: 'He comes around every Monday and we all have dinner together. We don't have a set plan or anything like.

'I think we get on really well and we both always put our daughter first.'

Carrying on with her praise for her ex, she stated: 'Lee is currently on tour with Chitty Chitty Bang Bang - he's a great entertainer - and she knows all the words to all the songs.

'She was singing the other day and we both noticed that wow, she is really good. She's definitely showing signs! But we don't want her to push her into anything.'

Fashionista: Denise teamed her quilted bomber jacket with a skinny pair of camo jeans for her outing

Capturing the moment: Denise looked every inch the doting parent as she took pictures of her daughter inside the Italian restaurant

Staying on good terms: Denise tied the knot with Betsy's father, actor Lee Mead, in the Seychelles in April 2009 after an 18-month romance before splitting in 2013

They announced their split in July 2013 before divorcing that December, but insisted they remained 'great friends' and shared co-parenting duties of little Betsy.

In a recent interview, Denise spoke of her great relationship with Lee, telling Fabulous magazine: 'I've no regrets about getting married to Lee at all.

'He's such a lovely person. There was no big fall-out and we got each other through [the divorce], really. We're friends, so we supported each other.'

Lee and Denise wed in the Seychelles in April 2009 after an 18 month romance.

They originally met when Denise was a judge on TV talent show Any Dream Will Do, which contestant Lee went on to win and secured the leading role in the West End production of Joseph And The Technicolour Dreamcoat.
Chrissy Teigen slipped into a swimsuit for the first time since welcoming daughter Luna on April 14 while poolside in the Hamptons.

The 30-year-old new mother - who relies stylist Monica Rose - looked slim in a brown keyhole halter one-piece alongside husband John Legend.

Breastfeeding her three-month-old princess has clearly helped the Cravings author shed the baby weight faster.

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'Can't swim!' Chrissy Teigen slipped into a swimsuit for the first time since welcoming daughter Luna on April 14 while poolside in the Hamptons

After playing on FUNBOY inflatables, Teigen will later host online retailer REVOLVE's July Fourth bash in Long Island.

The Lip Sync Battle 'Color Commentator' - whose made seven appearances in SI Swimsuit issue -covered her flawless complexion with large mirrored aviators.

Chrissy was joined on her journey East by the 37-year-old Oscar winner, but it's unclear if little Luna was with them or back in Los Angeles with nannies.

'We've got some embryos on hold,' Teigen told Self in March of their plans for three more children via IVF.

Looking good! The 30-year-old new mother - who relies stylist Monica Rose - looked slim in a brown keyhole halter one-piece alongside husband John Legend

Yummy mummy: Breastfeeding her three-month-old princess has clearly helped the Cravings author shed the baby weight faster

Back in the bathing suit! The Lip Sync Battle 'Color Commentator' - whose made seven appearances in SI Swimsuit issue - covered her flawless complexion with large mirrored aviators

'So excited to host #REVOLVEinthehamptons tonight!' After playing on inflatables, Teigen will later host online retailer REVOLVE's July Fourth bash in Long Island

So excited to host #REVOLVEinthehamptons tonight!! @revolve #cravingsBBQ  A video posted by chrissy teigen (@chrissyteigen) on Jul 4, 2016 at 7:32am PDT

'I've always pictured everyone around the table for the holidays and together once a week. It'll be heartbreaking if it doesnt end up happening, but hopefully it will...We are going to love the s*** out of our kids.'

On Friday, pop diva Fergie dropped her M.I.L.F. $ music video featuring the half-Thai beauty getting a rub down while clad in PVC lingerie.

Fuel the chopper! Chrissy was joined on her journey East by the 37-year-old Oscar winner, but it's unclear if little Luna was with them or back in Los Angeles with nannies

Teigen told Self in March of their plans for three more children via IVF: 'We've got some embryos on hold. I've always pictured everyone around the table for the holidays and together once a week. It'll be heartbreaking if it doesnt end up happening, but hopefully it will...We are going to love the s*** out of our kids'

Top of the crops! Legend snapped a photo of his sweetie posing next to Emily Ratajkowski

Picture perfect: The ladies posed beside a statement-making hedge

The eight-time Grammy winner's sassy video - also starring Kim Kardashian and Ciara - marked the onscreen debut of Chrissy's newborn baby.

Meanwhile, five-time Grammy-winner Mariah Carey paid tribute her late father Alfred, who succumbed to cancer on July fourth of 2002.

'Happy Independence Day RIP Alfred Roy Carey #sunflowersforalfredroy #4thofjuly,' the 47-year-old pop diva captioned the floral snap.

'Happy Independence Day RIP Alfred Roy Carey #sunflowersforalfredroy': Meanwhile, five-time Grammy-winning pop diva Mariah Carey tributed her late father Alfred, who succumbed to cancer on July fourth of 2002

Cheers! Carey also shared a snap of herself celebrating the holiday on a boat with her fiance, James Packer, on Monday

Making a toast! Sitting next to David Geffen, the songbird played with her hair as her beau affectionately placed a hand on her knee

Eight-time Grammy-winning pop diva Rihanna shared a sultry selfie while rocking a patriotic bum bag and thigh-high cloven-toed boots.

Grammy-nominated pop diva Miley Cyrus sent her fans a festive greeting courtesy of one of her numerous pets: 'Happy 4th from Barbie!'

'Happy 4th': Eight-time Grammy-winning pop diva Rihanna shared a sultry selfie while rocking a patriotic bum bag and thigh-high cloven-toed boots

Who you gonna call: Actor Jamie Foxx impressed his daughter Annalise and her friends with a Ghostbusters X Lyft ride to a pre- 4th of July Party in Malibu

Oh Snap! Kendall Jenner showed some of her festivities from the national holiday

Grammy-nominated pop diva Miley Cyrus sent her fans a festive greeting courtesy of one of her numerous pets: 'Happy 4th from Barbie!'

'An American treasure': Emmy-winning comedian Amy Schumer did her best beachside salute in front of two American flags flying while clad in a tiny bikini

Actor Jamie Foxx impressed his daughter Annalise and her friends with a Ghostbusters X Lyft ride to a pre- 4th of July Party in Malibu.

Emmy-winning comedian Amy Schumer did her best beachside salute in front of two American flags flying while clad in a tiny bikini.

Bikini-clad RHONY star Bethenny Frankel captioned her Hamptons pool snap: 'I mean does it get any better than this? Happy #FourthOfJuly!'

Speaking of chlorinated cool-downs - two-time Oscar nominee Mark Wahlberg shared a wet snap with wife Rhea Durham and three of their four children - Michael, 10, Grace, 6, and Brendan, 7.

Two-time Oscar nominee Jessica Chastain waved a tiny flag while presenting a delicious berry confection from Royal Monceau Raffles Paris.

Bikini-clad RHONY star Bethenny Frankel captioned her Hamptons pool snap: 'I mean does it get any better than this? Happy #FourthOfJuly!'

'Have a great 4th of July!' Speaking of chlorinated cool-downs - two-time Oscar nominee Mark Wahlberg shared a wet snap with wife Rhea Durham and three of their four children

'Sending so much love to my countrymen from across the sea!' Two-time Oscar nominee Jessica Chastain waved a tiny flag while presenting a delicious berry confection from Royal Monceau Raffles Paris

'Happy 4 th of July!' Emmy-winning presenter Heidi Klum - who was born and raised in Germany - appeared to have passed out while wrapped in the stars and stripes

'What a beautiful #july4th surprise! Sending so much love to my countrymen from across the sea! #independanceday,' the 39-year-old actress wrote.

Emmy-winning presenter Heidi Klum - who was born and raised in Germany - appeared to have passed out while wrapped in the stars and stripes.

Newly rose-haired reality star Tori Spelling rocked a star-spangled Talbots top alongside the family's backyard grill.

'Getting ready for the #4thofjuly': Newly rose-haired reality star Tori Spelling rocked a star-spangled Talbots top alongside the family's backyard grill

'Happy 4th!' Hailey Baldwin celebrated on a boat with gal pals while clad in a red Baywatch-style one-piece with 'just married' emblazoned on it

The 19-year-old IMG Model joked: 'JUST KIDDING. Lol. Happy 4th children'

Hailey Baldwin celebrated on a boat with gal pals while clad in a red Baywatch-style one-piece with 'just married' emblazoned on it.

'JUST KIDDING. Lol. Happy 4th children,' the 19-year-old IMG Model joked.

Jessica Alba spent the holiday at the beach in Malibu with her father, husband and daughters.

'Had an awesome weekend with the fam bam,'she wrote alongside a photo taken by Cash Warren showing her with dad Mark and Honor and Haven.

'Awesome weekend': Jessica Alba enjoyed a family Fourth of July with her father Mark, daughters Honor and Haven and husband Cash Warren who took this photo she shared on Instagram

Lea Michele, meanwhile, celebrated the big holiday with her pals poolside.

The actress shared a bikini-clad video of herself holding hands with her friends as they jumped into the pool.

Sofia Vergara kicked off the holidays with a very patriotic meal that included a cake topped off with the American flag.

'Jumping into the 4th': Lea Michele and her friends splashed right into the Fourth Of July

Red, white, and blue! Sofia Vergara showed off her very patriotic treats

Compliments of the chef! Sofia shared a snap of her husband Joe Manganiello flipping burgers

Chillin: Pregnant Katherine Heigl shared a snap of herself catching some rays with daughter Naleigh

The actress also shared a Snapchat of her husband Joe Manganiello flipping burgers.

Adele was surrounded by her pals for the holiday, with the songbird sharing a snap of herself happily posing up with her friends.

Happy 4th July America! Really happy to be here,' she captioned the image.

Nick Jonas wore a World Series Ring as he posed beside his brother Joe, who wore red, white, and blue.

'Really happy to be here': Adele celebrated the holiday with her friends, sharing a snap of herself surrounded by her pals that she captioned, 'Happy 4th July America! Really happy to be here'

Check it out: Nick Jonas showed off his World Series Ring as he posed beside his brother Joe Jonas, who wore red, white, and blue

All that glitters: Bella Thorne shared a snap of herself in a red bikini with silvery eye makeup

Stars, stripes, and banner: Ciara shared a throwback snap of herself at the White House on Monday

Aww: Justin Timberlake wished his followers on Instagram, 'Happy 4th of July, America! --The Timberlakes'

Icing on top of the cake! Brielle Biermann, whose mother is Kim Zolciak, showed off her All American cake

Pucker up! Ashley Graham asked her Snapchat followers in the Big Apple, 'Where are you watching the fire works NYC?'

Soaking up the sun: Scott Disick captioned an image of himself posing with various bikini-clad ladies, 'They don't call me the cougar tamer for no reason'

The water's nice! Kourtney Kardashian celebrated the holiday with a dip in a pool

Care free: Mariah also shared a snap of her twins, Monroe and Moroccan, with a perfect view of the nearby fireworks show

Look who's here! Dorothy Wang celebrated the holiday with her friend EJ Johnson

Patriotic spirit: Blac Chyna shared a snap of herself wearing a patriotic headband, which looked to be a filter from her Snapchat account
The world is well acquainted with her sparkling interviewing skills.

And Lorraine Kelly's daughter is already following fast in her footsteps after she graduated with a degree in journalism, on Monday.

The 56-year-old joined her doppelganger daughter, Rosie Smith, 22, for her graduation ceremony at Edinburgh Napier University.

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Like mother, like daughter! Lorraine Kelly's daughter is already following fast in her footsteps after she graduated with a degree in journalism, on Monday

But this isn't the first time that Lorraine has visited the college, as she also obtained her own degree there.

And she even returned to officially open an industry standard broadcasting facility at the university's Merchiston campus earlier in March this year.

Lorraine and her daughter looked lovely with sophisticated matching black ensembles to mark the occasion.

Blast from the past! This isn't the first time that Lorraine has visited the college, as she also obtained her own degree there

The TV presenter flattered her shapely curves in the ladylike outfit, as she poured her figure into an A-Line gown that was adorned with large white polka dots.

And she ensured that she coordinated her look down to a tee as she rounded off her style with a cropped black cardigan and patent stiletto heels.

The Aberdeen-born beauty, eschewed all jewellery apart from a smattering of pearls which she wore elegantly around her wrist.

Once in a lifetime! The 56-year-old joined her doppelganger daughter, Rosie Smith, 22, for her graduation ceremony at Edinburgh Napier University

Mix and match: Lorraine and her daughter looked lovely with sophisticated matching black ensembles to mark the occasion

Keeping her makeup minimal, Lorraine showed off her natural beauty as she sported just a slick of mascara.

But she ensured that she maintained her high-glamour status in the hair department, as she styled her glossy brunette locks into loose Hollywood waves, which were softened with wispy bangs around her face.

Meanwhile, Rosie looked a vision of happiness as she proudly clutched her degree.

Absolutely dotty! The TV presenter flattered her shapely curves in the ladylike outfit, as she poured her figure into an A-Line gown that was adorned with large white polka dots

Coordinated: Lorraine ensured that she coordinated her look down to a tee as she rounded off her style with a cropped black cardigan and patent stiletto heels

The young graduate, looked every inch the academic as she shrouded her frame in her gown and wore a simple black dress underneath.

But she couldn't resist adding a touch of sparkle to her look with some black and cream strappy heels that were adorned with gold studs.

The 22-year-old highlighted her pretty features with some sparkly silver eyeshadow and a dusting of peachy blush.

Schol-tastic! The young graduate, looked every inch the academic as she shrouded her frame in her gown and wore a simple black dress underneath

And she drew attention to her impossibly plump pout with a subtle nude lipstick.

Sticking to their theme of red, white and black, both the women also sported sleek manicure in scarlet and raven shades.

As the pair posed for photos they also made their feelings perfectly clear as they held signs saying 'proud parent' and 'woo-hoo'.

Rosie was joined by hundreds of other students at the ceremony in the Usher Hall, including Glasgow-born film producer, Iain Smith, who received an Honorary Doctorate of Arts.

Mr Smith, who has been dubbed 'Europe's busiest producer' was awarded the degree for his work on blockbusters including The Killing Fields, The Mission, Children of Men and Mad Max: Fury Road.

Professor Andrea Nolan, principal and vice-chancellor of Edinburgh Napier University, said: 'It is exciting to see people who have made such a significant impact on the worlds of science, industry and the arts joining our celebrations.

'Their drive and talent will inspire our students as they set out to make their own mark on the world.'
John Krasinski and Emily Blunt have announced the arrival of their second child.

The Office star revealed the family welcomed a baby girl two weeks ago in a message posted on July 4.

The 36-year-old actor wrote: 'What better way to celebrate the 4th... than to announce our 4th family member!!! 2 weeks ago we met our beautiful daughter Violet #Happy4th'

Baby joy: John Krasinski and Emily Blunt, pictured in March, have announced the arrival of their second child

The couple also have a daughter, Hazel, who is two.

Emily, 33, announced she was expecting in January and kept up a busy schedule for much of her pregnancy.

The British screen star filmed Girl On The Train - which has been adapted from Paula Hawkins' best-selling novel of the same name - and did a promotional tour for her film The Huntsman: Winter's War', in which she plays Ice Queen Freya.

New arrival: John posted the happy news to Twitter

Krasinski is currently filming J.J. Abrams sci-fi God Particle, which is scheduled for release on February 24, 2017.

The family are said to be keen to relocate to the East Coast to raise their expanding family and recently sold their Hollywood home to Kendall Jenner.

The 20-year-old model splashed out $6.5 million on the stunning property, which features six bedrooms, five bathrooms and a private swimming pool.

They married in July 2010 in Lake Como, Italy after dating for two years.

Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck also named their daughter Violet, as did Christina Milian,

The name got a boost in popularity after Jen and Ben used it, becoming the leader of the Nameberry hotness chart - which monitors the upward trajectory in use.

Family: The couple are already parents to daughter Hazel - pictured in May
Forces Of Nature

Rating:

Never mind how snowflakes and honeycombs are formed. The great mystery in Forces Of Nature (BBC1) is how Professor Brian Cox grows younger every year.

Since we last saw him, looking about as old as the graduates he teaches at Manchester University, he has regressed. At 48, he could pass for a teenager, with his thick, floppy hair and gangling limbs.

His moptop hairstyle is often lazily called a Beatles cut, but really it's more a Blue Peter, reminiscent of the young John Noakes. If Prof Brian were to mutter, 'Get down, Shep!' the effect would be uncanny.

The great mystery in Forces Of Nature is how Professor Brian Cox (pictured) grows younger every year

His teeth are so white that, when he's out at night, he dazzles oncoming traffic. And those gnashers are constantly on display, because Prof Brian never stops grinning.

Throughout this episode, the first of four explaining how the essential laws of physics shape the everyday world, he had a blissful, floaty smile.

MONIKER OF THE WEEK Author Edith Nesbit called her oldest son Fabian, after the Left-wing Fabian Society she supported, Samantha Bond revealed in The Secret Life Of Children's Books (BBC4). That's like christening your baby 'Ukip' or 'ScotsNat'. And I bet some batty parent has done that, too. Advertisement

Prof Brian's devotion to science has a religious intensity, and the brightness of his smile proves it. He looks like the Dalai Lama on Ecstasy.

But it can't be science that keeps him so young, otherwise Albert Einstein would have looked like a Cub Scout all his life. Equally, it's impossible to imagine a man as cerebral as the Prof wastes his time on vanities such as tints and fillers, or that he sleeps in a vat of moisturiser.

The truth may be more sinister. Oscar Wilde's impossibly youthful debauchee, Dorian Gray, kept a portrait in his attic that aged on his behalf. Perhaps in a cobwebbed recess of Prof Brian's laboratory, there's a balding, shrivelled homunculus that records the real ravages of time that are hidden from his face.

If you could ignore this macabre spectre, Forces Of Nature was an absorbing and beautiful programme. It didn't attempt to explain anything too complex: we learned how ice crystals form and why bees build hexagonal grids in their hives.

Prof Brian's (pictured in Tenerife, Spain in June) devotion to science has a religious intensity, and the brightness of his smile proves it, writes CHRISTOPER STEVENS

But it did it with a slow and druggy cascade of gorgeous high-definition images. Children slithered laughing through the snowdrifts in a Norwegian village and blew soap bubbles that froze in the Arctic air.

Spanish townsfolk in coloured shirts scrambled to form human pyramids that tumbled in slow motion. Nepalese elders swung above dizzying heights on fraying ropes as they collected wild honey.

The pictures kept echoing. Again and again we watched the dreamlike formation of snowflakes. And the Prof kept repeating the explanations, saying the same thing in a succession of ways, as he waved his hands and drew equations in the air, and smiled, and smiled.

Brief Encounters

Rating:

There was also a dreamlike quality to Brief Encounters (ITV), the Ann Summers lingerie drama. It wasn't an erotic dream  this tale of X-rated Tupperware parties in Eighties Sheffield was about as sexy as a nylon nightie from C&A.

But the impeccably vintage props and decor gave the story a hallucinatory vividness, as forgotten shopfronts, billboards, pub lounges and fitted kitchens were lovingly recreated. Even the telly in the corner of the sitting room was a rental, as they always were.

In a lovely touch, lonely butcher's wife Pauline (Penelope Wilton) tore out a page from her women's magazine, with a tea cosy pattern in the shape of a macrame owl. It could only be 1982 . . .

There was also a dreamlike quality to Brief Encounters, the Ann Summers lingerie drama, but it was about as sexy as a nylon nightie from C&A

The realism was largely wasted by the storyline, a predictable tale of women's lib in the suburbs. Pauline's cleaner Steph (Sophie Rundle) talked her into hosting a ladies' night with sex toys for sale. At first, Pauline wasn't sure  'I am open-minded. Just not that open-minded'  but soon came round.

Her neighbour, who was posh, declared herself shocked and outraged. Her hairdresser, who was dead common, thought it a right laugh. Her husband, who was speechless, quickly discovered it was a bit of a turn-on.

Meanwhile, Steph's useless, jobless husband was asserting his masculinity by having it away with his best mate's wife.
She was left stunned and humiliated when her boyfriend Terry Walsh cheated on her just days after the public evicted her from the Love Island villa.

But on Monday night's episode of ITV2 reality show Malin Anderson got to deliver some home truths to her unfaithful partner, as she made a return to the show.

Interrupting Terry's day out with his pal Scott Thomas, the 23-year-old stewardess slammed the Essex boy, 28, blasting: 'You mugged me off. Ive been the biggest mug, you mugged me off completely.'

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'Ive been the biggest mug, you mugged me off completely': On Monday night's episode of Love Island Malin Anderson got to deliver some home truths to her unfaithful partner, as she made a return to the show

Having been fooled into thinking they were being treated to a quiet drink away from the villa, Terry - who only took two days to cheat on Malin with Emma Thomspon - and Scott headed to a quiet bar.

And while the two self-confessed 'lads' were full of back-slaps and compliments when it came to each other, they were left stunned as Terry's seething ex surprised them.

Announcing her arrival by saying: 'Hello boys. Whats going on?' Malin was greeted by terry's jaw falling open, and Scott screaming: 'Oh my god! S***!'

Telling Scott she needed a moment alone with her ex, the brunette beauty started her verbal onslaught, stating: 'Ive been watching everything.'

Feeling those burns? Interrupting Terry's day out with Scott Thomas, the 23-year-old stewardess slammed the Essex boy, 28, blasting: 'You mugged me off. Ive been the biggest mug, you mugged me off completely'

And attempting to defend his shocking romp with Emma on top of the covers in the villa's bedroom, Terry replied: 'I didnt say to you I was 100% going to be with you.'

However, Malin wasn't listening and laid into Terry for all that he's said since of her since she left the villa.

Trying to keep her cool, Malin explained her position, saying: 'Terry, we were together in that villa. I left that villa as a couple with you; we were official in there.

'You were my boyfriend, and I came out of there supporting you. Then a day later youve hooked up.'

But refusing to see he'd wronged Malin in any way, the carpenter incurred the full wrath of his one-time love, with the Bedfordshire-born beauty snapping: 'You led me on the whole time we were in there; you were playing a massive game Terry.

In for a surprise: Announcing her arrival by saying: 'Hello boys. Whats going on?' Malin was greeted by terry's jaw falling open, and Scott screaming: 'Oh my god! S***!'

'Ive been watching everything': Malin wasn't listening to Terry's arguments as to why he hadn't cheated, and promptly laid into her ex for all his actions since she left the villa

'Everyone can see it. Your little girl Emmas playing a game too. Youre muggy as f***. I can see everything.'

And warming up to her theme, she continued: 'Youve cheated on me and made me look like a mug, and you've disrespected me completely.'

But Terry wasn't going to take Malin's grilling laying down, and callously countered: 'Its been the best thing thats happened to me in there [sleeping with Emma].'

And following a scathing critique of his new love-interest, Terry appeared to lose his temper, as he quipped; 'Youre just mugging me off. What are you talking about you idiot?!

'Youve cheated on me and made me look like a mug, and you've disrespected me completely': The Bedfordshire beauty didn't pull any punches during her showdown with the Essex boy

'Youre just mugging me off. What are you talking about you idiot?!' Terry didn't take her berating laying down though, and slammed Malin for lying

'You mugged me off. Ive been the biggest mug, you mugged me off completely': Clearly hurt by Terry, Malin made her feeling known to her one-time boyfriend

Though Malin was in no mood to let him off hook, and snapped back: 'You mugged me off. Ive been the biggest mug, you mugged me off completely.'

Warming to her theme, she added: 'The whole of England has seen it, and it is so funny how much support Ive got. Youre going to be very shocked when you come out of here.'

But having had enough of the tongue lashing, Terry simply retorted: 'Is there anything else you want to say? Because you clearly cant deal with me not wanting to be with you?'

And clearly having had plenty of time to think about his despicable treatment of her, Malin slammed Terry, said: 'You cheated on me. Youre a complete mug. You have no respect. You strung me along completely. As soon as I was out you were like, "next girl".

'You just want to win the show. Thats what everyone thinks.'

Stung by Malin's character assassination, Terry snapped back: 'Go away from me, youre a f***ing joke, you know that?'

She's got something to say: Malin finished her tirade, declaring: 'You cheated on me. Youre a complete mug. You have no respect. You strung me along completely. As soon as I was out you were like, "next girl"'

Deflated: Back at the villa Terry looked as though he had a lot on his mind

He moved on: Earlier this month, just days after being evicted from Love Island and returning back to the UK, Malin watched as Terry wasted no time in getting acquainted with new girl Emma, 19

The showdown followed Malin's dramatic exit from the Villa earlier this month, when just days after being evicted from Love Island and returning back to the UK, she watched as Terry wasted no time in getting acquainted with new girl Emma, 19.

Taking to Twitter after seeing Terry and Emma kiss, she announced: 'So I'm single... I'll let you all know how I feel tomorrow and my version on things. Heads gonna explode.'

With more of a calm head the next morning, she tweeted: 'Send my love to your new lover.. Treat her better.'

And things went from bad to worse for Malin, after Terry and Emma stunned viewers by having sex on top of the covers just days later.

Malin and Terry got together on the show earlier last month and had been inseparable - even having sex in front of their fellow Islanders while they cheered along.
Australian Survivor and The Bachelor have been slammed on social media for a lack of ethnic diversity among its contestants after the final line-ups were revealed.

Network Ten is now facing a backlash over what fans are calling a 'white wash' ahead of the premieres of the two shows, which are expected to air later this year.

After Survivor shared an image of the 24 castaways on Sunday, dozens of fans took to Twitter to vent their frustration, saying the line-up did not reflect the diversity of Australia.

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'White wash': Australian Survivor has been slammed on social media for a lack of ethnic diversity among its contestants after the final line-up was revealed

Fans of The Bachelor were also left disappointed that there was 'too much white single female going on' in the final cast.

The Survivor contestants, chosen from a staggering 15,000 applicants, include a model, private investigator, firefighter and magician.

After the line-up was revealed, Russell tweeted: 'Why is this cast so white?'

Line-up: Fans of The Bachelor were also left disappointed that there was 'too much white single female going on' in the final cast

Battle: A former athlete, massage therapist, children's entertainer and glamour model will all be entering the fray for The Bachelor

Myron My said: '#SurvivorAU cast: 23/24 white. Two personal trainers, two teachers, two ex-sport players. So much sameness. Diversity much? #Survivor'

Kristian tweeted: '@Survivor_AU CANT WAIT! agree with the white wash thing but still nothing will put me off this, when are we getting a date???'

Alec Heeren tweeted: 'Out of the 24 castaways on Australian Survivor none of them are Asian. Why am I not surprised?'

Judith L added: '@Survivor_AU how many Queenslanders??? Is it because airfares are cheaper? Bit more diversity is in order as well. Opportunity lost.'

Niall Wilson said he relieved that Barry, a radio host and ex-rugby international with an Aboriginal/South Sea Islander background, was part of the cast.

Frustration: After Survivor shared an image of the 24 castaways on Sunday, dozens of fans took to Twitter to vent their frustration, saying the line-up did not reflect the diversity of Australia

He tweeted: '@Survivor_AU Great to finally see a 'Barry' in Survivor!! @ESA_Casting #SurvivorAU'

The application form for the show stated they were looking for 'men and women of all ages, backgrounds and locations around Australia.'

The contestants range in age from 23 to 62 and also include Phoebe Timmins, 27-year-old criminal cartel lawyer, and Sam Webb, a 27-year-old charity CEO.

They will all be heading to the tropical paradise of Samoa to outwit, outplay and outlast each other.

Melbourne-based underwear model Rohan Maclaren, 27, told the Herald Sun he loves 'going out and being the wild man in the jungle'.

Competition: The 22 women who will fight for Richie Strahan's heart on season four of The Bachelor Australia have been revealed

Nort representative: After an image of the final line-up was revealed, dozens of fans bemoaned the lack of diversity

The publication also released the 22 women who will fight for Richie Strahan's heart on season four of The Bachelor Australia this year.

A former athlete, massage therapist, children's entertainer and glamour model will all be entering the fray.

Bali-based swimwear designer Noni Janur, who hails from Queensland, will also be in the running in the competition.

After an image of the final line-up was revealed, dozens of fans bemoaned the lack of diversity.

One Twitter user said: 'Way too much white single female going on here and why the hell no Rangas?'

Network Ten has been approached for a comment.
Iraq mourns 119 killed in Baghdad car bombing

Iraq begins three days of national mourning on Monday for almost 120 people killed by a suicide bombing in a busy Baghdad shopping district claimed by Islamic State jihadists, the deadliest attack in the capital this year.

The blast hit the Karrada district early Sunday as the area was packed with shoppers ahead of this week's holiday marking the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.

Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced three days of national mourning for the victims as he visited the site of the attack, and his office said he had vowed to "punish" the perpetrators.

Iraqi men mourn over bodies after they lost five members of their family in a suicide bombing that ripped through Baghdad's busy shopping district of Karrada, during a funeral Najaf, on July 3, 2016 Haidar Hamadani (AFP)

He also ordered changes to Baghdad security measures in response to the bombing, which security officials said killed at least 119 people and wounded more than 180.

The attack came a week after Iraqi security forces recaptured Fallujah from IS, leaving Mosul as the only Iraqi city under the jihadist group's control.

The blast set buildings ablaze, and crowds of people watched from the rubble-filled street as emergency personnel carried out victims and worked on the site.

A member of the civil defence forces said it would take "a number of days" to recover the bodies of the victims.

Hussein Ali, a 24-year-old former soldier, said six workers at his family's shop were killed, their bodies so badly burned they could not be identified.

"I will return to the battlefront. At least there, I know the enemy so I can fight him. But here, I don't know who I'm fighting," Ali told AFP.

- 'Cowardly and heinous act' -

IS issued a statement claiming responsibility for the suicide bombing, saying it was carried out by an Iraqi as part of "ongoing security operations".

The jihadist group said the blast targeted Iraq's Shiite Muslim majority, whom the Sunni extremists consider heretics and frequently attack in Baghdad and elsewhere.

UN Iraq envoy Jan Kubis condemned the "cowardly and heinous act of unparalleled proportions," calling on authorities to bring those responsible to justice.

Officials said another explosion in the Shaab area of northern Baghdad killed at least one person and wounded four on Sunday, but the cause of the blast was disputed.

Bombings in the capital have decreased since IS overran large areas north and west of Baghdad in June 2014, with the jihadists apparently more concerned with operations elsewhere.

But the group has struck back against Iraqi civilians after suffering military setbacks, and in May, Baghdad was rocked by a series of blasts that killed more than 150 people in seven days.

A video posted on social media showed men -- apparently angry at the government's failure to prevent the carnage in Karrada -- throwing rocks at what was said to be Abadi's convoy.

But the premier struck a conciliatory tone over anger directed towards him.

- IS defeat in Fallujah -

"I understand the emotional feelings and actions that occurred in a moment of sadness and anger," Abadi said in a statement.

With thousands of vehicles moving in and out of the city each day, such bombings are difficult to prevent.

But there are also flaws in security measures in the city, especially the continued use of fake bomb detectors at checkpoints years after the man who sold them to Iraq was jailed for fraud in Britain.

Abadi announced a series of changes to security measures following the Sunday bombing, including scrapping the fake detectors.

He also ordered the deployment of scanning devices at entrances to Baghdad to be sped up, directed that security personnel be banned from using mobile phones at checkpoints, and also called for increased aerial reconnaissance and coordination among security forces.

Iraqi forces completely recaptured Fallujah, a city 50 kilometres (30 miles) west of Baghdad, from the jihadists a week ago.

Anti-government fighters seized Fallujah in early 2014 and it later became one of IS's main strongholds in the country.

IS's defeat there was compounded by a devastating series of air strikes targeting jihadist forces as they sought to flee the Fallujah area.

Iraqi and US-led coalition aircraft destroyed hundreds of IS vehicles and killed dozens of fighters in two days of strikes against jihadist convoys after the end of the Fallujah battle, officials said.

With Fallujah retaken, Iraqi forces are now setting their sights on second city Mosul, the last major population centre held by IS in Iraq.

Map of central Baghdad locating Sunday's deadly suicide car bombing in the Karrada district of the city - (AFP Graphic)

Residents inspect damage at the site of a suicide car bombing claimed by the Islamic State group, in Baghdad's central Karrada district, on July 3, 2016 Sabah Arar (AFP)
China bus arsonist who killed 18 condemned to die

A man convicted of killing 18 people when he set a public bus on fire in China has been sentenced to death, authorities said.

Ma Yongping, 34, in January set alight the bus in Yinchuan, capital of the remote northern region of Ningxia, leaving 18 people dead and another 32 injured.

He was convicted of arson and sentenced to death by the Yinchuan Intermediate People's Court on Sunday, the city government said in a social media posting.

Chinese citizens have sometimes turned to violence against innocents in attempts to publicise their plight after failing to obtain redress for low-level disputes Mark Ralston (AFP/File)

Ma admitted his actions but said he would appeal against the sentence, according to the government statement.

A college graduate who had studied in Japan, Ma had accumulated more than 300,000 yuan ($46,000) in debts while a contractor on an engineering project, much of it salaries for his workers, according to previous Chinese media reports.

The company refused to pay him, they said, and on the morning of the attack he sent friends a message on chat application WeChat saying: "At a time when even a person's basic rights can't be guaranteed, he has a right to take action to fight for (them)."

Chinese citizens have sometimes turned to violence against innocents in attempts to publicise their plight after failing to obtain redress for low-level disputes.
Fido forever? South Korea's dog cloning clinic

At $100,000 a head, the puppies frolicking around the fenced lawn in western Seoul don't come cheap -- but at least their owners know exactly what they are getting.

The lawn belongs to the Sooam Biotech Research Foundation, a world leader in pet cloning that has run a thriving commercial business over the past decade catering to dog owners who want to live with their pets forever ... literally.

With a client list including princes, celebrities and billionaires, the foundation offers owners protection against loss and grief with a cloning service that promises the perfect replacement for a beloved pet.

A reseacher holds a cloned dog in her arms at Seoul's Sooam Biotech Research Foundation, a world leader in pet cloning Jung Yeon-Je (AFP)

Since 2006, the facility has cloned nearly 800 dogs, commissioned by owners or state agencies seeking to replicate their best sniffer and rescue dogs.

"These people have very a strong bond with their pets ... and cloning provides a psychological alternative to the traditional method of just letting the pet go and keeping their memory," said Wang Jae-Woong, a researcher and spokesman for Sooam.

"With cloning, you have a chance to bring back the pets," he said in the facility's "care room" where each cloned puppy is kept in a glass-fronted, temperature-controlled pen and monitored by researchers around the clock.

Ever since the milestone birth of Dolly the sheep in 1996, the rights and wrongs of cloning have been a topic of heated debate and Sooam Biotech has been regarded with particular suspicion because of its founder, Hwang Woo-Suk.

In two articles published in the journal Science in 2004 and 2005, Hwang claimed to have derived stem-cell lines from cloned human embryos, a world first.

- Fraudulent hero -

He was lauded as a national hero in South Korea before it emerged that his research was fraudulent and riddled with ethical lapses.

Hwang was given a two-year suspended prison sentence in 2009, after being convicted of embezzlement and bioethical violations.

Sooam Biotech clones many animals, including cattle and pigs for medical research and breed preservation, but is best known for its commercial dog service.

The process involves harvesting a mature cell from the dog to be copied and transferring its DNA to a donor egg cell that has had its own genetic material removed.

The cell and the egg are "fused" with an electrical jolt, and the resulting embryo is implanted in a surrogate mother dog, which will give birth about two months later.

Despite the $100,000 price tag, requests for the service have poured in from around the world, Wang said -- around half from North America.

Some have sought clones of other pets like cats, snakes and even chinchillas, but Wang said the demand for such animals was too small to justify the cost.

Walls around the five-storey Sooam Biotech centre are adorned with dozens of photos of cloned dogs and their smiling owners -- tagged with their national flags including the US, Mexico, Dubai, Russia, Japan, China and Germany.

"(The clients) understand that a clone is an identical twin of the original pet, but also has a lot of genetic predispositions and the potential to develop as the original pet," Wang said.

- 9/11 canine hero -

One well publicised cloning was of Trakr, a former police dog hailed as a hero after discovering the last survivor of the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center.

Sooam produced five clones after Trakr's owner won a contest for the world's most "clone-worthy" dog.

High profile clients have included Princess Shaikha Latifah of Dubai who cloned her pet dog in 2015 and helped launch a joint research study into cloning camel breeds known for high milk production.

For the most part, the foundation's clients and financial supporters of Hwang Woo-Suk's research prefer to remain anonymous.

"Few of our backers -- even the most loyal ones -- want to voice their support publicly," said Sooam Biotech's general manager Kim Hoon, who acknowledged that the scandal involving the facility's founder had tainted its image.

"I think the only way to win the public's trust back is making more genuine scientific breakthroughs," he said.

The centre does not conduct any human stem cell research after being repeatedly denied a state approval to do so.

But it is pushing a number of ambitious projects, most notably an effort to clone an extinct mammoth.

Since 2012, Hwang's team has attempted to cultivate living cells from the frozen remains of mammoths in Siberia.

- Disease 'models' -

For medical research purposes, Sooam Biotech also produces genetically-engineered animals, or "disease models" that are predisposed to Alzheimer's, diabetes or certain cancers.

During a visit to the clinic by AFP, Hwang himself was leading a procedure to inject the embryo of a Beagle into a surrogate mother dog's womb.

"This dog, once born, has a possibility to become a disease model for human brain tumours," Hwang said.

Sooam is also involved in a joint venture with Chinese biotechnology firm Boyalife to set up what will be the world's largest animal cloning factory in the northeastern Chinese port city of Tianjin.

But head researcher Jeong Yeon-Woo said the dog cloning remained his favourite service because of the reaction of owners when they see the puppies.

"They look like they found a child that had been missing," Jeong said.

"The moment of pure joy like that ... makes me realise again why I'm doing this."

A screen displays the process of removing a nucleus from a donor egg at the Sooam Biotech Research Foundation, a world leader in pet cloning Jung Yeon-Je (AFP)

South Korean scientist Hwang Woo-Suk performs an embryo-injection operation on a surrogate mother dog at Sooam Biotech Jung Yeon-Je (AFP)

Despite the $100,000 price tag, requests for the dog cloning service have poured in from around the world Jung Yeon-Je (AFP)

Sooam Biotech clones many animals, including cattle and pigs for medical research and breed preservation, but is best known for its commercial dog service Jung Yeon-Je (AFP)
Russian couple murdered, dismembered in Fiji

A Russian couple from Fiji are thought to have been murdered and dismembered after human body parts washed up on a beach in the Pacific island nation.

The Fiji Sun said two pairs of feet wrapped in netting and weighed down with stones were found on June 24 at Natadola beach, a popular tourist destination.

Further searches uncovered more remains, with speculation connecting the grisly find to the disappearance a week earlier of Russian couple Yuri and Natalia Shipulin.

Human body parts, wrapped in netting and weighed down with stones, were found on a Fiji beach on June 24 William West (AFP/File)

Lead investigator Luke Navela said DNA tests with the Shipulins' relatives back in Russia had confirmed the link, and police now believed they had been murdered and dismembered, the Sun reported.

Citing police sources, the newspaper said detectives had information a chainsaw was missing from the couple's farm on the main island of Viti Levu.

The Fiji Times reported that the couple moved to Fiji in 2011 and were leasing the farm and operating a photography business.

A friend, fellow Russian Alla Mallerich, described the pair as "soul mates".

"Yuri was a happy, easy going man who loved life, loved Fiji and he had plans to build his life in Fiji," she told the newspaper.

Social media pictures show a middle-aged couple smiling while drinking cocktails and beers in the sun.

However, their business partner Andrew Luzanenko told the Fiji Sun in the days after their disappearance that they had financial difficulties after the farm was devastated by Super Cyclone Winston earlier this year.

Luzanenko, who also lived at the farm after moving from Russia earlier this year to co-manage it, said the couple left "without even speaking to me".
Hong Kong officials to visit Beijing for talks over bookseller

A senior Hong Kong delegation will head to Beijing for talks following explosive revelations by a bookseller who said he was detained for eight months on the mainland, the city's leader said Monday.

Lam Wing-kee, 61, has said he was seized after crossing the border into the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen, taken away blindfolded and then kept in a cell without access to a lawyer for alleged involvement in bringing banned books into the mainland.

The case has laid bare growing anxiety that the semi-autonomous city's freedoms are disappearing.

Hong Kong bookseller Lam Wing-kee said he was seized after crossing the border into Shenzhen, and then kept in a cell without access to a lawyer for alleged involvement in bringing banned books into China Anthony Wallace (AFP/File)

Lam was one of five employees of a Hong Kong firm -- which published gossipy books about leading Chinese politicians -- to go mysteriously missing last year. All later emerged in mainland China.

Hong Kong's Beijing-backed chief executive Leung Chun-ying said a team of senior officials would visit Beijing Tuesday to discuss Lam's case and review the "existing notification mechanism between the two places".

Under that mechanism, authorities on the mainland are required to give clear details about arrests and detentions of Hong Kong citizens over the border, a procedure critics say went disastrously wrong in the booksellers' case.

"(Officials) will go to Beijing tomorrow morning ... (and) meet with relevant departments in order to improve the existing mechanism. It will be a comprehensive and in-depth review," Leung told reporters.

He added mainland authorities would also brief the Hong Kong officials, including the city's justice and security ministers as well as heads of police and immigration, on Lam's case.

Lam was due to lead a pro-democracy march Friday to mark the 19th anniversary of the city's handover from Britain to China, but pulled out at the last minute citing a "serious threat" to his security.

Hong Kong security minister Lai Tung-kwok said Lam had filed a report over his claims and investigation was underway.

The Hong Kong government has been accused of dragging its feet over the booksellers' case, with residents demanding to know what authorities have done to try to help them. There have also been accusations China has illegally sent its security agents to operate in Hong Kong.

Fellow bookseller Lee Bo disappeared on Hong Kong soil, spurring fears that he was detained by Chinese personnel.

Hong Kong was returned by Britain to China in 1997 under a deal which allows it freedoms unseen on the mainland, but there is concern they are now being eroded.
Israel razes homes of 2 Palestinian assailants

Israeli forces demolished the West Bank homes of two Palestinian knifemen whose December attack led to the death of two Israelis, including one by friendly fire, the army said Monday.

The overnight demolitions took place in Qalandia refugee camp, between Jerusalem and Ramallah, with four Palestinians wounded in ensuing clashes, an AFP reporter said.

A military spokeswoman said the military destroyed the homes of Issa Assaf and Annan Abu Habsa, who were shot dead during a December 23 attack near Jerusalem's Old City.

Palestinians stand near a house that was demolished by Israeli authorities in the Qalandia refugee camp, between Jerusalem and Ramallah, on July 4, 2016 Abbas Momani (AFP)

"Armed with knives, the two assailants stabbed pedestrians at the scene, brutally killing rabbi Reuven Birmajer and wounding a civilian," the spokeswoman said.

A middle-aged Israeli was also killed in the December incident, by stray fire from security forces shooting at the two Palestinians.

"During the demolition, multiple violent riots erupted" with Palestinians throwing rocks and opening fire, the spokeswoman said.

Israeli forces eventually opened fire at "main instigators", she said.

Four Palestinians were lightly wounded in the clashes, according to an AFP reporter.

Israel routinely demolishes homes of Palestinian assailants in what it says is a means to deter further attacks.

UNRWA, the United Nations agency responsible for Palestinian refugees, said Assaf lived in the house of his father, an UNRWA sanitation labourer, with four other members of the family.

"Punitive home demolitions are a form of collective punishment which are illegal under international law. They inflict distress and suffering on those who have not committed the action which led to the demolition and they often endanger people and property in the vicinity," said a statement from the agency.

"UNRWA condemns punitive demolitions and reminds Israel, the occupying power, that under international humanitarian law it has an obligation to protect the occupied people and provide services."

Abu Habsa's father, Mohammad, said that the army had warned him ahead of the demolition, after the order was approved by the Israeli High Court.

"I don't know what they will gain from this," he told AFP as he stood by the rubble.

A wave of violence since October has killed at least 214 Palestinians, 34 Israelis, two Americans, an Eritrean and a Sudanese.

Most of the Palestinians killed were carrying out knife, gun or car-ramming attacks, Israeli authorities say.
Shanghai SIPG return to winning ways in Chinese Super League

Shanghai SIPG grabbed their first Chinese Super League victory in six games, just days after reportedly breaking the Asian transfer record to land Brazilian forward Hulk.

Sven-Goran Eriksson's side beat Hebei China Fortune 2-0 away from home, as the team's new 55 million euro ($61 million) signing from Zenit St Petersburg stayed behind in Shanghai to regain match fitness, having yet to make his debut.

Brazilian striker Elkeson put SIPG ahead with neat turn and shot from the edge of the area in the 69th minute before Chinese international forward Wu Lei sealed the win three minutes from time with a goal following a mazy run.

The win sees fourth placed SIPG close the gap with third placed Hebei to three points

"Our performance today was more like that of a strong team," said Eriksson after the match. "I hope this can be the turning point in our season."

Due to Super League's foreign player limits, one of SIPG's current overseas imports must leave to make way for Hulk, with former Sunderland striker Asamoah Gyan the most likely to depart according to local media.

When asked about the Ghana international's future in Shanghai, Eriksson said: "Sorry, I am not clear at the moment on what is going to happen with Asamoah."

Hebei were missing their own marquee signing, former Paris Saint-Germain winger Ezequiel Lavezzi, who broke his arm whilst playing for Argentina in the Copa America last month.

The win saw fourth placed SIPG close the gap with third placed Hebei to three points, but Eriksson's side trail leaders Guangzhou Evergrande, who beat struggling Shandong Luneng 2-0 on Sunday, by 12 points with the Chinese season now just past its halfway point.
Saudi intercepts ballistic missile from Yemen: coalition

Saudi Arabia intercepted a ballistic missile that Yemeni rebels fired towards the kingdom's southern city of Abha early Monday, the Riyadh-led coalition fighting the insurgents said.

"It was intercepted with no injuries," the coalition said in a statement, adding that the missile launcher was destroyed by Saudi air defences.

It was at least the fourth ballistic missile launched across the border since UN-brokered peace talks began in Kuwait in April between Yemen's Huthi rebels and the government of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi.

Yemeni pro-government forces, loyal to President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi, gather at a military base in the Sanaa province, in April 2016 Nabil Hassan (AFP)

Fighting has continued despite a formal ceasefire in conjunction with the peace talks.

The Huthis, which Saudi Arabia says are backed by Iran, are allied with elite troops loyal to Yemen's former president Ali Abdullah Saleh.

They overran Yemen's capital Sanaa in 2014 before moving into other parts of the country, prompting the coalition to intervene with air strikes and other support in March last year.

Saudi Arabia has deployed Patriot missile batteries to counter tactical ballistic missiles which have been fired occasionally during the war.

The UN special envoy to Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, said on Wednesday that the warring parties were taking a two-week break from the peace talks which have made little headway.

The UN says more than 6,400 people have been killed in Yemen since March last year, most of them civilians.

Fighting has driven 2.8 million people from their homes and left more than 80 percent of the population needing humanitarian aid.
Australia PM urged to quit after failing to seal emphatic vote win

Australia's opposition Labor Party urged Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull to resign Monday, calling him the "David Cameron of the southern hemisphere" after he failed to secure an emphatic election victory.

Millionaire former banker Turnbull took the country to the ballot boxes on Saturday, but his Liberal/National coalition has so far failed to win enough seats to form a government.

Labor leader Bill Shorten, whose party appears to have gained seats in the 150-member House of Representatives but also fallen short of the 76 needed to govern, said Turnbull had to go.

Australian Labor leader Bill Shorten (L) has called Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull (R) the 'David Cameron of the southern hemisphere' William West, Lukas Coch (AFP/File)

"This is farcical. Mr. Turnbull clearly doesn't know what he is doing. Quite frankly, I think he should quit," Shorten told reporters in Sydney.

"He has taken this nation to an election on the basis of stability; he has delivered instability."

He said Turnbull's decision to put every seat in the upper house Senate up for grabs in a so-called double dissolution election rather than have the usual half-Senate vote had "made a bad situation worse".

"He Brexited himself. This guy is like (the) David Cameron of the southern hemisphere," the Labor leader said.

"He leads a divided party, he has had an election and he has delivered an inferior and unstable outcome."

Britain's Cameron called a referendum on whether the country should stay in the EU and led the "Remain" campaign. He announced he was quitting after the nation voted to leave.

Turnbull is the country's fourth leader since 2013 after he ousted fellow Liberal Tony Abbott as prime minister in a party coup last September. He called elections early hoping to shore up support for his ruling coalition.

With the vote count still incomplete, the anti-immigration One Nation party of Pauline Hanson, who once claimed Asians were in danger of swamping the country, looks set to win multiple Senate seats.

"How on earth did Mr. Turnbull think that an idea of reform could end up with two or three One Nation senators in the Senate?" Shorten asked.

The vote count in Australia is due to resume on Tuesday, with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reporting that the government has 68 seats to Labor's 67 with five minor players and 10 in doubt.

Malcolm Turnbull has been prime minister since September 2015 Gal Roma (AFP)
Fury over insecurity as Iraqis mourn 200 dead in Baghdad blast

Iraqis on Monday mourned more than 200 people killed in a Baghdad suicide bombing claimed by the Islamic State jihadist group and accused the government of not doing enough to protect them.

Baghdad, apparently seeking to shore up its image after one of the deadliest ever bombings in Iraq, announced the execution of five convicts and also said it had arrested 40 jihadists.

The grim search continued for bodies at the site of the attack that hit the upmarket Karrada district early on Sunday as it teemed with shoppers ahead of this week's holiday marking the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.

An Iraqi man reacts as he enters a building that was destroyed in a suicide-bombing attack in Baghdad's Karrada neighbourhood Ahmad al-Rubaye (AFP)

Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced efforts to address longstanding security flaws in Baghdad following the blast, which came a week after Iraqi forces recaptured the city of Fallujah from IS.

But Iraqis are furious at the government's inability to keep residents safe, even as its forces on the battlefield push back IS outside the capital.

"I swear to God, the government is a failure," said a woman who gave her name as Umm Alaa, who lost her apartment in the attack.

IS "tactics are changing. Why does the Iraqi government have fixed tactics?" a man asked at the site of the bombing, criticising the government's "stupid checkpoints" and use of fake bomb detectors.

And Inam al-Zubaidi said she came to the site to offer condolences to "the families of the martyrs, who fell in this place because of the failed government".

As Iraq marked three days of national mourning, security and medical officials told AFP the number of dead from the attack had risen to at least 213. More than 200 were wounded, they said.

- Digging through ashes -

Iraq's justice ministry announced the execution Monday of five convicts, whose crimes were not specified, in a statement that linked the timing of the executions with the Karrada blast.

The ministry said it wanted bereaved families to know "that their brothers in the justice ministry are continuing to deliver just punishment to those whose hands are stained with the blood of Iraqis".

Baghdad also said that security forces had arrested "40 terrorists" who were allegedly linked to planned attacks during Ramadan.

In Karrada, a young man lit a candle on a staircase leading to the basement of one charred building, adding to dozens of others left by mourners at the site of the bombing, which sparked infernos in nearby buildings.

Down the stairs, young men dug through the ashes using shovels and their hands, searching for those still missing after the blast.

Black banners bearing the names of victims -- including multiple members of some families -- hung from burned buildings, announcing the dates and locations of their funerals.

Abadi was met with an angry response when he visited the site on Sunday, with one video showing men throwing rocks at what was said to be the premier's convoy, while a man could be heard cursing him in another clip.

IS claimed the attack in a statement saying it was carried out by an Iraqi as part of "ongoing security operations".

- Baghdad security flaws -

Bombings in the capital have decreased since IS overran large areas north and west of Baghdad in June 2014, with the jihadists apparently tied down by operations elsewhere.

But the group has struck back against Iraqi civilians after suffering military setbacks.

With thousands of vehicles moving in and out of the capital each day, such bombings are difficult to prevent.

But there are also flaws in security measures in the city, especially the use of fake bomb detectors at checkpoints years after the man who sold them to Iraq was jailed for fraud in Britain.

Abadi announced a series of security changes after Sunday's bombing, including scrapping the fake detectors.

He also ordered the installation of scanning devices at entrances to Baghdad to be speeded up, instructed security personnel to be banned from using mobile phones at checkpoints, and called for increased aerial reconnaissance and coordination among security forces.

But soldiers and policemen still carried the fake detectors at some checkpoints in central Baghdad on Monday, saying the order to stop using them had not yet been passed down.

The bombing came after Iraqi forces completely recaptured Fallujah, a city 50 kilometres (30 miles) west of Baghdad.

IS's defeat there was compounded by a devastating series of air strikes targeting jihadist forces as they sought to flee the Fallujah area that officials said killed dozens and destroyed hundreds of vehicles.

Map of central Baghdad locating Sunday's deadly suicide car bombing in the Karrada district of the city - (AFP Graphic)

Iraqi women surveil the aftermath of a massive bombing in Baghdad's Karrada neighbourhood on July 4, 2016 Sabah Arar (AFP)

Iraqis react on July 4, 2016 at the site of a suicide-bombing attack in Baghdad's Karrada neighbourhood Ahmad al-Rubaye (AFP)
Aide to former Chinese president Hu Jintao jailed for life

An ex-aide of former Chinese president Hu Jintao has been jailed for life for corruption, illegally obtaining state secrets and abuse of power, official media reported Monday.

Ling Jihua pleaded guilty and said he would not appeal, Xinhua news agency said, citing the verdict of the First Intermediate People's Court in Tianjin, which held his trial in secret last month.

"The trial today is engraved on my bones and in my heart," it quoted Ling as saying in his final statement to the court.

Ling Jihua at the closing of the 18th Communist Party Congress at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on November 14, 2012 Goh Chai Hin (AFP/File)

His case was the lead item on state broadcasters CCTV's nightly news programme which showed the former official, wearing a white shirt and glasses, humbly accepting his sentence.

"I take this opportunity to express thanks to the court for a trial in accordance with the law and its humane treatment," he said.

Chinese courts are controlled by the ruling Communist party, which expelled Ling -- once Hu's chief of staff -- from its ranks last year.

The verdict and sentence come as part of a high-profile corruption crackdown by current President Xi Jinping that has deposed of several senior officials, notably former security chief Zhou Yongkang, who was himself jailed for life last year.

Graft is endemic in China's authoritarian system, and Xi has acknowledged it as a threat to the ruling party's survival.

But critics say that a lack of transparency around the purge means it has been an opportunity for Xi to eliminate political enemies.

- 'Lenient sentence' -

Ling's son died in a notorious Ferrari crash in Beijing that disrupted the once-in-a-decade party leadership change when Xi took over from Hu in 2012.

Ling had powerbases in the northern province of Shanxi and the Communist Youth League -- seen as a proving ground for politicians who, unlike Xi, do not benefit from family links to high-ranking revolutionaries.

One of his brothers, Ling Zhengce, a senior official in Shanxi, was put under investigation in 2014 for serious violations of "discipline and the law" -- a euphemism for corruption -- and expelled from the party last year.

Another brother, Ling Wancheng, has fled to the United States, a Chinese anti-graft official confirmed in January, adding Beijing was "in touch" with Washington about his case.

His exile has led to speculation in overseas Chinese media that Ling Jihua had given him top state secrets, including the launch codes for China's nuclear weapons, to secure some leverage in negotiations with Beijing over his case.

Under Chinese law the death penalty is available for corruption cases, but Xinhua said Ling was given a reduced sentence for having "faithfully" confessed to his crimes and being penitent for his actions.

It was "a relatively lenient sentence", Willy Lam of the Chinese University of Hong Kong told AFP. "It's possible Ling drove a bargain with authorities."

His former boss Hu was probably safe, Lam added, saying that the former president "made a wise decision by refusing to support Ling".

But other Hu proteges "may now be blocked from promotion" as Xi consolidates his power over the government, he said.

- 'Especially vile' -

The Ferrari crash involving Ling's son scandalised China -- despite a media blackout on the mainland -- partly because two young women, one nude and one partially clothed, were also injured in the crash, with one reportedly dying months later.

Internet users questioned how the son of a party official could afford a car reported to be worth five million yuan ($150,000).

The politician, his wife and son received bribes worth a total of 77.1 million yuan, Xinhua said.

The court found that the bribes Ling took were "exceptionally enormous" and "the criminal circumstances" under which he obtained state secrets were severe, according to the report.

His abuse of power caused "huge losses to public property and the interests of the state and the people" and had "especially vile social impact", it said.

When Ling was charged the country's national prosecuting authority said he "abused his power" as director of the General Office of the Communist Party's Central Committee, where he worked under Hu.

In several party leadership posts he "illegally received large amounts of property and obtained state secrets", it added.

China has waged a much-publicised anti-corruption campaign under President Xi Jinping Mark Ralston (AFP/File)
7 charged with Italian priest murder bid in Bangladesh

Seven members of an outlawed Bangladeshi Islamist group have been charged with the attempted murder of an Italian priest who was wounded in a shooting last year, police said Monday.

The charges come as Bangladesh reels from the killing of 20 hostages -- including nine Italians -- over the weekend at an upmarket cafe in the capital Dhaka.

The priest Piero Parolari, who is also a doctor, was shot by unidentified gunmen in the northern Dinajpur district last November.

Bangladeshi activists march in the street during a nationwide strike called by secular activists to protest against recent attacks on blogger and publishers in Dhaka on November 3, 2015 Munir Uz Zaman (AFP/File)

The Islamic State group said it was responsible for the attack -- a claim promptly rejected by the government and police.

Police later arrested four suspected members of the Jamayetul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), with two allegedly confessing their roles in the attack.

Police on Sunday pressed charges against seven JMB followers for the attack, recommending that they be given death sentences if found guilty.

Three of those charged remain on the run, including a student at a private university whose father is a Bangladeshi-origin Canadian citizen.

"All seven who are charged are JMB members. Two of them told a court as to how they planned the attack and who have supplied them weapons," Inspector Bazlur Rahman, who is leading the investigation, told AFP.

The government and police say homegrown extremists are responsible for the deaths of some 80 secular activists, foreigners and religious minorities killed over the last three years.

Police have also blamed the JMB for the killings during the siege in the heart of Dhaka's diplomatic zone which came to an end on Saturday morning.

They say the deaths are part of a plot to destabilise the country, and have blamed the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and its Islamist ally.

Last month Dhaka launched a nationwide crackdown on local jihadist groups, arresting more than 11,000 people, under pressure to act on the spate of killings.
Families of Bangladesh cafe victims take bodies home

Relatives of foreign hostages murdered in a Bangladeshi restaurant were in Dhaka Monday to take their loved ones' bodies home as authorities made the first arrests over the killings.

Many were in tears as Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina laid wreaths on the coffins of those killed in the siege at an upmarket cafe in the capital, by far the deadliest in a spate of recent attacks that have caused international alarm.

They included nine Italians, seven Japanese, a US citizen and a 19-year-old Indian student, whose body was flown home on Monday morning.

Family members of a Bangladeshi policeman mourn for him during a memorial service for those killed in a bloody attack and siege in the capital Dhaka on July 4, 2016 Roberto Schmidt (AFP)

Witnesses say the perpetrators of the attack, which the Islamic State group has claimed, spared the lives of Muslims while herding foreigners to their deaths, killing many with machete-style weapons.

Among the mourners at the ceremony in a Dhaka stadium was Muksedur Rahman who described slain Italian textile trader Nadia Benedetti as a "great human being" who had worked to help Bangladeshi survivors of acid attacks.

"Nadia Benedetti had been working in Bangladesh for more than 20 years," Rahman, a colleague of the Italian, told AFP.

"I can't believe she had to die like this. We have to stand against such terrorism right now."

The government said the bodies of the Italian and Japanese victims would be handed over to diplomats before being flown home.

Italy's ambassador Mario Palma said Friday night's attack on the Holey Artisan Bakery cafe was "unprecedented" and promised his country's full support in tackling a rise in Islamist militancy in Bangladesh.

Commandos killed six suspected jihadists in the final stages of the siege, but one was taken alive.

On Monday police formally arrested him and one other suspect.

"Two suspects are in our custody. One of them is injured and is hospitalised," said police inspector general Shahidul Hoque.

Survivors told police all the victims were killed within the first 20 minutes of the attack, he added.

Police also raided the home of a survivor after images showed him walking around the restaurant compound during the siege, but found no evidence against him, local media reported.

- US offers help -

US Secretary of State John Kerry offered Washington's support in a telephone call to Hasina, whose government has been unable to stop a wave of Islamist attacks on foreigners and religious minorities in officially secular but mostly Muslim Bangladesh.

"(Kerry) encouraged the government of Bangladesh to conduct its investigation in accordance with the highest international standards and offered immediate assistance from US law enforcement, including the FBI," said his spokesman John Kirby.

The government has repeatedly denied international jihadist networks have a presence in Bangladesh, though the IS-linked news agency Amaq published extensive details of Friday's attack, including photos from inside the cafe.

Analysts say the government is wary of acknowledging such groups are operating in Bangladesh for fear it could frighten off foreign investors.

But it has been criticised for failing to tackle a rise in Islamist attacks.

Home minister Asaduzzaman Khan told AFP on Sunday the attackers were members of the Jamaeytul Mujahdeen Bangladesh (JMB), a local Islamist group banned by the government.

He said there were cases against all of them, but denied any intelligence failures ahead of the assault on the cafe, which came after a major crackdown that saw around 11,000 people arrested, some of them known Islamist extremists.

Critics allege the arrests were arbitrary or designed to silence political opponents.

Earlier the transport minister Obaidul Quader said six of the Japanese killed were consultants for Bangladesh capital's first metro rail, and expressed hope Tokyo's foreign aid agency would continue its support for the three billion dollar project.

"Japan knows that this attack was part of the global terrorist activities. I hope they'll understand the reality," he said.

"There is no question of stopping this project."

20 foreigners were killed in a gun attack at a Dhaka cafe

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina (C) attends a memorial service for those killed when armed terrorists stormed an upscale restaurant in a bloody siege in Dhaka on July 4, 2016 Roberto Schmidt (AFP)

Relatives of slain Indian teenager Tarushi Jain gather as her coffin arrives in Gurgaon, south of New Delhi on July 4, 2016, after she was killed by attackers at a cafe in the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka late on July 1 Money Sharma (AFP)

Officials carry a body bag at Dhaka's Holey Artisan Bakery cafe on July 2, 2016 after a bloody siege at the restaurant came to an end

Ambulances believed to be carrying the bodies of some of the hostages killed in a bloody attack on an upscale restaurant in Dhaka leave the vicinity on July 2, 2016
Israel hits Syrian military targets after stray fire on Golan

The Israeli army attacked two Syrian military targets on the Golan Heights after stray Syrian fire damaged the security fence along the demarcation line, a spokeswoman said Monday.

"In response to errant fire yesterday from Syria that hit the border with Israel, damaging the security fence, the IDF (Israeli Defence Forces) responded and targeted two Syrian military targets in the central Golan Heights," an Israeli military spokeswoman told AFP.

While Israel has sought to avoid being dragged into the Syrian civil war, it has attacked Syrian military targets when fire from the conflict spills over into its territory.

Israeli tanks maneuver during a military exercise in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights near the border with Syria on June 23, 2016 Menahem Kahana (AFP/File)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also acknowledged in April that Israel had attacked dozens of convoys transporting weapons in Syria destined for its enemy Hezbollah.
Pakistan flood toll revised down as army flies help in

Pakistani officials Monday revised the death toll from flooding caused by monsoon rains in the country's remote north down to 33, as the military said it was flying food and medical supplies to damaged areas.

On Sunday officials had put the total number of people killed at 43, saying that 41 of them had died in a village in the Chitral district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where flash floods swept away their homes without warning.

Authorities also said two Chinese engineers had been killed at the Tarbela dam construction site, also in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Pakistani labourers wade through flood water following heavy rain in Lahore Arif Ali (AFP/File)

But on Monday officials said there had been duplication in the death count, revising the Chitral toll down to 29.

They also said two more Pakistani workers had died alongside the Chinese engineers at the dam construction site, bringing the total toll across the province to 33.

Thirteen people are still missing in Chitral, said the district's deputy commissioner Usama Waraich, adding that authorities were evacuating some residents with more rain forecast Monday.

Dozens of homes in the village of Ursoon in Chitral were damaged in the floods with the army saying Monday five of them were completely swept away.

The remote village had received no evacuation warning and remained cut off Monday, with roads to it damaged by the floods.

The military said it was flying in medical aid, tents and food to Ursoon by helicopter Monday.

Afghan authorities also said they had recovered 13 bodies, including of eight Pakistani soldiers, which had been swept over the border from Chitral into Afghanistan.
13,000 flee IS bastion Manbij since start of assault: monitor

At least 13,000 civilians have fled the Islamic State group bastion of Manbij in northern Syria since the launch of a US-backed offensive there, a monitor said Monday.

The Kurds and Arabs fighting as the Syrian Democratic Forces alliance began their assault on Manbij in late May, encircling the town and entering its southwestern districts on June 23.

"At least 13,000 civilians have fled Manbij since the beginning of the SDF operation on May 31," said Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group.

US-backed Kurdish and Arab fighters advance into the Islamic State (IS) jihadist's group bastion of Manbij, in northern Syria, on June 23, 2016 Delil Souleiman (AFP)

"The fleeing increased after the SDF besieged Manbij" on June 10, he said, adding that on Sunday "hundreds of people fled a southern district of the town where there have been fierce clashes in recent days".

Manbij had served as a vital stop along an IS supply route from Turkey, from the border town of Jarabulus to its bastion province of Raqa.

The SDF offensive on the town is backed by a US-led coalition that has been bombing IS in Iraq and Syria for nearly two years.

The UN's humanitarian office has not released its own estimates of how many people have fled Manbij, but said in late June that about 60,000 people were still in the town.

According to Abdel Rahman, residents are mostly fleeing from the southern SDF-controlled district into IS-free territory to the south.

The SDF transported one group north to the Kurdish stronghold of Kobane on the Syrian-Turkish border.

He said some civilians had died trying to escape, killed by IS snipers or explosives planted by the jihadists.

SDF fighters have been struggling to advance inside Manbij in recent days as IS has dispatched suicide attackers to defend the town.
Bullet scars as Uganda remembers Israel's Entebbe raid

Skimming above the choppy waves through the dark the four planes swooped in low over Lake Victoria, packed with more than 200 elite Israeli commandos on a daring raid to free hijacked hostages.

Landing soon after midnight at Uganda's Entebbe airport on July 4, 1976, it took the paratroopers less than an hour to storm the base and free over 100 passengers held aboard an Air France plane, an operation that has gone down in special forces legend. The plane had been hijacked a week earlier on June 27.

Four decades later, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visits Uganda on Monday for the anniversary, not only to mark the operation and boost the now friendly ties between Uganda and Israel, but also to pay a deeply personal tribute.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is visiting Uganda to mark the 40th anniversary of Israel's raid on Entebbe airport Sebastian Scheiner (Pool/AFP/File)

The commando leader, the only Israeli soldier killed in the raid, was his older brother, 30-year-old Lieutenant-Colonel Yonatan Netanyahu.

- Bullet scars preserved -

Netanyahu will visit the old terminal at Entebbe -- still the airport for the capital Kampala -- where the walls are still scarred by bullet holes.

Last month, some of the retired commandos who took part in the raid visited the scene of the extraordinary rescue, standing alongside Ugandan officials, including the son of their then enemy, dictator Idi Amin.

As an operation, it was "a difficult one", remembered Amir Ofer, then a sergeant major and now a businessman.

"We had short time to prepare for it," he said, noting the more than 3,500 kilometres (2,200 miles) separating Uganda from Israel, with a 48-hour ultimatum before the gunmen would start killing hostages. "The clock was ticking away after the terrorists gave their ultimatum."

An Air France plane en route from Tel Aviv to Paris had been hijacked by two Palestinians and two Germans in Athens, and ordered to fly to Entebbe with 250 passengers aboard.

Uganda's Amin, who had cut ties with Israel in favour of cash handouts from Libyan dictator Moamer Kadhafi, allowed the hijacked plane to land.

On arrival, Jewish and Israeli hostages were separated and others freed, leaving about 100 hostages and crew members guarded by the hijackers.

Neither the captors nor Ugandan troops ever expected special forces could stage a raid from so far away, taking the airport by complete surprise.

"We fanned out without anyone realising that we were an enemy force," Ofer said, describing how they rushed out of the plane after touching down in the dark. The first team roared out of the plane in a black Mercedes that looked like Amin's personal car, but their cover was blown when they had to shoot a Ugandan guard.

"Within minutes of our arrival, we were able to arrive at the terminal, killed the terrorists and within an hour we were on our way back to Israel," Ofer added.

- All but 3 freed -

All but three of the hostages were freed in the raid while 20 Ugandan soldiers and seven hijackers were killed, along with several Ugandan citizens.

One other hostage, a 75-year-old Israeli woman who had been transferred to a hospital, was subsequently killed on Amin's orders.

Enemies in 1976, Uganda and Israel plan to use the commemoration of the raid to boost their friendship.

The raid "will forever remain at the heart of all those that got involved," said former Israeli sergeant-major Alex Davidi who took part in the operation.

Bonifence Byamukama, from the Uganda Tourism Board, said they were "working on a monument in order to preserve the history" of the raid, including the bullet scars in the walls.

Netanyahu's trip, the first by an Israeli premier to Africa since Yitzhak Rabin visited Casablanca in 1994, is the culmination of years of rapprochement and is hoped will boost links with African nations, particularly on security issues.

- 'Sign of reconciliation' -

Galvanised by a growing demand for Israeli security assistance and his government's search for new allies, Netanyahu has put a fresh focus on improving ties on the continent.

Amin's son Jaffar, a 10-year old boy when the Entebbe raid took place, welcomed the commandos to Uganda this month as a "sign of reconciliation", remembering the stories his father told after he was deposed and forced into exile.

Amin, whose eccentric eight-year regime helped his name become a shorthand for African dictatorship and violent misrule, said he had been "close" to the soldier who shot dead Yonatan Netanyahu.

The officer, named as Captain Rafael Osacha, reportedly died quietly in retirement in the 1990s.

Jaffar recalled what his father had said when he asked why he had not sent fighter jets to shoot down the departing Israelis.

"My father said of the Israelis, 'Son, those are the children of God, when they start to fight, they never stop,'" Jaffar said.

"To him, he felt they had come to rescue their people, they had accomplished their mission, so he let them go."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (left) visits a C-130 Hercules aircraft used in the 1976 raid on Entebbe airport in Uganda, in 2009 Uriel Sinai (Pool/AFP/File)

Israel's then deputy foreign minister Danny Ayalon gives a press conference at the old terminal at Uganda's Entebbe airport in August 2012 Kasamani Isaac (AFP/File)
Uniqlo bans Bangladesh travel after Islamist killings

The Japanese operator of fashion giant Uniqlo has banned non-essential travel to Bangladesh and ordered its staff there to stay at home, days after militant Islamists killed foreigners in a bloody siege.

Tokyo-based Fast Retailing, which operates Uniqlo, said it had told 10 Japanese employees not to leave their houses "until further notice", a company spokeswoman said.

The clothing giant added that it was cancelling all but vital travel to the South Asian country after 20 hostages were killed when heavily armed gunmen stormed an upmarket eatery in Dhaka.

Uniqlo is one of about 240 Japanese firms with offices in Bangladesh Daniel Naupold (DPA/AFP/File)

Seven Japanese nationals who were involved in development projects with the government-run Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) were among those killed, as well as Italians, an Indian and a US citizen.

Fast Retailing has nine Grameen Uniqlo retail stores around Dhaka, where some of the employees work, and a production office, which coordinates with local producers, the spokeswoman said.

"We have taken necessary security procedures," she added.

"Obviously we are taking this situation seriously."

Uniqlo is one of about 240 Japanese firms with offices in Bangladesh.

Engineering conglomerate Toshiba said it has ordered staff to avoid non-essential travel to Bangladesh until July 10, a company spokesman said.

Toshiba, which said it had "a few" employees in Dhaka, had earlier warned staff against business trips outside the capital.

Several Japanese companies, including general contractors Obayashi and Shimizu, have also reportedly ordered employees in the country to stay at home.

Swedish fashion brand Hennes and Mauritz (H&M), which has a number of factories in Bangladesh, also warned against non-essential travel to the country following the attack.

"We recommend that any unnecessary travelling to Bangladesh is avoided," the clothing giant said Monday, adding they were following developments closely.

A spokesperson for Walmart said only that the US retail giant was monitoring the situation.

Although a quarter of its 160 million people still live below the poverty line, Bangladesh has clocked growth of around six percent nearly every year since the turn of the millennium.

That's largely thanks to garment exports, the lifeblood of its economy, accounting for more than 80 percent of total outbound goods last year.

Between them, the nation's clothing factories employ more than four million people, most of them impoverished rural women.

20 civilians were killed in a gun attack in a Dhaka cafe
Israeli raid to rescue Uganda hostages in 1976 remembered

Forty years ago, Israeli commandos grabbed headlines with a bold raid at Entebbe airport to free the passengers of a plane hijacked by Palestinians and Germans radicals.

The operation took place overnight on July 3-4 1976, and freed all but four of 105 hostages, with the loss of one Israeli soldier, Yonatan Netanyahu, the brother of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Other casualties include three hostages killed during the attack, a fourth who was in hospital and later murdered on the orders of Ugandan strongman Idi Amin, 20 Ugandan soldiers and seven hostage takers.

(From L) Eyal Oren, Shlomo Carmel, Jaffer Amin, Amjon Peled, Alex Davidi, unidentified, and Amir Ofer, members of the former Israeli Commandos and Entebbe hostages, pose for a photo in Kampala, on June 14, 2016 Ronald Kabuubi (AFP/File)

The drama began on June 27 when an Air France jet flying from Tel Aviv to Paris with more than 250 people was hijacked and forced to land in Benghazi, Libya. Two Palestinians and two members of a left-wing German group had boarded the plane during a stop in Athens.

The hijackers, including one woman, were armed with pistols, grenades and explosives.

Late on June 28, the Airbus A300 landed at Entebbe airport, south of Kampala, with permission from Amin, and three more people joined the hijackers.

The passengers and crew were taken to the terminal building and kept under guard.

The hijackers threatened to blow up the plane unless 53 Palestinians or supporters of their cause were freed within two days. Twenty nine of them were being held in Israel.

- Going in at midnight -

Israeli officials negotiated with the hijackers and were initially considering their demands, so the deadline was pushed back to July 4.

Meanwhile, talks between Amin and the hijackers resulted in the release of two sets of hostages, but 105 people -- Israeli and Jewish passengers, as well as members of the plane's crew -- remained in detention.

"Israel decided to act and not give in," prime minister Yitzhak Rabin was later quoted as saying, and with time running out, a complex military operation was given the green light.

Just before midnight on July 3, four Israeli C-130 transport planes flew low over Lake Victoria and landed at Entebbe after covering more than 3,600 kilometres (2,200 miles) and evading detection by Ugandan air controllers.

General Dan Shomron commanded the airborne operation, several members of which occupied a black Mercedes like the one used by Amin. The commandos quickly seized key airport installations, but lost the element of surprise when they fired on Ugandan soldiers that challenged them in the dark.

A battle broke out and the hostages were freed, but three died along with Netanyahu, who led the first assault team. All seven hostage takers were shot dead, along with 20 Ugandan soldiers. One hostage, Dora Bloch, had been hospitalised before the raid, and Amin later ordered that she be killed.

Initially dubbed "Operation Thunderbolt," the raid was later renamed "Operation Jonatan" in honour of Netanyahu.

Amin, who was humiliated by the daring operation, lashed out at the Kenyan government for letting Israel use Nairobi's airport during the evacuation phase. Israel's Mossad intelligence service helped plan the raid with a map of the terminal provided by the Israeli company that built it, and information from passengers who had already been released.

The operation became a legendary example of special forces action, and several films and television documentaries have been based on it.

Amir Ofer, one of the former Israeli Commandos, speaks during a press conference ahead of the 40th anniversary of Entebbe airport rescue operation, on June 14, 2016 Ronald Kabuubi (AFP/File)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu walks out of a C-130 Hercules aircraft which was used in the 1976 raid on Entebbe airport in Uganda, during a visit to the Hatzerim air base in southern Israel, in 2009 Uriel Sinai (Pool/AFP/File)
Whistleblower sparks Italy migrant smuggler dragnet

An Eritrean whistleblower has enabled Italian authorities to arrest a slew of people smugglers in a nationwide dragnet, police said Monday.

"A dangerous criminal network dedicated to migrant trafficking has been dismantled -- no respite for dealers in death," Interior Minister Angelino Alfano tweeted overnight Sunday in welcoming the arrest of 25 Eritreans, 12 Ethiopians and one Italian on suspicion of smuggling thousands of migrants.

The group were detained in coordinated swoops in Rome, northern Italy and Sicily after the 32-year-old Eritrean, arrested in Sicily in 2014, agreed to collaborate in return for official protection.

Europe's largest migrant crisis since World War II has seen more than 10,000 migrants perish since 2014, UN refugee agency UNHCR says

"I decided to cooperate because there have been too many deaths," authorities quoted the man as saying, adding that thousands of refugees who have drowned attempting to make perilous Mediterranean crossings comprise only a "small fraction" of the overall death toll.

For the first time, Italian authorities were able to learn from the whistleblower a detailed description of the traffickers, based in North Africa, Italy and other European countries, and their activities, police said.

The Eritrean gave harrowing details of how traffickers would not hesitate to kill migrants lacking sufficient funds to pay their passage and sell their organs "to Egyptian traffickers," Italian media reported the man as telling investigators.

Italian officials said the Eritrean had revealed the smugglers were also importing khat, a drug traditionally largely grown in the Horn of Africa, and organising bogus marriages for refugees.

A police raid on a Rome apartment last month as part of their investigations into the traffickers turned up a cash pile of 526,000 euros ($585,000) and $25,000 as well as a detailed register of the group's activities.

The largest migrant crisis Europe has seen since World War II has seen more than 10,000 migrants perish since 2014, including more than 2,800 so far this year, the UN refugee agency UNHCR said last month.
Israel's Netanyahu starts landmark Africa trip

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu commemorated the 40th anniversary Monday of the Uganda hostage rescue in which his brother died, as he started a "historic" tour seeking new trade partners in Africa.

Speaking in Entebbe, close to the site of the 1976 airport raid in which over 100 hostages were freed, Netanyahu said the visit was "deeply moving" and symbolised changing ties between Israel and Africa.

"Exactly 40 years ago Israeli soldiers carried out the historic mission in Entebbe," said Netanyahu, making the first trip by an Israeli premier to sub-Saharan Africa for decades.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during an event to mark the 40th anniversary of the 1976 hostage rescue in Entebbe on July 4, 2016 Ronald Kabuubi (AFP)

"Forty years ago they landed in the dead of night in a country led by a brutal dictator who gave refuge to terrorists, today we landed in broad daylight to be welcomed by a president who fights terrorism."

He said his visit signalled "dramatic changes in the relationship between Africa and Israel: Africa is a continent on the rise. After many decades I can say Israel is coming back to Africa and Africa is coming back to Israel."

Israel is launching a $13-million aid package to strengthen economic ties and cooperation with African countries.

Israel would also provide African states with training in "domestic security" and health, an Israeli statement read.

After a "historic summit" with seven African leaders in Uganda on Monday, Netanyahu -- accompanied by 80 business chiefs representing some 50 Israeli companies -- will travel on to Kenya, Ethiopia and Rwanda.

In his next stop he is due to meet Tuesday with Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, who visited Israel a few months ago.

The Arab-Israeli conflict drove a wedge between African countries and the Jewish state in the 1960s.

Following wars between Israel and its neighbours in 1967 and 1973, North African nations led by Egypt put pressure on sub-Saharan African states to cut ties with Israel, which many did.

Relations were not helped by Israel's friendship with the apartheid regime in South Africa before it fell in 1994.

- Honouring commando brother -

Beyond diplomacy and trade, the trip has deep personal meaning for Netanyahu.

His brother Yonatan, known by his nickname 'Yoni', was killed in July 1976 as he led a commando raid in Entebbe, Uganda, to free passengers aboard an Air France plane hijacked by two Palestinians and two Germans.

"I learned from my brother that you need two things to defeat the terrorists: clarity and courage," Netanyahu said.

Speaking during a commemoration event close to the old terminal building, Netanyahu said the fight against terrorism continued.

"When terrorism succeeds in one place it spreads to other places, and when terrorism is defeated anywhere it is weakened everywhere. This is why Entebbe... was a victory for all humanity," he said.

Netanyahu said the Entebbe raid was "a watershed moment" for Israel when the country learned to stand up for itself.

"It was the most daring rescue mission of all time. We were powerless no more, we would do whatever it takes," he said.

Israel's dealings with Africa currently constitutes only two percent of its foreign trade, leaving plenty of room for growth.

Demand is rising for its defence expertise and products.

But it also sees African countries as potential allies, particularly at the United Nations and other international bodies, where it is regularly condemned over its occupation of the West Bank and blockade of the Gaza Strip.

Some African countries are keen to obtain Israeli agricultural and water technology, which the country has been promoting, say officials. Netanyahu's trip follows years of efforts to improve ties.
Tel Aviv gunmen 'were inspired by IS'

The two Palestinians who shot dead four Israelis at a popular Tel Aviv nightspot last month had drawn inspiration from the Islamic State group, security officials said Monday.

Cousins Khaled Makhamrah, 20, and Mohammad Makhamrah, 21, both from Yatta, south of Hebron in the occupied West Bank, opened fire at a cafe at Sarona Market in Israel's commercial capital on June 8, killing four and wounding 15.

The two "were inspired by the Islamic State group to carry out the attack, without officially joining it or getting any form of help or instruction from them," the Shin Bet domestic security agency said.

Israeli forensic police inspect a restaurant following a shooting attack which left four people dead in Tel Aviv on June 8, 2016 Jack Guez (AFP/File)

A third suspect, 21-year-old Younes Zein from Yatta, was supposed to have taken part in the attack but did not participate, it said, adding that Zein confessed however to providing the other two with weapons.

The three were charged at the Tel Aviv district court on Monday for murder, conspiring to murder and attempted murder, according to the charge sheet distributed by the justice ministry.

It said they planned the assault after a July 2015 arson attack by Jewish extremists in the West Bank that killed three members of a Palestinian family, including an 18-month-old baby.

Khaled Makhamrah wanted to carry out "a revenge attack against Israel in the name of the Islamic State" during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.

The three took a picture at Zein's home against the backdrop of the black IS flag, hoping to publish it after the attack.

On June 8, the Makhamrah cousins cut their hair and dressed in dark suits and also carried knives dipped in rat poison in briefcases, said the charge sheet.

Initially, the three planned to shoot passengers on a train, and were driven to the Beersheba train station.

Upon seeing the strict security measures there, they continued to Tel Aviv by taxi and found their way to Sarona after asking passersby where restaurants and cafes could be found, the justice ministry said.

The Shin Bet said they had arrested 10 people from Yatta involved in driving the suspects and preparing the improvised guns they had used.

A number of Palestinians and Israeli Arabs have travelled to neighbouring Syria to fight with IS, though Israeli security officials say such influence remains limited.

A recent poll found that 88 percent of Palestinians believe that IS is a radical group that does not represent true Islam.

In the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, 16 percent said the group represented true Islam, a view shared by only three percent in the West Bank.

A mass shooting in Tel Aviv killed four and wounded 15
China passes law to 'regulate' wild animal products

China has passed a new wild animal protection law banning the sale of food made from endangered species, but allowing other products derived from them, state media said, amid controversy over its wildlife policies.

The measure, approved by China's Communist Party-controlled parliament on Saturday, "strengthens regulation of the use of wild animals and products derived from them," the official Xinhua news agency said.

Environmental campaigners previously slammed a draft of the law for treating animals, including tigers and bears, as commercial resources and saying it would not halt their slaughter.

Bears are still bred for use in traditional Chinese medicine -- for which there is no orthodox scientific evidence -- using a process to extract their stomach bile which many activists condemn as cruel

The draft would "further entrench policies of captive-breeding for commercial use of parts and derivatives of captive tigers", the Environmental Investigation Agency said.

China passed a law on wild animal protection in 1989, partly to give a framework for the export of products derived from wildlife, and it was previously revised in 2004.

The new law bans the production and sale of all food products made from endangered animals, according to a version posted on the website of the National People's Congress, China's rubber stamp legislature.

But it allows for "breeding and public performances" by endangered animals as well as "the sale, purchase and use" of products made from such animals, as long as permission was granted by "authoritative departments".

It was not clear whether or how it differentiated between products and food.

Campaigners say that legalised use of endangered species can be exploited as a cover for poaching, putting more pressure on already vulnerable animals.

Xinhua quoted official Yue Zhongming as saying under the new law "the use of wild animals and derived products should rely mainly on captive-bred animals, and it must not hurt wild populations and habitats".

It was not immediately clear how such approvals would be managed.

Breeding of sika deer, a nationally-listed endangered animal, could be allowed as "millions have been bred under controlled conditions nationwide", Xinhua quoted forestry official Zhou Xun as saying.

Captive tiger numbers are soaring in China, with up to 6,000 -- twice the global wild population -- in about 200 farms across the country, according to estimates.

Bears are also bred for use in traditional Chinese medicine -- for which there is no orthodox scientific evidence -- using a process to extract their stomach bile which many activists condemn as cruel.
NASA counts down to nail-biter orbit of Jupiter

A $1.1 billion NASA spacecraft called Juno must dodge debris and extreme radiation as it attempts to orbit Jupiter on a high-stakes mission to probe the solar system's origin.

Juno is expected to arrive late Monday in the vicinity of the largest planet in our cosmic neighborhood, five years after the unmanned solar-powered observatory launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida.

"We are barreling down on Jupiter really quick," said Scott Bolton, Juno principal investigator from the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, Texas.

A model of the Juno spacecraft Aubrey Gemignani (NASA/AFP)

As NASA counted down to Juno's arrival, he admitted to being "nervous" and "scared" about the fate of the spacecraft, which is traveling at a speed of more than 130,000 miles per hour (209,200 kilometers per hour) toward what he called "the king of the solar system."

A key concern is that the spacecraft must survive radiation levels as high as one hundred million X-rays in the course of a year, explained Heidi Becker, senior engineer on radiation effects at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Those high-energy electrons, moving at the speed of light, "will go right through a spacecraft and strip the atoms apart inside your electronics and fry your brain if you don't do anything about it," she said.

"So we did a lot about it," she added, describing the half-inch-thick layer of titanium that protects the electronics in a vault to bring the radiation dose down.

Still, she described the close approach as going "into the scariest part of the scariest place... part of Jupiter's radiation environment where nobody has ever been."

- Dodge debris -

Juno must also avoid debris as it speeds through a belt of dust and meteorites surrounding Jupiter.

"If it gets hit -- even by a big piece of dust, even by a small piece of dust -- it can do very serious damage," Bolton said.

On approach, the engine doors are open, leaving the nozzle vulnerable, he said.

"If any dust is in our way and hits that nozzle, it will knock a hole right through the coating that protects that nozzle and allows the engine to burn uninterrupted," he told reporters.

"That is one of the big gambles."

After that, a tricky, fully automated orbit maneuver must go well as the engine fires to slow it down enough to be captured by Jupiter's orbit.

This "burn," or orbit insertion, begins at 11:18 pm (0318 GMT) and should last around 35 minutes.

The spacecraft must then re-orient itself toward the Sun in order to power the solar arrays.

If it fails to enter orbit, Juno may shoot past Jupiter, bringing a mission 15 years in the making to a swift end some 540 million miles (869 million kilometers) from Earth.

- How Jupiter formed -

Scientists hope to find out more about how much water Jupiter holds and the makeup of its core in order to figure out how the planet -- and others in the neighborhood, including Earth -- formed billions of years ago.

The solar system's most massive planet is fifth from the sun.

With an atmosphere of hydrogen and helium, it's known for its Great Red Spot, a storm bigger than Earth that has been raging for hundreds of years.

The first mission designed to see beneath Jupiter's clouds, Juno is named after the Roman goddess who was the wife of Jupiter, the god of the sky in ancient mythology.

She was said to be able to see through the clouds with which Jupiter veiled himself to hide his mischief.

The NASA mission aims to orbit Jupiter from pole to pole, sampling its charged particles and magnetic fields for the first time and revealing more about the auroras in ultraviolet light that can be seen around the planet's polar regions.

Juno should circle the planet 37 times before finally making a death plunge in 2018, to prevent the spacecraft from causing damage to any of Jupiter's icy moons, which NASA hopes to explore one day for signs of life.

Although Juno will not be the first spacecraft to circle Jupiter, NASA says its orbit will bring it closer than its predecessor, Galileo, which launched in 1989.

That spacecraft found evidence of subsurface saltwater on Jupiter's moons Europa, Ganymede and Callisto before making a final plunge into Jupiter in 2003.

NASA says Juno should be able to get closer than Galileo -- this time within 3,100 miles (5,000 kilometers) above the cloud tops.

"We have done everything humanly possible to make this mission a success," said NASA's director of planetary science, Jim Green.

However, "it is still a cliffhanger for me, too."

Juno explores Jupiter Alain Bommenel, Iris Royer de Vericourt (AFP)

An image obtained using the European Southern Observatory Very Large Telescope shows a new infrared image of Jupiter in a picture released on June 27, 2016 L Fletcher (European Southern Observatory/AFP/File)

Members of NASA's Juno Mission to Jupiter team pose standing on a full-scale image of the Juno spacecraft, July 3, 2016, on the playing field at the Rose Bowl stadium, in Pasadena, California Robyn Beck (AFP)
Smelly seaweed invasion hits Sierra Leone beaches

Sierra Leone has some of the finest beaches in the world, but many around the capital are now clogged with foul-smelling seaweed that threatens the tourism and fishing sectors.

At Lumley Beach in the west end of Freetown, a putrid brownish-yellow carpet began covering the white sands a week ago, prompting and fishermen to don face masks to ward off the stench.

A local environmentalist estimated that there are now more than four tonnes of seaweed deposited over the sparkling sands, with the capital's 14 other beaches also badly affected.

A man stands in the water next to seaweed on the beach of Freetown on July 3, 2016 Salliey Sillah (AFP)

Veteran beachcomber Salifu Deen told AFP while strolling near the shore, "the seaweed is back in volumes and the stench is unbearable."

"Most locals and particularly tourists will be put off by the smell," he said.

Tourism Minister Sidi Yahya Tunis told AFP on Saturday a clean-up operation had begun.

"We have undertaken a massive mechanism for a daily clearing exercise using dredgers. The weeds are taking over the beaches and this is unfortunate," he said.

Professor Percival Showers of the Institute of Marine Biology and Oceanography, Fourah Bay College, said the seaweed had come from the Sargasso Sea, in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, carried by unusual weather patterns.

Hardest hit by the deposits are fishermen and fishmongers who depend on the daily catch to supply local markets and nearby hotel chains.

"It is difficult for me to face my family as I can see the disappointment on the faces of my wife and four children when I return home in the evening without a catch. We cannot even cast our nets as all we fish out are seaweeds with tormenting smells," said fisherman Mustapha Koroma.

Fishmonger Mariatu Bundu was equally despondent.
Tokyo 2020 boss tells Japan athletes don't 'mumble' anthem

The gaffe-prone Tokyo 2020 chief has warned Japan's Olympic team not to "mumble" the national anthem, saying those who can't sing it properly don't deserve to represent the country.

Former prime minister Yoshiro Mori, who heads up the committee for the 2020 Games hosted by Tokyo, was speaking at Sunday's send-off event for the 300 Japanese athletes heading to next month's Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.

"When you go up the podium, please do not be mumbling but sing the national anthem loudly," Mori said.

Tokyo 2020 president Yoshiro Mori (R) and John Coates (L), chairman of the IOC's Tokyo 2020 coordination commission, attend a press briefing in Tokyo on May 26, 2016 Kazuhiro Nogi (AFP/File)

"Athletes who cannot sing the anthem should not be considered to be Japan's representatives," he added, according to the Asahi newspaper.

Mori turns 79 this month and served a short one-year stint as prime minister in 2000 to 2001, a tenure mostly remembered for a series of public blunders.

In 2014, he came under fire after criticising Japanese figure-skating heroine Mao Asada after a disappointing performance at the Sochi Olympics.
Paris prosecutor calls for life in Rwanda genocide case

The prosecutor of a special Paris court set up to try Rwandan genocide suspects called for life sentences Monday against two former mayors accused of taking part in the mass murder of Tutsis.

Winding up a two-month trial, prosecutor Philippe Courroye accused Octavien Ngenzi, 58, of acting as a "leader" and Tito Barahira, 65, of "wielding a machete" in the April 1994 bloodbath.

The two -- former mayors of the small town of Kabarondo -- are accused of participating in "massive and systematic summary executions."

This courtroom sketch made on May 10, 2016 shows Tito Barahira (back, L) and Octavien Ngenzi (back, R), two former Rwandan mayors who are accused of orchestrating "massive and systematic summary executions" in country's 1994 genocide Benoit Peyrucq (AFP/File)

At least 800,000 people, most of them minority Tutsis, were slaughtered across Rwanda after the death of the Hutu head of state, Juvenal Habyarimana, on April 6 1994.

More than 2,000 people were killed in a single day in Kabarondo, hundreds of them in the town church where they had taken refuge.

It is the second trial for crimes against humanity and genocide by the special Paris court set up to prosecute Rwandan genocide suspects who fled to France.
Iraq pushes IS back, but struggles to secure Baghdad

Iraq may be winning against the Islamic State group on the battlefield, but it is struggling to prevent deadly jihadist attacks in Baghdad that are undermining the government.

A suicide bombing claimed by IS ripped through a crowded shopping area in the Karrada district of Baghdad early on Sunday, killing more than 200 people just a week after Iraq announced it had fully recaptured the city of Fallujah from the jihadists.

Fallujah was just the latest in a string of IS defeats, but its losses have not stopped the group from carrying out bombings, and may in fact encourage it to step up such attacks.

An Iraqi man searches for bodies of victims on July 4, 2016 inside a building damaged by a suicide-bombing attack in Baghdad's Karrada neighbourhood Ahmad al-Rubaye (AFP)

"The Iraqi government in the best of times could barely control the security situation," said Patrick Skinner, a former CIA case officer who is now with The Soufan Group consultancy.

"Now is clearly not the best of times, and more attacks are unfortunately likely," he said.

Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced a series of changes to Baghdad security measures following the blast that highlighted various long-running problems in the capital.

Chief among them was the use of fake hand-held "bomb detectors" sold to Iraq by James McCormick, who was sentenced to 10 years in jail in Britain for fraud in connection with the devices in 2013.

- No phones at checkpoints -

Abadi ordered the devices removed from checkpoints, but on Monday in central Baghdad they were still being carried by soldiers and police who said the order to stop using them had not yet come down.

He also directed that security personnel not use mobile phones at checkpoints, but even if that happens, the broader problem of inattentive forces bored by long hours on duty will remain.

Abadi told the interior ministry to speed up the deployment of scanning devices at entrances to the capital, indicating that this measure, which could help identify bombs or the material to make them being brought into Baghdad, had still not been implemented.

And he called for coordination and integration among security forces that is "far from conflicts" -- a sign that such coordination is currently lacking.

Even if the new measures are fully carried out, preventing all bombings in the capital would be extremely difficult.

Bombings in Baghdad have sparked anger among Iraqis, who accuse authorities of not doing enough to keep them safe, undermining already low confidence in the government.

"Public anger at the inability of the central government to protect them is sadly one of the common sentiments between all factions and sects," Skinner said.

"It is not enough to unify them, but it is enough to further pull the country to the extremes," he said.

- A grim preview -

This anger is further damaging to Abadi, whose reputation was already hurt by failed efforts to change the cabinet and carry out other reforms.

"The main political point now... is Abadi's weakness and lack of credibility," said Kirk Sowell, a Jordan-based political risk analyst and the publisher of Inside Iraqi Politics.

Abadi faced an angry crowd when he visited the site of Sunday's bombing, with one video showing men throwing rocks at what was said to have been his convoy, while a man could be heard cursing him in another clip.

He has hailed progress made by security forces against IS, but that ultimately means little to Baghdad residents when they face the possibility of being killed whenever they leave their homes.

And battlefield victories may encourage the jihadist group to return to its insurgent roots and step up attacks such as the deadly blast in Karrada.

"I see a reversion to the prior status quo of car bombings, (improvised explosive devices), assaults here and there," said Aymenn al-Tamimi, a jihadism expert and research fellow at the Middle East Forum.

"There was a similar trend back in 2009 as IS's predecessor (the Islamic State of Iraq) experienced losses," Tamimi said.

The Karrada bombing therefore offers a grim preview of what IS can do, even in defeat.

"The attack is part of a larger trend of (IS) sliding back down from proto-state to terrorist group," said Skinner.

"Karrada sadly fits the trend for the foreseeable future," he said.

Members of the Iraqi police forces sit outside a building in the city of Fallujah on June 30, 2016 after they recaptured the city from Islamic State group jihadists Ahmad al-Rubaye (AFP/File)

Iraqi soldiers man a checkpoint at the entrance to the Abu Ghraib area west of the Iraqi capital Baghdad on February 29, 2016 Ahmad al-Rubaye (AFP/File)
US drone strike kills three Qaeda suspects in Yemen

A US drone attack killed three Al-Qaeda suspects in Yemen's Shabwa on Monday, the second such strike in the southern province in days, a security official said.

The suspected militants were travelling in the Al-Musaina region of Shabwa when their vehicle was hit, the official said.

The car was burned out and all three suspects on board were killed, he added.

A fighter loyal to Yemen's President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi guards a position in Shabwa on December 21, 2015 Saleh al-Obeidi (AFP/File)

On Friday, a similar drone attack in Shabwa killed four suspected members of Al-Qaeda, according to a security official.

US strikes have taken out a number of senior Al-Qaeda commanders in Yemen over the past year.

Washington considers the Yemen-based Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula to be the network's deadliest franchise and has vowed no let-up in its war against the jihadists.
Suicide blast near mosque in eastern Saudi: residents

A suicide bomber blew himself up outside a Shiite mosque in eastern Saudi Arabia, without causing any other injuries, residents told AFP, in the second such attack Monday in the kingdom.

"Suicide bomber for sure. I can see the body" torn apart, said a witness to the attack in the Shiite-populated city of Qatif.

Nasima al-Sada, another resident, told AFP that "one bomber blew himself up near the mosque", frequented by Shiites in downtown Qatif on the Gulf coast.

View of a protest in the eastern coastal city of Qatif on January 2, 2016

No bystanders were hurt, she said.

Pictures said to be from the scene circulated by residents showed a small fire burning in the street, severed limbs and what appeared to be a severed head.

The blast, near the end of the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan, was the second suicide bombing Monday in the predominantly Sunni kingdom.

Another bomber blew himself up earlier the same day near the US consulate in the Red Sea city of Jeddah, injuring two security officers.

Since late 2014 a series of bombings and shootings claimed by the Islamic State jihadist group in Saudi Arabia have targeted minority Shiites as well as members of the security forces.

Most of the attacks have been staged in Eastern Province, home to the majority of Shiites in the Gulf state.

In January, a suicide bomber attacked a mosque in the oasis region of Al-Ahsa, killing four people before worshippers disarmed and tied up an accomplice who had fired on them.

Last October in the Qatif area, a gunman fired on faithful marking the Shiite commemoration of Ashura in the Qatif area, killing five before police shot him dead.

Ashura is one of the holiest occasions for the Shiite faith.

In June last year, four Shiites died preventing a suicide bomber from entering the hall of Al-Anoud mosque in Dammam city adjacent to Qatif.

Days earlier, 21 people were killed in another Shiite mosque bombing in Eastern Province.

Groups claiming affiliation with IS said they carried out those blasts and the Ashura shooting.

During Ashura in 2014, gunmen killed seven Shiite worshippers, including children, in the eastern town of Al-Dalwa.
Poland moves towards multi-billion-euro Patriot missile deal

Polish Defence Minister Antoni Macierewicz on Monday said he would ink a letter of intent with US defence firm Raytheon to buy a Patriot missile system valued at an estimated 5 billion euros ($5.6 billion).

The EU member's previous government had said in April it planned to buy the Patriot system, but soon after coming into power in November the current conservative administration placed a question mark over the purchase.

Macierewicz himself had said at the time: "The price is much higher, the delivery time much longer... in short, this contract is practically non-existent."

US troops preform a test of the Patriot air and missile defence system in Sochaczew, Poland, on March 21, 2015 Janek Skarzynski (AFP/File)

On Monday Macierewicz said Poland was able to move ahead with the plan because Raytheon had pledged that 50 percent of the missile system spending would be on works "done in Poland by Polish arms firms".

"That being the case, we're signing the letter of intent," Macierewicz said, quoted by the Polish news agency PAP.

He said that meant Raytheon would be the "most likely" maker of Poland's missile defence system.

The defence ministry had said in April that it wanted to acquire eight missile batteries by 2025, with two of them to be delivered within three years of signing a deal.
Gulf states, Yemen to mark end of Ramadan from Wednesday

The Muslim feast of Eid al-Fitr marking the end of the holy month of Ramadan will start on Wednesday in Gulf states and Yemen, religious authorities there announced.

The crescent moon which marks the new lunar month was not sighted on Monday night, and Tuesday would therefore be considered the 30th and final day of Ramadan, the dawn-to-dusk month of fasting.

The official news agencies of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait, and Yemen all quoted religious authorities as saying that the annual feast will begin on Wednesday.

Yemenis shop for clothes at a market in the capital Sanaa on July 3, 2016, ahead of the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr Mohammed Huwais (AFP)
Muslim world condemns Saudi holy site bombing

A deadly suicide bombing near Islam's second-holiest site in the Saudi city of Medina sparked condemnation across the Muslim world Tuesday, with even the Taliban and Hezbollah denouncing the attack.

Four people were killed in the explosion near the Prophet's Mosque that came as Muslims prepared for this week's Eid al-Fitr festival marking the end of the holy fasting month of Ramadan.

King Salman said Riyadh will hit hard those who seek to harm its young people, but in a speech also warned the kingdom's youth against "the dangers that lie in wait, notably extremism".

Saudi security personnel gather at the site of the suicide attack near the Prophet's Mosque in Medina, on July 4, 2016

US National Security Council spokesperson Ned Price said: "Although the investigation of these attacks is still in its early phases, the intent of the terrorists is clear: to sow division and fear."

A spokesman for UN chief Ban Ki-moon also denounced the attacks.

"These crimes are all the more despicable as they were carried out as residents were preparing for Eid al-Fitr," Stephane Dujarric said.

The attack near the Medina mosque -- where the Prophet Mohammed is buried and which attracts millions of pilgrims each year -- was one of three in the Sunni-ruled Gulf nation on Monday.

There were no claims of responsiblity for the bombings in Medina, Jeddah and the eastern city of Qatif, but the Islamic State group had in May urged its supporters to carry out attacks during Ramadan.

The Sunni extremists have claimed or been blamed for a wave of shootings and bombings during Ramadan, including in Orlando, Bangladesh, Istanbul and Baghdad.

- Shock and outrage -

The Saudi interior ministry said officers became suspicious of a man heading for the mosque through a parking lot.

"As they tried to stop him, he blew himself up with an explosive belt causing his death and the death of four police," it said, adding that five others were wounded.

The targeting of Medina caused shock and outrage across Islam's religious divide.

Shiite power Iran called for Muslim unity and the Afghan Taliban branded it "gruesome".

"There are no more red lines left for terrorists to cross. Sunnis, Shiites will both remain victims unless we stand united as one," Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif tweeted.

The Taliban said it "condemns this incident in the strongest of terms and considers it an act of enmity and hatred towards Islamic rituals".

Lebanon-based Shiite militant group Hezbollah -- which Riyadh accuses of supporting "terrorist acts" in the region -- also denounced it as "a new sign of the terrorists' contempt for all that Muslims consider sacred."

UN rights office spokesman Rupert Colville said: "It is an attack on the religion itself."

The head of the Saudi Shura Council, the main government advisory body, called the attack "unprecedented".

"This crime, which causes goosebumps, could not have been perpetrated by someone who had an atom of belief in his heart," Abdullah al-Sheikh said.

- 'Make us stronger' -

Cairo-based Al-Azhar, the highest authority in Sunni Islam, stressed "the sanctity of the houses of God, especially the Prophet's Mosque".

Middle East expert Madhawi al-Rasheed said the attack appeared aimed at humiliating Saudi Arabia, the guardian of Islam's holiest sites.

"It's an attempt to actually embarrass the Saudi government because it boasts of protecting the pilgrims and the holy places," said Rasheed, a visiting professor at the National University of Singapore.

At the same time as the Medina attack, another suicide bombing occurred near a Shiite mosque across the country in the Shiite-populated Gulf city of Qatif.

The interior ministry said "the body parts of three people were found" at the site but had not yet been identified.

Monday's first attack was in the western Saudi city of Jeddah, where two police officers were wounded in a suicide bombing near the US consulate.

The ministry said that attack was carried out by 35-year-old Pakistani Abdullah Qalzar Khan, who had been living in the city for 12 years.

The US embassy in Riyadh reported no casualties among consulate staff in the attack, which coincided with the US July 4 Independence Day holiday.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, the interior minister, said while visiting wounded policemen in Jeddah the attacks "will only increase our solidarity and make us stronger".

Since late 2014 a series of bombings and shootings claimed by IS in Saudi Arabia has targeted minority Shiites as well as the security forces, killing dozens.

Most attacks have been in Eastern Province, home to the majority of Shiites in the country.

IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has called for attacks on Saudi Arabia, which is taking part in the US-led coalition bombing the jihadists in Syria and Iraq. The group also considers Shiites to be heretics.

Saudi Arabia was struck by a wave of suicide bombings in Qatif, Medina, and Jeddah

Saudi's Emir of Medina, Prince Faisal bin Salman bin Abdulaziz (L) visits a police officer injured in the bombing near the Prophet's Mosque, on July 4, 2016
Turkish aid reaches Gaza after deal with Israel

Turkish aid arrived in the Gaza Strip on Monday via Israel, after the two countries restored ties frozen over a deadly Israeli raid on a Gaza-bound Turkish ship in 2010.

Turkish and Palestinian officials welcomed 10 truckloads of supplies, including food parcels, toys and children's clothing and shoes as they reached the impoverished territory in time for the Muslim Eid celebrations on Wednesday marking the end of Ramadan fasting.

"These are the first Turkish aid trucks into Gaza," Mustafa Sarnc, Turkey's ambassador to the Palestinian Authority, told a press conference near the Kerem Shalom crossing with Israel.

A truck loaded with aid parcels provided by Turkey is parked at the Kerem Shalom crossing near Rafah after it entered the southern Gaza Strip from Israel on July 4, 2016 Said Khativ (AFP)

"Turkey will continue its efforts to help the residents of the Gaza Strip and to help solve the water and power crisis."

The Panama-flagged Lady Leyla container ship docked at southern Israel's Ashdod port on Sunday after sailing from Turkey.

Its contents were unloaded, inspected and sent on to the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, hit by three wars with Israel since 2008 and under an Israeli blockade.

Youssef Ibrahim, the Hamas deputy minister of social affairs, said the 11,000-tonne shipment would be distributed to those most in need by his ministry along with the Turkish and Palestinian Red Crescent societies.

It was due to be the first of many, he added.

"These 10 trucks are part of 400 trucks of Turkish aid for Gaza."

Turkey had initially pushed for a lifting of Israel's years-long blockade of Gaza as part of the negotiations to normalise ties, but Israel rejected this.

A compromise was eventually reached allowing Turkey to send aid through Ashdod rather than directly to the Palestinian enclave.

Israel says the blockade is necessary to prevent Islamist movement Hamas from receiving materials that could be used for military purposes.

But UN officials have called for it to be lifted, citing deteriorating conditions in the territory.

Turkey's ruling Islamic-rooted AKP party has friendly ties with Gaza's Hamas rulers, and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been a vocal supporter of the Palestinian cause.

Turkey and Israel were formerly close regional allies, but fell out in 2010 when Israeli commandos killed 10 Turkish activists in a raid on a flotilla seeking to run the blockade.

Under the reconciliation deal, Israel will pay $20 million in compensation to the families of those killed.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has promoted the economic benefits of restoring ties, with talk of building a pipeline to Turkey to export Israeli gas, and the need to find allies in the turbulent Middle East.
Rockets target Iran exiles at Iraq camp

A barrage of rockets targeted a camp housing members of an Iranian opposition group near Baghdad on Monday, injuring several people, an Iraqi security spokesman and the exiles said.

The People's Mujahedeen Organisation of Iran (PMOI) members are waiting at the camp to be resettled outside the country.

The camp was targeted in a rocket attack last year that killed at least 26 people.

Former US military base Camp Liberty near Baghdad, a temporary home of exiled Iranian opposition members Ali al-Saadi (AFP/File)

"A number of rockets fell on Camp Liberty," Baghdad Operations Command spokesman Saad Maan said in a statement, referring to the camp where the PMOI members are housed.

Maan said that some 20 rockets were launched towards the camp from a truck in an area west of Baghdad, some of which fell short, wounding Iraqi civilians.

"According to reports from Camp Liberty, as of midnight tonight, more than 40 residents were wounded or injured in the missile attack on the camp," the National Council of Resistance of Iran, the PMOI's parent organisation, said in a statement.

The statement blamed Iran-affiliated militias for carrying out the attack.

Powerful Shiite militia forces that are hostile to the PMOI are present in areas west of Baghdad, while the Islamic State jihadist group lacks the interest to attack the group.

Camp Liberty, a former US military base, has since 2012 housed members of the PMOI, a group that originally opposed the shah but later fought alongside Saddam Hussein's forces against Iran's clerical rulers after the 1979 Islamic revolution.

The PMOI was also accused by the US State Department of taking part in the brutal suppression of a 1991 Shiite uprising against Saddam, making it widely reviled by members of the country's Shiite majority, which came to power after 2003. It has denied the accusations.

The exiles have been repeatedly targeted in the years after being disarmed following Saddam's overthrow, with dozens of its members killed in attacks it generally blamed on Iranian and Iraqi authorities.
Nigerian state-run oil firm chief replaced: govt

Nigeria's junior oil minister Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu has been replaced as head of the country's state-run oil firm, President Muhammadu Buhari announced on Monday.

Buhari said in a statement that Kachikwu would step down as group managing director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) but continue as chairman.

The former oil executive was effectively in charge of the day to running of the NNPC and overseeing the key sector, in an arrangement that was viewed by some in the industry as a conflict of interest.

Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu, pictured on June 2, 2016, will step down as group managing director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation but continue as chairman Joe Klamar (AFP/File)

The new group managing director will be Maikanti Kacalla Baru, a 57-year-old trained engineer who had been NNPC group executive director of exploration and production.

Buhari, who appointed himself oil minister in November last year, also named a new board of directors, including his chief of staff Abba Kyari.

Kachikwu, 59, was only given the job in August last year as part of Buhari's efforts to overhaul the NNPC and tackle rampant corruption in the sector.

The Harvard-trained lawyer ordered a forensic audit of the company's accounts and publication of its oil receipts for the first time in a move to bring greater transparency and accountability.

Top management positions were trimmed and plans announced to split up the NNPC into 30 separate companies to boost efficiency.

Buhari, who took office in May last year, has pledged to recover what he said were "mind-boggling" sums of public money stolen by corrupt officials, including those at the NNPC.

In 2014, former central bank governor Lamido Sanusi accused the company of withholding some $20 billion in oil revenue, which led to his ouster.

OPEC-member Nigeria, which relies on oil sales for some 70 percent of government revenue, has been plunged into a financial crisis because of low global oil prices.
Four guards killed by suicide bomb near Prophet's Mosque: Saudi ministry

Four Saudi security personnel were killed and five others wounded in a suicide bombing Monday outside one of Islam's holiest sites, the Prophet's Mosque in Medina, the interior ministry said.

The attack took place as Muslim worshippers were gathering at the mosque for the sunset prayers, which mark the time when they could break their fast during the holy month of Ramadan which ends on Tuesday.

"Security forces suspected a man who was heading towards Al-Masjid al-Nabawi (the Prophet's Mosque) as he passed through a visitors parking lot," the interior ministry said in a statement.

Saudi security personel gather at the site of the suicide attack near the security headquarters of the Prophet's Mosque in Medina on July 4, 2016

"As they tried to stop him, he blew himself up with an explosive belt causing his death, and the death of four security personnel," said the statement, adding that five others were injured.

The victims were all members of the Saudi special emergency forces run by the interior ministry.

Al-Arabiya news channel showed images of fire raging in a parking lot with at least one body nearby.

Meanwhile, another suicide attack took place at sunset near a Shiite mosque in Qatif, in the kingdom's east.

The same statement also confirmed that suicide bombing clarifying that "the body parts of three people were found" at that site bat have not yet been identified.
26 terror attacks reported in the last two years in Saudi Arabia

No one but the bomber was immediately reported killed in the explosion

Suicide bomber detonated a bomb near the U.S.

A suicide bomber carried out an attack early this morning near a U.S. diplomatic site in the Red Sea city of Jeddah, according to reports.

The extremist, who had parked his car outside a hospital opposite the United States consulate, detonated the bomb after he was approached by security guards, authorities said.

He was killed in the blast while the two diplomatic security staff were injured and taken to hospital, according to a security spokesman.

No-one else was hurt or killed in the explosion which occurred at around 2.15am.

Saudi policemen stand guard at the site in Jeddah where a suicide bomber blew himself up in the early hours of Monday

Security officers became suspicious of a man near the parking lot of Dr Suleiman Faqeeh Hospital, which is directly across from the US diplomatic mission

Most of the consulate's staff had reportedly moved offices to a new location.

In a statement, the U.S. consulate said there were no casualties or injuries among its staff, adding that it was in contact with Saudi authorities investigating the incident.

Interior Ministry officials could not be immediately reached for comment.

Witnesses say that police also carried out three controlled explosions near the site. It is not yet clear whether the targets of the blasts were hidden bombs.

Sources told Sabq news site that the suicide bomber, who has not yet been identified, had pretended he was lost after he was approached by security staff from the U.S. consulate.

When he returned to his car, he detonated his explosive belt killing himself and injuring the security guards.

Police have continued to cordon off the area as they continue their investigations.

A State Department spokesman said U.S. officials are aware of reports of an explosion in Jeddah and are working with Saudi authorities to collect more information.

A 2004 al-Qaida-linked militant attack on the U.S. consulate in Jeddah killed five locally hired consular employees and four gunmen.

The three-hour battle on the heavily guarded compound came amid a wave of al-Qaida attacks targeting Westerners and Saudi security posts.

Okaz news website said the bomber died in the attack, and that no other deaths were immediately reported

More recently, Saudi Arabia has been a target of ISIS attacks that have killed dozens of people.

The extremist group views the Western-allied Saudi monarchy and government as heretics.

Saudi Arabia is part of the U.S.-led coalition fighting the IS group in Iraq and Syria.

In June, the Interior Ministry reported 26 terror attacks had taken place in the kingdom in the last two years.
2 Chicago officers hurt by firecracker thrown at squad car

CHICAGO (AP)  Chicago police say two officers were injured when someone threw a firecracker at their squad car.

Local media report the incident happened around 4:20 p.m. Sunday in the city's South Shore neighborhood.

Police say the officers were on patrol when another vehicle pulled alongside them, someone threw the firecracker toward their squad car and it exploded.

The officers were taken to a hospital in good condition with injuries that weren't life-threatening.
China defiant, Philippines softens as UN court set to rule

A look at some recent key developments in the South China Sea, where China is pitted against smaller neighbors in multiple disputes over islands, coral reefs and lagoons in waters crucial for global commerce and rich in fish and potential gas and oil reserves:

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EDITOR'S NOTE: This is a weekly look at the latest key developments in the South China Sea, home to several territorial conflicts that have raised tensions in the region.

FILE - In this Sept. 23, 2015, file photo, Chinese Coast Guard members approach Filipino fishermen as they confront each other off Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea, also called the West Philippine Sea. A look at some recent key developments in the South China Sea, where China is pitted against smaller neighbors in multiple disputes over islands, coral reefs and lagoons in waters crucial for global commerce and rich in fish and potential gas and oil reserves. (AP Photo/Renato Etac, File)

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TRIBUNAL DECISION ON JULY 12

Five judges of a U.N. tribunal will deliver July 12 their landmark ruling on South China Sea disputes  and Beijing is already dismissing a potentially unfavorable outcome.

The Permanent Court of Arbitration will decide on a 2013 case filed by the Philippines, which asked the court to declare China's territorial claims that encompass most of the South China Sea invalid because they infringe upon the country's own 200-mile exclusive economic zone.

The Philippines turned to the tribunal after China effectively seized control of Scarborough Shoal, a tiny uninhabited reef off Luzon Island, following a tense standoff with Philippine vessels. Since then, China has built eight artificial islands on top of land features, some of which are normally submerged at low tide, and constructed airfields and military installations.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said that the tribunal was "established on the basis of illegal conduct and claims of the Philippines," and has no jurisdiction over the case.

The United States called on China and rival claimants to avoid provocations and exercise restraint, and use diplomacy.

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NEW PHILIPPINE LEADER TACKLES CHINA

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte took oath as diplomats and officials looked for clues on how he intends to deal with China after the U.N. tribunal's ruling. Some hints came on his first day in office.

During a Cabinet meeting Thursday, Foreign Secretary Perfecto Yasay said that he was not in favor of issuing a strong statement if the tribunal rules in the Philippines' favor. He said that China could potentially "dig in and put us to a test." If that happens, he said, "there is no point for us to yell."

China sees an opening in Duterte and wants to settle the issue with the Philippines directly, without outside arbitration. Duterte's predecessor Benigno Aquino III angered Beijing when he initiated the arbitration and invited large numbers of U.S. forces back to the Philippines.

According to a Philippine official, the Chinese ambassador has worked hard to repair damaged relations with Manila and told Filipino diplomats Beijing would extend an invitation to the new president to visit China within the next six months.

Duterte himself said he wants to open direct talks with China.

He said he asked U.S. Ambassador Philip Goldberg whether Washington will support the Philippines in case of a possible confrontation with China. Duterte suggested that a 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty between the allies does not automatically oblige Washington to immediately help the Philippines.

He said he asked Goldberg in a recent meeting, "Are you with us or are you not with us?" adding that Goldberg responded, "Only if you are attacked."

In Washington, the State Department said the U.S.-Philippine alliance is "ironclad" and the U.S. would stand by its treaty commitments.

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ASEAN REMAINS SPLIT

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, a China ally, spoke against the Permanent Court of Arbitration, further dividing the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

Speaking during the ruling party's anniversary, Hun Sen said he was against "any declaration by ASEAN to support the decision of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in relation to the South China Sea disputes."

"Efforts by some countries outside the region to mobilize forces against China would bring negative impacts on ASEAN and peace in the region," he was quoted as saying.

Last month, Cambodia and other pro-China ASEAN members Laos and Myanmar withdrew their support for a tough statement by ASEAN foreign ministers to avoid offending China, which hosted the meeting. Initially, all the ASEAN foreign ministers agreed on the text of the joint statement expressing concern that the South China Sea disputes eroded trust and increased tensions and could undermine peace and security.

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US BEEFING UP FORCES IN THE PACIFIC

With an eye toward the South China Sea, U.S. forces are planning to deploy a second Navy-Marine amphibious group in the region beginning in 2019.

According to Lt. Gen. John Wissler, commander of Marine Corps Forces Command, the presence of the second Amphibious Ready Group in the southern Pacific  in addition to Japan-based forces in the East China Sea  would allow multiple 90-day patrols covering the entire Asia-Pacific region.

China has accused Washington of turning the South China Sea into a powder keg and says the U.S. should stay out.

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LAST WORD

"The (United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea) gives us the exclusive right over 200 (nautical miles). If I go there using that privilege of mine, would that be an attack against China or an offense against China?" said Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte.

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Associated Press writers Hrvoje Hranjski in Bangkok, Christopher Bodeen in Beijing and Jim Gomez in Manila, Philippines, contributed to this report.

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Follow Hranjski on Twitter: www.twitter.com/hatbangkok

Gomez at www.twitter.com/JimSGomez

FILE - In this May 1, 2016, file photo, an illuminated globe shows the South China Sea at a museum in Pathumthani, Thailand. Five judges of a U.N. tribunal will deliver July 12, 2016 their landmark ruling on South China Sea disputes - and Beijing is already dismissing a potentially unfavorable outcome. The Permanent Court of Arbitration will decide on a 2013 case filed by the Philippines, which asked the court to declare Chinas territorial claims that encompass most of the South China Sea invalid because they infringe upon the countrys own 200-mile exclusive economic zone. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File)

FILE - In this June 10, 2016, file photo, protesters shout slogans while displaying placards outside the Chinese Consulate in protest of China's occupation and island-building in the disputed Spratlys islands in the South China Sea. Five judges of a U.N. tribunal will deliver July 12, 2016, their landmark ruling on South China Sea disputes - and Beijing is already dismissing a potentially unfavorable outcome. The Permanent Court of Arbitration will decide on a 2013 case filed by the Philippines, which asked the court to declare Chinas territorial claims that encompass most of the South China Sea invalid because they infringe upon the countrys own 200-mile exclusive economic zone. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez, File)

FILE - In this July 1, 2016, file photo, Philippine Foreign Secretary Perfecto Yasay listens to questions from reporters during a press conference in suburban Pasay, south of Manila, Philippines. On July 12, 2016, the Permanent Court of Arbitration will decide on a 2013 case filed by the Philippines, which asked the court to declare Chinas territorial claims that encompass most of the South China Sea invalid because they infringe upon the countrys own 200-mile exclusive economic zone. During a Cabinet meeting on Thursday, June 30, 2016, Yasay said that he was not in favor of issuing a strong statement if the tribunal rules in the Philippines favor. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila, File)

FILE - In this April 27, 2015, file photo, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, right, talks to Cambodia's Foreign Minister Hor Namhong before the plenary session of the 26th ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Five judges of a U.N. tribunal will deliver July 12, 2016, their landmark ruling on South China Sea disputes - and Beijing is already dismissing a potentially unfavorable outcome. Hun Sen, a China ally, spoke against the Permanent Court of Arbitration, further dividing the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations. Speaking during the ruling partys anniversary, Hun Sen said he was against any declaration by ASEAN to support the decision of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in relation to the South China Sea disputes. (AP Photo/Joshua Paul, File)
Defending champion Miki Sudo will hold onto her coveted pink championship belt after winning the women's division of the annual July Fourth hot dog eating contest at Nathan's Famous in Coney Island on Monday.

The Las Vegas woman scarfed down 38 1/2 hot dogs and buns in 10 minutes to claim the championship title  and the $10,000 that comes with it  for the third straight year.

Sudo, 30, downed 4 1/2 more wieners than prior champion Sonya 'Black Widow' Thomas, 48, of Alexandria, Virginia, who devoured 34 hot dogs. Thomas had held the championship title from 2011 until she lost in an upset to Sudo in 2014.

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Miki Sudo, left, is declared the winner. She won for the third straight year

Sudo, 30, downed 4 1/2 more wieners than prior champion Sonya 'Black Widow' Thomas, right

Miki Sudo, left, and Sonya Thomas compete in Nathan's Famous Fourth of July International Hot Dog Eating Contest Woman's competition. Sudo came in first eating 38.5 hot dogs and buns in 10 minutes

Sudo told ESPN, which aired the event, she had prepared harder this year because she feared Thomas would try to best her.

Thousands of people  many wearing Nathan's Famous hats  gathered along the famed Coney Island boardwalk to watch the contest.

The men's competition is later.

The winning shove: Sudo competes in Nathan's Famous Fourth of July International Hot Dog Eating Contest woman's competition

Not this year: Thomas just didn't have the capacity to regain the title today

A police officer stands guard on the roof of Nathan's Famous store during the Fourth of July International Hot Dog Eating Contest

Joey 'Jaws' Chestnut will be vying to regain the title this year and will face off against defending champ Matt 'The Megatoad' Stonie.

Chestnut set the world record in 2013 when he polished off 69 dogs in 10 minutes. His run of eight straight victories ended last year when he lost the Mustard Yellow International Belt in an upset.

The colorful holiday tradition draws its share of characters.

Many in the crowd wore foam hats shaped like hot dogs. One man held a sign that read: 'Make America Eat Again,' a play on presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump's campaign slogan, 'Make America Great Again.'
Counting resumes in Australian election with parties close

CANBERRA, Australia (AP)  Vote counting resumed Tuesday in Australia's dramatically close national election, three days after the contest failed to deliver an immediate winner and left the nation's leadership in doubt. But with officials warning that the victor may not be known for days, if not weeks, many were left wondering: What, exactly, is taking so long?

Counting was suspended in the early hours of Sunday morning while the ballot papers were secured and catalogued in a bid to avoid a repeat of a fiasco in 2013 when the mislaying of 1,370 ballot papers forced a re-run of the Senate election in Western Australia state.

Authorities have to wait until 13 days after the July 2 election date for the final mail-in votes to arrive. The Australian Electoral Commission said 400,000 of an expected 1.5 million postal votes had yet to arrive by Tuesday.

Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull addresses party supporters during a rally in Sydney, Sunday, July 3, 2016, following a general election. The elections, which pit the conservative coalition government against the center-left Labor Party, cap an extraordinarily volatile period in the nation's politics. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)

With about a quarter of the votes left to be counted, neither Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's conservative Liberal Party-led coalition nor opposition leader Bill Shorten's center-left Labor Party had won the 76 seats in the 150-seat House of Representatives needed to form a government  raising the prospect of a hung parliament.

"I know many Australians find this sort of frustrating, the wait. And you can imagine that we are among them," Turnbull told reporters with a laugh. "We would like to get a clear result on Saturday night. But the truth is that we've had long waits before. Many times actually, over the years. And in many countries, many other countries, similar western democracies, it takes a long time to determine the outcome of an election."

David Glance, director of the University of Western Australia's Center for Software Practice, said the political standstill demonstrated a need for online electronic voting.

While many countries vote with a ballot paper and pencil, Australia is a special case because compulsory voting led to extraordinarily large voter turnouts. Plus Australian politics had become more volatile, with bigger swings and more alternative candidates to the major parties, Glance said.

Australia's complex unique voting system, in which voters rank candidates in order of preference, also made calculating winners more labor-intensive. And Australia has had recent experience in lost ballot papers.

"There's this political uncertainty which can last for days and weeks, and potentially now we've moved into a phase where this is going to become more the norm than the exception," Glance said.

As of Tuesday, Australian Broadcasting Corp. election analysts  considered among the most reliable  were predicting that the coalition had 68 seats, Labor 67 and the minor parties and independents were leading in five seats. Another 10 seats were in doubt.

While hung parliaments are rare in Australia, the last occurred at an election only six years ago. Key independents then took 17 days from the election date before declaring they would support a Labor minority government which became chaotic and unpopular. It was wiped out in a landslide election in 2013.

Delays in determining election results are, of course, not unprecedented on a global scale. The notoriously close 2000 U.S. presidential election pitting Republican George W. Bush against Democrat Al Gore led to a recount in the state of Florida, where problems with ballot machines led to confusion over who voters had actually selected. The results were in doubt for weeks until a ruling by the Supreme Court led to Bush being declared the winner.

Turnbull, who became prime minister 11 months ago because his predecessor was unpopular, said Tuesday that he would not take Shorten's advice by resigning as British Prime Minister David Cameron did over Britain's decision to leave the European Union.

"The count is continuing and we remain confident that we will secure enough seats to have a majority in the parliament," Turnbull told reporters.

Shorten, who could become Australia's s fifth prime minister in three years, said Turnbull had "promised stability and taken Australia on a roller coaster ride."

"He wanted a mandate for stability and he's given us instability," Shorten said.

The makeup of Australia's Senate is likely to take even longer than the House of Representatives to determine. But early signs are that the Senate will be even more unwieldy for whichever party takes government.

Early projections suggest that if the conservatives retain power, they would need the support of eight of 10 crossbenchers to pass contentious bills. These crossbenchers would include senators who oppose the government's free trade agenda and nondiscriminatory immigration policy and could demand concessions in these areas.

Ratings agencies fear the Senate could threaten Australia's chances of balancing its books by 2020-21 by blocking tough savings measures and therefore also threaten its rare AAA credit rating.

"Fitch views Australia's overall credit profile as still consistent with a 'AAA' rating, but political gridlock that leads to a sustained widening of the deficit would put downward pressure on the rating, particularly if the economic environment deteriorates," Fitch Ratings said.

"Irrespective of the political composition of any new government, we would lower the rating if the parliamentary gridlock on the budget continues and Australia's budgetary performance does not improve broadly as we expected a year ago," Standard & Poor's said.

Australian Electoral Commission spokesman Evan Ekin-Smyth said the Senate was likely to take a month to resolve. He said the House of Representatives would not take as long, but he could not give a more specific estimate.

Australian leader of the opposition Bill Shorten addresses party members during the Labor party election night event in Melbourne, Australia, Saturday, July 2, 2016. The elections, which pit the conservative coalition government against the center-left Labor Party, cap an extraordinarily volatile period in the nation's politics. (Mick Tsikas/AAP Image via AP)

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull waves to supporters after he addressed a reception on election night in Sydney, Australia, Sunday, July 3, 2016. The result of the nation's election is too close to call in a race that could end with neither side able to form a majority government and may not be decided for several days.(AP Photo/Rob Griffith)

Australian leader of the opposition Bill Shorten addresses party members during the Labor party election night event in Melbourne, Australia, Saturday, July 2, 2016. The elections, which pit the conservative coalition government against the center-left Labor Party, cap an extraordinarily volatile period in the nation's politics. (Tracey Nearmy/AAP Image via AP)

FILE - In this Saturday, July 2, 2016, file photo, Voters fill in their ballots at a polling station at Town Hall in Sydney. After years of political turmoil, Australians headed to the polls Saturday with leaders of the nation's major parties each promising to bring stability to a government that has long been mired in chaos. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft, File)
After IS defeat, Fallujah victory takes on sectarian tones

FALLUJAH, Iraq (AP)  A highway overpass in Fallujah is plastered with Shiite banners, graffiti and posters of militia leaders, a virtual shrine to victory over the Islamic State group in this majority Sunni Muslim city.

The fight to wrest Fallujah from IS control appears to have inflicted considerably less damage to the city's infrastructure than past battles. But scenes like this have the potential to undermine the military's success and hamper the broader fight against IS by reigniting the sectarian tensions that helped fuel the militant group's rise in Iraq.

After the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, Fallujah, once a town made wealthy by trade and industry, became the epicenter of an insurgency against U.S. forces and the militant opposition to the Shiite-dominated central government. When it fell under IS control, Iraqi officials repeatedly pointed to Fallujah as a source of the car bombs and other explosives used to attack Baghdad and other areas from the front-line fight.

In this Thursday, June 28, 2016 photo, Iraqi security forces celebrate their victory in Fallujah, Iraq. In the newly-liberated Sunni city of Fallujah, the proliferation of Shiite militia flags and graffiti has the potential to undermine military successes and hamper the broader fight against the Islamic State group by reigniting the sectarian tensions that fueled the militants rise in Iraq. (AP Photo/Karim Kadim)

On Sunday, a week after Fallujah was declared "fully liberated" from the Islamic State, a massive suicide truck bombing claimed by IS struck a bustling commercial street in downtown Baghdad, killing at least 142 people, the single deadliest bombing in Baghdad in years.

The operation to retake Fallujah, which had been held by IS since 2014, was announced in late May. In a bid to reduce sectarian conflict and prevent abuses, Iraq's military said the government-sanctioned Shiite militias participating in the fight would not enter the center of Fallujah. But days later, Shiite militias known as the Popular Mobilization Forces, or Hashed, were seen walking openly in the streets.

The special forces commander overseeing the Fallujah operation, Lt. Gen. Abdul Wahab al-Saadi, declined to comment on these sightings. But he said the symbolic value of the city for both Iraqis and IS militants made the liberation of Fallujah an especially sensitive operation.

The highway overpass, in particular, has become emblematic of Fallujah's turbulent recent history. A year ago, it was the scene of the brutal killing of an Iraqi soldier by IS. Images released by the militants show Mustafa a-Athari, a Shiite from Sadr City, being paraded through town before he was hanged from the overpass as crowds of residents cheered.

Al-Athari was quickly upheld as a martyr, and Iraqi militia leaders pledged to avenge his death, calling on the government to allow them to launch an operation to retake Fallujah. The powerful Iraqi Shiite militia, Asaib Ahl al-Haq, pledged to "crush the skulls" of those responsible.

The event echoed an incident more than 10 years earlier, when an angry mob hanged four American security contractors from a bridge just half a mile (about one kilometer) from the site of al-Athari's murder. The 2004 public killing of the Americans became an iconic image that changed the U.S. public's perception of the Iraq war and preceded a brutal U.S. military response. Thousands of Iraqis and 153 American troops were killed and large parts of Fallujah were virtually leveled.

"This is the city in which some of the worst crimes against humanity have occurred," said al-Saadi, the special forces commander. "It began with the killing of the Americans and continued with the murder of al-Athari."

Small groups of Shiite militiamen fought under the banner of the federal police, but once the operation was declared complete, the militia fighters began raising their own flags. Some Iraqi commanders  speaking anonymously, because they are not authorized to discuss the operation  said the militiamen set fire to houses in the city. The special forces commander said that IS militants set homes alight before their retreat.

The alleged misconduct in Fallujah was small in scale compared to the destruction carried out by Shiite militia participating in the battle for the Sunni-majority city of Tikrit, north of Baghdad.

A spokesman for Asaib Ahl al-Haq, the powerful militia, denied that Shiite militiamen had entered the center of Fallujah and rejected claims that they could destabilize the city.

"We are here for the sake of stability" said Jawad al-Talabawi, who repeated that Shiite groups remained on the city's outskirts. "We gave the blood of our martyrs for the liberation of Fallujah, but do not have any further ambitions."

Yet at the highway overpass  located to the west of the center  fighters were snapping selfies and shouting Shiite slogans. From a nearby pick-up truck blasting music and bearing a Hashed flag, cold water and yoghurt drinks were distributed to a group of soldiers.

"The country of Imam Ali forever! The country of Imam Ali forever!" they shouted, a popular chant in support of the revered Shiite holy man.

One Fallujah resident, Sheikh Hadi Muhamad Abdullah, who had returned home for the first time in two years, said he was shocked to see militiamen and Shiite graffiti in the city center, describing them as a personal insult.

"It's not a good sign," he said, arguing that the Shiite presence demonstrates that the government isn't serious about reconciliation with Iraq's Sunnis.

The government in Baghdad "believes that Fallujah is the center of terrorism in Iraq," Abdullah said. "But for us it's the center of resistance. The resistance started as pure, but others like Daesh corrupted it," he said, using the Arabic acronym for IS.

Although the military campaign in Fallujah is largely over, the special forces commander al-Saadi conceded that what comes next in the city could be equally important in containing IS.

"No kind of military solution alone will ever succeed in ending terrorism in Iraq," al-Saadi said. "You have to fight their mentality, the entire system."

Maj. Ali Hanoon, one of al-Saadi's deputies, fought in Fallujah alongside American troops in the mid-2000s. He remembers the day the contractors were hanged, and the brutal crackdown that followed.

He said that a decade ago, U.S. forces discovered that that the greater the hardship inflicted on the community, the more local support for militants grew.

He wasn't surprised when Fallujah fell to IS in 2014, he said, and he won't be surprised if the militants return.

"We'll be back again," Hanoon said. "Daesh will return, just under a new name and stronger."

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Associated Press writers Qassim Abdul-Zahra, Sinan Salaheddin and Muhanad al-Saleh in Baghdad contributed to this report.

In this Thursday, June 28, 2016 photo, Iraqi security forces celebrate their victory in Fallujah, Iraq. In the newly-liberated Sunni city of Fallujah, the proliferation of Shiite militia flags and graffiti has the potential to undermine military successes and hamper the broader fight against the Islamic State group by reigniting the sectarian tensions that fueled the militants rise in Iraq. (AP Photo/Karim Kadim)

In this Thursday, June 28, 2016 photo, Iraqi security forces celebrate their victory in Fallujah, Iraq. In the newly-liberated Sunni city of Fallujah, the proliferation of Shiite militia flags and graffiti has the potential to undermine military successes and hamper the broader fight against the Islamic State group by reigniting the sectarian tensions that fueled the militants rise in Iraq. (AP Photo/Karim Kadim)

In this Thursday, June 28, 2016 photo, Iraqi soldiers stand in front of graffiti in Arabic that reads: "The state of Fallujah" and " Sheikh Abu Hamza al-Muhajir Camp" and " On a platform of prophecy" and " O Abbas" and O Hussein" and "Beck O Ali" and "Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah" in Fallujah, Iraq. In the newly-liberated Sunni city of Fallujah, the proliferation of Shiite militia flags and graffiti has the potential to undermine military successes and hamper the broader fight against the Islamic State group by reigniting the sectarian tensions that fueled the militants rise in Iraq. (AP Photo/Karim Kadim)

In this Thursday, June 28, 2016 photo, an Iraqi soldier stands in front of graffiti in Arabic reading: "The state of Fallujah" and " Sheikh Abu Hamza al-Muhajir Camp" and " On a platform of prophecy" and " O Abbas" and O Hussein" and "Beck O Ali" and "Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah" in Fallujah, Iraq. In the newly-liberated Sunni city of Fallujah, the proliferation of Shiite militia flags and graffiti has the potential to undermine military successes and hamper the broader fight against the Islamic State group by reigniting the sectarian tensions that fueled the militants rise in Iraq. (AP Photo/Karim Kadim)
Some former hostages being questioned over Bangladesh attack

NEW DELHI (AP)  Some of the hostages rescued from the weekend attack on an upscale restaurant in Bangladesh's capital were questioned Monday by investigators searching for clues about the possible masterminds behind the gruesome attack that left 28 dead, including many foreigners.

Authorities were still holding five of the 13 hostages rescued when commandos stormed the restaurant in Dhaka's diplomatic zone Saturday morning, killing six of the attackers and capturing one, according to officials.

Bangladesh police chief A.K.M. Shahidul Haque said authorities would be interrogating two men, including a suspected militant, who were detained during Saturday's operation. He would not say whether either had been among those counted as hostages, only that they were being treated in a hospital for unspecified injuries.

Foreign diplomats embrace each other as they attend a ceremony to offer tribute to the victims of the attack on Holey Artisan Bakery, at a stadium in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Monday, July 4, 2016. The assault on the restaurant in Dhaka's diplomatic zone by militants who took dozens of people hostage marks an escalation in militant violence in the Muslim-majority nation. (AP Photo)

A second official said the five former hostages still being held included a Canadian citizen of Bangladeshi origin and a Bangladesh-born British citizen. The official spoke on condition of anonymity, as he was not authorized to speak to the media about the ongoing investigation. The official said authorities were looking into the backgrounds of the five people and questioning their families and friends.

Global Affairs Canada, the government department which manages Canada's diplomatic and consular relations, and consular officials at the High Commission of Canada in Dhaka said they had not received any reports of a Canadian citizen being detained.

It was not clear if all five were suspects, or if they were being held and questioned simply because authorities thought they might offer useful information in tracing the origins of the attack.

The official confirmed investigators were also speaking with a third man described by local media as a Bangladeshi who was trapped inside the restaurant along with his wife and two children. The man, a teacher at a private university in Dhaka, had returned to Bangladesh recently after living nearly 20 years in Britain.

Some photographs and several crude videos taken from an apartment near the Holey Artisan Bakery show the man talking to someone while attackers allowed him to leave before paramilitary forces launched the rescue operation on Saturday. The man's friends and police also said that one of the attackers was a student in the same department at the university where the man teaches.

The brutality of the attack - the worst convulsion of violence yet in the recent series of deadly attacks to hit Bangladesh - has stunned the traditionally moderate Muslim nation and raised global concerns about whether it can cope with increasingly strident Islamist militants.

That the attackers targeted a popular restaurant in the heart of the diplomatic quarter of Bangladesh's capital signaled a shift in militant tactics. Previously, most attacks were carried out by gangs of young men wielding cleavers and machetes and hacking individual victims before fleeing.

The Daily Star newspaper on Monday said the bloody hostage crisis had left "the nation shattered and with a sense of extreme unease." The editorial also criticized authorities' consistent denial of the presence of any international terrorist groups, even as the Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack and released gruesome photographs that apparently depicted the torture of hostages.

"The methods employed and the savagery with which the killings were carried out are hallmarks of international terrorist outfits like ISIS and al-Qaida. This is clear," the newpaper said. "What is not clear is whether, after such overwhelming evidence of their presence, the official line will be one of denial?"

Bangladesh police have said they are investigating whether the attackers had links to the Islamic State group, though the home minister insisted IS had no presence in Bangladesh and could not have guided the attack. The government has blamed the restaurant attack and other recent killings on domestic militants bent on imposing Islamic rule. IS claimed responsibility for the attack.

The Italian Foreign Ministry, after nine Italians were killed in the restaurant, posted travel advisories saying it could not exclude the possibility of further attacks in Bangladesh. The advisory urged people to exercise the "utmost prudence," particularly in places frequented by foreigners, and to limit their activities to only what was necessary.

Also, Indian police were checking vehicles crossing the border that five Indian states share with Bangladesh in case any militants were trying to flee, according to the head of India's Border Security Force.

A papal Mass held Monday evening drew more than 100 mourners including Italy's ambassador to a Catholic Church in Dhaka. Archbishop of Dhaka Patric D'Rozario led prayers and administered communion.

Some said they were still in shock over the weekend attack. A priest who has lived in Bangladesh for four decades said the tragedy was unprecedented.

"I never saw such a thing. It was such a happy life, it was so simple," Father Martinelli Quirico said. "But now, everybody is afraid."

He praised the Bangladeshi people, noting the attackers "are only a few." The only thing to do now was to hope the violence ends.

Islamic prayer sessions and a candlelight vigil were held later in the evening.

Earlier Monday, surrounded by tearful family members and a heavy security detail, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and diplomats from Italy, Japan and other countries laid flower wreaths beside the coffins holding the three Bangladeshi victims.

The coffins were draped in the Bangladeshi flag - a red disc on a green background. That of Emory University student Abinta Kabir, a Miami resident whose family confirmed she was a U.S. citizen, was also partially covered with a U.S. flag.

Two police officers and 17 other hostages - nine Italians, seven Japanese and one Indian - were killed. Those bodies were to be flown back to their home countries on Monday.

Family and friends of 19-year-old Tarishi Jain gathered in the New Delhi suburb of Gurgaon as her body arrived for a ceremonial cremation.

The stadium vigil was visited by hundreds of Dhaka residents, paying their respects to the victims.

The bodies of the Japanese victims arrived Tuesday morning in Tokyo on a Japanese government 747. Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida and other officials laid flowers between the coffins, shrouded in white cloth, on cargo pallets on the tarmac.

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Associated Press writers Katy Daigle, Nirmala George and Ashok Sharma in New Delhi contributed to this report.

A Bangladeshi soldier controls local residents as they pour in to pay their respects to the victims of the attack on Holey Artisan Bakery, at a stadium in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Monday, July 4, 2016. The assault on the restaurant in Dhaka's diplomatic zone by militants who took dozens of people hostage marks an escalation in militant violence in the Muslim-majority nation. (AP Photo)

Relatives of Abinta Kabir, a student of Emory University in the U.S, carry her body after a ceremony to pay tribute to the victims of the attack on Holey Artisan Bakery, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Monday, July 4, 2016. The assault on the restaurant in Dhaka's diplomatic zone by militants who took dozens of people hostage marked an escalation in militant violence in the Muslim-majority nation. (AP Photo)

Relatives and friends of the victims of the attack on Holey Artisan Bakery attend a ceremony to pay tribute to the deceased, at a stadium in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Monday, July 4, 2016. The assault on the restaurant in Dhaka's diplomatic zone by militants who took dozens of people hostage marks an escalation in militant violence in the Muslim-majority nation. (AP Photo)

An unidentified relative of one of the victims of the attack on Holey Artisan Bakery reacts as people pay tribute to the deceased, at a stadium in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Monday, July 4, 2016. The assault on the restaurant in Dhaka's diplomatic zone by militants who took dozens of people hostage marks an escalation in militant violence in the Muslim-majority nation. (AP Photo)

Relatives of Tarishi Jain, a victim of the attack on Dhaka's Holey Artisan Bakery, attend a memorial service before her cremation in Gurgaon, on the outskirts of New Delhi, India, Monday, July 4, 2016. The brutality of the attack, the worst convulsion of violence yet in the recent series of deadly attacks to hit Bangladesh, has stunned the traditionally moderate Muslim nation and raised global concerns about whether it can cope with the increasingly strident Islamist militants. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

A coffin bearing the body of a Bangladeshi victim of the attack on Holey Artisan Bakery, draped in national flag, is brought in for a ceremony for people to pay their tribute, at a stadium in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Monday, July 4, 2016. The assault on the restaurant in Dhaka's diplomatic zone by militants who took dozens of people hostage marked an escalation in militant violence in the Muslim-majority nation. (AP Photo)

Bangladesh's Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina offers her tribute to the victims of the attack on Holey Artisan Bakery, at a stadium in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Monday, July 4, 2016. The assault on the restaurant in Dhaka's diplomatic zone by militants who took dozens of people hostage marks an escalation in militant violence in the Muslim-majority nation. (AP Photo)

Bangladesh's Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and other dignitaries maintain a minute's silence to offer their tributes to the victims of the attack on Holey Artisan Bakery, at a stadium in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Monday, July 4, 2016. The assault on the restaurant in Dhaka's diplomatic zone by militants who took dozens of people hostage marked an escalation in militant violence in the Muslim-majority nation. (AP Photo)

An unidentified relative of one the victims of the attack on Holey Artisan Bakery reacts as people pay tribute to the deceased, at a stadium in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Monday, July 4, 2016. The assault on the restaurant in Dhaka's diplomatic zone by militants who took dozens of people hostage marks an escalation in militant violence in the Muslim-majority nation. (AP Photo)

Bangladesh's Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina offers her tribute to the victims of the attack on Holey Artisan Bakery, at a stadium in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Monday, July 4, 2016. The assault on the restaurant in Dhaka's diplomatic zone by militants who took dozens of people hostage marks an escalation in militant violence in the Muslim-majority nation. (AP Photo)

Unidentified relatives of Bangladeshi victims of the attack on Holey Artisan Bakery react as people pay tribute to the deceased, at a stadium in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Monday, July 4, 2016. The assault on the restaurant in Dhaka's diplomatic zone by militants who took dozens of people hostage marks an escalation in militant violence in the Muslim-majority nation. (AP Photo)

An unidentified relative of one of the victims of the attack on Holey Artisan Bakery reacts as people pay tribute to the deceased, at a stadium in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Monday, July 4, 2016. The assault on the restaurant in Dhaka's diplomatic zone by militants who took dozens of people hostage marks an escalation in militant violence in the Muslim-majority nation. (AP Photo)

Relatives and friends console the mother of Tarishi Jain, one of the victims of the attack on Dhaka's Holey Artisan Bakery, as they take her for cremation in Gurgaon, on the outskirts of New Delhi, India, Monday, July 4, 2016. The brutality of the attack, the worst convulsion of violence yet in the recent series of deadly attacks to hit Bangladesh, has stunned the traditionally moderate Muslim nation and raised global concerns about whether it can cope with the increasingly strident Islamist militants. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

Unidentified relatives of Bangladeshi victims of the attack on Holey Artisan Bakery react as people pay tribute to the deceased, at a stadium in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Monday, July 4, 2016. The brutality of the attack, the worst convulsion of violence yet in the recent series of deadly attacks to hit Bangladesh, has stunned the traditionally moderate Muslim nation and raised global concerns about whether it can cope with the increasingly strident Islamist militants. (AP Photo)

Relatives of Abinta Kabir, student of Emory University of U.S., carry her coffin draped with the Bangladesh and U.S. flags after a ceremony for victims of the attack on the Holey Artisan Bakery, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Monday, July 4, 2016. The brutality of the attack, the worst convulsion of violence yet in the recent series of deadly attacks to hit Bangladesh, has stunned the traditionally moderate Muslim nation and raised global concerns about whether it can cope with the increasingly strident Islamist militants. (AP Photo)
US airman arrested for alleged drunken driving on Okinawa

TOKYO (AP)  Japanese police arrested an American serviceman for alleged drunken driving on Okinawa early Monday morning, days after the lifting of an off-base drinking ban imposed after other alcohol offenses and the arrest of a former Marine in a high-profile murder case.

Tech Sgt. Christopher Platte, 27, stationed at Kadena Air Base on the southern island, was arrested after a police officer spotted him driving erratically on the road in the town of Chatan on Okinawa's central region. Police said a breath test showed his blood-alcohol level exceeding the legal limit. Platte reportedly denied the allegation.

Japan's government protested to the U.S. Embassy over the arrest. The U.S. military had lifted the drinking ban on June 28.

"It's extremely regrettable," Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Koichi Hagiuda told a news conference. "We want the disciplinary steps carried out thoroughly."

Hagiuda also said the two nations are at final stages of talks aimed at reviewing the Japan-U.S. Status of Forces of Agreement that gives immunity to American servicemen and civilian base contractors in some criminal cases from Japanese prosecution.

The two governments are expected to announce a plan Tuesday to narrow down the scope of "civilian component" by improving the way the agreement is used. It's a symbolic move that does not involve a fully fledged revision to the agreement and is seen as the ruling party's appeal to Okinawan voters ahead of the July 10 upper house election.

The U.S. military today usually hands its servicemen to the Japanese side in serious crimes, but it's not compulsory under the agreement, which the Okinawan authorities for years have protested as unfair.

In May, a military contractor and former Marine, Kenneth Shinzato, was charged with the murder and rape of a 20-year-old woman whose body was abandoned in the forest. A number of drunken driving cases have occurred in the weeks since, even during the drinking ban, aggravating Okinawans who have long complained about the heavy U.S. military presence on the southern island and crime linked to the Americans living there.

Half of about 50,000 American troops stationed in Japan under a bilateral security agreement are based on Okinawa.

The U.S. military says the crime rate among its ranks in Japan is lower than among the general Japanese public. Okinawa police statistics show the U.S. military's crime rate has been lower than the public's over the past several years, though the rates in individual years vary.

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Follow Mari Yamaguchi at https://www.twitter.com/mariyamaguchi
German EU official urges action against Spain, Portugal

BERLIN (AP)  Germany's European Union commissioner pressed Monday for action against Spain and Portugal for failing to meet their budget targets, arguing that Brussels must act to maintain its credibility.

The EU's executive Commission refrained in May from imposing immediate fines, saying it would revisit the situation in July.

The EU wants countries to keep their budget deficits below 3 percent of their annual GDP. Though countries can be fined up to 0.2 percent of their GDP if they fail to implement measures to meet the limits, no nation has yet been fined.

"If the Commission wants to preserve its credibility on upholding budget rules, we have to approve sanctions against Spain and Portugal," Commissioner Guenther Oettinger was quoted as telling German daily Bild. "If we give ourselves common rules, they must be kept to."

Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa, whose center-left government is reversing previous austerity measures with the support of the Communist Party and radical Left Bloc, is fighting possible sanctions.

Costa said Monday that the 2015 budget deficit, when stripped of one-off measures such as rescuing a failed Portuguese bank, came to 3.2 percent  only slightly over the limit.
Under fire as usual, Clinton ramps up her trust campaign

WASHINGTON (AP)  The Clinton trust campaign is turning to powerful advocates, chief among them President Barack Obama, to vouch for the Democratic candidate shadowed by an FBI investigation on the brink of her presidential nomination.

Clinton herself acknowledges that she has "work to do" to earn the trust of voters after nearly four decades in public life as she faces Republican Donald Trump in the general election. And she's called in help from advocates to attest to her "good heart," as Sen. Elizabeth Warren put it  whatever the results of the FBI probe into Clinton's private email server while she was secretary of state.

On Sunday's news shows, Sen. Sherrod Brown, R-Ohio, and Labor Secretary Tom Perez  both potential running mates for the Democratic ticket  explicitly talked about Clinton and trust.

FILE - In this June 7, 2016, file photo, former President Bill Clinton, left, stands on stage with his wife, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, after she spoke during a presidential primary election night rally in New York. His popularity among Democrats is off the charts, he's a fundraising powerhouse and his administration is hailed by many as a high-water mark of economic prosperity. Without question, one of the key assets in Hillary Clinton's second campaign for the White House is her husband, Bill. And yet, there are still times when the former president can step in it. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez, File)

On Tuesday, Obama is set to join Clinton in a campaign event in battleground North Carolina meant to personalize the "I trust Hillary" theme. It's the president's first appearance with his former secretary of state during the 2016 campaign. Vice President Joe Biden will reinforce the message Friday in his hometown of Scranton, Pennsylvania, with Clinton at his side.

"Trust" is on the lips of Democrats because it's a remarkable vulnerability that persists for Clinton, despite and because of her decades of public life. And the timing of her credibility campaign is no accident.

Her husband, former president Bill Clinton, met last Monday with the FBI's boss, Attorney General Loretta Lynch, on the tarmac in Phoenix in a session both say was innocent but regrettable. Then, five days later, the FBI interviewed Hillary Clinton for more than three hours about whether she exposed government secrets by blending personal and official business on a home email server.

She immediately gave an interview with NBC's "Meet the Press" in which she denied wrongdoing and repeated an acknowledgment she had slipped into a speech last week on the same day Warren vouched for her.

Clinton told NBC she will do "everything I can to earn the trust of the voters of our country" and added: "I know that's something that I'm going to keep working on, and I think that's, you know, a clear priority for me."

After Warren had endorsed her, Clinton acknowledged she'd "made mistakes. I don't know anyone who hasn't."

And she defended her sometimes too-cautious style.

"The reason I sometimes sound careful with my words is not that I'm hiding something. It's just that I'm careful with my words," she said at the Rainbow PUSH Coalition's event in Chicago.

Questions about Clinton's ethics have dogged her from her days as first lady of Arkansas and later the United States during Bill Clinton's governorship and presidency, through her service a senator from New York, her failed 2008 presidential campaign and as Obama's secretary of state. So pervasive has the image been that her opponents have only to utter buzzwords like "Whitewater"  the name of the Clintons' failed land deal in which neither was implicated in wrongdoing  to invoke the image of what Trump terms, "Crooked Hillary."

Not helping the trust campaign: the Bill Clinton-Loretta Lynch meeting. "I learned about it in the news," Hillary Clinton told NBC on Saturday just hours after the FBI session. "They did not discuss the Department of Justice's review."

Was the visit inappropriate, she was asked?

"Well, I think, you know, hindsight is 20/20."

Clinton's supporters leapt in with defenses of her overall character.

"I trust Hillary Clinton in part, because, for a whole lot of reasons," Brown said on "This Week" on ABC. "I know how she started her career advocating for the Children's Defense Fund. She didn't go off to Manhattan or to Washington to make a lot of money."

Perez repeated Clinton's own reasoning that in the quarter century since her husband was first elected president, some accusations against her have stuck, rightly or wrongly.

"The Hillary Clinton that I've gotten to know well and the Hillary Clinton that the voters of New York got to kick the tires on very well, they have always said and consistently said that we trust her," Perez, another vice presidential possibility, said Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press."

He urged voters to look at the public service work Clinton has done during her career. "That really gives me, and I think the American people, a window into her moral compass. And her moral compass is about helping those who are in the shadows."

Added Rep. Xavier Becerra, D-Calif., another potential vice presidential pick: "The secretary has made it very clear she understands she's got to earn people's trust. She's going to work very, very hard to do that. And I give her credit for saying she's made some mistakes," he said on "Fox News Sunday." ''She's going to try to show the American people that she's going to work hard, especially for working families in America, to earn their trust."

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Follow Laurie Kellman on Twitter at: http://www.twitter.com/APLaurieKellman
Southwest at risk for Trump after statements, slow start

DENVER (AP)  Once a swing state in presidential elections, Colorado has teetered on the brink of becoming solidly Democratic. Donald Trump may have pushed it over the edge.

Trump's disparaging words about Mexicans, negative comments about women and weak campaign organization have punctuated the state's shift from a nip-and-tuck battleground to one that's Democrat-friendly. For the first time in more than 20 years, there are now more registered Democrats in the state than Republicans.

"Trump is turning off as many key voter groups as we have in this state," said former state Republican Party Chairman Dick Wadhams. "I would have to believe Trump's having trouble."

In this July 1, 2016, photo, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during the opening session of the Western Conservative Summit in Denver. Once a swing state in presidential elections, Colorado has teetered on the brink of becoming solidly Democratic. Trump may have pushed it over the edge. Trumps disparaging words about Mexicans, negative comments about women and weak campaign organization have punctuated the states shift from a nip-and-tuck battleground to one thats Democratic-friendly. For the first time in more than 20 years, there are now more registered Democrats in the state than Republicans. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

And it's not just Colorado. Trump's inflammatory rhetoric and weak campaign structure could ensure that perennially competitive Nevada and New Mexico are out of reach as well.

That matters for Trump. He can't win the 270 electoral votes needed to capture the presidency without capturing some states that favored Barack Obama in the last two elections.

The three Southwestern states  which have a combined 21 electoral votes  might have offered some hope. All backed Republican George W. Bush 12 years ago.

But Trump isn't making as much of a push for those states as is his likely Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton. He made his first campaign appearance in Colorado just Friday, speaking at the Western Conservative Summit in Denver.

Clinton made her fifth trip on Wednesday, proposing college-loan deferment for graduates who start businesses. It was a tactical move aimed at swaying young voters, many of whom flocked to Sen. Bernie Sanders, who beat Clinton soundly in March's Colorado caucuses.

"Hillary has some ground to make up," said Craig Hughes, who ran Democratic President Barack Obama's winning 2012 Colorado campaign. "But compared to Trump, Hillary is in a far, far better place."

In Colorado, Clinton's campaign is spending $2.4 million on television advertising this month through Election Day, while a group that supports Clinton, Priorities USA, is spending $13.6 million, according to Kantar Media's campaign advertising tracker. In Nevada, Clinton is spending $2 million and Priorities USA is spending $10.4 million.

Neither Trump nor any super PACs supporting him have reserved advertising time in the two states. Super PACs are organizations that can spend unlimited funds on a candidate, but can't coordinate with the campaign.

The National Rifle Association's political arm is making small ad buys  $155,000 in Colorado and $98,000 in Nevada  to attack Clinton's handling of the attacks on diplomatic compounds in Libya while she was secretary of state.

Clinton has had staff in Nevada for more than a year, ahead of the state's early caucuses, and in Colorado for almost a year. Trump has a Colorado state campaign director and a Southwest regional director in Nevada.

If Colorado is a stretch for Trump, Nevada and New Mexico may be out of reach with their larger Hispanic populations and wider Democratic edge. The number of Hispanic voters has boomed in Nevada, more than doubling as a percentage of the state's voters since 1980, to an estimated 22 percent this year. In New Mexico, nearly half the population is Hispanic.

Trump has alienated Hispanics with his call to build a wall on the Mexican border, his plans to deport the roughly 11 million immigrants who are in the United States illegally and by characterizing some Mexican immigrants as drug smugglers and rapists.

Still, Nevada Republican strategist Ryan Erwin says Trump could salve the wounds were he to make the effort himself.

"As that population changes, it's harder for a Republican presidential candidate that isn't here all the time," said Erwin, 2012 GOP nominee Mitt Romney's Nevada director.

But Trump is relying on the Republican National Committee for staffing, as he is in all competitive states, said Trump's Colorado director, Patrick Davis.

"There's only so much one presidential candidate can do," Davis said. "You've got to use all of the means of communication to get it done."

Trump's statements, late organizational start and Clinton's statewide organization have her Colorado director Emmy Ruiz cautiously optimistic.

"I think the odds are in our favor. But I don't think that they are strong odds. I also don't think they are high enough for us to sit back," Ruiz said.

Part of Clinton's tail wind: Democrats in April nosed ahead of Republicans in voter registration for the first time since 1994. Since 2012, Democratic voter registration in Colorado has grown 7.5 percent, compared to 5 percent for Republicans.

In Nevada, registered Democrats outnumber Republicans by more than 70,000, a gap that Democrats and Republicans say could top 120,000 by Election Day. It's a small but significant chunk of the state's 1.5 million voters.

"Unless and until Republicans can match the kind of funding Democrats have put into their voter registration here, Republicans are going to fall behind," said Erwin, the Republican strategist.

Last week, 18-year-old Kevin Garcia knocked on doors in 100-plus degree heat, registering Las Vegas residents to vote. He then attended a Clinton campaign calling session at a pizza restaurant.

Garcia, whose family emigrated from Mexico, was among about a dozen callers sipping cold Pepsis and using cellphones to call Nevadans. His goal was to make 100 calls that night  some in Spanish.

He said he supports Clinton because of her support for allowing people in the United States illegally to stay under certain circumstances. And because of Trump's rhetoric.

"And my whole family is naturalized," he said. "We're all citizens."

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Associated Press writer Julie Bykowicz contributed to this report from Washington.

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Follow Thomas Beaumont on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/tombeaumont

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Pakistan: 'Honor' killings grow more brutal, draw backlash

LAHORE, Pakistan (AP)  Parveen Rafiq screamed from her rooftop, "I have killed my daughter. I have saved my honor. She will never shame me again."

In the room below lay the charred body of 18-year-old Zeenat. Neighbors in the narrow alley who saw the smoke and heard screams rushed to Rafiq's home, but the door was bolted from within. Zeenat was dead. Her mother had choked her, and while the girl was still alive she doused with kerosene and set her on fire.

Zeenat's crime was to marry a childhood friend she loved, defying her widowed mother's pressure for an arranged marriage and, in the mind of her mother and many of her neighbors, tarnishing her family's honor.

FILE -- In this June 18, 2016 file photo, Amina Bibi, center, who who local police say killed Muqadas Tofeeq, her 22-year-old pregnant daughter, is detained at a police station in Gujranwala, Pakistan. Bibi slit the throat of her daughter who had married a man she loved. So called "honor" killings in Pakistan have grown in number and brutality, but activists see an increasing backlash. A younger generation has become bolder in denouncing the killings and other violence against women. Those who kill for "honor" are almost never punished in Pakistan. A law based on Islamic Shariah allows the family of a victim to forgive a killer, and in these cases the killers are almost always family. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary, File)

Her death on June 8 was the latest in a series of increasingly gruesome "honor" killings in Pakistan, which has one of the highest rates of such killings in the world.

In one case, a mother slit the throat of her pregnant daughter who had married a man she loved. In the city of Abbottabad, a teenage girl who helped a friend elope was tortured, injected with poison and then strapped to the seat of a vehicle and set on fire. A jirga, or council of local elders, ordered her killing as a message to others.

The brutality and rapid succession of killings horrified many Pakistanis. The numbers of such killings have been climbing. Last year, 1,096 women and 88 men were killed in "honor" crimes in Pakistan, according to the independent Human Rights Commission of Pakistan. In 2014, the number was 1,005 women, including 82 children, up from 869 women a year earlier. The true numbers are believed to be higher, with many cases going unreported, activists say.

Some human rights and women's rights activists believe the rise in numbers and brutality reflects an older generation digging in against creeping change.

Over the years, more women have been going to school and working outside the home, and social media have helped women raise their voices. More than 70 percent of Pakistan's 180 million people are under 30, and some are challenging traditions to an unprecedented degree.

"The old order of misogyny and extremism is falling apart, is really crumbling," says Marvi Sermid, a women's rights activist.

Centuries of tradition in Pakistan tie the idea of a woman as an untouched commodity to a family's honor. Traditions have been further strengthened by governments that often curried the support of religious hard-liners with legislation enshrining the old ways.

Those who kill for "honor" are almost never punished in Pakistan. A law based on Islamic Shariah allows the family of a victim to forgive a killer, and in these cases the killers are almost always family. So other relatives give their forgiveness, unwilling to see loved ones jailed.

Still, outrage over recent killings and other violence against women has fueled an outcry against the establishment. One target has been the Council of Islamic Ideology, a body of conservative Muslim clerics that advises the government to ensure laws don't stray from Shariah.

When the government proposed a law aimed at protecting women against violence, the council in May put forward an alternative allowing men to "lightly beat" their wives.

Young people replied with a Twitter campaign with the mocking hashtag #TryBeatingMeLightly. On TV talk shows, guests denounced the council as misogynist and out of touch. Some lawmakers called for it to be disbanded.

The outcry appears to be having an effect. The council in June decreed that honor killings are un-Islamic.

Meanwhile, police and prosecutors have found a way around the forgiveness loophole. Rafiq and one of her sons suspected of helping in Zeenat's killing have been detained and face charges under the anti-terrorism law, which defines any act that causes general panic as terrorism.

Zeenat's death underscores the social traditions that underpin "honor" crimes.

For months, neighbors said, her mother complained about her two elder daughters, who married men of their own choice.

Zeenat was Rafiq's last chance to save her honor. She planned an arranged marriage for Zeenat with a member of their own social caste, the Rajput, which is said to be descended from kings.

But Zeenat had her heart set on a childhood friend, a 20-year-old motorcycle mechanic named Hassan Khan who lived nearby in their crowded Lahore shantytown.

"We were in love," Khan said, his voice barely a whisper.

He showed a collection of selfies on his phone that Zeenat had put together to the rhythm of their favorite song, an Urdu pop tune called "You Made Me Your Lover." As the music played, Zeenat in the photos struck different poses, always smiling, her black hair falling past her shoulders.

She loved taking selfies, music and poetry, he said. She had memorized the Quran and taught it to local children.

Zeenat and her mother fought about Khan, and Zeenat told him her mother beat her. Khan said Zeenat pleaded with him to marry her.

In May, they finally did, marrying at a courthouse. Zeenat moved into Khan's home.

A few days later, Zeenat's mother and uncle came, begging her to come home, just for a few days. They said they would arrange a proper wedding for her and Khan, which would save their honor by showing neighbors she didn't elope. Zeenat's uncle promised she would be safe.

Khan's elders eventually agreed that Zeenat would go with her mother.

At first, it seemed Zeenat's mother had accepted their marriage, Khan said.

But on the fourth day, Zeenat called him, afraid. Her mother was yelling at her threateningly.

"I told her to not worry. It was just two more days and she would be back home with me."

The next morning, she was dead.

Neighbor women outside Rafiq's home all agreed that the mother was driven to kill Zeenat, and she should go free.

"Daughters are duty-bound to maintain the honor of the family," said Muneeba Bibi. "It's better to have no children than to have a daughter who brings you shame."

Zeenat's killing was "a good lesson for all the girls here to protect the family honor," she said.

The little girls playing in the alleys all knew Zeenat was killed by her mother. But they weren't sure why. All they knew was she had done something very bad.

"She was strangled and then they burned her," said 11-year-old Sameera. "When I think about it I get scared."

In the home he briefly shared with Zeenat, Khan showed a poem she had written on a tissue paper.

"I love you. I kiss you

I love you. I miss you

I take your name with every breath

I see you in every dream

I want to see you all the time"

Khan refolded the fragile tissue and returned it to his wallet.

"I want her hanged," he said of Zeenat's mother. "She has to be punished. This is the only way this will stop."

In this June 11, 2016 photo, Hassan Khan shows a tissue on which his wife Zeenat wrote a poem and messages to him, in Lahore, Pakistan. Zeenat was the third Pakistani girl reported to have died in the last month in what has widely come to be known as an "honor" killing. They are so named because the victim is accused by family, would-be suitors, and in one case a tribal council, of bringing shame or dishonor to their households. At a hospital in Lahore in eastern Punjab province, where Zeenat was killed, one official said he knew of three other similar attacks that had gone unreported. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)

In this June 11, 2016 photo, Hassan Khan shows a picture of her wife Zeenat, who was killed by her mother, in Lahore, Pakistan. Zeenat was the third Pakistani girl reported to have died in the last month in what has widely come to be known as an "honor" killing. They are so named because the victim is accused by family, would-be suitors, and in one case a tribal council, of bringing shame or dishonor to their households. Those who kill for "honor" are almost never punished in Pakistan. A law based on Islamic Shariah allows the family of a victim to forgive a killer, and in these cases the killers are almost always family. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)

In this Friday, June 10, 2016 photo, Parveen Rafique who killed her daughter, Zeenat, leaves for a court appearance, in Lahore, Pakistan. Zeenat was the third Pakistani girl reported to have died in the last month in what has widely come to be known as an "honor" killing. They are so named because the victim is accused by family, would-be suitors, and in one case a tribal council, of bringing shame or dishonor to their households. Those who kill for "honor" are almost never punished in Pakistan. A law based on Islamic Shariah allows the family of a victim to forgive a killer, and in these cases the killers are almost always family. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)

In this June 9, 2016 photo, Hassan Khan, whose wife Zeenat was killed by her mother, lays rose petals on her grave in Lahore, Pakistan. Zeenat was the third Pakistani girl reported to have died in the last month in what has widely come to be known as an "honor" killing. They are so named because the victim is accused by family, would-be suitors, and in one case a tribal council, of bringing shame or dishonor to their households. Those who kill for "honor" are almost never punished in Pakistan. A law based on Islamic Shariah allows the family of a victim to forgive a killer, and in these cases the killers are almost always family. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)

In this Tuesday, June 14, 2016 photo, Anees, brother of 18-year-old Zeenat, who was killed by her mother, talks to reporters while under arrest for aiding in the murder, in Lahore, Pakistan. Zeenat was the third Pakistani girl reported to have died in the last month in what has widely come to be known as an "honor" killing. They are so named because the victim is accused by family, would-be suitors, and in one case a tribal council, of bringing shame or dishonor to their households. Those who kill for "honor" are almost never punished in Pakistan. A law based on Islamic Shariah allows the family of a victim to forgive a killer, and in these cases the killers are almost always family. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)

In this May 5, 2016 photo, 13 members of a local tribal council, shrouded by cloth, are under arrest for ordering a girl to be burned alive for helping one of her friends elope to marry a man of her choice, in Abbottabad, Pakistan. The teenage girl was tortured, injected with poison and then strapped to the seat of a vehicle, doused with gasoline and set on fire. The jirga, or council of local elders, ordered her killing and dictated the manner of her death. The vehicle was parked in a public place, outside a bus stop as a message to others. (AP Photo/Aqeel Ahmed)

FILE -- In this June 2, 2016 file photo, Sadaqat Abbasi, father of a female teacher who was beaten and set on fire, tries to comfort his daughters, in Upper Dewal, Pakistan. So called "honor" killings in Pakistan have grown in number and brutality, but activists see an increasing backlash. A younger generation has become bolder in denouncing the killings and other violence against women. (AP Photo/Muhammad Yousaf, File)

FILE -- In this Saturday, June 18, 2016 file photo, Mohammed Tofeeq holds his 10-month-old daughter, Gulshan Tofeeq, while he prays at the grave of his wife Muqadas Tofeeq, who local police say was killed by her mother, in Butrawala village on the outskirts of Gujranwala, Pakistan. So called "honor" killings in Pakistan have grown in number and brutality, but activists see an increasing backlash. A younger generation has become bolder in denouncing the killings and other violence against women. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)

In this June 18, 2016 photo, Mohammed Tofeeq shows a picture with his wife Muqadas Tofeeq, who local police say was killed by her mother, in Butrawala village on the outskirts of Gujranwala, Pakistan. So called "honor" killings in Pakistan have grown in number and brutality, but activists see an increasing backlash. A younger generation has become bolder in denouncing the killings and other violence against women. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)
US declassified report listing individuals in 9/11 probe

WASHINGTON (AP)  Amid the clamor a year ago to release 28 still-secret pages of a congressional inquiry into the Sept. 11 attacks, the government quietly declassified a little-known report listing more than three dozen people who piqued the interest of investigators probing possible Saudi connections to the hijackers.

The document, known as "File 17," offers clues to what might be in the missing pages of the bipartisan report about 9/11.

"Much of the information upon which File 17 was written was based on what's in the 28 pages," said former Democratic Sen. Bob Graham of Florida, co-chairman of the congressional inquiry. He believes the hijackers had an extensive Saudi support system while they were in the United States.

FILE - In this Sept. 11, 2001, file photo, firefighters work beneath the destroyed mullions, the vertical struts which once faced the soaring outer walls of the World Trade Center towers, after a terrorist attack on the twin towers in New York. White House and intelligence officials are deciding whether to declassify 28 pages of a congressional investigation into the Sept. 11 attacks. The still-secret chapter could answer or raise new questions about possible Saudi links to the attackers. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File)

"File 17 said, 'Here are some additional unanswered questions and here is how we think the 9/11 Commission, the FBI and the CIA should go about finding the answers,' " Graham said.

Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir denies any allegations of Saudi complicity, telling reporters in Washington earlier this month that there is "no there there."

Former President George W. Bush classified the 28-page chapter to protect intelligence sources and methods, although he also probably did not want to upset U.S. relations with Saudi Arabia, a close U.S. ally. Two years ago, under pressure from the families of those killed or injured on Sept. 11, and others, President Barack Obama ordered a declassification review of the 28 pages. It's unclear when all or some may be released.

The report by the two researchers, one of several commission documents the National Archives has reviewed and released, lists possible leads the commission could follow, the names of people who could be interviewed and documents the commission might want to request in looking deeper into the attacks.

File 17, first disclosed by 28pages.org, an advocacy website, names people the hijackers were in contact with in the United States before the attacks. Some were Saudi diplomats, raising questions about whether Saudi officials knew about the plot.

The 9/11 Commission's final report stated that it found "no evidence that the Saudi government as an institution or senior Saudi officials individually funded" al-Qaida. "This conclusion does not exclude the likelihood that charities with significant Saudi government sponsorship diverted funds to al-Qaida," the report said.

Releasing the 28 pages might answer some questions, but the disclosure also could lead to more speculation about the key Saudi figures investigated by the U.S. after the attacks. A look at some of those named in the declassified report and what the 9/11 Commission concluded:

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FAHAD AL-THUMAIRY

An imam at the King Fahad Mosque in Culver City, California, al-Thumairy was suspected of helping two of the hijackers after they arrived in Los Angeles. He was an accredited diplomat at the Saudi Arabian consulate in Los Angeles from 1996 to 2003.

The 9/11 Commission said al-Thumairy reportedly led an extremist faction at the mosque. He has denied promoting jihad and told U.S. investigators that he never helped the hijackers.

The commission said al-Thumairy met at the consulate with Omar al-Bayoumi, a Saudi national, in February 2000 just before al-Bayoumi met the two hijackers at a restaurant. Al-Thumairy denied knowing al-Bayoumi even though the two talked on the phone numerous times as early as 1998, including more than 11 calls between Dec. 3-20, 2000. Al-Bayoumi told investigators those conversations were about religious matters.

The 9/11 Commission said that despite the circumstantial evidence, "We have not found evidence that al-Thumairy provided assistance to the two operatives."

A CIA document dated March 19, 2004, said Khallad bin Attash, an al-Qaida operative and suspected planner of the USS Cole bombing in Yemen in October 2000, was in Los Angeles for two weeks in June 2000 and was seen in the company of "Los Angeles-based Sunni extremists (redacted section) Fahad al-Thumairy."

On May 6, 2003, al-Thumairy tried to return to the U.S. from Saudi Arabia, but was refused entry on suspicion he might be connected with terrorist activity.

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OMAR AL-BAYOUMI

A Saudi national who helped the two hijackers in California. Al-Bayoumi told investigators that he and another man drove to Los Angeles from San Diego so that he could address a visa issue and collect papers at the Saudi consulate. Afterward they went to the restaurant in Culver City where he heard the two hijackers speaking in what he recognized to be Gulf Arabic and struck up a conversation with them.

The hijackers told him they didn't like Los Angeles, and al-Bayoumi invited them to move to San Diego. He helped them find and lease an apartment.

The congressional researchers' report said: "Al-Bayoumi has extensive ties to the Saudi government and many in the local Muslim community in San Diego believed that he was a Saudi intelligence officer."

The 9/11 Commission said al-Bayoumi was officially employed by Ercan, a subsidiary of a contractor for the Saudi Civil Aviation Administration. The commission also said that a fellow employee described al-Bayoumi as a "ghost employee," noting that he was one of many Saudis on the payroll who was not required to work.

He left the United States in August 2001, weeks before the Sept. 11 attacks.

The 9/11 Commission said it did not "know whether the lunch encounter occurred by chance or by design." The commission said its investigators who spoke with him and studied his background found him to be an "unlikely candidate for clandestine involvement" with Islamic extremists.

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OSAMA BASSNAN

A close associate of al-Bayoumi who was in frequent contact with the hijackers and lived in an apartment complex across the street from them in San Diego. Bassnan vocally supported Osama bin Laden.

The staffers' found that Bassnan, a former employee of the Saudi government's educational mission in Washington, received considerable funding from Princess Haifa al-Faisal, wife of Prince Bandar bin Sultan, former intelligence chief in Saudi Arabia and the kingdom's U.S. ambassador from 1983 to 2005. The money was supposedly for Bassnan's wife's medical treatments, and the 9/11 Commission said there was no evidence the money was redirected toward terrorism.

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MOHDHAR ABDULLAH

The staffers' report said Abdullah translated for the two hijackers and helped them open bank accounts and contact flight schools. Interviewed many times by the FBI, Abdullah said he knew of the two hijackers' extremist views but said he did not know what they were planning.

The 9/11 Commission said: "During a post 9/11 search of his possessions, the FBI found a notebook (belonging to someone else) with references to planes falling from the sky, mass killing and hijacking. Further, when detained as a material witness following the 9/11 attacks, Abdullah expressed hatred for the U.S. government and stated that the U.S. brought 'this' on themselves."

The commission also learned of reports that Abdullah bragged to other inmates at a California prison in the fall of 2003 that he knew the hijackers were planning an attack  reports the commission nor the FBI were not able to verify.

He was deported to Yemen in May 2004 after the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of California declined to prosecute him on charges arising out of alleged comments made in prison.
Security ordered tightened as death toll in Baghdad hits 157

BAGHDAD (AP)  As the death toll from the weekend truck bombing in Baghdad climbed to 157, Iraq's embattled prime minister ordered new security measures, including abandoning the use of bomb-detection wands that U.S. experts pronounced worthless years ago.

But security forces were still using the devices Monday evening, as a string of smaller bombings in the capital killed 16 people and wounded dozens more.

Sunday's suicide attack by the Islamic State group was the single deadliest bombing to hit Baghdad in more than a decade of war and insurgency.

People light candles at the scene of a massive car bomb attack in Karada, a busy shopping district where people were shopping for the upcoming Eid al-Fitr holiday, in the center of Baghdad, Iraq, Sunday, July 3, 2016. More than 100 people died Sunday in a car bombing that Islamic State said it carried out, an official of the Iraqi Interior Ministry said. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)

Also Monday, five convicted terrorists were executed in Baghdad, the Ministry of Justice said in an announcement that appeared aimed at restoring faith in Iraq's security forces in the wake of the devastating attack.

Firefighters and medical teams were still uncovering bodies from the city's Karada neighborhood Monday morning. Officials said a dozen people were missing and at least 60 of the dead were women and children. At least 190 people were wounded.

The blast struck after midnight when the neighborhood was bustling with people breaking their daylight fast during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. The attack demonstrated the Islamic State's ability to strike the capital despite a string of defeats on the battlefield, including the loss of Fallujah just over a week ago.

With public anger mounting, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi ordered new security measures Sunday evening, including increased aerial scanning and intelligence-gathering in the capital and the installation of X-ray systems at the entrances of provinces.

He also ordered security forces to stop using a handheld electronic device that was widely sold as a bomb detector but has been repeatedly branded bogus by technical experts. And he ordered the reopening of an investigation into the purchase of the ADE 651s, which cost the Iraqi government tens of thousands of dollars each.

In 2010, British authorities arrested the director of the British manufacturer, ATSC Ltd., on fraud charges, prompting Iraqis to open their own investigation. Iraqi authorities made some arrests, but the device remained in use.

On Monday evening, Associated Press reporters saw a number of the devices still being used at checkpoints around the capital as another round of blasts erupted.

Many Iraqis blame their political leadership for the way large amounts of explosives have made it past multiple checkpoints into crowded neighborhoods with disastrous results.

Small-scale bombings occur on a near-daily basis in Baghdad, and in May a string of large-scale bombings, many of them claimed by IS, killed more than 200 people in a single week.

In February, Amnesty International reported that the number of Iraqis sentenced to death in 2016 was close to 100, calling the figure a "grim indicator of the current state of justice in the country."

Later Monday, about 10 rockets struck a refugee camp for Iranian exiles next to Baghdad's international airport, according to a Baghdad police official. The attack killed three Iraqi policemen and wounded 13 others, according to a hospital official.

Shahin Gobadi, a Paris-based spokesman for the Iranian exile group, said more than 4o residents were wounded in the rocket attack. The casualty figure could not be independently confirmed.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release information to the media.

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Associated Press writer Murtada Faraj contributed to this report.

People light candles at the scene of a massive car bomb attack in Karada, a busy shopping district where people were shopping for the upcoming Eid al-Fitr holiday, in the center of Baghdad, Iraq, Sunday, July 3, 2016. More than 100 people died Sunday in a car bombing that Islamic State said it carried out, an official of the Iraqi Interior Ministry said. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)

Iraqi men grieve at the scene of a deadly suicide car bomb at a commercial area in Karada neighborhood, Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, July 4, 2016. More than 100 people died Sunday in a car bombing that Islamic State said it carried out, an official of the Iraqi Interior Ministry said. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)

Iraqi men look for victims who went missing after a car bomb hit Karada, a busy shopping district in the center of Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, July 4, 2016. More than 100 people died Sunday in a car bombing that Islamic State said it carried out, an official of the Iraqi Interior Ministry said. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)

An Iraqi man looks for victims at the site of a car bomb attack at a commercial area in Karada neighborhood, Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, July 4, 2016. More than 100 people died Sunday in a car bombing that Islamic State said it carried out, an official of the Iraqi Interior Ministry said. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)
Israel's Livni says British police sought to question her

JERUSALEM (AP)  Israeli lawmaker and former Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said on Monday that a British war crimes investigator sought to question her during a trip to Britain over her role in Israel's 2008-2009 Gaza war.

Speaking to Israeli Army Radio from London, where she is continuing her visit, Livni said British police emailed her a summons on Friday. She called it "unacceptable." The police request defined the questioning as non-mandatory, and she did not comply, Livni said.

Israel's Foreign Ministry said it views the British request "with great concern" and would "engage" with British authorities until the matter is resolved. Britain's Foreign Office, the Metropolitan Police in London and Scotland Yard declined comment.

FILE - In this Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2011 file photo, former Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni attends a news conference at the Knesset, Israel's parliament, in Jerusalem. Livni said on Monday, July 4, 2016 that a British war crimes investigator sought to question her during a trip to Britain over her role in Israel's 2008-2009 Gaza war. (AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner, File)

Livni, a onetime lead peace negotiator with the Palestinians, enjoys a dovish reputation in much of the West. But she staunchly defends Israel's devastating three-week military offensive in Gaza in 2008-2009, saying the operation was meant to end years of rocket fire by Gaza militants against Israel. There was widespread international criticism of the hundreds of civilian casualties.

Livni served as foreign minister during the war, and as a member of the Israeli Cabinet, she was part of the decision-making process regarding the military campaign.

Pro-Palestinian groups have previously tried to go after Livni and other Israeli officials using universal jurisdiction, a principle that lets British courts prosecute foreigners accused of crimes against humanity wherever they were committed.

The law strained U.K.-Israeli relations, as senior Israeli officials canceled trips rather than face possible arrest in Britain. In 2009, an arrest warrant was issued in Britain against Livni, and Israel's foreign ministry said the warrant was later canceled, after officials learned Livni was not on British soil.

Previously, anyone in Britain could apply to a judge for such warrants. But the law was amended in 2011 to make such arrest warrants harder to pursue. That year, Britain's chief prosecutor blocked an attempt to serve Livni with an arrest warrant during a visit to Britain.

British officials extend diplomatic immunity to Israeli officials to shield them from such arrests.

However, Livni said she declined immunity for her current trip to Britain on principle. She told Israeli Army Radio she wanted to test what British authorities would do in cases of Israelis who are not eligible for diplomatic immunity but who could be pursued for alleged war crimes.

"Israeli army commanders and Israeli decision makers who are threatened with arrest warrants each time they arrive in London  this is an absurd sight that is unacceptable and must stop," Livni wrote on Facebook.

"Just as we respect and admire Britain's actions against international terror and Israel is open for any British minister to visit, without questions about his decisions in the Cabinet, such is how Israel expects from Britain," she added.

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Aide to China's former leader gets life in prison for bribes

BEIJING (AP)  A former top presidential aide and consummate Chinese political insider was sentenced Monday to life in prison for taking bribes, illegally obtaining state secrets and abusing his power in a downfall set off by an alleged cover-up of his son's death in a speeding Ferrari.

A court in the northern port city of Tianjin delivered the verdict against Ling Jihua nearly one month after the trial, which was held behind closed doors because the case involved state secrets, the official Xinhua News Agency said. Ling told the court he would not appeal, Xinhua said.

"I accept all charges and the verdict," Ling told the court in comments broadcast on China's main evening news. "I will not appeal the judgment pronounced by the chief judge."

FILE - In this March 14, 2012, file photo, Ling Jihua, a aide and confidante to President Hu Jintao, stands during the closing ceremony of the National People's Congress at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. Ling was sentenced Monday, July 4, 2016, to life in prison for taking bribes, illegally obtaining state secrets and abusing powers in a downfall set off by an alleged cover-up of his son's death in a speeding Ferrari. (AP Photo/Andy Wong, File)

Ling headed the ruling Communist Party's General Office under former President Hu Jintao, a position comparable to chief of staff for the U.S. president.

His fall has been a blow to the Youth League bloc within the party, which had centered around Hu and is seen as a contending force for Hu's successor, Xi Jinping. Members of the bloc in the top leadership have seen their powers diminished since Xi took over, said Willy Lam, an expert on Chinese elite politics at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

After the verdict, Ling made a "humble apology to the party and the authorities that have handled my case," according to video from the courtroom broadcast by state-run China Central Television.

He was shown expressing his gratitude to the court for "offering humanitarian care" of him. Chinese courts are controlled by the Communist Party.

Ling fell out of political favor in 2012, just ahead of a once-in-a-decade power transition, when he was allegedly involved in the cover-up of his son's death in a speeding Ferrari with two nude or half-dressed women as passengers.

In September of that year, shortly before Xi Jinping replaced Hu as party chief, Ling was transferred to the party's United Front Work Department in what was widely seen as a demotion.

Soon afterward, Ling lost his remaining positions within the party's upper echelon. In 2013 he was made a vice chairman of the powerless advisory body to China's ceremonial parliament.

While working at the United Front Work Department and on the parliament's advisory body, Ling obtained a large amount of state secrets through his contacts at the General Office, violating China's rules on state secrets, Xinhua said.

The Xinhua report on the verdict made no mention of Ling's brother, Ling Wancheng, who is believed to have fled to the United States with sensitive information about China's leadership and could deliver an intelligence windfall should he defect.

The New York Times reported that the Obama administration has rebuffed Chinese requests for Ling Wancheng's repatriation and has warned China about covert agents seeking his whereabouts on U.S. soil.

Lam, the political analyst, said Ling Jihua apparently had cooperated with the authorities and might have promised not to further divulge the secrets he obtained, since he was given only five years for illegally obtaining state secrets.

"The lenient treatment is in return for his cooperation not to divulge state secrets he might have given to Ling Wancheng," Lam said.

Ling was sentenced to life imprisonment for taking $11.57 million in bribes, either directly or through his wife and son, Xinhua said. Those who bribed Ling included provincial party chiefs and prominent businesspeople.

Ling also was given four years in prison for having used his powers to obtain favors, such as job changes, promotions, and property purchases, for his associates, Xinhua said.
The Latest: Hollande says Brexit won't affect enlargement

LONDON (AP)  The Latest following Britain's vote to leave the European Union (all times local):

7:10 p.m.

French President Francois Hollande says the British vote to leave the European Union won't threaten eventual enlargement of the bloc.

France's President Francois Hollande, right, poses with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, prior to the Balkans summit, at the Elysee Palace, in Paris, Monday, July 4, 2016. The leaders of France, Germany, Italy and Balkan nations are meeting to better prevent extremists from sneaking in with migrants who are moving west across Europe. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Hollande, speaking after a summit with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and leaders from Balkan states aspiring to EU membership, acknowledged uncertainty in the Balkan region in particular around their EU membership bids.

"The British decision does not in any way put into question commitments made toward countries in the Balkan region. They will be respected," he said in Paris.

Balkan integration into the EU is considered key for stability of the volatile region. The EU's current troubles are emboldening pro-Russian groups in Serbia who favor closer ties with Russia instead of the West.

Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic was disappointed by an EU decision last week to delay further membership talks. Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia, Bosnia, Kosovo and Albania, all at different stages in trying to join the EU, say the British exit vote will not diminish their membership efforts.

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4:35 p.m.

Britain's immigration minister says he can't guarantee that European Union citizens who live in the U.K. will be able to stay after the country leaves the bloc.

James Brokenshire has told the House of Commons that "EU nationals continue to be welcome here" and "their right to enter, work, study and live in the U.K. remains unchanged" since the vote last week to leave the bloc.

But he said a guarantee that they would be allowed to remain after Britain negotiates its EU exit "would be unwise without a parallel assurance" from other EU countries that British citizens can continue to live there.

A final split from the EU is likely several years away. Opposition politicians are demanding the government ease the uncertainty of some 3 million EU citizens by guaranteeing they can stay.

Labour legislator Gisela Stuart said Monday that it was wrong to make them "bargaining chips" in negotiations.

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1:30 p.m.

Luxembourg's foreign minister is describing Nigel Farage's decision to quit as leader of the U.K. Independence Party as "very cowardly."

Farage's announcement Monday made him the third major British political figure to say he is stepping aside rather than taking ownership of the country's turbulent political future.

Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn was quoted Monday as telling German daily Tagesspiegel: "All of a sudden, politicians like Boris Johnson and Nigel Farage are withdrawing back into their snail shells."

Asselborn added: "I hope this can be a lesson against falling for political opportunists like the (anti-migration) AfD in Germany or Geert Wilders in the Netherlands."

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1:10 p.m.

Police say a memorial to former Labour Party leader Michael Foot has been defaced with far-right graffiti.

Rob Souness of Devon and Cornwall Police says the force is investigating the "disgusting act of vandalism" to the stone memorial in Foot's home town of Plymouth, southwest England. Foot, who died in 2010, led the left-of-center Labour Party between 1980 and 1983.

The monument was defaced with swastikas and the initials of the British National Party and English Defense League, both far-right groups.

Police have reported an increase in racially motivated hate crimes since Britain voted to leave the European Union in a June 23 referendum.

The current member of Parliament for Plymouth, Conservative Johnny Mercer tweeted: "Tragic. Unacceptable. Michael Foot was a proud son of Plymouth. This is not us, not Plymouth."

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11:45 a.m.

British Energy Minister Andrea Leadsom has launched her bid to lead the Conservative Party, pitching herself as a passionately pro-"leave" candidate who can both unite a divided Britain and strike a good deal with the European Union.

Leadsom is one of the least-known among the five candidates to replace Prime Minister David Cameron, but she gained attention as one of the strongest voices for a vote to leave the EU in the referendum campaign.

She's targeting her pitch at Conservatives who think the next prime minister must be someone from the winning side of the referendum. The front-runner, Home Secretary Theresa May, was on the losing "remain" side.

Leadsom, who went into politics after a career in financial services, says she would keep the negotiations on an exit deal with the 27 other EU countries as short as possible, because "neither we nor our European friends need prolonged uncertainty."

And, unlike May, she says EU citizens living in Britain would be guaranteed the right to stay. She says "we must give them certainty. There is no way they will be bargaining chips in our negotiations."

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11:35 a.m.

A top law firm may institute a legal challenge to make certain that Britain's Parliament votes on whether or not the U.K. should leave the European Union.

The law firm Mishcon de Reya argues that the referendum approving an exit from the EU was not legally binding.

The firm, acting on behalf of a group of anonymous clients, says that it is up to Parliament to have their say before the prime minister invokes Article 50, triggering the start of negotiations for a U.K. departure from the bloc.

While outgoing Prime Minister David Cameron has insisted that it will be up to the next prime minister to enact Article 50, the law firm is adamant that Parliament must have its say first. It says that it would go to court without government assurances.

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11:20 a.m.

British companies' pension liabilities have jumped to a record high in the wake of the vote to leave the European Union.

Consultancy Mercer said Monday that a survey of the 350 biggest listed U.K. companies shows their liabilities in defined benefit pension schemes jumped to 813 billion pounds ($1.08 trillion) by the end of June from 761 billion pounds a month earlier.

The worsening in the companies' pension accounts is due to the fact that returns on investments like bonds have dropped since the vote. That is due to expectations that the economy will weaken and that the Bank of England will cut its benchmark rate further toward zero this summer.

While low rates can help the economy by making borrowing cheaper, they weigh on the growth of savings and pension funds. Low returns on savings and pension investments are a problem across Europe, where central banks have slashed rates to help the economy.

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10:20 a.m.

UK Independence Party leader Nigel Farage says he is resigning as the head of the party, arguing his political ambition to have Britain leave the European Union has now been achieved.

It is the second time Farage resigns as the leader of the party, but he says this time it is definite.

Farage said Monday he will retain his seat in the European Parliament to see out the negotiations for Britain's exit from the EU following the country's June 23 vote to leave the bloc.

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9:45 a.m.

Britain's Treasury chief plans to cut U.K. corporation tax to less than 15 percent to encourage companies to invest and ease business concerns about the country's vote to leave the European Union.

Treasury chief George Osborne says the cut is meant to underscore that Britain is "still open for business," despite the referendum results. A cut of about 5 percentage points brings Britain in line with Ireland's 12.5 percent rate.

Osborne told the Financial Times it was time to "make the most of the hand we've been dealt." He is urging the Bank of England to use its powers to avoid "a contraction of credit in the economy."

Some businesses based in London are considering leaving for other cities like Dublin, Amsterdam, Frankfurt and Paris to benefit from the large EU common market.

Delegations from the Balkans sit around a table around French President Francois Hollande, fourth from left, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, second from left, during the Balkan summit hosted by France at the Elysee Palace in Paris, Monday July 4, 2016. The leaders of France, Germany, Italy and Balkan nations are meeting to better prevent extremists from sneaking in with migrants who are moving west across Europe. (Etienne Laurent, Pool via AP)

British ruling Conservative Party Member of Parliament, Andrea Leadsom, launches her campaign in London, Monday, July 4, 2016. British Prime Minister David Cameron resigned on June 24, after Britain voted to leave the European Union in a referendum. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)

FILE - In this Wednesday, June 22, 2016, file photo, a European, right, and Union flag are displayed outside Europe House, the European Parliament's British offices, in London. One week after Britains vote to quit the EU sent markets into a tailspin, investors seem to be taking a more sanguine view of its eventual economic repercussions. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham, File)

FILE - A Tuesday, June 28, 2016 image from files showing the leader of the United Kingdom Independene Party, Nigel Farage, sitting next to a British flag during a special session of European Parliament in Brussels. Farage announced Monday, July 4, 2016 that he is resigning as leader of the party. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert, File)

Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne prepares to lay a wealth at the Cenotaph in St Peter's Square, Manchester, England, where a commemoration is being held to mark the 100th anniversary of the start of the World War I battle of the Somme Friday July 1, 2016. Uncertainty about the country's future ties with the EU is weighing heavily on the British economy, prompting Treasury chief George Osborne to announce he was abandoning the government's long-held goal of achieving a budget surplus by 2020. (Danny Lawson/PA via AP)

British ruling Conservative Party Member of Parliament Andrea Leadsom launches her campaign in London, Monday, July 4, 2016. British Prime Minister David Cameron resigned on June 24, after Britain voted to leave the European Union in a referendum. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)

British ruling Conservative Party Member of Parliament Andrea Leadsom arrives to launch her campaign to be the party's new leader in London, Monday, July 4, 2016. British Prime Minister David Cameron resigned after Britain voted to leave the European Union in a referendum. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)

British ruling Conservative Party Member of Parliament, Andrea Leadsom, launches her campaign in London, Monday, July 4, 2016. British Prime Minister David Cameron resigned on June 24, after Britain voted to leave the European Union in a referendum. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)

British ruling Conservative Party Member of Parliament, Andrea Leadsom, poses for photographers as she launches her campaign to be the party's new leader in London, Monday, July 4, 2016. British Prime Minister David Cameron resigned on June 24, after Britain voted to leave the European Union in a referendum. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)
July 4 message from Putin to Obama: Let's have better ties

MOSCOW (AP)  Russian President Vladimir Putin said Monday in a July Fourth message to President Barack Obama that he hopes ties between the two countries will get back on track.

Relations between Moscow and Washington hit a post-Cold War low in 2014, when Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula and threw its weight behind separatists in eastern Ukraine. The Kremlin, however, has recently sought rapprochement with the United States.

In the Independence Day message released by the Kremlin, Putin recalled the history of Russia-U.S. ties, saying that at one time the two countries were able to solve "the most difficult international problems to the benefit of both our nations and all humankind." Putin expressed hope that this experience will help the two countries get back to working together.

WITH STORY Russia-Britain-EU FILE - In this file photo taken on Wednesday, June 29, 2016, Russian President Vladimir Putin gestures as he addresses students during his visit to German Embassy school in Moscow, Russia. Putin has remained poker-faced during Britain's EU referendum vote to exit the European Union, but the shake-up could alter the status quo in Europe, and create new opportunities for Russia. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, file)

Elsewhere in Moscow, a youth wing of the ruling United Russia party staged an impromptu exhibit on a central square to condemn U.S. military involvement in other countries. The Young Guard activists put up easels with the portraits and quotes of former world leaders that the activists claim were toppled by the United States, like Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych or Libyan President Moammar Gadhafi.

"Under its current leadership, the United States has become a parasite state that attacks other countries under any pretext, violating their sovereignty, causing revolutions, using military force, killing civilians and their destroying statehood," activist Denis Davydov said. "We call on the United States on the Independence Day not only to preserve their own independence but also respect the independence of other countries."
Israel's Netanyahu in Uganda to start 4-nation Africa tour

KAMPALA, Uganda (AP)  Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his country's raid on Uganda's Entebbe airport 40 years ago, in which his brother was killed, "changed the course" of his life and had a lasting influence on his country's relations with Africa.

Speaking shortly after his arrival in Uganda, Netanyahu praised Israel's commando raid on the airport which freed Israeli hostages from a hijacked plane. "International terrorism suffered a stinging defeat," he said of the mission in July 1976.

The Entebbe rescue is a seminal event in Israeli history and is widely seen as one of the country's greatest military successes. It also was a monumental event for Netanyahu, as the death of his brother, Yonatan, pushed him into the public eye and on a track that would take him to the country's highest office.

Israeli Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, gives a speech after his arrival at Entebbe airport Uganda, Monday, July 4, 2016. Netanyahu is on a four-nation Africa tour to Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda and Ethiopia. (AP Photo/Stephen Wandera)

An Israeli band played somber tunes at the airport on the shore of Lake Victoria to mark the anniversary of the Israeli rescue mission, during which three hostages were killed. A relative of one of the Israeli hostages lit a memorial flame as Netanyahu and Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni stood in silence.

Netanyahu traveled to Uganda with soldiers and pilots who were members of the rescue team.

"This is a deeply moving day for me," he said. "Forty years ago they landed in the dead of night in a country led by a brutal dictator who gave refuge to terrorists. Today we landed in broad daylight in a friendly country led by a president who fights terrorists."

Netanyahu's visit to Uganda starts his four-nation tour of Africa. He will also visit Kenya, Rwanda and Ethiopia.

"After many decades, I can say unequivocally Israel is coming back to Africa and Africa is coming back to Israel," he said. "All of our peoples will benefit greatly from our growing partnership."

Museveni said his government opposes the "indiscriminate use of violence" as well as bigotry. He said Uganda's government supports a two-state solution to the conflict between Israel and Palestine.

"The two of you belong to that area," Museveni said, urging both sides to live "side by side in two states ... in peace and with recognized borders."

Netanyahu later attended a summit meeting of regional leaders focusing on security and the fight against Islamic extremists. In addition to Netanyahu and Museveni, the meeting was attended by the leaders of Ethiopia, Kenya, South Sudan, Rwanda, Tanzania and Zambia. A communique at the end of the meeting said the leaders "emphasized the need for increased regional and international co-operation in all fields, including cyber security and information gathering to confront this scourge."

Entebbe International Airport is where Netanyahu's brother, Yonatan, was struck by a bullet as he led Israeli commandos in a daring rescue mission to rescue hijacked Israeli passengers. Israel's success in the raid humiliated then-Ugandan President Idi Amin.

Four decades later, Uganda has good relations with Israel, which is courting allies to counter Palestine's rising influence at the United Nations. While in Uganda Netanyahu will also attend a security-themed summit of regional leaders, including those from Kenya and Tanzania, said Don Wanyama, a spokesman for Uganda's president.

Although the rescue mission breached Uganda's territorial integrity, Amin, who had taken power by force and ruled as a dictator, had become an increasingly isolated figure and would soon be forced out of power with the help of Tanzanian forces. Museveni himself led one of several exile groups that waged a guerrilla war against Amin.

A lingering loathing of Amin, who was accused of many human rights atrocities and who died in Saudi Arabia in 2003, is one reason why many Ugandans today do not see the success of the Israeli raid - in which many Ugandan soldiers were killed and military equipment destroyed - as a disaster for Uganda. Yonatan Netanyahu was shot dead as he helped the Israeli hostages who had been held inside the airport terminal back onto the plane. His death made Yonatan an Israeli hero, and thrust Netanyahu toward public life.

Still, some Ugandans say Netanyahu's historic visit should be a moment to mourn the Ugandan victims of the operation. Moses Ali, Uganda's deputy prime minister who served as a government minister under Amin, told Uganda's Daily Monitor newspaper that the rescue mission should not be celebrated by Ugandans.

"If you are siding with Israelis, then you can celebrate because it was their victory," he said. "If you are not, then you should be mourning our dead ones."

Israel wants African states to side with it at the U.N., where the General Assembly overwhelmingly recognized Palestine as a nonmember observer state in 2012. The Palestinians have used their upgraded status to launch a diplomatic offensive against Israel and its occupation of lands where the Palestinians hope to establish a future state.

"Israel has been on a mission to repair its image globally and more specifically within the U.N. where the Africa group has for decades now supported the Palestinian cause, and vote in general toward that end," said Angelo Izama, a Ugandan analyst who runs a think tank called Fana Kwawote.

As a key U.S. ally on regional security, especially in violence-prone Somalia, Uganda is an attractive ally for Israel as well, according to Izama.

"Washington views the Museveni administration as a regional hegemon, a key to the security of the wider region. Uganda's involvement in counter-terrorism in Somalia ... and its significant expenditure on security goods, including arms and technology, are another reason" for Netanyahu's visit, he said.

Netanyahu's African trip has generated some controversy at home, due to the large size of his delegation, as well as the personal nature of the visit.

In an editorial published Monday, the Haaretz daily praised Netanyahu for strengthening Israel's ties with Africa, but suggested that he was largely driven by his own emotional involvement. "Despite the expected success of the diplomatic and economic contacts, it's hard to shake off the impression that the entire trip would not be taking place were it not for Netanyahu's desire to take advantage of his official position in order to conduct a ceremony in the old Entebbe airport," it wrote.

Netanyahu will travel to Kenya later on Monday.

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AP writer Josef Federman in Jerusalem contributed to this report.

Israeli Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, on right on the planes steps on this arrival at Entebbe airport Uganda, Monday, July 4, 2016. Netanyahu is on a four-nation Africa tour to Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda and Ethiopia. (AP Photo/Stephen Wandera)

Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, right, is greeted by Ugandan President, Yoweri Museveni, on this arrival in at Entebbe airport Uganda, Monday, July 4, 2016. Netanyahu is on a four-nation Africa tour of Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda and Ethiopia. (AP Photo/Stephen Wandera)

Israeli army personnel, one holding an Israeli flag, salute as Israeli Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, arrives at Entebbe airport Uganda, Monday, July 4, 2016. Netanyahu is on a four-nation Africa tour of Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda and Ethiopia. (AP Photo/Stephen Wandera)

Israeli Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, second left, walks surrounded by his security personnel on his arrival at Entebbe airport Uganda, Monday, July 4, 2016. Netanyahu is on a four-nation Africa tour to Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda and Ethiopia. (AP Photo/Stephen Wandera)

Israeli Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, left, sits near Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, right, after his arrival at Entebbe airport in Uganda, Monday, July 4, 2016. Netanyahu is on a four-nation Africa tour to Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda and Ethiopia. (AP Photo/Stephen Wandera)

Israeli Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, second right foreground, walks next to Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, center left, after his arrival at Entebbe airport Uganda, Monday, July 4, 2016. Netanyahu is on a four-nation Africa tour to Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda and Ethiopia. (AP Photo/Stephen Wandera)

Israeli Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, gives a speech after his arrival at Entebbe airport Uganda, Monday, July 4, 2016. Netanyahu is on a four-nation Africa tour to Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda and Ethiopia. (AP Photo/Stephen Wandera)
Israel strikes Syrian military position after spillover fire

JERUSALEM (AP)  The Israeli military says it has hit a pair of Syrian military positions after stray fire from the neighboring country's civil war landed in Israeli territory.

The military says the fire from Syria damaged the security fence it erected between the countries and it responded with artillery fire toward the other side of the frontier. No injuries were reported.

Monday's announcement marks a rare case of Israeli engagement in the fighting in Syria.

Israel has steadfastly stayed on the sidelines of the civil war, now in its sixth year, refraining from taking sides or getting drawn into the bloodshed. It has responded with similar, limited strikes in the past, when fire spilled into Israel.
Body of US student reported missing in Rome found

ROME (AP)  The body of a teenage Wisconsin student who went missing shortly after he arrived for an exchange program was found in the Tiber River on Monday.

John Cabot University confirmed that the body was that of 19-year-old Beau Solomon, who was last seen by his friends in the early hours of Friday morning at a pub in Rome.

"We express our most heartfelt condolences to the Solomon family and to all those who loved Beau," said a statement from the Rome-based English-language university.

A van leaves for the morgue with the body of a young man who was found along the banks of the Tiber river in Rome, Monday, July 4, 2016. Italian authorities on Monday were investigating the disappearance of a Wisconsin student in Rome a day after he arrived in the Italian capital. Police reported the discovery of the body of a young male in the Tiber river in Rome but stressed no identification of the corpse had been made, and thus it was impossible to say if the development might be part of the case of the missing student (AP Photo/Paolo Santalucia)

Solomon had just completed his first year as a personal finance major at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

An earlier statement from the university said it was "alerted by his roommate, who reported that he had lost contact with Beau around 1 a.m. ... and was worried when he did not see Beau at orientation" Friday morning.

Cole Solomon, Beau Solomon's 23-year-old brother, told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on Monday that investigators are treating the incident as a murder. He said his brother's body was found with a head wound and blood on his shirt. He added that thousands of dollars were charged to Beau Solomon's credit card after his disappearance.

Cole Solomon and Beau Solomon's father, Nick, didn't immediately respond to messages The Associated Press left for them on social media Monday. No residential telephone listing could be found for Cole Solomon and calls to two possible listings for Nick Solomon rang unanswered.

Italian state TV said 1,500 euros (about $1,700) were run up on the cards at a Milan store, the day after, and hundreds of miles (kilometers) away from where he was reported last seen in Rome. The TV report said investigators will check security cameras near the store for any possible image of who might have used the cards.

The young man's wallet and cellphone were missing, news reports said, indicating a possible robbery.

Solomon's family was in Italy and John Cabot University was in contact with Italian authorities, the U.S. Embassy and his U.S. college, its President Franco Pavoncello told The Associated Press.

Without citing sources or names, the Italian news agency ANSA said two people claimed to have seen a man throw a person into the Tiber the night Solomon disappeared. Later ANSA said the witnesses were two Italians.

Sky TG24 TV said the witnesses reported seeing someone pushed into the area on the Tiber near Garibaldi Bridge. That bridge is heavily trafficked, and in that area of the Tiber's banks, an annual summer fair features artisans selling wares and booths offering food is currently drawing big crowds nightly.

Another brother, Jake Solomon, described his brother as an athlete who successfully battled cancer for years as a child. He said his parents, Nick and Jodi Solomon, had traveled to Rome.

ANSA said preliminary autopsy results indicated that Solomon had suffered injuries consistent with a fall and with days spent in the water. The exact cause of death remains to be determined.

While the cause of Solomon's death is unclear, there have been several recent cases of American students in Rome running into trouble, especially during a night out drinking. Many American students are surprised to find that alcohol can be easily acquired in Italian supermarkets, bars or restaurants.

In 2012, a U.S. student was allegedly stabbed by his roommate, a fellow student at John Cabot University, after what police said was a night of alcohol and possible drug use. The stabbed student survived.

Also in recent years, a young American man recently arrived in Rome for studies died after falling off a low, streetside wall where people sit at nighttime and landing on the cement banks yards (meters) below of the Tiber River. Another young American male student, who had been reported missing after leaving a bar, was found dead near train tracks in a Rome tunnel, apparently hit by a train in the early morning hours.

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Todd Richmond in Madison, Wisconsin, contributed to this report.

Italian Police inspect the banks of the Tiber river in Rome where the body of a young man was found, Monday, July 4, 2016. Italian authorities on Monday were investigating the disappearance of a Wisconsin student in Rome a day after he arrived in the Italian capital. Police reported the discovery of the body of a young male in the Tiber river in Rome but stressed no identification of the corpse had been made, and thus it was impossible to say if the development might be part of the case of the missing student (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Forensic police scan the banks of the Tiber river in Rome where the body of a young man was found, Monday, July 4, 2016. Italian authorities on Monday were investigating the disappearance of a Wisconsin student in Rome a day after he arrived in the Italian capital. Police reported the discovery of the body of a young male in the Tiber river in Rome but stressed no identification of the corpse had been made, and thus it was impossible to say if the development might be part of the case of the missing student (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

People walk by the entrance of the John Cabot University, in Rome, Monday, July 4, 2016. Italian authorities on Monday were investigating the disappearance of a Wisconsin student, who was in Rome to attend a course at the John Cabot, and was reported missing a day after he arrived in the Italian capital. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
US ready to help Southeast Asia fight extremist sea attacks

LEGAZPI, Philippines (AP)  The U.S. military is concerned about a series of attacks and abductions of tugboat crewmen by Abu Sayyaf extremists in Southeast Asian waters and is willing to lend a hand if needed as part of America's aim to ensure the freedom and safety of navigation in the region, a U.S. Navy official said Monday.

Rear Adm. Brian Hurley said the U.S. Navy has worked with Southeast Asian governments to ensure freedom of navigation and the safety of people in the economically bustling region and would continue to do so.

Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines have agreed to take possible coordinated actions, including sea and air patrols, and establish a "transit corridor" as designated sea lanes for boats and ships in the seas along their borders to stop an alarming wave of attacks by the Abu Sayyaf and allied militants.

Rear Admiral Brian Hurley, the commander of the US 7th Fleet Task force 73, talks to a select group of reporters on board the US Navy hospital ship USNS Mercy off the waters of Legazpi city in central Philippines Monday, July 4, 2016. Rear Admiral Hurley said the U.S. military is concerned about a series of attacks and abductions of tugboat crewmen by Abu Sayyaf extremists in Southeast Asian waters and is willing to lend a hand if needed as part of America's aim to ensure the freedom and safety of navigation in the region. (AP Photo/Jim Gomez)

More than two dozen Indonesian and Malaysian crewmen have been kidnapped by ransom-seeking Abu Sayyaf militants and allied gunmen who have used powerful speedboats to stage four attacks on slow-moving tugboats in the Sulu Sea and outlying waters since April.

All the hostages from the first three attacks have been freed, reportedly in exchange for ransoms, but a fourth tugboat came under attack last month and seven Indonesian crewmen were kidnapped, officials said.

A Philippine military officer who has monitored the offshore attacks said the Abu Sayyaf may have been working with militants and contacts in Indonesia and Malaysia to carry out attacks on passing tugboats and commercial ships similar to the piracy assaults in Somalia a few years ago.

The shift to piracy may have been prompted by stronger military actions that have made it more difficult for the militants to carry out kidnappings for ransom, a key source of funds for the Abu Sayyaf, the officer said.

"We are always concerned about safety at sea and the freedom of navigation through the waters," Hurley said in an interview.

In the disputed South China Sea, the U.S. Navy deploys about 700 ships each year for patrols  an average of two ships per day  to ensure freedom of navigation, "and we'll continue to do that all over the world," Hurley said.

Hurley and other naval officials from Australia and New Zealand spoke on board the Navy hospital ship USNS Mercy off Legazpi city in the northeastern Philippine province of Albay while participating in an annual humanitarian mission called the Pacific Partnership, which also aims to improve disaster preparedness.

More than 600 military and civilian personnel from the U.S., Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the United Kingdom, Malaysia, Singapore and South Korea are involved in the civic mission that was conceived following a massive earthquake off Indonesia in December 2004 that triggered a tsunami which killed 230,000 people in a dozen countries.

Capt. Mike Spruce of the Royal Australian Navy Reserve said the annual disaster preparedness drills foster a feeling among governments "that when bad times come, that the rest of the family will come and help."

While the U.S.-led event currently centers on humanitarian work, including minor surgeries, dental and other medical help, it may evolve later into a larger effort to also brace for aviation and ship disasters by harnessing naval and coast guard forces of different countries together, U.S. Commodore Tom Williams said.

"We want to do this in a calm environment," Hurley said, "so when a crisis really does occur, that interoperability to respond in a crisis becomes second nature."
Italy detains 38 in crackdown on migrant trafficking ring

ROME (AP)  Italian authorities detained 38 people in a crackdown on a migrant trafficking ring that used a Rome cosmetics shop as a base for illegal financial transactions, officials said Monday.

Police seized 526,000 euros (nearly $600,000) and $25,000 in cash that was found in the store. More useful to investigations was the discovery in the shop of what was described as a "master book, filled with names and phone numbers of foreigners."

"It was the place where the money of migrants who wanted to reach Italy was collected," Palermo Prosecutor Francesco Lo Voi said, adding that the ring had two hubs  one in the Sicilian city and the other in Rome.

Hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers and economic migrants have reached Italy in the last few years, after rescue at sea when smugglers' boats founder in the Mediterranean. The boats set sail from Libya, where a main base of the traffickers is located, and migrants wait in sordid conditions, often for months, for the opportunity to be crowded into the boats after paying thousands of dollars.

Palermo-based authorities said that the suspects were 25 Eritreans, 12 Ethiopians and one Italian. Investigators alleged that the ring also helped arrange "convenience marriages." The ring also used the same channel to smuggle in drugs, specifically chat from Ethiopia, police said.

Interior Minister Angelino Alfano said the authorities dealt "a harsh blow" to the criminal network.

Palermo police said in a statement that an Eritrean man who was arrested in 2014 collaborated with authorities, providing for the first time "a complete reconstruction of criminal activities" of migrant trafficking involving operations both in North Africa and Italy.

Lo Voi told a news conference in Palermo that the probe helped investigators to "reach a higher level in the fight against clandestine immigration." The investigation also "'pinpointed the financial channel of the criminal network that managed the trafficking of migrants from Africa to Sicily," he said.

Lo Voi said another scheme involved migrants, legally in Italy, falsely stating that they had relatives who wanted to reach them in Italy. Under Italian law, immediate family members or spouses can be given permission to enter Italy.
Duda: No room for anti-Semitism or racism in Poland today

WARSAW, Poland (AP)  Poland's president strongly condemned all forms of racism, xenophobia and anti-Semitism as he led commemorations Monday marking the 70th anniversary of a massacre of Jews after World War II.

President Andrzej Duda spoke in Kielce, where communist police and a mob killed around 40 Jews and several other people on July 4, 1946. Coming a year after the end of World War II, the killings sent fear through Poland's Jewish community and sparked a wave of Jewish emigration from Poland.

"In a free, sovereign and independent Poland there is no room for any form of prejudice. There is no room for racism, for xenophobia, for anti-Semitism," Duda said in a speech in front of the building at 7 Planty Street, where the killings took place.

Poland's President Andrzej Duda speaks during commemorations marking the 70th anniversary of a massacre of Jews in Kielce, Poland, Monday, July 4, 2016. Duda has strongly condemned all forms of racism, xenophobia and anti-Semitism, saying there is no room in today's free Poland for those forms of prejudice. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)

Duda and other leaders with the governing right-wing Law and Justice party, which Duda is allied with, have sent mixed messages on matters of prejudice since the election last year that brought them to power.

The party has taken a staunchly anti-migrant stance, with party leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski accusing refugees during the election campaign last year of carrying "parasites and protozoa" to Europe.

Duda himself won the presidency after a remark in a debate that seemed aimed at winning the support of anti-Semitic voters.

In recent months, however, Duda, whose wife has Jewish ancestry, has strongly condemned anti-Semitism and xenophobia several times. Kaczynski also condemned anti-Semitism during a recent commemoration in Bialystok remembering the burning of a synagogue by the Germans during the Holocaust.

The massacre in Kielce occurred when townspeople and communist-era police attacked the Jews of Kielce with guns and clubs little more than a year after the defeat of Nazi Germany.

The mob killed 42 people, mostly Jews, while about 30 more were killed in a violent frenzy that spread across the area. The massacre was a huge blow to the estimated 250,000 Jewish Holocaust survivors  those left from a prewar Jewish population of nearly 3.5 million  leading many to feel unsafe in their homeland.

The violence broke out after a false report spread that a Christian boy had been kidnapped by Jews living at 7 Planty St.

The perpetrators faced trials. Nine people were executed and others were given prison sentences.

Residents applaud after the speech of Poland's President Andrzej Duda during commemorations marking the 70th anniversary of a massacre of Jews in Kielce, Poland, Monday, July 4, 2016. Poland's president has strongly condemned all forms of racism, xenophobia and anti-Semitism, during his speech at the ceremony saying there is no room in today's free Poland for those forms of prejudice. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)

Poland's President Andrzej Duda speaks during commemorations marking the 70th anniversary of a massacre of Jews in Kielce, Poland, Monday, July 4, 2016. Duda has strongly condemned all forms of racism, xenophobia and anti-Semitism, saying there is no room in today's free Poland for those forms of prejudice. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)

Poland's President Andrzej Duda, center, speaks during commemorations marking the 70th anniversary of a massacre of Jews in Kielce, Poland, Monday, July 4, 2016. Duda has strongly condemned all forms of racism, xenophobia and anti-Semitism, saying there is no room in today's free Poland for those forms of prejudice. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)
UN health agency confirms 3 Zika cases in Guinea Bissau

GENEVA (AP)  The U.N. health agency says it and national authorities are investigating whether three cases of the Zika virus discovered in Guinea Bissau are of the same strain as the one behind outbreaks linked to head and brain abnormalities in Brazil and elsewhere.

Three of 12 samples sent to a reference laboratory in Senegal showed Zika but could not determine any link to the virus' recent outbreak in the Americas and the western Pacific, World Health Organization spokesman Christian Lindmeier said.

The agency has been in contact with Guinea Bissau's government, and has previously warned that any country where the Zika-carrying Aedes aegypti mosquito is prevalent could be at risk for Zika spread. WHO has reported the latest Zika strain was found in Cape Verde, a group of islands off Africa's Atlantic coast and a former Portuguese colony like Guinea Bissau and Brazil.
The Latest: Migrant's body found in Calais

ROME (AP)  The Latest on the flow of migrants into Europe (all times local):

7:10 p.m.

The body of a migrant has been found not far from the road leading to the Calais port, apparently hit by a vehicle, the sixth migrant to die in Calais since Jan. 1.

France's President Francois Hollande, right, poses with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, prior to the Balkans summit, at the Elysee Palace, in Paris, Monday, July 4, 2016. The leaders of France, Germany, Italy and Balkan nations are meeting to better prevent extremists from sneaking in with migrants who are moving west across Europe. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

The prefecture of the Pas de Calais region said the body was found on Monday morning in a field near the roadway used to access the huge ferry port. His identity, including nationality, wasn't immediately determined.

The body was found in a field in the region of the port roadway, where migrants try each night to hop a freight truck taking a ferry across the English Channel to Britain.

The prefecture said the injuries suggest the migrant was hit by a truck or other vehicle. Of the six deaths in Calais, he is the fourth to be struck by a vehicle.

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1:30 p.m.

Serbian police say they have arrested eight suspected people-smugglers as part of efforts to curb illegal transfer of migrants toward Western Europe.

Police said Monday the group smuggled several dozens of migrants from Serbia over the border to Hungary and then to Austria, earning between 1,100 and 1,200 euros per migrant.

The smuggling of migrants through the Balkans has been on the rise since nations shut their borders in March, closing down the previous refugee route toward Western Europe.

More than 1 million people entered Europe last year and nations have been closing their borders to curb the influx.

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1:05 p.m.

Italy's interior minister says police and prosecutors have cracked a transnational network dedicated to migrant trafficking.

Palermo-based authorities have detained 38 people suspected of being in the ring: 25 Eritreans, 12 Ethiopians and one Italian.

Interior Minister Angelino Alfano says the authorities dealt "a harsh blow" to the criminal network, which used Rome for its financial transactions hub.
NY attorney general to investigate deadly road rage shooting

NEW YORK (AP)  The state's attorney general office was investigating an off-duty police officer's fatal shooting of a man who apparently attacked him during a case of road rage early Monday.

The New York Police Department officer was driving his personal vehicle in the East New York neighborhood of Brooklyn shortly after midnight when he was involved in a traffic dispute with 37-year-old Delrawn Small, police said.

When the officer and Small stopped at a red light, Small got out of his vehicle and punched the officer repeatedly in the head through an open window, according to police. The officer, who had just finished his shift and was on his way home, pulled out his service weapon and killed Small, authorities said. The officer, whose name wasn't immediately released, was treated at a hospital for minor injuries.

Small's family held a news conference later Monday demanding a full investigation.

Eric Soufer, a spokesman for New York Attorney General Eric Scheniderman, said prosecutors had obtained a search warrant for the officer's car and were "actively reviewing the case." The attorney general's office had also been in contact with police and Small's family, he said.

The attorney general is authorized to investigate police shootings when either the person killed is unarmed or there are questions about the threat they posed.

The police department was also investigating, Police Commissioner William Bratton said. Investigators gathered surveillance video and interviewed the officer, Bratton said.

But Bratton, citing the ongoing investigations, warned that it was too early to say whether the officer was justified in his actions and said police are still trying to determine what sparked the traffic dispute.

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Follow Michael Balsamo on Twitter at http://twitter.com/MikeBalsamo1 .

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Israel: Tel Aviv cafe attackers inspired by Islamic State

JERUSALEM (AP)  Israel's Shin Bet security agency says two Palestinian gunmen who carried out a deadly shooting attack at a Tel Aviv cafe last month drew inspiration from the Islamic State group.

The attack left four Israelis dead and others wounded. It was one of the deadliest attacks in a nine-month wave of violence, though there have been other Islamic State-inspired attacks in Israel.

The security agency says the gunmen were not recruited by Islamic State nor received training from IS. Shin Bet says one of the attackers had returned to the West Bank in January following studies in Jordan. It says the gunmen's original plan was to carry out an attack on an Israeli train.
Trump's 'Pocahontas' attack rooted in Warren heritage issue

BOSTON (AP)  Donald Trump derisively refers to Sen. Elizabeth Warren as "Pocahontas," a taunt rooted in the Democrat's claims of Native American heritage that roiled her 2012 election win in Massachusetts.

"She's as Native American as I am," the New York businessman and presumptive Republican presidential nominee said. At rallies, some Trump supporters have mimicked B-movie versions of a Native American war cry to mock Warren, an oft-mentioned possible running mate for Hillary Clinton.

Trump's attacks are a response to Warren blistering the bombastic businessman in tweets and speeches, calling him a "small, insecure, money grubber" and a "thin-skinned racist bully."

FILE - In this June 27, 2016, file photo, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, is introduced by Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., left, at a rally at the Cincinnati Museum Center at Union Terminal in Cincinnati. Donald Trump derisively refers to Warren as Pocahontas, a taunt rooted in the Democrats claims of Native American heritage that roiled her 2012 election win in Massachusetts. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)

A look at Warren and the issues:

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WHAT'S HER ANCESTRY?

Questions about Warren's ancestry first surfaced during her 2012 Senate run, when she ousted Republican Sen. Scott Brown to claim the seat once held by the late Sen. Edward Kennedy.

During the campaign, law school directories from the Association of American Law Schools from 1986 to 1995 surfaced that put Warren on the association's list of "minority law teachers" when she was teaching at the University of Texas and the University of Pennsylvania. Warren said she listed herself with Native American heritage because she hoped to meet people with similar roots.

In a 2012 interview with The Associated Press, Warren, then a Harvard Law School professor, said she and her brothers were told of the family's heritage by their parents, the late Don and Pauline Herring.

"My mom and dad were deeply in love," said Warren, who was raised in Oklahoma. "My father wanted to marry my mother, his parents objected, because she was part Cherokee and part Delaware."

"My parents eloped, in order to marry," Warren added. "It's something my brothers and I grew up with. We always understood the difference, between our father's family and our mother's family."

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2012 SENATE FIGHT

Warren said she never sought proof of ancestry because she didn't think it was necessary. "My mother was proud of who she was, and it was an important part of who she was. And my mother is an important part of me," she said.

Brown pressed her to release more information about how she described her heritage to potential employers. He began one debate by saying Warren "checked the box claiming she is Native American, and clearly she is not."

Warren acknowledged telling Harvard and her previous employer, the University of Pennsylvania, of her Native American heritage, but only after she had been hired by both schools.

"I didn't check a box to go to college. I didn't check a box to go to law school," she said. "The only box I checked was in a directory. I didn't do this to get a job."

Harvard Law School professor Charles Fried, who helped recruit Warren to Harvard, has said any suggestion she enjoyed an affirmative action benefit is "complete nonsense." He said she was recruited because of her work in bankruptcy and commercial law.

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HERITAGE VS. CITIZENSHIP

Heritage is different from citizenship. Warren does not claim citizenship in the Cherokee Nation. That membership is based on the "Dawes Rolls," a federal list of Cherokees in Oklahoma from the late 1800s and early 1900s.

Some people with Cherokee ancestry are not eligible for membership because their ancestors were not among those counted. Others may have based their understanding on family stories in Oklahoma, home to the 300,000-plus member Cherokee Nation.

Cherokee Nation spokeswoman Amanda Clinton said stories of Native American heritage are common in Oklahoma, a state with 38 federally recognized tribes. But she said Warren, to the tribe's knowledge, has never claimed Cherokee Nation citizenship, which requires a person have one direct ancestor on the Cherokee Dawes Rolls.

Brown's attempt to use Warren's claim of Native American heritage against her ultimately backfired when a video surfaced showing staff members for Brown and the state Republican Party shouting war whoops and performing tomahawk chops.

Warren easily defeated Brown in November.

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CHEROKEE NATION RESPONSE

Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Bill John Baker called the attacks on Warren by Trump and his supporters "incredibly offensive and distasteful."

"By calling Sen. Warren 'Pocahontas' and 'the Indian,' Mr. Trump degrades the histories, cultures and oftentimes painful experiences of all natives and our ancestors," Baker said in an email to the AP.

Baker said Trump should instead focus on issues that harm Native Americans, including the inability to prosecute non-Indians who commit certain crimes on native lands, poverty, lack of health care and the lack of job opportunities that disproportionately affect Native Americans.

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PRESIDENTIAL POLITICS

The question of Warren's heritage has taken on a new life with speculation about whether Clinton may tap her as a running mate.

Brown, a Trump supporter, has criticized Warren and recently suggested she take a DNA test  tests that Cherokee Nation officials say are unreliable and don't determine one's tribe

Warren has been firing back.
Educated and well-off, Dhaka attackers defy usual

NEW DELHI (AP)  The young men had been missing for months. Their families sensed something was wrong.

It wasn't until the horror of the weekend hostage crisis in Bangladesh's capital unfolded that they learned their sons had become radicalized as religious extremists and launched one of the country's deadliest attacks in recent years.

The young men, armed with knives, bombs and automatic firearms, engaged in a gun battle with police, killing two and wounding more, then seized a popular restaurant in a Dhaka neighborhood on Friday night and held some 35 people hostage. Over the next few hours, they would kill 20 of their captives  including nine Italians, seven Japanese, an Indian teenager and three students at American universities. A witness said some victims were tortured when they could not recite verses from the Quran.

A Bangladeshi soldier reacts as people pay their respects to the Bangladeshi victims of the attack on Holey Artisan Bakery, at a stadium in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Monday, July 4, 2016. The brutality of the attack, the worst convulsion of violence yet in the recent series of deadly attacks to hit Bangladesh, has stunned the traditionally moderate Muslim nation and raised global concerns about whether it can cope with the increasingly strident Islamist militants. (AP Photo)

"This is very painful. He killed innocent people," said the aunt of one of the attackers, Rohan Imtiaz, whose father is a leader in Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's governing Awami League party.

"We sensed that Rohan was changing and his behavior increasingly became different," she told the Associated Press in disbelief.

When Imtiaz went missing on Dec. 31, as his mother and father were in India for medical treatment, the family asked the police to help find him.

"My brother went to everybody: police, ministers and higher authorities after he went missing," said Rohan's aunt, who refused to be identified by name. "He became just crazy after his son went missing. But nobody could help us."

As details emerged of the men who laid siege to the Holey Artisan Bakery, it became clear that the attackers did not fit the typical profile for religious radicals coming from economically deprived backgrounds and latching onto extremist groups that promised a new future.

Most had come from privileged backgrounds, and were educated in top schools.

Some analysts said that's what made them attractive as recruits; their backgrounds meant they would not raise suspicions.

"They do not fit the usual stereotype of the madrassa-educated youth," said Pinak Ranjan Chakravarty, a former Indian diplomat and policy expert on Bangladesh for the Observer Research Foundation, a New Delhi think tank. "My suspicion is that these young men were roped in by spotters or recruiters."

He said their defiance of the usual militant profile gave credibility to claims the attackers were part of a campaign waged by extremist groups abroad.

"This is a conscious decision on their part that they will get this kind of people," Chakravarty said. "The shock value for the radical groups of recruiting educated, affluent people is huge. The government will never suspect them. The intelligence agencies will never suspect them. Because these boys were never under any kind of surveillance."

Police released photographs of the bodies of five attackers killed by paramilitary forces who ended the hostage siege. They also released names - Akash, Badhon, Bikash, Don and Ripon - which did not match those given by family members. Police said only that militants often go by many names to obscure their identities. Another suspected attacker was captured and was being interrogated.

The men, all younger than 30, belonged to the banned domestic group Jumatul Mujahedeen Bangladesh, or JMB, according to police. Asked whether they might also have had Islamic State ties, police said authorities were investigating that possibility.

"It is difficult to imagine how they were radicalized. At least four come from very wealthy backgrounds," said Benazir Ahmed, head of the country's paramilitary Rapid Action Battalion, according to Indian broadcaster NDTV.

Describing them as "flamboyant young men," he said some had also been frequent visitors to the same restaurant they attacked.

The Islamic State, in claiming responsibility for the attack, had also published photos of the five smiling young men, each holding what appear to be assault rifles and posing in front of a black IS flag. The men in those photographs released by the Amaq news agency, affiliated with IS, also appear to match the police images of the dead assailants in the restaurant after the hostage crisis ended.

Another attacker identified as Khairul Islam went missing six months ago, according to Bogra district police chief Mohammed Asaduzzman.

"The family is poor, and did not report his disappearance to police," Asaduzzman said.

But while Islam's background seemed to fit the stereotype, his upbringing suggested otherwise. Islam was educated, having studied in a madrassa before enrolling in a public university in Dhaka.

The family identified Islam as one of the attackers after seeing a photograph of his body on Facebook, he said. Authorities have detained his parents, sister and brother-in-law for questioning.

At least some of the attackers had also known each other for years.

Imtiaz had studied at the same English-language school as Meer Sameeh Mobashwer, whose family said he went missing on Feb. 29.

Mobashwer's father, a businessman, and mother, an economics teacher, had planned to send their son to join his brother studying in Canada.

"I understood that my son had changed, something was wrong with him," his father, Meer Hayat Kabir, told the AP. "I was worried and tried to make him understand. But suddenly he went missing. I felt like the whole world crumbled around me."

Police, contacted by Mobashwer's family for help, were unable to track him down.

"They told me maybe your son has gone somewhere with friends. He will come back. But he never came," Kabir said. He only found his son once police invited him to identify the body of one of the weekend attackers.

"We had lot of dreams," his father said. "I cannot believe my son was inside that restaurant, he was part of that. But that's the reality now."

"My everything is over."

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Associated Press writer Nirmala George contributed to this report.

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Follow Katy Daigle: -www.twitter.com/katydaigle

Bangladeshi Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina, talks to the relatives of Bangladeshi victims of the attack on Holey Artisan Bakery during a memorial service in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Monday, July 4, 2016. The brutality of the attack, the worst convulsion of violence yet in the recent series of deadly attacks to hit Bangladesh, has stunned the traditionally moderate Muslim nation and raised global concerns about whether it can cope with the increasingly strident Islamist militants. (AP Photo)
With 2 acquittals and a mistrial, a 4th officer stands trial

BALTIMORE (AP)  Proceedings are scheduled to begin for the fourth Baltimore police officer slated to stand trial on charges stemming from the death of a 25-year-old prisoner whose neck was broken in the back of a police transport wagon.

Lt. Brian Rice, the highest-ranking officer charged in the death of Freddie Gray, will go to trial this week on manslaughter, assault, reckless endangerment and misconduct in office charges. A hearing on pre-trial motions opens Tuesday.

The trial comes on the heels of two recent acquittals in the cases against Officer Caesar Goodson, who faced a second-degree murder charge, and Officer Edward Nero, who faced misdemeanor charges stemming from Gray's arrest. Both chose judge trials. The trial for a third officer, William Porter, ended in a mistrial in December. He's schedule for retrial in September. The other two officers charged, Sgt. Alicia White and Officer Garrett Miller, filed motions to dismiss their cases last month.

The acquittals dealt a significant blow to the prosecution and to Baltimore State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby, who has staked much of her reputation on these cases. Since charging the officers last May, Mosby has come under intense scrutiny for her decisions.

Five of the six officers, including Rice, have filed defamation suits against her, and a law professor filed a formal complaint with Maryland's Attorney Grievance Commission. In the complaint, George Washington University law professor John Banzhaf alleges that Mosby pursued charges against the officers without probable cause, which is a violation of her professional oath.

Gray died April 19, a week after he suffered a critical spinal injury in Goodson's wagon while he was handcuffed and shackled, but left unrestrained by a seat belt. His death prompted days of peaceful protests and prompted rioting across swaths of the city that suffered millions of dollars in property damage. Police commissioner Anthony Batts was fired and replaced with his deputy, Kevin Davis, and Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake announced she wouldn't seek re-election. The U.S. Department of Justice also launched an investigation into allegations of excessive force and unlawful arrests.

Baltimore Circuit Judge Barry Williams in his decisions said he decided to acquit the officers because the state produced no evidence, facts or viable witnesses to support their claims that the officers were criminally reckless and negligent when they failed to buckle Gray into a seat belt or call for a medic after Gray indicated that he wanted to go to a hospital.

Prosecutors say Rice made eye contact with Gray while he and two other men were walking in West Baltimore, and Gray took off running. Rice called for backup, and two officers  Miller and Nero  responded to the call. After Miller apprehended Gray, the three officers loaded him into a transport wagon. A few blocks later Goodson stopped the van, and the three officers took Gray out of the compartment to secure him in leg shackles. They then slid Gray into the wagon face-down on his belly.

Rice had been with the Baltimore Police Department for 17 years prior to Gray's death and is currently suspended without pay. Rice was hospitalized over mental health concerns and was twice placed on administrative suspensions from the department in 2012 and 2013.

In the 2012 incident, police confiscated Rice's official and personal firearms after fellow Baltimore police officer Karen McAleer, who is the mother of Rice's child, requested a welfare check.
Albanian opposition claims premier funded Obama's campaign

TIRANA, Albania (AP)  Albania's main opposition Democratic Party made a criminal complaint against Prime Minister Edi Rama Monday, accusing him of illegally funneling $80,000 to U.S. President Barack Obama's re-election campaign in 2012 in return for a photograph of the two men together.

The Democrats brought the case to the Prosecutor General's office, saying Rama  who was then the opposition leader  paid the money in violation of U.S. and Albanian laws to gain access to a campaign event in San Francisco in October 2012.

Last week Bilal Shehu, 48, a U.S. citizen of Albanian origin, pleaded guilty in federal court in New Jersey to willfully making foreign contributions and donations to the Obama campaign.

FILE - A Monday, April 18, 2016 file photo of Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama speaking about the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) project in Durres, Albania. Albania's main opposition Democratic Party has made a criminal complaint against Prime Minister Edi Rama, accusing him of illegally funneling $80,000 to U.S. President Barack Obama's re-election campaign in 2012 in return for a photograph of the two men together. (AP Photo/Hektor Pustina, File)

Rama has denied taking part in "any of President Obama's electoral meetings" or that he paid for tickets to the event, although he acknowledged meeting Shehu as "a member of the Albanian community in New York."

"Edi Rama has committed at least three criminal acts ... and personally profited from that," said Democratic lawmaker Eduard Halimi after handing over the request.

Rama proudly used the picture at the time to show his affinity to Obama, only months before the parliamentary elections that brought his Socialist Party to power.

"Premier Rama has no connection with any kind of illegal funding and the only 'crime' he committed in 2012 is that he had a picture with the U.S. president at a time when the Albanian government and its chief had the doors closed and Albania's international relations suffered," a statement from Rama's office said.

It is not clear whether the prosecutors will decide to investigate, as they first check the legal basis of the complaint.

According to documents filed in Shehu's case in the U.S., investigated by the FBI, he received the money from a foreign source and provided it to a joint fundraising committee to disguise its true origin and so that a foreign national could attend a campaign event.

Rama's name was not mentioned in the case. The documents said that the "foreign national" was denied access to the event in San Francisco but was allowed to be photographed with the president.

The New Jersey U.S. Attorney's Office said in a statement that no one from the fundraising committee is accused of wrongdoing, and the committee has fully cooperated with the investigation.
Finland police hold 6 Cuban volleyball players in rape case

HELSINKI (AP)  Finnish police have released two members of Cuba's national men's volleyball team but are holding six others on suspicion of aggravated rape, an investigator said Monday.

Police will request that a regional court on Tuesday order the six men to be remanded in custody to continue the investigation before any possible charges, said Joni Lansipuro, the Central Finland Police Department officer in charge of the investigation.

"We have made considerable progress in our investigation and have various pieces of evidence and relevant factors that support our suspicions," Lansipuro said. "We propose (to the court) that they be held in custody."

The eight men were detained over the weekend in Tampere after local police on Saturday morning received a report that a woman had been raped at a hotel in the city, 170 kilometers (105 miles) north of the capital, Helsinki. The Cuban team was in the city participating in the Volleyball World League tournament in Tampere where they lost 3-1 against Finland without three of their players, who had been detained.

Lansipuro said the Cuban team had been scheduled to leave the country on Monday morning, but it wasn't immediately clear if they had departed.

The Cuban Volleyball Association acknowledged the arrests in a statement Monday night. It said the Finnish investigation was continuing, but added that "early information implicates them in acts that are totally removed from discipline, the sense of honor and respect that govern our sport and society." The statement did not indicate whether the rest of the team had returned to Cuba.

Police declined to give further information pending the outcome of the investigation, except to say that the alleged victim and suspects were adults.

The international volleyball federation, FIVB, said it's "very concerned by the alleged serious misconduct" of the Cuban national team and has been in close contact with all parties involved.

"The FIVB has absolute zero tolerance of any offence committed against another person by any players or officials at an FIVB event," the world body said in a statement to Finnish broadcaster YLE.
International art market to draw thousands to New Mexico

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP)  From the plains of Africa to war-torn countries in the Middle East, nearly 200 artists from around the world will be showing off their traditional crafts during the world's largest folk art market.

The International Folk Art Market, now in its 13th year, will feature wares from every corner of the globe, whether fine embroidery or handwoven baskets. Artists from more than 60 countries will help kick off the festivities that run Friday evening through Sunday on Santa Fe's Museum Hill. Some 20,000 visitors are expected.

This year marks an opportunity to celebrate differences despite ongoing strife around the globe, organizers said.

FILE - In this July 11, 2015, file photo, indigenous artisans, who are part of the weaving network Crafts Kalimantan, organize their wares during the 12th annual International Folk Art Market in Santa Fe, N.M. Now in its 13th year, the 2016 International Folk Art Market will feature artists from more than 60 different countries, and organizers say this year marks an opportunity to celebrate differences despite ongoing strife around the globe. (AP Photo/Susan Montoya Bryan, File)

"Now that we're in this situation where the country and the world are more divided than ever, we are bringing more people from different cultures together," co-founder and author Carmella Padilla said. "More people are coming together than ever with what they have in common, with what they value most in many ways  traditions and handmade beautiful work that are expressions of their culture."

Infused in the market is a creative spirit that seems to erase the negativity that has dominated global headlines, Padilla said.

Judy Espinar, another co-founder and folk art expert, described the event as "an antidote" for what's ailing the world. She says the participating artists might be bound by language or political barriers, but their work provides a new kind of language that helps them relate to one another and to collectors.

About 850 folk artists from more than 90 countries have participated since the market's inception. Sales have totaled $23 million, nearly all of which has gone home with the artists to help with basic needs and countless community improvement projects.

More than 700 artists applied to be part of the market this year. Two panels of experts pore over the applications to select the best work. Even though fewer than 200 were chosen, organizers say many of the artists represent cooperatives that are made up of thousands of people.

Among the artists is a cooperative of women in Guatemala that has put a modern, more sustainable twist on the Mayan tradition of textiles. Instead of raising sheep or buying wool, the women are using recycled T-shirts, sweatshirts and other clothing to fashion hooked rugs featuring traditional designs.

Since the cotton remnants are cheaper than wool, the women have been able to use the profits from their work to replace tattered cloth window covering with glass and iron bars. One was able to bring a water pipe to her kitchen and buy a cast sink to wash the family's clothing.

In Afghanistan, a tradition of fine embroidery that was almost lost in the days of the Taliban has been revived with the help of artist Rangina Hamidi. The society she founded now serves as a way for women to safely support their families and provide funds for literacy, health care and other training.

There are also women in Rwanda making peace baskets, those in Laos producing silk weavings and those in the rain forest of Panama who use the sacred black palm tree to craft baskets, with the proceeds going to reclaiming their traditional lands.

Some works are affordable. Others are museum-quality masterpieces. Almost all are inspired by customs that date back centuries and in some cases, thousands of years.

"In telling their stories, they have come to learn the world is interested in them," Espinar said. "It's not because they're odd or different. This is because of beauty and meaning. Those are the two things we can't get enough of."

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Online: www.folkartalliance.org/events-programs/international-folk-art-market-santa-fe

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Follow Susan Montoya Bryan on Twitter: www.twitter.com/susanmbryanNM .
AP Interview: NATO to end central Europe's fears of Russia

WARSAW, Poland (AP)  Decisions to be approved at this week's NATO summit in Warsaw will build a deterrence force that should make Russia "forget about threatening Poland" and other nations, Poland's defense minister said Monday.

Antoni Macierewicz spoke to The Associated Press just four days before about 2,000 delegates from the 28 NATO members and some partner nations meet to approve decisions to station a few thousand troops in Poland and the Baltic states. Their presence was requested by these countries, which are nervous about their security after Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 and started supporting separatists in eastern Ukraine.

"Only a show of real readiness to defend our borders can effectively halt Russia's aggressive intentions," Macierewicz said. "Russia must forget about threatening Poland, the European countries and other countries in the world."

Polish Defense Minister Antoni Macierewicz speaks to The Associated Press in Warsaw, Poland, Monday, July 4, 2016, ahead of the NATO summit starting in Warsaw July 8, 2016 (AP Photo/Alik Keplicz)

The summit will also debate deployment of allied command for intelligence and reconnaissance in the region that is collectively called NATO's eastern flank, Macierewicz said.

Poland and the three Baltic nations have a troubled history of ties with Moscow during the communist era and are especially sensitive to Russia's moves. The Baltic states were under Moscow's rule as parts of the Soviet Union until it fell apart in 1991, and Poland was a Moscow satellite until it shed communism in 1989. They joined NATO in 1999, but have not seen any military bases or significant forces of the alliance based on their territory until now, due to an agreement that NATO and Russia signed in 1997 when their ties were much better.

With the planned stationing of troops "we are becoming a full member of NATO," Macierewicz said. "Not only a political one, but one that we have always very much wanted to be, one that the Poles have waited 70 years to be. We will be fully protected by a joint force."

It is not clear how soon the troops and their equipment will be deployed. Each of the battalions will be under the command of a Western NATO member: the U.S., Britain, Germany and Canada. A separate U.S. brigade is also to be stationed in the region on NATO's eastern flank, which borders the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad.

Leaders in Moscow have warned they will take steps in response, but have not specified what.

A die-hard dissident repeatedly arrested under communism, Macierewicz said "we can forget about fear" even though, he said, Russia is taking steps that are a threat to regional and wider peace, like the actions in Ukraine or moving troops and weapons on its own territory.

Polish Defense Minister Antoni Macierewicz speaks to The Associated Press in Warsaw, Poland, Monday, July 4, 2016, ahead of the NATO summit starting in Warsaw July 8, 2016. (AP Photo/Alik Keplicz)

Polish Defense Minister Antoni Macierewicz speaks in front of a Polish Air Force F-16 fighter jet during a farewell ceremony of Polish soldiers leaving for Kuwait to take part in the operation Inherent Resolve , in Janow, Poland, Monday, July 4, 2016. During an interview Monday Macierewicz told The Associated Press that decisions to be approved at this week's NATO summit in Warsaw will build a force aimed at deterring any aggressive intentions by Russia against the West. (AP Photo/Alik Keplicz)

Polish Defense Minister Antoni Macierewicz speaks to The Associated Press in Warsaw, Poland, Monday, July 4, 2016, ahead of the NATO summit starting in Warsaw July 8, 2016. (AP Photo/Alik Keplicz)

Polish Defense Minister Antoni Macierewicz speaks to The Associated Press in Warsaw, Poland, Monday, July 4, 2016, ahead of the NATO summit starting in Warsaw July 8, 2016. (AP Photo/Alik Keplicz)
Turkish aid enters Gaza through Israel following pact

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP)  Trucks of Turkish aid have begun arriving in the Gaza Strip via Israel as part of a reconciliation accord reached between Israel and Turkey last month.

The shipment consists of 10,000 tons of aid, including toys, diapers, clothes and food. The first trucks entered Gaza on Monday after security vetting in Israel, with more planned in the coming days.

Israel and Turkey reconciled after a six-year rift stemming from a 2010 Israeli raid on a Turkish ship trying to break Israel's blockade on Gaza, which is ruled by the Islamic militant group Hamas.

Israel says the blockade is vital to preventing Hamas from importing weapons. Critics call it collective punishment.
A motive hasn't been determined in shooting and police are investigating

He died 40 minutes later at

Dozens of people were out but only Asir Brown, 16, was hit in the back

A drive by shooter unloaded his weapon around 12am on Monday

A teen was shot and killed at a Fourth of July

Asir Brown, 16, was shot dead in a drive-by shooting at a barbecue outside a Philadelphia home

A teenager was shot dead in a drive-by shooting at a barbecue outside a Philadelphia home, according to authorities.

Shots were fired at about 12am on Monday from a car at the barbecue that a dozen people were having in the Grays Ferry section of the city.

Asir Brown, 16, was hit once in the back.

Police arrived on scene and began giving Asir CPR until an ambulance arrived to take him to the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

He died at the hospital from his injuries about 40 minutes after being shot.

Asir's brother Ameer took to Facebook to mourn the loss of his younger sibling.

'I just sit back and think about what I'm going to do with out you.

'We had a plan (and) I'm lost without you. You (were my) baby bro. We were all just together at the family cookout and you were talking about getting a job.

'I don't even know what to say man. I'm hurting,' Ameer wrote.

Officers do not believe Asir was the intended target of the shooter, ABC 6 reported.

Police arrived on scene and began giving Asir CPR until an ambulance arrived. He was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital 40 minutes later

Dozens of shell casings were found at the scene and bullets pierced the home, including a door and fence.

Police spoke with witnesses and are looking into surveillance footage in order to develop a description of the suspect.

The car driven by the shooter is believed to be dark-colored and fled northbound.

No one else was shot or injured.
Book probes Ohio's role as national presidential bellwether

CINCINNATI (AP)  Just in time for the Cleveland-hosted Republican National Convention this month and as the general election campaign heats up, a new book, "The Bellwether," examines Ohio's importance in picking the nation's president.

Every four years, Ohio becomes, to paraphrase its former tourism slogan, the heart of it all, with the candidates, their surrogates and news crews overrunning the state while a seemingly endless loop of campaign ads dominates its airwaves.

The stakes couldn't be higher. The winner of Ohio has won the White House in the last 13 elections.

FILE - In this Oct. 31, 2004, file photo, President George W. Bush speaks at a campaign rally at the Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati. Just in time for the Cleveland-hosted Republican National Convention July 2016 and as the general election campaign heats up, a new book, The Bellwether, examines Ohios importance in picking the nations president. Ohios electoral votes have been decisive five times, most recently in 2004, when they clinched Bushs re-election in a tight race that current Secretary of State John Kerry would have won with Ohio. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File)

"Everyone knows that you can't get a Republican elected to the White House without carrying Ohio," state GOP chairman Matt Borges said this year, referring to the fact that none has yet. And not since John F. Kennedy was elected in 1960 while Richard Nixon won Ohio has a Democrat done so. Kennedy and fellow Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt (1944) are the only presidents elected without winning Ohio since the 19th century.

In the 2015 book "Presidential Swing States: Why Only Ten Matter," political scientists David Schultz and the late Stacey Hunter Hecht identified Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Ohio, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, Virginia and Wisconsin as the 10 states that "seem genuinely in play" between the two major parties. For the rest of the country, they wrote, the "2016 presidential race is arguably already over."

Their book also notes Ohio's seemingly oversized role in presidential elections, possibly the nation's "quintessential swing state."

In his new book, Ohio native Kyle Kondik, of the University of Virginia's Center for Politics, combines history and statistics to explain that the state stands out among its swing states, the states either party can win in a given election, as a bellwether because of its remarkably reliable record of mirroring national sentiment.

Numbers that back that up:

 Ohio has voted for the presidential winner in 28 of the last 30 elections, or 93 percent. New Mexico (which first participated as a state in 1912) is second with 24 of 26, or 92 percent, with Illinois and Nevada third with 24 of 30, or 87 percent.

 Ohio's percentage deviation from the national presidential vote has been less than 5 percent in 27 of the 30 elections, or 90 percent of the time, with New Mexico a distant second with 20 of 26, or 77 percent.

 Ohio's electoral votes have been decisive five times, most recently in 2004, when they clinched George W. Bush's re-election in a tight race that current Secretary of State John Kerry would have won with Ohio. No other state has done so more than three times since 1896.

The trend is picking up steam, too, as the state's results have been matching the nation's even more closely in recent elections.

"The state has actually become a better bellwether over time," Kondik said. "If you look at the elections since 1964, the state's never been more of a bellwether that it's been since then."

His book traces Ohio's history, settled by "a lot of the component parts" of the new nation from Connecticut Yankees to Virginia planters, to become what an early Cincinnati newspaper called "the first true American state."

Its three biggest cities are often described as reflecting the East with Cleveland, the Midwest with Columbus and the South with Cincinnati, and scholars often divide the state into "the five Ohios" of distinct regions that reflect national regions.

History isn't a guarantor of Ohio's role, Kondik said, and the unconventional, unpredictable nature of Donald Trump's campaign could upset the norm.

"Maybe this is the year when something different happens," he said. "It's going to be an interesting political science experiment, besides the importance."

While noting that other states considered bellwethers in the recent past such as Illinois, now Democratic turf in presidential elections, and Missouri, which has swung Republican, have lost those mantles, Kondik thinks Ohio will continue although its importance could slip as its electoral vote total continues to decline. Ohio now has 18, down from a peak of 26, because of national population shifts.

Meanwhile, the race for Ohio is on.

Hillary Clinton campaigned in the state three times in June; Trump was in eastern Ohio on Tuesday and will be in Cincinnati on Wednesday.

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Follow Dan Sewell at http://twitter.com/dansewell. For some of his other recent stories: http://bigstory.ap.org/content/dan-sewell

FILE - In this June 27, 2016, file photo, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton takes a photo with a member of the audience following a rally at the Cincinnati Museum Center at Union Terminal in Cincinnati. Just in time for the Cleveland-hosted Republican National Convention July 2016 and as the general election campaign heats up, a new book, The Bellwether, examines Ohios importance in picking the nations president. Clinton campaigned in the state multiple times in June. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)

FILE - In this March 1, 2016, file photo, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump gives a campaign speech at Signature Flight Hangar at Port Columbus International Airport in Columbus, Ohio. Just in time for the Cleveland-hosted Republican National Convention July 2016 and as the general election campaign heats up, a new book, The Bellwether, examines Ohios importance in picking the nations president. Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, plans to attend a Wednesday, July 6, 2016, fundraiser in Cincinnati, after he campaigned in eastern Ohio on Tuesday, June 28, 2016. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)
Young Cuban-Americans get new impressions on island visits

HAVANA (AP)  Miranda Hernandez's grandparents lost everything when they fled Cuba in the 1960s. She grew up thinking of the island as "North Korea with nice beaches," she said.

But when four young Cuban-Americans started a program sending peers with similar island ties to explore their heritage after U.S.-Cuba detente, she applied.

On Friday, after a week in Havana visiting entrepreneurs, artists and relatives she'd never met, the 20-year-old senior at the University of California, Berkeley flew home with impressions certain to upset many of her grandparents' generation.

In this June 12, 2016 photo, Cuban American Fontaine Capel, center, travels on a regular bus line in Havana, Cuba. Capel was brought to the island by CubaOne, a new program inspired by the reestablishment of diplomatic and business ties between the U.S. and Cuba. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

"Right off the bat I'm going to say honestly it's not that bad," she said on Thursday afternoon as she visited the Havana apartment where her mother lived as a young girl. "A lot of people perceive Cuba as a terrible place where people aren't happy, but that's not the case."

The declaration of U.S. detente with Cuba was made possible by the softening of a hard line held for half a century by Florida's powerful Cuban-American community. Expectations of a fearsome backlash to follow any outreach to Cuba diminished as the first generations of Cuban-American exiles were joined by new waves of economic migrants, and by children and grandchildren who never directly experienced communism.

Now the process of normalization between the U.S. and Cuba is accelerating and widening that softening of attitudes. Inspired by the reestablishment of diplomatic and business ties, the children and grandchildren of exiles are traveling to Cuba in increasing numbers, often as part of programs designed to support family reconciliation and political normalization.

Among the most notable efforts is CubaOne, the new program that took Hernandez to Cuba. Inspired by Birthright Israel, a program that has sent 500,000 young Jews to Israel since 1999, CubaOne hopes to send three groups of Cuban-Americans to the island by February. Its founders are putting nearly $100,000 of their own money into the fledgling program and hope to raise enough funds for future years from individual donors and the American airlines, hotel companies and other businesses starting to establish footholds in Cuba.

"It's a new community and a new culture in Miami," said CubaOne founder Daniel Jimenez, a 34-year-old digital executive at Ernst & Young, "Being here and listening to what 11 million Cubans have to say rather than the media in Miami is something every young Cuban-American should go through."

With an average age of 25, CubaOne's inaugural class of nine millennials included artists, entrepreneurs and writers from across the United States, many from families based in South Florida.

They traveled to the tobacco-growing region of western Pinar del Rio province before returning to Havana for six days of visits with independent business people and artists and stays in private bed-and-breakfasts.

"Young Cuban-Americans love Cuba, but we express that love differently than our parents," said Giancarlo Sopo, one of CubaOne's founders and the son of a veteran of the U.S.-backed forces in the Bay of Pigs invasion. "For us, loving Cuban means going there to learn about our culture, meet family, and engage the people."

At least four of the young people saw family members who they had never met, or had met only briefly, including Hernandez. She spent two days with her great-uncle Jesus Cervello Ruiz, the 78-year-old patriarch of the five family members who remain in Cuba. Some 15 more relatives live in the U.S.

Along with his daughter Caridad and twin 16-year-old grandsons, Ruiz took Hernandez to the hospital where his niece, her mother, was born, and the apartment where she lived as a young girl.

For Hernandez, a Republican like her parents, the small interactions with her relatives and other Cubans provide a three dimensional picture of the country she had only heard one side of, she said.

"No one has come back except me," she said. "People here are happy; they don't need a bunch of material things to make them genuinely happy."

Ruiz, a retired mechanic in a state workshop, spent the trip wisecracking and gently teasing his great-niece and the journalists and program participants who accompanied her.

But at the end, as he stood in the doorway of the apartment where his sister lived before the revolution, tears welled in his eyes as he felt the pain of living decades separated from most of his family.

"I've been holding this pain but since I came in here I've been emotional," he said. "This brings back memories."

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Michael Weissenstein on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/mweissenstein

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This story has been corrected to show that Hernandez's mother was born in the hospital she visited rather than her grandmother.

In this June 12, 2016 photo, the young Cuban American Maggie Sivit, left, looks at a youth jump into the ocean from the Havana's waterfront in Cuba. Sivit was brought to the island by CubaOne, a new program inspired by the reestablishment of diplomatic and business ties between the U.S. and Cuba. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

In this June 12, 2016 photo, Cuban American Miranda Hernandez, second left, poses with members of her extended family in Havana, Cuba. Hernandez was brought to the island by CubaOne, a new program inspired by the reestablishment of diplomatic and business ties between the U.S. and Cuba. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

In this June 12, 2016 photo, Cuban American Miranda Hernandez, center, accompanied by members of her extended family takes photos of the house in which grew her grandmother once lived in Havana, Cuba. Hernandez was brought to the island by CubaOne, a new program inspired by the reestablishment of diplomatic and business ties between the U.S. and Cuba. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

In this June 12, 2016 photo, the young Cuban American Miranda Hernandez, center, talks with other young persons that traveled with CubaOne program in Havana, Cuba. CubaOne, a new program inspired by the reestablishment of diplomatic and business ties, brings the children and grandchildren of exiles on visits to Cuba. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

In this June 12, 2016 photo, Cuban American Miranda Hernandez, right, talks with members of her extended Cuban family outside the apartment in which her grandmother once lived in Havana, Cuba. Hernandez was brought to the island by CubaOne, a new program inspired by the reestablishment of diplomatic and business ties between the U.S. and Cuba. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
Police capture foot-long alligator roaming neighborhood

LOWELL, Mass. (AP)  Police have captured a foot-long alligator that was spotted roaming around a residential Massachusetts neighborhood over the July Fourth weekend.

Lowell police say they received a call around 7:30 p.m. Sunday reporting the alligator was walking down a street in the city's Highlands neighborhood. Responding officers located the animal along the side of the road.

Animal control officers arrived on the scene and took custody of the alligator. It was transported to a facility specializing in reptile rehabilitation for an evaluation.

An alligator makes it's way along South Walker St. in Lowell, Mass., Sunday, July 3, 2016. Animal Control took the foot-long alligator into custody and took it to a facility specializing in reptile rehabilitation for evaluation and care. (Lowell Police Department/Lowell Animal Control via AP)

There's no word on where the alligator came from.

This isn't the first time an alligator has turned up in Lowell.
Blocked Indiana abortion law comes amid procedure's decline

INDIANAPOLIS (AP)  A federal judge's decision to block a new Indiana abortion law from taking effect was a setback for anti-abortion activists who backed the push to tighten restrictions on the procedure that are already among the most strict in the country.

Provisions put on hold a day before they were to take effect Friday would have banned abortions sought because of a fetus' genetic abnormalities, such as Down syndrome or because of the race, gender or ancestry of a fetus, and required that aborted fetuses be buried or cremated.

Abortion foes say other laws adopted by the Republican-dominated Legislature have helped spur a nearly 20 percent decline in the number of abortions performed in Indiana between 2010 and 2014.

Ken Faulk, left, legal director of ACLU of Indiana, and Betty Cockrum, president of Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky, discuss the preliminary injunction they won on a law that would have banned abortions sought because of a fetus' genetic abnormalities during a press conference in Indianapolis, Thursday, June 30, 2016. A federal judge blocked an Indiana law Thursday that would have banned abortions sought because of a fetus' genetic abnormalities, saying that the state does not have the authority to limit a woman's reasons for ending a pregnancy. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

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AT ISSUE

Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky and the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana sued in federal court to block the law adopted by the General Assembly in March, arguing that it was unconstitutional and violated women's privacy rights. Attorneys for the state maintained that the law was a response to DNA testing advances and that the state has an interest in "preventing discrimination" against fetuses based on screening for genetic defects or to determine their gender.

U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Walton Pratt said in her decision that the law would go against U.S. Supreme Court rulings that have declared states may not prohibit a woman from seeking an abortion before a fetus is able to live outside the womb.

It is unclear what impact, if any, the restrictions would actually have on abortions, as women could cite other reasons  or not give any  for seeking an abortion.

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POLITICAL IMPACT

Republican Gov. Mike Pence faced a barrage of criticism after signing the bill, with hundreds of abortion rights supporters attending a Statehouse rally and activists organizing an online "Periods for Pence" campaign encouraging women to call the governor's office to update him about their menstrual cycles.

Pence, who was a prominent abortion rights opponent while serving in Congress before being elected governor in 2012, has maintained his support for the measure. Pence is facing a tough re-election campaign against Democrat John Gregg and will be counting on a strong turnout from his evangelical base in November.

Gregg had positioned himself as a social conservative during his time as Indiana House speaker, but said he would have vetoed what he called "an unnecessary, irresponsible, poorly thought-out law."

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WHAT'S NEXT?

The judge issued a temporary injunction, meaning the challenged provisions can't be enforced by Indiana officials. The state can continue to defend the law and seek to have it ultimately upheld.

The anti-abortion group Indiana Right to Life called on the state to appeal the judge's decision. The state attorney general's office said it would review the ruling before deciding how to proceed.

Indiana University has filed a separate federal lawsuit challenging a section of the new law making it a crime to sell or acquire fetal issue. The school argues the provision would illegally interfere with work by its scientists, such as Alzheimer's disease research using cell cultures derived from fetal tissue.

Attorneys for IU and the state have agreed to put enforcement on hold until the university's challenge is resolved.

___

ABORTION DECLINE

Federal courts have rejected Indiana's attempts in recent years to prohibit entities that perform abortions from obtaining state funding, and to end the distribution of abortion pills at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Lafayette by requiring it to meet the same standards as surgical abortion clinics.

But the number of abortions performed in Indiana has dropped from 10,031 in 2010 to 8,118 during 2014, according to the most recent reports from the state Health Department. Abortion opponents attribute that decline, in part, to laws adopted in recent years requiring that pregnant women be given an opportunity to view an ultrasound image and hear the fetal heartbeat before an abortion.

Abortions in the state are now only available at six clinics in Indianapolis, Merrillville, Bloomington and Lafayette since a doctor stopped performing abortions at clinics he operated in Fort Wayne, South Bend and Gary in the past couple years.

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TEXAS RULING IMPACT?

The U.S. Supreme Court's June 27 ruling against Texas' regulation of abortion clinics isn't having any immediate impact on similar Indiana laws.

The court struck down Texas' requirements that doctors performing abortions have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals and clinics to meet hospital-like standards for outpatient surgery. Indiana law says doctors performing abortions must have hospital-admitting privileges, but lets them reach an agreement with another doctor who does.

Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky President Betty Cockrum said the group's three surgical abortion sites already meet the state's surgical clinic and doctor admitting-privileges requirements.

"The discussion we've had so far is that we've been in compliance for however long they've been on the books," she said. "It might be a little difficult to argue that they are unduly burdensome."

FILE - In this April 9, 2016, file photo, hundreds of abortion rights supporters gather at the Indiana Statehouse in Indianapolis to protest an anti-abortion law signed by Gov. Mike Pence, that is among the most restrictive in the U.S. U.S. District Judge Tanya Walton Pratt has said she will issue a ruling before Friday, July 1, when the law adopted this year by the GOP-dominated Legislature is set to take effect. (Mykal McEldowney/The Indianapolis Star via AP, File)
The Latest: Trump blames fuss over tweeted star on Clinton

WASHINGTON (AP)  The Latest on the 2016 presidential campaign. (All times EDT):

8:20 p.m.

Trump campaign social media director Dan Scavino says in a statement posted on Donald Trump's Facebook page Monday evening that an anti-Hillary Clinton tweet that some have claimed was offensive was lifted from an anti-Clinton Twitter feed. He says it was never intended to offend anyone.

Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, left, and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., right, rush to the Senate chamber on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, June 29, 2016, to vote as a rescue package for debt-stricken Puerto Rico, just two days before the island is expected to default on a $2 billion debt payment. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Critics have said the Twitter image criticizing Hillary Clinton appeared to depict the Star of David atop a pile of cash and was anti-Semitic.

Scavino says the social media graphic used this weekend was not created by the campaign nor was it sourced from an anti-Semitic site.

He said the star, which he described as a sheriff's badge fit with the theme of corrupt Hillary and that is why he selected it.

He says as social media director he would never offend anyone intentionally and therefore chose to remove the image.

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6:45 p.m.

Donald Trump says Hillary Clinton's campaign is "ridiculous" to portray an anti-Clinton tweet that appeared to depict the Star of David atop a pile of cash as anti-Semitic.

In a statement issued by his Republican presidential campaign, Trump suggested Clinton and her allies were using the matter to distract from her own recent campaign troubles.

Trump says the tweet portrayed "a basic star, often used by sheriffs who deal with criminals and criminal behavior."

It was his most extensive comment since his official account tweeted then deleted  the image of the six-point star Saturday, sparking an uproar over its potentially anti-Semitic connotations.

Jonathan Greenblatt of the Anti-Defamation League says Trump's attempt to dismiss the concerns of people who have taken issue with the post "falls somewhere between absurd and offensive."

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3:45 p.m.

If Donald Trump and Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst discussed making her his running mate in a weekend meeting, mum's the word.

The senator released a statement afterward saying they had a good talk and discussed concerns she's hearing from Iowans about the direction of the country as she tours her state. Neither Ernst nor Trump mentioned his vice presidential search publicly.

Ernst says in her statement: "Iowans are frustrated by the current direction of our country  and we simply cannot afford to continue these failed policies under Hillary Clinton."

Trump tweeted before the meeting that Ernst has done a great job as a senator.

The presumptive Republican nominee also spent time over the weekend with Indiana Gov. Mike Pence. He's considered another running-mate prospect.

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1:15 p.m.

Hillary Clinton's campaign says a tweet from Donald Trump that appeared to feature the Star of David is "disturbing" and part of a pattern that "should give voters major cause for concern."

Sarah Bard, Clinton's director for Jewish outreach, says Trump should be "condemning hate," not blaming others. Bard says a president should be someone who "brings Americans together, not someone who sends signals and offers policies of division."

The campaign's comments come after Trump blamed the media for the controversy involving an anti-Clinton tweet that appeared to depict the symbol of Judaism, a six-pointed star, atop a pile of cash.

The tweet was sent from Trump's official account Saturday, then deleted. A new version was later posted with a circle in place of the star.

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12:50 p.m.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is spending part of his July 4th with Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst amid speculation about his vice presidential pick.

Trump tweets, "I look forward to meeting @joniernst today in New Jersey." He says, "She has done a great job as senator of Iowa!"

Ernst is a first-term senator, combat veteran and the first woman elected to Congress from Iowa.

She ran on a platform of cutting wasteful spending, with the slogan "Make 'em squeal."

Representatives for Ernst and for Trump's campaign did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Trump also spent time over the weekend with Indiana Gov. Mike Pence.

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12:45 p.m.

Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump is blaming the news media for the controversy surrounding an anti-Hillary Clinton tweet that appeared to depict the Star of David atop a pile of cash.

Trump says on Twitter: "Dishonest media is trying their absolute best to depict a star in a tweet as the Star of David rather than a Sheriff's Star, or plain star!"

It's his first response since his official account tweeted  then deleted  the image Saturday. It later posted a new version with a circle in place of the star.

It remains unclear where the campaign found the image. It previously appeared on a message board filled with anti-Semitic and white supremacist messages as well as the Twitter feed of a self-identified comedian who tweeted out provocative and offensive messages.

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11 a.m.

Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump says in a tweet he was impressed by Indiana Gov. Mike Pence during a weekend meeting.

The Saturday meeting between the billionaire businessman and Indiana's governor took place Saturday as Trump considers potential running mates.

Trump tweets on Monday: "Spent time with Indiana Governor Mike Pence and family yesterday. Very impressed, great people!"

Pence spokesman Marc Lotter says that the two couples had a "warm, productive" meeting before Pence returned to Indiana, but he said "nothing was offered."

Trump has never held public office and is considering a small group of political veterans as potential running mates.

People with direct knowledge of Trump's vetting process say the list includes Pence, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions.

FILE - In this June 22, 2016, file photo, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton gestures as she speaks during a rally in Raleigh, N.C. Clinton's campaign says a tweet from Donald Trump that appeared to feature the Star of David is "disturbing" and part of a pattern that "should give voters major cause for concern." (AP Photo/Chuck Burton)

FILE - In this Jan. 25, 2016, file photo, Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, introduces then-Republican presidential candidate Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., during a campaign event in Des Moines, Iowa. Republican Donald Trump is spending part of July 4 with Ernst amid speculation about his vice presidential pick. Trump tweeted, I look forward to meeting @joniernst today in New Jersey. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya, File)

In this July 1, 2016, photo, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during the opening session of the Western Conservative Summit in Denver. Once a swing state in presidential elections, Colorado has teetered on the brink of becoming solidly Democratic. Trump may have pushed it over the edge. Trumps disparaging words about Mexicans, negative comments about women and weak campaign organization have punctuated the states shift from a nip-and-tuck battleground to one thats Democratic-friendly. For the first time in more than 20 years, there are now more registered Democrats in the state than Republicans. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
The Swiss army battles its latest foe: bedbugs in dorms

GENEVA (AP)  The Swiss army is working hard to fend off its latest foe: bedbugs.

The defense department said Monday that a parents' day event planned for July 16 is being cancelled because bedbugs have appeared in dormitories and fabrics used by three companies at an infantry training school in several parts of French-speaking Switzerland.

It said no one's health was in danger but "several recruits had bites typical of bedbugs."
Odd couple Israel and Egypt enjoying 'best times ever'

CAIRO (AP)  Blast walls, sandbags, and guards with machine pistols manning checkpoints ring the Israeli diplomatic compound in the leafy Cairo suburb of Maadi.

But inside the Embassy, which doubles as Ambassador Haim Koren's residence, you'd hardly notice any of the animosity traditionally felt by the Egyptian masses, for all the upbeat assessments of the future.

On a recent night at the compound, some two dozen Egyptians came for an iftar dinner, the traditional breaking of the fast during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which ends Tuesday. But the vast majority of them  including a cook wearing a Star of David T-shirt  were embassy employees.

In this Tuesday, June 21, 2016 photo, Israel's Ambassador to Egypt, Haim Koren, stands inside the residence at the Embassy compound in the Cairo suburb of Maadi, where he has been posted since 2014. After decades of wars followed by years of uneasy peace, Israel has emerged as a discrete but key ally to Egypts President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, who along with powerhouse Saudi Arabia and the Emirates has sought to define friend and foe together in the region during troubled times. (AP Photo/Brian Rohan)

"This is one of the best times we've ever had" in terms of cooperation between governments, said Koren, a veteran diplomat and fluent Arabic speaker posted here since 2014. "There's good cooperation between the armies, we have understandings about the Sinai Peninsula, and basically, we see (eye-to-eye) on development of the region."

After decades of wars followed by years of an uneasy peace, Israel has emerged as a discreet ally to Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, along with powerhouse Saudi Arabia and smaller, wealthy Gulf Arab countries.

El-Sissi, who as army chief overthrew his elected but divisive successor, the Islamist Mohammed Morsi in 2013, was heavily supported by those Gulf states. He has helped Israel further isolate the Hamas militants ruling the Gaza Strip, the tiny slice of Palestinian territory wedged between Egypt and Israel. Hamas had close ties with the former Egyptian leader and is rooted in Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood.

Israel often praises Sissi for his tough stance on militants, and considers him a key ally in what it sees as a shared battled against Islamic extremists.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and el-Sissi often speak on the phone. Last May, Netanyahu welcomed what he described as el-Sissi's "willingness" to help advance the peace process with the Palestinians, after el-Sissi said that Egypt's relations with Israel could be warmer if it made peace with the Palestinians.

"We have common enemies in the sense of terrorism, or if you like, radical Islamic terrorism, emerged from the same root no matter if it happens to be Hamas or the Muslim Brotherhood, ISIS, Jabhat al-Nusra or al-Qaida," Koren said. El-Sissi "understood quickly that we are all in the same boat," he added.

Israeli military officials believe that despite ideological differences, Hamas militants in Gaza are cooperating with extremists affiliated with Islamic State or other armed groups in Egypt's neighboring Sinai region. They praise Egypt's crackdown on Hamas' cross-border smuggling tunnels, which had been a main conduit for weapons into Gaza, and say the Egyptian military is doing an admirable job in a fierce battle against IS militants in Sinai.

Israel has allowed Egypt to move heavy weapons like tanks, artillery and attack helicopters into the restive Sinai Peninsula to fight extremists including a local Islamic State affiliate, overlooking provisions in the landmark 1979 peace treaty between the two countries. The two sides also are considered to have close intelligence ties.

But the relationship remains complex. Israel closed its embassy in Cairo during the tumult that followed the 2011 uprising against longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak, when outraged crowds attacked it over the killing of five Egyptian policemen by Israeli forces chasing militants in the Sinai. It didn't reopen its embassy, now at the residence further from the city center, until September 2015.

Leading figures across Egypt's political spectrum still reject full normalization of Egyptian-Israeli relations, with many professional associations and labor unions banning members from visiting Israel. Last year, parliament voted to expel a contentious member after he had dinner at the embassy, and in the uproar that ensued, one newspaper published a photo of Koren with devil's horns superimposed on his head.

Attempts at outreach to the Egyptian people can also backfire: Earlier this year a new Arabic-language Facebook page set up by the embassy was flooded with insults and anti-Semitic comments, with some likening Jews to pigs and others calling them killers over the long-running conflict with the Palestinians  a popular hot-button topic in Arab countries.

"Our aspiration is to come closer to the Egyptian people," through cultural policy and social media, Koren said. "But we understand, it's a long process, there's a long way to go. That's why the stability of Egypt is important, and also the success of its economy."

Koren himself ventures outside his diplomatic compound only under heavy guard. His family remains back in Israel, and he frequently returns home.

Spokesmen for the Egyptian Foreign Ministry and presidency did not respond to request for comment on the topic, underlining its sensitivity. But jets carrying Israeli officials arrive regularly at Cairo's international airport, where they are sometimes whisked away in official cars.

Egyptians who travel to Israel, even for religious pilgrimages, face scrutiny from their own state security forces, as do individuals entering the embassy compound, in the foreigner-friendly suburb of Maadi.

Koren said that despite the successful free trade areas for manufacturing known as QIZ zones, "it's going very slow" with regard to developing Israeli expertise in sectors that could benefit the Egyptian economy, such as agriculture, irrigation and solar power.

"Media here used to say that we were poisoning the seeds of the vegetables," for example, he said. Over the years a variety of myths have been perpetrated in the media  from attractive, HIV-positive women being sent to Sinai to infect Egyptian men, to sharks imported into the Red Sea to scare off tourists.

One boost to the relationship is Israel's lack of any official commentary on human rights issues, unlike some Western nations or sometimes the United States, Koren said.

"We are not interfering in those domestic issues," he said. "We don't think it's our role to educate or to preach for any kind of way that someone should run Egypt or any other country."

___
A woman from upstate New York got the best July 4 present she could imagine when she learned the U.S. flag that had decorated the casket of her World War II veteran father had been discovered, days after being stolen.

The Stars and Stripes was discovered all the way over in Willard, Missouri, after a teenager admitted to having taken it as a souvenir while staying at Cherry Grove Campground near Wolcott, New York.

Cathy Scoppo, her voice breaking as she teared up, said: 'I can't wait to touch it.'

Corporal Steve Purdy (left) holds the folded U.S. flag which police recovered after it went missing from a campground 1,700 miles away in upstate New York. The flag is now on its way back to Cathy Scoppo (right)

Her father, Michael Cowley, died of cancer aged 47 in 1969, and Ms Scoppo had begun a tradition of hanging out the flag that had been on his casket between Memorial Day and the 4th of July.

But this year her heart sank when it disappeared last week.

The police were alerted and, as the nation celebrated its 240th birthday, Ms Scoppo, 60, received a phone call saying the standard had been found 1,700 miles away in southern Missouri.

Cathy's father had been an Army Air Force corporal during World War II and the flag was draped over his casket to honor him when he died.

She put the flag up, along with those of all U.S. military branches and one honoring prisoners of war, at the family-owned campground, 45 minutes outside of Syracuse.

But last week, while walking her dog, she noticed it had vanished.

This is the grave of Cathy's father, Corporal Michael Cowley, a war veteran who died of cancer, aged just 47

'I was just heartbroken. When I went back to our motor home, I was literally sobbing,' she said.

She posted a status on Facebook about the missing flag, angrily threatening the 'jerk' who stole it: 'Do you realize that stealing an American flag is a misdemeanor charge and I am ready to prosecute?'

She was approached by a woman who explained that a Missouri teenager had texted her granddaughter, implicating himself as the culprit.

'It was a moment of joy that every one of us can relate to and be blessed by Tom McClain, Chief of Police

Ms Scoppo contacted the police in the small town of Willard and Corporal Steve Purdy confronted the teen.

He initially denied having pilfered it but eventually led Cpl Purdy to the flag on Friday.

Cpl Purdy then called Ms Scoppo and told her the good news.

Willard's Chief of Police, Tom McClain, said: 'It was a moment of joy that every one of us can relate to and be blessed by.'

The police in Willard said the matter has been referred to authorities in juvenile court, but it is not clear if the boy would be charged with a misdemeanor.

Cathy's initial anger has dissipated somewhat and she said: 'I don't have any malice in my heart.
Military veteran uses sharp-shooting skills to free eagle

RUSH CITY, Minn. (AP)  A U.S. Army veteran turned to his sharp-shooting skills to free a bald eagle trapped in a Minnesota tree.

The eagle became entangled in a rope and had been hanging upside down from a tree 70 feet off the ground for several days, ABC News reported (http://abcn.ws/29hGquT ).

The tree is near Jason and Jackie Galvin's cabin in Rush City. Jason Galvin finally decided on Thursday to try to shoot through the rope in hopes of freeing the bird.

He borrowed a .22-caliber rifle with a scope from a neighbor and opened fire. It took 150 rounds and 90 minutes  the rope was only 4 inches long and conditions were windy  but he finally succeeded in severing the rope without hitting the bird.

The couple wrapped the eagle in a blanket and it was taken to the University of Minnesota's Raptor Center.
The Latest: Iraq executes 5 a day after bombing

BAGHDAD (AP)  The Latest on Sunday's massive bombing in the Iraqi capital (all times local):

9:45 p.m.

Iraq's Justice Ministry says five convicted terrorists have been executed in Baghdad.

People light candles at the scene of a massive car bomb attack in Karada, a busy shopping district where people were shopping for the upcoming Eid al-Fitr holiday, in the center of Baghdad, Iraq, Sunday, July 3, 2016. More than 100 people died Sunday in a car bombing that Islamic State said it carried out, an official of the Iraqi Interior Ministry said. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)

Monday's announcement came a day after a massive bombing claimed by the Islamic State group killed more than 150 people in the heart of the Iraqi capital.

In February, Amnesty International reported that the number of Iraqis sentenced to death in 2016 came close to 100. The rights group called it a "grim indicator of the current state of justice in the country."

Despite Iraq's record high rate of executions  the country ranks second behind Iran  attacks are still frequent.

Small-scale bombings occur almost daily in Baghdad, and in May a string of larger bombings, many claimed by IS, killed more than 200 people in a single week.

11:00 a.m.

Iraqi officials say the death toll from Sunday's devastating truck bombing at a bustling Baghdad commercial street has climbed to 142.

The bombing, claimed by the Islamic State group, was the deadliest terror attack in Iraq in a year and one of the worst single bombings in more than a decade of war and insurgency.

Police and health officials said Monday that the death toll is likely to increase as rescuers are stilling looking for missing people. At least 185 people were wounded. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity as they are not authorized to talk to reporters.

Sunday's attack underscored the IS group's ability to strike the Iraqi capital despite a string of battlefield losses elsewhere in the country and fueled public anger toward their political leadership.

People light candles at the scene of a massive car bomb attack in Karada, a busy shopping district where people were shopping for the upcoming Eid al-Fitr holiday, in the center of Baghdad, Iraq, Sunday, July 3, 2016. More than 100 people died Sunday in a car bombing that Islamic State said it carried out, an official of the Iraqi Interior Ministry said. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)

People light candles at the scene of a massive car bomb attack in Karada, a busy shopping district where people were shopping for the upcoming Eid al-Fitr holiday, in the center of Baghdad, Iraq, Sunday, July 3, 2016. More than 100 people died Sunday in a car bombing that Islamic State said it carried out, an official of the Iraqi Interior Ministry said. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)
11 dead in bus accident on Mexico's Caribbean coast

MEXICO CITY (AP)  Eleven tourists, all apparently Mexican citizens, were killed in a bus crash Monday on a highway south of the resort town of Tulum.

Authorities said eight women, two men and a 2-month-old baby died when the bus flipped on the grass on the side of the highway in Mexico's Caribbean coast state of Quintana Roo. Several other passengers were injured.

The cause was still under investigation. The state detectives' agency said the bus driver had not been located and might have fled.
Philadelphia-area transit agency: Find another way to work

PHILADELPHIA (AP)  The transit agency serving Philadelphia and its suburbs urged commuters around the region on Monday to consider subway and other transit options now that a third of its regional rail cars have been sidelined by a structural problem.

The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority took all 120 Silverliner V cars out of service Friday night after finding a fractured beam on one car and fatigue cracks on almost all the other cars.

Ron Hopkins, SEPTA assistant general manager for operations, said trains will run on a Saturday schedule until further notice with additional rush-hour service. But he said with 13,000 fewer seats, service on lines will be reduced by 30 percent to 50 percent.

FILE - A SEPTA regional train, the R7, rolls into 30th Street station in Philadelphia in this Nov. 16, 2004 file photo. The transit agency serving Philadelphia and its suburbs is warning regional rail riders on the 2016 July 4 weekend of possible major disruptions in the days and weeks ahead after the company had to take about one-third of regional rail cars out of service due to a structural problem. SEPTA General Manager Jeffrey Kneuppel says there will be no problems on weekends and holidays  but "Tuesday ... will be rough on our railroad customers." (AP Photo/Jacqueline Larma, File)

"Not everybody is going to see anywhere close to their regular levels of frequency," Hopkins said.

Regional rail usually transports about 65,000 riders each way per day. With the reduction in seats, the trains will probably only be able to carry 35,000 to 40,000 people, Hopkins said.

To help offset the loss of the damaged cars, SEPTA is pulling in older cars and expanding the capacity of each train by adding cars.

"Losing 13,000 seats is quite substantial, so we want to get the message out there to be flexible with your time, and if you have the ability to telecommute, that's always a great option."

SEPTA said commuters will still have plenty of options, and officials are expanding bus and city and suburban trolley service and keeping city subway lines at peak service levels.

"We really are encouraging people to get to our subways," he said. "Our subways move every four to five minutes, and the only delay that you would have to add to your travel would be driving to a different location than going to your normal train stop."

SEPTA is trying to increase parking options along those routes by arranging for free parking at two large lots in South Philadelphia and waiving some parking fees. The agency is also working with city, county, school and other entities to try to arrange for more parking along other transit routes.

SEPTA is also encouraging people to get on earlier trains or take trains after rush hour. And since trains will be most crowded the closer they get to Center City, some commuters, Hopkins suggested, might consider going "outbound to come inbound."

The company will be working to supplement bus routes, and Amtrak is helping increase capacity on its Keystone line to Harrisburg, Hopkins said. The company hopes to be able to return Silverliner V cars through the summer and is trying to lease equipment from New Jersey Transit or Amtrak and add bus options.

Only five of the 120 cars were found to be without problems, and while it's possible that parts of others can be used to return cars to service, more extensive tests are needed to determine whether that can be done, Hopkins said.
Reds agree to minor league deal with Cuban shortstop

CHICAGO (AP)  The Cincinnati Reds have agreed to a minor league contract with Cuban free agent shortstop Alfredo Rodriguez.

The Reds announced the agreement after Monday's loss to the Chicago Cubs. He will start playing in the Dominican Summer League.

The 22-year-old Rodriguez is the third free agent from Cuba to sign with the Reds since 2010, joining former closer Aroldis Chapman and pitcher Raisel Iglesias.

Rodriguez was the 2014-15 Rookie of the Year and won the equivalent of a gold glove in Cuba's Serie Nacional. He batted .265 with 12 stolen bases in 16 attempts in 84 games for La Isla De La Juventud.

"Our whole group that scouted Aroldis and Raisel also saw Alfredo," senior director of amateur scouting Chris Buckley said.
Tom Watson to meet union leaders over Jeremy Corbyn leadership

Labour deputy leader Tom Watson is to hold emergency talks with trade union leaders after a fresh attempt to persuade Jeremy Corbyn to step down fell on deaf ears.

At a one-to-one meeting at Westminster, Mr Watson told Mr Corbyn he could not carry on as party leader without the backing of the party's MPs who last week voted overwhelmingly in favour of a vote of no confidence in him, Labour sources said.

Mr Corbyn was said to have responded by making clear he had no intention of leaving, and put out a video appeal to supporters to unite behind his leadership.

Tom Watson told MPs: "It is the last throw of the dice."

Sources said union leaders had "reached out" to Mr Watson to see if they could find a negotiated settlement, with talks expected to take place on Tuesday morning.

At the weekly meeting of the Parliamentary Labour Party at Westminster, Mr Watson told MPs: "It is the last throw of the dice."

Earlier Mr Watson met former shadow business secretary Angela Eagle and ex-shadow work and pensions secretary Owen Smith, who are both considering a challenge to Mr Corbyn if he continues to resist calls to go.

Both were said have agreed to hold back while there was still a chance of a negotiated settlement which would see Mr Corbyn finally walk away.

"They accept that is the right thing to do while there is a chance of some kind of deal," one source said.

"Tom said he is aware the window is closing very rapidly. The Parliamentary Labour Party have made their views very clear. I don't think they will regard any settlement that sees Jeremy remain in place as being acceptable."

Details of the meeting with the union leaders - where Mr Watson will be joined by the chairman of the PLP John Cryer - were still being thrashed out.

In his video, posted on the internet, Mr Corbyn insisted he was carrying on with the responsibility given to him when elected leader by an overwhelming majority of grassroots members and called for the party to "come together".

He swatted away claims he only half-heartedly campaigned for EU membership in the referendum and so contributed to the vote for Brexit, - which triggered the current crisis - pointing out that two thirds of Labour voters backed Remain.

He said the party has won every by-election it stood in since he became leader and increased majorities in some seats, while the membership had gone up by more than 60,000 in one week.

"We're now at the biggest membership we've been, certainly in all of my lifetime," he said.

"That membership wants and expects all of us - me as leader and members of Parliament, to work together in their interests, the interests of everyone in this country, to achieve a better society, better standards of living and real equality in the future.

"That's what the Labour Party stands for."

Mr Corbyn's message was compared to a "hostage video" by his critics, with one source dismissing the "continued acts of desperation" from the leader.

Earlier, Ms Eagle made clear she was ready to mount a leadership challenge if Mr Corbyn did not step down.

"There are many people, MPs, party members up and down the country, asking me to resolve the impasse and I will if something isn't done soon," she told Sky News.

"I have the support to run and resolve this impasse and I will do so if Jeremy doesn't take action soon."

The fear for the rebels seeking to oust Mr Corbyn is that if they do put up a challenger he could still win in a ballot of grassroots activists leaving him even more strongly entrenched in his position.

Meanwhile, it emerged that another frontbencher has quit following last week's mass resignations which saw more than 60 shadow ministers and parliamentary aides walk out in protest at his leadership.

Fabian Hamilton said he had told his Constituency Labour Party in Leeds North East he was standing down as a shadow Foreign Office minister as the party was divided and more than 80% of MPs no longer had any confidence in Mr Corbyn.

Angela Eagle says she has the support to run

John McDonnell said he had no intention of replacing his close ally as party leader
People-smuggling prosecutions rise by more than 50%

The number of people prosecuted for smuggling illegal immigrants into Britain in their vehicles has soared by more than 50% in a year, according to new figures.

Home Office statistics show that 88 people were prosecuted for sneaking stowaways into the UK in 2015/16 - far more than the 52 taken to court the year before.

The figures come amid mounting concern the migration crisis has driven larger numbers into the hands of people smugglers, risking their lives in the back of vans and lorries to make the dangerous journey to Britain.

Keith Vaz called for tougher penalties for people smugglers

Keith Vaz, chairman of the Home Affairs select committee, warned that many more people smugglers are going undetected.

He told the Press Association: "We welcome the increase in the number of prosecutions.

"However, based on the number of illegal immigrants who have entered the country this is only the tip of the iceberg and we need to be tougher on enforcement rather than what we have done before which is to send vans around telling people to leave the country.

"And it's vital that we send out a strong message to those who are smuggling people into this country that we will not tolerate such criminality.

"And the best way to do that is to increase not just the number of prosecutions, but the penalities of those who have been involved in smuggling."

The prosecution figures emerged in an answer to a parliamentary question asked by Labour MP Gareth Thomas.

It is not known how many illegal immigrants are living in the UK but a report produced by the LSE estimates there are between 417,000 and 863,000.

As hauliers and drivers have faced prosecution, there is growing evidence that people smugglers are increasingly turning to small boats and dinghies to ferry illegal immigrants to British shores.

In May, 18 migrants were discovered in a dinghy off the Kent coast near Folkestone

And the National Crime Agency - the UK's equivalent to the FBI - has warned criminal gangs have started targeting quieter ports on the east and south coast of Britain.

Meanwhile, there has also been a dramatic rise in the number of fines handed to employers for hiring illegal immigrants, with the number doubling in three years.
Iraq WMD intelligence 'may have been marketed hard for political reasons'

Intelligence on Iraq's supposed weapons of mass destruction may have been "marketed rather hard" for political reasons ahead of the 2003 war, according to the general who headed the Army at the time.

Speaking days ahead of Wednesday's publication of the Chilcot Report into the conflict, General Sir Mike Jackson said "the jury is still out" over whether the invasion had proved worth the cost.

Sir Mike was speaking as relatives of some of the 1 79 Britons killed in the Iraq War said they will boycott the inquiry over fears it will be a "whitewash".

Sir John Chilcot 's Iraq inquiry report will be released on Wednesday

The two million-word report, six years in the making, will be unveiled by Sir John Chilcot on Wednesday.

Tony Blair, prime minister when Britain went to war, has said he will not make any comment until the report is made public.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has indicated the former Labour leader will not be liable for prosecution, reiterating its conclusion 10 years ago that the decision to go to war is not within its jurisdiction.

But the court said it will look at the report's findings before deciding whether there is a "reasonable basis" to begin an investigation.

A number of MPs are expected to try to use an ancient law to try to impeach the former prime minister once the findings are published.

Former Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond said there "has to be a judicial or political reckoning" for Mr Blair's role in the Iraq conflict while shadow chancellor John McDonnell said the "processes" of how Britain ended up at war must be examined "so we never ever get into this tragic, tragic mess again with such loss of life".

Asked whether he felt politicians lied to him about the case for war, Sir Mike told Channel 4 News: " No I don't believe I was misled.

"I'm certainly not going to say that this intelligence was fabricated - just made up. It may have been - how do you put it? - marketed rather hard for the political purpose that I can see. But I don't feel I was misled in the sense of being told lies, no."

Pressed over whether he lies awake at night wondering whether the war was "worth it", Sir Mike - who was Chief of General Staff at the time of the US-led invasion - said: "I've had that question in my mind from time to time yes."

He added: "I think the jury is still out as to was it worth it. It's very hard to answer that question to a mother who has lost a son or a chap without legs. It's very hard to answer that question."

Some of those whose loved ones died in the war and its aftermath between 2003 and 2009 fear the report will not give them the answers they desperately want.

Gary Nicholson, 42, was one of 10 servicemen who died when their Hercules C-130 aircraft was shot down in 2005.

His mother Julia said: "It will be a whitewash. I'm absolutely disgusted. I'm not going because it will be a whitewash.

"Tony Blair has got blood on his hands. He will have covered his back and (US President George) Bush's back."

Janice Procter, whose son Michael Trench, 18, was one of the youngest British soldiers to die in Iraq when he was killed in 2007, said: "It's been horrendous, I'm very apprehensive about this.

"This man (Blair) has put 179 kids to the slaughter - there's no justice.

"It (the report) is not going to give me any closure or comfort."

She added: "I'm not going down on the day, I'm not going to waste two hours of my life reading it."

The Chilcot inquiry was set up in 2009 by then prime minister Gordon Brown after the withdrawal of the main body of British troops earlier that year.

The inquiry examined decision-making during the lead up to the invasion and Britain's six-year military presence in the Middle Eastern country.

The long-awaited report draws on 130 sessions of oral evidence and the testimony of more than 150 witnesses as well as more than 150,000 government documents.

Relatives of the service personnel killed in Iraq between 2003 and 2009 will get an early sight of a 150-page summary.

David Godfrey, whose grandson Daniel Coffey, 21, was killed in 2007, said: "I'm quite apprehensive at the moment.

"People say this should bring closure but it won't. It might give us information but what we need is closure.

"It can't bring anybody back and won't stop us feeling what we feel. It's just another step forward on another long journey."

He branded Mr Blair a "war criminal" and said "he has to be held responsible".

Roger Bacon, whose son Matthew, 34, was killed in 2005, said: "It's been hanging over our heads - a great rock sitting over our heads and it wears you down, no doubt about it, and has worn us down for a long time."

He added: "What I'm expecting is that the report will bring out what I've always believed, which is that he (Blair) took us to war illegally.

"I have concerns about the way the troops were looked after when they were out there and the equipment supplied.

"The major thing is, how did we get into this mess in the first place?

"If it's a whitewash I will be hugely disappointed - no question of that."
Chris Smalling hospital visit was due to food poisoning, Manchester United say

England defender Chris Smalling was taken to hospital in Bali after fainting due to food poisoning, Manchester United have announced.

The club report the 26-year-old is now "feeling fine" following the bout of sickness.

United issued a statement in response to reports from abroad claiming Smalling had been rushed to hospital following a surfing accident.

Manchester United and England defender Chris Smalling was taken to hospital in Bali

There was also a photograph claiming to show Smalling on a drip with his head bandaged and neck apparently in a brace. It was suggested Smalling had suffered a heavy fall while surfing.

United's statement read: "Manchester United can clarify Chris Smalling has had food poisoning during his holiday which resulted in him fainting on Sunday.

"The 26-year-old defender was taken to the hospital and is now feeling fine.

"Smalling is currently on vacation in Bali following his time with England at Euro 2016 before reporting back for pre-season training later this month.

"Chris would like to thank everyone for their well wishes."

Smalling began his summer holiday last week following England's elimination from Euro 2016.

Smalling's management company Wasserman Media Group also moved to quash rumours the incident was anything more serious.

"Following pictures that have been circulating online this morning and contrary to unfounded media speculation we can confirm that Chris was taken to hospital after fainting due to a severe case of food poisoning while on holiday in Bali," said a statement.
Man admits GBH after baby shot in head with air-gun

A man has admitted grievous bodily harm after an 18-month-old boy was shot in the head with an air-gun.

Jordan Walters, 24, admitting unlawfully and maliciously inflicting grievous bodily harm on the boy at Bristol Magistrates' Court.

The toddler, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is critically ill in hospital after suffering a serious head injury in Hartcliffe, Bristol at 4pm on Friday.

Jordan Walters pleaded guilty at Bristol Magistrates' Court

Walters' partner Emma Jane Horseman, 23, did not enter a plea to a charge of aiding or abetting him to commit the offence.

The couple, of Bishport Avenue, Hartcliffe, were remanded in custody and will next appear before Bristol Crown Court on July 18.

District Judge Jim Astle told them: "There's no doubt these allegations are very, very serious - this case is an extremely serious case.

"I commit Mr Walters for sentence to the crown court. Miss Horseman, you will be committed for trial.

"In both cases you are remanded in custody."

The judge imposed a reporting restriction to prevent the identity of the victim from being published.

Emergency services were called to a flat in Bishport Avenue, where the boy and his mother were visiting, at 4.10pm on Friday.

Prosecuting, Lucy Coleman said: " This is a case where an 18-month-old child has been shot with an air rifle and has suffered very serious injuries.

"The child is currently in hospital and is critical. The Crown's case is that Mr Walters is the owner of an air pistol. Miss Horseman is his partner."

Miss Coleman said Walters called 999 after the air gun was discharged when it was loaded.

"During the call Mr Walters said he thought the gun was empty and he had accidentally shot the one-year-old child," she added.
May defends stance on EU nationals living in the UK

Home Secretary Theresa May has defended her insistence that the status of EU nationals living in the UK must be part of the Brexit negotiations after a furious backlash from Tory MPs.

Conservative MPs lined up in the Commons to condemn her comments, accusing Mrs May - seen as the frontrunner in the race to succeed David Cameron - of a "catastrophic error of judgment".

But appearing before Conservative MPs at a hustings for the leadership contenders, she took on the issue head-on insisting the Government had to be able to defend the position of British nationals living in the EU.

Andrea Leadsom launches her bid for the Tory leadership at The Reading Room in London

The row erupted as Boris Johnson gave his backing to Energy Minister and fellow Leave campaigner Andrea Leadsom in the leadership race.

The former London mayor - who saw his own leadership hopes dashed following a devastating personal attack by Michael Gove, the other lead figure in Vote Leave - pointedly praised Mrs Leadsom as "level-headed, kind (and) trustworthy".

"Andrea Leadsom offers the zap, the drive, and the determination essential for the next leader of this country," he said in a statement.

With MPs set to cast their votes on Tuesday in the first round of balloting, a poll by the ConservativeHome website of 1,214 party members put Mrs Leadsom narrowly ahead with 38%, one point ahead of Mrs May on 37%.

The Home Secretary used her hustings address to argue that the Government could not afford to "give away" its negotiating position when it came to the status of British ex-pats in the EU.

"It is about a very logical, correct, practical procedure," a spokesman said.

Earlier in the Commons, Immigration Minister James Brokenshire faced an onslaught from furious Conservative MPs as he denied the Government was treating EU nationals in the UK as a "bargaining chip".

Replying to an urgent question, he said it would be "unwise" to fully guarantee that EU citizens could stay in the UK without the 1.2 million Britons living in EU countries receiving the same assurances.

Tory MP Anne Main, who backed Brexit, said Mrs May should not have questioned the right of EU nationals already in the UK to remain.

"This has been raised by the Home Secretary and it is a catastrophic error of judgment for someone who wishes to lead this country to even suggest those people who are here legally, working with families and settled, should be even part of the negotiations," she said.

"(She) has made a real big error of judgment and that message needs to go back to the Home Secretary today."

The chairman of the Commons Treasury Committee Andrew Tyrie said that delay was not a "realistic option" and ministers should "just get on" and confirm the status of EU nationals.

"Protecting their rights is the only ethical position that can be taken and what's more, the longer the uncertainty about this question persists the greater the risk of the economic downturn and economic consequences," he said.

Sarah Wollaston, the Tory MP who chairs the Health Select Committee, expressed concern about the position of the 55,000 NHS workers qualified elsewhere in the EU along with 80,000 members of the care sector.

"They need security not just now but in the long term because the workforce crisis is one of the biggest challenges facing the NHS," she said.

Mr Brokenshire stressed there would be "no immediate" change in the status of EU citizens living in the UK and the Brexit negotiations would reflect the "immense contribution" they made to country.

However it was also the duty of the Government to secure the interests of the 1.2 million British citizens living and working elsewhere in the EU.

"It has been suggested the Government could now fully guarantee EU nationals living in the UK the right to stay," he said.

"This would be unwise without a parallel assurance from European governments regarding British nationals living in their countries.

"Such a step might also have the unintended consequence of prompting EU immigration to the UK."

Mrs May goes into the first round of voting with a clear lead among MPs but the contest will be decided by grassroots members throughout the country.

She is joined on the ballot paper by Mrs Leadsom, Mr Gove, Work and Pensions Secretary Stephen Crabb and former defence secretary Liam Fox.

The candidate who finishes last will be eliminated and others may choose to drop out if they feel they have no chance of succeeding.

Further votes of MPs will be held - with the next due on Thursday - until the candidates are whittled down to a shortlist of two who will go forward into the final postal ballot of the entire party membership.

A YouGov poll of The Times of 994 Conservative Party members suggested that if it came to a final round run-off between Mrs May and Mrs Leadsom, the Home Secretary would win by 63% to 31%.
Special constable killed by motorway lorry 'a great loss to the force'

The death of a female special constable in a motorway collision is "a great loss to the force", said the Chief Constable of Greater Manchester.

Samantha Derbyshire, 23, was pronounced dead at the scene of the incident at junction 5 of the M61 near Bolton in the early hours of Monday after being hit by an HGV.

It is thought the Ford Fiesta she was travelling in had hit the central reservation and she got out to inspect the damage when it became stuck.

Special constable Samantha Derbyshire (Greater Manchester Police)

Ms Derbyshire was based in Bolton and had been recently been accepted to join GMP as a full-time constable later this year.

Chief Constable Ian Hopkins said "she will sadly not get the chance to fulfil her dream", while Chief Inspector Mike Walmsley, of GMP's Special Constabulary, said her colleagues were "devastated".

In a statement, her family said: "'Sam was our fun-loving, beautiful, amazing daughter, sister, granddaughter and niece. She was also such a funny, clever and amazing friend but also a fantastic, enthusiastic special constable, which she worked so hard to achieve.

"She was a very social person and enjoyed keeping fit. She had just completed the Great Manchester Run.

"Sam was a special constable for Greater Manchester Police. She was so proud of this and loved it. She had recently been informed that she had passed her entry tests and had been accepted to join GMP as a constable later this year. She was so looking forward to this. It is all she has ever wanted to do.

"We as a family are devastated by what has happened to Sam and couldn't be any more proud of her. She was better than all of us and lived her life to the full every day. We will miss her greatly."

Mr Hopkins said: "First and foremost, my heartfelt condolences are with Samantha's family at this deeply distressing time and we are doing all we can to support them.

"Not only was Samantha a serving member of police staff but she dedicated her own time to helping others as a special constable in Bolton.

"She had also recently been successful in her application to become a police officer and this morning's tragic incident means she will sadly not get the chance to fulfil her dream.

"To be taken from her family and friends at such a young age is terrible and a great loss to the force; she will be greatly missed."

Mr Walmsley said: "All of Sam's colleagues are devastated by the loss of such a happy, dedicated and positive member of the Bolton team and GMP Special Constabulary.

"Sam was passionate about working in the police and making a real difference in the communities she loved to serve.

"Sam was both highly respected and liked by all who were fortunate enough to work with her. She made her first arrest only hours into her first tour of duty and has impressed since. Sam will be greatly missed by all of us who knew her."

Anybody with information about the collision, which took place at about 3.30am, should contact the GMP Serious Collision Investigation Unit on 0161 856 4742.
Combining fertility tests 'improves IVF success rate'

Combining two fertility tests could boost IVF success rates, the largest study of its kind suggests.

New data from the University of Oxford shows that examining mitochondrial DNA and also looking at chromosomes for signs of problems gives a highly accurate picture of whether fertility treatment could be a success.

Experts have been looking at how mitochondria - which are crucial for the development of healthy babies - behave inside each embryo.

The research from Oxford University was presented at the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology conference

They know that some embryos have far too much mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and will never develop into a baby.

Mitochondria have a key role during embryo development. They are the main energy providers and have other critical functions.

Scientists already know that more than half of all embryos are chromosomally abnormal and will not result in a baby.

Even of those embryos that are chromosomally normal, a third will still not implant.

The new combined test involves usual chromosomal screening then looking closely at why the remaining embryos are still not resulting in a baby.

In the new study, 280 embryos grown in the laboratory for five or six days were found to be chromosomally normal.

Of these, 111 were put into women and 78 (70%) led to ongoing pregnancies.

All those that resulted in pregnancy had levels of mitochondrial DNA known to be normal, b ut of the remaining 33 blastocysts that failed to implant, eight (24%) had unusually high levels of mitochondrial DNA.

Experts said it was "highly statistically significant" that none of the embryos with too high levels of mitochondrial DNA implanted.

Dr Epida Fragouli, from Reprogenetics UK and the University of Oxford's Nuffield Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, said the study "demonstrates that mitochondrial DNA levels are highly predictive of an embryo's implantation potential".

She added: "The results confirm that embryos with elevated levels of mitochondrial DNA rarely implant and support the use of mitochondrial quantification as a marker of embryo viability."

Chromosomal abnormality is still the main reason why embryos do not implant so experts hope that combining the two tests will boost IVF results.

The research was presented at the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology conference in Helsinki.

The test is already being offered in the US, and fertility regulator the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority is considering whether it should be allowed in the UK.

Previous research by Professor Dagan Wells from Oxford found that w omen undergoing IVF could have an 80% chance of success thanks to the mitochondrial DNA test.

Only around a third of IVF transfers in the UK are successful.
Half of police facing gross misconduct probes leave force before case heard

Half of police officers facing gross misconduct investigations in the last two years resigned or retired before their cases were heard, figures show.

A total of 833 officers were added to the Disapproved Register by forces in England and Wales in its first two years, the College of Policing said .

Of the 369 who left in the year between December 2014 and November 2015, 202 were dismissed, 147 resigned and 20 retired, while in the 12 months from December 2013, 215 were dismissed, 219 resigned and 30 retired.

More than 800 officers were added to the Disapproved Register by forces in England and Wales in its first two years

The numbers of officers leaving before their cases were resolved, totalling 416 over the two-year period, comes despite Government steps to bar them from doing so in an amendment to police regulations, which came into effect in January 2015 but did not apply to ongoing investigations.

Among them were 34 officers accused of having a relationship with a vulnerable person, 11 who faced allegations of sexual conduct towards colleagues and 30 accused of domestic abuse.

Of the reasons for leaving the service over the two years, through dismissal, retiring or resigning, the highest number - 107 -did so because of a failure to perform their duty, followed by data misuse at 89 and giving false evidence at 74.

In 2014/15, eight officers were dismissed and three resigned while under investigation over child sex offences, taking the total for the 24-month period to 16.

The figures have been broken down by force for the first time, with the highest number, 148, leaving the country's largest force the Metropolitan Police, followed by the Ministry of Defence Police at 56 and Essex Police at 41.

The majority of those who were placed on the register were reported by colleagues, with internal complaints the source of 91% of cases in 2013/14 and 84% in 2014/15

The register was introduced to prevent officers from re-entering the service after being dismissed for misconduct or resigning or retiring while subject to a gross misconduct investigation where there would have been a case to answer.

College of Policing standards manager Detective Superintendent Ray Marley said: "There is a misconception that police do not report wrongdoing by their colleagues and this is clear evidence that they are confronting unacceptable behaviour and using formal misconduct mechanisms to hold their colleagues to account.

"The number of officers on the register represents a tiny percentage of the overall workforce which shows the level of misconduct across the service is low. However, the police are not complacent and will continue to report colleagues they believe have been involved in wrongdoing.

"The police have more than six million interactions a year with the public and confidence is rising. This is reflected by the Office for National Statistics which showed the proportion of adults who feel local police are doing a good or excellent job in 2013/14 was 63%, compared to a positive rating 10 years previously of 47%. "

The figures were also broken down by rank and showed the number of police constables who left due to misconduct was 697, while there were 92 sergeants, 39 inspectors, nine chief inspectors, three superintendents and three chief superintendents.

All 43 forces in England and Wales, along with British Transport Police and the Ministry of Defence Police, voluntarily contribute to the register.

Essex Police deputy chief constable Matthew Horne said: "We must maintain public confidence by maintaining the highest of standards. Every day in Essex officers do some amazing things, but sometimes they will get things wrong and make mistakes.
Tory leadership frontrunner Theresa May says only she can unite the country

Theresa May has insisted she is the only contender to succeed David Cameron as prime minister who can unite the country and secure the best Brexit deal after emerging as the frontrunner in the race.

The Home Secretary is in pole position for the Conservative leadership after getting the votes of half the party's MPs (165) in the first round of the contest, and securing the backing of two rivals.

After quitting the race, Work and Pensions Secretary Stephen Crabb said Mrs May was the only candidate who could "unite our party and "form a cohesive and strong government", while eliminated former defence secretary Liam Fox stressed: "Experience matters."

Home Secretary Theresa May is the frontrunner

After her victory, Mrs May said: "There is a big job before us: to unite our party and the country, to negotiate the best possible deal as we leave the EU, and to make Britain work for everyone.

"I am the only candidate capable of delivering these three things as prime minister, and tonight it is clear that I am also the only one capable of drawing support from the whole of the Conservative Party."

The two candidates who top the final round of MPs' votes will go forward to a postal ballot of party members to select a new Conservative leader - and prime minister - in a contest due to end on September 9.

Mrs May's dominant first-round performance and energy minister Andrea Leadsom's strong showing in second place with 66 votes paves the way for an all-woman run-off.

But Michael Gove has vowed to fight on, with his backers suggesting he will try to attract both Mr Crabb's social reformers and Dr Fox's Eurosceptics to build on the 44 MPs he won over in the first round.

But despite her overwhelming support among MPs, Mrs May will be all too aware that in the two previous contests conducted under the present rules, initial frontrunners Ken Clarke and David Davis went on to be rejected by grass roots members.

As a supporter of the Remain vote in last month's EU referendum, the Home Secretary is vulnerable to claims by Eurosceptic rivals that the largely Brexit-backing membership requires a leader who actively campaigned to Leave.

But Leave campaigner Dr Fox insisted the timing and circumstances of the contest meant Mrs May was the best placed candidate.

Speaking outside Parliament after being eliminated from the race, he said: "We have nine weeks before the candidate who is successful becomes prime minister.

"It is essential that they have an understanding at the top levels of government and of international affairs and how the process in Whitehall operates.

"And for that reason I've decided to give my support to Theresa May - I intend to work closely with her, to campaign for her, and I'm sure she will be a very fine prime minister of this country."

Mrs May has also faced criticism over her refusal to give firm assurances that EU nationals would be allowed to remain in the UK and was accused by former Cabinet colleague Ken Clarke of being a "bloody difficult woman" with little knowledge of foreign policy.

In unguarded comments caught on camera by Sky News, Mr Clarke discussed the leadership candidates with fellow Tory veteran Sir Malcolm Rifkind, saying: "Theresa is a bloody difficult woman but you and I worked with Margaret Thatcher."

He added: "I don't think either Andrea Leadsom or Boris Johnson actually are in favour of leaving the European Union."
Italy's Renzi prefers market solution for Monte Paschi's problems

MILAN, July 3 (Reuters) - The Italian government would prefer a market solution to Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena's problems, Prime Minister Matteo Renzi said in a television interview on Sunday amid press reports that Rome could inject fresh funds in the bank.

With bad debts accounting for 41 percent of its loan book and still rising, Monte dei Paschi has the highest proportion of such loans among the country's banks and could need to raise capital soon to counter the poor quality of its assets, some Italian newspapers say.

The Corriere della Sera newspaper reported that the government is in talks with the European Commission to win its backing to inject funds in Monte dei Paschi and other weak banks without penalising private investors in the lenders.

"The option we prefer for Monte dei Paschi is a market solution," Renzi told Sky TG24 TV channel when asked about a possible nationalisation of the bank.

The government instigated the creation of the Atlante rescue fund in May, funded by healthy banks that subscribed to cash calls by Banca Popolare di Vicenza and Veneto Banca to save the two lenders from being wound down.

Monte dei Paschi raised 3 billion euros ($3.34 billion) from investors last summer after it had fared worst in a Europe-wide health check of lenders and has long been looking for a merger partner without success.

The prospects for a market solution to Monte dei Paschi's continuing woes are far from clear, however. Its market value has fallen by 70 percent since the start of the year in a sign of market dissatisfaction with the troubled lender.

The European Commission has authorised an Italian government plan to guarantee liquidity for banks in the event of a financial crisis in the euro zone's third-largest economy, a spokeswoman for the Commission said on Thursday.

Asked whether this liquidity shield would be followed by a government plan to recapitalise weak banks with public money, Renzi did not answer.

The Prime Minister, however, acknowledged that Italian banks need to tackle the problem of bad loans that weigh on their balance sheets, putting a brake on new lending to companies.

Talking about French investment banker Jean-Pierre Mustier's appointment as CEO of UniCredit, Italy's biggest bank by assets, Renzi said he did not care about Mustier's nationality.

"I don't care about the passport of the CEO of an Italian bank. What I care about is that Italian major lenders shed their soured loans and grant credit to the country's small and medium enterprises," the prime minister said. ($1 = 0.8978 euros)
Mauritania arrests nine anti-slavery activists

NOUAKCHOTT, July 3 (Reuters) - Mauritanian authorities have arrested nine anti-slavery activists and accused them of starting a riot in which several police officers were injured and a bus was burned, activist leaders said on Sunday.

The arrests were an attempt to use the riot in Nouakchott to discredit the Initiative for the Resurgence of the Abolitionist Movement (IRA) movement, its coordinator Issa Ould Aliyine told a news conference.

"From the first hours of the riots, and even without knowing their cause or the details, an order was given to government media to start a campaign to link the IRA with the violence," he said.

The riot on Wednesday started when police moved squatters from the Haratin ethnic group, many of them former slaves, from an area they have occupied illegally for decades, said Cheikh Sid'Ahmed Ould Sidi, the prefect of Ksar where the clash took place.

The Haratin, Mauritania's main "slave caste", are descended from ethnic groups along the Senegal river. They often work as cattle herders and domestic servants.

"What happened was provoked by a movement known for its extremism," said Mahy Ould Ahmed, one of the governors of the capital Nouakchott, referring to the IRA. It was not clear whether the activists were charged.
UK plans lower corporation tax to cushion hit from Brexit

By William Schomberg and Conor Humphries

LONDON/DUBLIN, July 4 (Reuters) - Britain has announced plans to cut corporation tax to less than 15 percent in an attempt to cushion the shock of the country's decision to leave the European Union, raising the prospect of competitive tax cuts across the bloc.

Finance Minister George Osborne told the Financial Times he wanted to build a "super competitive economy" with low business taxes and a global focus, signalling a determination to remain in his job when a new prime minister takes over in September.

The new rate, which was announced without a target date, compares with Osborne's previous target to cut corporation tax to 17 percent by 2020 from 20 percent now. The average rate among the world's most developed countries is 25 percent.

Confidence in Britain's economy has been hit by the vote to leave the EU and a lower tax rate could help prevent an exodus of British firms and attract U.S. and European companies which might otherwise be put off by the uncertainty it has created.

"The prospect of a lower tax base remains appealing for some U.S. companies regardless of Britain's future status within the EU," said Ferdinand Mason, a London-based partner at law firm Jones Day. But Britain would also need to negotiate a Norway-style deal on market access with the rest of Europe, he said.

"If Britain is to become a truly attractive proposition to foreign investors, it is crucial that the UK negotiates a deal with the EU that gives it access to the single market."

"WORLD IS CHANGING"

Ireland, where a 12.5 percent corporate tax rate has been a cornerstone of economic policy for 20 years, drawing investors such as Pfizer and Apple, said Osborne's announcement showed how the Brexit vote had altered the dynamics of the EU.

"This is a very stark reminder of how the world is changing as a result of the referendum result in the United Kingdom," Public Expenditure Minister Paschal Donohoe told RTE radio.

"The tectonic plates are shifting and this is a very early sign of it. It's a sharp reminder here, to us, that your tax system and how it's structured is an essential part of our national competitiveness," Donohoe said.

Ireland's transport minister said Osborne's move was an "obvious attempt" to lure investors away from Ireland.

"If the headline figure was to come down to 12.5 percent in the UK, it would be threatening to us and we would have to adjust accordingly and make ourselves more attractive again," Shane Ross, an independent minister, said.

The Netherlands said it would review its tax rates to ensure it remained attractive. "It is something we are thinking about with an eye to the future," finance ministry spokesman Paul van der Zanden said. "On the one side we want to fight tax avoidance and on the other we need to look at our investment climate."

A spokesman for Germany's finance ministry said plans to cut corporation tax should be fair. "It is clear that it is the (German) government's aim that the issue of taxes is dealt with in a fair way in the single market," Martin Jaeger said.

Martin Sorrell, chief executive of London-based WPP, the world's largest advertising agency, backed Osborne's plan. "The lower, the faster, the better. Hopefully, there's more stimulus to come," he told Reuters.

Yet uncertainty over Osborne's role in Britain's new government leaves a large question mark over the declared goal.

"We don't know when the tax rate will be cut or even if it will be cut because we don't know if George Osborne will continue as chancellor," said Helen Miller, associate director at the Institute of Fiscal Studies.

Cutting the rate from 20 percent now to below 15 percent would cost at least 10 billion pounds based on government estimates, she said.

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, in a June 24 internal email seen by Reuters, said a further cut in British corporation tax was unlikely due to a high political cost but if it happened it would "really turn the UK into a tax haven type of economy."

"NOT THE RIGHT WAY" TO START EU NEGOTIATIONS

Some took the announcement by Osborne as the opening salvo in future negotiations with the rest of the EU about Britain's relationship with its former partners.

Pascal Lamy, a former World Trade Organisation head, said Osborne was moving fast to activate one of Britain's weapons in the talks as well as trying to reassure foreign investors who are worried about Britain's access to the EU's single market.

"I can understand that from his side but he has to think about the impact of this on the continent," Lamy told BBC radio.

"If you want a proper balanced, win-win relationship in the future, starting with tax competition is not the right way psychologically to prepare this negotiation."

Other elements of Osborne's plan to steer the economy through the upheaval caused by the Brexit vote included support for bank lending to ensure credit does not seize up, more efforts to direct investment to northern England and maintaining Britain's fiscal credibility, the FT quoted him as saying.

Last week, Osborne said he would no longer target a budget surplus in 2020 because of the expected hit to the economy from the referendum result.

Some politicians such as Molly Scott Cato, a member of the European parliament for Britain's Green Party, said he was using the referendum result to accelerate policy planned anyway.

"He wants to usher in an era in which the UK embarks on a race to the bottom, not just through cutting corporation tax, but also on social and environmental deregulation and even more stringent public spending cuts," she said.

"We need a general election so people have a chance to have their say on the sort of country we want to build together."

Osborne's softer approach to fixing public finances chimed with comments by interior minister Theresa May, the leading contender to replace David Cameron as prime minister.

Bank of England Governor Mark Carney said last week that he believed the economy would need more stimulus soon.
Saudi energy minister says oil market heading toward a balance, prices beginning to settle -state media

DOHA, July 4 (Reuters) - The energy minister of Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil exporter, and the secretary general of OPEC agree that the global oil market is heading toward a balance and that prices are starting to settle, according to comments carried by Saudi state news agency SPA.

The statement said Khalid al-Falih and the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries' newly appointed secretary general, Mohammed Barkindo, had met in the Saudi city of Dhahran to discuss the role of OPEC in maintaining the stability of oil markets.
Australian political deadlock puts AAA rating at risk

By Wayne Cole and Jane Wardell

SYDNEY, July 3 (Reuters) - Australia could be a step closer to losing its vaunted triple A credit rating after a deeply divided electorate left the country in limbo and foreshadowed a hung parliament where no party holds outright power.

The uncertain outcome of Saturday's federal election heightened fears Australia could be consigned to three years of minority government and paralysis on budget reform, a scenario that is expected to cause market jitters on Monday.

"The market doesn't like uncertainty and the election result has delivered that in spades," AMP Capital chief economist Shane Oliver told Reuters, adding a ratings downgrade appeared likely.

"It will probably effect the Aussie dollar and I think the share market; we will see a negative knee-jerk reaction tomorrow."

Australia's debt levels, while relatively low on a global scale, have been heading in the wrong direction for years. All the most ambitious attempts to right the fiscal ship have been sunk by the ruling coalition government's lack of power in the upper house Senate.

Rating agencies have been patient with the political process up to now, but there are signs time might be running out.

"Australia should be doing so much better than it is," Oliver said.

A downgrade would be a political nightmare for whichever party is in power, after successive governments brandished the rating as a badge of honour. Only 10 nations have the top rating from all three of the major agencies.

Losing it would "be a blow to confidence" and could lead to a rash of downgrades for Australian banks and companies, the opposition Labor Party has warned.

In May, Moody's noted that governments of all stripes were finding it hard to rein in spending, and budget deficits had been repeatedly revised higher.

Treasurer Scott Morrison's latest forecast was for net debt to peak at 19.2 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) by mid-2018. Yet as recently as the 2012/13 budget the peak had been projected to be less than 10 percent.

Standard & Poor's has been conspicuous in its silence since Morrison handed down his 2016/17 budget in May, prompting market speculation that it was considering changing Australia's outlook to negative, a precursor to a potential downgrade.

FEEL THE YIELD

The Business Council of Australia (BCA), which represents the country's largest businesses, called for a resolution to the political deadlock as soon as possible.

"While counting of votes is likely to continue for several days, Australians and Australian business can ill-afford gridlock, recriminations or in-fighting," said Christine Jackman, communications director of the BCA.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull on Sunday stressed that his government continued to rule in caretaker mode and he expected a resolution by the end of the week.

"What we will do is ensure that we work constructively and effectively with all of the members of the new parliament to ensure that the we deliver the stability and the leadership that Australians expect," Turnbull said.

Still, were Australia to slip from the top rankings this might not be the worst time for that to happen.

Central banks around the world are engaged in extraordinary stimulus campaigns that have driven borrowing costs to record lows. Many German and Japanese bonds pay less than nothing, with yields out to 10 years and longer in negative territory.

That has made global investors hungry for yield above all, and far less concerned with niceties such as credit ratings.

It was notable this week that when S&P stripped Britain of its top rating, yields still sank to all-time lows as investors wagered on more policy easing.

All of which makes Australian bonds' fat returns - 10-year paper pays 2 percent - attractive no matter the rating.

"Post-GFC (global financial crisis) the market has certainly paid less heed to ratings than it did before," says Sean Keen, a consultant for Credit Suisse. "The global squeeze on fixed income assets has meant that supply, coupon and availability all now rank above the rating in the minds of many buyers of government bonds."
Arsenal agree deal for Japan forward Asano

LONDON, July 3 (Reuters) - Arsenal have agreed to sign 21-year-old Japan forward Takuma Asano from J-League side Sanfrecce Hiroshima subject to a medical and regulatory processes, the club said on Sunday.

Several teams have been chasing Asano, who has five caps after making his international debut in August last year and is expected to be a part of the Japan squad for the Rio Olympics.

"Takuma is a talented young striker and very much one for the future. He has had an impressive start to his career in Japan and we look forward to him developing over the next couple of years," Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger told www.arsenal.com.
Kuwait foils three Islamic State attacks -state media

DOHA, July 4 (Reuters) - Kuwait's interior ministry foiled three attacks on the country planned by the Islamic State group after launching raids that resulted in the arrest of militants, Kuwait's state news agency, KUNA, said.

"The interior ministry said on Sunday it foiled three terrorist plots targeting the country's security by directing three pre-emptive raids inside and outside Kuwait against terrorist elements of the so-called Daesh," said a statement on KUNA, referring to Islamic State's acronym in Arabic.

The statement did not provide details of the identities of the militants or the countries in which they had been arrested.
Oil extends gains, Saudi minister sees market balance

TOKYO, July 4 (Reuters) - Crude prices extended gains on Monday in Asia, supported by comments from the Saudi energy minister saying the oil market is heading towards balance.

London Brent crude for September delivery was up 17 cents at $50.52 a barrel by 2247 GMT on Sunday, after settling up 64 cents at $50.35 on Friday.

NYMEX crude for August delivery was up 5 cents at $49.04 a barrel, after closing up 66 cents, or 1.4 percent, on Friday. There will be no West Texas Intermediate crude settlement on Monday as U.S. financial and commodity markets are closed for the Independence Day holiday.

The energy minister of Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil exporter, and the secretary general of OPEC agree that the global oil market is heading towards a balance and that prices are starting to settle, according to comments carried by Saudi state news agency SPA.

U.S. drillers last week added oil rigs for a fourth week in five, according to a closely followed report Friday, in the best month of producers returning to the well pad since August that signalled a near-two year rout in drilling may have ended.

The Niger Delta Avengers, a militant group that has been carrying out attacks on Nigerian oil facilities in the past few months, claimed responsibility on Sunday for five new attacks in the southern energy hub since Friday.

Attacks in the Niger Delta have pushed Nigerian crude production to 30-year lows, although the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) said last week that output was rising because of repairs and a fall-off in attacks.

Russian oil output stood at 10.84 million barrels per day (bpd) in June, up from 10.83 bpd in May, Energy Ministry data showed on Saturday.

Norwegian offshore oil workers and employers signed a new wage deal on Saturday, avoiding a strike that would have cut the output from western Europe's top oil and gas producer by about 6 percent, employers and unions said.
Kuwait foils three Islamic State attacks -state media

DOHA, July 4 (Reuters) - Kuwait foiled three planned Islamic State attacks on the country, including a plot to blow up a Shi'ite mosque, after launching raids that resulted in the arrest of militants, state news agency KUNA said on Monday.

"Kuwait security agencies have carried out three pre-emptive operations in Kuwait and abroad that led to derailing a number of Islamic State (IS) plots targeting Kuwait and arresting several IS members," said an interior ministry statement on KUNA.

The statement included pictures of a veiled, middle-aged woman and five young men, one of whom it said was a Kuwaiti national who had joined Islamic State and planned to bomb a mosque and an interior ministry building during Eid holidays.

A year ago, Kuwait, home to several U.S. military bases, suffered its deadliest militant attack in decades when a Saudi suicide bomber blew himself up inside a packed Shi'ite mosque, killing 27 people. Islamic State claimed responsibility.

A U.S. ally and neighbour of Saudi Arabia and Iraq, Kuwait is part of a 34-nation alliance announced by Riyadh in December aimed at countering Islamic State and al Qaeda in Iraq, Syria, Libya, Egypt and Afghanistan.

Shi'ites comprise between 15 and 30 percent of the predominantly Sunni Muslim Gulf Arab state, where members of both communities are known to live side by side with little apparent friction.

On Sunday, Kuwait National Petroleum Company said it would reinforce security measures at oil installations in coordination with the country's interior ministry.
Uniqlo owner Fast Retailing plans to halt all business travel to Bangladesh after attack

TOKYO, July 4 (Reuters) - Japan's Fast Retailing Co , owner of the Uniqlo casual-wear brand, said it plans to suspend all business travel to Bangladesh after militants targeting foreigners killed 20 people in the country's capital on Saturday, including seven Japanese.

A Fast Retailing spokeswoman said the company had told its 10 Japanese staff based in Bangladesh to stay home until further notice.
Copper, aluminium ease after rally; market eyes China stimulus

SINGAPORE, July 4 (Reuters) - London copper edged lower on Monday as the market took a breather after rallying for the last five sessions on expectations of stimulus measures in top consumer China.

Aluminium dipped after climbing to a two-month top on Friday in a rally driven by speculative inflows and by industrial firms in China increasing their purchases.

FUNDAMENTALS

* Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange had eased 0.5 percent to 4,888 a tonne by 0112 GMT after climbing to a two-month peak in the last session.

* The most-traded copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange added 1.4 percent to 37,880 yuan a tonne.

* Growth in China's manufacturing sector stalled in June, an official survey showed on Friday, adding to expectations that Beijing will have to roll out more stimulus soon to boost the sluggish economy.

* There was support for aluminium as industrial firms in China increased their purchases of the metal in liquid form, creating a shortage of ingots, the form of the metal which drives prices.

* The shortage was highlighted on Friday when weekly data showed inventories on the Shanghai Futures Exchange (ShFE) slid 11.5 percent to 163,664 tonnes.

* That means that ShFE inventories have tumbled by more than half from 341,615 tonnes in mid-March.

* LME aluminium lost 0.2 percent to $1,660.5 a tonne while prices in Shanghai rose 0.1 percent to 12,660 yuan a tonne.

* For the top stories in metals and other news, click or

MARKETS NEWS

* Asian share markets took a step back on Monday, while the Australian dollar dropped after no clear winner emerged from a weekend election.

DATA AHEAD (GMT) 0830 Euro zone Sentix index Jul 0900 Euro zone Producer prices May

PRICES

Three month LME copper

Most active ShFE copper

Three month LME aluminium

Most active ShFE aluminium

Three month LME zinc

Most active ShFE zinc

Three month LME lead

Most active ShFE lead

Three month LME nickel

Most active ShFE nickel

Three month LME tin
Suicide bomber killed, two police wounded in blast outside U.S. consulate in Jeddah - state TV

RIYADH, July 4 (Reuters) - A suicide bomber was killed and two other people wounded in a blast outside the U.S. consulate in Saudi Arabia's second city of Jeddah early on Monday, state TV said.

The attacker parked his car outside a mosque opposite the consulate and shortly afterwards his device detonated, killing him and lightly wounding three security men nearby, state TV said.
Japan's Uniqlo suspends most Bangladesh travel; others reviewing operations

By Abhirup Roy, Promit Mukherjee and Chang-Ran Kim

MUMBAI/TOKYO, July 4 (Reuters) - Foreign companies with nationals working in Bangladesh's garment and building industries have suspended travel to the country and told workers there to stay at home after a deadly attack by Islamist militants on a restaurant in Dhaka on Friday.

The hospitality sector is also seeing cancellations, hotels are tightening security and foreign embassies are looking at reducing staffing after the attack claimed the lives of nine Italians, seven Japanese, an American, an Indian and some Bangladeshi nationals.

Fast Retailing Co, the Japanese owner of the Uniqlo casual-wear brand, said it would suspend all but critical travel to Bangladesh and had told staff there to stay indoors.

Bangladesh's $26 billion garment industry has been bracing for the fallout of Friday's killings, fearing major retailers from Uniqlo to Marks and Spencer and Gap could rethink their sourcing plans after the latest attack targeting foreigners.

One of the world's poorest countries, Bangladesh relies on garments for around 80 percent of its exports and for about 4 million jobs, and ranks behind only China as a supplier of clothes to developed markets like Europe and the United States.

Uniqlo has 10 Japanese staff in Bangladesh, one of its major production hubs outside China, and was among the first to confirm it would tighten travel restrictions already in place after attacks last year. A spokeswoman said all but critical travel was suspended.

"Obviously this is generating a lot of concern with all the brands my company works with," said Shovon Islam, the head of Sparrow Group, which supplies top brands like Marks and Spencer and Gap.

He said that after a foreigner was killed in Bangladesh last year, some overseas companies pared back travel to the country and asked for meetings to be held in Bangkok, New Delhi and Hong Kong instead.

"This time the intensity of the threat is much higher and we will definitely see companies altering their plans," Islam said.

The Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh, a group of mostly European retailers, said it would review security measures for its staff in Bangladesh.

While it is too early to say whether the group's signatories will shift production out of Bangladesh, it may affect travel restrictions for buyers coming to Bangladesh, a spokesman for the group said.

'HEARTBREAKING'

"There'll definitely be an impact on the garment industry," said Sudhir Dhingra, head of Orient Craft, based in the Indian city of Gurgaon. "I was just speaking to a top label which said its official who was supposed to visit Bangladesh to inspect an order has refused to go."

Bangladesh garment exporters who dealt with some of those killed in Friday's attack were still coming to terms with what had happened. "I was doing business with six of the nine Italians who died. It's shocking and heartbreaking," said Meshba Uddin Ali, managing director of Wega Fashion Sweater Pvt Ltd.

Amos Ho, a senior manager at Pou Chen, one of the world's largest makers of trainers for brands like Nike, Adidas and Puma, said: "We've urged our employees to be cautious. They have to pay attention to their personal safety."

Industry analysts have suggested clothing brands may consider shifting out of Bangladesh to less unsettled countries in Asia, such as Cambodia and Sri Lanka. No major companies have yet signalled official plans.

"There are no plans on changing any sourcing, but we are following developments closely," Sweden's H & M said in a statement on Sunday echoed by other big retailers.

Several others companies, including French retail group Auchan Holding, German clothing company Kik Textilien and European family-owned clothing retailer C&A, said they were monitoring the situation closely but had not made any plans to stop working in the country.

Two foreign nationals who live in Bangladesh and work in the garments business said the attack could scuttle plans for business travel.

"I have so many big brands I do business with and in the last 48 hours, they've all called me. They're afraid, they're scared," said Robert, an American who has lived in Bangladesh for seven years. He did not wish to disclose his last name or the name of his firm.

The foreigners said, however, said they personally did not intend to leave, noting that such attacks were not restricted to Bangladesh.

"In the last month, I went to Italy, Belgium, Germany, Amsterdam. If you look at where I went last month, where was there not a problem that's not equal to Bangladesh? Even USA," said Robert.

REDUCING STAFFING

Both the United States and British embassies in Bangladesh may reduce staff numbers, one diplomatic source said, and ask only essential staff to stay on.

Japanese construction companies Obayashi Corp and Shimizu Corp, both with more than a dozen employees working on bridge projects in Bangladesh, said they advised staff to stay indoors.

At least two five-star hotels in Dhaka, which cater primarily to business clients, said they had seen a spike in cancellations since Friday's attack.
Bomber killed, two police wounded in blast outside U.S. consulate in Jeddah

RIYADH, July 4 (Reuters) - A suicide bomber was killed and two people were wounded in a blast near the U.S. consulate in Saudi Arabia's second city of Jeddah early on Monday, state TV said, the first bombing in years to attempt to target foreigners in the kingdom.

The attacker parked his car outside a hospital opposite the consulate at about 2.15 a.m. and detonated his device after being approached by two security men, killing him and lightly wounding them, it said, quoting a security spokesman.

Three further blasts rocked the location of the bombing hours later, a witness told Reuters, as police carried out what appeared to be controlled explosions near the site.

A video sent by the witness showed police taking cover behind vehicles and covering their ears before a blast.

In a statement, the U.S. consulate said there were no casualties or injuries among its staff, adding that it and the U.S. embassy were in contact with Saudi authorities investigating the incident.

Reuters could not immediately reach officials for further details. A photograph on the Sabq news website showed what appeared to be the remains of a man lying beside a taxi.

State television avoided direct reference to the presence of the diplomatic mission, mentioning only the street address, an apparent effort to downplay the likely target of the attack.

A State Department message to U.S. citizens in Saudi Arabia reiterated advice to keep aware of their surroundings and take extra precautions when travelling.

The witness said the area had been closed off by security forces, with helicopters hovering overhead. The explosion appeared to have taken place about 20 m (65 feet) from an outer checkpoint of the consulate, he added. Concrete barriers protect the street outside the consulate.

Islamic State has carried out a series of bombing and shooting attacks in Saudi Arabia since mid-2014 that have killed scores of people, mostly members of the Shi'ite Muslim minority and security services.
Muslim doctor shot near Houston mosque on way to prayer

By Barbara Goldberg

July 3 (Reuters) - A Muslim doctor headed for morning prayers on Sunday at a Houston mosque was shot in an attacked by three men, police said. The motive for the attack was unclear, but comes a day after another Muslim man was beaten outside a Florida mosque.

The victim of the Texas incident, Dr. Arslan Tajammul, an eye specialist in his 30s, was undergoing surgery and was expected to survive, according to Mustafaa Carroll, executive director of the Houston branch of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).

The wounded physician escaped internal organ damage and was expected to fully recover, though he remained hospitalized in intensive care late on Sunday, according to Houston police officer Muzaffar Siddiqi, a liaison with the city's Muslim community.

The doctor had parked his car and was walking to the Madrasah Islamiah mosque for the day's first prayers when he was ambushed about a block away from the mosque and shot twice at about 5:30 a.m. EST (0930 GMT), Siddiqi said. The three attackers fled on foot.

"It's a real strange occurrence because the mosque is in a poor neighborhood, and they (the attackers) were wearing masks, which could mean all kinds of things," Carroll said.

Siddiqi said investigators had not confirmed the assailants were masked. He urged the public not to jump to conclusions, despite concerns in the Muslim community that the attack was a hate crime.

"We don't know yet," Siddiqi told Reuters in a telephone interview, adding that robbery might have been the motive. But he said police were escalating their presence around the mosque in the meantime. The Muslim holy month of Ramadan ends on Tuesday.

The shooting took place a day after a Muslim man was beaten outside a Florida mosque that had been attended by the gunman who killed 49 people at an Orlando nightclub.

The victim in that case was punched in the head and face outside the Fort Pierce Islamic Center early on Saturday, the St. Lucie County Sheriff's Office said.

Taylor Anthony Mazzanti, 25, was arrested in the attack and was charged with felony battery, the sheriff's office said, adding that the case was still under investigation.

The Florida branch of CAIR said the attacker uttered racially offensive comments, including "You Muslims need to get back to your country," before the assault.
China offers Philippines talks if South China Sea court ignored -China Daily

SHANGHAI, July 4 (Reuters) - China is ready to start negotiations with the Philippines on South China Sea-related issues if Manila ignores an arbitration ruling expected next week on their long-running territorial dispute, the official China Daily reported on Monday.

The Philippines brought the case to the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague and a ruling is expected on July 12. The case contests China's claims to the bulk of the South China Sea, a body of water through which $5 trillion in ship-borne trade passes every year. China has said it plans to ignore the Court's ruling which would represent a snub of the international legal order.

The Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei have overlapping claims with China in the area. Beijing has rejected the arbitration case, claiming the court has no jurisdiction and saying it wants to solve the issue bilaterally. In recent weeks it has ramped up its propaganda campaign downplaying the outcome of the case.

Negotiations between China and the Philippines could cover "issues such as joint development and cooperation in scientific research if the new government puts the tribunal's ruling aside before returning to the table for talks", the China Daily said.

China's main, government-run English newspaper did not name its sources but identified them as "close to the issues between the two countries".

"Manila must put aside the result of the arbitration in a substantive approach," it quoted one source as saying.

China's Foreign Ministry last month said the two countries had agreed in 1995 to settle disputes in the South China Sea "in a peaceful and friendly manner through consultations on the basis of equity and mutual respect".

China and the Philippines have held many rounds of talks on the proper management of maritime disputes, though have had no negotiations designed to settle the actual disputes in the South China Sea, it said.

In the arbitration case, the Philippines is contesting China's claim to an area shown on its maps as a nine-dash line stretching deep into the maritime heart of Southeast Asia, covering hundreds of disputed islands and reefs.

"Objectively the tribunal has no jurisdiction over the dispute," Sienho Yee, a law professor at the China Institute of Boundary and Ocean Studies at China's Wuhan University, told Reuters in a government-arranged interview on Friday.
China commodities rally on hopes of stimulus to boost economy

By Manolo Serapio Jr

MANILA, July 4 (Reuters) - Chinese commodities from nickel to cotton surged on Monday on hopes Beijing will unleash more stimulus to prop up a sluggish economy, brightening the outlook for raw material demand.

An official survey on Friday pointed to China's weak manufacturing sector in June with export orders and inventories falling and factories shedding more workers.

"There are headwinds in the domestic market and exports and for the government to achieve its macroeconomic targets they need to focus on more stimulus in the second half of the year," said Helen Lau, an analyst at Argonaut Securities in Hong Kong.

"That will be good for commodity demand."

Chinese commodities have mostly outperformed stocks this year as investors see more upside potential after a glut in supply had hit the sector hard.

A rally in commodities in April caused prices and volumes to soar and forced exchanges to step in to curb speculative activity.

The gains also reflect sustained recovery in risk appetite among Chinese investors as the fallout from the British vote to exit the European Union eases.

Rebar and iron ore, which hit the highest in two months, were among the most-traded commodity futures, .

Rebar on the Shanghai Futures Exchange rose as much as 5.3 percent to 2,468 yuan ($370) a tonne and iron ore on the Dalian Commodity Exchange advanced as much as 4.9 percent to 441.50 yuan per tonne.

Both extended last week's gains that were spurred by low steel inventory levels and efforts by Beijing to consolidate its steel sector.

"The tight supply and expectation of more fiscal stimulus by the government to shore up the economy may continue to boost sentiment in both spot and futures market," said Lau.

Among other commodities, the most-traded cotton contract on the Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange rose by its maximum allowed 5 percent to hit the highest since May 2014.

Shanghai nickel surged by its 6 percent upside limit to the strongest since November and tin jumped as much as 7.5 percent to the highest since last May.

Nickel was supported by worries about mine closures in the Philippines as the country's new mining minister announced plans to review all mines in the country, the biggest supplier of nickel ore to China.
Thailand sets up security centres ahead of referendum

BANGKOK, July 4 (Reuters) - Thailand's military government has set up security centres around the country ahead of an August referendum on a new constitution, a spokesman for the government said on Monday.

The centres are the latest measure rolled out by the government as Thailand prepares to vote on a new constitution that critics fear will entrench the military's influence.

The draft of Thailand's 20th constitution is to replace one scrapped after a 2014 coup by generals who promised stability in Southeast Asia's second-biggest economy.

The Aug. 7 referendum will be the first real rest of the junta's popularity since it took power.

A "Centre for Maintaining Peace and Order" has been set up in every one of Thailand's 76 provinces, said Major General Sansern Kaewkamnerd, spokesman for the Thai prime minister's office, in order to ensure "no cheating, no lobbying and no persuading people to vote one way or another."

Provincial governors will be responsible for assembling teams to join the centre including police, troops and civilian volunteers.

"We need to ensure peace during the referendum so that people can decide how our country will move forward," Sansern told Reuters.

Last month junta chief Prayuth Chan-ocha and opposition supporters of ousted populist premier Thaksin Shinawatra both contacted the United Nations after an upsurge in political tension, just a day after police shut down an electoral monitoring centre of the "red shirt" anti-government movement.

The red shirts say the centres are needed to prevent fraud.

Thanawut Wichaidit, a spokesman for the red shirt movement, accused the government of double standards.

"We weren't able to set up our monitoring centres so why should the military government be allowed to set up their centres?" Thanawut told Reuters.

"The military government is blindfolding the electorate and leading their hand to vote in the manner they want."

Under the proposed charter, a junta-appointed Senate with seats reserved for military commanders would check the powers of elected lawmakers for a five-year transitional period.
China detains 21 after garbage incinerator protest

BEIJING, July 4 (Reuters) - Police in southern China have detained 21 people involved in a protest against a planned garbage incinerator, the latest incident of environment-related unrest in the country.

In a statement late on Sunday, the government of Gaoyao district in Guangdong province's Zhaoqing city said about 1,300 people had gathered to protest earlier in the day, which had caused traffic problems.

While the protesters were dispersed by the early afternoon and there was no "drastic behaviour", 21 people have been taken in for questioning, it added.

Zhaoqing police said on their official microblog that the situation had now returned to normal.

However the official China Daily said there had been some violence.

"The lawbreakers threw stones and bottles of mineral water at police," propaganda official Duan Jianxin told the newspaper. "Some police officers were injured."

The China Daily said some residents were worried the garbage incinerator could pollute the environment, but that the government has denied this would happen.

Tens of thousands of "mass incidents" - the usual euphemism for protests - happen in China each year, spurred by grievances over issues such as corruption, pollution and illegal land grabs, unnerving the stability-obsessed ruling Communist Party.
Hong Kong sending delegation to Beijing on detainee notification

HONG KONG, July 4 (Reuters) - Hong Kong will send a delegation of senior officals to Beijing on Tuesday to discuss notification when its residents are detained, after protests in the Asian financial hub over the disappearances of five booksellers.

No decisions will be made but senior Hong Kong justice, security, immigration, customs and police officials will travel to the Chinese capital for a one-day meeting with mainland authorities for a "comprehensive and in-depth review" of the existing notification system, Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying said on Monday.

The meeting comes after five Hong Kong booksellers went missing under mysterious circumstances, then later appeared in mainland Chinese custody. The booksellers had all been associated with a single bookshop that specialised in gossipy books criticial of mainland leaders.

Last month, one of the men, Lam Wing-kee, returned to Hong Kong and held a news conference detailing how he had been held for months and repeatedly interrogated by Chinese agents without access to family or lawyers, then told he had to hand over a hard disk drive with the shop's customer database.

Hong Kong is a special administrative region of China, governed by separate laws under a 1997 agreement with the British that returned it to Chinese rule. Under the agreement certain things that are banned in the mainland - such as publishing and selling certain books - are permitted in Hong Kong. It is also illegal under the agreement for mainland Chinese authorities to operate in Hong Kong.
London stock exchange shareholders vote on merger deal under Brexit cloud

By Huw Jones and Andreas Kroner

LONDON/FRANKFURT July 3 (Reuters) - Shareholders of the London Stock Exchange will vote on Monday on whether to back a $27 billion merger with Deutsche Boerse, even though the deal may have to be tweaked following Britain's decision to leave the European Union.

The two exchanges have insisted that their all-share merger to create the world's biggest bourse by revenue was essentially "Brexit proof", but the result of Britain's June 23 referendum has cast a shadow over the deal.

Germany's markets watchdog BaFin said last week that London could not host the headquarters of the planned European stock exchange giant if London is outside the bloc, saying it would be hard to imagine that the most important exchange in the euro zone would be steered from a headquarters outside the EU.

Shareholders of the 318-year old London exchange will vote at 0915 GMT on Monday on what is London's third attempt to merge with Deutsche Boerse in 16 years, the previous plans scuppered by a band of British stockbrokers, and a failed counterbid from Stockholm's bourse.

The results of the vote will be announced later on Monday.

Sources close to the deal have said they expect LSE shareholders to approve the merger.

Deutsche Boerse shareholders are being asked to approve the tender offer in a postal vote that will be completed by July 12.

Regulatory approval is seen as a major hurdle. While BaFin cannot veto the deal, its concerns are likely to be taken seriously by Deutsche Boerse - and by the German state of Hesse, where Deutsche Boerse is based. The state of Hesse has a veto power, along with the EU's competition unit.

The London Stock Exchange Group, which comprises the London exchange, Borsa Italiana in Milan and LCH.Clearnet, Europe's biggest off-exchange derivatives clearing house, had no comment.

When the Brexit vote result was announced on June 24, the London exchange said the deal would go ahead as planned without any changes to the terms.

Deutsche Boerse had no comment.

However, financial markets fell sharply on news of Brexit, sending sterling down to 30-year lows. That makes the 54:46 percent split between Deutsche Boerse and the London exchange far more favourable to the latter's shareholders as they would get the same number of Deutsche Boerse shares despite the pound's slump in value.

The two exchanges had already set up a committee to study the impact of Britain's referendum on the merger. It is headed by Deutsche Boerse Chairman Joachim Faber, who has said the choice of London as the sole headquarters of the holding company would have to be reviewed in the case of a Brexit.

It is unclear whether Britain would allow the combined group's head office to be in Frankfurt rather than London.

The committee is due to meet in coming weeks and could make non-binding recommendations.

It's not just the head office location that is likely to be discussed. The shape of Britain's future trading relations with the EU, which may take months or years to fully emerge, would also have commercial implications for the deal.

The British government has signalled that it won't formally inform the EU of the country's intention to leave the bloc until after the summer. Without this step, a two-year period to negotiate the divorce under the EU's Lisbon Treaty cannot begin.
Iraq's Shi'ite militiamen stir unease in Sunni Falluja

By Stephen Kalin

FALLUJA, Iraq, July 3 (Reuters) - A highway overpass in central Falluja, from which Islamic State militants hanged a captured Iraqi soldier last year, bears the marks of the city's latest victors, including a slogan scrawled in green spray paint: "The state of (Imam) Hussein remains."

The overtly Shi'ite Muslim phrase, which appears to mimic Islamic State's own "Remain and Extend" motto, was left a week ago by one of the Shi'ite militiamen who helped drive Islamic State from the Sunni city it captured in January 2014.

With combat over, the militias are staying on, brushing up against army, police and counter-terrorism forces which have each staked out positions across Falluja, heavily damaged by the fighting and now almost completely empty.

The militias' continued presence in Falluja and their pledges to remain for an undefined period of time raise the possibility that nearly 300,000 displaced Sunnis may not feel safe returning home anytime soon.

Keen to avoid a repeat of systematic looting, blamed on militias, after the recovery of cities like Tikrit and Baiji last year, regular government forces and militia leaders themselves say they have managed to limit abuses in Falluja to a few isolated cases.

The government said it had arrested several perpetrators, including those suspected in the summary execution of dozens of fleeing residents.

But government efforts to keep the militias to outlying areas of Falluja have failed, part of continuing tensions over the Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF), a coalition of mostly Shi'ite militias that report to Iraq's Shi'ite Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi but are trained and armed by Iran.

Sunni politicians say what happened in Falluja shows the militias should be completely barred from a planned offensive on Mosul, the most important Islamic State bastion remaining in Iraq which the authorities want to retake this year.

LOOTING, ARSON

Before the military assault began on May 23, Iraqi officials had said the militias would be kept outside Falluja for fear of aggravating sectarian tensions with Sunni residents. The militias initially indicated they would cooperate.

But by mid-June, their fighters appeared on the battlefield and commanders bragged about their important contributions. Prime Minister Abadi later praised their role in the offensive, which was declared over on June 26.

A government spokesman said the forces deployed in Falluja are clearing it from mines and explosives and restoring basic services so that the population can return under the supervision of the local police that will take over the city.

"When the city is secured, the forces will leave," he said, referring to the units that don't belong to the city, without mentioning specifically the Shi'ite paramilitary.

"Popular Mobilization is part of the security forces and they are taking part in the military operations according to the plan set by the commander in chief of the armed forces," the spokesman added, referring to Abadi.

The militias were still present last week during several Reuters visits to Falluja, where plumes of dark black smoke billowed into the sky.

Two sources from the elite counter-terrorism service (CTS) said looting and arson had followed the end of combat. One of them blamed the PMF and showed Reuters three militiamen caught in the act.

At least two white pick-up trucks inside Falluja on Thursday were carrying what appeared to be washing machines and other home appliances, covered with blankets, but Reuters could not verify they had been stolen.

Many roads in the zone controlled by CTS have been blocked off with rubble and burnt-out cars. The second source said the barriers, which went up after Islamic State was routed, were meant to block other Iraqi forces.

"We do that to prevent any looting or violations in our area of operations," he said.

Security forces prevented a Reuters team touring Falluja on Thursday from approaching a large fire in a western district overlooking the Euphrates river.

Such fires were set by Islamic State militants to provide cover from airstrikes as they fled, many officials say, but some acknowledged pro-government forces are also partly to blame.

A spokesman for the Badr Organisation, one of the largest PMF factions, denounced the acts as isolated incidents.

"The (Popular) Mobilisation refuses these acts and will punish all those who those proven to have committed them," said Karim al-Nuri, adding that four or five PMF members had already been arrested.

FOR HOW LONG?

Abu Mahdi al-Mohandis, one of the PMF leaders and head of Kataib Hezbollah, a constituent militia, last week pledged his fighters would not leave their positions inside Falluja.

"The (Popular) Mobilisation will continue to hold its ground in every area. The armed forces still need the Popular Mobilisation," he said in an interview posted online on June 26.

Nuri, the Badr spokesman, said the PMF would leave "as soon as security returns", but could not specify how long that might take. The militias have remained in many other areas retaken from Islamic State, including predominately Sunni cities like Tikrit and Samarra.

Given Falluja's record of militancy, the threat of Islamic State attempting to return is not unrealistic but a long-term presence of Shi'ite forces could prove destabilising.

The city emerged as the main bastion of the Sunni insurgency after the U.S.-led invasion in 2003 and swiftly became an al Qaeda stronghold. U.S. forces that toppled Saddam Hussein suffered heavy losses there in two battles in 2004.

More than a decade later, Falluja is seen by many Iraqis as an irredeemable bulwark of Sunni unrest.

After declaring victory, the operation's field commander Lieutenant-general Abdul Wahab al-Saidi said the entire southern industrial district should be sealed off because, according to him, Islamic State used it to assemble car bombs sent to Baghdad.

However, bombings have continued to target Shi'ite districts of the capital, with Islamic State claiming the deadliest attack so far this year, targeting the shopping area of Karrada overnight Saturday as residents celebrated the fasting month of Ramadan.

The suicide truck bomb that hit Karrada killed at least 115 people and wounded more than 200, according to police and medical sources.

The U.S.-led coalition has trained about six battalions of police and several thousand tribal fighters to ultimately "hold" the city, a spokesman said, but two policemen told Reuters last week only about 700 police had so far been posted to Falluja.
Brexit vote shakes up London property market

By Ana Nicolaci da Costa

LONDON, July 4 (Reuters) - The aftershocks of Britain's decision to leave the European Union have hit the property sector over the past week, with a foreign bank freezing loans for buyers and some investors pulling out of commercial deals.

Some foreigners, however, are already making the most of the drop in the pound post-Brexit to snap up what they see as residential bargains.

London property has long been a magnet for foreign investors, be it extravagant homes or iconic commercial real estate, and prices in the capital have sky-rocketed.

Key to overseas investors will be whether the fall in the value of sterling is attractive enough to offset the political vacuum, expected economic slowdown and questions over market access that have resulted from Britain's vote to leave the EU.

Singapore's United Overseas Bank temporarily halted mortgage loans for London properties. Other Asian banks also flagged potential investment risks.

For British investors, the uncertainty may be prohibitive, even though property is widely considered more profitable than other safe assets, given supply shortages.

"A number of deals I know have gone down or certainly been delayed," Paul Firth, head of real estate at law firm Irwin Mitchell LLP said. "Everyone is taking a pause at the moment just to wait until a new normal is established."

In one case, the purchase of a regional shopping centre by a U.S. private equity fund worth more than 30 million pounds ($40 million) was delayed after Brexit for at least a couple of months pending the market settling down.

Another deal his firm was working on involved a French vendor of high-end luxury goods who put on hold its new flagship London store after Britain's decision to leave the EU, he said.

He said a number of their "significant investment deals", worth above 30 million pounds each, had stalled. The deals involved mainly UK investors but also some foreigners. One deal the firm was working on worth more than 40 million pounds had gone through since Brexit.

Britain's June 23 vote to leave the EU has already caused the government to collapse and deeply divided the country.

Bank of England Governor Mark Carney said on Thursday the economy would probably need more stimulus over the summer given that the outlook had deteriorated. He also said commercial real estate transactions had halved since last year's peak and that activity in residential real estate had slowed sharply.

British commercial real estate investment volumes reached 10.7 billion pounds in the first three months of 2016, a 28 percent fall versus the same period a year ago and its lowest quarter since the second quarter of 2013, according to June research from real estate services firm Cushman & Wakefield.

INVESTORS' GAINS, HOMEBUYERS' PAIN

There were also signs that the fallout from Brexit was benefiting professional investors such as private funds at the expense of homebuyers, who may struggle along with the economy.

Before the referendum, officials said the economy could tip into recession and house prices could fall 10 to 18 percent if Britain voted to leave the European Union. Economists polled by Reuters before the vote said they expected house prices to be flat next year and then pick up again if Britain chose to leave.

David Galman, sales director at Galliard Homes, said professional investors had already contacted him offering to buy any units end-users may seek to sell in the Skyline residential development it launched in June just outside London.

Galliard Homes, London's second largest house-builder, had offered buyers get out clauses for the 89 off-plan units ranging from 200,000 to 250,000 pounds in their development in Slough, west of London. The buyers had the option to withdraw their offers if they were unhappy with the outcome of the EU vote.

Galman said just one client, "an owner occupier" had thus far invoked a Brexit clause but that flat had already been sold at the same price to a professional investor.

"I anticipate that we may get a small number of deals at Slough falling out of bed due to Brexit - all domestic end-users spooked by the Brexit drama," he said.

Another development that offered Brexit opt out options was Two Fifty One, a 41-storey luxury apartment tower going up in south London's gentrifying Elephant and Castle district.

At a May launch of some floors in the development, buyers were offered a "money back Brexit guarantee pledge".

"A few purchasers have decided not to proceed given the uncertainty of the market," David Humbles, managing director of Oakmayne, the developer who runs the project said. "However, the majority are continuing with their purchase."

Tim Wright, director of residential development, at global commercial real estate firm JLL said including the Two Fifty One development, 2 out of around 20 developments in the portfolio that he runs in London had offered opt-out options for buyers on a limited number of units.

"We've lost about 25 percent of those types of deals," Wright said. "But there are still a lot of people who bought on those terms who are continuing to purchase."

LONDON APPEAL

Sterling's steep fall post-Brexit could offset some of the effects from tax increases introduced in April, which made buying properties especially in central London, an area favoured by foreign buyers, more expensive. There were signs that this was already happening in the top-end of the residential market.

"We have made a number of sales," David Adams, a managing director at luxury real estate agent John Taylor said, anticipating more Middle Eastern interest at the end of Ramadan in properties worth between 2 and 6 million pounds.

He said they had also had some interest and an offer on apartment blocks from 23 million to 45 million pounds.

"We have an immediate uplift (in sales to the) Middle East, United States and Asia, but we have a decrease in English domestic buyers, because of political instability."

Ed Mead, executive director at estate agent Douglas and Gordon had also seen an increase in foreign interest, but said the broader prime central London market would continue to struggle with the kind of uncertainty seen before the vote.

"We had four separate buyers who put in offers (the day after the vote), which were quite cheeky but clearly based on the fact they were getting an extraordinarily abnormal deal," he said.

The offers, which were in the over one million pound range and came from U.S. and European investors, had "clearly been brought about because of the fall in sterling".
Poland - Factors to Watch July 4

Following are news stories, press reports and events to watch that may affect Poland's financial markets on Monday. ALL TIMES GMT (Poland: GMT + 2 hours):

S&P

Standard & Poor's (S&P) has affirmed Poland's foreign currency rating at 'BBB+' with outlook negative, and also affirmed Poland's long- and short-term foreign currency sovereign credit rating at 'BBB+/A-2'.

PENSION FUNDS

Poland's government will on Monday announce its plans for the country's pension system and privately held pension funds, two sources told Reuters, with companies and markets fearing a seizure of assets to plug holes in the state budget.

A growing number of Polish firms are preparing share buybacks because they fear the government plans to plunder stocks from privately run pension funds to plug holes in the state budget, company chiefs and fund managers say.

ING

ING Bank Slaski, a unit of Dutch ING is interested in buying Raiffeisen Bank International's Polish business, joining Polish state-run banks PKO BP and Alior Bank, two sources familiar with the matter said.

GAS

Gas flows from Russia's Gazprom via Ukraine to Poland were back to normal after falling 20 percent between Thursday and Friday, Polish gas pipeline operator Gaz-System said on Saturday.

OIL

Poland's refiner Grupa Lotos has bought 2 million barrels of crude from Iran in a one-off purchase, an Iranian oil official was quoted as saying on Saturday by the oil ministry's news agency SHANA.

EURO IN POLAND

Almost every second Pole would support introducing euro in Poland if the country's membership in the European Union was to be hinged on getting rid of the national currency zloty, a poll published by Rzeczpospolita daily showed.

****Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.****
Romania - Factors to watch on July 4

Here are news stories, press reports and events to watch which may affect Romanian financial markets on Monday.

PPI DATA

Romania's statistics board will release May industrial producer price data at 0600 GMT.

DEBT TENDER

The finance ministry aims to sell 1.0 billion lei ($246.88 million) worth of 327-day treasury bills series RO1617CTN090 at tender.

CEE MARKETS

The Polish zloty eased on Friday after weaker-than-expected manufacturing indices across the region, although losses were limited and the Hungarian forint and the Czech crown were flat.

FX RESERVES

The Romanian central bank's foreign exchange reserves, excluding 103.7 tonnes of gold, fell by 943 million euros on the month to 31.7 billion euros ($35.24 billion) at the end of June, it said on Friday.

For the long-term Romanian diary, click on

For emerging markets economic events, click on

For an index of all diaries, click on
Kenya seeks tech alternatives to break taboo over sex education in schools

By Neha Wadekar

NAIROBI, July 4 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - When Kenyan teenager Rosemary Olale found out she was pregnant, her guardians threw her out of their home in shame, despite the fact no one taught her about safe sex.

She didn't dare tell them she was also HIV positive.

"You just feel like everybody doesn't want you," said Olale, sitting with a dozen other HIV positive women, each with a small child on her lap, in a small home in Nairobi's Saika slums.

Olale, now 37, started the group in 2005 to provide other HIV positive women and young mothers with support in dealing with stigma, poverty and reproductive health issues.

Teenagers across Africa urgently need more information about sex to combat soaring rates of HIV and unwanted pregnancies, experts say, as widespread taboos and cultural conservatism prevent discussions in schools and homes.

"Where I come from, talking about the sex education with your girl is really difficult," Olale told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

However, a growing number of businesses, charities and individuals are seeking to fill the gap in information.

The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and Nailab, a Kenyan firm that supports technology startups, are behind the latest initiative, which targets entrepreneurs for their ideas on providing sex education through technology and social media.

Candidates in the I.AM campaign launched this month, have until August to submit their ideas before four winners are chosen to receive training, mentorship and funding to develop their ideas further.

"All girls, all boys must have comprehensive sexuality education," said Babatunde Osotimehin, UNFPA executive director. "That's really when they can make the choice in their lives."

CONSERVATIVE BACKLASH

Kenya pledged to improve access to sexual education and family planning services at the 2012 London Summit on Family Planning, but has had difficulty implementing new policies due to conservative opposition.

A bill to teach sex education and provide access to contraceptives in schools was introduced into Kenya's upper house of parliament in 2014, provoking a national outcry.

"People are fearing that when you're speaking about sex or when you're speaking about sex education, it's like losing your values," said David Opoti Inzofu a pastor at Nairobi's Riruta Christ Bible Church, who openly discusses family planning with his congregation.

"There is no day I can remember where my mother or my father sat with me and discussed with me about sex. Never."

Sex education and family planning are critical in delaying motherhood, reducing HIV rates and deaths from unsafe abortions, UNFPA says.

Some 29,000 young people aged between 15 and 24 are infected with HIV annually in Kenya, government data shows. New infections are spiking among adolescent girls who know less about HIV transmission than boys, it says.

One in five teenage girls are mothers, with some 13,000 dropping out of school each year to raise their children, UNFPA says.

Kenya is a hotbed of technological innovation in Africa, with technology giants such as Google, IBM and Microsoft setting up headquarters in Nairobi.

For an issue as taboo as sex, technology allows people to have anonymous and informative conversations without the fear of stigma or discrimination.

"(If) somebody builds a software that allows people to anonymously chat about their sexual challenges, and we see tens of thousands of young people using it - that will be the most exciting part of this," said Sam Gichuru, chief executive of Nailab.

Technology can also reach many more people than face-to-face groups like Olale's. Some 80 percent of Kenyans own a mobile phone, government data shows.

"A lot of these children are now getting access to mobile phones and technology," said Siddharth Chatterjee, UNFPA's representative in Kenya.

"Imagine the knowledge they can generate through that technological edge."
New Zealand police find record cocaine haul in horse's head

July 4 (Reuters) - New Zealand Customs and Police have seized 35 kg (77lbs) of cocaine stuffed inside a large diamante-encrusted horse's head that was mailed from Mexico.

The $10 million discovery, the largest cocaine seizure made in New Zealand, came in May when the 400 kg air freight package was delivered to an address in Auckland where police were carrying out surveillance.

"There is a significant organised crime group offshore that will be responsible for this and who have now lost a whole lot of money," Detective Superintendent Virginia Le Bas told TVNZ.

The drugs, packaged into 35 bricks, were pushed up inside a cavity in the horse's neck before being mounted on its stand.

A 44-year-old Mexican man and 56-year-old American man were arrested in relation to the smuggling attempt as they tried to board a flight to Hawaii on Friday, police said.

A third man, from Mexico, was arrested following searches at an apartment block in Christchurch on Saturday.

Importing cocaine in New Zealand can carry a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

It is the second major drug haul by New Zealand authorities in less than four weeks after 494 kg (1,100 lb) of methamphetamines were found of the north coast last month.
PRESS DIGEST - RUSSIA - JULY 4

MOSCOW, July 4 (Reuters) - The following are some stories in Russia's newspapers on Monday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

VEDOMOSTI

www.vedomosti.ru

- Russian billionaire tycoon Mikhail Prokhorov is selling his assets after police raided the office of his Onexim company, the daily writes.

- Austria's Atrium European Real Estate has lost interest in Russia and is selling 60 hectares of land in Pushkino near Moscow where the developer had planned to build a shopping mall.

- A court in Russia has for the first time punished a citizen for negative interpretation of Russian history, the daily writes, referring to a 200,000 rouble fine imposed on a resident of Perm for re-posting an article about a joint attack of Russia and Nazi Germany on Poland in September 1939.

KOMMERSANT

www.kommersant.ru

- Russia's Defence Ministry wants to receive budget funding worth 24 trillion roubles ($377.56 billion) by 2025, while the government is ready to allocate only a half of this sum.

- The Finance Ministry is considering ways to reform Russia's pension system by making people save money.

- Sales of tourist vouchers to Turkey in the past three days have restored the country's leading position among top destinations for Russian holiday-makers.

RBC

www.rbc.ru

- Moscow retailers have reported a drop in sales and restaurants have seen a fall in the number of visitors as city authorities hev launched reconstruction of about 30 streets of the capital, including upmarket Tverskaya.

- A Moscow court has ruled to free the owner of Domodedovo airport, Dmitry Kamenshchik, from four months of house arrest. Kamenshchik was put under arrest after police charged him with responsibility for failing to provide proper security measures at the airport to prevent a terror attack in 2011.

IZVESTIA

www.izvestia.ru

- Russia is ready to send the second batch of S-300 air defence systems to Iran, according to Alexander Fomin, the head of the federal service for military cooperation.

- Roscosmos has halved spending on construction of new land infrastructure, the head of Russia's space agency, Igor Komarov says, in an interview.

- The construction of a new terminal for diesel submarines of Russia's Black Sea fleet has been completed in Novorosiisk.
Bangladesh says some restaurant attackers were well off and educated

By Aditya Kalra and Serajul Quadir

DHAKA, July 4 (Reuters) - Bangladesh police sought more information on Monday from friends and family of the men suspected of carrying out a deadly attack on a restaurant in the capital, and some are believed to have attended top schools and colleges at home and abroad.

The gunmen stormed the restaurant in Dhaka's diplomatic zone late on Friday and killed 20 people, most of them foreigners from Italy, Japan, India and the United States, in an assault claimed by Islamic State.

It was one of the deadliest militant attacks to date in Bangladesh, where Islamic State and al Qaeda have claimed a series of killings of liberals and religious minorities in the last year while the government says they were carried out by local groups.

Whoever was responsible, Friday's attack marked a major escalation in the scale and brutality of militant violence aimed at forcing strict Islamic rule in Bangladesh, whose 160 million people are mostly Muslim.

Islamic State posted pictures of five fighters it said were involved in the atrocity to avenge attacks on Muslims across the world.

"Let the people of the crusader countries know that there is no safety for them as long as their aircraft are killing Muslims," it said in a statement.

Posts on Facebook identified the men, pictured on an Islamic State website grinning in front of a black flag, as Nibras Islam, Rohan Imtiaz, Meer Saameh Mubasheer, Andaleeb Ahmed and Raiyan Minhaj.

Most went to prestigious schools or universities in Dhaka and Malaysia, officials said. One of them was the son of a politician.

A police officer said the pictures of four of the attackers matched the bodies, although he gave a different name for the fourth.

Rohan's father, a mid-ranking leader of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's ruling party, had lodged a complaint in January that he had gone missing since Dec. 30, 2015, a police officer said.

On Monday, there was nobody at the family apartment in an affluent neighbourhood of Dhaka, and a security guard said the parents had left the house on Sunday.

"A majority of the boys who attacked the restaurant came from very good educational institutions. Some went to sophisticated schools. Their families are relatively well-to-do people," Bangladeshi Information Minister Hasanul Haq Inu told India's NDTV.

TRACING ROOTS

Several posts on social media said the man identified by police as Nibras Islam attended Monash University in Malaysia. A friend who knew him while he studied at Dhaka's North South University told Reuters that Islam later went to Monash.

Two others went to an elite public school in Dhaka called Scholastica.

Saifaul Islam, another investigator, said police were holding two people suspected of involvement in the assault, including one detained soon after the attack.

"We have two persons with us, but we don't know if they are victims or suspects. They are currently undergoing treatment and we'd get to know about their role in the incident only after they recover."

Nobody had yet come forward to claim the bodies of the six dead men, he said. "We are taking DNA samples of them and will see if it matches with the families. We have some suspicions, we know some boys had gone missing over the last two-three months."

Just days after the attack claimed by its rival jihadi movement Islamic State, a regional branch of al Qaeda urged Muslims in India to revolt and carry out lone wolf attacks.

The call by al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) follows warnings by security officials and experts that the two groups are trying to outdo each other in the region and claim the mantle of global jihad.

Rohan Gunaratna, a professor of security studies at Singapore's Rajaratnam School of International Studies, said the Dhaka gunmen's background may have helped them mount the attack at the Holey Artisan restaurant, popular with the city's well-heeled and foreigners.

"As they were well educated and young, they could blend into and operate in the upmarket diplomatic enclave without evoking red flags," he said.

"The IS (Islamic State) attack team was also technologically savvy and they uploaded the photos during the attack both to (the) IS command cell in Bangladesh and IS central in Syria."

On Monday, hundreds of people gathered in central Dhaka to remember the victims, holding placards in different languages.

"We bleed from similar veins, we cry. Bangladesh, stand up for the next fight," read one large banner written in English.

The attack could be a huge blow for Bangladesh's $26 billion garment industry, as fears mount that major retailers from Marks and Spencer to Gap Inc could rethink their investments.

Japan's Fast Retailing Co, owner of the Uniqlo casual-wear brand, said it will suspend all but critical travel to Bangladesh and has told staff there to stay home.
John Menzies says ready for dialogue with shareholders

By Maiya Keidan and Esha Vaish

LONDON, July 4 (Reuters) - Britain's John Menzies said it was open to dialogue after Germany activist investor Shareholder Value Management (SVM) on Monday joined calls for the business to be broken up.

SVM said it had taken its stake in the British distribution and aviation company to more than seven percent and also called for it to hire an independent chairman.

"The board is progressing its evaluation of the optimal structure for the group against the potential opportunities for expansion and acquisition in both divisions," said a spokesman for John Menzies in an emailed statement to Reuters.

Frankfurt-based 1.7 billion euro ($1.9 billion) fund SVM has acquired over 7 percent of John Menzies through its Frankfurter Aktienfonds fur Stiftungen arm, it said.

Other investors first called on John Menzies to split up its business last year, saying that its newspaper and magazine distribution and aviation services businesses would be worth more apart.

SVM is making the same case but says it is acting alone.

Shareholder Swiss investment firm Lakestreet Capital Partners declined to comment and John Menzies' largest outside investor, Kabouter Management, was not immediately available for comment on Monday. Both the shareholders had separately lobbied for a split.

John Menzies shares were down 0.5 percent at 552 pence at 1430 GMT on Monday, valuing the company at around 340 million pounds ($452 million).

Although John Menzies' shares have gained about 11 percent over the past year to close at 555 pence on Friday, they are still way below the high of 841.50 pence hit in October 2013.

The John Menzies family, through various holdings, holds the largest stake, about 19 percent, in the company.

SVM is calling for a new, independent chair after Dermot Jenkinson replaced Iain Napier as chairman in May. Jenkinson has agreed to do the job for 12 months and lead the process to appoint a new chairman.

Ferrari said Jenkinson, who first joined the John Menzies board in 1986, had connections to the Menzies family through his wife.

The company has seen high turnover among executives, with CEO Jeremy Stafford, quitting in January for personal reasons and Chief Financial Officer Paula Bell resigning in April.
PRESS DIGEST - Bulgaria - July 4

SOFIA, July 4 (Reuters) - These are some of the main stories in Bulgarian newspapers on Monday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

-- Since 2011 the administrative corruption in Bulgaria has been gradually increasing and is currently at high levels. For 2015, the administrative corruption involved 1.3 million people in the country of 7.7 million, the Centre for the Study of Democracy think-tank said. (Standart, Trud)

-- The head of the energy regulator backed the government in its position that Bulgaria should not sell its natural gas pipeline network, but unbundle the network operator to avoid a fine from Brussels for breaching antitrust rules. (Standart, Capital Daily)
Israeli military says attacked two Syrian army targets

JERUSALEM, July 4 (Reuters) - Israel attacked Syrian army targets after errant fire from fighting in Syria's civil war struck the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights, the military said on Monday.

A spokeswoman said two targets belonging to the Syrian military were hit overnight after the fire damaged Israel's security fence on the Golan, territory captured from Syria in a 1967 war.

She gave no further details about the targets that were struck or the weapons Israel used to attack them.

Two months ago, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel has launched dozens of strikes in Syria. Though formally neutral on the civil war, Israel has frequently pledged to prevent shipments of advanced weaponry to the Iranian-backed Hezbollah group, whose fighters have been allied with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

The Israeli military has also responded in the past with shelling and air strikes to mortar bombs that have landed in the Golan during battles in the Syrian conflict.
New Zealand's first extradition bid to China faces court roadblock - lawyer

By Charlotte Greenfield

WELLINGTON, July 4 (Reuters) - A court in New Zealand has told the government to reconsider a decision to send back to China a man accused of murder, his lawyer said on Monday, spotlighting the hurdles the Asian giant faces in its quest to bring home alleged criminals.

The setback in China's first extradition request to New Zealand comes at a time when China is seeking to drum up international cooperation in a campaign to track down corruption suspects who have fled overseas.

In December, New Zealand agreed to extradite to Shanghai a South Korean-born resident, Kyung Yup Kim, but the Pacific country's High Court has decided the Chinese government's assurances of fair treatment for the man were not adequate.

"To get valid assurances you need to be able to monitor and enforce them," his lawyer, Tony Ellis, told Reuters, referring to fears over the risk of torture and an unfair trial Kim could face on his return.

A copy of the judgment was not immediately available, as the judge considered withholding some details.

A spokesman for Justice Minister Amy Adams said she could not comment because the full judgment had not been released.

In an affidavit in February, Adams told the court the Chinese government had assured her Kim would get a fair trial and would not face the death penalty.

It was not immediately clear how long the government might take to reconsider, or what fresh assurances it might have to seek from China. The death penalty is illegal in New Zealand.

Kim faced murder charges after the 2009 discovery in a Shanghai field of the body of a 20-year-old woman who had been strangled to death. He was put in prison after China sought his extradition in 2011, following his return to New Zealand.

Asked about the case at a daily news briefing in Beijing, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei said he did not know anything about it.

China has pushed for an extradition treaty with New Zealand since 2014. In April, on a visit to Beijing, Prime Minister John Key said an extradition treaty with China was "possible", so long as people did not face torture or the death penalty.

Up to 60 Chinese corruption suspects were in New Zealand, Key has said.
Portugal defender Pepe misses training as a precaution

MARCOUSSIS, France, July 4 (Reuters) - Portugal defender Pepe missed a training session on Monday as a precaution after suffering a problem with his thigh, a team spokesman told reporters.

"Pepe has a muscle pain in his thigh and is not going to train today as a precaution," the spokesman said.
Turkey proposes cooperation with Russia in fighting Islamic State

By Ece Toksabay and Dmitry Solovyov

ANKARA/MOSCOW, July 4 (Reuters) - Turkey said on Monday it wanted to cooperate with Moscow in combating Islamic State in Syria but denied having suggested it might allow Russia to use its Incirlik Air Base, near the Syrian frontier.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan last week expressed regret over last year's shooting down of a Russian warplane, with the loss of the pilot. Moscow, which had broken off virtually all economic ties and banned tourists from visiting Turkish resorts, pledged in return to help rebuild relations.

In an interview with Turkish state television on Sunday, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu had appeared to suggest Ankara could open up Incirlik to Russia, a move that could raise concern among Turkey's NATO partners already using the base, including the United States.

But Cavusoglu, in comments broadcast live on television on Monday, denied such an interpretation of his words.

"We said that we could cooperate with Russia in the period ahead in the fight against Daesh (Islamic State)...I did not make any comment referring to Russian planes coming to the Incirlik Air Base."

Incirlik hosts aircraft from the United States, Germany, Britain, Saudi Arabia and Qatar involved in the U.S.-led air campaign against Islamic State, which has controlled extensive territories along Syria's border with Turkey.

"We will cooperate with everyone who fights Daesh," he told TRT Haber in Sunday's remarks. "We have been doing this for quite a while, and we opened Incirlik Air Base for those who want to join the active fight against Daesh.

"Why not cooperate with Russia as well on these terms? Daesh is our common enemy, and we need to fight this enemy."

The Kremlin described the notion that Turkey could open up Incirlik as a "serious statement" although it said it had not had any contact with Ankara on the matter.

REVIVAL

Russia said it was looking to "revive" the sharing of information with Turkey in the fight against Islamic State.

"Channels to exchange information with Turkey have not been working lately. We now have to revive and relaunch them," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

Last week's bomb attack on the main airport Istanbul - which left 45 people dead and hundreds wounded - showed the importance of working together to counter terrorism, he said.

Russian nationals have been identified as two of the three suspected Islamic States suicide bombers behind the airport attack, which is thought to have been masterminded by a Chechen, Turkish media said on Friday.

The pro-government Yeni Safak newspaper has said the organiser of the attack, the deadliest in a series of suicide bombings in NATO-member Turkey this year, was suspected to be a Chechen double-amputee called Akhmed Chatayev.

Chatayev is identified on a United Nations sanctions list as a leader in Islamic State responsible for training Russian-speaking militants.
Swiss National Bank ramps up currency intervention after Brexit

ZURICH, July 4 (Reuters) - The Swiss National Bank (SNB) went on its biggest foreign-currency buying spree since January 2015 in the wake of Britain's vote to leave the European Union, data showed on Monday.

Commercial and other deposits with the SNB rose to 507.514 billion Swiss francs ($520.69 billion) from 501.231 billion the previous week, indicating the bank had bought foreign exchange on the market and then credited depositors' accounts.

The bank is using negative rates, coupled with an unspecified amount of foreign currency purchases, to weaken the franc and protect exports to the euro zone, Switzerland's biggest trading partner.

"Brexit has triggered a big demand for safe havens like the franc, so the SNB has to keep acting," J. Safra Sarasin currency strategist Ursina Kubli said.

Switzerland's central bank gave rare confirmation it was intervening to halt appreciation of the franc within hours of Britain's referendum becoming clear on June 24.

Analysts said that its unusual step of making its intentions clear was intended to maximise the impact of intervention.

The SNB declined to comment on its future strategy to limit the franc's strength.

Swiss manufacturers have struggled with the currency's strength which reduces their profitability.

"If the franc went back to 1.10 versus the euro, it would be a significant relief," Hans Hess, president of manufacturers' lobby Swissmem, said.
Hundreds protest in Nairobi over death of Kenyan rights lawyer

NAIROBI, July 4 (Reuters) - About 300 people marched through the Kenyan capital on Monday to protest over what they said was the extrajudicial killing by police of human rights lawyer Willie Kimani, his client and their driver.

Demonstrators carried a mock coffin emblazoned with the words "Stop extrajudicial killings." Others wore T-shirts with the slogan "Stop police executions." Some carried placards demanding Interior Minister Joseph Nkaissery resign.

Rights groups in Kenya, where members of the public often complain about police corruption, have accused sections of the police service of involvement in extrajudicial killings, including in the case of Kimani, his client Josephat Mwendwa and taxi driver Joseph Muiruri, whose bodies were found last week.

Police officials say they investigate and prosecute any officers suspected of breaking the law.

After lodging a complaint alleging he had been shot and injured by police, Mwendwa was charged with a range of offences, including possessing drugs and resisting arrest, activists said.

The authorities said on Saturday that three police officers had been arrested in connection with the deaths of the three men, who disappeared after a court hearing on June 23 .

"The shocking abduction, enforced disappearance and extrajudicial killings of lawyer Willie Kimani, as well as his client and their taxi driver ... should be cause for alarm over the state of human rights and rule of law in Kenya," rights group Amnesty International wrote in a statement on Monday.
Turkey's foreign minister: Did not say Russian jets could use Incirlik base

ISTANBUL, July 4 (Reuters) - Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Monday he had not suggested that Turkey could open up its Incirlik Air Base to Russia, adding that Ankara was open to cooperating with Moscow in the fight against Islamic State.

When asked if he had said Russian jets could use Incirlik, Cavusoglu said: "I did not make such a comment. We said that we could cooperate with everyone in the fight against ISIS (Islamic State)," he said in comments broadcast live on television.
Portugal PM says will fight to avoid EU sanctions

LISBON, July 4 (Reuters) - The Portuguese government will fight to avoid any EU sanctions from last year's excessive deficit, Prime Minister Antonio Costa said on Monday, adding he was confident about meeting this year's fiscal targets and saw no need for further EU pressure.

"This government will fight till the very last minute with all its energy so that Portugal does not get sanctioned over the result achieved by the previous government in 2015," Costa told reporters.

Asked to comment about a Reuters report that the European Commission was set to give Spain and Portugal three more weeks to take steps to correct their excessive deficits and avoid fiscal sanctions, Costa said that no steps could fix last year's deficit, while he saw no need for new measures this year.

"We are confident about the targets that we have set," he said, adding that even the European Commission expects Portugal to post a 2016 budget gap slightly below its threshold for excessive deficits of 3 percent of GDP. Portugal had a deficit of 4.4 percent last year and the target this year is 2.2 percent.

He would not comment on media reports that he sent a letter to European Commission President Jean Claude Juncker asking him not to apply the sanctions.

Defenders of budget flexibility in the EU are pushing for more leeway in times of anemic growth and growing support for anti-EU parties, especially after Britain's decision to leave the union.
Exit stage right: UKIP leader Farage announces surprise departure

By Kylie MacLellan and Elizabeth Piper

LONDON, July 4 (Reuters) - The leader of the insurgent right-wing UK Independence Party said on Monday he was stepping down after realising his ambition to win a vote for Britain to leave the EU, the latest twist in a dramatic reshaping of the nation's politics.

The departure of brash former commodities trader Nigel Farage would sideline one of the most outspoken and effective anti-EU campaigners from the debate about how to sever Britain's ties with the other 27 countries in the bloc.

But it could also give his UKIP party - which under Britain's winner-takes-all election system won just one seat in Parliament last year despite capturing 12.6 percent of the vote - an opportunity to select a less-polarising figure and take on the mainstream in a radically altered political environment.

The June 23 'Brexit' vote to leave the EU has thrown the two main political parties into disarray, with the ruling Conservatives seeking a replacement for Prime Minister David Cameron and lawmakers from the main opposition Labour Party voting to withdraw confidence in leader Jeremy Corbyn.

"I have never been, and I have never wanted to be, a career politician. My aim in being in politics was to get Britain out of the European Union," said Farage, who remains a UKIP member of the European Parliament.

"During the referendum campaign, I said 'I want my country back'. What I'm saying today, is, 'I want my life back,' and it begins right now."

With Labour's Corbyn so far refusing to step down and issuing a video appealing for unity, fellow lawmaker Angela Eagle said she had the necessary support to trigger a leadership challenge and resolve the "impasse" crippling the party.

Deputy leader Tom Watson plans emergency talks with trade union representatives, Labour's financial backers, on Tuesday in a "last throw of the dice" to try and reach a deal over Corbyn's future.

The acrimonious leadership battles in the main political parties have added to uncertainty at a time when Britain is embarking on its biggest constitutional change since the dissolution of its empire in the decades after World War Two.

Global markets have been hit by uncertainty over the impact of Brexit on trade and investment, and concerns that Britain's departure could prompt other EU members to consider following suit.

George Osborne, the finance minister, has abandoned his target of balancing the budget within four years and on Sunday floated the idea of a quick cut in the rate of corporation tax to less than 15 percent from 20 percent to show that Britain was still "open for business". Labour accused him of trying to turn the country into an offshore tax haven.

Osborne told Parliament he would meet the heads of major banks on Tuesday for discussions on Brexit.

"We are not today - although we remain vigilant - talking about a banking crisis, despite a very significant adjustment in financial markets," he said.

Standard Life suspended dealing in its UK Real Estate fund following a rapid increase in redemption requests in the wake of the Brexit vote. Analysts said other funds could take similar action.

The pound has recovered only slightly from a 31-year low, and the FTSE 100 share index fell 0.8 percent on Monday, although it has gained 3 percent since the referendum.

A WOMAN PM?

Theresa May, a Conservative party stalwart who has run the law-and-order portfolio in the cabinet for six years, is the favourite to succeed Cameron despite having campaigned to remain in the EU.

According to bookmakers, her strongest rival is Andrea Leadsom, 53, a junior minister who was unknown to most Britons before the referendum campaign but was widely judged to have mounted an effective case for 'Leave' in an eve-of-vote televised debate seen by millions.

If the betting odds are correct, Britain is on course to get its first woman prime minister since Margaret Thatcher left office in 1990.

Leadsom set out her leadership credentials on Monday and got the backing of former London Mayor Boris Johnson.

She said talks over Britain's departure from the EU should be as short as possible to avoid prolonged uncertainty.

She offered reassurance to EU nationals currently living in Britain: "I commit today to guaranteeing the rights of our EU friends who've already come here to live and work. We must give them certainty."

But immigration minister James Brokenshire said the United Kingdom should make no such guarantee unless it received reciprocal assurances about the rights of expatriate Britons.

DIVORCE PROCESS

Despite the 52 percent referendum vote, Britain has not yet invoked Article 50 of the EU's Lisbon Treaty to begin the formal process of breaking away. While all the candidates to succeed Cameron say there is no going back, some anti-Brexit politicians say it is not a foregone conclusion.

Law firm Mishcon de Reya said on Monday it had started legal action to demand the government win approval from Parliament before triggering the divorce process. Most of the 650 members of the House of Commons opposed Brexit before the vote.

"The outcome of the Referendum itself is not legally binding and for the current or future Prime Minister to invoke Article 50 without the approval of Parliament is unlawful," Kasra Nouroozi, a partner at Mishcon de Reya, said in a statement.

Former defence minister Liam Fox, a pro-Brexit figure and an outsider in the leadership contest, said Britain should activate Article 50 before the end of the year, and he did not believe any parliamentary vote was needed.

He said the free movement of people across Europe - a core principle of the EU but a major concern for many Britons - should not be on the table in negotiations about a trade deal with the EU after Brexit.
Sri Lanka's new c.bank chief vows to stay independent, avoid risky policies

COLOMBO, July 4 (Reuters) - Sri Lanka's new central bank chief pledged on Monday to maintain the monetary authority's independence in decision making and to avoid policies that lead to boom and bust cycles.

Indrajith Coomaraswamy, a former central banker, became the 14th governor of the central bank when he took office on Monday for a six-year term. President Maithripala Sirisena appointed the veteran economist to help quell uncertainty after the previous governor declined to seek reappointment.

Successive Sri Lankan leaders have appointed central bank heads of their choice outside the monetary authority or civil service since 2004. The political appointments have sometimes been criticised as being biased towards governments in power.

"I have spoken to our leaders too about this that the central bank does its work independently and in a technical way and discreetly advises the government about what we think is the best way forward ... which the central bank has responsibility," he told the staff in his inaugural speech.

He also said the central bank needs to get away from a cycle of stop-go policies of creating artificial periods of boom through misaligned policies.

The 66-year old Coomaraswamy was a former director of economic affairs at the Commonwealth Secretariat. He faces stiff challenges, including stabilising a faltering rupee, averting a balance of payments and debt crisis and boosting a sluggish economy.

Many civil society organisations and political parties, including the opposition, have welcomed Coomaraswamy's appointment.

Arjuna Mahendran, the former central bank chief who took up his post in January 2015, stepped down on Thursday amid a corruption investigation that embroiled his son-in-law in a bond scam. Mahendran has denied any wrongdoing, but the ongoing investigations have perturbed financial markets.
U.S. senators warn against further troop cuts in Afghanistan

By Josh Smith

KABUL, July 4 (Reuters) - The international military mission in Afghanistan will fail if troop levels are reduced further, with potentially dangerous repercussions for the rest of the world, a delegation of U.S. lawmakers warned during a visit to Kabul on Monday.

Fifteen years after an American-led operation toppled the Taliban in response to the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, President Barack Obama is considering whether to maintain the current level of 9,800 U.S. troops or reduce it to 5,500 by the end of the year, as current plans call for.

"I cannot guarantee success if we keep 9,800, but I can ensure you failure if we go to 5,500," Republican Senator Lindsey Graham told reporters in Kabul.

"I will have a hard time supporting our continued presence here as it's not fair to those left behind... They just can't do the job. If we go to 5,500 this place will fall apart, quickly."

Graham joined U.S. senators John McCain, Benjamin Sasse, and Joe Donnelly in a visit timed so the bipartisan delegation could visit with troops during the Independence Day holiday.

The Obama administration should decide on troop levels "sooner rather than later," McCain said, arguing that reducing the number of troops could lead to a repeat of the disaster in Iraq, where Islamic State militants seized major cities and wide swathes of territory.

McCain, the Republican chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, sharply criticized the White House's decision last year to restrict U.S. forces from targeting Taliban fighters except in self-defense and other limited circumstances.

Those rules were recently relaxed on the recommendation of American commanders in Kabul, but McCain said it was "almost criminal" that the restrictions were in place for more than a year.

"The rules of engagement were so restrictive that it gave an advantage to the Taliban and other terrorist groups," the senator said.

The lawmakers highlighted Afghanistan's history as one of the original havens for al Qaeda terrorists and pleaded for more patience.
China criticises Japan over "dangerous" jet scramble

BEIJING, July 4 (Reuters) - China strongly criticised Japan over a scramble of military aircraft from the two countries on Monday amid a dispute over islands in the East China Sea.

Two Japanese fighter jets took "provocative actions" at a high speed near a pair of Chinese fighter jets that were carrying out patrols in the East China Sea on June 17, China's defence ministry said in a microblog statement on Monday, without specifying where exactly the incident took place.

The Japanese planes used fire-control radar to "light up" the Chinese aircraft, the statement added.

Japan's senior military officer has acknowledged there was a scramble but has denied that any radar lock by the Chinese jet occurred or that the incident turned dangerous.

"The Japanese plane's provocative actions caused an accident in the air, endangering the safety of personnel on both sides, and destroying the peace and stability in the region," China's Defence Ministry said, adding the Chinese aircraft "responded resolutely".

China called on Japan to cease all provocative action, the statement added.

The statement about the incident comes after Japan's top military commander accused China of escalating military activity in the East China Sea, saying Japanese emergency scrambles to counter Chinese jets almost doubled over the past three months.

Japan is embroiled in a dispute with China in the East China Sea over ownership of a group of islands which lie about 220 km (140 miles) northeast of Taiwan, known as the Senkakus in Tokyo and the Diaoyu islands in Beijing.
China offers Philippines talks if South China Sea court ignored-China Daily

SHANGHAI, July 4 (Reuters) - China is ready to start negotiations with the Philippines on South China Sea-related issues if Manila ignores an arbitration ruling expected next week on their long-running territorial dispute, the official China Daily reported on Monday.

The Philippines brought the case to the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague and a ruling is expected on July 12. The case contests China's claims to the bulk of the South China Sea, a body of water through which $5 trillion in ship-borne trade passes every year. China has said it plans to ignore the Court's ruling which would represent a snub of the international legal order.

The Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei have overlapping claims with China in the area. Beijing has rejected the arbitration case, claiming the court has no jurisdiction and saying it wants to solve the issue bilaterally. In recent weeks it has ramped up its propaganda campaign downplaying the outcome of the case.

China also plans to hold military drills around the disputed Paracel Islands in the South China Sea from July 5-11, which Vietnam has oppose, state-run Vietnam Television quoted foreign ministry spokesman Le Hai Binh as saying on Monday.

Negotiations between China and the Philippines could cover "issues such as joint development and cooperation in scientific research if the new government puts the tribunal's ruling aside before returning to the table for talks", the China Daily said.

China's main, government-run English newspaper did not name its sources but identified them as "close to the issues between the two countries".

"Manila must put aside the result of the arbitration in a substantive approach," it quoted one source as saying.

China's Foreign Ministry last month said the two countries had agreed in 1995 to settle disputes in the South China Sea "in a peaceful and friendly manner through consultations on the basis of equity and mutual respect".

China and the Philippines have held many rounds of talks on the proper management of maritime disputes, though have had no negotiations designed to settle the actual disputes in the South China Sea, it said.

In the arbitration case, the Philippines is contesting China's claim to an area shown on its maps as a nine-dash line stretching deep into the maritime heart of Southeast Asia, covering hundreds of disputed islands and reefs.

"Objectively the tribunal has no jurisdiction over the dispute," Sienho Yee, a law professor at the China Institute of Boundary and Ocean Studies at China's Wuhan University, told Reuters in a government-arranged interview on Friday.
Zimbabwe police fire teargas as taxi drivers' protest turns violent

HARARE, July 4 (Reuters) - A protest by Zimbabwean taxi drivers against a police crackdown turned violent on Monday when residents joined in and hurled rocks at police, who fired teargas to disperse the rioters.

In the last month, Zimbabwe has witnessed spontaneous protests against government corruption, shortages of money and government plans to circulate local bank notes as the southern African nation struggles with a drought and a slowing economy.

Zimbabwean taxi drivers, along with owners of taxi firms, accuse police of seeking to raise money for their operations by imposing hefty fines on their vehicles, which they say impacts on their business.

Police spokeswoman Charity Charamba told reporters that anti-riot police had deployed in two townships outside Harare and arrested 30 people in connection with the violence.

Charamba said "all those who are inciting and engaging in violence that such misconduct will be severely dealt with."

A Reuters witness said taxi operators teamed up with residents in Epworth township, south of central Harare, to attack police with stones. Police fired teargas, beat up protesters and broke down doors at some houses, saying they were looking for organisers of the protest.

In Mabvuku township, to the east of the capital, police fired teargas as taxi operators blocked roads with stones and burning tyres, taxi driver Aaron Mapani said.
On Africa tour, Israeli PM remembers brother killed in Entebbe rescue

By Elias Biryabarema

ENTEBBE, Uganda, July 4 (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu began an African tour on Monday, attending a memorial service at Entebbe airport in Uganda where his commando brother was killed rescuing hostages 40 years ago - an event which he has said shaped his future.

Lt Col Yonatan "Yoni" Netanyahu led an assault team of 29 commandos who stormed the terminal in 1976 to rescue Israelis and others who had been on board an Air France flight diverted to Uganda by Palestinian and German hijackers.

"I am touched to stand in this place, this very place, where my brother, Yoni, fell," the prime minister said at Entebbe airport. "Entebbe is always with me, in my thoughts, in my consciousness, deep in my heart."

The old building where the hostages were held still stands, but a new terminal now serves the airport at Entebbe, which lies a few miles (km) from the capital Kampala. Some former Israeli commandos involved in the raid also attended the ceremony.

The prime minister's elder brother was the only Israeli soldier killed in the 1976 raid. The hijackers, three hostages and dozens of Ugandan soldiers died. More than 100 mostly Israeli hostages were freed. Ugandan autocrat Idi Amin, in power at that time, broke ties with Israel after the raid.

"My brother's death changed my life and directed it to its present course," he said in an interview with Newsweek in 2012.

Speaking on Monday before talks with President Yoweri Museveni, Netanyahu said: "Exactly 40 years ago, Israel soldiers carried out a historic mission in Entebbe.

"Forty years ago they landed in the dead of the night in a country led by a brutal dictator. Today we landed in broad day light in a friendly country led by a president who fights terrorists."

Uganda has been targeted by Somali Islamist group al Shabaab, which has said it wants to drive out Ugandan and other soldiers fighting with an African Union peace force in Somalia.

Netanyahu was accompanied by an 80-strong delegation of Israeli business executives from more than 50 companies. After talks with Museveni he was to attend a summit with leaders from Rwanda, Kenya, South Sudan, Ethiopia and Zambia

"Africa is a continent on the rise. Israel looks forward to strengthening ties with all its countries," he said.

After Uganda, the Israeli prime minister travels to Kenya where Israel provides training for the security forces and has other investments.

"Israel is a critical partner to Kenya, with its development assistance in security and defence, agriculture and particularly irrigation are important investments here," Kenyan presidential spokesman Manoah said ahead of the visit.

The tour will also take Netanyahu to Rwanda and Ethiopia.

"Israel companies should come and invest in Africa," Museveni said in his speech, specifically pointing to technology firms.
Israeli court told Tel Aviv gunmen attacked in name of Islamic State

By Dan Williams

TEL AVIV, July 4 (Reuters) - Israeli prosecutors accused two Palestinians on Monday of carrying out last month's gun rampage in Tel Aviv in the name of Islamic State, but their lawyer denied any link, saying they sought revenge for Israeli crackdowns in the occupied West Bank.

Cousins Mohammed and Khaled Makhamreh, and a third Palestinian charged as their accomplice in the June 8 attack that killed four people, were indicted in Tel Aviv District Court on several counts of murder and attempted murder.

The indictment said they had decided "take revenge on Israel in the name of Islamic State during the (Muslim) fast month of Ramadan", but did not include any terrorism charges.

Israel's Shin Bet security service, which took part in the investigation, issued a separate statement saying the accused had been "inspired" by the group "without having been formally recruited or receiving any kind of assistance or instruction".

Security footage showed the cousins, aged 21 and 20, entering Tel Aviv's upscale Sarona Market, then pulling out guns in one of the restaurants and firing at diners. They were captured outside by police, who shot and wounded one of them.

Violence has intensified in the last 10 months, stoked by Palestinian frustration at stalled statehood talks, more Israeli settlement building on occupied land, disputes over a Jerusalem mosque, and Islamist-led calls for Israel's destruction.

Prosecutors said Mohammed Makhamreh was exposed to Islamic State teachings while on a visit to Jordan. Speaking briefly to court reporters, a smiling Makhamreh confirmed he had been to Jordan. Asked if he was with Islamic State, he said: "No, no."

The cousins' lawyer, Khaled Mahagna, said both Makhamrehs had confessed to the attack "but do not belong to any group, not ISIS (Islamic State) or any Palestinian faction".

"They took action because they wanted revenge given the security situation, the occupation, especially in Hebron," the lawyer said, referring to a flashpoint Palestinian city near the cousins' hometown that sees regular Israeli army sweeps.

Israel says scores of Islamic State volunteers from among its Arab minority and the Palestinian territories have attempted or succeeded in going to territory the group holds in Syria and Iraq. Palestinian authorities say at least 20 such volunteers have gone from Gaza alone.

Islamic State has also vowed to attack Israel. But Israeli security officials have played down this threat, seeing more immediate dangers from armed Palestinian factions such as Hamas and Hezbollah guerrillas in neighbouring Lebanon.
Gaza receives first Turkish aid shipment after Israel-Turkey deal

GAZA, July 4 (Reuters) - Turkish aid shipments arrived in the Gaza Strip via Israel on Monday, a week after Israel and Turkey announced they would end a six-year rupture and normalise ties.

About 11,000 tonnes of cargo, including clothing, toys and medicines destined for the Palestinian coastal territory, were ferried to the Israeli port of Ashdod by a Turkish ship that docked on Sunday.

Under the supervision of the Turkish Red Crescent Society, the first of about 500 trucks carrying the aid entered the Gaza Strip, territory controlled by Hamas Islamists, through Israel's Kerem Shalom crossing, witnesses said.

Relations between Israel and Turkey crumbled after Israeli marines stormed a Turkish ship in May 2010 challenging Israel's naval blockade of the Gaza Strip and killed 10 Turkish activists during fighting on board.

Last week's rare rapprochement in the divided Middle East was driven by the prospect of lucrative Mediterranean gas deals as well as mutual concern over growing security risks, and included an Israeli pledge to enable Turkey to send aid to Gaza.

"This is the first (aid) ship after the Turkish and the Israeli governments' agreement," said Kerem Kinik, president of the Turkish Red Crescent, who travelled to Gaza to supervise the distribution of the goods.

He said Turkey would provide "continuous, regular humanitarian assistance" for the territory.

Last week, some 3,400 trucks carrying 107,500 tonnes of goods, including medical supplies, electronic devices, consumer goods and construction material, entered the Gaza Strip via Israel, according to Israeli authorities.

Gaza merchants can import commercial goods from Israel and elsewhere but Israel restricts the entry into the territory of so-called dual-use items, saying they can be used to make weapons and build fortifications.
Brazil's Gol still looking for solution to debt issues -CFO

By Ana Mano and Alberto Alerigi Jr.

SAO PAULO, July 4 (Reuters) - Brazilian airline Gol Linhas Aereas SA is still looking for ways to resolve its costly debt load, a senior executive said on Monday, renegotiating bank loans this month after about 20 percent of bondholders accepted a restructuring.

Chief Financial Officer Edmar Lopes Neto told journalists that Gol was satisfied with the bond swap, concluded on Friday after repeated extensions, but the company is still working on a mid-term solution to its challenging cash flow outlook.

Lopes said the bond swap opened the door for talks with banks, but he ruled out an in-court debt restructuring and reiterated that there were no talks for a cash injection from Delta Air Lines Inc, one of Gol's biggest shareholders.

"We will continue to look in the market for alternatives to solve the debt," said Lopes. He added that sharp moves in Brazil's currency, which has gained more than 20 percent against the U.S. dollar this year, had increased uncertainty and made it harder to reach deals with creditors.

Investors tendered $174.7 million of about $780 million worth of bonds covered in Gol's debt swap, according to a securities filing on Monday, accepting discounts in return for more collateral and payouts in the event of a takeover.

With the bond restructuring over, Gol now expects to wrap up renegotiations with banks and leasing companies this month, Lopes said.

The bond swap reduced Gol's gross financial debt, which stood at 7.9 billion reais ($2.4 billion) in March, by $101 million and will reduce debt-servicing by $9 million annually, according to Monday's filing.

By contrast, Lopes said this year's currency swing had reduced Gol's debt by 1.4 billion reais in local terms, helping the airline cover foreign-denominated debts with revenue denominated largely in reais.

Although the weaker dollar will help Gol's profitability, Lopes said the company is sticking to a plan to reduce capacity in Brazil, which is suffering through the second year of its worst economic recession in generations.

Gol shares lost 0.6 percent in midday trading in Sao Paulo.
Rio Tinto chief tells Times shelves giant Guinea iron ore project

July 4 (Reuters) - Rio Tinto has shelved its $20 billion Simandou iron ore project in Guinea because of a sustained slump in prices, the company's new Chief Executive Jean-Sebastien Jacques said in an interview with The Times newspaper.

Rio Tinto declined to comment on the article.

The world's second biggest miner by market capitalization had been seeking financing for Simandou, even after a $1.1 billion writedown on the project in February. Last month the Anglo-Australian company submitted a feasibility study to the Guinean government.

But global oversupply of iron ore made the project inviable at this time, Jacques told The Times.

Simandou would have comprised an iron ore mine in central Guinea, a 650-kilometer (404-mile) railway and a deepwater port on the West African country's Atlantic Coast.
UK PM candidate Crabb says would approve new Heathrow runway if elected

LONDON, July 4 (Reuters) - Stephen Crabb, one of the candidates to replace British prime minister David Cameron, said on Monday he would approve a new runway at Heathrow Airport immediately if he is elected.

Britain's governing Conservatives are due to select a new leader, and prime minister, by Sept. 9 after Cameron said he would step down following last month's vote for Britain to leave the European Union.

Heathrow, Britain and Europe's busiest airport, has been campaigning for 25 years to build an extra runway and a decision had been expected this summer. Last week it was delayed due to the political turmoil following the Brexit vote.

"We can't afford to delay this decision any further," Crabb said in a statement.
Brazilian police target former Workers Party treasurer in Petrobras probe

BRASILIA, July 4 (Reuters) - Brazil's federal police served five arrest warrants and conducted search and seizure operations in three states on Monday, in the latest round of a sweeping corruption probe around state-run oil firm Petroleo Brasileiro SA.

Police said contractors paid at least 39 million reais ($11.99 million) in bribes to executives of Petrobras, as the oil company is known, and rigged public auctions at Petrobras' research center Cenpes.

Part of the funds allegedly embezzled were directed to the leftist Workers Party, the ruling party in Brazil from 2003 to May 2016.

The party's former treasurer, Paulo Ferreira, was already in custody for a separate probe but now faces another arrest warrant for his alleged role in the Petrobras fraud, police said at a press conference.

Representatives for the Workers Party and Ferreira were not immediately available to comment.

No arrest warrants were issued against sitting politicians for the Monday raids, the 31st round of the two-year-long "Operation Car Wash." The investigation, which has rocked Brazil and led to the arrests of dozens of political and corporate leaders, uncovered a deeply-rooted corruption and price-fixing scheme at Petrobras and other state-led companies.

Though politicians from various of Brazil's biggest parties have been ensnared in the probe, the fallout from the scandal helped topple the Workers Party because it undermined much of the popular and legislative support for Dilma Rousseff, who was suspended as president in May.

Rousseff, who faces impeachment proceedings in Brazil's Senate over allegations of irregularities in the government budget, was replaced by interim President Michel Temer, a centrist and veteran legislator who was her vice president.
France's Juppe urges talks with Britain on EU freedom of movement

By Richard Lough

LONDON, July 4 (Reuters) - Alain Juppe, the frontrunner to become France's president in next year's election, offered Britain hope on Monday that it could negotiate over the thorny issue of free movement of people under a new post-Brexit deal with the bloc.

On a visit to London, the centre-right former prime minister also said the border between the two countries should be moved back onto British soil - a foray into the controversy over how to deal with migrants camped at the French port of Calais once Britain has quit the EU.

Since Britons voted in a June 23 referendum to leave, European leaders have insisted it must continue to accept the free movement of workers if it wants to enjoy continued access to the EU's single market.

"We have to be open to negotiation on this point," Juppe told a news conference. "There are several possibilities."

Concern about immigration was among the main reasons Britons voted to leave the EU. British politicians who campaigned for Brexit have said they expect to be able to secure a favourable new trade arrangement without having to accept free movement.

Juppe, who is seeking his party's nomination in November primaries before the 2017 presidential election, said the bilateral Le Touquet accord that allows French customs officials to work on British soil and vice versa should be renegotiated.

"These agreements do not work," he said. "This should be done in Britain. I want those agreements to be renegotiated," he said, adding that with Brexit that situation was not acceptable for France anymore.

Juppe's comments were at odds with the line taken by Socialist President Francois Hollande, who has said the border agreement would not be affected by Brexit.

The Calais camp that has grown up in the past two years as thousands of migrants seek to avoid border controls there and to reach Britain illegally through the Channel Tunnel is politically controversial on both sides of the Channel.
Iraq's minorities "on verge of disappearance" - rights groups

By Emma Batha

LONDON, July 4 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Many of Iraq's minorities are on the verge of disappearance after 13 years of war, campaigners warned on Monday.

"The impact on minorities has been catastrophic. Saddam was terrible; the situation since is worse. Tens of thousands of minorities have been killed and millions have fled for their lives," said Mark Lattimer, head of Minority Rights Group (MRG).

Iraq's Christian population, which before 2003 numbered as many as 1.4 million, is now under 250,000, according to a report by MRG and other rights organisations.

Civil conflicts and sectarian tensions have engulfed the country since 2003 when a U.S.-led coalition toppled Saddam Hussein. In 2014 Islamic State militants declared a caliphate after capturing swathes of Iraq and Syria.

Minorities including the Yazidi, Turkmen, Shabak, Christians and Kaka'i have been disproportionately affected by the recent violence, the report said.

Tens of thousands have been murdered, maimed or abducted and many women and girls forced into marriage or sexual enslavement.

"One cannot say anything positive about Saddam - he was a genocidal dictator, but for many minorities the situation is now much worse," said co-author Lattimer.

The Yazidis hit the headlines in mid-2014 when Islamic State militants attacked them in northwest Iraq, killing, capturing and enslaving thousands.

The jihadist group has shown particular cruelty to the Yazidis, whom they regard as devil-worshippers.

Most Yazidis, along with another minority called the Kaka'i, have been forced from their traditional lands. Also highlighted, is the plight of the Shi'ite Turkmen and Shabak communities who have been driven south.

MASS GRAVES

The report demands an end to impunity for crimes against minorities. It says planning should begin immediately for a post-Islamic State era to enable them to return to their homelands.

It also calls for the protection of mass graves in areas captured from Islamic State and the deployment of forensic teams to investigate possible war crimes.

The report, "No Way Home: Iraq's Minorities on the Verge of Disappearance", says Iraqi security forces and Kurdish peshmerga forces have also committed war crimes.

An estimated 3.4 million people are now uprooted inside Iraq. And as many as one in five displaced Iraqis interviewed by researchers felt they had no choice but to flee the country because of the lack of basic services and security.

The authors warned that displacement could soar with an assault to retake Mosul from Islamic State - potentially uprooting another 1 million people and creating hundreds of thousands more refugees.

Lattimer said the upcoming Chilcot report on Britain's role in the Iraq war should reflect the devastating long-term consequences for Iraqi society. The long-delayed report is to be released on Wednesday.

"Chilcot is expected to criticise 'post-invasion planning' but the U.K. government's biggest - and continuing - mistake has been to support successive Iraqi governments since 2003 in a sectarian war that has cost tens of thousands of civilian lives on both sides," Lattimer said.
Mandela's family angered by S.Africa opposition using late leader's voice

JOHANNESBURG, July 4 (Reuters) - The family of the late Nelson Mandela is furious that a recording of the revered South African leader's voice is being used by the main opposition party for campaigning in local government elections due to be held next month.

In a campaign ad, which the Democratic Alliance (DA) posted on YouTube at the weekend, a young woman steps into a voting booth as Mandela's voice is heard calling for justice, peace, work and bread. The woman then makes her mark next to the DA logo.

"The DA is doing it to benefit a party which Mandela was not a member of," Mandla Mandela, the grandson of the former president and a member of the ruling African National Congress (ANC) party in parliament, told the ANN7 news network.

The ANC, which Mandela was a long-time member of and once led, has been in power since the end of apartheid in 1994. But it faces a stiff test in local elections on Aug. 3.

The DA hopes to capitalise on a poorly performing economy and allegations of corruption against the ANC.

Responding to criticism from the Mandela family, the DA defended its use of his words. "This great man stood for a nonracial South Africa," said DA spokesperson Refiloe Nt'sekhe.

"The DA is the only party able to take South Africa to the nonracial future it needs. To say that Mandela does not belong to all South Africans is atrocious."
Eagle that starred in British TV series killed by Mozambique hunters

CAPE TOWN, July 4 (Reuters) - A martial eagle from South Africa's Kruger National Park that starred in the British wildlife series "Fierce" has been killed by subsistence hunters in Mozambique, researchers who helped tag the bird said in a statement on Monday.

The 4.6 kg (10 pound) bird made her television debut in June to highlight efforts by scientists looking to stem the decline of martial eagles, Africa's largest eagle species.

"We detected that the bird was no longer moving about in a normal fashion," said Rowen van Eeden, a researcher at the University of Cape Town.

Van Eeden and a colleague tracked the signal to a remote corner of Mozambique, more than 160 km (100 miles) away from where the bird had been tagged, and found it with its neck trapped in a snare probably used to catch small buck.

It was the third adult eagle out of eight fitted with GPS tags to die outside of Kruger since the start of the Martial Eagle research programme three years ago.
Detroit's Big Three report higher Canadian sales

By Allison Lampert

MONTREAL, July 4 (Reuters) - Detroit's Big Three automakers on Monday reported higher Canadian sales for June and for the first half of 2016, on an annual basis, with forecasters expecting another record-breaking year.

June sales hit a new record for the month, rising 7.4 percent to 191,088 on an annual basis, according to Canadian auto analyst Dennis DesRosiers on Monday. Sales of trucks, SUVs and vans grew 13.9 percent, even as sluggish sales of sedans declined 2.9 percent on an annual basis, he wrote in a note.

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, reported a total of 27,776 vehicles sold in June, up 2 percent compared with the same month in 2015. For the first half of 2016, FCA Canada said it sold 152,439 vehicles, a record high for the automaker.

"At the mid-year point, FCA Canada is on pace for another record-setting sales year," said Dave Buckingham, Chief Operating Officer, FCA Canada, in a statement.

According to a June report by Scotiabank, Canadian auto sales are expected to rise to 1.96 million vehicles in 2016, up from a record-breaking 1.9 million units last year.

In May, Canadian auto sales slipped 1.5 percent on an annual basis, the first monthly decline since December 2015, in part because the month had two fewer selling days.

"The market rebounded strongly in June after a slower month in May," DesRosiers said. "Sales finished 6.0 percent higher for the first half of 2016, without a clear sign of slowing down."

Ford Motor Co and General Motors Co, reported higher Canadian sales in June, which had 26 selling days, compared to 25 during the same month in 2015.

Ford said in a news release it sold 28,718 vehicles in June, up 7 percent for the month. Ford's sales during the first half of 2016 rose nearly 12 percent to 149,942 vehicles.

GM delivered 26,045 vehicles in June, up 8 percent on an annual basis. GM said its sales for the first six months of 2016 rose 2.3 percent to 130,202 units.

Toyota Motor Corp sold 22,004 vehicles in June, up 6.4 percent compared to 2015. Sales for the first half of the year reached 113,410 units, up 8 percent on an annual basis.
Nigeria's oil minister replaced as state oil company boss

ABUJA, July 4 (Reuters) - Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has replaced Oil Minister Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu as group managing director of state oil company NNPC as part of a wider board overhaul.

Oil accounts for about 70 percent of Nigeria' revenue, but the OPEC member has been hit hard by a prolonged drop in crude prices that has caused the deepest crisis in Africa's biggest economy for more than a decade.

Dr Maikanti Kacalla Baru, previously group executive director for exploration and production, will take the reins from Kachikwu, who will remain on the board as chairman, the president's spokesman said on Monday.

Buhari, elected last year, has accused the previous administration of failing to save when crude oil cost more than $100 a barrel. In 2013 the central bank governor said that tens of billions of dollars in oil revenue had failed to make it into state coffers, which the company denied.

Kachikwu was appointed minister of state for oil last year, making him a junior minister, while Buhari kept the petroleum minister portfolio for himself in order to oversee energy sector reforms.

Baru's previous roles at the state oil company included a six year stint, from 1993 to 1999, as an executive at the National Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPIMS), an NNPC subsidiary, where he worked on gas-related projects.

"President Buhari urges the new board to ensure the successful delivery of the mandate of NNPC and serve the nation by upholding the public trust placed on them in managing this critical national asset," said Buhari's spokesman Femi Adesina.

The president's chief of staff, Abba Kyari, joins the new board, which replaces the one dissolved by Buhari in June last year.

"Reconstituting the board appears to be an attempt to adopt a different approach with a sense of proper oversight and accountability," said Antony Goldman, head of Nigeria-focused PM Consulting.

"The issue in the past has been that NNPC has been involved in deals that benefited certain individuals but not Nigeria as a whole," he added.

Kachikwu, a former Exxon Mobil executive, was brought in by Buhari as head of NNPC last August and was named as minister of state for oil when his cabinet was appointed a few months later.

Rolake Akinkugbe, head of energy and natural resources at FBN Capital, said there was "always a question around how you could have the head of the national oil company who was also the oil minister".
Post-Brexit, Britain may need "Hotel California" model

By Paul Taylor

BRUSSELS, July 3 (Reuters) - After the self-inflicted wound of voting to quit the European Union, Britain's best option to limit the mutual economic and political damage could be called the "Hotel California" model.

As in the 1977 Eagles hit, "You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave".

Once the dust settles, Britain could "check out" of the EU by handing in its notice, but effectively stay half-way in the world's biggest trading bloc by joining the European Economic Area along with Norway. It could negotiate enhanced political cooperation in foreign policy and security, and might even get a voice, though not a vote, in some EU deliberations.

Yet that next-best solution seems unlikely to prevail.

It may take months for a British political leadership in meltdown to redefine the national interest in relations with the EU in a way that is compatible with the public will expressed in the June 23 referendum, if that is possible.

That is one reason why outgoing Prime Minister David Cameron did not immediately "check out" by giving notice to withdraw under the EU treaty's Article 50 exit clause, which would trigger two years of negotiations on the divorce terms.

An overwhelming majority of the financial and business community wants to retain free access to Europe's lucrative 500-million strong single market, which would mean keeping swathes of EU rules and accepting continued free movement of workers.

Since these are the people who fund the ruling Conservative party, they ought to have influence on the next prime minister.

But Britons voted to leave the bloc they joined in 1973 chiefly due to anger over immigration from EU countries and in a desire to "take back control" of borders and lawmaking.

Those two agendas are mutually exclusive.

Cameron left the poison chalice of giving notice and starting the divorce negotiations to his successor. The main contenders to replace him as Conservative party leader and premier in a leadership ballot set for Sept. 9 are in no hurry.

Both justice minister Michael Gove and interior minister Theresa May have said they would not notify the EU this year, hoping to take informal soundings first about what terms may be on offer for future ties. Gove declined to put a timetable on withdrawal, while May, who had favoured remaining in the EU, said Brexit would take several years.

The 27 other EU members are determined to avoid harmful prolonged uncertainty and want the issue resolved before the campaign for the 2019 European Parliament elections, in which Britain is not expected to participate.

Hence they are pressing London to give notice as soon as possible and warning there will be no negotiations, formal or informal, until it does. They also spelled out at their first meeting without Britain that single market access requires full respect of the so-called "four freedoms" of movement for goods, capital, labour and services.

British politicians may think time is on their side and they can get a better deal by playing it long. But while the other EU countries cannot compel Britain to trigger Article 50, they hold most of the cards.

EU governments hold the keys to the single market gates. Now that it is on the way out, Britain no longer does.

Prolonged uncertainty will chill investment in Britain and may prompt financial companies to drift away from the City of London as the euro zone prepares for life without the UK.

"The longer they drag out notification, the more Brexit will happen de facto. The money is already walking away from London," an EU official said. Clearing trades in euros would move to the euro zone without waiting for an exit deal.

Yet some Leave politicians remain in denial about the hard choice they face. Their leitmotiv is that Europe wouldn't dare.

Chris Grayling, a senior Leave campaigner in Cameron's cabinet, told Reuters in an interview that the EU had a strong interest in a "sensible" trading arrangement with Britain.

"It is as much about their access to the UK market as it is the other way round," he said, adding that Britain's financial services sector, by far Europe's biggest, would have to be protected in any negotiation.

Nigel Farage, leader of the anti-EU UK Independence Party, went further, telling EU partners in the European Parliament: "If you were to cut off your noses to spite your faces and reject any idea of a sensible trade deal the consequences would be far worse for you than it would be for us."

Thousands of German car workers' jobs would be at risk if the two sides imposed tariffs, he said.

For now, the main Conservative leadership candidates seem to be leaning away from staying in the single market because of the electorate's overriding priority to control immigration. Some hope they can still get another special deal giving Britain a stronger brake on free movement of workers.

That calculation could change if a recession, job losses and more currency turmoil, forecast by international financial institutions and economists, start to bite.

The financial services sector is desperate to keep the "passport" that allows London-based banks and financial companies to sell services across the continent without having to set up costly subsidiaries there.

Despite Cameron's plea to his final EU summit last week to rethink freedom of movement, labour mobility within the EU is not a big issue for Britain's partners. Changing the rules would be deeply divisive.

Labour-exporting states such as Poland, Hungary and Romania feel they went as far as they could to help London by agreeing in a February deal to let it deny in-work welfare benefits to new arrivals from their countries for up to four years.
NASA's Juno spacecraft loops into orbit around Jupiter

By Irene Klotz

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., July 5 (Reuters) - NASA'S Juno spacecraft capped a five-year journey to Jupiter late Monday with a do-or-die engine burn to sling itself into orbit, setting the stage for a 20-month dance around the biggest planet in the solar system to learn how and where it formed.

"We're there. We're in orbit. We conquered Jupiter," lead mission scientist Scott Bolton, with the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, told reporters on Tuesday. "Now the fun begins."

Juno will spend the next three months getting into position to begin studying what lies beneath Jupiter's thick clouds and mapping the planet's gargantuan magnetic fields.

Flying in egg-shaped orbits, each one lasting 14 days, Juno also will look for evidence that Jupiter has a dense inner core and measure how much water is in the atmosphere, a key yardstick for figuring out how far away from the sun the gas giant formed.

Jupiter's origins, in turn, affected the development and position of the rest of the planets, including Earth and its fortuitous location conducive to the evolution of life.

"The question I've had my whole life that I'm hoping we get an answer to is 'How'd we get here?' That's really pretty fundamental to me," Bolton said.

Jupiter orbits five times farther from the sun than Earth, but it may have started out elsewhere and migrated, jostling its smaller sibling planets as it moved.

Jupiter's immense gravity also diverts many asteroids and comets from potentially catastrophic collisions with Earth and the rest of the inner solar system.

Launched from Florida nearly five years ago, Juno needed to be precisely positioned, ignite its main engine at exactly the right time and keep it firing for 35 minutes to become only the second spacecraft to orbit Jupiter.

If anything had gone even slightly awry, Juno would have sailed helplessly past Jupiter, unable to complete a $1 billion mission.

The risky maneuver began as planned at 11:18 p.m. EDT/0318 Tuesday GMT as Juno soared through the vacuum of space at more than 160,000 mph (257,500 kph).

NASA expects Juno to be in position for its first close-up images of Jupiter on Aug. 27, the same day its science instruments are turned on for a test run.

Only one other spacecraft, Galileo, has ever circled Jupiter, which is itself orbited by 67 known moons. Bolton said Juno is likely to discover even more.

Seven other U.S. space probes have sailed past the gas giant on brief reconnaissance missions before heading elsewhere in the solar system.

The risks to the spacecraft are not over. Juno will fly in highly elliptical orbits that will pass within 3,000 miles (4,800 km) of the tops of Jupiter's clouds and inside the planet's powerful radiation belts.

Juno's computers and sensitive science instruments are housed in a 400-pound (180-kg) titanium vault for protection. But during its 37 orbits around Jupiter, Juno will be exposed to the equivalent of 100 million dental X-rays, said Bill McAlpine, radiation control manager for the mission.

The spacecraft, built by Lockheed Martin, is expected to last for 20 months. On its final orbit, Juno will dive into Jupiter's atmosphere, where it will be crushed and vaporized.
Sharpshooting U.S. veteran frees trapped bald eagle in Minnesota

July 4 (Reuters) - A U.S. Army veteran used his sharp-shooting skills to free a bald eagle trapped in a Minnesota tree ahead of the Fourth of July holiday, his wife said.

Jackie Gervais Galvin of Rush City, Minnesota, said on her Facebook page that the eagle had become entangled in a rope. It had hung upside down from a tree near the cabin belonging to her and her husband, Jason Galvin, for more than two days, she said.

Jason Galvin used a borrowed .22-caliber rifle with a scope to sever the 4-inch (10 cm) rope after firing 150 shots. Galvin never hit the eagle.

The bird tumbled 75 feet (23 meters) to the ground. The couple wrapped it in a blanket and took it to the University of Minnesota's Raptor Center, Jackie Galvin said in her posting on Friday.

"We named the eagle Freedom and hope to be able to release him near his home once he is back to health!" she wrote.

The federally protected bird, or Haliaeetus leucocephalus, is featured on U.S. currency and in the presidential seal. It was adopted as the national U.S. bird symbol in 1782.
Kiarostami, master of post-revolution Iranian cinema, dies at 76

By Babak Dehghanpisheh

BEIRUT, July 4 (Reuters) - Abbas Kiarostami, the writer-director who showed that Iranian cinema was one of the most original and emotionally engaging in the world, died in Paris on Monday from complications related to cancer, according to Iranian state media. He was 76.

Part of a new wave of Iranian cinema that started in the 1960s and known for realist stories focused on the lives of ordinary people, Kiarostami was one of the few film makers to stay and prosper in Iran after the 1979 Islamic revolution.

Despite their very local, Iranian themes, his movies struck a chord with global audiences, and Kiarostami won the Palmes d'Or at Cannes in 1997 for "Taste of Cherry", about a middle-aged Iranian man planning to commit suicide and looking for someone to bury him when he is dead.

"What is peculiar about his art is that he's both a rootedly Iranian artist in terms of his landscape, his urban sensibilities, his cinematography," said Hamid Dabashi, a professor of Iranian Studies at New York's Columbia University.

"But he's also managed to raise those Iranian aspects to moments of universality."

American director Martin Scorsese said of his work: "Kiarostami represents the highest level of artistry in the cinema."

Born in Tehran in 1940, Kiarostami studied at the School of Fine Arts at Tehran University. His first foray into video was making commercials for Iranian TV.

After the 1979 revolution that ousted Iran's monarchy and ushered in an Islamist system of government, Kiarostami chose to stay while many artists and writers fled the country.

His own films, which often centred around children or poorer Iranians living in rural areas, were never seen as overtly political, but some of the screenplays he wrote for his protege Jafar Panahi were.

Panahi's 2003 movie "Crimson Gold", the tragi-comic portrayal of a pizza delivery man humiliated by his lowly social position in Tehran, a city divided by class and money, was seen as critical of the Islamic Republic and was banned in Iran.
Greek capital controls can be lifted when confidence restored in banking system -finance minister

ATHENS, July 4 (Reuters) - Greek Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos said on Monday the timing for fully easing capital controls on the country was contingent on when public confidence was restored in its banking system.

Greece imposed capital controls a year ago to stem a flight of deposits from Greeks spooked at the ramifications of a financial crisis that almost cost the country its position in the euro zone.

"The more the public believes that the recapitalisation process was indeed a good one, that the banks are indeed very stable, that we are indeed taking the appropriate measures to deal with the bad loans, if ... money starts returning to the banks, this will help lift capital controls," Tsakalotos told state broadcaster ERT1 in an interview.

"It's a continuous process of liberalisation," he said.

Greece's economic performance would also play a key role, he said, adding that the finance ministry in the coming week would issue new guidance easing capital controls further.

Tsakalotos said he was confident an automatic mechanism of across-the-board spending cuts, dubbed "the chopper" by Greek media, would not be activated because Athens would meet its bailout target for a primary surplus of 0.5 percent in 2016.

Tsakalotos, a British-trained economist who taught economics before being thrust into Greece's economic morass a year ago, defended the track record of the country's left-led government in dealing with international creditors.

Greece held out negotiating its third international bailout in a tense standoff with creditors last year, which included Athens calling a referendum on further austerity. The public rejected those terms, but less than a month later Greece was forced to capitulate and accept a new financial lifeline.
Becoming a minister in the central government is a dream come true for any politician. More so, if it is their first time. Normally, on a memorable occasion like this, a candidate's family is the happiest. But not in the case of young and sophisticated Anupriya Patel, Apna Dal MP from Mirzapur, who will soon be a part of the Modi Cabinet.

While Anupriya met BJP chief Amit Shah in Delhi on Monday regarding her swearing-in, her mother Krishna Patel in Kanpur was bitter and curt when asked about her daughter becoming minister in the Modi cabinet.

Anupriya Patel agreed to merge her party with the BJP.

"I have thrown her out of the party long back and don't want to talk anything about her now," was her terse reply before slamming the phone down.

Anupriya - the third daughter of Krishna Patel and Sonelal Patel, the founder of Apna Dal - has always been the brightest of the four children. When Sonelal Patel died in a road accident in Kanpur on October 17, 2009, his party Apna Dal had already established itself as a force to reckon with in Uttar Pradesh.

Sonelal had become one of the most influential OBC leaders in the Hindi heartland.

Having worked with Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna and then Kanshiram, Sonelal Patel rose to become the state secretary in BSP. But later on, he parted ways with Mayawati and formed his own party in 1994 with the Kurmis as his core vote bank.

With the sudden death of Sonelal Patel, a tug of war began in the family, mainly between Anupriya Patel and her mother Krishna Patel, who also has political ambitions and has contested three assembly elections so far - all of them unsuccessfully.

Two of Anupriya's sisters - Parul and Aman Patel - are software engineers based in Bangalore and not actively engaged in party politics. Her second sister Pallvi lives with Krishna Patel in Kanpur and manages the schools run by her mother.

Anupriya, who has a Masters Degree in Psychology and MBA in Business Administration, was sharp and articulate from the beginning. She became the general secretary of Apna Dal when her father died and swiftly rose through the ranks to capture his political heritage and widen the support base of the party, which was only known to be a vote-cutter front till then.

In the 2012 state elections, she jumped into the fray from the Rohaniya constituency in Varanasi and entered the UP Assembly.

But Anupriya had bigger ambitions.

In 2014, when the Modi wave was sweeping the state, she entered into an alliance with the BJP and managed to get two seats - Mirzapur and Pratapgarh. It proved to be a successful move.

She herself contested Lok Sabha polls from Mirzapur while her fellow Apna Dal leader Harivansh Singh stood for polls from Pratapgarh.

The Modi wave ensured a victory for both of them. Anupriya was hopeful of becoming a minister right from day one. But the BJP first wanted her to merge her party with the saffron alliance, stating that the victory was mainly due to the Modi wave.

But Anupriya's mother Krishna Patel, also the president of Apna Dal, was dead against it.

Before the mother and daughter could sort out the contentious issue of the merger, the ministerial berth slipped away for Anupriya.

Meanwhile, in the by-election for the Rohaniya Assembly seat vacated by Anupriya, Krishna Patel decided to test her fate and was squarely defeated. This caused further bad blood between the Anupriya and her mother.

In 2015, the infighting intensified to such an extent that Krishna Patel called a meeting in her capacity as party president and announced her daughter's expulsion. The matter eventually reached the court and is still pending for hearing.

As Anupriya Patel becomes a part of Team Modi and agrees to merge her party with the BJP, one question remains unanswered.

Who owns the Apna Dal?

The jury is still out as Anupriya is busy selecting her best suit for the swearing-in ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhawan on Tuesday. And yes, here is a mother who will choose not to watch the biggest moment in her daughter's life.
Xenophobia is a state of paranoia, I feel, when humans revert to primitive insecurities like troglodytes, who fear scarcity of food, resources.

The world we live in post 2008 financial meltdown and the US-inflicted mortgage crisis, from which no country ever recovered, has pushed nations to an inflection point and led to the closing down of their borders - a departure from the times that thrived on a free flow of ideas, finance, technology and travel.

As a consequence, de-growth, decline, disintegration and de-globalisation define the economic zeitgeist of nations in 2016.

Connect

Let's know for a fact that the big American Dream was killed by the nation itself in 2008, which had shattered the dreams of the rest of the world. And now, in the absence of recovery, central banks are contemplating resorting to printing more money; QE4, as economies get addicted to quantitative easing - following this, the depreciation of currencies and the decline of purchasing power will continue, as Marc Faber, investor and the futurist of gloom and doom, predicts.

The point here is that both the UK and the US are First World countries that were proponents of free trade across borders and who enjoyed decades of growth from it.

Donald Trump. (Reuters)

And the US now cries "rape" as Trump did on job losses, promising to re-negotiate previous trade pacts. "They've taken our jobs, they've stolen our wealth..." he said, speaking of immigrants. Peddling fear more than he sells hope, presumptive President Trump strikes a chord with 46 million Americans with incomes below the poverty line; his populist rancour appeals to 65 per cent of voters who want curbs on imported goods, because gains from economic recovery have been inequitous and accrued to only the wealthy.

Trump may be politically illiberal and sound like the motormouth fringe of India, but gauging from popular sentiment after Brexit and the political windfall his campaign gains from it, he emerges as a cutting-edge alternative to his relatively elitist opponent Hillary, resonating with the working classes who stare at poverty rates which are at a 20-year-high in the US.

Secondly, across Europe, the US or India, extreme nationalism and xenophobia is also fuelled as a consequence of productive immigrants perceived and braced with the same scepticism as Muslim refugees, who historically never integrated culturally with the country they domiciled in.

Scarcity

Islamaphobia has seen a 326 per cent rise in 2015, making it difficult at the point of entry to differentiate a "good Muslim", one who is liberal and productive, from one who has arrived in a new country to kill, spread venom and sabotage peace.

In a world of plenty, people are generous and don't mind sharing the boom times; but in a world of scarcity and shrinking resources, people and nations are inclined towards self-preservation in a fight-or-flight syndrome.

The "leave" vote does not signify the irrational exuberance of voters for independence from the EU as much as it points to a rational paranoia about immigration and consequent job losses for its citizens.

The poor and middle classes in most countries, First World or Emerging World economies, are responding to hyper nationalist demagogurey of leaders for closing down borders because the vox populi favours protectionism, having seen no major gains accrue to the "one per cent over the 99 per cent".

Luddites

During the Great Depression of 1930, the predictable recourse was towards protectionism by raising import barriers, hoping to encourage exports.

But shutting imports has a damaging and retaliatory effect from interdependent trading partners, as the entire chain of trade then halts because of locked-in economies.

How fair is a unilateral call for protectionism by the West, just as India is beginning to open up as also other emerging nations who are equally dependent on trade for recovery?

In that, Brexit is a historic and geopolitical event, no less significant in magnitude than 9/11 or 2008. It sets in motion a second round of disintegration of a comity of nations after World War II, the Soviet Union being the first.

In such a world of compounding scarcity and inequity, let me throw in an alarmist eventuality that is going to be the black swan of all events possibly a decade from now: robots replacing humans, a faceless enemy of all working classes.

What sounds sci-fi of today, as did water-scarcity and climate change years back when futurists predicted it, this disruption will sound the death-knell for labour, shaving off jobs.

The Bank of England believes machines might replace 80 million American and 15 million British jobs over the next 10-20 years, as CNN Money reports, or 50 per cent of the workforce in each of the two countries.

Luddites will then rise in a bigger revolt as a reaction to the fifth wave of change.
The India of 1991, when PV Narasimha Rao became prime minister, was nothing like the India you live in today. As I point out in Half-Lion: How PV Narasimha Rao Transformed India, the country he inherited was undergoing several crisis.

It was not just a balance of payment problem that the economy was suffering from, the license-raj hobbled manufacturers as well as consumers. Roads were patchy, and there were no private tv channels or mobile phones.

In addition, the welfare schemes of "socialist" India were underfunded slogans that did little for the marginalised.

Narasimha Raos time as prime minister transformed India, from encouraging the growth of a consumer class to improving welfare schemes for the poor.

He also managed to deal with secession struggles in Kashmir, Assam and Punjab, as well as the collapse of Indias ally in the world, the Soviet Union.

These are some of the ways in which the legacy of this under-appreciated leader continues to touch our lives:

1. Mobile phone revolution:

Narasimha Rao outmanoeuvred his minister Sukh Ram in 1995 to ensure private and foreign participation in mobile telephony.

The decision transformed the sector. The vast majority of mobile users today use private operators. Given a choice, Indians have voted with their voice.

The vast majority of mobile users today use private operators.

2. Better roads, including toll roads

Rao allowed public-private partnership in roads and infrastructure.

It ensures huge private sector investment. Toll roads may have increased, but so has road quality.

3. Education, employment-guarantee schemes

Rao used increased government revenue from liberalisation for education, health, employment, and rural development. He was the first to see that growth and redistribution are necessary for one other.

Many of his schemes later morph into the NREGA and Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan.

Half-Lion: How PV Narasimha Rao Transformed India; Penguin Books Limited; Rs 520.

4. Satellite television

When Rao became PM, there was only one tv channel (Doordarashan). With growth of satellite technogy, Rao resisted his instinct to regulate. He permitted Star, Zee, and other private channels to start operations in India.

Today, you can see one of 832 channels rather than just Doordarshan.

5. Consumer goods

Rao allowed Coca Cola back.

We have seen how domestic and foreign brands transform daily living.

And it is not just about cornflakes for the middle-class. Cheap shampoo sachets and other innovations for the poor take off after Rao.

6. Helping exports

Rao allowed Manmohan Singh to devalue the rupee, helping exporters. It made India more competitive globally.

7. Private airlines

Rao allowed Jet Airways to fly for the first time; Damania, East-West and others follow.

82 million passengers travelled by air in 2014, most of them by private airlines.

8. Private banks

In 1993, Rao gave licences to HDFC, ICICI and other banks. It improved credit availability in the market.

9. Reduction in poverty

Data shows that liberalisation-led growth (and the schemes that it pays for) has reduced poverty, ill-health, and illiteracy at a much quicker rate than Indira Gandhi's "socialism".

10. Nuclear India
Gabina VOA is designed to be an infotainment youth radio show broadcasting to Ethiopia and Eritrea in the Amharic language. The show brings varied perspectives on issues concerning young people in the Horn of Africa region. Gabina in the Amharic language is a front row taxi ridesymbolic of the shows content as a fun ride that takes audiences from point A to point B. Gabina VOAs main goal is Enlightening young people, introducing them to cutting-edge technological innovations, exposing them to new processes and ideas so they can be productive, informed and self-governing citizens.
Suzuki Motorcycles India has signed a deal with e-commerce giants, Paytm. The platform, that is touted to be India's largest mobile payment and e-commerce portal will now list Suzuki's entire two-wheeler portfolio. Users can book as well as select financing schemes online through the portal.

Suzuki currently has over 400 dealerships onboard for the venture, and the Paytm partnership will enable the company to reach remote sections of the country. On logging on to the website buyers will be greeted with a virtual Suzuki showroom where products will be displayed along with their specifications and pricing.

Speaking on the new alliance, Satoshi Uchida, managing director, Suzuki Motorcycle India, said: Paytm enjoys great consumer trust owing to transactional credibility and consumer satisfaction. Based on this understanding, Paytm and Suzuki were the natural partners for this strategic alliance. Consumers can now book their favourite Suzuki motorbike with the ease of a click on Paytm. Our dealerships present across the country will be actively involved in giving a great consumer experience to Paytms customers while fulfilling the orders.

Once the vehicle of their choice has been booked buyers will be directed to the closest Suzuki dealership in the locality where delivery and registration of the two-wheeler can be completed. The online portal will also offer buyers financing options on the selected motorcycle or scooter. Paytm targets to receive more than 10,000 units through this virtual showroom by the year end.

The current product lineup of Suzuki Motorcycles consists of the Lets 110, Swish 125 and Access 125 in the scooter section, while the motorcycle section consists of the Hayate, Gixxer and Gixxer SF. The online platform will be limited to Suzuki India products and will not be available for Suzukis higher engine capacity superbikes.

Source: ZigWheels
The initiatives to realise the IoT include smart bag tagging to enable continuous tracking, which is planned by 61 per cent of the airlines by 2019

New Delhi: A whopping 91 per cent of the airlines globally are planning to invest in cyber security programmes over the next three years, a survey conducted by airline solutions and technology provider SITA has said.

The SITA Airline IT Trends 2016 Survey on the world's top 200 airlines has inferred "that the cyber security in airlines is progressing". Three years ago, 47 per cent of the airlines had said that they were making advanced preparations to manage cyber risks. Today, this figure has nearly doubled to 91 per cent, it added.

"Airlines are investing in areas which will promote a connected world of travel for the benefit of passengers and the workforce," SITA Director, Market Insight, Nigel Pickford said.

SITA sees new priorities attracting more investment, with cyber security and electronic flight bag solutions coming to the fore in this year's research, he added. The focus on cyber security also reflects the move to the 'Internet of Things'(IoT), in which a vast number of physical objects will become connected to the internet, thus enabling tracking, data collection, analysis and control, which necessitates more security, the survey said.

"The initiatives to realise the IoT include smart bag tagging to enable continuous tracking, which is planned by 61 per cent of the airlines by 2019," Pickford said.

Nearly half the airlines are also planning IT programmes for single token travel for passenger identification, he added. Another trend is more software development in-house and the shift to outsource IT operations. In the future, a growing proportion of airlines' IT budgets is likely to be spent on innovation rather than service continuity, with innovation rising to 36 per cent of IT and telecommunications spend in 2016, the survey said.

"Providing passenger services via smartphones continues to be a key area of investment for airlines. Seventy nine per cent of them are planning major investments over the next three years while a further 17 per cent are planning a pilot programme or R&D in this area," it added.

The survey said the services to passengers on tablets will also see significant investment with 71 per cent of airlines planning major programmes for these devices. Many airlines are also planning to use social media and physical location to tailor personalised offers for passengers by 2019, it added.

"Despite the fact that airlines have baggage tracking as part of their IoT plans, one quarter has no specific IT investment plans for compliance with IATA's Resolution 753. However, 77 per cent see a major benefit in improving customer satisfaction from compliance to resolution," the survey said.

IATA resolution 753 states that members shall maintain an accurate inventory of baggage by monitoring the acquisition and delivery of baggage.
The peg-marking and installing of landmark stones in the reconstituted plots layout on the outskirts of Nelapadu has been affected by rain.(Photo: DC)

Amaravati: The realty business in the Amaravati capital area has not picked up though the Secretariat employees have begun shifting from Hyderabad.

Dampening the business is the ban imposed by the government on the registration of land as it distributes reconstituted plots to farmers who pooled their land for the capital.

The nearly 100 real estate offices located at Tullur, Mandadam, Velagapudi, Malkapuram, Venkatapalem, Rayapudi, Undavalli, Penumaka and other villages in the capital region wore a deserted look due to the absence of interested persons.

The distribution of plots started on June 25 with farmers from Nelapadu and the CRDA had planned to complete the process in a month. It appears, however, that it could stretch to two months.

The locals of 29 villages of Amaravati had hoped for an increase in demand for land after the inauguration of the temporary secretariat complex at Velagapudi.

But with work at the site remaining incomplete, all the staff has not yet moved in.

It appears that the realtors will have to wait till the reconstituted plots are distributed and the temporary secretariat is fully staffed and functional.

Earlier, the CRDA had allowed farmers to sell the land that they had pooled with the government till they were handed over certificates of ownership of reconstituted plots. This facilitated trade in land. According to reports, nearly 6,000 acres of pooled land was sold in the past one year.

Prices increased after the foundation ceremony for capital, and made it an attractive proposition for famers to sell their land. Interestingly, farmers also turned brokers and earned a handsome income riding on the realty boom. But no longer.

Now, with the ban in place, if anybody wants to sell or purchase land in the 29 villages, they have to apply for permission with CRDA and submit its no-objection certificate to the registration department. The CRDA, however, is reluctant to issue NOCs, claiming sale or purchase of land would affect the plot distribution process.

Farmer-turned-land broker N. Subba Rao said the ban on land registration had affected the realty sector as no one was purchasing through there were many sellers.

The CRDA officials said that after getting the reconstituted plots in physical form, the farmers can sell their assets.
Just a week ago Kamaal Rashid Khan, through his Twitter account, informed everyone that Vikram Bhatt sent him a legal notice accusing him of defamation with regard to his review of 1920 London. After that, KRK sent out a volley of tweets to Bhatt and many Bollywood personalities, and most of them were not in good taste. One of the tweets was sent to Shraddha Kapoor whose brother Siddhant tweeted back to KRK, to stand up for his sister.

Bollywood and KRK go back a long way and for the most part the latter has shared cordial relations with the industry. For reasons best known to them, several filmmakers and actors host lunches and dinners for him. Actors like Riteish Deshmukh and Abhishek Bachchan reply to him addressing him as bhaijaan. Amitabh Bachchan had even gone to inaugurate his website a few years ago.

It has been a week since the Bhatt episode, and now in a gesture that has surprised many, KRK has apologised for his tweets. His lawyer too replied to the legal notice that was sent by Bhatt. Two days ago, KRK had tweeted that he would leave Twitter if he got more than 2,000 hate-tweets. He had clocked 4,000 by the next morning, which is when he changed his tone, and started requesting people to support him and not let him leave Twitter.

A source in the know said, KRK got into trouble after the legal notice was sent to him. Also the online petition against KRK was signed by a huge number of people. His lawyer advised him to apologise publicly and put the matter to rest.
One of the terrorists, killed by Bangladesh security forces during a joint operation to free hostages at a cafe here, was a fan of Bollywood actress Shraddha Kapoor. Nibras Islam, 22, who was killed on Saturday during a joint operation by Bangladesh security forces at the Holey Artisan Bakery where militants held several people hostage.

In his Facebook page, Islam claimed he had met Bollywood Kapoor. In a video clip posted in Facebook on June 8 last year, Nibras was seen shaking hands with Indian actress Shraddha Kapoor, the Daily Star newspaper said quoting an unidentified police detective. Shraddha Kapoor you beauty!! The moment she holds my hand, read the text accompanying the video.

Islam's friends told the newspaper he snapped contacts with them after moving to Malaysia to attend Monash University. Videos and photos from Islam's profile show him as a well-spoken, pleasant boy. His Twitter profile shows that he used to follow Shami Witness, an account linked to ISIS.
Mumbai: Bollywoods BFF Ranbir Kapoor and Ayan Mukherji recently got together to discuss their next project. Temporarily titled as Dragon, the film will star Ranbir as a superhero, while Alia plays his leading lady in the film.

We found a new picture of Ranbir and Ayan having a brunch with a fight instructor. The instructor pretty much revealed everything, including the fact that the film will most likely hit the screen in 2018, packed with fantastic awesomeness.

Great meeting with Indian film maker Ayan Mukerji and superstar actor @ranbirkapoor discussing a big Bollywood production that I'm involved with. When passionate people are coming together in collaboration to fulfill a fantasy - expect truly FANTASTIC things coming on your screen in 2018. #dragon #ayanmukerji #ranbirkapoor #idoportal A photo posted by Ido Portal (@portal.ido) on Jul 2, 2016 at 3:19pm PDT

With superhero movies doing fantastic business all around the world, Ayan Mukerji is attempting to make a trilogy with Ranbir Kapoor. Rumours also suggest that Amitabh Bachchan has been sounded off for a pivotal role in the film

Every superhero has a unique power that makes him different from the others. As for Ranbir Kapoor, he will have the power to throw fire through his hands.

Ayan, during the stage of writing the script, had many options in mind. But eventually he finalized this super power for Ranbirs character. Ranbir will be playing with the fire and it would be interesting to see how it is executed on the big screen.

The film was earlier expected to go on floors by February 2016.
Actor Suriya, who essayed a triple role  namely Mani, Sethuraman and Athreya  in his recent sci-fi offering 24, was critically acclaimed for his performance. His extraordinary histrionics as the antagonist Athreya, a paraplegic stuck to a wheelchair, got a lot of appreciation.

Now, the actor, who is a philanthropist, has donated the expensive custom-made wheelchair to a foundation based at Chandigarh. The Spinal Foundation have decided to use the innovation for training of high-level quadriplegics at the new Chandigarh Spinal Rehabilita-tion Center that is being inaugurated by the Governor on July 10.

The foundation thanked Suriyas kind gesture on their social media website  This wheelchair will be used for many years ahead. The foundation is also looking forward for the actors continued support to the foundation in the future.
Patients already taking statins were more likely to stop taking them for both primary and secondary prevention after the high media coverage period. (Photo: AP)

Washington D.C.: A period of controversy over the risks and benefits of statins, covered widely in the UK media, was followed by a temporary increase in the number of people stopping their statin treatment, finds a recent study.

The increase in stopping was seen among patients taking statins for existing heart disease (known as secondary prevention) as well as patients at high risk of developing disease in the next 10 years (known as primary prevention).

The researchers found no evidence that widespread media coverage was linked to changes in the proportion of newly eligible patients starting statins.

The results are observational, so no firm conclusions can be drawn about cause and effect. Nevertheless, the authors say they highlight "the potential for widely covered health stories in the lay media to impact on healthcare related behaviour."

But a linked editorial argues that uncertainty over the benefits and harms of statins still exists and journalism that exposes the public to ongoing controversies in science should be nurtured.

Statins are widely recommended for the prevention of cardiovascular disease (CVD). In October 2013, two articles were published in The BMJ that questioned the value of extending the use of statins to healthy people at low risk of heart disease, and these were heavily criticised by some statins researchers, prompting widespread media debate about their potential risks and benefits.

Anthony Matthews at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and colleagues decided to measure how this period of intense public debate (from October 2013 to March 2014) affected the likelihood of patients starting and stopping statins for both primary and secondary prevention of CVD.

Using prescribing data from UK primary care records, they calculated the number of people aged 40 and over starting and stopping statins each month from January 2011 to March 2015.

Patients already taking statins were more likely to stop taking them for both primary and secondary prevention after the high media coverage period, particularly older patients and those with a longer continuous prescription.

The authors estimate that more than 200,000 patients across the UK may have stopped statin therapy in the six months after the media coverage - and that this could lead to over 2,000 extra cardiovascular events, such as heart attacks and strokes, if continued over the next 10 years. But they stress that these calculations are based on several assumptions and should be interpreted with caution.

Study author Professor Liam Smeeth from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine said: "Our findings suggest that widespread coverage of health stories in the mainstream media can have an important, real world impact on the behaviour of patients and doctors. This may have significant consequences for people's health.

"It's undoubtedly important that these debates are reflected in the media, who play a key role in communicating public health advice, but there is a concern that in the case of statins, widespread reporting of the debate may have given disproportionate weight to a minority view about possible side effects, denting public confidence in a drug which most scientists and health professionals believe to be a safe and effective option against heart disease for the vast majority of patients."

In a linked editorial Gary Schwitzer, Publisher of HealthNewsReview.org, says "we should not rush to judgement on the media's role in this episode."

Dr Fiona Godlee, Editor in chief, The BMJ said: "It seems to me absolutely right that there is public debate about the benefits and harms of treatments. Patients may now be better aware of several things. First that we have far less good information on the side effects of statins than on their benefits. Secondly, that for some people, especially those at lower risk of heart disease, the survival benefit from statins may not outweigh the negatives of taking a drug every day with all that this entails. And finally that the complete trial data on statins are not available for independent scrutiny. This should shock people. It continues to shock me." The study is published in The BMJ.
Women over age 45 were about 95 percent less likely to groom than younger women, according to a study. (Photo: Visualphotos.com)

Over 80 percent of U.S. women groom their pubic hair, for a wide variety of reasons.

While previous studies have found most women groom their hair "down there" - for example, by shaving, waxing or trimming - until now no one had looked at their motivations, said Dr. Tami Rowen, an obstetrician and gynecologist at the University of California, San Francisco.

Its important to understand what drives women to groom their pubic hair, she and her colleagues say in new report. Increasingly, women are requesting genital cosmetic surgery, they point out, and in most cases, the women are motivated by aesthetics rather than functionality. Pubic hair grooming might have a role in this trend, because women are able to visualize their labia more easily now than in the past and are thus more motivated to change their appearance, they say.

In a nationally representative survey of 3,316 women, ages 18 to 65, about 60 percent said they groomed for hygiene and cleanliness. About 46 percent said it was part of their routine and about 32 percent said they thought it made their vagina look nicer.

About 56 percent said they groomed for sex. About 46 percent said they groomed for vacation and 40 percent said they trimmed for a healthcare visit. "I have noticed over the past couple years that women are extremely self-conscious about their genitals and apologize for not being groomed," Rowen said.

"Women were far more likely to groom if their partner also groomed and if their partner preferred that they groom," the researchers found. Frequency of sex, types of sexual activity and sex of sexual partner were not tied to the likelihood of women grooming.

Overall, about 84 percent reported ever grooming their pubic hair, and nearly all said they trimmed it themselves. Removing the hair around or above the vagina was most common followed by trimming the hair on the inner thighs.

White women and those with a college degree were most likely to groom. Women over age 45 were about 95 percent less likely to groom than younger women, according to the results in JAMA Dermatology.

"There were still a lot of older women who were grooming, but they were grooming far less than the younger women," Rowen told Reuters Health. The practice may lead to cuts and infections, the researchers note.

Pubic hair serves some important purposes, Rowen said. "It serves as a cushion" between the outside world and the sensitive skin tissues of the vulva, and possibly the labia.

She added, "It traps bacteria, chemicals and various things to prevent them from getting to the vagina and protects the skin from getting irritated." Rowen said it's still not clear whether trimming of pubic hair makes a difference to vaginal health.

The habit "very much seems to be a cultural trend," she said. "Forty years ago this was not a trend."

She said her team did not do the study to judge people's choice to groom, but she said women should consider their motivations before trimming or permanently removing their hair with lasers.
You are a young female lawyer, you should focus on yourself, earn more money and give it to charity if you want to make a difference to society, this is what 27-year-old human rights lawyer, Gulika Reddy, who hails from Chennai was told when she tried to point out the gender insensitivity that was prevailing in courtrooms.

Gulika decided she was going to have it no other way than to change the perspective of society; she went back to school to achieve this!

I had always wanted to become a lawyer so I could make a difference, but when I did become one I realised that the way the judiciary was looking at cases related to gender was very flawed. I heard some lawyers advise a woman who had reported a case of abuse in her marriage to give a rose on Valentines Day to the husband, and make peace with him! I also heard insensitive remarks made while dealing with cases of rape victims and sex workers. I thought there could be nothing more insensitive than a lawyer not taking abuse seriously, Gulika tells DC from Cambridge, where she is currently a Dubin Fellow at the highly reputed Harvard Kennedy School.

When I tried to challenge such attitudes, I realised it was deeprooted in society, with the judiciary only being a representative of society,she adds.

So, Gulika decided to start Schools of Equality, a place where the young from classes 1 to 12 are taught gender parity, human rights, and equality; not through lectures but through interactive presentations, theatre, and art  all this in addition to mainstream education.

I spent all my childhood in Chennai growing up in a liberal family. My father belongs to Andhra Pradesh while my mother is a North Indian and they got married at a time when inter-cultural marriages were still taboo. I could not find the progressive liberal minds in judicial or public spaces that I could in my own family. The judicial space has very few women, and is highly patriarchal. This is what led me on this journey to address discrimination faced by people of different genders, of various castes, and religions, Gulika reveals.

She now spends her time between India and the US, as her schools have made their presence in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, and Karnataka.

She elaborates saying, The process of discrimination starts at a scarily young age among humans. We see young children  not even two years of age  thinking it is not normal for men to be in the kitchen or for women to not be in the kitchen.

We want a thought process to start from a very young age and to take what is represented of genders in movies or advertisements with a pinch of salt, she affirms.

Gulika, who was also a fellow at the Columbia Law Schools, adds that she is glad that her Montessori school she went to in Chennai instilled curiosity and compassion in her, which she still carries. Chennai is always my true home, and I love the walks and runs along the beaches, she declares.

Gulika hopes to influence national education policies of the country in future and have equality and social justice be taught compulsorily in all schools. She says its a matter of pride for her that some of her students have managed to help other women or men who suffered abuse or harassment.

We live in an age where women are still blamed for a rape, or women are told learning self defense is the only way to live comfortably in the city, she says, adding that even mens abuse is not taken seriously.

I hope we can all create a new normal, she says with anticipation.
Hyderabad Trails had organised a Ramzan night walk recently and those who attended the event came back with a completely new picture of the Old City.

The walk started at 10 PM from the age-old Nayab Hotel. After treating their stomachs to a meal of rich, Hyderabadi food consisting of kebabs, kheema, haleem and chai, the excited bunch set out to soak in more of the Ramzan atmosphere.

They were surprised when Gopal Krishna, the organiser, decided to walk them through some of the kitchens of popular restaurants instead of treading the same old beaten path. They got to see traditional vessels in which the magic happens, like degs and handis.

I could smell the beautiful scent of Attar every 20 feet, either from a store or from a person while we were heritage-hopping, recollects Brinda Mysore, a college student from the US, who is here to visit her family. Gopal educated the enthusiasts about the monuments, and retold fascinating facts that even many Hyderabadis may not be aware of. He told us about little nuances of the place that we would otherwise not notice, like the granite buildings with Islamic, Jain as well as Hindu styles of architecture in just one structure, says Brinda.

Shivakanth Agrahar is another participant, who enjoyed the walk as well as the food, despite being a pure vegetarian. I dont eat non-vegetarian food, but it was interesting to see others eat and learn more about the cuisine, says Shivakanth, a photographer based from Mumbai. For him, the walk was all about capturing the essence of Ramzan through the lens and trying to imbibe history into each one of his photographs. A regular at events conducted by Hyderabad Trails, he says it is a great way to explore the city and make new friends in the process.

The walk finally came to an end at around 2 AM, but the market around them had no plans to retire for the day. The buzzing crowd still thronged the streets and shopkeepers continued to usher them inside with tempting offers.
Chennai: The sickle used to kill Swathi, which has attracted much attention due to its peculiar shape, belonged to Ram Kumars uncle. In his native village in Tirunelveli, the techie killers kin had been searching for it for the last four weeks. He was accustomed to using the sickle to cut heavy fruits and vegetables like jack fruit and coconut, etc., the police said.

Ram Kumar had taken away the sickle without informing his uncle. He obviously had a plan to use it if needed. In his room at the Chooliamdeu mansion he had kept it under his bed and carried it in his backpack when he went out with the intention of accosting Swathi.

The sickle had a highly curved heavy top and a lean handle. The shape ensures a deep cut when struck with such a weighty weapon. Ram Kumar had attacked Swathi from behind and the sickle slashed her jaw and throat, which ensured her death in minutes due to heavy bleeding. He was certainly familiar with the weapon and he knew how to use it, police noted.

His uncle told the police that he had been looking for the weapon for the many days and was not sure who had taken it. Meanwhile, Ram Kumar had used it to hack Swathi on the morning June 24 at the Nungambakkam railway station and later dumped it on the tracks before escaping from the railway station.

He would not have wished to carry the weapon back to his room where he, however, left his blood-stained shirt. This shirt created serious doubts in the mind of his roommate, a security guard, working in a firm in Ekattuthangal and he had informed the police during the second round of door-to-door enquiry by sleuths in Choolaimedu neighbourhood about Ram Kumar.
Karimnagar: A man is alleged to have sold his infant son for Rs 1 lakh at Saidapur mandal centre on Sunday. But the accused says his son died of disease.

The mother of the 20-day-old child accused her husband of selling the kid after sending her outside their home. But, the father refuted the allegations and said that the child died while undergoing treatment at a hospital in Hyderabad.

The police registered a case. Police said one Hymavathi of Saidapur approached cops, accusing her husband, Jayaraju of selling their new born son for Rs 1 lakh to a barren couple. She urged the police to book a case against him.

Hymavati delivered the boy on at a hospital in Hanmakonda on June 10. The kid was diagnosed with lung related disease. Jayaraju admitted his son to Gandhi Medical College. He claimed the boy died on June 27.

He asserted that he had not sold his child to anybody as alleged by his wife.

Police summoned the couple to the police station and interrogated both of them. It is learned that Hymavathi and Jayaraj are making contradictory statements.

It will take some time to establish what had happened. We need to ascertain whether the child succumbed to the ailment or was sold, said a police official.
Jaipur: In a twist to the BMW accident case involving a Rajasthan MLA's son, in which three persons were killed and five others injured, a man appeared in a local court where accused Siddharth Maharia was produced and claimed that he was driving the car when the mishap occurred.

Ramesh filed an application before the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate (ACJM) through the counsel for the accused claiming that he was driving the car which hit an autorickshaw and a police van leaving three men dead, Investigating Officer Kamal Nain said.

The court may give its ruling on the application tomorrow. The court today sent Siddharth Maharia, who was arrested under section 304 of the IPC (punishment for culpable homicide not amounting to murder), to one-day police custody.

Siddharth, the son of Independent MLA from Fatehpur, Nandkishore Maharia, was allegedly driving the BMW at a speed of around 100 km/hr in the wee hours of Saturday. The car first hit an autorickshaw and then rammed a PCR van nearby, police said.

Of the four men who were in the autorickshaw, three were killed while one was injured. Four policemen including an Assistant Sub-Inspector were also injured.

As per the breath analyser test conducted soon after the incident, Siddharth Maharia's alcohol level was found to be 152 mg/100 ml, while the permissible limit is 30 mg/100 ml, police said.

Siddharth, however, claimed that he was not driving the car and also denied having consumed alcohol.
Bengaluru: The Northeast Division police on Monday arrested Srinivasa Gowda, 43, a realtor who cheated over a dozen of military men, including army and air force personnel. Many others had also filed police complaints against the realtor.

The Yelahanka police arrested him from his house in Sahakaranagar based on a complaint registered on June 25 by a group of air force sergeants who were cheated of over Rs 30 lakh. It is learnt that Srinivasa Gowda had cheated hundreds of military personnel of crores of rupees in the pretext of selling sites in North Bengaluru.

His list even includes the regional director of Defence Research & Development Organisation who was cheated of Rs 30 lakh over a project called Durga North City.

After Deccan Chronicles report on its Sunday edition (Realtor takes military men for a ride), aggrieved defence personnel took to Twitter and posted messages including the story on the twitter handles of senior city police officials and demanded that why no action had been taken against the realtor.

The senior police officials immediately directed their subordinates to arrest the culprit. We have instructed police inspectors of Bagalur and Yelahanka to expedite investigation and chargesheet the case at the earliest, tweeted a senior police official. The accused had cheated air force personnel, saying he was developoing a project, Durga Aerovista.

He was also busy with his new projects near Nandi Hills naming it Durga Doctors Colony and Durga Teachers Colony  hinting that his next set of preys were doctors and teachers, said an aggrieved air force sergeant who did not want to be named.
School children take part in a silent protest rally at Saidabad in the city to protest against the rape and murder of minors. (Photo: DC)

Hyderabad: The police arrested Chintaginja Anil, 30, on Monday for allegedly raping and brutally killing a nine-year-old girl. Police said they have collected all physical and circumstantial evidence and would file a charge sheet before 60 days and ensure that he gets capital punishment.

Meanwhile, tension gripped the DCPs office when the girl's parents and residents of the village and women activists staged a protest demanding immediate action against Anil.

Anil, who was released from Narsapur prison after undergoing a year's rigorous imprisonment for a murder attempt on a sex worker, offered the girl boti, when she came to the Shravan Goud toddy shop along with her parents. While her parents were consuming toddy, he gave her boti and took her out with him. The girl's parents did not see this.

"He took her to some bushes nearly a km away from the toddy shop and sexually assaulted her. Later, he crushed her face with a stone and killed her," north zone DCP B Sumathi said.

Anil was arrested from a relatives house, police said. Anil, who is involved in 19 other cases, is also an accused in the rape of a minor and a murder case. He followed the same modus operandi in all offences.

In all the previous cases toddy compounds, attacking the victim with stones after sexual assault and choosing a place near toddy compounds are common. We have collected all evidence to prove his offence in court and a charge sheet will be filed. We will ensure that he gets capital punishment, Ms Sumathi added.

Anil was convicted four times in previous cases which he served. Meanwhile, the girls parents, relatives and residents of Kalasiguda staged a protest at the DCPs office and blamed the government for failing to provide safety to women and kids.

What is the use of all these government programmes when women do not have any safety. They are becoming easy target for predators who should be hanged immediately, Ms Sharada said. The girls parents said that Anil should be shot so that other girls like their daughter will be safe from predators.
While most colleges and universities have banned ragging in their institutions, it may perhaps not be possible to 'ban' school bullies because they are too young to even understand the 'ban'.

That bullying in schools is as common as ragging once was in colleges, and that both have devastating consequences sometimes, has always been known. But while most colleges and universities have banned ragging in their institutions, it may perhaps not be possible to 'ban' school bullies because they are too young to even understand the 'ban'. Schools are, however, required to appoint counsellors to help troubled children - both bullies and the bullied. It has taken the tragic suicide of a 14-year-old, Raunak, for parents and schools alike to recognise the need to have another 'guideline' in place. It's time the schools pay heed to the dangers within. Will schools do it at least now?

While the focus has always been on ragging in colleges where seniors often choose to welcome their juniors with some form or the other of it, sometimes with serious consequences, the bullying that children in schools too encounter has rarely been recognised or taken seriously.

It has taken the recent suicide of a class IX student of the elite Baldwin Boys High School, Raunak Banerjee, allegedly due to constant bullying by another student in his school van, for the authorities to wake up and take note that the problem is real and needs to be dealt with in the city's schools as well.

Colleges now have anti -ragging committees. But in schools there are no such bodies to help children, who may be the targets of bullying. It is generally seen in school vans, on playgrounds, in school laboratories and so on. The death of a student from one of the elite schools of the city is definitely an eye- opener for both schools and parents, said a representative of a private school. Many others closely associated with city schools too acknowledge that bullying is not an uncommon problem, but admit it is still largely unaddressed.

Read | Guest column: Students being bullied should speak up

Going by Mr. D Shashikumar, director of Bain Centre, an educational research centre, bullying is commonly seen in most secondary and higher secondary schools of the city. It is very common. But sometimes children, who are sensitive, may find it hard to bear and take an extreme step. Parents and teachers must monitor children of this age group closely. That is the only solution, he suggested.

A city counsellor, Nagasimha G Rao , who is part of the Child Rights Trust, says that while bullying is quite common in most schools, not many have appointed counsellors to help children deal with it. We need to provide counselling support to the victims. All schools must have counsellors to help children who may be troubled by it, he emphasised.

Ask officials of the state education department and they too put the onus on schools, which, they regret, have not not taken the issue seriously enough to follow the detailed guidelines issued by the various boards on dealing with bullying of students. Unfortunately, the guidelines issued are not followed and as a result the children, who are targeted, get no help. We will look into this issue at the earliest, assured an officer.

Bullying is a major problem in many city schools. Even on Monday, the Rehabilitation and Anti- Suicide Forum (RASF), an umbrella body of child counsellors, counselled two students , who were bullied in their respective schools. Mr. Nagasimha G Rao of Child Rights Trust, who facilitated the counselling, said one of the students bullied was handicapped and the other was bullied by his classmates over an issue related to a pen.

Raunaks note: Punish the bully!

Fourteen-year-old Raunak Banerjee plunged to his death from the 10th floor of his apartment complex after he was bullied by an unidentified boy in his school van while returning home, according to the complaint filed by his father, Chandrajoy Banerjee with the J P Nagar Police Wednesday last. Raunak, who was in class IX , was a student of the school since class II. He usually left home for school around 7 am by a private van and returned around 4.15 pm.

Raunak Banerjee with his father in happier times.

The distraught father said in his complaint that he received a call at 4.48 pm from one of his neighbours, telling him that his son was critically injured and had been taken to the Sagar Hospital in Kumaraswamy Layout. I reached Sagar Hospital around 5.30 pm and was informed by the emergency ward doctor that my son had passed away. The police came a little later and began investigation, he recounted.

Mr Banerjee said he was told by his wife that Raunak fell from the 10th floor of their apartment complex at around 4.25 pm and neighbours helped take him to hospital. The doctors there told her he was brought dead. A suicide note was recovered from my sons book inside his school bag in which he wrote that he was being bullied by an unnamed boy in the school van. In my opinion, these incidents depressed him and ultimately made him take the drastic step. I request you to take necessary action against the unnamed boy, he appealed to the police.

The JP Nagar police, who have registered a case under section 306 of the IPC (abetment to suicide), have mentioned in the FIR that Raunak had complained in the note that other boys in the van did not support him while he was being bullied and this had led him to take the extreme step.

Drivers version

According to the driver of the school van, no incident of bullying took place inside the van. He said that Raunak Banerjee was normal on June 29, the day he committed suicide. The driver who has been picking and dropping Raunak Banerjee for the last five years said that even on that day, while getting down in front of his apartment, Raunak had said bye uncle.
Gurdaspur: Close on the heels of AAP MLA Naresh Yadav being booked in connection with an alleged sacrilege incident, Arvind Kejriwal on Monday accused the ruling SAD-BJP alliance in Punjab of indulging in communal politics.

"Since AAP has emerged as a serious challenge to these communal forces, they (SAD-BJP) are not keeping any stone unturned to defame the party," he alleged while addressing an event organised by Punjab Christian United Front here.

Violence had erupted after the alleged sacrilege in Malerkotla on June 24 in which a mob even attacked the house of local SAD MLA Farzana Nissara Khatoon, wife of a former Punjab DGP. Several policemen, including a DSP, were injured as about 300-400 protesters hurled stones and torched a car.

Kejriwal said, "If AAP comes to power in Punjab next year, it will not tolerate sacrilege incidents and bring all those who conspired in such inhuman acts to the fore."

"It is shameful that to defame AAP, they (SAD) did not even spare the holy book," he alleged and said, "AAP is not here for the play politics but for the change in the political system."

In Punjab, all sections of the society are fed up with the "mis-governance, rather non-governance" of the SAD-BJP alliance. AAP would be voted to power in the state with a thumping majority, the party's national convener claimed.

"Drugs are being supplied to every nook and corner of Punjab under political patronage. Instead of cracking down on drug suppliers, police is registering fake cases against drug addicts," Kejriwal alleged, adding all such fake cases would be withdrawn after AAP forms government.

He also said, "Once voted to power, we will put Revenue Minister Bikram Singh Majithia behind the bars."

"It will be a fight between AAP and the grand alliance of SAD-BJP-Congress as the latter will contest the polls under a secret understanding," Kejriwal claimed.

Hitting out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he alleged, "After becoming the Prime Minister, most of the time, Narendra Modi is in flying mode. Whenever he lands in India, he is always in planning mode to disturb the Delhi Government by creating hurdles in the ongoing developmental works."

"Unlike BJP, which rolled out a series of 'dreams' including 'achche din' as poll promises but later on termed those as 'chunavi jumle', AAP believes in fulfilling all its all promises, which is evident in Delhi," Kejriwal claimed.

Prominent among others who addressed the gathering include state convener of AAP Sucha Singh Chhotepur, MP Bhagwant Mann and senior leader Gurpreet Ghuggi. Earlier, on his way to Gurdaspur from Amritsar, Kejriwal paid obeisance to Gurudwara Kartarpur Sahib in Pakistan from Dera Baba Nanak.
Patna: A district court on Monday accepted that the controversial Humanities 'topper' in the Bihar Intermediate Examination, who has been arrested in connection with an examination cheating racket, is a minor.

Special Vigilance court judge Raghvendra Kumar Singh accepted that the girl is a minor on the basis of her matriculation certificate which mentioned her date of birth as November 15, 1998, paving the way for her shifting from Beur model jail to a remand home.

Read: Bihar toppers paid Rs 20 lakh each for results, claims ex-BSEB chief

The girl along with the Science stream topper had come into limelight after they gave ridiculous answers to questions on their subjects in a video which went viral, prompting an inquiry.

She was arrested by Special Investigation Team (SIT) as she emerged from a re-test of Bihar School Examination Board (BSEB) on June 25 and sent to Beur jail. But, as per her matriculation certificate she is 17 years, 3 months and nine days old and cannot be sent to jail.

Read: Bihar Class 12 'topper' Ruby Rai fails to appear for re-examination

Former member of the Juvenile Justice Board K D Mishra, who appeared in the court in favour of the girl, presented her matriculation certificate to claim that she is a minor.

The lawyer of the Bihar School Examination Board also did not oppose the matriculation certificate of the girl in the court today. With the court accepting her as a minor, it meant that she would be shifted to a remand home from Beur model jail of Patna.

The girl, from the controversial Bishun Roy college of Vaishali district, was taken into custody by Special Investigation Team (SIT) on the basis of arrest warrant issued by a Patna district court against her and three other rank-holders in the examination racket case.
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will expand his Cabinet on Tuesday and major changes in portfolios are expected.

According to reports, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley who also holds the portfolio of Information and Broadcasting Ministry may be relieved of the additional charge.

Principal spokesperson of the government Frank Norhona tweeted that the 'cabinet expansion' would take place tomorrow at 11 a.m.

Cabinet expansion tomorrow at 11 a.m.  Frank Noronha (@DG_PIB) July 4, 2016

There is word that several leaders from Uttar Pradesh, which goes to polls early next year, will be inducted in the new Cabinet.

Read: No talks with Sena on Cabinet expansion: Uddhav Thackeray

Anupriya Patel, Lok Sabha MP from BJPs UP ally Apna Dal, met party chief Amit Shah in the morning.

Others who met Shah today were Purushottam Rupala, a BJP Rajya Sabha member from Gujarat, Arjun Ram Meghwal from Rajasthan, S S Ahluwali, BJP MP from Darjeeling, and Ramdas Athawale, BJP ally from Maharashtra.

Read: 'Cosmetic changes' in Cabinet won't help Modi government: Opposition

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis also flew to Delhi on Sunday and would meet the party president to discuss the Cabinet expansion.

Last week, Fadnavis had said the state Cabinet expansion would be held before Parliament's monsoon session and immediately after the expansion of the Union Cabinet.

According to reports, there is a likelihood of smaller parties getting a berth in the expansion.

The Prime Minister Narendra has been holding consultations on the cabinet reshuffle with senior party colleagues including BJP chief Amit Shah, Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.

Sources state that two new faces from Uttar Pradesh are likely to be inducted. Union Power Minister Piyush Goyal and State Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbabs Naqvi were set to be promoted.

No changes are indicated at the North and South block and the top four portfolios-home, finance, external affairs and defence-are unlikely to be touched.

The last Cabinet expansion had taken place in November 2014.
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi was on Monday night quoted as saying that Tuesday's expansion of his ministry will reflect "budget focus and priorities".

Modi, who met a group of journalists in Delhi, talked about various other issues, including the Dhaka carnage with regard to which he pressed the need for the world to unite to fight against terrorism.

Read: Modi to reshuffle cabinet tomorrow, UP leaders expected to get berths

During the interaction, he referred to the expansion of his Council of Ministers on Tuesday and said it will "reflect the budget focus and priorities", according to one of those present.

Modi said the four-point agenda on minimum government for maximum governance was expeditious clearance of office files, improving ease of doing business, reduced time for Cabinet note finalisation and government no longer working in silos, the journalist from Business Standard reported on the website of the newspaper.

Read: No talks with Sena on Cabinet expansion: Uddhav Thackeray

"(It is) not correct to say economic growth in India will be jobless. Focus (is) on creating more jobs in retail sector. Model law (has) already (been) passed," he said.

"I am in favour of promoting the personal sector for creating more jobs," the Prime Minister said, adding Banks Board Bureau will act as an agent to distance ownership from management.

He said subsidies reforms have made headway with kerosene and urea.

Entire leakage of subsidised kerosene in Chandigarh has been plugged and there are no complaints of urea shortage after more production and neem-coating, Modi said.

Read: No talks with Sena on Cabinet expansion: Uddhav Thackeray

He said 70 per cent of 125,000 beneficiaries of loans under Jan Dhan Yojana for women and people belong to Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Castes.

Talking about the Dhaka carnage, Modi said it was a reminder to the world to unite to fight against terrorism.

He said it was time to give a bigger push to adopting the United Nations resolution to define terrorism through the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism.
Tarishi's last rite was performed by her brother Sanchit at around 4:15 pm at the cremation ground at Iffco Chowk. (Photo: Facebook)

New Delhi: The mortal remains of Indian teenager Tarishi Jain, who was among those hacked to death by Islamic militants in a terror attack at a Dhaka restaurant, was on Monday received at the Capital's international airport by Union Power and Coal Minister Piyush Goyal.

Tarishi, a student at UC Berkeley, was among 20 foreigners brutally murdered by the militants inside the Holey Artisan Bakery in Dhaka's diplomatic zone during the weekend.

She was on vacation in Dhaka. Her father runs a garment business in Bangladesh for the last 15-20 years. Goyal later accompanied the body, along with her parents to Gurgaon, officials said.

Among the killed foreigners were eight Italians and seven Japanese. Commandos had launched an assault killing six attackers and capturing one alive, ending Bangladesh's worst terror attack.

Delhi Lt Governor Najeeb Jung, Union minister Rao Inderjit Singh, Haryana minister Ram Bilas Sharma, Congress leader Raj Babbar and M S Bitta paid tributes to Tarishi Jain, whose body was kept at the DLF Phase I community Centre for some time to allow people to pay tributes.

Raj Babbar gave a condolence letter sent by Congress president Sonia Gandhi to Tarishi Jain's family members and expressed grief on the death of young girl.

Tarishi's last rite was performed by her brother Sanchit at around 4:15 pm at the cremation ground at Iffco Chowk.
Chennai: For the first time in the history of more than half a million Tamil repatriates from Sri Lanka who continue to struggle hard to survive in the plantation regions of the state because of the plummeting prices of tea, coffee, rubber and pepper, a youngster from the segment, who battled poverty and fought against heavy odds, has become an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer. It was history of sorts last week when Inbasekar Kalimuthu, who hails from a Tamil repatriate plantation workers family of obscure Padassery village in Pandalur taluk of Nilgiris district, became assistant collector of Kozhikode district in Kerala.

Inbasekar represents the impoverished and backward Tamil repatriates who occupy certain pockets of hill stations Nilgiris, Kodaikanal and Yercaud. We are a community displaced twice. Our forefathers had been uprooted from their native places way back in 1823 as the British wanted them to clear Sri Lankas forests to set up tea estates there. They were forced to look for a new home after the Sri Lankan government stripped them of their citizenship once it gained independence in 1948, said Inbasekar in an interaction with Deccan Chronicle.

Unmindful of the threats posed by wild elephants en route, Inbasekar, who studied in government schools of Pandalur, became an agricultural scientist after studying in Tamil Nadu Agriculture University in Coimbatore and Hyderabad Agriculture University. He bagged

IAS while working as a scientist with agricultural research centre in Delhi. It was sheer will and determination that brought him the laurels. His assuming of the new position has brought a cheer to the faces of the repatriate community.

It was in October 1964 that the Indian Prime Minister, Lal Bahadur Shastri, signed a pact with his Sri Lankan counterpart Sirimavo Bandaranayake agreeing to take back a huge chunk of Tamils of Indian origin. The only concession the Lankan government made was that of the 8.25 lakh Tamils identified to be of Indian origin it agreed to absorb 3 lakh as its own. In 1974, another bilateral agreement was signed under which

India would absorb another 75,000 people and Lanka an additional 75,000 as its nationals so that the ratio would read: For every seven Tamils repatriated to India, Sri Lanka would grant citizenship to four. The entire process was expected to be completed by October 1981. The repatriation which began in 1968 continued till 1983, when the ferry service between Talaimannar in Sri Lanka and Rameswaram in India was suspended due to the militancy in northern Sri Lanka.

As traditional plantation workers, our families are in distress due to the severe crisis existing in the field. Hope my new office would help invite public attention to the survival struggles of my community, he said.

According to a policy note issued by the TN government, 4,59,410 persons have been repatriated to India of whom 3,33,843 are covered by the agreements and the balance represents a natural increase. Another 60,000 people have come in through the air route since then.
Mumbai: Having a separate law for Muslims is like encouraging formation of another Pakistan, the Shiv Sena on Monday said, even as it termed the implementation of Uniform Civil Code a "national work" and urged ally BJP to fulfil its poll promise at the earliest.

The Union Law Ministry has asked the Law Commission to examine in detail all issues pertaining to the Uniform Civil Code and submit a report to the government.

"India may have an all inclusive culture, but politicians have wrecked havoc in the name of secularism in the past 60 years. There is a different law for Hindus and Muslims. The truth is, having a separate law for Muslims is like encouraging the formation of another Pakistan," the Sena said in an editorial in party mouthpiece 'Saamana'.

It claimed that the past governments did nothing to change the situation in the country while continuing with their appeasement politics.

"What is wrong if people today expect you (BJP) to implement the law and make the Ram temple in Ayodhya which you once so desperately wanted when you were in the Opposition?" the ruling alliance partner sought to know.

The Sena said that if the government has referred the matter to the Law Commission keeping in mind the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections next year, it is not good for the country.

"Not withstanding the opposition from Muslim leaders, the government should go ahead with the implementation of the (Uniform Civil) Code, which is a national work. The Modi government has absolute majority. This needs to be respected by them," the Sena said.

The Uniform Civil Code has been a controversial issue and it was the part of BJP's poll manifesto. The code, if implemented, would mean a set of common civil laws for all citizens in place of multitude of personal laws for different religious groups.
Security agencies have also started verifying the status of jihadi elements arrested by security forces in West Bengal and Assam. (Photo: Representational Image)

Guwahati: In what could be a very worrying development for the security agencies in India, Islamic State (IS) modules are publishing propaganda material in Bengali on a large scale in Bangladesh.

Security sources told this paper that IS have begun to publish propaganda in Bengali while earlier their choice of languages was Arabic, English, French, German and Turkish.

Security sources said the ISIS messages were in a dialect that can be read and understood in West Bengal and in the Northeastern states of India. An ISIS video mentioning Assam has also been discovered.

Clarifying that India is yet to assess the threat perception arising out of the recent attack in Dhaka, security sources said the Ministry of Home Affairs has directed states bordering Bangladesh to take specific steps to check possible attempts by radical elements to cross over to India.

Pointing out there was no reason to panic, they said the immediate concern for India was to stop the inflow of radical elements from Bangladesh in the aftermath of the Dhaka attack.

Bangladesh has already started mounting pressure on radical groups responsible for the recent killings, so there is a possibility of these extremists trying to cross over to India to escape security forces in that country.

In view of this, Border Security Force (BSF) jawans have been directed to intensify patrolling along the International Border.

Security agencies have also started verifying the status of jihadi elements arrested by forces in West Bengal and Assam. Sources said all necessary steps have been taken to check infiltration by ISIS into India. Security agencies have also been asked to keep a check on those who have been released on bail after being accused of terror activities.
Bengaluru: Opposition BJP on Monday charged in the Karnataka Assembly that the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) has become synonymous with corruption and asked the government to look into the reasons for this.

Raising the issue, Leader of the Opposition Jagadish Shettar alleged that BDA's main work these days had become denotification, rather than making plans for the development of the city.

Stating that 40 files relating to Arkavathy Layout denotification scam, being probed by Justice Kempanna Inquiry Commission, had gone missing according to an affidavit filed by former BDA Commissioner T Sham Bhat before the panel, he asked the government "who is responsible for this?"

He demanded that government should investigate the missing files and fix responsibility. "Suspend those officials behind it," he added.

Shettar also demanded protection to those who have been affected by the scam and those who are showing courage to fight against it and said "government and the police have the duty to protect their interest."

Earlier as the House met on the first day of the monsoon session, Deputy Speaker Shivashankar Reddy made an obituary reference to the former members of the House and other noted personalities who had died during the inter-session period.

The election to the Speaker's post, lying vacant since Congress leader Kagodu Thimmappa resigned following his induction into the ministry in the recent reshuffle, is likely to take place tomorrow. Senior Congress MLA K B Koliwad is expected to be elected unopposed as the Speaker.
In May, the Kejriwal government had released the draft bill on full statehood to the national capital and invited suggestions from the public till June 30. (Photo: PTI)

New Delhi: After seeking suggestions from people on his government's draft bill on full statehood to Delhi, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has written to all political parties including BJP, Congress, BSP and sought their views on the issue.

The Chief Minister has written to Delhi BJP President Satish Upadhyay, DPCC chief Ajay Maken, Aam Aadmi Party state convener Dilip Pandey and state unit heads of BSP and other political parties on full statehood to Delhi.

In May, the Kejriwal government had released the draft bill on full statehood to the national capital seeking to bring police, land, municipal corporations and bureaucracy under its control, and invited suggestions from the public till June 30.

"Government has received several suggestions from people on the issue. Now, Chief Minister has written to state-unit heads of political parties - Congress, AAP, BJP, BSP and others - seeking their views on full statehood to Delhi," said a senior government official.

According to 'The State of Delhi Bill 2016', New Delhi (NDMC) and Delhi Cantonment areas will be kept out of the jurisdiction of the proposed Delhi state. The term Lt Governor will be replaced with 'Governor'.

While releasing the draft bill, the CM had said that all-party meeting would be held on the issue and urged rivals BJP and Congress to "rise above differences" and went on to quote from old manifestos of BJP wherein the party had promised full statehood.

"The BJP has struggled the most on the issue. They have consistently raised it. We are merely taking their resolve forward by inviting public opinion on this draft," Kejriwal had also said when asked about the AAP's action plan if the draft was rejected by the Centre.

He had said that he would write letters and also meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home minister Rajnath Singh, BJP president Amit Shah and Congress president Sonia Gandhi to garner support for the draft bill.
Hyderabad: Chief Justice of India T.S. Thakur on Sunday advised Telangana state advocates to withdraw their agitation and start attending courts so that the public was not put through further hardships to get justice.

While interacting with an advocates delegation from Telangana comprising Mr G. Vidyasagar, Mr D. Prakash Reddy, Mr Gandra Mohan Rao, Mr M. Rajen-der Reddy, Mr M. Jitender Reddy, Mr B. Jayaker and Mr K. Janardhan Reddy, Justice Thakur made it clear that in view of the on-going strike, it would not be proper for him to intervene at this stage.

The delegation urged the CJI to transfer the acting Chief Justice of the High Court at Hyderabad, besides initiating steps to address their demands.

According to president of the Telangana High Court Advocates Association Mr Gandra Mohan Rao, the CJI asked them to have trust in him to take some measures to resolve the issue if they withdrew their strike and agitation.

The advocates have been demanding the bifurcation of the High Court, allocation of judicial officers and revocation of suspension of subordinate judicial officers and staff.

Mr Mohan Rao told this newspaper that the stir would continue for now and a final decision would be taken only after discussions with the Federation of Telangana Bar Associa-tions, Telangana Advocates Joint Action Committee and Associations of Judicial Officers and Employees.

The delegation, while explaining the provisions of the AP Reorganisation Act 2014, stated that the High Court, without any order from the Centre appointing it as the advisory committee and without authorisation, had undertaken the exercise of bifurcation of subordinate judiciary and issued the guidelines on February 26, 2016.

It was submitted to the CJI that since the guidelines were not approved by the Centre, the exercise undertaken by the High Court was without jurisdiction and contrary to the provisions of the AP Reorganisation Act, 2014.

The delegation urged the CJI to advise the High Court to rescind the provisional allocation list of subordinate judicial officers and take steps to revoke the suspension of judicial officers and staff.

The delegation requested the CJI to initiate necessary steps for the establishment of a separate High Court for AP without delay.
Farmer Inder Munde from Dharur tehsil in Beed district mentioned that the moneylender Bhagwan Bade sought his daughter and daughter-in-law for 'company' to end the mortgage on his land, says police. (Photo: Representational Image)

Mumbai: Police on Monday said they will probe allegations by a farmer in Beed district that a moneylender sought his daughter and daughter-in-law for "company" in exchange for releasing his mortgaged land.

"We have initiated action on the farmer's claims and will take appropriate action against the moneylender," Beed SP Anil Paraskar said.

The IPS officer said chairperson of the State Women's Commission Vijaya Rahatkar also called him and sought a report on the matter.

"In April, police received a complaint about the land being seized from the farmer by the moneylender. However, it is only yesterday that the farmer Inder Munde from Dharur tehsil in Beed district mentioned that the moneylender Bhagwan Bade sought his daughter and daughter-in-law for 'company' to end the mortgage on his land," he said.

"We got to know this fresh angle from news reports. The farmer hasn't come forward to register complaint, but we have initiated an inquiry and will take action accordingly," Paraskar said.

Munde said the moneylender made this shocking demand despite repayment of the loan taken from him.
Though, the duo returned to Hyderabad without indulging in any criminal activity in Anantapur the NIA tried to extract information about the nexus with sympathisers in Karnataka who masterminded the blast in Bengaluru. (Representational image)

Anantapur: NIA is trying to find out if there is a nexus between the arrested ISIS sympathisers and some people from Karnataka as two of the suspects visited Anantapur a week ago.

Sources revealed the two ISIS suspects would soon be brought to Anantapur to check out their movements during their two-day stay at a lodge. The ISIS suspects will be brought to Anantapur to cross check the information revealed by suspects during interrogation.

Though, the duo returned to Hyderabad without indulging in any criminal activity in Anantapur the NIA tried to extract information about the nexus with sympathisers in Karnataka who masterminded the blast in Bengaluru.
Bengaluru: People's Democratic Party (PDP) leader Abdul Nasser Madani, an accused in Bengaluru serial blasts who was granted permission by a court here to visit his ailing mother in Kerala, was not allowed to board a flight at the airport here on security grounds. IndiGo airlines said he was not allowed to fly on security grounds.

"Mr. Abdul Nasir Maudany (Madani) who was scheduled to travel on 6E-407 from Bangalore to Kochi on July 4, 2016 was not accepted to fly on grounds of the security requirement," IndiGo said in a statement said here.

It said, "This passenger was escorted by the local police authorities - this required permissions from the security regulator.

"Following the protocol, the staff requested the passenger to present the required documents, failing which the passenger was asked to procure the necessary permission to fly on board," it said.

A special National Investigation Agency court based on the Supreme Court directions had recently fixed the date for his travel from July 4 to July 12. It had directed the city police to provide necessary security arrangements.

Listing out the instructions to be strictly adhered to by all concerned for carriage of person under judicial custody/ administrative control as per the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) regulations, IndiGo said as an airline, it always complies with the security agencies regulations.

As per the BCAS Regulations, it said, the policing authority responsible for carriage of a prisoner by air shall indicate classification of such prisoner as dangerous or otherwise in their application addressed to the Commissioner or Regional Dy Commissioner of Security (CA), BCAS.

Also, it stipulates that a minimum of two escorts of the policing authority shall be required for one prisoner who is classified as dangerous by the policing authority.

It also noted that aircraft operator should not accept a prisoner and escort(s) as passengers unless concurrence has been obtained in advance from the BCAS and other operators that may be involved en route and at the intended final destination.

In such cases sufficient advance notification must be given to operator so that prior agreements can be obtained, the airline added. Madani had been arrested in connection with the July 2008 serial blasts that killed one person and injured several others here.
Children born to mothers with no education are almost three times more likely to die before they are five than those born to mothers with a secondary education. (Photo: Representational Image)

Mumbai: Poverty, illiteracy and early death await disadvantaged children, according to a UNICEF report. Based on current trends, 69 million children under 5 years of age will die from mostly preventable causes, 167 million children will live in poverty, and 750 million women will have been married as children by 2030, the target date for the

Sustainable Development Goals-unless the world focuses more on the plight of its most disadvantaged children, said the report released by Maharashtra Governor C Vidyasagar Rao on Monday.

The state of the world's children, UNICEF's annual flagship report, paints a stark picture of what is in store for the world's poorest children, if governments, donors, businesses and international organisations do not accelerate efforts to address their needs.

The report notes that significant progress has been made in saving children's lives, getting them into school and lifting people out of poverty.

Global under-five mortality rates have been more than halved since 1990, boys and girls attend primary school in equal numbers in 129 countries, and the number of people living in extreme poverty worldwide is almost half of what it was in the 1990s.

But this progress has been neither even nor fair, the report says. The poorest children are twice as likely to die before their fifth birthday and to be chronically malnourished than the richest.

Across much of South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, children born to mothers with no education are almost three times more likely to die before they are five than those born to mothers with a secondary education. And girls from the poorest households are twice as likely to marry as children than girls from the wealthiest households.

Although education plays a unique role in levelling the playing field for children, the number of children who do not attend school has increased since 2011, and a significant proportion of those who do go to school are not learning.

Globally, about 124 million children today do not go to primary and lower-secondary school, and almost 2 in 5 who do finish primary school have not learnt how to read, write or do simple arithmetic.

Acknowledging education to be one of the key instruments in promoting equity, the focus of the report launch in India was on education. The report was digitally released by the Governor at Raj Bhavan.

It points to evidence that investing in the most vulnerable children can yield immediate and long-term benefits. Globally, cash transfers, for example, have been shown to help children stay in school longer and advance to higher levels of education.

On an average, each additional year of education a child receives increases his or her adult earnings by about 10 per cent. And for each additional year of schooling completed, on average, by young adults in a country, that country's poverty rates fall by 9 per cent.

Inequity is neither inevitable, nor insurmountable, the report argues. Better data on the most vulnerable children, integrated solutions to the challenges children face, innovative ways to address old problems, more equitable investment and increased involvement by communities all these measures can help level the playing field, it says.

Rao said "Providing every child with a fair chance is the essence of equitable development. As this report shows us, promoting equity is a practical and strategic imperative to reduce the inequalities that undermine our society."

"I am confident that the government will take note of the report, as it shares UNICEF's vision of a fair chance for every child. A different and better future is possible for children from disadvantaged sections if we employ a multi- sectoral approach, invest in equity and strive to find new ways of financing efforts to reach them," he said.

Swadheen Kshatriya, Chief Secretary, Government of Maharashtra, said "The government of Maharashtra is committed to address all needs of minus 9 months to 5 year age group children. We have already initiated various steps to address the healthcare, nutrition, education and protection needs of both mothers and children."

"We are also committed to integrate our efforts across all sectors to tackle any kind of deprivation that can inversely affect the mothers or children. To take our efforts further we are keen to adopt Comprehensive Maternal Infant Young Child Nutrition policy.

Rajeshwari Chandrasekar, Chief of Field Office, UNICEF Maharashtra, said, "It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men."

"I believe that what happens in early childhood does not stay in childhood. The experiences children have in their early lives and the environments in which they have them exert a lifelong impact," she said.
The apex court clearly stated that it would not become party to political battles where people have political vendetta and rivalries. (Photo: File)

New Delhi : The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed the plea by CPM leader VS Achuthanandan seeking a CBI probe into the Kerala ice-cream parlour sex scandal case.

The apex court clearly stated that it would not become party to political battles where people have political vendetta and rivalries.

The alleged racket in the early 1990s involved an ice-cream parlour in Kozhikode as its base and was dubbed by the media as the "ice cream parlour sex case".

According to reports, accusations first appeared in 1997 that an ice cream parlour in Kerala was actually a brothel. Furthermore, it was alleged that a number of high-ranking politicians were among the brothels' owners.

Achuthanandan had alleged in his petition that the state government was not making any serious effort to bring the accused to book as several influential persons including its sitting.
After the two-day vehicle checking at Begum Bazaar the police has been inactive. (Representational image)

Hyderabad: Begum Bazaar, the biggest market in the city and one of the targets of terrorists, has many entries and exits posing problems for the police.

Except some CCTV cameras on the main road from Mouzamjahi Market to Afzalgunj and from Begum Bazaar Chatri to Goshamahal there is no surveillance at the market.

The other big markets in the city like the Gaddi Annaram and Mahabub Mansion also have security problems. After the two-day vehicle checking at Begum Bazaar the police has been inactive.

At most of the malls and shopping complexes in the west, central and south zones of the city the Door Frame Metal Detectors (DFMD) and Hand Held Metal Detectors (HHMD) are not put to use. Except at a few shopping malls and shops at the Mouzamjahi market and some malls at Abids most security personnel are unaware about using equipment to detect metal.

West Zone DCP A. Venkateshwera Rao told DC that special teams have been carrying out searches at major spots. We are carrying out random checks. We have tightened security at Asif Nagar, Mallepally and Begum Bazaar he said.

Similarly, in south zone from where the IS supporters were arrested by the NIA, the police has installed CCTV cameras on all main roads and internal roads covering every 50 meters. Due to CCTV surveillance the police has reduced visible policing at some sensitive and hypersensitive places.

An official from south zone said the police has gone for invisible policing using technology. "On Friday during Jumath-ul-Vida we covered every inch of the event and also increased surveillance at other places. Whenever visible police is required we deploy forces," the official said.

Meanwhile, the police brass held a review meet with Union minister Bandaru Dattatreya on the law and order situation in the city at the Dilkusha Guest House on Sunday evening. Hyderabad police commissioner M. Mahender Reddy, Law and Order additional DG Anjani Kumar, Cyberabad west and east commissioners Naveen Chand, Mahesh Bhagawat and others were present at the meeting.

Later, higher officials issued orders to zonal officials to search food courts, malls and footpaths.
Bengaluru: As the body of Indian teenager Tarishi Jain was consigned to the fkames in Delhi by her distraught family on Monday, and Bangladesh's Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina led her nation in paying homage to the 20 hostages who were butchered on friday night in the Bangladeshi capital, the reason for the 12 hour delay before Bangladeshi forces launched a rescue operation is not the only development that has set off a furore in Dhaka.

Bangladeshi security experts said the seven terrorists, stayed on inside the Holey Artisan Bakery well after they had killed all the hostages shortly after they stormed the eatery Friday night, making no attempt to escape, despite the fact that there was little or no security around the restaurant.

"This was inexplicable. There was no security worth its name for at least another 12 hours until police and commandos launched their attack to rescue hostages, the next morning," a Bangladeshi security expert said, requesting anonymity.

"One reason could be that they had been brainwashed into believing that to enter 'jannat' (heaven) they must be martyred, and die at the hands of the soldiers."

He said the terrorists' links to ISIS was proved by the fact that they spent the night uploading and sending pictures of their victims' bloodied bodies to the ISIS website Amaq.

The Bangla terror expert also warned that like ISIS, who are made up of former members of former Iraqi strongman Saddam Hussein's Baathists, Bangladesh was similarly awash with disgruntled former members of the border force, the Bangladesh Rifles, who had been discharged by Sheikh Hasina following the 2009 mutiny.

There was also concern over the radicalization of educational institutions, he said. One of the terrorists was an alumnus of the prestigious North South University in Dhaka, which the terror expert said they had been monitoring for some time now as some of the students had set up a Facebook group with posts that were seen as beoing pro-ISIS. The terrorists had only arrived in Dhaka a day earlier from abroad, he said.

On the charge by one of the Bangla PM's top advisers that the terrorists had been working at the behest of Pakistan's ISI which is inimical to Sheikh Hasina's government, he said. "If this is indeed true, then the link between ISIS and ISI should be investigated."
Hyderabad: The Congress high command is planning a big shake up in the partys Telangana unit. AICC general secretary in charge of AP affairs Digvijay Singh is likely to be replaced with Kerala former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy soon.

Sources said AICC president Sonia Gandhi is quite upset with the state of affairs in the TPCC, lack of coordination among senior party leaders and series of electoral debacles despite UPA granting statehood to Telangana.

Mrs Gandhi, who interacted with senior party leaders, hinted at replacing Digvijay Singh followed by a shakeup in the party. The next in-charge, sources said, will be Mr Chandy, who was recently ousted as CM in Kerala elections.

Mr Chandy has faced bribery allegations in alleged solar scam case and Thrissur Vigilance Court directed an FIR against him and one of his ministers. However, he is a loyal Congressman and has had a long political stint in Kerala state having served as CM twice from 2004 to 2006 and 2011 to 2016.

Mr Chandy is likely to be next in-charge of T-Congress affairs. Mrs Gandhi is quite upset with the state of affairs in Telangana and lack of coordination among party leaders. Though Congress gave Telangana, the party leaders failed to en-cash it in polls. Congress suffered severe setback, a senior party leader said.

According to another senior leader, the AICC president is also peeved at some party men who hobnobbed with the TRS president K. Chandrasekhar Rao earlier and opposed alliance with the TRS later.

The Congress high command unusually set up a coordination committee for the party which is normally constituted when party is in power to have better understanding between the party and government.

But this too could not prevent party men from defecting to the TRS. It is learnt some senior party leaders lodged a complaint against the state party leadership.

Some Congress men are sabotaging party. We brought this to the notice of Mrs Gandhi. Some of the actions of some party leaders are highly erratic and against party interests, revealed a senior leader.
A vacation bench had refused to stay the operation of the ordinance stating that the stay will not be in the interests of the students who are to take the Neet-2 exam on July 24. (Representational image)

New Delhi: The Supreme Court will hear on Thursday petitions challenging the Neet ordinance granting exemption to the States to admit students in government medical colleges through their own common entrance tests for the academic year 2016-2017. A vacation bench had refused to stay the operation of the ordinance stating that the stay will not be in the interests of the students who are to take the Neet-2 exam on July 24.

On Monday senior counsel Amarendra Saran, appearing for the main petitioner, Dr Anand Rai, whistleblower and rights activist who exposed the Vyapam medical scam in Madhya Pradesh submitted before a bench of CJI T.S. Thakur and Justice D.Y. Chandrachud that the issue is of importance and should be heard expeditiously. The CJI said since a Bench headed by Justice Anil R. Dave is dealing with the matter, the petitions will be listed for hearing on July 7.

The states of Tamil nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana had filed caveats to ensure that no ex pate order is passed by the court and they will also be heard on that day. The CBSE provided a schedule which is recorded in the orders of this court dated 27.04.2016, 28.04.2016 and May 9.
Security sources said that they have also come across some of the video of the ISIS which had the mention of Assam.

Guwahati: In what has been the most worrying development for the security agencies in India, the Islamic State (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant) modules are found to have been publishing propaganda material in Bengali language on a large scale in Bangladesh.

Informing that earlier ISIS has been publishing its propaganda material in Arabian, English, French, German and Turkish only, security sources told this newspaper that of late they have noticed ISIS propaganda material published in Bengali as well which is highly disturbing for the security agencies in India. Though, it was circulated in Bangladesh so far, security sources said that it can be read and understood upto West Bengal and Northeastern states of India.

Security sources said that they have also come across some of the video of the ISIS which had the mention of Assam. Pointing out that these factors are alarming, security sources said that South East Asian countries have always been on the radar of ISIS.

Clarifying that India is yet to assess the threat perception arising out of Dhaka attack, security sources, however, said that ministry of home affairs has directed the states bordering Bangladesh to take some specific steps to check the possible attempt of radical elements to cross over to India for shelter.

Pointing out that there was no reason to be panicky, security sources said that immediate concern for India is to stop the exit of radical elements active in neighbouring Bangladesh to India.

Informing that Bangladesh has already started mounting heavy pressure on radical groups responsible of recent killings, sources said that there is every possibility of these radical forces now trying to cross over to India to escape the onslaught of security forces in Bangladesh.
Counter terror officials feel that this trend of the terror group targeting the entire region will only increase in the days.

New Delhi: The future threat from the Islamic State (ISIS) to the Indian sub-continent could be from Maldives rather than Bangladesh, according to a classified report sent by the Intelligence Bureau to multiple agencies recently.

The report, details of which have been accessed by this newspaper, said ISIS may have as many as 500 sympathisers in the Maldives in addition to those who are suspected to have joined the terror outfit in Syria and Iraq.

ISIS has been successfully using the internet and social media in influencing youths in the island nation and is determined to expand its network further, the report stated and added that that in Bangladesh it was the Jamaeytul Mujahideen Bangladesh, blamed for last weeks terror attack, that was increasing its influence rather than the ISIS. The intelligence inputs are in line with the investigations carried out by security agencies in Bangladesh.

ISIS claimed credit to increase footprint

The Intelligence inputs are in line with the investigations carried out by security agencies in Bangladesh which indicate that the attack an upmarket restaurant in Dhaka may actually have been carried out by the JMB and not the ISIS though the latter claimed credit for it in an effort to increase its footprint in the region.

Counter terror officials who are closely tracking activities of ISIS not just in the country but the entire sub-continent feel that this trend of the terror group targeting the entire region will only increase in the days.

According to the Intelligence note though ISIS may have sympathisers among youth in Maldives it has not yet been able to establish presence or form a formidable network yet to carry out any major subversive activities.

It is suspected that though those involved in the Dhaka terror attack were influenced by ISIS, they belonged to the JMB and the entire attack was executed by it rather than the Islamic State.

Sources said Indian agencies too are closely monitoring attempts by ISIS to get a presence in the country. Indian intelligence agencies have been working closely with their counterparts in Maldives on the issue ISIS trying to increase its influence in the sub-continent.
Defence minister Manohar Parrikar at a FLO interactive session on Parivartan in Defence Sector: Changing Role & Opportunities for Women at FICCI in New Delhi.

New Delhi: Defence minister Manohar Parrikar on Monday reiterated the governments determination to break the gender barrier in the armed forces and mooted the idea of raising an all women battalion and stationing of women on warships as the psychological barrier has been broken with the induction of female fighter pilots. He called for stationing of women on warships besides opening the doors of the National Defence Academy and Sainik schools for them.

However, Parrikar made it clear that the affirmative action towards empowerment of women will be done gradually without compromising main task of armed forces which is national security.

Credited with the path breaking move of allowing IAF women pilots in combat role, the defence minister said that even though India is a country of Jhansi ki Rani and Durga, women have been made to stay away due to various reasons.

When I became the defence minister, I thought that we need to do a strategic move, he said noting that normally armed forces are male dominated.

If the Army and the Navy are opened up for combat roles for women, India will join the small club of countries in the world, including US, Israel, to have such a system.

There is a thinking that soldiers will not listen to a Commanding Officer who is a lady because they are not trained to do that. I dont agree with this as the only restriction today is infrastructure, he said speaking at a seminar organised by FICCI FLO, the women wing of the industry chamber.

In combat roles also there can be women. Why not have a complete women team, battalion of women. So the question of women officers leading a mens team, if there is question of initial resistance to it, can also be taken care of, he said.

The defence minister said that sometime in future, he will sit with the chiefs of all forces.I dont understand why we cant place women on ships. At this stage I will not support a submarine operation because submarines are designed for unigender or one area for staff.

There are no separate areas for women. But ships can be modified and new ships can be designed to have facilities for women, he said adding that there is also a question of taking women officers through NDA.

Mr Parrikar said there are demands from across the country for Sainik schools to have girl students. This cannot be done in dis-joined manner otherwise girls will get into Sainik schools but they will not get entry, all this aspects are being looked into, the defence minister said.

Ruing that it took nearly four months for the file on induction of women in combat role to reach him despite his prodding, Parrikar said, I support women rights, empowerment but I believe changes have to be done in a gradual manner because if you dont do that there will be problems.
Hyderabad: Protests erupted in Professor Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University (PJTSAU) on Monday following the death of B Pawan Kumar, a B.Sc Agriculture final year student, at Kampasagar village in Tripurapuram mandal, Nalgonda district.

Pawan along with around 30 other students, had gone to Nalgonda where one of the Krishi Vigana Kendrams of PJTSAU is located, as part of the Rural Agricultural Work Experience Programme.

The protesting students allege that the university was negligent in providing staying facilities to students at Kampasagar that lacked sanitation facilities. This forced Pawan to go to a canal in the village to fetch water for bathing where he slipped and drowned.

One of the students who were with Pawan said, Around 10.30am we asked a gram panchayat official for water. He said due to power cut water could not be drawn from the borewell and directed us to fetch water from the canal. Pawan and another student went there. Pawan fell into the canal while trying to draw water. Pawan belongs to a poor family; his father is a daily wage labourer. We have asked for compensation of Rs 35 lakh for Pawans family.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday reserved verdict on a batch of petitions seeking a direction to lift the ban on registration of SUVs and diesel cars with engine capacity of 2000 CC and above, indicated lifting the ban if the manufacturers voluntarily agreed to pay one time environment compensation cess of one per cent on the show room value of the vehicles.

A three-judge Bench of Chief Justice T.S. Thakur and Justices A.K. Sikri and R. Banumathi accepted the offer made by senior counsel Gopal Subramanium, Mohan Parasaran, Vishwanath Shetty, Gopal Jain, Abhishek Singhvi and others, appearing for Mercedes and Toyota for voluntarily paying the one per cent cess for allowing registration.

Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi submitted to the court that since cess being a tax cannot be levied by the court as it is the fiscal policy of the government. The court in December last had imposed the ban on registration until further orders.

Appearing for Mercedes, Mahindra, General Motors and Toyota car manufacturers, senior counsel Gopal Subramanium and Gopal Jain, urged the court to reconsider lifting the ban and said they were willing to pay a one time cess.

Mr Subramanium said that at present Euro-IV emission norms are in place for vehicles and for switching to more stricter emission norms of EURO-VI, there was the need for advance fuel which is presently unavailable.

The CJI repeatedly told the counsel that in Europe emission tests had failed and many cars did not meet the standards. He said once the pro type is approved what is the guarantee that the vehicles conform to the standards.

AG seeking modification of the order said the ban had caused practical difficulties. Automobile industry in the country being the fifth larges sector receiving Foreign Direct Investment is now facing obstacles in the flow of FDI due to ban is impacting Make in India initiative adversely.
Mr Sharath Kumar said that 188 cases were rejected by the enquiry committees at the district level as they were not farm-related suicides. (Representational image)

Hyderabad: The Hyderabad High Court on Monday expressed its anger at petitioners who had shown some farmers, who were alive, as dead in their lists submitted with regard to farmers suicides in Telangana.

A division bench comprising acting Chief Justice Dilip B. Bhosale and Justice P. Naveen Rao was dealing with a batch of petitions filed separately by the Vyavasaya Jana Chaitanaya Samiti, Mr Pakala Srihari Rao, Professor Kodandaram, Mr D. Narasimha Reddy and others, challenging the inaction of the state governments in curbing farmers suicides in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.

Mr Sharath Kumar, special counsel for Telangana, submitted that the petitioners had submitted a list of 345 cases of suicides and after enquiry, officials had paid compensation for 79 cases as they were proven to be genuine farm-related suicides.

He submitted that during the inquiry it was also revealed that six of the farmers who were listed as dead by the petitioners were alive, the whereabouts of one of the farmers was not known, and 37 names had been repeated in the list.

Mr Sharath Kumar said that 188 cases were rejected by the enquiry committees at the district level as they were not farm-related suicides; many had committed suicide as they were unable to repay loans taken for studies and marriages of their children.

While stating that the issue of compensating families of farmers who had committed suicides unable to repay loans taken for activities other than farm-related would be consider later, the bench asked counsel for the state government to place before the Hyderabad High Court the reasons for suicide in each of the cases and also the reasons for rejecting compensation within two weeks.
New Delhi: A dozen laser walls have been made operational along the India-Pakistan International Border in Punjab to plug the porous riverine and treacherous terrain and keep an effective vigil against intruders and terrorists exploiting the frontier areas to cross over.

While eight infra-red and laser beam intrusion detection systems are "up and working" along as many vulnerable and sensitive areas of the international border (IB) in Punjab, four more will be operationalised in the next few days, a senior BSF official said.

The "laser walls" or fence are being monitored by Border Security Force (BSF) which guards the Indo-Pak IB in Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Rajasthan and Gujarat.

The decision to install these laser walls was taken by BSF two years ago keeping in mind the vulnerability of the border in these areas as barbed wire fencing could not be installed in many infiltration prone areas due to treacherous terrain or marshy riverine topography.

After the Pathankot terror attack, where it was suspected that terrorists crossed over from Pakistan by breaching the IB from Bamiyal area in Punjab, Union Home Ministry and BSF have sped up the deployment and activation of these walls along the long and winding border.

A total of 45 such laser walls will be installed in these areas along the international border in Punjab and Jammu, a blueprint prepared in this regard and accessed by PTI said.

According to the blueprint, BSF along with a team of technical experts will be conducting a pilot project for deploying "technological solutions" for effective border guarding at two "sensitive" riverine stretches in Jammu sector which entails deployment of smart sensors to pick up suspected movements along IB.

"The laser walls have started working and their functioning is being monitored. Preliminary results in detecting illegal movements are encouraging," the official said.

He said sensors were being monitored through a satellite-based signal command system and armed with night and fog operability tools.

Apart from these, four other pilot projects of similar kind in stretches of 30-40 kms of IB in Jammu and Gujarat and one in West Bengal along Indo-Bangla border have been approved by Home Ministry to secure Indian borders effectively.

"Work on them will begin by next month," he said. After the Pathankot incident, BSF had deployed an additional battalion (about 1,000 men) in Punjab sector even as it has increased the number of its ambush operations and patrol in the area.

BSF is also considering deploying at least four more battalions in Punjab and Jammu border areas as a second-tier of defence after withdrawing these units from the Line of Control.
Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasreen is known for her harsh criticism of Islam. (Photo: AFP)

New Delhi: Noted Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasreen on Monday hit out at Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for mourning the deaths of those killed in Friday's Dhaka attack and reminded her she was silent on the killings of 'secular bloggers, gays, Hindus' in the country.

Hasina mourning,paying homage to victims of #dhakaattack?She was silent when secular bloggers,gays,Hindus were killed by Islamic terrorists.  taslima nasreen (@taslimanasreen) July 4, 2016

Her tweet came hours after she called Bangladesh a major contributor to global terror and said Islam was not a religion of peace anymore.

"For humanity's sake please do not say Islam is a religion of peace. Not anymore," she tweeted.

For humanity's sake please do not say Islam is a religion of peace. Not anymore.  taslima nasreen (@taslimanasreen) July 3, 2016

'Bangladesh has been a major contributor to global terror. Bangladeshi men have joined terror outfits in 36 countries.' -- Saleem Samad  taslima nasreen (@taslimanasreen) July 3, 2016

Twenty people were killed in Dhaka after terrorists stormed into a local bakery and held the customers as hostages. The Sheikh Hasina-led government had claimed that all terrorists involved in the seige were from rich and affluent families and some of them were highly educated.

Nasreen cited this information to argue that poverty and illiteracy are not the main factors that drive people into becoming terrorists.

You don't need poverty,illiteracy, frustration,America's foreign policy,Israel's conspiracy to become an Islamic terrorist. You need Islam.  taslima nasreen (@taslimanasreen) July 3, 2016

Nasreen is known for her strong feminist stand and harsh criticism of Islam. The author left Bangladesh in 1994 and has been living in exile ever since as she has repeatedly received death threats from various outfits for her views and works.
KOCHI: The Syro-Malabar Church has welcomed the call for a uniform civil code in the country as suggested by the Centre. The implementation of a Uniform Civil Code without denying religious freedom and traditions is a welcome step, said Cardinal George Alen-cherry of Syro-Malabar Church on Sunday.

The government should strive for a Uniform Civil Code by taking into consideration the diverse traditions, rituals of all sections of the society and people, he added. The diversity should be maintained while going ahead with the Uniform Civil Code, he told reporters. There should be a consensus in this regard, he added.

Cardinal Alencherry made the observation in the background of the Union government asking the Law Commission to explore the possibility of implementing a Uniform Civil Code across the country. Although Cardinal Alenherry cautiously welcomed the move by the government, a section of the clergy is apprehensive about the possibility of the issue being used for creating communal polarisation.

Fr Paul Thelakkat, former spokesperson of the Syro-Malabar church, expressed a concern in this regard. As the Cardinal said I also welcome the Uniform Civil Code, he told this newspaper. But it is currently a concept without a content as there is no such draft or note to make a comment possible, he said. I am afraid that this concept can be used as a political tool to make communal polarisation with the intention to win election which I cannot but oppose, he added.
Jind: A woman has left her husband's house after her in-laws failed to construct a toilet in Gauripur village in Jind.



Bhateri, who is from Siwana Mal village, left the house three months ago after her repeated demand to construct a toilet was ignored by her in-laws.



"Despite my repeated request and demand to construct a toilet, neither my husband nor my in-laws paid any attention."



"This forced me to leave their house and return to my father's house," said Bhateri, who is now staying at her father's house.



She said she felt embarrassed to defacate in the open and will not go back until they contruct a toilet in the house. He father supported her decision.
Hyderabad: City BJP legislator T. Raja Singh on Sunday sought the arrest of MIM president Asaduddin Owaisi for extending legal support to the five suspected IS supporters arrested by the NIA last week. He demanded that the recognition of MIM be cancelled.

Speaking at a media conference, Mr Singh said the government was supporting a party which had an alliance with terrorists. The entire world is on the warpath to end terrorism and the Telangana government is supporting those who encourage terrorism. With the support of the MIM, terror operatives and suspects existed in the Old City.

Earlier, when terror supporters were arrested from the Old City they were assisted financially and in other ways by the MIM. Is the TRS government wanting Bangaru Telangana by supporting a terror-support-party, he asked.

He accused the government of indulging in appeasement politics and not taking action against terrorism. He questioned the Shadi Mubarak scheme, which funds the marriage of poor Muslims, gives overseas education loans for Muslims, and extends prize money for Muslim sportspersons.

Complaint, petition against Owaisi filed in city, Meerut

A city advocate on Sunday was lodged a complaint against MIM president Asaduddin Owaisi on Sunday, demanding immediate action on him for announcing legal aid to five locals who were arrested by the NIA on charges of involvement in an alleged ISIS module.

Mr K. Karuna Sagar who lodged the complaint with the Saroornagar police, said Mr Owaisis stand was giving oxygen to terrorists. Owaisi is directly or indirectly helping the ISIS which had come up with a video in which it threatened to target India, he said.

In Meerut, a petition seeking a case against Mr Owaisi was filed in a court by UP Bar Council member Anil Kumar Bakshi, who alleged the Hyderabad MPs remarks amoun-ted to treason.
KOZHIKODE: The two-day RSS state-level leaders meet which concluded here on Sunday called for consensus in implementing Uniform Civil Code, protest against oppressive CPM rule and launching a Green Kerala campaign.

Addressing a press conference on Sunday RSS state general secretary P Gopalankutti said that Union government is bound to implement Uniform Civil Code as it is enshrined in the constitution. But we are in the opinion that before implementation there should be discussions with all the communities to rule out our doubts and fears, he added.

Explaining the decisions made in the meet Mr Gopalankutti said that a resolution has been passed against the politics of violence followed by CPM. The detailed resolution against the atrocities of CPM said that after the elections, CPM has unleashed brutal violence across the state leaving hundreds of persons including women and children injured.

Apart from RSS-BJP workers, leaders and workers of other political parties also were brutally attacked, the resolution said. Supporters of other political parties are unable to carry out party work even in the native village of chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, resolution said. The attitude is evident in the incident in which two dalit women were attacked in constituency of CPM state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan.

RSS also urged workers to resist such undemocratic and oppressive political attitude of CPM denying basic human rights. Another resolution passed by the meeting urged workers to strive to convert the state into a green state by participating in farming and afforestation initiatives.
The Seventh Pay Commission, set up on February 28, 2014, had given its verdict in an 899-page report submitted to the government on November 19, 2015. Perusal of the report shows that the terms of reference of the commission had been very deliberately crafted, clearly directing the commission in very specific terms to examine not merely how much each category of government servants would be paid, but, more importantly, of determining how much an economy like India could afford to pay its armed forces. This is an entirely new economic perspective the armed forces will have to learn to live with. In that sense the Seventh Pay Commission is not really a pay commission report in the generally understood sense of the term. It is an unsentimental and coldly clinical macro-economic study of affordable defence for India.

It attempts to scientifically analyse the many emotive factors which have historically shrouded the profession of soldiering in this country, and determine what India can realistically afford to pay its soldiers, no how brave, dedicated, or self-sacrificing they may be, in short, the econometrics of good soldiering. There is no room for sentiment here  battle honours, regimental colours, paltan ki izzat are all very well, but do they deliver military value for money? The Seventh Pay Commission document carries broad hints on its suggested solution, thickly covered by a fine mesh and a jungle camouflage of tables, charts, calculations and figures. It unequivocally recommends that the ultimate way forward for a government whose prime objective is rapid economic development is to downsize manpower  intensive armed forces, and try to compensate numbers by induction of technology, again in incremental doses of as much as is affordable.

It is a concept that has been attempted earlier as well, but the problem is that while manpower was always available, and could be rationalised by controlling quantum of recruitment, the compensating technology was either unavailable or unaffordable. Also, the conclusions of the Seventh Pay Commission seem to reiterate yet again that the cherished self-perception of the armed forces about their special place in national priorities as the ultimate defenders and guarantors of the countrys territorial integrity and political freedom may have to be reworked.

In the established working principles of any democracy, the military is, of course, always subordinate to civilian authority and control. While India is no exception, perhaps that it is only in India that this principle been extended and expanded to create an overriding control of the military by the civil bureaucracy of the ministry of defence, which wields all the authority to make decisions, but accepts zero responsibility for their outcomes. The working culture of civil bureaucracy is that of firewalkers, walking through the flames but always emerging unscathed, adept at claiming credit but always quick to deflect blame when decisions backfire.

Another baffling omission is that the defence forces themselves and their problems do not appear to have been at all included within the purview of the consideration of the Seventh Pay Commission, which seems to have focused only on the defence (civilian) component of the defence ministry. The logic is undoubtedly inexplicable and it would therefore be fair to conclude that the commission is perhaps not about the armed forces at all. It has made no apparent attempt to analyse or quantify in any meaningful manner the index of unhappiness prevailing within the armed forces with its roots in their aspirational frustrations on issues like interse status of the military vis a vis other Central government services in terms of pay and career prospects, assured career progression up to 60 years of age as with other Central government Group A services, and requirement of 33 years service to qualify for minimum pension, which are fulfilled if at all only in a microscopic minority of cases.

These have not been attainable by the majority of personnel in the defence forces, primarily due to the up or out promotional policy in the armed forces, where retention of an individual is dependent on his length of service and rank achieved. Lack of promotional avenues makes military service immensely competitive, yet frustrating. In this index of unhappiness is the important ingredient of the Non-Functional Upgradation, or NFU, which is cleverly devised by enterprising civil servants to ensure continuing quantitative and qualitative dominance of the commanding heights of all aspects of the countrys civil administrative and decision-making machinery.

Through executive fiat it ensures that the disparities of promotion levels between the IAS and their professional cousins in the Indian Police Service, Indian Forest Service, and the other so called Organised Group A Services were resolved through NFU  a time-bound enhancement of uniform pay, but not of promotion. This facility has never been extended to the armed forces and the Seventh Pay Commission too has not been any exception. But what exercises of the Seventh Pay Commission have impacted is the coordinated functioning of military, paramilitary and police forces which is so essential at the sharp end, whether in Jammu and Kashmir, or the Sino-Indian border, or internal conflicts in the Northeast.

Meanwhile, sporadic violence is flaring up again, with the macro-target of the Amarnath Yatra already underway in Kashmir, which is under sporadic attack by Kashmiri separatists. Command and control issues in joint operational structures are sometimes personality driven, and military advice based on service experience is often brushed aside or ignored by a recipient on issues of personal prestige and notional seniority based on pay differences  a common enough phenomenon in many Indian settings. The disparities generated by the Seventh Pay Commission may seep into command and control issues and cause intra-organisational friction that may require personal intervention, sometimes even at the highest level.
Sharpening the contradiction between the government and the judiciary, CJI hief Justice of India T.S. Thakur reportedly rejected on Sunday the official proposal that a committee of retired judges be set up to evaluate the applications for appointments to the higher judiciary. The CJIs reasoning is not in the public realm, but the conclusion he has reached does not appear whimsical. Retired judges, if appointed under government auspices, cannot be considered independent. They may not be be above factions within the judiciary, or for that matter nepotistic interest, and may not be imbued with the quality of disinterest when commenting on applications for appointments to the higher judiciary.

A democracy needs a truly independent  and accountable  judiciary. The notion of an independent judiciary is part of the basic structure of the Constitution, which renders the precept inviolate. To begin with, in India, the government appointed high court and Supreme Court judges in consultation with the CJI. This era produced a judiciary committed to the government of the day. The pendulum swung the other way in 1993 when the collegium system was created under which judges appointed judges. This led to a lack of transparency, misuse of powers, and nepotism.

A middle path needs to be urgently found as crores of cases are pending in our courts, including at the appellate level. The present government brought the National Judicial Appointments Commission through an enactment and constitutional amendment. But this was inherently flawed. Besides the CJI and two apex court judges after him in seniority, the NJAC has as members the Union law minister and two eminent persons chosen by a committee comprising the CJI, the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition.

The worst aspect of it is that members of the panel were given veto powers, which means the law minister could throw out any name sent to it from the judicial side. Besides, since the government is the biggest litigant in India, it is inappropriate to have the law minister on the panel to select judges as that is suggestive of a conflict of interest.

The NJAC Act was challenged in the top court and on October 16 last year, the Supreme Court held it to be unconstitutional and void. This verdict, incidentally, has the publicly enunciated support of the countrys most respected jurist, Fali Nariman, and eminent lawyer Ram Jethmalani, who believe that no shadow of the government must fall on the appointment of judges in order to ensure an independent judiciary. A further debate on how to create a truly independent body to make judicial appointments brooks no delay. It is also perhaps time that the judicial side put its cards on the table.
The murder of the techie Swathi on a suburban railway station platform in the heart of Chennai in daylight seems to have been solved quickly enough with the suspected killer caught. The lesson to be learnt from the tragedy of a young professional being hacked to death with a sickle in a case of unrequited love is that even indirect interaction on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter may come with inbuilt dangers, particularly for women. Making friends with strangers on a whim on a Facebook friend request can be hazardous, more so if telephone numbers and other personal details are shared. What makes this case even more perverse is it involved stalking, which again is a dangerous thing that can lead to extreme consequences.

Women must understand that this liberated age, marked by so many freedoms and variety of choices preceding generations did not enjoy, comes with its own threats. The cultural, economic and social divide is also sharper, leading to all kinds of contradictions and clashes, more so for the liberated woman emboldened by the freedoms the age offers.

Stalking is a phenomenon that is taken very seriously, both by the judiciary, which freely hands out restraint orders in more evolved societies, and the law enforcing agencies in Western countries. Not only should modern women, who can read the danger signs, do more to protect their privacy, much more must be done to enforce the laws that protect them. If the warning signs arising out of Swathis death are not heeded, we may see more such cases.
Lalitha Kumaramangalam, chairperson of the National Commission for Women, spoke exclusively with Teena Thacker, clearing the air on the NCW's notice to Salman Khan for his rape remark and the action the NCW is taking on the members of the Rajasthan State Commission for Women who were caught taking a selfie with a rape victim.

What do you think about the controversy surrounding Salman Khans rape remark? Should it have been tackled differently?

No, I dont think there was any different way to handle it. Unless we would have let it go without bothering to take any action. The irony is that if the NCW had not done anything then the press and the public would have jumped at us saying we are useless, we are just a toothless body etc, as has already been suggested by several top journalists. The NCW has not made it a big issue; it was not done voluntarily from the side of the commission, we did our job when we took suo-moto cognisance. But the issue was made much bigger by the press.

Do you think the case has been dragged too far by the NCW because Salman Khan is involved?

Obviously, if it was some ordinary man it wouldnt have been a big deal. The remark is not against an individual; this is against innumerable Indian women. Salman Khan is a 51-year-old man with a huge experience of public life. I think he understands very well that he has made a mistake. I dont know the man at all personally. I dont know what prevents him from saying a simple sorry for a mistake he has made. His father apologised, but his father didnt make that statement.

What was the reply to the NCW notice?

That the NCW doesnt have the right to take suo-moto cognisance.

After making the statement Salman immediately retracted. Shouldnt that be considered as an apology?

Did you listen to the whole recording where he said, Oops I should not have said this. I dont think it sounds like an apology. This was a press conference called specially before the release of his new movie. Salman Khan is an actor who is considered to have the maximum fan following somebody like Rajinikanth. If in Tamil Nadu, Rajinikanth says something similar, then think about what the average Tamilian woman would feel. She will be hurt as it comes from a person whom she considers her hero.

This was a very obnoxious comparison. Salman was talking about the physical pain he underwent. Actors are paid very high salaries for the work they do; they dont do it unwillingly. They are not forced to do it and given the current context of rising violence against women in India, this is an obnoxious comparison which is condemnable and callous.

While I agree that he is also a human being who can make mistakes, but when you make a mistake dont you apologise? I see a lot of misery on a daily basis... every day I get two-three calls from people who want to come and meet me. In a month we get 2,000-3,000 complaints of those pertaining to some form of violence against women. Society in India is almost indoctrinated to overlook, to accept, to bypass violence against women.

What do you have to say about the Rajasthan incident?

It was disgusting. We have sent them a very strong letter. We have summoned them. One of them has resigned, saying that she doesnt want her non-mistake to affect the reputation of the government and the commission. We will take action if the other woman doesnt appear. What they did was illegal. You are not permitted to take pictures with any victim of violence. Being members of the commission they should know the rules. I am ashamed about it.

This is not how members and chairpersons of commission for women should behave. The fact that they are refusing to accept the responsibility is serious. This is not a mistake; this is much more than a mere mistake both of them kept saying that they have not done any mistake as it was the person who uploaded the selfie on the Net.

Why did they do it and what action can you take against them?

They said that they were normalising the rape victim. However, it was very clear that they were taking selfies. I dont know what powers we have but they have actually done something illegal. There is a Supreme Court ruling on this. Even the victim herself can take action, but I think she is just too shattered and doesnt know what to do.

The NCW is often considered a toothless body. There were discussions about giving more teeth to the commission, maybe taking it to the level of the National Human Rights Commission. What happened to that?

The NCW is set up by an Act of Parliament so ONE needs to go to Parliament in order to be able to make changes. As you know, Parliament is still in a logjam. I think once that logjam is cleared this will also be sorted. Yes, we need more teeth, we need more independence. We are often treated as just a the department of the ministry and that does often compromise our activities. This is not merely a question of reporting to the secretary or the minister.

Secretary, ministry of women and child development, and the minister have the right because they are questioned at various levels by Parliament, by the Prime Ministers Office, but I am informed traditionally because the NCW is set up as a watchdog so there have been always an attempt to subjugate, dominate it, etc. We had asked for similar powers like NHRC, but dont know if we will be given such powers.

Why do you think you need more power? Is there a lot of political pressure?

No, so far no political pressure has been exerted on me to drop a particular case.

The pressure that is put on me is to ensure that complainants get justice as quickly as possible. For some time there has been a shortage of staff at NCW, and due to several governmental procedural delays we are still hoping to get at least a few more staff. We actually had asked for 140, and we have about 80-odd people working. So there is a severe shortage of staff.

Its been almost two years now since you joined. Are you satisfied with your performance?

I am never satisfied with my performance. I am possibly my worst critic. I always feel that I could have and should have done better, but I am trying to do my best.
A flowing red turban above an Indian soldiers khaki caught my eye. He was among the Allied troops paying homage at the Thiepval monument in France during last weeks 100th anniversary of the Battle of the Somme. The sight recalled Chandra Shekhar resisting pressure to send troops to Kuwait. His shortlived government had voted against Saddam Husseins Iraq at the United Nations. He had uniquely decided to allow American military aircraft to land and refuel in India. But he refused to send troops to West Asia. We cant defend our own borders Chandra Shekhar said when I asked why he was so adamant. How can our soldiers defend other peoples borders thousands of miles away? He added in the same breath he held no brief for Saddams claim that Kuwait was part of the vilayat of Basra. Nor did he think the annexation had anything to do with Israel. He was just opposed in principle to Indian military involvement abroad. Perhaps, unlike me, he had read T.S. Eliots haunting poem, To the Indians Who Died in Africa.

I suspected that was not a sentiment the Indian Armys top brass shared during the Gulf War. A few were probably ideologically motivated. Others craved the excitement and glory of action. For most the rewarding financial returns of operations under UN auspices was and is the main attraction. No wonder Bangladesh is one of the most active participants. Setting aside general factors, the Indian Army has special reasons for taking pride in its foreign exposure. The reasons for its involvement may have been political and involuntary like Lord Linlithgows arrogantly unilateral announcement of September 3, 1939, that India was at war against Germany. But once inducted, the Army acquitted itself with valour. Last weeks commemoration of the Battle of the Somme must have struck a chord.

Two Indian regiments  the 20th Deccan Horse and the 34th Poona Horse, which supported the British Seventh Dragoon Guards  took part in the first and only cavalry charge of the battle between the High Wood and Delville Wood area of France. That was on July 14, 1916, the day the French celebrate the fall of the Bastille. Although they were forced to retreat under heavy fire, their participation made history. It was clear to the strategists when they were ordered to provide back-up support to an infantry advance beyond High Wood, near the Carnoy Valley area of the Somme battleground, that the cavalrys day was over. Two Indian cavalry divisions did remain on the Western Front until March 1918, when they were transferred to Palestine. But the shape of things to come stared them in the face. Tanks had replaced horses.

Many reasons have been advanced for bungling on the Somme front. Communications were poor. It now emerges the Germans dug tunnels under the Allied position and listened to all their messages, having already cracked the code. It wasnt appreciated that the cavalry was supposed to charge only after the infantry had cleared the terrain. The ground wasnt suitable for horses. The tanks which were supposed to clear passages through the enemy lines when the Indian cavalry were called to the front line again on September 15 failed to do so satisfactorily. The nature of the fighting and the climate came as a shock to Indian soldiers who were frequently deployed in working parties providing medicines and food to the front.

They were taken out of the line and rested in early 1915, but were soon back in the trenches and involved in some of the heaviest fighting. The Indian Corps provided half the attacking force at the Battle of Neuve Chapelle in March, and the Lahore Division was part of the counter-attack at the Second Battle of Ypres in April. Indians again suffered heavy losses at the Battle of Loos in September. Of the 1.3 million who enlisted, more than 74,000 were killed. By early November the 47th Sikhs had only 385 men, out of 764, fit for duty. The bigger question is: Should Indians have been there at all so far from home? By way of answer, the scholar and philosopher, Sir Richard Sorabji, who is now associated with Wolfson College in Oxford, directed me to Eliots poem whose poignancy demands quoting in full:

A mans destination is his own village,

His own fire, and his wifes cooking;

To sit in front of his own door at sunset

And see his grandson, and his neighbours grandson

Playing in the dust together.

Scarred but secure, he has many memories

Which return at the hour of conversation,

(The warm or the cool hour, according to the climate)

Of foreign men, who fought in foreign places,

Foreign to each other.

A mans destination is not his destiny,

Every country is home to one man

And exile to another. Where a man dies bravely

At one with his destiny, that soil is his.

Let his village remember.

This was not your land, or ours: but a village in the Midlands,

And one in the Five Rivers, may have the same graveyard.

Let those who go home tell the same story of you:

Of action with a common purpose, action

None the less fruitful if neither you nor we

Know, until the judgement after death,

What is the fruit of action.

I like Eliots separation of destination and destiny. But, as he says, duty can merge the two. I wonder what prompted him to compose the poem. Richard, nephew and biographer of Cornelia Sorabji, the first Indian woman barrister, doesnt know. Does some erudite reader?
The software, dubbed multilingual composer, is currently being tested among a small group of users. (Representational image)

There is no doubt about the fact that Facebook is the worlds most popular website with users 1.65 billion on board. Earlier CEO Mark Zuckerberg had expressed his dream of connecting people all around the globe through the platform.

Though the dream has emerged progressively, the fact that all these users have different languages makes it rather hard for people from different regions communicate seamlessly.

To bridge this requisite, the social media giant has now decided to include a feature that will allow users to communicate with a global audience, even if you are unaware of a language other than your own.

According to a Cnet report, the company last week introduced new software that automatically translates Facebook posts to several languages. Once the post has been published, people from different corners from the world will be able to view the post in their preferred languages.

As per Cnet, the mechanism is pretty easy: Users are required to type a post, click on a pull-down menu; subsequently the user can add up to 45 different language translations, ranging from French, Italian, Filipino, and many more.

The software, dubbed multilingual composer, is currently being tested among a small group of users and the company has pointed out that the feature is already being used by close to 5,000 pages.

According to the company, more than half of the crowd on its website speak languages other than English and this tool will significantly help diminish language gaps.

Using AI, the tool takes care of the translations after you select the languages. After the selection process, the software it self determines which version of the post to show after utlising user information such as location, language preferences, and frequently used lingo in posts.

This will be a step forward for the social media giant as it is a perfect tool for global online businesses to target crowds in different language zones. This will also be beneficial to Facebook as users will spend more time on the site.

Moving on, it will also be beneficial for the users as they would be able to interact and take part in more global activities through this software without breaking a sweat.

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The accused B Naveen, 21, was in-charge of delivery operations in the Washermenpet area, located in the Northern part of Chennai. (Representational image)

In a recent fraud case, a Chennai-based Flipkart delivery agent was arrested by police on Sunday after he conned his employer for more than month, acquiring as many as 12 iPhones.

According to a report in the New Indian Express, the accused B Naveen, 21, was in-charge of delivery operations in the Washermenpet area, located in the Northern part of Chennai. The accused used a clever strategy which involved placing orders to fake addresses in the area.

As soon as he received the package, he would take it back home and replace it with cheap China based imitations of the iPhone. Later, he would take those fake ones back to the company, claiming that unsatisfied customers had returned the devices.

However, after a month of carrying out his plan with utmost ease, his employer got suspicious about the abnormally high number of product returns from that that locality.

Subsequently, Flipkart carried out a probe and found out that the phones returned by Neevan were fake China duplicates.

He was arrested on Sunday by the Madhavaram police, after a complaint was file against him by the local warehouse owner Vetriselvam. He was later produced before a magistrate and remanded in judicial custody.

The police also said that Naveen is a first time offender and carried out this fraud to settle his previous debts. Further investigations by the police revealed that he had been doing this on the advice of an advocate.

The phones have been recovered by the police and the toal sum of the stolen handsets are valued well above Rs 5,00,000. The investigations also found out that he had lots of debts from his friends and other persons to have a lavish life during his college days.

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A recent forecast said that VR will become a $40 billion industry by 2020. (Representational image)

Mumbai: Virtual Reality (VR) technology has been growing at a rapid pace with myriad tech vanguards burning the candle at both ends to develop new and improved VR headsets.

Though the technology is fairly new, a recent forecast said that it will become a $40 billion market by 2020.

Surprisingly, however, Google trends data via VRTalk.com suggested the most of it is currently driven by the virtual pornographic content.

To be more specific, searches for VR porn content have increased 100-fold from November 2014 to April 2016, which is a 9,900 per cent increase in a matter of just 17 months.

The main talking point over here is how porn is playing a big role in the growth of the overall VR industry; it has been observed time and again how new technology has a direct co-relation with the libidos of individuals.

In the past, an eerie fact that has been monitored is the role of the porn industry and the medium they adopt to push content. Now, as the XXX industry mulls greater integration of VR, people are again thinking about how the new technology can cater to their virtual sexual fantasies.

Thanks to Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, and mobile headsets

The increase in the number of VR porn searches is due to the inception numerous high-end VR headsets such as the HTC Vive and Oculus Rift. Coming to the mobile space, there are headsets such as Samsung Gear VR, Google Cardboard and a slew of other ones manufactured by less prominent firms.

When people buy these headsets, they dont really have much knowledge regarding the functionality and experience offered by the devices.

A common tendency, as pointed out by the aforementioned Google search data trend, indicated that people are more likely to search for NSFW content while searching on the worlds largest search engine.

This has driven adult websites such as PornHub launch a dedicated website catering to adult VR videos which works with almost any headset. In fact, 360-degree porn clips are already doing rounds on numerous websites, citing a high demand for it.

However, this is just the beginning and there is a lot of research going on to create fully interactive environments, where people would be able to walk around in a virtual situation, with the help of these headsets.

Apart from that, the demand for VR porn has even pushed XXX-game developers to keep innovating and develop new kinds of VR games.

Considering the escalating demand for VR NSFW content, it wont be wrong to say that the porn industry, coupled with enhanced headsets are helping in the rapid growth of the overall VR industry.

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Demonstrators demanded an end to extra judicial executions by police, which they said are common. Protesters took a petition to police headquarters, parliament, the president's office and the Supreme Court. (Photo: AP)

Nairobi: Hundreds of Kenyans including human rights activists, lawyers and taxi operators peacefully protested Monday against what they said are pervasive killings linked to police, as a court ordered three police officers be held for two weeks on charges they murdered three men.

Demonstrators demanded an end to extra judicial executions by police, which they said are common. Protesters took a petition to police headquarters, parliament, the president's office and the Supreme Court.

"We are here to loudly and unequivocally protest what we know is the policy of the Kenya government of extra judicial killings and forced disappearances of suspects, human rights defenders as well as anyone who stands against the government or in any case seems to threaten the status quo," said Human Rights activist al-Amin Kimathi.

The protests were sparked off by the murder of three men, including a human rights lawyer, linked to the three officers. A court ordered the three officers be held without bail for two weeks for investigations to be completed.
Pistorius, whose legs were amputated below the knee when he was 11 months old, made history by becoming the first Paralympian to compete against able-bodied athletes at the 2012 London Olympics. (Photo: AP)

Johannesburg: Disgraced Paralympian Oscar Pistorius could return to jail on Wednesday, when a judge is set to sentence him for murdering his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp three years ago.

Pistorius was freed from prison in the South African capital Pretoria last October after serving one year of a five-year term for culpable homicide -- the equivalent of manslaughter.

But an appeals court upgraded the conviction to murder, which has a minimum standard sentence of 15 years. Due to his time already spent in jail and mitigating factors such as his disability, he may be given a lesser term.

Pistorius, 29, shot Steenkamp to death in the early hours of Valentine's Day in 2013, claiming he mistook her for a burglar when he fired four times through the door of his bedroom toilet.

Judge Thokozile Masipa, who heard the original trial, will deliver the sentence three weeks after a court hearing that marked another episode of high drama in the long-running case.

Pistorius, sobbing heavily, hobbled on his stumps across the courtroom to demonstrate his physical vulnerability as his lawyers argued he should not return to jail on account of his anxiety disorder and depression.

"I don't think he will get the 15 years," Ulrich Roux, who is unaffiliated with the case but has followed it closely, said.

"His personal circumstances and the disability will be taken into account. One possibility is that part of the sentence may be suspended."

'Pay for his crime'

At the sentencing hearing, prosecutor Gerrie Nel argued that the double-amputee sprinter should be given a lengthy jail term as he failed to show any remorse for the murder.

Nel also criticised Pistorius for filming a television interview, despite claiming to be too unwell to give evidence in court.

In the interview -- his first since the killing -- Pistorius said that he believed Steenkamp would want him to devote his life to charity rather than return to prison.

"If I was afforded the opportunity of redemption, I would like to help the less fortunate," he said.

"I would like to believe that if Reeva could look down upon me that she would want me to live that life."

At a June court hearing, Steenkamp's father 73-year-old Barry broke down during his testimony as he called for Pistorius to "pay for his crime" of murdering Reeva, a model and law graduate.

Pistorius, who pleaded not guilty at his trial in 2014, has always denied killing Steenkamp in a rage, saying he was trying to protect her.

The sentencing may not be the end of the saga that has gripped South Africa and the world, as Pistorius or the state could launch a final round of appeals.

If jailed on Wednesday, he would likely return to the hospital section of Kgosi Mampuru II Prison in the capital Pretoria, separated from the general population of inmates.

Since his release, Pistorius has lived under restrictions at his uncle's mansion in Pretoria.

Supreme Court of Appeal judges in December described the sprinter's testimony at his trial as "untruthful" and delivered a damning indictment of the original verdict.

Pistorius, whose legs were amputated below the knee when he was 11 months old, made history by becoming the first Paralympian to compete against able-bodied athletes at the 2012 London Olympics.
he has apologised for exclusively using a private email account and her own server during her time as secretary of state from 2009 to 2013.(Photo: AP)

Washington: Hillary Clinton says she was "pleased" to speak with the FBI about her use of personal email while serving as secretary of state, but refused to discuss reports that she will not face charges.

In an interview aired on Sunday, Clinton acknowledged it was unwise for her husband to meet with America's top law enforcement officer, with the encounter coming in the midst of the FBI investigation that has dogged her campaign to become the first female president of the United States.

"Hindsight is 20/20," Clinton told NBC's "Meet the Press" program, noting that both Bill Clinton and Attorney General Loretta Lynch have said they would not do it again.

The pair held an impromptu meeting at the airport in Phoenix, Arizona this week.

Clinton, who was interviewed by the FBI on Saturday for about 3.5 hours, refused to speculate on the timeline or possible conclusions of the FBI investigation, and would not comment about reports saying she would not be charged.

"I was eager to do it and I was pleased to have the opportunity to assist the department in bringing its review to a conclusion," Clinton said.

She has apologised for exclusively using a private email account and her own server during her time as secretary of state from 2009 to 2013.

Opponents argue that this breached rules about protecting classified documents from cyber attack and may have amounted to a crime.

The latest NBC News/WSJ poll shows Republican presumptive nominee Donald Trump with a strong lead over Clinton -- 41 per cent to 25 per cent -- on honesty and trustworthiness.

"I'm going to continue to put forth my record, what I have stood for, do everything I can to earn the trust of the voters of our country. I know that's something that I'm going to keep working on, and I think that's, you know, a clear priority for me," she said.

"When you've been in the eye of the tornado for as long as I have, I know there's a lot of incoming fire, I accept that."
Toronto: Canada is exploring the use of gender-neutral options on identity cards, Justin Trudeau told a television station on Sunday as he became the first Canadian prime minister to march in a gay pride parade.

Trudeau, who participated in the downtown Toronto parade along with other politicians, did not give details, saying only the government was exploring the "best way" and studying other jurisdictions.

"That's part of the great arc of history sweeping towards justice," he told CP24.

Last week, the Canadian province of Ontario said it would allow the use of a third gender indicator, X, for driver's licenses, which are commonly used in North America to provide identification.

Countries including Australia, New Zealand and Nepal already allow the use of the X gender indicator.

Trudeau also said last month's relaxation of Canadian blood-donation restrictions on men who have sex with other men was "not good enough," saying the government was going to work toward easing it further.

According to Canadian Blood Services, men who have sex with other men can now donate after one year of abstinence, down from five years previously.

Trudeau said Toronto's annual parade was made more poignant this year by the shooting rampage that killed 49 people last month at the Pulse gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida.

"We have to remember the importance of safe spaces and safe communities, like the Pulse was, is something to uphold," he said.
Former President George W. Bush classified the 28-page chapter to protect intelligence sources and methods, although he also probably did not want to upset U.S. relations with Saudi Arabia. (Photo: AP)

Washington: Amid the clamour a year ago to release 28 still-secret pages of a congressional inquiry into the Sept. 11 attacks, the government quietly declassified a little-known report listing more than three dozen people who piqued the interest of investigators probing possible Saudi connections to the hijackers.

The document, known as "File 17," offers clues to what might be in the missing pages of the bipartisan report about 9/11.

"Much of the information upon which File 17 was written was based on what's in the 28 pages," said former Democratic Sen. Bob Graham of Florida, co-chairman of the congressional inquiry. He believes the hijackers had an extensive Saudi support system while they were in the United States.

"File 17 said, 'Here are some additional unanswered questions and here is how we think the 9/11 Commission, the FBI and the CIA should go about finding the answers,' " Graham said.

Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir denies any allegations of Saudi complicity.

Former President George W. Bush classified the 28-page chapter to protect intelligence sources and methods, although he also probably did not want to upset U.S. relations with Saudi Arabia, a close U.S. ally. Two years ago, under pressure from the families of those killed or injured on Sept. 11, and others, President Barack Obama ordered a declassification review of the 28 pages. It's unclear when all or some may be released.

The report by the two researchers, one of several commission documents the National Archives has reviewed and released, lists possible leads the commission could follow, the names of people who could be interviewed and documents the commission might want to request in looking deeper into the attacks.

File 17, first disclosed by 28pages.org, an advocacy website, names people the hijackers were in contact with in the United States before the attacks. Some were Saudi diplomats, raising questions about whether Saudi officials knew about the plot.

The 9/11 Commission's final report stated that it found "no evidence that the Saudi government as an institution or senior Saudi officials individually funded" al-Qaida. "This conclusion does not exclude the likelihood that charities with significant Saudi government sponsorship diverted funds to al-Qaida," the report said.

Releasing the 28 pages might answer some questions, but the disclosure also could lead to more speculation about the key Saudi figures investigated by the U.S. after the attacks. A look at some of those named in the declassified report and what the 9/11 Commission concluded:

Fahad al-Thumairy

An imam at the King Fahad Mosque in Culver City, California, al-Thumairy was suspected of helping two of the hijackers after they arrived in Los Angeles. He was an accredited diplomat at the Saudi Arabian consulate in Los Angeles from 1996 to 2003.

The 9/11 Commission said al-Thumairy reportedly led an extremist faction at the mosque. He has denied promoting jihad and told U.S. investigators that he never helped the hijackers.

The commission said al-Thumairy met at the consulate with Omar al-Bayoumi, a Saudi national, in February 2000 just before al-Bayoumi met the two hijackers at a restaurant. Al-Thumairy denied knowing al-Bayoumi even though the two talked on the phone numerous times as early as 1998, including more than 11 calls between Dec. 3-20, 2000. Al-Bayoumi told investigators those conversations were about religious matters.

The 9/11 Commission said that despite the circumstantial evidence, "We have not found evidence that al-Thumairy provided assistance to the two operatives."

A CIA document dated March 19, 2004, said Khallad bin Attash, an al-Qaida operative and suspected planner of the USS Cole bombing in Yemen in October 2000, was in Los Angeles for two weeks in June 2000 and was seen in the company of "Los Angeles-based Sunni extremists (redacted section) Fahad al-Thumairy."

On May 6, 2003, al-Thumairy tried to return to the U.S. from Saudi Arabia, but was refused entry on suspicion he might be connected with terrorist activity.

Omar al-Bayoumi

A Saudi national who helped the two hijackers in California. Al-Bayoumi told investigators that he and another man drove to Los Angeles from San Diego so that he could address a visa issue and collect papers at the Saudi consulate. Afterward they went to the restaurant in Culver City where he heard the two hijackers speaking in what he recognized to be Gulf Arabic and struck up a conversation with them.

The hijackers told him they didn't like Los Angeles, and al-Bayoumi invited them to move to San Diego. He helped them find and lease an apartment.

The congressional researchers' report said: "Al-Bayoumi has extensive ties to the Saudi government and many in the local Muslim community in San Diego believed that he was a Saudi intelligence officer."

The 9/11 Commission said al-Bayoumi was officially employed by Ercan, a subsidiary of a contractor for the Saudi Civil Aviation Administration. The commission also said that a fellow employee described al-Bayoumi as a "ghost employee," noting that he was one of many Saudis on the payroll who was not required to work. He left the United States in August 2001, weeks before the Sept. 11 attacks.

The 9/11 Commission said it did not "know whether the lunch encounter occurred by chance or by design." The commission said its investigators who spoke with him and studied his background found him to be an "unlikely candidate for clandestine involvement" with Islamic extremists.

Osama Bassnan

A close associate of al-Bayoumi who was in frequent contact with the hijackers and lived in an apartment complex across the street from them in San Diego. Bassnan vocally supported Osama bin Laden.

The staffers' found that Bassnan, a former employee of the Saudi government's educational mission in Washington, received considerable funding from Princess Haifa al-Faisal, wife of Prince Bandar bin Sultan, former intelligence chief in Saudi Arabia and the kingdom's U.S. ambassador from 1983 to 2005. The money was supposedly for Bassnan's wife's medical treatments, and the 9/11 Commission said there was no evidence the money was redirected toward terrorism.

Mohdhar Abdullah

The staffers' report said Abdullah translated for the two hijackers and helped them open bank accounts and contact flight schools. Interviewed many times by the FBI, Abdullah said he knew of the two hijackers' extremist views but said he did not know what they were planning.

The 9/11 Commission said, "During a post 9/11 search of his possessions, the FBI found a notebook (belonging to someone else) with references to planes falling from the sky, mass killing and hijacking. Further, when detained as a material witness following the 9/11 attacks, Abdullah expressed hatred for the U.S. government and stated that the U.S. brought 'this' on themselves."

The commission also learned of reports that Abdullah bragged to other inmates at a California prison in the fall of 2003 that he knew the hijackers were planning an attack reports the commission nor the FBI were not able to verify.

He was deported to Yemen in May 2004 after the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of California declined to prosecute him on charges arising out of alleged comments made in prison.
The victim of the Texas incident, Dr. Arslan Tajammul, an eye specialist in his 30s, was undergoing surgery and was expected to survive, according to Mustafaa Carroll, executive director of the Houston branch of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). (Representational Image)

Houston: A Muslim doctor headed for morning prayers on Sunday at a Houston mosque was shot in an attacked by three men, police said. The motive for the attack was unclear, but comes a day after another Muslim man was beaten outside a Florida mosque.

The victim of the Texas incident, Dr. Arslan Tajammul, an eye specialist in his 30s, was undergoing surgery and was expected to survive, according to Mustafaa Carroll, executive director of the Houston branch of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).

The wounded physician escaped internal organ damage and was expected to fully recover, though he remained hospitalized in intensive care late on Sunday, according to Houston police officer Muzaffar Siddiqi, a liaison with the citys Muslim community.

The doctor had parked his car and was walking to the Madrasah Islamiah mosque for the days first prayers when he was ambushed about a block away from the mosque and shot twice at about 5:30 a.m. EST (0930 GMT), Siddiqi said. The three attackers fled on foot.

Its a real strange occurrence because the mosque is in a poor neighborhood, and they (the attackers) were wearing masks, which could mean all kinds of things, Carroll said.

Siddiqi said investigators had not confirmed the assailants were masked. He urged the public not to jump to conclusions, despite concerns in the Muslim community that the attack was a hate crime.

We dont know yet, Siddiqi told Reuters in a telephone interview, adding that robbery might have been the motive. But he said police were escalating their presence around the mosque in the meantime. The Muslim holy month of Ramadan ends on Tuesday.

The shooting took place a day after a Muslim man was beaten outside a Florida mosque that had been attended by the gunman who killed 49 people at an Orlando nightclub.

The victim in that case was punched in the head and face outside the Fort Pierce Islamic Center early on Saturday, the St. Lucie County Sheriffs Office said.

Taylor Anthony Mazzanti, 25, was arrested in the attack and was charged with felony battery, the sheriffs office said, adding that the case was still under investigation.

The Florida branch of CAIR said the attacker uttered racially offensive comments, including You Muslims need to get back to your country, before the assault.

The Islamic Centers imam had requested extra security following Junes mass shooting by Omar Mateen at the Orlando gay nightclub Pulse. Mateen had worshipped at the center.
Hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers and economic migrants have reached Italy in the last few years, after rescue at sea when smugglers' boats founder in the Mediterranean. (Photo: Representational Image/AP)

Rome: Italian authorities detained 38 people in a crackdown on a migrant trafficking ring that used a Rome cosmetics shop as a base for illegal financial transactions, officials said Monday.

Police seized 526,000 euros (nearly $600,000) and $25,000 in cash that was found in the store. More useful to investigations was the discovery in the shop of what was described as a "master book, filled with names and phone numbers of foreigners."

"It was the place where the money of migrants who wanted to reach Italy was collected," Palermo Prosecutor Francesco Lo Voi said, adding that the ring had two hubs - one in the Sicilian city and the other in Rome.

Hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers and economic migrants have reached Italy in the last few years, after rescue at sea when smugglers' boats founder in the Mediterranean. The boats set sail from Libya, where a main base of the traffickers is located, and migrants wait in sordid conditions, often for months, for the opportunity to be crowded into the boats after paying thousands of dollars.

Palermo-based authorities said that the suspects were 25 Eritreans, 12 Ethiopians and one Italian. Investigators alleged that the ring also helped arrange "convenience marriages." The ring also used the same channel to smuggle in drugs, specifically chat from Ethiopia, police said.

Interior Minister Angelino Alfano said the authorities dealt "a harsh blow" to the criminal network.

Palermo police said in a statement that an Eritrean man who was arrested in 2014 collaborated with authorities, providing for the first time "a complete reconstruction of criminal activities" of migrant trafficking involving operations both in North Africa and Italy.

Lo Voi told a news conference in Palermo that the probe helped investigators to "reach a higher level in the fight against clandestine immigration." The investigation also "'pinpointed the financial channel of the criminal network that managed the trafficking of migrants from Africa to Sicily," he said.

Lo Voi said another scheme involved migrants, legally in Italy, falsely stating that they had relatives who wanted to reach them in Italy. Under Italian law, immediate family members or spouses can be given permission to enter Italy.

Palermo police investigations in the past few years have led to the prosecution and arrest of suspects involved in whisking away migrants shortly after rescue boats bring them to Sicily, so they can reach family members in Germany or other northern European countries.
London: Umm Muthanna Al Britaniyah, who has been accused by authorities of glamourising life under the terror outfit, and acting as ISISs matchmaker, has been identified as none other than 21-year-old University of London student of Pakistani origin, Tooba Gondal.

Tooba, who is one of the 60 British women who have travelled to Syria to join ISIS, left to Syria late in 2014 and has been living in Raqqa, ISIS de-facto capital since January 2015, after marrying a top-notch terrorist of Lebanese origin, Al Lubnani.

A Toobas friends describe her as an average British girl, who likes to sneak out of her house, loose her hijab when out of the house, smoke, and have boyfriends.

Recalled as being rich by her friends, Toobas family has property worth 1.5million in UK, including a palatial six-bedroom house in Wanstead.

A report in Daily Mail reveals that Tooba found a seat at the prestigious Goldsmiths College, part of the University of London, studying English, and an overview of her social media accounts and blog reveals that in about November 2012  apparently while she was a student at Goldsmiths College  she says she reverted back to Islam.

But Toobas friends are lost when it comes to figuring out what prompted the change in her, and becoming one of the most visible British female ambassadors for the terror group online. According to reports, Tooba radicalises young women and coaxes them to travel to Syria and become jihadi brides.

Reports claim that though Tooba did not reveal her real identity online, she left clues about herself, revealing her followers that she was a 21-year-old of Pakistani origin from East London. During the Paris terror attacks last year, Tooba left one big clue to her real identity, when she Tweeted Burn Paris burn. Cant believe that is my birth place. LOL HOW SCARED ARE THESE KUFFAR(non-Muslims)." It as later confirmed that Tooba's family shifted from Paris to UK when she was young.

Reports indicate that Tooba might have been counselled by Al Lubnani to travel to Syria, and was initially adapting to the life of a housewife, wondering what could be better than giving birth to a new generation of lions and claiming how much she enjoyed making kebabs for her husband.

In March 2015, she Tweeted a picture of herself in full burka with an AK-47 saying, Living the life. But in August last year she Tweeted, My husband Abu Abbas Al-Lubnani got shahadah (martyrdom).

When contacted, her father confirmed that Tooba was living in Raqqa and was safe, despite the other British jihadis moving to Mosul, ISIS capital in Raqqa. He also added that he would have prevented her from leaving had he had the slightest clue of her intentions.

Once a girl who embraced life, Tooba is now looking forward to death. My sins terrify me, everyone around me is getting hahadah. Ya rabb [Oh, Lord]! When will it be my turn? When will I unite with my husband, she tweeted.
The heads of about 80 percent of British universities issued a joint appeal to "Remain" in the 28-country bloc. (Representational Image)

London: Britain's vote to leave the European Union has left the country's universities with a problem to solve -- how to plug a funding gap and maintain prestige if the flood of students from across the EU slows to a trickle.

Before the June 23 referendum backed a British exit, or Brexit, the heads of about 80 percent of British universities issued a joint appeal to "Remain" in the 28-country bloc.

Since the vote, universities have been trying to calm their overseas students and to reassure applicants from abroad that nothing will change -- at least for now because the process of leaving the EU is expected to take at least two years.

In the longer term, they fear their funding, attractiveness to foreign students and academic prestige will decline.

"I cherish European values," said Bettina Sakiotis, a 17-year-old Greek living in Luxembourg who has been offered a place by two English universities from October. "Voting for Brexit shows ... we are not on the same page."

After the referendum, she considered taking a place instead at Italy's Bocconi University in Milan. In the end, she decided on Britain but she still has doubts.

"I think (Brexit) will have serious political consequences for the UK," she said. "I feel the UK is isolating itself."

Universities in Britain do not know yet whether the outcome of the referendum will affect international student admissions for the coming academic year. Places will largely be allocated in August, when this year's school exam results come through.

But much is at stake for some universities. One in three people studying for a first degree at the universities of Essex and Kent, for example, are international students, according to The Complete University Guide, a publisher of university league tables.

There are 125,000 students from the EU in higher education in Britain, about 5.5 percent of the total, and the proportion is much higher at some universities -- rising to about 16 percent at Cambridge, for example.

The battle has begun to hang on to those already planning to come to a country that hosts three of the world's top 10 universities -- Oxford, Cambridge and Imperial College London, according to The Times Higher Education World University rankings. Six of the other seven are in the United States.

EU students currently pay the same fees as British students but many fear the cost of attending a British university will soar if they are treated as overseas students after a British exit from the EU.

"There will be no changes to the immigration or fee status of EU students entering Newcastle University in 2016 entry," Chris Brink, vice-chancellor of Newcastle University, wrote on the university's website. "You will pay the UK rate of fee for the full duration of your programme of study."

He made no promises for future intakes.

Questions Over Funding

Higher education was not a big issue outside academia during campaigning for the referendum, but the Leave campaign said that money saved from leaving the EU could be channelled into whatever Britain wants, including science research.

It is not just students' fees that could be affected.

Universities UK, which represents university heads, says their institutions received more than 836 million pounds ($1.11 billion) in research grants and contracts from EU sources in 2014-15.

Such research funding generates more than 19,000 jobs across Britain and translates into 1.86 billion pounds for the British economy, it said.

"More than 60 percent of the UK's international research partners are from other EU countries," Universities UK said in a statement. "This is growing faster than any of our other collaborative research relationships."

Among the areas of concern are Britain's participation in the Erasmus+ programme which funds exchanges of students and teachers across EU higher education institutions.

More than 27,000 EU students came to study or train in Britain with an Erasmus grant in 2013-14 as well as more than 3,500 staff.

While Erasmus has a number of non-EU members, Switzerland was effectively suspended when it voted to limit the free movement of people from the EU, an important issue in Britain's exit from the bloc.

British universities are also looking at a status change among a large proportion of their students.

University admissions service UCAS said that for the coming undergraduate year, the number of British applicants declined by 0.3 percent, reflecting demographics, while those from EU countries rose 0.6 percent.

Undergraduate fees for British and EU students are a maximum of 9,000 pounds a year. They can be much higher for non-EU international students, depending on the university and the course.

At the University of Kent, international students pay up to 15,900 pounds a year. Studying medicine at Imperial College London will set them back 37,100 pounds a year.

Testaments on Facebook

Such a shift could be devastating for British universities if the cost overcame the attractiveness of the study. Michael Arthur, president of University College London, has estimated it could put about 40 million pounds of tuition fee income at risk.

While some of Britain's most celebrated centres of learning may be able to battle through any trouble from Brexit on their reputations, they are not immune to the fears over funding, faculty and appeal.

The influential London School of Economics, which has an overall 18 percent EU student contingent, has urged alumni to post testaments on Facebook to trumpet the institution's EU diversity.

EU students generated 3.7 billion pounds for the British economy in 2011-12 and supported more than 34,000 jobs, according to Universities UK.

Independent fact-checking charity Full Fact estimates British higher education providers get at least 2.6 percent of their total income from the EU, or around 16 percent of their research income.

"The impact of our universities on our local communities and economy should not be underestimated," Ben Jordan, a senior policy executive at UCAS, wrote before the referendum.

The government has not managed so far to give much succour to the institutions or potential students like Sakiotis.

"There are obviously big discussions to be had with our European partners, and I look forward to working with the sector to ensure its voice is fully represented and that it continues to go from strength to strength," Jo Johnson, Britain's university minister, said in a statement.

Universities in the EU are unlikely to wait to take advantage of the uncertainty in British academia. Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi has already proposed the EU grant citizenship to British students enrolled in EU countries.
Shehraz Sarwar caused alarm with his behaviour during turbulence on-board an Emirates Boeing 777 from Dubai to Birmingham in February this year. (Photo: Representational Image)

London: A Pakistani-origin man was on Monday jailed for 10 weeks for triggering panic and frightening passengers on a UK-bound flight by shouting "Allah-o-Akbar" and "boom".

Shehraz Sarwar caused alarm with his behaviour during turbulence on-board an Emirates Boeing 777 from Dubai to Birmingham in February this year.

"There was terrible turbulence during the flight and some passengers were very frightened. The defendant started chanting Allah-o-Akbar over and over again and very loudly. People were getting very distressed with his behaviour. When the plane finally landed, he shouted 'boom'," prosecutor Alex Warren told Birmingham Crown Court.

"It left some passengers in tears while one man angrily confronted the defendant before being told to sit down by cabin staff. Police were then called and the defendant was arrested," he said.

Warren informed the court of Sarwar's previous convictions for dishonesty and violence, Birmingham Mail reported. Judge Francis Laird rebuked the 38-year-old for misbehaving and being "arrogant on-board".

"Set in the context of the current political situation, chanting Allah-o-Akbar over and over again while on a plane had a frightening affect on some of the passengers and reduced some to tears. Incidents such as these on planes are taken very seriously by the courts and due to the circumstances I have no alternative but to send you to prison for 10 weeks," the judge said.

Sarwar's defence lawyer Balbir Singh admitted his client had been "foolish" to shout boom but argued that he had been upset after attending his grandmothers funeral in Pakistan.

"Sarwar was scared during the flight. He prayed, chanting Allah-o-Akbar, which translates as God is Great. When the plane landed he did shout out 'boom'. It was a very foolish thing to do. He is very sorry for his actions and realises what distress this caused to other passengers," Singh said.

However, the judge told Sarwar that over and above the jail term he would be placed on licence with a 12-month supervision order when released.
Manbij had served as a vital stop along an Islamic State supply route from Turkey. (Representational Image)

Beirut: At least 13,000 civilians have fled the Islamic State group bastion of Manbij in northern Syria since the launch of a US-backed offensive there, a monitor said Monday.

The Kurds and Arabs fighting as the Syrian Democratic Forces alliance began their assault on Manbij in late May, encircling the town and entering its southwestern districts on June 23.

"At least 13,000 civilians have fled Manbij since the beginning of the SDF operation on May 31," said Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group.

"The fleeing increased after the SDF besieged Manbij" on June 10, he said, adding that on Sunday "hundreds of people fled a southern district of the town where there have been fierce clashes in recent days".

Manbij had served as a vital stop along an IS supply route from Turkey, from the border town of Jarabulus to its bastion province of Raqa.

The SDF offensive on the town is backed by a US-led coalition that has been bombing IS in Iraq and Syria for nearly two years.

The UN's humanitarian office has not released its own estimates of how many people have fled Manbij, but said in late June that about 60,000 people were still in the town.

According to Abdel Rahman, residents are mostly fleeing from the southern SDF-controlled district into IS-free territory to the south.

The SDF transported one group north to the Kurdish stronghold of Kobane on the Syrian-Turkish border.

He said some civilians had died trying to escape, killed by IS snipers or explosives planted by the jihadists.

SDF fighters have been struggling to advance inside Manbij in recent days as IS has dispatched suicide attackers to defend the town.

"Daesh has used car bombs against a number of our positions," an SDF field commander told AFP on condition of anonymity.
On Friday, a Palestinian gunman ambushed a family traveling in a car in the southern West Bank, killing an Israeli man and wounding his wife and two teenage children. (Photo: AP)

Ramallah: Four Palestinian youths were wounded in clashes on Monday with Israeli forces who were demolishing the West Bank homes of two assailants' families, a Palestinian health official said. One of the four was seriously wounded, Ramallah hospital director Ahmad Bitawi said.

The Israeli military said troops were in the Qalandiya refugee camp demolishing the homes of the families of two Palestinians who stabbed and killed an Israeli near Jerusalem's Old City in December.

The assailants in the December attack were shot and killed by Israeli guards, and a second Israeli died after apparently being shot mistakenly by police in the confusion.

During today's demolitions, Palestinian demonstrators opened fire on soldiers, the army said. Soldiers tried to disperse the crowd using stun grenades and rubber bullets, then opened fire toward the "main instigators," it said.

The clash came after a few days of increased violence. On Friday, a Palestinian gunman ambushed a family traveling in a car in the southern West Bank, killing an Israeli man and wounding his wife and two teenage children.

The day before, a Palestinian teen stabbed a 13-year-old Israeli-American girl to death as she slept in her bedroom in a West Bank settlement. The attacks prompted Israel to send hundreds of troops to the area and impose a closure on the Hebron district, where many of the recent attacks have originated.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also said Israel will reduce the amount of tax revenues it collects on behalf of the Palestinians each month, saying it would offset money Palestinian officials give to families of attackers.

Also today, Israel's Shin Bet security agency said it has arrested two Palestinians who helped two Palestinian gunmen carry out a deadly shooting attack at a Tel Aviv cafe last month.

The Shin Bet said the gunmen drew inspiration from the Islamic State group, but were not recruited to IS and did not receive training from it. Four Israelis were killed in the attack and others were wounded.

Over the past nine months, Palestinians have carried out dozens of stabbings, shootings and attacks using cars against civilians and security forces, killing 34 Israelis and two visiting Americans. During the same period, Israeli troops as well as some armed civilians have killed about 200 Palestinians, most of them said by Israel to be attackers.
A spokesman for Asaib Ahl al-Haq, the powerful militia, denied that Shiite militiamen had entered the center of Fallujah. (Photo: AP)

Fallujah: A highway overpass in Fallujah is plastered with Shiite banners, graffiti and posters of militia leaders, a virtual shrine to victory over the Islamic State group in this majority Sunni Muslim city.

The fight to wrest Fallujah from IS control appears to have inflicted considerably less damage to the city's infrastructure than past battles. But scenes like this have the potential to undermine the military's success and hamper the broader fight against IS by reigniting the sectarian tensions that helped fuel the militant group's rise in Iraq.

After the US-led invasion of Iraq, Fallujah, once a town made wealthy by trade and industry, became the epicenter of an insurgency against U.S. forces and the militant opposition to the Shiite-dominated central government. When it fell under IS control, Iraqi officials repeatedly pointed to Fallujah as a source of the car bombs and other explosives used to attack Baghdad and other areas from the front-line fight.

On Sunday, a week after Fallujah was declared "fully liberated" from the Islamic State, a massive suicide truck bombing claimed by IS struck a bustling commercial street in downtown Baghdad, killing at least 142 people, the single deadliest bombing in Baghdad in years.

The operation to retake Fallujah, which had been held by IS since 2014, was announced in late May. In a bid to reduce sectarian conflict and prevent abuses, Iraq's military said the government-sanctioned Shiite militias participating in the fight would not enter the center of Fallujah. But days later, Shiite militias known as the Popular Mobilization Forces, or Hashed, were seen walking openly in the streets.

The special forces commander overseeing the Fallujah operation, Lt Gen Abdul Wahab al-Saadi, declined to comment on these sightings. But he said the symbolic value of the city for both Iraqis and IS militants made the liberation of Fallujah an especially sensitive operation.

The highway overpass, in particular, has become emblematic of Fallujah's turbulent recent history. A year ago, it was the scene of the brutal killing of an Iraqi soldier by IS. Images released by the militants show Mustafa a-Athari, a Shiite from Sadr City, being paraded through town before he was hanged from the overpass as crowds of residents cheered.

Al-Athari was quickly upheld as a martyr, and Iraqi militia leaders pledged to avenge his death, calling on the government to allow them to launch an operation to retake Fallujah. The powerful Iraqi Shiite militia, Asaib Ahl al-Haq, pledged to "crush the skulls" of those responsible.

The event echoed an incident more than 10 years earlier, when an angry mob hanged four American security contractors from a bridge just half a mile (about one kilometer) from the site of al-Athari's murder. The 2004 public killing of the Americans became an iconic image that changed the U.S. public's perception of the Iraq war and preceded a brutal U.S. military response. Thousands of Iraqis and 153 American troops were killed and large parts of Fallujah were virtually leveled.

"This is the city in which some of the worst crimes against humanity have occurred," said al-Saadi, the special forces commander. "It began with the killing of the Americans and continued with the murder of al-Athari."

Small groups of Shiite militiamen fought under the banner of the federal police, but once the operation was declared complete, the militia fighters began raising their own flags. Some Iraqi commanders - speaking anonymously, because they are not authorized to discuss the operation - said the militiamen set fire to houses in the city. The special forces commander said that IS militants set homes alight before their retreat.

The alleged misconduct in Fallujah was small in scale compared to the destruction carried out by Shiite militia participating in the battle for the Sunni-majority city of Tikrit, north of Baghdad.

A spokesman for Asaib Ahl al-Haq, the powerful militia, denied that Shiite militiamen had entered the center of Fallujah and rejected claims that they could destabilize the city.

"We are here for the sake of stability" said Jawad al-Talabawi, who repeated that Shiite groups remained on the city's outskirts. "We gave the blood of our martyrs for the liberation of Fallujah, but do not have any further ambitions."

Yet at the highway overpass - located to the west of the center - fighters were snapping selfies and shouting Shiite slogans. From a nearby pick-up truck blasting music and bearing a Hashed flag, cold water and yoghurt drinks were distributed to a group of soldiers.

"The country of Imam Ali forever! The country of Imam Ali forever!" they shouted, a popular chant in support of the revered Shiite holy man.

One Fallujah resident, Sheikh Hadi Muhamad Abdullah, who had returned home for the first time in two years, said he was shocked to see militiamen and Shiite graffiti in the city center, describing them as a personal insult.

"It's not a good sign," he said, arguing that the Shiite presence demonstrates that the government isn't serious about reconciliation with Iraq's Sunnis.

The government in Baghdad "believes that Fallujah is the center of terrorism in Iraq," Abdullah said. "But for us it's the center of resistance. The resistance started as pure, but others like Daesh corrupted it," he said, using the Arabic acronym for IS.

Although the military campaign in Fallujah is largely over, the special forces commander al-Saadi conceded that what comes next in the city could be equally important in containing IS.

"No kind of military solution alone will ever succeed in ending terrorism in Iraq," al-Saadi said. "You have to fight their mentality, the entire system."

Maj. Ali Hanoon, one of al-Saadi's deputies, fought in Fallujah alongside American troops in the mid-2000s. He remembers the day the contractors were hanged, and the brutal crackdown that followed.

He said that a decade ago, U.S. forces discovered that that the greater the hardship inflicted on the community, the more local support for militants grew.

He wasn't surprised when Fallujah fell to IS in 2014, he said, and he won't be surprised if the militants return.

"We'll be back again," Hanoon said. "Daesh will return, just under a new name and stronger."
It said two security officers were hurt "as a result of the failed bombing" on July 4, the day when Americans celebrate their independence. (Representational Image, Photo: AFP)

Riyadh: A suicide bomber blew himself up near the United States consulate in Saudi Arabia's Red Sea city of Jeddah early on Monday, reported the Sabq online newspaper, which is close to authorities.

It said two security officers were hurt "as a result of the failed bombing" on July 4, the day when Americans celebrate their independence.

Security officers sealed off the area after "a person blew himself up in a car in front of the US consulate in Jeddah," the report said.

There was no immediate word on who was responsible, but since late 2014 Saudi Arabian security officers and minority Shiites have been hit by deadly violence claimed by the Islamic State group.

The incident happened just before the dawn prayers after which Muslims begin their daily fast during the holy month of Ramadan.

American embassy officers could not be reached immediately, but the Saudi interior ministry said it would issue a statement.

In March last year the US embassy closed its main office, as well as consulates in Jeddah and Dhahran, for a few days over unspecified "security concerns".

In May this year, the interior ministry said four suspected jihadists died -- two by blowing themselves up -- during a raid in the kingdom's west.

One of the suspects was sought in connection with the suicide bombing of a mosque inside a Saudi Special Forces compound in the southwestern city of Abha last August. Fifteen people died.

He was also wanted over an October suicide blast that killed two at an Ismaili Shiite mosque in the southern city of Najran, and the February shooting of a retired security officer in the Jazan region.

Another suspect killed in the May raid was wanted over suicide bombings at Shiite mosques that killed 25 people in May and June last year in the kingdom's east.

Police said he was also involved in the November 2014 shooting of seven Shiite worshippers, which began the series of attacks allegedly linked to IS in the Sunni-dominated kingdom.

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, leader of the IS jihadists which has seized territory in Iraq and Syria, has reputedly called Saudi Arabia's Sunni rulers "apostate tyrants" and called on Saudis to rise against them.

The Sunni extremist IS group also considers Shiites to be heretics.
Residents of Qatif said only the bomber died in that attack (Photo: Twitter)

Riyadh: Three suicide bombers struck in Saudi Arabia on Monday in a rare incidence of multiple attacks in the kingdom where the Islamic State group has previously staged deadly attacks. There were no immediate claims of responsibility.

The latest explosion occurred at one of Islam's three holiest sites, the Prophet's Mosque in Medina in the kingdom's west where Mohammed is buried, Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya news channel reported.

Other blasts occurred in the Red Sea city of Jeddah near the US consulate and in Shiite-dominated Qatif on the other side of the country.

The interior ministry said two security officers were wounded in the Jeddah bombing. Residents of Qatif said only the bomber died in that attack, blowing his body apart near a Shiite mosque.

Al-Arabiya said the Medina incident occurred during sunset prayers after which Muslims break their fast during the holy month of Ramadan, which ends Tuesday. It showed images of fire raging in a security forces parking lot with at least one body nearby.

The Prophet's Mosque is particularly crowded during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which is supposed to be a time of charity but has seen spectacular attacks around the region.

Sunni extremists from IS claimed, or weer blamed for, a suicide bombing in Baghdad on Sunday that killed more than 200 people as well as other attacks in Bangladesh and at Istanbul's Ataturk airport.

At about the same time as the Medina blast, another bomber killed himself in Qatif, residents there said. "Suicide bomber for sure. I can see the body" torn apart, said one witness to the attack in Qatif.

Nasima al-Sada, another resident, told AFP that "one bomber blew himself up near the mosque", frequented by Shiites in downtown Qatif on the Gulf coast.

No bystanders were hurt, she said. Another witness, who gave his name only as Ayman, told AFP there were two explosions near the mosque.

"One of them was from a car parked outside the mosque and in which there was a man who was, unusually, not joining the prayer," Ayman said.

Pictures said to be from the scene and circulated by residents showed a small fire burning in the street, severed limbs and what appeared to be a severed head.

Since late 2014 a series of bombings and shootings claimed by IS in Saudi Arabia has targeted minority Shiites as well as members of the security forces, killing dozens of people.

Most of the attacks have been staged in Eastern Province, home to the majority of Shiites in the Sunni-majority Gulf state.

Monday's first bombing, near the US consulate in Jeddah, was carried out not by a Saudi but by a "resident foreigner," General Mansour al-Turki, the interior ministry spokesman, told Al-Arabiya.

Millions of expatriates, many from Muslim-majority nations in the Middle East and Asia, work in the kingdom. Turki told state Al-Ekhbaria news channel that the suspect, in his 30s, was closer to a mosque in the area than to the American consulate.

"Investigations (are) ongoing to find out the goals and motives of the bomber," said Turki. He also said on the news channel's Twitter account that "devices that failed to explode (were) found in the vicinity of the site".

The American embassy in Riyadh reported no injuries among US consulate staff. The interior ministry said security personnel became suspicious of the man near the parking lot of a hospital which is across from the US diplomatic mission.

When they moved in to investigate at around 2:15 am (2315 GMT Sunday) the man "blew himself up with a suicide belt", the ministry said.

A picture carried by the Sabq online newspaper, which is close to authorities, showed a large body part lying on the ground between a taxi and the open door of another car that was peppered with holes.

The attack coincided with the July 4 Independence Day holiday in the United States. "The US embassy and consulate remain in contact with the Saudi authorities as they investigate the incident," it added, urging Americans to "take extra precautions when travelling throughout the country".

IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has called for attacks on Saudi Arabia, which is taking part in the US-led coalition bombing the jihadists in Syria and Iraq.

The group also considers Shiites to be heretics. Despite the upsurge in attacks against Saudis, foreigners have rarely been targeted in recent years.
Nibras Islam (right) who was allegedly one of the gunmen in the Dhaka cafe attack, is pictured in a photo posted on his fan page on Facebook.

Bangladesh police are trying to find out the names of the Dhaka cafe attackers from social media, after Facebook posts identified three of the attackers as Nibras Islam, Rohan Imtiaz and Meer Saameh Mubasheer.

But now one of them, Nibras Islam, has got his own fan following on Facebook.

A Facebook page has emerged on Monday dedicated to Nibras Islam. It has pictures of him with his friends, posing for selfies and in the front seat of a car.

Read: Bangladesh police try to confirm names of attackers from Facebook posts

Over 300 people have already liked the page since the first photo was posted just three hours ago.

The Facebook fan page of Nibras Islam, allegedly one of the gunmen who attacked a Dhaka cafe on Friday night, killing 20.

There are several comments on every picture, and the page is fast gaining likes as well as comments. Some people have criticised Nibras, calling him a traitor or a terrorist, or a shame to our country. But some others seem to be very admiring of him. A woman has described him as cute while another has declared that she has a crush on the alleged terrorist. Another woman says, I lyk him so much but he is a terrorist.

A photo of Nibras Islam (far right) which has received adulation from some female fans.

It remains to be seen whether Facebook decides to take down the page.

On Saturday, six gunmen attacked a popular cafe in uptown Dhaka, taking people hostage. They killed 20 people, mostly foreigners, before Bangladeshi security forces had neutralised them.

Read: Bangladesh arrests two over cafe siege: police

Islamic State (IS) initially claimed responsibility for the attack, but this was later debunked by the Bangladesh government, which suspects that local terror groups backed by Pakistans Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) were behind the attack.

Bangladesh has on several occasions in the past denied that ISIS has a presence on its soil. Meanwhile, Indias Home Ministry has issued a directive to security agencies and state governments bordering Bangladesh, to stop infiltration of suspected extremist elements from across the border.
Bangladeshi security personnel cordon off the area after a group of gunmen attacked a restaurant in Dhaka. (Photo: AP)

Dhaka: Two persons were arrested on Monday in connection with Bangladesh's worst terror attack at a cafe in Dhaka in which 22 people, mostly foreigners, were brutally killed by suspected ISIS militants, as authorities stepped up probe into the international links of the hostage-takers.

Inspector General of Police (IGP) AKM Shahidul Haque, however, did not disclose the identities of either of the detainees or where they were being kept.

He said they were both physically unwell and will be quizzed after their condition improves.

"One of them is in hospital, the other is in custody," he said.

Earlier, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and the Bangladesh Army said one terrorist was captured alive from the site of the attack. However, the identity of the suspect was not disclosed.

"They attackers) may have some contact with international terrorist groups," he said.

Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the killing of the 20 hostages and two police officers during the 12-hour siege that ended after the army stormed the Holey Artisan Bakery popular with expats in the diplomatic zone here, killing six attackers and capturing one alive.

Hostages who were killed include 19-year-old Indian girl Tarishi Jain. Nine Italians, 7 Japanese, one American of Bangladeshi origin, and two Bangladeshis were also among the people who were killed.

"You have seen the pictures of the slain militants supplied to the media, we have found out the background of four of them," a senior police officer, familiar with the investigation, said, preferring anonymity.

The official added that all the attackers were in their 20s. Four of them came from wealthy families and studied at elite schools and universities in Dhaka and abroad.

One of the slain assaulters was studying in a Malaysian university while his family said they had no idea that he returned home and took part in the attack.

He said the fifth youth who hailed from a village in northwestern Bogra and studied in a madrassa there led the attackers during the Friday night's massacre.

"This Khairul (of Bogra) was wanted by police for the past seven months for three deadly militant attacks in northwestern region...We understand it is him who led the

Holey Artisan restaurant attack on that night," the official said.

According to mass circulation Prothom Alo Khairul was missing for the past several months. Bogra police had detained his parents for questioning.

One of slain attackers, private BRAC university student Rohan Imtiaz, was the son of a leader of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's ruling Awami League while his mother was a teacher Dhaka's posh Scholastica School.

The family reported him missing in December last year. Of the five pictures of five bodies provided by police, four appeared to be the ones seen in the photos published by SITE in which the youths were seen smiling in front of a Islamic State black flag.
Dhaka: A US national from the Emory University, who was one of the hostages at the Holey Artisan bakery in Dhaka, was brutally killed after he rejected his captors offer that he could walk free if he left behind his two female friends.

Identified as Faraaz Hossain, the US student was held hostage in the bakery along with his two female friends -- Abinta Kabir, 18, and Tarishi Jain, 19.

Hossain had to make a choice of either staying with his terrified pals or leaving them alone after the gunmen told him that they will not free the girls as they were non-Muslims and belonged to India and the US.

Read: Dhaka attack: Hostages killed within 20 minutes after assault

Survivors recalled that while taking hostages, one of the gunman shouted saying, "We will not kill Bengalis. We will only kill foreigners."

While trying to save themselves from the gunmen, Hossain and his friends hid in a toilet from where one of his friends Tarishi called up her father and told him about the hostage situation.

Terrorists have entered the restaurant. I am very afraid and not sure whether I will be able to come out alive. They are killing everyone, Tarishi told her father.

Twenty people were killed after seven gunmen stormed into the hotel killing mostly non-Muslims who could not or refused to recite Quran. The dead included nine Italians, seven Japanese and a citizen each from the United States and India.
Islamic State (IS) initially claimed responsibility for the attack, but this was refuted by the Bangladeshi government. (Photo: AP)

Islamabad: Pakistan on Monday rejected media reports about its involvement in the terrorist attack in Bangladesh capital Dhaka that killed 20 foreigners including an Indian as "baseless, irresponsible and provocative".

Pakistan's Foreign Office spokesman Nafees Zakaria issued a statement in response to media queries regarding reports of the involvement of Pakistan's spy agency ISI in last week's terror attack on a popular restaurant in Dhaka.

"These are highly regrettable, irresponsible and provocative stories being carried in the Indian media. They are utterly baseless and unfounded. Pakistan strongly rejects such allegations," he said in the statement.

He drew attention to the statement by the Adviser to the Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Gowher Rizvi, refuting a media report that was attributed to him regarding Pakistan's involvement in the attack, as proof of the Indian media's "malicious intent".

"Prof Rizvi contacted Pakistan's High Commissioner to Bangladesh to confirm that he has not issued any statement against Pakistan and that the Indian media reports are false.

He also advised Pakistan's High Commissioner to convey this clarification to the Government of Pakistan, to avoid any misunderstanding between the two countries," the Foreign Office spokesman said.

He said Pakistan deeply appreciates Rizvi's timely rebuttal of the reports.

Zakaria said Pakistan has strongly condemned the terrorist attack in Dhaka and "expressed solidarity with the government and the brotherly people of Bangladesh and offered condolences and sympathised with the families of the victims".

"Pakistan condemns terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. Being itself one of the biggest victims of terrorism, Pakistan welcomes Prof Gowher Rizvi's call for international cooperation to fight the menace of terrorism," he said.
At least 500 Hindus are registered to be living in Islamabad, and had to travel to Rawalpindi to perform final rituals of their deceased. (Photo: Representational Image)

Islamabad: A Pakistani parliamentary committee on Monday directed the government to build a temple and crematorium for Hindus here, rejecting the notion that there would be "security issues" if a place of worship for the country's minority community is built.

"It is surprising and sad that there is not even a single temple in Islamabad for Hindu community to worship," lawmaker Ramesh Lal said while chairing the meeting of sub-committee of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Religious Affairs.

It came as a shock to the committee members that there was no crematorium for the Hindu community in the capital, Dawn newspaper reported. At least 500 Hindus are registered to be living in Islamabad, and had to travel to Rawalpindi to perform final rituals of their deceased, the committee was told.

"This is how government is treating minorities in the country. It is the basic right of Hindus to have a temple in their own city for worship," Lal, who is convener of the parliamentary panel, said.

The parliamentary body rejected the concerns put forward by the government that there would be "security issues" if a temple is built for Hindus.

"Hotels and restaurants are being provided security by the government, why a temple cannot be provided security," members of the committee asked.

Tariq Qaiser, one of the members of the parliamentary committee, also brought forth the matter of churches not receiving any financial assistance from the government for renovation.

The committee then directed the government to build a temple and crematorium for Hindus in Islamabad and allocate funds for renovation of churches. The committee has proposed allotment of land for the temple in Saidpur Village area.
New Delhi: Some of the hostages rescued from the weekend attack on an upscale restaurant in Bangladesh's capital were questioned Monday by investigators searching for clues about the possible masterminds behind the gruesome attack that left 28 dead, including many foreigners.

Authorities were still holding five of the 13 hostages rescued when commandos stormed the restaurant in Dhaka's diplomatic zone Saturday morning, killing six of the attackers and capturing one, according to officials.

Bangladesh police chief A.K.M. Shahidul Haque said authorities would be interrogating two men, including a suspected militant, who were detained during Saturday's operation. He would not say whether either had been among those counted as hostages, only that they were being treated in a hospital for unspecified injuries.

A second official said the five former hostages still being held included a Canadian citizen of Bangladeshi origin and a Bangladesh-born British citizen. The official spoke on condition of anonymity, as he was not authorized to speak to the media about the ongoing investigation. The official said authorities were looking into the backgrounds of the five people and questioning their families and friends.

It was not clear if all five were suspects, or if they were being held and questioned simply because authorities thought they might offer useful information in tracing the origins of the attack.

The official confirmed investigators were also speaking with a third man described by local media as a Bangladeshi who was trapped inside the restaurant along with his wife and two children. The man, a teacher at a private university in Dhaka, had returned to Bangladesh recently after living nearly 20 years in Britain.

Some photographs and several crude videos taken from an apartment near the Holey Artisan Bakery show the man talking to someone while attackers allowed him to leave before paramilitary forces launched the rescue operation on Saturday. The man's friends and police also said the one of the attackers was a student in the same department at the university where the man teaches.

The brutality of the attack - the worst convulsion of violence yet in the recent series of deadly attacks to hit Bangladesh - has stunned the traditionally moderate Muslim nation and raised global concerns about whether it can cope with increasingly strident Islamist militants.

That the attackers targeted a popular restaurant in the heart of the diplomatic quarter of Bangladesh's capital signaled a shift in militant tactics. Previously, most attacks were carried out by gangs of young men wielding cleavers and machetes and hacking individual victims before fleeing.

The Daily Star newspaper on Monday said the bloody hostage crisis had left "the nation shattered and with a sense of extreme unease." The editorial also criticized authorities' consistent denial of the presence of any international terrorist groups, even as the Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack and released gruesome photographs that apparently depicted the torture of hostages.

"The methods employed and the savagery with which the killings were carried out are hallmarks of international terrorist outfits like ISIS and al-Qaida. This is clear," the newpaper said. "What is not clear is whether, after such overwhelming evidence of their presence, the official line will be one of denial?"

Bangladesh police have said they are investigating whether the attackers had links to the Islamic State group, though the home minister insisted IS had no presence in Bangladesh and could not have guided the attack. The government has blamed the restaurant attack and other recent killings on domestic militants bent on imposing Islamic rule.

The Italian Foreign Ministry, after nine Italians were killed in the restaurant, posted travel advisories saying it could not exclude the possibility of further attacks in Bangladesh. The advisory urged people to exercise the "utmost prudence," particularly in places frequented by foreigners, and to limit their activities to only what was necessary.

Also, Indian police were checking vehicles crossing the border that five Indian states share with Bangladesh in case any militants were trying to flee, according to the head of India's Border Security Force.

On Monday, surrounded by tearful family members and a heavy security detail, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and diplomats from Italy, Japan and other countries laid flower wreaths beside the coffins holding the three Bangladeshi victims.

The coffins were draped in the Bangladeshi flag - a red disc on a green background. That of Emory University student Abinta Kabir, a Miami resident whose family confirmed she was a U.S. citizen, was also partially covered with a U.S. flag.

Two police officers and 17 other hostages - nine Italians, seven Japanese and one Indian - were killed. Those bodies were to be flown back to their home countries on Monday.

Family and friends of 19-year-old Tarishi Jain gathered in the New Delhi suburb of Gurgaon as her body arrived for a ceremonial cremation.

The stadium vigil was visited by hundreds of Dhaka residents, paying their respects to the victims.

The Italian ambassador and more than 100 other people attended a Catholic Mass in memory of the victims on Monday evening. Islamic prayer sessions and a candlelight vigil were to be held later in the evening.
Senior Congress leader B K Hariprasad on Sunday met disgruntled ruling party MLA M H Ambareesh and tried to pacify him.





Sources in the party said Hariprasad asked the rebel star not go ahead with his decision to resign as MLA. But the actor-politician has not assured anything. He has reportedly told Hariprasad that he would take the final decision after consulting the people of his constituency.



The Congress leader met Ambareesh a day before the commencement of state legislature session. Ambareesh has been cut up with the party for dropping him from the Cabinet.


Fifteen unserved airports or airstrips in Karnataka have found a place in a list of 394 facilities across the country that could opt for the regional connectivity scheme.



According to an official draft, in south India, Karnataka has the highest number of unserved airstrips of airports that could opt for the ambitious scheme drafted by the Ministry of Civil Aviation "to connect the unconnected" and "serve the unserved or underserved".



The unused airports or airstrips in Karnataka include Ammasandra, Baldota/Koppal, Ballari, Bidar, Ginigera (Hospet), Hassan, Jakur, Kolar, Mysuru (Mandakalli), Raichur, Shahbad, Vidyanagar, Yadgir and Yelahanka. While Tamil Nadu has 13 such facilities, Telangana has 10, AP 4 and Kerala one.



West Bengal and Rajasthan have the highest number of facilities (35), followed by Bihar (32) and Uttar Pradesh (29).



Karnataka could look at wooing airlines to start operations from these facilities under the scheme, a civil aviation ministry official said.



Airlines could get Viability Gap Funding and tax concessions if they opt for a route under the scheme, which connects an unserved or underserved facility. The states will have to give sops like reducing VAT on Air Turbine Fuel. The official said the states are not losing anything by giving concessions as there is no activity at such facilities now.



The Centre wants the states to reduce VAT on jet fuel to 1% or less at such airports or airstrips for 10 years. Also, it could give land free of cost and devoid of encumbrances for the development of airports.






The United Arab Emirates summoned today a senior US diplomat to protest the "abusive treatment" of a UAE citizen as it advised citizens to avoid wearing national attire abroad.



The foreign ministry expressed "discontent" to US embassy deputy chief of mission Ethan Goldrich and demanded clarifications over the detention of an Emirati businessman suspected of being a jihadist.



The 41-year-old, visiting the United States for medical treatment, was wearing a white robe and Arab headdress Wednesday when he was arrested at a hotel in Cleveland, Ohio after an employee suspected he had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State (IS) group, apparently in a phone call.



The foreign ministry said it expressed "discontent over the abusive treatment by the Ohio police of a UAE citizen" as well as the posting of a video showing his arrest, which contained "defamation of the UAE national."



"The UAE cares for the safety of its citizens and, therefore, demands clarifications about this incident," it said in a statement carried by WAM state news agency.

Goldrich "apologised" for the incident, pledging to get clarifications from authorities in the state of Ohio, WAM said.



A video of the incident, posted on Youtube, shows several policemen armed with rifles take down Ahmed al-Menhali, and then handcuff and search him.

"They were brutal with me. They pressed forcefully on my back. I had several injuries and bled from the forceful nature of their arrest," Menhali said, quoted in The National daily.



The Emirati foreign ministry, in a statement posted on Twitter, urged citizens "not to wear the national dress during their travel, especially in public areas, to ensure their own safety".



After confirming that Menhali posed no danger, the policemen let go of the Emirati man, who said he collapsed and needed treatment in hospital.



Menhali had been in the United States since April for treatment after a brain stroke suffered last year, said Emarat Al-Youm, another UAE daily.



Anti-Muslim incidents have spiked in the United States on the back of deadly IS attacks in the West that prompted presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump to call for a temporary ban on Muslims entering the country.
US Secretary of State John Kerry called Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and offered her assistance from American law enforcement agencies, including FBI, in the wake of the terror attack on a Dhaka restaurant in which 20 hostages were hacked to death.





"The Secretary encouraged the government of Bangladesh to conduct its investigation in accordance with the highest international standards and offered immediate assistance from US law enforcement, including the FBI," State Department spokesperson John Kirby said.



Kerry called Hasina yesterday to offer support in the wake of the "outrageous attack" on the Holey Artisan restaurant in Dhaka's high-security diplomatic zone, he said.



During the call, Kerry condoled the loss of lives at the hands of terrorists "who threaten the US, Bangladesh, and the international community".



"He re-affirmed US support for Bangladesh's efforts to bring those responsible for planning and conducting the attacks to justice as well as to prevent future attacks," Kirby said.



Twenty hostages, including Indian girl Tarushi Jain, were hacked to death by terrorists inside the cafe popular with expats in the diplomatic zone before commandos launched an assault, killing six attackers and capturing one alive.



Most of those killed were found with their throats slit. Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack through its Amaq news agency, nearly four hours after the hostage crisis unfolded.



Bangladesh, however, blamed "homegrown" Islamist terrorists and Pakistan's spy agency ISI for the attack, ruling out involvement of the Islamic State.
A Chinese daily today claimed that former prime minister Manmohan Singh had "expressed support" for China's ambitious Maritime Silk Road plan but his successor Narendra Modi "changed" India's "attitude" towards the initiative by using delaying tactics.



"Indian strategists and the government believe there is some geostrategic design behind the 'Belt and Road' (Silk Road) initiative. Now, India has adopted opposing, delaying and hedging measures toward different parts of the initiative," an article published in the state-run Global Times said.



"When China initiated the MSR in 2013, then Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his national security advisor Shivshankar Menon expressed support and interest. But current Prime Minister Narendra Modi changed India's attitude toward MSR after he came into power," the article written by Liu Zongyi, a fellow of state-run Shanghai Institutes for International Studies said.



India from the beginning has reservations over the strategic impact of the MSR on the Indian Ocean, observers here pointed out that India first sought details of the project since its outline was unveiled in 2014, it said.



"The final blueprint of the MSR which was part of the mega Belt and Road project was released by Chinese President Xi Jinping only in March last year during Boao Forum for Asia by which time Modi government was firmly in saddle," it said. Vice President Hamid Ansari during his visit to Beijing in June said New Delhi had sought more details about the MSR.



China's Silk Road plan the name of which was subsequently changed to "Belt and Road" project moots a maze of roads and corridors connecting China with Asia and Europe.



Besides the MSR and BCIM, the plan includes China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), rail and road connectivity with Central Asia and Europe.



India has already conveyed its objection to CPEC as it goes through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, during her visit to Beijing last year, said India will not give a blanket endorsement to the MSR project but support where the synergies of the two countries meet.



While criticising India's approach to MSR, today's article in the Global Times also said China should increase maritime cooperation with India to dispel misgivings.



"China should improve connections and cooperation with the Indian Ocean Rim Association and other regional cooperation organisations in the Indian Ocean. At the same time, China should improve maritime cooperation with India," it said.



"Western scholars forged and hyped China's 'string of pearls strategy' in the Indian Ocean, and some Indians believe that MSR is just an alternative wording that sounds more pleasant and is used to replace the string of pearls strategy," the article said.



"The so-called string of pearls strategy is a military and geostrategic design. But Chinese leaders define the 'Belt and Road' initiative as the top-level design of China's opening-up and economic diplomacy in the new era and Chinese solutions and suggestions toward world peace and development," it said.



"India's reaction toward the 'Belt and Road' initiative is a part of its Indo-Pacific strategy under which India takes precedence of geopolitics over geoeconomics cooperation," it said.



Indian hedging strategy toward the 'Belt and Road' has very strong military and strategic implications. The 'Belt and Road' initiative is an economic cooperation, and China will invest a large amount of capital along the route that India cannot match, it added.



"Modi's visit to three Indian Ocean countries in March 2015 shows that India is determined to adopt an asymmetrical strategy to secure a dominant position in the Indian Ocean through bolstering military and security cooperation with these island nations," it said.



Also India enforced its military and strategic coordination with the US, Japan and some Southeast Asian countries which have islands disputes with China in the South China Sea, it said.



"So in the Indo-Pacific region, there is competition between geoeconomic cooperation and geopolitical cooperation. India, the US and Japan want to hedge economic and trade cooperation initiated by China with their military and security cooperation. This situation does not benefit the advancement of the 'Belt and Road' initiative," it said.



To deal with the situation, China should make clear its purposes in the Indian Ocean, "specially the security of sea lanes of energy and trade, the security of overseas investment and the security of overseas Chinese, to build strategic trust with Indian Ocean countries, especially India," it said.



Also China should step up efforts to improve maritime economic cooperation, maritime interconnection, civil cooperation, disaster relief cooperation, legal cooperation and other maritime security activities, providing more international public goods collectively with other countries, to ensure the security of sea lanes and freedom of navigation in the Indian Ocean, it said.



"In the long run it is necessary to build a stable regional security architecture. China should continue to advocate new security concepts and make efforts to build an inclusive and democratic regional security architecture," it said.
A district court here today accepted that the controversial Humanities 'topper' in the Bihar Intermediate Examination, who has been arrested in connection with an examination cheating racket, is a minor.





Special Vigilance court judge Raghvendra Kumar Singh accepted that the girl is a minor on the basis of her matriculation certificate which mentioned her date of birth as November 15, 1998, paving the way for her shifting from Beur model jail to a remand home.



The girl along with the Science stream topper had come into limelight after they gave ridiculous answers to questions on their subjects in a video which went viral, prompting an inquiry.



She was arrested by Special Investigation Team (SIT) as she emerged from a re-test of Bihar School Examination Board (BSEB) on June 25 and sent to Beur jail.



But, as per her matriculation certificate she is 17 years, 3 months and nine days old and cannot be sent to jail.



Former member of the Juvenile Justice Board K D Mishra, who appeared in the court in favour of the girl, presented her matriculation certificate to claim that she is a minor.



The lawyer of the Bihar School Examination Board also did not oppose the matriculation certificate of the girl in the court today.



With the court accepting her as a minor, it meant that she would be shifted to a remand home from Beur model jail of Patna.



The girl, from the controversial Bishun Roy college of Vaishali district, was taken into custody by Special Investigation Team (SIT) on the basis of arrest warrant issued by a Patna district court against her and three other rank-holders in the examination racket case.



Senior Superintendent of Police of Patna Manu Maharaj, who is heading the SIT, told PTI that the police will act in accordance with the court's order.



While the girl is lodged in Beur jail, her parents have gone underground to escape arrest.



After a re-test on June 25, on the basis of her poor performance not matching her rank in the Humanities stream and the evaluators' report, the BSEB had cancelled her result and the police took her in custody as she stepped out of BSEB that day.



Former BSEB Chairman Lalkeshwar Prasad Singh, his former JD(U) MLA wife Usha Sinha and Secretary cum Principal of Bishun Roy college in Vaishali Bachha Rai, alleged to be kingpins of the racket, are among 21 persons arrested in the case so far.




Properties of the Delhi governments Social Welfare Department are falling prey to land sharks and encroachers with its district officials failing to report such incidents on time.



The estate cell of the department has now issued an advisory to all district social welfare officers to effectively perform their duty as estate officers and take up the responsibility to protect the department properties and keep them free of encroachment.



The DSWO have been reminded that they must report encroachment to police at the earliest and then inform the social welfare director. It has been observed that notwithstanding duties clearly mentioned...the DSWOs are not adhering to the same and that results in encroachment and other property damages, said a note issued by a Deputy Director (Estate).



In view of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwals direction to the department to ramp up its public oriented services, the officials have started a campaign of auditing all its immovable assets, said an official.



In many cases, the properties of the department were reported to be under encroachment, limiting resources for expanding the existing services being offered from premises, said the official.



The CMs Office has told Social Welfare Minister Sandeep Kumar to take corrective measures to free government land of encroachment. To reclaim its encroached properties and to check such developments in future, the Estate Cell has told district social welfare officers that they shall be primarily responsible to protect the Department estate falling in their respective districts and keep it free from any kind of illegal encroachment.



Deputy Director (Estate) S K Tyagi has also directed DSWOs to visit land allotted to Department in their jurisdiction atleast once a month and furnish a monthly certificate to the Social Welfare Director to the effect that the properties in their jurisdiction is free from encroachment.



A fresh districtwise list of department properties has also been issued to all DSWOs.

If any encroachment is found then DSWOs shall directly contact all the law enforcing agencies concerned to prevent any encroachment on public land under intimation to the director, social welfare as well as estate branch at headquarters, said an advisory issued by the estate cell.



The social welfare department has set up 10 district offices, headed by a DSWO. The officers are responsible for supervising the functioning of welfare homes for social security and old age care and implementation of various programmes for the inmates.
Water minister Kapil Mishra and AAP Mehrauli legislator Naresh Yadav would be in public glare on Monday due to their possible interaction with law enforcers.





Mishra would appear before the Anti-Corruption Branch in connection with an alleged water tanker scam, while Yadav is likely to be contacted by Punjab Police team in a case of alleged sacrilege incident in that state last month.



Yadav was on a political visit to Punjab when the incident took place in Malerkotla on June 24. Both Mishra and Yadav have denied any wrongdoing.



Mishra on Sunday tweeted that he would reach the ACB office at 10.30 am to comply with a notice sent to him.



In Yadavs case, AAP senior leader Sanjay Singh said there were reports that policemen from Punjab may come to Delhi on Monday to meet the Mehrauli legislator.



The BJP and the SAD are playing dirty politics to frame our MLAs, said Singh. Yadav dismissed claims of Punjab Police that he was in touch with one of the accused of the June 24 incident.



Agency reports said that an accused claimed that he had acted at the behest of the AAP legislator  a charge denied by Yadav.



AAP sources said a Punjab police team from Sangrur is likely to visit the capital on Monday and try to seek help from a court here to reach Yadav.



Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is on a three-day visit to Punjab and any attempt by investigators from that state to reach Yadav is likely to raise political temperature in the agrarian state heading for Assembly polls early next year.



Earlier on Saturday, water minister wrote to an inspector in ACB and sought a copy of the FIR in connection with the alleged Rs 400-crore water tanker scam in which former chief minister Sheila Dikshit has been named.



In his letter to investigation officer Brij Mohan, Mishra sought to know in which case he has been summoned by the probe agency as it has not mentioned any case in its notice served on him last month, calling it defective.



No mention of case



"Though, the notice does not mention the case regarding which I have been called to appear and is therefore defective, I understand that it might be pertaining to the investigation into the tanker scam for which I had written to the Lieutenant Governor.



Further, as a complainant in the aforesaid case, I am entitled to a copy of the FIR which I have not received. It is, therefore, requested that a copy of the FIR filed in this case may be furnished to me. I shall in any case be attending the hearing on July 4, Mishra said.

The ACB is also looking into a complaint by the Delhi BJP alleging that Kejriwal tried to delay the probe into the water tanker scam by withholding a committees report for over 15 months.


The US has offered immediate assistance of its law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, to probe Bangladesh's worst terror attack in which 22 people were brutally slaughtered by suspected ISIS militants.





The assistance was offered as Secretary of State John Kerry called Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday.



"The Secretary encouraged the government of Bangladesh to conduct its investigation in accordance with the highest international standards and offered immediate assistance from US law enforcement, including the FBI," State Department spokesperson John Kirby said.



The offer came in the wake of the "outrageous attack" on the Holey Artisan restaurant in Dhaka's high-security diplomatic zone, he said.



During the call, Kerry condoled the loss of innocent lives at the hands of terrorists "who threaten the United States, Bangladesh and the international community"."He re-affirmed US support for Bangladesh's efforts to bring those responsible for planning and conducting the attacks to justice as well as to prevent future attacks," Kirby said.



Twenty hostages, including Indian girl Tarishi Jain, were hacked to death by terrorists inside the cafe popular with expats in the diplomatic zone before commandos launched an assault, killing six attackers and capturing one alive. Two police officers were also killed in the attack.



Most of those killed were found with their throats slit.



Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack through its Amaq news agency, nearly four hours after the hostage crisis unfolded.



Bangladesh, however, blamed "homegrown" Islamist terrorists and Pakistan's spy agency ISI for the attack, ruling out involvement of the Islamic State.




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Two of the five Bangladeshi militants who hacked to death 20 people at a restaurant in Dhaka's diplomatic zone used to follow three controversial Islamists, including Indian Islamic preacher Zakir Nayek.





Militant Rohan Imtiaz, son of an Awami League leader, propagated on Facebook last year quoting Peace TV's controversial preacher Nayek "urging all Muslims to be terrorists", the Daily Star reported.



Nayek, a popular but controversial Islamic orator and founder of Mumbai-based Islamic Research Foundation, is banned in UK and Canada for his hate speech aimed against other religions. He is among 16 banned Islamic scholars in Malaysia.



He is wildly popular in Bangladesh through his Peace TV although his preaching often demeans other religions and even other Muslim sects, the report said.



Another Dhaka attacker Nibras Islam, 22, used to follow two alleged suspected recruiters of Islamic State - Anjem Choudary and Shami Witness - on Twitter in 2014.



Shami Witness is the Twitter account of 24-year-old Mehdi Biswas, who is also facing trial in India for running propaganda for the Islamic State. He was arrested in December 2014 following an investigation into his Twitter account which was last active in August 2014.



Biswas was charged for operating the "single most influential pro-ISIS Twitter account".



49-year-old Choudary, a Pakistan-origin British citizen is now facing trial in England for breaking the British anti-terrorism law. His twitter account became inactive from August 2015 after terror charges were brought against him.



Choudary allegedly told his supporters to travel to territory controlled by the "barbaric regime" in Syria and Iraq.



"This means at least in the case Nibras and Rohan, they did not become radicalised overnight. They have been consuming radical materials for one to two years before finally disappearing in February-March and reappearing as 'IS killers' Friday night at the Holey Artisan Bakery in Gulshan," the paper said.



From their pictures posted by the ISIS media and recirculated by the SITE Intelligence Group, it can be assumed that these young men received arms training after their disappearance specifically to carry out the mission on June 1.



"Their attire with IS logo in their backdrop, the automatic rifles held in their hands reveal they underwent an organised training which is far from anything amateurish. That the killers released some of the hostages 15 minutes before the army-led operation on Saturday morning also showed the depth of their brains being washedthat they were ready to die," the paper added.




A six-year-old girl was raped and killed by a teenage boy who hid her body in a large cooking vessel in his house near here, the police said.





The 16-year-old boy, a school dropout, has been arrested and remanded to custody in a government observation home on Monday, they said. The girl, a class II student of Thelunganur off nearby Mettur, went missing on July 2 evening after she went out to play and her father Raja, a fisherman, lodged a complaint with the police on Sunday. During the investigation, locals informed the police that the girl was led away by a boy of the same area.


The Madras High Court on Monday directed the CBI to conduct an investigation into the seizure of Rs 570 crore during the Assembly polls in Tamil Nadu.





The courts direction came against the backdrop of writ petition filed by DMK MP T K S Elangovan.



Hearing



When the case came up for hearing, Justice R Subbiah issued the order to the countrys premium investigation agency and said it can initiate appropriate action as per law.



Barely three days prior to the elections in Tamil Nadu, a flying squad, deployed by the Election Commission of India had seized Rs 570 crore from three trucks in Tirupur district.



However, the State Bank of India informed that the money belonged to them and it was transported in lorries to Hyderabad due to shortage of currency in that region.



In his petition, Elangovan argued that one of the trucks, which carried the cash, had fake registration number. The petitioner also charged that documents of two trucks were fake.




Ramesh Jigajinagi, the BJP Lok Sabha member from the Vijayapura constituency, left for New Delhi on Monday, as per the directions of party president Amit Shah.





He is expected to be inducted into the Narendra Modi ministry on Tuesday. Jigajinagi told Deccan Herald that he would fly to the national capital and meet Shah there in the evening.



He said he would fulfil any responsibility given to him, to the best of his abilities.

DH News Service
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will invoke Mahatma Gandhi during his forthcoming visit to South Africa to reaffirm that racism remains an anathema for India.





As prime ministers visit to South Africa comes close on the heels of a series of attacks on African people in India; he is expected to send out a reassuring message across the continent  right from the Pietermaritzburg Railway Station, where white men had once thrown Mahatma Gandhi off a train 123 years ago.



Modi will commence his visit to Africa with a visit to Mozambique on Thursday. He will visit Johannesburg, Durban and Pietermaritzburg in South Africa on Friday and Saturday, before travelling to Tanzania and Kenya.



PMs first visit



This is prime ministers first visit to mainland Africa, but the third high-level engagement of New Delhi with the continent, where India has of late joined China in the race for influence and resources. Vice President M Hamid Ansari visited Morocco and Tunisia from May 30 to June 1.



President Pranab Mukherjee visited Ghana, Cote dIvoire and Namibia from June 12 to June 18.



Amar Sinha, Secretary (Economic Relations) in the ministry of the External Affairs, told journalists that prime ministers visit to the four nations were aimed at consolidating the progress made in strengthening New Delhis ties with the continent during the India Africa Forum summit held here in October 2015.
Bijapur MP Ramesh Jigajinagi, who will be sworn in as Union minister on Tuesday, is the only BJP MP from the 28 reserved constituencies in south India.





The fifth time MP from Karnataka, Jigajinagi met BJP president Amit Shah on Monday where he was informed of his induction into the ministry. The BJP state unit had recommended Jigajinagis name.



The state leaders, during their recent meeting with Shah, also said that inducting Jigajinagi, who is from the Schedule Caste (Left) community, would help the party in encashing Dalit votes in the 2018 Karnataka Assembly elections.



At present, there are three ministers from Karnataka in team Modi: Fertilizer Minister Anant Kumar, Law Minister D V Sadananda Gowda and Minister of State for Heavy Industries G M Siddeshwara.



The veteran politician was elected thrice to the Karnataka Assembly and held home, excise, social welfare and revenue portfolios. The 64-year-old BJP leader was first elected to the Assembly in 1983 and was elected to the 12th Lok Sabha in 1998 by defeating B Shankaranand of the Congress.



Jigajinagi also served as member in several Parliamentary Standing Committees, including those on home affairs, commerce, food and consumer affairs, human resources, defence, and external affairs.


In the wake of the terror attack in Dhaka, the BSF has been asked by the Centre to keep a strict vigil on the Indo-Bangladesh border in Assam, Tripura, Meghalaya and Mizoram.



Even the governors of Assam and Tripura have told the Border Security Force (BSF) to tighten their vigil on the border with Bangladesh following the terror attack on Dhaka and a series of attacks elsewhere in Bangladesh on religious minorities.



Assam Governor P B Acharya visited the Sutarkandi border areas in Karimganj district last Sunday and held discussion with BSF officials, and asked them to keep maximum vigil along the border.



On the other hand, Tripura Governor Tathagata Roy also met BSF officials and asked them to increase vigil. In fact, the state police are also conducting regular patrols in the border villages after the Dhaka attack, official sources added.



Policy on immigrants



Meanwhile, in the wake of the attacks, Asom Gana Parishad a constituent in the states ruling fronthas asked the Centre to design a policy for the Hindu Bengali immigrants from that country.



Recent attack by terrorists and selective killing of non Muslims in Dhaka has made it clear that organised terror has arrived on our doors in neighbouring Bangladesh and their target is very clearly large non Muslim population there, said AGP chief and former state chief minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta.



He said alarm bells are ringing for the Northeast ever since the Islamists-backed local terrorists killed two Hindu priests and reports from that country indicate that the 1.7 crore Hindus in Bangladesh are living in fear and might try to migrate to India.



Illegal migration from Bangladesh has been a contentious issue in Assam ever since the 1980s when Mahanta headed the agitation against the issue.



We want the NDA government to clearly formulate a policy for (Bangladeshi Hindus) rehabilitation and settlement so that Assam is not made a victim again for the short political gains of a party, Mahanta said, reiterating the demand that the Assam accord should be fully implemented without any dilution.




Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi is all set to reach out to tribals across seven states with a demand for effective implementation of the Forest Rights Act.





The Congress has identified seven states that have a sizeable tribal population and Rahul is expected to kick-start his campaign from Andhra Pradesh in the first week of August. This would be followed by visits to Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra.



Rahul has already met the state Congress presidents from Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Telangana, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Gujarat to chalk out the programme.



The next big political mobilisation for the Congress party will be the Forest Rights Act, senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh told reporters here. As part of the build-up, the Congress has been raising issues of tribal rights in Gujarat and Chhattisgarh. Ramesh on Monday attacked the BJP government in Chhattisgarh for granting clearance to the Adani Group for starting a coal mine in Khatbara village in complete violation of the Forest Rights Act.



The thrust of the Congress campaign would be on creating awareness about the Forest Rights Act, which Ramesh claimed was not implemented in the right earnest by the Modi government.



It will also raise the issue of high-level of rejection of applications by tribals seeking rights under the Act passed by the UPA government in 2006.



Ramesh said only 15 lakh applications for tribal rights have been accepted by the government.



With 4.5 lakh applications, Odisha tops the list and is followed by 3 lakh applications in Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra (2.5 lakh), Madhya Pradesh (2 lakh), Gujarat (1 lakh), Andhra and Telangana (1 lakh) and Jharkhand (50,000).




The Special Vigilance Court in Patna on Monday ruled that intermediate arts topper Ruby Rai should be shifted from Beur Jail to remand home immediately, as she is a minor.





This came as a major reprieve to the incarcerated topper who was sent to Beur Jail on June 25.

Before pronouncing the verdict, the Special Judge, Vigilance I, RK Singh verified the report of her matriculation certificate which mentioned her date of birth as November 15, 1998.



The Special Investigating Team (SIT), probing the toppers scam in Bihar, had arrested Ruby Rai nine days back following which she was lodged in Patnas high-security Beur Jail.



The Nitish Government, in the meantime, faced huge flak on the social media for arresting the student instead of her parents and the BSEB (Bihar School Examination Board) officials responsible for the toppers scam. Ruby Rai, who failed in the re-test last month, told the police that she appeared in the intermediate examination, but had no idea how she became topper. My father and the school principal could tell you how I topped, she told the SIT. Ruby was in the eye of storm as she could not pronounce her subjects properly nor tell the media how much she scored in the intermediate examination.



On Monday, the Special Vigilance Court took up the matter of keeping her behind bars in Beur Jail (where numerous hardened criminals are lodged) and ruled that since she is a minor, she should be shifted to remand home and tried under Juvenile Justice Act.
The Supreme Court would hear on July 7 a plea for quashing the ordinance granting exemption to states from uniform single examination for admission to MBBS and BDS courses in 2016-17.





A bench of Chief Justice T S Thakur and Justice D Y Chandrachud posted the petitions filed by Indore-based doctor Anand Rai and NGO Sankalp Charitable Trust for consideration before a bench presided over by Justice Anil R Dave.



The court passed its order as the bench presided over by Justice Dave had on May 9 approved the single medical entrance test National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) only for this academic year for admission to MBBS and BDS courses.



However, following opposition by states like Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and others, the Centre had on May 24 brought in the ordinance allowing the states to conduct their common entrance test for admission to government colleges.



All private medical colleges were told to admit candidates on the basis of NEET only. The NEET I was held on May 1 and phase II is scheduled for July 24.



Challenging the Ordinance, Rai, in his petition, contended that the government was not competent to nullify the judicial order.



NGO Sankalp Charitable Trust, which had earlier moved the apex court in support of NEET, filed a fresh plea, saying the Ordinance was illegal for being inconsistent with the fundamental rights.



The impugned ordinance is clearly interfering with the order of this court and is nothing but transgression by the Executive on the exercise of judicial functions of this court, the petition, filed by advocate Amit Kumar, said.




Supporters of Kerala-based Peoples Democratic Party leader Abdul Nasser Madani, an accused in the 2008 Bengaluru blasts case, staged a protest at the Cochin International Airport after his arrival was delayed.





Madani, lodged in a Bengaluru prison in connection with the blasts that left one person dead and injured 20 others, has been granted bail to visit his ailing mother in Kollam district and he was to take an IndiGo flight on Monday morning in Bengaluru.



Authorities here said according to their information, the airline refused permission to Madani to board its flight after it was found that necessary requirements for carrying a prisoner escorted by the police were not fulfilled.



According to the police, around 500 supporters gathered outside the terminal here to receive him. A section of them turned agitated after reports said that IndiGo refused to allow Madani to board the flight citing some technical reasons. Amid the melee, the protesters broke a glass pane of the IndiGo airlines counter located at domestic departure area of the Cochin airport, they said. A police team headed by Aluva Rural SP P N Unnirajan rushed to the spot to deal with the situation. The protest ended after they got an assurance that Madani will reach by air later.



The police said no arrests have been made, but added cases will be registered against those who were involved in the violence. The police said they used force to push out the slogan-shouting supporters.



About 8.15pm, Madani arrived at the Cochin International Airport in an IndiGo flight to a spirited welcome by PDP activists, adds DHNS from Thiruvananthapuram. He left for his home in Anvarssery in Kollam by road.




The Supreme Court indicated that its ban on registration of diesel vehicles with engine capacity above 2000cc in the Delhi-NCR may be lifted after levying a green cess.





A three-judge bench presided over by Chief Justice T S Thakur on Monday reserved its order on a batch of applications seeking modification of the December 2015 order whereby registration of diesel SUVs and high-end vehicles above 2000cc was prohibited in Delhi-National Capital Region (NCR), including Noida, Ghaziabad and Gurugram.



We may ask (automakers /dealers/buyers) to pay 1% of the cost of the vehicle as cess on diesel vehicle and it could be deposited with the Central Pollution Control Board or with any other body, the bench, also comprising Justices A K Sikri and R Banumathi, said.



Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for the Department of Heavy Industries, requested for vacating the ban, maintaining that the central government was ready to conduct a multi-pronged study on effect of diesel on the environment and possibility of imposing a green cess on diesel vehicles. There is no empirical study, we cannot say that diesel is an undesirable fuel. Give us six weeks and we will conduct a comprehensive study on the subject and submit a report in the court. But modify your order since it has been affecting the economy and especially the FDI. There is a sense of uncertainty and industry leaders are complaining about unpredictability of the investments, he submitted.



He also maintained that it would not be appropriate for the court to impose a tax on diesel vehicles and direction could be issued to the government only after the study report is furnished in the court.



Observing that Delhi would have been miserable if the court had not issued orders for CNG two decades ago, the bench said they would be happy if study was undertaken.



The government cannot be seen as protecting someone who is creating pollution.

We will hold back our order if you give us a report after a credible study, the bench told Rohatgi.



During the hearing, Rohatgi also told the bench the government mooted a plan for scrapping old cars by giving compensation to the tune of Rs 50,000 for each such car.






A Supreme Court bench on Monday recused from hearing a plea for restraining the high court from delivering its judgement on scope of the Delhi governments power.





A bench of Justices J S Khehar and Arun Mishra told senior advocate Indira Jaising,

representing the petitioner Delhi government, that the matter would be posted before a different bench.



As Justice Khehar expressed personal difficulty in taking up the matter, the counsel sought direction for posting it before another bench for hearing on Tuesday only, due to urgency.



This was strongly opposed by Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for the Centre, who said the issue should be left to the authorities concerned. If that is her plea, I withdraw my consent, the AG said. His stand sparked strong comment from Jaising, who said the AG was not expected to take such a position.



If you consent to a woman, you cannot withdraw it, the bench told the AG in a lighter vein, while allowing Jaisings plea for posting the matter for consideration on Tuesday.



Meanwhile, Jaising appeared before the bench presided over by Chief Justice T S Thakur to seek direction for posting original suit filed under Article 131 of the Constitution by the Delhi government, along with the instant special leave petition.



She submitted since the process has been complete with issuance of summons, the suit should be heard along with the petition. The bench, also comprising Justice D Y Chandrachud, declined her request, saying the suit will go on its own way and the bench hearing the special leave petition may not like to hear the suit.



The dispute centred around the extent of powers to be exercised by the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi under Article 239A of the Constitution.



Power tussle



Delhi has seen an ongoing power tussle between the AAP government and the lieutenant governor on various issues, including the control over the Anti-Corruption Branch and power to transfer or retain bureaucrats.



The Delhi government challenged the high courts order of May 24 wherein it had reserved its order on a plea for stay of the proceedings concerning the federal structure and extent of the Delhi governments power.



Hearing on divorce plea to be expedited



The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to expedite hearing on a PIL to examine if divorce granted by a church could be considered valid under the Indian common law, DHNS reports from New Delhi.



A bench of Chief Justice T S Thakur and Justice D Y Chandrachud allowed an interim application for early hearing in the case as senior advocate Soli Sorabjee, appearing for petitioner Clarence Pais, sought an urgent hearing. Pais, an ex-president of a Catholic association in Karnataka, said, when oral triple talaq could get legal sanctity for granting divorce to Muslim couples, why could Canon law decrees not be made binding on courts of law.


The second round of allotment of MBBS, BDS and BE seats under the CET is set to start by next week, even as the government is yet to decide on how much fees deemed and minority institutes will charge and how many seats they will offer.





The first round of seat allotment will get over by Thursday and the second round will begin by next week, though the schedule has not been fixed as yet. All the 2,491 MBBS and 602 BDS seats in the matrix were taken in the first round.



An official in the Karnataka Examinations Authority (KEA) said: July 7 is the last date for students who have been allotted seats in the first round to report to college. After this date, it will take at least two or three days for colleges to report on who took the seats and who did not.



Seats from minority and deemed institutes are likely to be added in the second round, though nothing has been decided so far, the official added.



Students like Vaishnavi P are waiting for the second round. I got an MBBS seat at KIMS, Bengaluru, but am looking to shift to Father Muller Medical College in Mangaluru.



Meanwhile, the Karnataka Religious and Linguistic Minority Professional Colleges Association (KRLMPCA) said the government neither indicated anything to it nor called a meeting on the fees.



KRLMPCA secretary Shafi Ahmed stuck to his previous demand for annual fee of Rs 15 lakh for an MBBS seat and Rs 7.5 lakh for a BDS seat. In return, he said, minority colleges will give 25% of their seats to the government, as in the past. There are around 500 medical and dental seats in minority colleges.



Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College under KLE University (a deemed university), Belagavi, has demanded annual fee of Rs 8.8 lakh for an MBBS seat. Its registrar, V D Patil, said, We have agreed to give 12 seats (25%) to the government this year too.



Medical Education Minister Sharanprakash Patil, however, said that no agreement had been reached with deemed or minority institutes as yet. I am working to get the matter sorted out so that the seats are available in the second round. We have time and will call for a meeting on Saturday, he said.




A Ugandan woman was badly injured after four of her fellow nationals reportedly pushed her from the third floor of a residential building at Byrathi Layout in Kothanur, east Bengaluru, on Sunday night.





Fazia, 32, was rushed to a private hospital and her condition is stable. She came to India on a tourist visa and was staying in Mumbai. She got in touch with some Ugandans and came to Bengaluru after they promised her a job. One of the Ugandans, identified as Farida, took money from her for providing the job but failed to keep the promise, Fazia told the police.



Fazia and the four fellow nationals partied till late Sunday night and got drunk. She got into an argument with the four people when the party was about to end. The suspects asked her to get into flesh trade. She refused and demanded her money back.



The four got enraged and hit her. Then they dragged her out of their flat and pushed her from the third floor. Local residents rushed to her help, took her to hospital and called the police.



Police said they were looking out for Farida and three other Ugandans, identified as Vikcy, Shirab and Soy. According to police, Fazias tourist visa is still valid. They are investigating whether the Ugandans were overstaying. If so, they will be deported immediately. Police said that the suspects had stolen Fazias passport. They have booked them under IPS Sections 324 and 326 (voluntarily causing hurt).




More than 300 leading researchers, practitioners and policymakers in public health are expected to attend the third national conference on Bringing Evidence into Public Health Policy (EPHP).





The theme for the conference scheduled to be held from July 7 to 9 is Equitable India: All for Health and Wellbeing. The Institute of Public Health, Bengaluru, is organising the conference in association with the Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp, the Department of Health and Family Welfare (Government of Karnataka), the Indian Council of Medical Research (Government of India), the National Health Systems Resource Centre (Government of India) and Be-cause Health (Belgian Platform for Global Health), said Dr N Devadasan, director, Institute of Public Health.



More than 57 researchers from 11 states across India will present peer-reviewed evidence for policymaking at the EPHP. International experts from World Health Organisation (Geneva) and Institute of Tropical Medicine (Antwerp) among others will participate in the conference. Several state and national policymakers, including senior government officials, have confirmed their attendance to the EPHP.

DH News Service
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwals principal secretary Rajendra Kumar and four others were arrested by the CBI in connection with a Rs 50-crore scam.





The arrests will further deepen the animosity between the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government and the Centre.



Kumar, a 1989-batch IAS officer whom the CBI named as the kingpin of the scam, is accused of starting a front company Endeavour Systems to provide IT solutions. He routed government work to the firm without a tendering process from 2006.



Besides Kumar, a mechanical engineer from IIT-Kharagpur who is considered close to Kejriwal, Deputy Secretary in the Chief Ministers Office Tarun Sharma, Endeavour Systems Sandeep Kumar, Dinesh Gupta and Ashok Kumar were also arrested. Ashok is Kumars schoolmate. After the arrests, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia saw a conspiracy by the Narendra Modi government to paralyse the Delhi administration through such tactics. He said the Centre has stooped to a new low after witnessing gains made by the AAP in Goa and Punjab.



Retaliating, Delhi BJP chief Satish Upadhyay said Kejriwal has to answer the people about corruption charges against his principal secretary.



The Centre and the AAP were at loggerheads following a series of confrontations, including those over the President denying assent to office of profit bill, arrest of an AAP MLA on molestation charges and official matters like transfers and postings.



The arrest is the culmination of a probe that spanned over six months and a controversial raid at Kumars office in the Delhi Secretariat on December 16, 2015, the day the case was registered.



The CBI has filed charges under Sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code and relevant sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act.



While the FIR mentioned irregularities to the tune of Rs 9.5 crore, officials said the scope of the scam was enlarged to Rs 50 crore during the probe.




An excursion, meant to be full of fun and frolic, turned disastrous for five students from Bengaluru after they were thrashed by locals who thought they were cattle thieves. The incident occurred at a village in Katukanapalya, Ramanagara district, early on Monday.





The victims have been identified as Amruth Jai, a fourth year MBBS student of Rajarajeswari Medical College, Prithviraj, a third year engineering student of Jain College, and Vedamurthy, Raghu and Srikanth, who work in a private firm. While Murthy sustained severe injuries on his legs, the others suffered injuries to the head and face, police said. They are undergoing treatment at Rajarajeswari Medical College.



According to Vedamurthy, the students had gone to Savanadurga on Sunday. They decided to return only on Monday morning as it was late in the night and they were drunk. When they were resting, a large number of villagers started attacking them with lethal weapons, accusing them of being cattle thieves. They pleaded with the villagers, but in vain. Despite repeated requests, the villagers did not even give them water, Vedamurthy said.



The villagers claimed cattle and sheep were being stolen every day for the last few months. As the police did not take any action, the villagers formed teams and began night patrolling. While patrolling on Sunday night, they spotted the students car. Assuming the thieves were back, the villagers attacked the

students.


There's nothing new under the Cuban sky. It was recently announced that Cuba's National Association of Small Farmers (ANAP) had rejected, "on behalf of Cuban coffee farmers" the possibility of selling their coffee directly to the US, in response to the Americans' announcement of their willingness to include coffee in purchases to be made from Cuba, provided that they came directly from producers, without State intervention.

Now we have learned that Nestle will export coffee produced in Cuba, which will be available for Nespresso machines, in coffee capsules dubbed Cuban Nespresso or Cafecito de Cuba" starting next September/October.

So, who will sell the Cuban coffee to Nestle? The news story does not mention it, but could there be any doubt? The only party that can authorize itself to: the Cuban government.

The Government-Party State never fails to remind us, every day, of its totalitarian, monopolistic and semi-feudal character. It turns out that it grants itself the right to sell to the US, through Nestle, the coffee that it buys from farmers, via its monopoly, but farmers are not permitted to do so, as this would be supporting "imperialist policy."

If the consequences were not so tragic for the coffee farmers, and the Cuban people, the lack of scruples, hypocrisy and double standards the Government demonstrates in its trade relations with the US would be laughable, as would be how it exploits Cubans' work as an intermediary  whether they are doctors, tourism workers, sugar producers, tobacco farmers, or coffee farmers  and sells it to the highest bidder, ignoring Che's maxim, which they like to cite, but not to apply to themselves: "dont give imperialism a thing."

If US money is to buy coffee directly from producers ... it's 'dirty money;' but if it's to line government coffers ... it's clean. If it's to help the opposition ... it's laden with foul intentions; if it's for the Government ... it's appreciated. How long will this double-talk and these double standards, criticized in others, prevail?

But it must be noted that this monopoly also applies to the domestic economy, where the State controls virtually all industrial production (what remains of it), the vast majority of services, and also seeks to control all agricultural production, functioning as the sole intermediary between producers and consumers, with imposed procurement costs, and without taking into account the interests of direct producers and sale prices, decided in CUC for the State's benefit.

This is nothing new in Cuban history, either. The Spanish Crown, the feudal and colonial government that conquered Cuba, wiped out almost all its natives and brought over thousands of Africans to exploit them as slaves, did the same thing, and not only with official tobacco shops, or estancos de tabaco  a system barring Cubans from selling their tobacco to anyone but the Spanish government  but with all foreign trade.

These were and are feudal policies. Hence, many have not hesitated to identify so-called "State socialism" as a new form of feudalism, precisely because of the absolute role assigned to the State, and its rulers unlimited authority and lifetime terms in power.

Thus, in that dark era, the Government went after Cubans who sold their spirits and cattle to "buccaneers"  merchants in the Caribbean region who smuggled Cuban products, in high demand, to the US and other countries.

It was precisely this monopolistic policy that sparked a revolt by vegueros (farmers) in the early 18th century, Cuba's first independent mass military action against the Spanish Crown.

Today Cuba's Government-Party-State (Cuban because its in Cuba, not because it defends the interests of the Cuban people), not only boasts a monopoly on tobacco, coffee, sugar and sugar cane byproducts, but over the whole economy. This is precisely one of the root causes of the disaster wrought in Cuba: an eternally authoritarian and populist Government that functions like a set of feudal lords, invoking a kind of socialism that has ever even existed.

The model of the centralized state once again reveals that it has nothing to do with socialism, freedom, or democracy, and that its sole objective is to preserve the power of its elites.
Digit Rating: 71/100

Pros:

Good option for first-time VR users, Procus Pro has integrated headphones, Cardboard brings ample free apps

Cons:

Optics are not of the best grade, Feels basic in comparison to Samsung Gear VR

Procus, the India-based company, has been one of the notable names around in the affordable virtual reality headset segment. The company has so far come out with two virtual reality headsets till now, both based on Googles Cardboard technology. While the Procus One VR headset is the more affordable one, it offers lesser paraphernalia around it than the Procus Pro. Weve played with them for a while, found reasons to love them, and found some more to still have doubts about their excellence of being inexpensive budget VR headsets that give you the perfect beginners VR experience.

Lets begin with Procus One. The Procus One has a fairly simple layout, covered in black livery. It resembles Samsungs Gear VR in terms of its overall dimensions and build quality, but entirely lacks buttons for controlling content on the screen. Fundamentally, while the Gear VR is powered by Oculus, the Procus One is powered by Google Cardboard. It weighs 380 grams, and supports smartphones that include gyroscope, with screen size between 3.5 inches to 6 inches. In comparison, the Procus Pro is a more well-equipped VR headset. The main module (the one that sits on your eyes) is slightly broader but sleeker, thanks to good designing by Procus. It houses a heat-relaying outer casing, an integrated pair of headphones with a 3.5mm audio cable, focal length and pupillary adjusters to suit your eyesight, and volume control and a single action button to the bottom of the headset. The button placement is not ideal, but you do get used to it eventually, albeit somewhat grudgingly. Both offer ample cushioning to ease the weight of wearing a pair of oversized, specialised spectacles on your eyes. There is nothing exceptionally uncomfortable about it, neither is there anything really special about them.

The Procus One has a magnetic attachment button for the cover that keeps the phone inside, while the Procus Pro uses a clip-based unlocking procedure that is easier to use. In all practical purposes, both are equally efficient. Focussing on the Procus One first, it is essentially as barebone as you would expect your first VR headset to be. The outer casing that holds and protects the device inside has openings on the sides to allow charging the device or plugging in headphones when you see VR content, which is a neat addition. The mechanical adjustments to focussing feel somewhat limited, and with my poor eyesight (I have astigmatism), I really struggled to find the sweet spot of focus for my eyesight. This is a very fundamental and crucial obstacle that you may face. It is fine in terms of wearing comfort, though.

The Procus One is only decent to view 360-degree videos on. The field of view is restricted, which makes it particularly difficult to play games with. While videos also look restricted and you will end up turning your head more than what is ideally comfortable, they are still watchable. Playing 360-degree motion-based games become difficult, as you will end up being shot down by enemies from corners that are barely accessible and in focus, in more difficult levels of games like Deep Space VR (Cardboard, Free). Watching compatible concerts do attempt to offer the theatrical experience that VR is capable of offering, but it would have been much more comfortable had the field of view been wider.

Most of us have first encountered VR and 360-degree content with Googles Cardboard, and the experience of content consumption on Procus One is somewhat comparable. Moving on to the Procus Pro, the experience is considerably better. For one, it is more comfortable to wear. The field of view is wider, which in turn allows you to adjust the pupillary focus more easily than in Procus One. The Pro also houses a slot to plug in your charging cable, and comes with integrated headphones. The headphones are not really great, but you can make do with them for short spans of VR gaming. The presence of dedicated volume controls, select button and call answer/reject button add to the deal.

At Rs. 3,699, the Procus Pro is a sweet deal for anyone aiming for the very first VR experience. The Procus Pro is reasonably comfortable to wear, although you should plug in your own pair of wired or Bluetooth headphones for better audio experience. The construction makes plugging in your own pair of headphones a tad difficult, which is a con for this particular pair of headphones. For basic VR gaming experience, we paired a smartphone with a Bluetooth-enabled mobile gaming controller to play Hardcore. The experience is fairly enjoyable, although you will miss the variety of motion-based free games that Samsung provides for Gear VR. The overall quality of optics is not the best, but then again, for the price you pay, this is great value for your first VR experience.

The Procus One is the very first step towards marginally enhanced Google Cardboard-powered VR experience. The Procus Pro is the one that creates an impression, with decent build quality, better optics and an overall better experience of VR content watching and/or gaming. The affordable pricing adds to the deal, and I would love to own the Procus Pro within a stringent budget. Procus has been one of the first movers in the field of VR in India, and has all the potential to grow in quality and numbers.

The first VR headsets from Procus is rather basic, but for what they aim to provide, it is job well done for the Chandigarh-based firm.
Nigel Farage has resigned as the leader of the UK Independence Party.

In a speech in London, Farage said he felt he had done his bit and couldnt possibly achieve more.

"I have never been, and I have never wanted to be, a career politician. My aim in being in politics was to get Britain out of the European Union," he said.

The eurosceptic MEP, who stepped down last year only to return to the role within days, joked that he wanted his life back after eight years in the role.

I wont be changing my mind again, I assure you, he said.

Farage said Ukip could be on track to do well in the 2020 election, pointing in particular to the potential to win over Labour supporters.

Whilst we will now leave the European Union, the terms of our withdrawal are unclear. If there is too much backsliding by the Government and with the Labour Party detached from many of its voters then Ukips best days may be yet to come.

The outspoken politician said a new leader would be in place in time for the autumn conference but did not back a particular candidate.

Farage has been serving in the European Parliament since 1999 and will continue to do so until Britain leaves the European Union.
Analysts at Credit Suisse upgraded their view on shares of BP after revising their projections for sterling and given the progress made on capital productivity and efficiency, which in turn meant the sustainability of the dividend had been somewhat de-risked, among other things.

The Swiss broker now anticipated cable at between 1.25 to 1.35 over the medium to long-term, versus between 1.45 and 1.55 previously.

Furthermore, "progress made on capital productivity and efficiency, as presented at the recent field trip in Baku, is impressive and should be applauded," analysts Thomas Adolff, Ilkin Karimli, Justin Teo, Yaroslav Rumyantsev said in a research report sent to clients.

That, they said, meant the companys csah cycle was better-than-expected, in turn somewhat de-risking the sustainability of the dividend.

A larger than expected resource base also meant there was less risk of/need for bigger M&A.

The analysts upgraded their recommendation on BP to 'neutral' from 'underperform' and bumped up their target price from 330p to 430p.

Also encouraging was the fact that all project developments were 'on-track' with the latest guidance.

"The company is now 'out of rehab' and is getting back on the pitch for battle," the analysts said.

Nonetheless, they continued to be unimpressed with BPs greenfield options relative to peers.

As of 10:44 BST shares in BP were higher by 0.25% to 446.50p.
International Consolidated Airlines (IAG) was in the red on Monday after UBS slashed its target price to 475p from 800p.

UBS said the owner of British Airways faces a number of challenges in a post-Brexit environment.

Although IAG consists of four operating companies of which three are based outside the UK, there remains an issue of how the UK's regulatory relationship with the EU will now evolve, said UBS analyst Jarrod Castle.

This is because the relationship between the EU and UK will have to be renegotiated as it pertains to aviation should the UK not remain part of the ECAA.

While the situation is unclear for British Airways, UBS said it was confident a workable regulatory environment can be established. The bank also believes the challenges IAG faces could present an opportunity.

Indeed management has often spoken about the flexibility in the business and now we think it is time for them to prove this will be the case.

UBS reiterated a buy rating on the stock, saying IAG is the best-of-breed European flag carrier with management in the past displaying an ability to drive out costs from the organisation.

Shares dipped 1.86% to 374p at 1051 BST.
Auto Trader: Barclays stays at equal-weight with a target price of 340p.

Dignity: Berenberg reiterates buy with a 2825p target.

Dixons Carphone: HSBC keeps at buy with a target price of 400p.

Mitchels & Butlers: JP Morgan downgrades to neutral with a target of 240p.

Diageo: Berenberg reiterates buy with a target price of 2350p.

MoneySupermarket: Barclays downgrades to equal weight with a 260p target.

Burberry: HSBC stays at hold with a target of 1330p.

Tullow Oil: UBS reiterates neutral with a 240p target.

Johnson Matthey: Berenberg keeps at buy with a target price of 3250p.

Bae Systems: Goldman Sachs reiterates buy with a target of 653p.

Rightmove: Barclays downgrades to underweight with a 3300p target.

Tesco: Credit Suisse reiterates underperform with a target price of 115p.

WPP: Barclays reiterates overweight with a 1800p target.
The militant group have been attacking oil rich states in south Nigeria since March 2016

The Twitter account of feared militant terrorist group Niger Delta Avengers has been suspended by the social media site after the group had posted various news items of their bombing activities in Nigeria.

The group announced their existence in March 2016 and have focused their efforts on bombing oil terminals in the oil-rich African region, cutting that countrys production of the commodity to its lowest rate in two decades.

The NDA wish to create a sovereign state in the Niger Delta, and they have claimed that they have a base of young and educated militants ready to disrupt the economy to help them achieve their aims.

The group had provided updates of the details of their attacks on Twitter

Previously, the group had provided updates of the details of their attacks on Twitter and their website, but now their account will no longer be able to put out these details. It is unclear whether the Nigerian government have had any input to that decision from the social network.

Nigeria now produces about 1.9mn barrels of oil per day, a third less than what the government had originally budgeted for. The NDA, depsite numbering only a few hundred men, were able to take out a 250,000-b/d Shell export terminal.

The militants say they do not want to spill blood. But they are heavily armed and in communication with angsty independence campaigners in the south-eastern region which calls itself Biafra.

On Sunday, the group claimed that it had bombed two Chevron oil wells and three trunk lines, after having recently warned that it was not in negotiations with the government, despite claims from some to the contrary.

On Sunday the group claimed that it had bombed two Chevron oil wells and three trunk lines

They announced the latest attacks via Twitter saying: At 1:15 a.m. on Sunday, @NDAvengers blew up two major Chevron Oil Wells. WELL 7 and WELL 8 close to Abiteye Flow Station in Delta State."

At 11:26 p.m. on Saturday, @NDAvengers blew up two NPDC major crude trunk lines close to Batan Flow Station in Delta State. At 9:15 p.m. on Friday, the @NDAvengers blew up Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Crude Oil Trunk Line to Warri Refinery.

All five operations were carried out by @NDAvengers strike team. Well done soldiers. The renewed militancy has been criticised by the IGP, who said that the attacks carried out in pipeline and oil installations in the Niger Delta region had caused environmental and security challenges.

As of 12:53 BST and following the attacks front month Brent crude futures were rising by 0.553% to $50.63 per barrel on the ICE.
The number of unemployed people in Spain fell for a fourth consecutive month in June to reach its lowest since September 2009.

Those people officially registered as unemployed dropped by 124.349 or 3.2% month-on-month in June to reach 3,767,054, according to the countrys labour ministry, the second largest fall on record for that month.

In June 2013 it fell by 127,000.

Typically, the summer months see strong gains in Spanish employment as tourism picks up.

In seasonally adjusted terms, unemployment decreased by 48,579 - its largest ever drop in June - for a cumulative reduction of 353,250 or 8.9% year-on-year terms - the largest since at least 1999.

Services saw the largest reduction in unemployment (84,760), with Catolonia registering the largest reduction in total unemployment of all the provinces.

Sandalio Gomez, an expert on labour relations at Spains IESE Business school in Navarre told Europa Press that the figures were "good news", revealing a "large" reduction in the number of unemployed together with a significant 90,000 increase in the number of people receiving Social Security coverage.

A larger proportion of people being added to staff also points to growing confidence among businessmen in the sustainability of the economic expansion.

Gomez also pointed to increased hiring in construction and industry as a positive sign.

For their part, analysts at Barclays labelled the Spanish labour market "dynamic" as they revised their forecast for second quarter GDP growth from 0.64% quarter-on-quarter to 0.70%.

Nonetheless, they added that: "looking ahead, we expect some moderation in domestic demand as uncertainty following the UK vote to leave is likely to weigh on confidence and thus consumption and investment decisions. We expect growth to average 2.8% y/y in 2016, after 3.2% in 2015, and to slow to 1.3% in 2017."

On Monday, ratings agency Standard&Poors upped its projection for Spains GDP growth in 2016 from 2.6% to 2.8% but lowered its forecasts for 2017 and 2018 from 2.3% to 1.8% and from 2.5% to 1.9%, respectively.

In parallel, unemployment was now seen falling to 16.3% in 2018, down from an earlier projection of 17.0%.
Andrea Leadsom launched her bid to become the next prime minister and leader of the Conservative Party on Monday, vowing to follow through with Brexit and end the free of movement of people.

The 53-year-old former City banker and energy minister said that EU referendum result was a great moment in history and that it is perhaps the biggest since the Berlin Wall came down. She affirmed that Brexit will happen as the result absolute.

"The result is final, it must be respected, and I will respect it. The UK will leave the EU and freedom of movement will end."

"We want to be able to control the numbers that are coming here. I don't think there should be another general election.

"Freedom of movement will end, and the British parliament will decide how many people enter our country each year to live, work and contribute to our national life."

But she did maintain that she would guarantee the rights of EU citizens already living the UK. I commit today to guaranteeing the rights of our EU friends who have come here to live and work. We must give them certainty there is no way they will be bargaining chips in our negotiations."

Leadsom launched her campaign to join contenders Theresa May, Michael Gove, Stephen Crabb and Liam Fox. The candidates are canvassing for support from MPs to make it on the ballot ahead of the first round of voting on Tuesday. The new prime minister will be announced on 9 September.

She has won the backing of senior Conservative MPs including Iain Duncan Smith and John Redwood.

Leadsom, who entered parliament in 2010, has been energy minister for two years and was previously economic secretary to the Treasury. Prior to becoming an MP, she was a councillor and worked in the City as a banker for 25 years.

As an MP for only six years she is the least politically experienced out of the candidates, and if she succeeds she will be the least experienced prime minister since William Pitt the Younger.

Leadsom was part of the Leave campaign during the EU referendum but in April 2013 she said in the Hansard Societys annual parliamentary affairs lecture that Brexit would be a disaster.

Im going to nail my colours to the mast here: I dont think the UK should leave the EU. I think it would be a disaster for our economy and it would lead to a decade of economic and political uncertainty at a time when the tectonic plates of global success are moving," she had said.

Economic success is the vital underpinning of every happy nation. The wellbeing we all crave goes hand in hand with economic success.

Leadsom said that if she becomes prime minster she will invoke Article 50 immediately, to start Brexit negotiations with the EU to end uncertainty. She also ruled out an early general election and said that she had no allegiances to the Conservative partys rival.

She said that the richest people were not her focus and she finds big bonuses unacceptable.

"The richest people in this country won't be the focus of my government." She added: "There will be a key minister for housing and they will stay in the job for the whole parliament, with a bigger budget."

Leadsom said she wanted to use money on early intervention so that we can help children to learn before it is too late and we need to spend more money sorting out the problems. I am certain we can change that... My absolute commitment is to the emotional health of our nation.

The MP for South Northamptonshire said: "I know I can seize the great opportunities for the UK in leaving the EU. I know how to strike deals in tough negotiations. I know as a woman how to succeed in a man's world."
Telematics and data provider Trakm8 Holdings has hiked its full-year pre-tax profit forecasts and confirmed two initial contract wins with global insurance company Allianz. Trakm8 posted a 76% surge in pre-tax profit to 3.0m, from a profit of 1.7m. Dividend per share rose to 2p, from nil. Revenue firmed to 25.65m, from 17.85m.

Shares in Fusionex are up more than 7% after confirming a multi-million dollar contract win with an integrated holiday resort in Asia. The multi-year contract would see the holiday resort use the group's proprietary big data analytics platform Fusionex GIANT 2016 to optimise its marketing strategy.

RedstoneConnect subsidiary Connect IB has extended its existing Site-Map application contract to GlaxoSmithKline's Asia headquarters. The deal would see the roll-out of Site Map at one of GSK's existing Singapore locations and a future roll-out in 2017 at GSK's new global headquarters in Asia.

The 600 Group has sold a property for 2.0m, and advised shareholders of several factors that it says reduce the risks associated with post-Brexit trading. The group said 60% of its activity was conducted in the USA and these businesses were the main profit drivers.

Risk management software supplier Access Intelligence announced on Monday that it has agreed terms to dispose of its subsidiaryAITrackRecord to TrackRecord Holdings, a newly-formed company founded by AITrackRecords current CEO David McNair Scott. The AIM-traded company said AITrackRecord provides a solution for training, competence and compliance management, designed specifically for the highly-regulated UK financial services industry.

Investment company Starvest announced on Monday that it has purchased 340,000 shares in emerging diamond producer Diamondcorp for 25k. The AIM-traded firm said the shares in the fellow AIM company were paid for in cash and following the investment, Starvest will hold 0.08% of Diamondcorps issued share capital.

Herencia Resources hit a fresh stumbling block in its sale of Paguanta Resources on Monday, with the potential purchaser pushing the date back and the company only weeks away from possible insolvency. On 10 May, the AIM-traded firm announced it had entered into a transaction with Golden Rim Resources under which it would sell all of the issued shares in Paguanta.

Asia-focused investment company Alpha Returns announced on Monday that its 70%-owned joint venture Riche Bright Group has repurchased its own shares from its 30% minority shareholders for cash at attributable net asset value, turning Riche Bright into a wholly-owned subsidiary available for use as an intermediate bare holding company for future investments. The AIM-traded companys move follows the disposal by Riche Bright of Riche Bright Securities for a total cash consideration of HKD 33.17m, as initially announced on 12 May.
Ohio's 6-week abortion ban was a fringe idea. Heres how it became law

Ohio led a slow, determined push to steadily weaken and then nearly eliminate abortion rights. It's indicative of what has happened around the U.S.
A photographer from Hong Kong has claimed first prize in the 2016 National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year Contest. Anthony Lau secured the prestigious title with a photograph of a Mongolian horseman in action.

The snow was getting heavier, the wind was getting stronger, the morning snow was getting thinner and the light was moving away from its optimal position, Lau said in a statement. I knew I only had a couple of shots to get the best out of this encounter. With a bit of luck, one of my final attempts managed to capture the moment when one of the riders charged out from the morning mist along with his horses.

Laus prize is a seven-day Polar Bear Photo Safari for two at Churchill Wild  Seal River Heritage Lodge, a National Geographic Unique Lodge of the World, where he will head out on guided excursions to photograph polar bears and other wildlife.

The contest also recognises the best photographers in the categories of nature, people, and cities. Laus image took the top spot in the people category and two Japanese photographers, Takashi Nakagawa of Tokyo and Hiroki Inoue of Hokkaido, won in the cities and nature sections, respectively.

1/12 GRAND PRIZE WINNER: Winter Horseman by Anthony Lau The winter in Inner Mongolia is very unforgiving. At a freezing temperature of minus twenty and lower, with a constant breeze of snow from all direction, it was pretty hard to convince myself to get out of the car and take photos. When I saw Inner Mongolia horsemen showing off their skills and commanding the steed from a distance. I quickly grabbed my telephoto lens and captured the moment when one of the horseman charged out from morning mist. 2/12 SECOND PLACE WINNER, PEOPLE: Rooftop Dreams, Varanasi by Yasmin Mund It was 5:30 a.m. and I had just arrived in Varanasi, India, off a sleeper train. I got to my guesthouse and instinctively climbed the seven flights of stairs to see the sunrise over the famous Ganges River. As I looked over the side of the rooftop terrace, my jaw dropped in disbelief. Below were mothers, fathers, children, cats, dogs, and monkeys all sleeping on their roofs. It was midsummer in Varanasi and sleeping without air-conditioning was pretty difficult. Can you spot the curry? 3/12 THIRD PLACE WINNER, PEOPLE: Remote life at -21 degree by Mattia Passarini An old woman in a remote village in Himachal Pradesh, India, carries a big log back home to warm up her house. 4/12 HONORABLE MENTION, PEOPLE: Muscle Beach Gym by Dotan Saguy A weightlifter lifts a barbell loaded with heavy plates while a bodybuilder performs an aerial handstand at the Muscle Beach Gym in Venice Beach, California. 5/12 FIRST PLACE WINNER, NATURE: Wherever you go, I will follow you!! by Hiroki Inoue It was when I drove back home feeling disappointed with the fact that I had finished the day in vain without any anticipated subject that I heard the joyful voice from the car window like quack, quack! There they were: red foxes. Around the end of the winter, they meet the season of love; they care for and love each other enough to make us jealous. 6/12 SECOND PLACE WINNER, NATURE: Double trapping by Massimiliano Bencivenni I was in the Brazilian Pantanal along the Rio Negrinho. I realized that the river, at certain points of the loops, created places where there were many yacare caimans. I saw a yacare sink suddenly, and I immediately looked for the best location to photograph when it resurfaced. The whole thing lasted only a fraction of a moment. 7/12 THIRD PLACE WINNER, NATURE: Lagunas Baltinache (Atacama Desert) by Victor Lima I made this photo during my recent photographic expedition in Atacama Desert, in April 2016. I embarked alone on this adventure to find images not yet published of the most arid desert in the world and its contrasts. Despite the Atacama Desert being one of the best places on the planet to do night photography. Therefore, I sought one of the places recently discovered in the Atacama Desert and one that shows all the contrast of this desert to make night shots: the Baltinache Ponds. 8/12 HONORABLE MENTION, NATURE: Bears on a Berg by John Rollins The location is on the sea ice in Davis Straight, off the coast of Baffin Island in the Canadian Arctic, on April 2, 2016. This mother polar bear and her yearling are perched atop a huge snow-covered iceberg that got socked in when the ocean froze over for the winter. To me, the relative smallness of these large creatures when compared to the immensity of the iceberg in the photo represents the precariousness of the polar bears reliance on the sea and sea ice for its existence. 9/12 FIRST PLACE WINNER, CITIES: Ben Youssef by Takashi Nakagawa Marrakesh is an exciting city for any traveler, but I was tired of walking on the crowded street and being asked for money from local people, so I was looking for a place to settle down. Even though there were a lot of people in Madrasa, it was still a more quiet and relaxing place than outside. Suddenly a beautiful reflection appeared on the shallow pool when I was taking a rest. It was a cloudy day so I could only see it when the wind stopped blowing and sunlight hit this Islamic architecture. 10/12 SECOND PLACE WINNER, CITIES: Silenced by Wing Ka H. This photo was taken on my last trip to Guangzhou, China. This place is the school dormitories of South China Normal University. When I was hanging around, most of them were taking a break. After lunchtime, they needed to go back to study. 11/12 THIRD PLACE WINNER, CITIES: Celestial Reverie by Jeremy Tan Lightning seemingly strikes Komtar Tower, the most iconic landmark of George Town, capital of Penang state in Malaysia, during a thunderstorm. It is symbolic of the rejuvenation that the city, famous for a unique blend of centuries-old buildings and modern structures, has enjoyed in recent years. While many of its old neighborhoods fell into neglect in the 1990s and early 2000s, a UNESCO World Heritage listing in 2008 sparked a transformation. 12/12 HONORABLE MENTION, CITIES: Divide by Kathleen Dolmatch From a doorless helicopter looking south on Central Park West, dividing the architecture and Central Park, on November 5, 2014, a day before my 27th birthday. The flight was my birthday gift.

Get inspired by the winners, runners-up, and honorable mentions in the gallery above. Each image is accompanied by a caption from the photographer.
Singapore's Trafigura Group in talks to buy a minority stake in Essar Oil

Singapore-based commodities trader Trafigura Group Pte is in talks to buy a minority stake in Essar Oil Ltd, in a deal that could value India's second-largest private refiner at about $6.5 billion, Bloomberg today reported, citing people with knowledge.

Trafigura is in talks to acquire a 15-per cent stake in Ruia brothers-run Essar Oil, and plans to reach an agreement by next month, the report said.

The Ruias are willing to sell a maximum stake of about 30 per cent of Essar Oil to Trafigura, and use the proceeds from the refinery stake sales to pay back bank loans.

As part of the deal, Trafigura could also get a stake in Essar's more than 2,000 retail fuel stations, a power plant and the Vadinar port, but Trafigura's main interest is Essar Oil's 405,000 barrel-a-day Vadinar refinery, the report added.

A successful deal would come a year after Russian state oil producer OAO Rosneft signed a preliminary agreement to buy a 49-per cent stake in the Vadinar refinery. (See: Russia's Rosneft to buy 49% stake in Essar oil refinery)

Vadinar oil refinery is one of the most complex refineries in the world, having a Nelson complexity index of 11.8, and is capable of refining heavy oil. The refinery has access to the deep-water port in Vadinar, which is capable of handling VLCC class tankers.

Mumbai-based Essar Oil also has over 1,400 Essar-branded oil retail outlets in various parts of India and about 600 more under various stages of commissioning.

The company plans to more than double the refinery capacity to 45 million tonnes per annum by 2020 and substantially increase its retail outlets to 5,000 in the next year.

Essar Oil is part of the $35-billion Essar Group which has interests in steel, energy, infrastructure and services with operations in 29 countries, employing over 60,000 people.

Essar Oil is a fully integrated oil and gas company engaged in exploration, production and retailing owing a global portfolio of onshore and offshore oil and gas assets.



Founded in 1993, the Trafigura is one of the world's leading independent commodity traders, specialising in the oil, minerals and metals markets.

Its main trading activities are the supply and transport of oil and petroleum products and metals and minerals. The trading business is supported by industrial and financial assets including global oil products distribution company Puma Energy; joint venture company DT Group; global terminals operator Impala Terminals and Trafigura's Mining Group.

The company has an annual turnover of $S97.2 billion.


A leading tourism figure in Donegal has warned against what he describes as the panic that has followed the UK referendum decision to leave the European Union.

The decision has sparked huge concern about the potential implications for Donegal.

Politicians and local business people have expressed fears about what the implications of the decision could mean for Donegal in the days following Thursday's historic vote.

There is particular concern about the re-establishment of border controls between the republic and the six counties.

But as the possible implications are still being digested, Terry McEniff, owner of the Mount Errigal Hotel in Letterkenny, said that while there is uncertainty in the wake of the referendum, people do not really know what is going to happen and should not be panicking.

There is far too much panic and people do not know what is going to happen, he said.

There is uncertainty and there is volatility in the markets and people are making loose comments and these people do not know what is going to happen, he said.

Mr McEniff, who is a director of Donegal Tourism and Letterkenny Tourism, said it is too early to say what the impact will be on tourism and the economy in general, but the UKs exit could bring opportunities for tourism in the republic.

It is really too early to say. Volatility does not help but to me that will only last for a short time.

I think it will find its level. Europe is our biggest market after the UK. There is a huge tourism market and the UK has put itself at a distinct disadvantage relating to the freedom of travel and that is going to put restrictions on tourists entering UK which has to be of benefit to Ireland, he said.

Mr McEniff said many of the fears the border may not be realised as it is in the interest of too many people to find a workable solution.

I believe there will be freedom of movement between the republic and the six counties and England, Scotland and Wales.

The ink was hardly dry on the votes and people were out talking about how and when it will be for Donegal and we don't really know.
The Letterkenny Senior Accordion Band took centre stage in front of an audience of 500 people recently.

The concert which took place at the Tullamore concert Hotel was organised to raise much needed funds for the Irish Kidney Association.

The Letterkenny Senior Accordion band performed alongside the Hart Male Voice Choir.

According to those in attendance, the Letterkenny band really made an impact on the audience with people singing along to their tunes and dancing in the aisles in the Tullaghmore hotel.

The Chairperson of the Offaly Branch of the Irish Kidney Association (IKA), Jerome Burke, said that he heard of the Letterkenny band because of their performance at the Rose of Tralee festival.

He said that he now understood why the Letterkenny band was invited back to the national festival on an annual basis. He described the performance as outstanding and added that Letterkenny should be very proud of their band.

The Tullaghmore concert was professionally recorded and a DVD of the full concert will be available shortly costing 15 with proceeds going to the IKA.

Many who were in the audience have congratulated the Letterkenny Senior Accordion band since their return and have requested CDs of their wonderful music.
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The founder of the Twist soup kitchens will open a kitchen in Dundalk, The Dundalk Democrat can reveal.

The founder of the Twist soup kitchens will open a kitchen in Dundalk, The Dundalk Democrat can reveal.

Ex-helicopter pilot Oliver Williams told the paper that he was looking to expand the soup kitchen service that he stated in Galway.

Weve been looking at the possibility of opening in Dundalk for some time, said Oliver,.

I have been contacted by individuals and organisations in Dundalk who have looked for my help. 

He went on to explain that he believes a lot of local people are in difficulty at the moment and so the arrival of Twist Soutp Kitchens in the town will be a welcome addition,

It is one of the largest towns in Ireland and I understand that a lot of people are struggling in the area at the moment.

We provide over 2,500 meals a week across the country and we look forward to bringing the service to Dundalk.

The soup kitchen is expected to open in the coming months. An exact location for the service has yet to be determined, although Oliver says that it will be in the centre of the town.

Twist Soup Kitchens do not receive any Government funding and is operated by donations and the good will of local people and businesses.

The service also caters for everybody, not just the homeless. It also welcomes single parents and those who have lost their jobs, or anyone who is in need, hungry or just wants to have a chat.
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We live in exciting time. It seems like every day a new device or application is launched that has the potential to change our lives and the way we do business. Unfortunately, most small businesses do not have the means to buy every single new innovation so they need to be pragmatic on where and why they invest in technology.

With innovation happening faster than ever before there is a strong temptation for SMBs to purchase the newest technology immediately without stopping to think how it will help them achieve their business goals.

The message for small businesses is a simple one: do not buy technology for technologys sake.

SMBs really need to ask themselves these three questions when looking at purchasing technology:

By making this investment, will I be improving the efficiency of my employees If I purchase this technology will that increase customer satisfaction Will my operating costs be reduced by this investment in technology

If the business owner/decision maker cannot answer yes to at least one of these questions, there needs to be a reconsideration of the purchasing decision. Thats not to say technology cant serve a wider strategic purpose. But it does need a harder think.

So youve identified that yes, that new telephony system you are looking deploy will in fact satisfy one or more of the criteria above. Now what?

Businesses should also explore new ways of acquiring technology. Gone are the days when technology purchases followed a fairly rigid cycle: Major capital outlay, followed by depreciations and then a refresh. Small businesses should really be exploring alternative methods, such as purchasing technology as-a-service. Instead of buying technology and managing it as an asset, they can lease them and pay-per-use. This puts the risk back onto the vendor. If the phones arent running hot, you will pay less.

The next crucial thing is to ensure that you are getting the most out of the technology. When you met with your technology partner and/or supplier they would have shown you the full range of functionality that the product provides. Its probably part of the reason you made the decision to buy in the first place.

What is truly important is that you are working with your supplier to get your employees completely trained up on everything the new technology offers. If you arent fostering the partnership in training there is a risk that your staff will not be using the new technology to its potential and a number of things could happen:

You could be met with resistance  But my old phone worked just fine, why are we changing. Without the necessary coaching, employees will become a barrier to the improvement in efficiency that the purchasing decision was made for, they may not embrace the technology and you might be left with the burden of equipment that is not being used Your staff will use the new technology, but will not take advantage of the new ways of working that it was supposed to encourage, i.e they continue to work the way they used to. Again, this is a real risk to your business as tools that are under-consumed and under-utilised become a waste of time and waste of money

The purpose of this post isnt to be negative about technology. Technology is great but SMBs should deploy technology that helps them achieve their business goals, not just makes them fit in with the preverbial cool kids.

About the author:

Chris Downes is Channel Sales Director at Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise (ALE), responsible for creating and running ALEs channel strategy for its communications and network infrastructure solutions in Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific region. Chris is a business management professional with over 20 years of experience in the telecommunications and ICT industry. Prior to joining Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise in 2008, Chris spent 10 years with Verizon in a variety of roles including Sales Manager, Carrier and Wholesale for Australia and New Zealand.
We live in an unprecedented age of information and computing power  yet whether publicly or privately, we still make decisions largely on how we feel rather than based on hard information.

With this massive influx of data and computing power, when it comes to issues like global warming or gun control  andmuch of what is being shown as data is false  we are more likely to decide based on how we feel about an issue than spending a comparatively little time, compared to our ancestors, figuring out the facts and then making what would be the right decision for us.

Instead, there was a counterproductiverebellion in congress. Its only direct impact wasnt to prevent or even reduce the chance of another mass shooting, but rather to result in the sale of thousands of assault weapons. (Why dont we ever talk about how these failed efforts sell tens of thousands of guns?)

From the data Im seeing, the Democratic Party, not the NRA, is actually responsible for selling more assault weapons. Maybe gun companies are funding the wrong party?

Ill share my thoughts on fixing the big problem, which requires shifting from emotion-driven decisions to data-driven decisions, and Ill end with my product of the week: Politifact.

Orlando Shooting

What most troubles me about the Orlando shooting is that it was preventable. Within a very short period of time after the shooting, we knew that the shooter was troubled, that he had anger control issues, that he was violent, that he had been communicating with terrorist organizations, that he had been on a no-fly list (but was no longer), that hed recently bought several guns and ammunition after being turned away by a gun store, and that he had been behaving suspiciously.

That data should have resulted in an attempt to ascertain whether he was a risk and if so, to do something about it. Those separate data elements are correlated only after a crime, not before, so they are really great on proving guilt and establishing why something was done  but not preventing it from happening in the first place.

Did we focus on fixing that problem? No, the government separated into two camps: one protecting gun rights and the other attacking them. Two bills resulted and failed, but had they existed prior to the Orlando shooting, they would have had no impact on it. Its as though after hitting the iceberg, the crew on the Titanic argued over whether ships should be allowed to sail into shallow waters.

We often dont know the cause of a problem, but we do in this case, and yet both sides are doing their best to avoid talking about it. To date, there is still no major effort to connect the data elements needed to effectively mitigate mass shootings. So this isnt about prevention  it is about manipulating an outcome. I expect it has more to do with the fact that the NRA supports right-wing politicians more than actually saving lives.

Now, for the bills in Congress; what is funny is that the only amendment that actually might have prevented the Orlando shooting was from Sen. John Cornyn, a Republican from Texas, of all places.

The data we would need to decide on the two core bills blocking gun sales to those on the no-fly list and requiring background checks for gun show buyers  given neither would have impacted Orlando  is how many people on no-fly lists commit gun-related crimes, particularly mass shootings. The same is true for those who buy guns at gun shows.

The bills are supposed to correct a problem, but there is no data suggesting a major problem actually exists related to these two behaviors. The first step in making a decision should be to figure out if there is a reason to make it, and given this Congress is kind of famous for not doing stuff, picking things to do that dont have any impact seems a tad, well, wasteful.

I have an idea. The CDC captures deaths by cause. Why doesnt Congress use this list to prioritize funding to keep citizens alive? Right now, heart disease is No. 1, followed very closely by cancer.

Gun deaths take about 2.5 percent of the toll of these two diseases combined. More people die from car accidents, which suggests that fixing the car thing should have the higher priority. I should add that two-thirds of the tracked gun deaths were suicides. In other words, you are twice as likelyto shoot yourself than to be shot by a bad guy  but lets be clear, it is a choice. If two-thirds of the gun problem is folks shooting themselves, then maybe the focus should be on not selling guns to suicidal people.

In the end, particularly given how difficult it is to get gun bans, programs on gun safety and to better help those who are suicidal likely would have a far larger impact than the bans. (Seriously, we werent able to ban drugs effectively, and it isnt clear gun bans are effective in the U.S.). You have to prove causation  not gut feeling, but actual causation  and that is missing from the discussion. To make a decision to change something, we need to know it actually will work.

Avoiding Manipulation

If you are data driven, you become far harder to manipulate. Take global warming. If you look underneath the debate, there is no private interest that has been identified as fabricating it as a hoax. The data sources are largely government agencies and schools. Oil companies and the people who own them are the main creators of the counterarguments.

That one little data tidbit should have you questioning at least the ethics of one side. Had we known that doctors were behind the idea that smoking tobacco causes cancer and that the cigarette companies were behind the challenges to it, we would likely have addressed the issue more aggressively and effectively.

Even if you toss out global warming, its causes  pollutants  are directly tied to health problems like cancer, which should top the list of congressional goals. Based on the data, the stronger near-term problems tied to mortality are those tied to pollution, not necessarily global warming, which suggests we should make the necessary fixes anyway.

Wrapping Up: The 3 Elements of a Data-Driven Decision

So here is my recommendation. When considering any major decision, break it down into three data elements: The first is priority. Is there another decision you should make first? For instance, should you buy a new boat or pay down your mortgage first? If you pick the latter, then you dont need to spend time researching which boat to buy.

Second, what is the problem you are trying to solve? What is the primary reason to buy that car, boat or home? That will define which data you need to make the decision. For instance, if the goal is to have a relaxing vacation because you are overstressed, then you should prioritize your choices by placing exciting but high-stress destinations last. Otherwise, you might do just the opposite and return more stressed than when you left.

Finally, what is the data that defines the decision? In particular, validate the data source to avoid being manipulated by bad data. If you are being shown numbers by a timeshare sales person, maybe it would be good to get relevant data from an unbiased source before making your decision. Applied to gun control, there are far higher priorities (Id argue a crazy dictator with nuclear weapons might be a slightly higher priority with regard to problems to fix, for instance).

As for the problem to solve, the Orlando mass shooting resulted from the lack of a working early warning system  not the tool used.

Finally, what is the data that defines the gun decision? What it showcases is that the proposed gun legislation would have no impact.

All of this suggests we are just being manipulated, and personally Id rather Congress actually focused on things that would get jobs done. Given that the bills didnt pass, they arent even doing a good job of manipulation.

Data is your friend.

There are a lot of interesting websites that provide insight into the information that surrounds us. Some, like Ranker, work kind of like Yelp and rank broad categories like companies and politicians by opinion. The problem is, it isnt objective. Like Yelp, its likely easily manipulated.

Politifact, which won a Pulitzer Prize, uses actual fact-checking to determine whether a candidate is lying. It is relatively transparent, so you can read how it reached its conclusion and decide for yourself if the analysis is valid.

One quick place to look is its Truth-o-Meter, which maps a politicians claim to the related fact. Rankings are true, mostly true, mostly false, false and pants on fire. The last one adds color by implying only idiots would believe a false fact.

There currently are 202 pages of ratings, but they actually make a quick read and can tell you pretty quickly if you are being misled on a major issue or comment, particularly if it would make you look stupid to repeat a particular fact at a party.

Both Clinton and Trump should read this regularly, because both are quoted as saying a number of things that are pretty stupid (but here Trumps lead is huuuuge  if he farts, we could lose California).

In any case, because Politifact is one of the major forces trying to help us make decisions on facts  not emotions  it is my product of the week. And for godsakes, dont forget about Snopes when it comes to not forwarding something that would make you look stupid.
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GOTHENBURG - Leading Nordic fashion brand, KappAhl, says it has increased the proportion of its sustainability labelled fashion range from 24 to 38 per cent over a 12 month period. The company, which has nearly 400 stores in Sweden, Norway, Finland and Poland, includes garments which have been made used using organic and Better Cotton Initiative cotton as well as recycled materials in its sustainable range.
Beskyd Tunnel was the first of EUR 3bn EU finance for Ukraine

The 130-year-old Beskyd Tunnel leaks. The water that pours through the roof freezes in the bitter winters of the Carpathian Mountains, forming massive icicles that sometimes halt rail traffic out of Ukraine headed for Slovakia and Hungary. But Ukraines trade relations with Europe are the opposite of icy. So a new tunnel is under way beside the decrepit old one in this beautiful, remote area 100 km from Lvivand there will be no ice to hold up the trains.

The 1.8 km tunnels two ends connected earlier this year. By early 2018, with its lining and tracks complete, the new tunnel is expected to handle 60% of transit freight from Ukraine to Central Europe. This transport corridor is of great importance for the Ukrainian economy, says Mykola Didukh, who heads construction work on the tunnel for Ukrainian Railways, the state rail company. It makes us closer to Europe in every way.

The tunnel represents the growing links between Ukraine and the European Union. The two signed an association agreement in March 2014. The expansion of EU involvement in Ukraine includes an increase in lending by the European Investment Bank, which has loaned EUR 2.2 billion to the Eastern European country since 2014. We are adopting European experience, too, adds Didukh, by working with European experts.

The new Beskyd Tunnel project started more than a decade ago. The aim is to replace the existing tunnel built in 1886 when the region was under the rule of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Besides the icicles, its also a bottleneck because only a single track runs through the tunnel, forcing freight to wait at one end while trains pass in the opposite direction.

It took years for financing and other details to be arranged for the new tunnel. The EIB signed a EUR 55 million loan for the project in May 2014, even as fighting continued elsewhere in Ukraine. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development also contributed USD 40 million.

The association agreement made this tunnel supporting trade and mobility even more important for Ukraine and the EU, says Lionel Rapaille, the EIB division head who oversees public sector deals in Ukraine, as well as elsewhere in Eastern Europe and the Caucasus. Beskyd was the first deal we did in our major commitment to Ukraine.

By the end of 2016, the EIB expects its lending to Ukraine since the EU association agreement to reach EUR 3 billion. The EIB has also increased its staff in Kyiv to work on the new projects, which include helping the country to rebuild after the recent conflict and to create infrastructure to cope with 1.7 million displaced people within Ukraine. Other EIB deals are aimed at supporting the modernization of municipal infrastructure, small and medium-sized businesses, agri-businesses, and energy security.

The tunnel meets other EU policy aims beyond closer ties with Ukraine. Much of the freight that will use the new tunnel would otherwise have travelled to nearby Hungary and Slovakia, and then on to Austria by road.

The economic case for this is that is helps attract more container traffic onto the railway, says Piers Vickers, the EIBs deputy economic adviser on strategic railways. It will promote a modal shift from road to rail. Thats good for the economy and the environment.
Ely, Cambridgeshire is best known for its majestic cathedral dubbed the 'Ship of the Fens' because it dominates the flat landscape. The city, which is the second smallest in England, is about 14 miles north-northeast of Cambridge and about 80 miles by road from London.

13:33, 25 OCT 2022
It seems like Microsoft is indeed preparing to tackle the hardware business on its own, as a recent visit by Indian app developer Shubhan Chemburkar to Microsoft's Building 88 revealed a dedicated wall of the tech giant's hardware efforts. What is particularly interesting is the fact that the particular wall had a spot for 2016 that simply says "Coming Soon."

Considering that the wall in Building 88 exclusively featured the Surface products of the tech giant, speculations immediately ran high that the 2016 Surface device would be the rumored Surface All-in-One, a device that many considers as Microsoft's answer to the Mac Pro.

The Surface line of devices has always been Microsoft's way to showcase the capability of its software. After all, unlike Apple, which makes most of its revenue with the sale of its hardware, Microsoft's earnings are mainly rooted in the sale and utilization of its suites of popular software, such as Windows OS and MS Office. Thus, creating an AIO machine actually makes sense.

In a lot of ways, a Surface All-in-One would provide Microsoft a pretty good way to show consumers just how much its software can do with the right hardware. Right now, the devices that best personify this would be the Surface Pro 4 and the Surface Book, two hybrid devices that actually compare favorably to the iPad Pro and the Macbook Pro.

As much as the Surface Pro 4 and the Surface Book are excellent devices, however, they are still, at their core, portable machines. Due to their form factor, there is just so much that Microsoft could do. If the tech giant were to make a Surface desktop computer, however, it would provide Microsoft with far more options to maximize the power of its software. Simply put, it would be able to equip the best that the tech market has to offer, such as the GTX 1080, for example.

While the cost of such a device would undoubtedly be high, Microsoft could rest assure that the machine would have a very viable market. After all, Windows is still the OS utilized by most power users in the computing world. As much as MacOs is user-friendly and Linux is excellent when used for servers, most heavy-duty computing is still commonly done with Windows.

Thus, if Microsoft were to make the Holy Grail of PCs, there is no doubt that it would be one of the best-selling Surface devices ever created.
This land is ideally located in the visible Waterfall development node, which is perfectly located between the Allandale and Buccleuch interchanges. The area benefits from easy and convenient access to the road and rail infrastructure of the central Gauteng economic development zone.



Sanlam holds 80% and Attacq holds 20% in the joint venture with Attacq having the right to increase its shareholding to 50%. 114ha of the land will be utilised for light industrial commercial developments with the balance of 14ha to be developed for retail purposes. The development roll out will be managed by Attacq.



Extensive demographic and feasibility studies have been undertaken and fully support the proposed retail development to be done on the 14ha of retail land in the near future. In terms of the retail development, Attacq has already elected to increase its shareholding in the joint venture to 50%.



The 114ha of light industrial commercial land is ideally located for light industrial activity and distribution centres. The developments on this land will in future also benefit from further infrastructure development and the additional access links that are foreseen for the area to the south of Allandale Road.



Morne Wilken, Chief Executive Officer of Attacq, expressed his delight with the joint venture and says that he looks forward to having Sanlam Properties as a strategic partner. Sanlam has been a key investor in Attacq for many years. We value the relationship and welcome its investment now as a key development partner, states Wilken.



We look forward to these development ventures and believe these investments will deliver phenomenal growth, states Andre Rheeder, Chief Executive Officer of Sanlam Properties. We are confident that Attacq is the right partner for such an undertaking, given their track record to date, as well as the vision they have to making Waterfall City a prime African business destination, concludes Rheeder.



Rheeder explains that this transaction supports the overall Sanlam property offering. Sanlam Properties works with partners, investors and tenants to maximise the financial potential of their business or property assets, says Rheeder. We are excited to be part of this phase of the overall Waterfall expansion. In this joint venture with Attacq we foresee good mutual returns from a long-term strong relationship in one of Gautengs fastest growing business property nodes.



Attacqs South African development pipeline focuses on Waterfall, which includes Waterfall City, centrally located in Gauteng, as the new corporate headquarter node of South Africa. Gautengs new conveniently located world-class city is already attracting global names like PwC with their new 26-story office tower in the thriving precinct due for completion in the first quarter of 2018. Other corporates which have already relocated to Waterfall include Premier Foods, Novartis, Group Five, Diageo, Cell C, Altech, Digistics, Massbuild, Cipla, MB Technologies, Drager S.A, Westcon Group, Medtronic, Cummins, Honda Motor SA and others.



Waterfall City still holds a lot of promise and exciting prospects with its new status as Gautengs most attractive new corporate headquarters destination given its central location in Gauteng - the financial hub of South Africa, states Wilken.



Attacq takes a long term view on property. The strategy of Attacq is rooted in sustainable capital growth and robust value appreciation, with emphasis placed on a far reaching outlook, similar to the asset class we invest in.



Our vision unfolds through the development and ownership of a diversified portfolio of properties with contractual income streams, concludes Wilken.
The Safai Karamchari Andolan traversed 500 districts of the country with the message "stop killing us." The participants, manual scavengers who clean dry latrines, sewers and septic tanks, are forced to carry on this dehumanising work despite laws against it. Will the Swachh Bharat campaign succeed in addressing the issues connected with manual scavenging?

India celebrated the 125th birth centenary of B R Ambedkar on 14 April this year. Continuing the movement he began long ago when he asked the Dalits not to do jobs like manual scavenging, the Safai Karamchari Andolan undertook the Bhim Yatra that travelled across the country for 125 days, passing through 500 districts in 30 states. The organisers called it a journey of pain and anguish, to tell the country and the government to stop killing us (the manual scavengers) in dry latrines, sewers and septic tanks. It is now a widely accepted fact that the dehumanising practice of manual scavenging still continues in spite of laws created to abolish it,1 and thousands dying in sewers and septic tanks is a reality. The occupation and those engaged in it have been glorified by Mahatma Gandhi and later the Gandhians, who equate a manual scavenger to a mother taking care of a child. Prime Minister Modi called it, the vocation of the Valmikis, an experience in spirituality (Karamyog 2007). A Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) member Tarun Vijay, while raising the issue of safai karamcharis in the Rajya Sabha, termed them as cleanliness martyrs. The dehumanising practices continue to draw the attention of policymakers, judiciary, executive, civil society organisations and the media. However, the ground reality has hardly seen any substantial change or transformation.

Safai Karamcharis and the State
Younited Italia, Nicola Manzari e il nuovo Coo, Luca Faccini e Head of Growth e Domenico Petraroli e General Counsel
Stanford, CA -- Plants have tiny pores on their leaves called stomata -- Greek for mouths--through which they take in carbon dioxide from the air and from which water evaporates. New work from the lab of Dominique Bergmann, honorary adjunct staff member at Carnegie's Department of Plant Biology and professor at Stanford University, reveals ways that the systems regulating the development of stomata in grasses could be harnessed to improve plant efficiency and agricultural yield.

More than 30 percent of all the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere passes through stomata each year, and in exchange, plant stomata release water vapor equivalent of twice the amount present in the whole atmosphere. As such, plants exert a tremendous push-and-pull influence on the global climate and are particularly attuned to climate change.

What's more, stomata have been found in fossils dating back 400 million years, and are features of nearly every land plant alive today, although they can take on different appearances in different kinds of plants. Most of what we know about how genes shape stomata comes from studies of one "model" plant, Arabidopsis, a relative of broccoli and cabbage, which is very different from the grasses studied here. It was a mystery whether all plants use the same genes as Arabidopsis to produce stomata, or whether all the different stomatal forms and patterns result from each plant using its own unique set of genetic blueprints.

New work published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences by lead authors Michael Raissig and Emily Abrash features a collaboration born at Carnegie's Department of Plant Biology between Bergmann and John Vogel (now at the Department of Energy's Joint Genome Institute) who met as postdocs at Carnegie. This work focused on the stomata of grasses, a family that includes maize, rice, and wheat, and thus represents key species used for human food, animal feed, and for renewable fuel.

The decision to study stomata in grasses was made not just because these plants are economically and environmentally important, but because grasses show several unique innovations that make their stomata much more efficient in taking up carbon dioxide while limiting water loss. Grass stomata have a different shape -- a dumbbell -- instead of the kidney bean-shaped ones found in most plants, and grasses have their stomata all aligned in regimented rows along the leaf blade, as opposed to the more haphazard distribution on broad-leafed plants. Some scientists have speculated that the shape and distribution of stomata in grasses are the reason for their tremendous evolutionary success.

Using a variety of laboratory techniques, Bergmann's team was able to elucidate some parts of the regulatory systems that turn certain genes on and off, which determine how grasses control the number of stomata to make, where to put them, and how to generate their distinct shape. Surprisingly, these differences don't occur because grasses use unique stomata genes, but because they use the same genes as other plants in different ways. This can be thought of as similar circuits of components, but with different wiring, so different genes are in charge of others. This "rewiring" can partly explain how grasses form different stomata with superior physiology.

What is exciting about these findings is that "now we have a handle on the genes that comprise a universal toolkit for building stomata", Bergmann explained, "plants apparently use the same common parts, but the ways these parts function and interact with each other are different, which is both interesting from a discovery science perspective and could be harnessed to improve growth performance in grasses that humans use for food or fuel."

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This work was supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation, the Life Science Research Foundation, a U.S. National Science Foundation fellowship, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and the U.S. Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute, supported by the Office of Science.

The Carnegie Institution for Science is a private, nonprofit organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with six research departments throughout the U.S. Since its founding in 1902, the Carnegie Institution has been a pioneering force in basic scientific research. Carnegie scientists are leaders in plant biology, developmental biology, astronomy, materials science, global ecology, and Earth and planetary science.
Scientists from the Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have discovered a possible secret to dramatically boosting the efficiency of perovskite solar cells hidden in the nanoscale peaks and valleys of the crystalline material.

Solar cells made from compounds that have the crystal structure of the mineral perovskite have captured scientists' imaginations. They're inexpensive and easy to fabricate, like organic solar cells. Even more intriguing, the efficiency at which perovskite solar cells convert photons to electricity has increased more rapidly than any other material to date, starting at three percent in 2009 -- when researchers first began exploring the material's photovoltaic capabilities -- to 22 percent today. This is in the ballpark of the efficiency of silicon solar cells.

Now, as reported online July 4, 2016 in the journal Nature Energy, a team of scientists from the Molecular Foundry and the Joint Center for Artificial Photosynthesis, both at Berkeley Lab, found a surprising characteristic of a perovskite solar cell that could be exploited for even higher efficiencies, possibly up to 31 percent.

Using photoconductive atomic force microscopy, the scientists mapped two properties on the active layer of the solar cell that relate to its photovoltaic efficiency. The maps revealed a bumpy surface composed of grains about 200 nanometers in length, and each grain has multi-angled facets like the faces of a gemstone.

Unexpectedly, the scientists discovered a huge difference in energy conversion efficiency between facets on individual grains. They found poorly performing facets adjacent to highly efficient facets, with some facets approaching the material's theoretical energy conversion limit of 31 percent.

The scientists say these top-performing facets could hold the secret to highly efficient solar cells, although more research is needed.

"If the material can be synthesized so that only very efficient facets develop, then we could see a big jump in the efficiency of perovskite solar cells, possibly approaching 31 percent," says Sibel Leblebici, a postdoctoral researcher at the Molecular Foundry.

Leblebici works in the lab of Alexander Weber-Bargioni, who is a corresponding author of the paper that describes this research. Ian Sharp, also a corresponding author, is a Berkeley Lab scientist at the Joint Center for Artificial Photosynthesis. Other Berkeley Lab scientists who contributed include Linn Leppert, Francesca Toma, and Jeff Neaton, the director of the Molecular Foundry.

A team effort

The research started when Leblebici was searching for a new project. "I thought perovskites are the most exciting thing in solar right now, and I really wanted to see how they work at the nanoscale, which has not been widely studied," she says.

She didn't have to go far to find the material. For the past two years, scientists at the nearby Joint Center for Artificial Photosynthesis have been making thin films of perovskite-based compounds, and studying their ability to convert sunlight and CO2 into useful chemicals such as fuel. Switching gears, they created pervoskite solar cells composed of methylammonium lead iodide. They also analyzed the cells' performance at the macroscale.

The scientists also made a second set of half cells that didn't have an electrode layer. They packed eight of these cells on a thin film measuring one square centimeter. These films were analyzed at the Molecular Foundry, where researchers mapped the cells' surface topography at a resolution of ten nanometers. They also mapped two properties that relate to the cells' photovoltaic efficiency: photocurrent generation and open circuit voltage.

This was performed using a state-of-the-art atomic force microscopy technique, developed in collaboration with Park Systems, which utilizes a conductive tip to scan the material's surface. The method also eliminates friction between the tip and the sample. This is important because the material is so rough and soft that friction can damage the tip and sample, and cause artifacts in the photocurrent.

Surprise discovery could lead to better solar cells

The resulting maps revealed an order of magnitude difference in photocurrent generation, and a 0.6-volt difference in open circuit voltage, between facets on the same grain. In addition, facets with high photocurrent generation had high open circuit voltage, and facets with low photocurrent generation had low open circuit voltage.

"This was a big surprise. It shows, for the first time, that perovskite solar cells exhibit facet-dependent photovoltaic efficiency," says Weber-Bargioni.

Adds Toma, "These results open the door to exploring new ways to control the development of the material's facets to dramatically increase efficiency."

In practice, the facets behave like billions of tiny solar cells, all connected in parallel. As the scientists discovered, some cells operate extremely well and others very poorly. In this scenario, the current flows towards the bad cells, lowering the overall performance of the material. But if the material can be optimized so that only highly efficient facets interface with the electrode, the losses incurred by the poor facets would be eliminated.

"This means, at the macroscale, the material could possibly approach its theoretical energy conversion limit of 31 percent," says Sharp.

A theoretical model that describes the experimental results predicts these facets should also impact the emission of light when used as an LED. Linn Leppert, Sebastian Reyes-Lillo, and Jeff Neaton performed this particular work.

The Molecular Foundry is a DOE Office of Science User Facility located at Berkeley Lab. The Joint Center for Artificial Photosynthesis is a DOE Energy Innovation Hub led by the California Institute of Technology in partnership with Berkeley Lab.

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The research was supported in part by the Department of Energy's Office of Science.

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory addresses the world's most urgent scientific challenges by advancing sustainable energy, protecting human health, creating new materials, and revealing the origin and fate of the universe. Founded in 1931, Berkeley Lab's scientific expertise has been recognized with 13 Nobel prizes. The University of California manages Berkeley Lab for the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science. For more, visit http://www.lbl.gov.

DOE's Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the Unites States, and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, please visit the Office of Science website at science.energy.gov.
For years, camera-makers have sought ways to avoid chromatic aberration -- the color fringes that occur when various wavelengths of light focus at different distances behind a lens.

But where photographers see a problem, some sea creatures see possibility.

A new study, co-authored by the father-and-son team of Christopher and Alexander Stubbs, suggests that chromatic aberration may explain how cephalopods -- the class of animals that includes squid, octopi and cuttlefish -- can demonstrate such remarkable camouflage abilities despite only being able to see in black and white. The study is described in a July 4, 2016 paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

"There's been a long-standing paradox that (cephalopods) manifest these vivid chromatic behaviors," Christopher Stubbs, the Samuel C. Moncher Professor of Physics and of Astronomy, said. "That would lead any observer, even a lay person, to conclude that they must be able to deduce things about coloration."

"I have always been fascinated by these animals, and have had the opportunity to watch them perform their camouflage act while conducting field work in Indonesia," Alexander Stubbs, a Berkley graduate student and lead author of the study, said. "We believe we have found an elegant mechanism that could allow these cephalopods to determine the color of their surroundings, despite having a single visual pigment in their retina."

But what would possess a Harvard physicist to devote time and energy to one of the most persistent mysteries in biology? For Stubbs, the answer is simple -- his son.

"He chased me down with an idea he'd come up with, and the more we talked about it, the more sense it made," he said. "I credit my co-author with having the a-ha moment here."

That a-ha moment, Christopher Stubbs said, was the realization that cephalopods could potentially detect color by adjusting the focal position of their eyes to detect different wavelengths of light, and then composite each into a "color" image of their world.

"You can think about it like a digital camera dithering back and forth to find the crispest image," he said. "To me, what's really persuasive about this argument is...the pupils in these animals are an off-axis U shape, and that actually maximizes this chromatic signature at the expense of image sharpness. So it actually looks like there's been selective evolutionary pressure for their pupil shape to maximize this phenomenon."

To understand just how cephalopods might take advantage of chromatic aberration, Christopher Stubbs turned to code he's earlier written for astrophysics research and created a computer model of how the animals' eyes work.

"People have done a lot of physiological research on the optical properties of lenses in these animals," he explained. "We wrote some computer code that essentially takes test patterns and moves the retina back and forth, and superimposes that on the image and then measures the contrast."

Though it's not definitive evidence of how cephalopods understand color, Christopher Stubbs said the mechanism described in the study does agree with earlier studies of cephalopod eyes.

"I'm not a life scientist, but I think in some ways, this is such an elegant mechanism that it would be a shame if nature didn't capitalize on it," he said.

Ultimately, Alexander Stubbs said, the hope is that the study will offer other researchers a direction for study in the search for a conclusive answer to how squid and octopi became masters of camouflage.

"This is an entirely different scheme than the multi-color visual pigments that are common in humans and many other animals. High-acuity "camera style" lens eyes in octopus, squid and cuttlefish represent a completely independent evolution of complex eyes from vertebrates so in some sense we shouldn't necessarily expect that this lineage would solve problems like color vision in the same way. These organisms seem to have the machinery for color vision, just not in a way we had previously imagined."

Alexander Stubbs said. "We also conducted an in-depth review of prior literature evaluating conflicting evidence for color vision, and found prior behavioral studies suggesting a lack of color vision represent special cases and are consistent with our model. We hope this study will spur additional behavioral experiments by cephalopod community."

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A team of neuroscientists at the Champalimaud Centre for the Unknown, in Lisbon, has been able to map single neural connections over long distances in the brain. "These are the first measurements of neural inputs between local circuits and faraway sites", says Leopoldo Petreanu, who led the research. In doing so, Petreanu and co-authors Nicolas Morgenstern and Jacques Bourg have also discovered that the wiring of the brain is more complex than previously thought. Their results have been published in the journal Nature Neuroscience.

"We want to understand the structure of the brain, but the wiring diagram we have of the brain is still very rough", says Petreanu. "Except at the local level, we don't know how individual axons [the fibers projected by neurons] connect."

Thanks to a novel technique involving neural stimulation with laser light developed at their lab, the scientists were able to track the activity of individual axons, in the mouse brain, between a brain structure called the thalamus and the part of the visual cortex which receives, by way of the thalamus, the visual stimuli from the retinas.

The visual cortex is structured in layers. One of them, called L4, is in fact the point of entry of most of the visual input into the cortex, and contains small groups of neurons that are highly and bidirectionally interconnected. It has been proposed that they may act as amplifiers of certain features of the visual signal -- enhancing the edges of objects in the outside world, for instance. But how this is achieved, and how they interact with remote inputs from the brain to integrate visual information is not known.

Now, Petreanu and his team have found something that might give credit to this hypothesis: the fact that if two neurons in L4 are interconnected, an axon projecting from the thalamus to one of those neurons will "bifurcate" in order to also connect to the other. This means that these interconnected neurons receive the same input from the thalamus and are constantly signaling back and forth between them. Such a mechanism could generate an amplifying effect in these small neural circuits, according to Petreanu.

There's more: once the incoming visual inputs travel along axons from cells in the thalamus to cells in L4 (where some processing has already taken place), they are then transmitted unidirectionally, for higher level processing, to another layer, called L2/3. Thus, the common view today is that "visual processing is a serial process across layers", says Petreanu. But that's not what the scientist now saw. In fact, they discovered that when two neurons were connected across these layers, an axon projecting from the thalamus to the neuron in L4 also "bifurcated" and connected, independently, to the neuron in L2/3.

"That's our main finding", says Petreanu. The existence of these connections that "skip a layer" ensures that L2/3 not only receives processed visual inputs from L4, but also "raw data" from the thalamus. "This might allow L2/3 cells to become very specialized in the detection of visual features", he explains. "Neural simulations on computers have shown that if you want an artificial neural network to be good at recognizing faces, you better have a layered structure and connections that 'skip a layer' ". The same may be true of the brain.

"This changes the way we understand how the brain receives information", concludes Petreanu. And the same mechanism may be at work for other sensory inputs. The team now wants to determine if similar connection structures exist between different areas of the visual cortex.

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About Leopoldo Petreanu

Leopoldo Petreanu, currently a principal investigator at the Champalimaud Centre for the Unknown, was born and raised in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where he graduated in Biology at the University of Buenos Aires. He then moved to New York, where he obtained a Ph.D. at The Rockefeller University studying how newly-generated neurons integrate into the circuits of the adult mouse olfactory bulb. He continued studying circuits, this time in the cerebral cortex of the mouse, during his postdoctoral research at the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory and the Janelia Farm Research Campus. Using novel circuit mapping and imaging methods, he studied the connectivity and activity of the long-range inputs innervating the mouse cerebral cortex. His laboratory plans to study how the different areas of the cortex work in concert during behavior by using a combination of imaging, physiological and behavioral methods.
Amsterdam, Manhasset, NY and Valencia, CA - July 4, 2016 - Clinical trial data published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) demonstrates stimulating the vagus nerve with an implantable bioelectronic device significantly improved measures of disease activity in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). RA is a chronic inflammatory disease that affects 1.3 million people in the United States and costs tens of billions of dollars annually to treat. The findings, announced by the Academic Medical Center/University of Amsterdam, the Feinstein Institute for Medical Research and SetPoint Medical, appear online in PNAS Early Edition and will appear in an upcoming print issue.

The publication, titled "Vagus nerve stimulation inhibits cytokine production and attenuates disease severity in rheumatoid arthritis," highlights a human study designed to reduce symptoms of RA, cytokine levels and inflammation by stimulating the vagus nerve with a small implanted device.

"This is the first study to evaluate whether stimulating the inflammatory reflex directly with an implanted electronic device can treat RA in humans," said Professor Paul-Peter Tak, MD, PhD, FMedSci, the international principal investigator and lead author of the paper at the Division of Clinical Immunology & Rheumatology of the Academic Medical Center/University of Amsterdam. "We have previously shown that targeting the inflammatory reflex may reduce inflammation in animal models and in vitro models of RA. The direct correlation between vagus nerve stimulation and the suppression of several key cytokines like TNF as well as reduced RA signs and symptoms demonstrates proof of mechanism, which might be relevant for other immune-mediated inflammatory diseases as well."

"Our findings suggest a new approach to fighting diseases with bioelectronic medicines, which use electrical pulses to treat diseases currently treated with potent and relatively expensive drugs," said Anthony Arnold, Chief Executive Officer of SetPoint Medical. "These results support our ongoing development of bioelectronic medicines designed to improve the lives of people suffering from chronic inflammatory diseases and give healthcare providers new and potentially safer treatment alternatives at a much lower total cost for the healthcare system."

"This is a real breakthrough in our ability to help people suffering from inflammatory diseases," said co-author Kevin J. Tracey, MD, president and CEO of the Feinstein Institute for Medical Research, discoverer of the inflammatory reflex and co-founder of SetPoint Medical. "While we've previously studied animal models of inflammation, until now we had no proof that electrical stimulation of the vagus nerve can indeed inhibit cytokine production and reduce disease severity in humans. I believe this study will change the way we see modern medicine, helping us understand that our nerves can, with a little help, make the drugs that we need to help our body heal itself."

While focused on rheumatoid arthritis, the trial's results may have implications for patients suffering from other inflammatory diseases, including Crohn's, Parkinson's, Alzheimer's and others.

Study Methodology and Results

In the study, a stimulation device was implanted on the vagus nerve during a surgical procedure, then activated and deactivated based on a set schedule to measure response over 84 days, with primary endpoints measured at day 42 using DAS28-CRP, a standard disease activity composite score for RA that includes counts of tender and swollen joints, patient's and physician's assessment of disease activity and serum C-reactive protein (CRP) levels.

Of 17 patients with active RA in the study, several patients that had failed to respond to multiple therapies, including biologicals with different mechanisms of action, demonstrated robust responses. The findings indicate that active electrical stimulation of the vagus nerve inhibits TNF production in RA patients and significantly attenuates RA disease severity.

Several patients reported significant improvements, including some who had previously failed to respond to any other form of pharmaceutical treatment. In addition, no serious adverse side effects were reported.

The emerging field of bioelectronic medicine aims to target disorders traditionally treated with drugs and instead uses advanced neuromodulation devices that may offer significant advantages. SetPoint is developing a novel proprietary bioelectronic medicine platform to treat a variety of immune-mediated inflammatory diseases, using an implanted device to stimulate the vagus nerve.

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About Academic Medical Center at the University of Amsterdam

The Academic Medical Center (AMC) is one of the foremost research institutions of the Netherlands as well as one of the largest hospitals. The AMC complex houses the university hospital and the medical faculty of the University of Amsterdam, as well the Netherlands Institute Neurosciences and, the medical department of the Royal Tropical Institute. In the coming years, a national Neuroimaging Center will arise next to the AMC. Also a number of biotech companies -- partly AMC spin-offs -- are located on the premises. This concentration of expertise makes the AMC a breeding ground for fruitful scientific collaboration. The AMC houses all medical specializations that are recognized in the Netherlands, and all types of top clinical patient care. http://www.amc.nl

About The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research

The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research is the research arm of Northwell Health, the largest healthcare provider in New York. Home to 50 research laboratories and to clinical research throughout dozens of hospitals and outpatient facilities, the 2,000 researchers and staff of the Feinstein are making breakthroughs in molecular medicine, genetics, oncology, brain research, mental health, autoimmunity, and bioelectronic medicine - a new field of science that has the potential to revolutionize medicine. For more information about how we empower imagination and pioneer discovery, visit FeinsteinInstitute.org.

About SetPoint Medical

SetPoint Medical is a privately held biomedical technology company dedicated to treating patients with debilitating inflammatory diseases using bioelectronic therapy. SetPoint's approach is intended to offer patients and providers an alternative for the treatment of RA and other chronic inflammatory diseases with less risk and cost than drug therapy. SetPoint's therapy is being evaluated in an open-label clinical study for Crohn's Disease.

SetPoint is developing a novel bioelectronic medicine platform consisting of an implantable miniature neuromodulation device and iPad prescription pad application. The implantable device stimulates the vagus nerve to activate the body's natural inflammatory reflex, which is intended to produce a potent systemic anti-inflammatory effect. The company has published positive results from a first-in-human open-label proof-of-concept trial in rheumatoid arthritis in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) and presented positive results at the American College of Rheumatology. Current investors in the company include Morgenthaler Ventures, Flare Capital Partners, Topspin Partners, Medtronic, GlaxoSmithKline's Action Potential Venture Capital Limited and Boston Scientific. For more information, visit http://www.setpointmedical.com.
A simple nine-question tool could help emergency physicians uncover the dangerous hidden conditions that make some people faint, according to a study published today in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

Fainting is fairly common - 35 to 40 percent of people faint at least once in their lives. But for about ten percent of people who visit the emergency room for fainting it can be a symptom of a potentially life-threatening condition like arrhythmia, or heart rhythm disturbance.

A team of researchers at The Ottawa Hospital and the University of Ottawa have created a screening tool to help emergency doctors predict the risk of a patient experiencing adverse events from these hidden conditions within a month of fainting. These include irregular heartbeat, heart attacks and even death. If the risk is high, then doctors would do a thorough evaluation in the hospital before sending the patient home.

"Fainting is a big problem," said Dr. Venkatesh Thiruganasambandamoorthy, an emergency physician and scientist at The Ottawa Hospital and an assistant professor at the University of Ottawa. "The way fainting patients are examined in emergency rooms varies greatly between physicians and hospitals. We hope that this screening tool will make the process more consistent and improve the detection of serious conditions related to fainting."

Dr. Thiruganasambandamoorthy also notes that most fainting patients admitted to hospital do not need to be there. These patients can spend four to seven hours in the emergency department before a decision to discharge them is made. "If our tool can discharge low-risk patients quickly and safely, then I think we can reduce emergency room wait times and open up those resources to other patients," said Dr. Thiruganasambandamoorthy.

Of the 4,030 fainting patients his team observed across six Canadian emergency rooms, 147 suffered a serious event in the month after discharge. This is largest study of its kind in the world.

After following up with patients and analyzing clinical findings from emergency doctors, Dr. Thiruganasambandamoorthy and his team found eight factors that physicians can plug into a screening tool. Added together, these factors give the patient's total risk of an adverse event, from very low to very high.

These factors include:

The physician's diagnosis of the cause of fainting

Signs of a common and harmless variety of fainting, such as being in a warm or crowded place, standing for a long time, or feeling intense fear, emotion or pain

A history of heart disease

Abnormal electrocardiogram (ECG) measurements

Higher levels of troponin, a protein specific to heart muscle

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This study was funded by Physicians Services Incorporated Foundation, Canadian Institutes of Health Research and Ontario Innovation Fund and The Ottawa Hospital Foundation.

The tool is currently being validated in emergency rooms across Canada in a study funded by the Canadian Arrhythmia Network. Once validation is complete, Dr. Thiruganasambandamoorthy hopes to make the tool available online and as an app.

Full reference: The Canadian Syncope Risk Score for Acute Management of Syncope. Venkatesh Thiruganasambandamoorthy, Kenneth Kwong, George A. Wells, Marco L. A. Sivilotti, Muhammad Mukarram , Brian H. Rowe, Eddy Lang , Jeffrey J. Perry, Robert Sheldon, Ian G. Stiell, Monica Taljaard. Canadian Association Medical Journal. June 27, 2016.

About The Ottawa Hospital: Inspired by research. Driven by compassion. The Ottawa Hospital is one of Canada's largest learning and research hospitals with over 1,100 beds, approximately 12,000 staff and an annual budget of over $1.2 billion. Our focus on research and learning helps us develop new and innovative ways to treat patients and improve care. As a multi-campus hospital, affiliated with the University of Ottawa, we deliver specialized care to the Eastern Ontario region, but our techniques and research discoveries are adopted around the world. We engage the community at all levels to support our vision for better patient care. See http://www.ohri.ca for more information about research at The Ottawa Hospital.

About the University of Ottawa: The University of Ottawa is home to over 50,000 students, faculty and staff, who live, work and study in both French and English. Our campus is a crossroads of cultures and ideas, where bold minds come together to inspire game-changing ideas. We are one of Canada's top 10 research universities--our professors and researchers explore new approaches to today's challenges. One of a handful of Canadian universities ranked among the top 200 in the world, we attract exceptional thinkers and welcome diverse perspectives from across the globe. http://www.uottawa.ca

Media Contact: Amelia Buchanan, Senior Communication Specialist, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute; ambuchanan@ohri.ca; Office: 613-798-5555 x 73687; Cell: 613-297-8315
Cleaner wrasse perform a cleaning service for coral reef fish -- namely eating parasites off their customer's skin. However, what the females of some species actually want is to lure in clients and 'cheat' them by biting off some tasty mucus before escaping.

This elaborate scam works much like how we would encounter in human societies. "When they are producing eggs, female cleaner wrasse desire mucus for particular nutrients that they wouldn't normally get from parasites, whereas males rarely cheat," explains researcher Dr Sandra Binning at the University of Neuchatel, Switzerland. "Their clients don't want to lose this mucus, so the cleaners use 'tactical deception' -- that is, attract them with the promise of an 'honest' parasite cleaning service."

Cleaners prefer to cheat bigger fish over smaller fish, because they can pick off more mucus from the large fish. In fact, they even provide honest services to smaller fish while the large fish watch, hoping to tactically entice them in. "There are limits though," adds Dr Binning. "Very big predator fish are never cheated because they can severely punish the cleaners for bad behaviour."

Dr Binning and her colleagues have recently found that blue-streaked cleaner wrasse in Australia fine-tune their deceptive tactics to their circumstances, such as the 'competitive market'. She elaborates: "In habitats with lots of cleaner wrasse close together, competition for clients is very high; cleaners need to keep a good reputation, so they engage in much more honest cleaning than if they were the only cleaners in town."

The team also tested the cheating behaviours of cleaners when under stress. "Female wrasse are stressed when they reproduce, and thus cheat more to get extra nutrients from mucus," clarifies Dr Binning. "Our research demonstrates that the cunning cleaners tailor this stress-induced cheating to their circumstances. For example, stressed cleaners simply cheat more when they have no competition, whereas high competition makes them much more deceptive when they are stressed."

This research makes significant advances in understanding the cognitive mechanisms behind cooperation, cheating and the use of tactical deception in the animal kingdom. Dr Binning concludes: "We know that birds and primates can make tactical decisions in different contexts. Our group's research increases our knowledge of how fish can also develop complex social relationships and cognition in coral reefs."

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Whilst the NATO-Russia Council meeting held in April 2016 had a partial, but nevertheless welcome, focus on transparency, risk reduction and military to military communication, it did not cover a crucial security measure previously operated by the NATO-Russia Council itself: The Cooperative Airspace Initiative.

In this short policy brief ELN Research Fellow Thomas Frear argues that The Cooperative Airspace Initiative (CAI) contained many mechanisms, including shared civilian and military air traffic control data, that would make the shared area a much safer place for civilians. Whilst there are some associated security concerns to be addressed, it would be a simple matter to begin to re-utilise the CAIs software. The policy brief also makes the case that it may be conceivable to avoid gridlock within the NATO-Russia Council by removing the CAI from its remit and instituting it as a stand-alone measure.

The increasingly unstable environment in Europe, characterised by the simmering conflict in Ukraine, the ongoing flight of refugees into Europe from warzones on the continents periphery, and the action-reaction dynamic of military exercises between Russia and NATO, is rife with opportunity for miscalculation. Whether as a result of an accidental collision involving military aircraft or a misunderstanding of another actors intentions, in particular in the aftermath of a fatal incident, there is a real possibility that political leaders will find themselves reacting to events rather than shaping them.

In the current climate it is not difficult to envisage a fatal incident being interpreted as an ambiguous, but nevertheless deliberate, hostile action undertaken by the other, thus requiring an appropriate response. Once this dynamic is in place it is very difficult to defuse, with political leaders drawn into rounds of successive and self-perpetuating escalation. It is thus crucial that political leaders take all possible precautions to minimise risk and the scope for misunderstanding when considering and implementing military actions.

The real risk that military aviation poses to civilian airliners must be taken into consideration, it is thus imperative to make use of those systems that reduce risk and avoid any further escalation.



The opinions articulated above represent the views of the author(s), and do not necessarily reflect the position of the European Leadership Network or any of its members. The ELNs aim is to encourage debates that will help develop Europes capacity to address the pressing foreign, defence, and security challenges of our time.
In May 2016, Turkish President Recep Erdogan described the Black Sea as almost a Russian lake and called for NATO naval reinforcements to be sent to the area. That prompted a response by Russias Permanent Representative to NATO Alexander Grushko who said that the Black Sea will never be a NATO lake. Russian support for the separatists in the Donbass, the annexation of Crimea and the strengthening of Russian military capacity in the Black Sea area have changed the threat perception levels of those Allies closest to the Russian Federation. Consequently, NATO is under increased pressure to show a similar degree of solidarity and commitment to collective defence in the Black Sea region as the one provided to the Baltic States and Poland. However, before deciding on significantly strengthening their Black Sea posture, the Allies need to consider the feasibility and likely consequences of the various proposals, as well as their impact on relations with Russia.

Since the annexation of Crimea in early 2014, the security situation in the Black Sea region has been transformed, with a substantial build-up of Russian military capabilities in the area and an increased number of military encounters between Russian and NATO military assets. As a result, all sides face the serious risk of unintended escalation in light of more assertive Russian behaviour and the reassurance measures NATO implemented in response.

Over the past 24 months the Black Sea has been the focus of Russias military modernisation programme. As a consequence of the 2-year recalibration of forces, the Federation has added four submarines, two missile corvettes and several patrol boats to their Black Sea fleet with another two submarines and six frigates expected to join them later this year. Combined with the anti-ship/anti-air installations deployed in occupied Crimea and along Russias Black Sea shore, such an A2/AD constellation could pose a substantial challenge should NATO need to provide reinforcements to the Black Sea Allies.

In response, the number of NATO military exercises and drills as well as naval patrols in the Black Sea has been revised up to reflect the more aggressive Russian posture. However, additional assurance measures, to be implemented by the Alliance or individual member states, are also under consideration.

The Romanian proposal for a more persistent collective NATO naval presence in the Black Sea was discussed by NATOs Deputy Secretary General. This is rather unlikely as the deployment of naval ships from non-Black Sea states would be in breach of the Montreux agreement. Even though this might have been a preferred option for Romania and Turkey as implied in recent interventions by statesmen from both countries, it would also have a highly destabilising effect on the military equilibrium in the region.

Another proposal, a hybrid fleet of ships from Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey, Ukraine and even Georgia has been outlined by the Romanian leadership as an alternative format for strengthening the collective defence in the region. However, this may not be a viable option after Bulgaria refused to take part in such military operation, citing the need to avoid a military build-up and provocations. Without the unanimous support of all NATO Black Sea states, any mission would lack the critical legitimacy of enhancing collective security in the region. Further, a permanent multi-national force of such kind, under NATO command or not, would be perceived as an escalatory move by Russia given that Turkey (the ally with the largest fleet in the region) and Ukraine are now among the top 5 countries the Russian population considers most hostile. In addition, such an initiative would bring non-NATO and NATO navies under one operational control, which would create additional technical difficulties.

Lastly, a proposal to form a multinational brigade in Romania under the command of the Multinational Division Southeast has recently emerged. It appears such an option is favoured by other countries,including Bulgaria, after the Bulgarian authorities indicated a willingness to contribute up to 400 troops on a rotational basis as part of the brigade. This comes shortly after Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg confirmed the stationing of additional equipment in Romania.

These measures, despite being designed to reassure member states in the East and demonstrate solidarity, may be controversial and counterproductive. They may signal the political commitment of the Alliance but bring more escalatory than deterrent value.

Firstly, the military power of the proposed hybrid fleet cannot prevent, but may unnecessarily provoke, more assertiveness on the Russian side. More substantive strengthening of the naval presence in the Black Sea would most probably be seen as adding to NATOs offensive capabilities rather than signal defensive intention. Allies should be ready to accept some inferiority of their conventional forces in the region. Solidifying military preparedness by regional allies would have a far better deterrent effect against Russia than any additional deployment.

Further, the inclusion of Ukraine and Georgia in such a fleet may integrate them more closely with NATO forces, but it also links their security postures vis-a-vis Russia to Allied Command Structures. Such a step, at the moment, would blur the distinction between collective defence under Article V and co-operation with partner countries. It is also unclear what the rules of engagement would be in a crisis scenario involving Ukraine or Georgia.

In addition, a regional naval force which is not under direct operational NATO command would be led by a Black Sea ally, even if on a rotational basis. Given Ukraines confrontation with Russia and Turkeys fragile unfreezing of relations with Russia, their approaches may significantly differ and possibly clash. Moreover, since the activation of the Aegis missile defence system, Romania has been included in Russias list of targets, a fact bound to change its defence strategy vis-a-vis Russia.

In searching for an adequate response to the Russian military build-up and assertiveness taking place in the region, NATO needs to show its resolve and common position in Warsaw. Aggressive actions and unannounced exercises and drills conducted by Putins administration cannot be overlooked nor ignored, but met with calls and actions that are underpinned by transparency, restraint and defensive intent.

Moving forward, NATOs leadership should place emphasis on the assurance measures already implemented, including the intensified maritime exercises in the Black Sea and ensure their continuation. It should keep encouraging greater integration between the Black Sea partners and facilitate military equipment modernisation programmes in the eastern Allies.

Further, the distinction between collective security afforded to all member states and the military support offered to partner countries such as Ukraine and Georgia should remain in place. Any joint operations close to the national waters and territory of Russia, unlike the exercises already taking place, can send mixed signals or lead to incidents.

For their part, Black Sea allies should rely on the political commitment of the rest of the Alliance without additional tailored assurance measures. The political will to act and defend the Alliance is by far more important; without it, there may not be any military assistance even in an unlikely case of aggression. Further, eastern member states should take up increasing proportions of the burden-sharing arrangement and, more importantly, be more receptive to the considerations of the Allies in the West. NATO is a collective defence organisation and as such its policies should reflect a shared position, and not be shaped by the concerns of the few.

Lastly, the Alliance should not exclude the possibility of reinforcing security in the region in case circumstances in the region change. Part of such reasoning would be the creation of a more comprehensive assessment tool to indicate thresholds and responses for different threat levels. Such a tool would comprise a list of triggers (including hybrid attacks) and pre-prepared options for NATO action. A multi-dimensional response would then include Alliance-wide defensive measures as well as measures that individual countries can implement. This could prove a more useful method of addressing diverging threat perceptions and striking a compromise.

In Warsaw, leaders should consider actions that strengthen collective defence rather than undermine it. In practice, this places primacy on the better use of existing capabilities in Allied countries in the Black Sea area, rather than on new expanded naval initiatives. Such conclusion may not be welcomed by the regional Allies, but it would more adequately reflect the defensive nature of the Alliance.

[1] According to the Montreux Convention, passages of vessels of war are subject to some restrictions which vary depending on whether these vessels belong to Black Sea littoral states or not.

[2] See Lukasz Kulesas Towards a New Equilibrium, available here:http://www.europeanleadershipnetwork.org/towards-a-new-equilibrium_3497.html

[3] Further details are available here: http://www.levada.ru/2016/06/02/13400/

The opinions articulated above represent the views of the author(s), and do not necessarily reflect the position of the European Leadership Network or any of its members. The ELNs aim is to encourage debates that will help develop Europes capacity to address the pressing foreign, defence, and security challenges of our time.
Facebook reportedly has a daily active user rate of 1.09 billion on an average for March and with a reported $340 billion of market capitalization it becomes inevitable that brands use the platform to reach out to a lot of its readers and viewers.

Facebook announced last week that it was once again shifting the mysterious algorithm that governs a users news feed. A users home page will contain more posts from friends, more posts from family and fewer pieces of actual news. Adam Mosseri, Vice President of product management for Facebooks news feed, revealed the change in algorithm in a friendly blog post.

The basics of Facebooks algorithm is that family and friends are based as a priority, so posts from friends are prioritised before posts from buzzfeed or brand pages. While a post from family shows up before posts from a friend.

Facebook reportedly has a daily active user rate of 1.09 billion on an average for March and with a reported $340 billion of market capitalization it becomes inevitable that brands use the platform to reach out to a lot of its readers and viewers.

In its April earnings call, Facebook announced an increase in the amount of time people were spending on its sites: its 1.6 billion monthly users spend an average of 50 minutes daily on the likes of Facebook, Instagram and Messenger, up from 40 minutes in 2014.

Facebook is currently the top news site for the coveted millennial demographic, as a Pew Research Center study found. Facebook wants you to post your personal information so it can turn around and sell it to advertisers.

Mosseris blog further said, We are not in the business of picking which issues the world should read about. We are in the business of connecting people and ideas  and matching people with the stories they find most meaningful. Our integrity depends on being inclusive of all perspectives and view points, and using ranking to connect people with the stories and sources they find the most meaningful and engaging

We spoke to a few experts about this and here is what they had to say:

Swapnil Shrivastav, VP (AD TECH), Times Internet said, Essentially we want to figure out another way because at a certain point we cannot control how Facebook will evolve over the next few years and they change their algorithm several times. We are trying to control than react to the changes that Facebook makes every now and then. In that context our strategy is to know how and why users are attracted to Facebook. The biggest thing is the response time and the latency of the data shown to a Facebook user and the article shown on my site and Facebook is totally different. The other thing is Facebook personalises what it shows to the user so it will show you the article which you are going to like anyways so I have to see if my site is as fast as Facebook and secondly the list of content item that I am exposing to users on the site are personalised and if these two problems are solved then the chances are the user will spend more time on my site.

Mihir Karkare, VP, Mirum India said, I think first and foremost people view Facebook as a place where they are connected with family and friends, thats how it started originally. As they gave more and more visibility to publishers and brands people actually observed that other platforms could be used to share information and so Instagram and Snapchat gained popularity. So it was a scary thing for Facebook as a fact that a lot of personal sharing shifted to other platforms and thats one reason why they acquired Instagram and tried the same with Snapchat. There was a format people used to get latest news which was called RSS and that has become a legacy platform now, so as Facebook gets more and more news it becomes like that platform and news gets lesser engagement than personal information like live events. For Facebook it is inevitable that they go back to basics and definitely it will impact brands, but brands too have become their largest source of traffic so now they have to invest more in advertising on the platform and publishers will spend more to distribute content.

Gautam Mehra, Business Head- Social Media, iProspect India, added, Publishers are definitely being affected, but if you think about it, Facebook has always prioritised family and friends and if you look at their basic algorithm, no matter how much I may interact with a brand, my interaction with my family will always be more, so any which ways by default the algorithm is always designed to promote family and friends. So the fact that they prioritise family and friends has been happening for a long time but what they will do now is limit the reach that you get organically for pages. So brands have to realise that they have to pay certain price and the price is not that large. The cost per engagement for Facebook is very high even as compared to Google, so I think its a modest cost to reach out to the audience and I think Facebook will continue doing this and brands will have to push more and re strategize the whole plan, but I dont see brands having a negative impact of the whole thing.

Read more news about (internet advertising India, internet advertising, advertising India, digital advertising India, media advertising India)
Prior to joining Twitter, Rao was associated with Alphabet Inc. as the Director of local search. He served as Managing Director of Media & Platforms at Google India Private Limited from March 2007 to February 2012

Shailesh Rao has stepped down as the Vice President for Asia Pacific, Latin America and Emerging Markets at Twitter, Inc.

We thank Shailesh for his contributions and leadership over the past four years. He built up our international business across Asia Pacific, Latin America and Emerging Markets into our fastest-growing user and revenue region today. He has hired and developed strong local teams across these markets, as well as opened dozens of offices worldwide, to serve our users, partners and advertisers. We wish him all the best and we will continue to hire and invest in the high-growth Asia Pacific region. Said a Twitter spokesperson confirming the news to exchange4media.

Rao served as Vice President of International Revenue at Twitter, Inc. since joining in April 2012.

Prior to joining Twitter, Rao was associated with Alphabet Inc. as the Director of local search. He served as Managing Director of Media & Platforms at Google India Private Limited from March 2007 to February 2012. He also served as Managing Director of Sales and Operations at Google India Private Limited and managed Google's domestic business and strategic partnerships in India.

Rao earned the prestigious Google Founder's Award for his role in the development of Google Maps and Google Earth. He also played a leadership role in the growth of Google's YouTube business globally as Vice President for the YouTube and Display businesses across Asia Pacific. In January 2012, he was named the Internet Professional of the Year 2011 at IAMAI's 2nd India Digital Awards. Rao has dual undergraduate degrees in Economics and History from the University of Pennsylvania with Honors and an M.B.A. from the Kellogg School of Management.

Read more news about (internet advertising India, internet advertising, advertising India, digital advertising India, media advertising India)
The GBP to EUR exchange rate has resumed its trend lower after both British construction output and US services failed to meet market estimates. We examine the latest euro-related fx forecasts targeting the sterling, euro and the US dollar in the short, medium and long-term forex outlooks

The British pound to euro exchange rate today: +0.52pct at 1.17023 . The pound to dollar exchange rate is +0.44pct at 1.29762.

The GBP/EUR spot rate is extending its downward trend today having already hit fresh two-and-a-half-year low on Tuesday.

Foreign exchange investors reacted to signs of UK economic weakness highlighted by the latest UK Services PMI.

As the days raft of Eurozone PMIs saw a general upwards revision the Euro returned to stronger form, with safe-haven demand rising as uncertainty continues to plague the global market.

With Italian banks feeling the heat from the Brexit fallout, the euro exchange rates softened versus a number of its major peers.

Adding to headwinds was news that Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi is considering breaking EU banking group rules by using public funds to bailout banks.

Meanwhile, British data is already showing signs of the negative impact of EU referendum uncertainty as construction output unexpectedly contracted.

Latest Pound/Euro Exchange Rates

On Thursday the Pound to British Pound exchange rate (GBP/GBP) converts at 1 The pound conversion rate (against pound) is quoted at 1 GBP/GBP. The pound conversion rate (against us dollar) is quoted at 1.159 USD/GBP. At time of writing the pound to canadian dollar exchange rate is quoted at 1.575. FX markets see the pound vs swiss franc exchange rate converting at 1.145. FX markets see the pound vs australian dollar exchange rate converting at 1.792. Please note: the FX rates above, updated 27th Oct 2022, will have a commission applied by your typical high street bank. Currency brokers specialise in these type of foreign currency transactions and can save you up to 5% on international payments compared to the banks.

British Pound (GBP) Softens vs the Euro (EUR) After UK Construction Data Contracts, Further Weakness Forecast Post-Brexit

The uncertainty in the run up to the EU referendum caused significant damage to the British economy, as shown in the latest Construction PMI.

Junes construction output was forecast to drop from 51.2 to 50.7, but the actual result dived to 46.0; well below the 50 mark that separates growth from contraction.

In response to the construction data, David Noble, Group Chief Executive Officer at the Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply said;

Gloom and fragility descended on the sector with the steepest drop in new orders since December 2012. Caused by the continuing insecurities in both the global and UK economies and the hesitancy shown by clients to commit to projects before the EU referendum, overall activity was at its frailest for seven years.

Analysts at Credit Agricole do not expect that Pound to hit new lows just yet, however, stating;

In the near-term, an uneasy calm may return to the markets as investors realise that the post-Brexit political vacuum may keep the market status quo little changed over the summer. The upcoming UK data will likely signal the beginning of the Brexit-induced slowdown. That said, barring an imminent downturn that will trigger aggressive BoE easing, GBP should not hit new lows just yet. We also cannot exclude a further short squeeze but doubt that investors will discount the Brexit risk to such a degree as to adopt a constructive view on GBP.

Italian Banking Crisis Weighed on Euro (EUR) Exchange Rates Today

The Brexit fallout has exposed Italian banks, and the Italian Prime Ministers request to bailout the banks with public funds was denied by the EU banking group.

If bailout is delayed for too long PM Matteo Renzi has threatened to defy EU law. This would be a massive blow for the very newly instated EU banking group and is thought to be more damaging to EU stability than Brexit.

European ecostats had minimal impact with political developments dominating trader focus.

Many analysts predict further EUR weakness to come amid concerns that the UKs Brexit will be a catalyst for other disillusioned member states to have their own EU referendums.

British Pound Rates Crash Today

Today has been an exceptionally bad one for the GBP exchange rates, though tomorrow may see a slow recovery for Sterling

The latest drop off in the value of the Pound has been triggered by a number of factors, including the Bank of England (BoE) financial stability report and a string of poor PMIs.

The middle of the week, however, is only expected to see the low impact new car registrations be announced, so this may be an opportunity for investors to recoup their losses in a more stable environment.

BoE Forecast to Lower Interest Rate in 2016

Handelsbanken analysts predict the BoE will lower the UK interest rate in 2016, something sure to weaken the GBP/EUR exchange rate further:

"Heightened uncertainty following the UK's vote to leave the EU sets the backdrop for the European economy ahead."

That uncertainty, coupled with large movements in exchange rates, leads to central banks postponing monetary tightening."

"We now expect the Fed to keep rates unchanged this year and to start hiking in the second quarter of 2017."

"The Riksbank is set to increase its policy rate in Q4 2017."

"Meanwhile, the slowdown in the UK economy leads the Bank of England to lower the base rate in the last quarter of this year."

GBP to EUR Exchange Rate Stays on Back Foot Despite Single Currency Weakness

Confidence in the euro exchange rates took something of a hit after Mays German Factory Orders figures failed to improve as far as forecast, signalling continued weakness in the Eurozones powerhouse economy.

Investors were also unimpressed by decidedly disappointing Eurozone Retail PMIs, with the overall measure plunging into contraction territory, allowing the GBP/EUR exchange rate to make some limited gains.
From: Jack Marshall -- ProEthics, Ltd. For Immediate Release: Dateline: Alexandria , VA Monday, July 4, 2016

I received this inspiring bit of Americana from an old friend, a Marine and lawyer with a love of history. Its a screed of unknown origin that has been circulating the internet since the 20th Century. Maybe youve seen it too: The Price They Paid

Have you ever wondered what happened to the 56men who signed the Declaration of Independence? Five signers were captured by the British as traitors, and tortured before they died. Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned. Two lost their sons serving in the Revolutionary Army; another had two sons captured. Nine of the 56 fought and died from wounds or hardships of the Revolutionary War. They signed and they pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor. What kind of men were they? Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists. Eleven were merchants, nine were farmers and large plantation owners; men of means, well-educated, but they signed the Declaration of Independence knowing full well that the penalty would be death if they were captured. Carter Braxton of Virginia, a wealthy planter and trader, saw his ships swept from the seas by the British Navy. He sold his home and properties to pay his debts, and died in rags. Thomas McKean was so hounded by British that he was forced to move his family almost constantly. He served in the Congress without pay, his family was kept in hiding. His possessions were taken from him  poverty was his reward. Vandals or soldiers looted properties of Ellery, Hall, Clymer, Walton, Gwinnett, Heyward, Rutledge, and Middleton. At Battle of Yorktown, Thomas Nelson,Jr., noted that the British General Cornwallis had taken over the Nelson home for his headquarters. He quietly urged General George Washington to open fire. The home was destroyed, and Nelson died bankrupt. Francis Lewis had his home and properties destroyed. The enemy jailed his wife, and she died within a few months. John Hart was driven from his wifes bedside as she was dying. Their 13 children fled for their lives. His fields and his gristmill were laid to waste. For more than a year he lived in forests and caves, returning home to find his wife dead and his children vanished. So, take a few minutes while enjoying your 4th of July holiday and silently thank these patriots. Its not much to ask for the price they paid. Remember: freedom is never free! We thank these early patriots, as well as those patriots now fighting to KEEP our freedom! I hope you will show your support by sending this to as many people as you can, please. Its time we get the word out that patriotism is NOT a sin, and the Fourth of July has more MEANING to it than beer, fireworks, HOT DOGS, and picnics The purpose and primary message of the post is irrefutably true. Those who signed the Declaration did so at great personal risk and sacrifice. Had the new nation failed in its revolutionand really, it is amazing that it didntall of them would have been hanged as traitors. It was an act of principle and courage, and what happened later is entirely moral luck. The signers would have been no less honorable, remarkable and heroic if every single one of them, by various strokes of good fortune, had become wealthy, powerful, prospered in everything they did and died in advanced years, like Franklin, Adams and Jefferson. Unfortunately, most citizens lack the education, acumen and tools to figure this out, so we get stuff that equates random and uncontrollable misfortune with enhanced virtue. Furthermore, the e-mail irresponsibly urges readers to circulate it widely, though neither the author nor those passing it on checked the facts. This makes the web, the public and the culture more ignorant, which none of these can afford to be. The thing is riddled with errors. It reads like its riddled with errors, with the various misspellings of names (McKean, not McKeam; Ellery, not Dillery, and Rutledge, not Ruttledge, and yes, I fixed these above) being one clue and the careless rhetoric being another. Thus I checked to see if Snopes.com had checked the facts in the e-mail, and was not surprised to find that it had, back in 1999, even before fact-checking had become a tool of the left-wing media to present advocacy as fact, and to condemn opinion as dishonesty. I have recently become aware that Snopes is sliding into partisan punditry under the guise of objective fact-checking. The evidence is pretty clear in this post, about the recent brownies incident, and the engine of Snopes destruction is clearly recent Snopes addition Kim LaCapria, who either doesnt try to hide her bias or is incapable of doing so. However, 17 years ago the seeds of Snopes current rot were clearly visible. In an otherwise thorough and well-researched piece by Snopes founder David Mikkelson, we get this Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned. It is true that a number of signers saw their homes and property occupied, ransacked, looted, and vandalized by the British (and even in some cases by the Americans). However, as we discuss in more detail below, this activity was a common part of warfare. So everybody does it, and its fine, and not a misfortune! This comes perilously close to minimizing genuine hardship, and trying to reduce respect for those signers who suffered is as unethical as is the careless e-mail trying to enhance it. Here Snopes paves the way for typical PolitiFact mischief. The original e-mail never claimed that this activity wasnt common or typical. Would Mikkelson have made the same point if the factoid was Twelve saw their wives and daughter raped? Why not? That activity was also a common part of warfare.

On Braxtons financial losses during the Revolution, Snopes scoffs. Although Braxton did lose property during the war and had to sell off assets (primarily landholdings) to cover the debts incurred by the loss of his ships, he recouped much of that money after the war but subsequently lost it again through his own ill-advised business dealings. The statement was Carter Braxton of Virginia, a wealthy planter and trader, saw his ships swept from the seas by the British Navy. He sold his home and properties to pay his debts, and died in rags. That statement is true, except that he may not have died in rags. The fact that after the war he recouped his losses was not necessary information in a piece designed to show that the signers suffered personal hardship from the war their actions launched. On the assertions about Thomas McKean, Snopes cavils However, it is problematic to assert that McKeans treatment was due to his being a signer of the Declaration of Independence. (His name does not appear on printed copies of that document authenticated in January 1777, so it is likely he did not affix his name to it until later.) If he was targeted by the British, it was quite possibly because he also served in a military capacity as a volunteer leader of militia. Thomas McKeans treatment was due to the fact that the Colonies were rebelling against the British, a condition he helped to bring about. Thats what the e-mailed screed asserts. Again, this decree of nitpickingWell, maybe he was treated badly by the British because he was fighting the British in a war that he took responsibility for starting, but he wasnt specifically targeted for signing the Declaration, only for what he did because he signed the Declaration-is called spin. Why is Snopes spinning against the Founders? Then this Vandals or soldiers looted the properties of Ellery, Hall, Clymer, Walton, Gwinnett, Heyward, Rutledge, and Middleton. this sentence is misleading in that it implies a motive that was most likely not present (i.e., these mens homes were looted because they had been signers of the Declaration of Independence). The need to forage for supplies in enemy territory has long been a part of warfare, and so it was far from uncommon for British soldiers in the field to appropriate such material from private residences during the American Revolution. (Not only were homes used as sources of food, livestock, and other necessary supplies, but larger houses were also taken over and used to quarter soldiers or to serve as headquarters for officers.) In some cases, even American forces took advantage of the local citizenry to provision themselves. Given that many more prominent American revolutionaries who were also signers of the Declaration of Independence (e.g., Samuel Adams, John Hancock, Benjamin Franklin, James Wilson, Benjamin Rush, Robert Morris) had homes in areas that were occupied by the British during the war, yet those homes were not looted or vandalized, its hard to make the case that the men named above were specifically targeted for vengeance by the British rather than unfortunate victims whose property fell in the path of an armed conflict being waged on American soil. That sentence in the e-mail implies nothing of the sort, and Snopes has no idea if those men were targeted or not. The conclusions here are ..that the old e-mail is bad history, though well-intentioned bad history ..that nobody should send or circulate unchecked facts, historical or otherwise ..that not having checked them, nobody sending such a piece should vouch for its accuracy or urge others to similarly circulate a document of dubious origins ..that when fact-checkers stop using facts and begin using rationalizations, speculation and their own biases instead, they eventually make themselves useless as fact-checkers ..that at the moment they signed the Declaration of Independence, every one of the 56 knew that they were placing their lives, their family members lives, their communities and their colonies in dire peril and that they would be held accountable for whatever happened as a result. They knew they were in effect declaring war on the mightiest nation on earth, with a poorly trained and overwhelmed force to oppose them. They knew that many Americans and many British would die because of their decision and yet they signed, and because they signed, we are here today. Thats plenty. Share this:


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There has been renewed hope in the industry over the last few weeks, with a number of industry commentators announcing the bottom of the trough has been reached.

NFU Cymru Dairy Board Chairman, Aled Jones, says with the outlook in the dairy sector looking a little brighter, it is critical that dairy farmers see money going back to the farm gate quickly and not stuck in the supply chain.

Following a global supply and demand imbalance that sent dairy commodity prices - and the price farmers are paid for their milk  plummeting, there are now signs that the bottom of the trough has been reached.

Aled Jones said: "Its been the longest and deepest crisis anyone in the dairy sector can remember and clearly current farmgate prices are not sustainable.

"Its still early days but from what were seeing on the futures markets, its looking like things are on the cusp of improving.

"Supply is pulling back across the world and there are reports that dairy consumption will be bigger than the growth in production this year.

"On farm weve seen price increases, a few price holds and although no overall change on the last Global Dairy Trade auction, this follows two positive auctions.

"Some traders are increasingly concerned where they will source products for the end of the year so the right signs are there.

"However, many farmers are receiving an extremely low price for their milk, so despite any small increases, prices will still be extremely low and how quickly we get back to a sustainable level no-one knows.

"There is still a long way to go but the key message has to be for processors to pass price increases back to farmers as soon as they materialise."
Unfortunately, farming has a poor safety record when compared to other sectors of the economy.

From quad bike accidents to animal attacks, farming kills and injures more people than any other industry in the UK and Ireland.

However, today is a day in the calendar which aims to focus on combatting this.

Monday 4 July marks the start of the fourth annual Farm Safety Week, which aims to reduce the number of accidents that continue to give agriculture the poorest record of any occupation in the UK and Ireland.

Unions across the UK are voicing their support for this years Farm Safety Week which is being supported by a number of organisations including the Farm Safety Foundation, Farm Safety Partnerships, the Health & Safety Executive, Health & Safety Executive for Northern Ireland and the Health & Safety Authority, Ireland.

The awareness week, taking place from 4 to 8 July, encourages farmers and those within the industry to make their safety and the safety of those around them a priority.

Last year, 33 fatal injuries to agricultural workers were recorded  a rate of 9.12 deaths per 100,000 workers, which is significantly higher than any other industry.

Caste Study: Ian Argo, Laurencekirk, Scotland

Even the most safety conscious farmers can experience the effects of a serious injury as we learn from Ian Argo, an arable farmer at Auchcairnie Farm, Laurencekirk.

A dislocated knee cap and severed tendons were the unexpected consequence of coming out of a tractor the wrong way and falling.

Like many farm accidents, it was a routine task that Ian had done many times. For years he had been climbing out of the tractor the wrong way, effectively front facing. However, on 12 September 2013, for a reason unknown to him, he fell.

The 63-year-old found himself lying on the ground after getting out to fill up the tractor with diesel at the end of the working day whilst working for a neighbour.

Ian, who farms in partnership with his son Steven, wife Alison and mother Edith, commented: "I got out of the tractor, effectively the wrong way [front facing] and the next thing I know I was lying on the ground.

"Im not sure whether I slipped or tripped, it happened so fast and I can just remember lying on the ground.

"At the time I was working alone and I tried to get up but couldnt get my left leg to work. There was no blood and I wasnt feeling any pain at that point, but I could see that my knee cap had moved significantly up my leg.

"I then tried to phone someone, however I soon realised that my phone was in the tractor cab and there was no way I could reach it.

"The diesel tank was around 50 yards from the house, and I could hear voices coming from there, so shouted. Thankfully there was someone nearby that could hear me otherwise I would have been in bigger trouble.

"At that point they phoned an ambulance and took me to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary. It was clear the knee cap and tendons had parted company.

"I ended being in hospital for around four days before I had an operation. Overall I spent just over a week in hospital and following that I had my leg in a brace frame for three months, attending hospital every couple of weeks to have it adjusted.

"It took me until the end of January to start driving again, and I had to change my car to an automatic to make it easier.

"I was off work for six months, but managed to get back in time for the spring work starting. We had to get someone into help my son Steven with the potato lifting, but thankfully they werent required over the winter months.

"Id underwent a few months of physiotherapy which has helped in the range of movement I now have in my leg."

Coming out of tractors the correct way

The accident has made Ian more aware of coming out of tractors the correct way, and he says that he hopes it has been a learning curve for his son of how accidents can happen so easily.

Ian added: "I want to highlight the impact an accident like this can have on your family and your business.

"Were much more conscious of safety all the while on the farm now and its made me slow down and think about every process."

This case reinforces that fact that farm workers of any age run the risk of injury or death from falls.

Falls constitute one of the most common farm accidents, accounting for 23 fatal accidents in the last five years.

"Taking preventative, proactive measures are one of the best things we can do for our farms and workers.

"Most preventative practices are common sense," says the Farm Safety Foundations Stephanie Berkeley.

"Tragically, most accidents are caused by simple factors. This week, we hope that by hearing from other farmers about their experiences, we can ask farmers to really think about Who Would Fill Your Boots? if something were to happen to them at work.

"This will shed some light on the necessity of farm safety and highlight practical ways to make it happen on the farm."

Commenting on day one of the campaign, Cabinet Secretary for the Rural Economy Fergus Ewing MSP said: "Farm Safety Week is a great initiative to help raise awareness of safety issues on Scotlands farms.

"More than 70 per cent of work-related deaths on Scotlands farms come as a result of four main causes: falls from height, transport, equipment and cattle handling.

"I hope that people up and down the country will join in supporting Farm Safety Week, which is taking steps to tackle the high number of accidents and fatalities in the agriculture industry  which is the highest in any working environment across these islands.

Top safety tips if you have to work at height:

 Never walk on fragile materials, e.g. roof lights or glass

 Use proprietary access equipment or other measures when working at height

 Take account of environmental conditions, e.g. wind and rain

Make sure everyone knows the precautions to be followed

 Roof ladders or crawling boards must span at least three purlins

 Roof ladders must be securely placed. Do not rely on gutters, ridge caps or tiles for support.
The National Farmers' Union has received a written response by the EU Agriculture Commissioner Phil Hogan surrounding the current situation for UK farmers.

The NFU says it has welcomed clarity given by the Commissioner around the current EU referendum situation.

Writing in a letter to NFU President Meurig Raymond, Commissioner Hogan confirmed that the UK 'would remain a full member of the EU with all the rights and obligations' this entails until Article 50 discussions are completed.

The full response from Phil Hogan to the NFU President Meurig Raymond

For the time being, the Commissioner explained that farmers will 'continue to have full access to the CAP support schemes and to the EU internal market.'

The letter also stresses that UK farmers and paying authorities will have to comply with all existing EU legislation.

Meurig Raymond commented: "I appreciate Commissioner Hogan taking the time to provide this clarity during these uncertain times.

"UK farmers welcome the fact it is business as usual for the time being.

"Existing rules - and the penalties that come with failing to comply with them - will continue to apply for the foreseeable future.

"Our focus now is on our leaders at home; we will be clarifying what we need under a new domestic farming policy and then discussing this nationally with our membership as part of the biggest farming consultation for a generation.

"But we appreciate the commissioner's support and will relay his message to our members loud and clear: business as usual."
The first certificate of bad husbandry for six years serves as a reminder to tenant farmers that even when faced with challenging financial pressure, they must keep an eye on the rules.

Head of the Agriculture and Landed Estates team at Midlands and South West law firm Lodders, James Spreckley explains: "A case from the First Tier Tribunal at the end of last year went somewhat unremarked, but as the financial pressure on many farmers continues, tenant farmers must be reminded of the facts which led to the first certificate of bad husbandry since 2010.

"The tenant in this case occupied a dairy farm under an Agricultural Holding Act (AHA) tenancy.

"The landlord applied to the tribunal for a certificate that the tenant was not farming in accordance with the rules of good husbandry.

"The clear definition of this expression involves maintaining a reasonable standard of efficient production, having regard to how the land is used, stocking levels, crop health and maintenance and repairs.

"Under the AHA 1986, if such a certificate of bad husbandry is issued, it gives the landlord a right to give a notice to quit to terminate the tenancy, which the tenant is largely unable to challenge."

'Deterioration' of the farm

The farm was a dairy farm, and the landlord, having inspected the farm on a number of occasions, applied for the certificate based on a deterioration of the farm during this period. This included overgrazing, poaching of some of the land and other issues.

"Not surprisingly, the tenant opposed that application," says James, "and part of his argument was based on plans to build a new livestock building and parlour which would alleviate some of the issues.

"The landlord also cited certain disrepairs and works that needed to be addressed, specifically to include repairs to the silage clamp, the provision of slurry storage and tracks.

"Productivity on the farm was low with milk yields about 30% below the expected levels, in part due to overstocking and poor housing.

"The stocking level of cattle, allowing for the available housing, was felt to be about 50% higher than it should have been, and there had been consequent animal welfare issues.

"However, the tenant had obtained a planning consent for the new buildings the farm needed, which, once constructed, would have allowed for the greater levels of stocking and improved productivity."

'Could not afford' to reduce stocking rate

Having heard all the evidence, the tribunal concluded that the tenant was caught between a rock and a hard place because he could not afford to reduce the stocking rate.

"This was deemed to be down to the impact on his income and business, and the tenant could not afford to finance the cost of the necessary improvements and repairs to prevent the ongoing overstocking and in turn, end the breaches of the rules of good husbandry," explains James.

"As such, the tribunal saw no immediate prospect of the tenant complying with these rules and issued the certificate of bad husbandry."

Whilst such certificates are extremely rare and each case will be built around particular circumstances, the situation in which the tenant found himself will not, in current times, be completely unique.

"The takeaway point for tenant farmers," James says, "is really to ensure that, even in challenging times, basic repairs and standards are not allowed to slip, if the risk of getting into the same position or of a similar challenge is to be avoided."

Founded nearly 230 years ago, Lodders has worked with farmers, family businesses, landowners, rural communities, real estate and property owners.

The firm is highly regarded for its work in the agricultural and real estate sectors, and its specialist agriculture and real estate teams have retained their Tier 1 position in the latest (2015) Legal 500.
Support for McDonalds Follow our Foodsteps - a pioneering interactive visitor experience which focuses on the McDonalds UK food chain story - has grown thanks to a collaboration with a free range egg company.

David and Helen Brass from the Lakes Free Range Egg Company were recently at the Highland Show, to show their hens play a key role in the new food chain experience which travels next to Kent County Show and the Royal Welsh Shows.

'Follow our Footsteps' is McDonalds UK nationwide campaign to champion British and Irish farming, telling their UK food story through the eyes of the people who grow, produce and prepare food for the UK menu.

Challenging technology developers and working in coalition with suppliers, partners and food experts, the result is an experience that gives the public a realistic glimpse of how the food on the McDonalds UK menu is made and where it comes from.

Rachel and Lizzie Brass try out virtual reality

Visitors are transported behind the scenes to some of McDonalds UKs flagship farms, factories and restaurants  without having to take a step.

The Lakes Free Range Egg Company is one of McDonalds Flagship farms, supplying them with free range eggs for many years.

The film crew spent several days at The Lakes filming hens in their natural environment to help tell the story and create a realistic experience.

The Highland Show was an opportunity for David and Helen to see first-hand how the public reacted to the ground-breaking technology and the experience of walking with hens.

UK food producers have 'passion'

David Brass, Chief Executive Officer at The Lakes said: "I know from first-hand experience that that food producers in the UK have a passion for what they do.

"The standards we set are very high, but we need more people to get involved and skilled at every level.

"Follow our Foodsteps is part of McDonalds Farm Forward  a long term commitment to addressing challenges faced by our sector.

"This unique glimpse into how food is produced, processed and prepared for restaurants should inspire some of our next generation to ask more questions and get involved in the food production industry.

"From what we have seen at the Highland Show this week, people really want to know more about where their food comes from and we have met some who have shown interest in that next step  a connection to a career with food production."

UK is more 'food-focussed'

Connor McVeigh, Director of Supply Chain, McDonalds UK, said: "As a nation, we have never been more food-focussed.

"The eating out market is growing but this passion for food is masking a lack of understanding around how food is produced and the vital role our farming and food industries play in growing, sourcing and producing quality ingredients.

"As one of the biggest customers of British and Irish farming, we want to lift the lid on the passion and skills that exist at every stage of the process, from farm to front-counter.

"Over the last decade we have invited people behind the scenes of our own supply chain on a number of occasions but we wanted to take this even further."

Supporting farmers and educating children

Environment Secretary of State, Elizabeth Truss said: "As a nation we are now far more plugged into where our food comes from.

"Projects like this that link field to fork, or in this case fingers, not only supports our farmers but educates our children too.

"With 3.8 million people employed in the food chain it is vital for our economic future that we make British food and farming all it can be. By embracing the latest technology we will foster the next generation of entrepreneurs."

The state-of-the-art, custom built truck began its UK tour at Balmoral Show and will travel the length of the country.

It includes a virtual reality challenge where users test their skills behind a tractor during potato harvest, a 360 degree immersive video visit to an organic dairy farm and the Lakes Free Range Egg Company.

It is followed by a cinema experience, with a McDonalds Crew eye view of taking an order and preparing food. And finally, a Guess my Job food and farming skills challenge.

According to the Food and Drink Federation, there is a need to attract 109,000 new recruits into the food industry by 2022 as the UK population is projected to rise by 4.4 million in the next decade.
Leading agricultural figures are to discuss their prorities with the First Minister of Wales following the UK's decision to leave the EU.

Carwyn Jones, the First Minister, as well as Rural Affairs Secretary Lesley Griffiths, will meet in Cardiff Bay to hold talks about the future of Welsh farming.

Rural organisations, agricultural unions and environment businesses will be taking part in the talks.

Rural Affairs Secretary Lesley Griffiths

Securing the future of grant funding for farmers is the 'one of the most immediate concerns', according to the First Minister.

Brexit supporters argue the Welsh and UK governments will be able to design a new payments system better suited for British farmers.

The future of trade with the EU, rules and regulations and environmental protections, will also be up for discussion at Monday's meeting.

Carwyn Jones will discuss the future of Wales' farming and agriculture sectors in the wake of the Leave vote.

In 2014, 240m was given to Welsh farmers in direct payments alone. Half made a loss, or would have done so that year, without them.

Between 2014 and 2020, 957m is meant to be made available via the Rural Development Programme - a system of grants and loans to support rural communities.

'Uncertainty' for the farming sector

The First Minister said: "There is no doubt Britains decision to leave the EU has caused uncertainty for the environment and agriculture sectors considering the substantial levels of funding and support the EU provides.

"Indeed, out of all areas of Welsh Government business, environment and rural affairs are those most closely linked to the EU.

"That is why, since the referendum result, meeting key figures within these sectors has been one of my top priorities.

"Today is the start of a long, uncertain journey and I will not make any promises that I will have all the answers.

"What assurance I can give however is that I will work tirelessly to seek guarantees from the UK Government that Wales will not be financially worse off as a result of the UK leaving the EU.

"We will be in listening mode today. Nothing will be off the table and I will ensure the views raised will be at the very forefront of my mind when I am negotiating with the UK Government over the timing and terms of the UKs withdrawal from the EU."

CLA Cymru director Rebecca Williams said the first priority should be "to establish a world-leading agricultural policy" and to ensure the sector played the "appropriate leading role in the critical trade negotiations that lie ahead".

She said: "We are looking for reassurances that maintaining and nurturing existing markets and opening new opportunities for agriculture will be government priorities."
Welsh lamb and beef farmers are increasingly moving the industrys climate change agenda forward as they link good environmental actions to good commercial practice, the latest Hybu Cig Cymru-Meat Promotion Wales (HCC) research indicates.

"Our research shows the red meat industry is proactively working to help with climate change solutions," said Dr Prysor Williams, Senior Lecturer in Environmental Management at Bangor University.

"Increasingly, farmers understand that a range of practical and cost-effective measures that improve technical efficiency on farm will also mitigate factors that affect climate change.

"This is not just a worthy enterprise or a response to a moral imperative or political pressure; this is a win-win-win situation for farmers as they can benefit the environment while benefitting their animals, their production and their pockets."

The conclusions are based on detailed HCC research from a survey that elicited information from 286 Welsh beef and sheep farmers.

The work looked at inputs such as feeds, fertilisers, pesticides, bedding and fuel, as well as stock numbers and movements throughout the year.

It centred on the importance of productivity and efficiency in maximising output per unit input.

"Our industry is under the microscope perhaps more than any other industry. It is important to respond to the challenge and be proactive in reducing emissions" said Dr. Williams.

"Every sector has to play a part if we are to meet the UK Climate Change Act target to cut greenhouse gas emissions 80 per cent by 2050.

"Yes, of course, we all need to up our game. But we have excellent farmers and some excellent tools, such as the HCC Environmental Road Map, so were well placed to face up to the challenge.

"The work shows that if we can move the sector to be as efficient as the top 25% of farms, then this could make very significant reductions in emissions from the sector, and ultimately more profitable farms."

Bangors Dr Prysor Williams is one of a number of specialists taking part in HCCs ON-Farm roadshow, where experts present their findings directly to farmers.

He offered a shortlist of actions that will make both a commercial and climate change difference: "Plant clover in grassland, as this fixes nitrogen and reduces the need to buy non-organic fertilisers; improve ewe nutrition in late gestation to increase lamb survival; lamb ewe lambs to increase flock output; increase lamb growth rates for earlier finishing.

"The virtues of good grassland management also cant be overemphasised, then select pasture plants that minimise nitrogen losses.

"Mitigation measures can be practical, cost-effective and compatible with developing the long term sustainability of each farm business."
The impact of oversupply of milk on the world market is seen in this years 'Kingshay Dairy Costings Focus Report' with the rolling average milk price for cow milk reducing by 5.7ppl to 24.4ppl.

However, for many producers the milk price actually received in the year to March 2016 is far from the average, with continuing increases in market segmentation clearly evident when data is ranked on rolling milk price received.

"The highest 10% paid received 31.3ppl, whereas the lowest 10% averaged 18.7ppl," explains Kingshay senior farm services manager Kathryn Rowland.

"This gap in the rolling annual price paid has widened to 12.6ppl from 6.9ppl in the year to March 2015."

When the annual data is compared with the previous year, it shows the response of the lowest 10% band for milk price has been to increase herd size by an average of 32 cows.

This has resulted in an increase in total milk output by 23%, to try and maintain income.

Whereas the highest paid 10% reduced cow numbers and a small increase in average total milk sales was recorded.

'Little relief' in milk production cost

"The most recent year has seen a little relief in milk production cost, with reduced input prices and improved forage," adds Mrs Rowland.

"These have contributed to improvements in average feed use efficiency, saving an average herd 1.2ppl.

"But there is potential for many herds to improve efficiency further, as the top 10% ranked by milk from forage saved 2ppl in feed costs compared with the average at a similar cow yield."

For an average herd which sold 1.6m litres in 2015-2016, this is worth 32,000 a year in purchased feed costs.

"Identifying any potential changes to achieve savings may be helped using the data in this Dairy Costings Focus Report.

"It gives farmers a unique opportunity to see the typical efficiencies of many different systems," says Mrs Rowland.

"This can help set realistic targets for an existing system or show what might be achieved by comparing different management options.

"This year, the report includes new comparisons of robotic milking versus twice a day milking and three times a day milking plus different winter forage options."
NFU Scotland has provided eight recommendations to the Scottish Government on how its the Beef Efficiency Scheme could be improved to drive forward the beef sector in Scotland.

Around half the eligible cows in Scotlands beef herd have been enrolled into the Beef Efficiency Scheme (BES) in year one which NFUS believes is a solid start to driving forward the performance of Scotlands beef sector.

However, as the cornerstone of Scottish agriculture, the Union is keen to see the role of BES extended to underpin the nations position amongst the elite of beef producing countries.

The changes the Union believes should be made to the scheme in year two include:

 Adjustment to allow for a payment on animals in expanding herds and new herds.

 Extend the payment from 3 years to 5 years

 Tissue testing tags to be on farm by the end of August

 Clear and proportionate penalties

 Greater clarity on carbon audit

 Further application round in 2017

 Greater encouragement to smaller herds

 Maximise information on BES database to drive improvements in the national herd

Writing to Scotlands Cabinet Secretary for the Rural Economy, Fergus Ewing, NFU Scotland President Allan Bowie said: "Given the huge importance of our beef sector to Scotland, BES is off to an encouraging start.

"Further fine tuning would increase its reach and its relevance as we seek to drive our beef industry forward.

"The future of the beef sector lies with expanding and new herds and that merits recognition within BES.

"Similarly, farmers are required to give a five-year commitment to BES but, as things stand, are only being paid for the first three years of the scheme.

"To encourage as great a take up as possible, a payment should be made for each of the five years of the scheme.

Tissue tags for genomic testing

"To assist the smooth running of BES, particularly in our more extensive areas where calves are traditionally sold in the autumn, the delivery of tissue tags for genomic testing need to be available in August to better fit with the normal farming year.

"On communications, there is a need to better explain any penalties that may be incurred if farmers accidentally breach BES rules and clearer messages on the carbon audit element are also needed so that farmers are aware of the annual input/output data needed by BES.

"Importantly, we need to look at encouraging a further uplift in membership. Critical mass is vital if we are to maintain the vibrancy and resilience of our beef industry and that merits a further application round in 2017.

"Whilst we may have half of the eligible beef cows in the scheme, we do not have half the beef farmers.

'Vital role' in vulnerable areas

"Smaller beef herds play a vital role in vulnerable or more extensive areas but they perceive the obligations of the scheme to be greater than the financial reward being offered.

"It is important that the Scottish Government looks at how smaller keepers could be attracted into the scheme and the advantages that the scheme has to offer their cattle production clearly communicated.

"Longer term, there is an opportunity to ensure the scheme drives our Scotch brand and improves meat quality.

"In order to achieve this, the BES database must incorporate the information held by Food Standard Scotland and Scottish abattoirs in order to allow us the ability to explore how we get more cattle achieving higher eating quality, fewer health issues and better meat yield.
Would you pay 1million for a single field?

It may sound like a lot of money, but actually it could be the best investment youve ever made  and theres a field on the market in Wiltshire thats creating quite a stir.

Nestling among the southern slopes of the Wiltshire Downs in Pewsey Vale, this single field of grade 2-3 arable land covers 37.3 hectares (92.2 acres) and is on the market for more than 27,000 a hectare (11,000 an acre).

That may sound a lot, but with so much uncertainty following the Brexit vote, agricultural land is likely to be seen as a safe investment; and its certainly performed well in the past.

According to Mark Webb, partner at WebbPaton chartered surveyors, arable land prices in Great Britain have soared by 340% over the past 10 years, outperforming almost any comparable investment, including London property.

It now averages around 23,500 a hectare (9,500 an acre), and comes with considerable tax benefits too.

"Land is always going to be in demand; were not making any more of it," says Mr Webb.

"Its a tangible asset and offers extremely valuable relief from Inheritance Tax and Capital Gains Tax."

Providing the land is owned for at least two years up to 100% relief from Inheritance Tax is available, which on land valued at 1milion would save up to 400,000 in tax.

For purchasers who are reinvesting money after the sale of another trading asset, rollover relief may also be available, potentially wiping out any Capital Gains Tax liability.

"As well as active farmers seeking to expand, were expecting this field to attract considerable attention from institutional investors," says Mr Webb.

"For those who dont want to farm it in-hand income may be generated by renting it out  although to secure the tax benefits its better to employ a contractor or enter into a share farming agreement.

"There will be plenty of local farmers willing to take on such an arrangement."
The consumer ad, We put the best of Canada into our beef, was run one day as a full page in the major daily newspapers nationally Saturday June 18, with a nod to Father's Day. The newspapers were Globe & Mail, Toronto Star, Ottawa Citizen and Calgary Herald. The producer ad, The league of beef producers, will run in select regional/community papers and producer/industry magazine publications, with staggered release dependent on earliest release dates. In total, the campaign will have a total reach of approximately 4 million Canadians.

The consumer campaign was supported by a press release What Makes Canadian Beef So Great, and the Why Canadian Beef webpage. The producer campaign was supported by the League of Beef Producers website. Both webpages were developed to share further information with the print ad reader and can also work as "stand-alone" with those who happen to simply come to the page. The campaign also leveraged digital communication platforms to create conversation online.

Consumers are demanding to know more about the food they feed their families. More than ever it is their personal values that are reflected in the brands they purchase and eventually drive where they spend their hard-earned dollars. The Canadian Beef Brand adds tangible value to Canadian beef; it tells the story of the effort that went into raising quality beef for our tables worldwide.



The consumer campaign shares the Canadian beef brand story with consumers across Canada. Canada Beef developed the Canadian Beef brand story based on global consumer research, which proved the essence of the Canadian Beef brand is grounded in the country of origin itself: We put the best of Canada into our beef.

Canada Beef knows the value of Canadian Beef and it is something the world values. It is important Canada Beef invest in campaigns like this to engage with consumers and maintain a connection.

The producer campaign aims to show the value of the market development and promotion investments made by Canada Beef. Producers need to know what National Check-Off dollars are supporting and the investments that are being made to provide the best return on investment.

Canada Beef is committed to maximizing funding to provide the greatest return on investment and to ensure that every dollar makes a difference. The ad showcases the value beef producers receive in exchange for their investment with Canada Beef, including building brand loyalty for Canadian beef globally.





Source: MeatBusiness




Fort Bragg to be known as Fort Liberty. Here's what to know.

When will Fort Bragg be renamed? Why will it be renamed Fort Liberty? How much will it cost?
Demi Lovato and Nick Jonas paid tribute to Christina Grimmie and the victims of the Pulse nightclub shooting during their Orlando concert on Saturday (02.07.16).

Demi Lovato [Instagram]

The pair gave an emotional performance of 'Rise Up' with Andra Day as the names of the 49 victims of the gay nightclub shooting flashed up on the screen behind them, along with that of the former 'Voice USA' contestant, who was shot by a crazed fan the same weekend.

Nick took to Instagram after the performance to write: "Orlando you were incredible last night. Thank you @andradaymusic for helping DEMI and I are honor the victims of the terrible acts of violence recently. #riseup #hondacivicfuturenowtour (sic)."

Demi also posted a picture of herself wrapped in a rainbow flag.

And Nick and Demi surprised employees of Pulse with a VIP package to see their concert and posed for pictures with them.

A message on Pulse's Facebook page read: "Nick Jonas & Demi Lovato, thank you for making the pulse family smile #onepulse #orlandostrong #pulseorlando. We will rise and not be defeated! #onepulse #pulseorlando (sic)."

TMZ reports that 30 employees received a private suite at the concert venue.

Following the shooting last month, Nick, 23, joined a vigil at gay rights landmark the Stonewall Inn, to remember the victims of America's largest ever mass shooting.

He said: "More than anything, I just want to speak from the heart and say I woke up yesterday to the news, like all of you, and my heart broke.

"I grew up here in New York City and New Jersey, performing on Broadway shows, surrounded by some of my closest friends from the LGBT community.

"My father, a minister from New Jersey, shaped my view that love is love, that we are all equal. That no matter who you are, or where you're from, or where you're going in life, you have the right to love and be loved. So yesterday, thinking about the families of the victims and the lives lost, I just thought that could be my friend. That could be my people."
Tom Hiddleston wore an 'I heart TS' vest to celebrate Fourth of July weekend with Taylor Swift.

Tom Hiddleston

The 35-year-old actor spent the US holiday with his new girlfriend at her Rhode Island home and the pair were joined by a host of stars including Blake Lively, Ryan Reynolds, Este Haim, Gigi Hadid, Karlie Kloss and Ruby Rose.

The group went for a swim in the sea where Tom could be seen sporting the top which proclaimed his love for his girlfriend of less than a month and a heart tattoo with a T in the middle was clearly visible on his right arm.

It's unclear if the tattoo is real or fake.

Taylor wore a red bikini and the couple packed on the PDA in front of their friends.

Tom and Taylor started dating immediately after her recent split from Calvin Harris, 32, and the pair have enjoyed a whirlwind romance.

After first being spotted kissing near her Rhode Island home, they visited New York together before flying to Nashville to see her parents and Suffolk to his family. They were also spotted on a romantic trip to Rome.

And it's not surprising that Taylor wanted Tom to meet her girl squad as she has reportedly told them all that she is in love already.

A source previously told E! News: "She texted her close friends and said, 'I think I am in love and I never felt this way before!'

"He is very romantic and attentive towards Her. He is extremely charming. He also makes sure she feels safe wherever they go together. She is on cloud nine and really enjoying this quality time they are spending."
Britain's Prince Harry enjoyed a round of shots with Jemima Khan in London last week.

Prince Harry

The 31-year-old royal spotted Jemina, 42 - who previously dated Russell Brand and Hugh Grant - with 11 pals at Casa Cruz restaurant in Notting Hill last week and joined them to knock back the drinks, according to the Mail on Sunday.

Harry had dinner with two friends but they stopped by Jemima's table on their way out.

Although Harry has a reputation as a party-loving Prince, his close pal Joss Stone recently insisted he is actually quite shy.

Asked if she could convince him to get up on stage and dance at his charity concert for Sentebale at Kensington Palace last week, she said: "Last time I was singing in Lesotho he started a conga line so I wouldn't put it past him. He's a fun human being. He's very sweet and rather shy too, though."

Joss - who is an ambassador for Sentebale - also praised Harry and his older brother William for their charity work.

She said: "As a nation I think we should be very proud of them. They have become amazing young men. Thank God they are doing things the way that they are.

"What Harry is doing is something beautiful. That's pretty cool."
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Non-resident Indian businessman Yusuffali M.A.'s Lulu Group is investing over Rs.7,000 crore in key sectors including retail.The Abu Dhabi-headquartered retail conglomerate that has a global annual turnover of $6.3 billion will invest Rs.4,650 crore in Kerala, Rs.1,000 crore in Uttar Pradesh and Rs.1,410 crore in Telangana in the hospitality and retail sectors, according to media reports.

Yusuffali, a first generation migrant to the Middle East, was ranked the 30th wealthiest Indian and the 737th richest person in the world by the Forbes magazine last year.



Prime Minister Narendra Modi's outreach to a number of Gulf nations coupled with initiatives to attract foreign investment have made India the most talked about FDI destination in the region which is looking to broaden its non-oil investment, according to the Kerala-born NRI.



There will be a tremendous push from Gulf investors into India as they are looking to broaden their non-oil investment, said Yusuffali, whose business empire is spread across 30 countries and hires the highest number of Indians outside India.



Complimenting the government's announcement of raising the FDI cap for key sectors, Yusuffali predicted that investment to the tune of $150 billion will flow into India's retail, aviation, tourism and manufacturing sectors from the Gulf countries in the next few years.



The Lulu group, he said, will initially invest Rs.1,000 crore for setting up a shopping mall and a five-star hotel and convention centre in Lucknow. The site for the project has already been identified and construction work is due to begin by December this year.



The Group is investing Rs.500 crore for establishing a food processing plant in Telangana and another Rs 900 crore on building a shopping mall in Hyderabad.



In Kerala, Yusuffali's company is setting up a shopping mall and a five-star hotel in capital Thiruvananthapuram with investment of Rs.1,250 crore, while another five-star hotel was planned in Kochi at an investment of Rs.1,600 crore.



His Group is also a setting up an information technology park at Kochi with an investment of Rs.1,400 crore. (SH)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk  India
Sports goods marketer Nike has named its president & CEO Mark Parker as the new chairman following the retirement of Phil Knight from the Nike board of directors, effective immediately.According to Nike, this is the completion of the planned transition that was initiated a year ago.

Sports goods marketer Nike has named its president & CEO Mark Parker as the new chairman following the retirement of Phil Knight from the Nike board of directors, effective immediately. According to Nike, this is the completion of the planned transition that was initiated a year ago. Phil's impact on Nike is immeasurable and his #

Phil's impact on Nike is immeasurable and his entrepreneurial drive is and always will be part of our DNA, Mark Parker said.Along with Nike's exceptional management team, I am committed to leading our next era of innovation and growth as we serve and inspire athletes throughout the world, Parker added.The Nike board has appointed Phil Knight to the position of chairman emeritus, with a standing invitation to attend Nike board meetings as an observer and to lend his experience.I could not be more pleased with the board's thoughtful execution of the succession plan, and am thrilled that an outstanding leader like Mark will head the board, Phil Knight also said.I intend to continue to work to promote the company's business in my new role for as long as I can contribute to Nike's success and long-term growth, he informed.Additionally, Tim Cook, CEO of Apple who has been a Nike director since 2005, has been appointed lead independent director of the board, effective immediately. (AR)

Fibre2fashion News Desk - India
Pakistan's Technical Education and Vocational Training Authority (TEVTA) has finalised all necessary arrangements for the establishment of the Garment Institute at the Government Institute of Emerging Technologies Township in Lahore.Turkish Cooperation and Co-ordination Agency (TIKA) is providing technical assistance with the latest machinery and equipment for successful launch of the Garment courses.

Pakistan's Technical Education and Vocational Training Authority (TEVTA) has finalised all necessary arrangements for the establishment of the Garment Institute at the Government Institute of Emerging Technologies Township in Lahore. Turkish Cooperation and Co-ordination Agency (TIKA) is providing technical assistance with the latest#

TEVTA Chairperson Irfan Qaiser Sheikh said that TIKA will provide machinery/equipment for Garments, Wet and Dry processes labs during the month while waste water treatment plant will be set up by TEVTA.Garment related courses including Industrial Stitching Machine Operator, Denim Washing Expert and Denim Dry Finishing Expert short courses will be offered after finalisation of arrangements. A total of 1500 students will be trained in these courses annually. Sheikh also said that after installation of machinery/equipment, TEVTA would be able to provide training of garments sector on international standards in Lahore and fulfil the demand of skilled manpower and contribution towards export in the said sector.The TEVTA chief thanked the Turkish Government for providing state-of-the-art machinery/equipment for the said Garment Institute.This institute will further strengthen the cooperation between Pakistan and Turkey. Turkish experts will also train our Master Trainer in Turkey and Pakistan. The international level training imparted by Turkish Master to TEVTA Trainers will ultimately beneficial for our youth, he said. (SH)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk  India
Vietnam's garment and textile sector has not received any major foreign direct investment (FDI) in the first half of this year, even though the country achieved more than $11.2 billion FDI during the period, according to the country's Foreign Investment Agency (FIA).

Vietnam's garment and textile sector has not received any major foreign direct investment (FDI) in the first half of this year, even though the country achieved more than $11.2 billion FDI during the period, according to the country's Foreign Investment Agency (FIA). In 2015, Vietnam's garment and textile sector had attracted nearly $1 billion in FDI #

In 2015, Vietnam's garment and textile sector had attracted nearly $1 billion in FDI for three projects, namely Polytex Far Eastern (Taiwan), Hyosung Dong Nai (Turkey) and Worldon Viet Nam (Hong Kong).

Vietnam's garment and textile sector has not received any major foreign direct investment (FDI) in the first half of this year, even though the country achieved more than $11.2 billion FDI during the period, according to the country's Foreign Investment Agency (FIA). In 2015, Vietnam's garment and textile sector had attracted nearly $1 billion in FDI #

The record high investment in the sector last year was due to the anticipated benefits that Vietnam would enjoy following new free trade agreements, especially the 12-member Trans-Pacific Partnership.

Vietnam's garment and textile sector has not received any major foreign direct investment (FDI) in the first half of this year, even though the country achieved more than $11.2 billion FDI during the period, according to the country's Foreign Investment Agency (FIA). In 2015, Vietnam's garment and textile sector had attracted nearly $1 billion in FDI #

Some provinces have sounded caution this year while giving green signal for setting up of garment and textile companies as they may require large plots of land or may cause pollution.

Vietnam's garment and textile sector has not received any major foreign direct investment (FDI) in the first half of this year, even though the country achieved more than $11.2 billion FDI during the period, according to the country's Foreign Investment Agency (FIA). In 2015, Vietnam's garment and textile sector had attracted nearly $1 billion in FDI #

Of the total $11.2 billion FDI received by Vietnam in January-June 2016, $7.5 billion came from 1,145 newly licensed projects, while the remaining was contributed by 535 already-operating projects, FIA said.

Vietnam's garment and textile sector has not received any major foreign direct investment (FDI) in the first half of this year, even though the country achieved more than $11.2 billion FDI during the period, according to the country's Foreign Investment Agency (FIA). In 2015, Vietnam's garment and textile sector had attracted nearly $1 billion in FDI #

Manufacturing and processing industries continued to be the top sector for attracting FDI. It received over $8 billion towards 488 newly registered projects and 405 existing projects. (RKS)

Vietnam's garment and textile sector has not received any major foreign direct investment (FDI) in the first half of this year, even though the country achieved more than $11.2 billion FDI during the period, according to the country's Foreign Investment Agency (FIA). In 2015, Vietnam's garment and textile sector had attracted nearly $1 billion in FDI #

Fibre2Fashion News Desk  India
Integrated textile manufacturer Arvind Limited is planning to raise up to Rs 500 crore by issuing non-convertible debentures (NCDs) on a private placement basis.

Integrated textile manufacturer Arvind Limited is planning to raise up to Rs 500 crore by issuing non-convertible debentures (NCDs) on a private placement basis. In order to meet the financial needs of the company, the company may make an offer of NCDs or invite subscription to NCDs on private placement basis in one or more tranches #

In order to meet the financial needs of the company, the company may make an offer of NCDs or invite subscription to NCDs on private placement basis in one or more tranches... for an aggregate amount not exceeding Rs 500 crore, Arvind said in a notice for annual general meeting scheduled for August 4, 2016.

Integrated textile manufacturer Arvind Limited is planning to raise up to Rs 500 crore by issuing non-convertible debentures (NCDs) on a private placement basis. In order to meet the financial needs of the company, the company may make an offer of NCDs or invite subscription to NCDs on private placement basis in one or more tranches #

The Ahmedabad based company is one of the leading producers of denim in the world. This cutting edge position comes to Arvind courtesy technologies such as Open-end Spinning, Foam Finishing, Mercerizing, Slasher-dyeing, Rope-dyeing, Air-Jet, Projectile and Wet Finishing.

Integrated textile manufacturer Arvind Limited is planning to raise up to Rs 500 crore by issuing non-convertible debentures (NCDs) on a private placement basis. In order to meet the financial needs of the company, the company may make an offer of NCDs or invite subscription to NCDs on private placement basis in one or more tranches #

In recent years, the company has also ventured into retail business with lifestyle fashion products. (RKS)

Integrated textile manufacturer Arvind Limited is planning to raise up to Rs 500 crore by issuing non-convertible debentures (NCDs) on a private placement basis. In order to meet the financial needs of the company, the company may make an offer of NCDs or invite subscription to NCDs on private placement basis in one or more tranches #

Fibre2Fashion News Desk  India
In 2016/17, world cotton acreage is expected to contract 1 per cent to 31 million hectares, however, average yield is projected to expand 5 per cent to 735 kg/ha, leading global output to grow 5 per cent to 23 million tons.According to ICAC, global cotton consumption is forecast to remain at 23.6 million tons in 2016/17 as low prices for competing fibres make cotton less attractive.

In 2016/17, world cotton acreage is expected to contract 1 per cent to 31 million hectares, however, average yield is projected to expand 5 per cent to 735 kg/ha, leading global output to grow 5 per cent to 23 million tons. According to ICAC, global cotton consumption is forecast to remain at 23.6 million tons in 2016/17 as low prices for competing fibres#

So, while mill use may remain stagnant, world cotton trade volume may increase 1 per cent to 7.4 million tons in 2016/17, ICAC averred.In 2016/17, China's imports are expected to decrease by 8 per cent to 947,000 tons as the Chinese government continues to restrict imports in order to reduce its sizeable stocks of cotton.While, global cotton stocks at the end of 2016/17 are expected to be down 5 per cent to 20.4 million tons as mill use exceeds production by 930,000 tons.Though the stock-to-use ratio outside of China would be similar to the 36 per cent registered last season, ending stocks in the rest of the world are forecast to rise 3 per cent to 8.7 million tons.In the 2015/16 season, global cotton output fell 17 per cent to 21.7 million tons, driven by a 9 per cent reduction to 31.1 million hectares in area, while world average yield dropped 9 per cent to 699 kg/ha. (AR)

Fibre2fashion News Desk - India
Mauritius has invited investment from Indian corporate in the country 's textile sector while identifying high-end garments for increasing its exports to India.

Mauritius has invited investment from Indian corporate in the country's textile sector while identifying high-end garments for increasing its exports to India. Mauritius offers great opportunity to Indian business houses to make investment in different sectors, including textile manufacturing, Seewraj Nundlall, country head of board of investment, Mauritius#

Mauritius offers great opportunity to Indian business houses to make investment in different sectors, including textile manufacturing, Seewraj Nundlall, country head of board of investment, Mauritius, told reporters recently in Chandigarh.

Mauritius has invited investment from Indian corporate in the country's textile sector while identifying high-end garments for increasing its exports to India. Mauritius offers great opportunity to Indian business houses to make investment in different sectors, including textile manufacturing, Seewraj Nundlall, country head of board of investment, Mauritius#

The Mauritius government provides hassle-free environment for companies to start their own business, Nundlall said.

Mauritius has invited investment from Indian corporate in the country's textile sector while identifying high-end garments for increasing its exports to India. Mauritius offers great opportunity to Indian business houses to make investment in different sectors, including textile manufacturing, Seewraj Nundlall, country head of board of investment, Mauritius#

Any investor can incorporate its company within a day and one can get occupational permit within 5-7 working days. And there is no minimum capital requirement and there is 15 per cent corporate tax, he said.

Mauritius has invited investment from Indian corporate in the country's textile sector while identifying high-end garments for increasing its exports to India. Mauritius offers great opportunity to Indian business houses to make investment in different sectors, including textile manufacturing, Seewraj Nundlall, country head of board of investment, Mauritius#

Indian companies can also consider Mauritius as an investment destination for access to African countries.

Mauritius has invited investment from Indian corporate in the country's textile sector while identifying high-end garments for increasing its exports to India. Mauritius offers great opportunity to Indian business houses to make investment in different sectors, including textile manufacturing, Seewraj Nundlall, country head of board of investment, Mauritius#

Last year, Mauritius exports to India were valued at $20 billion while its imports were $2 billion. To further increase its exports to India, Mauritius has identified several items, which includes high-end garments.

Mauritius has invited investment from Indian corporate in the country's textile sector while identifying high-end garments for increasing its exports to India. Mauritius offers great opportunity to Indian business houses to make investment in different sectors, including textile manufacturing, Seewraj Nundlall, country head of board of investment, Mauritius#

India Mauritius Global Partnership Conference is scheduled from July 24-27 in Mauritius and is expected to be attended by 250-300 businessmen from India, Pritpal Singh Pannu, president of India Mauritius Trade and Cultural Friendship Forum, said. (RKS)

Mauritius has invited investment from Indian corporate in the country's textile sector while identifying high-end garments for increasing its exports to India. Mauritius offers great opportunity to Indian business houses to make investment in different sectors, including textile manufacturing, Seewraj Nundlall, country head of board of investment, Mauritius#

Fibre2Fashion News Desk  India
Close on the heels of announcing industry friendly labour reforms and an ambitious Rs 6000 crore package for the garments sector, the government plans to extend the policy to other sectors in the textile value chain to maximise revenue and job creation in the textile industry, which is the second highest employer after agriculture in the country The textile ministry is ready with the draft of a new textiles policy in which it has started pitching for extension of the labour reforms to the textile (yarns, fabrics and made-ups) sector, media reports quoting senior ministry officials said.Besides creating new jobs within, extension of labour reforms to textiles, including spinning, will enable India to capture the space being ceded by China due to soaring wages costs there, they said adding that the textile ministry has begun talks with the labour ministry already on this issue.The extension of new clauses on fixed term employment and increase in overtime limit for willing workers (now only specific to garments sector) if extended to spinning, yarns and fabric units would enable the government realize its aim of creating 10 million new jobs and $ 40 billion additional exports in the textile and garments sector over and above $ 30 billion in 2015-2016.Officials are also hopeful that the stimulus to the garment sector, if extended to related textile sectors, would rope in Rs 74,000 crore worth investment in the coming three years.The draft of the proposed new textiles policy is ready and is likely to be taken up by the cabinet next month, Union Textile Secretary Rashmi Verma told a media group in Mumbai.The focus areas of the policy are value addition down the value chain from fibre to garmenting, increase in production at every stage from fabric to processing to garmenting, she said adding that there will also be a focus on investment in technical textile sector in India.The special package unveiled for garments sector in June was also part of the new textile policy, she said, adding that the draft had been circulated to different ministries to seek their comments on the issue.

Apart from the emphasis on processing, the proposed textiles policy has recommended that the duty on man-made fibres should be rationalised. (SH)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk  India
Rumours are doing the rounds that Deepika Padukone, had auditioned for the Hollywood movie The Mummy Reboot, and if selected, would have starred alongside Hollywood biggie Tom Cruise. Unfortunately, it has been reported that the film-makers have not considered Deepika Padukone for the role, hence missing out on a great opportunity to star with Tom Cruise.

We're sure, after the xXx sequel is released, Hollywood film-makers would be eager to cast Deepika Padukone in their movies! Which film-maker wouldn't resist not casting a beauty like this? Check out Deepika's stunning pictures here!

Spotboye, quoted a source as saying, "Deepika had auditioned for the role of an Asian princess that Tom thinks about in a flashback moment. Though it wasn't a very big role, Deepika was very keen to work with the actor. However, it can now be said that she hasn't been selected."

Ileana D'Cruz's Boyfriend Clicks Mindblowing Pictures Of Her In A Bikini & Much More!

Even before Deepika Padukone, Huma Qureshi had also auditioned for the movie The Mummy Reboot and sadly the film-makers have not confirmed her for the role as well.

Even though the role is quite small, reaching an international audience would mean a lot as the scene would be seen by viewers worldwide. Now we wonder who would play the role of the 'flashback ancient princess".

20 Pictures Of Riya Sen That Would Make You 'Sit & Stare' At Her!

The Mummy Reboot, would be shot in the remote deserts of Iraq, and Tom Cruise would play the role of a US Navy Seal, who is deployed in the deserted region to hunt down the world's most wanted terrorists. During the mission, Tom Cruise would uncover Mummies and have a new enemy apart from the terrorists and would set out on a new mission.

Sizzling Pics! Who Knew Ameesha Patel Would End Up Being Such A Stunning Woman

Deepika Padukone starrer xXx: The Return of The Xander Cage would hit the theatres worldwide in 2017.
Shahrukh Khan's son Aryan Khan and Sridevi's daughter Jhanvi Kapoor are planning to join the same school in California.

According to Pinkvilla, these star kids are now slated to join the USC School of Cinematic Arts, a private film school within the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. Aryan will take a course in filmmaking whereas Jhanvi will take an acting course.

Click on the slider to see some pics of Aryan & Jhanvi which show that they are the stars in the making.



Recently, many reports claimed that Aryan Khan will soon make his Bollywood debut. To which Shahrukh Khan told a leading daily, "I am a big believer in education, so they (his kids) have to finish studying first. My son will graduate. He has finished his 12th and he will have four years of college. The minimum requirement is to graduate.''

Also Read: Bollywood's Original Bombshell:20 Mesmerising Pictures Of Karan Singh Grover's Hot Wife Bipasha Basu

Shahrukh Khan further added, "If you have an undying passion for films then get into it, not because you are good looking or Shahrukh Khan's kids or because I am an actor so they also have to be one. These are wrong reasons (to enter films)."

On the other hand, Jhanvi Kapoor's mother Sridevi thinks that every star kid dreams of becoming an actor, ''Which child is not interested in acting? Every child wants to be an actor. And there is nothing wrong with that. But it is not an easy job. It requires a lot of hard work and dedication. If they are ready to put in that effort, then why not?,'' she told a daily.

Can't wait to see Aryan and Jhanvi on the silver screen!
Everyone in Bollywood knows that Arjun Kapoor is very close to Ranveer Singh. Recently, Arjun Kapoor talked about the amazing bond, he shares with the Bajirao Matani actor.

Arjun Kapoor told a leading news agency, "I think in a profession where a lot of people wouldn't want us (Arjun and Ranveer) to be friends, we've managed retain the core values of being friends and I hope that continues. We have an amazing bond. It's a friendship that goes beyond the work that we do, which is amazing."



"We are diametrically opposite in our personalities, but we have a lot of similarities in our tastes... So the kind of cinema, hobbies or the conversations we've had, it just shows that two different people can also be very similar in their own way. So, we are same-same, but different, it's one of those with me and Ranveer," he added.



Also Read: She Looks Beautiful! Aishwarya Rai SPOTTED In New York With Aaradhya Bachchan & Asha Bhosle (Pics)

When asked about his plans for Ranveer Singh's 31st birthday, Arjun said, "I know he is not in the city and I know I am not in the city for his birthday. I'll call up and wish him... There's nothing specific that I have planned.''
Rumour has it that Sushant Singh and Kriti Sanon are in a relationship. The news of their affair came out when the two started shooting for their upcoming film Raabta.

But it seems that Sushant Singh Rajput is not too happy with all these reports. In an interview to HT, he said, "I was tired of answering personal questions. First I read stories about my affair with an actress. Then, it all started again when my film with Kriti went on the floors. These stories are entertaining but they are fictional.''

(They do look good together! Don't believe us? Then click on the slider to go through some stunning pics of Sushant & Kriti)



Sushant Singh Rajput further added, ''A few days back, I read that Kriti and I holidayed in Bangkok but she wasn't there. The story was published when she came back to Mumbai after shooting in Bangkok. I know it's tempting to write such stories. But in this case, it's sadly untrue(laughs) I am NOT dating anyone right now."

Also Read: Shahrukh Khan Upset With The Media For Using Suhana Khan's Bikini Picture, Here's What He Said

Kriti Sanon too reacted to the link-up by posting this on her social networking site, "Had enough..as much as we like & respect each other as costars, there is absolutely NO truth to these baseless manufactured stories! Thanks."

Not so long ago, a source had reported to a leading web portal, ''Sushant and Kriti who started off as friends are now an official couple where everyone in their friends circle are already aware about their relationship. Word is that they even eat from each other's plates now.''

Well, only time will tell the truth!
Mammootty fans have all the reasons to be happy and thrilled as they would witness the release of two films of Megastar in the month of July.

Kasaba, which is slated as an Eid release, would be the first one to hit the theatres and later this month Mammootty's film White is also expected to hit the theatres.

Less often, we get to see two films of a superstar releasing in the same month. But, this month of July would bring in two big movies of Mammootty.

Kasaba, is definitely high on expectations and one of the most awaited films of this year. With the release of the teaser, the expectations have soared to new heights.

The teaser of Kasaba went on to become the first Malayalam movie teaser to fetch 1 Million views from Youtube in less than 100 hours of time.

The film which has Mammootty in the role of a police officer would make it to theatres on July 7, 2016. The movie is expected to release in close to 150 centres.

Meanwhile, White has been in the waiting queue for quite some time now. The film was expected to make it to the theatres during the Vishu season. But, due to delay in post-production works, the film pushed its release dates.

White would have Mammootty in the role of a banker named Prakash Roy. The film has Huma Qureshi playing the female lead role.

As per the reports, makers of White are planning to release the movie on July 29, 2016. The film is expected to be a dark horse of this season.

Well, it would be a great time for Mammootty with back-to-back releases in the same month. We wish the actor and the entire team of both the movies all the very best.
Even as producer 'Kalaipuli' S Thanu is determined not to give away the release date of superstar Rajinikanth's Kabali without being absolutely sure about it, the Malay version of the film has its release date locked, it seems.

According to a report, distributors in Malaysia are busy promoting the film through banners and posters. Interestingly, it is said that the Malay version of the movie will hit theatres on July 29, according to the promotional banners and posters.

Since most of the film was captured in Malaysia, fans and movie goers there were excited about the project right from the word go. This encouraged the makers to dub the movie in Malay, making Kabali the first ever Tamil film to be dubbed in the foreign language.

Distributors from the remaining parts of the world were informed that the movie will release on 22nd of this month. However, the official release date will be announced only after the film gets certified by the Censor Board, it is said.

The team of Kabali also awaits the return of Rajinikanth from the USA, where he is currently holidaying with his family. The Lingaa star is expected to be present here during the release of Kabali.

It is also said that the film will be watched by the CBFC committee members before the end of this week. Fans and movie buffs will be hoping for producer Thanu to make the much awaited announcement, once the Pa Ranjith directorial gets certified.

Also starring Winston Chao, Radhika Apte, Rosyam Nor, Dhansika, Dinesh, Kishore and John Vijay in important roles, the film has its music composed by Santhosh Narayanan.

While the camera has been cranked by G Murali, Praveen KL has edited the film. The total run time of the movie is said to be around 2 hours 30 minutes.

Also Read: Trisha Is Still The Front-runner For 'Queen' Tamil Remake!
The non-controversial hero Sharwanand has shockingly hits the headlines, for his harsh behaviour with Rajadhi Raja's director. Though the film released with a decent talk last week, it went unnoticed since many did not even know that the film has released, due its poor publicity.

Sharwanand reportedly threw tantrums, when asked to promote the film during the release, as it has been in the cans for a longtime and the film's leading lady, Nithya Menen too, had said that she would only promote the film, if the hero comes along.

The actor and actress were well cooperative during the shoot, but they had gone unresponsive, when the director requested them to join in the promotions. In addition, the actor was alleged doing negative publicity on the film.

In the most surprising context, the film's producer was also uninterested about the project and has sold it to a distributor for a cheaper price.

This has put the director, Cheran's career at stake and he held a press meet in Chennai to vent out his anguish. We are yet to hear the Sharwa's side of the story though.
OSLO, Norway, July 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --Twenty-five world leaders, including five former heads of government, will meet today in Oslo to consider vital new recommendations for financing global education and to achieve inclusive and equitable quality education for all.

The International Commission on Financing Global Education Opportunity, (the Education Commission), chaired by the former UK Prime Minister and UN Special Envoy, Gordon Brown, and co-convened by the Prime Minister of Norway, Erna Solberg, along with the Presidents of Malawi, Indonesia, Chile and the Director-General of UNESCO, will finalize recommendations ahead of its presentation to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in September during the General Assembly in New York. The UN Secretary-General will receive the recommendations of the Commission and act upon them.

The work of the Commission is being closely watched around the world, and the leaders gathering in Oslo are acutely aware of the scale of the challenge. Radical shifts in technology, massive urbanization, the global mobility of labor and globalization in trade and services, mass migration, and increases in climate-induced natural disasters will demand new skills and the ability to embrace change - capabilities that only education can provide. As global spending on health has increased since 2008, spending on education has correspondingly declined. The Commissioners believe their recommendations will be crucial in helping to make education the global priority it needs to be.

Norway's Prime Minister, Erna Solberg, said: "Reaching all children and young people with quality education may be a daunting challenge, but we can make significant progress if decision-makers step up to the plate, together with teacher unions, international organisations, the private sector, civil society and others. Investing in education means investing in society at large. If we put education first, our global society will reap significant gains in terms of development and prosperity."

Gordon Brown added: "The United Nations and the world's children are deeply indebted to the Norwegian Government for its commitment to and support of the Education Commission. The Oslo meeting provides the opportunity to agree on a new framework for financing global education helping us better meet the ambitious Sustainable Development Goals for education. The world's children are looking to us. We cannot fail them."

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said: "The International Commission on Financing Global Education will offer solutions to mobilizing the resources that are needed. I look to the Commission to provide a roadmap, based on innovative, sustainable and practical solutions, to overcome the barriers to lifelong education and learning for all."
HO CHI MINH, Vietnam, July 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- UBM Asia, the organiser of Vietnam's Leading Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Exhibition - RE & EE Vietnam 2016 to host a webinar with the theme 'Water and Energy Sectors in Vietnamese Market'. The free-to-attend seminar will delve into the growing waste water management and green technology industry which is expected to grow immensely over the next two decades in line with the country's vision to have stronger emphasis on renewable energy development, and on the liberalisation of the power market by 2030. Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160629/384701

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20121014/HK92339LOGO-d

The webinar will provide participants valuable insights into the waste water market in Vietnam, accounting for EUR9.1 billion market opportunity, accompanied by new business needs that have risen as a result of increased demand for green technologies. Aside from the general market overview, the webinar aims at providing the necessary legal requirements for European companies to operate in Vietnam, and details on the Green Technologies Trade Mission to European Companies.

Speakers at the webinar include Ms Tran Thi Thao Huong, Deputy Director of Ministry of Construction of Vietnam, Mr Nguyen Dang Anh Thi, Green Technologies Consultant at IFC, and Mr Gavin Smith, Director, Clean Development at Dragon Capital. Registration to attend the webinar is FREE for all participants. More information and registration is available using the weblink:

http://evbn.org/event/webinar-green-technologies-vietnamese-market/

or by contacting Ms. Kelly via email at toan.ho@ubm.com

With the population of approximately 91.6 million people in 2015, Vietnam is facing the rising demand for water supply & waste water treatment, and energy in upcoming years. Recently, the Prime Minister has approved the adjustment of National Power Development Plan VII (hereinafter referred to as PDP 7 rev) for the period of 2016 - 2030 with the vision to 2030 which highlights stronger emphasis on Renewable energy Development and on the power market liberalization.

The webinar organised in partnership with the EU-Vietnam Business Network (EVBN) is part of the various initiatives by UBM Asia toward the sustainable development of Vietnam Energy sector. UBM Asia also organises various other related events in the region including those held in Thailand, Myanmar, Philippines, and Vietnam's Leading Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Exhibition -- RE & EE Vietnam 2016 (www.renergyvietnam.com) at Saigon Exhibition and Convention Center (SECC), Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam from 9-11 November 2016.

For more information about RE & EE Vietnam 2016, please do not hesitate to contact us at

HCM Office: Ms. Kelly, email: toan.ho@ubm.com

Hanoi Office: Ms. Vicky, email: Vicky.vu@ubm.com

International Enquiry: Ms. Vicky Tan , email: Vicky.tan@ubm.com

Notes to Editors:

About UBM Asia (www.ubmasia.com)

Owned by UBM plc listed on the London Stock Exchange, UBM Asia is the largest trade show organiser in Asia and the largest commercial organiser in China, India and Malaysia. Established with its headquarters in Hong Kong and subsidiary companies across Asia and in the US, UBM Asia has strong global network of 30 offices and 1,400 staff in 25 major cities. We operate in 21 market sectors with 235 exhibitions and conferences, 28 targeted trade publications, 18 vertical portals for over 1,000,000 quality exhibitors, visitors, conference delegates, advertisers and subscribers from all over the world.

About RE & EE Vietnam (renergyvietnam.com )

Vietnam's Leading Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Exhibition is the comprehensive energy trade event in Vietnam. The event showcases a wide range of services, technologies, supplies and equipment from various segments in energy efficiency and renewable energy. It is a part of the successful energy series organised by UBM, which includes Renewable Energy Asia, Thailand, Renewable Energy India, Myanmar's Leading Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency, Philippine's Leading Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency.

The Representative Office of UBM ASIA in Ho Chi Minh City

6th Floor, KN Building, 74 Nguyen Khoai, Ward 2

District 4, Ho Chi Minh City

Vietnam

T: +84 8 5401 2718

F: +84 8 5401 2717




CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - The Japanese yen weakened against the other major currencies in the Asian session on Monday. The yen fell to a 10-day low of 73.84 against the NZ dollar, from Friday's closing value of 73.46. The yen dropped to 114.51 against the euro, 136.69 against the pound and 105.62 against the Swiss franc, from last week's closing quotes of 114.09, 135.70 and 105.19, respectively. Against the U.S. and the Canadian dollars, the yen edged down to 102.80 and 79.73 from Friday's closing quotes of 102.46 and 79.35, respectively. If the yen extends its downtrend, it is likely to find support around 78.00 against the kiwi, 123.00 against the euro, 162.00 against the pound, 112.00 against the franc, 108.00 against the greenback and 83.00 against the loonie. 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.
REUTLINGEN, Germany, July 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Following 12 years of successful development at Retina Implant AG, Dr. Walter-G. Wrobel, CEO of the company, has announced his resignation by mutual consent. The resignation will take effect on September 30, 2016.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160701/385790 )



Dr. Wrobel's departure, along with recent CE-approval of the new RETINA IMPLANT Alpha AMS, indicates a new era for the company; one that will be heavily influenced by navigating the challenges of distribution.

Wrobel said of his departure: "This is the right time for me to hand over operational responsibility. It has been a very thrilling and satisfying time. I hope that Retina implant AG has as much success in the future as they have now."

The supervisory board expressed their thanks to Dr. Wrobel for his exceptional and treasured contribution to the company's success. The chairman, Prof. Zrenner stated: "Without his intensive personal commitment and strategical foresight, we would never have gotten this far. With his exceptional manner, he formed a company of highly innovative retinal implants from a scientific project."

Dipl.-Kfm. Reinhard Rubow, who has been on the board for 13 years, will step up to lead Retina Implant AG as sole executive director from October 1, 2016.

To keep updated on Retina Implant AG follow us on Twitter @RetinaImplant.

About Retina Implant AG

Retina Implant AG is the leading developer of subretinal implants for partially sighted and blind patients. After extensive research with German university hospitals and institutes which began with a large grant from the German Federal Ministry of Research and Education in 1996, Retina Implant AG was founded by Dr. Eberhart Zrenner, professor of Ophthalmology, University of Tubingen, Germany and his colleagues in 2003 with private investors with the goal of developing a fully-functioning electronic retinal implant to restore useful vision to the blind. Retina Implant began implanting human patients in 2005 and started a second, larger clinical trial in 2010. In July 2013, Retina Implant's wireless subretinal implant technology, Alpha IMS, received CE mark. To learn more, visithttp://www.retina-implant.de/.

MSLGROUP:

Sarah Herbert

+44(0)203-219-8708

sarah.herbert@mslgroup.com



Retina Implant, AG.:

Reinhard Rubow

+49-7121 | 36403-100

Reinhard.Rubow@retina-implant.de


DUBLIN, July 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "Global Light Projector Market 2016-2020" report to their offering.

The report forecasts the global light projector market to grow at a CAGR of 8.92% during the period 2016-2020.

Questions Answered:

What will the market size be in 2020 and what will the growth rate be?

What are the key market trends?

What is driving this market?

What are the challenges to market growth?

Who are the key vendors in this market space?

What are the market opportunities and threats faced by the key vendors?

What are the strengths and weaknesses of the key vendors?

Commenting on the report, an analyst from the research team said: During 2015, APAC was the largest market for light projectors and accounted for more than 45% of the market share in terms of the revenue generated. The increasing adoption of light projectors in the corporate and education sectors will aid in the growth of this market in the coming years. Also, the education sector is rapidly digitizing in this region, thereby fuelling the demand for the light projectors until the end of 2020.

According to the report, this increasing adoption of low-cost, portable projectors by small- and medium-sized enterprises is one of the key factors driving the growth of this market. Also, the technology is fast becoming an affordable option for middle-class consumers due to the decreasing average selling price of light projectors. A high number of fixed installations are increasingly getting replaced by low-cost Pico projectors, and this is expected to propel the growth prospects of the light projector market during the forecast period.

Companies Mentioned:

Canon

Epson

JVC

Sony

AAXA Technologies

ACER

BenQ

Hitachi Digital Media

Light Blue Optics

LG Electronics

Samsung Electronics

Toshiba WowWee

WowWee

Report Structure:

PART 01: Executive summary

PART 02: Scope of the report

PART 03: Market research methodology

PART 04: Introduction

PART 05: Market landscape

PART 06: Market segmentation by technology

PART 07: Market attractiveness by technology

PART 08: Market segmentation by type

PART 09: Market attractiveness by type

PART 10: Market segmentation by light source

PART 11: Market attractiveness by light source

PART 12: Market segmentation by end user

PART 13: Buying criteria

PART 14: Geographical segmentation

PART 15: Market attractiveness by geography

PART 16: Key leading countries

PART 17: Vendor landscape

PART 18: Appendix

PART 19: About the Author

For more information visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/hwzdv2/global_light

Media Contact:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

press@researchandmarkets.com

For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470

For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630

For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900

U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907

Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716
DUBLIN, July 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "Global Manufacturing Execution Systems Market in Process Industries 2016-2020" report to their offering.

The global manufacturing execution systems (MES) market in process industries to grow at a CAGR of 16.86% during the period 2016-2020.

Global Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES) Market in Process Industries 2016-2020, has been prepared based on an in-depth market analysis with inputs from industry experts. The report covers the market landscape and its growth prospects over the coming years. The report also includes a discussion of the key vendors operating in this market. To calculate the market size, we consider the revenue generated from sales and aftermarket services of MES in process industries.

A key trend boosting market growth is the fact that process industries are moving towards cloud-based MES deployments. Cloud-based MES-as-a-service is likely to be the next logical step in the evolution of automation technology in process industries. End-users are becoming more comfortable with the concept of service-based technology architecture such as cloud. End-user industries can significantly reduce costs, achieve greater flexibility, and enhance functionality by shifting toward cloud-based environment. SMEs operating in process industries face budget constraints and cuts, which make it difficult for them to afford the initial investment for an MES.

According to the report, a key growth driver is the shift towards paperless production. The emergence of information technology in manufacturing processes has significantly helped process-oriented companies to improve their operations, leading to sustainable development. The MES market is experiencing continuous demand from manufacturing companies owing to the shift in their preference for lean manufacturing. Among all the highlighted benefits of MES, reduction in cost in terms of wastage, rework, and defects is highly prominent. The overall manufacturing system becomes highly efficient when MES is integrated with Warehouse Management System (WMS), facilitating lean manufacturing to a large extent.

Further, the report states that one challenge that could hamper market growth is the need for high capital investment. MES require high capital expenditure for installation and regular upgrades, integration, and support. The growing demand for product quality and reduction of operational expenditure require large investments to integrate MES into existing systems, which are less compatible, and takes a long time to execute. Many SMEs worldwide are facing difficulties in investing in this technology, owing to the high capital investment required to integrate and build it.

Key vendors

- Emerson Electric

- GE

- Rockwell Automation

- Schneider Electric

- Siemens

Other prominent vendors

- ABB

- Accenture

- Dassault Systemes

- Honeywell International

- HCL Technologies

- Hitachi

- MPDV

- Parsec Automation

- SAP

- TCS

- WERUM IT Solutions

- Wipro

For more information visit

http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/smd38t/global

Media Contact:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

press@researchandmarkets.com



For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470

For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630

For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900



U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907

Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716
DUBLIN, July 11, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "Roof Insulation Market - Global Forecast to 2021" report to their offering.

The global roof insulation market is expected to reach USD 10.85 billion by 2021, at a CAGR of 4.3% between 2016 and 2021. The stringent regulatory environment pertaining to the reduction of greenhouse gases and expanding construction industry are some of the factors that are expected drive the growth of the global roof insulation market.

One or more roof surfaces of a pitched roof is pitched more than 10 and two of its slopes meet at a central ridge. This type of roof is ideal for areas where there are heavy rains and snowfalls. Pitched roof is comparatively easy to insulate, which makes it a favorable choice for residential projects.

Increasing demand from new construction activities, especially in the emerging economies across the globe, are expected to drive the growth for the market. Fiberglass, stone wool, foam board, and PUR insulation are the materials that are majorly used for insulating pitched roof.

Rigid insulation is the fastest-growing segment of the global roof insulation market. Rigid insulation possesses qualities such as high R-value and compact design, which makes it favourable for applications where space is limited. This has led to an increased demand for rigid insulation from contractors as well as individuals, and is expected to drive the growth of the market in the coming years.

Asia-Pacific is the fastest-growing market for global roof insulation, globally. The energy-saving initiatives and modifications in building regulations have aided the growth of the market in the region. With the presence of emerging economies, such as China, Indonesia, and India the construction sector in this region is expected to witness significant growth in the coming years.

Companies Mentioned:

BASF SE

Beijing New Building Material

Berkshire Hathaway, Inc.

GAF

Kingspan Group PLC

Knauf Insulation

Owens Corning Corporation

Paroc

Rockwool International A/S

Saint-Gobain

Key Topics Covered:

1 Introduction

2 Research Methodology

3 Executive Summary

4 Premium Insights

5 Market Overview

6 Industry Trends

7 Roof Insulation Market, By Application

8 Roof Insulation Market, By Type

9 Roof Insulation Market, By Material

10 Roof Insulation Market, By Region

11 Competitive Landscape

12 Company Profiles

13 Appendix

For more information visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/vlg3bj/roof_insulation

Media Contact:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

press@researchandmarkets.com

For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470

For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630

For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900

U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907

Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716
Mannheim, Basel (ots) - Das Brexit-Votum Ende Juni beschaftigt die Chemie- und Pharmakonzerne in Deutschland. Eine aktuelle Studie von CAMELOT Management Consultants ergab, dass zwei Drittel der befragten Chemie- und Pharma-Grounternehmen bereits Vorkehrungen fur den Brexit getroffen haben bzw. treffen werden. 20% von Ihnen gehen von erheblichen Folgen des Brexit fur ihr Geschaft aus. Der Chemie-Mittelstand dagegen sieht dem Austritt Grobritanniens aus der EU eher gelassen entgegen. Laut Studie wird sich der Brexit am starksten auf die Standortwahl fur Produktionsanlagen und Firmensitze sowie Unternehmensubernahmen und -fusionen auswirken.Fur die Studie befragte CAMELOT Management Consultants im Juli und August dieses Jahres 200 Top-Entscheider der chemischen und pharmazeutischen Industrie in Deutschland. "Insgesamt reagiert die Chemie- und Pharmaindustrie in Deutschland gespalten auf den Brexit. Wahrend vor allem die international agierenden Grounternehmen Folgen fur ihr Geschaft erwarten und bereits jetzt entsprechende Vorkehrungen treffen, zeigt sich der Mittelstand abwartend", fasst Dr. Sven Mandewirth, Partner bei CAMELOT Management Consultants, die Umfrageergebnisse zusammen.50% der Befragten treffen VorkehrungenBei der Frage nach den Vorkehrungen fur den Austritt zeigt sich ebenfalls ein heterogenes Bild: Wahrend 50 Prozent der befragten Unternehmen keine Vorkehrungen fur den Austritt Grobritanniens aus der EU treffen wollen, haben mehr als zehn Prozent bereits damit begonnen. Weitere 40 Prozent wollen nach Feststehen der konkreten Verhandlungsergebnisse ebenfalls Manahmen ergreifen. Auch hier zeigen sich Unterschiede bzgl. der Unternehmensgroe: Zwei Drittel der Manager groer Unternehmen werden Vorkehrungen treffen oder haben damit bereits begonnen. Dagegen haben lediglich sieben Prozent der befragten Mittelstandler bereits Manahmen ergriffen. Uber zwei Drittel der Manager mittelstandischer Unternehmen sehen dazu keinen Anlass.Durch den Brexit zu erwartende Veranderungen im UnternehmenCirca die Halfte der deutschen Chemie- und Pharmamanager glaubt, dass sich der Brexit erheblich / stark auf die Standortauswahl fur europaische Firmensitze (53%) und Produktionsanlagen (42%) sowie auf Merger&Aquisition-Aktivitaten bzgl. britischer Unternehmen (47%) auswirken wird. Drei Viertel aller Befragten erwarten zudem Folgen fur die Absatzmarkte und Lieferantenstruktur in Europa, allerdings in geringem Ausma.Auswirkungen des Brexit auf die Konjunktur EuropasDie Mehrheit (61%) der Befragten sieht keine negativen Auswirkungen des Brexit auf die Wirtschaftsentwicklung, wohingegen ein Drittel der Manager von einer Verschlechterung der Konjunktur fur die chemische und pharmazeutische Industrie durch den Brexit ausgeht. Sechs Prozent der mittelstandischen Unternehmen hingegen erhoffen sich sogar eine Verbesserung. Nur ein Viertel der Manager erwartet geschaftliche Auswirkungen durch weitere Austritte von EU-Mitgliedsstaaten. Die vollstandigen Studienergebnisse sind kostenfrei unter www.camelot-mc.com erhaltlich.Uber die CAMELOT Management Consultants AGCAMELOT Management Consultants ist der weltweit fuhrende Beratungsspezialist fur Value Chain Management in der Prozess-, Konsumguter- und Fertigungsindustrie. Das Unternehmen ist Teil der CAMELOT Gruppe mit weltweit 1.600 Mitarbeitern und Hauptsitz in Mannheim. Der integrierte Beratungsansatz und die enge Zusammenarbeit mit zahlreichen renommierten Technologiespezialisten garantieren den Projekterfolg uber alle Phasen der Beratung hinweg: von der Entscheidungsfindung bis hin zur organisatorischen und technischen Umsetzung. Value Chain Excellence. Strategy to Results. www.camelot-mc.comOTS: Camelot Management Consultants AG newsroom: http://www.presseportal.de/nr/83079 newsroom via RSS: http://www.presseportal.de/rss/pm_83079.rss2Pressekontakt: Sandra Gschwendner Head of Corporate Communications & PR CAMELOT Management Consultants AG Radlkoferstr. 2 81373 Munchen Tel.: +49 (0)89 741185-426 Email: sgsc@camelot-mc.com www.camelot-mc.com
TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 07/04/16 -- Rio Silver Inc. ("Rio Silver" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE: RYO) is pleased to announce that it has entered into a non-binding letter of intent (the "LOI") with Magellan Gold Corporation ("Magellan") (OTCQB: MAGE), an arm's length party, pursuant to which, subject to regulatory approval, Rio Silver has granted to Magellan an option (the "Option") to earn an undivided 50% interest in the Company's Ninobamba Silver Property ("Ninobamba"). The parties intend to replace the LOI with a definitive agreement (the "Definitive Agreement") containing industry standard terms and conditions following a 45-day due diligence period.

The 900-hectare Ninobamba silver project is located approximately 330 kilometres southeast of Lima in the Department of Ayacucho, Peru. The Ninobamba claim block is adjacent to claims owned by Southern Peru Copper and Newmont, in a historic silver district with positive infrastructure in a mining-friendly jurisdiction. Mineralization demonstrates the potential for a large, bulk-tonnage, disseminated-silver project.

The property was originally explored by AngloGold Peru SAC ("Anglo") in 2001. Anglo focused on an area of intense hydrothermal surface alteration and drilled five widely spaced core holes totaling 861 metres. Anglo's drilling highlights included DDH-2 which reported assay results of 87.0 g/t silver over a drilled interval of 130 metres starting from a depth of nine metres, and DDH-4 reporting 54.0 g/t silver over a drilled interval of 96 metres starting from 23 metres. The true widths of mineralization from this drilling are not yet known. In 2003, Bear Creek Mining signed an option agreement to earn a 60-per-cent joint venture interest and an additional eight holes were drilled totaling 1,001 metres. Results of this limited exploration program outlined two distinct parallel zones of silver mineralization 400 meters apart.

The last exploration program by the Company was completed in 2012. A total of 17 trenches were excavated using the local workforce from the nearby community. Trenches were channel sampled with a rock saw and all sample intervals were later surveyed. The sample results from the program are summarized in the Company's news release dated January 14, 2013. Highlights include 56 metres of 1.03 g/t Au and 98.9 g/t silver in trench TR-01; 42 metres of 131 g/t Ag in trench TR-02; and 108 metres of 62.4 g/t Ag in trench TR-05. During this program, the Company discovered a new zone of Au-Ag mineralization previously unrecognized by the previous operators. Trench TR-04, located some 400 meters west of trench TR-01, revealed a new gold-silver zone. Mineralization in this zone is associated with very distinct vuggy-silica type alteration indicative of high sulphidation systems. The last 21.77 metres of trench TR-04 returned 1.32 g/t Au and 102.46 g/t Ag ending in mineralization. This new zone shows that the Ninobamba property has a strong gold component and further exploration is required to determine the precious metal zonation, alteration patterns, and widths. The trenches are perpendicular to the mineralized structure and the true width of mineralization cannot be determined at this time.

Under the terms of the LOI, Magellan has the Option to acquire an undivided 50% interest in Ninobamba by spending an aggregate of US$2,000,000 within a three (3) year period in direct and indirect exploration and development expenditures related to the Ninobamba property, including 4,000 metres of drilling, of which 700 metres must be completed by the end of November, 2017. Upon completion of the exploration programs, it is intended that Magellan shall deliver a Preliminary Resource Estimate for the Ninobamba property.

In connection with the transaction, the Company intends to complete two private placement financings, each for aggregate proceeds of Cdn$75,000. It is intended that Magellan will be the sole subscriber for each of the private placements. The first private placement will consist of units of the Company for an aggregate subscription price of Cdn$75,000 with each unit consisting of one common share of Rio Silver and one share purchase warrant, with each warrant expiring eighteen (18) months following the date of issue. Subject to regulatory approval, the first private placement is expected to be concluded upon execution of the Definitive Agreement. The second private placement will be a unit financing for an aggregate subscription price of Cdn$75,000 with each unit consisting of one common share of Rio Silver and one share purchase warrant, with each warrant expiring thirty (30) months following the date of issue. Subject to regulatory approval, the second private placement is expected to be concluded within ninety (90) days after execution of the Definitive Agreement. Pursuant to the LOI, in order to maintain their Ninobamba Option earn-in rights Magellan must exercise all warrants before they expire. The final terms of the private placement including the price of each unit are yet to be finalized. All securities issued in connection with the private placement will be subject to a four-month statutory hold period.

The closing of the transaction is subject to a number of conditions including the entering into of the Definitive Agreement, the satisfactory completion of due diligence review by the parties, the completion of the first private placement, receipt of all required approvals and consents, including TSX Venture Exchange approval and satisfaction of other customary closing conditions. The transaction cannot close until the required approvals are obtained. There can be no assurance that the transaction will be completed as proposed or at all.

Jeffrey Reeder, P.Geo., and a qualified person as defined in National Instrument 43-101, has prepared, supervised the preparation, or approved the scientific and technical disclosure contained in this news release.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF RIO SILVER INC.

Steve Brunelle, Chairman

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

This news release includes forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties. All statements within, other than statements of historical fact, are to be considered forward looking. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include market prices, exploitation and exploration successes, continued availability of capital and financing, and general economic, market or business conditions. There can be no assurances that such statements will prove accurate and, therefore, readers are advised to rely on their own evaluation of such uncertainties. We do not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements except as required by applicable laws.

Contacts:

Rio Silver Inc.

Steve Brunelle

Chairman

(416) 479-9546 Ext 407

www.riosilverinc.com



Rio Silver Inc.

Jeffrey Reeder

Director and CEO

(647) 302-3290




Energijos Skirstymo Operatorius AB (hereinafter - the Company), identification code 304151376, registered office placed at Aguonu str. 24, Vilnius, Republic of Lithuania. The total number of registered ordinary shares issued by company is 894 630 333; ISIN code LT0000130023.An Extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders of the Company is to be convened on the initiative and by the decision of the Board of company on 4 July 2016.The date, time and place of the Extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders: The Ordinary General Meeting of Shareholders of the Company will be held on 26 July 2016, at 10.00 a.m., on the premises of the Company (Aguonu str. 24, second floor, 207 hall, Vilnius).The shareholder registration will start at 9.25 a.m. and will end at 9.55 a.m.The record date of these General Meetings is 19 July 2016. Only persons who are shareholders of the Company at the end of the record date of the General Meeting of Shareholders of company shall have the right to attend and vote at the Extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders of the Company.The following agenda of the Extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders of the Company was approved by the decision of the Board of company on 4 July 2016 and the following draft decisions is proposed:Agenda of the Extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders of the Company:1. Regarding the election of the audit company for the audit of financial reports of Energijos skirstymo operatorius AB and set of terms of remuneration for audit services.The proposed drafts decision of the Extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders of the Company on the abovementioned agenda item:1.1. To elect [__________________] as the audit company for the audit of Energijos skirstymo operatorius AB for the year 2016 and to pay for audit services no more than [_______________] (VAT not included) for the year 2016.According to the article 25 part 4 of the Law on Companies, the draft decision will be replenished when the procedures of the audit company selection will be finished. About the changes of the draft decision you will be informed according the law on Securities of the Republic of Lithuania.Shareholders participating in the Extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders of the Company shall produce an identity document. Shareholders shall be granted pecuniary and non-pecuniary rights provided for by laws and other legal acts of the Republic of Lithuania. Shareholders entitled to participate in the aforementioned shareholder meeting shall have the right to authorise, in writing, a natural or legal person to participate and vote on their behalf at the General Meetings of Shareholders indicated in this notice. Such a written authorisation shall be approved in accordance with the procedure laid down in legal acts and shall be delivered to Aguonu str. 24, Vilnius no later than by the end of shareholder registration for a relevant General Meeting. Shareholders entitled to participate in the General Meeting of Shareholders of the Company shall also have the right to authorise, by electronic means of communication, a natural or legal person to participate and vote on their behalf at the General Meeting of Shareholders. An authorisation issued by electronic means of communication shall be recognised as valid provided that the security of the information transferred is ensured and it is possible to identify the shareholder. Shareholders shall report the issuance of an authorisation by electronic means of communication by sending it by e-mail to info@eso.lt not later than by the end of the working day on 25 July 2016 (4:30 p.m.). The authorised person shall have an identity document and shall enjoy the same rights at the Extraordinary General Meeting as the shareholder represented by him would enjoy (unless the issued authorisation or laws provide for narrower rights of the authorised person). The shareholder's right to participate in the Extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders shall also include the right to ask. The Company has not approved any special authorisation form of the abovementioned General Meeting of Shareholders.The agenda of the Extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders of the Company may be supplemented on the initiative of shareholders of company whose shares held in company carry at least 1/20 of all votes at the General Meeting of Shareholders of the Company. The proposal to supplement the agenda of the respective Extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders shall be accompanied by draft decisions or, where no decisions have to be taken, by explanations on each proposed agenda item of the Ordinary General Meeting of Shareholders. The agenda shall be supplemented if the proposal is received no later than 14 before the respective General Meeting of Shareholders. Shareholders whose shares held in the Company carry at least 1/20 of all votes at the General Meeting of Shareholders of company shall have the right to propose, at any time before the General Meeting of Shareholders of the Company, new draft decisions on issues that are included or will be included in the agendas of the Extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders of the Company. Proposals on the supplementation of the respective agenda or relevant draft decisions shall be submitted in writing to the Company, Aguonu str. 24, Vilnius, or by e-mail to info@eso.lt.Shareholders of the Company shall have the right to present questions related to the agenda of the General Meeting of Shareholders of company. Questions may be presented by e-mail to info@eso.lt or delivered to the Company to Aguonu str. 24, Vilnius, no later than 3 working days before the General Meeting of Shareholders.Shareholders will be able to vote on the agenda items of the Extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders of the Company in writing by filling in ballot papers. At the request of a shareholder, the Company shall send, free of charge, a ballot paper to the shareholder by registered post or deliver it by hand against signature no later than 10 days before the General Meeting of Shareholders of the Company. A completed ballot paper shall be signed by the shareholder or a person authorised by the shareholder. Where a person authorised by the shareholder casts a vote, a document certifying the right to vote shall be attached to the completed ballot paper. Filled and signed general ballot paper and the document confirming the voting right can be sent to the company by registered mail or delivered at Aguonu str. 24, Vilnius, no later before the General Meeting of Shareholders. The company retains the right not to recognize the advance vote of the shareholder or his/her authorised representative, if his/her submitted general ballot paper does not meet the requirements of Paragraphs 3 and 4 of Article 30 of the Law on Companies of the Republic of Lithuania, was received to late or is filled so that the true will of the shareholder on an individual matter cannot be determined. Electronic means of communication shall not be used for participation and voting at either of the abovementioned General Meeting of Shareholders.Shareholders can familiarise themselves with documents related to the agenda of the Extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders of the Company, draft decisions on the agenda, documents to be submitted to Extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders and other information related to the implementation of the rights of shareholders specified in this notice on the website of the Company at http://www.eso.lt from the date of this notice as well as on the premises of the Company (Aguonu str. 24, Vilnius) during working hours (7.30-11.30 a.m. and 12.15-4.30 p.m.; 7.30-11.30 a.m. and 12.15-3.15 p.m. on Fridays).Atstovas rysiams su visuomene Martynas Burba, tel. (8~5) 251 4516.
Christophe Lottin, ex second in command at stent company Hexacath, brings 20 years of sales and management experience

Gonzague Issenmann recruited his successor to ensure the company he has created continues to thrive

Regulatory News:

STENTYS (FR0010949404 STNT) (Paris:STNT), a medical technology company commercializing the world's first and only Self-Apposing coronary stent, today announces that the Board of Directors has appointed Christophe Lottin as the new Chief Executive Officer of the Company. Gonzague Issenmann has organized his succession and will ensure a smooth transition over the next quarter.

Christophe Lottin, who has twenty years of experience in cardiology, rose through the sales organization of Boston Scientific and Hexacath France, up to the position of President with responsibility for Benelux, Switzerland and Canada. In particular, he was instrumental in the commercial success of the Optimax coronary stent. In his multiple roles, he had to coordinate the critical departments of a stent company, such as R&D, Clinical and Regulatory affairs.

Gonzague Issenmann, co-founder of STENTYS, commented: "I am extremely proud of what we accomplished over the last 10 years with an amazing team. The Self-Apposing Technology, with numerous technical improvements and clinical milestones, is now world renowned. Today, STENTYS' profile has evolved and Christophe is the person the Company needs to keep prospering commercially and become a major industry player. I wish him all the success that STENTYS deserves and remain a long term shareholder.

Christophe Lottin, Chief Executive Officer of STENTYS, added: "I am honored to assume the leadership of a company that has built a phenomenal reputation for itself in the cardiology community. As a long time cardiovascular device industry insider, I know how STENTYS products strong differentiation is a solid foundation to continue building the company and write a successful story.

Michel Darnaud, Chairman of the Board, concluded: "In the name of the Board, I would like to thank Gonzague for his relentless dedication to the company and for the strategic decisions that he has made. It is the sign of an astute entrepreneur to know when to pass the baton to a different profile of leader. I have known Christophe for years and can vouch for his credentials. The board is looking forward to this new phase of the Company's life.

About STENTYS

STENTYS is developing and commercializing innovative solutions for the treatment of patients with complex artery disease. STENTYS' Self-Apposing drug-eluting stents are designed to adapt to vessels with ambiguous or fluctuating diameters in order to prevent the malapposition problems associated with conventional stents. The APPOSITION clinical trials in the treatment of acute myocardial infarction showed a very low one year mortality rate and a faster arterial healing compared to conventional stents. The company's product portfolio also includes MiStent SES, a coronary DES whose new drug delivery mechanism is designed to match vessel response, and is marketed through STENTYS' commercial network in Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Latin America.

More information is available at www.stentys.com

Safe Harbor Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements about the Company that are based on numerous assumptions regarding the Company's present and future business strategies and the environment in which it will operate in the future which may not be accurate. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks which may cause the Company's actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, among others, risks associated with the development and commercialization of the Company's products, market acceptance of the Company's products, its ability to manage growth, the competitive environment in relation to its business area and markets, its ability to enforce and protect its patents and proprietary rights, uncertainties related to the U.S. FDA approval process, slower than expected rates of patient recruitment for clinical trials, the outcome of clinical trials, and other factors, including those described in the Section 4 "Risk Factors" of the Company's 2014 Registration Document (document de reference) filed with the French Autorite des Marches Financiers (AMF) on July 29, 2015 under number D.15-0807 and as updated in section 4.1 of the Registration Document Update filed with the AMF on February 11, 2016 under number D.15-0807-A01.

STENTYS is listed on Compartment C of Euronext Paris

ISIN: FR0010949404 Ticker: STNT

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160704005504/en/

Contacts:

STENTYS

Stanislas Piot

CFO

Tel.: +33 (0)1 44 53 99 42

stan.p@stentys.com

or

NewCap

Investor Relations Strategic Communications

Dusan Oresansky

Tel.: +33 (0)1 44 71 94 92

stentys@newcap.eu
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA -- (Marketwired) -- 07/04/16 -- OneRoof Energy, Inc., a residential solar services provider and wholly-owned subsidiary of OneRoof Energy Group, Inc. (the "Company") (TSX VENTURE: ON), announced that it entered into definitive agreements with two different third parties (each, a "Transaction," and collectively, the "Transactions") to sell 19.8 MW of its solar project assets (the "Project Assets") in the aggregate. The Transactions are expected to generate gross proceeds up to $61 million, with $19 million funded as of the date of this announcement, and $42 million expected to be funded in tranches through September of 2016 as projects currently in development progress through the final stages of construction.

"The Company's model is to both own residential solar assets, as well as sell assets to third party investors, depending upon market and other conditions at the time. This sale is consistent with our current plan to utilize capital to support strategic growth under our Solar 2.0 model," said David Field, President and CEO of the Company. "As previously announced, the Company is accelerating its efforts to partner with energy retailers and other home consumer service providers to complement their existing product lines with turnkey solar solutions."

The Company expects to use the net proceeds to repay outstanding amounts under the Company's current construction loan facility, to reduce the borrowing base of the Company's senior loans and to pay outstanding development and installation costs incurred related to the projects under development.

About OneRoof Energy

OneRoof Energy, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of OneRoof Energy Group, Inc., is a solar services provider dedicated to its "Solar 2.0" approach: an innovative model that enables consumer services companies in various verticals to sell residential solar while confidently relying on their solar partner for implementation. OneRoof uses its proven technology platform, big data and proprietary systems to help its partners reach out to their customers who can benefit from solar while building a channel into the home for 20 years. OneRoof provides its partners with customized, turn-key solutions, offering homeowners a suite of financing options, including traditional loan, lease and PPA financing together with system design, installation management and ongoing system monitoring and maintenance. OneRoof is based in San Diego, California, and serves residential customers in nine states: Arizona, California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania with plans for additional expansion. For more information, visit www.oneroofenergy.com.

Caution Regarding Forward-Looking Information

Certain statements contained in this document, including those that express management's expectations or estimates regarding the Company's future performance, are "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking information is necessarily based on a certain number of estimates and assumptions, which while considered plausible by the management when they are made, are inherently subject to significant commercial, economic and competitive risks and uncertainties. We advise investors not to rely unduly on forward-looking information. The Company further declines any intention or obligation to publicly update this forward-looking information, whether due to new information, or future or other events, unless required by applicable law.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its regulation service provider (as these terms are defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) bears responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release.

Contacts:

Investor Relations Contact:

OneRoof Energy Group, Inc.

David Field

President and Chief Executive Officer

(858) 458-0533

dfield@oneroofenergy.com




Due to claims by Swiss drug-maker F. Hoffmann-La Roche, Ltd. in an attempt to cease the distribution of the Russian-made anti-tumor biosimilar products, as well as seeking to revoke BIOCAD's product market authorization in Sri Lanka, cancer patients in this South-East country haven't received the essential anti-cancer drugs trastuzumab and bevacizumab. After a series of hearings, in June 2016 the Court of Appeals of Sri Lanka finally dismissed the claims from the Swiss originator and terminated interim in relief.

In late March this year F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd. filed a lawsuit against a local distributor of BIOCAD in Sri Lanka, asking to ban the distribution of trastuzumab and bevacizumab manufactured in the Russian Federation by a leading Russian biotechnology company, JCS BIOCAD. The Plaintiff claimed that substantial violations of the drug manufacturing process had been committed by the agency during the approval. In particular, products by BIOCAD lacked proper clinical trials, and therefore no market authorization could have been issued for two BIOCAD's products in Sri Lanka.

During a series of hearings in March 2016, BIOCAD provided assistance to the local partner, offering proof that the Plaintiffs' claims were totally unfounded. The Court decided with the local distributor of BIOCAD's products and dismissed F. Hoffmann-La Roche's lawsuit, lifting its "stay order" on distribution and sales of two biosimilar drug products manufactured by BIOCAD in Sri Lanka.

Trastuzumab and bevacizumab produced by JSC BIOCAD. In multi-national clinical trials they were compared to the originator products before their use was approved. Hoffmann-La Roche's lawsuit effected the provision of affordable cancer treatment in Sri Lanka and made patients wait for life-saving medication for several months.

The court case demonstrates that Russian biotechnology companies are expanding their business activities rapidly in foreign markets by offering high-quality products at lower prices. As court stated, it could be seen from the pleadings that since the granting of this interim relief it has become impossible to administer this drug (INN Trastuzumab) on patients suffering from cancer in Sri Lankan hospitals. In this particular case, JSC BIOCAD, although technically was not the respondent in the lawsuit by F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd. in Sri Lanka, has intentions of filing a lawsuit to oblige F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd to compensate the damage caused to JSC BIOCAD as well as provide evaluation and compensation of damage caused to the health of Sri Lankan patients resulting from non-competitive behaviour on the part of the Swiss drug manufacturer.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160704005539/en/

Contacts:

BIOCAD

Irina Kenyukhova

Phone +7 (812) 3804933, ext. 632

E-mail kenyukhova@biocad.ru
The global bisphenol A marketis expected to exceed USD 20 billion by 2020, according to Technavio's latest report.

In this report, Technavio covers the market outlook and growth prospects of the globalbisphenol A marketfor 2016-2020. The market is further categorized into three segments based on application which are Epoxy resins, Polycarbonate plastics and Others. In 2015, the global Bisphenol A market was dominated by the polycarbonate plastics segment which commanded a market share of close to 67%. The runner-up was the epoxy resins market, followed by the other applications segment which had the smallest market share.

Technavio's research study segments the global bisphenol A market into the following regions:

APAC

EMEA

Americas

APAC: highest production volumes in the market

The APAC region is expected to spearhead the Bisphenol A market which is in keeping with the trend seen in many major chemical markets. In 2015, the APAC had the highest production volumes and is expected to sustain the highest CAGR of over 8.3% among the regions.

By 2020, the production volume for the APAC market is expected to reach a figure of 6.66 MMTPA. The APAC region is expected to increase its dominance over the global Bisphenol A market, commanding a market share of 67% by 2020.

Ask for a sample of this report: http://goo.gl/IWrJIu

EMEA: polycarbonate plastics and epoxy resins to sustain demand

The EMEA region, with its cluster of developed economies in the Western part and the developing ones in the East has seen a lot of activities in the plastics market space. The uses of Bisphenol A in the polycarbonate plastics and epoxy resins make a strong case for the importance of the Bisphenol A market in Europe. However, the market in the region is expected to contract slightly in the coming years.

According to Sayani Roy, an industry expert at Technavio for oil and gas research, "One of the reasons for this decline can be attributed to the dominance of the products in the APAC region." The fundamental manufacturing capacity of the region, based primarily in Western Europe, is dominated by Bayer (Covestro). There are very less independent suppliers or merchants who deal in the product. As the supply glut diminishes and the crude prices correct by 2018, the players in the APAC are expected to ship significant quantities to the European market. This is anticipated to satisfy the local demand without the need to ramp up domestic production.

Americas: demand from developed industrial nations to sustain North American presence in the market

North America, has a significant presence in the global Bisphenol A market owing to the demand from the developed industrial nations of the US, Canada, and Mexico. The US market, wooing to the rapid rates of industrialization had been one of the earliest hubs for the development of the Bisphenol A markets. Companies such as Hexion and Dow chemicals have had a lasting impact on the global Bisphenol A market landscape for decades. However, owing to certain negative perceptions related to the health implications, the regional market is undergoing a significant shift.

"One of the main reasons for this declining trend is the supply glut. The significant capacity additions taking place in the APAC region are expected to have global ripples, affecting the US market to a large extent," says Sayani.

The top vendors in the global bisphenol A market highlighted in the report are:

Convestro

The Dow Chemical Company

LG Chem

Mitsui Chemical

Browse Related Reports:

Global Recycled Plastics Market 2016-2020

Plastic Bottle Recycling Market in the US 2015-2019

Global Rigid Plastic Packaging Market 2015-2019

Do you need a report on a market in a specific geographical cluster or country but can't find what you're looking for? Don't worry, Technavio also takes client requests. Please contact enquiry@technavio.com with your requirements and our analysts will be happy to create a customized report just for you.

About Technavio

Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. The company develops over 2000 pieces of research every year, covering more than 500 technologies across 80 countries. Technavio has about 300 analysts globally who specialize in customized consulting and business research assignments across the latest leading edge technologies.

Technavio analysts employ primary as well as secondary research techniques to ascertain the size and vendor landscape in a range of markets. Analysts obtain information using a combination of bottom-up and top-down approaches, besides using in-house market modeling tools and proprietary databases. They corroborate this data with the data obtained from various market participants and stakeholders across the value chain, including vendors, service providers, distributors, re-sellers, and end-users.

If you are interested in more information, please contact our media team at media@technavio.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160704005118/en/

Contacts:

Technavio Research

Jesse Maida

Media Marketing Executive

US: +1 630 333 9501

UK: +44 208 123 1770

www.technavio.com
DUBLIN, July 04, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "Research Report on China's Integrated Circuit Industry, 2011-2020" report to their offering.

The value of import reached USD 230.7 billion, with an increase of 6%. China exported 182,766 million pieces of integrated circuit with the year-on-year growth of 19.1%. The value of export reached USD 693.1 billion, with an increase of 13.9%. Deficit of Import and Export reached USD 161.39 billion in 2015.

Since the accession to the WTO, China's integrated circuit industry has achieved rapid development, which has helped China become one of the world's fastest-growing regions of IC industry.



In 2015, sales revenue of China's integrated circuit industry exceeded CNY 360 billion and CAGR was over 16% from 2011 to 2015.



The agglomeration of China's integrated circuit industry is relatively high. The enterprises mainly concentrate in the delta area of Yangtze River such as Jiangsu Province, Zhejiang Province and Shanghai. In addition, enterprises also concentrated in Pearl River Delta including Guangzhou and Shenzhen.



China's integrated circuit industry continues to make new breakthroughs and progress, but the gap between Chinese enterprises and the world's advanced integrated circuit enterprises still has to face. Compared with the international leading enterprises, the advanced technology of China's chip manufacturing industry lags for at least 1-2 generation. IC design industry is just on the threshold with simple product structure.



There is a certain gap between the packaging and test technology of local packaging enterprises and that of the international giants. China's high-end products of integrated circuit heavily rely on import. In 2015, China imported 313,996 million pieces of integrated circuit with the year-on-year growth of 10%.



In terms of the government's policies, Chinese central government and local governments have issued a large number of support policies for the development of integrated circuit industry.



Key Topics Covered:



1 Overview on Integrated Circuit Industry



2 Development Environment of China Integrated Circuit Industry

2.1 Macro Economy

2.2 Policy Environment of the Industry

2.3 Technology Environment



3 Analysis of Operation Status of Integrated Circuit Industry in China, 2011-2015

3.1 Supply

3.2 Demand

3.3 Analysis of Sub-industries



4 Competition Status of Integrated Circuit Industry in China, 2011-2015

4.1 Analysis of Competition Status

4.2 Competition Structure of the Industry

4.3 Competition Status of the Sub-industry



5 Industry Chain of Integrated Circuit in China, 2011-2015

5.1 Introduction of Industry Chain

5.2 Upstream of Integrated Circuit Industry

5.3 Major Downstream Industries of Integrated Circuit Industry



6 Analysis of Status of Sub-sectors of Integrated Circuit Industry in China, 2011-2015

6.1 Integrated Circuit Design Industry

6.2 Integrated Circuit Manufacturing

6.3 Packaging & Testing of Integrated Circuit



7 Analysis of Import & Export of Integrated Circuit Industry in China, 2011-2015



8 Leading Enterprises of China's Integrated Circuit Industry, 2015-2016

8.1 Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation

8.2 Tianjin Zhonghuan Semiconductor Co., Ltd.

8.3 Jiangsu Changjiang Electronics Technology Co., Ltd.

8.4 Nantong Fujitsu Microelectronics Co., Ltd.

8.5 Hangzhou Silan Microelectronics Co., Ltd.

8.6 Jilin Sino-Microelectronics Co., Ltd.

8.7 TIAN SHUI HUA TIAN TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.

8.8 Shanghai Belling Co. Ltd.

8.9 Beijing Fuxing Xiaocheng Eletronic Technology Stock Co., Ltd.

8.10 Shenzhen Danbond Technology Co., Ltd.

8.11 Beijing Ingenic Semiconductor Co., Ltd.

8.12 ZheJiang East Crystal Electronic Co., Ltd.

8.13 Hubei Tech Semiconductors Co., Ltd.

8.14 Shenzhen Netac Technology Co., Ltd.



9 Prospect of Integrated Circuit Industry in China, 2016-2020

9.1 Factors Influencing Development

9.2 Forecast on Development Trend

9.3 Investment and Development Recommendations



For more information visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/2kpcq3/research_report

Media Contact:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

press@researchandmarkets.com



For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470

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RCG Corporation Limited (ASX:RCG) RCG Corporation Limitedhas announced it has entered into an agreement to acquire branded athleisure footwear group Hype DC for approximately $105 million.

The deal will see RCG acquire sixty stores across Australia for six times EBITDA.

The purchase complements the RCG portfolio, which currently includes The Athletes Foot and Accent Group, a footwear distributor and branded store operator.

Following the acquisition of Hype DC, RCG is now targeting annualised FY17 earnings of $90 million.

RCG Corporation Limited reported a net profit of $16.17 million at 27 December 2015.
Vertafore, a Bothell, WA-based provider of insurance technology solutions, was acquired by funds affiliated with Bain Capital Private Equity and Vista Equity Partners.

The amount of the deal was not disclosed.

Led by Jeff Hawn, Chairman & CEO, Vertafore provides more than 500,000 insurance professionals with technology products across the insurance value chain including an agency platform, management systems, and carrier solutions, among others.

The company recently acquired Keal Technology in Canada, and QQSolutions in Florida, both providers of cloud software to independent insurance agencies.

During 2015, Vertafore delivered more than 250 new product releases to the market, bringing new technology and innovation to a large customer base including agencies, carriers, MGAs, MGUs and over half of U.S. state regulatory agencies.

FinSMEs

04/06/2016
Gianluca Dettori is one of the pioneers of the Italian tech scene. In 1999, he co-founded Vitaminic, a vc-backed digital music startup, which was sold to Buongiorno Spa in 2003. Some years later, he leaped over the barricade and founded its own venture capital advisory firm, dPixel, which managed funds and programs focused on Italian startups, recognized for its itinerant scouting activity conducted via a camper going up and down across the country.

In 2015, he was one of the sharks in the Italian version of the popular format Shark Tank.

Today, Bank of Italy-authorized asset management firm Primomiglio Sgr has launched a new 50m fund, Barcamper Ventures, which will invest in approx. 200 startup over the next five years.

FinSMEs: Hi Gianluca, which is the target of the new fund?

Gianluca: Barcamper Ventures is an acceleration fund targeting seed stage startups with the objective to invest anything from acceleration to being lead investor in an A round. It targets tech companies with a broad spectrum.

FinSMEs: Can you tell us a bit more about the funds investment stragegy?

Gianluca: We are looking to invest in around 200 startups over the next five years. Our sweetspot is seed stage  lets say anything below 250k. With the majority of the companies, we will work for some times through our Barcamper acceleration activities.

Geographically, we will invest most of the fund in Italian startups but we also want to invest anywhere in Europe and in the US.

From the sector point of view, we have a broad spectrum within the ICT/tech/digital areas. We believe our opportunities lie on the richness (and diversity) of Italian tech entrepreneurs.

FinSMEs: Beyond capital, how will you try to add value to backed startups?

Gianluca: At seed stage, our support is much more valuable than money itself. Having a 10 year experience in making this kind of operations requiring acceleration services, as well, dPixel has built a dedicated program, the Barcamper, which fits our needs to scale seed stage investments.

FinSMEs: Can you introduce the other key members of the team?

Gianluca: Beyond me, key people at Barcamper Ventures include Franco Gonella and Antonio Concolino. Franco co-founded Vitaminic (and later) dPixel with me. Antonio is a co-founder of dPixel. Weve been working together in the last ten years. We all come from entrepreneurial experiences from venture backed startups in the tech sector.

FinSMEs: Personally, what do you like (and what dont you like) to see in startup founders in terms of approach/attitude?

Gianluca: I like entrepreneurs who are really committed to building a company, thats the attitude I like most. In terms of what I dont like, I guess too often I see startuppers that think that this is sort of a reality show with its own language and dont know how to interact with an investor.

FinSMEs: Speaking about Italy, three things you think startups need to become competitive players in the global tech game

Gianluca:

1) Money. The Italian ecosystem is underfunded

2) More connections with other innovation hubs abroad

3) Being ambitious but realistic

FinSMEs: In your opinion, which are three tech trends that have the potential to change our life, actually?

Gianluca:

1) Blockchain

2) Digital Fabrication

3) Big Data and Artificial Intelligence

FinSMEs

04/07/2016
Ukkoverkot, a Finnish mobile data operator, raised 9.8m in funding.

Backers included Finnvera, Veritas, Alcom, and the Rising Tide Europe investment fund led by the Swiss Brigitte Bauman.

The company intends to use the funds to accelerate the development of its 4G LTE data networks and to develop its sales and marketing efforts.

Ukkoverkot is a mobile data operator that sells, markets and maintains a Ukko Mobile 4G LTE mobile data network that covers all of Finland. The company focuses on the production of wireless telecommunication services, especially for demanding customers such as companies, authorities, rural areas and industrial Internet connections. Its networks are not used for any traditional circuit-switched voice or SMS traffic.

Customers include State Security Networks Group, VR Group, The Finnish Defence Forces and YLE, and companies offering electronic payment terminals, logistics services and the electricity, water and forestry industries.

FinSMEs

04/07/2016
Lithuanias Parliament has approved amendments to the law which enables the creation of start-up visas.

The new visas will simplify the process for talented specialists from non-EU countries to apply to live and work in Lithuania, enabling employers to find the specialists they need.

The amendments to the Law on the Legal Status of Aliens, which will come into force on 1 January 2017, will streamline the procedures to attract talent to Lithuania. The new rules directly impact startup founders and students.

Startups

In details, startups will be eligible for permits allowing temporary residence in Lithuania for one year with the possibility of extending it for a further year. Two years after this, they will be able to apply for a temporary residence permit, provided they are either the head of the company or a shareholder.

Startup visas will be issued within 1 month in the case of express applications and 2 months for general applications.

Further plans for talent attraction include drawing up a list of specializations requiring a higher education which are in short supply in Lithuania. Non-EU foreigners skilled in these areas would be issued with temporary residence permits (Blue Cards) more quickly.

Students

Other amendments to the law focus on international students in Lithuania. They will now be able to work up to 20 hours per week without needing to acquire a work permit.

Furthermore, students will also be allowed to start working from the date they start their studies (previously, they could do it from the second year). According to another amendment, international students graduating from vocational training programs will no longer have to pass a labour market test in order to work in their field of specialization.

FinSMEs

04/07/2016
Publicis Groupe (Paris:PUB) has launched Publicis90, a global initiative to provide funding and mentoring for 90 innovative startups.

The call for entries, which was launched in January 2016, was a success with over 3,500 applications received from more than 130 countries by entrepreneurs, students and by Publicis Groupe employees.

These 3,500 projects were put through a stringent and completely anonymous selection process to identify the 90 winners, i.e. less than 3% of all applicants.

Among the 90 projects selected, 23% of all projects coming from the USA, 18% from France and 14% from the United Kingdom, followed by Germany (7%), Israel (6%) and India (3%).

Approximately 16% of these projects are from emerging countries.

25 projects were chosen by entrepreneurs from within Publicis Groupe, while the remaining 65 projects were submitted by startups already in existence, by students or budding entrepreneurs.

Sectors represented include marketing and communications, healthcare, fintech, retailing, blockchains, virtual reality (VR), Big Data, and the Internet of Things (IOT).

The top three startups are:

 Emerald Medical Applications, an Israeli startup specialized in dermatology that uses image recognition technology for faster, easier detection of skin cancers.

 Recast.Ai, a French collaborative platform allowing developers to create a bot and implement it on any messaging service.

 Wiseye, an Israeli startup specialized in retail and the Internet of Things providing retail and store chains with a customer behavior platform that draws in data from various sources like point-of-sales, wireless devices and other available inputs.

Each will receive an investment ranging from 10k to 500k and support from a mentor chosen from among Publicis Groupes experts in digital, marketing and communications. With the support of the Henner Group, the winning projects will also receive insurance support for one year.

FinSMEs

04/07/2016
Actor Irrfan Khan condemned the Dhaka terror attacks in a strongly-worded Twitter post on Sunday (3 June) afternoon.

News of the attack, which saw seven terrorists hold the patrons of the Holey Artisan cafe in the Gulshan area of Dhaka hostage for over 10 hours beginning Friday night, had shocked the world. Twenty people were killed by the terrorists, before six of the attackers were gunned down by military forces, and one captured alive.

It later emerged that all of the terrorists were from affluent, well-educated backgrounds, with one of them  Nibras Islam  being a self-professed fan of Bollywood actress Shraddha Kapoor.

In his tweet, Irrfan said that news of the Dhaka terror attacks disturbed him greatly, especially as the killings occurred in the holy month of Ramzan.

When we were children, we were told not to eat without inviting the hungry to partake of our meal as well..hearing of the terror attacks in Bangladesh has led to deep unease in my heart, the Madaari actor wrote.

He went on to say that such incidents occurred because of a lack of understanding about Islams true tenets  and that in such a scenario Muslims shouldnt stay silent against outrages perpetrated in the name of religion.

Terrorists attack in one place, and Muslims all over the world get a bad name, Irrfan added. Mercy and compassion are the basis of Islam. So should Muslims stay quiet and let Islam be maligned? Or should they actively try to correct these wrong ideas of Islam?

Irrfan was recently in the news after his comments on the practice of qurbaani during Ramzan had angered Muslim clerics.

Read the full text of Irrfan Khans tweet here:
Patna: A special vigilance court on Monday ruled that Bihar education board toppers scam accused Ruby Rai is a minor, police said.

The court ruling came on a petition filed by non-governmental organisation 'Prayas Bharti'. Ruby is lodged in Beur central jail here for the last 10 days.

Opposition leaders and several social and human rights activists had pointed out that Ruby, the class 12 arts stream 'topper', was jailed in violation of the Juvenile Justice Act.

She was arrested by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of Bihar Police, probing the scam, after she failed in a re-test. She was later remanded to 14 days in judicial custody.

The SIT has lodged an FIR against her and three other 'toppers', including science topper Saurabh Shreshtha.

According to police officials, a Patna civil court has issued a non-bailable arrest warrant against four 'toppers', including Ruby Rai.

Nearly 20 people have so far been arrested in connection with the scam.
The arrest of five youths from the old city area of Hyderabad for their alleged connection with the Islamic State, has once again raised the concern about the perceived vulnerability of misguided Muslim youth to get trapped by global terrorist organisations. Earlier, 11 people were detained and six people were released after initial investigations and five were arrested. National Investigation Agency (NIA) claims that they were being directed from the Middle East by Islamic State for carrying out terror plots in India.

Earlier too, a few youths from the city were arrested for their alleged connection with the Islamic State.

The parents of the youths and civil liberties groups deny the allegations. The Civil Liberties Monitoring Committee, a group in the city working for human rights has "strongly condemned the arrest of Muslim youth of Hyderabad" and said in its statement, "It seems that once again terror has struck the lives of Muslims of Hyderabad in the form of joint operation by NIA and Task Force police of Hyderabad. The stories released by police through media are unbelievable and unimaginable. It has become the practice of state to target the Hyderabadi Muslims to defame and isolate them from the mainstream and to spoil their lives."

The doubts were raised particularly in the backdrop of 2007 Mecca Masjid blast case, in which Muslim youth were arrested and later courts set them free as they were not found to be responsible for these incidents and the state had to pay monetary compensation to them. Later, investigators claimed that radical Hindu elements were responsible for these blasts but now NIA is alleged to have become soft on accused Hindu radicals.

Whether claims made by the NIA were correct or not will be known only after investigations and court proceedings are done. But the question that should be raised is how vulnerable are the Indian Muslim youth to the threat of getting radicalised and recruited by global terrorist outfits.

Indian Muslim is the community which has most strongly resisted the threat of Islamic State. While Muslims from western countries are reported to have joined the outfit in large numbers, incidents from India have been very minimum and almost negligible. Last month, Minister of state for Parliamentary Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi reportedly told newspapers, India is a land of peace and prosperity and there is no place here for those who support terrorism. Patriotism is filled in every Muslim in this country. Be it videos or threats, its not going to make much of difference,. Earlier, Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar have rejected claims of perceived threat of Muslims youths being recruited by the Islamic State.

Islamic State is a global terrorist outfit. Although it is reported to have claims of being engaged in Jihad for Islamic khilafah, Muslims allege that it is a plot by anti-Islam global secret agencies. Earlier, CIA and other agencies have played a major role in developing and nurturing similar outfits in Afghanistan.

Islamic State's biggest chunk of the victims are from the Muslim population in different countries. Take the latest attack on the Instanbul airport. Apart from killing thousands of people, mostly Muslims, it is tarnishing the image of Islam and Muslims and providing much needed fuel to the global Islamophobia. So there seems to be reasoning in the claim that anti-Islam forces are alluring innocent youth in the name of Jihad into this deadly business.

Islamic State and extremist ideologies thrive on the sense of victimisation of Muslim youth. The kind of turmoil and blood bath the whole Islamic world is going through provides the breeding ground for such extremist and violent ideologies.

There are two reasons for India being comparatively safe. The first reason is the democratic ethos of this country and the second reason is the united stand taken by Indian Muslim leadership and clergy against terrorism and terror outfits. Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, one of the biggest and most organised groups of Indian Muslims, has recently held its all India conference in Hyderabad. Islamic State and extremism were a few of the major issues discussed in the conference. Jamaat chief (Ameer-e-Jamaat) came down heavily on the outfit and termed those planning to join it as 'bewakoof' (mindless). Vice-president of JIH spoke to The Times of India and said, the conference was aware that it would be a gigantic task to keep the youth at bay from the IS influence through Internet. For this, the JIH decided to set up organisational units that would work in tandem with the youth and community elders. The units will also develop 'cordial' relations with other sections of the Indian society.

In March this year, the Hyderabad unit of JIH launched an anti-extremism campaign to bring awareness among the youth. It held large number of meetings and youth programmes and tried to create awareness in them about the real teachings of Islam. Moulana Khalid Saifullah Rahamani, a reputed Islamic scholar of the city has written a series of articles in the Urdu daily Munsif and termed the Islamic State as the enemy of Islam and Muslims and has proved with theological reasoning that their ideology is antithesis to what Quran preaches.

Whoever may be behind Islamic State, but Muslim scholars are unanimous that this is nothing but Kharijites, an extremist and violent group about which Prophet Muhammad had sternly warned. After forecasting about their extreme mindless violence the Prophet said in several hadiths:

"Verily there would arise from my Ummah after me a group (of people) who would recite the Quran, but it would not go beyond their throats, and they would pass clean through their religion just as the arrow passes through the prey, and they would never come back to it. They would be the worst among the creation and the creatures."

Muslim scholars believe that the Islamic State possesses all the signs of this 'misguided anti-Islam group', about which prophet had warned. If a section of Muslim youth is being radicalised and if NIA claims have any element of truth in it, then definitely it is a wake-up-call and needs to be addressed at three fronts.

One, the democratic ethos and the Constitutional values of the country should be maintained and strengthened. This is the real strength of India. It has helped us from shielding ourselves from such global threats and we will be as strong as these values and ethos will be strong. The forces who are trying to create communal rift and who are after the democratic ethos and constitutional values are in fact helping Islamic State and global terrorist movements. One side of extremism fuels the other side of extremism. The rise of radical right wing extremism in India, provides much needed breeding ground for extremism in the name of Islam. India should be united in fighting the menace of Islamic State and also the menace of right wing Hindu radicalism as both are the two side of same coin and strengthen each other.

Two, Muslim youth should be protected from the sense of victimisation and sense of security and confidence in the structures and institution of the nation should be strengthened,

And three, the Muslim organisations, clergy and scholarship should continue their efforts of creating awareness among the community particularly among the youth, about the real teachings of Islam, concept of Jihad and about the dangers and misguidance of extremist forces who are exploiting the beautiful religion of Islam.

The author is the vice-president of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind (JIH). He lives in Hyderabad.
It was in 1991 when I first learnt that making a bomb was no big deal. That was when I was in Nandyal in Andhra Pradesh for a couple of weeks to cover the by-election that sent Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao to the Lok Sabha. A friend took me to a thatched hut outside the small town where a supporter of Rao was diligently making a bomb on a stone slab. Evidently, Raos men were leaving no stone un-turned to ensure his victory: he had already taken over as the Prime Minister and he must enter Parliament at any cost.

The man in the hut was making a crude bomb with the ease of a housewife preparing sambaar. He said the ingredients were the same ones that were used to make fire crackers and fertilisers and anybody can get them.

A police officer was surprised that I was surprised about this. He said bomb-making was a cottage industry across India in hundreds of villages and towns, where Naxalites and political factions made explosives routinely.

This was 25 years ago.

So its not really surprising that Islamic terrorists, most of them in their twenties and without education, find no difficulty in making explosives. They have been only getting more sophisticated over years. Ingredients are not difficult to get and they have the recipes for making bombs of all kinds. Besides, the terror boys have their foreign handlers to teach them a thing or two.

Why Islamic State is deemed to be a modern outfit

What was surprising  and worrying  about the busting of the Islamic State-module in Hyderabad by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on 29 June was the kind of chemicals recovered from them. These include, among other things: ammonium nitrate, urea, acetone, hydrogen peroxide and sulphuric acid.

The last three items caught the immediate attention of the NIA team. Acetone, hydrogen peroxide and sulphuric acid are used to make a deadly explosive called triacetone triperoxide (TATP), also called acetone peroxide. Terrorists call it the mother of Satan because it is extremely unstable and chances of its accidental explosion while making it are very highthats the reason by armed forces dont use them and, when used in bombs, its highly lethal.

And yet, despite the risks to themselves, the highly motivated Islamic State has been using TATP in its attacks, most recent of which were in Paris (130 killed, 368 injured) in November 2015 and in Brussels (35 killed and 300 injured) in March this year.

Misguided Indian Muslims are apparently fascinated by the modern terrorism of the Islamic State. TATP was first discovered by a German scientist in 1895 and was a favourite of Palestinian terrorists in 1980s. But its use by the Islamic State is considered modern by desi terror aspirants. They are also overawed by the way the Islamic State virtually rules territories in Iraq and Syria.

The contention of the Islamic State is that Indian outfits stay away from high-risk stuff like TATP and do not aim for high death toll figures in their operations. This makes the Islamic state, in the eyes of local terrorists, more committed and professional.

Not surprisingly, the Islamic State has been attracting more Muslim youth in India in the recent past than the desi outfits in general and the Indian Mujahideen (IM) in particular. According to officials investigating terror cases, this is pretty clear from the interrogation of suspects during the last one year or so.

Why does Islamic State use TATP?

The Islamic State uses TATP because the ingredients are easy to acquire. And at the same time, when used in bombs, they are difficult for authorities to detect. Most conventional explosives contain nitrogen groups and the gadgets to detect explosives are designed accordingly. TATP is nitrogen-free.

Acetone, hydrogen peroxide and sulphuric acid are so commonly used that its tough for authorities anywhere to stop terrorists from laying their hands on them. Acetone is an important ingredient in nail polish remover. Hydrogen peroxide is a commonly used bleaching agent and disinfectant. And sulphuric acid is a common electrolyte in lead-acid batteries.

Not just TATP, its also about Kashmir

Its not just the use of highly risky and highly lethal chemicals by the IS that impresses the Indian Muslim youths with a terrorist bent of mind. What also appeals to them is that the IS wants Kashmir to be part of its caliphate but not as part of Pakistan.

The arrest and interrogation of Mohammed Sirajuddin, a 33-year-old man hailing from Gulbarga in Karnataka and working in Jaipur, earlier this year, gave sufficient hints of this. According to Sirajuddin, the Islamic State is staying away from Kashmir, at least for the time being, to avoid a two-pronged battle, one with Indian Kuffar Army and another with Pakistani nationalists and so-called jihadi groups like LeT, Hezbol Mujahideen and JeM.

Is there some sort of competition going on between Islamic State and the other outfits in the Indian sub-continent in general and IM in particular? Perhaps there is. Your guess is as good as mine and the investigators.

So why does IM use low-risk explosives?



Ammonium nitrate is the favourite among Mujahideen thugs to make their Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs). Hyderabads Islamic State module too had this chemical perhaps as a standby.

Apart from being a low-risk thing, IM operatives find that its easy to get ammonium nitrate despite the Ammonium Nitrate Rules that came into force in India in 2013. These stringent rules exist only on paper.

The Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation (PESO) is supposedly responsible for keeping people safe from, among other things, explosives. But its neither PESO nor NIA that has the powers to enforce rules governing explosives. Its the job of the local police forces.

Ammonium nitrate has many legitimate uses. One is the blasting of quarries, whose operators need a license to buy the chemical. The IM gets its kalungiiits code word for explosivesillegally from those who make it or the dealers who sell it or the users who buy it. Potassium nitrate, used in fertilisers and fireworks, is another chemical that IM uses. Its one of the major ingredients in gunpowder or black powder.

While getting explosive substances is easy anywhere in the world, the authorities in India make it even easier.

Huge quantities of such chemicals are often reported stolen. No prizes for guessing where they go.

An added attraction

Among the items that the NIA team seized from the Islamic State module in Hyderabad was an airgun with telescopic sight. And now that is bound to add further to the glamour of the Islamic State in the eyes of desi terrorists. Apart from Islamas they see it but not as most Muslims see itwhat drives a very small number of Muslim men towards terrorism is that it keeps them in money and they attach glamour to it.
After the extremist ideologues of Islamic State have avowedly declared the ongoing Islamic month of Ramzan as the sacred month of mayhem for the non-believers, their vicious mission of wanton killing continues unabated.

The recent brutality in Dhaka, Bangladesh's teeming capital, which has left 28 innocent people dead in a restaurant siege and many others injured, came as part of the well-worked-out jihadist design. It should be seen in the spate of terror strikes which were carried out in Paris, Belgium, Florida and Istanbul in a succession. The fact that the self-styled jihadists have killed Hindus, free-thinkers, secularist intellectuals, independent writers and bloggers in the past two years, is substantial evidence. It is not just a speculation. Neither could it be called a knee-jerk action of media outlets that immediately call the Islamist extremist groups to be operating in such attacks.

With 20 foreigners hacked to death, it was not only the worst terrorist attack on the non-combatant Bangladeshi civilians and foreigners. Rather, it was a well-worked-out anti-democratic strike on the growing culture of rationalists, free-thinkers and liberal democrats in the country. One wonders if India, the land of an overwhelming number of rationalists and secularists, will be the next target of this poisonous jihadist tentacle. Clearly, there are substantial reasons behind it.

Among the various reasons is the growing radicalization of the gullible Muslim youth recruited by the so-called Islamic State (IS) from Hyderabad. The recent arrest of IS recruits in this Indian metropolitan city shows that the radical jihadist outfit is gaining foothold in the country. Once the IT capital of India, Hyderabad is slowly becoming a hub for online extremist elements using social media to radicalise the city's techno-savvy Muslims. According to the Indian intelligence sources, nearly 25 young Muslims from India have joined the IS. Now, when five more IS recruits have been arrested from Hyderabad, it is distressing for our pluralistic country that the threat of terror strikes and communal clashes in future is looming large.

Not many know that IS is propagating a virulent and brazenly un-Islamic concept of Ghazwah-tul-Hind, which literally means: military expedition against India. Our political leaders are the most naive and gullible Indian citizens who are still unaware of this pernicious terrorist design to strike on our country in the name of Ghazwah-tul-Hind.

The reason why India is vulnerable to the terrorist designs of IS is not difficult to find. This country constitutes the world's third largest Muslim population at nearly 175 million. Though the religious and political Muslim leaders loudly claim that they will not let the Indian Muslims fall prey to the jihadist indoctrination of ISIL, the recent arrests of IS recruits and experts reviews show that the terror outfit is moving ahead towards its nefarious design in India  mobilizing the gullible Muslim youth to retaliate for the communal riots. A counter-terror official of Indian intelligence has clearly stated that "IS modules being set up in India is more dangerous than some youth wanting to travel to Iraq and Syria to join the terrorist group."

While we require an intellectual debate and in-depth analysis of what was the driving force behind the radicalization of young Muslims of Hyderabad, the mainstream Indian Muslims, particularly the Islamic clergy and ulema, as well as the middle class Muslim families must take it as a note of introspection. Regrettably, as the radical Islamists in several parts of the world are perpetrating mindless violence loudly claiming it faith-inspired, Muslim religious scholars are not doing enough to debunk the extremist ideology behind these nefarious activities. This makes it imperative for us to analyze what wrong is going on in the religious discourses in the community.

Lets not forget that the self-styled Islamic caliphate of al-Baghdadi is based on a dichotomous and exclusivist religious worldview that was coined in the medieval era. Going by this, the world populace is divided into two jurisprudential categories  Dar al-Kufr (land of disbelief) and Dar al-Islam (land of belief). While this dichotomous worldview of us versus them is conducive to violent extremism, unfortunately it still goes unchecked in our Muslim community. It is being taught in the large corpus of jurisprudential Islamic literature, not only in the Middle Eastern seminaries, but also in the South Asian Islamic seminaries, particularly in Bangladesh, Pakistan and India.

More deplorable is that the Islamic clergy and imams, who rule the roost, have not yet evolved any progressive, robust and non-conformist interpretation of the seemingly exclusivist religious underpinnings and references that the jihadists often misconstrue to further their nefarious ends. Be it the Islamic doctrine of nahy anil munkar (forbidding evil), al-wala wal bara (loyalty with believers and disavowal with non-believers), hakimiyah al-ilah (Gods rule over the earth) or Khilafah Islamiyah (obligation of Islamic caliphate), these medieval jurisprudential concepts are still being sought after in lieu of Islamic shariah. According to the radical Islamists, they are not entitled to be called true Muslims, unless these Islamic laws are enacted by them wherever they exist.

The retrogressive creed of replacing all democratic countries with an Islamic caliphate is the plain reason why the extremist Islamists keep playing havoc across much of the democrat and liberal world, resulting into the recent brutal attacks in Paris, Brussels, Orlando, Istanbul and Dhaka. If young and gullible Muslims in India are also being indoctrinated into the same twisted and obsolete religious underpinnings through the Wahhabism-inspired rhetoric, it is no surprise that they are likely to be captivated by the radical recruiters, be they from the outfits affiliated with Al Qaeda's South Asian wing or the Islamic State of Syria and Levant (ISIL). At this juncture, we are amazed at the naivety of our leaders who have rebuffed any suggestion that the IS has a foothold in the country. We wish it could be true!

The author is a scholar of comparative religion and classical Arabic-Islamic sciences, Researcher in Culture & Communication Studies and Commentator on Muslim Affairs in Media. He can be contacted at grdehlavi@gmail.com.
Ohio: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) considered a cardiovascular disease risk factor, is often not detected in post-menopausal women, a recent study has revealed.

The study was released by the North American Menopause Society (NAMS) over a test conducted on the efficacy of aerobic exercise in post-menopausal women.

NAFLD can also lead to insulin resistance, abdominal obesity, hypertension, dyslipidemia and Type 2 diabetes mellitus.

"NAFLD is associated with obesity, insulin resistance, and adult-onset diabetes and is characterised by fat in the liver seen on ultrasound or other testing and elevated liver enzymes," said NAMS Executive Director Jo Ann V Pinkerton in a release.

Decreased estrogen production during menopause of women is associated with changes in body composition, exposing women to the risk of increased body weight and abdominal obesity, which contributes to the development of NAFLD.

"This study shows the benefit of counselling women at risk of diagnosis with fatty liver disease about the benefits of increased physical activity, including less fat around the middle, improvement in good cholesterol, and improved ability to exercise (cardiopulmonary functional capacity)," added Pinkerton.

People with NAFLD have lower cardiopulmonary functional capacity, which independently increases cardiovascular risk.

Improved cardiorespiratory fitness has been associated with lower all-cause mortality risk in women with elevated glucose levels or with diabetes.
Washington: About one in every nine men, and one in 30 women in the US may experience sudden cardiac death, most before age 70, scientists including one of Indian origin have found.

Sudden cardiac death claims up to 450,000 American lives each year, according to a new study and most commonly occurs in people with no prior symptoms of cardiovascular disease.

The study offers the first lifetime risk estimates for sudden cardiac death.

"We often screen for conditions that are less common and much less deadly than sudden cardiac death," said Donald Lloyd-Jones, from the Northwestern University in the US.

"The lifetime risk of sudden cardiac death for men is one in nine, and yet we're not really screening for it," he said.

Researchers, including Sanjay Mehrotra from Northwestern University, examined long-term data on more than 5,200 men and women aged 28 to 62 who were free of cardiovascular disease at the time of their enrolment in the Framingham Heart Study, a decades-long cardiovascular study.

Focusing on four major risk factors - blood pressure, total cholesterol, smoking, and diabetes - researchers calculated overall cumulative lifetime risk estimates for sudden cardiac death, and estimates according to risk factor burden.

Researchers found that sudden cardiac death occurred in 375 people during follow up, and the death risk was greater for men than women  with an overall 10.9 percent lifetime risk among all men at age 45 (roughly one in nine men) and a 2.8 percent lifetime risk of among all women at age 45 (or about one in 30 women).

They also found that men with two or more major risk factors at all ages had even higher lifetime risks of sudden cardiac death, at least 12 percent (over one in eight men).

High blood pressure alone or a combination of other cardiovascular risk factors was linked to higher lifetime risk of sudden cardiac death, researchers said.

Although sudden cardiac death is a leading cause of death in the US, the previous methods for predicting its risk in a person's lifetime have been partly successful, missing many people who ultimately succumb to it, researchers said.

"Sudden cardiac death has been very hard to study because most patients had no history of heart problems and were not being monitored at the time of their death," Lloyd-Jones said.

"The majority of all cases occur before age 70; this is obviously sudden and devastating for families, with a burden that can be quite severe," he said.

"Our paper sets the stage for thinking about how we can screen the population effectively to find out who's at risk," he said.

The Framingham Heart Study provides robust data due to its large number of well-characterised participants and long follow-up time, but because all the participants were Caucasian, the results cannot necessarily be applied in other races or ethnic groups, researchers said.

The study was published in the Journal of the American Heart Association.
New Delhi: The arrest of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's Principal Secretary Rajendra Kumar by CBI on Monday is "unprecedented" and it is the lowest level to which the Centre has stooped since 1991 when an elected government first came to power in Delhi, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said on Monday.

"The arrest of Kumar is part of a conspiracy to paralyse the Chief Minister's office and the AAP government. Prime Minister Modi has hatred towards AAP government and the arrest of two senior officials of Chief Minister's Office is part of the conspiracy," Manish Sisodia said addressing a press conference.

Kumar, an IIT alumnus, Deputy Secretary Tarun Sharma and three other private persons were arrested in connection with a case of showing undue favours to a private company in award of government contracts worth over Rs 50 crore during the previous Congress government.

Referring to the probe by the Anti-Corruption Branch into the tanker scam, Sisodia asked why Water Minister Kapil Mishra was being interrogated when Sheila Dikshit was an accused in the scam that had taken place during her chief ministership.

"There is a conspiracy to paralyse the Chief Minister's office as the Principal Secretary and Deputy Secretary to the Chief Minister have been arrested. Even an Assistant Secretary has been transferred to Andamans and all this has been done in one day.

"This is the lowest level to which a Central government has stooped from the time Delhi has had an elected government in 1991," Sisodia said, alleging arrest of Kumar was just a pretext as the main aim was to destabilise the Chief Minister's Office due to political reasons.

On the tanker scam, he wondered why the accused are not being questioned by the probe agency and why those who sought a thorough investigation were being "targeted".

"We are doing well in Goa, Punjab, Gujarat and Modiji is rattled by that. That is why he is resorting to this kind activities," he said.

Kumar was appointed Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister in February last year when the Aam Aadmi Party came to power for the second time. The allegations against Kumar pertains his tenure in various positions under the Dikshit dispensation.

"Eleven senior officers have been transferred out of Delhi on a single day, that too illegally without meeting of Joint Cadre Authority.

"Senior officers handling major projects for development of unauthorised colonies have been transferred to Andamans. Modiji, even if you only leave us with just peons, we will run the government with them," Manish Sisodia said.

He said, "Today, one of our ministers, Kapil Mishra was called for questioning by the ACB. This is clearly an attempt to paralyse our government. All this is happening because AAP is winning the elections in Punjab and Goa and garnering massive support in Gujarat."

The CBI had conducted a raid on Kumar's office at the Delhi Secretariat last year on 15 December, triggering a huge confrontation between the Delhi government and the Centre.

Kejriwal had come in open defence of Kumar and had slammed Centre for the raid.

Sisodia accused the Prime Minister of "misusing" Union Home Ministry, CBI, Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) and Delhi Police to paralyse the Chief Minister Office where there has been no senior officer now after arrest of CM's Principal Secretary and Deputy Secretary and transfer of Additional Secretary to the Chief Minister.

He also alleged that Modi government has put all its force in "destroying" the Delhi government by resorting to "bad tactics".

He also accused the Centre of using Punjab's Badal Government against the AAP government by arresting an AAP MLA who has been named in the FIR in connection with alleged Quran 'desecration' in Punjab.

"Modi government has today transferred our nine officers who were engaged in carrying out various works including development in unauthorised colonies, construction of rooms and installation of CCTV cameras in government schools.

"The people of Delhi want to ask Modi ji as to why he is not allowing development works in unauthorised colonies, schools and other field. Modi ji is doing hatred politics against the AAP Government which was elected by the people," the Deputy Chief Minister told reporters here.

The officers who have been transferred by the Union Home Ministry have completed their term of being posted outside Delhi. There transfers have been done without the meeting of Joint Cadre Authority (JCA) which is "illegal", Sisodia further said.

He also said that Centre is "misusing" the ACB to "implicate" Water Minister Kapil Mishra despite the fact that he was a complainant in the alleged water tanker scam liking former Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit.

"Why hasn't the ACB summoned any minister and officer during their tenure as the tanker scam had taken place (in 2012). But, they (ACB) have summoned our minister who was complainant in the case," he said.
The 22-year-old arrested for the murder of S Swathi, a Chennai-based Infosys employee, will be brought before the Chennai Egmore court on Monday, according to The Indian Express.

Ramkumar, the key accused in the case had been recuperating in a hospital, after he reportedly slit his neck with a sharp object to escape arrest.

On the early morning of 24 June, Chennai arose to a shocking story of the murder of a young woman at Nungambakkam station amid thousands of horrified onlookers. The killer coolly approached 24-year-old S Swathi from behind and hacked her to death with a sickle that he was carrying in his backpack. According to reports, the killer took only 10 minutes to murder Swathi and escape the spot unstopped.

Since then, numerous questions had been brewing around the identity and motives of the killer in the sensational murder case, which were only partly answered when a youth was arrested on Friday night.

The only piece of evidence available initially was a grainy image of the killer captured in a CCTV footage.

However, after a fresh high resolution image was obtained from a privately installed camera, the police apprehended Ramkumar, a 22-year-old engineering graduate from Tirunelveli district, as the prime accused in the Swathi murder case. He was tracked down in his native village in Tirunelveli district.

The police, however, were in for a surprise when he tried slitting his throat to escape arrest. Following this, Ramkumar was admitted to the local government hospital and given first-aid. Later on Monday morning, he was shifted to the Royapettah general hospital in Chennai, where he is expected to be brought before the court, according to The Hindu.

The police, who were on the tracks of the killer for over a week, were surprised to find that Ramkumar was constantly using his mobile, before he was arrested. "Right from the scene of crime (Nungambakkam railway station) to his arrest in Meenakshipuram, he never switched off his mobile phone. He has made and received calls as usual, a senior police officer is quoted as saying in The Hindu.

Following the arrest, as the family of the accused demanded the strictest punishment for the accused, fresh controversies arose as cops claimed that Ramkumar was mentally unstable, according to Zee News.

Meanwhile, as the police probed the motives behind the murder, several threads have surfaced linking the accused to Swathi, suggesting she was not completely unknown to Ramkumar. The Zee News report stated that a family member had conceded that Swathi has shared that she was being pestered by a friend for marriage. The police commissioner was also quoted as saying that the accused knew Swathi and was stalking her since months, which she chose to ignore.

Now, fresh reports have surfaced claiming Ramkumar was friends with Swathi on Facebook. According to a report published in the Deccan Chronicles the duo came in touch over the social media site and had exchanged numbers, following which the accused became obsessed with Swathi and started stalking her.

The report further claims that a police official involved in the investigation has said that the two had a few exchanges, which included chat messages and comments made by Ramkumar on Swathi's photos.

Apparently, miffed over Swathi's refusal, the accused planned to take her life. According to The Deccan Chronicle, he took his uncle's sickle without his knowledge and kept it hidden under his bed in Choolaimedu and carried it in his backpack on the day of the murder.

The police officer, however, maintained "Being friends on Facebook doesn't mean that Swathi approved or encouraged him. She had numerous Facebbok friends," as quoted in the Deccan Chronicle report.

Rankumar, who was infatuated with the girl, had shifted to Chennai with the dreams of making it big in the film industry and had deliberately chosen to stay in Choolaimedu, as it was close to Swathi's place.
The 1 July terrorist attack in Bangladesh is the clearest signal yet that global terror networks are increasingly focusing on the Indian sub-continent.

Though officially, at least, the Bangladesh administration has disproved of any link between the jihadi assault on Holey Artisan Bakery by self-declared IS militants, the Sheikh Hasina government appears increasingly conflicted on its theory that it was carried out by 'unconnected' local terrorist groups.

Both points are not mutually exclusive. In fact, while it may be true that while the terrorists who attacked the bakery in Dhaka's Gulshan area belonged to the homegrown outfit Jamaat-ul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB)  as Bangladesh has been insisting  it does not in any way rule out the possibility that the band of seven educated, affluent young men were attracted by the Islamic State's growing appeal and consequently, the IS has found a steady and motivated recruitment pool among the country's homegrown terror networks.

As ASM Ali Ashraf, associate professor of International Relations at the University of Dhaka, points out in his article for Bangladesh newspaper Daily Star that "JMB was praised by IS mouthpiece Dabiq Magazine in its November 2015 issue."

He also points to the "striking similarities" between the two groups' hostility against religious minorities. In the recent past, Bangladesh, a Sunni majority country, has seen an astonishing amount of bloodshed and JMB's name has been linked with consistent murderous attacks on atheists or those who seek reform in Islam, Hindus, Christians, those from the Ba'hai community and even followers of the Shia sect. Similarly, the IS, whose core support base is also Sunni, "has targeted the Yazidis, Christians, Turkmen, and Shia minorities in Iraq, and Egyptian Coptic Christians in Libya."

To understand how these terror networks function, it is crucial to grasp that IS or Al-Qaeda (which operates through its arm AQIS, or Al-Qaeda in Indian sub-continent) in their quest to break new grounds and develop footprints in southeast Asia may not always require adherents to travel to the self-declared Caliphate in Syria or Iraq for arms and training.

As Amarnath Amarasingam, a post-doctoral fellow at George Washington Universitys Program on Extremism, told New Yorker: The most important thing here (Dhaka attack) is that IS has taken credit, and they dont take credit for things they didnt do Now, this doesnt mean Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is calling these guys in Dhaka and telling them what to do. It doesnt mean these fighters were in direct contact with the top leadership or funded by them. What you can say is that linkages exist.

A month back, for instance, an Islamic State spokesman urged sympathizers to launch lone-wolf attacks on civilians there if they are unable to travel to the groups self-declared caliphate in Syria and Iraq. Primarily targeted on US and European soil, the message nevertheless encouraged lone wolf attacks during the Muslim holy month of Ramzaan, which starts early in June, to win the great award of martyrdom.

In the recent past, the Al-Qaeda has been relegated to a bit-part player and the Islamic State has been under increasing pressure from the 66-country coalition led by the US to hold on its core territories in Raqqa and Mosul. The Dhaka attack, therefore, indicates a quid-pro-quo among south-Asian terror networks and its global counterparts. While the local militant groups increasingly seek to internationalise their operations, the IS and Al-Qaeda find in countries like India and Bangladesh a large Muslim population that is demographically young, making them a prime target for fresh recruits.

Though lone wolf attacks are not really the style of Al-Qaeda, the group seems to be changing its mindset. On Saturday, a day after the terror attack in Dhaka in which 20 people were killed and over 40 injured, AQIS issued a statement "inciting Indian Muslims to rise up and to follow the example of lone wolves in Europe and kill administrative and police officers in India". AQIS, formed couple of years ago by Al-Qaeda chief Ayman Al-Zawahiri, is headed by Indian national Asim Umar. According to Indian Express, Umar is from Sambhal in Uttar Pradesh and was known as Sanaul Haq. He studied at the Darul Uloom Deoband seminary before moving to Pakistan in the late 1990s.

Global terror network watchdog SITE Intelligence Group  a Maryland-based organization headed by terror analyst Rita Katz  tracked the 15-minute, 32-second Urdu speech entitled 'No to the Slogan of Disbelief' which was posted on the 'Deep Web' al-Fida' forum on Sunday. It was accompanied with Arabic, Bengali and English translations.

Umar claimed Hindus in India are "imposing their faith on Muslims" and trying to make them break the foundations of Islam. "You (Muslims) are over 350 million in India. You have the best land of India. Your localities are in every province of the country. Even if you come out carrying merely knives and swords  history bears witness  Hindus cannot withstand you. They strike the fleeing enemy more and more, they turn into lions before the weak enemy and then tyrannise it to the point that it would not be able to stand up ever again."

It seems probable that Al-Qaeda is changing its tack to counter the growing popularity of Islamic State (the two are sworn enemies of each other). Lone wolf is the best strategy for global terror networks to increase their influence in locations such as India for two reasons.

One, it takes away the need for an extensive terror network that operates through above-ground membership organizations. The lone wolves seemingly act on their own without a visible command structure (as for instance, Omar Mateen did in the US in a gay bar) but they crucially advance the ideological or philosophical beliefs of an extremist group while doing so. And simply by owing allegiance to IS or Al-Qaeda, the terrorists manage to give these terror groups maximum media coverage that serves to further their influence.

Two, lone wolf attacks are extremely difficult for counter-terrorism officials to track, since they may not come into contact with routine counter-terrorist surveillance. India's Intelligence Bureau officials told Times of India that terror groups like Al-Qaeda and IS were focusing on this strategy especially in India as they were not able to make much headway and also because working individually makes it difficult, almost impossible, to track the activities of a person who is planning an attack.

The challenge to India, therefore, is manifold. Delhi Police, for instance, last year busted an AQIS module with the arrest of two while NIA and state police forces have arrested 54 IS members at the stage of planning. Just last week, NIA arrested six from Hyderabad who were part of a dozen-member group swearing their allegiance to IS. One of them even called their interrogators as kafir or infidels.

As Bangladesh fulminates on IS links, terror has already reached our shores.
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"The central government is just worried and is thus resorting to such cheap tactics. They are planning a strategy to penalise the Delhi government," he said.

"In the last 23 years, no central government has stooped so low. Yesterday, at an AAP rally, the people accepted the success of the AAP," Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia said.

Sisodia also questioned the timing of the arrest. He said that the government was trying to gain political points by getting Rajendra Kumar arrested at this time.

"11 senior officers of the Delhi government were transferred. The way in which officers are being removed by the central government is really cheap," Sisodia further said. "Centre is trying to destabilise the Delhi government, which is trying to do constructive work in areas like education," he said.

"Why is the AAP trying to protect a person who is allegedly corrupt?" he said. "To relate everything to an election is absolutely political."

"When Rajendra Kumar was occupying various positions under the Congress regime, there were many cases against him. Everything was in the public domain. Shouldn't they have investigated these charges against him?" Patra said.

"Whenever any allegations of corruption are made, the first step they (AAP leaders) take is to shout at PM Modi and the NDA government. This is highly immature," BJP's Sambit Patra told Times Now.

Why is AAP trying to protect an allegedly corrupt person? says BJP's Sambit Patra

Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal is attending an Iftar party in Punjab. He may make a statement on Rajendra Kumar's arrest.

"Maybe there is something here that is worrying AAP," he said.

"If the CBI has got evidence, they deserve credit. Supreme Court has been handing over case after case to CBI. In terms of attacking anyone, I think that is the only thing AAP does. They use highly derogatory language at times," said BJP leader Nalin Kohli.

There is something here that is worrying AAP: Nalin Kohli

Times Now reported that Rajendra Kumar received over Rs 3 crore as bribe, according to CBI sources.

"The allegations relate to bribery and abuse of official position by the said senior civil servant and others to favour a Delhi based private company in award of contracts of Delhi government," CBI's Chief Press Information officer RK Gaur said. - PTI

The CBI alleged that the accused persons had entered into a criminal conspiracy and caused a loss of Rs 12 crore to the Delhi Government in award of contracts between 2007 and 2015, and claimed that the officials had taken "undue benefit" of over Rs three crore while awarding the contract.

The charges pressed by the CBI are under sections 120-B of IPC (criminal conspiracy), and 13(2), 13(1)(d) of the Prevention of Corruption Act (Criminal conspiracy, criminal misconduct etc) for allegedly favouring a private company  Endeavour Systems Pvt Ltd  in bagging five contracts.

The CBI had registered a case against Kumar and others in December last year alleging that the officer had abused his official position by "favouring a particular firm in the last few years in getting tenders of Delhi government departments".

After being questioned for half a day, the CBI decided to place the two officers under arrest along with a close aide of Kumar, Ashok Kumar and owners of a private firm Sandeep Kumar and Dinesh Gupta.

Sisodia also said that even the courts could not find any substance in the charges against Rajendra Kumar.

"The central government is trying to bypass the Delhi government and trying to run the Delhi government through undemocratic means," said Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia. "Centre is attacking Delhi government through CBI," he added.

Delhi Principal Secy Rajendra Kumar's lawyer to court 'CBI could not prove wrongful gains even in seven months of investigation'

CBI replies 'He((Delhi Principal Secy Rajendra Kumar) is senior bureaucrat, investigation can't be done fairly if he intimidates witnesses'

Delhi Court asks CBI 'if you registered case in Dec 2015 then what was necessity to arrest him(Delhi Principal Secy Rajendra Kumar) now?'

Delhi Court asks CBI "if you registered case in Dec 2015 then what was necessity to arrest Delhi Principal Secy Rajendra Kumar) now?", reports ANI.

Prosecutor while seeking custody:'There are some evidence still surfacing which may lead to cheating and forgery charges'.Order at 5pm today

The Prosecutor while seeking custody said that there were some evidences still surfacing that may lead to charges of forgery charges, reported ANI.

Corruption case: Accused Dinesh Gupta says in a Delhi court that CBI pressurized him to become an approver in the case.

According to a tweet by ANI, Dinesh Gupta, the owner of a private company which bagged five contracts with the help of Delhi Principal Secy Rajendra Kumar, who was arrested, said that CBI pressurised him to become an approver in the corruption case.

Rajendra Kumar, Principal Secretary to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, was on Monday arrested by the CBI in connection with a corruption case.

Reports said that four other people have also been arrested in connection with the case involving graft in purchase of computers. "Rajendra Kumar is the kingpin of a Rs 50 crore scam," NDTV quoted CBI sources as saying.

A CBI official said that the arrested accused will produced in a Delhi court on Tuesday. Further investigations will continue.

Kumar is a 1989-batch IAS officer. In March this year, CBI had called the staff of Rajendra Kumar for questioning in connection with the case.

The CBI had conducted a raid on Kumar's office on 15 December last year at the Delhi Secretariat. It had said that the documents seized from the office of Kumar "prima facie reflect criminal conspiracy and criminal misconduct and abuse of official position by the accused persons".

Kumar had also been questioned for nine hours along with two other accused as the agency tried to look for a quid pro quo in the corruption case against him. Despite repeated queries on the alleged benefits, if at all, received by Kumar for purportedly favouring a software firm, CBI sources limited themselves to saying that the owners of the firm had worked with Kumar "at some point of time".

Along with Kumar, CBI had also examined the owner of Endeavour Systems Private Limited Dinesh Gupta and Managing Director of Intelligent Communication Systems India Limited (ICSIL) RS Kaushik in New Delhi at its headquarters.

The CBI's raid had evoked a sharp reaction from Kejriwal who had accused the agency of searching files "unrelated" to the probe against Kumar and had claimed that a file relating to DDCA was scrutinised by it.

The Delhi government had alleged that the CBI officials were trying to cover the irregularities in the DDCA under the leadership of Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, according to ANI. The government also said that the CBI officials were threatening Kumar and asking him to reveal the names of DDCA officials who had met CM Kejriwal.

"They are threatening him to reveal information regarding meeting of DDCA officials. They are putting pressure on him to reveal the names of DDCA officials who gave the information. If they are trying to threaten the principal secretary in order to hide the corruption under DDCA, then Delhi Government will not accept this," ANI had quoted Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia as saying.

(With inputs from agencies)
Amritsar: Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday hit out at the ruling SAD-BJP combine, alleging they were feeling "jittery" as AAP would sweep the 2017 Punjab assembly polls and have stooped to hatch a "conspiracy" to defame the party.

Kejriwal, who released a youth manifesto, also quoted a survey claiming it showed that AAP would win 100 out of 117 assembly seats in the state polls.

"Seven months are left for Punjab polls and the Badals have started playing a dirty game. It becomes necessary to tell people how low the SAD-BJP government can stoop," he said addressing a public meeting in Amritsar this evening during his three-day tour to the state.

Referring to one of the arrested accused in the sacrilege incident in Malerkotla on 24 June, the Delhi Chief Minister claimed that Punjab government (police) had earlier said he belonged to Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP).

"Punjab government had said Vijay Garg belonged to VHP. They continued to maintain that he belonged to VHP till 1 July. But on 2 July, they said he did it (act of sacrilege) at the behest of AAP. Why? Because Kejriwal was to visit Punjab on 3 July," he said.

"All in Punjab know that AAP is going to win (polls) in the state and win with a good majority," he said, adding, "The Badal government is on its way out."

"Now they will indulge in such dirty tricks...a big conspiracy has been hatched and now they are trying to implicate AAP in this," he said.

Without naming any party, Kejriwal said, "Everyone knows that there is only one party in entire India whose politics is based on religion. And to defame us, they have hatched this conspiracy."

"They threw ink on me, slapped me, but I remained silent. But I want to tell them that if you desecrate holy Guru Granth Sahib, holy Quran and other religious scriptures, then we will give them a befitting reply. People will not tolerate it.

People will not tolerate this conspiracy," he said.

"I am pained that to defame us, they indulged in desecration of religious books. If they wanted to defame us, they could have done anything else," he said.

Punjab Police have booked AAP MLA Naresh Yadav in connection with the alleged sacrilege incident in Malerkotla. "Who is Vijay? He is a puppet. When our AAP government is formed, we shall send those people to jail who were behind Vijay," he said.

"Those who desecrated Quran and Guru Granth Sahib (last year) will be punished once our party forms government," he said.

Kejriwal said a true Hindu is one who respects other religions like he respects his own.

"I want to appeal all Punjab police officers that they must listen to their conscience and work according to that... Don't listen to Badals, they are on their way out," he said.

"Rumours are being spread that if AAP comes to power, it will stop welfare schemes like Atta Dal. But I want to tell people that whatever poor of Punjab are getting, that will continue and I also want to assure that nothing of that sort will happen as is being speculated. In fact, more will be given to the poor and weaker sections," he said.

"It is also being said farmers' power subsidy will be withdrawn, this is also untrue. Farmers will be given more subsidy," he said.

Another rumour being circulated is that reservation will be discontinued. "In fact it is BJP which is against reservation and not AAP," he claimed.

Kejriwal accused SAD, BJP and Congress of joining hands to not allow AAP to win the upcoming assembly polls.

"A meeting between top leaders of BJP and Congress took place. And they have decided that BJP, Congress and Akali Dal should join hands to contest polls so that AAP does not form the government," he claimed.

Notwithstanding the Election Commission's warning during last year's Delhi Assembly polls, he asked people to accept money from BJP, Congress and SAD during the polls but vote only for AAP.

"Some people are saying that Akalis are distributing money to buy votes. They will come to you. You take money from them. Don't refuse. This is your money. You also take money from Congress and BJP. But you vote only for AAP," he said.

The poll panel had taken a serious view of Kejriwal's comments and asked him to desist from repeating it failing which it had warned of action.

Kejriwal said earlier he was of the opinion that he should not bring up the sacrilege incident on the occasion of the release of AAP's youth manifesto.

"But then I thought it was extremely important to expose the obnoxious face of SAD-BJP government which wanted to derail my visit over the desecration incident," he said.

After coming to power AAP would put Akali minister Bikram Singh Majithia in jail in a month and break the entire supply chain of the drugs and the mafia in the state, he said.

The opposition has been accusing Majithia of patronising drug trade in Punjab, a charge he has persistently rejected.

Meanwhile, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) General Secretary and Revenue Minister Majithia asked Kejriwal to "worry about himself rather than building castles in the air as to what he would do to others if he ever came to power in Punjab".

"Your days in power in Delhi are numbered with your lies and deceitful ways catching up with you. Your government is losing MLAs on a daily basis and it is very much possible that you might not even be chief minister of Delhi after three months as the people are fed up with you," Majithia said in a statement.

Kejriwal and his supporters on Sunday had to face some resistance from unidentified Sikhs in the Golden Temple complex.

They had gone there to pay obeisance when unidentified Sikh youths raised anti-Kejriwal slogans and threw pamphlets titled 'Mister Kejriwal tu Sikhan da doshi hain' (Kejriwal, you are an enemy of the Sikh community) which held him responsible for demolition of a historic 'piao' (water kiosk) at Gurdwara Sis Ganj Sahib in Delhi.

The pamphlet also compared Kejriwal with former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, saying the community will never forgive "anti-sikh" people.

Kejriwal also paid obeisance at the Durgiana Temple where he was honoured by the temple committee members.

During his three-day Punjab visit, Kejriwal will visit Gurdaspur, Jalandhar and Malerkotla where he is expected to meet different sections of the society, an AAP leader said.

Kejriwal will go to Ludhiana and Khanna where he will meet traders and industry people and listen to their concerns, he said.

After Delhi, AAP is eyeing to win the high-stakes state assembly polls with party leaders exuding confidence that it would repeat the "history of Delhi's victory" in Punjab.
Mumbai: Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray on Monday said BJP central leadership has not held in any discussion with him on the Union Cabinet expansion and that his party will not stand on anybody's doors seeking favours.

"People from various political parties are joining the Shiv Sena. I have been busy attending to them and thus have not got the time to discuss the Cabinet expansion. One thing is clear. The Sena will never stand helplessly on anybody's doors asking for anything," Thackeray said here.

"First they (the BJP) were offering us Minister of State, then said we will get a Cabinet berth. We say whatever we get, we should get with respect. We will not beg for anything. There have been no discussions with Delhi on Cabinet expansion," he said.

Thackeray said getting ministerial berths was a secondary issue for him and that he would put forward his views if discussions were to take place. Referring to the Maharashtra Cabinet expansion, which according to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis would happen before he leaves for his Russia tour early next week, the Sena chief said, "I and the CM have only had superficial discussions. I will announce the intricacies once a detailed discussion happens."

The much-talked about expansion of the Union Cabinet is set to take place tomorrow morning. Principal spokesperson of the government Frank Norhona tweeted that "cabinet expansion" will take place tomorrow at 11 AM.
London: British Home Secretary Theresa May on Monday refused to rule out the deportation of European Union (EU) nationals living in Britain, amid fears that guaranteeing their rights could lead to a "huge influx" of migrants.

May, who has emerged as the frontrunner in the race to succeed Prime Minister David Cameron as the leader of the ruling Conservative party, said that although she wanted to "guarantee the position" of EU citizens currently living in Britain, their future could be up for negotiation, The Independent reported.

"She was saying it is unwise to promise right now that all EU nationals living in Britain should be able to stay indefinitely. The reason for that is if we did that the same rights would have to apply to any EU national who comes to Britain before we leave the EU," an official said.

"If we made that promise you could just see a huge influx of EU nationals who would all want to come here while they have that chance."

The official also made it clear that the issue was a "negotiating point".

"What is important is there will be a negotiation here as to how we deal with that issue of people who are already here and who have established life here and Britons who have established a life in other countries within the EU," May told local media.

Responding to her comments, Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron demanded that the Britain-based EU nationals should be given complete assurances that they would have the right to stay in the country indefinitely.

The party, which has committed to standing in the next election on the platform of securing Britain's place in the EU, added that the future status of these people is not clear beyond any renegotiation period, leading to uncertainty.

"It is utterly outrageous that Theresa May won't give Europeans living, working and paying taxes in Britain certainty that they will have the right to stay here. The Liberal Democrats would," Farron said.

"We call on the Home Secretary to offer a cast iron guarantee that the futures of all those Europeans residing here can be in Britain," he added.

Candidates vying to replace Cameron were urged to guarantee that the 3 million EU nationals already living here were not deported if and when Britain quits the bloc.

Britain on June 24 voted to exit the EU after almost 40 years of being a member of the now 27-member regional bloc.
Dhaka: Bangladeshi police are trying to confirm the names of Islamist militants who attacked a Dhaka restaurant, killing 20 people, checking whether the identification of some by friends on social media is correct, officials said on Monday.

Islamic State posted pictures of five fighters it said were involved in Friday's killings in Dhaka's diplomatic zone, most of the victims from Italy, Japan, India and the United States.

"Let the people of the crusader countries know that there is no safety for them as long as their aircraft are killing Muslims," it said in a statement.

Posts on Facebook identified three of the five, whose grinning images appeared in front of a black flag, as Nibras Islam, Rohan Imtiaz and Meer Saameh Mubasheer.

Police have said all six gunmen killed were locals and five were on a government militant watchlist. But they also said they were holding off before confirming their identities.

Whoever was responsible, Friday's attack marked a major escalation in scale and brutality by militants demanding Islamic rule in Bangladesh, whose 160 million people are mostly Muslim.

Some of the men went to an elite public school in Dhaka, Scholastic, and then college at North South University in the capital and Monash University in Malaysia, according to the posts. Masudur Rahman, deputy police commissioner of Dhaka police, said officers were probing those links.

"A majority of the boys who attacked the restaurant came from very good educational institutions. Some went to sophisticated schools. Their families are relatively well-to-do people," Bangladeshi Information Minister Hasanul Haq Inu told NDTV.

Police arrested a seventh man at the restaurant who they suspect played a role in the attack. He is currently in hospital.

Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan believes home-grown militants responsible for a wave of killings against minority groups in the past year and a half were to blame for Friday's bloodshed.

The plan is to look for family members of the gunmen, conduct DNA tests and investigate their links to international groups, Rahman said.

Bangladesh's $26 billion garment industry is braced for the fallout from the killings, fearing major retailers from Uniqlo to Marks and Spencer and Gap Inc could rethink their investment.

Japan's Fast Retailing Co, owner of the Uniqlo casual-wear brand, will suspend all but critical travel to Bangladesh and has told staff there to stay home.

US Secretary of State John Kerry has offered Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina help in the investigation.

"The Secretary (Kerry) encouraged the government of Bangladesh to conduct its investigation in accordance with the highest international standards and offered immediate assistance from US law enforcement, including the FBI," US State Department spokesman John Kirby said in a statement.
Islamabad: Pakistan on Monday rejected media reports about its involvement in the terrorist attack in Bangladeshi capital Dhaka that killed 20 foreigners including an Indian as "baseless, irresponsible and provocative".

Pakistan's Foreign Office spokesman Nafees Zakaria issued a statement in response to media queries regarding reports of the involvement of Pakistan's spy agency ISI in last week's terror attack on a popular restaurant in Dhaka.

"These are highly regrettable, irresponsible and provocative stories being carried in the Indian media. They are utterly baseless and unfounded. Pakistan strongly rejects such allegations," he said in the statement. He drew attention to the statement by the Adviser to the Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Gowher Rizvi, refuting a media report that was attributed to him regarding Pakistan's involvement in the attack, as proof of the Indian media's "malicious intent".

"Prof Rizvi contacted Pakistan's High Commissioner to Bangladesh to confirm that he has not issued any statement against Pakistan and that the Indian media reports are false. He also advised Pakistan's High Commissioner to convey this clarification to the Government of Pakistan, to avoid any misunderstanding between the two countries," the Foreign Office spokesman said.

He said Pakistan deeply appreciates Rizvi's timely rebuttal of the reports. Zakaria said Pakistan has strongly condemned the terrorist attack in Dhaka and "expressed solidarity with the government and the brotherly people of Bangladesh and offered condolences and sympathised with the families of the victims".

"Pakistan condemns terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. Being itself one of the biggest victims of terrorism, Pakistan welcomes Prof Gowher Rizvi's call for international cooperation to fight the menace of terrorism," he said.
Bangladesh heaved a great sigh of relief after it claimed to have successfully ended the 13-hour hostage crisis that claimed 20 lives on late Friday.

On their part, Islamic terrorists were equally buoyant  having made their presence felt in the international community and having once again proved that they can strike at will and with brutality. The modus operandi of the killings, involving the use of medieval weapons like machetes and how the victims were tortured indicates that it was the handiwork of home-grown terrorists with Islamic State-leanings. The debate surrounding who carried out the attacks is now only of academic interest.

Terror is not new to Bangladesh.

In 1979, the Indian High Commissioner in Dhaka was shot at by Islamic youth wing activists. Back then they did not have the tag of the Islamic State or Al-Qaeda. Terrorists in Bangladesh got a huge boost when a large number of Bangladeshis joined Taliban in Afghanistan and fought shoulder to shoulder. There are battle hardened veterans who, upon return, nurtured their extreme ideology and trained youngsters in weaponry, grenade-manufacturing and all trade craft needed to become a jihadist. This movement was further bolstered by the Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI) becoming part of the government (2001-2006 ). With the state's support, militancy was got a huge boost and cadres flourished with legitimacy.Their target was obviously the liberals, seculars, Ahmediyas, Shias, pro-Indian elements and Hindus.

Jamaitul Mujahideen of Bangladesh (JMB) was kicking and alive with the patronage of the JeI and the opposition BNP polarising the country with those opposed to Hasina and India, implying seculars and the rest  who received funding from certain middle-eastern fundamentalist countries, furthering strength the extreme forces.

A daring attack was made on Hasina's life in August 2004, where she had a providential escape while many Awami League cadres got killed. Pakistan's ISI was always one to exploit these forces to its advantage by organising anti-India rallies and targeting the progressives. This tend continued unabated.

The situation worsened after Hasina came back to power in 2009. Her decision to try the war criminals and collaborators and executing them made the fanatics bay for Hasina's blood and that of seculars .

Pakistan, in the meantime, tried its best to stall the hangings by aggressive anti-India and anti-Hasina propaganda. It also stepped up subversive activities on Bangladeshi soil. There was more than one occasion when Pakistani High Commission officers were declared persona non grata for their undesirable role. Apparently, they were undercover ISI operatives.

It's hard to accept that the ISI did not have a part to play in the 1 July terror attacks in Dhaka. JMB ,by all reckonings, was handled by ISI operatives for supply of weapons, training, reconnaissance and indoctrination to carry out an attack. Islamic State may have radicalised the youth for its cause but a nexus with Pakistan remains a strong possibility as both have a common target in Hasina and by proxy, India. The youth who carried out the hostage drama were in their early 20s, came from affluent families and were educated in some of Dhaka's best schools.

Massive radicalisation, possibly through social media and related developments escaped notice of the Intelligence machinery. The second failure on part of Bangladeshi intelligence was their inability or adoption of an ostrich like attitude in refusing to read the writings on the wall when a systematic trend of singular killings began from 2013 onwards targeting liberals , academics, bloggers, LGBT activists and Hindus. Manner of killings maintained a set pattern. Use of machete and murders most gruesome. Hindu priests were exterminated near or inside the temples . Message was loud and clear but it went unheeded .



What happened in Dhaka could have been averted if the perpetrators were effectively dealt with. Also if the establishment had accepted that Islamic State had its hand in these acts. Perhaps the government did not want to be seen not being in control. That approach cost the nation dearly as the symptoms had always been there for everyone to see.

Failure notwithstanding to prevent the attacks , the Bangladeshi forces did a commendable job by successfully completing the operation by ending the hostage crisis in 13 hours. This is noteworthy considering that Bangladesh experienced such a grave security crisis for the first time.

As the dust settles, there is need for India to draw up a blueprint to address various security challenges arising. Intelligence agencies must gear up their apparatus with a special focus on Bangladesh for gathering human intelligence as well as stepping up their technological know how to remain well informed about the threats to Indian interests. Most important aspect being, to try and cut off any emerging nexus between Pakistan-based terror outfits, Bangladeshi Islamic terrorists and the groups active in India. This unholy nexus must be neutralised. Bangladesh's security and intelligence set ups need to be taken on board for this onerous task .

Indo-Bangladesh borders should be hermetically sealed to prevent not only illegal migration but any attempts by the terrorists trying to sneak into this side . Compared to Bangladesh , India's ongoing alertness to prevent radicalisation and attempts to carry out terror attacks within , have so far paid dividends. This is evident by NIA's recent arrests in Hyderabad . That was swift and decisive. This tempo must be kept up as it will also act as a deterrent.

After the number of foreigners who were killed on Friday, Japan and Italy have joined hands with Bangladeshi investigating agencies. India could also join these efforts and attempt to be a part of the interrogation team questioning the lone terrorist who was captured alive. His disclosures may be vital for Indian interests as well.

India's role in helping Bangladesh tackle terror needs to be more demonstrative than before and perhaps a high level Indian security delegation to Dhaka will instill confidence and goodwill too. More importantly, gathering intelligence from states bordering Bangladesh should not to be left to the state intelligence apparatus. Central agencies must closely monitor them to avoid any complacency and mediocrity.

If the most recent wake up call from Dhaka is ignored, it might have serious implications on Indian security interests. It therefore deserves undivided attention and should be Narendra Modi government's priority.

The authot is a retired IPS officer and was also posted in Bangladesh. Views are personal.
Shraddha Kapoor, you beauty, reads the exuberant caption, followed by the moment when she held my hand

The Facebook post  a video clip of actress Shraddha Kapoor meeting and greeting a crowd of fans  would have read like any Bollywood enthusiasts. The post marks the users status feeling perfect.

Innocuous, except that the Facebook account was of Nibras Islam, one of the terrorists killed in the Dhaka terror attacks.

Nibras Facebook post has gathered lot of attention, attesting as it does to a privileged upbringing, not very different from most young adults elsewhere in the world. His places of study include Monash University in Malayasia and Northsouth University in Dhaka; he attended an international school. There are selfies aplenty of Nibras and his group of friends, doing what young people do  driving around, hanging out at restaurants, enthusing about meeting a Bollywood star.

There are also other, chilling, pictures.

Nibras grinning at the camera while he holds a gun in his hands.

And then, from other feeds, a photo of his blood-streaked face, after he was shot down by security forces.

Reports have conjectured that Nibras was brainwashed and radicalised by an Islamic terror outfit; he followed one such group, Shami Witness, on Twitter.

Friends of Nibras told the media that he had been quiet and "not very religious".

Nibras is believed to have been missing since January, that was when his parents last saw him.

When they heard of him next, it was to find out that their son and five associates had been gunned down (the seventh was captured alive, said CNN) by the military, after they launched a 10-hour terror attack on a Dhaka cafe on Friday night, that left 20 dead.

The terrorists in the Dhaka attack have all been described as well educated and from affluent families. The Daily Star reported that the boys were also frequent visitors to the cafe (The Holey Artisan) in the exclusive suburb of Gulshan, that they laid siege to.
An alert from the SITE Intelligence Group on Friday warned that a "pro-Islamic State" account had issued threats against aircraft "flying from Heathrow to the US" this weekend, which coincides with the American Independence Day holiday, The Times reported. The alert warned of a potentially deadly device being placed at Heathrow, Los Angeles airport or John F Kennedy in New York.

Pro-IS Twitter Account Warns of Attacks in Heathrow, LAX, and JFK Airports on July 4 Weekend https://t.co/nResxCNiwL  SITE Intel Group (@siteintelgroup) July 1, 2016

British transport minister Tariq Ahmad called for the public to be cautious.

We all need to be vigilant to the global threat of terrorism  in the UK, we keep all aspects of aviation security under constant review and work closely with our international partners to mitigate risks, Ahmad said, adding, We will continue to take all steps necessary to keep the public safe, but for security reasons we do not comment in detail on specific measures or operational matters. On Sunday, top intelligence chief of Germany warned that after Istanbul, the Islamic State may attack German airports, which are likely to be teeming with people from different nationalities.

With the blasts at Istanbul's international airport on its heel, the news alert came in at a time when worldwide panic was setting in regarding terrorist attacks. On Friday night, when the tweet surfaced, hostages were taken by Islamic terrorists in an upscale cafe in Dhaka. The siege carried on for almost 10 hours and killed at least 20.

There is a price to be paid for fighting terrorism  a price the people of too many nations, including our own, have paid in recent days. Especially after the brazen suicide bombing in Istanbul's Ataturk airport and the recent threat by the 'supporters' of Islamic State brings us to the inevitable question: Are airports an easy target for terrorists to wage a war?

While the investigation is in its early stages, it's clear that the attack on Ataturk airport was meticulously planned and executed. The assailants arrived in a taxi and went straight for one of the busiest areas of the airport. They also managed to overcome heightened security put in place at Ataturk after the March assault on Brussels airport.

Come to think of it, reasons as to how terrorist groups zero-in on a particular target and carry out a successful attack are many, but planning an attack in an airport  especially a vast international airport like the one in Istanbul (which is among the most secure in the world, likely second only to Tel Aviv in its number of checkpoints), is something worth looking into.

This particular act of terrorism was indeed exceedingly well-timed  intended no doubt to make an already jittery travelling public even more nervous at the height of the summer tourist season. But the attack also comes during a week in which Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan has made two significant moves to restore fractured relationships with Israel and with Russia. Just on Sunday, Ankara reached an agreement to resume full diplomatic relations with Israel after six years of estrangement. On Monday, Erdogan issued a letter apologising to Russia for downing a jet near its border with Syria.

Bombing an airport, where security is probably the maximum, is making a statement as far as terrorists are concerned. It is about making a spectacle and send a message to world leaders as to how far they can reach. US Secretary of State John Kerry recently was quoted as saying that the Islamic State is targeting airports because they are desperate.

"It has been more than one year since Daesh (Islamic State) has actually launched a full scale military offensive, and that's because our coalition is moving relentlessly on every front. Now, yes, you can bomb an airport, you can blow yourself up. That's the tragedy. Daesh and others like it know that we have to get it right 24/7/365. They have to get it right for ten minutes or one hour, so it's a very different scale. And if you're desperate and if you know you are losing, and you know you want to give up your life, then obviously you can do some harm."

Harm was done. Forty-one were killed and hundreds were injured, not to mention the panic it sends every other nation into. Terrorists targeted the 11th busiest airport in the world and the 3rd busiest in Europe after London's Heathrow and Paris' Charles de Gaulle, in a country that borders the Islamic State-stronghold Syria, and it's not hard to see why Ataturk posed an attractive soft target.

According to this report on CNN, travellers at the Istanbul airport are required to undergo double security screenings. One before they enter the international terminal building, and a second time after they go through passport control. It also posts a vehicle checkpoint about 500 metres from the entrance of the international terminal  although only suspicious vehicles are stopped and checked, the report added. According to experts, who specialise in West Asian security issues, there is no foolproof method of preventing similar airport attacks. Issues like weaker security at arrivals compared to that of the departure wing and response of the security staff at airports, help in making these deadly attacks possible.

One of the reasons for this is that while tarmac and terminal security have been intensified, access to terminals and satellite buildings is still too easy across the world.

But, as mentioned earlier, when such attacks are actually made possible, it is a matter of pride for the perpetrators. An airport is a location where you find people of all the nationalities, entering and leaving the country. All at one place. It is an ideal spot for terrorists to make a global statement and where their target base can potentially be internationally varied.

In a study done in 2004 by RAND, one fact that consistently emerged from the analysis: it is not the size of the bomb that matters most; it is where it is detonated. Usually terrorists, serious about making a strong impact, involve placement of a bomb in close proximity to a vulnerable crowd of people.

Counter-terrorism expert Greg Barton was quoted by the ABC news who said that airports were the softest target by militants. In 2016 March, 32 were killed and more than 300 were injured in three bombings in Belgium, including two at Brussels Airport. According to Barton, there is no easy solution to this. Airports cannot be shut down in the face of a suspected attack and in the case of Istambul airport, it has over 16 million people going through every year.

"We will have to look at the way we manage security in airports and in public places generally. If you had people intent on blowing themselves up in the course of this attack, there's absolutely nothing you can do to stop that.

However, analysts also said that regardless of any boosted security measures, airports are among the "most vulnerable" soft targets and likely always will be. Airports are extremely busy, security checkpoints and screening areas create masses of travellers standing and waiting to be processed making it equally hard for any security agency of coming up with an effective way of avoiding it. Moving the target (passengers) also does not yield any helpful results.



Gresham, Smith and Partners recently designed a screening area at Norfolk International Airport in Virginia with one major concern in mind: Flexibility, so it can adapt to changing security threats. From box-cutters to explosives to automatic weapons, the dangers for airport security evolve. So the firm created a large, open space without support columns that can be easily reconfigured to bring in the next generation of screening machines. "We don't know what's coming next so we design for that," said Wilson Rayfield, executive vice president in charge of aviation at the architecture, design and consulting firm.

In the face of airport threats, designers are asked to come to the frontline of the security challenge and achieve the nearly impossible: improve security without slowing down travelers. Sometimes, art and function coincide. Open spaces and high ceilings can reduce the impact of a concussive blast. Other times, designers are working to reduce congestion in non-secure areas and create more offsite checkpoints. They seek to channel passengers in ways that take advantage of high-tech sensors, cameras and facial recognition software that may help police stop assailants before they kill.

"Aviation has a lot to learn from Las Vegas casinos," said Rayfield, referring to surveillance cameras and crowd control methods that he said allow three-fourths of visitors to be identified.

Ofer Lefler, a spokesman for Israel Airports Authority, said security was "100 percent" a consideration required of architects who designed Ben Gurion Airport's main terminal, though he declined to discuss specifics. The terminal, completed in 2004, is grand with high ceilings and an abundance of marble and Jerusalem stone. A magnificent sun roof, water fountain and atrium give way to corridors leading to the gates like spokes on a wheel.

Beyond aesthetics, the design has a function, according to one Israeli aviation security consultant who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity as he was unauthorised to discuss measures at Ben Gurion Airport. Wide-open sight lines give security agents a clear view so that "potential terrorists can be tracked by guards, whether in person or through the closed-circuit TV system, from the moment they are arrive." In places under constant threat, like Baghdad and Kabul, security checkpoints begin miles from the terminal and include myriad scans, checks and bomb-sniffing dogs.

From the parking area to the terminal, there are several access points with sliding glass doors made from a blast-proof material that would help limit casualties from shrapnel, the consultant said. Surveillance at Ben Gurion begins well before anyone reaches the parking area or terminal. Cars are stopped at a checkpoint, watched over by heavily armed guards and cameras that read license plates. People deemed suspicious are pulled over for further questioning and possibly searches. Largely surreptitious monitoring continues all the way to the terminal.

But, experts say, such measures may be impractical at busier airports. Ben Gurion handled fewer than 16 million international passengers in 2015, compared to 75 million at London Heathrow. The threat of terrorism at airports is so persistent and ever-evolving that security measures must also adapt to reduce the likelihood of a high consequence event. Bombers have continued to identify different targets of opportunity within the airport environment as seen most recently in Brussels, but also in Karachi, Beijing, Moscow and Madrid over the past decade.

With inputs from Reuters
To an analytical and logical mind the ultimate aim of the Islamic State (IS) reads like a medieval fantasy. Its ideologues believe that soldiers of Islam will take on and destroy the armies of Rome at a decisive battle near Dabiq, a small town near Syrias Aleppo.

After the battle at Dabiq, IS believes, soldiers of Islam will extend their reign over rest of the Earth, in the process defeating Dajjal, an anti-Messiah, with the help of Jesus, who will miraculously appear one day to fight alongside a handful of soldiers of Allah.

In an age dominated by air strikes, drones and other forms of warfare, dreams of a decisive man-to-man combat led by messengers of God and forces of evil sound implausible. Also, since Rome declined several centuries ago, nobody knows who the ultimate adversary of the soldiers of Islam at the prophesied battle of Dabiq would be.

At the moment, the Islamic State is fighting a coalition of governments of Iraq, Turkey, Syria, Russia, France and England, and several rebel groups. Its enemies, who transcend religions and sects  Christians, Shias, Sunnis, Kurds  and geographies, are raining aerial bombs and missiles on IS hideouts and strongholds. By no indication does the promised tryst at Dabiq, with an army marching under one flag, look likely.

Yet, the attack in Dhaka shows that more and more educated youth are getting drawn to Islamic State and its radical ideology that seems steeped in irrational goals. Its arc is spreading on both sides of Al-Raqqah, the Caliphates capital in Syria, and its footprint is becoming visible daily on new battlegrounds.

What could be driving its expansion? It is apparent that Islamic State is now operating on two distinct levels. One, as a geographical entity that controls and governs a large area between Syria and Iraq through its Caliphate. And two, as an ideology that is finding off-shore recruits either because of its sustained efforts or through self-radicalisation. In some cases, hardened terrorists and criminals  such as the Abdeslam Brothers involved in the Paris attacks  extend their loyalties to the Caliphate on their own, possibly to grant their acts some sort of ideological legitimacy and ideological cover and swell IS ranks.

Seen in this context, India is as much a soft target for IS propaganda as any other country, with a significant population of Muslims that can be brainwashed, is. The Islamic State may never send its recruiters to India, but it may still find willing recruits because of its social media outreach or just because some vulnerable youngsters get radicalised on their own.

Dealing with a terror module that operates on the ground is less difficult, as Indias experience with Indian Mujahideen and the insurgency in Punjab has shown. But how does one identify and stop someone sitting in a dark corner from becoming a terrorist or carrying out a lone wolf attack, such as the one in Orlando, in the US or the shootout at Sydneys Lindt Cafe in 2014? This would be the biggest challenge for Indian security agencies.

And it is going to be a long battle.

The end of the Caliphate announced by IS is imminent. Its ouster from the areas it controls in Iraq-Syria is just a matter of time. After the fall of Fallujah earlier this year, Al-Raqqah could be targeted within a year if the ceasefire in Syria doesnt get violated and Iraqi coalition forces do not disintegrate. According to estimates, the Islamic State has already lost nearly half of the area it controlled in Iraq, and a third of its initial gains in Syria. Its supply lines have been choked, income from the oil business has fallen and the number of fighters in its ranks has come down to 20,000-25,000 from the peak of 35,000-40,000. Hundreds of IS recruiters are deserting it every day, either because they get disillusioned or because the Caliphate doesnt have enough to pay its ranks.

Yet, the battle isnt over. As the Caliphate prepares for the eventual fall of Raqqah, it has started exporting terror to distant lands, out of frustration, to retain its relevance, giving out calls for strikes that may not be planned or coordinated by it, but that which could be carried out on their own by its sympathisers.

Once Islamic State gets ousted from its current seat of power, its jihadists will spread across different countries, where they will remain lifelong security threats. Divested of the burden of defending a territory, they would be free to plan sporadic attacks across the globe.

The recent terror strike in Dhaka suggests the nearing end of the Caliphate. Soldiers of Islam may not get to fight armies of Rome or Dajjal sometime soon. But they may soon be free to wage guerilla wars across the world.

India needs to be extremely cautious of the unidentified, self-radicalised and desperate enemy.
Istanbul: Two suspected Islamic State jihadists have been detained at Istanbul's Ataturk airport, the Dogan news agency reported, less than a week after it was hit by a triple suicide attack.

Dogan said the two suspects held late on Sunday were Kyrgyz nationals, identifying them only by their initials, KV and FMI, aged 25 and 35 respectively.

Police found night-vision binoculars and military-style clothes in their suitcases, the agency said, along with two passports in different names.

They were questioned by anti-terror police in Istanbul. It was not clear whether they had been leaving or arriving at the airport.

Their detention came as 13 suspects, including three foreigners, were charged on Sunday over the 28 June gun and suicide bomb assault at the airport that killed 45 people including 19 foreigners.

Officials believe the Islamic State group was behind the attack, the worst in a series to hit Turkey's biggest city this year.

In total police have detained 29 people "including foreigners" in connection with the airport carnage, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said on Sunday.

Of more than 200 people injured, 49 are still in hospital including 17 in intensive care.

Authorities believe the attackers were a Russian, an Uzbek and a Kyrgyz national.

State news agency Anadolu has named two of them as Rakim Bulgarov and Vadim Osmanov, without giving their nationalities.

Central Asia's former Soviet republics have been a major source of foreign jihadists travelling to fight with Islamic State and other extremist groups in Iraq and Syria.

Turkish media have identified the strike's organiser as Akhmed Chatayev, the Chechen leader of an Islamic State cell in Istanbul who allegedly masterminded two other deadly attacks that killed tourists in the city.
Washington: The US has offered immediate assistance of its law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, to probe Bangladesh's worst terror attack in which 22 people were brutally slaughtered by suspected ISIS militants.

The assistance was offered as Secretary of State John Kerry called Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Sunday.

"The Secretary encouraged the government of Bangladesh to conduct its investigation in accordance with the highest international standards and offered immediate assistance from US law enforcement, including the FBI," State Department spokesperson John Kirby said.

The offer came in the wake of the "outrageous attack" on the Holey Artisan restaurant in Dhaka's high-security diplomatic zone, he said.

During the call, Kerry condoled the loss of innocent lives at the hands of terrorists "who threaten the United States, Bangladesh and the international community". He re-affirmed US support for Bangladesh's efforts to bring those responsible for planning and conducting the attacks to justice as well as to prevent future attacks," Kirby said.

Twenty hostages, including Indian girl Tarishi Jain, were hacked to death by terrorists inside the cafe popular with expats in the diplomatic zone before commandos launched an assault, killing six attackers and capturing one alive. Two police officers were also killed in the attack. Most of those killed were found with their throats slit. Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack through its Amaq news agency, nearly four hours after the hostage crisis unfolded.

Bangladesh, however, blamed "homegrown" Islamist terrorists and Pakistan's spy agency ISI for the attack, ruling out involvement of the Islamic State
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Panasonic has launched Eluga Note, the companys latest top-end smartphone in the Eluga series. It has a 5.5-inch 1080p LTPS display, is powered by a 1.3GHz octa-core processor and runs on Android 6.0 (Marshmallow) with FitHome UI. It has a 16-megapixel rear camera with triple LED flash and a 5-megapixel front-facing camera.

It has dual SIM support, 4G LTE connectivity with VoLTE and also has infrared sensor that lets you control home appliances using the smart remote app. It has a removable back cover with textured finish.

Panasonic Eluga Note specifications

5.5-inch (1920 x 1080 pixels) Full HD IPS LTPS display

1.3 GHz Octa-Core processor

3GB RAM, 32GB internal memory, expndable memory up to 32GB with microSD

Android 6.0 (Marshmallow) with FitHome UI

16MP rear camera with triple LED Flash, f/1.9 aperture, 6P lens, 1080p video recording

5MP front-facing camera with 4P lens

3.5mm audio jack, FM Radio

Infrared sensor

Dimensions: 14674.58.15mm; Weight: 142g

4G VoLTE, WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS

3000 mAh battery

The Panasonic Eluga Note comes in Champagne Gold colors and is priced at Rs. 13,290. It will be be available through offline retailers across India.

Commenting on the launch, Pankaj Rana, Business Head  Mobility Division, Panasonic India, said:

Panasonic always believes in creating a better life and a better world for our customers. Eluga Note equipped with full HD display, faster processing power and superior camera empowers the consumer to perform all their task at ease thereby making their life smarter and efficient. We are confident with ELUGA Note, will enhance our market share as an emerging smartphones brand and further strengthen our position in the price band of INR 10,000-15,000.
The downward spiral of potash pricing just intensified as Belarusian Potash Co. (BPC) announced it had signed a contract with India where it would sell 700,000 tonnes of the plant nutrient at just $227 per tonne, a price a third lower than what was realized last year, and its lowest price in a decade.

While China, as the world's largest consumer of the fertilizer component, has yet to sign a contract for delivery in 2016 (and at this point probably won't), there doesn't appear to be a let-up in sight for the falling prices. Unless, that is, the cartels of Belaruskali and Uralkali join forces again, which just might happen.

Burning the house down

The fertilizer market has been in disarray since 2013, when BPC, which, at the time, consisted of Belaruskali and its Russian counterpart, split because Uralkali wanted to sell all of the potash it produced on the open market in a bid to gain market share. Previously, the cartel, which together had controlled some 43% of the global potash market, withheld some of its production in order to keep prices elevated. The breakup and subsequent flooding of the market with new potash supply caused pricing to go into a tailspin.

Where producers had been getting $400 per tonne prior to the collapse, prices immediately fell to $305 per tonne, and with the market still experiencing a supply glut, analysts anticipate they just might fall to $200 per tonne -- or even lower.

North American potash producers, after all, have all been reporting dramatically lower prices than what they were previously receiving. PotashCorp (POT) reported in April that its realized price was just $178 per tonne on a global basis, 37% below the price it had realized in the year-ago period, while Mosaic (MOS -0.54%) said it averaged selling prices of $207 per tonne. Agrium (NYSE: AGU) reported it got $199 per tonne.

While India's contract seemingly sets something of a floor for potash in many markets, China is still the straw that stirs the drink. Because its inventories are elevated and it's still receiving supply on a monthly basis from Russia, it's under no pressure to sign a contract, and it certainly won't do so at such a high threshold. If prices fall to $200 or lower, and stay there for a sustained period, PotashCorp's dividend could be threatened.

This is why the potential for the cartel's resurrection caused potash producer stocks to jump when the possibility became public.

Extending an olive branch

Belorussian President Alexander Lukashenko sounded a conciliatory tone with Uralkali recently, saying its rival shareholders had been coming to him to say they wanted a reunion of the companies. He said he wasn't opposed to the idea, though he did say any revival would have to be on his terms.

That's why potash investors may not want to get their hopes up too high. The same problems that led to the breakup nearly three years ago are not likely to be resolved in order for the two to come back together.

For example, Reuters reported the previous headquarters of BPC was in Minsk, the Belorussian capital, a location that bothered Uralkali, but the Belarusian Telegraph Agency quoted Lukashenko as saying, "We will not relocate Belarusian Potash Company."

In BPC's recent contract negotiations with India, Uralkali wasn't happy with the price its rival agreed on. Russian news agency Interfax reported a Uralkali spokesperson as calling the $227 per tonne price too low, and saying his company wasn't ready to sign a contract with India. No doubt Uralkali hasn't forgotten that its CEO was detained briefly in Belarus following the cartel's dissolution.

Although investors might hope the cartel would get back together to help stabilize prices, the other side of that coin is that higher fertilizer costs will also lead to higher crop prices, raising food costs for everyone. As a result, this doesn't look like the solution that will help PotashCorp, Agrium, or Mosaic -- nor will it do anything for consumers over the long term, either.
America may be the land of opportunity, but it has also become the home of some of the most blatant income inequality in the world.

According to the Global Wealth Report from Credit Suisse, which uses a proprietary formula to rank income inequality by country, the United States ranked as the fourth-most income-unequal country of the 141 countries examined. The U.S. trailed only Russia, Ukraine, and Lebanon, which ranked first through third, respectively.

Based on data from CNN, the U.S. is home to 42% of the world's millionaires and nearly half (49%) of all people with $50 million or more in assets. More recently, CNN reported on findings by the Boston Consulting Group that U.S. millionaires controlled 66% of all U.S. wealth in 2015, which is considerably higher than the global average of 46%, and more than double the 31% of wealth that millionaires control in Western Europe.

The not-so-secret trick people are using to get rich

So, what is it that's allowed millionaires to get rich, stay rich, and continue to build their wealth at a much faster pace than the average Joe?

Last year GOBankingRates offered a number of ideas as to why the rich are so successful. These ideas include the rich being mindful of their money, even though they have more than the average American. For example, the rich eat out less, and they usually understand value over cost better than middle-class Americans. GOBankingRates also notes that the rich tend to be their own bosses, and they put their daily and long-term goals in writing, which keeps them accountable for their own actions.

But the not-so-secret trick that the wealthy have been using to increase the wealth gap over the average American family is nothing more than using time and capital gains to their advantage.

There's no better example of this than investment mogul Warren Buffett, who has turned less than $10,000 into a net worth of nearly $66 billion as of June 28, per Forbes. Buffett's wealth is in some part due to his ability to identify cheap investments, but most of it has to do with Buffett's tendency to buy stocks and hold them for the very long term.

Two of Buffett's core holdings in Berkshire Hathaway's portfolio are Coca-Cola (KO 0.75%) and Wells Fargo (WFC 0.73%), which Buffett began buying in 1988 and 1989, respectively. Having held them each for more than 25 years, Buffett's been able to reap the rewards of steady growth over time and has also taken advantage of compounding through dividend reinvestment (albeit not necessarily into more shares of Coca-Cola or Wells Fargo stock). Today, Buffett owns 400 million shares of Coca-Cola and nearly 480 million shares of Wells Fargo, which is good enough for a 9.3% and 9.6% respective stake in each company.

Capital gains taxes favor the rich

But there's more to it than just Buffett picking a handful of big winners. Capital gains taxes also play a big role in keeping the wealthy well ahead of the average American. Per the Tax Policy Center, capital gains account for about half the income of people making $10 million or more a year.

Based on capital gains tax regulations per the IRS, assets such as stocks or bonds held for one year or less are considered short-term. Short-term gains are taxed at a rate commensurate with your ordinary income tax rate, which can range from as low as 10% to as much as 39.6%. For example, if your last earned dollar places you in the 25% ordinary tax bracket, your short-term gains will be taxed at 25%.

However, assets held for at least a year and a day are taxed at the long-term capital gains tax rate. Unlike short-term capital gains that have seven separate tax brackets ranging from 10% to 39.6%, long-term capital gains brackets are much simpler -- there are only three -- and they're much lower. Long-term holdings for investors in the 10% or 15% ordinary tax brackets equate to a capital gains tax of $0 -- zilch, nada! Persons in the 25%, 28%, 33%, and 35% ordinary income tax brackets owe 15% in long-term capital gains, and the wealthiest individuals owe 20%.

Owing 15% or 20% is a lot better than potentially forking over 35% or 39.6%, respectively. Holding their assets for at least a year has been crucial in allowing the rich to add to their wealth without having to give a lot of it to the federal government.

Average Americans can level the playing field with this retirement tool

Although middle-class Americans aren't going to get the same magnitude of impact from capital gains tax breaks as the rich do when it comes to holding onto their assets for longer than a year, the middle-class American does have direct access to a tool that the rich don't: the Roth IRA.

Roth IRA income limits generally keep the top 10% of Americans from contributing, making it a preferable retirement tool for the other 90%. If you're interested in finding out if you earn below the income threshold to contribute to a Roth, you can find that information here.

The biggest advantage of a Roth IRA is that as long as you make no unqualified withdrawals, not a single cent of your investment gains within the account will be federally taxable. Understandably, contributing to a Roth might not make you a multi-millionaire, but it can save you five or even six digits in federal taxes after you retire, which can make a big difference in ensuring that you can meet your day-to-day expenses and also cover unexpected (but rising) medical costs.

Furthermore, a Roth IRA allows for a lot of flexibility in that contributions can be made after age 70, which isn't an option with a traditional IRA. There are also no required minimum distributions. In short, you remain in complete control of when you take your money out (as long as you're older than 59 1/2). The money withdrawn doesn't count toward your annual income since it's free of taxation, meaning no higher tax bracket and no Medicare premium surcharges during retirement.

Consider the Roth your best chance of leveling the playing field with the rich.
Image source: Getty Images.

Social Security is one of the most important sources of retirement income for Americans, and its uncertain future makes policy makers watch the program's financial condition closely every year. As a result, the annual release of the government report that provides a financial snapshot of how the Social Security trust fund is doing gets a lot of attention. Theoretically due on March 31, the report is routinely late, although the late-June release date for the 2016 Social Security Trustees Report is earlier than its 2015 counterpart's publication time last year. The 272-page report [opens PDF] released on June 22 largely confirmed the concerns that previous installments have raised, but there were a few noteworthy changes that deserve further examination. With that in mind, let's take a closer look at the 2016 Social Security Trustees Report to make sure you understand the three most important highlights from it and how they could affect Social Security's financial prospects down the road.

1. Social Security's overall financial status is largely unchanged from last year, but a temporary fix to disability funding bought some time.

Most of the longer-term projections concerning the key retirement portion of Social Security remained almost identical to last year's. Most recipients are covered under the Old Age and Survivors side of Social Security, because that's the fund that pays retirees and their families the benefits they've earned. The 2016 report left unchanged its projection that this part of the program will pay full benefits to retirees and family members until 2035. Beyond that date, income from payroll taxes and other sources that are earmarked for old-age benefits will cover only 77% of the program's obligations, which is consistent with last year's figures if you assume that the retirement portion of the trust fund is kept separate from the disability side.

However, things have gotten a lot better for the Disability Insurance portion of Social Security. According to last year's projections, the portion of the trust fund that helps to fund disability benefits was expected to run out of money during 2016. Lawmakers took action to reallocate revenue toward the disability portion of the trust fund for a three-year period. According to the 2016 report, that move has pushed out the expected date of disability reserve depletion to the third quarter of 2023 -- essentially buying about seven years before the issue will come up again.

Eventually, most policy makers anticipate an effective merger of the two funds. The Trustees Report says that if a merger were to occur, the combined funds would run out of money in 2034, which is the same date as last year's projections showed.

2. Providing for Social Security's future will take sizable changes in the current law.

Image source: 2016 Social Security Trustees Report.

The Social Security Trustees Report has traditionally presented options for policy makers to consider in fixing the long-term financial threats to Social Security. As they have in the past, this year the trustees focused largely on either increasing payroll taxes to boost revenue for the program or reducing benefits for Social Security recipients, either now or in the future.

If the government were to rely solely on a payroll tax boost to ensure Social Security's financial future, it would take a large increase to the current payroll tax rate. Right now, Social Security receives 12.4% of wages up to $118,500 for each worker. Half of the tax, or 6.2%, comes from withholding from employee paychecks, while the other 6.2% represents what employers owe on their employees' behalf. In order to keep Social Security fully solvent over a 75-year period -- the usual benchmark the trustees use -- that 12.4% figure would have to rise to almost 15%. The 2.58-percentage-point increase is actually slightly smaller than last year's 2.62-percentage-point figure, but it still represents a major gap to fill.

Benefit reductions are also an option, but they would have to be draconian as well. If benefits were reduced permanently and immediately for all current and future beneficiaries, it would take a 16% cut to maintain solvency. If you apply the cuts only to future beneficiaries, a larger cut of 19% is necessary. The Trustees Report suggests that lawmakers could use a combination of strategies to close the funding gap, but the magnitude of moves necessary shows just how daunting a challenge that will be.

3. Procrastinating a Social Security solution would be even more costly, despite some uncertainty about the projections.

The Social Security Trustees Report acknowledges that its predictions aren't perfect, and some lawmakers therefore justify their delay in addressing the problem in the hope that dire projections will prove to have been overly pessimistic. But the trustees' own sensitivity analysis shows that the problem is very unlikely to go away by itself.

Specifically, even if you assume best-case scenarios for the program, which include assumptions like shorter lifespans for beneficiaries, lower levels of unemployment for those paying payroll taxes, and higher fertility rates to boost the labor force, the trust fund is unlikely to remain solvent past 2045 -- a year earlier than in last year's analysis. Moreover, worst-case scenarios could exhaust the trust fund as early as 2029. The trustees put just a 5% chance on the actual result falling outside this 2029 to 2045 time frame.

There's therefore little reason for lawmakers to wait and hope for the best. Moreover, if they do, the solutions become more costly. The 2016 report says that payroll taxes would have to rise by nearly 3.6 percentage points in 2034 if no changes are made before then, or a 21% reduction in all benefits would need to take effect. The government has an incentive to make less extreme moves sooner to cushion the blow.

The 2016 Social Security Trustees Report's results didn't have any major changes from last year, and those in the government will have to keep finding ways to make progress toward a longer-term solution. Otherwise, Social Security will stay on track toward greater financial difficulties less than two decades into the future, and making financial plans about retirement will involve a lot more uncertainty.

The article 2016 Social Security Trustees Report: The 3 Most Important Takeaways originally appeared on Fool.com.

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It's been a good year for healthcare stocks in general, but a handful of quality companies haven't been swept upward with the rest of the sector. Allergan plc (NYSE: AGN) and CVS Health Corp. (NYSE: CVS) are both poised to continue churning out profits and dividends for years to come, but they aren't priced that way. Both have been trading at a much lower multiple of their earnings power and could provide market-beating gains over the long run.

For investors looking for more excitement, Celldex Therapeutics (NASDAQ: CLDX) just passed an important milestone that sets the biotech stock up for a big movement early next year. This tiny company hasn't entered the commercial stage yet, but that could change quickly if its lead candidate can repeat a previous success.

A different anti-aging strategy

Allergan plc has used massive cash flows generated by Botox to acquire a stable of branded drugs that could keep its bottom line marching steadily higher. In 2017 alone, the company earned approvals for five drugs, and applications for five more in late-stage clinical trials at the moment could make their way to the Food and Drug Administration in the quarters ahead. For example, ubrogepant and atogepant could fill a huge unmet need for millions of Americans who suffer from frequent migraine headaches.

Botox sales still comprise about 20% of total revenue for the company, and I expect its continued success will keep investors from frowning longer than the treatments themselves. Manufacturing a biologic drug like Botox is a complex process, which should keep the threat of generic competition at bay for years to come. The Botox brand dominates the cosmetic market where it faces some competition, but FDA approvals for therapeutic categories should allow the neurotoxin to generate profits in competition-light niches for many years to come.

With a Botox franchise that looks like it can weather patent expirations with a smile, and new drugs coming through the pipeline, the average analyst expects Allergan's annual earnings growth to average 13.25% over the next five years. Despite a clear path to double-digit bottom line growth, the stock is trading at just 12.3 times this year's earnings estimates. To put that in perspective, the average stock in the S&P 500 has been trading at 18.7 times forward estimates.

To top it off, this top healthcare stock began making quarterly dividend payments this year. The 1.3% yield the stock offers at recent prices isn't the biggest payout you'll find in big pharma, but Allergan shouldn't have much trouble boosting it higher. The first two payments required just 5% of profits recorded during the first half of the year.

It's the businesses you don't see

Investors looking for a healthier dividend yield at the moment should consider CVS Health Corp. for the business segment most aren't familiar with. You might not know this, but the 9,700 retail pharmacy outlets this company runs generate less revenue than its pharmacy benefits management (PBM) business.

Although the company's retail pharmacy business has been slipping lately, second quarter sales from the pharmacy services segment rose 9.5% over the same period last year. The PBM added $1.8 billion in new business for the 2018 selling season and boasts a 97% customer retention rate.

The recent integration of Omnicare's operations made CVS the leading provider of pharmaceutical services to U.S. nursing homes and related facilities. The expansion gives CVS Health's PBM more purchasing power that it can use to negotiate lower prices from branded and generic drug manufacturers.

Immense purchasing power should keep the PBM growing even if retail sales continue to decline, which is why the stock's recent price of about 13.2 times this year's earnings estimate seems too low to stay put much longer. The dividend offers a 2.6% yield, and a low 37% payout ratio suggests plenty of payout bumps in the years ahead.

It's showtime

Celldex Therapeutics is a tiny, clinical-stage biotech with a candidate in a pivotal study that just completed enrollment. Glembatumumab vedotin, or glemba, looks for a protein called gpNMB on the surface of tumor cells where it delivers a lethal dose of chemo.

Glemba's target is associated with an extremely difficult to treat form of breast cancer that lacks three targets available therapies look for. It took a long time to find 327 advanced stage, triple-negative breast cancer patients with tumors that overexpress gpNMB, but Celldex got it done.

The company will measure how long patients survive without showing signs of disease progression. During a previous study, progression-free survival for a subgroup of triple-negative breast cancer patients with lots of gpNMB on their tumor cells was more than twice as long as the group treated with standard chemotherapy.

If glemba can repeat its previous success in the ongoing study, this stock will soar. Of course, a surprise failure could lead to swift losses. Now that the pivotal trial is fully enrolled, we should know one way or the other in the first half of next year.

10 stocks we like better than AllerganWhen investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.*

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Cory Renauer has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Celldex Therapeutics and CVS Health. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Image source: Sony.

Four minutes was all it took for GameStop to sell out of its exclusive allotment of Sony's PlayStation VR systems on Thursday. PlayStation VR -- PSVRfor short -- is Sony's foray into virtual reality.

PSVR hits the market on Oct. 13. Sony made an initial allotment available through various outlets earlier this year, but it chose to make its latest batch of systems available only through the leading video game retailer.

Virtual reality is going to be a pretty big deal this holiday season. There have already been several prolific hardware releases this year. The PC-based Oculus Rift and HTC Vive join the smartphone-based Merge VR and Samsung's Gear VR on the market. PSVR is jumping into a seemingly crowded market, but it has some distinct advantages.

Oculus Rift is the name making waves, but like HTC Vive it requires the octane of high-end PCs that most diehard gamers don't have. They are also expensive platforms. Merge VR and Gear VR are cheap, but strapping specialized goggles on smartphones can be a limiting experience.

Sony's platform strikes the right balance, and the $399 virtual reality system works with existing PlayStation consoles. That gives it a massive installed base, and it's no surprise that in-the-know GameStop customers hopped on the tight window.

Two long roads back

Sony and GameStop aren't at the top of their respective games. Sony has posted modest revenue growth through the past three years, but it posted declines in each of the four years before that. Sony has been struggling selling TVs, cameras, and other gadgetry. It's also been a major victim of streaming television replacing DVDs, something that has hurt Sony in both the sale of Blu-ray and DVD players as well as its movie studio and media replication business.

GameStop has also been a victim of digital delivery. Comps dipped 6.2% in its latest quarter. Its stores continue to be ridiculously profitable, and GameStop is returning money to its shareholders through earnings per share-padding buybacks and healthy dividends that currently amount to a yield of 5.5%.

Despite the fat payout, GameStop is trading a lot closer to its 52-week low than its 52-week high. Sony's hanging at the high-end of its 52-week range, but it's trading well below where it was a decade ago.

PSVR could help both company's fortunes. The key to its success rests on the fact that there are already more than 36 million PS4 owners. Tack on the PS4 camera accessory and PSVR and they can hop on the virtual reality bandwagon at a sliver of the hardware costs for market darling Oculus Rift. This explains why GameStop has become a hotbed of PSVR signups. If Sony's virtual reality platform is a hit, GameStop will likely thrive in the near term. That could be enough to buy Sony more relevance and GameStop more time.

The article 4 Letters That Can Save Sony -- and GameStop originally appeared on Fool.com.

Rick Munarriz has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has the following options: short July 2016 $28 puts on GameStop. 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: Getty Images.

Wells Fargo analyst David Wong recently wrote in an investor note that NVIDIA could face some increased cloud computing competition from Intel .

Intel is no lightweight in the server business, of course, but the company's server co-processors (processors that offload specific tasks to cloud computing networks) haven't been all that great in the recent past. Over the past few years, Intel's Xeon Phi server revenue has far underperformed NVIDIA's data center revenue. In the most recent quarter, NVIDIA posted $143 million in data center revenue, compared to Intel's Xeon Phi's revenue of under $20 million.

But Wong pointed out that Intel's latest update for Xeon Phi, called Knights Landing, could boost Intel's position in the cloud space -- and become a bigger threat to NVIDIA.Here's what he said (republished on Barron's):

Knights Landing will combine Intel's current server technology with what's called FPGA (field programmable gate arrays) coprocessors to handle complex algorithms that are constantly changing.Intel is integrating the FPGA technology it received from itspurchase of Altera. Wong believes this might give Intel a leg up over NVIDIA's Tesla graphics processing units (GPUs), which power its cloud computing systems.

What's at stake for NVIDIA

Intel and NVIDIA are focusing more of their attention on cloud computing opportunities these days, and with good reason. The global cloud computing market is worth about $204 billion right now, according to Gartner.

Intel in particular is moving away from its PC business. It recently laid off 12,000 employees, and is focusing its attention on big growth opportunities. Meanwhile,NVIDIA's cloud-computing approach has been to apply its GPU knowledge to power machine learning and cognitive computing systems for Google, Facebook, and Amazon.

This cognitive computing market is expected to grow into a $12 billion market just three years from now. And NVIDIA's position looks pretty strong right now, as the world's largest technology companies are increasingly looking to GPUs to power their cloud computing needs.

But NVIDIA could face setbacks in its cloud computing prospects if Intel's Knights Landing puts pressure on NVIDIA's business the way Wong believes it will.

Investor takeaway

I agree with Wong that it's possible Intel could creep further into NVIDIA's territory with Knights Landing, but at this point it's pretty speculative to think Intel's new technology will have a huge advantage over NVIDIA.

NVIDIA is smart to take all of its GPU experience with gaming and apply it to data centers and other technologies. And so far, it's getting great results. Data center revenue was up 63% year-over-year in fiscal Q1.

Meanwhile, Intel is desperately trying to jump-start new initiatives as it moves away from older, underperforming businesses.We'll likely see more chips from Intel later this year, which could give investors a clearer picture of the company's direction.

But NVIDIA's cloud computing position is already strong, with its GPU revenue rising and Facebook, Google, and others implementing its technology. I don't think NVIDIA investors should be worried, but they should definitely be keeping a close eye on Intel's future cloud moves.

The article Could Intel's New Cloud Computing Efforts Cast a Shadow Over NVIDIA? originally appeared on Fool.com.

Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fools board of directors. Chris Neiger has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Alphabet (A shares), Alphabet (C shares), and Nvidia. The Motley Fool recommends Intel. 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.
Author Robert A. Heinlein autographing books at the 1976 World Science Fiction Convention in Kansas City, Mo. Image source: Wikimedia Commons.

The past five years have been amazing for Elon Musk and his several companies. Over the course of five short years, his SpaceX space launch venture has sent the first privately owned spacecraft to dock with the International Space Station, landed a Falcon 9 rocket (on land and at sea), won a $2.6 billion commercial crew contract from NASA, and announced a plan to put a man on Mars.

At Tesla Motors , Musk launched the Model S electric car -- at one time the best-rated car in Consumer Reports history -- then followed that up with the introduction of a Model X electric SUV, and most recently, received more than 400,000 pre-orders for the Tesla Model 3 sedan, Tesla's first mass-market "affordable" electric car. And indeed, even Musk's SolarCitysolar power business has racked up some accomplishments. SolarCity began with an IPO at $8 per share in December 2012 and rocketed more than 10 times higher barely a year later. More recently, SolarCity has become famous for a much-maligned proposed buyout -- but one that could help secure its future for years to come.

There is one thing Musk has failed to accomplish, however.

Despite all the above, he didn't repeat his 2011 win of the Heinlein Prize. That honor went to his rival, Amazon.com CEO and Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos.

The Heinlein Prize Trust announced on June 21 that it is awarding its commercial space award to Bezos "for his vision and leadership in commercial space activities that have led to historic firsts and reusability in the commercial spaceflight industry."

The Heinlein Prize

Five years ago, Elon Musk became the second-ever winner of the Heinlein Prize Trust's coveted award for "progress in commercial space activities that advances [the] dream of humanity's future in space," given in recognition of his accomplishment for putting the world's first privately built rocket in orbit. Five years later (the prize is awarded once every five years), Jeff Bezos has taken the prize -- for putting a different rocket not in orbit.

As explained in the Heinlein Prize's press release, Bezos won for developing a "commercially financed line of engines that pave the way to reusability in space transportation" and for using these engines (dubbed BE-3) to send Blue Origin's suborbital New Shepard rocket "into space and then land vertically upon the Earth."

The real prize

SpaceX fans will doubtless insist this was no big deal. New Shepard may have made it into space, but it never achieved speeds fast enough to stay there before returning to land. Nevertheless, this was the first time a powered space-to-Earth landing had ever been accomplished, and Blue Origin has since repeated it multiple times.

In short, Bezos won the Heinlein Prize fair and square -- but it isn't the biggest prize he's won. In fact, Blue Origin's really big win is something barely mentioned in the Heinlein Prize's press release: "Blue Origin reached a commercial agreement with a private launch company to develop the BE-4 engine which could be used to power the next generation of U.S. launch vehicles."

Keep your friends close, and your competitors closer

The old adage was put into practice last summer, when Lockheed Martin tapped Blue Origin to "expand production capabilities for the American-made BE-4 engine that will power the Vulcan." Vulcan, as you will recall, is the new rocket that Lockheed and Boeing are building to replace United Launch Alliance's (ULA) Atlas V line of space rockets -- and compete with SpaceX's cheaper Falcon line of rockets.

Because Boeing and Lockheed Martin focus their space efforts on building rocket ships, they generally outsource engine work to subcontractors. On Vulcan, Aerojet Rocketdyne is building one possible engine variant, while Blue Origin is building another -- and by all indications, Blue Origin's BE-4 is the engine Boeing and Lockheed would prefer to use in ULA's new rocket.

So what does this mean for Blue Origin? Jeff Bezos is building Blue Origin up as a space tourism company that will fly tourists to the edge of space, then return them safely -- for a tidy fee. Ultimately though, Bezos intends Blue Origin to become a true orbital space launch company that will rival both SpaceX and ULA. (In fact, just this week Blue Origin broke ground on a new factory to build "orbital vehicles.")

Through its BE-4 contract with ULA, Blue Origin is killing two birds with one rock(et). It's developing an engine powerful enough to give its own rocket ships true orbital velocity that will permit spaceflight. At the same time, it's generating revenue from sales of this engine to ULA -- revenue that it can then reinvest in its own business to further its own spaceflight efforts.

Spaceflight, not just suborbital flight -- that's the real prize for Blue Origin. And it's starting to look like it's going to win it.

Blue Origin could blast into orbit on a red-hot tail of BE-4 engine revenue from United Launch Alliance. Image source: Blue Origin.

The article Eat Your Heart Out, SpaceX. Blue Origin Takes the Prize originally appeared on Fool.com.

Rich Smith has no position in any stocks mentioned.You can find him onMotley Fool CAPS, publicly pontificating under the handleTMFDitty, where he's currently ranked No. 278 out of more than 75,000 rated members.The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends SolarCity and Tesla Motors. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Copyright 1995 - 2016 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
A spy shot of the GeForce GTX 1060. Image source: BenchLife.info.

Graphics specialist NVIDIA is expected to launch its next generation mid-range desktop graphics processor, known as the GeForce GTX 1060, sometime this month. Though the general launch time frame had been leaked, the specifications and expected performance of the card weren't known.

Thanks to a leak of some slides that look as though they were produced by NVIDIA from graphics card focused website VideoCardz.com, we now know the key details of this upcoming card. Let's take a closer look.

Smaller Pascal

According to the leak, the GeForce GTX 1060 packs 1280 CUDA cores, exactly one-half of the number of CUDA cores found inside of NVIDIA's flagship GeForce GTX 1080, running at a boost speed of 1.7GHz. It also comes with six gigabytes of GDDR5 memory rated at 8Gbps speeds. Assuming a memory bus width of 192-bits, VideoCardz calculates the memory bandwidth available to the GPU at 192 gigabytes per second -- 60% of the bandwidth available to the GTX 1080.

One of the slides that VideoCardz shows reads, "the power of GTX 980 for every gamer," which likely means that in terms of performance, the 1060 will be as fast as NVIDIA's late-2014 flagship GPU, the GeForce GTX 980.

The card itself uses a single six-pin PCI Express power connector and is rated at a 120 watt thermal design power. This means that the card is much more efficient than the GeForce GTX 980 (rated at 165 watts and required two six pin power connectors), something that will make life easier for users trying to upgrade systems with relatively low quality power supplies.

In terms of display connectors, the slide shows that the GTX 1060 packs three DisplayPort 1.4 outputs, an HDMI 2.0B output, as well as a dual-link DVI connector. This should ensure compatibility with a wide range of displays.

Cost reduced GTX 980

I believe that if the GTX 1060 is able to hit GeForce GTX 980 level performance across the board at the rumored price of $299, it should do well in the marketplace. What's important to note, though, is that the GeForce GTX 1060 should be cheaper to produce than the GTX 970/980, so NVIDIA should be better off bringing this part to market than selling dramatically price reduced GTX 980s into this market.

Let's explore this a little bit more.

The GTX 980 was built on TSMC's 28-nanometer process and measured in at 398 square millimeters. The GTX 1060, assuming it's based on the GP106 chip, is estimated to measure in at somewhere between 170 square millimeters and 200 square millimeters on TSMC's newer 16-nanometer FinFET process (this estimate comes from VideoCardz.com as well). Let's call it 200 square millimeters to err on the side of caution.

Analyst Handel Jones estimates that a 16-nanometer wafer in late 2016 should run about 70% more than a 28-nanometer wafer by the end of 2014, implying a 70% increase in cost per area. If we take this estimate to be true, this should imply that a 200 square millimeter GTX 1060 chip should actually cost less to manufacture than a 398 square millimeter GTX 980. It's also worth noting that, all else equal, smaller chips tend to yield better than larger chips.

From a raw die costperspective, it would seem that the GTX 1060 should be cheaper to make than the GeForce GTX 980.

Beyond the die cost, the board should also be cheaper to make. The GTX 1060 has a narrower memory bus than the GTX 980 (192-bit versus 256-bit), which should lead to a reduction in complexity of the board that the graphics processor is mounted on. Additionally, the GTX 1060 requires less power than the GTX 980 does (120 watts versus 165 watts), which should allow NVIDIA and board partners to use less expensive power delivery systems and save on a PCI Express power connector.

The only area where cost could increase is on the memory chip side of things; the GTX 980 comes with just four gigabytes of GDDR5 while the GTX 1060 should come with six gigabytes. That said, the GTX 980 launched before Samsung announced the mass production of 8 gigabit GDDR5 memory chips.

Samsung claimed in its January 2015 press release that its 8 gigabit GDDR5 chips were the "industry's first." Generally speaking, higher density memory chips tend to lead to lower cost per bit. In light of this, the six gigabytes of memory on the GTX 1060 may wind up no more expensive (or possibly even cheaper) than the four gigabytes of memory on the GTX 970/980.

The article NVIDIA Corporation's GTX 1060 Details Leak originally appeared on Fool.com.

Ashraf Eassa has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Nvidia. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Copyright 1995 - 2016 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
We don't often link patriotism and immigration in the same sentence. But we should. Some of our greatest patriots were immigrants. Alexander Hamilton was one. And so is my stepson, Felipe, who came to America from Nicaragua when he was 7 years old.

Felipe and his mother (my wife of 27 years) were escaping a communist dictatorship that threatened to force Felipe into military servitude at the age of 15. Felipe's mother was not about to allow this to happen, so she engaged in an elaborate plan with a gringo journalist to get out. She and Felipe literally left Nicaragua with just the shirts on their backs in November 1988 to start a new life with me in America.

It was a tough transition, particularly since Felipe spoke no English, had never experienced a cold climate, and, most painfully, had left his extended family and close friends behind. But he soon grew to love America...and his new family. He loved sports, music, and, was particularly drawn to all things having to do with the U.S. military.

We didn't have much money back then, so the only toy he had for his first year here was a G.I. Joe doll. He'd invent elaborate missions for his G.I. Joe, including the use of some twine he found to create repelling exercises, with tables and bookshelves substituting for cliffs.

When I asked him why he would be willing to sacrifice his life for a country that bungled his papers, he simply told me: David, I want to earn my citizenship.

When Felipe was 19 and in his first year of college, he shocked us all by announcing he would quit college to join the U.S. Marines. We didn't even realize it was possible for him to join because he wasn't yet a U.S. citizen. He should have been a citizen, but the immigration service messed up his papers.

When I asked him why he would be willing to sacrifice his life for a country that bungled his papers, he simply told me: David, I want to earn my citizenship.

But the biggest opponent we had to Felipe joining the Marines was his mother. Remember, her main reason for bringing Felipe here was to keep him out of the military.

In Nicaragua, the military represented everything bad about government...first with the boot-heeled National Guard of the Somoza dictatorship and then with the totalitarian secret police of the Sandinistas era.

To turn her around, Felipe and I introduced her to a number of Marines and Navy SEALS we knew she would love. Eventually she began to appreciate the fact that in America, the military represented the best, not the worst of government.

All this culminated in an early morning goodbye the morning after Felipe's 19th birthday, as he headed off to boot camp at Parris Island, South Carolina. Felipe kissed his still-sleeping sister, had a long hug with his mother and then we both walked alone to the front door. Felipe hugged me and then said something I hadn't heard from him in about 5 years: "I love you, David." Somehow I managed to hold back the tears.

The years that followed changed us all enormously, most obviously with the 9/11 terror attacks. Felipe fought in two wars on account of the radical Islamic threat. My wife's constant prayers kept him safe, but he saw brothers killed and experienced all the horrors of war. But through it all, he had no doubts about what he had done and was doing for his adopted land...with one exception: He was still dying to become a citizen.

Eventually Felipe became a U.S. citizen while fighting for his country in Iraq. The ceremony was short and simple, but profound. It meant the world to him. Felipe followed through on his promise to earn his citizenshipmore than so many of us who were just lucky enough to be born here.

God bless him and all patriots on this July Fourth.
When telling the story of America, we rightly recount how the founders of our country sought to be free from something. This Independence Day, perhaps we ought to also consider that we are the inheritors of a vision to be free to something.

The Pilgrims were not merely interested in being free from persecution by the King of England, they were eager to be free to practice their faith in peace.

When writing the Declaration of Independence, the Founders listed a litany of injuries and usurpations fromwhich the colonies sought to be free: dissolving legislatures, quartering soldiers in homes, taxation without representation, trial without jury, inciting insurrection, and other oppressive acts of King George.

But they also declared precisely what we are free to: Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness, to name an essential few.

Consider our Amish neighbors, a minority that wishes to be free to live a simple existence, raise their children, and act according to their faith. They are free from the government compelling them to abandon religious customs that appear strange to our modern eyes, and free to live according to their centuries-old religious belief.

Conscientious objectors in our country, though rare, seek the freedom to honor God with their conscience. They are free from the requirements of a military conscription that would require them to kill, but also free to obey their moral and religious tenets.

From the early colonists, to the Founding Fathers, to the diverse faiths of our neighborseach benefit from a national commitment to religious liberty that tolerates the free exercise of religion by all peaceful Americans. This drive to provide freedom from oppression and freedom to exercise that faith created a heritage unique to the American experience from our founding as a nation.

Then as now, the world has nowhere else to turn in order to be both free from oppression and yet free to freely exercise religion. Todays displaced religious minorities flock to our countrys shores in search of some country that remains committed to religious liberty.

They seek the last asylum spoken of by the Father of the American Revolution, Samuel Adams, a month after the signing of our Declaration of Independence: Driven from every corner of the earth, freedom of thought and the right of private judgment in matters of conscience, direct their course to this happy country as their last asylum.

Religious liberty in America sprouts from an unalienable, human right endowed to them by their Creator; it is a right to be free from a government that punishes any disagreement with the kings religion and sets a people freeto exercise their faith fully, publicly, and openly.

The American commitment to libertyand especially religious libertyrecognizes that freedom grows when none are required to hide who they really are in the free exercise of religion. We are less free when religion is banished from public, hidden from view, or treated with contempt.

As we celebrate our Independence on this Fourth of July, let us remember that our forefathers paid a high price for our liberty  not merely the right to be free from oppression, but to be free to speak openly, exercise our faith, and live our lives according to our most deeply cherished beliefs. That is liberty.
California Republicans want the Obama administration to deny the state's extraordinary request for illegal immigrants to get Obamacare.

The state's Republican delegation comprising nine House lawmakers wrote to the administration on Wednesday, saying that the request could raise costs and set "an improper precedent for other states."

California's Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown signed a law earlier this month that made the request to the federal government. Obamacare prohibits illegal immigrants from signing up for coverage under the law's exchanges. The law would not enable illegal immigrants to get subsidies toward the purchase of insurance.

Covered California, the state's Obamacare exchange, predicted about 50,000 illegal immigrants could get coverage.

Read more on WashingtonExaminer.com
Residents and businesses in Cobb County, Georgia, were fleeced by their local government to help pay for the construction of the Atlanta Braves new home.

Now, some of those same people are being told by the local government that they wont be able to use the stadiums location as a way to make a little extra money.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports this week that Cobb County quietly passed a new ordinance banning businesses located near the new Braves stadium from selling parking spaces during events at the stadium.

Heres the money quote from the Journal-Constitution story on the new ordinance:

This irks the (heck) out of me, said (Fred) Beloin, who has previously tangled with the county over zoning around the stadium, and was unaware of the ordinance until told about it by an Atlanta Journal-Constitution reporter. They say theyre increasing my property value and then they do everything in their power to make sure I get no benefit out of it.

Its not just Beloin, though. The AJC counted up the parking lots for businesses within a half-mile of the new stadium (the radius spelled out in the ordinance) and found more than 10,000 spots.

Click for more from Watchdog.org.
A determined insurgency among some of the delegates to the Republican National Convention is growing, a last ditch effort to sidetrack the nomination of Donald Trump.

The efforts focus on fighting state laws and party rules that bind delegates from states with winner-take-all primaries on the first ballot at the upcoming national convention.

"If we were in a position where we didn't have a divisive or a controversial candidate going into Cleveland we probably would have been ok," explains Arizona GOP delegate Jarrod White. Like several states, Arizona law requires delegates to vote for the primary winner, who in this case happens to be Trump.

White is part of an organization calling itself "Free the Delegates"which is calling on delegates to vote at the convention as their conscience dictates.

Arizona Republican Party Chairman Robert Graham will have none of it.

"I have the law and the rules on my side, he said. And it's not to be unfair it's just to manage this entire process and maintain a professional decorum."

Graham says delegates who have decided they can't support the presumptive nominee as promised, should step aside in lieu of an alternate delegate. "Let somebody who's enthusiastically engaged in the process to go and participate."

That's him saying, you know, 'sit down and be quiet,'" White says. "That's not who we are as grass roots activists."

"Here in Arizona there's a lot of infighting within the statewide GOP," comments a bemused Sheila Healy, Executive Director of the Arizona Democratic Party. "I would say it's uh, it's not unhelpful for our cause," she adds with a hearty laugh.

Yet the Arizona GOP is certainly not alone when it comes to conflict over presumptive nominee Donald Trump.

On the other side of the country, a lawsuit filed in federal district court in Richmond on Friday, June 24 seeks to declare Virginia's delegate binding law unconstitutional.

The suit lists Virginia delegate Carroll (Beau) Correll, a former Ted Cruz supporter, as lead plaintiff. But his attorney David Rivkin explains it was, "brought on behalf of all of the delegates, Democrat and Republican, from Virginia."

The lawsuit seeks a temporary injunction before the conventions start, and asks that Virginia's law ultimately be stricken down as a violation of First Amendment rights to free speech and association.

"There are approximately 20 other states that have such binding laws in various versions, Rivkin points out, predicting that a win in Virginia, "...in effect will tell everyone in the nation that these types of binding laws are unconstitutional.

Yet another group calling on GOP delegates to vote for someone, anyone, other than Trump in the first round has released a television ad. The spot by Delegates Unbound called "Follow Your Conscience" shows clips of Ronald Reagan and Trump side by side making starkly contrasting comments. The 30 second spot ends with the written words, "GOP Delegates: follow your conscience."

In the face of these efforts to take the nomination away from him, Trump reminds Fox News that the largest number of primary voters in history got him where he is today.

"Listen I have millions of people out there, almost 14 million to be exact that will be extremely unhappy if that happens, he said.

The GOP official heading the RNC's permanent Rules Committee agrees.

"I wasn't a Trump supporter to begin with," Bruce Ash says while explaining why he sent a letter calling on his fellow members to take a firm stand against the dump Trump campaign.

In the letter Ash implores, "We at the RNC must stand by our presumptive nominee's side and defend against all who would threaten our legitimacy as a national party. What is more important than anything else is uniting and defeating Hillary Clinton in 2016.

Arizona delegate Talmage Pearce, also affiliated with the Free the Delegates group, says uniting to defeat Hillary is now secondary.

"If Donald Trump does become the nominee and loses to Hillary Clinton, and (yet) we're able to accomplish what we're able to accomplish, by freeing the delegates and allowing them to vote their conscience, that's something we can be proud of."

Arizona's Chairman Graham points out that all of Arizona's delegates knew the rules going in.

"At the very beginning of our state convention we have a vote on our rules. It was unanimous...and guess what one of the rules are? That they need to sign the pledge.

Arizona's 2016 Republican National Convention Delegate and Alternate Delegate Pledge of Support reads in part, "...do hearby pledge my vote and support for the nominee who received the greatest number of votes in the Arizona Presidential Preference election..."

"So if they go there and try to change the rules," Graham says, "they are deceiving a million three hundred thousand voters that voted openly. They should actually let that weigh in on their conscience."

He assures Fox News that, "The state of Arizona will announce 58 votes for Donald Trump," at the GOP convention. And if any delegates, "try to disrupt that or do anything along those lines the RNC has told us in writing that they will credit 58 votes to Mr. Trump."

Unhappy delegates like White, remain undeterred. "I don't think we're going to lose at the convention and I think it's going to be a historic moment."
Senator Jim Inhofe walked away unscathed Sunday night after reportedly skidding off an Oklahoma airport runway after landing a small plane.

Donelle Harder, a spokeswoman for Inhofe, said the 81-year-old Republican was out flying when severe weather forced him to land near Ketchum at around 7 p.m. Much of the state had been under a severe thunderstorm watch Sunday.

FAA spokesman Lynn Lunsford told the Associated Press the agency had received a report that a pilot veered into some brush to avoid a deer on the runway. The agency didnt release the pilots name but said the person was not injured.

According to the Tulsa World, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol initially indicated that Inhofe was taxiing down the runway and swerved to avoid hitting an animal. However, Oklahoma Highway Patrol spokesman Paul Timmons told the paper that the report was unconfirmed.

However, an Inhofe spokesperson confirmed to ABC News early Monday that it was indeed Inhofe behind the controls.

Inhofe, an avid pilot, "walked away and is now at home with his family celebrating" the July Fourth holiday, Harder said in a statement. Harder told the Tulsa World she couldnt confirm whether Inhofe veered off the runway to avoid an animal.

Inhofe has over 11,000 flight hours, according to a biography on his website. He has been a pilot for decades and is known for flying to campaign stops across the state.

In 2011, the senator ran afoul of the FAA when he landed a plane on a closed runway at a rural South Texas airport even though there was a giant yellow X and trucks on the runway. Workers on the ground scrambled to get out of the way.

Inhofe's son, Perry Inhofe, died in a small plane crash in November 2013.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Click for more from the Tulsa World.
Donald Trump blasted the media on Monday, blaming it for creating a controversy over a tweet of Hillary Clinton that some critics claim was anti-Semitic.

Dishonest media is trying their absolute best to depict a star in a tweet as the Star of David rather than a Sheriff's Star, or plain star! the presumptive Republican presidential nominee tweeted.

Over the weekend, Trump sent out a tweet that featured Clinton and what appeared to be a Star of David layered on top of $100 bills  an image that had also appeared on a white supremacist website.

Trumps account on Saturday tweeted the so-called meme  then deleted it and replaced it substituting a circle for the star symbol that resembles the Jewish Star of David.

The change came after a strong social media backlash about the tweet and whether the image had anti-Semitic implications.

The meme first appears to have hit the Internet on June 15, when it was posted by the Twitter user @FishBoneHead1. The account, which described itself as belonging to a comedian, regularly tweeted out anti-Clinton and right-leaning messages and images.

The image also appeared on June 22, on /pol/, an active neo-Nazi Internet message board that features many anti-Semitic posts.

It remains unclear where Trumps campaign obtained the image.

Trump put out a statement late Monday, firing back at Clinton criticism saying it was just a "basic star". He added that any connection try to show anti-Semitism is "ridiculous."

"These false attacks by Hillary Clinton trying to link the Star of David with a basic star, often used by sheriffs who deal with criminals and criminal behavior, showing an inscription that says Crooked Hillary is the most corrupt candidate ever with anti-Semitism is ridiculous," Trump said. "Clinton, through her surrogates, is just trying to divert attention from the dishonest behavior of herself and her husband. The real questions are, why was Bill Clinton meeting secretly with the US Attorney General on her case and where are the 33,000 missing emails and all of the other information missing from her case - Why are there so many lies?"

The @FishBoneHead1 account was deleted amid the uproar on Sunday afternoon. The person who operated the feed did not respond to a request for comment before it was deleted.

The post itself was deleted from the /pol/ message board, but its existence was confirmed by The Associated Press through an internet search engine that combs internet archives.

The images appearance on /pol/ and @FishBoneHead1s twitter feed was first reported by the website mic.com.

Trump, who is running for president as a Republican, has repeatedly said that he would remain a staunch defender of Israel and last week shot down a question from a town hall attendee who questioned the U.S.s defense of the Jewish state. His daughter, Ivanka, converted to Judaism and is raising her children Jewish.

Trump has been criticized in the past for repeatedly re-tweeting posts from white supremacists accounts and failing to immediately denounce the support of former Ku Klux Klan grand wizard David Duke. Trump has a loyal following on white supremacist message boards and has been endorsed by several prominent white nationalist leaders who have credited him for invigorating their cause. Among them are William Johnson, chair of the American Freedom Party, which ran pro-Trump robo-calls during the GOP primary.

Trumps former campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, dismissed the controversy in an interview with CNN Sunday, accusing the media of trying to create something out of nothing.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Donald Trump on Monday spent part of his July 4th with Sen. Joni Ernst -- fueling speculation that the Iowa freshman senator could be on the short list of his vice presidential picks.

Ernst told Fox News they had a "good conversation," adding, "I will continue to share my insights with Donald about the need to strengthen our economy, keep our nation safe, and ensure America is always a strong, stabilizing force around the globe."

I look forward to meeting @joniernst today in New Jersey. She has done a great job as Senator of Iowa!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 4, 2016

Earlier, Trump tweeted, "I look forward to meeting (Ernst) today in New Jersey. She has done a great job as Senator of Iowa!"

Over the weekend, Trump met with Indiana Gov. Mike Pence and his wife, though a Pence spokesman said "nothing was offered."

The spokesman, Marc Lotter, added, "The governor had warm, productive meetings with the Trumps." He declined to say where the Saturday meeting was held. Pence is running for re-election against Democratic former state House Speaker John Gregg.

Trump and Pence discussed Pence's policies during his term as governor which began in 2013, Lotter said. He also declined to discuss Pence's level of interest in the position, echoing a comment from Pence last week that he did not want to talk about "a hypothetical."

Trump tweeted Monday about his Saturday meeting with Pence.

"Spent time with Indiana Governor Mike Pence and family yesterday. Very impressed, great people! Trump tweeted.

As Pence and his wife arrived for a concert Sunday night at Conner Prairie, a history park in Fishers, the governor again declined to discuss whether he was interested in the position. He reiterated his support for Trump's candidacy and said the Trumps "couldn't have been more kind and gracious" during the meeting.

Trump has never held public office and is considering a small group of political veterans as potential running mates.

People with direct knowledge of Trump's vetting process say the list includes Pence, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions.

In addition to serving as governor, Pence served in the U.S. House of Representatives for 12 years.

He also at one time had his own presidential ambitions but last year ruled out a run after his popularity fell in the wake of criticism over his handling of the state's religious objections law.

Fox News' Chris Snyder and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Florida Highway Patrol officials on Sunday revised the number people killed when a bus carrying Haitian farmworkers and a tractor-trailer collided in the Panhandle, putting the latest death toll at four.

Authorities declined to comment on the error and had previously reported that five people were killed in Saturday's crash. Two of the deceased have still not been identified.

A Florida pastor said Sunday he is working with authorities to help identify the four killed and the 25 injured in the crash. The farmworkers do not speak English, making the process even more difficult.

The Rev. Frantz Gaudard of Belle Glade said the bus driver and several passengers were members of the First Haitian Community Church. He said the bus had come from Georgia, where the farmworkers were employed.

Authorities said the bus was carrying roughly 34 adults and children when it ran a flashing red light and a stop sign before hitting the tractor-trailer Saturday. Both vehicles caught fire.

Guadard, the church's pastor, said several people are in intensive care.

"Some of them are in and out of conscious so it's very difficult to identify them. Most of their documents were burned in the crash as well," he said.

It's unclear who owned the bus or who employed the farmworkers.

"Right now we're trying to figure out who's missing from the community, who they haven't heard from," Guadard told The Associated Press in a phone interview.

Guadard said he spoke briefly by phone with the bus driver, 56-year-old Elie Dupiche, who was hospitalized in critical condition. Dupiche has also driven buses for the church and is a very qualified driver, a "wonderful guy, very quiet guy and willing to serve," the pastor said.

Wakulla County Sheriff Charlie Creel described the crash as one of the worst he'd ever seen. He said the bus, a retired school bus model built in 1979, hit just behind the driver's door of the tractor-trailer on first impact and then spun around and hit it again as the vehicles went off the road and came to rest under a power line.

Both vehicles burst into flames and deputies jumped onto the bus to rescue victims, many who were unable to move.

"If these deputies had not done that, we would have had a lot more fatalities," the sheriff said, adding they were eventually "driven back" by the flames that then fully engulfed the tractor-trailer.

Authorities said the bus was headed south on a north-south state road when it collided with the tractor-trailer, which was westbound on U.S. 98  a Florida coastal highway.

The driver of the tractor-trailer, Gordon Sheets, 55 of Copiague, New York, was killed. His passenger, 21-year-old Rafael Nieves of Sound Beach, New York, was not injured, according to the Florida Highway Patrol. The sheriff said a young child was also among those killed on the bus.

Guadard said the farmworkers had just finished working in Georgia and were heading home to rest for a few weeks before heading to New England for apple and berry season.

"It's a tragedy that this happened," he said.
A 44-year-old man is accused of driving drunk and sideswiping a police car at a traffic stop in northeast Louisiana, killing one officer and injuring two others early Sunday, officials said.

The crash took place on Interstate 55 in Sterlington, about 220 miles northwest of New Orleans, as city police Officer David Elahi stood next to a patrol car, talking to a woman who had been stopped, Sterlington Police Chief Barry Bonner told the Associated Press

He said a pickup truck hit Elahi and took off the police car doors.

The other two officers had minor injuries, according to a state police spokesman.

"Our thoughts and prayers go out to Officer Elahi's family and the Sterlington Police Department during this time of grief," said Louisiana State Police Superintendent Colonel Mike Edmonson told KSLA-TV. "This is a tragedy that could have been avoided."

Bonner told the AP that Tracy Govan, 44, of Monroe, was arrested on charges including vehicular homicide and vehicular negligent injury  killing or injuring someone by driving while drunk. He did not know whether Govan has an attorney.

Bonner said the woman stopped for a traffic violation escaped injury. She was waiting in the patrol car's rear seat for a friend to come and drive her home, since police learned after she had been stopped that she was driving with a suspended license, Bonner said.

He said Elahi was in his late 20s, had worked for him about four years, and was engaged to the mother of his toddler-age daughter.

His funeral will be at 2 p.m. Thursday at North Monroe Baptist Church, Bonner said.

"David was probably the hardest-working individual I've ever met," Bonner said. He said Elahi had two part-time businesses  real estate and renting inflatable "bounce houses"  and had planned to go to part-time police work at the end of July so he could work full-time at real estate.

He was devoted to his daughter and to his parents, Bonner said.

"His father has some health issues, and David's always been there for him."

He said he can't remember ever seeing Elahi in a bad mood.

"He was a beautiful, beautiful young man."

This was the second incident in the past two days on Louisiana highways involving a law enforcement officer being struck, KSLA-TV reported.

A Louisiana State Trooper was struck on Interstate 55 on Friday and suffered injuries while directing traffic around a stalled vehicle.

Click for more from KSLA.com.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
A man who tried to run over an officer as he attempted to drive into a crowded chicken wing festival on Sunday was shot to death after crashing his vehicle, police said.

The silver mini-van driven by the man tried to get past a barricade in front of the annual Biggest Little City Wing Fest around 1:30 p.m. local time before swerving toward a police officer who was on foot, authorities told Fox Reno.

Washoe County sheriff's spokesman Bob Harmon told the television station that the officer shot the man after it crashed into a vendor.

Police say the suspect, who they have not identified, was taken to a nearby hospital, where he died.

No officers or bystanders were injured.

Witnesses reported hearing multiple gunshots and seeing officers try to cut the van off.

The Reno Gazette Journal newspaper reported that witness Steven Parks, a vendor for Jax Kettle Korn, said he saw several police officers on foot attempted to cut off the vehicle so they could shoot into the passenger side of the van. Parks said he then heard multiple gunshots.

"You see these things in the movies, and know to get down," he told the newspaper.

Wing Fest, an annual chicken wings cook-off, is a three-day event that features 25 wing cookers, a free concert and draws 80,000 people.

Click for more from FoxReno.com.

Click for more from The Reno Gazette.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Dozens of people have been shot in Chicago since the start of the Fourth of July weekend despite increased police attention in the areas known for the most violence.

The Chicago Tribune reported that between Sunday afternoon and early Monday alone, 12 people were shot in a 14-hour span. The paper reported 32 were shot over the entire weekend so far. One man was killed.

After a month in which nearly 15 people were shot every day, Chicago Police announced a July 4 weekend show of force that included thousands more officers on the streets, officers toting high-powered weapons at airports and teams of officers patrolling the city's most dangerous neighborhoods, tourist attractions, train stations and parks.

"I'm sick and tired and I know that the people living in those communities are tired of it (the gun violence)," Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson said Friday. "If it takes 5,000 officers over the weekend, then it takes that."

The Chicago Tribune reported that some of the injuries included a 15-year-old boy shot in the foot and a 17-year-old hit in the thigh.

The weekend has been bloody in the past in neighborhoods grappling with gun violence. In 2014, 16 people were killed and 66 injured and last year, nine were killed.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
A drunken man who jumped onto a bar and praised Allah as the only god panicked customers at an Idaho restaurant and was subsequently arrested Friday night, authorities said.

Caldwell police Lt. Joey Hoadley told KTVB-TV that the incident happened at around 8:15 p.m. and that officers were at Horsewoods Restaurant within two minutes of receiving the call.

Jessie and Aaron Horsewood, the restaurant owners, said the man, identified as Ralmanzow Bell, had been sitting quietly in the restaurant the entire night when he suddenly got up on top of the bar, told everyone to be quiet and then yelled Allah is the only one true god.

The owners told the station everyone immediately ran out of the restaurant. They said Bell was wearing a backpack and customers were worried he mightve had a weapon inside it.

"They literally left every single thing behind, purses hanging on chairs, cell phones, there were cell phones sitting on tables," Jessie Horsewood told KIVI-TV.

Christopher Ozuna, a bartender, ripped the backpack off of Bell and restaurant staff members tackled the 21-year-old to the ground and held him there until police arrived.

"We had to react in the way that we did," Aaron Horsewood told the station.

Witnesses described the incident as a surreal experience.

Police searched Bells backpack only to find alcohol inside. He was arrested on a disorderly charge and was booked into Canyon County jail. Officers said Bell had to be taken to a hospital first because he was drunk.

"I think this is more of a case of a guy who was intoxicated and did something out of the norm and that scared a lot of people and freaked some people out," Hoadley said.

Caldwell police said that Bell has had several previous run-ins with law enforcement in the past.

Click for more from KTVB-TV.

Click for more from KIVI-TV.
Investigators on Monday identified a 14-year-old boy who died after his father shot him at a gun range that a local newspaper had described as "possibly being one of the safest indoor shooting ranges ever designed."

Initial reports indicated the son, Stephen Brumby, had shot himself on Sunday, but on Monday, the Sarasota County Sherriff's Office revealed that his father, William, fired the shot by accident.

It happened at High Noon Guns in Sarasota. A spent shell casing had hit a wall and fell into the back of the dad's shirt, investigators said. They added that the man accidentially pointed his gun behind him when it fired, and the round hit his son.

Paramedics rushed him to Sarasota Memorial Hospital where he died later that day.

Describing the safety measures in place at the gun range, the Sarasota Herald-Tribune reported that owner John Buchan had examined other ranges before helping to design his own. The walls reportedly included panels that reduce noise and absorb stray rounds, the newspaper reported in 2013. "It's as safe as we could make it," Buchan said.

The range reportedly doesn't allow children under 18 to fire guns there unless an adult is with them. However, kids under 14 -- accompanied by an adult -- can shoot for free.

The gun range did not immediately respond. The Bradenton Herald reported that a man who had a key to the business said, "All thoughts go to the family."
A man armed with a sword barricaded himself in a Los Angeles cutlery store, forcing an entire shopping center to be locked down Sunday night.

Los Angeles police Sgt. James Sterling told KTLA that the incident was reported at around 5:15 p.m. at the Japanese Village Plaza Mall. A man walked into the store and armed himself with a sword that was for sale at the store, police said.

"He got into a verbal altercation with a security officer from the complex who asked him to leave the store, at which time he began to exhibit aggressive behavior and signs of mental illness. He began talking to people who weren't there and making some statements that got the manager very concerned," Capt. Donald Graham told KABC-TV.

Authorities said employees and customers bolted the store almost immediately.

When police made contact with the suspect, he began to grab more knives and swords and threatened to harm himself, according to KABC-TV.

The Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health and the LAPDs Mental Evaluation unit were working together to talk the man into surrendering.

Police refuted reports that the man had taken hostages, and said he was in the store alone by 11 p.m.

No injuries have been reported, officials said.

Click for more rom KABC-TV.

Click for more from KTLA.
Officials believe an explosive hobbyist may have left behind the device that detonated when an 18-year-old mans foot landed on it in New Yorks Central Park on Sunday morning, creating a blast that resulted in a severe leg injury for the man.

Connor Golden was in surgery at Bellevue Hospital on Sunday evening with a grisly left leg wound that authorities said earlier in the day could require possible amputation. Officials said there was no evidence the incident was terror-related, and the working theory revolved around a person testing explosives, perhaps in advance of the Fourth of July holiday.

We believe this could have been put here as some sort of experiment, NYPD Inspector John OConnell said during a news conference.

OConnell and bomb squad commander Lt. Mark Torre said it was not unusual for individuals to create "homemade" fireworks as Independence Day celebrations approached. Officials were scouring the park for other, similar devices, but there was no evidence more than one existed.

Authorities appeared to cast doubt on any nefarious motives. OConnell said the explosive was not placed in a location where somebody ordinarily would have stepped, and Torre said investigators hadnt found any evidence to show the device was a constructive IED.

There is some forensic evidence that indicates it was not meant to go off with somebody stepping on it, said Torre, who noted he had not seen a similar incident dating back to 1993. It may have not gone off at an earlier time and was just left there.

Torre said the device, which was not described, had likely been in the park longer than a day and could have been constructed by someone with a basic knowledge of chemistry and access to a computer.

Golden and the two friends who were with him are not suspected of planting the device, OConnell said.

Golden and his friends were visiting New York from Washington D.C. for the Fourth of July holiday, The New York Post reported. The trio was jumping from a large, sloping rock in the park at 10:52 a.m. when Goldens foot triggered the device.

A witness, John Murphy, said Golden's foot was "all but gone." He said he spoke with Golden's friends after the blast.

I said, Come on, guys, were you carrying fireworks? And they said no. And I believed them, Murphy told The New York Post. That was no normal firework. This wasnt an M80 or a cherry bomb. Some something much more serious. I saw a diver that reminded me of impact craters.

The incident, near Fifth Avenue and 68th Street, happened just a few blocks from where a funeral was being held for Pulitzer Prize-winning author Elie Wiesel and was also near the Central Park Zoo.


Fireworks spark flames at a Pierce County, Washington home that has now left a family homeless. Investigators say it all started when a teen unintentionally shot fireworks into their neighbors home in Graham Saturday night, first starting on the side and the spreading into the attic.

It rapidly spread, and when we got here, we had a pretty involved attic fire at the time, said Graham Fire & Rescue Assistant Fire Chief Steve Richards.

Kathy Heller lived in the Graham home for 15 years. She walked us through it and showed us damage done to her kitchen and living room. She even got emotional as she explained she has nearly lost everything she owned.

The pictures that I had of my husband who passed away-- all gone, she said.

When Heller returned from dinner she saw firefighters blocking her street, but didnt think they were at her home.

At first I thought it was a neighbors house until I realized it was mine, said Heller. It was very scary and we had two dogs in the house but luckily our neighbors were able to kick the door in and get our dogs out.

Graham firefighters say this couldve easily been avoided, as with most fires and injuries related to fireworks.

You dont realize it until it happens to you how really dangerous it is, said Heller.

Click for more from Q13 Fox.
At least four security officers were killed and five injured in a suicide bombing Monday outside an Islamic holy site in Medina, according to the Saudi Interior Ministry.

The Monday evening attack took place just as thousands of worshippers were about to hold sunset prayers in the mosque where the Prophet Muhammad is buried in Medina.

The mosque is visited by millions of Muslims from around the world annually performing pilgrimage in Mecca.

The ministry statement, carried Monday on the state-run al-Ekhbariya news channel, said the attacker set off the bomb after security officers raised suspicions about him. The attack took place in a parking lot outside the sprawling mosque complex.

The bombing happened the same day that two suicide bombers struck different cities in Saudi Arabia, one of them near a U.S. consulate. No group has yet claimed responsibility for any of the attacks.

Qari Ziyaad Patel, 36, from Johannesburg, South Africa, was at the mosque when he heard a blast just as the call to sunset prayers was ending. People were breaking their fast with dates so the mood was subdued, he said. Many at first thought it was the sound of traditional, celebratory cannon fire, but then he felt the ground shake.

"The vibrations were very strong," he said. "It sounded like a building imploded."

The sprawling mosque where the Prophet Muhammad is buried is visited by millions of Muslims from around the world each year during pilgrimages to Mecca. The area would have been teeming with pilgrims for prayer during the final days of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which ends this week.

Earlier Monday, a suicide bomber carried out an attack near a U.S. diplomatic site in the western Saudi city of Jiddah wounding two security guards, according to the Interior Ministry. Also, a resident in the largely Shiite eastern Saudi region of Qatif said a suicide bomber and a car bomb struck a neighborhood there, but that no injuries were immediately reported.

Mohammed al-Nimr told The Associated Press the bomber in Qatif detonated his suicide vest Monday evening when most residents of the neighborhood were at home breaking the Ramadan fast.

Qatif is heavily populated by Shiites, who are a minority in the Sunni-ruled kingdom. Al-Nimr says that near the body of a suicide bomber was a car bomb that also went off around the same time.

The attacks struck next to a Shiite mosque. The Islamic State group has in the past attacked Shiite places of worship in Qatif.

Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain have condemned the blasts in Saudi Arabia.

Egypt's Foreign Ministry said the reported attack during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan near one of Islam's most sacred places confirms that terrorism "knows no religion or belief or any meaning of humanity."

A Foreign Ministry official in the UAE was quoted in the state-run WAM news agency as saying the stability of Saudi Arabia "is the main pillar of the stability of the United Arab Emirates and the whole of the Gulf Arab region."

The secretary general of the 57-nation Organization of Islamic Cooperation, which is headquartered inSaudi Arabia, says the attacks are an attempt to destabilize the kingdom. Iyad Madani says the kingdom's security is "the cornerstone of security and stability in the region and the Islamic world."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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A Brazilian airline is asking its employees to be on the lookout for a former Guantanamo Bay detainee who was resettled in Uruguay.

The alert about Syrian native Abu Wa'el Dhiab adds to a growing mystery about his whereabouts. Uruguayan authorities have insisted for weeks that he is visiting neighboring Brazil and that as a refugee he is entitled to leave Uruguay.

However, the Brazilian government has said there is no record of Dhiab entering the country.

Avianca Airlines spokesman Danilo Alves told The Associated Press on Monday that the alert was issued internally to employees but declined to give any more details.

The alert, published by the Argentine web news portal Infobae, warns employees that Dhiab may be using a fake passport.
Chinas military plans exercises in the disputed South China Sea this week, adding to tensions ahead of an international tribunals ruling that is expected to challenge Beijings maritime claims in the area.

The drills, announced in a brief online statement Sunday, are scheduled to stretch over seven days starting Tuesday and ending July 11, the day before the United Nations-backed tribunal in The Hague is expected to issue its ruling. Beijing has repeatedly said it will ignore the verdict despite pressure from the U.S. and its allies to comply.

U.S. Navy ships have conducted exercises around the South China Sea in recent weeks and on Friday the Navy said an aircraft-carrier strike group was operating in the sea, without saying precisely where or how long it would stay. U.S. officials have warned that Beijing could respond to the ruling by expanding its recent island-building or declaring an air-defense zone in the area.

Chinas Maritime Safety Administration, in announcing the exercises, gave geographic coordinates for the drills in an area running east of Chinas Hainan Island down to and including the Paracel Islands.

Entering prohibited, it said in English. The Paracels are controlled by China but also claimed by Vietnam, where government officials didnt respond to requests for comment.

Chinese defense ministry officials couldnt be reached for comment Sunday. In a speech on Friday to mark the 95th anniversary of the Communist Partys founding, President Xi Jinping said that China would never compromise on its sovereignty and was not afraid of trouble.

China normally issues public notices in advance of military exercises, which it conducts regularly in the South China Sea and elsewhere.

The timing and location of these latest drills seem particularly provocative. They coincide with U.S.-led joint naval exercises off Hawaii which Chinese navy ships are joining for the second time as part of efforts to improve military relations.

Click for more from The Wall Street Journal.
Cathy Scoppo's heart sank the moment she noticed the U.S. flag that had draped the casket of her World War II veteran father had gone missing while on display at the upstate New York campground she manages.

But on Monday, the nation's 240th birthday, Scoppo emotionally celebrated news that the flag was headed her way, days after police 1,700 miles away in southwestern Missouri got it back from a teenager they suspect pilfered it while visiting the campsite.

"I can't wait to touch it," Scoppo, 60, told The Associated Press by telephone, her voice cracking through tears.

Scoppo and her family always held the flag in the greatest of reverence since that 1969 day it covered the coffin of Michael Cowley, the Army Air Force corporal during World War II who was just 47 when he died of cancer.

Scoppo put that flag up, along with those of all U.S. military branches and one honoring prisoners of war, at the family's Cherry Grove Campground in Wolcott. The plan to keep those flags flying until Independence Day unraveled June 2, when Scoppo noticed while walking her dog that the memorial flag was gone.

Scoppo called around to see if someone well-intentioned perhaps had taken it down to spare it from rain, but her inquiries turned up nothing.

"I was just heartbroken," she said. "When I went back to our motor home, I was literally sobbing."

After posting the disappearance on Facebook, Scoppo was approached by a woman whose granddaughter, while staying at the campsite, got a text traced to a Missouri teenager, implicating himself as the culprit.

Scoppo said her efforts to work out the matter herself with the teenager's parents were rebuffed. So last Wednesday, she turned to local authorities who reached out to police in 1,500-resident Willard, giving them the teenager's name. Willard police confronted the teen, who insisted he'd stashed it near the campground  tips that proved bogus.

The teenager eventually buckled, admitting he gave the stars and stripes to someone else in Willard. The boy retrieved it, then turned it over to Willard police Friday.

Willard investigators said the matter has been referred to authorities in juvenile court, though there was no immediate word whether charges had been filed as of Monday.

"I don't have any malice in my heart," Scoppo said, preferring that the teenager be held accountable. "Yes, I understand he probably didn't know what the flag meant to my family. On the other hand, it's an American flag, and it should have been held in the highest regard, just for that purpose."
The Israeli military says it has hit a pair of Syrian military positions after stray fire from the neighboring country's civil war landed in Israeli territory.

The military says the fire from Syria damaged the security fence it erected between the countries and it responded with artillery fire toward the other side of the frontier. No injuries were reported.

Monday's announcement marks a rare case of Israeli engagement in the fighting in Syria.

Israel has steadfastly stayed on the sidelines of the civil war, now in its sixth year, refraining from taking sides or getting drawn into the bloodshed. It has responded with similar, limited strikes in the past, when fire spilled into Israel.

Israel has also reportedly hit advanced weapons shipments from Syria to Hezbollah militants in Lebanon.
A suicide bomber carried out an attack early on Monday near a U.S. diplomatic site in the western Saudi city of Jiddah, according to the Interior Ministry.

The ministry said the attacker detonated his suicide vest when security guards approached him near the parking lot of a hospital. The attacker died and two security men were wounded with minor injuries, according to the ministry statement, which was published by the state-run Saudi Press Agency. Some cars in the parking lot were damaged.

Interior Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Mansour al-Turki was quoted in the statement as saying the attacker caught the attention of the security guards, who noticed he was acting suspiciously at an intersection located on the corner of the heavily fortified U.S. Consulate in Jiddah, located by the Dr. Soliman Fakeeh Hospital. Most of the consulate's staff had reportedly moved offices to a new location.

The U.S. Embassy in Saudi Arabia confirmed there were no casualties or injuries among the consular staff. The embassy said it remains in contact with Saudi authorities as they investigate the attack.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for attack.

The Interior Ministry did not specify if it there are indications the bomber intended to target the U.S. diplomatic compound, saying an investigation was underway to determine his identity.

A 2004 al-Qaida-linked militant attack on the U.S. Consulate in Jiddah killed five locally hired consular employees and four gunmen. The three-hour battle on the compound came amid a wave of al-Qaida attacks targeting Westerners and Saudi security posts.

More recently, Saudi Arabia has been a target of Islamic State group attacks that have killed dozens of people. The extremist Sunni group views the Western-allied Saudi monarchy and government as heretics. Saudi Arabia is part of the U.S.-led coalition fighting the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria.

In June, the Interior Ministry reported 26 terror attacks had taken place in the kingdom in the last two years. Local affiliates of the IS group have targeted minority Shiites and security officials.

Monday's attack comes just days before the end of the holy month of Ramadan, during which observant Muslims fast daily from dawn to dusk.

The U.S. Embassy regularly issues advisory messages for U.S. citizens in Saudi Arabia. In a message issued Sunday and another one issued after the attack Monday, the embassy urged Americans to "remain aware of their surroundings, and take extra precautions when travelling throughout the country." It also advised citizens to "carefully consider the risks of traveling to Saudi Arabia."


The United Arab Emirates warned its citizens Saturday to avoid wearing traditional garb when traveling abroad after an Emirati man was arrested and mistaken for a terrorist in Ohio.

Emirati media reported that Ahmed al-Menhali was detained at gun point last week while wearing a traditional white kandura, or ankle-length robe, and headscarf in Avon, Ohio after a hotel clerk raised suspicions he could have links to Islamic State.

WEWS-TV reported that al-Menhali had been in Ohio for medical treatment.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that Emiratis should avoid wearing the garments for their safety and a separate statement urged women to abide by bans on face veils in parts of Europe.

According to Reuters, the foreign ministry said in a statement it had summoned U.S. deputy ambassador Ethan Goldrich to protest the "abusive treatment by the Ohio police of a UAE citizen.

The WAM state news agency said Goldrich apologized for the incident and is seeking clarifications from authorities in Ohio.

WEWS-TV posted police camera footage of al-Manehalis arrest and later a Saturday meeting where Avon officials offered their apologies.

No one from the police department (wanted) to disrespect you, Avon police Chief Richard Bosley told Almenhali. That was not the intent of any of our officers. It is a very regrettable circumstance that occurred for you. You should not have been put in that situation like you were.

There were some false accusations made against you, Mayor Brian Jensen said. And those are regrettable. I hopethe person that made those can maybe learn from those.

According to the TV station, the woman could still face criminal charges.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Click for more from WEWS-TV.
FAIR HAVEN  A boat parade rounded the lengths of Little Sodus Bay in Fair Haven on Monday as part of the village's annual Fourth of July festivities.

A few dozen boats participated in the parade, which has been an annual Independence Day tradition organized by the Fair Haven Yacht Club for at least three decades.

Meanwhile, the Fair Haven Chamber of Commerce once again sponsored a craft fair in Village Park, hosting more than 30 vendors over the weekend leading up to Monday's holiday, said organizer Larry Knoll.

Knoll, a director with the chamber, said the craft fair has been held for around 30 years. He noted, however, that this year's turnout was lower than past years. Knoll  who said he has organized the fair for about eight years  could not attribute the trend to anything in particular.

"With the bay and the state park and stuff like this, it's a great place to be," he said. "We've had people coming in that had been coming up for years to come up and camp and such."

Knoll was among the weekend's vendors at Village Park, where he said he was joined by some food vendors new to this year's fair, including a seller of Hawaiian-themed shaved ice. The Red Creek Rotary Club also returned to the Fair Haven fair, selling grilled grub to raise money for some of the organization's initiatives.

Charlie Itzin, club president, said proceeds from the fair will go toward the club's efforts to paint Red Creek's downtown buildings  an estimated $3,000 project  and the group's sponsorship of Camp Onseyawa for children with disabilities, as well as other local charitable causes that fit the Rotary mission.

"This is a really big hit for Fair Haven. This is a really big weekend," Itzin said. "It brings in a lot of families that come in. Everybody converges on Fair Haven for the weekend."
Australian beef prices to remain strong, Rabobank

Australian beef prices are expected to continue remaining strong says a new Rabobank report.

According to Rabobanks latest Beef Quarterly, Australian cattle prices one again rose to record prices in June 2016.

The latest price increase was attributed to recent heavy rains which hit New South Wales and Tasmania last month.

Australian cattle supplies remain tight and prices strong. Australian cattle prices are expected to remain strong through Q3, given ongoing tight cattle supplies, Rabobank reported.

Australian beef is bucking the international trend with Angus Gidley-Baird, Senior Animal Protein Analyst at Rabobank, saying a lot of international markets are volatile.

Volatility is a key theme across most markets at the moment, Gidley-Baird said.

A range of factors are creating a degree of uncertainty, including the economy and exchange rates influencing Brazil, seasonal conditions impacting Australia, the economy impacting China, and market volatility impacting the US, he said.

What could Brexit mean for the Australian red meat industry?

Whilst Australian beef prices continue to remain strong, Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA) has said it is too early to know what type of impact Britains decision to leave the European Union (EU) will have.

It is still too early to speculate on what Australias long-term red meat access to the UK will look like and for the UK it is still very much a time of uncertainty, MLA said.

Current trade between Australia and EU (including the UK) will continue as normal in the short-term, for at least two years or more.

According to MLA, the UK accounted for 64 per cent of all Australian beef and sheepmeat exports to the EU over the past decade. The overall value of Australian red meat exports to the UK in 2015 was AUD $221.3 million (beef AUD $120.5 million and sheepmeat AUD $100.8 million).

Although MLA says it is too early to know what Brexit will mean for Australian red meat exporters, it said Australia is a preferred supplier of high quality red meat to the UK and there is an eventual chance for growth.

The UK imports around 45 per cent of its meat and meat products annually which suggests significant long-term prospects for growth of Australian exports to Britain, MLA said.

The MLA also said it will continue to advocate for a Free Trade Agreement between Australia and the EU.

Our industry welcomed the announcement to pursue a closer trade relationship with the EU and we are confident negotiations will still commence as previously planned, in early 2017, MLA stated.
Trusty Tree Removal Adelaide Launches Brand New Fully Responsive Website To Promote Services Online

Trusty Tree Removal Adelaide has created a whole new web presence to enable them to attract new clientele through the power of the internet.

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Australia's climate is one of extremes, and the heat and dryness regularly lead to forest fires burning the trees away. People love to have trees around them, but the dead remains, dried leaves, old stumps and dry shrubs are tinderboxes in the hottest months of the year. Trusty Tree Removal offers experienced, expert tree removal to individuals in Adelaide, helping them to prevent fires or simply landscape their land. The arborists have now launched a brand new website to better promote their services online.

Trusty Tree Removal's new website is fully responsive, enabling it to load seamlessly on any device and display beautifully on any screen size. The website is permeated by search engine optimization strategies designed to attract local customers organically when individuals search for arborists or tree removal online. This will enable the website to work harder generating leads for the business, while helping the local community get the best tree services available.

The site includes a full and comprehensive description of their services and team, their commitment to outstanding customer service and even a guide to pricing, with full contact details to obtain a free, no obligation quotation. The website is designed to be clean, accessible, and strongly associated with the company's established brand identity, as well as integrating Twitter and Facebook presences.

A spokesperson for Trusty Tree Removal Adelaide (trustytreeremoval.com.au/adelaide) explained, "The tree removal services we offer are second to none, but are just one of the many arboreal services we are capable of delivering. These also include large scale tasks like Land Clearances, small scale tasks like Stump Clearing, as well as maintenance work like Trimming and Pruning. We also have an industrial scale wood chipper to ensure we are able to do away with the remains in the most efficient and effective way possible. We look forward to being able to expand our client base thanks to this fantastic new online resource."

About Trusty Tree Removal: Trusty Tree Removal is an arborist based in Adelaide, SA, that provides a wide range of tree services, including stump grinding and removal, wood chipping (mulching), lopping and land clearing. Their experienced, expert teams of arborists are capable of tackling jobs of any size, on behalf of residential, commercial or agricultural clients.

For more information, please visit http://trustytreeremoval.com.au/

Contact Info:

Name: Aaron Smith

Email: trees@trustytreeremoval.com.au

Organization: Trusty Tree Removal

Phone: (08) 8120 2726

Source: http://marketersmedia.com/trusty-tree-removal-adelaide-launches-brand-new-fully-responsive-website-to-promote-services-online/122113

Release ID: 122113

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West End Diesel Services Announces Roo Systems ECU Remapping Special

West End Diesel Services introduces Roo Systems ECU remapping services in Wetherill Park diesel workshop.

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West End Diesel Services, the diesel fuel injection specialists have announced the introduction of their new ECU remapping service. The diesel workshop utilises the power of Roo Systems, a diesel ECU specialist company based in Brisbane, Australia.

Diesel 4x4 vehicles, when used for off-roading purposes, typically require an increase in power and torque for improved off-roading experiences. An ECU remapping service allows for the diesel technician to draw additional power and torque by reprogramming the systems internal computer.

In the past year, the diesel workshop has witnessed an increase of diesel owners who are actively requesting for an ECU remapping service. According to West End Diesel Services and Roo Systems, diesel vehicles can see an improvement in power, greater torque, better fuel economy, enhanced and sharper throttle response and a smoother delivery of vehicle power.

A spokesperson from West End Diesel Services has stated "ECU remapping is a complicated and comprehensive procedure that involves the optimisation of many different key components within the vehicle's ECU. This includes injection timing, boost control, fuel delivery and torque limiters".

The spokesperson went on to state "We have seen very pleasing power and torque improvements on many of our customers' vehicles who have harnessed the power of our Roo Systems ECU remapping service. Many of our clients have driven out of our workshop with improvements of up to 30% in both power and torque. We provide ECU remaps for an extensive range of 4x4 diesel including manufacturers such as Ford, Holden, Toyota, Isuzu, Mitsubishi, Range Rover and Audi".

About West End Diesel Services

Based in Wetherill Park, New South Wales, West End Diesel Services offer a range of specialist diesel vehicle services. Services include diesel fuel injection, log book servicing, dyno tuning, ECU remapping, part installations, commercial fleet maintenance and diagnostics and repairs.

For more information, please visit http://www.westenddiesel.com.au/

Contact Info:

Name: West End Diesel Services Press

Organization: West End Diesel Services

Address: 26 Davis Rd Wetherill Park, NSW, 2164

Phone: (02) 9757 7373

Video URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=sgLF0crCwII

Source: http://marketersmedia.com/west-end-diesel-services-announces-roo-systems-ecu-remapping-special/115948

Release ID: 115948

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Dynamic Gift Expands Popular Line of Custom-Branded USB Drives

Available in capacities up to 256 GB and in a huge range of styles and formats, branded drives make for some of the most effective promotional items of all, Dynamic Gift reports

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Dynamic Gift Australia, one of the country's leading suppliers of branded promotional products and similar goods, unveiled new additions to its highly popular line of Custom USB Drives. With five- or ten-year warranties and capacities of up to 256 GB, the new drives will make for some of the most effective and gratefully received promotional items of all. As with other Dynamic Gift products, available five-day rush service means that even those pressed for time can easily arrange for custom-branded gifts that will impress clients or other audiences, see regular, brand-building use, and help achieve marketing goals.

"When it comes to promotional products, the most successful are typically those that see plenty of use in everyday life," Dynamic Gift representative Brian Perry said, "Our new USB drives are the perfect example of this, as they provide highly useful functionality in a wide range of available formats, capacities, and styles. From fully bespoke PVC drives where the possibilities are practically unlimited to simple, heavy-duty drives suitable for adding to a key chain, these new products are already opening up many rewarding opportunities for our customers."

Companies seeking to build brand awareness have long made effective use of promotional products for that purpose. A 1981 study conducted by the Promotional Productions Association International, for example, found that 98% of surveyed homes and businesses contained printed calendars, with a solid majority of these bearing the branding of companies that had given them away for free. Even thirty years later and with digital technology having become so ubiquitous, the same source found that the numbers had barely flagged at all, with over 60% of all calendars found in homes and more than three-quarters in businesses being of a promotional kind.

Dynamic Gift is one Australia's leading providers of branded products like these and a huge range of others. Employing experienced marketing professionals who help clients achieve their unique goals, the company maintains end-to-end control over the entire process. In addition to allowing for far greater responsiveness than is the norm in the industry, Dynamic Gift's position as a direct manufacturer also enables the company to offer a low-price guarantee, available five-day rush delivery, and other features that make it stand clearly above the competition.

With recent expansions to the company's best-selling line of customized USB drives, Dynamic Gift clients will enjoy even more appealing options as they seek out ways to leverage the power of promotional items. Samples of many of the new drives are available on a next-day basis, with details regarding all of the new products online now at the Dynamic Gift website.

About Dynamic Gift:

As Australia's leading direct manufacturer of custom-branded promotional products, Dynamic Gift helps clients achieve their goals with fast, reliable service, top-quality goods, and guaranteed-low pricing.

For more information, please visit http://www.dynamicgift.com.au

Contact Info:

Name: Brian Perry

Organization: Dynamic Gift

Address: 13 Dee Crescent. Tuncurry, NSW, 2428 Australia

Phone: 0265554001

Source: http://marketersmedia.com/dynamic-gift-expands-popular-line-of-custom-branded-usb-drives/122126

Release ID: 122126

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McDonalds tests selling meat pies in Australia

McDonalds restaurants located in the Australian Capital Territory are now trialling selling meat pies.

About twenty ACT-located McDonalds stores will sell both lean beef and curry beef pies for a six-month period running now until January 2017.

Garlos Pies is to supply the pies after Managing Director of Garlos, Sean Garlick came up with the idea himself.

Im excited that more Australians will have an opportunity to try our pies, Garlick said.

Hani Sidaros, who is a franchise owner of 11 McDonalds restaurants in the ACT said he was happy to support an Australian business like Garlos Pies.

As a local ACT resident and business owner myself, Im proud that we are able to partner with the iconic Garlos Pies to sell their products in our 23 locations, Sidarios said.
Maple Holistics Introduces New Organic Macadamia Nuts to Line of Health Foods

Maple Holistics has announced the release of brand new USDA Organic Brazil Nuts, available for purchase at either MapleHolistics.com or Amazon.com. Macadamia nuts are the latest in Maple Holistics' continued efforts to expand their line of all-natural food products.

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Building on their already-successful line of hygienic, hair, and skin products, Maple Holistics has announced the release of a new package of USDA Organic Macadamia Nuts as they attempt to further establish footing in the health foods market. One of many in a line of new and critically acclaimed food products from Maple Holistics, the macadamia nuts are 100% natural, organic, vegan, gluten free, salt free, and kosher.

Featuring high protein, iron, magnesium, potassium, and fiber content, as well as low carbohydrate content, Maple Holistics' organic macadamia nuts have been praised for their nutritional value as well as for their great taste and flavor. The fat content in macadamia nuts is between 78 to 86 percent monosaturated. Known for promoting heart health, monosaturated fats have been known to lower cholesterol as well as risk for heart disease and stroke. Additionally, macadamia nuts are one of the only food sources available that contain palmitoleic acid, which is known to speed up the metabolism and promote weight loss. The nuts are promoted as working as a great snack or in everyday baking.

Primarily known for their hygienic, hair, and skin products, Maple Holistics has begun to introduce all-natural food products in their continued attempts to provide customers with the best in products that promote a healthy lifestyle. Like their hygienic products, the macadamia nuts are made naturally and with an eye towards environmental friendliness. The nuts are packaged in BPA-free and re-sealable packaging, with the highest standards of processing methods in order to ensure that the nuts retain their freshness. Available on Amazon.com or on the Maple Holistics website, the new Macadamia Nuts join Raw Pepita Seeds, Goji Berry Fruit, Brazlian Nuts and more in the latest in Maple Holistics food products.

About the Company

Maple Holistics provides industry leading, all-natural hair, body, skin, and food products. The company offers a natural, holistic range of premium products which can enhance hygiene, health and daily living. Company products are made in the USA.

For more information, please visit https://www.mapleholistics.com/

Contact Info:

Name: Nate M

Organization: Maple Holistics



Release ID: 122081

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Delaware Nevada Oregon Solar Power Installers Free Residential Program Announced

A residential solar power program providing homeowners with a full end-to-end solar energy set-up, including free installation and maintenance along with a custom design panel system, delivered by the professionals of the largest residential solar company in the US, has been announced by Powur.

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The popular Powur announced the launch of a new premier residential solar power program, with no installation or maintenance fees and a custom designed solar panel system, for homeowners looking to lower their monthly energy bills and protect the environment.

More information is available at https://gogreenhome.net/zero-down-solar/.

Powur is a prominent business with an established reputation in the solar power industry for providing a range of diverse, premier and affordable solar power solutions along with valuable industry-related news, information and advice.

The company has announced the launch of a new residential solar power program in partnership with the renowned SolarCity, including free installation and no maintenance fees, for homeowners across 16 USA states, including California, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Nevada, Oregon, Florida, and more, looking to go green and reduce their impact on the environment while also lowering their monthly energy bills.

The new residential solar power program is offered by Powur and delivered by SolarCity, the largest residential solar company in the USA, which draws on its leading expertise and state-of-the-art technology to provide the full end-to-end service, including the panels, custom solar system design for each specific roof, installation and maintenance, insurance and monitoring for 20 years.

More on the Powur-SolarCity residential solar power program, extensive information on solar energy systems and the solar power industry, including 'What are the Advantages and Disadvantages or Using Green Energy Sources', 'Save Energy And the Planet: Simple Steps to Make a Difference', and more, along with an online form where homeowners can check if they qualify for the program, are available on the website link provided above.

Powur explains that "traditional energy costs have gone up over 500% since 1971, and that trend is likely to continue. On the other hand, the cost of solar has dropped more than 250% in the last two decades. The benefits of going solar are big but we are making them bigger. Almost 80% of U.S. homeowners can now jump on board with solar for no costs upfront".

The company adds that "backed by SolarCity, we are offering a solution where you can enjoy the peace of mind of knowing your system is monitored and supported by America's #1 solar provider, maintaining the same power, KW for KW, delivered directly from your rooftop, with no costs upfront and paying less - up to 20% or more - then you currently spend on your energy bills each month".

For more information, please visit https://gogreenhome.net/zero-down-solar/

Contact Info:

Name: Ayman Shalaby

Organization: Powur

Address: San Mateo, California, United States

Phone: +1 510 730 2062

Release ID: 122063

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Donald Trump VP Candidate Gingrich Brewer Palin List Report Launched

Gentleman Tips, a website specializing in list based articles, has released a new report focusing on the candidates for vice presidency if Donald Trump wins. Called The Top 10 Contenders For Donald Trump's VP Spot, it is available online now.

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The Gentleman Tips report website has announced the launch of a special American presidential race report that focuses on the contenders vying for the Vice President spot if Donald Trump wins. The Gentleman Tips report is titled The Top 10 Contenders For Donald Trump's VP Spot, and breaks down the contenders into separate pages so the reader can better focus on them and what they have to offer.

More information can be found on the Gentleman Tips website at: http://gentlemantips.com/the-top-10-contenders-for-donald-trumps-vp-spot.

Gentleman Tips has an established history of gathering list articles together with topics like 12 insurance scams to look out for, and how to avoid auto insurance problems. It also features lighter topics, like perfectly timed photos that have led to comical and surprising situations. It's latest list article seeks to focus on the figures who might work alongside a successful Trump in the White House.

The first candidate it features is Bob Corker, who as Tennessee senator met with Trump recently and had a good discussion about foreign policy and domestic issues. Another option, the report explains, would be Sarah Palin. The former governor of Alaska endorsed Trump last January and since then has been vocal in her support.

Other options listed in the Gentleman Tips report include Jan Brewer, a former Arizona governor. Instead of her, the report also underscores it could be Newt Gingrich, the former house speaker who has close ties to Donald Trump. The report says that former Republican candidate Ben Carson is rumored to have recommended Gingrich to Trump directly.

Other names on the list include Mary Fallin, the Oklahoma governor who has been singled out by Trump in the past, Michael Flynn, the retired Lt General who also serves as one of Trump's most trusted advisers, and Jeff Sessions, the Alabama senator, who agrees with Trump on issues like immigration.

Rounding out the list are Jeff Sessions, Chris Christie, Ted Cruz, and Mark Cuban. The full list, with key information on all the individuals, is available on the Gentleman Tips website

For more information, please visit http://gentlemantips.com/the-top-10-contenders-for-donald-trumps-vp-spot/

Contact Info:

Name: Max Powell

Organization: Clever Marketing

Address: 5157 Norma Way #234 Livermore, CA 94550

Phone: +1 510 730 2062

Release ID: 122065

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LifeCentra Whole Life & Disability Insurance Free Quote Service Launched

A new free life insurance quote service has been launched by LifeCentra. The company specializes in whole life insurance, disability insurance, term life and long-term care insurance packages to provide security for all situations.

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LifeCentra, the insurance policy provider, has announced the launch of a new free online quote service. Users simply have to fill in their details on the online form provided online, and they can discover the best available rates for them with both whole life insurance, disability insurance, and long-term care insurance.

More information can be found on the LifeCentra website at: http://whole-life-insurance-quotes.net.

The site explains that the new online free life insurance quote form can be used for any of the services that LifeCentra offers. Below the form, the site goes into greater detail about what this entails, including full breakdowns of the four main insurance categories and budget evaluation tips for customers.

The site underscores that when an interested party is looking for insurance, LifeCentra can use the information provided in order to assign them with a policy that makes the best fit for their circumstances. The company understands that each individual's insurance needs are unique, and need to be dealt with on a case by case basis.

Because of this, after receiving a free quote from LifeCentra, interested parties can receive a full budget evaluation, with trained and experienced financial staff going over the budget to ensure that a policy is provided within the customer's comfort zone.

If they have children, dependent or only need temporary life insurance, the LifeCentra site underscores that the company can find the best life insurance available. It knows that some policy holders will need term life insurance in order to provide for their child's college expenses, while others will prefer the security of whole life insurance.

Other packages offered by LifeCentra, and for which interested parties can receive free quotes using the new form, include disability insurance and long-term care insurance. Disability insurance provides regular payments to people who have suffered from an injury and can't work, which can replace up to 65% of a regular work income. Long-term care insurance offers coverage in the event of a long hospital stay or nursing home residency.

Anyone wanting to find out more information can get in touch using the contact form provided on the LifeCentra site.

For more information, please visit http://whole-life-insurance-quotes.net/

Contact Info:

Name: Lindsey Stein

Organization: LifeCentra

Address: 15733 West Bonitos Drive Goodyear, AZ 85395

Phone: 1-747-334-3799

Release ID: 122163

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What a Mondelez takeover of Hersheys could have looked like

The Hersheys Company has rejected an acquisition bid from Mondelez International, the owner of Cadbury chocolate.

The bid, rejected late last week, was for a mix of stock and cash consideration, totalling a US $107 a share of Hersheys common stock plus other non-monetary considerations.

Hersheys Board of Directors said they carefully evaluated the offer but unanimously decided to reject the bid.

The Companys Board of Directors, after receiving input from the Companys management and its outside financial and legal advisors, carefully evaluated the indication of interest, Hersheys said in a statement.

Following this review, the Board of Directors of the Company unanimously rejected the indication of interest and determined that it provided no basis for further discussion between Mondelez and the Company.

Editorial analysis: Takeover may have boosted Mondelezs US presence

Mondelez is the worlds second largest chocolate manufacturer, yet Cadbury has never really taken off in the US.

Currently, Hersheys restricts the ability for Cadbury to import its products from the UK into the US. Although Hersheys itself has had the rights to manufacturer and sell Cadbury chocolate in the US since 1988, it stops the original UK Cadbury chocolate from entering the US. Over the years, groups of consumers have complained US Cadbury chocolate is not as good as UK Cadbury chocolate, a possible reason the brand has not taken off in the US.

What a Mondelez takeover of Hersheys would look like

Image courtesy of Euromonitor International

Hersheys is currently imported into Australia by Hollier Dicksons, which is also a distributor of numerous brands including Red Bull energy drink, Hilliers chocolates and Go Natural snacks and bars.
Two more people have joined the group of film producers, financial advisers, accountants and investment bankers to be jailed over a 2.2m tax dodging scheme.

Christopher Walsh Atkins, 40, and Christina Slater, 37, were jailed for five years and four years respectively at Southwark Crown Court on Friday (1 July) for their involvement in a scheme which involved claiming false tax rebates linked to investments in film-making partnerships.

The partnerships claimed to have spent 5.7m and made significant financial losses on two UK film projects, Starsuckers and Mercedes the Movie.

These artificial losses enabled the wealthy investors to falsely claim back around 40,000 in tax relief for every 20,000 they had invested.

Walsh Atkins, of London, and Slater, of Leamington Spa, were two independent film producers - convicted of conspiracy to cheat the public revenue, theft and fraud - whose role was to circulate money and produce falsely inflated invoices.

Five others were jailed last year as part of the investigation, which involved more than 100 officers from HMRC.

Simon York, director of HMRCs fraud investigation service, called it an audacious attempt, motivated by the pure greed of dishonest and wealthy individuals.

The majority of those involved in this fraud had no interest in the film industry, or regard for the impact of their criminality on honest taxpayers.

After painstaking and complex work from our investigators, and a series of long trials, HMRC has dismantled the fraudulent operation, and shown that we have the intent and capability to bring criminals to justice regardless of their resources.

HMRC identified a series of suspicious tax rebate claims which investigators discovered had originated from two fraudulent tax avoidance schemes set up and managed by Monaco-based accountant Terence Potter, 56.

The claims were supported by false documents produced by Potter, who has since been convicted of one count of conspiracy to cheat the public revenue and pleaded guilty to three further counts of the same charge, being sentenced to eight years in prison for each count, to be served concurrently.

Potter was assisted by IFA Neil Williams-Denton, 42, of Greater Manchester, who promoted the schemes to high earning investment bankers.

Williams-Denton, an adviser with Greystones Financial Services at the time of his arrest, was convicted of one count of conspiracy to cheat the public revenue and then found guilty on a second count.

He was sentenced to six years in prison for each count to be served concurrently.

Three investment bankers, Phillip Jenkins, 51, James Hyde, 43, and Hamish MacLellan 43, were each convicted of one count of conspiracy to cheat the public revenue, and sentenced to 13 and half years in prison, collectively.
The chancellor is planning to slash corporation tax to less than 15 per cent in an effort to reassure business post-Brexit Britain, as part of his new five-point plan for the economy.

George Osborne told FTAdvisers parent paper the Financial Times that the country must make the most of the hand weve been dealt while not backtracking on warnings that the European Union referendum vote could cause another recession.

As part of proposals to build a super competitive economy, he suggested setting the lowest corporation tax rate of any major economy, with a target of less than 15 per cent, down from 20 per cent currently.

Such a sharp cut would take Britain close to the 12.5 per cent corporation tax rate in Ireland, potentially angering EU finance ministers who fear a race to the bottom following the UKs decision to vote for a Brexit.

The chancellors plans also included focusing on a new push for investment from China; ensuring support for bank lending; redoubling efforts to invest in the Northern powerhouse; and maintaining the UKs fiscal credibility.

He accepted that Britain faced a very challenging time and urged the Bank of England to use its powers to avoid a contraction of credit in the economy, reminiscent of the height of the 2008 financial crisis.

The Bank of England is set to publish the results of its Financial Policy Committee meeting on Tuesday (5 July), with possibilities including withdrawing its commitment to increase the buffers that banks have to hold or even set up a new Funding for Lending Scheme in conjunction with the Treasury.

Mr Osborne stated: I dont sit here feeling sorry for myself, feeling somehow that it is all going to unravel; quite the reverse.

We should accept their verdict instead of moping around or trying to unpick it.

Having ruled himself out of the leadership race, he also did not back any current runners, although some allies have thrown their weight behind home secretary Theresa May, although former Treasury minister Andrea Leadsom is also picking up support from within the department.

Last week the chancellor dropped his target of a 2020 budget surplus, as the Treasurys focus moved from austerity to policies to stopping the shock of Brexit on the economy.

Mr Osborne said whoever became prime minister should seek maximum access to the EU single market for Britains goods, services and financial services, but conceded that could be curtailed by the fact that voters in last months referendum also want restrictions on EU migration.

peter.walker@ft.com
Standard Life Investments (SLI) has suspended trading in its UK real estate fund in response to increased outflows following the UKs vote to leave the EU.

The decision comes following exceptional market circumstances in the aftermath of the EU referendum, the company said. The suspension came into force at midday today (July 4).

The company added that the status of the fund will be reviewed at least every 28 days and that suspension will be lifted as soon as is practicable.

SLI added in a statement: The decision was taken following an increase in redemption requests as a result of uncertainty for the UK commercial real estate market following the EU referendum result. The suspension was requested to protect the interests of all investors in the fund and to avoid compromising investment returns from the range, mix and quality of assets within the portfolio.

The UKs decision to leave the EU has resulted in a dramatic drop in confidence among property investors, prompting a number of funds to adjust the values of their portfolios.

M&G Investments and Kames Capital are the latest to make a fair value adjustment to their open-ended UK property funds in the wake of the UKs decision to leave the EU, following on from Henderson, L&G, Aberdeen and SLI itself in recent days.

M&G has made a 4.5 per cent downwards adjustment to the price of its 4.6bn Property Portfolio, while Kames lowered the price of its 932m Property Income strategy by 3.7 per cent.

The Prudential subsidiary said the decision was made with the advice of the funds independent valuer, Knight Frank.

An M&G spokesperson added: In reaching its decision, M&G has sought to balance the interests of shareholders who may leave the fund with the interests of those who remain at a time when it is increasingly difficult to ascertain the market value of the underlying assets.

In these circumstances, there is a risk that investors who redeem will receive too high a value for their shares at the expense of those who stay. An [adjustment] aims to ensure fair treatment for all shareholders while market uncertainty persists.

The fund had already begun updating fund valuations weekly rather than monthly after the vote.

A Kames spokesperson said: The independent valuation reports we refer to have not had time, as yet, to reflect the transaction activity since the referendum vote was conducted. Therefore, in order to treat customers fairly we have made a fair value adjustment to the price of the Kames Property Income Fund.

Kames also said it would now conduct a weekly valuation instead of monthly.

In the build-up to the referendum on June 23, fears about the impact of a Leave vote on commercial property, combined with concerns that property returns had run their course, had seen a number of funds shift from offer to bid pricing.
Logistical changes and economic uncertainty triggered by Brexit concerns could lead to a further drying up of fund launches and a rise in the number of sub-scale portfolios.

The UK voted to leave the EU on June 23, and, although the nature of the countrys new settlement with the bloc is no closer to being finalised at this stage, some fund groups appear to have accepted the need for a double-pronged sales strategy.

Fund passporting currently allows asset managers to sell products across Europe. But this is unlikely to be permitted in the event the UK leaves the single market.

That has led firms to begin replicating their UK-domiciled funds in offshore structures.

The head of distribution at one global asset management firm, who wished to remain anonymous, also confirmed fund launches may now be put on hold.

If you were to launch a new fund in the past, you would only have one [Oeic or Sicav].

But if you have to raise two lots of capital for two funds it brings into doubt whether you can launch it in the first place.

Now, when we are thinking about new fund launches, we have to seriously consider our options.

While fund buyers already saturated with products may welcome a more complicated environment for new launches, Rory Maguire, head of ratings agency Fundhouse, said the changes may also have more significant consequences.

Asset managers may be forced to transfer European investors assets from Oeics to new offshore structures, potentially leaving sub-scale funds behind, according to Mr Maguire.

He also agreed the instant disappearance of risk appetite among investors would further inhibit launches.

The UK has already seen a sharp drop in the number of new launches in this year. According to Thomson Reuters Lipper, there had been 141 onshore and offshore fund launches targeted at the UK market as of the end of the second quarter, compared with 229 in 2015.

However John Clougherty, head of UK retail at Fidelity International, allayed thoughts of a further drop. We are determined to follow the course we have plotted, the distribution head said.

Dividing assets between Oeics and Sicavs may also affect the strategies of Europe-based fund houses looking to launch products in the UK.

Currently, they typically do so by marketing sizeable European-domiciled funds to UK investors.

European asset managers contacted by Investment Adviser said they had not yet planned their future changes to their business models.

However, a UK-based sales head, who did not wish to be named, said their company would now review its European-wide ambitions after the vote due to cross-border concerns.
The National Park Service  the government agency charged with overseeing and protecting Americas national parks, monuments, historic sites and recreation areas  is celebrating its 100-year anniversary of the agency this year.

On Aug. 25, the park service will hit the milestone, as it came into being on that date in 1916. Though several national monuments had already been proclaimed, the formation of the park service as an entity helped cement was has been coined as Americas Best Idea.

To help celebrate the big year, we wanted to share a handful of favorite books  10 in total  that are about or in some way related to the Grand Canyon, our big centerpiece national park of the region.

We put an added focus on some titles that might have been overlooked along the way. Well set aside guidebooks, photography and art books this time (of which there are many great ones) and focus on some notable readers.



Appetite for America: Fred Harvey and the Business of Civilizing the Wild West  One Meal at a Time by Stephen Fried (2010). Going alphabetical order by title, it seems fitting to start off with a book on Fred Harvey here in the heavy visitor season of summertime. Harvey defined what it meant to travel and explore the American Southwest in its early days, as his restaurants and hotels, partnered with the railroad, laid the groundwork for regional tourism generally and Grand Canyon specifically.

Frieds book is a sturdy account and enjoyable read of Harvey, his ideas and his company. Appetite for America digs into the mans biography in ways that have not happened in previous books. His eating houses and hotels along the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe railroad (including historic lodges still in use at the Grand Canyon) were patronized by princes, presidents and countless ordinary travelers looking for the best cup of coffee in the country, notes a description of the book. A satisfying read on a fascinating time in local history.



Carving Grand Canyon: Evidence, Theories, and Mystery by Wayne Ranney (2007). From the latter human history of tourism development to the deep-down history of the Grand Canyon geology, Carving Grand Canyon is a must-have book for anyone who is trying to get their brain to comprehend the rocky complexities of one of the worlds great natural wonders.

Wayne Ranney, a longtime Flagstaff resident and canyon geologist, brings an open-minded and educational approach to sharing the canyons ancient history and clues and evidence toward its formation. The book is beautifully laid out and illustrated and always keeps the science interesting and accessible. It gives a lot of different ideas their due.

For a related title, Grand Canyon: Solving Earths Grandest Puzzle by James Lawrence Powell (2005) is also one to consider for a second look. It doesnt bring quite as much geology, strong pictures or imagery to the table. But it does have some interesting views on the history of geologic understanding, as well as reminders of how much weve wrangled over time with understanding this landscape.



I Am the Grand Canyon: The Story of the Havasupai People by Stephen Hirst (2006). Flagstaff author Stephen Hirst penned the definitive book on the Havasupai tribe and its fight to restore original land back to them from the park. Its a crucial, must-read part of the Grand Canyons history.

Hirst, whose relationship with the tribe spans back to the late 1960s, tells the spellbinding story of how the tribal members went to Washington and campaigned to get land returned to them. The fight dated back to the 1880s, when the reservation was carved down to a postage stamp.

However, in 1975, the tribe convinced the government to return 265,000 acres of south rim land to the Havasupai  185,000 acres in reservation trust and a further 80,000 acres of the adjacent inner canyon held in a unique trust by the park service. Its the largest return of native land in history. And this book does a great job telling the tale.



Grand Ambition by Lisa Michaels (2001). One of the most captivating mysteries of the Grand Canyon comes with the story of Glen and Bessie Hyde. In 1928, the honeymooners set out to travel the river through the Grand, in a time when Bessie would have been the first woman to do so. However, the couple never made it through. Only their boat was found, while their bodies were never located.

Author Lisa Michaels takes this fascinating story and turns it into a page-turning novel. She has to speculate about Bessie and about Glen, while also divining their fate. But the book is more than a recount of history, but also a tale of love and survival.

For a related title, consider Sunk Without a Sound: The Tragic Colorado River Honeymoon of Glen and Bessie Hyde by Brad Dimock (2001). The Flagstaff river-runner and author brings in the deeper story and fascinating facts of this doomed couple that have haunted Grand Canyon lore for nearly nine decades. Both books cast a fascinated eye on the tale.



Grand Obsession: Harvey Butchart and the Exploration of the Grand Canyon by Elias Butler and Tom Myers (2007). One of Grand Canyons ardent on-foot explorers was Harvey Butchart. The Northern Arizona University professor dedicated decades of his life exploring the deepest of backcountry. Estimates put his hiking mileage around the 12,000-mile mark over the span of 42 years, which resulted in some iconic guidebooks.

Grand Obsession could be a title that both references Butchart and the authors, Elias Butler and Tom Myers. They spent years working on the book and poured through tons of documents  and made several trips  to bring the near-500-page book to life. It remains of the best biographies of a canyon explorer outside of the John Wesley Powell canon.

The thorough research and dedication make it a great canyon book to add to the collection. And its exciting to drop into the madness of Butchart and his wild and restless life. The book was a 2008 National Outdoor Book Award winner that deserves a second look.



In the Heart of the Canyon by Elisabeth Hyde (2010). A last great American adventures that people can take by simply reserving a spot with a credit-card number is the river trip through the Grand Canyon. And, for anyone who has survived a commercial river trip, they can attest that the adventure is not just in the running of rapids but in surviving a trip that is  most times  a gathering of strangers.

In the novel "In the Heart of the Canyon," Elisabeth Hyde creates a book on the premise of tracking people on a commercial trip. On the surface, this seems like an all-too-easy plot contrivance, to pick and choose characters to pair on a trip for optimum drama and tension. But Hyde is much smarter than that.

She plays with peoples perceptions on this variation of people stranded in one place together. She also deftly captures with sharp observations the realm of the Grand Canyon and the Colorado River.



Over the Edge: Death in the Grand Canyon by Michael Ghiglieri and Tom Myers (2001). Lightning struck for Michael Ghiglieri and Tom Myers when Over the Edge: Death in the Grand Canyon hit the bookshelves 15 years ago.

This book has since become the bestselling title about the famous gorge by a canyon mile. It has fed off the morbid fascination of anyone who has ever wondered how many lives the Grand Canyon has claimed.

The 400-page-plus tome details more than 500 documented deaths in various chapters and manners of perishing: falls, dehydration, floods, the Colorado River, air crashes, freak accidents, suicides and murder are just a few examples.

The book also becomes not just a cautionary tale, but a collection of cautionary tales of all stripes for readers to ponder (though, in some cases, the deaths are just bad luck).

For a related title, the just released In a Better Place: Cemeteries & Gravesites of Grand Canyon by Kern Nuttall (2016) makes a nice bookend pairing with Over the Edge. Nuttall chronicles the resting places of the deceased. The book is a thorough and thoughtful look at these sites and the history behind the people buried there.
Government changes in buy-to-let could have wide-ranging, unintended consequences, the chief commercial officer of Leeds Building Society has warned.

Richard Fearon, chief commercial officer of Leeds Building Society, said the governments pledges to deliver new, affordable homes was laudable but measures to clamp down on buy-to-let landlords could have unforeseen, negative consequences for people needing to rent.

A robust housing market requires a range of tenures to support the different consumer needs. Change can have unintended consequences, he stated.

For example, the buy-to-let tax changes could lead to rent increases, making rented property less affordable for those who need it most.

In his Summer Budget 2015, chancellor George Osborne replaced the wear and tear allowance with a relief that will mean landlords can only deduct the costs they incur on replacing furnishing in residential property. Its important new initiatives complement existing, well established schemes, thereby creating a healthy sustainable housing strategy Richard Fearon

He also announced buy-to-let landlords would receive a lower rate of tax relief on mortgage payments.

This was followed by a 3 per cent stamp duty hike announced in the Autumn Statement 2015 on buy-to-let properties, which came into force in April 2016.

The 2016 Budget stated the stamp duty hike will be extended to landlords of all portfolio sizes, not just those with more than 10 properties.

At the time, Mr Osborne said the higher rates would help give 60m towards the governments investment in community-led housing developments (for first-time buyers) - especially in areas where the impact of second homes is particularly acute.

However, Mr Fearon said while creating new homes for purchase was much needed, it should not come at the expense of other parts of a sustainable housing market.

Supporting borrowers who are not well served by the wider market is at the core of our successful strategy and we are active in the shared ownership and interest-only markets, he commented.

New schemes specifically designed to increase supply in under-served areas of the housing market can create opportunities for us, but its important new initiatives complement existing, well established schemes, thereby creating a healthy sustainable housing strategy.

For example, the governments objective to deliver 200,000 new starter homes by 2020 should form part of the overall mix of affordable housing opportunities, without having a detrimental impact on supply for other schemes.
Brazil, Russia, India and China are grouped together and referred to as the Bric countries, although on the face of it these economies have little in common.

Ed Wiltshire, fund manager in the emerging markets equities team at Aviva Investors, explains: When the term Bric was first coined, it was a catch-all to cover the four countries fast-growing developing economies that dominated their smaller regional neighbours. While their size and regional significance remain common factors, any sense they sit at the same point in their economic development has largely been discredited.

While the rise in commodity prices at the beginning of the super cycle in the first decade of the century obscured this, since those prices started to fall, the differences have become all too stark.

Erik Lueth, emerging market economist at Legal & General Investment Management, agrees: The only thing these countries really have in common is they are the biggest emerging markets and so, once we capture whats happening in those four, were capturing quite a bit of whats happening in emerging markets.

The opportunity is not just better yield and better fundamentals. After major selling of the asset class, technicals are strong Jan Dehn, Ashmore

One thing emerging markets large and small have had in common in the past year is they have fallen out of favour among UK investors who were scared off by the impact of a falling oil price, particularly on commodity-exporting countries, and the volatility at the start of this year prompted by fears over Chinas economy.

Figures from the Investment Association (IA) show the IA Global Emerging Markets sector suffered net retail sales outflows in seven of the past 12 months to April 2016. In January, the sector recorded net retail sales outflows of 56m. But the tide may be turning as April was the first month this year in which the sector clocked up positive net retail sales of 64m.

The IA Global Emerging Markets Bond sector has attracted steady net retail sales so far this year, reaching 80m in March and 26m the following month.

Indeed, emerging market debt (EMD) has been something of a success: both dollar-denominated and local-currency EMD are performing well and Pierre-Yves Bareau, chief investment officer, EMD at JPMorgan Asset Management, notes this is despite a lack of growth and earnings.

He queries whether EMD is a value trap or a genuine opportunity: Historically, a key characteristic of the alpha offered by EMD was the growth differential between emerging and developed markets. The differential has shown nearly five years of derating and is now in stabilisation. To foresee sustainability in the current rally, investors will expect signs the trend is reversing and that emerging market growth will revert to outpacing DM.

Headwinds remain and economic growth is sluggish, but current account balances turning positive are a sign emerging market recoveries are under way.

Jan Dehn, head of research at Ashmore, believes a trio of factors are helping the case for investing in EMD. The opportunity is not just better yield and better fundamentals. After major selling of the asset class, technicals are strong.

However, he recognises investors will be wary of coming back into EMD too early. This makes for a more drawn-out rally, but this is probably a good thing, he adds.

Ellie Duncan is deputy features editor at Investment Adviser
Canada Life was the third UK annuity provider to slash rates last week, after 10-year treasury gilt yields tumbled to below 1 per cent in the wake of the Brexit vote.

A spokesperson for Canada Life confirmed the life company had cut annuity rates by around 2 to 3 per cent on Friday (1 July).

The provider followed Legal & General, which cut its annuity rates by around 2 per cent on Wednesday, and Standard Life, which slashed rates by 4 per cent on Thursday (30 June).

The decisions followed a dramatic fall in gilt yields on Monday (27 June), after Standard & Poors stripped the UK government of its AAA credit rating.

This afternoon (1 July), 10-year gilt yields were at 0.85 per cent, with five-year yields at 0.36 per cent, and two-year yields at 0.15 per cent.

Canada Lifes decision also followed a downbeat statement from Bank of England governor Mark Carney, in which he signalled there would be a base rate cut over the summer, in order to mitigate the likely economic shock resulting from the UK populations decision to leave the EU.

james.fernyhough@ft.com
Wealthy Brits planning on emigrating to Australia may be granted a surprise reprieve from a hefty new pension tax, after the countrys governing coalition failed to secure a majority in the weekends general election.

The new rule , announced by Australian prime minister Malcolm Turnbull in May, limited lifetime superannuation contributions to A$500,000, (280,000). That would mean British expats wanting to bring their pension pots with them would probably be taxed at the non-concessional rate for every dollar over $500,000.

While the results of Saturday's general election are yet to be finalised, Mr Turnbull looks highly unlikely to win a clear majority, with a hung parliament, a minority government, or a coalition the most likely outcome.

Many Liberal Party members are already blaming the superannuation policy for this dramatic swing away from the government.

Senator Eric Abetz, a former senior cabinet minister and close ally of Tony Abbott - whom Mr Turnbull toppled in a leadership coup last year - said the electorate had punished the ruling party for a superannuation policy that was viewed as unfair.

So I think we do need to look at it to ensure it is fair and it is targeted, and we dont scare people away from saving and looking after themselves into the future, he said in an interview with Sky News.

While the super policy is temporarily in place, it has not been legislated, making it simple to backtrack on.

Australian media reports claimed the right wing of the Liberal Party - most of whom are Tony Abbott supporters - were fiercely against the superannuation policy. So following Mr Turnbulls poor performance, they predicted the right wings influence would increase, possibly with a return of Tony Abbott to cabinet. One prominent right-wing columnist for a Murdoch-owned publication called for Mr Turnbull to resign and Mr Abbott to return as prime minister.

But Montfort International managing director Geraint Davies, an adviser who specialises in clients relocating from the UK to Australia, said if the rules are scrapped, they are unlikely to go back to the way the were.

The old rules were just too generous, he said. It wasnt being used for retirement, as it should have been. It was being used for wealth creation.

Mr Davies added if the final result of the election is a hung parliament or a minority government, there was some rationale for tinkering with the rules to make them more appealing.
The UK has higher levels of intergenerational fairness than all but three European countries, according to a new report on welfare across the EU by the International Logevity Centre UK.

Covering a number of welfare areas alongside intergenerational fairness, the research ranked 24 European countries according to the welfare gap between retirees, the working population and young people.

The UK came in fourth position, behind the Netherlands, Austria and Germany.

Hungary, Greece and Italy were the least fair, followed by Norway and Sweden.

However, the report did not rank actual levels of welfare, but merely the discrepancy between generations, meaning they could be equally well-off or equally badly-off.

The reports author Dr Cesira Urzi Brancati said: The UK appears to score fairly high on intergenerational fairness; however, when we focus on the individual variables, we find some notable exceptions.

For instance, the difference in poverty rates of the 65 plus and the working age population are higher than average, while the difference in poverty rates of the young and the working age population is slightly lower.

Alongside intergenerational fairness, the report measured poverty and social exclusion, health of the population, access to education and quality housing.

The UKs overall position was eleventh. Three of the top five countries - Switzerland (first) and Iceland (third) and Norway (fourth) - were non-EU members.

The other two were Sweden (first) and Finland (fifth).

Turkey, also a non-EU member, came bottom, followed by Hungary, Poland, Portugal and Poland.

The UK scored particularly poorly on housing quality, despite the state spending almost twice as much as any other country on housing, as a percentage of GDP.

Dr Brancati said: As the UKs population is ageing rapidly, future governments need a coherent strategy to deliver a welfare state which guarantees the best possible provision for the largest number of people across the UK.

This strategy cannot be based on what is politically expedient; instead, future governments must base these judgements on evidence, she argued, adding the UK government should look at approaches to social security, health, housing and education across Europe to identify successful strategies.

james.fernyhough@ft.com
Three former Barclays Bank employees have become the latest casualties in the Libor rigging scandal, after a jury found them guilty of conspiracy to defraud at Southwark Crown Court today (4 July).

The three men - Jonathan Mathew, Jay Merchant and Alex Pabon - were convicted of conspiring to procure or make submissions of rates into the US Dollar Libor setting process thereby intending to prejudice the economic interests of others.

They will be sentenced later this week.

The verdict brings the total number of Libor-related convictions as a result of the Serious Fraud Offices investigations to five, out of a total of 19 charges.

Tom Hayes, who was convicted in August last year, is currently serving an 11-year prison sentence.

The jury could not reach a verdict on two of defendants, Stylianos Contogoulas and Ryan Michael Reich. The SFO now has 14 days to consider whether to seek a retrial for the two unconvicted defendants.

David Green, director of the SFO, said dishonesty was the key issue in the verdict.

By their verdicts the jury demonstrated they were sure that the conduct of three of the defendants, Jonathan Mathew, Jay Merchant and Alex Pabon was dishonest. Senior Libor submitter Peter Johnson accepted he had been dishonest when he pleaded guilty to the offence in October 2014, he said.

The trial in this country of American nationals also demonstrates the extent to which the response to Libor manipulation has been international and the subject of extensive cooperation between US and UK authorities.

Mr Merchant and Mr Pabon were both Libor traders, while Mr Mathew was a submitter. Another submitter, Peter Johnson, pleaded guilty to the charges in October 2014.

Barclays previously had to pay 59.5m for misconduct relating to breaches of requirements that encompassed a number of issues, involved a significant number of employees and occurred over a number of years.

james.fernyhough@ft.com

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American animal nutrition specialist Alltech says its purchase of Keenan is part of a plan to expand and get closer to farmers.

The Kentucky-based operation moved quickly to buy Keenan in April after the feed wagon maker went into receivership, sealing the deal within three weeks of first contact.

Alltech has bought 14 businesses, many of them feed related, since 2011.

See also: Alltech seals Keenan buyout deal

Keenans philosophy is very similar to ours, said new chief executive officer Robbie Walker. We have grown through buying similar companies in North America.

We have not done much in Europe yet, but we have a number of purchases lined up. Keenan is very much a UK brand and that is what we wanted to acquire.

He said Keenans market presence needed to be restored, having been damaged during the period prior to the company going into administration.

Re-starting production and re-engaging with suppliers had been hard, especially when dealing with those who had lost money due to the administration.

Some of them were being offered long-term contracts that could help them recoup losses.

Innovation

The company also needed to re-energise its staff and customer contact, he said. It had reviewed the problems it faced.

We do still have a lot of innovation  but the perception in the market place might not reflect that at the moment.

The company is developing a self-drive machine and that could lead to fully automated feeding systems in the future.

There is a lot of belief in the brand. People are loyal but bruised after a couple of difficult years.

There is still a lot of good will and enthusiasm there, said Mr Walker.

He admitted the low prices of livestock commodities and the uncertainty caused by the Brexit referendum vote might slow progress for the moment, but stressed that the company was thinking more long term than that.

Alltech was founded by Irishman Pearse Lyons who still owns the company.
Coconino County District 2 Supervisor Liz Archuleta has been elected to serve on the Board of Directors for the National Association of Latino Elected Officials.

The NALEO annual conference took place in Washington D.C. in June where 1,000 members convened. Archuleta will serve a 3-year term.

During the conference Archuleta also moderated a panel focused on the growing bi-partisan support for criminal justice reform and the importance of reducing recidivism and successful rehabilitation. She highlighted the successes of Coconino Countys Exodus Program, pre-trial services, multiple specialty courts and community based partnerships.
Fifty Shades Darker Release Date, Cast, News & Update: Jamie Dornan, Dakota Johnson Goes Back Into The Red Room? Scenes, Other Details Revealed!

With "Fifty Shades Darker" now on the last stages of production, we have gathered some details of the Red Room scene that Jamie Dornan, Dakota Johnson and the crew has filmed in Canada.

What is the Read Room of Pain in 'Fifty Shades Darker'?



The Red Room is Christian Grey's steamy dungeon. It's the room where the millionaire brings Anastasia Steele in the first movie where the unforgettable scene of a blindfolded Dakota unveiled. And, now, recent reports claim that Jamie Dornan and Dakota Johnson have filmed another scene in the Red Room.

The Red Room was filled with leather sofa's, ropes, whips and riding crop. Here's one of Christian Grey's popular quotes before he let's Anastasia into his "playroom." "It's about gaining your trust and your respect, so you'll let me exert my will over you. I will gain a great deal of pleasure, joy even, in your submission. The more you submit, the greater my joy - it's a very simple equation."

Jamie Dornan, Dakota Johnson's 'Fifty Shades Darker' Red Room scene

In regards to the Red Room scene in "Fifty Shades Darker", one of the crew members tweeted out some details. Lindsay B tweeted out last June 27 some of the plays for the Red Room scene.

It stated that "They make love. Christian let's Ana touch his scars," and "Christian teases Ana, denying her an org***. Ana declares red." She also revealed the shooting dates for "Fifty Shades Darker" that is specially for the Red Room Scenes. As reported by Melty, author E.L. James hinted that a trailer for "Fifty Shades Darker" will launch this fall and for sure, steamy scenes from the Red Room will be featured.

"Fifty Shades Darker" is scheduled to release this coming February 10, 2017.

Stay tuned to GamenGuide for more "Fifty Shades Darker" spoilers, news and updates!
CSULB alum wins gold at the 38th Long Beach Marathon  which was his first
The Coconino County Public Health Services District has been recognized by the National Association of County and City Health Officials for its ability to plan for, respond to, and recover from public health emergencies.

CCPHSD joins nearly 450 local health departments across the country that have been distinguished for excellence in preparedness through PPHR. Local health departments recognized by PPHR undergo an evaluation by peer review to assess their ability to meet a set of national standards for public health preparedness.
Officials at Oregon State University have closed the northern half of the McDonald Forest following a fire Saturday on the Powder House Trail west of Peavy Arboretum.

Stephen Fitzgerald, director of research forests at OSU, said the 3.1 acre fire that started around 7 p.m. Saturday night was likely not caused by lightning or any other natural means.

This is a human-caused fire, he said Sunday afternoon. Oregon State Police and the Oregon Department of Forestry are investigating the cause of the fire, Fitzgerald said, which started along the side of a trail.

Fitzgerald, who stayed at the arboretum with fire crews monitoring it for flare ups until after 1 a.m. Sunday, said the fire mostly burned grass and young conifers. But at a research forest with studies on things like restoring mature forests that span decades, the stakes are much higher.

For us on the research forest, we have a lot to lose in the projects out there, he said. Its not like research in agriculture where you can get results in a year. ... it takes decades.

Fitzgerald said that if it had been a week later, the grass might have been so dry the fire could have more quickly moved into the timber.

Its my worst nightmare, said Fitzgerald of the fire.

He added that leaving the forest open for recreation can be a challenge: while they get good tips from people using the forest recreationally  it was a recreational user who called in the fire  it also opens up the forest to risks of people who are not following the forests prohibitions on fires, smoking and open flame.

He added that the recreational forest is a special place for the public and the College of Forestry, which has taught thousands of students in the forest over the 80 years the university has owned it.

People need to be vigilant out in the forest, he said.

Fitzgerald said the trail would remain closed Sunday and possibly Monday as the investigation into the fire was conducted. He requested anyone with information about how the fire started call him at 541-419-3850.
Benton County residents visiting Newport have likely seen Oregon State Universitys Oceanus research vessel sitting at the OSU dock in Yaquina Bay.

What most Benton County residents may not know is that the National Science Foundation and OSU want to spend $130 million of taxpayer funds to build a new research vessel to replace the Oceanus. The problem is that neither the foundation nor OSU have performed the necessary due diligence to determine if there are alternatives to building new research ships.

Our Institute for Accountability of Universities, based in Newport, has generated a report titled Save the Oceanus and Save the Taxpayer (www.ifaou.org) that analyzed the true costs of building the ships as well as exploring alternatives.

Our report looked at alternatives such as refurbishing the R/V Oceanus, which is good condition. By spending $10 million to refurbish the Oceanus, the American taxpayer would! save $40 million in operating costs in the next ten years as well as not having to spend an upfront $130 million to build a new ship.

The Senate Appropriations Committee approved funding for three research ships in March 2016 although the National Science Foundation had only sought funds for two research ships. The House Appropriations Committee voted in May 2016 to strip all funding to build any new research ships. Write to your federal elected officials to ask that construction funds be stripped from the FY 2017 budget.

Martin Desmond

Newport (June 28)
PHOENIX -- Yeah, the taxes may be low.

Labor is cheap. And the state may be getting rid of regulations.

But a study commissioned by the Ducey administration has concluded that's while those are factors, that's not what ultimately sells Arizona to businesses and tourists. What closes the deal, concluded consultant Kathy Heasley, is the Arizona lifestyle.

So now efforts are underway to revamp the message.

The moves comes nearly a year after the Arizona Commerce Authority hired a branding consultant.

Her original assignment was to come up with the kind of catchphrase that has help define other states, like "I (Heart) NY'' or "Don't Mess With Texas." The idea, said gubernatorial press aide Daniel Scarpinato, was to come up with a single selling point for Arizona that would work for everything from promoting tourism to getting companies to relocate here.

But something unexpected occurred when Kathy Heasley went out to ask people what they like about Arizona.

Sure, there was the talk about places like the Grand Canyon. But what came across from the open-ended questions were feelings and emotions about the Arizona lifestyle..

In Tucson, for example, people commented about how they love what they do.

"But I come home and I sit on my back porch and the mountains are all lit up and I have a glass of wine with my wife,'' Heasley quoted the person who was part of a group discussion.

It was a bit different, she said, for those who live in the Phoenix area. But here, too, the things people said they like about Arizona were related to quality of life.

For example, she said, one person commented about getting to live in a major metropolitan area and have a good career.

"And I can be home in time to hang out with my son,'' Heasley quoted the respondent. "A lot of those people have come from other places where there is no family life because you're driving two hours, one way coming and one way going.''

What all that means, Heasley said, is Arizona needs to scrap the same kind of advertising that every other state uses to promote economic development, all the stuff about a healthy business climate, low costs and a willing workforce. Even Scarpinato conceded that the press releases he sends out about how high Arizona is ranked by major business magazines really doesn't do much good in actually convincing CEOs that this is the place to locate.

What does sell, Heasley said, are images, feelings -- and heart.

She compared it to buying a car.

Sure, it may get great gas mileage. And it might have been a fantastic deal.

"But it's (ITALICS) gorgeous (ROMAN),'' Heasley said, with that being the clincher.

And what of the cathphrase that the governor originally was asking for?

Forget about it, Heasley said, saying it makes no sense to try to distill the essence of the Arizona lifestyle into a single word or phrase.

That, then, goes to the issue of explaining what Arizona is.

Heasley found that the image of the state of people elsewhere largely comes down to three things: retirement, the desert and the Grand Canyon.

Scarpinato said those aren't necessarily bad things. But he said it's not what's going to get people to come here -- especially those who own companies and are looking to relocate.

"But obviously there's a lot beyond that that's changed in the last 30-40 years, that we're not just a place with retirement communities,'' he said. "People don't necessarily know that who are in Chicago and have never come to the state, or haven't been here in a long time.''

And they won't know that based on the messages Arizona is now sending out, messages focused solely on the pro-business climate.

"We're really not appropriately advertising ourself,'' Scarpinato said.

This isn't just speculation, Scarpinato said.

"The business executives, the people who Kathy talked to who are here in the state that ended up coming here, and also the people we want to attract, for them it was also a lifestyle issue,'' he said. And that means getting out the message that, put simply, life's better here.

He said that's the kind of message that is likely to resonate with new firms where the corporate culture includes attracting and keeping good workers.

"A big part of it is where their employees want to live and what the lifestyle's like,'' Scarpinato said. "So if we can make the case to a business executive that, yeah, taxes are lower -- and you also can be home at 6 o'clock and be with your family -- then that's a great argument that we're positioned to make that some other states aren't.''

Scarpinato acknowledged that what works to attract business won't sell Arizona as a tourist destination.

"So we can't just have it all be the same,'' he said. And that's another reason why coming up with a local version of "I (Heart) NY'' or "Pure Michigan'' is not the answer.

"It's not just going to be a slogan,'' Scarpinato said. "It's going to be a new approach to how we market the state on all the platforms where we're spending millions of dollars.

But the common denominator, he said, will be selling the Arizona lifestyle "because it's something that's unique to Arizona.''
Welcome to my genealogy blog. Genea-Musings features genealogy research tips and techniques, genealogy news items and commentary, genealogy humor, San Diego genealogy society news, family history research and some family history stories from the keyboard of Randy Seaver (of Chula Vista CA), who thinks that Genealogy Research Is really FUN! Copyright (c) Randall J. Seaver, 2006-2021.
Bestandige Growetterlage und ihre Folgen : Mildes Wetter im Oktober - Was das fur den Winter bedeutet
Absteigen und schieben mussen jetzt die Radfahrer auf der Viktoriabrucke. Foto: Horst Muller

Bonn Political party, the Greens and bike association, ADFC are demanding the bike ban on Viktoria Bridge be lifted. They challenge its legality.

Germanys political party, the Greens have demanded the City rescind its ban on biking over the Viktoria Bridge during the current construction period. Instead, they want a speed limit of 20 for motorists. German bike association, ADFC has begun a legal examination of the ban to investigate if it is lawful to keep cyclists from biking over the bridge.

In 2010, there was a similar situation in Regensburg where bicyclists were forbidden on a road due to the lanes being too narrow to accommodate both motorists and bikers. There was an argumentation that speeding motorists and passing maneuvers made it too dangerous for those on bicycles. The German Supreme Administrative Court did not accept this argument.

Werner Bottcher of the ADFC argues, Just like in Regensburg, the City of Bonn cannot use traffic errors committed by motorists as a reason to keep bicyclists from using a street. The closing of the bridge to bike traffic was announced on Friday after the Civil Engineering Bureau consulted with police. Bikers are allowed to walk their bikes over the bridge on the sidewalk but not to ride on them in the lanes. Reasons given for the ban were motorist traffic errors which could endanger bikers and near accidents which had already been observed. Since the bridge came under construction in May, four accidents have been recorded but none of them involved bikers. (Orig. text: Lias Inhoffen)
Niklas P. case : Main suspect Walid S. ordered to remain in jail

Bonn A court ruled today that the main suspect in the deadly attack on Niklas P. must remain in prison.

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Bonn district court ruled on Monday that the main suspect in the fatal beating of 17-year-old Niklas P. must remain in prison. The defense attorney of Walid S. had petitioned the courts to release his client on of lack of sufficient evidence. At todays court hearing, judges decided he must remain jailed as he is strongly suspected in being involved in the deadly attack. Prosecutors and police shared this information today.

20-year-old Walid S. was taken into custody in mid-May. Niklas P. was on his way home from a concert with friends on May 7, when he was so brutally beaten with kicks and blows to the head that he died a week later from his injuries. The main suspect denies the charges against him. Prosecutors and a special homicide commission continue with their investigation.
Samsung Galaxy On5 (2016) spotted on GeekBench: Rumor Round up of the upcoming Galaxy On5 and On7 News oi -Harshita

Samsung has been in news for some time for its unannounced Galaxy On5 (2016 Edition) and Galaxy On7 (2016) smartphones. Last month, the phones were spotted on an import listing, which hinted their imminent launch. Now, again, the Galaxy On5 (2016) (SM-G570F) smartphone has surfaced online, this time on GeekBench list.

Rumors have it that Samsung is planning to introduce the upgrades to its last year's Galaxy On5 and On7 smartphones this year. If reports are to be believed, the yet to be announced phones have been codenamed SM-G570F and SM- G610F. With the latest spotting, we now also have specification details of the Galaxy On5 smartphone.

SEE ALSO: Vivo X7 vs Xiaomi Mi 5: Which mid-range phone is more value for money!

Samsung Galaxy On5 (2016 Edition): Specs and features

The listing reveals that the Galaxy On5 smartphone will be powered by the company's new Exynos 7570 quad-core chipset paired with 2GB of RAM. Other specifications of the phone are yet not known. However, if we go by the specs of current generation Galaxy On5 smartphone that include a 5-inch 720p display, Exynos 3475 quad-core processor, 1.5GB of RAM with 8GB inbuilt-storage, expandable storage over microSD card, and 8MP/5MP camera set up, we expect the new generation phone to have similar or slightly upgraded specs.

SEE ALSO: Samsung Galaxy Folder 2 spotted on GFXBench: 7 Things to know!

Samsung Galaxy On7 (2016 Edition): Specs and features

As far as the specs and features of the Samsung Galaxy On7 (2016) (SM- G610F) are concerned, rumors have it that the phone will feature a 4.8-inch 1080p display, a 2GHz octa-core processor with Adreno 506 GPU, 3GB of RAM, 13MP/8MP of rear/front camera set up, and dual-SIM support.

SEE ALSO: Samsung Galaxy Note 7 to feature 3600mAh battery: 7 Reasons why You should wait for it!

Expected launch:

Considering that the first generation Galaxy On smartphones were announced in October last year, in China. We expect the new generation phones to be launched in the Q3 of this year. Expect more details of the phone, ahead of their launch!

Best Mobiles in India

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The operation to catch those responsible for murdering Dolton Powell was the largest Gloucestershire police undertook since the arrest of serial killer Fred West.

Hundreds of officers from four different constabularies were drawn in to help gather evidence in the aftermath of the bloodshed that took place outside the All Nations Club.

With more than 100 witnesses and rumours spreading like wildfire on social media as to the supposed identity of the killers, 60 identity parades had to be carried out.

As well as securing a large crime scene, affected by a heavy thunderstorm that night, officers would have to trace the killer to Bristol in the mammoth operation.

The force also had to carry out laborious and lengthy forensic examinations of DNA and CCTV, as well as secure permission to carry out covert recordings of the defendants.

The scale of the inquiry was one of the county's largest ever, only matched by the arrest of infamous serial killer West in Gloucester more than two decades ago.

Detective Superintendent Steve Porter described it as a "complicated and demanding" investigation with many witnesses reluctant or outright refusing to give evidence through fear.

It required special measures such as witnesses being given anonymity or screened from the public gallery and the defendants.

Mr Porter said: "People were reluctant to talk to the police let alone give evidence in the dock. Some were really, really worried.

"It was important to build trust with the community and we worked with Dolton's family to appeal for witnesses to come forward.

"But people did come forward which I think is a testament to what they thought of Dolton to go through this to get justice for him.

"We hope this sends out a message that the police and the judicial system will do whatever is possible to get justice in cases like this."

The case was made all the more difficult with several weapons found at the scene and evidence that suggested men from Gloucester were also armed the night Dolton died, a situation Mr Porter called a "toxic mix" of knife crime.

But he maintained Dolton was not to blame for anything that happened on Sunday, August 23.

"He was a really genuine, nice guy and was totally innocent in this and was simply caught up in the circumstances," he said.

"Dolton stood in front of the car to stop the person he saw stab his friend from leaving. He tried to stop them and it cost him his life."

Mr Porter said it was another reminder of the potentially horrifying consequences of carrying knives.

"People who carry knives need to realise it was just one small wound to Dolton's neck that ended his life," he said.

"This was a truly tragic case where an innocent young man's life was ended. He was liked by everybody who knew him and our thoughts are with them at this difficult time.

"With our partners we are totally committed to tackling incidents of knife crime wherever they occur."
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The murder of Dolton Powell sent shockwaves throughout the community in Gloucester and it has taken months of painstaking investigation to piece together exactly what happened.

The operation to catch the killer of the 21-year-old was Gloucestershire Police's largest since the arrest of serial killer Fred West, and saw more than 100 witnesses interviewed.

He bled to death within seconds after his jugular vein was severed when he was stabbed in the neck by Jordan Barclay outside the All Nations Club in Gloucester in August 2015.

Barclay, who was also found guilty of causing GBH to Elijah Sutherland, who Dolton tried to protect, was jailed for life in July 2016.

Gloucestershire Live has done a full breakdown of what happened the night Dolton Powell was stabbed to death and how the long-running police operation unfolded afterwards.
TORONTO, July 04, 2016 - Alloycorp Mining Inc. (TSX VENTURE: AVT) ("Alloycorp" or the "Company") announced today that it has entered into an agreement providing for the privatization of the Company by its major shareholders, Resource Capital Fund IV L.P. ("RCF IV") and Resource Capital Fund VI L.P. ("RCF VI" and collectively with RCF IV, "RCF"). Shareholders of Alloycorp, other than RCF, will receive $0.05 for each common share of the Company.RCF is both the largest creditor and shareholder of the Company. RCF has loaned Alloycorp a total of US$126 million since 2008 under a series of loan agreements. The amounts owed to RCF caused a working capital deficiency of $171,104,635 at March 31, 2016. The loans are secured by the assets of Alloycorp and its subsidiaries and came due on June 30, 2016. On June 30, 2016, RCF converted an aggregate of US$52.5 million of the loans into 122 million common shares of the Company. After giving effect to such conversion, RCF owns 246,548,990 common shares, representing 90% of the outstanding common shares of the Company. RCF has agreed to forebear all remaining loans and waive any defaults under the outstanding loans and related security documents until August 31, 2016.The privatization will be effected through an amalgamation of the Company and an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of RCF (the "Amalgamation") under the Business Corporations Act (British Columbia) (the "BCBCA").The Board of Directors of the Company (the "Board") formed a Special Committee (the "Special Committee") comprised of independent directors to evaluate the Amalgamation and make recommendations to the Board. The Special Committee received an opinion from Primary Capital Inc. to the effect that, as of the date of such opinion and subject to the assumptions, qualifications and limitations set forth therein, the consideration to be received by the Alloycorp shareholders, other than RCF, pursuant to the Amalgamation is fair from a financial point of view to the Alloycorp shareholders, other than RCF. The Special Committee, after considering the price offered to Alloycorp shareholders, the financial condition of the Company, current market conditions, commodity prices including molybdenum, RCF's level of ownership as a shareholder and its position as lender to the Company, the fairness opinion, and a number of additional factors, concluded that the consideration was fair to the Company's shareholders. After considering these and other factors relevant to the Amalgamation, the Special Committee resolved that the Board should: submit the Amalgamation to a vote of the shareholders at a shareholders' meeting and, in furtherance thereof, authorize the Company to enter into the acquisition agreement; and recommend to the shareholders to approve the special resolution in respect of the Amalgamation (the "Amalgamation Resolution").Mario Caron, Chairman of the Board at Alloycorp, said: "The cost of operating a public company has become prohibitive given the current state of the equity markets as well as the depressed state of the molybdenum industry as a whole. The RCF transaction relieves the Company's significant debt burden, provides cash to shareholders and enhances flexibility for future development of the Company."The Company will convene an annual general and special meeting of shareholders (the "Meeting") to take place on August 8, 2016 for shareholders to consider and approve the Amalgamation.The Board unanimously recommends that shareholders vote in favour of the Amalgamation Resolution.Directors and officers of the Company have entered into voting and support agreements with the Purchaser under which they have agreed to vote all common shares owned or controlled by them in favour of the Amalgamation Resolution. The Purchaser intends to vote in favour of the Amalgamation Resolution. Alloycorp shareholders are entitled to dissent in respect of the Amalgamation Resolution under Division 2 of Part 8 of the BCBCA.The completion of the Amalgamation is subject to a number of conditions precedent that are customary to this type of transaction, including, but not limited to, there being no material adverse change with respect to the Company, the approval of the Amalgamation Resolution by at least two-thirds of the votes cast by holders of common shares at the Meeting (including votes cast by RCF), and the acceptance of the Amalgamation by the TSX Venture Exchange. Assuming the satisfaction of all conditions, the Amalgamation is expected to close as soon as practicable following the Meeting.The Amalgamation constitutes a "business combination" for the purposes of Multilateral Instrument 61-101 - Protection of Minority Securityholders in Special Transactions ("MI 61-101"). Since the Company is listed on the TSX Venture Exchange, the Amalgamation will, pursuant to section 4.4(1)(a) of MI 61-101, be exempt from the formal valuation requirements of MI 61-101. Because RCF owns 90 percent of the Company's outstanding shares, the Amalgamation will, pursuant to section 4.6(1)(a) of MI 61-101, be exempt from the minority shareholder approval requirements of MI 61-101.Details of the terms and conditions of the Amalgamation will be included in a management information circular, which will be mailed to the shareholders as soon as practicable and will also be available for download at www.sedar.com.Following the Amalgamation, the Company will be a wholly owned subsidiary of RCF, and the Company will continue to keep the Kitsault project in good standing with respect to its existing permits, maintain relationships with local communities and other partners and ensure all existing contractual agreements are met.Primary Capital Inc. is acting as financial advisor and Stikeman Elliott LLP is acting as legal advisor to the Special Committee. Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP is acting as legal advisor to RCF and Farris, Vaughan, Wills & Murphy LLP is acting as British Columbia legal advisor to RCF. Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP is acting as legal advisor to Alloycorp.Alloycorp is a TSX Venture Exchange listed company headquartered in Toronto with an operations office in Vancouver. The Kitsault molybdenum project is located in the Nass Valley area, approximately 140 km north of Prince Rupert, in British Columbia, Canada. Alloycorp holds a 100% interest in the Project through its wholly owned subsidiary. The Kitsault molybdenum project is fully permitted for construction.RCF IV and RCF VI are private equity funds with the mandate to make investments exclusively in the mining sector across a diversified range of mineral commodities and geographic regions. RCF is managed by RCF Management L.L.C. which has its principal office in Denver and additional offices in Perth, New York (Long Island), Toronto, and Santiago, Chile. RCF has provided financing for Alloycorp to acquire and develop the Kitsault molybdenum deposit since 2008.Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.Forward-Looking Statements: This news release contains certain forward-looking information concerning the business of Alloycorp and the proposed Amalgamation that constitute "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Such statements can be identified by the use of words such as "may", "would", "could", "will", "intend", "expect", "believe", "plan", "anticipate", "estimate", "scheduled", "predict" and other similar terminology, or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might", or "will be taken or occur to be achieved. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein, including those related to, without limitation, negotiation and consummation of the definitive agreements with respect to the Amalgamation, the completion of the Amalgamation or related transactions, statements concerning the value of the Shares, receipt of requisite legal and financial opinions with respect to the Amalgamation and applicable regulatory approvals required with respect to the Amalgamation are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based on the opinions of management at the date the statements are made and are based on assumptions and estimates and are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events to differ materially from those projected in forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the Company's expectations include, without limitation, that the conditions to completion of the Amalgamation will not be satisfied, including approval of the Amalgamation Resolution by the Company's shareholders; fluctuations in commodity prices and currency exchange rates; the satisfaction of various conditions to financing and funding; uncertainties relating to interpretation of drill results and the geology, continuity and grade of mineral deposits; uncertainty of estimates of capital and operating costs, recovery rates, production estimates and estimated economic return; the need for cooperation of government agencies and native groups in the exploration and development of properties and the issuance of required permits; the need to obtain additional financing to develop properties and uncertainty as to the availability, terms and timing of future financing; the possibility of delay in exploration or development programs or in construction projects and uncertainty of meeting anticipated program milestones; and other risks and uncertainties disclosed in the Company's Annual Information Form for the year ended December 31, 2013, which is available at www.sedar.com. The Company is under no obligation to update forward-looking statements if circumstances or management's opinions should change, except as required by applicable securities laws. Forward-looking statements involve significant risks and uncertainties, should not be read as guarantees of future performance or results, and will not necessarily be accurate indicators of whether or not such results will be achieved. Accordingly, the reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.For further information, please contact:Graham du Preez, Chief Financial Officer(416) 847-0376
TORONTO, July 4, 2016 /CNW/ - Galane Gold Ltd. ("Galane Gold" or the "Company") (TSX-V: GG) is pleased to announce that for the three months ended June 30, 2016 production from the Mupane mine was 7,855 ounces, an increase of 2,027 ounces on the previous quarter. The increase is a reflection of the higher grade being fed to the operating plant with the commencement of mining in the main Tau ore body in April 2016.

Galane Gold CEO, Nick Brodie commented: "The second quarter of 2016 outperformed our internal expectations with mining commencing in the main ore body at Tau three months before we originally anticipated. The increase in production is a reflection of the management team's hard work and determination over the last two years to turn Mupane into a high grade underground operation. Production at the Mupane mine for the three months ended June 30, 2016 represents our best quarterly production since the second quarter of 2014 when we completed mining at the Tholo open pit. We expect this momentum at the Mupane mine to continue into future quarters as we expose more of the Tau ore body. The management team is now focused on its second main goal for 2017, the resumption of production at Galaxy."

About Galane Gold

Galane Gold is an un-hedged gold producer and explorer with mining operations and exploration tenements in Botswana and South Africa. Galane Gold is a public company and its shares are quoted on the TSX Venture Exchange and the Botswana Stock Exchange under the symbol "GG". Galane Gold's management team is comprised of senior mining professionals with extensive experience in managing mining and processing operations and large-scale exploration programmes. Galane Gold is committed to operating at world-class standards and is focused on the safety of its employees, respecting the environment, and contributing to the communities in which it operates.

Cautionary Notes

Certain statements contained in this press release constitute "forward-looking statements". All statements other than statements of historical fact contained in this press release, including, without limitation, those regarding the Company's future financial position and results of operations, strategy, proposed acquisitions, plans, objectives, goals and targets, and any statements preceded by, followed by or that include the words "believe", "expect", "aim", "intend", "plan", "continue", "will", "may", "would", "anticipate", "estimate", "forecast", "predict", "project", "seek", "should" or similar expressions or the negative thereof, are forward-looking statements. These statements are not historical facts but instead represent only the Company's expectations, estimates and projections regarding future events. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve assumptions, risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict. Therefore, actual results may differ materially from what is expressed, implied or forecasted in such forward-looking statements.

Additional factors that could cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially include, but are not limited to: the Company's dependence on two mineral projects; gold price volatility; risks associated with the conduct of the Company's mining activities in Botswana and South Africa; regulatory, consent or permitting delays; risks relating to the Company's exploration, development and mining activities being situated in Botswana and South Africa; risks relating to reliance on the Company's management team and outside contractors; risks regarding mineral resources and reserves; the Company's inability to obtain insurance to cover all risks, on a commercially reasonable basis or at all; currency fluctuations; risks regarding the failure to generate sufficient cash flow from operations; risks relating to project financing and equity issuances; risks arising from the Company's fair value estimates with respect to the carrying amount of mineral interests; mining tax regimes; risks arising from holding derivative instruments; the Company's need to replace reserves depleted by production; risks and unknowns inherent in all mining projects, including the inaccuracy of reserves and resources, metallurgical recoveries and capital and operating costs of such projects; contests over title to properties, particularly title to undeveloped properties; laws and regulations governing the environment, health and safety; operating or technical difficulties in connection with mining or development activities; lack of infrastructure; employee relations, labour unrest or unavailability; health risks in Africa; the Company's interactions with surrounding communities and artisanal miners; the Company's ability to successfully integrate acquired assets; risks related to restarting production; the speculative nature of exploration and development, including the risks of diminishing quantities or grades of reserves; development of the Company's exploration properties into commercially viable mines; stock market volatility; conflicts of interest among certain directors and officers; lack of liquidity for shareholders of the Company; risks related to the market perception of junior gold companies; and litigation risk. Management provides forward-looking statements because it believes they provide useful information to investors when considering their investment objectives and cautions investors not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Consequently, all of the forward-looking statements made in this press release are qualified by these cautionary statements and other cautionary statements or factors contained herein, and there can be no assurance that the actual results or developments will be realized or, even if substantially realized, that they will have the expected consequences to, or effects on, the Company. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this press release and the Company assumes no obligation to update or revise them to reflect subsequent information, events or circumstances or otherwise, except as required by law.

Information of a technical and scientific nature that forms the basis of the disclosure in the press release has been approved by Charles Byron Pr. Sci. Nat., MAusIMM., MGSSA and Chief Geologist for Galane Gold, and a "qualified person" as defined by National Instrument 43-101.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its regulation services provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

SOURCE Galane Gold Ltd.
Vancouver - Dolly Varden Silver Corp. (TSX.V: DV | U.S.: DOLLF) (the Company or Dolly Varden) responds further to the announcement by Hecla Mining Company (together with its affiliates, Hecla) that Hecla intends to make an unsolicited takeover bid (the Hecla Offer) for all of the issued and outstanding shares of Dolly Varden that Hecla does not own. To date Hecla has not made any formal offer to Dolly Vardens shareholders.The Board of Directors of the Company has appointed a special committee comprised solely of independent directors (the Special Committee) to review and evaluate the Hecla Offer and to assess whether such bid is fair to shareholders and in the best interests of the Company as a whole, and to make recommendations to the board. The Special Committee is chaired by Mr. Thomas Wharton and is comprised of Mr. Wharton and Mr. Donald Birak.The Special Committee will not only give thorough consideration to the Hecla Offer, but will actively investigate all possible alternatives to the Hecla Offer, including any competing offers it may receive.While this process is underway, Dolly Varden shareholders are advised to await the results of the Special Committees review and the subsequent recommendation of the board before making any decisions or tendering any shares with respect to the Hecla Offer, if made. Dolly Varden Silver Corp. is a mineral exploration company focused on the exploration of the Dolly Varden silver property located in northwestern British Columbia, Canada. The entire Dolly Varden property is considered to be highly prospective for hosting high-grade precious metal deposits, since it comprises the same structural and stratigraphic setting that host numerous other, on-trend, high-grade deposits (Eskay Creek, Brucejack). The Companys common shares are listed and traded on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol DV and on the OTCBB system under the symbol DOLLF.This release may contain forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance, or achievements of Dolly Varden to be materially different from any future results, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Forward looking statements or information relates to, among other things, the receipt of a takeover bid from Hecla (if at all) and our consideration of such bid, the fairness of the Special Committees recommendations, and the investigation of all possible alternatives to the Hecla Offer. These forward-looking statements are based on managements current expectations and beliefs but given the uncertainties, assumptions and risks, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements or information. The Company disclaims any obligation to update, or to publicly announce, any such statements, events or developments except as required by law.For additional information on risks and uncertainties, see the Companys most recently filed annual management discussion & analysis (MD&A), which is available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and on the Companys website at www.dollyvardensilver.com. The risk factors identified in the MD&A are not intended to represent a complete list of factors that could affect the Company.Neither the TSXV nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSXV) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.Rosie Moore, Interim CEO and President1-604-925-5881www.dollyvardensilver.comCopyright  2016 Filing Services Canada Inc.
We're eating  ADULT COCO POPS

Mork Chocolate Brew House in North Melbourne has added a selection of new hot chocolates to its menu, but it's the chocolate cereal splashed with 70 per cent dark chocolate milk that gets our vote: clusters of dark chocolate-coated puffed rice and popping candy, buckwheat cereal, mini cinnamon meringues, caramelised hazelnuts and sour cherries.

We're drinking  HONEY BOURBON

The Grove Experience Distillery in Western Australia has joined forces with a local beekeeper to create Margaret River Honey: an American-style spirit that's the bee's knees (it's technically bourbon, but only Kentucky distillers can use that label). The first small-batch release of 108 bottles is available from thegroveexperience.com.au.

Kombu forms the base for dashi.

We're cooking with  KOMBU

This dried kelp has been a foundation of Japanese cooking for centuries. Packed with umami thanks to high levels of glutamate, it makes a nourishing vegetarian broth when heated in near-boiling water, and once softened, simmered for half an hour and finally strained. To make a classic dashi, add katsuobushi (bonito flakes) before simmering.

Fit Mixes allow you to create healthy protein balls, sans blender.

We're obsessed with  FIT MIXES

Bliss balls are great in theory, but not everyone has raw cacao powder and pea protein in the pantry. Sally O'Neil from The Fit Foodie blog doesn't have a blender, either. That's why she created bliss ball packet mixes that are fructose-free, high in protein and vegan-friendly. Flavours range from cookie dough to strawberry crumble. From $14.50 at fit-mixes.com.

Chocolate creme brulee from Chocolate by Kirsten Tibballs (Murdoch Books). Photo: Greg Elms

We're reading  CHOCOLATE BY KIRSTEN TIBBALLS

Owner and head pastry chef of Savour Chocolate & Patisserie School in Melbourne, Kirsten Tibballs, is releasing her second cookbook this Friday, Chocolate. Recipes are straightforward, generally quick to make and always decadent. A sneak peek revealed highlights such as chocolate creme brulee and chocolate-coated honeycomb.

Can grilled cheese actually get any better? Yes. It can.

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We're learning  GRILLED CHEESE HACKS

Toasting sandwiches in a press this winter? Instead of greasing up the hotplates with spray oil or smearing butter on the outside of your bread to avoid sticking, try spreading whole egg mayonnaise on the outer edges  it creates extra crunch and an appetising golden finish.

A vegan galaxy doughnut by Sam Murphy (@sobeautifullyraw).

We're loving  GALAXY DESSERTS

You may be familiar with the rainbow food fad that appeared in everything from bagels to sushi rolls, but somewhere over the rainbow another trend is taking food to new heights. Christened "galaxy desserts", home bakers are icing cakes, doughnuts and cookies with swirls of midnight blue and amethyst purple before speckling them with edible glitter to realistically resemble space. Check out these vegan beauties from Sam Murphy (@sobeautifullyraw). One small step for man, one giant leap for Instagram.

Spiteful Brewing's Dumb Donald beer label.

We can't believe that  THERE'S A BEER FOR TRUMP HATERS

Chicago-based Spiteful Brewing released an imperial IPA this week for craft beer lovers and Trump haters. Called Dumb Donald, the label features a satirical March of Progress, including an ape with Trump's head. "Pop open this key lime DIPPA and pretend you're on a far away island where people like Dumb Donald simply don't exist," it reads.

We're clicking on ...THE NEW GOODFOOD.COM.AU

Fancy thousands of recipes at your fingertips, expert reviews from Australia's most respected critics, and all the latest food and drink news to get your tastebuds tingling? We cover exactly what to eat and cook, where to go, what to drink and how to make every dining experience come alive. Head straight to goodfood.com.au and you'll see what we mean.


By Staff Report

Malcolm Guy McBurnett, 68, the San Angelo man indicted in the 2013 death of Marine Sgt. Donald Di Pietro, 28, who was stationed at Goodfellow Air Force Base, is expected to appear for his first criminal pretrial hearing Tuesday at the Tom Green County Courthouse.

McBurnett was indicted in the 51st District Court in May 2013 for intoxication manslaughter with a vehicle, manslaughter and criminally-negligent homicide. Several competency hearings have been held to psychologically evaluate McBurnett, according to court records.

McBurnett's lawyer, Fred Brigman, appeared on his behalf before 391st District Judge Tom Gossett in early February for McBurnett's third competency hearing and requested that further psychological evaluation be performed on his client.

Results from McBurnett's most recent evaluation at a hospital in Kerrville indicate McBurnett is competent but, until the court finds him officially competent, he cannot stand trial.

On the night of March 9, 2013, McBurnett had been drinking at the Party Ranch Bar, 5233 Christoval Road, just before putting his stalled white 1991 Chevrolet Cheyenne pickup in neutral and pushing it into the road with the help of Allen Lee Schmidt, 50, according to court documents.

Di Pietro, an intelligence instructor with GAFB, was riding his motorcycle south on Christoval Road when he crashed into the back of the pickup, authorities have said. Investigators said the truck was pushed into Christoval Road near the Party Ranch by McBurnett, who asked Schmidt to help him.

McBurnett was behind the wheel attempting to start his car when Di Pietro crashed into the side of the pickup while riding his motorcycle striking the vehicle hard enough to crack his helmet, according to court documents.

Skid marks at the scene indicate that Di Pietro applied his brakes about 80 feet before the truck, but was unable to stop, according to police.

Retired officer Glenn Gesch, who reconstructed the crash scene, determined Di Pietro was traveling at least 51 mph when his motorcycle went into a skid. Gesch described the event during Schmidt's court trial in August 2014 as a "panic stop" and said Di Pietro wouldn't have been going much faster than the 51 mph.

Di Pietro was pronounced dead at the scene.

South Plains Forensic Pathology in Lubbock, performed Di Pietro's autopsy March 13, 2013 and ruled cause of death as blunt force trauma to the head and torso.

No alcohol or controlled substances were found in Di Pietro's toxicology analysis.

Police determined McBurnett was intoxicated the night of the incident, and that the lights on his truck were not turned on, according to the San Angelo Police Department.

In August 2014, a Tom Green County jury found Schmidt guilty of manslaughter in Di Pietro's death. Manslaughter, a second-degree felony, is punishable by no less than two to 20 years in prison, and a fine of up to $10,000.

Schmidt was sentenced to 10 years probation and fined the maximum $10,000. Since Schmidt did not have any prior felony convictions, jurors had the option to give him probation.

In April 2013, Donald Ray Di Pietro, Di Pietro's father, filed a lawsuit against Party Ranch owner Tracy Lawson, McBurnett and Schmidt. In October, 340th District Judge Jay Weatherby ordered McBurnett to pay $2 million to Di Pietro in a default judgment.

In March 2014, 391st District Judge Tom Gossett ruled McBurnett incompetent to stand trial for a second time, and he was released from the Tom Green County Jail shortly after for treatment.

Richard Villarreal, of the district attorney's office, is prosecuting the case for the state.
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Pastures and fields across most of West and Central Texas reached peaks of record green for the first time in many years because of May and June rainfall. Unfortunately, July heat will start to bake terrain, and ranchers fear wildfire season approaching.

On a drive through the Concho Valley over the weekend, I witnessed the cotton crop in many stages from emerging to four-leaf and grain sorghum from green heads to a start at turning orange.

Last week en route to and from San Antonio, some pastures were starting to show stress from lack of rain in several areas, while there appears to be an abundance of round hay bales in many fields.

Range and pastures were in excellent conditions across the Big Country, reported Robert Pritz, Taylor County agriculture agent. "Livestock remained in fair to good condition. Sheep and goat producers continued battling stomach worms. Flies and mosquitoes were a major nuisance," he said.

"Many row crop producers around the state faced tough planting conditions, from cool ground temperatures to too much rain, which delayed or damaged initial plantings this spring. Now dryland crops are facing another challenge  heat and rapidly decreasing moisture levels," said Gaylon Morgan, cotton specialist at Texas A&M University in College Station.

Morgan said heavy rains delayed cotton planting in the College Station area. Soils were still saturated when cotton was planted, and some bottomlands were drowned out or washed away.

"Our earlier planted cotton is flowering, and these plants are past the point where they dedicate much energy toward new root development," he said. "They're putting all their energy toward making flowers and bolls. So you've got shallow root systems that didn't have a prolific growth period, and now you have hot days that can dry out the first few inches of soil quickly."

In the St. Lawrence farming region of Glasscock County, about 75 miles northwest of San Angelo, the cotton crop is also spread out in terms of maturity, with a few fields just now emerging after one last replant to some of the earliest cotton about to bloom, said Brad Easterling, the integrated pest manager for Glasscock, Reagan and Upton counties.

"Most farmers still have their pumps off, some are watering just to get fertilizer out, and many of those living west of St. Lawrence are irrigating, and have been for a while. The Midkiff area lacks the deep moisture they need," Easterling said.

According to the National Agricultural Statistics Service, Texas High Plains farmers are on track to plant 3.49 million acres of cotton this year, up from 2015.

"The largest portion of the increase comes from northern counties in the Plains Cotton Growers service area," said Mary Jane Buerkle with Lubbock-based PCG. "Growers in northern counties planted 520,000 acres. That's up 33 percent from last year. Growers in southern counties planted 2,870,000 acres, up 8 percent."

Calvin Trostle, an agronomist in Lubbock, said a small portion of crops in the Panhandle will require replanting due to failure from weather damages or poor conditions. Grain sorghum is often a common replant crop, but the window for planting is closing the farther north in the High Plains one goes.

Hail, wind and blowing sand damage on West Texas cotton are frequently heavy in May and June, up to 400,000 acres in some years.

A recent hailstorm wiped out young cotton on the DeLoach farm near Littlefield. "It's too late to replant cotton. Guess we'll go in with sorghum," Bob DeLoach said.

The upward trend is reflected statewide and nationwide. Texas growers planted about 5.5 million acres of cotton this season, up 15 percent from 4.8 million in 2015, according to the NASS.

The greatest increases were in the Coastal Bend, South Central and Lower Valley areas in South Texas, where excessive rainfall in 2015 prevented many growers from planting cotton.

"Last year about 500,000 acres of cotton weren't planted in South and East Texas because it was too wet," Morgan said. "But overall the transition from very wet to very dry is the concern now. The cotton crop has a lot of potential, it just needs rain."

Nationwide, growers are estimated to have planted 9.82 million acres of cotton, up 17 percent from last year. Actual estimated planted acreage is higher than those from both the United States Department of Agriculture in its Prospective Plantings Report in March, and the National Cotton Council's annual early planting intentions survey.
Associated Press file A historic marker perches in front of the home once owned by Declaration of Independence signer Josiah Bartlett in Kingston, N.H. The home is for sale after being in the family for seven generations.

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By Kathy Mccormack, Associated Press

CONCORD, N.H.  Apparently, being a signer of the Declaration of Independence doesn't carry that much clout these days.

The 242-year-old home of Josiah Bartlett, of Kingston, New Hampshire, a doctor who signed the document after John Hancock and later became governor, is still available two years after it was put up for sale by his great-great-great-great granddaughter.

The name might ring familiar to fans of the TV series "The West Wing." Martin Sheen played President Josiah "Jed" Bartlet from New Hampshire, a fictional (and differently spelled) descendant.

Ruth Albert, who has spent much of her life in the house in the town of Kingston, wants to downsize and hopes that the home can stay in her family. She has no children, and she has exhausted her list of cousins. She got excited last year when she was suddenly approached by a fellow seventh-generation Bartlett descendant who lives in Florida, but that didn't work out.

"I held on and held on," the 65-year-old retired postal worker said. She said the descendant was considering moving to New Hampshire to pursue a doctorate. "I guess at one point in time she was thinking it would be kind of cool to go to Dartmouth, because that's where a lot of our ancestors got their doctorate degrees. And then I think she decided it was just a little too cold up there."

Albert took the property, about 10 miles from Massachusetts, off the market for the winter and advertised it again this spring.

The 4,600-square-foot, four-bedroom Colonial farmhouse was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1972 and is selling for $549,900. It has a linden tree that Bartlett brought back from Philadelphia as a sapling after signing the Declaration of Independence.

Little has changed beyond kitchen and bathroom renovations and mechanical upgrades. Bartlett's medical instruments are displayed in the parlor. One end of the second floor still has an outhouse and tin bathtub with a pump.

Additional land near the house can be bought, bringing the price to $849,900.

"People have been coming to look at it, but I haven't had any serious offers," Albert said.

Ben Wilson, director of New Hampshire's Bureau of Historic Sites, said the state can't afford to buy and operate the house without an endowment.

"Historic buildings, landscapes and monuments take an extra level of care, so the bureau tries very hard to make the most of the resources it has," he said.
On Saturday, in the morning, at ANZAC Square, Brisbane, His Excellency the Honourable Paul de Jersey AC attended the Reserve Forces Day Recognition Ceremony and addressed guests, followed by a Civic Reception at Brisbane City Hall.
On Monday, in the morning, at Baden-Powell Park, Samford Valley, His Excellency the Honourable Paul de Jersey AC attended the Scouts Queensland Scout Section Skills Camp.

In the evening, at Government House, Mrs Kaye de Jersey, with the Governor, hosted a reception for the presentation of the Girl Guides Queensland 2016 Queens Guide and Adult Awards.
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GIS - 04 July, 2016: Mauritius and the Bruxelles will further reinforce collaboration at the level of the Parliament in view of establishing a better relation between the parliamentarians of both countries. Mauritius and the Bruxelles will further reinforce collaboration at the level of the Parliament in view of establishing a better relation between the parliamentarians of both countries.

This was at the fore of discussions during a courtesy call by the President of Parliament of the Federation Wallonie in Bruxelles, Mr Philippe Courard, on the Prime Minister, Sir Anerood Jugnauth, this morning at the New Treasury Building in Port Louis.

In a statement, Mr Philippe Courard, expressed satisfaction regarding his meeting with the Prime Minister. He underlined that both parties agreed on strengthening further the relationship between the Mauritian Parliament and that of the Wallonie, Bruxelles as both countries are also part of the International Organisation of La Francophonie.

Other topics raised pertained to the provision of health care services in Mauritius which is referred to as a model in this sector in Africa; the Brexit issue; the exchange programmes with regards to the education sector; democracy and the forthcoming Summit of La Francophonie to be held in Madagascar in November this year.
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GIS - 04 July 2016: As leaders of tomorrow, students have a big role to play in the transformation of our society and learning science will enable youth acquire knowledge to be used as a tool for the advancement of research and development and technology for the benefit of Mauritius and for the region, said the President of the Republic, Dr Ameenah Gurib-Fakim, on 1st July 2016 at the State House, Reduit.

The President was addressing Lower and Upper VI students who have opted for science subjects for their field of studies, as well as other personalities attending a lecture organised as part of a series of Presidential initiatives.

Resource persons were two eminent and world well-known scientists, namely, Professor Attar-ur-Rahman, FRS, UNESCO Science Laureate, President Network of Academies of Science in Countries of the Organisation of Islamic Conference and Professor Emeritus, International Centre for Chemical and Biological Sciences, University of Karachi; and, Professor Berhanu Abegaz, Executive Director of the African Academy of Sciences, Nairobi.

Professor Attar-ur-Rahman lectured on The wondrous world of scientific discovery, while Professor Berhanu Abegaz made a presentation on African contribution to science  historical and current.

According to President Gurib-Fakim, students should be taught science since their early age of learning in order to arouse their curiosity, their passion and their capacity to think creatively. Teaching science, she stated, can nurture that curiosity and foster minds capable of thinking critically, differently and creatively.

For the President, if young people want to remain relevant and germane in this 21st century, they have to be competent, technically capable and fully skilled, and science can offer them all these possibilities.

During the past years, there has been a decrease in the number of students taking science subjects at secondary and University levels but the emphasis on science has not taken a back seat in our education system, the President stressed. Science is vital for our continued prosperity and the biggest challenge for us now is to see how we can leverage science as well as technology and innovation for the benefit of our economy, she added.
Ferrari and Pirelli are investigating the race-ending tyre explosion that stopped Sebastian Vettel in his tracks on Sunday.

The German driver was leading the Austrian grand prix when a rear tyre exploded and ended his race at the Red Bull Ring.

Team boss Maurizio Arrivabene denied suggestions Ferrari pushed the boundaries by running the tyres for too long on Vettel's car.

"No," he said. "We wanted to go even longer and had plenty of feedback from Seb that we were on the safe side.

"There were no signs on the telemetry, nothing from Sebastian that there was something wrong. Then the tyre broke," added the Italian.

Coming at the end of a weekend in which several cars' suspensions were destroyed over harsh new kerbs at the Red Bull Ring, Arrivabene said that could not be ruled out as the cause.

"It's too early to say but it's possible," he said.

"It's just strange that we are apparently the only ones with such a problem.

"We are working closely with Pirelli on the analysis. When I started work here (at Ferrari), I said I would always tell the truth, and the truth is I don't know what happened."

The sister car of Kimi Raikkonen went on to finish third in Austria, but Arrivabene would not be drawn on what he thinks Vettel might have achieved.

"Vettel was leading and according to our calculations, he would have finished the race near the front. How far forward, we will never know," he said.

With the two Mercedes drivers clashing yet again, meanwhile, what Arrivabene would say is that similar trouble between Vettel and Raikkonen is much less likely.

"I leave this issue to Toto (Wolff)," said Arrivabene.

"I am happy with Kimi and Seb. I cannot imagine a situation like that at Mercedes with our own two drivers."

(GMM)
GREENWICH  As the town and other parts of Fairfield County continue to face the slight inconveniences of a moderate drought, the CEO of a local company that develops water technology described desperation other parts of the country and world have endured.

Patrick Decker, president and CEO of Xylem, told the gathering of about 100 at last weeks meeting of the Retired Mens Association of Greenwich the worldwide demand for water as populations continue to grow.

Without water, there is nothing else, Decker said. There is no greater challenge to be served than what were doing here.

Decker, whose company in Rye Brook, N.Y., develops technology for municipal and industrial use to produce safe water, discussed the challenges hes seen, including simply transporting water since regulations vary by state.

He also discussed infrastructure issues and the lead problem in Flint, Mich.

Flint and other areas where infrastructure has failed will pressure utilities to make improvements in technology and transparency, Decker said.

He said there needs to be a higher investment in infrastructure, especially now when financing rates are low and the projects could help the countrys unemployment rate.

Anytime people hear there is something contaminated in the water supply, they go into a frenzy  naturally, Decker said.

Decker discussed desalination, the process of removing salt from water to make it drinkable or usable. He called it a viable alternative, but noted its challenges.

It really should be used as a last resort, Decker said. Desalination programs are wildly expensive, in the billions of dollars. Often, you have to mothball those facilities because you need a revenue stream to be able to justify that level of investment.

There are also environmental considerations for desalination, and there are questions about the long-term effects of the process when what is removed from the water is put back in the ocean.

Xylem, which has its headquarters on King Street in Rye Brook, uses technology for tasks like smart water and wastewater infrastructure, wastewater filtration and disinfection, water-use solutions, advance monitoring and testing.

But Decker said his companys technology will never solve the problem of water access.

Education is the solution for our water challenges, both today and in the future, Decker said.

Im proud to say that since 2008 we have invested $17 million in five different partners we have around the world and thousands of hours of our own peoples time, where our people go out and actually work on these projects like water towers in India, Cambodia, Brazil, the Middle East or China.

We have impacted now 2.9 billion people in 27 countries around the world.

Decker said one of the projects hes most passionate about has been providing technology to schools in Cambodia and India and bringing water to as many as 2,000 children in the communities, who have also received lessons in cleanliness and hygiene.

When we see the smiles on their faces, and you see the tears in the eyes of their principals, teachers and adults who come around  if that doesnt move you, then nothing in this world will, Decker said.

For more information about Xylem, visit www.xylem.com . For a video of last weeks discussion as well as past RMA speakers, go to greenwichrma.org .

kborsuk@scni.com
GREENWICH  The state has been offering low-interest financing for commercial buildings to launch energy-efficient projects for years, but so far, no businesses in town have taken them up on it.

The program is dubbed C-PACE, or Commercial and Industrial Property Assessed Clean Energy, and allows building owners to apply for financing for projects that will make their energy use more efficient or transition to cleaner sources of energy.

The program is run by the Connecticut Green Bank, which has facilitated more than 100 projects in the state  except in Greenwich.

I think its really a lack of awareness, said Mackey Dykes, vice president of commercial, industrial and institutional programs at Connecticut Green Bank.

He said saving money on energy isnt always on a business owners mind.

Its not something that a business owner wakes up every morning thinking about, he said. But when they do, its usually a no-brainer.

The Green Bank is looking for projects that lower energy consumption or help the building produce clean energy. To be eligible, the project will need to permanently remain fixed to the building and have a lifetime savings that is greater than the cost of the project.

The Green Bank also assists business owners identify projects and connect them with a contractor, Dykes said.

If the building is sold before the loan is paid off, the remaining amount is transferred to the new owner, Dykes said.

Projects have ranged from $30,000 to $8.3 million, according to the Green Banks latest quarterly report. Most of the projects focused on renewable energy, but about a quarter were centered on energy efficiency.

The Town of Greenwich opted into the program shortly after it launched in 2013, making town business owners eligible to participate. Green Bank is aiming to spark more interest with an Energy on the Live campaign, offering a $50,000 grant to help repay loans for C-PACE-eligible projects.

pfrissell@hearstmediact.com; @PeregrineFriss
GREENWICH  A Backcountry health treatment facility has been cited several times for zoning violations and has been the subject of neighbor complaints since it opened two years ago.

Backcountry Wellness, an eating disorder treatment center, will go before the Planning and Zoning Commission Wednesday night with an application for a special-use permit to resolve the issues.

The meeting, which will be held at 6 p.m. in the Town Hall Meeting Room, will be the first opportunity for neighbors to publicly voice their concerns.

Neighbors of the North Porchuck Road facility, located near Wild Flower Sanctuary on the narrow residential street, have complained to police about the business and the volume of traffic it has caused.

The towns zoning inspector has cited the facility four times for violations. The first was issued in September of 2015 and the most recent was this past January.

Joanna Bronfman, a state-licensed social worker who is the centers founder and director, declined to comment.

A recent document prepared for this weeks meeting states the facility does not meet the minimum setback of 100 feet from roads and property lines.

The facility also has not submitted a parking plan for evening and weekend hours, according to the document.

The document also states it is unclear if patients stay overnight at the facility. Before being contacted by a zoning inspector, the business listed on its website that patients could stay at the facility for as long as a few months, according to the document.

Bronfman said no patients have stayed overnight at the facility, according to the document. She said they realized once the facility opened, there was no demand for overnight stays, the document states.

According to the document, Bronfman said all activities that do not adhere to the special-use permit have been and will continue to be conducted off-site.

An official from the state Department of Public Health said the therapy-focused business does not need a Connecticut license, and Bronfman has the required state social workers license.

Bronfmans attorney, Eric Brower, stated in the document that he knows of several cases when violations were allowed to continue because the owner was acting in good faith to resolve the issue through the permitting process.

pfrissell@hearstmediact.com; @PeregrineFriss
In 2009, President Obama offered funding to school districts across the country to improve their most persistently struggling schools. In exchange, they would have to adopt what were considered one of four sweeping turnaround models first used by Obamas education secretary, Arne Duncan, in the late 1990s when he was steering Chicagos troubled public schools.

We want transformation, not tinkering, Duncan famously declared in a 2009 speech introducing the national program.

In order to get that in Chicago, Duncan had given leaders at some of the lowest-performing schools several choices: replace the principal and some of the staff, close and restart the school fresh or turn the school over to a private management organization or the districts own school improvement office. The University of Chicago Consortium on School Research found that struggling elementary schools that used one of these strategies were able to reduce the gap between their students math and reading scores and the districts overall scores by almost half after four years. But similar reforms did little to dent chronic absenteeism or poor graduation rates at Chicagos worst high schools.

When the district took more time to plan its turnaround strategy in a second generation of failing high schools it had better  but still uneven  results, said Marisa de la Torre, the consortiums director for internal research capacity.

More Information Connecticut's Shame This is the third part of a four-day series on Bassick High School that was created by and originally ran on the non-profit education website The 74. It is reprinted here courtesy of The 74. Coming Wednesday, 'Pockets of excellence' See More Collapse

What you see over and over is that these turnaround efforts, they are a process, she said. Its not going to happen overnight.

High school turnaround is generally seen as one of the hardest tasks in urban education. One of the few places to experience success was New York City which improved the education of students slated to attend the lowest-performing schools by closing them and opening new, smaller high schools. Other states have been able to improve failing high schools by bringing in new leaders who supervise smaller learning communities under programs such as The Talent Development High School Model and First Things First.

"What works in one city is not necessarily going to work in another city or even in another high school," said James Kemple, executive director of the The Research Alliance for New York City Schools which studied that citys controversial closure model.

Less attention

Far smaller in scope and with nowhere near the resources of New York City, Bridgeport set out on its own pursuit of transformation in 2010 when it received one of Obamas $2.1 million School Improvement Grants to remake Bassick High School. Then-Superintendent John Ramos took the approach that stipulated replacing the principal but retaining the rest of the staff, with a heavy emphasis on professional development, curriculum improvement, and expanded learning time.

Reading the application Bridgeport filed with the U.S. Department of Education to win the grant offers a glimpse into what Bassick was like in the 2007-08 school year when the school reported 881 disciplinary offenses.

Parent Evelyn Medina remembers those days. She often feared for her childrens safety, she said, frequently receiving messages that the police had locked down the school because of another serious fight.

Medinas children knew to walk away from violent incidents, but that didnt mean their school experience was challenge-free. They struggled to keep up in their classes. Her daughter was slated to graduate in 2010, but dropped out in her senior year.

Her son, with dreams of becoming a mechanic, persisted through tough classes. Three years ago, Medina and her daughter watched with pride as he got his diploma. Still, the moment was bittersweet for her daughter, who by that time had a child and a job but no degree.

The only thing she said was He made it and not me, Medina said. She started crying. Why didnt I finish?

Changing the culture

Why didnt she and why didnt so many others? Ramos, the superintendent, had some ideas about why students were flunking out or just walking away from school and what could be done to change it. He entered into a three-way partnership with the teachers unions and the University of Connecticut called the CommPACT Community Schools Collaborative. The thinking was the best solutions for improving Bassick would bubble up from teachers in the classroom and really take hold if parents were part of the process. With the former principal gone, Ramos tapped Alejandro Ortiz to lead Bassick through this period.

Teachers wanted this model in the high school, said Michele Femc-Bagwell, director of the collaborative. They really owned the challenges. They owned the change.

That first year the group made quick and simple improvements to school culture. They painted the inside of the building and required students to wear uniforms. They hired a new specialist who would mentor students to prevent them from dropping out, Femc-Bagwell said.

The school used SIG funds to hire extra reading teachers, establish a literacy program, start a peer mentoring program, create a Saturday academy for struggling students and offer a program to help students make up credits from failed classes. The school also hired an administrator to focus on improving student test scores. Ninth- and 10th graders were placed in separate academies where teams were set up to gather their data and use it to give underclassmen more targeted instruction.

CommPACT also started and staffed a large parent resource center to help parents with the everyday struggles of poverty while also involving them in their teenagers education.

Former state Education Commissioner Stefan Pryor toured Bassick with reporters in December 2011, declaring that the chronically underperforming high school had entered a new era.

You all have created the track record, the best practices right here at this school that we can build upon, he said.

But Bassick soon found itself amid more upheaval. In July 2011, then-Mayor Bill Finch and Gov. Dannel Malloy orchestrated a behind-the-scenes state takeover of the school district in response to what they saw as an irreparably dysfunctional school board.

The new state-appointed board fired Ramos, the superintendent, and hired the reformer Paul Vallas, a big-city schools chief with experience in Philadelphia, Chicago, and New Orleans.

And then just months after Vallas was hired, the state Supreme Court ruled the state-appointed school board had been created illegally and ordered control to be returned to the locally elected board.

Expanding choice

During his tenure in Bridgeport, Vallas worked to stabilize the districts finances after years of budget deficits. He also secured an $11 million grant to help the citys four new magnet high schools  which admit students by lottery and do not include Bassick  offer top-of-the-line career-readiness programs. He deployed thousands of Chromebooks and hundreds of smart boards to city classrooms.

The strategy was simple: Improve the quality of schools but buy yourself time (for those improvements to work) by expanding choice, Vallas told The 74.

At Bassick, Vallas brought in a new principal named Wayne Alexander, who shared his reform-oriented philosophy. Sensing there was a new order at Bassick, CommPACT organizers said they dialed back their presence in the school.

When the new administration came in, we were still very dedicated to Bassick, saidFemc-Bagwell. We all believe in the students. What we decided to do at that point was to remain there but to focus in on the parent and the community piece.

Vallas assessment was that the CommPACT initiative faded more because the SIG grant ran out than anything else.

Vallas hoped to transform Bassick into three thematic academies  in part, to make the school feel smaller and in part to offer more compelling curriculum. His administration planned to create a Performing Arts Academy in partnership with the Bridgeport Performing Arts Center; an engineering-focused program that would operate in conjunction with The University of Bridgeport, and an automotive engineering program, according to Vallas.

Those plans never fully got off the ground. In November 2013, Connecticuts Working Families Party organized a surprisingly large election-day turnout, helping to put in place a new school board majority that opposed Vallas reform policies and questioned his qualifications to serve as a superintendent in Connecticut. Shortly afterwards, former Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn tapped Vallas as his running-mate for the 2014 gubernatorial race in Vallas home state. The reform superintendent made his exit.

Four years after Ramos initiated the federally funded effort to transform Bassick, the new era heralded by the state education commissioner during his visit had begun to look a lot like the old one.

Earlier this year, four area university presidents joined in a letter to the current state commissioner asking her to intervene, saying the dysfunction of the Bridgeport school board called into serious question the boards ability to carry out its charge.
Coming from the parent company behind vivo, Oppo, and OnePlus, the imoo brand has had its first handset certified by the Chinese telecom regulator TENAA. The imoo GET actually appears to be a pretty capable midranger, and comes with a twist in the camera department.

The list of specs starts off with a 5.5-inch FullHD AMOLED display. Running things is a 2GHz octa-core CPU inside what is reportedly a Mediatek Helio P10 chipset. There's 3GB of RAM on board and 32GB of storage, but the field for expansion has been left blank in the specsheet, so we can't know for sure.

The imoo GET measures 158 x 78 x 7mm and weighs 154g, while packing a 2,930mAh battery. Android version is 6.0 Marshmallow, but with ample customizations to make the phone student-friendly. Now, we're not entirely sure what it does, but the video below gives a general idea.

There's also some camera trickery going on, and the window next to the proper 13MP main module could hide a laser autofocus sensor, but also possibly a secondary camera.

Whatever the case, the imoo GET should become official in the coming weeks, putting an end to all speculations.

Source | Via
Ever since Windows 10 was made official and the year-long free upgrade program launched, the pesky update notification has been a constant source of annoyance for users, as well as the reason behind more than a few hilarious public accidents.

Now that the end of the promotion period is near - officially set for July 29, Microsoft warns that in a typical arcade game boss fashion, the notification will take one final form, before being obliterated forever.

According to a recent post on the US giant's website, some Windows 8.1 and Windows 7 SP1 users can expect to see a full screen prompt. It should look like the screenshot below and will give users a choice between "Upgrade now", "Remind me later", "Notify me three more times" and "Do not notify me again".

Judging from the tone and context of the support article, it really does sound like Microsoft is making one last preemptive apology for the whole notification saga. This is further backed up by the fact that the company provides a very thorough list of conditions, which all prevent the "final form" from happening. Among these is a mention of recent versions of the "Get Windows 10" app, suggesting that Microsoft did remove the final notification from newer iterations of the software, most-likely after the community backlash.

You have a recent version of the "Get Windows 10" app installed. You have selected the Do not notify me again option. Your computer is detected to be incompatible with Windows 10. You have previously uninstalled Windows 10 after you upgrade. Your Windows 10 installation failed and rolled back. You have hidden the "Get Windows 10" app notifications. You have disabled the Windows 10 upgrade or you have disabled the offer screen through registry key settings.

This should effectively leave a fairly small percentage of PC's actually eligible for the upgrade unaware, butwhen dealing with Microsoft's enormous user base, you never know where and how the screen will pop up. Que another batch of hilarious public terminals and information displays. Hopefully even another weather forecast interruption.

Joking aside, however, there are many reasons why you should consider upgrading a dated Windows 7 or Windows 8 installation to Windows 10. If nothing else, you should definitely think about it over the next few weeks and make a definitive decision one way or the other, as after July 30, Microsoft is planning to charge $119 for the same upgrade.

Source | Via
Published on 2016/07/03 | Source

Lee Min-ho's "Bounty Hunters" which was released in China on July 1st, is on a roll.

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Liu Yifei posted on her SNS, "It's so good. Everyone should go and see the movie in the theaters!" Other local stars also posted on their SNS to promote the movie.

Directed by Shin Terra, "Bounty Hunters" is a 30 billion won global Asian comedy action movie about a bounty hunter.

The movie is a collaboration between Korea and China and the breaking point has become even before the release of the movie.

"Bounty Hunters" is also looking forward to be being released in England, Australia, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Taiwan.
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Published on 2016/07/03 | Source

The drama "Uncontrollably Fond" has been sold for 400,000 USD per episode.

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According to sources, KBS 2TV drama "Uncontrollably Fond" has been sold to China for 400,000 USD per episode.

This is the first time a domestic drama has been sold for that much. The tvN "Entourage - Korea" was bought in for 300,000 USD per episode. Even KBS 2TV "Descendants of the Sun" was sold for 250,000 USD per episode. The reason for such high value is thanks to Kim Woo-bin and Bae Suzy's popularity in China.

Bae Suzy has a wide reputation in China thanks to the group Miss A. Kim Woo-bin has been famous there since 2013 for "The Heirs". Their synergy blended together to create this great result.

"Uncontrollably Fond" is the story of a man and a woman who parted on bad terms in the past, reuniting later as a super star and a documentary producer. Kim Woo-bin and Bae Bae Suzy are taking on the roles of a super star named Sin Joon-yeong and timid No-eul, a documentary producer.
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
Marian Carleen Roebke of Pawnee City went to her Heavenly Father Saturday, July 2, 2016, reaching the age of 78 years, 10 months and 6 days. She was born the fourth daughter of Orville and Pearl (Cockrill) Alderman on Aug. 28, 1937 in Table Rock, Neb.

Carleen attended country school and continued her schooling through 10th grade at Pawnee City. As a young adult she worked at Beatrice State Home until moving to Fort Collins, Colo.,where she worked at Montgomery Wards.

Carleen married the love of her life, Martin (Marty) Roebke, on July 6, 1962 in Pawnee City. While in Colorado they enjoyed camping and fishing along Sheep Creek and Pouter Canyon whenever possible. Carleen and Marty also enjoyed music and dancing, many times pulling out the guitars, accordions or playing on the piano. There are many memories of music jams enjoyed when families would gather together.

They moved back to Pawnee City in 1969 to care for Carleens ailing father; they purchased his home and settled in. Side by side they worked from home, Carleen with her upholstery shop and Martys repair on lawn mowers, chain saws and such. Carleen also worked at various jobs in Pawnee City, Wee Winnie Wearables in Seneca, Kan., some construction, CJ Foods and cleaning of some businesses.

Carleen was preceded in death by her parents, Orville and Pearl Alderman, husband Marty, stepsons Martin Jr. and Marvin Roebke, sisters and spouses Rotha (Raymond) Keuten, Norma Gail (Dan) Heath and Chuck Hyde, and three nephews and one niece.

Carleen is survived by sister Joan Hyde of Cheyenne, Wyo.; stepdaughters Marjorie Itzel, Myra Denton and stepdaughter-in-law Shirley Roebke; numerous nieces, nephews and other family and friends .

Services 10 a.m., Wednesday, July 6 at Zion Lutheran Church, Pawnee City. Pastor Schermbeck will officiate. Visitation from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday, July 5, with family greeting friends from 6-8 p.m. at Wherry Mortuary, 919 G St., Pawnee City. Interment at Table Rock Cemetery, Table Rock, Neb. Memorials to family choice. Online condolence may be left at www.wherrymortuary.com.
Four workers killed in Thailand shipyard explosion

Four workers were killed in an explosion at a shipyard in Ayutthaya province, Thailand, on July 1. Thai police said that the explosion occurred as four workers, including one Cambodian migrant worker, were doing a paint job inside the hull of a freighter under construction at the shipyard of Chartchai Cholatharnrungsawat Company located on the bank of Noi River in Bangsai district.

Stock image

Police said they were investigating the cause of the blast. The explosion tore through the vessel from the middle to the stern, according to local sources.



The supervisor in charge said welding was 80% complete on the 55 metre-long vessel and the hull was being spray-painted when the explosion took place. He said that victims were inside the hull and had an electric fan, a grinding machine and an air pump in operation, any of which could have produced sparks that might have ignited paint or thinner.


promise of the Coalition following the Double Dissolution election, that the Howard-era Australian Building and Construction Commission (ABCC) be reinstituted, could now be in jeopardy, depending on who forms government and with which partys help.



The ABCC has been a high-profile issue, fought ideologically and primarily concerning the construction industry. However, the closeness of the election means uncertainty remains on two key pieces of government workplace policy which affect most employers.



The opportunity to sweeten salary packages with super could be diminished because both the Coalition and Labor plan to increase the tax on super contributions for those earning more than $250,000 a year, from 15% to 30%.



The government plans to limit after-tax superannuation contributions to a $500,000 lifetime cap. This rule would take into account all after-tax contributions since 2007 and Labor has criticised the plan because it is effectively retrospective. However, nothing is to stop Labor supporting the cap prospectively.



Labor also said it was open to the Government's proposal to cap tax-free pension phase accounts at $1.6m.



Both major parties will make it harder to fatten salaries with superannuation.



The election also makes future employer-backed Paid Parental Leave policies uncertain. Primary carers who earn less than $150,000 per year can receive up to 18 weeks of parental leave pay at the minimum wage ($657/week), on top of the employers paid parental leave. The Coalitions latest policy on PPL would see the existing scheme cut back and paid parental leave already provided by employers would be topped up to ensure new parents receive 18 weeks of paid leave. The change could mean 79,000 parents would have their payments reduced.



Labor has proposed no changes to the existing policy, but the reality of minority government means that important workplace policy such as superannuation and paid parental leave could re-emerge  with large changes  before the end of the year.



By Mark Abernethy


The way I see it, details from the recent escape at the Lincoln Correctional Center played out like the script of one of those grainy black-and-white B movies of years ago. Two inmates hid in laundry carts, which were loaded on a truck and hauled out of the prison on an otherwise unassuming Friday morning.

Several miles later, they climbed out of the truck at a traffic light and stole a nearby pickup, which they later crashed into an SUV and fled on foot. That started a massive manhunt, which led to the capture of one inmate in Lincoln the next day and the other several days later in Omaha.

Sorry guys, not an original plot. Mexico's most notorious drug lord did the same thing 15 years ago. In 2001, Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman escaped from a high-security prison in a laundry cart. It took authorities 13 years to catch him. Seventeen months later he crawled through a hole in the shower of a maximum-security prison and vanished through a mile-long tunnel, which had apparently been built for him.

He's back behind bars again as Mexican officials investigate who helped him escape.

In the Nebraska case, Correction's Director Scott Frakes said the two convicts were able to escape because Corrections staff failed to follow procedure. The two apparently talked the guard at the turnkey into letting them into the laundry "to work" even though their names were not on the list of approved workers. That was one of several failures to follow procedure, he said.

The escapes came at a time when prison critics and spokesmen for the prison worker's union are complaining that staffing levels are inadequate at the prisons and employees are being forced to work overtime. A spokesman for the governor said the prison was fully staffed at the time of the escape, and neither of the two employees that officials said failed to follow procedure was working overtime.

At a hearing of the special legislative committee investigating prison reform, a few days after the escape, state Ombudsman Marshall Lux gave senators an email his office received from a prison employee who said the prisons have been critically understaffed for at least six years. Very little has been done to solve the problem, said the employee -- who Lux did not name -- adding that lack of staff allows inmates to pay attention to gaps in security and then take advantage of them.

The committee met with Frakes to discuss how much money is needed to fix the system. Frakes hasn't pegged a number yet while he continues doing analysis and studies. He's working on changing the culture of the prison system. Senators Paul Schumacher of Columbus and Ernie Chambers of Omaha are among those pushing for answers. At one point, Chambers left the meeting in frustration with Frakes inability -- or unwillingness -- to address the money issue.

The committee drafted a letter claiming that the state employees union blamed the June 10 escape on understaffing. The letter also said that high levels of turnover have led to large amounts of overtime and have overextended prison staff, putting them and the community at risk.

Schumacher said he wants to make sure that the administration earmarks money in the next budget for emergency funding to hire and train additional corrections officers for Nebraska's prisons. The Columbus lawmaker said he fears some will try to keep that money for property tax relief.

The letter to the governor noted numerous recent incidents of violence -- more than a handful of attacks on guards by inmates -- as well as the Mother's Day 2015 riot at the Tecumseh prison that left two dead, several injured and hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages to the state's maximum security prison.

Narrowing in on the Lincoln escape, the letter called for immediate action "to assure Nebraskans that these lapses of security will not be tolerated -- not one more day."

The Legislature has given Corrections $1.5 million to use to retain employees. The union wanted it used to retain people through merit increases and bonuses. Frakes said the most successful and enduring organizations devote time, energy and money to retaining employees. Thus, he has chosen to use the money for training and professional development opportunities for all levels of staff. He said the resources will help employees cope with challenges and stress unique to prison work as well as wellness amenities and a commuting bonus for people who work at the Tecumseh prison.

The warden and two employees at the Lincoln Correctional Center have been moved to desk jobs in central administration while a team of prison officials from Virginia -- where former Nebraska Correction's Director Harold Clarke now runs the show -- are investigating what went wrong here.

More money for retention and training of employees and maybe hiring additional employees sounds good. But you know what even sounds better? Getting all the employees to follow established rules and regulations. Testing and drilling them on it frequently. Keeping them aware of the clientele.

Most importantly, not being conned by the convicts.
By Anthony Wyatt

June 29, 2012. With July 4 rapidly approaching and patriotism in the air, many individuals turn to flying the American flag to show their support. However, when dealing with this esteemed and honored national symbol all should be aware of and follow proper flag etiquette. To know how to handle, care for and display the Stars and Stripes respectfully, here are a few tips from the experts.

For outside display, the first rule to follow is that no part of it should touch the ground or any other object, according to usflag.org. Therefore, when raising, lowering and transporting the American flag, use caution in order to assure that it is being treated reverently and handled carefully.

When running the flag up and down a flagpole, [it] should be raised briskly and lowered slowly and ceremoniously, states americanflags.org. The Flag of the United States is saluted as it is hoisted and lowered.

Ordinarily [the flag] should be displayed only between sunrise and sunset. It should be illuminated if displayed at night, usflag.org states. These rules should be followed when using either a vertical flagpole or a wall mount for presenting the American flag.

In the context of parades and other July 4 events where the flag is present, it is appropriate to salute only the first US flag, according to americanflags.org. The flag should be in front of the marchers. At the moment the flag passes in a parade or procession, all persons should show respect. It is never appropriate to dip the American flag [as that] is a sign of subservience.

Other rules of flag flying etiquette one should be conscious of include: the American flag should be the topmost and largest flag when flown with others on the same flagpole; if multiple flagpoles display multiple flags, the US flag should be in a position of distinction, preferably on the right; the American flag is always the first to be raised and the last to be lowered; and if flown in mourning, the flag should be raised only to half-staff.

When not flying the flag, it should be kept clean and mended. Be aware of the fabric your flag is made of and get it dry-cleaned if necessary. To store the flag, usflag.org writes, it should be folded neatly and ceremoniously.

The American Flag Code does not specify how the flag is to be folded, so for home use it is acceptable to do so in a normal, but respectful, way. However, for military and other formal ceremonies, the standard 13-fold method is used. According to united-states-flag.com, To specify, there should be two lengthwise folds and eleven triangular folds.

If rips or tears render the flag unusable, it should be destroyed by burning in a dignified manner, states usflag.org. Most American Legion Posts regularly conduct a dignified burning ceremony, often on Flag Day, June 14. Many Boy Scout Troops and Girl Scout Troops retire flags regularly as well. Contact your local American Legion Hall or Scout Troop to inquire about the availability of this service.

During the July 4 holiday, and indeed at all times throughout the year, be conscious of proper flag etiquette. The flag is our national symbol, and it should always be treated with the respect, dignity and reverence it deserves. According to americanflags.org, It is a symbol that each American should respect, for it represents the honor, courage and sacrifice of those who struggled to preserve the ideals upon which our country was founded: Freedom, justice and opportunity for all.

For more information about American flag etiquette, visit the following sites:

www.usflag.org/flagetiquette.html

www.americanflags.org

www.vfw.org/Community/Flag-Education/

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I've already pointed out that all of our armed forces have been pulled out from the border between Finland and Russia, he said in a news conference held in conjunction with his visit to Kultaranta, the summer residence of President Sauli Niinisto, on Friday.

Russia has given Finns no cause whatsoever for concern despite the tense security situation in the Baltic Sea Region, states Vladimir Putin, the President of the Russian Federation.

Putin claimed that the armed forces are currently stationed stationed as far as 1,500 kilometres from the border, whereas in the Baltics they are stationed in the immediate vicinity of the border.

The starting point is that Finland is a non-aligned country, he said. Let's imagine that Finland joined Nato. It would mean that the Finnish Defence Forces were no longer independent, completely sovereign, but a part of Nato's infrastructure that would be stationed right at Russia's borders. What do you think, would we take similar action?

Russia, he assured, will nonetheless respect the will of the Finnish public in regards to the issue of Nato membership. How you guarantee your own safety, how you defend your own country, that's up to Finns, he said.

Aleksi Teivainen  HT

Photo: Jussi Nukari  Lehtikuva

Source: Uusi Suomi
Niinisto estimated in a joint press conference with Vladimir Putin, the President of the Russian Federation, on Friday that it is clear that Russia is perceived as a threat in the Baltics and that Russia, on the other hand, is concerned about the growing presence of Nato in its adjoining territories.

Breaking the spiral of mistrust is key for both the Baltic Sea Region and Ukraine, believes President Sauli Niinisto.

In preventing the continuation of this downward spiral, the key word is trust, the ability to take at least short steps in another direction  that of restoring trust, he said according to a press release.

One such step towards a better security situation, he added, would be to oblige all aircraft to use a transponder while flying over the Baltic Sea.

His proposal was welcomed by Putin.

We've accepted the proposal made by the President of Finland. What is more, I'll give an assignment after returning to Moscow that the issue is added onto the agenda of the meeting between Russia and Nato, Putin said in the press conference.

The meeting of the NatoRussia Council is to take place on 13 July, one week after the Warsaw Nato Summit.

Putin called attention to statistics suggesting that member states of the defence alliance have been responsible for more instances of an aircraft not using its transponder than Russia. Russia, he also stated, will have no choice but to respond to the establishment of a missile defence system in Poland and the deployment of additional troops in the Baltics by Nato.

Airspace safety has been a topic of notable public debate in Finland in recent years following several airspace violations by Russian jets.

Aleksi Teivainen  HT

Photo: Jussi Nukari  Lehtikuva

Source: Uusi Suomi
Is it feasible to hope that the EU has at least a bit of respect for national sovereignty? Is it feasible to hope that the EU has at least learnt something from this ordeal? he asks in his blog .

Recent comments from the European Commission and European Parliament indicate that Brexit campaigners were right about at least one thing  that senior EU officials have an arrogant attitude towards national democracy, argues Risto E. J. Penttila, the chief executive at the Finnish Chamber of Commerce.

If the EU has no respect and has learnt nothing, maybe it could pretend a bit.

Penttila also questions the motives of those urging the United Kingdom to appoint a new Prime Minister and announce its withdrawal from the EU without delay.

It is now a question of whether Europe of the future will be built on the terms of its institutions or those of its people. Finland has to side with the people. This means standing up to the President of [the European] Commission and the President of France, he writes.

Jean-Claude Juncker, the President of the European Commission, wants the United Kingdom to leave the European Union as quickly as possible, while Francoise Hollande, the President of France, wants to strip London City of its ability to clear euro-denominated transactions. Martin Schultz, the Speaker of the European Parliament, meanwhile has voiced his opposition to devising a tailor-made exit strategy for the United Kingdom.

What all three parties  the European Commission, the European Parliament and the French Government  have in common is an utter inability to put themselves in the position of European people and businesses, slams Penttila.

They are only interested in safeguarding the powers of the institutions they represent. The story is all too familiar: let the Greeks suffer as long as the euro does not collapse. Let the Britons suffer as long as the EU does not collapse. Do they not understand that by defending institutions at the risk of everything else, they are winding down the institutions? he asks.

Aleksi Teivainen  HT

Photo: Roni Rekomaa  Lehtikuva

Source: Uusi Suomi
The European Union and the United Kingdom will need each other regardless of Brexit and should invest in ensuring their relationship is as close and well-balanced as possible, Prime Minister Juha Sipila (Centre) said on Friday as the Parliament convened for an extraordinary session to discuss the ramifications of Brexit.

The results of the membership referendum held in the United Kingdom, he also admitted, were a major disappointment to Finland and the European Union.
Driverless trams for Dublin would be "a hare-brained, crazy scheme," according to the union representing LUAS drivers.

Fully automated trams moving through the busy streets of the capital without a driver are not needed and pose a safety risk, said SIPTU divisional organiser Owen Reidy.

Dublin City Council's Transport Committee last week passed a motion calling on the Minister for Transport, the National Transport Authority, Transport Infrastructure Ireland and LUAS operators Transdev to "future proof" all new trams so they will be capable of being fitted with self-driving software.

Cllr Paddy Smyth said expensive trams should not be allowed to lie idle in future in the event of another pay dispute, but this has been rejected by Siptu.

"This is a bit of a red herring," Mr Reidy responded. "Cllr Smyth spoke about automated trams during the recent dispute and this is an over-reaction to the dispute."

"This is a nonsense idea. It's a hare-brained, crazy scheme that's proposed and there's no real need for it," he said.

The union spokesman said: "Mr Smyth need not worry about disputes affecting the tram service.

Trams have been operating for 13 years in Dublin. It has been four or five years since a 'no strike' clause was removed, and there has only been one dispute".

Mr Reidy added: "Another dispute is unlikely given that the pay deal reached gives drivers 18.3pc up to 2020, or around 4pc annually," he said.

"The debate about automated trams needs to be evidence-based. The key to this debate is safety," he added.

Safety

"Dublin's Luas trams are among the safest in Europe. A Railway Safety Commission report in 2014 said the very high safety record for Luas trams was well-placed within European norms," Mr Reidy said.

"In 2014, Luas trams passengers travelled a total of 3.6bn kilometres, with 32m passenger journeys, and there were only eight pedestrian-train contact incidents, involving no deaths.

"These pedestrian incidents concerned people walking out in front of Luas trams, some wearing headphones. Luas drivers have a very high awareness of safety.

"There were 36 road traffic accidents involving cars and trucks colliding with trams. The trams are incredibly safe and this is down to the professionalism of the drivers who must share tracks with bikes and taxis," he said.

Mr Reidy said the city council's transport committee should have done a behaviour and attitudes survey among tram passengers to see if they would have "faith and trust" in driverless trams.

The proper reaction to a pay dispute is negotiation, not making proposals for driverless trams, he added.

Cllr Smyth last week told the Transport Committee: "Given the cost to the city caused by this strike in recent months...we must look at all options of returning a functioning trams service. It is not a question of if, but rather when we automate.

"This (Luas trams) is a very expensive piece of kit to be lying idle during 12 days of industrial action," he said.

A spokeswoman for tram operator Transdev said: "We don't wish to comment at this time."
Two friends who travelled to Dublin for a "good night out in town" ended up being arrested for causing a drink-fuelled disturbance in Busaras during which one of them smashed a window.

Denise Dowd and Kiara Baird, both aged 19, were due to get a bus back to Donegal when they began hurling abuse and threats at the public, security and investigating gardai.

Dowd went on to break a window at Busaras before trying to run away through heavy traffic.

Judge Anthony Halpin said he would leave them without criminal convictions if they each made a 100 charity donation.

Aggressive

Baird, of Glenwaters, Glenfin Road, Ballybofey, admitted to public drunkenness and threatening, abusive and insulting behaviour at Store Street.

Dowd, of Donegal Road, also Ballybofey, admitted breach of the peace at Busaras.

Dublin District Court heard the incident happened on the morning of April 26 last.

Gardai found Baird highly intoxicated. She was aggressive towards members of the public at the bus station and was abusive to gardai.

She was told to leave the area before being arrested.

The court was told Dowd was being extremely abusive to security staff, shouting at them in a threatening manner.

When told to leave, she broke a front window at Busaras.

As gardai approached her, she ran through busy traffic to avoid them. She verbally abused the gardai before being arrested.

The court heard there was no criminal damage charge against her.

Both defendants apologised and had pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity, which was indicative of their remorse, their lawyer said.

Baird was on Jobseeker's Allowance, while Dowd had just finished a Youthreach programme.

Drink

The pair had travelled on the bus from Donegal the day before and intended to have a "good night out in town", their lawyer said.

They went out and had a "considerable amount to drink" before returning to Busaras the next morning to get the bus home.

The incident began at 10.45am. The accused had "very little recollection" of what happened at the bus station.

They had drunk alcohol before and were "not really sure" why it had such an effect on them on the night.

Judge Halpin adjourned the case and said he would strike the charges out if the charity donation was made.
In light of continued developments, primarily since 2008, there exists in these United States a Legal System which operates on a proved Two Tiered approach to justice rendered, which primarily benefits Democratic Elites and Woke Ideological Virtue Signalers, representing their co-dependent wards, to the expressed exclusion of normal hardworking American citizens: What is your suggestion in remedying this widespread injustice and, if not corrected, its existential outcome for our Constitutional Republic?

Complete overhaul of the Department of Justice and their enforcers - the FBI - to reflect a far more honest justice system to keep patriots remaining calm.

Disband the FBI, and request that congress investigate all unethical and non patriotic practices to partially right the wrongs of a distrusted and politically weaponized "Department of Justice."
Potential witnesses in an upcoming trial involving a junior associate of the Kinahan cartel have been warned that they will "get a bullet in the head" if they testify against the young criminal.

Gardai are aware of the "constant threats" which have been issued in a number of south inner city pubs over the past number of weeks.

Gardai from Kevin Street and Kilmainham Garda Stations are investigating the sinister death threats but so far no-one has made an official statement against the Kinahan-linked gangsters who have stepped up their campaign of terror.

The south inner city is their stronghold and many of the outfit's senior members are from the area. The young male, who is facing trial for a serious offence, is not suspected of issuing the threats and he is the subject of careful garda monitoring and strict bail conditions.

"This is a very serious and sinister situation, but thankfully the criminals involved in this behaviour do not know the identity of who has given statements to gardai," a senior source told the Herald.

Tension

"Of course when this matter comes before the courts, there will be even more tension when these people testify in a public forum. The level of intimidation surrounding this case has been quite frankly staggering," the source added.

The last major incident involving Kinahan gang members in the south inner city as part of their bitter feud with the Hutch gang is their suspected involvement in the murder of drug dealer David 'Daithi' Douglas on Friday evening. Tensions in the area remain high with regular armed garda checkpoints over the weekend.

The murder of Douglas is not connected to the pub threats or the offence with which the young Kinahan cartel member is charged.

"Even before Friday's murder, things were festering away all the time. These individuals are always plotting against each other but the garda presence had put them off for a few weeks. A lot of these fellas were keeping their heads down, but now gardai are investigating yet another broad daylight murder in the city," the source explained.

Armed gardai continue to monitor the feud which has now claimed eight victims after Friday's shocking gun murder.

It is understood that one of the major flashpoints is the Crumlin area of the capital, where it is feared that criminals aligned to the Hutch faction will carry out an attack on criminal Liam Byrne and his associates.

Liam (35) is the older brother of David Byrne (33) who was gunned down at the Regency Hotel after gunmen dressed in fake garda uniforms stormed the Dublin premises on February 5.

Gardai believe "it is only a matter of time" before the north inner city mob who are feuding with the cartel strike back after seven of the eight murders were carried out by their bitter rivals - six this year alone.

"The obvious concern is that they could go for a spectacular attack again like what happened at the Regency Hotel," a source said last night.

"There has always been the fear of a pub bomb attack in a south inner city pub as well."

Meanwhile it also emerged that a Monaghan man who is a close associate of Gerry 'The Monk' Hutch was released without charge last week after his arrest on Monday over the Regency Hotel attack.

It is understood he was questioned about providing back-up for the assassination team.
Dublin bus controllers Ingrid Doyle and Mark Drew at the Broadstone Depot where the lucky euromillions winners are working. Photo: Tony Gavin

If your early morning number 25 or 66 or 67 bus didn't turn up today there's probably a good reason - your driver won the EuroMillions.

Dublin Bus was bracing itself this morning for a few no-shows in the Broadstone Depot where 22 of its drivers scooped the EuroMillions jackpot of 24m at the weekend, landing them more than 1m each.

While none of the drivers were in work yesterday when the Herald called, everyone was delighted for their good fortune.

"They're all lovely lads and every one of them deserves it," said chief inspector Tony Carey.

"I wish them the best because it was a great scoop for them. It will be a big loss if we lose them all," he said with a laugh.

Tony said there are two separate syndicates on the go in the depot. One for management and one for the drivers.

"Our day will come too. Hopefully," he said.

But in fact the management syndicate of 50 is also celebrating a win in last Wednesday's National Lottery which netted them 134 each.

"We thought we were doing well until the lads landed the big one," said Mark Drew.

"Only two of the winners would be under 50. The most of them are in their 50s and 60s and have a long service behind them," he added.

"They mainly drive the 25, 66, 67, 38 and 39 routes in west Dublin around Lucan, Celbridge and Blanchardstown."

Another manager, John Walsh, said he had heard two of the winners had been in on Saturday and there was a great commotion as they were checking tickets, scarcely able to believe that they could be the winners.

Controller David McCarthy said he was pleased the massive prize fund was won by 22 people.

"It will mean something good for all of them. It's great that it got spread around.

"I don't think it will lead to early retirements, maybe they'll just treat themselves and their families and carry on as normal," he added.

Celebrate

David said there would have to be contingency plans put in place in case any of the winners decided to celebrate rather than work today.

Outside in the yard, the buses the men drive were parked up waiting for them.

In the common area they share in the depot there is a notice on the wall urging drivers to get their Lotto subscriptions in before Friday July 1.

"17 won in the last four weeks" is written over it in biro. Somebody added an extra message to the notice yesterday - the words "Jammy B******s", accompanied by a smiley face.
Hancock-area couple sentenced in huge animal cruelty case

A Hancock-area couple was sentenced Wednesday in an animal cruelty case that led to massive animal rescue operation in Western Maryland in June 2021.
From Judicial Watch , July 1, 2016.The official report of the House Select Committee on Benghazi has been released, with the damning conclusion that the Obama administration never attempted to deploy military assets or troops during the entire 13-hour terrorist assault on the U.S. Special Mission Compound.The Select Committee report further confirms what Judicial Watch already uncovered through its independent investigations. Our investigation continues. As with the Clinton email obstruction, our Benghazi FOIA lawsuit is the subject of court-ordered discovery. This report proves beyond all doubt that after four Americans died in Benghazi, the Obama administration lied. While we appreciate the Select Committee's efforts, Judicial Watch's Benghazi effort has been one of the most significant non-government investigations in modern American historyThe upshot of this report is that high-ranking appointees of the Obama administration lied in the aftermath of the murders of an ambassador and three other Americans. Sadly, most in the mainstream media could barely suppress their yawns at the new information provided by the House Select Committee, previously uncovered by Judicial Watch's investigators.As Reps. Mike Pompeo and Jim Jordan said in a supplement to the official report: "We are now convinced, contrary to the administration's public claim that the military did not have time to get to Benghazi, that the administration never launched men or machines to help directly in the fight. That is very different from what we have been told to date. And the evidence is compelling."On December 8, 2015, Judicial Watch issued a news release providing proof positive that what the House Select Committee is now reporting is accurate beyond a shadow of a doubt. The news release stated:An in-depth analysis of the Obama administration "spinning up" https://www.judicialwatch.org/press-room/weekly-updates/another-benghazi-smoking-gun-2/ ]You may recall that Judicial Watch got the ball rolling on the Select Committee deception can be found in Judicial Watch's December 2015 Weekly Update story. [ back in 2014. On April 29, 2014, JW uncovered a then newly-declassified email showing former White House Deputy Strategic Communications Adviser Ben Rhodes and other Obama administration public relations officials orchestrating a campaign to "reinforce" President Obama and to portray the Benghazi terrorist attack as being "rooted in an Internet video, and not a failure of policy." Other documents show that State Department officials initially described the incident as an "attack" and a possible kidnap attempt. The release of these documents directly led to the formation of the Benghazi Special Select Committee.Again, Judicial Watch's investigation continues. Even the Select Committee is still conducting interviews, despite having released a report!
52 bills await action by governor

RALEIGH The 2015-16 session of the North Carolina General Assembly adjourned just before midnight Friday after a 14-hour legislative day that included moving tributes to retiring lawmakers and senior staff members, final approval of the state's $22.34 billion General Fund budget, numerous squabbles between House and Senate leaders over several key legislative initiatives that were not enacted, and a revolt by some of the most conservative House Republicans against what they considered heavy-handed interference in local affairs by their leaders.The end of legislative sessions typically features ceremonies and speeches honoring members during their final day at the General Assembly, and Friday included remembrances of and by Rep. Leo Daughtry, R-Johnston, the body's former majority and minority leader; Rep. Paul "Skip" Stam, R-Wake, the House speaker pro-tem; Sen. Tom Apodaca, R-Henderson, the Rules Committee chairman; and Sen. Bob Rucho, R-Mecklenburg, a Finance Committee co-chairman. The House's principal clerk Denise Weeks, who's been a fixture in the General Assembly for more than two decades, also received accolades during her final day on the job.But even though the Senate had placed a resolution on Friday's calendar to adjourn that day, the back-and-forth between the bodies left that deadline uncertain until early evening. Senate Bill 821 , the session's technical-corrections bill, the usual legislative vehicle for inserting must-pass measures that did not succeed as standalone bills, was bounced between the two bodies for several hours. The House passed its final amended version just before 10 p.m., but the Senate had shut down and did not take up the amended bill.The House also failed to take up a measure that would have placed four constitutional amendments on the November ballot. The amendments would have let voters decide if they wanted to cap the state income tax rate at 5.5 percent; require a percentage of General Fund revenues to be diverted to rainy-day savings; enhance eminent domain protections for property owners; or declare that hunting and fishing rights are protected by the state constitution. House Bill 3 never reached the House floor for a vote.In addition, a Senate-passed bill championed by Apodaca that would have divided the Asheville City Council into six geographic districts, rather having all members chosen at large, failed in the House by a 47-59 vote despite vigorous lobbying by House leaders.Several conservative House members, including Reps. John Blust, R-Guilford, and Michael Speciale, R-Craven, broke with their leaders, noting that the Asheville House delegation opposed the bill and that they would be uncomfortable imposing election rules on local areas without giving the affected residents an opportunity to voice their opinions. (An amendment proposed by Rep. Susan Fisher, D-Buncombe, that would have allowed Asheville voters to decide if they wanted geographic districts, failed by a 47-56 vote.)The General Assembly did amend the provision of House Bill 2, pushed by Gov. Pat McCrory, that barred lawsuits filed in state court for people who were terminated from their jobs and sought to claim unlawful discrimination. House Bill 169 allows state lawsuits and gives former employees one year to file them. The 12-month statute of limitations is twice as long as the measure in federal law but shorter than the three-year period allowed for state lawsuits before H.B. 2 became law. The provisions of H.B. 2 dealing with gender identity and sexual orientation remain in place. Fifty-two bills passed both the House and Senate at the end of the session. McCrory has until July 31 to sign, veto, or let them become law without his signature. If he vetoes any bills, the General Assembly will return for an override session. Carolina Journal Online will have additional reactions to the 2016-17 short session in the coming days.
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There have been several news reports in the recent past about organ trafficking in India, putting the spotlight on the shortage of donors. Take for example, kidney transplants. Against the global requirement of about 600,000 each year, only 60,000 are done. In India, of the 150, 000 to 200,000 people who need transplantation, only around 3,500 get it.

This scarcity will grow rapidly in the coming years because of increasing life-span, rising incidence of end-stage kidney disease, wrong legislative policies, deficient procurement network, lack of awareness around donation, failure to leave written will/directives, absence of a centralised registry (though New Delhis National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation is a start), and inadequate efforts to clone organs.

Presumed consent alone is not a solution to overcome this scarcity. Had it been so, countries with presumed consent such as France, Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, Austria, Italy, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Greece, Portugal, Poland, Hungary and Turkey would not have faced organ shortage. As proved by higher cadaveric organ-retrieval rates in Spain, the approach adopted by the institutions on the ground is as important as laws.

Read: As donor organs fly across state lines, could it tackle illegal trade?

Can Indias transplantation law be changed to boost organ donation? Yes, some changes will help such as making the law central, not provincial. Under Article 246 of the Constitution, public health and hospitals are within the legislative competence of states. As such, each state has its own laws on organ transplantation. This is not compatible with the ground reality.

There should be a uniform legislative policy to augment organ donations and enforce regulatory mechanisms. Organ transplantation is linked to human rights because a healthy person has to undergo a major surgical intervention for harvesting of the organ. This makes it different from other healthcare activities and as such the law on this subject should be enacted by the Centre.

Also needed is a centralised regulatory authority with jurisdiction to monitor the transplantation procedures, inspect the hospitals, and summon the concerned managerial and medical paramedical staff involved in transplantation procedures. The authority constituted under the Transplantation of Human Organs Act 1994 does not have pan-India jurisdiction.

Read: Kerala shows the way in kidney donations

It should be mandatory to report all transplantations to the centralised regulatory authority, with relevant details including particulars of the donor and the recipient, members of the authorisation committee and the transplantation team for independent cross-checking.

All transplantations must be registered in a national registry, which should allot a waitlisted number to each registrant, much like Spains Organizacion Nacional de Trasplantes that maintains waiting lists, registries, compiles statistics and operates training programmes for medical professionals.

The transplantation surgeon must certify that he/she has personally examined the donor and, on the basis of documents and personal interaction, he/she are satisfied that the donation is altruistic and there is no element of inducement, compulsion or allurement. It should also be mandatory for the attending physician or other designated staff to counsel the dying patient and/or the family to donate and save lives.

Read: Gurgaon woman creates countrys first organ transplant guide

There must be a pragmatic procedure to record the will or pass on the message to the concerned authorities the directive of a person who wants to donate organs after death. This will ensure timely retrieval of organs. The existing law relies heavily on consanguineous (relating to or denoting people descended from the same ancestor) proximity as the eligibility for donation. As a result, patients who cannot find a match within their immediate family cannot undergo transplantation. Strangers must be encouraged to donate.

The provisions of Section 9 (3) of the Act imposing the condition of affection or attachment towards the recipient or for any other special reason should be deleted as it is contrary to the spirit of altruism and human solidarity.

RR Kishore is former member-secretary, rules drafting committee, Transplantation of Human Organs Act, 1994, and chairman, International Committee on Organ Transplantation
When Prime Minister Narendra Modi reshuffles his council of ministers on Tuesday, the much-awaited exercise will be the latest in a long string of attempts by his party to reach out to the Dalit community.

A third of the dozen-odd new faces who are likely to join Modis council are from the scheduled castes, who hold the key to victory in several poll-bound states next year.

In the reshuffle, Modi will also attempt to strike a regional balance that has been missing in his team at present.

Shahjahanpur MP Krishna Raj (Uttar Pradesh), Bikaner MP Arjun Ram Meghwal (Rajasthan), Ram Das Athawale (Maharashtra) and Ajay Tamta (Uttarakhand) are expected to get ministerial berths.

Their likely induction comes ahead of elections in Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, where the scheduled caste community forms a sizeable chunk of the electorate.

In the crucial state of Uttar Pradesh, the BJP is desperately wooing the Dalit community that has largely voted for Bahujan Samaj Partys Mayawati in the last two decades. Any gains among the SCs will help the BJP inch closer to its target of winning 265 assembly seats in the 403-member assembly.

The prominence given to Apna Dal leader Anupriya Patel, a Kurmi leader from eastern Uttar Pradesh, is seen as the BJPs move to pre-empt any rise of Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar, another Kurmi leader.

Read: Cabinet reshuffle: All about likely inductions, promotions

The possible induction of Chandauli MP Mahendra Nath Pandey, a prominent Brahmin leader from eastern Uttar Pradesh, is also an effort by the BJP to woo the Brahmins.

The saffron party recently gave the lone Rajya Sabha seat from Uttar Pradesh to another Brahmin, Shiv Pratap Shukla.

Controversial jat leader from western Uttar Pradesh, Sanjeev Balyan, and Bhumihar leader from eastern Uttar Pradesh, Manoj Sinha, are also likely to be promoted. Currently, both hold minister of state rank in Team Modi.

Almora MP Ajay Tamta is likely to be the first leader from Uttarakhand to get a berth in Modis team. The hill state goes to polls next year and the BJP is looking to regain ground after its unsuccessful attempt to topple the Harish Rawat-led Congress government recently.

Again, Dalits account for nearly 18% of the states population.

Prime Minister Modi is also likely to replace ministerial colleagues from Rajasthan  Sanwar Lal Jat and Nihalchand  with Arjun Ram Meghwal and Pali MP PP Choudhary.

A former bureaucrat, Meghwal is considered to have a clean image. While Jat is likely to be relieved on health ground, Nihalchand courted controversy over rape charges.

Vijay Goyal, a Vaishya leader from Delhi who represents Rajasthan in the Upper House of Parliament, is expected to get a ministerial berth.

Anil Madhav Dave and MJ Akbar, who got re-elected in the recent Rajya Sabha elections, are the likely faces from Madhya Pradesh.

Madhav is considered close to Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat while Akbar is tipped to get a role as a junior minister in the ministry of external affairs.

Gujarat, a crucial state where the BJP is dealing with protests by Patels over reservation, will also get more berths. Rajya Sabha member Purushottam Rupala and Bhavnagar MP Mansukh L Mandaviya are likely to be inducted.

Darjeeling MP SS Ahluwalia, a veteran parliamentarian, is being brought in the government. Given his experience in parliamentary matters, sources said, the PM wants to utilize him in also managing Parliament. The government has repeatedly been pushed on the back foot in Parliament by an aggressive Opposition.

Ally Shiv Sena is also likely to get one more ministerial berth, which may go to Rajya Sabha member Anil Desai. He is a confidante of Uddhav Thackeray and missed the buss in the last reshuffle.

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As the identity of the men who attacked the Dhaka restaurant on Saturday night emerged, Bangladeshs elite were shocked.

The young men belonged to affluent families, with parents who worked in business and politics. They had studied in some of the countrys top schools. Some had even gone to higher educational institutions abroad  from Malaysia to Australia.

But their background should not have surprised anyone. These young men do not constitute an aberration, but only confirm a wider trend.

A glance at Islamist violence over the past 15 years shows that class and political radicalisation do not have any clear link.

The attraction of violence

Osama bin Laden is the most obvious example.

Born to a billionaire construction magnate with close ties to the Saudi royal family, Osama went to the most prestigious high school in Jeddah. Steve Coll, author of an authoritative biography of the Bin Ladens, notes that it was here that Osama joined an Islamic study group and learnt his first lessons in jihad. Osama, of course, went on to participate in the Afghan jihad, set up al Qaeda, and alter global politics.

His successor, and the current leader of al Qaeda, Ayman al-Zawahiri, is a doctor. He comes from an upper middle class family in Egypt  his paternal side had many doctors and scholars; his maternal side was both politically active and wealthy. He studied medicine from Cairo University, and even worked as a surgeon in the Egyptian Army for three years.

Take a man Osama inspired.

Mohammed Atta hijacked an American Airlines flight and crashed it into the World Trade Centre Tower on 9/11. His father was a lawyer and his mother came from a wealthy trading and farming family. Atta had studied architecture at Cairo University and then pursued an academic program in urban planning in Germany.

Or examine the case of Anwar-al-Awlaqi.

A Yemeni-American preacher, he became a key motivator and recruiter, as well as planner, for al Qaeda. He was eventually killed in a US drone attack in 2011. But his background would never have given a clue into what his life was to become. His father was a Fulbright scholar, who received a PhD from University of Nebraska and served as the agriculture minister of Yemen. Al-Awalqi himself got a degree in civil engineering from an American university.

Nidal Hasan had been in touch with al-Awlaqi before he shot 13 people and injured more than 30 at Fort Hood, Texas, in 2009. The shooting produced the most mass casualties on a US military base ever. Hasan was a US Army Medical Corps psychiatrist. He had joined the US army in 1988, earned a medical degree in 2003, and then finished a masters in public health.

David Headley is a more familiar name in India, given his involvement in the 26/11 attacks. Guess his background. His father was a well-known Pakistani diplomat and broadcaster; Headleys brother went on to serve as the spokesperson of a Pakistani prime minister. He grew up in Pakistan, but returned to the US when he was 17 and ran a bar with his mother in Philadelphia.

No one perhaps symbolises terrorism today as starkly as the leader of the Islamic State (IS), Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. His background is sketchy, but he is reported to have a doctorate from a university in Baghdad.

The IS lure

IS has attracted thousands of foreign fighters in Syria.

They have participated in killings; they have carried out suicide missions; they have fought for military bases and oil fields. Class again is not a factor in determining choices.

The most prominent of these foreign militants was Mohammed Emwazi, also known as Jihadi John  who came be associated with the beheadings of many hostages. Emwazis family moved to UK when he was six. He went on to study information systems and business management at the University of Westminster, before getting radicalised. He was eventually killed in a drone strike at the end of 2015.

But there are others too. Nasser Muthana, a Welshman, had four medical school offers; Muhammad Hamidur Rahman, a British fighter, was the son of a restaurant-owner and worked in a retail shop.

Ajai Sahni, executive director of the Institute for Conflict Management and an expert on radicalisation, says it is a persistent myth that poverty causes terrorism.

We have seen this in all armed movements in history. We have seen this across the world  from US and Europe to Iraq and Syria and now Bangladesh. The leadership, in particular, comes from affluent and well settled backgrounds. But there is also a proliferation of the educated, affluent foot-soldiers, willing to kill and willing to die.

He adds that while ideology may be the cover, the violence attracts the more psychologically deviant and extreme, where class is not a factor. In another age, they may have been members of criminal gangs. Now, they get attracted to the glory, the heroism, the drama, the fame of terrorist violence.

Sahni argues the trend has escalated and offers a reason.

In the case of IS, the specific nature of mobilisation, which is primarily over the internet, opens it to a certain class. The connections with the movement occur overwhelmingly on the net. And this introduces an entry barrier. Those with personal computers, those with access to the net are more susceptible than those who do not have these tools.

It is not money and education  or the lack of it  that have determined the choices of men taking to terrorism. Bangladesh is yet another reminder that the phenomenon requires far more complex explanations.

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Bollywood actor Irrfan Khan, in the middle of a raging controversy over his statements on qurbaani recently, condemned the recent Dhaka attack in a long Facebook post on Sunday.

Islamist militants armed with sharp weapons slaughtered 20 people, including a young Indian woman, at an upscale cafe in Dhaka before government forces stormed the building to end a 12-hour standoff on Saturday. The Islamic State (IS) said it was responsible for the attack, but Dhaka government has denied the claim.

Reiterating that religion has nothing to do with terrorist activities, Irrfan wrote, Bachpan mein mazhab ke baare mein kaha gaya tha ki aapka parausi(neighbor) bhooka ho toh aapko usko shamil kiye bina akele khana nehi khana chahiye. Bangladesh ki khabar sunker ander ajeeb vehshat ka sannatta hai Quran ki aayeten naa janne ki wajeh se ramzaan ke mahine mein logon ko qatal ker diya gaya. Haadsa ek jagah hota hai , badnaam Islaam aur poori duniya ka musalman hota hai. Woh Islaam jiski buniyaad hi aman, reham aur dusro ka dard mehsoos kerna hai. Aise me kya musalman chup baitha rahe aur mazhab ko badnaam hone de? ya wo khud Islaam ke sahi mayne(meaning) ko smajhe aur doosron ko bataye, ki zulm aur qatlo gharat(massacre) karna Islaam nehi hai.



Read: All about Dhaka massacre

During the promotion of his upcoming film Madaari in Jaipur recently, the actor had questioned how one can get puny by killing an innocent animal in the name of qurbaani. He had said, People should understand the real meaning behind a particular ritual. Animals used to be the prime source of food when the ritual would have started and people sacrificed their food. Today, one buy two goats from market and kill them in the name of sacrifice then how come it becomes a real sacrifice? I feel proud that I live in a country which is not run by any religious rules.

Irrfan says religion is about personal introspection and is a source for compassion, wisdom and moderation. (IANS)

Muslim clerics asked the actor to focus on his work instead of making his own interpretation of religious customs. Irrfan is an actor and he should focus on his work only. He has no religious knowledge and he should have contacted or get some knowledge from any cleric before raising any question regarding qurbaani or Ramzan, city qazi Khalid Usmai said. He said Islam has no vague things and Irrfan should improve his knowledge.

Reacting to the clerics who took offence to his statement on qurbaani, the actor wrote, Pls Bhaiyon, who r upset with my statement, either u r not ready to introspect or u r in a hurry 2 reach 2 a conclusion. For me religion is abt personal introspection , its a source for compassion, wisdom and moderation n not for stereotyping n fanaticism. Clerics dont scare me!! 

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Celebrated mythologist and author Devdutt Pattanaik is an authority on all things mythology. He wrote his first book on Shiva, 20 years ago and since then has been joining the dots on mythology.

In fact, he believes that no society can exist without myth as it creates notions of right and wrong, good and bad, heaven and hell, rights and duties.

As his latest book Devlok with Devdutt, based on the TV series he hosts, gears up for release, he makes some more thought provoking points. For instance,why dont we have stories of men who like apsaras dance to seduce women?

Read: Devdutt Pattanaiks Shikhandi is snappy

Excerpts from his interview:

How important has mythology been in shaping our society? How relevant is mythology in todays day and age?

Mythology is the subjective truth of people communicated through stories, symbols and rituals. Every culture has its own mythology. For example, the western society is a combination of polytheistic Greek mythology and monotheistic Abrahamic mythology. Indian society is shaped by rebirth mythologies that accommodate diversity, which is why there is so much cultural diversity in India. Compare this with developed America and Europe that is terrified of Muslim immigrants. And Middle Eastern countries where non-Islamic religions are either not welcomed or held in suspicion.

Indian society is entrenched with patriarchy. However there was a time when women sages were as important as male sages. When did this shift happen with a patriarchal system coming in place?

All societies are patriarchal, not just the Indian society. Let us clarify that. Biblical and Islamic traditions continue to see God as a man, not a woman, despite feminism. Sages were expected to be celibate, which means the rejection of female sexuality. I find nothing empowering about it. It is hardly aspirational. Why dont we have stories of men who like Apsaras dance to seduce women? Now, that would show a shift, no? In fact, patriarchy in India glorifies male celibacy and rejects female sexuality. It continues today and continues to be endorsed.

Mythology is the subjective truth of people communicated through stories, symbols and rituals, says Devdutt Pattanaik. (HT photo)

Can a society work without mythological stories?

No society can exist without myth. Humans cannot function without myths because myth creates notions of right and wrong, good and bad, heaven and hell, rights and duties. Marriages, monogamy, peace, salvation non-violence, are all concepts based on myth; they dont exist in nature. All religions, all nations, all tribes, all ideologies, all ways of life, are based on myth. Human right is based on the myth of equality. Only a world without humans is a world without myths.

Read: Shooting stars through lens: A photgrapher captures some stunning nights

Are science and mythology connected?

No. Science seeks to understand society using a measurement, rather than faith. Mythology is about reality based on faith. Science is about the material world. Humanities, including psychology, use the scientific method to understand society, but they are not comparable with material sciences, where measurability, verifiability and reproducibility play an important role. Mythology establishes world views that determine our politics and economics.

Your TV series, Devlok with Devdutt will be now out as a book. How will this book make mythology interesting and relevant to a reader?

The book is an English translation of the Hindi conversations on the show, hence serves as a reference book for those who enjoyed the series and want to share it with their friends and family.

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About Rs 5,855 crore was raised through initial public offers (IPOs) in the first quarter of the current fiscal year, the highest in nine years, signalling a revival in the capital market environment.

According to Prime Database, Indias premier database on the primary capital market, the outlook on public issues for the remaining part of the year looks promising with the regulator having cleared plans of about 19 companies that are aiming to raise over Rs 7,705 crore from the market. There are another five companies wanting to raise about Rs 3,230 crore, currently awaiting SEBI approval.

A major revival is witnessed in the IPO market after several dismal years. Despite a volatile secondary market, six main-board IPOs came to the market collectively raising Rs 5,728 crore (corresponding period of the preceding year 5 IPOs for Rs 2,280 crore). The highest-ever mobilization through IPOs (April-June) was in 2007-08 at Rs. 13,083 crore, said Prime Database managing director Pranav Haldea.

Most companies had postponed IPO plans as adverse market conditions stemming from an ongoing global slow down indicated a lack of appetite from investors. Now with the government close to implementing key legislations, including the GST, and a good monsoon likely to boost rural consumption, companies have again revived plans for public floats.

The April-June period also witnessed activity on the SME platforms, with as many as 13 SME IPOs, collecting about Rs 127 crore. In the corresponding period last year, there were nine IPOs that raised Rs 42 crore.

The largest IPO was from financial services company Equitas Holdings that raised Rs 2,177 crore. The average deal size was a high Rs 955 crore.

A notable feature of the period was that several companies that hit the market had a prior private equity or venture capital investment, said Haldea. At least three out of six IPOs had prior PE investments, indicating that such investors were able to exit their holdings, which in turn can help the PE investment sentiment in the country. All six companies had anchor investors, which collectively subscribed to 33% of the total issue amount. Domestic institutional investors subscription amounted to 21%, compared to 12% from FIIs. Offers for sale by PE/VC investors at Rs 2,292 crore accounted for 40% of the total IPO amount, according to the database.

The period was good for retail investors also. The highest number of applications was received by Mahanagar Gas at 9.58 lakhs followed by Thyrocare Technologies (7.01 lakhs), Ujjivan Financial Services (6.36 lakhs), Equitas Holdings (5.60 lakhs) and Parag Milk Foods (0.81 lakhs).

Offers for sale through stock exchanges, another route for raising public equity money through dilution of promoters holdings, saw an increase from Rs 1,610 crore during the corresponding period of the preceding year to Rs 3,033 crore. This was mostly accounted for by the governments divestment at Rs 2,998 crore.

The largest OFS was that of NHPC in April (Rs 2,735 crore) followed by IOC in May (Rs 262 crore). OFS accounted for 33% of the total years public equity markets amount. This is likely to go up soon, Already L&T Infotech is scheduled to raise about Rs 1,233 crore through an OFS on July 11.
NEW YORK: Even as automakers and technology companies promote a euphoric vision of a future where cars will drive themselves and serious crashes will be rare, their engineers have been engaged in a sobering debate.

Just how autonomous should cars become? Is there an inherent danger in technology that invites humans to sit back and relax-but still needs them to be ready to hit the brakes ?

These questions have take non new urgency after the driver of a Tesla Model S died in a crash in Florida while his electric car was in the Autopilot mode. The man, Joshua Brown, 40, was driving on a highway, when a tractor truck made a left turn and crossed in front of Browns lane . Tesla said neither Brown nor the cars self-driving system noticed the white truck against a bright sky.

For now, other automakers give no sign of slowing down efforts, but mainly say the technology isnt ready yet . As the world was absorbing Browns death as the first known fatality of autonomous driving, German auto maker BMW said it intended to offer a self-driving car - but not until 2021. Harald Kruger, BMWs CEO, said the Tesla crash was really very sad and that BMW would need the next few years to perfect its system.

The world s largest car maker, Toyota, is a notable hold out in the rush toward completely autonomous cars. Last year, the company said it would invest $1 billion in a research effort to focus on guardian angels, cars that will save humans from errors, not replace them. Tesla also emphasized the system isnt intended to take complete control

Ford Motor, Google and Volvo want to offer autonomous cars that operate without intervention - or Level 4. They are wary of semi-autonomous, or Level 3, as drivers can be lulled into turning attention away from the road. Amnon Shashua, whose technology is part of Teslas self-driving feature, said the technology was close, but not ready without human drivers staying engaged.

The New York Times
Hitesh Dalpat Ramavat, the alleged serial killer who had murdered three persons in the city since April, had sex with two of the victims before stoning them to death, police said on Saturday.

Ramavat, 30, arrested from Jamnagar on Friday, had earned the sobriquet stone-killer as he killed the victims by hitting them on head with a stone.

Sagar Mewada, his first victim, was killed on April 20, followed by Pravin Barad (May 23) and Vallabh Rangani (June 2).

We have found trace of semen on the bodies of two victims, which showed he had sexual intercourse with them before killing them, city police commissioner Anupamsinh Gehlot said.

He was planning to kill more people with the intention of robbing them, said Gehlot.

Around 12 years ago, an unidentified person sexually abused Ramavat and offered him money for it. Following this, he started indulging in homosexual activity, primarily for earning money, Gehlot said at a press conference here.

When he could not get enough money any longer this way, he started looting his targets and killed them.

He informed the family members of the victim (using the victims mobile phone) about the murder, the commissioner said, adding that (information) helped police in tracing his movements.

Ramavat did not suffer from any mental disorder and was mentally fit, Gehlot said.

He had confessed to bludgeoning three persons to death with stone and also to one unsuccessful murder attempt, Gehlot said.

We had made a sketch of the suspect from eyewitness accounts and CCTV footage. We received some crucial information from public after we released that sketch. Our investigation also revealed that the culprit exhibited abnormal behaviour and mannerisms, said Gehlot.

Based on this information, we zeroed in on Ramavat. He is originally from Rajkot but was living in Jamnagar for the last five months. He visited Rajkot only to commit the murder and returned to Jamnagar. We are investigating why he committed the murders, said the commissioner.

The people of the city need not be afraid anymore as the culprit has been caught. This was one of the most difficult cases.... Our teams hardwork paid off, he said.

Further probe is on, Gehlot said.
The devastating rainfall and fears of the Himalayan tsunami repeat has apparently given a blow to tourism industry in the state. The recent rains have brought down the number of Char Dham pilgrims in Uttarakhand from over 5000 to less than 1000 a day. On the other hand, hoteliers are flooded with the frantic calls from the tourists.

The first four days of the rain and landslide this year have left over 25 dead, sending a negative image of the state, whose economy largely depends on tourism.

According to police figures, as many as 5350 pilgrims visited the four holy Hindu shrines Kedarnath, Badrinath, Gangotri and Yamunotri and Sikh shrine Hemkund in Uttarakhand on June 29. And the number came down to barely 959 on July 1 on July 2 (see box).

Char Dham roads, too, have got blocked at several spots and authorities are working round-the-clock to rescue the stranded pilgrims. Even the visuals of the rain fury are going viral on the national and the social media. As per the figures, only 121 pilgrims visited the Yamunotri on July 2, followed by 168 pilgrims in Badrinath, 180 pilgrims in the Gangotri and 434 pilgrims in Kedarnath shrines.

Read: We shiver with horror: Uttarakhand village reels due to cloudburst fury

This year had been seeing a record inflow of tourists for the first time ever since the 2013 disaster till now. But the hype around (the latest disaster) has already started showing its result (effect), said a worried Umakant Nautiyal, a tourism operator based in Uttarkashi.

Around 11.54 lakh pilgrims have visited Uttarakhand till July 2. For Tamil businessman Issaipriyan (name changed), a trip to Garhwal hills in Uttarakhand with family members turned into a nightmare. Incessant rain triggered landslides across the state last Friday. This forced Issaipriyan to confine himself to Chamoli. The distressed guest had no idea who to approach for help. Finally, a call to a journalist friend in New Delhi fetched some help and his family could be dropped at the Dehradun airport by a taxi.

The hotel owners in popular tourist spots such as Nainital, Corbett and Mussoorie are receiving frantic phone calls from the panicky tourists for safety.

Natural calamities are not new to mountain states but what concerns us is the negative image of the state portrayed in a section of media that is hitting the tourism business, feels Surendra Pal Singh, general secretary of the Corbett hotels and resorts association. Anuraag Consol, a hotelier from Nainital, who thinks a lack of a mechanism to cater to phone calls and queries from the tourists creates panic.

We try to share correct (right) information when a tourist calls. But I fail to understand why the state government doesnt have a 24X7 helpline that can inform and update tourists? Consol asks.

Read: Ukhand disaster: CM announces additional measures for rescue, relief

Experts say most parts of the state are safe for tourists. But due to a lack of effective strategy and information system, Uttarakhand is suffering an image loss.

When contacted, additional director (tourism) A K Dwivedi said that the number of pilgrims dipped every monsoon, but the drop was worrisome this time. We will try to send a message across the country that only some parts of Uttarakhand are facing disaster and the rest is safe, Dwivedi said.

In an official statement, chief minister Harish Rawat said that the Char Dham Yatra will continue under a close supervision of the state government and that the pilgrims, wherever they get stranded due to road blockages, would get help from the respective district administrations.

According to the union tourism ministry data, Uttarakhand till 2012 was among the top 10 states that were favourite among domestic tourists. But after 2013 Kedarnath flashfloods, the state lost its position. In 2014, 2.26 crore pilgrims visited Uttarakhand which jumped to 2.95 crore last year.
NEW DELHI: Three management courses at Delhi Universitys seven colleges will hold group discussions and interviews from Tuesday.

These courses are Bachelor of Management Studies, Bachelor of Business Economics and BBA in Financial Investment and Analysis (FIA) . The entrance tests were held on June 20 and the results were declared on Sunday. There are 840 seats for the courses.

The venue for the group discussions and interviews is Ramanujan College in Kalkaji. Candidates can verify the schedule from the notice displayed at Ramanujan College or at the Delhi University.

The students have to carry their admit card, bearing the attested photograph with the invigilators signature, as well as a photocopy while appearing for the group discussion and interview.

Students are also required to carry one attested photocopy of the marks statement of Senior Secondary Examination (or its equivalent).

Inclusion of English and Mathematics marks is mandatory to get admission in these courses.

Qualifying candidates under the reserved category will have to carry original certificate in the candidates name, issued by the competent authority. They should also carry an attested photocopy.

Candidates applying under the disability category will have to bring along a medical certificate certifying that they have over 40% disability.
DHAKA/KOLKATA: The attackers who slaughtered 20 hostages at a Dhaka restaurant were members of a homegrown terror outfit with links to Pakistans Inter Services Intelligence, Bangladesh said on Sunday, as India stepped up border patrol to ward off any possible militant infiltration.

Bangladesh home minister Asaduzzaman Khan told reporters the six assailants were well-educated men who found extremism fashionable, denying any associations with the Islamic State terror group.

The assailants stormed an upmarket cafe in Dhaka on Friday evening and killed 20 mostly foreigner host ages, including 19-year-old Tarishi Jain, before government forces ended the 12-hour siege.

Hours later, the Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it had targeted a gathering of citizens of crusader states.

But Bangladesh rejected the claim .They are all Bangladeshis. They are from rich families, they have good educational background, Khan said. They have no connections with the Islamic State.

He said the killers were members of the local outfit Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), a group banned over a decade ago. This was done by JMB, the minister said, adding that the gunmen made no demands.

Hossain Toufique Imam, political adviser to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, said that the way in which host ages were killed with machetes suggested a local group.

Pakistans ISI and Jamaat connection is well known... they want to derail the current government, Imam told a TV channel.

Three of the gunmen were identified by their former friends and one was said to be the son of a senior leader of the ruling Awami League.

Across the border, authorities sounded a high alert along the Indo-Bangla frontier in five states with the Border Security Force intensifying its vigil to prevent suspects from crossing over to India.

The administration has asked the state police to take serious note of any suspicious movement in the border districts. India and Bangladesh share a 4,096 km-long international border, the fifth-longest land border in the world that is known to be porous in places.

But confusion remained over the attackers identity after the SITE monitoring website posted pictures of five grinning fighters in front of a black flag and released their names, which didnt match with those declared by Bangladeshi authorities.

There was mass condemnation of the killing in Dhaka, where flags were flown at half-mast at government offices while prayer services were held across the country.

PM Sheikh Hasina has vowed to find the roots of the attackers as two investigation and a bomb disposal team visited the restaurant to collect evidence attack.

But experts have pointed to growing radicalisation in the country as a possible reason behind the attacks, blaming the governments apparent inability to tamp down on a wave of recent attacks on minorities and human rights workers. A Hindu priests gruesome murder was reported the same day as the cafe attack, following similar murders of gay rights activists, bloggers, journalists and minority community leaders in recent months.

The bodies of 20 hostages were found in pools of blood after commandos stormed the Holey Artisan Bakery in Dhakas Gulshan diplomatic zone to end the standoff, in which two policemen were also shot dead in a fierce gun battle.

Six gunmen were killed by the commandos but one was taken alive and is being interrogated by Bangladeshi intelligence.

A Bangladeshi worker at the cafe who survived said how the attackers split the diners into groups of foreigners and locals, making clear that their targets were non-Muslims.

The worker also described the killers as appearing to be university-educated, a point echoed by Khan. They are all highly educated young men and went to university. No one is from a madrassa, the minister said. Asked why they would have become militants, Khan said, It has become a fashion.
HYDERABAD: A 10-year-old girl was allegedly raped and murdered by a man who was released from jail only a few days ago in Secunderabad on Saturday evening.

Police identified the suspect as Anil Kumar, a 30-year-old man accused in eight murder cases, based on security footage. They are now on the lookout for him.

According to the police, the girl went missing from outside her house where she was playing on Saturday. Eyewitnesses reported they saw Kumar lead the girl away saying her father was calling her.

Security camera footage from a nearby local toddy shop showed Kumar carrying the child.

The girl was taken to an isolated place where she was raped and later strangled to death.

Police found the girl near the railway tracks in the cantonment area of Bolarum in the Telangana city, on Sunday morning. The head was smashed in by a boulder, apparently to prevent identification.

The body has been sent for a post-mortem examination. The girl was the daughter of Ramakrishna, a daily wage worker from Kalasiguda who lived in the Secunderabad cantonment area.

According to the police, Kumar was released from Sangareddy jail just a few days ago after serving a years sentence. A case has been registered under the relevant sections for rape and murder of the Indian Penal Code and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
HELENA  Artists have not only celebrated the national parks, it could be argued they were instrumental in creating them.

Paintings by Thomas Moran in the 1870s are credited with awakening America to the wonders of Yellowstones stunning landscapes.

It is too grand and wonderful for words, wrote the Ladys Repository after Morans luminous painting, The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, captured the publics imagination.

Thomas Moran ... is just an amazing painter. His artwork was used to help convince Congress that Yellowstone deserved to be set aside as a national park, said Kirby Lambert, outreach and interpretation program manager for the Montana Historical Society. We had black-and-white photography, but we didnt have color photography. The artwork spoke to people that this place is pretty amazing. Its not like any place youve ever seen and does deserve to be protected.

But Moran was not the only artist whose works riveted our ancestors, sparking inspiration to head West to see such fantastic sites with ones own eyes.

You can reconnect with the spirit of that time by viewing exhibits of some of those artworks in Montana and Wyoming during the National Park Services Centennial.

In Yellowstone there were lots and lots of artists who came, Lambert said, but Moran is particularly significant.

Role of the railroads

Whats also important was the role of railroads, he said. The railroads would bring artists out to paint the scenery.

Great Northern Railways president Louis W. Hill commissioned artists to capture Glacier Parks breathtaking wild and sweeping landscapes in oils and watercolors to entice East Coasters to hop aboard and head West for adventure.

One of the most renowned of these artists was John Fery, said Hipolito Rafael Chacon, an art history professor at the University of Montana.

The most important artist at Glacier is John Fery. In some ways he helped define the park, said Chacon. Fery knew the park intimately long before there were major trails.

The railway hired the Austrian Impressionist in 1910, and he was active in Glacier from 1911 to 1915 and 1925 to 1929.

Fery spent his summers in the park making small oil sketches that he later used to create large stunning oil landscapes in his studio in St. Paul.

The railway company hung Ferys paintings in railway depots, said Chacon, and they were widely printed in pamphlets and brochures.

During his tenure, he painted more than 300 Glacier Park landscapes that were displayed in 25 states, as well as in Berlin, Germany, wrote Chacon in an article for Montana: The Magazine of Western History.

Hill also lent Fery to the Northern Pacific Railway to paint Yellowstone National Park landscapes, said Chacon.

Fery and Moran were among a handful of artists creating almost a craze back East ... for the American West, said Chacon.

Charlie Russell

Montanas beloved Charlie Russell also painted in Glacier park.

Although his most famous works were not of the park, Glacier was a very special place for him, and it's where he went to renew his spirit, said Lambert.

While civilization encroached across Big Sky Country, Glacier remained much like it existed when Kid Russell had first arrived in Montana as a teen.

In 1906, Russell bought land on the shore of Lake McDonald and built Bull Head Lodge, a haven for Russell and his circle of artist friends.

He went there every summer from 1906 to 1926, said Emily Wilson, the assistant curator of the C.M. Russell Museum in Great Falls, which has mounted a major exhibit: Going to the Sun: Artists in Glacier National Park this year.

While there, Russell painted such works as Storm on Lake McDonald From Bull Head Lodge, which Wilson described as very emotional and very evocative.

Charlie Russell had a very special relationship to Glacier, she said, often painting wildlife and landscape scenes in the park.

Russells circle of artistic friends who visited him were likewise inspired by Glaciers grandeur. Among them were Joe De Yong, Maynard Dixon, Joe Scheuerle and Philip Goodwin.

Another, Winold Reiss, a German-born American artist, became particularly well known for his paintings of Blackfeet Indians.

Reiss, who like Fery was employed by Great Northern, was given a studio each summer in a Glacier National Park hotel.

During the golden era of the railways promoting travel to Glacier and Yellowstone, money flowed to artists and art flourished.

This explains why the greatest number of National Park artworks in this region of the West center on Glacier and Yellowstone parks, which were major railway destinations, say Chacon and Lambert.

More than one historical article credits the very creation of Glacier National Park to railroad baron James J. Hill, founder of the Great Northern Railway, for pushing legislation through Congress to establish Glacier as a national park in 1910.

Travel posters

Today when we talk about Yellowstone, its overcrowded, said Lambert. But it needed broad public support to become a park.

Art played a significant role in the public commitment to save these places, he said.

Another popular art form promoting the parks were travel posters, he said. By the early 20th century railroad promoters were mass-producing posters of such paintings as Morans The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone so they could be viewed by thousands.

While Glacier and Yellowstone may have been the biggest magnets for artists because of the railroad companies, Grand Teton National Park also drew some prominent artists.

Moran painted the Tetons in 1879, said Adam Duncan Harris, Petersen Curator of Art at the National Museum of Wildlife Art in Jackson, Wyo., which is holding a series of special exhibits celebrating this years park centennial.

It was very difficult to get over here, said Harris, which explains why in its early days the park attracted few artists.

The park really didnt take off until after World War II, Harris said, when people had more leisure and money. Conrad Schwiering is the first artist to consistently paint the Tetons, doing hundreds of paintings from 1947 to 1986.

And one of the most famous works is by renowned photographer Ansel Adams  The Tetons and the Snake River, a view of the Tetons from the Snake River Overlook, said Harris. Adams was commissioned by the National Park Service for a series of photos of the national parks.

I will say there are two other artists people are surprised to hear painted the Tetons, said Harris, Edward Hopper and Thomas Hart Benton.

Although these two artists are not among those featured in the museums exhibits this summer, there are plenty of renowned artists who are. On exhibit are 10 paintings by Thomas Moran, as well as works by William Henry Jackson, Ansel Adams, Georgia OKeeffe and park promotion posters produced by artists for the WPAs Federal Art Project from 1935 to 1943.
NEW DELHI: The Delhi government on Sunday launched Call102, an application that will help city residents hail ambulances, just like app-based taxis, under the Home to Hospital Care scheme.

The app  which will be an extension of the existing ambulance helpline number 102  was launched by Delhi health minister Satyendra Jain on Sunday. The health minister also flagged off 53 new Centralised Accident & Trauma Services (CATS) ambulances during the occasion.

Two fire-proof  ambulances had mysteriously caught fire and been gutted on Friday.

According to officials, a control room will trace the location of a user using the app and then use GPS to direct the nearest ambulance to their location.

The scheme will use 155 existing CATS ambulances, with another 100 basic life support and 10 advanced life support ambulances being inducted in next one month. The advanced ambulances will be equipped with portable ventilator and defibrillator apart from oxygen delivery system, syringe pump and lifesaving injectables, which will be present in the basic ambulances as well.

The ambulances can be used to transport patients from their home to any hospital, public or private, or from one hospital to the other.

Earlier the ambulances were used to transport only accident victims and women in labour. Now, anyone who needs emergency care can call for the free service. When you call 102, you will get an ambulance. You can take it to whichever hospital you prefer, said Delhi health minister Satyendar Jain.

All the ambulance will also be equipped with a tab, which can be used to upload patient data. All hospital that handle trauma will be provided such tabs and they will be able to receive data about the condition of the patient from the ambulance itself so that they can start treatment immediately, an official said.

A modern control room equipped with cloud storage, caller location identification system, real-time vehicle tracking system and computer aided dispatch of the nearest ambulance, with an emergency doctor, has been put in place.

The health minister urged the people not to dial 102 unless there was a real emergency. The control room received around 2,000 calls since last night. Of them, only 50 were genuine. It is an emergency service, please let it be so, he said.
NEW DELHI: The National Capital Region (NCR) may need a second airport within the next three years and the government has narrowed down the list of possible sites to two. The aviation ministry said the second airport could either be set up in Jewar in Greater Noida or Bhiwadi in Rajasthan.

The NCR will need a second airport soon, said Mahesh Sharma, minister of state for civil aviation.

The earlier projections for the requirement of a second airport in the NCR in the next seven years will have to be reviewed with the government announcing its ambitious Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS).

The scheme sets a fare range of Rs 1,770-Rs 4,070 to encourage air travel. It will also set up a viability gap fund to support airlines that fly between metro sand smaller cities.

With the RCS, the load on Delhi and other metro airports will increase further. As opposed to 5-7 years, we might need to build the second airport in the next three years, said Sharma.

After a proposal to set up the second airport in Rohtak was rejected, the government now has narrowed down the options to Jewar in Greater Noida in UP and Bhiwadi in Rajasthan. We will either set up the second airport in Bhiwadi or Jewar, the MoS said.

The earlier the government starts work on the second airport the better, otherwise we will face a Mumbai-like situation soon, said aviation expert Rajji Rai.

HT first reported on April 13 that the UP government was no longer against setting up an airportin Jewar. Infact, it had sought the Centres permission for setting up an international airport in Greater Noida.

The UP governments proposal for Jewar is still being examined, said a ministry official.

The ministry has sought the views of the DGCA, the Airports Authority of India and the defence ministry for granting the initial site clearance approval for the project. Sources said 2,378 acres had been acquired for the project.

The government has already granted the initial site clearance approval for the Bhiwadi airport project in Rajasthan. It will be located around 80km from Delhis Indira Gandhi International Airport. Around 1,700 hectares have already been identified for the project.

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NEW DELHI: Yoga has been steadily netting students and practitioners in the Capital, spurred on by the marking of the discipline with an International Day, it appears.

The four-week foundation course at the Morarji Desai National Institute of Yoga, an autonomous organisation under the AYUSH ministry, attracts 200 participants every month.

Almost 90% of them want to stay on and learn more, said institute director Dr Ishwar Basaraddi. People who once experience the benefits of yoga want to definitely continue it, he said.

Hauz Khas-based yoga instructor Seema Sondhi attributed Yogas rising popularity among Delhiites to the Yoga Day. Although Europeans and Americans were increasingly doing yoga, it was dying in India. We were too focused on modernisation and gymming. The Yoga Day has brought our traditional practice to the forefront, said Sondhi, who has been running classes in Delhi for the past two decades.

She felt the trend is also fuelled by Delhiites becoming more health conscious and open to a holistic approach.

Similarly, the number of applications for a diploma to train as yoga trainers at the Morarji institute has almost tripled. After the celebration of the first Yoga Day, we got 569 applications. The year before, we got 220. The interesting thing is that doctors, engineers and people from other professions are also choosing to do the course, said Dr Basaraddi.

This year on International Yoga Day, twice as many people turned up at Atre Yoga Studio in south Delhis Shahpur Jat, said instructor Zubin Atre. The people who came for this class stuck on for regular classes, said Atre, also the author of It takes two to Yoga.

After the first International Yoga Day last year, he saw a surge in the number of queries for a 200-hour teacher training course that he runs.

Yoga trainer Preeti Kumari echoes the view. Since June 21 this year, she has been getting 30 calls every day.

There is usually a surge in the number of people enquiring for classes right after the Yoga day, but this year we are seeing that most people who called followed through and joined the class, said the trainer with Nityam Yoga Centre in east Delhis Laxmi Nagar.

The celebration is also making Yoga a mass movement, felt Dr Basaraddi. This year, several organisations volunteered to conduct the event and train people before Yoga Day. People spontaneously joined the celebration across 200-odd locations in the city. People, several times more than what was expected, turned up at the venues where the event was organised by the AYUSH ministry, he said.

Taking a cue from peoples positive response to Yoga, the AYUSH ministry is also trying to make it more accessible by stationing trainers at parks.

Hospitals such as the All India Institute of Medical Institute have also integrated Yoga with their treatment regimen. Yoga classes have been happening at the institute for the last 10 years maybe, but, there is more focus now, said Dr Rima Dada, a professor at the lab for molecular reproduction and genetics at AIIMS.

She said they have been studying Yogas impact on ageing, infertility, rheumatoid arthritis and glaucoma for three years now.

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The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) on Monday questioned Delhi water minister Kapil Mishra for two hours in the Rs 400 crore water tanker scam case during which, he said, he was asked not even once about former chief minister Sheila Dikshits alleged involvement.

Mishra said the whole focus of the anti-corruption body seemed to be on framing him or chief minister Arvind Kejriwal in the case.

Earlier, in response to an ACB notice sent in June, the Aam Aadmi Party leader arrived at the agencys headquarters in north Delhis Civil Lines area, accompanied by his party supporters.

Through a Twitter post, Mishra said he was questioned by six ACB officers -- comprising a deputy commissioner of police, two assistant commissioners of police and three inspectors.

Not even a single question (asked) about Sheila Dikshit or her tenure about which the entire report is. Only focus was to frame me or Arvind Kejriwal, Mishra tweeted.

One DCP, 2 ACPs, 3 inspectors, I asked (them) have you read report against Sheila Dikshit sent by me on which FIR has been filed. All except one said NO, he further tweeted.

Mishra complained against Dikshit on June 13 regarding alleged irregularities in the hiring of 385 stainless steel water tankers by the Delhi Jal Board in 2012.

In another tweet, the water minister said: Seems the ACB is all set (to) give a clean chit to Sheila Dikshit. They are instructed to protect Sheila and frame Kejriwal (in the scam).

Earlier in the day, before leaving for the ACB office, Mishra took on the central government: It has been suppressing evidence of corruption against Dikshit under a deal with the Congress.

Modi-ji, we have given you all the evidence against Sheila Dikshit. Then why are you saving her? What is your deal with corrupt Congress, he asked in a tweet.

You control the ACB and CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation). If you find any evidence of corruption against us, put us in jail. But why are you suppressing the evidence against Dikshit that we gave you, Mishra said in another tweet.

The AAP government in June 2015 set up a five-member fact-finding committee to probe alleged irregularities in the water tankers case.

The committee report, submitted to Kejriwal in August 2015, highlighted alleged corruption in the awarding of tenders.

It recommended filing of a First Information Report (FIR) against Dikshit and a probe by the CBI and the ACB.

On June 20, the ACB registered an FIR not only against Dikshit but also against Kejriwal.

The FIR against Kejriwal was registered on a complaint by Bharatiya Janata Party legislator Vijender Gupta for causing delay in the probe and not cancelling the contract for water tankers.
The CBI arrested on Monday a top Delhi government official close to chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on corruption charges, triggering a fresh showdown between the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the BJP-led government at the Centre.

Kejriwals principal secretary Rajendra Kumar was among five people arrested by the central agency for alleged corruption between 2007 and 2014. Deputy secretary Tarun Sharma was also among the arrested.

Kejriwal has stood by Kumar, an IAS of the 1989 batch, since the CBI raided the officers office in January in the same case. An alumnus of IIT, Kumar is known to enjoy good rapport with Kejriwal who also graduated from the same institution as a mechanical engineer in 1989.

A livid AAP launched a vicious attack on the Centre and PM Narendra Modi over what it called was political vendetta and accusing him of stooping to a new low.

Read | Kumars arrest: AAP cries vendetta, says Modi unleashed agencies

If Kumar is wrong, he should be punished but the timing of the arrest is suspect. The Centre is targeting him only because of Kejriwal and the tremendous support the AAP is getting in Punjab and Goa, deputy CM Manish Sisodia said.

The truth is that Modiji hates the people of Delhi (for electing AAP). The BJP hit back, accusing the AAP government of trying to shield a corrupt officer.

There are serious charges against Kumar and (the) AAP government is creating hindrance in the CBIs probe. That means no matter how corrupt a person is, if he is close to Kejriwal, they will protect him, said Vijender Gupta, the leader of opposition in Delhi assembly.

Read | CBI raided secretariat under political pressure: Delhi govt

The BJP found an unlikely ally in the Congress. What we fail to understand is that why is Kejriwal protecting an official who has been arrested in a corruption case? questioned Delhi Congress spokesperson Sharmistha Mukherjee.

The CBI registered a case against Kumar and others in December alleging that the officer abused his official position by favouring a particular firm in getting contracts of Delhi government departments.

The CBI said the accused including a close aide of Kumar and the two owners of the private firm  entered into a criminal conspiracy that led to a loss of Rs 57 crore to the Delhi government.

It said the two officials were paid more than Rs 3 crore in bribes.

Read | Kejriwals principal secretary Rajender Kumar is no stranger to controversy

Kumar, whose appointment was once blocked by the Lieutenant Governor, was the secretary (IT) under the Sheila Dikshit government when the alleged corruption took place. The allegations relate to bribery and abuse of official position by the said senior civil servant and others to favour a Delhi-based private company in award of contracts of Delhi government, CBI spokesperson RK Gaur said, adding the accused will be produced in court on Tuesday. The two officials were arrested after a marathon six-hour questioning.

With agency inputs
Haidar is a 32-year-old computer operator, who has handed out forged fitness certificates to over 75 persons, making more than R10 lakh.

He worked for an authorised diagnostic centre that dispatches fitness reports to people applying to the Gulf countries for a job visa.

Without getting their blood tests or physical tests done -- a prerequisite for applying for a work visa -- Haidar drafted these reports based on the set pattern and declared the person fit.

He charged anywhere between R10,000 and R50,000 per certificate. Till now, the man is said to have forged these certificates for over 75 persons, making more than R10 lakh.

The matter came to the fore after the owner of the centre spotted the irregular data in the computer and copies of fitness reports of people who had never visited the centre. He then approached the police and filed a complaint.

The company is an authorised diagnostic center of the GCC states. We conduct medical tests for expatriates in Gulf countries. We follow a strict procedure to give out these fitness reports that decide if one will be given a work visa.

We conduct medical tests, thumb scans, X Rays. We collect blood for various tests and do a rigorous fitness checkup before dispatching a fitness report. This man, however, was printing reports for people who did not even come to the centre for a checkup. He was charging people a lot of money to dispatch these forged reports, the owner stated in his complaint.

We are sure that many unfit candidates have been fraudulently given fitness certificates, he said.

According to the police, when the owner confronted the operator, he confessed to have dispatched these reports to over 75 persons.

He said he was printing these medical reports for expatriates without conducting any medical tests. He used to make deals with people for a lot of money. He promised them fitness certificates on the letterhead of a certified diagnostic centre, duly attested by doctors, in exchange for money.

Most people who approached him had been declared unfit and were not given a visa. He had also roped in two more persons to bring in more applicants, an investigator told HT.

The matter has now been brought to the notice of MEA. This is serious since the man has already issued fake certificates to over 75 people, who got a visa. The matter needs further intervention as it involves several countries. The guidelines have been flouted, an investigator said.

Soon after the incident was brought to the notice of the police, the operator managed to escape. We have sent out teams to arrest him. He is absconding, a senior police officer said.

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In London, a man is captured around 300 times a day by CCTV cameras installed across the city. London has, a survey says, one CCTV camera for every 11 people, making it one of the most watched societies in the world.

Back home, the National Capital has around 3,677 CCTV cameras installed by Delhi Police. There are another 1.60 lakh private CCTVs and 4,000 set up by the Delhi government  which means one camera watching approximately 110 people.

Though it cant match London, the growing electronic surveillance in Delhi has come as a boon, acting like a third eye for the police, helping the law enforcement agency crack some of the most sensational and blind cases in the past few months.

Be it a theft in a south Delhi temple or the murder of NDMCs legal advisor MM Khan or the killing of Congolese national Masonda Ketada Olivier in Vasant Kunj in May this year, these cameras have always provided the police the first leads to crack a case.

One of Delhis most high profile cases  the December 16 2012 gang rape case  was cracked with the help CCTV footage from a hotel in Mahipalpur that had captured the suspected bus. It was a landmark case that set the tone and encouraged the police and other agencies to set up more CCTVs across the city.

A senior police officer privy to MM Khans murder probe told HT that though investigators suspected the involvement of contract killers behind the killing, they were struggling to identify the suspects. The cops grilled more than 100 people before finally stumbling on the CCTV footage in which they spotted two men following Khans car on a motorcycle.

We procured the video footage from a CCTV camera installed at Johri Farm, near the crime scene, and examined it. It helped us identify the motorcycles registration number and that led to the arrest of the alleged killers, said Mandeep Singh Randhawa, DCP (southeast).

Delhi: Soon: CCTV cameras to keep vigil on teachers in Delhi civic body schools

In the 29-year-old Congolese nationals murder, a CCTV camera installed at a motor garage captured the three suspects fleeing. While examining the video footage, constable Kartar of the Vasant Kunj police station identified one of the suspects as Mohammad Azad Saifi, whom he had arrested in 2015 in a case of sexual harassment and physical assault.

The availability of a third eye also helped the police nail a juvenile driver who ran over a 32-year-old marketing executive with his fathers Mercedes in north Delhi.

In that case, we were able to produce video evidence to corroborate that the accused was driving at a dangerous speed, caring little about the lives of others, said an officer.

The cameras while constantly helping police nab the wrongdoers have at times come to the rescue of people who had been falsely implicated.

The police, for example, earlier this month busted a gang of extortionists led by a young couple and rescued two students.

The gangs kingpin, a 25-year-old woman, had accused the two youths of abducting, drugging and then gang-raping her in a car. The woman said she was later thrown out near Delhi Polices headquarters at ITO.

There were discrepancies in her statement, but a case was registered against the two youths. We collected CCTV footage from the route that the woman claimed the suspects took. One of the CCTVs installed near the Sarai Kale Khan Bus terminal showed that the woman was not in the car with the youths. In fact, she along with her live-in partner was tailing the car driven by the two accused, said Randhawa.

Street crimes such as snatching, pickpocketing, and vehicle theft have seen a significant decrease after CCTVs started monitoring most of the public spaces.

Last year, statistics revealed, police in the eastern part of the city had solved 28 cases with the help of CCTVs.

Police said plans were afoot to set up thousands of more CCTVs to make the city safer under the Safe City Project at an estimated cost of `1,704.13 crore.
An Indian Air Force officer died when his taxi rammed a stationary pickup truck near the Jewar toll plaza on the Yamuna Expressway on Monday morning.

The deceased, Group Captain Hanumant Rao, was posted at IAFs Agra airbase and was returning from the Delhi airport in the taxi when the accident happened, police said.

Passersby informed the police. An ambulance of the Yamuna Expressway rushed to the spot where Rao and the driver Vipin were pulled out of the car and rushed to a nearby hospital. Rao was declared dead on arrival while Vipin is in the intensive care unit, said Abhishek Yadav, superintendent of police (rural), Gautam Budh Nagar.

Police said the air bags in the front seat saved the driver. But Rao, who was sitting on the rear seat, received multiple fractures.

Police seized the pickup truck but its driver fled. A case of death due to negligence was registered against unidentified persons at the Dankaur police station, police said.

We have summoned the owner of the vehicle to identify the driver. The vehicle was illegally parked on the expressway, said Yadav.

Rao hailed from Hyderabad. The family was informed and the body was sent for postmortem. Reports are awaited. Prima facie it looks like the cab driver was at a very high speed and failed to spot the truck, said Yadav.
The CBI on Monday arrested Rajender Kumar, principal secretary to Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, in a corruption case.

The CBI had in December last year registered a first information report (FIR) against Kumar for allegedly abusing his official position in awarding contracts from the city government to a private firm.

Read: CBI arrests Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwals principal secy in graft case

Known to be close to Kejriwal, the senior IAS officer was one of the Aam Aadmi Partys first bureaucratic appointments during its 49-day stint in 2014.

He was subsequently given charge of several important departments, including transport and education, before taking over as the CMs secretary.

The 1989-batch officer was also at the centre of a pitched battle between the city government and lieutenant governor Najeeb Jung in June last year, after Kejriwal appointed his trusted officer as the home secretary.

Read: Transfers, arrests of Delhi officials attempt to paralyse AAP govt: Sisodia

The L-G had rejected the appointment, saying the decision didnt have his approval, and put Dharam Pal in charge.

But the AAP dug in its heels and refused to budge from its pick, resulting in a peculiar situation where two home secretaries were functioning from the Delhi secretariat, but ultimately, Kumar had to go.

An IIT graduate, Kumar is known to enjoy a warm rapport with the chief minister, who passed out of IIT-Kharagpur as a mechanical engineer in 1989.
Delhis monkey menace is set to get worse with city municipal corporations unable to find catchers even at high rates and pressure from animal lovers allegedly torpedoing plans to check the Capitals simian population.

The South Delhi Municipal Corporation has decided to approach the Delhi high court, asking that the responsibility of catching and relocating monkeys be shifted to the city governments wildlife department.

If the decision favours the civic body, North and East Delhi Municipal Corporations are also likely to move the court.

Delhi reports at least five daily cases of monkey bites that can cause Rabies and be fatal. The animals are known to steal food from peoples houses and attack them. The mounting problem forced a parliamentary panel to seek expert advice in April.

In 2007, then deputy mayor SS Bajwa fell from his terrace and died when attacked by a group of monkeys, triggering outrage.

The same year, the high court gave the responsibility of catching monkeys to the civic bodies -- despite no such provision in the law -- because the municipalities already had a system for catching and sterilizing canines, officials say.

But the civic bodies are hamstrung by a scarcity of monkey catchers in the past two years despite multiple attempts to procure their services.

We recently increased the per-monkey catching rate from Rs 800 to Rs 1200 to attract the monkey catchers. However that too has failed to attract private monkey catchers, said a municipal official.

The problem has spiraled out of control in recent years. A paper tabled by minister of state for home Haribhai Parthibhai Chaudhary in the Lok Sabha said the three corporations relocated 408 monkeys last year. In contrast, more than 1,900 cases of monkey bites were reported during the same period.

Officials say that animal lovers are adding to the problem by filing police complaints against corporations and monkey catchers when the simians are caught in ones and twos, not troops.

This is a major reason why monkey catchers dont want to work in Delhi, said an official.

An absence of a monkey census is also a problem. Municipal data say the city wildlife department estimated the monkey population to be 5,000 in 2007. But the corporation has now been trifurcated and simian numbers under each body remain unknown.

Our officials are not trained to catch monkeys, neither do we have a distinctive job category to catch them, yet we have been tasked to do so, said Farhad Suri, leader of opposition, SDMC.

Monkeys are protected under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. Corporations argue that as monkeys are looked after by the wildlife department after theyre relocated at the Asola Bhatti Mines Sanctuary, the responsibility of catching should be handed over to the department.

But animal rights groups say the increasing monkey attacks are because of repeated encroachments into their habitat and the bites are a result of unscientific capturing and relocation of the primates.

Animal rights activist Kartick Satyanarayan said capturing a single monkey is like abducting them.

From jumping and swinging from trees, the monkeys are left to swing from wires and cables. Their natural habitat has been destroyed fully. Also the capturing makes them furious, he said.
GREAT FALLS  Investigators will probe the cause of a fire that destroyed a building about 10 feet from empty tanker cars.

The property was leased by Calumet Refinery and owned by freight carrier BNSF Railway.

Great Falls Fire Department Battalion Chief Jamie Jackson said the structure is too unstable for an investigation.

The department intends start looking for a cause on Tuesday.

A fire official said there was an unknown residue in the cars.

Calumet Specialty Products Partners LP vice president Noel Ryan said several rail cars were damaged before firefighters put out the blaze with the help of Calumet personnel.

Ryan said the empty cars were being stored at the rail yard.
My parents are not aware that Im gay, yet Im here because I want to support the others (in the LGBTQ community). Agar mummy-papa ko pata chala ki main gay hun toh mujhe maar dalenge, said 18-year-old Dev Singh.

He, and many others, gathered in Connaught Place on Saturday to commemorate Delhi High Courts historic 2009 judgment to decriminalise homosexuality, which was, however, reversed by the Supreme Court under Section 377. Viraj Shooken, 23, echoed the sentiment.

Read: Taiwan may become the first Asian country to legalise same sex marriage

I want to make a career first, and then tell my parents about my sexual orientation, so their chances of accepting me are higher, he said with hope, as he joined the others holding a banners with quirky slogans, wrapping themselves in rainbow-coloured flags in Central Park.

LGBTQ community commemorated the Delhi High Courts historic 2009 judgment at Central Park in the Capitals Connaught Place area on Saturday. (Amal KS/HT )

Hopeful that the Supreme Court will reconsider section 377 soon, Himadri Roy, associate professor, School of Gender and Development Studies, IGNOU, said, Its difficult for parents and society to accept when one reveals about his or her sexual orientation. Im fortunate my father and brother supported me but its not the same with everyone else. A testimony of this is Rahul Kumar Thappa. I was 21 when I told my parents Im gay. They have not accepted it yet. No one in my family supports me. With help from friends, Im not afraid to say that Im gay and proud of it.

Read: Being denied what is integral to you: The struggle for transgender rights

Many await the removal of section 377 to come out of the closet. We face discrimination everywhere, and I feel it might be the same at home if I open up, says a Delhi University student, who didnt wish to be named.

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The Supreme Court on Monday reserved its order on pleas for lifting its ban on registration of diesel cars with engine capacity of 2,000 cc and above in the NCR even as the central government argued for it as while opposing imposition of any environment cess.

Seeking the modification of the apex courts December 16, 2015 order, attorney general Mukul Rohatgi urged the bench headed by chief justice TS Thakur, that no cess should be levied by the court as the state is offering to come back with a report on the issue.

Seeking six weeks time to submit the report, he said: I dont think it is appropriate for the court to impose a tax as it should be done under the scheme of the constitution.

The central governments stand came in course of the hearing of a batch of petitions by car manufacturers including Mercedes Benz and Toyota seeking lifting of the ban on registration of big cars with an offer that it will deposit 1% of such as cars cost as environment cess.
About one in every nine men, and one in 30 women in the US may experience sudden cardiac death, most before age 70, scientists including one of Indian origin have found. The study offers the first lifetime risk estimates for sudden cardiac death.

We often screen for conditions that are less common and much less deadly than sudden cardiac death, said Donald Lloyd-Jones, from the Northwestern University in the US. The lifetime risk of sudden cardiac death for men is one in nine, and yet were not really screening for it, he said.

Researchers, including Sanjay Mehrotra from Northwestern University, examined long-term data on more than 5,200 men and women aged 28 to 62 who were free of cardiovascular disease at the time of their enrolment in the Framingham Heart Study, a decades-long cardiovascular study.

Read: Combination of diabetes, heart disease can be deadly

Focusing on four major risk factors -- blood pressure, total cholesterol, smoking and diabetes -- researchers calculated overall cumulative lifetime risk estimates for sudden cardiac death, and estimates according to risk factor burden. The researchers found that sudden cardiac death occurred in 375 people during follow up, and the death risk was greater for men than women -- with an overall 10.9% lifetime risk among all men at age 45 (roughly one in nine men) and a 2.8% lifetime risk of among all women at age 45 (or about one in 30 women);

They also found that men with two or more major risk factors at all ages had even higher lifetime risks of sudden cardiac death, at least 12% (over one in eight men). High blood pressure alone or a combination of other cardiovascular risk factors was linked to higher lifetime risk of sudden cardiac death, researchers said.

Read: Long-term endurance training does not cause cardiac arrest in athletes

Sudden cardiac death has been very hard to study because most patients had no history of heart problems and were not being monitored at the time of their death, Lloyd-Jones said. The majority of all cases occur before age 70; this is obviously sudden and devastating for families, with a burden that can be quite severe, he said.

Our paper sets the stage for thinking about how we can screen the population effectively to find out whos at risk, he said. The Framingham Heart Study provides robust data due to its large number of well-characterised participants and long follow-up time, but because all the participants were Caucasian, the results cannot necessarily be applied in other races or ethnic groups, researchers said. The study was published in the Journal of the American Heart Association.
The base camp was teeming with pilgrims, instantly recognisable by their backpacks, muddy shoes, wooden walking sticks, and the religious songs they sing as they progress by foot, or on horseback, or on a porters improvised palanquin.

The sight and sounds at Baltal symbolises the pilgrimage to the high-altitude, low-oxygen Hindu cave shrine of Amarnath each summer in Jammu and Kashmir.

And for almost every pilgrims progress, there is a ponywalah or a palkiwalah or a pithoo  devout Kashmiri Muslims who roll out the prayer carpet to pray this holy month of Ramzan as well as spread the welcome mat for their Hindu countrymen in a unique display of communal harmony.

At the heart of this harmony is money. The pilgrimage is big business for poor Kashmiris such as Mohammad Wani and Mushtaq, in their early-30s. The two ponywalahs or horsemen discussed near an illuminated langar, community kitchen serving free food to pilgrims, how business would be this season.

For every pilgrim taken to the Amarnath cave and brought back to Baltal base camp, they earn Rs 3,500.

The arduous uphill trek to the shrine at an altitude of nearly 13,000 feet would not have been possible for many  especially the elderly, children and women  without the services of thousands of Muslim horsemen, palkiwalahs (palanquin-bearers) and pithoos or porters.

The physical challenge of the route would be insurmountable without the trained horses or the palanquins, which are nothing but plastic chairs tied to two sturdy wood poles.

Gulzar Ahmad Rather, a farmer from Anantnag who doubles up as a horseman during the pilgrimage, said a pony earns around Rs 50,000 a season.

The fare for a palki ride up to the cave depends on the weight of the pilgrim. For someone around 60kg, we would charge Rs 10,000, which will be divided among the four carriers, said Begh Hassan, a palkiwalah from Rajouri in Jammu.

Besides business, their help to Hindus paint a portrait of communal peace when security concerns of pilgrims have become a major talking point in the country.

To the best of our ability, we serve the pilgrims who have come here from across India to fulfil their religious duties, said Mohammad Zaman from Tangmarg, standing in a queue with his pony to cross a checkgate and begin the 15km trek to the cave with his client, an elderly man from Rajasthan.

First-time pilgrim Ravi Bains from Punjab said the bhaichada (brotherhood) he has felt at Baltal between pilgrims and local Kashmiris was amazing.

The chief executive officer of Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board, PK Tripathi, said there were 7,523 registered ponywalahs, 2,667 palkiwalahs and 2,736 pithoos till June 29. Most of them are Muslims and the figures are likely to increase at the end of the 48-day yatra.

These service providers  as the official records describe them  gather from around the state at the two base camps, Baltal and Chandanwari. At Baltal, they have pitched rudimentary tents kitted out with minimum belongings  some clothes, blankets, utensils and a small solar panel for electricity in some.

Langars serve hearty meals but helpers are not welcome to share food with pilgrims at most of them. Hence, soup kitchens have come up for helpers. Theyre the most crucial guys in the yatra  so we are helping them, said Sukh Thapa, a worker at the Om Shiv Shakti Sewa Mandal Delhi, Free Langar for Palkis, Labourers and Horseman. The stall serves a sumptuous fare of rice, dal and two vegetable dishes.

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A district court on Monday directed the Beur jail administration to transfer the controversial state intermediate examination topper to a remand home on the grounds that the accused student is a minor.

The 17-year-old was arrested in connection with the toppers scam after serious doubts were cast on the authenticity of her high scores in the examination. She had scored 444 out of 500, but was later recorded as saying that political science was a subject about cooking.

The student failed to appear for a re-test on two occasions, finally appearing on June 25, following which a Special Investigation Unit (SIU) arrested and sent her to Beur jail. However, local media pointed out that the student was a minor.

The special vigilance court accepted the same on Monday based on a matriculation certificate which listed the students date of birth as November 15, 1998. According to this, the accused will become a major this November.

The court also directed its office to segregate all records related to the student and hand it over to the Juvenile Justice Board.

Counsel for the accused, Kapil Deo Mishra, also moved an application in court seeking a showcause notice against the police officers, the SIU and the juvenile welfare officer for treating the minor as an adult and unduly arresting her.

Mishra said the first information report (FIR) should have mentioned the age of the student, especially when it was known that she was an intermediate examinee.

There has been violation of the Juvenile Justice Act and rules by police, the SIU, special juvenile police unit (SJPU) and the juvenile welfare officer, he argued.

Patna senior superintendent of police, Manu Maharaaj, deflected the blame and said the student or the parents should have furnished documents proving her age before the court.

The police are nowhere at fault, he said.

The accused student is yet to be transferred as jail authorities are awaiting the official court order.

As soon as we get it, the process of shifting will start, Beur jail superintendent, Rupak Kumar said.

According to the Juvenile Justice Act (JJA), unless a minor has been accused of a heinous crime, such as rape or murder, an FIR cannot be filed against them. Further, police cannot name the minor in the FIR, let alone make an arrest.

The JJA defines a child or juvenile as a person who has not completed 18 years of age. It outlines two target groups  children in need of care and protection and juveniles in conflict with law.

When a police officer comes in contact with a juvenile, he must place the child with the special juvenile police unit (SJPU) who must report the child to the board without delay. Bail is available to juveniles in all cases as long as the board finds the release of the child will not place him in any danger or in the influence of criminals. If the child is not released on bail, he or she is only to be placed in the custody of an observation home, the Act further outlines.

Prayas Bharti, an NGO that Mishra is associated with, appealed to parents of the other three toppers accused in the scam to furnish records and certificates of their children in case they are minors. These students are currently in the wind.

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In the global literary circuit, London-based Bangladeshi writer Tahmima Anam is a rising star. Her second novel, The Good Muslim, like her first one, is based on the Bangladesh Liberation War. It cleaves through the upheaval in a fictional Maya Haques life at a time when religious fundamentalism was a whisper in the wind. The war leaves her confused between an ungodly past and a frantically religious present.

Bangladesh, much like Maya, has been asking itself a question for more than a quarter century it hasnt been able to answer: Are we Muslim or Bengali? The militant attack in an upscale Dhaka cafe last week is only a brutal imprint of this larger historical muddle.

Most analyses in the popular press have focused on the immediate global security concerns, including the Islamic State. The place to begin understanding the turmoil of a nation that heroically founded itself, posted a decent human-development record and has great potential going forward is Bangladeshi society. The countrys problem is political and sociological. Terror is but a mere imprint of the former.

Recent events have further sharpened polarisation in a country that always had two contesting nationalisms and two parties with opposing worldviews.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina of the Awami League won elections in 2009 held under a caretaker government with a two-thirds majority. While religiously motivated murders of liberals have risen, the Awami League government too has displayed a political culture that brooks no dissent.

A wave of Muslim nationalism has since clashed violently with a secular Bengali nationalism, which is steeped in Bangla ethno-cultural identity, literature, poetry and lifestyle.

A coffin containing the body of a victim who was killed in the attack on the Holey Artisan Bakery and the O'Kitchen Restaurant, is pictured during a memorial ceremony in Dhaka. (Reuters)

This escalation comes amid high-profile executions decreed by the war crimes tribunal, which was set up by the Hasina government to try those accused of atrocities during the 1971 war of independence from Pakistan. One might ask if a restorative truth and reconciliation commission, like the one that saw the end of apartheid in South Africa, would have better served Bangladesh than a retributive war tribunal.

Jamaat-e-Islamis incumbent chief and former agriculture minister, 75-year-old Motiur Rahman Nizami, was executed on May 11 for war crimes and he was the fifth such collaborator and fourth Jamaat leader to be hanged for war crimes. The Jamaat has cried vendetta. Collaborators like Nizami did facilitate Pakistani soldiers in killing civilians wantonly during the 1971 war, but the tribunal has been internationally criticised as a sham.

Many Islamist groups have now stepped out of the shadows. The killing last year of Bangladeshi-American writer Avijit Roy and gay-rights activist Xulhaz Mannan earlier this year grabbed global headlines.

Clausewitzs saying that politics is war by other means is apt for Bangladesh. The countrys history has been a history of political trench warfare between the governments led by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina of the Awami League and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) of Khaledia Zia to foist their hegemony. They forget that its an established political theory that political hegemony works not through coercion, but co-option.

The Awami League claims for itself a de-facto status as the party that midwifed the nation by first leading the autonomy movement and later the liberation war. The BNP positions itself as a party that wants Islam as a reference point and its main gripe is that the Awami League wants to deny its part in Bangladeshs founding.

The consequence of this animus means both have failed to discern a popularly acceptable national identity which could secure Bangladeshs political foundations. It is worth recalling the country adopted a hurriedly formulated Constitution that was not subjected to the cut and thrust of debate.

With its own distinct Muslim social formation, Bangladesh cant be a Pakistan-like society, as the BNP is accused of envisioning. Neither can it be the France of South Asia with a fiercely agnostic laicite-like form of secularism that Awami League seems to be sometimes articulating. Indeed, the Awami League backed the Bangladesh high courts decision to keep Islam as the state religion and just this month, its government talked of sending troops to defend Mecca in case of an Islamic State attack. Bangladesh may have a long fight against terror awaiting it at home. The first step is to fix is its broken politics.

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The mortal remains of Tarishi Jain, the young Indian woman who was killed in Fridays terror attack in Dhaka, will be flown to New Delhi on Monday and later cremated in Gurgaon.

Tarishis father Sanjeev Jain, mother Tulika and brother Sanchit will accompany the body for the last rites.

Her mortal remains will arrive at IGI airport in a Jet airways flight at 12:10 pm. After custom formalities, we will keep the body at the Community Centre, Arjun Marg, DLF, Phase-1 for rituals. The last rites will be performed at Shiv Murti Cremation ground near IFFCO Chowk in Gurgaons Sector 29 at 5:30 pm, said Rajeev Jain, Tarishis uncle.

For the last rites, the Jain family requested the Union government to have Tarishis remains flown to Agra, which is 50 kilometres from their native place Firozabad (Uttar Pradesh). However, logistics became an issue.

It will not be easy to take her body by road to Firozabad. So we decided to perform last rites in Gurgaon where her father has a flat in Sector 32, Rajeev said.

External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj had earlier said Tarishis body will be taken to Delhi by plane on Monday. This is with concurrence of Tarishis father, she added. It is a case of brutal killing  an unnatural death. Some legal procedure has (to) be completed, the minister said on Twitter.

Swaraj said the country was with the family in this hour of grief. Tarishi, a student at UC Berkeley, was among the 20 foreign nationals who were butchered by militants inside the Holey Artisan Bakery in Dhakas diplomatic zone. Joint forces launched an assault on Saturday morning, killing six of the attackers and capturing one alive, ending Bangladeshs worst terror attack.

Read: Survivor haunted by screams of victims

Tarishi was on a holiday in Dhaka where her father runs a garment business.

Though he hailed from Uttar Pradesh, Sanjeev Jain didnt shift to India as he was attached to his workers at the factory, who were mostly Muslim.

For the past one year, his relatives had been persuading him to return to India in the wake of terror spreading through Bangladesh.

Sanjeev bhaiyya was planning to return to India for the last one year. We also wished that the entire family stays together. But it was his affection for the staff, mostly Muslims, which made him postpone his plans, said Ajeet Jain, Sanjeevs brother, with tears in his eyes.

Read: Attackers told us to be good Muslims before final assault: Dhaka siege survivor

The attack, responsibility for which was claimed by Islamic State, marks a major escalation in a campaign by militants over the past 18 months that had targeted mostly individuals advocating a secular or liberal lifestyle in the Muslim-majority country.

However, the Bangladesh government has time and again denied presence of the dreaded terrorist group in the country. On Sunday, police claimed the terrorists belonged to the banned domestic group Jamaat-ul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB).

(With inputs from agencies)

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The Aam Aadmi Party said on Monday it didnt order the razing of a water kiosk outside a historic gurdwara in Delhi, a day after pamphlets were hurled at Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal in Punjab for his partys alleged role in the controversial event.

The party said the demolition of the piao (drinking water kiosk) outside the Sis Ganj gurdwara in Delhis Chandni Chowk area was ordered by the New Delhi Municipal Council in accordance with a high court order.

The NDMC is being run by BJP. AAP had no role in that decision, said party leader Himmat Singh Shergill.

Read: Kejriwal faces pamphlet protest at Golden Temple

The reaction came after unidentified persons threw pamphlets at Kejriwal, calling him anti-Sikh, when he stepped out of the Golden Temple on Sunday afternoon.

The protesters also raised anti-Kejriwal slogans before they were overpowered by AAP supporters. Police said they had no clue about the persons who threw the leaflets.

The AAP is going all out to win in the Punjab polls early next year and has expressed intentions of fighting all 117 seats in the state. It has focused on the states drug problem and Kejriwal has repeatedly attacked the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal-BJP combine as well as the opposition Congress.
The BJP faces its worst dilemma ahead of the most crucial election in Uttar Pradesh. While the partys rank and file want to enter the battlefield with a strong CM face, the BJP leaderships hunt for a mass leader from the state every time hits a wall.

The partys political predicament was best reflected in BJP national president Amit Shahs quip in an informal chat with media recently on projecting a chief ministerial face. When asked if BJP would benefit from projecting a CM face in UP, like it did in Assam, he had said, Strategy in one state does not always work in another state. BJP has been traditionally strong in UP and has a strong network of workers up to the booth level.

Ever since he got free from elections in the countrys east, Shah has been addressing a spate of booth level meetings to oil the party machinery rather than getting bogged down by the ongoing debate on chief ministerial face of the party. Notwithstanding the ongoing surveys requisitioned by the party, the high command perhaps knows that boosting the morale of the party cadre would be easier than finding a leader with a mass appeal.

Read: Amit Shahs digs at BSP show his nervousness: Mayawati

Political commentator from West UP Ashok Shastri says, Do they have a face acceptable in four regions of the state that are completely diverse in character and characteristics. A leader from West will be either unknown or unacceptable to the East.

Also, the caste complexities are more acute. Till the time former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee was in action, the BJP promoted backward leader Kalyan Singh, the temple hero. Vajpayee was the tallest Brahmin leader even though he never projected himself as one. Today when they have backwards as their Prime Minister and state president, the party is aggressively trying to woo the extremely backward and Dalits ahead of the elections.

In this caste conscious state, the party cannot afford to ignore the upper caste. As such even from among the upper caste, another issue is of choosing a Brahmin or a Rajput, especially when the two regional parties are waiting in the wings to grab the disgruntled community.

Teachers leader from Gorakhpur Chitranjan Mishra disagrees and says, Brahmins went with Mayawati in 2007 but barring SC Mishra and his family none benefitted. Instead cases under SC/ST Act were slapped on them.

According to him BJP lacked a leader who is known beyond his or her home district. A political rival quips, The BJP has a problem of equals. Barring Union home minister Rajnath Singh, it is packed with leaders who are by and large equal in their limited appeal.

While Amit Shah has remained non-committal on the projection of a CM face after his May quip, other leaders are often found saying that there has been no discussion in the party on the subject so far or the BJP will bank on Narendra Modis charisma that had bagged 71 seats in 2014 elections.

Ashok Shastri, however, says the only way BJP can enter the arena is by changing the political debate in the state, by setting up a state reorganization commission or making a statement on external affairs, especially on the country relations with Pakistan.

There is also a view that the BJP is waiting for the Congress to open its cards first. But with barely eight months to go for the elections, the party will have to take an early call if they want to groom someone, which unfortunately neither of the two national parties have done at the state level. It could be because the Gandhi family won electoral battles for the Congress and Vajpayee for the BJP in Uttar Pradesh. After leaders of mettle  Vir Bahadur Singh, Narain Dutt Tiwari and Vishwanath Pratap Singh (who later formed Janata Dal) in Congress and Kalyan Singh in BJP, both national parties have not groomed leaders at the state level.
Naran Vasoya was driven to desperation by a nagging suspicion that he had nursed for decades. Suspicious of his wifes fidelity and the parentage of his 33-year-old son Dipesh, he finally hired two assassins for Rs 5 lakhs last month to kill his son.

His arrest on June 26 by the Rajkot police for the inexplicable crime sent shock waves across Gujarat. But experts say that though extreme, his angst over his childs lineage was not entirely uncommon. Many parents in the state, silently battling such similar anguish, are now approaching laboratories for paternity checks of their children.

The upshot has been a mushrooming of centres for collection of DNAs across the state. By rough estimates, some 100-odd such centres have sprung up in Gujarat in the last four years. Many local pathological centres are also extending similar facilities, collecting DNAs for testing in laboratories located in cities outside the state.

The ever increasing demand for DNA testing has forced us to open new sample collection centres in Gujarat, says Ravi Kiran of DNA Labs India, which has 22 collection centres in the state. Its laboratory is in Hyderabad.

With increasing awareness and availability of technology at the doorsteps, the number of paternity test cases has almost doubled in the past two years, points out an employee of a private collection centre. Men from remote Saurashtra areas to backward regions of north Gujarat have also started approaching us, he says.

A part of the business is driven obviously by men like Vasoya who doubted his wifes character. But a majority of the clientele is primarily couples who have got children through in-vitro fertilisation treatment (IVF) at private fertility clinics involving the procedure of manually combining an egg and sperm and then transferring the embryo to the uterus.

Akash and Rekha, a couple in mid-thirties, is one of them. After several years as a childless couple, they had gone to a fertility clinic and were ultimately blessed with a child. Yet, they had doubts that perhaps, the doctor had manipulated the process and the sperm or egg came from third parties.

They wanted their doubts to be laid to rest forever and went to a DNA collection centre. DNAs are tested for other medical purposes as well, including for determining breast and ovarian cancer. But all that Akash and Rekha wanted was to check their childs pedigree.

We were happy. The doubt that we might have been cheated by the clinic was stinging. A DNA test finally gave us peace, insists Aakash.

More such couples are opting for the same. Every month we get around 10 cases of parental testing. Out of which, 85% cases have babies through fertility clinics, explains Kiran of DNA Labs. People who have spent almost Rs 5 lakh to become parent are more than willing to spend around Rs 13,000 more to get peace of mind, he adds.

The doubts that the couples nurture are not entirely misplaced. Some paternity tests of IVF children have pointed to wrongdoings by the fertility clinics.

Gujarat has a state-run Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) in Gandhinagar. However, the FSL accepts cases only recommended by the police or courts, points out its director, J M Vyas. Private laboratories have no such constraints and have therefore emerged as the preferred choice for parents seeking to bury their doubts.

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LANDER, Wyo.  Coal faces myriad challenges these days. Competition from natural gas, reduced demand and government regulation are the most popular reasons cited for the industrys decline.

But theres one challenge that rarely gets mentioned in the litany of long-term issues facing the industry: shipping costs.

Transportation costs have increased in recent years, even as the price of coal itself has declined. The cost of average annual rail shipments from the Powder River Basin climbed nearly 20 percent between 2009 and 2014, the last year for which statistics are available. Spot prices on Powder River Basin coal are down 31 percent since the start of 2011.

The issue is of particular importance for miners in the Powder River Basin, who are half a continent away from many customers. Shipping costs generally account for two-thirds of their delivered cost. Put differently, shipping costs play a large role in determining whether coal is cheaper than its chief competitor, natural gas.

Rail companies earnings have slumped on account of reduced coal shipments. BNSF profits fell from $1.05 billion in the first quarter of 2015 to $784 this year after recording a 33 percent decline in coal shipments. Union Pacifics first-quarter earnings were $979 million, down 15 percent from the same period last year. The Omaha, Nebraska-based railroad said coal shipments were down 34 percent over that period.

Neither railroad has shown signs of offering concessions to coal companies, despite some calls for them to do so. When financial analysts asked Union Pacific Vice President Eric L. Butler about the subject during a recent earnings call, Butler declined to comment. The railroad does not talk about specific contract negotiations, Butler said.

I will say we negotiate aggressively and assertively, and were in a very competitive environment, he said. And for any particular contract negotiation, we probably have dozens, if not hundreds, of terms that were negotiating. And like always, as markets change and we look to be competitive, we evaluate a bunch of those terms and conditions and what works for us and works for our customer base.

A BNSF spokesman could not be reached by press time.

Railroads have cut deals for coal companies in the past, said Matt Preston, an industry analyst at the consulting firm Wood Mackenzie. Norfolk Southern and CSX have offered lower shipping rates to protect eastern coal exporters, he noted. BNSF also offered improved terms to Powder River Basin producers around 2012, prompting a shift away from Union Pacific in the basin.

Still, Preston said he did not expect to see railroads make wide concessions to coal companies.

My feeling is they are more interested in protecting their margins in general than aiding the coal industry, he said. They make money shipping frack sands to gas drillers, too.

Both major railroads have likely paid off their infrastructure investments in the Powder River Basin, Preston said, reducing their incentive to protect the coal market.

The railroads business is shipping stuff, not just coal, Preston said. Theyre moving onto some other market.
Members of a suspected radical group in Hyderabad had allegedly sent a letter pledging allegiance to Islamic State chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi before their arrest last week, an official of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) told HT on Monday.

The scanned letter was allegedly e-mailed to their handler  often used to refer to recruiters for terrorist groups  who claimed to be based in IS-held areas in Syria with contacts with the outfits top members.

The NIA is questioning five alleged members of the IS-influenced group who were arrested in Hyderabad last week. Six more suspects who were in touch with the accused are also being questioned.

The families of the arrested people have denied the allegations. The All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief and Lok Sabha member from Hyderabad Asaddudin Owaisi has promised to provide them legal help.

We have evidence to prove that at least five members of the group first signed a letter pledging allegiance to al-Baghdadi, said a senior NIA officer, who spoke on the condition of anonymity due to sensitive nature of the probe.

The handler told them he had direct channels of communications with core members of the IS there.

Investigators say the alleged ring-leader of the group, Ibrahim Yazdani, twice tried to travel to Greece in order to reach Turkey from where he planned to get into the IS-held areas.

Ibrahim allegedly wanted to take his wife, child and brother to the IS-held area.

In his third attempt, he filed an online an application to get admission in a university in Turkey which was accepted as well but the plan also fell through as he had to leave his wife and child here.

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The prime accused in the Infosys techie murder case was remanded to 15-day judicial custody on Monday.

P Ramkumar was transferred from Thirunelvelli government medical college, where he was recuperating after he attempted suicide during his arrest, to the state capital at 4:40 am on Monday. He was to be presented before a bench of the Madras high court, but given his fragile health, Ramkumar was instead taken to Royapettah government hospital, where his statement was taken by the judge.

Infosys employee Swathi S, 24, was allegedly hacked to death by Ramkumar on a busy platform at Nugambakkam railway station on July 24.

Police tracked Ramkumar to his home in Shenkottai Meenaksheepuram village, where he attempted to take his own life by slitting his throat.

Law officials said the accused was an aloof mechanical engineer who had arrived in Chennai a few months ago in search of work and became infatuated with Swathi. He is believed to have murdered her after she rejected his advances.

T Krishnamurthy, the advocate representing Swathis family, said Ramkumar should be hanged, and the court should investigate the case thoroughly.

Ramkumar was brought to Chennai in a heavily guarded police convoy, which included an ambulance and three doctors.
Youths lodged in prisons for stone-pelting in Kashmir are likely to be granted amnesty on the occasion of Eid with the state government initiating the process of reviewing their cases before the festival.

Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti on Monday asked the home department to review before Eid the cases of the youths lodged in various jails on charges of stone-pelting to afford them an opportunity to rebuild their careers.

A committee comprising the director general of police, the director general of prisons and the principal secretary, home, will review the cases, she said while chairing a high-level meeting here this morning regarding bringing about reforms in J&Ks prisons. Eid is expected on coming Wednesday.

The decision is in tune with Mehboobas policy that those not involved in heinous crimes should be released to give them a fresh chance. Earlier, last month, she told the assembly that her government was reviewing all cases of stone-pelting since 2008.

Mehbooba also asked DGP K Rajendra Kumar to take up the matter regarding deportation of a mentally-challenged Pakistani national to his country who is lodged in a jail in the state for having inadvertently crossed the LoC. Why has been the person kept in jail for so long, when he is not only deaf and dumb, but mentally deranged also? she asked, adding the state and its law enforcing agencies should not be seen acting in such a callous manner and be more humane in their approach.

Stressing the need for review and upgradation of the Jail Manual in the state, she said the review, which is already overdue, should be aimed at making the prisons centres of reformation and not the places of punishment.
Fifty-year-old Tara Singh litigated with Uttar Pradeshs irrigation department for 20 years to get his job back that fetched him Rs 299 every month.

Of these 20 years, 14 were spent in the Supreme Court, which in 2005 referred Singhs case to a larger bench to decide if irrigation department was an industry. This because Singh  who worked as a tubewell operator-cum-technician  had invoked industrial disputes law against the department for terminating his services illegally in 1996.

On June 29, however, a bench of Justice Kurien Joseph and Justice Rohinton Nariman accepted Singhs contention to de-tag his matter from the other petitions after he said the larger bench to hear the legal question was yet to be set up.

His counsel Aishwarya Bhati told the court that her client was a poor man and without a job for two decades. The court accepted her argument to dismiss UP governments appeal against the 2002 Allahabad high court verdict restoring his employment. Singh will now get allowances at par with current wages.

We find no reason on facts to entertain the special leave petition, which is dismissed, read the courts brief order. It said the larger bench can adjudicate the legal question pending before it.

Singhs brush with the courts began when he moved the industrial tribunal after his illegal removal and won the case on July 27, 1996. Aggrieved, the state moved the high court a year later but lost the case. In 2002, the Supreme Court issued notice to Singh on the states appeal and restrained him from joining work.

On May 2 last year, the Supreme Court adjourned Singhs case, observing a five-judge bench has to give a verdict on whether the irrigation department can be called an industry. However, the judgment pronounced three days later referred the matter to a seven-judge bench for an authoritative pronouncement. With this Singhs case also got tagged with the other petitions.

My client won in both the forums below. But the matter got stuck in the Supreme Court on a constitutional issue and delay in setting up the appropriate bench, Bhati told HT.

She said they took a chance by filing an application to de-tag Singhs case.

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BJP chief Amit Shahs midnight calls to about a dozen parliamentarians set the stage for a reshuffle and expansion of the Union council of ministers on Tuesday, the second since the NDA came to power in May 2014.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will induct 19 new faces into his council of ministers with many of them from states where elections are due next year.

Aap Dilli mein kal hain (are you in Delhi tomorrow)? asked Shah inviting the MPs to tea at his residence in the national capital on Monday morning. A few more calls and all roads seemed to lead to his Akbar Road bungalow.

Shah met more than a dozen MPs separately, asking them to fulfil their responsibility earnestly.

Another pep talk is scheduled after the swearing-in of new ministers at Rashtrapati Bhawan, where the function begins at 11am. Prime Minister Modi will meet them at a cabinet meeting in the afternoon.

Read | Not a change but an expansion, says PM Modi on Cabinet reshuffle

Five of the new faces are likely to be from the Dalit community, part of the BJPs broader plan to appeal to the scheduled castes in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Punjab. All three states vote next year and have a substantial population of scheduled castes that has traditionally stayed away from the BJP.

Dalit parliamentarians Krishna Raj of Shahjahanpur in Uttar Pradesh, Almora MP Ajay Tamta, Maharashtras Ramdas Athawale of the RPI, an NDA constituent, Rajasthans Bikaner MP Arjun Meghwal, and Karnatakas Chikkodi MP Ramesh Chandrappa Jigajinagi are likely to join Modis team.

The Almora MP is set to become the first minister from Uttarakhand in the NDA government.

Apart from Athawale, another BJP ally to be inducted in the council of ministers is Anupriya Patel of the Apna Dal, an OBC parliamentarian from Mirzapur. The BJP is in talks with the Apna Dal for a merger, sources said. This may happen before the UP polls.

Anil Desai of the Shiv Sena was earlier tipped to get a ministerial berth but there appeared to be a last-minute hitch in negotiations over another cabinet rank for the ally.

The top four portfolios  home, finance, external affairs and defence  are unlikely to be touched, government sources said.

At least six ministers are likely to be dropped, including Sanwarlal Jat and Nihal Chand from Rajasthan, GM Siddeshwara from Karnataka, Ramshankar Katheria from UP, and Mohanbhai Kundariya and Mansukhbhai Vasava from Gujarat.

Read | PM Modi to reshuffle his cabinet on Tuesday: 5 things to know

Minority affairs minister Najma Heptulla, 76, and small and medium enterprises minister Kalraj Mishra, 75, are said to be on a sticky wicket because of their age. Though age has never been an official criterion, Modi has repeatedly stressed on young blood in his government.

Sources said Mishras fate would hinge on the leaderships assessment of his importance as a prominent Brahmin leader in poll-bound UP. Chandauli MP Mahendra Pandey, another Brahmin face from the politically crucial state, is likely to be inducted.

Power minister Piyush Goyal and petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan are likely to be elevated to cabinet status, the sources said. Among those tipped to be elevated are ministers of state Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Manoj Sinha and Sanjeev Balyan  all three from UP.

There could be a change in portfolios of some ministers, the sources said.

The induction of Patel, Raj and Pandey will push up UPs representation in the council of ministers to 16.

The BJP won 71 of the 80 seats in UP in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections and is now going all out to consolidate its gains in next years state polls. The BJP is looking to dislodge regional parties such as the Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party that have alternated power in UP for about 14 years.

Dahod MP Jaswantsinh Bhabhor besides Rajya Sabha members Masukh L Mandaviya and Parshottam Rupala from Gujarat are likely to come into the council of ministers.

Rajya Sabha MP Vijay Goyal, Darjeeling MP SS Ahluwalia and Pali MP PP Choudhary will likely find a place too. CR Choudhary from Nagaur in Rajasthan could be a possible minister too.

Rajya Sabha members MJ Akbar and Anil Madhav Dave, besides Mandla MP Faggan Singh Kulaste are probable from Madhya Pradesh. Maharashtras Dhule MP Subhash Bhamre and Rajen Gohain, the MP for Nagaon in Assam, are also being considered.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Monday the planned reshuffle of his Cabinet was not a change but an expansion aimed to push the priorities identified in the 2016-17 national budget.

Modi described the reshuffle as a routine exercise but refrained from going into details of the changes. The Cabinet expansion comes around the same time the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is considering rejigging its office bearers, and it is expected some of the ministers might be assigned party duty.

We need more people in the Cabinet to operationalise the priority areas identified in this years budget Rest you will have to wait for tomorrow to unfold, Modi told a select group of journalists at his 7 Race Course Road residence.

The government placed emphasis on the social and rural sectors in this years budget, promising to double farm incomes in just over five years, a tough target that would mean the sector growing faster than the rest of the economy at the current clip.

Read | Indias turnaround will be sustainable in long term: PM Modi tells HT

Modi did not give a direct reply when asked if Uttar Pradesh would find more representation in the government, only saying the BJP did not get enough seats in Delhi assembly elections whereas the northern state had elected 73 MPs of the National Democratic Alliance.

In what was a free-wheeling, hour-long interaction, the PM, dressed in a pink kurta and chappals, spoke on governance, the economy, terrorism, and his relationship with the opposition Congress.

The government has been seeking to expand support among political parties for the GST bill and the PM said he was hopeful of winning parliamentary approval for it in the monsoon session starting July 18.

Asked about the controversy over a new methodology to calculate Indias economic growth, Modi said: The World Bank, IMF and all the top credit ratings agencies are saying that India is the fastest growing economy among the big countries.

Read | Eye on state polls, PM to strengthen Cabinet today; 19 new faces likely

Agar apko meri nahin sunni, unki toh suno (If you dont want to listen to me then at least listen to them). He said his administration was focused on minimum government, maximum governance and gave the example of how movement of Cabinet notes and government files had improved.

Earlier, it used to take three months for a cabinet note to be made and circulated. Now the entire exercise is completed between 15 (and) 30 days, he said.

The government files, if one uses Hindu mythology as an example, would visit not mandatory char (four) dhams (pilgrimage) but 20 dhams before being approved.

Now files are expedited and the government had stopped functioning in silos unlike the past.

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The National Security Guard (NSG) will get in touch with Bangladeshi forces to get details of the tactics used by the Dhaka gunmen to better its response in event of a similar attack on Indian soil.

Seven militants stormed an upmarket restaurant in the Bangaldeshis capitals diplomatic zone on July 1 and killed 20 hostages, most of them non-Muslims, including an Indian, during an 11-hour siege.

We always seek details of such attacks to see the strategies adopted by the attackers. We will soon get in touch with authorities in Dhaka and if required, we may send a team to get spot details, the chief of Indias premier counter-terrorism force RC Tayal said.

After the Dhaka attack, the NSG, which does a weekly assessment of terror strikes, if any, at home or abroad, has been put on alert.

Read | Dhaka restaurant siege: 20 hostages, including an Indian, killed in IS attack

The Bangladesh strike brought back memories of the 2008 Mumbai attacks that left at least 166 people dead, many of them foreigners. Ten Pakistani terrorists had held the city to ransom for almost three days, targeting hotels and a cafe frequented by foreigners and other public places.

After the attacks, the Indian security establishment had launched a nation-wide exercise to identify sensitive civilian and government installations, including hotels and malls.

The Intelligence Bureau (IB), NSG and state police forces zeroed in on 450 sensitive spots that were ranked on the basis of the threat perception.

We keep on doing regular exercises at these places. We have three-dimensional models of most of these installations as well, Tayal said.

The idea was to get familiar with the building plans so that a spot for control room, entries and exits points for commando operations could be identified in case of a hostile situation, sources said.

The NSG added malls to the list of sensitive buildings after it studied the September 2013 Westgate Mall attack in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi. At least 67 people were killed by by al-Shabab militants in a siege that lasted for four days.

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Defence minister Manohar Parrikar floated the idea on Monday of opening ground combat roles to women, reigniting the debate on whether women should be allowed to serve at the front line.

Barely eight months after the government opened up the fighter stream to women in the Indian Air Force, Parrikar said the decision had knocked down the first psychological barrier within the military to induct them in combat positions.

Only a handful of countries, including the US, Australia and Norway, allow women to serve in all combat capacities such as flying warplanes, serving in infantry units and performing duties aboard warships and submarines.

Read: All salute: Indias first three women fighter pilots commissioned

Speaking at a function organised by the FICCI Ladies Organisation on changing roles and opportunities of women in the defence sector, Parrikar said: Why cant we have an all-women battalion if there is resistance among male soldiers over being led by female commanders.

He also said that women could serve onboard warships in the future but not in submarines as these platforms did not have separate areas to accommodate mixed gender crews.

Theres a thinking (in the military) that soldiers wont listen to female commanders. I dont agree with it. The only restriction today is that of infrastructure, said Parrikar, credited with pushing the decision to let women fly fighter jets. Three women are currently training to become Indias first female combat pilots.

The move to allow women in fighter cockpits met with resistance in the defence ministry. Parrikar said the file took four months to reach him as there were many males in the ministry. He said he had to send several reminders to get the file moving.

He indicated that steps were being taken to induct women in Sainik Schools and subsequently in the National Defence Academy.

The army has its reservations about inducting women is close combat duties. These centre around physical contact with the enemy, infrastructure in forward areas and physiological and cultural barriers.

Parrikar said when the government was considering opening up the fighter stream to women, some flagged concerns about the consequences of women combat pilots being shot down in enemy territory and being taken prisoners of war. The minister said his logic was that women could be assigned air defence missions in Indian airspace

Parrikar knows allowing women in front line combat will require building consensus and overcoming internal resistance. He said any move toward ushering in gender parity has to be a smooth affair and will be achieved, step by step.
She loves dosa and appam but cant have them now because college seniors forced toxic phenyl-based toilet cleaner down her throat, burning her food pipe.

Fed by a feeding tube inserted through her nose, the 19-year-old nursing student from Keralas Kozhikode is battling for her life. With great difficulty she recounted before police the May 9 incident that reflected a cruel tradition called ragging, rampant across college campuses in India.

I was summoned by some seniors to their room and asked to write down names of two seniors I loved most and hated badly. Scared, I quickly gave four names. The two I said I despised were angry, she said.

They barged into her hostel room and poured a cleaning liquid into her mouth, the teenager told police.

Read: Kerala nursing student ragging: Three arrested on attempt to murder charges

Mild hazing is common across campuses but it is no longer just fun and games; a way of new entrants getting initiated. Extreme bullying exists in equal parts too. Efforts to curb the menace, which has driven many freshers to suicide or maimed them for life, have proven ineffective.

Students that Hindustan Times spoke to said in most cases, seniors and college authorities collude to coerce the victim into silence, asking them not to name them as that would spoil their future.

Only a handful of students come forward and complain, said Dr Kushal Bannerjee, co-founder of Students Against Violence in Education (SAVE), an anti-ragging NGO. Many of them feel helpless and are told not to make a big deal about the tradition. There is also the fear that they have to remain in the institution for years and, therefore, many cases of violent ragging go unreported.

In 2009, the University Grants Commission set up an anti-ragging helpline after the death of 19-year-old Aman Kachroo, a first-year medical student in Himachal Pradesh. He died in hospital after being brutally ragged by seniors, who were allegedly drunk.

The death triggered national outrage and a probe panel appointed by the Supreme Court found that the teenager had repeatedly complained to college authorities and asked for help. But he was ignored.

Read: India needs an anti-ragging act to curb the menace

Calls made to the UGC helpline dont yield affirmative action too. A top official of the UGC, the countrys higher education regulator, said the helpline received more than 3.1 million calls since it was introduced. The commission flagged 3,512 of these as complaints against ragging.

Freshers have a fear about reporting their seniors. Close to 40% students in colleges across India face some amount of ragging but only 8.6% report such incidents, found a study funded by the UGC on the directions of the top court. We do believe there is under-reporting because students are scared of seniors, a UGC official said.

Many families struggle because there is no central statute to deal with the crime. Victims are often confused about the laws, said Gaurav Singhal, the national coordinator of SAVE. The closest thing to a central legislation is the UGC Regulations on Curbing the Menace of Ragging in Higher Educational Institutions, 2009. It says all colleges have to constitute an anti-ragging cell and make students sign an undertaking that they will not indulge in the sadistic practice.

But colleges seldom respond to complaints, alleged the Varanasi-based family of 20-year-old medical student Nishant Upadhay, who committed suicide in his Chhattisgarh-based college in November 2014. Brother Ishaan said complaints to the hostel warden went unheeded. He recalled the call the family received from the university dean on that fateful day after the Diwali break: He said my brother had locked himself in his room and that they suspected he had harmed himself. My uncle said, break the door down. In a few minutes, we got another call: hes hanged himself.

Read: Virat Kohli may wield his bat against ragging

Organisations such as SAVE and the Aman Kachroo Trust invest heavily in spreading awareness and counseling students. The traumatised victims need mental support. They need someone to listen and talk to, it is also paramount that they know their rights, Singhal said.
Chief of al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS), Maulana Asim Umar, has asked Indian Muslims to start jihad by killing senior Indian Police Service (IPS) and Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers.

Umar, whose original name is Sanaul Haq, was declared chief of al Qaedas offshoot for the Indian Subcontinent in a video released by group head Ayman al-Zawahiri in September 2014.

In his statement, Umar said the state and its departments were equally responsible for the incidents against Muslims in India.

Otherwise how could anyone dare to just take knives and cut Muslims like vegetables? We say if the Indian state is not involved in the massacre of Muslims, then Muslim youth should also be given free hand, as given to Hindu mobsters during riots, said the statement put out by SITE Intelligence Group, a non-governmental counter terror group that researches and analyses terror threats.

Read: US adds al Qaeda in Indian Subcontinent to terror list

According to counter-terror officials, Umar was a native of Sambhal in UP before leaving India for Pakistan in 1999.

He said Indian Muslims should follow the example of their brethren in Syria, adding that they should look at the example of Europe where one single Mujahid after another has disturbed the entire continent. Kill senior officers of institutions and administrative departments that get (people to) start these riots. Target IPS and IAS officers, cause them financial losses, said the statement.

Taking note of the statement, National Investigation Agency chief Sharad Kumar said, We will analyse the statement.

The US state department designated AQIS a foreign terrorist organisation and Umar a global terrorist only a few days ago.
GLENROCK  Two years ago, the Higgins Hotel was jammed with oil field workers and owner Doug Frank worried about a lack of available rooms for summer tourists. Today, Frank reckons someone could hold a cannon fight on Birch Street, the central artery in this community of roughly 2,500, and no one would notice. Hardly anyone walks Glenrocks streets these days.

Few Wyoming communities have been harder hit by the energy bust. The oil fields to the north have gone dry, and the parking lots where coal miners catch the bus to the yawning surface mines in the Powder River Basin are half-full. The oil field service jobs in Casper, a half-hour west, have all but disappeared.

But a nondescript building on Glenrocks east side may hold the key to this communitys economic revival. Fewer than a half-dozen people were employed here several years ago, retooling oil field equipment for DS Manufacturing. The company was acquired last year by McGinley Orthopaedic Innovations, a medical device manufacturer. Now, 23 people labor in three shifts around the clock, building a drill used in orthopedic surgeries.

The shop has become a landing pad for former energy workers like Sturgis Steele, a burly machinist with a ZZ Top-esque beard. Steele refurbished oil field parts during the boom years only to see the work evaporate once the bust hit.

I knew being the medical field and everything, there was a lot better job security, he said during a break one recent afternoon. Of his present employer he added, It is an upcoming company, for sure. Once it takes off, it will provide quite a few jobs.

Wyoming has long struggled to lure firms like McGinley Orthopaedics to the state, burdened by the perception that it lacks the workforce to sustain high-tech jobs. Technology-related positions, including those in manufacturing and engineering, accounted for just 1.8 percent of the Cowboy States labor market in mid-2015, according to a recent analysis by the state Department of Workforce Services Research and Planning Department.

But after years of calling for diversification, Wyoming finds itself with little money to spend on the training needed to help workers like Steele make the jump to careers outside the energy industry. A budget shortfall wrought by the downturn in mineral revenues has raised the specter of cuts to the Wyoming Community College Commission and the Department of Workforce Services, the very agencies identified by Gov. Matt Mead as crucial to the retraining of laid-off energy workers.

Community colleges will see their budget cut by nearly 8 percent or $20.2 million. Mark Englert, the CEO of Gillette College, expects enrollment will increase even as funding decreases.

The college is focusing its resources on training in skilled trades like machining and welding.

We will look for efficiencies as best we can. We are going to capitalize on existing staff and expand in some areas, Englert said. It will present all of us with challenges.

The Department of Workforce Services is set to reduce spending on employment and training by $732,539. Its Workforce Training Fund, which provides workers with specialized job training, faces a $1.5 million cut.

That money has traditionally been crucial for institutions like Wyoming Contractors Regional Training Center in Casper, which uses the funding to develop specific training courses to match employers needs.

McGinley Orthopaedics has been in negotiations with the training center to set up its own certification program in CNC machining, the type of computer-assisted manufacturing used to make the companys drill. The prospective program has struggled to move forward, however, complicated by the question of where money for the training will come from.

Were fortunate enough that we get a lot of grants available for these training programs, too, but with cuts at the state level, some of that is going to go away, said Paul Nash, a recruiter at the center.

State officials say ample training opportunities remain. The Department of Workforce Services operates a series of one-stop centers, where officials try to match laid-off workers to open positions. The department has begun hosting career symposiums on Monday afternoons in Casper. And it has applied for up to $2 million in federal funding to help retrain laid-off coal miners for manufacturing and virtual jobs.

I think we have a lot of opportunities right now for someone in the state who is laid off, said Tobi Cates, the departments employment and training administrator.

Opportunity and challenge

For a company like McGinley Orthopaedics, the bust represents both an opportunity and a challenge.

The firm was founded by Joseph McGinley, a Casper orthopedic surgeon who saw the need for a more accurate surgical drill. McGinleys drill, the IntelliSense, won Federal Drug Administration approval last year. The company is now applying the finishing touch to its first batch of 100 drills. It has plans to build 400 more and is plotting an expansion into surgical saws.

The firm has raised $10.2 million in private financing since 2012, including $3 million in a two-month period this year. It has also received considerable public assistance. The State Loan and Investment Board contributed a $1.35 million business ready development grant while Glenrock pitched in $150,000. Frank, the owner of the Higgins Hotel who also serves as Glenrocks mayor, called the company our largest bright spot.

Still, McGinley Orthopaedics would have had difficulty luring an experienced machinist like Steele away from oil field work two years ago. As a startup, the company could not have been able to compete with the wages and benefits available in the energy sector.

The firm is now inundated with applications from oil field craftsman, said Diane McGinley, who runs the company with her husband.

Many have the basic skill set to work in the drill makers shop. But before they can step on the factory floor they need specialized training to work the companys high-tech machines.

What we find in Wyoming is there are many individuals who know how to do manual machinery or work with some larger parts that are sort of computer-based, she said. I think we have the talent in Wyoming. But we have to invest in them.

McGinley is quick to offer praise of state officials. The company has hired numerous employees through the Department of Workforce Services one-stop centers. The $1.35 million business ready development grant has also greatly increased its ability to hire.

But she is critical of proposals to cut funding for training programs.

This is part of how we grow as a state and keep people here instead of losing them to other states and economies, McGinley said. That is taking away that investing opportunity from an employer. There may be other employers who want to invest in their people, but dont have the means to do so.

To date, the company has relied on an in-house training program. New hires are partnered with more experienced hands on the factory floor. It would be more efficient to create a training program, freeing up factory hands while training prospective employees for the job, she said.

The company already coordinates with Casper College, which boasts a CNC machining program. That has provided a pool of potential applicants with a basic knowledge of computer-assisted manufacturing. Many still need specialized training, however.

More challenging is the fact many students dont know the program exists, or that medical device manufacturing is even an option to them.

I think it hasnt been on the radar for those entering the workforce from high school or community college looking at this as a viable field, McGinley said.

New career, new challenges

Indeed, perception may be one of Wyomings greatest challenges. A generation of new welders, machinists and electricians entered the workforce at a time when the oil field is booming, said Travis Blankenbaker, a welder at McGinley Orthopaedics.

Their skills are easily transferable to construction and manufacturing, but many are loath to take a pay cut now that oil field work has slowed, he said. At the other end of the spectrum are those who have worked in the energy sector so long that the idea of moving into a new industry seems prohibitively daunting.

Blankenbaker, a former Power Service employee, is something of an anomaly at McGinley Orthopaedics. The company only employs two welders.

But his colleague, Steele, nodded in agreement nearby. Many companies outside the state see Wyoming and think roughnecks and ranchers, he said. In truth, many oil field craftsmen can do a variety of jobs. For a machinist, its often just a question of learning how to use the equipment employed by a company.

Yet many oil field machinists balk at the thought of training, not just for what it entails but what is signifies, Steele said.

When you change careers, you have to be able to change your lifestyle, he said. As long as youre open to it, you will survive.
About 2000 people fell ill in Indore after attending an Iftar party hosted by Bohra community members on Sunday late night.

It was reported that people had gone to the community centre in Saify colony and started complaining of loose motions and nausea soon after the Iftar. This number started increasing after 11 in the night and soon the number increased and reached somewhere close to 1500.

The situation of some of the patients became so critical that an ambulance from MY hospital had to be called in. Also some had to be rushed to a couple of government hospitals and private hospitals near the colony. As per reports around 19 patients were admitted at MY Hospital, 50 in Choithram hospital, 200 in Anand Hospital and the rest were distributed in Suyash hospital, private clinics and other government clinics till late night.

The source of food poisoning could not be made clear. However, it is being assumed that a sweet made of Mawa could have been adulterated.

Though by the time the team comprising of food inspector, doctors reached the spot no leftovers of the sweet were left. We suspect that the sweet was the only perishable item in the Iftar and the chances of an adulterated mawa are high. It was also the only food item that was largely consumed by people, said Manish Swamy, food inspector.

Though an inquiry into this matter by the SDM was also initiated, a couple of officials on conditions of anonymity said that it is for the first time that a catering contract was given to an outsider and this could have led to a bad food quality.

Dr SK Porwal, chief medical health officer and Dilip Singh ADM also visited the patients in several hospitals and stated that all the patients are fine and are being given proper medical care in city hospitals.
Police on Sunday presented Rajasthan lawmaker Nandkishore Maharias son Siddharth before a Jaipur sessions court following his arrest the previous day for allegedly crashing a BMW car into an autorickshaw, killing three people and injuring four policemen.

Though police had sought a three-day remand for the accused, metropolitan magistrate Parveen Banu granted just one day.

Earlier, arguing for the defence, advocate Deepak Chauhan said Siddharth is being unfairly targeted by police because policemen were injured in the accident.

Siddharth has repeatedly said that he wasnt driving the car and it was the driver Ramesh who was behind the wheels. The fact that after initially fleeing from the spot of the accident, Ramesh came back to surrender but the police didnt record his statement shows that the police is conducting the investigation unfairly, said Chauhan.

He argued that section 304 of the IPC (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) doesnt apply in the case because there is no proof that the car was being driven with the intention to harm someone.

The FIR was lodged 12 hours after the accident and the police have no satisfactory answer that why this delay happened. Why the police want custody of the accused is also not clear, Chauhan said.

Earlier in the day, relatives of the three victims staged a protest outside Ashok Nagar police station and demanded harshest possible punishment for Siddharth.

The family of one of the victims, Jethanand, demanded adequate compensation as he was the sole breadwinner.

Police officer Kamal Nayan, who was arguing for the prosecution, said Siddharth knew it well that rash driving in an inebriated condition could result in an accident and thus he was booked under section 304.

He further added that a forensic team took blood samples of the accused and collected evidence from the car.

More details about the speed of the car at the time of accident and the inebriated state of Siddharth and his friend would come out after the FSL team prepares its report, said Nayan. The defence will be presenting an application of bail on the court on Monday.
She has been receiving death news almost every day over the past three months.

Families in mourning, living in and around Kolkata are calling her over organising hassle free and peaceful funeral rites of their near and dear ones.

And she takes charge  from organising body preservation to getting the hearse van and certified priests for Hindus and Shikhs, providing funeral helpers and conducting Shradh ceremony  different packages for different communities. Her services can be booked online too.

Shruthi Reddy, a former techie who hails from Hyderabad and lives in Kolkata, has launched an end-to-end funeral services providing agency barely six months ago, and has started getting success. Her start-up, Anthyesti Funeral Services Private Ltd, has handled 60 cases mid-March and end-June. The services can be booked online as well.

There are many people living in Kolkata, especially non-Bengalis and the Bengali families whose close ones are NRIs, who have no one to help when they need to organise a funeral. We provide the entire service, from bringing the hearse van, completion of the cremation and Shradh ceremony to deportation of bodies abroad when necessary, Reddy told HT.

A few days ago, when a Bangladeshi citizen died while travelling in Kolkata, the family members contacted Reddy. She made necessary arrangements for preserving the body and later deporting it to Bangladesh.

Kolkata-based Gopal Sharaf took their help in getting mobile freezer boxes and embalmers to preserve his uncles body for three days.

As families are getting smaller, more people are in need of help for organising funeral rites of their close ones. We maintain links to the police, hospital authorities, mortuaries and foreign embassies to ensure the mourning families face no further harassment, she said.

The idea of launching an agency to provide funeral assistance came to Reddy last year, when she organised the funeral of a relative. She experienced the hassle that many people feel helplessly because they do not have any one around to assist.

As of now, her company provides funeral helpers at four crematoriums in the city  Keoratala, Nimtala, Garia Adimahasmashan and Ramakrishna Mahasmashan.

Among Hindus, they provide services for Bengalis, Arya Samajis, Biharis, Marwaris, Sindhis and Punjabis.

The package for Bengalis is the cheapest, as they have less funeral rites to be performed. It ranges between Rs 40,000 and 45,000  which includes from hiring the hearse van to completion of Shradh ceremony with vegetarian meal for about 60 guests. However, the package for people from Bihar and Gujarat range between Rs 75,000 and Rs 80,000. The package for Marwaris is above Rs 1 lakh.

The package for communities differs because they have different rites and rituals. While the Bengalis prefer the electrical crematoriums, non-Bengalis prefer the wooded pyre. Marwaris and Gujaratis have longer puja sessions compared to those of Bengalis, she said.

However, services can be sought for any particular rite as well. According to Reddy, only those who have no one in the city to help opt for the whole package, while most of the their clients sought their service for specific requirements  hiring hearse van or mobile freezer boxes or getting a priest and funeral helpers, among others.

Our aim is to standardise the unregulated funeral rites industry, Reddy told HT.

Last rites package rates:

Hiring the hearse van to completion of Shradh ceremony with vegetarian meal for about 60 guests

Bengali package: Rs 40,000-45,000

Bihari and Gujarati packages: Rs 75,000-Rs 80,000

Marwari package: Rs 1 lakh and above

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The last time the Congress won Mumbai, the countrys richest civic body, more than two decades back in 1992, the Republican Party of India (RPI) faction led by Ramdas Athavale was its ally. And, the Congress cornered the Dalit vote then.

Much water has flowed down the Mithi since then with the Shiv Sena wresting control of Mumbais municipal corporation. And, the Dalit leadership in the state has splintered further and been rendered ineffective.

Read: CM lobbies for Sena to keep alliance on track

But, Rajya Sabha MP Athawale, who is expected to join the Union cabinet on Tuesday, continues to have a support base in Mumbai, Thane and other urban areas, which will see elections to local bodies next year.

The induction of Athawale and the BJPs Dhule MP, Dr Subhash Bhamre, in the Union cabinet has clearly been proposed with an eye on the upcoming civic elections in Maharashtra.

Athawale, who leads the biggest Dalit faction in the state, may not have the clout to win seats on his own  currently his party has no MP or MLA and only one corporator in the BMC  but enjoys a support base among Dalits that the BJP cannot alienate.

In cities such as Mumbai and Thane, an alliance with the RPI will help the BJP, especially if it parts ways with the Shiv Sena.

In the back drop of several anti-Dalit incidents that have been associated with the BJP, giving Athawale a ministerial portfolio indicates our commitment to the community. Also, keeping Athawale happy is good strategy, since he is capable of switching sides and that will be our loss, said a BJP party functionary, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Dr Bhamre has been picked to cut senior BJP leader and former minister Eknath Khadse to size on his home turf. Bhamre, a Maratha and an oncologist by profession, is seen as close to chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, and his elevation will help the BJP nurture another power centre in North Maharashtra, which will help in case of a rebellion by Khadse. North Maharashtra also has a sizeable Maratha vote bank that Bhamre can tap into.

Bhamres proposed induction is also seen as a clear signal that Fadnavis has the ear of his political bosses in Delhi and can now call the shots in Maharashtra.

Khadse, a CM aspirant, was seen as Fadnavis biggest rival and naysayer in the cabinet.

Bhamre has got a break because of Fadnavis. He is not an old BJP hand and comes from Sena stock but is a good candidate and leader to back in North Maharashtra with our tallest leader from the region Khadse clearly not on good terms with senior leadership, said a BJP minister.

Maharashtra will see mini elections from October this year with nearly 26 zilla parishads and 9 municipal corporations going to polls. The poll results will give a clearer picture on where the BJP stands in the state ahead of the 2019 polls.

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Responding to the National Investigation Agency (NIA)s charges of violating service rules and criminal activity, lieutenant colonel Prasad Shrikant Purohit, a key conspirator in 2008 Malegaon blast case, claimed that his actions were carried out with his senior officials in the know.

The NIA in their chargesheet alleged Purohit had floated the Abhinav Bharat organisation in 2006 while still an army officer, violating service rules. Naming him as one of the key criminal conspirators, the agency claimed that Purohit, with the other accused, procured weapons and explosives using funds collected for the trust.

Purohit however denied the charges, stating that the trust was formed after informing senior army officers, and that he wanted to register it as a political party.

In his fresh bail application filed before the special NIA court, Purohit claimed his actions were carried out in the line of duty and that he was gathering intelligence using permissible methods, details of which his superiors were aware of.

The accused filed the application after the Bombay high court directed him to the special court following the NIA filing a supplementary chargesheet. The bail plea is scheduled to come up for hearing on Monday.

The documents procured from Army clearly show that the formation of Abhinav Bharat was informed to the higher authorities of an Indian Army on the basis of sources developed by the accused, Purohit alleged in his bail plea.

The circumstances on record shows that Abhinav Bharat was to be a political party, and even the form of registration of a political party was obtained through the sources of the accused, he further stated.

In his plea, the officer said he had also informed his senior officials about the conspiracy meetings held in January 2008.

The evidence on record clearly shows that the accused had informed the details of the alleged conspiracy meetings in January 2008 to his superiors. The documents also show that the accused was cultivating sources of other agencies for military intelligence unit and evidence on record show that on the basis of the intelligence gathered from the conspiracy meetings, the Army authorities have carried out operations.

The NIA however denied Purohits counter allegations. Special public prosecutor Avinash Rasal said the agency will seek to oppose granting of bail as it had sufficient evidence against him.

There is no input available with this office regarding any official communication made by Lt. col. PS Purohit to his superior officer, pertaining to any terrorist related inputs or information about meetings of Abhinav Bharat, read the letter.

According to the NIA chargesheet, on January 25 and 26, 2008, meetings were organised in Faridabad where Purohit had proposed forming a separate Hindu Rashtra.

He read over the constitution of Abhinav Bharat which he prepared, discussed about the formation of a Central Hindu government, and put forth the idea of forming this government in exile in Israel and Thailand, the agency alleged.

Further, the supplementary chargesheet filed on May 13 also includes a letter dated March 29, 2011, written by deputy directorate general of military intelligence to Rakesh Maria, then additional director general of police - Anti Terrorism Squad, denying Purohits assertion.

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The Maharashtra government wants to destroy wetlands under the garb of development, the Bombay high court said on Monday.

A division bench of justice Abhay Oka and justice Amjad Sayed expressed anguish over the governments plea seeking modification of a March 2014 high court order, imposing a complete ban on the reclamation of and construction on wetlands.

Under the garb of development, you [state government] want to destroy mangroves, said the bench, after additional government pleader GW Mattos told them the government does not intend to withdraw the plea for modification of the March 2014 order. We do not appreciate such an approach by the government, the judges said, adding, You seem to be interested only in destroying wetlands.

The judges were irked to note that while the state government has refused to adopt Wetland Atlas prepared by the Central government, it has also not established its own machinery to identify and protect wetlands.

The bench has now asked acting advocate general Rohit Deo to appear in the matter and clarify the state governments stand.

Acting on a public interest litigation (PIL) filed on March 19, 2014, another division bench has imposed a complete ban on the reclamation of wetlands and any construction on such reclaimed lands.

The bench had imposed a complete ban after noting from a report submitted by the then chief conservator of forests (mangroves cell) that the systematic and large-scale destruction of wetlands and mangroves had taken place near Jesal Park and Kanakia Park in Navghar in Vasai tehsil.

The judges were also irked with the governments apathetic approach towards the protection and conservation of wetlands because no separate machinery had been set up to identify and protect them and no decision had been taken on adopting the wetland atlas prepared by the central government.

The bench was of the opinion that unless separate machinery was created, the distinct ecosystems could not be protected from rampant destruction, especially in areas witnessing rapid urbanisation  like Mira-Bhayander, Virar and Vasai on the Western Railway line. It, therefore, restrained authorities from granting any permission to reclaim wetlands and on permitting construction on such reclaimed lands.

The PIL was filed by Vanashakti Public Trust raising grievance about lack of action against unscrupulous builders who were illegally dumping debris on wetlands and mangrove areas and putting up illegal constructions, in flagrant violation of the rules and provisions of the Environment Protection Act, 1986.
HYDERABAD: Close on the heels of the murder of an Infosys employee in Chennai, an 18-year-old girl was hacked to death by her stalker in broad daylight in Bhainsa town of Adilabad district of Telangana on Saturday evening.

According to Bhainsa police, 21-year-old M Mahesh, a first-year degree student, had been stalking his neighbour Sandhya and pressuring her to marry him but she had rejected his overtures several times. A few days ago, Sandhyas mother fixed her marriage with another boy but Mahesh created troubles in the alliance. Following a complaint, police strongly warned him against harassing the girl.

As a result, he developed a grouse against Sandhya. At around 3pm, when she was returning home from a nearby shop, he suddenly swooped in on her and slit her throat in the presence of locals. Even before they tried to stop him, he fled. Sandhya died on the spot, Bhainsa deputy superintendent of police Ande Ramulu said.
NEW DELHI: Chief of al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS), Maulana Asim Umar, has asked Indian Muslims to start jihad by killing senior Indian Police Service (IPS) and Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers.

Umar, whose original name is Sanaul Haq, was declared chief of al Qaedas offshoot for the Indian Subcontinent in a video released by group head Ayman al-Zawahiri in September 2014.

In his statement, Umar said the state and its departments were equally responsible for the incidents against Muslims in India.

Otherwise how could anyone dare to just take knives and cut Muslims like vegetables? We say if the Indian state is not involved in the massacre of Muslims, then Muslim youth should also be given free hand, as given to Hindu mobsters during riots, said the statement put out by SITE Intelligence Group, a non-governmental counter terror group that researches and analyses terror threats.

According to counter-terror officials, Umar was a native of Sambhal in UP before leaving India for Pakistan in 1999.

He said Indian Muslims should follow the example of their brethren in Syria, adding that they should look at the example of Europe where one single Mujahid after another has disturbed the entire continent .Kill senior officers of institutions and administrative departments that get (people to) start these riots. Target IPS and IAS officers, cause them financial losses, said the statement.

Taking note of the statement, National Investigation Agency chief Sharad Kumar said, We will analyse the statement.

The US state department designated AQIS a foreign terrorist organisation and Umar a global terrorist only a few days ago.

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HYDERABAD: The week-long agitation by Telangana judges and advocates in protest against the provisional allocation of judges between Telangana and Andhra Pradesh is most likely to be called off soon with Chief Justice of India (CJI) TS Thakur agreeing to take initiative in resolving the crisis.

A five-member delegation of the Telang ana Advocates Association, comprising former additional advocate general G Prakash Reddy, Telangana High Court Advocates Association president Gandra Mohan Rao, Telangana Advocates Joint Action Committee chairman M Rajender Reddy, president of the Federation of Telangana Advocates Associations G Jitender Reddy and senior advocate G Vidyasagar met the CJI at his residence in New Delhi and discussed with him all the issues confronting the judicial community in the Telugu states.

The CJI gave a patient hearing to all our demands. He assured that he would take the initiative to resolve all the issues, including revocation of suspension of 11 judges and bifurcation of the high court. He said he would talk to Union law minister Sadanand Gowda to find a solution to the contentious issues , Gandra Mohan Rao said.

However, the CJI told the agitating judges and lawyers to call off their strike and resume duties so that he could intervene in the matter of the bifurcation of high court.

Otherwise, it will give a wrong impression that the CJI was taking the initiative under pressure from the agitating judicial officers, an association member said.

Apparently, Justice Thakur suggested to the delegation that he would get the suspension of the 11 judges revoked if they tendered a formal apology to the HC. As of now, we have not taken any decision on calling off the agitation. We will take a decision after discussing with all the members of the Telangana Bar Association on Monday. We will also meet governor ESL Narasimhan and take his suggestion, Mohan Rao said.

On Saturday, the CJI had summoned acting Chief Justice of Hyderabad high court Dilip B B ho sale and advised him to resolve the issue amicably.

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NEW DELHI: Indian Association of Physiotherapists, a body with a membership base of over 50,000, has objected to Ayush ministrys move to include epics such as Ramayana and Mahabharata, and religious treatise Bhagavad Gita and Narad Bhakti Sutras in their curriculum.

The association said that no stakeholder was consulted and the syllabus was being pushed arbitrarily.

On Sunday, HT had reported that aspiring physiotherapists will have to study Indian epic sand Hindu scriptures as part of their bachelors programme prepared by a panel headed by PM Na rend ra Modis yoga guru. Health ministry has already designed the model of course curriculum after consulting experts, which covers every aspect of physiotherapy education related to clinical practices , IAP president Dr Umashankar Mohanty said in a release.

Dr Prabhat Ranjan of AIIMS, said, The move will dilute the purpose of evidence based and scientifically practiced profession of health.

A UGC official said they had written to universities in June, pointing out that after referring to the Ayush template they may adopt modules from the syllabus depending on the requirement of the course. However, sources said UGC had not completely withdrawn the order.
Few people argued that North Dakotas beef industry needed help staying relevant when a bill arose in the 2015 Legislature that would have loosened the states anti-corporate agriculture law.

Current law allows only corporations made up of families to own agricultural land. Proponents of the bill thought allowing corporate swine and dairy operations to rent or own up to 640 acres of land would stimulate the dwindling industries.

While a voter referendum last month killed that measure, the idea of expanding corporate agriculture in North Dakota did not die with it. The North Dakota Farm Bureau is suing in federal court to do away with the law in its entirety, which would allow corporations to be involved in any agricultural venture.

What impacts such a move could have on the beef industry remain to be seen.

The number of beef cattle operations in North Dakota has decreased from more than 15,000 in 1982 to fewer than 9,000 in 2012, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture data. However, the number of beef cows in the state remains high, with 904,000 beef cows and 55,000 head on feed for slaughter in the state as of Jan. 1.

And a new packing plant in Aberdeen, S.D., could open up more opportunities for feeding and finishing cattle, as North Dakota has the feed, the grass and the environment ripe for adding cattle to the herd.

There is room for expansion, said Julie Ellingson, executive vice president of the North Dakota Stockmen's Association.

Scott Ressler, environmental services director for the Stockmens Association, said growth has come from existing producers increasing their herd sizes rather than from new, larger operations. Some producers have opted to put up feedlots to take advantage of the fact that more animals can be raised on a smaller amount of ground, he said.

The Stockmens Association in June held its annual feedlot tour, taking interested producers to four central North Dakota operations. Ressler said the tour has grown during its 14 years from eight people in a van to more than 100 people caravanning to sites across the state to learn about feedlot development, pen and feed bunk design and the difficulties and successes of running a feedlot.

Ressler said the increase in interest in feedlots comes as young people return to their home farms to find 200 cows and 2,000 acres arent enough to support more than one family. A feedlot can be an effective way to increase production without more land.

But the enterprises are expensive. The Stockmens Association helps connect people with cost-share, loan and grant programs to off-set costs, but even with assistance, price tags carry six figures.

The expense and risk involved in such ventures are why Hensler-area producer Clark Price was one of the few people who wanted to add feedlots to the bill that ultimately was overturned by voters. Price said other businesses can organize with the corporate structure, and it doesnt seem fair to limit farmers and ranchers from using it.

An expansion of corporate agriculture would allow a group of neighbors to pool their money, put up a feedlot to feed their cattle with their own corn and add value to the products, he said. While some have argued people can do that in a partnership, Price said a corporation limits a persons personal liability.

Corporations already own animals in the state; they just cant own land, he pointed out. He thinks many people are using horror stories about huge corporate enterprises as a bogeyman to scare people.

A corporation is simply a business structure and I dont understand why we dont think that should be used, Price said.

But others worry expanding corporate agriculture in the state would move North Dakota from a state of family farmers to a state of big businesses running farms and ranches.

The Independent Beef Association of North Dakota helped gather signatures to get the corporate agriculture bill on the ballot. President Larry Kinev said the beef industry advocacy group supports family farms.

And corporate agriculture is far from the family farm, he said.

Kinev isnt too worried about the small corporations Price envisions. He worries about huge, worldwide companies that have purchased farms and ranches in other states.

North Dakota would be opened to the entire world, because the U.S. is open to the entire world, he said.

That would pit North Dakota producers against big businesses with deep pockets when it comes to renting and purchasing land and buying feed, he said. It might push producers to raise or feed animals for big businesses, furthering vertical integration in the industry and raising competitive concerns.

Not all producers have a stance on the matter. Kintyre rancher and cattle buyer Randy Weigel said his operation wouldnt change even if the law did. Weigels 2,500-head feedlot was the largest featured on the Stockmens Association feedlot tour.

As he explained to the more than 100 people who showed up to see his feedlot, Weigels business is family owned and family operated. He and his son are cattle buyers who purchase calves and feed them until it is time to send them to other feedlots for finishing. They own all of the land on which they produce their feed and on which their feedlot sits.

The North Dakota Stockmens Association did not take a position on the corporate farming bill. Ellingson said: We have members that have feelings on both sides."

The association instead brought in attorneys and accountants to its last convention to help members get a feel for how different business structures could affect them.

No matter what the outcome of the Farm Bureau lawsuit, people on all sides agree there are other, more pressing issues to be solved within the beef industry  commodities markets dictating cash trade, concerns about regulatory issues and conversations about what it means to raise sustainable beef.
Naresh Yadav, Mehrauli legislator in the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government of Delhi state and accused in the June 24 Quran desecration case of Malerkotla in Punjab, has claimed to be a victim of political conspiracy. Talking to HT, the lawyer (44), who is also co-in-charge of Punjab affairs in the party, said he was ready to face any fair inquiry. Excerpts:

HT: Who could be behind the conspiracy you allege and why would anyone target you?

Yadav: The Akali-BJP alliance is behind this. They found a man (Vijay Kumar) who was in touch with me and got him to fix me. Vijay is an acquaintance, not close but known to me for years.

You met him on the morning of sacrilege.

I met him but not sure if it was the same morning. He had been calling me for days to seek a meeting about Punjab elections, so I called him home and we talked general issues over less than half an hour. My yoga instructor, Satyavrat, was present. We didnt talk Holy Quran or anything about religion. If Vijay says I motivated him to burn the Quran, either he or police should have evidence. His meeting me proves nothing.

Police say the two of you had a long chat over telephone before and after the incident.

I have long chats with everyone. It is my habit.

How do you know Vijay?

From a British Council course we did in 2000. He was with the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) and lived in its RK Puram office. After I became MLA last year, he resumed contact with me, moved to my neighbourhood, and invited me to his grih pravesh (house warming). He told me he was into social work with some NGOs. I always associated him with the BJP, not the AAP.

How will you prove your innocence?

Truth doesnt need to be propped. I am ready to go to jail for it.

Also read I Akalis burnt Quran in attempt to defame AAP: Kejriwal in Malerkotla

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A day after three people, including a former inspector, were held for planting drugs and fake currency in an accountants car, the UT Police claim to have unearthed the conspiracy. Narinder Singh, from Ludhiana, has emerged as the prime suspect with his lawyer Jatin Salwan and former UT cop Rana emerging as accomplices.

They planned to implicate Sukhbir Singh Shergill, the owner of SAS Institute of Information Technology and Research, Phase 7, SAS Nagar, in a false case. Narinders property dispute with Shergill was the motive.

The police used mobile locations of the three accused to crack the case and claim that `20 lakh exchanged hands. The department has also written to the Canadian embassy to get the details of a Canada-based mobile number used in the conspiracy.

Arrested players

Narinder Singh, a native of Ludhiana, planned the set-up where 2.6kg opium and Rs 15 lakh in fake currency was to handed over to Shergill just before the police would arrest him.

He also arranged for a man named Bansal, a purported former employee with Punjab Infotech, who called Shergill from Canada to convince him to come at a particular spot.

On June 15, Narinder called up the HC lawyer Salwan who arranged for a former UT inspector to act as an informer for the police.

Call records show that the lawyer and the cop were in touch since June 2. Rana had given the false tip-off of drugs and fake currency being carried to UT police crime branch inspector Gurmukh Singh and got Bhagwan Singh, who went to collect the packet instead of Shergill, arrested.

The arrests were carried out by a team from the Maloya police station under SHO Ram Rattan Sharma.

Nailing the lie

Maloya SHO Sharma set up a naka after he received a call from a Canadian number +1 (204) 400-0940 with the caller giving him details of the car carrying the contraband.

Rana was quizzed on the source of his information and he named a car thief Kuldeep, who he claimed had given him the information on June 16 at 9am. However, call details showed that Rana and the lawyer had exchanged calls that day too.

Rana recorded his statement under Section 164 (confessional statement) of the CrPC.

Police have now procured three-day remand of the lawyer and Narinder to trace the source of the opium and the fake currency.
Punjab police have summoned Aam Aadmi Partys (AAP) Delhi MLA Naresh Yadav to join the investigation in connection with the Quran sacrilege case at Malerkotla on July 5.

Yadav has been booked under various sections on the Indian Penal Code, including for promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc, and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony.

Read more | Malerkotla Quran desecration: What happened and who is saying what

He has been asked to appear on July 5 at 11 am at the CIA office in Sangrur, which is handling the case, said senior superintendent of police Prithpal Singh Thind.

Yadav was named by the main accused Vijay Kumar, a Delhi-based businessman, who reportedly told police that he met the Delhi MLA on the morning of June 24, the day he left for Punjab to commit the crime.

Controversy over the desecration of the Quran erupted after the prayers on the third Friday of the holy month of Ramzan as news spread that torn pages of the holy book were found in a drain in front of a cemetery on Khanna Road.

In the violence that ensued after the alleged desecration incident, a private bus was burnt at the Malerkotla bus stand. (HT Photo)

Punjab Muslim Front chairperson Shehzaad Hussain claimed more than 1,000 pages of two new copies of the holy book were found torn. The pages were later buried in the cemetery.

An enraged mob set some vehicles on fire and damaged property, and several people, including a few police officers, were injured in the violence.

Yadav, who represents Mehrauli (South) in the Delhi assembly and in-charge of AAP affairs in Punjab, was named a co-conspirator by the main accused on Saturday, a day before Delhi chief minister and party chief Arvind Kejriwal began his three-day tour of Punjab.

The MLA, however, has denied the charges, saying it was a conspiracy to malign the partys image ahead of the assembly polls. He said the police had cooked up the story to defame the AAP, and remained incommunicado when the police issued the summons.

Also read: Amarinder seeks independent probe into Quran desecration
Exactly a month after a money changer, Anil Kumar Billa, was murdered, police on Saturday night arrested a local factory owner on the suspicion of his involvement in the crime. Billa was found shot dead on June 3 in a vehicle.

Accused Varinder Singh alias Rajan Kochar (33) of Parkash Nagar is into hand-tool manufacturing. He was produced before the duty magistrate on Sunday and sent to two-day police custody. Police also moved an application for Kochars narco-analysis and brain mapping test, which the court will take up on Tuesday.

Circumstantial evidence

Claiming that the arrest was made on the basis of circumstantial evidence, police said Kochars licenced .32-bore revolver was found to be tampered with when sent for forensic examination. He, also, couldnt produce the seven bullets issued to him or the record where he had used them.

Police said the Toyota Fortuner (PB-08 BW 8006) SUV in which Billa was shot dead near the Company Bagh Chowk was also registered in the name of a factory co-owned by Kochar. Police said Kochar had been paying the vehicles loan instalments and couldnt cite a reason why his vehicle was with Billa that day.

The CCTV camera footage of Kochars house of June 3 is not available and the police have records of telephone calls exchanged between him and Billa, it is learnt.

Sources said Kochar told the police that he had purchased a second-hand weapon and didnt know who tampered with it. The man from whom Kochar bought the weapon is reportedly in Dalhousie and police will question him in this regard.

Sources said Kochars location on the day (June 3) Billa was murdered was found to be near the crime spot, adding there was a dispute between the two over hawala transactions running into crores of rupees.

Police commissioner Arpit Shukla said the circumstantial evidence against Kochar needed to be scientifically probed and a plea for his narco-analysis had been moved.

Business partner held for cheating

In another case, Kochars business partner Ashok Kumar alias Lucky Kakkar (50), an exporter, for cheating as he possessed two PAN cards and one of them was fake.

Kakkar owns JK Tools Industry in the Focal Point area. He has been sent to judicial custody till July 17.

A cheating case has been registered against Kakkar at the Model Town police station.
Neerja Bhanot was conferred the Bharat Gaurav Award for her distinguished services to the nation and outstanding individual achievements at a function at the House of Commons in London on July 2, a spokesman said here on Sunday.

The award has been instituted by Sanksriti Yuva Sanstha, a Jaipur-headquartered NGO. Neerjas brothers Akhil and Aneesh Bhanot attended the ceremony in London and received the award.

Neerja was the senior flight purser on a Pan Am flight which was hijacked at the Karachi airport on September 5, 1986. She was shot and killed while saving hundreds of passengers on board the plane.

Posthumously, she became the youngest recipient of Indias highest peacetime award for bravery, the Ashok Chakra.
Police recovered a balloon that bore a picture of the Pakistani flag painted along with a I love Pakistan slogan from a field in Jhande Chak village near Dinanagar on Sunday afternoon.

A farmer, Balwinder Singh, was playing with his son in his field when he saw the balloon in his field, Dinanagar assistant superintendent of police Surinder Lamba said.

The farmer immediately informed the police, which rushed to the spot.

The ASP said the balloon is likely to have flown from Pakistan to India.

News of the Pakistani balloon caused a little panic in the area as three Pakistani terrorists had attacked the Dinanagar police station a year ago.
The man, who made an extortion call to a city-based factory owner by posing as gangster Goru Bachcha on June 29, was arrested on Sunday.

The accused, identified as Sunil Kumar alias Sony (26) of Field Ganj, works for a labour contractor. Police also recovered mobile phone and SIM card used for making calls.

Complainant Narinder Bassi of Madhuban Enclave told police that the accused demanded Rs 5 lakh, and also threatened to kill him, if he failed to give him the money said Sandeep Garg, additional deputy commissioner of police (city-2). Police laid a trap and arrested the accused from Satguru Partap Singh Hospital on Sunday.

Accused confesses to crime

The accused told police that as he had worked in several factories, he had an idea about financial status of factory owners. After he read news about gangster Goru Bachcha in newspapers, he hatched a conspiracy to extort money said the ADCP. He procured a SIM card on forge identity and made extortion call to Bhatti.

A case has been registered against Sony for putting person in fear of death, in order to commit extortion at Focal Point police station.

Threatens Bhatti

Bhatti told police that when he asked the accused who Goru Bachcha was, the caller referred to the newspapers of last month and told him that he had murdered many people, and will kill him too said the ADCP. Police have been investigating to know whether the accused has any links with Goru Bachcha.

Gangster Bachcha is facing trial in 20 cases, including murder, extortion, loot and rape. He was in news after he killed auto driver Vikrant Kumar in Dugri, and attacked his friend-turned-foe, Johny Lamba. His links with a leader of Student Organisation of India (SOI) were exposed recently. The leader, Jeevan Sekha, who is district chief of SOI, was arrested for sheltering Goru Bachcha.
Ahead of Delhi chief minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convener Arvind Kejriwals visit to Malerkotla on Monday evening, the Sangrur district administration clamped Section 144 of the CrPC, prohibiting assembling of more than 10 people, in wake of the protests launched by the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and the Congress over alleged involvement of AAP MLA Naresh Yadav in the June 24 Quran sacrilege incident that had led to violence.

Meanwhile, Yadav met Punjab director general of police (DGP) Suresh Arora at Chandigarh and appealed to him for a fair probe. He has denied the allegations and alleged political vendetta by the SAD.

Kejriwal, who was earlier in the day at Phagwara in Kapurthala district, faced stiff protests from various Muslim bodies near Konica Resorts over the Mehrauli MLAs alleged involvement. The police have, meanwhile, deployed heavy police force to tackle any untoward incident.

Also read | Malerkotla Quran desecration: What happened and who is saying what

Sangrur senior superintendent of police (SSP) Preetpal Singh Thind told ANI, Summons were issued to the MLA, who will be questioned tomorrow (Tuesday). We are investigating the matter and when we have concrete proof, we will seek a warrant from the court to arrest him.

Also read | Malerkotla sacrilege: Accused AAP MLA meets Punjab DGP for fair probe

The SSP further said, He (Yadav) told us that he would come to Patiala by 11am on Tuesday for questioning. His brother has received the summons. We told Yadav about the allegations levelled against him, lets see what he says. Vijay Kumar, one of the accused in the case, had named the AAP MLA following which the latter was booked.

About Kejriwals visit to Malerkotla, the SSP said, We will provide full security to him. Asked if they tried to stop the AAP convener from visiting the strife-torn town, he denied it.

The Sangrur police booked Yadav after the alleged mastermind in the case, Vijay, said he had desecrated the Quran at the behest of the Mehrauli MLA. I have become part of a political conspiracy. AAP MLA Naresh Yadav bribed me to carry out this work for political mileage in the upcoming Punjab assembly elections. He asked me to do this and said he will make me rich. I fell in the trap and did this mistake, alleged Vijay. Another person was also involved in this with me. He said Malerkotla was the only sensitive place in Punjab so he asked me to carry on this deed there, he added. The police arrested Vijay Kumar, Nand Kishore and his son Gaurav in this regard.

There was arson in Malerkotla on the night of June 24 after pages of the Quran were found dumped near a drain on the Khanna road. A mob attacked and set Akali Dal MLA Farzana Alams home on fire leading to communal tension. The mob also exchanged gunfire with the police, leaving several injured.

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The urban development ministry notified the Land Pooling Policy (LPP) for the Capital a year ago, but it is yet to be cleared by the AAP-led Delhi government. In the meantime, conservative estimates indicate that more than Rs 1,000 crore have been collected by many entities who have illegally pre-launched housing projects under the land pooling policy targeted at unsuspecting buyers without any formal sanctions and approvals.

The LPP, when approved, is expected to bring in credible and internationally-acclaimed developers who will create a supply of more than two million dwelling units in Delhi, in all price categories, with almost a third of it in the affordable category.

Though pre-launches are not legal, Satish Kumar Aggarwal of the Federation of Housing Societies and Developers in Delhi claims that investments worth Rs 1,000 crore have already been pumped in by individuals or through approximately 40 housing societies in zones P1 and P2, L and N demarcated as part of LPP. People have paid at least Rs 12 lakh for the land, he says. His federation has written several letters to the Delhi government appealing that it clear LPP but has yet to get a response.

When contacted, an AAP spokesperson said that the Delhi government did not agree with the parameters laid down in the land pooling policy. There are a number of objections, the primary objection relates to the fact that it will not help the people of Delhi but the builders lobby, the spokesperson said.

Realty experts say that the land pooling policy has two main impediments. One  the Delhi government has to declare 89 villages as urban villages and two  95 villages have to be declared as development areas. They say if the land pooling policy is not notified soon, the number of unauthorised colonies will rise from 2,000 to 3,000.

Yet another challenge is the amendment of the Delhi Land Reforms Act 1954 wherein Section 33 prohibits fragmentation of land among land holders and Section 81 which does not permit non-agricultural use of agricultural land for housing or warehousing.

Around five lakh people migrate to Delhi every year and there is a requirement for around 90,000 dwelling units to be created year on year. DDA till date has created barely four lakh housing units over the last 35 years.It is time that the agencies concerned like DDA, Delhi government, revenue department, MCD work in tandem and ensure operationalisation of the Land Pooling policy, says Ramesh Menon of Certes Realty. The state has a lot to gain by adding almost a third to its GDP by incremental economic activity in Delhi.

Amendments in land policies are necessary as these will result in the construction of around five lakh homes and bring in revenues of around Rs 50,000 crore to the Delhi government. On August 4, 2015, the circle rates for the land pooling areas were notified and increased from around Rs 2 crore per acre to Rs 3.5 crore per acre. Experts say they cant understand why, if the government has collected revenues on the basis of the new circle rates, is it not giving the green signal to LPP.

Leaving the policy unattended would leave room open for price escalation. Prices are bound to go up if the policy is not notified soon and the increased prices will regulate the supply. Right now the potential to construct around 25 lakh homes exists in the land pooling areas and that too at affordable price points of Rs 35 lakh onwards, which bring unit costs to around Rs 3,000 per sq ft . That might not be possible once the unit cost escalates to around Rs 10,000 per sq ft, says an expert.

A buyers lobby claims that as of now around Rs 1,000 crore have been collected on land pooling promises. The base maps are ready and the government merely has to verify the records from the revenue department.

Menon is of the view that the Delhi government has to address some key operational issues in tandem with DDA and other implementing agencies. The Delhi Land Reforms Act 1954 has many clauses that impede the land pooling policy, and the same have to either be annulled or amended to facilitate planned unbanisation of Delhi.

What one needs to understand here is that the 1954 Land Reforms Act came into being when the country was not food sufficient. Therefore, a law was made to ensure land would not be fragmented. By now we have had a green revolution and now we are talking about urbanisation. In the context of urbanisation, these laws are archaic and some of them must be done away with altogether, says Menon.

It may be noted that the Delhi government has already sought suggestions from the public on the proposed amendments to the impeding section of the DLR Act 1954 through full page ads in leading newspapers, and the same should be submitted by July 10, 2016.

LPP will also take care of Delhis vacancy problem, which is about 25% of all housing units available in the Capital. On an average four dwelling units exist in any established part of Delhi and most are empty because majority of the population cannot afford them. LPP will change that because of the affordable housing costs. and, therefore, cheaper rentals.

This is also Delhis chance of getting legal developed land. Come to think of out, any house

priced around Rs 25 lakh within the Capital is bound to be illegal, perhaps it will be in all probability be located in an unathorised colony or be an unathorised floor, Menon says.

High circle rates are also an impediment. These were increased in land pooling areas last August. Experts say that in some areas the land prices, at around Rs 1.25 crore are below the circle rates and that needs to be reviewed.

The confusion over the circle rates of Rs 3 crore per acre discourages investors currently from investing in land. Even revenue officials arent clear as two separate circulars have been issued.Investors seek clarity in pricing so that they could derive their ROI, says Menon, adding this is also hindering the spirit of participative development.

Another bottleneck to the land pooling policy is the non-preparedness of the revenue department. While DDA has made the policy and claims to have written as many as 24 letters to the Delhi government, operationalising the policy needs to be taken up by the revenue department.

Private sector expertise in IT integration and implementation has to be sought by DDA.The gross urbanisable area under land pooling is approximately 56,000 hectares and its not possible for DDA and revenue department to undertake such a massive exercise. Geosat images, sectoral plans under the Master Plan 2021 by DDA, revenue maps etc have all to be integrated under a single IT platform.

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Single motherhood has become a fact of modern life. Now, a new research has found that there is no significant difference between a donor-conceived child and one conceived the same way but with two heterosexual parents.

A University of Cambridge study has suggested that the children who grow up in solo mother families are generally well-adjusted, with positive feelings about family life, although they do raise questions about the absence of a father in their families. Indeed, at the age at which children begin to understand their family circumstances, they continue to function well, said researcher Sophie Zadeh.

Read: Live-in relationships, a move towards marriage?

The study was an evaluation of 51 solo mother families who were compared (both quantitatively and qualitatively) with 52 heterosexual two-parent families with at least one donor-conceived child aged four to nine years. The participating families were matched in terms of the age and gender of the target child and on demographic factors, including the mothers educational level.

The study, said Zadeh, is the first to examine child adjustment and childrens perspectives in solo mother families and what it means to grow up without a father. It is the only study to assess childrens own reports about their social and family experiences.

Read: Helicopter parents mean well but end up depressing their kids

Zadeh concluded, In general, our findings seem to suggest that what matters most for childrens outcomes in solo mother families is not the absence of a father, nor donor conception, but the quality of parenting and positive parent-child relationships. These findings therefore echo much of what we already know about the determinants of childrens psychological adjustment in other family types.

The study is being presented at the 32nd Annual Meeting of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology.
With a failed ballot measure that sought changes to the states decades-old corporate farming law in the rear-view mirror, a potentially lengthy federal court battle over its legality has arisen.

In June, the North Dakota Farm Bureau filed a lawsuit in federal court in Bismarck against the law that went into effect in 1932. The attorney generals office will be filing its response by the end of this month to what is being called a complex case.

We just think that farmers and ranchers are discriminated against, and that its unconstitutional, said Farm Bureau President Daryl Lies.

The most recent North Dakota fight over corporate farming began with Senate Bill 2351, which passed last session after a lengthy debate in which the Farm Bureau did not participate. The measure provided exemptions to allow corporate dairy and swine operations of at least 50 cows or 500 swine on a farm of up to 640 acres.

In the June 14 election, more than 75 percent of the state's voters rejected the changes outlined in Measure 1. The Farm Bureaus lawsuit was filed shortly before the election.

I wasnt necessarily surprised, Lies said of the vote.

Opposition to Measure 1 had more than $810,000 in funding, a large majority of which came from North Dakota Farmers Union. A committee in support of the measure raised just under $6,000.

Farmers Union officials will be watching the lawsuit closely.

Right now, North Dakota Farmers Union is weighing its options with the pending corporate farming lawsuit. We will continue to do what we do best: represent family farmers, who have overwhelmingly said no to corporate farming in North Dakota, member advocacy director Kayla Pulvermacher said in a public statement.

Lies said the states farmers should have the same opportunities as other businesses in the state to develop a corporate structure.

We chose to go down this path long before the session, he said, adding the issue has been debated off and on in the state for decades and its time to have it settled in court.

Were wanting to ask the question. Its never been asked in federal court, Lies said.

North Dakota Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem said his office asked for and received a 30-day extension for filing its response to the lawsuit; the deadline now is July 30.

Were just in the process of drafting our response. Its a fairly complicated case, said Stenehjem, who expects a decision to be issued within several months, followed by an appeal from whichever side loses.

Lies declined to estimate the cost of pursuing the lawsuit, saying it will depend on the attorney generals response and how thorough the Farm Bureaus response will be as the case proceeds.

Its all kind of a waiting game. Were hoping to have something within an 18-month time frame, give or take, Lies said. Were cautiously optimistic because of the precedents set by South Dakota and Nebraska.

Those states corporate farming laws have been overturned in recent years.

Stenehjem said North Dakotas corporate farming law is different from those in other states, and it will be vigorously defended in court.

Its a significant case; theres no question about it, he said.

The most recent data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture numbers dairy cattle at about 16,000 and hogs at about 138,000 in North Dakota in 2015.

In 2000, the state had about 50,000 dairy cattle at about 350 dairy operations. Today, the number of operations is around 90.

By comparison, South Dakota had 110,000 dairy cattle and 1.36 million hogs, while Minnesota had 460,000 dairy cattle and 8 million hogs.

Lies said a win in court wont be a silver bullet, but he would expect some immediate and initial steps toward change.

Among them would be the ability for corporate family farms to expand by allowing second cousins to come into the fold; this isnt allowed under current law.

Other changes could include developing and executing more corporate-type business plans that farmers and ranchers currently dont have access to. He said it also could enable more young farmers to enter the livestock industry.

Its not going to happen overnight. Businesses take time, Lies said.
Divyanka Tripathi will soon be in an ICU, but in reel-life.

However, this is just the producers plan to explain the 31-year-old actress absence from her hit TV soap Yeh Hain Mohobbatein, as she will be busy with her wedding with Vivek Dahiya.

She has been granted just three days leave ahead of her wedding and this whole drama with the ICU is just to cover that up.

Shoot#prewedding#cutest couple#@divyankatripathi #@vivekdahiya08#indian#look#elegance #classy#photography #@sachin113photographer A photo posted by Sachin Kumar (photographer) (@sachin113photographer) on Jul 2, 2016 at 8:23am PDT

Reportedly, Ishita will be shown committing suicide on the show. She will be rushed to a hospital where she would be admitted to the ICU, reports Bollywood Life.

Read: Check out pics from Divyanka Tripathis pre-wedding photoshoot

According to the reports on some websites, the reason of her getting admitted in the ICU might also be a tiff with some goons.

Shoot#prewedding#@divyankatripathi#@vivekdahiya08#outdoor#love# forever # made for each couple#photography #@sachin113photographer@prewedding photography mumbai# A photo posted by Sachin Kumar (photographer) (@sachin113photographer) on Jun 28, 2016 at 8:34pm PDT

Whatever it may be, while Ishita will be battling between life and death, Divyanka will be gearing up to start a new life in Bhopal.

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Gareth Bale said Monday he has not spoken to his Real Madrid teammate Cristiano Ronaldo since Euro 2016 began but insisted the semi-final between them on Wednesday should not be seen as a clash of the superstars.

Bale, 26, and Ronaldo, 31, will be the centre of attention at Stade de Lyon on Wednesday, when Wales confront Portugal for a place in the final against Germany or hosts France.

Its not about two players. Everybody knows that really. It is about two nations in a semi-final, 11 men against 11 men, Bales said Monday.

Whereas Bale has been a relaxed presence during his dealings with the media, Portguals Ronaldo has shown signs of stress, throwing a reporters microphone into a lake two weeks ago.

Bale said he had not spoken to Ronaldo since the start of the tournament and was reluctant to be drawn on the former Manchester United stars likely state of mind.

I cant comment on how hes feeling, what hes doing, Bale told a press conference at Waless Dinard media centre.

I am sure he has his reasons for doing what he did. Thats entirely up to him.

For me, I feel comfortable. We are enjoying ourselves here. Sometimes you have to fulfil your responsibilities and doing interviews is part of that.

Wednesdays game has been billed as a play-off for the FIFA Ballon dOr award, which Ronaldo relinquished to his long-term rival Lionel Messi last year, having previously won it in 2008, 2013 and 2014.

Ronaldo has confessed to using the Ballon dOr as a source of motivation, but Bale says that he is only interested in making history with Wales.

I dont think that makes sense at all, he said when asked if the trophy would be at stake in Wednesdays game.

Its not just one game -- its over a whole season. To me I never think about the Ballon dOr at all.

For me its all about helping my team. If an individual award comes along, then so be it. But more important is that my team win trophies and fight for trophies. Thats the ultimate aim.
Bangladeshs home minister said on Sunday militants who killed 20 people in a Dhaka restaurant had not made any demands and one of the persons taken alive by police was only a suspect.

The gunmen stormed the upmarket restaurant in the diplomatic zone late on Friday and killed their mostly non-Muslim hostages, including nine Italians, seven Japanese and a citizen each from the United States and India.

The home minister Asaduzzaman Khan also said that three of the six gunmen killed were under 22 years of age.

He denied that Islamic State had had any role in the attack as claimed and said he did not believe the incident would have any impact on the countrys vital garments industry.

Read: Survivor haunted by screams of victims

Police and government officials have said the attackers were from well-off Bangladeshi families, a rarity and an indication that religious radicalisation was widening its scope.

Claiming responsibility, Islamic State warned citizens of crusader countries - that is, traditionally Christian western states - in a statement that they would not be safe as long as their aircraft are killing Muslims.

It also posted pictures of five grinning fighters in front of a black flag who it said were involved in the attack, according to the SITE monitoring website.

But Khan said Islamic State was not involved, reiterating the governments position that home-grown militants were responsible for a spate of killings in the country over the past 18 months, including the latest one.

Read: Attackers told us to be good Muslims before final assault: Dhaka siege survivor

Asked about the photos, the minister pointed to a wall behind him and said: If I fix a poster of IS here and stand with a machine gun, will it establish that IS is here?

The minister has blamed Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh, which claims to represent Islamic State in Bangladesh but has no proven links to it.
Bangladeshi police were trying to confirm the names of Islamist militants who attacked a Dhaka restaurant, killing 20 people, checking whether the identification of some by friends on social media is correct, officials said on Monday.

Two people were arrested for the assault on a popular cafe in Dhakas diplomatic quarter, as authorities stepped up probe into the international links of the hostage-takers.

Inspector general of police (IGP) AKM Shahidul Haque did not disclose the identities of either of the detainees or where they were being kept.

Unidentified relatives of Bangladeshi victims of the attack on Holey Artisan Bakery react as people pay tribute to the deceased, at a stadium in Dhaka. (AP)

He said they were both physically unwell and will be quizzed after their condition improves. One of them is in hospital, the other is in custody, he said.

Islamic State posted pictures of five fighters it said were involved in Fridays killings; most of the victims from Italy, Japan, India and the United States.

Let the people of the crusader countries know that there is no safety for them as long as their aircraft are killing Muslims, it said in a statement.

Read: Friends thunderstruck as Bangladesh meets the changing face of terrorism

Killed within 20 minutes

The attackers slaughtered all the 20 hostages within 20 minutes of the brazen assault, inspector general Haque said, rejecting allegations by the media that police delayed the rescue operation.

Many media are reporting that we had delayed the rescue mission but we did not. We completed the mission within 12 hours while countries like Kenya took four days to fight similar incident at one of their shopping malls.

Unidentified relatives of Bangladeshi victims of the attack on Holey Artisan Bakery pay tribute to the deceased, at a stadium in Dhaka. (AP)

Who are the attackers

Posts on Facebook identified three of the five, whose grinning images appeared in front of a black flag, as Nibras Islam, Rohan Imtiaz and Meer Saameh Mubasheer.

Police have said all six gunmen killed were locals and five were on a government militant watchlist. But they also said they were holding off before confirming their identities.

Whoever was responsible, Fridays attack marked a major escalation in scale and brutality by militants demanding Islamic rule in Bangladesh, whose 160 million people are mostly Muslim.

Some of the men went to an elite public school in Dhaka, Scholastic, and then college at North South University in the capital and Monash University in Malaysia, according to the posts. Police said officers were probing those links.

They are all highly educated young men and from well-off families, Home minister Asaduzzaman Khan said. Asked why they would have become jihadists, Khan said: It has become a fashion.

Police arrested a seventh man at the restaurant who they suspect played a role in the attack. He is currently in hospital.

Read: Dhaka cafe massacre: As Bangladesh mourns, a fallen hero is hailed

Bangladesh's Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina offers her tribute to the victims of the attack on Holey Artisan Bakery, at a stadium in Dhaka. (AP)

Hoemgrown militants?

Home minister Khan believes home-grown militants responsible for a wave of killings against minority groups in the past year and a half were to blame for Fridays bloodshed.

The plan is to look for family members of the gunmen, conduct DNA tests and investigate their links to international groups, authorities said.

Some analysts attribute the rise in extremism in the South Asia region to the preachings of radical Saudi-trained clerics in madrasas, religious seminaries that are often the only way for poorer families to give their children an education.

A Bangladeshi soldier controls local residents as they pour in to pay their respects to the victims of the attack on Holey Artisan Bakery, at a stadium in Dhaka. (AP)

Nation in mourning

Bangladeshs prime minister Sheikh Hasina visited a stadium where the bodies of three of the 20 slain hostages were taken. The brutality of the attack  the worst convulsion of violence yet in the recent series of deadly attacks to hit Bangladesh  has stunned the traditionally moderate Muslim nation and raised global concerns about whether it can cope with the increasingly strident Islamist militants.

The English-language Daily Star newspaper on Monday said the bloody hostage crisis had left the nation shattered and with a sense of extreme unease. The editorial also criticizes authorities consistent denial of the presence of any international terrorist groups, even as the Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack and released gruesome photographs that apparently depicted the torture of hostages.

Full coverage: Dhaka cafe massacre
Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Monday paid her homage to the victims of the Dhaka cafe attack victims during a memorial service at the Army Stadium here.

On the second day of the national mourning over the incident, Hasina placed a wreath on the casket of the victims, the Daily Star reported.

20 hostages, including nine Italians, seven Japanese, one US citizen and an Indian were killed when Islamist militants stormed the Holey Artisan cafe in Gulshan area.

Two police officers were died and 30 others injured. After a 12-hour siege commandos rescued 13 people. Six attackers were killed in the raid. A seventh man was arrested and is still being questioned.

Read: John Kerry calls Sheikh Hasina, offers FBI assistance

The Islamic State (IS) group said it was behind the attack.

Afterwards, it was opened to the relatives and general public for paying their tributes.

Through the process, the bodies were being handed over to the relatives.

The caskets were placed in a raised platform which bored the flags of India, Italy, Bangladesh, Japan and the US - commemorating the nationalities of the foreigners killed.

Braving a drizzle that was on since last night, relatives and friends of the victims and people from all walks of life poured in to pay their last tribute at scene.

Ambulances were kept stationed nearby to carry the caskets.

Read: Dhaka terror attack victim Tarishi to be cremated in Gurgaon today
Bangladeshi investigators are focusing on a suspected militant and a survivor as part of their frantic search for clues in Fridays attack on an upscale restaurant that left 20 hostages dead in the countrys first major terrorist attack.

Inspector general of police AKM Shahidul Haque said investigators are concentrating on a suspect detained when commandos stormed Holey Artisan Bakery on Saturday morning to end a 12-hour siege.

Six suspected militants were gunned down during the operation but police released photo of bodies of only five attackers. The identities of four militants were confirmed by either friends or families by matching the photos of the bodies.

We will interrogate two persons, including the detained suspect after he recovers from injuries, Haque told reporters on Monday. He did not provide their identities.

Read: Why Bangladesh claim of ISI role in Dhaka cafe attack could be true

A case will be filed today. After filing the case things will be clear further, he said.

Investigators are also questioning some survivors and the focus has been on a university teacher who got away with his wife and two children.

The man, Abul Hasnat Reza Karim, has been in the custody of the Detective Branch, while his home in Dhaka was raided and his laptop seized.

Questions have arisen about the former North South University teachers past since a leading Bengali newspaper had suggested in a 2012 report he was one of three teachers known as organisers and backers of the banned radical group Hizbut Tahrir.

One of the attackers, Nibras Islam, was a former student of Karims department at the same university.

According to Karims narrative, he was freed as he and his family could recite from the Quran and his wife was wearing a hijab. But photo and videos of the siege filmed by witnesses in nearby buildings and shared on social media showed a man with a shaven head, who resembled Karim, walking fearlessly with his family. The same man was seen on the restaurants rooftop with two suspected militants.

Read: Dhaka attack: Bangladesh may be confronting a more fearsome militant foe

Also on Monday, surrounded by tearful family members and amid tight security, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and diplomats from Italy, Japan, India, the US and other countries paid tribute to the dead hostages by placing floral wreaths on the coffins of three Bangladeshi victims.

The coffins were draped in the Bangladeshi flag. That of Emory University student Abinta Kabir, a Bangladeshi-origin US citizen, was partially covered with an American flag.

Seventeen other hostages, including nine Italians, seven Japanese and one Indian, were butchered by the attackers with sharp weapons. Two others who died were police officers who were killed on Friday night when they tried to enter the restaurant during the initial response to the crisis.

The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack but authorities again rejected the claim and said the attackers belonged to the banned Jamaat-ul-Mujahedeen Bangladesh (JMB).
More storms are predicted before area fireworks shows.

National Weather Service meteorologist April Cooper said the national Storm Prediction Center has placed central North Dakota at risk of marginal thunderstorms starting this afternoon. She said the storms are expected to have blown through by 7 or 8 p.m.

Rodeo action is scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m. at Dacotah Centennial Park. The performance is followed by fireworks at 11 p.m.

The Independence Day show on the Capitol grounds starts at 9 p.m., with a patriotic concert put on by the Bismarck-Mandan Symphony Orchestra. The pyrotechnic show tentatively starts at 9:45 p.m.

"Hopefully (the storm) will pass through in time for fireworks," Cooper said.

On Sunday, a popular downtown Hazen restaurant, Sue's Diner, lost its roof structure in a fierce wind and rain storm that went through town at about 7 p.m.

The metal rolled across two adjacent buildings, caused more damage and tore a power line down.

A 72 mile per hour wind gust was reported to the National Weather Service, Cooper said.

The storm also downed several trees around town and several farms had damage to grain bins. A camper was tipped on its side in Beulah and there was damage to the siding on houses in the area.

About one inch of rain was recorded in a short burst and 1.75 inch hail was reported.

"Anytime you have 72 mile per hour winds and nearly 2-inch hail, that's on par," Cooper said of the damage reports.

By the time the storm reached Bismarck-Mandan, the worst had subsided, though there were reports of nickel-sized hail in the area. There was no major damage reported to any of the area law enforcement agencies.
A man convicted of killing 18 people when he set a public bus on fire in China has been sentenced to death, authorities said.

Ma Yongping, 34, in January set alight the bus in Yinchuan, capital of the remote northern region of Ningxia.

Yongping was convicted of arson and sentenced to death by the Yinchuan Intermediate Peoples Court on Sunday, the city government said in a social media posting.

Yongping admitted his actions but said he would appeal against the sentence, according to the government statement.

A college graduate who had studied in Japan, Yongping had accumulated more than 300,000 yuan ($46,000) in debts while as a contractor on an engineering project, much of it salaries for his workers, according to previous Chinese media reports.

The company refused to pay him, they said, and on the morning of the attack he sent friends a message on chat application WeChat saying: At a time when even a persons basic rights cant be guaranteed, he has a right to take action to fight for (them).

Chinese citizens have sometimes turned to violence against innocents in attempts to publicise their plight after failing to obtain redress for low-level disputes.

In 2013 a man started a fire on a vehicle in Xiamen in the eastern province of Fujian, killing 47 people including himself, after writing online he had appealed unsuccessfully to local police 56 times over social security benefits.
Amid evidence that students sell sex to pay their way through university, an influential parliamentary committee has called for change in British legislation so that soliciting is no longer an offence and brothel-keeping laws allow sex workers to share premises.

In a first-of-its-kind inquiry titled Prostitution, the Home Affairs Select Committee said it was dismayed by poor data on Britains sex industry, whereas its inquiries revealed such facts as sex workers having an average of 25 clients a week paying an average 78 per visit.

Presenting an interim report on the subject, Keith Vaz, the chair of the committee, said: Treating soliciting as a criminal offence is having an adverse effect, and it is wrong that sex workers, who are predominantly women, should be penalised and stigmatised in this way. The criminalisation of sex workers should therefore end.

According to the committee, nearly 11% of British men aged 16 to 74 have paid for sex on at least one occasion, which equates to 2.3 million individuals. The number of sex workers in Britain is estimated to be around 72,800, with about 32,000 working in London.

In England and Wales, the sale and purchase of sexual services is legal, but various related activities are criminal, including activities linked to exploitation, such as controlling prostitution, or managing a brothel, and activities that can present a public nuisance, such as buying or selling sex in public.

In a submission to the committee, the National Union of Students (NUS) cited research led by Swansea University into student sex work which found that almost 5% of students in the study had engaged in sex work at some time.

The NUS explained: Financial hardship is a principal motivating factor for students to pick up work in the sex industry. Continued efforts need to be made to locate those students who do not succeed in getting the financial support that they need within the existing administrative protocols.

In 201415, there were 456 prosecutions of sex workers for loitering and soliciting. An estimated 152 sex workers were murdered between 1990 and 2015. There were 1,139 victims of trafficking for sexual exploitation in 2014, and 248 in April to June 2015 (following implementation of the Modern Slavery Act 2015).

Vaz added: The current law on brothel keeping also means sex-workers can be too afraid of prosecution to work together at the same premises, which can often compromise their safety.

The committee will evaluate a number of the alternative models as this inquiry continues, including the sex-buyers law as operated in Sweden, the full decriminalised model used in Denmark, and the legalised model used in Germany and the Netherlands."

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On the night of July 1, a group of armed militants stormed Holey Artisan Bakery in Dhaka diplomatic zone, holding hostages and trading gun fire with security officials on the outside. What is perhaps one of the worst attacks in the Bangladeshi capital, the situation lasted through the night and resulted in 28 deaths, including 20 hostages, two security officers and six militants.

The attack

Armed with sharp weapons, Islamist militants laid siege to an upscale cafe in Dhaka, butchering 20 people, including a young Indian woman. After a night long operation, government forces stormed the building and rescued the remaining hostages, ending the 11-hour standoff. Six militants were killed in the gunfight.

Islamic terrorist group stake claim

The Islamic State (IS) said it was responsible for the attack, but the claim has yet to be confirmed as Dhaka has in the past denied the presence of the group on its soil.

Hours before the government announced the fatalities, the IS news service Amaq said 20 hostages, mostly foreigners, had been killed. It also posted photos of bodies and blood smeared across floors that it said were of those killed at the popular Holey Artisan Bakery. Indian and western intelligence agencies told Hindustan Times that the attack was carried out by the IS Bangladeshi module.

Operation Thunderbolt

The operation to neutralise the seven militants holding the cafe hostage was named Thunderbolt. It began at 7:40am on July 2 and ended within 12 minutes.

It was jointly carried out by the Bangladeshs army, navy, air force, Border Guard Bangladesh, Rapid Action Battalion and police. Bangladeshs army announced the end of the operation at 8:30am.

Operation Thunderbolt successfully managed to neutralise six of the militants and capture the seventh alive. He was detained and later arrested.

In the combing drive after the offence, security forces recovered pistols, AK 22 rifles, explosives, live improvised explosive devices (IEDs), sharp weapons and walkie-talkies. The IEDs and other explosives were diffused by the joint forces.

Information blackout

In an attempt to blind the militants, cable TV connections, live messaging services and internet access throughout Dhaka were cut off. News channels were also asked to not broadcast live visuals. Effectively, the militants had limited knowledge about what the joint security forces were doing or planning.

Casualties

Of the 20 hostages killed, seven were Japanese, nine were Italian, two were Bangladeshi, one was an American citizen and one was Indian. Most of the Japanese and Italian nationals killed were in the Dhaka on official business, working in a construction project or part of the textile industry. One of the Bangladeshis was a student at an American university along with the American citizen.

Indian killed

Nineteen-year-old Tarishi Jain was among those killed during the attack. The young Indian woman was at the cafe with two friends, who also died. All three of them were studying in the US and were visiting Dhaka during their vacations. Jains family hail from Firozabad in Uttar Pradesh but have been in Dhaka for more than a decade now. Jains father runs a garment business.

I am extremely pained to share that the terrorists have killed Tarishi, an Indian girl who was taken hostage in the terror attack in Dhaka, external affairs minister, Susham Swaraj had posted on Twitter.

Hostages rescued

During the initial moments of the attack, a few people managed to escape. At the end of the siege, 13 hostages were rescued, including three foreign nationals one Japanese and two Sri Lankans.

Quran recitation

The attackers who stormed a restaurant in Dhakas diplomatic quarter spared hostages who could recite verses from the holy Islamic book, the Quran, but tortured and savagely hacked and butchered those who couldnt, according to the rescued hostages.

The gunmen were doing a background check on religion by asking everyone to recite from the Quran. Those who could recite a verse or two were spared. The others were tortured, said Rezaul Karim whose son Hasnat was among the hostages.

Hasnat Karim and his wife Sharmin had gone with their eight-year-old son Rayan and 13-year-old daughter Safa to the cafe in the posh Gulshan area on Friday night to celebrate Safas birthday. The celebration was violently interrupted when the attackers barged in.

No demands made

Bangladeshs home minister Asaduzzaman Khan said the militants had not made any demands during the governments attempt to negotiate with them. He further dismissed any links between the attackers and the Islamic State, and reiterated the governments stand that they were home-grown radicals.

Prime minister Sheikh Hasina blames opponents

Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina on Saturday announced a two-day national mourning for the victims of the countrys worst ever hostage crisis .

In a live television broadcast, she said the country stood committed and determined to uphold its freedom and blamed her political opponents of trying to create chaos by backing domestic militants.

Anyone who believes in religion cannot do such an act, Hasina said Saturday. They do not have any religion, their only religion is terrorism.
Amid a dip in bilateral relations in recent months, eminent personalities from India and Nepal began talks here on Monday to review the gamut of ties between the neighbours.

The first meeting of the Eminent Persons Group on Nepal-India Relations (EPG-NIR) was inaugurated by deputy prime minister Kamal Thapa, who also holds the foreign affairs portfolio.

Both countries had agreed during Prime Minister Narendra Modis first visit to Nepal in 2014 to set up such a group to look into the totality of Nepal-India relations from independent, non government perspectives.

The purpose of the group, consisting of four members each from both countries, is to suggest measures to expand and consolidate relations, including the need to review treaties.

I am sure you will study all aspects of Nepal-India relations while taking into consideration the present realties and would provide constructive recommendations, Thapa said in his address at the start of the two-day meet.

There in an ongoing debate in Nepal on the need to review most treaties with India, including the 1950 Treaty of Peace and Friendship as many in the Himalayan country feel it is unequal.

We want the Nepali side to put forward all their concerns on the table, so that we can strengthen our long-standing ties, BJP MP and former Uttarakhand chief minister Bhagat Singh Koshiyari, who heads the Indian side, told Hindustan Times.

Former Nepal foreign minister Bhekh Bahadur Thapa, who is leading the Nepali side, said the first meeting will be exploratory in nature and set the agenda for future discussions.

Ties between the countries dipped last year after India expressed its reservations over Nepals new constitution and sought provisions to address the demands of Madhesi people, who share close ties across the border.

Kathmandu blamed New Delhi of using an agitation by Madhesis seeking changes to the statute to impose a five-month blockade of key border points. India denied any role in the blockade.

Relations were further strained in May after Nepal cancelled a visit to India by President Bidhya Devi Bhandari and recalled its ambassador on suspicion of New Delhi plotting to dislodge the government.

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Chinas state media said on Monday that India is stuck in shadow of the Sino-Indian war of 1962 and defaming Beijing by blaming it for not being able to enter the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG).

China was among the few countries that last month blocked Indias entry to the 48-member group which controls access to sensitive nuclear technology, saying New Delhi is not a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

China has argued it opposed Indias bid purely because of proliferation fears while the perception in India is that it did so because of Pakistan, which too had applied for NSG membership.

Mondays editorial in state-controlled Global Times argued India mistrusts China because of defeat in the 1962 war.

India's precautions against China cannot be clearer. The country seems to be still stuck in the shadow of the war with China in the 1960s and many still hold on to the obsolete geopolitical view that China does not want to see India rise, Su Tan wrote in Global Times.

Su said India actually may have misunderstood Beijing, which can make a big difference in its strategic decisions.

The piece added: In fact, China no longer looks at India simply from a political perspective, but far more from an economic one.

It added, Many regions in China are looking for business opportunities in fast-growing India. Chinese citizens may not realise the full potential of India, but in general they are attaching far more importance to the neighbouring country than ever before.

Quoting political scientist Zheng Yongnian, Su wrote that China's bilateral relationship with India is second only to the Sino-US relationship. Su added, Ties with China are of great significance to India as well. The best option is for China and India to work together to boost their economic and trade ties.

Calling on India to perceive China objectively, the piece said: Joining the NPT is a must for any country seeking NSG membership, but India is not a party to the NPT.

It said: The only exception is if India can obtain consent from all 48 NSG members, but several countries apart from China hold reservations in this regard. India had better put more efforts into figuring out how to obtain international trust rather than misinterpreting and defaming China.
US secretary of state John Kerry called Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and offered her assistance from American law enforcement agencies, including FBI, in the wake of the terror attack on a Dhaka restaurant in which 20 hostages were hacked to death.

The Secretary encouraged the government of Bangladesh to conduct its investigation in accordance with the highest international standards and offered immediate assistance from US law enforcement, including the FBI, State Department spokesperson John Kirby said.

Kerry called Hasina on Sunday to offer support in the wake of the outrageous attack on the Holey Artisan restaurant in Dhakas high-security diplomatic zone, he said.

During the call, Kerry condoled the loss of lives at the hands of terrorists who threaten the US, Bangladesh, and the international community.

He re-affirmed US support for Bangladeshs efforts to bring those responsible for planning and conducting the attacks to justice as well as to prevent future attacks, Kirby said.

Twenty hostages, including Indian girl Tarushi Jain, were hacked to death by terrorists inside the cafe popular with expats in the diplomatic zone before commandos launched an assault, killing six attackers and capturing one alive.

Most of those killed were found with their throats slit.

Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack through its Amaq news agency, nearly four hours after the hostage crisis unfolded.

Bangladesh, however, blamed homegrown Islamist terrorists and Pakistans spy agency ISI for the attack, ruling out involvement of the Islamic State.
A Nasa spacecraft was poised for a one-shot attempt to slip into Jupiters orbit on Monday for the start of a 20-month-long dance around the solar systems largest planet to learn how and where it formed.

Flight controllers at Nasas Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, were preparing for a long night as the Juno probe streaked closer toward Jupiter at 200 times the speed of sound in the empty vacuum of space.

Confirmation of whether Juno, the only solar-powered spacecraft ever dispatched to the outer solar system, had successfully placed itself into polar orbit around Jupiter was not expected until 11.53pm EDT on Monday (0353 GMT on Tuesday).

Launched from Florida nearly five years ago, Juno must be precisely positioned, ignite its main engine at exactly the right time and keep it burning for 35 minutes to shed enough speed so it can be captured by Jupiters gravity.

NASA's Juno spacecraft obtained this colour view at a distance of 6.8 million miles (10.9 million kilometers) from Jupiter, on June 21, 2016. (Reuters)

If anything goes even slightly awry, Juno will sail helplessly past Jupiter, unable to complete a $1 billion mission to peer through the planets thick atmosphere and map its gargantuan magnetic field.

Scientists are particularly interested in learning how much water Jupiter contains, which is key to determining where in the solar system it formed. Jupiters origins, in turn, affected the development and position of the rest of the planets, including Earth and its fortuitous location conducive to the evolution of life.

The immense gravity exerted by Jupiters sheer size - packing 2-1/2 times the mass of all the other planets combined - is thought to have helped shield Earth from bombardment by comets and asteroids.

We are learning about nature, how Jupiter formed and what that tells us about our history and where we came from, Juno lead scientist Scott Bolton, with the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, told reporters.

MUSICAL NOTES

Only one other spacecraft, Galileo, has ever circled Jupiter, which is five times farther away from the sun than Earth and is itself orbited by 67 known moons. Seven other US space probes have sailed past the gas giant on brief reconnaissance missions before heading elsewhere in the solar system.

Ground control teams will monitor Junos progress during its do-or-die engine burn by listening for a series of radio signals.

They really are musical notes. Based on what musical note is sent, we will know how something is doing, Bolton said.

The risks to Juno will not end once it arrives in orbit. The probe will fly in highly elliptical, egg-shaped orbits that pass within 3,000 miles (4,800 km) of the tops of Jupiters clouds and inside the planets powerful radiation belts.

Junos sensitive science instruments are housed in a 400-pound (180-kg) titanium vault for protection. But during its 37 orbits around Jupiter, Juno will be exposed to the equivalent of 100 million dental X-rays, said Bill McAlpine, radiation control manager for the mission.

The spacecraft, built by Lockheed Martin, is expected to last for 20 months. On its final orbit, Juno will dive into Jupiters atmosphere, where it will be crushed and vaporized.

Like Galileo, which circled Jupiter for eight years before crashing into the planet in 2003, Junos demise is designed to prevent any hitchhiking microbes from Earth from inadvertently contaminating Jupiters ocean-bearing moon Europa, a target of future study for extraterrestrial life.
Radiation levels across the Pacific Ocean are rapidly returning to normal five years after a meltdown at the Fukushima nuclear plant spewed gases and liquids into the sea, a study showed on Monday.

Japan shut down dozens of reactors after a magnitude 9.0 earthquake-generated tsunami on March 11, 2011 triggered one of the largest ever dumps of nuclear material into the worlds oceans.

In the days following the quake and explosions at Fukushima, seawater meant to cool the nuclear reactors instead carried radioactive elements back into the Pacific, with currents dispersing it widely.

Five years on a review by the Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research, which brings together ocean experts from across the world, said radioactive material had been carried as far as the United States.

But after analysing data from 20 studies of radioactivity associated with the plant, it found radiation levels in the Pacific were rapidly returning to normal after being tens of millions of times higher than usual following the disaster.

Read: Five years on, Japanese recount life post Fukushima N-disaster

As an example, in 2011 about half of fish samples in coastal waters off Fukushima contained unsafe levels of radioactive material, said Pere Masque, who co-authored the review published by the Annual Review of Marine Science.

However, by 2015 that number had dropped to less than one percent above the limit.

But the study also found that the seafloor and harbour near the Fukushima plant were still highly contaminated in the wake of the worlds worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl in 1986.

Monitoring of radioactivity levels and sea life in that area must continue, added Masque, a professor of environmental radiochemistry at the Edith Cowan University in Western Australia.

The research examined radioactive caesium levels measured off Japans coast across the Pacific to North America.

Read: Fukushima plants ice wall has been switched on, but will it work?

Caesium is a by-product of nuclear power and is highly soluble in water, making it ideal for measuring the release of radioactive material into the ocean, it said.

Although no one is recorded as having died as a direct result of the nuclear accident, tens of thousands of people were uprooted, with many still unable to return home because of persistent contamination.

Cleaning up Fukushima and making the area habitable again is a crucial plank of government policy in Japan, with Tokyo keen to prove nuclear power is a viable form of energy production for the resource-poor nation.
A Pakistani-origin man was on Monday jailed for 10 weeks for triggering panic and frightening passengers on a UK-bound flight by shouting Allah-o-Akbar and boom.

Shehraz Sarwar caused alarm with his behaviour during turbulence on-board an Emirates Boeing 777 from Dubai to Birmingham in February this year.

There was terrible turbulence during the flight and some passengers were very frightened. The defendant started chanting Allah-o-Akbar over and over again and very loudly. People were getting very distressed with his behaviour. When the plane finally landed, he shouted boom, prosecutor Alex Warren told Birmingham Crown Court.

It left some passengers in tears while one man angrily confronted the defendant before being told to sit down by cabin staff. Police were then called and the defendant was arrested, he said.

Warren informed the court of Sarwars previous convictions for dishonesty and violence, Birmingham Mail reported.

Judge Francis Laird rebuked the 38-year-old for misbehaving and being arrogant on-board.

Set in the context of the current political situation, chanting Allah-o-Akbar over and over again while on a plane had a frightening affect on some of the passengers and reduced some to tears. Incidents such as these on planes are taken very seriously by the courts and due to the circumstances I have no alternative but to send you to prison for 10 weeks, the judge said.

Sarwars defence lawyer Balbir Singh admitted his client had been foolish to shout boom but argued that he had been upset after attending his grandmothers funeral in Pakistan.

Sarwar was scared during the flight. He prayed, chanting Allah-o-Akbar, which translates as God is Great. When the plane landed he did shout out boom. It was a very foolish thing to do. He is very sorry for his actions and realises what distress this caused to other passengers, Singh said.

However, the judge told Sarwar that over and above the jail term he would be placed on licence with a 12-month supervision order when released.
A Pakistani parliamentary committee on Monday directed the government to build a temple and crematorium for Hindus in Islamabad, rejecting the notion that there would be security issues if a place of worship for the countrys minority community is built.

It is surprising and sad that there is not even a single temple in Islamabad for Hindu community to worship, lawmaker Ramesh Lal said while chairing the meeting of sub-committee of the National Assembly standing committee on religious affairs.

It came as a shock to the committee members that there was no crematorium for the Hindu community in the capital, Dawn newspaper reported.

At least 500 Hindus are registered to be living in Islamabad, and had to travel to Rawalpindi to perform final rituals of their deceased, the committee was told.

This is how government is treating minorities in the country. It is the basic right of Hindus to have a temple in their own city for worship, Lal, who is convener of the parliamentary panel, said.

The parliamentary body rejected the concerns put forward by the government that there would be security issues if a temple is built for Hindus.

Hotels and restaurants are being provided security by the government, why a temple cannot be provided security, members of the committee asked.

Tariq Qaiser, one of the members of the parliamentary committee, also brought forth the matter of churches not receiving any financial assistance from the government for renovation.

The committee then directed the government to build a temple and crematorium for Hindus in Islamabad and allocate funds for renovation of churches.

The committee has proposed allotment of land for the temple in Saidpur Village area.
The Supreme Court of the United States voted that President Barack Obama exceeded his authority when he granted exemptions from the immigration laws passed by Congress.

But the Supreme Court also exceeded its own authority by granting the University of Texas an exemption from the Constitution's requirement of "equal protection of the laws," by voting that racial preferences for student admissions were legal.

Supreme Court decisions in affirmative action cases are the longest-running fraud since the 1896 decision upholding racial segregation laws in the Jim Crow South, on grounds that "separate but equal" facilities were consistent with the Constitution. Everybody knew that those facilities were separate but by no means equal. Nevertheless, this charade lasted until 1954.

The Supreme Court's affirmative action cases have now lasted since 1974 when, in the case of DeFunis v. Odegaard, the Court voted 5 to 4 that this particular case was moot, which spared the justices from having to vote on its merits.

While the 1896 "separate but equal" decision lasted 58 years, the Supreme Court's affirmative action cases have now had 42 years of evasion, sophistry and fraud, with no end in sight.

One sign of the erosion of principles over the years is that even one of the court's most liberal judicial activists, Justice William O. Douglas, could not stomach affirmative action in 1974, and voted to condemn it, rather than declare the issue moot.

But now, in 2016, the supposedly conservative Justice Anthony Kennedy voted to uphold the University of Texas' racial preferences. Perhaps the atmosphere inside the Washington Beltway wears down opposition to affirmative action, much as water can eventually wear down rock and create the Grand Canyon.

We have heard much this year about the Supreme Court vacancy created by the death of the great Justice Antonin Scalia  and rightly so. But there are two vacancies on the Supreme Court. The other vacancy is Anthony Kennedy.

The human tragedy, amid all the legal evasions and frauds is that, while many laws and policies sacrifice some people for the sake of other people, affirmative action manages to harm blacks, whites, Asians and others, even if in different ways.

Students who are kept out of a college because other students are admitted instead, under racial quotas, obviously lose opportunities they would otherwise have had.

But minority students admitted to institutions whose academic standards they do not meet are all too often needlessly turned into failures, even when they have the prerequisites for success in some other institution whose normal standards they do meet.

When black students who scored at the 90th percentile in math were admitted to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where the other students scored at the 99th percentile, a significant number of black students failed to graduate there, even though they could have graduated with honors at most other academic institutions.

We do not have so many students with that kind of ability that we can afford to sacrifice them on the altar to political correctness.

Such negative consequences of mismatching minority students with institutions, for the sake of racial body count, have been documented in a number of studies, most notably "Mismatch," a book by Richard Sander and Stuart Taylor Jr., whose subtitle is "How Affirmative Action Hurts Students It's Intended to Help, and Why Universities Won't Admit It."

But hard facts carry no such weight among politicians as magic words like "diversity"  a word repeated endlessly, without one speck of evidence to back up its sweeping claims of benefits. It, too, is part of the Supreme Court fraud, going back to a 1978 decision that seemingly banned racial quotas  unless the word "diversity" was used instead of "quotas."

Seeming to ban racial preferences, while letting them continue under another name, was clever politically. But the last thing we need in Washington are nine more politicians, wearing judicial robes.
Parveen Rafiq screamed from her rooftop, I have killed my daughter. I have saved my honour. She will never shame me again.

In the room below lay the charred body of 18-year-old Zeenat. Neighbours in the narrow alley who saw the smoke and heard screams rushed to Rafiqs home, but the door was bolted from within. Zeenat was dead. Her mother had choked her, and while the girl was still alive she doused with kerosene and set her on fire.

Zeenats crime was to marry a childhood friend she loved, defying her widowed mothers pressure for an arranged marriage and, in the mind of her mother and many of her neighbours, tarnishing her familys honour.

In this June 18 photo, Mohammed Tofeeq cries as he holds his 10-month-old daughter, Gulshan Tofeeq, at the grave of his wife Muqadas Tofeeq, who local police say was killed by her mother, in Butrawala village on the outskirts of Gujranwala, Pakistan. (AP)

Her death on June 8 was the latest in a series of increasingly gruesome honour killings in Pakistan, which has one of the highest rates of such killings in the world.

In one case, a mother slit the throat of her pregnant daughter who had married a man she loved. In the city of Abbottabad, a teenage girl who helped a friend elope was tortured, injected with poison and then strapped to the seat of a vehicle and set on fire. A jirga, or council of local elders, ordered her killing as a message to others.

The brutality and rapid succession of killings horrified many Pakistanis. The numbers of such killings have been climbing. Last year, 1,096 women and 88 men were killed in honour crimes in Pakistan, according to the independent Human Rights Commission of Pakistan. In 2014, the number was 1,005 women, including 82 children, up from 869 women a year earlier. The true numbers are believed to be higher, with many cases going unreported, activists say.

Some human rights and womens rights activists believe the rise in numbers and brutality reflects an older generation digging in against creeping change.

Hassan Khan shows a tissue on which his wife Zeenat wrote a poem and messages to him, in Lahore, Pakistan. Zeenat was the third Pakistani girl reported to have died in the last month in what has widely come to be known as an honour killing. (AP Photo)

Over the years, more women have been going to school and working outside the home, and social media have helped women raise their voices. More than 70% of Pakistans 180 million people are under 30, and some are challenging traditions to an unprecedented degree.

The old order of misogyny and extremism is falling apart, is really crumbling, says Marvi Sermid, a womens rights activist.

Centuries of tradition in Pakistan tie the idea of a woman as an untouched commodity to a familys honour. Traditions have been further strengthened by governments that often curried the support of religious hard-liners with legislation enshrining the old ways.

Those who kill for honour are almost never punished in Pakistan. A law based on Islamic Shariah allows the family of a victim to forgive a killer, and in these cases the killers are almost always family. So other relatives give their forgiveness, unwilling to see loved ones jailed.

In this file photo, Amina Bibi, centre, who who local police say killed Muqadas Tofeeq, her 22-year-old pregnant daughter, is detained at a police station in Gujranwala, Pakistan. (AP Photo)

Still, outrage over recent killings and other violence against women has fuelled an outcry against the establishment. One target has been the Council of Islamic Ideology, a body of conservative Muslim clerics that advises the government to ensure laws dont stray from Shariah.

When the government proposed a law aimed at protecting women against violence, the council in May put forward an alternative allowing men to lightly beat their wives.

Young people replied with a Twitter campaign with the mocking hashtag #TryBeatingMeLightly. On TV talk shows, guests denounced the council as misogynist and out of touch. Some lawmakers called for it to be disbanded.

The outcry appears to be having an effect. The council in June decreed that honour killings are un-Islamic.

Meanwhile, police and prosecutors have found a way around the forgiveness loophole. Rafiq and one of her sons suspected of helping in Zeenats killing have been detained and face charges under the anti-terrorism law, which defines any act that causes general panic as terrorism.

Zeenats death underscores the social traditions that underpin honour crimes.

Hassan Khan, whose wife Zeenat was killed by her mother, lays rose petals on her grave in Lahore, Pakistan. (AP Photo)

For months, neighbours said, her mother complained about her two elder daughters, who married men of their own choice.

Zeenat was Rafiqs last chance to save her honour. She planned an arranged marriage for Zeenat with a member of their own social caste, the Rajput, which is said to be descended from kings.

But Zeenat had her heart set on a childhood friend, a 20-year-old motorcycle mechanic named Hassan Khan who lived nearby in their crowded Lahore shantytown.

We were in love, Khan said, his voice barely a whisper.

He showed a collection of selfies on his phone that Zeenat had put together to the rhythm of their favorite song, an Urdu pop tune called You Made Me Your Lover. As the music played, Zeenat in the photos struck different poses, always smiling, her black hair falling past her shoulders.

She loved taking selfies, music and poetry, he said. She had memorised the Quran and taught it to local children.

Zeenat and her mother fought about Khan, and Zeenat told him her mother beat her. Khan said Zeenat pleaded with him to marry her.

Mohammed Tofeeq shows a picture with his wife Muqadas Tofeeq, who local police say was killed by her mother, in Butrawala village on the outskirts of Gujranwala, Pakistan. (AP Photo)

In May, they finally did, marrying at a courthouse. Zeenat moved into Khans home.

A few days later, Zeenats mother and uncle came, begging her to come home, just for a few days. They said they would arrange a proper wedding for her and Khan, which would save their honor by showing neighbors she didnt elope. Zeenats uncle promised she would be safe.

Khans elders eventually agreed that Zeenat would go with her mother.

At first, it seemed Zeenats mother had accepted their marriage, Khan said.

But on the fourth day, Zeenat called him, afraid. Her mother was yelling at her threateningly.

I told her to not worry. It was just two more days and she would be back home with me.

The next morning, she was dead.

Neighbor women outside Rafiqs home all agreed that the mother was driven to kill Zeenat, and she should go free.

Daughters are duty-bound to maintain the honor of the family, said Muneeba Bibi. Its better to have no children than to have a daughter who brings you shame.

Zeenats killing was a good lesson for all the girls here to protect the family honor, she said.

The little girls playing in the alleys all knew Zeenat was killed by her mother. But they werent sure why. All they knew was she had done something very bad.

She was strangled and then they burned her, said 11-year-old Sameera. When I think about it I get scared.

In the home he briefly shared with Zeenat, Khan showed a poem she had written on a tissue paper.

I love you. I kiss you

I love you. I miss you

I take your name with every breath

I see you in every dream

I want to see you all the time

Khan refolded the fragile tissue and returned it to his wallet.

I want her hanged, he said of Zeenats mother. She has to be punished. This is the only way this will stop.
A search vessel contracted by the Egyptian government has recovered all mapped human remains under water at the crash site of EgyptAir flight MS804 in the Mediterranean, Egypts aircraft accident investigation committee said on Sunday.

The John Lethbridge, belonging to Mauritius-based Deep Ocean Search, headed to Alexandria port to hand over the remains to coroners and prosecution officials, the committee said in a statement. It will return to the crash site to make further checks for any possible remains there, the statement said.

The Airbus A320 plunged into the eastern Mediterranean en route from Paris to Cairo on May 19 and all 66 people on board were killed. The cause of the crash remains unknown.

Read | EgyptAir crash: Black box data downloaded, confirm smoke on board

The plane is believed to have crashed in the deepest part of the Mediterranean. Investigators have started analysing one of its so called black box flight recorders and are extracting information from the other.

Debris from the jet was brought to Cairo airport last week, where investigators will try to reassemble part of the frame to help establish what might have caused the disaster.

No explanation for the disaster has been ruled out. But current and former aviation officials increasingly believe the reason lies in the aircrafts technical systems, rather than sabotage.

Initial analysis of the planes flight data recorder showed there had been smoke in the lavatory and avionics bay while recovered wreckage from the jets front section showed signs of high temperature damage and soot, the first physical signs that fire may have broken out on the airliner.

The Paris prosecutors office opened a manslaughter investigation on Monday but said it was not looking into terrorism as a possible cause of the crash at this stage.
Family members of a Pakistani Sikh politician who was gunned down in April staged a protest on Sunday demanding that the promises made by the provincial government to the victims kin be fulfilled.

Sardar Sooran Singh, 52, special assistant to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister on minority affairs and leader of Imran Khan-led Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), was gunned down by contract killers hired by his miffed Hindu rival after he failed to secure a ticket for elections.

The protest was led by the president of All Pakistan Hindu Welfare Organisation, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chapter, Haroon Sarb Dayal, president of Sevak Sanskar Society Zahid Kumar and general secretary Rajesh Laland.

The protesters requested the government to pay compensation to Singhs family. They also demanded a government job for his widow. The demonstrators called for implementation of packages announced by Singh for churches and gurdwaras and filling of the seat vacated due to his death in the provincial assembly.

The protesters were holding pictures of Singh, banners and placards inscribed with the demands for his family.

The PTI activists were also part of the protest demonstration.
A suicide bomber blew himself up early Monday near the United States consulate in Saudi Arabias Red Sea city of Jeddah, reported the Sabq online newspaper, which is close to authorities.

It said two security officers were hurt as a result of the failed bombing on July 4, the day when Americans celebrate their independence.

Security officers sealed off the area after a person blew himself up in a car in front of the US consulate in Jeddah, the report said.

The incident happened just before the dawn prayers after which Muslims begin their daily fast during the holy month of Ramadan.

Neither American embassy officers nor the Saudi interior ministry could immediately be reached for comment.
Eurosceptic MEP Nigel Farage, a major driving force behind Britains vote to leave the European Union, on Monday stepped down as leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP).

I have decided to stand aside as leader of UKIP, he told a London press conference. The victory for the Leave side in the referendum means that my political ambition has been achieved.

The 52-year-old said that whoever succeeded David Cameron as prime minister should be a long-time Brexit campaigner and vowed to scrutinise negotiations over Britains departure from the EU.

I will watch the renegotiation process in Brussels like a hawk and perhaps comment in the European Parliament from time to time, he said.

Whilst we will now leave the European Union the terms of our withdrawal are unclear, he added.

If there is too much backsliding by the government and with the Labour party detached from many of its voters, then UKIPs best days may be yet to come.

He also offered his services to other independence movements springing up in other parts of the European Union, adding he was certain that you havent seen the last country that wants to leave the EU.

Farage has quit as party leader twice before, firstly in 2009 over party infighting and again in 2015 after failing to become an MP, but on both occasions decided to stay.

He insisted Monday that I wont be changing my mind again, I promise you.
Western governments and media may be blaming the Islamic State and al Qaeda but Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her colleagues are convinced that July 1 attack on an upscale Dhaka cafe that left 20 people, most of them foreigners, dead was carried out by home-grown jihadis.

While a debate rages over the identity of the attackers, Hasina has blamed some outside forces for the south Asian countrys worst terrorist attack. Earlier, too, she has held local Islamists linked to the opposition BNP-Jamaat coalition responsible for attacks on bloggers, Hindu priests and foreigners.

This is part of a major attempt to discredit my government and topple it. They failed to defeat me in elections, they are now using jihadis to bring me down but Inshallah they never will succeed, Hasina said in Dhaka last week.

Her Awami League colleagues say the attacks on secular elements are aimed at demoralising the larger secular mass of Bangladeshis who revel in the spirit of 1971, while the violence against Hindus is meant to harm ties with friendly neighbour India. Foreigners, they say, are being targeted to cripple the economy, which is doing well, by scaring away investors and buyers, especially those outsourcing garments.

Home-made terror

Cant you see the systematic planned targeting? It is so political, top Awami League leader and former minister Suranjit Sengupta said. When you fail to defeat us in elections, you unleash the jihadis.

Sengupta recalled the open encouragement the jihadi groups got during the BNP-Jamaat reign (2001-2006). The Bangla Bhais were operating as part of that government. The Jamaat is the fountain head of all religious radicalism in Bangladesh, they dont believe in our independence, our secularism, he said.

Former prime minister Khaleda Zia is the chairperson of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party.

Read | Bangladesh blames Paks ISI, homegrown militants for Dhaka terror attack

ISI hand

Information minister Hasanul Huq Inu stunned everyone on Monday, when he said Pakistans all-powerful Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) had trained up to 8,000 Bangladeshi jihadis in the last two years and sent them back to launch a violent campaign.

They are trying to avenge 1971, they cant get over it. First they hit India at Mumbai, now they hit us here in Dhaka with these homegrown jihadis who they have trained, Inu told mediapersons.

Intelligence officials say they have furnished several detailed reports on the Pakistan-trained jihadis.

That is why we identified two Pakistani diplomats who were part of this whole game... and expelled them. They were both ISI staffers, a national security intelligence (NSI) official said. He spoke on condition of anonymity as he didnt have the permission to speak to media. The NSI is Bangladeshs top spy agency.

Training camps

The official said six batches of Bangladeshis were given weapons training between February and September 2014 at Naikhongcherri in Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) that borders Myanmar. The remote hill camp used to be a secret base of Rohingya insurgents active in the neighbouring country.

After the initial 15-day induction at the camp, a batch would be sent to Pakistan, while another batch would be sent to CHT. This went on until mid-2015. By then thousands of Bangladeshi jihadis had been through training, first in CHT and then in Pakistani Kashmir, the NSI official said.

Indian agencies had found the reports to be true, he claimed.

Some of the Pakistan-trained Islamists had been hunted down, a counter-terrorism unit officer said. But the most motivated of them were taken to Syrian and Iraqi battlefields by ISI frontmen and then infiltrated back to Bangladesh, he said. They formed a new group whose identity is not yet confirmed but which is surely responsible for the Dhaka attacks.

Was the Pakistan angle for real and not the outcome of the ongoing Dhaka-Islamabad spat over the war crimes trials? The officer said the lone terrorist taken alive after the Dhaka siege had began to cough out all he knows.

The gunman, the officer said, had told them he was trained at the CHT camp before being packed off to Pakistan for a three-month intensive training in weapons, explosives and assault tactics.

He started off as an activist of the Islami Chatra Shibir, the student wing of the Jamaat-e-Islami, before joining the ranks of the new jihadi group the Ansar-e-Islam that sent him to Chittagong camp.

The gunman, the only one among the seven attacker to survive the army onslaught, was injured but was being questioned, the officer said.

His initial version corroborates our previous reports about Pakistani involvement in building up a huge jihadi network in Bangladesh. The ISIS claims are nonsense, it is the ISI and not the ISIS. This is our Mumbai, the counter-terror officer said.

Read | Bangladesh mourns Dhaka cafe victims, police try to confirm ID of killers

The Pakistan angle

Earlier this year, Bangladesh had expelled two Pakistani diplomats for recruiting and funding jihadis. Foreign minister AH Mahmud Ali had even warned Pakistan against interfering in his countrys internal affairs.

Dhaka resents Islamabads criticism of the war-crimes trials in which several top Jamaat-e-Islami and BNP leaders have been hanged for collaborating with the Pakistan army during the Bangladesh liberation war of 1971.

Pakistan has condemned the hangings of loyal Pakistanis and even threatened to raise the issue in the UN.

But, western governments and media do not buy the government line and believe the Dhaka strike was either carried out by IS or al Qaeda.

The US sees al Qaeda in Indian Subcontinent footprint but most others have bought the Islamic State claims that our boys were involved in the slaughter at Holey Artisan cafe.

Local media carried pictures and details about the jihadis within minutes of their photographs going up on the Islamic State website.

The attackers were well educated, went to expensive private universities and one of them was the son of an Awami League leader, media reports said.

They were highly indoctrinated and motivated, so they stayed back to fight to a bitter end, but their combat training is poor so their resistance folded up in 15 minutes,  said Col Tuhin Masood of the Rapid Action Battalion that joined the para-commandos in the final assault.

Read | Friends thunderstruck as Bangladesh meets the changing face of terrorism

Indian intelligence backs the Bangladeshi claims.

The Lashkar-e-Taiba has been running a major operation in Bangladesh, recruiting and taking jihadis out for training, using their Rohingya fronts, said an official of the Research & Analysis Wing, Indias external spy agency.

Refusing to be identified, the R&AW spy said Bangladesh security forces had neutralised many of the jihadis. They killed them in encounters and they arrested a number of them. That is how they came to know of ISIs involvement and so these under-cover ISI staffers were expelled, he said.

But, the Bangladeshi forces failed to penetrate the new jihadi groups and get a picture of their command and hierarchy, he said.

The ISI used its Lashkar front, Fala-I-Insaniyat Foundation, to enter the Chittagong-Myanmar border area. The foundation members spread out as refugee aid work among Rohingyas to identify jihadi recruits to train and indoctrinate them, he said.

(The writer is a former BBC journalist and a noted author.)
URSOON: Overnight flash floods killed at least 43 people in northern Pakistan, the majority in a remote village that did not receive an evacuation warning before the waters hit washing away most of the settlement, officials said on Sunday. The heavy monsoon rains began late Saturday and were concentrated mainly in the northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, which has been badly affected by flooding in recent years that some scientists have linked to climate change. The worst hit district was Chitral, on the countrys northwest border with Afghanistan, where the flood waters killed 41 people in the village of Ursoon near the Afghan border, which is home to some 100 families, district mayor Maghfirat Shah told AFP. Eighty-two homes in the village were affected by the waters.

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NEW YORK: A man was severely injured in an apparent blast on Sunday in the citys popular tourist destination the Central Park, with authorities investigating the incident, according to US media reports. The blast in the New York Central Park severed the foot of a young man, who was not identified, a report in the New York Daily News said. The New York Police Departments bomb squad was investigating the area of the park where the incident occurred. His foot was all but gone, a witness said.

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BEIJING: A wave of suicides committed by government officials in China has set off alarm bells in the quiet corridors of power here amid President Xi Jinpings ongoing anti-corruption drive.

Over 150 officials from different levels of government have committed suicide since 2013, data scattered across Chinese media, including official ones, reveal.

The broad break-up: 46 in 2013, 54 in 2014 and 30 in 2015.

The tragic trend till mid-2016 indicates that this year could turn out to be the worst  till Sunday, 28 government officials had committed suicide.

Most jumped to their deaths from their offices or homes.

A Beijing-based senior academic said the suicides were being described as an epidemic in official circles but declined to comment further.

An official commentary appearing in the South China Morning Post said between 2003 and 2012  when Hu Jintao was President  at least 68 officials killed themselves. That number was surpassed in the first two years of President Xi Jinpings administration, with at least 77 officials committing suicide. Experts said it might not always be easy to link the suicides to the anti-graft campaign that has netted officials from all hierarchies.

The official reason is usually depression.

But many of those who committed suicides were or could have been under the scanner for graft. There could be multiple reasons to commit suicide. Not one. But sometimes, people might kill themselves to save their families from being shamed, Paul Yip, director of the Hong Kong-based Centre for Suicide Research and Prevention, told HT.

Eminent psychiatrist Zhao Guoqiu told ThePaper.cn that the Chinese Criminal Procedure law says a defendant cannot be investigated for criminal responsibility after death.

If he was already under investigation, the case should be withdrawn. For that reason, some officials find ending their lives before a prosecution will save his or her whole family and elated people, and the benefits it brings is much more attractive than that of spending the rest of their lives in jail, Zhao said.

Intra-party ideological differences within the Communist Party of China (CPC) and officials could be another reason for the deaths.

Yip said official data released by the government was needed to carry out a full analysis.

That seems unlikely, with the government having reportedly sent out a directive sometime in 2014 that media houses should not report on accidental deaths of officials.

In a response emailed to HT, the government side-tracked the likelihood of the deaths being linked to the anti-corruption campaign.

The integrity of officials, incorruptibility of the government and fairness of politics is the CPCs rigorous requirement to itself, and is also the common expectation for people, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.

It said the CPC was focused on law-based governance and that the anti-graft campaign was welcomed by the people .Ever since the 18th CPC National Congress, the CPC has been insisting on promoting law-based governance in all- round ways, strengthening self-discipline of the party, and resolutely punishing corruption. These efforts have been supported and welcomed by the whole party and people of the whole nation, it added.
DUBAI: The United Arab Emirates has urged men to avoid wearing the white robes, headscarf and headband of the national dress when travelling abroad, after a businessman visiting the US was wrestled to the ground and held as an Islamic State suspect. UAE media reported that the Emirati man was detained in Avon, Ohio, last week.

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This is Up and Down, where we give a brief thumbs up and thumbs down on the issues from the past week.

Up

The Industrial Commission did the right thing when it rejected a proposed rule on Wednesday that would have regulated who could speak during oil and gas permitting hearings. The overwhelming response during the comment period was against the proposal. Government should always be looking for ways to be more transparent, not at ways to shut out the public. The comment period reflects that people care and want a say in government actions.

Down

In a story on June 26, reporter Caroline Grueskin told about the consequences of jail overcrowding in Burleigh County. Not only is it expensive to transport prisoners to other county jails when there isnt room in Burleigh, but services suffer. Parenting classes, anger management therapy and sessions on money management and filling out job applications have virtually disappeared. There isnt room for them. The new Burleigh-Morton jail should help resolve these problems, but a number of inmates have gone through the system without services that might have helped them adjust to society once released.

Up

North Dakota is getting younger and thats good news. Its a sign the state is growing; in fact another report shows Mandan has topped 21,000 in population. We like our older citizens, but the fact that North Dakotas median age has dropped indicates more young people are staying home. North Dakotas median age dropped from 34.9 years old to 34.6 from July 1, 2014, to July 1, 2015, according to the state Department of Commerce. North Dakota was the only state to see its median age drop. Its a trend we hope continues.

Down

The revenue numbers dont want to improve for North Dakota. First-quarter taxable sales and purchases took a dive across the state. Sales were down 33 percent this year compared to the first quarter of 2015. The decline started in the second quarter of 2015, and we can only hope for a rebound in oil and ag prices.

Up

We dont often hear about efforts to curb drinking and boating, but they exist. The North Dakota Game and Fish Department recently participated in Operation Dry Water, an effort by the National Association of State Boating Law Administrators to crack down on boating under the influence. Nature helped during the weekend enforcement effort as high winds kept many boaters off the water. The goal of the effort isnt to keep people on shore, but to reduce the number of deaths blamed on drunken boaters. North Dakota will participate again in Operation Dry Water and thats a good idea.
Death of Joshua Brown, the former Navy SEAL who was killed when his Tesla drove rammed into a tractor, has raised questions over the efficacy of autonomous technologies.

Brown, 40, was killed in Florida May 7 when his Tesla S came under a trailer and had its roof torn off from impact. Brown was in the driver's seat and the car on autopilot. New reports suggest the car was speeding and its cameras failed to distinguish the trailer ahead from its environment.

The trailer's driver, Frank Baressi, told authorities that Brown was watching Harry Potter when the crash happened. He said he heard the movie play, which continued even after the crash. Baressi also said that Brown was driving fast and he did not see the Tesla coming.

A proud Tesla owner, Brown espoused the company's Autopilot software and trusted it with his life. He even uploaded videos to YouTube showing how the feature had saved his Tesla from an accident. Those who knew him said he drove the car across the country and was so attached to it he named it 'Tessy'. One of his videos was reportedly picked up by Tesla CEO Elon Musk for the automaker's website.

News of the accident broke a few days ago, raising questions why investigating federal authorities and Tesla kept mum about the accident for nearly two months after what is now recognized as the first fatality during autonomous drive. The New York Times also pointed out that Musk did not mention the accident to shareholders end of May during a meeting. However, the company has stated its Autopilot is beta and that it is to be used with driver oversight.

Though Teslas across the world have reportedly done around 130 million miles on Autopilot without fatalities, the accident has raised concerns about the technology, with analysts calling for Musk to ensure the technology is tested before making it commercially available. Details from the incident, including witnesses who claimed the car continued to speed after its roof was ripped off, are fuelling concerns.

@ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Making a dazzling design statement, amba Taipei Songshan welcomes savvy globetrotters into a vibrant urban oasis that blends modernity with authentic Taiwanese flavor. Panoramic views of Taipei 101 and the beautiful Keelung River are a spectacular feature throughout the hotel. The Lobby is a fun social space for guests to hang out, offset by views of Taipei 101. Casting a magical glow are 24 giant eco-bamboo lanterns standing up to three meters high. By night, color-changing lighting marks outTaiwan's hottest new hotel landmark.

More than 70 percent of amba's 189 guestrooms offer panoramic vistas of Taipei 101 or Keelung River. Room categories range from Smart Rooms (27 sqm/291 sqft) to a stunning Studio (107 sqm/1,150 sqft). Every guestroom offers complimentary superfast WiFi, a 48-inch HD TV, Bluetooth speaker and a Nespresso machine.

amba's Que restaurant is a modern chophouse serving premium wood-fired steaks and seafood grilled over native fruit-tree woods. The hotel is ideal for creative meetings and joyful weddings, seating up to 150 for meetings or 200 for banquets.

Travelers will appreciate amba's convenient location. The new hotel is situated at the nexus of Xinyi, Songshan and Nangang districts, and is directly connected to Songshan Station for metro and trains. Taipei 101 and Xinyi district are just five minutes from the hotel by free shuttle service. Raohe Night Market, Ciyou Temple and Rainbow Bridge are all within five minutes' walk.

About amba

Styled to resonate with today's travelers, amba Hotels & Resorts celebrates design creativity, responsible consumption, and fun, unique travel experiences. The first amba hotel, amba Taipei Ximending, opened in 2012 and was hailed by Wallpaper* magazine as one of the best new openings around the world.
HVS is excited to announce a major expansion of its team on the West Coast of the United States. We now have experts on the ground in the metro areas of San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Portland, and Seattle, living and breathing these hospitality markets and consulting across their respective regions. In total, the firm's West Coast offices now comprise a team of five MAIs, and together with a boots-on-the-ground presence in Las Vegasand Phoenix, our seven western U.S. locations comprise over 20 total team members.

Expanded Leadership Team

This talented West Coast group is led by Suzanne Mellen, MAI, CRE, FRICS, ISHC, a veteran of the industry who has been with HVS for 35 years. Suzanne sets new standards for hospitality and gaming valuation, specializing in complex hotel and casino feasibility issues, and is nationally recognized for her valuation and industry expertise.

Adam Lair, MAI has joined the San Francisco group; he will partner closely with Suzanne to lead the expanding California operation. Adam Lair was previously the director in charge of the Gulf Coast, and will retain some oversight in that region of the country during his transition period to the West Coast. Adam is a highly regarded leader in the hospitality industry, a speaker at the Lodging Conference in Scottsdale, and handles many of the firm's most complex engagements.

Pacific Northwest Adds Seattle Presence

Based in Portland, Kasia Russell, MAI leads the Pacific Northwest team, working closely with Desiree Flanary, MAI, Matt Melville, Aaron Solaimani, Kirsten Smiley, and Breanna Sherer. Kasia, Desiree, and Matt have all been with the firm for over ten years each and have consulted on hundreds of engagements throughout their careers. Megan Thunem, who recently relocated from Texas to Portland, provides valuable operations support to this Northwest region.

Aaron Solaimani now represents HVS from Seattle, consulting on engagements from this important and complex market. Aaron, who previously worked in the San Francisco office, still provides valuable support for engagements throughout the San Francisco Bay Area.

San Francisco Office Expands

Bomie Kim

and John Berean join the San Francisco group this summer, relocating from Colorado and Texas, respectively. Together with Suzanne Mellen, Adam Lair, Katie Minnock, and a support team of Linda Gee, Stephanie Shoffner, and Paula Hood, this San Francisco-based team of eight handles a wide variety of consulting and valuation projects throughout San Francisco Bay Area, the Silicon Valley, Sonoma County, Sacramento, and beyond.

Growing Southern California Team Adds San Diego Presence

Greg Mendell joined HVS Los Angeles in late 2015 from hotel operations at the W Hollywood Hotel. Greg works closely with the group's leading consultants, Li Chen, MAI and Jessica White, as well as the California leadership team of Suzanne Mellen and Adam Lair to handle all consulting needs throughout LA, Orange, and Riverside Counties and beyond.

Patrick Bursey now represents HVS from San Diego. Patrick has worked on large-scale, full-service hotels, area destination resorts, and smaller limited-service hotels throughout San Diego and Orange Counties.

Desert Team Expands Phoenix OfficeHVS West oversight also extends to the desert markets of Las Vegas and Phoenix, where HVS is represented by Shannon Okada and Ryan Wall, respectively. These talented consultants handle a vast array of complex consulting issues for our clients. Michael Smithson joins the Phoenix office this summer, relocating from Dallas. Our desert offices are supported by Kate Lutfy, who provides valuable administrative support from Arizona. From complicated resort issues in Scottsdale to complex casino engagements in Las Vegas, as well as assets in Tucson, Reno, Palm Springs, Albuquerque, and beyond, Ryan and Shannon work closely with Suzanne Mellen and Adam Lair to provide the best advice to our clients throughout the desert region.

Turn to HVS to provide you solutions to your consulting needs in the western United States. No other firm offers the depth of experienced staff from so many locations, exclusively dedicated to the hospitality industry.

About HVS

HVS is the world's leading consulting and valuation services organization focused on the hotel, restaurant, shared ownership, gaming, and leisure industries. Established in 1980, the company performs more than 4,500 assignments per year for virtually every major industry participant. HVS principals are regarded as the leading professionals in their respective regions of the globe. Through a worldwide network of over 50 offices staffed by 300 experienced industry professionals, HVS provides an unparalleled range of complementary services for the hospitality industry. For further information regarding our expertise and specifics about our services, please visit www.hvs.com.
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Following a month of April when all regions recorded losses, the contrast in Mays performance from one zone to the next was striking. Unfortunately, Ile-de-France continued to pay the heavy price of the terrorist attacks of early 2015 and in Brussels. All client segments were affected and while recovery should be on the cards, it has yet to make itself known. The situation was noticeably different in regional France: somewhat mixed on the Cote dAzur, but very encouraging in regional France.

The end of the first semester is nearly upon us, and Ile-de-France is yet to show signs of recovery. Its difficult to predict how long this situation will last, and whether well see any positive results in 2016. The succession of terrorist attacks  Paris, Brussels, Istanbul  perturbed and paralysed all client segments. Price wars failed to ease the situation, and as in previous months, it was the combined drop in occupancy and average rates that dragged down rooms revenue. Cumulatively, RevPAR fell by around 15% for all categories, with no sign of recovery evident.

However, Mays calendar was auspicious for the return of the business segment, with no school holidays programmed, and bank holidays mainly falling at weekends. Paris was unable to take advantage of this, unlike main regional cities  many of whom recorded encouraging or even excellent results. Nantes (that also benefited from a busy events schedule), Lyon, Lille, Bordeauxall these cities boosted by business visitor numbers, recorded very positive performances in all segments. For Euro 2016 host cities, no doubt June will confirm these promising results, as indeed demonstrated by the daily statistics published by our peer, STR. Although performances were less impressive elsewhere in regional France, May remained a good month  for all hotel categories, including the Super-budget segment that recorded growth from 2,1% to over 10% in rooms revenue over the month.

The situation was not so heartening on the Cote dAzur. Although the Luxury segment continued to do well, recording higher occupancy (+9,7% YTD in May), performances for other categories remained stable or declined.

Just this once, note that the best performing segment in the whole of France in May was the Super-budget category.

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North Dakota is great state. Its home to great people who work hard and sensibly plan for the future with an eye towards leaving things better for the kids. If the presumptive Republican presidential nominee feels the need to make America great again, he can just as well start with the 49 other states. Because North Dakota is already great (and, in our view, so is America).

However, the choices made by the Republican majority in the North Dakota Legislature have not been great. As recent events have laid bare, these choices have had serious consequences. Despite our offers to work together to enact policy on a more bipartisan basis, the majority squandered significant opportunities and is now clumsily responding to the downturn in the price of oil and ag commodities.

During the boom, the majoritys governing philosophy might as well have been let the good times roll. Cut the corporate income tax. Pop the champagne. Slash the oil extraction tax rate. Pour another. Drastically reduce the personal income tax, even though North Dakotans overwhelmingly said no to that choice in a statewide vote. We know better, said the majority between toasts.

In the 2013 tax year alone, the effect of corporate and personal income tax reductions was over half a billion dollars compared to the pre-2009 rates. The oil extraction tax cut, ramrodded through the 2015 Legislature in a matter of days during the close of the session, is now costing the state an estimated $11 million per month.

At the same time, the Legislature has dramatically increased spending. From 2009 to 2015, general fund appropriations increased by 186 percent. With this tax cut and spend approach, it was as if our friends in the majority believed they lived on Pleasure Island.

To be fair, Democratic-NPL legislators supported spending on key priorities, especially education and infrastructure. But at the same time, we were focused on reducing and reforming the tax North Dakotans were upset about  property tax. We said the Republicans choices were unsustainable, and we were treated as scolds. We tried to pull our Republican friends away from the bar, but they said make it a double. More tax cuts. More spending.

Now, the tab has come due, and the bleary-eyed majority is having a case of alligator arms when it comes to picking up the check.

Automatic across the board budget cuts have gone into effect without any vote by the Legislature. These cuts threaten promised property tax relief and have senselessly cost hospitals and long-term care facilities tens of millions of dollars in matching funds. They also peel back child care assistance grants that keep parents in the workforce and nix initiatives to address the addiction and mental health crises in our state. Belt-tightening by these means is utterly nonstrategic.

On the other hand, heres some Republican spending that is not subject to automatic cuts: the nearly quarter-million dollars paid to the Center for Reproductive Rights as a consequence of enacting unconstitutional laws on issues related to womens health. Its true. Because of the majoritys choices, hundreds of thousands of North Dakota taxpayers dollars were given away to lawyers for a New York-based advocacy group during a time of record budget shortfall for our state. That's not just a colossal backfire. It's the height of fiscal irresponsibility.

Democratic-NPL legislators extended a hand to the majority and offered opportunities for bipartisan results. But our calls for contingency budgeting were largely dismissed, as was the agreement to reserve five legislative days to bring the Legislature back into session in the event of further economic downturn. Same goes for our revenue volatility study and a call for a special session.

The majoritys choices have given way to headaches, and now its time for a new Legislature to work with a new governor on reforming our budget, sustaining property tax relief, and making smart investments in education and our workforce.

Well continue to advocate for practical problem solving over political ideology during this time of challenge for our state. That's our job, and it is the clearheaded approach North Dakotans deserve.
Cheetah is available to stream now through BBC Radio 6.

Popular electronic music producer Aphex Twin is set to release a new EP this Friday.

After a thirteen-year absence, Aphex Twin returned in 2014 with Syro and has released multiple projects since then.

His new EP, Cheetah, includes the previously released tracks 'CIRKLON3 [ mix]', '2X202-ST5', and 'CHEETAHT7b'.

The EP comes out this Friday, but it can be streamed now through the link below. The EP starts at the 1:00:00 mark.

http://bbc.in/299IaDc
The independent Irish movie, which tackles the subject of abortion, is screening at the Galway Film Fleadh

Such top Irish thesps as Ardal OHanlon, Pat Shortt, Mary Conroy and Paul Ronan are appearing in Twice Shy, an independent movie tackling the subject of abortion, which screens on Friday July 8 as part of the Galway Film Fleadh.

It's written and directed by Tom Ryan who first caused a stir with the 2013 feature he made for just 1,000, Trampoline.

Working in tandem with producer Fionn Gregor, it was shot last summer in Tipperary, Dublin and London with Shane Murray-Corcoran and Iseult Casey sharing top billing.

Together with an original Patrizio Knight score, the soundtrack features tunes from Ash, Gavin James, Republic of Loose, Molly Sterling, Natasha Slater and The Corrs.

Twice Shy is described as a modern, coming of age drama that revolves around a young, unmarried couple who set off on a road trip from Ireland to London, as the result of an unplanned pregnancy. The film charts the ups and downs of their relationship by juxtaposing their dramatic journey with flashbacks to happier times in their romance.

Adds Tom Ryan: Although it's fundamentally a story about young love, Twice Shy will explore how an unplanned pregnancy can affect both parties in a relationship. We hope to do this in a relevant non-judgmental manner.

Tickets for its Galway Film Fleadh screening sold-out in minutes, suggesting that Ryan has a big topical hit on his hands.
The highly anticipated new series is out globally on July 15

Netflix has released the second trailer for the highly anticipated series Stranger Things.

The show stars Winona Ryder (Joyce Beyers), Matthew Modine (Dr. Brenner), David Harbour (Chief Hopper), Charlie Heaton (Jonathan Beyers), Natalia Dyer (Nancy Wheeler), Millie Brown (Eleven), Finn Wolfhard (Mike Wheeler), Caleb McLaughlin (Lucas Sinclair), and Gaten Matarazzo (Dustin Henderson), and Cara Buono (Karen Wheeler).

"An innocent night playing Dungeons & Dragons takes a tragic turn for a group of friends in Hawkins Indiana when Will Byers disappears...seemingly into thin air," reads a press release about the show.

"The year is 1983 and this small town is abuzz with conspiracy theories behind the missing boy's circumstances. As friends, family and local police search for answers behind his disappearance they are drawn into an extraordinary mystery involving top-secret government experiments, terrifying supernatural forces and the discovery of one very strange little girl."

It continues, "Her appearance and powers appear super human and the boys begin to understand that she might have a sinister connection to their missing friend. With the debut of an impressive young breakout cast (Finn Wolfhard, Gaten Mattarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin and Millie Brown as Eleven), Stranger Things is a love letter to the ubiquitous cult classics of the 80's."

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All episodes debut globally on Netflix Friday, 15 July.

Watch the trailer below for Stranger Things.
Rage Against the Machine/Public Enemy/Cypress Hill supergroup reaches out to former RATM frontman.

Prophets of Rage have invited Zack de la Rocha to join their ranks.

The group already consists of Rage Against the Machines other three members and performs selections from the Rage catalogue. Public Enemys Chuck D and Cypress Hills B-Real handle vocal duties. PEs DJ Lord rounds out the group on turntables.

Chuck D describes the group as keep[ing] the seat warm forZack de la Rocha. The RATM frontman has previously given the group his blessing, and Chuck D reveals that after personally talking to de la Rocha, he is considering joining the group.

The reclusive de la Rocha recently resurfaced for a guest appearance on Run the Jewels 2 and is reported to be working on a solo album.

Watch the video for RATMs Killing in the Name below.
Last month, Vice President Joe Biden penned a searing letter to the victim in a notorious Stanford University rape case. "I am filled with furious anger," he wrote, "both that this happened to you and that our culture is still so broken."

Biden's letter encapsulated the national outrage that erupted when the woman's attacker was sentenced to just six months in county jail. It was also a sharp reminder that one of the Obama administration's most ardent policy initiatives has been a concerted campaign to end the scourge of sexual assault on college campuses.

According to White House officials, top members of the administration - including the president, the vice president, their wives and members of the Cabinet - will not visit institutions whose leaders they consider insufficiently serious about pursuing sexual-assault allegations and punishing perpetrators. Biden said in an interview that he would like the federal government to "take away their money" if a college or university fails to change its ways.

As the administration nears its end, the urgency of some proposals has dissipated, but the focus on campus sexual misconduct has intensified: "Now's the time to put the pedal to the metal," Biden said.

Already the efforts of this White House have dramatically transformed the way colleges and universities respond to allegations of sexual misconduct. The Education Department has 253 ongoing investigations at 198 postsecondary institutions into the handling of sexual violence. Hundreds of schools have taken steps to make it easier to report allegations and discipline offenders. Many schools have appointed a specific officer to receive complaints and have determined that a "preponderance of evidence" is enough to establish that misconduct occurred, a less rigorous evidentiary standard than the "beyond a reasonable doubt" that applies in most criminal cases.

The changes have also provoked criticism from some students and administrators, who see the federal involvement as heavy-handed and sometimes unfair.

One general counsel for a liberal arts college, who sought anonymity out of fear of federal retaliation, lamented that following the administration's approach can put those accused of sexual misconduct at a disadvantage since so many incidents involve "two individuals who are alone and behind closed doors." That makes some of these cases "massively difficult to resolve," the official said, adding, "We are committed to being fair and equitable to all of our students."

The administration has also launched a public-awareness campaign, "It's On Us," which encourages men and women to intervene before sexual assault takes place. More than 344,400 people have taken the White House pledge, and 530 schools in 48 states have active It's On Us chapters.

The administration's approach - through federal enforcement of civil rights protections and a campus-based advocacy campaign - was spurred in part by an emboldened group of survivors who have gone public with their complaints about their schools' unresponsiveness. But it also reflects the activism of Biden and President Barack Obama, who became alarmed at the idea of rape as a fixture of college life.

Biden said he spoke to Obama about the issue even before they won the White House in 2008, requesting a staff to work on violence against women "within the office of the vice president," rather than at the Justice Department.

"He said, 'OK.' He knew how strongly I felt about it," Biden said, adding that over time Obama became more engaged with the issue. "He always thought it was an awful abuse of power. But as his daughters grew, he became more explicitly focused on it."

Reports of campus sexual misconduct are on the rise, which academic and legal experts attribute to heightened awareness of the issue. United Educators, a firm that provides insurance and risk-management services to nearly 1,300 U.S. schools, found that reports of sexual-assault claims among its clients doubled from 2011 to 2013.

Kevin Kruger, president of Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education, said his members have taken a harder look at how they treat allegations of misconduct and at why more students don't come forward to report violations.

"We had become a little complacent about thinking this is a societal problem, and we were not doing enough about it," Kruger said, adding that survivors had "called out higher education and said, 'You're not doing enough,' and they were right."

The legal underpinnings for the current strategy lie in Title IX, a provision in a 1972 education law barring sex discrimination at schools that receive federal money. A 1992 Supreme Court ruling established the standard of rape as discrimination. The court ruled that a student in a Gwinnett County, Georgia, public school was a victim of sex discrimination under the law after a teacher subjected her "to coercive intercourse."

In 2001 the Education Department's Office for Civil Rights issued guidance that sexual harassment constituted a threat to students' ability to pursue educational opportunities.

In 2009 Obama appointed Russlynn Ali, a longtime advocate for students of color, to head that office. Ali was appalled by accounts that a 16-year-old was repeatedly raped and beaten in a courtyard outside her high school's homecoming dance in October 2009 in Richmond, Calif. Many witnessed the attack without calling police.

"I remember feeling like we had to do something," Ali recalled. "Children were being raped at our schools. ... Of course we were going to use everything in our power to do something about it."

At the same time, Biden asked his staff to compile statistics on violence against women in the United States to compare with data from before Congress passed the Violence Against Women Act he wrote in 1994. For girls and women 16 to 24 years old, he recalled, the numbers remained unchanged. "It was devastating," he said.

Ali, working with White House staff, penned a "Dear Colleague"letter in 2011 informing school administrators across the country that sexual violence constituted a form of sexual harassment and that if they did not take sufficient steps to prevent and address sexual misconduct, they would be found in violation of Title IX and could risk losing federal funds. A 2014 White House task force report fleshed out the protocol.

Cari Simon, a lawyer who has represented dozens of campus-assault survivors, said aspects of the guidance, like accommodations to shield victims from subsequent harassment and trauma, were critical to avoid them going into "a downward-spiral path."

But Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., chairman of the Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, calls the guidance overreach. He said he welcomed the It's On Us campaign but that the Education Department must make it clear that its "guidance does not have the force of law."

More than 100 students have challenged some aspect of their school's adjudication process since the 2011 letter, according to the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, which promotes free speech and other liberties at colleges and universities. In one case, a student - "John Doe" - sued and later settled with Brandeis University after his ex-boyfriend accused him of "numerous inappropriate, nonconsensual sexual interactions" during an almost two-year relationship.

In allowing the case to move forward, U.S. District Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV wrote that reducing sexual assault was a "laudable" goal but noted that whether "the elimination of basic procedural protections - and the substantially increased risk that innocent students will be punished - is a fair price to achieve that goalis another question altogether."

Catherine Lhamon, who succeeded Ali as the Education Department's assistant secretary for civil rights, said her office is "constantly in reevaluation over whether what we are doing is right" but that schools are legally obligated to ensure sexual violence does not undermine students' educations.

"Certainly, from 1992 forward," she said, citing the year of the Supreme Court's rape ruling, "I have no sympathy for a frank abdication of responsibility for the students you are charged with educating and whose civil rights are being violated."

When the civil rights office releases a voluntary agreement with an institution, it also issues its own "findings of fact." Schools are briefed on the findings but do not see them in advance.

Terry Hartle, senior vice president at the American Council on Education, called the civil rights office "a Court of Star Chamber, with arbitrary rulings, no rights for those under investigation and a secret process."

In response, Lhamon said, "I appreciate that they would like to negotiate it, but it is not actually theirs to negotiate."

Although the federal disciplinary guidance remains controversial, the campaign for bystander intervention that the White House launched in 2014 has won widespread support. Obama himself proposed the idea of involving men in ending sexual misconduct, according to aides.

Matt Hill had agreed to help launch It's On Us in September 2014 while serving as the student body president at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. About a month later, a friend called to say that she had been raped the night before at a campus party.

Hill said he asked himself, "Why, a month ago, as a male junior in college, did I not think this was an important issue?" The following April, he helped organize a 2,000-person campus rally where Biden was the featured speaker.

At a party that weekend, two sorority members he knew told him they had been raped. The women told him the Biden rally left them feeling "empowered and supported."

And apart from the campaign, students have started demanding more accountability from schools. Kansas State University is being sued by two students, Sara Weckhorst and Tessa Farmer, who say they were raped at different fraternity houses, in 2014 and 2015, and now share the campus with their assailants because the university refuses to investigate sexual assault off campus. On Friday, the Justice Department filed two separate amicus briefs on the students' side, arguing their Title IX suits should go forward.

Zach Lowry, president of the interfraternity council there, is pressing the university to investigate those allegations and others. Kansas State gives his group reports of sexual misconduct so the council can decide whether to discipline any of its 24 member organizations, but the school offers no assistance in investigating the claims.

"It's like pushing these incidents aside and not dealing with them," Lowry said. "I want to find out if these incidents happened."

For this part, Biden continues to meet privately with women and men, in settings ranging from college campuses to a hallway at the Academy Awards. He ushers out most of his staff, and the men and women tell him their stories.

Laura Dunn, who founded the victims rights group SurvJustice and who filed a federal complaint against the University of Wisconsin in 2006, picketed the Education Department in 2013 for not doing enough to hold universities accountable. But she has also met with Biden twice and has advised the administration on its campus-assault policies for several years.

"I think the government heard us," Dunn said.
LUBBOCK - It took more than 40 years for Leonard Barefield to finally get to choose where he lived.

The intellectually-disabled Texas native moved to a group home in Lubbock in September after he had first lived in near slavery conditions for more than three decades in a squalid house in Iowa and worked at a turkey processing plant there for 41 cents an hour. After being freed by social workers from that situation, he was sent in 2008 to a nursing home in Midland, Texas.

His plight is not uncommon in Texas, where people with such disabilities are routinely warehoused in nursing homes, according to a lawsuit brought by Barefield and other disabled people. Advocates for the intellectually-disabled - a condition affecting reasoning and learning - say Texas is violating the Americans with Disabilities Act and other federal laws by denying services that could allow more than 4,000 people to live in the community.

The state denies it is exploiting the disabled, saying it is committed to providing them with the highest quality of services.

'It's better here'

The 71-year-old Barefield has a developmental disability, suffers from depression and other mental health and medical conditions, and has high blood pressure, court records show. He wears a hearing aid and his speech is significantly impaired. But he can read, write and drive a truck.

Barefield lives with three other intellectually disabled men in a well-maintained and spacious home.

"It's better here," he said, nodding his head emphatically. Barefield leaves the home several days a week for a day center where he can play games and work on small projects.

Even though he was exploited for decades, the outcome of Barefield's case is better than some.

Andrea Padron, who suffered a severe head injury in a car accident when she was 10, died in 2013 after getting an inaccurate evaluation to determine the care she needed in a nursing home, court documents show.

Padron's mother put her in a nursing home when she could no longer afford to care for her. Her mother then was deployed to the Iraq war with the military. The services promised for Padron were not provided during the mother's absence.

When her mother returned to Texas, Padron couldn't even sit in her wheelchair.

Padron was left to lie in bed for about 165 hours a week - without specialized services, including physical therapies. She eventually was unable to straighten her wrists, ankles, shoulders, legs or hips and developed a spine deformity, court records show. She was 29 when she died.

The lawsuit against the state by Barefield and the other disabled patients was filed in 2010 and has crawled through the legal system. The federal Department of Justice joined the suit on the side of the disabled in 2012.

In 2013, the state and lawyers for the disabled reached an "interim settlement agreement" that in part called for Texas to expand community services and create a service team for each disabled person. In return, the suit was put aside for two years.

But without explanation, the agreement was ended in 2015. Neither side will talk about why this happened because they say confidentiality rules prevent it. The lawsuit has been reactivated.

'Comply with the law'

A federal judge in San Antonio ruled in May that the case could go ahead and granted class-action status to include more than 4,000 intellectually-disabled people in nursing homes.

Barefield and the others aren't asking for any money in compensation.

"All we're asking the state to do is comply with the (federal) law," said Robert Velevis, an attorney for the disabled clients.

State aging and disability department spokeswoman Cecilia Cavuto declined to comment on the case but said the state is "committed to ensuring Texas nursing home residents, including those who have intellectual and developmental disabilities, receive the highest quality services."

She said Texas care providers do evaluations for each person entering a nursing home to determine what specialized services might be needed and whether a resident wants to transition into a community-based setting.

Lawyers for the disabled say the state excludes them from "any meaningful access" to Texas's system of community-based services needed to be able to live in the community.

Lenwood Krause, whose 36-year-old son has a condition related to a developmental disability from a traumatic brain injury, said the state has mishandled the care of his son for years.

"I can't exactly express the sentiments I feel about them," she said. "It's that bad."
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SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador - After becoming the world's murder capital last year and posting an equally bloody start to 2016, this violence-torn Central American nation has seen its monthly homicide rate fall by about half.

The government attributes the drop to a tough military counteroffensive against the country's powerful gangs, deploying a special security force and transferring imprisoned organized crime leaders to a maximum-security lockup to isolate them.

But the gangs also claim credit. The three main groups - the Mara Salvatrucha, Barrio 18 Revolucionarios and Barrio 18 Surenos - forged a nonaggression pact in March to try to reduce the killings. In a joint video message, they said their aim was to convince the government the crackdown was unnecessary.

Staggering rate

Either way, killings in El Salvador dropped from 611 in March to 353 in April and 351 in May. There were 331 homicides in June, compared with 677 in the same month in 2015.

Last year the country recorded over 100 killings per 100,000 residents. That rate was so high that even if it's halved for all of 2016, El Salvador would still be firmly in the top 10 for killings for any country not at open war, though it's a fraction of the deaths seen in a war zone such as Syria, where casualty estimates run into the hundreds of thousands since 2011.

Authorities say most of El Salvador's dead are gang members slain by rivals on the streets and inside prisons, or in encounters with security forces.

"The reduction in homicides is due to the effectiveness of the plans by police and the extraordinary measures by the government, especially inside prisons" national police chief Howard Cotto said last week.

Authorities say isolating jailed gang leaders makes it harder for them to issue orders to their underlings on the streets.

"We have gradually been bringing the penitentiary system under control and we are going to finish the job," Vice President Oscar Ortiz said recently.

The gangs see things differently. A senior member of one, the Barrio 18 Surenos, told the Associated Press the killings have fallen because gang leaders ordered their street soldiers to stand down.

"When we have wanted war, we have waged war on them, and right now we are not thinking that way," the gang member said, speaking on condition of anonymity to avoid being targeted by authorities. "We want things to be solved in a different way."

Fears remain

Experts say the government crackdown and the gang truce have likely played a part in reducing homicides.

Jose Miguel Cruz, a specialist on Salvadoran organized crime at Florida International University, said the fact the gangs are behaving less aggressively might suggest only that they are trying to keep a lower profile, not that the government has won the battle. He also worries the lull in violence could be fleeting.

"I fear that this is temporary," Cruz said. "That it is going to last until the gangs figure out another way to confront the government."
As a result of a Texas County Sheriffs Department investigation, a Cabool man is jailed on five counts of felony firearms charges.

Several officers went on June 19 to a Colborn Road residence at Cabool regarding a report of stolen property.

A man who lives there gave consent for officers to search the residence and several outbuildings. During the search, 28 guns were found and seized, along with lots of ammunition, two six-gallon air compressors, a Stihl leaf blower, a Stihl chainsaw and other items. The total value of items seized was reportedly $10,095.

The reporting officer noted that all of the guns were loaded with live rounds.

Some of the items seized were believed to be related to a burglary in Douglas County, authorities said.

The man  Robert D Colborn, 60, of 1531 Colborn Road at Cabool  is a previously convicted felon and was charged June 20 with five counts of felon in possession of a firearm. He is held on $250,000 bond.
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GRAND FORKS -- After taking a deep sniff from a plastic baggie, Daisy bolted into the thick prairie brush in search of her target.

Meanwhile, an unmanned aircraft high above scanned below for the same prey.

Its not the first time the bloodhound and her handler, North Dakota State Trooper Cody Harstad, have hit the trail in search of a person, but it is the first time theyve had help from what could become a routine partner.

Equipped with video and thermal cameras, the aircraft -- operated by Grand Forks area law enforcement officers -- allowed the officers to monitor both the K-9 team and a suspect hiding among the foliage.

This particular search was a drill, part of a monthly training exercise members of the Northeast Unmanned Aircraft Systems Unit undergo to keep their skills sharp and research new applications for unmanned aircraft, also known as drones.

What wed really like to do is see how effective we can be with (a K-9 team), Al Frazier, a deputy for the Grand Forks County Sheriffs Department and an aviation professor at the University of North Dakota.

Hide and seek

During the units June training session, Grand Forks County Sheriffs Deputy Lee Mewes was tasked with hiding among the brush and trees of UNDs Oakville Prairie, a biological research site located about 15 miles west of Grand Forks.

Back at the mission base about half a mile away, Cpl. Tim Shuh with the Grand Forks Police Department piloted an aircraft called a Qube and, along with fellow officer Mike Gavere, scanned its video feed for signs of life.

Shuh and Gavere switched approaches between the first and second trial run, which allowed them to keep on eye on Harstad and Daisy by following them out from base rather than flying into the field first and then trying to spot the them.

The second time, I kept the dog in the bottom of the screen and kind of looked out, and we were able to pick them up and a little bit earlier and buy Cody a little bit of time before he found the guy, Shuh said.

The operators were able to see Mewes on the thermal camera just before the K-9 unit uncovered his hiding place. A white blob marked Mewes location among a thicket of trees while two more white spots represented Harstad and Daisy.

When I was hiding in the trees, you guys said over the radio you had a heat signature, Mewes said at a debriefing following the flights. Then I had a visual on the dog and she was probably a good 120 feet away from me at that point.

Since the application is a new one, procedures and best practices still require some refining. Those details include determining what height is best for the aircraft to fly or when drone operators should tell dog handlers to stop when a heat signature is detected.

I think the more we practice and the more we work, the better it will work, Shuh said.

Other research

Partnering with a dog tracking unit isnt the only research planned for training sessions this summer.

The unit also is assisting with biology research taking place at Oakville Prairie. UND biology staff and law enforcement officers experimented with an unmanned aircraft photographing and mapping vegetation at the site on June 11.

Biology professor Robert Newman said the aircraft could offer a faster alternative to slow manual photography and more detailed imagery than that produced by photographing plants from a plane.

We thought that UAS would be a good intermediate so we could get lower altitude and higher resolution and see the details, he said. One of the challenges of doing that is knowing what youre looking at in the imagery.

That work will pave the way for another research project UAS unit members hope gets underway later this summer. The unit is working with the state Attorney Generals Office to procure some marijuana plants for a test in August.

The plants would be placed among the prairie growth and officers would use the drones sensor  in this case a multispectral camera  to see if the difference in foliage could be spotted from the air.

If we were asked by a narcotic unit to go out and search for marijuana, we throw the multispectral camera on there and and differentiate between that and the native foliage, Frazier said.

When its not conducting research, the unit does use its four aircraft for other mission sets, including search and rescue, traffic monitoring and photographing crime scenes and accident sites.

Since its inception in 2012, the unit has responded to 28 calls, the most recent of which came June 10. Officers used a drone to photograph the aftermath of a train striking and killing a man in the 5500 block of DeMers Avenue in Grand Forks.

The unit has authorization from the Federal Aviation Administration to fly day or night in 19 North Dakota and Minnesota counties. It also can fly nationwide in the daytime in uncontrolled airspace.
Tags : management workplace diversity

Theres no way around it. Humans are pre-programmed to make biased-based decisions. According to a report published by NeuroLeadership Institute, Individuals are notoriously poor at recognizing and controlling their own biases  in fact, our brains are wired to promote fast, efficient information processing. The ability to quickly identify friend versus foe was critical in helping early humans survive and this innate skill plays a role in the 21st century, too. The Teaching Tolerance blog tells us, The ability to quickly and automatically categorize people is a fundamental quality of the human mind. Categories give order to life, and every day, we group other people into categories based on social and other characteristics. Despite the fact that this behavior is a fundamental quality of the human mind, we now know its not usually a good thing, especially in the workplace. Commonly referred to as unconscious bias, the many studies and articles focused on this topic prove that it has created a Corporate America dominated by one gender and one race. And the lack of diversity is having financial repercussions. Check out this data from the NeuroLeadership Institute, which suggests the benefits of a workplace celebrating diversity and inclusion can include: 57% increase in performance against goals 24% greater retention 21% more emotional ...
business powerhouses have joined forces once again to arrange a diversity event that will offer strategic insight and information to HR professionals of any level. Diversity Works New Zealand has paired up with the Auckland Chamber of Commerce to organise the early-morning breakfast, featuring several industry leaders.Execs from prominent New Zealand businesses  including NZME, Westpac, and Ernst Young  will be in attendance to discuss strategic approaches and the benefits of harnessing diversity in the workplace.This is a great opportunity to hear about how other organisations are driving change through diversity, says Bev Cassidy-MacKenzie , chief executive of Diversity Works NZ.Our panellists are all inspirational leaders who are championing an inclusive workplace every day and will share with our audience the many business benefits they are experiencing as a result of their work, she continued.The diversity breakfast event will take place on July 20at the Rendezvous Hotel in central Auckland. More information can be found online
rominent Kiwi politician has spoken out after a major report revealed New Zealand is home to many unscrupulous employers who are regularly taking advantage of vulnerable workers.Exploitation of workers has become mainstream in New Zealand, says New Zealand First Leader and MP for Northland Rt Hon Winston Peters. This is not back street activity, it is mainstream, particularly in Auckland.Peters, who founded New Zealand First in 1993, made the comments after the US State Department released its Trafficking in Persons Report for 2016  he went on to criticise the current government for its role.It was inevitable with over 125,000 people arriving each year, many low skilled, and with virtually no scrutiny. This government is throwing desperate immigrant workers into the hands of some unscrupulous employers and our regulatory bodies cant cope, he said.As a society we are quick to scream about racism, but do nothing to rescue those being exploited. Shame on this government for joining the global trade in poorer workers, he added.
Canadas largest LGBTQ event agreed to major changes Sunday after the Black Lives Matter movement staged a sit-in during the annual parade.

Marchers sat down in the middle of the Pride Toronto parade route, halting the procession for about 30 minutes. It re-started when Pride Torontos director Mathieu Chantelois signed a document, agreeing to the demands from Black Lives Matter Toronto.

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Black Lives Matter Toronto co-founder Pascale Diverlus said the changes are necessary to make Pride more comfortable for diverse communities.

It was not just black folk who saw a need for our demands, she said in an interview with The Huffington Post Canada.

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Members of the Black Lives Matters movement stage a sit-in at the annual Pride parade in Toronto on Sunday. (Photo: Mark Blinch/Canadian Press)

Pride Toronto agreed to exclude floats from police next year, and to hire more people from marginalized communities, including black trans women and Indigenous people.

Police officers dont signal safety for many black queer and trans people, Diverlus explained. Police are a group of people who have brought so much trauma and so much violence to our community.

A member of the Black Lives Matters movement speaks to members as they stage a sit-in at the annual Pride Parade in Toronto on Sunday. (Photo: Mark Blinch/Canadian Press)

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Pride will also create, re-instate, or increase funding for spaces for specific populations, like South Asian Canadians and black queer youth.

Pride is for all of us, Diverlus said. When we have a celebration like Pride we need to make sure that everyone can come and feel comfortable.

For years, Black Lives Matter has drawn attention to police killings of black people, including Jermaine Carby and Andrew Loku, and controversial police practices like carding.

Data has shown that black people in the Greater Toronto Area are up to three times more likely to be submitted to random street checks  or carded  than white people.

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Despite leading the Toronto Pride parade this year as an honorary group, Black Lives Matter Toronto felt it was an opportunity to speak out for the "many black people in the city organizing with Pride who have felt really pushed out."

The changes will hopefully give many people of colour, particularly black trans women, some recognition for being instrumental in LGBTQ movements, said Diverlus.

A member of the Black Lives Matters movement speaks during a sit-in at the annual Pride parade in Toronto on Sunday. (Photo: Mark Blinch/Canadian Press)

In response to Sunday's demonstration, Pride Toronto organizers said they look forward to "continue the conversation," reported CBC News.

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"We, like BLM-TO have a commitment to ensure our most marginalized communities feel safe and welcome at the festival," said Pride Toronto.

The protest came during the historic appearance of the first sitting Canadian prime minister to participate in the Pride parade. Justin Trudeau has marched in the event before, but not as PM.

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ASSOCIATED PRESS President Barack Obama walks on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Tuesday, June 21, 2016, after returning from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center where he met with troops. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

Happy Fourth of July to all our American readers! As we scrolled through Reddit today, we ran across this adorable throwback photo of your president with his mom taken way back in the 1960s. Our first thought was: "Barack Obama looks so much like his mom!"





In the photo, the future leader of the United States is wearing an adorable pirate costume (the moustache is our favourite), with his mom kneeling beside him. The caption says the picture was taken in Hawaii in 1963. If so, Obama would have been just two years old.

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Obama was born in Honolulu, to his mom, Ann Durham, and dad, Barack Obama Sr. His parents separated shortly after his birth.

June 18, 1936: Barack Obama Sr, father of President Barack Obama, was born in Nyang'oma Kogelo, Kenya pic.twitter.com/ECjdBesqjo  Dudette (@Dudette9t9) June 18, 2016

He is his mother's son RT "@deray: Barack Obama, Sr. & Ann Dunham. 1961. pic.twitter.com/VBljMUvGBO"  Lamo's Adjutant (@kay_sesen) February 15, 2015

Dunham later remarried and the whole family moved to Indonesia in 1967. That's where Dunham gave birth to her daughter, Maya.

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Barack Obama is seen with his step-father Lolo Soetoro, his sister Maya Soetoro and his mother Ann Dunham in an undated family snapshot. (Reuters)

Of course, Obama takes after both parents, but the resemblance to his mom is remarkable.





Sadly, Dunham didn't get to see her son become the 44th president when he was elected in 2008. She died suddenly of uterine cancer in 1995.

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When asked by a 13-year-old student who the biggest influence has been in his life, Obama said his mom. "My mom, like a lot of single moms had to struggle to work then she went to school and raised me and raised my sister."

He said he was most proud of her when she finally finished her PhD: "It was a victory of her spirit."





In his book "Dreams From My Father," Obama calls his mom "the single constant in my life" and he sees Dunham in his daughters every day, specifically "her joy, her capacity for wonder."

Obama beautifully describes Dunham as "the kindest, most generous spirit I have ever known. And what is best in me, I owe to her."

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One Calgary skater is seriously pumped about city council's recent decision to overturn a 30-year-old ban on backyard skate ramps.

CTV reporter Jamie Mauracher stopped by a local skate park after the June vote to talk a local boy  who delivered an unexpected interview on live TV.

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The teen jumps and slides over two rail sets and rolls into frame behind Mauracher. He then slides on a pair of sunglasses and declares he's "so stoked, my dudes."

He then does a dab, mumbles "skrrrt" and skates off.

The unnamed skateboarder isn't the only one "so stoked" about the bylaw change.

"I'm really, really excited and happy with council's support on this," Coun. Evan Woolley told CBC News after the 10-5 vote allowing Calgarians to build backyard ramps without a development permit.

However, councillors who voted against overturning the ban might be more likely to describe themselves as being so bummed.

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"The clanging, it can put you over the edge," Coun. Ward Sutherland told the Calgary Herald, despite a study that concluded backyard skateboarding is no louder than someone speaking normally.

Watch the hilarious CTV interview above.

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Federal and provincial Conservatives managed to sneak in a little joke while marching in Toronto's Pride parade on Sunday.

Interim Tory Leader Rona Ambrose and Ontario Progressive Conservative Leader Patrick Brown walked with supporters, some of which held signs that poked fun at Justin Trudeau's "because it's 2015" quote.

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A few of the banners read "because it's the current year," a playful jab at the prime minister's answer last November when asked why a gender-equal cabinet was important to him.

Ambrose shared some images of the event on her Facebook page:

Interim Conservative leader Rona Ambrose and Ontario Progressive Conservative Leader Patrick Brown march in Toronto's Pride parade on July 3, 2016. (Rona Ambrose/Facebook)

The Tories have used the "current year" joke before on their Twitter and Facebook channels.

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Trudeau has marched in the parade in previous years, but his appearance on Sunday marked the first time a sitting prime minister has attended the event.

Tory MPP Lisa MacLeod, who took to the pages of the Ottawa Sun last year to encourage Tories to participate in similar events, was also in attendance.

All three declared candidates for the federal Tory leadership  Kellie Leitch, Michael Chong, and Maxime Bernier  also marched. Bernier invited supporters to join him in the celebration with this image on Facebook:

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Toronto Pride Parade 2016 See Gallery
It's been more than 50 years since Dick Van Dyke portrayed cheery chimney sweep Bert in the Disney classic "Mary Poppins." But it seems the 90-year-old actor hasn't forgotten his famous role.

On Thursday the actor broke into song at a fundraiser outside of Walt Disney's birthplace in Chicago. Alongside a four-person choir, Van Dyke recited his character's popular song "Let's Go Fly a Kite!," and even shared it on his Facebook page.

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Disney recently announced plans for a "Mary Poppins" sequel starring Emily Blunt and "Hamilton" star and creator Lin Manuel Miranda. The new film, which is scheduled for release on December 25, 2018, is said to be following the books by P.L. Travers and will depict Jane and Michael Banks grown up and with Michaels three children being visited by Poppins following a loss.

It is still unknown whether or not the film's original stars, Van Dyke and Julie Andrews, will be making cameos in the sequel.

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Dick Van Dyke Roles See Gallery
The curious case of a kids' lemonade stand shut down by bureaucracy exemplifies how government overreach can stifle entrepreneurship, two prominent Conservatives say.

CBC News reported over the long weekend that an officer from the National Capital Commission told two Ottawa girls raising money for camp that they could not sell their drinks along the Rideau Canal because they lacked the proper permits.

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The reaction online was swift, with plenty comparing the NCC officer to the Grinch That Stole Summer. But others argued, essentially, that rules are rules.

Former Tory cabinet ministers Pierre Poilievre and Maxime Bernier took to social media to point to a bigger lesson.

Former Tory cabinet minister Pierre Poilievre weighed in on a kids' lemonade stand shut down by the National Capital Commission. (Photo: The Canadian Press/Jupiter Images)

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"We might as well teach our children that if they ever start a business, some busybody bureaucrats will stand in the way," Poilievre said.

Poilievre, a former employment minister who now serves as his party's critic for the NCC, sarcastically tweeted that he was thankful the Crown corporation was protecting Canadians from "the anarchy of unregulated children's lemonade stands." He also warned about the "slippery slope" that could lead to Girl Guide car washes or bottle drives.

We might as well teach our children that if they ever start a business, some busybody bureaucrats will stand in the way 3/3  Pierre Poilievre (@PierrePoilievre) July 3, 2016

But, lest anyone think Poilievre was joking around, he also worked in a shot at the Liberal government for breaking its pledge to keep the federal deficit to under $10-billion.

As taxes rise & the deficit breaks $10B, the feds find money for a bureaucrat roaming the canal to make sure children don't sell lemonade  Pierre Poilievre (@PierrePoilievre) July 3, 2016

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Bernier, a former minister of state for small business who is now running for Tory leader, had much the same message as his colleague.

"BIG GOVERNMENT won't let those two young and entrepreneurial girls sell their lemonade," he wrote on Facebook. "Do you think these five-year-old girls shouldn't be bothered by government officials for doing their business?"

Bernier, considered something of a libertarian, has tried to shape his leadership bid around the theme of economic freedom. In recent weeks, he has come out against supply management for the dairy and poultry industry and called for the deregulation of the telecom industry.

At his campaign launch in May, Bernier said that "big government" treats Canadians like irresponsible children.

"A big government crushes private initiative and the dreams of young entrepreneurs by creating barriers to entry and making capital scarce," he said at the time." Is that fair?"

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NCC responds

The NCC has released a statement saying that while the junior conservation officer on duty acted in good faith, the situation could have been handled differently.

"Children's lemonade stands are a time-honoured summer tradition that contributes to a lively Capital and the NCC wants to encourage these activites whenever possible," it reads.

CBC Ottawa's Ashley Burke tweeted that the girls at the heart of this story applied for a lemonade stand permit Monday and received an apology from the NCC.

National Capital Commission apologizes to family after shutting down kid-run lemonade stand #ottnewspic.twitter.com/EPXxyAwMPR  Ashley Burke (@AshleyBurkeCBC) July 4, 2016

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NCC says it plans to make it easier for entrepreneurs including kids to apply for permit to set up stands #ottnewspic.twitter.com/lCaQ7mTJOc  Ashley Burke (@AshleyBurkeCBC) July 4, 2016

Poilievre also released a video Tuesday, in which he argues that the controversy over the lemonade stand was symbolic of the "cobweb of rules" that hurt other businesses.

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OTTAWA  The Liberal government needs to provide Syrian refugees with more resources so they can have a better chance of integrating successfully into Canada, a new Senate report says.

The Senate's standing committee on human rights heard from several witnesses, including refugees themselves, during hearings in Montreal, Toronto and Ottawa, this spring. It was so moved by the testimony it heard that it issued an interim report Monday to spur the government into action.

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"It was like being hit with a sledgehammer of emotion," committee chair, Senate Liberal Jim Munson told The Huffington Post Canada. "We want the government to see and feel what we heard."

Sen. Jim Munson makes his way from a Liberal meeting on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Wed., January 29, 2014. (Photo: The Canadian Press)

"Canada has welcomed thousands of Syrian refugees with fine words and open arms," he said in a statement released with the committee's six recommendations. "These alone are not sufficient to address the very real and very urgent problems that lie ahead."

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Conservative senator and deputy chair Salma Ataullahjan said she was so troubled by what she heard she had difficulty sleeping at night.

She was particularly touched by the braveness of a 30-year-old single mother of four who recounted being sexually harassed every day in Lebanon when she walked outside with her daughter. "In traditional societies women never talk about sexual harassment," said Ataullahjan, who is originally from Pakistan and identified with the woman. "She was very frank and didn't even mind being identified."

A number of the refugees who spoke to the committee asked to remain anonymous, fearing their families in Syria might face reprimands.

Urgent call for mental health resources

An in-camera session in Toronto was one of the "most gut-wrenching emotional hours" Munson said he'd ever experienced, where refugees talked about what they went through, what they witnessed, and how they are coping.

"You don't see that type of emotion. They really expressed themselves so much that we had to stop for a second so everybody could gather themselves."

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Their testimony led the committee to recommend to the government that it work with the provinces and territories to develop a plan to address refugees' mental health needs.

Munson recounted hearing a boy who hid his toys under his bed fearing soldiers would come take them away. And of a woman who forgot her child had a dentist appointment and thought they had been kidnapped when she returned to school and couldn't find them.

Post-traumatic stress disorder should be one of the government's top priorities, Munson said.

Syrian refugee Wafaa Al Safadi holds a photo of her late son Yasser Al Salayma in her family's new home in Queensland, N.S. on Friday, June 24, 2016. (Photo: Darren Calabrese/CP)

The new refugees are isolated because of language, they are homesick and miss their sisters or fathers, and live in cramped apartments in the city, he said. "They kept saying: 'We don't want to be a burden on Canadian society," Munson said. "[But they] are living in two worlds, and that type of quiet suffering is something that we Canadians don't see, and I think that has to be addressed."

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One woman, who testified anonymously, said her 11 and 10-year-old daughters had seen their father slaughtered in front of them and had later spent months in a detention centre where they were "subjected to the kind of torture that even adult men would not be able to stand."

Dr. Meb Rashid, the medical director of refugee-focused Crossroads Clinic, told the committee refugees needed to connect with people who could follow up with them continuously and build a relationship of trust that is crucial to their mental well-being.

But what really helps refugees, Rashid added, is getting a job or being reunited with their families."

"Those issues really intersect, fundamentally, with people's mental health," he said.

"They kept saying: 'We don't want to be a burden on Canadian society. [But they] are living in two worlds, and that type of quiet suffering is something that we Canadians don't see, and I think that has to be addressed."

The committee also recommended that more money be allocated for language-training programs so refugees could make use of programs immediately upon their arrival  and suggested childcare be provided so parents could attend class.

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"Some refugees were from such small villages that they weren't even literate, they weren't even able to write or read Arabic also," Ataullahjan said, stressing the monumental learning curve some newcomers face.

The government, she said, must fund language classes because it is the easiest and first step for refugees to integrate in society.

The committee also stressed the importance of adequate youth programming. Young people face unique challenges adapting, the senators were told.

"The youth group is the group that has the greatest difficulty, usually, in integrating because they are at a time in their life when their identity is developing and evolving," Mario Calla, executive director of COSTI Immigrant Services in Toronto, testified.

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Sen. Salma Ataullahjan comforts a delegate during a policy meeting at the Conservative Party of Canada convention in Vancouver, Friday, May 27, 2016. (Photo: Jonathan Hayward/CP)

Many of the committee's recommendations, however, dealt with the financial stresses and hardships that refugees often face.

The committee urged the acceleration of processing time for child tax benefits so refugees aren't waiting three months to receive benefits.

"Because it takes so long to receive benefits, some of them end up in food banks," Munson told HuffPost. This doesn't just affect refugees but all Canadians, he added, saying shorter processing times of two weeks or one month would be a lot better.

"The last place Syrian refugees want to end up is at a food bank and the first place you want them is walking into a grocery store like any other Canadians."

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Loans a 'source of acute anxiety'

The committee suggested grants could replace one-year loans for transportation and other expenses or, alternatively, the government could introduce a debt-forgiveness mechanism or interest-free loans.

Loans are an "economic burden and a source of acute anxiety" for refugees, senators said.

One refugee in Montreal, who arrived in Canada before the Liberals funded airfare costs for the 25,000-plus newcomers that arrived this winter, waved a bill from the government for about $900 during a hearing. That was the cost of his plane ticket that needed to be repaid in two days, Munson recounted. "He doesn't have the money and he thought this must be done right now, he didn't seem to have any avenues to go to have it explained to him that perhaps he could be deferred for a little while longer," the senator said.

The federal government should revisit airfare costs and other expenses and see if, on compassionate grounds, they could be eliminated, Munson added.

But conscious of the fact more refugee benefits might mean fewer refugees arriving in Canada, Munson told HuffPost, the committee was only proposing options to the government, not dictating what it should do.

'Echoing the voices of the voiceless'

"We are echoing the voices of the voiceless, so to speak," he said.

"As a committee, we are looking at this as a long-term investment," he said. Whatever the government can do to ease the transition and nurture new Canadians is a worthwhile investment in the future of the country, he added.

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The committee also recommended eliminating different treatments for separate categories of refugees, from processing times for applications to services provided and loan repayment obligations. Syrian refugees who arrived at different times or through different programs, and non-Syrian refugees should be treated equally, the committee said.

One thing the committee found was that privately-sponsored Syrian refugees were faring a bit better and had a better support system than government-sponsored refugees, Ataullahjan said. "This is one of the things we will be exploring in the full report, are we creating a two-tiered refugee system?"

On the flip side, she added, the committee also heard from privately-sponsored refugees that they are also being "mothered a little bit too much."

"There are no easy answers," she said.

Immigration Minister John McCallum holds a painting Hamza Ali, 13, presented him with as his father Mohammad Ali looks on at an event in Ottawa, Monday June 20, 2016. (Photo: Adrian Wyld/CP)

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But both Ataullahjan and Munson stressed the importance of releasing their committee's observations quickly.

Some issues, such as the lack of affordable housing  Ataullahjan described how one family testified they were receiving $1,400 monthly from the government but paying $1,200 in rent  would be part of the committee's full report later this fall.

"It's crazy," she said. "We are very happy we brought these people and the government has done a good job bringing them over but there are so many issues and so many problems and a lot of them don't have the language skills."

If the committee had issued all of its recommendations, she said, "people would just drown looking at them."

Munson said he hoped the human rights committee could be more relevant by issuing reports in "real time" and not just do "long-term learned sober-of-second thought" reports.

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McCallum looking forward to full report

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Minister John McCallum's office, however, said he looked forward to receiving the Senate committee's full report in the fall and reviewing their recommendations.

"He is aware of the work that they are doing and the valuable input they'll be providing to assist with the resettlement and integration of the Syrian refugees. He is also well aware of the concerns regarding travel loans and extra funding, and had already tasked his department on finding viable options, which is currently underway," said McCallum's spokeswoman Camielle Edwards.

The Liberal government said it is already working to expedite the delivery of child tax benefits and noted that, in the March budget, it had set aside $245 million over five years to process refugee applications, transport them to Canada, and help resettle an additional 10,000 Syrians.

Since Nov. 4, 2015, 28,449 Syrian refugees have arrived in Canada, including 15,768 government-assisted refugees, 10,073 privately-sponsored refugees, and 2,608 blended visa-office referred refugees, the Senate committee said. More than 300 communities across Canada have welcomed the new arrivals.

The Liberal government had pledged during the election to welcome 25,000 Syrian refugees by Dec. 31, 2015. In November, however, it committed $678 million over six years to welcome 25,000 Syrians by the end of February and announced plans to resettle an additional 10,000 by the end of 2016.

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We all want sleep to be a priority in our life, but according to one sleep expert, a lot of us just don't put in the effort.

From being glued to our devices before snooze time to eating large meals before bed to even getting by with four to five hours of sleep daily, many of us don't see how important sleep is for our overall health.

"A majority of people are getting five to six hours of sleep every night," says sleep consultant Alanna McGinn, who is also the founder of Good Night Sleep in Burlington, Ont. "When we look at sleep, nutrition and exercises, sleep is low on this list of things to do."

And it turns out on a global scale, a majority of the world is not getting enough sleep either, according to scientists from the University of Michigan.

"We find that social pressures weaken and/or conceal biological drives in the evening, leading individuals to delay their bedtime and shorten their sleep," they wrote in their report, adding middle-aged men got the least amount of sleep.

McGinn says on average, we should all be aiming for seven to eight hours of sleep every night. It sounds easy, but most of us can't make this commitment.

Many Canadians also suffer from various sleeping disorders including insomnia and sleep apnea or have trouble falling asleep due to things like medication side effects or other health issues.

Below, McGinn answers some of our questions on getting enough sleep.

From how to avoid waking up tired to how long your naps should be, McGinn urges everyone to rethink their sleep schedules for the upcoming week.

Story continues below slideshow.
It was cute until it wasn't.

At least, that's what some people on Twitter are thinking about couple-of-the-moment, Taylor Swift and Tom Hiddleston.

Over the Independence Day weekend, the twosome, who have been dating for a mere few weeks, were spotted frolicking in the water at Swift's Rhode Island home, along with some pals including Blake Lively, Ryan Reynolds, Gigi Hadid, Karlie Kloss and "Orange is the New Black" star Ruby Rose.

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And just in case you weren't sure that Swift and Hiddleston weren't serious about each other, like, "we're so in love, we'll be together forever" serious, "The Night Manager" actor sported a "I heart T.S" shirt as well as a heart painted on his arm with the letter 'T' in it. (Seriously.)

Taylor Swift and Tom Hiddleston prove the sparks are still flying this holiday weekend: https://t.co/NqiM32MNvLpic.twitter.com/lpRq28WR6b  E! News (@enews) July 4, 2016

Taylor Swift hosted a star-studded Fourth of July party at her Rhode Island home! PICS: https://t.co/jNgOVsUKk6pic.twitter.com/4o5p3xkKHE  JustJared.com (@JustJared) July 4, 2016

Twitter took note of Tom's, um, body art, and proceeded to make fun of the "Thor" star's declarations of love for the popstar.

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Everything about this fascinates and horrifies me and my mother. https://t.co/UR02kt1ypD  Kayleigh Anne (@Ceilidhann) July 4, 2016

Well thats my love my Tom Hiddleston disappearing. Pass the sick bucket.  Kay Dekker (@kay_way) July 4, 2016

tom hiddleston and taylor swift are giving everyone within a five thousand mile radius of them second hand embarrassment  alicia (@IaurapaImers) July 4, 2016

Going forward, I kind of want Tom Hiddleston to wear that I Heart TS shirt every single day, including in-character filming Thor 3.  Eric Goldman (@TheEricGoldman) July 4, 2016

Tom Hiddleston pulls off a mask, it's been Joaquin Phoenix this whole time, everything goes back to normal.  Nicole Cliffe (@Nicole_Cliffe) July 4, 2016

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Are Taylor Swift and Tom Hiddleston planning to release a flickbook of their relationship? A DVD with behind-the-scenes multi-angle feature?  Kit Lovelace (@kitlovelace) July 4, 2016

tom hiddleston is so cringe worthy now. that i  TS shirt..i just..are you 12..  Amanda (@hockeychick57) July 4, 2016

Where will they go next? And will Taylor reciprocate Tom's love in a sequin "I heart T.H." jumpsuit?

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PhotoAlto/Michele Constantini via Getty Images Doctor placing gauze on patient's arm after administering a shot

Alberta health professionals are concerned that a controversial anti-vaccine film is being screened in the province.

"Vaxxed: From Cover-Up to Catastrophe" played in Calgary in June and is currently playing at an Edmonton theatre.

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The film was directed by Andrew Wakefield, a former doctor who was stripped of his medical licence in the UK after publishing a fraudulent study falsely linking vaccines to autism, according to The Huffington Post.

"Vaxxed" has been pulled from the lineup of a number of major film festivals including the Tribeca Film Festival over concerns from the scientific community, The New York Times reported.

"Vaccines are a victim of their success."

Tim Caulfield, a health researcher at the University of Alberta, is concerned the film could increase rates of people choosing not to vaccinate their children.

Would [the theatre] show a film about racism that supports discrimination against a particular sector of our society? Probably not. Would they bring in a film that supports eugenic activity? Probably not. So there is a line and for some reason they decided this film that really creates and supports inaccurate health myths is OK and I think thats problematic," he told Global News.

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In June the documentary's producers spoke to David and Collet Stephan outside Calgary's Plaza Theatre, where their film was being screened.

The Alberta couple were found guilty in the death of their son from meningitis. Their boy, Ezekiel, died in 2012 after they treated him with natural remedies instead of taking him to a doctor.

The live interview was recorded on Facebook where hundreds argued in the comments over a parent's right to vaccinate or not vaccinate their children.

"Doctors are killing babies with poison," wrote one commenter.

"I will continue to vaccinate because I have seen what not vaccinating has done to families," another argued.

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Alberta has struggled with low vaccination rates, with only 30 per cent of residents getting their flu shot in 2014.

Vaccines are a victim of their success really," said University of Alberta medical professor Dr. Stan Houston to Global News.

"People arent seeing kids on an everyday basis dying of measles or diphtheria. When you dont have that fear, its easier to concentrate on real and imagined risks,
The Somali community was deeply saddened by the tragic news from Somalia from the last Saturday's Alshabbab attack at a hotel in Mogadishu which resulted to the death and destruction of a large number of people including the Minister of the State for the Environment Mr. Burci Mohammed Hamza.

A highly educated man who immigrated to Canada didn't abandon his country of origin to sit at the comfort of his home in Toronto.

He didn't say to himself that there is nothing he could do to rebuild the war-torn country which has been inflicted with civil wars since the collapse of the former regime of Siad Barre in 1991.

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He knew well the risks involved in taking that decision. But nevertheless he felt it was worth the sacrifice to take part of the rebuilding of a country he loved so dearly. Giving up on Somalia was not the choice he was willing to take.

He left a legacy for all Somalis and immigrants living in the diaspora.

If they don't commit themselves to rebuild their countries then who else will.

They should never forsake their countries of birth and should always keep it in their conscious and take a role to bringing it to life. Otherwise it will fall at the hands of thugs and thieves.

He didn't allow to be intimidated by anyone and had shown courage, dedication and sacrifice in trying to make a change there.

Those who have claimed responsibility for the attacks have done so without showing any regard to the sacred month of Ramadhan. They disregarded the sanctity of the human life and the principles of the religion they claim to follow.

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How could they hope to win hearts and minds of people by spilling the blood of their own brethren and create terror in the land?

Have they forgotten that hearts aren't won with the barrel of the gun or blowing people up.

Burci was indeed a man of principle. He didn't feel right to keep for himself the incredible amount of experience he has been bestowed with and the skills and knowledge he obtained.

He took it upon himself to share it with humanity especially the country which had raised him from childhood and made him what he became to be.

He was a man of great wisdom and honor. When members of our community came together about two decades ago to establish an association. He advised us not to be hasty in rushing into things. He said we have all come from different backgrounds and experiences. How can we open a community centre when we don't even know one another?

We should first and foremost meet and greet one another and socialize until we establish a sense of trust of each other.

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Even though we all come from the same region but we have all pursued different paths of life.

For instance he himself has spent much of his life studying teaching and working abroad.

Sadly. The emotionally charged youth with machoism found his old fashioned advice boring and out of time and touch and went ahead with its plan to open an office and choose president and executives.

Within days everything had fallen apart and the hastiness which he advised against had resulted to mistrust and a lack of cohesive plan to establish a community for years to come.

While I didn't know him personally as he was from the elder generation but he had a way to establish a link with people of all work of life - young and old.

He had a genuine sense of smile which penetrate the heart and turn an enemy into a dear friend.

As his long term friend wrote, Bur'i never lost his charisma and his sunny outlook to life. I never saw him sad or gloomy. He was the friend of all and enemy of none. He lost his life while trying to serve his country under truly difficult circumstances.

Killing such a man who had a lot of expertise to contribute is a crime itself. He was a treasure for the entire nation.

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Do these ruthless killers really believe they are serving the interests of their own people?

What logic are they following in doing what they are doing.

Would the prophet of Islam feel happy to see them spilling the blood of the innocent in his name?

What these groups are doing is mind boggling, painful and shameful. It goes against the dignity of humanity. No religion would condone such acts.

It is beyond human mind to undertake such missions which doesn't help anyone but only the enemies of the country and humanity.

They have brought shame to the country. Disgrace to humanity as a whole. Every Somali, every Muslim and every humanity would feel ashamed of these killers who are abusing the religion.

They are not serving Somalia or the interest of Muslim countries and cause but are helping to destroy the countries they claim to defend and are harming the cause of Muslims whom they allege to advocate for.
benjaminec via Getty Images Conceptual image with pencils on vintage background to stop discrimination. Six handcrafted wooden pencils arranged in a circle and the word Discrimination with red line in the middle.

I feel like everyone can pinpoint that one moment or conversation that sparks something in their mind that begins a change in the way they think. For me this was during my first year of university in my English 1100 class. The professor liked to begin our lessons by discussing current events or media topics. On this particular day she brought to school a newspaper on which the entire front cover was a picture of a big house taken from a low angle to make it seem even bigger and rather unappealing. The heading read "Monster Houses Taking Over." She asked us how this made us feel.

Everyone looked at one another and shrugged and said they really had no reaction at all. She asked us what the use of the word monster suggested. Being the keener of the class I raised my hand (though unsure what she was getting at) and said that it's meant to suggest these houses are something negative and something we should be afraid of. She responded that "I was on the right track" but she wanted more of an explanation into this insight.

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She then wrote two words on the board with the standard hyphen between them as always. INDO-CANADIAN. She said what does this word look like to you? Everyone read it aloud. She said, "Look at the word itself. It literally reads that you're Indian minus Canadian. You're not really Canadian you must be differentiated from the "REAL" Canadians -- the Caucasian-Canadians. You don't see or hear the term Caucasian-Canadian a whole lot do you?"

She explained to us that in predominately Caucasian areas houses such as the one pictured in that week's paper would typically be called "mansions" or "beautiful dream homes." But because it is "Indo-Canadians" making these large homes, they are now something negative. They're intrusively gaudy structures,taking over the city, changing the look of things and the status quo. As if the owners of these homes are setting up shop in an area that doesn't truly belong to them.

The stereotypes and prejudices had me surrounded. I couldn't help but feel like I was being barricaded by them.

These subtle but detrimentally damaging messages in the media are what contributes to the mentality that prejudice, stereotyping, and racism -- in a not so blatant manner, is acceptable.

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That discussion in the first five to 10 minutes at the beginning of that class was it for me. That's what opened my eyes to the underlying hints of racism and stereotyping in our everyday lives. The difference of perspective portrayed in mass media, which then seeps into our minds when we least expect it. Before having it pointed out to me that it is important to not just passively receive information but critically analyze all that you come across, I was walking around with my mind turned off to such prejudices. And now that I saw it, there was no way it could be unseen, it was now everywhere.

I noticed it in the way the grocery teller said "you people" to me in regard to how Indians seem to buy a whole lot of milk. I noticed it when customers at the retail outlet I worked at as a teen asked where I was actually from and weren't satisfied when I kept answering "Prince George." I noticed it at the doctors office when receptionists would speak extra slow and loud to my grandfather, who understood English perfectly. The stereotypes and prejudices had me surrounded. I couldn't help but feel like I was being barricaded by them.

So, as an ethnic minority, and a inhabitant of one of these monster homes, I began to answer back. Sarcastic annoyed remarks to anyone who I felt was belittling me because of my race or being small minded towards my culture. I became overly sensitive and defensive in a lot of scenarios in which it probably would've just been easier to let it slide. But having something to be vocal about helped me come out of my shell. It helped me develop enough of a passion to care enough to speak up and not shy away from setting people straight when need be.

Unfortunately, I don't see a whole lot of that happening. So I wonder, for those individuals who just sit tentatively being the inferior minority and being OK with it -- while their homes and identities are being attacked by ignorance and negatively, have they just not had that eye opening moment yet? Or perhaps it doesn't bother them enough? Why do so few people care to correct what is wrong and fight against this shadow of oppression which follows us and is so embedded in our everyday lives. Is it so common that most of us don't even notice it anymore?

Not a single soul who has worked tirelessly to create the life and home they have dreamed of deserves to be made to feel unworthy of creating the life of their choosing -- especially if it really doesn't harm anyone else. Some people choose to place precedence on saving money for travel, others spend as it comes, and certain individuals wish to invest in creating big beautiful homes which they couldn't have dreamed of making let alone living in at one point in their lives. The majority of the South Asian community members who make these "monster houses" are those who have come from next to nothing in Northern rural areas of India. So now that they have the means to a better life, who's to stop them?

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So the next time you hear someone speaking in a belittling manner about all those darn huge ethnic minority owned homes sweeping the cities of B.C., just keep in mind that living with joint family is a norm in the Indian culture. Naturally so, the larger the family, the more the preference to live in a larger sized home. Perhaps once we begin to view all Canadians as inclusive members of society then we can begin to break the psyche that immigrants are some how "invading" and disrupting societal norms of Canada. By being vigilant to pinpointing prejudicial thinking, we can begin to tackle issues which are all too often swept under the rug and left for fantastic university professors to bring up to clueless introductory level students in the hopes of setting off that spark in at least a few of their minds.

Originally posted on: www.amritaliterature.com. "Like" Amrita Literature on Facebook to keep updated
A teacher in a Czech school welcomed students dressed in an Arab garb. He has been forced to leave his teaching post

29. 6. 2016

cas cteni < 1 minuta





Antonin Kolar, a teacher of Czech and History at a secondary school in Pilsen, a city in West Bohemia, welcomed his first year students dressed in an Arab garb. He spoke to them about the need to show humanity and tolerance to people from other cultures. The school management was displeased and Mr. Kolar has now offered his resignation.

The school management told him that he has damaged the good name of the school and that some parents are complaining that an islamist is teaching in the school.

The headmistress Olga Matejkova is particularly displeased that a video featuring Mr. Kolar's class where he speaks about the need to be tolerant to people from other cultures is available on YouTube. She has complained that "students have been featured in the video without permission", but only the backs of their heads are visible, the video is of Mr. Kolar's lecture.



Source in Czech: ZDE

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Hakan Karlsson via Getty Images Big Orca Sunset Spyhop

This article was co-authored by Raincoast Conservation Foundation senior scientist Dr. Paul Paquet, Raincoast biologist Misty MacDuffee and Raincoast executive director Chris Genovali.

Canada's National Energy Board recently recommended approval of Kinder Morgan's proposed expansion of the Trans Mountain pipeline and accompanying increase in oil tanker traffic. The NEB did so knowing this project jeopardizes the survival of the Salish Sea's endangered Southern Resident killer whales, increasing the likelihood that their numbers would decline and the probability that they could go extinct in Canada and the United States. Even without an oil spill incident, the Trans Mountain expansion poses a serious threat to the Southern Residents.

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The evidence submitted by both Raincoast Conservation Foundation and Kinder Morgan show that deafening noise from increased tanker traffic in the Salish Sea will place Southern Resident killer whales at a high risk of a population decline.

A team of international scientists from Raincoast and multiple research institutions who study killer whale behavior, ecology, acoustics, and population biology, examined the effects of increased noise from Kinder Morgan's oil tankers on the ability of endangered Southern Resident killer whales to sustain and rebuild their current population.

They found that increased noise would decrease the ability of killer whales to communicate, acquire food, and survive. This would prevent the population from growing and increase its likelihood of extinction.

The enduring threat of loud tankers and the additional possibility of an oil spill place killer whales in untenable and unacceptable peril. Even if the probability of a large oil spill is low, the consequence of such an event is potentially catastrophic. Raincoast submitted these analyses as evidence to the NEB and the findings were unchallenged by Kinder Morgan and the Canadian federal government.

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Noise from boats near Southern Residents can disrupt feeding activity and reduce foraging efficiency by masking the whale's ability to echolocate their prey. Research has shown that Southern Residents reduce feeding activity by 25% while near boats.

At present, boats are nearby an estimated 85% of the time that Southern Residents forage, and they are foraging in the presence of boats an estimated 78% of that time. With increased shipping traffic associated with the Trans Mountain expansion, Southern Residents could be exposed to boats up to 100% of the time. According to the proponent, oil tankers and other shipping traffic would be a "near continuous" presence.

Raincoast also provided evidence to the NEB on the substantial threats that Kinder Morgan's Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion presents to Fraser River salmon.

Both chronic oil spills and catastrophic oil spills are direct high-risk threats to these fish. From our analyses, it is clear that even small changes in the abundance and availability of Chinook salmon, and increases in noise, could substantially affect the Southern Resident population. A 10% decrease in prey resulted in a 73% probability of declining below 30 animals.

A 20% reduction in prey combined with increased noise lead to almost a 100% chance that the Southern Residents population would fall below 30 animals, or effectively, extinct. By contrast, a 10% increase in prey changed the population to a positive population growth, and eliminated the chance of extinction or dropping to very small size.

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The decision to recommend approval of this pipeline was carried out despite all evidence pointing to the consequent loss and degradation of habitat that has been designated as "critical" for survival of killer whales, the likely decline of endangered Southern Resident killer whales, and the NEB acknowledgment that the adverse effects would be extensive and immitigable.

The NEB's failure to ensure measures to lessen or avoid the adverse effects on the Southern Residents appears to be a legal violation of Canada's Species at Risk Act (SARA).

Accordingly, Raincoast and Living Oceans, represented by Ecojustice, have filed a judicial review of the NEB's recommendation, arguing that it is unlawful.

In the federal government's recent "Action Plan" for Southern Resident killer whales, Fisheries and Oceans Canada states, "The critical habitat identified in the Recovery Strategy is insufficient to achieve the species' population and distribution objectives." Inadequate as is, Trans Mountain would additionally compromise and destroy this legally designated critical habitat.

Southern Resident killer whales are on a fulcrum; they cannot sustain additional disturbances. Trans Mountain's tanker traffic would further degrade the Southern Resident's critical habitat and the attendant vessel noise would put these whales on an inevitable slide to extinction. It doesn't have to end this way.

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As with the endangered chorus frog in Quebec, whose wetland habitat was threatened with conversion to subdivision, the federal government was compelled to act by safeguarding the habitat and protecting the frogs.

Optimistically, this decision signals the government's intent to rule in favour of science and endangered whales and reject the NEB's Trans Mountain recommendation.

A version of this article recently ran in the Victoria Times Colonist.
If you're a child in Iraq today, the odds of growing up in a safe and secure environment are not in your favour. According to a new UNICEF report, 3.6 million children in Iraq -- or one in five -- are at serious risk of death, injury, sexual violence, abduction or recruitment into armed groups.

The situation is unacceptable for the international community as we work to achieve a new sustainable development agenda based on equity for all. One in three Iraqi children -- 4.7 million youth -- are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance; 50 children are abducted from their homes each month; 3.5 million children are missing out on their education; one out of every 25 children in Iraq dies before reaching their fifth birthday. Unfathomable.

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After four decades of conflict, sanctions, violence, insecurity and economic stagnation, the situation for children in Iraq is dire. Not only are they suffering physical attacks of violence and witnessing unthinkable acts of horror that no child should ever experience (8.3 million children have been exposed to major distress since 2014), but they are missing out on their education -- their chance for a better life.

They are being forced to work, or even marry, just to make ends meet for them and their families. Currently, almost one million girls in Iraq were married before they were 15 years old -- twice as many as in 1990 -- and more than half a million children are estimated to be working -- also twice as many as 25 years ago. So many childhoods lost, so many bright lights that may never get the chance to shine.

With access to basic services and infrastructure severely reduced (there have been 50 verified attacks on medical facilities since 2014), children have little place to turn when they get sick. This year, more than a quarter of a million babies will be born without medical care. And the one million children under 10 who fled their homes will face the increased risk of disease due shortages of safe water.

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The crisis for children in Iraq represents a threat to peace, security and development for the whole country. If these children are not given the skills and support they need today, if their rights are not clearly protected, the country risks further chaos.

How can we allow children to miss out on their education? How can we not provide them with a safe, healthy and nurturing place to grow up?

But there is another less obvious question that also needs answering: What are the long-term consequences of inaction? The crisis for children in Iraq represents a threat to peace, security and development for the whole country. If these children are not given the skills and support they need today, if their rights are not clearly protected, the country risks further chaos.

Canada has committed significant humanitarian funds in response to the crisis in Iraq, including more than $16 million to the No Lost Generation Initiative, supported by UNICEF, towards crucial education and child protection programs. Canada will also co-host the upcoming Pledging Conference in Support of Iraq in Washington, D.C., on July 20, 2016.

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We must continue to support the children of Iraq to have a chance at a bright future - to be the country's future leaders, doctors, teachers, lawyers, farmers. We must take several urgent and concrete steps.

UNICEF is calling for urgent action to protect children's rights in Iraq. All parties to the conflict must immediately end the killing, maiming, abduction, torture, detention, sexual violence and recruitment of children. Attacks on schools and medical facilities and personnel must stop. Immediate lifesaving assistance must be increased to meet the needs of families fleeing violence. It is also critical to improve the access of all people across Iraq to life-saving essentials like water and health and education services.

This may seem like a weighty workload for even the most committed, but the consequences of inaction will be even heavier to bear.

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Michael Courtney via Getty Images 'Blurred headlights traveling under the Massey Tunnel outside Vancouver, British Columbia'

With news last week that all but one of Metro Vancouver's mayors have given a firm thumbs down to the B.C. government's proposal for a 10-lane, three-kilometre bridge to replace the George Massey Tunnel, it's a good opportunity to take a step back and give this idea more than a quick once-over.

There are seven compelling reasons to hit pause.

1. Performance audit first, tenders second

As part of its Performance Audit Coverage Plan 2015/16 - 2017/18, B.C.'s auditor general -- Carol Bellringer -- announced last July that her office would conduct an audit "to evaluate the quality of evidence to support the decision to replace the George Massey Tunnel."

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So why not wait a few months? Let Bellringer's team evaluate the evidence and report back on whether it justifies spending $3.5 billion.

It's a rare opportunity to do the audit before, not after hundreds of millions of dollars in potential cost overruns for a bridge that might be used less than what it replaced, like the new Port Mann bridge does now.

2. At $3.4997 billion, it's a steal. Order yours today and we'll throw in an underpass at no extra charge.

In 2012, Public Safety Canada released a report on the construction industry, titled: "Economic Sectors Vulnerable to Organized Crime: Commercial Construction." The report notes that "cost underestimation cannot be explained by error and seems to be best explained by strategic misrepresentation, i.e. lying."

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It's a view shared by others. In "Cost Underestimation in Public Works Projects: Error or Lie?", the authors write: "We conclude that the cost estimates used in public debates, media coverage and decision making for transportation infrastructure development are highly, systematically and significantly deceptive."

Speaking of which, B.C.'s transportation ministry estimates that the proposed Massey Bridge will cost $3.4997 billion (yes, you read that correctly).

Here's a mystery: if the proposed three-kilometre, 10-lane Massey Bridge will cost $3.5 billion and won't be finished before 2022, how is it that Montreal's 3.4-kilometre, six-lane Champlain Bridge -- now under construction and to be completed by 2018 -- will cost $4.2 billion?

3. The B.C. government's track record at infrastructure procurement isn't so hot

Last November, Deputy Health Minister Stephen Brown dropped this bomb on the public accounts committee of the B.C. legislature, when it was reviewing the health ministry's Panorama computer system debacle:

"I think a fundamental issue that the auditor general is raising is not just about contract management in the sense of procurement and general contract management but, in fact, the capacity of the ministry to manage very complex contracts and interface effectively with the vendors."

Brown's not alone in that view.

From Public Safety Canada's 2012 report: "Our sources in B.C. also indicate that government officials responsible for procurement lack the requisite expertise in relation to commercial construction projects. Many of those who formerly had the expertise have retired or moved on to the private sector."

4. Working both sides of the street

Following Premier Christy Clark's 2012 announcement that the Massey Tunnel would be replaced, Jeff Scott -- president and CEO of Fraser Surrey Docks -- had this to say:

"This announcement displays the government's ongoing commitment to creating a strong environment for economic growth."

Fraser Surrey Docks is part of the Australian-based Macquarie Group.

Funnily enough another part of the group -- Macquarie Capital Infrastructure -- was looking for a vice president last July. The posting included this line: "Participating in a team as developer and financial adviser for the $2.5-billion Massey Tunnel Replacement Project in Vancouver."

5. If it ain't sourced, it don't count

It may have escaped the government's notice, but the public doesn't really trust much of what the government says.

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Earlier this year, the transportation ministry released a two-page fact sheet -- Debunking Massey replacement myths -- but not one source was cited.

Peter Fassbender, minister responsible for TransLink, tweeted the fact sheet. He was inundated with tweets asking for the source material. Dead tweet silence from him.

6. Grand opening specials

The government isn't so hot at estimating when infrastructure projects will be finished by, either.

The Evergreen line -- which had been "on time and on budget" until it was no longer "on time and on budget" -- was to have opened in 2014. It won't open until 2017.

Victoria's new Johnson Street Bridge started at $63 million. It's now $105.6 million and climbing, an increase of 67.6 per cent. It had been scheduled to open in 2015 and is now projected to be open by 2017.

The engineering firm working on the Massey project is MMM Group. It's also the prime consultant behind the Johnson Street Bridge. They designed the four-lane, two-span Nipigon River bridge in Ontario as well, the one that broke in February.

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7. Stakeholder buy-in

There's not much public buy-in for the bridge, except for those who already have a piece of the action or hope to.

It's why Bellringer's performance audit could prove invaluable. If the government's numbers are all on the up and up, what could it possibly fear from taking a few months to let the auditor general do her thing and report back?

Now that would debunk myths, if they're indeed myths.

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As the shockwaves from the affirmative Brexit vote start to dissipate, there has been increasing chatter concerning the fate of London as not only Europe's financial services hub but also for startups as well. While Dublin, Berlin and Madrid are all strong contenders in the race for startup ecosystem supremacy, London by far is one of the strongest, particularly in the fintech sector.

Analysts have not only been wondering about the viability of London in general post-Brexit as a world-class city but as a global startup destination. Indeed, those same analysts are wondering what are the factors required to create self-sustaining and vibrant startup ecosystems?

There is no doubt that this is a hot topic as nation-states race to attract startups and their associated talent to ensure they don't lose out on the transition from an industrial economy to a knowledge-based one. Indeed, countless papers and articles have been written by academics and journalists concerning what is required to have a truly vibrant startup ecosystem. From the number of educational institutions to the walkability of a city to government incentives, there have been a number of tangible criteria thrown about concerning what are required for a self-sustaining startup ecosystem to thrive.

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While there is no doubt that these tangible criteria are foundational elements to creating a thriving, self-sustaining startup ecosystem, there are a number of significant intangible criteria as well that are essential. Indeed, one of the most infuriating elements of startups for policymakers is the fact that there are very few neat quantifiable metrics or processes that can be used to create vibrant startup ecosystems.

Nation-states around the globe have thrown vast amounts of government incentives and infrastructure to build their own version of Silicon Valley but ultimately have not achieved the same level of success. A significant driver of this less than optimal success are the intangible factors that make Silicon Valley and other successful startup ecosystems so hard to replicate. These intangible factors include:

(1) Open & Accepting Culture: The biggest contributing intangible factor to startup ecosystem success is the existence of an open and accepting culture. No one culture has a monopoly concerning new innovative ideas and Silicon Valley proves that. Whether an individual is from Asia, Europe, Africa, North America, Latin America or the Middle East, ideas come from everywhere and anywhere.

The critical element is whether a culture is willing to accept those new ideas free from bias and stereotypes and purely on the idea's merits. In other words, will resources be allocated appropriately based on an idea's freestanding merits versus on the ethnic, cultural age, or gender background of the team pitching the idea?

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(2) Open Mindset: A complementary element to an open and accepting culture is that the individuals within the startup ecosystem have an open mindset. The second biggest barrier to not only startup ecosystems but startups in general are individuals who are part of the broader society and economy not having an open mindset.

What is an open mindset? In many respects, it is a willingness to at least listen to new ideas solely on their merits and to debate them solely on their merits versus automatically deciding the idea has no merit due to inherent resistance to change.

In many respects, the biggest factor that individuals have to overcome on a daily basis to adopt an open mindset is a resistance to new. It is incredibly easy for individuals to fall into routine and thus resist change. Not just routine of process but of mind as well.

Too often without realizing it, individuals build mental models of the world that they believe is never changing and everlasting. Society sees this often. Rabid television program fanatics who can't abide seeing any substantial changes to their television program since it is "perfect" just the way it is are an example of individuals with mindsets resistant to change.

For startups to thrive, they need to be surrounded by individuals who have open mindsets. Individuals who are willing to not only take risks trying new ideas but are willing to invest the financial resources and time commitment to enable new ideas to thrive.

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(3) Transient Population: Just as an open and accepting culture is complementary to an open mindset, a transient population is critical to further enlightening an open mindset. One of the biggest elements to opening up an individual's mindset is the constant flux of new ideas and that is best provided through individuals who have new experiences.

While there is no doubt that education is one of the critical factors in engaging and enlightening the mind, interacting with individuals with different backgrounds and experiences helps to reinforce a mind's openness. Indeed, for all the technology and global linkages society is building to make our world a more connected place, there is nothing more advantageous to opening one's mindset than talking with individuals who have actually visited and experienced other cultures and places.

Indeed, it isn't just interacting with individuals who have actually experienced different cultures and places that is critical but it is a willingness for individuals to themselves take the leap and try new places that is also critical to maintaining an open mindset. While there will always be a geographic location that an individual will call "home", a willingness to personally try new cultures and places is also critical, particularly when one is part of the startup ecosystem.

In the end, while tangible criteria are critical to building the foundational elements of a startup ecosystem, one can't forget the importance of intangible factors. Indeed, as humanity makes the transition from an industrial economy to a knowledge-based one, it will be increasingly critical to nurture and grow the intangible factors if we as a society are to maximize the potential for new ideas as demonstrated currently through startup ecosystems.
Dimitri Otis via Getty Images A glass cup and saucer with herbal tea against blurred foliage outdoors.

Several studies on Asian and North American populations suggest that drinking green tea can help you reduce your risk of leukemia. Clinical trials also show that green tea extracts can help treat some forms of leukemia.

An epidemiologic study among residents in an urban area of southwestern Taiwan showed that those who ingested the most green tea had a significantly lower risk of leukemia, compared to those who didn't drink tea.

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A recent study on populations from China and the US also shows a significant inverse link between high tea consumption and leukemia risk.

A study published in the British Journal of Cancerexamined the link between green tea consumption and the risk of leukemia among 107 adults with leukemia and 110 orthopaedic controls in China.

This case-control study found that a higher intake of green tea was linked with a reduced risk of adult leukemia and with significant dose-response relationships. A reduced risk was found with longer duration, higher quantity, and frequency of green tea intake, for acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL), and chronic myeloid leukemia (CML)/chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) combined.

Green tea contains the highest doses of epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) as compared to other types of teas. EGCG exerts anti-cancer effects against many types of cancers, and EGCG induces caspase-dependent death in CLL cells.

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Two clinical trials examined the effects of EGCG in previously untreated patients with asymptomatic Rai stage 0 to II CLL. Data shows that 70% of patients with asymptomatic, earlier stage CLL will experience progression and require treatment, and most will die from CLL or CLL related complications.

The Phase I trial showed that daily oral EGCG in a preparation called Polyphenon E produced declines in absolute lymphocyte count (ALC) and lymphadenopathy in the majority of patients, and was well tolerated at doses up to 2,000 mg twice a day for up to 6 months.

A more recent Phase II trial confirmed the beneficial effects of EGCG against chronic lymphocytic leukemia, and overall, about 70% of patients had a biologic response. There was a rapid decline in ALC and/or lymphadenopathy observed in most of the patients after starting EGCG. About 70% of the patients in this study had Rai stage I-II CLL.

The authors of this study caution,

"It should be emphasized that the patients enrolled were asymptomatic, and did not meet criteria to initiate conventional chemotherapy treatment. It is unknown whether the modest clinical effects observed translate into a delay in disease progression or need for subsequent chemotherapy. It should also be emphasized that EGCG can in no way be considered a substitute for traditional chemotherapy and/or monoclonal antibody based treatment once need for treatment develops."

Randomized trials are required to prove EGCG's beneficial effects against leukemia.

Do not use 4000 mg of EGCG unless you are in a clinical trial and have medical supervision, and undergo testing of liver enzymes. This is an extremely high dose. Pregnant women should not drink green tea or use EGCG supplements.

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The most prudent approach to prevent leukemia is to drink several cups of green tea per day, and to have regular blood tests to detect it.
Blend Images - Dave and Les Jacobs via Getty Images Close up of older woman and caretaker holding hands

Caregiving is an extremely demanding role -- it can drain you physically, mentally, emotionally, and even socially. Of course, due to most circumstances, caregiving is extremely challenging and although each case is unique, there are some key stages in which every caregiver experiences.

Sometimes, you may feel like you're alone -- as if no one cares. Perhaps you're caring for your mom, who has developed Alzheimer's disease and is completely dependent on you. If so, it's tough to live a somewhat 'normal' life. You need to dedicate your time, ensuring that she is safe and well cared for.

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In the year 2012, over 8 million Canadians were providing care for a chronically ill or disabled friend or family member -- with 1 in 10 caregivers providing more than 30 hours of care a week. Most commonly, these individuals are between the ages of 45 and 64 -- which can be extremely draining.

The 4 Stages of Caregiving -- Can You Relate?

If you do feel lost some days, it's important to remember that you are not alone and that there is most certainly help. If you are currently caregiving or will soon be adopting this role, it's critical that you understand what that means. What will you experience? How do you cope?

The following four stages will help you determine where you currently are and how you can improve your circumstances. Hopefully, you are not only able to provide better care for your loved one, but also improve your own quality of life -- you can find that balance.

Stage One: The Beginning

When you first start providing care, in some cases, you will need to make some major adjustments. Certain diagnoses, such as dementia, can occur suddenly and without much time to plan, you're thrown into your new role. At this point, you will be feeling a number of mixed emotions.

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This is the time to sit down and discuss options with your family and friends. As mentioned, each scenario is unique and so you will need to reach out to those who are able to help. From preparing meals to helping with financial needs, it's important to pool together your resources if possible.

You will need to sit down with the individual you're caring for and ask them what their wants and needs are. What are their long-term wishes? If your loved one is suffering from a degenerative condition, it's important to make arrangements early on.

This is the time to start educating yourself -- not just in terms of your caregiving role, but also your loved one's condition. Planning head will help you avoid added levels of stress and uncertainty. You need to prepare yourselves for the worst, but hope for the best. That way, all appropriate planning will be in order.

Stage Two: Seeking Help

It's best to seek help before you really need it. Getting into a routine with siblings or family friends can be highly beneficial for everyone involved. Whether you seek help in terms of day-to-day tasks -- or join a support group for mental and emotional support, it's imperative that you create a schedule that works for both your loved one, as well as everyone involved.

You can also seek more formal support services. Sometimes, you just need a little extra help around the house -- cooking, cleaning, and in some cases, bathing. Licensed caregivers can provide assistance regarding a wide range of needs, helping you create your ideal schedule. Adult daycare programs can also be highly beneficial -- both for you and your loved one.

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Stage Three: Intensive Care

At this stage, you may have exhausted all of your resources -- or in many cases, you are simply far too exhausted. Within this stage, you need to be aware of caregiver burnout. Although you need to care for someone, you also need to care for yourself. If you fall ill, you cannot do either.

As soon as you feel as though you're overwhelmed and need a break, respite care is an ideal solution. Even if you take an afternoon or two off each week that could make all the difference. Homemaking services are often utilized by caregivers, but there are also more intensive services available, including overnight and live-in care options.

Stage Four: Letting Go

This is perhaps the most challenging stage of them all, as end-of-life decisions are made and the grieving process begins. Everyone is different -- some react to the death of a loved one by expressing sadness, while others express denial. Once again, support will be critical during this time.

You will need to make some major changes to your current life and although you may feel slightly relieved that the struggle is over, you will now be dealing with a new challenge -- bereavement. In order to process your feelings, make sure you take some time for yourself.

Some find that a journal is quite helpful, allowing them to express themselves and heal. Others prefer to get away, taking time to relax -- this can help you find yourself again. No two journeys will be the same, so in that sense, you will need to adapt and evolve based on your individual needs.

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Regardless of the stage you're currently in, it's important to be aware of all four -- especially within the beginning. If you are really struggling to adjust, the worst thing you can do is keep to yourself. It's important to remember, you're not alone -- not even close. There are millions of people who feel like you do right now, so reach out to them.
Anadolu Agency via Getty Images OTTOWA, CANADA - JUNE 30: Canadian national flag flies at half mast over the Peace Tower in Ottowa, Canada on June 30, 2016 following the recent terrorist attack at Istanbul Ataturk International Airport. (Photo by Seyit Aydogan/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

The world of politics produces a great variety of people -- ambitious, crafty, intelligent, ornery, brilliant, occasionally humble, leaders, followers, and, of course, partisan. But occasionally the political order produces something so rare in its field that it transcends all things political at the same time as it exudes it -- a beautiful personality.

Canada lost just such a gem this past week. Mike Robinson, 65 years old, had been vacationing in Normandy, France when he suddenly passed away while enjoying the company of friends and his wife ML.

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When word came out of his passing, those who have been associated with federal politics for years went into a kind of shock. Mike had somehow been everyone's friend. As a fellow colleague of his in the political wars, Scott Reid, would put it eloquently on Facebook.

"He had no enemies ... In a business that is all about picking sides, waging battles, fighting campaigns and defeating opponents. He was universally admired and widely loved."

The words form a remarkable truth that aren't said often enough in the rough and tumble world of politics.

It seemed like everyone in Ottawa knew Mike Robinson far better than I did. And yet, like everyone else, I had been touched by his healthy and warm personality in ways that were unusual in that city. His son, Stuart, managed my Ottawa office. One day Stuart asked if I'd be willing to go with he and his Dad for dinner at Hy's Steakhouse -- a legendary Ottawa eatery.

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From the moment the three of us sat down Mike was intensely curious about my motivation for being in politics. In fact, his inquisitive spirit reminded me very much of former Prime Minister Paul Martin. He had that ability to focus on you and really mean it. It ended up being an evening that would come back to me time and time again whenever politics itself became overpowering and I needed a good memory.

When our Southern Sudanese kids came to Ottawa, Mike and ML asked them over to their house and pressed them with every kindness. They were like that as husband and wife: A team that excelled in inclusive conversation, each weaving in and out with words that complemented the other and filled the moments with warmth.

Mike phoned me once and asked if I'd be willing to visit him at his Earnscliffe office, close to the National War Memorial. Wanting me to know just how much he loved and respected his son, Stuart, he told me of how he was so much enjoying the arc of the young man's life and how he appreciated my support of his growth. This was a man fully unafraid of emotion.

The week after politics ended for me in 2011, a letter came in the mail from Mike, strongly encouraging me to get back into the fray as soon as possible because, "It's a rare gift, Glen, to work with someone whose compassion for country can encompass the good people of other political parties and work along side them. We need that kind of spirit in Ottawa more than ever."

The truth was then, and will be forever so in the minds of those who knew him, that Mike himself was the living embodiment of what he had just written me. Everywhere, in every party, were good and abiding friends of his. His persuasions were Liberal -- everyone knew it -- but his spirit was Canadian. He enjoyed his own personal convictions, but he intrinsically sensed that his country could never survive without the need for respect and collaboration with those of other persuasions.

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Somehow Mike mastered the art of mixing conviction, gregariousness, generosity, and inclusiveness in a way hardly ever seen in federal politics. He was a true man for all seasons and for every reason that was right and sound.

To those who knew Mike much better and are grieving deeply at the moment I offer my great condolences -- your present pain is the inevitable result of deep friendship and must be endured in his honour.

His greatest gift to us all, important or, like me, less so, is the sense of goodness and fairness he left us in a world where cut and thrust are essential tools of the trade. He was good in every way that we could possibly imagine that word.

It's true that he had no enemies, but his great legacy will be the sheer amount of friends that he had in every corner of the country, regardless of party affiliation. He possessed a gift so rare and exquisite that one wouldn't normally think of searching in Ottawa to discover it -- indeed, he transcended it.

His was a beautiful personality that expressed what politics could mean and become in a world so badly in need of it.

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Next year will mark the 150th anniversary of Confederation. The anniversary potentially offers Canadians an important opportunity to learn more about the origins of their country. July 1, 1867 is widely regarded as the day that Canada was founded and hence the annual national holiday that we call Canada day.

There is an ongoing debate amongst historians about who actually founded the country. We generally associate the 1867 agreement with its chief negotiators, Sir John A. Macdonald and Sir George-Etienne Cartier along with various other gentlemen of British and French origins (though some may question if they were really genteel). What some historians appear less certain about is the constituencies that the negotiators were representing when they struck the agreement. Were they negotiating on behalf of the British and French peoples of Canada or for the four provinces that were the original signatories to Confederation?

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The debate remains relevant today as the acceptance that Canada is a nation of two founding peoples has influenced the conversation over whether the country is a bi-national or, for that matter, a multi-national entity.

Those contending that Canada is multi-national include the many First Nations as "one" of the country's founding peoples (Quebec sovereignists are careful to say that Canada is a multi-nation federation and not a multi-national country). However, insisting that the First Nations were founding peoples of Canada requires that 1867 no longer be regarded as the date the country was founded. If that is so it's because Canada's First Nations were not invited to be part of the negotiations of the 1867 agreement.

In effect, the idea of three founding peoples or nations of Canada requires the historic re-positioning of the colonizers (the British and the French) and the colonized (the indigenous peoples and the French) as having collectively agreed to found the country. But that rendez-vous never occurred. An alternative narrative would suggest that Canada was not founded on the basis of an agreed upon pact between peoples but rather on a series of Treaties and Acts across which the Confederation agreement was one

Canada does not appear to possess a definitive or authoritative narrative that properly connects when and by whom the country was founded. While surveys reveal that most Canadians believe that 1867 is the founding date of Canada many of those same people think the First Nations are amongst the founding peoples.

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A Leger poll conducted in January 2016 for the Association for Canadian Studies does not give rise to a consensus amongst Canadians as regards the founding peoples of Confederation. Some 37 per cent of Canadians believe that it is the four provinces that are Confederation's founding partners with 34 per cent of the view that it is the Aboriginals, French and British and 24 per cent that see the British and French occupying that role. At 42 per cent, most of the country's allophones (persons whose first language is something other than English or French) chose the Aboriginals. French and English as Confederation's founding partners.

Many seek to develop a founding narrative to support a preferred contemporary one. The Harper government might be described as a key contributor to varying opinion as to the country's founders as it encourages a number of interpretations about the partners (to be sure politically this isn't necessarily a bad thing).

In one of the closest things to an official history of Canada, the Government of Canada's Citizenship Guide states that "from 1864 to 1867, representatives of the Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and the Province of Canada, with British support, worked together to establish a new country...the old Province of Canada was split into two new provinces: Ontario and Quebec, which together with New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, formed the new country called the Dominion of Canada."

The same document notes that: "To understand what it means to be Canadian, it is important to know about our three founding peoples." To be fair, there is no direct association with the Confederation as the founding event. But Canadians reading the document with only some knowledge about Confederation can be forgiven for concluding that the pact was conceived constitutionally by both four provinces and three peoples.

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ASSOCIATED PRESS Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton speaks at the U.S. Conference of Mayors in Indianapolis, Sunday, June 26, 2016, on the United Kingdom's vote to leave the European Union, America's economy, and other issues. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

A year ago it was described as a far-fetched conspiracy theory. A few months later Senator Bernie Sanders announced during a debate that he felt the issue was benign, and that he would not use it against his rival, Hillary Clinton, who is now considered the presumptive Democratic nominee. These days most editorials have described the situation with a watered-down tone and a haphazard grasp of the legal implications of funneling top-secret documents to a private server.

The political ether is currently laced with a zombie-inspired conventional wisdom that this entire debacle is ultimately meaningless, a manufactured scandal concocted by Clinton's political enemies and kept alive by talk radio. But once you delve deep into the facts of the case you begin to see why this investigation was never arbitrary.

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Let's be clear: Clinton is currently the subject of two criminal investigations. This should be the biggest story of the presidential campaign, even with Donald Trump's continuous stream of unconscionable consciousness swallowing up a gargantuan amount of airtime. And Trump, even with all his baggage, doesn't have two looming criminal indictments. He doesn't even have one.

The best the media could muster was to paste the suffix "gate" at the end of the noun "email."

For over a year, no one seemed to care about Clinton's email scandal. The best the media could muster was to paste the suffix "gate" at the end of the noun "email," a breathtaking departure from how the media usually brands a political scandal. But the story just became a sort of buzz in the background, forcing the media to go with their gut instincts that said Hillary would ride out the storm. They heard the buzzing, they knew the facts and they collectively shrugged.

To be fair, they normally do probe deep into these kinds of stories with these kinds of facts, but for Clinton they eased up. For whatever reason, this story became just another manufactured Hillary Clinton scandal, invented to derail the campaign of the first woman POTUS.

Conceivably, who else other than Hillary Clinton could be spared the scrutiny everyone else would receive from the media for the exact same set of offences? Who else can get away with lying about the details of that investigation for over a year? Who else would expect the public to believe that technological and procedural ignorance is a viable excuse for mishandling top-secret information pertinent to national security?

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Nobody but Hillary Clinton could manage to minimize the damage so successfully. It's quite the political triumph in some ways, shielding oneself from scandal, but time runs out on everyone eventually, and even Hillary Clinton isn't forever spared the long reach of unfiltered truth.

It's becoming more and more probable that Clinton will not be the democratic nominee after the convention on July 25, especially after an impromptu meeting between Attorney General Loretta Lynch and Bill Clinton, one that had such negative optics that Lynch has since announced she will not challenge the FBI recommendations.

The assumption that an Obama ally at the top of the State Department would rubber stamp a get-out-of-jail-free card for Clinton seemed like a forgone conclusion, another ring of protection for Clinton if she needed an 11th-hour escape hatch. Without that protection, Clinton is now at the mercy of the FBI.

Enter FBI Director James Comey, considered by some to the most powerful man in the country at this moment, one who now controls Clinton's permanent fate. Comey is also a stickler for the rules and not considered a rabid partisan, making his final opinion on this matter both credible and, now that Bill Clinton has proverbially poisoned the attorney general, final.

It also bodes well for the Bernie Sanders campaign. Lord knows he and his supporters have smelled the fleeting scent of justice for months.

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Sanders may have always believed this was a legit scandal for Clinton, even when he promised not to use it to attack her. But by refusing to act presumptuously towards Clinton, he created a facet of his image that was above the nastiness in politics, allowing the process to play out instead of grandstanding the idea of an indictment. Now that Lynch has deferred the final decision to Comey, Sanders would be wise to remain just as quiet until the Comey's decision is finalized. If she is indicted, Bernie Sanders would likely become the nominee for the Democratic Party, turning an already OMFG campaign into a WTF election like no other.

A Sanders vs. Trump election may sound epic, and in many ways it would be, but it would also be chaotic. Hell, maybe America needs some civil unrest right now, a cleansing of demagoguery, if you will. Nobody is advocating riots or armed conflict, but there are enough emotional alarmists on both sides that anything can happen, and lots probably will.

But first things first. There is still a consensus inside the beltway and establishment media regarding the chances of a Clinton indictment. Most pundits, anchorpeople and Democrats are universally skeptical that Clinton will face charges. Missing from these discussions among insiders is that other people -- including David Petraeous and whistleblower Tom Drake -- have been indicted for very similar offences. Off the air they must talk about how if she were anyone else there would be no question as to whether or not an indictment was coming.

But this is Hillary Clinton, not some whistleblower or a disgraced general. Let's be honest about why it took so long to get to the 11th hour of her probable indictment -- power. She is the most powerful politician in America, probably even more powerful than Obama.

But now that power has slipped from her grasp, after months of stonewalling and parsing the truth, leaving her vulnerable, at the mercy of justice, and providing a toehold for Bernie Sanders to miraculously become the Democratic nominee for president of the United States.

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Wayne R Bilenduke via Getty Images Northwest Territories

Though Canada Day has come and gone, there's still a good reason to keep the good feelings alive. On July 9th, Nunavut will be celebrating its 23rd birthday and the rest of our country is invited to join in the festivities. Not only will it mark a special day for our youngest territory, but it will also laud the people who have lived the longest in this great land.

The area was first populated at least 4,000 years ago when Earth was a very different place. Over the years, the people of this land thrived in ways significantly different from those in Asia and Europe. Their traditions continued on and today many continue to be practiced albeit at times with a modern twist.

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As one might expect, health was viewed much differently back then and many of those philosophies are still in practice today. Not surprisingly, they differ in many ways from modern medicine and wellness. The focus is not on the 37 trillion cells - and tens of trillions of microbes - comprising the human body, but the community as an entity in and of itself.

This gap has, unfortunately, led to a problem in how Nunavut is seen in the eyes of those living elsewhere. Instead of examining the community, people tend to think of singular entities causing troubles, such as infectious and chronic diseases. This has led to an unwarranted stigmatization of the entire area as unhealthy.

To get a truer sense of health from a Nunavut perspective, I reached out to Dr. Gwen Healey, the Executive and Scientific Director of the Qaujigiartiit Health Research Centre in Iqaluit. As the Inuktitut name implies, her centre is continually "looking for knowledge" in the hopes of improving the lives of Nunavummiut. According to her, this effect is doing more harm than good.

"The vast majority of southerners only see one side of the story, because that is usually all that gets the media's attention. This leads to stigma and it is very damaging. For example, I left my community to go to university after high school and I came across so many misunderstandings and painful prejudices - viewpoints carried by Canadians in the south. I stopped telling people where I was from because I started to feel ashamed about it."

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But instead of fighting the stigma, over her career, which earned her a doctorate and many publications in the academic world, Gwen developed an appreciation for the territory and its people. "I was able to get some perspective on the issue and rediscover a way to celebrate who I am, who we are as a community, and try to change the dialogue about the North."

As for those statistics, Healey recognizes they exist. "There is no doubt that we face a number of challenges to obtaining and maintaining good health." But she also points out there is more to the story than the focus on microbes and/or immunity. "Many challenges are rooted in a northern historical and colonial context that very few Canadians know or understand." Her answer to this problem is relatively simple in practice and could possibly change the way we look at the North and ourselves.

"Our way of living is special and unique. We care for each other. We live in diverse and exciting geographies right across Northern Canada. We have close-knit communities with long, ancestral ties to the lands we live on. We support each other with food, harvesting, childrearing, skill-building, storytelling, music, and crafting. People rarely hear about is the beauty and strength of our communities, the love, generosity, kindness, welcoming and inclusive spirit, innovative and creative solution-seeking approaches to life, and the ways in which our relationships to the arts, the land, the people, and the animals permeate every facet of our lives and well-being. We are heart-centred and that is a beautiful thing."

For a laboratory researcher, public health official, or physician, this perspective may appear to be outside the realms we know so well. Healey admits that but for those people, she has one simple question: 'What if research methods were designed from an Inuit theoretical perspective instead of a Eurocentric/Western one?"

For nearly 10 years, Healey has worked to answer that question and in the process has developed a health model that has received an overwhelmingly positive response in academia, but perhaps more importantly, in communities across the north. From her experience, Healey has found a way to celebrate and improve health using a different kind of laboratory.

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"At Qaujigiartiit, Nunavummiut have designed and tested evidence-based programs based on Inuit knowledge; developed and published innovative research approaches based on Inuit values; created an Inuktitut-language healthy foods and activities app; explored how health architecture can embrace Inuit relationships to the land and wellness perspectives; shared ideas about health and wellness in national and international forums; and written articles and book chapters which are shared all over this country and in undergraduate university courses."

But Healey is not alone. Her model is just one of many using a variety of specialties - not just medicine - to maintain a healthy community. "There are multiple other groups in Nunavut who are similarly accomplishing great things in law, music, performing arts, computer science, climate science, design, film, and more. Our perspective is holistic - we recognize that art, science, music, and our natural and built environments are not isolated, and that wellness occurs at the intersection of these aspects of our lives."

In essence, Healey believes and has shown that the philosophy of integration is incredibly important and can be adopted by everyone. "We all have some positive contribution to make to the improvement of health and wellness in our communities, and we have to harness our strengths and our capabilities to do that."

As for examples of success, Healey is especially proud of a parenting program in which the traditional knowledge of the Inuit is shared in a way that has helped all communities. "A great deal of knowledge about Inuit childrearing philosophy was lost to the younger generation so at the request of our communities, we set out to develop a parenting program, which is based on Inuit childrearing and family perspectives." But rather than going the usual route involving literature searches and collaborations with researchers from afar, this program took a very diferent approach. "Much of the content came from a pre-existing elders advisory committee. Many individuals in different fields contributed artwork, songs, stories, activities, recipes, and learning models to the different parts of the program."

After the program was developed, they took the modern approach of performing a pilot to ensure it worked - a clinical trial on a social scale. When the results came back, it was a shining success. It's now being offered in numerous communities in Nunavut and may be used in other areas around the world.

But Healey isn't about to rest on her laurels. She's working on numerous other projects including one involving a globally sensitive issue, sexual health. "We're developing a new series of workshops which combine sexual health, relationships and Inuit performing arts with our friends and partners." The release of this project is in the fall so until then, Healey advises us to stay tuned.

With July 9th approaching, the entire community of Nunavut will be getting ready for a joyous day. Yet Healey isn't only excited for the 23rd birthday, but also for the ones to come. "When I think about the future, I think about my children and their friends, and their future children. I think about what we are leaving for future generations. I think we are at a really interesting turning point in Canada, where hopefully Canadians will stop seeing the North as 'the last Frontier' to be conquered, but a beautiful and resilient place that has been occupied for 4000 years by innovative, artful, welcoming, loving peoples."

As for turning philosophy and perspective into practice, Healey knows Canada can learn a great deal from Nunavut and develop a healthier modern society using traditional philosophies, perspectives, and practices. "Let me put it this way. At community Christmas concerts or any event involving children, it's very common to hear people in the audience shouting, "I love you!", "Nalligivagit!", "Aakuluk!", "Ajunngi!" (a word that means 'you can do it', and also the pride that one feels when observing someone's accomplishment).

How often do you hear that in other places? "It may seem trivial but enriching the person within a community reinforces better health. Take a look at a person not as a collection of tens of trillions of cells but as an integral member of a community who will help retain and build on the beautiful things. If we keep that in mind - and teach them to our children and grandchildren -- the future can't be anything but bright."

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Between the outrageous actions of legislators, controversial supreme court decisions and the upcoming presidential election, every day the news is bombarded with stories and opinions that do not coincide with biblical convictions. This seems to leave many Christians in the United States despairing, disillusioned and detached. While they certainly have legitimate troubles, Im concerned when I see my fellow Americans retreating from interest in the public sphere because they are so bothered by the way this country is headed.

Regardless of the perceived state of politics, there is much to celebrate this Fourth of July. This celebration must not only be nostalgic remembrance of the past, but also hopeful vision for the future. God does not call his followers to detachment. Without the proper amount of patriotism, these distraught individuals may be missing out on the restoration happening in their community, nation and world.

Nothing can alter the fact that the Constitution of the United States finds its origin in the Christian view of the Individual. In fact the whole of the classical liberal tradition can be traced back to transformation of thought that Jesus and his followers began. This essentially Christian spirit of individual liberty and dignity that the founders wove into the fabric of our nation is far from dead.

As Warren Smith and John Stonestreet discuss in their book Restoring All Things, the activities and institutions that operate between the individual and the government continue to be at work just as Alexis de Tocqueville observed in the 1830s. It is in this middle that Americas churches, nonprofits and community organizations have labored to bring dignity and prosperity to citizens for hundreds of years. All too often we take for granted the ability that our Constitution and founding spirit has given us to worship, assemble and participate in almost anything we choose. Tocqueville accurately predicted that Americans love of private life and physical gratifications would eventually lead to their detachment from the public sphere, and the eventual derogation of this middle. The soft-despotism he warns against begins when Americans regard their government as a powerful stranger which should either create for them a comfortable life or leave them alone all together. Like our Founders, Tocqueville saw that a sense of patriotism and active political involvement, along with the guarantee of religious freedom granted in the first amendment, was crucial to the continued success of individual responsibility and prosperity that was distinct to American democracy.

Today, it is easy to retreat from this patriotism. Having a patriotic spirit for a nation that purposefully disregards the Christian thought on which it was founded is not an easy thing. Yet Christians should know better than anyone that love is often inconvenient and frustrating. What if God does not only desire for us to love our neighbor like Jesus, but to also love our nation as Christ would (Luke 19, Luke 13:31-35)? The bible often shows us that it is a godly thing to love the place that you are from.

An important distinction must be made between nationalism and patriotism though. As Christians we are called to find our identity in Christ; nationalism demands the allegiance and devotion we have already given to the Lord. In the end, Gods people will come together to eternally worship him, regardless of tribe or tongue. This tells us that nationalism, and distorted patriotism, is not God honoring. Being patriotic is not blindly worshiping Americas strength, interventionism or success (in fact this is idolatry). Patriotism is also not passively accepting the continued degradation of morals or the government encroachment on individual life; it does not inaccurately believe that there is nothing we can do. Patriotism loves the freedom and democracy that allows American citizens to bring restoration to their communities and world. Patriotism as a believer is accepting that this country will continue to get it wrong, yet staying actively involved in public affairs anyway. The belief that God has ultimately overcome the brokenness of the world should enable people of faith to balance this commitment and judgment in a healthy way.

There are good sentiments in our political and social culture that are worth praising and protecting. The love of liberty, distrust of centralized power and commitment to religious principles deserve promoting, and plenty of men and women stand up for these convictions every day. Do not let your despair for the culture of our country to lead to detachment from its political future.

God, in his unending grace, chose broken people to complete his mission, why believe that he cannot use a broken nation to do the same?
Members of Black Lives Matter argue their case with the public who wanted the Pride Parade to go on. Photo by Roberto Machado Noa, Getty.

Toronto's Pride Parade on Sunday was an historic success. An estimated million revellers were joined by, for the first time, a sitting prime minister as photos of a grinning, rainbow Canadian flag-waving Justin Trudeau conveyed the message that Canada is officially inclusive.

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Officially, perhaps, but not always actually.

That became clear at the outraged reaction, in person, on social media and in old-timey media, to the sit-in by Black Lives Matter Toronto, a protest that lasted about 25 minutes after which their demands were met by Pride Toronto organizers and the parade progressed.

Twenty-five minutes is about the length of time we wait through commercials and trailers for a movie to start. Twenty-five minutes is how long it should have taken my six-year-old son and I to get to the Pride Parade from Parkdale rather than the hour-and-a-half that it actually took.

Waiting twenty-five minutes is not suffering or being taken hostage. Claiming this during a protest by a community that has suffered greatly over the years, including being disproportionately carded and killed by police, is as insulting as it is ironic.

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While white LGBT communities may have moved on, LGBT people of colour are still facing policing issues on a daily basis.

Also ironic? Complaints about a Black Lives Matter sit-in when they were the parade's "Honoured Group" because of their history of direct action and police protests. A subsequent City TV poll found that 84 per cent of people said "Yes, it detracted from the overall Pride parade theme."

This year's theme, of course, was the inclusivity-promoting "You Can Sit With Us." So they sat.

Members of Black Lives Matter sit and block the Pride Parade. Photo by Roberto Machado Noa, Getty.

And while sitting they presented specific demands to turn that thematic theory into promised practice. So they demanded more inclusive hiring, especially black trans women, indigenous folk and other vulnerable people, and they demanded more financial and community space support for Pride events run by and for black and brown LGBT communities.

And yes, they demanded that police floats be kept out of future Pride parades.

Apparently to some, our demands are "too radical/divisive." Look for yourselves fam #BlackPridepic.twitter.com/NxfaMnYUaf  BlackLivesMatter TO (@BLM_TO) July 4, 2016

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That final demand has inspired the most outrage, and Pride Toronto now claiming they only agreed to a future conversation about the police presence.

"Frankly, Black Lives Matter is not going to tell us that there is no more floats anymore in the parade. I will not tell you that there is no more floats in the parade because Pride is bigger than Black Lives Matter. It is definitely bigger than me and my committee. That is the kind of decision that needs to be made by the community," Pride Toronto's executive director Mathieu Chantelois told CP24 on Monday.

But here's some context for people who say Pride should just be a celebration and not a police protest.

The first Pride ever was a protest against police brutality after New York's Stonewall Inn was raided in 1969. Toronto staged a subsequent anti-police protest in 1981 when thousands took to the streets following the infamous bathhouse raids, an act that police only just apologized for last month. Though there had been small events in the 70s, this protest led to Toronto's modern-day Pride movement.

(The Toronto Women's Bathhouse Committee, the group whose queer woman's event Pussy Palace was subsequently raided by male officers in 2000, rejected the apology. In a June 24 Globe & Mail interview, ex-committee member Chanelle Gallant said, "it is well-intentioned and speaks to an improved relationship between some members of the LGBTQ and police [but] it leaves out the criminalization and violent targeting of racialized, indigenous and marginalized groups within and outside of LGBTQ communities. An apology is meaningless without concrete actions attached and the demands of Black Lives Matter are the best starting point.")

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So while some white LGBT community members may have moved on, LGBT people of colour are still facing policing issues on a daily basis and the sight of uniformed police on parade floats may have made them feel uncomfortable.

The most notable thing to me... about the BLM backlash is the lack of concern for more marginalized members of the community.

Const. Chuck Krangle, a gay cop, wrote an open-letter to Pride organizers about BLM's demands.

His hurt feelings are legitimate, of course, though he also noted "I do not speak for the police, and I do not speak for the LGBTQ community. I speak as an individual, one who saw his first Pride, only to be excluded from the next." Nobody said he couldn't come next year as an individual, the demand was about uniformed cops on official floats.

He also did not in any way discuss why BLM may be opposed to police floats or reforms that might improve community relations, and even made a point of saying "I have never been made to feel discriminated against."

That's great for him, but he also admits the struggles of people before him made that possible. What he does not admit is that other people who aren't white gay men may not be so fortunate when it comes to avoiding discrimination.

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The most notable thing to me, just a straight, white ally, about the BLM backlash is the lack of concern for more marginalized members of the community. It can obviously be tough being a white gay man and even tougher being a white lesbian but what about queer and trans minorities who are facing a host of intersecting prejudices, even from their Pride compatriots?

"I didn't think the Pride parade was a venue to launch one's concerns," gay conservative Sun columnist Sue-Ann Levy said on News 1010 on Monday morning, following up an anti-BLM article that might as well have had "uppity" in the headline.

"Black Lives Matter, rightly or wrongly, were the honoured group at pride, and I felt like they disrespected that," she said. "It was about gay rights, not black rights. Gay rights."

But the members of BLM: Toronto are fighting for both, and that's what this brouhaha boils down to. The LGBT equality movement has been better for white people than it has been for people of colour because some folks are discriminated for more than just being LGBT.

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Members of Black Lives Matter movement halted the parade to demand more justice and equality. Photo by Roberto Machado Noa, Getty.

"It's always the appropriate time to make sure folks know about the marginalization of black people, of black queer youth, black trans youth, of black trans people," BLM: Toronto co-founder Alexandra Williams told CBC.

LGBT rights have progressed because of protest and people who have benefited from those actions should look beyond themselves and consider the struggles of those still fighting because Pride is, always has been and always will be, political.

"We are not taking any space away from any folks. When we talk about homophobia, transphobia, we go through that too... It should be a cohesive unit, not one against the other. Anti-blackness needs to be addressed and they can be addressed at the same time, in the same spaces."

So instead of griping about a 25-minute delay, or complaining when people bring up issues that don't personally affect you, how about adding a little empathy to your pride instead of prejudice?

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LGBT rights have progressed because of protest and people who have benefited from those actions should look beyond themselves and consider the struggles of those still fighting because Pride is, always has been and always will be, political.

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Roberto Machado Noa via Getty Images TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA - 2016/07/03: Muslim woman and Canadian woman marching in the 36th Pride Parade celebration. (Photo by Roberto Machado Noa/LightRocket via Getty Images)

The aftermath of the dastardly Orlando gay bar shooting brought many LGBT Muslim voices to the forefront in Vancouver, Edmonton, Toronto, Halifax, and in various places across the United States. Equally significant were the voices of straight Muslim allies. While such developments are unprecedented, the work has only begun for LGBT Muslim activists and their straight Muslim allies, who may experience backlash from the more rigid members of the Muslim community.

The words of Nihad Awad from the Council on American-Islamic Relations on standing shoulder to shoulder with the LGBT community are historical. Equally historical is the marching of straight Muslims including Zarqa Nawaz, creator of the Little Mosque on the Prairie, in the Regina Pride Parade. Likewise, the Muslim, LGBT and those at the intersection, the LGBT Muslim community gathered for Iftar dinner in Toronto and signed a joint statement against discrimination and oppression in all its ugly forms.

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However, Shawn Ahmed, a gay Muslim in Toronto, wrote in the University of Toronto Magazine that he is "terrified of the Muslim community." He mentioned how Muslims "with the homophobia in their hearts and on their lips" lead LGBTQ Muslims to self-hatred and eventual suicides. Harrowingly, he expressed that simply for condemning the Orlando gay bar shooting, he received a torrent of hate messages from Muslims across the world. He quoted some messages as follows:

"I'm sad you weren't in the club in Orlando," one man wrote in a tweet, adding at the end "Have a nice day" with a smiley. "Please get hit by a bus," another said. "I'll be among those to stone you to death," one Muslim tweeted. "Please prepare for hell," warned another politely.

His concerns are a source of alarm, especially when groups like the Muslim Association of Canada, one of Canada's largest Muslim groups, neither signed the joint statement against homophobia and transphobia, nor did they respond to repeated requests for comments in Toronto.

No wonder, Shabir Ally, Imam of the Islamic Information & Dawah Centre International on Bloor, who signed the joint statement, expressed if "we've helped create or foster an atmosphere where these issues aren't openly discussed."

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The challenges of getting the Muslim and the LGBT communities are even greater outside Canada. In Ireland, a Muslim Shaykh had to defend his decision to reach out to the LGBT community from young Muslim critics. He is reported to have said:

"When in Ramadan we open our doors for those who commit Kufr [non-belief] and Shirk [idolatry], why can we not open our doors for those who commit Fisq [sin]?"

It is deeply condescending and spiritually stingy to meet another community and our own brothers and sisters by treating them as disgraceful sinners. That is not how we reach out to others to build community, as it simply becomes an exercise in supremacist domination. How would Muslims feel if others reached out to them as terrorists who must be saved from their own selves?

It is unfortunate to note rampant homophobia amongst some young Muslim circles. It is equally disconcerting to note how it hampers the work of straight Muslim leaders, who are going against the grain of deeply entrenched heterosexism to reach out to fellow human beings.

Straight Muslim allies may experience severe backlash from the same people, who often threaten LGBT Muslims with threats of eternal punishments. One straight Muslim ally, Ayman Fadel, wrote:

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"When Muslims of any sexual orientation question existing religious prohibitions against same-gender marriage and same-gender sexual relations, some Muslims respond as if discussing the issue beyond noting opinions recorded hundreds of years ago is itself an act of disbelief. We affirm that religious teachings on marriage and sex must address contemporary ideas of gender equality and consent to remain relevant."

However, such allies will find powerful scholarship, geared towards both Muslim professionals and religious leaders, to aid them in their stand to affirm the legitimate human need for affection, intimacy and companionship of their LGBT Muslim brothers and sisters.

Through such scholarship, they will find how past scholars stood strongly against charges of fisq (disobedience) and kufr (disbelief). The 11th century scholar Ibn Hazm claimed that Muslims cannot be charged with kufr or fisq on dogmatic or juridical issues. Subsequently, al-Ghazali opined that except for belief in Allah, His Messenger and Judgment day, charges of kufr cannot be imputed. The 19th century jurist Ibn Abidin even opined that claiming the permissibility of liwat (anal intercourse) with male slaves did not necessitate kufr.

Straight Muslim allies may take comfort in the words of Dr. Hashim Kamali, who wrote in his book, Freedom of Expression in Islam:

" ... the quest for truth must be maintained even in the face of hostility from the masses. For these people may be uninformed, and may themselves be in need of enlightenment."

It has taken 49 precious and beautiful lives to bring us to the point where we can comprehensively address the concerns of LGBT Muslims. This is not the time to slow down or be cowed down by spiritual bullying.

Many LGBT Muslim activists experience bigotry not only from their faith-based families but also from bigots within the LGBT community. A statement from Imaan, the U.K based queer support group, reads:

"Because we find ourselves at the intersection of faith, gender and sexuality, we face daily abuse from Islamophobes, homophobes and transphobes alike."

As such, the following LGBT Muslim leaders and friends, who know what it means to stand tall against bullies, stand shoulder to shoulder with straight Muslim allies with the hope that they will not be coerced to silence.

Dr. Adis Duderija, University of Melbourne

Shahla Khan Salter, Director, Universalist Muslims

Frank Parmir, Director, Muslims for Progressive Values, Columbus, Ohio

Renee Mercuri, Toronto

Michael Aslanes, Denmark

Judy Hageman, Edmonton

Gary Simpson, Edmonton

Evelyn Hamdon, Edmonton

Owais Siddiqui, Edmonton

Netta Phillet, Edmonton

Shayma Johnson, Strathmore

Ayman Fadel, U.S.

Amal Rachelle Syed, U.S.

Nakia Jackson, U.S.

Ameena Meer, New York

Hadi Hussain, Pakistan

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I remember attending this one party back in university with Ian Lynch and few of our mutual friends from Frosh week.

It's memorable because Ian's mom had taken the time to handwrite a note, in which she detailed her son's telephone number and address. She neatly placed the note in his windbreaker pocket, just in case it got lost that night. Or perhaps more likely, in case Ian got lost.

Either way, after a few drinks, Ian pulled the note out from his pocket and began to read from it.

"To whomever this concerns," read Ian, laughing. "Please note that my son lives at..."

It served as perfect comedic fodder.

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We all laughed along with him. And why wouldn't we? It's was hilarious to us that his mom had Ian pegged so perfectly.

Since then, I've attended many other events with Ian. Not much has changed, he continues to be the life of the party: funny, smart, charming, and always up for a laugh.

So when I heard that Ian was taking part in a new comedic web series called Gratuitous Behaviour, I couldn't resist the opportunity to catch up with him and talk about it.

MM: Gratuitous Behaviour is about love, sex, and debauchery. Do I have that right? If so, then what got you interested in the script?

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IL: The script was written by an old friend named Dana Robert Taylor. We've been friends since high school and waited tables together for years. The fact that this script is about waiters appealed so much to me. I've worked many places but I can truly say the most interesting and talented people I've ever met have all been servers or bartenders. I loved the script because it told the other side of the story. So many shows have characters eating in restaurants this show tells the story of the people who are usually in the background.

MM: You play the character of Wes Greene, a waiter with a penchant for white wine and hot gossip. I'm curious, is this character really just you?

IL: I'm more of a beer guy and I do enjoy gossip but only if it's funny. Wes is more refined than I am. Wes wants to be a part of a group in society that he's not whereas I think I created my own group. But there are parts that remind me of myself. The way he's loud and likes to be the center of attention at work -- that's all me.

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MM: Having worked in the service industry before, if you could change one thing about it, what would it be? Would you want people to tip before the meal so you know how to treat them, as Avery suggests in the first episode?

IL: There's a special spot in hell for people who don't tip. I tip everyone -- at Tim Hortons, the hot dog stand, the dog grooming shop. I think it comes from having served for so long. I could usually tell a good tipper from the moment I went over to the table - -but was sometimes surprised. If I could change anything about the serving industry I would make it so servers have benefits and are entitled to paid sick days.

MM: Having spent an evening on the set (full disclosure, I was an extra in one scene), I was really taken back by the high level of production value that went into Gratuitous Behaviour. Can you talk about how you and the rest of the crew managed to pull everything off?

IL: I still don't know how our amazing crew pulled that off! The crew was led by the incredible Liz May (producer) and R Stephenson Price (director). We shot the entire season in four days -- an average of 18 script pages per day "officially," and unofficially closer to 36 since we shot the entire script at least twice for both sides of the webcam conversation. It was an unbelievably epic achievement.

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MM: The first series of Gratuitous Behaviour will be released each Wednesday on YouTube for the next five weeks. After that, what are the plans for the series?

IL: We made the first season as a calling card for the series. The sky is the limit and we do have plans for a second season pending financing.
bert_phantana via Getty Images man inhale hookah

Written by Alexis Dobranowski, a Communications Advisor at Sunnybrook.

I've noticed some posters inside Toronto-area bars and restaurant washrooms lately with an image of a hookah pipe and the words "Smoking is smoking."

A hookah is a waterpipe that is used to smoke flavoured tobacoo or non-tobacco products. This year, the province's Smoke-Free Ontario Act extended to ban hookah smoking in licenced bars and restaurants.

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I've heard before that smoking hookah is fine for your health and not at all like smoking cigarettes.

To set the record straight and find out how hookah smoking can affect our health, I spoke to Bonnie Bristow, a Sunnybrook radiation therapist and leader on the Smoking Cessation Team.

Hookah uses flavoured tobacco that contains nicotine, which is the addictive substance.

"Hookah smoke is just as dangerous as cigarette smoke," Bonnie said. "In a one-hour hookah session, the user is exposed to 100 to 200 times the volume of smoke inhaled from a single cigarette."

This smoke contains cancer-causing substances just like cigarette smoke, she said. And hookah smoke contains higher levels of arsenic, lead, and nickel than a single cigarette and 72 times more tar. "A one-hour hookah session can expose the smoker to the same amount of tar and nicotine as one pack of cigarettes."

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Hookah uses flavoured tobacco that contains nicotine, which is the addictive substance. Even herbal-based shisha, which doesn't include tobacco, produces second-hand smoke that is still harmful.

Hookah smoking has been significantly associated with low birth weight, periodontal disease, significant drop in oxygen consumption, cancer, respiratory illness and cardiac disease.

A common misconception, Bonnie said, is that the water in the pipe filters the tobacco and makes it safe to smoke.

"It was invented in the 16th century in India by a physician who thought smoke would be filtered through the water and not be harmful," she explained. "Today we now know that the water cools the smoke but does not filter out the toxins. Water-filtered smoke can damage the heart and lungs. Hookah use is related to a higher level of benzene, a chemical that has been linked to leukemia."

There is more social acceptance surrounding the hookah, particularly in some parts of the world where teens and even children sometimes smoke at home with their parents, Bonnie said. However, most countries in the Middle East have now banned indoor hookah smoking.

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While more than 80 per cent of the people who smokes cigarettes say would like to quit, less than 30 per cent of those who smoke hookah would like to quit. Bonnie said the belief that hookah is safe and not addictive might lead to that number.

"But the nicotine contained is more than in a cigarette causing higher and faster dependence," she said.

For those who'd like to quit, counselling and motivational interviewing to increase the desire to quit can be helpful.

"Nicotine replacement therapy and other smoking cessation medications can be helpful," she said. "There are ongoing trials to determine the best method for this. Also, removing yourself from the triggers such as social settings with hookahs in them can help too."

"People need to realize the false advertising of the safety of hookah compared with cigarette smoking," Bonnie said. "Both are bad for you."

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Need help to quit smoking? Visit quitnow.ca

Get more wellness information from Sunnybrook experts at health.sunnybrook.ca

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The five things you need to know on Monday July 4, 2016

1) ONE MORE FOR THE KIPPER

Nigel Farage has a speech at 10am on the future of UKIP (yes, it's Independence Day). But one big question will be whether he gives any nod or wink that he is backing Andrea Leadsom. Arron Banks, Farages millionaire backer, certainly has thrown the full weight of his leave.eu campaign behind the energy minister.

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And lots of Kippers like Leadsom for her get on with it approach, particularly her pledge on Marr yesterday to trigger Article 50 as soon as she becomes PM i.e. September. Goves timetable on Friday was merely no later than the end of the calendar year, but May says 2017 at the earliest.

Plenty of Tories also like Banks frank admission that Leadsom would be bad news for UKIPs own interests, as she could effectively remove any reason for UKIP to exist. In fact, UKIP will continue to act as more of a threat in Labour areas, where there is a demand for concrete action on migrants who undercut wages and take jobs. Still, the Govers - and Maybelievers - are pointing to Leadsom saying as recently as 2013 that Brexit would be a disaster for the economy.

Leadsom came across well on Marr yesterday, refreshingly honest and normal when asked questions. She sounded like what she is, a grown up, one Tory MP told me. When asked by Marr if shed consider Farage as a part of her negotiating team for Brexit, she didnt do what most politicians would have done and ruled it out straight away, on the grounds that Farage is not an MP never mind a member of the Government. Instead she said: I dont want to get into who would do what.

The Tory-Kipper alliance that grew on the ground (Vote Leave staffers were 60-40 Con-UKIP) is still strong and maybe she wants to keep it going. Asked if UKIP and the Tories were now touching fingers, Leadsom said she was delighted by the wide range of support. The Times has a corking quote from David Jones, a May backer: There is no doubt that elements of Ukip are intending to try to steal a Conservative leadership election.

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What wont help May among the Eurosceps is the suggestion from backer Philip Hammond that there has to be some sort of trade off between freedom of movement and single market access.

2) TAKING THE MICHAEL

Both Boris Johnson and Michael Gove seem to be destined for ridicule, despite the latters hopes that he can build enough numbers when the Tory leadership race is whittled down from five to two candidates tomorrow.

Boriss Telegraph article laments the lack of a clear statement of basic truths and a plan for Brexit. He has a five-point plan. All of which seems a week too late, given Gove dumped him so unceremoniously last week in part for the confusion over what a Boris premiership would look like.

The bad blood about Goves betrayal is still flowing out of the slashed veins of the body politic. Boriss close ally Ben Wallace writes in the Telegraph that Gove cannot be trusted to be prime minister because he has an emotional need to gossip, particularly when drink is taken, as it all too often seemed to be. He has a pop at Goves wife Sarah Vine and his closeness to newspapers (with a hint about the Queens conversations on the EU). UK citizens deserve to know that when they go to sleep at night their secrets and their nation's secrets aren't shared in the newspaper column of the prime minister's wife the next day, or traded away with newspaper proprietors over fine wine. Blimey.

Gove certainly got a proper going over on Marr, where he was accused of being a political serial killer, and Rachel Johnsons MoS piece was scathing about the political psychopath and Westminster suicide bomber for the most egregious reverse ferret and act of treachery in modern political history.

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Boris meanwhile attacks the hysteria of the Remainers, a contagious mourning of the kind that I remember in 1997 after the death of the Princess of Wales. Which is a curious line given that one of his best friends is Dianas brother.

Today, the real game in town is whether Gove or Leadsom can come out with some public names to show momentum for their campaigns to face off against May. What a strange old world it would be if after the Boris-Gove alpha-beta male show, it was the two women - neither of whom has spent much time drinking or plotting with fellow MPs - who ended up in the ballot of members.

3) CUTTING OUT THE CORBS

The Icelanders are out of the Euros, but the longest running saga in Westminster seems to be the plot against Jeremy Corbyn. Allies of the leader deride the latest hesitation by Angela Eagle as proof that the plotters are mired in confusion.

Theres more talk of a negotiated settlement between Corbyn and his MPs, and the Guardian picks up the talk among leftwing members of the Shadow Cabinet who think there may be a deal that sees Corbyn take a chairman role in return for guarantees his anti-austerity platform is secured. Still, none of the options seem to involve Corbyn quitting as leader, one ally told me.

But its the brokered settlement between Owen Smith and Angela Eagle that is perhaps more pressing. And we may see some action today, at least of a preliminary form. Im told that Smith now has over 70 names, more than Eagle some say, and that a significant number have switched from the Shadow Business Secretary to the Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary. With Chilcot looming, Smith not having voted for the Iraq war is seen as a strong card for him.

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Im told there could be a move by both to go to Shadow Chief Whip Rosie Winterton with their respective lists as early as today. The one with the higher number could get the others approval to go forward as the unity anti-Corbyn candidate. There was talk of a hustings between the pair of them but that was quickly ruled out.

John McDonnell toured the breakfast sofas this morning. He told GMB: I don't think there is going to be a party split. The most important thing is for us to have a conversation. The Shadow Chancellor blogs for HuffPost today on something thats getting missed amid the Tory leadership fireworks: Osborne has abandoned his deficit timetable. In the FT, Osborne calls for a cut in corporation tax, though its unclear how a cash-strapped nation would afford it (unless hes suggesting it would be self-financing, like the 45p tax cut?).

Corbyn will appear before the Home Affairs Select Committee today to answer questions on alleged anti-Semitism in the Labour party. One critic told me last night it would be awful viewing.

BECAUSE YOUVE READ THIS FAR

Watch this husband surprise his wife at her last chemo session, with 500 roses..

4) DEPORTATION ORDER

As I wrote last week, David Camerons strong words condemning the spike in racist violence post-Brexit would have more force if he actually made clear that no EU citizen can be sent back to their home country - and Brexit only applies to new incomers. It was the PM who said on the steps of No10 that there would be no immediate changes to the status of those already living here.

This was a point made in a joint letter to the Sunday Tel yesterday, with leading Leavers such as Dan Hannan, Douglas Carswell (Vote Leave made a commitment that changes would only affect new migrants, not existing ones) joining Yvette Cooper and Frances OGrady and others to demand those already settled in the UK should be made welcome.

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Theresa May stuck by the Cameron line on Peston yesterday, saying there is no change to their position currently, with currently being the operative word. As part of the negotiations we will need to look at this question of people who are here in the UK from the EU. She added: nobody necessarily stays anywhere forever. And Philip Hammond, a backer of May, this morning said it would be absurd" to guarantee EU migrants right to remain in UK ahead of negotiations.

But Stephen Crabb has spotted an opening here for his compassionate Conservatism. He tweeted I would allow EU citizens already in UK to continue their lives here, and expect same for Brits in EU. People are not bargaining chips.

Labours Angela Rayner has blogged for us on the need for a strong cross-party message on post-Brexit racist attacks.

5) INDEFINITE ARTICLE

Remainers are so desperate these days that they will cling onto any glimmer of hope that Brexit can be overturned, or at least delayed until the cavalry arrives in the shape of a new Government. All the Tory leadership contenders have ruled out a snap general election (though if Corbyn remains, Im told we shouldnt rule out the Tories going for it next May to kill Labour in northern seats).

So whats left seems to be The Law. And with the law around Article 50 of the European Treaty untested, theres a legal challenge in the offing. In a nutshell, its claimed that no Prime Minister can trigger the formal process for Brexit without first getting a new Act of Parliament passed in the Commons and Lords.

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Mishcon de Reyas press notice yesterday certainly caused a stir. The unnamed businesses - and academics - behind the legal challenge may well be named soon (not least as Government lawyers know who they are). Various Brexit lawyers say the legal challenge is groundless.

But note that Eurosceps like Lord Lawson actually want an Act of Parliament before Christmas to ensure no backsliding. Leadsom is also winning the arms race on Article 50, winning over MPs with her September trigger date, as opposed to Goves end of the calendar year and Mays not this year pledges.

Oh, and Nick Clegg has called for a general election before Article 50 is triggered.

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Bangladesh has faced a terrible terrorist attack on the first day of July in Dhaka city. A group of seven men stormed into an upmarket artisan cafe and butchered twenty people to death. In the ensuing gun battle between the terrorists and the security services, two police officers were killed and six out of the seven terrorists were shot dead. This was a dreadful act of barbarity and savagery perpetrated, again, in the name of Islam with responsibility claimed by the criminals of DAESH (ISIS). They have posted on the Internet the gruesome pictures of the killings of foreigners, whose throats were slit by the savages. The scale of the attack was unprecedented and threatens to take Bangladesh down an unanticipated route of destiny very different to that planned by the country's political elite.

What is most disturbing about this attack is that it happened during the most sacred days of Ramadan - around the 27th night of Ramadan when most genuine Muslims around the world are immersed in worshipping God, seeking God's forgiveness, grace and salvation and imploring peace and stability for the world. At a time when world peace is at the forefront of every genuine Muslim, these savages carried out the most barbaric attack on innocent people simply because their victims were not Muslim. Their sick mind and heinous acts are in total contradiction to Islam in general but against the spirit of Ramadan - a month of mercy and forgiveness. Every true Muslim apart from the abominations of DAESH would tell you that.

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While there is no doubt in the hearts and mind of genuine Muslims about the unislamic nature of these acts, it cannot be denied that this atrocity has been perpetrated by some fanatical Muslims and in the name of Islam. I am afraid the spotlight falls, yet again, sharply on Muslims and Islam. Let me make it clear though that I do not need to apologise for their behaviour, just as no Christian is expected to apologise for the behaviour of Klu Klux Klan.

In the case of Bangladesh something more menacing has been gripping the country and terrorising its ordinary citizens for the past few years. Only recently, at the order of the current Prime Minister Hasina, more than 14000 people have been arrested and put behind bars for alleged links and connections to terrorist organisations. Even after the mass incarceration of such a large number of people could not have been prevented the terror attack on July 1, 2016. The reason is blatantly obvious - those who have been arrested are mainly innocent people and members of the opposition political parties. The real terrorists remain free and roaming the streets of Bangladesh.

Despite all the state sponsored public relations (PR) exercises and carefully choreographed briefings of the foreign press, the real terrorists have not yet been unmasked, for they are the current governing party and the security agencies of Bangladesh. The Bangladeshi media are also part of the grand corrupt alliance of crook and criminals, their true motive is to loot Bangladesh of its natural resources and amass as much personal fortune as possible. This regime and its cronies have their snout in the troughs of every corrupt pot of Bangladeshi politics. Government stooges own the media agencies and only report in favour of the governing party. Islam has been brutally suppressed in Bangladesh in broad day light by the secular fundamentalists and fascist political elite utilising the power of the police, army, rapid action brigade (RAB) and other security agencies; the media machine remains complicit and deathly silent on such matters.

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The country has witnessed an unprecedented level of violence at every level - from the current governing party's street gangs who wield weapons of war to members of the opposition parties who riot increasingly, from the security services grotesque brutality to vigilante mafia style atrocities, and from even the Prime Minister's own blood curdling vindictive and systematic destruction of the opposition parties to the judiciary's unlawful execution of innocent people. There have been shockingly brutal attacks against secular bloggers by some religious bigots as the bloggers hide behind the protective layers of the state security apparatus, spreading hatred, insults and mockery against the religious sentiments of the 90% of the population. Sadly, the cycle of violence and counter violence thus continues in Bangladesh.

Inevitable, the result is total and utter pandemonium in the country. A nation of 170 million Muslims, the second largest Muslim population on Earth yet its ruling elite brutally supresses any religious, social or political movement from taking part in the public life of Bangladesh. Unfortunately the consequences of such injustice are all too predictable. DEASH was created and proliferated in Iraq after an illegal occupation by the West and after a genocide of 300,000 Syrian civilians that had been witnessed by an international community that failed to respond adequately. DAESH and other more mutant and virulent terrorist groups sprung up in the Middle East when the hope of the Arab spring was extinguished by the military junta at the behest of Western powers who feared the ascendancy of political parties that espoused Islamic values.

History attests to the severe consequences that follow any suppression of a democracy and civil liberties; the consequences always follow just as night follows day. The current Bangladeshi government justifies its hold on to power using a bogus mandate it claims to have received from a recent farcical election, where it took more than half the parliamentary seats without a single vote cast by the local electorate; and it further excuses its grip on Bangladesh through abuse of power as well as the patronage it receives from neighbouring Indian government.

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It uses the security apparatus to arbitrarily arrest people and carry out brutal torture in custody that leaves many permanently maimed and disabled for life. It makes people disappear through kidnap and many of their dead bodies are found scattered in different parts of the country. There have been cases where the police forces have been found to have run systematically organised criminal syndicates that blackmail local people and rob them of their hard earned money. Judicial blackmailing is almost considered normal. State administrative staff and civil servants make regular demands for money from the poor and openly accept bribes. Life is made extremely difficult for those not complying with their corruption.

It is unnatural to expect a Muslim majority country to be ruled by secular fundamentalists who not only brutalise religious political groups but also shun religion altogether, with no attempts made at all to consider the religious sensitivities of the populations they govern. And all the while the devout Muslim majority is expected submit to the whims of these fascist regimes. Sadly Bangladesh is yet another example of how such a scenario is failing humanity. What Muslim nations around the world need is freedom and fair democratic elections. They need to determine their own future without anyone from the West or East interfering in their affairs.

Of course terrorism is wrong and violence is evil, of course double standard is totally unacceptable and fascism is criminal, we all agree with these lofty slogans! However, the real challenge is to be true, fair and consistent in our demands for change and reform. For, so long as Bangladesh remains in the cycle of state sponsored violence, executions, religious suppression, deprivations of basic civil liberties, subversions of the rule of law and systematic destruction of multi-party democracy, it will never see peace and prosperity. Bangladesh needs to be freed from the political elite who consider the nation as their personal fiefdom giving scant regard to the concerns and basic needs of the masses.
Preparation.

Make sure you book, not only the morning but the next night, the day after and the previous three weeks off. This is the amount of time you will need to be nice to your dog as you will be sharing its house for at least the next 48 hours.

If by chance you stumble into your bed at the end of the night, you are bound to be met with a cold shoulder, a "Bloody hell what time do you call this?" and "You stink, you've been smoking haven't you?'. Make sure you steel yourself against this by heading straight to the spare room.

Don't get this mixed up, and definitively not with the kids' bedroom. God forbid you accidentally wake them up by stumbling in their room up and they start crying. Your significant other will greet you in the same manner as if you have just admitted to being Jimmy Saville's wingman.

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OOTD (That is youth speak for Outfit Of The Day)

It doesn't matter what you are wearing because you are going "OUT OUT! Not just OUT! Just settle for the universal dad uniform of smart work jacket, jeans and a shirt. Everyone else will and you will feel left out if you don't.

Knowing One's Limitations

The more pint's you down the more trips to the loo you are going to need. You hit 40 and your bladder shrinks, a medical fact. Gents toilets, especially in busy weekend pubs are rancid hell-holes. Don't go unless you really have no choice.

Company

Keep it old school with proper mates, not workmates or NCT buddies or anyone that will fold under questioning. Also, anyone born after 1980 is automatically barred for fear of ruining the inevitable drunken "Do you remember?"conversations.

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You can't get more old school than hanging round with Roland from Grange Hill

The General Public

The majority of the general public are knobheads, especially when drunk. The older you get, the more your tolerance levels rapidly diminishes. Consider that you will be doing a lot of tutting.

Tutting about how stupid most blokes around you look, with their beards and skinny jeans and most importantly tutting about how skimpy/glam/slutty the women look.

Alongside this, you will, of course, continue bragging about how many of them you could still "pull" if you actually wanted to, which you don't. Obviously, you are not going to, because deep down inside they terrify you but male ego and social convention won't let that compute.

'The Club'

You will spend at least 2 hours convincing everybody that you should go to a club. Don't; just try and find a half reasonable pub with a late licence and somewhere you might be able to have a sit-down and not subject the world to your dad dancing.

The Music

You will spend 60% of the night arguing with your mates that everything is shit since the Stone Roses split, asking why is the DJ is using a laptop rather than vinyl?' and listing the reasons that Simon Cowell should put on trial in the Hague for crimes against humanity.

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However, no matter how bad the music gets it is unacceptable to ask them to turn it down, so you should just start smoking again just to hang outside where it's slightly quieter.

Time to Go Home?

Never, "Who's round is it?" Inside you are screaming for a cuppa, but you're in the process of telling your best mate just how much of a massive cock he is for wanting to go home. This means you can't bale out for fear of losing face.

Time to Go Home

You've lost track of whose round it is. Seen your mate try to put his best moves to, the table full of twenty-somethings sitting opposite, only to be so hideously burned that he needs a skin graft to patch up his wounded pride.

Time for the Jeremy Kyle Green Room that is the cab rank. The place where dodgy kebabs, regrettable one-night stands, the "You staring at my" punch up's and cheap perfume go to die.

If the God's are with you, you might somehow manage to get home, not slam the front door, trip up over one of the kids' roller skates and wake them up...

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The Next Day

Get Dignitas on speed dial, because you will feel so bad you will want to end it after constantly having to say "Oh did I?Sorry about that it won't happen again". "It was (insert best mate's name) fault you know what he's like" and "I know you never liked him" and "I won't see him again".
Therapy is about reducing suffering, right? Living a fuller life? Not according to current moves to place employment as a central aim of therapy. How come this move is so damaging? Why will so many of us activists and therapists be protesting outside the New Savoy conference on Tuesday, the conference that hopes to set the agenda for the next wave of mental health reform?

In recent years, the government has started to use psychology to get people off benefits, and back to work. In 2006 an economist, Lord Layard, published The Depression Report, an attempt to justify a new wave of therapy for the masses through cost-benefit analysis, the argument the government would actually save money in the long term. Though in many ways a brilliant strategic move, the coupling of saving money with mental health outcomes has become acceptable in a way we would not see with, for example, cancer treatment. We do not, would not, hear that chemotherapy is worth funding because it helps the public purse through getting people back to work. The emphasis is rather on quality of life and the reduction of suffering, precisely the kind of outcomes mental health service users are most interested in. Yet these ideas are not challenged in mental health because of the ongoing link between mental distress and moral failure, or failure to have sufficient willpower.

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In 2010, the government began to introduce a new wave of policies for benefits claimants, including those with disabilities. These are based on a psychological principle called behaviourism - punish people who don't do what you want, and give rewards to people who do. This carrot and stick policy took the form of taking benefits away from people who didn't or couldn't meet the government's requirements that the disabled should be work-ready, with a positive, psychological mindset.

The disabled began to report threats, explicit and implicit, that they would be sanctioned if they didn't go along to therapy to change their mindsets, or take courses based on cognitive-behavioural principles to gain the appropriate attitude. There is little choice here for benefits recipients, who would lose their means to eat, to have a roof over their head, if they didn't comply. It is difficult to emphasise enough how maddening this is. It is like being forced to act as if "everything is awesome" when the actual situation is one where there are few jobs, and where the jobs that are available are often deeply damaging based on inhumane practices such as zero-hours contracts and dire working conditions.

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As a result, partially, of our protests, the therapy umbrella organisations have promised to ensure that benefits recipients will have a choice of whether to start a therapy, free from risk of sanction. Yet we will carry on with our protest on Tuesday, for the reassurances neglect a core psychological truth. Our sense of ourselves and our worth is constantly being re-evaluated and shaped by the messages that we receive in our environment. The new emphasis on work as a treatment for mental health problems seen in 2009's Rand Report, and present in pilots across the country, places benefit recipients in an environment where work is constructed as an Ideal, the aim of a productive life. This chips away at the value of other activities, such as voluntary work, which are often more realistic for those with mental health problems, where capacity often fluctuates on a day-to-day basis. But more, it carries with it an insidious message that worklessness is worthlessness.

Denying the inability of many to work, and the lack of meaningful jobs, places the fault within the individual, who is likely to experience an exacerbation of despair, anxiety and depression. The drip, drip, drip of psychological ideas of causality here - so-called psychocentrism - is unlikely even to save money as it is one reason behind the massive surge of mental illness in the UK. If we feel the problem is in our head, we are unlikely to pursue the political action needed to effect change.

This new ideology not only compounds a culture of blame where the individual feels at fault, but allows politicians to present themselves as providing the answer, rather than part causing the problem. This is a deeply political act in a time when even a mainstream psychiatrist would privilege solving housing, employment and legal problems over traditional treatment.

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The casualties of this new ideology are unlikely to find room to talk elsewhere, free from the pernicious, shaping messages that employment is the only real health outcome of worth. For plunging much-needed therapy money into these projects will inevitably take it away from therapy services located where they should be - in organisations where the goals of therapy can freely be decided by the person who really matters, the person suffering.
The real immigration problem is not migration from the EU but from outside the EU, over which the UK has had complete control all along, but which has soared out of control nevertheless. How did this come about? And how can the problem be solved?

Migration "Free-For-All"

Net migration into Britain has soared from 196,000 in 2009 (just before David Cameron took office) to 330,000 in 2015. Both sides in the EU referendum campaign blamed the EU for this escalation. It is certainly true that, with very few exceptions, EU citizens have a right to enter, live and work in any EU member state and that the British Government, in common with the governments of all other EU member states, has very little control over migration from the EU.

In his swansong at the EU Summit Conference in Brussels just after the Brexit vote, David Cameron himself specifically blamed the EU freedom of movement rules for the defeat of the "Remain" campaign, which he had championed. Similarly, Michael Gove, a "Brexiteer" and one of the leading contenders to succeed David Cameron as Prime Minister, has opined that Britain has to leave the EU to avoid a migration "free-for-all".

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Misses the Point

This misses the point, because migration from the EU accounts for less than half of the net migration figure of 330,000 for 2015 -- 184,000 as against 188,000 from outside the EU. And this figure of 188,000 is only slightly less than the 196,000 total net migration figure from inside and outside the EU together in 2009!

One major difference between these two groups of migrants is their pressure on the welfare system. In 2014, no fewer than 264,000 non-EU migrants were paid benefits (mostly out-of work benefits) by the Department of Work & Pensions, as against only 131,000 EU nationals -- less than half the number of non-EU claimants.

Prior to the EU referendum David Cameron made a song and dance about restricting EU migrants' access to welfare, which is a non-problem The real problem is the number of welfare claimants from outside the EU - a problem which could easily have been solved simply by restricting the number of non-EU migrants from entering the UK in the first place.

No Excuse

Why has this not been done? There is absolutely no excuse. The UK has always had complete control over non-EU migration. Immigration is dealt with by the Home Office, and Theresa May, a leading contender to succeed David Cameron as Prime Minister, has been Home Secretary since 2010. Yet as early as November 2011 it was revealed that border controls on people entering Britain had been relaxed over a four-month period, including the abandonment of fingerprint checks on some visa-holders from outside Europe. Theresa May denied authorizing this and blamed Brodie Clark, the head of the Border Force. (BBC, 20 February 2012). He was suspended, resigned and claimed constructive dismissal. He subsequently received a settlement payment of 225,000 with no admission of liability or wrongdoing on either side. (UK Border Agency Annual Report & Accounts 2011-12, p. 33). Whatever the truth of the allegations on either side, this whole sorry saga appears to have been linked to the planned axing of 5,000 jobs from the UK Border Agency (out of a total of only 24,000 spread over 130 countries). This may well not have been the Home Secretary's idea, but how could it even have been contemplated by a government committed to bringing migration down to the "tens of thousands"?

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Abu Qatada

In her candidacy announcement on 30 June 2016, Theresa May boasted: "[Y]ou can judge me by my record." Adding: "I was told I couldn't deport Abu Qatada, but I flew to Jordan and negotiated the treaty that got him out of Britain for good." In fact, in 2009, before Theresa May's time in office, a unanimous House of Lords (the then highest UK court) ruled that Abu Qatada could be deported to Jordan. Abu Qatada took his case to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, which found in his favour. In 2012 he appealed again to the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC), which also found in his favour. Theresa May refused to revoke the deportation order, but the barrister representing the British Government still conceded in court that the Government's decision letter "was expressly drafted on the basis of the judgment of the Strasbourg Court and by reference to the test laid down by it" - the very test that the House of Lords had rejected as wrong! In 2013 the Home Secretary appealed unsuccessfully to the Court of Appeal - completely ignoring the 2009 decision of the House of Lords, which might have been thought to have settled the matter once and for all. Theresa May's "triumph" in flying to Jordan and finally getting Abu Qatada deported is therefore far less of an achievement than she would have us believe. How could two further appeals have been allowed after the House of Lords had decisively ruled that Abu Qatada could be deported? This kowtowing to politically correct British judges (to whom the 2009 House of Lords was a refreshing exception) and a failure to fix the dysfunctional British court structure will defeat any attempt to solve the immigration problem after Brexit and very likely also place British security at risk. (See Arnheim, The Problem with Human Rights Law, Civitas, 2015).

Illegal Immigration

And what about illegal immigration? This is undoubtedly the most serious migration problem of all, not only because it places UK health, social services, housing and education facilities under pressure, but also because it poses a potential security risk, allowing terrorists to enter unnoticed. A London School of Economics research team estimated in 2009 that there were between 417,000 and 863,000 illegal migrants in Britain, including between 44,0000 and 144,000 UK-born children. The number is undoubtedly even higher now.

What is being done about this problem? In 2015 the Government announced that landlords would have the obligation of checking the immigration status of tenants, subject to criminal prosecution if they knowingly or unknowingly offered accommodation to illegal immigrants - an indefensible passing of the buck by a government that has done nothing to tackle this serious problem itself.

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Throw Passport Away

Illegal migrants have become aware, even from government sponsored TV programmes, that if they throw away their passports and other identity documents they cannot be deported! There is no law to this effect, but the Government continues to act on this assumption anyway.

Nullifying the Dublin Convention

The Government has also nullified the potentially valuable Dublin Convention, which says that illegals can be deported back to the first "safe" country they reach. When asked about this in Parliament, Home Office minister Richard Harrington lamely remarked: "I accept under the Dublin Convention they can be deported back to the country that they came from, but I think most people would accept that's no answer." Really? Why not?

The Dublin Convention is part of EU law - and a part that particularly protects a member state like Britain which is far from the outer periphery of the EU. David Cameron understands this and spoke out strongly in favour of Dublin in January 2016 when it was under threat of repeal. But, having failed to take advantage of it as an EU member state, Britain will not be able to avail itself of it after Brexit, even if it wants to.
Who decides when I'm too old? No-one, so mind your own business!

Would you ever have surgery to hide how old you were, possibly to keep your job? Despite working in the beauty industry, it had never occurred to me that I might be judged on my abilities and effectiveness in doing my job based on my age.

Susan Sarandon, in her role as the 'face' of L'Oreal Paris

So I was shocked to read the Telegraph's Leah Hardy's recent expose: 'would you have a nip tuck to keep your job' which highlighted the toxic effects of ageism on women's attitudes to their appearance when at work.

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Despite offering evidence suggesting that our brains don't slow down until we are seventy plus, she revealed that women in their forties are turning to surgical intervention and lying on their CV's to stop themselves facing prejudice and demotion in the workforce.

She went on to talk to a number of 'ageless' women, whose aim is to look like they could be anything from 35 - 50, who deliberately 'blur' the years to avoid detection as an older woman for as long as possible.

That this prejudice exists is supported by a study by Kent University, for Age Concern, which showed that a third of the people not in work in this country were between the ages of 50 and retiring age. Women aged 55+ were found to be twice as likely to suffer age discrimination.

Whilst our mantra at Studio 10, the brand I founded specifically for 35-plus women, is all about ageless beauty, this is meant as a celebration of the beauty in every age. Not hiding your age as a form of self-protection from discrimination.

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Whether we like it or not, there is an exception around women, how they look and their age. I'll never forget reading a 'hilarious' anecdote from Charlotte Metcalf on High50.

Her friend was on a date with a man in his seventies, who delightedly confessed to knocking a few years off the calendar. He thought this was oh-so-clever of himself, but was horrified when she confessed to being just three years older as well - 51 instead of 48.

He instantly ended the date.

And therein lies the rub. No matter what we do, someone somewhere is going to make a judgement on how we age. Get surgery and you're lying. Don't and you're past it. Is it really that surprising that women resort to such measures; even though they shouldn't have to?

Personally, I'm not anti-surgery in the slightest little bit; as I confirmed in a recent piece for beauty blog 'Really Ree'. I believe that if you look in the mirror and feel that some Botox or a 'nip and tuck' is for you, makes you feel confident and proud, go for it.

I don't want you or any other woman (myself included) to feel that we 'had' to though.

There's such pressure to remain and look 'forever young' which leaves women miserable, confused and held-back.

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Why can't we take the Japanese approach? They respect their elders and, as a result, their elders suffer far less from not just emotional and psychological effects of ageing, but also physical such as Alzheimers.

It's an interesting paradox, that being valued, not being critiqued keeps them younger for longer.

When it comes to getting older, I sort of feel we're damned if we do and damned if we don't. The irony is that at sixty plus, it seems all the insecurity finally fades and women report feeling stronger and happier with themselves than at any other age. What we need is to show off and highlight our fabulous, fearless older role models.

Elizabeth Banks, who at 42 is arguably at the peak of her Hollywood career is featured in this month's Glamour magazine discussing the prevalence of ageing for women in the public eye.

She recalls being told she was too old to star opposite Tobey Maguire in Spiderman, despite being the same age at the Glamour Women of the Year awards, where she received the award for best film-maker.

She was supported at the event by actress Susan Sarandon, who was recently shamed by Piers Morgan on her revealing red carpet cleavage, is an ageing 'activist', keen to prove that being older is no barrier to being beautiful or successful.

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In fact, Susan echoes my own beliefs about beauty, saying in a previous interview:

"Whilst I think we can retain some control over our ageing faces, we should be allowing one another to decide where that control is."

The thing is. We all need to look in the mirror and like what we see. And what we all like is totally different. As the population ages, women are becoming wealthier and more independent than at any other time in history - and all the more powerful for it.
 After Mother of Terrorist Says Son "Hero" and "Martyr," NY Times Mistranslates to Hide Her Words (UPDATED) | Main | Christian Science Monitor Headline Errs on 'New Israeli Settlements' 

July 04, 2016

National Post Headline Casts Doubt: Murder of Hallel Ariel Maybe Not Terrorism

July 5 Update: National Post Amends the Headline

Following CAMERA's communication with several editors yesterday, editors commendably amended the headline. It now appropriately states: "Palestinian fatally stabs Israeli girl, 13, as she sleeps in her bedroom in West Bank settlement." CAMERA commends editors for their quick follow up.

July 4 -- Can the murder of a sleeping 13-year-old child out of nationalistic motives be considered anything other than a terrorist attack? Canada's The National Post ran the following headline about the murder of Hallel Yaffa Ariel, a 13-year-old Israel girl murdered in her bed last week by a Palestinian: "Palestinian fatally stabs sleeping Israel girl in West Bank settlement in what Israel calls a terrorist attack."

Why the qualifying reference to "what Israel calls a terrorist attack," as if there is a question as to whether the nationalistically motivated murder of a sleeping child is actually terrorism? The story, by Ruth Eglash, originated in The Washington Post where it was appropriately, and more briefly, headlined: "Palestinian fatally stabs sleeping Israeli girl, 13, in West Bank settlement."

Indeed, the reference to a "terrorist attack" is superfluous because the facts speak for themselves. But, once The National Post does lengthen the headline by including a reference to a "terrorist attack," on what grounds does it cast doubt on that fact that the nationalistic murder of a child is anything but a terror attack? Is this what The National Post calls a journalistically sound headline?

CAMERA has contacted editors to request that the bizarre headline be amended. Readers may also submit feedback to editors through The Post's site.

Posted by TS at July 4, 2016 04:04 AM

Shameful!!

Posted by: Mark Mendelson at July 4, 2016 04:04 PM

Bravo CAMERA! May you continue to fight the good fight for honesty and truth.

Posted by: Toni at July 5, 2016 09:20 AM

Can one imagine if an Israeli hacked to death a Palestinian girl how the National Post would have reacted.

Posted by: Barry Meridian at July 19, 2016 08:59 AM

Guidelines for posting

This is a moderated blog. We will not post comments that include racism, bigotry, threats, or factually inaccurate material.

Post a comment
A cancer diagnosis is one of those moments in life when everything changes in an instant. Your whole world collapses around you. You are no longer the master of your own destiny. Instead your future rests in the hands of a bunch of medical experts, armed with an array of treatments designed to kill your cancer without killing too much of you at the same time.

If you are unlucky enough to be in this situation you would, of course, hope that the NHS has the very best available medicines at its disposal. But sadly this not the case - half of new cancer medicines are now too pricey for routine use by the NHS and doctors often have to treat patients with older, less effective ones instead that offer reduced life expectancy.

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This shocking revelation comes from an analysis of the affordability of new cancer drugs over the last 15 years, based on appraisals by NICE, the organisation that decides whether or not a new drug is cost-effective for the NHS. The analysis shows that over the last 5 years, 49% of new cancer treatments were considered by NICE to be too expensive for routine use by the NHS, given their expected benefits for patients. This rejection rate has risen three-fold since 2001-2005, when only 15% of new cancer treatments were considered too expensive for the NHS.

Meanwhile, over this same period drug company profits have soared. In 2015, the top seven cancer drugs firms, which control 70% of worldwide sales, made an eye-watering average profit margin of 20.5%.

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Drug companies often try to defend high prices by saying that new drugs are expensive to develop, but R&D costs are being recouped many times over and profit margins are higher than any other industry, so the companies are simply taking advantage of a lack of competition and regulation to hold patients to ransom.

Most of us love the NHS and trust it to give us the best possible treatment when we fall ill, but the shocking lack of access to the latest cancer treatments seriously undermines this trust.

It will be seen by many as yet another failure of the Government to protect the quality of NHS services in favour of mega-rich corporations, who are milking sick and dying patients for every penny they can get.

WHAT ARE THE OPTIONS?

So, what happens when a new drug is too expensive for the NHS?

At present the Government either pays the high price demanded by the drug companies, or it refuses to pay, leaving patients to be treated with older, less effective medicines that offer reduced life-expectancy. This isn't just a tragedy for cancer patients, who are being condemned to an early death, but also a kick in the teeth for the public who have generously raised money to help pay for the discovery and development of these new drugs.

Some groups have called for NHS price caps to be raised but there are concerns that this will simply fuel further price escalation. The original Cancer Drugs Fund did just that - the fund provided extra money so that the NHS could pay higher prices for cancer drugs than drugs for other diseases, thereby giving cancer patients access to many drugs that NICE had rejected as too expensive. However, five years after its inception, the fund ran out of money, drug prices were still rising, many drugs had to be withdrawn and the Government had failed to deliver on its promise to introduce value-based pricing as a longer-term solution.

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It is very clear that we won't solve the problem of high cancer drug prices by just giving drug companies more money whenever they ask for it - that will only encourage them to raise prices even further in the long run.

So, what is the solution?

Long-term we need to completely overhaul the system for funding the development of new drugs, but in the short-term the Government should stand up to the drug companies and take back control of the situation.

If an unreasonably high price is preventing the NHS from treating patients with the best available drug, the Government doesn't have to let patients die - it has the legal powers to obtain drugs from a more affordable source.

Under the Patents Act 1977, the Government can effectively override the drug company's patent by invoking "Crown Use" provisions, which allow the Government to make use of patents without the authorisation of the patent-holder. It can then permit copies of the drug to be manufactured or imported into the UK by alternative suppliers, allowing it to negotiate access to the drug at a more affordable price.

Some people argue that this will discourage drug companies from making future investments in new drugs but the idea that drug companies will down tools and stop producing new drugs is frankly laughable and there is no empirical evidence to support this - it would be like going on hunger strike; new drugs are the food supply that keeps drug companies alive. And if, in the unlikely event, that did happen, it would in any case be far cheaper to carry out R&D for new drugs in the public sector.

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So, the only question is whether our Government is more interested in protecting the lives of ordinary people or protecting the profits of drug company shareholders.
On Friday 24th June, the world woke up to the news that the United Kingdom had voted to leave the European Union. In Scotland, the vote revealed an appetite to remain part of the EU by a margin of 62% to 38%. With characteristic enthusiasm, the Scottish National Party have signalled that the clock is ticking on a second independence referendum. Already a score of voices previously against independence, particularly among Labour types in Scotland, have joined this chorus. Many pro-Union friends and colleagues of mine have softened their view and I have been likewise forced to reconsider my position.

On the one hand, we can remain part of the UK. The English economy will certainly suffer in the short term, though how it will affect Scotland, which trades mostly with the rest of the United Kingdom (rUK), is unclear. It is hard to see any scenario where the UK retains access to the single market. The EU has made clear the obligation of single market access means free movement of labour - which 52% of the UK has had enough of - and it's hard to see how Scotland can stay in the EU but the rUK does not (if that isn't obvious to you, email me).

Scotland can be insulated from some of this by retaining access to its largest market - rUK. With oil close to $50 per barrel, the Scottish economy would be well served by maintaining the stability of its biggest trading relationship. If Westminster gets a grip, it will realise a useful counterweight in the EU BREXIT negotiations would be to agree a new trade deal, perhaps by applying to join the Trans Pacific Partnership. This would help the UK, and of course Scotland, both secure the most favourable trading deal with the EU possible and build new trading relationships with other markets.

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Perhaps a deal could be done to allow Scotland to retain access to the single market, as Ruth Davidson has suggested. This presents a number of problems, not least how to square the free movement of labour between Scotland and the EU whilst also maintaining the lack of any border between Scotland and England. Time will tell if this is a viable option.

Or Scotland can call a second independence referendum and seek to join the EU. This would bring at least another year of political, economic and constitutional uncertainty to the country. Wounds that have barely healed since 2014 would be reopened. Even if a stomping majority of people, say 60% voted for independence, it would still leave an awful lot of upset Scots (see the protests from the 48% who voted Remain for evidence). Combined with on-going BREXIT negotiations, over the period of the second referendum campaign the economy would be about as wobbly as the knees of a teenager attending their first day at secondary school.

Then there is the question of the divorce from the UK, which we would have to conduct whilst at the same time gearing up for EU membership (or clarifying how we retain the UK's membership). We would have to devote huge resources to disentangling ourselves from the UK as well as deciding how entangled we want, or could be, with the EU. Exemptions from the Euro and the current British rebate would likely end. The new rUK would face uncertainty over its' UN Security Council seat as well as face questions over its leading place in NATO. Scots would be turning their backs on both these things, and signing up to a raft of new European commitments.
Charity shops have been good to me over the years. At least half of my book and record collection, and a quarter of my wardrobe, can trace their lineage to Oxfams and Sue Ryders across the land.

They've proliferated more than ever in this post-recession retail landscape, often occupying empty high street stores no sooner have they been vacated, attracted as always by heavily discounted business rates.

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Whenever I'm on assignment or a weekend away in another part of the country I'll usually duck into one if there's time to kill, chasing another random find, be it some vintage flares or an old Beano annual.

Only a charity shop can induce that Proustian high of another nostalgic find or a rare record that's slipped through the pre-filtration process, followed by the often protracted volunteer till experience. I managed to progress to first-name terms at one hometown shop, which sometimes let me into their stockroom when it was overflowing, and I returned the favour with occasional volunteer shifts.

Those glory days, however, become more distant as time passes because over the last ten years or so there's been a noticeable decline in the charity shop experience. (And it's nothing to do with Mary Portas' attempts to whip them into shape a few years back.)

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What's become apparent is that since the rise of eBay more people have opted to flog their cast-offs online, and the best of what is donated to charity is routinely creamed off by shops' sorters before making it onto the shelves. Indeed many charities today run their own eBay stores for more profitable items.

Then you have the lesser-spotted charity shop dwellers stalking the aisles with their smartphones, eBay-searching anything with a potential profit beyond the seller fees levied by the auction site and PayPal.

For the more casual customer, the cumulative consequence has been ever decreasing returns. All that remains is the customary 'tat' - low-end filler from naff bric-a-brac to shelffuls of Fifty Shades of Grey novels (some stores actually no longer accept the books as no one buys them any more).

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This all leads to the final insidious phenomenon: the exorbitant mark-ups placed on junk, epitomised by the opening photo at the top of the article I took recently at a British Heart Foundation in Suffolk. That's 6.99 and 7.99 being charged for fusty old Harry Secombe and Doris Day LPs, items with so little cultural capital that you wouldn't be able to give them away.

One shop local to me once left boxes of old albums outside and exhorted passers-by to take them for free, but hardly anyone took up the offer, likewise with VHS cassettes, which are still priced by some outlets at as much as 2 a tape.

Other examples include used DVDs for more than their RRP online brand new; budget book series like Penguin Popular Classics whose original price often doubles upon hitting the shelves; and some antique collectables priced way beyond what they'd fetch at a specialist.

Or 225 for a pair of shoes

A common retort to all this is "charities need to maximise their profits"; "it's all for a good cause"; "some larger charities like Oxfam have sales targets", which might explain their shops being dearer than more laissez-faire independent ones.

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Don't get me wrong, I completely agree with their ultimate goal being to extract as much profit as possible from truckloads of donations, but surely that end would be better achieved by attracting more customers with realistic, reasonable prices instead of repelling them with senseless ones? If a butcher or shoe shop suddenly jacked up all its prices it would very quickly go out of business.

And from a donator's POV, what's the point in bequeathing your boxfuls of CDs/DVDs, as I do each time I move house, if they're just going to stagnate on a shelf after being illogically overpriced? I once returned a month later to a shop I'd donated to, to find many of the CDs - old magazine cover compilations - randomly priced at 3 and 4 with no consideration or comprehension that they won't sell for that.

When stockrooms are stuffed from floor to ceiling all these shops need are people who understand these basic market forces. Pile it high, sell it cheap, keep that stock moving, like an unending task on The Apprentice. That's what will entice customers back and get the tills ringing again.

For me, my charity shop days are drawing to a close either way. The ratio of time spent searching versus finding anything of value has dwindled too much. But for those less better off who rely on charity shops for clothes or baby toys more out of necessity, it's for them that stores should discontinue their lingering mistakes, with the charities themselves the ultimate beneficiaries.

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It's hard to trust our leaders. Across the globe, the gap between rich and poor is widening while seldom a week passes without a political figure or big brand being exposed for avoiding tax, involvement in corrupt practices or making decisions that blatantly work against the public good.

Now more than ever, it is critical that citizens are able to hold both public and private institutions to account so that the decisions they make serve us. We rely on them to ensure that people can access the services they need like good schools, effective healthcare and efficient waste disposal.

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Active citizens and civil society need to be able to access information about the institutions that govern them in order to scrutinise the decisions they take. Take Jessica, who runs a community campaign group in Kenya. She needs to know who her MPs are and how to petition them. In Nigeria, activist Hamzat needs to find out how much money government has allocated for healthcare in his community before he can put pressure on them to release the funds. Meanwhile, Mary, a journalist in Ghana wants to expose a corruption scandal involving a prominent politician and needs to access a register of his special interests in order to do so.

Parliamentary monitoring groups across the Africa are developing websites which enable citizens to track parliament and their elected representatives like Mzalendo in Kenya, Odekro in Ghana and People's Assembly in South Africa. Users can find out how their MP voted in parliament, what they said in recent appearances and see a register of their interests. They can also access Hansard, written answers to parliamentary questions and information on bill committees.

Other strategies are also being adopted. In Tanzania, where less than 15% of citizens are online, Magila Tech in Tanzania have built the M-Parliament platform which enables citizens to listen to live parliamentary sessions and voice their opinions on parliamentary debates on basic mobile phones. In Morocco, SimSim Participation Citoyenne created Nouabook, where citizens can ask questions directly to their MPs via Facebook.

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While the existence of these sites is a necessary first step towards greater parliamentary transparency, in itself, this is unlikely to contribute to greater accountability. For this to happen, the key information contained within them must reach the public in a manner that is easy for them to understand and inspires them to act.

We spoke to some of the leaders of parliamentary monitoring organisations to better understand how they can contribute to this process.

Accessing Data

The ease of collecting data dramatically varies from country to country. In Kenya, most of the required information is publically available online and in Tanzania, Magila Tech broadcasts straight from parliament. Contrast this with Ghana, where Odekro must often rely on the goodwill of individual parliamentary service staff to access data or Morocco where it's hard to access any information from parliament and when they do, it's often inaccurate and out of date.

Promotion and Engagement

For citizens to engage with information, first they need to know that these sites exist. Facebook and Google adverts can help. To keep them there, you'll need content which is simple to understand, engaging and relevant to their lives. Blogs, videos and infographics must be showcased front and centre. Highlighting content relating to issues hot off the press like female participation in parliament, youth unemployment and MPs involved in scandals can help pique interest.

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Social media is a cheap and effective way to drive traffic and engagement. In Morocco, videos showing MPs speaking about their work are shared frequently while in Kenya, Mzalendo stimulates discussions around controversial bills and issues via Facebook.

It's important to encourage journalists to engage with content. They can ensure that information reaches a wider audience, including the offline majority, in a manner that is easy for them to understand and highlight newsworthy content, which wouldn't be obvious through accessing the site without analysis.

As journalists work to tight deadlines, feeding them simplified content that can be easily translated into stories can help. When Mzalendo provided an infographic to the press, showing MPs levels of participation in parliament, it resulted in front page news stories in two of Kenya's major newspapers.

Civil society groups can use the information available in evidence based campaigning and advocacy work. To build relationships with journalists and civil society, Odekro in Ghana provided them with data journalism training and also works with bloggers.

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In many African countries, slow expensive internet and low penetration can prevent citizens accessing information online. Parliamentary organisations have adopted strategies to overcome this. Voice and SMS services, posters and face to face community dialogues with MPs have all been effective.

The Road Ahead

Getting citizens to engage with their leaders isn't easy. Many citizens don't believe they're able to affect change, which discourages engagement. Sometimes, political leaders are reluctant to respond to their queries and requests, particularly in closed party systems or where politicians largely take the party line. It can help to celebrate successful leaders rather than focusing only on their failures.

We're a long way off from a world where citizens can access information about anything they need to know about their elected representatives and the laws that govern them. We need information to be freely available online in easily searchable formats. Journalists, civic groups and active citizens need to be supported to interpret this information and use it for accountability purposes and engagement between citizens and their leaders must become the norm. Only then can we ensure that everyday citizens are able to shape the world they live in by demanding better from their leaders.

If you'd like to learn more about what parliamentary monitoring organisations had to say, you can read this report, created by Indigo Trust:
Cartoon by Steve Bell for The Guardian

Since the decision to leave the EU, there has been a fivefold increase in race-related hate crimes, not just against people from EU countries, but also from all parts of the world. So has Brexit peeled back the veneer of decency to reveal a racist British society?

Alongside the drastic surge in reports of hate crimes, lots of people have experienced racism in the form of verbal abuse, sometimes for the very first time.

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It could be argued that racism has become less prominent over the last 30-40 years, but it seems that Brexit has unleashed the xenophobic views that had previously been bubbling under the surface.

I have read about numerous accounts of people on the streets of Britain, some of them born here, having been subjected to cries of "Go back home!" So much for multicultural Britain.

The tabloid press spreads fear, resentment and panic by demonising immigrants and refugees to form this identity of the other, against which people are supposed to rally, and for which society's problems are blamed.

The Leave campaign was littered with moments of this ilk, from Nigel Farage posing in front of a poster depicting refugees as if they were queuing in their hordes on our doorstep, to implying that Britain could suffer a repeat of the Cologne sexual assaults if we allowed refugees into the country.

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But it was not just the pub landlord-come-politician who employed these dirty tactics. Other figures in the Leave campaign may have been subtler, but harboured similar intentions. For example, focusing on the unlikely event of Turkey joining the EU with maps designed to show Syria and Iraq in a menacing light.

While figures who used immigration as the main issue of the referendum campaign wouldn't condone actual acts of racism, they must realise how their words have vocalised, legitimised, and even normalised anti-immigration sentiment.

The closet racist, who wouldn't have previously felt able to spout their abhorrent world view in public, seems to have now been given the confidence to do so.

As Michael Keith at Oxford University's migration research centre, Compas, told The Guardian, "The unspeakable became not only speakable, but commonplace."

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The front page of the Sun two days before the referendum

Parallels must be drawn with the tragic murder of MP Jo Cox on the eve of the referendum. The likes of James O'Brien and Polly Toynbee brilliantly summed up the similarly poisonous, ugly atmosphere that contributed to the MP's brutal murder.

Toynbee wrote that, "Something close to a chilling culture war is breaking out in Britain, a divide deeper than I have ever known."

Jonathan Freedland also said on Newsnight that if you have all that venom injected into the bloodstream there will be consequences.

It appears that, just like with Jo Cox, the venomous anti-immigration rhetoric has been successfully injected into the bloodstream of parts of the British public, and now we are again witnessing the sad consequences in the form of racial hatred and abuse.

Recently the Pope called for Europeans more than ever to build bridges and not walls, but this must have fallen on deaf ears in Britain, where an inward-looking, nationalist, anti-immigration mentality won the debate.

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As I went to France in the aftermath of Brexit, I've never felt so proud to be European. As French people expressed how sad they were that Britain had voted to leave, we desperately tried to make it clear that we had voted to remain along with the vast majority of young people.

As I read about the news of the two main parties in complete turmoil, and the wave of racist abuse and hate crimes, never have I felt more ashamed and reluctant to return home.
Now the USA presidential candidate selection is stuttering to an end, it is becoming clear who will be heading into the 2016 general election representing both the major parties.

As the rest of it's world holds it's breath to see if the GOP will actually select Donald Trump at the Republican National Convention without the support of the party's establishment, it's evident Hilary Clinton has the backing of the Democratic Party elite.

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According to Bloomberg, 55% of likely US voters say they would never vote for Trump. It doesn't take a political genius to suggest moderate voters would struggle to back to his ability to alienate the electorate with his rhetorical stance.

Although it's not impossible, it's unlikely Trump will emerge above Clinton but what is far more scary is Mr Trump's hyperbole and the legacy it will leave post general election.

The magnification of social issues and ethnic tensions within American communities by Trump has encouraged an unwelcome dialogue and spats of racial violence at his rally's.

But is Donald Trump a person of far right views?

It's hard to pin Trump as a far right candidate considering the States foreign policy which is in favour globalisation over nationalism, and he obviously adheres to that via his own enterprise.

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I don't particularly think Trump is genuinely anti-establishment but nor is he pro-people, plus I do not think he's even whole heartedly Pro-Republican. He is however, a populist who has found a demographic who are prepared to hold him in regard if he spits chauvinist styled xenophobic idiom.

It's a sort of cult.

The majority of the people he represents, now have a platform to express the kind of views they wouldn't usually have the opportunity to project and that isn't something that will go away, even beyond the general election.

The Republican Party is a complicated crowd with different factors constantly manoeuvring in the ranks. These factions range from traditionalists, conservatives, neocons, centrists, libertarians, Christian right to the absolutely terrifying Tea Party movement.

If there's space in a party that is already veering more and more to the right thanks to the influence of the Tea Party, is there space in the party for a new faction?

There is a real concern a far right and potentially fascist dialogue could be soaked up by the party, and historically the party has a history of collecting people of various right wing leanings so why not this.

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You could argue that it's the party's fault for not being representative enough and it's a flaw of the American two party system.

I'd suggest due to the wide range of factions vying in the Republican Party it's not reflecting of it's demographic as it's too wide and if this is the road continues to choose, it's fair to say the party will struggle long term. If it's not disintegrated by the Democrats in the short term, it will most probably have lasting effects that will affect them going forward.

Long term, if America opened up it's public platform to the so called lesser parties such as the Greens, Libertarian Party and even the Constitution Party. Marginalised GOP voters could potentially vote for something that represents them better and the Republicans can get on with fixing what went wrong and get back to it's core values.

It seems American voters need to physically see something and have their information presented to them which can be quickly digested.

That's just the effects of deep-seated populism and popular culture, we are the same.

Over here in the UK we have our own problems in regards to xenophobia but Trump's Islamophobia allurement with his electorate is legitimising the same kind of dialogue in our country.

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We need to reject this kind of discourse as a community of activists before it can manifest itself into our mainstream political party's repartee.

You could argue that is already happening but it's as important as ever that we use the Brexit fallout as medium to have a long hard look in the mirror and constructively address the issues that divide us.
It seems like every day in the UK brings another stunning surprise as the shock waves of the EU referendum blast through our society. This week's news that Boris Johnson won't be standing as replacement to David Cameron has shocked as many people as the actual result did - many simply can't understand it.

It doesn't surprise me though. Understanding what lies behind what to normal people seems such unfathomable and bizarre behaviour actually provides the means to disarm other similar reckless leaders currently vying for the public's approval - notably Donald Trump.

I have been studying two different kinds of leadership in the ascendance: Authentic Leadership and Narcissistic Leadership. Johnson's behaviour is consistent with the latter.

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Narcissistic leadership is destructive. It is narcissism that drives dictatorships. It was narcissism that fuelled the maniacs behind the global financial crisis. And so it is with Johnson. Having gone about the job of convincing a good chunk of the British public leaving the EU is a good thing, and triggering a cataclysmic series of events, he has back-pedalled with the courage of a school bully who has been caught out. He hopes looking bashful and saying sorry will get him off the hook.

It is easy get swept away in the craziness and cravenness of his behaviour, but this plays to one of the key defence techniques of the narcissist- creating confusion and distraction, a sulphurus vapour trail to cover their tracks. What is more useful is to understand what drives it, to disarm the narcissist before they cause massive damage, be it in government, business or personal relationships.

Narcissists need what psychologists call, "narcissistic supply". They need adoration and adulation, and it doesn't matter where it comes from. Narcissists need their supply like vampires need blood, without it they whither and die. They will say anything to keep it coming.

This is why Boris plays the fool. This is why Trump plays the hard man. Their ridiculous hair is their brand, their means to draw more attention. To ensure their narcissistic supply they use a technique called, "love bombing" - something both Trump and Johnson have been using in their campaigns.

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Love bombing differs from normal politics. The narcissist has no real beliefs, they tell people what they want to hear. The technique works well on unhappy and needy people who feel left out and undervalued. Narcissists have a predatory instinct for neediness. They say what they know will make these people feel loved. Such is the neediness of the people, and the relief of having their fears acknowledged, that any rational thinking goes out of the window.

This is how narcissistic CEOs beguile shareholders and investors. And this is what swayed a large chunk of people to vote Leave. Johnson and his people said whatever was needed to make a disenfranchised part of the population feel appreciated and valued, anything to get their love and adulation. The problem came when they won. Because then it suddenly became clear that a lot of what they had been saying wasn't true and the whole house of cards collapsed.

But the narcissist has an Achilles heel - they have no ability to deal with criticism from those who provided them with their narcissist supply. As soon as the supply chain is broken, the narcissist cuts and runs with all the desperation of an addict needing a fix. This is where Johnson is heading. We can expect to see him on a TV game show or any place where he can again play the fool.

What we can learn from the post-Brexit shambles is the means to stop a narcissist before they can wreak damage is to cut their supply. Pay no attention to them, get them out of the papers, stop falling for their clowning and showboating. This requires what can seem like counterintuitive behaviour - don't protest at their rallies, don't post things about him because at the end of the day what they crave is legitimacy.
Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire

When we first started working together in opposition I was struck by Michael's phenomenal work ethic. His small office in the House of Commons was the work space for him and three researchers and advisers, all working solidly to supply the output demanded by their boss.

I recommended a book I'd read a few months earlier (E. D. Hirsch's The Schools We Need). He read it that weekend together with Cultural Literacy by the same author. His desk was and is decorated with piles of books he'd be standing by to read next, or books he'd read and wanted to remember. He is one of the most well-read and well-informed people I have met in politics.

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His planning for government was meticulous. On day one, the Academies Bill was ready for the Parliamentary draftsmen and the sign on the building was changed from the Department for Children, Schools, and Families to the simpler Department for Education. It was the end to business as usual and the beginning of the most successful period of education reform since the war. All because of Michael and his absolute passion for ensuring that those from poorer and deprived backgrounds have the quality of education that those from wealthy families take for granted in the private sector.

For me those first few months were the most demanding of my life, working day and night to deliver my share of the reform programme to his demanding timetable. But sharing Michael's convictions about how to reform and improve our education system, and inspired by his determination and hard word work, meant I enjoyed every minute.

Michael is a conviction politician. He is determined to make the weather, to change our country for the better. He doesn't let obstacles get in the way of his drive for improving the life chances and opportunities of those who are failed by government. He is demanding but, in my experience, incredibly loyal and supportive of his colleagues. He set a clear direction but gave me the freedom and autonomy to develop the agenda and shape legislation.

Working for him you know that you are on a mission guided by principle. For me this was extremely motivating and felt hugely worthwhile. After all the knocks we get as politicians working on Michael's team to deliver real and meaningful change was worth all the pain. It's what politics should be about.

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Social services are the backstop of our society - offering early help to families in need, and intervening where things go wrong. Yet thankfully, children's social care is not a service that most children and families ever have to draw on.

For most people, the support network provided by family, friends, communities, schools and health services will be enough to enable them to give their children a safe, stable and nurturing home. However, there is a smaller group of children - our most vulnerable - who need much more intensive help in order to have the same stable foundations that others take for granted.

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These children face challenges which most of us can only imagine. They may have disabilities, or have faced abuse and neglect. They may have been let down time and again by the people who are supposed to love and protect them. They may be being exploited by perpetrators preying on their vulnerability.

The horrors of the serious cases we all know about - Daniel Pelka, Hamzah Khan, Ellie Butler, the children exploited so terribly in Rotherham - demonstrate just how catastrophic and heart-breaking the consequences can be when we fail to protect our children.

It is these cases that drive me, as Education Secretary, to know that we cannot rest as a Government until we give all children a childhood to cherish. I will never forget how I felt when I read about the true extent of the horrors that occurred in Rotherham.

We must support struggling parents to provide the best possible care for their children. And where a birth parent cannot provide the stable, happy home their child deserves, we must step in. The costs are simply too great if we do not - it can be literally a matter of life and death.

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The best social workers and many fantastic foster carers change children's lives immeasurably for the better. But the quality of the help and support children get is far too variable. Only one quarter of local authorities that have been reviewed by the new Ofsted inspection regime are classed as 'good' or better - which is in no way good enough. I am determined to raise standards so that all vulnerable children get the best quality care and support - there can be no compromise.

That's why today I am proud to be launching my plan for the widest reaching reforms to children's social care and social work in a generation. This strategy will deliver a system staffed and led by the best trained professionals; dynamic and free to innovate in the interests of children; with less bureaucracy; new checks and balances designed to hold the system to account in the right ways; and new ways to intervene more quickly where services consistently fail our most vulnerable children.

First, we will make sure we have the best social work leaders, who can make sure all frontline staff have the right knowledge and skills for the challenges this rewarding job entails. This includes radical reforms to raise the quality and status of the profession - including investment in graduate schemes, and a new social work training programme that will look at the development of those making the transition from frontline practice into practice supervision.

Second, this vision will put innovation at its heart. Our Children and Social Work Bill, which has recently been introduced in Parliament, will create a new 'Power to Innovate', which will be used to give leading local authorities the freedom to test out innovative new ways of working. This builds on the 200 million we are making available to drive innovation and spread excellence in children's services. The very best councils have so much to share - and we must learn from their approach.

Third, we must take swift action where services are letting children down. That's why today I'm announcing that Norfolk children's services will begin working with Barnardo's to establish a joint looked-after children service - the first in the country. And our work to set up voluntary trusts in Sunderland and Birmingham continues.

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And we must reform how we protect children - which is why our Children and Social Work Bill introduces landmark measures to improve how agencies share information, and why we will set up a national learning panel so we learn as a country from horrific cases of child abuse.

But if we want to give these children the best life chances, our efforts must not stop once they leave care. We know that last year 39% of care leavers were NEET, compared to around 15% of 19-21 year-olds in the general population, and 25% of those who were homeless had been in care at some point.

Last year, the Prime Minister and I asked the former head of Barnardo's, Sir Martin Narey, to lead a review of children's homes in England. This important report makes clear that young people leaving residential care need more support. I whole-heartedly agree.

So today I am announcing that we will pilot a radical new scheme - Staying Close - allowing young people leaving children's homes to live nearby and retain links with those people who have cared for them. That means care leavers will no longer have to face life's milestones alone - be it applying for university, getting a job or finding their first home.

Our children's social care system faces significant challenges but by building on its strengths we can deliver a system that is well and truly up to the task of caring for the most vulnerable children in our society in a way that any good parent would.

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At 7.45am, Ukip officials were finally told why they had been asked to book a room in the Emmanuel Centre in Westminster: Nigel Farage was going to resign.

A note had been sent to journalists last week saying the Ukip leader was going to give a speech at 10am on Monday - but at the time it wasn't known whether that would be on Farage's future or the party's future.

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Indeed, not even Farage was sure.

Since the EU referendum win, and after the hangovers had eased away, Farage and others at the top of Ukip - including donor Arron Banks - have been mulling over what to do next.

Throughout last week, meetings took place involving Farage and his close confidents to discuss how Ukip should go forward, and what part the MEP should play in it.

There were two main strands of discussion - how to make sure Brexit actually meant Brexit, and how to capitalise on Ukip's growing strength in the north of England.

After trying to straddle both goals for a number of years, Farage plumped for the first option - but was told to sleep on it over the weekend. He had already resigned once on a wave of emotion, his colleagues were keen for him not to make the same mistake again.

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Ahead of this morning's speech, he revealed his decision to a select few in the party. Not even Ukip MEPs, who had travelled down to London for the speech before heading to Strasbourg, knew what was about to happen when they took to their seats just before 10am.

Party chairman Steve Crowther - a constant supporter of Farage over the years - introduced the Ukip leader, who arrived at the podium with something very rare in his hands: a written speech.

Farage rarely reads from a prepared script as he finds it too restrictive. One of the few times he read from a written speech was at the party conference in 2013 - an experience he didn't enjoy.

This resignation was a thought-out, prepared and considered move. A marked contrast to last May, when Farage quit as Ukip leader after failing to win the seat of Thanet South in the 2015 General Election.

He had vowed - stupidly, he now concedes - to stand down as party leader if he didn't win a seat in Westminster.

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Three days later he was back, claiming Ukip's governing committee had begged him to stay after being inundated with emails from rank-and-file members who did not want to lose their talisman.

He didn't take much persuading, and 'unresigned'.

It led to much mockery, triggered a Ukip civil war and enabled Farage's critics to say he had become just like any other promise-breaking politician.

He didn't care. His eyes were set on two goals - winning the EU referendum for the Brexiters, and establishing Ukip as functioning party.

On 23 June, Farage achieved his first, and primary goal, and while Boris Johnson, Michael Gove and others took to ground to plan their next moves, the Ukip leader made sure his face was everywhere as he swept up the accolades.

Cynics are already suggesting Farage may return as leader before the next General Election, indeed one Ukip insider quipped to me: "Will it be for longer than 24 hours this time?"

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I wouldn't rule it out, and it depends on how well Ukip manages to capitalise on the existential crisis gripping the Labour Party.

The most likely successor to Farage, Paul Nuttall, is an authentic voice who can appeal to Labour's northern heartlands.

Some in the party feel Ukip has failed to capitalise on its growth in working class areas in the past 12 months, pointing to by-election results in Sheffield Brightside and Oldham West.

Labour increased its majority on both occasions, leaving Ukip a distant second-place in each contest.

As for Farage, he will now be unshackled from the constraints of leading a party to fully focus on the Brexit negotiation. He is staying as Ukip's leader in the European Parliament, where he will continue to raise eyebrows with his close-to-the-knuckle speeches.

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The cinematic release of The Legend of Tarzan is here and I have a feeling that a lot of people are going to be more than a little disappointed. Not least, the blue-rinsed Tory matriarchs.

The poor things. As if they haven't had a rough enough time of it lately, especially in light of their current golden boy ruling himself out of the running for the leadership, it seems that this new film has in fact got nothing to do with their former pin up.

Far from being a long awaited and some would say overdue biopic of the mane man, who at party conference after party conference in the 1980s and 1990s made their hearts flutter like an Aortic Aneurysm, preview clips and reviews would suggest no mention is made of him anywhere.

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Much to their Conservative chagrin, there isn't a passing reference to a single one of Michael Heseltine's many accomplishments (highlights to use an inevitable hairdressing term). Even his occasional failures (lowlights to use another one) aren't touched upon. His pivotal role in the urban regeneration of Liverpool is totally ignored as is his ill-advised cabinet resignation over the Westland affair.

Maybe one day, there'll be a plethora of movies, including Tarzan and the Europhiles, Tarzan and the Fall of the Iron Lady and Tarzan and Economic Growth with Specific Reference to Localism. (Rumour has it that Ridley Scott is already interested in directing the latter).

Until then, we'll have to make do with this; the latest offering from David Yates, who found acclaim with the last four films in the Harold Wilson franchise. Oh, alright, it was the Harry Potter series. Although Emma Watson would undoubtably have made a decent stab at being cast as Marcia Falkender, the Labour PM's private secretary.

It could be argued that after 50 plus outings in the cinema and on TV, going back almost a century - the very first time he swung from vine to vine was in 1918 - the last thing we need is one more strapping, virile, ridiculously handsome actor (in this instance, Alexander Skarsgard) in a state of near complete undress; all muscles and sweaty sinew, yodelling and beating his trained-to-perfection chest in an overtly masculine homoerotic fashion. But then again, as the recent referendum showed, there's fortunately two sides to every argument.

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Over the years, Tarzan has, of course, come up against many foes from ruthless hunters and slave traders to Bolsheviks and Nazis. And in case we forget, the She-Devil in 1953, which sadly didn't feature Thatcher, a whole 26 years before she came to power. In short, there's hardly been an enemy Tarzan hasn't fought or a part of the world, civilised or uncivilised, where he hasn't triumphed over them.

Surely then it's time for him to finally hang up his loin cloth. If there was to be a further instalment, perhaps it should have been set in an old people's residence in Lytham St Annes and titled Tarzan and the Care Home. At least it would have reflected the problems facing an ageing society. Imagine that famous call - less loud now and a tad hacking thanks to a nagging chest infection - of Ahhhhhhh...ahh..ah..ah...ah...ahhhhhhhhh...when the enema was administered. Naturally, the plot would have involved the whole of the Greystoke ancestral estate being sold to pay for the exorbitant monthly costs living in such an establishment entails.

The truth of the matter is that compared to today's action heroes, Tarzan is a bit of an anachronism (rather like the Conservatives themselves); a throwback to Britain's colonial past and in a sense that's where he belongs. An early 20th century creation who we don't really want to see amidst a sea of 21st century CGI. Much better to remember him as he was, played by the only actor who truly embodied the role. Just like Bond will forever be associated with Sean Connery, Tarzan will forever be associated with Johnny Weissmuller. The model and Olympic swimmer imbued the part with his physicality and charisma for 14 years, starring in 12 films in total.

So, if this coming weekend you have an urge to watch a truly great Jungle movie, don't go to your Multiplex. Instead, stay at home and on whatever format you can find (it's available on import DVD), watch the 1932 version of Tarzan the Ape Man.
As a Buddhist, I have spent the last month - to the surprise of many - visiting the morning and evening prayers at my local mosque during this holy month of Ramadan. In brutal contrast, this morning I woke up to the news that my fellow Buddhists in Southeast Asia had just razed a local mosque to the ground.

Myanmar's state-owned Global New Light newspaper reports that Buddhist residents in the country's Kachin State attacked the mosque armed with sticks, knives and other weapons, and burnt it down. A man squats in the ruins (above). The security forces said they had been unable to control the mob.

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Sadly, this incident - and a similar attack on 23 June in which a mob of 200 demolished a mosque and a Muslim cemetery in a village in Bago Region - are part of a pattern of Buddhist hate crimes in the country. Similar violence erupted in Sri Lanka, led by monks in their saffron robes, prior to the change of government in 2105.

Buddhist leaders and teachers around the world have appealed to their counterparts in Myanmar to reduce hostilities and prevent attacks. Numerous appeals were made to Nobel Laureate Aung Saan Su Kyi before her historic election victory this year, including from His Holiness the Dalai Lama, urging her to use her prodigious influence to end the attacks.

In the same week as the latest outrage, the United Nations said that putting an end to the abuses should be the government's "top priority". It stated that the violations, which include executions and torture, may amount to crimes against humanity.

Hatred, political violence and global turmoil

Hatred, political violence, and global turmoil have been recurrent themes of my Ramadan experience - despite the fact that the month is said in the Islamic tradition to be the most peaceful. It is believed to be a time for personal purifcation and social harmony as the forces of evil are subdued in this sacred period. But almost everyone who has spoken to me after morning and evening prayers has the same question on their mind: "What is happening to the world?"

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My "local mosque" for the past few weeks has been the royal mosque at Al Akhawayn University in Morocco, where I was invited to teach a course on "mindful leadership". The university sees my Buddhist background as an asset since it was established to promote "the values of human solidarity and tolerance" in this predominantly Muslim nation.

Two days ago, I talked with the most senior cleric of the mosque, Imam Suleiman Khanjari, about the tide of hatred that we see arising in so many places in the world.

This was the day after gunmen, believed to be from the death-cult ISIS, launched their horrific assault on Istanbul's Attaturk Airport. It was yet another indiscriminate mass murder that claimed the lives of 42 and wounded 239.

In an unnerving development, it was the same day that the number of reported hate crimes reported in the UK soared to five times the usual level following the Brexit vote. The National Police Chiefs' Council said 331 hate crime incidents had been reported since the EU referendum, compared to the weekly average of 63.

At the end of our conversation, as we were about to go our separate ways, Imam Khanjari, the elder of the university's Muslim community, turned back to me. He had been deeply moved as we contemplated what could be done to change humanity's disastrous trajectory. He came towards me in silence, his hand held over his heart, and embraced me. I could feel his tears as he pressed his cheek against mine in the traditional manner of greeting and bidding farewell.

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Another rising tide

Fortunately, the voices of the world's spiritual leaders, and ordinary citizens are not being totally drowned out in the cacophony of hate speech and violence. There have been notable, and far reaching gestures. Among them the repeated public statements and actions by Pope Francis - condemning "senseless hatred", bringing refugees to safety from the Greek Island of Lesbos, and meeting Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb, the grand imam of Al-Azhar mosque in Egypt, the highest religious authority of the Sunni Muslims.

In the UK, in a spontaneous response to the wave of racist and xenophobic attacks that have swept the country, the safety-pin movement has been born.

People are being encouraged to wear a safety-pin, not just as a symbolic protest against the attacks, but as a visible indicator that any immigrant or member of a minority could feel safe sitting beside them or near them on public transport.

Local governing councils are being urged to condemn any racist or xenophobic actions immediately and do everything in their power to make people feel safe and welcome. "Tell your council to speak out against racism, xenophobia and hate crimes now," is the theme of a nation-wide campaign by Amnesty International.

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Witnessing the plight of the 1.3 million Muslims in Myanmar, known as the Rohingya people, more than 380 Buddhist teachers in the United States earlier expressed their concern, noting that the values of tolerance and kindness are "values shared across all the great spiritual traditions as nations face challenges of injustice and prejudice." In America, too, they said, "we are working to reduce intolerance and developing humane ways to treat the many immigrants who have come across our border, by including them in education and offering them protection under the law."

A subsequent "Joint Buddhist-Muslim Statement on Inter-Communal Violence in Burma" stated:

Both of our religious traditions uphold the dignity of all persons, and assert that all people, regardless of race, ethnicity or religion, should be treated with dignity and compassion. We affirm that the suffering of any one person or any groups is our suffering and that our faiths instruct us to do all we can to relieve this suffering.

"We are one family and that is what is most important"

Back in my "local" mosque, here in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco, I talked to a group of the country's young imams. They have completed their Islamic scriptural studies, but are being exposed in a special program to all the world's other major religions and wisdom traditions.

They are appalled by the staggering levels of violence that are tearing apart so much of the Middle East, North Africa and sub-Saharan Africa - and the repercussions around the world. "After all," as one of them said to me, "it is our people, the Muslims, who are suffering the most at the hands of ISIS."

I ask them about the flood of hatred. In the midst of the pain, the confusion and fear, the words of these young people strike a deep note of understanding, truth and hope:

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It has been two weeks since I made the annual pilgrimage of endurance motorsport to the Circuit de la Sarthe, also known as the Circuit of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Being a fan of all motorsport the 24 Hours of Le Mans has been on my bucket list for many years, so when a colleague at work asked if I would like to join his annual trip there, I jumped at it.

We set off on Thursday at 6am in a two car convoy of Phil's Mazda MX5 (Mk4, tuned by BBR GTi) and my Mercedes A250 AMG Sport with friends Matjaz, Jillian and Alastair - all of whom had been to at least one Le Mans previously - I was the rookie. EuroTunnel delays aside, the drive down to Le Mans was a battle of rain showers and trying to work out which car had the better satnav system. In the end it was an iPhone running Google Maps that won through.

We arrived at the camp site at around 7pm local time and thought the best way to signify this with a pint of Stella Artois in the beer tent. That completed, the tent was put up under a beautiful red sky, but just in time before the heavens opened for the first of quite a few rain showers that we would have over the coming days.

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Red sky at night...

Friday at Le Mans is a preview day for the weekend - there is a driver's parade in the town of Le Mans and the pit lane at the circuit is opened to all visitors to mingle and look into all the garages. It all came across as very accessible and a great insight into the complexities of endurance racing - a very different feel to the far more greater restrictions imposed in Formula 1 Grand Prix racing. Other than that, Friday was a great day to eat, drink, and drink some more.

A busy Friday pitlane

Up to now I was very much keeping an open mind to what being at Le Mans means compared to F1, where my main motorsport passion lies. But when you walk up the track away from the start grid as it bends to the right and sweeps to the left through the Dunlop Curves and remember the racing talent to have driven here countless times you can't help but be astounded: Tom Kristensen, Jacky Ickx, Derek Bell, Frank Biela, Emanuele Pirro, Olivier Gendebien, Henri Pescarolo and Yannick Dalmas. The history and prestige of the event of which this would be the 84th running hangs around the place in abundance. At this point, little did we know that the events of the race come Sunday afternoon would become a talking point for many years to come.

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So, waking up on Saturday, there was that wonderful electric environment hanging in the air - or it might have been the clap of thunder at 4am in the morning. Whatever it was, race day was here. Breakfast sorted, we headed to the track late morning to see the Ferrari Challenge support race. That in its own was an epic sight with a 40+ car grid of Ferrari's charge past our grandstand view at the Ford Chicane (essentially the last corner on the track).

Soon it was nearing 3pm and the start of the race of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Moments before the starting procedure the heavens opened. One key difference between endurance racing and most other forms of racing is that rain does not stop play - at 3pm, the cars were lead away under the safety car, but the 24 hours started counting down. The safety car did stay out for far too long, but after about 45 minutes of pootling around and a fair few jeers from the crowd, the rain had stopped and the safety car was in - we were racing at Le Mans.

Without sounding too obvious, the main difference between say an F1 race and Endurance Racing is the length of it. An F1 Grand Prix will last around 90-120 minutes. The 24 Hours of Le Mans is up to 12 times that length. No one can expect to stay awake to see the whole race so you find yourself in a balance of watching the race, eating and drinking back at camp, and sleeping whenever you feel tired.

What transpired over the next day was a demonstration of dominance by Toyota. This was their fifth attempt at winning this race with 2nd place being their best result in 2013. Their two team entries in 2016 traded 1st place until the clock ticked past 23 hours and 57 minutes. Driver Kazuki Nakajima was leading by nearly a lap from the Porsche when he came up to start what would be the final lap. Unbelievably he turned right on the start line and pulled up in front of the grandstand and his team on the pitwall. No one could quite contemplate what was happening, as the Porsche in 2nd place came past to take the win from Toyota who had been destined for victory.

What followed next was something which I will forever remember. Despite allegiances, despite the shit that is going on in the world I found myself surrounded by people of all races, ages, religion and fans of different teams and drivers - everyone stood up and applauded the winner of the race - respect has no bounds and it was marvellous to witness.

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That done, there was nothing else to do than drink (!) and get ready for the drive home on Monday. Le Mans is a petrolhead festival - I asked those with me why it has so much appeal and I concluded that everyone, whatever your background shared one thing in common - the glory of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Despite the heart breaking result for Toyota, they will be back - as will I, to take the win and repeat the experience of the greatest race on Earth.
In the wake of recent Islamist terror attacks, the Regressive Left has once again prioritised the defence of an ideology over the lives of its victims. Armchair experts were quick to pin the Orlando massacre on the perpetrator's 'mental health', thereby propounding the widely misconstrued and exaggerated correlation between mental illness and violence. After all, ableist slurs are inconsequential to the all important task of defending religion. While Salon blamed "toxic masculinity", others were busy trying to find anything to insinuate that Omar Mateen was gay, thus absolving religion of having divinely sanctioned homophobia for thousands of years. Ironically, religion's neurosis with sexuality inspires exactly the sort of self-loathing that could drive someone to such extremes. Religious dogma is the numero uno reason why people struggle with their sexuality, often even after marriage.

Anyone who thinks religion has no bearing on the homophobia in it's flock, should browse through the thousands of vile comments under the Al Jazeera Arabic's Facebook post on the Orlando story.

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Anyone who claims to be a Muslim and kills in the Holy Month of Ramzaan is NOT a Muslim.They are terrorists. Sick minded cowards.Rot in hell  Farah Khan (@FarahKhanAli) June 13, 2016

Awkward Historical fact: Battle of Badr was fought by the prophet and his followers on 13th March, 624 CE in the holy month of Ramadan.

In this piece I tackle the most common fallacies propounded by apologists in their hypocritical attempt at dissociating religious ideology from acts of terror.

Disclaimer for bigots: This is an attempt to show a causal link between violence and Islamist ideology. Anyone who thinks that the vast majority of Muslims bear responsibility for the acts of their co-religionists will find no vindication here.

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Terrorism has no religion.

It must be a strange coincidence then, that attacks on abortion clinics in the United States are carried out by far-right Christian conservatives, and not Star Wars cultists; that Potterheads don't lynch people for eating beef, but Hindutva extremists who consider the life of a bovine to be more sacred than that of a human being do. Similarly, when a zealot opens fire in a cafe yelling 'Allahu-Akbar', we can be quite certain it's not a disgruntled Game of Thrones fan who just saw his favourite character snuffed out by the writers.

Yes, the vast majority of religious folks do not go about murdering people. But that does not absolve religious texts of inspiring the few extremists who do.

When Muslims donate to charity, we attribute their altruism to the third pillar of Islam. Why is it that when another Muslim acts as per the dozens of Quranic edicts which -- cast terror in the hearts of disbelievers (3:151), expose them to eternal hellfire (4:56), advocate crucifixion & chopping off extremities (5:33), denounce taking Jews & Christians for friends (5:51), smite their necks and fingers (8:12), slay & besiege idol worshippers (9:5)-- his/her actions have "nothing to do with religion"? I am not singling out Islamic scripture here. They are no more violent and bigoted than the Old Testament or the Manusmriti. However, we acknowledge that the inquisition was a product of medieval Christian dogma, and caste atrocities are a product of Hindu texts. Why then, do we excuse Islamic scripture of inspiring Islamists?

The verses are misinterpreted!

So 20-plus translations of the Quran that are endorsed by the Ulemas, and the many dozen spine chilling verses in them are all misinterpreted? Reputed Islamic scholars such as Pickthall & Maulana Wahiduddin Khan got their arabic wrong, but secular Leftists whose knowledge of the text is restricted to sharing memes of verse 5:32 on Facebook have got it right? This is an argument from ignorance and incredulity, and is normally propounded by folks who have never bothered to read scripture.

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The verses have been taken out of context.

Apologists who have read scripture claim that the violent edicts must be seen "in their historical context", i.e. when the prophet and his followers were at war with the various idolatrous tribes and infidels.

In truth, only a few verses such as 1:191 come with a disclaimer: "begin not hostilities, but if they attack you, then slay them". The vast majority of violent edicts do not. What historical context justifies verse 4:15 (confine a lewd wife until death) or verse 4:34 (beat your rebellious wife)?

In a morbid hypothetical, if a book penned by a white supremacist were to command its readers to "slay black people wherever you find them, but if they repent and pay their due, then leave them free" (as Quran 9:5 prescribes for infidels), how many of us would be defending it by citing context?

The 'context' argument would make sense if people treated their holy book as a primer on Arabian history. It is a rather fatuitous alibi for a text that is peddled as the immutable word of god.

But the Quran has some very beautiful verses as well.

Of course! Just as Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice has some vile antisemitic rhetoric in Act I, and the sublime 'Quality of Mercy' speech by Portia in Act IV. However, only one of these books is considered to be divinely inspired. Therein lies the problem.

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It's not religion, it's lack of education, disparity. (a.k.a. Malala's Fallacy):

How many of the 19 hijackers involved in the 9-11 attacks were uneducated or underprivileged? Mohammed Atta was a Cairo University & University of Hamburg alumnus. Wail Al-Shehri was a school teacher from Saudi Arabia. Satam Al-Suqami was a law student at King Saud University. Ziad Jarrah, Hani Hanjour, Majed Moqed-- all had a University education. Khaled Mashal, the leader of Hamas holds a BSc in Physics from Kuwait University. You would be hard pressed to find an unschooled individual in the upper echelons of any Islamist terror outfit. ISIS's social media whizkid Ahmad Abousamra-- an overprivileged kid from Boston, went to a private school in Massachusetts.

The destitute, uneducated, persecuted jihadi is a romanticised figment of the Regressive Leftist's mind. Hardly any terrorist from Boston to Brussels fits that description. What is common to all of them however, is that they were radicalised by Wahabi/ Salafist Imams and Islamist organisations such as the Muslim Brotherhood, financed throughout the world with dinars from the House of Saud.

It's American Imperialism, western foreign policy & the Iraq Wars that are responsible; not religion. (The Chomsky defence a.k.a. Mehdi Hassan's Fallacy):

Apart from 12-16 million Christians, there are thousands of Bahai, Zoroastrians, Yazidis and Jews living in Islamic nations. If terrorism were simply a reaction to American imperialism, shouldn't these minorities also form a fraction of terror outfits? Or are they miraculously shielded from NATO bombs and American policies that affect the middle-east? Surely one disgruntled Zoroastrian would cross the Iranian border and join Hezbollah?

This favourite cliche of the Regressive Left fails to explain another phenomenon-- the "everyday terrorism" faced by millions of Muslims in the Islamic world. Was the spontaneous and gruesome lynching of Farkhunda outside an Afghan mosque a product of colonialism? Was the stoning of Roxanneh, the killing of Noor Malleki, the murder of secular bloggers in Bangladesh a result of US foreign policy? What does the violence unleashed against homosexuals, apostates, 'blasphemers', against Ahmedi and Hazara Muslims of Pakistan & Afghanistan (who are murdered by Sunni supremacists for not being 'Muslim enough') and the systemic genocide of ethnic minorities throughout the Islamic world, have to do with George Bush's Iraqi misadventure? At some point, Bronze Age belief systems must be held accountable for the atrocities inflicted on its followers.

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The Left's soft bigotry of lower expectations:

When Leftists allege that the 'West' brought this jihadist insurgency to the middle-east by toppling it's dictators, what they are implying is that the Islamic world is only peaceful under the draconian reign of a Saddam, a Gaddafi or Assad. That without these despots, Muslims will only descend into an abyss of Islamist extremism. This is exactly the sort of soft bigotry of lower expectations (borrowing Maajid Nawaz's phrase) that makes Leftists who support emancipation and equality for European women at home, demand sex-segregated swimming pools for their 'immigrant Muslim sisters'.

By shutting down genuine criticism of Islamist ideology using the non-word 'Islamophobia', Leftists have failed the very people they claim to protect. The Left has actively shielded a totalitarian ideology (Islamism) by conflating it's criticism with bigotry against a largely peaceful and diverse people (Muslims). By refusing to address the elephant in the living room, Leftists have unwittingly created a vacuum which is now filled by xenophobes like Trump and Farage. We only need to look at Brexit to understand how disconnected and vacuous the Left's narrative has become, and how it has driven the masses towards the anti-refugee, anti-Muslim lobby on the far-right.

In the process, the Regressive Left has also failed liberal progressive Muslims like Asra Nomani, Irshad Manji and Maajid Nawaz, who are fighting to bring about reform at great personal risk. It is time for true (classical) liberals to stand up and take the fort back from the Left. We must show that it is possible to call out religious ideologies that inspires terror, while at the same time condemn the anti-Muslim bigotry of the far-right. For without identifying the carcinogen i.e. religious extremism, it is impossible to stem the affliction.
Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump speaks to members of the media during a tour of his International Golf Links course north of Aberdeen on the east coast of Scotland on June 25, 2016.Donald Trump hailed Britain's vote to leave the EU as 'fantastic' shortly after arriving in Scotland on Friday for his first international trip since becoming the presumptive Republican presidential nominee. / AFP / Michal Wachucik (Photo credit should read MICHAL WACHUCIK/AFP/Getty Images)

My friends back in the U.S. are drinking a beer that is literally called America and baking berry pies that resemble the stars and stripes. In my hometown, the sound of fireworks set off at the nearby high school rings out like a battle cry for people to go outside and watch them burst.

In London, where I have lived since last August, July 4th is just Monday. It's also sunny and warm in a month that's been pretty gloomy. It's early, and even though in England it feels like torrential downpour is just lurking around the corner, I don't question my desire to go running outside.

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Barely a minute out the door and I see it: the defiant slogan painted on the sidewalk of the park I live near. Resist Immigration Raids. This is a battle cry for over half of Whitechapel, people who weren't born in the U.K., many of whom don't speak English. Last week, the nation voted to leave the E.U. in a referendum that sent waves of chaos and confusion across the world. No one-- especially not those who shepherded Britain out of the bloc-- know if the vote will mean deportation for non-U.K. citizens, but for the people who have spent years making my neighborhood, and this country, home, the fear alone is real enough to fight against.

The same kind of fear is palpable in the U.S. Months after former reality TV star-turned presidential candidate Donald Trump declared that it wasn't safe to let Muslims into the country, Islamophobia continues to flourish. In the first five months of 2016 alone, HuffPost counted 157 anti-Muslim attacks-- and we're mostly relying on news stories. There's no telling how many other instances of threats, intimidation, and violence haven't gone unreported.

It's not just Muslims that have been a reason to be scared if Trump wins. As a Jew, I find Trump's attitude towards minorities, and his recent use of anti-semitic image to attack Hillary, unsettling. On multiple occasions, pro-Trump supporters have responded to articles I've written about him by sending me anti-semitic insults or photos comparing Jewish people to rats. As a woman, Trump's referring to women as "slobs" and "bimbos" represent the erosion of years of progress women have made in achieving value for something other than their appearances. As a journalist, the thought of writing about Trump every day until the election is exhausting, and overshadowed only by the even-more-terrifying reality that if he does pull off a win, he may be the worst president for press freedom in our country's history. As an American living abroad, I cringe at the realization that, if Trump wins, I'll probably need to spend the rest of my time here explaining and apologizing for the mistake that my country has made.

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It's not fair, but it's understandable: when you live in a country that is not the one you were born in that you become a defacto representative for your homeland among friends and coworkers. "What the f*ck is going in the States?," my British friends will ask when Trump supporters beat up a homeless person in his name. "Why do Americans love guns so much?," they wonder after reading a story about firearms sales spiking in the wake of a yet another mass shooting. I can't avoid it outside of work either. At a Central London cafe last week, a waitress jokingly told my friend and I that we should apologize for Trump. On vacation in Paris, my AirBnb host wants to know if I think Trump will be a worse president than George W. Bush.

Since the EU referendum results came in, I've had to field even more questions, concerns, and self-righteous snark from people back home. Many people have asked me recently if I ever think about the parallels between Brexit and what's going on in the U.S. I tell them I think about it all the time. There are, in fact, very few days of my life that I have not thought about it. Of course there's a comparison to be made: manipulated by opportunist demagogues, economic insecurity has given way to a fear and mistrust of immigrants. In the days since the vote, hate crimes have jumped as much as 57%. Of course, Brexit isn't just about securing the borders-- and former London Mayor Boris Johnson, one of Brexit's most vocal advocates, actually supports amnesty for undocumented immigrants. But the appeal of Trump isn't just his dumb, expensive Mexican wall, either. Americans are generally unhappy with the current state of politics and Donald Trump is, by every definition possible, not a politician.

You will also likely read some pieces today making connections between Brexit and the American Independence Day. You may even hear some British politicians make the case. These are false narratives. The American founding fathers waged war because they were tired of British leaders making decisions for then, without their consent, and not always in their best interest . Today's U.K. has ample representation among its European peers. Leave champion Nigel Farage even gets to show up for European Parliament, insult everyone, and somehow not get thrown out. And, as Yale professor and historian Steve Pincus points out, early Americans were also about as pro-immigrant as it gets. You know that thing people say about America being a melting pot? It's not just a cheesy metaphor. People aren't just American-- they're Dominican American, Italian American, Jewish American, African American. We take pride in our endless connections to the rest of the world.
July 4th used to be my favorite national holiday. It was about country, non-partisan and without overt religiosity, and for a kid, the only time blowing stuff up was celebrated by your parents. I loved seeing American Flags everywhere and walking my childhood neighborhood that hosted ghosts from The War of Independence.

I lived in a two-story red brick row house wedged between Kings Highway, Flatlands and Flatbush, a historic location where British General Cornwallis in 1776 camped his massive troops. I loved the historic church at that location with moss covered cemetery plots. I attended Boy Scout events there as well as walked by this sacred ground going and coming from school at PS119 every day. I loved contemplating how old the dates were on the headstones. Blowing up stuff on July 4th in this neighborhood was cool with history.

Later in life, living with dogs, my love of fireworks turned into anticipation, anxiety and awkward reminders of the ugliness of war. Yet just as the New York Times proudly posts in its July 4th newspaper a full version of the Declaration of Independence, I have a quiet ritual of reflecting on how lucky I have been to live my life in this country. Today, as I write this, I am aglow with celebrating how many glass ceilings have shattered lately, freeing us all from historic restrictions, and honoring vital words enshrined in our founding documents.

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I lamented most of my educated adult life the fact that our Founders were privileged white men protecting their privilege. Although they were married to women and had daughters, some had slaves, some became biologically interconnected with their slaves, and in the context of their world, despite such intimate experiences, failed to see their own hypocrisy of establishing a society legalizing depriving equal rights to all classes of people.

Today, because of the stubborn vigilance and unwavering passion of activists relentlessly pushing our society to actualize and legalize the implied spirit of our founding documents, President Barack Obama prepares to become our first Black Ex-President, Hillary Rodham Clinton has become the first woman nominee for the presidency who hopefully will be the first woman president, and the LGBT community has full and equal rights.


It's a well-documented fact that coders are in high demand. The January 2016 Dice Report on employment trends notes that while tech job hiring is up, software developers are still the most difficult talent to recruit. In fact, it's projected by Code.org that by 2020, there will be a shortage of 1M developers.

Efforts are being made across the spectrum to conquer this skills gap. In fact, disruptive models of education are leading the charge--from free, self-help resources such as CodeAcademy and Udacity to coding bootcamps like Tech Elevator, Dev Bootcamp, Software Guild and Hack Reactor. These DIY modes have quickly moved into the mainstream and are seen as viable pathways to employment, between recent endorsements from the White House to a recent Stack Overflow study of 56,000 software developers, which found that that 69 percent of this class if employees are at least somewhat self-taught.

In a welcome twist, these bootcamps have also begun to erode the white male dominance of the coding world. Software developers now have a variety of backgrounds and are far more diverse than they used to be. In fact, the 2015 Course Report about coding bootcamp alumni found "the typical attendee is 31 years old, has 7.6 years of work experience, has at least a Bachelor's degree, and has never worked as a programmer." Moreover, 36 percent of students who attend bootcamps are female.

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As it turns out, musicality seems to be a powerful predictor of coding success.

And even more important, those who successfully complete a bootcamp get well-paying jobs: On average, grads see a 38% salary increase, a figure equal to $18,0000. Perhaps surprisingly, the alums who saw the biggest salary increase after attending a bootcamp were students who majored in music as undergrads. As it turns out, musicality seems to be a powerful predictor of coding success. "The greatest scientists are artists as well," the genius Albert Einstein once said, but why are musicians uniquely suited to be software developers?

First, thanks to their performance background, attention to detail, and innate need to perfect their parts, musicians tend to be analytical, logical and methodical--skills that the best coders also possess. "There seems to be a high correlation between musical ability and reasoning skills," Terry Skwarek, the director of SharePoint administration at DePaul University, once told CNN. "It has to do with recognizing and manipulating patterns. That happens in music and in programming."



Tech Elevator student Drew Sullivan--who has performed with the world-class Cleveland Orchestra and was only the second doctoral-level clarinetist student ever at the renowned Cleveland Institute of Music--agrees that analytical-minded musicians are well-suited to coding. "Musicians enjoy the 'why' and 'how' of music," he says. "Musicians can learn, as I am, to ask the computer the same types of analytical questions we've been asking ourselves of the music for years."

Yet Sullivan also adds that certain musicians--including his fiancee and fellow Tech Elevator student Rebecca Hurd, who plays piano, oboe and flute--make great coders because they pair an analytical bent with a more creative side. "I speculate that if one can feel music, one can also 'feel' how a computer works," Sullivan says. "And in computer science, [Rebecca] has a great 'feel' for how an algorithm should work. She's a great mix of the heart and head of software development." (For the record, Sullivan says he personally falls somewhere in between both ends of the spectrum.)

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"I speculate that if one can feel music, one can also 'feel' how a computer works." Drew Sullivan, Java Student Tech Elevator

The idea that coding can be emotional--and also involve intuition, flexible perspectives and even personal flourishes--resonates with software engineer Alex Jacobs. In a Medium piece outlining the link between musicians and programmers, he sees a strong, positive correlation between the frameworks of coding and composition. "The complexity of the overall structure consists of a large number of relatively simple aspects, interwoven in deliberate patterns to create a complex result," he writes. "To work on specific aspects of a composition requires the composer to hold the remainder of the musical structure in their imagination. Similarly, until there is a working model, there is no 'software' aside from the vision and intention of the designer."



"To construct a good program, you want to be able to see the consequences in your head, not just do line by line of the code, you have to be able to totally visualize it." Gordon L. Shaw (1933-2005), Physics Professor University of California

In other words, musicians will adapt well to programming due to their visual abilities--or "spatial/temporal" skills, in the parlance of physics professor Gordon L. Shaw, who co-discovered the "Mozart effect," which highlighted the positive effects classical music has on reasoning. "To construct a good program, you want to be able to see the consequences in your head, not just do line by line of the code," Shaw says. "You have to be able to totally visualize it."

Hurd has found all of this to be true since starting to learn coding. "Software development is similar to music in that a good coder is constantly looking to improve their code, and there are many different ways to interpret a piece or to approach a problem," she says. "Music, especially on the piano, forces your brain to think and your body to operate in multiple layers. This translates effectively into coding, especially as we get into building more in-depth web applications. You have to be able to know how to organize a large amount of complexity in the concepts you're learning, and to triage and prioritize an overwhelming amount of information at one time."



Still, on a more pragmatic level, musicians possess certain skills that mesh well with the programming lifestyle. For Sullivan, an ability to work independently and without much supervision--while also successfully collaborating with a larger group when necessary--has informed his transition to coding. "Both software development and music are skills that require finesse, so they can be learned similarly," he adds. Hurd, on the other hand, notes her self-discipline and time management skills have come in handy. "I didn't think that I would find myself back in a 'practice room'--this time, a classroom or random couch in the lounge--for hours on end," she says. "But the main advantage of a musical background is the underlying motivation that your work's not done just because it's 5 o'clock."

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These are just some of the parallels between musicians and coding. In fact, there are myriad of ways in which being proficient on an instrument is a great pathway to learning how to program. And, the ability to code in today's information economy is a ticket to some great career opportunities. If you're wondering if your musical background makes you a good fit for this exciting and rapidly growing career field, I would encourage you to try this quick, free, mini-aptitude test, as a starting point to see if you've got what it takes to become a software developer. Good luck!
Image: Orthodox church. Stock Photo. Pixabay.com

Christians are condemning a provision in Russia's soon-to-be-signed anti-terrorism law that prevents people from holding religious services in their homes.

The provision is one of a raft of restrictions on people of faith that the Kremlin included in new anti-terrorism legislation.

Belarus and Kazakhstan have also outlawed religious services in homes in some circumstances. It's part of a campaign in parts of the former Soviet Union to stamp out all non-traditional faiths.

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Leaders of former Soviet countries that have reined in non-traditional religions have had different motivations for doing so, but the common denominator is a determination to exercise tighter control over the population.

Vladimir Putin has made the Russian Orthodox Church a partner of his regime, and would love to see all other religions in the country disappear. Belarus' leader, Alexander Lukashenko, has taken a similar stance. And Armenia has given the Armenian Apostolic Church a special place in the country's religious life, including making it a crime for members of other denominations to try to convert Apostolic Church members.

President Nursultan Nazarbayev is trying to rid Kazakhstan of all non-moderate brands of Islam after several Islamic terrorist attacks in the country since 2012. Although his crackdown on religion is aimed at Islam, non-Orthodox Christian denominations have also suffered.

Both Christians and non-Christians are upset about an online encryption-skirting provision in Russia's new anti-terrorism legislation that critics say is aimed at ferreting out and punishing opponents of the Putin regime. It requires Internet service companies to provide Russian authorities with a "back door" that allows them access to the content of encrypted messages.

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But the religious dimensions of the anti-terrorism legislation, which is awaiting Putin's signature, are more disconcerting than its privacy dimensions to many Christians.

The most onerous religious provision is one preventing people of faith from holding services in their homes or even sharing their views online.

Sergei Ryakhovsky, head of the Protestant Churches of Russia, said the impending restrictions conjure up the dark days of Soviet religious repression.

A look at "Soviet history shows us how many people of different faiths have been persecuted for spreading the Word of God," he said.

Although some scoff at the notion that Russian authorities would be able to prevent Christians from holding religious services in homes, a longtime Kremlin watcher, History Professor David Aikman of Patrick Henry College, said no one should "overestimate the Russian government's willingness to exert control."

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Underscoring that position is the fact that both Kazakhstan and Belarus are already raiding religious services.

Twenty law enforcement personnel, for example, stormed into a Jehovah's Witness service at the home of Eduard and Irina Malykhin in Karabalky, Kazakhstan, on April 6, 2013.

The Malykhins and two others at the service were charged with unauthorized missionary activity, although all 40 of those at the gathering were already Jehovah's Witness members.

Authorities spent three hours at the Malykhin's home, questioning and filming all participants. They also confiscated more than 900 religious books, including Bibles. Most of the books were from the Malykhins' personal library.

In May of 2007, police in Belarus' capital of Minsk raided a home where a Baptist service was taking place to arrest a Polish citizen who was taking part.

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They charged Yaroslav Lukasik with violating a law prohibiting foreigners from conducting religious services in the country.

Lukasik denied leading the services that the John the Baptist Church was holding. He was taking part in them, he said, but not conducting them.

Authorities were unconvinced. They fined and deported Lukasik.

The law that was used to arrest him prohibits foreign organizations in Belarus from engaging in "subversive activities," including inciting "national, religious and racial enmity," or engaging in activities that could have "negative effects on the physical and mental health of the people."

Although Kazakhstan and Belarus have different laws governing religious activities, neither has a blanket ban on services being held in homes.

The raids that each has conducted have been rooted in laws preventing unauthorized missionary activities or prohibiting foreigners from conducting services.

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Russia's law will be far worse, Christians say, because it will impose the post-Soviet Union's first blanket ban on all religious services in homes.
Turkey's relations with its near neighbors have been strained over the last few years, being pushed to breaking point with Israel since 2010, with Egypt since 2013 and with Russia since November 2015, for various reasons. Hoping to turn a new page, Ankara has recently adopted a policy of mea culpa in a bid to normalize its relations with Russia, and also gave signals of normalization of its relations with Israel and Egypt. Before looking at what changed since 2010, 2013 and 2015 that caused Turkey to decide to normalize its relations with Israel, Egypt and Russia, it is worth recalling the reasons that led to the deterioration of relations with these countries through flashbacks.

Israel:On May 31, 2010, Israeli security forces attacked a Turkish flotilla carrying humanitarian aid as attempted to break the Israeli blockade of Gaza, killing nine Turkish activists. Following the incident, Ankara recalled its ambassador from Tel Aviv and expelled Israel's ambassador to Ankara, while also suspending military cooperation, pulling out joint military exercises and reducing intelligence sharing. For nearly three years Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described the Gaza flotilla incident as unintentional, but resisted pressure to apologize; but after a visit to Israel by US President Barack Obama in 2013, Netanyahu finally apologized for the deaths, which was duly accepted by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, paving the way for a normalization of relations between the two countries. This process, however, was curtailed by Turkey's demand for Israel's full mea culpa including compensation for the victims' families and the lifting of the Gaza blockade. This demand of Turkey was rebuffed by Israel.

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Egypt:The Turkey-Egypt relationship became strained after the coup d'etat that took place on July 3, 2013 that led to the ouster of the President Mohammed Morsi, the democratically elected leader who had been supported by Turkey during the democratization process in Egypt following the Tahrir Revolution in 2011. Ankara declined to recognize the new Sisi government, and refused to establish diplomatic ties with Egypt. The following harsh criticisms from Turkey, Egypt decided to cancel its involvement in joint naval drills with Turkey, and not to renew the sea and land transit transportation agreement for roll-on/roll-off (Ro-Ro) ships with Turkey that expired on April 23, 2015, effectively blocking the transportation route for Turkey's exports to the Gulf. Beginning in early 2016, the Sisi government met with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) three times, giving the message that it could support it in return for intelligence that would be gathered on members of the Muslim Brotherhood in Turkey. Furthermore, the Sisi government gave the green light to the PYD to open an office in Cairo.

Russia:The downing of a Russian SU-24 fighter jet by Turkey in November 2015 after it violated Turkish airspace, and Russian President Vladimir Putin's interpretation of the incident as a "stab in the back that will have a serious consequences for Russia's relationship with Turkey" marked a severe break in the friendly relationship. Russia launched sanctions against Turkey that included the launch of a visa regime, a ban on charter flights to Turkey, and an embargo on agricultural products and a ban on the hiring of Turkish nationals. Russia's sanctions hit the tourism sector heavily in Turkey, sharply declining the number of tourists coming from Russia at a time when terrorism in Turkey was already keeping foreign visitors away. In May 2016, tensions between Turkey and Russia were escalated further after the shooting down of a Turkish military helicopter by a PKK militant using a Russian made SA-18 Grouse, which led Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accuse Russia of providing the PKK with anti-aircraft guns and missiles.

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A New Page has Turned?What has changed since then in Turkey and these countries is a shift to a more conciliatory approach. The situation in Syria and Iraq has been the main catalyst of this mea culpa foreign policy and unexpected diplomatic breakthrough. Beginning with Turkey, it can be said that Turkey has been hit harshly by terrorism not only because of its ongoing fight with the PKK, but also by a series of terror attacks of the ISIL, the most recent being the attack against Istanbul Ataturk Airport that claimed many lives. All these tragic events indicated the need to follow a new and more conciliatory foreign policy approach.

With a steady rise in both economic and security concerns, now more than ever, Ankara is under pressure to make up with Russia, although the path will not be easy. Russia has long supported the Assad regime in Syria, and has lent its support by bombing forces opposing Assad. Furthermore, Russia has declined to recognize the PKK as a terrorist group, and is actively supporting the Kurdish groups in the region, in direct contradiction with the Turkish side. Turkey considers the PYD, a leading force in the fight against the terrorist ISIL, a terrorist organization with links to Kurdish separatists - PKK in Turkey. Given the Russia's policy on separatist movements in its own neighborhood, particularly Georgia and Ukraine, and the secessions of Abkhazia, South Ossetia and, more recently, Crimea along with above-mentioned developments, Turkey's mea culpa policy towards Russia can be understood more clearly, looking beyond merely economic concerns.

Russia's military involvement in Syria also changed 5 years status quo in the Syrian civil war. This change in status quo made Israel more careful not to collide with Russian forces. Israel is concerned that Russian S-300 anti-aircraft missiles that could be used by Assad against Israel, or may be delivered to Hezbollah. The energy issue - natural gas in the Mediterranean - has emerged as another factor driving reconciliation between Israel and Turkey. The last but not least factor that facilitate the deal is Kurdish issue that drove Turkey back to Israel. All these developments in their neighborhood strengthened the argument that Netanyahu and Erdogan needed to cooperate and work together in Syria.

Full mea culpa thus came from Israel three years later in June 2016 when Israel agreed to pay 20 million USD in compensation to the families of those killed and wounded in its attack against the Gaza flotilla, in return for an agreement from the families to drop any future claims against the Israeli military. Although the deal did not meet the Turkey's demand that Israel lift the Gaza blockade, it did grant Turkey permission to build a hospital in Gaza and to invest in infrastructure projects, and in return, Turkey will use its influence on Hamas to help recover Israeli citizens missing in Gaza. The current deals' economic aspect includes an agreement for natural gas to be supplied to Turkey by Israel.

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In addition to the easing of tensions with Israel after full mea culpa of Israel, Turkey's relationship with Saudi Arabia has seen a recent recovery as a result of the new King's foreign policy towards Muslim Brotherhood, which may yield results in the efforts to normalize the relationship between Turkey and Sisi's Egypt. The Turkey-Israeli deal has already started to bear the fruit with the opening the Israeli gas supplies to Europe via Turkey now in sight, as well as the launch of Turkish humanitarian aid to Gaza with the permission of the Israeli government. The positive outcome of mea culpa diplomacy has been seen in Turkey-Russia relations, when the Kremlin agreed to end the ban on Russian tourism in Turkey after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's mea culpa to Russian President Vladimir Putin for the shooting down of a Russian warplane and sent his condolences to the relatives of the deceased Russian pilot.
As a secular Jew I've had mixed feelings about the dwelling on the Holocaust so much, as to induce a bundle of guilt as well. I received a post card in the mail (!) years and years ago, with a picture of Jews rounded up in a cattle car bound for a concentration camp, with writing on the back of the card. The writing basically said, "This is what will happen if you marry outside the Jewish faith!" How did they know I was Jewish? How didn't they know that this kind of fear mongering would push me in precisely the opposite direction?

I have been one of may Jews not yet to visit Israel, perhaps afraid of what some call the "Jerusalem Syndrome", where I might suddenly and dramatically take to the ground and to kissing it, so strongly would I feel a connection to my own people and to my own Judaism.

I've been afraid of too much identification with my Jewishness. There is too much of it that I don't like: what seems like an obsessive adherence to very frequent and rather strict rituals. And of course, the stark punishments should a child, particularly a boy, fall in love with a non-Jew and well, marry her. I haven't like the comparisons I heard as a kid, between Jews and other minorities, namely black people who had a higher rate of going on welfare, for one. I also didn't like and couldn't successfully do, the joining of a temple as a social commitment, to keeping Judaism alive and to making friends. That rendered me somewhat lonely since being Jewish wasn't enough for me to make friends with a person. To be honest, as I've wandered, it's more the New York Woody Allen-esque kind of quick humor that I missed. And the like of him aren't to be found in synagogues, well for the most part.

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But I have to embrace complexity, since I see us as having in general many contradictions, inside ourselves for one. So in truth, I very much identify as a Jew, and I am moved way beyond words by images, photographs and stories from the Holocaust. I can find ways of explaining it yet when I'm down to the wire of being confronted by a movie about it, I lose the bit of intellect that allegedly had informed me.

I found "Night" on my shelf last year before we took off for the summer in Italy. And without much hesitation I went on to read it. I know and knew then that Eli Wiesel was a learned, wise and poignant man who fought for social justice and had won the Nobel Peace Prize. Perhaps what I hadn't expected was his rather full appreciation of the variety of emotions that plagued him during his time at Auschwitz, which included a stint at what seemed like dramatic detachment form his weakened father, who was near him in the camp but doomed to deteriorate sooner, and therefore to die. He yearned to be relieved of the burden of his father, though of course--especially with appreciation of complexity and contradiction--that was not all. Nor was it all of anything.

What stayed with me from this compelling memoir, which I feel can open the pores of feeling for almost any reader with an inch of compassion and humanity--was the ballet I envisioned about the friend of his who played a part of a Beethoven concerto. It took place over the dash from one part of the camp to another, one in terrible snow and one in which inmates were crushed and died.

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On p. 94, Wiesel described calling out for his father who was trying to sleep. Could anyone sleep there where there was danger of instant death, the young Wiesel wondered. "These were my thoughts when I heard the sound of a violin. A violin in a dark barrack where the dead were piled on top of the living? Who was this madman who played the violin here, at the edge of his own grave? Or was it a hallucination?

It had to be Juliek. (A friend of Wiesel's from home)

He was playing a fragment of a Beethoven concerto...

The darkness enveloped us. All I could hear was the violin... He was playing his life. His whole being was gliding over the strings. His unfulfilled hopes, his extinguished future. He played that which he would never play again".

When Wiesel woke, he found his friend dead in the snow, his violin cracked into fragments. It was explained earlier in the text that Jews were forbidden to play "German" music. So it was that this Polish comrade was breaking the rules, clinging to his right to have as his last wish the gift of Beethoven as one sent out to his neighbors and savored personally.

I saw this almost instantly in ballet form, or perhaps another kind of dance, more let's say the kind of thing Garth Fagan would choreograph. That is, if he saw it in his mind's eye, as he has described his inspiration.

When I went to Auschwitz it was when Emma was 16. We went with a Polish friend who wasn't Jewish, though her uncle had been in the camp for three years for trying to help Jews. Karyna had felt defensive about the tendency in the States of Jews to assume Poles had been anti-Semitic, so as a gesture of accommodation, we went with an English- speaking interpreter, not through a Jewish organization.

It opened us all up, to the humanity of the situation, to seeing what had happened as not only Jewish but also as something human. Emma was inspired to create something attitude shifting in her high school and so with a friend's help, the first Gay-Straight Alliance in Port Washington was formed.

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On July 4th, 2016 on stage at the Nathan's Famous International Hot Dog Eating Contest's 100th anniversary, I achieved enlightenment by eating the singular perfect garlicky natural-casing wiener nestled in a spongy bun. This Holy Grail of hot dogs was a century in the making and the totem that tore a rip in the time/space continuum and opened my gateway to Nirvana. Around me my fellow Major League Eaters ate astronomical amounts of HDBs (hot dogs and buns) in ten minutes, pushing the physiological limits of human consumption while I ate but one. That one, however, turned my stomach into a flux capacitor and allowed my enteric brain (neurons that governs the function of the gastrointestinal system - the cerebral gut) to journey to a mystical destination: Nirvana. I am one with everything and used no condiments. On the back of each eaters' jersey is their personal best in HDBs but my jersey's number reformed into the infinity symbol. As an added bonus to achieving enlightenment, unlike previous July 4th contests, I still have room for apple pie. I've been a Major League Eater for fifteen years and unbeknownst to the ranked eat-letes and voracious fans of the pro-eating circuit, I have been preparing for this journey throughout my speed-eating career. In secret, I have spent time in each city that I travel to for consumption contests studying with shamans, spiritual guides, Zen masters, Butoh instructors, yogis, and once at a Hooters Chicken Wing Eating contest I had an ill-advised meeting with a Santeria consultant (we had differing opinions on what to do with poultry.) A brief history of my stomach can be gleaned through the hundreds of MLE contests I have participated in - I've competitively eaten from A (Asparagus - 4 pounds in ten minutes) to W (Watermelon 3 whole, six minutes). Sadly Xiaolongbao, Yogurt and Zucchini have yet to be sanctioned.

A brief history of humans' attempts to either time travel or achieve enlightenment is still too long for this Huffington Post blog, but let me mention a few highlights:

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In Christianity, many believe "Revelation" is an allegory of the spiritual path and the ongoing struggle between good and evil. Today MLE's George Shea, signature hawker boater hat upon head preached 20 feet in the air on a riser above 35,000 fans at Stillwell and Surf Avenue at Coney Island and screamed, "They say that competitive eating is the battleground upon which God and Lucifer wage war for men's souls and they are right."

In mysticism, eschatology refers metaphorically to the end of ordinary reality and reunion with the Divine. Again, I quote George Shea introducing me:

"He was first seen standing at edge the shore between the ancient marks of the high and low tide, a place that is neither land nor sea. And as the blue light of morning filtered through the blackness it revealed a man who hails from the far corners of the globe where the dark arts are still practiced. This is a man who has been to the beyond, he was buried alive under 60 cubic feet of popcorn he fought his way out for survival, he is known as David Blaine of the Bowel, The Evil Knievel of the Alimentary Canal, the Houdini of Cusini...Crazy Legs Conti"

Last week, my food stuntman abilities were tested as I climbed atop a Wonder Wheel car and ate 12 Nathan's HDBs while it revolved. I cheated death by not falling and also avoided getting squashed or knocked off by the swinging cars. I survived the stunt and gained a new respect for Coney Island and the thrills it gives and provides (video here) Unlike Icarus on wax wings, my SkySuit got me to terra firma with only some hot dog detritus and Tang stains (Tang was good enough for space so it's good enough for bun-dunking in the clouds.) The view was incredible, the ride exhilarating and life-affirming and the 13th dog eaten safety on the ground and a few beers at Ruby's on the Boardwalk delicious. However, I knew I had one shot at elusive enlightenment and it would involve a "Altered States" meets "Back to the Future" effort -

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Step 1. locate the perfect hot dog in 2016, on stage at July 4th while celebrating the birthright of America through competitive eating.

Step 2. Morph into that hot dog and travel back via the cerebrum of the gut, my enteric brain to 1916 when Ida and Nathan Handwerker created the first Nathan's (not yet famous) hot dog that lead to the juggernaut that is the Major League Eating hot dog contest. Sort of Kafka's "Metamorphosis" but with less buzzing around and more sizzling and grease.

Step 3. Quickly ingest the perfect dog at the buzzer of the contest, in essence, eating myself from the past and achieving in the present, in the words of philosopher Karl Spackler, "total consciousness. Which is nice."

Some of my preliminary research lead me to Albert Einstein, who perhaps after a large lunch, posited that if space-time is sufficiently twisted, a time traveler can, while traveling toward the future all the time, circle back and visit an event in his own past. I wasn't around 100 years ago so I had to abandon Einstein. Theoretical physicists Kip Thorne and Sung-Won Kim identified a universal physical mechanism (the explosive growth of vacuum polarization of quantum fields), that may always prevent spacetime from developing closed timelike curves. I understand about .33% of what they discovered but thought I had found the answer by cribbing their studies of the existence of "wormholes" and could synchronize the consumption of myself (transformed into a once-in-a-century HDB) that would rip open "the wiener hole" in the space/time continuum. I worried that the scientific community might not take my ripped wiener hole theory seriously so I had to look much further back in history to Aristotle, who wrote: "What is eternal is circular and what is circular is eternal." I used this as my mantra and my guide. Granted a hot dog is more of an oblong, but I believe the concept holds.

As it happened at the buzzer of this years' contest, my journey was two-fold (similar to the pro-eating technique separating the dog from the bun manually while orally reuniting them in the mouth for their journey to the stomach) - I travelled back and forward in time the same moment, I closed my eyes and transformed as the last century of frankfurter chomping ended and the next began. It was glorious; almost indescribable but I will try to give you a view into the beyond. My stomach expanded as if all the Macy's July 4th Fireworks went off at once while Katy Perry (also in my stomach) sang, "Firework." My enteric brain became a Mobius strip assembly line of hot dogs. I entered an M. C. Escher drawing and left though an Alejandro Jodorowsky film. Every meal I ever ate flashed on the inside of my closed eyelids and then I felt a warmth, like a hug from humanity and I opened my eyes to the new world before me.

The Bunette behind me quizzically turned her flip card to "1." On my left a Nathan's rep, holding four plates, looked dejectedly at the 20 uneaten HDBs. On my right, in the maelstrom of meat, the bejeweled yellow mustard belt held aloft, dazzled in the sun. The American flag was shoulder-wrapped around the victor; The confetti guns fired. Some will question my dedication to competitive eating - - if I've tanked my Major League Eating ranking by consuming just one hot dog and bun while the elite eaters around me consumed record number HDBs at the 100th running of the dogs. Naysayers and internet haters may doubt if I truly went to the beyond and back. Religious scholars, luminous academics, hard-wired scientists may doubt my arrival at Nirvana coupled with time travel achieved by eating a hot dog, but I feel beatific - It's July 4th and I've just eaten the American Dream. My stomach may be untraditionally unfilled but my mind is satiated and most importantly, my soul, like a belch, emanates from deep within and dissipates in the Coney Island air, heading upwards to the ether and back to the beyond.


Image credit: Gage Skidmore, Flickr



This week, Donald Trump visited my home state of Maine. Because of the visit, and, well, because it's election season, there has been a lot of attention on Trump with much talk about the presidential hopeful on the news. I would normally be excited about a local visit from a presidential candidate. I would talk to my children about it and use such a visit as an opportunity to teach my children about the presidential campaign, important elections, and the democratic process. But I found myself "laying low" about this visit.

One morning my oldest son and I were in the kitchen making breakfast, tea and conversation. My oldest son is in college, and since this is his first national election in which he will be able to vote, he's been talking a lot of politics this election season.

We were discussing Donald Trump and some of the offensive things he's said, specifically about women and minorities. I told my son about a friend who wanted some "exact quotes" that were evidence of Trump's sexist and racist language. So my son and I opened my laptop to find some of those quotes. Right was I was reading one that I find most offensive as a woman, the one where he referred to women as a "piece of ass" in an old Esquire interview, my husband and youngest son, who is only six years old, walked into the room.

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I didn't know they were there, but they were just in time to hear me reading Trump's quote. My husband told me to "watch my language," that our youngest was in the room.

This was an epiphanic moment for me. We were quoting a man who could be our future president, and I couldn't let my little boy hear what he had said.

Of course, some could argue that was an older quote, and it was, but Trump's rhetoric related to women and minorities is often offensive and inappropriate, as he refers to women as bimbos or implies they are successful in their careers because of their sex appeal.

Although I missed many of the Republican nominee debates on television, I was very much aware of Trump's rhetoric from reports on the news and social media. Despite being concerned by much of Trump's rhetoric throughout the debate process, when took to social media to defend the size of his private parts after one of the debates, I was concerned that the rhetoric was reaching a new low, and I was concerned about the message this was sending my children. These Tweets were shared all over the world.

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And those Tweets worry me. Trump seems fast and loose with his comments on Twitter, and these things, obviously, make the news. When he wrote that Hillary Clinton couldn't "satisfy" her husband, so how could she "satisfy" American, it was definitely another cringe-worthy moment for me.

What kind of example does this set for our children?

Whether we want to or not, we need to stop and think about how the President of the United States is a role model for our children. That person has reached the highest office and is seen as the pinnacle of success in our culture, and children look up to our presidents. I don't know how to even begin to talk about a president like Donald Trump with my six year old.

My husband and I are trying to raise a son who respects women, who understands that all people are different, unique, special, and deserve respect. We're trying to teach our son that we can't group all minorities together and that to do so is a form of racism. We're also trying to raise him with kindness and love and with an understanding that words are powerful and can hurt.

We try to teach our son that words can actually hurt most of all. We can say we're sorry when we say mean things, but the damage is done. We need to be thoughtful in how we speak to and about people.

Donald Trump doesn't seem to believe in these lessons and seems to be careless with his language choices, or, perhaps, he is purposeful, but that concerns me even more. I'm concerned that he's setting a bad example for our children about how our democracy works and how the words we say reflect who we are as people.

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I wonder if Trump's supporters have stopped to think about this: Would you want your children to hear the things Trump says? Would you be okay if your children spoke to and about people in the same way?

I don't think Trump is going to change unless his supporters demand it of him. He said during the Republican debates that he could "shoot someone" and would not lose his voters. I would love to prove him wrong. This kind of arrogance and recklessness with his language really does set a bad example for our children.

I think we need to demand better behavior of a presidential candidate.

Author's note: This piece ran originally this week in the Bangor Daily News on the same day Trump visited my home state. I was surprised at the backlash against the post from those who assumed this was a pro-Hillary Clinton piece. This is not.
When one refers to the business of art, certainly in the context of artists, the focus is on artists as businesspeople, not only creating artworks for sale but marketing, promoting, exhibiting and selling this art. However, the skills in this realm that artists need to learn are similar, and sometimes identical, to those of art dealers and gallery owners, which makes Edward Winkleman's recent gallery-oriented Selling Contemporary Art: How to Navigate the Evolving Market (Allworth Press) a useful addition to an artist's bookshelf. (Full disclosure: Allworth Press also is the publisher of my books.) The author of How to Start and Run a Commercial Art Gallery, Winkleman looks at a variety of changes in the selling of art over the past decade that are likely to make a difference in whether a gallery thrives or closes, and what he has to say to dealers is often quite applicable to artists who sell on their own or through a gallery.

The changes he describes - the power of the Internet, the growing prevalence of art fairs and the globalization of the art market, for instance - probably are not news to readers, but he offers specific recommendations on how to position oneself in this evolving environment. "Most galleries located in English-speaking countries are so confident of English's dominance that it is the only language they use of their sites," he writes. However, he views as a "forward-thinking approach" the ability of those in non-English-speaking countries to navigate a Web site in their own language, such as Chinese in China or Arabic in the United Arab Emirates, which involves the acquisition of translation software.

Another recommendation is not to assume that what is done in the United States is done everywhere else. Google is the go-to search engine in the U.S. and Europe, but Yandex is more popular in Russian-speaking countries, as is Naver in Korea and Baidu in China. "Yandex and Bai, for example, favor social media pages over standard websites, which may mean you want [your] Facebook page to be always up to date, and...even multi-lingual." Maybe not just Facebook, since "Kontakte is the dominant social network in Russia, and QZone is the dominant one in China."

This book is aimed principally at gallery owners, small to medium-sized operations at that. They face stark competition from what are described as "mega-galleries," which have large exhibitions spaces in different countries and who pick off rising talents from smaller galleries. They also must compete for admission into costly and prestigious international art fairs, wehre a growing percentage of art buyers go to shop. Who you know, or who knows you, matters. "Having served on a selection committee for a fair," Winkleman writes, "I can confirm that proposals from galleries that no one on the committee knows, especially if they are located in major art centers, rarely received more than a cursory review." True for galleries and for artists, too. What gets artists into galleries is their connections - who has a dealer's ear and can vouch for them, who that the dealer knows and trusts will make an introduction - rather than the inherent quality of their work. Nothing new in this, although it is interesting to read the whining of a gallery owner rather than that of an artist.

Winkleman's goal is to offer ways that the small may compete with the large, much of which is highly applicable to individual artists: Communicate more clearly and more often with the public about what is being exhibited; use strategic keywords to improve the chances of being found in online searches; develop a more public presence, through speaking engagements or online, which allows one to literally "seize the microphone" away from those with deeper pockets and more prestige. In effect, "you do not need to wait to be crowned as an industry leader to speak up and share your ideas." With regard to making oneself known to those who may affect one's career, he recommends "[m]aking sure they have heard of you, by visiting...galleries, introducing yourself, asking them questions...and ensuring you add them to your mailing list...."

He distinguishes between seeking public and art world attention to what one is exhibiting and the older assumption that a positive critical review will drive sales. Based on his own survey of collectors, a review in a newspaper or magazine "influences what they collect very little." That should calm typical artist anxieties a bit.

Throughout Selling Contemporary Art, advice intended for gallery owners may be of use to individual artists. A dealer needing immediate one-time financial backing in order to pay a hefty entry fee to take part in a prestigious art fair might contact a good client to front the money, getting paid back through art fair sales. Similarly, an artist looking to pay a foundry might also contact a friendly buyer, offering terms that reimburse the backer in cash from sales or in artwork. A dealer needs to stay abreast of what the artists they represent are doing in their studios and pasting online, and artists need to keep their galleries informed of new work they are creating, rather than posting images on social media and hoping their dealers are paying attention.

In general, understanding the challenges of art dealers and gallery owners will help artists understand and negotiate their relationship with them. The goal of both artist and dealer is sales. However, the more artists learn some of the skills and techniques of dealers, the more likely they are to not need them.
A combat ready special operation forces soldier with a MP7 silenced submachine gun and a night vision google.

It comes as news to no one that Congress is filled with political cowards.

The Constitution places the power to declare war with the legislative branch. This did not mean simply taking note that the president had bombed or invaded another nation. Congress is to decide whether there will be a war for the executive to fight. Constitutional convention delegate James Wilson explained: "It will not be in the power of a single man, or a single body of men, to involve us in such distress; for the important power of declaring war is in the legislature at large."

In recent decades, however, members of Congress have preferred to leave the hard decisions to the president. If the resulting war went well, they applauded. If not, they criticized. This constitutional abdication has allowed unilateral war-making. Presidents have been only too happy to oblige.

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The only contrary example in recent years was when President Barack Obama tossed the issue of Syria's use of chemical weapons to Congress. Americans overwhelmingly told their lawmakers to reject military involvement in yet another bitter Middle Eastern conflict. Republican Party hawks were overwhelmed even by their own followers.

Yet the president has relied on the outdated authorization passed after the terrorist attacks of 9/11 to validate his multiple air and drone campaigns, as well as deployment of trainers, advisers, and special operations forces. He almost certainly does not believe that the old AUMF, directed against those who plotted the World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks, has any relevance in today's world. But he may fear that Congress would make a bad situation worse.

If H.J. Res. 84,"Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Islamist Extremism," is any indication, he would be right in that assumption. Sponsored by Rep. Scott Perry (R-PA) and co-sponsored by Rep. Matt Salmon (R-AZ) and Rep. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), the bill creates a long list of target "organizations that support Islamist extremism," many of which have done nothing against America. It is a strikingly foolish piece of legislation.

First, a country normally declares war against entities, not philosophies. Usually the enemy is another nation. In today's world that might be stretched to a group. But war involves destroying states, dismantling organizations, and killing people. Not criticizing ideologies or theologies. What matters is not whether a group is Islamist but whether it endangers America.

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Second, the threat to America and other nations is violent extremism, not extremism. It doesn't particularly matter if people have seemingly kooky ideas on how to live if they do not kill, maim, kidnap, torture, and otherwise harm others. One best avoids rather than executes them. Had Adolf Hitler remained a slightly deranged street artist in Vienna the U.S. would have had no cause to target him despite his hideous views. War became necessary when he became Germany's chancellor and put armored divisions and more behind his murderous philosophy.

Third, war should be reserved for responding to threats to America, not cleaning up messes in other nations' neighborhoods. In World War II Washington declared war on Japan and Germany, then later on Italy, Romania, Bulgaria, and Hungary. All were fighting against America or its allies. Congress did not pass a resolution "against fascism." Spain chose not to enter the conflict, despite dictator Francisco Franco having received support from Germany and Italy during the civil war. The Franco regime might have been evil, but it posed no security threat to America. Other government, too, could have been considered fascist. Washington had no cause to attack them.

Yet Representatives Perry, Salmon, and Lummis came up with numerous new enemies, along with the kitchen sink: "the Islamic State, Al-Qaeda, Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, Al Shabab, Boko Haram, Al-Nusrah Front, the Haqqani-Network, the Taliban, Houthi's, Korasan Group, Hamas, Hezbollah, and any substantial supporters, associated forces, or closely related successor entities to any of such organizations."

Why stop there? Surely there are a few more insurgents, dissidents, or factions that could be tossed onto the list. Why not Abu Sayyaf in the Philippines? They've kidnapped Americans and the U.S. has sent in military personnel to train the Filipino military. China assures the world that the Muslim Uighurs are terrorists, so why not add them? What about the Pakistani Taliban, which differs from the forces operating in Afghanistan? At Islamabad's behest the U.S. already has used drones against the former. Certainly Russia's Chechens, who without question have committed atrocities against civilians, belong on the list. There undoubtedly are more.

The proposed choice of enemies well illustrates the problem of U.S. foreign policy. The Islamic State should be on the list because it is the current focus of military action in the Middle East. But it did not turn to terrorism against America or Europe until Washington and its allies took over the fight against the planned caliphate. Terrorism has become ISIL's only effective weapon of retaliation. Had Washington left the battle to those in the region threatened by the Islamic State--essentially everyone, from Turkey to Iraq to Egypt to Saudi Arabia--the group likely would be devoting its terrorist energies elsewhere. It might have been defeated before it focused on the U.S.

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Al-Qaeda remains an enemy, but not much of one after nearly 15 years. Moreover, by supporting Saudi Arabia's brutal campaign in Yemen, Washington actually has weakened the forces against al-Qaeda and opened space for the Islamic State, allowing both of them to expand their influence. Supporting one foolish war apparently makes another one necessary, in the three Congress members' view.

Al-Shabab is essentially a criminal gang operating in Somalia. It is made up of nasty folks, but they have little to do with America. The African Union already has intervened in Somalia militarily. There is no reason for the U.S. to take on responsibility for yet another continent's war.

So, too, Boko Haram, the vicious Islamic insurgency in Nigeria. Not every evil doer on earth is America's problem. Indeed, Boko Haram has won popular support because of the corruption, human rights abuses, and incompetence of government forces. If anything, America declaring war on the group would reduce pressure on Abuja to reform. Moreover, U.S. involvement would aid Boko Haram in portraying itself as battling the enemies of Islam.

The al-Nusra Front and Khorasan Group are seemingly associated with al-Qaeda but focused on the Syrian civil war. Ironically, they are on America's "side" in that conflict and have benefited greatly from U.S. arms surrendered by so-called "moderate" insurgents. While Washington has good reason to hope the two groups are defeated by friendlier regime opponents, or even by the Assad government, they have not warred on the U.S. The best military policy in Syria is to stay out.

The Haqqani Network and Taliban are America's opponents in Afghanistan. However, Washington long ago fulfilled its primary objectives in that tragic Central Asian nation--dispersing al-Qaeda and punishing the Taliban for hosting anti-American terrorists. The latter aren't likely to commit that mistake again, meaning the U.S. should withdraw from its forlorn attempt at nation-building and democracy-promotion in Central Asia.

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Far from being Islamic extremists, the Houthis were known for religious moderation and are a Shia variant close to Sunnis. The group has never targeted Americans. However, the Houthis have been fighting Yemen's central government since 2004, and gained military ascendency after allying with former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, whom America long supported. The Houthis never have been controlled by Iran. It is Saudi Arabia--a totalitarian state which allows no religious liberty--which has turned the conflict into a sectarian struggle. Outside observers report that Riyadh is responsible for the bulk of Yemen's civilian deaths: Washington would be more justified in declaring war on Saudi Arabia, which continues to promote fundamentalist Wahhabist Islam around the globe.

Hamas is a malign organization, but has no global ambitions and does not threaten America. Israel is well able to confront its far weaker adversary. Washington should not declare war on countries, movements, or groups just because an allied power might wish it to do so.

Hezbollah also is no friend of Israel, but is not a military enemy of America. Although blamed for the 1983 attacks on the U.S. embassy and Marine Corps barracks, exact responsibility is unclear. The organization was only emerging at the time and was not fully formed until 1985. Indeed, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barack admitted that it was his nation's military "presence that created Hezbollah." In any case, in 1983 the U.S. had become a combatant in Lebanon's multi-sided civil war and bombed Islamic forces. Washington could not then claim immunity from attack. To target Hezbollah today also would put America at odds with the Lebanese government--the one Middle Eastern nation with a substantial Christian population which exercises significant political power.

America has been at war every day since Congress passed the AUMF after the 9/11 attacks. The result has been to make America less safe, creating new enemies and triggering new conflicts. Yet Representatives Perry, Salmon, and Lummis would authorize open-ended military action against a host of new groups which are not currently at war with the U.S. The threat of terrorism would grow accordingly.

Instead, Congress should approve future military action only when Washington has no alternative course to protect America--its territory, people, or constitutional liberties. The Founders wanted to restrain militaristic executives. They did not view war as just another policy option, but something to be avoided if at all possible. Wrote James Madison: "Of all the enemies of true liberty, war is, perhaps, the most to be dreaded, because it comprises and develops the germ of every other." If anything, that is truer today than when America was founded.
As an Air Force brat, July 4th was a big deal growing up on various military bases around the country. In many ways, it was a celebration of what Independence Day is supposed to look like: free people of all races, ethnicities and religions living, working and thriving--together.

Our patriotism was a fact of life. Every day in school we pledged allegiance to the flag of the United States of America. At 5pm, people stopped whatever they were doing, wherever they were to pay their respects to the flag while listening to the national anthem.

But as I grew older I grappled with the cognitive dissonance created by being an African American, only the fourth generation from slavery, and learning that the bold Declaration of Independence that we celebrated didn't confer its benefits upon everyone equally. Indeed, that the "all men" it referenced was not just a term of art but a statement of belief that the United States of America was for and by those who looked like the people who signed the Declaration--white, wealthy, mostly Christian men.

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Everyone else was excluded.

It is clear that this gross omission continues to drive a destructive form of nationalism based on fear of or anger towards racial, ethnic, religious, sexual, and other "minorities" who threaten the perceived "way of life" of those who imagine themselves to be legitimately American.

This strain of xenophobic nationalism has recently grown stronger in our national politics and discourse and has spurred my previous calls for an Inclusion Revolution that encourages people from all backgrounds to join together to defeat those who seek to reassert legally sanctioned privileges for a chosen few through divide and conquer tactics.

We cannot let the politics of privilege destroy our quest for a more perfect union in which our national institutions work to ensure shared prosperity for Americans of all backgrounds, including those who have been traditionally marginalized.

This can be done in part by correcting the historical precedent that has led us to this moment.

So, on the 240th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, it is appropriate to call for a new declaration for America: a Declaration of Inclusion, one that explicitly and deliberately includes people of color, women, people with disabilities, the LGBTQ community and every other group that was left out the first time around.

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This Declaration would confront long standing and misguided notions about who the U.S. is by and for. Given the increasingly diverse and pluralistic nature of our country, the answer cannot be the same one presented by the founding fathers, whose limited concept of belonging cemented white masculinity as the default definition of citizenship.

Unfortunately, this notion of the default American is reinforced today when in the aftermath of the worst mass shooting in U.S. history in Orlando, leaders and commentators call for the profiling (or worse, banning) of Muslims, even though many Muslims, including the shooter himself, are American; when an "ethnic-looking" judge born in Indiana is presumed to be from Mexico; when African Americans and Latinos are challenged at the polls over their right to cast a ballot in U.S. elections; and when LGBTQ Americans are denied equal protection and subjected to laws that make it legal for businesses to deny them services.

This must change if the U.S. is to survive and thrive for another 240 years.

The Declaration of Inclusion would affirm our national commitment to diversity and inclusion. It would acknowledge that our diversity is our strength and not our problem and it would recognize that we all have a right to enjoy the full protection and benefits of citizenship regardless of wealth, ability, race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, or religion.

Finally, it would recognize that Americans of all backgrounds have made this country what it is today and reject the regressive forces of exclusion that threaten America's promise of opportunity for all.

In this spirit and for this great purpose, it's time for our nation's leaders to affirm the universal application of our democratic principles by denouncing the politics of exclusion and standing for inclusion.

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You can tell them you agree at http://theinclusionrevolution.us.
Exactly 75 years ago, George Orwell wrote his affectionate -- if brutally honest -- tribute to the specifically English national character, a character distinct from those of the Scottish, Welsh or Northern Irish, but fundamental to the identity of the so-called United Kingdom. He pointed to how, in times of crisis, the English could not be relied upon to necessarily to do the right thing, but always the same thing. Regarding the election of 1931 that returned the Conservative Stanley Baldwin as prime minister, Orwell wrote, "We all did the wrong thing in perfect unison ... we were as single-minded as the Gadarene swine."

In last week's referendum on the British exit from the European Union, the English defied Orwell's analysis, narrowly voting 53.4 percent to 46.6 percent in favor of leaving. Had the result been sizable either way, Orwell's depiction would have held, and the English might have been happy doing the wrong thing together and -- as he equally faulted them for -- dealing with the consequences later.

Certainly, the political apocalypse in the aftermath has been boiled down to a stunning failure to anticipate the result. But, more than this, it is because opinion is not only divided, but divided in highly complex ways.

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In the classic style of economic exploitation, the campaign to leave the EU was an effective way for an elite to fracture any solidarity among the working and middle classes, using immigration as their political fulcrum. This is traditional political hucksterism: blame the immigrants, because they are the closest and weakest target, and avoid addressing real economic issues. What nobody understood was quite how effective it could be when combined with the added brilliance of stoking inter-generational conflicts that pitted families and friendship groups against each other.

The majority -- almost two-thirds -- of older English baby-boomers voted to leave the EU, while the two-thirds or so of the younger generations who voted to remain have spent the week pointing their fingers in bitter recrimination. With some justification, the younger generations see the boomers as selling them down the river on yet another issue for which, in terms of life expectancy, they will never be held morally or materially culpable. The boomers, they argue, voted for the continued membership of the UK into the-then European Economic Community in the referendum of 1975, and lived high off the hog of it for more than four decades.

Perhaps more than the selfishness of putting their lifestyles in hock for future generations to pawn back -- economic austerity and environmental destruction are already done deals, after all -- the resentment stems from the perception that the boomers trashed the whole agreement out of exquisite spite.

Whether either generation is right in terms of political or economic policy implications is a moot point. In their defense, the baby-boomers have the hindsight of assessing the system they voted for 40 years ago and they had no more powers of clairvoyance then than the younger generation does now. Instead, the question turns, as so many do, on issues of changed and changing national identity, which is precisely why Orwell's analysis three-quarters of a century ago is relevant.

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English baby-boomers have resolutely clung to a monocultural and often monolingual identity. Perhaps they were never quite prepared to relinquish this, even if a dream of a united Europe in 1973 -- faced with the fascists in Spain, the colonels in Greece and the communists in the Eastern Bloc - was the alternative to the nightmare of exclusionary nationalism that their parents had fought a vicious world war over. In contrast, many of the younger generation, shaped by school exchanges and cheap vacations to sunnier climes, define themselves in more inclusive and post-national terms. Even if they do not explicitly identify as European, they do not perceive their identities as solely English or nationalistic, but as multicultural citizens of a wider, and appealing, post-national area.

As such, there is a deeply felt rejection of the premise that all economic woes are caused by immigrants, since it is difficult to square the idea that the freedom to seek a better life elsewhere should be confined only to the already better off. This is acutely felt among a generation who are materially worse off than their parents. The perception that the burden has been shifted downwards is related to the moral sense that it is equally unfair to shift the blame sideways.
On the internet, when a writer includes a question in the title of a post, it's often merely a rhetorical one: "How much more of this [insert outrage] can we take?" Or, even worse, the question is actually just clickbait: "OMG, [insert celebrity] did what wearing nothing but glasses?" There's a question in the title of this post, but it is being asked sincerely. Who knows what it will mean that the Republican nominee for president--Donald Trump--at least appears to be running to the left of the Democratic nominee, Hillary Clinton, on the matter of international trade. That he is doing so is a yuge (sorry) story, one whose impact we may not fully understand for some time.

To say that international trade is a complex issue is an understatement. In political campaigns, however, complex issues such as trade often get boiled down to a single element. In this campaign, for better or worse, trade = TPP. The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), according to its own language, "writes the rules for global trade" between the U.S. and 11 other Pacific countries--including Japan and Vietnam, but not China. Among its many, many provisions, its primary goal is to reduce tariffs and promote more trade among its members.

Hillary Clinton had praised the agreement while serving as President Obama's Secretary of State. In 2012 she declared that TPP "sets the gold standard in trade agreements to open free, transparent, fair trade, the kind of environment that has the rule of law and a level playing field...and build[s] in strong protections for workers and the environment." Throughout most of 2015, Clinton's campaign took no official position on the agreement, even as Bernie Sanders came out strongly against it. However, after the treaty negotiations finally concluded and the Obama Administration announced its support, Clinton in early October of last year stated that she opposed TPP: "As of today, I am not in favor of what I have learned about it. I don't believe it's going to meet the high bar I have set."

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What happened this week is that both presidential campaigns--one directly, and one indirectly--staked out positions on the agreement.

First, let's get something out of the way. Yes, a party platform is just a platform. It has no binding effect on the nominee. But in reality, nothing, ever, is truly binding on any nominee or public official, including a statement made by that official the day before. However, the platform is a political document--and thus it becomes a part of the public debate.

This past week, the Democratic Party's platform committee turned aside a proposal put forth by Democratic Rep. Keith Ellison of Minnesota that would have put the party on record as standing opposed to TPP heading into the general election. Instead, the platform includes a statement noting that "there are a diversity of views in the party" on this matter. This is a nuanced position. Politics, however, doesn't do nuance. One respected news source reported the story under the headline: "Democrats to endorse Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement." That may not be exactly accurate, but perception is reality.

Under normal circumstances, this wouldn't matter much in terms of the presidential election--despite significant dissatisfaction with TPP among many on the left--because the Republican Party has long been reflexively in favor of every free trade agreement that comes down the pike. Enter Donald Trump.

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For months Trump has been slamming TPP. He claimed last November that TPP offered great benefits to China--remember, they aren't a party to it--a claim that Politifact rated a "Pants on Fire" lie. Then, just after the Democratic platform committee voted last week not to oppose TPP, Trump attacked again. In Pennsylvania, he said:



The TPP would be the death blow for American manufacturing. It would give up all of our economic leverage to an international commission that would put the interests of foreign countries above our own. It would further open our markets to aggressive currency cheaters. It would make it easier for our trading competitors to ship cheap subsidized goods into U.S. markets - while allowing foreign countries to continue putting barriers in front of our exports.

In Ohio, going off script, he added: "The Trans-Pacific Partnership is another disaster done and pushed by special interests who want to rape our country, just a continuing rape of our country. That's what it is, too. It's a harsh word: It's a rape of our country. This is done by wealthy people that want to take advantage of us and that want to assign another partnership. So Hillary Clinton, not so long ago, said this was the gold standard of trade pacts. The gold standard." Just over a week ago, Trump also offered the following:



Hillary Clinton has also been the biggest promoter of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which will ship millions more of our jobs overseas - and give up Congressional power to an international foreign commission. Now, because I have pointed out why it would be such a disastrous deal, she is pretending that she is against it. [snip] if she is elected president, she will adopt the Trans-Pacific Partnership, and we will lose millions of jobs and our economic independence for good. She will do this, just as she has betrayed the American worker on trade at every single stage of her career - and it will be even worse than the Clintons' NAFTA deal. I want trade deals, but they have to be great for the United States and our workers. We don't make great deals anymore, but we will once I become president.

Granted, in this speech Trump also made the bizarre claim that Clinton "even deleted this record of total support [for TPP] from her book." This claim earned another "Pants on Fire" rating from Politifact, which added for good measure that "anyone who compares the hardcover and paperback versions of [Clinton's] book can see that the claim is ridiculous."

The ridiculousness aside, this is the first issue on which Trump's stance vis-a-vis Hillary's is concerning. A writer at the progressive Common Dreams website wrote an article with the headline: "Trump Just Drove a Truck Through Hole DNC Platform Panel Left in Clinton's TPP Promise." Jonathan Tasini, who opposed Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primary during her 2006 run for the U.S. Senate, argued that the platform's non-opposition to TPP "puts the party at electoral peril in November and, more important, leaves it at odds with the interests of working people, one of its most important constituencies."

Now, to some degree, these are the opinions of Sanders supporters who may simply be seeking to push Clinton to come out even more vociferously against TPP, and get her to scotch any attempt to push it through during the upcoming lame duck Congressional session--something rumored to be in the works and something she has already gone on record opposing.

Nevertheless, Sanders voters are, well, voters. For any voter--Sanders supporter or not--who places a high priority on opposing TPP, Trump's position may make him a more attractive candidate than Secretary Clinton. His stance on international trade may well help him do better among white, working class voters than recent Republican nominees have done. Additionally, new research shows that the American electorate is more white than previously thought. Is this likely to cost Clinton the election? No. It's one issue, and it doesn't change the fact that Trump's extremism disqualifies him in the minds of a strong majority of voters.

Nevertheless, this is the first issue that has the potential to put Hillary on the defensive. It's the first one where Trump's outreach to Bernie voters--his ridiculous claim that he and Sanders are more alike in their vision for America than are Bernie and Hillary--could actually resonate. In addition to the substance, it plays into the theme that Hillary is for "the elites" while Trump--like Sanders, he'd claim--is for the little guy.

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It doesn't help that the single institution that best represents the business establishment--the Chamber of Commerce--ripped into Trump this past week over his TPP stance. Trump responded in kind: "The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is controlled by the special interest groups. They are special interests that want the deals they want to have. They want to have TPP." Even more so, it doesn't help that the Chamber's president, Tom Donohue, also said point blank that--despite what Clinton says now--he knows she will support TPP as president. Think about the optics of that one. The Chamber of Commerce says Hillary is on its side, while Trump stands opposed to both of them. Trump says you can't trust Hillary, and that she is only pretending to oppose TPP. The Chamber of Commerce agrees. Yikes.

Of course, Trump's attempt to outflank Hillary to the left on TPP also means there's a potentially profound split within the Republican coalition. The Chamber of Commerce does represent a crucial and significant part of the Republican base, i.e., the business community and corporate elites, not to mention all those who support free trade on an ideological basis.

Until Trump came along, support for free trade was Republican orthodoxy. This split can't be a good thing for Republicans in this election. Furthermore, it can't possibly help them in the long run to have had millions of people pulling the lever for a Republican presidential candidate who hates the party's long-standing position on trade. The Democratic platform is correct: There is a diversity of views on TPP in the party. In the Republican Party, there really isn't. Trump is on one side, and the whole of the party's establishment is on the other.

So let's go back to where we started: What does it mean that Trump is running to Hillary's left on international trade and TPP? No one knows, exactly, although it's clearly roiling both the Democratic and Republican coalitions to at least some degree. Maybe this is the beginning of a fundamental political realignment, with the two major parties morphing into pro- and anti-globalization/immigration movements along the lines of how the British divided on the Brexit vote.

One thing is certain: Bernie Sanders still has an important role to play here, perhaps on this single issue more than any other in the campaign. He is the one person who can forcefully vouch for Hillary Clinton and convince those remaining holdouts (the number of which is, thankfully, shrinking even faster than the comparable number of Hillary supporters who said they opposed Obama at this point in 2008) that she--and not Donald Trump--is the candidate who will better represent the interests of working-class Americans when it comes to trade. The big question is how effectively Bernie will do so.
The nation's observed birthday--July 4th--always brings forth what passes for modern day "patriotism": prominent displays of the flag everywhere, celebration of the military, picnics, backyard barbeques, and of course fireworks. There is even an occasional tribute to the nation's "founders," those men who supposedly signed the Declaration of Independence on that date, and the genius of Thomas Jefferson who purportedly masterminded and wrote the document. Yet Americans, although a great people, are usually vacant on their history, and many really admit it, because history seems a like a dusty little hobby that is irrelevant to the "here and now," which self-help gurus on TV tell us we need to focus on. However, comparatively, people in other countries usually pay more attention to their own history and those of at least their region of the world.

Because many people in the United States don't value history very much, they tend to allow politicians to be selective in their remembering of historical events--usually to manipulate public nationalism (which now passes for patriotism) for their own dubious policy goals. For example, if Americans had focused more on the fact that historically, the Vietnamese had been fighting fiercely over the centuries to throw out foreign invaders--such as the Japanese, the Chinese, and recently the French--perhaps they would have demanded that their politicians think twice, even three times, about invading that country. And if Americans had known that the historically fractious Iraq, an artificial country that had been created by the greedy colonial powers after World War I to exploit the country's oil reserves, they might have wisely rejected George W. Bush's attempt at military social work in one of the most unlikely places in the Middle East for democracy to flourish.

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Similarly, if most of American public had been more aware that the mighty British Empire had failed three times to subdue Afghanistan in the 1800s and early 1900s, and that the Soviets had ignominiously withdrew in defeat from that country just over a decade before, perhaps they would have pressured George W. Bush to be more selective in his military response to 9/11, thus avoiding the current quagmire in that warlike and xenophobic country, which especially hates foreign invaders.

In fact, the vast majority of Americans would scratch their heads when asked about the causes of even traumatic events in the nation's history. For example, they wouldn't be able to tell you what motivated the British to burn Washington, D.C. in the War of 1812, the Japanese to attack Pearl Harbor to begin World War II, or Osama bin Laden to launch his terror attacks on the Pentagon and World Trade Centers on September 11, 2001. Yet only in the new physics can we have uncaused events. Americans just ignore such causes because they don't like to complicate the story of their government heroically battling the forces of evil.

Americans are not the only country to distort history to their liking, but they do seem far too fuzzy on historical details, thus allowing their politicians to manipulate them into usually disastrous adventures at home and abroad. Let's take a current example. The Obama administration just patted itself on the back by disclosing that since the president expanded Bush's drone wars against terrorists to at least seven countries on two continents, this modern technology has allowed the killing of between 2.372 and 2,581 "combatants" from 2009 to through the end of 2015, but only between 64 and 116 civilians during that same period (most independent groups tracking such civilian deaths put the total about two-to-three times higher). All of these killings, however, were only "outside areas of active hostilities," such as Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia, and Libya, not in the designated war zones of Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria.

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In a republic, there are several problems with these secret (well, not-so-secret) wars. The first is that the killing of any civilians by a foreign attacker is used as a propaganda tool by Islamist militants, thus helping to recruit more terrorists. In Yemen, documentation by journalists on the ground has shown that U.S. drone strikes and air strikes have motivated the angry Yemeni population to significantly swell the ranks of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula there. Second, and even more important, Americans have forgotten that their Constitution (much more important than the Declaration of Independence, because it is supposed to be a legally binding constraint on adventure-happy politicians of both parties) requires that Congress, the representatives of the American people, approve wars, which has not occurred with the secret drone wars. (Even the congressional resolutions approving U.S. military action in the three designated war zones are way more than a decade old and out of date (in Afghanistan and Iraq) or nonexistent (in Syria). The arrogance of the modern executive branch in conducting such constitutionally dangerous secret wars was brought forth by an unnamed administration official when defending the data release on drone war killings (which conveniently didn't provide enough details to allow the media or private organizations to match it up with their higher totals), "We didn't have to do this in the first place. We do believe we're trying to go the extra mile here." At least go the extra ten miles and make these illegal wars legitimate by getting congressional approval or, even better, go the extra hundred miles by ending such counterproductive adventurism.
What if a state legislature were to succeed in essentially obliging a woman to bring a life into being -- no matter how she became pregnant, no matter the complications and risks for her or the fetus?



The abortion analogy

If a state legislature were to succeed in thwarting (or even just limiting access to) abortions, might it feel politically emboldened to insist that someone suffering a wholly debilitating, degrading and irreversible medical circumstance must continue to live -- and "live" and "live," no matter that person's pain and despair; no matter that person's well-considered desire to have a dignified leave-taking.

Efforts by Texas (and other states) to limit a pregnant woman's decision-making and her access to pre-natal options, have been thwarted -- for now.

It was a mere fifty-one years ago that the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a Connecticut law that barred married women (married women!) from receiving information about contraception. That Connecticut law authorized the prosecution of women's health counselors as criminals.

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"Pro-life" hardliners will never be swayed by legal briefs and court opinions - nor by the statutory examples of California, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington.

But, perhaps, possibly? -- maybe as to dire medical conditions? -- some few "pro-life" folks might have their stridencies softened, just a bit, by viewing a DVD, or two. Possible? Conceivable?

Here are my "cases" -- my suggested viewings:

The Sea Inside (Mar Adentro)

This 2004 dramatization depicts an actual years-long effort by a quadriplegic to get government approval (in Spain) for assisted suicide. It was acclaimed as the Best Foreign Language Film of the year by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. In addition to the Oscar, it won the Golden Globe as Best Foreign Language Film.

Diving into a familiar sea at a low tide rip-tide or undertow, Ramon Sampedro snapped his neck against the sea floor. At that youthful moment, he had been distracted by youthful thoughts. But he has had years and years (almost three decades) of incapacity to reflect and reconsider. He has never wavered.

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I want to die because life for me in this condition has no dignity. I understand that other quadriplegics might get offended by what I say about not having any dignity. I don't judge anyone. Who am I to judge those who want to live. That's why I ask that neither me, nor the person who helps me die, be judged.

But there are judges to be convinced. Despite throngs of vocal supporters outside the courthouse (parading "Decriminalize Euthanasia Now" placards), and despite coolheaded advocacies to the bench, the judges are not moved.

Ever clear-headed, Ramon wonders if people who are shocked by his wish to die, somehow imagine that what he suffers and desires might be contagious.



At their Galician farmhouse, he is well-attended by his nephew and lovingly-attended by his devoted sister-in-law. After decades of having his personal pleas ignored, his plight is championed by a right-to-die-with-dignity advocate and empathetic lawyers. After television interviews (based on actual TV appearances), he is visited by a stranger who is touched by his plight: The young woman first tries to talk him out of his death wish, and then...



The sea gave him a full life, and then took it away

At the age of 19, Ramon went to sea, and through photos we see that he traveled the world and experienced the world quite fully. He explains, "Sailors travel the world for free."

But with his freedom gone so completely, he asks anyone offering friendship to be his friend by respecting his wishes. And he "pens" his poetical pleas by using a drawing stick he designed, which allows him to compose and record his longings. Even with only restricted movements of mouth and chin, he forms letters on a scroll that he conceived and which his nephew and father constructed. These writings will become part of his legacy.

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The debate -- ecclesiastical versus humanistic

A particularly energizing and entertaining scene has bed-ridden Ramon parrying a priest's arguments that are relayed up to him by the priest's young acolyte. The priest is also a quadriplegic. His wheelchair cannot be maneuvered up the narrow stairwell to Ramon's room. Up and down, up and down, the acolyte delivers the doctrine and returns with Ramon's calm rebuttals. Perspiring and short of breath, the acolyte's face suggests that he is not familiar with refutations to the priest's gospel.



Tilting at The Church and the judiciary

On his way to a courtroom, we are treated to scenic Spain and Ramon seems transfixed by the turning blades of a turbine wind-farm. Director and screenwriter Alejandro Amenabar must surely have wanted us to think of another Spaniard -- Don Quixote -- whose imagination and delusions did him in. Ramon tilts at provincial windmills, jousting with the clergy and the courts.



But Ramon Sampedro is "serene and perfectly lucid" - his realities make him want to finish the job.

He may be dreaming "the impossible dream." Amenabar fashioned scenes in which Ramon flies out his bedroom window to soar above Galician-like landscapes, all the way to the sea. These flights are set to Puccini's "Nessun Dorma," which translates to "none shall sleep." The flights are moving in a number of ways. One is reminded of the Manhattan overflights of Alejandro Inarritu's Birdman. The escape fantasies are much more than escapism.

There are "escape" plans in both Me Before You and in Whose Life Is It Anyway? However, in neither story do we see or read of the very final passage to passing.

By contrast, in The Sea Inside, with Javier Bardem delivering the words that were actually spoken by the long-suffering quadriplegic, we bear witness - figuratively, and quite literally - to the last straw.

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Whose Life Is It Anyway?

"You are now part of the optimism industry. Everyone who deals with me acts as though, for the first time in the history of medical science, a ruptured spinal column will heal itself - it's just a bit of a bore waiting for it to happen."

In Brian Clark's play, sculptor Ken Harrison is essentially left with only the use of his brain, following "a roadway accident." After six months in the ER and intensive care units, he asks the chief physician at the hospital where he is "housed" for a prognosis:

KH:"I'm not asking you for a guarantee on oath. I am simply asking for your professional opinion. Do you believe I will ever walk again?

Dr. Emerson:"No."

KH:"Or recover the use of my arms?"

Dr. Emerson: "No."

KH:"Thank you... for your honesty."



The arguments for accepting "acceptance"

As a quadriplegic, sculptor Ken Harrison is nevertheless told, "It's surprising how we can come to accept things." In a following scene, the chief physician persists:

Dr. Emerson:"You will find that as you gain acceptance of the situation you will be able to find a new way of living."

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Harrison counters that he has accepted the fact that his existence is not a life he chooses to live - and thus he wants to end his existence.

A social worker is assigned to acquaint Harrison with possibilities for a life using a special-designed reading machine and an adapted typewriter.



Declining to accept "acceptance"

Harrison, the former sculptor, counters:"How about an electronically-operated hammer and chisel? No? How about a cybernetic lump of clay?"

However wondrous the options, there's no device that would allow Harrison to think, imagine, and create through his hands.



"I have absolutely no desire at all to be the object of scientific virtuosity... I do not want to go on living with so much effort for so little result."



In 1978 on a London stage, in 1979 on a New York stage

With Tom Conti playing Harrison, playwright Brian Clark forced theatre-goers to witness and weigh the moral mandates of the hospital (preserve life -- whatever that life is and may be) against the immobile utterly-dependent patient's wishes not to be preserved.

Hospital heroics have brought Harrison back from death, but all those medical marvels cannot bring back the life he had so cherished. He does not want to continue to be relegated to "a fate worse than death."



To his lawyer: 'With all respect, I know that our hospitals are wonderful. I know that many people have succeeded in making good lives with appalling handicaps. I'm happy for them, and I respect and admire them. But each person must make their own decision. And mine is to die quietly and with as much dignity as I can muster -- and I need your help.'

Would a judge's judgment still be necessary today?

The hospital makes its case for compulsory commitment under a provision of the Mental Health Law that deals with those who are clinically depressed and thus unable to make rational decisions.

To the extent she can, Dr. Clare Scott tries to win over the hospital:

"But surely a wish to die is not necessarily a symptom of insanity? A man might want to die for perfectly sane reasons."

We read and hear of "the trap" -- "the Catch-22."

"If you're clever and sane enough to put up an invincible case for suicide, it demonstrates you ought not to die."

Harrison has sent away his girlfriend -- "to release her from a lifetime of sacrifice" and by way of holding on to some semblance of self-respect, some dignity.

"Dignity," he argues, "begins with choice." He had worked many years to achieve art in sculpture; he does not wish to be "a medical achievement."



Physical incapacity - and the legal incapacity to choose

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"I can't do the things I want to do. I want it recognized that, for me, life is over.... as far as I'm concerned, I'm dead already.... I cannot accept that this condition constitutes life in any real sense at all.... Everything is geared just to keeping my brain active, with no real possibility of it ever being able to direct anything. As far as I can see, this is an act of deliberate cruelty."



Stage to screen

The play was honored with the 1978 Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Play and with a Tony best play nomination in 1979. In the 1981 film adaptation, Brian Clark's screenplay and John Badham's direction gave Richard Dreyfuss opportunities to bring even more wit and considerable poignancy to the plight and the medical-moral point-counterpoint.

In the film, we get to see how Harrison sketched, and how he molded clay. We get to see his studio and his creations - all of which convey balletic movement.

What sustained him, what enlivened him and what he lived for, was his sculpting. What inspired him was a love he cannot reciprocate in full.



Devising a case for release, and freedom

Harrison argues that the discharge he seeks is perfectly reasonable - and sane - given his particular circumstances.

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Rather than try to prove that Harrison is merely manifesting a quite understandable "reactive depression," in contrast to "clinical depression," his lawyer makes the novel argument that it is unlawful to detain Harrison's "body" and that "the body" should be released under the doctrine of habeas corpus.

In the film, a Boston judge hears these arguments with the parties assembled in the hospital's small unprepossessing library. After consulting actual judicial decisions concerning "real life" people (actual bodies) that were hooked up to life-support machinery, the judge renders this analysis:



"A deliberate decision to embark on a course of action that will lead inevitably to death is not ipso facto evidence of insanity. If it were, society would have to reward many men with a dishonorable burial rather than a posthumous medal for gallantry."

The ruling frees Harrison: his body cannot be lawfully detained.



Maneuvering "life" in a wheelchair

Louisa Clark, the life-enhancing presence in Jojo Moyes' Me Before You, tells us that "There are things you don't notice until you accompany someone in a wheelchair. One is how rubbish most pavements are, pockmarked with badly patched holes, or just plain uneven. Walking slowly next to Will as he wheeled himself along, I saw how every uneven slab caused him to jolt painfully, or how often he had to steer carefully around some potential obstacle.... The other thing is how inconsiderate most drivers are. They park up against the sloped cutouts on the sidewalks, or so close together that there is no way for a wheelchair to actually cross the road...."

Were it not for Louisa's Internet investigations, I would not have known of the Online quad community and their chat-rooms, which provided her with so much courage, generosity, imagination, encouragement and support.

In the men's room of the multiplex where I saw Me Before You, I noticed a wheelchair protruding from the wheelchair-accessible stall. The wheelchair couldn't make it all the way through the supposedly-wide-enough stall doorway.

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At the same multiplex, prior to the feature film, my view of humanity was coarsened by the insipid on-screen promos, violent video-game samplers, and previews of coming attractions that featured relentless brutality and inhumanity. The humor and decency of Me Before You provided antidotes.



Tragedy and necessity, the mothers of invention



With the help of his father and nephew, Ramon Sampedro, once a ship's mechanic and inventor-by-fate, designed (for farm-shed-fabrication) a mechanized wheelchair, a wheelchair-ramped car, an overhead cord-and-ring that allowed him to answer the phone by pulling on the cord with his teeth. His "drafting table" was a scroll he inscribed with the tooth-held stick-pencil he had conceived, as the rest of his body shriveled and atrophied.

A personal Brexit

With Traynor wealth and major-G Internet, Will Traynor was able to purchase a high-end adapted minivan equipped with a retractable ramp; voice-recognition software, bathing hoists and state-of-the-art hygiene aids, professional nursing care, the initially-awkward attentions of chatty upbeat Louisa Clark - and a dignified leave-taking not available in Great Britain.

Will Traynor's plight - and desire for a self-determined exit - was not without real-life precedent. Parliamentary debate and inaction led an actual British family to their own Brexit. Without naming the family, Jojo Moyes wove that actual case into her story-telling. She has Nathan, Will Traynor's steady and ultra-competent nurse, provide Louisa with what may or may not serve as precedent - but which informs, and paves the way.



"He's not going to get better.... I can't judge what he wants to do. That's his choice.... I want him to live. Only if he wants to live."

To the extent literature and film can do so, The Sea Inside, Whose Life Is It Anyway?, and Me Before You place us (the willing among us) in the wheelchairs and beds of quadriplegics. We learn about their predicaments - we can almost feel their discomfort; we can begin to imagine their disinclinations and despair.

We learn that when so much freedom is gone - the freedom to choose becomes all the more precious. Shouldn't society allow for a final freedom - the liberty to be liberated from suffering, and undying uncertainty.


Tugce Ergul/Sofala Ntweng-Knapton

Tugce Ergul is a co-founder at Angel Labs, the world's first investor accelerator with a strong focus on diversity & inclusion. Before founding Angel Labs, she worked as a Managing Director at Startup Labs where she managed over 30 successful digital investments. Angel Labs operates in 40 countries and exists to supercharge investor communities and empower high-net-worth individuals, family offices & executives worldwide. Tugce has been and continues to be a national and international consultant and speaker on economic development, angel and venture financing for numerous countries and NGOs including the EU and OECD. She has worked closely with several countries on their national entrepreneurship programs, and with digital agencies on their startup partnerships. She regularly collaborates with agencies, media companies, and corporations on accelerating the ways they discover and pilot innovation from startups. She received her undergraduate degree in Finance from Sorbonne University with honors, and holds a master's degree in International Management from Bocconi. Tugce is an active member of the European VC network and regularly speaks at events around the world regarding entrepreneurship, economic development and technology.

How has your life experience made you the leader you are today?

Our life experiences create the personal capacity we need to lead. Our experiences shape us and make us, they have a profound affect on our worldview as people.

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Coming from a single-mother family, I left my country when I was 17 for my studies. Since then I have lived in 5 different countries and learned to juggle different cultures, languages and work styles while trying to compete in the male dominated world of venture capital. Multicultural leadership involves deep immersion within different cultures to understand their values and specific contexts. My life experience has definitely made it very easy for me to be managing a company with a presence in 40 countries.

How has your previous employment experience aided your tenure at Angel Labs?

I grew up in the finance world. First, in investment banking, then in venture capital. I got my first gig in VC when I was 22. With my previous job, I was in charge of identifying promising technology companies in emerging markets and finding local co-investors. The problem was, a couple of years ago venture capital wasn't a developed area in many of these places and finding co-investors was not an easy task. This led me to start Angel Labs. We were initially targeting emerging markets for investor creation. I helped grow the company to be the world's first investor accelerator and foster diversity and inclusion in tech investing. Coming from an investment banking and VC background - which is usually described an old boys' club - one of my biggest goals is to tackle the gender gap that exists in the VC world.

What have the highlights and challenges been during your tenure at Angel Labs?

I have really enjoyed building a global team and working with so many amazing, driven people in many different countries. It's been extremely gratifying to really make a difference on entrepreneurs' lives around the world through the investments we facilitate. A real challenge I enjoy is taking action with regard to the gender gap in venture capital by empowering female investors. On a personal note, running a global company and managing a global team definitely comes with its own challenges. I have to say that in the past I could be a little controlling and it took me a while to fully delegate work in new countries and new markets and trust others fully.

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What advice can you offer to women who want a career in your industry?

There isn't a one clear path to becoming a venture capitalist. The path and even the role seems opaque to so many. Some venture capitalists are previous entrepreneurs, some come from investment banking / consulting backgrounds, some inherited wealth that they would like to invest in young promising entrepreneurs. When I speak with women hoping to break into VC, I encourage them to understand their strengths and weaknesses, what makes them happy and what motivates them. I tell them if this is truly what they want to do then they are responsible for creating their own opportunities. As a young banker without an existing network in venture capital, I wasn't initially getting emails, introductions or invitations to events. So I went ahead and started networking groups like Girl Geek Dinners in Turkey or Girls in Tech in Italy. I made sure other venture capitalists were invited to our events. These networking groups opened many doors in the technology circles in many different countries.

What is the most important lesson you've learned in your career to date?

Women leaders seeking to be significant see the world through a lens of opportunity; they are especially in search of those opportunities previously unseen. I think it is very important to be open-minded and explore what life presents us on a daily basis. I have also learned that the business world is full of ups and downs, it is a waste of time trying to fight the lows. It is important to focus on the learning experience that comes out of those moments that make you want to give up.

How do you maintain a work/life balance?

I really don't think there is such a thing as work/life balance. I work seven days a week and still fit in quality time with people I love and manage trips away. My work takes me to a lot of places around the globe. I try to explore the beautiful cultures in these places as much as I can as I travel. When you're passionate about what you're doing, I think it is normal that it becomes interwoven in all aspects of your life.

What do you think is the biggest issue for women in the workplace?

In the Venture Capital space, many women take more "social" roles, such as community building, marketing or recruiting. With only 6% of the partner level roles at U.S. venture capital firms being occupied by women, the challenge is having more women in positions to make core business decisions, identify problems and present solutions.

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How has mentorship made a difference in your professional and personal life?

I have had multiple mentors throughout my career and still try meet other amazing women who I admire and would love to learn from. Creating Girl Geek Dinners or Girls in Tech in places I worked in or organizing Startup Weekends or investor dinners has always been a conscious attempt to surround myself with leaders in this space. It is very important for us to constantly ask and learn, and work on bettering ourselves.

Which other female leaders do you admire and why?

I admire a lot of female leaders and for different reasons. Aung San Suu Kyi for giving up freedom to protest military rule in Burma (now Myanmar); Anna Wintour for transforming the landscape of fashion journalism; Christine Lagarde for becoming the first female IMF leader & her inclusive leadership style and of course, Hillary Clinton for her leadership in politics and economics.
Diversity in the Fortune 500 took a loss; Xerox lost the only female African American CEO in the fortune. Accenture's lead board director Marge Magner said, "Performance improves with diversity" as she speaks from her experiences of women leaders having the responsibility to make the way, to clear the path, to create opportunity. However, black women face a different kind of challenge when in the workforce than other women. The road is not always paved for success and comfort.



Here are 6 things us black women should remember to do in the workforce ...

1. Learning how to advocate for ourselves

Women are always encouraged to be advocates for themselves in the workforce, especially those in men dominated fields, however, it is white women who I see taking the most advantage of this wisdom. How often do we, black women, hear the same thing? Do not undersell your craft and what you have to bring to the table. As someone once told me, "You are your own best advocate." This is important to remember when you are negotiating your salary and wanting to make an upward move versus a lateral one.

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2. Speak up when invited to the table

Very rarely do we get included in conversations and important meetings, but when that offer is extended it is our responsibility to speak up when invited to the table. A recent study found that black women make up just 8 percent of private sector jobs and less than 2 percent of leadership roles. I know it is easier said than done because there is so much at stake when you are a woman of color, but know that what you have to say has added value.

3. Be a mentor and mentee to others who look like you

It's called passing the torch and I've seen my white counterparts do it well. It's important for us to mentor and groom each other for higher roles. Not only does it show camaraderie, but also enhances comfort for women of color in the work place. You have someone you can look up to who looks like you and can also show you the ins-and-outs of thriving in the industry. And once you've benefited from this, don't forget to reach back and do the same.

4. Be comfortable in your own skin

Recently, a friend told me she decided to not put braids in her hair because she did not want to be judged or excluded at her workplace. Our reality is, bantu knots and braids are not accepted in some company's culture and values. Albeit, productivity and quality of your work is not dependent on your appearance, but finding a balance between your own authenticity and what your workplace expectations are and what makes you happy is vital.

5. Seize opportunities to better yourself and career

In my own experience, I've always looked for ways to make myself more marketable and to be the "go-to-person." I'm always open to taking on new projects at work, the more you learn and know the more indispensable you become. I also partake in various weekly community-wide corporate and civic events because that is the best time to meet people. Networking with people across multiple industries will give you an edge because you never know when they can help you, also build allies, attend conferences in your field, sit on boards and become civically engaged in your community. People in and out of your workplace will start to look to you for information and people will continue to build trust in you as you build your network, knowledge and credibility.

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6. At the end of the day we have to work twice as hard to have half as much

Papa pope from the show Scandal said it best "You have to work twice as hard to have half as much." Although a new report released by the National Center For Education Statistics recently affirms that black women are now the most educated group in the United States, we still have a lot to prove to employers and work peers, and equally, workplaces have the responsibility to be conscious and diligent as well as deliberate in helping us meet the diversity gap.
Blue mosque in glorius sunset, Istanbul, Sultanahmet park. The biggest mosque in Istanbul of Sultan Ahmed (Ottoman Empire).

30 June 2016

Iran National Council Condemns

the Terror Attack in Istanbul



The Iran National Council extends its condolences and commiserations to the people of Turkey and strongly condemns the recent terrorist attack at Ataturk Airport in Istanbul, which resulted in the massacre and injury of hundreds of defenseless people.

In the midst of this latest human carnage, let us not forget that it is the Islamic Republic which was the founder, and continues to be the principle sponsor and exporter of terrorism.

From the outset when Khomeini used religion as an excuse for his criminal acts, and religious justifications were used as an expedient short cut to gain power, the plight and the misery of the people of the Middle East has increased ten-fold; while using religion in this abhorrent way has become and acceptable means for terrorists and tyrants to seek power.

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The Iran National Council would like to remind all the freedom loving and peace-seekers of the region and the international community at large, that the only way out of the current dismal situation in the Middle East, is to support and strengthen those forces who believe in the democratic and secular process. Without the unification and support of the people that believe in the expansion of civil society, and of the political groups and activists who believe in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, democracy and secularism, the chances of overcoming this violent scourge of terrorism will continue to diminish.

Once again, we would like to extend our sympathies and commiserations to the families of the victims of this terrorist attack.

Reza Pahlavi,
DENVER, CO - JULY 01: Donald J. Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential candidate headlines the 2016 Western Conservative Summit at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver, July 01, 2016. It is the 7th annual Western Conservative Summit. (Photo by RJ Sangosti/The Denver Post via Getty Images)

Several months ago, I was fortunate to get tickets to the hip-hop musical, Hamilton. After I saw the amazing show, the sound track kept reverberating through my head. And in a parallel universe, I kept thinking about Donald Trump as a historical travesty. So I started writing hip-hop songs, for what became Drumpf: the Musical

My son, Gabriel Kuttner, who is an actor, director, and producer, thought it wasn't half bad. Gabe reached out to an acclaimed hip-hop artist who he knows, Miguel B. Hart, who raps as Virtuoso. Miguel, a multi-talented composer, producer and rapper, set the songs to music, and assembled a cast of other rappers. He also plays Trump, with a wig that needs to be more disheveled. Gabe further connected us to Ron Wyman, an indie filmmaker celebrated for his films about politics, world culture and the arts. Ron directed and shot our videos.

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I did all this at first as a lark, or sometimes as procrastination from my usual deadlines, but it became kind of an obsession and the songs almost kept writing themselves. There is something serious here, too. Conventional politics and media are failing to get to the essence of Trump as fraud, thief and huckster. Maybe parody can do it.

The great thing about writing a musical about Trump is that you are never short of material. The challenge is to keep it on the level of parody--because whenever you come up with a premise that seems completely over the top, Trump goes and does it.

The first video from the show that we put online is a song called, "It Couldda Been Us," in which Trump is mercilessly humiliating Chris Christie, dangling the possibility of making Christie his running mate.

A few hours after our video went live last Thursday, the headlines were reporting that Christie had become a major Trump adviser and was a leading candidate for Trump's veep. You can't make this stuff up.

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Trump seems invulnerable to stumbles that would sink an ordinary politician ten times over. The one thing that manages to pierce his armor is ridicule. Our genre is homage to Hamilton, but our title is homage to John Oliver.

I'm not giving up my day job, as editor, political writer, and college professor. But at least the Trump phenomenon, which is so ominous for our democracy, is producing some black humor, maybe even humor that will have some impact.

Writing a musical seems out-of-character for me, but not quite totally. I've been writing skits and comedy bits since high school. I produced and co-wrote a political comedy radio show in college. I also write a lot of poetry. My mom and dad met in high school, working together on musical theatre, and my son is the genuine actor and director in the family.

Hip-hop is a stretch, though at my 25th reunion at Oberlin, an outpost of idealism in the tundra of northeastern Ohio, I wrote and presented a new, hip-hop version of the College alma mater, which has the hilarious, earnest, late 19th Century title, "Oberlin, Brave Mother." (Sample lyric: "The wind and the rain here/drive me insane. But I'm the bravest mutha/from Elyria to Lorain."

We hope to premiere Drumpf at a venue near the DNC the last week of July in Philadelphia, and then to bring a one-hour version to several cities. Our expectation is that the show will have a short, intense run, and then, mercifully, close November 8, after which it will be of mainly historic interest.

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Here is the script to one of my favorites, a song called Cognitive Dis. And there are 20 more, and counting.

Cognitive Dis

Reporter: Brother Falwell, will you please explain

This man is a serial adulterer, sex on the brain

He invokes Jesus and the Gipper

But his casino has strippers

He goes through contortion

To 'splain his flips on abortion

When he tried to cite Corinthians

To get your vote

He messed up the quote

He never prays

He's soft on gays

I always thought evangelists

Were Biblical literalists

He doesn't love his brother

How can you support this mutha?

Rev. Falwell. Sir, you don't need to shout

Reconciliation's what it's all about

Reporter: (exasperated) But he praises Planned Parenthood, for Chrissake!

Uh, excuse me.

Falwell. He no longer backs abortion. Don't you see?

Reporter. But that's posturing, pretention.

Falwell. No sir, it's redemption.

We welcome sinners back to the flock

That shouldn't be a shock.

Reporter. You don't see hypocrisy?

Falwell. We need to save democracy.

And my people are with Trump

They have a thirst

for redeeming the country; that comes first.

If they see him as a prophet, who am I to refuse?

I don't feel used. I feel blest.

He'll save the Christian West.

He represents a righteous wave at its crest

(candidly, stage whisper) And if I didn't back Trump

I would be dumped. I would be swept.

Reporter: Jesus Wept!

Trump (to audience): Is that beautiful, or what?

You see what I've got?

If the people feel flattered

Contradictions don't matter

I once studied psych, I learned a phrase that I like

A phrase that just stays

With me. It's called cognitive dissonance.

It makes all the difference

Cognitive dis

It works like this:

Woman: I'm voting for Trump, he speaks his mind.

Reporter. But he calls women fat pigs. Is that kind?

Woman: Not a deal-breaker. He's not a faker.

The times are tough. We need someone a little rough.

Trump. Cognitive dis! Hey, honey, give me a kiss.

Man. Trump will fight big money. He's for regular folk.

Reporter. But that has to be a joke.

He's a billionaire! He screwed his workers

Man. They were probably shirkers.

You see he understands the bankers, he knows how to deal

And he knows how I feel.

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Reporter. I see you've given it some thought.

Man. More than you, media fool. [beat] He can't be bought

Can you relate? He tells it straight, he's cool.

Trump. Cognitive dis, you gotta love it.

And cognitive dis is deep in our soul

If you are honest about America's role

Our national myths are built on fictions

We have a flair for contradictions.

All men created equal, it's emblazoned on Jefferson's grave.

But he had slaves. And he loved his slaves.

Well, he loved Sally Hemmings.

My God, Americans are lemmings!

All men are equal except the African

Who is three-fifths of a man.

In every war we were united

So we could fight it

For the United States...and United Fruit

America was pleased to prostitute

Our ideals for corporate appeals

In Iran we staged a coup back in 53

Was that for you, was it for me?

Naw, it was all about oil

The place is still at a boil

(slowly)

So before you hiss, consider this

America is built on cognitive dis.

And a Happy Fourth of July to all!!
I've just arrived back from Australia, where I was sharing Forum for the Future's work at the first Sustainable Brands conference in the region.

I left London on the day that 52% of the UK population voted to leave the EU. I left with a very heavy heart, dumbstruck that such a body blow to one of the most important integration projects since World War 2 had been delivered. For the next few days I would wake (admittedly, at totally the wrong time for my UK-based body clock) with a profound sense of loss, which took a few seconds to pin-point to the outcome of the vote.

I now realise that travelling to the other side of the world has actually helped me begin to make sense of what's happened, and, critically, begin to understand what needs to happen next.

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First: We ignore inequality at our peril. The voting demographics of the Referendum reflected a huge divide between the haves and have-nots, the urban and rural or ex-industrial populations, and age groups. London has become a prosperous, multi-cultural bubble, disconnected from other parts of the UK despite being the home of its national government.

Even though my family comes from the Midlands, where the Leave campaign romped home, I failed to really notice - by that I mean internalise - that the high street of the town I grew up in is now reduced to a string of charity shops, and that when a job is advertised in the new, local Costa Cafe, hundreds apply, and that job goes to someone with a Master's degree. I failed to notice that the digital revolution is just mumbo jumbo to a vast swathe of over-60s, and has delivered precisely nothing for them.

Contrast this with Australia, where huge efforts are now underway to deliver a meaningful reconciliation plan, designed to address the huge inequalities that exist between the native aboriginal people, and within the broader Australian society. Plans such as the one being delivered by Bupa, the global healthcare company. Australia is taking inequality very seriously.

Without facing inequality head on, any hope we have of delivering broader environmental progress is probably doomed.

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What next? We need to ensure that action taken by business, NGOs, government and civil society is guided by goals that deliver simultaneously for all strata of society and the environment. Which is why in these turbulent times, the Sustainable Development Goals have never been more important.

Second: A functioning, progressive national government is useful, but not essential for progress towards sustainable development. Cut scene back to Australia, where for two years, from September 2013 to September 2015, it was governed by Tony Abbott, a climate denier who famously described the science around climate change as 'crap'. During this time, some of the passionate sustainability champions I met in Sydney, described how they didn't feel comfortable sharing their profession with 'non-susty' types, and just kept quiet about what they did for a living.



And yet, whilst they stayed under the political radar, they remained busy. Busy promoting renewable technology as the sensible transition pathway for a coal-dependent economy, busy innovating and testing sustainability solutions, such as bugs that turn waste into fuel. Busy creating a movement of sustainability advocates, who, now that Mr Abbott is gone, are unleashing their energy and passion with vigour on Australia's businesses and government.

The political vacuum that is emerging in the UK (which some may argue has been here for some time), is no reason not to push ahead with a powerful sustainable development agenda. Businesses remain committed, so is civil society (well, elements of it), and nothing has changed for the NGOs.



What next? We must harness the levers for change that remain as strong as they were before June 24th. To do this, we need to employ systems thinking and innovation to understand our sustainability challenges from the inside - examining the linkages and interactions between and among different actors to diagnose exactly where the barriers and opportunities for collaborative action lie, and how best to push those levers to accelerate change.



We will continue to push ahead with our global initiatives that bring stakeholders together to transform entire systems that we all depend on - these include the Protein Challenge 2040, Cotton 2040, the Living Grid and the Net Positive Project. We will harness the energy of business, civil society and others, and leave a spare seat for national government, hoping that sometime soon they may want to focus on progress, rather than each other.

Third: Even if, and maybe when, the button that triggers Article 50 is pushed, the UK is still part of a global economy. Here's my last reflection from Australia: It is a very long way away from anywhere. It has access to all the resources it needs. It could theoretically exist as an isolated outpost in the Southern Hemisphere.



But! We live in an interconnected society. An interconnected economy. As Forum's Futures work has demonstrated time and again, one decision made today has multiple long-term ramifications that echo across the world. Even if project globalisation halted tomorrow, there are global links that connect us in ways that didn't exist before. Perhaps these links will burst apart under isolationist-type pressures. I doubt it though.

For me, this is why the Leave campaign argument that leaving the EU would give the UK more control over its economic destiny was such piffle. The UK may well leave the EU, but its complex web of connections - societal, economic and environmental - don't recognise state borders and won't all get sucked into the waves of the English Channel. These connections are strong. What binds us unites us, and it's folly to think otherwise.



What next? Yes, the UK will feel the EU's wrath at this ridiculous vote, but the UK is part of a system. We don't exist in isolation. While elements that bind part of our system might weaken, others can grow stronger. At Forum we will be concentrating on harnessing the power of parts of the system that are passionate for progressive change. From citizen innovators to enlightened trusts and foundations, which happen to be in the UK but are certainly part of a global economy, these are individuals and organisations that won't let a miscalculated vote undermine the positive forces for change. And neither will Forum.
On what was billed as his last show, Garrison Keillor, host of "A Prairie Home Companion" got a call from President Barack Obama and they traded extensive compliments, with Keillor telling Obama he was "the coolest president."

Keillor's signing off on July 4 weekend was likely calculated to extenuate his presumed ties to all things Americana, but for me it actually highlighted his hypocrisies and contradictions.

For one, my favorite story of his was set on the Fourth. I'd long thought that any reasonable person who hears that story would concur it was his greatest. Unfortunately when I asked him about it last year, Keillor himself clearly wouldn't fit into that category.

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The story -- which he told shortly after the 1991 bombing of Iraq -- was simply titled "Prophet." When I heard it at the time, it gave me a sense that there was a silver of hope in turning the U.S. public around regarding the country's place in the world. My girlfriend back then gave me the cassette tape collection that included the story as a birthday present.

Until lawyers expunge it from the internet, you can listen to that story here here. I've excerpted the heart of it below.

I tolerated Keillor's unevenness for years after that, listening on and off. I had an unsatisfying run in with him in 1999, but I'd overlooked that and his various annoying proclivities, especially his seeming incessant avoidance of the moral sins that created the U.S. -- because he told the "Prophet" story. But you never really know someone until you have a chance to ask them a couple of questions, as I did when he spoke at the National Press Club last year.

He began his talk at the Press Club by bemoaning that people rarely addressed particular things he'd written. They'd just say "good job" -- as you "would say to a child who had had a bowel movement. ... As I look back on my career in broadcasting, nobody had ever complemented me on a specific thing. Nobody had ever quoted back to me some brilliant thing I had ever said. It was always general. 'We like your show.' 'It really relaxes our children.' 'We listen to it late at night.' And it occurred to me that perhaps I had spent 40 years in radio as a sort of comforting baritone presence and that nobody heard anything in particular that I had said."

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I felt so good, because I had submitted a question about the "Prophet" story which he told decades earlier. Surely he'd be floored that someone remembers that story. Perhaps seeing that that's what resonated with people he would be compelled to use his pulpit to do more of that caliber of commentary.

The moderator of the event, then Press Club President John Hughes did ask that question: "One of your greatest stories on 'A Prairie Home Companion' was the 'Prophet' which you told during the 1991 Gulf War. What would a prophet tell us now?"

But Keillor basically renounced the story: "I am not in the prophecy business and sort of regret that monologue. I've been trying to forget it for years and years. It was one of my ill-advised ventures into political commentary. I had almost erased it from my mind, John. You brought back a little tiny bit of it. That's p-r-o-p-h-e-t? I have no idea -- I have been around and seen a lot of young people in the last month ..."

He yada-yada-ed for a bit about passing the mantle, but the point was made. [See video.]

Here's the most substantial chunks of the "Prophet" story:

I recall when I was a little boy, going to the volunteer fire department Fourth of July picnic. My family doesn't remember this at all, but they have very poor memories. ... I got the beans on my plate and I had the bun and I had just put the wiener in the bun and I was just squeezing the ketchup and the air turned white and it was snowing. Snow was falling and everybody was amazed and then somebody said, "oh no", they said, "It's fluff from the cottonwood trees, it's just seeds coming down from the cottonwood trees", and so, that was that, but then I looked down at my plate and there was nothing there. Now cottonwood fluff does not melt. Seeds don't just disappear. It was snow on the Fourth of July. A snow flurry hit Lake Wobegon on the Fourth of July when I was a boy, but if you talk to anybody, including my family who was at the Volunteer Fire Department Bean Feed that day in 1951 on the Fourth of July, they will tell you that was fluff from the cottonwood trees that came down. I was the only one who knew the truth. A terrible responsibility for a child and one more reason to leave town, you know. There were too many things that I was the only one that knew them...

Stunning thought, but when God sends snow down on the Fourth of July, that indicates to me that he is talking to us in a loud voice and apparently I was the only one who saw this and therefore, the only one who might have a hunch what God was trying to tell us, but I turned down the privilege, thank you very much, no thank you. To be a prophet was too much for me then and it's too much for me now. To be a prophet is hard work anytime and anyplace, but you never want to do it in a town of less than 2,000 population. If you live there and if you come from there. To stand and to tell people the truth that they have been successfully avoiding is not a pleasant business in a small town.

Back in 1918 in my town, back when the streets were lined with flags and when school children sat for hours of deadly nonsense about glory and honor and this war was a war to end all wars, this war would usher in a New World Order. Sat and listened to this there was a man on a bench outside a grocery store and turned to the man next to him and said, "I wish they'd take the flags down, I don't think there's any glory in this war, it's just a bunch of politicians." And the word got around town of this man's remarks, this slur on our country ... and people would not speak to him again for a long time...

You have become a scourge. You have become a prophet and it's time to time to hit the road Jack. You gotta get out of this town. Well, that never happened to me and I'm not ever going to have it happen to me. That's what God was offering me when he had the snow fall on the Fourth of July and I saw it. He was saying, "Witness to people about this. Reveal the truth of this and be a prophet." I said, "No thank you, I don't want it." He said, "This will be a great service to people whom you love, to tell them the truth". I said, "Well they're not going to thank me for it. I know that for sure. People hurt prophets. They throw sharp things at them. They rip the clothes off them and they make them sit for long periods of time in uncomfortable positions on top of sharp objects that are extremely flammable. That's what they do to prophets. I don't want that. I don't want any pain whatsoever. I don't ever want to experience any pain. Minor dentistry is more than enough for me. So, no thank you. I don't want to be a prophet and tell the truth. What can I do that's the opposite of that?" And so, I got into this line of work. Telling lies and I've never regretted it, which is a terrible thing to say in front of children. To say that you've spent your life telling lies, but I have and I've had a wonderful time, and I have been very well rewarded for this, and I have been congratulated by all sorts of people including members of the clergy, whereas if I had been prophet and told the truth, I would be broke and I would be unhappy myself and I would be despised and I would be condemned from most pulpits in the country. No thanks, I don't really care for that. ...

No, it's not that I don't know what a prophet would say, you see. I do. It's not for lack of a message. I'm not interested in saying it. If there were a prophet, of course, a prophet would tell us that America is a country that God has blessed so much, we have not suffered as other people have. We don't know what suffering is like. We have not known war in our country since 1865. That experience of war in 1865 was so horrible in this country, the Civil War, that we did not lift our hand against anybody for years and years after that. [note even here, Keillor ignores wars against the native population.]

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But over the years we've become so prosperous and we have developed technology that allows us to deliver war to other people, and it never falls on us. We have no idea what war is like in this country. Our soldiers know, but when they come back to tell us, we don't know what they're talking about. We don't know what war is like in this country and so it behooves us to be careful. And to rain down death on people and then to gloat over it is not becoming in God's eyes. This is not good. To rain down destruction from this country, which knows so little suffering that our own navels become the source of our suffering is not pleasant or good in God's eyes. We should be very careful, very careful. This is what a prophet would say, I think.

But who wants to say it, because prophets have an approval rating of five percent, only in some places. No, I'd rather be in my line of work. ... God was disappointed in me at first, but He's come around to seeing this more and more from my point of view. ... God made mistakes...you spread the truth around and it becomes common and people ignore it. ... Whereas, with someone like me, if I ever do tell the truth, people remember it. ... I remember every time I told the truth. Like a snowfall in July -- you remember every time. [Partial transcripts via "Lying Through Their Teeth" by Danny C. Campbell [PDF]. "The Favored of God" by Rev. Dr. Timothy Ives [doc].]

To me, Keillor's writings are a self-refutation. There's almost no need for meaningful commentary. It's disguised in jest, but the obvious truth is that Keillor is explicitly saying that he doesn't want to be honest because our society punishes people who are forthright about such truths. If looked at clearly, the indictments to the society and himself could hardly be harsher.

Beyond that, his calling Obama "the coolest president" almost dovetails with his critique of the Bush I bombing of Iraq. Keillor finds it reprehensible that the U.S. would "rain down death on people and then to gloat over" -- as much of the country did in 1991. And hearing his revulsion was a welcomed thing for me at the time. But it would seem Keillor mostly doesn't like the gloating.

Indeed, just around the time that Keillor was taping his final show on Friday, the Obama administration finally released preposterously low-balled estimates of the number of civilians killed in its drone terror program. These were presumably for Pakistan, Somalia, Yemen and Libya. The numbers excluded "areas of active hostilities" which the administration states "currently include Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria." The timing of the release of the numbers was particularly noteworthy -- a Friday afternoon of a July 4 weekend -- a transparent attempt to minimize coverage of the story. In a minimally ethical world, the timing of the release would itself be part of the indictment. The episode epitomizes patriotism as the last refuge of scoundrels.

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But this works with Keillor admiration of "cool." You want understated bombings and geopolitical machinations. Soft power. Subtle threats, not craven chest-beating. A massive global terror campaign with a pacifistic veneer. You get the blown up limbs and collapsed states that posed an obstacle to U.S. government elite designs without the handwringing. This is far preferable to what gloating or goading people might have engaged in in 1991 or years since.

Along similar lines, another question of mine did get asked when Keillor spoke at the Press Club last year -- or rather a neutered piece of it. I asked: "Do you see contradictions of liberalism -- from LBJ to today -- proclaiming progress but backing wars, bombings, and increasingly presiding over more economic inequality?"

This was notably truncated by the Press Club management (either John Hughes or someone else who passed him my questions) to exclude the reference to wars and bombings: "What is your opinion on liberalism? Do you see contradictions from LBJ to today, proclaiming progress But also increasingly presiding over more economic inequality?" This prompted English major Keillor's reply: "That is a powerful, complicated sentence. I am not sure I could diagram that sentence. Yes of course there have been changes Since then and defeats. But we don't have people running for public office against Social Security and Medicare. So that says a lot right there. You can always run against Washington. Welcome to the club. But they don't get very specific about their plans for entitlement programs. They talk about them sort of vaguely. The things that LBJ and his cohorts have set up seemed fairly durable to me."

It's actually the same theme all round. Keillor on his show ignores bombings of several nations by a Democratic president. And the Press Club in their choice of questioning excluded acknowledgement of same.

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Keillor did make some reasonable remarks at the Press Club in my view: "We need to take a deep breath and back away from the Middle East. ... You can call this isolationism, you can call it ice tea. Whatever." His reasoning was convoluted, but he got there in ways I won't pick apart here, but he got there. The funny part is that on the rare occasion I've tuned into his show, he's more likely to be talking about World War I than any of the wars the U.S. government is waging now.

But perhaps the most bizarre answer from Keillor at the Press Club was in response to a question submitted by someone else. They asked if Somali immigrants were not changing the demographics of Lake Wobegon.

Keillor responded: "I don't know if I should introduce a Somali character and what he or she would do in Lake Wobegon. I could have a Somali woman who could come as an intern to the Lutheran church. That would be interesting. A conversion and a young woman in training to become a pastor. That's a possibility."

This was before liberals were aghast at Trump's remarks about Muslims. But Keillor almost sounded Trumpish in his statements: "We have many listeners among the Somalis to our shows. ... We have all these listeners because they can learn English by listening to 'A Prairie Home Companion.' We don't make references to politics on the show."

See the depraved thought patterns here from a "liberal": Keillor can seemingly only figure out a way to work a Muslim character into his stories if they decide not to be a Muslim any more. Of course he does politics on his show, he mocks Trump -- and in a sense, his very remarks about only having Muslims on if they convert is quite political in the worst way.

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A final irony: One of the best analysts on Somalia, Abdi Ismail Samatar, is at the University of Minnesota, where Keillor hails from. Right around the time Keillor was speaking at the Press Club last year, Secretary of State John Kerry was in Somalia and Samatar told me: "The U.S. should face up to its role in bringing Somalia to its current state. It actually backed the warlords against the Union of the Islamic Courts (UIC), which was trying to bring some stability to the country. In 2005, the UIC defeated the warlords and created peace in Mogadishu for the first time in years and without any help from the international community. Rather than engaging with the UIC, the U.S. and its African clients considered them as terrorists and Ethiopia was given the green light to invade and dismantle it. Ethiopian forces took over Mogadishu on December 25, 2006, and the prospect of a peaceful resurrection of Somalia perished."

But Keillor didn't need to get into the analysis if he doesn't want to. The line of thought in the "Prophet" -- the missiles "never falls on us" was the heart of it. Connections could and should be drawn between different sorts of tribal tendencies, whether in St. Paul or Damascus. Or just plain among people. It's tragic that even if we awake to our current state, it may be because of a realization of the vulnerability of people in the U.S. now as well. It's wildly disproportionate, but the reaper of political violence does now visit upon the U.S. public on occasion. But even with such circumstances, we're not facing the realities.
Founders of the Copenhagen-Tartu School of Biosemiotics at a Seminar in Estonia: (l-r) KALEVI KULL, Claus Emmeche, Jesper Hoffmeyer, Frederik Stjernfelt

Biosemiotics pioneer Kalevi Kull has sent the following letter to me in response to one of the organizers of the upcoming Royal Society public meeting on paradigm shift attempting to censor my coverage of the event.



Kalevi Kull plans to attend the November gathering in London.

Dear Suzan,

Well, I really interpret the letter you refer to in your article ["Censorpship & Upcoming Royal Society Evo Meeting"] as evidence that this IS a paradigm shift. Because it focuses not on the biological theory itself, but on social matters in academia. And this is a serious hint. Because if this kind of deep change happens, then very many scientists face a problem of how to survive this change because the new dominant model they would like to accept results in many of their previous writings losing much of their value. Nobody wants to belong to the party of losers. One of the best strategies in such a case is evidently an interpretation of the change as a gradual accumulation of knowledge while their work has always been at the cutting edge.



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[Following is the censorship email Kull refers to above -- it was not written by Denis Noble: "Could I request that you stop referring to the forthcoming RS-BA meeting ("New Trends in Evolutionary Biology: Biological, Philosophical and Social Science Perspectives"), and to the extended evolutionary synthesis, more generally, as in some way advocating a "paradigm shift". Such language is both misleading (the vast majority of scientists working towards an extended synthesis do not seek revolutionary change in neo-Darwinism) and counterproductive (such talk undermines calm scientific discussion by creating an unnecessarily emotive and antagonistic atmosphere). I view the Kuhnian model as superseded long ago: the data suggests that sciences rarely if ever change through "revolutions". Lakatos' framework of "research programmes" offers a more up-to-date, accurate and useful conceptualization of (gradual and progressive) scientific change. The extended evolutionary synthesis is best regarded as an alternative research programme, entirely complementary to orthodox evolutionary biology. Talk of "paradigm shift" gives the false impression that the differences amongst evolutionary biologists are far more extreme than they actually are. . . ."]

[Kalevi Kull's correspondence continues:] Is this a radical change in biology what is going on now? The contrast is quite clear, if we look at how evolutionary innovation is described. Either innovation begins from a new mutation, followed by newly behaving phenotype, which is amplified by natural selection (this is what the neo-Darwinian model suggests), or innovation begins from a change of function (with habitat choice, or resource choice, etc.) first stabilised by epigenetic or ecological inheritance and followed by fixation due to mutational noise (which is what the new model states, let us call it the post-Darwinan model).

That is: either a genetic change first, followed by functional change, or a functional (epigenetic, i.e., non-genetic) change first, followed by genetic changes.

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The details of this contrast are described, for instance, in my work "Adaptive Evolution without Natural Selection" published in the Linnean Society journal. . . but there are many scholars who share this model. That paper provides a row of references. Isn't it a deep contrast, and a possible move from one to another, a radical change of the major model of evolution?

However, if indeed one knows all the dramatic history of the theory of evolution. . .

Here's a sketch. Estonia has been described as a country with one of the richest political experiences. We also see this in our history of Darwinism.

In the 19th century, Tartu University was one of the leading German-language universities, and one of the leading critics of Darwin was working at Tartu University -- Karl Ernst von Baer, the founder of developmental biology. Simultaneously, one of the very first courses in the world and best textbooks written about Darwin's-time Darwinism was provided by a professor at the same university, Georg Seidlitz.

Around the turn of the century, before WWI, Tartu University was a Russian-language university, and Darwinism was soon popularised as supporting early socialist ideas. Soon after, together with advances in genetics, evolutionary theory was interpreted as a basis for eugenics (also used in this way by national socialists in Germany before WWII).

Then Estonia was annexed by Russia, and after the WWII for more than a decade it meant the influence of vulgar Darwinism (also called 'creative Darwinism' at that time), as propagated by Lysenko (yes, he also praised Darwin, he just did not like genetics).

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In the 1970s and 80s, all students in the Soviet Union had to learn how Darwinism goes hand in hand with Marxism, meaning a good connection with the 'synthetic theory of evolution', which was a synonym for neo-Darwinism. . .

Simultaneously, a radical non-Darwinism was also developing within certain circles of Soviet biologists, who took it from the theory of Nomogenesis of Lev Berg and his follower Alexander Lyubischev. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, an outgrowth of neo-Darwinism called sociobiology became a dominant view for many, particularly among zoologists. . .

If one has read all this and been able to understand why all these scholars had the views they had, it is hardly possible to describe this history as gradual improvement of a model, continuous extension of a synthesis. There have rather been different paradigms existing and developing in parallel. Most of the time just one of them was strongly dominant over the other. And since evolutionary theory has almost always been tied to some ideological battles, its changes were not limited by scientific discoveries.

Nevertheless, we have good friends and colleagues whose views about evolution we do not share. But should we therefore be less strict in our formulations about our views? No, that would mean giving up our understanding. Good teachers wouldn't do so.

Science, deeply speaking, is the mutual help in understanding. We should help each other as friends; nobody is understanding everything. Keeping this in mind, the best way to make our thoughts clear is to use formulations that do not hide meaning. A better understanding is not always an extension of the earlier model, sometimes it is an alternative.

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In other words -- summarizing -- claiming that what is going on is just an ongoing extension of Darwinism would be equivalent to saying that Einsteinian physics is just an extended Newtonianism. Why not, one may describe it so. However, the Einsteinian change became a classic example of a paradigm shift, for Kuhn. . . .

I like very much your writings.

Warm wishes
US constitution

On July 4 we celebrate our Independence Day and the founding of our nation. We gather with friends and family for picnics and fireworks, hear patriotic music, eat too much, and affirm that America has been blessed. However, in the midst of our festivities, we should find time to mourn the choices of our Founding Fathers that haunt us still. That is the duality of American history. We are the most successful democracy in the world, but we have carried the consequences of slavery and racism with us since our founding.

The core of the United States, government for the people and by the people, is worth celebrating. It was announced in the Declaration of Independence (1776) and defended in the "Federalist Papers" (1787-1788). In Paper No. 1, Alexander Hamilton, not yet a Broadway celebrity, asked whether they could establish "good government from reflection and choice, or whether they are forever destined to depend for their political constitutions on accident and force."

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Unlike other nations that originated by conquest or by accident, the United States is based on reasoning and the advanced sciences of the day. In 1785, John Adams wrote, "When government shall be considered as having in it nothing more mysterious or divine than other arts or sciences, we may expect that improvements will be made in the human character and the state of society."

In 1783, George Washington asserted that the United States was founded when "the rights of mankind were better understood and more clearly defined, than at any former period, the researches of the human mind."

The Founding Fathers' great social experiment--to create a government based on reason and compromise--has been a profound success and given us the many freedoms we enjoy today. That is worth celebrating. However, to persuade Southerners to support the Union, the founders compromised on the question of slavery. "Reflection and choice," two intellectual virtues, were not sufficient to undo the investment in black bodies. Generations of African Americans, and the nation as a whole, have suffered for that contradiction. That is what we must mourn.

James Madison, "Father of the Constitution" and the fourth U.S. President, embodied that contradiction. Himself a slave owner, Madison addressed slavery in Federalist Paper No. 54 (February 12, 1788). If slaves were merely property they should be taxed as such; if they were full-fledged persons they should count in the national census. Southerners objected to the first solution; Northerners objected to the second. Instead, Madison offered a contradictory answer: slaves were both movable property and human beings: "The true state of the case is, that [slaves] partake of both these qualities: being considered by our laws, in some respects, as persons, and in other respects as property."

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Slaves "partake of both qualities" only because that incoherent lie served Southern and Northern interests at the time. Although Madison's contradiction was stunning, he and his fellow slaveowners recognized the humanity of slaves. They did not purge themselves of every human sentiment. They confronted an internal divide, rooted in human nature and their Christian consciences. It resided in their hearts even as it hovered over the Constitution and the Declaration, issued at America's political birth. Founders like George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Patrick Henry--slave owners--who demanded their rights from the English king perceived the irony that they did so while they conspired to deprive others of theirs. In private letters and in public debates some of them acknowledged their anguish over this contradiction.

That anguish did not stop them from inserting Madison's contradiction into the Constitution of 1787. It festered there until the end of the Civil War. The harm it did to slaves and their descendants--and to Native Americans--is nearly incalculable. The founders' affirmation of reasoning about governance we celebrate; their abandonment of shared human dignity--at the very beginning of the Union--we mourn. Recognizing their stature and their errors we should retain their monuments but take up the unfinished work of repairing injustices begun a long time ago.
Luxury Watches can be Smart Investments



The modern wristwatch got its start just over a hundred years ago when a visionary clock seller in London first conceived of a timepiece worn on the wrist. Hans Wilsdorf founded his company in London in 1905, puzzling at length for a proper name for his fledgling business. At last, he chose "Rolex" claiming that a genie whispered the name into his ear while riding a London horse-drawn bus. Wilsdorf commissioned Swiss craftsmen to create precision timepieces, like pocket watches, but worn on the wrist. According to the company site,

"In 1910, a Rolex watch was the first wristwatch in the world to receive the Swiss Certificate of Chronometric Precision, granted by the Official Watch Rating Centre in Bienne."

The wristwatch was originally thought to be a fashionable fad. Gentlemen still considered the pocket watch to be the proper portable chronometer. But in an odd twist of historical fate, the wristwatch gained acceptance as a serious timepiece during WWI when pilots especially, needed to be able to assess the time without fumbling in their pocket for a watch.

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The company continued to innovate new technologies for the personal timepiece and between 1926 and 1945, precision quality standards were maintained while improvements continued. In 1926, the term "Oyster" was coined to describe the way that the watch was sealed completely watertight. This claim was tested and confirmed in 1927 when an English swimmer spent 10 hours crossing the English Channel wearing one. In 1931, the brand introduced Perpetual Movement, the self-winding mechanism that is at the heart of every modern mechanical watch. Then, in 1945, the "Datejust" feature was added to the face, both displaying and automatically changing the date.

As the century progressed, they began to be found in many places where precision and sturdy construction was critical. Explorers and scientists working in new frontiers and on the edge of the known world--including exposure to altitude, depth, speed and magnetic fields--wore the watch.

Our current perception of a Rolex wearer may be that of a slightly ostentatious show-off. Some models are indisputably stunning featuring diamond inlays in the bezel and bracelet, sapphire crystals, and dripping with platinum and gold. But beyond the showboat, these timepieces can be understated and still incredibly beautiful, valuable and ultra high quality. Celebrities including, Harrison Ford (a steel Datejust), Brad Pitt (an Explorer), and Charlize Theron (a Sea Dweller) love and wear the brand. But other wearers are generally not considered glitzy or showy; they just have incredibly good taste and the budget to afford the best. Among this group you will find, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Pablo Picasso; Chuck Yager trusted this durable brand during his first ever faster-than-sound adventure and Jacques Cousteau took a Submariner to the bottom of the ocean.

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It may even be one of the few watches that is not only a delight to own and wear, but may be a good investment. One reason is the relative price of these timepieces in the luxury marketplace. These watches start in the $4,000 to $9,000 range and are well known to keep, and even increase their value in some cases. Of all the luxury brands, new Rolex watches have the highest resale value. Unlike some very high-priced chronometers, these watches are much more likely to be worn and used by an owner who is using it for a certain job, not a dressy occasion. According to an interview with Adam Craniotes in Money,

"I hate to say it, but in this price range, vintage--and now vintage Tudor, 'the working man's Rolex'--are the best game in town if you're looking for an investment-grade piece that doesn't have to sit in the safe."

And, if you are a serious collector who intends to treat these watches like a financial investment, you may wish to look into the vintage market. Older, antique and pre-owned Rolex watches might produce a wonderful return in certain circumstances. BornRich reports that a 1942 Chronograph model sold at auction for $1.16 million, a record. But other rare timepieces fetch incredible prices too. Some of the most valuable are the actual watches that were given as gifts to racecar drivers in the 1940's.
An American flag close-up and folded and place on the signatures on the Declaration of Independence.

No document is more iconic in American history than the Declaration of Independence.

Adopted by Congress during the American Revolution in July of 1776, it marked the liberation of the thirteen colonies from British Empire and paved the way to sovereignty for our fledging nation.

The opening sentence of the document's second paragraph is probably the most widely quoted text as the basis for rights and equality in our country:

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"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."



These words are indelibly etched in the annals of history. However, they also refer to ideals denied to marginalized groups whose equality and liberty is conditional, nominal or subject to interpretation.

In the context of the current sociopolitical climate imbued with islamophobia, American Muslims factor prominently among these groups.

According to a recently released report by the Council on American-Islamic Relations, Confronting Fear, Islamophobia has evolved into a financially lucrative industry - generating over $200 million in revenue between 2008-13.

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Last year saw a record number of U.S. mosques threatened or attacked, along with the emergence of "Muslim-free" businesses and armed mosque protests.

Reflecting on the journey to our country's independence, it bears mentioning that America was founded by settlers fleeing religious persecution and seeking to worship freely as they believed.

This helps explain why in theory, religious pluralism - grounded in the idea that freedom of faith is from God rather than government - has long been a core value of our democracy. It fosters inclusion, respect, and diversity.

Regardless of what deity is called upon in prayer, faith has been understood to guide the moral conscience of our nation. But particularly for Muslims, the freedom to worship without persecution is under attack in America.

This week, as we mark two hundred and forty years since our nation's declaration of sovereignty, daily news headlines highlight grim stories of Muslim communities facing growing hostility and suspicion.

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It has manifested as religious profiling, hate crimes, bias attacks, bullying, and threats against mosques.

And now - spurred in part by a global rise in terrorism, the 2016 election season, and biased media reporting - the chilling display of intolerance has reached critical levels.

In recent days, several reports indicate peaceful, law-abiding American Muslims were brutally assaulted and gunned down outside U.S. mosques.

Yes - brutally assaulted and gunned down outside U.S. mosques. Where is the moral outrage? Where are the condemnations and repudiations?

Our silence is complicity; it signifies a deficit in our collective conscience. It is unconscionable that anyone would be attacked or murdered for practicing their faith or exercising their constitutional right to worship in peace.

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Now more than ever, we cannot sleep on this. Our Declaration of Independence serves as a reminder that our commitment to religious freedom and tolerance must not be conditional.

The security and protections guaranteed to every American under our Constitution must apply equally to American Muslims too.

Candidates seeking public office and those among our lawmakers who are compounding intolerance through reckless, divisive rhetoric must be called out and held accountable.

Controversial demagoguery may boost favorability ratings among segments of their constituency. But it is unconstitutional, unethical, and jeopardizes the safety and security of vulnerable populations.

The status quo is dangerous and cannot be left unchallenged. An attack on one community is an attack on all of us.

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U.S. Senate Chaplain Peter Marshall once said: "May we think of freedom, not as the right to do as we please, but as the opportunity to do what is right."

As we celebrate America's independence, we can best express our patriotism by uniting together in steadfast solidarity against bigotry and xenophobia.
Meowu via Getty Images Vector cute cartoon white spotty isolated background

Residents of Haryana can now dial into a 24-hour helpline to report incidents of cow smuggling and slaughter, The Indian Express reported today.

The dial-in number is 8284030455.

The information provided over the helpline would then be relayed to police officials, the newspaper reported.

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This move comes after two men were caught transporting beef across the state, last month. In a shocking incident, self-appointed Gau Rakshaks (cow protectors) forced these men to to eat a mixture of cow dung, cow urine, milk, curd and ghee in Haryana.

Haryana DGP K.P. Singh told The Indian Express that barricades would be set up to prevent smuggling.
Faraz Hossain FB

Faraaz Hossain, a Bangladeshi Muslim, was given the option of leaving by the terrorists who attacked the Holey Artisan Bakery in Dhaka on Friday, but the 20-year-old decided to stay to protect his friends, his brother told The Times of India in a heartbreaking account.

"From what I have gathered, my brother was allowed to leave. But he had gone there with his friends and didn't want to leave them behind. So he had asked 'what about them?' When he was told that they couldn't leave, he decided to stay back. Muslims are not supposed to believe in violence. He was a true Muslim which is why he stayed back and proved to be one," Zaraif Hossain told TOI.

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"From what I understand, they were asked to recite prayers. For my brother, it wouldn't have been difficult," he said.

Faraaz, a student at Emory University in Atlanta, was killed along with his two friends Tarishi Jain, an Indian, and Abinta Kabir.

The savage attack followed by a 10-hour-long hostage crisis claimed the lives of 20 people including three Bangladeshis, nine Italians, seven Japanese and one Indian. Brig Gen Nayeem Ashfaq Chowdhury said that "terrorists used sharp weapons to kill them brutally."

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While six terrorists were killed and one arrested, Bangladeshi troops rescued 13 hostages, including an Argentine, a Japanese, two Lankans and two Bangladeshis.

The terrorists shouted "Allah hu Akbar" as they stormed the Holey Artisan Bakery, and reportedly told hostages to recite verses from the Quran. Those who failed to do so were killed.

In a gut-wrenching narrative, Zaraif described his brother as a meritorious student, consistently at the top 10 percent of his class, who had even planned where his family members would sit during his graduation ceremony two years from now.

Zaraif told TOI that his younger brother was "destined for greatness."

Also on HuffPost India:
ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE - In this Tuesday, April 12, 2016, file photo, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg delivers the keynote address at the F8 Facebook Developer Conference in San Francisco. Facebook is under fire after a report from a Gawker site accused it of manipulating its atrending topicsa feature to promote or suppress certain political perspectives. Facebook has denied the claims, but the GOP-led U.S. Senate Commerce Committee has sent a letter to Zuckerberg requesting answers about the matter. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg, File)

Many surveys have attested to the fact that Facebook is a great place to work at. However, if you are a woman employee there, you can be told not to dress in a distracting manner. This claim is one in a series of allegations made by Antonio Garcia Martinez, a former Facebook employee, in his new book, 'Monkey Chaos'. Martinez was fired from his job at Facebook.

Our male HR authority, with occasional backup from his female counterpart, launched into a speech about avoiding clothing that distracted coworkers. Id later learn that managers did in fact occasionally pull aside female employees and read them the riot act, Martinez says in the book.

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According to a report released by Facebook in 2014, 69 percent of its employees at the time were male. And according to the Telegraph, 84 percent of employees in the technology division are male. Many former employees in the past have claimed that Facebook is a sexist place to work at.

Martinez calls Facebook a place that is run like the North Korean dictatorship, likening founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg to an unquestionable leader.

He also said that once COO Sherly Sandberg lashed out on an engineer for using the pictures of kittens in a demo. The demo was about filtering obscene pictures so instead of actual pictures the engineers had used the kitten pictures.

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Excerpts from the book, released before the book was out, claim that a lot of people thought of Zuckerberg as borderline psychopathic, whose sole mission was to destroy Google plus.

Martinez claims that the company has a KGB-styled workforce called 'The Sec,' whose job it is to keep an eye on the staff all the time. "We had slogans on the walls, we were all wearing a uniform. It all felt very North Korean or Cuban, almost. And so in that moment, I just realized... the motive force in history, which is one egomaniac's twitchy drive and then the common man's desire to be part of a compelling story -- which is what we were, we just were bit players in Zuckerberg's story," he told the CBS TV network in an interview.

The book also claims that Facebook considered employees 'dead' once they left the organization. There was a picture of tombstone posted on an employee's corporate ID card when they were about to leave.
Hindustan Times via Getty Images SRINAGAR, INDIA - JUNE 15: People shout anti-national slogans and raise flag of Pakistan during funeral of slain militant Tanveer Sultan, who was killed in a firing incident in Kud town of Udhampur district at Bemina on June 15, 2016 in Srinagar, India. The family claims he was a psychiatric patient and was travelling to Amritsar for treatment. The Jammu and Kashmir government confirmed that the person killed in a firing incident in Kud town of Udhampur district was a militant who had fired at the security forces. (Photo by Waseem Andrabi/Hindustan Times via Getty Images)

NEW DELHI -- Security agencies do not mention Hindutva groups in their report to the Centre, but highlight "competitive radicalization" as a reason for growing unrest in Jammu and Kashmir.

The Indian Express reported today that J&K agencies have divided radicalisation into three categories: political by Hurriyat, a hardcore separatist organisation, religious by socio-religious groups and online radicalisation through social media."

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The newspaper reported that security agencies in Jammu and Kashmir have outlined various security concerns to the Centre as well as growing feelings of "alienation and anger" against the state government.

The security agencies are reporting a 47 per cent increase in militancy-related incidents, 51 per cent increase in stone-pelting incidents, 65 per cent spurt in infiltration and an increase in fresh recruitments during the first six months of 2016.

The Indian Express reported that incidents of stone-pelting by civilians have increased during encounters and counter-insurgency operations in the first six months of 2016, and a 100 percent rise in participation of funerals of slain militants.

Citing sources, The Indian Express reported that 65 percent of militants trying to enter Jammu and Kashmir have been successful, this year, compared to 28 percent, last year.

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Also on HuffPost India:
Felix Hug via Getty Images Local muslim woman dressed in a in black burqa is walking pass a wall painting in the city of Bangalore, India. The wall painting is in primary colors and shows a local woman in a red sari dress.

Other than making Muslims look bad and India a little more legally reformed, does the present political clamour for a Uniform Civil Code mean anything?

Not really, because on matters pertaining to civil laws, most of India is still driven by customs, and the alleged bad practices of marriage, extra-judicial divorce and inheritance among Muslims are just myths.

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And by fighting the proposal for uniform civil laws, the Muslims, or rather their self-claimed representatives, are reinforcing these myths and playing into the hands of politicians who are looking for the perpetual polarisation of India.

The most abused myth that the right wing propagandists brandish is that Muslims marry multiple times and divorce without going to court on the strength of their personal laws; but the fact of the matter is that Muslims in India are better behaved than others when it comes to polygamy.

What will the Uniform Civil Code do to Muslims that their organisations are so worried about?

Practically nothing.

The most abused myth that the right wing propagandists brandish is that Muslims marry multiple times and divorce without going to court on the strength of their personal laws; but the fact of the matter is that Muslims in India are better behaved than others when it comes to polygamy. The 1961 census (it's old, but that's the latest to look at this issue) had said this unequivocally, and the findings of a 1974 study by the government had endorsed it.

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(A Muslim woman prays before having her Iftar (breaking of fast) meal during the holy month of Ramadan at the Jama Masjid in the old quarters of Delhi, India, June 25, 2015. REUTERS/Anindito Mukherjee)

According to the 1961 census, Muslims had the least incidence of polygamy (5.7 per cent) in India compared to other communities (5.8 per cent), while the 1974 study found that polygamy among Muslims was only 5.6 per cent compared to 5.8 per cent among upper caste Hindus.

In fact, tribals should be more worried than Muslims because it's more than 15 per cent among them.

So, will a Uniform Civll Code adversely affect the marital practices of Muslims? No, because they are the best behaved in India on that front. Then why worry? Available data in fact exposes the fallacy of such codified laws when societies are unable to rid themselves of their age old customs.

If polygamy among Muslims is lower than among Hindus, the incidence of extra-judicial "talaq" also cannot be high because one needs to marry more to divorce more. Obviously, the whole idea of indiscriminate "talaq" is also a myth.

If polygamy among Muslims is lower than among Hindus, the incidence of extra-judicial "talaq" also cannot be high because one needs to marry more to divorce more.

Now, the next critical issue of inheritance.

Although it's more complex in terms of interpretation, in simple reading, Muslim women get only half the property that men get while the Hindu women can claim an equal share.

That is what the law says. But is it the way how it works?

Not really. It depends on the family and lesser known details of Muslim personal law. Ask Muslim families and women. There are many families that give more share of property to women than men while in many Hindu families, men may get more than the women. And the law pertains only to family property. Bulk of the property that men and women get to inherit these days are willed to them, which incidentally is not governed by any law, but by the will of the father, mother or whoever owns it.

Seen in this light, Muslim women in fact are better off than Hindu women because in their law, the girl has a right even over the self-acquired property. More over, a Muslim cannot bequeath more than one-third of his/her total property, which means the rest is equally shared among the heirs irrespective of their gender. This makes a huge difference because most of the property that people get to inherit nowadays are self-acquired.

More over, a Muslim cannot bequeath more than one-third of his/her total property, which means the rest is equally shared among the heirs irrespective of their gender. This makes a huge difference because most of the property that people get to inherit nowadays are self-acquired.

There is more: a Muslim women can inherit property as a daughter, widow, grandmother, mother, or son's daughter. Frankly, the Muslim law works better for women and experts have even suggested adopting it into national law.

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In other words, the idea of inheritance operates in a space that is governed by customs, values and family practices than law. This is borne out by facts. If women indeed got a better share of properties among Hindus, who constitute 80 per cent of the population, the status of property rights of women in India wouldn't have been as pathetic as it's today. Even Nepal has a better story on women inheriting property.

So, even on inheritance, it's a myth.

So, what's the whole fuss about?

For progressive thinkers, Uniform Civil Code is a good idea because it considers everybody equal. But for the right-wing propagandists, it's a bogey to target and stigmatise the Muslims. And by resisting it, the Muslims will reinforce the myths attributed to their personal lives and actually help the right-wing's sinister political strategy.
Hindustan Times via Getty Images NEW DELHI, INDIA - MARCH 15: AIMIM President Asaduddin Owaisi during the Parliament Budget Session on March 15, 2016 in New Delhi, India. The Lok Sabha discussed The Real Estate Regulator (Regulation and Development) Bill that seeks to protect the interests of property buyers against unscrupulous promoters and set up a sectoral watchdog. The bill, pending before the Parliament since 2013, got approval of the Rajya Sabha on March 10. (Photo by Sonu Mehta/Hindustan Times via Getty Images)

The hashtag #OwaisiTerrorPolitics, which trended on television and social media following a remark made by the three-time MP from Telangana, Asaduddin Owaisi, says everything and nothing about the controversy that erupted around him.

While terror and politics were both integral to the AIMIM leader's comments, the more appropriate hashtag, in this context, would have been #facepalm.

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Owaisi was attacked by members of the BJP and the JD(U) for offering to provide legal help to five terror suspects, allegedly with links to the ISIS, who were arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) from Hyderabad. In keeping with the rhetoric of our times, in no time there was a chorus accusing him of "betraying" the country and abetting terrorism, in other words, of being an anti-national.

Card-carrying nationalists were quick to take offence. K. Karuna Sagar, a lawyer in Hyderabad, filed a police complaint, while Anil Kumar Bakshi, a member of UP Bar Council, filed a petition seeking to register a case against Owaisi, citing a slew of sections from the IPC.

The irony, in all this brouhaha, is that Owaisi, who is a trained lawyer himself, was saying nothing out of form. Article 39A of the Indian Constitution mandates the State to provide free and fair legal aid to individuals on "a basis of equal opportunity". By promising to offer legal support to the suspects, Owaisi wasn't doing anything that would otherwise not have come their way.

More pertinently, as Owaisi pointed out himself, it would ultimately be up to the courts to decide the outcome of the case. There was no question of any influence from him or his party on the proceedings. Nor was there any reason to conclude that a party keen to ensure free and fair trial of suspected terrorists was offering support to terrorism. If such were the case, the Indian State would

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have been culpable of a similar offence for putting Ajmal Kasab through a trial for his role in the 26/11 attacks, absurd as the idea may sound. (As an aside, it needs to be pointed out here that given the NIA's record, there's no reason to believe that anyone it suspects of wrongdoing will be held guilty by the courts.)

By promising to offer legal support to the suspects, Owaisi wasn't doing anything that would otherwise not have come their way.

Of course, it would be naive to assume that any politician would make a comment, with potential public repercussions, without having an eye on gain, especially if they happen to belong to a party supported by a specific vote bank. But the Hindu nationalist parties and their cronies have not shied away from such blatantly opportunistic behaviour either. A case in point, as Owaisi himself pointed out, is Subramanyam Swamy's defence of the Hindutva brigade's favourite 'godman' Asaram Bapu, accused of rape.

Earlier this year, Owaisi spoke out against the ISIS on social media and was threatened by the outfit with dire consequences. He still went on say on record that "ISIS has nothing to do with Islam, as it indulges in violence, including against Muslims," and called their mindset "evil". Those who are busy pointing fingers at him now either do not know of this episode or have conveniently forgotten it.
Hindustan Times via Getty Images NEW DELHI, INDIA - JULY 2: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal during the release of Unistar book 'Bhagat Singh's Jail Note Book: Its Context and Relevance', complete notebook, at India Habitat Centre on July 2, 2016 in New Delhi, India. The book has been edited by Malwinder Jit Singh Waraich and Harish Jain and published by Unistar Books, Chandigarh. (Photo by Raj K Raj/Hindustan Times via Getty Images)

Rajendra Kumar, principal secretary of Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal was arrested along with four others in a corruption case by CBI on Monday.

Deputy Secretary in Kejriwal's office, Tarun Sharma, was among those arrested on charges of a scam worth Rs 50 crore. Kumar is alleged to be the mastermind behind the scam that started in 2006.

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Last year, CBI officials had carried out raids at the Delhi Secretariat while investigating corruption charges against Rajendra Kumar. After this, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal lashed out at Prime Minister in a series of tweets where he called Modi a psychopath.

Kejriwal had gone to the extent of alleging that the real target of the CBI raid was not on Kumar but he himself.

When Modi cudnt handle me politically, he resorts to this cowardice. Modi is a coward and psychopath, Kejriwal had tweeted.

When Modi cudn't handle me politically, he resorts to this cowardice  Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) December 15, 2015

Modi is a coward and a psycopath  Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) December 15, 2015

"Rajender Kumar had played an active role in the process of promising and facilitating award of tender to a pre determined party i.e., M/s Endeavour Systems Pvt Ltd due to extraneous considerations and devoid of public interest which shows clear element of abuse of official position and criminal conspiracy among the accused persons including the Directors of the present applicant company," CBI had said in April.

CBI has alleged that Kumar and his other accomplice had used their power and positions to favour the said firm in acquiring tenders allotted by various departments of Delhi government.

According to news reports, Kumar has been booked under Section 120-B of IPC (criminal conspiracy), and under the provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act.

Kumar, a 1989 batch IAS officer favoured the firm in winning tenders worth Rs 9.5 crore between 2007-14, news reports said. Kumar has previously held the post of secretary to Kejriwal during his first stint as CM.

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The body of 19-year-old Tarishi Jain, who was hacked to death by militants at a Dhaka restaurant, was today handed over to her family for the last rites, even as grieving friends and teachers remembered her as a "passionate" person who deeply cared about human rights.

Haryana Education Minister Ram Bilas Sharma, Gurgaon Deputy Commissioner TL Satyaprakash and other officials received Tarishi's mortal remains at Delhi's IGI Airport, ANI reported. Union Power Minister Piyush Goyal, along with others, paid tribute to her at the community centre in DLF Phase-I, Gurugram.

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The mood at the community centre was somber with relatives crying inconsolably. The minister was also seen consoling the aggrieved family members.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj tweeted yesterday that Jain's mortal remains will reach Delhi by a Jet Airways flight on 4 July and be taken by her family to Ferozabad in Uttar Pradesh as per the wishes of her family.

The mortal remains will reach Delhi by Jet Airways on Monday 4th July. This is with concurrence of Tarishi's father. /3 @15saloni2626  Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) July 2, 2016

The family will take the mortal remains to Ferozabad (UP). /4 @15saloni2626  Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) July 2, 2016

Jain had graduated from the American International School in Dhaka, and began studying at the University of California Berkeley last year. Berkeley officials said she intended to major in economics. The university said in a statement that since early June she had been in Dhaka on an internship at Eastern Bank Limited working on e-commerce growth.

"We are all very devastated," Sanchita Saxena, executive director of the California university's Institute for South Asia Studies and director of its Center for Bangladesh Studies, told Reuters.

"She was a smart and ambitious young woman with a big heart. Our deepest condolences to her family, friends, and the entire Berkeley community," she said.

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She was a smart and ambitious young woman with a big heart.

"She had the brightest smile and such a positive energy that was contagious to people around her," wrote student Vanessa Kim.

Jain's father is a textile merchant based in Dhaka for the last 15-20 years and was among relatives and friends who rushed to the scene of the attack in hope of news of their loved ones.

Nine Italians, seven Japanese, one Indian, one Bangladeshi American and two Bangladeshis were killed in the terror attack at Holey Artisan Bakery in Gulshan on Friday night. Besides 20 people, two senior police officers -- Banani Police Station officer-in-charge Salauddin Ahmed Khan and Detective Branch Assistant Commissioner Robiul Islam -- were killed while trying to rescue the hostages.

The bodies of the victims were recovered during a search in the Bakery compound after the operation.

"I met her on the first day of college at Berkeley Tarishi was a beautiful person. She was one of my best friends at Berkeley," a friend of Jain was quoted as saying by the Indian Express.

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I remember she used to always tell me she was so passionate about this club because it was for such a great cause and she felt like she was making a difference.

From the outpouring of grief, emerges the portrait of a young woman who cared deeply about poverty, lived passionately and was loved by her friends and family. Jain was part of a student-run club, 'EthiCAL', at the University of California.

"I remember she used to always tell me she was so passionate about this club because it was for such a great cause and she felt like she was making a difference, the friend told the paper.

An Indian diplomat in Dhaka described the cafe as Delhi's Khan Market, teeming with restaurants and cafes the national capital's expat community regularly visits.

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Buhler JV and freshman football will not be defeated

The Buhler JV squad capped its unbeaten season with a 34-22 victory at McPherson Monday night with help from members of the freshman team.
The potential for a fast roll-out of driverless vehicles may be hampered by news of the technologys first known fatality.The incident involved a Tesla Model S being driven by 40-year old Joshua Brown of Ohio in May. The vehicle was in autopilot mode on a Florida road when it failed to stop as a tractor-trailer crossed the road in front of it.The report at theguardian.com says that the technology was unable to distinguish the white vehicle crossing the highway against a bright sky. Mr Brown was killed in the crash while the tractor driver was unharmed.In a blog post , Tesla reported that the incident was the subject of a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration investigation.Royal Bank of Canada has completed the sales of its RBC General Insurance Company to Aviva Canada Inc.The assets that have been transferred include certain home and auto insurance manufacturing capabilities including claims, underwriting and product development.RBC Insurance has also reached an agreement with Aviva to market and sell a full suite of P&C insurance products in Canada.Two New York lawmakers have proposed that drivers who fit a dashboard camera in their vehicle should get a 5 per cent discount from their insurance premium.Senator Jose Peralta and assemblymember Alicia Hyndman say that non-commercial drivers should receive the discount for their ability to provide valuable video footage in the event of an accident.Peralta told CBS that if motorists feel that theyre being taped by a dash cam, then maybe, just maybe they will think twice before engaging in reckless driving or leaving the scene of an accident.Along with the lower premiums, the proposed legislation would make it easier for the authorities to get the video footage.
Senate Candidate Hinds Sets Education Priorities

PITTSFIELD, Mass.  Adam Hinds, candidate for the Democratic nomination for state Senate, set forth the following statement on education priorities:

I come from a family of educators. My father was a public school teacher and my mother a librarian in the public high school I attended. Public education prepared me for the world, and I am running for state Senate to protect that opportunity for every child in the district.



Yet towns now finalize budgets in challenging financial circumstances, forcing difficult choices related to school budgets. This week I released my education priorities with a focus on bolstering schools by fixing funding.



First, update the Chapter 70 funding formula. In Western Mass, we face declining populations and aging infrastructure. So while "dollars follow the student" in the current funding formula, districts with declining populations still must care for aging school buildings, retiree health insurance, and other essential costs. The current formula is woefully outdated and underfunds retiree benefits and special education. I will go to Beacon Hill to fight for a fair solution for our region.



Second, even if we fix the school funding formula, we face the reality of declining populations and dwindling tax dollars. We can expand our high-quality education by allowing neighboring districts to partner and pool knowledge and resources. I will ensure necessary resources are available, and prioritize facilitating and working with all stakeholders to find sensible collaboration in the district.
Since starting operations in the country, Dot Property Groups Philippines website has witnessed phenomenal growth with the website - www.dotproperty.com.ph  allowing property owners and real estate agents to list their properties for sale and rent for free.

Established in 2013 in Singapore, Dot Property Group is Asias leading connected property portal group, operating property portal websites throughout Asia in Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore as well as in the Philippines, where millions of local and international property seekers are actively seeking their next home to buy or rent. The websites have been attracting increasing numbers of visitors - not only locally but from around the region and the world.

Dot Property Philippines, which began operating earlier this year, is the most recent addition to the growing Dot Property Group network. The Group sees huge potential in the Philippines, given the always-online lifestyle of the target market who find the Internet to be the most accessible tool when looking for the perfect property.

Alva Horgan, Managing Director for Emerging and Frontier Markets for Dot Property Group, noted that with a population of more than 100 million people and the 13th largest Internet audience worldwide, half of the population is under 25-years-old and, thus, is more likely to be tech-savvy. Internet use in the Philippines is more than 45 percent of the total population  that counts for almost half of the population.

The growing population of young professionals will be a source of future demand for residential properties. They will be searching online in greater numbers and www.dotproperty.com.ph is aiming to be their single source of information.

Horgan said: Theres a great opportunity for Dot Property Group to further establish the Group as the preferred choice for consumers when it comes to buying or renting property, or looking for market intelligence.

Since arriving, Dot Property Philippines has already signed some of the countrys leading property developers, real estate agents and other companies, and that number continues to grow on a daily basis.

Early this year the Group also appointed Tanya Peralta-Yu as the Philippines Country Manager. She will oversee all aspects of Dot Property Group in the Philippines, including day-to-day operations and promoting the companys rapid expansion within the online portal market, both among consumers and advertisers.

Horgan said that Yus appointment comes at a pivotal time for the Group, with the explosive growth of its business within the Philippines, regionally and globally.

Two of the major drivers for the growth of Dot Property Group are the useful resources it provides to enable property searchers to find their next home with ease, and the seller-friendly features, including free and easy uploading of property listings.

Real estate agents and developers can maximize their opportunities to showcase listings and generate real sales enquiries, while property seekers can search and filter a comprehensive selection of the available properties.

Dot Property Philippines listings includes houses, condominiums, villas, land, foreclosures and commercial spaces for sale and rent.

We are seeing incredible growth in terms of traffic, and for advertisers seeking to connect to young property seekers, we provide them with the most convenient tool available online to find their next property, said Yu.

With the positive outlook for the real estate industry in the Philippines, we are well positioned to be the property portal of choice. The Philippines sustained economic performance will mean more jobs, resulting in more people with spending power, especially among the young working class, she added.

Whether theyre looking for a place to call their own or for investment, they have more resources to find the best location, compare the best deals or discover the latest updates in the real estate market. Dot Property Philippines is more than happy to provide all the assistance it can give, Yu concluded.

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Veils, Headscarves May Improve Observers' Ability To Judge Truthfulness, Study Finds

Washington, DC - Contrary to the opinions of some courts, it is easier to determine the truthfulness of a woman wearing a headscarf or even a veil that leaves only her eyes exposed than a woman wearing no head covering at all, according to research published by the American Psychological Association.

The presence of a veil may compel observers to pay attention to more diagnostic cues, such as listening for verbal indicators of deception, said Amy-May Leach, PhD, of the University of Ontario Institute of Technology. The study was published in the APA journal Law and Human Behavior.

Judges in the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada have ruled that witnesses may not wear the niqab, which covers everything but the eyes, when testifying, in part because they believe that it is necessary to see a persons face to detect deception.

In the study, believed to be the first to look into the effects of religious garments on lie detection, researchers conducted two experiments with a total of 523 participants. They examined participants lie detection accuracy, response biases and decision strategies when evaluating the testimony of eyewitnesses in three veiling conditions: women wearing a niqab, which covers everything but the eyes; women wearing a hijab, which covers only the head and neck; and those wearing no veil.

We hypothesized that lie detection accuracy would be higher in the niqab condition than in the hijab or no-veil conditions because it would minimize the availability of misleading cues to deception, Leach said. It was only when witnesses wore veils (i.e., hijabs or niqabs) that observers performed above chance levels. Thus, veiling actually improved lie detection.

In the first experiment, 232 students at a university in Canada were divided into groups. In one, 80 female witnesses were shown a video of a woman watching a strangers bag. Half the witnesses saw the woman steal something from the bag. All the witnesses were told the woman was accused of theft and that they were being called upon to testify about what they saw. All were instructed to say the woman stole nothing  meaning half would be lying. Then they were randomly assigned to wear a niqab, a hijab or no veil. All wore black shawls over their clothing.

The witnesses were interviewed by trained experimenters and videotaped. The researchers then selected 10 videos of liars and 10 videos of truth-tellers in each veiling condition. The other participants watched the videos and indicated whether the women were lying or not. The result: Participants judgments were more accurate when they watched the women in the niqabs and hijabs than when they watched those who were not veiled.

The second experiment was similar to the first but, in addition to Canada, it was also conducted in the Netherlands, where the government had recently nearly banned the niqab, and the United Kingdom, because a ruling on the permissibility of wearing a niqab in British courts was then imminent.

Contrary to the assumptions underlying the court decisions cited earlier, lie detection was not hampered by veiling across two studies, the researchers wrote. In fact, observers were more accurate at detecting deception in witnesses who wore niqabs or hijabs than those who did not veil. Discrimination between lie- and truth-tellers was no better than guessing in the latter group, replicating previous findings.
Johns Hopkins Scientists Lead Effort to Protect Vital Networks

Baltimore, Maryland - Johns Hopkins University computer scientists have led an effort to create a proven way to prevent sabotage from disrupting electronic networks supporting major infrastructure such as power grids and the electronic cloud.

The system  meant to protect against the sort of attack that in 2010 disrupted thousands of internet networks in the United States and around the world  is now available to the public as open source and was scheduled to be presented by the researchers today at an engineering conference in Japan.

As the internet becomes an important part of the infrastructure our society depends on, it is crucial to construct networks that are able to work even when part of the network is compromised, the authors wrote in their summary of the research led by Yair Amir, professor and chair of the Department of Computer Science at Johns Hopkins Whiting School of Engineering. Amir and three of the papers co-authors also affiliated with Johns Hopkins were scheduled to present their solution today for this long-standing network security challenge to the International Conference on Distributed Computing Systems, sponsored by the Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers in Nara, Japan. The other three Johns Hopkins scientists making the presentation are Thomas Tantillo and Amy Babay, both doctoral students, and Daniel Obenshain, who just finished his doctorate in computer science.

The four Johns Hopkins scientists worked on the project as part of a team of eight researchers from three universities and two private technology companies. The universities are Northeastern and Purdue and the tech companies are Spread Concepts, LLC and LTN Global Communications.

Developed over the course of five years, this approach to protecting a network has been proven to keep a network going if part of it is compromised by an attack. The authors call this the first practical intrusion-tolerant network service because this is the first network service that can overcome sophisticated attacks and compromises and be deployed on a global scale over the existing internet. The system was evaluated and validated in a test that ran for nearly a year using the LTN Global Communications cloud spanning East Asia, North America and Europe. The test showed success, albeit with a higher cost that makes sense for vital infrastructure, such as power grids and the cloud.

The authors say this system would have protected the internet from the sort of disruption that occurred in April 2010, when some 8,000 U.S. networks were affected by bad routing information sent by a Chinese Internet Service Provider (ISP) through a state-owned company in China. The disruption appeared to be an accident, and may have stopped some traffic and redirected other traffic to malicious computers in China.

Amir said that as a rule, networks are based on trust that members showing the right credentials really are who they appear to be. That trust is easily exploited by saboteurs who manage to obtain valid member credentials. In effect, Amir said, the researchers on this project have created a system where no one is trusted.

Instead, an overlay system looks beyond credentials, verifying that claims made by members of the network make sense. However, even members of the network who make valid claims are not completely trusted. The most sophisticated attack, Amir said you may not be able to detect. You can only detect the guys who are not sophisticated. They made a mistake.

Rather than relying on detecting sabotage that would divert traffic, the system sends redundant messages over multiple paths to avoid relying on any single node, or data center, to faithfully transmit messages to their intended destinations. The user can select different degrees of redundancy with higher cost.

A rough analogy would be to a cargo delivery fleet. If a driver  even one carrying the right credentials  claims he can move the goods a great deal faster or cheaper than expected, something is clearly amiss. However, even if the driver proposes a reasonable cost and timeframe, he may not actually deliver the goods. To protect against this, the fleet can run more than one truck to make the same delivery to ensure at least one of the packages arrives at the right destination.

To ensure that there is at least one path through the network that can faithfully transmit messages, the network service is built with enough redundancy to prevent anything short of a complete simultaneous meltdown of multiple ISP backbones from interrupting the ability to deliver messages, the authors wrote, allowing critical services to continue to work without any downtime.

The authors write that the system provides a complete and practical solution for high-value applications that previous work, including our own past efforts, has failed to offer.

This research was supported in part by grant N660001-1-2-4014 from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), an agency of the U.S. Department of Defense.
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Star Wars fans can start really looking forward to the Han Solo movie after a concept artist from The Force Awakens described the script as the best in the franchise.

Iain McCaig, who worked on last years hugely popular episode seven, was full of praise for the new origins film when he spoke at New Yorks recent Art and Industry of Imagination conference.

I laughed, I cried, I did all the things you should do when reading a good script - youre in for a treat, he said, according to Star Wars Newsnet, adding that it was by far the best Star Wars script, and one of the best scripts period, that [he] has ever read.

Recommended Read more Next five Star Wars movies get release dates

The Empire Strikes Back writer Lawrence Kasdan has co-written the script with his son Jon, but filming is not scheduled to begin until next January. The movie is due out on 25 May 2018, five months after Star Wars 8 hits cinemas.

Little is known of the storyline at this stage, but fans can expect to learn the back stories of Han Solo and his Wookie warrior Millennium Falcon co-pilot Chewbacca.

Relative newcomer Alden Ehrenreich has been lined up to play the young version of the great Rebel Alliance leader, famously played by Harrison Ford in the original trilogy, while The Lego Movies Phil Lord and Christopher Miller on board to direct.

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Next up in the franchise, however, is spin-off Rogue One: A Star War Story. Due for release on 16 December, Garth Edwards movie is set after the foundation of the Galactic Empire, when a wayward band of Rebel fighters comes together to carry out a desperate mission. Felicity Jones, Mads Mikkelsen, Diego Luna and Ben Mendelsohn are among the cast.
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Artists Nils Frahm, Woodkid and JR have teamed up on a project featuring spoken word from Robert De Niro, starring the actor as an immigrant reflecting on his experience as he wanders around Ellis Island.

Ellis was written by Eric Roth [Forrest Gump, Munich], and tells the story of just one of the millions people who passed through what was seen as the gateway to America from 1892, on their way to the land they hoped to call home.

Listen to our exclusive stream of the album:

As Americans celebrate Independence Day, and as the refugee crisis continues in Europe, it's a particular poignant work, reminding those who need to be reminded of how America was made.

The proceeds from album sales will go to the Sea Watch initiative, a non-profit charity dedicated to the protection and rescue of civilian refugees.

Nils Frahm says of the project: "The opportunity to work on JRs fantastic short film Ellis came through my good friend Yoann aka Woodkid. The music fell into our laps and melted with the images: a wonderful experience. The film has stuck in my head ever since; it moved my heart and changed my soul.

"A couple of weeks later I had to cancel a trip to Brussels because of a terror warning; all events got cancelled and I stayed home, having an unexpected day off. I felt rather depressed that day, thinking that the Europe I knew was already gone. I sat down at the harmonium, listened to Robert De Niros voice and played for the rest of the day. The result is Winter Morning II, the B-side of the Ellis soundtrack release.

"Robert says it all in 17 minutes. We are not facing a refugee crisis. We are facing a crisis because we do not embrace, we do not sympathise and we cannot give up fear. Art can encourage so I hope this project will help fight the fear in all of us."

Yoann Lemoine, [Woodkid], comments: "Because this film and this recording is historically meaningful, it was important for us to create this piece as an echo to the immigration situation in Europe, and decided to release it in support of Sea Watch."

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JR, sometimes referred to as the 'French Banksy', is a French artist, director and photographer whose identity is still unknown, and whose large-scale black-and-white portraits draw attention to stories that might otherwise be forgotten.

"Trying to see and understand our past better," he says, "is a good way to understand whats going on right now and maybe face our future."

The Ellis score is released on 8 July via Erased Tapes as a mini album on CD, vinyl and in digital format - pre-order here
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A magnificent photo of a charging Inner Mongolia horseman has won a Chinese amateur photographer the prestigious title of National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year 2016.

Anthony Lau from Hong Kong was announced as the winner after his awesome Winter Horseman was chosen from thousands of submissions. Lau shot the magical photo after stumbling upon a team of horsemen while enjoying an early morning drive through freezing snowy conditions.

The snow was getting heavier, the wind was getting stronger, the morning snow was getting thinner and the light was moving away from its optimal position, he said. I knew I only had a couple of shots to get the best out of this encounter. With a bit of luck, one of my final attempts managed to capture the moment when one of the riders charged out from the morning mist along with his horses.

Laus image also won the People category with second place awarded to Yasmin Mund for her colourful Rooftop Dreams, featuring Indian families sleeping on their roofs at 5.30am. Third place went to Mattia Passarini for the icy Remote Life at -21 Degrees, showing an old women in a remote Indian village carrying a huge log home for a fire.

Japans Hiroki Inoue triumphed in the Nature category with Wherever You Go, I Will Follow You, which sees two red foxes happily chasing each other, with second place going to Massimiliano Bencivenni for the wonderfully-detailed Double Trapping, showing a yacare caiman catching its prey, which is in turn catching a smaller fish. Third place went to Brazils Victor Lima for his otherworldly night-time photo of the Atacama Desert, Lagunas Baltinache.

(Hiroki Inoue/National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year Contest)

Tokyos Takashi Nakagawa won the Cities group for his peaceful Marrakesh architecture shot Ben Youssef, with Wing Ka H coming second for his intimidating photo of the South China Normal University dormitories, Silenced. Jeremy Tan was awarded third place in this category for Celestial Reverie, showing lightning striking the Komtar Tower in George Town, Penang.

(Takashi Nakagawa/National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year Contest)

Laus grand prize is a seven-day Polar Bear Photo Safari for two at Churchill Wild-Seal River Heritage Lodge, a National Geographic Unique Lodge of the World, while all category winners received a Sony a6300 camera.

Further photo submissions are available to see on the competition website here.
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Paul Nuttall is a leading contender to replace Nigel Farage as leader of Ukip.

Mr Farage stunned onlookers when he stood down as Ukip leader on Monday morning, saying he had achieved his political ambition and wanted his life back.

Mr Nuttall, who is Deputy Leader of Ukip and an MEP for the North West of England, gave a press interview after news of the resignation emerged. He said Labour Partys collapse would provide Ukip with the opportunity to push public opinion towards them.

The politician is seen to be well-placed to take the role of leader and last year said he thought he could handle the job of party leader.

Born in the Merseyside dockyard town of Bootle, Mr Nuttle, 39, joined the party in 2004 and has been an MEP since 2009 and deputy of Ukip since 2010. Throughout the partys rise, he has made regular media appearances and positioned himself as the man to lead the party further into Labour Northern strongholds.

The many faces of Nigel Farage Show all 11 1 /11 The many faces of Nigel Farage The many faces of Nigel Farage Thoughtful face PA The many faces of Nigel Farage Concerned face Ian Forsyth/Getty Images The many faces of Nigel Farage Aghast face The many faces of Nigel Farage Startled face The many faces of Nigel Farage Preparing for battle face Getty Images The many faces of Nigel Farage Toad of Toad Hall face The many faces of Nigel Farage Faux distressed face The many faces of Nigel Farage Pensive face The many faces of Nigel Farage Incensed face The many faces of Nigel Farage Whatever face The many faces of Nigel Farage I've just been egged face

He is comprehensive-educated and from a working-class family of Labour supporters and is one of the survivors of the Hillsborough disaster.

Like many Ukip politicians, Mr Nuttall has had his fair share of controversial moments and made his fair share of controversial remarks. From posing in front of a library of fake books to calling for the film An Inconvient Truth by Al Gore to be banned from schools, here is a selection of some of those times:

Heckled on Question Time for blaming the NHS crisis on immigrants

The politician was met with boos and jeers from the British public for blaming the crisis in the NHS on immigrants. Talking on BBC Question Time, Mr Nuttall said: The bigger problem with the NHS is that were allowing 300,000 people into this country, every single year. You can't plan for the NHS when you've got too many people in the country.

After the crowd erruped into heckles, writer and activist Paris Lees interjected and said: Shame on you. We would not have an NHS if it weren't for those doctors coming in from different countries.

Fake backdrop of books

Mr Nuttall might have been the partys education spokesperson but he was pictured posing in a library in front of a tonne of fake books for their April 2015 manifesto.

The shelves included a number of duplicate copies of books Photoshopped into the picture. Posing in thick-rimmed glasses, in the image he is clutching a book titled British Rebels and Reformers. This particular book was published in 1942 and is described as an illustrated picture book on Amazon. The amateur gaffe was widely mocked with a number of memes.

Brexit reactions  in pictures Show all 10 1 /10 Brexit reactions  in pictures Brexit reactions  in pictures Supporters of the Stronger In campaign look at their phones after hearing results in the EU referendum at London's Royal Festival Hall AP Brexit reactions  in pictures Leave supporters cheer results at a Leave.eu party after polling stations closed in the Referendum on the European Union in London Reuters Brexit reactions  in pictures Mr Cameron announces his resignation to supporters Getty Brexit reactions  in pictures Donald Tusk proposes that the 27 remaining EU member states start a wider reflection on the future of our union Getty Brexit reactions  in pictures Ukip leader Nigel Farage greets his supporters on College Green in Westminster, after Britain voted to leave the European Union PA Brexit reactions  in pictures Supporters of the Stronger In Campaign react as referendum results are announced today Getty Brexit reactions  in pictures Boris Johnson leaves his home today to discover a crowd of waiting journalists and police officers Getty Brexit reactions  in pictures Leave EU supporters celebrate as they watch the British EU Referendum results being televised at Millbank Tower in London Rex Brexit reactions  in pictures Supporters of the Stronger In Campaign react as results of the EU referendum are announced at the Royal Festival Hall Reuters Brexit reactions  in pictures Supporters of the Stronger In campaign react after hearing results in the EU referendum at London's Royal Festival Hall PA

Plea to ban Al Gores Inconvenient Truth from schools

Mr Nuttall is a vocal climate sceptic and is opposed to the construction of wind farms, arguing that it is an ineffective source of energy. He might be a member of the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety but he has previously sided with the view that global warming is a money led scam. He is keen to ban Al Gores seminal film about climate change. As he wrote on his website: "'The Inconvenient Truth is in fact a convenient lie used by propagandists.

Impressionable youngsters should not be shown this blatant piece of propaganda as if it were the incontrovertible truth, he added.

Rants against gypsies

Mr Nuttall has frequently made his views about Gypsies known. Writing on his website in 2010, he questioned their right to roam. I cannot conceive that the responsibility for any wandering gypsies should be with the indigenous, taxpaying, hardworking population of any country, he said.

He had also previously urged gypsies to take more responsibility for their health.

Call for a revolution against Cultural Marxism

Mr Nutall has called for a revolution against Cultural Marxists. He sees the Marxist academic movement which emerged in the interwar period as the root of political correctness - something he identifies as one of the downfalls of modern society. Writing in a blog post in 2015, he charts the trajectory of Cultural Marxism.

The cultural Marxists are winning," he writes "Over the past 30 years they have changed the way we speak and the way we think. Theyve made the downright nonsensical acceptable and common sense unacceptable or politically incorrect.
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Rebel Wilson has attributed some of her career success in the comedy world to when she started gaining weight.

Wilson, whose Pitch Perfect character affectionally dubbed Fat Amy cemented her as a household name, also says she sees her size as an advantage rather than a hindrance to herHollywood career.

The Australian actress recalled a play she did earlier in her career where she co-starred alongside another girl who was bigger than her who earned more laughs from the audience during the performance.

"I was like: Oh. That girls getting a lot of laughs, a lot easier than me. What is it? Because I dont think theres much difference in talent, she told the Telegraph. And I remember distinctly thinking: I think its because shes fatter. And then, I dont know if it was mega-conscious, but I thought: How can I get more laughs? Maybe if I was a bit fatter And then suddenly I was fatter and doing comedy, she said.

Inspiring body positivity quotes Show all 12 1 /12 Inspiring body positivity quotes Inspiring body positivity quotes Ashley Graham "And cellulite, I have not forgotten about you. I'm going to choose to love you even though you want to take over my whole bottom half. You're a part of me and I love you." Inspiring body positivity quotes Danielle Brooks "Sometimes I don't like what I see, but I have the power to change the way in which I relate to my body both physically and mentally." Inspiring body positivity quotes Iskra Lawrence "Stop comparing yourself to anybody else. The [pictures of] movie stars, even the Disney characters, thats not real. Thats not attainable. You cant be anybody else. You are you. You cant be them. So you really just have to start embracing yourself and accepting so-called flaws that society has given the name flaws. Its just our body, our patchwork quilt. Inspiring body positivity quotes Beyonce "The most alluring thing a woman can have is confidence." Getty Images Inspiring body positivity quotes Kate Winslet "Nobody is perfect. I just don't believe in perfection. But I do believe in saying, 'This is who I am and look at me not being perfect.' I'm proud of that." Getty Images Inspiring body positivity quotes Rihanna "You just want something that someone else has, but that doesn't mean what you have isn't beautiful, because people always want what you have and you always want what they have - no one is ever 100 per cent like, 'Yes, I'm the bomb-dot-com - from head-to-toe!" REUTERS Inspiring body positivity quotes Tess Holliday "Never compare yourself with others and celebrate what makes you, you." Inspiring body positivity quotes Demi Lovato "Instead of looking in the mirror and focusing on your flaws, look in the mirror and appreciate your best features... everyone has them." Inspiring body positivity quotes Kim Kardashian-West "See this little dimple of cellulite here? It was so worth it for that cookies 'n' cream ice cream!" Inspiring body positivity quotes Jennifer Lawrence "It should be illegal to call someone fat." Inspiring body positivity quotes Mindy Kaling "Insults about the way I look cant be the thing that harms me and my heart the most. It has to harm me the least. If I have a daughter, Im going to tell her that. Far too many women are much more hurt by being called fat or ugly than they are by being called not smart, or not a leader." Rex Features Inspiring body positivity quotes Selena Gomez "Im learning that you can be comfortable and still look beautiful. AFP/Getty Images

The 36-year-old added: I saw my size as being an advantage whereas so many women see it as a disadvantage. She also told the newspaper she has a hormonal imbalance which makes her gain weight quickly but if she wanted to, could do a total transformation of her body.

Wilson first broke into Hollywood with a minor role in 2011 film Bridesmaids and subsequently landed the role in Pitch Perfect before securing roles in romantic comedies like How To Be Single.

Last year, she told Cosmopolitan she found being unique and different a positive in accelerating her career.

When I walked into my agents office for the first time, they looked and me and said, Wow, we have nobody on our books like you. And they signed me on my second day here," she said. "I wouldnt ever want to compete with what I call the glamorous  the really gorgeous people. Im about the brain, the heart and whats on the inside, she said. I feel really lucky to be the body type I am.
The Buddhist leader was hacked to death by unidentified miscreants on Thursday at Baishari Bazar in Nikhanchari area of Bandarban district.

The victim was identified as U Maung Shwe Lon, a Marama national (Arakanese) hailed from Nga Yet Chay village, which is close to the Burma border.

The Bangladesh police informed that a gang of criminals chopped U Maung Shwe Lon, 56, with sharp weapons when he was returning home from Baishari Bazar at around 10 pm leaving him dead on the spot.

Earlier on 14 May, a 75 years old Buddhist monk named U Kandi alias Mg Shwe Pru was hacked to death in a Chakma village, which is near to Baishari Bazar.

A local Buddhist in the area alleged that the government in Dhaka remains indifferent to these crimes.

Our people are living in fear in those localities and many of them are staying inside their residences after the murder, said the resident while talking to Narinjara News over telephone.

A number of Buddhist people living in the area staged a demonstration recently at Baishari Bazar demanding justice and providing adequate security to the minorities in Bangladesh.

Meanwhile, a Hindu priest in Jhenidah was also hacked to death by the miscreants. According to the Daily Star newspaper three assailants riding on a motorcycle went to the temple premises and targeted Shymananda when he plucking flowers for the prayer at around 5. 30 am.
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A coroner has said she is likely to raise concerns with the Home Office after the murder of teenager Alice Gross, who was killed by an immigrant who arrived in the UK with a murder conviction.

An inquest jury has found that Alice Gross was unlawfully killed in a sexually motivated attack. Latvian builder Arnis Zalkalns, who was found hanged in a park after the incident, is widely believed to be responsible for the murder.

The jury found her death consistent with compression asphyxia.

Mr Zalkalns had served a prison sentence in his native country for after being convicted of murder in 1988.

He was also arrested in 2009 over an alleged indecent assault on a 14-year-old.

In court on Monday, Ms Grosss mother, Ros Hodgkiss, said the family remain stunned that he was not monitored or even known about in any way after arriving in the UK.

Last week, coroner Dr Fiona Wilcox told the jury that evidence given at the inquest did not support conclusions that would imply that any actions or inactions of the Home Office caused or contributed to the death of Ms Gross.

But after the jury returned with its conclusions on Monday afternoon, Dr Wilcox read out a list of recommendations she was highly likely bring up with the Home Office relating to foreign national cases following the inquest.

In pictures: The search for Alice Gross Show all 15 1 /15 In pictures: The search for Alice Gross In pictures: The search for Alice Gross Alice Gross search Metropolitan Police and a Dyfed Powys Police dog unit search a lake in Osterley Park, west London for missing Alice Gross In pictures: The search for Alice Gross Alice Gross search Specialists from the London Fire Brigade Urban Search and Rescue team clear the bank of the river Brent in Hanwell, west London searching for missing Alice Gross In pictures: The search for Alice Gross Alice Gross search Police search a section of the river Brent near to Trumpers Way In pictures: The search for Alice Gross Alice Gross search Police search a section of wasteland between the river Brent and Elthorne Park near to Trumpers Way, Hanwell In pictures: The search for Alice Gross Alice Gross search Horse mounted police search a section of wasteland between the river Brent and Elthorne Park near to Trumpers Way, Hanwell In pictures: The search for Alice Gross Alice Gross search A missing persons poster, requesting for information following the disappearance of 14-year-old Alice Gross from Hanwell, is accompanied by yellow ribbons in Hanwell town centre in west London In pictures: The search for Alice Gross Alice Gross search The reconstruction of the last known movements of missing schoolgirl Alice Gross Getty Images In pictures: The search for Alice Gross Alice Gross search A police cadet walks besides the Canal at the Brentford Locks system as she reconstructs the last known movements of missing schoolgirl Alice Gross Getty Images In pictures: The search for Alice Gross Alice Gross search A police cadet walks across the bridge at the Brentford Locks as part of the reconstruction of the last known movements of missing schoolgirl Alice Gross Getty Images In pictures: The search for Alice Gross Alice Gross search Jose Gross and Rosalind Hodgkiss, the parents of missing teenager Alice Gross holding an album of photos of her at their home in Hanwell, west London Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire In pictures: The search for Alice Gross Alice Gross search Jose Gross and Rosalind Hodgkiss, the parents of missing teenager Alice Gross with a poster appealing for information near their home in Hanwell, west London Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire In pictures: The search for Alice Gross Alice Gross search Police officers search an area next to the river Brent for clues in the hunt for schoolgirl Alice Gross in London Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images In pictures: The search for Alice Gross Alice Gross search Police divers search the river Brent for clues in the hunt for missing school girl Alice Gross in London Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images In pictures: The search for Alice Gross Alice Gross search Police search the River Brent, near Hanwell, west London PA In pictures: The search for Alice Gross Alice Gross search The hunt for Alice Gross, who went missing on 28 August is now being described as the largest police search operation since the 7/7 bombings of 2005 PA

One of these was that it should become mandatory for all police forces in England and Wales to perform automated Acro criminal records and Interpol warnings checks on foreign criminals,

The coroner also said the Home Office should continue its policy of encouraging all EU and Non-EU countries to update the Acro database and Interpol's warnings list with details of all serious convictions of their nationals.

Outside the Royal Courts of Justice, Alices father said: Losing Alice has shattered me. The pain of knowing I will never see, hear or cuddle her again is unbearable.

Her mother said: "I still find it almost impossible to believe that our lovely daughter has been so brutally taken from us.

"I miss her every moment of every day. I feel the need to find out as much as I can about how it is possible that she could have been killed in such a horrific way, and to try and change things so that it doesnt happen to anyone else.

In January 2015, Ms Grosss parents asked that anti-immigration movements did not use the inquest to further their agenda:

Alice believed in the free movement of people, and so do we, her mother said. For her sake, we are determined to ask these questions responsibly and sensitively.
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The much-anticipated findings of the Chilcot inquiry will be boycotted by several of the families of British soldiers killed in the conflict who say it will be a whitewash.

The relatives of 179 Britons killed in Iraq have expressed dismay at the way the investigation has been handled.

The mother of Gary Nicholson, 42, who died when he was shot down in an aircraft in 2005, said: "I'm absolutely disgusted. I'm not going because it will be a whitewash.

"Tony Blair has got blood on his hands. He will have covered his back and [George] Bush's back.

Many have called on Mr Blair, the Prime Minister at the time, to be held accountable for war crimes.

But lawyers at the International Criminal Court have ruled out prosecuting Mr Blair, claiming the decision to go to war is not in the court's remit.

Mr Blair has repeatedly refused to comment on the inquiry before it is published. Speaking on Sky News' Murnaghan on Sunday, he said:

I have said many times over these past years I will wait for the report then I will make my views known and I will express myself fully and properly.

"I'm not getting into the politics or the detail of it before we actually get it".

The most iconic images from the war in Iraq Show all 20 1 /20 The most iconic images from the war in Iraq The most iconic images from the war in Iraq U.S. Navy Hospital Corpsman HM1 Richard Barnett, assigned to the 1st Marine Division, holds an Iraqi child in central Iraq, March 29, 2003 Reuters The most iconic images from the war in Iraq An explosion rocks Baghdad during air strikes March 21, 2003 Reuters The most iconic images from the war in Iraq An Iraqi woman watches U.N. weapons inspectors leave Saddam airport in Baghdad March 18, 2003 Reuters The most iconic images from the war in Iraq An Iraqi girl holds her sister as she waits for her mother (R) to bring over food bought in Basra March 29, 2003 Reuters The most iconic images from the war in Iraq U.S. Marine Corp Assaultman Kirk Dalrymple watches as a statue of Iraq's President Saddam Hussein falls in central Baghdad's Firdaus Square, April 9, 2003 Reuters The most iconic images from the war in Iraq US Marines kick in a door while securing a building next to the main hospital in central Baghdad April 15, 2003 Reuters The most iconic images from the war in Iraq A soldier of U.S. Army's 4th Infantry Division (Task Force Ironhorse) searches through dense vegetation around the Diala river where Iraqi militants are hiding outside Baquba early November 13, 2003 Reuters The most iconic images from the war in Iraq An Iraqi detainee gestures toward U.S. soldiers through bars of his cell at Abu Ghraib prison outside Baghdad May 17, 2004 Reuters The most iconic images from the war in Iraq Mays, a young Iraqi Shi'ite girl, cries after a mortar shell which landed outside the family's home in a Najaf residential area injured her uncle August 18, 2004 Reuters The most iconic images from the war in Iraq U.S. Marines carry an injured colleague to a helicopter near the city of Falluja, November 10, 2004 Reuters The most iconic images from the war in Iraq An Iraqi man suspected of having explosives in his car is held after being arrested by the U.S army near Baquba, Iraq, October 15, 2005 Reuters The most iconic images from the war in Iraq A wounded Iraqi woman is helped after several bomb attacks in central Baghdad, July 27, 2006 Reuters The most iconic images from the war in Iraq A man runs down a street warning people to flee shortly after a twin car bomb attack at Shorja market in Baghdad, February 12, 2007 Reuters The most iconic images from the war in Iraq An Iraqi girl holds her hands up while U.S. and Iraqi soldiers search her family house in Baquba early June 30, 2007 Reuters The most iconic images from the war in Iraq An Iraqi woman tries to explain that she has nothing to do with illegal fuel as soldiers from the 2nd battalion, 32nd Field Artillery brigade patrol search for illegal fuel sellers in Baghdad August 6, 2007 Reuters The most iconic images from the war in Iraq U.S. President George W. Bush (L) walks in front of Humvees with Defense Secretary Robert Gates (C) and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice following remarks to the press after nightfall at Al-Asad airbase in Anbar Province September 3, 2007 Reuters The most iconic images from the war in Iraq U.S. soldiers blindfold an Iraqi man after arresting him during a night patrol at the Zafraniya neighborhood, southeast of Baghdad September 4, 2007 Reuters The most iconic images from the war in Iraq An Iraqi baby lies in a cradle while a woman argues with U.S. soldiers of 1/8 Bravo Company searching for weapons, explosives and information about militants in the area during a foot patrol in a neighbourhood of Mosul June 26, 2008 Reuters The most iconic images from the war in Iraq Policemen cry during a funeral of their colleague a day after a bomb attack in Baghdad's Jihad district November 3, 2010 Reuters The most iconic images from the war in Iraq Staff Sgt. Keith Fidler kisses his wife Cynthia, as their son Kolin looks on, during a homecoming ceremony in New York, April 8, 2011 for the New York Army National Guard's 442nd Military Police Company's return from Iraq Reuters

A project tracking the number of documented civilian deaths in Iraq, Iraq Body Count, puts the figure of those killed since the beginning of the war at between 160,000 and 180,000. Other estimates are higher.

The inquiry, conducted by Sir John Chilcot, has been plagued by delays. It has taken six years to write and stands at two million words.

Janice Proctor, mother to one of the youngest British soldiers killed in the war, said she wouldnt go to read the report on Wednesday:

"It's been horrendous, I'm very apprehensive about this.

This man [Blair] has put 179 kids to the slaughter - there's no justice.

"It [the report] is not going to give me any closure or comfort.

I'm not going down on the day, I'm not going to waste two hours of my life reading it," she said.
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Ramadan will finish on 5 July this year for the worlds 1.6 billion Muslims, marking the beginning of Eid al-Fitr.

Literally translated from Arabic as the 'festival of breaking the fast', the religious holiday usually lasts for a number of days.

The celebrations involve a range of traditions, generally including a gathering of family and friends to eat and pray together.

What is the Eid al-Fitr?

Eid al-Fitr is one of the most important days in the Muslim calendar, although its significance is purely spiritual.

The festival has no connection with any historical event but is a day where Muslims thank Allah for the strength, the will and the endurance he gives them, especially during Ramadan.

Regarded as one of the Five Pillars of Islam, Ramadan is the period when Muslims fast every day from sunrise to sunset. They refrain from consuming food, drink and engaging in sexual relations. It also includes the increased offering of prayers and recitation of the Quran.

In pictures: Ramadan around the world Show all 27 1 /27 In pictures: Ramadan around the world In pictures: Ramadan around the world In pictures: Ramadan around the world In pictures: Ramadan around the world Russia Russian Muslims pray outside the central mosque in Moscow, during celebrations of Eid al-Fitr marking the end of the fasting month of Ramadan AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Ramadan around the world Turkey Turkish Muslims offer Eid al Fitr prayers as they mark the first day of the Eid al-Fitr at Fatih Sultan Mosque in Istanbul Getty Images In pictures: Ramadan around the world Syria A Syrian Dervish dances as part of a traditional event organised by the Syrian Ministry of Tourism under the title 'Music and Dervishes' in the old city of Damascus EPA In pictures: Ramadan around the world Bosnia and Herzegovina A Bosnian Muslim man, wearing a traditional Bosnian outfit, fires a canon from a vantage point overlooking Sarajevo to mark the end of daily fasting on the final day of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Ramadan around the world Pakistan A general view of an illuminated Mosque as Muslims pray during the 27th night of Ramadan, in Peshawar EPA In pictures: Ramadan around the world Pakistan Muslim women offer prayer of the Jumat-ul-wida, the last Friday of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan at a mosque in Lahore AP In pictures: Ramadan around the world India Muslims offer prayers on the last Friday of the holy month of Ramadan in Dargah Khwaja Moinuddin Chisti Rex Features In pictures: Ramadan around the world Saudi Arabia The Prophet Mohammed Mosque in the holy city of Medina, during Ramadan EPA In pictures: Ramadan around the world Malaysia A Malaysian swings around fireworks to celebrate the last day of the Muslims' Holy fasting month of Ramadan, in Shah Alam, outside Kuala Lumpur In pictures: Ramadan around the world Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyz Muslims pray during the Eid al-Fitr Muslim celebration marking the end of Ramadan in Bishkek EPA In pictures: Ramadan around the world Ivory Coast People pray during the Laylat Al Qadr prayers on the 27th day of the Islamic month of fasting, Ramadan in the front of the Aghin mosque in Abidjan AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Ramadan around the world Syria Syrians shop for traditional sweets in Kafr Batna in the rebel-held Eastern Ghouta area, on the outskirts of the capital Damascus, ahead of Eid al-Fitr which marks the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Ramadan around the world Israel A Palestinian woman prays on the third Friday of the holy fasting month of Ramadan on the compound known to Muslims as Noble Sanctuary and to Jews as Temple Mount in Jerusalem's Old City REUTERS In pictures: Ramadan around the world Iran Iranian Shiite Muslims pray at the graves of soldiers who were killed during 1980-88 Iran-Iraq War, at the Behesht-e-Zahra cemetery, during the holy fasting month of Ramadan, just outside Tehran, Iran AP In pictures: Ramadan around the world Israel A Palestinian man pours water on Muslim worshippers' heads to cool off in the heat, as others pray outside the Dome of the Rock at the al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem during the last Friday prayers of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan EPA In pictures: Ramadan around the world Afghanistan Afghan women wait to receive food ration during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in Herat EPA In pictures: Ramadan around the world Pakistan A Pakistani Muslim reads the holy Koran as he observes Itikaf at a Mosque, in Peshawar EPA In pictures: Ramadan around the world India Kashmiri Muslim women offer prayers as the head priest (not pictured) displays a holy relic believed to be hair from the beard of the Prophet Mohammed, during special prayers to observe the Martyr Day of Hazrat Ali, cousin of Prophet Mohammed, on the 21st day of Ramadan, at the Hazratbal Shrine in Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian Kashmir EPA In pictures: Ramadan around the world India Indian Muslims sit with bowls of porridge(Nombu kanji)as they prepare to break the fast with the Iftar meal during the Islamic month of Ramadan at The Wallajah Big Mosque in Chennai AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Ramadan around the world Lebanon Spectators watch fireworks as a giant Fanous, or Ramadan lantern, is switched on four days before the start of Ramadan month in front of Mohamed al-Amine Mosque in downtown Beirut EPA In pictures: Ramadan around the world Lebanon Lebanese children perform during activities celebrating the upcoming Muslim holy month of Ramadan, in downtown Beirut AP In pictures: Ramadan around the world Palestine Palestinian men drink tea on the promenade of Gaza beach Getty In pictures: Ramadan around the world Indonesia Members of Nahdlatul Ulama, the biggest Muslim organisation in Indonesia, hold a mass prayer session to welcome in Ramadan in Jakarta AFP/Getty In pictures: Ramadan around the world Iraq Iraqis shop for food in a preparation for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in Baghdad AP In pictures: Ramadan around the world Indonesia Foods is seen during 'Unggah-unggahan' ceremony to welcome in the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan in Pekuncen village Getty

When is Eid al-Fitr?

On the Gregorian calendar, the date varies from one year to another and begins when the first sight of the new moon is seen in the sky

It also depends on the location, with different countries observing it in different ways. This year, it will be on the 6 July, according to Islamic Relief UK. The feasts last up to three days in most Muslim countries.

How do Muslims celebrate Eid al-Fitr?

On the first morning of the celebration, many gather in local mosques or open-air locations for special prayers called Salat al-Eid, and have breakfast.

Muslims put on their finest clothes for what will be their first daylight meal in a month. Some will exchange gifts, greeting cards and prepare special foods. Eid al-Fitr is to celebrate the happiness which man feels after successfully completing an important task, according to Al-Islam.

Gatherings will take place to mark the festival across the UK, including an event hosted by Mayor of London Sadiq Khan in Trafalgar Square on 9 July. Highlights include prayers, a food festival, and Arabic arts.

 NHS on how to have a healthy Ramadan

Last year, a record-breaking 60,000 Muslims turned up in a Birmingham park to celebrate the end of Ramadan.

Eid el-Fitr should be distinguished from Eid al-Adha, which is considered the holiest of the two main Muslim festivals.

Taking place this year on 10 September, it marks the willingness of Ibrahim to sacrifice his son as an act of submission to Allah's command, before Allah intervened through his angel Jibra'il and informed him the sacrifice had already been accepted.
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Corporation tax is to be cut in order to show the UK is "still open for business", the Chancellor has said.

George Osborne plans to cut corporation tax to less than 15 per cent as part of a plan to create a "super competitive economy" in the wake of the vote for Brexit.

Slicing more than 5 per cent off the current rate of 20 per cent tax on profits would see Britain close in on the Republic of Ireland's 12.5 per cent levy and make the country one of the most competitive global economies.

Recommended Read more Osborne warns UK to expect spending cuts and tax rises after Brexit

Mr Osborne told the Financial Times: "We must focus on the horizon and the journey ahead and make the most of the hand we've been dealt."

The Chancellor wants to focus on generating investment from China as well as ensuring support for bank lending, bolstering the Northern powerhouse and maintaining the UK's fiscal credibility to shore up the economy following the shock referendum vote.

 Richard Branson: 'Virgin has lost a third of its value'

Mr Osborne, who had threatened tax and spending cuts through an emergency budget if Britain voted to leave, said he will wait for official forecasts before announcing any new measures.

He said Britain faced a "very challenging time" and urged the Bank of England to use its powers to avoid "a contraction of credit in the economy".

6 ways Britain leaving the EU will affect you Show all 6 1 /6 6 ways Britain leaving the EU will affect you 6 ways Britain leaving the EU will affect you More expensive foreign holidays The first practical effect of a vote to Leave is that the pound will be worth less abroad, meaning foreign holidays will cost us more nito100 6 ways Britain leaving the EU will affect you No immediate change in immigration status The Prime Minister will have to address other immediate concerns. He is likely to reassure nationals of other EU countries living in the UK that their status is unchanged. That is what the Leave campaign has said, so, even after the Brexit negotiations are complete, those who are already in the UK would be allowed to stay Getty 6 ways Britain leaving the EU will affect you Higher inflation A lower pound means that imports would become more expensive. This is likely to mean the return of inflation  a phenomenon with which many of us are unfamiliar because prices have been stable for so long, rising at no more than about 2 per cent a year. The effect may probably not be particularly noticeable in the first few months. At first price rises would be confined to imported goods  food and clothes being the most obvious  but inflation has a tendency to spread and to gain its own momentum AFP/Getty Images 6 ways Britain leaving the EU will affect you Interest rates might rise The trouble with inflation is that the Bank of England has a legal obligation to keep it as close to 2 per cent a year as possible. If a fall in the pound threatens to push prices up faster than this, the Bank will raise interest rates. This acts against inflation in three ways. First, it makes the pound more attractive, because deposits in pounds will earn higher interest. Second, it reduces demand by putting up the cost of borrowing, and especially by taking larger mortgage payments out of the economy. Third, it makes it more expensive for businesses to borrow to expand output Getty 6 ways Britain leaving the EU will affect you Did somebody say recession? Mr Carney, the Treasury and a range of international economists have warned about this. Many Leave voters appear not to have believed them, or to think that they are exaggerating small, long-term effects. But there is no doubt that the Leave vote is a negative shock to the economy. This is because it changes expectations about the economys future performance. Even though Britain is not actually be leaving the EU for at least two years, companies and investors will start to move money out of Britain, or to scale back plans for expansion, because they are less confident about what would happen after 2018 AFP/Getty Images 6 ways Britain leaving the EU will affect you And we wouldnt even get our money back All this will be happening while the Prime Minister, whoever he or she is, is negotiating the terms of our future access to the EU single market. In the meantime, our trade with the EU would be unaffected, except that companies elsewhere in the EU may be less interested in buying from us or selling to us, expecting tariff barriers to go up in two years time. Whoever the Chancellor is, he or she may feel the need to bring in a new Budget Getty Images

Jonathan Isaby, chief executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: "The Chancellor is absolutely right to be considering a big cut to corporation tax, as it would show that the UK is ready to seize new opportunities in the global economy.

"But Mr Osborne must be bold and cut the rate to 10 per cent as soon as possible to really demonstrate that we are open for business, with competitive conditions to match our talented workforce. It's crucial that our politicians have a positive vision for British taxpayers outside the EU, and meaningful tax cuts to boost growth and prosperity are an excellent first step."

However, the move is likely to also spark criticism. Many people will fear the loss in tax revenues will hurt the most vulnerable and hand over increased leverage to big business.
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Angela Eagle has said she will stand to trigger a Labour leadership contest if Jeremy Corbyn does not step down of his own accord.

The former shadow business secretary stepped down in a wave of resignations last week and called for Mr Corbyn to resign.

Ms Eagle told Sky News that Mr Corbyn was not properly engaged  with even the deputy leader of the party.

Recommended Read more Jeremy Corbyn would easily defeat likely leadership challengers

There are many people  MPs, party members up and down the country, asking me to resolve this impasse, she said, speaking outside her home.

Mr Corbyn has since struggled to fill all his shadow cabinet posts after dozens of MPs on his top team said they would no longer work with him.

Rebel Labour MPs are now understood to be split on whether or not Ms Eagle or former shadow work and pensions secretary Owen Smith should the candidate to take him on.

A recent poll however suggests that Mr Corbyn would however still beat both in a leadership contest.

The same poll shows his esteem amongst Labour members having fallen sharply since last month, however  with rebels optimistic they can make ground.

Dave Brown on Jeremy Corbyn Show all 12 1 /12 Dave Brown on Jeremy Corbyn Dave Brown on Jeremy Corbyn Dave Brown on Jeremy Corbyn Dave Brown on Jeremy Corbyn Dave Brown on Jeremy Corbyn Dave Brown on Jeremy Corbyn Corbyn's reshuffle Dave Brown on Jeremy Corbyn Corbyn and the Syria bombing vote Dave Brown on Jeremy Corbyn Corbyn asks questions from the public at PMQs, meanwhile backbenchers plot to oust him Dave Brown on Jeremy Corbyn Corbyn is unavailable to attend the Privy Council Dave Brown on Jeremy Corbyn Conference rejects Corbyns call to debate Trident Dave Brown on Jeremy Corbyn At Labour conference Corbyn and McDonnell press for a Robin Hood tax Dave Brown on Jeremy Corbyn Corbyns hopes for a new politics look optimistic in the face of a media barrage Dave Brown on Jeremy Corbyn Corbyn enters Labour leadership race

176 MPs have already voted no confidence in Mr Corbyn in a secret ballot, with just 40 backing him.

The attempted coup has however lost momentum in recent days, with few further developments since the 'no confidence' vote.

Ms Eagle or Mr Smith would have to gain nominations from MPs in order to stand.

Mr Corbyn was elected by a landslide of Labour members, supporters, and trade unionists just last September.

He has refused to step down, citing his significant mandate from the party membership.

The party has doubled in size since he became leader but has struggled to sustain the levels of support it had amongst the wider electorate in the last parliament.
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Boris Johnson has backed his fellow Brexit campaigner Andrea Leadsom to be the Conservative's next leader and Britain's next Prime Minister.

In a statement released on his official Facebook page, the former London Mayor, who announced his intention not to run for the leadership last week, said the energy minister had "the zap, the drive and the determination essential for the next leader of this country".

He said: "She has long championed the needs of the most vulnerable in our society.

"She has a better understanding of finance than almost anyone else in Parliament. She has considerable experience of government.

"She is level headed, kind, trustworthy approachable and the possessor of a good sense of humour".

He said she was the best placed candidate to lead the UK through the EU negotiations and "help forge a great post Brexit future for Britain and Europe".

The endorsement has been seen as retaliation for Justice Secretary and fellow Vote Leave campaigner Michael Gove, whose surprise announcement that he would run for the leadership effectively ended Mr Johnson's own ambitions.

In an stinging attack on the man who had campaigned by his side during the referendum Mr Gove said he did not believe Mr Johnson could "provide the leadership or build the team for the task ahead".

The debate between the various candidates has been more starkly divided over the issue of EU citizens currently living in the UK, with Ms May coming under attack from fellow MPs for her failure to guarantee the status of EU citizens living in the country.

Tomorrow the Conservative Parliamentary Party will cast their first ballot to decide their next leader after David Cameron announced his resignation following the EU referendum.

Home Secretary and Remain campaigner Theresa May is currently the frontrunner with an estimated 97 backers to Ms Leadsom's 37, according to political blog Guido Fawkes.

Michael Gove and Work and Pensions Secretary Stephen Crabb are trailing on 25 and 22 backers respectively.

Unlike the Labour leadership elections, Conservative MPs vote in secret ballots until there are two candidates left to be put to the wider party membership.

Brexit reactions  in pictures Show all 10 1 /10 Brexit reactions  in pictures Brexit reactions  in pictures Supporters of the Stronger In campaign look at their phones after hearing results in the EU referendum at London's Royal Festival Hall AP Brexit reactions  in pictures Leave supporters cheer results at a Leave.eu party after polling stations closed in the Referendum on the European Union in London Reuters Brexit reactions  in pictures Mr Cameron announces his resignation to supporters Getty Brexit reactions  in pictures Donald Tusk proposes that the 27 remaining EU member states start a wider reflection on the future of our union Getty Brexit reactions  in pictures Ukip leader Nigel Farage greets his supporters on College Green in Westminster, after Britain voted to leave the European Union PA Brexit reactions  in pictures Supporters of the Stronger In Campaign react as referendum results are announced today Getty Brexit reactions  in pictures Boris Johnson leaves his home today to discover a crowd of waiting journalists and police officers Getty Brexit reactions  in pictures Leave EU supporters celebrate as they watch the British EU Referendum results being televised at Millbank Tower in London Rex Brexit reactions  in pictures Supporters of the Stronger In Campaign react as results of the EU referendum are announced at the Royal Festival Hall Reuters Brexit reactions  in pictures Supporters of the Stronger In campaign react after hearing results in the EU referendum at London's Royal Festival Hall PA

A leader is expected to be in place by September.

It comes as Ms Leadsom was criticised by senior Conservatives for a "car crash" performance in the first hustings in front of MPs in Parliament.

The MP for South Northamptonshire came unstuck after she failed to distance herself from Arron Banks  the billionaire who bankrolled both Ukip's general election campaign and the unofficial Leave.EU campaign.

The Leave.EU said Ms Leadsom was the "clear frontrunner" in the race and the "breakout star of the Leave campaign".

One unnamed cabinet member told the Huffington Post: When youre having to say that youre not Ukip at a hustings to be leader of the Conservative Party, then you are in trouble - it was a car crash.

A backbencher said she spent too long on Europe and started going on about attachment theory of babies, it was all over the place.

Another Tory said when Ms Leadsom started talking about babies "she lost the room".
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Boris Johnson has dismissed Remain voters fears over the consequences of Brexit as hysteria and called on the Government to restore calm by ruling out deportations of EU citizens and setting out how Britain will flourish outside the bloc.

In his first major intervention since dropping out of the Conservative leadership race, Mr Johnson used his weekly Daily Telegraph column to say the public could not wait until September and the appointment of a new Prime Minister for reassurance on key points, including the likelihood of a free trade deal with the EU.

Meanwhile, Mr Johnsons former campaign manager, the Wyre and Preston North MP Ben Wallace, suggested Michael Gove could be unfit to be Prime Minister because of what he called an emotional need to gossip, particularly when drink is taken.

 Boris heckled leaving home

In an excoriating article, also published in the Daily Telegraph, Mr Wallace said Mr Gove, whose last-minute entry in the Tory leadership contest torpedoed Mr Johnsons chances, had given the Johnson campaign team no indication he was planning to run until moments before he declared.

The former London mayors weekly newspaper column, for which he receives 266,000 a year, has become the main platform for his public statements since the Brexit vote.

Last weeks column played a part in his downfall, spooking Conservative right-wingers by appearing to play down the importance of controlling immigration.

In this weeks column, Mr Johnson said the Government needed to make a clear statement that Britain would be likely to achieve a free trade deal with the EU and other countries, adding that there should be no risk to the status of EU nationals now resident in the UK, after Tory leadership frontrunner Theresa May indicated that the their future status would be a factor in negotiations with the EU over Britains new relationship with the bloc.

Mr Johnson said that Tory leadership candidates should seek to counter the claim that Brexit would be bad for the young.

The favourites in the Tory leadership race Show all 5 1 /5 The favourites in the Tory leadership race The favourites in the Tory leadership race Theresa May The longest-serving Home Secretary in 100 years took a back seat in the referendum campaign. While backing Remain, she did not hit the campaign trail and delivered only a handful of speeches and interviews, and was critical of many aspects of the EU, particularly the European Convention on Human Rights. Hedging her bets allows her to now emerge as a unity candidate, and she is said to have been building up her back-room staff in preparation for a leadership bid. She has the significant advantage of having served in one of the great offices of state, in a steady and competent manner that has won her many admirers within party and the civil service. At a time of great instability, it may be that she is viewed as steady hand on the tiller. Mrs May does however, lack the star quality of a Boris Johnson and party members may doubt her ability to connect with ordinary voters PA The favourites in the Tory leadership race Michael Gove The Justice Secretary may be able to set himself up as the thinking Torys Brexit candidate. Made an enormous political and personal decision to back Leave, taking on his old friend David Cameron. He performed well during the TV debates, and will be an admired figure among Eurosceptic Conservatives. Along with Johnson, he will be hindered by the fact that he led a very divisive campaign, characterised by blue-on-blue action. MPs may also judge that he lacks Boris Johnsons wider appeal with the electorate. Possibly more likely that he will settle for being his new bosom buddy Boriss Chancellor Getty The favourites in the Tory leadership race Stephen Crabb Highly-rated Work and Pensions Secretary, raised on a council estate, so could reach out to non-traditional working class Tory voters Getty Images The favourites in the Tory leadership race Andrea Leadsom Minister of State for Energy at the Department of Energy and Climate Change is one of the most prominent figures in the Leave campaign, seen to have performed well in TV debates Rex Features The favourites in the Tory leadership race Liam Fox British Conservative MP and former Secretary of State for Defence, as sources said he will stand for the leadership of the Conservative Party AFP/Getty

There is, among a section of the population, a kind of hysteria, a contagious mourning of the kind that I remember in 1997 after the death of the Princess of Wales, he writes.

It is not about the EU, of course; or not solely. A great many of these protesters  like dear old [Bob] Geldof  are in a state of some confusion about the EU and what it does.

When Geldof tells them that the older generation has stolen your future by voting to Leave the EU, I am afraid there are too many who still believe it, he adds.

It is time for this nonsense to end. It was wrong of the Government to offer the public a binary choice on the EU without being willing  in the event that people voted Leave  to explain how this can be made to work in the interests of the UK and Europe. We cannot wait until mid-September, and a new PM. We need a clear statement, now, of some basic truths.

In his own article, Mr Wallace said that Mr Goves decision to run for the Tory leadership had come as a total shock to Mr Johnsons team, of which Mr Gove had, till then, been a key member.

Michael hadnt said anything or hinted at any frustrations over the previous four days so I presumed it was just another story from the rumour mill that accompanies leadership campaigns, he said, describing how he first heard the news from a journalist.

I walked round the corner to see [campaign strategist] Lynton Crosby, ashen white, taking a call from someone who turned out to be Michael Gove. He has done the dirty on us, mate, were the words I remember most afterwards. Boris was at his home rehearsing for his speech unaware that the press knew before him.

The Northern Ireland minister suggested that Mr Goves propensity to leak information to the press could be a security risk if he became Prime Minister.

When I was a government whip and Michael was the chief whip, the office leaked like a sieve, he writes. Important policy and personnel details made their way to the papers. Michael seems to have an emotional need to gossip, particularly when drink is taken, as it all too often seemed to be.

He adds: UK citizens deserve to know that when they go to sleep at night their secrets and their nations secrets arent shared in the newspaper column of the prime ministers wife the next day, or traded away with newspaper proprietors over fine wine.

Asked to comment, a spokesperson for Mr Goves campaign said only: We wish Ben Wallace well.
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Descendants of Jewish refugees who fled to the UK to escape from Nazi persecution are seeking German nationality following the referendum in which Britain to leave the European Union, The Independent has learned.

The political and economic upheaval which has followed Brexit has led to a surge in the numbers of Britons seeking to become nationals of states in the EU. A large majority of them have been after Irish passports but other countries, too, are having an unprecedented amount of inquiries from those seeking another passport.

German nationality can be obtained by someone who has at least one parent who is German. The other normal route for foreigners to get German nationality would be a certain minimum period of continual stay in the country.

Recommended Read more 10 industries that will be hard hit if migrants are forced to leave

There are, however, separate rules for Jewish and political refugees from Hitlers Reich. Under the principle of "restored citizenship, German Basic Law ( Grundgesetz) stipulates that former German citizens who between January 30, 1933 and May 8, 1945 were deprived of their citizenship on political, racial, or religious grounds, and their descendants, shall, on application, have their citizenship restored".

The German embassy in London is one of the foreign legations which has been receiving rising numbers of requests for information on citizenship from refugees descendants living in Britain, including Jewish people whose families fled the Nazis.

Most Jewish refugees in Britain from Nazi Germany came just before and after the war. The community has assimilated into British society, but some now feel deep trepidation about the future.

Some of the Jewish people who are considering seeking German nationality are doing so because of economic uncertainty and also because of worries at the outbreak of extremism which has accompanied Brexit.

Rachel Houseman, who lives in north-west London, and works in investment banking, said  What has happened is going to be bad for manufacturing and financial services, I cant frankly see any signs for optimism. Quite a few firms, certainly in financial services, will be moving a lot of their operations out to the EU.

My family and I are also shocked by the rise in racism. I dont think, as Jews, well be immune from this at all. A couple I know were abused in the street in London last week for speaking in Dutch, the husband just happened to be Jewish. That was anti-foreign, rather than anti-semitic, but it shows the way things are going.

6 ways Britain leaving the EU will affect you Show all 6 1 /6 6 ways Britain leaving the EU will affect you 6 ways Britain leaving the EU will affect you More expensive foreign holidays The first practical effect of a vote to Leave is that the pound will be worth less abroad, meaning foreign holidays will cost us more nito100 6 ways Britain leaving the EU will affect you No immediate change in immigration status The Prime Minister will have to address other immediate concerns. He is likely to reassure nationals of other EU countries living in the UK that their status is unchanged. That is what the Leave campaign has said, so, even after the Brexit negotiations are complete, those who are already in the UK would be allowed to stay Getty 6 ways Britain leaving the EU will affect you Higher inflation A lower pound means that imports would become more expensive. This is likely to mean the return of inflation  a phenomenon with which many of us are unfamiliar because prices have been stable for so long, rising at no more than about 2 per cent a year. The effect may probably not be particularly noticeable in the first few months. At first price rises would be confined to imported goods  food and clothes being the most obvious  but inflation has a tendency to spread and to gain its own momentum AFP/Getty Images 6 ways Britain leaving the EU will affect you Interest rates might rise The trouble with inflation is that the Bank of England has a legal obligation to keep it as close to 2 per cent a year as possible. If a fall in the pound threatens to push prices up faster than this, the Bank will raise interest rates. This acts against inflation in three ways. First, it makes the pound more attractive, because deposits in pounds will earn higher interest. Second, it reduces demand by putting up the cost of borrowing, and especially by taking larger mortgage payments out of the economy. Third, it makes it more expensive for businesses to borrow to expand output Getty 6 ways Britain leaving the EU will affect you Did somebody say recession? Mr Carney, the Treasury and a range of international economists have warned about this. Many Leave voters appear not to have believed them, or to think that they are exaggerating small, long-term effects. But there is no doubt that the Leave vote is a negative shock to the economy. This is because it changes expectations about the economys future performance. Even though Britain is not actually be leaving the EU for at least two years, companies and investors will start to move money out of Britain, or to scale back plans for expansion, because they are less confident about what would happen after 2018 AFP/Getty Images 6 ways Britain leaving the EU will affect you And we wouldnt even get our money back All this will be happening while the Prime Minister, whoever he or she is, is negotiating the terms of our future access to the EU single market. In the meantime, our trade with the EU would be unaffected, except that companies elsewhere in the EU may be less interested in buying from us or selling to us, expecting tariff barriers to go up in two years time. Whoever the Chancellor is, he or she may feel the need to bring in a new Budget Getty Images

We have no idea whats going to happen with visas and Europe, we cant get assurances from the politicians on this because they dont know themselves, its a real mess. Our family came here Hamburg, we lost relations in the holocaust. We have relations in Germany, so we are going to look at the German option. Theres no question of going back to the German version of our name or anything. I think well be able to keep dual-nationality.

Jonathan, a 30-year-old Israeli who lives in Swansea spoke to the German broadcast channel Deutsche Welle about apprehension among Jews

Theres a feeling that xenophobia has suddenly been legitimized by this votesaid Jonathan, who did not want his surname used, said. You do hear of incidents. I get this feeling that Im lucky because I am white, so you can only really tell I am not from here when I start talking and you hear my foreign accent. I think the majority of leave voters arent racists, but racists will have seen this vote as a confirmation they are the majority.

 Theresa May admits future of EU citizens living in the UK is uncertain

Successive German governments have traditionally welcomed the return of Jewish and other refugees - and their descendants - who fled the Nazis.

Britons from such background now seeking citizenship are not expected to face too many obstacles. They will also be able to have dual nationality, something denied to those from outside the European Union under German law.

Around two or three Britons sought German nationality every year in the past, dozens have come forward in the last week from a cross-section of UK society; the German embassy is collating the numbers and details of applicants. A Berlin-based organisation, Citizens for Europe, has set up a  legal clinic to advise people on the administration requirement for citizenship. Sigmar Gabriel, vice chancellor in the German government has suggested that young Britons, who voted by a large margin to remain in European Union, should be given German nationality. However, officials say this is at present just an idea and would be difficult to implement.

The Italians have received 70 applications from across the country in the first couple of days after the referendum, again after receiving just a handful in recent times before the vote. The French embassy has also received similar inquiries and has also seen a rush for renewals of documents by French and dual nationals who had been living in the UK for a long time. The Irish embassy has received a huge number of applications and Dublin has published guide on how to obtain documents for 430,000 people of Irish descent living in England, Wales and Scotland. People in Northern Ireland are automatically entitled to claim Irish nationality and post-offices there had, at one stage, run out of application forms.

Meanwhile some of the 1.2 million Britons living in Europe are also trying to get passports from the countries where they are domiciled. Belgium, which is currently the home to 24,000 British expats, mainly working in the institutions of the European Union and Nato in Brussels, has seen an upsurge of applications.

The UKs Jewish population had voted overwhelmingly, by two to one, to reject Brexit, according to polls. A survey carried out in the aftermath, on behalf of The Jewish Chronicle newspaper, showed that 59 per cent of those questioned were unhappy with the referendum result, compared to 28.3 per cent who were satisfied.
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The French presidential frontrunner Alain Juppe has said he would likely scrap the decade old Le Touquet agreement with the UK and place the border between the two countries on British soil.

The agreement, drawn up as part of a bilateral treaty between the two countries, allows the UK to operate its border controls on the French side of the channel.

During the European Union referendum campaign David Cameron was accused of scaremongering when he said leaving the union would lead to the deal being scrapped  and the refugee and migrant camps in Calais relocating to southern England as a result.

The French government dismissed the claim from the Prime Minister at the time and said it had no plans to change the agreement. However, Sir Peter Ricketts, former UK ambassador to France and former national security advisor to Mr Cameron warned that Frances stance might not last forever.

But speaking to the Financial Times, Mr Juppe, who is leading in opinion polls, said: The logic requires that border controls take place on British soil.

We must move the border back to where it belongs, he added.

 Michel Sapin shocked at lack of Brexit planning

The Calais 'jungle' camp that has grown up in the past two years as thousands of migrants seek to avoid border controls there and reach Britain illegally through the Channel Tunnel is controversial on both sides of the Channel.

The number of people living in the camp is small compared to the total number of refugees entering Europe as a whole  with millions entering the continent in 2016, according to a European Commission estimate.

Calais and Dunkirk camps Show all 16 1 /16 Calais and Dunkirk camps Calais and Dunkirk camps (Photo: Alan Schaller) Calais and Dunkirk camps A portrait of an Afghan man wearing a traditional Perhan Turban in the Calais Jungle (Photo: Emily Garthwaite) Calais and Dunkirk camps Two Gendarmes guard the main entrance to the Dunkirk camp (Photo: Emily Garthwaite) Calais and Dunkirk camps One Kurdish Iraqi mans reminder to himself (Photo: Alan Schaller) Calais and Dunkirk camps Two young boys in the Dunkirk camp (Photo: Alan Schaller) Calais and Dunkirk camps An Iranian hunger striker stands outside the only remaining shelter in the South Side of the Calais camp (Photo: Emily Garthwaite) Calais and Dunkirk camps A church in the South Calais camp, on of the the only structures not demolished in the South Side of the camp (Photo: Emily Garthwaite) Calais and Dunkirk camps A man gets a hair cut in the Calais camp (Photo: Alan Schaller) Calais and Dunkirk camps Night falls on the Calais Jungle. Fires burn in the distance (Photo: Alan Schaller) Calais and Dunkirk camps The containers provided as alternative accommodation for the people in the camps (Photo: Alan Schaller) Calais and Dunkirk camps A young boy in the Dunkirk camp (Photo: Alan Schaller) Calais and Dunkirk camps A man listens to music inside one of the shipping containers (Photo: Emily Garthwaite) Calais and Dunkirk camps The awful living conditions in the Dunkirk camp (Photo: Alan Schaller) Calais and Dunkirk camps An Afghan man in the Calais camp (Photo: Emily Garthwaite) Calais and Dunkirk camps One of the Iranian hunger strikers (Photo: Alan Schaller) Calais and Dunkirk camps A family in their wooden shelter in the new Dunkirk camp (Photo: Alan Schaller)

Mr Ricketts said earlier this year that the French government was using up significant political capital and police resources in its operation in Calais and that opposition parties were keen to pull out of the agreement.

This treaty is a bilateral treaty but it was made in a multilateral context where Britain and France are working together across a whole range of issues, he told BBC Radio 4.

If the context changed and Britain made a major decision to leave the EU I think its highly likely France would review its position too theres a lot of pressure already, if you look at the main opposition party in France, Les Republicains, theyre already openly calling for that treaty [to be scrapped].
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A group of businesses has launched a legal challenge to prevent the Government from launching Brexit without a formal Act of Parliament.

A London law firm said it had been in contact with Whitehall lawyers to argue it would be unlawful for the next Prime Minister to take Britain out of the EU with an executive order.

Mishcon de Reya, the firm acting for a number of unnamed clients, said triggering Article 50 could not be done without a full debate and a vote by MPs and peers in Parliament, because it would be overturning parts of the European Communities Act of 1972.

 What is Article 50?

Recommended Read more George Osborne to slash corporation tax in response to Brexit vote

The action has been launched following an article by three academics  Nick Barber, Tom Hickman and Jeff King  which argued that Parliament has an indispensable role in making Brexit legally sound.

The academics suggest Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty itself states that any member may decide to withdraw from the EU in accordance with its own constitutional requirements. They say it is well established in the UKs so-called unwritten constitution, largely as a result of case law, that an Act of Parliament can only be overturned by another Act of Parliament.

Kasra Nouroozi, a Mishcon de Reya partner, said: We must ensure that the Government follows the correct process to have legal certainty and protect the UK Constitution and the sovereignty of Parliament in these unprecedented circumstances.

The result of the Referendum is not in doubt, but we need a process that follows UK law to enact it.

The outcome of the Referendum itself is not legally binding and for the current or future prime minister to invoke Article 50 without the approval of Parliament is unlawful.

We must make sure this is done properly for the benefit of all UK citizens. Article 50 simply cannot be invoked without a full debate and vote in Parliament.

The debate in the wake of the EU referendum has largely framed the decision to trigger Brexit as one to be made by the next Prime Minister.

David Cameron said as much when he delivered his resignation speech outside Number 10 Downing Street on the morning of Friday 24 June.

Andrea Leadsom has emerged as one of the frontrunners in the Tory leadership contest, thanks in large part to her pledge to just get on with it and trigger Brexit as early as possible.

And Theresa May, the bookies favourite to be the next Prime Minister, has pledged only to activate Article 50 once the Government has established the terms of its EU negotiations.

Brexit protest: Thousands march in London Show all 12 1 /12 Brexit protest: Thousands march in London Brexit protest: Thousands march in London A woman poses with a home-made European Union flag as Remain supporters gather on Park Lane in London to show their support for the EU in the wake of Brexit PA Brexit protest: Thousands march in London Remain supporters demonstrate in Parliament Square PA Brexit protest: Thousands march in London Tens of thousands of people gathered to protest the result of the EU referendum PA Brexit protest: Thousands march in London A majority of people in the capital voted to remain in the European Union Reuters Brexit protest: Thousands march in London Protesters chanted: What do we want to do? Stay in the EU PA Brexit protest: Thousands march in London The march follows a similar rally in Trafalgar Square that was cancelled due to heavy rain  but which tens of thousands of people turned up to anyway Reuters Brexit protest: Thousands march in London Britain voted to leave the European Union in a referendum by 52 per cent to 48 per cent Reuters Brexit protest: Thousands march in London But support for the Leave campaign in urban areas and among young people was significantly lower Rex features Brexit protest: Thousands march in London Marchers gathered at Park Lane at 11am and marched towards Parliament Square PA Brexit protest: Thousands march in London Some protesters held up baguettes in a display of affection for our continental neighbours PA Brexit protest: Thousands march in London The disparity between different parts of the country has promoted a four million signature petition calling for a second referendum and even a renewed push for Scotland to cede from the UK PA Brexit protest: Thousands march in London The events organiser, Kings College graduate Kieran MacDermott, wrote: We can prevent Brexit by refusing to accept the referendum as the final say and take our finger off the self-destruct button" Reuters

David Allen Green, the law and politics blogger, wrote a day after Mr Cameron stood down that it was significant the Prime Minister had failed to launch the Brexit process immediately.

The fact is that the longer the Article 50 notification is put off, the greater the chance it will never be made at all, he wrote. This is because the longer the delay, the more likely it will be that events will intervene or excuses will be contrived.

He added: In my view, if the Article 50 notification was not sent yesterday  the very day after the Leave result  there is a strong chance it will never be sent.
The 19 year old student was shot dead by a Burma army soldier on the night of 20 June in the Kachin State capital Myitkyina. The circumstances surrounding Gum Seng Awng's death remain mired in controversy and few Kachin belief the official explanation about what happened.

The head of the Kachin Baptist Convntion (KBC), Rev. Dr. Hkalam Samson and Father Dr. Gawlu Yung Wa a Kachin Catholic met with Mr. Tom Malinowski, Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor on 22 June.

During the meeting the two Kachin Christian leaders talked about the incident and informed Mr Malinowski about the Kachin communities concerns about the killing, according to the US based Kachin Alliances spokesperson NSang Gum San. Mr Malinowski previously worked at Human Rights Watch and has travelled to Burma extensively.

The two leaders also raised their concerns about the Burmese governments failure to take action in another high profile case, involving the the rape and murder of two Kachin voluntary teachers on the night of 15 January 2015 at Kaung Khar Village in the northern Shan State. Rights groups have implicated army troops in the teacher's killing but a proper investigation has not taken place.

Gum Seng Awng, a first-year student from Myitkyina Computer University, was shot to death by Private Maung Maung and Lance Corporal Nan Hee Khin Dan from the Tatmadaw Supply and Transport Battalion 717 at the corner of Thakhin Nat Pe Street and Thida Street in Thida Ward in Myitkyina on the night of 20 June. The army has claimed the killing was in self defence.

The body of Gum Seng Awng was buried at Jaw Bum Christian cemetery in Myitkyina at 1 PM on 23 June. Activists and Kachin politicians including those from the the Kachin State Democracy Party (KSDP) have called for justice in this case.

The famous Kachin Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fighter, Awng La NSang, has also changed his profile picture on Facebook in sign a of solidarity. The profile picture now shows him with the phrase I am Gum Seng Awng written on his arm.

Translated by Thida Linn
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In the United States, George W Bush seemed to be able to ride out the waves of bad news from Iraq. In Britain, by contrast, Tony Blair was continually on the defensive, in particular over those weapons of mass destruction that did not exist. It was this issue that led to the lonely death of the weapons inspector Dr David Kelly.

Follow our latest updates on the Chilcot report

That part of the story began soon after 6am on 29 May 2003 when Andrew Gilligan, defence correspondent for the Today programme on BBC Radio 4, broadcast a sensational claim that he had been told by someone high up in the security services that the spooks were aggrieved because the September dossier had been transformed on instructions from Downing Street. In a subsequent article for the Daily Mail, Gilligan named Alastair Campbell as the culprit. On the day of the broadcast, Tony Blair was visiting the troops in Iraq, with Campbell at his side. The next day he was in Warsaw. Trying to talk about Poland's future in Europe, Blair was plagued with questions about Gilligan's allegation.

When the Prime Minister's party returned to London, Campbell began a relentless campaign to get the BBC to say that Gilligan was wrong. This included trying to find his source in the intelligence services. Dr Kelly came forward and admitted talking to the journalist, but did not admit to saying everything Gilligan had attributed to his unnamed source. His identity was soon leaked.

Recommended Read more A behind the scenes look at how Tony Blair took Britain to war in Iraq

Gilligan claimed that he had spoken to more than one person, and was not prepared to name his principle source when subjected to hostile questioning by the Commons Foreign Affairs Select Committee. The committee insisted on questioning Dr Kelly. What he did not know as he gave evidence was that Gilligan had privately told a member of the committee that Dr Kelly had also spoken to another BBC journalist, Susan Watts.

Confronted, Dr Kelly admitted speaking to her but said he did not recognise comments that Watts had used in her broadcast. But Watts had a recording to prove they were his - although whether Dr Kelly lied or simply became confused under pressure, no one knows. Afterwards, it probably dawned on him that he was going to be exposed, and would probably never work as a weapons inspector again. On 17 July, two days after his appearance at the committee, he went for a walk in woods near his Oxfordshire home. His body was found the following morning. He had died from an overdose of painkillers.

Campbell began a relentless campaign to get the BBC to say that the Today Programme's Andrew Gilligan was wrong (Getty Images) (Getty)

The death of Dr Kelly has found its way into mythology. There is a school of thought that says he did not kill himself but was assassinated to prevent him revealing the secrets behind the Iraq war. In the hope of dampening that kind of speculation, Tony Blair ordered a judge-led inquiry into the death. This was the Hutton inquiry, the first of three into the Iraq war, which ran from August 2003 to January 2004, eventually concluding that Dr Kelly's death was a suicide, that the Government was not at fault, but that the BBC was. The BBC's chairman, Gavyn Davies, and its director-general, Greg Dyke, resigned. Naturally, the Hutton report was denounced as a whitewash.

The next inquiry was a review of the intelligence reports by the former head of the civil service, Lord Butler, whose report came out in July 2004. While it was mildly critical of MI6's weaknesses in checking the reliability of its sources, Lord Butler's general conclusion was that the Iraq war happened because of the 11 September atrocities, not because faulty intelligence had caused the government to believe Iraq held WMDs.

 What is the Chilcot Inquiry?

In the light of that conclusion, it is worth asking why the WMDs issue, and the dodginess of the September dossier, have assumed such importance over the years.

One factor, curiously, is the BBC charter. The conditions under which BBC journalists work did not allow them to express a view on the wisdom or folly of going to war. If the Government had misled the public, however, their duty was to expose the falsehood. The sexed up dossier was a story into which they could sink their teeth and demonstrate independence from government control.

Tony Blair leaves the Iraq Inquiry in January 2011 (GETTY)

The WMD theme has also served the purposes of people who supported the Iraq war at the time, then wished they had not. Boris Johnson, for example, is now one of the war's harshest critics, although he voted for it in March 2003 when Parliament's vote made a difference. His explanation is that he was misled by Tony Blair. I would like to understand more deeply on what basis a prime minister who, at that time, commanded so much trust, was able to persuade Parliament and the country and me to go for war in Iraq with absolutely catastrophic consequences, he said in an interview last May.

The third inquiry, chaired by Lord Chilcot, began its work in November 2009, and held its last public session in February 2011, from which date the long wait for the report began.

The key players in the Iraq War Show all 11 1 /11 The key players in the Iraq War The key players in the Iraq War Jack Straw Jack Straw was the UK foreign secretary at the time of the Iraq invasion, and fully endorsed the decision Getty The key players in the Iraq War Geoff Hoon Geoff Hoon was Tony Blairs defence secretary from October 1999 to May 2005 Getty Images The key players in the Iraq War Alastair Campbell Alastair Campbell was involved in the drafting of two Downing Street dossiers on the war, in September 2002 and in February 2003 Getty The key players in the Iraq War John Scarlett John Scarlett was chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee at the time of the 2003 invasion Getty Images The key players in the Iraq War Peter Goldsmith Peter Goldsmith was Mr Blairs attorney general from 2001 to 2007 AFP/Getty Images The key players in the Iraq War Condoleezza Rice Condoleezza Rice was named as National Security Advisor to George W Bush in 2000, becoming the first woman to occupy the post, and argued publicly in favour of the 2003 invasion Getty Images The key players in the Iraq War Colin Powell Colin Powell was Secretary of State from 2001 to 2005 Getty Images for TIME The key players in the Iraq War Tommy Franks Tommy Franks was the leading US general at the start of the Iraq war The key players in the Iraq War Dick Cheney Dick Cheney was George W Bushs vice president from 2001 to 2009 Getty Images The key players in the Iraq War Paul Bremer Paul Bremer ran Iraq for 14 months after the invasion, appointed Bushs Presidential Envoy in charge of the occupying forces Getty Images The key players in the Iraq War Hans Blix Hans Blix was the UN weapons inspector tasked with monitoring Iraq from 2002 to 2003 Getty Images

It takes many years for the impact of an event as significant as the Iraq war to be seen in its true context. To take another case from that region of the world, in 1953 the CIA organised the overthrow of Iran's elected Prime Minister, Mohammed Mossabegh, who appeared to threaten Western oil interests, and returned the Shah of Persia to absolute power. For 26 years afterwards, the organisers of the coup could congratulate themselves on successfully protecting Western interests. Since the revolution of 1979, it has been difficult for anyone to argue that the overthrow of Mossabegh was anything but a colossal blunder.

Recommended Read more Words of mass destruction that continue to deceive

There are people who supported the action at the time but who now think it was a mistake, or worse. There has been almost no intellectual traffic in the opposite direction. Jack Straw, who was Foreign Secretary in 2003, is one of those who have remained wedded to the idea that the war was justifiable. During the Arab Spring of 2010-11, he pointed out that Iraq was one of the few countries in the region where there were no crowds in the streets trying to bring down the government - hard evidence, he suggested, that Iraq was beginning to function like a democracy.

Later, Straw conceded that this judgement was premature, but it was not frivolous. Whatever their faults, the governments that have operated out of Baghdad since 2003 have been an improvement on the dictatorship of Saddam Hussein. Iraq's Shia majority at last have a government dominated by their co-religionists. The Kurds have also gained de facto self-rule in a part of Iraq. Israel is no longer threatened by a hostile Iraqi regime with powerful weapons. That summarises the case for the Iraq war, such as it is.

But, to go back to the beginning: the event which triggered the Iraq war was the terrorist outrage of 11 September 2001, and the original purpose of the war on terror, of which the invasion of Iraq was a major part, was to stop such outrages from happening again. George Bush and Dick Cheney continue to maintain that there was a link between al-Qaeda and Saddam's regime, a theory that Blair has never renounced either, despite no hard evidence having been produced to support that supposition. Saddam was guilty of countless crimes, but, while he was in power, no one in Iraq was planning terrorist outrages in London or New York. Now we have to assume that they are.

Thirteen years after it began, the Iraq war can be seen to have facilitated the very thing it was supposed to prevent. This week, Sir John Chilcots report will finally suggest to us what lessons we can learn from that long-drawn-out calamity.
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Tony Blair was in a hotel room reading through the speech he was due to deliver to the TUC annual conference when Alastair Campbell came bursting in and insisted that he switch on the television. At 1.46pm British time, a Boeing 767 passenger airliner had hit the north tower of the World Trade Centre in New York. The south tower was hit 17 minutes later.

Follow our latest updates on the Chilcot report

The Prime Minister grasped at once that what he was seeing, from the Grand Hotel, Brighton, on 11 September 2001, was seminal, a pivotal moment in world affairs. There would obviously be a reaction from the US government that would be felt across the world: and whatever the US did, Blair decided, the UK must back them up.

TB said that we had to help the US, that they could not go it on their own, that they felt beleaguered and this would be tantamount to a military attack in their minds, Campbell recorded in his diary.

Tony Blair was not, of course, the only head of government to promise to be at Americas side as it embarked on what became known as the war on terror. One of the first world leaders on the phone to Washington was the German Chancellor Gerhard Schroder. The day after the attack, he reported to the Bundestag that he had promised Bush Germany's full  I repeat, full  solidarity.

The first foreign head of government to visit the smouldering remains of New York's Twin Towers was France's President Jacques Chirac one week after the attack. Standing on US soil, he announced: France, I can tell you, will not stand aside in a fight against a scourge that defies all democracies.

Though neither Chirac nor Schroder said so at the time, their promise of support was not unconditional: it depended on what the US decided to do. Within 14 months, Schroder and Chirac were meeting to co-ordinate their opposition to the planned invasion of Iraq.

But when Tony Blair broadcast from Downing Street on the evening of 11 September, promising that we here in Britain stand shoulder to shoulder with our American friends, there was no unspoken codicil. He fully intended to go wherever the Americans went.

Jacques Chirac, George W Bush and Tony Blair talk on 20 July, 2001 in Genoa, Italy (STEPHEN JAFFE/AFP/Getty Images) (Getty)

That unwavering commitment was arguably the most important decision that Tony Blair ever made. It was also, arguably, the worst. It defined the remainder of his premiership, and would pursue him in his semi-retirement. Even Margaret Thatcher, despite her great affection for Ronald Reagan, never put British foreign policy so thoroughly in the service of the US. If the long-awaited Chilcot report inflicts more harm on Tony Blair's reputation, it will be because of an unwavering resolution he made on the spur of the moment, in a hotel room in Brighton, more than 13 years ago.

Meanwhile, there was an immediate decision to be made about the Prime Minister's scheduled address to the TUC Congress. A text of his speech was ready. A press officer, Godric Smith, was in the media room at the Brighton conference centre among a crowd of journalists transfixed by the television images, wondering whether he should distribute the copies of the speech he held under his arm, or shred them.

As Blair made his way from hotel to conference centre, news came through from New York that the north tower had collapsed. The ghastly truth was that everyone who was still in that building was dead. All the passengers in the two planes were also dead. It was being reported that another plane had hit the Pentagon. Then the south tower also collapsed, and there were reports of a fourth plane crashing near Pittsburgh. The death toll was sure to be measured in thousands. An early estimate was that 10,000 were dead.

The speech was abandoned. After a few impromptu remarks to the delegates, Blair took the first train back to London, to meet his security chiefs. He was fretting that George W Bush, under intense pressure to react swiftly, might be driven to do something irresponsible.

 What is the Chilcot Inquiry?

His first meeting was with the head of MI5, Stephen Lander, and the chair of the Joint Intelligence Committee, John Scarlett. The security services would run into heavy criticism within two years, but on day one, they got the story right. They told Blair that there was no reason to think that the New York attacks were the work of any foreign government, because there was one organisation capable of planning and carrying it out unaided. That was al-Qaeda, whose leader, Osama bin Laden, was hiding out in Afghanistan. George Bush was told the same thing later the same day by the head of the CIA, George Tenet.

It was the worst attack America had suffered since Pearl Harbour. Then, it was obvious what President Franklin Roosevelt had to do: he declared war on Japan. There was no such obvious reaction for Bush: the terrorists who carried out the attack were already dead, and there was no target against whom he could order immediate retaliation.

Sensibly, Bush decided nothing that day. As Tony Blair told Parliament, when it reconvened for a one-day emergency session on 14 September: President Bush and the US Government have proceeded with care. They did not lash out. They did not strike first and think afterwards. Their very deliberation is a measure of the seriousness of their intent.

The key players in the Iraq War Show all 11 1 /11 The key players in the Iraq War The key players in the Iraq War Jack Straw Jack Straw was the UK foreign secretary at the time of the Iraq invasion, and fully endorsed the decision Getty The key players in the Iraq War Geoff Hoon Geoff Hoon was Tony Blairs defence secretary from October 1999 to May 2005 Getty Images The key players in the Iraq War Alastair Campbell Alastair Campbell was involved in the drafting of two Downing Street dossiers on the war, in September 2002 and in February 2003 Getty The key players in the Iraq War John Scarlett John Scarlett was chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee at the time of the 2003 invasion Getty Images The key players in the Iraq War Peter Goldsmith Peter Goldsmith was Mr Blairs attorney general from 2001 to 2007 AFP/Getty Images The key players in the Iraq War Condoleezza Rice Condoleezza Rice was named as National Security Advisor to George W Bush in 2000, becoming the first woman to occupy the post, and argued publicly in favour of the 2003 invasion Getty Images The key players in the Iraq War Colin Powell Colin Powell was Secretary of State from 2001 to 2005 Getty Images for TIME The key players in the Iraq War Tommy Franks Tommy Franks was the leading US general at the start of the Iraq war The key players in the Iraq War Dick Cheney Dick Cheney was George W Bushs vice president from 2001 to 2009 Getty Images The key players in the Iraq War Paul Bremer Paul Bremer ran Iraq for 14 months after the invasion, appointed Bushs Presidential Envoy in charge of the occupying forces Getty Images The key players in the Iraq War Hans Blix Hans Blix was the UN weapons inspector tasked with monitoring Iraq from 2002 to 2003 Getty Images

In fact, the first thing President Bush did when he arrived at work at 7am the following morning was ring Tony Blair. Relieved that the President had not rushed headlong into some ill-thought out action, Blair gave him an unequivocal promise to support the US in whatever the President decided to do. There was no equivocation in his voice, Bush recalled. The conversation helped cement the closest friendship I would form with any foreign leader. As the years passed ... some of our allies wavered. Tony Blair never did.

There was an element of political calculation in Blair's stance. The Conservative Party was days away from electing a new leader, Iain Duncan Smith. Blair did not then know how brief and unsuccessful Duncan Smith's leadership would be, but he knew from observing the Thatcher-Reagan friendship and from his own close ties with Bill Clinton how valuable it was for a prime minister to be seen to be a welcome guest in the White House. He did not intend to let Duncan Smith get closer to Bush than he was.

George W Bush speaks to the press July 19, 2001 during a joint statement with Tony Blair at Halton Airbase in Buckinghamshire (Sion Touhig / Getty Images) (Getty)

But Blair also had an ideological world view, which he had set out in a speech in Chicago in 1999, in which he had gently rebuked the US government not for interfering in the internal affairs of other states but for being, if anything, too shy of using its military power to spread western values. Non-interference has long been considered an important principle of international order ... but the principle of non-interference must be qualified in important respects, he said.

In that speech, he had named two dictators the world would be better off without. One was Serbia's Slobodan Milosevic, who was overthrown in 2000. The other was Saddam Hussein, who still ruled Iraq.

Yet when he was questioned by MPs in Parliament on 14 September, and a Labour maverick named Paul Marsden mentioned that Nato might bomb countries whose governments were hostile to the US, Blair exhorted MPs to not pay attention to the wilder pieces of speculation.

The speculation was less wild than he implied. Within 24 hours of the 11 September atrocities, Bush was being urged by his Vice-President, Dick Cheney, Defence Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, and Rumsfeld's deputy, Paul D Wolfowitz, that he should take aim not just at terrorists, but at governments suspected of harbouring them. Wolfowitz was particularly adamant that Baghdad should be the first target. For the time being, however, Bush was persuaded by his Secretary of State, Colin Powell, that what US public opinion expected was action against the perpetrators of the 11 September outrage. That meant going first into Afghanistan, where Bin Laden was enjoying the protection of the Taliban government.

The most iconic images from the war in Iraq Show all 20 1 /20 The most iconic images from the war in Iraq The most iconic images from the war in Iraq U.S. Navy Hospital Corpsman HM1 Richard Barnett, assigned to the 1st Marine Division, holds an Iraqi child in central Iraq, March 29, 2003 Reuters The most iconic images from the war in Iraq An explosion rocks Baghdad during air strikes March 21, 2003 Reuters The most iconic images from the war in Iraq An Iraqi woman watches U.N. weapons inspectors leave Saddam airport in Baghdad March 18, 2003 Reuters The most iconic images from the war in Iraq An Iraqi girl holds her sister as she waits for her mother (R) to bring over food bought in Basra March 29, 2003 Reuters The most iconic images from the war in Iraq U.S. Marine Corp Assaultman Kirk Dalrymple watches as a statue of Iraq's President Saddam Hussein falls in central Baghdad's Firdaus Square, April 9, 2003 Reuters The most iconic images from the war in Iraq US Marines kick in a door while securing a building next to the main hospital in central Baghdad April 15, 2003 Reuters The most iconic images from the war in Iraq A soldier of U.S. Army's 4th Infantry Division (Task Force Ironhorse) searches through dense vegetation around the Diala river where Iraqi militants are hiding outside Baquba early November 13, 2003 Reuters The most iconic images from the war in Iraq An Iraqi detainee gestures toward U.S. soldiers through bars of his cell at Abu Ghraib prison outside Baghdad May 17, 2004 Reuters The most iconic images from the war in Iraq Mays, a young Iraqi Shi'ite girl, cries after a mortar shell which landed outside the family's home in a Najaf residential area injured her uncle August 18, 2004 Reuters The most iconic images from the war in Iraq U.S. Marines carry an injured colleague to a helicopter near the city of Falluja, November 10, 2004 Reuters The most iconic images from the war in Iraq An Iraqi man suspected of having explosives in his car is held after being arrested by the U.S army near Baquba, Iraq, October 15, 2005 Reuters The most iconic images from the war in Iraq A wounded Iraqi woman is helped after several bomb attacks in central Baghdad, July 27, 2006 Reuters The most iconic images from the war in Iraq A man runs down a street warning people to flee shortly after a twin car bomb attack at Shorja market in Baghdad, February 12, 2007 Reuters The most iconic images from the war in Iraq An Iraqi girl holds her hands up while U.S. and Iraqi soldiers search her family house in Baquba early June 30, 2007 Reuters The most iconic images from the war in Iraq An Iraqi woman tries to explain that she has nothing to do with illegal fuel as soldiers from the 2nd battalion, 32nd Field Artillery brigade patrol search for illegal fuel sellers in Baghdad August 6, 2007 Reuters The most iconic images from the war in Iraq U.S. President George W. Bush (L) walks in front of Humvees with Defense Secretary Robert Gates (C) and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice following remarks to the press after nightfall at Al-Asad airbase in Anbar Province September 3, 2007 Reuters The most iconic images from the war in Iraq U.S. soldiers blindfold an Iraqi man after arresting him during a night patrol at the Zafraniya neighborhood, southeast of Baghdad September 4, 2007 Reuters The most iconic images from the war in Iraq An Iraqi baby lies in a cradle while a woman argues with U.S. soldiers of 1/8 Bravo Company searching for weapons, explosives and information about militants in the area during a foot patrol in a neighbourhood of Mosul June 26, 2008 Reuters The most iconic images from the war in Iraq Policemen cry during a funeral of their colleague a day after a bomb attack in Baghdad's Jihad district November 3, 2010 Reuters The most iconic images from the war in Iraq Staff Sgt. Keith Fidler kisses his wife Cynthia, as their son Kolin looks on, during a homecoming ceremony in New York, April 8, 2011 for the New York Army National Guard's 442nd Military Police Company's return from Iraq Reuters

On 20 September, Bush made a speech to Congress that was televised live and watched by 80 million Americans. Before he did so, however, he took time to welcome a particularly honoured guest. Tony Blair was in Washington.

Bush ushered him into the White House Blue Room for a 20-minute private chat, so that he could confide in him that they were not just going to bomb Afghanistan, but send ground troops too. Blair was flattered to be given this personal briefing so soon before a speech that could make or break his presidency, but Bush said that he appreciated the company of my friend.

The bombing of Afghanistan began on 7 October 2001, drawing that wretched country into one of the longest wars in modern history, which would cost the lives of 453 British servicemen, more than 2,000 Americans, and no one knows how many Afghans. The United Nations began counting Afghan civilian deaths in 2007, and had reached 11,864 by 2011.

It was arguably a longer, bloodier failure than the Iraq war, but it was never as damaging to Blair's standing at home. It did not provoke mass street protests or a major parliamentary rebellion, because the links between the Taliban, al-Qaeda and the 11 September attacks was well understood, so the British public at least understood why troops had gone into Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, the idea that Iraq would be next had never been ruled out in Washington. On 29 January 2002, George Bush delivered the annual State of the Union address, in which he used the phrase Axis of Evil to describe three regimes which had next to nothing in common with one another, except their hostility to the US - North Korea, Iran and Iraq.

Of the three, Iraq was the one most in Washington's sights. Colin Powell, the Secretary of State, feared that a unilateral invasion would be a political disaster, but he was finding that he could not get the same access to the Oval Office now enjoyed by Rumsfeld. With the cabinet divided, the British Prime Minister became a backstage player in American politics.

Tony Blair meeting troops in Basra in January 2004. He is expected to be criticised by the Chilcot report for his conduct in the run up to the invasion (AFP/Getty Images)

In April, Tony and Cherie were George and Laura's guests on the Bush ranch in Crawford, Texas. Blair knew that he was going to have a delicate job persuading Labour MPs, if not the public, of the case for invading Iraq. The issue had come up at a Cabinet meeting on 28 February, when the Home Secretary, David Blunkett, had raised the unsettling speculation that Donald Rumsfeld was itching to go to war. He was backed up by Robin Cook, the former Foreign Secretary, who had been supplanted the previous year by Jack Straw. Cook warned that military action in Iraq will not be supported in Europe, while most Arab leaders would say that the biggest menace in the Middle East was not Saddam Hussein but Israel's hardline prime minister, Ariel Sharon. Somewhat to my surprise this line provokes a round of 'Hear hears' from colleagues, which is the nearest I've heard to a mutiny in the Cabinet, Cook noted in his diary, The Point of Departure.

A few days later, when Dick Cheney passed through London, stopping over for a private meeting with Blair, Alice Mahon, a quietly spoken but very determined and well-liked left-wing MP, surmised that they were discussing Iraq and decided to act. She started collecting the signatures of fellow MPs for an Early Day Motion, which was effectively a petition not to drag the UK into war. She eventually accumulated 162 signatures  predominantly Labour but with a sprinkling of Lib Dems and Scottish and Welsh nationalists.

Until we have seen the correspondence between Blair and Bush, we cannot know exactly what was agreed in Crawford, when the two men talked privately before dinner on the night of Saturday 6 April. There is no doubt that Blair urged Bush to go to the UN and secure a resolution that would give international legitimacy to an invasion, if one took place. Unless or until the Chilcot report proves otherwise, it will also be assumed that Blair hinted or promised in return that if US troops went into Iraq, British troops would be there alongside them.

That was certainly what the accompanying British press pack picked up. Tony Blair declared for the first time last night that Britain was ready to take military action against Iraq, the Daily Telegraph reported the next day. The Daily Mirror, then edited by Piers Morgan, ran the headline: Blair the poodle has become the Dog of War. Sir Christopher Meyer, who was present in Crawford as Britain's Ambassador to the US, formed a similar view. He told the Chilcot inquiry: I am not entirely clear to this day... what degree of convergence was, if you like, signed in blood at the Crawford ranch.

 Iraqi army claims victory in Fallujah

Blair replied to Meyer's claims in his memoirs, in language revealing that one of the many complications is that Blair and his people did not trust or confide in the ambassador. It was a myth, Blair claimed, that he had signed a promise in blood to go to war. Meyer was never present at the Bush meeting, wasn't even in the same building; I made no such commitment...

Committed or not, Blair's people started work on presenting the case for invading Iraq, to be put both to the United Nations, and to the British Parliament.

First, Britain and the USA needed to agree why they were going to war. The simplest and most intelligible reason was that Saddam Hussein was a vicious dictator. For some people that alone justified the invasion. For the Government, however, it presented insurmountable problems. Unlike the Taliban, whose government was recognised by only three other states, Iraq was a recognised member of the UN that had been ruled by the Ba'ath Party since 1968 and by Saddam Hussein personally since 1979. The UN was due to hold a disarmament negotiating forum in May 2003, and, under its rules, it would be Iraq's turn to chair it. There was nothing in the UN rules which said that a member government could be overthrown by military force because its ruler was a tyrant.

Even if there had been, the West's record in relation to Saddam Hussein was inconsistent. The first time the Ba'ath Party seized power in Iraq, in 1963, it was backed by the CIA. When it returned to power in 1968, its disregard for civil rights or human life was apparent from the start, but Western governments looked kindly on Saddam after the Iranian revolution of 1979 because of his ruthless way of dealing with Shia terrorists. During the long war between Iraq and Iran, the British government formally banned arms sales to either side; but when the directors of a Coventry firm, Matrix Churchill, were charged with selling military hardware to Iraq, their trial collapsed as it became apparent that they had done so with the covert approval of the Ministry of Defence.

33 per cent of Americans believed Saddam Hussein was personally involved in 9/11 as late as 2007 (Getty)

Even when Saddam Hussein's regime killed thousands of Kurdish villagers with an aerial poison gas attack on Halabja, in northern Iraq, in March 1988, the British government took six months to express its disapproval, and took no further action.

It was only after Iraq invaded Kuwait in August 1990, threatening the West's oil supplies, that the cruelty of Saddam Hussein's regime became embedded in Western consciousness. Even so, the coalition that drove the Iraqis out of Kuwait in 1991 did not include in its war aims the overthrow of Saddam Hussein or the ending of civil rights abuses within Iraq. Clearly, then, if there was to be a second Gulf war fought under UN auspices, some other pretext had to be found. The invaders would have to provide evidence that they were acting in self-defence.

That would have been no problem, if only it could be shown that Saddam Hussein was implicated in the 11 September attacks. Most Americans thought he was. A poll for the Washington Post, taken in September 2003, six months after Saddam's overthrow, showed that 69 per cent thought it likely that he was implicated. The American public took their cue from the top. None of the hijackers who carried out the 11 September attacks was Iraqi: they were all from Egypt or Saudi Arabia, but in autumn 2001, a story emerged that their leader, Mohammed Atta, had met an Iraqi intelligence agent in Prague. That was proof enough for Dick Cheney, who declared on CNN in December that it was pretty well confirmed that the Iraq government had colluded with al-Qaeda.

9/11 terror attacks in New York (Getty)

Tony Blair was also partly sold on this strange story of collusion between fundamentalist Sunni religious fanatics and with the Iraqi Ba'ath party, a secular organisation ruling a predominantly Shia nation. We do not know of evidence linking Iraq to al-Qaeda in circumstances concerning the 11 September attack. However... we do know of links between al-Qaeda and Iraq, he told the Commons in January 2003.

But this was wishful thinking. Richard Clarke, who at the time was US National Co-ordinator for Security and Counter-Terrorism, admitted in his memoirs that after the World Trade Centre was bombed by al-Qaeda in 1993, I wanted the World Trade Centre attack to be an Iraqi operation so we could justify re-opening the war with Iraq - but there was no good evidence leading to Baghdad's culpability.

The same mind-set evidently took hold in Washington and in Downing Street in 2001, but no matter how they wished it, these links did not provide a credible cause for war.

Nonetheless, Saddam Hussein was the only dictator in the world with a proven record for using poison gas against his own people. His was also the only regime known to have tried to build a super gun capable of hitting targets 600 miles away. (Its designer, Canadian artillery expert Gerald Bull, was murdered in Brussels in 1990.) There was also evidence that the Iraqis had tried to develop a nuclear bomb. As part of the terms imposed on a defeated Iraq in 1991, the UN Security Council had ordered Iraq to destroy or render harmless all its weapons of mass destruction (WMDs), under UN supervision. Inspectors had gone in, and large quantities of WMDs were destroyed. In March 1995, the Iraqi government delivered its Full, Final and Complete Disclosure of all its weapons, and demanded in return an end to sanctions imposed after the Gulf War.

Then the poisonous rivalries within Saddam Hussein's own family exploded in open conflict, and his two sons-in-law arrived in Jordan, demanding sanctuary. One of them revealed to the Swedish head of the inspections team, Rolf Edeus, the ruses that the government had used to deceive the inspectors and conceal their WMDs. (Both sons-in-law later made the strange decision to go back to Baghdad, where they were murdered.)

So when, by 2002, the Iraqis were claiming that they really had disposed of all their WMDs, neither Bush nor Blair was prepared to take the word of a dictator who had lied on this subject in the past. The accumulation of weapons of mass destruction by Iraq poses a threat, a threat not just to the region but to the wider world, and I think George Bush was absolutely right to raise it, Blair told the Australian Broadcasting Company in February 2002.

UN weapons insepctor Hans Blix

After the Crawford summit, British intelligence and the diplomatic corps knew what they had to do - they had to persuade the UN Security Council to issue an ultimatum that put the onus on Saddam Hussein to prove that his country held no WMDs, with the implied threat that if he failed, military action would follow. To do that, they needed to put together a credible case for believing that there were still WMDs in Iraq.

The diplomatic half of this mission was a startling success. On 8 November 2002, the UN Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 1441, which gave the Iraq government a final opportunity to comply with its disarmament obligations. Though it did not specify what would happen if Iraq failed to comply, or who would make that judgement, getting the resolution adopted was all the same a considerable achievement.

Negotiations on resolution 1441 were long and intensive, Jack Straw told MPs. It was some eight weeks in gestation, and that period was one of unrelenting high-level diplomatic contacts. The Prime Minister made frequent telephone calls to President Bush, and spoke regularly to other heads of government...but the success of that diplomatic activity owes much to the expertise and professionalism of many British diplomats and officials.

The problems were in the other half of the mission, when it came to producing evidence that Iraq still held WMDs. This takes us into one of the most contentious questions of the whole Iraq debacle - did Tony Blair lie when he claimed that there were WMDs still in Iraq? Over the years, the suspicion that he did has hardened into certainty. To many people the entire case against the war is encapsulated in the two words: Blair lied. To doubt that he lied is to be an apologist for war.

The International Criminal Court has said it won't investigate Tony Blair's role in starting a war with Iraq (Getty)

Yet in order to have lied, Blair would have had to have known that Saddam Hussein really had ordered the destruction of Iraq's stockpile of illegal weapons. Since he could not trust the Iraqi authorities to tell the truth, British intelligence or the CIA would have needed reliable informants inside Iraq. But the intelligence services had no network to speak of within that tightly ruled country, where the death penalty was routinely applied to anyone even suspected of spying. Consequently, the spooks relied heavily on Iraqi exiles, whose only chance of ever seeing their homeland again was if Saddam Hussein was removed by foreign intervention -a powerful motive for feeding Western intelligence exactly the information that could be passed on to political leaders who, like Richard Clarke in 1993, wanted to believe the worst of Saddam Hussein because they wanted to go to war.

Out of this circle of deception and self-deception came the formal document that is sometimes referred to as the dodgy dossier. To avoid confusion, it should be said that there were two dossiers that were called dodgy The second, the February dossier, more widely known as dodgy, was of no great consequence: it was a briefing document put together for the benefit of correspondents from Sunday newspapers who accompanied Blair on a trip to Washington early in 2003, which included details of Iraq's apparatus of repression that turned out to have been plagiarised from the internet. The number of people who received original copies of the February dossier could be counted on one hand. (I was one: sadly my copy, signed by a Downing Street spin doctor, has been lost).

The dodgy dossier that mattered was the one presented to Parliament on 24 September 2002 by Tony Blair, who told MPs that it proved that the weapons of mass destruction programme is not shut down; it is up and running now.

It concludes, he added, that Iraq has chemical and biological weapons, that Saddam has continued to produce them, that he has existing and active military plans for the use of chemical and biological weapons, which could be activated within 45 minutes, including against his own Shia population, and that he is actively trying to acquire nuclear weapons capability.

But just as the Prime Minister could not know for certain that there were no WMDs left in Iraq, neither could he have known that there were any. He was not lying. He was presenting to Parliament a series of guesses made by the intelligence services - but he dressed them up as if they were hard facts backed by solid intelligence. He did not mention Cyprus in his speech, but the accompanying document included the assertion that Iraq possesses extended-range versions of the SCUD ballistic missile ...which are capable of reaching Cyprus.

Alastair Campbell leaves Downing Street in 2003 (Getty)

45 MINUTES FROM ATTACK  Dossier reveals Saddam is ready to launch chemical war strikes was the headline on that days London Evening Standard front page, the second sentence of which warned that Saddam is developing missiles that could reach British military bases in Cyprus. The obvious inference was that the Iraq regime was so heavily armed that it would take them only 45 minutes' preparation to start killing British soldiers. This would have been misleading even if everything that was in the dossier and the Prime Minister's speech had been accurate, because a weapon with the range of a Scud missile cannot be activated in 45 minutes (while those that could be were for internal, short-range use only). Government officials knew that, but did not correct the error.

When the Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon was asked during the subsequent Hutton inquiry why not, he replied: I have spent many years trying to persuade newspapers and journalists to correct their stories. I have to say it is an extraordinarily time-consuming and generally frustrating process. In other words, if journalists misinterpreted what was in the document that was their fault. Hard-pressed ministers and officials could not be expected to spend precious time correcting them.

In this case, of course, the misunderstanding perfectly suited the government's purpose. A Mori poll taken in the following days showed that 54 per cent of respondents said that the dossier had convinced them that Iraq was a threat to world peace, though 48 per cent still opposed military action. Another poll, in that weekend's Sunday Times, showed that 33 per cent thought the US and the UK should go straight ahead and attack Iraq. Almost twice that number said they would support action if it was authorised by the United Nations.

Tony Blair with British soldiers in Basra during the Iraq War (Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire/Press Association Images)

Meanwhile, the war's opponents were getting organised. Within Parliament, opposition was muted, because the Conservative leader, Iain Duncan Smith, was as committed as the Prime Minister to backing the US. But the Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy and foreign affairs spokesman Menzies Campbell rushed back to Parliament from their party conference in Brighton on 24 September to warn that they were never going to support military action that was not sanctioned by the UN. Those of us who have never subscribed to British unilateralism are not about to sign up to American unilateralism now, Kennedy announced.

Outside Parliament, a fringe organisation called the Stop the War Coalition, dominated by an unusual mix of left-wing hardliners, was on the verge of assuming unprecedented importance. They organised an anti-war rally in Hyde Park on Saturday 28 September, with Tony Benn and Ken Livingstone among the speakers. It proved to be the biggest demonstration in London since the campaign against the poll tax, 12 years earlier. The police put the number at 150,000; the organisers claimed 350,000, including 100,000 Muslims.

After that drama there was a period of deceptive quiet. The Iraqis responded to UN resolution 1441 by allowing a team of weapons inspectors headed by Hans Blix into the country. On 7 December - the very day that the New York Times reported that the US would have assembled enough manpower and military kit in the Gulf to launch an invasion in January - the inspectors were handed a 12,000-page declaration asserting that there were no WMDs left in Iraq. The White House said that the document would have to be analysed to see if it was credible. On the same day, Saddam Hussein belatedly apologised to Kuwait for invading their country in 1990, a gesture which did not impress Kuwait's rulers.

By February, the Iraqis' claims and the weapons inspectors' visits had all become academic. Having built up a force in the Gulf big enough to overrun Iraq, President Bush had no intention of standing it down. Similarly, with the British invasion force also in position, Blair was not going to renege on his promise to stand shoulder to shoulder with the USA. All that remained was to see how many other governments could be persuaded to endorse what had, in effect, already been decided.

On the home front, Tony Blair had been engaged in what Alastair Campbell described as the masochism strategy, by putting himself in front of those groups of people who were going to be hardest to persuade to support the war. It included, for instance, lunch with the senior executives and journalists of the Independent and Independent on Sunday, at the end of which Campbell was invited to go around the table and guess which of those present were for or against the war. He learnt that the newspapers' then proprietor, Tony O'Reilly, his wife, the company's chief executive, and the managing director all supported the war, but every journalist present was against.

Blair also put himself in front of hostile or sceptical television audiences. Repeatedly, the message came back that an invasion launched without the clear support of the UN Security Council was going to meet serious opposition - whereas if the US and UK could secure a second UN resolution authorising war, a substantial part of the opposition would melt away.

Blair continually held out the possibility that that might happen, but it was a chimera. Europe was no longer united. While Spain's Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar was signed up for war, Chirac and Schroder were not. Since France was a permanent member of the UN Security Council, Paris's opposition ruled out any prospect of a UN-backed invasion. Bush and Blair were left having to argue that Iraq had not complied with resolution 1441, and that the only way to uphold the authority of the UN was to attack Iraq, whether the UN agreed or not.

Outside Parliament, the Stop the War coalition called a march and demonstration on Saturday 15 February, which proved to be the biggest that London had ever witnessed. By one estimate, the crowd numbered two million. On the same day, the streets of New York, San Francisco, Barcelona, Auckland, Vancouver and other cities were filled with protesters.

In Parliament, Charles Kennedy had acted as the principal voice of opposition, earning the contempt of Winston Churchill's grandson, the Tory MP Nicholas Soames, who described his insistence on a second UN resolution as the best impression that I've heard of Neville Chamberlain in many, many years. The Liberal Democrats would harvest a reward for their opposition: at the following general election the number of Lib Dem MPs rose by 10, to 62, the biggest contingent of third party MPs since the collapse of the Liberal Party in the 1930s.

Within the Cabinet, two ministers were becoming more and more disengaged. Robin Cook was the more decisive, but Clare Short, the International Development Secretary, was the first to break cover. She volunteered to go on the BBC's Westminster Hour on 9 March, to announce that she would resign if the UK went to war without a second UN resolution. Blair was furious. This is disgusting, totally disgusting, he told Alastair Campbell. He considered sacking her, but decided not to, which proved to be an adroit move.

Baghdad burns during an early bombing campaign of the Iraq War (REUTERS) (Reuters)

There was also the problem with the civil service. Much to Blair's annoyance, the Cabinet Secretary, Andrew Turnbull, was insisting that he must have something which he could circulate around the civil service to assure them that there was legal justification for war. The Attorney General, Peter Goldsmith, drew up a long legal opinion about whether resolution 1441 was justification for war. Goldsmith did not want to create problems for Blair, but the lawyer in him had doubts, and the conclusion he came to was ambiguous.

On 11 March, Blair told Goldsmith bluntly that he did not want a detailed discussion in which the Government's leading law officer was prevaricating over the legalities. He feared that Robin Cook and Clare Short would seize on any comment the Attorney General made that implied that they might be engaged in an illegal war. That problem mysteriously resolved itself when Goldsmith had another think, and decided that the impending war was indisputably legal. He told the Chilcot inquiry later that he had changed his mind after talking with US lawyers.

When the Cabinet met on the afternoon of 17 March to hear Goldsmith's revised opinion, Robin Cook was not there. He had handed in his resignation a few minutes earlier, and had slipped out of Downing Street through a side door, much to the discombobulation of Clare Short, who was still making up her mind. That evening, Cook announced in the Commons, to applause, that with a heavy heart, I resign from the Government.

The following day, Tony Blair took the unprecedented step of going before Parliament to seek approval for going to war. This was a first in British history. In previous conflicts, the Prime Minister or the monarch had declared war first and reported to Parliament afterwards. Blair could afford a Commons vote despite the spreading opposition on the Labour back benches, because he knew that the Conservatives would back him. He won the final vote by 412 to 149. The only ministers to join Robin Cook in resigning were John Denham, in the Home Office, and Lord Hunt, a junior health minister. Despite the threats she had made, Short voted with the Government and stayed in her job. She resigned the following May.

Blair also needed Parliament's support because of the mood in the country, which Cook had summed up as: They do not doubt that Saddam is a brutal dictator, but they are not persuaded that he is a clear and present danger to Britain.
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Tony Blair could be tried for war crimes in the Scottish courts, Alex Salmond has suggested.

The former First Minister insisted Mr Blair must face a "judicial or political reckoning" when the 2.6 million word Chilcot report is published on Wednesday.

"The domestic courts, at least in England, have chosen not to pursue crimes which were international," Mr Salmond told the Herald Scotland. "Incidentally, that has not been tested in Scotland."

 Blair hints he could reject the findings of the Chilcot inquiry

He added: "One way or another, there are many MPs across the political parties, who are absolutely determined, that account has to be held to."

You cannot have a situation where this country blunders into an illegal war with the appalling consequences and at the end of the day there isn't a reckoning. There has to be a judicial or political reckoning for it."

The Iraq Inquiry, set up by former Prime Minister Gordon Brown in June 2009 to look into the run-up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq, is expected to "damage the reputations" of a number of high-ranking Government officials.

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It will be based on the testimony of more than 150 witnesses, who contributed to more than 130 sessiosn of oral evidence. It also incorporates the results of an examination of 150,000 Government documents

Earlier this year, Mr Salmond said the report will show Mr Blair committed to the invasion of Iraq in private with President George Bush before 2003.

He said: If, as I believe... Chilcot finds that there was a prior commitment from Blair to Bush at Crawford ranch [Bushs Texas home] in 2002, that would provide the reason for pursuing the matter further.
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Tony Blair "really believed" that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction, but exaggerated the reliability of the intelligence relating to them, Lord Butler has said, ahead of the publication of the Chilcot Report into the run-up, conduct and aftermath of the Iraq War.

Reiterating the findings of his 2004 report, Lord Butler said that he did not think Mr Blair had lied over the WMD threat that Saddam posed. However, in his fervour to persuade the United Nations of the legal case for war he gave too much credence to secret intelligence that was sporadic and patchy, the former Cabinet Secretary said.

Lord Butler, whose report one year after the invasion cast doubt on the intelligence used by Mr Blair to argue for war, told BBC Radio 4s Today programme that the former Prime Minister nevertheless really believed that Saddam did have WMD, and that this was a view shared by intelligence agencies around the world.

The most iconic images from the war in Iraq Show all 20 1 /20 The most iconic images from the war in Iraq The most iconic images from the war in Iraq U.S. Navy Hospital Corpsman HM1 Richard Barnett, assigned to the 1st Marine Division, holds an Iraqi child in central Iraq, March 29, 2003 Reuters The most iconic images from the war in Iraq An explosion rocks Baghdad during air strikes March 21, 2003 Reuters The most iconic images from the war in Iraq An Iraqi woman watches U.N. weapons inspectors leave Saddam airport in Baghdad March 18, 2003 Reuters The most iconic images from the war in Iraq An Iraqi girl holds her sister as she waits for her mother (R) to bring over food bought in Basra March 29, 2003 Reuters The most iconic images from the war in Iraq U.S. Marine Corp Assaultman Kirk Dalrymple watches as a statue of Iraq's President Saddam Hussein falls in central Baghdad's Firdaus Square, April 9, 2003 Reuters The most iconic images from the war in Iraq US Marines kick in a door while securing a building next to the main hospital in central Baghdad April 15, 2003 Reuters The most iconic images from the war in Iraq A soldier of U.S. Army's 4th Infantry Division (Task Force Ironhorse) searches through dense vegetation around the Diala river where Iraqi militants are hiding outside Baquba early November 13, 2003 Reuters The most iconic images from the war in Iraq An Iraqi detainee gestures toward U.S. soldiers through bars of his cell at Abu Ghraib prison outside Baghdad May 17, 2004 Reuters The most iconic images from the war in Iraq Mays, a young Iraqi Shi'ite girl, cries after a mortar shell which landed outside the family's home in a Najaf residential area injured her uncle August 18, 2004 Reuters The most iconic images from the war in Iraq U.S. Marines carry an injured colleague to a helicopter near the city of Falluja, November 10, 2004 Reuters The most iconic images from the war in Iraq An Iraqi man suspected of having explosives in his car is held after being arrested by the U.S army near Baquba, Iraq, October 15, 2005 Reuters The most iconic images from the war in Iraq A wounded Iraqi woman is helped after several bomb attacks in central Baghdad, July 27, 2006 Reuters The most iconic images from the war in Iraq A man runs down a street warning people to flee shortly after a twin car bomb attack at Shorja market in Baghdad, February 12, 2007 Reuters The most iconic images from the war in Iraq An Iraqi girl holds her hands up while U.S. and Iraqi soldiers search her family house in Baquba early June 30, 2007 Reuters The most iconic images from the war in Iraq An Iraqi woman tries to explain that she has nothing to do with illegal fuel as soldiers from the 2nd battalion, 32nd Field Artillery brigade patrol search for illegal fuel sellers in Baghdad August 6, 2007 Reuters The most iconic images from the war in Iraq U.S. President George W. Bush (L) walks in front of Humvees with Defense Secretary Robert Gates (C) and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice following remarks to the press after nightfall at Al-Asad airbase in Anbar Province September 3, 2007 Reuters The most iconic images from the war in Iraq U.S. soldiers blindfold an Iraqi man after arresting him during a night patrol at the Zafraniya neighborhood, southeast of Baghdad September 4, 2007 Reuters The most iconic images from the war in Iraq An Iraqi baby lies in a cradle while a woman argues with U.S. soldiers of 1/8 Bravo Company searching for weapons, explosives and information about militants in the area during a foot patrol in a neighbourhood of Mosul June 26, 2008 Reuters The most iconic images from the war in Iraq Policemen cry during a funeral of their colleague a day after a bomb attack in Baghdad's Jihad district November 3, 2010 Reuters The most iconic images from the war in Iraq Staff Sgt. Keith Fidler kisses his wife Cynthia, as their son Kolin looks on, during a homecoming ceremony in New York, April 8, 2011 for the New York Army National Guard's 442nd Military Police Company's return from Iraq Reuters

He wanted to be in helping the United States because he thought that Saddam Hussein was a dangerous person to the world and to the Middle East and that the world would be better off without him, Lord Butler said.

My criticism of him was about the way he reported the intelligence. He exaggerated the reliability of the intelligenceI wouldnt say deliberatelyhe was trying to persuade the United Nations and the world that there was a proper legal basis for taking military action against Iraq.

"In fact, of course, the Joint Intelligence Committee had said to him that the intelligence was sporadic and patchy. He said to the House of Commons that it was extensive, detailed and authoritative. That was where the inconsistency lay. I dont call that lie. He may well have thought himself that it was extensive, detailed and authoritative.

The report of Sir John Chilcots Iraq Inquiry, which is far broader in its remit than Lord Butlers inquiry, will finally be published on Wednesday, 13 years after the war began. While Lord Butlers report shed light on the intelligence failings underlying the decision to go to war, Sir Johns will also assess the political decisions that were taken in the build-up to war, and is also expected to be highly critical of British and American failings in their preparation for the aftermath of the war, which saw Iraq collapse into a bloody civil war that fostered the rise of ISIS and other extremist groups.

Lord Butler repeated his view that Tony Blair was right not to resign as Prime Minister over his alleged exaggerations of the intelligence on Saddams WMD.

I think he really believed that what he was doing was right, Lord Butler said. In the great speech he made to the House of Commons on the eve of the invasion he didnt really rely on the intelligence about weapons of mass destruction. He relied on another argument which was: if we dont take action now, and in ten years time Saddam Hussein is still a power in the Middle East armed with a nuclear weapon would we forgive ourselves.

Senior Labour and SNP figures have said they may seek legal action against Mr Blair if the former Prime Minister is severely criticised by the Chilcot Report. Mr Blair has said he will await the findings of the report before commenting publicly.
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By an accident of history, the Chilcot inquiry on the Iraq War is appearing at a critical moment in British history. The war was the first great test this century of the ability of the British powers-that-be to govern intelligently and successfully and one which they demonstrably failed. The crisis provoked by the vote to leave the European Union is the next crisis of similar gravity faced by these same powers and, once again, they appear unable to cope.

Follow our latest updates on the Chilcot report

Britains politicians and senior officials have traditionally had the reputation of making fewer mistakes than their rivals, but their inability to grapple with these crises is a sign that this period may be drawing to an end. The Chilcot report will presumably provide evidence about why Britain made so many mistakes before and during the Iraq war, but is unlikely to explain why it went on making them in Libya and Syria.

Britains rulers periodically admit that they got many things wrong in Iraq, but they tend to be unspecific about what these were or what practical lessons can be learned from British military involvement there between 2003 and 2009. This ignorance is wilful, stemming from a conscious or unconscious sense that, if Britain admits to real weaknesses and failures, it will be seen as a less valuable ally by the US and others whom Britain is trying to convince of its continuing political and military strength.

Recommended Read more A behind the scenes look at how Tony Blair took Britain to war in Iraq

One way of looking at the Iraq conflict is to see it as a disastrous attempt by Britain to make war on the cheap in conditions which were far more risky than those launching it imagined. To prevent fragile support for the war eroding further, bad news was concealed or glossed over to the point that propaganda took over from reality

It was comical but chilling in the early years of the war to see Tony Blair and other British ministers, sometimes protected by helmets and body armour, travelling by helicopter from Baghdad International Airport to the Green Zone because it was too dangerous for them to drive along the short stretch of road between the two. Despite the necessity for these security measures in the heart of the Iraqi capital, they would then blithely state that the insurgents were on the run and a majority of Iraqi provinces at peace, a claim they wisely made no attempt to validate by a personal visit and in the knowledge that journalists could not disprove without grave risk of being murdered.

The key players in the Iraq War Show all 11 1 /11 The key players in the Iraq War The key players in the Iraq War Jack Straw Jack Straw was the UK foreign secretary at the time of the Iraq invasion, and fully endorsed the decision Getty The key players in the Iraq War Geoff Hoon Geoff Hoon was Tony Blairs defence secretary from October 1999 to May 2005 Getty Images The key players in the Iraq War Alastair Campbell Alastair Campbell was involved in the drafting of two Downing Street dossiers on the war, in September 2002 and in February 2003 Getty The key players in the Iraq War John Scarlett John Scarlett was chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee at the time of the 2003 invasion Getty Images The key players in the Iraq War Peter Goldsmith Peter Goldsmith was Mr Blairs attorney general from 2001 to 2007 AFP/Getty Images The key players in the Iraq War Condoleezza Rice Condoleezza Rice was named as National Security Advisor to George W Bush in 2000, becoming the first woman to occupy the post, and argued publicly in favour of the 2003 invasion Getty Images The key players in the Iraq War Colin Powell Colin Powell was Secretary of State from 2001 to 2005 Getty Images for TIME The key players in the Iraq War Tommy Franks Tommy Franks was the leading US general at the start of the Iraq war The key players in the Iraq War Dick Cheney Dick Cheney was George W Bushs vice president from 2001 to 2009 Getty Images The key players in the Iraq War Paul Bremer Paul Bremer ran Iraq for 14 months after the invasion, appointed Bushs Presidential Envoy in charge of the occupying forces Getty Images The key players in the Iraq War Hans Blix Hans Blix was the UN weapons inspector tasked with monitoring Iraq from 2002 to 2003 Getty Images

Within a year of the invasion, the US and Britain controlled only beleaguered islands of territory which were under constant attack. The British Army, its forces far too small for the task they had been given, failed to control Basra in southern Iraq and by the end was humiliatingly confined to a camp on its outskirts. Many of the British soldiers there were transferred to an equally messy, unwinnable and ill-understood conflict in Helmand province in Afghanistan in 2006 with predictably grim and bloody consequences.

A British military band performs during a handover ceremony in March 2009 (GETTY)

These failures should have given pause to anybody in authority in Britain plunging into foreign ventures which destabilised established states with no idea of what would replace them. Nevertheless, in 2011 David Cameron and Nicolas Sarkozy did not hesitate to lead the charge in overthrowing Muammar Gaddafi in a war which turned Libya into a battleground for rival warlords and opened the door for a flood of desperate migrants trying to cross the Mediterranean from Libya to Italy.

 What is the Chilcot Inquiry?

In Syria, British policy was for long predicated on the expectation that Bashar al-Assad was about to fall, though it should have been self-evident that this was not going to happen since he held most of the populated areas of the country and was backed by Russia and Iran. In 2012, just as Isis was establishing Al Nusra as its Syrian branch, senior British diplomats were saying in private that they believed that fears of the Syrian conflict spreading were much exaggerated.

The following year David Cameron favoured Britain undertaking airstrikes against Syrian government forces, though this would have either been ineffective or, if President Bashar al-Assad had fallen, would have led to him being replaced by extreme Islamists since they dominated the armed opposition.

The change in policy was fortunately turned down by the House of Commons which had taken on board the dangers involved in such ventures. But the government still seemed to be plugged into a fantasy picture of the Syrian war when last December it began airstrikes against the Islamic State in Syria, though once again the forces involved were so limited as to make it little more than a symbolic gesture. In order to avoid having to choose between Assad and IS, Mr Cameron claimed that we are acting in support of 70,000 moderate Syrian fighters prepared to take on both Syrian government forces and Islamic fundamentalists, but whose location cannot be disclosed and whose very existence is in doubt.

The Iraq war was militarily small compared to others fought by Britain over the last century. British forces lost just 179 dead in action in Iraq between 2003 and 2009 compared to 455 fatalities in Afghanistan between 2001 and 2015, both figures being entirely dwarfed by the horrendous figure of 40,000 dead for British and Indian soldiers killed fighting in what later became Iraq between 1914 and 1918.

The coffin of Gunner Lee Thornton from 12 Regiment Royal Artillery arrives at RAF Brize Norton Airfield in September 14, 2006 (GETTY)

But the political impact of the Iraq war in Britain and the US was serious, long-lasting and far outweighed its significance as an armed conflict. It permanently blasted the reputation of Tony Blair, though he won one more general election in 2006, and Barack Obamas vote in the Senate against the war was a decisive advantage for him in competing with Hillary Clinton in the race to be Democratic presidential candidate in 2008.

In all wars propagandists get free range, but a distinctive feature of the Iraq war saw the blatancy and mendacity of official attempts to manipulate American and British public opinion which were probably worse than anything seen in either country since the First World War.

The US and Britain justified going to war in Iraq in 2003 by claiming that Saddam Hussein was a threat to the world because he possessed weapons of mass destruction (WMD). It swiftly emerged that this was untrue and evidence for the charge had been fabricated or taken at face value when all the indications were that it was false. A further justification for the war was regime change on the grounds that Saddam was an evil dictator and mass murderer and his overthrow could only benefit of the Iraqi people.

The aftermath of Sunday's bombing (AFP/Getty Images)

Bad Saddam certainly was and it is impossible to know the course of events if there had been no invasion, but his fall was followed by 13 years of horrific war in which hundreds of thousands of Iraqis have been killed and millions more permanently expelled from their homes. Early last Sunday morning a vehicle packed with explosives blew up in the Karada district of Baghdad, killing 165 people, many of them of them children, as they walked in the street at the end of the days Ramadan fast. The atrocity was claimed by Islamic State, whose murderous targeting of civilians is comparable with the Nazis in the Second World War, and whose rise owes everything to the sectarian civil war in Iraq which followed the invasion and occupation.

Chilcot may not produce explosive revelations about how the war was conceived or the degree of culpability of Tony Blair and those around him. Most of what happened is fairly clear or could be guessed at the time. Those who doubt this should read Robin Cooks resignation speech in the House of Commons in March 2003 explaining his opposition to the war which was about to begin, in which he says that Iraq probably has no weapons of mass destruction in the commonly understood sense of the term  namely credible device capable of being delivered against a strategic city target.

He points out the contradiction between an invasion strategy that was based on the assumption that Saddam was militarily weak and incapable of putting up much resistance, but at the same time a government policy justifying its pre-emptive action against Iraq by claiming that it was potent threat to the world.

In the aftermath of the invasion there have been many conspiracy theories about how and why it began, but the main contours of what happened have been long established and are damning enough in themselves. The most interesting part of the Chilcot report will not be to discover how the British and American governments deceived others, but how and why they deceived themselves and with such disastrous consequences.
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The phrase Im not racist, but could have been invented for Nigel Farage, a Conservative MP has claimed.

Damian Green, a former Conservative immigration minister, made the comment on the Daily Politics show following the announcement Mr Farage is stepping down as the leader of Ukip.

Mr Green said he was not accusing Mr Farage of being racist, but said: "The phrase, 'I'm not racist, but...' could be invented for some of the things Nigel Farage has done in politics," adding: "He encourages feelings that are unhelpful and destructive, and that's what he's always done for his political career".

Mr Farage was widely criticised for the Vote Leave Breaking Point poster that showed a queue of hundreds of refugees, using the headline the EU has failed us all.

Chancellor George Osborne called the poster disgusting and vile while SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon called it disgusting, but Mr Farage refused to apologise for its content, stating: I cant apologise for the truth.

Just two weeks after the UK voted to leave the European Union, Mr Farage, a leading voice in the Vote Leave campaign, said he couldnt possibly achieve more and the victory for the Leave side in the referendum means that my political ambition has been achieved.

Mr Farage has previously quit the party's leadership in 2009, before becoming re-elected to the position a year later.

Last year he resigned the leadership after failing to become an MP in the contest for the South Thanet seat, but withdrew his resignation after four days. On Monday he said: I wont be changing my mind again, I assure you.

Commenting on Mr Farages decision to step down, Mr Green said on the programme: Im glad hes leaving frontline politics. I think its probably good for politics in this country.
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Tom Watson is to hold emergency talks with trade union leaders after a fresh attempt to persuade Jeremy Corbyn to step down failed.

At a one-to-one meeting at Westminster, Mr Watson told Mr Corbyn he could not carry on as party leader without the backing of the party's MPs who voted in favour of a vote of no confidence in him, Labour sources said.

Mr Corbyn was said to have responded by making clear he had no intention of leaving.

Sources said union leaders had "reached out" to Mr Watson to see if they could find a negotiated settlement, with talks expected to take place on Tuesday morning.

At the weekly meeting of the Parliamentary Labour Party at Westminster, Mr Watson told MPs: "It is the last throw of the dice."

Union leaders, who are the biggest donors to the party, have been significant backers of Mr Corbyn as leader since his election last September.

Unite leader Len McCluskey reconfirmed his support for him during an interview with Andrew Marr on Sunday. He said: "This has been a political lynching of a decent man  undermined, humiliated, attacked in order to push him out.

Dave Brown on Jeremy Corbyn Show all 12 1 /12 Dave Brown on Jeremy Corbyn Dave Brown on Jeremy Corbyn Dave Brown on Jeremy Corbyn Dave Brown on Jeremy Corbyn Dave Brown on Jeremy Corbyn Dave Brown on Jeremy Corbyn Corbyn's reshuffle Dave Brown on Jeremy Corbyn Corbyn and the Syria bombing vote Dave Brown on Jeremy Corbyn Corbyn asks questions from the public at PMQs, meanwhile backbenchers plot to oust him Dave Brown on Jeremy Corbyn Corbyn is unavailable to attend the Privy Council Dave Brown on Jeremy Corbyn Conference rejects Corbyns call to debate Trident Dave Brown on Jeremy Corbyn At Labour conference Corbyn and McDonnell press for a Robin Hood tax Dave Brown on Jeremy Corbyn Corbyns hopes for a new politics look optimistic in the face of a media barrage Dave Brown on Jeremy Corbyn Corbyn enters Labour leadership race

"The truth is, its failed  the coup has failed. Jeremy Corbyn is made of sterner stuff. He is a man of steel who has made it clear that he will not step down."

On Sunday, sources close to Mr Corbyn said they had blocked Mr Watson from speaking to him because they had a "duty of care" towards him.

The unnamed source told the Observer Mr Watson's aides want him alone with the embattled leader so "he can jab his finger at him".

"We are not letting that happen This is not a one-off. There is a culture of bullying. Maybe its a Blairite/Brownite thing", the source added.

It follows a day in which Mr Corbyn issued a defiant video message to his MPs saying he will continue as leader.

He called on party members, MPs and trade unions to "come together now to oppose this Tory government".

Momentum, the grassroots organisation set up to support Mr Corbyn in the wake of his victory, announced on Monday that it had doubled its membership in the week since MPs first challenged their leader.

The group said more than 25,000 people had taken part in pro-Corbyn demonstrations in recent days and they are receiving 11,000 a day in donations to fight any leadership challenge.

Angela Eagle has said she will formally challenge Mr Corbyn for the leadership if he does not step down in the next few days (Rex)

Mr Corbyn's shadow business secretary Angela Eagle has announced she will challenge Mr Corbyn for the leadership if he refused to stand down in the coming days.

He lost a vote of "no confidence" cast by Labour MPs in secret ballot last week by a margin of 172-40.

Another high profile MP stood down on Monday, Fabian Hamilton, the party's new shadow Europe minister and one of the most senior Jewish MPs on the front bench who had abstained in the vote last week.

The Leeds North East MP said he was troubled by Mr Corbyn's response to the party's anti-Semitism inquiry and the treatment of Labour MP Ruth Smeeth.
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Alex Salmond has appeared to suggest the internal Labour party coup against Jeremy Corbyn is connected with the publication of the long-awaited Chilcot report into the Iraq war.

His comments come just three days before the publication of the inquiry into the 2003 Iraq war. Earlier reports have suggested Mr Blair, the former Prime Minister, and his contemporaries will be savaged in an absolutely brutal verdict.

In an article for the Herald, the former Scottish First Minister wrote: It would be a mistake to believe that Chilcot and current events are entirely unconnected. The link is through the Labour Party

I have been puzzling as to exactly why the Parliamentary Labour Party chose this moment to launch their coup against Jeremy Corbyn and just what explains the desperation to get him out last week. It can hardly be because of a European referendum where [Mr] Corbyns campaigning, although less than energetic, was arguably more visible than that of say the likely big political winner Teresa May?

He added: I had a conversation on exactly this point with veteran Labour firebrand Dennis Skinner. He answered in one word Iraq. The Skinner line is that the coup was timed to avoid Corbyn calling for Blairs head next Wednesday from the despatch box. Indeed many would say that when Corbyn stated that he would be prepared to see a former Labour Prime Minister tried for war crimes then he sealed his fate as leader of the Labour party.

Tony Blair: A career of controversies Show all 11 1 /11 Tony Blair: A career of controversies Tony Blair: A career of controversies The Tony Blair 'selfie'.. A journalist takes a picture of Kennard Phillips 'Photo Op', depicting Prime Minister Tony Blair taking a 'selfie' in front of an explosion in Iraq, during a press viewing of the exhibition Catalyst: Contemporary Art and War Tony Blair: A career of controversies Protesters pictured outside the QEII Conference centre in London in 2011 as former British PM Tony Blair give his evidence in the Chilcot Iraq Inquiry Tony Blair: A career of controversies David Lawley-Wakelin, who disrupted Tony Blairs testimony at the Leveson Inquiry by bursting into the court Tony Blair: A career of controversies Blair giving evidence Tony Blair: A career of controversies Tony Blair visiting troops in Iraq in 2007 Tony Blair: A career of controversies Blair meeting with troops in Basra, Iraq in 2003 Tony Blair: A career of controversies Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair speaks to British soldiers at Divisional Headquaters in Basra, May 2007 Tony Blair: A career of controversies British Prime Minister Tony Blair eats dinner with British troops in Basra, Iraq, 21 December, 2004 Tony Blair: A career of controversies Syrian president Bashar El Assad during his official visit to the United Kingdom in 2002. Mr Blair tried to engage Mr Garcia in a conversation about Syria. The former Prime Minister made clear he was very much in favour of military intervention last summer. Tony Blair: A career of controversies Syrian president Bashar El Assad and wife Asma during their official visit to the United Kingdom in 2002. Mr Blair tried to engage Mr Garcia in a conversation about Syria Tony Blair: A career of controversies Former Prime Minister Tony Blair's signature adorns a program he signed for an Iraq veteran during a reception at the Guildhall in London following the service of commemoration at St Paul's Cathedral honouring UK military and civilian personnel who served in Iraq

In a separate recorded interview, Mr Salmond added: Im just wondering what has actually provoked it now. They are saying its the European result I thought he campaigned perfectly OK Im sort wondering  and I know some other people are  if this is not a bit connected with the Chilcot report next week.

By many indications there is going to be a damning indictment of Tony Blair and his warmongering. Most of the people that are currently gunning for [Mr] Corbyn were among [Mr] Blairs keenest supporters  so Im wondering whether this is a pre-emptive strike about the Chilcot report because obviously Jeremy Corbyn has indicated he supports Tony Blair being held to account, as he should be. So I think theres a bit more to this than meets the eye. Never seen anything quite like it in a parliamentary party.

The Inquiry, which was set up by former Prime Minister Gordon Brown in June 2009 to look into the run-up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq, will release its 2.6 million word report on Wednesday. It is expected to damage the reputations of a number of high-ranking officials.

Mr Salmond also told Sky News that there has to be a judicial or political reckoning for Mr Blair's role in the Iraq conflict.

 Blair hints he could reject the findings of the Chilcot inquiry

He seemed puzzled as to why Jeremy Corbyn thinks he is a war criminal, why people don't like him, he added. The reason is 179 British war dead, 150,000 immediate dead from the Iraq conflict, the Middle East in flames, the world faced with an existential crisis on terrorism - these are just some of the reasons perhaps he should understand why people don't hold him in the highest regard.

We are waiting to see Chilcot producing the evidence, which we believe is there, which will allow action to be taken.

One way or another there are many MPs, and this is not a party political thing, this is across the political parties, who are absolutely determined that account has to be held to, he continued.

[They believe] that you cannot have a situation where this country blunders into an illegal war with the appalling consequences and at the end of the day there isn't a reckoning. There has to be a judicial or political reckoning for that.
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A memorial to the former Labour leader Michael Foot has been vandalised with fascist graffiti and swear words.

The main tableau of the memorial in Plymouth had Nazi Swastikas and the names of far right groups "BNP" and "EDL" scrawled onto it.

Well known for his hard leftist political views, Foot served as the leader of the Labour Party from 1980 to 1983.

Luke Pollard, Labour Parliamentary candidate in Plymouth at the 2015 election, posted a picture of the vandalism on Facebook, saying: "Michael stood up against fascism and to see these symbols of hate on his memorial is sickening.

"I was proud to be one of the organisers of the appeal for a lasting memorial to Michael and I know from the tweets, messages and conversations how important it is to so many people in Plymouth.

"We live in toxic times which means it is even more important we stand up for what is right. Taking a stand against hate is in all of us. Nazi graffiti is unacceptable wherever it may be."

Michael Foot MP speaking at a podium in 1972 (Getty Images)

Mr Pollard called for anyone with knowledge of the perpetrators to notify the police.

The former Labour insider and press officer Alastair Campbell tweeted in response: "This is disgusting beyond belief. Michael was a great man and a good friend. This strikes at everything he stood for."

Mr Foot served 42 years in parliament, was editor of the Evening Standard aged only 28 , wrote a series of books and was a staunch nuclear disarmament activist.

UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 26 October 2022 A meerkat explores a pumpkin in the enclosure at Wild Place, Bristol, where some of the animals are having pumpkin treats as part of their environmental enrichment PA 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. 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City went on to win the match at Molineux Stadium three goals to nil. 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Parallels have been made between his leadership and that of Jeremy Corbyn as both were long-standing members of the left wing of the party and experienced crippling schisms and rebellions in the Parliamentary Labour Party.

During Foot's tenure, four senior Labour MPs known as the "Gang of Four" including Roy Jenkins left the party to form the Social Democratic Party.
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It was typically Faragian, in the moment of this, his hat-trick completing resignation as Ukip leader, for Nigel to cast himself as the Churchill of the hour.

I want my life back, he had said, cleverly quoting the exact words of ocean-blackening BP chairman Tony Hayward at the moment of the greatest public relations disaster in history, but Nigel Farage wasnt done there.

I mean, you know there will be a strong UKIP voice in the EU parliament during these re-negotiations, he said, allaying fears that Nigel soft power Farages Brussels charm offensive might have come to an end. If we see significant backsliding or weakness, or frankly appeasement from the British government we will certainly say so.

Even Boris Johnson realises that, having won the referendum (albeit by accident), the time for idly likening the European Union to the Third Reich might have been and gone. But thank goodness for Nigel, who wont stand for, frankly, appeasement as he continues to provide the cacophonous background music to his countrys self-inflicted implosion.

Churchillian Nigel. Eyes up for the gathering storm. In years from now, how well laugh at the little toilet books, on the Wicked Wit of Nigel Farage, full of manly bonhomie about not wanting to live next door to a Romanian, people speaking foreign on public transport and going out for a chinky.

There is an old Mitchell & Webb comedy sketch in which a worried soldier on a wall looks at the iron skulls on his lapels and asks his friend: Are we the baddies?

You do have to wonder whether such a light bulb moment of self doubt has ever for a second crept upon Farage. Whether, while playing the Great Escape theme tune at the very same moment as you release a new publicity poster that is absolutely identical to Nazi propaganda, there might briefly flicker a thought that, hang on, maybe were not the ones trying to escape here.

As Philip Hammond and Theresa May both play the lilting mood music of mass deportation, that the status of EU migrants in the UK cannot be guaranteed, there is Nigel, letting everyone know therell be no appeasement, no backsliding.

If, come 2020, such backsliding has occurred, watch this space, he said. Ukip will look for a new leader, but like all cults, it knows it cant have one. In Ukipland, Watch this space, means look at me.
The head of the Kachin Baptist Convention (KBC), Rev. Dr. Hkalam Samson and Father Dr. Gawlu Yung Wa a Kachin Catholic met with Mr. Tom Malinowski, Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor on 22 June.

During the meeting, the two Kachin Christian leaders talked about the incident and informed Malinowski about the Kachin communities concerns about the killing, according to the US based Kachin Alliances spokesperson NSang Gum San. Mr Malinowski previously worked at Human Rights Watch and has travelled to Burma extensively.

The two leaders also raised their concerns about the Burmese governments failure to take action in another high profile case, involving the the rape and murder of two Kachin voluntary teachers on the night of January 2015 15th at Kaung Khar village in the northern Shan State. Rights groups have implicated army troops in the teacher's killing but a proper investigation has not taken place.

Gum Seng Awng, a first-year student from Myitkyina Computer University, was shot to death by Private Maung Maung and Lance Corporal Nan Hee Khin Dan from the Tatmadaw Supply and Transport Battalion 717 at the corner of Thakhin Nat Pe Street and Thida Street in Thida ward in Myitkyina on the night of June 20th. The army has claimed the killing was in self-defense.

The body of Gum Seng Awng was buried at Jaw Bum Christian cemetery in Myitkyina at 1 PM on June 23rd. Activists and Kachin politicians including those from the Kachin State Democracy Party (KSDP) have called for justice in this case.

The famous Kachin Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fighter, Awng La NSang, has also changed his profile picture on Facebook in sign of solidarity. The profile picture now shows him with the phrase I am Gum Seng Awng written on his left hand.
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Douglas Carswell has ruled out a bid to become the next Ukip leader - and branded the outgoing Nigel Farage "electorally disastrous".

Shortly after Mr Farage announced his resignation, Mr Carswell responded by tweeting a smiling emoji wearing sunglasses causing outrage among some long-standing Ukip supporters.

Speaking on BBC's Daily Politics, the MP for Clacton strongly refuted any chance of running for leader. He also described Mr Farage's controversial campaign tactics and policies as "electorally disastrous"

He said: The chances of me becoming Ukip leader are somewhere between nil and zero.

My role is to steer Ukip away from the temptations of becoming an angry nativist party.

We went too far and I criticised it when we went too far and it's not just morally wrong, its electorally disastrous.

In recent months, his relationship with the Ukip leader has deteriorated significantly climaxing in the last days of the EU Referendum campaign.

He said: "This is a decent generous country. People have a legitimate right to feel a sense of anger with their politicians but the answer to that is not to play on peoples fear and anger but to promise the hope of something better and if we can do that, we can be part of a great change.

"I never want to be in a party where the Archbishop of Canterbury feels compelled to criticise some of the things that people say."

The MP for Clacton slammed the pro-leave "breaking point" poster unveiled among much controversy by Farage.

The poster shows Syrian refugees queuing to enter Slovenia alongside the messages "breaking point, the EU has failed us" and "we must break free of the EU and take back control of our borders"

Nigel Farage's most controversial moments Show all 12 1 /12 Nigel Farage's most controversial moments Nigel Farage's most controversial moments When he unveiled that 'breaking point' poster during the referendum Mr Farage was accused of deploying Nazi-style propaganda when he unveiled a poster showing Syrian refugees travelling to Europe under the next Breaking point. Users on social media were quick to compare the advert to a Nazi propaganda film with similar visuals and featuring Jewish refugees. The poster was particularly controversial because it was unveiled the morning of the killing of Labour MP Jo Cox Rex Nigel Farage's most controversial moments When he said hed be concerned if his neighbours were Romanian In May 2014 Mr Farage was accused of a racial slur against Romanians after he suggested he would be concerned living next to a house of them. I was asked if a group of Romanian men moved in next to you, would you be concerned? And if you lived in London, I think you would be, he told LBC radio during an interview. Asked whether he would also object to living next to German children, he said: You know the difference Bongarts/Getty Images Nigel Farage's most controversial moments When he said the EU campaign was won 'without a bullet being fired' Nigel Farage has said the next Prime Minister has to be a Leave supporter AFP/Getty Nigel Farage's most controversial moments When he resigned as Ukip leader and came back days later After failing to win the seat of South Thanet at the general election, Nigel Farage stepped down as Ukip leader  as he had promised to do during the campaign. Days later on 11 May he un-resigned and said he would stay after being convinced by supporters within the party. Well see how long his resignation lasts this time AP/Matt Dunham Nigel Farage's most controversial moments When he blamed immigrants for making him late Mr Farage turned up late to a 25-a-head meet the leader style event in Port Talbot, Wales in December 2014. Asked why he was late, he blamed immigrants. It took me six hours and 15 minutes to get here - it should have taken three-and-a-half to four, he said. That has nothing to do with professionalism, what it does have to do with is a country in which the population is going through the roof chiefly because of open-door immigration and the fact that the M4 is not as navigable as it used to be Getty Nigel Farage's most controversial moments When he wanted to ban immigrants with HIV from Britain Mr Farage has used his platform as Ukip leader call for people with HIV to be banned from coming to Britain. Asked in an interview with Newsweek Europe in October 2014 who he thought should be allowed to come to the UK, he said: People who do not have HIV, to be frank. Thats a good start. And people with a skill. He also repeated similar comments in the 2015 general election leadership debates Getty Nigel Farage's most controversial moments When he defended the use of a racial slur against Chinese people Defending one of Ukips candidates, who used the word ch**ky to describe a Chinese person, Mr Farage said: If you and your mates were going out for a Chinese, what do you say you're going for?" When he was told by the presented that he honestly would not use the slur, Mr Farage replied: A lot would Lintao Zhang/Getty Images Nigel Farage's most controversial moments When he said parts of Britain were like a foreign land The Ukip leader used his 2014 conference speech to declare parts of Britain as being like a foreign land. He told his audience in Torquay that parts of the country were unrecognisable because of the number of foreigners there. Mr Farage has also previously said he felt uncomfortable when people spoke other language on a train Screengrab Nigel Farage's most controversial moments When he said the British army should be deployed to France At the height of trouble at Britains Calais border Mr Farage proposed a novel solution. The Ukip leader called for the British army to be sent to France to put down a migrant rebellion. In all civil emergencies like this we have an army, we have a bit of a Territorial Army as well and we have a very, very overburdened police force and border agency, he said. If in a crisis to make sure weve actually got the manpower to check lorries coming in, to stop people illegally coming to Britain, if in those circumstances we can use the army or other forces then why not AFP/Getty Nigel Farage's most controversial moments When he said breastfeeding women should sit in the corner Mr Farage sparked protests from mothers after he told women to sit on the corner if they wanted to breastfeed their children. I think that given that some people feel very embarrassed by it, it isnt too difficult to breastfeed a baby in a way that's not openly ostentatious, Mr Farage said. He added: "Or perhaps sit in the corner, or whatever it might be AFP/Getty Images Nigel Farage's most controversial moments When he said the gender pay gap exists because women are worth less At a Q&A on the European Union in January 2014 Mr Farage said there was no discrimination against women causing the gender pay gap. Instead, he said, women were paid less because they were simply worth far less than many of their male counterparts. A woman who has a client base, has a child and takes two or three years off - she is worth far less to her employer when she comes back than when she went away because that client base won't be stuck as rigidly to her portfolio, he said Getty Nigel Farage's most controversial moments When he said he actually couldnt guarantee 350m to the NHS after Brexit During the EU referendum campaign the Leave side pledged to spend 350 million a week on the National Health Service  claiming that this is what the UK sends to Brussels. Nigel Farage didnt speak out against this figure and also pledged to spend EU cash on the health service and other public services himself. Then the day of the election result he suddenly changed his tone, saying he couldnt guarantee the cash for the NHS and that to pledge to do so was a mistake Getty

Mr Carswell added: "I was highly critical because it was deeply wrong and every time I see someone in politics in any party who tries to get votes by playing on a sense of other.

"Whether it is on the left trying to demonise the 1 per cent or on the right trying to demonise the outsider I think it is incumbent on all of us to speak out and say that is wrong."

When asked if he accepted his actions at the time were disloyal, Mr Carswell responded: "It was loyal to my constituents and to the hope of a happier, better country."
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Ukip MEP Paul Nuttall appears to be the most likely front runner to replace Nigel Farage as leader of the party.

Following Mr Farages shock resignation on Monday morning, Mr Nuttall gave an interview to the press to discuss his own career progression within the party.

The deputy leader and MEP for the North West of England said that Labour partys collapse would give Ukip a great opportunity to build ground and transform public opinion towards Ukip.

His unifying presence within the party makes him the most likely leader, unlike MP Douglas Carswell and Suzanne Evans, whose divisive opinions have resulted in friction between party members in recent months.

Steven Woolfe, Ukip MEP and Spokesman on Migration and Financial Affairs, and MEP for the South West of England Diane James, have also been named as potential candidates.

London mayoral candidate Peter Whittle was initially thought to be in the running, but ruled himself out shortly after Farages resignation.

Nigel Farage's most controversial moments Show all 12 1 /12 Nigel Farage's most controversial moments Nigel Farage's most controversial moments When he unveiled that 'breaking point' poster during the referendum Mr Farage was accused of deploying Nazi-style propaganda when he unveiled a poster showing Syrian refugees travelling to Europe under the next Breaking point. Users on social media were quick to compare the advert to a Nazi propaganda film with similar visuals and featuring Jewish refugees. The poster was particularly controversial because it was unveiled the morning of the killing of Labour MP Jo Cox Rex Nigel Farage's most controversial moments When he said hed be concerned if his neighbours were Romanian In May 2014 Mr Farage was accused of a racial slur against Romanians after he suggested he would be concerned living next to a house of them. I was asked if a group of Romanian men moved in next to you, would you be concerned? And if you lived in London, I think you would be, he told LBC radio during an interview. Asked whether he would also object to living next to German children, he said: You know the difference Bongarts/Getty Images Nigel Farage's most controversial moments When he said the EU campaign was won 'without a bullet being fired' Nigel Farage has said the next Prime Minister has to be a Leave supporter AFP/Getty Nigel Farage's most controversial moments When he resigned as Ukip leader and came back days later After failing to win the seat of South Thanet at the general election, Nigel Farage stepped down as Ukip leader  as he had promised to do during the campaign. Days later on 11 May he un-resigned and said he would stay after being convinced by supporters within the party. Well see how long his resignation lasts this time AP/Matt Dunham Nigel Farage's most controversial moments When he blamed immigrants for making him late Mr Farage turned up late to a 25-a-head meet the leader style event in Port Talbot, Wales in December 2014. Asked why he was late, he blamed immigrants. It took me six hours and 15 minutes to get here - it should have taken three-and-a-half to four, he said. That has nothing to do with professionalism, what it does have to do with is a country in which the population is going through the roof chiefly because of open-door immigration and the fact that the M4 is not as navigable as it used to be Getty Nigel Farage's most controversial moments When he wanted to ban immigrants with HIV from Britain Mr Farage has used his platform as Ukip leader call for people with HIV to be banned from coming to Britain. Asked in an interview with Newsweek Europe in October 2014 who he thought should be allowed to come to the UK, he said: People who do not have HIV, to be frank. Thats a good start. And people with a skill. He also repeated similar comments in the 2015 general election leadership debates Getty Nigel Farage's most controversial moments When he defended the use of a racial slur against Chinese people Defending one of Ukips candidates, who used the word ch**ky to describe a Chinese person, Mr Farage said: If you and your mates were going out for a Chinese, what do you say you're going for?" When he was told by the presented that he honestly would not use the slur, Mr Farage replied: A lot would Lintao Zhang/Getty Images Nigel Farage's most controversial moments When he said parts of Britain were like a foreign land The Ukip leader used his 2014 conference speech to declare parts of Britain as being like a foreign land. He told his audience in Torquay that parts of the country were unrecognisable because of the number of foreigners there. Mr Farage has also previously said he felt uncomfortable when people spoke other language on a train Screengrab Nigel Farage's most controversial moments When he said the British army should be deployed to France At the height of trouble at Britains Calais border Mr Farage proposed a novel solution. The Ukip leader called for the British army to be sent to France to put down a migrant rebellion. In all civil emergencies like this we have an army, we have a bit of a Territorial Army as well and we have a very, very overburdened police force and border agency, he said. If in a crisis to make sure weve actually got the manpower to check lorries coming in, to stop people illegally coming to Britain, if in those circumstances we can use the army or other forces then why not AFP/Getty Nigel Farage's most controversial moments When he said breastfeeding women should sit in the corner Mr Farage sparked protests from mothers after he told women to sit on the corner if they wanted to breastfeed their children. I think that given that some people feel very embarrassed by it, it isnt too difficult to breastfeed a baby in a way that's not openly ostentatious, Mr Farage said. He added: "Or perhaps sit in the corner, or whatever it might be AFP/Getty Images Nigel Farage's most controversial moments When he said the gender pay gap exists because women are worth less At a Q&A on the European Union in January 2014 Mr Farage said there was no discrimination against women causing the gender pay gap. Instead, he said, women were paid less because they were simply worth far less than many of their male counterparts. A woman who has a client base, has a child and takes two or three years off - she is worth far less to her employer when she comes back than when she went away because that client base won't be stuck as rigidly to her portfolio, he said Getty Nigel Farage's most controversial moments When he said he actually couldnt guarantee 350m to the NHS after Brexit During the EU referendum campaign the Leave side pledged to spend 350 million a week on the National Health Service  claiming that this is what the UK sends to Brussels. Nigel Farage didnt speak out against this figure and also pledged to spend EU cash on the health service and other public services himself. Then the day of the election result he suddenly changed his tone, saying he couldnt guarantee the cash for the NHS and that to pledge to do so was a mistake Getty

Douglas Carswell, the partys only MP, told the BBC that the chances of his standing as leader were "somewhere between nil and zero".

Sources say Suzanne Evans is unlikely to throw her hat in the ring, since she is ineligible for the leadership race after being disciplined by Ukip and losing her role as Deputy leader.

During a speech in London on Monday, Mr Farage, who was elected as an MEP for the party in 1999, said he had never wanted to be a career politician and was standing down.

 Farage resigns as Ukip leader

I now feel that Ive done my bit, that I couldnt possibly achieve more, the 52-year-old added.

After two stints as party leader, Mr Farage said: I wont be changing my mind again, I assure you.

I have decided to stand aside as leader of Ukip. The victory for the Leave side in the referendum means that my political ambition has been achieved. I came into this business because I wanted us to a self-governing nation, not to become a career politician.

Mr Carswell reacted to Mr Farages announcement by sharing a smiling emoji with sunglasses on Twitter. The MP for Clacton-on-Sea has famously bad relations with the party leader and called on Mr Farage to resign last year.

Just last week Mr Farage suggested Mr Carswell could be removed from the party. Speaking about the MP on LBC radio, Mr Farage said: What would he know?

We find somebody inside our party who doesn't agree with anything the party stands for, it's a very odd state of affairs.

His comments came after Mr Carswell attacked the former party leader over his controversial Breaking Point posters.

Mr Farage had previously announced his resignation in May 2015, after he failed to win a seat in the Commons  only to change his mind days later.

Mr Carswell told The Spectator's Coffee House blog: Im inconsolable. Nigel deserves a lot of credit for getting the referendum and I wish him well.
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Nigel Farage has resigned as the leader of Ukip just two weeks after Britons voted to leave the European Union, adding that he couldnt possibly achieve more.

Here is his speech in full:

"I am aware that not everybody in this country is happy, indeed, a lot of young people have been wound up by scare stories and are actually very angry, and very scared about their future.

Its an irony, really, that its the youth of the country that appear to be worried. Right across the European Union, its the under 30s that are protesting in the streets against undemocratic centralised control and , indeed, against the Euro and pretty much anything that emanates from Brussels .

In time, I hope that some of these sharp divisions can be healed when people come to realise that, actually, life outside the European Union is really very exciting and weve got a much better, brighter future being in charge of our own lives. Certainly the stock markets, despite everything George Osborne told us, have rallied very strongly. FTSE is now about 14 per cent higher than it was during its February lows.

Recommended Read more Nigel Farage resigns as Ukip leader

It is a delight to see the number of Commonwealth countries rushing forward in a bidding war to be the first people to sign a trade agreement with an independent UK. What the country needs is strong leadership, what it needs is direction, what it needs is not business as usual. I am certain of one thing, the UK will leave the European Union, we have won that, and in terms of our Parliament, our courts, that is a great historic victory. What I am less certain of, is what deal is this government going to cut?

We need a new Prime Minister that puts down some pretty clear red lines, that were not going to give in on issues like free movement, and a Prime Minister who is not going to sell us out to what is known as the single market, but what is effectively a big business protectionist cartel. So we need a vision from our new leader, a vision that shows that we are going to engage with the world, that turns us into an enterprise economy.

To do that, to achieve that, we need a team of negotiators that includes figures from across the political spectrum which reflects that Brexit vote , and crucially, we need some business people, who know not only how the world works, but understand the importance of lobbying industry directly. We need to be lobbying the German car industry and the French wine producers, because next year both France and Germany have General Elections.

Nigel Farage's most controversial moments Show all 12 1 /12 Nigel Farage's most controversial moments Nigel Farage's most controversial moments When he unveiled that 'breaking point' poster during the referendum Mr Farage was accused of deploying Nazi-style propaganda when he unveiled a poster showing Syrian refugees travelling to Europe under the next Breaking point. Users on social media were quick to compare the advert to a Nazi propaganda film with similar visuals and featuring Jewish refugees. The poster was particularly controversial because it was unveiled the morning of the killing of Labour MP Jo Cox Rex Nigel Farage's most controversial moments When he said hed be concerned if his neighbours were Romanian In May 2014 Mr Farage was accused of a racial slur against Romanians after he suggested he would be concerned living next to a house of them. I was asked if a group of Romanian men moved in next to you, would you be concerned? And if you lived in London, I think you would be, he told LBC radio during an interview. Asked whether he would also object to living next to German children, he said: You know the difference Bongarts/Getty Images Nigel Farage's most controversial moments When he said the EU campaign was won 'without a bullet being fired' Nigel Farage has said the next Prime Minister has to be a Leave supporter AFP/Getty Nigel Farage's most controversial moments When he resigned as Ukip leader and came back days later After failing to win the seat of South Thanet at the general election, Nigel Farage stepped down as Ukip leader  as he had promised to do during the campaign. Days later on 11 May he un-resigned and said he would stay after being convinced by supporters within the party. Well see how long his resignation lasts this time AP/Matt Dunham Nigel Farage's most controversial moments When he blamed immigrants for making him late Mr Farage turned up late to a 25-a-head meet the leader style event in Port Talbot, Wales in December 2014. Asked why he was late, he blamed immigrants. It took me six hours and 15 minutes to get here - it should have taken three-and-a-half to four, he said. That has nothing to do with professionalism, what it does have to do with is a country in which the population is going through the roof chiefly because of open-door immigration and the fact that the M4 is not as navigable as it used to be Getty Nigel Farage's most controversial moments When he wanted to ban immigrants with HIV from Britain Mr Farage has used his platform as Ukip leader call for people with HIV to be banned from coming to Britain. Asked in an interview with Newsweek Europe in October 2014 who he thought should be allowed to come to the UK, he said: People who do not have HIV, to be frank. Thats a good start. And people with a skill. He also repeated similar comments in the 2015 general election leadership debates Getty Nigel Farage's most controversial moments When he defended the use of a racial slur against Chinese people Defending one of Ukips candidates, who used the word ch**ky to describe a Chinese person, Mr Farage said: If you and your mates were going out for a Chinese, what do you say you're going for?" When he was told by the presented that he honestly would not use the slur, Mr Farage replied: A lot would Lintao Zhang/Getty Images Nigel Farage's most controversial moments When he said parts of Britain were like a foreign land The Ukip leader used his 2014 conference speech to declare parts of Britain as being like a foreign land. He told his audience in Torquay that parts of the country were unrecognisable because of the number of foreigners there. Mr Farage has also previously said he felt uncomfortable when people spoke other language on a train Screengrab Nigel Farage's most controversial moments When he said the British army should be deployed to France At the height of trouble at Britains Calais border Mr Farage proposed a novel solution. The Ukip leader called for the British army to be sent to France to put down a migrant rebellion. In all civil emergencies like this we have an army, we have a bit of a Territorial Army as well and we have a very, very overburdened police force and border agency, he said. If in a crisis to make sure weve actually got the manpower to check lorries coming in, to stop people illegally coming to Britain, if in those circumstances we can use the army or other forces then why not AFP/Getty Nigel Farage's most controversial moments When he said breastfeeding women should sit in the corner Mr Farage sparked protests from mothers after he told women to sit on the corner if they wanted to breastfeed their children. I think that given that some people feel very embarrassed by it, it isnt too difficult to breastfeed a baby in a way that's not openly ostentatious, Mr Farage said. He added: "Or perhaps sit in the corner, or whatever it might be AFP/Getty Images Nigel Farage's most controversial moments When he said the gender pay gap exists because women are worth less At a Q&A on the European Union in January 2014 Mr Farage said there was no discrimination against women causing the gender pay gap. Instead, he said, women were paid less because they were simply worth far less than many of their male counterparts. A woman who has a client base, has a child and takes two or three years off - she is worth far less to her employer when she comes back than when she went away because that client base won't be stuck as rigidly to her portfolio, he said Getty Nigel Farage's most controversial moments When he said he actually couldnt guarantee 350m to the NHS after Brexit During the EU referendum campaign the Leave side pledged to spend 350 million a week on the National Health Service  claiming that this is what the UK sends to Brussels. Nigel Farage didnt speak out against this figure and also pledged to spend EU cash on the health service and other public services himself. Then the day of the election result he suddenly changed his tone, saying he couldnt guarantee the cash for the NHS and that to pledge to do so was a mistake Getty

It is pressure on Merkel, it is pressure on Hollande from within those countries that is likely to get us the best possible deal. And we need to go global, there is no reason to wait for this, at all. As soon as we get a new Prime Minister, we need teams of negotiators. Im told that we havent got the skill! Im told that we havent got the competence or the expertise within our own civil service, which I suppose is the price you pay when you give away the ability to run your own country. So, lets headhunt them. Lets get them in from Singapore, or South Korea, or Chile, or Switzerland, or any of these countries whove managed to achieve far more in terms of global trade deals than we have as part of the European Union.

So we are now in charge of our own future, and I want us to grab this opportunity with both hands. Now, one of the questions that is being asked is: what of UKIP? What is the future of UKIP after this result? Well, we have clearly established ourselves as the third political force in this country, and this year weve extended our elected representation to the Welsh Assembly and the London Assembly. There is not doubt that without us, without the growth in UKIP, there would not have been a referendum. There is also no doubt, that when it came to the ground campaign in this referendum, it was the peoples army of UKIP who were out there delivering the leaflets, putting out the posters and doing all that work that needed, desperately, to be done. I do believe myself that it was UKIP, and UKIPs messages, that inspired non-voters to go out there and make the difference. Without UKIP< there is no way that the Leave vote would ever have got over the line.

So UKIP needs to be strong. We need to be strong, and push, and try and make sure that this country gets the best possible terms. And in electoral terms, the party now has built up a very loyal following of people, who want to go out and vote UKIP at every given opportunity. And they see us, our voters, they see us as being the one party thats actually prepared to stand up for ordinary, decent people. I feel that the deeper the crisis in the Labour Party becomes, and theres certainly no signs of that going away, and the further that the PLP and the leadership get away from their own voters, I feel thats perhaps where our greatest potential lies. UKIP right now is in a very sound financial position,

I do believe we need some reform of its management structures. There is further professionalism that needs to be done, but the party is in a pretty good place, certainly compared to all of the others. If we do not get, if we do not get, a satisfactory Brexit deal  that allied to the woes of the Labour Party, to the groundswell of support that is there amongst UKIP loyalists  if we dont get a good Brexit deal, then in 2020, watch this space.

The other subject of speculation has been what am I going to do? All I can say is, on this long journey, is a great thanks to anybody who has helped me on this journey, a great number of whom are in this room right now. It has been a very long journey. Not at every stage of the way an easy one, although it has been tremendous fun. When I think back to when I first stood for UKIP, in fact when I first stood for anybody, in the Eastleigh by-election which took place in 1994, and I managed to scrape past screaming Lord Such, by a massive 164 votes, and to have gone from that to being part of a national campaign that attracted 17.5 million votes for Brexit says to me that, tough though it has been at times, it has certainly all been worth it. I came into politics from business because I believed that this nation should be self- governing.

I have never been, and I have never wanted to be a career politician., my aim in being in politics was to get Britain out of the European Union. That is what we voted for in that referendum two weeks ago, and that is why I now feel that I have done my bit, that I couldnt possibly achieve more than we managed to get in that referendum, and so I feel that it is right that I should now stand aside as leader of UKIP.

I will continue to support the party, I will support the new leader, I will watch the renegotiation process in Brussels like a hawk, and perhaps comment in the European Parliament from time to time. I am also very keen to help the independence movements that are springing up in other parts of the European Union because I am certain of one thing, you havent seen the last country that wants to leave the EU. It has been a huge chunk of my life, doing this, and it is not easy, perhaps, when you feel a degree of ownership of something to let it go. But it does come, as I say, at a cost, it has come at a cost to me and perhaps to those around me. During the referendum campaign I said I want my country back, what Im saying today is I want my life back, and it begins right now.

Thank you."
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Nigel Farage has resigned as the leader of the UK Independence Party just a week and a half after Britons voted to leave the European Union, saying he couldnt possibly achieve more.

At a speech in London, Mr Farage, who was elected as an MEP for the party in 1999, said he had never wanted to be a career politician and was standing down. He has had two stints as leader of the Eurosceptic party since 2006.

I now feel that Ive done my bit, that I couldnt possibly achieve more, he said. I wont be changing my mind again, I assure you.

The partys only MP in the Commons, Douglas Carswell, reacted to Mr Farages announcement by sharing a smiling emoji with sunglasses on Twitter  a likely reflection of the bitter relationship between Mr Carswell and Mr Farage.

When asked about Mr Farages often criticised rhetoric on immigration, Mr Carswell told the BBC: We went too far, and I criticised it when we went too far ... and it's not just morally wrong, it's electorally disastrous.

"This is a decent, generous country. People have a legitimate right of feel a sense of anger with their politicians but the answer to that is not to play on people's fears and anger but to promise the hope of something better."

Mr Farage added at his speech in London: I have decided to stand aside as leader of Ukip. The victory for the Leave side in the referendum means that my political ambition has been achieved. I came into this business because I wanted us to a self-governing nation, not to become a career politician.

Ukip is in a good position and will continue, with my full support to attract a significant vote. Whilst we will now leave the European Union the terms of our withdrawal are unclear. If there is too much backsliding by the Government and with the Labour Party detached from many of its voters then Ukips best days may yet to come, he added.

The Ukip leader has often courted controversy in his political career and as leader of Ukip. During the EU referendum campaign he refused to apologise for a widely condemned Breaking Point poster showing a vast queue of refugees stretching into the distance on the Slovenian border.

Ukip gaffes and controversies Show all 18 1 /18 Ukip gaffes and controversies Ukip gaffes and controversies European elections poster Party's latest EU election posters branded 'racist' and compared to BNP campaigns Rex Ukip gaffes and controversies Farage 'car-crash' interview Ukip spin doctor forced to intervene as Farage falters in disastrous radio interview Ukip gaffes and controversies Neil Hamilton Picture Exclusive: The year is 1998. The venue is a Springbok Club meeting. The flag is a symbol for white supremacists in South Africa. And the speaker is Ukips deputy chairman, Neil Hamilton Ukip gaffes and controversies Kerry Smith Kerry Smith resigned as would-be MP for South Basildon and East Thurrock after it emerged he had mocked gay party members as disgusting poofters, joked about shooting people from Chigwell in a peasant hunt and referred to someone with a Chinese name as a Chinky bird PA Ukip gaffes and controversies Natasha Bolter Former Ukip member Natasha Bolter was suspected of not having the teaching qualifications she professed to, only days after it was revealed that claims of her having attended Oxford University were also false PA Ukip gaffes and controversies Ukip Calypso song Mike Reid released a single in praise of UKIP trying to control the UK's borders, only to withdraw the single after being accused of racism for singing in a Jamaican accent Ukip gaffes and controversies Janice Atkinson Janice Atkinson, Ukip's South East chair, pictured by protesters while campaigning in Ashford, Kent with local party chair Norman Taylor Facebook/Maria Pizzey Ukip gaffes and controversies Ukip cancels Freephone Ukip cancels Freephone number after protesters repeatedly called to push up costs Getty Images Ukip gaffes and controversies Farage 'car-crash' interview Mr Farage appeared to be caught out on a number of issues, from Romanian neighbours to people speaking foreign languages on the train Ukip gaffes and controversies Ukip employs illegal immigrants Ukip criticised after European election candidate found employing illegal immigrants AP Ukip gaffes and controversies Magnus Nielsen Ukip candidate: 'Take away the right to vote to improve election turnout' Getty Images Ukip gaffes and controversies Poster model A British builder portrayed in a Ukip poster accusing EU workers of taking UK jobs turns out to be an Irish actor - aka a migrant worker Ukip gaffes and controversies 'Arrest protesters' Ukip called for police to arrest protesters who call us fascists ahead of showdown with anti-fascist groups in Brighton Ukip gaffes and controversies London Live make-up Ukip's Nigel Farage reportedly refused to go on London Live 'without professional make up-artist' Reuters Ukip gaffes and controversies Andre Lampitt Ukip forced to suspend the "poster boy" of its European election broadcast, after it was revealed he had posted a series of vile racist comments on Twitter Ukip gaffes and controversies Expenses Nigel Farage says he is taking taking legal advice over outrageous allegations that he is responsible for more than 50,000 of missing EU funding that was paid directly into his personal bank account Ukip gaffes and controversies Have I Got News For You Nigel Farage appears in Have I Got News For You, spends the entire episode being ridiculed over expenses and party 'fruitcakes' BBC Ukip gaffes and controversies Anti-gay comments Local branch chairman for Ukip defends a party's councillor candidate Douglas Denny who called gay people abnormal and said he wished they stop trying to ram it down my throat, all while discussing whether the word sodomite should be used

Caroline Lucas responded to the resignation by saying Mr Farage will be remembered for that disgusting poster and using suffering of refugees for political gain. The Green MP added: Farages legacy: toxic rhetoric on immigration, migrants feel unsafe. A divided UK and a stronger Establishment.

During the 2015 general election he sparked outrage by suggesting a policy of rejecting migrants with HIV from coming into the UK, saying Britain should put their own people first.

Just last week Mr Farage suggested his partys only MP could be removed from the party. Speaking about the MP on LBC radio, Mr Farage said: What would he know?

We find somebody inside our party who doesn't agree with anything the party stands for, it's a very odd state of affairs.

His comments came after Mr Carswell attacked the former party leader over his controversial "Breaking Point" posters.

Mr Farage had previously announced his resignation in May 2015, after he failed to win a seat in the Commons  only to change his mind days later.

 Ukip's only MP could be sacked by Monday, says party leader Nigel Farage

In his speech on Monday he added: Tough though it's been at times, it's all certainly been worth it. I came into politics from business because I believed that this nation should be self-governing. I have never been and I have never wanted to be a career politician.

My aim in being in politics was to get Britain out of the European Union. That is what we voted for in that referendum, and that is why I now feel that I've done my bit, that I couldn't possibly achieve more than we managed to get in that referendum.

 Ukip's only MP could be sacked by Monday, says party leader Nigel Farage

So I feel it's right that I should now stand aside as leader of Ukip. I will continue to support the party, I will support the new leader, I will watch the renegotiation process in Brussels like a hawk and perhaps comment in the European Parliament from time to time.

I'm also very keen to help the independence movements that are springing up in other parts of the European Union, because I'm certain of one thing  you haven't seen the last country that wants to leave the EU.

"It has been a huge chunk of my life, doing this, and it's not easy perhaps when you feel a degree of ownership of something to let it go. But has come at a cost to me and perhaps to those around me. During the referendum campaign, I said I want my country back. What I'm saying today is I want my life back, and it begins right now.
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Nigel Farage has been urged to resign and stop milking the so-called Brussels gravy train.

Mr Farage said he was standing down as leader of Ukip in a surprise announcement on Monday morning, saying he had done his bit in getting Britain to vote to leave the EU.

But the Liberal Democrats Foreign Affairs spokesman, Tom Brake, said he should also resign as an MEP after the Brexit politician said he couldnt possibly achieve more and wants his life back.

Mr Brake said: Nigel Farage has spent years attacking the so-called Brussels gravy train while doing his best to cash in on EU taxpayer-funded expenses.

This rank hypocrisy has to end.

Its high time he did the honourable thing and resigned as an MEP and stopped milking taxpayers to push his divisive agenda.

Mr Farage said during his resignation annoucement that he would remain as an MEP, for which he gets paid 100,000 a year - plus expenses.

He was elected to the European Parliament representing the South-East of England in 1999 but has one of the worst voting attendance records of any MEP.

Nigel Farage's most controversial moments Show all 12 1 /12 Nigel Farage's most controversial moments Nigel Farage's most controversial moments When he unveiled that 'breaking point' poster during the referendum Mr Farage was accused of deploying Nazi-style propaganda when he unveiled a poster showing Syrian refugees travelling to Europe under the next Breaking point. Users on social media were quick to compare the advert to a Nazi propaganda film with similar visuals and featuring Jewish refugees. The poster was particularly controversial because it was unveiled the morning of the killing of Labour MP Jo Cox Rex Nigel Farage's most controversial moments When he said hed be concerned if his neighbours were Romanian In May 2014 Mr Farage was accused of a racial slur against Romanians after he suggested he would be concerned living next to a house of them. I was asked if a group of Romanian men moved in next to you, would you be concerned? And if you lived in London, I think you would be, he told LBC radio during an interview. Asked whether he would also object to living next to German children, he said: You know the difference Bongarts/Getty Images Nigel Farage's most controversial moments When he said the EU campaign was won 'without a bullet being fired' Nigel Farage has said the next Prime Minister has to be a Leave supporter AFP/Getty Nigel Farage's most controversial moments When he resigned as Ukip leader and came back days later After failing to win the seat of South Thanet at the general election, Nigel Farage stepped down as Ukip leader  as he had promised to do during the campaign. Days later on 11 May he un-resigned and said he would stay after being convinced by supporters within the party. Well see how long his resignation lasts this time AP/Matt Dunham Nigel Farage's most controversial moments When he blamed immigrants for making him late Mr Farage turned up late to a 25-a-head meet the leader style event in Port Talbot, Wales in December 2014. Asked why he was late, he blamed immigrants. It took me six hours and 15 minutes to get here - it should have taken three-and-a-half to four, he said. That has nothing to do with professionalism, what it does have to do with is a country in which the population is going through the roof chiefly because of open-door immigration and the fact that the M4 is not as navigable as it used to be Getty Nigel Farage's most controversial moments When he wanted to ban immigrants with HIV from Britain Mr Farage has used his platform as Ukip leader call for people with HIV to be banned from coming to Britain. Asked in an interview with Newsweek Europe in October 2014 who he thought should be allowed to come to the UK, he said: People who do not have HIV, to be frank. Thats a good start. And people with a skill. He also repeated similar comments in the 2015 general election leadership debates Getty Nigel Farage's most controversial moments When he defended the use of a racial slur against Chinese people Defending one of Ukips candidates, who used the word ch**ky to describe a Chinese person, Mr Farage said: If you and your mates were going out for a Chinese, what do you say you're going for?" When he was told by the presented that he honestly would not use the slur, Mr Farage replied: A lot would Lintao Zhang/Getty Images Nigel Farage's most controversial moments When he said parts of Britain were like a foreign land The Ukip leader used his 2014 conference speech to declare parts of Britain as being like a foreign land. He told his audience in Torquay that parts of the country were unrecognisable because of the number of foreigners there. Mr Farage has also previously said he felt uncomfortable when people spoke other language on a train Screengrab Nigel Farage's most controversial moments When he said the British army should be deployed to France At the height of trouble at Britains Calais border Mr Farage proposed a novel solution. The Ukip leader called for the British army to be sent to France to put down a migrant rebellion. In all civil emergencies like this we have an army, we have a bit of a Territorial Army as well and we have a very, very overburdened police force and border agency, he said. If in a crisis to make sure weve actually got the manpower to check lorries coming in, to stop people illegally coming to Britain, if in those circumstances we can use the army or other forces then why not AFP/Getty Nigel Farage's most controversial moments When he said breastfeeding women should sit in the corner Mr Farage sparked protests from mothers after he told women to sit on the corner if they wanted to breastfeed their children. I think that given that some people feel very embarrassed by it, it isnt too difficult to breastfeed a baby in a way that's not openly ostentatious, Mr Farage said. He added: "Or perhaps sit in the corner, or whatever it might be AFP/Getty Images Nigel Farage's most controversial moments When he said the gender pay gap exists because women are worth less At a Q&A on the European Union in January 2014 Mr Farage said there was no discrimination against women causing the gender pay gap. Instead, he said, women were paid less because they were simply worth far less than many of their male counterparts. A woman who has a client base, has a child and takes two or three years off - she is worth far less to her employer when she comes back than when she went away because that client base won't be stuck as rigidly to her portfolio, he said Getty Nigel Farage's most controversial moments When he said he actually couldnt guarantee 350m to the NHS after Brexit During the EU referendum campaign the Leave side pledged to spend 350 million a week on the National Health Service  claiming that this is what the UK sends to Brussels. Nigel Farage didnt speak out against this figure and also pledged to spend EU cash on the health service and other public services himself. Then the day of the election result he suddenly changed his tone, saying he couldnt guarantee the cash for the NHS and that to pledge to do so was a mistake Getty

Britain narrowly voted to leave the European Union on 23 June with 52 per cent of the vote.

The decision has caused turmoil in both the Conservative and Labour parties.

Mr Farage was heavily criticised for the anti-immigration tone of his unofficial Brexit campaign, Leave.EU.

The week before the vote, he unveiled a controversial poster showing a queue of refugees waiting to pass into Europe with the headline Breaking Point.

Ukips only MP, Douglas Carswell, condemned the posters as a fundamentally wrong thing to do on results night.

When the news of Mr Farages resignation emerged Mr Carswell tweeted a smiling face with sunglasses emoji.
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Nigel Farages decision to resign as the leader of Ukip has prompted anger among critics who say he will not be held accountable for his role campaigning for Brexit.

The politician said in a speech he couldnt possibly achieve more but added: I want my life back, and it begins right now.

Venting their frustration on Twitter, the 52-year-old MEP was accused of cowardice for leaving frontline politics while the country grapples with the nature of the UKs exit from the European Union.

For many, his decision to stand down compounded their anger at Boris Johnsons announcement he would not stand in the Conservative Party leadership contest.

Bethan Cansfield tweeted: Both Boris Johnson & Nigel Farage led the UK into the disastrous Brexit and then jump ship - absolute cowards.

Mr Farage was Ukip Leader from 2006 to 2009 and a second stint from 2010 to the present day.

Nigel Farage's most controversial moments Show all 12 1 /12 Nigel Farage's most controversial moments Nigel Farage's most controversial moments When he unveiled that 'breaking point' poster during the referendum Mr Farage was accused of deploying Nazi-style propaganda when he unveiled a poster showing Syrian refugees travelling to Europe under the next Breaking point. Users on social media were quick to compare the advert to a Nazi propaganda film with similar visuals and featuring Jewish refugees. The poster was particularly controversial because it was unveiled the morning of the killing of Labour MP Jo Cox Rex Nigel Farage's most controversial moments When he said hed be concerned if his neighbours were Romanian In May 2014 Mr Farage was accused of a racial slur against Romanians after he suggested he would be concerned living next to a house of them. I was asked if a group of Romanian men moved in next to you, would you be concerned? And if you lived in London, I think you would be, he told LBC radio during an interview. Asked whether he would also object to living next to German children, he said: You know the difference Bongarts/Getty Images Nigel Farage's most controversial moments When he said the EU campaign was won 'without a bullet being fired' Nigel Farage has said the next Prime Minister has to be a Leave supporter AFP/Getty Nigel Farage's most controversial moments When he resigned as Ukip leader and came back days later After failing to win the seat of South Thanet at the general election, Nigel Farage stepped down as Ukip leader  as he had promised to do during the campaign. Days later on 11 May he un-resigned and said he would stay after being convinced by supporters within the party. Well see how long his resignation lasts this time AP/Matt Dunham Nigel Farage's most controversial moments When he blamed immigrants for making him late Mr Farage turned up late to a 25-a-head meet the leader style event in Port Talbot, Wales in December 2014. Asked why he was late, he blamed immigrants. It took me six hours and 15 minutes to get here - it should have taken three-and-a-half to four, he said. That has nothing to do with professionalism, what it does have to do with is a country in which the population is going through the roof chiefly because of open-door immigration and the fact that the M4 is not as navigable as it used to be Getty Nigel Farage's most controversial moments When he wanted to ban immigrants with HIV from Britain Mr Farage has used his platform as Ukip leader call for people with HIV to be banned from coming to Britain. Asked in an interview with Newsweek Europe in October 2014 who he thought should be allowed to come to the UK, he said: People who do not have HIV, to be frank. Thats a good start. And people with a skill. He also repeated similar comments in the 2015 general election leadership debates Getty Nigel Farage's most controversial moments When he defended the use of a racial slur against Chinese people Defending one of Ukips candidates, who used the word ch**ky to describe a Chinese person, Mr Farage said: If you and your mates were going out for a Chinese, what do you say you're going for?" When he was told by the presented that he honestly would not use the slur, Mr Farage replied: A lot would Lintao Zhang/Getty Images Nigel Farage's most controversial moments When he said parts of Britain were like a foreign land The Ukip leader used his 2014 conference speech to declare parts of Britain as being like a foreign land. He told his audience in Torquay that parts of the country were unrecognisable because of the number of foreigners there. Mr Farage has also previously said he felt uncomfortable when people spoke other language on a train Screengrab Nigel Farage's most controversial moments When he said the British army should be deployed to France At the height of trouble at Britains Calais border Mr Farage proposed a novel solution. The Ukip leader called for the British army to be sent to France to put down a migrant rebellion. In all civil emergencies like this we have an army, we have a bit of a Territorial Army as well and we have a very, very overburdened police force and border agency, he said. If in a crisis to make sure weve actually got the manpower to check lorries coming in, to stop people illegally coming to Britain, if in those circumstances we can use the army or other forces then why not AFP/Getty Nigel Farage's most controversial moments When he said breastfeeding women should sit in the corner Mr Farage sparked protests from mothers after he told women to sit on the corner if they wanted to breastfeed their children. I think that given that some people feel very embarrassed by it, it isnt too difficult to breastfeed a baby in a way that's not openly ostentatious, Mr Farage said. He added: "Or perhaps sit in the corner, or whatever it might be AFP/Getty Images Nigel Farage's most controversial moments When he said the gender pay gap exists because women are worth less At a Q&A on the European Union in January 2014 Mr Farage said there was no discrimination against women causing the gender pay gap. Instead, he said, women were paid less because they were simply worth far less than many of their male counterparts. A woman who has a client base, has a child and takes two or three years off - she is worth far less to her employer when she comes back than when she went away because that client base won't be stuck as rigidly to her portfolio, he said Getty Nigel Farage's most controversial moments When he said he actually couldnt guarantee 350m to the NHS after Brexit During the EU referendum campaign the Leave side pledged to spend 350 million a week on the National Health Service  claiming that this is what the UK sends to Brussels. Nigel Farage didnt speak out against this figure and also pledged to spend EU cash on the health service and other public services himself. Then the day of the election result he suddenly changed his tone, saying he couldnt guarantee the cash for the NHS and that to pledge to do so was a mistake Getty

He said he never wanted to be a career politician and briefly stood down as the partys leader after the 2015 election, having promised to resign if he failed to win the South Thanet parliamentary contest.

Mr Farage said: "I have decided to stand aside as leader of Ukip. The victory for the Leave side in the referendum means that my political ambition has been achieved.

"I came into this business because I wanted us to a self-governing nation, not to become a career politician.

"Ukip is in a good position and will continue, with my full support to attract a significant vote."

In recent months, his relationship with Ukips only MP, Douglas Carswell, has deteriorated significantly.

The MP for Clacton slammed the pro-leave poster endorsed by the Ukip, which showed Syrian refugees queuing to enter Slovenia.

In response to Mr Farages resignation announcement, Mr Carswell tweeted a smiling emoji wearing sunglasses.
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Nigel Farage has said he will resign as Ukip leader after winning the European Union referendum.

The MEP has courted his fair share of controversy during his career as leader, often being accused of being racist or expressing xenophobic sentiment.

Here are Mr Farages most controversial moments.

When he said hed be concerned if his neighbours were Romanian

(Bongarts/Getty Images)

In May 2014 Mr Farage was accused of a racial slur against Romanians after he suggested he would be concerned living next to a house of them.

I was asked if a group of Romanian men moved in next to you, would you be concerned? And if you lived in London, I think you would be, he told LBC radio during an interview.

Asked whether he would also object to living next to German children, he said: You know the difference.

When he blamed immigrants for making him late

M25 traffic jam (Getty)

Mr Farage turned up late to a 25-a-head meet the leader style event in Port Talbot, Wales in December 2014.

Asked why he was late, he blamed immigrants.

It took me six hours and 15 minutes to get here - it should have taken three-and-a-half to four, he said.

That has nothing to do with professionalism, what it does have to do with is a country in which the population is going through the roof chiefly because of open-door immigration and the fact that the M4 is not as navigable as it used to be.

When he wanted to ban immigrants with HIV from Britain

The chief executive of NHS England said the report's findings were 'deeply concerning' (Getty)

Mr Farage has used his platform as Ukip leader call for people with HIV to be banned from coming to Britain.

Asked in an interview with Newsweek Europe in October 2014 who he thought should be allowed to come to the UK, he said:

People who do not have HIV, to be frank. Thats a good start. And people with a skill.

He also repeated similar comments in the 2015 general election leadership debates.

When he defended the use of a racial slur against Chinese people

Beijing has seen rapid development in recent years (Lintao Zhang/Getty Images)

Defending one of Ukips candidates, who used the word ch**ky to describe a Chinese person, Mr Farage said:

If you and your mates were going out for a Chinese, what do you say you're going for?"

When he was told by the presented that he honestly would not use the slur, Mr Farage replied: A lot would.

When he said parts of Britain were like a foreign land

Vytenis Andriukaitis puts his head in his hands as Nigel Farage talks (Screengrab)

The Ukip leader used his 2014 conference speech to declare parts of Britain as being like a foreign land.

He told his audience in Torquay that parts of the country were unrecognisable because of the number of foreigners there.

Mr Farage has also previously said he felt uncomfortable when people spoke other language on a train.

When he said the British army should be deployed to France

A migrant rides his bicycle inside the "Jungle" camp for migrants and refugees in Calais on June 24, the day after Britain voted to leave the EU. (AFP/Getty)

At the height of trouble at Britains Calais border Mr Farage proposed a novel solution.

The Ukip leader called for the British army to be sent to France to put down a migrant rebellion.

In all civil emergencies like this we have an army, we have a bit of a Territorial Army as well and we have a very, very overburdened police force and border agency, he said.

If in a crisis to make sure weve actually got the manpower to check lorries coming in, to stop people illegally coming to Britain, if in those circumstances we can use the army or other forces then why not.

When he said breastfeeding women should sit in the corner

(AFP/Getty Images)

Mr Farage sparked protests from mothers after he told women to sit on the corner if they wanted to breastfeed their children.

I think that given that some people feel very embarrassed by it, it isnt too difficult to breastfeed a baby in a way that's not openly ostentatious, Mr Farage said.

He added: "Or perhaps sit in the corner, or whatever it might be.

When he said the gender pay gap exists because women are worth less

Canary Wharf: could another European city rival London as the financial capital? (Getty)

At a Q&A on the European Union in January 2014 Mr Farage said there was no discrimination against women causing the gender pay gap.

Instead, he said, women were paid less because they were simply worth far less than many of their male counterparts.

A woman who has a client base, has a child and takes two or three years off - she is worth far less to her employer when she comes back than when she went away because that client base won't be stuck as rigidly to her portfolio, he said.

When he said he actually couldnt guarantee 350m to the NHS after Brexit

Boris Johnson and the Vote Leave campaign toured the UK in the Brexit battle bus which claimed the UK sends 350 million to the EU each week (Getty)

During the EU referendum campaign the Leave side pledged to spend 350 million a week on the National Health Service  claiming that this is what the UK sends to Brussels.

Nigel Farage didnt speak out against this figure and also pledged to spend EU cash on the health service and other public services himself.

Then the day of the election result he suddenly changed his tone, saying he couldnt guarantee the cash for the NHS and that to pledge to do so was a mistake.

When he unveiled that 'breaking point' poster during the referendum

Nigel Farage in front of the controversial Leave.EU poster a week before the referendum (Rex)

Mr Farage was accused of deploying Nazi-style propaganda when he unveiled a poster showing Syrian refugees travelling to Europe under the next Breaking point.

Users on social media were quick to compare the advert to a Nazi propaganda film with similar visuals and featuring Jewish refugees.

The poster was particularly controversial because it was unveiled the morning of the killing of Labour MP Jo Cox.

When he said the EU campaign was won 'without a bullet being fired'

Nigel Farage has said the next Prime Minister has to be a Leave supporter (AFP/Getty)

Mr Farage was branded "shameful" for using his Brexit victory speech to say the referendum had been won "without a bullet being fired".

The comments came just days after MP Jo Cox was shot. At his trial Thomas Mair had introduced himself as 'my name is freedom for Britain, death to traitors'.

"We will have done it without having to fight, without a single bullet being fired, we'd have done it by damned hard work on the ground, he said.

When he resigned as Ukip leader and came back days later

The Conservative Party's Craig Mackinlay, right, waves after winning the count for the South Thanet seat beside, from left, Nigel Farage the leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP) and Al Murray a comedian who performs as "The Pub Landlord" at the Winter Gardens in Margate (AP/Matt Dunham)

After failing to win the seat of South Thanet at the general election, Nigel Farage stepped down as Ukip leader  as he had promised to do during the campaign.

Days later on 11 May he un-resigned and said he would stay after being convinced by supporters within the party.

Well see how long his resignation lasts this time.
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Theresa May is the most popular candidate in the Conservative Party leadership race - even among leave voters, a poll has revealed.

The Home Secretary, who backed the Remain campaign in the run-up to the EU referendum, is also the most well-known of the contenders fo the Tory crown, according to the YouGov poll published Saturday.

Members of the public were asked whether or not they knew enough about each of the leadership candidates to be able to give an opinion, and those who did were asked to say whether their opinion was positive, negative or neutral. They were also asked how they voted in the EU referendum on 23 June.

(YouGov (YouGov)

Responses revealed 45 per cent of people felt they knew enough about Ms May to have an opinion, which showed her to be the most-well known candidate.

Only 37 per cent of people said they were able to give an opinion on rival Michael Gove, and only 16 per cent knew enough about Andrea Leadsom.

Theresa May was also by far the most well-liked candidate: with 55 per cent of those able to give an opinion about her giving a positive one, including 64 per cent of Leave voters.

Only 19 per cent of Leave voters said they had a negative opinion of Ms May, despite her backing the campaign to remain in the EU.

Only 25 per cent of those with an opinion about Michael Gove had a positive one.

Mr Gove is especially disliked by Remain voters, less than 5 per cent of whom had a positive opinion of him, compared to 89 per cent who had a negative opinion. Just over half of Leave voters said they had a positive opinion of Mr Gove.

(YouGov (YouGov)

Sources say Ms May will not promise that EU migrants currently living in the UK will be allowed to stay after Brexit, as this could lead to an influx of migrants to the country.

She was saying its unwise to promise right now that all EU nationals living in Britain should be able to stay indefinitely, a source close to Ms May told The Independent.

If we made that promise, you could just see a huge influx Of EU nationals who would all want to come here while they still had the chance.

Ms May has said, if elected leader of the Conservative Party, she will establish a department for Brexit before triggering Article 50.
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The Home Secretary has come under fire for threatening to deport European Union migrants already living in Britain when the UK leaves the EU.

During the EU referendum the Leave campaign said it did not want EU nationals already in the UK to be repatriated after Brexit.

But Theresa May and her team at the Home Office have now suggested that it would not be a given that EU national could remain in the UK after Article 50 negotiations conclude.

Recommended Read more Tories divided over guarantee that EU citizens will not be deported

Immigration Minister James Brokenshire said today it would be unwise to guarantee EU nationals living in the UK assurances they could stay without UK nationals abroad getting the same assurances.

Mr Brokenshire was subjected to shouts of Where's Theresa? as he addressed the House of Commons on Monday.

Ms May has said that whether EU nationals living in Britain could stay would be a factor in Brexit negotiations.

Mr Brokenshire backed Ms May's previous remarks, saying: It has been suggested the Government could now fully guarantee EU nationals living in the UK the right to stay.

This would be unwise without a parallel assurance from European governments regarding British nationals living in their countries.

Brexit protest: Thousands march in London Show all 12 1 /12 Brexit protest: Thousands march in London Brexit protest: Thousands march in London A woman poses with a home-made European Union flag as Remain supporters gather on Park Lane in London to show their support for the EU in the wake of Brexit PA Brexit protest: Thousands march in London Remain supporters demonstrate in Parliament Square PA Brexit protest: Thousands march in London Tens of thousands of people gathered to protest the result of the EU referendum PA Brexit protest: Thousands march in London A majority of people in the capital voted to remain in the European Union Reuters Brexit protest: Thousands march in London Protesters chanted: What do we want to do? Stay in the EU PA Brexit protest: Thousands march in London The march follows a similar rally in Trafalgar Square that was cancelled due to heavy rain  but which tens of thousands of people turned up to anyway Reuters Brexit protest: Thousands march in London Britain voted to leave the European Union in a referendum by 52 per cent to 48 per cent Reuters Brexit protest: Thousands march in London But support for the Leave campaign in urban areas and among young people was significantly lower Rex features Brexit protest: Thousands march in London Marchers gathered at Park Lane at 11am and marched towards Parliament Square PA Brexit protest: Thousands march in London Some protesters held up baguettes in a display of affection for our continental neighbours PA Brexit protest: Thousands march in London The disparity between different parts of the country has promoted a four million signature petition calling for a second referendum and even a renewed push for Scotland to cede from the UK PA Brexit protest: Thousands march in London The events organiser, Kings College graduate Kieran MacDermott, wrote: We can prevent Brexit by refusing to accept the referendum as the final say and take our finger off the self-destruct button" Reuters

Such a step might also have the unintended consequence of prompting EU immigration to the UK.

But Labours Andy Burnham accused the Government of threatening migrants and creating the conditions for the unwelcoming climate to continue and the rise in xenophobic and racist abuse that we have seen.

The shadow home secretary, who has three children with his Dutch wife, said: Any uncertainty hanging over their right to be here is tantamount to undermining family life in our country and that does not strike me as a very prime ministerial thing thing to do.

But it is what the Home Secretary did yesterday. She said people who have an established life here would be part of negotiations with Brussels.

For people making a huge contribution to our society to be talked of as a bargaining chip is insensitive to say the least but when she adds that quote 'nobody necessarily stays anywhere forever', it becomes quite threatening.

I hope the minister will go back and tell the Home Secretary that my own kids would quite like their mum to stay here forever if that is OK with her."

He continued: If the Home Secretary wants to be the person to lead us out of it she needs to have the courage to come to this House and clear up her own mess.

Ms May is currently the frontrunner in the Conservative leadership contest.
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Theresa Mays leadership bid has suffered a setback as Conservative MPs voiced alarm over her failure to guarantee the status of EU citizens living in the UK after Brexit.

The Home Secretary has said that the situation of EU citizens would be part of the negotiation with the EU and while insisting that there will be no immediate change to their status, the Government has been reluctant to make long-term assurances for fear of prompting a wave of last minute EU immigration ahead of the countrys EU exit.

Senior Conservatives joined MPs from across the political spectrum in criticising the lack of long-term assurances today.

Former Cabinet minister Sir Eric Pickles said the Government needed to show urgency and give a clear message that EU citizens already resident in Britain were wanted in the long-term, while Treasury Committee chair Andrew Tyrie said it was the only ethical position to protect the rights of EU citizens, warning of economic consequences if uncertainty was allowed to persist up until the appointment of the new Prime Minister in September.

The favourites in the Tory leadership race Show all 5 1 /5 The favourites in the Tory leadership race The favourites in the Tory leadership race Theresa May The longest-serving Home Secretary in 100 years took a back seat in the referendum campaign. While backing Remain, she did not hit the campaign trail and delivered only a handful of speeches and interviews, and was critical of many aspects of the EU, particularly the European Convention on Human Rights. Hedging her bets allows her to now emerge as a unity candidate, and she is said to have been building up her back-room staff in preparation for a leadership bid. She has the significant advantage of having served in one of the great offices of state, in a steady and competent manner that has won her many admirers within party and the civil service. At a time of great instability, it may be that she is viewed as steady hand on the tiller. Mrs May does however, lack the star quality of a Boris Johnson and party members may doubt her ability to connect with ordinary voters PA The favourites in the Tory leadership race Michael Gove The Justice Secretary may be able to set himself up as the thinking Torys Brexit candidate. Made an enormous political and personal decision to back Leave, taking on his old friend David Cameron. He performed well during the TV debates, and will be an admired figure among Eurosceptic Conservatives. Along with Johnson, he will be hindered by the fact that he led a very divisive campaign, characterised by blue-on-blue action. MPs may also judge that he lacks Boris Johnsons wider appeal with the electorate. Possibly more likely that he will settle for being his new bosom buddy Boriss Chancellor Getty The favourites in the Tory leadership race Stephen Crabb Highly-rated Work and Pensions Secretary, raised on a council estate, so could reach out to non-traditional working class Tory voters Getty Images The favourites in the Tory leadership race Andrea Leadsom Minister of State for Energy at the Department of Energy and Climate Change is one of the most prominent figures in the Leave campaign, seen to have performed well in TV debates Rex Features The favourites in the Tory leadership race Liam Fox British Conservative MP and former Secretary of State for Defence, as sources said he will stand for the leadership of the Conservative Party AFP/Getty

Mrs Mays leadership rivals have capitalised on her stance by offering their own guarantees to EU citizens. Michael Gove, Liam Fox and Stephen Crabb have said their residency rights should be protected, while Andrea Leadsom, who has emerged as Ms Mays nearest rival in the early stages of the conquest, said that EU citizens in Britain should not be used as bargaining chips in negotiations with Brussels.

Launching her leadership bid, Mrs Leadsom, who was a prominent figure in the Leave campaign, said that she wanted to take Britain out of the EU as quickly as possible, urging the Government to get a grip, not have a period of uncertainty.

Mrs Leadsom, who was a prominent figure in the Leave campaign, said that she wanted to take Britain out of the EU as quickly as possible (Getty)

The energy minister, who has emerged as the hard Brexit candidate, was forced to deny she had any allegiance with Ukip, after winning the support of Arron Banks, one of the partys biggest donors. She has so far won the public backing of more than 30 MPs, including senior Eurosceptic figures Iain Duncan Smith and John Redwood.

Facing questions from MPs over the Home Secretarys stance, immigration minister James Brokenshire said that negotiations with the EU under the next Prime Minister would reflect the immense contribution made by EU citizens to British life, but offered no new guarantees on their long-term status.

 5 of the worst things Nigel Farage has said about immigration

Recommended Read more Boris Johnson backs Andrea Leadsom to be the next Tory leader

Mr Brokenshire was subjected to shouts of Where's Theresa? as he addressed the Commons.

Labours shadow Home Secretary Andy Burnham, whose wife is a Dutch national, said that the issue touched upon his own family life. To leave any uncertainty hanging over EU citizens right to be here is tantamount to undermining family life in our country, he said, following an urgent question in the House of Commons from Labour Leave campaigner Gisela Stuart. That does not strike me as a very prime ministerial thing to do.

Former Labour leader Ed Miliband said that the forced deportation of millions of EU citizens was something that no sane or fair government would contemplate, while senior Conservatives including Foreign Affairs Committee chair Crispin Blunt and Health Committee chair Dr Sarah Wollaston also called for the Government to make clear assurances on EU citizens long term rights.

Responding to MPs concerns, Mr Brokenshire said: EU nationals make an invaluable contribution to our economy, our society and our daily lives. They should be assured that, as the Prime Minister and Home Secretary have repeatedly said, there will be no immediate change in their status in the UK. The Prime Minister has been clear that decisions on issues relating to the UKs exit from the EU will be for a new PM. Im therefore not in a position to make new policy announcements this afternoon.

Despite coming under pressure over her stance, Mrs May still has a commanding lead among Conservative MPs ahead of the first round of voting in the leadership election today. More than 110 MPs have publicly backed the Home Secretary, more than the four other candidates combined. The candidate with the least support among MPs will drop out of the race after voting tomorrow, with Liam Fox currently the favourite to lose out.

Mrs May secured the support of a number of MPs who had backed Boris Johnson before his dramatic withdrawal from the race last week. Environment Secretary Liz Truss and Braintree MP James Cleverly, a close ally of Mr Johnson, are among those now backing the Home Secretary.

Stephen Crabb, the Work and Pensions Secretary, who has won the backing of around 20 MPs, yesterday pledged to create a 100bn investment fund to stimulate the economy if he became Prime Minister, with the money acquired by the issuing of new government bonds.
At a ceremony to mark World Refugee Day held at Mae La Refugee Camp on 20 June the camps chairman, Saw Honest, told KIC News that he does not want the Thai government to make any decisions about forcibly returning refugees to Burma and that they want the Thai Government to follow the previous agreement on refugees.

He said: We dont want the Thai government to forcibly send us, the refugees, back. We are making this request to both the Thai and Burmese governments. We want to live like normal human beings without any wars and human rights violations, as we [previously] decided. We need peace and unity.

Over 4,000 people, including representatives from: the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the Thai authorities, civil society organisations, officials from the refugee camp, students, and refugees attended the World Refugee Day ceremony at Mae La camp.

In an interview with KIC News, Teacher Saw Bae said: Im attending todays ceremony because I want to know clearly about the rumors on the plan to send us back, but according to UNHCR, there is no definite plan to send us back yet. They also encouraged us to make ourselves ready.

He added that though many people say that there have been a lot of changes in Burma it would not be safe for refugees if they return home now. Also students from the refugee camps have not yet received any recognition from the Burmese Government for the education they received while in the camps (which they should receive before going to Burma).

World Refugee Day was also marked with ceremonies in other camps on the Thai side of the Thai-Burma border. These were: Mae Ra, Mae La Oon, Umpiem, Nu Po, Tham Hin and Karenni refugee camps No 1 and 2.

Over 120,000 Burmese refugees live in nine refugee camps along the Thai-Burmese border, according to groups that provide refugee assistance.

UN Resolution 55/76 states that the UN will celebrate World Refugee Day every year on 20 June. The first time it was celebrated was in 2001 to mark the 50th anniversary of the 1951 Convention on the Status of Refuge.

The motto for this years World Refugee Day was: We Stand together with Refugees.

Reporting by Sa Isue for KIC News

Translated by Thida Linn

Edited in English by Mark Inkey for BNI
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Michael Gove has become the first of the Conservative leadership candidates to publish his tax returns during the campaign.

The Justice Secretary paid nearly 70,000 tax in the two years up to April 2015, the documents reveal.

Mr Gove's income in 2013/14 when he was Education Secretary was 117,786 and his high salary meant his personal allowance was reduced to 547, according to the documents.

Recommended Read more Andrea Leadsom faces demands to publish full details of tax affairs

The following year his earnings dropped to 96,071 when he became chief whip in Prime Minister David Cameron's reshuffle.

For the 2013/14 financial year, Mr Gove faced a tax deduction of 40,723, with an over payment of 214.20. He had previously underpaid by 15.20, the records show.

The following year, the total tax deducted was 27,929 and the remaining tax due totalled 280.80.

The favourites in the Tory leadership race Show all 5 1 /5 The favourites in the Tory leadership race The favourites in the Tory leadership race Theresa May The longest-serving Home Secretary in 100 years took a back seat in the referendum campaign. While backing Remain, she did not hit the campaign trail and delivered only a handful of speeches and interviews, and was critical of many aspects of the EU, particularly the European Convention on Human Rights. Hedging her bets allows her to now emerge as a unity candidate, and she is said to have been building up her back-room staff in preparation for a leadership bid. She has the significant advantage of having served in one of the great offices of state, in a steady and competent manner that has won her many admirers within party and the civil service. At a time of great instability, it may be that she is viewed as steady hand on the tiller. Mrs May does however, lack the star quality of a Boris Johnson and party members may doubt her ability to connect with ordinary voters PA The favourites in the Tory leadership race Michael Gove The Justice Secretary may be able to set himself up as the thinking Torys Brexit candidate. Made an enormous political and personal decision to back Leave, taking on his old friend David Cameron. He performed well during the TV debates, and will be an admired figure among Eurosceptic Conservatives. Along with Johnson, he will be hindered by the fact that he led a very divisive campaign, characterised by blue-on-blue action. MPs may also judge that he lacks Boris Johnsons wider appeal with the electorate. Possibly more likely that he will settle for being his new bosom buddy Boriss Chancellor Getty The favourites in the Tory leadership race Stephen Crabb Highly-rated Work and Pensions Secretary, raised on a council estate, so could reach out to non-traditional working class Tory voters Getty Images The favourites in the Tory leadership race Andrea Leadsom Minister of State for Energy at the Department of Energy and Climate Change is one of the most prominent figures in the Leave campaign, seen to have performed well in TV debates Rex Features The favourites in the Tory leadership race Liam Fox British Conservative MP and former Secretary of State for Defence, as sources said he will stand for the leadership of the Conservative Party AFP/Getty

Mr Gove did not have any income from trusts, property and capital gains.

A spokesman for Michael Gove said: "Michael accepts that candidates for the job of prime minister should be transparent about their income and tax affairs."

Press Association
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Andrea Leadsom is facing new scrutiny over her political background after she emerged as a serious contender to challenge Theresa May for the Conservative Party leadership.

Though Ms Leadsom was a leading light in arguing for Brexit during the EU referendum campaign, she has faced criticism over her lack of experience at the highest level of government.

Unlike all of her rivals in the Tory leadership contest, Ms Leadsom has never held a cabinet-level ministerial position.

Recommended Read more Andrea Leadsom faces demands to publish full details of tax affairs

And officials in the Treasury, where she worked as a junior minister from April 2014 to May 2015, have issued an extraordinary criticism of her track record in government.

She was the worst minister weve ever had," one unnamed City official told the Financial Times.

She found it difficult to understand issues or take decisions, another said. She was monomaniacal, seeing the EU as the source of every problem.

She alienated officials by continually complaining about poor drafting.

The Mail on Sunday obtained a recording of a speech Ms Leadsom give in April 2013 in which she said: I dont think the UK should leave the EU.

I think it would be a disaster for our economy and it would lead to a decade of economic and political uncertainty at a time when the tectonic plates of global success are moving.

Ms Leadsoms press team initially told The Independent the Mail story was complete nonsense and the recording was taken completely out of context.

She later defended the speech on the Andrew Marr Show, saying she had been on a journey since making those comments and it had become very clear the EU is just not reformable.

According to an ICM poll for the Sun on Sunday, Ms May is the favourite among Tory voters with 60 per cent saying they would choose her to be the next Prime Minister.

Michael Gove came second with 10 per cent, while Ms Leadsom was in third on six per cent.

Brexit protest: Thousands march in London Show all 12 1 /12 Brexit protest: Thousands march in London Brexit protest: Thousands march in London A woman poses with a home-made European Union flag as Remain supporters gather on Park Lane in London to show their support for the EU in the wake of Brexit PA Brexit protest: Thousands march in London Remain supporters demonstrate in Parliament Square PA Brexit protest: Thousands march in London Tens of thousands of people gathered to protest the result of the EU referendum PA Brexit protest: Thousands march in London A majority of people in the capital voted to remain in the European Union Reuters Brexit protest: Thousands march in London Protesters chanted: What do we want to do? Stay in the EU PA Brexit protest: Thousands march in London The march follows a similar rally in Trafalgar Square that was cancelled due to heavy rain  but which tens of thousands of people turned up to anyway Reuters Brexit protest: Thousands march in London Britain voted to leave the European Union in a referendum by 52 per cent to 48 per cent Reuters Brexit protest: Thousands march in London But support for the Leave campaign in urban areas and among young people was significantly lower Rex features Brexit protest: Thousands march in London Marchers gathered at Park Lane at 11am and marched towards Parliament Square PA Brexit protest: Thousands march in London Some protesters held up baguettes in a display of affection for our continental neighbours PA Brexit protest: Thousands march in London The disparity between different parts of the country has promoted a four million signature petition calling for a second referendum and even a renewed push for Scotland to cede from the UK PA Brexit protest: Thousands march in London The events organiser, Kings College graduate Kieran MacDermott, wrote: We can prevent Brexit by refusing to accept the referendum as the final say and take our finger off the self-destruct button" Reuters

Ms Leadsom worked as a banker with Barclays and Invesco Perpetual before she was elected as an MP in 2010, and she says she believes it would be the best thing for business if the formal process of Brexit was triggered as soon as possible.

It's about giving certainty to businesses, it's about saying to the world 'we're open for business', she told Marr.

We need to get on with it, we need to get a grip and make progress.

Ms Leadsom currently serves in David Cameron's government as a junior energy minister, where she supports fracking.

She has previously admitted she questioned whether climate change "was real" when she joined the department, but said she is now "completely persuaded".
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A runaway prisoner who became a Christian minister and upstanding citizen is facing a return to jail after being tracked down by authorities 37 years later.

Bill Burchfield, from Georgia, who had assumed the identity of his dead cousin, Harold Arnold, was traced to Kentucky by detectives and now may serve 10 years in prison.

Community members in Laurel County, a small town in Kentucky, have described the 67-year-old, who they knew as Harold Bill Arnold, as just a good man who gave free meals to those in need.

After receiving a sentence of 15 years of hard labour for voluntary manslaughter in 1979, Burchfield escaped on two occasions, according to The Economist. Following his break-out from the Jackson County Correctional Institute in 1975, he was captured and his sentence was increased to 16 years.

But while on a work detail at a landfill site four years later he ran away again, this time successfully. He had reportedly asked to go and relieve himself in some bushes and then disappeared.

After the death of Burchfields wife Vera Sue in 1973, he pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter. He argued it was an accident and that a gun he was holding went off by mistake when she tried to wrestle it away.

The facts of the case for which Burchfield was convicted are hard to establish because there was no trial. One of Burchfields former lawyers has since died and the other cannot remember the case.

Eerie images show America's deserted theme parks, abandoned shopping malls and forsaken train stations Show all 20 1 /20 Eerie images show America's deserted theme parks, abandoned shopping malls and forsaken train stations Eerie images show America's deserted theme parks, abandoned shopping malls and forsaken train stations Eerie images show America's deserted theme parks, abandoned shopping malls and forsaken train stations Eerie images show America's deserted theme parks, abandoned shopping malls and forsaken train stations Eerie images show America's deserted theme parks, abandoned shopping malls and forsaken train stations Eerie images show America's deserted theme parks, abandoned shopping malls and forsaken train stations Eerie images show America's deserted theme parks, abandoned shopping malls and forsaken train stations Eerie images show America's deserted theme parks, abandoned shopping malls and forsaken train stations Eerie images show America's deserted theme parks, abandoned shopping malls and forsaken train stations Eerie images show America's deserted theme parks, abandoned shopping malls and forsaken train stations Eerie images show America's deserted theme parks, abandoned shopping malls and forsaken train stations Eerie images show America's deserted theme parks, abandoned shopping malls and forsaken train stations Eerie images show America's deserted theme parks, abandoned shopping malls and forsaken train stations Eerie images show America's deserted theme parks, abandoned shopping malls and forsaken train stations Eerie images show America's deserted theme parks, abandoned shopping malls and forsaken train stations Eerie images show America's deserted theme parks, abandoned shopping malls and forsaken train stations Eerie images show America's deserted theme parks, abandoned shopping malls and forsaken train stations Eerie images show America's deserted theme parks, abandoned shopping malls and forsaken train stations Eerie images show America's deserted theme parks, abandoned shopping malls and forsaken train stations Eerie images show America's deserted theme parks, abandoned shopping malls and forsaken train stations Eerie images show America's deserted theme parks, abandoned shopping malls and forsaken train stations

Tim Johnson, an acquaintance of Burchfield in Laurel County, said: Bill Arnold is as good a man as Ive ever met. I never knowd anybody thatd say hed wronged them.

Residents in the Kentucky town have started a petition demanding his release, which has gained hundreds of signatures.

Bill Burchfield was captured 37 years after his escape (Detroit police)

Burchfields lawyer, Jason Kincer, said: Shouldnt [his] debt be mitigated by the life that he has lived?

The case raises questions about whether the US criminal justice system should primarily rehabilitate or punish.

Burchfield, who is awaiting charges for his escape, said: I always tried to treat people the way I wanted to be treated. I think my cousin would be proud.
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National park staff have warned hikers and tourists not to play dead prematurely when sighting a grizzly bear after a woman was bitten and scratched by an animal.

The bear in Denali Park, Alaska, will be located and killed after it carried out several attacks on groups of visitors over the past few weeks, including biting and scratching 28-year-old Fangyuan Zhou when she was hiking with friends.

The group was approached by the small bear several times along a popular four-mile hiking trail. The group played dead when it charged. The bear attacked Ms Zhou before walking away. When it came back a few minutes later, the group threw rocks at it to scare the bear off.

Recommended Read more Four people killed in bear attacks in Japan as sightings double

While playing dead is an appropriate response when physical contact with a bear occurs or is imminent, playing dead prematurely can invoke a curiosity response from a bear. Park guidelines do not recommend playing dead prior to contact, a statement from the park read.

Ms Zhou was treated for her wounds at the park and then decided to drive herself to Anchorage hospital to be treated.

Another larger group of visitors that encountered the bear on the same day stood close together, shouting and waving their arms to frighten it, which park staff said was the most appropriate aversion technique.

The most controversial animal killings Show all 6 1 /6 The most controversial animal killings The most controversial animal killings Cincinnati Zoo worker shots and kills Harambe, the 17-year-old gorilla Harambe, a 17-year-old gorilla was shot and killed by a Cincinnati Zoo worker after a three-year-old boy climbed into a gorilla enclosure and was grabbed and dragged by Harambe. The incident was recorded on video and received broad international coverage and commentary, including controversy over the choice to kill Harambe. A number of primatologists and conservationists wrote later that the zoo had no other choice under the circumstances, and that it highlighted the danger of zoo animals in close proximity to humans and the need for better standards of care Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden The most controversial animal killings Walt Palmer (left), from Minnesota, who killed Cecil, the Zimbabwean lion (pictured here with another lion shot in Africa) Walter James Palmer has been named by Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force as the shooter of Cecil, a 13-year-old prized lion. He is now wanted by Zimbabwe officials on poaching charges. The lion was protected and the subject of a decade long study by the Wildlife Unit of Oxford University in the UK. He was outfitted with a GPS collar and was killed in Hwange National Park. The Zimbabwe National Parks and Wildlife Authority and the Safari Operators Association said that two men were charged with poaching in connection to Mr Palmer The most controversial animal killings Kendall Jones hunting images Kendall Jones, a 19-year-old Texas Tech university student, has provoked worldwide fury after posting pictures of herself smiling next to animals she hunted, including a lion, rhinoceros, antelope, leopard, elephant, zebra and hippopotamus The most controversial animal killings Rebecca Francis hunting images Rebecca Francis, a huntress who has killed dozens of wild animals has been sent death wishes by furious social media users after a picture showing her lying down next to a dead giraffe was circulated. Rebecca Francis has a website and Facebook page dedicated to the animals she has killed in hunts across Africa and America. Francis, a prolific hunter who has also co-hosted the television show Eye of the Hunter, regularly posts pictures of herself posing next to dead bears, giraffes, buffaloes and zebras, among other animals. She uses a bow and arrow to kill her prey The most controversial animal killings The slaughter of Marius, an 18-month-old healthy giraffe in Copenhagen Zoo Copenhagen Zoo made the controversial decision to euthanise a healthy giraffe named Marius, which was later dissected and fed to lions as visitors watched. The slaughter sparked a furious backlash from social media users and zoo staff have received death threats by phone and email. Soon after the incident, Copenhagen Zoo faced an international outcry once again after four healthy lions were put down The most controversial animal killings Swiss Dahlholzli zoo kills healthy brown bear cub A Switzerland zoo faced heavy criticism from animal rights groups, after keepers put down a healthy brown bear cub to spare it from being bullied by its dominant male father. The 360 kg male bear Misha had already killed one of his 11-week old cubs in public and was bullying the second, staff at the zoo said, because he was jealous of the attention the cubs were receiving from their mother, Masha. Both adult brown bears had been donated to Berns Dahlholzli zoo in 2009. Campaigners condemned staff there for not separating the cubs, who are being referred to as Baby Bear Two and Baby Bear Three, and their mother from Misha after their birth in January Facebook

It ran towards another group of tourists in June. No one was hurt, but it did steal food from one members backpack.

The bear will be killed due to its erratic behaviour and its general interest in people, said the statement.

Staff have already tried different methods to teach the bear to leave visitors alone, including throwing beanbags at it.

The four-mile Savage Alpine Trail has been closed temporarily.
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Army veteran Jason Galvin was joking when he told his wife he could use his rifle to save a young bald eagle trapped in a tree.

But his wife said that with the authorities having given up on the bird, already trapped 70ft up for the last two days, he and his .22 rifle were the eagles only real chance of survival.

Ninety minutes, and 150 bullets later, the rope entangling the bird had been shot away, and the eagle fell towards the ground where it was caught in the undergrowth and passed over to experts. Now the eagle, which naturally enough has been named Freedom, is on its way to a full recovery and Mr Galvin is being lauded as a July 4th hero.

(Facebook (Facebook)

I was on the way to the bait shop when I saw the bird caught in the tree, Mr Galvin, who completed two tours in Afghanistan, told The Independent.

When I got home and told my wife, she starting calling everyone - the police, the wildlife authorities, the sheriffs office.

His wife, Jackie, said she was told that there was nothing anyone could do and that they were preparing to write off the bird. She told him that, he should do his best to save it.

Mr Galvin, from Rush City, Minnesota, said he shot slowly and carefully, not wanting to hurt the US national bird, which is protected by federal law. I would not have done it, if I did not think I was capable of doing it, he said.

(Facebook (Facebook)

Phil Mohs, a conservation officer from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, arrived on the scene and gave Mr Galvin permission to start shooting, reasoning the eagle would probably end up dying anyway.

He told me he was a veteran in the service and he wouldnt do it if he couldnt do it safely, Mr Mohs told KARE TV.

Once the bird was shot free, Mr Mohs wrapped it in a blanket and transferred to the Raptor Centre at the University of Minnesota.

Mr Galvins mother, Mary Ann Galvin, witnessed the entire incident last Thursday and praised her sons accuracy. Hes a good boy. I raised him well, she said.

Mr Galvin is now hoping to enjoy his 4th July holiday in peace. Im a veteran, he said. My wife said that I fought for freedom and that fought for Freedom again.
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Canada is considering introducing gender-neutral identification cards, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said.

Mr Trudeau said the government was exploring the "best way" and studying other jurisdictions, as he became the first Canadian prime minister to march in a gay pride parade on Sunday.

"That's part of the great arc of history sweeping towards justice", he told CP24.

Speaking during the parade, Mr Trudeau condemned last month's relaxation of Canadian blood-donation restrictions on men who had sex with other man as "not good enough".

Canadian Blood Services rules stated men who had sex with other men were restricted from donating blood for five years, which was reduced to one year.

Justin Trudeau Show all 8 1 /8 Justin Trudeau Justin Trudeau Day out The family get in the boat with climate change AP Justin Trudeau Keeping fit Jogging over the Alexandria bridge with the Mexican president AP Justin Trudeau Family comes first Sophie inspires me every day to be better. I wouldnt be here tonight if it werent for her leadership and her example." AP Justin Trudeau Three-way handshake Trudeau has vowed to strengthen international relations. Twitter Justin Trudeau Bromance Friendship with the White House The White House Justin Trudeau Pandas Just because. Twitter Justin Trudeau Yoga The plank became an internet sensation Twitter Justin Trudeau Making history Trudeau's gender-balanced cabinet was the first of its kind AP

Last month, Ontario introduced a third gender symbol "X" for driver's licenses. Australia, New Zealand and Nepal already use the third gender symbol.

In the same month, Canadian politicians voted overwhelmingly in favour of a bill to change the wording of the country's national anthem to make it gender-neutral.

The bill, passed by members of the Canadian parliament 225 to 74, said they wanted to change the wording from true patriot love, in all thy sons command to true patriot love, in all of us command.
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An annual Fourth of July chicken wings cook-off turned sour when police shot dead a man who attempted to drive through the festival barricade.

The suspect was fatally injured after he reportedly attempted to drive over a policeman and through the Wing Fest in northern Nevada.

Police said the minivan failed to yield for a traffic stop in downtown Reno, and continued driving with police in pursuit, the Washoe County Sheriffs Office said in a statement.

The vehicle then tried to drive through a barricade in front of the annual Biggest Little City Wing Fest, a gathering of 80,000 people, and swerved towards a police officer who was on foot.

The officer shot the vehicle and caused the man to crash into a chicken wing vendor.

The suspect was taken into hospital where he died, the sheriff said.

Authorities have not released the identity of the suspect and are investigating the cause of his death.

In pictures: Yulin Dog Meat Festival 2016 Show all 10 1 /10 In pictures: Yulin Dog Meat Festival 2016 In pictures: Yulin Dog Meat Festival 2016 Dog meat market, Yulin In pictures: Yulin Dog Meat Festival 2016 Dogs in holding pen at slaughterhouse, Yulin In pictures: Yulin Dog Meat Festival 2016 Cats crammed in wire cage, delivered to slaughterhouse in Yulin In pictures: Yulin Dog Meat Festival 2016 Dogs held at slaughterhouse, Yulin In pictures: Yulin Dog Meat Festival 2016 Cat looks out from its crate as arrives at slaughterhouse, Yulin In pictures: Yulin Dog Meat Festival 2016 Dogs in blood-covered holding pen at slaughterhouse, Yulin In pictures: Yulin Dog Meat Festival 2016 Dogs at slaughterhouse, Yulin In pictures: Yulin Dog Meat Festival 2016 Dog meat market, Yulin In pictures: Yulin Dog Meat Festival 2016 Dog meat market, Yulin In pictures: Yulin Dog Meat Festival 2016 Cat slaughterhouse, Yulin

Bob Harmon from the Sheriffs office said: I think, you know, you see the crowds that are there at the Wing Fest, it's comforting to say there were no civilians injured today."

The Reno Gazette Journal newspaper reported that witness Steven Parks, a vendor for Jax Kettle Korn, said he saw a few police officers on foot who attempted to stop the vehicle so they could shoot into the passenger side of the van.

"You see these things in the movies, and know to get down," he said, adding that he heard several gunshots.

The 25 vendors continued to cook chicken for the crowd as the festival continued on the national holiday.
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Two Muslim teenagers were viciously beaten outside a Brooklyn mosque on Sunday morning.

Mosque director Mohamed Bahe said the assailant screamed, You fucking terrorists, at the 16 and 17-year-old victims during the attack, which took place at 1:18am outside the Muslim Community Center of Brooklyn in Sunset Park.

After repeatedly denying knowledge of the incident, a New York Police Department spokesperson told BuzzFeed News that the incident was non-biased.

We had two volunteers, and they saw a suspicious car parked outside of our entrance, Bahe told the outlet, describing surveillance video. They looked at the car, trying to figure out whos inside. They saw a woman and they asked asked if she needed help. Then all of a sudden a guy comes across running from the street and punches him and knocks him down. He was stomping him and kicking him.

The attack happened during nightly Ramadan prayers, and members inside the mosque heard the commotion and ran to help the young boys, causing the assailant to flee.

Bahe said that he's repeatedly asked for more protection from NYPD officer with little to no success.

The attack comes amid a string of anti-Muslim violence across the states. A Muslim doctor was shot and stabbed on Saturday outside his mosque in Houston. The same day, another attack was reported outside the Forte Piece Islamic Center that left one victim beaten and bloodied.
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Ohio officials have apologized for pointing guns and shouting at a Muslim businessman after he was falsely accused of pledging his allegiance to Isis.

You should not have been put in that situation, said Avon police chief Richard Bosley.

Police had been responding to claims from a hotel desk clerk at Fairfield Inn and Suites in Avon that Ahmed Al Menhali was using multiple cell phones and talking about the Islamic State.

At least five officers with guns arrived on the scene to find the 41-year-old, who was in Cleveland on a tourist visa to receive medical care, talking on his cell phone in Arabic by the hotel entrance.

Police video footage shows them shouting at Mr Al Menhali, pointing guns at him, carrying out a body search and putting him in handcuffs without providing any explanation.

Police later found the desk clerk had not heard him talking about Isis. Mr Al Menhali was released from handcuffs but he collapsed at the scene and was taken to hospital.

The United Arab Emirates ministry of foreign affairs expressed dismay at the brutal way with which Ohio Police treated the Emirati citizen in a statement.

Mr Al Menhali had been asking if there were any available rooms at the hotel as the apartment he had been renting in Lakewood since April was to host delegates at the upcoming Republican National Committee conference, where Donald Trump is likely to be announced official candidate.

The husband and father of three suffered a light stroke outside the hotel and was hospitalized overnight until Saturday.

Avon mayor Bryan Jensen said in a statement that the incident was regrettable but that the police officers took the steps that are part of our police departments standard response protocol based on the information they received.

Both the hotel desk clerk's sister and father phoned 911.

The mayor added they are investigating whether to press charges on those involved in phoning emergency services, and are also reviewing the response by the police.

Julia Shearson, executive director of the Cleveland branch of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, told The Independent that the businessman had been wearing a long robe called a thobe, and had been dressed immaculately.

Ms Shearson recommended the hotel, owned by Marriott Hotels, should carry out diversity training among its staff.

Marriott International said in a statement to The Independent: "This was a terrible misunderstanding and we deeply regret what happened to Mr Al Menhali. Diversity and inclusion is a core principle of Marriott's operations and we remain committed to providing a welcoming environment.

"We have been in regular contact with the hotel since the incident and we will be following up to discuss diversity and inclusion training designed to help prevent this type of situation," the statement added.

Mr Al Menhali said he appreciated the apology from the police but it "was not enough".

Ahmed greatly appreciates the overture by coming to meet him on a holiday weekend. He appreciates their sincere apology, this is a positive and very important first step, a translator said on his behalf, as reported by CNN.

However, he still has a lot of unanswered questions and concerns [as] to how this could have happened in the first place.
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A suicide bomber was killed and two security men injured during an explosion near the US consulate in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

The attacker approached the area close to the consulate in the early hours of Americas Independence Day and before the start of dawn prayers at around 2:15am, parking his car outside a hospital.

Two security guards became suspicious of the man and approached him outside the Dr Suleiman Faqeeh hospital, situated opposite the consulate, an interior ministry spokesperson said in a statement.

Recommended Read more At least 69 killed in market blasts and car bombings in Baghdad

The man blew himself up with a suicide belt inside the hospital parking, according to the statement, lightly wounding the two security guards.

The ministry did not say if the attacker was intending to target the consulate but said an investigation into the mans identity is underway.

State TV said this is the first bombing in years attempting to target foreigners in Saudi Arabia. A witness told Reuters news agency that three further blasts were later heard in the area after police carried out what are understood to have been controlled explosions near the site.

A video sent to the agency by the witness showed police taking cover behind vehicles as the blasts happened. The witness also claimed the explosion appeared to have taken place 20m from an outer checkpoint of the consulate, which had been closed off by security forces as helicopters flew over the area.

 Saudi's Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on key visit to US

The US consulate issued a statement to confirm there had been no casualties or injuries among staff.

The statement added that the consulate and the US embassy were in contact with Saudi authorities investigating the incident.

US citizens in Saudi Arabia received a message from the State Department reminding them to stay aware of their surroundings and to take extra precautions when travelling.

A 2004 al Qaida-linked militant attack on the US consulate in Jeddah killed five locally-hired consular employees and four gunmen. The three-hour battle on the compound came amid a wave of al Qaida attacks targeting Westerners and Saudi security posts.

More recently, Saudi Arabia has been a target of Islamic State group attacks that have killed dozens of people.

The extremist group views the Western-allied Saudi monarchy and government as heretics. Saudi Arabia is part of the US-led coalition fighting IS in Iraq and Syria.

Additional reporting by agencies
U Ko Ko Gyi, a member of the Union-Level Joint Ceasefire Monitoring Committee (JMC-U) and also from the 88 Generation Peace and Society, said the Karen State JMC-S has been established to work with the union-level group in order to strengthen the ceasefire agreement across the nation.

When we study the reasons for war its more of a political issue. So its important to solve political issues using political methods. I believe that protecting the civilians as much as we can while the problems are being worked out will aid in peace dialogue and the political process.

The JMN-S will observe whether or not the non-state armed groups (NSAGs) and Burma Army follow the rules and regulations outlined in the NCA intended to prevent trespassing on one anothers territories and violating the rights of the civilian population, said member Pado Saw Tar Do Hmu from the Karen National Union (KNU).

When it was established during the previous Thein Sein administration, the JMC-U was criticized for lacking civilian representation. Only the government, Burma Army, non-state armed groups and some experts were included. After the new NLD government took office more civilian members were added, as well as for the state-level monitoring group.

Only eight of fifteen NSAGs invited to participate in the NCA decided to join. Seven refused to sign, mainly because the previous government failed to include several groups that are still fighting with Burma Army in northern and western Burma.

Over sixty representatives from the KNU; Karen National Union/Karen National Liberation Army Peace Council; Klo Htoo Baw Karen Organization (KKO); the Arakan Liberation Party (ALP) and All Burma Students Democratic Front (ABSDF) attended the official JMC-S ceremony recently held at the 22nd Light Infantry Division (LID-22) headquarters in Karen States capital Hpa-an.

Story by Saw Nyunt Thaung/KIC News

Translated by Thida Linn

Edited by BNI staff
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Between 2004 and 2013, around 4,500 children under the age of 18 got married in the state of Virginia. Of these girls, more than 200 of them were aged 15 or under.

Last week, the authorities in the state introduced new legislation that updated rules that had until then made it legal for girls aged 12 or 13 to get married if they had parental consent and were pregnant.

The changes - a move that campaigners said brought Virginias laws into the 21st Century - followed a long fight by activists who said the change was aimed at curbing forced marriage, human trafficking and statutory rape disguised as marriage.

 Child Bride social experiment in NYC

The Washington Post said that the legislation was the result of bills being passed by state politicians Republican Jill Holtzman Vogel and Democrat Jennifer McClellan. Similar bills were introduced in California, Maryland, New Jersey and New York this year, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

The law, which took effect last Friday, set the minimum marriage age at 18, or 16 if a child is emancipated by court order. It takes parents and pregnancy out of the equation, the Post reported.

The Tahirih Justice Centre, which is based in the city of Falls Church, was among those groups pushing for a change in the law. Activists there said the previous law created a fast-track to child marriages for abusers who could evade investigation by child-welfare officials by simply marrying their victims.

(AP (AP)

We hope that legislators will see the efforts in Virginia as a wake-up call about how their laws can facilitate forced marriages of children, Jeanne Smoot, Tahirihs senior counsel for policy and strategy, told the newspaper.

Ms Vogel said she learned about the issue when constituents in an affluent part of her Northern Virginia district sought her help after a man in his 50s was suspected of having sex with a high school student.

Meet Thea, Norway's 12-year-old child bride Show all 4 1 /4 Meet Thea, Norway's 12-year-old child bride Meet Thea, Norway's 12-year-old child bride A Norwegian campaign highlighting the issue of child marriage has gained global attention after a blog seemingly written by a child bride-to-be went viral Courtesy of Plan Meet Thea, Norway's 12-year-old child bride The blog, apparently written by 12-year-old girl 'Thea', charts her thoughts and feelings towards her impending marriage to 37-year-old Geir. However, the blog was carefully created by Plan, an international aid organisation working on strengthening the girls rights, to bring home the issue of child brides Meet Thea, Norway's 12-year-old child bride Thea introduces the blog by writing: My name is Thea and Im 12 years old and in about one month I will marry, before going on to describe how she is preparing for her nuptials Meet Thea, Norway's 12-year-old child bride Plans country director Olaf Thommessen expressed how important it was to draw attention to a problem faced by thousands of girls every day. We really wanted to bring home the issue and by creating a shock factor, we think we have really got peoples attention We have all kinds of people engaging, people who are not usually motivated or involved in these kinds of things  the response has been immense.

As child-protective services began to close in, Ms Vogel said the man wooed the parents and married the girl, eliminating the possibility of prosecution. It was the second time he followed this tactic; the earlier marriage ended in divorce, she said.

Now theyre married, and theres no crime, said Ms Vogel, a lawyer who is running for lieutenant governor. She dropped out of high school. Her life is ruined.

 Child bride break down in tears

When children get married, Ms Smoot said, they are 50 percent less likely to finish high school, four times less likely to go to college and more likely to have children sooner and more closely spaced than people who marry as adults.

The World Policy Centre, an organisation that analyses government policies, says that 88 percent of countries around the world have a legal minimum age of 18 for marriage.

The group says that women married before the age of 18 are three times more likely to have been beaten by their spouse than women married at age 21 or older.

In the US, marriage laws vary by state. There are currently believed to be six states where girls can get married under the age of 16 with parental consent.

Earlier this year, YouTube celebrity Coby Persin organised an experiment in New Yorks Times Square, where a 65-year-old man posed for photographs with a 12-year-old bride. The response from passers-by ranged from fury to incredulity.

He organised the stunt to highlight a situation in which 33,000 girls around the world are forced to marry every day.

He said: New Yorkers didn't stand for a child getting married to an older man, and neither should anywhere else in the world be ok with it.
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British expatriates living in mainland Europe have said they are planning to marry EU citizens following the UK's Brexit vote.

A number of Britons living on the continent said they were seeking nuptials "as soon as possible", over fears they may be forced to return to the UK when the country leaves the bloc.

Rose Newell, a Berlin-based copywriter and translator originally from Cornwall, told The Local: I'm scared the UK will become a country I won't want to come back to.

My boyfriend and I were always planning on getting married in the future, but since this referendum we've decided to get married as soon as possible. It won't be romantic, but I need a European passport.

British citizens are currently able to live and work freely in EU member states, but the vote to leave bloc means they face a period of uncertainty  with their immigration status under threat along with their right to health care and pension plans.

Dozens also took to social media to make tongue-in-cheek calls for an EU-based spouse.

Welshman Mark Bennet wrote: "Any French/German/Spanish/Italians or other EU citizens prepared to marry me?" while student nurse Maryann said: "Someone marry me from the EU please, even willing to take a man. Anyone?"

Many EU citizens also jokingly took to Twitter to offer their hand in marriage for any Britons wanting to remain in the EU.

There are around 1.3 million British nationals currently living in EU countries, with more than 300,000 Britons residing in Spain, 172,000 in France and around 97,000 in Germany.

Prime Minister David Cameron attempted to reassure British expats in remarks he made the day after the referendum took place, when he announced his resignation.

But during the first Prime Minister's Questions session following the vote to leave, Mr Cameron failed to offer long-term reassurances to British people living in mainland Europe when quizzed on the matter by an MP.

He said: On this issue of British citizens living overseas, I think we should reassure people that until Britain leaves the EU, theres absolutely no change in their status.

One of the things that this unit at the heart of Whitehall can do through the coming weeks is to go through these issues [concerning British expats] very methodically and work out what might need to change in all the different scenarios, to give these people a certainty about their futures.
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Migrants who are unable to pay people smugglers for their journey from Africa to Europe are killed for their organs, a former smuggler has said.

Nuredein Wehabrebi Atta, who has been sentenced to five years in prison for his involvement in moving migrants, told Italian police that migrants who couldn't pay for journeys across the Meditteranean were sold for 15,000 to groups, particularly Egyptians, who are equipped for harvesting organs".

His testimony has helped break open a transnational network dedicated to migrant trafficking with Italian police confirming they have detained 38 people suspected of being involved - 25 Eritreans, 12 Ethiopians and one Italian.

Interior Minister Angelino Alfano said the authorities had dealt "a harsh blow" to the criminal network, which used Rome for its financial transactions hub.

 Video shows what life would be like if British refugees were fleeing a UK civil war

Palermo police said in a statement that an Eritrean man who was arrested in 2014 collaborated with authorities, providing for the first time "a complete reconstruction of criminal activities" of migrant trafficking involving operations both in North Africa and Italy.

Mr Atta is the first foreigner to be granted witness protection in Italy. He said the shocking number of deaths among migrants attempting to cross the sea is what led him to confess, specifically the death of 360 due to a boat sinking in Lampedusa, though he said he was not involved in the incident.

"The deaths that we were aware of were a small part of it," Mr Atta told police, according to local media. "In Eritrea alone there have been victims in eight out of 10 families."

He said that migrants who can not afford to pay the smugglers are then sold to organ traffickers.

Refugee crisis - in pictures Show all 27 1 /27 Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugee crisis - in pictures A child looks through the fence at the Moria detention camp for migrants and refugees at the island of Lesbos on May 24, 2016. AFP/Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures Ahmad Zarour, 32, from Syria, reacts after his rescue by MOAS (Migrant Offshore Aid Station) while attempting to reach the Greek island of Agathonisi, Dodecanese, southeastern Agean Sea Refugee crisis - in pictures Syrian migrants holding life vests gather onto a pebble beach in the Yesil liman district of Canakkale, northwestern Turkey, after being stopped by Turkish police in their attempt to reach the Greek island of Lesbos on 29 January 2016. Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees flash the 'V for victory' sign during a demonstration as they block the Greek-Macedonian border Refugee crisis - in pictures Migrants have been braving sub zero temperatures as they cross the border from Macedonia into Serbia. Refugee crisis - in pictures A sinking boat is seen behind a Turkish gendarme off the coast of Canakkale's Bademli district on January 30, 2016. At least 33 migrants drowned on January 30 when their boat sank in the Aegean Sea while trying to cross from Turkey to Greece. Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures A general view of a shelter for migrants inside a hangar of the former Tempelhof airport in Berlin, Germany Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees protest behind a fence against restrictions limiting passage at the Greek-Macedonian border, near Gevgelija. Since last week, Macedonia has restricted passage to northern Europe to only Syrians, Iraqis and Afghans who are considered war refugees. All other nationalities are deemed economic migrants and told to turn back. Macedonia has finished building a fence on its frontier with Greece becoming the latest country in Europe to build a border barrier aimed at checking the flow of refugees Refugee crisis - in pictures A father and his child wait after being caught by Turkish gendarme on 27 January 2016 at Canakkale's Kucukkuyu district Refugee crisis - in pictures Migrants make hand signals as they arrive into the southern Spanish port of Malaga on 27 January, 2016 after an inflatable boat carrying 55 Africans, seven of them women and six chidren, was rescued by the Spanish coast guard off the Spanish coast. Refugee crisis - in pictures A refugee holds two children as dozens arrive on an overcrowded boat on the Greek island of Lesbos Refugee crisis - in pictures A child, covered by emergency blankets, reacts as she arrives, with other refugees and migrants, on the Greek island of Lesbos, At least five migrants including three children, died after four boats sank between Turkey and Greece, as rescue workers searched the sea for dozens more, the Greek coastguard said Refugee crisis - in pictures Migrants wait under outside the Moria registration camp on the Lesbos. Over 400,000 people have landed on Greek islands from neighbouring Turkey since the beginning of the year Refugee crisis - in pictures The bodies of Christian refugees are buried separately from Muslim refugees at the Agios Panteleimonas cemetery in Mytilene, Lesbos Refugee crisis - in pictures Macedonian police officers control a crowd of refugees as they prepare to enter a camp after crossing the Greek border into Macedonia near Gevgelija Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures A refugee tries to force the entry to a camp as Macedonian police officers control a crowd after crossing the Greek border into Macedonia near Gevgelija Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees are seen aboard a Turkish fishing boat as they arrive on the Greek island of Lesbos after crossing a part of the Aegean Sea from the Turkish coast to Lesbos Reuters Refugee crisis - in pictures An elderly woman sings a lullaby to baby on a beach after arriving with other refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos after crossing the Aegean sea from Turkey Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures A man collapses as refugees make land from an overloaded rubber dinghy after crossing the Aegean see from Turkey, at the island of Lesbos EPA Refugee crisis - in pictures A girl reacts as refugees arrive by boat on the Greek island of Lesbos after crossing the Aegean sea from Turkey Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees make a show of hands as they queue after crossing the Greek border into Macedonia near Gevgelija Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures People help a wheelchair user board a train with others, heading towards Serbia, at the transit camp for refugees near the southern Macedonian town of Gevgelija AP Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees board a train, after crossing the Greek-Macedonian border, near Gevgelija. Macedonia is a key transit country in the Balkans migration route into the EU, with thousands of asylum seekers - many of them from Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq and Somalia - entering the country every day Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures An aerial picture shows the "New Jungle" refugee camp where some 3,500 people live while they attempt to enter Britain, near the port of Calais, northern France Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures A Syrian girl reacts as she helped by a volunteer upon her arrival from Turkey on the Greek island of Lesbos, after having crossed the Aegean Sea EPA Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees arrive by boat on the Greek island of Lesbos after crossing the Aegean sea from Turkey Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures Beds ready for use for migrants and refugees are prepared at a processing center on January 27, 2016 in Passau, Germany. The flow of migrants arriving in Passau has dropped to between 500 and 1,000 per day, down significantly from last November, when in the same region up to 6,000 migrants were arriving daily.

The number of refugees displaced by conflict was estimated to have reached a global total of 65 million, a record high, at the end of 2015.

An average of 24 people per minute are were displaced last year, the UN said, amounting to 34,000 people per day.
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The Iraqi authorities have responded to a massive suicide bomb attack by Isis by executing five men it said had been convicted of terrorism.

As the death toll from Sundays huge blast in a Baghdad shopping district passed 165, demands grew for the government to take action against Isis sleeper cells blamed for one of the deadliest attacks in many years. Another 220 people were injured in the blast in the citys Karrada area, and a further 35 people are said to be missing

Isis claimed responsibility for the bombing, its deadliest in Iraq, saying it was a suicide attack. Another explosion struck later the same night, when a roadside bomb blew up in the popular market of al-Shaab, a Shiite district in north Baghdad, killing two people.

(AP (AP)

Reuters said that the Sunday blasts revealed that Isis could still strike in the heart of the Iraqi capital despite recent military losses, undermining Prime Minister Haider al-Abadis declaration of victory last month when Iraqi forces dislodged the hardline Isis insurgents from the nearby city of Fallujah.

Mr Abadis Shiite-led government ordered the offensive on Fallujah in May after a series of deadly bombings in Shiite areas of Baghdad that it said originated from the Sunni Muslim city, 30 miles west of the capital.

In pictures: Baghdad bombing Show all 20 1 /20 In pictures: Baghdad bombing In pictures: Baghdad bombing Mourners react during a funeral of a victim who was killed in a suicide car bomb in the Karrada shopping area in Baghdad REUTERS In pictures: Baghdad bombing Mourners react during a funeral of a victim who was killed in a suicide car bomb in the Karrada shopping area in Baghdad REUTERS In pictures: Baghdad bombing Mourners carry the coffin of their relative, who was killed in a suicide vehicle bomb in the Karrada shopping area in Baghdad REUTERS In pictures: Baghdad bombing Iraqis react as they visit the aftermath of a massive bombing in Baghdad AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Baghdad bombing The mother (2nd L) of 16-year-old Iraqi Nabil Abdul Karim, who died in a massive bombing in Baghdad's Karrada neighbourhood as he went to celebrate his birthday, reacts as she visits the aftermath of the attack AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Baghdad bombing An Iraqi woman cries as she visits the aftermath of a massive bombing in Baghdad AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Baghdad bombing Iraqis react as they visit the aftermath of a massive bombing in Baghdad AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Baghdad bombing Iraqis gather at the site of a suicide car bombing in Baghdad's central Karrada district AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Baghdad bombing People light candles at the scene of a massive car bomb attack in Karrada, a busy shopping district where people were shopping for the upcoming Eid al-Fitr holiday, in the center of Baghdad AP In pictures: Baghdad bombing People light candles at the scene of a massive car bomb attack in Karrada AP In pictures: Baghdad bombing People light candles at the scene of a massive car bomb attack in Karrada AP In pictures: Baghdad bombing Iraqi women stand at a site barricaded with a security red tape in Baghdad AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Baghdad bombing Iraqis evacuate a body from the site of a suicide car bombing in Baghdad AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Baghdad bombing Firemen inspect the site of a suicide car bomb in the Karrada shopping area REUTERS In pictures: Baghdad bombing Iraqi firefighters spray water on a burning building at the site of a suicide car bombing claimed by the Islamic State group AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Baghdad bombing People gather at the site of a suicide car bomb in the Karrada shopping area REUTERS In pictures: Baghdad bombing Iraqis evacuate a body from the site of a suicide car bombing in Baghdad AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Baghdad bombing Iraqi women walk past a damaged building at the site of the attack AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Baghdad bombing Iraqis removed a burnt car from the site of the attack AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Baghdad bombing Iraqi firefighters extinguish a fire as civilians gather after a car bomb at a commercial area in Karrada AP

Abadi has to have a meeting with the heads of national security, intelligence, the interior ministry and all sides responsible for security and ask them just one question: How can we infiltrate these groups, said Abdul Kareem Khalaf, a former police Major General who advises the Netherlands-based European Centre for Counterterrorism and Intelligence Studies think tank.

 Twin bombings kill scores in Iraqs Baghdad

Isis has supporters or members everywhere - in Baghdad, Basra and Kurdistan. All it takes is for one house to have at least one man and you have a planning base and launch site for attacks of this type.

In a sign of public outrage at the failure of the security services, Mr Abadi was given an angry reception on Sunday when he toured Karrada, the district where he grew up, with residents throwing stones, empty buckets and even slippers at his convoy in gestures of contempt, Reuters said.

He ordered new measures to protect Baghdad, starting with the withdrawal of fake bomb detectors that police have continued to use despite a scandal that broke out in 2011 about their sale to Iraq under his predecessor, Nuri al-Maliki.

On Monday, Iraqs Justice Ministry said five convicted militants had been executed in Baghdad.

In February, Amnesty International reported that the number of Iraqis sentenced to death in 2016 came close to 100. The human rights watchdog called it a grim indicator of the current state of justice in the country.
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A suicide bomber has killed at least four people in an attack on the Prophet's Mosque in Medina in Saudi Arabia, the second most holy site in Islam.

Four members of the Saudi security forces were killed in the explosion near the mosque's security headquarters.

Pictures on social media show dark smoke billowing from flames near the mosque, where the Prophet Mohamed is buried.

The blast is believed to have occurred at sunset, when people were were beginning to break their fast for Ramadan.

Saudi newspaper Okaz reported security officers were preparing to break their fast when they were approached by a young man  who looked to be around 18-years-old  to share food. He then detonated his explosives.

Despite the terror, Saudi state TV showed live video of thousands of worshippers standing defiantly shoulder to shoulder to pray in the sacred mosque just hours after the explosion.

Qari Ziyaad Patel, 36, from Johannesburg, South Africa, was in the mosque when he heard a loud blast just as sunset prayers were ending and people were breaking their fast.

He said many initially believed it was the sound of traditional, celebratory cannon fire but then he felt the ground shake.

"The vibrations were very strong...it sounded like a building imploded", he said.

Muslims believe Prophet Mohamed built the mosque himself shortly after arriving in Medina after fleeing Mecca.

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

Thousands of Muslims visit his tomb in the final days of Ramadan every year before continuing on their pilgrimmage to Mecca.

The attack was the third suicide attack in less than 24 hours

A suicide bomber blew himself up in the car park of a mosque in the eastern city of Qatif  where most of the country's Shia minority live.

Another suicide attacker struck in Jeddah, on the west coast, in the early hours of Monday morning after detonating a device near the US consulate.

Two security officers were injured as they tackled the man to the ground.

The attacks come on the eve of Eid al-Fitr which marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan.

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No group has claimed responsibility for the attacks so far.

The possibility of coordinated, multiple attacks across different cities in Saudi Arabia on the same day underscores the threat the kingdom faces from extremists who view the Western-allied Saudi monarchy as heretics and enemies of Islam.

Saudi Arabia is part of the US-led coalition fighting Isis in Iraq and Syria.

Additional reporting by agencies
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Two explosions have been heard near a mosque in the Saudi Arabian city of Qatif.

A witness said one explosion destroyed a car parked near a mosque, followed by another explosion just before 7pm local time.

Body parts could be seen and they are believed to be that of an attacker, the witness added.

Local resident Mohammed al-Nimr, the brother of prominent Saudi Shia cleric Nimr al-Nimr who was executed in January, said the attack had not caused any injuries.

He said the bomber detonated his suicide vest when most of the residents of the neighbourhood were indoors breaking their fast for Ramadan.

A car bomb also detonated around the same time as the suicide attack, he added.

State media reported that two suicide bombers are believed to have died in the attack which was aimed at the mosque.

Saudi Arabia has been a target of Islamic State attacks that have killed dozens of people.

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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. 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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. 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In June, the Interior Ministry reported 26 terror attacks in the kingdom in the last two years.

The Qatif region has the highest concentration of Shia Muslims in the predominantly Sunni country.

An earlier attack in Qatif  which was claimed by Isis' affiliates  in May 2015 killed 21 people.

It follows another suicide attack near the US consulate in Saudi Arabia's second city, Jeddah, at around 2am local time on Monday morning which injured two security guards.

A similar attack on the Prophet's Mosque in Medina killed four and wounded five.

No group has claimed responsibility for the bombings so far.

Additional reporting by agencies
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Two terrorists involved in the deadly shooting that killed four people in Tel Aviv were inspired by Isis, according to an indictment presented to the Tel Aviv District Prosecutor's Office.

Shin Bet, Israel's internal security service, said that the perpetrators, Mahmoud Khalid Mahamrah and Ahmed Mohammed, both residents of the West Bank town of Yatta, carried out the attack in the name of the terror group.

However, the statement noted that neither of the two were formally recruited or received training or assistance from the the terrorist organisation.

Ahmed Mohammed studied in Jordan and was an Isis supporter, while Khaled Mahamra was traumatised by the demolition of his home when he was in school, according to Israeli website Haaretz.

Shin Bet also said that an investigation into the shooting uncovered that the two attackers had planned to carry out an attack against Israeli civilians since January of 2016.

The shooting, which took place on the evening of 8 June, saw the terrorists open fire at the popular Sarona leisure complex near Israel's military headquarters, killing four people and injuring 17.

The murdered victims were a father of two, a woman waiting for her fiance, a 58-year-old man and a woman celebrating her 40th birthday.

Another attack in Tel Aviv earlier this year killed two people and injured five when a gunman opened fire on a busy bar on New Year's Day.
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A top European university is warning UK students to apply as soon as they can if they want to continue enjoying low tuition fees before Britain officially leaves the European Union.

Maastricht University (UM) in the Netherlands has said British students will continue to benefit from fees of just 1,600 a year for at least the next two years.

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The move means that, even if fees do rise after the period the UK is expected to leave the union, British students studying at UM will have saved around 16,000 to 18,000 than if they studied for a degree at home.

Once Britain has legally left the EU - and considering it does not join the European Economic Area - UM said its fees could still rise to as much as 8,360 a year for UK students.

However, this cost would still remain lower than the 9,000 most English and Welsh institutions currently charge which could rise even further under recent plans set out in the Governments white paper.

Over the next two years, Brits will also continue to be able to work and study without visas or permits, and qualify for supplementary loans from the Dutch government which help towards rent and bills. UM has also reminded prospective UK students most of its courses are taught in English.

A UM spokesperson said: At this uncertain time, we would like to reassure both current and prospective UK students that nothing will change until the UK officially leaves the EU. Even then, we will make every effort to ensure they can continue to benefit from a top quality education leading to professional careers, at an affordable price.

UM regularly performs well in university league tables and graduates have been hailed for doing well on the international labour market, with former students found to be doing research in Cambridge and Harvard.

Times Higher Educations (THE) 2016 World University Rankings data placed the institution in the top 40 universities in Europe out of a possible 200.

THEs recent 150 Under 50 rankings also placed the university in the top five of the top 150 universities in the world under 50 years old.

Professor Martin Paul, president of UM, said: We are asking British students to continue to apply to Maastricht. The university welcomes students from the UK because they are contributing to and benefitting from our international atmosphere.

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We urge UK students to continue to choose a university renowned for its research and its innovative approach to education. We will keep collaboration and exchange alive even when nationalist tendencies are on the increase.

University students in England are currently graduating with higher levels of debt than those in any other English-speaking country.

According to social mobility charity, the Sutton Trust, English students who graduated last year under the new 9,000 fees regime owed an average of 44,500 - higher than their American counterparts, and more than those in Canada, Australia, and New Zealand - something which is seeing more UK students head to Europe to study for a fraction of the cost.
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Portugal is gaining an international reputation for its cooking, particularly for creative cuisine. We asked Spotted by Locals team in Lisbon to recommend where to sample the best food in the capital, from restaurants serving the city's celebrated seafood to fine dining.

For vegetarians, one of the best places to eat is Terra (restauranteterra.pt). Its well-known and, even though the buffet isnt very extensive, the quality of the dishes - salads, sweet potato feijoada, tabbouleh - pulls the locals back again and again.

Meat-eaters cant go wrong at Carvoaria Jacto. Choose your meat (beef, pork or lamb), the cut and the weight and then wait for it to be cooked. Youre guaranteed consistently good food at reasonable prices.

Lisboeta Erik is passionate about Cervejaria Ramiro (cervejariaramiro.pt): It is the place to eat seafood. There are better (and far more expensive) places certainly, but few are as authentic as Cervejaria Ramiro. For those with a thicker wallet Eric recommends Nunes Real Marisqueira (nunesmarisqueira.com). Dinner here wont be cheap, but the quality is worth it. It is justified in calling itself Real (royal).

Nune's Real Marisqueira

Staying in the upmarket category (quality goes without saying, we are in Portugal after all), an obvious recommendation is Largo (largo.pt) in Chiado. It can be difficult to secure a table here, but thats because the chef is Louis Anjos, formerly of Portos celebrated Bull & Bear. The menu incorporates international and traditional dishes - scallops with corn cream and rose pepper or egg with potato foam and duck confit - accompanied by an extensive wine list.

For those on a budget and looking to experience local flavours, O Eurico is your spot. Dont expect polished service but be prepared to eat well, and a lot. Frequented by residents from the area, its an experience of taste and tradition in a loud, garrulous atmosphere.

O Eurico (Alexandre Cotovio) (Alexandre Cotovio)

Finally, when in Lisbon, you should try the national dish bacalhau (salted cod) and a bifana (pork sandwich). Local Tania says its (among other things) the cod at Zapata that makes her go back time and again. Many locals will mention Bifanas do Caldas or O Trevo when it comes to bifana. The first is conveniently located near the Castle while the latter is close to the Miradouro de Sao Pedro de Alcantara.

Spotted by Locals (spottedbylocals.com) is a series of apps and blogs available on iPhone and Android devices with up-to-date tips by locals in 60+ cities in Europe and North America

Click here to find your ideal hotel or resort in Lisbon.
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Risk: anyone in business knows about it, and indeed over the past 10 days the uncertainty of everything from the UKs credit rating to the future legal location of easyJet has been a cause for concern.

After the vote to leave the EU, I talked to the bosses of the airlines on which you are most likely to be flying: easyJet, Ryanair and IAG, the holding company of British Airways.

With an economic downturn looking increasingly likely, airlines - as always - are more susceptible than businesses in more profitable industries. And they could all be affected to some extent if the UK is shut out of the "open skies deal that allows them to fly between any two EU airports.

Carolyn McCall, CEO of easyJet, had notably campaigned energetically to Remain. But she insisted not much would change: As far as were concerned, we want to keep going exactly as weve been doing.

For the next couple of years, nothing changes. But after that if the UK gets shut out of the EU single market for aviation, easyJet will need to acquire an Aircraft Operating Certificate (AOC) from one of the 27 remaining member states. That is just more complicated, but of course we can do it. It could be that the legal HQ moves from the bright orange hangar at Luton airport, but that would be little more than a legal nicety. IAG, which owns British Airways, is registered in Spain, but practically all of its HQ staff are based at Heathrow.

Talking of IAG: the firms chief executive, Willie Walsh, dismissed any pessimism: The idea that people in the UK will stop flying or people will stop flying to the UK is just nonsense. So well continue to fly, well continue to look for opportunities to expand our network and seek out brave new destinations to fly to.

But his countryman, and counterpart at Ryanair, Michael OLeary, said British passengers would have less choice and higher fares as a result of voting for Brexit: I think theres going to be less flights, there will be less growth in the UK in the next number of years and that inevitably means higher prices for UK consumers and visitors. Thats not great news for, say, SMEs trying to keep a lid on corporate travel costs - nor for Ryanair itself, as it seeks to reposition itself as the business travellers best friend.

Risk can be much more serious than just a financial downside. Brussels airport remains full of police and soldiers after the attacks in March. And later on Tuesday, as I travelled back from the Belgian capital, news came through about the murderous attack on Istanbul airport.

Unlike Brussels, the main airport in Turkey is one of Europes big five, along with Heathrow, Paris CDG, Frankfurt and Amsterdam. Last year it overtook Frankfurt in passenger numbers, and was on course to do the same this year to Paris.

In an average hour, 7,000 passengers pass through the airport. The intention is for Istanbul to grow rapidly to become a hub to rival Dubai, with Turkish Airlines already flying to more destinations worldwide than any other carrier - and the most important airline in Africa.

It is very difficult these days to hijack a plane, but as the attacks in Istanbul and Brussels capital showed, the public areas of airports are vulnerable to suicidal terrorists. Attacks on airports have a global impact in every sense. Many different nationalities are in the line of fire, and the effects on normal international travel can be immense.

So how should you, as a business traveller, respond to this latest atrocity, which killed more than 40 people? Keep calm, carry on, and reduce your dwell time.

I try to time my arrival at any international airport to just one hour before departure. I don't hang around in any publicly accessible area, and get through the security checkpoint as quickly as possible - experience shows that passengers landside are much more vulnerable than those airside. At Istanbul on Tuesday, transfer passengers were never at risk.

The risk associated with the flying component of air travel is negligible. The ground component, sadly, is getting riskier. But overall the danger remains tolerably low, and a bigger risk is that we reduce travelling and surrender the many rewards it brings.
Here is her statement in full.

End of mission statement by the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar

Yangon, 1 July 2016

I have just concluded my fourth official visit to the country as Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar. I would like to thank the Government of Myanmar for its invitation and for granting me an extended visit of twelve days. This has not only allowed to me to travel to Kachin, Rakhine and Shan States, but also to devote more time in Nay Pyi Taw to engage with different ministers in the new Government. I would also like to thank the United Nations Country Team for their assistance throughout my visit. Additionally, I would like express my appreciation to the broad range of interlocutors with whom I met for their openness and cooperation with my mandate. My programme is listed in detail in the Annex.

The peaceful transition to a democratically-elected and civilian-led government after five decades is a significant milestone for Myanmar. My visit thus takes place at an important juncture for the country. After the euphoria in the wake of last years elections, the reality of the significant and wide-ranging challenges facing the new Government has not significantly dampened the sense of optimism and hope amongst many sectors of the population. It will therefore be the key test for this new Government to capitalize on the overwhelming public support and current momentum to push forward its priority agenda and reforms.

I welcome the Governments commitment to furthering democratic transition, national reconciliation, sustainable development and peace, and the important steps already taken in this regard. The objective of my visit, therefore, was to make a comprehensive, objective and balanced assessment of the human rights situation in this new landscape. Today, I wish to highlight some preliminary observations from my visit. I will present a full report to the 71st session of the General Assembly later this year.

Forging human rights in a young democracy

Consolidating democracy and building a culture of respect for human rights is a complex undertaking that requires political will and sustained investment in enhancing the functioning and integrity of State institutions and bodies. Important human rights principles must underpin this process so that State institutions and bodies prioritize the needs and rights of the people in Myanmars diverse society.

In meeting with various interlocutors in Government and Parliament, I was encouraged to see a burgeoning understanding of this role and a broad commitment to further reform. I was struck by the candid exchange of views on human rights concerns, and the frank assessment of the remaining challenges ahead. At the same time, I observed the very real tension between a new civilian leadership and a bureaucracy inherited from previous military regimes which often resulted in a duality in policy and approach. I also observed the challenges in trying to enhance democratic governance within an institutional framework that impedes the development of democratic practices and respect for human rights. Overcoming these challenges will require further reforms and a change in behaviour and mindset. While this will take time, these issues cannot be overlooked and must be continually prioritized.

I was pleased to note that many aspects of the various 100-day plans of union ministries were broadly in line with the human rights priority areas set out in my last report to the Human Rights Council. I encouraged closer cooperation with my mandate and the international community in their implementation. At the same time, I noted that many of these plans were not well-publicized and had, for the most part, been developed with little or no public consultation or input from relevant stakeholders, in particular civil society. Looking ahead to the development of a longer-term five-year plan for the Government, greater efforts must be made to address these shortcomings.

Parliament also has a central role in the promotion of democracy. During my visit, I had the opportunity to engage with parliamentarians and various parliamentary bodies. While there was a clear need to enhance the capacity and functioning of this young institution and its new members, I was impressed by the understanding shown of their important check and balance functions over the executive. I welcomed their frank assessment of current structural challenges, such as the 25 percent military bloc, and the lack of a separate professional secretariat (with current support provided by the General Administrative Department under the Ministry of Home Affairs). In order to ensure a properly functioning parliamentary culture, the independence of Parliament must be ensured and members of Parliament should be able to exercise the right to freedom of speech in the course of discharging their duties. It is crucial that Parliament be a forum for expressing opinions reflecting the different interests of Myanmars multi-ethnic society.

I also met members of the Myanmar National Human Rights Commission and encouraged the Commission to more fully step into its role as an independent advocate for human rights. While welcoming the many promotional and awareness-raising activities undertaken, the Commission should not shy away from addressing issues deemed sensitive to the Government; this is precisely when a neutral and objective human rights voice is most needed.

The foundation for any functioning democracy is the rule of law. I therefore welcome the priority given to upholding the rule of law and to strengthening legal and judicial institutions. Central to this is the continuing review and reform of legislation, particularly outdated laws that have been deemed to be inconsistent with international human rights standards. I am encouraged to see quick and real progress on the recommendations of the Legal Affairs and Special Cases Assessment Commission to amend 142 laws, including the recent repeal of the State Protection Act. While noting some improvements to the Peaceful Assembly and Peaceful Procession Act, several shortcomings remain and I hope to see these remedied before the Law is promulgated.

However, I am acutely aware that more needs to be done. During my visit, I consistently drew attention to many laws still on the books that continue to limit the full enjoyment of human rights. I therefore renew my call for a comprehensive legislative review to be undertaken, with clear target dates for the conclusion of the review.

Also during my visit, I continued to hear concerns about the lack of systematic consultation on draft laws and the opaque process of legislative reform. Clear timelines should be established for the review of draft laws and an appropriate consultation process should be developed to ensure transparency and adequate engagement by civil society organizations and members of the public. A vetting mechanism should also be established to ensure that all draft legislation complies with international human rights standards.

Finally, in the current transitional environment with delicate relationships still being forged between different constituents, Myanmar must not lose sight of the need for constitutional reform. Many shared my view but acknowledged that this remained sensitive and would not likely be feasible soon. Nevertheless, I urged continued discussion and consideration of this important issue particularly within Parliament and by the public at large.

Enhancing democratic space

The enjoyment of the rights to freedom of expression, association and assembly are essential ingredients for Myanmars democracy. Many are hopeful that continuing restrictions on the exercise of these rights will soon be lifted by the new Government. However, recent incidents, such as the banning of a film during a human rights film festival and the denial of permission for a press conference on a civil society report alleging grave violations by the military, are worrying signals. Additionally, I was informed by several civil society actors that they are facing visa restrictions, or have once again been placed on the blacklist.

I have previously highlighted concerns regarding the arrests and prosecution of individuals exercising fundamental rights. I stated that such practices were creating a new generation of political prisoners. While I have not seen the same frequency and scale of arrests, problematic legal provisions continue to be applied and the practice of bringing multiple charges across different townships for the same offence or historic offences also continues. Additionally, journalists and media workers continue to face legal action under outdated defamation laws.

I also continue to receive reports of monitoring and surveillance of civil society actors and human rights defenders. During this visit, I unfortunately was informed that my interlocutors were photographed by security officials, and were questioned prior to and following our meetings. During a private meeting with a village community in Rakhine State, I discovered a recording device placed in the room by a Government official.

I therefore renew my request to all civil society actors, media workers and prisoners with whom I met to report to me any cases of reprisal. I also reiterate that the Government (in particular the Ministry of Home Affairs and Special Branch police) must ensure the safety of all my interlocutors and guarantee that they will not face any reprisals, including threats, harassment, punishment or judicial proceedings as required by the Human Rights Council. I have been assured by the Deputy Minister of Home Affairs that these practices will cease in future visits and that no reprisals will occur. In my previous visits, I had also been assured by the then Minister of Home Affairs that these practices will cease. Nevertheless, they are still continuing. Old habits do die hard.

As the United Nations Secretary-General has said civil society is the oxygen of democracy. It is clear that a change of mind-set is still needed at all levels of Government to allow civil society and the media to flourish. Going forward, the fundamental role of civil society in supporting further democratic reforms and in advocating for human rights must be better understood and fully recognized. Civil society can also monitor the abuse of power and corruption and hold state institutions to account. Criticism helps to strengthen democratic institutions and critical voices should not be excluded or restricted, but rather, empowered and supported. Partnerships with civil society should be built and strengthened.

Political prisoners

I commend the recent amnesties granted to political prisoners. This is a significant step which affirms the Governments commitment to democratic transition and national reconciliation. I note that many individuals, whose cases I had previously raised, have been released with the charges against them dropped or pardoned. I met with some of them during my visit, including U Gambira earlier today upon his release.

Many political prisoners remain behind bars however and their cases should be urgently resolved. I am aware that there continues to be discrepancies in the number of remaining political prisoners from different sources. Accordingly, a comprehensive and thorough review of all cases by the Government, based on broad consultations with all relevant stakeholders, is needed to clarify records. Related to this, in my view, is the need to develop a formal definition of political prisoner in consultation with all relevant actors.

I also hold the view that former and released political prisoners should not be subject to administrative and other restrictions that impede re-integration into society. These include restrictions in the acquisition of passports and professional work licenses, and in enrollment in formal university education. Additionally, released political prisoners, particularly those who suffered ill-treatment or prolonged periods of solitary confinement, should be given the necessary medical and psycho-social support.

National reconciliation

The impact of conflict and looking towards peace

The Government informed me that the peace process and the need to end continuing armed conflict in several areas of the country is a priority. In a worrying development since my last visit, a new front of fighting has broken out in Rakhine State. Fighting also continues in Kachin State and has taken on new dimensions in Northern Shan State.

On the ground, this violence continues to have a severe effect on the lives of civilians. In particular, I continue to receive reports of human rights violations committed by all parties to the conflict and in all areas where active fighting continues. One individual told me that her sibling had been kidnapped and there was still no news of his fate many weeks later. This is sadly not an isolated case: reports of abductions for forced recruitment and for use as hostages, predominantly by ethnic armed groups, are increasing. I also continue to receive reports of other grave violations, including sexual and gender-based violence, torture, killings and arbitrary arrest by all sides. I reiterate that investigations should be conducted into all such allegations and that perpetrators be held to account. Military personnel who are alleged to have perpetrated violations against civilians must also be held accountable and should be prosecuted in a civilian court.

Also of concern is the continuing detention and reported torture of individuals with suspected ties to ethnic armed groups under section 17 (1) of the Unlawful Associations Act. In particular, there has been a sharp increase in cases in Rakhine where reportedly some arrests have been made with little supporting evidence.

During my visit, I also met with internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Kachin, Rakhine and Shan States and heard of their daily struggles to survive, earn a basic living and access basic services such as education and healthcare. In this context, humanitarian assistance provides a lifeline to communities and I was concerned to hear of the extensive difficulties in accessing and delivering such aid to several areas. In Rakhine State, I was informed that international non-governmental organizations are required to seek travel authorisations through a cumbersome procedure, with additional authorizations required for areas in the northern part of the State. Muslim staff members face restrictions in their freedom of movement and require additional travel authorisations which hamper their ability to perform their functions.

In Kachin State, humanitarian access is shrinking particularly to non-government controlled areas. Previously there was access albeit subject to some limitations to the more than 40,000 IDPs in non-government controlled areas. However, access has been blocked in recent months with a proposal made to deliver assistance to neutral or government controlled areas  a 1.5 day walk for many of those affected. I had hoped to visit Laiza to look into these developments, but unfortunately was refused access to security considerations.

In Northern Shan State, access is hampered by shifting front lines. The situation is becoming more complex with multiplying numbers of actors using armed force. I am particularly concerned by reports from civil society actors that the fighting between the TNLA and RCSS is starting to create tensions between civilian communities in affected areas. Their work in ensuring that communities are not further divided is even more vital now. Whilst I was given positive signals on the feasibility of a visit to Kutkai until the day before my arrival in Shan State, my request was ultimately denied due to security considerations forcing a late change in my schedule. I regret that I was unable to see the realities on the ground for myself.

During my visit, I repeatedly heard the sentiment that for communities affected by conflict, things have yet to change. They saw the recent elections as a sign of hope but they are still awaiting real change. Durable peace must be achieved to allow these areas of the country, and others to see the change they have been waiting for.

I discussed the peace process and the 21st Century Panglong Conference with many interlocutors. I was encouraged to hear that efforts are being made to reach out to all ethnic armed groups. It is vital that the process is truly inclusive, collaborative and open in order to build a sustainable peace going forward. Civil society actors must be seen as partners in this process, and have a voice in all areas of discussion. This includes issues which are seen by some as political, but in fact have significant impact on human rights.

The previous Government made a commitment to ensure at least 30% representation of women at all levels of the peace dialogue. This commitment should be met as a minimum. During my visit, I met with a number of qualified women working in the area of human rights and conflict, who would be an asset to the process. I hope that an effort will be made to ensure such individuals are included. A gender perspective must also be incorporated into all areas of the dialogue.

IDPs informed me that they are afraid to return to their villages due to the continuing presence of soldiers and the risk posed by landmines. I was pleased to hear from the Ministry of Defence that demining has been completed in a small area in Kayin State. I urge that such programmes be extended throughout the country where there has not been recent active conflict, with assistance from the international community.

Respect for the rights of minorities

During my visit, I addressed continuing reports of discrimination against ethnic minorities, including through restrictions on the freedom of religion or belief. These issues must be addressed in future political dialogues in order to tackle the root causes of conflict and the long-standing grievances of ethnic communities. While the creation of an Ethnic Affairs Ministry is a welcome step, the necessary institutional, legal and policy framework should be established to ensure greater respect for the rights of minorities. In this regard, the Government should consider developing a comprehensive anti-discrimination law or policy to ensure that minorities can exercise their rights without any discrimination and in full equality before the law.

The recent establishment of the Central Committee on Implementation of Peace, Stability and Development of Rakhine State signals the priority given by the Government to addressing the complex challenges facing both communities. Nevertheless, my visit to Rakhine State unfortunately confirmed that the situation on the ground has yet to significantly change.

The conditions in the IDP camps I visited remain poor with concerns about overcrowding, the deterioration of temporary shelters and housing, and the lack of proper sanitation facilities.

While there is rightful emphasis on ensuring development and humanitarian assistance to all communities, ending institutionalized discrimination against the Muslim communities in Rakhine State must also be an urgent priority. The continuing restrictions on the freedom of movement of the Rohingya and Kaman communities cannot be justified on any grounds of security or maintaining stability. In fact, as I have previously highlighted, such restrictions severely affect all aspects of life, including access to basic services and livelihoods. They also hamper community interactions and impede any prospects for long-term stability and reconciliation. Progress is needed on this key issue in order to address other human rights concerns in Rakhine State.

I note that the Government has re-initiated a citizenship verification exercise in several townships and villages, with plans to roll out the exercise throughout the State. Identity cards for national verification are being issued - without designations of race and ethnicity and without expiration dates. I must acknowledge the Governments attempt to learn lessons from a similar verification pilot exercise conducted in Myebon last year. Yet, response to this latest initiative has been lukewarm at best. Many with whom I spoke, including representatives of the Kaman community, expressed frustration that citizens or those entitled to citizenship were required to undergo this process. Some in the Rohingya community also provided me with copies of National Registration Cards (pink cards) held by their parents and grandparents dating back generations. There was also distrust and scepticism of the Governments initiatives given the revocation of the Temporary Registration Cards (white cards) last year and previous citizenship verification exercises. The residents in one village in Rakhine State refused to participate in the verification exercise for these reasons. Additionally, I was informed that they had not been given prior information on the exercise and had received no further explanation subsequently.

If the verification exercise is extended throughout Rakhine State, it would be important to fully consult and involve those directly affected by this process. Clear timeframes should be established on when participants will have their status reviewed and when decisions on their applications can be expected. The Government must address the situation in Myebon where those granted citizenship continue to face restrictions and demonstrate that all those granted citizenship will automatically acquire the rights to which they are entitled.

Religious intolerance; incitement to hatred

It is clear that tensions along religious lines remain pervasive across Myanmar society. Incidents of hate speech, incitement to discrimination, hatred and violence, and of religious intolerance continue to be a cause for concern. While I commend Daw Aung San Suu Kyis commitment to combating and publicly condemning hate speech and incitement to violence against minorities, other public officials and political leaders must also speak out.

During my visit, I specifically addressed recent reported attempts to build pagodas or stupas on the property of or in close proximity to churches and mosques in Karen State. I also expressed concern at the recent mob attack resulting in the destruction of a house, mosque, a school and a Muslim cemetery in Bago. Whether deliberate or not, the incident can be seen as an attack on the past, present and future of one community.

It is vital that the Government take prompt action, including by conducting thorough investigations and holding perpetrators to account. I am therefore concerned by reports that the Government will not pursue action in the most recent case due to fears of fuelling greater tensions and provoking more conflict. This is precisely the wrong signal to send. The Government must demonstrate that instigating and committing violence against an ethnic or religious minority community has no place in Myanmar. Perpetrators will be treated seriously in accordance with the law regardless of race, religious or ethnic background.

At the same time, comprehensive measures to address the root causes of such tensions and violence must also be taken. Prevention should be prioritized, including through education, and information and media campaigns, in order to deconstruct discriminatory and negative stereotypes. Initiatives to promote interfaith and intercommunal harmony must also be taken in cooperation with civil society, as well as religious and community leaders.

Realizing economic, social and cultural rights for the prosperity of all

Priority attention on economic, social and cultural rights is also of fundamental importance. As Myanmar continues to open up, the impact of development projects on these rights is becoming increasingly prominent. Development is needed for increased prosperity but should not come at the cost of human rights. Careful planning should be undertaken to ensure a rights-based approach which maximises the benefits for all.

I met an individual who will shortly lose her family home to a mega-development project. She and other villagers were given no opportunity to discuss the project, but were instead summoned and informed that they would have to leave their village. She does not know if or when she will receive compensation or if there will be relocation options provided. Across the country, hundreds of others face a similar situation. This is unacceptable, and priority must be given to ensuring that communities are consulted in a meaningful process, and that relocations are conducted in line with international standards.

Time will be needed to develop and enforce the normative framework in this area, and to gain the capacity and expertise to properly scrutinise projects. In this vein, I welcome the decision of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation to halt Government timber extraction for one year. This will enable the Ministry to review the current state of forests and to ensure that they are used sustainably. In this regard, a similar temporary moratorium on large-scale development projects should be considered in order to conduct meaningful consultations with affected communities and full social and environmental impact assessments.

During my visit, I met with civil society groups active in the jade mining areas. They told me of the dire conditions faced by local communities, including extensive environmental degradation, continuing land confiscations as the mines expand, and weekly deaths from vehicles and landslides, all conducted against a backdrop of disregard for the rule of law. I was pleased to hear that all companies were now required to complete environmental impact assessments in accordance with the new procedures, but further steps are needed.

I have repeatedly underlined the need to resolve the issue of land confiscations, both historic and continuing. I was therefore pleased that the new Government quickly formed a new Central Committee to address this issue. The Committee recently completed its first returns, giving 7000 acres back to farmers. This is welcome progress. The Committee assured me of their desire to resolve the remaining cases, but many are complex and will take time. Whilst this process is continuing, priority should also be given to drafting a national land law, which can serve as a basis for fair and transparent land management going forward. Building on the National Land Use Policy, this should be done in a participatory manner, drawing on the expertise of civil society and international organizations.

Realizing the right to education will be key to improving the prospects of Myanmars next generation. A recent census report on employment showed that one in five children are in employment rather than education. Birth registration rates remain low across the country, but particularly in some conflict areas where no registrations have taken place due to difficulties accessing registration centers. The birth registration rate of Muslim communities in Rakhine State is also alarmingly low. Given my professional background, I have a particular interest in this area and have offered my assistance to parliamentarians and others working on issues related to the rights of children. I hope this is one of several areas where we can work together going forward.

Education for IDPs continues to be limited across the country. In all IDP camps I visited, ensuring access to education was the primary concern. In Kachin State, I was told of the lack of schools at the secondary and tertiary levels and low quality of education in the primary schools provided in the camps. In Rakhine State, I visited an IDP camp for the Rakhine community, where I was informed that children have to walk three hours each morning to reach a secondary school. In camps for Muslim communities around Sittwe, there is only one secondary school. Steps should be taken to secure universal access to education for all across the country, and priority attention should be given to IDP communities facing protracted displacement due to conflict. In Rakhine State, improving access to and the quality of education is one concrete and feasible step which can go a long way to improving the situation for all communities. It is particularly vital that restrictions impeding access to education for Muslim communities are removed.

Improving access to health care continues to be a priority for Myanmar, but particularly for IDPs in conflict-affected areas. This was another priority concern expressed to me in all IDP camps I visited. In Rakhine State, extending access to health care is vital for all communities and could provide a similar tangible step towards improving the situation on the ground. Of particular urgency is the need to remove restrictions preventing Muslims from accessing medical treatment in some Township Hospitals. Currently, Muslim communities are only able to seek treatment at Sittwe Hospital which, for some, is several hours travel. Even in medical emergencies, special permission to be referred to Sittwe Hospital is required, which is time consuming and cumbersome. This has resulted in preventable deaths and could lead to more if not urgently addressed. It is vital that all people are granted safe and timely access to health services without discrimination. As a minimum, it is important to ensure that all people (including Muslims and people of unresolved citizenship status) have safe access to all Township Hospitals in emergency cases. I raised this suggestion with several interlocutors and received assurances that steps towards this will be taken in this regard. I look forward to hearing of prompt action in this area.

Conclusion

Let me conclude by reiterating my firm belief that Myanmars young democracy can only progress if human rights are fully mainstreamed into its institutional, legal and policy framework. Building a culture of respect for human rights must be a priority now and in the future. While I am aware of the need to give space and time for the new Government to address the many complex challenges facing the country, I must remain constructively and critically engaged and vocal in encouraging and advocating for greater progress on human rights. I must also continue to hold Myanmar accountable to its international human rights obligations. That is my mandate as Special Rapporteur.

The international community also has a responsibility in this regard. In the rush to forge or strengthen political or economic ties, international actors must continue to prioritize human rights, particularly in business and investment relations. International actors should not undermine human rights priorities, including by remaining silent when confronted with human rights concerns or at worst, becoming complicit in perpetuating human rights abuses. The international community must remain fully engaged on human rights issues in Myanmar. It should also remain committed to providing necessary assistance and support to further the reforms in line with international human rights standards. It is vital that all actors work together to ensure human rights are respected and protected across Myanmar.

At the start of my visit, I stated that my objective, as Special Rapporteur, is to continue to work closely with the Government and people of Myanmar, for the promotion and protection of human rights in the country. I reaffirm that pledge to you now.

Thank you.

Annex  List of Meetings conducted by Ms Yanghee Lee during her visit

Union Government Officials

 State Counsellor, Union Minister for Foreign Affairs, Minister in the Presidents Office

 Union Minister, State Counsellors Office; Working Committee for Cooperation with United Nations Agencies and International Organizations

 Union Minister of Defence

 Union Minister of Border Affairs; Central Committee for the Implementation of Stability, Peace and Development of

Rakhine State

 Union Minister of Labour, Immigration and Population

 Union Minister of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement; National Disaster Management Committee

 Attorney General

 Union Minister of Ethnic Affairs

 Union Minister of Religious Affairs and Culture

 Union Minister of Education

 Union Minister of Information

 Union Minister of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation

 Deputy Minister of Home Affairs

 Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces

Parliament

 Patron for the Union Parliament and Speaker of the Amyotha Hluttaw

 Speaker of the Pyithu Hluttaw

 Bills Committee of the Amyotha Hluttaw and Pyithu Hluttaw

 Fundamental Rights, Democracy and Human Rights Committee of the Amyotha Hluttaw and Pyithu Hluttaw

 Chair and members of the Legal Affairs and Special Cases Assessment Commission

Other institutions

 Myanmar National Human Rights Commission

 Myanmar Press Council

 Central Committee on Confiscated Farmlands and Other Lands

 Preparation Committee for the 21st Century Panglong Conference and members of the Joint Monitoring Committee

Rakhine State

 Chief Minister and representatives of the Rakhine State Government

 Members of the Rakhine Elders

 Muslim and Rakhine communities in Ponnagyun

 Displaced communities in Pyinnwar Wa

 Displaced Rakhine communities around Sittwe

 Muslim community in Aung Mingalar

 Representatives of United Nations entities

 Representatives of international non-governmental organizations

 Consul of Bangladesh

 Former Chief Minister of Rakhine State and Member of State Parliament

 Human rights defenders

Kachin State

 Chief Minister and representatives of the Kachin State Government

 Civil society actors working on the peace process; jade mining and extractive industries; humanitarian assistance to IDPs

 Jan Mai Kawng Catholic Church IDP Camp

 Le Kone Zion Baptist Church IDP Camp

Shan State

 Representatives of the Shan State Government in Lashio

 Representatives of United Nations entities

 Victims of human rights violations

 Civil society actors working on the peace process; humanitarian assistance to IDPs; human rights; womens rights and gender issues

Civil society actors

 Lawyers

 Media workers

 Actors working on land rights issues; environmental issues; womens rights and gender issues; youth issues; labour rights issues; peace process; freedom of religion

 88 Generation Peace and Open Society;

 Representatives of the Kaman community

 Representatives of international human rights non-governmental organizations

 Recently released political prisoners

 Center for Diversity and National Harmony

Others

 Members of the United Nations Country Team

 Representatives of the diplomatic community

 Rakhine Heads of Mission Group

 Religious leaders

Detainee in Myitkyina Prison

 Laphai Gam

Insein Prison

 Min Min

 Maung Maung Lwin

 Win Hwe

 Win Naing

 Ye Thu Aung

 Zaw Min Oo
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

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Q My girlfriend and I are planning a big trip in late summer/early autumn next year, with a few weeks in Germany before flying out for six weeks in South America. We both love Germany and have always wanted to explore South America, hence the trip. How should we organise the ticket?

Mark Higgins, London

A Your trip sounds fabulous  but I would rather say your trips sound fabulous. Because I recommend you come back to London between your time in Germany and your time in London. Heres why.

The cost of getting to Germany and back is, with advance planning and flexibility, fairly negligible. Ive checked fares on easyJet for this September, and on a trip such as Luton to Berlin and Munich to Gatwick, and theres plenty available at about 30 each way  and, if you use easyJets marvellously generous cabin-baggage allowance, you need not spend extra on bags.

Next, in general, London is the best place in Europe from which to begin a long-haul trip. Despite the onerous Air Passenger Duty of 73 for beginning a long-haul trip in the UK, competition is so intense that you will probably pay less for a London-Rio ticket than a Frankfurt-Rio ticket, even though the latter is 14 miles shorter; that was borne out just now in a search I made for this coming September.

The only other thought: if Lufthansa is doing some good deals, then you might find that you can buy a London-Frankfurt-Rio ticket and have a long stopover in Germany. For that, Id recommend talking to a travel agent you trust.

Every day, our travel correspondent Simon Calder tackles a readers question. Just email yours to s@hols.tv or tweet @simoncalder
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Six months ago, Space for Giants started work organising the Giants Club Summit, held at the end of April at the Mount Kenya Safari Club. President Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya hosted the Africa-led event, along with fellow Giants Club members President Ali Bongo of Gabon, President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda, and senior representatives of President Ian Khama of Botswana.

The aim was to bring together African Heads of State, global business leaders, conservation experts and key influencers to provide the political will, financial resources and technical capacity that are so urgently required to ensure a future for elephants and the landscapes they depend on, forever.

"What we experienced at the Giants Club Summit is the start of an African conservation revolution," says Max Graham, CEO of Space for Giants. "We have always said that what is key to better protection of elephants and their landscapes, and to ending the illegal wildlife trade, is greater political will from Africa's leaders and during the Summit we saw the clearest possible demonstrations of that commitment. We have also seen substantial financial commitments being made, which will allow the Giants to achieve what they have set out to do."

Together, the Giants Club member states are home to more than half of Africas remaining savannah elephants, and three quarters of its remaining forest elephants. Actions agreed at the Summit will give these populations the greatest chance to thrive for generations to come.

To watch President Kenyatta's address at the Summit, click here.

For more information please go to: http://spaceforgiants.org/giantsclub/

Click http://bit.ly/GIANTSCLUB to support the Giants Club
The UK is set to dramatically slash corporation tax rates to woo businesses deterred by Brexit, placing it in direct competition with Ireland for vital foreign direct investment.

British Chancellor George Osborne outlined plans to aggressively cut its corporate tax to less than 15pc as he unveiled his plan to galvanise the economy.

This would take Britain close to the 12.5pc corporation tax rate in Ireland, which has been a cornerstone of our economy and helped attract major employers, including Apple, Pfizer and Google.

Business group Ibec said Mr Osborne's stance reinforced the need for significant reform in the upcoming Budget, to make us more attractive to foreign investment.

Meanwhile, Taoiseach Enda Kenny will today propose the creation of an all-island forum to deal with the fallout from British voters' decision to leave the European Union.

But the attitude of DUP leader Arlene Foster and her colleagues will be crucial to this plan.

The Government and IDA were already under huge pressure to ensure Ireland can reap the benefits of Brexit, with the British economy reeling from the referendum result of 10 days ago.

But now that challenge grows ever larger. Mr Osborne is intent on giving the UK the lowest corporation tax rate of any major economy, announcing a target of less than 15pc in an interview with the 'Financial Times'.

Mr Osborne said Britain should "get on with it" to prove the country was still "open for business".

He will also lead a delegation to China later this year to court fresh inward investment for the UK.

Business group Ibec said this reinforces the need for significant reform in the coming Budget to make us more attractive for foreign investment.

Read more: Osborne abandons plans for surplus as UK recession looms

A Government spokesman said it would "always promote our competitive and transparent tax rate."

Minister of State for EU Affairs Dara Murphy, said that the whole post-Brexit situation posed huge challenges. But Ireland still retained advantages with a dynamic, educated, English-speaking workforce.

Mr Murphy stressed that Ireland was a permanent EU member state, with the euro and full single market access. And the IDA added that our tax regime was "one part of Ireland's offering, which also includes the ease of doing business, access to talent, and access to the European market".

Fianna Fail Finance Spokesman Michael McGrath warned there must be "no knee-jerk reactions" to the British finance minister's announcement.

"There is a sense of panic in Britain in the wake of the referendum result and this decision is a measure of the grave difficulties they face post-Brexit. But there must be no panic here, no knee-jerk reactions and we must stay with our 12.5pc rate."

Mr McGrath said "it was a throw of the dice which may or may not happen".

He said it was a further challenge to the IDA and other State agencies to keep selling Ireland.

The developments follow hot on the heels of dramatic cuts to UK taxes announced in March, already threatening Irish efforts to retain and attract international investment.

And while Mr Osborne had previously indicated that he would slash the corporation tax from 20pc to 17pc by 2020, this goes much further.

Read more: Dan O'Brien: The UK economy will certainly slow - and could well slump

The UK has radically closed the tax gap in recent years. In 2008, the UK corporation tax was 30pc, and now it looks set to become half that rate.

Ibec CEO Danny McCoy said: "Ibec has long highlighted the competitive threat from the UK's increasingly pro-business tax regime. New plans to cut the UK's corporation tax rate is a further wake-up call that cannot be ignored."

A Dublin Chamber of Commerce spokesman said: "If we don't react, we're becoming less and less attractive. With the fall in Sterling aiding UK exporters versus Irish ones, it's a crucial time and the Government has to act."
The UK's decision to leave the EU is possibly the biggest shock to its economy since the Second World War.

As its closest neighbour and largest trading partner the ripple effect will be felt more in Ireland than anywhere else.

This week I'm looking at where, and how, you will see that manifested, in your pocket and lifestyle. It's not all negative news - with many of the ramifications, both good and bad, depending on your viewpoint.

Here are 10 areas were Brexit will affect Irish consumers:

1. Trade Forty-five per cent of all UK trade is with the EU, and most of it with Ireland. UK/Irish trade is worth 1.2bn every week. The ESRI predicts a 20pc slump, costing around 3bn over two years, as a result of Brexit.

Nobody fully understands the consequences, but it is imperative that business heads work together. Business negotiated under EU tenders will be reassessed.

One thing is certain: everybody on both sides of the Irish Sea wants to continue the strong trade between our two countries.

2. Travel We've enjoyed a common travel area with Britain since 1920, and they want that to continue.

However, many 'Leave' voters cited immigration as their number one concern and want borders re-established as a result. They're not worried about Irish visitors per se, but it's hard to keep an open border with one nationality and a closed one with others.

It's certainly likely that you'll need to show your passport again travelling to the UK, and the Short Stay Visa, introduced in 2011 to allow foreign tourists freedom of travel between the UK and Ireland, will now be reassessed.

3. Health At present, Irish citizens enjoy free NHS emergency treatment in hospitals under the European Health Insurance Card (EIHC).

After Brexit, we will be classed as 'international' visitors, without the same rights. If you get ill while in the UK, it is unclear if you can now be treated in a British hospital without incurring costs.

4. Sterling The UK currency plummeted to a 31-year low post-Brexit, to a rate of stg1 = 1.19. It rebounded slightly last week, to around 1.21, but some commentators suggest it could drop again. And this was a pound that was worth 1.43 this time last year.

It's bad for exporters but great for shoppers, so now is the time to get online to UK stores and buy.

Irish retailers haven't yet caught up, with stock pre-bought, so it's only good value if you shop directly off UK sites or in the North.

Our table shows the post-Brexit difference of recent days, but in time, Irish branches of British chains should reflect the decrease.

5. Pensions It's bad news for those nearing retirement. Some 25pc of the 109 Billion in Irish pension funds is held in EU and UK stocks and shares, which have taken a huge hit following Brexit.

While they will rebound in time, that's not much use if you're expecting a pension in the next couple of years.

6. Jobs With freedom of movement, UK and Irish citizens were free to pursue work in either country. That won't be the case anymore.

There may be sanctions imposed on Irish people working in the UK, but on the upside, Ireland is now the only English-speaking EU country, making us attractive to multi-nationals.

A number have already indicated they may seek to move their bases from the UK to Ireland as a result, which can only be good for our economy.

7. Students Irish students enjoy access to UK universities as EU citizens, with fees either covered under the SUSI scheme, or at lower cost. This will change.

Irish students will now be considered 'international' and third-level fees will range from stg10,000-15,000 per annum, as a result.

8. Shoppers The European Consumer Centre has already started receiving complaints from online shoppers who are being refused the 14-day cooling-off period mandated under EU law.

This is wrong, but a sign of things to come.

The actual 'divorce' from the EU will take up to two years. In that time shoppers are protected but it won't stop online retailers from opportunistic activities.

9. Products The EU brought in directives to ensure green targets are met, including banning things like certain high wattage lightbulbs, vacuum cleaners etc.

The UK can now begin to use whatever it likes. We can too, if we buy them online.

10. EU jobs To work in EU Parliament or Commission offices, you must be an EU citizen. UK workers may now be booted out, leaving the way open for English-speaking Irish workers to take their positions.
Theresa May will work "tirelessly" to control immigration to keep Britain safe and unite the Conservative Party if she becomes the next prime minister, the UK foreign secretary has said.

Philip Hammond has announced he is backing Ms May as the candidate who will "take our country forwards" and address the "deep divisions" exposed by the EU referendum.

Expand Close Former UK prime minister Tony Blair has said Britain should keep its 'options open' over leaving the European Union because the 'will of the people' could change. Photo: Chris Jackson/PA Wire / Facebook

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Whatsapp Former UK prime minister Tony Blair has said Britain should keep its 'options open' over leaving the European Union because the 'will of the people' could change. Photo: Chris Jackson/PA Wire

Mr Hammond is the eighth Cabinet minister to back the home secretary, who now has the support of 88 Conservative MPs and is the clear favourite for the contest.

She yesterday insisted that she did not want a "coronation" but believed there must be a "proper contest" with a vote by the party's membership. Some supporters had suggested it would be good for the country and the party to select one strong candidate to win the leadership unopposed.

Mr Hammond says: "Having worked with Theresa in government for six years, I have seen her determination in standing up to vested interests, her commitment to controlling migration from outside the EU and her tireless work to keep this country safe.

"I know she has the qualities and the character to take our country forward and to re-unite us after the referendum, behind a plan to address the deep divisions in our society that it has exposed."

The foreign secretary admits that there must "trade off" between controls on free movement of EU migrants and access to the single market.

Read more: Boris allies accuse Gove of being a 'Machiavellian psychopath' who plotted to win leadership 'from the beginning'

Read more: May is Britain's Merkel - she should heed her lessons

He suggests that while it will be "challenging" for Britain's economy, it does not have to be a "disaster".

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"There is a range of outcomes between "no access" and "full unfettered access" to the market; and a range of restrictions on free movement. So rather than squandering time and negotiating capital, let's recognise the trade-off upfront and scope options within the boundaries."

As the minister in charge of immigration, Ms May also appeared to step back from Mr Cameron's promise to cut net migration to the tens of thousands, instead warning there is "still a job to be done".

Speaking to ITV's Robert Peston, she said: "The Brexit vote gave us a clear message from people that we couldn't allow free movement to continue as it had hitherto.

"We need to bring control into movement of people coming into the UK from the EU... I believe we should have that goal of bringing immigration down to sustainable levels."

Ms May added: "What I've also discovered over the last six years is that this is somewhere where you're constantly having to work at it, so you can't just set a time period.

"We know, for example, if we're looking ahead over the coming months and years once we get the issue of the EU negotiation sorted, the right deal for Britain, we may very well see in the run-up to that, people wanting to come here to the UK before that exit happens."

Her remarks will be viewed as an admission that controlling migration even after the UK has left the EU will be incredibly difficult.

Meanwhile, the two leading candidates to be the next British prime minister differ on how urgent it is to trigger Article 50, the formal step that will kick-start Britain's negotiations with the EU on the terms of its exit from the bloc.

Ms May said Britain needed to be clear about its negotiating stance and that she would not be rushed into triggering the article this year, while Junior Energy Minister Andrea Leadsom struck a more urgent tone, saying Britain needed to "get a grip and make progress".

Five candidates are vying to succeed Mr Cameron as Conservative Party leader and prime minister. The field will be whittled down to two by the party's MPs, before grassroots party members pick the winner by September 9.

Elsewhere, former UK prime minister Tony Blair has said Britain should keep its "options open" over leaving the European Union because the "will of the people" could change. The government, he said, should delay triggering Article 50 "for as long as it takes to get an idea of how the other side looks".

A downturn in economic fortunes could lead to a change in attitudes about the country's future outside the EU, Mr Blair suggested.

He continued: "One of the reasons why we should keep our options open is that yes, the referendum expressed the will of the people, but the will of the people is entitled to change." ( Daily Telegraph, London)

Telegraph Media Group Limited [2022]
Angela Merkel could move to oust Europes federalist chief Jean-Claude Juncker within the next year, a German government minister has said, in a sign of deepening European divisions over how to respond to the Brexit vote.

The German chancellors frustration with the European Commission chief came as Europe split over whether to use the Brexit negotiations as a trigger to deepen European integration or take a more pragmatic approach to Britain as it heads for the exit door.

The pressure on him (Juncker) to resign will only become greater and Chancellor Merkel will eventually have to deal with this next year, an unnamed German minister told the Sunday Times, adding that Berlin had been furious with Mr Juncker gloating over the UK referendum result.

Mr Junckers constant calls for more Europe has led to several of Europe other dissenting members  including Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic  laying some of the blame for Brexit at his door.

Since the June 23 vote, both the Czech and Polish foreign ministers have called publicly for Mr Juncker to resign  moves that one senior EU official dismissed last week as predictable. However, the rumblings from Berlin now represent a much more serious threat to Mr Junckers tenure.

The split also offers a glimmer of hope for British negotiators, who are preparing for fractious EU-UK divorce talks and are desperate to avoid a repeat of Februarys failed negotiations which  controlled as they were by Mr Juncker and the Commission  left David Cameron without enough wins to avoid Brexit.

Everyone is determined that this negotiation is handled in the European Council  ie between the 27 heads of government  and not by the Commission, the Eurocrats and the EU theologians in Brussels, a senior British source said.

In a signal that that battle has already been partially won, Ms Merkel pointedly met with French and Italian leaders in Berlin last week, excluding

Mr Juncker from the conversation.

The Commission has also declined to fight the Council for the role of chief negotiator, according to an account of a meeting of senior EU officials seen by the Daily Telegraph.

Ms Merkels anger reflects a growing schism in Europe between those, like Mr Juncker and the French and Belgian leaders, who want to see more Europe after Brexit, and those, like Ms Merkel and her powerful finance minister Wolfgang Schauble, who believe that this would be crazy.

Prior to the Brexit vote, senior European Commission officials were privately jubilant about the opportunity that a British Leave vote would present to complete the European project, sucking reluctant countries like Poland into the euro within five years.

Since Brexit, French ministers have been far less conciliatory to the UK than their German counterparts, openly salivating at the prospect of UK-based financial businesses relocating to Paris.

Manuel Valls, the French prime minister, said he was working out ways to make Paris  as opposed to Dublin

or Frankfurt  the most attractive place for relocating businesses.

To major international companies I say, Welcome to Paris! Come invest in France, he said. ( Daily Telegraph, London)

Telegraph Media Group Limited [2022]
Nigel Farage leaves the national stage as one of the most divisive - and successful - politicians of modern times.

Accused of stooping to racist imagery with the infamous "Breaking Point" poster depicting streams of refugees fleeing to the EU, Mr Farage saw his decades-long campaign for Britain to quit the grip of Brussels triumph in the narrow 52% to 48% victory for the Leave side in the landmark referendum.

After facing down numerous challenges to unseat him, Mr Farage, 52, has now decided to step aside as party leader after securing an historic victory against the odds.

Opponents within the party had been keen to see Mr Farage relinquish the Ukip reins so it could shake off its image as a one-man band.

The departure of such a polarising leader also makes it easier for the party to target traditional Labour heartlands it now sees as vulnerable, according to strategists.

Read More

This new electoral drive was signalled in Mr Farage's surprise announcement he was going, as he noted: "I have decided to stand aside as leader of Ukip. The victory for the Leave side in the referendum means that my political ambition has been achieved.

"Whilst we will now leave the European Union, the terms of our withdrawal are unclear. If there is too much backsliding by the Government, and with the Labour Party detached from many of its voters, then Ukip's best days may be yet to come."

The once lone voice for Brexit who ended up speaking for a majority of the nation hinted he was now weary of the constant warfare of front-line politics, stating: "I want my life back, and it begins right now."

That will be good news to party critics who were dismayed when he announced he was standing down after last year's general election, only to change his mind soon after.

Former Labour leader Ed Miliband was cutting in his response to the move, telling the BBC: "It's a legacy of stirring up division. I am not sorry to see Nigel Farage leave the political scene."
The UK is set to dramatically slash corporation tax rates to woo businesses deterred by Brexit, placing it in direct competition with Ireland for vital foreign direct investment.

Chancellor George Osborne outlined plans to aggressively cut the tax to less than 15pc as he unveiled his plan to galvanise the British economy.

Expand Close FF Finance spokesman Michael McGrath: 'no knee-jerk reactions'. Photo: Tom Burke / Facebook

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This would take Britain close to the 12.5pc corporation tax rate which has been a cornerstone of our economy and helped attract major employers, including Apple, Pfizer and Google.

It would also anger some other EU finance chiefs, who have been critical of Ireland's low corporation tax rate and fear a "race to the bottom".

The Government and IDA were already under huge pressure to ensure Ireland can reap the benefits of Brexit, with the British economy reeling from the referendum result of 10 days ago.

But now that challenge grows ever larger. Mr Osborne is intent on giving the UK the lowest corporation tax rate of any major economy, announcing a target of less than 15pc in an interview with the 'Financial Times'.

Mr Osborne said Britain should "get on with it" to prove the country was still "open for business".

He will also lead a delegation to China later this year to court fresh inward investment for the UK.

Business group Ibec said this reinforces the need for significant reform in the coming Budget to make us more attractive for foreign investment.

Read more: Osborne abandons plans for surplus as UK recession looms

A Government spokesman said it would "always promote our competitive and transparent tax rate."

Minister of State for EU Affairs Dara Murphy, said that the whole post-Brexit situation posed huge challenges. But Ireland still retained advantages with a dynamic, educated, English-speaking workforce.

Mr Murphy stressed that Ireland was a permanent EU member state, with the euro and full single market access. And the IDA added that our tax regime was "one part of Ireland's offering, which also includes the ease of doing business, access to talent, and access to the European market".

Fianna Fail Finance Spokesman Michael McGrath warned there must be "no knee-jerk reactions" to the British finance minister's announcement.

"There is a sense of panic in Britain in the wake of the referendum result and this decision is a measure of the grave difficulties they face post-Brexit. But there must be no panic here, no knee-jerk reactions and we must stay with our 12.5pc rate."

Mr McGrath said "it was a throw of the dice which may or may not happen".

He said it was a further challenge to the IDA and other State agencies to keep selling Ireland.

The developments follow hot on the heels of dramatic cuts to UK taxes announced in March, already threatening Irish efforts to retain and attract international investment.

And while Mr Osborne had previously indicated that he would slash the corporation tax from 20pc to 17pc by 2020, this goes much further.

Read more: Dan O'Brien: The UK economy will certainly slow - and could well slump

The UK has radically closed the tax gap in recent years. In 2008, the UK corporation tax was 30pc, and now it looks set to become half that rate.

Ibec CEO Danny McCoy said: "Ibec has long highlighted the competitive threat from the UK's increasingly pro-business tax regime. New plans to cut the UK's corporation tax rate is a further wake-up call that cannot be ignored."

A Dublin Chamber of Commerce spokesman said: "If we don't react, we're becoming less and less attractive. With the fall in Sterling aiding UK exporters versus Irish ones, it's a crucial time and the Government has to act."
Mr Kenny will seek the views of the Belfast devolved government, however the attitude of the Democratic Unionist leader, Arlene Foster, and her colleagues will be crucial. Photo: Arthur Carron Photography

Taoiseach Enda Kenny will today propose the creation of an all-island forum to deal with the fallout from the decision by British voters to leave the European Union.

Mr Kenny will seek the views of the Belfast devolved government at a North-South Ministerial Council meeting in Dublin Castle. Already, the idea has been effectively endorsed by Sinn Fein, whose leader, Gerry Adams, has proposed a similar initiative in an article for this newspaper today.

But the attitude of the Democratic Unionist leader, Arlene Foster, and her colleagues will be crucial. The DUP advocated a 'Leave' vote in the referendum on June 23 but a 56pc majority in the North sided with the 'Remain' campaign.

However, senior DUP MP Jeffrey Donaldson has already poured cold water on the idea of an all-island forum and warned the Republic that it would not be negotiating on the North's behalf with the EU.

Read more: Enda Kenny backing all-island forum to consider Brexit issues

He said there was no need for such a forum and that the DUP would make it clear at today's meeting in Dublin Castle that the main negotiations with the EU on behalf of the North would be undertaken by the British government.

"There will no doubt be similar discussions in the British Irish Parliamentary Assembly also meeting this week at Malahide.

"These bodies were set up to deal with such issues and we don't need another one," he said.

But SDLP leader Colum Eastwood claimed the proposed new forum was essential. "Here on the island of Ireland, we must map the challenges, purposes and priorities that could most affect us, north and south, rather than following the impulses and bad decisions of the British government," he said.

The idea of a single-island approach will also have to be sold to the London government. At a meeting in Belfast last week, Northern Ireland Secretary Theresa Villiers, who campaigned for 'Leave', said there can be no special exemptions for Northern Ireland in the wake of Brexit.

Read more: Kenny's hand on the tiller as Brexit rocks consumers

"The EU rules are very clear - membership is at member state level, it's a national question," Ms Villiers said.

EU Affairs Minister Dara Murphy said the Taoiseach would seek to establish common ground between all parties in an effort to get an all-island response to the problem.

"We are hopeful that the Democratic Unionist Party can make common cause based on so many interests like agriculture and the fate of small and medium-sized business.

"The Taoiseach will be putting the emphasis on matters we all can agree upon. This will only work if there is 'buy-in' from all parties."

Mr Murphy said there was already an understanding by the British government of the special concerns surrounding the Border.

Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams has today proposed a forum idea similar to that of the Taoiseach in an article for the Irish Independent.

"A forum, similar to the New Ireland Forum and the Forum for Peace and Reconciliation, should be open to all parties on the island," Mr Adams wrote. "It would have the clear objective of discussing the implications of Brexit and producing papers on strategies and policies that might assist in co-ordinating efforts in the time ahead."
The Irish Government would consider making an attempt to house the European Banking Authority (EBA) in the event of its relocation from London but as yet there is no specific plan in place, the Irish Independent understands.

Finance Minister Michael Noonan has said the Government is committed to maximising any opportunities that might arise out of the UK's vote to leave the European Union.

The EBA is a banking watchdog body that aims to "safeguard the integrity, efficiency and orderly functioning of the banking sector" across the EU, with around 160 employees in London. It would have to relocate when Brexit takes effect.

Other countries have been quick to stake a claim for its new headquarters.

Spain's deputy prime minister said on Friday that it would look to host the EBA's HQ, with other cities including Paris and Frankfurt also in the race.

Spain has set up a working group to drive its bid for the EBA and for the London-based European Medicines Agency, Soraya Saenz de Santamaria told a news conference.

The EBA is expected to be relocated "soon", two EU officials told Reuters shortly after the UK referendum. On Wednesday, Fine Gael MEP Brian Hayes said Dublin would serve as an ideal location for the EBA, given that many of Europe's biggest banks conduct operations here.

"This is now up to the Government to convince European colleagues that Dublin is the most suitable new location for the authority," Mr Hayes said.

"Dublin shares the closest similarities to London in terms of language, business environment and financial services activity. This would make a move to Dublin much smoother than other capitals."

Meanwhile, Mr Noonan has said the Central Bank has enough regulatory resources to cope with an influx of financial services firms in the aftermath of the Brexit vote, saying he is confident it is capable of significantly expanding its capabilities given that it has done so in the past. (Additional reporting Reuters)

In Numbers

160: The number of EBA employees in London

38,000: The number employed in the financial services sector here

38m: The EBAs revenue in its 2016 financial year
The newly formed JMC is comprised of 14 members who represent the ethnic armed groups (5), government (5), and the civilian population (4). The committee is chaired by Brigadier-General U Myo Win of the Southeast Command, with General Saw Aik Zat Poe from Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) as vice-chairman (1) and a former Mon State Minister Dr. Min Nwe Soe serving as vice-chairman (2).

According to the nationwide ceasefire agreement (NCA) signed last October by eight ethnic armed organizations (EAOs) and the previous government, the establishment of national and regional Joint Monitoring Committees provides a mechanism to ensure both sides observe the agreement and prevent armed conflict.

The main thing is to monitor the armed groups that signed the NCA. This will be carried out in accordance with the NCA text. We will keep an eye on how groups are doing and whether they follow the accord, as well as both sides activities, said Dr. Min Nwe Soe.

The vice-chairman added that in the event that the agreement is violated, the committee would seek resolution through negotiation, inviting generals from the Southeast Command and the KNLA, the armed wing of the Karen National Union (KNU), to hold a mediated discussion.

General Saw Aik Zat Poe stressed the importance of inclusive participation in negotiations that are conducted around a table, not expressed through armed engagement. Joint monitoring provides the opportunity to prevent military clashes and fulfill the NCA, he said.

Fighting is almost everywhere in the country. In keeping with the countrys new approach, political problems should be resolved through politics. They should not be solved through armed conflict.

The first state/division-level JMC was founded on January 9 in Shan State, after which committees were established in Tenasserim Division on February 25 and in Karen State on June 29.

It is necessary to implement this type of monitoring program to put the NCA text into action after its signing, said U Ko Ko Gyi, vice-chairman (2) of the Union-level JMC.

Each JMC has a tripartite structure composed of representatives from the government, EAOs, and civilian appointees mutually agreed upon by the first two groups. The Union-level JMC has 26 members: 10 from government, 10 from EAOs, and six civilians.

The meeting to establish the Mon State JMC was held in Aung San Hall at the Southeast Command Headquarters on the outskirts of Mawlamyine, formerly known as Moulmein.
Here are the main business stories from this morning's papers:

Irish Independent

* The UK is set to dramatically slash corporation tax rates to woo businesses deterred by Brexit, placing it in direct competition with Ireland for vital foreign direct investment.

British Chancellor George Osborne outlined plans to aggressively cut its corporate tax to less than 15pc as he unveiled his plan to galvanise the economy.

* The Irish Government would consider making an attempt to house the European Banking Authority (EBA) in the event of its relocation from London but as yet there is no specific plan in place, the Irish Independent understands.

Finance Minister Michael Noonan has said the Government is committed to maximising any opportunities that might arise out of the UK's vote to leave the European Union.

* Tv3's parent company, Liberty Global, is weighing up a takeover move for UTV Ireland, according to multiple reports.

A deal would raise the prospect of the two Irish television stations being merged, and expand the reach of US cable and telecoms billionaire John Malone in this country.

The Irish Times

* British chancellor George Osborne is planning to cut the rate of corporation tax in the UK to below 15pc, bringing it much closer to Ireland's very competitive 12.5pc rate.

The cut is a significant deviation from the 20pc it currently stands at as the country looks to woo businesses after the Brexit outcome.

* Businessman Barry O'Callaghan has moved to acquire Village at Lyons in Celbridge, the 16-acre cooking school and wedding venue.

According to a report in The Irish Times, Mr O'Callaghan scooped the venue in a 6m deal.

New figures have shown that the examinership process in Ireland has saved 159 jobs during the second quarter of this year.

According to a report in The Irish Times, accountancy firm Hughes Blake said a number of companies had turned to the process as the only form of survival.

Irish Examiner

* Virgin Media, the company owned by US billionaire John Malone, is looking at becoming the owner of UTV Ireland, increasing its Irish television portfolio, which also includes TV3.

Virgin also incorporates broadband provider UPC. Mr Malone's overarching company Liberty Global has a market capitalisation of 24.5bn.

* London Stock Exchange shareholders are to vote today on whether or not it should merge with Deutsche Boerse in what is valued as a 24.2bn merger.

Both parties have said the deal is essentially Brexit proof, despite the outcome of Britain's referendum decision.

* German carmaker Volkswagen has said there will be no compensation deal for European car owners similar to the one agreed in the US.

The company told a German newspaper that recreating the deal in Europe would be inappropriate and too expensive.
Joan Burton: wants tracker restoration for borrowers who were wronged by lenders. Photo: Frank McGrath

The IMF has called for an overhaul of the Central Bank's mortgage caps, raising the prospect of more lenient borrowing rules for some buyers.

The overhaul would involve a new system, which would take a fuller account of borrowers' ability to repay loans by measuring their levels of debt.

Under the current rules, there is a limit to what people can borrow, which is determined by their income.

But under the IMF system, debt would be factored in, so that those with lower levels of debt would be able to borrow more than those with higher levels.

Read more: Dublin prices in the outer suburbs further evidence of policy failure

That may provide room for the Central Bank to introduce less stringent ceilings for debt-free people than those that are currently in place.

The bank is undertaking a review of the caps and plans to do so on an annual basis in future. It has previously said the so-called debt-to-income limit "could be a more appropriate limit to put in place, given that it takes all of a borrower's debts into account".

However, introducing such a system is dependent on the introduction of the Central Credit Register (CCR) - a centralised register of people's borrowings - which is unlikely to come into place until next year at the earliest.

A Central Bank spokeswoman said that without the CCR "it would be premature to attempt to establish realistically enforceable regulations on total debt.

"In the meantime, lenders must nevertheless seek to inform themselves about total borrower indebtedness," she added.

The spokeswoman would not comment on whether the new system would make the rules more lenient for some people than they currently are.

The IMF said that once the CCR becomes operational, the new system should be introduced.

In a post-bailout report on Ireland, it said introducing the caps "appears to have mitigated pressures in the residential property market by curbing expectations of further price appreciation.

"These measures should be maintained as a permanent feature of the mortgage market to safeguard the resilience of banks and households against shocks."

Read more: 'Housing is a very emotive issue, but we have to think in the long term'

Central Bank deputy governor Sharon Donnery said last month in an interview with the 'Sunday Independent' that the bank's current expectation was that the mortgage caps would be permanent.

"The view that we are taking is that really these have to become structural, permanent and we are looking at the moment from a medium- to long-term perspective, as opposed to a very short-term one," Ms Donnery said.

"We are going to look at the impact of the measures on borrowers. We are going to look at the impact of the measures on banks and their lending behaviour.

"We are going to look at the allowances... we are going to look across the whole spectrum."

She warned that there were circumstances in which the caps could be tightened if the bank felt the market was overheating or there were unsustainable house price increases.

Meanwhile, former Tanaiste Joan Burton has called for action from the Financial Services Ombudsman (FSO) to make sure every mortgage borrower who wrongly had a tracker removed has it restored.

She was reacting to a report last week in the Irish Independent, which revealed that some borrowers who had wrongly lost a tracker were offered refunds and compensation, but were not put back on a tracker rate.

Ms Burton said this "highlights the need for the authorities to take a harder line with financial institutions.

"Banks have cheated thousands of customers out of their tracker mortgages and their refusal to restore them is simply not good enough.

"They may be paying some level of compensation to those people who were wrongly deprived of the tracker mortgage, but they need to go much further.

"There may be some instances where the wronged borrowers have moved on and where they are satisfied with their new arrangement, but any customer who has asked to be put back on a tracker mortgage, must be facilitated. I believe it is incumbent on the Financial Service Ombudsman to make sure that this happens.

"In addition, the FSO must clarify if there are outstanding cases where banks have failed to comply with his direction to restore tracker mortgages."

Read more: Agent view: Disappointing season so far and more clouds gather

Read more: Number of mortgage holders in long term arrears falls for second quarter in row
This is the adorable moment a young Irish girl is reunited with her beloved missing teddy.

Little Loretta O'Donnell was left devastated after losing her best pal Mr McGinty on a family holiday in Wicklow.

Her parents Lesley Ann and Ronan spent weeks searching for an identical replacement for their daughter, but to no avail. They closest they got was an alternative from Japan, but were once again let down, as it was around half the size of the original.

After weeks of searching, the devoted parents eventually found an idenitcal teddy online. They even came up with an elaborate story to explain why the bear had been missing so long.

They told their daughter that Mr McGinty had been visiting his family in Japan and even brought his smaller counterpart as an extra surprise.

Lesley Ann and Ronan got in contact with George Best Belfast City Airport, who were delighted to facilitate the reunion.
It's a bit odd to be asking Miriam O'Callaghan what she thinks about the idea of being a granny.

For one thing, it's not like any of her eight children are planning to make her one any time soon. Her eldest, barrister Alannah McGurk, recently got engaged to Fiachra Breathnach, but that's merely a statement of an intention to marry, and there's no need to get ahead of ourselves.

Well, particularly when Miriam is so far from the image one has of the Irish granny. She sits in front of me today sipping her beverage of choice, a skinny latte, her hair utterly platinum, shiny and sleek, her wrist cuff glinting and her nails painted a sort of molten-gold colour. And then there's the jacket, a cropped, bleached-denim affair. Grannies do not wear denim jackets, and certainly not this kind of rock-chick variety. So, we won't get ahead of ourselves and consign Miriam to the granny grade yet.

All the same, to her credit, Miriam doesn't wince at mention of the "g" word.

Expand Close Miriam O'Callaghan wears: Dress, H&M. Shoes, Penneys. Photo: Kip Carroll. / Facebook

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Whatsapp Miriam O'Callaghan wears: Dress, H&M. Shoes, Penneys. Photo: Kip Carroll.

"Any baby that comes, it's a joy, it's a gift," she says. "Obviously, I loved babies, I had eight of them myself; but it's always lovely." And, she adds, as a woman who had Alannah in her mid-20s and her youngest, Jamie (10) in her mid-40s, there is no right time for a woman to have a baby. Early, late, she doesn't think it makes a huge difference.

Nor does she wince at the idea of being old enough to be someone's granny, but that's not a comment on Alannah specifically, nor, she adds, a hint in Alannah's direction. On that, she's very clear.

"Every journalist in the country has my number," Miriam says, "and as a journalist myself, I try to respond whenever they call; but when it came to Alannah's engagement, I didn't say anything.

"That's hers," Miriam says, emphatically, but in the nicest possible way.

"My nature is that I never stop talking," she goes on to explain, "and I put my life out there because I think secrets are a bad idea, I think they eat you up inside, and most people know most things about me, but you do have to be careful when it comes to your adult children."

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Over years of interviewing Miriam, the topic of her children's privacy has often arisen. She's always been very careful not to put words in their mouths, or attribute opinions to them, or boast or bemoan their achievements. This is the first time, though, that she differentiates between the adult children and the younger ones. And it's different, she makes very clear.

Expand Close Miriam O'Callaghan wears: Jacket, Isabel Marant, Brown Thomas. Vest; jeans, both Topshop. Shoes, Penneys. / Facebook

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Whatsapp Miriam O'Callaghan wears: Jacket, Isabel Marant, Brown Thomas. Vest; jeans, both Topshop. Shoes, Penneys.

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In case you need the run-down of the eight again: Alannah and her sisters, Clara, and twins Jessica and Georgia, are Miriam's four daughters with her ex-husband, journalist Tom McGurk. Her four boys Conor, Jack, Daniel and Jamie, with her husband Steve Carson, range from Leaving Cert age down to 10.

Miriam has seen it all with the kids, really, having basically gone from working behind the scenes in the BBC when the girls were small, to moving front of camera as they grew up, before, ultimately, becoming the best-known woman in Ireland. She has seen how having a parent in the public eye affects the offspring, and she clearly reckons it's worse when they're adults.

"The older my children get, the more conscious I am that they live private lives," Miriam says, "and that there's a knock-on effect of having a parent in the public eye. There are pluses, but they are very often outweighed by the minuses. Not for me - I find people lovely, and I'm still waiting for that person to walk up and be mean - but for my children.

"My youngest is still curious about it," she says. "He'll still say, 'Why did that person want to talk to you?' if someone comes up. Like, 'Why do they want to talk to you; you're just buying Coco Pops?' But my older teenagers, I think they're conscious and self-conscious when I collect them from school. They are very aware that their mother is well-known and part of that means that people come up.

"Now, I believe, firmly, that 99.99pc of the world's population is kind and means well. And if lovely things happen in your family, they want to wish you well. But I have chosen to live my life in the public eye, not my children. Maeve Binchy once said she would never write an autobiography because she lived a 'shared life'. And I live a shared life. I have siblings and a mother and niece and nephews and Steve, but I have children, and they are affected by my living my life in the public eye.

"I didn't start out planning this," Miriam concludes. "I began as a solicitor and I then went into the backroom-boys-and-girls section of TV, so I never set out to have a public life. I slipped into it, and then one day you wake up and realise you are well-known, and that means that anyone associated with you has to live with that. And if your adult children live private lives, I'm very conscious that this is difficult.

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Whatsapp Georgia (far left) and Alannah McGurk with their pose with Miriam O'Callaghan

"So I'm very happy for Alannah and her gorgeous fiance," says Miriam. "And I'm thrilled about it because they're so happy, and I'm so happy for them."

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Being happy is what it's all about for Miriam. She makes it look easy, but she doesn't pretend that it happens easily or by accident. She presents it very much as a choice you make, in the face of any adversity, and even in defiance of any adversity life throws your way. 'Life is short' is her mantra, so be happy to have it and enjoy it.

Miriam is probably one of those people who looks how she feels. She believes herself to be lucky and she is grateful for it. She's been through separation and divorce and though she doesn't speak of that, it has to leave scars. Also, the death of her sister Anne - who was only in her 30s when she died from cancer - followed a year later by the death of Miriam's father, were tough blows, and she references them both all the time.

Not, however, when she's talking about bad luck or the bad things in life, but when she's reminding whoever is listening - and maybe herself - that we only have a short time and that we must appreciate it.

So, Miriam is grateful for her life, for the fact that her mother, also Miriam, is still with her, and she is grateful for her husband Steve and her eight children. Not to mention her work; because Miriam really loves her work. Loves Prime Time, loves the radio and Miriam Meets, loves the two-month annual run of her impending TV chat show.

It is, admittedly, by anyone's standards, a lot to be grateful for. And Miriam believes that you make your own luck. You take a positive view of life and you hope for the best.

For example, several years ago, Steve left his job as head of programmes in RTE, to take a job as head of productions with the BBC in his native Belfast. It was while they both worked for the BBC on Newsnight that Miriam and Steve first met, more than 20 years ago. She has always been adamant that she had no doubts about Steve leaving RTE and, to some extent, leaving Dublin, and Miriam remains thus. As she's said before, she always felt guilty that Steve left the BBC to be with her in Dublin, so this guilt is assuaged by his return to where he started.

"I miss him terribly when he's not around," Miriam says, "but I don't like to say that too much, because I don't want him to feel bad. And I love visiting him in Belfast and, anyway, he's home at weekends and every Wednesday, and Tuesdays and Thursdays I'm on Prime Time and not at home anyway."

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While she doesn't resent Steve being away and is happy in the rhythm of the house when he's gone, Miriam has none of that thing of carping that Steve's under her feet or messing with the domestic routine when he returns in fits and starts.

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Whatsapp Steve Carson, Miriam O'Callaghan at the IFTA Awards 2015 at The Mansion House

"We love when he's home," she says, "but this works for now and we'll do it for however long. It's good. And I love Belfast; I love going back, and hearing about the BBC; because that's where I started too."

"I never say bad things," Miriam says. "I'm consistent that way. You know the way some people change their position and their philosophy? I don't. I think that saying bad things is a bad idea. I believe in saying the nice thing, and if something or someone annoys me, at work or at home, I wouldn't say it to them."

Does she then stew and store it up?

"Not as much as I used to when I was younger," Miriam answers with a laugh. "Maybe it lasts a minute, but then it's gone. What good would stewing do? It would only hurt me. So what's the point?"

Is that what Miriam teaches her children, too? I ask. If someone is mean to them, for example, does she counsel them to take a positive attitude, and does it work?

"I say this to my children if they tell me someone was mean or someone was picking a fight with them," Miriam says, "and I say it to grown adults as well, 'You don't know what happened to them this morning or what their life is at home, and you might think you don't care, but you have to care. Because usually, if someone is mean, it's because their life is unhappy in some way. And if you get really annoyed, go in to the loo and scream to yourself and come out and you'll feel much better'.

"I'm not sure that any children are mean. Or adults," she adds. "Most people mean well and most people want to live a good life, by which I mean a kind life. I don't think I've met anyone who sets out deliberately to be mean to anyone."

Miriam admits with a laugh that this softness in her and utter aversion to having a row - she has never allowed her children to fight with one another - can run counterproductive to the demands of her work. She wants to be friends, she wants to be liked, but that's not what her job demands, particularly not on Prime Time.

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"I think girls of all ages worry about being liked," she says, referring to her own experience and the experience of raising four girls and then four boys. "I think boys spend less time worrying about what people think of them. I was never one of the cool gang at school, and then I left school at 16 and went to college and I was very young and very boring.

"I think you never stop worrying about those things," Miriam adds, "I think you remain that 16-year-old, even if the external parts of your life appear very confident. We remain the same person, I believe, no matter what. You change and you get, not more arrogant, but kind of believe in who you are as you get older. And it's a good place to be."

The desire to be liked never goes away, though, and as a journalist, Miriam finds that tricky. The on-screen, Prime Time Miriam has to put that desire away, but the diligent, do-it-right Miriam allows her to do that.

"It would be easier to be nice to the people I interview, because a lot of them are nice people," Miriam says, "but that's not my job. It's human nature that you want to sit down with these people and for them to like you, but they won't like you if you ask the tough questions. And they will never trust me, really.

Expand Close RTE Prime Time presenter Miriam OCallaghan. Photo: Damien Eagers / Facebook

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Whatsapp RTE Prime Time presenter Miriam OCallaghan. Photo: Damien Eagers

"That's why I have no political friends," Miriam says with a laugh.

The air is often a bit icy, she admits, when the cameras go off at the end of an interview, but Miriam always meets the interviewee's eye, and always shakes their hand. Needless to mention, she doesn't believe in hard feelings, on her side or theirs.

This is a good time of the year for Miriam. Prime Time is winding down for the summer, and, much as she loves it, she enjoys the change of pace and tone of Saturday Night With Miriam. She can ask people about themselves rather than just about their work, and she can get more to heart of people, which she loves. She loves live television, Miriam admits with a big rush of enthusiasm. It isn't just the chance that things might go wrong, or the thinking on your feet, it's the camaraderie of doing something as a team and the spontaneous way people will talk when it's live. It's different, she says, and she loves it on the radio, too.

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People fascinate Miriam and she loves to get to the bottom of what makes them tick, what makes them happy, how they have dealt with the difficulties life has presented to them.

Often, she says, she sits in front of people who have been very successful in life, who have excelled in the arts or business or in their own niche. And that brings a level of life satisfaction, she says, but it doesn't ward off personal trauma or tragedy, and it's how people come to terms with those that really interests her.

"I can tell if they're very unhappy within five minutes," Miriam says, "because you can spot in life who's happy and who's not. Because if they're happy, they have a happy attitude and it filters though every bit of their lives. You can see it in their eyes and their body language.

"It particularly upsets me when I see couples who are unhappy with each other," Miriam adds. "I think, 'It's your only life; don't be mean to each other. If you're not good to each other, then you're not good for each other.' I would never say it to them, not in a million years, but you can spot it."

The one question that Miriam asks every interviewee is whether they believe in an afterlife. She is a woman who has her own answers to the big questions about this life, but she's just not certain about the next.

"Every rational bone in my body says it doesn't exist, but I want to hope," says Miriam, "so I keep asking, just in case. I want the answer!"

Miriam laughs at herself, but there's a serious heartfelt desire for her rational side to be wrong on this one.

"I believe it's probably the case that this is it and it's over in a blink so enjoy it, love it, don't be unhappy! I become more and more certain that this is the truth," she says.

"I think! Apart from the one pc of me that thinks I will arrive in heaven and drink fine Champagne with my sister and my father. I'm just not sure; but hey, it will be a lovely surprise if it happens!"

If it happens, it will be a long way off, I suggest. Miriam O'Callaghan has a lot more living and loving to do yet.

"Yeah, they might be waiting a while," she agrees with a laugh. "But they will have eternal youth on their side."

No more than she does herself in this life, you might say.

'Saturday Night with Miriam' returns to RTE One on July 9, after 'RTE News: Nine O'Clock'

Photography by Kip Carroll

Styling by Liadan Hynes

Assisted by Faye Dempsey

Hair by Michael Doyle for Peter Mark, St Stephen's Green, D2, tel: (01) 478-0362, or see petermark.ie

Make-up by Eilish Downey, Brown Sugar, 50 Sth William St, tel: (01) 616-9967, or see brownsugar.ie

Miriam is photographed at Dublin Zoo, which recently opened Orangutan Forest. Inspired by the tropical rainforests of Borneo, it is now home to the zoo's Bornean orangutans. Dublin Zoo opens seven days a week; tickets can be booked in advance, see dublinzoo.ie
A Tayto crisp sandwich van made an appearance at Castlepalooza Music and Arts Festival over the weekend.

Can you think of anything more perfect than a crisp sandwich at a festival?

You wake up in the morning, you're absolutely starving but your stomach and head is little bit delicate from the previous night's exploits. You want something a little bit naughty and comforting (and salty) to take the pain away.

Thankfully, for the Castlepalooza festival-goers this weekend, there was a Tayto crisp sandwich van on site to help them soldier through the weekend with the perfect hangover cure.

Morning All, last day of my pop up @castlepalooza! When you can face leaving tents, I will be here for u! #tayto pic.twitter.com/YgFDbGT9Cz  Mr.Tayto Ireland (@MrTaytoIreland) July 3, 2016

It was open from 11am - 6pm and overjoyed punters eagerly queued up for cheese and onion crisps, packed between two buttery slices of Brennan's bread.

Perfection.

Mr Tayto himself even made an appearance at Charleville Castle on Saturday and posed with fans for photographs.

Forget headline acts like Caribou and Jurassic 5, the biggest celebrity of the weekend was Mr Tayto himself who managed to make it down to Charleville Castle on Saturday and posed with fans for photographs.

Expand Close Mr Tayto poses with fans at Castlepalooza festival. Pic: Twitter / Facebook

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The new Top Gear series, helmed by Chris Evans, has seen its audience increase for the first time

Chris Evans has quit Top Gear.

The presenter revealed today that he was "stepping down from Top Gear".

Taking to Twitter, he said: "Stepping down from Top Gear. Gave it my best shot but sometimes that's not enough."

"The team are beyond brilliant, I wish them all the best."

Stepping down from Top Gear. Gave it my best shot but sometimes that's not enough. The team are beyond brilliant, I wish them all the best.  Chris Evans (@achrisevans) July 4, 2016

The TV and radio host said he would continue with his other BBC commitments, including presenting the BBC Radio 2 breakfast show.

"Full steam ahead then with Radio 2, CarFest, Children In Need, 500 Words and whatever else we can dream up in the future," he said.

Full steam ahead then with Radio 2, CarFest, Children In Need, 500 Words and whatever else we can dream up in the future.  Chris Evans (@achrisevans) July 4, 2016

BBC posted an official statement on their website to address the shock resignation:Chris is stepping down from his duties on Top Gear. He says he gave it his best shot doing everything he could to make the show a success.

"He firmly believes that the right people remain, on both the production team and presenting team to take the show forward and make it the hit we want it to be. The new series has so far notched up over 30m views in the UK alone and has already been sold to 130 territories worldwide."

Evans added: I have never worked with a more committed and driven team than the team I have worked with over the last twelve months. I feel like my standing aside is the single best thing I can now do to help the cause.

"I remain a huge fan of the show, always have been, always will be. I will continue to focus on my radio show and the allied events that it encompasses.

The car show has achieved disappointing ratings, and was marred in controversy before it even aired its first episode.

Top Gear's audience fell to a new low of fewer than two million viewers as the new series stalled again in the ratings with its latest episode.

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Sunday's finale of the rebooted first series, which featured Hollywood actor Patrick Dempsey, drew an average of 1.9 million people and an 8.7 per cent share of the available viewing audience.

Overall, the show has failed to reach the viewing figures of the last series with Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May at the helm.

The popular former Top Gear trio bowed out with 5.8 million viewers.

It has yet to be revealed whether any of Chris's co-presenters including Matt LeBlanc and Rory Reid will return or not, or if the show will be back for a second series.

The news comes as Evans is reportedly set to face a police probe over an historic allegation of sexual assault. The BBC radio 2 presenter has been accused of grabbing the breasts of a female colleague in the 1990s.

Evans has not made any comment on the allegations of sexual assault. He previously denied the claims saying that they amounted to a witch hunt.

Meanwhile, police have confirmed they are investigating an historic allegation of sexual assault.

In a statement obtained by the Daily Telegraph, a Metropolitan Police spokesman said: An allegation of non-recent sexual assault was made to police on May 23. The allegation was made by a woman against a man, and relates to incidents in Tower Hamlets in the 1990s. There have been no arrests and no person has been interviewed under caution.
A two-year-old boy who fell from the sixth floor of a hotel was last night fighting for his life in a Dublin hospital.

The boy fell from a balcony at the Strand Hotel in Limerick about 1pm on Saturday, suffering severe injuries.

The toddler was treated at the scene by a local doctor before being rushed by ambulance to University Hospital Limerick. He was transferred to Temple Street Hospital in Dublin hours later.

A source said the boy had "severe internal organ injuries" and "spinal fractures".

A hotel source confirmed that the sixth floor was not booked for use and it is unclear why or how the boy came to be there.

A hotel spokesperson said: "We are still trying to determine what exactly happened.

"We can confirm there was an incident at the hotel, around lunchtime, when a little boy came off the sixth floor. He is critically ill.

"The hotel is liaising with the emergency services and the gardai and the investigation is continuing.

"The hotel's thoughts and prayers are with the child and his family," added the spokesperson.

Praying

The boy is understood to be from the Farranshone area of Limerick city. It is believed he got out through a door to the balcony, then fell.

Deirdre O'Dwyer from Clare was attending the Strand Hotel gym when the accident happened.

"It happened at 1pm. The boy got out through the door to the balcony, climbed on to a table and fell," she said.

Hairdresser Niall Colgan, who runs a salon underneath the hotel, described the incident as "very upsetting".

One of his clients at the time, a doctor, rushed out to give the boy first aid. Mr Colgan said her actions "may have been instrumental in those few minutes".

Fianna Fail Limerick TD Willie O'Dea, who was walking to his nearby constituency office when the accident happened, said: "It's a horrendous tragedy and has cast a pall over the area."

Local priest Fr Donal McNamara, from St Munchin's Church, described the accident as "horrendous" and said the entire community was praying for the boy.

Hundreds of people took to social media to offer their prayers and messages of support for the boy and his family.

Gardai from Henry Street station have appealed for witnesses to contact them on 061 212400.
The massive spending by the disgraced chief of Console on the organisation's credit cards is expected to rise to over 500,000 as fresh audits are carried out today.

Paul Kelly, who resigned as chief executive of the suicide-bereavement charity, and his wife Patricia are at the centre of an investigation into colossal spending of the group's funds.

Expand Close David Hall driving away the Mercedes CLS, one of two cars recovered at the weekend that had cost Console almost 90,000 / Facebook

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Whatsapp David Hall driving away the Mercedes CLS, one of two cars recovered at the weekend that had cost Console almost 90,000

It has emerged that Kelly, who is in his late 50s, was detained by gardai after concerns had been raised over his wellbeing in the wake of the damning revelations.

Work commenced over the weekend to recover assets in the couple's possession that had been purchased with credit cards registered to Console.

Read more: Former Console CEO Paul Kelly and wife relinquish company cars and credit cards after 10 days of turmoil over finances

It has been established that the couple - along with their son Tim - spent almost 465,000 on 11 of Console's 20 credit cards.

Expand Close David Hall driving away the Mercedes CLS, one of two cars recovered at the weekend that had cost Console almost 90,000 / Facebook

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Whatsapp David Hall driving away the Mercedes CLS, one of two cars recovered at the weekend that had cost Console almost 90,000

However, the interim CEO of Console, David Hall, has said this figure is expected to increase even further after more investigations are carried out today.

He explained: "The figure (of 464,777) is the expenditure between 2012 and 2014. The numbers for 2015, we haven't looked at them in detail yet, that will be done on Monday.

"But given the behaviour in spending - which is similar to the previous years - the number will mathematically have to increase."

Mr Hall, who is also the director of the Irish Mortgage Holder's Association, will meet with Justice Paul Gilligan tomorrow morning to provide an update

A previous sitting of the High Court last week heard that Paul Kelly had not been in contact with his solicitors for a number of days and concerns had been raised about his personal safety.

Read more: Disgraced Console CEO Paul Kelly picked up by gardai for his own personal safety

Expand Close Paul Kelly: detained by gardai and now taken into care. Photo: Conor McCabe Photography / Facebook

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Whatsapp Paul Kelly: detained by gardai and now taken into care. Photo: Conor McCabe Photography

He had not been sighted since leaving Console's office in Celbridge, Co Kildare, on Tuesday afternoon.

However, it has emerged that he was picked up by gardai in south Dublin last Thursday.

Officers had become aware of fears over his wellbeing, and detained him in the Dun Laoghaire area.

He was brought to a garda station, where he was assessed by a medical professional before being taken into care.

A source stated that the garda matter was purely in relation to his wellbeing.

Among the vast expenditure discovered by auditors was an 80 speeding fine. A motoring fine was charged to a Console card on January 23, 2012, and it was stated that this was incurred for urgent travel to a "critical incident of suicide".

However, auditors noted that a payment of a motoring fine "is a payment in relation to a person breaking the law and is not an appropriate use of public funds and charitable donations".

Paul Kelly also racked up restaurant bills of over 10,000, while his son Tim purchased clothing worth more than 3,000 on a Console credit card.

Solicitors for the couple attended the handover of assets on Saturday afternoon in Bewley's Hotel, Ballsbridge.

The legal team arranged for a 2010 Audi Q5 and a 2009 Mercedes CLS to be collected from the family home in Clane, Co Kildare.

Both vehicles were purchased by Console and cost the charity almost 90,000.

The chairman of the Dail's Public Accounts Committee, Sean Fleming, has written to the HSE, asking representatives to attend the committee in early July to answer questions about its funding of bodies including Console and others.

Deputy Fleming said the HSE handed out billions of euro of taxpayers' money to voluntary hospitals and charities, yet did not appear to know what is going on.

He also told RTE's 'Marian Finucane Show' that questions would be raised over why there was not earlier intervention.

The HSE has confirmed that it is investigating the payments.

Meanwhile, Health Minister Simon Harris said that the charity's report made for "harrowing reading" and that elements of the report were "disturbing and disgusting".

Speaking on RTE's 'The Week in Politics', Mr Harris said he was very concerned about the revelations and would be speaking to HSE officials about the matter tomorrow.

Sinn Fein's deputy leader Mary Lou McDonald TD said there were questions for the Government and successive Ministers for Health over the failure of proper oversight.

She said: "It is outrageous and unacceptable that charity organisations in receipt of huge public funding continue to break the rules on public pay.

"Clearly, our work is not finished. Serious questions arise in respect of the HSE and its oversight and management of funds to these organisations."

Read more: It's easy to miss the detail and get carried away by the story

Read more: Paul Kelly billed 80 speeding fine to Console for 'rush to suicide emergency'
A Dublin man has been charged in connection with a house burglary in which a woman's car was allegedly stolen.

William Deans (55) was remanded in custody when he appeared in Dublin District Court following the incident in north county Dublin last Friday.

Mr Deans, with an address at Rutland Cottages, Dublin 1 is charged with burglary and unauthorised taking of a car.

Garda Robert English said he arrested the accused at Ballymun Station at 5.10pm yesterday for the purpose of charge.

He made no reply after caution.

Garda English said he would be objecting to bail, but defence solicitor Aine Flynn said she was not making an application today,

Judge William Hamill granted free legal aid to the accused after there was no garda objection.

Mr Deans, wearing a cream-coloured sweater over a white shirt and navy tracksuit bottoms, remained silent during the brief hearing. He has not yet indicated how he intends to plead to the charges, which are under the Theft and Fraud and Road Traffic Acts.

He will appear in Clovherill District Court on Thursday.
The statement, issued following Fridays meeting of the preparatory sub-committee for the 21st Century Panglong Conference led by Dr. Tin Myo Win and Khu Oo Reh of the DPN, asserted that the July meeting with the state counselor would include UNFCs chairman General NBan La and other chairs.

U Hla Maung Shwe (left) and Khun Oo Reh at Fridays press conference (Photo: MNA)U Hla Maung Shwe (left) and Khu Oo Reh at Fridays press conference (Photo: MNA)

There are clear reasons why we said [the meeting] should be all-inclusive. Some think that what we asked for all-inclusive could be only completed if all [groups] signed [the nationwide ceasefire agreement (NCA)]. But we do not have a policy that says it would only be all-inclusive if all groups signed. We do have basic exceptions and reasons for that. But Ill stop there, said Khu Oo Reh, General Secretary of UNFC.

At the press conference after Fridays meeting, a reporter asked whether the government would allow UNFC member groups that did not sign the NCA last October to participate in the union-level 21st Century Panglong Conference, slated for late August. The question went unanswered.

The government still keeps a policy of being all-inclusive. To attain all-inclusivity, we have agreed to work together practically to find solutions, said U Hla Maung Shwe, secretary of the preparatory committee.

Although an exact date has not yet been set, an Ethnic Armed Organization Summit for NCA signatory and non-signatory groups will reportedly be held this month in Mai Ja Yang, Kachin State, to address issues surrounding the upcoming conference. The State Counselor has accepted for the fact that the groups to hold the EAO Summit, said U Hla Maung Shwe.

Attendees to Fridays meeting, hosted at the National Reconciliation and Peace Center (NRPC) in Yangon, formerly known as Rangoon, also discussed non-signatory participation in political framework analysis that the government will conduct prior to the 21st Century Panglong Conference.
A taxi driver whose car was hit head on by a drunk driver in Co Kildare was pulled from his vehicle thirty seconds before it went up in flames, a court has heard.

The accused Sergejs Sluncevs (37) had been drinking heavily before he tried to drive home from his Christmas party and veered across the road crashing straight into an oncoming taxi.

Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard Sluncevs had initially taken a lift home from the party but discovered he had left his keys behind and after being dropped back to his car made the life changing mistake to drive himself home instead.

Sluncevs, of Straffan Manor, Turnings, Straffan, pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing serious bodily harm at Dublin Road, Celbridge, Co Kildare on December 21, 2012.

Judge Melanie Greally adjourned sentencing until July 15 next to allow her consider the case and read a victim impact statement handed into court.

Garda Padraig Murphy told Tony McGillicuddy BL, prosecuting, that at about 1am the taxi driver saw a car coming towards him with full beams on. The car then suddenly swerved onto his side of the road and crashed into him head on.

The taxi driver, whose leg was caught inside the car, was assisted by a number of people who helped him from the vehicle and reassured him until an ambulance arrived. He suffered injuries to his leg and arms as well as fractured ribs and chest plate.

Another driver described how, prior to the crash, he had seen a car behind him driving erratically before it overtook at speed and pulled straight back in front of him, so close that he had to brake. He said he had been doing the speed limit and this car left him for dead.

This witness said he saw the car then crash head on with the taxi and drive it completely off the road into the ditch. he stopped and helped to pull the taxi driver from his car. He said within thirty seconds of the man being pulled clear the car went up in flames.

Gda Murphy said when he came upon the scene he found the Audi A4, which had been driven by Sluncevs, in the centre of the road with significant damage to the front. He found the other car, a Ford Mondeo, off the road in a hedgerow, also significantly damaged and almost burnt out.

Sluncevs told gardai he had been at his Christmas party and had a lot to drink. He said he had initially taken a lift home but remembered he had left his keys in his own car and asked to be dropped back. His friends tried to take his keys but he insisted on driving.

He said he did not remember anything else until the crash and seeing flames.

Gda Murphy agreed with Martin Dully BL, defending, that Sluncevs, who has five previous convictions for minor road traffic offences related to one incident, was very frank about the circumstances leading up to the crash.

He said he had not intended to drive until he discovered his keys were missing and he made this life changing mistake due to consumption of alcohol. He submitted his conduct was out of character and he was not a heavy drinker.

Counsel said Sluncevs accepted his conduct was reckless and life changing and he was remorseful and regretful for his actions. He wished to apologise to the court and the injured party.

Mr Dully said Sluncevs had a good work history in the construction industry and worked long hours. He submitted the lengthy disqualification he faced would have an adverse effect on his ability to work.

He asked the court to consider alternatives to an immediate custodial sentence based on his previous record, his remorse and co-operation.
Street dancer Patrik Gluchowski gets into the groove on Dublin's Grafton Street. Photo: Frank McGrath

DUBLIN City Council (DCC) has rejected a proposal to impose a six-month blanket ban across the city on musicians using amplification.

It came as the council discussed new regulations for buskers, put forward by the council's Arts Committee.

A proposed amendment to the new by-laws, which came from the Fine Gael group of the council, was shot down by 44 votes to nine.

Instead the council adopted proposals for a ban on targeted areas of Temple Bar and the GPO.

The Arts Committee had proposed a ban on percussion and woodwind instruments in the areas, chosen in consideration to local residents, but an amendment to remove this ban was also carried.

It means that instruments such as drums and uilleann pipes can still be played in these areas.

However a sound intensity decibel limit of 75 has also been introduced for these specific areas. A general limit of 80db will apply across the city.

The council has also decided to ban entirely the use of backing tracks by street musicians.

A previous report by DCC management indicated a ban on amps could allow the council to relax restrictions on performance times and permits.

But members of the councils Arts Committee decided against banning instrument amplification across areas of the city centre.

That issue will go to public consultation in September, to see if there is a public appetite for an amp ban to be extended to areas such as Grafton Street.

Chairperson of the committee, Labour councillor Rebecca Moynihan, last month said it was decided to ban louder music in the specific area of Temple Bar to respect local residents.

A time restriction already applied on part of Essex Street East, which will now be extended to Temple Bar and include a ban on amps.

The area was extended at the council meeting to also include Temple Bar Square and the vicinity of the Crampton building of apartments.

That 80db sound intensity limit is similar to the sound of a freight train moving on a track, from about 15 metres away.

Some 12 times as many people wrote to the council asking it to scrap busking bylaws altogether as those who complained.

Ahead of the discussions, an unprecedented 6,228 emails were sent to the council in support of scrapping the laws.

Those emails were based on a template created by street performer representative organisation Dublin City Buskers.

However the council decided to consider the correspondence as one single submission, supported by a petition.

Later in the report, it claimed that 83pc of submissions made during consultation periods regarded the noise level created by amps and backing tracks.

The performers position that amplifiers have now become essential and that to restrict their use is damaging to street performance is disingenuous, the report said.
The mother of one of the country's most feared hitmen is "sick to her stomach" over his suspected involvement in a number of gangland murders.

The criminal, aged in his late 20s, is a chief suspect in the capital's latest gangland murder. David 'Daithi' Douglas (52) was shot dead on Bridgefoot Street in the south inner city on Friday afternoon by a lone gunman.

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Gardai suspect a prolific hitman from the Cabra area may have been the trigger man, while it is also being investigated whether a young criminal recently released from prison acted as the getaway driver.

It has now emerged that the mother of the gangland hitman is disgusted by the actions of her son and his involvement in the capital's current feud.

Worried

"The man's mother is worried sick about his role. She has expressed serious concern over him being linked to several murders," a source said.

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"She is a decent woman, but the same can't be said about her son. He doesn't live in the family home any more, and even his own mother now thinks he is a scumbag."

It is understood Douglas was targeted after the Kinahan cartel believed he was involved in an attempted hit on the organised crime gang.

In November last year, a gunman dressed in a wig approached a group of cartel associates outside the Red Cow Hotel and attempted to fire a number of shots - but the weapon jammed.

Kinahan cartel members suspected Douglas - as well as his slain friend Darren Kearns (31) - of being involved in the failed hit.

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However, gardai are satisfied that Douglas was in a pub in the north inner city at the time and had no direct involvement in the attempted shooting.

Callous

The feared hitman suspected of involvement in Friday's murder is also a chief suspect in the callous 2006 murder of Baiba Saulite.

The killer was a close confidante of Martin 'Marlo' Hyland, the Dublin crime boss who was shot dead a month later. He is also suspected of being among the four-man hit team involved in the murder of Eddie Hutch Snr on February 8 this year.

The innocent taxi driver, who was a brother of Gerry 'The Monk' Hutch, was gunned down at his home on Poplar Row, Ballybough, in a killing linked to the ongoing feud in the capital.

The suspected hitman was arrested in relation to Eddie Hutch's murder and was questioned by detectives for a number of days before being released without charge.
Under-fire charity St John of God has said that "rental income" was used to give secret "buy-outs" to senior management.

However, an expert in the field has warned that no charity can consider its money private and charities must be open in all of their dealings.

The charity will now be subject to a HSE probe after it emerged that, following strict new pay caps imposed on charities who are largely State-funded in 2013, a 2m payment was given to 14 senior managers in the organisation.

No record of the payments was made in any publicly-filed document, however. The HSE has said it was unaware of any such payments.

A spokesman for St John of God said the payments did not come from State funding - which accounts for about 125m of its 150m budget - and that it was also not drawn from charitable donations.

He said the money came from rental income, but was unable to clarify what rental income the charity receives or from which properties.

However, Ivan Cooper of The Wheel said charities must consider all money public money and publish every transaction on their website in order to court public trust.

"Trust is the most important asset that a charity has," he said. "All funds under the control of the charity should be regarded as public funds, irrespective of where they come from. No funds can be regarded as private funds if they are held by a charitable entity."

"Charities must be open about what they spend all of their funds on. All should publish their accounts on their website."

Members of the public should not be dissuaded from donating to compliant, well-run charities which make up the vast majority of Ireland's charitable sector, Mr Cooper said.

As a so-called 'Section 28' charity, St John of God is subject to the same pay-caps as a public-sector body. The charity is required to sign an annual service-level agreement with the HSE, which it has done since 2013.

This agreement states that the agencies "shall not pay nor subsidise salaries, expenses or other prerequisites which exceed those normally paid within the public sector".

The latest revelations about the running of St John of God, as revealed in the 'Mail on Sunday', come just weeks after the charity was forced to roll back on cuts to services in a south Dublin school for students with special needs. Following ministerial intervention, planned cuts to some services attached to St Augustine's School in Blackrock were reversed.

However, the charity has said that none of its services, which include services to people with disabilities and mental health problems, suffered as a result of the buy-outs.

"The payments did not impact in any manner or at any time, on the provision of services and supports," the St John of God spokesman told the Irish Independent last night.

"While the order believes it is in compliance with public pay policy, it welcomes any review by the HSE into this matter. The order is keen to fully co-operate with such a process, as soon as it is initiated. It has already shared with the HSE the independent professional advice it received in 2013," he added.

The payments are the latest scandal to erupt in the charitable sector, as evidence of serious mis-spending at suicide prevention charity Console continues to cause concern.

At Government level, minister of State with responsibility for disabilities, Finian McGrath, has pledged to clean up the sector and described the top-ups as "unacceptable".

"I will be demanding action," he told 'RTE Radio One'.

Meanwhile, the Public Accounts Committee has said it will call representatives of the HSE to answer questions about how public money is being used in voluntary organisations.
The Valentia Coastguard helicopter was dispatched to the scene, along with fire, ambulance and gardai. Stock picture

A teenage boy had a lucky escape after falling into a giant sand sinkhole on a beach.

The 13-year-old boy was playing with friends on the beach at Inchimore, Kenmare, Co Kerry when he fell into the sinkhole around 6:40pm on Saturday.

Fortunately, the boys father was with the group and he managed to pull his son from the hole before emergency crews arrived on the scene.

The Valentia Coastguard helicopter was dispatched to the scene, along with fire, ambulance and gardai.

The boy was then flown to Cork University Hospital where his condition was described as stable.

A neighbour of the boy, local councillor Dan McCarthy, praised the boys friends for summoning help when their friend fell into the hole.

He had a miraculous escape, he said.
A cheap technique that involves scratching the lining of the womb could double fertility rates in women, research suggests.

A global study found that women who underwent the procedure during natural or assisted conception had birth rates 2.2 times higher than those who did not.

There has long been debate among fertility experts about the merits of performing an 'endometrial scratch', in which a tiny tube, smaller than a drinking straw, is used to disturb the womb lining.

The review, by Cochrane, an international group of medical researchers, examined eight trials involving more than 1,000 women and found that the procedure appeared to significantly boost birth rates among both women trying to conceive naturally and those undergoing treatment.

British fertility experts said the findings, presented at the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology's annual meeting in Helsinki, harked back to theories from the past.

Until a few decades ago, women were routinely given a similar procedure known as a 'D&C' (dilation and curettage) after miscarriage, in the hope it could help secure a subsequent pregnancy, but the practice was largely abandoned for lack of proof that it worked.

Many doctors advocate the 350 'endometrial scratch' but there is little evidence about why it should work. One theory is that it helps the womb lining to shed dead cells, encouraging new ones to grow. Another is that the inflammation caused by the disruption makes the lining more receptive to embryo implantation.

Sarah Lensen, from the University of Auckland, New Zealand, who led the review, said it suggested the practice could increase the chance of live birth from 9pc to between 14pc and 28pc in the period examined.

Adam Balen, chairman of the British Fertility Society, said the practice was increasingly popular, despite uncertainty about whether or not it works.

"It is a tube a little bit narrower than a drinking straw that goes up through the cervix," he said. "It can irritate and cause a cramping sensation, but it doesn't require an anaesthetic."

Large-scale randomised controlled trials are under way in Britain but researchers expressed caution about changing clinical practice, warning of some concerns about the studies.

Nick Macklon, professor of obstetrics and gynaecology, University of Copenhagen and University of Southampton, said he would not recommend it for women attempting natural conception.

"While there might be a place for it in the context of IVF treatment - and we await the results from ongoing randomised controlled studies, which should answer that - we certainty can't draw a conclusion further than that," he said. ( Daily Telegraph, London)

Telegraph Media Group Limited [2022]
The USA may be land of the free but its home to an array of amazing foods.

Key Lime Pie

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In Florida, if life gives you limes you might as well knock up a Key Lime Pie. The popular dessert originated in the Florida Keys, home place of the juiciest little limes in the world. The first Key Lime Pie was made in the late 1800s by a millionaires cook, who combined condensed milk, egg yolks and lime juice in a pie to keep her boss happy at sea. Topped with marshmallow meringue Key Lime Pie is an American treat happily embraced throughout the world.

Banana Split

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Invented in Latrobe, Pennsylvania in 1904, the banana split is a classic American dessert replicated throughout the world, usually in knock-off 1960 style diners that have Elvis blaring from the speakers. The Banana Split is really just a delicious mesh of ice cream scooped upon a halved banana and adorned with chocolate syrup, crushed nuts, and a shiny maraschino cherry.

Fajitas

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You might have thought fajitas were a Mexican staple but not at all, having originated in Texas in the 1930s. The term was used to describe a cheap cut of meat given to the Mexican ranch workers as part of their pay, usually beef intestine, head and skirt steak. To accommodate for the poor quality meat, they marinated it, grilled it and wrapped it in a flour torilla and the dish became known as the fajita. Thank god the fajitas key ingredients have evolved beyond beef intestines. That wouldnt be easy to stomach.

Meatloaf

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Meatloaf is the quintessential American meal, believed to have originated amongst Italian immigrants in the states, who used their traditional meatball recipes and to create a loaf shaped dinner, topping it with breadcrumbs and tomato sauce before baking. Others believe meatloaf was born during the great depression when breadcrumbs and other ingredients were used to stretch small amounts of beef that little bit further. Nevertheless, meatloaf is a great comfort dish that brightens any evening in the depth of winter.

Fortune Cookies

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Although regularly accompanying your Chinese takeaway fortune cookies in fact originated in California. Believed to have been created by a Chinese chef in 1918 as a means of cheering up the citys poor. The sugary cookie contained an inspirational bible scripture which aimed to put a smile on the faces of the unfortunate. Whether it did or not, we cant be sure.

Smores

On their honour, we have the girl scouts to thank for this one. A contraction of some more, the toasted American treat, consisting of graham crackers, chocolate and marshmallow was first referenced in 1927 in girl scout book Tramping and Trailing.

Buffalo wings

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If your face has ever been happily smothered in hot sauce after scoffing a plateful of chicken wings, you have America to thank. First created in Anchor Bar in Buffalo New York, the wings are deep fried before being tossed into cayenne hot sauce. Traditionally it is served with blue cheese sauce and, to keep it healthy, a stick of celery.

Brownies

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The delicious gooey chocolate brownie was first created by a chef in Chicagos Palmer House Hotel, who was commissioned to make a dessert fitting for a worldly ladies lunch. The brief was to create a dessert smaller than a piece of cake, though still retaining cake like characteristics and easily eaten from a lunch box. While brownies might be smaller than a piece of cake it takes a person of high willpower to resist more than one.

Ice Pops

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In 1923, Frank Epperson of Oakland California was really struggling with the sweltering hot summer heat and had a light bulb moment when he decided to freeze ice on a stick. He tried, in vain, to get followers to call his creation the Epsicle but it didnt exactly catch on. He sold the rights to this invention to a New York company a few years later who rebranded it the popsicle.
On the afternoon of October 25, there was fighting between the Military Council and the KNLA joint troops on the Myawaddy-Kawkareik Asian Highway in...
Like so many people, I hate the mornings. I'm really bad at that time of the day. Normally, I'd be out of bed by 7.30am. I might go to Mass, because I find that it grounds me. I live with my wife, Brenda. For breakfast, I have brown bread, cereal, fruit and a pot of tea. I try to avoid coffee as much as I can because it hypes the brain. One of the big triggers of anxiety is the continuous flow of coffee during the day. It keeps our whole stress system fired up.

I start work at 9am. I retired from full-time practice as a GP two years ago because I was getting slightly overwhelmed by people looking to see me in the mental-health area. But also, I was trying to write books. My latest one is called Flagging Anxiety and Panic, which is about reshaping the anxious mind and brain. I'm also a cognitive behavioural therapist, which means that I'm able to assess somebody medically, and from a psycho-therapeutic point of view. Somebody comes to me and I can assess them, and, if at all possible, I will not be using medication. Instead, I will use cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) and suggest lifestyle changes. People don't understand how our brain and our body are totally interconnected. If we treat our bodies badly, our minds will suffer.

Every week, I do two full days of mental-health consultancy work. I see people aged from the late teens right up to those in their 70s. But at the moment, I'm seeing a lot under the age of 45 with all forms of anxiety and panic attacks. They are really big issues, but the good thing is that I can help, and they can clear these problems in six sessions. When some people think of therapy, they think of the Woody Allen thing of going to a therapist forever. I have no time for that. I believe in giving people coping skills, to try to move them on.

Social anxiety is huge. This is where a person gets incredibly anxious with social interaction. For example, if the person is going down to the pub to meet a group of people, some of whom they've never met before, they may be so anxious that they spend an hour beforehand rehearsing what they are going to say and planning how they are going to look. Young men in their 30s come to me, and they can't get into relationships because they can't get comfortable enough in social situations to ever be able to ask out a girl. Their lives are hell, and they feel very isolated.

A lot of people come to me because they have panic attacks. I qualified as a doctor in 1976, and panic attacks have been there as long as I can remember. But I definitely think there has been an increase in the last five years, particularly in young people. Panic attacks are very distressing. Somebody might be at home sitting in front of the TV without thinking about anything and the next thing, their heart is racing and their stomach is in knots. They shake and sweat and feel awful. Then the more they try to stop these symptoms, the worse they seem to get. They worry that they are going to have a heart attack and die. They catastrophise, and their mind spirals out of control. Lots of people try to do breathing exercises in the middle of a panic attack, but that only makes them become more panicky. Some people have panic attacks for up to 10 years before they come to see me. Young people often self-harm because of them. I believe that technology is making young people anxious and agitated.

The biggest reason that people are frightened by panic attacks is that they think there is no trigger. But actually, the first physical symptom you feel is the trigger. There is an organ in your emotional brain called the amygdala, which is like a gunslinger. It senses that you are bothered and it keeps firing. Once you understand this rationally, you understand why you are getting all the physical symptoms. I teach a flooding technique, which means that the patient has to accept the symptoms. Some panic attacks can go on for hours, but if you let the adrenaline rush happen, it will pass more quickly. At first, this is unpleasant, but finally the memory in the amygdala changes. You weaken it, so patients start to lose their fear of panic attacks and then they stop happening completely. It's about retraining the brain. I get them to do a panic exercise where I try to get them to bring on a panic attack and when they can't, they realise that I'm putting them back in charge of their bodies. It's very rewarding.

Each session with a patient takes an hour. I always try to have an hour-long lunch break because it is exhausting work. I can only see so many people, so that's why I wrote the book. Also, I made a YouTube video about panic attacks, and a quarter-of-a-million people have watched it.

A lot of my patients have general anxiety. Unlike acute panic attacks, this is low-grade but constant. It also causes tiredness. It is very common, especially in women. I think this is because they take on too much. You can't get rid of general anxiety, but you can seriously reduce its power. People are too hard on themselves. They make impossible demands on themselves, and then rate themselves as failures when they are not able to meet the demands. My mantra is to be kind to yourself, accept yourself as you are and stop comparing yourself to everybody else.

At the end of a clinic, I'll eat something simple, like a chicken salad. I make sure that I create time for myself, my relationship and my family. I like to do some exercise, and then in the evenings, I might write. I enjoy a relaxing bath at night, and then a book for 15 minutes - I love crime thrillers. Then I'm in bed at 11.30pm. I need my sleep. My job is to help a person get over their situation, but then I have to park it. When I do other things for myself, then I'm better at my job.

'Flagging Anxiety and Panic' by Dr Harry Barry is published by Liberties Press, priced 14.95
Millie Mackintosh is in the process of telling me she isn't posh.

"No!" she says firmly. "I'm not."

Really? But that accent: so proper, like a Mitford sister crossed with a radio announcer from the 1950s.

"Sometimes when I hear my voice on a recording or something I think, 'Oh God, I sound really posh,"' she admits. "But I don't generally feel like I am."

I suppose it doesn't help her case that she made her name on the reality TV series Made in Chelsea. She was on the show for five seasons from 2011 and was portrayed as one of those glossy, groomed trust-fund kids perpetually arriving at nightclubs in chauffeur-driven Rolls-Royces and weeping over boys called Hugo or Spencer or Francis.

Millie, whose great-grandfather invented Quality Street, was introduced to audiences as an heiress -but she says it wasn't really like that all. Unlike some of her fellow cast members, she didn't inherit millions on her 21st birthday. Instead, she used Made in Chelsea as a platform from which to launch her eponymous clothing line on Asos (where, three years in, it is the biggest-selling brand after the site's own label), and is now, at 26, entirely self-sufficient.

"I invested my own money into setting it up," she says when we meet at a photo shoot in north London. "I own it, I model it and they're my designs. So I would say, yeah, I've kind of created my dream."

Along the way, Millie has reinvented herself as a social media style icon, posting daily Instagram snapshots to her 1.2 million followers, detailing everything from her workouts to her favourite swimsuits and home-made healthy recipes (a photo of her chia and quinoa loaf alone garnered 4,264 likes). She also brought out a range of false eyelashes, which she once said was the fulfilment of a "lifelong ambition".

The press, Millie says wearily, still has a tendency to use "the Made in Chelsea tag" and it's frustrating because "I'm really grateful I did the show But I want to be seen and taken seriously as a businesswoman".

She certainly knows her stuff. She refers to her "brand" 13 times during our hour-long interview - approximately once every four minutes, which is quite an impressive feat when you think about it.

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She says that looking back at old episodes of Made in Chelsea is "like watching yourself grow up on TV - I'm not that girl any more".

How does she think she's changed?

"I've kind of grown my brand," she replies, without missing a beat.

This is not to say she isn't lovely. She is sweet, polite company and smiles a lot. When I ask her which Quality Street she is most like, she says: "The purple one [with] the nut inside - I'm totally nutty, a nut job!"

She has turned up on time for the 9.30am shoot, having squeezed in a workout session first, and at one point offers to help by wheeling the stylist's suitcases across a cobbled street.

She is wearing high-waisted jeans, a battered pair of Sam Edelman boots, a black T-shirt, leather jacket and a gold necklace dotted with tiny stars. Her swept-up hair is still damp from the shower and her face appears bare of make-up. She is tanned from a recent trip to Monaco, where she posted pictures of yachts and sunsets.

I know this because, in the days prior to our meeting, the images have been splashed across most of the tabloids following news of her divorce. In February, she announced that her two-year marriage to the rapper Professor Green (real name Stephen Manderson) was over. Their relationship had been dogged by rumours of explosive rows and much was made of their different backgrounds - while Mackintosh is a privately-educated country girl, Manderson was born to a 16-year-old mother on a council estate, raised by his grandmother and endured the suicide of his father in 2008.

Does Millie think Britain has a problem with class?

"Yeah, I guess there is a big divide," she says. "The way I was brought up was to respect everybody - I wasn't brought up to think I was better than anyone else. Yes, I had a very privileged upbringing, but I've earned my own money and have been shown the value of that."

Their relationship was played out in the full glare of the public spotlight. In 2011, Professor Green saw Millie in underwear on the cover of the now-defunct magazine FHM. He asked his publicist for her number and they had their first date at London's most 'media' hangout, the Groucho Club.

He proposed just over a year later in France and Millie swiftly posted a snap of her diamond ring on Instagram. When they married at Babington House, Somerset, in September 2013, the newlyweds posted another flurry of photos, followed by regular snaps from various holidays and music festivals they went to as husband and wife.

But beneath the sun-soaked, Valencia-filtered surface, things were starting to unravel. He was said to want to have children; she was rumoured not to be ready. He was open about his struggles with depression; she describes herself as one of nature's optimists. They had counselling.

Last summer, The Sun reported that the couple had a blazing argument at the opening party for Soho Millie in underwear on the cover of the now-defunct magazine FHM. He asked his publicist for her number and they had their first date at London's most 'media' hangout, The Groucho Club.

He proposed just over a year later in France and Millie swiftly posted a snap of her diamond ring on Instagram. When they married at Babington House, Somerset, in September 2013, the newlyweds posted another flurry of photos, followed by regular snaps from various holidays and music festivals they went to as husband and wife.

But beneath the sun-soaked surface, things were starting to unravel. He was said to want to have children; she was rumoured not to be ready. He was open about his struggles with depression; she describes herself as one of nature's optimists. They had counselling.

Last summer, The Sun reported that the couple had a blazing argument at the opening party for Soho House members' club in Istanbul, with Millie demanding a divorce. They did their best to quash the story - by September, Manderson was uploading an image of the couple in the bath together; in January, he posted Instagrams of their holiday in Italy.

But the following month, they announced their separation, with a joint statement insisting they "still cared deeply for each other".

The disintegration of their relationship is now also being documented online. A few weeks ago, Millie posted a snapshot of her embracing Hugo Taylor, a former boyfriend from Made in Chelsea days. When a tabloid then published photos of her looking the worse for wear in Monaco while celebrating Taylor's 30th birthday, Manderson took to Twitter to say "money really can't buy you class, can it?", and accusing his ex of "gurning".

When I broach the subject of her very public marital breakdown, Millie looks uncomfortable.

"I can't really talk about it. It's for legal reasons," she explains, and I can tell that she feels bad in case she sounds stand-offish.

Have her female friends been a particular source of support?

"I can't really mention it," Millie says, arms crossed.

OK, I say, but how are you faring? "I'm great."

How are things going with Hugo? "He's great."

Later, when she picks up her smartphone to check something, I notice her screensaver is a picture of the two of them kissing.

Is she happy? "I'm very happy, that's all I can say," she says.

It's self-protection. I get it. It must be extremely difficult for her to navigate a personal upheaval on the one hand and a need to communicate with her 1.2 million Instagram followers on the other. Where does one end and the other begin?

"My Instagram is quite a true reflection of what I do," she says.

Does she ever feel the pressure to post when she might not want to?

"A bit, sometimes Some days I'll post a lot more than others."

There are a couple of points during our conversation when she hints things might not have been entirely rosy. She says the media "sensationalise", and insists: "They like to make headlines. The papers will write what they want about me. It's part of my job. I just rise above it and don't respond to it.

"I don't have notifications on my phone. I don't see things unless I need to. I like to read positive things."

She occasionally gets "frustrated and annoyed", but says: "I wouldn't say I really carry anger around as an emotion. If I do, I take it out in an exercise class. I'd rather be an optimist than be a pessimist."

How does she deal with sadness?

"Sometimes you just think 'I'm having a bad day today'. I don't feel happy all the time and I definitely have ups and downs. On days when I feel unhappy or a bit overwhelmed, I just know that I won't feel like that the next day. I'm like 'everything will seem different tomorrow'."

Her family are loving and supportive. Her parents, Nigel and Georgina, owned a delicatessen in Marlborough, Wiltshire, and raised Millie and her younger sister, Alice, to appreciate the value of hard work. Her childhood was comfortable and horse-mad.

"They've kind of been there through all of it," she says now. "My dad looked at my contracts [for her business] and my mum loves the creative [side] - all my drawings."

She was sent to boarding school at the age of nine - first to Hanford Prep School in Dorset and then on to Millfield in Somerset. She didn't have a particularly good time.

"I mean, what teenager does have a good time through their teens?" she asks. "You know, I got bullied. Not all the way through - at different points - and it was something I learned to deal with. I just found it quite difficult. I had acne, I had braces. I was shy and didn't feel comfortable in myself and it took a while to kind of figure myself out."

What form did the bullying take?

"Girls can just be really mean. It was just the standard teasing and jibes and that sort of thing. I would just kind of laugh it off, that's how I dealt with it. I think that's still a good way to handle bullies now - to not listen to what they're saying and brush it off. Laugh at it, but never rise to it."

At Millfield, she studied art and design and started making baby doll dresses for friends after an internship with a lingerie designer. She would sell them as one-offs, sewing in her school nametape as a rudimentary label. After Millfield, she did an eight-week make-up course and was working part-time at Mac, still making her dresses, when the producers from Made in Chelsea came along.

At first, she was cautious about signing up because she worried "people would hate us and throw rocks at us in the street".

Luckily, when it aired, no rocks were thrown and she insists "it was a really fun experience".

It certainly catapulted her into the 20-something consciousness. I wonder if she ever feels exhausted by having so many people poring over her life? Does she ever just want to throw away her phone?

"Maybe - but only for, like, a day," she admits.

Her favourite Instagram filter is Valencia, saying: "It just gives everything a golden glow."

How apt, I think, for the sweet-natured Chelsea girl who is so insistent about looking on the bright side of life. 
The founder of Homsepun food on the depth and wisdom of her husband on memories of catching fish in nets in Ballinskelligs as a child.

The person

My husband, Michael. He's got depth and wisdom in spades, and is a great dad. The first date was in Hogan's. He upped the budget for the second one, and we went to Peploe's for dinner. I knew he was interested then!

The memory

Putting out nets with my dad to catch fish in Ballinskelligs as a kid. We'd swim out to place them one day, and go back and haul them in the next. There'd be plaice and crab, and we'd cook them

The moment of the day

Being woken up by our little girl, Katie, who is one. She literally wakes up smiling. At times, I feel we're winging it on the parenting front, but when I see her so happy, I'm reassured that we're getting some of it right

The song

I spent a summer in New York in 1998, working in the Irish Echo, with Christine, one of my best friends from Trinity. For some reason. U2's Angel of Harlem always reminds me of that summer. Years later, I still feel a sense of belonging in NY

The movie

Too many to mention, and I watch boxsets more these days. Homeland, The Good Wife, House of Cards, The Affair, The Killing - you name it. My latest addiction is Billions on Sky Atlantic

The hero

My Mum, Emer. For lots of reasons, but mainly because she's so charitable and decent. She's also fun-loving, adventurous and young at heart. She knows exactly what's important in life

The book

Kahlil Gibran's The Prophet. One of my best friends from college, Owen, gave it to me the day we graduated. He wrote on it, saying I'd turn to the book again and again for its timeless wisdom, and I have

The outfit

Since becoming a mum and starting my own health-food business, I've dispensed with high-maintenance clothes. Heels and dresses have been replaced with jeans, T-shirts and trainers. Last autumn, I invested in a Canada Goose parka. It's like wearing a stylish sleeping bag, and was worth every cent

The accessory

I jokingly called my little girl Katie my 'sales accessory'. Before she went to creche, I'd no option but to bring her to work meetings with me. Initially, I felt self-conscious arriving with a baby in tow, but it turned out to be a blessing in disguise. It took the formality out of situations. In ways, it's easier to strike up a rapport when you're relaxed and relating about things other than work

The gadget

It's a cliche, but my iPhone. Since I've set up Homespun, I'm using some new apps such as Zoho for invoices, reports and accounting

The pet hate

Flakiness of any sort. And I try not to be flaky myself

The friend

I have a circle of close, long-standing, trusted friends. Some I've known since my childhood, others from college and work. A few of them live overseas now, but we still meet a lot and, when we we do, we pick up where we left off.

The beauty product

Sleep - nothing can replace it. And juices I make in my NutriBullet. I throw in the lot: chlorella, hemp protein, spirulina. The trick is to add lots of lemon and ginger. Makes it all bearable!

The holiday

California, summer 2012. Michael and I had been going out for a month and spontaneously decided to book flights to LA, hire a Mustang and take a road trip up Highway One. It was so amazing, we returned a year later - on honeymoon! That was when I seriously started thinking about starting a health-food business. The health and food scene there is inspiring

The piece of advice

In business terms, I've heard it said many times, treat your suppliers as partners. Everyone who has helped me launch Homespun has contributed a lot to its development. A good working relationship goes a long way.

The bar

Cable O'Leary's, Ballinskelligs. It's my local when I'm in Kerry, and it's situated right on the beach

The drink

A good Margarita - always salted. A non-alcoholic drink I like is One Water, an Irish brand which donates 100pc of its profits to water projects in the developing world

The hotel

San Ysidro Ranch, Montecito, California. We stayed there on honeymoon. It's a gorgeous hideaway in the foothills of the Santa Ynez mountains, overlooking the Pacific, just outside Santa Barbara

The hobby

Reading cookbooks, cutting out recipes - though not necessarily following up by actually cooking them; reading restaurant reviews, shopping for food and mooching around specialist food stores. Bit of a theme going on!

The part of my body

Hands and feet - where would you be without them? - and I love them both best when I've treated myself to a manicure or pedicure

The vice

Good wine with great friends. Also cheese, chocolate, coffee - the stronger the better

The celebrity

I'm not into celebrities, but I admire people who use their fame for a good cause, such as Jamie Oliver, for his campaigns to improve the nutrition in school dinners in the UK and to end the battery farming of chickens.

The virtue

I like introducing people. I'm constantly putting people in touch. I like to pay it forward

The smell

Homespun Quinoa Crunch, of course! It is hand-made in Ireland with raw, virgin coconut oil - cold-pressed to retain the health benefits - and it has a divine coconut aroma. It's the first thing customers comment on when they taste it

The taste

Fresh lobster, served with a simple salad and a glass of chilled white wine on a summer's evening in the Point Seafood Bar, Renard Point, Co Kerry, served by the wonderful proprietor, Bridie O'Neill.

For stockists of Homespun Quinoa Crunch, see homespunfoods.ie

Instagram: homespun_foods
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The ill winds of Brexit continue to blow hard and fast across the Irish Sea. Ireland's 12.5pc corporation tax rate was already under severe pressure from its European partners and American cousins long before the seismic decision by Britain to leave the European Union.

Yesterday, British Chancellor George Osborne upped the ante when he told the 'Financial Times' that he wants to set the lowest corporation tax rate of any major economy to help steer Britain out of a widely anticipated recession and to send a signal to investors that Britain is 'open for business'.

Mr Osborne, who has yet to decide which prospective Tory leader to back in that party's post-Brexit convulsions, wants to reduce Britain's corporation tax rate (which stood at 30pc in 2008) from its current 20pc to 15pc.

Such a reduction would bring it perilously close to Ireland, which relies on our much-maligned 12.5pc corporation tax rate to attract foreign direct investment (FDI) from bluechip multinationals including Apple, Google and Facebook.

These foreign companies, which also include some of the world's leading pharma operations, perform a unique and vital function in the Irish economic ecosystem.

They employ under 10pc of the workforce but account for a lion's share of our corporation tax take.

Our 12.5pc rate matters.

Earlier this year, the ESRI warned that raising our corporation tax rate to 15pc between 2004 and 2012 could have significantly derailed FDI flows into Ireland.

The ESRI said a 22.5pc rate would have reduced the number of multinationals locating here by half.

Mr Osborne's announcement was a bold if not entirely unexpected move. He had previously stated that he wanted to reduce the UK's corporation tax rate from 20pc to 17pc by 2020.

However, Brexit has led to consideration of more radical rates by the UK.

We should not panic.

Yet.

This is because it remains to be seen how much of a boon a 15pc tax rate would provide to the UK economy in a post-Brexit landscape - or a threat to its closest neighbour Ireland - if Britain was denied access, in whole or in part, to Europe's much-prized single market.

And it remains to be seen what agreements will be reached between Britain and the EU in the years ahead.

However, Mr Osborne's desire to move quickly on a corporation tax rate cut should serve as a wake-up call to Ireland Inc.

It should also sound a warning bell to our European partners, who want to harmonise tax amid fears of a strategic race to the bottom.

Much of Ireland's economic toolkit, including autonomy in relation to future tax strategy, is fettered by its EU membership.

Our 12.5pc corporation tax rate is a crucial lever in the economy, but for how much longer?

The Government clings to the mantra that Ireland has one of the most competitive, consistent and transparent tax regimes in the world.

And privately it holds that Ireland's 12.5pc tax rate is a red-line issue.

However, we cannot ignore the fact that Ireland has suffered reputational damage over its low-tax economy, which is the subject of an imminent ruling by the European Commission as it investigates two advance pricing arrangements (APAs) issued by Ireland in favour of Apple in 1991 and 2007.

The Commission is expected to find against Ireland.

This will add further pressure to existing vulnerabilities, including an unstable minority Government.

At best, Mr Osborne's threat will compel the Irish Government to reinforce Ireland's attractiveness in the forthcoming budget.

The worst? It doesn't bear thinking about.

Dearbhail McDonald is Group Business Editor
Premium

John Downing Opinion New British prime minister Rishi Sunaks succession proves an important milestone in British political inclusivity

There is an old saying in British politics that goes: The right looks for converts while the left seeks out traitors. It comes to mind when one reflects upon the election of Rishi Sunak as the UKs first non-white prime minister in a party traditionally seen as most opposed to mass immigration and the dilution of national identity via multiculturalism.
Premium

Mary Kenny Opinion If men want to yammer on about sport, then let them  it helps them connect emotionally

I was travelling on a train from Dublin to Cork, and near me sat two Dublin men. Throughout the entire journey they managed to keep up a fluent dialogue about English football teams. From Aston Villa to Sheffield Wednesday, from Crystal Palace to Manchester City the conversation flowed eloquently. I was in awe at the minutiae of their knowledge and expertise. And if the topic of their discourse lacked a certain variety, it was nonetheless better than sitting in sullen silence, or glued to their phones.
Matt LeBlanc, Chris Evans and The Stig are among the presenters of the rebooted Top Gear series (BBC/PA)

The rebooted series of Top Gear will draw to a close tonight, following a tumultuous return to television.

The new incarnation of the show, with Chris Evans and Matt LeBlanc at the helm, debuted to 4.4 million viewers on May 29 but saw ratings plummet as the series continued.

The second episode had 2.8 million viewers, followed by 2.4 million for the third and 2.3 million the week after.

The audience grew for the first time since the new series began last week, with an average of 2.7 million people tuning in to episode five last Sunday.

The show has failed to reach the viewing figures of the last series with Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May.

The popular trio bowed out with 5.8 million viewers.

The new presenting team joined after the old team left following a fracas between lead presenter Clarkson and a producer over hot food.

The trio will debut their new Amazon Prime motoring show The Grand Tour this autumn, with the first studio recording taking place in South Africa in July.

The rebooted series of Top Gear featured the unveiling of new segment Star In A Rallycross Car, which replaced the popular feature Star In A Reasonably Priced Car

:: The final episode of series 23 of the show will air on BBC Two at 8pm on Sunday.
TV presenter Lorraine Kelly with her daughter Rosie Smith, after she graduated from Edinburgh Napier university with a journalism degree

TV presenter Lorraine Kelly has returned to her former university to watch her daughter graduate with a degree in journalism.

Rosie Smith, 22, graduated with a BA (Hons) on Monday after a four-year course at Napier University.

Ms Kelly, one of the UK's most popular broadcasters, was given a grounding in journalism at the then Napier College in Edinburgh.

She officially opened an industry standard broadcasting facility at the university's Merchiston campus earlier in March this year.

The digital newsroom was created as part of the university's Transforming Tomorrow, Together investment campaign which was launched in 2015 to raise 100 million in funding to build on the university's research strengths, support student talent and improve facilities on campus.

Rosie was joined by hundreds of other students at the ceremony in the Usher Hall, including Glasgow-born film producer, Iain Smith, who received an Honorary Doctorate of Arts.

Mr Smith, who has been dubbed "Europe's busiest producer" was awarded the degree for his work on blockbusters including The Killing Fields, The Mission, Children of Men and Mad Max: Fury Road.

Professor Andrea Nolan, principal and vice-chancellor of Edinburgh Napier University, said: "It is exciting to see people who have made such a significant impact on the worlds of science, industry and the arts joining our celebrations.

"Their drive and talent will inspire our students as they set out to make their own mark on the world."
at the launch of WaterWipes Pure Love film, an experiment by world. Picture: VIPIreland.com

Sarah Morrissey pictured at the launch of WaterWipes Pure Love film, an experiment by world. Picture: Patrick O'Leary

Pippa O'Connor at the launch of WaterWipes Pure Love film, an experiment by world. Picture: VIPIreland.com

She may have given birth just a few weeks ago, but Pippa OConnor is already heading off into the sun with baby Louis for his first family holiday.

The model turned blogger welcomed her second child seven weeks ago and plans to jet to a warmer climate with husband Brian Ormond, three-year-old son Ollie and baby Louis for their first summer holiday as a family of four.

"Were going away in two weeks to Portugal, so its the first time well all be away together," Pippa told independent.ie.

"Itll be Louis first flight, so hopefully hell be okay, she added, before talking about picking up swimsuits for the new addition.

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The 31-year-old fashionista said that welcoming her second son has been a joyful journey.

"Hes been a little dream, thank God. A savage and hungry, but Im used to that now! she laughed.

"All is good, its full on and Im tired but its good. "

The multi-tasking mother said she "struggles" to switch off when it comes to her website Pippa.ie.

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Its something Im definitely not great at. I dont ever really switch off, she admitted.

But because I really enjoy it and I love it, it doesnt feel like work.

Video of the Day

I know a lot of elements of it are, with timelines and deadlines and things but I really enjoy so I dont feel like Oh Im not getting any time off.

Im lucky that I can do things from home, so it doesnt feel like theres any big pressure or anything, she said.

Surrounded by cool dudes A photo posted by Pippa O'Connor Ormond (@pipsy_pie) on May 30, 2016 at 12:45pm PDT

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Pippa made her first official appearance since welcoming little Louis at the launch of new film Pure Love by WaterWipes at The Lighthouse Cinema, where she spoke about the importance of skin-to-skin contact for mother and baby.

The popular fashion inspiration said that her style has changed due to becoming a new mum and breastfeeding her son, but she still loves dressing up.

Ive had to be a little bit more practical with my decisions because Im breastfeeding him. Some days I feel like Im being a bit repetitive with what Im wearing, but thats because of practicality reasons.

Its been nice being comfortable and a mum, Im not thinking about it too much, she admitted.

I just love fashion and I love clothes, its something I enjoy. And I love dressing up, so it doesnt feel like an effort to me.

Its very relaxed at the moment, because Im trying to be as practical as possible.

Read More

Pippa celebrated her five year wedding anniversary with TV presenter Brian Ormond two weeks ago, which she said is crazy.

The pair wed in a lavish ceremony in Powerscourt Hotel, Co Wicklow in 2011 and said the couple is sleep deprived but happier than ever in an Instagram post to mark the big day.

Alongside welcoming a new baby, this year Pippa will release her first book, Pippa: Simple Tips to Live Beautifully.

I have it done ages now, Ive nearly forgotten about it! she joked.

So when the time is here its going to be so exciting, itll be like a brand new thing again.

Ive worked so long and hard on it and then nothing for months, so I cant wait for it!

Also spotted at the exclusive screening was skin to skin advocate Mary OConnor, Samantha Mumba and her daughter Sage, Caroline Grace-Cassidy and her daughters, Sarah Morrissey and Grace Mongey and guests enjoyed healthy snacks including fresh fruit skewers, protein balls and infused water.
An aerial view shows Muslim worshippers praying at the Grand mosque, the holiest place in Islam, in the holy city of Mecca during Ramadan, on Lailat al-Qadr, or Night of Power, Saudi Arabia. Photo: Reuters

A suicide bomber has carried out an attack near a US diplomatic site in Saudi Arabia's western city of Jeddah.

The Interior Ministry said the attacker detonated his suicide vest when security guards approached him near a hospital car park. The attacker died and two security men received minor injuries.

Ministry spokesman Major General Mansour al-Turki said the attacker caught the attention of the security guards, who noticed he was acting suspiciously at a junction on the corner of the heavily-fortified US consulate in Jeddah, near the Dr Soliman Fakeeh Hospital.

Most of the consulate's staff had reportedly moved offices to a new location.

The ministry did not say if the attacker was intending to target the US diplomatic compound, but said an investigation was under way to determine his identity.

A US State Department spokesman said US officials were are working with Saudi authorities to collect more information.

A 2004 al Qaida-linked militant attack on the US consulate in Jeddah killed five locally-hired consular employees and four gunmen. The three-hour battle on the compound came amid a wave of al Qaida attacks targeting Westerners and Saudi security posts.

More recently, Saudi Arabia has been a target of Islamic State group attacks that have killed dozens of people.

The extremist group views the Western-allied Saudi monarchy and government as heretics. Saudi Arabia is part of the US-led coalition fighting IS in Iraq and Syria.

In June, the Interior Ministry reported 26 terror attacks had taken place in the kingdom in the last two years. Local IS affiliates have targeted minority Shiites and security officials.

The attack comes just days before the end of the holy month of Ramadan, in which observant Muslims fast daily from dawn to dusk.

The US embassy in Riyadh regularly issues advisory messages for US citizens in Saudi Arabia.

On Sunday, the embassy issued a message reminding anyone taking part in religious rituals or other public events to be aware of their surroundings.

It urged Americans to "take extra precautions when travelling throughout the country" and advised citizens to "carefully consider the risks of travelling to Saudi Arabia".
Australia's prime minister and opposition leader are trying to drum up support from minor parties in desperate bids to form a working government.

The country is facing the prospect of a dreaded hung parliament after Saturday's general election, which failed to deliver an immediate victor.

With about a quarter of the votes left to be counted, neither prime minister Malcolm Turnbull's conservative Liberal Party-led coalition nor the centre-left Labor Party had secured the required 76 seats in the 150-seat House of Representatives to form a government.

Mr Turnbull, who is pinning his hopes on postal and early ballots that traditionally favour the conservatives, said he remained quietly confident of an eventual victory.

His coalition could indeed still win by a slim margin, though with a reduced majority. But with Labor and the Liberals in a virtual tie, there is a possibility neither would end up with enough seats to form a majority government, resulting in a hung parliament.

That would force the Liberals and Labor to try to strike alliances with independent and minor party MPs in a bid to form a minority government. If no alliance can be forged, the government could end up calling yet another election.

As of Monday, Australian Broadcasting Corporation election analysts, considered among the most reliable, were predicting that Labor and the coalition were tied at 67 seats each and minor parties leading in five seats. Another 11 seats were in doubt.

Counting by the Australian Electoral Commission was on hold until Tuesday, with Mr Turnbull warning that the ultimate result may not be known until the end of the week. The electoral commission said it may take up to a month.

With the possibility of a hung parliament looming, Mr Turnbull and opposition leader Bill Shorten both said they had contacted the five independent MPs who could make up a minority government if needed.

Two of those, Tasmania independent Andrew Wilkie and Victoria independent Cathy McGowan, said on Monday they had yet to commit to either party.

Independent senator Nick Xenophon said he had spoken to both leaders, describing the phone calls as simple "G'day, let's keep in touch and see where the dust settles" conversations.

"I still think it's likely that Malcolm Turnbull might just get across the line with a one-seat majority," Mr Xenophon told Melbourne radio station 3AW.

The lack of certainty wrought by the election continues an incredibly volatile period in Australian politics, with Monday's front page headline in Sydney's Daily Telegraph aptly blaring "Chaos Reigns".

Weary Australians have watched as internal party squabbling and fears over flagging poll ratings have prompted five changes of prime minister in as many years.

Even if Mr Turnbull's party wins, the country could potentially end up with yet another new prime minister.

Mr Turnbull took a gamble by opting to call the rare early election, and few had predicted his party would suffer such steep losses. The disappointing result could put him at risk for an internal leadership challenge from unhappy colleagues.

Mobbed by reporters outside his Sydney home on Monday morning, Mr Turnbull ignored a question about whether he was still confident of his leadership, telling journalists only "the counting continues".

In the wake of the chaos Mr Shorten called on the prime minister to resign.

"Mr Turnbull clearly doesn't know what he is doing. Quite frankly, I think he should quit," Mr Shorten told reporters.

"He has taken this nation to an election on the basis of stability. He has delivered instability. The bloke is not up to the job."

AP
Australian politician and leader of the One Nation Party Pauline Hanson holds an election placard as she stands with supporters during a function on election night in the city of Ipswich, west of Brisbane, Australia. AAP/Dan Peled/REUTERS

Australia's shock election result - with a hung parliament the most likely outcome - has left Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's future in tatters and delivered an extra surprise: the political comeback of Pauline Hanson, an anti-migrant and anti-Muslim firebrand.

As counting was due to resume today, Ms Hanson, who caused a storm in Australia and abroad over her attacks on Asian immigration as an MP in the Nineties, was preparing to make a return to parliament 20 years after she was first elected.

Switching her focus in recent years from attacking Asian migrants to condemning Muslims, she campaigned on plans to limit halal certification, restrict overall immigration and hold a "royal commission into Islam".

Infamous for her claim in her maiden speech in 1996 that Australia was in danger of being "swamped by Asians", she said during this campaign that "we're in danger of being swamped by Muslims".

"If you're going to bury your head in the sand about it, you're a fool," said the 62-year-old, who won a senate seat in her home state of Queensland.

Mr Turnbull faces recriminations over the ruling conservative coalition's dismal election performance. The former investment banker had been expected to win the election easily. (Daily Telegraph, London)

Telegraph Media Group Limited [2022]
An Indian family offers flowers and lights candles in a tribute to those killed outside the Holey Artisan Bakery in Dhaka (AP)

Some of the hostages rescued from a terror attack on a restaurant in Bangladesh's capital at the weekend are being questioned by investigators searching for clues to the possible masterminds behind the outrage which killed 28 people, including many foreigners.

Authorities are still holding five of the 13 hostages rescued when commandos stormed the restaurant in Dhaka's diplomatic zone on Saturday morning, killing six of the attackers and capturing one, according to officials.

Bangladesh's police chief, AKM Shahidul Haque, said authorities would be interrogating two men, including a suspected militant, who were detained during Saturday's operation. He would not say whether either had been among those counted as hostages, only that they were being treated in a hospital for unspecified injuries.

A second official said the five former hostages still being held included a Canadian citizen of Bangladeshi origin and a Bangladesh-born British citizen. He said authorities were looking into the backgrounds of the five people and questioning their family and friends.

It was not clear if all five were suspects, or if they were being held and questioned simply because authorities thought they might offer useful information in tracing the origins of the attack.

The official confirmed investigators were also speaking with a third man described by local media as a Bangladeshi who was trapped inside the restaurant along with his wife and two children. The man, a teacher at a private university in Dhaka, had returned to Bangladesh recently after living in Britain for nearly 20 years.

Some photographs and several crude videos taken from an apartment near the Holey Artisan Bakery show the man talking to someone while attackers allowed him to leave before paramilitary forces launched the rescue operation on Saturday. The man's friends and police also said the one of the attackers was a student in the same department at the university where the man teaches.

The brutality of the attack - the worst convulsion of violence yet in the recent series of deadly attacks to hit Bangladesh - has stunned the traditionally moderate Muslim nation and raised global concerns about whether it can cope with the increasingly strident Islamist militants.

That the attackers targeted a popular restaurant in the heart of the diplomatic quarter of Bangladesh's capital signalled a shift in militant tactics. Previously, most attacks were carried out by gangs of young men wielding cleavers and machetes and hacking at their victims before fleeing.

The English-language Daily Star newspaper said on Monday that the bloody hostage crisis had left "the nation shattered and with a sense of extreme unease".

The editorial also criticises authorities' consistent denial of the presence of any international terrorist groups, even as the Islamic State group (IS, also known as Isis) claimed responsibility for the attack and released gruesome photographs that apparently depicted the torture of hostages.

"The methods employed and the savagery with which the killings were carried out are hallmarks of international terrorist outfits like Isis and al Qaida. This is clear," the paper says in its editorial. "What is not clear is whether, after such overwhelming evidence of their presence, the official line will be one of denial?"

Bangladesh police have said they are investigating whether the attackers had links with the extremist Sunni Muslim group based in Syria and Iraq. But the home minister insisted IS could not have guided the attack from abroad, as he said it has no presence in Bangladesh.

Instead, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's government said the attacks are being carried out by domestic militants bent on imposing Islamic rule, and blames the political opposition of backing the attacks in order to create chaos in the country.

Meanwhile, five Indian states that border Bangladesh were on high alert on Monday, with Indian police checking vehicles crossing the shared 2,500-mile (4,000km) border in case any militants were trying to flee, according to the head of India's paramilitary Border Security Force.

On Monday, surrounded by tearful family members and heavy security, Mr Hasina and diplomats from Italy, Japan and other countries laid flower wreaths beside the coffins holding the three Bangladeshi victims.

The coffins were draped in the Bangladeshi flag - a red disc on a green background. That of Emory University student Abinta Kabir, a Miami resident whose family confirmed she was an American citizen, was also partially covered with a US flag.

Another 17 hostages - nine Italians, seven Japanese and one Indian - were killed in the attack - many of them tortured with sharp instruments, according to police.

Their bodies were due to be flown back to their home countries on Monday.

Meanwhile, family and friends of 19-year-old Tarishi Jain gathered in the New Delhi suburb of Gurgaon as her body arrived for a ceremonial cremation.

Two others who died were police officers who were killed on Friday night when police engaged the attackers in a gun battle at the start of the crisis.

A stadium vigil was attended by hundreds of Dhaka residents, paying their respects to the victims.

A Catholic Mass, Islamic prayer sessions and a candlelight vigil were being held throughout Monday.

AP
People light candles at the scene of the bomb attack in Karada (AP)

The death toll from the truck bomb attack in a busy Baghdad commercial street at the weekend has risen to 157, Iraqi authorities said, as Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi ordered new security measures in the capital.

The attack early on Sunday, claimed by the Islamic State (IS) group, was one of the worst single bombings in Iraq over more than a decade of war and insurgency.

It underlined IS's ability to strike the Iraqi capital despite a string of battlefield losses elsewhere in the country and fuelled public anger towards the government.

A suicide bomber blew up his explosives-laden vehicle in Baghdad's mostly Shiite Karada district, a favourite destination for shoppers - especially during the holy month of Ramadan. The streets and pavements were filled with young people and families after they had broken their daylight fast.

Police and health officials said on Monday that the death toll had reached 157 but that it was likely to increase even further as rescuers are still looking for missing people.

Officials said at least 12 people are confirmed missing. At least 190 people were injured in the blast.

A string of smaller bombings elsewhere in Baghdad on Monday killed 10 people and wounded 31, the officials said.

In a statement issued on Sunday evening, Mr al-Abadi ordered security forces to stop using a repeatedly-discredited hand-held bomb detection device. He also ordered the reopening of an investigation on the procurement of the British-made electronic wands, called ADE 651s.

In 2010, British authorities arrested the director of the British company ATSC Ltd on fraud charges, prompting Iraqis to open their own investigation into alleged corruption. Iraqi authorities made some arrests, but the investigation went nowhere and the device remained in use.

On Monday evening, Associated Press reporters saw a number of the devices still being used at checkpoints around the capital.

Mr Al-Abadi also ordered that X-ray systems be installed at the entrances of provinces. He demanded the upgrade of the capital's security belt, increased aerial scanning and stepped-up intelligence efforts.

Iraqi and foreign officials have linked the recent increase in IS attacks - especially large-scale suicide bombings - with the string of battlefield losses the extremist group has faced over the past year.

Iraqi security forces, supported by US-led coalition air strikes, have retaken the cities of Tikrit, Ramadi and Fallujah.

At the height of the extremist group's power in 2014, IS had deprived the government of control of nearly one third of Iraqi territory. Now the militants are estimated to control only 14%, according to the prime minister's office. IS still controls Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city.

AP
THERESA MAY, 59 Odds: 3/10 Ladbrokes

CURRENT JOB: Home Secretary since May 2010 MP for Maidenhead since 1997

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BACKGROUND: Grew up as the only child of a Church of England vicar in Oxfordshire. Attended Wheatley Park Comprehensive School and Oxford University. Married with no children.

END FREE MOVEMENT?

Im going to set out my negotiating principles in more detail in the coming weeks. But there is clearly no mandate for a deal that involves accepting the free movement of people as it has worked until now.

WHEN WOULD YOU TRIGGER ARTICLE 50?

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Article 50 should not be invoked before the end of this year as we need to get the British negotiating strategy agreed and clear.

MOST INTERESTING THING ABOUT YOU?

I used to own a share in a race horse called Dome Patrol.

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LIAM FOX, 54 Odds: 66/1  Ladbrokes

CURRENT JOB: MP for North Somerset since 1992

BACKGROUND: Grew up in a council house in East Kilbride. Attended St Brides High School, east Kilbride and Glasgow University. Married with no children.

END FREE MOVEMENT?

Expand Close Andrea Leadsom. Photo: Jeff Overs/BBC/Handout via REUTERS / Facebook

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Whatsapp Andrea Leadsom. Photo: Jeff Overs/BBC/Handout via REUTERS

I would end free movement and I would keep the target to cut net migration to the tens of thousands.

WHEN WOULD YOU TRIGGER ARTICLE 50?

As soon as we reach a deal with the EU, towards the end of this year. That would mean we could leave the EU before January 1, 2019.

MOST INTERESTING THING ABOUT YOU?

I collect art galleries. I go around and take photographs of pictures and recolour them slightly on my computer.

MICHAEL GOVE, 48 Odds: 16/1 Ladbrokes

CURRENT JOB: Justice Minister since May 2015 MP for Surrey Heath since May 2005

BACKGROUND: Former journalist at The Times. Attended state school followed by Robert Gordons College on scholarship and Oxford University. Married with two children.

END FREE MOVEMENT?

I will end free movement, restore democratic control of immigration policy and introduce an Australian-style points system by 2020. I will reduce numbers and parliament will decide exactly what level of immigration there should be.

WHEN WOULD YOU TRIGGER ARTICLE 50?

There is little prospect of that happening before the end of this calendar year. The UK will have left the EU by 2020.

MOST INTERESTING THING ABOUT YOU?

My favourite holiday destination is Germany.

STEPHEN CRABB, 43 Odds 33/1  Ladbrokes

CURRENT JOB: Work and Pensions Secretary since March 2016 MP for Preseli Pembrokeshire since 2005

BACKGROUND: Reared in a council house by a single mother. Attended Tasker Milward comprehensive school and Bristol University. Married with two children.

END FREE MOVEMENT?

On this issue the British people have been clear, ending the current free movement arrangements will be a red line in my negotiations.

WHEN WOULD YOU TRIGGER ARTICLE 50?

Article 50 should be triggered only when the UK government is ready to begin detailed negotiations on the best deal the UK can get on leaving the EU.

MOST INTERESTING THING ABOUT YOU?

I am well known for my Welsh pride but I was actually born in Scotland.

ANDREA LEADSOM, 53 Odds 3/1  Ladbrokes

CURRENT JOB: Energy minister since May 2015; MP for South Northamptonshire since May 2010

BACKGROUND: A senior banker at Barclays who worked closely with the Bank of England following the collapse of Barings. Attended Tonbridge Girls Grammar school and Warwick University. Married with three children.

END FREE MOVEMENT?

I absolutely promise to end free movement but the net migration numbers will depend on what is in the UKs interests.

WHEN WOULD YOU TRIGGER ARTICLE 50?

I will trigger Article 50 as soon as humanly possible, definitely within the next year, so we can get on with leaving the EU. It will be subject to what is feasible.

MOST INTERESTING THING ABOUT YOU?

My family would say its my sense of humour; I find life very funny.

Telegraph Media Group Limited [2022]
Nigel Farage has stepped down as leader of Ukip following last month's vote to leave the European Union, saying he had achieved the aim for which he came into politics.

Mr Farage, 52, has had two stints as leader of the Eurosceptic party since 2006, and announced he was quitting the post after failing to win a Commons seat in the 2015 general election, only to change his mind days later.

In a speech in London setting out Ukip's strategy for the post-referendum period, Mr Farage said: "During the referendum campaign, I said I want my country back. What I'm saying today is I want my life back, and it begins right now."

In a statement released by Ukip, Mr Farage said: "The victory for the Leave side in the referendum means that my political ambition has been achieved. I came into this struggle from business because I wanted us to be a self-governing nation, not to become a career politician.

"Ukip is in a good position and will continue, with my full support, to attract a significant vote. Whilst we will now leave the European Union, the terms of our withdrawal are unclear. If there is too much backsliding by the Government and with the Labour Party detached from many of its voters then Ukip's best days may be yet to come".

Read More

Mr Farage said his political career since first standing for Ukip in the Eastleigh by-election of 1994 had been "a long journey, not at every stage of the way an easy one, although most of it, I have to say, has been tremendous fun".

He added: "Tough though it's been at times, it's all certainly been worth it.

"I came into politics from business because I believed that this nation should be self-governing. I have never been and I have never wanted to be a career politician.

"My aim in being in politics was to get Britain out of the European Union. That is what we voted for in that referendum two weeks ago, and that is why I now feel that I've done my bit, that I couldn't possibly achieve more than we managed to get in that referendum.

Read More

"So I feel it's right that I should now stand aside as leader of Ukip. I will continue to support the party, I will support the new leader, I will watch the renegotiation process in Brussels like a hawk and perhaps comment in the European Parliament from time to time.

"I'm also very keen to help the independence movements that are springing up in other parts of the European Union, because I'm certain of one thing - you haven't seen the last country that wants to leave the EU.

"It has been a huge chunk of my life, doing this, and it's not easy perhaps when you feel a degree of ownership of something to let it go. But has come at a cost to me and perhaps to those around me. During the referendum campaign, I said I want my country back. What I'm saying today is I want my life back, and it begins right now."

Mr Farage has quit as leader before, but this time he insisted: "I won't change my mind again, I can promise you."

He added: "I do feel a degree of part-ownership of the Ukip brand and the journey we've been on. Letting go of that is not an easy thing to do but I think right now it's the right thing to do."

He said the next prime minister should be a Brexit-backer but "I'm not going to damn any one of them by offering my support".

He insisted Ukip had a bright future - particularly if the next government fails to meet the promises made by the Brexit campaign.

"If the Government does not get a good deal, if it concedes over this dreadful single market then I think Ukip's best days have yet to come."

He added that he would keep up the pressure in Brussels as a member of the European Parliament.

"There will be a strong Ukip voice in that parliament during the negotiations.

"If we see significant backsliding or weakness or, frankly, appeasement from the British government we will certainly say so."

He indicated that Ukip - and potentially he himself - should play a part in the Brexit talks.

"I have no idea whether they want to ask me or anybody else in Ukip to be part of this. But we do actually as a party have some good knowledge of how Brussels works and we have got some pretty senior business figures amongst our supporters."

He added: "I'm not putting myself forward. I did spend 20 years in business and I have spent a lot of time in Brussels, I might have something to give if they want it. If they don't, that's fine."

Mr Farage said that if there was to be a snap election Ukip should not fight against people who had the "guts" to go against the wishes of their parties to back Brexit.

The new leader will be in place by Ukip's conference in September but Mr Farage insisted he would keep "very quiet" about his potential successor.

The party's only MP Douglas Carswell, who has been locked in a bitter feud with Mr Farage, tweeted a smiling emoji as his reaction to the news of the leader's decision to quit.

Mr Farage said: "I'm pleased that he is smiling because that's not something I have seen very often from him."

He insisted he would "bury the hatchet with anybody" but advised people against putting money on Mr Carswell becoming the next leader.

He said: "It may well be. Go down to the bookies if you want but I wouldn't put too much on it myself if I were you."

The leadership process will be discussed at an emergency meeting of the party's national executive committee later.
Beau Solomons family flew to Italy to help the search efforts. (Facebook/Beau Solomon)

The body of an American university student who went missing in Rome three days ago was found in the Tiber River on Monday, and police said they were not ruling out homicide.

Beau Solomon, 19, from Wisconsin, was due to start a study abroad programme at John Cabot University, whose campus is in the central Trastevere district, which is near the river and popular with young people.

The university confirmed Solomon's death in a statement on its website.

John Cabot University is deeply saddened to announce that the body of Beau Solomon, the missing American visiting student, has been found in the Tiber River, the university said in a statement on its website on Monday afternoon.

We express our most heartfelt condolences to the Solomon family and to all those who loved Beau.

It said earlier he had not been seen since about 1 a.m on Friday morning, when he had left a pub in the Italian capital, just hours after arriving in Rome.

Early reports said Solomon had suffered a head wound and his shirt was bloodied. Italian media reports quoted his family as saying his credit card had been used since he disappeared.

Police said his body was taken to a morgue where an autopsy would be carried out to determine the cause of death.

Beau Solomon had survived a rare form of cancer as a child.
The man confessed to plotting a suicide attack on a mosque, Kuwait's Interior Ministry said

Police in Kuwait have arrested five Islamic State suspects, including an 18-year-old man planning to attack a Shiite mosque, in the final days of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.

The man, a Kuwaiti, confessed to plotting the attack and had planned to deploy a suicide vest, the Interior Ministry said.

An IS attack against a Shiite mosque in Kuwait in June last year killed at least 27 people.

Police also detained a 52-year-old mother and her son accused of helping IS fighters in Syria, where the group holds territory, and two other Kuwaitis who possessed assault rifles and the black IS flag.

Ramadan ends this week.

AP
Israel's former foreign minister Tzipi Livni claims she was sought for questioning by UK police during a visit to England

Israel's former foreign minister Tzipi Livni has said a British war crimes investigator sought to question her during a trip to Britain over her role in Israel's 2008-2009 Gaza war.

Speaking to Israeli Army Radio during a visit to London, Ms Livni said British police emailed her a summons on Friday.

She called it "unacceptable", saying the request defined the questioning as non-mandatory, and she did not comply.

Israel's Foreign Ministry said it views the British request "with great concern" and would "engage" with British authorities until the matter is resolved.

Britain's Foreign Office, the Metropolitan Police in London and Scotland Yard declined to comment.

Ms Livni, a former lead peace negotiator with the Palestinians, enjoys a dovish reputation in much of the West. But she staunchly defends Israel's devastating three-week military offensive in Gaza in 2008-2009, saying the operation was meant to end years of rocket fire by Gaza militants against Israel. There was widespread international criticism of the hundreds of civilian casualties.

Ms Livni served as foreign minister during the war and, as a member of the Israeli Cabinet, she was part of the decision-making process regarding the military campaign.

Pro-Palestinian groups have previously tried to go after her and other Israeli officials using universal jurisdiction, a principle that lets British courts prosecute foreigners accused of crimes against humanity wherever they were committed.

The law strained UK-Israeli relations, as senior Israeli officials cancelled trips rather than face possible arrest in Britain. In 2009, an arrest warrant was issued in Britain against Ms Livni, and Israel's foreign ministry said the warrant was later cancelled, after officials learned she was not on British soil.

Previously, anyone in Britain could apply to a judge for such warrants. But the law was amended in 2011 to make such arrest warrants harder to pursue. That year, Britain's chief prosecutor blocked an attempt to serve Ms Livni with an arrest warrant during a visit to Britain.

British officials extend diplomatic immunity to Israeli officials to shield them from such arrests.

However, Ms Livni said she declined immunity for her current trip to Britain on principle. She told Israeli Army Radio she wanted to test what British authorities would do in cases of Israelis who are not eligible for diplomatic immunity but who could be pursued for alleged war crimes.

"Israeli army commanders and Israeli decision-makers who are threatened with arrest warrants each time they arrive in London - this is an absurd sight that is unacceptable and must stop," she wrote on Facebook.

"Just as we respect and admire Britain's actions against international terror and Israel is open for any British minister to visit, without questions about his decisions in the Cabinet, such is how Israel expects from Britain," she added.

AP
France's president Francois Hollande welcomes German chancellor Angela Merkel prior to the Balkans summit, at the Elysee Palace, in Paris (AP)

Top officials from Western Europe are meeting Balkan leaders to find ways to better prevent extremists from sneaking in with migrants who are moving west across Europe.

They are also looking to soothe worries about European stability and prosperity after Britain's vote to leave the EU, notably by boosting opportunities for youths from countries that dream of joining the EU.

German chancellor Angela Merkel and French president Francois Hollande are meeting with Austria's chancellor, Italy's finance minister and leaders of Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Slovenia.

Balkan nations that suffered through wars and political break-ups in the 1990s worry that they will now face more hurdles to their membership bids as the EU struggles to stay together.

On top of the agenda on Monday is reinforcing security checks of migrants traversing the Balkans toward Western Europe, French officials said.

A handful of extremists are known to have mixed in with the more than one million migrants crossing into Europe last year, including through the Balkans. That route is largely shut now but migrant pressure persists.

Balkan integration into the EU is considered key for stability of the volatile region. The EU's current troubles are emboldening pro-Russian groups in Serbia who favour closer ties with Russia instead of the West.

Amid concerns that the Brexit vote could close off opportunities for Balkan youth looking to opportunity in the West, the leaders are signing an agreement on Monday on youth exchanges with non-EU members by granting special visas and creating an "office for Balkan youth".

EU enlargement is not directly on the agenda at Monday's meeting - to the dismay of some Balkan leaders.

Serbian prime minister Aleksandar Vucic was disappointed by an EU decision last week to delay further membership talks.

Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia, Bosnia, Kosovo and Albania, all at different stages in trying to join the EU, say the British exit vote will not diminish their membership efforts.
Stephen K. Brumby was shot by accident at shooting range

A father accidentally shot and killed his 14-year-old son at a shooting range after he tried to catch a spent shell casing which bounced into his shirt.

The tragic shooting took place at 3.15pm on Sunday at the High Noon Gun Range in Florida.

Authorities explained that the victim, named as Stephen K. Brumby, was standing behind his father William who was firing in the last shooting lane, with the wall on his right hand side.

The statement from Sarasota County Sheriff's Office said William fired a round when a spent shell casing struck the wall and deflected, falling into the back of his shirt.

Mr Brumby used his right hand, which was holding the handgun, to remove the casing when he "inadvertently pointed the firearm directly behind him and accidentally fired".

The young teen was shot. He was rushed to a nearby hospital but later died.

Mr Brumby's 24-year-old son and 12-year-old daughter were present at he incident.

Authorities have no charges pending against the father.

The shooting range was designed with safety in mind, according to local papers, as armoured plates were incorporated in the design to prevent ricochets.
Donald Trump is facing accusations of "dog whistle" anti-Semitism after he posted an image of Hillary Clinton next to a six-pointed star and set against a backdrop of dollar bills.

The image was posted to Twitter, and included a Star of David shape emblazoned with the words: "Most corrupt candidate ever!"

The post prompted an immediate backlash, because such images often appear in anti-Jewish messages.

Indeed, the image did not originate with Mr Trump but circulated first in an online forum for neo-Nazis and white supremacists, according to Mic, a news website.

Mr Trump deleted the tweet, replacing the six-pointed star in a subsequent version with a circle.

Corey Lewandowski, Mr Trump's loyal surrogate and former campaign manager, denied that the original image was in any way offensive.

Read more: Donald Trump fires campaign manager Corey Lewandowski in dramatic shake-up

"This is the same star that sheriff's departments all across the country use all over the place to represent law enforcement," he said yesterday, bemoaning what he called an attempt to "attack Donald Trump for something that really isn't there".

Erick Erickson, an influential conservative blogger and radio host, took a different view. "A Star of David, a pile of cash, and suggestions of corruption. Donald Trump again plays to the white supremacists," he said.

This is not the first time Mr Trump has been linked to white supremacists. In February, he declined to disavow the support of David Duke, a former grand wizard of the Ku Klux Klan, before doing so in later interviews. He has re-tweeted multiple white supremacists, and accidentally selected a prominent white nationalist to represent his campaign as a delegate in California.

Mr Trump has been staunchly pro-Israel throughout the campaign, and frequently cites the fact that his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, is Jewish.

Mr Trump did not address the controversy over the tweet directly, instead deflecting attention on to reports that Ms Clinton will not face charges for putting America's secrets at risk while secretary of state.

Read more: Donald Trump: 'Hillary Clinton may be the most corrupt person ever to seek the presidency'

She was interviewed by the FBI for more than three hours on Saturday over her unorthodox use of a private email server in her time in the role. The Clinton campaign said the interview was voluntary, and that she looks forward to putting the issue behind her.

Meanwhile, Mr Trump's daughter Ivanka claims he is a feminist who has "lived" gender equality.

She said the Republican hopeful had "employed women at the highest levels" of his businesses. Her 70-year-old billionaire father has consistently polled badly with women in the US in the recent months of the campaign for November's election.
The bomber was challenged in a hospital car park

A suicide bomber has attacked the Prophet's Mosque, one of Islam's holiest sites in the city of Medina (AP)

Four security officers were killed and five others were wounded when a suicide bomber detonated his vest outside one of Islam's holiest sites.

The Monday evening attack took place as thousands of worshippers were about to hold sunset prayers in the mosque where the Prophet Muhammad is buried in Medina.

The mosque is visited by millions of Muslims from around the world annually performing pilgrimage in Mecca.

The interior ministry said the attacker set off the bomb after security officers raised suspicions about him.

The attack took place in a car park outside the sprawling mosque complex.
People attend a candle light vigil for the victims of the attack on the Holey Artisan Bakery and the O'Kitchen Restaurant, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, July 3, 2016. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi.

Bangladeshis light candles as they pay tribute to those killed in the attack at the Holey Artisan Bakery in Dhaka, Bangladesh (AP Photo)

Members of an Indian family offer flowers and light candles as they pay tribute to those killed outside the Holey Artisan Bakery in Dhaka, Bangladesh (AP Photo)

Bangladesh's prime minister has visited a stadium where the bodies of the victims from the terror attack in Dhaka were taken, as the search continued for the masterminds behind the atrocity.

The incident that began as a hostage-taking on a restaurant popular with foreigners left 28 dead, including six attackers and 20 of the hostages.

The government has denied the Islamic State group's claim that it carried out the attack.

Police released photographs of the bodies of five attackers, along with their first names: Akash, Badhon, Bikash, Don and Ripon.

Expand Close People help an unidentified injured person after a group of gunmen attacked a restaurant popular with foreigners in a diplomatic zone of the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka, Bangladesh. (AP Photo) / Facebook

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Whatsapp People help an unidentified injured person after a group of gunmen attacked a restaurant popular with foreigners in a diplomatic zone of the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka, Bangladesh. (AP Photo)

The men belonged to the banned domestic group Jumatul Mujahedeen Bangladesh, or JMB, and their families had not heard from them in months, according to police.

Asked whether they might also have had IS ties, Inspector General AKM Shahidul Hoque said authorities were investigating the possibility.

But the country's home minister Asaduzzaman Khan dismissed the possibility that IS directed the attack from abroad.

The government says the extremist Sunni Muslim group based in Syria and Iraq has no presence in Bangladesh and in the past has suggested that any claims of responsibility for violence waged in the country are simply opportunistic attempts at grabbing world attention.

"They are all Bangladeshis. They are from rich families, they have good educational background," Mr Khan said of the attackers.

One surviving suspect was detained when paramilitary forces ended the 10-hour stand-off on Saturday morning, and authorities said he was being interrogated.

The siege marked an escalation in the militant violence that has hit Bangladesh with increasing frequency. Most of the attacks in the past several months have involved machete-wielding men singling out individual activists, foreigners and religious minorities.

Prime minister Sheikh Hasina has blamed her political opponents of trying to create chaos by backing domestic militants.

"Anyone who believes in religion cannot do such an act," she said. "They do not have any religion, their only religion is terrorism."

On Monday Ms Hasina paid her respects to the victims by visiting an army stadium where the bodies were kept. The bodies will later be handed over to the families, officials said.

Expand Close Hosne Ara Karim, whose son and daughter-in-law were rescued from the restaurant that was attacked by heavily armed militants, wait for them in Dhaka, Bangladesh. (AP Photo) / Facebook

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Whatsapp Hosne Ara Karim, whose son and daughter-in-law were rescued from the restaurant that was attacked by heavily armed militants, wait for them in Dhaka, Bangladesh. (AP Photo)

The 20 hostages who were killed included nine Italians, seven Japanese, three Bangladeshis and one Indian teenager.

Two police officers were killed by the attackers, and 13 people were rescued when commandos stormed the Holey Artisan Bakery. Another 25 officers and one civilian were wounded, and some of the rescued hostages had injuries.

The attack was the worst in the recent series of attacks by radical Islamists in the moderate, mostly Muslim nation of 160 million. Unlike the previous attacks, the assailants were well-prepared and heavily armed with guns, bombs and sharp objects that police later said were used to torture some of the 35 captives.

That the attackers targeted a popular restaurant in the heart of the diplomatic quarter of Bangladesh's capital signaled a change in tactics.

The restaurant, overlooking a lake, serves Spanish food and is patronised by residents of Gulshan, an affluent neighbourhood where most of the foreign embassies are located.

The hostages were asked to recite verses from the Koran to prove themselves Muslim, according to a witness. Those who passed were allowed to eat but those who failed were tortured and killed.

Western embassies issued travel warnings to their citizens, advising those in the country to be vigilant and avoid places frequented by foreigners in the diplomatic zone. The US embassy also urged its citizens and staff to avoid travelling on foot or in open vehicles exposed to potential attackers.

In its claim of responsibility, IS said its operatives had targeted the citizens of "Crusader countries" in the attack, warning that citizens of such countries would not be safe "as long as their warplanes kill Muslims".

The statement was circulated in a manner consistent with past IS claims of responsibility.
040716 NEW SOUTH MEMBER



By Aloysius Laukai in Buin



South Bougainville has a new member. He is Timothy Masiu a longtime broadcaster with the National Broadcasting Corporation of Papua New Guinea before becoming the first secretary to the Governor for East New Britain, LEO DION for 13 years and two years as the Secretary special services for the Honourable LEO DION as the Deputy Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea.



MR. MASIU was declared at 4pm Bougainville Standard Time by the Returning Officer. JOHN ITANU after the 10th elimination of candidate NICK PENIAI who at the time of his elimination had scored 4705 votes.



The final battle was between two schoolmates from BUIN SECONDARY SCHOOL where the counting was held since last Friday.



The runner up JOSEPH KIM SUWAMARU who polled 6121 votes whilst MR. TIMOTHY MASIU polled 8323 votes to become the next member for South Bougainville open.



The battle was not easy but the newly elected member started well from TOROKINA and BANA votes that pushed him as the leader but at to come 3rd when counting reached the Siwai District.



However TIMOTHY MASIU never gave up and took up the lead again in Buin making him the leader again at the end of the Primary counts.



At the end of Primary count, TIMOTHY was leading with 4307 votes whilst JOSEPH SUWAMARU KIM was running second with 3645 votes.



Other candidates, NICK PENIAI was on 3293,THOMAS KOIORO 2382, PETER MANUKA 2258, BENARD KEPA 2105, ALBERT MAGOI 931,SUTCLIFFE IAMU 848, EDWARD OKUAU 492,ANDREW MIRIKI 333, LEMBIAS MAGASU 301 and PETER NERAU 293.



The newly elected member will sign a declaration accepting his election in Buin tomorrow.



Meanwhile, member elect TIMOTHY MASIU thanked the people of South Bougainville for having faith in him and voting him as their new member.



Speaking soon after his declaration, MR. MASIU vowed to work for the common good of the people of South Bougainville regardless of how they have voted in the election.



He also thanked the other eleven candidates for putting their hands and standing as candidates for this election. He said he will work with all of them in future.



The new member for South Bougainville also thanked the Election officials for a job well done despite some minor problems that they encountered during the election process.



On the law and order and security situation during the elections, MR.MASIU also congratulated the Bougainville Police Service for providing security during the polling and counting period.



He said that the credibility of an election depends on how secure the ballot boxes were during polling.



MR. MASIU said that he would open his office in Buin and will be operating from there and nowhere else.



He said that he has many plans on moving South Bougainville forward and would be requiring the support of all the people of South Bougainville to make his plans a reality.



The new member will be sworn in at the Parliament house next week.



The new member for South Bougainville contested under the Peoples Progress Party Ticket. His Party leader will meet up with him this Thursday in which a traditional ceremony will be performed by the people of South Bougainville to officially hand over the new member to the party.



ends


Residents light candles at the site after a suicide bombing in the Karrada shopping area, in Baghdad. REUTERS/Khalid al Mousily

Iraqis removed a burnt car from the site of a suicide car bombing claimed by the Islamic State. Getty Images

Iraqis gather at the site of a suicide car bombing claimed by the Islamic State group in Baghdad's central Karrada district. Getty Images

Iraqis evacuate a body from the site of a suicide car bombing claimed by the Islamic State. Getty Images

People gather at the site of a suicide car bomb in Baghdad, Iraq. REUTERS/Khalid al Mousily

Firemen hose down a burning building as civilians gather after a suicide car bomb occurred in the Karrada shopping area in Baghdad. REUTERS/Khalid al Mousily

A woman grieves at the scene of the attack. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)

Mourners weep during the funeral of a victim killed in a suicide bomb in the Karrada shopping area in Baghdad. REUTERS/Alaa Al-Marjani

An Isil suicide bomber killed at least 125 people as they flocked to central Baghdad to celebrate breaking their fast for Ramadan, detonating an explosive-laden refrigerator truck in the middle of a busy shopping area.

Iraq declared three days of national mourning following the attack on the Karrada neighbourhood, the deadliest bombing to hit the country's capital this year and the third major attack carried out by Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) last week.

Expand Close Iraqis evacuate a body from the site of a suicide car bombing claimed by the Islamic State. Getty Images / Facebook

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Whatsapp Iraqis evacuate a body from the site of a suicide car bombing claimed by the Islamic State. Getty Images

At least 15 of those killed were children. Iraqi police warned the death toll was likely to rise as more bodies could be recovered from the ruined shopping malls, where dozens burned to death in the attack, which occurred shortly after midnight .

Hussein Ali, a former soldier, said that six workers at his family's shop died in the bombing, their bodies burnt beyond recognition.

"I will return to the battlefront. At least there, I know the enemy so I can fight him. But here, I don't know who I'm fighting," Ali said.

Firefighters were still working yesterday to extinguish the enormous fire caused by the explosion. The explosion left a charred row of buildings at the site, with several partly collapsed.

Karrada's main street is a popular area with restaurants and cafes. At the weekend, it was busy with shoppers preparing for Wednesday's Eid al-Fitr holiday, which marks the end of Ramadan. "It was like an earthquake," Karim Sami, a street vendor, said.

"I was heading home when I saw a fireball with a thunderous bombing. I was so scared to go back and started to make phone calls to my friends, but none answered."

Mr Sami said that one of his friends had been killed in the bombing while another was still missing.

More than 150 people were injured in the blast, which was the third mass-killing attributed to Isil last week.

It came after a triple suicide bombing at Istanbul's Ataturk airport killed 44 people last Tuesday night and 20 people died in an attack on a cafe in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on Friday.

A separate explosion in a predominantly Shia neighbourhood north of Baghdad killed another five people on Saturday night. The attack, thought to have been caused by an IED, has not yet been claimed by any group.

When Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi tried to visit Karrada yesterday, he was met by an angry crowd, throwing stones and bottles at his convoy.

The government faced a wave of protests this spring as Iraqis demonstrated against corruption and a lack of security and basic services.

In a statement posted online, Isil claimed responsibility for the Karrada bombing, saying its target had been Shia Muslims, which the Sunni extremist group considers to be apostates.

Isil has come under pressure in Iraq and Syria in recent months. Last Sunday, Iraqi forces declared they had liberated Fallujah. But the jihadists still control swathes of the country's northern and western provinces, including Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city.

The Joint Military Operation Command announced that government forces retook seven villages south of the Isil-held city of Mosul as part of a small-scale operation started in March aimed at clearing areas outside the city to cut the supply lines and enable more troops to be deployed ahead of a major operation.

Mosul fell to Isil when the militants swept across northern and western Iraq in the summer of 2014.

It is the largest city in the group's self-styled caliphate.

Mr al-Abdai faced renewed criticism in Karrada yesterday over lax security in the capital, where security forces at checkpoints still use bomb-detecting wands that were shown to be useless years ago.

"We are in a state of war, and these places are targeted. The security can't focus on the war (against Isil) and forget Baghdad," said Mr Sami.

( Daily Telegraph, London)

Telegraph Media Group Limited [2022]
A policeman moves a barricade on the road leading to the Holey Artisan Bakery and the O'Kitchen Restaurant after gunmen attacked, in Dhaka, Bangladesh. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi

Bangladesh has admitted police previously tried and failed several times to capture five militants responsible for killing 20 people at a Dhaka restaurant at the weekend.

Officials denied the men were linked to Islamic State (Isil), despite claims by the extremists of links to the attacks.

Expand Close A child places flowers at a makeshift memorial near the site of the killings in Dhaka, Bangladesh. REUTERS/Mohammad Ponir / Facebook

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Whatsapp A child places flowers at a makeshift memorial near the site of the killings in Dhaka, Bangladesh. REUTERS/Mohammad Ponir

Seven gunmen stormed the upmarket restaurant in the diplomatic zone late on Friday and killed their mostly non-Muslim hostages, including nine Italians, seven Japanese and an American.

National police chief Shahidul Hoque said all the gunmen were Bangladeshis. "Five of them were listed as militants and law enforcers made several drives to arrest them," he said.

Claiming responsibility, Isil warned citizens of "crusader countries" in a statement that they would not be safe "as long as their aircraft are killing Muslims".

It also posted pictures of five grinning fighters in front of a black flag, who it said were involved in the attack, according to the SITE monitoring website.

But Bangladesh Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan insisted neither Isil nor al-Qa'ida were involved. He repeated a government statement that home-grown militants were responsible for a spate of killings in the country over the past 18 months, including the latest one.

Read more: Nine Italians and seven Japanese killed in Islamic attack on popular Dhaka restaurant

Read more: Two police officers killed in Bangladesh attack linked to Islamic State

"This was done by JMB," Mr Khan said, referring to Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh, which claims to represent Isil in Bangladesh but has no proven links to it.

Deputy Inspector General of Police Shahidur Rahman said authorities were nonetheless investigating any connection between the attackers and transnational groups such as Isil or al-Qa'ida.

Reacting to the recent attacks in Dhaka and Baghdad, Iraq, Pope Francis asked people attending noon prayer at the Vatican in Rome to pray for the victims and their families.

Late last night in Bangladesh, hundreds of men, women and children held a candle-light vigil near Dhaka's Shaheed Minar (Martyr's Monument) to pay respect to those who lost their lives.

"We don't want this," said Nasima, a textile industry worker. "Please stop this, stop this, stop this from our society, from our country, I want to live in peace."

As Dhaka limped back to normal life, security experts questioned the delay in launching the offensive against the militants. More than 100 commandos stormed the restaurant nearly 10 hours after the siege began, under an operation code-named 'Thunderbolt'.

He said the militants were mostly educated and from well-off families.

Whoever was responsible, the attack marked a major escalation in violence by militants demanding Islamic rule in Bangladesh, whose 160 million people are mostly Muslim.
Katie McLean/Independent Mail Cynthia Wilson, 83, plays Tuesday with her grandson Corben Ware, 2, at the Anderson Area YMCA swim park.

SHARE Photos by Katie McLean/Independent Mail Cynthia Wilson, 83, hangs out with her family Tuesday at the Anderson Area YMCA swim park. Wilson plays Tuesday with her grandson Corben Ware, 2, at the swim park. Cynthia Wilson, 83, does water aerobics Wednesday at the Anderson Area YMCA.

By Charmaine Smith-Miles of the Independent Mail

A little boy with blonde hair stuck to his head because of the water he was playing in ran up to the table and yelped, "Me-Maw, are you coming to play?"

Cynthia Wilson of Starr smiled and told her great-grandson, 2-year-old Corben, to wait. She would be there in a minute. Maybe five minutes.

Then she turned her head and declared, "I'm just happy to be alive. I'm just so glad to be here."

Thirty years ago, she thought she wouldn't be here.

Wilson, whose maiden name is Cathey, grew up in the Hopewell community of Anderson County. She graduated from Anderson Girls High in 1950. She worked as a secretary at Starr-Iva Middle School for 25 years, from 1970 until 1995.

Her husband, Wayne, went to Clemson University and studied textile manufacturing. They moved to Starr when he went to work in the Starr Mills.

In 1985, just after their youngest daughter, Julie, married, Wilson was told by her doctors that cancer had invaded her liver and her colon. She would go through chemotherapy and radiation treatments. But the doctors were not confident that the treatments would do anything more than buy her a few months.

The cancer was in its final stages, and doctors told Wilson's daughters that she had about six months left to live.

"When I first got the diagnosis, I was scared to death," Wilson said. "The thought that kept going through my mind was, 'How much longer will I get to hug my precious grandson?'"

Then, that grandson, Ben Ware, was 3. At the time, he was her first and only grandchild.

Now Ware is in his 30s, and his son is the boy who asked if his "me-maw" would play.

She accompanied Corben and his 5-year-old brother, Conner, and their mother, Christina, on Tuesday to the Anderson Area YMCA's Water Works swim park for an afternoon of fun and play.

This month, Wilson will celebrate her 84th birthday. She and her husband have been married for 66 years. They have raised two daughters, Jayne and Julie.

Since they first heard the cancer diagnosis, the Wilsons have welcomed five grandchildren and three great-grandchildren into their family.

"I have been to weddings, college graduations, and now I am enjoying my great-grandchildren," Wilson said, her face beaming.

Her healing did not happen overnight.

She needed to go through four surgeries, and even went to Birmingham, Alabama, for some of her treatments. A pump was used to deliver chemotherapy directly to her liver. She went through 18 months of chemotherapy and radiation.

What helped her through it all: God, she said.

One of her proudest moments came in 1988 when doctors stamped "no evidence of disease" on her medical records. It was in that moment that she was officially cancer-free. And she has been ever since.

She takes no medicine related to treating cancer. The surgeries and treatments she went through left her needing a colostomy. But that is the one side effect left of the cancer that invaded her body in 1985.

Through the years, she has shared her story of faith and healing with people in South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, Maine, Tennessee and Vermont. She even shared her story on the Christian Broadcasting Network show "The 700 Club."

Now, three days a week, she makes her way to the YMCA on East Greenville Street in Anderson to take the water aerobics class there. Those classes, she said, help her stay fit. They don't keep the cancer at bay, because the cancer is completely gone for her.

"When I got the knowledge that Christ is the same today, yesterday and tomorrow, that turned me around," Wilson said. "I thank God for giving me my life back. I give all the credit to prayer and to God. I know I am here by God's grace and mercy."

Follow Charmaine Smith-Miles on Twitter @Charmaine_AIM
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO Jean Francois Mareus

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A judge has denied bond for an Anderson man charged in a homicide that happened Thursday evening.

Jean Francois Mareus confessed to killing his brother, according to an arrest warrant.

Mareus, 36, is charged with murder, according to an arrest warrant. He remained in custody Sunday at the Anderson County Detention Center after he was denied bond Saturday, according to the Anderson County Sheriff's Office website.

Anel Mareus, 42, died as the result of blunt force trauma and a skull fracture after he was beaten with a solid object such as a stick or pipe, said Anderson County Deputy Coroner Don McCown.

McCown said the three Mareus brothers moved to Anderson six to eight months ago and lived together near where the beating happened.

With one brother dead and the other in jail, the remaining brother is reaching out to family members, including Anel Mareus' wife and five children in Haiti, the coroner said.

Staff report
These 5 players could be the Anderson-area football player of the year
E-Commerce Sector Reacts to Draft GST Bill

The government released Draft Model Goods and Services Tax (GST) Laws on June 14 in an attempt to ensure clarity and gauge stakeholder supporter. Following this, new confusion has emerged with regards to the proposed bills impact on the e-commerce sector.

RELATED: Pre-Investment Advisory from Dezan Shira & Associates

The lobby group, Internet & Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), which represents companies like Flipkart, Snapdeal, and Amazon finds folly with the GST bills separate categories of electronic commerce operators and aggregators. This differentiation is problematic when it comes to calculating liabilities in the e-commerce sector where firms have to work under fast-changing business models. Moreover, the very definition of operators and aggregators in the draft bill is ambiguous with firms identifying with some aspects of both. This will complicate tax compliance, could lead to misinterpretation by both regulators and companies, and ultimately stifle innovation.

Another problematic provision in the draft GST bill places responsibility on intermediary online platforms (like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube) for the content hosted on their websites. This contradicts the safe-harbor provision of the Information Technology Act that exempts online platforms from being responsible for third-party or user-generated content. The tax collection at source has also been decried by companies like Flipkart as being burdensome on the hundreds of thousands of small and medium (SME) sellers on e-commerce platforms.

Government Approves New Mining Policy

The Union cabinet recently cleared the National Mineral Exploration Policy (NMEP), allowing for the auction of 100 prospective mineral blocks. The government estimates that an extra US$ 314.7 million (Rs 2,116 crore) will be required to implement the new policy across a five year period. This is expected to be achieved through private sector participation in exploration, as well as through state-run agencies like the Geological Survey of India (GSI) and the Mineral Exploration Corporation (MELC).

Data put forth by various agencies indicate that India has about 800,000 sq km of area with the geological potential for mining, but only 10 percent of this has so far been explored. It is hoped that the private sector will augment the governments current limited capabilities. The bidding process will be competitive and via e-auction to ensure transparency of process. Regional mineral blocks will be identified by respective state governments for auctioning. Once exploration is completed, the state government will auction the mining lease for that block and the state will receive a royalty pay from the mining lease owner. The mining lease owner will also have to pay a cut from the royalty to the private explorer.

The Ministry of Mines has notified the changes to the National Mineral Exploration Trust. Mining lease owners have already begun contributing to this trust with an amount equivalent to two percent of the royalty paid to the state government.

Clarifications on the Income Declaration Scheme, 2016

The Central Board of Taxes recently introduced The Income Declaration Scheme (also known as The Scheme), incorporating it as Chapter IX of the Finance Act, 2016 on June 30. The Scheme allows individuals who have not fully paid taxes to make known their undisclosed income, and pay the tax, surcharge, and penalty (equivalent to 45 percent of the said undisclosed income).

There are several queries regarding the provisions of this scheme, particularly with regards to the security and confidentiality of the taxpayers. However, the tax department has stated that this information will not be shared with law enforcement agencies. The Scheme further clarifies that there will be no enquiry into the sources of income, as the focus will be on the nature of income. The Scheme classifies income into categories such as movable property, immovable property, cash, gold, and jewelry. This enables the taxpayer to establish the link between the income declared under the Scheme and the claim, if any, made with respect to such undisclosed income in the income returns filed subsequently. No investigation will be made into the seller of an undisclosed asset, if included in some declaration of the Scheme.

The Scheme yields other advantages over disclosing past income in the current year as it helps the taxpayer avoid prosecution under the Income Tax Act. Without the new rule, the concerned party would have to disclose the actual source of the income and substantiate the manner of earning it. The Scheme has also launched Project Insight, which provides reliable and chronological information about the financial transactions undertaken by taxpayers.



About Us Asia Briefing Ltd. is a subsidiary of Dezan Shira & Associates. Dezan Shira is a specialist foreign direct investment practice, providing corporate establishment, business advisory, tax advisory and compliance, accounting, payroll, due diligence and financial review services to multinationals investing in China, Hong Kong, India, Vietnam, Singapore and the rest of ASEAN. For further information, please email india@dezshira.com or visit www.dezshira.com. Stay up to date with the latest business and investment trends in Asia by subscribing to our complimentary update service featuring news, commentary and regulatory insight.





Managing Your Accounting and Bookkeeping in India

In this issue of India Briefing Magazine, we spotlight three issues that financial management teams for India should monitor. Firstly, we examine the new Indian Accounting Standards (Ind-AS) system, which is expected to be a boon for foreign companies in India. We then highlight common filing dates for most companies with operations in India, and lastly examine procedures and regulations for remitting profits from India.

Using Indias Free Trade & Double Tax Agreements

In this issue of India Briefing magazine, we take a look at the bilateral and multilateral trade agreements that India currently has in place and highlight the deals that are still in negotiation. We analyze the countrys double tax agreements, and conclude by discussing how foreign businesses can establish a presence in Singapore to access both the Indian and ASEAN markets.

Passage to India: Selling to Indias Consumer Market In this issue of India Briefing magazine, we outline the fundamentals of Indias import policies and procedures, as well as provide an introduction to engaging in direct and indirect export, acquiring an Indian company, selling to the government and establishing a local presence in the form of a liaison office, branch office, or wholly owned subsidiary. We conclude by taking a closer look at the strategic potential of joint ventures and the advantages they can provide companies at all stages of market entry and expansion.
Sayyeshaa, who made her debut in Telugu with 'Akhil', took the South Indian film fraternity by storm last weekend at SIIMA, which was held in Singapore. The actress was nominated in the 'Best Debutante Female' award category; however, it was her performance that mesmerised the stalwarts of South Indian cinema and the audience alike. "It was my first ever stage performance and I wanted to make a strong impression. Although I'm a trained dancer, my debut film (Akhil) didn't quite give me the scope to showcase my wide range of skills. So, SIIMA was the perfect platform for me in a lot of ways," said Sayyeshaa.

The actress, who'll soon be making her Bollywood debut in Ajay Devgan's Shivaay, had just 8 hours to rehearse for her performance, which was a tribute to the Big 4 of Telugu cinema - Chiranjeevi, Balakrishna, Nagarjuna and Venkatesh.

Sayyeshaa chose to dance to a medley of eight songs, comprising two blockbuster songs each dedicated to the four actors. For Chiranjeevi, it was Bangaru Kodipetta (Gharana Mogudu) and Dayi Dayi Damma (Indra); for Balakrishna, she chose Simhamanti Chinnode (Simha), Nandamuri Nayaka (Samarasimha Reddy); from Nagarjuna's super hit songs, Sayyeshaa danced to the tunes of Kanne Pettaro (Hello Brother) and Akkineni Akkineni (Akhil), and finally for Venkatesh, she shook a leg to the tunes of Chali Champutunna (Kshana Kshanam), Nenu Puttindhi Nee Kosame (Lakshmi).

"It was the most memorable night of my life. I've grown up watching films of Chiranjeevi sir, Balakrishna sir, Nagarjuna sir, Venkatesh sir and Nagarjuna sir. And Chiranjeevi sir was sitting in the first row when I danced to his songs. The zenith of my performance was the moment when I did the iconic 'veena step' that was immortalised by Chiranjeevi. It was a big moment for me and I was thrilled with the response from everyone," she said, adding, "I really missed Nagarjuna sir that day. I've known him for a while now and even got a chance to share screen space with him in a song in the film 'Akhil'. I wish he was there for my first ever stage performance."

She started formal training in the Latin-American style of dance, in London, as a 10-year-old. Later, she travelled to Rio de Janiero and South Africa where she underwent intensive training in the same dance form. Over the years, she has also learnt Odissi, Kathak, Belly Dancing and Hip Hop.

The Megastar was so impressed with her performance that he enquired about Sayyeshaa from the SIIMA team and even wanted to meet her. "I was backstage after my performance and by the time I came to the venue, Chiranjeevi sir had left. But I was on cloud nine when I was told that he loved my performance. It meant the world to me," Sayyeshaa said. That's not it. Some of the top actresses are believed to have said that Sayyeshaa's performance was very "elegant and graceful".

Later when she met Allu Arjun, Allu Sirish, Sushanth, Samantha and Akhil among many others, they all raved about her. "Allu Arjun was very generous in giving his compliments and said he didn't know I could dance so well. I couldn't help but blush because he's one of my biggest inspirations. It's my dream to dance with Allu Arjun and Ram Charan."

For the past few months, the principal shooting of Shivaay had kept her busy and now that the film is slated for release this Diwali, Sayyeshaa is eager to act in more Telugu films. "Everytime I got an offer from Telugu in the past 8 months, I had to let it go because of my Hindi film. Now that I'm done with it, I can't wait to do more films in Telugu. I'm in love with the industry, the people and their professionalism," Sayyeshaa remarked.
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bollywoodmantra

While Bollywood preferred to stay away from speaking on the matter, Salman's good friend Aamir has reacted well. He said "I wasn't present when he made the comment. I feel going purely by the media reports that I have been reading which quotes him as saying it (raped woman remark), I feel what he said was rather unfortunate and insensitive."

The actor condemned the brutal killing that left 20 people dead in Dhaka. On a Facebook post, he lashed out at the terrorists for bringing a bad name to Islam. Irrfan also wrote that Islam is about peace, mercy and feeling the pain of others. The ISIS has claimed responsibility for the attack.

3. Actress Surveen Chawla has revealed her experience of facing casting couch in southern film industry.

whitegadget

Surveen said the casting couch existed in Bollywood decades ago. But it still prevails in the southern film industry. She said "I feel very great that I have not encountered this (casting couch) here (Bollywood). I have faced this (casting couch) down south and of course I refused to give into that...Honestly I can only comment on it if I had encountered it in Bollywood. I don't know if I should call it sheer luck."

4. Ranveer Singh's video from the IIFA awards is all about his love for Deepika Padukone!

A new IIFA video clip has emerged which shows Deepika performing on the stage and sending flying kisses to her 'alleged' beau Ranveer as he too is seen returning the favors. Hearts, flying kisses and smiles, Deepika and Ranveer's romance took over this year's IIFA like a storm.

5. Superstar Rajinikanth has got a an emoji inspired from his upcoming film Kabali on WhatsApp!

indianexpress

Everything about Rajinikanth is big. Hence, when WhatsApp introduced an emoji on his avatar from Kabali, it came as a happy news for his fans. The star is posing in style with a black blazer and sunglasses in the figure. This, after AirAsia India had already unveiled the new look of its re-branded aircraft featuring a livery dedicated to Kabali and the actor.
Braveheart flight purser late Neerja Bhanot was posthumously conferred the 'Bharat Gaurav Award' at a function at the House of Commons in London, a spokesman said in Chandigarh on Sunday. The recognition comes 30 years after her sacrifice in September 1986 on a Pan-Am flight in Karachi, Pakistan.

Indias Only Memorial To Valiant Flight Attendant Neerja Is In This Small Village In Punjab

BCCL

The award, instituted by Sanksriti Yuva Sanstha -- a Jaipur-headquartered NGO with an international presence, was received by Neerja's brothers Akhil and Aneesh Bhanot at the Westminster Parliament building in London.

Baroness Sandip Verma, a member of the House of Lords and the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for International Development, presented the award.

The award was conferred on Neerja for "distinguished services to the nation and outstanding individual achievements", the spokesman said.

babushahi.com

After receiving the award, Neerja's brother Aneesh said: "The Bharat Gaurav Award will inspire other people, especially the younger generation, to follow the principles of Neerja -- Do your duty, come what may; never tolerate any injustice and never compromise on your values and principles."

You know, Neerja was the first person who could have run away. She was trained and she knew what was happening.

Dr Kishore Murthy, a survivor from the ill-fated flight recalled Neerja's last few minutes of the battle and here's what all he revealed:

When we landed in Karachi, the aircraft was hijacked by Libyan terrorists but Neerja, who was well trained in anti-hijack measures, alerted the pilots and they escaped through the cockpit window.

Neerja, 22, gave up her life to save passengers during a terrorist hijack of a Pan-Am flight at Karachi international airport

The senior flight purser of Pan-Am flight 73 (Bombay-Karachi-Frankfurt-New York), Neerja was killed in the shootout following the hijack. Palestinian terrorists from the Abu Nidal terrorist group had entered the aircraft posing as Pakistani Police personnel, carrying arms and hand grenades.

BCCL

The hijack left 20 people dead and 150 injured after a bloodbath at the Karachi airport. There were around 200 Indian passengers on the flight, of which 13 died while over 100 were injured.

Following her act of bravery and supreme sacrifice, Neerja was given the Ashoka Chakra, India's highest peacetime gallantry award for bravery, in 1987. She became the youngest and first woman recipient of the gallantry award. From hiding passports of American citizens who the terrorists sought to kill, to comforting hostages, she had taken full responsibility of the lives on board the grounded flight.

WATCH: From Cockpit To Seats, Every Detail Of The Pan Am Flight Was Recreated For 'Neerja'
A 60-year-old woman's determination seems to have helped a whole village to quench its thirst. Laxmi Poojarthi along with four other women, dug up a 52-foot deep well in the parched village of Kundapur taluk in Udupi recently.

TOI

She took up the initiative in Viveknagar Colony of Amparu gram panchayat under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005. At least 10 households now depend on the well.

Amparu village has highly undulating terrain and water is supplied to the area through tankers during the summer. During other seasons, the nearest source of potable water is atleast two to three km away. Hand pumps, too, do not provide good drinking water.

It took almost three and a half months for the women to dig the well which is six-feet in width. The gram panchayat has a pro vision of providing wells under the NREGA Act and of the wages paid, Rs 82,000 was used for installing rings inside the well. But, since the cost of installing the rings was Rs 1.18 lakh, Laxmi used her savings of Rs 40,000, including part of wages from the NREGA work to meet the cost.

TOI

Kiran Hegde, Amparu GP vice-president,is all praise for the women. "Laxmi is a brave woman and a role model for all. The woman gave her entire savings for a public cause. She has done something extraordinary," he said and added that the GP had dug five wells and sunk 40 borewells in the area for providing water to about 188 families.

"There's none that I can call my family and it does not bother me. I get my pension and if this small effort helps others, it's worthwhile," Laxmi, who has been abandoned by her relatives after the death of her parents, said.
It was her first day at new school and her parents and family were so thrilled that half of the family went to pick her up back from school.

Little did Ramya and and her family know that none of them would return.

The class 3 student did survive a deadly accident on Banjara Hills road no 3 on Friday but she was declared brain dead later. Her parents, uncle and grandfather were admitted to NIMS hospital after the vehicle in which they were travelling was hit by a speeding car that had lost control near a sharp-curved bottle neck near Chutneys.

A case has already been filed on charges of death caused by negligence has been altered to 'culpable homicide not amounting to murder under Section 302(2) of the IPC. Five of his friends and four others in the other car, who sustained injuries are undergoing treatment.

The accused Shraveel and his friends Surya, Vishnu, Ashwin, Allen Joseph and Sai Ramesh are all first year engineering students of Keshav Memorial Engineering college in Narayanguda and they were returning in a Hyundai i20 car after watching a movie at Cinemax in Banjara Hills. Police reports confirmed that accused and his friends had consumed alcohol before watching the film.

Driver of the car who rammed and lost control over his, Shraveel, was on Saturday arrested and remanded to judicial custody.

It was Ramya's first day at new school & whole family went to bring her home; none came home #roadaccident pic.twitter.com/3fpRtUX3Uq  Uma Sudhir (@umasudhir) July 3, 2016

A person behind wheel may land behind the bars if found driving drunk in Hyderabad, especially on weekend nights but no clarity on afternoons.

In a report by Quint, the police officer at Banjara Hills station revealed:

At around 4 pm, the family was coming from St Anns school in West Maredpally after picking up the 9-year-old girl.The family was driving a Santro and was at Banjara Hills when an i10 car with six people hit them. The accused had consumed alcohol around 1:30 pm at TGIF at Cineplex and left the restaurant around 3:45. At present, the girl is brain dead and doctors have declared that she can die anytime soon.

The statistics available with Hyderabad traffic police depict that many as 7,696 cases of drunk driving have been registered in first six months of the year.
Ishrat Akhond (45) was one of 28 dead in Holey Artisan Bakery in Dhaka on Friday.

She was a Bangladeshi, a Muslim and knew the verses of Quran as well. But yet she ended up among the dead. Why?

Because she refused to compromise even in the face of death and refused to recite Quran when the terrorist asked her to.

Also read: Dhaka Attackers Were from Elite Schools, Loved Bollywood And Cars Before ISIS Brainwash Turned Them Into Devils

AFP

Perhaps she preferred to be a human first and Muslim later.

The terrorists weren't killing Bengali Muslims yet two Bangladeshi women are among the dead along with Italians, Americans, Japanese and an Indian.



Also read: Apart From Being Well-Educated, Dhaka Terrorist Nibras Islam Was Also A Shraddha Kapoor Fan!



Speaking to The Indian Express - on the condition of anonymity - Akhond's friend said that Nila, as they used to call her, was hacked to death because she refused to recite Quran despite terrorists asked her to. According to her friend, another reason behind her killing was that she wasn't wearing hijab.



Nila was the Human Resources Director of one of Bangladeshs largest garments manufacturing company  ZXY International FZCO.

Friday night, she had gone to dine with two Italian designers who were visitors in Bangladesh.

Facebook

'Nila Apu' had studied management in different countries including the Australian Institute of Management, Sidney. According to her friend, Akhond described herself as an 'art provocateur' and had been patronizing art in Bangladesh for quite a while now.

'Gulshan' an art gallery cum her flat situated at a stone's throw from the site of attack was under her patronage where young artists exhibit their work.

Her business prowess was unparalleled as she was one of the most influential business women in the country. Akhond's rise from being a member of Bangladesh-German Chamber of Commerce  a bilateral business organisation promoting trade between the two countries till a few years back to becoming a member of its election committee lately itself spoke volumes of her caliber as a business women.

Also read: Actor Irrfan Khan Condemns Dhaka Attack, Writes A Heart-Wrenching Facebook Post!

Akhond was an invaluable member of the Chamber and had just recently finished conducting its elections. But her real love was art. And she was constantly promoting young artists. When I went to her place for dinner last year, she wanted to discuss a number of issues, including what she should do in the future. Her flat, in Gulshan I, was absolutely beautiful, each wall and corner adorned with beautiful art, said the former colleague.

AFP

Another close friend of Akhond and visiting professor to IIM Kolkata Aloke Kumar also spoke highly of her.

Also read: 'We Will Be Killed One By One', Dhaka Victim Tarishi Jain Told Her Father In A Haunting Call!

After China, Bangladesh is the biggest manufacturer of readymade garments. But an ugly truth about the industry in Bangladesh is that it employs child labour. I remember Ishrat being disturbed by this and we had several conversations regarding the issue and I had told her that she must do something about it. Like other outlets, the company she worked for also employed children. Ishrat fought a lonely battle to make sure that the children were taken out of the factories. said Prof Aloke.

AFP

He added: She got in touch with UNICEF and numerous other NGOs and ensured that the children were rehabilitated, that they were sent to school. It took her some time but she did it. They were out of the factories by 2014.

Also read: These Are The Smiling Terrorists Who Killed Anyone Who Couldn't Recite The Quran In #DhakaAttack

AFP

Prof Aloke also told that Akhond had been to Kolkata last year to celebrate Eid.

She had come to Kolkata for Eid. I had taken her out with another friend of ours and we went to Tollygunge Club to celebrate Eid. That was the last time, he said.
AAP leader and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday claimed that if voted to power in Punjab his government would end the drug crisis in the state in one month.

BCCL

"If AAP comes to power, it can put an end to the drugs business and mafias in Punjab within a month," Kejriwal claimed at a public rally in Amritsar.

Kejriwal, who is on a three-day visit to the poll-bound state, expressed confidence that his party will sweep the elections. "The Aam Admi Party will win at least 100 of 117 seats in Punjab," claimed Kejriwal at the rally.

AFP

"If AAP comes to power, those behind the desecration of Quran & Guru Granth Sahib will be brought to justice," he added. This is Kejriwal's second visit to the state this year for campaigning. He made a five-day trip to various parts of Punjab in February.

The Aam Aadmi Party is all set to challenge the ruling Akali Dal-BJP combine and the opposition Congress in the assembly elections scheduled early next year.

BCCL

Kejriwal's visit to the state comes under the shadow of an AAP legislator in Delhi, Naresh Yadav, being named in a case filed over the sacrilege of Quran, the holy book of Islam, in Punjab's Muslim dominated town of Malerkotla in Sangrur district recently.

Yadav has been booked by Punjab Police for the conspiracy behind the sacrilege incident.
A district court has confirmed that controversial Humanities 'topper' Ruby Rai in the Bihar Intermediate Examination, arrested in connection with an examination cheating racket, is a minor.

BCCL

Bihar Arts topper Ruby Rai made headlines for nearly a month for all the wrong reasons after she couldn't even pronounce the name of the subject, political science, which she supposedly topped.

'I Told Papa To Get Me Passed But He Made Me Topper' Says Bihar Prodigal Scientist Girl

According to Special Vigilance court judge Raghvendra Kumar Singh, the girl is a minor on the basis of her matriculation certificate which mentioned her date of birth as 15 November, 1998, paving the way for her shifting from Beur model jail to a remand home. As per her matriculation certificate she is 17 years, 3 months and nine days old and cannot be sent to jail.

Remember The Bihar Exam Topper Who Couldn't Even Pronounce Her Subject? She's Been Arrested

Former member of the Juvenile Justice Board KD Mishra, who appeared in the court in favour of the girl, presented her matriculation certificate to claim that she is a minor. The lawyer of the Bihar School Examination Board also did not oppose the matriculation certificate of the girl in the court on Monday. With the court accepting her as a minor, it meant that she would be shifted to a remand home from Beur model jail of Patna.

BCCL

Senior Superintendent of Police of Patna Manu Maharaj, who is heading the SIT, told PTI that the police will act in accordance with the court's order. While the girl is lodged in Beur jail, her parents have gone underground to escape arrest.

The Bihar School Examination Board (BSEB) has cancelled of its affiliation to Ruby's school, the Vishun Roy (VR) College at Bhagwanpur in Vaishali district.

This Is The System That Led To Bihars Prodigal Science Topper Almost Getting Away
A series of communal riots erupted recently across the country reveals that such troubles are never spontaneous, it is always engineered for political benefits. Sting operations conducted by India Today reveal how several leaders cutting across party lines are ready to stage religious violence for money.

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Interestingly, the other important revelation of the undercover operation is sophistication in engineering the communal passion. Creating a communal frenzy leading to violent incidents is no longer fashionable and has become outdated because these are difficult to control and the consequences are often difficult to manage. The new idea is: create a context, latch on to even minor incidents involving communities and provide it a communal colour. It is effective as it has limited impact, the targeting is more accurate and when violence erupts it does not spread beyond affected localities.

Posing as a filmmaker, an undercover reporter met different politicians of Uttar Pradesh with a proposal to attack the screening of a fictitious blasphemous documentary he is making as part of a deal to give it publicity.

Hypocrisy

Despite the fact that the theme of the film challenged their religious beliefs, none of the politician the reporter met got offended personally. Rather, all of them can be seen and heard agreeing to organise violent protests over the so-called documentary - as per the deal - so that the film can garner peoples attention.

Whatever youll say, well do

The reporter reaches a a hospital in Noida where Parminder Arya, who leads an outfit called Hindu Swabhiman Sangathan which is also known as Dharm Sena, can be seen sitting on a bed.

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Agreeing to organise an attack on the documentarys screening in Uttar Pradesh, he said whatever you will say, we will do it and then explained the modus operandi. Some 50 (men) will reach there (to the screening for the protests). Fifty are enough to disrupt the show, said Arya seeking 10 days to organise the protest.

Interestingly, he also suggests few slogans his men will raise while creating chaos at the screening venue. They will shout slogans such as Jo Ram Ka Nahin, Woh Kisi Kaam Ka Nahin, Ram Ka Apmaan, Nahin Sahega Hindustan to give an impression that it is an anti-Ram film. They will tear all your banners and posters, he said.

Arya also promised to manhandle some organisers of the screening. Let us know whose clothes are to be torn. We will do that. Sometime, boys go out of control. Therefore, there are chances of people getting seriously injured in such situations, he said.

In addition, the man also takes the responsibility to ensure good coverage of media. He said he will give angry statements to news channels and papers so that the film get maximum publicity. "It is not a big deal. Our protest will get proper media coverage. You should then give your statements to print and broadcast media and I will give my interviews, Arya said.

When asked about the charges for organising the anti-film riot, he did not quote any figure saying, I am not in the habit of giving estimates. Whatever is there is fixed. We will meet in the next one or two days or talk about it on the phone in coded words, he added.

Arya recently grabbed headlines after he gave an anti-jihad training to young Hindu men in Uttar Pradesh against potential threats from the Islamic State (ISIS). But his Hindu pride was not hurt when he heard the subject of the fake film disputing India as the birthplace of Lord Ram.

Orchestrators of religious tensions not restricted to Hindutva groups

IndiaToday

Parties that claim to be the flag bearer of socialism and secularism and have wider base in minority communities are also apparently infected. Meet Hafiz Mohammed Irfan, president of the Haridwar unit of Samajwadi Party (SP).

The undercover reporter made a slight change in the script to clinch the deal with Irfan informing him that the fictitious film was anti-Muslim. Irfan also agreed to organise disturbances. Protests, slogans, shoving: everything will be arranged, the SP leader said.

Then it comes to price and he quoted Rs 5 lakh. I will have to arrange 50-60 men which will cost Rs 5 lakh, Irfan said.

The SP leader assured full media publicity for the controversial documentary.

When Indiatimes called the BJP and SP leaders for their reactions on the sting operation, they denied any involvement of their leaders in outsourcing communal trouble to goons for money and termed it a conspiracy to malign the leaders. However, the BJP also said it will investigate the footage and take action if needed.

Standard template to instigate communal passions?

PTI

Calling the modus operandi explained by the authors of the communal disturbances a standard template, former bureaucrat Harsh Mander, director of Centre for Equity Studies, said the same design can be witnessed in the recent incidents of violence. A standard template recurs whenever organisations choose to organise riots for political gains. The first step is to create a context for the conflict. And the most reliable staple of communal riots since the Partition has been to stir a dispute around religion or a place of worship.

Arguing that communal tensions and targeted violence are always manufactured, civil rights activist John Dayal said communal tension builds up over a period of time as part of a well defined strategy or conspiracy. This is not new. I am not surprised over the fact that politicians clinch deal to orchestrate violence. Majority of the communal tensions are well documented and organised by raising passions.
Over the last week, while in India the UGC has posted a public notice against 22 self styled, unrecognized institutions across different states, in China also 30 fake universities spread across 12 provinces have been named and shamed.

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Chinas official news agency Xinhua made it a point to remind readers that this is only the latest expose of fake universities by a Chinese university information website, which prior to this week had already exposed some 400 universities as fake since 2013.

The same goes for the UGC  its engaged in a long fight against education rackets that trick students into paying up for degrees which they are simply not equipped/authorized to provide.

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Chinese institutions have been doing much better than Indian ones on the global higher education rankings but the fake universities problem is about something else: A demand-supply mismatch which both countries have in common.

As the Guardian correspondent in Beijing noted, not all those enrolled at fake universities are innocent victims: In some cases students who fare badly in Chinas notoriously stressful answer to A levels  the gaokao  have looked to the illegal institutions as a way of securing an easy, if phoney, diploma.

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Ditto India. From the Vyapam scam in Madhya Pradesh to the sale of Class XII mark sheets in Bihar, many students and parents have been actively participating in the fraud  instead of being just its innocent victims. Because the supply of higher education is just not keeping pace with demand.
News / Local

by Stephen Jakes

Harare Residents Trust has reported that Sunningdale residents have expressed shock at the manner the City of Harare deceived them on the installation of prepaid water meters on a pilot basis."It has now emerged that the Harare Water employees have directed that the prepaid water meters be installed on every household irrespective of whether or not they had expressed interest in having the prepaid water meters," said the trust."The residents were further infuriated that after agreeing to have the test run on the prepaid water meters, they were given 3 000 litres of water on Friday, and by Monday the water had run out, which required them to seek more."The Trust said the residents of Harare are very clear that they do not want the prepaid water meters installed on their premises, but city managers who have been making efforts to find ways of looting further from the council coffers see the prepaid water meters as an answer to the challenges of revenue inflows."The citizens are experiencing severe economic and social hardships, and they have had to rearrange their priorities, which exclude payment for services not rendered," said the trust.
Despite the staggering statistics over the years and heightened awareness about the issue of missing children, the national capital was far from being safe for its children. A whopping 7,928 children went missing from Delhi in 2015, an increase of almost 1,500 children from the previous year. This means 22 children on an average went missing from the city every day last year. This is a jump from 18 children missing every day in 2014, reveals information provided under RTI filed by child rights organization CRY (Child Rights and You) and its partner Navsristhi.

According to another statistics, nearly 22,000 children went missing from Delhi in the past three years.

Delhi Police data reveals that among missing children, the number of boys was higher in the 0-12 age group compared to the girls. Similarly, girls formed a major share of those missing in 12-18 years age bracket.

On ground experience has shown that while young boys found missing are majorly employed as child labourers, girls are mostly forced into domestic work and commercial sex trade. This is reflective in the clear gender segregation across the two age groups.

Gender wise classification of missing children from Jan 1, 2015 to December 31, 2015

Although there was an increase in the number of both FIRs registered and children traced in 2015 as compared to the previous year, the percentage of untraced children remained high, especially for girls. A total of 1,335 girls and 835 boys remained untraced, raising serious concerns about the status of these children.

Percentage of Untraced Girls and Boys

What is worrying is that the percentage of untraced children has risen steadily with every year across all age groups.

Another RTI query seeking district wise break-up in the city showed varying trends. Data available for nine out of the 13 police districts showed that Outer Delhi was the most unsafe with maximum number of children missing from that area, followed by South West with half the numbers. Shockingly, almost 50% of missing children in Outer Delhi remained untraced last year. This coupled with the fact that Outer Delhi has been registering the highest count of missing children for the last four years raises serious questions on the security and protection of children in the district.

Missing children represent a conglomeration of various social problems ranging from abductions/trafficking to children who run away on their home to escape violence and abject poverty. A majority of the children missing are from poor families, especially migrant families who come to Delhi from various parts of the country in search of livelihood. These missing children are most likely to become victims of heinous and organised crimes such as rape, prostitution, child pornography, forced labour, begging and organ trade. Lately, there has been evidence to support stealing of young children for illegal adoption.

CRY Regional Director Soha Moitra says it is a grave concern that the count of missing children is increasing every year in the national capital. The first few hours after the child goes missing are the most crucial especially in a city like Delhi with porous borders from where children are quickly smuggled into neighbouring states. The fight over jurisdiction further delays the recovery process. Lapse of time, ineffective tracking system and insufficient information database minimize the chance of these children being brought back home, she told Indiatimes.

According to the latest data released by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs last year, Delhi was amongst the top four states which account for 60% missing children in the country for the period 2010-2014.

The data also reveals that nationally over 3.85 lakh children have gone missing in India during the same period. Which means, on an average, more than 77,000 children go missing in India every year. Of these, 40% children remain untraced over the years.

It is rather shocking to note that the percentage of children who are traced has actually come down from 70% to 52% between 2010 to 2014.

Another alarming statistic is the gender skew among missing children. Out of the 3.85 lakh children who went missing in the country, 61% were girls.

Soha further adds, Collaboration between government departments, monitoring bodies like child rights commissions and the police is crucial in limiting crime against children. Unfortunately, our system still lacks the cross departmental coordination which often proves detrimental to the welfare of children. It is critical to ensure that our children get top priority in terms of policies, schemes and budget allocations so that protection of children becomes the agenda of all stakeholders in the society.

Despite several initiatives and legislation in place, both the central and state governments have failed to control trafficking and abduction of children. Missing complaints are still not dealt with the seriousness it deserves reflecting the low priority accorded to children. However, in the face of such startling statistics, it is high time we ensure that our children live in a protected environment and do not become victims of apathy, negligence and poor implementation of laws, she added.
The perpetrators of terrorist attack in Dhaka which 20 people of different nationalities dead and more than 30 injured were once regular fun loving people like most of us.

They are the students of some of elite educational institutes of not only Dhaka, or Bangladesh, but even of South-East Asia's before they were brainwashed to kill the people.

After Bangladesh security forces killed them in an intense 11-hour gun battle, Bangladesh minister for information and broadcasting Hassan-ul-Haq Inna admitted that the attackers themselves were once a part of the affluent circle that they targeted; and had even attended some of most premier institutes of not only the country- but South Asia.

"The terrorists were from a top school and University in Dhaka... Some of the terrorists were from the Scholastic School -- a very well-known school and private university. The parents of these boys are normal and have secular credentials," said the minister.

Acquaintances of the young men identified them using the photos uploaded by the ISIS and by the images of the dead bodies released by the police. Another minister, Asaduzzaman Khan, Home Minister too had admitted that the terrorists were "from rich families" and had "good educational background".

According to them, both Nibras Islam and Shamim Mubashir - two of the seven attackers - went to top schools of Dhaka and even attended college in Malaysia.

From being the alumni of elite schools to terrorists

An alumni of Turkish Hopes, one of top schools in Dhaka, Nibras Islam was one regular fun-loving guy till a couple of years back. Those who knew them were shocked that how can these people who were once normal people and good mates turn into cold blooded killing machines.

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Islam reportedly had great love for Bollywood movies and according to some reports and his tweets, he had also met Bollywood actress Shraddha Kapoor once. Young, and charming with boyish looks, Nibras Islam came from wealthy family. The reports are also doing rounds that Nibras had also attended Monash University in Malaysia.

After the terrorist group IS released their pictures, which included that of Nibras; his FB friends identified him. "It's definitely him," said a fellow Bangladeshi, who knew him on social media.

Both Mubashir and Imtiaz were also from affluent background and were alumni of Scholastica - another top educational institution in Bangladesh capital. Although the five names given by authorities includes Akash, Badhon, Bikash, Don and Ripon; but those who knew these assailants identified them as Islam, Mubashir and Imtiaz and two more.

They loved Bollywood and cars

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Authorities believe that these fun loving kids in their early 20s seems to have been brainwashed recently and that's why they didn't even hesitate once before killing the people belonging to a milieu , they themselves were once a part of.

There are a couple of videos doing rounds on social media where Nibras Islam is being seen enjoying with his friends. One video shows him travelling with his friends in car, speaking fluent English, joking around. According to his Facebook profile,he had studied in Monash University in Malaysia as well as Northsouth University in Dhaka.

Islam even wished for peace in Middle-East

Infact, in one of these posts on Facebook, Nibras talked about the necessity of peace in middle east.

"There must be peace there,"reads his post.

His account was taken down on Sunday. None of his posts on either Facebook or tweeter have indicated towards any change of heart taking place over a period of time.

So when were they possibly brainwashed?

Till now, no reports have come out about their possible indoctrination. Although IS has claimed that they were its Jihadist but Bangladesh government has been refusing out rightly that the slain terrorist were even remotely related to ISIS.

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Nibras, one of the slain terrorists looked like a fun loving guy till a couple of years back and his status on both Twitter and Facebook hardly show any inclination towards IS.

"Never expected Nibras to end up like this because he did not seem to be interested in politics, was not outwardly religious and was not the violent type,"said one of the person who knew Islam via social media.

Various checks showed that his tweets since 2014 had an emotional slant to them, indicating relationship complications, but none of his post hints towards any sort indoctrination he was possibly going under.

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Nibras's Twitter account seems to have been inactive for a while with the last tweet around December 2014 saying,

"Alhamdulillah. Happiness is being with your loved ones. And being with friends you missed."

Nibras also seemed to be in love with somebody. One of his tweets on 2014 hints towards it.

"Appreciate everything in life. Thank you for being there for me all the time. Happy for you. Always been. Hope you get what you rightly deserve," reads his tweet.
Haryana residents can dial 828403045 to make complaints of cow smuggling and slaughter, the Indian Express reported. Registered complaints make their way to police officials, who can swing into action.

RSS Says Killing Or Smuggling A Cow Equivalent To Rape Of A Hindu Girl

Haryana makes this move after many complaints of cow smuggling across state lines for beef. Slaughter is a punishable offence - with rigorous imprisonment up to 10 years, and a fine of Rs 1 lakh unde the Haryana Gauvansh Sanrakshan and Gausamvardhan Act.

There are regular reports of vigilante cow rescuers who attack trucks they suspect to be carrying cows, and often attempt violence on these smugglers

However, "cow" includes many bovines, including bull, bullock, ox, heifer or calf, as well as a disabled, diseased or a barren cow. Hence, beef means the meat of any of these animals.

Here's Why India's Hindu Majority Doesn't Mean We Can Ban Beef

Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Govansh Rakshan Samvardhan Parishad, an affiliate group of the VHP has renewed its demand for a separate ministry in the Narendra Modi government to protect cows. The outfit while reminding the BJP that the party had during the 2014 election campaign promised to protect cows, demanded that a deadline should be set for the formation of the new ministry.

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Organizations including RSS and VHP had been pushing for a total ban on cow slaughter in India.

Emphasising on the importance of saving indian cow breeds, HS Savla another official of the outfit said Indian breeds such as Gir, Sahiwal are far superior. (in comparison with the foreign ones like the Jersey or the Swiss cows) Despite the ban on cow slaughter in many states India ranks the top in beef export, another issue groups including the RSS and VHP are opposed to. Currently only BJP ruled Rajasthan has a minister for cow welfare. Otaram Devasi, who calls himself "Gaupalan Mantri" is tasked with overseeing Rajasthan's Gau Seva Commission and Cow Conservation Directorate.
If you've been amazed at news about the experimental fuels that tomorrow's cars might run on, here's a stunner - a car that runs on air!

Students of an engineering college in Rajkot, Gujarat, have developed a prototype car that runs on air instead of petrol or diesel. The four students started their endeavour about a year ago as a final-year project.

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Instead of the usual fuel tank, the prototype is fitted with an air tank. The students have used parts of old cars to make the vehicle at minimal cost. One of the four developers, Kishan Pansurya, said though the car can travel little distances, it can still be used in small campuses.

"Through our research, we have proven that if we fill air (in the tank) 12 times, the car can cover one - two kilometers (0.62 - 1.24 miles), and if we fill 15 times, it can travel up to three kilometers (about 1.86 miles). Such cars can be used in small campuses and colleges. It is pollution-free, eco-friendly and runs on air," he said.

Kalpesh Kotdia, another developer, said the prototype can be made better with certain improvements.

"We have used a 110cc bike engine. Only one person can travel in the car. Talking about speed, it can travel at up to 20 kilometres per hour. If we make some more modifications, we can increase its capacity and make it capable of travelling long distances," he said.

The students were constantly assisted by the teaching staff as well as the principal, who are excited about the talented innovators and their unique creation.
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In a desperate move to project itself as the sole champion of the Marathi manoos, Raj Thackeray's Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) has threatened to kidnap a senior BMC official for the rising number of potholes in Dadar (W) and the neighbouring areas.

The MNS has issued a letter to Assistant Municipal Commissioner Ramakant Biradar, incharge of the G-North Ward that covers Shivaji Park, Mahim, Dharavi, and Dadar (W), that he will "not be released" till every single pothole in the ward has been repaired.

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The letter, signed by Sandip Deshpande, the MNS group leader in the BMC, said, "There is complete negligence. If you don't respond, we will kidnap you and hold you to ransom till the municipal commissioner doesn't repair the potholes. Take this letter seriously."

The party had said that at least eight roads, including the Gadkari Chowk, the Gokhale Road (both in Dadar), and the Khed Gulli in Prabhadevi, were riddled with potholes, and that these stretches had never been in such a mess all these years.

"There are no options. These roads have been turned into hell for pedestrians and motorists. Senior citizens are facing the brunt of this mess. The BMC hasn't even cleared fallen tree branches," the letter said.

Also Read: As BMC Turns A Blind Eye, Mumbai Traffic Police Decides To Fix The Potholes Themselves!

The timing of the letter is significant, considering party chief Raj Thackeray's emotional speech to his cadres on Friday, demanding loyalty ('Raj rakes up emotional pitch from letter he wrote while quitting Shiv Sena'; MM, July 3). With a few of its corporators defecting to rival parties, the MNS is worried about the impact it will have on the BMC elections next year.

Sandip Deshpande stood by his threat when this newspaper contacted him. "BMC lists exclusive helplines and web links that citizens can use to complain about potholes, but nothing changes at the spots. We told the ward in-charge that we will kidnap him as the last resort, and yes, we'll do exactly that if things don't change fast," the Shivaji Park corporator said.

While senior BMC officials warned MNS that any "misadventure" will result in a police complaint, Biradar played down the incident. "I am available in the ward at all times, I'm just a phone call away. Whenever any corporator calls me, including Mr Deshpande, I personally rush to the spot." He said that there were "hardly any potholes", and a few that existed were being repaired "in record time". "We work more than 16 hours a day during monsoon. There is no need to kidnap us because we are in the ward throughout the day in any case. The G-North Ward is the best in terms of response. If they still claim that there are complaints, I will look into them right away," he said.

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BMC chief Ajoy Mehta was not available for comment, even as senior civic officials said the days of politicians threatening officials "were over a long time ago". "Such threats are criminal in nature. I'm sure the BMC top brass will speak to the police about this," a senior civic official said.

Meanwhile, citizens have said that like every year, the BMC's claims of a troublefree monsoon have already been washed away. "Roads in the entire Western suburbs are in a mess because of potholes," Borivali resident Rahul Mane said, adding that it takes him more than two hours to drive back home from Lower Parel.

"Even when there's no high tide, there's water-logging at several low-lying areas such as King's Circle and Sion," activist Nikhil Desai said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi commemorated the 300th martyrdom anniversary of Baba Banda Singh Bahadur in New Delhi. The PM was so inspired by the Sikh warrior that he spoke on him at lengths and he also launched a coffee table book on him. Not many of us know who Baba Banda Singh Bahadur is. The great Sikh warrior, Baba Banda Singh Bahadur fought the Mughals till his last breath. Here's why he is an important name in the Indian history...

Image Credit: alchetron

1. He was the most courageous Sikh General

Born as Lachman Dev, it was Guru Gobind Singh who gave him the new name of Banda Singh Bahadur.He was told by Guru Gobind Singh to fight the Mughals and seize what was theirs. He then took over Mughals with a supporting Sikh Army and went on to fight the Battle of Samana, where he killed thousands of Mughals.He then moved over to Sutlej, Kapori and Nahan and then onto Sirhind.

2. He was a bairagi

The sight of a dying deer made him renounce his comfortable life. He left his home at the age of 15 and thus became a bairagi. He then learnt yogsaadhna and became a yogi. It was Guru Gobind Singh who made him realize that he is a sikh and that he needs to fight for them.

Image Credit: famouspunjab

3. He inspired many Hindus and Muslims to embrace Sikhism

He propagated Sikh faith wherever he went. Apart from Hindus, many Muslims were inspired by him to change their religion and follow Sikhism. For instance, he inspired prominent Muslims like Mir Nazir-ud-Din and Dindar Khan to change their names to Mir Nasir Singh and Dindar Singh.

4. He abolished the unfair zamindari system

Banda Singh Bahadur never tolerated injustice, it was therefore he never let the evil zamindari system prevail in his province. A legend has it that once he ordered to open fire at people who came him to help because he was disgusted that being in thousands they were cowed by four-five zamindars in their vicinity.

Image Credit: bhaisahib.org

5. The news of his courage and valour reached Mughal Emperor Bahadur Shah, who then wanted him dead or alive

With the flags of Sikhism fluttering all over the Punjab and the Sindh, it was time for the Mughal Emperor to do something really significant to stop Banda. He therefore ordered the entire imperial force to join the battle against him. An official order was released that any Sikh found on the streets would be killed then and there.

6. He fooled the Mughals with an awesome plan

As the Mughal army marched to kill Banda, he escaped death by making his general Gulab Singh dressed as him. It was a successful plan and Banda left the fort and went to stay in Chamba forests. Bandas escape agitated the Mughal emperor so much that the emperor became mentally disturbed and died a torturous death.

Image Credit: vismaad

7. He died as a martyr

Unfortunately, Banda Singh Bahadur and his army were captured from the Gurdas Nangal fort and Banda was put in an iron cage. The remaining Sikhs were captured and chained and were brought to Delhi in a procession with the 780 Sikh prisoners, 2,000 Sikh heads hung on spears, and 700 cartloads of heads of slaughtered Sikhs used to terrorise the population. Banda was asked to embrace Islam or either gets killed. A true Sikh that he was, he chose death. He was killed in a very brutal manner, where his eyes were gouged out and his limbs and skin were separated.

8. He was a true hero

The fire which Banda ignited for the Sikhs was never extinguished. To avenge his death, the Sikhs then fought with great valour and went on to free Punjab from the Mughals and the Afghans. Even the massive 328 ft tall Fateh Burj which is dedicated to Banda Singh Bahadur for his achievements is not enough for what he has done for the Sikh. Indeed, a true hero!

Image Credit: picturejockey/Navin Harish
Along with announcing layoffs of 10% of their workforce (about 150-200) employees, grocery delivery app service Grofers revoked 67 job offers to students from Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS Pilani), National Institute of Technology and the Indian School of Mines in Dhanbad, who were scheduled to join the start-up in July.

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Grofers chief executive Albinder Dhindsa told Livemint that this was due to "market environment and our revised growth projections.". Can a company suddenly shake up the career dreams of Indias brightest minds, just with an arbitrary mail? Can people caught in the lurch fight back, legally?

Heres what a job aspirant needs to know about offer letters, and other facts, in a startup world of booms and burns every other month

1. Can companies withdraw offer letters?

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While companies normally do not withdraw their offer letters, an explanation can give validity to them. For example, they may mention "pending the successful completion of a background check" if you have not successfully and accurately provided this information.

However, in the case of Grofers, recipients of the job offers can take legal action, according to the Indian Contract Act, 1872 which stipulates that "an offer can be revoked till the time it is received and accepted by the acceptor and once the acceptance has been accorded by the acceptor, the agreement comes into existence and thus any subsequent revocation shall tantamount to breach of agreement and thus will invite legal consequences."

Further, the candidates can claim damages if they suffer losses as a result of the revocation.

2. Can a company refuse to pay Provident Fund (PF)?

Under The Employees Provident Funds And Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952, PF is only mandatory for establishments employing 20 or more persons. Establishment with less than 20 employees can register with the EPFO on a voluntary basis, if they show that a majority of the employees are willing to follow PF compliance.

3. Can my company not pay wages for months?

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Not paying an employee for work is illegal under the Payment of Wages Act 1936 which requires that employees receive wages, on time, and without any unauthorised deductions.

4. How many paid vacations can you demand?

The Factories Act addresses a minimum of annual/earned leave of 12 working days for workers who worked a minimum of 240 days in a year. Further, adult worker are entitled to 1 day of earned leave for every 20 days of service. During this leave, they stand to receive their usual daily wage rates for the days of earned leave.

5. What are working hours, and can I charge for overtime?

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According to the Factories Act 1948, working hours are 9 hours per day and 48 hours per week. Over time compensation is defined as twice the regular rate of ordinary pay (200% of the regular wage rate). Total work hours, including rest hours cannot exceed ten and a half hours in any day, which means a minimum 2 hours a day. However, this can be extended to 12 hours for specified reasons, with prior intimidation.
The Central Government is considering the first ever laws in India to cater to the LGBT community. As the debate continues on whether transgender should be included under the OBC quota, the community is celebrating the significant step towards gaining an identity. Let's take a look at how the rights of the community have been shaping up through the pages of Indian history.

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Homosexual intercourse was declared "unnatural" which made it a criminal offence under Chapter 16, Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860. This is when India was still a colony under the British empire. In 1947, India gained independence but homosexuality remained an offence.

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November 26, 1949

The Indian Constitution comes into effect and with it the right to equality under Article 14. Article 15 speaks about the prohibition of discrimination on the ground of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth. Article 21 ensures right to privacy and personal dignity to all citizens. And yet, homosexuality remained an offence.

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Also Read: US Government Just Approved Its First Openly Gay Leader Of A US Military Service Branch

July 2009

By this time, India had sent Chandrayaan to the moon and back but the conversation around homosexuality had only begun. 60 years after Independence, High Court of Delhi decriminalised Section 377.

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December 11, 2013

The country was still mourning the gangrape of Nirbhaya and the Lok Sabha passed the Criminal Law Amendment in March in the light of the case. The Supreme Court, on the other hand, overturned the July 2009 ruling by the Delhi High Court stating that amending or repealing Section 377 should be a matter left to the Parliament, not the judiciary.

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January 28, 2014

India's Mangalyaan is super successful as is the fight against Polio but homosexuality remained a crime. The Supreme Court dismissed a review petition filed by the Central Government, NGO Naz Foundation and others, to reconsider the December 11 verdict on Section 377 of IPC.

Also Read: 'Inception' Girl Ellen Page Is In India, Shooting For A Cool Show 'Gaycation' On LGBT Culture!

BCCL

December 18, 2015

In July, ISRO scientists launched five British satellites into space and while the rest of India rejoiced, Parlimentarian Shashi Tharoor introduced a Bill to Lok Sabha for the decriminalisation of Section 377. The Bill was rejected by the house by a vote of 71-24.

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February 2, 2016

India's software industry is booming and finally, a petition by Naz Foundation is reviewed by the Supreme Court and a five-judge bench looks into Section 377.

Also Read: Australia's First Openly Gay Imam Speaks About LGBT Acceptance, Almost Committing Suicide And Islam's Homophobia

April 4-May 5, 2016

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At the West Bengal Assembly Elections held through April 4 to May 5, transgenders were officially allowed to cast their vote in the "others" category. Homosexuality still remains a criminal offence with a sentence of up to 10 years in jail. A rape sentence is of 7 years.

June 27, 2016

Pakistani clerics declare transgender marriages legal in Islam. In India, we are still looking into Section 377!
It has been five months since a leopard strayed into Vibgyor School in Whitefield. Reputed wildlife scientist and conservationist Sanjay Gubbi himself took on the creature and was left bleeding profusely as the beast bit his right arm, injuring the humerus bone. That was on Feb 7.

BCCL

Despite this dangerous tryst and a loss of sensation in his right arm, Gubbi is back in the forest studying leopards and tracking their movements through camera traps as part of his ambitious project to understand their behaviour and life cycle.

He has often been criticised by his detractors for pushing himself into such extreme situations. But he is unrepentant: The stressed and panicked creature that was surrounded by a mob could have attacked more civilians if it had not been confronted by Gubbi.

Gubbi, who has worked as a wildlife scientist for more than 20 years, said the incident has made him better understand the harsh realities of life.

He volunteered to assist in the rescue operation at the request of the Karnataka Forest Department (KFD) officers, but except for a few officials, others haven't turned up to check on his condition following the incident.

A senior officer offered to foot his medical bill, but till date, neither the government nor the department has acted on the promise. Gubbi refused to call it an 'exceptional case' but appealed to the authorities for basic minimum compensation as a citizen who was attacked by a wild animal, but the government has shown little initiative.

BCCL

He was back in Bengaluru in June end, after his week-long field study in Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary and MM Hills after collecting data on leopards. Sharing his experience with Bangalore Mirror, he said, "The last four months were indeed difficult. I am thankful to my family, staff and friends who stood by me. I was surprised by the kind gestures of many who stopped by to wish me speedy recovery. At the same time, those I thought were close to me never showed up to check on me. The episode has only made me stronger and concentrate more on conservation," he said.

Painful recovery spanning four months

Gubbi's condition was critical initially, and said to be botched up by doctors as a threat of virulent infection loomed large. "The chipped humerus bone stuck inside and bite marks on forearms, ribs and hips had only worsened the condition. For the first 15 days, the wounds were left to heal naturally. Only later, doctors conducted fasciectomy to remove dead tissue and muscle, which left me with more than 55 stitches. Subsequently, through rotational flap surgery, the skin was grafted and stapled for over a month. The wounds healed completely but other issues surfaced. There was no flexion in the right arm and it had become stiff. Later, I had to undergo physiotherapy for over a month to regain my original posture. I am unable to feel or sense anything with my right forearm till date. I cannot even hold my laptop or tablet properly. However, work is work and nothing can stop me from working for the cause of wildlife - something I loved doing all my life," Gubbi explained.

Doctors told him it may require more than six months to recover as the radial and arterial nerve, linking to the pulse in his hand, was severely damaged. "Luckily, the nerve was not cut," Gubbi said.

BCCL

Missed being in field

Gubbi is currently leading a team of more than 10 junior conservation scientists and an equal number of field staff, in order to document the life and behaviour of leopards across Karnataka. This is said to be the first-of-its-kind study to aid conservation of leopards in Karnataka.

He was halfway through his project when he the attack at the school happened. "I missed going to field for about four months since I had no sensation in my right arm but I executed all tasks as usual. In June first week, I travelled extensively at the Cauvery wildlife sanctuary and MM Hills to collect data on leopards using camera traps. I will be soon submitting the details of the study conducted across 30,000 sq km in Karnataka, to the KFD, and I hope that it will help understand leopards and their behaviour across Karnataka," he said.

Safety - top priority

Gubbi has now made safety a priority for team members out in the field.

"Members of the field staff have been provided pepper sprays and first aid kits for safety. They have been trained in first aid. I have even decided to distribute vials of anti-snake venom. I have also advised them to allow the animal to decide its course of action," Gubbi added.
A day after the Rajkot 'stone killer' was nabbed from Jamnagar, police have come out with some startling details about 29 year-old Hitesh Ramavat, who has reportedly confessed to killing three men and attempting to murder one.

oneindia.com

According to police, Ramavat appeared to be a "psycho" killer who "enjoyed" watching his victims writhing in pain, gasping for breath before they succumbed to injuries inflicted by him. He used to get "excited" at the sight of blood gushing from the body of the persons whom he sodomized before smashing their heads with a stone, police said.

Sex, murder and stealing

Ramavat, who is gay, was nabbed on Friday from Bedeshwar area of Jamnagar by Rajkot (rural) crime branch team led by sub-inspector K K Jadeja. Rajkot police commissioner Anumpam Singh Gehlot said that the primary motive of Ramavat for the murders was to have sex with victims and then loot them.

dainikbhaskar.com

"Ramavat appears to be mentally unstable and enjoyed killing people. Investigation has revealed that he was first sodomised at the age of 16 near Bhaktinagar railway crossing, the same place he killed his first victim," Gehlot said "We will conduct a series of tests on him," he added. According to police, Hitesh Ramavat picked up his victims from Mahudi Road area, which is known as a 'pickup point' for gays. His first victim was Sagar Mewada (30) who was found with his head smashed with a stone near Bhaktinagar railway station. After allegedly killing Mewada, Ramavat stole his mobile phone and Rs 2,900 cash.

TOI

Inspired by TV shows?

Ramavat fled with the auto of his second victim Praveen Barad (45) after allegedly killing him on University Road in May this year. He stole Rs 11,500 and mobile phone of his third victim Vallabh Rangani, who was found dead on Mahudi Road on June 2. Police say Ramavat was fond of watching TV series like 'Crime Patrol' and 'Savdhan India' that are based on real life offences.

They further said Ramavat misled police, who were trying to trace him with phone call data."Ramavat went to Surendranagar and called Rangani's son that he killed him. He then switched off the phone and went to Jamnagar, while police went in search of him to Surendranagar," said police.
News / Local

by Stephen Jakes

An MDC-T member was recently found dead in what is believed to have been political motivated murder.Zimbabwe Peace Project reported that on 28 May that an MDC-T supporter was found dead in Chegutu West, the body was taken to the mortuary by the police."At the funeral his party colleagues were wearing party regalia. It is alleged one of the MDC-T activists was approached by Svinurai Kamba of Zanu PF who told her to be careful as 2018 was fast approaching," said ZPP.
M Mahesh, a first year college student murdered 18 year old Sandhya in broad daylight after she rejected his marriage proposal. Mahesh reportedly had stalked her for months, and made his proposal on a Saturday afternoon on a busy Adilabad district street.

She refused, and he made his attack

hindustantimes

Local authorities said he was pressurizing his neighbour Sandhya to marry him, despite repeated rejections. Days after Saroja, Sandhya's mother arranged her daughter's marriage to another man, Mahesh scared him away. Saroja complained to the police, who summoned Mahesh and threatened him against this act.

Riccardo Cambiassi flickr

Mahesh became vengeful, and attacked Sandhya, slitting her throat in public. Before they could stop him, he ran away. Sandhya died on the spot, Bhainsa deputy superintendent of police Ande Ramulu told the Hindustan Times.
Cool Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made history this Sunday when he marched with thousands of people in Torontos Gay Pride Parade. This historic march made him become countrys first PM to do so!

Facebook

The crowd broke into a frenzy when Trudeau paraded down a main Toronto artery, waving a Canadian maple-leaf flag bordered with a rainbow. The young politician did not just walk down the road but fully enjoyed with the crowd. From taking selfies to shaking hands with those lining the parade route, Justin Trudeau had a ball.

AFP

But the parade this time was not a happy affair altogether. This colorful procession paid their respect to the victims of the victims of Orlando nightclub massacre that left 49 dead.

Trudeau said the Florida tragedy is a reminder that "we can't let hate go by.''

"We have to speak up anytime there is intolerance or discrimination,'' he said as the 36th annual parade kicked off.

In fact, a group of several marchers dressed in pastel-coloured robes and carried signs with the name and age of an Orlando victim as they walked their way down the route.

Giving company to the PM, other politicians who marched in the parade included Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne, Toronto Mayor John Tory, Green Party leader Elizabeth May and Rona Ambrose.

Before attending the festivities, Trudeau attended an outdoor church service in the city's gay village where he sang Lady Gaga's "Born This Way'' along with other people.

Check it out

Meanwhile, the Canadian people couldn't contain their excitement and bombarded Twitter with pictures of the PM

Someday very soon my head is going to explode bc of how great Justin Trudeau is godDaMN pic.twitter.com/F6zyjzqsjq  Alex Cimmino (@alex_cimmino) July 3, 2016

Even Superwoman Lilly Singh tweeted
A series of communal riots erupted recently across the country reveals that such troubles are never spontaneous, it is always engineered for political benefits. Sting operations conducted by India Today reveal how several leaders cutting across party lines are ready to stage religious violence for money.

BCCL

Interestingly, the other important revelation of the undercover operation is sophistication in engineering the communal passion. Creating a communal frenzy leading to violent incidents is no longer fashionable and has become outdated because these are difficult to control and the consequences are often difficult to manage.

The new idea is: create a context, latch on to even minor incidents involving communities and provide it a communal colour. It is effective as it has limited impact, the targeting is more accurate and when violence erupts it does not spread beyond affected localities. Read the full story here

Here are 5 more stories from today that will surely interest you:

1. An Artist Who Chose Humanity Over Islam. She's Dead Because She Refused To Recite The Quran

Facebook

Ishrat Akhond (45) was one of 28 dead in Holey Artisan Bakery in Dhaka on Friday.

She was a Bangladeshi, a Muslim and knew the verses of Quran as well. But yet she ended up among the dead. Why?

Because she refused to compromise even in the face of death and refused to recite Quran when the terrorist asked her to. Perhaps she preferred to be a human first and Muslim later.

The terrorists weren't killing Bengali Muslims yet two Bangladeshi women are among the dead along with Italians, Americans, Japanese and an Indian.

Speaking to The Indian Express - on the condition of anonymity - Akhond's friend said that Nila, as they used to call her, was hacked to death because she refused to recite Quran despite terrorists asked her to. According to her friend, another reason behind her killing was that she wasn't wearing hijab. Read more about her here.

2. UAE Tells Its Citizens To Stop Dressing Like Arabs When They Travel Because It Scares People!

Reuters

After an Emirati man was handcuffed in UAE for wearing a traditional Arab dress, the United Arab Emirates has warned its citizens to avoid wearing traditional garments when traveling abroad .

A spate of recent terror attacks by militants, thought to be indirectly linked to Saudi Arabia has triggered fear and a slowly rising hatred of the Arab world. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a tweet late Saturday that Emiratis should avoid wearing the garments for their safety. Read more here

3. Dhaka Attackers Were From Elite Schools, Loved Bollywood, And Cars Before ISIS Brainwashed Them

The perpetrators of terrorist attack in Dhaka which 20 people of different nationalities dead and more than 30 injured were once regular fun loving people like most of us.

They are the students of some of elite educational institutes of not only Dhaka, or Bangladesh, but even of South-East Asia's before they were brainwashed to kill the people.

After Bangladesh security forces killed them in an intense 11-hour gun battle, Bangladesh minister for information and broadcasting Hassan-ul-Haq Inna admitted that the attackers themselves were once a part of the affluent circle that they targeted; and had even attended some of most premier institutes of not only the country- but South Asia. Read more details

4. Rajkot's 'Stone Killer' Enjoyed Murdering People And Watching Them Writhe In Pain

oneindia.com

A day after the Rajkot 'stone killer' was nabbed from Jamnagar, police have come out with some startling details about 29 year-old Hitesh Ramavat, who has reportedly confessed to killing three men and attempting to murder one.

According to police, Ramavat appeared to be a "psycho" killer who "enjoyed" watching his victims writhing in pain, gasping for breath before they succumbed to injuries inflicted by him. He used to get "excited" at the sight of blood gushing from the body of the persons whom he sodomized before smashing their heads with a stone, police said. Read more details here

5. Fix Potholes, Or We Will Kidnap You, Raj Thackeray's Party Tells Mumbai Municipal Officers

BCCL

In a desperate move to project itself as the sole champion of the Marathi manoos, Raj Thackeray's Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) has threatened to kidnap a senior BMC official for the rising number of potholes in Dadar (W) and the neighbouring areas.

The MNS has issued a letter to Assistant Municipal Commissioner Ramakant Biradar, incharge of the G-North Ward that covers Shivaji Park, Mahim, Dharavi, and Dadar (W), that he will "not be released" till every single pothole in the ward has been repaired. Read more here
Tarishi Jain, the Indian young girl who was killed in a deadly attack that took place in Dhaka on Saturday evening, was to join her family on holidays this Sunday but the destiny had something else in store for her. The planned celebrations turned into mourning for the Jains of Suhag Nagar in Western Uttar Pradeshs Firozabad district. The grief struck family is now desperately waiting for their daughters dead body to reach India.

Indiatimes

The dead body of the 19-year-old, who was hacked to death along with 20 other foreign nationals in Gulshan  Dhakas diplomatic zone  in one of Bangladeshs worst hostage crisis that lasted for nearly 12 hours, is expected to reach India by Monday noon. Her last rites are expected to take place in Gurgaon.

After completing high school from American International School of Dhaka, Tarishi was pursuing graduation in economics at the University of California, Berkeley. She was awarded an internship program by Eastern Bank Limited in 2016 and her project was on EBL-commerce growth opportunity in Bangladesh. Her father, Sanjeev Jain, is reported to be a textile merchant based in Dhaka.

We are saddened with the unfortunate death. She was to join us this Sunday morning on holidays and we had planned to welcome her, her brother and their parents, Tarishi's uncle Rakesh Mohan Jain told Indiatimes from Firozabad.

Indiatimes

Tarishi, her brother Sanchit  who had already landed in Delhi from Canada  and their mother Tulika and father Sanjiv were supposed to go to Firozabad for family vacation before Tarishi could head back to the United States.

She was the only Indian among 20 foreigners who were brutally killed by the terrorists.

Tarishis uncles - Rakesh Jain, Rajiv Jain and Ajit Jain - have a flourishing business of glass.

In his broken voice, the inconsolable uncle said he along with the entire family sat in front of the TV since his brother and Tarishi's father Sanjiv informed them that terrorists had entered Gulshan and began butchering people.

Indiatimes

Tarishi Jain had gone with two of her friends  Abinta Kabir and Faraaz Hossain  to famous Holey Artisan Bakery on Friday evening. The bakery was also close to Tarishis residence in the posh Dhaka neighbourhood of Gulshan. The terrorists also entered the cafe as well and started killing people who reportedly failed to recite a Quranic verse.

We were constantly in touch with Sanjiv who was waiting for Tarishi outside the cafe. With fear and anxiety, we were awaiting that Sanjiv would call us and tell that nothing happened to our darling. But what we heard cannot be described in words, he added.

Reuters

Her words I am hiding in the toilet with friends and I think we will be killed one by one, said Rakesh, will echo in our minds forever. She was reportedly subjected to torture before being killed. The two friends accompanying her were also killed. The family was informed about her death after 3 am on Saturday.

Asked about Tarishi, Rakesh said she was extremely sharp, bright, brilliant and intelligent student. The entire family was proud of her when she got admission in Barkley College in University of California, said Rakesh who is unable to understand how to deal with the tragic loss.

Now, the family is trying to receive Tarishis body in time so that they could complete her last rites before the Sunset on Monday.

Reuters

Ajit Jain, Tarishis uncle, said there was a possibly that her last rites would be done in Gurgaon. If we decide to bring her dead body to Firozabad, it would be almost evening and we will not be able to complete her last rites after the sunset, he added.

In a series of tweets, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said, I am extremely pained to share that the terrorists have killed Tarishi. I have spoken to her father Sanjiv Jain and conveyed our deepest condolences. The country is with them in this hour of grief. We are arranging visa for the family. My officers are on the job.
India is among many other countries in the world where members of the LGBTQ community is fighting for the right to an identity.

Members of this community from around the world are uniting to make their voices heard and to demand the right to an equal opportunity in life. Only five countries in the world have given lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people equal constitutional rights, global research shows, with most countries failing to protect the community from widespread discrimination and abuses.

Britain, Bolivia, Ecuador, Fiji, Malta are the only countries that give constitutional rights to people regardless of their sexual orientation and gender identity, according to a report by global research group WORLD Policy Analysis Center (WORLD) and the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).

The report, which analysed the constitutions of all 193 countries recognised by the United Nations, is the most comprehensive study to date, researchers say.

AP

The term "third gender" has been used to describe hijras of India, Bangladesh and Pakistan who have gained legal identity, fa'afafine of Polynesia and the sworn virgins of Balkans, among others, and is also used by many of such groups and individuals to describe themselves.

In India, the third gender only includes the transgenders and in a recent ruling by the Supreme Court of India, gays and lesbians were excluded from the third gender rights. However, this is just a small step towards ensuring equal opportunities in housing, education and livelihood.

In 77 countries, discriminatory laws criminalize private, consensual same-sex relationships  exposing individuals to the risk of arrest, prosecution, imprisonment  even, in at least five countries, the death penalty.

The United Nations has declared the core legal obligations of States with respect to protecting the human rights as: protecting individuals from homophobic and transphobic violence; preventing torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment; repeal laws criminalising homosexuality and transgender people; prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity; and, safeguarding the freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly for all LGBT people.

22 countries have introduced same-sex marriage laws, the lack of equal constitutional rights means LGBT people are at risk of rights violations and discrimination, researchers said. "While marriage equality is an important start, it is not enough to prevent discrimination at work, in housing or many other spheres of life," said study author Jody Heymann, founding director of WORLD and dean of the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health.

"It is crucial for constitutions to guarantee equal rights and protection from discrimination to LGBT individuals in all spheres," she said in a statement.

AFP

Most countries' constitutions protect people regardless of sex, religion, race or ethnicity, but do not extend the same legal protections to the LGBT community. The constitutions of Mexico, New Zealand Portugal, South Africa and Sweden give equal rights to people based on sexual orientation, but not gender identity, the report said.

On 26 July 2013, former High Commissioner Navi Pillay launched a public information campaign designed to raise awareness of homophobic and transphobic violence and discrimination and promote greater respect for the rights of LGBT people everywhere. All campaign materials are available through a dedicated website.
The Austria World Body Painting Festival, a yearly event that takes place in the southern town of Portschach on Lake Worthersee, returns with artistes from 45 nations. It is considered to be the largest gathering of body painters in the world and participants adorn all type of colours and shapes on their body including skeletons, animals and pop art. Prepare to be gobsmacked!

1. A model strikes a cat pose painted in shades of light blue.

Reuters

2. A participants in the world's largest body painting festival has three heads painted.

Reuters

3. A participant calls for world peace, it seems, with a olive branch laurel around the head and world flags painted on the back.

Reuters

4. A participants has a bouquet of lush green leaves and flowers adorned atop her head.

Reuters

5. A model has a table cloth with colourful fruits and vegetables painted on her body.

Reuters

6. A lady bends her head back painted in Japanese paraphernalia including sushi rolls on her head and cherry blossoms painted down her shoulder.

Reuters

7. A model's team paint her body in colourful hues of yellow, purple and red and also paint small ghost heads.

Reuters

8. A model and participant with a falcon on her back poses for the media.

Reuters

9. A colourful closeup of a model whose face is painted in a weave pattern.

Reuters

10. A model has her face blow-painted in black and white ahead of the 19th edition of the World Body Painting Festival.

Reuters

This is the 19th edition of the festival where artistes are competing for the "World Champion" title in body painting.
After an Emirati man was handcuffed in UAE for wearing a traditional Arab dress, the United Arab Emirates has warned its citizens to avoid wearing traditional garments when traveling abroad .

Priyanka Chopra Was Called An 'Arab Terrorist' After Her Song Was Used On American TV!

Reuters

A spate of recent terror attacks by militants, thought to be indirectly linked to Saudi Arabia has triggered fear and a slowly rising hatred of the Arab world. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a tweet late Saturday that Emiratis should avoid wearing the garments for their safety.

A separate ministry statement urged women to abide by bans on face veils in parts of Europe.

Local media reported Sunday that Emirati national Ahmed al-Menhali was detained at gunpoint last week while wearing a traditional white kandura, or ankle-length robe, and headscarf in Avon, Ohio after a hotel clerk raised suspicions he could have links to the Islamic State group.

Reuters

Cleveland's WEWS-TV posted police camera video footage of al-Menhali's arrest and a later meeting where Avon officials offered their apologies.

Taharrush - The Sickening And Terrifying Arab Rape Game That Is Spreading Across Europe
News / National

by Stephen Jakes

Human Rights activist Mcdonald Lewanika has hailed the brave Zimbabweans despite the crackdown by security agents and abductions of those who dare challenge President Robert Mugabe's system have continued to conduct demonstrations calling for change."As a citizen of Zimbabwe, I just want to say thank you to all these activists who are putting their lives and liberty on the line, giving voice to the voiceless," he said."Our History will surely record the brave acts of men and women who are expressing their discontentment through peaceful Street action, particularly those who occupied Africa Unity Square, those who peacefully stormed the Rainbow Towers to express their anger at reckless and selfish leadership, those protesting at the circus surrounding the Harare Mayor, those waving the flag to express their displeasure at corruption and repression, those marching in demand of the stolen 15bn US dollars, the pastors and church leaders who have chosen to speak truth to power."He saluted the protestors efforts to change things in the country.
Were excited to announce that indmin.com is now part of fastmarkets.com.

A new look and an improved experience means you can still stay ahead of this fast-moving market with price data, news and market intelligence right here on Fastmarkets.

Discover more than 2000 prices, news and analysis in primary and secondary metals markets. We cover base metals, industrial minerals, ores and alloys, steel, scrap and steel raw materials.

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Washington Fears Brexit Will Unravel its anti-Russia Policy

By Finian Cunningham Russia is entitled to feel relief, if not rejoicing, over the Brexit result. And not just Russia. Continue

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Europeans Contest US Anti-Russian Hype

By Joe Lauria The E.U. allowed itself to be sold out to unelected and unaccountable neoliberal technocrats now in charge in Brussels. Continue

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Gaddafi Loyalists Rescued Americans In Benghazi

By Alex Pfeiffer "The very individuals the United States had helped remove from power during the Libyan revolution were the only Libyans that came to the assistance of the United States on the night of the Benghazi attacks.  Continue

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Mexico is Massacring its Citizens and Nobody Seems to Have Noticed

By John M. Ackerman Evidence now points to the commission of a brutal massacre by federal forces against peaceful protesters. Continue

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Lament For Humanity: A 50 Year Reflection

By Robert J Burrowes Here is my report on 50 years of concerted effort to understand and end human violence. Continue

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Americas One-Party Government

By Eric Zuesse There are two political parties that represent two sides of the aristocracy. Continue

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Firing the Elites

By Dmitry Orlov Class warfare is back with a vengeance. Continue

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The Stakes of the Election

By Donald J. Trump People have asked me why I am running for President. Continue

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Clintons Lead Over Trump is Declining

Poll Finds Opening for Third-Party Candidates

By Peter Nicholas Deep dislike for the two leading candidates could scramble the race as some voters seek alternatives. Continue

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A Third Choice for Voters Sick of Clinton, Trump

By Matthew Tully Despite the turbulent political mood, most voters, even independents, remain tied to the two-party tradition. Continue

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Yemen violence kills 80 : A flare-up in violence across Yemen Tuesday killed 80 people, nearly half of them civilians, officials said, as lengthy peace talks in Kuwait made no headway.

Saudi airstrikes leave 40 Yemeni civilians dead despite truc e: The news comes hours after four terrorist bomb attacks hit military and security positions in Mukalla city of Hadhramaut Province, leaving 48 civilians dead and some 30 others injured.

41 killed in suicide attack at Istanbul airport: At least 41 people died and dozens more were injured late Tuesday after three suspected Islamic State terrorists blew themselves up at Ataturk International Airport, according to Turkish officials.

CCTV of Turkey attack: Moment Ataturk Airport bomber explodes himself after being shot (GRAPHIC) : CCTV footage shows police shooting one of the Attaturk Airport bombers seconds before he detonates his suicide vest.

Two soldiers killed in Kurdish militant attacks in southeast Turkey - army : Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) fighters launched one attack in the Lice district of Diyarbakir, wounding four soldiers, one of whom later died in hospital. It said another soldier was shot dead by PKK militants in Diyarbakir's Bismil district after he got out of a vehicle in front of his house.

Turkey to allow more patrol flights on Syria border by NATO allies : Some NATO countries, especially Britain, have complained that they could not perform enough patrol flights on Turkeys Syrian border as the engagement rules were too strict, the official told Reuters. Turkey eased these engagement rules to bring them in line with NATO policies,

Apologizing for shoot-down of Russian warplane is "out of questoin", says Turkish PM: Turkeys Prime Minister Binali Yildirim denied on Tuesday that his government apologized for shooting down a Russian warplane last year over Turkeys border with Syria clarifying that his country only expressed sadness over the incident.

Iraqi forces kill 15 members of ISIS elite forces in Qayyarah : The Anti-Terrorism Directorate carried out an air landing operation at night at one of the biggest headquarters of ISIS at Qayyarah in Mosul, adding, The [operation] resulted in the death of fifteen (15) members of ISIS

Forces kill five ISIS members west of Ramad i: , The security forces managed to carry out military operations to liberate Heet island in western Heet district, resulting in the killing of five ISIS members, as well as in the destruction of two booby-trapped vehicles, a motorcycle and five boats.

Car Bomb Kills 10 In Kurdish-Held Syria Town: Repor t: A car bomb killed at least 10 people today in a Syrian town near the Turkish border held by US-backed Kurdish-led forces, a monitoring group said.

US backed Syrian rebel forces seize military airport near IS stronghold : "The operation", which involved foreign paratroopers landing by helicopters, "took place at dawn."

US and Russian fighters in dramatic showdown over Syria: American pilots scramble to confront Russia's jets as they bomb Pentagon-backed Syrian rebels

11 Kurdish rebels, three guards killed in clashes near Iraqi borde r: Eleven Kurdish rebels and three of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards were killed in clashes near the Iraqi border, the Fars news agency reported on Tuesday.

John Kerry: Iran 'helpful' in fighting ISIS in Iraq : Secretary of State John Kerry on Tuesday deemed Iran's presence in Iraq to be "helpful" to American attempts to beat back the threat of ISIS, given their common enemy.

Abbas to Erdogan: Do not provide Gaza with aid unless through the PA : The Palestinian Authority (PA) announced its refusal of supplying Gaza with Turkish humanitarian aid unless it is done through the PA government in Ramallah. This came after the Israeli-Turkish reconciliation agreement which involves providing Gaza with Turkish aid.

The 7 must-read passages in the Benghazi report: From the video conference that was convened as the attack was underway to the unlikely assistance the Americans received that night.

Afghanistan: Over 40 ISIS fighters killed in Nangarhar clearance raids : The statement said that the hideouts of the terror group were also destroyed and the mentioned areas were cleared from the presence of ISIS militants.

US Airstrikes Accidentally Kill Afghan Hostage s: Several Taliban fighters were also killed in the late Sunday airstrikes, the officials told VOA's Afghan Service. Bodies of the slain hostages, believed to be former Afghan army soldiers, were brought to a hospital in Kunduz City on Monday.

Four murdered in fresh US drone strike in Afghanistans Kunduz: Afghan National Army General Abdul Qahar Aram said those killed in the attack were Taliban militants. However, the Taliban have made no comments on the airstrike so far.

NATO, EU leaders pledge strong alliance to counter Brexit fallout : NATO and the European Union promised closer defense ties at a summit on Tuesday to deter Russia and counter Islamic militants on Europe's borders, seeking a show of unity days after Britain voted to leave the EU.

Brexit Could Open the Door to Russia Joining the EU : Tempting Russia with EU membership would do far more to elicit better behavior from Moscow than the weak economic sanctions the EU currently imposes on it.

US destroyer gets dangerously close to Russian patrol boat in Mediterranean  Moscow : The US guided-missile destroyer Gravely breached international navigation safety rules by coming within dangerous proximity of the Yaroslav Mudry, a Russian frigate, in the eastern Mediterranean, the Russian Defense Ministry has said.

Fact or propaganda? U.S. complains to Russia over harassment of diplomats : U.S. and other Western diplomats in Russia have reported a surge in harassment from Russian intelligence services, prompting Secretary of State John Kerry to complain to Moscow, the State Department says.

US to deploy Israeli missile system on Russian borders: General: The US military has test-launched a variant of the Israeli Tamir rocket which is incorporated to the Tel Aviv regimes so-called Iron Dome missile system.

NATO Buildup on Russian Border is Like Cuban Missile Crisis Only in Reverse : French journalist Christine Bierre, editor-in-chief of the Solidarite & Progres newspaper, warned that the situation is reminiscent of a Cold War-era conflict which brought the world to the brink of nuclear annihilation.

Russia is beginning the construction of "greater Eurasia" : Op-Ed - Russia is creating a bloc of countries centered around it and China which will inevitably challenge US hegemony.

US Newseum to screen film showing details of $230m theft from Russia : A journalism history museum in Washington, will show on Monday a documentary revealing the involvement of William Browder, the UK millionaire of US origin, in a theft of some $230 million of Russian taxpayers money as a result of tax evasion scheme.

European SUPERSTATE to be unveiled : EU nations 'to be morphed into one' post-Brexit: EUROPEAN political chiefs are to take advantage of Brexit by unveiling their long-held plan to morph the continents countries into one GIANT SUPERSTATE, it has emerged.

EU leaders tell Britain to exit swiftly, market rout halts : Financial markets recovered slightly after the result of Thursdays referendum wiped a record $3 trillion off global shares and sterling fell to its lowest level in 31 years against the dollar, but trading was volatile and policymakers said they would take all necessary measures to protect their economies.

Labour MPs pass no-confidence motion in Jeremy Corbyn : The 172-40 vote, which is not binding, follows resignations from the shadow cabinet and calls on Mr Corbyn to quit. Mr Corbyn said the ballot had "no constitutional legitimacy" and said he would not "betray" the members who voted for him by resigning.

The Rise In Hate Crimes In The U.K. After Brexit Should Scare You : There has been a significant rise in hate crimes since the U.K. voted to leave the European Union last week, according to local media  which is probably not a surprise given the blatantly xenophobic campaigning of Leave supporters.

'What's Perth coming to?': Burning vehicle and anti-Islam graffiti found outside Thornlie mosque : A witness has described hearing loud bangs and seeing a burning vehicle outside a Perth mosque on Tuesday night, which was also sprayed with anti-Islam graffiti.

Senate Report Clears Rousseff of Budget Manipulation : Experts report that suspended President Dilma Rousseff did not cook the books like her rivals claim, but the impeachment process will continue.

El Chapo: Mexico judge halts extradition to US : The ruling means it could be months or even years before he is sent to the US, where he faces murder and drug smuggling charges. One of the appeals argues that the statute of limitations has run out on some crimes Guzman is accused of in the US, his lawyer Jose Refugio Rodriguez told Associated Press.

Neocon NGO Pressures Google, Facebook to Censor Content : Executives from Google and Facebook have faced enormous political pressure from forces as diverse as Pres. Obama himself to the Israel Lobby, to rid their sites of Islamist content

3-year-old boy held alone in immigration detention : A 3-year-old boy from El Salvador was held several days at a Pennsylvania family detention center without his mother, said the mother and boys attorney.

US border authority seeks travellers' social media details: Travellers seeking visa waiver entry to the US may soon be asked to list their social media profiles - if a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) proposal is enacted. An update to application forms would ask users to identify what social networks they use and their "social media identifier" such as a username.

Americans' anxiety around the economy grows : A majority of Americans say the word afraid describes their feelings about this campaign. They also say theyre embarrassed.

Republicans' Health-Care Plan: Not Much Care, Not Much Plan : It would permit health insurers to cover far fewer services than they have to cover under Obamacare, and it would reduce federal subsidies for buying insurance, pare protections for people with pre-existing conditions, roll back funding for Medicaid.

'Donald Trump' emails British MP asking for money : Glasgow East MP Natalie McGarry also finds it extraordinary that the anti-immigration US billionaire appears to be approaching foreign nationals with his 'beggging bowl'

Trump Now Hitting Up Iceland MPs for Cash : Offers to match their illegal foreign contributions dollar for dollar from his own fortune up to two million dollars.

Bernie Sanders: Democrats Need to Wake Up : . Workers in Britain, many of whom have seen a decline in their standard of living while the very rich in their country have become much richer, have turned their backs on the European Union and a globalized economy that is failing them and their children.

Did Google Manipulate Search for Hillary? : Video - While researching for a wrap-up on the June 7 Presidential Primaries, we discovered evidence that Google may be manipulating autocomplete recommendations in favor of Hillary Clinton.

Hacked emails show Hillary Clinton campaign's surveillance of journalists : Guccifer 2.0 struck again and leaked emails from a Hillary Clinton volunteer to the website the Smoking Gun
Israel Firsters In US Politics By Philip Weiss



July 04, 2016 " Information Clearing House " - " Mondoweiss "- A few years ago writers got in trouble for using the phrase Israel Firster. Now an outright supporter of Israel, Gary Rosenblatt, uses that phrase in the Jewish Week in a piece titled, Israel-Firsters Seen Edging Toward Trump. Rosenblatt says that some voters care more about Israel than the U.S. Among Israel firsters  those who vote primarily on what they believe is best for Israel  I find more and more people saying they may well vote for Trump, based on their dislike and distrust of Clinton and their reasoning that Trump will stand up for Israel more forcefully and openly than Clinton. They note that Trump is against the Iran deal, highly critical of Obama, heaps praise on Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, wants to see the settlements expand, and pledges to move the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. This is important because the issue of dual loyalty is inherent in Zionism, especially as Israel has evolved, to be totally dependent on the United States and on Jews inside the United States to compel American politicians to support Israel. And it is good that this issue is coming into the mainstream conversation. Its good that American Jews will begin openly saying of other Jews that their first loyalty is Israel. It makes such a stance untenable: it will make it impossible for people who act on what they believe is best for Israel to hold high position in foreign policy-making in the U.S. government. It demonstrates that the neoconservatives are losing oxygen slowly. And that those critical of Israel are having greater influence in the discourse. Talking about dual loyalty was verboten for a good 30 years, ever since Gore Vidal attacked the Podhoretzes for dual loyalty in the Nation, and the scorn turned on Vidal; and the charge was said to be an anti-Semitic canard about the international Jew. (Scott McConnell treats that story in his new book Ex-Neocon). But the problem still exists; the existence of Israel Firsters was an important factor in the drive to go to war in Iraq, and in opposition to the Iran deal; and in order to fight that crowd, you have to be able to state publicly what theyre up to. A great number of American Jews have pointed out the dual loyalty problem, from Rabbi Melissa Weintraub to Peter Beinart to John Judis to Eric Alterman (list here). Last year Chuck Schumer told a Jewish audience there was a difference between American interests and Jewish interests over the Iran deal, and he had to back the American interest, and then he voted against the deal, and some charged dual loyalty. Of course the issue is inherent in the rise of the neoconservatives, as both Norman Podhoretz and Irving Kristol said in the 1970s that there was a Jewish interest (Kristols words) in the U.S. having a big defense budget so that it could help Israel. Some of those advocates became White House aides. Elliott Abrams said that Jews must stand apart from any society they are in except Israel, and he helped make US Middle East policy. And just last month Dennis Ross, the longtime peace processor, told a New York Jewish audience in what was presented as an off-the-record discussion that American Jews need to be advocates for Israel and not for Palestinians. So its good an American Jewish publication is acknowledging the question. Maybe we can have a mature conversation about the true agenda of many advocates in the Israel lobby at last. Maybe Dennis Ross wont be considered to be the next secretary of state.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) Will Not Prosecute Tony Blair By Felicity Arbuthnot But then, once in a lifetime the longed for tidal wave of justice can rise up, and hope and history rhyme. Believe that a further shore is reachable from here. Believe in miracles. (Seamus Heaney, 1939-2013, The Cure at Troy.) July 04, 2016 " Information Clearing House " - " Global Research "- In an astonishing revelation, the Daily Telegraph has established that Prosecutors at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague will examine the Chilcot Inquiry Report in to the Iraq invasion  due to be released on Wednesday 6th July:   for evidence of abuse and torture by British soldiers but have already ruled out putting Tony Blair on trial for war crimes  (1) Whilst the Report is expected to strongly criticize Blairs role in the illegal invasion: It means individual soldiers could be prosecuted for war crimes but not Mr. Blair. This, in spite of the fact that it is now confirmed that Blairs commitment to George W. Bushs determination to invade Iraq was made personally, a year before the assault, at a meeting at Bushs ranch in Crawford, Texas, without the knowledge of Parliament. The ICC however, whilst considering the introduction of a crime of aggression, thus brining illegal invasions in to their legal remit  to which Bush and Blairs actions would seemingly be relevant  would not apply retrospectively. Thus, currently the: decision by the UK to go to war in Iraq falls outside the Courts jurisdiction. Whilst any British or US soldier responsible for the litany of appalling crimes committed in Iraq should be pursued relentlessly  which has broadly been less than the case to date  the ultimate responsibility for the whole tragic disaster for which both countries leaders and military brass will surely be haunted throughout history, lies with those at the political top. Their blatant mistruths led to the invasion and its bloody, inhuman, ignorant, culturally clueless, unending aftermath. Of the ICC decision, Reg Keys, who stood against Blair in the 2005 election and whose twenty year old son, Tom was killed in Iraq said: It makes me very angry. They dont call him Teflon Tony for nothing. However, Anthony Charles Linton Blair, QC, will still have to spend a lot of time looking over his shoulder. In what the Daily Mail describes as: a dramatic attempt to impeach Tony Blair for misleading Parliament over the Iraq war, a cross party group of MPs are building support: for an attempted prosecution of the former Prime Minister, after Wednesdays publication of the Inquirys findings. (2) The MPs are using an ancient parliamentary power, unused since 1806 to bring Blair to trial in Parliament. The groups charge is that: he should be impeached over allegations (that) he breached his constitutional duties as Premier. His pivotal claims regarding Iraqs weapons of mass destruction  which, he had asserted, could reach the West in 45 minutes had been contradicted by his own intelligence (agencies) assessments, points out the Mail. A parliamentary source told the Mail: Impeachment is on our minds, but we will need to digest the Report. There is definitely a feeling that Blair must be properly held to account for his actions in the run up to what was a disastrous war. Not so much a war but the near annihilation of a sovereign nation without even the minimal wherewithal of self defense, many will reflect. If the impeachment attempt is approved by MPs, the defendant is delivered the top parliamentary ceremonial official, known as Black Rod, ahead of a trial. A simple majority is required to convict, at which point a sentence can be passed, which could, in theory, involve Mr. Blair being sent to prison. The MPs are not alone in their potential plans. Whatever the Chilcot Report may lack in judgmental findings, it will deliver to relevant legal experts a wealth of potential for civil litigation against all responsible for crimes against sovereignty, humanity, the peace  and what many will argue has been genocide. The Chilcot Inquiry is 2.6 million words. Many figures show that between the embargo, the 1991 desert slaughter, the silent holocaust of the residual deaths from the Depleted Uranium weapons (radioactive residue 4.5 million years) and the 2003 invasion  massacres ongoing -that may represent less than one word for every Iraqi death. Notes 1. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/07/02/outrage-as-war-crimes-prosecutors-say-tony-blair-will-not-be-inv/ 2. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3670751/MPs-say-ll-use-ancient-law-impeach-Tony-Blair-misleading-Parliament-Iraq-war-wake-Chilcot-report.html Copyright  Felicity Arbuthnot, Global Research, 2016 See also Tony Blair Won't Be Tried for War Crimes, Could Go to Jail: British lawmakers will try to enact an ancient law not used in over 200 years to impeach former prime minister Tony Blair when the Chilcot report, due to be released Wednesday, potentially reveals whether he lied when making the decision to send British troops to Iraq.
News / National

by Stephen Jakes

MDC-T senator Lilian Timveous has made passionate plea with the Local Government Minister Saviour Kasukuwere to stop taking the opposition members as his enemies which pushing for the local Government bill and reminded him that all is done for the Zimbabweans in general not self gratification.The bill which sailed through the lower house was tabled in the senate for discussions where senators argued around it.Timveous said she was very disappointed with this Bill because the Constitution is clear that the tribunal has to be independent."I want the Minister to explain because when you are reading this Bill, it comes out to say the Minister can do anything. The moment this Bill passes Hon. Minister, how many councillors do we have as the opposition? I think the Constitution is clear because it protects everyone. It looks like the Minister is free to hire, fire and do everything," she said."So, the way I am looking at this Bill is that the moment it passes, the Minister can just issue a statement and fire all the MDC councils. This is how I am looking at this Bill. Madam President, to those that do not read, please read this Bill and understand it. It is clear that the Minister has all the powers to do anything. This Bill is to sort out the opposition so that it disappears from Zimbabwe. Hear, you do not want in Zimbabwe to have an opposing voice and if we do not have the opposition, will this country grow?"She asked if the country would grow without an opposing voice?"This is what is going on with this Bill as I am looking at it. Even though I did not get enough time to go through it, but what I have seen in this Bill is disastrous to the nation. It violates the Constitution drastically and I want that to be understood. The other thing that I am seeing is that as I went through the Bill, I was just flipping through the pages, there is nothing said about provincial councils, devolution and nothing about anything," she said."Meanwhile, the Minister is doing everything but the Constitution is clear on devolution that we are going to have provincial councils that are going to oversee all provinces to ensure things are being done properly. The Minister has taken everything and it is silent and nothing is being said. I remember clearly when we were writing the Constitution; Bulawayo, Manicaland and all the other provinces were clear on the devolution but Minister, you have taken everything. Surely."She said she thinks the Minister in his opening remarks when he was speaking on this Bill, he highlighted a lot of issues about the Constitution."He said he is aligning this Bill to the Constitution. This Bill is not aligned to the Constitution. It is giving him so many powers. Have we forgotten what the people said? I just want to implore and really talk to the Minister. I am lucky that I am in this House and I can see him face to face. Please Minister, can you rethink on this Bill. You do not need to treat the opposition as your enemies. We are all Zimbabweans and we are here for a reason," she said."We are not your enemies. The councillors that are in the opposition can be your friends and they can teach you something that can make Zimbabwe grow. Do not treat us badly like this. I might sound like I am emotional. I am being told kuti ndiri sascum, but as far as I am concerned, I am not talking for myself, I am talking about Zimbabwe handiti?"She said when she talked the senators and minister must see her as Senator Lillian Timveos."Look at the people that I represent. When I talk, I am talking on what the people said about this Bill. This Bill is not good and the councillors were chosen by the people. So, one person cannot just decide to say this councillor is bad and he must go when they were chosen by thousands of people. The Constitution is clear on that," she said."I am appealing to the Minister to rethink and look at this Bill. Do not look at the opposition as your enemy. Look at them as Zimbabweans and we will build Zimbabwe together, instead of presenting a Bill that is going to get rid of the opposition. I think this Bill is unfair Madam President."
Home Sign up for our FREE Daily Email Newsletter U.S. Must End Its Occupation Of Afghanistan, Warns New Taliban Leader By Chris Swanepoel July 04, 2016 " Information Clearing House " - " The Inquisitor "- The Taliban has a new leader, and his message is clear. According to the Hindustan Times, Haibatullah Akhundzada said on Saturday in his first speech since being appointed leader after his predecessor Akhtar Mansour was killed during an American drone strike in Pakistan in May, that the U.S. needs to end its occupation of Afghanistan. Admit the realities instead of useless use of force and muscle and put an end to the occupation, he said on the eve of Eid-ul-Fitr, the Muslim celebration marking the end of the fasting month of Ramadan. Our message to the American invaders and her allies is this: the Afghan Muslim people neither fear your force nor your stratagem. They consider martyrdom in confrontation with you as a cherished goal of their life, he continued. In the same speech, he appealed to neighboring countries to stand together with the Taliban and assist in the fight against the U.S., stating their presence would harm our mutual interest and destabilize the whole region. The message came only 2 days after a convoy of buses transporting Afghan police cadets in Kabul was targeted by suicide bomb attacks for which the Taliban claimed responsibility. The attacks left more than 70 wounded and over 30 dead. U.S. officials anticipate more violence in Afghanistan as the new leader has increased clashes on the battlefield and suicide bombings against the U.S.-backed Afghan President Ashraf Ghanis security forces and officials, who he condemns as supporters of the occupiers. You will not be able to frustrate the determination of our (the Afghans) Jihadic struggle, by your resorting to extending the time of presence of your soldiers or of increasing military rule of engagement in Afghanistan, he said, referring to President Obamas approval of increased U.S. involvement in assisting Afghan soldiers on the ground and airstrikes against the Taliban when needed. You [the United States] are facing up not a group or faction but a nation. You are not going to be a winner [God willing]. So it is rational if you come with a reasonable policy for solution [of the issue] instead of the use of force, he said. The conflict in Afghanistan has been raging since 2001, when the Taliban, the then official government, was all but eliminated by massive American bombing campaigns in response to the 9/11 attacks. Since then, the Taliban has waged a guerrilla war in an attempt to return to power. It was hoped that the more than 10,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan could be reduced to half of that by the end of the year, but with the Taliban gaining large areas of territory in the south of the country, this is uncertain. According to Associated Press, the Taliban fighters are now said to be better organized and more daring than in the past, with most of their opposition coming from the ill-equipped, under-trained Afghan army. Akhundzada claims the Talibans program is aimed at creating an independent and united country under their law.  2008 - 2016 The Inquisitr News. Click for Spanish , German , Dutch , Danish , French , translation- Note- Translation may take a moment to load. What's your response? - Scroll down to add / read comments Sign up for our FREE Daily Email Newsletter For Email Marketing you can trust Donate



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Haaretz Confirms: Britain Has Been Operating As An Israeli Puppet Within The EU By Gilad Atzmon With Brexit, Israel Loses a Major Asset in the European Union, Haaretz reports. Britain helped moderate and balance EU decisions about the peace process, blunt criticism and even harness the member states against anti-Israel moves at the UN; voices sympathetic to the Palestinian cause could now become more dominant. The Israelis have started to recognize that the Jewish State: has lost a significant asset in the European Union, Britain leaving would not serve Israeli interests, especially on the Palestinian issue. But why was Britain an Israeli asset? How was Britain reduced to act as an Israeli colony? Simple. British foreign affairs are dominated by the Jewish Lobby. According to the Israeli paper, PM David Cameron met leaders of the Jewish community in London a few days before the referendum. Cameron asked the Jewish oligarchs, do you want Britain  Israels greatest friend  in there opposing boycotts, opposing the campaign for divestment and sanctions, or do you want us outside the room, powerless to affect the discussion that takes place? At least 52% of the Brits felt neglected by Camerons government. Clearly the Jewish community leaders werent. Their foreign interests were looked after. However, the Jews were not totally convinced by Camerons plea. Quite a few of the participants in the discussions argued that Britains leaving the EU would actually serve Israels interests. The official cited one argument to the effect that Britains leaving would considerably weaken the EU and its institutions, reduce its international influence, and take the sting out of its Israeli-Palestinian decisions. Another argument was that Britains leaving would undermine the EUs stability and require its institutions and members to direct their energy toward unifying the ranks, rather than toward the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Maybe Brussels needs to familiarize itself with the elements within the UK Jewish lobby that seek to weaken or even dissolve the EU. I guess that the Brits can see that their politicians repeatedly compromise their national interests. The emergence of Boris Jonson, Michael Gov and Theresa May is not going to change this fact. The Israeli press has already confirmed that these three are the most devoted Zionist enthusiasts in the Kingdom and beyond. Gilad Atzmon is an Israeli-born British jazz saxophonist, novelist, political activist and writer. http://www.gilad.co.uk/
Governor of Ekiti State, Mr Ayodele Fayose has told the All Progressives Congress (APC) to stop chasing shadows on the June 21, 2014 governorship election in the State and wait for the next contest in 2018.

Mr. Fayose was reacting to reports that over 100 petitions bordering on his victory in the polls two years ago, had been received by the office of the Inspector General of Police.

The governor said the petitions were unnecessary as the polls were adjudged as free, fair and credible even by the international community, including the United States Government, pointing out that this is a demonstration of the APCs desperation to throw the state into chaos just because it lost power.

Special Assistant on Public Communications and New Media to the governor, Lere Olayinka, in a statement issued in Ado Ekiti on Sunday, wondered how many petitions should have been written against the Presidential Election if APC could write over 100 petitions against an election held in just 16 out of the 774 Local Councils in the country.

Gov. Fayose, who advised the new Acting IGP, Ibrahim K. Idris, not to allow himself to be dragged into what he termed the blinded show of political desperation by the Ekiti State APC, added that; the IGP should maintain the culture of professional policing and maintenance of rule of law as done by his immediate predecessor, Mr Solomon Arase. He should be mindful of being drawn into needless political fights orchestrated by some APC governorship aspirants in Ekiti State just because of fear of 2018.

According to him, assuming but not conceding that offences were committed by anyone before, during and after the election held two years ago, the Ekiti State Police Command would have carried out its investigation and made anyone found culpable to face the law.

It should also be pointed out that it is the duty of the Attorney General of Ekiti State to prosecute anyone that committed any offence in Ekiti State and not that of the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF).

Most importantly, the IGP should be mindful of the reality that writing over 100 petitions to the police, two years after an election was won and lost and expecting the police to embark on wanton arrest of innocent Ekiti people is a clear invitation to anarchy and it is hoped that the new IGP wont begin his career as the number one police officer in Nigeria with the ridiculous action of running after PDP members in Ekiti State instead of focusing on the growing insecurity in the country.

Speaking further, the governor said; If the APC bad losers in Ekiti State, are still making noise over an election they lost in all the 16 Local Councils in the State two years ago, Nigerians should ask questions as to whether it was through the use of security agents that the PDP won the Presidential, National Assembly and State House of Assembly elections last year.

The IGP should be mindful of the fact that as at today, dispute on the governorship election has become functus officio because as a general rule, once a tribunal has reached a final decision in respect to the matter that is before it in accordance with its enabling statute, that decision cannot be revisited.

The IGP should also be reminded that the US Department of State and other International Observers, which observed the election, praised security forces (including the police) for collaborating effectively in providing a safe environment free of major incidents.

Therefore, these petitions, which are obviously meant to orchestrate the harassment and intimidation of PDP members in Ekiti State and notable functionaries of the government should be ignored by the IGP while the police boss focusses on the greater task of resolving the security problems being faced by the country.
We know how our politicians are. They love to make big promises before elections which they never fulifil once they get into office.

They embark on white elephant projects and loot recklessly.

Nigerians hate this about them but do you know what they dont like about us? INFORMATION NIGERIA brings them to you here.

1. Complain

You can never please an average Nigerian. If you like bring the holiest person to come rule us, they will still dig out his fault every now and then. So, have you blamed Pres Buhari today?

2.Take sides: When the politician to whom they owe their support is doing well or not, theyll always support them. Even when they officially mess up, theyll find a way support them.

People: You stole our money.

Accused: Am I the only one?

Some People: Yes. Is he the only one? How about the other thieves? Leave him jo.   Oby Ezekwesili (@obyezeks) June 23, 2016

3.Bash opposition:

Once Nigerians have a reason to hate a government, they hate it to the last. Even if the government does something that should naturally cause them to be applauded. Haters would never say welldone to the opposition  NEVER.

4.Na my brother mentality

They expect that Christians must support Christians and Muslims must also support Muslims and South-south votes South south and Yorubas make sure their brother gets into power and once that is the case, their brother never goes wrong in their eyes.

5.Collect money and not vote

Yeah. This sounds hilarious but Nigerians have stepped up their games. In those says they would just collect what the politicians bring and head straight to the polls with that candidate on their mind. However, these days, Nigerians collect money from any politician that is willing to give and still not vote them. Why na?

True or not?
The Governor of Osun State, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, has reiterated the extreme importance of the environment to the existence and general well being of mankind.

Aregbesola observed this at the presentation of kits to the states highway managers by one of the leading commercial institutions in the country, Sterling Bank.

The Governor lamented the carefree attitude of Nigerians to the environment, saying the manner in which people just overlook the environment without any adequate attention to general cleanliness of where they live is worrisome.

According to the governor, apart from the biological make-up of human beings as they are created by God, it is only the environment that makes them what they are.

He noted that for people to live healthy and productive life, the environment must be clean, bright and well catered for regularly.

Emphasising the importance and the need to take care of the surrounding, Aregbesola averred that after food, the next thing on the priority of human beings is the environment as it could make or mar human existence depending on the way it is attended to.

He said: Our environment defines us as human beings.

But we all overlook our environment as if we can exist independently of the environment we live in.

We act as if the only thing we owe ourselves is the cleanliness of our body alone.

We neglect the environment in which our body lives.

No amount of cleanliness we do to our body will endure if our environment is un-hygenic.

To tell you how important our environment is to us, generally paying attention to our environment is the next most important thing after food.

Aregbesola called on all stakeholders, who operate within the environment, to wake up and make the environment the best it could be made of to aid better living, adding that the most avowed critics of the state could not fault the progress the government has made in the state in making the environment the best for conducive living.

He commended the bank for contributing its quota to making the environment a better place for the people of the state.

He called on other corporate organisations to emulate the corporate responsibility demonstrated by Sterling Bank in donating the kits.

In his remark the Executive Director of the bank, Lanre Adesanya, said the presentation of the kits is in line with the banks strategic focus on the environment as one of its corporate responsibilities.

Adesanya stated that environmental cleanliness is one of the cardinal points of Sterling Banks corporate responsibilities.

He commended the Governor for the administrations effort at changing the landscape of the entire state despite the challenge being faced in both public and private sectors.

He continued: I must say here that our partnership with the state governments on environmental cleanliness is very solid and enduring.

If you are going to talk about a cleaner in Nigeria, you cannot but mention Sterling Bank as one of the prominent organisations that has been at the forefront of environmental cleanliness nationwide.

Mr. Governor, let me assure you that Sterling Bank will continually engage in initiatives that will protect the environment, especially those that are connected to the protection of lives through our renowned partnership with the state governments in order to maintain a healthy environment to guarantee good health for our people.
The Borno Government says it has so far received cash donations of N345 million for the upkeep of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the state.

Governor Kashim Shettima stated this while speaking with journalists in Maiduguri on Sunday.

He said the state never received any cash donation from international donors for IDPs in the last four years.

I want to say that many Nigerians may be shocked to know that a total of N345 million is the overall amount received as cash donation by the state government from May 2011 to date, he said.

He explained that the Federal Government during the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan donated N200 million in four years.

Lagos State Government gave N50 million in October, 2015, Edo donated N25 million in 2013, Kano gave us N20 million in 2013 and Adamawa donated N20 million in 2013.

Ekiti donated N10 million in 2013, Osun and Kaduna State gave N10million and N5million respectively in 2013 while Unity Bank Plc. donated N5 million.

There was a woman who prefers her name not to be mentioned; she donated N100, 000 cash.

He said the state was spending N600 million every month to cater for the IDPs.

He also said that all other interventions had been in kind through donation of food items or medical supplies, which included donation of 1,200 bags of rice by Kebbi.

According to him, Ebonyi donated 5,000 bags of rice; Taraba, three trucks of highland tea; and Gombe, six trucks of assorted food items.

He said that were many other groups who visited and donated food items in the last five years but certainly not cash to Borno Government.

We have received tremendous support from international community but no foreign country or any international partner within or outside the UN and major world donors gave any cash to our administration from 2011 to date for the IDPs.

He noted that the World Food Programme also made intervention of food and recently they were doing conditional cash transfers which was being handled by officials of the organisation.

(NAN)
Chief Femi Fani-Kayode has been granted bail by a Federal High court sitting in Lagos on Monday morning. INFORMATION NIGERIA had earlier reported that Femi Fani-Kayode who is facing charges of money laundering had the hearing for his bail application adjourned to Monday.

He was arraigned alongside a former minister of finance, Nenadi Usman. On Monday the 4th of July 2016, at the Federal High Court, Lagos State, the Court sitting before Justice Hassan granted Bail to Fani Kayode to the tune of N250 million and 2 sureties in like sum.

He will also submit his international passport to the court.

More details soon.
The senator representing Anambra north on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Stella Oduah, has described as a malicious and fictitious rumour, reports by an online medium that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) discovered the sum of N2.5billion in an account opened in the name of one of her housemaids.

It was reported here that an unnamed influential female minister under the past administration made herself the sole signatory to the bank account, which was opened using her maids passport.

Sahara Reporters, however, identified the unnamed minister as Sen. Oduah, who was Aviation Minister and one of the influential cabinet members during the Goodluck Jonathan administration.

In a statement issued by Francisca Onyeisi, head of communications in her office, the former minister rubbished the report as totally false, baseless and at best the imagination of the online platform, which she accused of extorting and blackmailing leaders in a continuous attempt by its paymasters to break the rank of senators of the 8th Assembly.

The statement reads: Over the past few months, the once respected online platform, Sahara Reporters has continued to surpass itself by continuously sinking to an all-time low of posting uncorroborated reports to mislead Nigerians to promote the agenda of certain elements whos fight against corruption can only been seen on pages of newspaper and pockets of their media spinners while millions of Nigerians remain unemployed and hundreds of thousands of kids go to bed hungry day in day out.

The online platform claimed their sources in the EFCC said a whopping N5.6 billion must have been stolen, then went further to contradict itself that the agency had determined it was N3.6 billion then again reduced it to N2.5 billion in the same publication. The distinguish Senator laments the despicable low that Sahara Reporters has drawn the reputable profession of journalism too which unfortunately unsuspecting platforms will copy and paste on theirs without even lifting a pen to confirm the story.

Sen. Oduah went further to question the integrity of the report by the online platform, saying if such an account truly exists and is still operational, the anti-graft agency would have come after her especially at a time when the EFCC is freezing accounts and going after opposition governors, who enjoy same level of immunity as the president.

The statement further berated the online platform for its penchant for lies and spurious allegations, saying it may have made another calculated attempt to taint the enviable record and achievements of the distinguished senator, who had made a mark in oil/gas and agricultural businesses before joining politics.

It also challenged Sahara Reporters to produce evidence of the imaginary account of the supposed housemaid to members of the public.

The statement noted that Senator Oduah never asked or try to meet with the EFCC Chairman, Ibrahim Magu, over the alleged account, adding that Oduah made a name for herself during her tenure as a minister instituting serious reforms in the aviation sector and in last one year as a Distinguish Senator, raised series of important Bills and Motions to help strengthen the Nigerian Economy and our institutions.

Senator Stella Oduah, who is currently in her constituency thanked her supporters and well-wishers who have reached out to vent their frustrations at the unethical behavior of the tabloid assured (sic) them that there is nothing to worry about, restating that no such account exist and challenged Sahara reporters to present details of their funding and how the platform is able to afford a property in choice area of Maitama in Abuja, the statement concluded.
A thatched house belonging to a 90-year-old man in Awa Iman, was allegedly demolished on the order of Akwa Ibom State Governor, Udom Emmanuel. Awa Iman is the countryhome of the governor. According to Ray Ugba Morphy, who shared the photos,

the thatched house was pulled down to provide an expanse of land for the construction of a Visitors parking lot for the newly constructed mansion of the Governor in his hometown. It was gathered that the 90year old man who has been crying over the loss of his house is now putting up on the veranda of one of a Pentecostal Churches in Awa iman in Onna Local Government.

Source: Ray Ugba Morphy via The Guide Newspaper
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar on Monday said it is not within his power to intervene in support of the Senate or the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN), when his intervention is not sought.

The former vice president was reacting to a statement attributed to him in a section of the media over the ongoing face-off between the Senate and Mr. Malami.

The All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain said he was taken by surprise by a purported statement being attributed to him and quoted by the media, suggesting that he took the side of one of the parties in the feud.

Mr. Abubakar made the clarifications in a statement issued in Abuja by Mazi Paul Ibe, his Media Adviser.

Ibe recalled that the last time Abubakar issued a statement on National Assembly matters was on July 2, 2015, when he called for an amicable resolution of crisis of confidence that arose from the election of principal officers, which bitterly divided the party leaders and their supporters.

He said the statement was titled It is time to shift ground and move to the centre.

He, however, disowned any recent statement either in support of the Senate or the Minister.

The statement pointed out that though the Turaki Adamawa did not welcome any row between the executive branch and the legislature, which causes needless distractions at the expense of governance issues demanding attention, his statement on Saturday over internal party tension should not be twisted, reworked and attributed to him in order to make it look like he made a recent comment on the National Assembly versus AGF crisis of confidence.

It, therefore, advised members of the mass media and the new media to treat people fairly by not attributing to them statements they did not make.

Mr. Ibe also cautioned against dredging up old statements on different issues and making them appear like their reactions to current issues that have no bearing on each other.
News / National

by Samantha Chigogo

Some in the uniformed forces owning pirate taxis popularly known as mushikashika are compromising the country's fight against illegal transport operations, the Greater Harare Association of Commuter Omnibus Operators (GHACO) has said.Police Commissioner-General Augustine Chihuri two years ago banned police officers from owning commuter omnibuses and any form of public transport to stop corruption.Speaking at a meeting between Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe (TSCZ) and its stakeholders in the capital on Friday, GHACO chairperson Mr Cosmas Mbonjani said there was a growing conflict of interest in mushikashika ownership."We have noted there is a conflict of interest between police officers and some Government officials who own pirate taxis and any public service vehicles," he said. Although they were banned from this before, we have since noticed that it is some of the uniformed forces that are now the same owners of mushikashika taxis.""It is difficult to control them as they are promoting illegality, whether one is in a high office or not, they should not abuse their powers on the streets. Let operators operate in the confines of the country's laws," he said.He also called for the formulation of a proper transport policy and enabling laws that will allow operators to form and join associations like SANTAGO in South Africa which promotes self regulation and helps them speak with one voice.Zimbabwe Union of Drivers and Conductors (ZUDAC) chairperson Mr Fradreck Maguramhinga, blamed some law enforcers for boarding mushikashika at undesignated pick-up points in the city."Some law enforcers are very active in the running battles against mushikashika during the day but they are the same people who come and board the pirate taxis at illegal pick-up points at the end of the day," he said."We see several law enforcers in their uniforms also resorting to the use of these taxis which shows that we have a long way to go in stopping the menace in the streets of Harare."Local Government, Public Works and National Housing principal director Mrs Ethel Mlalazi bemoaned the increase in loss of lives through the carelessness of mushikashika operators.
The Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim K. Idris, has rejoiced with the Muslim Faithful on the occasion of the 2016 Eid-el-Fitri that marks the completion of the compulsory Ramadan.

In a press statement by the Police Public Relations Officer, (PPRO), DCP Don Awunah, the IGP has also ordered all Zonal Headquarters and Command Commissioners of Police to ensure adequate security in their areas of responsibilities throughout the duration of the celebration.

Ibrahim added that officers should be deployed evenly to cover the highways, worship and recreation centres, government installations and all vulnerable points are in order to give Nigerians feasible sense of safety and security as they celebrate the Eid-el-Fitri and go about their lawful business.

The IGP said he was particularly grateful to Allah for His mercies during the period of the Ramadan, saying our prayers and supplications were met despite the numerous challenges that we faced as a nation, assuring that the Nigeria Police Force will provide adequate security with robust and proactive patrols during and after the celebrations.

He however, urged Nigerians to be law abiding at all times for the peace, progress and development of the country, restating that the cooperation of the public is very critical to the performance of the Police and administration of justice.
The Federal government has approved the suspension of 14 Nigeria Prisons Service (NPS) officials in the wake of the escape of two high profile detainees  Solomon Amodu and Maxwell Ajukwu  who are both standing trial for culpable homicide, from the Kuje Medium Security Prison last month.

The suspension of the officials was contained in a statement issued Monday by Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the NPS, Deputy Controller of Prisons (DCP) Francis Enobore.

According to the statement, the Civil Defence, Fire, Immigration and Prisons Services Board (CDFIPB) approved the suspension of 4 senior officers while the Controller-General of Prisons, Jaafaru Ahmed in his capacity, approved the suspension of the 10 junior staff of the prison.

SEE ALSO: Heads To Roll Over Kuje Prison Jailbreak

The names of the affected officers and men are: Officer-in-Charge; DCP Musa Tanko, SIP Buhari Musa Dogo, PIP Stephen Edogbanya J., PIP Patrick Teru, IP Usman Peter, IP Dennis B. Makum and IP Fassan S. Akin.

Others are: SPA Daka James, SPA Adamu Luka, SPA Zakari Yunasa, PA Asnamal Samuel, PA Ejegwa Patrick, PA 11 Isah Ibrahim and PA 11 Ngede Salifu.

Enobore noted that the suspension is sequel to the outcome of the preliminary investigation into the incident and in consonance with PSR 030406 (2008) Revised Version, adding that the step was necessary to allow for unhindered trial process.

The commissioned officers among them are to be served with letters of query while the junior staff will be given Form 96 (Charge Sheet) to explain their role in the unfortunate saga, the NPS spokesman disclosed.
The Lagos State government has said it has spent over N6.6 billion to equip security agencies in the last six months, this is according to the Commissioner for the Environment, Dr. Samuel Babatunde Adejare.

The commissioner said, the governor Ambode-led administration made security a priority to create the enabling environment for businesses to thrive, and as well encourage local and foreign investors to continue to do their businesses in the state.

He said: The administration boosted the Police with equipment worth N4.8billion last December, with more added recently by President Muhammadu Buhari. In other words, the state has, in all, spent over N6.6billion to equip security agencies in the past six months.

Adejare, disclosed the information at the Business Luncheon for Managing Directors/CEOs organised by the Ikeja branch of Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) in Lagos, over the weekend.

The commissioner who was Special Guest of Honour at the luncheon, said with the huge investment in security, the Police now have more attack helicopters, patrol vehicles, power bikes, gunboat armoured personnel carriers (APC), and bullet proof vests.

He however, assured that the government will continue to put in place policies that will make the state the premier investment destination in Nigeria with the states huge investment on security, infrastructure, power, transport and related needs of the manufacturing sector. 
Punch

The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority on Sunday directed airlines operating in the country, particularly foreign carriers, to immediately stop the sale of air tickets in the United States dollars and other foreign currencies.

Vanguard

In an attempt to checkmate activities of some of its men in the rumoured plan of a coup, the Military has started monitoring telephone conversations and text messages of officers and soldiers.

The Sun

AS the controversy over who is the rightful governor of Abia State continues, former chairman of Nigerian Bar Association (Ikeja) and member of the Uche Ogah legal team, Monday Ubani, has said that based on the judgement of a Federal High Court, Abuja,

Daily Times

The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ekiti State, has petitioned the Commissioner of Police, James Etop, over alleged threats to the lives of its members by suspected aides of Governor Ayo Fayose.

Daily Trust

Former member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential campaign committee and a one-time aspirant for the House of Representatives from D/Kudu-Warawa federal constituency of Kano State, Malam Abdullahi Ali Kano, yesterday flayed Senator Ali Modu Sheriff over his role in the current leadership crisis rocking the party.

Thisday

The Senate at the weekend said it had been vindicated by last Thursdays ruling of a Federal High Court in Abuja presided over by Justice Gabriel Kolawole which described the forgery case filed against its presiding officers as an abuse of court process and a decision taken against public interest.

National Mirror

Nigerian army yesterday said its troops have killed scores of Boko Haram terrorists and cattle rustlers in Borno and Zamfara states.

The Nation

Only my body will follow you, ex-Deputy Governor tells EFCC team

New Telegraph

The Federal Government has charged the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to leave no stone unturned in the prosecution of serving and retired senior military officers undergoing trial for corruption and other related offences.
A Nigerian student, Fola Orebiyi, was reportedly stabbed to death on Sunday in Notting Hill, London, by a gang of youths.

According to Evening Standard UK, Orebiyi was stabbed in a street clash close to Westbourne Grove just yards from the Portobello Arts Club.

The 17-year-old was reportedly involved in a fight on a nearby estate with a gang of youths, who chased him into the busy road where he was attacked.



Police and paramedics tried to resuscitate him for a long time but to no avail. He collapsed and bled to death.

The deceaseds neighbor, Osman Sahal, told the police: He was a nice boy and very considerate none of us can understand how this could have happened.

As far as I knew, he was never in trouble I suppose we must now wait for the police to investigate.

Orebiyi, who completed his General Certificate of Secondary Education, GCSE, at Holland Park in London was studying for his A levels at the Chelsea Academy before his death.

Source: Dailypost
Police have arrested a three-man gang suspected to specialise in using tricycles to rob and rape unsuspecting victims along major streets and towns in Akwa Ibom.

Parading the suspects at the police headquarters, Ikot Akpan Abia, Uyo, the police public relations officer, Cordelia Nwaiwe, said that the criminals used such to hypnotise their victims, by taking them to unknown places to carry out their nefarious acts.

She gave their names as, James Etim, Utibe Archibong and Mberebong Peter.

The suspects according to the PPRO were arrested following a tip-off from one of their victims, a female student of the University of Uyo.

According to her, before their arrest, reports had reached the command from female members of the public who had fallen victims to the nefarious activities of this gang.

Explaining further, she said that the suspected criminal usually pretended as if they were commercial motorcycle operators by plying routes where they had planted their partners in crime which they would deceive by picking these persons to help actualize their plans.

Source: Leadershikp
President Muhammadu Buhari is currently in Katsina on a weekend visit.

Buhari arrived his home state on Friday before boarding a chopper to Daura town approximately 75 kilometres from Katsina

Information Nigeria learnt that in Daura, the President hosted family and friends including meeting with his classmates of Katsina Model School (1953 set) on Sunday.

He also visited the Emir of Daura Umar Faruk in his palace where he joined the traditional ruler in the breaking of fast.

See photos of thePresident with his classmates below.

The president is expected to return to Abuja later today.
News / National

by Staff reporter

Beneficiaries of residential stands under Zanu-PF sponsored project in Bulawayo are expected to make $50 monthly contributions.Registration for Umvutsha B kicks off today and its $5.In a notice on Sunday, the Local Government ministry dismissed reports that the process was being conducted at the Zanu-PF Bulawayo provincial offices at Davis Hall."This notice serves to advise residents of Matabeleland region that the registration process of beneficiaries for the Umvutsha scheme has commenced. Interested beneficiaries are invited to register at Udcorp offices situated at Suite No 87 Josiah Tongogara, Bulawayo (opposite Bulawayo Medical Centre)."After registration, qualified beneficiaries are expected to contribute monthly instalments of $50, which will be deposited into an International Development Bank of Zimbabwe (IDBZ) home saver account. These contributions will go towards development costs including roads, sewer, street lighting and electricity provision," the notice read.Beneficiaries should submit proof of residence, two passport size photographs and identification documents.Zanu-PF want to build an exclusive party township for its youth in which 20 000 units would be built.The party is also rolling out the same program in other towns.
The ancient Chinese military strategy guide "The Art of War" says that if you want to have a chance of prevailing in battle, you need to know your enemy. Its good advice for the battlefield, and it's also good advice if you want to beat hackers in their constant attempts to take over your network.

But ito know these hackers you need to understand their motivations, and in many cases those motivations may not be what you expect. That's according to Dan Kaminski, the security expert who discovered a fundamental flaw in the internet's Domain Name System (DNS) protocol in 2008 and who discovered flaws in the widely used SSL protocol a year later. Kaminski is a frequent speaker at Black Hat Briefings, and now works as chief scientist at White Ops, a security firm specializing in detecting bot and malware fraud.

[ Also on CIO.com: 13 hot security startups to watch ]

White Ops "If you are a CIO and your job is to protect the network, click fraud is the cause of a major class of threat that you have to deal with," says Dan Kaminsky, Chief Scientist, White Ops

Cashing out compromised machines

"If you are a CIO you must ask why people are breaking in to your network. The answer is to get your data -- eventually. But initially it is to defraud advertisers," Kaminsky says. "The major motivator for hackers is to commit click fraud as it provides a way to cash out a compromised machine. Only once they have done that will they look at what else they can do with the machine."

As companies catch on that a given machine is responsible for click fraud, that machines ability to generate cash for the fraudsters drops dramatically until it has no further use to them. It's at that point that access to the compromised machine will be sold off to someone else to exploit, with servers in large enterprises commanding far higher prices than compromised run-of-the-mill consumer machines.

"There is a whole ecosystem out there," says Kaminski. "One guy finds vulnerabilities, one guy deploys them, and then there are the guys who buy (compromised machines) afterwards and do all kinds of things with them." This, Kaminski says, includes corporate data theft and the full gamut of other crimes.

No obvious victims

That leads to an interesting question about who the victims of click fraud really are, and Kaminski says that it's not immediately obvious. "When you rob a bank, people are angry. But when you rob an advertiser, their numbers are up, so they are happy," he says. Many direct marketers also take the attitude that a certain amount of click fraud is factored into the price that they pay, so they may not be unduly worried or feel they are victims. In fact, on the advertising side very few people get angry, Kaminsky says.

But aside from the advertisers that have been defrauded, the other victims are the CIOs of large companies, says Kaminski. "They are the victims as they are the people whose machines are taken over," he says. "If you are a CIO and your job is to protect the network, click fraud is the cause of a major class of threat that you have to deal with."

How click fraud works

Hackers can carry out click fraud in two ways. The first is to set up a website that is never intended to be viewed by humans and populating it with "word salad," meaningless content made up of random words. These sites are filled with ads that are placed through automated ad exchanges, and the hackers then point their botnets at the site to generate clicks and "earn" advertising revenue.

The second way is simply to wait for a real site owner to contact them and pay to send a certain amount of bot traffic to their site. "A site owner may have sold a million hits to advertisers but only got a quarter of that. Do they give the money back? Never!" says Kaminski. "They will call someone with a botnet and the site will get those extra three quarters of a million hits," he explains.

[ Also on CIO.com: Malvertising campaigns are becoming harder to detect ]

Click fraud fuels malvertising

To build botnets to carry out ad fraud, hackers need to compromise a steady stream of new machines to replace those that are no longer effective. To do this they are increasingly turning to malvertising: placing advertisements containing malware that infects viewers onto well known, reputable web sites, according to Kelley Mak, an analyst at Forrester Research.

"Malvertising will either deliver ransomware or compromise the machine and recruit it to a botnet," Mak says. "Malvertising is fuelled by click fraud because a malicious ad can recruit the new bots hackers need, and malvertising is cheap if all you are trying to do is infect people, not actually sell them something.

Hackers are more likely to use malvertising to recruit bots for click fraud rather than to deposit ransomware on a machine, Mak believes. One reason is that it's easier to generate money from click fraud, but, more importantly, there's also much less risk involved for the hackers. "People hit by click fraud will probably not try and enlist the help of a government agency -- they are more likely just to try and block bots, so the risk is substantially lower," he explains.

Threat to the internet

There's little doubt that click fraud represents a major headache for CIOs and their security teams, but Kaminsky believes that this type of hacker activity harms businesses in a more fundamental way: it plunges the economics of the internet as a business tool into doubt.

"The entire ecosystem is threatened by click fraud," he says. "Why? Because it costs money to build the web, and if money is being siphoned off by people who aren't building it, then legitimate businesses have to work harder and harder for less and less."

Click fraud is $7.2 billion problem

In terms of the scale of the click fraud problem, evidence suggests it's a multi-billion-dollar business. The 2015 Bot Baseline Study into fraud in digital advertising carried out by the Association of National Advertisers and White Ops found that click fraud will likely cost companies around the world a total of $7.2 billion in 2016, with advertisers unwittingly paying out an average of $10 million to fraudsters during the year. When it comes to the proportion of the clicks that are fraudulent, the study says advertisers were defrauded between 3 percent and 37 percent of the time.

So what can CIOs do to minimize the risk that an infected machine committing click fraud may be lurking on their networks? Kaminsky recommends keeping a close eye on the traffic generated by machines on the corporate network, and in particular monitoring DNS traffic. "No one monitors DNS enough, but there are identifiable C&C [command and control] domains," he says. "The benefit of monitoring DNS is that the info flow is relatively small, so the relative value of any data you analyze is high."

He also recommends encouraging marketing departments to use specialist click fraud protection software, such as that sold by his employer White Ops as well as competitors PPCSecure and Distil Networks.

This story, "Why CIOs should care about click fraud " was originally published by CIO .
@GaryKlutt  #NPS  #NASCAR  MIRABEL, QC:July 3, 2016)- The Smilin Assassin faced an uphill battle throughout the entire ICAR event due to a driver one row back jumping the start and making contact with the Poolsuppliescanada.ca #59 car. The driver was penalized for the error but left Klutt in the trenches with the entire race still to go.

Even with contact right out of the gates, and a car that wasnt in perfect driving condition, Klutt was able to capture a top 10 finish with seventh place, helping him gain back his overall standing in sixth position in points with 133, just 35 back from the leader.

Circuit ICAR is the toughest track that we race at all season  the flat cement surface feels more like a desert than a race track! joked Klutt.

The next race on the schedule is the Honda Indy taking place July 16th at Toronto Exhibition Place, which the team is looking forward to.

We never get to race two road courses back to back, so it will be nice to keep the same mindset in the shop over the next week leading up to the race.

Gary Klutt is Sponsored for the NASCAR Pintys Series by; Poolsuppliescanada.ca, CTL, Motive Media, Titan Productions, Daniels Corp., Torkin-manes

See @GaryKlutt for more information
Origin Insurance Brokers, Australias first Aboriginal owned and Supply Nation certified corporate insurance broker, has announced a new managing director.Adam Rhodes will take on the role having stepped down as CEO of Lockton Companies Australia (LCA) on 1 July to focus on the Origin business.Rhodes will remain a director on the Lockton Australia board.Origin acts as a corporate AR of Lockton Australia and Rhodes will work alongside David Liddiard, OAM CEO, to drive growth at the business and help develop the brokerage.Mike Hammond, chairman of Lockton International Holdings, praised Rhodes for his leadership for the past four years as the Australian business has seen growth in a challenging environment.These are exciting times for our Australia business and I want to thank Adam and all our associates in Australia for achieving outstanding results, Hammond said.Alex Shead will continue to chair LCA with Paul Marsden, Warren Merritt, Gareth Jones, and Paul Bradley taking on the responsibilities held previously by Rhodes.RELATED ARTICLES:
News / National

by Thobekile Zhou

Four BeitBridge border officials are expected to appear in the Musina Magistrate's Court in Limpopo today (Monday) on charges of fraud and corruption, SABC has reported.Three are from Home Affairs and one from South Africa Revenue Authority ( SARS).According to SABC, they were among 15 suspects arrested by the Hawks.The officials allegedly received bribes to process documents illegally for foreign nationals at the border post with Zimbabwe.Meanwhile, 17 people appeared in the BeitBridge Magistrate's Court on the Zimbabwean side of the border, charged with public violence.Lawyers for Human Rights say 10 of the accused were assaulted by police when they were rounded after Friday's protests on the Zimbabwean side.A revenue authorities warehouse was set alight and shops looted in protest at Zimbabwe's new restrictions on imports of certain goods.The 17 where been remanded in custody until when their bail application will be heard.
In an interview with the Financial Times, George Osborne said the cut is one of five measures he is planning that will build a super competitive economy with low business taxes and a global focus. A treasury spokesperson confirmed the Financial Times article was correct, but could not provide additional details on the plans or when a lower rate might be introduced.

A cut in the corporate tax rate from 20% to a rate closer to Irelands 12.5% would give the UK the lowest corporation tax rate of any major economy. Such a change could accelerate the race to the bottom on corporation tax rates among EU nations and potentially give the UK a tax haven status.

"The Chancellor has clearly turned his attentions to maintaining the competitiveness of the UK in attracting investment and ensuring that it holds on to big businesses, who may now be looking at transferring operations overseas to ensure access to the single European market," said Tim Wach, managing director at Taxand. "The decision marks an escalation of corporate tax rate reductions across the globe and will undoubtedly spark the next round of inter-country competition, as rates hurtle towards those seen in countries such as Ireland  at 12.5% - which have previously been seen as outliers," he said.

OECD Director for the Centre for Tax Policy and Administration Pascal Saint-Amans has warned that the negative impact of the Brexit on UK competitivenessmay push the UK to be even more aggressive in its tax offer, according to an internal memo cited by Reuters. However, he said that further steps in that direction would really turn the UK into a tax haven type of economy, adding that there were practical and domestic political barriers to doing this.

The UK's move "will no doubt re-open the debate over what constitutes a tax haven. At 15% or less, the UK looks set to be confirming its position in this bracket, which will no doubt anger those, across the G20, who have long been working to garner support for a more harmonised global tax system," Wach said. "This move, on the back of the Brexit decision, is a step backwards for harmonisation, though multinationals will no doubt welcome the fact that their interests are high on the agenda in an increasingly uncertain economic environment," he added.

Besides the tax cut, Osborne's five-point plan includes pushing for investment from China, ensuring support for bank lending, increasing efforts to invest in the Northern powerhouse, and maintaining the UKs fiscal credibility.

Stark contrast

The Chancellor's efforts to boost foreign investment in the UK post-Brexit is a change in approach.

Before the June 23 referendum, Osborne said he would announce an emergency budget if the UK chose to leave the EU, including tax rises and spending cuts. Since the vote, however, he has tried to calm fears among businesses and investors, stressing that the British economy remains stable and reliable. I want to reassure the British people, and the global community, that Britain is ready to confront what the future holds for us from a position of strength, Osborne said in a published statementafter the referendum vote.

The plans for a reduction in the corporation tax rate go further to reassure businesses. Osborne is awaiting official forecasts before announcing new measures in the Autumn Statement.

Hollow gesture

A cut way in the future will have little impact. Without any indication as to when this will happen, it is virtually meaningless, Richard Murphy, chartered accountant and Director of Tax Research UK, said in an article posted online today.

It is also something of a hollow gesture when the chance that Osborne will be Chancellor [in] September looks to be very remote indeed, he added.

Murphy said Osborne could choose to amend the current Finance Bill to introduce the rate cut, but this would look like a poisoned chalice for his successor.

Tax avoidance

According to Murphy, reducing the corporation tax rate would also massively increase the return to tax avoidance when even the basic rate of income tax is 20% and one can be a substitute for the other in our tax system.

Worse though, it may not work to attract business. With country-by-country reporting in place, any company that artificially relocates profits to the UK to exploit this new tax rate can easily be identified by its home tax jurisdiction, and therefore be subject to challenge. Most tax cuts in the past have not been subject to such challenge: now that they are, George Osborne shows that he does not understand the risk to companies now of being seen to go near low tax jurisdictions in any way that looks artificial. The risk to them will be real, Murphy said.
Crumbling housing estates, chronic unemployment, criminal gangs, drugs and murder. These aren't the kind of stories Tourism Ireland promotes, but for thousands of Irish people they're a reality, and one that usually doesn't get told by our novelists  until now. Step forward Lisa McInerney, the award winning new Irish writer whose debut novel The Glorious Heresies paints a picture of an out of control underworld we rarely see. Cahir O'Doherty profiles the gifted new writer, her groundbreaking debut and the stack of prestigious awards that have been coming her way.You won't often see crumbling housing estates, 50 person dole lines, drug addicts, or the small time hoods who deal coke to them in the stories we tell the world about Ireland. Bad enough we know they're out there, there's no need to make a holy show of us by writing about them for the world to read, right?

Well, step forward Lisa McInerney, author of the The Glorious Heresies (Tim Duggan Books). From the first page of her stunning debut novel you'll be bowled over by the sheer force of her storytelling and her all-electric prose.

The judges of the prestigious Baileys and Desmond Elliott prizes have already agreed that she's that rare thing, a first time, first rate writer, which saw her beating off established major heavyweights like Anne Enright to earn their top awards this year.

It's because McInerney writes as though her life depends on it, and in her new book her characters live each day as if it might be their last (it occasionally is), so the sheer rawness of the lives she described are matched only by the immediacy of her prose. It's the unmistakable arrival of a major new talent.

But who is she? McInerney describes herself as working class and says the Irish working class -- specifically Cork City's -- are her subject.

With her own mother pregnant at 19 and her father quickly out of the picture, the thirty-something writer was raised by her grandparents in a house in Co. Galway filled with eight older brothers and sisters who were in reality her aunts and uncles.

None of these facts were hidden from her. She knew who she was and where she was (she has a good relationship with her mother), so perhaps it was the age and experience gap with her older siblings contributed to her retreat into books. Dedicated writers often start off as voracious readers after all, and she was no exception.

In her teens McInerney moved to Cork to study at UCC and then stayed on to spend most of her formative years there. Now living in Gort, Co. Galway with her husband and daughter, she recently moved back to her home county to escape the steep cost of city living, but making money -- thanks to her growing raft of major writing awards -- may be becoming less of a problem.

Most writers dream of the exposure McInerney is getting by the time they've written their fifth or even sixth book, but she's being feted as though she is much further along in her career than she actually is. As introductions to the book buying public go it's a pretty ideal one.

What makes The Glorious Heresies so exciting is that it tells of an Ireland that we know exists but that we rarely hear about. McInerney's tough and tender characters are barely hanging on by their fingernails, which gives their lives and her storytelling their remarkable sense of urgency.

The story begins when Maureen Phelan, exiled to London four decades earlier before her pregnancy became too obvious, kills an intruder in her home with a Holy Stone (McInerney has an eye for irony).

With a dead man lying on her kitchen floor she calls the only man she knows who can take care of it, her son Jimmy Phelan, known to one and all as JP, the boss of Cork's criminal underworld and in truth a total stranger to her because her overtly religious parents refused her any access to him through all her London years.

Living in his former brothel, her burgeoning monster of a son figures out who to call  he has no intention of dirtying his own hands  for the cleanup operation. Right away he has the answer and the job is done.

We walk past these people on the streets every day and we don't see them, the book reminds us, but McInerney does see them.

One of her unforgettable characters is called Georgie, a teenage former junkie and former sex worker trying to stay out of trouble. For Georgie, Cork City is a place where the more fortunate stare at her as though she was something unidentifiable that had stuck to their shoe.

Here's how McInerney tells us what it feels like to be Georgie: Cork City remained a mystery, the expanse of it forbidden to people like her, a soiree to which she held no invitation.

It's because she can write like this, and because she understands what it feels like to live like this, that her book is such a marvel. On every page McInerney knows that for most people in Ireland, what you see is determined by where you stand.

Something similar happens to poor people in Ireland, she realizes. The Irish poor are people who know nobody and who nobody knows, which makes them someone's else's problem, which means they're treated like it too.

Where you're not seen you're not heard. You are completely invisible. And no one knows what it feels like to live a life that's unseen and unheard like the people in this book, whose hardscrabble lives are McInerney's riveting subject.

From barely furnished council estate buildings that become drug dealing hideouts, to the brothels that the police pretend don't exist, to the burial grounds that aren't on any map and the teenagers who are employed to sell coke to his mates, The Glorious Heresies is a unforgettable ride.

When you think about literary fiction written by men, its automatically assumed that theyre writing about universal themes and the human condition, McInerney told the press recently.

Women writers are almost straight away battling against the assumption that their writing is personal and domestic. I found that a lot with The Glorious Heresies. Its a novel in which all sorts of people get up to terrible things. People were expressing amazement at it, saying its such a male novel. What does that mean? They actually thought they were complimenting me.

Theres an assumption that women dont have a diversity of voices, that the things women write about are limited. Thats ridiculous. If you look at the Baileys Womens Prize long list, its beyond diverse with science fiction in there.

Joining an increasingly lone lineup of outstanding Irish novelists who happen to be women, McInerney's new novel is crying out for a film treatment, which means the marginal lives that are her subject will probably get the same warm reception that her debut novel has.

Irish writing is having a renaissance at the moment, and many of its most distinctive voices belong to women. In time for the 100th anniversary of the Irish revolution, even revolutionary voices like McInerney's are finally getting a hearing. Pick up this book and be amazed at her talent.
A financial expert claims that Ireland will leave the European Union soon after the UKs departure, despite the assurances of Irish Taoiseach Enda Kenny that Ireland's membership is certain.

Investment guru Andrew Amoils, who worked for investment bank JP Morgan and is now the head of research at New World Wealth, believes the UKs exit from the EU will result in a large number of immigrants relocating to Ireland, a move he feels will lead to Irish panic, causing the country to hold its own referendum on EU membership.

As the EUs biggest English-speaking nation, Amoils believes the UK to be one of the pillars that held the 28-nation bloc together, as citizens of other countries looked to move to the UK through the free movement program. He predicts that these citizens will now look to Ireland as the only other major English-speaking country, resulting in three million immigrants making their way to Ireland to work as English is the second language of most European citizens.

As a result, the financial expert expects to see Ireland hold its own referendum in the next five years. He believes the EU will survive structured around a core of Germany, France, Italy and Spain.

"Ireland will be the only English-speaking country left in the EU. This will likely result in a large inflow of EU migrants into Ireland as most EU citizens have English as their second language. Very few EU citizens know French, German or other European languages, Amoils wrote.

"As a result, we expect over three million EU citizens to enter Ireland over the next five years  this may create some panic in Ireland and may cause them to hold their own referendum in a few years.

"For many EU citizens the possibility of going to the UK without restriction was the cherry on the cake as it was an English speaking country with a good social welfare system and offered a route to other English speaking countries such as the US and Australia through work transfers. That cherry is now gone."

Worth noting that if Ireland left EU we wouldn't be able to measure increase in racist attacks - because we have no hate-crime legislation.  Colette Browne (@colettebrowne) July 1, 2016

"We say we are not bound by a UK vote...We stand by the vote of the people of the North of Ireland." https://t.co/zZEKHscSxP  Sky News (@SkyNews) June 28, 2016

Read more: Massive support for a united Ireland poll after Brexit

Taoiseach Kenny disagrees, however, stating that "Ireland will, of course, remain a member of the European Union."

"After more than 40 years of membership, we have built up strong bonds of partnership with all the other member states, and with the European institutions, that will continue to serve us well, Kenny said.

"There will be a discussion of the next steps at the meeting of the European Council next week.

"I will clearly set out our national position at that meeting, and I will ensure that our particular national interests are fully respected as we prepare to enter the next phase of negotiations," he continued.

Last February, influential London-based hedge fund Toscafund also claimed that Ireland would be better off maintaining its relationship with the UK than remaining in the EU in the event of Brexit.

In a paper entitled Britain stands up  Better to exit European Union, the hedge fund claimed that the value of trade between the UK and Ireland would mean Ireland would be better off outside the EU and that Ireland and Scotland "need to realize that economically their interests are best served joining England in engaging with a flourishing Asia. Their alternative is floundering with the rest of Europe."

Investment guru Amolis continued to say that he believes other large English-speaking countries, such as the US, will follow suit and begin to abandon the EU because of a language barrier.

"Major worldwide markets such as USA, China, Japan, India, Canada, Australia and New Zealand are likely to lose interest in the EU, he wrote, as very few of the people in these countries know any European languages. They only know English.

There has been some discussion since the Brexit vote about the position of the English language within the EU, with some saying that it should no longer remain as an official language when the UK officially leaves.

English is our official language because it has been notified by the UK. If we dont have the UK, we dont have English, said Polish MEP and chair of the European Parliaments constitutional affairs committee Danuta Hubne on Monday.

This statement was firmly rejected by the European Commission Representation in Ireland who believed the claim that English would be removed as an official language to be incorrect.

The Council of Ministers, acting unanimously, decide on the rules governing the use of languages by the European institutions. In other words, any change to the EU Institutions language regime is subject to a unanimous vote of the Council, including Ireland's, a statement said on behalf of the Representation.

Read more: Lets look at the bright side of Brexit for Ireland

Taoiseach setting Ireland up on a collision course with larger EU states over their attempts to preordain the exit talks  Gavan Reilly (@gavreilly) June 27, 2016

Brits say they won't leave EU till they have a deal, this means Ireland Inc shld get on phone to corporate America right now! Go for it!  David McWilliams (@davidmcw) June 27, 2016

The loss of English as an official language would have some detrimental effects for Ireland, as many of the countrys Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) would not be able to converse in our official language, Irish.

Despite going on a language strike and refusing to speak anything but Irish in the Parliament to protest the treatment of the Irish language at EU level last year, Irish MEP Liadh Ni Riada has warned the Irish government to actively ensure the EU does not lose English as one of its official languages.

Herself a fluent Irish speaker and advocate of the language, Ni Riada believes we must still ensure English is available in the EU for those in Ireland who consider English their official language and who speak only English.

The EU currently has 24 official language and despite receiving full status in the EU in 2007, Irish remained marginalized due to a derogation. Last year, however, the government applied to the EU council of ministers for an end to the derogation and Irish will now become a full working language in the EU by 2022.

English is the most spoken language in Europe but is only an official language of England, Ireland and Malta. Thanks to EU laws, however, which only allow a country to pick one official language, Irish is Irelands official EU nominated language and Maltese is Maltas official language, despite the Irish-language skills of some Irish MEPs not being up to the standard needed to carry out their work through the language.

Polish MEP Hubne has said she is confidant this rule will change allowing both Malta and Ireland to have English as a second working language.

I personally believe that we will find unanimity to change the rule on this ... and then we will have from the Irish not only Gaelic but also English or from the Maltese not only Maltese but also English, she said.

Ireland hasn't registered English as first language in the EU so MEPs may have to work through Irish after Brexit  pic.twitter.com/JNN36hcnxc  Colette Browne (@colettebrowne) June 27, 2016

According to research complete by OpenWorld, Ireland could expect as much as a permanent 3.1% loss in GDP by 2030 if the UK fail to leave the EU on good terms.

This could be reduced to a 1.1% percent loss if negotiations are more favorable.

H/T: The Express
I wish Donald Trump and his anti-immigrant friends would read Boston Globe columnist Kevin Cullen this weekend.

They might get an insight into how an immigrant struggles to succeed in America, but when he does he becomes the very best kind of American, one only too ready to give back, provide employment, live out his Christian values.

That was what Irishman Pearse McDermott set out to do, but he now finds himself in a nightmare with immigration services this Independence Day because of his honesty.

As Cullen writes, McDermott had started his own carpentry company employing many Americans. He had met the love of his life, a nice Italian girl called Laura Cogliano. They married and he applied for legal status as he was entitled to. His lawyer told him to be completely honest.

That is when it all went wrong. McDermott had been arrested for smoking a joint in Ireland at age 18. He also admitted he had been in a bar fight as a much younger man. That constituted moral turpitude as explained to him by an immigration officer. There would be no marriage visa for Pearse McDermott.

So as Cullen writes, As his father lay dying in Dublin last winter, Pearse McDermott was sitting in Braintree, torn between his family in Ireland and his family in America.

If he went back to Dublin, he wouldnt be allowed back into America for at least 10 years.

In the end, his father made the decision for him. From his deathbed, he instructed Pearse to stay put.

It still hurts, Pearse McDermott was saying, rubbing his forehead after a long day working on a building site in South Boston. I couldnt bury my father. I have a wife, a house, a business. I couldnt leave all that behind.

McDermott came to America legally in 2002 but overstayed his visa. He had inhaled that American dream as all immigrants do and he longed to be part of it.

First he worked as a doorman, then made his way into construction. Soon he was flying, his American dream unfolding before him. There was a house, a business a beautiful wife and the hope of kids.

As Cullen wrote, it went back to that day 14 years ago when McDermott filled in his US embassy form to come to America.

Cullen wrote: It goes back to Question B of the application he filled out 14 years ago to get a visa waiver to enter the US. It asked whether he had been arrested or convicted of an offense or crime involving moral turpitude.

Turns out that joint he got caught with when he was 18 years old fits the governments definition of moral turpitude.

I checked the no boxes on the whole thing, Pearse McDermott said. I wasnt trying to hide anything.

He even told them about a bar fight he got into in Ireland before he came to America. That honesty made things worse for him.

They didnt even know about the fight, he said. I told them about it. And now its being held against me.

His lawyer, Dan Harrington, said McDermott has been a model non-citizen since. Not even a speeding ticket.

He employs Americans, Harrington said. Hes the model immigrant story, a self-made man who has given back. Started a business. Pays his taxes. Bought a house.

Because he smoked a joint and got into a bar fight where no one was injured the immigration authorities came to arrest him.

Of course this was not what President Obamas executive order had intended. The president wanted the department of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to focus on getting criminal aliens out of the country, not silly stuff like deporting pot smokers. That got shot down in court, of course.

Speaking of the immigration officer who arrested him but released him when he saw his case is on appeal, Pearses lawyer Dan Harrington stated.

He was pretty good about it, Harrington said of the ICE agent. Ive got to be honest, the people weve dealt with in the Boston CIS (Citizen and Immigration Services) have been great, very respectful.

A source told them if they had a kid it was quite likely to go easier for them, but Pearse and Laura are having difficulty conceiving like so many others.

As Cullen noted, Boston Globe reporter Maria Sacchetti recently showed ICE has released hardened criminals instead of deporting them back to their home countries. She found that between 2008 and 2012, as many as 30 percent of the more than 300 criminals released in New England had gone on to commit more serious crimes."

Read more: Irish undocumenteds frustration at Supreme Court immigration ruling

Deporting Pearse McDermott is an utterly inappropriate response to his misdemeanors. The immigration laws desperately need overhauling so that criminal aliens are targeted , not guys who smoked a joint at 18.

This 4th of July it hardly seems fair that Pearse McDermott is in the fight of his life to stay in America, the greatest country on earth. He would once have been greeted with open arms. Emma Lazarus's poem badly needs a postscript. Thank goodness there are columnists like Kevin Cullen who still care about this issue. Donald Trump are you listening?
News / National

by Staff reporter

Zimbabwe's opposition Movement for Democratic Change on Monday called on SADC to intervene after at least 20 people were arrested during clashes between taxi drivers and police in the capital Harare."Zimbabwe is burning. The region cannot fold its hands while the situation is worsening in a member state," said party spokesperson Obert Gutu.An analyst who commented on anonymity said calling for SADC to intervene at this stage is the same as for DA to call for SADC to intervene after the Tshwane protests which rocked South Africa in the last few weeks."We did not hear anyone calling for SADC to intervene when Tshwane was on fire. Considering that South Africa is going for elections and we can tell that they will be tense, do we need SADC to be interfering with small issue like protests between kombi crews and police?" asked the analyst.The state broadcaster quoted police spokesperson Charity Charamba as saying that 20 arrests had been made and 10 commuter omnibuses impounded in the clashes on Monday morning, which centred on the Epworth, Mabvuku and Ruwa areas.Violent protests in the border town of Beitbridge on Friday saw a government warehouse burned down, a fastfood outlet looted, traffic lights vandalised and rocks placed on roads.These scenes were unusual in a country largely cowed by three and half decades of rule by President Robert Mugabe. Criticism of the longtime ruler, now 92, was not tolerated: in fact, a young former Zanu-PF official, Acie Lumumba, who last week used the F-word against Mugabe handed himself over to police on Monday, it was reported.'Retaliatory measures'But new tight controls on imports of basic goods like jam, mayonnaise, body lotion and weaves appeared to have been the final straw. With formal employment likely to represent only 10% of all jobs, many Zimbabweans depended on small scale trading to make ends meet.Harare economist Vince Musewe tweeted this weekend: "Import ban wrong policy to stimulate local production until [agriculture] sector is revived and industrial capacity increased. Is that difficult to fathom?" The Movement for Democratic Change said the government had invited "retaliatory measures" by pushing ahead with the regulations.Mugabe's government insisted they would stay in place. Local Government Minister Saviour Kasukuwere at the weekend slammed "people burning down structures because they failed to buy chilli in South Africa", in a reference to the Beitbridge unrest, the Herald daily reported.Video footage posted to social media on Monday afternoon appeared to show riot police beating and hunting down protesters in Epworth suburb, one of the morning's flashpoints.
Plans for an all-Ireland forum to discuss the fallout from Brexit have fallen through - after being blocked by the North's First Minister.

Enda Kenny's department had floated the idea of setting up a new group to discuss the issues on both sides of the border.
Finance Minister Michael Noonan has played down the threat of the UK slashing its corporate tax rate.

The chancellor George Osborne has said he wants to cut the rate from 20% to under 15% to prove Britain is "open for business".
Its license for application within the EU expired at the end of June.

Last Tuesday, the EU extended the license by 18-months pending further scientific study in spite of failing to obtain a qualified majority when Member States voted on the decision the previous week.

When glyphosate was first authorised in the EU in 2002, the evidence used in the approval process relied entirely on studies funded by the pesticides industry, many which were unpublished.

The 2002 EU approval process also only considered studies on glyphosate alone without the full spectrum of chemicals in RoundUp, which some studies indicate may increase the toxicity of glyphosate.

Plus, the 2002 approval process for glyphosate failed to consider whether the herbicide could disrupt human hormone and reproductive systems.

In parts of South America, rates of birth defect and miscarriage have increased in areas where pregnant women live close to fields sprayed with glyphosate.

Non-governmental organisations have fought hard to prevent further application of glyphosate, arguing the EU should uphold the precautionary principle to avoid further public risk until scientific evidence is evaluated.

In contrast, the agricultural lobby sees glyphosate as vital for crop protection and argues banning glyphosate will catalyse outlawing hundreds of other vital agricultural chemicals.

In an open letter to EU policy makers, presidents of the UK farming organisations wrote, European farmers need glyphosate to provide a safe, secure and affordable food supply while increasingly responding to consumer demand for greater environmental sensitivity.

Do we really need glyphosate for safe, secure and affordable food?

The World Health Organisation declared glyphosate a probable carcinogen last year, and theres no doubt glyphosate negatively impacts farmland biodiversity, water quality and food supplies for birds and insects. Glyphosate can hardly be categorised as safe.

One could argue in the short term glyphosate could make our food supply more available by making farmers work easier and possibly increasing crop yields.

However, in the long term, continued use of such chemicals is far more likely to decrease our food safety and our security rather than improve it.

Ultimately, food security is dependent on nature. When chemicals like glyphosate kill the food supply of birds and insects, they contribute to the death of wildlife we need to pollinate our crops, fertilise our soils or control pests naturally.

Weve already seen how agricultural chemicals can damage nature with the collapse of honeybee populations as a result of neonicotinoid pesticides in the EU or with the historic Silent Spring detailed by Rachel Carson in the 1970s after DDT was implicated in thinning eggshells in bird populations across the USA.

Both neonicotinoids and DDT are banned as a result of their devastating impacts on nature, but these chemicals persist and accumulate in flora and fauna and even in our bodies.

Despite a US ban 40 years ago, DDT continues to be found in American produce and has been measured in the blood of 99% of Americans tested.

DDT is still implicated as a cause of cancer, infertility, and other health effects among the US population.

Glyphosate appears no less endemic.

A 2015 study carried out by University of California San Francisco found glyphosate in the urine of some 93% of Americans tested, and a 2013 study in Europe found traces of glyphosate in the urine of individuals from all 18 countries tested.

The more glyphosate is applied, the more weeds become resistant and the more application is required to achieve the same effect. In an effort to combat these super weeds, we expose our environment and our bodies to more of this chemical.

The farming lobby argues glyphosate improves soil structure  but it also damages soil chemistry by affecting the biological and chemical processes around plant roots, including the ability to fix nitrogen, resulting in the need for increased fertilisers at additional environmental and economic cost.

In this battle between the agricultural industry and environmentalists, the argument has been falsely framed as a choice between safe, secure and affordable food versus protection of nature and environment.

In reality, what environmentalists are fighting for is not nature at the expense of peoples food but nature for peoples food.

In the long term, what may make farmers jobs a little easier today will take such a toll on nature that their livelihoods, and our food security, will become more challenging in the decades to come.

It is nature that creates the optimal conditions to grow food, not Monsanto.

Dr Cara Augustenborg:

Environmental scientist, chair of Friends of the Earth Ireland. Blog: The Verdant Yank on www.CaraAugustenborg.com Twiter: @CAugustenborg. For further infomation on glyphosate visit https://www.foeeurope.org/glyphosate.
While farm fatalities were down by 40% in 2015, with 18 deaths reported versus 30 in 2014, four of them child fatalities, the organisers insist that far greater awareness is needed to improve safety on the farm.

The campaign will feature themed messages each day this week, covering subjects such as falls, machinery, livestock, transport and children on farms.

This years Farm Safety Week is supported by more organisations than in prior campaigns, including the Farm Safety Foundation, Farm Safety Partnerships, Health & Safety Executive, Health & Safety Executive for Northern Ireland and the Health & Safety Authority, Ireland.

It aims to educate and inspire to improve agricultures poor safety record.

These are not just statistics, said Pat Griffin, senior inspector with the Health and Safety Authority and member of Farm Safety Partnership Ireland.

Behind each story is a grieving family, a community in shock, and a farm that needs to continue being farmed no matter what has happened.

"This year, the week is focusing upon the power of the positive. We know we need to engage with farmers of all ages to make farms safer places to work and live.

Monday focuses on the theme of falls, which caused one-fifth of Irelands fatal farm accidents in 2015.

IFA President Joe Healy, Farming remains a labour-intensive and sometimes dangerous occupation.

"Each year farm fatalities in Ireland reach double figures and more than 1,000 injuries occur on farms.

"We are working with our counterparts in Northern Ireland, England, Scotland and Wales on five days and five themes but one clear question  Have you thought about Who Would Fill Your Boots? if you were to have a farm accident.

Minister for Agriculture, Michael Creed, added: Ive seen first-hand the devastation that follows farm accidents and fatalities. The impact on families and communities is unquantifiable.

We must all continue to work together to drive behavioural change so that safe working practices are followed at all times.
Last Monday, the Government proceeded with its National Economic Dialogue.

The gathering is a two-day meeting of Government ministers, other members of the Oireachtas, civil servants and civil society groups to discuss the kind of things that should feature in the Governments economic plans both in the short term and in the longer term.

The National Economic Dialogue serves a purpose, if only to force the various interest groups in our society to listen to each other, however briefly.

Most of the time, interest groups go directly to the relevant ministers or Government departments and make the case for increased spending in this area, or call for tax incentives in another area. During the National Economic Dialogue this all happens in one room.

That makes for unusual discussions. You hear politicians making economic points, economists making political points, trade unionists making moral arguments and even accountants urging more spending.

The National Economic Dialogue agenda had been decided before the Brexit vote and proceeded along those lines. But every contributor had to acknowledge that our nearest neighbour and most important trading partner had elected to leave the EU club of nations.

Brexit will determine how we trade with the UK, and therefore will dictate the overall health of Government revenues and the shape of future Irish budgets.

The very rawness of the Brexit decision means people are struggling to come to terms with its longer-term consequences. There is no precedent for a Brexit. Initial reaction to the uncertainty created by Brexit has been swift. The currency markets have tumbled, as did the stock exchange.

In the confusion, it becomes harder for businesses to plan production, fulfil orders, purchase materials and plan for new employment. They will be less sure how much effort to put into marketing and sales, or how many existing commitments should be trimmed.

The sense of uncertainty reflected in the discussion rooms of the National Economic Dialogue here is only a pale reflection of the bewilderment across the Irish Sea.

Its nearly a decade ago since I was caught up in a rally outside the Houses of Parliament calling for a referendum on UK involvement in the EU.

Last week I got caught in a rally in the same place calling for the outcome of just such a referendum to be overturned.

UK business people and politicians alike are suffering from something which seems to be akin to buyers remorse.

Its unlikely that the deal which the British electorate has bought with their referendum vote can be overturned, so the focus is already moving to the precise terms and conditions of the departure.

While Brexit is a democratic decision following a referendum, that referendum was on the face of it about replacing an institution, the EU.

It is now looking like it was also a vote about replacing governments, leaders and individual politicians at national and local level-the traditional outcomes of a ballot.

Now, the heads of the 27 EU remaining member states will be looking to their own domestic interests first.

They will want to ensure that their countries suffer no competitive disadvantage, commercially or socially, compared to the newly departed UK.

They will need to satisfy themselves that a Leave campaign in their countries does not shred their own political party systems, as is happening to both the UK Conservative and Labour parties.

I dont think it will be the EU treaties or processes or institutions or bureaucracy that will decide the shape of the settlement between the UK and the EU.

Instead, it will be the political concerns here at home, and the domestic political concerns of Germany, France, Italy and all the rest of the remaining member states.

Brian Keegan is director of taxation at Chartered Accountants Ireland.
One of two halves really, the first, to elect a new leader of the Tories and then to invoke Article 50 and set the negotiations in place to exit the EU.

The Conservative leadership election has started with no Boris. The markets rallied on that because they believe the contest is likely to be more conciliatory in nature.

Certaintly, what we need and a UK leader who can unite the Tory party. Contrast that with the Labour Party who are imploding.

The due date for a new UK leader is expected to be around September 9. It is possible, the UK ends up with a strong leader  whether its Theresa May or Michael Gove  who has the full support of the party and little or no effective opposition.

If the UK gets there by avoiding speculation about a new referendum or a statement to the effect that there will be no new Brexit referendum re-run would help markets settle without serious turmoil.

The second half begins with the UK decision on how and when to invoke Article 50. How long has the UK got from a leader being chosen to starting the clock on negotiations?

The UK government is the only party that can initiate the process. Will it stall and risk the ire of the 27 countries on the other side of the table?

It could be 2017 before the second half of this game kicks off in earnest.

Angela Merkel has bluntly stated the opening EU battle line: I can only advise our British friends not to delude themselves If you want to leave the family, you cannot expect to keep all the privileges while giving up all the obligations.

But following an initial flurry of foot-stamping, lines in the sand and jawboning, I am betting that pragmatism will break out. There is a stunning amount at stake on all sides.

Politicians and bureaucrats will be heading the talks but they wont be driving them. The exporters of Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Holland and Ireland will be the heavy influencers as will the exporters on the UK side.

The extent of trade both ways is colossal  Germany alone exports 90bn of goods and services to the UK. Thats in stark contrast to its 20bn of exports to China.

We are not going to be raising restrictive barriers to damage that activity in a hurry. Trade too will be the driver of compromise on the other sticky areas such as immigration, freedom of movement and regulation.

Lets not fool ourselves there are serious and very difficult issues at stake here: Scotland and the North, for starters.

Questions about when Article 50 will be invoked will extend for maybe more than two years. But it is clear that not everybody is going to be happy with the outcome.

It is going to be a lot like the issue of mortgage debt forgiveness here: Borrowers are unhappy because they didnt get enough of a write-down; lenders are unhappy because they had to write off debt and the neighbours are livid.

Compromise solutions are going to happen and that will disadvantage some groups. The UK is going to be allowed to trade with the EU in some fashion, and not in a restrictive manner.

The UK is going to have to pay into the pot in some manner for its access to the common market. Irish farmers may find themelves at a disadvantage, having to stick to EU regulations, while their UK counterparts are let off. It wont be fair.

Politicians on all sides are going to have to sell the outcome to their respective constituents whether they like it or not. The big risk for Ireland and the UK is a lack of faith in the process. The UK is running a serious current account deficit of around 7% of its GDP.

Meanwhile, UK bond rates are currently below 1%. If the markets decide the UK will be seriously restricted from trading with the EU, the outlook for current account could worsen and the outlook for sterling could darken. That would have a major effect on Irish exporters.

For us observers, we want to see firstly steady progress towards a Conservative leader who is capable of uniting the Tory party. Secondly, we want to see a process where Article 50 is triggered soon after September 9  October would be a good date.

And we want a dialogue, never mind if its heated, lengthy and difficult, but just as long it does not become entrenched. After all, they have two years to get it right. They are aiming for a resolution which will not be popular with all but one which is just about acceptable.

The agreement needs to keep the British neighbours happy, but still discourages any other Europeans from going down the same path.

The one thing the EU can do is fudge, and we need the mother of all fudges now.

Peter Brown is head of wealth management at Baggot Asset Management. He is at www.baggot.ie
James Herriot, the pen name of Alf Wright, who practised among the farmers of the Yorkshire Dales, once claimed that vets will never grow rich but will have a life of endless interest and variety.

He shared his experiences of treating animals and observing farmers and their way of life in many of his 18 books which sold 50 million copies in 20 countries.

All Creatures Great and Small was the most famous of those works and was adapted for two films and became a hugely successful BBC television series which millions of people viewed.

Wright  who only started writing when he was 50  remained in veterinary practice long after his books had made him known world-wide.

But that did not make any difference to the country people he met. If a a farmer calls me with a sick animal he couldnt care less if I were George Bernard Shaw, he once said.

Wright, who was born 100 years ago this year, practised during a period of great change in agriculture.

Tractors replaced old work horses, while ancient cures were also giving way to antibiotics and other drugs as remedies for sick animals.

A large-scale shift in veterinary practice saw an increase in the treatment of dogs, cats and other pets. Group practicies were developed and more women qualified as practitioners.

Today, veterinary science remains the core of a vets professional calling  just as it was during the career of Alf Wright, who qualified as a vet in 1939 and died in 1995, aged 78.

More than 3,000 delegates attending the five-day World Buiatrics Congress (WBC), which opened at the Convention Centre in Dublin yesterday, will surely have read about what life was like as a country vet in his day.

Buiatrics is the study of cattle and their health and the conference, held every two years, is being attended by vets, researchers and experts from more than sixty-five countries and is expected to boost the Irish economy by some 5m.

It is the official gathering of the World Association of Buiatrics and is held in a different part of the world every two years. It was last held here in 1986.

Hosted by Veterinary Ireland, the aim of the scientific programme is the promotion of animal health and welfare as a means of progressing towards a more sustainable agriculture.

It places particular emphasis on herd health as a means of achieving that goal. Presentations by Irish veterinarians will reflect on this countrys success in managing disease eradication programmes.

There will be 32 keynote lectures and 300 oral presentations. The sharing of the latest scientific updates and clinical techniques extends to 700 poster presentations. There will also be workshops, symposia and round table discussions.

Michael Sexton, head of the organising committee for the congress, said that consumers and retailers are showing an ever increasing interest in cow health and welfare.

Vets play a big role with their farmer clients in maintaining the health and welfare of cattle herds throughout the world, he said.

Mr Sexton said that the advisory, clinical and scientific expertise of vets is also at the heart of Irelands superb track record in food safety and quality through the veterinary inspectorate services.

These are supporting the positive reputation of the food and agricultural industry  a sector which is playing an important part in Irelands economic revival.

Cattle  both dairy and beef  are an important part of that, particularly given that our temperate climate favours grass-based livestock farming, he said.

Mr Sexton, who is in a mixed practice, Riverview Veterinary Group, based in Bandon, Co Cork, said the Irish dairy and beef sector is worth protecting in many ways, not just economic, but also because it is a way of life for many farm families.

This in turn reinforces the importance of the work done by Irish vets in the eradication of animal diseases and in measures to defend Ireland from the threat of new disease outbreaks, he said.

Ireland is one of the most important food exporting nations in the world. It has a long standing reputation for the quality produce that comes from the national cattle herd.

Health and welfare is of tremendous importance for the animals themselves, the people who work with them and for the nation as a whole.

With the successful eradication of brucellosis, the reduction in TB rates, the advent of Animal Health Ireland and other initiatives, the country is certainly in the vanguard of cattle health.

Animal health issues are also high on the European Parliament agenda, according to Mairead McGuinness, who officially opened the Veterinary Ireland conference and annual general meeting in Mullingar, Co Westmeath, last November.

The Environment Committee is working to ensure better access, availability and safety of veterinary medicines while also achieving a single market for pharmaceutical products, said Ms McGuinness.

The role of the veterinary practitioner in managing herd health and assisting farmers with disease prevention on their farms is more important than ever.

Vets and farmers are part of the food supply chain, which starts with healthy animals in a healthy environment. Consumers need to know that this vital link in the chain works in an effective way, she said.

One of the aims of Veterinary Ireland, established in 2001, with a pedigree dating back to 1888, is to facilitate the profession in its commitment to improving the health and welfare of the animals under its care.

It has more than 1,500 members and is currently headed by president Mairead Wallace-Pigott, Millstreet Veterinary Group, a mainly dairy but mixed practice in north west Cork that also includes care for companion animals.
What does Flexport do?

Basically, what we are is a freight forwarder. So what we do for our clients is we freight from the factories, usually in China or Asia, to clients warehouses in Europe or the US. We do this by ocean or air.

A travel agency for freight is what you could call it. I think for a lot of our customers making that step to a more data-driven approach is hard, because they are so used to keying in all the different data points that they get, usually through email.

By structuring that data, it has become a huge revelation to a lot of our clients to get instant feedback on what they spend on shipping, how much they ship, which lanes perform well and which dont. Every day we empower our customers to make better decisions.

So where did it all begin for you?

Well, it begins with our founder Ryan Petersen and he was a long-term importer of goods from China into the US market  all the kinds of things that Americans like to import like TVs or walk-in bathtubs. He realised that importing goods into the US was far more complicated than it needed to be.

He understood that the user experience was broken. It was hard to pin down a freight forwarder who would move his freight, it was hard to get a proper quote and when you did it would be weeks later through a fax. Then when the goods finally started to move, they would suddenly just turn up on his doorstep.

The time between shipment and delivery was a blank, it was very hard to get an idea of where it actually was and if it was on schedule.

When the invoice would come through the door, it was packed full extras and hidden charges which werent covered in the original quote. All of this came together to plant the seed for Flexport.

It doesnt look like the sexiest of industries to disrupt, but it is a global market worth over $1 trillion (897.75bn)?

Yes, thats very true. The cost of moving goods around the world is over $1tn and the cost of just making sure that freight moves properly around the world is worth about $300bn to $400bn. That is the market that were aiming at right now with Flexport.

It is a super-antiquated business. Technology hasnt really penetrated it enough to make the impact that it should be having. What were trying to do is to bring that technology to that industry to allow our clients to get a much better experience.

We structure all data which surrounds shipments, be it commercial invoices or shipping papers, then we give that data back to our customers. By making that data more accessible to our customers, it enables them to make much better decisions. The knock-on effect is to better control their supply chain.

Ultimately, this helps to lower costs and get an understanding of streamlining their operations.

Its such a huge problem within the market, access to clean usable data. I would say that its such a huge problem that that is the reason why no one has taken it on like us before.

The industry ignored those big and hard problems, simply because they were big and hard. We are of the persuasion that all the easy problems, in terms of technology, are more or less solved.

Its the big hard problems that need to be solved now. So I think we are going after it because it is a hard problem to solve.

How are you different to others in the market?

I think were very much looking to have a data-driven approach to what were doing. By structuring all the data from beginning to end.

This means that our clients are able to see the complete picture of how their operations work or can work more efficiently. Were not looking to give you pieces of data, we want you to have all the data.

Having all the information rather than what a freight company hands you is the key to keeping our clients informed, thus making decisions that can save them time and money.

Scaling into an industry of that size takes money?

Yes, thats right, so basically weve raised $28m (25m) in seed and Series A funding. This capital will be used mainly for the hiring of engineers and their salaries.

We will also be putting that into the platform itself and constantly updating it to the needs of our customers. It has been an essential round of investment that will allow us to keep driving on to goals over the next few years.

You have to look at where we are at the moment too. We are not just building the platform, we actually have big clients, and growing faster every month. We have over 600 clients and are growing 25% in revenue month on month. Weve shown that what were doing resonates with customers, and its a proposition that they have been waiting years to get.

What is the future for Flexport?

We started as a US-based company, starting up in San Francisco. What you see now is that weve expanded to New York, weve opened up an office here in Amsterdam to cover the European market and weve opened an office up in Shanghai, which would be the origin place for most trades.

So in the mid-term, I think we will expand more geographically. I think in the long term our aim is to be the operating system for global trade.

Now that may seem like were boasting, but we have a vision for what we want our platform to be. We want to enable any two partners anywhere around the world to engage in a trade to move goods. We are also driven by our conviction that global trade has been a big influence for global wealth.

Global trade over the past decade has pushed billions of people around the world out of poverty. Like any business, ours starts with our customers and their success.

That is what allows us to drive sales and drive growth. Were not just a technology platform, our company is being run by real people. Every shipment has a team of experts connected to it who can help and provide information at any time. You cant run all of it just on software.

The software is a great tool and a great aid to help you perform better, but in the end, youll still need people solving the problems.
Opinion / Columnist

Anyone contemplating jumping into bed with Mai Mujuru's Zimbabwe People First had better take some precautions. They should ensure that they have an ironclad marriage contract to guarantee that theirs is no marriage of convenience and they must exact a hefty amount of lobola to force the union to last.Zim PF comes with natural baggage. They cannot ignore their relationship with that other member of the PF family. Anyone marrying into that family must enter into their union with eyes wide open, completely aware of the PF family lineage, beliefs and tradition.All principals in Zim PF are former longstanding members of Zanu-PF. As such they are complicit in the destruction of the Zimbabwean economy, the crimes and injustices of Gukurahundi and Murambatsvina, and the violence surrounding the 2008 elections. They have profited from the rape of Zimbabwe's resources and the confiscation of white-owned farms.Mai Mujuru and her group of ex-Zanu-PF chefs cannot pretend that their expulsion from a faction-riven Zanu-PF means that they can be automatically reincarnated as innocent participants in Zimbabwe politics. They are naive to seek political legitimacy through an alliance with other opposition parties without being questioned. They have a lot of cleansing to do. If they are to be taken seriously, they must acknowledge the pain they have caused to our people. They will have to work hard to earn the people's trust.What marriage price should be exacted for agreeing to enter into a union with Zim PF? In an official letter written by ZUNDE to Zim PF, we set the bride price in four essential instalments:1. They must issue a formal public apology for their involvement in past transgressions committed by Zanu-PF, especially the violence of 2008 which is still fresh in people's minds. Their principals must publicly express their willingness to stand before a truth and reconciliation commission to account for their collaboration in Zanu-PF misrule.2. They must commit that they will unreservedly condemn and fight against corruption, lawlessness and violence. They must disavow any form of impunity and entitlement.3. They must commit that they will embrace, champion and defend the politics of values where democracy, good governance, rule of law, freedom, equality and the wellbeing of the Zimbabwean people are paramount.4. They must commit that they will not re-join Zanu-PF under any circumstances.We welcomed Zimbabwe People First into the ranks of the opposition in a previous article but we also reminded them they were coming into the democratic family with excess baggage that they needed to offload in order to be convincing. I notice that they seem to have reflected on what we said and they have removed some of their notorious characters from public prominence. We commend them for this. However, we believe they need to do a lot more, and the sooner the better.ZUNDE is a unifying political movement. We are in dialogue with political parties and we are in competition with none. Since before Zim PF was even officially launched, ZUNDE has been having some very frank discussions with Mai Mujuru's senior representatives. We are neither ashamed nor afraid to point out the weaknesses or strengths of our colleagues in the democratic struggle but we only do so in order to build a united alternative government. By being open and honest with each other, we can march forward together with trust.All those who are genuine about the future of Zimbabwe must find each other at this crucial juncture. They must come together and chart the way forward guided not by self-interest but by values and the willingness to serve, not seeking to be served.Benjamin Paradza(Exiled Judge of the High Court of Zimbabwe)Team ZUNDE
Europes Industry Commissioner Elzbieta Bienkowska last week called on Volkswagen to also compensate European owners of its diesel-powered cars, saying it would be unfair for them to be treated differently from US customers just because of a different legal system.

We have a different situation here (in Europe), Matthias Mueller was quoted as saying by Welt am Sonntag.
According to The Sun, Sajad Gharibi, has confirmed he will fight against jihadis.

Weighing a remarkable 25 stone, Gharibi has competed in bodybuilding and powerlifting competitions.
The development comes as former taoiseach John Bruton says Ireland needs to be prepared for the worst outcome from Britains decision to leave the European Union.

The fall-out from Brexit will be discussed today at the North-South Ministerial Council, being held in Dublin. Enda Kenny will discuss elements of the all-island forum to debate Brexit.

Health Minister Simon Harris announced details of the new forum yesterday, saying it would cover areas of mutual interest, including trade, investment and health.

Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams said that both the Leave and Remain sides in the north should be included in the forum.

Meanwhile, Mr Bruton said Ireland needed to prepare for and discuss the worst scenarios from Brexit.

Ireland needed to now argue what would be good for Europe, said Mr Bruton. His comments come in the wake of Mr Kenny siding with the UK over its needs when it come to Brexit.

Mr Bruton warned of the worst case scenario for Ireland if a swift Brexit took place. This could lead to significant tariffs being applied across the border and in the UK, which in turn would lead to greater costs for Irish exporters.

Political relations between Ireland and Britain, especially regarding the North, would also be more difficult, he added.

Ireland needed to prepare for the worst outcome, said Mr Bruton. This included examining how costs here might increase, he added.

Meanwhile, June exchequer figures published today will likely show the Government continues to tap a rising bounty in tax revenues, providing the fiscal room to cut taxes if it so chooses in the budget.

However, analysts question whether the wisdom of the Government promising tax cuts at a time when Ireland should be preparing itself for any backwash from the unexpected outcome of the Brexit vote, which could lead to a recession in the UK.

Alan McQuaid, chief economist at Merrion Capital, said: A cautious approach is probably the best approach.

It would be wiser not to commit to spend money on tax cuts with money that may not be in the kitty if the UK were to slide into a recession, Mr McQuaid said.

Tax and spend returns for the first six months of the year are likely to show about 10% more in revenues in its coffers than this time last year. Snapshots of the Irish economy taken before the Brexit vote and published last week suggest manufacturing industry continues to expand and consumers are spending more in the shops.
As of May 16, all non-EU fishermen seeking to work in the industry here had to have atypical worker permission and be given proper contracts of employment and be paid statutory minimum wages as employees of the boat owner.

The International Transport Workers Federation has visited a number of ports in recent days and spoken to boat owners and fishermen to assess their compliance with the new regulations. It has gathered documentation which highlights the level to which boat owners are dodging their requirements under the regulations.

In one port, of the seven vessels in dock, five had non-EU crews with no permits. One had two permits and the skipper of the other gave a guarantee that three permits were available for his crew.

In a letter sent to the Workplace Relations Commission, Port State Control and the Garda National Immigration Bureau, ITF inspector Ken Fleming said his organisation had found a mindset from those we encountered of non-compliance.

We discovered that paperwork is being made available to the Marine Survey Office that shows rest hours within acceptable levels, while at the same time paperwork is being shown to the Workplace Relations Commission that shows acceptable levels of work done.

But when you compare both sets of papers the numbers do not add up to 168 hours per week. This is a serious development and needs to be tackled. He said the ITF had also found that vessels registered in the North were being used in the waters here to undermine the scheme.

It is our view that if this is not stopped many more UK vessels will appear, he said.

Mr Fleming also raised concerns about vessels under 15 metres long which have non-EU workers onboard, but which are not coming under the new regulations.

We have turned our backs on workers serving on the small vessels. Surely this must be corrected, he said.

Mr Fleming said another stark reality is that boat owners believe all hours worked above the basic do not have to be.

It was stated to us by many owners that this money can be held back from the seafarer and paid at a later date, he said. Some suggested that it would be paid at the end of contract if the fisher behaved. One said he would use the cash to pay for the fishers ticket home. Mr Fleming said some boat owners doing their best to comply with the scheme are quite bitter at the fact that others are bragging about noncompliance.

What is needed is a strong zero-tolerance approach from the state agencies. What is clear and accepted is that the WRC has been active, but only on an educational basis to the industry. However, we are 5 months in now, and the take up of permits is simply unacceptable. The education phase must come to an end now and enforcement must take priority.
The need to cover for neighbouring parishes means no priest is full-time in his own parish in these areas, and the laity are responsible for more work, the Bishop indicated.

While five priests have died in the past nine months, at least three priests are coping with long term illness, Dr Browne said.

Three priests who retired last year were above the age of 75 and one elderly priest has retired this year.

Now just one priest in the diocese, which includes parts of west and north Cork, is under the age of 40.

For only the first time in 10 years, Kerry hopes to see an ordination next year and four people are studying for the priesthood.

I have tried to keep the number of new appointments to a minimum this year, mindful there were a large number last year. Each movement has a significant effect on priests and people throughout the whole local pastoral area, the bishop said.

The parishes without priests are being served by priests in their pastoral areas, equivalent to the 12 old deaneries.

Already, Valentia Island in the south west; Allihies in west Cork, and Tarbert in the north are without resident priests. These are joined now by Ballyheigue and Duagh.

I realise that this in particular will cause upset and be unsettling for both priests and people. The total number of parishes without a resident priest is now five. If in a pastoral area there are four parishes and just three priests, then no priest is full-time in his own parish, Dr Browne added.

A quarter of each priests time is dedicated to the fourth parish that is without a resident priest. More and more responsibility rests with the laity, he said.

Overall it is clear that more responsibility for life in the parish is in the hands of the laity. It is the same spirit of service to the parish that we see in all areas of local community life: the GAA, amateur drama, Kerry Parents and Friends, bridge clubs, etc. Thank God so many people find it lifegiving to give freely of their time to activities in their community, Dr Browne added.

The changes of appointment of clergy in the Diocese of Kerry this month include:

Retirement: Fr Bill Radley PP Glenflesk.

Appointments: Mgr Sean Hanafin PP, St Johns Tralee, on Sabbatical until July 2017.

Fr Tom Leane PP Ballyheigue to be PP Dromtarriffe.

Fr Liam Comer PP Dromtarriffe to be PP Ardfert.

Fr Tadhg Fitzgerald PP Ardfert to be PP St Johns Tralee.

Fr George Hayes Vice-Rector Irish College Rome to be PP Glenflesk.

Fr Pat Moore to retire as PP of Duagh due to health reasons.

Rev Sean Jones newly ordained Deacon to his Pastoral Placement in the Listowel Pastoral area.

Following the transfer of Fr Tom Leane PP, the parish of Ballyheigue will be served by the priests of the Naomh Bhreanainn Pastoral Area, with Fr Liam Comer as Moderator.

Following Fr Pat Moore retiring as PP of Duagh, the parish of Duagh will be served by the priests of the Listowel Pastoral Area with Fr Declan O Connor as Moderator.

Priests of all pastoral areas of the diocese take up different responsibilities outside their own parishes in the pastoral area. This will be decided and communicated locally.

These changes will become effective on Wednesday, July 20.
The UN special envoy for climate change and the El Nino weather pattern is spending three days in the country this week after widespread failure of rains and flash floods in the region over the last year.

Ms Robinson, former UN high commissioner for human rights, said Ethiopia suffers some of the worst effects of climate change despite doing so little to cause it.

I am saddened that Ethiopia should have to cope with this El Nino situation, she said.

Despite the efforts of the government of Ethiopia, and humanitarian partners, the impacts of climate change have weakened peoples ability to cope with El Nino which is unfair considering Ethiopias negligible contribution to global greenhouse gas emissions.

The trip is Ms Robinsons first visit to Africa since being appointed to her role two months ago by UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon.

It also takes place amid the deepening food crisis in the Horn of Africa where millions of people are at risk of malnutrition as El Nino warming in the Pacific compounds the debilitating impact of climate change elsewhere around the world.

The weather pattern, which hits every two to seven years, is taking place where temperatures are already warmer and it is usually followed by the La Nina cooling period which can spark floods and droughts.

During her trip, Mrs Robinson will see the work of aid agencies, including Concern, Trocaire, and Goal, which have been pleading for the international community to do more to prevent the Ethiopian drought becoming the worst food emergency in the region since 1985.

She called on world powers to live up to their responsibilities as millions of Ethiopians are put at risk.

In addition to supporting relief efforts for this immediate crisis, the international community must take a much longer term view, said Ms Robinson.

Climate change impacts will continue to undermine development gains and increase the vulnerability of people to natural disasters, therefore the international community has a duty to reduce emissions, support resilience and adaptation efforts in the hardest hit communities.

It is estimated that 3.4bn is needed to combat the impacts of the El Nino crisis .

Despite its vulnerability to the negative effects of climate change, Ethiopia and its population of more than 100 million has one of the lowest carbon emission rates in the world. It is estimated that it takes 88 Ethiopians to emit as much carbon dioxide as one Irish person.
Pressure is mounting on Taoiseach Enda Kenny to give members a free vote when Independent Wexford TD Mick Wallaces bill is voted on on Thursday.

Health Minister Simon Harris indicated there is still no agreed position about the bill at Cabinet, which is expected to have another heated discussion on the matter tomorrow.

Junior jobs minister and alliance member John Halligan yesterday insisted his group can vote against the Government on the bill. Two senior alliance members at Cabinet, Shane Ross and Finian McGrath, at the weekend told supporters there was nothing in the programme for government which prohibits a free vote on the issue

Not getting a free vote was unacceptable, Mr Halligan told RTE yesterday.

Following a meeting with supporters in Athlone on the weekend, he said: We have the backing of our supporters to vote against the Government, absolutely.

Pressure is growing on Mr Kenny to grant this free vote to Cabinet members.

Public Accounts Committee chairman and Fianna Fail TD Sean Fleming said it was morally wrong for a party leader to impose their views on others.

Mr Kenny should allow Government TDs have a free vote, insisted Mr Fleming.

Fianna Fail is giving its TDs have a free vote on the bill, which proposes allowing abortions here in cases of fatal foetal abnormalities. The Government say the bill is unconstitutional, would not withstand a legal challenge, and has been questioned by medical experts.

A Cabinet discussion on an agreed position regarding the bill ended unsuccessfully last week. It is understood a compromise is being looked at, which could include allowing Independent Alliance ministers to abstain from the vote.

Health Minister Simon Harris conceded that there was still no agreed Government position yesterday.

The Government promised an assembly in the autumn will examine changes to abortion laws and specifically whether the Eighth Amendment, which gives equal weighting to the foetus and the mother, should be repealed.

Mr Harris said he supported Mr Wallaces principles in the bill, but stressed it was against the law and would not make a medical difference for women seeking terminations. he added that his generation had not had an opportunity to actually vote on abortion laws.

He insisted a referendum was needed on the Eighth Amendment before any legislation on terminations in cases of fatal foetal abnormalities can be agreed.
Two studies from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland and Trinity College Dublin found that foreign trained doctors experience slower career progression than doctors trained in Ireland, and half plan to move to a new country.

A survey of 366 foreign doctors registered to practice medicine in Ireland, funded by the Health Research Board and enabled by the Medical Council, showed that just one in three were planning to stay in Ireland.

Another study by the RCSI health workforce research group, in collaboration with a senior researcher from Dublin City University, found that the longer Irish-trained doctors spend abroad, the less likely they are to return to Ireland.

A survey of 388 Irish-trained health professionals working abroad  307 doctors and 81 nurses and midwives, most of who had left Ireland between 2008 and 2014  showed most of the physicians planning to remain abroad had risen from 10% to 34% over the period.

Head of the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health Medicine, Ruairi Brugha, said there was a consistent pattern of findings from such studies.

The same problems in how we manage our medical workforce, whether it is the doctors we train or those we recruit from overseas are leading to large numbers leaving for more attractive jobs and increasingly to make their long-term careers abroad,  said Prof Brugha.

Two years ago, the Department of Health published the Strategic Review of Medical Training and Career Structures that included 25 recommendations which, if implemented, will address many of these doctors concerns, especially if we can tackle the under-staffing of our hospitals.

The studies are published the current issue of BioMed Centrals journal, Human Resources for Health, which focuses on the World Health Organisations Global Code on the International Recruitment of Health Personnel.

Prof Brugha said the central tenet of the global code was that each country should train and retain the health professionals it needs.

This applies just as much to a wealthy country like Ireland, which is now training the numbers of doctors it needs but has been losing them in increasing numbers, as it does to poorer countries, from which we have recruited many of the doctors that staff our hospitals.
Figures published by the Department of the Environment show fewer than one in five owners paid the penalty. Just 858 owners out of 4,849 issued with an on-the-spot fine in 2015 were recorded as paying. The fine for not having a dog licence is 100, while it is 150 for not cleaning up after a dog fouls in a public place.

Dog wardens in the area covered by Cork County Council issued almost half of all fines for breaches of dog control legislation last year.

Carlow and Clare were the only counties where 100% of owners paid the fine.

The lowest compliance rate was Roscommon, Tipperary, and Galway City, where nobody paid the fine. Compliance rates of less than 10% were also found in Cork County, Kilkenny, Laois, Offaly, and South Dublin.

No fines were issued to dog owners in Longford and Sligo last year.

Some breaches of the Control of Dogs Acts 1986 and 1992 carry a fine of up to 2,500 and/or a prison term of up to three months.

Overall, a total of 411 prosecutions were taken against dog owners, resulting in 107 convictions.

Only seven local authorities initiated any prosecution against owners who failed to pay a fine, with Cork County, Kerry, Louth, and South Dublin the only areas to take a large number of court actions for non-payment of fines.

A total of 13,051 stray dogs were recorded as being seized, surrendered, or impounded last year, a decrease of around 1,500 on 2014.

Animal shelters found homes for 3,173 dogs, while 2,038 animals were reclaimed. A total of 1,824 dogs were put down, compared to almost 2,900 the previous year. Some 366 stray greyhounds were also recorded last year, with large numbers being found, particularly in Limerick and Kerry.

Only three local authorities made a profit from operating dog warden services last year. The overall cost of such services across 31 council areas was just over 6.1m, up 11% on 2014 figures.

However, revenue from dog warden services rose by only 1.5% to just over 3.8m, resulting in a net national loss of almost 2.3m in 2015.

Income from such services, which is derived from dog licence revenue and fines, exceeded the cost of running the service for only three councils: Cavan, Kerry, and Monaghan. The biggest deficit was incurred in Dublin city, where the service ran up a loss of around 222,000 last year.

A total of 197,549 dog licences were issued last year, up 2.5% annually.

The council area with the highest number of issued licences was Cork county, at 32,015, followed by Kerry with 16,839.

Combined, the four local authorities in Dublin issued a total of 30,214 licences.

Kerry had the highest dog ownership on a per capita basis, with 11.56 licences per 100 population followed by Monaghan (9.27) and Cavan (9.03). The lowest rate of dog ownership is in Dublin city, with just 1.69 licences per 100 population. Other areas with relatively low dog ownership levels are Wicklow, Fingal, Galway City, and Cork City.

All dog owners are required by law to have a licence for their pet. The cost of an annual dog licence is 20, or a lifetime licence can be bought for 140.

There are a total of 47 full-time dog wardens and 22 part-time wardens operating 50 collection vans around the country.
Newly-appointed Public Accounts Committee (PAC) chairman Sean Fleming made the pledge as Minister for Health, Simon Harris, described a HSE audit of Console as disgusting and disturbing.

The revelations regarding Console, which centre on its former chief executive Paul Kelly, has also increased scrutiny on the HSE, which administered much of the funding to the suicide charity.

Yesterday, the HSE said that it would be launching a full review into top-up payments made to 14 executives at the Saint John of God Order .

Regarding the crisis at Console, Mr Fleming said: This was obviously going on for a period of time, the HSE on behalf of the Irish taxpayer was putting in money year after year, they had to be aware of this for a period time.

Why did they not take action on this earlier and how long did they know about this?

This will come back to the door of the HSE because they are the body that handed out Irish taxpayers money.

He said he had asked the HSE to come before PAC in early July and that the PAC would spend significant time investigating the case.

It also appeared to him that the HSE did not know what it was doing handing out taxpayers money.

Mr Fleming also pledged that reports of unauthorised top-up payments at St John of God would be investigated by PAC.

He said the previous PAC in the last Dail had already looked at top-up payments, but this latest case was new information when everyone thought the issue had been put to bed.

Social Democrats TD Roisin Shortall claimed that the Government and state agencies had been warned of problems with Console for many years.

Her comments came as former health minister James Reilly confirmed reports that he was warned by a businessman of concerns regarding Console previously in the Dail canteen, and had told the person to put those concerns in writing to the Department of Health.

But Sinn Fein says that the response by Mr Reilly, who is now a senator, is at variance with businessman Tommy Morriss account, who claims that the-then minister gave Console a clean bill of health in 2013 after his complaints.

Mr Harris said that he had read the internal audit report about Console, and stated: Theres elements there that are quite frankly disgusting and disturbing.
The claim has been made by Deputy Sean Sherlock, who told the new minister in charge of OPW flood projects that the Government needs to take a tougher line with the insurance industry, especially as in many cases it continues to deny flood cover in areas where expensive flood alleviation schemes have been undertaken.

Mr Sherlock made the comments at a meeting of the Oireachtas committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform.

He told newly-installed OPW minister Sean Canney that insurance companies are also dragging their heels over providing cover for householders and business owners in towns which have had successful flood alleviation projects carried out.

The flood alleviation works that were carried out in Fermoy and Mallow are keynote OPW projects that have delivered significant benefits, Mr Sherlock said.

Many business owners have informed the Irish Examiner that they still cant access flood insurance in both these towns.

On the night of December 29/30 last excessive rainfall caused the River Blackwater to flood in many places. Many elderly people said it was the highest theyd seen the river. Yet when the flood defences were activated they protected both towns which would have previously been swamped.

Mr Sherlock said there is clear evidence that the presence of demountable walls alleviates flooding: There is proof that demountable walls work because they have stopped towns from being flooded. That should, from an actuarial point of view, have the knock-on effect of driving down insurance premiums.

We need to be more vociferous and stronger when sending a message to the insurance companies about such issues. In my opinion insurance companies are using the excuse that there is a lack of evidence to support demountable works, or that there is some actuarial analysis or mitigating risk factor associated with demountable walls.

Minister Canney said he has not yet met the insurance industry himself to discuss these issues.

The situation is that insurance companies refuse to insure people, but there are options open to the Minister for Finance, including saying companies must insure people, but then one would not have any control over the premium or policy excess, he said.

There is no point in saying to someone that he or she will get insurance for his or her home, but it will cost 10,000 a year. We must be realistic. We can say to the insurance industry that we want it to insure people, but the difficulty under law is that we cannot set the premium. The Department of Finance is looking at other options and they will be brought before the all-party committee, Mr Canney said.

He said flooding issues in areas outside of rural towns are addressed through minor works that can be carried out by local authorities with funding provided by the OPW.
But somebody splashed the cash leasing a 240ft-long, 120m yacht which docked in Kinsale, Co Cork yesterday.

The Grace E  which costs a cool 700,000 a week to hire  comes with an open air jacuzzi, a sauna, a gym, a hydrotherapy bath, and a pool.

It is not known who is on board the luxurious vessel.

Built in 2013 in Italy, she also has a beauty salon, a meditation room, a sun- bathing area, and a massage room, and sleeps 12 guests in six suites.

Grace E comes with a crew of 20, a cruising speed of 14.5 knots and various watersport options from powerboats to kayaks.

If that isnt enough to entertain you, there is also a film library, satellite TV, iPod docking stations, and wifi internet access.

The yacht even boasts a sushi bar on the upper deck.

Five-deck Grace E is managed for charter by Burgess but is believed to be owned by Florida-based coffee billionaire Bob Stiller.

Mr Stiller made his fortune selling coffee and K cups, the now ubiquitous single serve coffee pods.

The Grace E is a breathtaking displacement vessel, built by the prominent Italian shipyard, Perini Navi.

The yacht boasts naval architecture by Philippe Briand and exterior styling by Vitruvius Yachts.

Main features of the yacht include a five-person guest elevator serving four decks, as well as its ultra-luxurious accommodation in spacious staterooms.

The Grace E has many innovations to reduce her footprint on the areas she will visit, from systems to mitigate the exhaust fumes to those for trash management and storage. She is known as the greener superyacht.

Boasting a steel hull and aluminium superstructure, the 73m Vitruvius yacht Grace E (hull C.2189) is run by twin diesel-electric engines, reaching a top speed of 16.5 knots and a cruising speed of 12 knots.

The luxurious crew quarters include a 70sq m lounge.

The yacht won Motor Yacht of the Year at the World Superyacht Awards 2015.

The yacht is low profile yet she rises five decks high.

She is anything but deceptive in her performance, capable of crossing an ocean more than once on a tank of fuel.

With a fuel capacity just shy of 49,000 gallons, Grace E can explore further and farther than many of her contemporaries.

She can cruise at between 10 and 15 knots for as far as 7,500 nautical miles without requiring a re-fuel.

The famed French designer Remi Tessier conceived Grace Es contemporary and relaxed interiors, which emphasise the use of light- coloured wood and leather finishes, as well as onyx, ebony, and stainless steel.
Commission chairman Joe OToole said he favours paying household charges and furthermore, there are bundles of money in Ireland which can be invested in Irish Water.

In an interview with the Irish Examiner, the former trade union chief also admitted the commission may collapse if an election was called at any stage during its five-month term.

His comments come ahead of Housing Minister Simon Coveney travelling to Brussels this week to outline Irelands plan to suspend water charges to Environment Commissioner Karmenu Vella.

Mr OToole said he was a strong supporter of the polluter pays principle, which is backed by the Fine Gael government and Brussels. But he had strong views of left-wing campaigners, who want charges scrapped and services paid for equally through general taxation.

I find it extraordinary that people who present themselves as being left-wing politicians are opposed to things like property tax, are opposed to polluter pays, are of a view that if you have two or three cars and a swimming pool you should be paying the same water tax as somebody next door.

Asked if the likes of AAA-PBP TD Paul Murphy was wrong on their stance on water charges, Mr OToole said: Completely and utterly wrong on the issue, that it is fair in society that people with three cars and a swimming pool pay the same water tax as someone, a person who is barely struggling on a minimum wage.

The former ICTU president said the commission, likely to hold hearings in the autumn, would ask Revenue to examine the collection of water charges or tying them into another.

I will talk to Revenue, its rollover. Theres the property tax, the waste tax, the water tax, your television licence, he said.

There may well be a way that we can fold or should consider folding some of the charges together. What I would like to explore with Revenue are what are the various options.

Asked if this included Revenue taking over the collection of charges, he said: That may well be an option to be considered.

Mr OToole said the commission could hear from protest groups and political leaders.

It will be examining what pay model to support Irish Water. One option could be to try and convince somebody to buy an Irish Water bond, said Mr OToole.

There are bundles of money in this country at the moment trying to find a home.
Among them, one planned for a site in south Wexford is considered the test case, having gone through an An Bord Pleanala appeal complete with oral hearing.

I was happy that it went to Bord Pleanala because the board sets the standard, says developer Patrick Blount. We were confident that we had covered all the angles and the appeal and the hearing proved we had.

The site is at Coolroe, Ballycullane, Co Wexford, near historic Tintern Abbey, an area described as gently rolling farmland, and it covers 25 acres previously used for tillage and pasture.

Wexford County Council gave it permission in December 2014, despite 13 objections, prompting four of the objecting parties, including two couples living beside the site, to appeal.

Their objections were varied but loss of visual amenity was a big concern, with fears that the installations would look like a silicone vineyard.

One objection said: Under the proposed development, they [appellants] would have a view of solar panels, security fencing, and cameras. It would look like a prison.

Fears of glare from the sun reflecting off the panels were another issue, as was loss of farmland, disruption to wildlife and concern about the viability of the project, with questions asked about who would remove the panels and restore the site to agricultural use if the developers became insolvent.

The objectors also argued that an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) on the project should have been carried out and that no solar farm should be granted permission until national guidelines for their development were put in place.

The inspector who handled the appeal relied largely on British guidelines while examining the Coolroe application and took the opportunity while on a trip to Wales to examine solar farms in operation there.

There is a mature suite of policies in existence in the UK which are not applicable, but are informative, the inspector wrote.

On the question of why no EIA was carried out, the inspector made a decision that could be important for all future applications, namely that none was required.

Large solar PV arrays are not listed in Schedule 5 of the Planning and Development Regulations, it is noted, Schedule 5 being a fairly exhaustive list of commercial, industrial, energy, mining, tourism and infrastructural developments that automatically require EIA.

Nor does the proposed development meet the requirements for sub-threshold EIA, the inspector continued, as it would not have any impact on a designated environmental protection area nor have any significant effects on the environment.

Some planning experts have commented since that the omission from Schedule 5 is simply because solar was not considered when the list was drawn up, rather than any considered decision that there is no environmental impact to assess.

They suggest councils will push for greater clarity on the issue as more applications land on their planning desks. But for the moment, the situation remains that no EIA is required by law, meaning one less obstacle for developers.

Mr Blount says the other concerns were easily addressed. Glint and glare was measured by a specialist UK firm which concluded there was a possibility of some glint from the panels affecting two houses between 6pm and 6.30pm on days in March, May, June, July, and September.

Moving the panels in one part of the site further back from the houses and planting additional hedging was proposed to deal with the issue, and accepted by An Bord Pleanala as a solution.

Mr Blount, who also developed a number of wind farms in Donegal and Louth, is now involved in solar projects proposed for two more sites at Killinick, also in Co Wexford, both of which were granted planning permission by the county council and have not been appealed.

Were working on 12 projects now and thats as many as were going to work on but we have three projects with full planning permission and we have three live grid connection offers as well so we are ready to rock, he says.

A smaller farm proposed by Reeve Wave Ltd for a 4.5-acre site at Ballytrasna, Lissarda, near Macroom, Co Cork, also has planning permission that survived an appeal to An Bord Pleanala.

However, a 34-acre farm proposed by Highfield Solar for Ballycooleen, Avoca, Co Wicklow, was rejected by Wicklow County Council in April and it is the developers who have lodged an appeal with An Bord Pleanala which is due to decide on the case by September.

In this case, the council ruled the development would be obtrusive and change the character of the area.

An Elgin Energy plan for 30 acres near Mountrath, Co Laois, is with the council which has sought a Natura Impact Statement on the implications for conservation. Elgin also have a plan with Tipperary County Council for a site near Thurles.

Having cleared his planning hurdles, all Mr Blount wants now is for the Government to offer financial support by way of direct subsidy or payment per unit of electricity produced.

If there is a support mechanism tomorrow we could have projects up and running before the end of this year, he says. Its pretty quick compared to wind. We could have several solar parks operational by this time next year, if the political will was there.

He says he understands the concerns residents might have about the visual impact of his development, but he insists there will be none of any significance.

If youre in the Wicklow Mountains and you see a solar part on the slopes of Slieve Maan, thats absolutely objectionable, he says. But if youre in an area thats flat land and you look over a ditch and you see a solar park, as would be the case in Wexford, how different is that from looking at a few glasshouses or looking at the rows of plastic [that] farmers put down to grow maize under?

Once a project is well-sited and the developer has been sensitive to that, there shouldnt be a visual impact issue.

Mr Blount says the bigger picture  climate change  has to be considered as well.

The thing that people are just not talking about is the whole question of where we are going to be in 30 or 40 years, he says.

We know that sea levels are going to rise half a metre to a metre. Its unstoppable. Areas of Cork City will be under water, parts of Waterford city too.

But the biggest single effect of climate change is going to be mass migration of people. I get so hot under the collar when I hear about the level of objection we get to wind enegy in Ireland, without any consideration of the consequences.

We have to talk about climate change and the consequences of doing nothing in parallel with talking about developing a new industry because the two things are connected.

I think the issue can be summed up as under glass or under water. Would you rather have solar parks or floods? We have to start talking about that.

Cara Augustenborg, a climate change lecturer at University College Dublin and chairwoman of Friends of the Earth Ireland, is also concerned about the lack of public debate around climate change and the publics role in mitigating it.

She is part of the postcarbonireland.org initiative by 29 leading academics who are seeking a citizens convention on climate change.

Solar is going to be part of our energy future but if we dont do this properly and we dont bring people along then you end up in the same situation youre in with wind where you have a lot of public opposition, says Dr Augustenborg.

Communities didnt benefit from wind, so we have to be more proactive when it comes to solar. If its going to disturb their landscape, then communities need to get something back. The only model cant be developer-led with only the developer benefiting.

In the UK Friends of the Earth has made a big push for rooftop solar, particularly for schools, and she believes the same should be encouraged here.

Schools dont run on the weekend or on holidays so they would be generating energy that they wouldnt use and if they could feed that back into the grid and get money for it, it would offset the cost of solar for them.

It would also avoid some of the planning issues that are bound to arise with solar farms. I cant see many objections to something you can only see from the sky.

State aid urged

Energy firms says it is vital they get a support mechanism from the State to help defray the costs of solar installations, but that mechanism could take one, or several, of many forms.

The Public Service Obligation (PSO) is a charge on all electricity users that is automatically added to electricity bills and creates a fund for use in the support of renewable and sustainable energy generation.

Solar is the only renewable not included in the PSO, which largely benefits wind and, to a lesser degree, peat burning, biomass, and hydroelectricity. It costs 68 per year, but that could rise to 90 later this year.

The Irish Solar Energy Association (ISEA) believes adding another 19 to bills annually between now and 2020 would provide the 25m needed annually to kickstart their industry.

How the PSO is used is the next question. It could fund a Renewable Energy Feed-In Tariff (REFIT) to give electricity generators a payment for each unit of power produced and fed into the national grid that would remain fixed to shield start-up solar operations from the price fluctuations in the open electricity market.

A report by KPMG commissioned by the ISEA last last year recommends use of a REFIT for residential and commercial roof-top solar installations.

In the case of roof-top, where solar will not provide all the electricity needs of the operator, such as at night (because there is no way yet of storing electricity produced at peak times for use later) but at times will produce an excess that must be transferred to the grid, the REFIT could be payable directly or as a credit against bills for power bought in.

For large-scale projects, such as solar farms, it suggests a Contract for Difference would be more suitable. It would provide a top-up payment based on the revenue received by the electricity generator for sales of electricity, rather than on the units of electricity generated.

The KPMG report also looked at tax measures and regulatory changes which it says could have direct or knock-on financial benefits for solar.

It says if the installation of rooftop solar was made mandatory on all new buildings, this would boost the sector by creating a steady stream of demand for the technology. This in turn would drive efficiencies in design and innovation which would bring down the cost of solar for everyone.

Other measures it suggests include reductions or exemptions on the local property tax for buildings fitted with solar panels, and on stamp duty when the same properties are bought or sold.

It says solar equipment could be made eligible for Vat reduction or exemption, and that revenue from subsidies could be exempted from income tax.

KPMG also emphasise the need to continue allowing deductions from Corporation Tax liabilities to cover depreciation in the value of solar equipment, and for farmers to be allowed claim Vat refunds on solar equipment installed for agricultural use.

What the State would get in return is the speedy roll-out of 7,300 new high-skilled jobs. Longer term, the report says for every 1 invested in solar, the economy would benefit by 3.

The ISEA argues that, long-term, the State could be crippled by fines for non-compliance with EU targets for electricity production from renewable sources.

By 2020, 40% of our electricity is meant to be generated from renewables and we are currently about 14% below target. Estimates of the fines that could be imposed on us hover at 140m to 300m per year.

The Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources began a public consultation two years ago on a Renewable Support Scheme for all renewable technologies, including solar, and said a decision would be made this year.

However, it said whatever form of support was chosen would have to be approved by government and also get clearance from the European Commission under the strict state aid for industry procedures.

The department now says it is expected that whatever scheme is adopted will be rolled out next year.
The four women had gone to Bandon last year just before Christmas to see the woman, but then they went into Cahalanes Costcutter in the town, and stole numerous items before leaving.

All four were identified by CCTV and later questioned and charged.

Bandon District Court heard details of the offences yesterday and pleas of mitigation on behalf of the women, including that one had a baby two weeks ago; another is due a baby in December; and a third woman lost her brother in a drowning incident three weeks ago.

Bernadette Maguire, of 44 St Michaels Lawn, Mahon, Cork, was jailed for 90 days for the stealing offence, which happened at around 8pm on December 19 last.

The court heard that Ms Maguire, along with Martina Maguire, who lives at the same address in Mahon, and Marion ODriscoll and Rosalina Keenan, who both live in Ballinvoarstig, Dublin Hill in Cork, entered the shop holding bags for life and then took an estimated 400 of foodstuffs before leaving.

Their solicitor, Plunkett Taaffe, said the group, who also had a young child with them, had travelled to visit the holy lady in the town for blessings but then fell into temptation.

He said all four were in serious financial difficulties and offered mitigation, including that Bernadette Maguires husband has developed epilepsy from brain damage since an accident in 2002 and that a daughter has undergone numerous open heart procedures.

However, Judge James McNulty said the group was fairly determined to thieve and they got away with it until it was investigated.

He jailed Bernadette Maguire, a 39-year-old who has 59 previous convictions including 10 for theft, for 90 days. Martina Maguire, due to give birth in December, is the 20-year-old daughter of Bernadette and has seven previous convictions.

Marion ODriscoll, aged 44, lost her brother three weeks ago in a drowning incident in Ballincollig.

The mother-of-four has 45 previous convictions.

Ms Keenan, aged 21 and who has seven previous convictions, gave birth two weeks ago. All three were told to pay 500 in compensation by September 19 so as to avoid a jail sentence.

Judge McNulty said it had been a case of brazen, barefaced theft in a busy retailers in the run-up to Christmas and that as the older people in the group, Bernadette Maguire and Ms ODriscoll were the leaders and should have had moral authority.

He said it would be contrary to the public interest and would do a disservice to the defendants if they were to be treated leniently.
Members of Killimordaly Kiltulla Foroige Club in Co Galway lifted the top prize at the weekend at the Foroige Youth Citizenship Awards in Dublin.

Lauren Lewis and Rebecca Cannon, both aged 15, were part of the group of nine young people from Galway East who won for their project centred around an awareness and fundraising campaign for defibrillators.

The girls, who have just finished their Junior Certificate exams, are pupils at the Presentation College in Athenry, Co Galway. They said they were motivated by the death of a local woman from sudden cardiac arrest some years ago. We want to keep pushing out the message that defibrillators save lives as far and as wide as we can, said Rebecca.

Around 2,000 young people and hundreds of volunteers took part in the awards ceremony. Launched by former All Black Dan Carter earlier this year, the awards celebrate the work of young people in the community.

Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Katherine Zappone, struck a huge gong onstage at the Citywest Hotel to mark the start of the ceremony on Saturday.

Lots of applause and appreciation here for @KZapponeTD - she knows how to engage a crowd #CitizenshipChallenge pic.twitter.com/Lduh2oHhzo  Darragh Doyle (@darraghdoyle) July 2, 2016

The young people were also addressed by disability rights campaigner, Joanne ORiordan and social media expert Darragh Doyle.

The Foroige Youth Citizen Awards, in partnership with Aldi Ireland, empower young people to use their skills, talents, and experience to make a positive difference to their community and society.

Young people identify and undertake projects in their local area and in so doing learn that they can make the world a better place to live.

It is the second year that Foroige, which works with 54,000 young people, has had Aldi as a sponsor of the Youth Citizenship Awards.

Earlier this year, Aldi announced that it would be giving 840,000 to Foroige over the course of its three-year partnership.
Leonard Jones

When his fiancee jilted him, Leonard Live-Forever Jones (1797-1868) turned to religion, joined the Shakers, and insisted he was immortal. In Kentucky, he planned to establish a capital city of the world, a heaven on earth, where members of the Live-Forever faith would reside, pray and fast, and where graveyards were unknown.

After founding the High Moral Party, Jones ran in six consecutive presidential contests (1844-64). In his election speeches he would roar like one possessed, stamp, and flourish a cane. He drew large crowds but remained the partys only member.

Failure left him frustrated and, when Abraham Lincoln was assassinated in 1865, Jones declared it was divine punishment for voters not electing him president.

Sadly, his beliefs let him down: Live-Forever died at the age of 71.

George Francis Train

George Francis Train: Went off the rails.

Lifelong globetrotter and possible inspiration for Jules Vernes Phileas Fogg, shipping tycoon George Francis Train (1829-1904) refused to shake hands, convinced that touching another persons flesh caused a loss of psychic force. Instead, he would shake hands gravely with himself.

To achieve a ripe old age, he reckoned one should eat no meat and wear no underclothes.

In 1872 he stood for temperance and womens rights as an independent candidate. Failing to make the White House, he set his sights on becoming Dictator of the USA.

As Train aged, he became still more eccentric, and spent his final days on benches in Madison Square Park, handing out dimes and speaking only to children and animals.

Brother Homer

Homer Tomlinsons inflatable globe, which he ruled over.

After he was almost struck by lightning, Homer Aubrey Tomlinson (1892-1968) abandoned an advertising career and joined the church. Known as Brother Homer, he enthralled crowds at the 1939 New York World Fair by performing the first parachute wedding.

But his stunt to be elected president  he ran four campaigns for the Theocratic Party, 1952-68, planning to appoint churchmen to cabinet offices  flopped spectacularly.

Unfazed, he turned to grander designs: Prevent war, bring rain to relieve drought, and be crowned in every country. Tomlinson staged 101 coronation ceremonies  including one in Moscows Red Square  wearing a blue kimono and a gold-leaf crown, and using a cheap folding chair with ornamental tassels as a throne. He carried a homemade blue and white starred flag and an inflatable globe, ridiculed by Evelyn Waugh  who saw Tomlinson crowning himself King of Tanganyika in 1959  as a wizened apple.

When Tomlinson was in Finland, proclaiming himself king, he read that World War Three was imminent.

He jumped on a plane to Berlin. Donning his robe and crown, and waving his flag, he hurried to the Brandenberg Gate to declare there would be no war, whereupon the awful threat was scuttled.

Tomlinson ended up outranking every other ruler when, on 7 October 1966 in Jerusalem, he anointed himself King of the World.

Pat Paulsen

Pat Paulsen: Believed in the right to arm bears.

Pat Paulsen challenged Bill Clinton in the New Hampshire primary for the Democratic Party in 1996, and managed to win 921 votes to Clintons 76,754.

When the Smothers Brothers asked TV comic Pat Paulsen (1927-1997) to run for president in 1968, the comedian replied: Why not? I cant dance  besides, the job has a good pension plan and Ill get a lot of money when I retire.

The comedian ran five tongue-in-cheek campaigns, beginning as candidate for the Straight-Talking American Government Party  the Stag Party for short. His election slogan was: Ive upped my standards. Now, up yours.

Once asked if he believed in the right to bear arms, he replied: No, I believe in the right to arm bears.

Criticise his policies and he would retort with: Picky, picky, picky.

Vermin Love Supreme

Vermin Supreme: Decaying standards annoyed him.

Boston prankster Vermin Love Supreme is running in his seventh campaign for the position of US president.

Love Supreme, 54, with his wizard-like beard and boot for a hat, recently chased Ted Cruz with a gigantic toothbrush.

President Supreme, who calls himself a friendly fascist, would pass a law making people brush their teeth. America has been suffering oral decay: It must become a nation of shiny smiles.

He also promises to fund a zombie apocalypse awareness programme, and time-travel research, enabling us to return and kill Adolf Hitler in his infancy.

Under President Supremes rule, all Americans would receive a free pony, which they must always take around as identification. The pony poo would be used for fuel.

Jonathon Sharkey

Jonathon Sharkey: Impale to the Chief.

Jonathon Sharkey, who calls himself The Impaler, ran for the Republicans in 2012.

Former altarboy Sharkey describes himself as a right-wing vampire, who first drank blood  a very healthy thing to do  when he was five years old. Nowadays he claims to consume the blood of his mistresses twice a week.

Dr Sharkey, 52, who says Obama has no idea how to run a country, would ban abortion, and set up a free health service supported by taxes on marijuana and prostitution. Instead of jailing criminals, he would torture them. The US Secret Service investigated him for threatening to impale President George W. Bush, and confiscated a wooden stake with spikes from his house.
With fossil fuels designated environmental enemy number one and nuclear power a political impossibility, the search for clean and renewable sources of energy is intense.

Onshore wind has dominated the Irish response so far, but there is growing local objection to the proliferation of turbines across the landscape.

Offshore wind remains costly and complex to develop, and despite great optimism about their long-term potential, wave and tidal technologies are still largely untried outside of engineering laboratories.

Biomass  fuel developed from crops and animal and human waste  has its place but it relies on waste creation, it is costly, and there are emissions and ash to deal with when it is burned to produce energy.

So whats the next big thing in renewables? All indications are that it is the one that has been with us the longest and appreciated the least  the sun.

Attention is turning rapidly  though very belatedly by international comparisons  to solar energy and its ability to provide a green source of electricity that will not only help slow the impact of climate change but save us from the tens of millions of euros in fines were facing from the EU if we fail to make carbon reduction a reality within the next four years.

In 2014, ESB Networks, which controls the national electricity grid, received just two applications from solar energy promoters to connect a solar project up to the grid.

A year later, there were 329 applications. In the five and a half months up to the middle of June this year, there were 143 more. In total, they promise almost 3,000 megawatts of electricity  roughly enough to power 2m households.

Those 474 statements of intent are not so far matched by 474 solar installations on the ground, but around 200 planning applications are thought to be under preparation for submission to county councils or have already been lodged.

A handful have been through the process and come out the other end virtually unscathed, receiving planning permission with a relative ease that suggests there should be no major obstacle from for the many more expected to follow.

David Maguire, chairman of the Irish Solar Energy Association, isnt surprised solar has been off the agenda here, particularly in light of the financial crisis. Picture: Clare Keogh

Solar installations can range from small residential rooftop panels, to large-scale commercial or industrial rooftop arrays, but the few that have planning permission here, and the vast majority of the anticipated projects, take the form of solar farms, also termed solar parks, which use agricultural land to set up rows of solar panels on top of metal stands that are driven into the earth.

They use solar photovoltaic (PV) technology which specifically uses light to make electricity (as opposed to solar thermal which creates heat) and on average they would cover 25 to 30 acres in any given location and would operate under 25-year-leases after which time they would be dismantled and the land returned to agricultural use.

Yet despite this massive surge in activity, there is a notable lack of official preparedness for the arrival of solar on the energy landscape, not to mention the physical landscape.

There are no planning guidelines for the development of solar farms, no industry wide standards for installation and, crucially for promoters, no supports from the State.

As recently as 2010, Irelands National Renewable Energy Action Plan envisaged no role at all for solar in contributing to the countrys renewable electricity targets by 2020.

The 2014 Green Paper on Energy Policy mentioned only domestic solar installations and the follow-up White Paper published last December which sets out the countrys transition to low-carbon energy use from 2015 to 2030 only carries a few paragraphs on the subject.

It says: Solar photovoltaic (PV) technology is rapidly becoming cost competitive for electricity generation, not only compared with other renewables but also compared with conventional forms of generation.

The deployment of solar in Ireland has the potential to increase energy security, contribute to our renewable energy targets, and support economic growth and jobs.

Solar technology is one of the technologies being considered in the context of the new support scheme for renewable electricity generation which will be available in 2016.

That date has now been pushed out to 2017 and meanwhile, the Renewable Electricity Policy and Development Framework, due for publication at the end of this year and intended to clarify questions concerning planning and environmental law, focuses almost entirely on wind energy.

By contrast, the UK has been rolling out solar farms at a rapid rate since 2011 and earlier this year it passed a major milestone with more electricity being generated from the sun than from coal.

Germany has had a growing solar industry for a decade and until recently was the world leader in terms of quantity of solar power produced, a boast now held by China. Getting in on the act early has presented challenges for the Germans, mainly due to the cost of deploying and supporting a still evolving technology, but it does mean solar is now a widely accepted and well-regulated form of energy production there.

In Europe, the UK, France, Italy, Spain, and Greece are all among the top users of solar while worldwide, China is being chased by Japan and the US.

So why has Ireland been so slow to follow suit? To get a common misconception out of the way, it is not because we dont get enough sun.

There are no planning guidelines for the development of solar farms, no industry wide standards for installation and, crucially for promoters, no supports from the State.

Our rainy island  in particular the south, south-east and east where almost all the proposed solar projects are based  gets as much sunlight as Germany.

In some ways, the climate is even better suited here because we rarely get snow that would have to be removed from PV panels, and the frequent rain helps prevent the build-up of dust that occurs in many drier countries and which would impair performance if it wasnt regularly washed off  an expensive use of fresh water and manpower.

David Maguire, chairman of the Irish Solar Energy Association, an industry grouping representing 100 solar technology and investment firms, isnt surprised solar has been off the agenda here, particularly in light of the financial crisis.

It used to be expensive. Ten years ago, five years ago, it didnt stack up for Ireland. It does now, he says.

There was an 80% reduction in the cost of deploying solar in five years. That has tailed off since 2013 but were still seeing annual reductions of 7% so its a very good time economically to get into solar.

But it still is an expensive technology and there is no system in place yet to pay for solar electricity supplied to the national grid  thats the issue that has been pushed out to 2017 for decision.

Mr Maguire says supports such as a guaranteed tariff for supplied electricity or some form of subsidy would cost the State 25m a year up to 2020, by which time solar PV could supplying 10% of our electricity needs.

Solar is the only renewable that doesnt get state support. Look at the 130m that goes into peat generation  one of the dirtiest fuels. Solars looking for a small portion of that.

That small portion would add 19 per year to the average household electricity bill but Mr Maguire believes it would be a small price to pay. Ireland is obliged to produce 40% of our electricity from renewables by 2020 and were 14% away from that target with just four years to go. We wont make the target with wind and if we dont meet the target, well be fined possibly as much as 300m every year until we do reach it. By the time youve paid those fines, you could have built all the solar the country could possibility take.

READ MORE: Solar power reaches record high, but cuts to subsidies are slowing demand
By the time British citizens went to the polls on June 23 to decide on their countrys continued membership in the EU, there had been no shortage of advice in favour of remaining.

Foreign leaders and moral authorities had voiced unambiguous concern about the consequences of an exit, and economists had overwhelmingly warned that leaving the EU would entail significant economic costs.

Yet the warnings were ignored. A pre-referendum YouGov opinion poll tells why: Leave voters had no trust whatsoever in the advice-givers. They did not want their judgment to rely on politicians, academics, journalists, international organisations, or think tanks.

As one of the Leave campaigns leaders, justice secretary Michael Gove, who is now seeking to succeed David Cameron as prime minister, bluntly put it: People in this country have had enough of experts.

It is tempting to dismiss this attitude as a triumph of passion over rationality. Yet the pattern seen in the UK is oddly familiar: In the US, Republican voters disregarded the pundits and nominated Donald Trump as their partys presidential candidate; in France, Marine Le Pen, the leader of the far-right National Front, elicits little sympathy among experts, but has strong popular support. Everywhere, a significant number of citizens have become hostile to the cognoscenti.

Why this angry attitude toward the bearers of knowledge and expertise? The first explanation is that many voters attach little value to the opinions of those who failed to warn them about the risk of a financial crisis in 2008.

Queen Elizabeth II spoke for many when, on a visit to the London School of Economics in the autumn of 2008, she asked why no one saw it coming.

Furthermore, the suspicion that economists have been captured by the financial industry, expressed in the 2010 movie Inside Job, has not been dispelled. Ordinary people feel angry about what they regard as a betrayal by the intellectuals.

Most economists, let alone specialists in other disciplines, regard such accusations as unfair, because only a few of them devoted themselves to scrutinising financial developments; yet their credibility has been seriously dented. Because no one pled guilty for the suffering that followed the crisis, the guilt has become collective.

The second explanation has to do with the policies advocated by the cognoscenti. Experts are accused of being biased, not necessarily because they are captured by special interests, but because, as a profession, they support the mobility of labour across borders, trade openness, and globalisation more generally.

There is some substance in this argument: Although not all economists, and certainly not all social scientists, advocate international integration, they are undoubtedly more inclined toward highlighting its benefits than the average citizen is.

This points to the third and most convincing explanation: While experts emphasise the overall benefits of openness, they tend to disregard or minimise its effects on particular professions or communities. They regard immigration  to which Mr Cameron attributed the Leave campaigns victory  as a net benefit for the economy; but they fail to pay attention to what it implies for workers who experience downward wage pressure or for communities struggling with a scarcity of affordable housing, crowded schools, and an overwhelmed health system. In other words, they are guilty of indifference.

This criticism is largely correct. As Ravi Kanbur of Cornell University pointed out long ago, economists (and policymakers) tend to look at issues in the aggregate, to take a medium-term perspective, and to assume that markets work well enough to absorb a large part of adverse shocks. Their perspective clashes with that of people who care more about distributional issues, have different (often shorter) time horizons, and are wary of monopolistic behaviour.

If economists and other experts want to regain their fellow citizens trust, they should not be deaf to these concerns. They should first be humble and avoid lecturing. They should base their policy views on the available evidence, rather than on preconceptions. And they should change their minds if the data do not confirm their beliefs. This largely corresponds to what researchers actually do; but when speaking to the public, experts tend to oversimplify their own views.

For economists, humility also implies listening to people from other disciplines. On immigration, they should hear what sociologists, political scientists, or psychologists have to say about what coexistence in multicultural communities may entail.

Second, experts should be more granular in their approach. They typically should examine policies impact not only on aggregate GDP in the medium term, but also on how policies effects are distributed over time, across space, and among social categories.

A policy decision can be positive in the aggregate but severely harmful to some groups  which is frequently the case with liberalisation measures.

Third, economists should move beyond the (generally correct) observation that such distributional effects can be addressed through taxation and transfers, and work out how exactly that should happen. Yes, if a policy decision leads to aggregate gains, losers can in principle be compensated. But this is easier said than done.

In practice, it is often hard to identify the losers and to find the right instrument to support them. To argue that problems can be solved without examining how and under what conditions is sheer intellectual laziness. To tell people who have been hurt that they could have been spared the pain does not give them any less reason to complain; it just fuels resentment of technocratic experts.

Because growing public distrust of the cognoscenti provides fertile ground to demagogues, it poses a threat to democracy. Academics and policymakers may be tempted to respond by dismissing what looks like a celebration of ignorance and retreating into ivory towers.

But this would not improve matters. And there is no need to surrender. What is needed is more honesty, more humility, more granular analysis, and more refined prescriptions.

Jean Pisani-Ferry is a professor at the Hertie School of Governance in Berlin, and currently serves as commissioner-general of France Strategie, a policy advisory institution in Paris. Copyright: Project Syndicate, 2016.
THE proposition in the financial brokers radio ad is improbable, on the face of it.

The ad involves this woman who is just checking back on the facts a caller has just laid out. He was a shareholder in a high-tech startup, right? Right. He sold his shares eight years ago for about 8,000, right? Right. Those shares would now be worth about 90m, right? Right. And their former owner didnt get the advice of a financial broker before he sold them, right? Gulp. I may not be accurately reporting the figures in the script, but you get the drift.

The listener feels briefly sympathetic for the poor eejit that sold the shares, before comforting themselves that this is just an urban legend  an amusing financial morality tale that could never have happened to anybody in real life. Except that it has happened to someone in real life. Back in the middle of the 19th century, when Ireland was a tad preoccupied with the Great Famine, an American mechanic named Walter Hunt got himself into a bit of debt. He found that he owed a pal $15. Which would be a few hundred dollars in todays money. Hands up any body who has not found themselves in such a minor embarrassment.

Walter was properly bothered by this debt, and realised that he needed to come up with a source of cash outside of his normal work. You or I might think of doing a few nixers, but Walter thought outside the nixer box. Or, perhaps knowing himself to be gifted with creativity, he decided to invent something. He had invented gadgets before and would again. In this exigency, like any good inventor, he first looked around and spotted a gap in the market. Since pre-history, this gap in the market had existed. Nobody had invented a pin that wouldnt tear apart the clothing to which it was affixed. Or do damage to the posterior of the baby in the nappy it held together. Or simply fall out at random, creating unexpected stretches of nakedness. Walter, fiddling with a bit of wire and noting that it snapped back into position when he created a little coiled spring in the middle of it, had a vision, and the vision was of what was to become the safety pin.

The safety pin Walter invented from a section of brass wire included a clasp that both restrained and covered the pointy bit, so that it couldnt open by accident and impale an infants posterior, together with a circular coil at the bottom to serve as a spring and hold the thing in place. It worked. A problem going back to pre-history was solved, right there. (The Ancient Romans may have done a lot for us, but they were useless on the safety pin front.) Walter realised he needed to go about this in a businesslike way, he ensured he got a patent on his invention, (US patent #6,281 on April 10, 1849).

It was only then that he made the same mistake the guy makes in the financial brokers ad. He sold the patent to a company for $400 or roughly $14,000 today. Lovely grub: he paid off his pal and had a cosy cash cushion for himself. The only problem was that the company to which he sold it, WR Grace & Co went on to make millions and millions from the safety pin. History doesnt record if Walter felt as much of a plank as the guy in the modern ad does.

The safety pin is now ubiquitous, not least because of dry cleaners, who affix their little blue tickets to your clothes using it. In our offices the other day when a client gestured, I spotted and tastelessly drew attention to the blue ticket and safety pin inside his cuff. He took it well, but reverted to me later suggesting that he might more usefully have had the safety pin on the outside of his sleeve, rather than on the inside, as a quiet anti-racism gesture. This novel use of the safety pin is an odd indirect outcropping of Britains referendum decision to leave the EU.

It has become obvious that Nigel Farage, Michael Gove, Boris Johnson, and their fellow Brexiteers were, to differing degrees of overt appeal, tapping into a mythic nostalgia about a Noddy and Big Ears Enid Blyton UK where Mr Plod the Policeman was very definitely, right down to his DNA and skin colour, one of Us. That was at the civilised end of things. At the nasty end of the continuum was an appeal to people whose sense of nationhood and identity is challenged by immigration and who lack the understanding to realise that, without immigrants, Britain grinds to a halt tomorrow.

The problem is that the referendum was simultaneously purgative and provocative. All of the idiotic observations that theres a lot of anger out there, you know proved to be accurate. They always do, just as they are always and ever underpinned by an assumption that, if the anger wins, that will serve as a massive vent, relieving pressure. That never proves to be the case, if only for the simple psychological rule that the expression of anger tends to make people more, rather than less, angry. In this instance, as in so many historic examples, the expression of angry prejudice and the fact that the side espousing this viewpoint won the battle, has  post-factum  stoked, rather than quenched, the burning embers of hatred.

According to the UKs Council of Police Chiefs, reports of hate crimes went up 57% in the four days after the referendum result was announced, when compared with the same four days the previous month. The message being sent seems to be that: We voted to leave to prevent further immigration. Now, lets go further and tell you to go back to wherever you came from.

Simon Hoare, a Conservative MP, has talked of the referendum empowering a racist gene.

An American woman living in London didnt like what she was seeing, and wondered if there werent some under-the-radar sign that anti-racists could use to indicate to potential victims that someone was on their side. Her suggestion? Wear a safety pin. Not something ostentatious that would further provoke the racists. Just a safety pin on a sleeve, to indicate to someone on the Underground or on a bus that heres someone its safe to sit beside. Nobody has to join anything. Just wear something they might accidentally wear anyway, its very name indicative of its quiet purpose.

Its simple because you dont have to go out and buy it, the woman pointed out on social media. Theres no language or political slogans involved. Its just a little signal that shows people facing hate crimes that theyre not alone and their right to be in the UK is supported.

It may or may not catch on. If it does, its inventor would have created something that, while it didnt make him much money, proved, in the long term to not just have practical importance, but moral significance, too.
The bombings demonstrated the extremists ability to mount significant attacks despite major battlefield losses, including the city of Fallujah, which was declared fully liberated from IS just over a week ago.

The deadliest attack took place in the central Karada district of Baghdad yesterday, where a suicide bomber blew up his explosives-laded pickup truck outside a crowded shopping centre, according to a police officer. He said the dead included 15 children, 10 women and six policemen.

The suicide bomber struck shortly after midnight, when families and young people were out on the streets after breaking their daylight fast for the holy month of Ramadan.

Most of the victims were inside a multi-storey shopping and amusement centre, where dozens burned to death or suffocated, officials said.

Within hours, IS claimed responsibility for the bombing in a statement posted online, saying they had deliberately targeted Shiite Muslims. It was posted on a militant website commonly used by the extremists.

At the scene, firefighters and civilians were seen carrying the dead away, their bodies wrapped in blankets and sheets.

Smoke billowed from the shopping centre, which was surrounded by the twisted and burned wreckage of cars and market stalls. A group of women were sitting on the pavement, crying for their loved ones.

In the second attack, an improvised explosive device went off in Baghdads northern Shaab area, killing five people and wounding 16, another police officer said.

No group claimed responsibility for the attack, but it bore the hallmarks of IS militants who often target commercial districts and Shiite areas.

The high death toll made it the second deadliest attack in the capital this year. On May 11, IS militants carried out three car bombings in Baghdad, killing 93 people.

Hours after the bombing, Iraqi prime minister Haider al-Abadi and MPs visited the blast site. Video footage uploaded to social media showed an angry crowd, with people calling al-Abadi a thief and shouting at his convoy.

Eyewitnesses said the crowd pelted al-Abadis car with rocks, shoes and jerry cans.

Until the government launched its Fallujah operation, the prime minister had faced growing social unrest and anti-government protests sparked, in part, by popular anger at the lack of security in the capital.

IS still controls Iraqs second largest city of Mosul as well as significant patches of territory in the countrys north and west. At the height of the extremist groups power in 2014, IS rendered nearly a third of the country out of government control.
The gamble by prime minister Malcolm Turnbull to call a rare early election may have failed, with his conservative Liberal Party-led coalition on track to lose a swathe of seats in the House of Representatives  and potentially control of the country.

Mr Turnbull said he was pinning his hopes of maintaining a majority government on mail-in and early ballots that traditionally favour the conservatives.

I remain quietly confident that a majority coalition government will be returned at this election when the counting is completed, Mr Turnbull told reporters.

While the count will take a number of days, I can promise all Australians that we will dedicate our efforts to ensuring that the state of new parliament is resolved without division or rancor.

The government was concerned that any perception of instability while the count was resolved could harm Australias triple-A credit rating, he said.

Parties need to hold at least 76 seats in the 150-seat House of Representatives to form a government.

Opposition leader Bill Shorten did not speculate on a Labor victory, but celebrated the strong swing to his party just three years after it was convincingly dumped from power in the last election.

What Im very sure of is that whilst we dont know who the winner was, theres clearly one loser: Malcolm Turnbulls agenda for Australia and his efforts to cut Medicare, Mr Shorten said, referring to Australias universal health care system.

Given the close result, just two possibilities remain: Mr Turnbulls coalition will win by the slimmest of margins, or there will be a hung parliament.

Mr Shorten and Mr Turnbull said they had both contacted the five independent lawyers who could be called on to support a minority government.

Mr Turnbull called the double dissolution because the house and the senate are dissolved  in a bid to break a legislative deadlock over a bill that would have created a construction industry watchdog.
Police were blocking all access to streets near the Holey Artisan Bakery in Dhakas Gulshan area, where heavily armed attackers holed up overnight on Friday, torturing and killing some of their captives including nine Italians, seven Japanese, three Bangladeshis and one Indian teenager.

Many details of the attack remain unclear a day after commandos stormed the restaurant and rescued 13 people.

But police released photographs of the bodies of five attackers, along with their first names: Akash, Badhon, Bikash, Don and Ripon.

Their families had not heard anything from them in months, according to police.

They are all Bangladeshis. They are from rich families, they have a good educational background, Bangladeshs home minister Asaduzzaman Khan said.

He identified them as being part of the banned domestic group Jumatul Mujahedeen Bangladesh, or JMB.

He once again refuted the possibility the Islamic State could have been behind the attack, despite the group claiming responsibility and releasing horrifying photographs of what unfolded overnight on Friday.

The government insists the extremist Sunni Muslim group has no presence in the country, and in the past has suggested that any claims of responsibility for violence waged there are simply opportunistic attempts at grabbing global attention.

Prime minister Sheikh Hasina instead blames her political opponents for trying to create chaos in the country by backing domestic militants in waging a bloody crime spree that, until this weekend, has been mostly carried out by young machete-wielding men targeting individuals they say are traitors to extremist Islam.

Victims have included atheist bloggers, gay rights activists, foreign aid workers and religious minorities.

The attack on Friday night, however, stunned the nation. This time, the assailants were well prepared and heavily armed with guns, bombs and sharp objects that police later said were used to torture some of the 35 hostages who were trapped inside.

Anyone who believes in religion cannot do such an act, Ms Hasina said on Saturday. They do not have any religion, their only religion is terrorism.

The hostages were asked to recite verses from the Koran, to prove themselves Muslim, according to a witness. Those who passed were allowed to eat. Those who failed were killed.
With Obamas popularity rebounding, Democrats have been eagerly awaiting the presidents return to campaigning, and hell hold his debut event for her tomorrow in North Carolina.

Yet campaign officials say just as critical to her success could be an Obama political operation that remains potent four years after his re-election, including deep troves of voter and donor information, and a corps of trained field staffers and volunteers that Clintons campaign is now co-opting.

The crown jewel of Obamas machine, an email list of supporters that included 20 million addresses in 2012, is now fully available to Clinton.

That list had been closely held within an Obama campaign committee that still exists to pay off old debt. Democratic groups and even Obamas Organising for Action nonprofit had to rent the list for a hefty sum.

Now a copy of that list, which helped propel Obama to record-breaking fundraising, is controlled by the Democratic National Committee, which can send emails at will without going through Obamas campaign.

Thats according to individuals familiar with the list, who werent authorised to discuss the arrangement and requested anonymity.

Just recently, the DNC started sending emails signed by Clinton to the entire list, including one last week inviting donors to enter a raffle to be Clintons guest to the Broadway musical Hamilton.

Mitch Stewart, Obamas battleground states director in 2012, said: The people involved in the Clinton campaign arent having to relearn the lessons in 2016 that we already learned in 2008 or 2012.

Stewart who has since started a consulting firm thats helping Clintons campaign, said: A lot of them are the same people.

Elan Kriegel, who ran data analytics for Obama, is doing the same job for Clinton, and Obama pollster Joel Benenson is now her chief strategist.

At Clintons Brooklyn headquarters, her battleground states director, national organising director, political engagement chief and communications director are all former Obama hands.
Speaking on Radio Five Live, Peter Kessler, when asked by presenter Stephen Nolan if his former colleague was happy with her success, said his perception was she was happier before she was successful.

Questioned about the personal battles she may have faced, the former producer revealed: This is really one of the great tragedies of my professional life that I have watched happen, is that when we started working, Caroline was an innocent, happy young woman with an immense talent.

By the end of two seasons she was a celebrity and it was only too obvious that she found it very, very difficult to deal with being a celebrity.

Mr Kessler said the much-loved comedy writer and actress had an enormous natural intellect but not a great deal in the way of formal education.

There wasnt a great deal she had to fall back on to act as a buffer against that intrusive world of media attention, he added.

What she therefore tended to rely on was people who she thought she could trust. And the thing is as you gain celebrity, more and more people present themselves to you as I am the person you can trust, and it becomes extremely confusing for an innocent person.

Tributes poured in for comedian and actress after her death from cancer aged 52 on Saturday.

The star was best known for hit sitcom The Royle Family and the riotous chat show The Mrs Merton Show, which both won a string of awards.

Aherne, who more recently narrated Channel 4 show Gogglebox, had been battling lung cancer and had previously been treated for bladder and eye cancer.

After her death was announced on Saturday her Royle Family co-star Sue Johnston, who played her on-screen mother, said: I am devastated at her passing and I am numb with grief.

Alan Partridge comic Steve Coogan hailed his incredibly funny long-time friend, telling ITV News: It was almost like an honour to have her make fun of you because you couldnt help but laugh. Its hard to imagine not hearing that laughter.

Aherne gained public attention as the Checkout Girl in The Fast Show. But she became a household name as straight-talking blue-rinse granny Mrs Merton in The Mrs Merton Show, which first aired on BBC Two in 1995 and won the best talk show Bafta in 1997.

The Royle Family was born after she and friend Craig Cash, who played gormless Dave Best in the show, threw themselves into their work after a suicide attempt, which she described as her lowest ebb.

It is considered to be a classic British sitcom, despite the unusual format of a working class family sitting in a living room.

The BBC show was the toast of the 1999 British Comedy Awards, scooping four trophies including best actress for Aherne.

It went on to take home the best sitcom Bafta in 2000 and 2007.

Aherne was nominated for Baftas for her performance in both shows, as well as her directing of The Royle Family in 2001.

Ahernes death was announced by her publicist Neil Reading, who said she died on Saturday at her home in Timperley, Greater Manchester.

The star, who had been a smoker, struggled with health problems for years.
Los Angeles County acting coroners lieutenant B Kim said Cimino, aged 77, died on Saturday. He had been living in Beverly Hills.

Cimino had his directorial breakthrough in 1978 with his second film, The Deer Hunter, the story of the Vietnam Wars effect on a small steel-working town in Pennsylvania. The film won five Academy Awards, including best picture and best director for Cimino.

But his emerging career took a U-turn with 1980s Heavens Gate, a Western starring Kris Kristofferson that was a critical and financial disaster.

Eric Weissmann, a friend and former lawyer of Ciminos, told The New York Times police found his body at his home after friends were unable to reach him by phone.

The Deer Hunter helped lift the emerging-legend status of Robert De Niro and Meryl Streep. Christopher Walken also won an Oscar for best supporting actor.

Our work together is something I will always remember. He will be missed, De Niro said in a statement.

Despite controversy over its portrayal of the North Vietnamese and use of the violent game Russian roulette, the film was praised by some critics as the best American movies since The Godfather six years earlier.

Roger Ebert, writing in the Chicago Sun-Times, called it one of the most emotionally shattering films ever made.

But Heavens Gate, which also starred Walken, became synonymous with over-budget and out-of-control productions, and a cautionary tale for giving artistic-minded directors too much power in the new Hollywood defined by directors such as Francis Ford Coppola and Martin Scorsese.

Its initial budget of $11.5m (10.3m) would balloon to $44m after marketing. While those numbers are meagre by todays standards, at the time they were enough to hasten the demise of United Artists, and Ciminos career.

Some say it helped bring down the director-driven renaissance that had fuelled much of the great work of the 1970s, giving way to a business-and-blockbuster mentality that would dominate the decades that followed.

Cimino became an eccentric figure , living in solitude, constantly changing his appearance, claiming allergies to both alcohol and sunshine.

He worked only sporadically in the years that followed Heavens Gate. His remaining films were 1985s Year Of The Dragon, 1987s The Sicilian, 1990s Desperate Hours, and 1996s Sunchaser.
Beset by a 10-month-old surge in Palestinian street attacks, Israel says Facebook has been used to perpetuate such bloodshed.

Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahus rightist government is drafting legislation to enable it to order social media sites to remove postings deemed threatening.
Killing Kittens: A Hamptons Sex Party For The Elite

Trending News: Here's What It's Like Inside An Orgy For The Mega-Rich

Why Is This Important?

Because this is what really goes on at a secret sex party.

Long Story Short

A report from Harpers Bazaar has given an insight into the realities of a party hosted by orgy organizers Killing Kittens, who have crossed over from London to the US.

Long Story

Most of us are far too boring, out of shape or broke to ever get on the guest list for an orgy (much less an "elite sex party"), but would it really be a hedonistic heaven or actually just incredibly awkward?

Luckily, Harpers Bazaar sent an intrepid reporter to a party organized by Killing Kittens - a mysterious, exclusive, orgy company - to satisfy our curiosity without getting our hands dirty (so to speak).

Killing Kittens, a slang term for female masturbation, originated in London and is run by Emma Sayle, who went to high school with Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge. Its mission statement is "a movement and community whose sole aim is the unwavering pursuit of female sexual pleasure" and it is aimed at "the worlds elite," which may be why you havent received your invite yet.

Brobible

The parties have crossed the Atlantic and have taken place in New York and Toronto in "uber exclusive luxury venues," and the report in Harpers Bazaar is from an orgy in the Hamptons where tickets were $400 per couple.

Couples were allowed to attend (no single men) but only if they met some very strict entry requirements. Attendees must be between 18 and 50 and submit photos for approval

Killing Kittens founder Sayle previously explained to the New York Post: Its not a case of everyone being supermodel quality. Its nice-looking people taking care of themselves. For example we might get someone who is a size 14 or 16 US size and theyre massive, and they send us a photo and they might be in some bondage gear, and you just say, No, thats not a pretty sight.

The Harpers Bazaar article suggests that the clientele at the Hamptons event were "people like you - only whiter, richer, older and straighter" and reveals that there was a striking (if not intentional) lack of diversity in the guests, which was somewhat awkward as the theme of the evening was a "white party," not a racial statement but simply referring to the minimalist decoration of the rooms.

The luxury mansion was equipped with "play rooms" for sexual encounters, stocked with condoms and goodie bags from sponsor Swedish sex toy company LELO and, somewhat strangely a ping pong table (not a metaphor).

The party started at 3:30pm and ran through to 11pm and it sounds like for several hours it was the awkward stand-off that you might expect from an orgy while guests complained about a lack of food and generally eyed each other up.

FX

The article explains "no sex happened at the sex party for a very long time. And then, very suddenly, a lot of sex happened. For a while in the downstairs 'play room,' I could turn and watch a game of ping pong on my right, or see bodies writhing on couches on my left."

In order to respect the privacy of the participants, the gory details are relatively sparse, but it sounds like the horny elite didnt go home disappointed.

Killing Kittens may be secretive but it does have a website with sign-up details if you think youd fit in amongst the worlds elite, but the vast majority of us may have to settle for our imagination

Own The Conversation

Ask The Big Question

Would you ever attend a sex party?

Disrupt Your Feed

Going to a sex party could either be the most exciting or most awkward night of your life and Killing Kittens entry requirements make it like the Harvard of sex parties!

Drop This Fact

There are over 43,000 global members of Killing Kittens and the company is believed to have brought in $1 million in 2015.
Mrs Clinton used a private email server for her government and personal emails rather than the State Departments email system during her tenure. The FBI has been investigating if sensitive information was mishandled.

The agency interviewed her for more than three hours on Saturday and Mrs Clinton told NBCs Meet The Press that she was pleased to have the opportunity to assist the department bringing its review to a conclusion.

She described the tone of the FBI session as civil and businesslike.

Mrs Clinton said she had no knowledge of any timeline for the review and would not comment on whether she was given an indication that charges would not be filed.

For Mrs Clinton, the interview indicates that the US Justice Departments year-long probe is drawing to a close, only four weeks before she is set to be formally nominated as the Democrats choice to succeed President Barack Obama.

The interview with NBCs Chuck Todd will be shown on Sunday.

In a tweet on Saturday, her Republican rival Donald Trump said, it is impossible for the FBI not to recommend criminal charges against Hillary Clinton. What she did was wrong!

But Mr Trump also created his own stir on social media by posting online an image of Mrs Clinton with what appeared to be a Star of David and a background of dollar bills.

He took Mrs Clintons old Twitter avatar celebrating her status as the first presumptive female presidential nominee and added a background of dollar bills along with the words Most Corrupt Candidate Ever! written over a six-point star.

The image quickly drew scrutiny online, raising accusations of anti-Semitism. Mr Trump deleted the tweet later in the day and replaced it with a version that uses a circle in place of the star.

Meanwhile, Bill Clinton sparked controversy by meeting US attorney general Loretta Lynch on an airport tarmac in Phoenix, Arizona, on Monday when their travel schedules coincided.

Ms Lynch said their discussion did not include the Justice Department investigation of Mrs Clintons email server.

An aide to Mr Clinton said his conversation with Ms Lynch was unplanned and entirely social in nature.

Clinton and Lynch said they would not speak again during the campaign.

WATCH: W.H. Press Sec. Josh Earnest reacts to AG Lynch, says Clinton email investigation shouldn't involve politics https://t.co/ajfa96gsFG  Good Morning America (@GMA) July 2, 2016

Feminist Trump

US presidential candidate Donald Trump is a feminist who has lived gender equality, his daughter has said.

Ivanka Trump said that the polarising Republican hopeful had employed women at the highest levels of his businesses.

Her 70-year-old father has consistently polled badly with women in the US in the recent months of the election campaign, which comes to a head in Novembers election.

But Ivanka, 34, who works on his campaign, told the Sunday Times that her fathers feminism was a big reason I am the woman I am today.
His death was announced by Israels Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial.

Mr Wiesel summed up his mission in 1986 when accepting the Nobel Peace Prize, saying: Whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation, take sides.

"Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.

US president Barack Obama said: As a writer, a speaker, an activist, and a thinker, he was one of those people who changed the world more as a citizen of the world than those who hold office or traditional positions of power.

"His life, and the power of his example, urges us to be better.

For more than half a century Mr Wiesel voiced his passionate beliefs to world leaders, celebrities and general audiences in the name of victims of violence and oppression.

He wrote more than 40 books, but his most influential by far was Night, a classic ranked with Anne Franks diary as standard reading about the Holocaust.

Night was his first book and its journey to publication crossed both time and language.

It began in the mid-1950s as an 800-page story in Yiddish, was trimmed to under 300 pages for an edition released in Argentina, cut again to under 200 pages for the French market and finally published in the United States, in 1960, at just over 100 pages.

Mr Wiesel began working on Night just a decade after the end of the Second World War, when memories were too raw for many survivors to even try telling their stories.

It was so bleak that publishers doubted it would appeal to readers. In a 2002 interview with the Chicago Tribune, Mr Wiesel recalled that the book attracted little notice at first.

The English translation came out in 1960 and the first printing was 3,000 copies. And it took three years to sell them. Now I get 100 letters a month from children about the book. And there are many, many million copies in print, he said.

Night was based directly on his experiences, but structured like a novel, leading to an ongoing debate over how to categorise it.

Wiesel was deported from Hungary, which had annexed his native Romanian town of Sighet, to Auschwitz.

Tattooed with the number A-7713, he was freed in 1945.
News agency DPA reported that Hubert Martini published his own obituary in the Trierischer Volksfreund, a newspaper in western Germany.

The deceased described himself as open, honest, and unforgiving and says his five siblings and their families are forbidden from attending his memorial service.

It is unclear what made Martini want to have the last word, but the 64-year-old notes that in life I have hurt some people  and thats good.

DPA quoted a local undertaker, Martina Schmidt, as calling the obituary out of order.

He wanted to settle scores and now the relatives have to live with that, she said.

Princess and the painting

England: A painting finished off with some royal graffiti by Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York, and her daughters has sold for 15,000 at a charity auction.

The artwork, by contemporary British artist Teddy M, called Royal Love, featured words along its edge written by Sarah and princesses Beatrice and Eugenie.

The royal trio added the finishing touches to the piece when the artist brought his canvas, painted with a large orange and white heart embossed with the word love, to Royal Lodge, in Berkshire in May.

It was auctioned during an art fair staged at Londons Royal Hospital Chelsea with the funds raised going to Children in Crisis.

From Brexit to Texas

USA: Texas governor Greg Abbott is not on board with a Texit but is seizing a chance to take advantage of Brexit.

Mr Abbott announced that he would run digital advertisements on British websites over the July 4th weekend urging companies to declare independence from high taxes and relocate to Texas.

The campaign follows Britains vote to leave the European Union and is funded through Texas One, the states quasi-governmental marketing arm. Mr Abbotts spokesman, John Wittman, said he didnt have specifics on how much the ads cost.

The British vote reinvigorated Texas secessionist groups that in May nearly forced a floor vote on its fringe cause at the state Republican convention. But although Mr Abbott has long accused the Obama administration of impeding on state sovereignty, the governor says Texas isnt going anywhere.

Make the fake

Scotland: Millions of pounds worth of masterpieces have been removed from art galleries and replaced with forgeries for the sake of a TV series.

Seven paintings by British artists have been taken from museums around the UK in a bid to see if the visiting public can spot the imposters among the collections.

The Scottish National Portrait Gallery in Edinburgh is taking part, and a fake will be hidden in The Art of The Stuart Courts collection. An imposter will also be hidden among the Golden Age English Portraiture section of the Lady Lever Art Gallery in Port Sunlight, Wirral.

The public will have the month of July to see if they can spot the imposters by visiting the galleries or viewing the collections online at skyartsfake.com for Sky Arts new series Fake! The Great Masterpiece Challenge.

Off borrowed time

USA: A North Texas city council has voted unanimously to reinstate Browser the cat to his job as live-in mascot of the citys public library.

KRLD-AM in Dallas-Fort Worth reports the governing council of the Fort Worth suburb of White Settlement voted 3-0 to let Browser stay at the library two weeks after voting 2-1 to give the tabby 30 days to check out.

Mayor Ron White had said the move against Browser was a response to officials denial of permission to an employee to bring a puppy to work at City Hall. But he says he was overwhelmed with more than 1,000 messages on social media, all in support of keeping Browser on the job.

The vote was taken without hearing from Browsers supporters who jammed the council chamber.
The frontrunner to replace prime minister David Cameron dismissed suggestions that one candidate should be given a clear run if they receive overwhelming support from Tory MPs in the early rounds of voting.

Ms May said that she was not taking anything for granted, adding there is a need for the arguments to be heard by Tory members.

Bitter recriminations over rival Michael Goves decision to pull the rug from under Boris Johnsons leadership bid appear to have dented his prospects of taking on the Ms May in the final vote.

Mr Gove faces being pushed into third place by fellow Brexit campaigner Andrea Leadsom, whose support is growing.

Ms May told ITV: I think there should be a contest. I think its important members have their opportunity to have their say and I think that what people want to hear is what the arguments are and people putting those arguments together.

She added: I believe there should be a proper contest. I think there should be a proper contest and obviously I hope Im one of the candidates that will go forward to the membership. I dont take anything for granted, I never do in elections, but I think its important the arguments are heard.

Ms May also dismissed an early general election for the new prime minister as another destabilising factor for the economy.

With levels of support stronger than the combined total of her four rivals, Ms May appears to be on course to take the keys to No 10. She was backed by 60% of Tory voters, with Mr Gove second on 10 points and Ms Leadsom on six, according to the ICM poll for The Sun on Sunday.

Among party members, who will vote to decide the winner of the leadership contest, 46% say she would make the best prime minister.

Ms May has also been backed by more MPs, who select the final two candidates to go on to the ballot paper, than any of the other candidates.

Although the poll puts Mr Gove, who has wider name recognition, ahead of Ms Leadsom, bookies have slashed the odds on the junior minister making it through the knock-out stages in parliament to go up against Ms May in the head-to-head.

The first round of voting to whittle down the field of runners is being held tomorrow .

More than half of those polled  55% by ICM were unable to give any view on Ms Leadsom or work and pensions secretary Stephen Crabb, who have lower profiles than the long-standing cabinet ministers, and 42% had the same problem with former frontbencher Liam Fox.
UAE media reported that the Emirati man was detained in Avon, Ohio, last week after a female clerk at a local hotel called 911 to report what she had described as a man affiliated to Islamic State, according to the Arabic-language al-Bayan newspaper.

It only identified him by his initials.

The English language The National said the receptionist at the Fairfield Inn hotel called the police after she heard the man talking on his phone in the hotel lobby.

Gulf News, another UAE newspaper, published photos of the Emirati man in robes being wrestled to the ground and handcuffed before being led away by police.

In a message on a Foreign Ministry Twitter account focusing on citizens travelling abroad, the ministry said on Saturday: For citizens traveling outside the country, and in order to ensure their safety, we point out not to wear formal dress while traveling, especially in public places, the message dated July 2 stated, without referring to the Avon incident.

The Foreign Ministry, in a message posted on its website in Arabic and English, urged citizens to abide by the laws of countries they are visiting. It alerted women to countries in Europe whose laws prohibit wearing of face covers, also without referring to the incident in Avon.

Local newspapers said Avon police released the man after they realised their mistake, but he fainted and needed hospital treatment.

Al-Bayan reported that the citizen had hired a lawyer to pursue the case, saying he had received no apology from either the police or the hotel.
Burma After Protests, State Government to Use Only Arakanese Race

After protests across Arakan State, the state government agrees to call the Buddhist majority the Arakanese Race, but stays silent on the Rohingya.

RANGOON  The Arakan State government has bowed to the demands of Arakan nationalist groups by issuing a statement on Monday that it would refer to the Buddhist majority as the Arakanese Race, instead of the Buddhist community in Arakan State.

However, the state government was silent over the designation of the largely stateless Rohingya Muslim minority, prompting frustration among Arakanese politicians and civil society leaders, who insist they be called Bengali, to imply they are illegal migrants who do not belong in Arakan State.

On Sunday, in 15 out of 17 townships in Arakan State, thousands of Buddhist residents conducted protest marches against new and supposedly neutral government terminology for Buddhist and Muslim communities in the state.

At a session of the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland, Burmas representative Thet Thinzar Htun requested that the term Muslim community in Arakan State be used instead of the contentious terms Rohingya or Bengali, so as to foster harmony and mutual trust between the Buddhist and Muslim communities.

The following week, while UN human rights envoy Yanghee Lee visited Arakan State, the Ministry of Information instructed state-owned publications to use the terms the Muslim Community in Arakan State and the Buddhist Community in Arakan State.

On Sunday, banners and chants urged the National League for Democracy (NLD) government to stop using both terms, and included slogans such as, Arakan State belongs to the Arakanese, Bengalis must be called Bengalis, and be afraid of the native Arakanese.

Arakan State government spokesman Min Aung said they would use the term Arakanese Race because it was the will of the Arakanese community.

Although Mondays official statement was silent on the designation of Muslims, Min Aung added that the state government would respect the publics voice and use the term Bengali, in accordance with their demand, to refer to the Rohingya.

However, Min Aung refused to confirm whether the state government would officially announce a policy of using Bengali, referring to it as a separate issue. He suggested that The Irrawaddy was asking leading questions on the matter.

Min Aung also said that Mondays statement was issued on behalf of the state government alone, and does not reflect the position of the Union government.

Pe Than, a lawmaker in the Lower House of the Union Parliament for the Arakan National Party (ANP), which represents the Buddhist majority in the state, criticized the state governments statement for ignoring the core Arakanese demand that the government abandon the term Muslim community in Arakan Statewhich implies, unacceptably in his view, that the Rohingya belong to Arakan State.

Pe Than also suspected that the statement, with its conspicuous omission, may have been issued on the instructions of the Union government.

Both the Union and Arakan State governments are controlled by the NLD, even though the ANP won the largest plurality of seats in the Arakan State parliament. The ANP have been excluded from a high level committee on Arakan State led by Aung San Suu Kyi, further exacerbating tensions between the NLD and the ANP.

The main problem is how they will designate the terms. What we want is a decisive stand from the government, similar to the previous government, said Pe Than.

Pe Than added that the issue should be resolved by the Ministry of Information and was not the responsibility of the Arakan State government, particularly given that the term Muslim community in Arakan State was aired at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.

Pe Than admitted that he and other ANP lawmakers had been briefed by Suu Kyi in Napyidaw in March about the new NLD governments intentions to deploy new terms for Buddhist and Muslim communities in Arakan State. However, they had not expected them to be floated first at the UN.

The ANP lawmaker suggested that that Muslim migrants in Arakan State might be an acceptable term for the Rohingya, since it denoted origins outside of the state.

Pe Than went on to say, We dont care about too much about the exact words, which may one day disappear. What we care most about is whether the government will issue [citizenship documentation] to people in line with the 1982 Citizenship Law.

The 1982 Citizenship Lawdraw up under military dictator Ne Winrenders most Rohingya stateless, since they are not included among a list of 135 official ethnic groups, and many do not have the documentation to prove family residency over three generations.

The Irrawaddy phoned Presidents Office spokesperson Zaw Htay on Monday but he declined to answer questions, directing the reporter back to the Arakan State governments statement.

Wai Hun Aung, a social activist with the Wunlark Development Foundation, said, It doesnt matter who issued the statement [the state or union government]. The main point is that [the Rohingya] be called Bengali.

He assumed that the statement was sincere in its attempt to assuage the concerns of the Buddhist Arakanese, but he declared it totally irrelevant to the peoples demand: that Bengalis be called just Bengalis.

Wai Hun Aung himself suspected that the Union government in Naypyidaw directed the statement, because the Arakan State Chief Minister Nyi Pu (an NLD appointee) and some state level ministers have been away from the capital Sittwe.
Burma Tensions Heighten Between KIA and Burma Army Amid Rangoon Peace Talks

Tensions remain high after fighting resumes between the Kachin Independence Army and the Burma Army in Laiza, amid ongoing peace talks in Rangoon.

Tensions remain high after fighting broke out over the weekend between the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and the Burma Army in Laizathe KIA headquartersamid ongoing peace talks in Rangoon.

According to local sources, bombs hit the Burma Army on July 1 at Nan San Yang village in Winemaw Township and members of the army were wounded.

Later, a Burma Army battalion allegedly shot artillery fire at the KIA headquarters in Laiza.

They shot their 81mm mortar at us five times, said Lt-Col Naw Bu, a spokesperson for the KIA, adding, There are ongoing peace talks [in Rangoon], so we would not let our members attack them.

No one was wounded from our side, he said, adding that although the Burma Army suffered losses, the KIA would not make a public statement about the extent of the casualties because it did not want to trigger more fighting.

Burmas Ministry of Defense reported on July 2 that the Burma Army had accused the KIA of detonating remote controlled landmines while two government battalions rotated and resupplied rations.

The fighting broke out at about 8 a.m. local time, said a defense ministry statement. Six landmines blew up and soldiers were wounded, but the KIA withdrew their troops after the army fought back.

Tensions are high, said Naw Bu, adding, They are preparing their armed forces for another fight and we are closely observing their troop movements.
Burma Thousands Protest in Arakan State Against New Label for Rohingya

The governments neutral policy of calling the Rohingya the Muslim community in Arakan State is sparking a nationalist backlash in Arakan State.

RANGOON  Thousands of Buddhist residents of Arakan State took to the streets on Sunday to protest against the governments new term for those who self-identify as Rohingya, the largely stateless Muslim minority in Arakan State.

The protests took place in 15 out of 17 townships of Arakan State. A delay in requesting permission from authorities prevented demonstrations from going ahead in Rathedaung and Gwa townships.

The demonstrations were sparked by a request made by Burmas representative to the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council on June 17: that the term Muslim community in Arakan State should be used instead of the contentious terms Rohingya or Bengali, so as to foster harmony and mutual trust between the Buddhist and Muslim communities in Arakan State.

The following week, Yanghee Lee, the UNs special rapporteur on human rights in Burma, visited Arakan State and met with both Buddhist and Muslim communities. During her time in the country, the Ministry of Information officially instructed state-owned publications to use the terms the Muslim Community in Arakan State and the Buddhist Community in Arakan State.

In the Arakan State capital Sittwe on Sunday, thousands of peopleincluding Buddhist monksmarched through the city center holding banners reading Arakan State Belongs to the Arakanese, and shouting slogans such as Bengalis must be called Bengalis.

Many in Burma insist on calling the Rohingya Bengali, to suggest they are illegal migrants from Bangladesh, and consider the Rohingya label an illegitimate claim to belonging in Burma as a distinct ethnic group.

Prior to the weekend protests, Arakanese nationalist groups from Sittwe last week sent an open lettersigned by about 500 residents and 70 Buddhist monksto President Htin Kyaw and State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi objecting to the governments new terminology.

The letter was also delivered to Burmas Commander-in-Chief Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing; the Upper and Lower House parliamentary speakers; the Union ministers of defense, of home affairs, of information, and of labor, immigrations and population; and the Arakan State government.
Business Jade Sales Drop Significantly at Govt Emporium

Slowing Chinese demand and attempts by the Burmese government to limit sales of raw jade are cooling the appetites of buyers at the biannual Gems Emporium.

RANGOON  Sales of raw jade at the government-run biannual Gems Emporium in Naypyidaw have been markedly lower than in previous years.

Organizers have pointed to slowing Chinese demand as well as a government policy to limit sales of raw jade as a means of boosting value-added jade processing in Burma.

Previously, Chinese traders would flock to Burma to purchase raw jade and re-sell it to processing outfits in China, who would make large profits producing jade bracelets and other ornaments to feed the vast demand in China, where jade is prized as auspicious.

The Myanmar Gems Enterprise, which operates under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation, has been staging the emporium for local and foreign buyers from June 24 to July 6 in Burmas capital city Naypyidaw.

Most foreign buyers have been coming in from Mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Thailand.

Six thousand lots of raw jade have been laid out for purchasesignificantly lower than the 9,000 lots displayed in the previous emporium in December, an official from the Myanmar Gems Enterprise said.

This reduction reflects the governments intention to cap raw jade sales, but buyers have also shown a reduced appetite.

Min Thu, director of the Myanmar Gems Enterprise, spoke to The Irrawaddy on Monday. It is only two days till the end of the emporium, but total sales have reached only 427 million euros (US$475 million), he said, with 3,880 lots purchased so far.

At Decembers emporium, sales generated around 900 million euros ($1 billion), according to the Myanmar Gems Enterprise.

The revenues are obviously lower than last year. The record was in 2014, Min Thu said.

In July that year, the government and private enterprises sold around 2.6 billion euros ($2.9 billion) in jade to foreign traders, up from about 2 billion euros ($2.2 billion) in 2013, according to the (now defunct) Ministry of Mines.

Phyo Wai, a jade trader in Mandalaywhere large quantities of Burmas jade are also purchasedtold The Irrawaddy: Traders here have nothing to do because the market is cooling down. Very few jade lots come to the market. Many of our main customers from China have also stopped coming here.

Even though were sending processed jade accessories to Ruili [on the Chinese side of the border from Muse in northern Shan State], the market is really cooling. We cant make it. This is not a good time for us, Phyo Wai said.

Jade traders in Mandalay and Rangoon have primarily blamed the cooling of the jade market on uncertainty linked to the transition of political power in Burma this year, as well as a change in Chinas economic policy under President Xi Jinping.

But also significant are attempts by the government to regulate and limit sales of raw jade. Last year, under the previous government, the Myanmar Gems Enterprise enacted regulations requiring foreign traders to demonstrate a minimum balance of 50,000 euros ($55,600) for every one million euros ($1 million) pledged.

The policy was created after several foreign buyers defaulted on enormous bids. Successful bids are usually paid off in monthly installments, but many buyers were falling behind on their debts.
Monday, July 4th, 2016 (9:43 am) - Score 456

The leader of Hampshire County Council in England, Roy Perry, has warned that bringing superfast broadband to rural premises in the final 4% of the region will present significant challenges (very expensive) and that in the end it may be left up to self-funding providers and inferior Satellite.

The local Hampshire Superfast Broadband project with BT (Openreach) has already succeeded in expanding the coverage of superfast (24Mbps+) connectivity to 90% of the county (80,712 extra premises have already benefited from the effort) and last month they began the roll-out of their second contract, which will add another 34,500 premises (i.e. 96% coverage) by September 2018 (i.e. an improvement on the original mid-2019 target).

As a result Hampshire now faces the daunting prospect of having to figure out how best to upgrade those in the final 3-4%, where traditional fixed line methods can quickly become prohibitively expensive for traditional methods.

Roy Perry said: We are working hard to ensure that as many of Hampshires residents as possible have access to superfast connections  regularly overcoming hurdles such as gaining landowner consent and stakeholder support. We are also pleased that the deal, recently announced by the Governments Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), between BTs network division Openreach, and the Home Builders Federation to offer free or co-funded broadband to all new developments, will go a long way towards meeting the Governments aspirations to bring faster internet speeds to more of the nation. Significant challenges remain in Hampshire to reach the final 4%. It is these harder-to-reach areas where proportionately more expensive infrastructure is needed for a smaller number of properties. We are alert to the challenges faced by communities and residents not in the current plans, and we are working hard to find a solution for these areas, such as facilitating discussions with satellite broadband or self-funding providers. We await details from the Government on how this will be tackled nationally.

Perry also pointed to the 1.2m Government pilot project by Call Flow Solutions as another possible example of their future direction. The pilot recently delivered a 30Mbps+ hybrid fibre optic and wireless broadband network to 1,700 homes in the rural communities of Monkwood, Beauworth, Privett and Preshaw (Winchester and East Hampshire districts).

The challenge is by no means unique to Hampshire and almost every other UK local authority is now starting to consider the same problem. Some areas will be able to do deals with alternative network providers and further extensions of existing BT deployments, while others may fall back on Satellite as a quick-fix due to a lack of funding or innovative thinking from the local authority.

The government are also working to establish a new Broadband Investment Fund (details), although so far this seems to be more directed towards providing support for building ultrafast (100Mbps+) broadband infrastructure and its not clear how much of an impact this may have on rural areas, if any.

On top of that Government are also working to establish a new 10Mbps Universal Service Obligation (USO) for broadband, although there have been strong hints that this too may allow a fall-back to Satellite solutions in some areas (i.e. the final 1% or so). As part of this BT are also conducting trials of a new Long Reach VDSL (FTTC) solution in Isfield (East Sussex), although it remains to be seen whether this will progress to a significant roll-out.

Needless to say that there are many challenges ahead and a lot of questions left to answer, but at least all of the decision makers are finally having to consider the most remote areas.
Welcome to the first International Corner  a collection of news from European Parliamentary Technology Assessment organizations.

This newsletter brings together institutions from across Europe researching how science and technology is impacting our lives, society and legislation. Through publicizing news of the many varied projects going on we hope to capitalize on sharing knowledge and address the problems that extend beyond national boundaries.

So were going to take a tour of some of the organizations and highlight what they have been actually up to.

POST (UK)

June has been a busy month on the political calendar with the Queens Speech at the end of May setting out the upcoming legislation for the next year and the recent EU referendum. We signed an agreement with the Chilean Parliament to help them set up a scientific advice service and well be sending over one of our staff to help them hit the ground running.

Weve had a few publications coming out on a variety of topics including Financial Technologies, Infant Mortality and Stillbirth, Sugar and Public Health, and Marine Microplastics. Click, a BBC World Service program, interviewed Lydia Harriss about the Financial Technology POSTnote and our Marine Microplastics note accompanied a select committee press release which featured in several news reports.

TA-Swiss (Switzerland)

In Switzerland, part-time work has long been established, with 37% of the working population  one of the highest rates in Europe  working part-time. Moreover, a quarter of all Swiss employees work at least partially from home, which is again one of the highest in Europe. But increasingly, driven by the uptake of new communication technology, other forms of flexible work are being added to the mix: locational flexibility (work from anywhere, shared workspaces), numeric flexibility (temporary work, crowdsourcing, liquid talents), and the transfer of entrepreneurial risk to the employee. These shifts can benefit the work-life balance and productivity but they can also lead to self-exploitation, poor social benefits, avoiding of labor regulations, and tax evasion.

In its latest study, "Flexible New World of Work  Taking inventory on the societal and macroeconomic level", TA-SWISS analyzes the impact of different forms of flexibilization for employers, employees and the economy as a whole. One of its main conclusions is that macroeconomic benefits of flexibilization depend on adequate qualifications. More details

ITA (Austria)

Smart technologies and society was the focus of the ITAs recent annual TA conference on May 30 in Vienna.

The smart revolution will change different areas of our lives significantly as our refrigerators start ordering milk, industrial machines make crucial production decisions, and vehicles drive us around automatically. But how realistic are the promises of simplicity, efficiency and optimization, which are attached to these data-driven technologies? What impact will this development have on a democratic society, our work environments and our privacy? At its annual conference, the Institute of Technology Assessment (ITA) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (OEAW) focused on this wide range of aspects. The 26 talks ranged from the Internet of things and smart manufacturing to artificial intelligence, big data, smart energy, and assistive technologies for the elderly.

"Our task here is to not blindly follow the hype," ITA director Michael Nentwich pointed out in his opening address. Keynote speaker Dirk Helbing (ETH Zurich) stressed the risks of increasing digitization and data mining for our democracy and societies in general: "We can decide how we want to use the tons of data available. We are already heading towards manipulation and privacy infringement. We could, however, also decide to upgrade on our freedom and our social experience."

ITAS (Germany)

In the next decade, science, business and civil society in Germany need to work hand in hand to develop new solutions to transform the energy system. The Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) is awarding 400 million in research grants to support them. The aim is to develop new energy concepts by 2025 which can be applied on an industrial scale  and which are also socially acceptable.

The Institute for Technology Assessment and Systems Analysis (ITAS) will participate in all four of the chosen consortia. The scientists will be working in many areas including

reducing the costs of grid conversion by a combination of centralized and decentralized power generation,

assessing the sustainability of large-scale storage of fluctuating renewable energy in the form of chemicals, gaseous energy sources and fuels,

examining the social impact of flexible adaptation of industrial systems to a fluctuating power supply from renewables,

and developing roadmaps for energy transition and assess the market potential of different technologies.

NBT (Norway)

In 2004, the American Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) held its first challenge to build an autonomous vehicle. None of the participants managed to solve the problem. Today, Googles self-driving vehicles have logged about 2.5 million kilometers, and cars with autopilot functions are already on the market.

Autonomous cars have in the span of a few years gone from the realm of science fiction to pressing policy matter. The Norwegian Board of Technology has written a policy brief on the subject in order to spark a debate and raise awareness of future challenges that need to be addressed now. The note highlights key policy questions, possibilities and challenges, and developments at home and abroad, and has been the subject of a program on national radio and of a meeting in the Norwegian Parliament.

(04.07.2016)
Years ago, Hewlett-Packard Enterprise sued Oracle for an alleged breach of contract. All this was because Oracle decided to stop manufacturing its database software for Itanium , which is what HPE's servers depended greatly on. The two companies recently met to discuss damages, and HPE walked away the winner with Oracle owing the computer manufacturing giant upwards of $3 billion.

As Yahoo! narrates, everything started when Oracle bought Sun Microsystems and started to build its own servers. By doing so, Oracle became a direct competitor of HPE. This ended the long-standing relationship between Oracle and HPE.

Before the trial, the professional relationship between the two companies lasted at least three decades. Further, Oracle stopped manufacturing the database software for Itanium. Unfortunately, HPE's high-performance servers were built on Intel's Itanium chip.

So in 2011, HPE brought Oracle to court, arguing that it was because of the Sun Microsystems servers that the market's demand for its own Itanium-based servers was declining. HPE subsequently sued Oracle for breaching their contract.

Regarding the breach of contract, Oracle argued that the deal with HPE did not include a section which stated the company had to continue support for Itanium-based products. However, the court ordered that Oracle must continue support for the products in 2012.

However, Oracle still believed they were on the right. As Business Insider quotes, Oracle's lawyer, Dorian Daley, stated that "Oracle never believed it had a contract to continue to port our software to Itanium indefinitely and we do not believe so today; nevertheless, Oracle has been providing all its latest software for the Itanium systems since the original ruling while HP and Intel stopped developing systems years ago."

It is also worth stating that the rivalry took a bitter turn when Oracle hired Mark Hurd as their Co-President. Hurd had previously worked for HPE as their Chief Executive Officer. HPE correspondingly filed a lawsuit stating that Hurd would provide his new company with "valuable trade secrets."
Ransomware attacks on smartphones are up 400% year-on-year, and there appears to be no sign of slowing down.

Kaspersky Labs KSN Report: Ransomware in 2014-2016 reveals that cyber criminals have turned their attention to mobile devices  predominately Android due to market share but there are attempts made on iOS devices as well.

It says Germany, Canada, United Kingdom, US, Kazakhstan, Italy, and the Netherlands all have double-digit percentage attacks.

It says that in countries at the top of the mobile ransomware list, mobile and e-payment infrastructure is much more developed and has deeper penetration. Criminals like to get as close to their victims' money as possible and attacking a user who can transfer the ransom in a couple of clicks has the most appeal.

The upturn is also due to Ransomware as a Service (RaaS) being offered via affiliate networks. Most of todays crypto ransomware has Russian roots, wtih regard to both the authors of the malicious code and of the actors who spread the malware and demand the ransom.

The groups behind ransomware attacks are mainly small or medium-sized, and they co-operate using a business scheme: affiliate networks. Small groups often consist of non-professional but very motivated members willing to invest money and time in any cyber criminal activity promising money.

Middle-sized groups usually have some professional programmers and web technology specialists. They can produce malware and to build and support the IT infrastructure that forms the technological backbone for the malware.

Over the last few years, middle-sized groups have been able to create several products that, in the case of ransomware comprise a kind of DIY set that less-skilled criminals can buy, modify into their unique version of the malware, and then use to make money.

Kaspersky says that ransomware is skyrocketing simply because people pay up via untraceable cryptocurrency. It says the extortion model is here to say.

It offers the following tips:
Qantas chief information officer Luc Hennekens is leaving the airline after three years in charge of IT.

Hennekens will depart Qantas in September to join an unnamed company in France.

The Qantas official previously worked in France at Procter & Gamble and joined Qantas in 2012 from Contact Energy in New Zealand. He was chief technology officer at Qantas before being promoted as chief information officer.

The airline says it will undertake a worldwide search for a replacement.

A number of major IT projects were implemented during Hennekens time at Qantas, including a major step by the airline to move its IT to an outsourced software-as-a-service model as part of a cost-cutting strategy.

In 2014, Indian software and services company Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) announced it had upgraded Qantas Oracle E-Business Suite Release 12 through a SaaS model hosted at Macquarie Telecoms Sydney Intellicentre data centre. The new cloud-based version of the software provided Qantas with key benefits, including enhanced system functionality, reduced system management complexity and unification of vendors.
After a cliffhanger of an election, the people are left dangling as it were on a precipice. When you combine paper votes with booths and an election commission that is stuck in the past, that should not surprise anyone.

But what if Australia had moved into the digital age? By now, the whole thing would have been done and dusted.

However there is unlikely to even be an examination of switching to electronic voting, despite the very successful use of the same in the Australian Capital Territory.

The one time when the Australian Election Commission made a study of electronic voting was in 2001. This followed the dodgy results in the US presidential poll of 2000, when George W. Bush came to power in rather dubious circumstances.

What commission membersafter that evaluation was updated six years ago. And since then there has been silence.

The ACT is the only area in the country that has tried out electronic voting. The first use was in 2001 in the legislative assembly and the system has continued to be used all the way to 2016.

The software used by the ACT is open source. It runs on Debian GNU/Linux.

The federal Senate votes are counted using software but at the last federal election there was a stuff-up and a fresh vote had to be held for one Senate seat in Western Australia.

A move by one lawyer, Tasmanian Michael Cordover, to obtain the source code of the vote counting application was denied. Cordover wanted to have a look at the code to see if it was at fault.

The request went up to the level of a Senate motion, but Minister of State Michael Ronaldson cited a fear of hacking as one of the reasons for his refusal to honour the motion.

Exactly what he meant by that is unknown. One should just pass it off as an indicator of the level of ignorance about software that exists in politicians' ranks.

The ACT openly offers the source code for its voting application on the Internet. Which puts Ronaldson's comment right into the area of stupidity.

It's funny that the government has no hesitation in digitising practically every one of its functions in a bid to cut public sector staff and save money.

Tax data, health data, personal data, it's all fine when it's accessed over the Internet.

But no federal government has ever canvassed the creation of an electronic voting system so that elections can be over and done with on a weekend.

No, we have to wait interminably, while speculation mounts, while everyone and his dog gives their own counts, all studiously ignoring the official AEC count as they have their own "pundits" in-house.

A lot of the high-grade bullshit that emanates from political analysts and other snake-oil peddlers would be a thing of the past if electronic voting made its debut. It would become a cut-and-dry process for the most part with the power of many people decreased.

Everyone wants to be a player in the election process: you only have to look at the way the ABC spruiks opt-in data collected through its Vote Compass survey as poll data, to know how desperate people are to stake their claim to be players.

Given that, and the archaic attitude that exists when it comes to digitising functions for the sake of efficiency, it is unlikely that Australia will even think of adopting electronic voting in the next decade.

In the meantime, paper and pencils will sell well in the open market.
AOC Gaming has released a new range of IPS, TN, LED, 2560 x 1440, gaming monitors  one of which supports 165Hz NVIDIA G-SYNC/Radeon Free-Sync for flicker/judder/stutter/motion/blur-free performance.

The AG271QX (144Hz) and AG271QG (165Hz) are part of the new AGON high-performance gaming brand released in April this year.

AGON is an ancient Greek word (), which refers to a struggle or contest. The name is also intended to be an acronym that represents AOCs vision for AGON.

 AOC to lead the way in gaming monitor development

 Gaming enhanced by the latest technology

 Outstanding performance for a competitive edge

 New standard of gaming for users to enjoy

Typically gaming monitors have had 144Hz refresh and AGON takes this to the next level. AOC has reduced eye fatigue and strain via new Low Blue Light mode and 1ms response. It has a new lift/tilt and swivel stand equipped with a lifting handle as well.

Via the AOC QuickSwith Controller, it has changeable Game Mode Presets to switch between modes and adjust brightness, contrast, and other gaming features.

Tech Specs (both)

Size: 27, 16:9, 2560 x 1440 (144Hz for QX and 165Hz for QG)

Panel: IPS, TN, LED.

Brightness: 350 cd/m2

Contrast: 1000:1

Dynamic Contrast: 50M:1

Viewing angle: 170/160

Response: 1ms GtG

Connectors: D-Sub, DVI, HDMI 2.0 (and MHL), DisplayPort  HDCP compatible, 2 x USB 3.0

Stand: Pivot: 0-90, Swivel 120-20, Tilt 3.5-21.5, Lift 130mm

Speakers: 3W Stereo

Price:

The NVIDIA G-Sync, 165Hz compatible model AG271QG will be available from August from gaming and PC specialists.

The Free-Sync 144Hz model is AG271QX and is available now at A$699.

The AG series also includes a 31.5, 144Hz, curved monitor AG322FCX.
Headphones that learn and adapt to your unique hearing and automatically tune to your hearing profile in 30 seconds are a somewhat new concept.

Its a fact that every human lacks perfect symmetry and hearing is no different. One ear may hear higher notes more clearly, the other bass tones, and then there are volume levels.

Nura is a new type of headphone that integrates unique soundwave technology to automatically measure your hearing (from the outer ear all the way to the brain) and adapt music perfectly to you. You don't need to answer any tests  just sit back and listen.

For headphones to deliver the right sound, they must be matched to the listener. Nura even recognises you when you put them on.

Nura has chosen Kickstarter to enter the audiophile world, and it has secured $1.2 million  its goal was $100,000  with still time to get in before it closes on 15 July.

The recommended price will be $399, but a pledge of $219 gets you a set. The only catch is that it will ship in April 2017.

The design is also interesting  earbuds within an over-ear cup to provide exceptional sound clarity. The buds deliver the sound, and the over-ear cup delivers noise isolation and bass you can feel through your skin. They are not noise-cancelling, but the gel-tipped buds make up for that.

Nura can be connected by a 3.5mm audio plug, Bluetooth and digital.

nura is a Melbourne-based team of experts in engineering, acoustics, biology, hearing science and product delivery. Founded in April 2015, it has also received funding from the Melbourne Accelerator Program, and is a graduate of the HAX Accelerator.

While the concept of individual ear tuning is not so new  Even has tuneable earbuds  Nura does represent a unique design and having well surpassed its Kickstarter goal you can be sure this is one hot technology.
Attempts by smartphone makers to shorten or hasten the replacement cycle have failed. Instead, they are getting longer, and in a saturated market that spells financial woe.

Advertising and marketing technology company Fluent conducted a survey of US smartphone users, and it has revealed major changes in ownership patterns.

It found around 30% upgrade every two years due to contracts. But the trend (at least in the US telco space) is away from contract bundles due to the realisation that consumers are paying not only the full price of the phone but considerable interest for the use-now-pay-as-you-go programmes. Cross-subsidy of call revenue and handset prices has almost stopped.

A startling 42% said they would now wait until the system breaks  which is estimated to take four to six years  and would entertain the interim cost of a battery replacement if it extended the useable life of the handset.

iPhone owners were a slightly different lot. First some back story. The iPhone 6/Plus with iOS8 was a massive technology leap including larger screens and more memory. It did very well. Analysts call that a tick year where Apple releases something new and even more desirable, causing queues at its stores.

But the iPhone 6S/Plus were more of the same: a tock year. That did not drive sales as its predecessor did. Rumours are that the iPhone 7 will be more of the same, perhaps with beefed up features in iOS 10, and these do not require more than an iPhone SE or 6/S to run. It wont drive sales.

A total of 49% of Apple users said they would probably get a new phone next year. The caveat is if the iPhone 7 excites them. These are likely those still using a 4/5 series or coming out of contract on a 6. As Fluent puts it Apple: A strong core, but still seeking the wow of yesteryear.

Gallup (a professional polling company) found in May 2015 that 54% of users would wait until their phone stops working or becomes totally obsolete and wont run the apps they want. It found that only 2% upgraded when a new model was released, putting paid to the myth that iPhone users have more money than sense [cents].

Research company Gartner, says the smartphone market will no longer grow at the levels reached over the last seven years. Smartphone sales recorded their highest growth in 2010, reaching 73%. The smartphone market has reached more than 90% penetration in the mature markets of North America, Western Europe, Japan and Asia/Pacific, slowing future growth. Users in these regions are not replacing or upgrading their smartphone as often as in previous years.

Comment

Empirically Australia has had a love affair with telcos and contracts, meaning a new handset every two years or so. But the advent of quality, feature-packed Android handsets like OPPOs R7/Plus and now its R9/Plus have helped change the paradigm. Contracts are on the way out in favour of unlocked phones, often with lower cost pre-paid SIM providers.

I spoke to my sources at JB Hi-Fi who confirmed that people were overwhelmingly choosing cost over the brand and outright purchase instead of contracts. That is what happens when a "category" becomes commoditised.

I asked about buy-back and trade-in, but the source said that the average consumer did not have easy access to these, and more likely the old handset went to family or a friend or into the bin.

While the PC market was fuelled by Moores Law  doubling of power every 18 months  there has been little innovation in glass slabs for some time. While 2016 has seen better cameras, more memory, and larger screens, it is not enough of a WOW factor to shorten the cycle.
While Window 10 Mobile is destined for the corporate market, a new company called NuAns has a new twist on the handset that it should run on.

The NuAns NEO has attracted 253 backers and over US$72K of its $725K goal with about a month to go.

The premise is a powerful CORE supporting Continuum with almost infinitely customisable slip-on shells  with Tennage woodgrain, Clarino vinyl, and Ultra suede leather to customise the look.

Why W10M? It is not part of the Android cesspool; it sees Continuum as the killer feature it is and it is expected to sell at US$399.

It says, 'Risks and challenges'

Changing decades of irresistible urges to be a part of the EXCLUSIVE Apple and Android world.

Changing the stereotypical belief that you are either an Apple person or an Android person. Getting consumers to realise that the Windows 10 device, although clouded from its past, has reinvented itself to be a strong competitive smartphone device.

We want to show people the power of the Windows 10 processor and the organizational tool of Continuum; blended to make a superior smartphone.

We understand that it is going to be an uphill battle to get users to leave their comfortable lifestyles glued to their iPhone and Samsung devices, but what is life without taking risks?

Specifications

Specifications are reasonable and functional although not top drawer  Qualcomm 617; 2GB/16GB memory, microSD; 5, 1280 x 720 IPS/LED, 13MP, f/2.0 rear camera and 5MP front selfie; Wi-Fi AC, NFC, USB-C; US/EU LTE bands; with a 3350mAh battery.

Comment

While the concept is admirable it takes a brave start-up to back W10M no matter how good the OS.
Google is reportedly designing its own Android smartphones  and for good reason. It can keep them secure and support them with the latest Android version.

Before you say the Nexus program does just that, remember that these are essentially built and sold by other makers like LG or Huawei. They run pure Android but still suffer from the need for telcos to test all updates and roll them out.

The rumour gained significant street credibility when Trendforce commented on the current state of the Chinese and Taiwanese market saying HTCs 10 had failed to gain significant market share, and it would take on production for Google  to keep the doors open. While this is for Nexus models called Sailfish (5) and Marlin (6), the projected numbers of handsets to make, do not add up.

There have also been numerous reports about fragmentation, that Google needs to take back control of Android to avoid fragmentation and to advance its cause in the corporate arena.

Rumours of a Google-designed, pure Android N phone being released this year are very strong. It wants to compete directly with Apples iPhone rather than other Android makers and will need to have 100% control over the OS and apps to do that.

Google has already set a precedent in designing and OEMing the Pixel C tablet. It established a hardware division headed by Rick Osterioh  former president of Motorola  in April. At its recent Code Conference, Googles chief executive Sundar Pichai said that it would be investing more effort into its phones.

Then there is the persistent rumour that Samsung and Huawei want their own ecosystem, and that is likely to be Tizen. It makes sense as existing Android smartphones could easily be upgraded to Tizen and it does run Android apps. Lets face it  paddling in the Android cesspool is not fun and gives no unique selling proposition to Samsung et al. that have the deep pockets to make Tizen work.

Tech site Ars Technica says for Google, building its own smartphone doesnt make a lot of sense. It does, however, say that Google needs to take an Apple-like approach  end-to-end control of its own ecosystem. Its premise is that the Nexus program addresses everything Google reportedly wants.

I think Google is poised to add some real innovation to the glass slab  especially if rumours about a modular, upgradable, phone are correct. And, to date, Google has not had the sway  regardless of how big Android is  with silicon manufacturers to closely couple Android to the silicon to solve issues like battery life, wireless charging, 4K TV, camera, VR, sensors, and performance. There is a strong rumour that it will be working with a foundry (MediaTek has been mentioned) to introduce a new highly integrated system on a chip unique to Google, similar in concept to Apples AX designed chips.

Whatever the case if Google goes down this path, consumers will expect Steve Jobs like design and a real category killer  or else they will leave Nexus alone.

Nexus Sailfish and Marlin rumours

The HTC Sailfish will reportedly feature a 5-inch Full HD AMOLED display, 64-bit 2.0GHz quad-core processor, 4GB of RAM, 32/128GB of storage, 12-megapixel rear camera, 8-megapixel front camera, Bluetooth 4.2, rear fingerprint reader, USB-C port, at least one speaker on the bottom, and the headphone jack on top.

The Marlin will reportedly have a 5.5 or 6, QHD 2560 x 1440, AMOLED display and similar specs to the Sailfish.

Nice specs, but its a very crowded space!
This Week in Review

A weekly review of the best and most popular stories published in the Imperial Valley Press. Also, featured upcoming events, new movies at local theaters, the week in photos and much more.
There are speculations that the highly-anticipated "One Piece" film, "Gold," will feature characters from "Naruto." Both series have captured the hearts of fans in Japan as well as in other countries.

Christian Today reported that there is a possibility that "One Piece" film "Gold" may feature the "most epic crossover yet." It is rumored that Naruto will make an appearance in the movie.

Apparently, the Seventh Hokage will meet the Straw Hat Pirates at one point in "One Piece" film "Gold." It is said to involve ramen, one of Naruto's favorite food.

The publication noted that part of the promotion of "One Piece" film "Gold" in Japan is a noodle product. It will be packaged with artwork featuring the characters.

This led to speculations that Naruto will be making a cameo in the movie since he is widely known to be a big fan of ramen. Moreover, his name is also a play on the name of cured fish surimi, which his often an ingredient of ramen.

Last month, Ecumenical News reported that the famous ninja may endorse a brand of ramen in "One Piece" film "Gold." The movie is believed to focus on the massive ship owned by Guild Tesoro.

According to Anime News Network, actor Naoto Takenaka and comedian Masakazu Mimura have been confirmed to be a part of the "One Piece" film "Gold" guest cast. The former will voice the characters Double Down and White Jack while the latter will voice Saint Kamael.

Other guest cast includes Kazuhiro Yamaji as Gild Tesoro, Hikari Mitsushima as Carina, Gaku Hamada as Mr. Tanaka, Nanao as Baccarat, Kinya Kitaoji as Reizu Max, Kendo Kobayashi as Dice, Arata Furuta as Kent Beef Jr. and Pork, among others.

"One Piece" film "Gold" is slated for release on Jul. 23 in Japan. It will be shown on 743 screens, which is the largest for any Japanese film. It will also be screened in 3D, 4DX and MX4D. Eiichiro Oda is serving as the movie's executive producer.
A federal judge has given Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Inc. until 10 a.m. Friday to respond to a shareholder lawsuit's request for an expedited briefing schedule.

The request is on James Graham's motion for a preliminary injunction on Krispy Kreme's $1.35 billion sale to an affiliate of JAB Holdings Inc. Graham's goal is to halt a July 27 shareholder vote on the proposed sale.

Meanwhile, a N.C. Business Court judge is set to address in a teleconference at 11 a.m. Friday a request by Krispy Kreme to consolidate five shareholder lawsuits into one case in that court.

Those five lawsuits originated or are in Forsyth Superior Court, although the one involving Barbara Grajzl was accepted by the business court June 17.

On May 8, Krispy Kreme disclosed its potential sale in a deal valued at $21 a share. The companies expect the deal, which requires regulatory and shareholder approval, to close in the third quarter. The company would be taken private but retain local management and headquarters.

The company claims its motion, submitted June 30 in federal court for the Middle District of N.C., would make unnecessary Graham's separate federal shareholder lawsuit.

Krispy Kremes attorneys want Grahams lawsuit stayed until Business Court Judge James Gale can decide on the consolidation motion. Some of those lawsuits also contain expedited hearing requests.

Judge William Osteen Jr., who recently took over the federal case, said in his decision that "this court has reviewed the (Graham) pleadings, but is not prepared to express any opinion on the merits, including any issues of abstention, that may arise as a result of the parallel state court proceedings."

Osteen said the expedited briefing schedule would be able to address any relevant issues before the federal court "rather than awaiting final resolution of preliminary issues now proceeding in state court."

"Such a process would at least prepare this court to proceed if necessary."

Shareholders Stuart Bonnin and Melissa Weers have agreed to transfer their complaints to the business court.

If necessary, Forsyth Superior Court will set a formal schedule for hearings on the appointment of lead plaintiff and lead counsel, the expedited discovery motion, and the request for a preliminary injunction.

Graham filed his federal lawsuit June 13. He accuses the company of disclosing materially incomplete and misleading information in a May 31 regulatory filing that included a narrative of how the deal was made.

Graham accuses Krispy Kreme insiders of being motivated by the prospect of potentially cashing out illiquid equity holdings (including stock options and restricted stock units) to reap immediate, if inadequate, benefits. Illiquid is the state of an asset that is not readily convertible into cash.

Graham is asking the federal court to halt the shareholder vote until the board of directors makes supplemental financial disclosures available. He is requesting oral arguments on his request by July 22.

Krispy Kremes board submitted in a June 27 regulatory filing additional financial disclosures for fiscal years 2017 to 2023.

Grahams attorneys claim the disclosures are flawed because they dont factor in several potential financial, operational and strategic changes between now and fiscal 2023.

The board also disclosed that its top four executives could walk away with a combined $13.58 million in cash and stock if their jobs were to be terminated without cause within two years of the company being sold. All four executives joined the company within the past 2 years.

Krispy Kremes attorneys claim that Grahams request for class-action status would take too long to reach a decision by the federal court, jeopardizing the July 27 shareholder vote.

The attorneys cited an example by federal Judge Graham Mullen, who stayed a lawsuit in the Western District of N.C. involving the sale of Harris Teeter Supermarkets in favor of multiple shareholder complaints filed in the business court. Graham's attorneys have countered by claiming the Harris Teeter case has no bearing on his complaint.

Krispy Kremes attorneys claim that Grahams lawsuit and the other five lawsuits essentially are the same in terms of defendants, general complaints and injunction request. The attorneys claim that Grahams complaints would be addressed in any business court resolution reached.

Mr. Graham is currently a sole shareholder seeking to single-handedly enjoin this $1.35 billion transaction and potentially deprive thousands of other Krispy Kreme shareholders of the 25 percent premium contemplated by the acquisition, Krispy Kremes attorneys said in their motion.

However, most of the shareholder lawsuits cite analysts projections  also reported in the Winston-Salem Journal  that Krispy Kremes share price could be worth up to $27 a share. That would value the company at $1.68 billion, or $330 million higher than the JAB offer.

The business court is known for being effective in resolving shareholder disputes, such as the claims made by the Krispy Kreme shareholders.

In most instances, a judge is able to persuade the company to disclose additional financial information sought by shareholders so that all shareholders can make a more informed decision on their vote.

The judge also is able to reach a compromise with shareholders that typically allows the shareholder vote to be held as planned.

For example, the court negotiated a settlement between shareholders and Reynolds American and British American Tobacco about Reynolds $29.25 billion deal for Lorillard.

Another example was the settlement reached between shareholders and NewBridge Bancorp about its $456 million sale to Yadkin Financial Corp.

Grahams attorneys have argued that while defendants are touting the fairness opinion of (financial advisor Wells Fargo Securities LLC) to the companys shareholders as proof that the merger consideration is fair, they have omitted meaningful material information that is necessary for shareholders to make an informed decision, according to the complaint.

Grahams attorneys say that Krispy Kreme failed to fully disclose to shareholders Wells Fargo Securities client relationship with JAB. He claims that relationship presents a potential conflict of interest with its advising.

Plaintiff and all putative class members will suffer irreparable harm if they are forced to decide whether or not to vote their shares in favor of the merger without access to the material information, the complaint said.

Grahams lawsuit, and those of other shareholders, criticized the Krispy Kreme boards willingness to agree to a no-shop clause that prohibited the board from taking any JAB offer to another potential buyer, as well as requiring the board to inform JAB if it receives an unsolicited offer.

The board said in the narrative that accepting the no-shop clause was necessary to secure JABs $21 a share offer.

The complaint chided the board for not going beyond Wells Fargo Securities conclusion that a similar offer was not in the marketplace, as well as questioning the groups earnestness in seeking other potential suitors before the no-shop clause was agreed upon.


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SHARE Timothy Worth Department of Corrections

By of the

A Racine County inmate accused of walking away from a work-release job is back in custody, the Wisconsin Department of Corrections said Monday.

The agency issued a statement about noon asking for help in finding Timothy J. Worth, 60, an inmate at the minimum-security Sturtevant Transitional Facility in Racine County. Worth had been dropped off at a work site, from which he had been reported missing. But he was there when DOC staff arrived to transport him back to the facility.

A DOC spokesman said the agency is investigating.
Terrill Thomas (left) poses with his son Terrill at his sons high school graduation in 2014. Credit: Family photo

By ,

Two months after a Milwaukee County Jail inmate was found unresponsive in his cell, his family still doesn't know how he died.

Terrill Thomas was arrested April 15 after shooting a man in the chest and later firing two shots in the Potawatomi casino. At his initial court appearance from inside the jail's segregation unit, his lawyer told the judge there was reason to believe he wasn't mentally competent. The judge ordered a psychiatric examination be completed by May 11.

But Thomas died in his cell on April 24.

His family thinks jail employees might have cut off his water supply when he acted erratically instead of getting him mental health treatment. An inmate whose cell was across from his said he repeatedly urged corrections officers to give Thomas water the day before he died.

"A 38-year-old man doesn't die of natural causes," said Thomas' cousin, Tiffany Robertson.

The death is under investigation by three agencies  the Milwaukee Police Department, the Milwaukee County medical examiner's office and the Milwaukee County Sheriff's Office, which oversees the jail where he died. No reports have been made public, and his family says they have been told little about how or why he died.

When two officers arrived at his parents' house to inform them of his death, family members said one officer asked them to keep it out of the media while they completed their investigation. Police spokesman Sgt. Tim Gauerke said if the suggestion was made, it would have been to protect the privacy of family members while they grieve.

The Sheriff's Office would not answer questions about the circumstances of Thomas' death or basic policies and procedures in the jail.

The Police Department is performing an independent investigation into the death. A Wisconsin law enacted in 2014 requires an outside agency to perform an independent investigation of deaths that occur in police custody.

Autopsy and toxicology reports likely won't be released for several more weeks or months given that in-custody deaths require additional procedures, including reviewing police reports and final investigations from both departments, said Karen Domagalski, operations manager of the medical examiner's office.

A 2014 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel investigation found 10 people died in custody of the Sheriff's Office during a four-year period. One woman complained of chest pains but didn't get proper medical care, one man's water had been shut off and one man committed suicide after not receiving his prescribed anti-depressants. None of those deaths resulted in charges against personnel; only two resulted in officers being disciplined.

'Cell 15 needs water'

Marcus Berry said he was in a cell across from Thomas for the last six days of his life.

Berry said Thomas rarely slept and appeared to be suffering from mental health problems. He'd stuff toilet paper into his mouth and spit it out. He shouted strange things  "Pure cocaine," "T.J. Thomas is my daddy," "God is coming soon!"  while slapping the walls of his cell.

The tap water in Thomas' cell was shut off the day he was brought to the segregation unit, Berry said; those taps are inmates' primary source of drinking water. Berry said a correctional officer told him the water was shut off because of Thomas' behavior in his previous cell.

The Sheriff's Office declined to say if an inmate's water would be shut off for disciplinary purposes.

Erik Heipt, a Seattle-based attorney who specializes in cases of wrongful death in jails and prisons, said while this tactic is sometimes used, it shouldn't be a long-term measure.

"You can't punish someone by depriving them of the nourishment they need to survive," he said.

Berry said Thomas also refused to eat Nutraloaf, a food product served to inmates in the segregation unit.

"I could tell he was getting weaker," Berry said. "One day he just lay down, dehydrated and hungry." When Berry asked if Thomas needed water, he said it sounded like Thomas tried to say "yeah" but couldn't fully speak.

Berry said he urged a correctional officer to bring Thomas water, but said he was told it would have to wait until another officer was on duty.

Berry said he told an officer that he had never seen Thomas lie down before in the six days he had been in the cell.

"Cell 15 needs water," he recalls saying. That officer told him Thomas was asleep and didn't need water while sleeping.

Before going to bed that night, Berry said he told an officer: "If something happens to that man, it's your fault."

Hours later, around 1:30 a.m., Berry woke up when guards discovered Thomas unresponsive. Within 30 minutes, he was pronounced dead. Berry watched them take him out in a body bag.

Berry, 28, was interviewed twice in the jail for this story by a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporter. He has a lengthy criminal record and is awaiting trial for a 2014 incident where he is accused of shooting and injuring three people following a gambling dispute.

Berry said he has not been interviewed by investigators about Thomas' death.

A Police Department spokesman said "pertinent witnesses" were interviewed for the investigation of Thomas' death but declined to disclose names. The Sheriff's Office did not respond when asked whether Berry was interviewed as part of its investigation.

Heipt, the attorney, said a credible investigation would "absolutely" require interviewing all eyewitness inmates and corrections officers and reviewing surveillance videos.

Heipt said in-custody deaths can also be the result of untreated drug or alcohol withdrawals. He said it is imperative that law enforcement agencies get detailed information about an inmate's lifestyle during the intake process  and give immediate medical attention to inmates displaying common withdrawal symptoms, which can include hallucinations, nausea and abnormal vital signs.

Thomas' family and girlfriend said they were not aware of any drug or alcohol dependencies.

Past mental illness

Thomas' parents said he had a history of mental illness. The episodes started when he was 22. He'd shout strange things, cry and get little sleep for days at a time.

"Whatever was causing his breakdowns would go away and come back," said Thomas' mother, Celia Thomas.

Celia and her husband, T.J. Thomas, believe their son was in the throes of a mental breakdown at the time of his arrest at Potawatomi. An acquaintance who went with Thomas to Potawatomi told police Thomas had been acting strangely and called himself a god shortly before firing his gun in the casino.

He had been admitted to the Milwaukee County Mental Health Complex at least three times in the past 15 years, but his parents weren't aware of him receiving a specific diagnosis. The only medical issue his mother knew of him having was high blood pressure.

The Thomases said they have tried to collect their son's medical records but were told they can't access them without his death certificate, which won't be available until the medical examiner's office finalizes a cause of death on his autopsy report.

They are concerned that their son did not receive the health treatment he needed in jail.

Celia Thomas worries he refused food because he wasn't thinking clearly and expected his parents to bring his favorite meals as they did when he was at the mental health center.

But they hadn't been able to visit him or even speak with him in the jail after he was arrested. When his mother tried to arrange a visit, she was told he was too agitated to have visitors.

Thomas' girlfriend, Anitra Gosa, said she showed up at the jail but was turned away and told to call later.

She said she tried calling several times, but never saw or spoke to Thomas again.

Gosa said Thomas had warned her about his mental health issues when they started dating two years ago.

"He told me, 'Sometimes I slip out of reality. ... Everybody thinks I'm crazy, but I'm not,'" said Gosa, who lived with Thomas in West Allis.

But outside of those spells, Gosa and his parents said it was hard to tell anything was wrong.

"He was a delicate little boy without a temper," Celia Thomas said.

Strange behavior

In the weeks before the incident at the casino, Thomas had been buying and selling used cars.

Gosa noticed Thomas was acting strange after returning from a car auction in Georgia.

"I heard it in his voice," she said.

Two days after he returned, a 2007 Mercedes-Benz he just bought was stolen at a gas station on N. 35th St.

Thomas suspected a man he let ride in the car earlier that day took it. Thomas demanded the gas station clerk show him video footage of the lot, his father said. When the clerk didn't agree, Thomas knocked things off the counter in frustration. The car was recovered within a few hours and a police officer arrived at his parents' house later that day.

His parents said they begged the officer to get Thomas mental health help before he hurt someone. But under state law, a law enforcement officer can take an individual who appears to be mentally ill into custody only if a specific, recent act suggests the person is very likely to harm someone else or themselves.

Celia Thomas recalls asking the officer a desperate question: "What do you want him to do, kill somebody?"

The next night around 7 p.m., Celia Thomas looked out her front window.

"First thing I saw  I couldn't believe it  was Terrill shooting a gun," she said.

The bullet was intended for the man Thomas thought had taken his car, but it struck the man's friend in the chest instead. Thomas ran away before his mother could approach him. When the police later showed up at the house, she told them what she saw. The man Thomas shot survived.

Shortly before 3:30 a.m. the next day, police say Thomas ran into the Potawatomi casino, yelling and ordering patrons to "get out."

He fired two rounds in the High Roller area and stuffed poker chips into his pockets. Confronted by police, he dropped the Glock 17 9mm handgun into a trash can and was arrested, according to police reports.

He told police he had smoked synthetic marijuana and drank alcohol.

Before that night, Thomas had a significant criminal record, including convictions for multiple felonies for possessing cocaine between 1997 and 2004 and a battery charge in 2008.

Thomas' family doesn't know if he received any mental health treatment between his arrest and the day he died. With no information about what caused his death, his family has struggled to process it.

"I wake up every night at the time that he died," Celia Thomas said.

Thomas' 6-year-old son sits at the front window of Celia Thomas' house, waiting for his dad to come back.

"Terrill did what he did, it wasn't right," Celia Thomas said. "But how would people feel if it had been their kid?"
Basin excavation is underway on the west side of N. 30th St. north of W. Roosevelt Drive. It is part of the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage Districts $46.1 million flood control plan for the 30th St. industrial corridor. Credit: Michael Sears

By of the

A contractor for the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District will be digging itself into a deep hole this summer on Milwaukee's north side.

When the dust settles in five months there will be a 10-acre pit where the Bee Bus Line company had operated in the 4300 block of N. 35th St.

MMSD last week hired Michels Corp. of Brownsville to do the work under a $3.28 million contract. This is the first step in excavating an even larger basin there in several years that will be capable of holding 31 million gallons of storm water, district officials said.

The excavation west of the Canadian Pacific Railway lines is part of a $46.1 million flood control plan for the 30th St. industrial corridor north of W. Capitol Drive. This is an area of the city that has been hit repeatedly by flooding.

Two other smaller basins were dug this spring along N. 30th St., east of the rail lines, under a separate contract.

One on the east side of 30th St., south of W. Roosevelt Drive, will hold 1.4 million gallons of storm water. This is the low point in the neighborhood, and MMSD bought 10 properties on that block and removed houses in 2015.

The second is located southwest of the intersection of 30th and W. Congress streets, and it will have a capacity of 7.6 million gallons of storm water. A contractor will complete work there this month, said Jeremy Triebenbach, a resident engineer with MMSD.

Storm water flowing through neighborhoods west of N. 27th St. will drain to the two basins.

July 2010 flooding caused more than $32 million in damage to commercial, industrial and residential properties along the north end of the 30th St. corridor, on both sides of the rail lines.

At that time, Ald. Ashanti Hamilton said there were "rivers in the streets." A 19-year-old Cudahy man died July 22 after floodwaters pushed his car into Lincoln Creek.

One former property owner in the 4200 block of N. 30th St. said floodwaters crested 2 feet above his kitchen floor.

In addition to protecting public safety, flood control projects in the area are expected to boost property values, reduce storm-water flows to sewers and the district's deep tunnel system, and cut the risk of sewer overflows in those neighborhoods.

The three pits also are intended to protect redevelopment investments in the corridor, including Century City Business Park  the former A.O. Smith/Tower Automotive plant  south of W. Capitol Drive, officials said.

On N. 35th St., Michels Corp. will be responsible for removing 18,200 tons' worth of pavement, concrete slabs, building foundations and other debris from the property, said Rick Niederstadt, a capital program support manager for the district. Two underground fuel storage tanks will be taken out.

Then the digging can begin.

Crews will excavate 810 tons of soil that is heavily contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs. That soil is considered hazardous waste and will be disposed of at a federally licensed landfill in Michigan.

An estimated 46,800 tons of less-contaminated soil, targeted as special waste under federal regulations, will be dug out and disposed of at a licensed landfill in Wisconsin, Niederstadt said.

The 10-acre basin will be 8 feet deep when work ends under the contract. It will not be used for flood control efforts until final construction is scheduled in several years, officials said.

The property is southeast of the N. 35th St. bridge over Lincoln Creek. Storm water flowing north of Capitol Drive and west of the rail lines will be diverted to this basin.

A cluster of 14 commercial buildings at the former Bee Bus Line property were demolished this spring under a separate contract.
Brix Buss, 5, of Wauwatosa covers his ears as a group of motorcyclists ride their bikes in Wauwatosas annual Fourth of July parade along North Ave. on Monday. Credit: Angela Peterson

By

Kenny Charles arrived with his friend Dan Siegel around 4:45 a.m. to save several dozen seats for their family and friends at the Wauwatosa parade.

Charles, of Hales Corners, has attended Wauwatosa's Independence Day parade for the past 32 years.

Charles said he and Siegel have perfected their operation over the years: They bring rope to mark off their group's section, they make breakfast sandwiches on a portable grill and they always remember ice.

Along with their wives, Linda Charles and Jenny Siegel, they've become such parade celebrities that Gov. Scott Walker, himself a regular at the parade, often stops to take a photo with them.

Many people return to the same Fourth of July celebrations year after year. They recount with pride their group's routine, how many consecutive years they've been  and who they're watching in the parade.

Hong and Jie Mei watched their daughter, 7, as she walked with the Wauwatosa School District for the first time. Their 3-year-old son was more focused on the firetrucks. The family lives on North Ave. along the parade route, so easily found seats in their front yard a few minutes before it started.

Joshua Loper, 10, got up early to help his grandfather set up chairs for their family. Having claimed front-row spots by 6 a.m., Joshua settled back to read the Declaration of Independence, published in Monday's Journal Sentinel, as his grandfather read the news.

Jack Michel of West Allis said Independence Day and honoring those who have served transcends politics. "People accept a soldier for a soldier, not for political reasons," he said at the Wauwatosa parade. Michel and two of his brothers are Vietnam veterans.

"With the craziness in the world, being here means more," said Jon Williams of Brookfield at the Tosa parade. "It's one of those things you can come and enjoy every year."

A few miles away, Wendy Hamilton got up early to prepare for the Sherman Park parade. Her husband and two daughters helped load up the family's truck with ice cream and prizes. Then they dropped Hamilton off at the beginning of the parade route, at St. Catherine's Catholic Church.

Hamilton, who grew up in the neighborhood but didn't attend the parade as a child, is now parade president and helps plan the event.

While Sherman Park was in the news less than a week ago when several dozen young people threw rocks and bottles through windows of nearby establishments, on Monday it was filled with families watching a bike-, tricycle- and doll buggy-decorating contest.

"Sometimes the bad news is what leads," said Hamilton. "It's important we tell the good, which is what's really good about this event."

The first-place prize of $15 went to a young girl who covered her "Frozen"-themed toy Jeep in red, white and blue ribbons and streamers  and had "The Star-Spangled Banner" playing through its speakers.

Cookie Taylor, who was with her granddaughter Gwendolyn, 2, on the Sherman Park playground, has been going to the Sherman Park celebration for years.

She has lived in the neighborhood since 1989 and said its diversity demonstrates people of different backgrounds can live together harmoniously.

"It has a lot of good  more good than not," she said.

She had similar feelings about the country as a whole. "America has it's challenges, but I don't want to live in any other country," Taylor said. "It means something to be an American. We're all American, just as we're all humans."
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Time for a non-politician?

Maybe it is time to put a non-politician into the White House. It hasn't worked out too well putting senators and congressmen into the highest office of our country. Of course, we expected the politicians would remedy the ills of the country. They did not.

There always will be decisions and conflicts, even with a non-politician president, but maybe this country should be run more like a business. China and Mexico, where so many American companies are going to, will have to deal with a businessman rather than a politician. It certainly would be interesting.

A non-politician would not tolerate murders and terrorists roaming the streets of our country. A non-politician would not tolerate complacency or dependency. He would run the country as a business. I believe that is the only chance for our survival as a country, as the national debt is over $19 trillion. A country with a huge national debt cannot survive.

Historically, the decline of a civilization takes about 200 years. The United States has survived over 240 years. Maybe a non-politician can save this country.

Richard Bence

Jackson



Brexit and the U.S. election

I've recently heard from friends in the United Kingdom. Millions of voters are now saying, "Wow! A vote for Brexit may not have been a great idea."

This was followed by a "futbol" loss to Iceland in the Euro Cup (think high school team beating Cleveland Cavaliers), which is a national humiliation. You can't play a game you claim to have invented (political or sport), and Scotland and Northern Ireland would like to ditch you? Has the electorate caused great harm?

Normally, this would cause barely a ripple in mid-America (OK, the Milwaukee Brewers struggle, but the Green Bay Packers are just months away), but it cost my retirement savings a bunch of money.

The United States needs to ignore the foolishness of our closest allies. Oh wait, we have a presidential election coming up in which we can demonstrate we are at least as foolish. Which candidate will hurt us less? Ain't it a great country?

I have total faith in the U.S. electorate  little faith in our presidential candidates.

Dale J. Fraaza

Palmyra



Johnson wrong on e-cigarettes

I am writing in response to the article headlined "Johnson backs vaping cause," published June 30, the day after Vice President Joe Biden's Cancer Moonshot Summit.

Just as the summit showed us how far we have come toward making cancer a national priority, Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) shows us how far we have to go.

Arguments such as his mirror the tactics Big Tobacco has used for decades as it has fought common sense oversight of its products. It's the Food and Drug Administration's regulation of all tobacco products that will help us learn more about what e-cigarette users are inhaling and how their health and the health of those around them may be impacted. A growing number of studies have examined the contents of e-cigarette aerosol and have found propylene glycol, nicotine and flavorings, while other studies have found the aerosol to contain heavy metals, volatile organic compounds and tobacco-specific nitrosamines, among other potentially harmful chemicals. Additionally, FDA tests found nicotine in some e-cigarettes that claimed to contain no nicotine.

The public depends on the FDA's oversight of products people ingest or inhale, and it becomes even more important when we consider e-cigarettes' growing popularity among children. I object to the representative's assertion that oversight of tobacco products isn't the FDA's business and ask him to stop spreading misinformation about their use.

Jill Haupt

Chair. Wisconsin State Leadership Board, American Cancer Society

Mukwonago

Please email your letters to jsedit@jrn.com, or mail them to Letters to the editor, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, P.O. Box 371, Milwaukee, Wis. 53201-0371. Letters are generally limited to 200 words and are subject to editing.
This rare copy of the Declaration of Independence was found hidden in a file at the British National Archives a few years ago. The Archives say that the print, known as the Dunlap print after the printer who commissioned it, is the 26th copy of the document to be found. Credit: Journal Sentinel files

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When in the Course of human Events, it becomes necessary for one People to dissolve the Political Bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the Powers of the Earth, the separate and equal Station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent Respect to the Opinions of Mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the Separation.

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, that whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these Ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its Foundation on such Principles, and organizing its Powers in such Form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient Causes; and accordingly all Experience hath shown, that Mankind are more disposed to suffer, while Evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the Forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long Train of Abuses and Usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object, evinces a Design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their Right, it is their Duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future Security. Such has been the patient Sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the Necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The History of the present King of Great Britain is a History of repeated Injuries and Usurpations, all having in direct Object the Establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid World.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public Good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing Importance, unless suspended in their Operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the Accommodation of large Districts of People, unless those People would relinquish the Right of Representation in the Legislature, a Right inestimable to them, and formidable to Tyrants only.

He has called together Legislative Bodies at Places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the Depository of their Public Records, for the sole Purpose of fatiguing them into Compliance with his Measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly Firmness his Invasions on the Rights of the People.

He has refused for a long Time, after such Dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the Dangers of Invasion from without, and Convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the Population of these States; for that Purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their Migrations hither, and raising the Conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the Tenure of their Offices, and the Amount and payment of their Salaries.

He has erected a Multitude of new Offices, and sent hither Swarms of Officers to harass our People and eat out their Substance.

He has kept among us, in Times of Peace, Standing Armies, without the consent of our Legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of, and superior to, the Civil Power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a Jurisdiction foreign to our Constitution, and unacknowledged by our Laws, giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For quartering large Bodies of Armed Troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from Punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States: For cutting off our Trade with all Parts of the World:

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us, in many Cases, of the Benefits of Trial by Jury: For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended Offences: For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an arbitrary Government, and enlarging its Boundaries, so as to render it at once an Example and fit Instrument for introducing the same absolute Rule into these Colonies:

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with Power to legislate for us in all Cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our Seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the Lives of our People.

He is, at this Time, transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to complete the works of Death, Desolation, and Tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty and Perfidy, scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous Ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized Nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the Executioners of their Friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic Insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the Inhabitants of our Frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known Rule of Warfare, is an undistinguished Destruction, of all Ages, Sexes and Conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions we have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble Terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated Injury. A Prince, whose Character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the Ruler of a free People.

Nor have we been wanting in Attentions to our British Brethren. We have warned them from Time to Time of Attempts by their Legislature to extend an unwarrantable Jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the Circumstances of our Emigration and Settlement here. We have appealed to their native Justice and Magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the Ties of our common Kindred to disavow these Usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our Connections and Correspondence. They too have been deaf to the Voice of Justice and of Consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the Necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of Mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace, Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the World for the Rectitude of our Intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly Publish and Declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be, Free and Independent States; that they are absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political Connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this declaration, with a firm Reliance on the Protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.
State Sen. Lena Taylor (left) faces a challenge in the Aug. 9 Democratic primary from Rep. Mandela Barnes. Credit: Journal Sentinel files

By of the

A Milwaukee Democrat's primary challenge to a longtime state senator has set up a quintessential showdown between an eager up-and-comer and an experienced incumbent, with education and gun control emerging as critical issues.

Rep. Mandela Barnes (D-Milwaukee) announced in April that he would vacate his Assembly seat to run against Sen. Lena Taylor (D-Milwaukee), promising "fresh, transformational" leadership. Taylor countered she was the better fit, citing her experience fighting "unrelentingly" for her constituents.

Taylor was elected to the 4th Senate District in 2004 and has never before faced a primary challenge. During much of her tenure, Taylor has served on the budget-writing Joint Finance Committee, giving her a chance to help secure funding for her district.

Barnes was elected to the Assembly in 2012 and was the chairman of the Legislature's black and Latino caucus. In his first two races, he ran on a platform centered on reforming public education. This race puts Barnes in an up-or-out position  elected officials in Wisconsin cannot run for two state offices simultaneously.

Both Taylor and Barnes are well-regarded in the overwhelmingly Democratic district, which covers parts of Milwaukee's north side, Glendale, Shorewood and a sliver of Wauwatosa. To some, the race is viewed as a referendum on progressive values within the African-American community.

The race may come down to voters in Shorewood, who are disproportionately electorally active. In the August 2014 primary, 34% of registered Shorewood voters turned out  a number that's considered high in an election that typically sees low voter turnout.

The Milwaukee Democrats have each seen strong support from Shorewood voters in the past. Mordecai Lee, a political-science professor at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and former state senator, said that he was hard-pressed to determine which candidate voters would throw their support behind.

"This is the archetypal race between incumbent and challenger. It's attracting a lot of attention and justifiably so," Lee said. "(The seat) is not widely thought of as being weak or vulnerable to a challenge. It remains to be seen who has a better sense of that district."

"It'll come down to intangibles, who is better at doors, who is better at organizing, who has the relationships," Lee said. "It's not an ideological showdown."

But there are two key areas where the candidates diverge  education and gun control.

Taylor supported GOP Gov. Scott Walker's plan to increase the per-pupil aid to voucher and charter schools. She has been a longtime supporter of alternatives to public education, but is quick to point out the role she played in passing a series of reforms in the 2009 state budget to the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program, including requiring voucher schools to give their students some of the same evaluations as public schools. She has also criticized a program created by Walker and Republican lawmakers last year that allows an appointed commissioner to take control of underperforming public schools in Milwaukee.

While Barnes has also been a vocal critic of that plan, he has gone further than Taylor in faulting the move toward voucher schools. He instead advocates for the implementation of a community schools model that encourages partnership programs to provide children with wraparound services  academic, health and social services  to transform underperforming schools.

Last year, with state Sen. Chris Larson (D-Milwaukee), Barnes introduced legislation that would have provided start-up funding for the creation of more community schools. As with most Democratic proposals, it made little progress in the Republican-controlled Legislature.

In an interview, Taylor said she didn't disagree with the community school model, but thought that "we need to do something larger than that," pointing to providing schools with career-based partnerships.

Barnes has sought to bring the issue of gun control out front and center, taking to Twitter after the mass shooting at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Fla., to condemn the nation's "love affair with guns."

By contrast, Taylor once described guns as "pieces of art" and voted for bills allowing people to carry concealed weapons and establishing the castle doctrine, which provides legal protections to people who shoot home intruders. Though Taylor acknowledged that neither of the bills was perfect in her view, she said concealed carry was already a reality for many of the constituents in her district and she thought the concealed carry law ultimately struck a correct balance between public safety and Second Amendment rights.

In voting for that bill, Taylor introduced an amendment that would have required increased hours of training and smaller class sizes for individuals with concealed carry. It failed to pass. She is quick to add that she has also advocated for a series of "common sense measures" to restrict access to guns, including forcing domestic abusers to surrender their guns and opposing measures to repeal a 48-hour waiting period for handgun purchases.

Barnes, on the other hand, has sharply criticized the concealed carry and castle doctrine laws as being contrary to public safety. Castle doctrine, he said, "should not be a license to kill."

In Barnes' most recent finance report, his campaign in January had nearly four times as much cash on hand as Taylor's campaign  approximately $41,000, compared to Taylor's $11,000. Taylor's report shows she has lent herself nearly $54,000.

The primary is Aug. 9. The winner is all but certain of taking the seat because no Republican is running.
Federal authorities are investigating Lincoln Hills School for Boys and Copper Lake School for Girls, both in Irma, for potential crimes, including second-degree sexual assault, physical child abuse, abuse of prisoners and misconduct. Credit: Mark Hoffman

By of the

Madison A supervisor at the state's problem-plagued juvenile prison received no discipline after investigators found she participated in the humiliation of inmates and was unjustified in blasting a female in the face with pepper spray, records show.

In that second incident, supervisor Lana Webster falsely claimed in an official report that the inmate had come at her before she used her pepper spray, grabbed the inmate by the hair and put her on the ground face first. At least two of Webster's underlings alleged Webster told them to falsify their reports of the incident to cover for her.

Top Department of Corrections officials determined Webster needed additional training, but no punishment.

That decision raises fresh questions about how far Gov. Scott Walker's administration has gone in cleaning up Lincoln Hills School for Boys and Copper Lake School for Girls. Those secure schools, which share a campus 30 miles north of Wausau, are the subject of an 18-monthlong criminal investigation looking into allegations of prisoner abuse, child neglect and misconduct in office.

In documents released under the state's public records law, Webster told investigators she was one of three supervisors to respond when a pair of inmates said there were maggots in their room, kicked out a window and set off a fire alarm. Webster said the inmates had spread rice around their room and there were no maggots.

The inmates said Webster and the other supervisors ordered them to get on their hands and knees, close their eyes and crawl out of their room backward while being threatened with pepper spray.

"Do you want to taste it?" Supervisor Natasha Cornelius asked the inmates of the pepper spray, according to Webster.

Webster told investigators Cornelius and another supervisor, Roger Schroeder, came up with the plan to have the inmates crawl out of the room, though she said their eyes were open.

Cornelius denied parts of the account and told investigators Schroeder was responsible for having the inmates crawl out of the room. Schroeder told investigators he could not remember details about the incident.

There are no records showing that the incident was reported to management or documented by those involved.

"Unquestionably, this is an abusive approach, it's incredibly degrading for kids and I would think the best thing the state could do is close the facility," said Marc Schindler, executive director of the Justice Policy Institute, a research organization that advocates for prison reform.

"If a culture has been created that allows these abusive practices and there's not accountability and consequences, the culture just gets more entrenched and bad things will continue to happen."

An investigation of Cornelius is ongoing and no decision has been made on whether to discipline her, Department of Corrections spokesman Tristan Cook said. He did not say whether Schroeder had been disciplined.

Webster, Cornelius and Schroeder did not respond to requests for comment.

In another incident, staff called Webster to assist them when a Copper Lake inmate refused to go to her room in October 2015. The inmate was walking up and down the hall, talking at cell doors and raising her hands to chest level as if she were questioning staff, according to an internal review based on staff reports and video of the incident.

Webster confronted the inmate and took out a canister of pepper spray. The inmate again raised her hands to chest level and Webster deployed the pepper spray within inches of the inmate's face for one second. As other workers tried to secure the inmate's arm, Webster got behind her, grabbed her hair and directed her to the floor face first, according to the review.

Webster wrote an incident report that said the inmate "stepped forward in an aggressive manner while putting her hands up."

"This statement is inconsistent with what's seen on the video as it appears to be (supervisor) Webster who advances toward (the inmate) and then applies agents while (the inmate's) hands are down," investigator Steve Staehler wrote.

He wrote that the use of pepper spray, also known as oleoresin capsicum or OC, would have been justified if the situation were handled differently because the inmate was resistant and inciting others.

"However, it was not justified to spray OC within the close proximity to the youth's eyes due to the significant potential for injury," Staehler wrote.

After the pepper spray was used, staff should have tried to get her to voluntarily put her hands behind her back before taking her to the ground, he concluded.

"Webster's technique of grabbing the youth's hair to direct her to the floor, while it may not have been intentional, is not justified as it increased the propensity for injury and decreased the potential for effective and safe control of the youth," he wrote.

Webster's actions could rise to the level of misconduct, he wrote.

At least two youth counselors said Webster ordered them to falsify reports about the incident. Webster denied that, saying she had asked staff members to include her perceptions of the inmate's actions in their incident reports, but had not told them to include any false information.

"Webster came in and said, 'Make sure you put this in there, put this in there and that; she made a move on me and that's why I sprayed her,'" youth counselor Dave Tinker said. "I wrote what she told me to write."

Two other workers, Laura Kernan and Andrew Yorde, made similar claims, according to investigators. But, Yorde said Webster had not told him to falsify his report. He said he wrongly wrote in his report that the inmate had clenched her fist because it was a busy night.

He said the inmate had tensed up her body and had a blank stare, leading him to believe he could attack Webster.

Investigators determined they could not substantiate the claims that Webster told staff to falsify their reports based on their interviews with workers and other evidence, according to Cook, the department spokesman. He noted that Kernan's accounts of other incidents were not in keeping with video of them.

Investigators made clear the video did not show the inmate making threatening moves before Webster sprayed her.

"What would you say if I were to (tell) you several investigators, several use-of-force training professionals, have looked at that video, and everybody looking at that video, out of everybody who's seen that video, not one person, not one person, recognized a move that (the inmate) made...?" investigator Michael Green said in his interview with Tinker.

While Webster avoided discipline, her underlings were not so lucky.

Yorde was found to have violated work rules by lying on his report; yanking on a tether attached to an inmate's handcuffs to pull her hands through the slot on a cell door; giving inmates candy and pizza; and showing them movies with profanity. Tinker was also involved in the incident in which the inmate's hands were roughly pulled through the door's slot, or trap.

Kernan was found to have broken work rules by copying portions of incident reports written by other staff members, including the one involving Webster, and having contact with incarcerated relatives without alerting her supervisors.

Kernan was given five days off without pay, according to sources. Tinker and Yorde were each given a day off without pay.

"It's upsetting," Tinker said of lower-level employees facing discipline while Webster did not. "It seems like the ones that mess things up and tell us what to do are the ones who are getting off scot-free. We're the ones who are punished for doing what they told us to do."

The decision not to discipline Webster comes at a time when Walker has called for making it easier to sanction staff or fire them. In February, he signed legislation overhauling the state's civil service law to give managers more power, saying it would help ensure public workers are held accountable.

But in Webster's case, the administration took no steps to discipline her even though it had wide latitude to do so even before the civil service law was changed.

In another recent matter, the Department of Corrections subjected one of its workers who was groped by an inmate to a seven-week internal investigation to find out whether she had asked to have her breasts and crotch touched, even as officials waited months to investigate and charge the inmate.

In February, Rick Peterson was demoted from his job as Lincoln Hills' security director but allowed to continue to supervise staff after investigators discovered he had not reviewed allegations of sexual assaults.

Others have left their jobs as the criminal investigation has expanded, with a few getting fired or retiring or quitting in the midst of internal investigations. John Ourada, the superintendent of Lincoln Hills, and Paul Westerhaus, the head of the juvenile corrections division, abruptly retired in December, days before about 50 agents and attorneys raided the prison.

In February, Corrections Secretary Ed Wall stepped down. Replacing him was Jon Litscher, who ran the Department of Corrections from 1999 to 2003.

Litscher has focused on additional training, reforming how inmate complaints are handled and equipping workers with body cameras to address problems at Lincoln Hills. He also raised pay in an effort to recruit and retain workers at prisons with chronic employee shortages.
Brooks guilty on all 76 counts in Waukesha Christmas Parade rampage

A jury has convicted Darrell Brooks Jr. of killing six people and injuring dozens of others by driving through the 2021 Christmas parade.
There has been a large influx of seagulls along the lakeshore. Credit: Miller Jozwiak/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin

SHARE Jeff Schukow's Protocol Gailileo drone, equipped with a bird-shaped decoy, flies entirely by manual control. Miller Jozwiak/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin

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Citizens along the lakeshore  from Sheboygan to Sturgeon Bay  are seeing more birds that are becoming increasingly aggressive.

Jeff Schukow, owner of Greatlakes Avian Pest Control, has been working to keep communities safe from aggressive birds. He said he has received more calls from new clients and more reports of gulls swooping down on the heads of pedestrians in 2016 than any year past.

There has been a large influx of gulls along the lakeshore. The birds will nest on buildings and swoop down on any moving thing they see as a threat, from up to a city block away, to protect their nesting areas, according to Schukow.

"Along with the pelicans showing up this year, we've had a lot of feeder fish, and thousands and thousands of gulls," he said. "(The gulls) have started inhabiting and nesting and doing these defensive diving tactics on people in Algoma, Kewaunee, Two Rivers, Manitowoc and Sheboygan."

The behavior is naturally driven by a need for the birds to protect their nests. But Schukow said a lack of natural habitat from Sheboygan to Sturgeon Bay forces the birds to relocate to the roofs. The gulls see roofs as wide-open, safe areas where predators can be detected from a distance.

U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Biologist Mike Jones said while he hasn't seen a particular increase in bird attack reports, it is the time of the year when gull parents are particularly aggressive. He said their behavior becomes more aggressive as their eggs come closer to hatching, and the babies prepare to jump off the roofs. After the babies make the jump, the aggressive behavior typically drops off, according to Jones.

While they see the roofs as safe, they can actually cause a "torturous existence" for the gulls, according to Schukow. They have no water or shade, and droppings can cause millions in roof damage due to the acidity.

"A little girl was up in Kewaunee and she was camping up there," he said. "She went out of her camper early in the morning before her parents got up. A gull came off a nearby building that was nesting and swooped down and hit the little girl on the top of the head."

Her head was cut open, ending the family vacation. Even minor cuts from birds swooping down need to be taken seriously because they need to be thoroughly cleaned. Schukow said E. coli can be contracted through touching the web-clawed feet of gulls.

That report was one of many incidents he has heard of this year. Specifically in Sheboygan, he has not yet heard of any attacks in which someone was hit, but he said he has heard of birds flying so low, they actually "skimmed (people's) hair."

"Some people are carrying umbrellas to keep the gulls off their heads going in and out of their places of business," Schukow said.

Schukow works with dozens of businesses around the area to keep birds from nesting on their roofs  in a nonlethal manner. When a client calls him, he dives in with multiple tactics to send the birds away.

He sets up several sorts of decoys. They are meant to look like falcons that scare the gulls away. Some are stationary, while others, like one in a field, are automated and have been effective, Schukow said.

In recent years, technology has allowed him to expand his tactics through automated and manually driven drones. He uses a white DJI drone that has a camera to document nests for future reference. He owns over 15 drones, varying from being commercially made to ones he designed himself. He fits and attaches decoys to all of them with rubber bands and screws.

If citizens don't want to be the victim of the next plummeting gull, they should stay aware while walking around.

"Hold something over your head, an umbrella, a broom, anything like that," Schukow said. "I have to wear a hard hat on a lot of roofs I go up on because I routinely get hit. And the impact can be quite severe."

But before that, to prevent people from having to walk around with brooms, Schukow said communities needs to be pre-emptive. Early abatement programs don't allow gulls to nest on roofs in the first place. He said the City of Algoma is in need of beach abatement because they are nesting there.

Once the nests are established, Schukow needs to go through federal guidelines to get egg culling permits that allow him to remove nests. Those guidelines are stringent. They require pest controllers to keep an accurate count of eggs removed, nests and species after the initial contact, then later calculate whether re-nesting occurred. Those results are then required to be submitted to the USDA.

"If people have this issue, the best way to resolve it is removing nests in the spring, before the eggs are hatched," Jones said.

He works for the Wildlife Services division of the USDA, but said he can help people getting the permits Schukow mentioned through the Fish and Wildlife Service if the behavior is too aggressive. The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources has to refer most bird incidents because most birds, including gulls, are federally protected.
SHARE Beau Solomon Family submitted

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A University of Wisconsin-Madison student who vanished just hours after arriving in Italy to study abroad has been found dead, and authorities have launched a criminal investigation.

Beau Solomon, a 19-year-old cancer survivor, disappeared after going to a bar in Rome with friends on Thursday night.

"It's a murder investigation," his brother Cole said.

Cole Solomon, 23, said his brother's body was found in the Tiber River with a wound on his head and blood on his shirt. Charges of thousands of dollars were made on Solomon's credit card after his disappearance, Cole Solomon said.

UW-Madison officials confirmed that Solomon's death was being treated as a criminal investigation by local authorities in Rome, and said the school was working with John Cabot University, as well as American and Italian authorities, to help his family and support the investigation.

"All of us at UW-Madison are greatly saddened by this loss," Chancellor Rebecca Blank said. "Beau was a bright and caring young man who lived the Wisconsin Idea through his work at Badger Boys State and his desire to travel and experience other cultures. Our hearts go out to Beau's family and friends at this difficult time."

The other UW-Madison students participating in the John Cabot University program are all safe and accounted for, university officials said.

Without citing names, the Italian news agency ANSA reported Monday that two people had come forward and told police they witnessed a person being thrown into the Tiber River.

Solomon's body was found without a wallet or cellphone, leading police to believe he was robbed before being thrown into the river, ANSA reported.

The witnesses reported seeing a group of people throw a young man from a bridge early Friday morning, according to La Repubblica. The newspaper reported that Solomon's credit card was used in Milan.

On Friday, John Cabot officials reported to Italian authorities and the American Embassy that Solomon was missing after arriving in Rome just one day before. The university said Solomon's roommate alerted school officials that he had lost contact with him about 1 a.m. Friday while they were together at a pub in the city, and was worried when he didn't see Solomon at orientation that morning.

"We express our most heartfelt condolences to the Solomon family and to all those who loved Beau," John Cabot University said in a statement released Monday.

In an interview Sunday with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Solomon's 26-year-old brother, Jake, described him as "an awesome brother" with "a big heart" who dreamed of becoming a lawyer. He also called him the "toughest S.O.B. that we've ever met."

The 19-year-old battled cancer for 10 years until the age of 12, after which he went on to participate in high school sports, work as a camp counselor for Badger Boys State and teach at youth quarterback camps around Wisconsin.

His parents, Nick and Jodi Solomon, left for Italy Sunday to assist in the search.

Beau was the third of four boys, and was especially close with Max, his 12-year-old brother, Jake Solomon said.

Solomon, a Spring Green native, had just completed his first year at UW-Madison in personal finance. He previously studied at Southwest Wisconsin Technical College and University of Wisconsin-Richland.

John Cabot University, founded in 1972, describes itself as "An American university in the heart of Rome." The liberal arts school offers study abroad programs to English-speaking students from around the world.

UW-Madison officials said that, based on the investigation so far, there is no indication of a broader risk to students in Rome.

Counseling for UW-Madison students and staff is available through University Health Services, which can be reached at (608) 265-5600.
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TeleSur |  

A suicide bomber was killed and two other people wounded in a blast outside the U.S. consulate in Saudi Arabias second city of Jeddah early on Monday, state TV said.

The attacker parked his car outside a mosque opposite the consulate and shortly afterwards his device detonated, killing him and lightly wounding three security men nearby, it said.

A photograph on the Sabq news website showed what appeared to be the remains of a man lying next to a taxi.

A witness at the location told Reuters the area had been closed off by the security forces and that helicopters were flying overhead, but that none of the police on duty would confirm what had taken place.

Islamic State group has carried out a series of bombing and shooting attacks in Saudi Arabia since late 2014 that have killed scores of people, mostly members of the Shiite Muslim minority and security services.

A decade ago, an al Qaeda campaign focused on Westerners in the worlds top oil exporter, killing hundreds in attacks on businesses and residential compounds. One 2004 attack hit the U.S. consulate in Jeddah, killing nine.

Via TeleSur



Related video added by Juan Cole:

CCTV: Saudi Arabia suicide attack: Police officer injured in US consulate attack
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By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) |  

On this day when the United States was first conceived in rebellion against people being deprived of their God-given rights to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness, it is worth remarking on our political season.

One of our two major presidential candidates has targeted Americas some 3 million Muslims as second-class citizens who need not be granted their constitutional rights to freedom of worship and freedom of movement. He has talked of closing mosques and excluding their relatives from coming to this country.

It is too little appreciated that such a stand does not only deprive the minority of their constitutional rights but rather makes our entire society unfree for all. Lord Acton wrote, in his History of Freedom and other Essays, The most certain test by which we judge whether a country is really free is the amount of security enjoyed by minorities:

These proposals are completely out of keeping with the spirit and the letter of the Founding generation, a point I have made before.

Some of the below is revised from an earlier text

The Founding Generation of the United States of America, who explicitly mentioned Islam among the cases when they spoke of religious freedom:

George Washington asked in a March 24, 1784, letter to his aide Tench Tilghman that some craftsmen be hired for him: If they are good workmen, they may be of Assia, [sic] Africa, or Europe. They may be Mahometans, [Muslims] Jews, or Christian of any Sect  or they may be Atheists 

In his letter to the Jewish congregation of Newport, RI, Washington pledged that the Children of Abraham would not be made afraid in the United States (implicitly contrasting the new nations liberties and personal security with the pogroms of the Old World). It should be noted that Arab Muslims consider themselves, as well, descendants of Abraham through Ishmael:

 The reflection on the days of difficulty and danger which are past is rendered the more sweet from a consciousness that they are succeeded by days of uncommon prosperity and security. If we have wisdom to make the best use of the advantages with which we are now favored, we cannot fail, under the just administration of a good government, to become a great and happy people. The citizens of the United States of America have a right to applaud themselves for having given to mankind examples of an enlarged and liberal policy-a policy worthy of imitation. All possess alike liberty of conscience and immunities of citizenship. It is now no more that toleration is spoken of as if it were the indulgence of one class of people that another enjoyed the exercise of their inherent natural rights, for, happily, the Government of the United States, which gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance, requires only that they who live under its protection should demean themselves as good citizens in giving it on all occasions their effectual support. It would be inconsistent with the frankness of my character not to avow that I am pleased with your favorable opinion of my administration and fervent wishes for my felicity. May the children of the stock of Abraham who dwell in this land continue to merit and enjoy the good will of the other inhabitants- while every one shall sit in safety under his own vine and fig tree and there shall be none to make him afraid.

Washington underlined that in the new social experiment that is the United States, toleration is not merely the indulgence of one group of people by a dominant elite. It is a right, which requires only that the individual be an upright citizen of the new country, which gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance. Donald Trump is himself a bigot not good enough to pronounce George Washingtons name aloud, much less to succeed him in office.

Ben Franklin, the founding father of many important institutions in Philadelphia, a key diplomat and a framer of the US Constitution, wrote in his Autobiography concerning a non-denominational place of public preaching he helped found so that even if the Mufti of Constantinople were to send a missionary to preach Mohammedanism to us, he would find a pulpit at his service. Here is the whole quote:

And it being found inconvenient to assemble in the open air, subject to its inclemencies, the building of a house to meet in was no sooner proposd, and persons appointed to receive contributions, but sufficient sums were soon receivd to procure the ground and erect the building, which was one hundred feet long and seventy broad, about the size of Westminster Hall; and the work was carried on with such spirit as to be finished in a much shorter time than could have been expected. Both house and ground were vested in trustees, expressly for the use of any preacher of any religious persuasion who might desire to say something to the people at Philadelphia; the design in building not being to accommodate any particular sect, but the inhabitants in general; so that even if the Mufti of Constantinople were to send a missionary to preach Mohammedanism to us, he would find a pulpit at his service. 

Not only did Ben Franklin not want to ban Muslims from coming to the United States, he wanted to invited them!

Thomas Jefferson wrote in his 1777 Draft of a Bill for Religious Freedom:

 that our civil rights have no dependance on our religious opinions, any more than our opinions in physics or geometry; that therefore the proscribing any citizen as unworthy the public confidence by laying upon him an incapacity of being called to offices of trust and emolument, unless he profess or renounce this or that religious opinion, is depriving him injuriously of those privileges and advantages to which, in common with his fellow citizens, he has a natural right . . . 

As I observed on another occasion, it was Jeffersons more bigotted opponents in the Virginia legislature who brought up the specter of Muslims and atheists being elected to it in the world Jefferson was trying to create. He was undeterred by such considerations, which should tell us something.

British social philosopher John Locke was extremely influential on the Founding Generation, and on the US Constitution and Bill of Rights. John Locke had already advocated civil rights for non-Christians, including Muslims, in his Letter on Toleration:

 Thus if solemn assemblies, observations of festivals, public worship be permitted to any one sort of professors [believers], all these things ought to be permitted to the Presbyterians, Independents, Anabaptists, Arminians, Quakers, and others, with the same liberty. Nay, if we may openly speak the truth, and as becomes one man to another, neither Pagan nor Mahometan, nor Jew, ought to be excluded from the civil rights of the commonwealth because of his religion. The Gospel commands no such thing. 

Here is Jefferson again: The most sacred of the duties of a government [is] to do equal and impartial justice to all its citizens.

 Thomas Jefferson, note in Destutt de Tracy, Political Economy, 1816.

Or: The legitimate powers of government extend to such acts only as are injurious to others. But it does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods, or no god. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg.

 Thomas Jefferson, Notes on the State of Virginia, 1781-82

The US Senate, full of founding fathers, and the Adams government, approved the Treaty with Tripoli (now Libya) of 1797, which included this language:

As the Government of the United States of America is not in any sense founded on the Christian religion; as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion, or tranquillity, of Musselmen; and as the said States never have entered into any war or act of hostility against any Mehomitan nation, it is declared by the parties that no pretext arising from religious opinions shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries.

The treaty is important for showing the mindset of the fashioners of the American system.

And here is a final point for Mr. Trump and his ilk to consider. The United States was born of a war against the British crown, the state religion of which was the Anglican Church. Those Anglicans who insisted on swearing allegiance to King George III were viewed as the enemy. And, the British custom of establishing the Anglican church in many of the colonies, i.e. making it the state religion, was renounced by the revolutionaries. But there was no question that apolitical Anglicans could practice their religion freely, found Anglican (Episcopalian) churches anywhere they liked (even in places where the Americans and British had waged fierce battles, like New York), and even go to Britain to arrange for the training of Episcopalian/Anglican priests.

There is more. In 1787, Samuel Provoost was made the Episcopalian bishop of New York. He had been a Whig and a supporter of the Revolution even though an Anglican. In 1789, the US Senate made him its chaplain!

So not only did the Founding Generation not harbor a grudge against the religion of the British Crown (which had tried to crush them), they were perfectly willing to give non-Tory Anglicans high official positions in the new Republic. It would be as though the the current chaplain of the Senate were a former al-Qaeda member who had broken with Bin Laden and declared allegiance to the United States.

That is, the Founding Generation made a key distinction between religious practice and political loyalty, and had granted freedom of religion to non-Tory Anglicans.
Toronto, Ontario (FSCwire) - Murchison Minerals Ltd.  July 4, 2016 (CSE  MUR) (Murchison or the Company) announces that the Company has signed an option agreement (the Agreement) with White Metal Resources Corp. (TSXV  WHM) (White Metal) in which White Metal can acquire all of the Companys 51% interest (Earned Interest) in its Pickle Lake Gold properties (the Properties). White Metal may exercise the option (the Option) and acquire the Earned Interest by completing all of the following expenditures and cash payments (Option Payments):

(a) pay $10,000 in cash to Murchison at the signing of the Agreement;

(b) pay $15,000 in cash to Murchison on or before the date which is 12 months from the date of the Agreement;

(c) pay $20,000 in cash to Murchison on or before the date which is 24 months from the date of the Agreement.

(d) spend $1,200,000 over three years beginning on the date of the Agreement (collectively, the Expenditures") as follows:

i. complete a work commitment of $200,000 on or before the date which is twelve (12) months from the date of the Agreement;

ii. complete a cumulative work commitment of $700,000 on or before the date which is twenty four (24) months from the date of the Agreement (with at least $250,000 on drilling); and

iii. complete a cumulative work commitment of $1,200,000 on or before the date which is thirty-six (36) months from the date of the Agreement (with at least $700,000 on drilling).

(e) once the Earned Interest is completed, Murchison will be entitled to a 1% Net Smelter Return (the NSR) of which fifty percent (50%) can be purchased by White Metal for $1,000,000 and the balance of the other fifty percent (50%) of the said NSR can be purchased for $1,500,000.

(f) upon completion of the Option Payments and Expenditures, White Metal will deliver a notice to the Company (the "Option Notice") setting out that it has exercised the Option, and the date of the Option Notice shall be deemed to be the date in which White Metals Earned Interest in the Properties pursuant to the Option shall be effective, subject to the Murchisons NSR.

By agreeing to option its 51% interest in the non-core Pickle Lake Gold properties to White Metal, a proven explorer and operator, the Company ensures the Properties can be advanced towards any potential resource discovery and definition, while allowing Murchison to focus on advancing its flagship Brabant-McKenzie high grade zinc copper project in Saskatchewan.

About Murchison Minerals

Murchison Minerals Ltd. is a Canadian based exploration company with a diversified portfolio of properties, including the Brabant-McKenzie Zinc-Copper deposit in north-central Saskatchewan, the HPM Nickel/Copper/Cobalt project in Quebec and holds gold claims in the Pickle Lake area of northwestern Ontario. Murchison also owns the Cloridorme high alumina shale formation, which is contiguous and essentially an extension of the Marin deposit of Orbite Technologies Inc. located on the Gaspe peninsula in eastern Quebec.

Additional information about Murchison Minerals and its exploration projects can be found at www.murchisonminerals.com.

For further information, please contact:

Kent Pearson, President and Chief Executive Officer

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

(416) 350 - 3776

Disclaimer

The CSE has not reviewed this news release and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release. The CSE has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this news release.

All statements other than statements of historical fact, included in this release, including, without limitation, statements regarding potential mineralization and reserves, exploration results, and future plans and objectives of the Company, are forward-looking statements that involve various risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the Company's expectations are exploration risks detailed herein and from time to time in the filings made by the Company with securities regulators.
TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - July 4, 2016) - Rio Silver Inc. ("Rio Silver" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE:RYO) is pleased to announce that it has entered into a non-binding letter of intent (the "LOI") with Magellan Gold Corporation ("Magellan") (OTCQB:MAGE), an arm's length party, pursuant to which, subject to regulatory approval, Rio Silver has granted to Magellan an option (the "Option") to earn an undivided 50% interest in the Company's Ninobamba Silver Property ("Ninobamba"). The parties intend to replace the LOI with a definitive agreement (the "Definitive Agreement") containing industry standard terms and conditions following a 45-day due diligence period.

The 900-hectare Ninobamba silver project is located approximately 330 kilometres southeast of Lima in the Department of Ayacucho, Peru. The Ninobamba claim block is adjacent to claims owned by Southern Peru Copper and Newmont, in a historic silver district with positive infrastructure in a mining-friendly jurisdiction. Mineralization demonstrates the potential for a large, bulk-tonnage, disseminated-silver project.

The property was originally explored by AngloGold Peru SAC ("Anglo") in 2001. Anglo focused on an area of intense hydrothermal surface alteration and drilled five widely spaced core holes totaling 861 metres. Anglo's drilling highlights included DDH-2 which reported assay results of 87.0 g/t silver over a drilled interval of 130 metres starting from a depth of nine metres, and DDH-4 reporting 54.0 g/t silver over a drilled interval of 96 metres starting from 23 metres. The true widths of mineralization from this drilling are not yet known. In 2003, Bear Creek Mining signed an option agreement to earn a 60-per-cent joint venture interest and an additional eight holes were drilled totaling 1,001 metres. Results of this limited exploration program outlined two distinct parallel zones of silver mineralization 400 meters apart.

The last exploration program by the Company was completed in 2012. A total of 17 trenches were excavated using the local workforce from the nearby community. Trenches were channel sampled with a rock saw and all sample intervals were later surveyed. The sample results from the program are summarized in the Company's news release dated January 14, 2013. Highlights include 56 metres of 1.03 g/t Au and 98.9 g/t silver in trench TR-01; 42 metres of 131 g/t Ag in trench TR-02; and 108 metres of 62.4 g/t Ag in trench TR-05. During this program, the Company discovered a new zone of Au-Ag mineralization previously unrecognized by the previous operators. Trench TR-04, located some 400 meters west of trench TR-01, revealed a new gold-silver zone. Mineralization in this zone is associated with very distinct vuggy-silica type alteration indicative of high sulphidation systems. The last 21.77 metres of trench TR-04 returned 1.32 g/t Au and 102.46 g/t Ag ending in mineralization. This new zone shows that the Ninobamba property has a strong gold component and further exploration is required to determine the precious metal zonation, alteration patterns, and widths. The trenches are perpendicular to the mineralized structure and the true width of mineralization cannot be determined at this time.

Under the terms of the LOI, Magellan has the Option to acquire an undivided 50% interest in Ninobamba by spending an aggregate of US$2,000,000 within a three (3) year period in direct and indirect exploration and development expenditures related to the Ninobamba property, including 4,000 metres of drilling, of which 700 metres must be completed by the end of November, 2017. Upon completion of the exploration programs, it is intended that Magellan shall deliver a Preliminary Resource Estimate for the Ninobamba property.

In connection with the transaction, the Company intends to complete two private placement financings, each for aggregate proceeds of Cdn$75,000. It is intended that Magellan will be the sole subscriber for each of the private placements. The first private placement will consist of units of the Company for an aggregate subscription price of Cdn$75,000 with each unit consisting of one common share of Rio Silver and one share purchase warrant, with each warrant expiring eighteen (18) months following the date of issue. Subject to regulatory approval, the first private placement is expected to be concluded upon execution of the Definitive Agreement. The second private placement will be a unit financing for an aggregate subscription price of Cdn$75,000 with each unit consisting of one common share of Rio Silver and one share purchase warrant, with each warrant expiring thirty (30) months following the date of issue. Subject to regulatory approval, the second private placement is expected to be concluded within ninety (90) days after execution of the Definitive Agreement. Pursuant to the LOI, in order to maintain their Ninobamba Option earn-in rights Magellan must exercise all warrants before they expire. The final terms of the private placement including the price of each unit are yet to be finalized. All securities issued in connection with the private placement will be subject to a four-month statutory hold period.

The closing of the transaction is subject to a number of conditions including the entering into of the Definitive Agreement, the satisfactory completion of due diligence review by the parties, the completion of the first private placement, receipt of all required approvals and consents, including TSX Venture Exchange approval and satisfaction of other customary closing conditions. The transaction cannot close until the required approvals are obtained. There can be no assurance that the transaction will be completed as proposed or at all.

Jeffrey Reeder, P.Geo., and a qualified person as defined in National Instrument 43-101, has prepared, supervised the preparation, or approved the scientific and technical disclosure contained in this news release.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF RIO SILVER INC.

Steve Brunelle, Chairman

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

This news release includes forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties. All statements within, other than statements of historical fact, are to be considered forward looking. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include market prices, exploitation and exploration successes, continued availability of capital and financing, and general economic, market or business conditions. There can be no assurances that such statements will prove accurate and, therefore, readers are advised to rely on their own evaluation of such uncertainties. We do not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements except as required by applicable laws.
RENO, NEVADA--(Marketwired - July 4, 2016) -

NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES

NuLegacy Gold Corporation (TSX VENTURE:NUG)(OTCQX:NULGF) has arranged a non-brokered private placement financing of 10 million units at a price of C$0.30 per unit for gross proceeds of C$3.0 million. Each Unit consists of one common share and one share purchase warrant, with each warrant entitling the holder to purchase one additional common share for a period, subject to acceleration, of eighteen months at an exercise price of C$0.45 per share.

"We are delighted that improved markets and NuLegacy's progress are permitting us to further fund our exploration programs at better than twice the price of our April funding with OceanaGold," commented Albert Matter, NuLegacy's Chairman. "This funding will strengthen your company's balance sheet and enable us to accelerate the exploration of the Iceberg gold deposit and the rest of our highly prospective 38 sq. mile land package in the famed Cortez gold trend of Nevada."

The financing is expected to close on or about July 13, 2016, prior to which Barrick Gold Corporation, OceanaGold Corporation and/or Waterton Precious Metals Fund II Cayman, LP have the right to elect to participate to maintain their current equity ownership interests in NuLegacy Gold (as announced February 23, 2016, April 13, 2016 and August 18, 2014 respectively).

Closing is subject to conditional acceptance of the TSX Venture Exchange and finder's fees may be paid in accordance with Exchange policies. Inquires as to participation should be directed to our Chairman, Albert Matter (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. / 604-639-3640) or the Medalist Group of Toronto (Steven Sandusky at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. / 416-307-1035).

Drilling of the 10 holes of the first phase of the 2016 exploration program (four phases totaling 40+/- holes) is completed, and the assays are expected to be ready for release in the second half of July.

About NuLegacy: The Iceberg gold deposit has an established exploration target of 90-110 million tonnes of 0.9 to 1.1 grams of gold per tonnei. It is located in the Cortez gold trend of Nevada, adjacentii to three of Barrick's multi-million ounce Carlin-type gold deposits that are amongst its lowest cost and politically safest gold assets.iii

i These figures are conceptual in nature and derived from a compilation of 149 historic and 34 NuLegacy drill holes in and around the Iceberg deposit. To date, there has been insufficient exploration to define a mineral resource and it is uncertain if further exploration will result in the target being delineated as a mineral resource. ii The similarity and close proximity of these deposits to the Iceberg is not necessarily indicative of the gold mineralization in the Iceberg deposit. iii As extracted from Barrick's Q4- 2013 and Q1-2014 reports.

ON BEHALF OF NULEGACY GOLD CORPORATION

James E Anderson, Chief Executive Officer

Dr. Roger Steininger, NuLegacy's COO is a Certified Professional Geologist (CPG 7417) and the qualified person as defined by NI 43-101, Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects responsible for preparing and reviewing the scientific and technical information contained in this news release

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.

This news release contains forward-looking statements, which relate to future events or future performance and reflect management's current expectations and assumptions. Such forward-looking statements reflect management's current beliefs and are based on assumptions made by and information currently available to the Company. Readers are cautioned that these forward looking statements are neither promises nor guarantees, and are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause future results to differ materially from those expected. There are no known resources or reserves in the Iceberg deposit and the proposed exploration programs are exploratory searches for commercial bodies of ore. In addition, the presence of gold deposits on properties adjacent or in close proximity to the Iceberg Deposit is not necessarily indicative of the gold mineralization on the Iceberg Deposit. All of the forward-looking statements made in this news release are qualified by these cautionary statements and those in our continuous disclosure filings available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com including our annual management's discussion and analysis dated July 28, 2015 for the year ended March 31, 2015. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof and the Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances save as required under applicable securities legislation.

THIS NEWS RELEASE, REQUIRED BY APPLICABLE CANADIAN LAWS, IS NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. NEWS SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES, AND DOES NOT CONSTITUTE AN OFFER TO SELL SECURITIES AND THE COMPANY IS NOT SOLICITING AN OFFER TO BUY THE SECURITIES DESCRIBED HEREIN. THESE SECURITIES HAVE NOT BEEN REGISTERED UNDER THE UNITED STATES SECURITIES ACT OF 1933, AS AMENDED, OR ANY STATE SECURITIES LAWS, AND MAY NOT BE OFFERED OR SOLD IN THE UNITED STATES OR TO U.S. PERSONS UNLESS REGISTERED OR EXEMPT THEREFROM.
California Governor Jerry Brown [official website] on Friday signed 20 bills into law [legislative list], six of which were bills altering the gun laws in the state [LA Times report]. Brown stated [text, PDF] that he signed the bills to enhance public safety by tightening our existing laws in a responsible and focused manner, while protecting the rights of law-abiding gun owners. The bills have various effects, such as expanding the definition of assault weapon [AB 1135 text; SB 880 text], specifying relationships qualified for lending weapons [AB 1511 text], making it a misdemeanor to make a false report about a lost or stolen firearm [AB 1695 text], creating regulations regarding who can purchase ammunition [SB 1235 text], and prohibiting possession of a large-capacity magazine capable of holding more than ten rounds [SB 1446 text]. The laws come after months of debate within the state following the San Bernardino shootings.

Gun control [JURIST backgrounder] and the Second Amendment continue to be controversial topics across the US. Last week the US Supreme Court [official website] ruled [JURIST report] 6-2 that a state law conviction on reckless domestic assault is sufficient to bar possession of a firearm under federal law. Earlier in June Hawaii Governor David Ige signed a bill [JURIST report] requiring gun owners to be listed on an FBI database, notifying police if a Hawaii citizen is arrested in another state and providing a continuous criminal record check on those individuals seeking to possess a firearm. Also in June, the US Supreme Court denied certiorari [JURIST report] in two separate cases challenging bans on assault-style weapons. The court denied the appeals without comment, letting stand lower court rulings that had upheld the bans [JURIST report] as constitutional. In response to the mass killing in Orlando in June, the UNs top human rights official urged [JURIST report] the US to increase its gun control measures. The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit [official website] held [JURIST report] in June that the right to carry a concealed gun is not within Second Amendment right to bear arms.
[JURIST] A federal appeals court on Friday rejected [opinion, PDF] the Alaskan governments challenge in a case determining the right of Alaskan tribes to place land in a federal trust. Alaskan tribes originally sued [KTOO report] the Department of the Interior [official website] in 2007 to place land in a trust. Though the Interior Department found that denying such rights would be discriminatory, the state nevertheless proceeded with challenging Alaskan tribes in the matter. Following the courts ruling, Alaskan tribes will be able to seek Indian Country status from the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) [official website] and obtain the protections afforded to ordinary reservation lands in the Lower 48. The BIA is expected to publish trust land application within the next 30 days.

The rights of indigenous peoples have become a pressing international legal topic in the past decade. In May Canadas Minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs Carolyn Bennett stated [JURIST report] it would drop its objector status against the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. In April JURIST Guest Columnist Dwight Newman of the University of Saskatchewan discussed [JURIST op-ed] what is happening with recent leave decisions related to Indigenous rights and Canadian energy regulation. In March Canadian indigenous people, including Inuits of Nunavut and the Chippewa, were granted [JURIST report] an appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada, challenging the use of seismic testing to find natural gas under the Davis Strait and Baffin Bay. In February experts from the UN and the Inter-American human rights systems urged [JURIST report] Canada to address the root causes of the extreme violence and discrimination against indigenous women and girls in that country.
A federal judge on Thursday ruled [opinion, PDF] that a Mississippi law allowing for religious objections to the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community is unconstitutional [AP report]. HB 1523 [text], set to go into effect Friday, sought to protect three religious beliefs: (a) Marriage is or should be recognized as the union of one man and one woman; (b) Sexual relations are properly reserved to such a marriage; and (c) Male (man) or female (woman) refer to an individuals immutable biological sex as objectively determined by anatomy and genetics at time of birth. The bill would have allowed court clerks, businesses, and private persons to invoke religious exceptions in defense of discriminatory treatment. Judge Carlton Reeves of the US District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi [official website] granted the plaintiffs requst for preliminary injunction and declared the bill unconstitutional based on the Establishment Clause, religious freedom, and equal protection. Reeves stated:

Religious freedom was one of the building blocks of this great nation, and after the nation was torn apart, the guarantee of equal protection under law was used to stitch it back together. But HB 1523 does not honor that tradition of religion freedom, nor does it respect the equal dignity of all of Mississippis citizens. It must be enjoined.

Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant [official profile] has stated that he does not agree with the outcome and intends to pursue an appeal.

The challenge to HB 1523 came after the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the ACLU of Mississippi [advocacy websites] filed a federal lawsuit [JURIST report] in May challenging the bill and seeking the same injunctive relief. The LGBT community continues to face legal challenges everywhere. The US District Court for the Southern District of Indiana [official website] on Thursday struck down [JURIST report] the states parenthood statute for violating the Equal Protection and Due Process clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment. Last month a judge from Multnomah County Circuit Court [official website] in Oregon ruled [JURIST report] that an individuals gender could be legally changed from from female to non-binary. Also last month, Bleu Copas and Caleb Laieski filed a lawsuit [JURIST report] in the Chancery Court for Anderson County challenging a Tennessee law that protects counselors who refuse to provide services to individuals based on their religious beliefs. In May the US Department of Justice (DOJ) [official website] filed a lawsuit [JURIST report] challenging North Carolinas controversial House Bill 2.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) will not prosecute Tony Blair for war crimes related to the 2003 Iraq War, according to the Telegraph. The ICC said [Telegraph report] Saturday that the decision by the UK to go to war in Iraq falls outside the Courts jurisdiction. The ICC also said that it will be analyzing the Chilcot Report for evidence of war crimes committed by British soldiers. Mr. Blair served as the Prime Minister of UK throughout the invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq.

The Iraq War [JURIST backgrounder] has been plagued with accusations of war crimes and atrocities, aimed at the different parties and countries involved in the conflict. The Chilcot Report is an inquiry into the Iraq War. The inquiry will examine the period before the UK ended their troop presence in Iraq in 2009 and after the summer before the September 11 attacks. The report has been named after the inquirys chair, Sir John Chilcot and it has been reported that the inquirys objective was not to answer [Guardian report] whether the Iraq War was legal. The report has taken approximately seven years to culminate and will be published on Wednesday.
Kenyan authorities have detained three police officers for their involvement in the murder of a human rights lawyer. The officers have not yet been charged with the murders, but a judge announced they will remain [BBC report] in detention for two weeks as investigations are conducted. The body of Willie Kimani, a Nairobi lawyer working for the human rights and law enforcement organization International Justice Mission (IJM) [official website], was found [NYT report] on Friday along with a client and a taxi driver. Mr. Kimani had accompanied his client, Josephat Mwenda, to court after filing a complaint against a police driver for unlawfully shooting him in the arm. Mr. Mwenda had accused the police of harassing him for more than a year after filing the report. The three went missing shortly after leaving the courthouse.

The murders have outraged the international and domestic communities. A statement by 34 international human rights organizations condemned [AI report] the murders and hundreds have taken to the streets of Nairobi to protest [Swiss Info report] extrajudicial killings in the capital. Western governments who provide financial support to Kenya have also expressed [Guardian report] their concern over the murders and are urging [NYT report] the country to reform and comply with international human rights standards.
[JURIST] The UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) [official website] voted on Thursday in favor of appointing an independent expert to report on and investigate worldwide violence and discrimination against the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community. The appointment passed [NYT report] by a vote of 23 to 18 with 6 abstentions. Supporters of the initiative referenced the recent violence against LGBT individuals in Orlando, Florida, and stressed that the UN must give a voice to those discriminated for their sexual orientation and gender identity. Opponents such as Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Nigeria, argued that such an initiative was religiously or culturally motivated and does not properly reflect the views of the entire UNHRC. British Ambassador Julian Braithwaite [official profile] responded to opponentsby stating that a vote against the initiative was a vote for discrimination and violence.

LGBT individuals continue to face discrimination throughout the world. Abuses toward the LGBT population are human rights abuses impacting society as a whole, said 12 UN agencies in a joint statement released [JURIST report] in September. The commission found that while LGBT rights have increased since the UNs first study, there remains widespread discrimination and violence towards these individuals. In 2014 the UN human rights office criticized a Singapore Supreme Court decision [JURIST reports] upholding a law criminalizing consensual same-sex relations between adult men. Also that year the UN released a video calling for an end to LGBT discrimination [JURIST report] in all countries.
Vietnam has urged ]statement, in Vietnamese] the international tribunal in The Hague to deliver a fair and objective ruling concerning Philippines challenge to Chinas expansive claims in the South China Sea. Two days after the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) [official website] announced [press release, PDF] July 12 as the verdict date, Vietnams Foreign Ministry [official website, in Vietnamese] said that it hoped the ruling would lead to a peaceful resolution of the dispute. Although Vietnam is not a direct party to the case, any favorable ruling to the Philippines will benefit the country, since Vietnam is also at odds with China. Vietnam has been careful not to assert its interests in a direct or confrontational manner against China, which is a major trade partner to the country. As such, Vietnams statement stopped short [Reuters report] of calling for the ruling to be respected, contrary to the statements given by numerous other countries.

Despite Vietnams cautious approach in this matter, its relations with China have not been particularly cozy. On Monday, Vietnam expressed its outrage [press release] at Chinas plan to carry out military drills from July 5-11 in an area that covers Vietnams Hoang Sa (Paracel) archipelago in the East Sea, and demanded that China respect Vietnams territorial sovereignty. China claims nearly the entire 3.5 million square-kilometer [JURIST report] South China Sea, a region believed to be rich in oil and minerals. China has come into territorial conflict over the region in the past not only with the Philippines [JURIST op-ed], but also with Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan. The Philippines and China were involved in a two month stand-off [Al Jazeera report] that started last April around the Scarborough Shoal, a small cluster of uninhabitable islands 220 km off the coast of the Philippines which, according to international maritime law, fall into the Philippines economic zone. The standoff was triggered when Chinese vessels blocked the Philippine navy from arresting Chinese fishermen for alleged illegal fishing activities within the Philippines exclusive economic zones. The PCA in The Hague ruled in October that it has jurisdiction to hear the dispute [JURIST report] between the Philippines and China over parts of the South China Sea. For its part, China has refused to recognize PCAs jurisdiction on the case, even going as far as calling it a law-abusing tribunal. However, the case seeks an interpretation of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) [materials], to which China is a signatory.
Track product launches by FMCG companies to get an understanding of the product-level strategies including geographic concentrations, innovation types, product claim, category focus and more

Monitoring the advertising strategies of various brands and gain insights into channel focus, regional focus, and more

Perform company-level analysis to understand business model, size, and geographic focus

Unilever product advertising is mainly through mainstream TV channels. Out of the products advertised so far at least 50% (over 850) of ads have been run on TV, while print media comes second with 496 ads. Unilever also utilizes social media platforms for advertisement. Unilever products are categorized by innovation ratings and tags in our product launch database. The North American region consists of almost 74 products with innovations related to the formulation of the product. Europe and other regions also have more products categorized under formulation-related innovation, followed by the packaging and positioning of the products. Most Unilever products are tagged with High Vitamins, Recyclable, and Natural tags to understand what the product differentiator is from other products available in the market. The majority of products belong to the personal care industry with a total of 5,788 products to date. This report, through the Unilever Example, illustrates how GlobalData Explorer enables you to:Dont miss out on key market insights that can help optimize your next investment  read the report now.
Hershey turned down a takeover approach from Mondelez International last week (30 June). At US$107 per share, the cash-and-shares offer valued the Reeses Pieces maker at approximately US$22.83bn.

Hershey insisted the offer did not warrant further discussions with Mondelez. The companys board of directors, after receiving input from the companys management and its outside financial and legal advisors, carefully evaluated the indication of interest. Following this review, the board of directors of the company unanimously rejected the indication of interest and determined that it provided no basis for further discussion between Mondelez and the company.

Nevertheless, pundits and investors continue to be drawn to the prospect that Mondelez could push a tie-up through.

In a food sector where competitive forces are turning up the pressure for consolidation, Mondelez obviously thought a combination with Hershey would offer some sweet relief. There is strategic rationale behind Mondelezs interest in Hershey.

Here is just-foods summary of what you need to know about the deal.

1. Would create a chocolate titan

The confectionery sector remains highly fragmented. According to Euromonitor International, global chocolate sales are worth US$100bn. The top six companies have 60% global share and the top three confectioners have only a 38% combined share.

The combination of Hershey and Mondelez would result in the formation of the worlds largest chocolate group. Its stable of blockbuster brands would include the likes of Hershey, Cadbury, Reeses and Milka. It would account for 22.8% of global chocolate sales, ahead of Mars with 15.2% and Nestle with 11.5%.

2. Complementary geography

The geographic fit between the two groups is appealing. Around 75% of Mondelezs revenue is generated outside North America, with almost two-thirds of sales originating from Europe. With around 40% of sales exposed to the euro/sterling  and increasing regional volatility as highlighted by the UK referendum  ramping up sales in US dollars will provide some stability.

In contrast, approximately 90% of Hershey sales are generated in North America. The company has attempted to grow overseas, but the results have been somewhat mixed and Hershey has hit speed bumps in markets such as China.

Mondelezs global distribution network should prove a boon to Hershey brands, were a deal to go ahead. The company already has plenty of brand equity globally and Mondelezs global reach would capitalise on this.

In the US, any potential gains for Cadbury are likely to be more modest. Nevertheless, Susquehanna International Group analyst Pablo Zuanic suggests, there are gains to be had. We think gradually the US Hershey platform would help Cadbury. In fact, given the heavy weight of bagged chocolate at Hershey (versus bar form) in the US, we think the business would benefit from some of the iconic bar brands in the Cadbury portfolio.

Another advantage to minimal geographical overlap is the deal is unlikely to be hampered by competition hurdles.

3. The Hershey Trust is a barrier

The Hershey Trust has long been viewed as a barrier to any takeover of Hershey. Established by the chocolate makers founder, Milton Hershey, the Trust controls over 80% of Hershey voting rights. A deal cannot go ahead without the Trusts backing.

Mondelez appears to have already made a number of concessions in a bid to woo the Trust. According to The Wall Street Journal, Mondelez has made promises around jobs; suggested it would move its corporate headquarters to Hershey, Pennsylvania; and offered for the combined group to adopt the Hershey name. Hersheys strongly-worded rejection of the offer would suggest that this has not sweetened the deal.

As recently as 2007, the Hershey Trust reiterated its intention to retain a controlling interest in the company and the Trust has blocked previous takeover attempts that would compromise this. In 2002 it rebuffed a move by Wrigley, in 2007 it prevented merger talks with Cadbury (now owned by Mondelez) and in 2010 the Trust prevented the chocolate group from bidding for Cadbury when the UK company was facing a hostile takeover bid from the then Kraft Foods  which then spun off into Mondelez International.

The terms of Mondelezs proposed transaction, understood to be a 50-50 cash and stock deal, would see the Trust retain a stake in the larger business but lose its position as a controlling shareholder.

But  while the Trust has the votes  itis not as strong as it once was. The Trust, set up as a childrens charity, is under investigation by the Pennsylvania Attorney Generals office over how long its directors retain their positions. The regulator has called for the resignation of three of its longest-serving directors. This uncertainty has prompted some pundits to suggest Mondelez could find a chink in the Trusts defensive armour.

Nevertheless, Morgan Stanleys Matthew Grainger writes: In our view, these remain powerful hurdles to any potential transaction, and  although we would not view them as absolute obstacles  the boards decision today and recommitment to its strategic plan suggest a transaction is still relatively unlikely despite factors such as Mondelezs willingness to offer non-monetary concessions, Hersheys recent operational challenges, and recent disruptions at the Trust.

4. Mondelez has a history of hostile takeovers

Mondelezs management led by chairman and CEO Irene Rosenfeld does have a history of successfully pushing through hostile mergers. In 2010, Rosenfeld, then the head of Kraft Foods, won through in a bitter takeover battle to wrestle control of Cadbury.

However, perhaps this takeover battle has acted as a warning for the Hershey Trust as much as anything else. In the UK, the then-Kraft had insisted it was its sincere belief it would keep Cadburys production sites in the UK open. One week after completing the takeover, it closed the Cadbury factory in Somerdale at the cost of 1,000 jobs. After telling the UK parliament that production of inconic items like Cadbury Dairy Milk would remain in the UK, the company then proceeded to ship out manufacturing to Poland where costs are lower.

The Hershey Trusts fiduciary duty is to represent the interests of its charitable affiliates, such as the school it funds  not the financial gain of Hershey shareholders. It has strong ties to the local community and  with some reason given Mondelezs current focus on stripping costs from the business  it could view the prospect of Mondelez taking control with some cynicism.

5. Other potential suitors?

This raises the possibility that another bid  one that the Hershey Trust views as more amenable to its interests  could emerge.

We think Hershey could be attractive to other suitors also, Zuanic notes. The analyst suggests Kellogg may see good brand overlap and be tempted by the desire to expand further into snacks, while Nestle may want to increase its exposure to US chocolate and take back control of its KitKat trademark in the market. PepsiCo and Kraft Heinz are more of a longshot, Zuanic adds.
Emi Sunshine and the Rain will perform in Etowah at the Old Fashion 4th of July at 723 Ohio Ave. at 1 p.m. Admission is free.

Etowah was born out of wet swampland that was converted into a boomtown in 1906 by the Louisville and Nashville Railroad who made this center for railway on the direct route between Atlanta and Cincinnati in order to avoid the rugged mountains of North Georgia and East Tennessee bypassing the Great Hiwassee Loop. The landmark stylish train station is still the most outstanding landmark for Etowah today.

For more information visit http://www.cityofetowahtn.com/july-fourth.html
On Friday, 24 June 2016, Brits woke up stunned to discover that the UK had voted to leave Europe. It was an earth-shattering sensation. As a Scot abroad, I was devastated.

Thirty years for nothing? The vote of the ignorant, the elderly and some so rich that they dont need to belong to anything, had turned their back to the world, progress, positive environmentalism and so many other elements that are an integral part of belonging to the EU.

Nigel Farage cites this as the vote of decent people. So, are the 16 million people who voted to stay in the EU indecent? Once again, crass stupidity and evil populism win over solidarity and far-thinking. It has happened so many times in history. Humankind never learns from its mistakes  or so it seems.

The navel-gazers belong to big countries. Thats not our case.

As a Scot abroad, I was furious. In an earlier referendum, the majority of Scots voted to stay with Britain because it was in the EU. Like any small country, we look outwards, not inwards. Navel-gazers belong to big countries. Thats not our case.

Young people  the ones who will be the decision-makers and leaders of the next generation in Britain, will feel this particularly. This might be the end of Erasmus and Leonardo  the EU-funded programmes, which help to break down the barriers across Europe and make us feel like a family. As an 18 year-old, working for a spell in Germany, and then a 22-year-old, taking a year off in Spain before going back for a post-graduate course, I, like so many other young Brits, relished in the friendships and ties with other Europeans, which I hope will last for ever. These are the sort of friendships  especially with Germans, perhaps  that would have been impossible for my post-war parents and grand-parents.

Brexits Coward Leaders

It seems shocking to us that both Boris Johnson, the former Lord Mayor of London, and Nigel Farage, the now also former UKIP leader, so vociferous in their attacks against Brussels and key proponents of Brexit, now reveal themselves to be both unwilling and incapable of leading Britain in its voted-upon splendid isolation. Even more shocking is Johnsons statement that he does not entirely agree with the decision to leave. A pathetic and cowardly stance if ever there were one.

The greatest misconception amongst UK citizens is that the EU has never really given them anything.

For decades the BBC has been giving the EU bad press. This has been particularly noticeable to me over the years I have been travelling back to the UK at holiday times. Many Brits are only aware of the huge numbers of immigrants who have entered the country in recent years. Due to the generosity of the social security system (misplaced and excessive, many would consider), many of these immigrants have received free housing  ahead in the queue of underprivileged natives. Hardly surprising, then, that many Brits have only been aware of the negative side of being an EU member. The greatest misconception amongst UK citizens is that the EU has never really given them anything. This, unfortunately, will only fully be realised in the future.

Underprivileged areas will now find that there are no more grants from Brussels (70m to Cornwall every year is just one example)  or hadnt they realised that before they voted? It seems that many Brexiters are finding out the whole truth only now

Where Now?

So where now? Another referendum in Scotland? This time it would certainly have a much better chance of winning Yes  but Scotland will have to go back to the end of the queue to join the EU, and as a very small nation with only 5 million of a population. Perhaps the most upsetting thing is the impression of many Spaniards  and no doubt of many other Europeans  that we actually wanted this Only the day before the vote, the online voting system collapsed, leaving millions of young people without a say. Who knows how many people lost that chance. It might just have made that vital difference.

Furthermore, had the three million UK citizens who have lived abroad for over 15 years (and had no vote as a result) actually had a voice, this would simply not have happened.

As that old song goes. You dont know what youve got till its gone
One of Europes worse nightmares became a reality after last Thursdays British EU referendum result. But could Brexit also be a blessing in disguise for Europe?

With 51.9% of the vote, the United Kingdom, one of the blocks oldest members, will be leaving the EU by 2019. Many EU officials and politicians have called for a quick divorce, to avoid damaging in the long-term Europes economy by dragging the negotiations for too long.

The outcome was expected. For many years, not just Britain but all of the continents governments have been allowing populism to thrive. They failed to deal with the economic crises quickly enough and, in addition, they made serious mistakes when responding to the Syrian refugee crisis.

National governments have purposely avoided explaining to their citizens how the block works and what benefits it offers.

They forgot that populism always wins. It is easier for people to understand an argument about issues that affect them directly, in the plain language that demagogue Far Right or Far Left politicians were using.

Instead of this, national governments were continuously scapegoating the EU for all that was wrong in their economies. They have purposely avoided explaining to their citizens how the block works and what benefits it offers.

They have simply engaged in political games, with aim to gain an upper hand in their countrys internal politics, while perpetuating their rule and power. They ignored the interests of the ordinary people and deliberately allowed them to be misinformed for years, to serve local elites.

They never wished for the EU and its institutions to replace them in the hearts and minds of the voters. Why would they, after all? They preferred citizens to trust them when it came to dealing with issues that were of concern and keep voting for them.

But it was not the EU that failed the citizens during the economic or the refugee crisis. Its institutions did not have much say on how each state would deal with the amount of people pouring in from the Middle East.

In each case, it was the national governments that decided which policy they would follow, opening the borders to refugees like Germany or Sweden did, or hermetically closing them like Slovakia and Hungary. It was our own rulers who were delaying the process and hindering a quicker response to the problem.

Where the EU is largely at fault, is that they remained too detached from the citizens for decades.

Additionally, it was not the EU that followed disastrous economic policies for decades, leading to the economic crisis which continues to affect millions of Europeans. Each national government has either decided alone or in agreement with its EU partners and the blocs institutions and laws, which they have accepted and voted for, on their financial policies.

Where the EU is largely at fault, is that they remained too detached from the citizens for decades. It mainly focused on the financial nature of the union, while it did little to remain relevant in the citizens every day expectations and problems.

In addition, it responded in a very technocratic- often arrogant- manner to the financial crisis, ignoring the warnings or voices of analysts with a different approach.

They acted with absolute disregard for the ordinary peoples needs while they were quick to appease European banks, thus proceeding with disastrous austerity policies, in the case of states like Greece.

As result, the EU became the poster-child of the euro-zone crisis even though it was not entirely its fault.

When it comes to Britain itself, its political leadership for decades allowed wealthy populist con men to brainwash and misinform people through media, misrepresenting the reality on the countrys EU membership.

On that, most recent British politicians are to be blamed, not just David Cameron. They allowed the bubblegum of Britain is Great and we pay too much in Europe to go on for years.

When it comes to Britain itself, its political leadership for decades allowed wealthy populist con men to brainwash and misinform people through media, misrepresenting the reality on the countrys EU membership.

Maintaining this arrogance and nationalism among the political elite and the people resulted in the populist politics blowing up in their faces in the recent referendum.

Subsequently, we are witnessing an extraordinary set of developments in the aftermath. David Cameron himself announced his resignation by October. The Labour Party is in turmoil facing a number of resignations, while Scotland and Northern Ireland expressed their intentions of looking into ways to leave the UK altogether.

The Scottish, in particular, who voted to stay in the EU, are making the most waves. The countrys First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, hinted at how undemocratic it would be for Scotland to be dragged out of the European Union, after having voted by 62% to remain.

Ms. Sturgeon appears to suggest that the Scottish Parliament could block Britains exit from the EU, or it could hold a second referendum to leave the centuries old union with the rest of the Kingdom. Could this be the end of Europe and Britain as we know it?

Scotlands First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, hinted at how undemocratic it would be for Scotland to be dragged out of the European Union, after having voted by 62% to remain.

In a worse case scenario, if the UK leaves the EU we could see the dissolution of Great Britain with Scotland and Northern Ireland rejoining the block in time. Yet Britains departure could cause negative side effects throughout the continent.

Most European Far Right leaders, like Frances Marine Le Pen and Hollands Geert Wilders, have hailed the British referendum outcome, hinting that they will try to achieve the same for their own countries.

If they succeed, we will have the dissolution of the EU, a work in progress since WW2 and the most admirable European achievement of all time. The economic, social and political chaos that would follow should scare any reasonable person on this continent.

Additionally, we could see the return and rise of fascism, nationalism, xenophobia and extremism in Europe, in forms that we havent experienced since the end of the last big war.

On a more positive tone, it will never come to this. If Britain eventually leaves the union, it will most likely join EEA/EFTA, and little would change. But it would take a lot of negotiations and political skill on their part to convince the rest of Europe to accept them as a member of these blocs.

The remaining European powers will most definitely want to make an example of the UK and punish it, in order to forbid other Euro-skeptic nations attempting something similar.

The remaining European powers will most definitely want to make an example of the UK and punish it, in order to forbid other Euro-skeptic nations attempting something similar. Just as they humiliated Greece so that other member states could hasten reforms, Britain could pay a high price in order to punish all these states who also might want out.

Another positive outcome from this referendum could be that the rest of Europe may proceed with further integration now. Britain was always the most vocal member state advocating against such development and, since it is now on its way out, pro-European and federalist powers could finally achieve their goal.

If, that is, others dont decide to leave. Britain has a lot of allies and close partners in the Union. Sweden, Denmark and Ireland all joined the bloc because Britain paved the way.

What will happen to Ireland when Britain leaves? While the Irish are pro-European and most likely to integrate themselves further in EU by joining the Schengen Agreement now that Britain is out, things could go the other way too.

The case of Ireland is particularly interesting. The small nation shares close economic ties, not to mention the only land borders, with the United Kingdom. What will happen to it when Britain leaves? While the Irish are pro-European and most likely to integrate themselves further in EU by joining the Schengen Agreement now that Britain is out, things could go the other way too.

If the Germans and the French are not careful and push too hard for fast and uncompromising federalization of Europe, they could hurt Irelands economy even further. Because the country is closely relying on Britain, the Brexit could cause Ireland to be one of the worse affected nations in the EU.

If the Franco-Germans corner the small nation to abolish its corporate taxation system and harmonize it with the rest of Europe, they could also push the Irish out of the union and in the hands of the British-Americans out of desperation.

These are of course scenarios, as there are many who believe that the UK wont leave the EU after all.

British Labour MP David Lammy has called on Westminster to stop this madness and to vote against the referendum decision to leave the EU. He claims that the the referendum was anadvisory, non-binding referendum.

We can stop this madness and bring this nightmare to an end through a vote in Parliament. Our sovereign Parliament needs to now vote on whether we should exit the EU. (The Independent)

In addition, there is a petition which has already gathered over 3 million votes, calling for a second referendum. Could the above developments indicate that the British citizens and leadership do not really want to leave the EU?

Is this fiasco with the referendum an effort to expose, silence and finally eliminate Britains Euro-skeptics?

Is this fiasco with the referendum an effort to expose, silence and finally eliminate Britains Euro-skeptics? After all, they have not only been blocking their countrys further integration into the union but also the EUs progress in a fully fledged functioning federation for years.

Could their victory become their end? It is debatable if they have the skills to lead Britain and navigate it out of the mess they created for the country. If there is any chance of getting rid of them for good, it could well be to seemingly get their way, fail and disappear permanently.

If the UK leaves the Union, then is forced to rejoin due to the extreme economic penalties it could face, it will then be forced to join both the Schengen Agreement and the euro-zone. Could this disastrous outcome become the Euro-skeptics Pyrrhic victory, which could lead to a better EU and Europe?

A reformed EU, that will be kick-started by Britains departure and the need for further coherence in the remaining member states, could just be all that Europe needed all these years. The union has hit a wall politically, financially and socially.

Could the outcome of the British referendum, actually be a blessing in disguise for both the UK and our continent?

Originally published on Christos blog The Eblana European Democratic Movement.
Madison Kelsey, left, and Asher Delaney were selected as the Most Decorated Patriot Girl and Boy - photo by Dennis Norwood

The 6th Calvary Museum hosted the Patriotism at the Post 4th of July celebration Saturday evening on the old Polo Field on Barnhardt Circle in Fort Oglethorpe.

Music was provided again this year by the Tabernacle Big Band under the direction of John Fezzell. The program consisted of an anthology of music from the war years across the nation's history.

In addition to the musical program, a contest was held to name the Most Decorated Patriotic Boy and Girl. Winners were Asher Delaney and Madison Kelsey.

Children enjoyed a variety of bounce houses and a petting zoo. The fireworks were sponsored by Cornerstone Medical Center.
Lee Min-ho's "Bounty Hunters" which was released in China on July 1st, is on a roll.

Liu Yifei posted on her SNS, "It's so good. Everyone should go and see the movie in the theaters!" Other local stars also posted on their SNS to promote the movie.

Directed by Sin Tae-ra, "Bounty Hunters" is a 30 billion won global Asian comedy action movie about a bounty hunter.

The movie is a collaboration between Korea and China and the breaking point has become even before the release of the movie.

"Bounty Hunters" is also looking forward to be being released in England, Australia, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Source: HanCinema
Photos: Mamby On The Beach Returns For 2 Days Of Great Acts And Beach Fun

By Chicagoist_Guest in Arts & Entertainment on Jul 4, 2016 3:38PM

Chicago didn't exactly need another music festival, but Mamby on the Beach stood out this year nonetheless.

The two-day fest featured an impressive and diverse lineup for its return to Chicago, which included a surprise guest appearance by Chicago's favorite son-of-the-moment Chance the Rapper. This year the South Side's Oakwood Beach played host to thousands of fans of electronica, rap, synthpop and more.

Our photographer Annie Lesser was there to catch the best actsin her opinion it was a tie between Chromeo, who had high energy and a perfect set design that complemented the sunset as he performed, and LIDO, which brought Chance the Rapper and Towkio out at the end of his set.

One concern at this year's fest was schedulingmany acts started late and similar acts were booked against each other at different stages, creating tough choices for fest-goers. And we were happy to see Lupe Fiasco back in action, but he seemed a little rusty. He redeemed himself by bringing out Matthew Santos to sing "Superstar" during his set, and by taking a moment to talk about efforts to decrease Chicago's murder rate.

Of course, there are some key differences between a beach fest and a typical fest on dry land. We noticed that way more people chose bathing suits for their fest attire, and some had the smart idea to bring a change of shoes. Some also brought inflatable wind pouches they used to lay back in the sand. VIPs were able to enjoy the music while taking a dip in Lake Michigan, and a big water fight went down on the fest grounds one evening.

As for fest fashion: besides swimsuits and sandy elbows, we caught several more fashion trends, including linen rompers and big, statement sunglasses.
LINCOLN (AP)  Two Nebraska Wesleyan University students have won an entrepreneurial competition for their stir sticks that detect the presence of date-rape drugs in drinks.

Gwen Plouzek and Stacie Skaff recently beat out eight other college teams from Lincoln, South Carolina and Estonia to win this years Network Globally, Act Locally competition, the Lincoln Journal Star reported. Along with the bragging rights comes $3,000 to use toward further development of their startup company, SipSafe.

The company produces stir sticks that, when swirled in a drink, change color if they detect the presence of ketamine, Rohypnol or GHB.

Plouzek said she came up with the idea while talking with her mother about the need for a reliable, discreet test for those so-called date-rape drugs, which can be slipped into an unsuspecting persons drink to hasten their intoxication or render them unconscious.

We were thinking about how our science backgrounds could be applicable in what is primarily a business competition, Plouzek said.

Earlier this year, Plouzek and Skaff filed for a patent on the approach they developed in labs at Wesleyan and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Their idea beat out other impressive startups  including one from fellow Wesleyan student Jared Carlson, who is building a mechanism for businesses to provide small loans to their employees, allowing them to bypass predatory payday lenders. Carlson said 11 companies have signed on to beta test his product, which is geared toward the restaurant, hotel and construction industries.

Plouzek and Skaff hope to eventually sell their stirring sticks in bulk to colleges, as well as provide dispensers that could be located in bar restrooms.
LINCOLN  Cash for new cabins and refurbished campgrounds at two Nebraska park areas is squirreled away in Gov. Dave Heineman's proposed budget.

The $1.7 million proposal would build three new lodge-style family cabins at Mahoney State Park between Omaha and Lincoln and finance significant campground upgrades at Lake McConaughy State Recreation Area near Ogallala in western Nebraska.

Heineman unveiled the proposal Thursday at the State Capitol in a press conference with officials from the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission.

Tourism is important in Nebraska, and these strategic investments will help meet the current demands at two of our outstanding, popular state parks, Heineman said.

Each destination counts about 1 million visitors each year. Mahoney is the state's second busiest tourist attraction, behind Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo.

Jim Douglas, director of Game and Parks, said the improvements would pay great dividends for all Nebraskans and visitors.

Mahoney's new cabins would be similar to structures opened in recent years at Ponca State Park in northeast Nebraska, Douglas said. The modern, full-service structures would have six bedrooms capable of sleeping 12 people, three full bathrooms, a great room with wood-burning fireplace, a fully equipped kitchen, basement and a deck with a scenic view. They would be available year-round.

The park's current 54 housekeeping cabins are nestled on secluded, wooded ridges. Sizes range from two to six bedrooms.

Lake McConaughy is the state's largest reservoir. The North Platte River recreation area and its white-sand beaches attract about 70 percent of its annual visitors from the metropolitan Denver area.

McConaughy's improvements are targeted for Lone Eagle and Cedar Vue campgrounds on the north side of the lake.

Lone Eagle, near the dam, would have 84 camping sites with water and sewage hook-ups and 50-amp electrical connections.

Cedar Vue, near the western end of the lake, would receive equestrian-friendly accommodations with corrals, water and feed bunks at 35 of its 60 camping sites. The project also would provide 20 full-service pads and 40 electrical sites.

These improvements will allow Nebraska to meet the needs of horse-riding enthusiasts and extend our recreational opportunities well beyond our normal peak months,'' Douglas said.

Douglas said construction on both projects could begin this summer and be completed in 12 to 18 months.

Heineman will detail his tax plan Friday

By Paul Hammel, WORLD-HERALD BUREAU

LINCOLN  Gov. Dave Heineman has promised to unveil details of his sweeping plan to eliminate state income taxes on Friday.

The governor, on Tuesday, stated that he wanted to eliminate state income taxes on individuals and corporations to boost the state's tax climate for businesses.

To do that, Heineman proposed shifting $2.4 billion of the state's tax load onto sales that are now exempt from taxation, such as purchases of agricultural equipment, rental fees for college dormitory rooms and stays in hospitals, and sales of manufacturing equipment.

But the Republican governor did not disclose which of the state's $5 billion worth of sales tax exemptions he would eliminate, prompting anxiety among the state's agriculture and business sectors about what new taxes they may be paying to offset the elimination of state income taxes.

Heineman said he heard nothing but positive comments about his plan during a series of press conferences across the state following his State of the State address on Tuesday. He said he's also been interviewed by several national media outlets in the wake of his announcement.

People are paying attention to what we're doing in Nebraska, Heineman said.

State lawmakers, meanwhile, have mostly expressed caution, saying that elimination of income taxes is a worthwhile goal to explore, but wondering who will have to pay new sales taxes to make that happen.

Heineman has left open the option of just reducing those taxes in Nebraska. He proposed an income tax cut last year, but it was heavily amended into a modest reduction by state lawmakers who worried whether the state could afford it.

Heineman has a scheduled a press conference at 10:30 a.m. Friday to discuss more details of his tax plan. Check Omaha.com for the latest from the governor's press conference.
LINCOLN (AP)  Nebraska lawmakers are once again looking for ways to expand so-called telehealth services throughout the state to address a shortage of specialized health care providers and an aging rural population.

Telehealth services are flourishing nationwide, allowing doctors and patients to connect through webcams and smartphones. But advocates said the technology still faces substantial obstacles that have kept it from spreading faster in Nebraska.

One senator has launched a legislative study of the technology that will begin in earnest later this month. Sen. Merv Riepe of Ralston said he wants to learn how other states are adopting the technology and what Nebraska can do to make it easier, safer and more effective.

The unanswered questions include how doctors are reimbursed when using telehealth, the cost of using the technology and liability when something goes wrong.

We need to approach this with a very open mind, said Riepe, a former hospital administrator. I dont want us to overregulate, but you need to protect the public. And I want to know if were providing enough incentives for the appropriate use of telehealth services across the state.

Riepe said he views telehealth as part of a larger movement toward alternative forms of health care. One new law he sponsored this year will allow patients to pay doctors directly for consultations and physicals, rather than going through insurance.

The agreements allow doctors to offer a range of services for a monthly or quarterly fee, while insurance covers those that arent included in the package. Riepe said telehealth services could be included in those packages, creating a greater incentive for doctors and nurses to use them.

Telemedicine will become increasingly important in Nebraska as the states health care provider shortage worsens, said Dr. Brian Bossard, a Bryan Health physician in Lincoln.

The technology allows rural patients to meet with specialists in Omaha or Lincoln without having to travel and eases the workload for doctors at smaller community hospitals. Some small hospitals use telemedicine carts loaded with equipment and high-resolution cameras, which allow doctors to diagnose patients from Lincoln.

Bossard said Bryan Health uses telehealth for acute care, emergency room services and admitting patients at rural facilities even though it sometimes costs the hospital money.

We know theres a need, and we feel its an important to continue to provide access to these services, he said.

Andrew Whitney, Bryan Healths telemedicine services director, said Nebraskas laws havent kept pace with other states that embraced the technology. The cautious approach isnt always bad because officials want to ensure patient safety, he said, but the technology will become more important in the future.

We are definitely not at the forefront, but were not at the rear either, Whitney said. Nebraska hasnt been hostile to it. Its just been slow to change.

Telehealth services in Nebraska face three major barriers, advocates say.

First, the state has not joined the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact, an agreement that offers expedited licensing for doctors who want to practice medicine in other states. Seventeen states have passed laws to adopt the compact, including neighboring Iowa, South Dakota, Wyoming, Colorado and Kansas. If Nebraska joined the compact, telehealth supporters said out-of-state doctors could treat Nebraska patients remotely and Nebraska doctors could examine residents from nearby states.

Former state Sen. Jeremy Nordquist of Omaha introduced a bill last year that would have added Nebraska, but the measure stalled in committee because of technical problems with the proposal.

Second, the state doesnt require parity between telehealth services and in-person consultations. Because insurance companies dont have to reimburse as much for a telehealth exam, doctors dont have as much incentive to use the technology. The lack of parity also creates uncertainty over how much doctors will get paid, said Elizabeth Hurst, a lobbyist for the Nebraska Hospital Association.

Many physicians provide telehealth not knowing if theyre going to get reimbursed, Hurst said. The payer may decide they dont think telemedicine is worth reimbursing at the same rate.

Third, telehealth equipment is expensive to buy and maintain at a time when hospitals are trying to cut costs. Hospitals have to train staff how to use it, and Nebraska doesnt have many vendors, Hurst said.
Republican lawmakers in Wisconsin were operating in a fact-free cocoon of partisan prejudice when they claimed that voter fraud was a major problem in their state, wrote federal judge Richard Posner in 2014. If the Wisconsin legislature says witches are a problem, shall Wisconsin courts be permitted to conduct witch trials?

Posner is a conservative appointed by Ronald Reagan. But in the best tradition of the law, he places evidence ahead of ideology. For example, in 2007, he authored a key opinion upholding an Indiana voter ID law. Seven years later, when the Wisconsin case arose, he changed his mind based on new information.

There is compelling evidence that voter impersonation fraud is essentially nonexistent in Wisconsin, he wrote. The legislature was using chicanery as a mere fig leaf for efforts to disenfranchise voters.

We thought of Posners opinion last week when the Supreme Court voted to overturn two laws from Texas aimed at blocking access to abortion services. The Texas Legislature maintained that the laws were necessary to protect womens health, but the High Court  like Posner in the Wisconsin case  reviewed the evidence and rejected the states argument.

One law required abortion providers to have admitting privileges at local hospitals; the other mandated unreasonably high medical standards for abortion clinics. As a result, half the states 40 clinics have closed. Justice Stephen Breyer, writing for the court, said the Texas laws clearly imposed an undue burden on women seeking abortions, a test laid down by the justices in 1992. In fact, Breyer added, the state presented no evidence that the laws would have helped even one woman obtain better treatment.

Breyer is a well-known liberal who once worked for Ted Kennedy and was appointed by Bill Clinton. He was joined in his opinion, however, by Justice Anthony Kennedy, who  like Posner  was a Reagan appointee.

During more than 28 years on the bench, Kennedy has generally sided with anti-abortion forces, but hes also been willing to part with conservative orthodoxy when the facts warrant flexibility.

Lets be clear: We are not discussing the morality or even the advisability of abortion. In fact, the two of us disagree on those issues. We are talking about the critical importance of basing public policy on facts, not fantasy; on evidence, not prejudice or prevarication.

As Cole notes, this is especially important at a time when our increasingly divided political culture makes rational exchanges so much more difficult. A recent survey by the Pew Research Center shows how the growth of hyper-partisanship clouds the ability of loyalists on both sides to agree on a common set of facts and trust each others good will.

Half of all Republicans view Democrats as more closed-minded than other Americans, while seven in 10 Democrats disparage Republicans that way. Almost half of all Americans find it distressful and frustrating to talk politics with people who hold different opinions.

Closed-mindedness is an epidemic, like Ebola or Zika. Much of the country is infected with the feverish mindset Posner warned about, declaring that witches are a problem and then launching crusades to eradicate those nonexistent threats.

American politics and jurisprudence need more unfettered thinking and less unreasoning rigidity. Those self-made, air-tight fact-free cocoons can be pretty suffocating.
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British ruling Conservative Party Member of Parliament Andrea Leadsom launches her campaign to be the party's new leader in London, Monday, July 4, 2016. British Prime Minister David Cameron resigned on June 24, after Britain voted to leave the European Union in a referendum. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)
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A total of 12 plays by William Shakespeare will be staged at the Beijing Fringe Festival in September this year to mark the 400th anniversary of his death, organizers said.

Director Meng Jinghui attends a press conference of the 9th Beijing Fringe Festival in Beijing, capital of China, June 15, 2016. (Xinhua/Jin Liangkuai)

A play based on Shakespeare's sonnets is among these works, which also include "Romeo and Juliet," "Twelfth Night," and "The Taming of the Shrew."

All the plays will be directed by young artists, according to organizers.

The different versions of Shakespeare's works, which provide fresh perspectives for interpretation, contribute to the lasting glory of Shakespearean plays, said Meng Jinghui, artistic director for the event.

According to the organizers, 12 short plays, which are adapted from the classics of Shakespeare, will also be staged during the festival, in addition to forums and script recitations.

Started in 2008, the annual festival is dedicated to nurturing young artists and promoting quality theater for young people.
How should a filmmaker acknowledge his source material? Many may err on the side of imprudence and a few on the side of caution. But with copyright material, it can be a process of trial and error as everyone involved follows the learning curve of respect.

[Photo by Gao Zanmin/China Daily]

On June 28, a Beijing district court issued its verdict on the infringement case that involves a best-selling novel and its film adaptation. Last year, Zhang Muye, whose pen name is Tianxia Bachang, accused makers of Chronicles of the Ghostly Tribe of several violations, among which were the filmmakers' failure to give him credit and their butchering of his original novel.

The movie opens with a line that says it is adapted from the first volume of The Adventures of Three Tomb Raiders, but it does not mention Zhang's name. The court found this credit insufficient and has ordered the producers to apologize to Zhang and add his name to the film as the original author. As for the other claim, for which Zhang was seeking 1 million yuan ($151,500) in compensation, the court ruled in favor of the defendants, saying the filmmakers have the right to make certain changes to the original literary source.

The Chinese screen saw two adaptations from The Adventures of Three Tomb Raiders last yearfirst by Lu Chuan and shortly afterward Wuershan's Mojin: The Lost Legend. The confusion was the result of Zhang, who sold the film rights to different buyers, the first four volumes to one buyer, who hired Lu to write and direct the first volume, and the other four volumes to another who hired Wuershan, who in turn hired Zhang as one of the screenwriters.

Both adaptations veered drastically from the novel and both filmmakers gave me the same reasons for creating new stories.

Chinese regulators do not allow on the screen supernatural phenomenon or illegal activities like tomb raiding, and the episodic narration of the novel does not lend itself to a feature film. Well, Mojin does contain tomb raiding, but the heroes are thrust into it by circumstances.

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It has now been confirmed that Princes untimely death resulted from an overdose of the drug fentanyl.

It is unclear whether the lethal dose of fentanyl was a prescription medication or a counterfeit analog drug from the illicit market. Regardless, the facts are now clear enough to know that the U.S. health care system failed Prince in the same ways it is failing the 78 Americans who die every day from overdoses involving prescription opioids, heroin, and analog drugs.

On April 15 of this year, a plane with Prince onboard made an unscheduled landing in Moline, Illinois, to take Prince to an emergency room, where he was administered the opioid-overdose reversal medication naloxone. Three hours later, Prince left the hospital and flew home to Minneapolis.

Between April 15 and April 20, Prince made four trips to the pharmacy, according to TMZ. It is unknown whether he obtained fentanyl during that period. On April 21, just six days after his non-fatal overdose, Prince overdosed again and died.

The prince of pop and king of style was one of a kind in his life but not in his death. According to the Palm Beach County sheriffs department, one in four individuals who die of an overdose in the U.S. previously suffered a non-fatal overdose. This cant keep happening. So, what is broken, and how can we fix it  fast?

If we assume that Prince fatally overdosed on prescription fentanyl, we might be inclined to blame the doctor who prescribed it. Fentanyl is a powerful opioid pain medication that has a high potential for abuse. Even using it properly can lead to severe physical dependence. Naturally, with these greater risks comes the need for greater controls.

Before prescribing fentanyl, Princes health care provider was required to verify that Prince legitimately needed the medication. Prince reportedly had persistent pain related to a hip condition that caused him to undergo hip surgery in 2010. Princes prescriber should have also taken steps to prevent Prince from being harmed by the drug. These precautions include making sure Prince was not taking other substances that could lead to drug interactions or overdose, and talking with Prince to be certain that the medication was making his life better, not worse.

It is also entirely possible that Prince might not have disclosed his problematic use of opioids to his physician out of shame that his dependence was a moral failing. Stigma contributes to the fact that only 20 percent of Americans with an opioid use disorder obtain treatment for it. Prince, like so many other Americans, may also have feared that admitting to this disease would mean getting kicked out of the medical practice and being forced to turn to street drugs like heroin or analog opioids for relief.

Therein lie two problems that we must address aggressively: communication and continuity of care.

Many times, the people who need to know that someone has suffered a non-fatal overdose often never learn of it until it is too late. The emergency room could be a vital intervention point. Hospitals need to develop a protocol so that when an individual survives an overdose, emergency care providers notify the patients primary care provider and, if the patient is prescribed controlled medications or undergoing addiction treatment, the prescriber or treatment provider.

Providing a warm hand-off to other health professionals in life-threatening emergencies is consistent with health care privacy laws, can help individuals with substance use disorders get the medical attention they need in time, and will reduce the occurrence of secondary overdose deaths. States should swiftly adopt warm hand-off legislation. They should also require that non-fatal overdoses be reported to the prescription database, which could have alerted Princes pharmacist of the need to consult with Prince and his prescriber before dispensing more controlled medications to him.

More must still be done. Every medical professional in the United States should know that the way to deal with a person who has signs of drug abuse is not to kick the patient out but to kick the patient up to a higher level of care, including addiction treatment if necessary. States should require the prescribers of controlled medications to obtain training in preventing and identifying drug abuse, and medical schools and professional associations should equip health care providers to screen for substance use and intervene when appropriate.

While emergency personnel reversed Princes overdose, they ultimately did not save his life. We owe it to Prince, and so many others, to do better. Our health care system must be improved  fast  to provide health care professionals like Princes physician and pharmacist with the information they need to help prevent overdoses and deaths.

Shruti Kulkarni is policy director, Center for Lawful Access and Abuse Deterrence.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com
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China's biggest building company will be working on a hotel project billed as China's biggest-ever investment in New Zealand's tourism infrastructure, the developer said on Monday.

New Zealand's Hawkins Group would be working in a joint venture with China Construction to build the Park Hyatt Auckland, on downtown Auckland's harbor front, after signing a contract with Beijing-based developer Fu Wah International Group.

Work on the seven-storey hotel, which would have a total floor area of 29,000 square meters and 195 rooms, was due to commence this month and completion was scheduled for late 2018.

Hawkins had experience and understanding of the Auckland waterfront environment, including the challenging ground and climate conditions, Richard Aitken, Fu Wah New Zealand general manager, said.

"Together with China Construction, they have the resources, experience and skills to deliver an outstanding outcome for Auckland," he said.

China Construction was one of the world's biggest construction businesses, with an annual construction turnover of around 100 billion U.S. dollars.

New Zealand Prime Minister John Key ceremonially broke the ground on the project in March.

Key was joined onsite by executives of Beijing-based property developer Fu Wah International Group, which is investing 200 million NZ dollars (143.56 million U.S. dollars) in the hotel, representing one of the largest foreign investments in New Zealand tourism infrastructure.

Fu Wah won development rights for the 195-room hotel after a global investor search process in 2013 led by the land owner, Auckland City Council organization Panuku Development Auckland.

It will be the first Park Hyatt hotel in New Zealand, and one of 37 worldwide.
Sinn Fein TD Kathleen Funchion will chair the 52nd Plenary of the British Irish Parliamentary Assembly as the new Irish co-Chair of BIPA today and tomorrow in Malahide, Dublin.

Funchion was recently nominated to take the role as Chair of the Good Friday Agreement Committee in the Oireachtas.

The Carlow/Kilkenny TD is the first ever Sinn Fein representative to hold the position.

The themes of the two day Plenary are International tourism opportunities for Ireland and the UK and Commemoration and Reconciliation

Kathleen Funchion said:

I look forward to welcoming members of BIPA to Dublin, with members attending from the Westminister Parliament, the Scottish Parliament, the Welsh and Northern Assemblies, Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man.

"The Brexit referendum result has the potential to fundamentally change relationships on our islands.

"The Irish Members of BIPA welcome the opportunity to come together with our colleagues from across these islands to discuss a range of pivotal issues, particularly in the aftermath of the referendum."
THE principal of Kilkenny City Vocational School, Cathy McSorley won her High Court challenge against the decision of Minister for Education, Ruairi Quinn and County Kilkenny VEC. to fire her from her job because, in part, the censure imposed on her was disproportionate to what she had done and because it was so long ago.

THE principal of Kilkenny City Vocational School, Cathy McSorley won her High Court challenge against the decision of Minister for Education, Ruairi Quinn and County Kilkenny VEC. to fire her from her job because, in part, the censure imposed on her was disproportionate to what she had done and because it was so long ago.

In his judegment Mr Justice John Hedigan said that if the effect of the disciplinary is disproportionate this justifies the court setting aside the decision. He was also impressed by the way she had tried to bring in reform to a school where there had been huge problems before she went there.

He said: Clearly the Ministers decision has a profound effect upon the applicants rights. Thus the Court must ask was the decision reached in this case disproportionate? The objective of the inquiry into Ms. Mc Sorley performance must ultimately have been to determine whether her continuance in the role was consistent with the provision of a proper functioning school where she worked. In this regard it must be noted that Ms. Mc Sorley has served as principal of the school for 12 years. Her appointment in 1999 was to an extremely challenging role.

The previous incumbent had resigned and the school was facing falling enrolment numbers. There was unrest between various parties at the school. The three complaints upheld against her involved events that occurred between 2001 and 2003. The incidents occurred when she was relatively new to her role. The complaints upheld were eight to ten years old when the decision to dismiss her was made. In the meantime all the evidence that this Court has heard is to the effect that she was doing a very good job. Mr OConnor described her as a very considerable force for good in the school and found that: there is no doubting her commitment to the school and her efforts to turn around a school which, when she took over as Principal was in serious decline as a consequence of both internal and external pressures.

Mr OConnor noted that at page 4 of his report that: On a more positive note Ms McSorley introduced a number of initiatives aimed at tackling some of the disadvantages experienced by pupils, such as a breakfast and lunch club, especially, a programme for seriously disadvantaged students experiencing difficulties with formal schooling, established in early 2002, called KARA (Kilkenny Area Response to Absenteeism).

It seems to me that bearing in mind the inordinate length of time since the events in question and balancing that with her apparently very satisfactory performance of her duties as principal in the time between, there is in the decision to now remove her from her post, a manifest disproportionality that requires the Court to intervene. There must be an order to quash the decision of the Minister to dismiss the applicant from her post. These problems in this VEC have continued too long and it is in my view appropriate that there now be some finality brought in respect of the events up to 2003 which were the subject of the Ministerial Inquiry. I will hear Counsel on the form of the order that should be made.

The rest of his decision

7.1 The applicant is principal of Kilkenny City Vocational School and has held this position since 1999. In 2003 a number of allegations were made concerning the applicants conduct. Further to these allegations a number of inquiries were initiated. On the 21st December 2005, the then Minister for Education and Science decided to establish an inquiry under section 105 of the Vocational Education Act 1930. On 20th February, 2006 the Minister approved terms of reference for this inquiry and Mr Torlach OConnor was appointed to conduct the inquiry on the same date. On the 14th February, 2008 the Minister requested Mr OConnor to forward an interim report. The applicant was made aware of this at the time. The applicant raised objections in correspondence with the Inquiry, however she fully engaged with it. A report was furnished to the first respondent in August 2010.The report made a number of findings against the applicant. On the 6th April, 2011 the Ministers advisor, Mr Matthew Ryan drafted a Departmental memorandum with advices for the purposes of the Minister and provided him with the Interim Report. Appended to that memorandum is the Ministers hand-written decision to remove the applicant dated the 7th April, 2011. The Minister wrote to the applicant on 12th April, 2011 informing her that he had considered the Interim Report prepared by Mr Torlach OConnor, on foot of the Ministerial Order, and the conclusions he formed therein and stated that he had formed the provisional opinion that she was unfit to hold office. The Minister invited representations regarding this opinion. On the 13th June, 2011 representations were forwarded on behalf of the applicant. Mr Ryan drafted a further Departmental memorandum dated 18th July, 2011. The Minister wrote to the applicant on 28th July, 2011 stating that he remained of the opinion that she was unfit to hold office. The V.E.C. wrote to the applicant on 2nd August, 2011, informing her that her salary would cease on 1st September, 2011. As the school was closed, and the applicant was on annual leave, she did not receive these letters until her return on 16th August, 2011. The applicant sought an injunction to prevent her removal and in these proceedings she seeks various relief aimed at preventing the implementation of the Ministers decision of the 28th July, 2011

7.2 The issues that fall to be decided in this case are as follows:-

(a) Whether or not Mr. OConnor acted ultra vires in the course of his inquiry in investigating what the applicant has described as the eight new matters.

(b) Whether by participating in the expanded inquiry the applicant was acquiescent and is thereby now disentitled to challenge its conclusions.

(c) Whether the applicant is guilty of delay in challenging the investigation of the eight new matters.

(d) Whether the Ministers decision to declare the applicant unfit to hold office and to remove her from her post was unreasonable and/or disproportionate.

7.3 The applicant submits that it was wrong, in excess of jurisdiction, ultra vires, unfair and in breach of natural justice and fair procedures for the new matters to be introduced against her as they fall outside the purview of the ministerial order and the jurisdiction of Mr OConnor. The ministerial order clearly stated that the minister, and the minster alone, could add to or amend the terms of reference as the minister considered appropriate. The minister did not add to, amend, or in any way enlarge the terms of reference of the inquiry. The respondents submit that Mr. OConnor has not acted ultra vires in investigating the eight new matters referred to in the applicants statement of grounds. Section 105 of the Vocational Education Act, 1930 provides that the minister may at any time cause an inquiry (referred to as a local inquiry) to be held in relation to the performance by an officer of a VEC of his duties. The ambit of an inquiry established pursuant to statute is to be gleaned from the terms of the statute itself. The terms of reference document provided the main initial focus of the local inquiry.

Clearly during the investigation other allegations may come to the fore which can be investigated. A local inquiry can be established without any specific terms of reference and any terms of reference if provided cannot serve to restrict the scope of the inquiry.

I am satisfied that in the terms of appointment of the local inquiry the minister quite clearly stated that the appointment of Mr OConnor was not just to investigate matters expressly referred to in the terms of reference but was to carry out an inquiry into the performance by the applicant of her duties. The letter states that Mr OConnor was to:-

carry out an inquiry into the performance by Ms. Cathy McSorley Principal of Kilkenny City Vocational School of her duties as Principal of Kilkenny City Vocational School and such an inquiry shall include, but not necessarily be limited to:-.

It seems clear to me that Mr OConnor was entitled to follow up on matters he deemed to be important or relevant to his task.

7.4 The respondents seek to challenge the applicants judicial review of the decision by Mr OConnor to expand his terms of reference. The respondents complain that the applicant did not judicially review the decision by Mr OConnor to expand his terms of reference in November 2007, instead the applicant engaged fully with the investigation and only sought to review the decision when the report had issued as it did not vindicate the applicant. The respondents submit that in these circumstances the applicant has been guilty of acquiescence and delay. The Court has determined that Mr OConnor was entitled to expand his terms of reference. It seems to me therefore that the objection of acquiescence to the expansion of the terms of reference is moot. This objection would only fall to be considered had the Court determined that Mr OConnor was not entitled to expand his terms of reference. As to the delay issue, I consider that the proper date from which time should commence in relation to her challenge to her dismissal, is the date upon which the minister decided to dismiss her from her post. I accept that once she had received the decision of the Minister in August, 2010 the applicant moved promptly.

7.5 The final issue to be considered is whether the Ministers decision to declare the applicant unfit to hold office and to remove her from her post was unreasonable and/or disproportionate. The applicant submits inter alia that the action of the Minister in deciding to remove the applicant from her position is not proportionate to the objective, namely the provision of a proper functioning V.E.C. and school in Kilkenny where the applicant worked. The respondent submits that there is no evidence that the decision was unreasonable or disproportionate and that the court could only interfere with such a decision where it plainly and unambigiously flies in the face of fundamental reason and common sense which is not the case here.

7.6 The role of the Court in Judicial Review proceedings has recently been addressed in the case of Meadows v. Minister for Justice Equality and Law Reform, [2010] IESC 3. Denham J. articulated the core principles as follows:

(i) In judicial review the decision-making process is reviewed.

(ii) It is not an appeal on the merits.

(iii) The onus of proof rests upon the applicant at all times.

(iv) In considering the test for reasonableness, the basic issue to determine is whether the decision is fundamentally at variance with reason and common sense.

(v) The nature of the decision and the decision maker being reviewed is relevant to the application of the test.

(vi) Where the legislature has placed decisions requiring special knowledge, skill, or competence, for example as under the Planning Acts, with a skilled decision maker, the Court should be slow to intervene in the technical area.

(vii) The Court should have regard to what Henchy J. in The State (Keegan) v. Stardust Victims Compensation Tribunal, referred to as the implied constitutional limitation of jurisdiction in all decision-making which affects rights. Any effect on rights should be within constitutional limitations and should be proportionate to the objective to be achieved. If the effect is disproportionate it would justify the court setting aside the decision.

Facts and submissions

Setting out the facts: The applicant resides at Annamult, Bennettsbridge, Co Kilkenny.

The first named respondent is the Minister for Education and Skills. The second named respondent is a statutory body established under the Vocational Education Acts 1930-2001 and was at all material times the employer of the applicant.

The applicant seeks the following reliefs

(i) A Declaration that the Applicant is, and rightfully remains employed in the post of Principal of Kilkenny City Vocational School.

(ii) A Declaration confirming that none of the allegations the subject matter of the Inquiry established by Order of the Minister for Education & Science on 20th February, 2006 (the Ministerial Order of 2006) were upheld against the Applicant;

(iii) A Declaration that the eight new matters purportedly investigated by the First Respondents servant or agent, Mr Torlach OConnor, during the course of the said Inquiry did not properly form part of the Ministerial Order of 2006 and should not have been investigated;

(iv) An Order and Declaration that the undated report of the First Respondents servant or agent, Mr OConnor received on 14th April, 2011 cannot be relied upon, in particular to dismiss the applicant;

(vi) An Order of Prohibition, by way of application for judicial review, preventing the respondents, their servants or agents from taking any further steps on foot of the Ministerial Order of the First Respondent dated the 28th July, 2011 and or directing the removal of the Applicant from office with effect from the 1st September, 2011.

(vii) An Order of Prohibition restraining the Respondents, their servants or agents, from taking any steps in furtherance of the Ministerial Order of the 28th July, 2011 of the First Respondent;

(viii) Further or in the alternative and if necessary an Order of Certiorari quashing those conclusions and findings of, and that part of, the Interim Report which found 3 of the 8 purported new allegations to be proven.

(ix) An Injunction restraining the Respondents, their servants or agents, from terminating the employment of the Applicant or from stopping the payment of her salary, benefits, pension and emoluments;

(x) An Order directing that no further investigations be carried out in relation to the matters the subject matter of the Ministerial Order of 2006 or in relation to the period 2001-2003.

(xi) An injunction restraining the Respondents from taking any further steps giving effect to the Ministerial Order of the First Respondent dated 28th July, 2011 directing the removal of the Applicant from office with effect from 1st September, 2011.

(xii) A stay pursuant to Order 84 rule 20(7) (a) of the Rules of the Superior Courts, 1986, and or an injunction restraining the implementation of the said Order pending the determination of the within proceedings;

(xiii) An order that the respondents comply with their obligations under the Data Protection Acts pursuant to the Applicants requests of the 16th May, 2011;

(xiv) Such further or other Order as to the High Court appears just and proper and in the interests of the Applicant including such relief as may be appropriate under the European Convention on Human Rights Act 2004 as may be appropriate;

(xv) Damages

Background Facts

3.1 The applicant is Principal of Kilkenny City Vocational School (KCVS) and has held this position since 1999. KCVS provides learning and support in particular for marginalised and disadvantaged children and has experienced high truancy rates. There was unrest between various parties in KCVS prior to the applicants appointment as Principal in 1999. Her predecessor resigned her post. In 2003 a number of allegations were made concerning the applicants conduct in the running of the school. Further to these allegations a number of inquiries were initiated. On the 21st December 2005 the then Minister for Education and Science decided to establish an inquiry under section 105 of the Vocational Education Act 1930. On 20th February, 2006 the Minister approved terms of reference for this inquiry as follows:-

I, Mary Hanafin T.D., Minister for Education and Science, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 105 of the Vocational Education Act 1930, hereby appoint Mr Torlach OConnor, retired Assistant Chief Inspector of the Department of Education and Science, to

(a) carry out an inquiry into the performance by Ms Cathy McSorley, Principal of Kilkenny City Vocational School, of her duties as Principal of Kilkenny City Vocational School and such an inquiry shall include, but not necessarily be limited to, an inquiry into

(i) the organisation and administration of that school in the area of human resource management,

(ii) the alleged failure of Ms McSorley to effectively apply the schools disciplinary policy,

(iii) the alleged engagement by Ms McSorley in the bullying of staff members of County Kilkenny Vocational Education Committee,

(iv) the alleged failure of Ms McSorley to comply with the lawful orders of the Vocational Education Committee as directed from time to time by the Chief Executive Officer,

(v) the administration of the school by Ms McSorley with regard to recording of the roll books in the school and the supervision of a foreign trip by the school in February 2001, and

(vi) the alleged payment by Ms McSorley to students enrolled in Kilkenny City Vocational School to attend such school.

(b) to report to me the outcome of the inquiry as speedily and in as efficient a manner as possible, having regard to the circumstances of the case.,

(c) to provide an interim report if requested by me to do so.

The terms of reference may be subject to such addition or amendment as I consider appropriate.

3.2 On the 14th February, 2008 the first named respondent requested Mr OConnor to forward an interim report. The applicant was made aware of this at the time and raised objections in correspondence with the Inquiry, however she fully and actively engaged with the Inquiry. A report was furnished to the first named respondent in August 2010. The report made a number of findings against the applicant. On the 6th April, 2011 the Ministers advisor, Mr Matthew Ryan prepared a Departmental memorandum with advices for the Minister and provided him with the Interim Report. Appended to that memorandum is the Ministers hand-written decision to remove the applicant dated one day later, 7th April, 2011. The Minister wrote to the applicant on 12th April, 2011 informing her that he had considered the Interim Report prepared by Mr Torlach OConnor, on foot of the Ministerial Order, and the conclusions he formed therein and he had formed the provisional opinion that the applicant was unfit to hold office. The Minister invited representations regarding this opinion, which representations were forwarded on behalf of the applicant on the 13th June, 2011.

3.3 On the 18th July, 2011 Mr Ryan created a further Departmental memorandum. The Minister wrote a letter to the applicant on the 28th July, 2011 in which he stated that I remain of the opinion that you are unfit to hold office. The V.E.C. wrote to the applicant on 2nd August, 2011 informing her that her salary would cease on 1st September, 2011. As the school was closed, and the applicant was on annual leave, she did not receive these letters until her return on 16th August, 2011. In the within proceedings the applicant seeks various reliefs aimed at preventing the implementation of the Ministers decision of the 28th July, 2011.

Relevant Law

4. The Minister has the power under Section 105 of the Vocational Education Act, 1930 to direct that an inquiry into the performance of an officer of a V.E.C. be set up and to appoint an officer to conduct such an inquiry. Section 105(1) provides as follows:-

105(1) The Minister may at any time cause an inquiry (in this Act referred to as a local inquiry) to be held in relation to the performance by a vocational education committee of its duties under this Act or in relation to the performance by an officer or a servant of a vocational education committee of his duties as such officer or servant (as the case may be) and for that purpose may appoint an officer of the Minister to hold such local inquiry.

Where the Minister considers an officer of a V.E.C. to be unfit to perform his or her duties, Section 27 of the Vocational Education Act 1930 empowers the Minister to remove this person from office. Section 27 provides as follows:-

27.(1) The Minister may by order, either upon or without any suggestion or complaint from a vocational education committee, remove from his office or employment any paid officer or servant of a vocational education committee (whether appointed by or transferred by this Act to such committee) whom he considers unfit or incompetent to perform his duties, or who at any time refuses or wilfully neglects to perform his duties or any of them, and may direct that a fit and proper person be appointed in his place in accordance with the law relating to appointments to such office or employment.

(2) The Minister shall not remove under this section from his office an officer or servant of a vocational education committee unless and until he has caused a local inquiry to be held under this Act in relation to the performance by such officer or servant of his duties as such officer or servant and considered the report of the person who held such local inquiry.

The statutory basis for the Ministers power to remove an officer of a V.E.C. from that office is set out in Section 8 of the Vocational Education (Amendment) Act 1944, which provides for two specific grounds for removal:-

8.(1) For the purposes of this section, the following shall be the statutory grounds for the removal of the holder of an office from such office, that is to say:

(a) unfitness of such holder for such office,

(b) the fact that such holder has refused to obey or carry into effect any order lawfully given to him as the holder of such office, or has otherwise misconducted himself in such office,

and, in this section, the expression statutory grounds for removal from office shall be construed accordingly.

(2) Where the Minister is satisfied as a result of a local inquiry that any of the statutory grounds for removal from office exists as regards the holder of an office, the Minister may by order remove such holder from such office.

(3) Where the Minister is satisfied that the holder of an office has failed to perform satisfactorily the duties of such office and is of opinion that he is unfit to hold such office, the Minister may

(a) send by registered post to such holder at the principal office of the vocational education committee under which he holds such office a notice stating the said opinion, and

(b) on the day on which he sends the notice, send by registered post a copy thereof to the said vocational education committee,

and if the Minister, after the expiration of fourteen days from the day on which he sends the notice and the copy thereof and after consideration of the representations (if any) made to him by such holder or the vocational education committee, remains of the said opinion, he may by order remove such holder from such office.

(4) Where the holder of an office is convicted of an offence which, in the opinion of the Minister, renders him unfit for such office, the Minister may by order remove such holder from such office.

Applicants Submissions

5.1 The original Terms of Reference contained in the Ministerial Order set out 6 specific matters to be investigated. The matters all related to the period 2001-2003. These related to human resource management and discipline at the school, complaints of bullying and maladministration at the school and lastly an allegation regarding payments purportedly made to students to attend school. The Inquiry Officer Mr Torlach OConnor decided not to make any findings on any of the six matters expressly set out in the Terms of Reference as too much time had elapsed. However Mr OConnor decided to investigate certain new matters concerning possible financial improprieties. In his interim report Mr OConnor explained his decision as follows:-

I determined to stay as focussed as possible on the precise terms of reference of the inquiry and, with one exception, not to pursue the many subsidiary issues that emerged from witness evidence and other sources

The one exception according to Mr OConnor related to:- allegations made by a number of witnesses in relation to financial improprieties. Mr OConnor acknowledged that there was no mention of financial issues in the Terms of Reference of the Inquiry but he took the view that he was empowered to expand the Terms of Reference to take account of these new allegations. The applicant submits that it was wrong, in excess of jurisdiction, ultra vires, unfair and in breach of natural justice and fair procedures for the new matters to be introduced against her as they fall outside the purview of the Ministerial Order and the jurisdiction of Mr OConnor. The Ministerial Order clearly stated that the Minister, and the Minster alone, could add to or amend the Terms of Reference as the Minister considered appropriate. The Minister did not add to, amend, or in any way enlarge the Terms of Reference of the Inquiry. The applicant submits that Mr OConnor acted ultra vires the powers granted to him by the Minister in deciding to amend the Terms of Reference without the express permission or sanction of the Minister. The applicant continually objected to Mr OConnor changing the Terms of Reference but to no avail. In his interim report Mr OConnor stated that :-

the allegations set out in the original Terms of Reference largely relate to events of up to nine years standing and, of these, it is clear that many were known to but not appropriately acted on by the Committee and/or the management of the VEC in the interim it would (not) serve any useful purpose and would probably be unsound to proceed any further with this Ministerial Inquiry.

Notwithstanding this finding Mr OConnor deemed it appropriate to investigate and make findings on new matters which related to precisely the same period of time, 2001-2003. It is submitted that this was an irrational and unfair methodology to apply.

5.2 The respondents complain that the applicant did not seek to judicially review the decision to expand the terms of reference when this decision was made in November 2007. The applicants however submit that the decision to expand the terms of reference was not a decision amenable to judicial review. It was only when this decision was used as the basis of the Ministers decision relating to the applicants career and profession that the decision became open to judicial review. The applicants rights were not affected by Mr OConnors decision to enlarge the Terms of Reference until the Minister purported to remove the applicant. Without prejudice to this submission, it is submitted that the reasonable approach to adopt was not to commence another set of legal proceedings but to await an actual decision (if any) which affected the applicants rights. The applicant fully expected and was entitled to expect that the report of Mr OConnor would limit itself to the Terms of Reference but when, in late 2007, the applicant became aware of Mr OConnors enlargement of the Terms of Reference, although she complied at all times with the Inquiry, she did so under protest, the applicant wrote on numerous occasions objecting to this decision and to his issuing an Interim Report on the new allegations only. However, it was not until the applicant became aware of all the matters which Mr OConnor investigated and the conclusions he came to in his Interim report that she sought to challenge the enlargement. The Interim Report did not contain any recommendation to remove the applicant from her post and in fact found that 5 of the 8 new purported allegations were not upheld against the applicant. The applicant disputes the findings purported to have been made by Mr. OConnor in relation to the 3 new allegations which he upheld against her. Mr OConnor also did not uphold any of the 6 allegations contained in the original Terms of Reference. The Minister did not purport to act on the findings contained in the Interim Report until April, 2011. His purported final decision was made on 28th July, 2011, although not received by the Applicant until 16th August, 2011 and by the applicants solicitor until 22nd August, 2011. The respondents were aware of the school holidays, and the applicants holidays, and the school was closed. Also, her solicitor was out of the country until 22nd August, 2011. The applicant submits that in these circumstances there is no question of delay.

5.3 The applicant also challenges the purported decision of the Minister in July, 2011 to declare her unfit to hold office and to remove her from her post. The question of the reasonableness of the Ministers decision must be considered in light of what material was available to him prior to making his decision. Mr Ryan accepts in his last Affidavit of 31st January, 2012 that the very persuasive testimony of the CEO of the V.E.C. was not before the Minister and the persuasiveness of that testimony has not been challenged by either respondent. Furthermore, it is accepted that the Minister received the Interim Report on 6th April, 2011 and yet the Minister had made his decision, and appended it in his own hand to the base of the memorandum on the 7th April, 2011.This raises the question as to how the Minister could have possibly made his decision in such a short time-frame, with so little information before him. The same can be said about his second decision of 28th July, 2011. Mr OConnor did not recommend the removal or dismissal of Ms McSorley. In fact, Mr OConnor made several comments of a very positive nature about the applicant and her abilities and concluded that she was a very considerable force for good in the school and also found that there is no doubting her commitment to the school and her efforts to turn around a school which, when she took over as Principal, was in serious decline as a consequence of both internal and external pressures. The applicant submits that the decision of the Minister, although a decision he is empowered to make, is not a decision which could be considered reasonable in all the circumstances. Mr OConnor finds the V.E.C. culpable in failing to support and/or train the applicant in her post in relation to financial matters. No guidelines were introduced by the V.E.C. until June 2003 and no guidelines were issued by the VECs support services unit for the management of school accounts until 2004. This finding had been ignored by the respondents. There had never been any question of personal financial gain by the applicant or loss to the V.E.C. The Interim Report is explicit in finding that no financial loss had been suffered by the school and, in fact, the applicant had to expend her own private resources for the benefit of the students and the school. The three matters upheld against the applicant refer to the period 2001-2003, a period considered too long passed to investigate the matters properly. It is submitted that the findings of the Interim Report could not rationally lead a decision maker to decide as the Minister has in this case, that she is unfit in 2011 by reason of three disputed matters dating back to 2001-2003, which were never raised with her by her employers and only first raised by others in the course of the investigation in late 2007. The applicant submits that the decision in this case plainly and unambiguously flies in the face of common sense.

5.4 The Minister wrote to the V.E.C. informing them of his final decision and the V.E.C. sent a copy of it on to the applicant on 2nd August, 2011. In the first letter the Minister stated:-

I have considered the report prepared by the Inquiry Officer and the conclusions he has formed. On the basis of the findings contained in that report, I am satisfied that you have failed to perform satisfactorily the duties of your office.

The Minister does not explain how he came to his opinion. The applicant submits that it was necessary for the Minister to explain his opinion especially given that his decision did not accord with the recommendation of the Inquiry Officer who did not recommend removal of the applicant. In Garvey v Ireland [1981] IR 76, the Supreme Court held that the purported removal of an officer of An Garda Siochana was void because the State had not informed him of the reason for his removal. Henchy J. found at page 102 that:-

Having regard to the relevant constitutional provisions, I conceive the law to be that when a person holds a whole time pensionable office (whether under statute, statutory instrument, charter, deed of trust, or otherwise) from which he may be removed at any time, the power of removal may not be exercised without first according him natural justice by giving him the reason for the proposed dismissal and by providing him with an adequate opportunity of dealing with the reason and of making a reply to it.

The statement of the Minister is simply that he remains of an opinion that the applicant is unfit to hold such office. This opinion it is argued, is not supported by the content of the report upon which he relies. The applicant is therefore put in the position of being unable to ascertain on what element of the report the Minister purports to rely. It is submitted that the findings of the Interim Report are fatally flawed because they are the result of an ultra vires act by Mr OConnor in purporting to expand the Terms of Reference without authority or permission and, in any event, the findings of the Interim Report do not reasonably lead to a conclusion that the applicant is unfit to hold office.

5.5 It is submitted that the action of the Minister in deciding to remove the applicant from her position is not proportionate to the objective, namely the provision of a proper functioning V.E.C. and school in Kilkenny where the applicant worked tirelessly. The doctrines of unreasonableness and disproportionality have been applied together by the High Court in Judicial Review applications involving a Ministers exercise of near absolute discretion. In S (P) & E (B) v Minister for Justice [2011] IEHC 1, Hogan J. struck down a decision of the Minister for Justice because the Court found that the decision was both disproportionate and unreasonable. In Meadows v Minister for Justice & Ors [2010] IESC 3, the Supreme Court considered the appropriate test to be applied when determining the reasonableness of a decision which affects or concerns constitutional rights or fundamental rights. Murray C.J. found as follows at 17:-

In reviewing the rationality or otherwise of the decision it remains axiomatic that it is not for the Court to step into the shoes of the decision maker and decide the issue on the merits but to examine whether the decision falls foul of the principles of law according to which the decision ought to have been taken. In doing so the Court may examine whether the decision can be truly said to flow from the premises as Henchy J., put it in Keegan, if not it may be considered as being fundamentally at variance with reason and common sense. In examining whether a decision properly flows from the premises on which it is based and whether it might be considered at variance with reason and common-sense I see no reason why the Court should not have recourse to the principle of proportionality in determining those issues.

Any effect on rights should be within constitutional limitations and should be proportionate to the objective to be achieved. If the effect is disproportionate this would justify the court setting aside the decision. It is submitted that the applicant has clearly demonstrated, over an extended period of time, very considerable abilities and commitment in carrying out her duties as Principal. The applicant has managed to foster success and is responsible for a myriad of documented improvements in the school, from increased enrolment numbers and reduced truancy rates to a harmonious working environment. All this must be considered in light of the fact that the Interim Report specifically identifies the lack of structures, support, training and procedures in place to assist a new Principal in the carrying out of her duties. In Heaney v. Ireland [1994] 3 I.R. 593 Costello J. found that:-

The means chosen must pass a proportionality test. They must (a) be rationally connected to the objective and not be arbitrary, unfair or based on irrational considerations; (b) impair the right as little as possible; and (c) be such that their effects on rights are proportional to the objective.

Counsel for the applicant submits that the removal of the applicant from office does not achieve the aims set down in the 1930 Act which has as its aim the further and better provision in relation to education, in this case the educational needs of the students KCVS

5.6 In this case the time which elapsed from the date the Statutory Inquiry was established to the date of the decision of the Minister was 5  years. It is submitted on behalf of the applicant that this delay is excessive to such a degree as to cause unnecessary hardship and unfairness to the applicant. It is submitted that the Minister had a duty to ensure the expeditious investigation of the matters set out in the Terms of Reference. The Minister purported to remove the applicant from her post as Principal after 12 years service based on 3 disputed and very late new matters raised which were never allegations or complaints raised by her employer and which date back to the period 2001-2003. It could not be considered rational or reasonable to declare her as unfit in 2011 after 8/10 years, especially when she is recognised as being successful in the post. This decision results from matters first raised with her by Mr OConnor in November/December, 2007 and continuously objected to by her. For all these reasons, the applicant submits that the decision of the Minister cannot be justified, is baseless, unreasonable, disproportionate, irrational, unfair, in breach of her rights and the tenets of natural and constitutional justice and should be set aside.

Submissions on behalf of the First and Second Respondents

6.1 It is submitted on behalf of the respondents that the applicant has identified only two issues for consideration in her Statement of Grounds. The first issue relates to whether or not Mr. OConnor was acting ultra vires in investigating what the applicant has described as the eight new matters. The second issue is whether the Minister was acting ultra vires irrationally or in breach of fair procedures in reaching the conclusion reflected in his letter of the 28th July, 2011. The respondents argue that Mr. OConnor has not acted ultra vires in investigating the eight new matters referred to in the applicants Statement of Grounds. Section 105 of the Vocational Education Act, 1930 provides that the Minister may at any time cause an inquiry (referred to as a local inquiry) to be held in relation to the performance by an officer of a VEC of his duties, and for that purpose may appoint an officer of the Minister to hold such local inquiry. It is submitted that the provisions of Section 105 of the Act of 1930 are clear. The function of such an inquiry is a general one. It is to conduct an inquiry into the performance by an officer of his duties under the Act. At the time of such appointment, the Minister may be aware of certain allegations against an officer and during the currency of the inquiry further allegations may come to the fore which impact upon the conduct by that officer of his duties. The Act of 1930 is silent as to terms of reference and it is submitted that the section itself provides the appropriate legal basis for an inquiry by the person appointed into any matters relating to the conduct by an officer of his duties.

It is submitted on behalf of the respondents that the terms of reference document provided the main initial focus of the local inquiry. In the terms of appointment of the Local Inquiry the Minister quite clearly acknowledged that the appointment of Mr. OConnor was not just to investigate matters expressly referred to in the terms of reference but was to carry out an inquiry into the performance by the applicant of her duties and such an inquiry shall include, but not necessarily be limited to, an inquiry into certain matters. It is submitted that the scope of the statutory inquiry is provided for by the legislation itself and is not provided by the scope of any terms of reference. It could be said that Mr. OConnor would have been in dereliction of his statutory duty under Section 105 if he had excluded from his consideration issues which impacted on the performance by an officer of the VEC of his duties merely because the appointing Minister had not specified such issues at the time of the appointment.

6.2 Following Mr. OConnors decision to investigate the additional matters, the applicant engaged, with the benefit of Solicitor and Counsel, fully and comprehensively with all aspects of the investigation. Had she wished to preclude Mr. OConnor from investigating these matters, she should have sought relief of the High Court within a period of three months of the point in time at which her cause of complaint first arose. She did not do so and is now out of time to do so.

6.3 At the time leave was sought the applicant failed to seek an extension of time for seeking the relief at paragraph (d) 3 (iii) of the Statement of Grounds and reliefs dependant thereon. The applicant is out of time in commencing the within proceedings in respect of such issues. Order 84 Rule 21 states as follows:-

An application for leave to apply for Judicial Review shall be made promptly and in any event within three months from the date when grounds for the application first arose, or six months where the relief sought is Certiorari, unless the Court considers that there is good reason for extending the period within which the application shall be made.

It is incumbent on an applicant to move promptly when applying for Judicial Review and in any event within the time limits enshrined in the Rules of the Superior Courts. The Courts discretion to extend time under Order 84 Rule 21(1) can only be exercised where it is satisfied there is a good reason for so doing. In ODonnell v Dun Laoghaire Corporation [1991] ILRM 301 by Costello J stated at page 315:-

The phrase good reasons  is one of wide import which it would be futile to attempt to define precisely. However, in considering whether or not there are good reasons for extending the time I think it is clear that the test must be an objective one and the court should not extend the time merely because an aggrieved plaintiff believed that he or she was justified in delaying the institution of proceedings. What the plaintiff has to show (and I think the onus under 0. 84 r.21 is on the plaintiff) is that there are reasons which both explain the delay and afford a justifiable excuse for the delay

The applicant has failed to put forward any reason to justify the delay and has therefore failed to discharge the onus on her. She has failed to show either that there are reasons which explain the delay or afford a justifiable excuse for the delay. It is submitted that when the applicant became aware of the decision to include the new matters in October/November 2007 she was required at that point to take steps to challenge this decision, not having done so, she is now out of time to raise such a challenge.

6.4 Without prejudice to the submission regarding the failure to obtain the necessary extension of time, it is submitted that the applicant, by fully participating in the inquiry over a period of years was acquiescent. In this regard this respondent relies on the decision of Corrigan v. The Irish Land Commission [1977] IR 317. The applicants appeared before a Tribunal whose jurisdiction they later challenged only after it had given a decision adverse to them. Henchy J at page 326 said:-

That is something the law will not and should not allow. The complainant cannot blow hot and blow cold; he cannot approbate and then reprobate; he cannot have it both ways.

In the case of The State (Byrne) v Frawley 1978 I.R. 326, the applicants failure to raise alleged irregularities in his trial when appealing to the Court of Criminal Appeal was found to be prima facie evidence of acquiescence. Henchy J. stated at 356:-

Therefore, prior to the institution of the present proceedings on the 14th May, 1976five months after the impugned convictionon every occasion on which the prisoner (who, on his own admission, was aware of the effect of the de Burca decision) might have been expected to object to the jury, he signified by his silence his acquiescence in or acceptance of it.

He further stated at 349:-

Such retrospective acquiescence in the mode of trial and in the conviction and its legal consequences would appear to raise an insuperable barrier against a successful challenge at this stage to the validity of such a conviction or sentence.

The applicant participated fully in the tribunal with the benefit of legal advice throughout, The respondents submit that the applicants conduct in this regard debars her from obtaining the relief sought by her in the within proceedings.

6.5 The second argument raised on behalf of the applicant is that the Minister acted ultra vires and in breach of fair procedures in making an unjustified irrational and grossly unfair decision on the basis of a fatally flawed and unsound report. There is no evidence of unreasonableness on the part of the first named respondent. The courts in this jurisdiction have repeatedly recognised the limits of their competence to interfere with a lawful decision made pursuant to the exercise of Ministerial discretion. The general reticence of the courts is evident in the case of in State (Keegan) v Stardust Compensation Tribunal [1986] IR 642 where Henchy J stated at p 568 that the courts should only interfere with an administrative decision where it :-

plainly and unambigiously flies in the face of fundamental reason and common sense.

This dictum was approved by Finlay CJ in OKeeffe v An Bord Pleanala [1993] I IR 39:-

The court cannot interfere with the decision of an administrative deccision-making authority merely on the grounds that (a) it is satisfied that on the facts as found it would have raised different inferences and conclusions, or (b) it is satisfied that the case against the decision made by the authority was much stronger than the case for it I am satisfied that in order for an applicant for judicial review to satisfy a court that the decision making authority has acted irrationally in the sense that I have outlined above so that the court can intervene and quash its decision, it is necessary that the applicant should establish to the satisfaction of the court that the decision -making autthority had before it no relevant material which would support its decision.

The respondent submits that it was entitled to consider the issues covered in the report and the findings thereon. Under the terms of section 8 of the Vocational Education (Amendment) Act, 1933, it is the Minister who must be satisfied as a result of the Local Inquiry that the applicant is unfit to hold office and should be removed. It is submitted that the applicant has failed to make out a case that the Minister acted unreasonably in coming to his decision on the findings contained in the report.
(Kitco News) - For the second consecutive week, hedge funds and money mangers bullish bets on gold and silver hit record levels, according the latest trade data from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

Hedge funds piled into gold and silver as global uncertainty gripped market sentiment after Britain voted to leave the European Union.

The disaggregated Commitments of Trader report (COT), for the week ending June 28, showed money managers increased their speculative gross long positions in Comex gold futures by 10,959,contracts to 285,895. At the same time, short bets rose slightly by 317 contracts to 24,845. The latest data shows the gold market is net long by 261,050 contracts.

Golds net length increased more than 4% from the previous weeks level.

During the survey period, gold prices rallied 4%, as prices pushed solidly above $1,300 an ounce and saw its biggest one-day move since the 2008 financial crisis.

With gold prices holding near two-year highs, commodity analysts at Commerzbank said that the strong positive sentiment among speculative investors is an indication that prices have enough momentum to move higher in the near-term.

Although the market looks a little over-extended, Joni Teves, strategist at UBS, said that the market is getting more comfortable with higher prices.

With the macro story for gold more compelling than ever, the market may be starting to acclimatize to higher levels of net length. Many also recognize that in notional terms, the current value of gold positioning is still not as large as it was during the peak in 2011, she said in a report Monday.



The latest CFTC data showed the silver market also saw a new record in speculative interest; however, the data shows a strong contrast to the gold market as the record was hit as a result of major short covering.

The disaggregated COT report showed money-managed speculative gross long positions in Comex silver futures fell 133 contracts to 87,541. At the same time, short positions fell by 2,217 contracts to 9,879. Silvers net length now stands at 77,662 contracts.

Silvers net length increased more than 2.6% from last weeks level.

During the survey period, silver prices rose 3% as the Brexit vote pushed prices briefly above $18 an ounce.



By Neils Christensen of Kitco News; nchristensen@kitco.com

Follow @Neils_C
The POW/MIA flag will fly over Washington State Ferries on July 4.

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By Ed Friedrich of the Kitsap Sun

SEATTLE  Black-and-white flags will be flapping on Washington State Ferries on Monday in recognition of Americans who were held prisoner or went missing during wars.

Vessels weren't addressed in a 2002 law that directed state agencies, colleges, counties and cities to display the National League of POW/MIA Families flag on six specific days  Armed Forces Day (the third Saturday in May), Memorial Day (the last Monday in May), Flag Day (June 14), Independence Day (July 4) National POW/MIA Recognition Day (the third Friday in September) and Veterans Day (Nov. 11).

Washington State Ferries officials had granted requests from Seahawks and LGBT groups to display their flags for events and deemed a policy was needed for future inquiries. It was adopted and announced in the spring.

An employee read the policy and remarked that ferries were legally required to fly POW/MIA flags. That wasn't true, but it sparked the idea.

"We thought it was a nice extension of what the state was already doing in front of its buildings," said WSF government relations liaison John Vezina.

The POW/MIA flag features a white circle bearing a silhouette of man's bust, a watch tower with a guard on patrol, and a strand of barbed wire. Above the disk are white letters "POW" and "MIA" separated by a white star. Below the disk is a wreath and the white motto, "You Are Not Forgotten."

In 1970, Mary Helen Hoff, the wife of a missing service member, worked with a flag company to design and manufacture the flag. On. Aug. 10, 1990, Congress passed a law recognizing it "as a symbol of our nation's concern and commitment to resolving as fully as possible the fates of Americans still prisoner, missing and unaccounted for in Southeast Asia, thus ending the uncertainty for their families and the nation." It has become a symbol for POW/MIAs from all American wars.

Of the 1,618 people still missing and not accounted for from the Vietnam War, 38 list Washington hometowns, though none are from Kitsap County. At least two former prisoners of war reside on the peninsula.

Former Bremerton resident William Metzger Jr. was a Navy lieutenant flying an F8 Crusader on a combat mission when he was shot down on May 19, 1967, in North Vietnam. For the next six years, he was held in prisoner of war camps, including the "Hanoi Hilton," until his release in 1973. His final Navy post before retiring as a captain was comptroller at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. He now lives in Gig Harbor.

William Reeder Jr., was an Army captain flying a Cobra helicopter on a combat mission in South Vietnam on May 9, 1972, when he was shot down. The North Vietnamese captured him after three days. He was held in prison camps during a march to Hanoi and released in 1973. Reeder, now of Seabeck, retired as a colonel.

Neither was available to comment Friday. Vezina said flying the POW/MIA flag for men like them is the right thing to do.

"It's awesome," he said. "I hope it gives people a moment of reflection about those who have served us, starting with the Fourth of July."
A translation of a story in Bild is fascinating:

In a remarkable interview this week, Franz Klintsevich, a senior Russian security official, explained the case matter-of-factly: Lets be frank. Snowden did share intelligence. This is what security services do. If theres a possibility to get information, they will get it.

With this, Klintsevich simply said what all intelligence professionals already knew  that Snowden is a collaborator with the FSB. That he really had no choice in the matter once he set foot in Russia does not change the facts.

Klintsevich is no idle speculator. He is a senator who has served in the State Duma for nearly a decade. More importantly, he is the deputy chair of the senates defense and security committee, which oversees the special services. The 59-year-old Klintsevich thus has access to many state secrets  for instance regarding the Snowden case. 

His statement outing Snowdens relationship with the Kremlin therefore cannot be an accident or a slip of the tongue. For whatever reason, Putin has decided to out Snowden as the collaborator that he actually is  and has been for three years already.

One reason for this may be Snowdens recent tepid criticism via Twitter of Russias draconian new laws on domestic surveillance  which vastly exceed any of the activities of the Western democracies that Snowden has so strongly criticized from his FSB hideaway. Indeed, his hosts finally allowing their American collaborator to tweet negatively about Russia  many had noted Snowdens silence on FSB repression and worse  may be a sign that the defector has outlived his usefulness.

In truth, Snowden was never all that well informed about American intelligence. Contrary to the myths that he and his mouthpieces have propagated, he was no more than an IT systems administrator. Snowden was never any sort of bona fide spy. There are no indications he really understands most of what he stole from NSA.

The FSB therefore milked Snowden of any valuable information rather quickly. He likely had little light to shed on the million-plus secret files he stole. Instead, his value to Moscow has been as a key player in Kremlin propaganda designed to discredit the Western intelligence alliance.

In that role, Snowden has done a great deal of damage to the West. But he was never a mole for Moscow inside NSA. In reality, the Snowden Operation is probably a cover to deflect attention from the one or more actual Russian moles who have been lurking inside NSA for years, undetected.

Based on the cases of previous Western intelligence defectors to Moscow, Edward Snowden faces an unhappy future. Whatever happens to him is up to his hosts, who control all aspects of any defectors life. There no longer can be any honest debate about his relationship with the Kremlin, which has settled the matter once and for all. Putin and his special services consider Snowden to be nash  there is no question about that now.
The Herald reports:

A Northland retailer selling e-cigarettes is astounded by the growth in sales since tobacco prices increased 10 per cent on January 1.

People puffing on the electronic devices, or vaping as the practice was known, were becoming a common sight around Northland with the retailer  who spoke anonymously  describing the cigarette substitutes as the best thing Ive ever sold.

E-cigarettes  or electronic cigarettes  are devices that allow users to mimic the ritual of smoking a cigarette. Many glow at the end when activated, as real cigarettes do. Instead of inhaling smoke from burning tobacco, users inhale vapour containing nicotine.

Im astounded at how many people are buying them, and at how many people are giving up smoking using them. Its a quiet little revolution, said the retailer, who lost both his parents to smoking-related illnesses.

I gave up cold turkey 10 years ago and it was hell  for about a year. The hardest thing to give up about smoking is the puff and the kick. These [customers] say its easy, and theyve been trying for years and years.
Residents are moved to safety on Sunday in Tongling, Anhui province, as flooding continued to affect the city and other regions in central and eastern China. [Photo by Zhan Jun/For China Daily]

Authorities warned on Sunday of a second flood peak for the Yangtze River and its tributaries, with new rainstorms forecast after floods left scores of people dead and eight missing in central and eastern areas.

Flooding resulting from rainstorms that began on Thursday left 14 people dead and eight missing in Anhui, Hubei, Zhejiang, Henan and Jiangsu provinces, the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters said in a statement.

The floods affected 6.87 million people and destroyed 10,000 homes, the headquarters added.

The National Meteorological Center said rainstorms were expected to continue to wreak havoc in these areas until Monday, with some parts of Hubei and Hunan expected to receive total precipitation of more than 200 millimeters.

A second flood peak is expected on the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River and Poyang and Dongting lakes, both flood basins of the river, according to the flood control headquarters. It issued the first warning of a Yangtze flood peak on Friday.

In Hubei, rainstorms since June 18 have left 28 people dead and 14 missing. Floods caused chaos in urban and rural areas in 81 counties, with 203,200 people needing to be relocated and 222,000 requiring relief efforts from the authorities.

Flooding hit the Xinzhou district of Wuhan, the capital of Hubei, particularly hard, with thousands of homes flooded and nine people killed after the banks of two rivers broke.

Liao Anhua, a 59-year-old resident of Qili village in Xinzhou, said his family had to be relocated.

He later decided to swim back to his house to fetch medicine for his parents, only to find that the floods were so strong that he was left struggling.

"I could only hold on to a wash basin that I came across in the water to stay afloat," he said.

Liao, who was rescued by a group of volunteers on a life raft, added, "I've never seen flooding on such a scale."

The Ministry of Civil Affairs and the National Commission for Disaster Relief sent a work team and 3,000 tents to help relief work in Hubei.

In Anhui, authorities upgraded the emergency response for disaster relief to the second-highest level after floods affected millions of people, according to the provincial department of civil affairs.

The authorities have sent more than 4,400 tents, 3,500 beds along with quilts and clothing to other rain-affected regions for disaster relief.

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SHARE Chad Hatmaker

Some employers may allow, or even encourage, employees to establish social media accounts identifying them as representatives of the employers.

But who owns these social media accounts after the employment relationship ends? The cases that have been decided thus far make it clear that if the employer wants to establish ownership of the accounts, it is best to have a policy in place that addresses the issue.

In Eagle v. Morgan, Dr. Linda Eagle was fired from her position at Edcomm, and thereafter Edcomm attempted to take control of her LinkedIn account. Once EdComm took control of her LinkedIn account, Dr. Eagle sued. In ruling for Dr. Eagle and rejecting EdComm's counterclaims, the court noted that Edcomm had no policies regarding employee use of LinkedIn, that Edcomm did not pay for employee LinkedIn accounts, and that LinkedIn's User Agreement states that the account is between LinkedIn and the individual user.

Thus, the court held that Edcomm had no ownership rights in the account even though the account was created using Edcomm's email system and computers and was created to represent Dr. Eagle as an employee of Edcomm.

In Ardis Health, LLC v. Nankivell, Nankivell was terminated by her employer, CYC, and refused to turn over company "access information," which included passwords and other login information for social media accounts and websites, and content on those accounts and websites. When she began working at CYC, the company had her sign a work product agreement, which provided that all work created or developed by Nankivell was the property of CYC. The court concluded that CYC owned the access information and forced Nankivell to return the access information to CYC.

In BTS, USA, Inc. v. Executive Perspectives, LLC, the defendant, Bergmann, posted about his new position with a direct competitor to his old company, BTS, USA, Inc. ("BTS"), on his LinkedIn page. Those "linked" with Bergmann could see his postings about his new job. Amongst those "linked" with him included several clients and contacts he developed while at BTS. BTS sued, claiming Bergmann's LinkedIn postings violated the non-compete agreement he entered into with BTS. In holding that this was not a breach of his non-compete agreement, the court noted that "BTS had no policies or procedures regarding employee use of social media, did not request or require ex-employees to delete BTS clients or customers from LinkedIn accounts; did not discuss with Bergmann his LinkedIn account in any fashion," and allowed employees to maintain LinkedIn accounts without monitoring or restriction.

Based on these cases, employers who want to establish ownership of a social media account created by an employee should adopt a policy which expressly states that the employer owns the account. Remember, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
SAUL YOUNG/NEWS SENTINEL Michael Hamilton, CEO of MCH Corporation, and Cathy Hamilton, president, try to stay in close contact with their supervisors and employees as they focus on "the importance of the work."

SHARE Michael Hamilton, CEO of MCH Corporation. MCH, based in Sweetwater, is a Microsoft, HP, and IBM Partner management and technology solutions to government and commercial customers. (SAUL YOUNG/NEWS SENTINEL) SAUL YOUNG/NEWS SENTINEL MCH Corporation, based in of Sweetwater, is a Microsoft, HP, and IBM Partner management and technology solutions to government and commercial customers.

By Mamie Kuykendall of the Knoxville News Sentinel

A husband and wife team based in Sweetwater is making waves in the technology industry, clinching government contracts around the nation for MCH Corporation, their technology solutions company.

Though Michael and Cathy Hamilton launched MCH in 1998, Michael's love for coding and technology developed long ago. The Penobscot Native American Indian and former Marine developed an automated training management system for his San Diego Marine Corps unit while convalescing from a broken ankle in 1985.

"I wrote a records management system because they didn't have a way to manage their training records," Michael said. "During the next inspection, they got all sorts of outstanding ratings, they were very pleased, and I got a Meritorious Mast (award) as a result. It definitely got me hot for programming."

Michael earned a degree in management of information systems with a minor in computer science from San Jose State University. He taught himself how to program, and started a company with a friend with whom he created film editing software.

"I was just really enthusiastic for programing," Michael said.

Fast forward to the late '90s and a move to Tennessee, where Michael and Cathy, a former director of nursing for several hospitals, started their business. The company provides innovative and cost effective management and technology solutions to numerous government and commercial customers across the United States.

The FBI, Secret Service, Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Y-12 National Security Complex are counted among MCH's clientele. The company was responsible for software programming for the Responder Assets Management System project, an application created to manage documents, tactical plans, maps and data in an interface in case of a terrorist attack or natural disaster. The program was used in 2002 during the Winter Olympics held in Salt Lake City and in command centers around the United States.

The couple credits their progress to the people who work for them.

"We recognize that the key to our success is the staff that we have working for us directly with our customers," Michael said. "When you visit a site and government personnel are treating your staff with respect, everyone's happy with the work that's being done. Everyone's talking positively about how to improve operations, not bickering over price or arguing over how to cut costs or reducing personnel."

The couple stays in close contact with their employees, an important business element that Cathy said she learned while working as a charge nurse. She was in charge of more than 3,000 people over the course of her career. She only fired one.

"It is so important to me to make contact with someone that you're counting on, because you can't do it by yourself," she said. "They're very passionate about their work and the service they provide to our government customers. We feel very fortunate."

Michael and Cathy also have a strong work ethic, working nights, weekends and holidays to meet customer needs and learn about the industry.

"Maybe we work too hard," Michael said. "Maybe we work harder than we need to, maybe we work harder than most government contractors do to actually meet all the requirements of the contract.

"Maybe we're working hard and not smart, I don't know, but that's our corporate culture, that's the way that we run the company."

The duo places primary importance on exceeding customer needs, making sure to recommend tried-and-true systems and reliable technology. Michael says he feels badly when a customer has an unanticipated expense that could have been predicted.

"We've built for our customers redundant solutions with failover, high availability systems, and we do that with commodity-based equipment," Michael said. "Not the most expensive new processor that's out, we use systems that can be bought very affordably, servers that are typically under a couple thousand dollars that have large amounts of memory.

"We proactively improve (customers') systems overtime so that they don't go down."

The couple have dedicated years to learning the craft of business. Next year, they will graduate from the SBA 8(a) program, a nine-year U.S. Small Business Administration course that helps small minority-owned and other disadvantaged businesses enter government contracting. MCH has been awarded a number of government contracts since entering the program for a variety of work, including information technology support services, wireless network installation, records management, library operations and information management contracts.

Michael has spent time in Washington, D.C., where he gained experience in cyber security and penetration testing, hacking into a company's system to discover security weaknesses.

"That is a unique capability that we bring back to Tennessee," Michael said. "We're now doing testing for some of the larger enterprise networking companies. We are able to perform those services for a significantly lesser amount than what a lot of companies charge. They charge a real premium for those services because of the demand."

Though the company is based in Sweetwater, MCH has contracts across the country, and most of their employees live in different states. Michael and Cathy have employees in New Hampshire, Rhode Island, New Mexico and Oak Ridge. The two travel to new sites when a contract is drawn up, and keep in close contact with their supervisors and employees via conference calls in the interim.

"We're a lot more engaged than the typical small business contractor," Michael said. "We've been told by folks at the Department of Energy that we are one of the most engaged small business contractors in this area. It has to be because of our focus on the importance of the work."

The focus is paying off. When MCH took over one contract, staff productivity was improved by 400 percent in the first six months, and every major contract that they've had has been renewed for a second term.

Work from high-profile agencies often comes their way.

In September 2014, MCH was awarded a $3 million prime contract by the Department of Energy to support the Information Center in Oak Ridge. The company also has been awarded a $3.9 million contract with the Air Force to operate the research library in Albuquerque, and contracts with the Mississippi Air National Guard, the Army Network Enterprise Center, the Marine Corps, and the DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information, among many others.
SHARE Frank Munger The conceptual design of the new Pantex administrative complex.

By Frank Munger of the Knoxville News Sentinel

Knoxville developer Lawler-Wood LLC, which previously orchestrated two privately financed facilities at the government's Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, has been selected to carry out a similar project at Y-12's sister plant near Amarillo, Texas.

Lawler-Wood will develop a new 342,000-square-foot administrative complex at the Pantex nuclear weapons plant under a private financing arrangement similar to what was used to construct the New Hope Center and Jack Case Center at Y-12.

Pantex is the nation's hub for the assembly and dismantlement of nuclear weapons components.

Wayne Roquemore, president of Lawler-Wood, said the new complex will be built on property that is adjacent to Pantex and currently owned by Texas Tech University. The land will be purchased from the university, he said.

Once developed by Lawler-Wood, with financing via Panhandle Economic Development Corp., it will be leased by an ownership group to Consolidated Nuclear Security, the government's managing contractor at Pantex and Y-12.

CNS said it had received approval from the National Nuclear Security Administration  a semi-independent part of the Department of Energy that oversees the nuclear weapons complex  to negotiate the lease. The initial lease term reportedly will be for five years, with multiple options for the future.

CNS spokesman Jason Bohne declined to provide a cost estimate on the Pantex project. Roquemore also declined and said some aspects of the deal are still under discussion, such as whether CNS will put in furniture, fixtures, equipment and pay for other aspects.

Roquemore said the ownership and management structure will be similar to the one used for the Y-12 facilities several years ago.

"The reason we chose that model is it results in the lowest interest costs and lowest rental payments to the government," he said.

Development of privately financed facilities at or near DOE installations has been used with some success at a number of sites.

UT-Battelle, DOE's managing contractor at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, employed the strategy during the modernization of ORNL more than a decade ago.

That model later was used at Y-12's Jack Case and New Hope facilities, but it was rejected as an alternative for developing a new command-and-control center at the Oak Ridge weapons facility.

Critics have suggested that development of privately financed or privately owned facilities at government sites with long-term commitments for leasing is a way of circumventing the federal budget process.

The counter argument is that the technique saves the government big bucks over the long run and accelerates development of projects.

Michelle Reichert, a top executive with Consolidated Nuclear Security, said the Pantex project will address the aging infrastructure at the plant about 17 miles east of Amarillo.

"The ASC (Administrative Support Complex) will enhance our ability to attract and retain highly skilled employees to safely perform our national security mission," Reichert said in a statement. "It will also allow us to be more focused on other critical infrastructure needs at the Plant."

It will provide office space for about 1,100 of the plant's employees and will include a conference center, cafeteria, health-and-fitness facilities, and a visitor's center.
Guillermo DelCul

SHARE John Elder Heather Emert Baohua Gu Sergei Kalinin

Appalachian Underwriters, Inc., in Oak Ridge has been voted a Five-Star Managing General Agent by Insurance Business America.

Boston Government Services LLC recently received the Department of Energy 8(a) Small Disadvantaged Business of the Year award for their exceptional performance in activities contributing to core DOE mission accomplishments.

Guillermo Daniel (Bill) DelCul of the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory has received the Glenn T. Seaborg Award at the 40th Actinide Separations Conference. DelCul was recognized for his long career in nuclear science and engineering with R&D activities on actinide separations, processing of used nuclear fuel, high temperature molten salts, technical support of enrichment activities and national security-related research.

DoubleTree by Hilton Oak Ridge-Knoxville has received a TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence, which celebrates hospitality businesses that have earned great traveler reviews on TripAdvisor over the past year.

John W. Elder, partner at Paine Bickers LLP, recently was inducted into the Fellows Class of the Knoxville Bar Foundation.

Heather Emert, mortgage department manager and assistant vice president at Tennessee Bank Oak Ridge, has been elected to the Anderson County Chamber of Commerce board of directors.

Baohua Gu, a senior scientist in the Environmental Sciences Division of the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory, has been elected a fellow of the Geological Society of America.

The Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences' Sergei Kalinin is one of 31 national finalists for the Blavatnik National Awards for Young Scientists. Kalinin directs ORNL's Institute for Functional Imaging of Materials at the CNMS, where he specializes in the development of scanning probe microscopy techniques to measure and control the structure and properties of materials.

LBMC, PC, an accounting and business consulting firm, has been named one of 2016's 25 Best Places to Work for Recent Grads by Symplicity, a provider of career services management solutions.

Richard Norby, a physiological ecologist at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory, has been elected fellow of Ecological Society of America. A researcher in the Environmental Sciences Division and Climate Change Science Institute, Norby was inducted to the society's highest membership grade in recognition of achievements in advancing the science of ecology.

The Green Electronics Council recently announced ORAU as a winner of its Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool Sustainable Purchaser Award. The award recognizes excellence in the procurement of green electronics, or those electronics that have been manufactured to conserve energy, eliminate environmentally sensitive materials and increase recyclability.

Rowe Transfer, Inc. was presented a Platinum award by Great West Casualty Company as part of the 2015 National Safety Awards Program. Awards are given based on year-end preventable accident results. Platinum is the highest award available.

The Tennessee Credit Union Hall of Fame recently inducted Tom Hilton, retired CEO of Y-12 Federal Credit Union, and M. Wayne Hope, retired CEO of Enrichment Federal Credit Union.

The University of Tennessee is among the top five public universities offering custom executive education in the United States, according to the latest rankings from the Financial Times. The executive education programs offered through the university's Haslam College of Business were ranked 13th nationally and 45th worldwide by the UK-based publication, which features international business, finance, economic and political news.

William Knight Insurance Agency Inc. of Knoxville has been named 2015 Diamond Achiever for the state of Tennessee by Frankenmuth Insurance. The award is presented to the agency attaining the highest overall percentage rating in profitability, growth and policy retention. This marks the second consecutive year the agency has received this award.
A formation of the Nanhai Fleet of China's Navy on May 28 finished a three-day patrol of the Nansha islands in the South China Sea (XINHUA)

From the moment the South China Sea Arbitral Tribunal came into being, China has raised several critical questions regarding its legitimacy and the way it operates. China has decided to boycott the proceedings and has made it clear that it will not abide by the tribunal's decision. Instead, it is asking other states to support it in its opposition to the tribunal.

Western commentators, academics and politicians have argued that, in so doing, China is undermining the rule of law. In their view China should abide by the rules rather than contest them. China has, after all, signed up to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

To see whether this criticism has any merit, we should have a look at the rules on arbitral tribunals laid down in UNCLOS. Interestingly, the treaty has very little to say on these bodies, leaving it mainly to the tribunals and the parties to the proceedings to flesh out the details.

Given the room left by UNCLOS and the fact that the proceedings are of an ad hoc nature, the Tribunal could therefore have been set up in a way that reflects the fact that both China and the Philippines are in Asia.

In Asia procedures to settle differences tend to be non-confrontational and informal. There is a lot of emphasis on consultation and reaching consensus. Managing the conflict is more important than solving it: by shelving it or brushing it under the carpet, relations are allowed to flourish, which may generate the necessary goodwill to solve the dispute further down the road. Or it may disappear over time.

Perhaps surprisingly, the Asian way of dealing with conflicts is completely absent from the tribunal's rules of procedure. They require the tribunal to rely on adversarial proceedings, which include calling witnesses, exchanging memorials and presenting oral arguments. Consequently, the tribunal is a court in everything but name.

The judicial nature of the tribunal is not a requirement flowing from the treaty, but a choice made by those present at its creation. This choice reflects the Western preference for contentious proceedings in which parties battle it out with the help of their legal arsenals.

China does not violate international law when it rejects a format preferred by Westerners, while the treaty is open to other options that are closer to its harmonious culture. Actually, those who act as though the treaty only mandates a judicial remedy - when in fact it leaves room to other formats as well - are the ones that are taking liberties with international law.

Therefore, the claim that China is violating the rule of law because it challenges the rules under which the tribunal is operating is unfounded. It is unwarranted to portray China as the villain of the piece and Western countries as knights in shining armour who are coming to the rescue of the rule of law.

The dominant view on mankind in the West is negative: Rulers will not by themselves act in the interest of their own people. Therefore rules and laws are necessary to keep them on the right path. Consequently, the laws are a tool to secure the value, i.e. acting in the interest, of the people.

In Confucian theory as well, the ruler is supposed to engage in a benign rule of his people. However, in Asia the view on mankind is positive. As a result, the ruler is not kept on this path by laws that constrain him, but by his virtue and his inner motivation. Therefore Asian societies are committed to the rule of law without necessarily having to resort to rules and laws.

The only way in which the rule of law may be undermined in this case is by using international law for political purposes. Because of its growing economic and political importance, China has again become a key player in the region and at the global level, as it used to be prior to the Century of Humiliation.

Some feel that China's re-emergence should be stopped and they rely on international law to do so. Such actions brought against powerful nations are no exception, as is demonstrated by the recent case on nuclear arms reduction brought by the Marshall Islands against the U.K. These attempts are based on the legal fiction that states are equal in the eyes of the law.

Such cases are bound to undermine the authority of public international law. Not only do powerful states often renounce the jurisdiction of the court or tribunal when they lose, these cases also have a chilling effect on their willingness to sign up to international instruments.

Rather than applying Western concepts, the states in the region will have to find Asian solutions for Asian problems.

Tom Zwart is a professor of cross-cultural law at Utrecht University.

Opinion article reflected the views of their authors, not necessarily those of China.org.cn.
SHARE Kelly Fletcher

Diversity marketing (also known as in-culture marketing) is the practice of utilizing marketing communications, advertising and public relations to connect with different individuals in minority groups.

For decades, marketers were successful merely marketing to White Anglo-Saxon Protestants, with an occasional campaign or two thrown in to appeal to African Americans. But our country is much more diverse now. According to U.S. News and World Report, the majority of the U.S. population will consist of minorities by 2044. Companies must take a different marketing approach if they are going to reach these ever important audiences.

Consider Harley-Davidson. The motorcycle manufacturer has been wildly successful at deploying a diversity marketing strategy aimed at attracting more women riders. They set out to change the cultural perception that motorcycles are for men only and began speaking directly to women. They rolled out www.H-D.com/women, launched ad campaigns geared toward women, and started holding Garage Party events so women could experience sitting on a bike and learn more about the brand from their perspective. Today, Harley-Davidson is the No. 1 seller of motorcycles to women in the U.S.

Now is the time to take an in-depth look at your company's diversity marketing strategy, or lack thereof. Here are three initial steps to crafting a diversity marketing strategy:

1. Conduct market research

Who is most likely to buy what you most want to sell? Conducting market research can help you clearly identify the primary demographics of your potential market (age, gender and income), but also takes a deeper dive into exploring secondary demographics like national origin, ethnic groups, LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender), social groups and more. Within those secondary demographics, you may also find there are sub-groups. For example, same sex parents would be a sub-group of LGBT, and working seniors would be a sub-group of age.

2. Adapt the message to the market

Key marketing messages must be adapted to fit the audience. Cultural traditions, heritage, values, ideals and buying habits should be explored. Companies often make the mistake of sending the same email to every target audience. Consider segmenting your email database and sending well-crafted messages that will resonate with respective minority groups and motivate them to buy. An experienced marketing company can help identify key minority demographics and devise appropriate messaging.

3. Utilize multiple marketing channels

It's impossible to reach every minority audience by utilizing the same marketing channels. Instead, consider a multichannel approach that is tailored to the audience. Some minority groups may respond to community-based advertising and digital campaigns, while another may prefer social media and email campaigns. Multiple marketing channels should be researched and tested for each demographic.

General marketing strategies are no longer effective in this day and age. We must lean in and discover the vast array of potential new audiences that are waiting for businesses to connect with them on a deeper, personal level.
SHARE Bryan Gibson, CEO of Priority Ambulance, Friday June 24, 2016. Priority Ambulance has located it's corporate offices in West Knoxville at 9721 Cogdill Road. (J. Miles Cary/Special to the News Sentinel) J. Miles Cary/Special to the News Sentinel Bryan Gibson, CEO of Priority Ambulance, poses for a photo on June 24. Priority Ambulance is a national company headquartered in Knoxville. Bryan Gibson, CEO of Priority Ambulance, Friday June 24, 2016. Priority Ambulance has located it's corporate offices in West Knoxville at 9721 Cogdill Road. (J. Miles Cary/Special to the News Sentinel) Bryan Gibson, CEO of Priority Ambulance, Friday June 24, 2016. Priority Ambulance has located it's corporate offices in West Knoxville at 9721 Cogdill Road. (J. Miles Cary/Special to the News Sentinel)

New Business Spotlight focuses on local businesses that have existed for one to five years. This month's spotlight is on Priority Ambulance. CEO Bryan Gibson introduces his company in Q&A form.

Q: What is Priority Ambulance and what was the genesis of the company?

A: Priority Ambulance is the only national ambulance company headquartered in East Tennessee. We announced the company in February 2014 with the goal to raise the standard of emergency medical care in this area and across the country.

Our company motto is "Our Community. Our Priority." Individuals are drawn to the emergency medical services field because they want to help people and make a difference. Priority Ambulance allows our local operations and their employees the independence and resources to best serve their community. After establishing a solid foundation and clear company mission, Priority Ambulance undertook a proactive expansion strategy to seek and acquire medical transport services in new markets with an emphasis on companies that already shared our corporate vision for community support and excellent patient care.

In 2012, I founded a company in Florence, Ala., called Shoals Ambulance, which provided emergency service to Lauderdale County. When we founded the national company in Tennessee in 2014, Shoals Ambulance joined the network. We started our East Tennessee operations from scratch. To accomplish this, we invested in state-of-the-art Mercedes-Benz Sprinter ambulances and technology and hired the most experienced managers in the area, including Rob Webb and Dennis Rowe, who both have more than 35 years of experience managing East Tennessee EMS operations. Priority Ambulance currently holds the emergency ambulance contract for Lenoir City, City of Loudon and Loudon County and provides nonemergency medical service to Knox and Blount counties.

From the beginning, our intent was to grow quickly and strategically. Within the first year, we purchased two family-owned companies in New York, Trans Am Ambulance Services and Kunkel Ambulance, and Seals Ambulance in Central Indiana. In 2015, we added Central EMS in Georgia. We currently have more than 1,200 employees and more than 250 emergency vehicles, including two medical aircrafts.

Q: What were some of your biggest challenges in starting a new company?

A: Within the first year of the business we had tremendous growth. Bringing together five different local operations through startup and acquisitions into the national network of resources was a challenge. Fortunately, I had assembled a talented leadership team with decades of experience in managing national ambulance services. The team was able to quickly build a national framework and programs for our patient data management software, human resources, quality assurance and improvement programs, fleet maintenance and more. With each acquisition, we used these programs to standardize processes and conduct training with staff members. We also continued to focus on the expansion strategy by researching and talking with new companies interested in joining our network of companies.

Q: In a short period of time, Priority Ambulance quickly expanded into other states. What has made Priority Ambulance so successful?

A: Over a 20-year career in the emergency medical services industry as the chief operating officer of one of the largest national ambulance companies and as the founder and owner of several regional emergency medical services companies, I have observed that success is determined at a local level no matter the size of the company. Providing emergency medical service is more than just a business; there is a public mandate to protect community health and safety. The best way to do that is to be invested and integrated in the community through relationships with local governments and hospitals and by supporting community events and causes that improve the quality of life for the residents.

As we expanded, we targeted companies that had a long tradition in their community, strong brand recognition and a track record of investment in their area. These companies had a connection and rapport within the community, and we would have lost decades of community trust and equity by changing their names and identities. Instead, we capitalized on those established relationships by keeping the original name and the trusted leadership team intact. We provided financial support and national resources to allow them to grow, flourish and do what they do best  serve their friends, family and neighbors with excellent ambulance service.

Q: What do you see as the future of Priority Ambulance?

A: Priority Ambulance has financial backing and support from a private equity fund that specializes in health care investments, Enhanced Equity Fund. We are actively seeking expansion opportunities through acquisition and startup operations in communities across the country.

We are in talks with several additional ambulance companies interested in joining our network, and we expect to make an announcement soon. As we continue to bring companies on board, we will support them with the freedom and resources to serve their communities.

Based on current projections, we anticipate to grow significantly by the end of the year. In total, we will provide ambulance service to communities in more than 11 states. We project our revenue to top $100 million and will grow our national workforce to more than 1,500 employees. Through expansions and acquisitions in 2016, we anticipate that our fleet will grow to more than 350 emergency vehicles, and we will transport approximately 215,000 patients annually throughout our national service area.

Additionally, Priority Ambulance will continue to expand its service offerings. In addition to ambulance services, we provide third-party billing management services to private and municipal ambulance, fire and medical services. We also offer mobile integrated health care services to medical facilities and hospitals seeking to better proactively manage patient treatment and recovery. In the coming year, we plan to continue to market our full range of services across the country.

Last word

East Tennessee is a supportive community to grow a business and a great place for our employees to live, work and raise a family. We recently expanded into new corporate headquarters in West Knox County, and we look forward to centralizing more of our corporate team in East Tennessee. I am incredibly proud of the company that we have created in a little more than two years. We built our company on a strong foundation of talented, experienced EMS professionals at the corporate and regional leadership level, a team that I am honored to be a part of every day. As we continue to grow, we will not lose focus on our mission of providing individualized customer service and the best clinical patient care to every community we serve.
SHARE Tom Humphrey, News Sentinel Nashville bureau chief. (Paul Efird/News Sentinel)

By Tom Humphrey of the Knoxville News Sentinel

A proposed Department of Revenue rule to require major out-of-state retailers to collect sales taxes from their Tennessee customers is the latest move in a long and multifaceted effort that has enjoyed generally broad support among Tennessee-based retailers.

The rule proposed by Gov. Bill Haslam's administration is basically the same as the "Marketplace Fairness Act" sponsored by U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander five years ago. Both would require sales tax collections by companies selling more than $500,000 worth of products to customers living within a state in a given year to collect state sales taxes from those customers.

The 2011 bill pushed by Alexander, a former governor, passed the U.S. Senate, but failed in the House, a victim of prevailing political fervor against anything that can be labeled as new or increased tax. It's been sidelined since with little chance of being revisited anytime soon.

Haslam's move, as explained to the Chattanooga Times-Free Press by Revenue Commissioner Richard Roberts and others, is intended to join other states prodding the federal court system to step in where Congress has failed to act.

The idea is to trigger a lawsuit that would give the U.S. Supreme Court the chance to overturn a 1992 ruling that declared states cannot force out-of-state retailers to collect sales taxes if they have no "physical presence"  a brick-and-mortar store  within the state. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy, in writing an opinion dealing with an ongoing Colorado lawsuit, said "the legal system should find an appropriate case" to reconsider the 1992 decision, known as the Quill case, since "dramatic technological and social changes" have occurred.

The Colorado case was not deemed appropriate in December of 2014, though developments could have it headed back to the Supreme Court, perhaps consolidated with other cases to come, to address the issue as Kennedy suggested.

In Quill, the court said, among other things, that it would be too difficult for businesses to sort various taxes due in hundreds of counties and cities nationwide. Current computer technology, though, makes that pretty easy, as indicated by Amazon.com agreeing to collect Tennessee state and local sales taxes under a deal worked out with the Haslam administration after it established a "physical presence" in Tennessee by opening distribution centers within the state. The Supreme Court ruling also declared that Congress should decide the issue, but Congress has not.

The threshold problem for Haslam in enacting a rule to get Tennessee involved in the legal equation: The same anti-tax inclination among politicians that has prevailed in Washington also prevails at the General Assembly in Nashville.

The Legislature, acting initially through the Government Operations Committees of the state House and Senate, must approve any rule proposed by a state department or agency. Ergo, the supermajority must acquiesce in what some will portray as a new tax on consumers since many are not paying it now, though legally obliged to do so under current state law.

Maybe they will. With no state income tax, Tennessee relies on sales tax for most of its revenue and officials estimate that Tennessee is losing between $300 million and $450 million in uncollected taxes from Tennesseans buying online each year, with forecasts that those numbers will grow.

The general state sales tax is 7 percent. Local governments can add up to another 2.75 percent. Thus, a customer avoiding the tax via online purchase. So a customer avoiding taxes is effectively getting somewhere close to a 10 percent discount over what he or she would pay in a Tennessee store.

Beyond the revenue ramifications, Alexander, Haslam and state business organizations say they simply want a level playing field for those who have a physical Tennessee presence and those who do not. It's a logical argument, but then logic does not always play well in a 30-second radio or TV advertisement charging that an incumbent voted to raise taxes.

And Haslam is contemplating a possible push to increase state fuel taxes next year. For some legislators, the idea of two revenue enhancement efforts in one year is troubling.

On the other hand, legislators voted this year to repeal the Hall tax on investment income, now at 6 percent, but reduced to 5 percent soon and completely eliminated in six years. That will blow a $300 million hole in the state revenue receipts, not to mention the share that goes to local governments, when fully implemented in 2022. The bill was signed by Haslam, even though he had voiced misgivings about the lack of fiscal responsibility in enacting a revenue-reduction measure with no provision for covering the loss of revenue.

The governor says he signed after receiving assurances from legislative leaders that they would work with him in finding a way to offset the revenue loss. When the rule comes up for legislative approval, you can figure the legislators will be reminded of that. And requiring collection of taxes from out-of-state retailers would more than cover the loss of Hall revenue, it seems.

In the ruling that inspired Kennedy's comments, the court was presented only with the question of whether the lawsuit should have been brought in state court rather than federal court. The Supreme Court unanimously decided federal court was appropriate and sent the case back for further proceedings.

Earlier this year, those proceedings reached the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, which decided that the Colorado move, requiring only a notice, not actual collection, did not run afoul of Quill and other relevant law. The Supreme Court has not decided whether to take up the latest appeal or to wait for a more appropriate case.
The Sevier County Election Commission is expected to meet soon to reorganize now that state legislation went into effect Friday that forces a Republican to replace the Democratic chairman.

"We were the only county in the state with a Democrat (who was chairman)," said Rep. Dale Carr, R-Sevierville, who sponsored the legislation. Election commissions in Tennessee are dominated by the party in the majority in the General Assembly, which is Republican.

There was nothing on the books that the chairman also be in the majority party until the legislation passed this year.

Carr said when the election commission reorganized in April 2015, Democrat Michael Fitzgibbons was elected in a 3-2 vote with one Republican inadvertently supporting him, Carr said.

"Someone asked graciously if he (Fitzgibbons) would reconsider the vote. He wouldn't do it," he said.

Carr said he "did not open that chapter up," speaking of introducing legislation just to make sure the election commission chairman was of the majority party. But when Rep. Mark Pody of Lebanon sponsored legislation affecting elections, "I put an amendment on to do that."

At the same meeting during which Fitzgibbons was elected, the commission unanimously appointed Ed Kuncitis administrator; he was serving in an interim role because of the health of the former administrator and previously was administrator when Democrats controlled the commission.

Dale said he didn't have any problems with Kuncitis being the administrator.

n 18th DISTRICT FORUMS: The four Republican candidates for the 18th House District seat in the Aug. 4 primary will participate in two forums this month. Incumbent Rep. Daniel Martin, James Corcoran, Bryan Dodson and former Rep. Steve Hall are in the only Knox County Republican legislative race that is competitive this year.

They will appear at 6:30 p.m. July 12 at the East Tennessee History Center in an event sponsored by the Knoxville-Knox County League of Women Voters.

The four also are scheduled to meet with the Center City Conservatives Republican Club July 28 at Shoney's, 4410 Western Ave. Club members will gather at 5:45 p.m. for Dutch-treat dinner with the program beginning at 6:30 p.m.

n RECOVERING AT HOME: Former state Sen. Ben Atchley is home after being treated for aspiration pneumonia at Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center. Atchley, a Republican who served in both the House and Senate from 1972-2005, celebrated his 86th birthday Thursday.

"We're doing fine," his wife, Sue, said.

She served as a state senator on an interim basis in 2011.
By Don Jacobs of the Knoxville News Sentinel

Former Knoxville Police Chief Phil Keith saw the benefits of officers moonlighting at clubs that served alcoholic beverages. He also saw the dark drawbacks.

"There are some places that have officers to keep other officers away; I do believe that," the retired chief said in a recent interview.

Keith, who served as chief 1988-2004, said he and his command staff had bitterly divided discussions about moonlighting jobs and unscrupulous businesses.

"I would say we talked about it at least once a month," he said. "We all knew the risks."

One popular club in West Knoxville that has since closed had a well-earned reputation as a source of drugs, gambling and high-dollar prostitutes. Customers could avail themselves of all three vices in private rooms.

"We had plainclothes officers working inside the business pointing out the undercover officers and ignoring the gambling and other activities," Keith said.

In other cases, though, he said moonlighting officers helped guide managers away from risky practices.

"Officers probably told the business owners, 'You've got to stop this, or change that,' so it was beneficial, also," the former chief said.

Like current Police Chief David Rausch, Keith allowed officers to moonlight at businesses that sold alcoholic beverages. By law, businesses have to derive at least 15 percent of revenue from food to operate, so the operations are not strictly bars, both men said.

Allowing officers to moonlight at clubs, Keith said, helped reduce the number of calls the Police Department had to answer at the businesses.

When Keith joined the Police Department in 1970  at a salary of $213.67 every two weeks  he immediately began working extra jobs.

"It was part of the culture," the retired chief said. "By the time I was a second-year officer, I was matching my salary in extra jobs. I worked every day.

"So getting an extra job becomes competitive when you count on it as part of your income. When you have fear that you can't provide for your family, that's when the wheels come off."

Officers often engaged in "bidding wars" for highly sought moonlighting opportunities.

With the advent of the World's Fair in 1982, the department developed its first moonlighting policy. It was not greeted with acclaim by some officers, Keith said. To evade the regulations, some officers got the sheriff to appoint them as special deputies. That allowed them to wear a Knox County Sheriff's Office uniform and work outside the KPD policy.

At the time, Keith said the Police Department was on the cutting edge of moonlighting policies. The policy defined extra jobs as those requiring police powers, placed restrictions on officers eligible to moonlight, required officers to file secondary employment forms for extra jobs, and limited the number of hours officers could moonlight.

Left unaddressed were the issues of officers accepting cash from outside employers and officers brokering moonlighting jobs.

"It was an unwritten rule, if you were the scheduler, you got paid extra," Keith said.

As chief, Keith said, he tried to get city officials to take responsibility for processing moonlighting pay for officers. He met resistance on political and practical levels.

"The (city) law department basically said, 'Don't pick a fight,' " Keith said, leaving the issue between the officers and the Internal Revenue Service.

Keith said he delegated responsibility for monitoring moonlighting to his deputy chief.

"Ninety percent of the issues stopped at the patrol chief level," he said. "It only got to me if no one wanted to make a decision."

Just having a moonlighting policy didn't stop abuses.

Keith still remembers the puzzling telephone call he received from a grateful North Carolina police chief. The chief was appreciative of the Knoxville Police Department's polygraph examiner, who was able to resolve an in-house issue by testing officers.

When Keith questioned his polygraph examiner, he learned the officer for years had been traveling the Southeast administering lie detector tests with KPD equipment. Keith put an end to the practice. Because of the officer's honesty, the chief did not discipline him.

Keith concedes he helped expand moonlighting opportunities in Knoxville.

"It was self-serving for me because I didn't have to budget it and the officers earned extra money," he said.

When faced with providing police protection for special events sponsored by the city, Keith said he "pulled it to the extra job realm."

When the federal government in the mid-1990s opened the funding spigot on road construction, Knoxville officers were prime beneficiaries.

"There was so much road construction money that I have no doubt that none of the workers for the construction companies ever got a speeding ticket," Keith said. "I bet we had officers making $90,000-$100,000. The problem is when the extra job becomes the controller."

Upon retirement, Keith launched a career as a law enforcement consultant. He's helped more than 100 law enforcement agencies  large and small  develop policies and address organizational issues.

"In about 75 percent of work sites, secondary employment was an issue," he said. "In many of the consulting jobs I had over the years and my work with CALEA (Commission on the Accreditation of Law Enforcement Agencies) as a commissioner, the issue of secondary employment was nearly always near the surface."

Moonlighting Blues: A News Sentinel investigation

Sunday: A Knoxville Police Department internal probe of outside jobs led to policy changes but raised some questions left unanswered.

KPD moonlighting investigation left questions unanswered

KPD officers inquiry first went nowhere, until it went to the mayor

Chief David Rausch often allowed policies he set to bend

Circus job got officers in trouble; Rausch says mistake made

Moonlighting Investigation Timeline

Photos: Moonlighting Blues

Monday: The Knoxville Police Departments revised policy on moonlighting falls short of national best practices, experts say.

Experts question parts of KPDs new moonlighting policy

Knoxville Police assigns one officer to handle extra jobs

Knoxville Police outside-employment policies

Tuesday: Police officers moonlighting jobs generate millions in extra annual income.

Off-duty paychecks huge in first 4 months of 2016 for KPD officers

Former KPD chief Phil Keith saw risks, rewards in moonlighting

Officers worked at Pilot HQ during federal probe

Some extra jobs worked by officers

Wednesday: Many state policies ignore best practices.

Many state policies ignore best practices; KCSO has few rules

Extra-job policies vary according to agencies

Officers outside work linked to fatigue

Fatigued officers
MICHAEL PATRICK/NEWS SENTINEL The Pilot Flying J corporate headquarters on Lonas Drive where Knoxville police officers have provided security during a federal investigation.

By Don Jacobs, don.jacobs@knoxnews.com

Moonlighting Knoxville police officers provided security for Pilot Flying J while federal agents were continuing their investigation of fraud at the company.

The work was approved because of "credible threats" against Pilot Flying J, said Police Chief David Rausch.

Plainclothes officers were provided matching blue blazers to wear while checking identification of people visiting the company headquarters on Lonas Drive overlooking Interstate 40/75 at the Papermill Drive interchange. But after Rausch learned his officers also were wearing shirts bearing the Pilot Flying J logo, he ordered an end to the practice.

Questions about the assignment were raised during the investigation of the Knoxville Police Department's outside employment practices. Rausch told the Internal Affairs Unit he approved the job after he "was assured that the legal process of who was being charged had already taken place."

Federal officers raided the company headquarters in April 2013. The first extra-job forms for work at the company were filed in February 2014, records show. Nine officers filed forms in 2014 to work at the headquarters. In 2015, 18 officers filed forms requesting permission to provide security or watch surveillance cameras at Pilot Flying J. In the first six weeks of 2016, five officers filed forms to work the detail.

By Police Department policy, officers are paid $30 an hour and supervisors garner $35 an hour. Shifts are a minimum of four hours.

Rausch said the extra security will continue "as long as they felt threatened and wanted to hire us."

City Law Director Charles Swanson said, "If the feds breathe a word that we shouldn't be out there, we'll pull them out."

Ten Pilot Flying J employees have pleaded guilty and eight were indicted in February on federal offenses involving defrauding trucking companies of promised diesel fuel discounts.

Moonlighting Blues: A News Sentinel investigation

Sunday: A Knoxville Police Department internal probe of outside jobs led to policy changes but raised some questions left unanswered.

KPD moonlighting investigation left questions unanswered

KPD officers inquiry first went nowhere, until it went to the mayor

Chief David Rausch often allowed policies he set to bend

Circus job got officers in trouble; Rausch says mistake made

Moonlighting Investigation Timeline

Photos: Moonlighting Blues

Monday: The Knoxville Police Departments revised policy on moonlighting falls short of national best practices, experts say.

Experts question parts of KPDs new moonlighting policy

Knoxville Police assigns one officer to handle extra jobs

Knoxville Police outside-employment policies

Tuesday: Police officers moonlighting jobs generate millions in extra annual income.

Off-duty paychecks huge in first 4 months of 2016 for KPD officers

Former KPD chief Phil Keith saw risks, rewards in moonlighting

Officers worked at Pilot HQ during federal probe

Some extra jobs worked by officers

Wednesday: Many state policies ignore best practices.

Many state policies ignore best practices; KCSO has few rules

Extra-job policies vary according to agencies

Officers outside work linked to fatigue

Fatigued officers
SHARE Logan Boldon, 18, is a Centennial Volunteer Ambassador with the Student Conservation Association who just started a yearlong stint with the Smokies. His primary duty at the park is reaching out to millennials to promote national parks stewardship and conservation. (Special to the News Sentinel) Logan Boldon, 18, is a Centennial Volunteer Ambassador with the Student Conservation Association who just started a yearlong stint with the Smokies. His primary duty at the park is reaching out to millennials to promote national parks stewardship and conservation. (Special to the News Sentinel) Logan Boldon, 18, is a Centennial Volunteer Ambassador with the Student Conservation Association who just started a yearlong stint with the Smokies. His primary duty at the park is reaching out to millennials to promote national parks stewardship and conservation. (Special to the News Sentinel)

By Morgan Simmons of the Knoxville News Sentinel

The National Park Service's centennial slogan is "Find Your Park" and that's just what Logan Boldon has done.

Boldon recently began an internship as a Student Conservation Association Volunteer Ambassador at the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

The 26-year-old from Mentor, Ohio, also is transgender.

Over the next year he'll serve as a liaison between the park and surrounding communities with a special focus on reaching out to people of all backgrounds and walks of life, including the LGBT community.

"It's important that our national parks reflect the diversity of American culture," Boldon said. "The LGBT community is a minority; it's only been in recent years that we've gained recognition. I want to help show that our national parks are places where everyone can feel safe and protected and express themselves."

Boldon's innermost concept of self as a male rather than a female began at an early age. In middle and high school he cut his hair like a boy and experimented with cross dressing, and was bullied as a result. With college came self-harm and suicidal tendencies as Boldon, shy and introverted by nature, struggled to resolve his gender identity.

The natural world was Boldon's most reliable sanctuary. At age 19 he took an internship with Hopewell Culture National Historical Park in Ohio, and after that he volunteered at Gulf Island National Seashore in Florida.

In December 2014 he came out as transgender.

"I haven't had surgery or hormone treatments," Boldon said. "That stuff doesn't define me. What does define me is my love for national parks, and sharing that with others."

On June 24, President Barack Obama designated a new national monument at the site of the Stonewall uprising in New York City to honor the LGBT equality movement. The new Stonewall National Monument will protect the Stonewall Inn, a bar in Greenwich Village that was the scene of riots on June 28, 1969, that sparked the modern LGBT-rights movement.

Boldon credits Smokies' Superintendent Cassius Cash and the park staff for making him feel welcome. Half of the park lies in North Carolina, a state that recently passed a law requiring that transgender individuals use restrooms that correspond to their sex at birth. Boldon's supervisors, however, assured him that being federal property the park is not bound by North Carolina law, and that visitors to the Smokies are welcome to use restrooms that best align with their gender identity.

Boldon said the park has give him considerable leeway to reach out to the LGBT community as a representative of the National Park Service, especially in the wake of the mass shooting that occurred at a gay night club in Orlando, Fla., on June 12.

"The National Park Service is really the story of everyday Americans," he said. "As parks go forward into the next 100 years, they really need to be adaptable and dynamic. It's important to tell the story of all America, not just parts of it."

Boldon said he especially appreciates the rich assortment of plant and animal life that makes the Smokies' 800 square miles one of the most biodiverse places on the planet. A biology major and self-described "nature nerd," he admits to being more at home by himself on a mountain trail than speaking in front of a crowd.

"Part of why I wanted to come to the Smokies is because I'm shy and naturally pretty terrified of people," Boldon said. "If I can survive in the most visited national park in the country, I can make it anywhere."
SHARE

By News Sentinel Staff

Two people have died and a family of eight were rescued as Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency officers responded to a slew of calls  mostly on area lakes  during the holiday weekend.

Since Thursday, TWRA has responded to two drownings, a hit-and-run jet ski incident, three boat fires, a rescue on Chilhowee Mountain, an illegal black bear hunting case, five boating under the influence arrests and multiple sinking boats and boat collisions, according to a Monday afternoon news release from the agency.

At 1:30 a.m. Monday, Jereme Peltier, 34, of Knoxville died after he fell from a boat in the Prater Flats area of Fort Loudoun Lake, according to TWRA. Several boats were rafted together and witnesses began checking the boats to account for everyone when they heard a splash.

On Friday, William E. Blasius, 19, died after jumping from the top of a houseboat near Sequoyah Marina on Norris Lake. According to the agency, witnesses said he was trying to jump over another boat and hit that boat before drowning.

TWRA said there were three other boating accidents Friday on Norris Lake, followed by another on Saturday when a houseboat tied to the shoreline between Anderson County Park and Stardust Marina caught fire. No injuries were reported.

On Sunday, a boat on Fort Loudoun Lake overturned, sending two people into the water. Neither was injured, the TWRA reported. Nearly two hours later at 10:45 p.m., TWRA and Blount County authorities responded to a call to rescue a family of eight who were lost on Chilhowee Mountain. The family, including a 76-year-old man suffering from hypothermia, were rescued at 3 a.m.

Also on Sunday, a boat ran across a sandbar and was sinking in the Ish Creek area on Fort Loudoun Lake near International Harbor Marina. The occupants were uninjured.

At 1:55 a.m. Monday, an unoccupied docked boat in the Ish Creek area caught on fire. Witnesses said there was a fireworks show in the area which may have led to the fire.

TWRA made two BUI arrests on Norris Lake and three BUI arrests on Fort Loudoun Lake this weekend.

More details as they develop online and in Tuesday's News Sentinel.
SHARE

Today, the nation celebrates its 240th birthday.

It was on this day in 1776 that the Second Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence written by Thomas Jefferson, with help from John Adams and Benjamin Franklin. Two days earlier, Congress had adopted the resolution of Richard Henry Lee that "these United colonies are, and, of right, ought to be, free and independent states.  "

That July 2 resolution might mark the official date of independence, but it has been fused in the American mind with July 4, and that has served ever since as our Independence Day.

Independence in 1776 was a bold step, an act of treason against a British Empire whose king and Parliament believed force would keep the 13 colonies within the imperial fold. Had independence failed, as Franklin noted, "We must all hang together, or most assuredly we shall all hang separately."

The Declaration embodied ideas of the Enlightenment in both its opening statements and its list of grievances against King George III. The Declaration also spoke of governments deriving their powers from the consent of the governed (elections), the ability to alter or abolish governments that become destructive to the ends for which they were formed and the founding of governments that promote the safety and happiness of the people they serve.

And there is the phrase that all men are created equal, a self-evident truth found in nature and endowed by the Creator  not granted by kings, knights, aristocracies or clergy. This statement marked, as historian Carl L. Becker noted almost a century ago, a belief in the common humanity of all people. No other nation on the planet at that time aspired to these lofty goals.

It is always tempting at this holiday to grade ourselves on whether we have lived up to the Founding Fathers' expectations or whether we have become the people they tried to warn us against.

Americans have expanded the rights of those who didn't count in the beginning  because of race, gender or economic status  but often grudgingly and even tragically, as the Civil War attests. But those basic rights have been expanded, and our nation is better for it while remaining a work in progress.

We suspect the evaluation of where we stand as a nation will be considered quietly and individually as Americans go to the polls  or not  over the next few months to vote for a president and members of Congress, state legislatures and local governments. In fact, the biggest affront to the ideals and efforts of the founders might be the low voter turnouts in all of our elections, municipal, state and federal.

Four thousand four hundred seventy-five Americans died in the Revolutionary War to found the nation we have inherited. Since the founding, another 1.1 million have died during times of war. Their sacrifices should inspire Americans to take better care of this republic.

There likely will be plenty of public evaluations over the next decade as the nation prepares for its 250th anniversary, a situation similar to 1976 when Americans commemorated the country's bicentennial.

That will be left for the future. Today, amid the cookouts, games, concerts and fireworks, we should give more than a passing thought to our freedom and pay our respects to those who brought it about and gave us the means to preserve and expand it.




Chinese President Xi and Premier Tsipras in New York. [Xinhua]



When Chinese shipping giant COSCO signed its first agreement to invest in the port of Piraeus in 2008, the future impact of this deal on the evolution of Sino-Greek relations could not be easily anticipated. Eight years later, the results are evident, the landscape clear and perspectives bright. There is no doubt that China and Greece are important partners, they are enhancing their strategic partnership - this year having its tenth anniversary - and are looking for new ways to further promote their bilateral cooperation.

In order to elaborate on new steps to forge Sino-Greek relations, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras visits Beijing and Shanghai on July 2-6. He will hold special meetings with President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang, he will exchange views with leading Chinese businessmen and he will participate in business fora. The program of the Greek premier is certainly promising for the signing of new bilateral accords between the two countries at the economic, cultural and media levels.

More importantly, there could be no better circumstance for this official visit to take place. The involvement of COSCO - now known as China COSCO Shipping Group after its merger with China Ocean Shipping - in Piraeus has recently entered a new chapter. That is because the privatization of the Piraeus Port Authority has been typically and legally concluded. With a comfortable majority, the Greek Parliament voted in favor of the concession. 223 out 300 MPs gave their consent after a difficult parliamentary meeting which saw last minute modifications in the agreement document.

The success of COSCO in Piraeus is widely admitted. Numbers do often speak for themselves. 3,030,000 TEUs were transshipped in piers controlled by the Chinese company in the port of Piraeus in 2015 as opposed to 2,984,000 TEUs in 2014 and 2,520,000 in 2013. Surprisingly, this 1.54 percent increase from 2014 to 2015 happened in a year during which container transportation in the Mediterranean decreased and the number of Greek exports fell due to the political crisis in the country. A comparison with TEUs managed by the Piraeus Port Authority in previous years is also indicative and marks a slowdown. 293,353 TEUs were transshipped in the Greek part of the Piraeus port in 2015, 598,255 in 2014 and 644,055 in 2013.

China's expanded presence in Piraeus will transform Greece's biggest port into a trade hub, increasing turnover, creating new job positions, leading to future business deals among companies from all over the world and finally connecting Asia with Europe in a sustainable way. This is what has to be principally stressed. The recent privatization does not stop in the transaction itself and the payment of 368.5 million euros from the one side to the other but is the springboard for additional positive developments. The more the "Belt and Road" initiative passes through Greece, the better it will be for both as the "win-win" logic prevails. Towards this direction, the construction of the China-Europe Land-Sea Express Route and the forthcoming privatization of the Greek Railway can play a constructive role.

Critical as it is, the privatization of the Piraeus Port Authority should not overshadow all other aspects of Sino-Greek relations. Tourism, real estate cooperation, imports and exports of products, other investments in areas such as telecommunication, construction and energy as well as shipping are also top on the agenda.

Culture deserves a special reference. China and Greece represent two of the most ancient civilizations of the world. This reality gives an emotional dimension to the bilateral relationship, which can increase common understanding, and is highly respected by political elites. It is not a coincidence that during his stay in Athens and Crete in June of 2014, Li Keqiang added a cultural aspect to his official visit. It is not a coincidence that Alexis Tsipras will devote a day to go to the Great Wall.

Public mobilization follows. People-to-people exchange is strengthened, more Greek people learn Chinese and more Chinese people learn Greek, bilateral or multilateral scientific projects are carried out, joint events are organized and media are cooperating in their day-to-day operations. At first glance, this does not seem as significant as the economic and political partnership. Nonetheless, elite actions and ideas are hardly sustainable in the long-term should they have no public support.

Last but not least, benefits of close Sino-Greek relations go beyond the interest of the two countries themselves, and even the economic, trade and business level. Greece - as a member of the EU - can possibly draw on its experience in cooperating with China and strengthen its international position by endeavoring to facilitate political communication between Brussels and Beijing. Although the European External Action Service (EEAS) is assigned to do so, there is always room for European countries - even small ones like Greece - to play a role. If this happens, it will be valuable for the implementation of the "EU-China 2020 Cooperation Agenda." It will assist Europe to improve its understanding of China and help China to better approach Europe.

Dr George N. Tzogopoulos is a lecturer at the European Institute in Nice.

Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors, not necessarily those of China.org.cn.








Chemical firm desperate to normalize operations

By Lee Hyo-sik

Lotte Chemical, which has become Lotte Group's most profitable unit under Chairman Shin Dong-bin's reign, is at the center of the prosecution's widening investigation of the embattled family-controlled conglomerate, according to industry analysts, Thursday.

Prosecutors are investigating whether the chemical unit played a crucial role in creating slush funds for Chairman Shin and other Lotte family members, and helped them accumulate personal wealth through a wide range of allegedly illicit dealings.

For years the chairman has been nurturing Lotte Chemical to make it Lotte's main revenue source. In 1990, he began his career as heir to his father  Lotte founder Shin Kyuk-ho  at the chemical firm, after quitting Nomura Securities in Japan. Through multiple mergers and acquisitions (M&As), the company has become one of Korea's three main chemical product makers.

According to Whois Corp., a market research firm on Korea's top enterprises, Lotte Chemical was the group's most profitable unit in 2015, posting a 1.34 trillion won ($1.15 billion) operating profit. This accounted for 33.1 percent of Lotte Group's total operating profit.

Lotte Shopping, which generated 16.1 trillion won in sales last year, even more than Lotte Chemical's 8.5 trillion won, only had a 715 billion won operating profit.

Emerging as the most profitable Lotte unit, investigators suspect the company was mobilized to raise slush funds and orchestrate a host of illegal corporate activities to bolster the wealth of Chairman Shin and his family.
By Choi Sung-jin



The combined worth of 50 wealthiest people in Korea totaled $105.6 billion, or $2.1 billion (2.45 trillion won) per person, according to Forbes Korea's May issue.



Thirteen of these people, more than one in four, are in one kind of trouble or another. Some are undergoing criminal investigations while others have personal problems, including divorce. Yet others are having a hard time in the court of public opinion for abusing their power.



Take Kim Jung-ju, founder of Korea's largest computer game maker Nexon and the nation's sixth-richest person, who is under investigation by the prosecution.



Kim is suspected of giving money to his friend and a district chief prosecutor Jin Kyung-joon to help finance the latter's purchase of Nexon shares in 2005, and rake in 10 billion-won ($8.7 million) profit later. Jin claims he borrowed the money from Nexon, but investigators suspect Kim gave it to his friend.



The prosecution is focusing on whether the money Kim gave -- or lent as the two allege -- to Jin via Nexon is a bribe or not. Some judiciary sources say chances are slim that the law enforcement officers will prosecute Kim, because the statute of limitations for bribery charges is 10 years.



Lee Jung-keun, chairman of Booyoung Co., an apartment builder, and Korea's 12th richest person, is being investigated for possible tax avoidance. The prosecution has reportedly been investigating Lee for some time and is also checking whether he stashed money in overseas tax shelters, according to tax officials.



Until the tax scandal tainted his good image, the real estate tycoon had long been known as the "donation king," sending pianos to various organizations at home and abroad, and making other social service activities.



Lotte Group chairman Shin Dong-bin, Korea's 20th wealthiest person, is waiting for the prosecution's summons on suspicion of creating slush funds. His father and group founder Shin Kyuck-ho and elder sister Shin Young-ja are also on the prosecutors' target list.



Add Shin Dong-ju, Dong-bin's elder brother and former vice chairman of the group who is fiercely fighting with his younger brother for control of the group, and all family members have been in trouble. Shin Dong-ju is ranked 24th in personal worth.



Dongbu Group Chairman Kim Joon-ki (26th) and Hyosung Group President Cho Hyun-joon (50th) are also being investigated. Kim faces charges of selling his company shares using undisclosed information before Dongbu went into court receivership. Cho is accused of embezzlement and breach of trust by his younger brother, Cho Hyun-moon, a group vice president.



Kim and Cho are now out of limelight, eclipsed by larger scandals, including the Lotte Group slush fund scandal and alleged accounting fraud by large shipbuilders, but could be in the headlines again as investigations progress.



Others have made headlines for more personal reasons.



SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won (eighth) wrote to a newspaper last December, admitting he had a son out of wedlock, and that he had long been separated from his wife Roh So-young, a daughter of former military general-turned-president, Roh Tae-woo. Chey expressed an intention to divorce but Roh refused.



Lee Bu-jin (18th), a daughter of Samsung Group owner Lee Kun-hee and president of Hotel Shilla, is at the end of her 17-year marriage, having filed for divorce. In October 2014, Lee submitted a petition for mediation concerning divorce and appointment of parentage against her husband, a former bodyguard of her father. But the mediation broke down and she entered into litigation.



Taekwang Group former chairman Lee Ho-jin (30th) has caused a stir after being granted bail on health grounds. Lee was sentenced to four years and six months' jail in 2011, but was released in June 2012 because he reportedly had liver cancer.



But in April 2015, the MINBYUN, or Lawyers for a Democratic Society, submitted a written petition to the prosecution, claiming Lee kept leaving hospital and frequenting restaurants in downtown Seoul.



Kim Beom-soo (16th), chairman of Kakao, operator of messenger app Kakao Talk, has been dragged into an ongoing scandal about gambling abroad, and Lee Hae-uk (43rd), vice chairman of Daelim Industrial, was in the news for beating his chauffer and swearing at him.












CJ Foodville CEO Jung Moon-mok speaks during a press conference at the firm's multi-brand restaurant, CJ FoodWorld, at the COEX Mall in southern Seoul, Monday. Jung said the food and beverage unit of CJ Group will surpass McDonald's, Starbucks and other multinational food firms in sales. / Courtesy of CJ Foodville



By Lee Hyo-sik

CJ Foodville is aiming to outdo McDonald's, Starbucks and other global food and beverage giants by opening thousands of more stores abroad, the company CEO said Monday.

The food and beverage unit of CJ Group, which runs about 2,600 stores at home and abroad under 12 brands, plans to invest hundreds of millions of dollars to boost its presence in China, the United States, Southeast Asia and elsewhere.

"We will be able to exceed McDonald's, Starbucks and other multinational food and beverage companies if we successfully execute our expansion plans," CJ Foodville CEO Jung Moon-mok said at a press conference, marking the opening of CJ FoodWorld, the firm's multi-brand restaurant, at the COEX Mall, southern Seoul.

"We will first become one of the world's top 10 global food companies in 2020 by earning 6.8 trillion won ($5.9 billion) in sales. By then, we expect to operate about 7,300 stores here and abroad," Jung said. "We are confident that we will eventually emerge as the world's No. 1 through our strategy of fostering a group of competitive brands, which will create synergy with one another. This is what makes us different from single brand firms like McDonald's."

Currently, the company runs 288 stores under four brands  Bibigo, TwoSome Coffee, Tous Les Jour and VIPS  in 10 foreign markets. At home, it has about 2,300 stores under 12 brands.

In 2015, CJ Foodville earned 1.3 trillion won in sales. It generated 11 percent of its sales outside Korea but plans to increase the ratio to 52 percent by 2020.

"We will do whatever it takes to turn Bibigo, Tous Les Jour and TwoSome Coffee into beloved consumer brands across the globe. We are at the front of the nation's campaign to globalize Korean cuisine," Jung said. "We will increase the number of our stores abroad to 2,000 by 2020. We will mobilize most of our resources to bolster a presence in China, the United States and Southeast Asia, while exploring business opportunities elsewhere."

The company has to focus on foreign markets to achieve a sustainable growth because the domestic food industry has remained in the doldrums over the past few years, according to the CEO.

"To find a breakthrough, we have to head overseas and secure growth engines," Jung said. "At home, things have remained quite unfavorable for food companies like us. Ever since the sinking of the ferry Sewol in 2014 and the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome outbreak in 2015, the local food and beverage market has failed to rebound."

Falling birthrates, increasing regulatory risks and other unfavorable factors have also made it more difficult for CJ Foodville to grow, he said, adding that it has no other choice but to venture into foreign markets.

"We will use the domestic market as a test bed before introducing new products and services to foreign markets. We will also focus on maintaining our competitive edge over our local rivals, while enlarging our size in China and other countries," the CEO said.

Touching on CJ's recent bid to acquire McDonald's, Jung said CJ needs to learn the U.S. fast food chain's knowhow on serving meals quickly at competitive prices.

"Nothing has been decided yet as to our bid to acquire McDonald's. It is at its infant stage," the CEO said. "I don't know whether we will acquire the hamburger chain or not. But there are certainly things that CJ can learn from the fast food giant."
 Flash

A firefighter reacts at the car bomb attack site in Karrada-Dakhil district of southern Baghdad, Iraq, July 3, 2016. [Photo/Xinhua]

Iraq began on Monday a three-day national mourning for victims of Sunday's car bombing attacks in the capital city of Baghdad, as the death toll rises to 166.

An Interior Ministry source said at least 165 people were killed and 225 others wounded in a suicide bomb attack in Karrada-Dakhil district in southern Baghdad. Another one was killed in a separate car bombing in a market in northeastern Baghdad.

The Karrada-Dakhil bombing is the bloodiest attack this year in the country, where the army is fighting Islamic State militants.

The busy commercial district in southern Baghdad was hit by a car bomb at about 1:00 a.m. local time (2200GMT) on Sunday when a suicide bomber detonated his explosive-laden pickup truck outside a shopping center.

The three-floor building was destroyed, when many people were inside. Many of the victims were women and children, the source said. Rescuers said the explosion and the following huge fire killed all members in some families.

Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced three days of national mourning for the victims after he visited the blast site on Sunday. His convoy was attacked by dozens of angry residents who accused the government of failing to protect its people.

Local resident Mohammed Musa said: "now we demand a solution from the government, because since 2003 to 2016 we have been uncomfortable, we are in a difficult situation. And those people, all of them lost their money, property and lives and other things. Everything is gone."

As the commander-in-chief of Iraqi forces, Abadi ordered an intensification of security measures on the entrances of Baghdad and in other Iraqi provinces.

Sunday's powerful blast set fire to the shopping center and four nearby buildings while many shops and stalls were charred and destroyed, as well as dozens of civilian vehicles at the scene. The fire was put out in the afternoon and rescue operations continued till night.

Dozens of rescue workers, firefighters and civilians were removing debris and burned wreckage from dawn to the evening, looking for survivors and bodies.

The attack happened when many families and young people were in the crowded thoroughfare where many shoppers were preparing their families for Eidul-Fitr scheduled to start on Tuesday, which marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan.

Meanwhile, another car bomb went off in a market in northeastern Baghdad, leaving one dead and five wounded, the source added.

The death toll could rise as many wounded are in critical condition.

The bloody bombings have been claimed by the Islamic State (IS) group which said that one of its suicide bombers detonated his car bomb at a crowd of Shiite people in the predominantly Shiite district of Karrada-Dakhil, according to a statement posted online, which could not be independently verified.

During his visit to the explosion site in Karrada on Sunday morning, Abadi vowed to punish those behind the attacks, according to a statement issued by his office.

"The terrorist groups carried out such desperate deadly attacks as a result of being crushed in the battlefield," the statement said, referring to the government's recent victory of retaking Fallujah city from IS in the country's western province of Anbar.

Abadi also sent his condolences to the families of the victims and promised that "victory over these terrorist groups is very close."

The Iraqi government announced victory of retaking Fallujah, one of the last two strongholds of IS in Iraq, late last month, after almost a month of military operations.

The army is expected to be deployed to the northern Nineveh province, preparing to launch attacks against Mosul city, the country's second biggest city that fell into IS control two years ago.

In a statement issued on Sunday, Iraqi President Fuad Masoum condemned the deadly bomb attacks and called on the security forces to "take urgent measures to totally eliminate the sleeper terrorist cells and arrest the perpetrators."

"The sleeper terrorist cells are seeking to avenge the defeat of terrorist Daesh (IS) in Fallujah and other regions of the country," he said.

The IS has frequently targeted security forces and areas where crowds of people gather, including markets, cafes and mosques, across Iraq.

Observers said there could be more attacks against military targets and civilians in the future as the army advances to the last IS stronghold of Mosul.

Iraq has been hit by a wave of violence since the IS terrorist group seized large parts in Iraq's northern and western regions since 2014.

A report by the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq estimated that 662 Iraqis were killed and 1,457 others wounded in acts of terrorism, violence and armed conflict in June this year across Iraq.

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Finance minister vows no intervention in forex market



By Yoon Ja-young



Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn said Monday that the government has no plan to raise corporate or income tax rates.



"A tax hike should be a means of last resort as it weighs on people. It should come only after taking other measures," he said at a National Assembly interpellation session on economic affairs.



The remark contrasts with the demand by the opposition bloc for a corporate tax hike. The rate was slashed by former President Lee Myung-bak's administration from 25 percent to 22 percent to boost the economy.



The opposition parties said that it should go back to the previous level for purposes of redistribution of wealth and bolstering social welfare.



Separately, Strategy and Finance Minister Yoo Il-ho said that the government will not intervene in the foreign exchange market.



When Rep. Yoo Sung-yup of the minor opposition People's Party said that "the economy is worsening despite the government's policy to weaken the Korean won to support exporters," the minister said there has been no intervention.



He flatly denied any direct intervention in the currency market.



"We can engage in smoothing operations in times of fluctuations, but any direct intervention in the market only leads to retaliation from other countries. The government isn't intervening directly at all to control the foreign exchange rate," Yoo said.



Opposition lawmakers also focused on the corporate restructuring issue.



They criticized the government for mobilizing the central bank to help set up a recapitalization fund for state-run banks involved in corporate restructuring.



The country's shipbuilders and shipping companies, suffering snowballing debt following the global economic recession, are undergoing restructuring plans led by their main creditors, the state-run Korea Development Bank and the Export-Import Bank of Korea.



However, as the banks are facing deteriorating financial health themselves, the government decided to set up a recapitalization fund for these policy banks. The central bank is scheduled to lend up to 10 trillion won for the fund.



The opposition parties, however, have been pointing out that the government is trying to bypass the Assembly.



"It aims at avoiding the National Assembly's approval process while mobilizing the central bank's authentic rights to print money, which can increase the burden on the people as a whole," said Rep. Min Byung-doo of the main opposition Minjoo Party of Korea.



The opposition bloc has been demanding that the government create a supplementary budget for the policy banks instead of pressuring the central bank.



A supplementary budget needs approval by the National Assembly, which means the lawmakers will look into who is responsible for the trouble.



Rep. Chae Yi-bae of the People's Party said, "The recapitalization fund suggested by the government is nothing more than a trick to avoid the National Assembly and efforts to find out who is responsible. The government is refusing to submit related documents."



He said the government is responsible for the trouble at Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering.



"While the whole shipbuilding industry was facing crisis, President Park Geun-hye's administration just focused on getting key posts at the firm between themselves. The company thus couldn't make the right decision," he said.



The lawmaker added that Ahn Jong-beom, who was senior secretary for economic affairs at the time, and former Finance Minister Choi Kyung-hwan ignored reports about possible accounting fraud at the shipbuilding company.




The prosecution on Thursday arrested a former executive of Lotte Chemical, an affiliate of South Korea's retail giant Lotte Group, on charges of being involved in an alleged tax evasion scheme.

It was the first arrest of a former Lotte official since prosecutors launched the first round of raids on a series of the group's affiliates on June 10 as part of their probe into the country's fifth-largest conglomerate and its alleged slush funds.

The prosecution claims that the suspect, identified only by his surname Kim, was allegedly involved in the process of Lotte Chemical's tax evasion worth tens of billions of won.
A train derailed in Bongwha after striking rocks fallen from mountain, leaving no one injured. / Yonhap



By Lee Jin-a

Passengers had a lucky escape from injury when a train derailed in Bonghwa, North Gyeongsang Province, early Monday.

The Mugungwha train went off the tracks around 8:21 a.m. after striking rocks that fell from a mountain, according to the state-run Korea Railroad (Korail).

Forty-two people were aboard the train, which was travelling from Jeongdongjin, Gangwon Province, to Dongdaegu Station in Daegu.

The driver was forced to brake suddenly when he saw several large rocks on the tracks as the train was about to enter a mountain tunnel. But the train hit the rocks and pushed them into the tunnel, causing two wheels of the first carriage to jump the tracks.

Korail said only the first carriage of the six-carriage train was damaged.

"Heavy rain affected the traction of the brakes, causing the train to slide further than anticipated," Korail said. "The train was travelling at about 56 kilometer an hour."

Passengers were taken by bus to nearby Seokpo Station.

The rocks were being cleared promptly, with the service due to resume as early as 2:30 p.m. Monday, according to Yonhap news agency.
The South Korean government has decided to install a total of 80 new artificial reefs near the Yellow Sea border with North Korea to help thwart illegal fishing by Chinese boats, the finance ministry said Monday.

Under the plan, approved in a Cabinet meeting, the vast underwater structures, weighing as much as 30 tons apiece, will be established close to the Northern Limit Line (NLL), a de-facto inter-Korean sea border, at a cost of 8 billion won (US$7 million).

Specific zones will be decided in consultations between South Korean fishermen and related authorities including the defense ministry.

It's aimed at curbing Chinese fishermen's dragnet-style operations prevalent in the waters near the high-tension inter-Korean maritime border.

The government initially planned to set up 16 artificial reefs, worth 2 billion.

They are apparently taking advantage of tensions between the two Koreas, as the South's Coast Guard is reluctant to be active in cracking down on Chinese ships near the NLL, which may trigger an accidental clash with the North.

The decision to expand the budget from reserve funds for the campaign came amid a growing sense of urgency to combat illegal Chinese fishing ships trespassing into Korean waters and sweeping fisheries.

This year's peak-season crab catch by South Korean fishermen dropped about 70 percent from a year ago, according to government data.

In June, local fishermen towed away two Chinese fishing boats catching crabs just south of the NLL and handed them over to South Korean authorities, a show of their uproar over the problem. (Yonhap)
By Kang Seung-woo



President Park Geun-hye will visit Mongolia next week to attend the summit of the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) and hold bilateral talks with the Mongolian head-of-state, Cheong Wa Dae announced, Monday.



According to the President's office, she plans to leave for Ulaanbaatar on the eve of the biennial meeting on July 15 and 16. Following the event, Park will begin her official visit to the country before returning home on July 18.



Marking its 20th founding anniversary, the summit will bring together leaders from 51 countries across Asia and Europe along with those from the European Union (EU) and ASEAN Secretariat.



"President Park's participation in the ASEM summit will cement the nation's status as an active player laboring to increase cooperation on the Eurasian continent," the President's office said in a statement.



The leaders are expected to discuss a range of global and regional issues, including North Korea's nuclear weapons program.



"We expect the ASEM summit to provide momentum to unify the stance of Asia and Europe on North Korea's denuclearization," Cheong Wa Dae said.



In addition, participants will likely discuss Britain's decision to leave the EU and China's move to expand its military presence in the South China Sea.



During the ASEM meeting, Park is expected to hold bilateral talks with other participating leaders from Europe and Asia although Cheong Wa Dae did not elaborate.



German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang are likely to attend the summit.



During Park's official visit to Mongolia following the two-day ASEM summit, she will sit down with Mongolian President Tsakhia Elbegdorj to boost cooperation with the resource-rich country, including Korean companies' participation in its energy and infrastructure sectors. Mongolia holds the second-largest copper reserves and fourth-largest coal reserves in the world, according to the President's office.



Along with the bilateral summit, Park will also meet with Korean residents there and attend a Korea-Mongolia business forum to encourage entrepreneurs operating in Mongolia or exploring business opportunities in the country.



"As President Elbegdorj visited Korea in May and Park will visit Mongolia this time, we anticipate that the momentum for a mutually-beneficial, cooperative relationship between the two countries will be strengthened even more," Cheong Wa Dae said.




The leader of South Korea's second-largest umbrella labor union received a five-year jail term Monday for last year's violent rallies in downtown Seoul.

The Seoul Central District Court found Han Sang-gyun, head of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, guilty of orchestrating a massive antigovernment protest on Nov. 14 that led to clashes with the police and a dozen other rallies last year.

The court said Han is responsible for inflicting injuries to scores of police officers and damaging police buses, as well as illegally occupying the streets by leading protesters in November.

The decision sparked an outcry from the union members and his supporters who filled the courtroom. (Yonhap)
Leaders of nation's two umbrella labor groups hold a press conference in front of the government complex in central Seoul, Monday, to call for a sharp raise in the nation's mandatory minimum wage for next year. / Yonhap



By Kim Bo-eun

The nation's two umbrella unions threatened to boycott negotiations on next year's minimum wage, Monday, if their demands were not met.

At a press conference, representatives of the Federation of Korean Trade Unions (FKTU) and the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) said labor representatives on the Minimum Wage Commission, some of whom are from the two umbrella unions, may leave negotiations if the minimum wage is not raised to 10,000 won from the current 6,030 won.

FKTU head Kim Dong-man and KCTU acting-head Choi Jong-jin said in a joint statement that representatives of management, government and academia must accept the call for a hike in the minimum wage.

"If they will not accept our demands, we will take serious action," the statement said.

The final sessions of the talks are taking place this week and are set to end Wednesday.

The negotiations extended beyond the June 28 deadline, as the parties failed to narrow their difference on the wage increase.

Labor representatives have been demanding the wage be raised to 10,000 won, while employers' representatives want to freeze it at the current figure.

The possible boycott of labor representatives is set to further extend the talks.

According to a labor ministry official, representatives of the commission cannot resign without dismissal procedures, which require consent from other members.

"If they do not receive consent to resign, they will remain as committee members. If they do not attend the talks, it will be regarded as being absent," he said. "But if members are absent for three times, the talks can proceed without them."

The official said there was a precedent in 2011, when the wage was set without labor representatives as they boycotted the talks.

If such a scenario recurs, the remaining parties will attempt to reach an agreement, but if they fail to do so, the decision will be made based on a vote.

The minister of employment and labor is required to announce next year's minimum wage by Aug. 5.

This means the rate needs to be finalized by July 15, as it takes 20 days for the decision to pass administrative procedures, which include announcement of the law to the public, collecting opinions and conducting a screening.

This will give the parties less than 10 days to reach an agreement.

Earlier, the parties put other contentious issues to a vote, such as marking the monthly minimum wage together with the hourly minimum wage on contracts and differentiating the minimum wage according to sector. The former proposal was accepted and the latter rejected.
By Kim Hyo-jin





Rep. Choi Kyung-hwan, the de-facto leader of a Saenuri Party faction affiliated with President Park Geun-hye, talks with a lawmaker during a session at the National Assembly, Monday. / Yonhap

Ruling Saenuri Party lawmakers loyal to President Park Geun-hye are showing signs of division ahead of a party caucus in August, in which the party will elect a new leader.



While most pro-Park lawmakers are backing Rep. Choi Kyung-hwan  a former finance minister and the leader of the faction  as the party's new leader, Rep. Lee Ju-young, another Park loyalist, launched his bid separately, Sunday.



This shows a growing rift among pro-Park lawmakers, and could lead to a break-up of the faction, analysts say.



Lee, a former oceans and fisheries minister, vowed to hold those responsible for the crushing defeat in the April 13 general election accountable, launching an offensive against Choi.



Choi had been at the forefront of the campaign, seeking public support for candidates from the pro-Park faction.



"If elected, I will hold those responsible for the election defeat and factional division accountable," Lee said during a press conference, announcing his candidacy.



Party officials say signs of possible fragmentation among Park followers were detected before the chairmanship race heated up.



They showed different responses when the party leadership decided to reinstate Rep. Yoo Seong-min and other independent lawmakers who quit the party before the general election.



The favorable decision for those estranged from the President was expected to cause a strong backlash from the pro-Park faction. Some remained cautious, saying it was an "acceptable" decision while the hawkish members lashed out at the leadership, calling for the decision to be reversed.



Multiple candidacies for chairmanship from one faction will diminish its chance of occupying leadership posts, say the officials, as a new set of rules is likely to be introduced in the upcoming caucus.



In the previous caucuses, party members were given two ballot papers each and a candidate who won the largest number of votes became the chairman and those who earned fewer votes took membership posts at the party's Supreme Council.



This time, it is likely that the party will elect chairman and Supreme Council members separately. With many candidates losing the chairmanship race and fading into the background, factional power could also wither, they said.



"The pro-Park lawmakers would not be united, nor head in the same direction ahead of the 2017 presidential race," said Hwang Tae-soon, a senior analyst at Wisdom Center.



Hwang interprets that the fragmentation came as its members are forming different ideas over how to win the upcoming presidential election.



"Some may think a victory can be achieved under the President's leadership while others may believe it can be achieved if they keep their distance from the incumbent leader," he said.



"They won't be pushed from the faction, but still, smaller groups that compete against each other will emerge and cohabit under the loose boundary of the pro-Park faction."
By Yi Whan-woo



Airbases in big cities such as Daegu, Gwangju and Suwon are becoming seeds of conflict amid growing demands from residents for relocation.



The military is struggling to find alternative sites for the airbases as they are not welcomed elsewhere.



Citing complaints of noise, the city governments have asked the military to move the bases out of the cities.



In Daegu, the municipal government and lawmakers there criticized the central government, Monday, for dragging its feet on relocating the K2 Air Base in the city.



They initially planned to share relocation costs by re-developing the airbase, which covers 6.61 square kilometers, including runways.



However, the plan is now at risk after the Park Geun-hye administration decided to scrap a project to build a new airport in either the inland town of Miryang, South Gyeongsang Province or on Gadeok Island near Busan, they claimed.



On June 21, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) said it will instead expand the existing Gimhae International Airport to accommodate an increasing number of travelers.



The four local governments of Daegu, North and South Gyeongsang provinces and Miryang jointly competed against Busan to host the new airport in Miryang.



"The central government should keep in mind that Daegu citizens have not accepted its decision over the new airport yet," Daegu Mayor Kwon Young-jin said during a meeting at his office with MOLIT's Vice Minister Choi Jeong-ho, Monday.



"Our citizens are especially angry because the Park government's decision over the new airport will affect our wish to relocate the K2 Air Base.



"I ask relevant ministries to discuss the case and come up with convincing measures."



In the early 2010s, Daegu consulted with military officials to try and move the airbase to Yecheon County, North Gyeongsang Province by 2017 but failed due to opposition from county residents.



The Gwangju government said they have been keeping track of the case in Daegu, adding they also plan to carry out a land development project to fund the relocation of the airbase.



They also blamed the Ministry of Defense for "not being active" in line with their proposal submitted in January concerning the relocation.



"We estimated the relocation cost to be up to 5 trillion won and offered to share the cost," a Gwangju government official said on condition of anonymity. "But the military told us it is careful about picking candidate sites for relocation due to opposition from the residents there."



The defense ministry said it will finalize its decision concerning the airbase in Gwangju by September after conducting feasibility studies.



The central government is believed to have picked Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province to host the airbase in Suwon.



But Hwaseong City Council passed a resolution that opposes this, according to military sources.




Rep. Lee Jung-hyun / Courtesy of Lee Jung-hyun's office







By Kim Hyo-jin



Lee Jung-hyun, a three-term lawmaker of the ruling Saenuri Party, is a rare politician who overcame deep-rooted regionalism to win his seat in the legislature.



The 58-year-old lawmaker won re-election in April in Suncheon, South Jeolla Province  a traditional stronghold for liberals.



He has now set a new goal. He recently began a bid to become the leader of the conservative party  a bold move for a politician who was born in the Jeolla region. If he makes it, it will also be a remarkable moment in Korean political history.



A close aide to President Park Geun-hye, Lee vowed as party leader to support the administration during the remainder of its term.



Lee believes that his unconventional attitude during the campaign successfully appealed to the public, and that the party can restore confidence in it if he makes this part of the general culture among his fellow lawmakers.



"I have kept myself low, treating voters as genuine power-holders. I'd call it servant leadership," Lee said during an interview with The Korea Times.



Lee stressed that he tried to meet as many voters as possible in person over the past two years.



While listening to their concerns canvassing with a backpack and a bicycle, he saw many people warm up to him and became sure that a politician being "humble and hard-working" is what the public needs now, he said.



"I'm running for the leadership post to make it a culture inside the party. That is the only way to bring back public confidence and to pave the way to victory in the upcoming presidential election," he said.



The party plans to hold a caucus on August 9 to elect its new chief. But it is now questionable if he can realize his hopes as he is currently in the hot seat following media reports about his involvement in attempting to control media coverage while he was serving as senior presidential press secretary in 2014.



He is accused of having pressured Kim Si-gon, former newsroom chief of the Korean Broadcasting System (KBS) to tone down critical reports on the failed rescue operation by the now-defunct Korea Coast Guard for the capsized ferry Sewol.



While taking flak from opposition parties for Cheong Wa Dae's alleged control of the state-run media's news coverage, Lee has not flinched, nor withdrawn his candidacy.



Lee's surprising victory in the April 13 general election was in contrast to the party's poor performance.



The ruling Saenuri Party, which previously held a majority of 157 seats, fell to being the second largest party with 122 seats following the 123 seats of the main opposition Minjoo Party of Korea (MPK).



At the center of the criticism over the party's incompetence was the nominations process controlled by party members close to the President, which was viewed as lopsided in favor of pro-Park members.



Despite being categorized as a pro-Park lawmaker, Lee vehemently blamed the party's senior officials for involving themselves in the controversy and abusing their power. He vowed to introduce a rule-bound system to the party if elected to be leader.



"The party has been operated by a handful of bigwigs, dragged down by the personal interests of a few. The public has disappeared from politicians' sight," he said.



"I'm ready to reform the party to the core by implanting rules and protocols in the decision-making process so discretion can be maintained."



Bold reform plans



The 20th National Assembly is filled with calls to reduce excessive privileges and benefits enjoyed by lawmakers as a means to alleviate the deep-rooted mistrust the public harbors toward the legislature.



While some lawmakers outline a set of self-reform measures, Lee takes a somewhat different approach. He proposes forming a public commission to review all the prerogatives given to lawmakers, saying the move should come especially in 2018, the year marking the 70th anniversary of the National Assembly.



"What I mean by all the privileges, it literally applies to every single benefit enjoyed by Assemblymen, not only the much-talked about parliamentary immunity from apprehension or prosecution," he said.



"Politicians should just step back and let the public do the job. A public commission solely consisting of ordinary citizens to inspect the legislature is what we need."

A thorough inspection should be extended to check whether the legislative procedure is operating efficiently, Lee said, pointing out the sloppy deliberation of the annual budget.



"People would faint if they know how roughly lawmakers review the budget plan, which amounts to 386 trillion won this year," he said.



"Not many lawmakers can actually read the documents describing the administration's budget plan, and worse, they just spend their time questioning public officials about ongoing political issues when the budgetary committee opens."

"I'm determined to reform such backpedalling practices. Seeking help from the Board of Audit and Inspection when deliberating the proposed budget could be one way."



Open competition



The ruling party's leadership race has heated up with multiple lawmakers launching their candidacies. The new party leaders will play a critical role in preparing for the presidential election in 2017.



So far, Lee Ju-young, a pro-Park lawmaker and former oceans and fisheries minister, and Kim Yong-tae, a three-term lawmaker who do not follow Park, have launched their bids. Still, many others including Reps. Choi Kyung-hwan, Hong Moon-jong, Won Yoo-chul, Chung Byoung-gug, most of them Park followers, are expected to join the race.



While some call for candidates from the same faction to join hands and put up a single candidate to raise the chance for victory, Lee made it clear that he is not for this.



"I believe in the benefits of open competition," he said. "The party has already suffered a division while embroiled in a blame game after a crushing defeat in the general election. If there's a conflict among candidates while going through backdoor negotiations, it would worsen such a state, not to mention the public would hate us more for repeating the practice of excluding them."



Lee hopes to apply the sheer competition framework to the party's primary for the 2017 presidential election.



He said he will propose a contest format similar to "Superstar K," where contestants compete every week with one being eliminated after each performance until there is a final winner.



"While the party has yet to have an outstanding presidential candidate, it could be an efficient format to not only draw public attention but also to strengthen a candidate's capability," Lee said. "In that setting, they will compete through debates and the public will vote for the person who appears to be more capable and reliable with their pledges."



He added that U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, viewed as a potential presidential candidate of the ruling party, is no exception.
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 Flash

At least 43 people including eight security personnel were killed, over 40 injured and scores of others went missing in flash flood triggered by heavy rains in Pakistan's northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) province on Sunday, local media and officials said.

The provincial National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) said that Chitral district of the province was the worst hit area where 31 people were killed in the flash flood.

"The hill torrent washed away a mosque, a Pakistan army check post and nearby houses (35 full house damage, 47 partial house damage)," the NDMA said in a statement.

The torrential rain and burst hit Ursoon village in the southwest of Chitral on Saturday night, which resulted in flash flood in the stream located near Pak-Afghan border, the statement added.

The Express News reported that eight security personnel were killed and four others seriously injured when flash flood swept away their check post in the Chitral district.

It added that 32 people were also injured in separate incidents of roof collapse in the district.

Separately, in Haripur district of KPK, four people were killed and four others injured when roof of their work site collapsed near Tarbela Dam area, Latifur Rehman, spokesperson for the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) said.

Rescue teams from Pakistani army, paramilitary forces and PDMA have launched a rescue and relief operation there.

The Army's Inter-Services Public Relations said in a statement that the troops have provided food, tents and medical aid to affected people in the Ursoon village.

An army helicopter has made five trips from Chitral to Ursoon and evacuated the injured, said the statement.

A search operation for missing persons is in progress.

The affected people are being provided with food and non-food items by the teams of army and local administration.

The KPK government has announced financial assistance for the relatives of those killed and injured in the flash flood in Chitral.
By Kim Se-jeong

A new startup support center has opened to attract foreign residents who have good ideas for new businesses, the Seoul Metropolitan Government (SMG) announced Monday.

The Seoul Global Startup Center will open within Yongsan Electronics Market in August, the SMG said.

It will select 40 teams and provide each of them with a free space at the center, as well as mentoring and visa services and assistance in legal, accounting, patent and business registration processes.

"We will support anyone with a good idea," a city official said. "We expect the economy of Seoul to be stimulated via a growing number of startup companies founded by foreigners."












By Kang Seung-woo



Three sites have been shortlisted as candidates for hosting a U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery, according to military sources, Monday.



The candidate locations are Pyeongtaek in Gyeonggi Province, Waegwan in North Gyeongsang Province and Gunsan in North Jeolla Province  all of which already house U.S. military bases  said the sources,.



Eumseong County in North Chungcheong Province, which was rumored to have been selected as the site for the advanced missile interceptor until recently, is not being considered, they added.



The militaries of South Korea and the U.S. are accelerating their talks on deploying the THAAD battery here despite fierce protests in the candidate cities.



Citing a government source, the local daily Chosun Ilbo reported Monday that the negotiations are in the final stages, saying the site for the THAAD battery will be announced in a month or two.



However, the defense ministry said the allies still remain undecided over when to announce the results of the discussions.



"The THAAD deployment is being discussed by the two nations' joint working group, and based on the results of their discussions, a final decision will be made at the South Korea-U.S.-alliance level," defense ministry spokesman Moon Sang-gyun said in a briefing. "As for the date of the announcement, nothing has been decided."



However, a military source said the two countries have agreed to deploy the THAAD battery at Pyeongtaek, Waegwan or Gunsan. The spokesman refused to comment on this.



"The two nations are finalizing their working-level decision on where to deploy a THAAD battery," a source said. "They have agreed not to put off making an official announcement."



Since North Korea launched a long-range rocket in February, the allies have held negotiations on the deployment in order to effectively deal with Pyongyang's evolving missile threats.



However, where to deploy THAAD has been a hot-button issue because the electromagnetic waves emitted by its radar are known to carry potential safety and environmental threats.



Due to the collateral damage, residents in Eumseong County recently vented their anger at the defense ministry and the government as news reports that the Army's missile command, stationed in the town, was seeking to purchase land there, igniting speculation that this was a preliminary step toward deploying the system there. Later, the command explained that the purchased land will be used for training by its troops.



In addition, the county launched a task force Monday to stage protests against deploying THAAD there.



"Although Eumseong was not mentioned in the news report, we cannot be relieved until a final decision on the site is made," said Lee Hwa-young, the task force chief.



Last week, Defense Minister Han Min-koo told the National Assembly that the allies would wrap up THAAD discussions within this month, raising speculations that they could come up with an official decision at the Security Consultation Meeting scheduled for October in Washington.



However, amid growing domestic and overseas opposition, the government has decided to move up the announcement, according to the source.




By Kim Se-jeong



Torrential rainfall will continue until Wednesday in Seoul and Gyeonggi Province, as well as central parts of the country, with up to 300 millimeters per day in some regions, the weather agency said Monday.



"The rain will stay so strong that it will be 30 millimeters per hour in some places, and that will be accompanied by strong winds and thunderstorms," according to the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA).



The KMA issued torrential rain advisories for South and North Chungcheong provinces, North Jeolla Province, Sejong and Daejeon, Monday as the continued downpour damaged buildings, roads and cars. The advisory was expanded into the capital region for the evening.



The heavy rain caused flooding, landslides and damage to property in many regions.



In Bonghwa, North Gyeongsang Province, a train heading for Daegu derailed in the morning after falling rocks hit the engine. Forty-two passengers were on board the six-car train, but none were injured.



In Jeonju, North Jeolla Province, a 1-ton rock hit a bean sprout factory at 7 a.m. The factory roof collapsed, but no casualties were reported because no one was inside at the time, local police said.



An 8-meter-high embankment collapsed at a park in Busan, with mud burying a truck, an electric scooter and a nearby road, according to local police. No casualties were reported.



The Busan police said between Sunday and Monday, it received 21 emergency calls as houses were buried under mud in a landslide, and roads in many sections of the city were closed due to flooding.



The KMA warned more damage can occur as rain will continue for several days.



For southern parts of the country, the weather agency forecast about 80 millimeters more rainfall until Wednesday.



The weather agency said scattered showers will continue in Seoul and Gyeonggi Province until Thursday. After a short break, the rain is expected to return this weekend accompanied by the year's first typhoon, Nepartak. Formed near Guam, Sunday, the typhoon is moving slowly northwest, and is expected to be 470 kilometers from Okinawa by Thursday morning.




South Korea is quickening negotiations and implementations of its free trade agreements (FTAs) as one way of alleviating the economic confusion from Brexit, finding new markets through the trade deals and making sure it is not falling out of regional pacts, officials said Monday.

After signing its first FTA in 2004 with Chile, South Korea now has agreements with 52 countries through 15 agreements. Officials say while last year's efforts were more on bilateral agreements, concentration this year will be on multilateral deals.

The foremost target is concluding the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) within this year. The 10 member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and six countries with which it has FTAs -- South Korea, China, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and India -- have held 13 rounds of talks and three more meetings at the ministerial level to thrust the agreement forward.

A completed RCEP would open up a market that was sized at US$22.6 trillion in 2014.

"A concluded RCEP would create a No. 2 mega FTA bloc," Yeo Han-koo, South Korea's top FTA negotiator, said. "South Korean companies will gain growth momentum through a bigger market and wider regions for investment, allowing them to link with competitive global values."

The government estimates that South Korea's real gross domestic product (GDP) will increase 1.21-1.76 percent over 10 years.

The latest talks for a trilateral FTA with China and Japan were held in Seoul last week, keeping alive negotiations that started in March 2013. The three nations have met 10 times so far, honing in on market access for products and services. South Koreans officials say the three-way FTA will help solidify the economic link in Northeast Asia and eventually become the base for a wider economic unity for East Asia.

The estimate for this FTA is 1.17-1.45 percent increase in real GDP for South Korea.

The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), projected to become the world's largest economic bloc with a value of $28.1 trillion, is an attractive option for South Korea, not only because of its sheer size but also the 95-100 percent tariff exemptions for member states. Sensitive issues, including rules in operations of state-run corporations and fishing industry subsidies, are holding South Korea back from jumping into the talks, but officials say they are closely following how the deal is progressing.

South Korea is advancing into new emerging markets through trade agreements.

The pact with Colombia will take effect on July 15, three years and five months after it was signed, to remove tariffs on most of the products traded between the two countries within 10 years. South Korea's exports of autos, petrochemicals and cosmetics are expected to greatly benefit.

An FTA with a bloc of Central and South American nations is in the works, covering Panama, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and Nicaragua. Formal talks began in June last year, followed by five rounds of negotiations so far. This particular FTA would open up opportunities for South Korean firms to participate in infrastructure projects of partner countries, who are not parties to the Government Procurement Agreement.

At the bilateral level, South Korea is in negotiations with Ecuador since August last year. Talks with Mexico, which had stopped in 2008, are scheduled to resume later this year.

Talks with Israel were held in Seoul last week. With India, South Korea is planning to update the existing Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, in effect since January 2010, for wider market access. (Yonhap)

South Korea is quickening negotiations and implementations of its free trade agreements (FTAs) as one way of alleviating the economic confusion from Brexit, finding new markets through the trade deals and making sure it is not falling out of regional pacts, officials said Monday.





After signing its first FTA in 2004 with Chile, South Korea now has agreements with 52 countries through 15 agreements. Officials say while last year's efforts were more on bilateral agreements, concentration this year will be on multilateral deals.





The foremost target is concluding the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) within this year. The 10 member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and six countries with which it has FTAs -- South Korea, China, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and India -- have held 13 rounds of talks and three more meetings at the ministerial level to thrust the agreement forward.





A completed RCEP would open up a market that was sized at US$22.6 trillion in 2014.





"A concluded RCEP would create a No. 2 mega FTA bloc," Yeo Han-koo, South Korea's top FTA negotiator, said. "South Korean companies will gain growth momentum through a bigger market and wider regions for investment, allowing them to link with competitive global values."





The government estimates that South Korea's real gross domestic product (GDP) will increase 1.21-1.76 percent over 10 years.





The latest talks for a trilateral FTA with China and Japan were held in Seoul last week, keeping alive negotiations that started in March 2013. The three nations have met 10 times so far, honing in on market access for products and services. South Koreans officials say the three-way FTA will help solidify the economic link in Northeast Asia and eventually become the base for a wider economic unity for East Asia.





The estimate for this FTA is 1.17-1.45 percent increase in real GDP for South Korea.





The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), projected to become the world's largest economic bloc with a value of $28.1 trillion, is an attractive option for South Korea, not only because of its sheer size but also the 95-100 percent tariff exemptions for member states. Sensitive issues, including rules in operations of state-run corporations and fishing industry subsidies, are holding South Korea back from jumping into the talks, but officials say they are closely following how the deal is progressing.























South Korea is advancing into new emerging markets through trade agreements.





The pact with Colombia will take effect on July 15, three years and five months after it was signed, to remove tariffs on most of the products traded between the two countries within 10 years. South Korea's exports of autos, petrochemicals and cosmetics are expected to greatly benefit.





An FTA with a bloc of Central and South American nations is in the works, covering Panama, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and Nicaragua. Formal talks began in June last year, followed by five rounds of negotiations so far. This particular FTA would open up opportunities for South Korean firms to participate in infrastructure projects of partner countries, who are not parties to the Government Procurement Agreement.





At the bilateral level, South Korea is in negotiations with Ecuador since August last year. Talks with Mexico, which had stopped in 2008, are scheduled to resume later this year.





Talks with Israel were held in Seoul last week. With India, South Korea is planning to update the existing Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, in effect since January 2010, for wider market access. (Yonhap)




Japan is facing growing demand that it make more efforts to shed light on its dark history related to an island where many Korean workers were forced into labor during World War II.



Hashima Island, located off the Japanese city of Nagasaki's coast, was added to the UNESCO World Heritage list in July 2015 for industrial sites used decades ago.



South Korea voiced protest against the move as its people were forced onto the uninhabited island in the 1940s to work in coal mines there. UNESCO recommended Tokyo include a "full history" related to those facilities.



An official from Japan's Cabinet Secretariat recently told Yonhap News Agency that the government is considering ways on how to explain the world heritage sites based on opinions from experts.



His comment was a response to a question raised about preparations that have been made to more fully explain the island's history as the first anniversary of it being added to the heritage list approaches.



The official added that explanations about the fact that there was a policy for forced labor existed will be included. He said that the efforts will be made in recognition of harsh conditions under which Korean laborers had to work decades ago.



He, however, noted that the deadline for Japan to submit its "follow-up measures" after the designation is more than a year away, hinting that Tokyo will not be in a hurry to make any decisions on what explanations about forced laborers will be included.



Tokyo has been under criticism for changing its stance and promises related to the island.



A Japanese representative made a speech last year at a World Heritage committee meeting in which he apparently admitted there was coercion involved in bringing workers to the island. Japan later denied acknowledging that there was any coercion involved.



Tokyo has become ambiguous in dealing with the issue ever since, with some media outlets even causing fresh controversy by apparently trying to dilute historical facts.



A Japanese media report earlier said that the city of Nagasaki had distributed a document to the department in charge of tourism in which it explained the life on the island was like any other "coal mine community" and people there were like a "family."



A Seoul government report released years ago showed that around 120 Koreans were confirmed dead after being forcibly taken to work in the coal mines on the island also known as Battleship Island as it looks like a battle ship.



Japan has been asked to submit its implementation report on how it has carried out the recommendations made by UNESCO no later than Dec. 1, 2017. (Yonhap)




A senior South Korean foreign ministry official will leave for Britain to discuss its recent decision to leave the European Union with local officials and experts, a source here said Monday.

Kim Hyoung-zhin, South Korea's deputy foreign minister, will hold talks with Hugo Swire, his British counterpart, on the Brexit decision in London on Monday (local time), according to the ministry.

Last month, Britons held a referendum and voted to leave the EU. Following the so-called Brexit decision, global financial markets panicked causing share prices to plunge. More recently, things have stabilized to some extent, with the market recovering lost ground.

The deputy foreign minister's meeting with Swire will mark the first high-ranking face-to-face discussion between the two countries after the vote.

Kim is to have a chance to listen to explanations on the background behind Britain's move to leave the EU. He is also scheduled to meet with officials from major local think tanks during his stay there, the ministry said. (Yonhap)
The U.S. Democratic Party has released the final draft of its policy platform ahead of the upcoming presidential convention, vowing to bolster the alliance with South Korea and push back against North Korean aggression.

"North Korea is perhaps the most repressive regime on the planet, run by a sadistic dictator. It has conducted several nuclear tests and is attempting to develop the capability to put a nuclear warhead on a long-range missile that could directly threaten the United States," the platform said.

"Yet Donald Trump praises North Korea's dictator, threatens to abandon our treaty allies, Japan and South Korea, and encourages the proliferation of nuclear weapons in the region. This approach is incoherent and rather than solving a global crisis, would create a new one," it said.

The platform also said that Democrats will "protect America and our allies, press China to restrain North Korea, and sharpen the choices for Pyongyang to compel it to abandon its illegal nuclear and missile programs."

The Korea part in the draft was largely similar to a foreign policy speech that Democratic Party presidential candidate Hillary Clinton delivered last month, highlighting the differences in the values she and Trump attach to American allies.

"From the Asia Pacific to the Indian Ocean, we will deepen our alliances in the region with Australia, Japan, New Zealand, the Philippines, South Korea and Thailand," the platform said. "We will push back against North Korean aggression and press China to play by the rules."

The draft platform is expected to be endorsed by the full 187-member platform committee later this week before being formally adopted when the party holds its presidential convention in Philadelphia later this month to formally select Clinton as its presidential nominee.

On economic issues, the party was critical of free trade and vowed a review of trade deals.

"Over the past three decades, America has signed too many trade deals that have not lived up to the hype. Trade deals often boosted the profits of large corporations, while at the same time failing to protect workers' rights, labor standards, the environment and public health," the draft said.

"Democrats believe we should review agreements negotiated years ago to update them to reflect these principles. Any future trade agreements must make sure that our trading partners cannot undercut American workers by taking shortcuts on labor policy or the environment," it said.

But the party does not have a clear position on whether it supports or rejects the 12-nation Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) free trade deal awaiting legislative approval, only saying there is a diversity of views in the party.

Trump has also been highly critical of free trade deals.

In an economic speech last week, the real-estate tycoon vowed to pull out of the TPP if elected president. He also said he would immediately renegotiate NAFTA to get a better deal, and withdraw from the deal unless Canada and Mexico agree to a renegotiation. (Yonhap)

The U.S. Democratic Party has released the final draft of its policy platform ahead of the upcoming presidential convention, vowing to bolster the alliance with South Korea and push back against North Korean aggression.





"North Korea is perhaps the most repressive regime on the planet, run by a sadistic dictator. It has conducted several nuclear tests and is attempting to develop the capability to put a nuclear warhead on a long-range missile that could directly threaten the United States," the platform said.





"Yet Donald Trump praises North Korea's dictator, threatens to abandon our treaty allies, Japan and South Korea, and encourages the proliferation of nuclear weapons in the region. This approach is incoherent and rather than solving a global crisis, would create a new one," it said.





The platform also said that Democrats will "protect America and our allies, press China to restrain North Korea, and sharpen the choices for Pyongyang to compel it to abandon its illegal nuclear and missile programs."





The Korea part in the draft was largely similar to a foreign policy speech that Democratic Party presidential candidate Hillary Clinton delivered last month, highlighting the differences in the values she and Trump attach to American allies.





"From the Asia Pacific to the Indian Ocean, we will deepen our alliances in the region with Australia, Japan, New Zealand, the Philippines, South Korea and Thailand," the platform said. "We will push back against North Korean aggression and press China to play by the rules."





The draft platform is expected to be endorsed by the full 187-member platform committee later this week before being formally adopted when the party holds its presidential convention in Philadelphia later this month to formally select Clinton as its presidential nominee.





On economic issues, the party was critical of free trade and vowed a review of trade deals.





"Over the past three decades, America has signed too many trade deals that have not lived up to the hype. Trade deals often boosted the profits of large corporations, while at the same time failing to protect workers' rights, labor standards, the environment and public health," the draft said.





"Democrats believe we should review agreements negotiated years ago to update them to reflect these principles. Any future trade agreements must make sure that our trading partners cannot undercut American workers by taking shortcuts on labor policy or the environment," it said.





But the party does not have a clear position on whether it supports or rejects the 12-nation Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) free trade deal awaiting legislative approval, only saying there is a diversity of views in the party.





Trump has also been highly critical of free trade deals.





In an economic speech last week, the real-estate tycoon vowed to pull out of the TPP if elected president. He also said he would immediately renegotiate NAFTA to get a better deal, and withdraw from the deal unless Canada and Mexico agree to a renegotiation. (Yonhap)










North Korean leader Kim Jong-un smoked while visiting a school. /Yonhap



By Lee Jin-a

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has smoked a cigarette while visiting a school, a photo released by the North's mouthpiece media shows, Sunday.

In images provided by Korean Central Television (KCT), Kim is seen smoking in a gym and in a classroom while touring a middle school in Pyongyang.

The heavy smoker had reportedly stopped smoking in public for 80 days after the government intensified its anti-smoking campaign.

But he resumed smoking earlier last month at the Mangyongdae Children's Camp in Pyongyang.

A North Korea expert said Kim may have resumed smoking in public to inspire nostalgia toward North Korean founder Kim Il-sung, who also smoked.

"But it's difficult to understand why the North Korean media stressed the detrimental effects of smoking and then showed Kim doing exactly that," he said.

In the anti-smoking campaign video that the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) aired on May 24, North Korean women said smokers were "rude" and had "no common sense."
By Yi Whan-woo

North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho is likely to attend the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) slated for July 26 in Laos, according to diplomatic sources, Monday.

If true, this will be Ri's first appearance at a multilateral meeting since taking office in May.

South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se will also attend, but the two are not likely to meet.

This year's ARF will attract diplomats from 27 countries, including all members of the six-party talks aimed at Pyongyang's denuclearization as well as the 10 ASEAN-member states.

"It is seen that Ri will concentrate on promoting North Korea's propaganda as a nuclear weapons state," a source said on condition of anonymity.

Ri, a career diplomat, was North Korea's top representative for the six-party talks that involve the two Koreas, the United States, China, Japan and Russia.

Yun is expected to urge international support to better implement the U.N. Security Council's latest sanctions on Pyongyang.

Ri's possible visit will come at a time when North Korea has been seeking to strengthen its ties with its traditional allies to counterbalance Seoul's efforts to accelerate Pyongyang's international isolation.

In May through June, President Park Geun-hye and Yun visited Iran, Cuba, Uganda, China, Bulgaria and Russia  which all have had diplomatic ties with North Korea.

North Korea has stepped up its nuclear weapons program this year. It fired a Hwasong-10 intermediate range ballistic missile on June 22, after carrying out its fourth nuclear test on Jan. 4 and a series of ballistic missile tests afterwards.

The Kim Jong-un regime invited Salvador Valdes Mesa, a special envoy to Cuban President Raul Castro to Pyongyang last week.

Ri also visited Beijing in late May as Kim's special envoy and met Chinese President Xi Jinping.
By Casey Lartigue Jr.

On December 11, 1969, a North Korean agent hijacked domestic flight Korean Air NAMC YS-11 from Gangwon to Gimpo just 10 minutes after take-off at 12:25 pm. All 50 people on board (46 passengers and 4 crew members) were abducted by North Korea.

The North Korean government eventually released 39 people, but held the other 11. One of those kidnapped is Hwang Won, then a producer with MBC. For about 15 years, his son, Hwang In-Cheol, has been asking the North Korean regime to return his father, doing a balancing act of raising awareness and pressure, without unnecessarily provoking the regime, and keeping it a non-political purely humanitarian effort.

It is not often that we get to collaborate with people who are connected to historical events, but on March 20 of this year, I met In-Cheol at the International Volunteers Workshop. An organization I founded with my South Korean partner, Teach North Korean Refugees (TNKR), is an NGO focusing on North Korean refugees, but we also allow South Koreans in as learners if they help North Korean refugees or can demonstrate a special relationship with North Korea. We invited In-Cheol to join TNKR as a student studying with volunteer English tutors so he can prepare to share his message in English and to join our special project addressing North Korean related issues so he could build a team of volunteers to help him with his cause.

For 15 years, In-Cheol has been holding one-man demonstrations, occasionally working with international and domestic NGOs and governments in his attempt to have his father returned from North Korea. He hit a low point when he lost money, and has had family members try to convince him to give up.

He has refused to let the father he barely knew be forgotten by the world. On June 17, he led a rally at Imjingak's Freedom Bridge (near the DMZ) along with 15 volunteers from TNKR and family members.

Based on pure numbers, the rally would be considered a failure, with only 15 of us participating. To In-Cheol, after doing this on his own for 15 years, it looked like an army a million-strong had joined him. So many people talk about saving the world, but they can't even help one individual. Many don't realize that their presence at events and small donations can help a cause and lift the spirits of those involved.

The most unlikely attendee at the rally: Cecilia. She was just a few months old and her brother In-Cheol was two years old when their father was taken from them by North Korea. She says that she had given up, trying for years to convince her brother and mother to move on with their lives. She now lives in the UK, she returned to South Korea last week to see their ailing mother, to observe the rally, and to see if she could really trust the people who have joined her brother's cause.

On April 13, when we started collaborating with her brother, I posted a photo on Facebook. She was shocked: Her brother had a big grin on his face. She informed me a few days ago that she had not seen him smile in years, that she had hated seeing photos from his one-man demonstrations. Over the last few months, she has seen volunteers from Germany, South Korea, Switzerland, France, the USA and even North Korea join him, in happy group photos as we planned the rally and other activities.

At the June 17 rally, when I met Cecilia for the first time, she told me that it felt like a dream. I pinched one of our interns, then said, "Nope, this is not a dream." She thanked us for giving a voice to him. She admits that she had tried to hide from the kidnapping. With a team of international volunteers, she said, "I feel like I have hands, arms, legs, a voice. The little weak girl could stand up."

The news media occasionally stumbles upon their story, driving by to take snapshots, then driving on to the next story and rarely looking back. The family has been in pain for 47 years, marking anniversaries and living successes and failures without Hwang Won.

The biggest compliment Cecilia gave to me as we talked a few days after the rally: "You are the person who makes invisible people visible. You listen to people, find out what they need, and try to find people who can help them so their voices can be heard. I finally feel that I have the power for my voice to be heard."

We hope we can continue to make their voices heard, that others will sign the online petition and join us this December to mark the 47th anniversary of KAL NAMC YS-11 being hijacked on December 11, 1969.

Casey Lartigue Jr. is the co-founder of Teach North Korean Refugees (TNKR) in Seoul. He can be reached at CJL@post.harvard.edu.
 Flash

China will not resume negotiations with the Philippines about disputes in the South China Sea if the discussions are based on the ruling of an arbitral tribunal in The Hague, according to sources.

The negotiations have been stalled for years, and the tribunal is due to announce its ruling on July 12.

The sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, are close to the issues between the two countries. The tribunal is in charge of the arbitration process that was launched unilaterally by the Philippines against China in 2013.

Many observers have voiced hopes that the chilly relations between Beijing and Manila will end after Rodrigo Duterte took office as the 16th Philippine president on Thursday.

"Manila must put aside the result of the arbitration in a substantive approach," one of the sources said.

The sources also said Beijing is ready to start negotiations on issues such as joint development and cooperation in scientific research if the new government puts the tribunal's ruling aside before returning to the table for talks.

China has rejected being part of the compulsory arbitral proceedings partly because the case involves sovereignty and maritime delimitation, which it declared in 2006 are issues that are not subject to any third-party arbitration.

Although the outgoing Philippine government said it had exhausted all diplomatic approaches before seeking arbitration, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said Manila did not embark on any serious two-way negotiations over the claims it had raised with the tribunal.

Wilson Lee Flores, an analyst and columnist for the Philippine Star newspaper, said he expects "more pragmatism and bilateral diplomacy to prevail in the Duterte government's dealings with China, instead of the past six years of confrontations".

Normalizing bilateral relations with China would help to balance the Philippines' foreign policy with its traditional ally the United States, Flores said.

Li Guoqiang, a senior researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences' Institute of Chinese Borderland Studies, said: "For all the disputes concerning the South China Sea, negotiation is the only choice and the only viable approach. Confrontation will never help to resolve the South China Sea issue."

Li said that no matter how the tribunal rules, he believes the situation will not go into free fall, but that the decision will possibly lead to some "new chaos".

"No matter how the new president acts on the ruling, diplomatic negotiation is second to none. Using the ruling as a condition for resuming diplomatic consultations will not be viable," Li said.

Zhu Feng, professor and executive director at Nanjing University's China Center for Collaborative Studies of the South China Sea, said it will be "a very important and ideal start" if the new Philippine government repairs ties with China.

He said this will be the case if it "effectively manages in a reasoned manner the impact brought by the ruling on the existing bilateral disputes between China and the Philippines".


By Kang Hyun-kyung

Park Hyon-do, a research professor at the Myongji University Institute of Middle Eastern Affairs in Seoul, had the rare experience of flying with Christian missionaries during his recent business trip to Iran.

Park realized they were missionaries heading to the Islamic country on a secret mission to spread the word of God after overhearing their private conversation on the plane, which included a prayer and sharing of Bible scriptures.

"In fact, I did meet Korean missionaries in Iran years before the nuclear-related sanctions were lifted," he said. "I knew they were Christian missionaries because they declined to answer what they were doing for a living in Iran when I spoke to them. It's highly likely that Koreans, who decline to mention their profession in the Middle East, are Christian missionaries."

Park said the plane that he took was crowded with groups of Koreans from diverse backgrounds, including business travelers.

Following the lifting of nuclear-related sanctions in January, Iran has emerged as a hot market for Korean businesses. Government officials rushed to the Islamic country to strengthen inter-government relations to benefit Korean companies in future construction bids. Tourists have joined the move and headed to Iran to explore the less beaten track.

Park Hyon-do, second from left, a research professor at the Myongji University Institute of Middle Eastern

Affairs in Seoul, listens to Archbishop Babkan Charian of the Armenian Prelacy of Isfahan, left, as the religious leader gave a guided tour to the Holy Savior Cathedral in Iran for the Korean delegation in January. Park, along with Korean religious leaders, visited Iran for the 5th Roundtable Interfaith Dialogue seminar between the Korea Conference of Religions for Peace and Iran's Center for Interreligious Dialogue held on January 26.

/ Park Hyon-do photo

There is another group set to expand its activities in post-sanction Iran  Christian missionaries. The Seoul-based Met-Middle East Team is one of the most active Christian organizations that have expanded its missions in the Middle East. The inter-denomination missionary group was founded by 51 members in 1984.

Christian groups seeking to perform missionary work in the Middle East formed the so-called Islam Partnership, an initiative to share their experiences and know-how about religious activities in the region.





Prospects for their missionary activities in the Middle East, however, are far from rosy. Just like in other Middle Eastern countries, spreading non-Islamic religions is prohibited in Iran. Missionaries who are caught doing so are forced to leave the country.

Religious minorities, such as the Armenian Prelacy of Isfahan, are based in Iran. According to Park, religious believers other than Muslims are allowed to stay in Iran but their religious activities to influence and convert Muslims to their religions are prohibited.

Rev. Lee Man-seok of the 4Him Church in Seoul's northeastern district of Mia-dong returned to Korea in 2004, 19 years after his clandestine mission in Iran. He was deported by the Iranian authorities after they discovered his missionary work.





Lee said Christian missions in post-sanction Iran are as tough as they were in the past when multilayered sanctions were still in place. "It's impossible to imagine that Iran will allow foreign missionaries to perform religious activities in their land in the foreseeable future. It may happen if the Islamic government is overthrown someday. But at the moment, expecting Iran to allow freedom of religion in the country is unrealistic."

Lee had lived in Tehran for for 15 out of his 19 years in the Islamic country. He said he went to Iran because he was called upon by the Lord to spread his word there. Asked how he was able to live up to his commitments for such a long time, he said there was a small number of Iranians who were close to him, and after he gained their trust through years of friendship, they gradually opened their hearts to the Christian belief.

"People ask why I did such a risky mission in Iran. I say we Christians are supposed to spread the word of God despite a myriad of challenges. Many early Christian missionaries and believers lost their lives after the Western religion came to Korea. But the early Christians were fearless and lived up to their religious commitments," he said.

He said to his knowledge, there are few Korean missionaries in Iran at the moment. "We have no accurate data on the number of missionaries sent to the Middle East, though, because of the clandestine nature of their missions there."

Lee established the 4Him Church in 2005 to share God's word with Iranians living in Seoul. According to him, 11 Iranians now attend his church.

Park expressed worries about Korean missionaries in Iran, saying the consequences of their religious activities don't stop with their deportation.

"Their violation of the local law would negatively affect Korean companies operating in Iran or those who are planning to enter the emerging market, because the Iranian authorities will be suspicious of all Koreans who attempt to enter their country," he said.

"Iran allows Christians to travel in the country, but spreading their religious beliefs or trying to convert Iranians into religions other than Islam is strictly banned."

He said not only businesspeople, but also student visa holders will find it tougher to enter Iran.

Park said that if the number of Koreans who were asked to leave Iran for their religious activities there increases, Korea-Iran relations will inevitably worsen. According to him, Koreans' religious activities have been a touchy issue in the Middle East for the past 10 years.

As of 2011, some 20,000 Koreans are serving as missionaries in 117 countries all across the world. About 23 percent of them are based in Islamic countries, including in the Middle East and North Africa, according to the 2012 Islam Institute of Korea report. They have been sent by tens of Christian groups to expand the influence of their churches or groups to foreign lands.

Those Christian missionaries enter the Middle Eastern countries with visas issued for humanitarian workers, nongovernmental organization volunteers or sometimes students. They perform missionary work secondary to their main job or purpose for traveling there.

Lee Jin-gu, a senior research fellow at the Seoul-based Korea Institute for Religion and Culture, said conservative fundamental Christian churches have prioritized expanding their churches in Islamic countries, like they did in the former communist states after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1989.

"Their initial priority was on the Commonwealth of Independent States following the demise of the communist regimes in Eastern Europe in the early 1990s," he said. "Under the name of Northern Mission, some Protestant church leaders rolled up their sleeves to expand the influence of their churches there. Their endeavors often resulted in clashes with the CIS governments, and there were some outstanding issues related to their missionary work in Russia."

According to Lee, Islamic countries have become their next missionary target.

"Islamic countries are uncharted lands in the eyes of the Christian groups for a different reason. Although Christians are allowed to enter those countries, most of the Islamic governments have never allowed Christian missionaries or activists from other religions to spread their religious beliefs in their lands," he said.

"Islamic countries were and still are important for the Korean Christian groups because their populations account for a considerable part of Asia."

Lee said Korean churches began to look to overseas missions after the 1988 Seoul Olympics. After the Olympics, the government started to ease travel regulations, enabling Koreans to travel abroad freely without permission from the government. Before the Olympics, Koreans had to get permits from the government in order to travel to foreign countries.

"Foreign missions require missionaries or Christian activists to travel overseas freely. This is one reason Korean Christian groups have been active in foreign missions since the Olympics," he said. "The other reason for that is more intrinsic. Korean churches had grown fast, perhaps the fastest in the world, in terms of the number of Christian believers during the 1970s and 80s. After the 80s, churches realized that the pace (of growth) had slowed down, so they turned their attention to foreign countries."
By Kim Min-seo



When I read Mark Widdowson's article in Mashable that reported the findings of a recent research sponsored by the National Institute for Mental Health, I was intrigued.

The finding said, "Levels of depression increased with total amount of time spent using social media."

The popularity of social networking sites such as Facebook and Instagram is hard to ignore. Statistics say one billion people are active on Facebook and more than 100 million people use Instagram every month. Especially teenagers like me spend countless hours on social media. Some of my friends use social media to improve their self-esteem or become popular.

May is the most sensitive month for college-bound teenagers. It's when all the college results are finalized. It's when Facebook is most active too. Students post college names they got in to, and often display pictures wearing their committed college's sweatshirt.

Initially, I was happy to see all of my friends' hard work finally being paid off. However, as I scrolled down and saw pictures of my friends wearing sweatshirts of colleges that I was denied entry to, I felt my stomach plunge. Winddowson said in the article, "...sometimes comparison can be a way to inspire ourselves to improve in some way, but, more often than not  especially when someone is feeling down or is prone to depression  the comparisons become negative, and erode self-esteem."

When I clicked yes to my friends' pictures, I realized the "like" button can be a mask, and behind the mask there can be depression. I experienced such a mask and depression when my friends and I look through Facebook stories and pictures together. Our conversation frequently became judgmental and depressing. Especially when we see pictures of our friends having fun in Hawaii or bragging about getting a car for a birthday present, we usually grumbled one another. "Why can't I be her?" or "Why is my life..."

Surely Facebook worked as a catalyst for our dissatisfaction. Nevertheless, when I read Winddowson's article that said, "...although everyone else might seem to be having a great time, news feeds are more biased toward showing all the fun, interesting things that people are doing," I realized that Facebook posts only portray a single story or selected story, not the full story of someone. Whenever I click the "like" button these days, I know now how to read between the lines.

Kim Min-seo is a senior student at Forest Ridge High School in Bellevue, Washington State, and a staff writer for the school newspaper. Write to mikim@forestridge.org.
By John J. Metzler





It's one of those rites of late spring when members of the U.N.'s General Assembly come together to choose five new non-permanent members of the 15-member Security Council. But what's usually a spirited but pro-forma election of candidates, this year was carried out in the shadow of the COVID-19 pandemic and in the awkward spirit of social distancing.



Diplomats from the 193-member states entered the cavernous but near-empty General Assembly hall to vote in a complicated phased time-slot fashion. This marked the first time in more than three months that delegates visited the still-shut United Nations headquarters.



Political lobbying and jockeying for seats on the Security Council remains an annual ritual: Countries select candidates from regional groups years ahead, and then begin the marathon process of preparing to present their case and country presumably best suited for the two-year council tenure.



Earlier this year, when election cajoling was beginning to reach its crescendo, the pandemic hit, shutting down the U.N. and sidetracking the political momentum. Yet online campaigns continued, but the time-honored diplomatic glad-handing, receptions and schmoozing among the contenders were largely neutralized by the cruel rules of social distancing.



So here's the outcome selecting five of the 10 rotating countries on the council who will join the permanent veto holding members -- Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States.



Western European and others group



In a fierce contest, three countries competed for two seats -- Ireland, Norway and Canada. Norway, a clear favorite won handily, especially given its humanitarian and peacekeeping credentials.



The real contest emerged between Ireland and Canada, both of whom spent considerable sums on lobbying. Ireland sponsored a Bono U2 concert last year while Canada flew in Celine Dion for an electoral soiree. Both countries wined and dined delegates for the coveted council seat. But this was Canada's seat to lose (as it did a decade ago); Canada lost again.



Ireland ran a better campaign (online too) stressing its empathy for all things global. Despite being a smaller financial donor to the U.N. system than Canada, the Republic of Ireland played its traditional peacekeeping cards; currently Ireland has 466 men and women in blue helmet operations. Equally Ireland was strongly backed by the European Union.

Back in the day, Canada's strong suit was also peacekeeping, along with its massive and generous development assistance. Though 125,000 Canadians served in peacekeeping operations from the earliest missions, in recent years the commitment sadly appears to have dimmed -- currently only 34 Canadians serve in the U.N. multifaceted blue helmeted missions.



By losing again, Canada misses out on the chance to be back on the council after a 20-year break, presenting a stinging political slap to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's woke Liberal government.

As Canada's National Post opined editorially, "Trudeau has spent millions of dollars, pledged millions more in aid, strained relations with some of our closest allies" and courted dictators in a failed bid to get the two-year term on the Security Council.

African group

Here was the other significant showdown when the voting went into a second day of balloting. Kenya faced off Djibouti and Kenya won with a 129 majority to 62. Kenya represented English speaking African states while Djibouti, a former French colony, was supported by the Francophonie.

China supported Djibouti's case as the small but strategic state at the mouth of the Red Sea hosts a Chinese military base. Beijing equally maintains close ties to Kenya.

Asian group

India was the unopposed candidate and thus won the council seat. India replaces Indonesia.

Latin American group

Mexico was equally unopposed and won, replacing the Dominican Republic.



Realistically what is the effect on the council's dynamic starting in 2021 and moreover what does this mean for U.S. policy?



Among the European group Norway and Ireland replace Germany and Belgium. While both countries have been largely supportive of U.S. policy, Norway and Ireland, should not likely change any balance.



India's return to the council (it's been a member on eight occasions) replacing Indonesia, could noticeably move the needle toward the U.S. if only because of India's deteriorating relations with China. Despite India's closer political friendship with Washington, don't assume that New Delhi will rush to overtly support American policy. Nonetheless it's a clear plus.



Kenya replaces South Africa, basically even, while Mexico's ascent replacing the Dominican Republic offers a slight positive to the U.S.



Moving forward when the new members assume their places in January, they will face a world shaped by COVID-19 and its bitter aftermath.



John J. Metzler (jjmcolumn@earthlink.net) is a United Nations correspondent covering diplomatic and defense issues. He is the author of "Divided Dynamism -- The Diplomacy of Separated Nations: Germany, Korea, China."
By Doug Bandow

Watching the Brexit campaign generated mixed feelings: It was a little like the man who saw his mother-in-law drive his new Mercedes off a cliff. In the United Kingdom some people who hated free trade, immigration, and market innovation challenged the officious, wannabe super-state headquartered in Brussels. Who to cheer for?

The Brexiteers, who deserve at least a couple hurrahs. The European Union created a common economic market throughout the continent, an undoubted good, but since then has focused on becoming a meddling Leviathan like that in Washington, D.C. The good guys won.

1) Average folks took on the commanding heights of politics, business, journalism, and academia and triumphed. Obviously, the "little guy" isn't always right, but the fact he can win evidences a system which remains open to all of us.

2) Told to choose between economic bounty and self-governance, a majority of Britons chose the latter. It's a false choice in this case, but people recognized that the sum of human existence is not material.

3) Those governed decided that they should make fundamental decisions about who would rule over them. The Eurocrats, a gaggle of politicians, bureaucrats, journalists, academics, lobbyists, businessmen, and others, were determined to achieve their ends no matter what the people thought. No longer, said the British.

4) The rule of law will be respected  or at least not so flagrantly flouted. Those signing up as EU members did not realize that the it would be a transfer union. At least some countries likely would not have agreed to expand Brussels' writ had they realized that explicit strictures against bail-outs would be ostentatiously ignored.

5) Routine incantations of the need for "more Europe" and importance of "European solidarity" no longer will be confused with arguments. Those in charge always want more  more money to distribute, publicity to satisfy, rules to enforce, and power to wield. Their vision of "more Europe" is Europe giving them more.

6) Democracy triumphed over bureaucratic inertia. The EU is known for its "democratic deficit," a hydra-headed, unelected executive. The Brussels bureaucracy has become the perfect means to impose policies which otherwise lack political support.

7) The pretensions of the EU as Weltmacht never looked so silly. A flag that no one salutes and anthem that no one sings. Multiple presidents: three, four, or is it five? Insistence that all which is good and decent comes from the EU as ever more people organize and vote against it.

8) Demonstrating that other EU members can throw off the cloak of, if not tyranny, bureaucratic obsession. The EU most often crushes unplanned independent thinking. The Eurocrats always seemed to win. Until now.

9) The recognition that most human decisions are not wrong but different, and need not be uniform across a continent, especially one made up of such diverse peoples. People often value different approaches and standards and are entitled to live their lives as they wish, even if inconsistent with the continent's most "progressive" thinking.

10) The Brits ignored silly scare-mongering about how Europe and, indeed, Western Civilization, would be threatened if the UK left the EU. Britain would still be a member of NATO  just as Turkey belongs to the military alliance but not the EU. World peace does not depend on Britain in or out of the EU.

11) Schadenfreude is a terrible thing, but almost all of us glory in the misfortune of at least some others. The recriminations among the Remain camp in Britain are terrible to behold. Labour Party tribunes blame their leader Jeremy Corbyn, whose supporters blame the Scottish nationalists. Almost everyone fingers Cameron. Apparently America isn't the only home for myopic bickering.

12) Sometimes the advocate of a lost cause triumphs. Nigel Farage has been campaigning against the EU forever, it seems. Yet every advance appeared to trigger a retreat. Even election night he admitted that it looked like the British would choose to remain. Except they ended up taking his advice.

13) A bracing reminder that people want to believe that their views matter, that what they do actually makes a difference and those claiming to represent them actually listen. Otherwise, normally decent folk will look the fringes to find political champions willing to speak for them.

Could Brexit turn out to be a mistake? Yes. We live in an uncertain world with imperfect knowledge. We can only guess at the future. And Britain has been capably governing itself for hundreds if not thousands of years.

Doug Bandow is a former Special Assistant to President Ronald Reagan and author of Foreign Follies: America's New Global Empire. He is a Senior Fellow at the Cato Institute.
National Assembly should behave or face voters' anger



The National Assembly has come under criticism for revelations about the behavior of lawmakers.



Rep. Seo Young-kyo of the main opposition Minjoo Party of Korea (MPK) was found to have put a relative on the state payroll as an aide and received part of the salary as kickbacks, while also hiring her daughter as a paid intern. Even more surprising is that she is not alone; rather it is a common practice among lawmakers. Rep. Park Sun-sook of the minor opposition People's Party is accused of accepting kickbacks from the party's PR agencies before the April 13 general election. These are not isolated cases.



MPK chairman, Rep. Kim Chong-in, made an apology, while Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo of the People's Party resigned. The National Assembly is using the same old tactic  promising to give up some perks  and the voters should know better than to fall for it. Rather, pressure should be kept up to target the heart of their privileges  an exemption from being arrested and immunity of speech  and force the National Assembly to lead by example.



Both privileges have been abused often. For instance, the exemption mandates law enforcement authorities to seek the approval of the National Assembly before arresting a lawmaker during a session. Currently, a motion for approval is automatically discarded, if a vote is not conducted within 72 hours.



In 2012, Rep. Chung Doo-un of the ruling Saenuri Party, a confidant of Former President Lee Myung-bak, was charged with receiving 200 million won in bribes from a savings bank chairman and the motion for his arrest was put to a vote but failed to pass. Out of 271 votes, only 74 were in favor. The public backlash forced the Saenuri leadership to resign, but the law has withstood the test.



A vote last year on the motion for Rep. Song Kwang-ho, also of the Saenuri party, who was charged with bribery, was also rejected with only 73 in support.



These strong nay votes present a rare case in which lawmakers set aside political differences and unite  when they want to protect this privilege.



Lawmakers often indulge themselves in the immunity privilege  the latest case involved Rep. Cho Eung-chon of the MPK, who recently accused a senior TV network executive of sexual harassment, but it proved to be a false claim. Although Cho's case ended with his retraction and apology, there are other cases that tie up Assembly operations, opening the way for wasteful political wrangling.



These two privileges originated from an earlier time when autocracy prevailed in the West. For Korea, they were no doubt necessary tools for the political opposition to fight dictatorships, which often resorted to extreme measures to harass and silence them.



Now the age of dictatorship is gone and these tools are seen as unnecessary privileges that alienate the public, making them wonder whether their elected representatives are their servants or masters.



It is time for them to reform our politics by demanding that our leaders set an example and lead on the basis of the people's respect. Their power derives from their will to serve the people, not from those privileges. The incumbent lawmakers should be prepared to let them go.




South Korea and the United States' negotiations on the deployment of an advanced American defense shield in the Northeast Asian country are still on-going, with the allies remaining undecided over when to announce the results of the talks, the defense ministry's spokesman said Monday.

"The THAAD deployment is being discussed by (the allies') joint working group, and based on the results of their discussion, a final decision will be made at the South Korea-U.S.-alliance level," Moon Sang-gyun, spokesman at the Ministry of National Defense, said in a regular briefing.

"As with the date of the announcement, nothing has been decided," he said.

The comments came amid rising speculations that the allies may soon announce their decision to deploy the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system, including where it will be placed in the South.

Shortly after North Korea conducted its nuclear test and long-range missile launch earlier this year, Seoul and Washington launched official talks to deploy the anti-ballistic missile system to better guard against advances made by North Korea's missile threats.

A week earlier, Defense Minister Han Min-koo told the National Assembly's defense committee that the results from the South Korea-U.S.' discussions are expected sometime within this year.

Some media outlets predicted the allies' defense chiefs may use the venue of their annual Security Consultation Meeting, set for October in Washington this year, to unveil the results of the negotiations. (Yonhap)
By Andrew Salmon

One hundred and six years after the Kingdom of Joseon (1392-1910) fell to the dominant globalizing force of its day  aggressive colonialism  another country is assuming the mantle of "The Hermit Kingdom."

In a national referendum, the United Kingdom voted itself out of the world's most ambitious globalization project, the European Union (EU). Detaching themselves from the largest free-trade, free-travel and free-residence zone on earth, Britons ignored all advice from political, diplomatic and economic experts.

Shock followed shock. After the prime minister resigned, the leaders of the "Leave" campaign admitted that they had no plans on how to execute the "Brexit" they had demanded. In the face of this staggering confession, the breaking of their major campaign promises and the downfall of their oafish leader were minor developments.

The U.K. is now spinning in a vortex of crises  political, constitutional, diplomatic and economic  that are, in sum, greater than any challenge it has faced since World War II.

Politically: the prime minister has resigned and the major political parties are in turmoil. Constitutionally: Scotland seems determined to depart from the U.K. if the U.K. departs from the EU. Diplomatically: the U.K.'s erstwhile European partners are talking tough about extrication negotiations. Economically: the U.K.'s credit ratings have been slashed, the pound sterling has plunged and investment is frozen.

Essentially, the U.K. has sodomized itself with an ill-judged, myopic and prejudiced decision.

The referendum showcases the danger of emotive nationalism and populist politics. The U.K. is a representative democracy: we vote for informed people ("politicians") to make hard decisions. In this case, representative democracy was bypassed and the vote shoved down to the public. They voted "Leave"  demonstrating that if there is one thing worse than politicians, it is an empowered but ill-informed populace.

The Brexiters made two emotive arguments.

One: the U.K.'s sovereignty has been eroded by the EU. This is a nonsensical lie believed by dolts and morons. The U.K. joined the EU, freely and independently. It has democratic governance, sovereign armed forces, a national currency and central bank and a judiciary that practices native Common Law. Yes, the U.K. is subject to EU rules, but implements them via its own legal framework. Moreover, business  subject to far more regulation than the average Nigel  is pro-Remain.

Two: the U.K. is swamped by immigrants. This universal issue does not impact only the U.K.: U.N. 2014 data showed more refugees worldwide than at any time since 1945. The U.K. is the world's fifth-largest economy and, as a humanitarian nation, cannot just do nothing (albeit, the world's third- and 11th-largest economies, Japan and South Korea, have largely closed their doors to refugees). Meanwhile, EU immigrants contribute more to the British exchequer than they take. This makes arguments against them look foolish, nationalist or plain racist.

Demographically, it was the old and the uneducated, led by knaves and scoundrels, who voted "Leave." Result? A shameful statement on the character of a people who once prided themselves on outward looking, internationalist perspectives.

So: what lessons does the "new" Hermit Kingdom offer the "original" Hermit Kingdom?

Even in 21st century Korea, populist nationalism still simmers. Economic nationalism  from farmers rallying against the Uruguay Round in the 1990s, to the recent 360-degree assault on a foreign investor who dared challenge a Samsung management decision  ebbs and flows. Political/diplomatic nationalism, seen in anti-Americanism in 2002 and 2008, and in anti-Japaneseism today, is easily ignited.

The Joseon "Hermit Kingdom" and neighboring China (the "sick man of Asia") suffered hugely after closing their doors to the world; they ended up colonized, in whole or in part. By resisting globalization, they fell victim to global forces.

Fast forward to today: Few nations have benefited more from globalization than Korea. Colonization has disappeared, replaced by international trade. Trade laid the foundation for Korea's "economic miracle" of the 1960s-70s and the resultant enrichment (arguably) empowered Korea's middle class, laying the foundation for 1987's "political miracle."

Meanwhile, there is another 21st century Hermit Kingdom. As with the U.K., North Korea's disastrous national policy is steered by elite villains and a national media which promotes angry, defensive nationalism while rallying their uninformed public behind shrill calls for sovereignty. The costs of this strategy to the Kimdom's people have been immense. The costs to the British people will be less catastrophic, but heavy nonetheless.

Globalization has costs  uncompetitive workers and industries are left stranded by global competitors and developments  but these are outweighed by its benefits. South Koreans should beware of populist nationalism and question the motives of those who fan this dangerous force in their polity, economy and society.

Learn from the decrepit North Korea and the storm-tossed (dis)United Kingdom: Don't ever turn your back on the wider world.

Andrew Salmon is a Seoul-based reporter and author. Reach him at andrewcsalmon@yahoo.co.uk.
By Lee Min-hyung



The nation's science ministry held a public hearing to select an ultra-high-definition (UHD) territorial broadcasting standard, Monday, before its planned demonstration in next February.



A group of industry insiders and experts joined the session to discuss which standards the government should adopt between two major standards adopted in North America and Europe.



Most of North American countries are seeking to standardize the ATSC 3.0, which allows 4K UHD territorial broadcasting and mobile high-definition (HD) broadcasting, whereas Europe adopts the DVB-T2 transmission methods.



The Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning is planning to choose one of the two standards in a few months.



Toward the end, the government formed a special committee in August 2015, consisting of interested parties from four sectors  academia, broadcasting industry, electronics companies and research institutes.



"The Council for UHD Broadcasting Standard is in internal talks to decide one standard to establish a nationwide UHD broadcasting infrastructure, starting from next year," Kim Kyu-hyun, a professor at Kyunghee University, said in the hearing in central Seoul.



Under the government's plan, the nation's three territorial broadcasters  KBS, SBS and MBC  are planning to start demonstrating the UHD broadcastings in Seoul and surrounding areas in February next year, for the first time in the world, according to the professor.



The broadcasters are then expected to extend its coverage into the nation's major metropolitan cities  such as Busan, Daegu, Gwangju, Daejeon and Ulsan  from December next year.



The government plans to adopt the UHD broadcasting infrastructure across the nation by the end of 2021, with the existing HD broadcasting set to end in 2027.



The state-run Korea Radio Promotion Association (KRPA), which holds a key over the decision, released a report before the hearing in which the agency introduced pros and cons of the two standards.



"There is much more equipment compatible with the DVB-T2, as the standard came before the ATSC 3.0, so the former will be more proper in an initial stage of the upcoming UHD broadcasting era, but most of broadcasting equipment for the ATSC 3.0 standard has also been developed and their maturity level are expected to continue to improve," said the report.



Kim Nam-du, a senior researcher at the Korea Information Society Development Institute (KISDI), said: "We do not have to consider political or social effects over the standard, and focus solely on the technological difference."



"The DVD-D2 focused on standard in itself, but the ATSC 3.0 can deliver what we call packaged' broadcasting, and this is fit for the nation's broadcasting environment," said the researcher.




Qualcomm Korea CEO Lee Te-won, front row fifth from right, poses with Kyungpook National University President Son Dong-cheol, same row sixth from right, and a group of Qualcomm Innovation Award winners at the university in Daegu, Monday. / Courtesy of Qualcomm Korea



By Lee Min-hyung

Qualcomm Korea is moving to become a key supporter of IT and engineering students.

The local subsidiary of the U.S.-based mobile chip giant said Monday it has offered $100,000 (114 million won) to support 31 master's and doctoral students and their professors at Kyungpook National University (KNU).

The company has provided research funding for creative IT specialists in recent years with its Qualcomm Innovation Awards.

The funding beneficiaries are not bound with any corporate-selected projects or requirements, free to continue their research with technical aid from the chipmaker.

By teaming up with Qualcomm Korea engineers, the students can also participate in international seminars and workshops where they can unveil their latest technological achievements and share their proposed business models, the company said in a statement.

"We are going to help the nation's talented IT students realize their dreams by continuing to diversify industrial-academic collaboration models," Qualcomm Korea CEO Lee Te-won said in the statement.

Qualcomm has been running various IT scholarship programs for 13 years. The company has also sought to share its technological knowhow by offering a tour of its headquarters for the past 14 years, allowing selected participants to visit its San Diego headquarters.

Last year, Qualcomm Chairman Paul Jacobs announced the company's plan to invest 100 billion won for the growth of the nation's startups in such promising sectors as the Internet of Things (IoT) and fifth-generation (5G) network systems.
KT's platform business planning office Executive Vice President Kim Hyoung-wook, fourth from left, poses with executives from BC Card, Standard Chartered Bank Korea, Hana Card, Woori Card, Samsung Card, Lotte Card and the Industrial Bank of Korea after signing an agreement at the telecom company's office in central Seoul, Monday, to use its "CLiP" smart card. / Courtesy of KT



By Yoon Sung-won



KT is boosting its mobile smart card business by expanding partnerships with financial institutions.



The nation's second-largest telecom company said Monday it has signed agreements with Lotte Card, Samsung Card, Hana Card, BC Card, Woori Card, the Industrial Bank of Korea and Standard Chartered Bank Korea for the use of its CLiP smart wallet.



Under the partnership, KT and the financial institutions will also collaborate to develop more fintech services, aiming at combining the telecom and finance industries in innovative new ways.



"It is great that KT and the nation's top financial institutions are joining hands to develop a new form of service together," said Kim Hyoung-wook, executive vice president of KT's platform business planning office, in a statement. "Overcoming the limits of existing payment services, which have been exclusively available on handsets of certain brands or through certain carriers, we will make the new service useful for a smarter consumer life."



The CLiP smart wallet combines diverse payment services such as credit cards, debit cards, membership cards with a one-time password and can be used on all handsets regardless of their makers, carriers and mobile operating systems, KT said.



Financial institutions may vitalize the use of existing credit and debits cards while attracting new clients by launching bundled card services in cooperation with KT.



For the new service, KT and the financial institutions will distribute a CLiP device that looks like an ordinary plastic credit card. Users can pair the device with a mobile CLiP application through Bluetooth to tap into the card information registered in the app.



In terms of security, users can lock the smart wallet to prevent illegal use even when they lose the device, KT said.
SK Telecom's network operations division President Lee Hyung-hee, second from left, poses with Science, ICT and Future Planning Vice Minister Choi Jae-yoo, third from left, during the launch ceremony for the nationwide LoRa network for Internet of Things services at the Four Seasons Hotel in central Seoul, Monday. / Courtesy of SK Telecom



By Yoon Sung-won



SK Telecom has established the world's first hybrid network for Internet of Things (IoT) services nationwide, the company said Monday.



Besides lower prices and active support for smaller partners, the nation's largest mobile carrier also pledged to invest a total of 100 billion won into IoT by the end of 2017, seeking to dominate the domestic market which is expected to grow to 13.7 trillion won by 2020.



"The LoRa-based network is expected to dramatically boost the supply and demand of IoT devices and services as it has solved issues in energy efficiency and cost," said Lee Hyung-hee, president of SK Telecom's network operations division, during a launch ceremony for the network in Seoul, Monday.



"Dramatic changes may include a huge sales decrease in our existing machine-to-machine (M2M) business such as the remote metering service, because the new services will drop prices. But we believe that such self-destructive innovation will lead to opportunities greater than the sales decrease."



SK Telecom said its ultimate target is the global IoT market. It is already pushing ahead with an advanced metering infrastructure project in Iran.



"We plan to enter the global market alongside our partners once we establish an ecosystem in the domestic market," said Cha In-hyok, executive vice president of SK Telecom. "The domestic market is only 2 percent of the entire global market. We will push for our IoT business to focus on the global stage in the long run."



In March, SK Telecom finished establishing the nationwide network for the long-term evolution machine (LTE-M), which is designed to support IoT services requiring larger output.



By adding the LoRa-based network for smaller devices and services, the company said it can now cover 99 percent of the population and 90 percent of the land in Korea. The company added, however, its current IoT network technology has room for improvement in in-building and underground coverage.



SK Telecom said it will offer cheaper price options for the new IoT service including a basic monthly rate of 350 won at the minimum. Compared to the prices of existing M2M services, this is less than one-tenth, the company said.



Based on the new network, the carrier said it will develop advanced gas metering infrastructure and wearable device services designed for the safety of children and the elderly within this month. It will also start about 20 new services such as manhole monitoring and parking lot sharing services under cooperation with regional governments this year.



To attract more partners in its network environment, SK Telecom said it will provide an up-to-date application programming interface and software development kit while opening test facilities in Bundang in Gyeonggi Province and Daegu this month. Also, it is handing out 100,000 LoRa modules to partners to encourage them to roll out compatible IoT services.
By Kim Yoo-chul, Lee Min-hyung



The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) advised SK Telecom (SKT) to drop some of the regional broadcasting services operated by CJ HelloVision (CJH) in return for granting conditional approval for SKT's planned merger with CJH.



"KT and LG Uplus have expressed concerns about bundling and pricing power post-merger, which the FTC accepted. Some demands were made to SKT," said an industry official Monday.



The FTC finished its review of the proposed merger between SKT and CJ HelloVision and sent the report to SK Telecom the same day. Based on the review, the anti-trust watchdog is expected to make a final decision on the merger deal.



The regulator reportedly demanded SKT to stop running regional broadcasting services after the merger, which would stop the nation's largest carrier from gaining a 60 percent market share nationwide.



But the industry official said it's not certain if SKT will agree with some of the proposals.



Some industry officials raised the concern that the merged SKT-CJH would take the lead over rivals in 15 regions of the nation in the pay-TV business with a share of over 60 percent.



"It's questionable whether SKT will accept anti-trust measures to proceed with the deal as planned. If the media reports turn out to be true, then the effects of the SKT-CJH deal will be limited," said the official.



He said the FTC determines whether a proposed transaction substantially restricts competition in a particular market by considering multiple factors, including further market concentration from the merger.



KT teamed up with LG Uplus to persuade the FTC to block the deal as SKT's planned merger with CJH is a combination between the nation's top mobile carrier and the country's biggest pay-TV operator.



"The FTC found it necessary to request additional details from SKT, mostly related to issues raised during its previous review. The FTC asked SKT, KT and LG Uplus to provide the information and then decided to refer the case to a full commission hearing, which was finalized," said the official.



SKT said earlier it will invest 500 billion won to acquire the CJH. CJH shareholders approved the plan. By last year, CJH had a total of 4.102 million cable TV subscribers, 860,253 broadband customers, 673,167 VoIP users and 843,350 MVNO accounts.



LG Uplus said it has yet to map out specific responsive measures over the FTC advisory.



"As the FTC and SKT have not unveiled the exact terms of the report, we cannot make any concrete measures or plans to deal with the issue," said an LG Uplus spokesman.



"One thing we can say for sure is that we will continue to stay our previous positions over the controversial takeover plan," said the company official.



The nation's third-largest mobile carrier said the FTC does not have to be in a hurry about making its decision, due to growing controversy from the media.



The spokesman said it would take at least two to three months before the government makes its final decision about the takeover, as the Korea Communications Commission (KCC) and the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning (MSIP) should also decide whether to approve of the deal.



"We may shift our plan later, based on the FTC's terms of the examination, but nothing official has yet to be unveiled," he said. "We believe concerns are still rampant that the takeover, if approved, is highly likely to hurt fair competition in the media industry."



A KT spokesman said it will issue its official statement about the FTC advisory after the company secures the documents written by the regulator.



"We will actively try to negotiate a settlement, if necessary," said a KT official.



But SKT said its planned merger with CJH will not stop innovation. "Competition in the local pay-TV sector will not be significantly affected."




/Courtesy of Twitter

By Lee Han-soo

An Israeli Minister has blasted Facebook and its founder Mark Zuckerberg as a main source of terrorism.

"Some of the victims' blood is on Zuckerberg's hands," Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan told a local media network on Saturday.

"Facebook has turned into a monster. The younger generation in the Palestinian Authority runs its entire discourse of incitement and lies and finally goes out to commit murderous acts on Facebook's platform."

His comments relate to the gruesome murder of a girl, 123, on June 30. She was stabbed by Mohammed Nasser Tra'ayra, 19, from the Palestinian village of Bani Na'im.

Tra'ayra had posted messages praising terrorists and saying on Facebook days before his murder that he wanted to die a martyr's death.

Erdan accused Facebook of hindering Israeli police by setting extremely loose standards for removing inciting contents and posts.

However, Facebook denied that it was nurturing or helping terrorism.

"There is no room on our platform for content that encourages violence, direct threats, terror or verbal abuse," Facebook said in a statement. "We have an array of clear-cut community guidelines meant to help people understand what is permitted on Facebook.

"We call on people to make use of our reporting tools if they come across content that they believe violates these guidelines, so that we can evaluate each incident and take swift action."
The SLFP does not condone the continuation of the Emergency Regulations (The Public Security Ordinance) more than a day necessary

Read more
Abbas Kiarostami, the Iranian writer-director whose Taste of Cherry won the Palme dOr at the Cannes International Film Festival in 1997, died Monday in Paris at 76, according to the Associated Press.

Born in Tehran in 1940, Kiarostami studied painting at the University of Tehran before working as a graphic designer. Kiarostami made an early career of creating Iranian television commercials, eventually transitioning to making films for children.

Kiarostami stayed in Tehran through the Khomeini revolution, working within the boundaries set for him by censors.

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No film is apolitical. There are politics in all films, Kiarostami told The Times in a 2013 interview. Any film that is anchored in a society, any film that deals with humanity is necessarily political. There are politics in it, but I do think my role is to make audiences sense the politics indirectly.

Despite the political upheaval in his homeland, Kiarostamis films preferred instead to focus on the realm of intimate, telling stories about a child returning a classmates book or a mans search for someone to assist with the aftermath of his suicide.

My way of expression is full of complications and mystery because thats my perception of life, Kiarostami told The Times. Ive always said that my only inspiration in my films is taken from life. And as life is full of mystery, there is no other way I can represent life than in mysterious films. Its just my way of being.

It was the 2010 critically acclaimed Certified Copy starring Juliette Binoche that served as the directors first film to be shot and produced outside of Iran. Kiarostami moved on to Like Someone in Love in 2012, a film set and shot in Japan.

Kiarostami was one of the 683 individuals invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on Wednesday, nearly 20 years after he won Cannes top prize.

It was announced in March that the director was battling gastrointestinal cancer and had gone to Paris to seek further treatment.

Kiarostami is survived by two sons, Ahmad, a multimedia publisher, and Bahman, a documentary filmmaker.

libby.hill@latimes.com

Twitter: @midwestspitfire

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To fully appreciate what 29-year-old master watchmaker Cameron Weiss is trying to achieve in a nondescript office park in Torrance, its necessary to wind the clock back for a minute  to the late 1960s.

Thats when the quartz watch movement first came on the scene, making it possible  and eventually vastly less expensive  to keep time accurately using a battery and vibrating quartz crystal instead of the intricate combination of gears, pins and springs that had been used for centuries. This new-fangled watch engine was a game-changer in many ways, and historians of horology often point to the rise of the quartz watch as a precipitating factor in the decline  and eventual shuttering  of any meaningful level of watch and watch part manufacturing in the U.S.

Which is why the Independence Day debut of a new Weiss Watch Co. timepiece with the Torrance-made mechanical movement called CAL 1003 is such an important milestone in Weisss effort to make fully made-in-America watches.

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See the most-read stories in Life & Style this hour 

On its face, Weisss $2,500 American Issue Field Watch appears to be a handsome, retro-looking, vaguely military-inspired 42mm wristwatch heavy on the patriotic motifs. Production is limited to just 50 pieces, one for each state in the union. But its true American nature is inside, with nearly all of the CAL 1003s tiny mechanical components manufactured here in the good old U.S. of A.

The only thing were not manufacturing [in the U.S.] are the hairsprings and the [jewel bearings], Weiss says during a tour of the 2100-square-foot Torrance studio the company has occupied since September. Were still getting those from Switzerland.

Switzerland, with its centuries-old watchmaking infrastructure, established itself as the preeminent source of the worlds most coveted mechanical watches  not to mention the miniature engines that drive them, including Rolex, Patek Philippe, Vacheron Constantin and Piaget.

The land of Swatch is no slouch in the quartz movement business either. Shinolas Argonite 1069 quartz movement, for example, is physically assembled in Detroit from component parts provided by Ronda AG, based in Lausen, Switzerland.

So when Weiss took a deep dive down the rabbit hole of Los Angeles-based watchmaking by launching his namesake brand in 2013 from the kitchen table of his 800-square-foot Beverly Hills apartment, his first hand-assembled watches had just a few locally made parts. The dials were manufactured in Rancho Cucamonga, the cases in L.A. But the tiny whirring heart and soul of each one was a Swiss-made ETA 6497 movement.

Still, those efforts marked the first step toward Weiss goal of building a watch wholly of U.S.-made parts. (Times staff writer Daniel Miller shared Weiss early story in October 2014.)

This isnt about telling time for me, Weiss says. Its about the artwork  the craft. Its about the feeling you get when you look down at your wrist and you understand the amount of work that went into it.

Theres also a compelling business reason to create an in-house movement based on  and using many parts in common with  the popular movement supplied by Swatch Group subsidiary ETA. Several years ago, Swatch announced that it would eventually stop providing parts and movements to other companies, Weiss says, and only sell fully completed watches.

Its important to note that, although the U.S.-manufactured and assembled CAL 1003 is certainly a homegrown rarity  not to mention an impressive accomplishment for a barely three-year-old SoCal company with three full-time employees  Weiss isnt the first 21st century watch brand to offer an in-house, American-made movement. That distinction goes to the Lancaster, Pa.-based RGM Watch Co., which started offering its RGM Caliber 801 movement in 2007. According to that brands founder, Roland G. Murphy, 90% of the parts that comprise that U.S.-assembled movement are also manufactured here.

We were the first to make a mechanical high-grade movement in series, not a one off, since Hamilton stopped making the 992-B in 1969, Murphy says. Here at RGM we have three different movements we manufacture. The caliber 801 was made available in 2007, then our Pennsylvania Tourbillon two years later, and then 2012 we introduced our caliber 20 to mark our 20th year. To date we have made close to 300 caliber 801 movements.

Weiss says his companys next challenge is to find a way to affordably source (or even make) the hairsprings and the jewel bearings domestically. There are companies in the U.S. that can do those parts, he says, but wed have to place huge orders, and were not there yet.

In much the same way that the myriad parts of a luxury watch movement have been painstakingly designed to work in concert, Weiss seems to have engineered the toothed wheels of his nascent business to mesh perfectly and propel him toward his ultimate goal one tick at a time.

Out of his Torrance office space last month, for instance, Weiss launched a separate company called Pinion Precision Technology (the watchmaker, who owns his own company outright, is an investor in the new venture with business partner Grant Hughson). Weiss and Hughson reason that once the Swatch spigot eventually shuts off for good, demand for ETA parts from other watchmakers left in the lurch would help them scale production to a point that those last few pricey parts will become an affordable option.

And in a fine turnaround, Weiss says with a smile, Weve already got a contract to sell [our parts] back to one of our suppliers in Switzerland.

Pre-orders on Weisss $2,500 42mm American Issue Field Watch with the CAL 1003 mechanical movement can be made at weisswatchcompany.com. Delivery is expected by the end of July. Note supply is limited to just 50 watches.

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For more musings on all things fashion and style, follow me @ARTschorn.
A man was shot and killed Monday afternoon outside a public park in the Harvard Park area, police said.

Authorities responded to multiple calls reporting gunshots around 12:15 p.m at West 62nd Street and Harvard Boulevard, near the Jackie Tatum / Harvard Recreation Center.

The victim was pronounced dead at the scene, Los Angeles Police Department Sgt. James Shray said.

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Police are investigating the homicide and searching for the shooter, but possible witnesses at the park have so far been reluctant to provide additional information, Shray said.

Authorities are asking anyone with information about this shooting to call the LAPD criminal gang/homicide division at (323) 786-5100. Those wishing to remain anonymous can call Crime Stoppers at (800) 222-8477.

Follow @RosannaXia on Twitter for more Southern California news

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Tracie Thompson focused hard on a row of shopping carts as she approached the supermarket, her brain struggling to stave off a memory, when the crack of a gunshot echoed in the distance.

It was a not terribly unusual sound in San Bernardino, a city with one of Californias highest crime rates. But it sufficed to send Thompson crashing to her knees. Her husband wrapped his arms around her.

It was Dec. 2, 2015 again, inside a conference room, a man and a woman spraying bodies with bullets.

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Six months had passed since Syed Rizwan Farook and his wife, Tashfeen Malik, launched their attack at the Inland Regional Center, killing 14 people and injuring 22. Thompson, 49, was among the wounded, a bullet slamming into her thigh, where it remains to this day.

For the survivors, adapting to the world after their brush with death has been a daily struggle. Thompson sits with her back to the wall in crowded rooms and she keeps a mental tally of every exit; she cries every day. Sally Cardinale trembles at the sound of slamming doors and wrestles with violent dreams. Jessica Ballesteros hears the sound of her own screams inside the conference room.

They were living through their own trauma of a terrorist attack when another one, in Orlando, brought back fresh memories of the bloodshed they endured. And the worlds attention shifted again.

You feel forgotten, like our friends are forgotten, Ballesteros, 35, said. We deal with it every day, but the world has moved on.

Sometimes, you read these articles and you see theres 22 survivors. For us, there were 57 in that room. We get lost in it.  Jessica Ballesteros, San Bernardino attack survivor

Just days after the San Bernardino attack, some of the survivors began to meet. A former health department director opened up her home for a week straight, said Hal Houser, one of the survivors. It was the first time anyone who had been in the conference room gathered to talk as a group.

It was like an office party, but about a grim subject, Houser said. You got together and it was How are you? and Where were you when it happened? and Have you heard about so and so? 

Then, in February, the meetings moved to The Rock Church, less than two miles from where the mass shooting happened. They became therapeutic gatherings for people who had seen co-workers and friends murdered, who narrowly escaped their own demise and then had to gird themselves for the procession of funerals.

How do you respond when somebody walks up to you and believes they have a right to know what happened? Or when people say, How are you doing? Thompson said. Weve helped each other respond to those things without sounding curt or unappreciative.

Full coverage: San Bernardino terror attack 

In the months since the terrorist attack, some returned to the county office. They bonded over the banal, bureaucratic hassles that mass murder and carnage unleashes  the workers compensation forms and meetings with human resources. Some returned to work before they could get appointments with therapists because of long waits and red tape, Ballesteros said.

How were we able to get into work, people without mental help? It just seems unfathomable that they think were OK, she said. If someone broke their arm you wouldnt let them walk into work without an X-Ray.

Ballesteros said the screams that she can still hear echoing in her head the day of the shooting only stopped during a brief pause when the killers stopped to reload. Her eyes locked on Farook.

Less vivid are her memories about how she was able to scramble out of the room and into the hallway and meet a colleague outside of the building. There were more casualties of the attack than the people who were killed and wounded, she said.

Sometimes, you read these articles and you see theres 22 survivors, Ballesteros said. For us, there were 57 in that room. We get lost in it.

A memorial site at the corner of Waterman Avenue and Orange Show Road, blocks from the Inland Regional Center, where 14 people were killed and another 21 wounded during the Dec. 2 terrorist attack by Syed Rizwan Farook and his wife, Tashfeen Malik. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times )

Cardinale, who went back to work in May, said she cant shake the dread she felt hiding in a bathroom during the attack. She huddled with three other women in a stall. Drywall exploded off the walls from all the bullets. Everyone who had been sitting at her table had been killed or badly injured.

They say you pray before you die, but I thought about my kids, Cardinale said. I thought about my husband, because his previous wife passed away and I thought he wouldnt be able to handle that, losing another.

In early June, as she stood in line at the bank, she couldnt help but keep an eye on a man who seemed to be looking around too much.

Where do you draw the line? How do you protect yourself without looking crazy? she said. Theres days when Im rocking on the edge of the bed and pulling my hair and crying. I think its hard for people to understand that.

On a recent Monday, Thompson met with Cardinale, Ballesteros and a handful of other survivors for lunch. Wearing an SB Strong pin, she mapped the room before sitting down, nervously rubbing her shoulder. Every person who walked into the cafe made her more anxious.

Diana Almond, who helped organize the fateful meeting at the Inland Regional Center, said new details of the attack  repressed memories, a therapist said  came to her two months later when she realized she had seen Tashfeen Malik.

Malik was dressed head to toe in black, Almond recalled. Her pants were tucked into her boots, which did not have laces. She had a small frame, Almond said, and bullet casings fell around her head like snow.

The mother of Tin Nguyen, one of the victims of the San Bernardino terrorist attack, says goodbye to her daughter. The survivors of the attack had to gird themselves for the procession of funerals that followed. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times )

On June 2, the 6-month anniversary of the attack, Almond drove herself to work. She hadnt realized what day it was until she parked her car. Then it hit her, and she began to sob.

When Omar Mateen walked into the Pulse nightclub in Orlando and massacred 49 people, some of the people who lived through the San Bernardino shooting skipped work the next day.

They just didnt even want to accept it again, said Houser, 54. Everyone needed to go see their psychiatrist.

Any talk of recovery and closure is premature, Houser said. He likens that notion to removing one-third of his family members and replacing them with surrogates, as if nothing ever happened.

Houser recently took a trip to the grocery store. The cashier asked if he wanted to donate to the Dec. 2 victims fund.

He didnt know what to say.

sarah.parvini@latimes.com

For more local news follow me on Twitter: @sarahparvini

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A man was hospitalized in critical condition after a confrontation with Anaheim police officers, a police official said Sunday.

Police were dispatched to the 2600 block of West Broadway Avenue about 9:15 a.m. Saturday after receiving a report of a suspicious man following a woman to her home, according to Sgt. Daron Wyatt, a spokesman with the Anaheim Police Department.

The man, whom police identified as Fermin Vincent Valenzuela of Anaheim, became combative when officers attempted to speak to him, Wyatt said. When they moved to arrest him, his heart stopped and he quit breathing, Wyatt said.

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At a news conference, Valenzuelas family said he went into cardiac arrest when he was Tasered by officers. They added that he had no pre-existing conditions that would explain his heart failure.

The officers provided medical attention and paramedics with Anaheim Fire and Rescue took Valenzuela to the nearest hospital, where he was listed in critical condition Sunday afternoon, Wyatt said. Police did not provide further information about the confrontation.

Family members told the OC Weekly that the confrontation left Valenzuela, father of two children, in a coma at West Anaheim Medical Center. The publication reported that Valenzuela is 32, homeless and suffers from bipolar and post-traumatic stress disorders, but was off his medication. Valenzuela was recently released from Orange County Jail after his arrest on suspicion of possessing drug paraphernalia, the newspaper said. Anaheim police officials said Valenzuela is 24.

The family has retained James Segall-Gutierrez, an attorney who handles police brutality cases, the paper said. Phone calls and emails to Segall-Gutierrez were not immediately returned.

The run-in with Anaheim officers comes nearly five years after the beating death of Kelly Thomas, a 37-year-old schizophrenic homeless man who died in 2011 after a run-in with Fullerton police officers. The case ignited public outrage and demonstrations. A jury acquitted Officers Manuel Ramos and Jay Cicinelli of murder and manslaughter charges in January 2014.

Wyatt said the Orange County district attorney, the Anaheim Police Departments major incident review team and the Office of Independent Review are investigating Valenzuelas arrest. Video from the arresting officers body cameras has been turned over to Orange County prosecutors, he added.

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10:22 p.m.: This article has been updated with comments from Valenzuelas family.

This article was orginally published at 7:27 p.m.
The two blond-haired boys stood in front of a stage in an Irvine community center, disinterested in the Arabic calligraphy displayed just inches away in gilded picture frames. Their attention belonged not to the Koranic verse but to a copy of Diary of a Wimpy Kid.

Little girls in crimson, gold and blue clothing placed figurines and antique vases on the stage, their hair the color of straw like many of their mothers.

Soon, the adults unrolled prayer rugs and used iPhone apps to find the qibla  the direction to Mecca  before the sun set. They broke bread for iftar, a feast celebrating the end of the Ramadan daily fast.

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For many Bosnian Muslims, or Bosniaks, being a Muslim in America at a time of growing suspicion to their faith is like being a fly on the wall in plain view. Their light skin and hair, along with European features, means many have managed to avoid the lingering stares. But they have heard full-throated derogatory comments about their faith made by people who have no idea they are Muslim.

It is the strange fruit of being devoted to ones faith, but not fitting the stereotype  often perpetuated by Hollywood  that most Muslims are Arab or otherwise relatively dark-skinned. The Other.

Theres no question about it. If you dont tell people youre Muslim, they think youre white, said Halil Hasic, 37, president of the Bosniaks Cultural Community of Southern California. You cant distinguish us from other Caucasian Europeans.

See the most-read stories in Local News this hour >>

Kian Laule, 8, left, and Kenan Begovic, 9, read Diary of a Wimpy Kid near the stage prepared with rugs and Koranic verses for Maghrib prayers after iftar. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times )

While the more than 1.6 billion Muslims around world come from different ethnicities, races and nationalities, the stereotype about what they are supposed to look like is strong. Especially after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Sikh Indians have been attacked and killed after being mistaken for Muslims.

Movies frequently cast non-Muslim actors  including British actor Alfred Molina as an Iranian in Not Without My Daughter  based on the idea of what a Muslim is expected to look like.

Last year, 56% of Americans said that the values of Islam are at odds with American values and way of life, while roughly 40% disagreed, according to a survey by the Public Religion Research Institute. In 2011, Americans were more divided in their views of Islam  47% agreed, while 48% disagreed.

Stereotypes of Islam  including the belief that Muslims mostly live in the Middle East  have a long thread throughout history, said Andrea Stanton, an expert in Islamic studies at the University of Denver. Americans inherited the idea from Europeans, specifically from British and French traditions, she said.

Its one of the hardest set of assumptions to challenge, she added, but the separation of church and state does not mean everyone should pass as white mainline Protestant.

Jennah DiMartino, 7, plays on the rugs laid down for prayers at the community hall for prayers after iftar. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times )

The majority of Bosnian Americans immigrated to the United States during the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, between 1992 and 1995.

Bosnians, Hasic said, have a unique position because as an Eastern European Muslim country, our boundary even physically is between the East and the West, Muslim and Christian.

People look at him differently because they react more to appearance than the substance of the person, he said. They often assume hes Latino.

His wife, Selma Hasic, a nurse, said when patients walk into the examination room, they take a look at the 33-year-olds blond hair and never assume shes Muslim. When they find out, theyre surprised, she said.

They say, But wait, youre not Arabic, Hasic recalled.

A group of Bosnian Muslims chat outside community hall after breaking their fast. The majority of Bosnian Americans immigrated to the United States during the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, between 1992 and 1995. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times )

Most Muslims are not Arab. The majority of Muslims live in the Asia-Pacific region, while only about 20% of Muslims live in the Middle East-North Africa region.

Hasic said people often ask her if she converted because it doesnt make sense that she is Muslim. Sometimes, she said, patients go out of their way to distance themselves from Islam.

In one conversation, Hasic said, a women shared that she was Egyptian  but she quickly followed that with: But Im not Muslim. Im Christian.

And because Hasic does not fit the preconceived notion of a Muslim, shell sometimes find herself in a situation where people are openly making derogatory comments.

A lot of people say Muslims are primitive, or they treat their women poorly, she said. When they find out Im Muslim, they say, Youre different though, right? Because I look different.

Bosnian Muslim women offer Maghrib prayers after breaking their daytime fast. Many Bosniak women wear the hijab only during prayers. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times )

Since the terrorist attacks in Paris, Brussels, San Bernardino and more recently Orlando, Fla., Muslim women in particular have borne the brunt of the political outcry against Islam, Stanton said. Many  regardless of ethnicity  are targeted because they wear the hijab.

I dont think today that a blue-eyed woman wearing a hijab is going to be any better treated, she said.

But many Bosnian women, such as the ones gathered at the Irvine community center, wear the hijab only for prayers.

Selma Dautovic, a 42-year-old business analyst, doesnt tell her coworkers shes Muslim. She said she doesnt feel comfortable volunteering that information unless shes asked.

I dont advertise, but Im not ashamed, she said, adding that she hears people at work saying that Muslims are terrorists.

Dautovic worries people would not treat her the same if they knew she was Muslim.

When she worked with her sister in 2000, they opted out of a lunch meeting because they were fasting. Their boss didnt know why they were absent. The sisters couldnt eat because it was Ramadan, a coworker explained. Their boss couldnt believe it, Dautovic said.

He exclaimed: Theyre Muslim? But theyre blond!

How do you break your Ramadan fast? 

sarah.parvini@latimes.com

Twitter: @sarahparvini

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Less than an hour before they fatally shot a 19-year-old driver in Fullerton on Sunday, two undercover California Highway Patrol officers watched one pickup truck after another pull into the parking lot of the Santa Fe Springs swap meet.

Gradually, the number of trucks and off-road vehicles swelled from 10 to 50 to nearly 80, authorities said.

The drivers had come for a sideshow, an illegal car rally in which motorists show off their skills, and many began spinning tire-scorching doughnuts that filled the air with acrid smoke.

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UPDATE: Driver killed by CHP during illegal street racing probe is identified as Canoga Park man

The officers, part of a task force investigating street racing and other outlaw driving events over the holiday weekend, called for marked cruisers to break up the gathering.

As the law enforcement units arrived, a red Chevy Silverado pickup truck fled the area, blazing along side streets at speeds approaching 90 mph, according to California Highway Patrol Lt. Charlie Sampson.

The undercover officers followed the pickup for five miles, stopping on a dead-end street in Fullerton about 10:50 p.m.

The truck made a U-turn and barreled toward the CHP officers, who opened fire, Fullerton police said.

The truck struck another vehicle before driving toward the officers, who were exiting their vehicle when they opened fire, according to another law enforcement official with knowledge of the investigation. The truck struck the undercover cruiser either during or immediately after the shooting, the official said.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the case.

The driver of the vehicle died at the scene, and his 18-year-old passenger was treated for non-life-threatening injuries, according to Sampson and Fullerton police. It was not clear if the driver knew he was being followed by the undercover car, Sampson said.

The deadly clash highlights what many Southern California law enforcement agencies see as an increasing threat to public safety in the Los Angeles area  caused by a thriving street racing scene that has grown more dangerous for civilians and police alike in recent months.

The officers involved in Sunday nights shooting, which is now under review by the Orange County district attorneys office, were part of a larger deployment from the CHPs Southern Division, Sampson said.

The agency had received information that several car and truck clubs from the Bay Area had planned to travel to Southern California to take part in sideshows involving off-road vehicles, Sampson said.

This year, similar rallies involving car and truck clubs from the Bay Area drew nearly 500 racers to the South Bay, Compton, Watts and unincorporated areas of South L.A., police have said.

In response, the CHPs Southern Division deployed a swarm of marked cruisers and undercover officers to try and break up the rallies starting at noon Sunday, Sampson said.

The meet the officers were trying to disrupt had been moved three times Sunday, from South Gate to Rosemead to the Santa Fe Springs swap meet, Sampson said.

Relocating sideshows through cryptic Instagram posts and other social media blasts has become a common tactic on the street racing circuit in recent years, one that makes the drivers movements harder to track, according to investigators.

The identity of the driver who was killed was being withheld pending notification of his family, according to Fullerton police. The surviving victim, an 18-year-old male, was shot in the arm and is expected to survive, police said.

Sampson would not identify either officer involved in the shooting, but he said they had been with the CHP for 15 and six years, respectively.

Though CHP cruisers are normally equipped with dashboard cameras, the unmarked vehicle did not have one because the officers were working undercover, Sampson said. The officers were not wearing body cameras either.

1 / 6 The Ford Mustang that struck three pedestrians, killing two of them, in Chatsworth is removed. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) 2 / 6 LAPD investigators survey skid marks at the scene where two pedestrians were killed by an out-of-control Ford Mustang that officials say was street racing in Chatsworth. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) 3 / 6 Los Angeles police announce a suspect in the Chatsworth fatal street race. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) 4 / 6 Two pedestrians were killed by the driver of a Ford Mustang who fled the scene in Chatsworth, police said. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) 5 / 6 Skid marks crisscross the pavement at the scene where two pedestrians were killed in Chatsworth. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) 6 / 6 Authorities hold a news conference about the deadly crash that in Chatsworth. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)

Police in Southern California have grown increasingly concerned about street racing-related incidents in recent months, after a spate of deaths were linked to illegal speed contests.

This year, a 36-year-old music teacher was killed when a suspected street racer lost control of his vehicle during a race on a busy Hawthorne thoroughfare. And in January, a driver who killed two people during an illegal street race in Chatsworth in 2015 was sentenced to 12 years in prison.

Law enforcement officials throughout Los Angeles County also met in April to discuss the formation of a countywide task force to combat street racing, since the issue normally hops from jurisdiction to jurisdiction as meet organizers constantly change the location of car rallies and sideshows.

The meeting took place just days after a fiery crash on the 5 Freeway left three people dead, including the son of a Los Angeles County sheriffs lieutenant.

The scope of the problem is difficult to quantify, as most law enforcement agencies do not keep data on street racing incidents the way they track other crimes such as homicides or robberies. But those who investigate street racing have said rallies were becoming more common, with drivers growing more aggressive toward police.

LAPD Sgt. Jesse Garcia, one of the agencys top experts on the street racing circuit, previously told The Times that the racing scene in the Los Angeles-area has grown more popular in recent years, drawing more attention from out-of-town car crews.

Drivers used to scatter in response to lights and sirens, according to Garcia, but now street racers are more likely to fight back when they see an officer in uniform.

If a police car is going through, they jump on it, throw stuff at it, they kick it, he said.

james.queally@latimes.com

Follow @JamesQueallyLAT for more Southern California news

Times staff writer Rosanna Xia contributed to this report.

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UPDATES:

5:37 p.m.: This story was updated with additional context about street racing in Southern California.

3:09 p.m.: This story was updated with additional comments from the California Highway Patrol.

12:18 p.m.: This story was updated with additional information about the shooting.

This story first published at 10:22 a.m.
What is the best way to remove a dead dolphin from a crowded beach on Fourth of July weekend?

Sunbathers and families in Ventura pondered this on Sunday as they watched a white California State Parks truck tow a carcass unceremoniously by its tail across the sand to a remote location.

Theres four park rangers, and they couldnt pick up the dead dolphin. They have to tie it and drag it, said Justin Avila, who captured the scene on video and provided it to KTLA-TV Channel 5.

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That, Avila said, was disturbing for him and his children to watch. Youd think thered be a better way than that, he said.

The decision on how to remove the dead dolphin came down to a matter of efficiency and practicality, state park and harbor patrol officials said. Putting the carcass in the truck would have required officials to decontaminate the vehicle, taking it out of service for other emergencies such as medical or law enforcement calls.

See the most-read stories in Local News this hour >>

The efficient removal of this dolphin was our best attempt to deal with a difficult situation, Ventura Harbor Patrol Harbormaster John Higgins told KTLA.

The other option, he said, would have been to leave the carcass in place over the weekend  possibly longer  which wouldve been a health hazard in its natural decomposing state, not to mention a public nuisance. Taking it out to sea did not make sense, because it would have likely washed again on shore.

The National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration, the lead agency responsible for dead marine life, usually defers to local agencies to remove dolphins, Higgins said in a statement. There is nobody to call that will even come to remove the dolphins or expired marine life.

Higgins said Harbor Patrol will review its towing protocol to see how the agency could handle future incidents in a way less discomforting to some members of the public.

Follow @RosannaXia on Twitter for more Southern California news.

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Four days before Christmas in 2008, a blur of brown fur scrambled along the snowy Continental Divide in Wyoming. The terrain and the conditions were brutal, food scarce. The bait a biologist placed in a wooden trap proved irresistible.

As soon as the creature crawled in, a signal alerted researchers miles away. They rode a snowmobile deep into the mountains, near Togwotee Pass, at an elevation of 9,380 feet. The temperature was 10 degrees.

Once there, the researchers confirmed the catch, summoned a veterinarian and sedated the animal with a dart. The vet made an incision in its abdomen and implanted an electronic transmitter.

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Over time, that transmitter would help tell the story of a singularly tenacious representative of one of the Wests most elusive animals: the wolverine. Yet it also would demonstrate the limits of technology in solving the mysteries of the wild.

While biologists and bureaucrats debated whether to protect wolverines under federal law, arguing over climate change and its effect on a species believed to number fewer than 300 in the contiguous United States, the animal captured near Togwotee Pass would blaze an audacious and ultimately untraceable trail. Along the way, it made a cameo appearance in a court case that may help shape the fate of its species.

If you had to put your finger on the one most interesting wolverine during our whole study, said Bob Inman, the wildlife biologist who led the research project, that was it.

If you had to put your finger on the one most interesting wolverine during our whole study, that was it.  Bob Inman, wildife biologist, on the wolverine known as M56

He is known as M56, or Male 56, the label given to him by Inman, who was working on behalf of the Wildlife Conservation Society at the time. At 32 pounds, M56 was one of the heavier males captured. He was believed to be about 18 months old.

For a time he stayed in the snow-covered reaches where wolverines make their dens. But by winters end, he was on the move, dispersing, as experts call the springtime sojourns some males make to look for a mate.

It is one of natures most challenging dating games. Many wolverines, the largest members of the weasel family, travel hundreds of miles to find a partner. M56 may have traveled thousands.

He scaled 10,000-foot peaks in a few hours, but also endured arid lowlands. He cut across Wyomings Red Desert, then turned south into the Medicine Bow National Forest. On Memorial Day weekend 2009, he crossed Interstate 80 and by June entered Colorado, the first confirmed wolverine there in 90 years.

Colorado news outlets loved his story. State biologists took over responsibility for tracking him, making flights to locate his signal. Photographers stumbled upon him. Schoolchildren studied him.

His presence provided momentum for an ongoing push to reintroduce wolverines in Colorado. All the while, the effort to list wolverines as a protected species continued.

The battle began in the 1990s. For years the Fish and Wildlife Service declined to protect the animal, but after lawsuits and court rulings, it decided in 2013 that wolverines indeed warranted protection under the Endangered Species Act. The decision was based on projections that, in decades to come, climate change would substantially shrink the high-elevation spring snow cover essential for wolverines to den.

That finding represented a new way of thinking about climate change and endangered species. It also set off a wave of challenges, particularly from Western states, which tried to cast doubt on the science. They were led by Montana, which still allowed trapping of wolverines.

Inman too questioned the science. Of seven wolverine experts consulted, he was one of two who cast doubts. Critics said he was too close to Montana officials. Later, their criticism increased when he was hired as the states carnivore-furbearer coordinator.

Inman said in an interview that that he did not oppose listing the wolverine, but that listings often lead to litigation that spoils support for voluntary conservation programs.

Its the carrot and the stick, and sometimes the carrot works better, he said.

In August 2014, the service reversed itself again, withdrawing its decision to list wolverines. Once again, outrage and lawsuits followed.

Nearly two years would pass before a federal judge threw out that decision, labeling it arbitrary and capricious. The judge, Dale Christensen of U.S. District Court in Montana, said the agency appeared to be bowing to pressure from Western states.

No greater level of certainty is needed to see the writing on the wall for this snow-dependent species standing squarely in the path of global climate change, Christenson wrote on April 4, noting the two-decade debate.

He said the Endangered Species Act compelled the service to take action at the earliest possible, defensible point in time to protect against the loss of biodiversity within our reach as a nation. For the wolverine, that time is now.

In justifying its 2014 decision to not list the wolverine, one Wildlife Service official cited M56s arrival in Colorado, as well as a lone wolverine discovered in Californias Sierra Nevada, as evidence they were expanding in numbers and range. Christensen did not view the sightings as proof wolverines were not threatened by climate change.

What neither the service nor the judge noted was that the last confirmed sighting of M56 had been in October 2012. After that, his signal went silent and sightings ceased.

Then, on a rainy Sunday morning three weeks after Christensen issued his ruling, Jared Hatter, a ranch hand in North Dakota, jumped in his truck and rushed to a pasture. Something was stirring up his father-in-laws cattle.

The family owns about 200 head of black Angus cattle, and each year they sell about 150 calves for $600 to $1,000 a head. Hatter, 29, is married and has a 1-year-old son.

Them cows raise our kid, pay our pickup payments, pay our maintenance, he said.

NEWSLETTER: Get the days top headlines from Times Editor Davan Maharaj >>

The cows, protecting their calves, had surrounded a furry intruder. They broke their circle when Hatter pulled up. The intruder tried to flee. Hatter aimed his .223 caliber rifle and fired a single shot into the back of its head.

That evening, he and his wife, Jena, scoured the Internet to identify the creature. They learned of efforts to track wolverines and the push for federal protection.

Hatter called the state the next morning to report the shooting. Biologists came out the same day, taking measurements and counting teeth.

He was sopping wet, Hatter said. It had rained for three days straight.

Stephanie Tucker, North Dakotas furbearer biologist, conducted a necropsy and was surprised at how healthy the animal was, given its apparent age, perhaps 10. No parasites, organs intact. She found a transmitter sewn inside the abdomen. She called Inman.

Honestly, I didnt even think about M56 in Colorado, Inman said. But when I looked up the number, bam, there it is, M56.

Hatter would face no charges; it is legal in North Dakota to shoot a furbearing animal perceived to be threatening livestock.

But he did face a backlash. He had posted five pictures on Facebook with a caption: Killed this here critter out tormenting the cows yesterday.

Before he made his account private, he received what he said were 4,000 friend requests, few of which were actually friendly.

You killed so-and-so wolverine, he said, summarizing some of the messages. Well come kill you.

Hatter has no regrets.

Im going to kill a predator preying on my cow herd, he said. I could have done it a lot worse and nobody would have found out about it, and M56 would have been laying in a creek somewhere, just a carcass and the vultures eating him. But I reported it.

North Dakota ranch hand Jared Hatter spotted M56 spooking his father-in-laws cattle. (William Yardley / Los Angeles Times )

Biologists are not sure M56 would have hurt any cattle  there were no reports of him doing so in Colorado  but Hatters point about his fate is not lost on them.

Had he not reported the kill, no one would have known that M56 could demonstrate enough restlessness and resourcefulness to travel not only from Wyoming to Colorado but all the way to North Dakota, where no wolverine had been confirmed since statehood in 1889.

Its an unfortunate situation, Inman said, but you learn what you can from it after the fact.

The Fish and Wildlife Service has filed notice that it may appeal Christensens ruling but declined to comment on its next move.

Matthew Bishop, an attorney for the Western Environmental Law Center, who argued in favor of protecting wolverines before Christensen, said climate change presents uncertainties that have complicated the way the agency views many listing questions. The wolverine decision could set a precedent.

I think theyre very concerned about opening up the climate change floodgates, Bishop said. But we dont have to know precisely why or how climate change is going to adversely affect wolverines. Its enough to know theyre going to lose a significant amount of habitat.

So what was M56 doing in North Dakota, 700 miles from the Colorado Rockies?

The best guess is that he was making another springtime dispersal, like the one he made years ago. That first trip made him famous. This one made him a museum piece. North Dakota plans to have M56 stuffed and put on display in Bismarck.

william.yardley@latimes.com

Twitter: @yardleyLAT

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Good morning. It is Monday, July 4. Celebrate Independence Day with a fireworks display. Heres a list of shows in Southern California. Heres what else is happening in the Golden State:

TOP STORIES

Moving forward

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For the men and women who lived through the Dec. 2 terrorist attack in San Bernardino, there is no closure. Fighting off the horror of that event is a daily struggle, they say. They were living through their own trauma of a terrorist attack when another one, in Orlando, brought back fresh memories of the bloodshed they endured. And the worlds attention shifted again. Los Angeles Times

Breaking the mold

What does a Muslim look like? Hollywood often stereotypes Muslims as Arab or dark-skinned, but take the Bosnian Muslims, or Bosniaks, of Southern California. Their blond hair and European features often leave them hiding in plain sight. I dont advertise, but Im not ashamed, said a 42-year-old business analyst whose co-workers accuse Muslims of being terrorists. Los Angeles Times

Self-driving future

Google and Tesla both agree that autonomous vehicles are the way of the future, but the the two companies are taking different routes in perfecting the technology. Teslas rapid-fire approach is in line with its image as a small but significant auto industry disruptor, while Google  a tech company from whom no one expects auto products  has the luxury of time. Los Angeles Times

DROUGHT AND CLIMATE

Ojai fire: Nearly 400 firefighters worked Sunday to contain a fire 11 miles north of Ojai. The Pine Fire started Thursday morning and burned through more than 1,500 acres as of Sunday. The cause of the fire is under investigation. Los Angeles Times

L.A. AT LARGE

On the big screen: Was 1991 the zenith of films about South Los Angeles? Boyz N the Hood and Killer of Sheep were released that year, ushering in a golden age of urban African American cinema. Washington Post

Back on track: The community of Panorama City is ready to make a comeback. The Valley neighborhood has struggled since a General Motors plant closed in the 1980s and the 1994 Northridge earthquake left a 13-story office tower empty. Now there are plans to make over old retail areas and build new housing. Los Angeles Times

Bold creatures: Who shot a coyote in Silver Lake? Many believe the shooting is an example of residents frustrations with a wild animal no longer afraid of people. The coyote is going to try to expend the least amount of energy to get the maximum amount of food. Why would you stay in a more rural area where you have to go catch a rabbit when you can stick your head in a garbage can and get the same nourishment? said Niamh Quinn, an advisor at the University of California Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources. Los Angeles Times

New home: Fashion designer Betsey Johnson is moving into a trailer. The three-bedroom unit was listed for $1.95 million in Malibu. Johnson plans to paint the trailer a bright yellow. Curbed LA

POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

Real time: Heres Bill Mahers take on why California gets it right. YouTube

Tax dollars: When Proposition 30 was approved in 2012, Gov. Jerry Brown promised the tax increases would be temporary, but now a measure on the November ballot seeks to extend some of those taxes. Without the revenue, California could face a $4.3-billion deficit in the coming years. Los Angeles Times

Retirement funds: The head of Sacramento Regional Transit makes $230,000 a year and when he retires next month, hell be eligible for a pension of $278,000. How is that possible? Pension supplements. Sacramento Bee

Bike safety: Bicyclists are protesting unsafe riding conditions on the Palos Verdes Peninsula. They say peninsula cities are less responsive to safety concerns than other cities. Daily Breeze

CRIME AND COURTS

On the run: Police arrested a San Diego man two months after he led them on a pursuit across multiple freeways. Officials say Ahran Haugley, 41, was able to elude police in April by driving into an underground parking garage and making a run for it. Los Angeles Times

ECONOMY

Top dogs: Oracles Mark Hurd is the highest-paid chief executive in California with a compensation exceeding $53 million. In Southern California, Disneys Robert Iger leads the pack at more than $44 million. The Silicon Valley-heavy list is a testament to the continued growth of the tech business, with more technology firms climbing into the ranks of the states largest companies and more of them able to afford the lavish pay packages that put their CEOs atop the list. Los Angeles Times

Changing jobs: Orange County is losing high-paying jobs, and theyre being replaced by low-wage employment, according to Chapman University. As a result, Orange Countys per capita personal income, which in 2007 was 16.4 percent greater than that of California, is now only 8.7 percent higher. Orange County Register

CALIFORNIA CULTURE

Cook out: Is a BBQ still a BBQ if the guests wont eat beef, pork, seafood, corn, greens, grains, bread or dessert? We dont believe so. Los Angeles Times

Palm Springs hotelier: Ken Irwin Sr. of La Mancha Villas in Palm Springs died Friday at age 86. He ran the Palm Springs hotel for 30 years with his wife, Suzanne. And he owned the popular Robolights house. Desert Sun

Communal living: The rent at this 10-bedroom mansion in San Francisco is only $650, but it comes with a number of strings attached. Youll be sharing a room, paying $350 a month for social events and hugging a lot of strangers. SF Gate

I do: Mike Trout of the Angels took to the skies when it came time to propose to his girlfriend. The 2014 American League MVP hired a skywriter to communicate this important message: Will you marry me Jess? She said yes. Fox Sports

CALIFORNIA ALMANAC

Sacramento will be mostly sunny with a high of 89. Clouds will make way for sunshine in San Francisco as temperatures reach a high of 66. Los Angeles will have low clouds and a high of 76. Riverside will have a mix of clouds and sun with a high of 89 degrees. San Diego will have clouds and a high of 74.

AND FINALLY

This weeks birthdays for notable Californians:

Rep. Sam Farr (July 4, 1941), Rep. Judy Chu (July 7, 1953) and Rep. Tom McClintock (July 10, 1956).

If you have a memory or story about the Golden State, share it with us. Send us an email to let us know what you love or fondly remember about our state. (Please keep your story to 100 words.)

Please let us know what we can do to make this newsletter more useful to you. Send comments, complaints and ideas to Alice Walton or Shelby Grad.
People who dont get heard have a tendency to shout. Eventually they get mad. For too long, foreign policy experts have stuck their fingers in their ears when confronted by citizens ambivalent about playing global police officer.

Republican Donald Trump is channeling their voices through his electric bullhorn, whipping up the crowd and questioning the validity of institutions like NATO. Regardless of whether one likes the messenger, its time to listen as we honor the nations 240th birthday.

Trump is right when he claims that a policy that looks out for America first is based on a timeless principle. When George Washington penned his famous Farewell Address of 1796, he asked his Revolutionary War comrade Alexander Hamilton to edit the speech. Hamilton crystallized the presidents sentiment against foreign entanglements  then shared by most  into the Great Rule.

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Interweaving our destiny with others, Washington and Hamilton argued, would entangle our peace and prosperity in the toils of European ambition, rivalship, interest, humor or caprice. America should therefore pursue economic integration with the world, but maintain strict neutrality in its feuds.

John Quincy Adams reiterated this principle on July 4, 1821, when he reminded Congress that America goes not abroad, in search of monsters to destroy. She is the well-wisher to the freedom and independence of all. She is the champion and vindicator only of her own.

At the start of the Cold War, President Harry Truman proposed a new great rule to replace the old. Like Washington, Truman had public opinion behind him. Following a vigorous debate, the U.S. Congress accepted Trumans contention that it was imperative to support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures.

Citizens agreed that it was the United States job to defend the so-called Free World  alone, if necessary. Anything less was deemed un-American. Decision-makers stoked this sentiment to forestall isolationism. They encouraged Manichean thinking to scare the hell out of the American people, as Sen. Arthur Vandenberg put it.

Americans are sick of being told they must pay for policies they dont understand by elites whose explanations make less and less sense.

The Truman Doctrine meant global military assistance on a scale never before seen. Since 1947, America has fought more foreign wars than any other nation. It maintains large permanent bases throughout Europe and Asia. As a former secretary of State, Hillary Clinton knows the Truman Doctrine fostered a safer world. She advocates staying the course preferred by establishment Democrats and Republicans, arguing that change will result in chaos.

Yet the conditions that gave rise to the doctrine no longer exist, as citizens intuit. Europe and Asia have rebuilt, territorial invasions on a continental scale have vanished, physical conflict between nations has plummeted since 1947 and the United States is no longer the sole prosperous country in a world bankrupted by war. Meanwhile, Americans continue doing a grubby security job that leaves many feeling tired and dirty.

As a consequence, Washingtons advice feels relevant again. In 2011, Libertarian congressman Ron Paul called for closing all foreign bases. Fellow politicians derided him, but many voters found his arguments arresting. They also were drawn to Bernie Sanders, who said during the primaries that America should not be policeman of the world.

Hyper-conscious of economic insecurity since the Great Recession of 2008 and in hock for college tuition, millennials are perplexed at the 4-1 disparity between what America and most of its NATO partners spend on defense. Their parents, displaced in the workforce by globalization, dont understand what the United States gets out of the trade agreements that government officials deem necessary. The persistence of terrorism despite 15 years of war makes young and old alike wonder whether we should accelerate military interventionism or end it.

In 2013, for the first time since the Pew organization began polling Americans on the question five decades earlier, the majority (52%) said the United States should mind its own business and allow other countries to get along on their own. Today, Pew finds, the number has risen to 57%.

The public is abandoning the Cold War consensus. Americans are sick of being told they must pay for policies they dont understand by elites whose explanations make less and less sense and whose children rarely serve in the armed forces.

Persistent elitism triggers reactive populism. Voters turn to political outsiders when insiders wont listen. There are now more people registered independent (42%) than Democrat (29%) or Republican (26%). Britains revolt against the European Union, opposed by responsible leaders but approved by an alienated populace, should be considered an early warning signal.

Historians agree that the Truman Doctrine stabilized world politics. The question going forward is how long much longer the United States can carry the burden as its currently distributed without destabilizing itself. The nations 240th year is a time to think as boldly  and carefully  about the future as our founders did.

Elizabeth Cobbs is the Melbern Glasscock chair of American history at Texas A&M and a research fellow at Stanfords Hoover Institution. Her documentary, American Umpire, airs on public television in the fall.

Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion or Facebook
The Fourth of July I remember most vividly from my childhood in Riverside was an anarchic celebration on a huge green field where my brother almost lost an eye. I must have been 10, with four younger siblings, and my dad had driven us over the city line to Colton, where fireworks were legal, sold at wooden stands. We went to a local park, which was full of people, and in the gathering darkness I held a sparkler, which thrilled me in a primitive way, its scent of gunpowder and the whispering sparks that flew into the air.

Then we heard the screams of Piccolo Petes, and the boom of M80s and the hollow roar of Roman candles. It was one of these that misfired and sent out a spark that landed close to my brothers eye. Strangers rushed toward him, helped him find us amid the chaos.

That same brother came to the first Independence Day at the house where Ive lived for 28 years now  and many thereafter. The street dead-ends into an arroyo, which overlooks the Santa Ana River and Mt. Rubidoux, from which the city sends up its annual fireworks display. It thrills thousands of residents who gather on my street, on all the streets nearby, in church parking lots and the middle school playing field and the new city park, in yards and on the public parking strips of grass and swaying palm. This scene plays out all over America, in tiny towns and the largest cities.

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This is the holiday of streets parties, of neighborhood potlucks and barbecues, of what we know as independence  but looks more like interdependence. My three daughters remember the neighbor who made ice cream on his porch, and the neighbor whose band played on a makeshift stage, turning a street near ours into a classic rock party. We remember when he leaped off the hood of a truck and broke his leg on the asphalt. In the field at the end of our block, hundreds of us gathered, boomboxes and car radios tuned to the station playing music along with the fireworks.

Our taxes paid for the fireworks and elaborate set-up...[for] the EMTs who took injured revelers to the hospitals, and the firefighters who put out the fire.

Our taxes paid for the fireworks and elaborate set-up, for the city trucks that hauled away the trash, the EMTs who took injured revelers to the hospitals, and the firefighters who put out the fires.

My brother watched for the fires: After the peony explosions, the dark red in the dry brush amid the boulders. My children learned to count them. Sometimes only two or three, quickly extinguished, and sometimes eight or nine, and one that might flare in the wind to a large conflagration that lasted long after the trailing smoke of the fireworks themselves had disappeared. The firetrucks were always parked right there, on the mountain, ready.

Fireworks were invented in 7th century China, during the Tang Dynasty, as a way to chase away the evil spirits that might linger in the sky. Is this what we do on Independence Day? Chase away that which we believe might harm us?

Every national holiday Ive witnessed has featured fireworks, all over the world. On Bastille Day in France, my daughters and I sat outside a stone house in a tiny village to see what we could of the municipal fireworks show. On National Day in Switzerland, my mothers native country, we left another tiny village and tramped up a hill, where our cousins set off huge fireworks that would be illegal where we live. We were astonished that there was no fire in the wheat or the corn. Each village built a bonfire, and we watched them burn from a distance, all around us in the dark. On Canada Day on Prince Edward Island, descendants of people who fled the Scottish Highlands in 1773 set off fireworks from the dune grass and sand, or from lobster boats in the glittering water.

The French celebrate the storming of the Bastille prison and the (temporary) end of the monarchy; the Swiss how three provinces banded together against encroaching invaders; the Canadians the drawing together of disparate territories into a nation. On our Independence Day, we celebrate our liberation from Britain  chasing away the British Army  but we do it by joining together.

Big cities and small towns in America set up their pyrotechnics, and parents and strangers watch children hold up sparklers, alert for danger, while firefighters wait, while law enforcement and hospital staff and park employees and rangers watch the explosions, the delicate anemones in the sky, in case someone like my brother or my neighbor needs help, in the darkness.

Susan Straight has published 10 books, including A Million Nightingales, featuring a woman born into slavery in 1776.

Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion or Facebook
For decades, immigration hard-liners have felt sidelined and taken for granted by Republican presidential candidates, left with dog whistles and policy crumbs. But Donald Trumps ascent to the top of the Republican ticket has changed their fortunes.

Longtime advocates for shutting the door to new immigrants now hold crucial positions in Trumps campaign, and many feel, for the first time in recent memory, they have a candidate who is willing to speak plainly about reducing immigration flows and offers their clearest shot yet at influencing, perhaps even drastically altering, U.S. immigration policy.

Joe Arpaio, the Arizona sheriff and poster child for workplace raids and traffic stops, earned a prized seat on Trumps airplane a few months ago, spending hours with his new close friend. Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions, the fiercest opponent of GOP-backed amnesty bills in Congress for the last decade, now smiles and demurs when asked whether he might serve as Trumps running mate or settle for a Cabinet position.

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And NumbersUSA, long on the fringes of Washington lobbying groups with its stance that legal immigration should be reduced, now crows that all those powerful consultants had it wrong when they insisted that the GOP needed to compromise on raising immigration levels to win a presidential election.

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Trump broke all the rules  got hammered for it, and just kept going, said Rosemary Jenks, vice president and director of government relations for NumbersUSA.

Trumps upending of the Republican establishment has sapped clout from many who are used to having it, and empowered others who had grown accustomed to the margins. Nowhere is that reordering more pronounced than the immigration debate, in which Trumps rise has exposed a widening gap between the partys elites -- and stalwart allies such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce -- and its voters.

Trumps ascent vindicates those who argue that working-class voters see immigration as a threat to financial security. But the political argument has only been proved in Republican primaries, meaning Trumps allies in the immigration policy community could lose their influence if he is defeated in the general election, in which a large Latino turnout favoring Hillary Clinton could doom the GOP candidate.

For now, allies such as Arpaio, the Maricopa County sheriff whose controversial immigration enforcement tactics prompted an investigation from President Obamas Justice Department, are relishing the moment. Arpaio said he received a note from Trump three years ago because of their mutual interest in questioning Obamas birthplace -- an unfounded conspiracy theory -- but did not meet the candidate in person until a year ago, when he introduced Trump at a campaign rally in Phoenix. Recently, Arpaios ailing wife received an uplifting six-minute phone call from Trump.

Arpaio said he has endorsed Republicans in prior presidential elections, but never with the same fervor.

He doesnt need to go through my wife to hook me, Arpaio said. He had me hooked to begin with.

Sessions may have the deepest ties to Trump among anyone in Congress. In January, one of his top aides, Stephen Miller, became Trumps senior policy advisor.

Miller, 30, with thinning hair that lends an air of gravitas, has not only become influential in Trumps campaign, he has unexpectedly emerged as one of Trumps most fiery warm-up acts, earning him a cult following among Trumps ardent backers.

Everybody who stands against Donald Trump are the people whove been running this country into the ground, Miller said during a recent Dallas rally, waving his hand from behind a lectern. Theyre the people whove been controlling the levers of power. Theyre the people who are responsible for our open border, for our shrinking middle class, for our terrible trade deals. Everything that is wrong with this country today, the people opposing Donald J. Trump are responsible for.

Miller, who did not respond to a request for comment, would likely assume a key role in a Trump administration. The firebrand has helped position Trump as the furthest right on the issue within a primary field that was already hard-line. During a rally in April, he called Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, one of the most conservative members of Congress, an Obama ally who backs a radical policy of mass migration.

Though many Republicans in Congress have held out against efforts to bring legal status to millions of immigrants who entered the country illegally, the partys presidential nominees have been willing to compromise. Miller grew up in Santa Monica in the shadow of President Reagans 1986 immigration overhaul, which tightened border security while granting amnesty to nearly 3 million immigrants who had already crossed illegally.

The last Republican to hold the Oval Office, George W. Bush, tried but failed to pass an overhaul that would have granted a path to legal status for 12 million such immigrants. His chief Senate ally on the issue, Arizona Republican John McCain, won the partys presidential nomination in 2008 before renouncing his own bill. Mitt Romney, the 2012 nominee, called for self-deportation, in part to assuage conservatives who were concerned about his prior support for Bushs overhaul.

President Bush pushed for an amnesty bill at that time that the American people rejected, Sessions said. Trumps on the other side.

I dont think anybody has articulated [as] effectively the impact that this lawlessness is having on wages and security of people, Sessions added.

Sessions was among Bushs chief antagonists in Congress, and fought the issue again in 2013, when Republican leaders pushed their party to craft another overhaul with Obama. The plan, which died in the House after Senate approval, was prescribed in a postmortem that followed Romneys 2012 loss, amid concerns from party leaders that the GOP could no longer compete in national elections unless it changed its tone and passed an overhaul that would remove immigration as a political wedge issue.

I totally reject that, Sessions said. What people care [about]  they want economic growth, they want wages to go up.

Sessions said he backs Trump on almost every aspect of his immigration rhetoric, though he talks more about the nuts and bolts of crafting policy, working your way through achieving the goals in a practical manner.

Sessions allies at NumbersUSA are only slightly less trusting in Trump, noting that on some issues they care about, such as curbing the guest-worker program, he has made inconsistent statements. They also view Trumps persistent call for a border wall as a symbolic catchphrase that is less important to enforcement than electronic verification for workers and systems that track entry and exit.

Jenks and Chris Chmielenski, director of content and activism for NumbersUSA, said they have not had direct contact with the Trump campaign. Yet the influence of Sessions and Miller gives them a confidence they have never had in a presidential candidate.

The biggest problem with the immigration issue is people dont know how to talk about it, said Jenks.

For that, she credits Trump, even though on some issues -- the Muslim stuff -- the group does not take a position. (Trump proposed a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States, which he called temporary, in December. He and his campaign have suggested a softening of that position in recent days, but have not explicitly changed or revoked his position.)

Nor does NumbersUSA support mass deportations, which Trump has said he would instigate.

Yet many Republicans remain concerned that Trumps appeal to white working-class voters will not sustain the party in national elections. Rep. David Valadao (R-Hanford), whose Central Valley district is 71% Latino, said last week that he wont support Trump, joining some Republican lawmakers in South Florida who represent districts with large Latino populations.

Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, a Florida Republican who has worked with Democrats for years on an immigration overhaul, has said he will back Trump, but has not been enthusiastic. In an interview, he blamed Obama and his use of executive authority to halt some deportations for creating resentment among Republicans that empowered some fringe-element voices to almost sound like they are a majority in the GOP.

Romney won only an estimated 27% of the Latino vote, and polls suggest that Trump is faring worse, behind Clinton 62% to 23% among Latinos in one recent Fox News poll. Many analysts have said Trump would need votes from 40% of Latinos to win the election.

Immigration advocates point to Californias Proposition 187, the 1994 ballot initiative intended to crack down on illegal immigration. Voters approved the measure, backed by Republican Gov. Pete Wilson, and the party has not recovered from voter backlash in the state.

What happened in California many years ago is what is happening in the country now, said Ben Monterroso, executive director of Mi Familia Vota, a Latino advocacy group.

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How you can tell a Trump or a Clinton supporter based on TV shows and restaurants they like

Can you tell a Trump supporter by the television shows she watches, or a Clinton supporter by his favorite restaurant?

Resonate, a data and analytics firm based in Reston, Va., sent over some fun data it collected, analyzing survey results from thousands of consumers. Its the type of data often used to target voters, but its also a good way to evaluate how cultural differences correlate with political preferences.

Television: Donald Trumps core supporters are more likely than average Americans to prefer crime dramas such as NCIS and Criminal Minds. They also like Last Man Standing, starring Tim Allen, which ABC describes as a show about everything that families are dealing with today  all filtered through the blunt mans man comedy of an iconic American dad. Hmm, sound familiar?

Hillary Clintons core supporters like Scandal and Greys Anatomy, both shows from creator Shonda Rhimes that star women.

Fans of both candidates like talent competitions more than average Americans. Trump backers are a bit more partial to The Voice, while American Idol does better with Clintons core voters.

Sports: Trump fans are big on car racing and golf, Trumps personal passion. Clinton fans like basketball, both college and pro, a bit more than average Americans.

Drinking: Trump backers like rum and domestic beer more than Clinton backers, who favor vodka and craft beer more than Trump voters. Clintons supporters are also more likely to imbibe at a bar or restaurant than Trumps. This jibes with the larger electoral map that shows Democrats more likely to live in cities and Republicans congregated in rural areas.

Cars: Supporters of Trump  who has railed against foreign trade deals  more likely than Clintons backers to buy Americas most popular brands, Chevy and Ford. They also like SUVs more than Clinton supporters, which may also relate to the urban/rural divide between the political parties.

Dinner: Both Clinton and Trump backers enjoy a nice evening at Outback Steakhouse more than typical Americans. Trump backers are especially partial to the chain. Both camps also like Buffalo Wild Wings. But if you head over to Olive Garden, youre a lot more likely to find a Clintonite than a Trumper.

Trump fans love Dominos Pizza. But dont try taking them to McDonalds. It may be Trumps favorite fast food joint, but his voters are more keen on Subway.
The 37-year-old owner of Glendale-based ride-sharing company Toro Ride pleaded guilty Wednesday to a fraud scheme that included selling more than 30,000 iPhones he bought from Verizon for 99 cents each after claiming theyd be used by his drivers, allowing him to rake in more than $13 million, federal officials said.

Karen Kevin Galstian, of Chatsworth, admitted to using his company to swindle Verizon into selling him thousands of phones  which typically sell for more than $500 each  for 99 cents each in connection with a two-year contract, according to the U.S. Attorneys office.

He reportedly claimed that the phones would be used by drivers for Toro Ride, which he falsely claimed received $20 million from investors and was slated to expand nationwide.

Galstian reportedly failed to tell Verizon that he was awaiting sentencing ina bank fraud case, and would not be able to lead the companys expansion.

In less than six months, Galstian reportedly made more than $13 million by selling the iPhones to companies that resell electronics internationally, with the phones being activated in Vietnam, Iraq, China and Saudi Arabia.

He used some of his profits to pay monthly payments to Verizon, allowing him to order thousands of additional iPhones, and to buy several properties, including a penthouse condominium in the Palms Casino in Las Vegas.

Galstian pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and is slated to be sentenced for both cases in January.

As part of the deal, Galstian agreed to forfeit assets obtained through the scheme, including a number of vehicles as well as properties in Northridge, Sherman Oaks, Tujunga and Las Vegas.

The agreement also calls for him to pay $17 million in restitution to Verizon, which gave him more than $19.4 million worth of phones, officials said.

--

Alene Tchekmedyian, alene.tchekmedyian@latimes.com

Twitter: @atchek
The death toll from the truck bombing at a bustling Baghdad commercial street rose to 157 on Monday, Iraqi authorities said, as Prime Minister Haider Abadi ordered new security measures in the capital.

The attack early Sunday, claimed by the Islamic State group, was one of the worst single bombings in Iraq over more than a decade of war and insurgency. It underscored the groups ability to strike the Iraqi capital despite a string of battlefield losses elsewhere in the country and fueled public anger toward the government.

The suicide bomber blew up his explosives-laden vehicle in Baghdads mostly Shiite Karada district, a favorite destination for shoppers  especially during the holy month of Ramadan. The streets and sidewalks were filled with young people and families after they had broken their daytime fast.

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Police and health officials said Monday that the toll had reached 157, but that the number was likely to increase even more as rescuers were still looking for missing people. Officials said at least 12 people are confirmed missing. At least 190 people were wounded, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to talk to reporters.

A string of smaller bombings elsewhere in Baghdad on Monday killed 10 people and wounded 31, the officials said.

In a statement issued Sunday evening, Abadi ordered security forces to stop using a repeatedly-discredited hand-held bomb detection device. He also ordered the reopening of an investigation on the procurement of the British-made electronic wands, called ADE 651s.

In 2010, British authorities arrested the director of the British company ATSC on fraud charges, prompting Iraqis to open their own investigation into alleged corruption. Iraqi authorities made some arrests, but the investigation went nowhere and the device remained in use.

On Monday evening, Associated Press reporters saw a number of the devices still being used at checkpoints around the capital.

Abadi also ordered that X-ray systems be installed at the entrances of provinces. He demanded the upgrade of the capitals security belt, increased aerial scanning and stepped-up intelligence efforts.

Iraqi and foreign officials have linked the recent increase in Islamic State attacks especially large-scale suicide bombings  with the string of battlefield losses the extremist group has faced over the last year.

Iraqi security forces, supported by U.S.-led coalition airstrikes, have retaken the cities of Tikrit, Ramadi and Fallujah.

At the height of the extremist groups power in 2014, Islamic State had deprived the government of control of nearly one third of Iraqi territory. Now the militants are estimated to control only 14%, according to the prime ministers office. Islamic State still controls Mosul, Iraqs second-largest city.

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UPDATES:

10:30 a.m.: This article was updated with a new death toll.

This article was originally published at 6:08 a.m.
The body of a teenage Wisconsin student who went missing shortly after he arrived for an exchange program was found in the Tiber River on Monday.

John Cabot University confirmed that the body was that of 19-year-old Beau Solomon, who was last seen by his friends in the early hours of Friday morning.

UPDATE: Italian police arrest man in death of U.S. student

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We express our most heartfelt condolences to the Solomon family and to all those who loved Beau, said a statement from the Rome-based English-language university.

Solomon had just completed his first year as a personal finance major at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

An earlier statement from the university said it was alerted by his roommate, who reported that he had lost contact with Beau around 1 a.m.... and was worried when he did not see Beau at orientation Friday morning.

Solomons family said his credit cards were been used after he disappeared.

Solomons family was in Italy, and John Cabot University was in contact with Italian authorities, the U.S. Embassy and his U.S. college, Cabots president, Franco Pavoncello, told the Associated Press.

Without citing sources or names, the Italian news agency ANSA said two people claimed to have seen a man throw a person into the Tiber the night Solomon disappeared.

An older brother, Jake Solomon, described his brother as an athlete who successfully battled cancer for years as a child. He said his parents, Nick and Jodi Solomon, had traveled to Rome.

Though the cause of Solomons death is unclear, there have been several recent cases of American students in Rome running into trouble, especially during a night out drinking. Many American students are surprised to find that alcohol can be easily acquired in Italian supermarkets, bars or restaurants.

In 2012, a U.S. student was allegedly stabbed by his roommate, a fellow student at John Cabot University, after what police said was a night of alcohol and possible drug use. The stabbed student survived.

Also in recent years, a young American man, recently arrived in Rome for studies, apparently fell off a low wall, where many people sit at nighttime, and landed several meters below on the cement banks of the Tiber River near the Trastevere neighborhood.

Trastevere and the Camp de Fiori Piazza areas are filled with pubs, bars and cafes, many of them frequented by U.S. students who do pub crawls.

In another case, a young American male student, who had been reported missing after leaving a bar, was found dead near train tracks in a tunnel, apparently hit by a train in the early-morning hours.
Elie Wiesel never made Israel his home, but Israelis considered the author and Nobel Peace Prize laureate as one of their own anyway.

In the hours after the announcement of Wiesels death, the countrys leading political and intellectual dignitaries paid tribute to him with eloquent expressions of mourning, while Israels news media dedicated front-page headlines and broadcast time to the worlds most famous Holocaust survivor.

I knew Elie for over 40 years as one of the people who contributed the most to the memory of the Holocaust, said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at his weekly Cabinet meeting Sunday. He gave powerful expression to our people to emerge from the darkest hour and shed a bright light on its future.

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OBITUARY: Elie Wiesel dies at 87; Nobel Peace Prize laureate and renowned Holocaust survivor 

Wiesels evolution from avoiding writing about the Holocaust in the initial years after World War II to eventually embracing his trauma through memoirs and novels parallels Israels changing relationship with the memory of the Nazi genocide and those who survived it.

Eli Wiesel died as a hero in Israel, but it took him many years to become an Israeli hero, said Yossi Klein Halevi, an Israeli American author and a fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem.

In the early years of the state, Holocaust survivors were resented by native-born Israelis for their supposed passivity during the war. Elie Wiesels mission to centralize Holocaust memory in Jewish identity didnt find a place in the Israeli ethos, Halevi said. Over the years, Israelis began to understand the Holocaust in a much more nuanced way, and not just as a story of Jewish passivity, and began to see survivors generally and Wiesel in particular as heroes of the spirit.

Israels state-run television noted that Wiesel twice declined offers to be nominated to the countrys largely symbolic office of president. On Sunday, former Israeli President and Prime Minister Shimon Peres praised Wiesel for upholding the legacy of the Holocaust and delivering a message of peace and respect between people worldwide.

Writing in Yediot Aharonot, the newspaper that Wiesel once wrote for as an international correspondent, columnist Nahum Barnea described Wiesel as the personification of conscience, morality and humanitarian values. Barnea praised his Hebrew as eloquent and fluent.

Although he never immigrated, he mobilized all of his influence on world leaders and international public opinion for Israels sake, Barnea wrote. He had quite a bit of criticism for policies of Israeli governments, but refrained from expressing it because he didnt live in the country.

Indeed, in a state shaped by a generation of Holocaust survivors and their children, identification with Wiesels writings and his voice proved more meaningful than his place of residence.

Elie Wiesel wrote for me everything that our parents said after the Holocaust  he wrote about the sadness of God abandoning his people, said Aryeh Golan, a news host at Israels state-run radio channel and the child of Holocaust survivors. Its the truth of our parents that they talked about every day.

Yad Vashem, Israels Holocaust memorial and research center, first made the announcement Saturday night of Wiesels passing and on Sunday released a statement from the institutions chairman, Avner Shalev, praising Wiesel as a loyal member of the Jewish nation and his commitment to bearing witness to the atrocities he witnessed.

A private funeral was held Sunday in New York.

Family and friends carry Elie Wiesels coffin during a private service for the Nobel laureate and Holocaust survivor at the Fifth Avenue Synagogue in New York on July 3, 2016. (Andres Kudacki / Associated Press )

Robert Rozett, director of the Yad Vashem libraries, said Wiesel influenced the Israeli institution through his focus on individual experiences during the Holocaust, his insistence on drawing moral lessons rather than teaching it as dry history, and his insistence on the centrality of the genocide of Jews amid the Holocausts universal importance

We were allies in the idea that those messages didnt get lost, Rozett said. He was a voice that influenced us.

Mitnick is a special correspondent.

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Photographs exposing the unsanitary conditions within Arizona immigration detention facilities were released last week as part of a lawsuit against U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

Tucson federal judge David Bury dismissed CBP concerns as vague, ordering defense lawyers to present a more specific argument as to why photos and documents should be sealed. The images showed a worn-down water fountain, used toilet paper cluttered in a corner, and a broken drinking fountain installed directly over a toilet.

"Border Patrol's treatment of men, women and children in its custody is simply inexcusable and their lack of transparency shows their desire to avoid any public oversight or accountability," said Mary Kenney, senior staff attorney for the American Immigration Council via press release.

The AIC joined other immigration advocacy groups in filing the class-action lawsuit on behalf of three immigrants. They allege that holding cells were "filthy and littered" and smelled of excrement; Border Patrol agents reportedly kept inmates in frigid temperatures, despite calls for clothes and blankets to keep children warm.

According to National Immigration Law Center attorney Nora Preciado, the CBP is stripping detainees of the constitutional rights meant to protect people regardless of their citizenship status.

"They are not receiving due process while they are being housed in detention. Basically, we have precedent for this," Preciado told RT. "In other instances where civil detainees are held in similar conditions, the courts have said, 'You can't make people sleep on the ground' [and] 'You can't keep people without a clean facility, not provide them adequate food, water, basic things such as soap, access to showers."

Preciado added that some are being held "up to four or five days" with a bed, blankets, or access to a shower.

Nationwide Hunger Strikes

Detainees ranging from Georgia to California staged hunger strikes over the last year in protest of conditions outlined in the Arizona case.

In April, two immigrants at the Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin, Ga. protested their prolonged incarceration, citing the fact that ICE didn't have their final deportation order. ICE is required to review each case for a maxium180 days, but at least one of the men said he was already going on six months.

The scrutinized Adelanto Detention Facility in Adelanto, Calif. has received multiple civil rights violation complaints over that last two years. Most cited either medical abuse or a lack of legal representation; detainees also reported racist facility guards and poor food quality.

DHS Detention Center Checks

Bury's ruling is the second detrimental blow to the CPB's defense. Last September, he issued sanctions against the agency over destruction of surveillance video evidence. Defense attorneys argue that releasing such information jeopardized the safety of agents and detainees alike.

The judge disagreed and allowed the Arizona Republic - which sued for access to the information - to publish photographs taken at four of eight stations.

The Department of Homeland Security launched its own set of unannounced immigration detention center visits in March. Results are not public yet, but the goal is to make sure CPB and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is in compliance with DHS health and safety standards.
A fundraising event for the Doyle family will take place in in Kavanaghs (The Wrens Nest) Portlaoise on Friday, July 15.

The fundraiser is part of a drive by a group of Portlaoise parents to raise money to buy a nine-seater car that can easily accommodate Michelle Doyle and her seven children.

The effort comes in the wake of the sudden death of 37-year old Christopher Doyle earlier this month.

Described as a proud and devoted father, Chris left behind him his wife Michelle and seven children, including, uniquely, three sets of twins.

The couple made headlines in 2012 when they welcomed their third set of twins, beating odds of 500,000 to one in so doing.

The family consists of twin sons aged 7, a son aged 6, twin son and daughter aged 5, and a twin son and daughter aged 4.

Poignantly, Chris gave up work to become a full time carer when his eldest sons were diagnosed as having special needs, acute learning difficulties and multiple disabilities.

His efforts on behalf of his children saw him awarded Irelands Dad of the Year in 2013.

Chris and Michelle were looking forward to renewing their wedding vows this coming August.

In the wake of Chris' sad passing, Michelle now finds herself running a very tight ship with seven children, all under the age of eight.

Consider the spectacle of seven pairs of shoes and seven packed schoolbags lining the hallway before school each morning, and the scale of Michelle's task becomes apparent.

The school run itself requires two cars, and two drivers, more than a seven eater.

In an effort to make Michelle and her children's life a little easier, a group of parents have organised the fundraiser in Kavanaghs on July 15.

They hope to sell 5,000 tickets for the event which will feature local bands, Blessed and Soulset.

Tickets will be on sale from your schools office, in the Portlaoise Parish Centre Shop or can be bought directly from P.J. Kavanagh. Tickets cost 5 per person.

The group are also looking to local businesses for support and donations, and would like to thank the team at Mochua Print and Design in Portlaoise for their incredibly generous support.

If you or your business would like to donate goods or services to this cause pleasemake contact at DFSF@outlook.ie.

A special account in Bank of Ireland Portlaoise has been opened.

Donations can be made through online banking or lodged in any BOI branch using:

IBAN IE17BOFI90188882269627.
Children from Gael Scoil Phort Laoise and Scoil Bhride NS joined with children's author Patricia Forde recently to launch a summer reading challenge in Laois.

The Galway author of books like 'The Kings Secret' and 'Frogs don't like Dragons', Ms Forde met the students at Portlaoise Library, where she encouraged them and indeed all young people to read, read, read over their summer holidays.

She officially launched the Summer Stars Reading Challenge 2016, with the help of classes from Gael Scoil Phortlaoise and Scoil Bhride, both from Portlaoise.

Organised by Laois County Library Service, the annual Summer Reading Challenge is aimed at children up to twelve year olds as well as their families.

The challenge is  simple, fun and free.

Children are encouraged to read six or more library books of their choice during the summer holidays.

Entrants willeach receive their own Summer Stars Reading Card to record their progress, and the Summer Stars Reward Stamp will be added to their card at the library for each book read.

Fun rewards will be provided along the way.

Those who finish the challenge will be presented with their medal by the author Patricia Forde, at a special presentation day in September.

Parents and carers love the challenge. Not only is it free but they can see the difference the Summer Reading Challenge makes to their childrens reading. Last year 1,300 children took part across Laois, said Suzanne Carroll, Assistant Librarian in Portlaoise.

There are extra fun elements to this year's event, with tickets to Tayto park as prizes.

The Golden ticket Family Reading Challenge encourages adults and children of all ages to read together and enter a draw for a family ticket to Tayto Park.

The Star Spot Photo Competition. invites children to take a photograph of their book in their favourite place to read.

The photo with the most Facebook likes will win one ticket to Tayto Park.

On days you cant get to the library, there is still the Summer Stars webpages at www.librariesireland.ie It include lots of great activities, games, Talking Ebooks, stories, reading tips, book suggestions by age group and humorous interviews with childrens authors and other celebrities, said librarian Ms Carroll.

Tips to encourage children to complete the Reading Challenge include visiting the local library as often as possible, and showing a good example by reading in front of children, whether it's a book, magazine or newspaper.

There are all kinds of events going on in libraries, and children soon get caught up in the fun, said Ms Carroll.

Children must be allowed to select books they like.

It is important to let children choose their own books. If they dont like a book, just move on to the next one,

or ask one of the library staff to recommend a read.  Children dont just have to read stories or novels. Fact books, audio books, poetry  they all count, she said.

Children can now sign up at their local library for the challenge.

It is one of many free childrens events to be found in Laois libraries this summer.

Among the fun to be had is the summer club , a creative writing workshop, a rocket making workshop, Photobooth events and of course the Dahlicious  movies in pyjamas.

Details are available on www.laoislibraries.ie.
In todays Guardian Nick Clegg has been making the case for calling an early General Election before any steps are taken towards Brexit. He writes:

Who would have thought? The Conservative party, the party of continuity and tradition, is now the cause of the greatest constitutional crisis in modern times. The party of business is now the source of reckless economic turmoil. The natural party of government is now presiding over paralysis in Westminster and Whitehall. The party of the British bulldog spirit is now leading our great country towards rudderless introspection.

He adds:

This cannot go on. Somehow we must navigate the country through the months ahead. The government not only finds itself without leadership, it has no plan, no consensus and no clue about what it wants to do in the future. The only thing it agrees on is that the UK should leave the EU. But how, when and to what end all remain unanswered. It enjoys a mandate to quit, but no mandate as to how this should be done.

The solution?

This debilitating cocktail of hubris, incompetence and dishonesty must be overcome if the country is to move forward. This is what we should do. First, each Conservative leadership candidate must set out, in detail, what they think our future relationship with Europe should be. Second, the new prime minister, to be announced on 9 September, should immediately publish a white paper setting out a full plan. And third, he or she must then seek a democratic mandate for their plan in an early general election.  Importantly, the election must be held before any attempt is made to activate article 50, the legal mechanism triggering the negotiations for EU exit. Starting that clock ticking before people have had an opportunity to cast a judgment on what life would actually look like outside the EU would be deeply undemocratic.

You can read the full article here.
Tim Farron is playing a blinder at the moment. Our clear support of the European Union, while accepting the referendum result, is absolutely right.

But we need a dual track approach here. We need to have an alternative to EU membership lined up. Plan B, if you like.

It seems to me that rejoining the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) (we left in 1973 after 13 years membership) and staying in the European Economic Area (EEA), is the answer to the current UK post-Brexit conundrum.

This will give us the economic benefits of access to the single market, while giving some control over immigration from the EU.

Though it grieves me to do this, I will use Theresa Mays leadership announcement speech as a reference point. She said:

as we conduct our negotiations, it must be a priority to allow British companies to trade with the single market in goods and services  but also to regain more control of the numbers of people who come here from Europe.

To me, such a declaration is entirely consistent with EFTA/EEA membership.

EFTA/EEA membership already provides more control of the numbers of people who enter a member country via Article 112(1) of the Agreement on the European Economic Area under chapter 4 Safeguard Measures:

If serious economic, societal or environmental difficulties of a sectorial or regional nature liable to persist are arising, a Contracting Party may unilaterally take appropriate measures under the conditions and procedures laid down in Article 113.

The wealth of EEA agreements, protocols and precedent (ref: Liechtenstein) concerning this Article are well beyond my very limited understanding (and I note the current Swiss experience), but there certainly seems to be great scope for arguing for EFTA/EEA membership, alongside Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein (Switzerland are in EFTA but not the EEA).

Article 112(1) looks like the elusive emergency brake on immigration to me. There is plenty of wiggle room here. We should absolutely avoid getting tunnel vision about binary choices. I note in passing that even in the EU, Austria and Hungary have erected vast fences to close much of their borders  how more in control can one get than having a border fence?

Through the EFTA/EEA solution, we would regain control over immigration (not a phrase the premise of which I buy into but it would reasonably satisfy those who want that) while remaining in the single market. We would not be out in the cold. We would still give substantial sums to the EU, thereby maintaining our link with the 27 countries in the EU, and be part of a strengthened EFTA/EEA with other European partners.

This seems to me to be a good progressive solution while accepting the referendum result and acknowledging fears about being out of control of immigration from the rest of Europe.

The sooner this plan is agreed upon, and moved forward through negotiation, the better  both from an economic viewpoint but also with respect to healing the current state of national angst.

To me, this formula has all the hallmarks of a great British compromise.

To eschew this option and go the full fat World Trade Organisation rules route would be to cast this country out into outer darkness amidst a complete downgrading of our economy. To do such national, epic self-harming on the basis of a binary referendum on a single simple question in flawed circumstances (well described by Professor A.C.Grayling) would be a gross blunder on an historic scale.

That is why it is imperative that we have a General Election to test the cases for the post-Brexit options (see this detailed paper), as well as for the status quo of EU membership now the rubble is settling from the referendum, and provide a mandate for going forward. I acknowledge that the EFTA/EEA route would bring howls of protest from Farage and supporters. So lets test it at the ballot box.

I agree with Nick that the needed Post-Brexit decisions are so hugely momentous, and so outside the existing mandate for the British government via the 2015 general election, that we must have a General Election to hammer out the post-Brexit plan. It would be monumentally outrageous if we move forward on the basis of a vote of the 0.002% of the population in the Tory party, with 99.998% of us acting as eavesdroppers  the most absurd and bizarre abdication of democracy imaginable.

* Paul Walter is a Liberal Democrat activist and member of the Liberal Democrat Voice team. He blogs at Liberal Burblings.
With the referendum already having had a number of impacts on the value of the pound and the political stability of the UK, what impact will it have on the education of future generations and, more specifically, regarding language education?

It seems that people forget what a huge influence the European Union has had on our workers rights and the contribution towards farmers, the NHS, Cornwall this list could go on forever, but has anyone really thought about the ability for our children to learn languages? Language education is already at risk due to Nicky Morgan and the rest of the department for education, with the majority of language teachers having to teach at least two languages, with French being the main language and a number of schools not offering German or Spanish, despite Spanish growing in popularity.

According to the European Commission, the Barcelona European Council called for action to improve the mastery of basic skills, in particular by teaching at least two foreign languages from a very early age, yet 14% of young people still lack basic knowledge of even one language and, with A Levels of languages rapidly decreasing, it wouldnt be a surprise if a large portion of the 14% was from the UK. Every year the news reports that the number of modern foreign languages is falling and does leaving the EU mean that this shall continue? Although the English Baccalaureate is going to be made compulsory as of September, what will leaving the EU mean for A Level or University uptake?

It seems as though the country is making it less of an incentive to learn a language. If we decide to fully leave the EU, meaning that we trade less with the EU and are unable to move abroad freely, then its likely that fewer companies will have a demand for German or French speakers, nor will young adults have such an easy opportunity to experience another culture. And thats not including all the lost jobs at the EU. Not only that, but its also important to question whether the quality of language teaching may decline, due to the lack of ease for native speaking modern foreign language teachers moving to the United Kingdom.

As a lover of languages, it disappoints me that other students may no longer get the opportunities that I have had so far, may not be able to study my favourite languages and feel the pure thrill when you understand the most complicated German grammar rule, but what upsets me the most is that this is a backwards step in globalisation and acceptance. Languages open more doors, allow us to meet new people, learn of other cultures, travel, fall in love and see the world with other eyes.

Maybe businesses may not be demanding languages in the future, but is it really worth us giving them up just because the British population made a misinformed decision?

* Anna Pitcher has recently finished her studies in German and Economics at the University of Sheffield. She is a member of the Liberal Democrats.
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A KIND-HEARTED 12-year-old Limerick girl got her gorgeous long dark brown locks chopped in memory of her uncle, who died from cancer.

Aine OConnors hair will now be used to make wigs for women who have suffered hair loss, often as a result of chemotherapy.

After her beloved uncle, Ray OConnor, died from cancer in November 2014, Aine decided she wanted to do something to raise money for a cure.

I thought I would get my hair cut and fundraise for the Irish Cancer Society. I wanted to do it in memory of Ray. He was a very nice man, said Aine, who is from Lisnagry.

Sponsorship cards were printed and to date she has collected over 400. Plus, her ponytail will be made into a wig  priceless for the recipient. Aine said she had no qualms about getting 10 inches of her hair snipped in Whisps Hair Salon in Castleconnell on Friday morning.

I wasnt nervous at all but my mom was, smiled Aine, whose mum and dad are Saundra and Gearoid. The family is completed by Aines brother Cian, aged 16, sister Roisin, 18, and they are all very proud of her, as are her extended family.

Aine got the thumbs up for her new look from her classmates in Lisnagry National School and she is looking forward to starting in Castletroy College next September.

Mum Saundra candidly admits that she, like many women, wouldnt have the guts to do it

Her sister wouldn't either, so fair play to her. We are totally proud of her. When Ray passed away she said she wanted to do something. She looked it up online and came to us, asking if she left it grow could she get it cut. I was putting it on the long finger to be honest, I said oh yeah, in the summer but she kept me to it, said Saundra.

Ray lived with them and as Aine is the baby of the family they were very close. Saundra said there is still money coming in and she thanked everyone for their generosity and Whisps Hair Salon.

We didnt think it would take off but friends and family donated. People were tagging me on Facebook saying put me down for a tenner or twenty. Gearoid works in An Post and his colleagues have been very good, said Saundra. Best of all, Aines new shorter style suits her down to the ground.
A COURT hearing where banks sought to repossess nearly 150 homes has passed off without incident in Limerick, after a large number of gardai attended the courthouse to prevent any further disturbances.

Of the 147 cases before county registrar Pat Wallace, the majority were taken by EBS mortgage finance, followed by Bank of Ireland, Ulster Bank and AIB.

A smaller number of cases were taken by TSB, Pepper Finance Corporation, Springboard Mortgages, Start Mortgages, Haven and Stepstone. However, only five orders for repossession were granted, with Mr Wallace adjourning the majority of cases for four months to allow people to further negotiate with the banks.

Speaking to the Limerick Leader after the four-hour hearing, solicitor Ger ONeill said the courts are being sympathetic and are giving people every opportunity to try and save their homes, but thats not due to the banks. The proceedings are all to repossess properties, brought by the banks who want people out. If thats fair, you can make your own mind up. No protests here today, but a courthouse full of gardai and I think the protestors saw the writing on the wall. But whats going to happen here on other days who knows.

Mr ONeill said the scenes at the most recent hearing were a bit frightening, but said its a reflection of the state of the country.

To have people standing there shouting abuse and obscenities at you, its not nice. Those people werent from Limerick, they were organised protesters. It shows the state of the country and how people feel about the banks.

Theres no end in sight to these hearings; they are going to get worse and worse. The Government is going to have to come up with a strategy, what that will be remains to be seen.
ACTOR Jared Harris, the star of Mad Men and son of one of Limericks one famous thespians, sat for Limerick artist Thomas Delohery for these sketches.

Delohery, who used to live on the Ennis Road but now resides in Australia, undertook these portraits for the prestigious Archibald Prize 2016. Finalists will be announced on July 7. The artist was in Limerick late last year in his role as artistic curator of the portrait competition under the Richard Harris International Film Festival, and got Jared to sit for him.

The pair first met in Kilkee when the statue was unveiled in honour of Richard Harris in 2006. After drawing Jared from life, Delohery started the background/surface of the main painting by doing six further studies of Jared Harris in his various roles from The Notorious Bettie Page, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Mad Men, Sherlock Holmes. A Game of Shadows, Lincoln and Paganini, and The Devil's Violinist.

Delohery then incorporated these 6 studies onto the surface of his painting and then drew and painted his overall image of Jared Harris over them. The painting took over seven months to complete. The artwork is called, Actor Jared Harris: More than the some of his parts.

When I was working on my painting of Jared Harris, I was very much inspired not just by Jared's abilities as a character actor but also by an old black and white photograph I saw one time of Irish born painter Francis Bacon, he said.
Jul 3, 2016, 11 PM

By Michael Baadke

Nathaniel Hawthorne, the American author of The Scarlet Letter and the short story collection Twice-Told Tales, was born July 4, 1804, in Salem, Mass. He attended Bowdoin College, where he became close friends with future president Franklin Pierce, and also met fellow writer Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

He published a number of his short stories, which were collected in 1837 as Twice-Told Tales. Unable to support himself with his writing, he found employment at the Boston Custom House in 1839.

He married Sophia Peabody in 1842, and the couple had three children. In 1850, The Scarlet Letter was published, exploring the themes of sin and guilt in Puritan New England. It is Hawthornes best-known work, and later novels, including The House of Seven Gables (1851), continued to examine psychological themes.

Hawthorne completed several novels before his death in 1864. He is commemorated on a 20 stamp issued July 8, 1983, in the Literary Arts series (Scott 2047).
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The Originals

The 13-star Betsy Ross Flag (Image credit: Public domain)

In this second of five features, to publish each day through July 4, LiveScience presents 10 important, obscure and fascinating facts about America's most patriotic holiday. [Read: 50 Fabulous Facts About the 4th of July: History of Independence]

Name 'Em All

The 13 Original Colonies as mapped in 1763. (Image credit: Public domain; from from Historical Atlas by William R. Shepherd)

Todays 50 U.S. states grew from the 13 original colonies that declared their independence in 1776. Can you name them all? Give it a try and then scroll down...

The 13 original colonies are: Connecticut, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, New Hampshire, Massachusetts Bay, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and Georgia.

First Assembly

Jamestown, Virginia in ruins. (Image credit: Public domain; from Robert Sears, A pictorial description of the United States, 1854.)

Virginia was home to the first European-style representative assembly in North America, which took place on July 30, 1619. The goal was to establish a colonial government for Virginia, first settled by Europeans at Jamestown in May 1607. The early colony did not get off to a good start, with attacks by the native Algonquins and disease decimating the population. During the winter of 1609, famine and disease killed all but 60 of Jamestowns original 214 settlers.

Settle a Debt

William Penn at 22. (Image credit: Public domain; 1666 portrait of a 22-year-old William Penn)

Pennsylvanias formation settled a debt. King Charles II owed William Penn, a wealthy, high-class Briton, 16,000 British pounds. Penn, however, had converted to Quakerism, a religious group persecuted for its pacifist beliefs. He saw the opportunity to create a haven for Quakers and asked Charles II for land in lieu of money. In 1681, the king signed over the land between Maryland and New York to Penn, and Pennsylvania was born.

Penman of the Revolution

John Dickinson, Revolutionary-era statesman. (Image credit: Public domain; painted by Charles Willson Peale.)

The first state president of Delaware, John Dickinson, was known as the penman of the Revolution for his persuasive essays, Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania, published in 1767 and 1768. The letters argued against Great Britains taxation and won Dickinson great fame, though he was actually a lawyer, not a farmer. As state president of Delaware in 1781-1782, Dickinsons first act was to issue a Proclamation Against Vice and Immorality.

First and Last

Providence, Rhode Island in 1858. (Image credit: John Badger Bachelder (1825-1894). Publisher: W. Endicott & Co., New York)

Rhode Island was the first state to renounce its allegiance to the British Empire on May 4, 1776. It would also be the last state to ratify the new U.S. Constitution. According to The History Channel, Rhode Island had a thriving trade business and two busy ports at Providence and Newport. The colony flirted with remaining independent from the new United States, but it soon became clear that joining with the new republic made good business sense. Rhode Island ratified the Constitution on May 29, 1790.

Teen Genius

Eliza Lucas Pinckney's father gave her free reign to run the family's three plantations at the age of 16. (Image credit: Edward Greene Malbone, 1801)

A teenage girl was responsible for developing colonial South Carolinas second-largest crop: Indigo. Eliza Lucas was left in charge of her fathers three plantations at age 16 when her father, a British military officer, was stationed in Antigua. The elder Lucas sent his daughter a variety of seeds to test in South Carolinas climate. After many experiments, Eliza Lucas made indigo work. Unfortunately, both the cultivation of both rice and indigo depended heavily on slave labor.

Lost and Gone Forever

At top of map: "By Capt. Collett, Governor of Fort Johnston. Engraved by I. Bayly." At lower right: "To Hist most Excellent Majesty George the IIId. King of Great Britain, &c. &c. &c. this Map is host humbly dedicated by His Majesty's most humbl obedient & dutiful Subject John Collet." At bottom: "Publish'd according to Act of Parliament, May the 1st 1770, by S. Hooper No. 25 Ludgate Hill, London." (Image credit: Captain John Collett, 1770)

One of Colonial Americas most enduring mystery stories is what happened to the settlers of the Lost Colony. In 1587, surveyor and expedition leader John White left 117 settlers, including his pregnant daughter, on Roanoke Island on the coast of what is now North Carolina. By the time White made it back three years later, the settlers had vanished.

To this day, no one knows what happened to the Lost Colony. The settlers may have moved elsewhere or given up their colony to marry and intermingle with local Native American Tribes. Those same tribes may have killed them, or they could have died of disease and famine. Archaeologists have turned up little evidence to support any of the theories. According to a 1972 study published in the Annals of the Association of American Geographers, its possible they never will: Shoreline erosion has so changed North Carolinas barrier islands that its likely the site of the Lost Colony is now underwater.

This Old Man

New Hampshire's Old Man of the Mountain collapsed in 2003. (Image credit: Public domain)

Europeans first settled in New Hampshire in 1623, but it wasnt until 1805 that a survey team discovered the natural rock feature that would become forever linked with the state: The Old Man of the Mountain. This series of granite ledges looked eerily like a craggy face before they collapsed in 2003, victim of millenia of erosion. Statesman Daniel Webster said of the formation, Men hang out their signs indicative of their respective trades; shoemakers hang out a gigantic shoe; jewelers a monster watch, and the dentist hangs out a gold tooth; but in the mountains of New Hampshire, God Almighty has hung out a sign to show that there He makes men."

A Georgia First

The Siege of Savannah, 1779 (Image credit: A.I. Keller)

Georgia celebrates her first English settlement on February 12, Georgia Day. On this day in 1733, British parliamentarian James Oglethorpe landed at what is now the city of Savannah with about 100 settlers. During the Revolutionary War, Savannah was in the hands of the British, despite a failed 1779 attempt to win the city back.

The Revolution Ends

Surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown (Image credit: John Trumbull)

The last major military battle of the Revolutionary War took place in 1781 in Yorktown, Va. (Where British General Cornwallis surrendered.) But New York was the site of the last shots of the Revolutionary War. On Evacuation Day, Nov. 26, 1783, the last British troops in America left their station in New York. As the British ships pulled away from the ecstatic crowds on Staten Island, a gunner fired one last cannon shot toward the shore. The shot fell harmlessly in the sea.
Sky Lights

Fireworks on the Fourth of July in Indianapolis, Ind. (Image credit:  Alexey Stiop | Dreamstime.com )

Each day through July Fourth, LiveScience brings you some of the most fascinating, little-known facts about America's celebration of independence.

[Read: 50 Fabulous 4th of July Facts: \The 13 Original Colonies, Come Celebrate! and All About Patriotism]

Static Cling

New years 2002 at Seaport Village in San Diego, Calif. (Image credit: Public Domain.)

The static electricity in synthetic clothing can unleash sparks that could detonate fireworks, those who make the shells must wear cotton clothing (all the way down to their underwear!), according to Wichita State University.

Cool Colors

Fourth of July fireworks in Davis, Calif. (Image credit:  Venkatramanan Krishnamani | Dreamstime.com)

The dazzling colors that light up Fourth of July skies depend on the mix of metals inside the fireworks:

Copper produces blue sparks;

A mix of strontium salts, lithium salts and other substances makes red;

Aluminum and titanium put the white stars in an aerial flag;

Barium makes green;

Calcium burns orange and sodium, yellow.

Big Business

It is is common for buildings, by the side of a highway, to sell fireworks in rural America. (Image credit: Skubasteve834

Fireworks are big business. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, America imports $190.3 million worth of fireworks each year, almost all from China. The U.S. itself makes $231.8 million of fireworks and pyrotechnics each year.

Top This!

The largest fireworks display on record took place in Madeira, Portugal in December 2006. During the show, 66,326 fireworks went off. (Image credit: macedospirotecnia ; See YouTube video

The largest fireworks display on record took place in Madeira, Portugal in December 2006. During the show, 66,326 fireworks went off.

Lights ... Boom!

Fireworks on the Fourth of July in Indianapolis, Ind. (Image credit:  Alexey Stiop | Dreamstime.com )

You brain isn't playing tricks on you.  You really do see the sky light up before you hear the boom. That's because light travels about a million times faster than sound. While light trucks along at a whopping 300,000,000 meters per second, sound chugs at 340 meters per second. To figure out how far away the fireworks are, start counting seconds as soon as you see them light up the sky and stop counting once you've heard the explosion. Divide by 3 and thats the distance in kilometers.

Hot Stuff

People moving sparklers around. (Image credit: Wikimedia Commons / Public Domain)

Sparklers, which are commonly used by children, burn at temperatures upward of 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit (1,093 degrees Celsius). In 2003, sparklers caused 700 injuries, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). More than half of injuries of children under 5 were caused by sparklers.

Caution, Please

Fourth of July fireworks in Davis, Calif. (Image credit:  Venkatramanan Krishnamani | Dreamstime.com)

Between June 18 and July 18, 2010, there were about 6,300 fireworks-related injuries in the U.S., according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). An estimated 1,200 injuries were associated with sparklers and 400 with bottle rockets.

Boo-Boos

A kid getting a band-aid on for a boo-boo. (Image credit:  Richard Nelson | Dreamstime.com)

The parts of the body most often injured from fireworks, based on the 2010 CPSC study, were hands and fingers (estimated 30 percent); legs (estimated 22 percent); eyes (estimated 21 percent); and head, face and ears (estimated 16 percent).

Leave it to the Professionals

What better symbol of our independence? (Image credit: CREDIT:  Warren Rosenberg | Dreamstime.com)

But despite the dangers of fireworks, the injury rate has actually gone down 37 percent since 1991, the CPSC found. These days, about 3 out of every 100,000 people gets injured by a firework. The decreased injury rate may be due to people's preference for large, professional fireworks displays rather than backyard pyrotechnics.

Falling from the Sky

A collection of palm-shell fireworks illuminating the beach of Tybee Island, Georgia. (Image credit: Steevven1

All of the propellants, oxidizers and coloring agents that go into dazzling light shows on July Fourth leave a smoky skeleton in the sky that ends up in the areas soils and waterways.
Bald eagles typically mate for life, with a "divorce rate" of less than 5 percent, says bald eagle expert Bryan Watts.

The national animal of the United States, the bald eagle is one of the most recognizable birds in the country. But are the mating behaviors of these large raptors just as conspicuous as their "bald" heads?

Bald eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) can be found throughout the contiguous United States, as well as in Alaska, northern Mexico and most of Canada.

"Generally, they are very social and have an incredible ability to find other birds," said bald eagle expert Bryan Watts, director of the Center for Conservation Biology of the College of William & Mary and Virginia Commonwealth University. "The best way of attracting eagles is to have other eagles around."

In the nonbreeding season, the birds tend to congregate into huge communal roosts. Just outside these roosts are stable gathering areas, where the eagles interact socially and call to one another, particularly in the morning, Watts told Live Science. [Why Is the Bald Eagle America's National Bird?]

The mating and nesting season for bald eagles varies depending on their location. For instance, eagles in the southeastern states begin their nesting season in the fall, while those in the western states begin nesting near the start of the new year, according to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Location also determines whether or not the birds migrate to nest.

Whatever the case, the animals tend to get very aggressive during the breeding season and vigorously defend their territory. Both males and females engage in these sometimes-deadly battles.

Daring courtship displays

Scientists don't know what characteristics bald eagles look for in potential mates or how the birds assess each other's reproductive potential. "We just have fragments of information," Watts said.

It's known, however, that bald eagle pairs engage in a number of courtship rituals as they build their bond.

The most famous and recognizable of these rituals is the "cartwheel courtship flight," in which two bald eagles will fly up high, lock talons and then get into a cartwheel spin as they fall toward the ground, breaking apart at the last minute. "And [in] some cases they actually hit the ground," Watts said.

It should be noted, however, that nonbreeding bald eagles may engage in this behavior antagonistically, as a kind of ritualistic battle.

A courting pair may also engage in a chase display, where they will chase each other before locking talons and doing aerial rolls.

Additionally, the birds may perform the "rollercoaster flight." During this aerial display, one of the birds will essentially act like a rollercoaster  it will fly up high, go into a steep dive, pull up high again and dive down again.

The pair will also work together to gather material to build a nest for their chicks, starting with the largest branches and slowly working in smaller pieces. Sometimes, the male will gather materials and give them to the female to construct the nest. The final piece of the nest is a lining made of grasses, corn husks, pine straw and other soft materials, and an egg cup composed of fine plant material that can help insulate the egg  the male and female may lay these pieces together, possibly as a form of pair bonding.

In all, nest building could take a couple of months, but bald eagles can also build their nests much quicker if need be (such as if the area is getting crowded with other birds).

Together until the end

As the pair gets closer to copulating, they will ramp down their aerial displays and instead focus more on intimate behaviors, such as sitting shoulder-to-shoulder, sitting in the nest structure together, preening and calling to one another. [In Photos: Birds of Prey]

When the female is ready, she will try to solicit the male to mate with her, such as by calling to him and bowing. To mate, the male will climb on the female's back and align his cloaca (waste and reproductive orifice) with hers to transfer sperm.

The pair may copulate several times a day during the breeding season, and the male will stay with the female to help incubate the eggs and raise the eaglets.

In some cases, new bald eagle pairs may not mate their first year together, instead spending several years in a particular location, possibly to assess each other or the nesting area.

Bald eagles typically mate for life and look for other partners only if their mating partner dies  they have a "divorce rate" that's less than 5 percent, according to Watts.

Interestingly, a "marriage" between one male and one female bald eagle isn't the only possible arrangement. "We have numerous documented examples of triads," Watts said. "Those typically involve a male and two females."

These triads can produce large clutches with contributions from both females, and all three adults provide food for the brood, Watts said, adding that "those are interesting situations, but they haven't been thoroughly studied."
A Longford GAA County Board official has this week strenuously refuted accusations that they have been secretive in terms of trying to come up with a solution to rectify the problems with the seated stands at Glennon Brothers Pearse Park.

Development & Safety Officer Colm Murray, who was recently appointed to head up the Pearse Park Project Development sub committee, was responding to comments made by Longford Leader columnist Mattie Fox.

Posing the question as to why wasnt a committee appointed at the outset once news of the stand became clear? Mr Fox also suggested, Many people believe it is a further example of the preoccupation with preserving a secret policy, with regard to Pearse Park.

Mr Murray stated, There were accusations that we have been very secretive in terms of what we have been doing and that hasnt been the case at all. There is actually a lot of information out there among County Board delegates.

Mr Murray said the most recent County Board meeting (held on Monday, June 13) was the first since the sub committee was formed and that delegates were given a comprehensive update as to where things were at.

He continued, I cant control what people write but it did bring it across to people throughout the county that things that were being done, were being done in an underhand or behind closed doors manner. Certainly, that is not our aim.

The Kenagh-based official stressed, Our aim and our intentions are genuine. Our aim and intention is to get Pearse Park fixed, to get the job done right.

He acknowledged, We need to get this problem fixed because it was a sin to be in Pearse Park for when Longford played Westmeath - it was a winner takes all local derby in the league and there wasnt 300 people from Longford at it.

That sent out the signal that Longford people are annoyed. They want a fix done and it is our duty to get things moving. The stand is closed two years at this stage.

The sub committee are working towards finding a solution where they get value for money and get the job done right, and that Pearse Park is safe for patrons to go into afterwards.

Since the sub committee was formed, theyve met regularly.

Members of the Croke Park Infrastructure Committee, including engineers Frank Murray, Derek Kent and Conor Hayes, have visited Pearse Park in recent weeks as has representatives of a British company that are looking at a resin based underpinning of the stand as part of a possible solution.

Mr Murray outlined, The reality is that whatever solution we come up with we have to get the go ahead from the Croke Park Infrastructure Committee. Weve been in contact with them on a constant basis.

Mr Murray said they have a ballpark idea of what money is going to be made available to them from GAA sources to assist with refurbishment but nothing has been confirmed. He also explained that the level of this funding assistance wouldn't differ whether they spent 7.1m, 5m or 10m on the project.

7.1 million was the figure being touted three months ago as the cost of the solution and Mr Murray believes that by the time the sub committee complete their work it is going to be less.

Mr Murray said that undertakings given previously to Longford Co Board in regard to making money available for the development of a Centre of Excellence remain in place provided they got this job done right and that there will be no going back to revisit the Pearse Park saga.

Also see Talking Tactics on Page 84 for more on the options being explored as a possible solution for Pearse Park.
A man who appeared at last weeks sitting of Longford District Court charged under the Road Traffic Act was convicted and fined 400.

Stephen Maughan, 5 Doorogue, Ballyboghil, Co Dublin appeared before Judge Seamus Hughes charged with driving without reasonable consideration for others at Coolnahinch, Longford on October 9, 2015.

In his summation of the evidence to the court, Garda Martin McGowan said that on the date in question at approximately 7:38pm, he was on mobile patrol in an around Longford town when he observed a red transit van travelling on the Dublin Road out towards Edgeworthstown.

As the van approached Glennons roundabout it failed to yield, moved onto the roundabout and drove up on the inside of an HGV that was travelling on the roundabout at the time, continued the Garda.

The defendant was endeavouring to get by the HGV and the HGV had to brake before exiting the roundabout as a result of Mr Maughans behaviour.

Before deliberating on the matter, Judge Hughes said the defendants behaviour was unacceptable and he fined him 400 in respect of the matter.
Fun run

Fun run

The parents association of St. Patricks National School, Killeen will host a 5kg fun run/walk on this Sunday, June 15th starting at 12pm. Registration will take place at McElvaneys from 10-30am. Cost 10 euro for adults and 5 euro per child or 20 euro per family. Refreshments will be served afterwards and all support will be greatly appreciated.

Sympathy

Sincere sympathy is extended to Caroline and Pat Farrell and family, Ferriskil on the sudden death of Carolines brother, Tommy Keaveney, which occurred in Sligo last week. Also to Fr. PJ Fitzpatrick, Gowna on the death of his brother, Tommy in Dublin. May they rest in peace.

Thanks

The Granard branch of St. Christophers wish to extend a sincere thanks to all who contributed to their annual church gate collection last weekend.

Notes

Items of news for the Bunlahy notes can be emailed to bunlahynotes5@gmail.com or by calling 0876612963 or 0436686385 before 7-00 p m on Sunday evening.

New baby

Congratulations to Patrick and Claire Nannery on the birth of their first child, a girl, recently. The new arrival is to be named Alice Rose and she is a welcome grand daughter for Noel and Chriss Nannery, Ballybrien.
Taliban openly marching through the streets of a town in Kunduz

In a newly released video from the Talibans media wing, the jihadist group advertises the existence of the Omar ibn Khattab training camp somewhere in the northern Kunduz Province. It is unclear when the footage was taken, but the camp appears to have been operational for quite some time as footage from different seasons is shown throughout the video.

After giving a eulogy to Mullah Akhtar Mansour, the last emir who was killed in a US drone strike in Baluchistan, Pakistan last May, the Taliban shows dozens of fighters and new recruits training in a large compound in Kunduz. The fighters are shown undergoing physical training, as well as instruction with both real and fake weapons. Additionally, the recruits are shown practicing live fire drills with Kalashnikov rifles, rocket propelled grenades, grenade launchers, and various other weapons.

At the end of the video, Mullah Abdul Salam, the Talibans shadow governor for Kunduz, swears allegiance to new Taliban emir Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada. Afghan intelligence claimed it killed Salam in October, but Salam quickly quelled the rumors. The jihadists at the Omar ibn Khattab are then shown openly marching and parading with captured Afghan National Army vehicles through the streets of a town within Kunduz and the surrounding countryside.

The camp is named after Omar ibn Khattab, the second Muslim caliph who was a companion to the Prophet Muhammad. Under Umars rule in the seventh century, the caliphate took control of Persia and large areas of the Byzantine Empire.

The Afghan government has claimed it cleared Kunduz of a Taliban presence after the group overran the provincial capital of Kunduz City and several other districts. However, the Taliban has remained in the province and continues to run at least one camp there.

The Taliban has publicized several training camps in Afghanistan in recent years. In December 2014, the Taliban showcased a training camp in the Jawzjan district of Faryab Province. In January 2015, it highlighted a training camp in Kunar. Last June, the jihadist group advertised a special forces training camp somewhere in Afghanistan. Two months later, a training camp in the Zurmat district of Paktia Province was touted online. Last September, the Haqqani Network, a powerful subgroup of the Taliban, released a video from its Salahadin Ayyubi camp someplace in eastern Afghanistan.

Other jihadist groups also operate camps inside Afghanistan. For instance, the US government stated in 2014 that Harakat-ul-Mujahideen, a Pakistani jihadist group that is closely allied with al Qaeda, operates terrorist training camps in eastern Afghanistan. The Turkistan Islamic Party, a Uighur jihadist group within al Qaedas international network, showcased a training camp reportedly in Afghanistan last year. The Imam Bukhari Jamaat, an Uzbek jihadist group that operates in both Syria and Afghanistan, also publicized a training camp in Afghanistan last year. Another Uzbek jihadist group, the Islamic Jihad Union, has also done the same.

Additionally, al Qaeda and Lashkar-e-Taiba are known to operate several training camps in the eastern Afghan provinces of Kunar and Nuristan. A dual-hatted Taliban and al Qaeda military commander known as Qari Zia Rahman is known to have run training camps that are used to indoctrinate and train females, including children, to carry out suicide attacks on both sides of the Afghan-Pakistani border. And the International Security Assistance force (ISAF) has targeted several bases and camps in Kunar over the years. [See LWJ report, ISAF captures al Qaedas top Kunar commander.]

Screenshots from the video:

Portion of the video showing snow on the ground, indicating the training compound has been long operational:

Bill Roggio is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the Editor of The Long War Journal. 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.
The abolition of the 10-day rule is sensible, but any further reform should target outdated kinks in the old paper-based system, attorneys say
The Internet of Things (IoT) is gaining in momentum and the expected growth is paramount both in terms of the number of connected devices and regarding the size of the potential business.

Wireless technologies enabling IoT have been driven by the telecoms industry. Scandinavia has a long tradition of driving the development of telecoms, and we now see more and more Scandinavian companies taking steps towards IoT products and services.

The next generation of wireless mobile technology, 5G, is designed for IoT with requirements for low device power consumption, low latency and more capacity. The technology providers in the telecom industry behind the development of 5G have a strong position in patents. Companies such as Ericsson and Qualcomm have strong portfolios of standard essential patents (SEP) for 5G.

What we see happening now is that the telecoms industry is leaving the conventional customer-phone-operator paradigm and moving into any existing traditional business with a focus on IoT.

In one way this marriage may bring the tradition of actively utilising patents, such as in the telecom industry today, along with other patent traditions in other industries.

So, how does this affect a player that wants to enter the IoT scene? The standard wireless technologies are fairly easily accessible as long as you pay a patent licence fee to the standard owner. Ericsson has for example announced that it is establishing an industry patent licensing platform for IoT. However, the IoT applications and services utilizing the wireless standards may not be covered by the standards and might thus be protected by patents either by you or a competitor.

An opportunistic view is that IoT will bring not only new product offerings but also the possibility of getting the upper hand in patents compared to your competitors. Also if you are a new player or want to take a piece of someone's existing business, IoT patents may be a way of putting you in a good bargaining position relative to the current players.

A risk worth being aware of is whether there are already players in your business that have patent rights to the IoT products you are aiming for.

We have not yet seen whether the telecom industry will influence other industries and businesses with its patent tradition, but it is expected that patents will continue to play an important role in the telecom industry that is now moving into IoT.

Tomas Wassingbo

ZaccoArne Jacobsens Alle 15DK-2300 Copenhagen S DenmarkTel: +45 39 48 80 00Fax: +45 39 48 80 80contact@zacco.comwww.zacco.com
Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. today announced that the MOL Benefactor, a 10,000-TEU containership has successfully passed through the expanded Panama Canal on July 1, 2016. This is significant in that the MOL Benefactor is the first Neo-Panamax containership to perform a commercial transit through the Canals new expanded locks.



MOL Benefactor, newly built and delivered to MOL in March of 2016 is also the first Neo-Panamax vessel deployed on the G6 Alliances new NYX service. The NYX provides a direct link between Qingdao, Ningbo, Shanghai, Busan with New York, Norfolk and Savannah on the United States East Coast and also provides connections to/from Latin America via Manzanillo, Panama.



MOLs history with the Panama Canal dates back to over 100 years ago when, in 1915, the Motor Vessel Kongosan Maru became the first MOL-operated vessel to transit the Panama Canal.



Akihiko Ono, Managing Executive Officer in charge of Liner business said, MOL is pleased to celebrate the inaugural commercial transit of a Neo-Panamax containership through the expanded locks of the Panama Canal. Increased deployment of our Neo-Panamax containerships will help MOL to encourage stronger ties with our customers and play a historic role in the expansion of global trade. As we work towards our objective of becoming the logistics partner that customers think of first, we will continue to offer high-quality and competitive services through fleet improvements that result in reduced fuel consumption leading to cost competitiveness and environmental friendliness.



[Vessel Particulars of MOL Benefactor]

Length : 336.96m

Breadth : 48.2m

Depth : 27.2m

Deadweight Tonnage : 119,324.5 MT
Aibel Pte Ltd in Singapore has been awarded the E&P contract for modifications on Woodside Energy Ltds Nguijma-Yin floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) off Western Australia.



The FPSO will undergo modifications to the topsides, hull and turret, along with installation of a new Custom Water Flood module. The contract includes both detailed marine and topsides engineering and procurement services as well as commissioning services.



At the peak the Greater Enfield Project will engage more than 100 employees. The work will be executed by Aibel`s office in Singapore. The contract is expected to commence in July this year and is presently targeted to be completed January 2019.



The field

Greater Enfield is located 60 km off Exmouth in Western Australia. The reserves in the area will be produced via a 31 km subsea tie-back to the Ngujima-Yin FPSO facility, located over the Vincent oil field.


China Shipping Container Lines (CSCL) has proposed to change its name to Cosco Shipping Development Co (CSDC), in line with the companys future business strategy and as a group member of China Cosco Shipping Corporation (Coscocs).

"China Shipping Container Lines Co., Ltd. Board of Directors hereby announces that, in view of the Major asset restructuring program the company has been related to the motion of the Company and in February 1, 2016 the first meeting of 2016 Extraordinary General Meeting, through a major reorganization of assets, the Company will transfer container liner operators Type into a ship leasing, container leasing and non-leasing aircraft leasing business as the core, for the special shipping finance Integrated financial services platform color," says a press notification from the company.

"The Board proposes to the Company's Chinese name from "China Shipping Container Lines Co., Ltd." changed to "COSCO Maritime Development Co., Ltd. ", the English name from" China Shipping Container Lines Company Limited "to" COSCO SHIPPING Development Co., Ltd. "

State Industry and Commerce Administration Xingzhengguanli name already pre-approved changes to the Company.
The Maritime Singapore Green Initiative (MSGI), launched by the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) in 2011, has received strong support from the maritime industry.

The Green Ship Programme (GSP), a voluntary programme under MSGI sees more than 50% of qualifying ships exceeded the current Energy Efficiency Design Index frame required by the International Maritime Organization (IMO).

The Green Port Programme (GPP), another voluntary scheme under MSGI targeting at ships calling at the Port of Singapore, has also achieved considerable success. More than 3,700 vessel calls have switched to marine fuel with sulphur content not exceeding 1%.

The Green Technology Programme (GTP) also saw more than 20 projects involving over 60 vessels. The encouraging results have prompted MPA to extend the MSGI to 31 December 2019.

From 1st July this year, GSP incentives will be extended to ships using Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) as part of Singapores longer term efforts to encourage LNG as a sustainable alternative fuel source.

In addition, the sulphur oxides limit under the GPP will be reduced further to 0.5% for ships calling at our port to enjoy a flat rate of 25% concession in port dues for the use of low sulphur fuel during their entire port stay. Similar concession is also extended to ships using LNG in the Port of Singapore.

Apart from enhancing the MSGI programmes, MPA is also introducing two new programmes under the MSGI  The Green Awareness Programme (GAP) and The Green Energy Programme (GEP). GAP focuses on creating awareness on possible avenues towards sustainable shipping.

Other than the Maritime Singapore Green Pledge and regular sustainability workshops and forums, MPA will also be awarding the first SEC-MPA Singapore Environmental Achievement Award (Maritime) this year. The award serves to recognise maritime companies that are at the forefront of sustainability efforts.

In addition, to assist companies in preparation for Sustainability/Integrated (S/I) reporting, MPA is co-funding the consultancy fees paid by listed shipping companies who wish to produce their S/I Reports ahead of the mandatory requirement in 2018.

GEP aims to promote adoption of alternate or cleaner marine fuels as well as wider adoption of energy efficient operational measures, in anticipation of developments on the global sulphur emissions cap.

These efforts would come through support in asset and infrastructural development, as well as provision of various platforms for the industry to gain knowledge on these alternate fuels. To date S$12 million has been committed towards the LNG pilot programme.

Andrew Tan, Chief Executive of MPA said, The extension of the MSGI Programme is a strong demonstration of our commitment towards an environmentally friendly and sustainable global hub port. We hope that the enhancement to the MSGI will incentivise the maritime industry to continue with their efforts to provide safe, efficient and sustainable shipping, notwithstanding the challenging economic environment. MPA will ensure that the MSGI remains relevant and supports the move towards a more Sustainable Singapore and global maritime community.
Recent expansion of the Panama Canal should lower shipping costs, say market observers. Shipping geeks will delight at this engineering marvel that revolutionized global maritime trade.

As a major Latin American hub of finance, commerce and transportation, the Panamanian capital is a growing destination for business travellers, says NZ Herald.

For anyone looking to duck out of a convention centre for a few hours, fill a gap between meetings or even if you've just got a long layover at the airport, a visit to Panama City's No.1 attraction and its newly expanded locks makes the perfect side excursion.

This new transit route is the tip of the iceberg in making Panama once again the logistic center of the Americas, the Guardian quoted Jorge Luis Quijano, canal administrator, as saying. And it represents a significant opportunity for the countries of the region to improve their infrastructure [and] increase their exports.

The expanded Panama Canal will allow bigger ships across the narrow country, which may benefit oil exports from the United States.

According to CS Monitor, the canal expansion opened on June 26 with a third lane that accommodates big ships such as liquified natural gas (LNG) ships, 90 percent of which may now travel across the canal, including those that hold as much as 3.9 billion cubic feet (Bcf) of fuel, according to a report from the US Energy Information Administration released June 30.

The expanded Panama Canal is expected to slash global shipping costs by $8 billion a year, making U.S. agricultural commodities more competitive globally, according to Agweb.

The expanded Canals new third lane can accommodate ships more than twice of vessels that pre-expansion. The larger ships can hold up to 4 million bushels of soybeans, nearly double the 2.1 million bushels currently loaded on to a typical ocean vessel.

According to the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service, the expanded canal could boost the competitiveness of U.S. grain as reduced transportation and landed costs could make U.S. grain exports more attractive to foreign buyers.

Exports of U.S. liquefied natural gas stand to benefit substantially from the $5.4 billion expansion of the Panama Canal, which will lead to much shorter travel time and much lower costs for shipments from the Gulf Coast to big markets in Asia and South America, says USA Today.
The International Dockworkers Council (IDC), International Transport Workers Federation (ITF) and European Transport Workers Federation (ETF) are calling on dockers unions around the world to organise an hour of activities on International dockers action day next Thursday, 7 July.



The aim of the day is to raise awareness with the public about the vital contribution dockworkers make to the world economy, the risks they face at work every day and to highlight the growing attacks on working conditions in ports. A tribute to fallen and injured comrades will be included.



Under the slogan "Defend Dockers' Rights" the global day of union action is an opportunity for port workers to call for: improved health and safety in the workplace, an end to job deregulation, respect for bargaining rights and collective agreements, the need for universal labor standards in GNTs, the concerns over automation processes in terminals, and social justice.



Jordi Aragunde, IDC general coordinator said: "This is the first time the world will carry out a collective action which highlights the contribution of dockworkers to the world economy, and which speaks to the professional risks involved in their work. This action will display the resolve of these works to defend not only the security of their jobs, but also their working conditions, dignity, and collective bargaining power."



"In our industry, shipping lines are grouped into alliances and port operators join forces to develop uniform strategies to achieve the same goals in all ports of the world. We are now united workers who want to respond to our own needs."



ITF president Paddy Crumlin said: This day is a reaction to the fact that attacks on dockers arent going away, theyre escalating all the time all over the world. The international dockers community isnt going to stand for poor conditions, automation without union consultation or downgrading of the professional status of dockworkers.



This is longshoremen, dockers, wharfies in every corner of the world being clear about that and taking collective action to raise their profile and send a message to employers.




In a significant breakthrough for the container shipping business, the two criteria currently used when inspecting containers during the interchange process between operators and leasing companies are now to be harmonised.

Until now, there have been two different interchange inspection standards: the IICL-5 criteria (managed by the Institute of International Container Lessors); and the Common Interchange Criteria, administered by the CIC Group of leasing companies, comprising five of the worlds leading container lessors (Triton Container, Seaco, Florens Container Services, CAI and Blue Sky Intermodal) who represent over 50 percent of the worlds leased dry freight container fleet.

Launched in August 2007 as an alternative to the IICL-5 criteria - and endorsed the following year by the Container Owners Association - CIC has enabled shipping lines to benefit from a significant reduction in repair costs by eliminating unnecessary repair to containers. An additional advantage has been a more environmentally friendly approach to container maintenance, with reduced container handling.

The harmonisation process has been undertaken by the leasing industry, which has recognised that the container business  shipping lines, leasing companies and container depots - will benefit from a single standard. Discussions have taken place in recent months between CIC members and the IICL as to how the two different criteria might be harmonised.

Although there are some small adjustments to the most recent version of CIC (see Table below), the new standard preserves all the main benefits offered by CIC. It also offers more consistent and accurate equipment inspections and repair estimates, bringing efficiencies to all parties.

The harmonisation is taking place simultaneously with the introduction of the IICL 6th edition into the industry (IICL-6). Both, CIC and IICL members expect that the harmonised interchange standards will create a better path to more accurate estimates, less disputes and more trained professional inspectors.

The updated version of the CIC standard is scheduled to be introduced for off-hire activity taking place from August 1st, 2016 onwards.
Gondan Shipyard in Figueras launched the first Dual Fuel tug ever built in Europe  and the first of a series of three currently under construction for the Norwegian shipowner stensj Rederi.

Designed by Robert Allan, the new escort tug measures 40.2 x 16m, beam, and will provide tug services to Norwegian state-owned energy company Statoil, at the far-north terminal located at Melkya. Built to withstand freezing cold, the vessel is shaped specifically to grant full operational availability at temperatures of 20C below zero and combines environmental sustainability trough the use of LNG in most of its operations, with the flexibility of diesel power to ensure a high level of operational security.

For the next few months, this new vessel will be moored at the Yards quay while being outfitted according to the best shipbuilding standards, until completion, when she will be ready for the thorough sea trials and her following delivery in 2017.

stensj Rederi AS is a private company established in 1974 by Johannes stensj. The company has since its beginning been a leading provider of offshore, towage and accommodation services worldwide. It operates a fleet of 28 modern vessels. The company has more than 600 employees and offices in Norway, Scotland, UK, Ireland and Malta and is a pioneer in the application of new technologies making safer, more environmentally friendly and more efficient vessels.
Chinas maritime safety administration announced Chinas military's plans exercises in the disputed South China Sea this week, adding to tensions ahead of an international tribunals ruling that is expected to challenge Beijings maritime claims in the area.

The naval drills, which will cover the area east of Chinas Hainan Island all the way to and including the Paracels, will be held on July 5-11, Reuters reports, citing a brief statement published online.

The drills will be ending July 11, the day before the United Nations-backed tribunal in The Hague is expected to issue its ruling.

China has repeatedly said it will ignore the verdict despite pressure from the U.S. and its allies to comply.

The Hong Kong Economic Times reported that warships from the three fleets of the Chinese navy were spotted at the Sanya military port, Hainan.

The warships allegedly included the guided missile destroyer Shenyang under the North China Sea Fleet, the guided missile destroyer Ningbo and the missile frigate Chaozhou under the East China Sea Fleet.

Over the last years, China has engaged in unprecedented construction of artificial islands and infrastructure on the reefs of the Paracels, preparing a base for its military, a harbor for ships, and even building a full-fledged flight landing strip on Woody Island.

U.S. Navy ships have conducted exercises around the South China Sea in recent weeks and on Friday the Navy said an aircraft-carrier strike group was operating in the sea, without saying precisely where or how long it would stay, says a report in WSJ.

U.S. officials have warned that Beijing could respond to the ruling by expanding its recent island-building or declaring an air-defense zone in the area.
Austal Limited (Austal) (ASX:ASB) has been awarded a US$11,239,032 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract modification from the U.S. Navy to provide emergent availability planning and full ship shock trials (FSST) support for tests to be conducted on Littoral Combat Ship USS JACKSON (LCS 6).



Specifically, Austal USA will plan for and conduct any in-between shot repairs required during the FSST event(s), repair any damage sustained during the FSST period and coordinate the removal of FSST testing equipment and instrumentation following completion of the trials.



The FFST comprise a series of tests designed to demonstrate the ships ability to withstand the effects of nearby underwater explosions and retain required capability. USS JACKSON has successfully completed the first of three trials and is performing as expected.



Austal delivered USS JACKSON (LCS 6) to the U.S. Navy on 11th August 2015 and last week delivered the future USS MONTGOMERY (LCS 8).



Six additional Independent-variant LCS remain under construction at Austal USA in Mobile, Alabama as part of an 11-ship contract worth over US$3.5 billion from the U.S. Navy. The future USS GABRIELLE GIFFORDS (LCS 10), OMAHA (LCS 12) and MANCHESTER (LCS 14) are all preparing for sea trials. Assembly is well underway on TULSA (LCS 16) and CHARLESTON (LCS 18) while modules for CINCINNATI (LCS 20) are under construction in Austals industry-leading module manufacturing facility (MMF)
While the list of Madison-area credit unions has grown to include Alliant Credit Union, serving mainly Alliant Energy employees and their families, it shrank by two because of mergers over the past year.

Educational Employees Credit Union, Janesville, became part of Summit Credit Union, Madison; while Municipal Credit Union, Beloit, combined with Parker Community Credit Union, Janesville.

According to the Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions, in 2015, 12 Wisconsin credit union mergers took effect; so far in 2016, there have been five mergers, and CTK Credit Union in Milwaukee was shut down.

Those numbers are not unusual, either for Wisconsin or nationwide. But viewed over time, they show a sharp reduction in the number of state-chartered credit unions: In 2010, there were 223; by the end of 2015, there were 150, down by one-third in just five years.

Over the same period, though, Wisconsin credit union members rose from 2.19 million to 2.61 million and assets climbed from $20.7 billion to $28.8 billion, both records, DFI reports show.

Credit union mergers are not a new trend; theyve been going on since the late 1960s or early 1970s, said George Hofheimer, chief knowledge officer at Filene Research Institute, a Madison nonprofit think tank.

Quite simply, its just harder to comply with all the regulations at the smaller institutions, Hofheimer said.

Similarly, demands from consumers are increasing every day, he said, for services such as 24-hour call centers, multi-purpose websites and mobile banking. All of these things cost lots of money.

A report from the Illinois Credit Union League says credit unions across the U.S. have been merging at an average rate of one per business day since 2000. Reasons cited include declining profit margins; growing regulatory burdens; aging senior managers; limited staff; and competition.

At WEA Credit Union in Madison, CEO Mark Schrimpf calls it a sad trend.

Schrimpf said WEA Credit Union is financially healthy but might consider consolidation if the right opportunity would present itself.

The cost of continually improving and offering new services is difficult for the smaller credit unions. A merger with a larger credit union that already has those services ... could be appealing, he said.

A report by CUNA Mutual Group, Madison, shows in the 12 months that ended in April 2016, the number of credit unions nationwide dropped by 304, compared with 267 lost in the previous 12-month period.

But mergers are not necessarily bad, said Filenes Hofheimer. Its actually good for consumers, going from a smaller institution thats struggling to keep up with these changes. ... The average consumer benefits from better rates, better products and better services, he said.
A search vessel contracted by the Egyptian government has recovered all mapped human remains under water at the crash site of EgyptAir flight MS804 in the Mediterranean, Egypt's aircraft accident investigation committee said on Sunday.



The John Lethbridge, belonging to Mauritius-based Deep Ocean Search, headed to Alexandria port to hand over the remains to coroners and prosecution officials, the committee said in a statement. It will return to the crash site to make further checks for any possible remains there, the statement said.



The Airbus A320 plunged into the eastern Mediterranean en route from Paris to Cairo on May 19 and all 66 people on board were killed. The cause of the crash remains unknown.



The plane is believed to have crashed in the deepest part of the Mediterranean. Investigators have started analysing one of its so called black box flight recorders and are extracting information from the other.



Debris from the jet was brought to Cairo airport last week, where investigators will try to reassemble part of the frame to help establish what might have caused the disaster.



No explanation for the disaster has been ruled out. But current and former aviation officials increasingly believe the reason lies in the aircraft's technical systems, rather than sabotage.



Initial analysis of the plane's flight data recorder showed there had been smoke in the lavatory and avionics bay while recovered wreckage from the jet's front section showed signs of high temperature damage and soot, the first physical signs that fire may have broken out on the airliner.



The Paris prosecutor's office opened a manslaughter investigation on Monday but said it was not looking into terrorism as a possible cause of the crash at this stage.



(Reporting by Ahmed Aboulenein; Editing by Richard Balmforth)


Russian president Vladimir Putin is sending his countrys largest warship to Syria in an attempt to finally destroy the death cult ISIS, reports Daily Star.

The Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier has been dispatched to Syria carrying 30 jet fighters and attack helicopters. Putin made the decision to dispatch the warship soon after the latest ISIS attacks in Bangladesh and Iraq.

The 55,000 tonne ship will be deployed in the region from October until January, a military source informed TASS.

"The General Staff has prepared a plan for involvement of the deck aircraft in delivering strikes on terrorist groups in the Syrian Arab Republic, where the crews will practice taking off the carrier to deliver strikes on ground targets."

The Admiral Kuznetsov will be packed with warplanes and attack choppers.

The ship is expected to arrive in the Med by October where it will link up with land-based Russian forces who are already pounding the cult into submission with airtrikes.

"Putin is aiming to finally rid the world of ISIS as he prepares to deploy Russias mightiest navy ship to smash the sick cult, The Sun reported.
On July 4th Demand Freedom, Don't Celebrate The State

As we gather with family and friends to celebrate the July 4th holiday we should remember that we are not celebrating the state, but rather commemorating an act of secession from an oppressive government. We are celebrating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence from Great Britain - a daring move by the Founders inspired by a desire for liberty.

Thomas Jefferson famously said, "Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty." That does not only mean that we should be prepared to defend against foreign invaders. Perhaps more importantly it means that we must retain the lessons from the original American revolt and guard against a government that views the people as the enemy.

We are familiar with the great observation from essayist Randolph Bourne that "War is the health of the state." But Bourne further explained that, "if the State's chief function is war, then the State must suck out of the nation a large part of its energy for its purely sterile purposes of defense and aggression. It devotes to waste or to actual destruction as much as it can of the vitality of the nation."

War benefits the special interests. It benefits the military-industrial complex. It benefits the neocons whose "expertise" always leads to disaster. It benefits the mainstream media. It benefits the wealthy. As Bourne said, it sucks the productive parts from the economy and concentrates them in the hands of the state for destructive purposes.

It is often said - and surely it will be repeated many times today - that our nation's wars have preserved our freedoms. That is not true. Aside from our fight to secede from British rule, America's wars have one-by-one diminished our freedoms. They have not been fought to bring us liberty, but have most often been fought at the behest of deceitful and evil people to no benefit but their own. Thousands have died in vain on the lies of the war-promoters. Much of our freedom has died as well.

We should ask ourselves whether the last 15 years of the war on terror have benefited the rest of us. Are we safer? More free? Is any end in sight?

No to all the above. In our age of undeclared war, we are also in perpetual war. Trillions of dollars have been spent and millions of lives lost to no benefit. Instead, we are mired ever deeper in the Middle East. Drone attacks proceed at the same pace. We are "pivoting" to Asia not with friendship but with warships. And some fools even think it's a good idea to try to provoke Russia into World War III!

At home the government uses the threat of terrorism to further gut the Second, Fourth, Fifth, and Tenth Amendments. Yet in the 15 years since 9/11 less than 100 people have been killed by "radical jihadists" - including the recent attack in Orlando.

The state uses war to take away our freedoms. If on this 240th anniversary of the original July 4th we wish to survive as a free society we must begin to exercise some of that "eternal vigilance" against an ever more oppressive state. If the people demand change, the politicians will listen.

Dr. Ron Paul

Project Freedom

Congressman Ron Paul of Texas enjoys a national reputation as the premier advocate for liberty in politics today. Dr. Paul is the leading spokesman in Washington for limited constitutional government, low taxes, free markets, and a return to sound monetary policies based on commodity-backed currency. He is known among both his colleagues in Congress and his constituents for his consistent voting record in the House of Representatives: Dr. Paul never votes for legislation unless the proposed measure is expressly authorized by the Constitution. In the words of former Treasury Secretary William Simon, Dr. Paul is the "one exception to the Gang of 535" on Capitol Hill.

Dr. Ron Paul Archive

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Deutsche Bank to Trigger the Next Financial Crisis!

I am certain that you remember Lehman Brothers and the chaos that it created when it failed. If you think that the Worlds Central Banks are now wiser and consequently will not allow another similar event to occur, think again. We will not only see a repeat of this occurrence, again, but it will be exponentially larger than Lehmans was!

On June 29th, 2016 the IMF stated that among the [globally systemically important banks], Deutsche Bank appears to be the most important net contributor to systemic risks, followed by HSBC and Credit Suisse, reports The Wall Street Journal.

However, if you were to believe that statement, why should you be concerned about a German bank and how it will affect you while living in the U.S.? The IMF adds: In particular, Germany, France, the U.K. and the U.S. have the highest degree of outward spillovers as measured by the average percentage of capital loss of other banking systems due to banking sector shock in the source country, reports Bloomberg. The chart below clearly shows the systemic risks emanating out of a Deutsche Bank (DBK) collapse.

Two years in succession, the American unit of Deutsche Bank has failed the FEDs stress test which is what determines the ability of the bank to weather out yet another financial crisis.

Leverage of Lehman vs. Deutsche Bank:

In 2007, Lehman had a leverage (the ratio of total assets to shareholders equity) of 31:1. At the time that Lehman filed for bankruptcy, it had $639 billion in assets and $619 billion in debt. Still, it caused a systemic risk worldwide.

In comparison, DBK has a mind boggling leverage of 40x, according to Berenberg analyst, James Chappell. He stated, facing an illiquid credit market limiting Deutsche Banks (DBK) ability to deliver and with core profitability impaired, it is hard to see how DBK can escape this vicious circle without raising more capital. The CEO has eschewed this route for now, in the hope that self-help can break this loop, but with risk being re-priced again it is hard to see DBK succeeding.

Why Cant the ECB save DBK in the similar fashion as how the FED saved the banks, in the US?

The nominal value of derivatives risk that DBK holds on its books is $72.8 trillion, according to the banks April 2016 earnings report. What is astounding about this, is that a single bank owns 13% of the total outstanding global derivatives, which was a staggering $550 trillion in 2015.

What is more concerning and alarming is that the market cap of DBK is less than $20 billion.

Nonetheless, the nominal value of derivatives exposure does not mean that DBK will have a default worth trillions of dollars seeing as most of the contracts are covered by counterparties. However, when the domino effect is put into motion, we have witnessed how it engulfs the entire world, into it.

If the domino effect does occur, Germany with its GDP of $4 trillion or the EU with a GDP of $18 trillion will not be in a position to gain control over it.

A nominal figure of the high derivatives risk on DBK, as of December 2014, is shown in the chart below.

Negative interest regime is NOT the solution to global economic problems which we are facing today:

The European Central Banks NIRP policy is making matters worse for DBK, as the banks profits are getting squeezed thus making it difficult for it to repair its balance sheet.

The bank is finding it difficult to sell its assets because of illiquid credit markets. The banks management will also find it difficult to raise capital as the investment-banking industry is in a structural decline, according to Berenbergs James Chappell.

BREXIT is adding to the woes:

DBK receives 19% of its revenues from the UK. After the BREXIT vote, the uncertainty regarding future relations of the U.K. with Europe has increased the risk for all of the banks. President Francois Hollande of France is eyeing the financial industry and is pitching for them to move to Paris from London.

DBK is the biggest European bank in London. Moving operations, which are handled by 8,000 members of the staff, will not be an easy task for DBK and will further weaken their balance sheet.

How is the stock behaving?

The stock is in a downtrend and has broken below the panic lows of 2009.

The stock is quoting at a price to book ratio of 0.251, which indicates the pessimism of the markets towards the stock. The investors believe that the stock is not worth more than a quarter of its liquidation value.

A comparative study of the stock, with Lehman, gives a more accurate picture of the future price of DBK, which is zero.

The German Newspaper Die Welt reported that the great George Soros had recently opened a short position of 0.51% of the DBKs outstanding shares. This equates to 7 million shares, worth $7.5 billion, reports Investopedia.

Conclusion:

The easy monetary policy of various Central Banks is the main reason for the banks holding such massive leverage. The next financial crisis will cause the Central Banks actions to be redundant and ineffective, as they will not be in a position to control this impending catastrophe! In such a situation, the world will revert to the only remaining resort left, and that is gold.

My readers have benefited immensely during the mini-crash post the BREXIT. Please continue to follow me so as you can protect yourself from the next big one, which will wipe out tens of trillions of dollars around the world.

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Disclaimer: Nothing in this report should be construed as a solicitation to buy or sell any securities mentioned. Technical Traders Ltd., its owners and the author of this report are not registered broker-dealers or financial advisors. Before investing in any securities, you should consult with your financial advisor and a registered broker-dealer. Never make an investment based solely on what you read in an online or printed report, including this report, especially if the investment involves a small, thinly-traded company that isnt well known. Technical Traders Ltd. and the author of this report has been paid by Cardiff Energy Corp. In addition, the author owns shares of Cardiff Energy Corp. and would also benefit from volume and price appreciation of its stock. The information provided here within should not be construed as a financial analysis but rather as an advertisement. The authors views and opinions regarding the companies featured in reports are his own views and are based on information that he has researched independently and has received, which the author assumes to be reliable. Technical Traders Ltd. and the author of this report do not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any content of this report, nor its fitness for any particular purpose. Lastly, the author does not guarantee that any of the companies mentioned in the reports will perform as expected, and any comparisons made to other companies may not be valid or come into effect.

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The Wisconsin Association of FFA celebrated 87 years of premier leadership, personal growth and career success at the Wisconsin FFA Convention held in Madison from June 13 Until June 16. The convention attracted over 3,300 members, advisors, parents, alumni and sponsors to help celebrate their years success and support the students involved in agricultural education.

FFA members from across the state participated in a speaking contest, competed in various award areas, voted on items of FFA business, attended leadership workshops, and met other FFA members from all areas of the state. Members were also inspired by messages from keynote speakers including Abbey Gretsch, National FFA Southern Region Vice President; Landan Schaffert, Motivational Speaker; and Sally Albers, State FFA President. Students were also able to meet and visit with numerous industry representatives through the Career Show.

One of the convention highlights was the Rally to Fight Hunger. Wisconsin FFA partnered with Second Harvest Food Bank of Southern Wisconsin to purchase ingredients to be packaged into individual meals. Members of the Menomonie FFA, alongside of many other FFA members from across the state, packaged over 40,000 pounds of food for families in Wisconsin.

The week was a celebration of student success and recognition for FFA members that make a positive difference in todays schools and communities.

Menomonies Brooke Brantner earned ninth place in Diversified Livestock Proficiency and Sectional Winner. Her Supervised Agricultural Experience Project consisted of both beef and dairy cattle practices, where she learned about the care of the animals, industry technologies, and leadership through showmanship.

Brantner was also recognized on stage for earning the State FFA Degree. To be considered for this honor, the highest degree the Wisconsin Association can bestow upon its members, students must meet these minimum qualifications: have productively invested $1,000 or worked 1,500 hours; been an FFA member for at least two years and had 360 hours of agricultural classroom instruction; given two agriculture related speeches; been involved in at least five FFA activities above the local level and participated in two community activities.
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Kevin Durant

Kevin Durant may be down to two options in free agency.

(AP Photo/Darren Abate)

The Boston Celtics could be out of the running to acquire Kevin Durant, according to ESPN's Royce Young.

Young reported Sunday night that he believes Durant has narrowed his options down to two teams: the Golden State Warriors and the Oklahoma City Thunder.

From what I understand, it's Thunder versus Warriors for Durant.  Royce Young (@royceyoung) July 4, 2016

The Undefeated's Marc Spears added some details about Golden State's pitch:

GSW sold "culture, dynasty, style of play" to KD said source close to GSW who wouldn't be surprised by OKC return. https://t.co/9weZnsJPQ9  Marc J. Spears (@MarcJSpearsESPN) July 4, 2016

Durant's official decision is expected to come Monday. He met with six teams, but has already reportedly informed the Los Angeles Clippers he will not sign with them. That leaves the Warriors, Thunder, Celtics, San Antonio Spurs and Miami Heat as the five remaining hopefuls.

CSNNE's A. Sherrod Blakely reported Durant is still "seriously considering" Boston, so maybe there's still a chance. Nonetheless, the Celtics seem like a major underdog at this point -- just like the way they entered the race, but disappointing nonetheless.
BrewArt.jpg

Coopers BrewArt

It's not as if beer is so old-school that it doesn't have a place in the online world. Along with scores of beer sites on the Internet, there are social media apps such as Untapped, which awards virtual badges for drinking various styles of beers.

But can there be virtual-reality beer?

Well, no, not really, but an Australian company is launching a home brewing system that uses digital technology and the Internet to make brewing easier and better.

Australian brewery Coopers will release its BrewArt system in Australia in a few weeks with an eye to ship to the United States market by the end of the year. Sounds like a great holiday gift idea for some folks, if it makes it here in time.

The system will be able to be controlled from a smartphone app, from which you can also keep track of your brewing inventory and order ingredients. This sounds like the perfect device for people who like the idea of home brewing, but are short on time, attention span or space -- or all-three

The automated system uses wi-fi for precise temperature control and a patented fermentation technology to brew beer at the push of a button. It has two components - the BeerDroid, for brewing 10 liters of beer, and BrewFlo, for storing, chilling and dispensing the beer from five-liter kegs.

The ingredient packs are also made by Coopers and can be ordered to specific tastes. You can brew an American Pale Ale or European Pilsner, or customize a recipe to create thousands of different beers.

One thing digital technology can't improve, however, is the basic time frame for making beer. After all, good things take time. So you'll still have to go through the normal fermentation time. But the app sends notification are to update users on the progress of their brews.

Coopers' brewing marketing manager Scott Harris has been working on the system for eight years.

"It's wi-fi-connected, so you can actually control this whole thing from your phone," he said. "The other cool thing about that is if people ring us up and say 'I did a brew and it just turned out awful' then with their permission we can log in and check what happened."

The BeerDroid and the BeerFlo are not cheap. They will be available for $799 and $699 (in Australian dollars) from Australian retail chain Harvey Norman starting on July 18. Beer ingredient packages range from $28 to $44 (Australian) to make 10 liters.

Harris said once the products hit U.S. shores, distribution will be easy as Coopers is already set up here.
One of the challenges that any restaurant faces, whether it's a single-location independent or a nationwide chain, is the struggle to remain relevant in an ever-evolving dining out market.



Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, a full service chain with a down-home, comfort food focus, is an example of this ongoing evolution. It recently opened a new concept, Holler & Dash Biscuit House, a fast-casual eatery that the chain hopes will attract a younger demographic.

The first Holler & Dash location debuted in March outside of Birmingham, Alabama, in a pedestrian-friendly location, a considerable shift from the chain's normal preference for site close to major highway interchanges.



Unlike the typical Cracker Barrel unit, a Holler & Dash has no retail component. The menu is also simplified, focusing on biscuit sandwiches, and features bold flavors. Among the biscuit sandwich offerings are the Andouille Hustle (sliced Andouille sausage, Cheddar, and sausage gravy), the Pork Rambler (fried pork tenderloin, blackberry butter, and onion straws), and the Kickback Chicken (fried chicken, goat cheese, and sweet pepper jelly).



Holler & Dash also exploits the current popularity of "bowls." The prototype operation's menu includes three bowl combinations such as a "Grit Bowl" of grits, bacon, cheddar, fried eggs, and hot sauce.



According to media reports, Cracker Barrel is developing the new concept, which focuses on breakfast and lunch traffic, as a "new wrinkle."



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
Logan-cocaine.jpg

Two men from Pennsylvania are charged with drug trafficking after they were allegedly caught trying to smuggle cocaine through customs at Logan International Airport. July 4, 2016.

(Courtesy: Massachusetts State Police)

BOSTON - Two men from Pennsylvania are charged with drug trafficking after they were allegedly caught trying to smuggle cocaine through customs at Logan International Airport.

Ezra Mendez, 19, and Erick Dominguez-Santos, 25, both of Allentown, Pa., were arrested Saturday. They are being held without bail pending arraignment after the holiday weekend.

State police said both men arrived at Logan from the Dominican Republican on Saturday morning with identical rolling suitcases. The bags were searched as they passed through customs, and screeners found both bags had hidden compartments containing three kilograms of cocaine.

Mendez and Dominguez-Santos are charged with trafficking in cocaine and conspiracy to violate drug laws.
NORTHAMPTON -- Ghazwn Alsamraay came from Iraq six years because it was no longer safe for his family. His father was a translator for the U.S. Army during the war.

Madhu Ghimrey fled his native Bhutan because of ethnic cleansing. He's of Nepali descent.

These are just two of the 51 who became new citizens at a naturalization ceremony Monday outside the Hampshire County Courthouse. They came from 32 countries.

Hundreds attended the ceremony, which was organized in part by the Center for New Americans. It was the eighth such ceremony here.

Alsamraay, 26, now lives in West Springfield and said he looks forward to voting. He said his mother, father, two sisters and brother have already become citizens. He said he's happy to be here where it's safe.

A bomb was placed under his father's car in Iraq because of his work with Americans. They had to move three times there to stay safe. He misses his friends but said he's happy to be here.

"I want to be part of this country," he said. And he said, "Everyone has helped a lot."

Ghimrey came six years ago with his wife Leela seeking asylum. Since the early 1990s, more than 100,000 refugees of ethnic Nepalese origin from southern Bhutan have been living in camps in eastern Nepal after they were arbitrarily stripped of their nationality and forced to flee Bhutan, according to Amnesty International.

He lives in Worcester now and works at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center as a medical interpreter. He's also taking classes in social work.

The 33-year-old said, "I like to help people." He too can't wait to vote. Like Alsamraay, he's planning to vote for Hilary Clinton.

Peggy Prieto was at the ceremony with her mother, Maria Prieto. Dilio Prieto, her brother, was also becoming a citizen Monday but he lives in New Hampshire now and will receive his certificate there.

The family came from Venezuela 16 years ago because things were unsettled. Peggy Prieto said it was becoming a communist country and they were losing rights.

She said that she really appreciates what her parents did coming to this county so she and her brother Dilio could have a better life. The 23-year-old is a dental hygienist.

Maria worked in a factory in Fitchburg where they settled. She said that was the only kind of work she could get because she could not speak English when she came.

Maria Prieto wasn't sure who she was going to vote for, but said she was thinking about "the lady." She shook her hand when thinking about the other candidate, Donald Trump.

Mayor David Narkewicz was of those addressing the new citizens. He said there's been a lot of negativity lately about immigrants.

He did not name Trump, who has talked about building a wall between Mexico and the U.S. and banning Muslims, a plan he has edged away from slightly in recent days.

But the mayor said "Northampton and Massachusetts welcomes immigrants from all of the world with open arms."

And with that everyone cheered.
Break out the oars

A man contacted the Menomonie Police Department to report that his boat motor and gas tank were stolen. The owner said the boat was parked behind his residence in the 400 block of 13th Avenue West in Menomonie. The motor and tank were stolen sometime between June 3 and June 12.

The brown and tan 1970s Johnson 10 HP outboard boat motor is valued at $200, while the five-gallon gas tank is worth $20.

Three Benjamins sport same serial number

Three $100 counterfeit bills were received by three area businesses on June 5. Bremer Bank contacted the Menomonie Police Department at about 8:13 p.m. on June 7 to report the fraud.

A bank employee told the officer that they received three $100 counterfeit bills in separate incidents at Cedar Country Co-op North, Loves Truck Stop and Cedar County Co-op Exit 45.

A Cedar Country Co-op North employee also contacted the MPD. The employee had reviewed surveillance video showing that a female with green hair purchased sour patch candy for $1.99 with the $100 counterfeit bill. The clerk provided $98.01 in change, saying that the transaction was strange but the counterfeit bill had passed the Dri-Mark counterfeit detector test. Both Cedar Country Co-ops received a similar counterfeit bill with the same serial number.

The counterfeit bills are being turned over to the United States Secret Service.

Missing chickens

Brand new chickens went missing from a home in the E6400 block of 650th Avenue in the Township of Red Cedar. A woman contacted the Dunn County Sheriffs Department on June 7 to report that 53 chicks went missing late on June 6 or early on June 7.

The woman said she and her husband had bought 100 baby chicks, including 53 black and brown chicks. All 53 of the colored chicks (valued at $75) were missing in the morning. She said that they have had problems in the past with someone stealing their chickens. She believes that whoever is taking the chickens parks on 650th Avenue and walks to the property.
cocktail

A Coconut Basil Gimlet, served at Tunnel Bar in Northampton. The drink is a mix of Ciroc Coconut Vodka, sour mix, simple syrup and basil, garnished with a single basil leaf that floats on top of the drink.

(Shaina Mishkin | MassLive.com)

A fresh campaign is underway to bring happy hour back to Massachusetts.

The Boston-based company Cheers has created an online petition seeking to make happy hour legal again in Boston. As of Monday morning, close to 7,000 people have signed the petition.

"We live in a state where casinos are flocking and doctors can prescribe marijuana for headaches - but a good time with friends and a couple bucks off drinks after work? That's a no go," the company wrote in a website started to support the petition.

Cheers is a social app that seeks to connect groups of friends going out. The company is partnered with spirits company Pernod Richard and when people meet up via the app, the beverage company will buy the group a round of drinks.

More than three decades ago, Massachusetts became the first state to ban happy hour. It was passed at a time when several measures were taken to combat drunk driving, including raising the legal drinking age from 20 to 21.

The number of drunk driving fatalities have dropped in Massachusetts over the years. In 1984, there were 362 drunk driving fatalities in the state. By 2011, the number of deaths fell to 133. This decline is similar to the trend seen across the nation, in states with and without happy hour.

Other states enacted bans over the years, or established restrictions on drink promotions. Following multi-decade happy hour bans, two states have lifted the restrictions. Happy hour became legal in Kansas four years ago after a 26-year ban. Illinois bars and restaurants began offering happy hour again last summer.

The Massachusetts happy hour petition is addressed to Boston Mayor Marty Walsh.

The mayor has spoken in recent years about his opposition to the reinstatement of happy hour. During a 2013 interview with Boston Magazine, Walsh said:

"I'm opposed to happy hour. I always have been. I know people have criticized me for this, but the studies have shown that the drinking in happy hour increases drunk driving. I don't think that we necessarily need happy hour. I think if we give the bars and the clubs the opportunity to stay open later at night, they'd certainly be accepting of that."
CHESTERFIELD -- Chesterfield, a Hampshire County town where just one crossroads and few dozen dwellings suffice for a downtown, filled Monday with patriotism and spectators for a Fourth of July parade out of Norman Rockwell.

"I love this parade because of the people it brings to this small town," said Russell Peotter, a volunteer who served as announcer. "It's just a great a great small town event. Old fashioned."

One that draws an international audience. The University of Massachusetts Donahue Institute has long brought students in its international Civic Initiative program, in Amherst for a summer of study, to get a taste of American civic pride.

This year, the group included 83 students from 23 countries including 18 students from Iraq, said Michael Hannahan, director of the Civic Initiative program.

Aggee Mugabe, a native of Rwanda, is a university professor teaching political science. He smiled broadly at small children dancing with American flags.

"It's very interesting," he said. "It's is wonderful to see how excited everyone is."

Parker Snape was one of the few Chesterfield natives visiting her first parade, understandable only because she's less than a year old.

"But we've been coming forever," said mother Kim Snape as she walked through the route with husband Keith. "It's part of being from Chesterfield."

American Legion Cummington Post 304 Commander Conrad Liebenow led off the marching units with a small group of veterans. He was followed by all manner of scouts, motorcyclists and antique cars, including a truck that helped build the Alcan Highway in Alaska during World War II.

Firefighters marched, giving children a chance to ride on the gleaming pumpers. A forest fire crew complete with Smokey Bear made sure Peotter let folks know how dry the woods are and to be very careful with fire this July 4.
mount greylock.JPG

*Hikers are shown as they walk part of the Appalachian Trail atop Mount Greylock in Lanesboro.

(Republican file)

This week "Harry Potter" fans learned that there is a wizard school in the United States and it is located in the Berkshires.

J.K. Rowling, author of the tremendously popular "Harry Potter" book series, revealed on her Pottermore website that the Ilvermorny School was founded by an Irish witch who arrived in America on the Mayflower after escaping an abusive family.

"The great North American school of magic was founded in the seventeenth century. It stands at the highest peak of Mount Greylock, where it is concealed from non-magic gaze by a variety of powerful enchantments, which sometimes manifest in a wreath of misty cloud," the Pottermore website said.

Mount Greylock is the highest point in Massachusetts at an elevation of 3,491 feet.

With the latest Harry Potter book, ''Harry Potter and the Cursed Child'' to be published July 31, there is a growing interest in the news that the American wizard school is located in the Berkshires.

Here are some of the things people have been tweeting about the news that Ilvermorny is supposed to be located on Mount Greylock.
holyoke fire engine 4.jpg

HOLYOKE - Firefighters are working to extinguish several large bales of paper which are on fire at Sunoco Products on South Water Street Sunday night.

The fire was reported at about 9:10 p.m. Firefighters were still battling the blaze at about 10:40 p.m., Fire Department officials said.

The Department has requested assistance from the Westover Air Reserve Base Fire Department, which has a foam truck to help extinguish the tightly backed bales, department officials said.

South Water Street is currently closed because of the blaze, Fire Department officials said.

The bales of paper are outside in a large storage yard and do not pose a danger to any buildings.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.
quincypromo.jpg

Search teams combed the waters off Quincy on Saturday, July 2, 2016, looking for a man who drowned while diving to free a boat from a line.

(WBZ-TV)

QUINCY, Mass. -- A California man apparently drowned off the coast of Massachusetts while trying to free his family's boat from a mooring line, authorities said Sunday.



The body of Jesse Loubier, of San Francisco, was pulled from the waters off Quincy, in the Boston suburbs, on Saturday evening, the Norfolk district attorney's office said,



Witnesses and family members told police that Loubier, 32, entered the water to untangle the boat from the line. He resurfaced after an unsuccessful attempt but then dove back in and did not resurface.



The Boston Globe reported that Loubier got caught in the line underwater while near his family's boat about 100 yards from the dock.



The Medical Examiner's Office will perform an autopsy to determine the cause of death.



Authorities do not suspect foul play.

Here is a news report from Saturday evening on the discovery of Loubier's body:
Kamil G. Ziolkowski, 23, passed away on Saturday. Born in Strzyzow, Poland, he lived in Chicopee for the past 13 years. He was a graduate of Chicopee High School, Class of 2012, and attended Holyoke Community College. He was a truck driver for US Express and previously worked for Space Tool and Machine Co. He was a communicant of the Basilica of St. Stanislaus, Bishop and Martyr.

Full obituary and funeral arrangements for Kamil Ziolkowski 
SPRINGFIELD -- The city is scheduled to open contractor bids on July 13 for an estimated $500,000 improvement project at a park on South Branch Parkway that was named last year in memory of local Marine Gunnery Sgt. Thomas J. Sullivan.

The improvements to the park, located in East Forest Park, are supported by a $400,000 state grant that was announced last year, with the additional costs to be covered by city funds.

Sullivan, who grew up in East Forest Park, was among five servicemen killed on July 15, 2015, when a gunman opened fire on military facilities in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Sullivan died while trying to rescue fellow Marines.

The improvements include: new erosion controls, irrigation and drainage, some demolition, walkways and a parking area, installation of city-provided equipment and amenities, a timber guardrail, invasive species management, restoration of disturbed areas and seeding and planting, according to the specifications.

The project schedule calls for the work to begin Aug. 1 and to be completed by May 15, 2017.

Under one bid alternate, there is a proposal for the hired contractor to install a city-furnished octagonal wood pavilion on a concrete slab.

Family members, friends and supporters of Sullivan gathered at the park last December for a ceremony to name the park in his honor, and for the announcement of the state grant. Those who gathered included Mayor Domenic J. Sarno, U.S. Rep. Richard E. Neal, state Sen. Eric Lesser and state Rep. Angelo J. Puppolo.

Some of those gathered said that the naming and planned improvement project at Gunnery Sergeant Thomas J. Sullivan Park is a fitting and lasting tribute to an American hero.

The construction bids must be submitted by 2 p.m. on July 13 at the Office of Procurement at City Hall.
Two years ago, the Higgins Hotel was jammed with oil field workers and owner Doug Frank worried about a lack of available rooms for summer tourists. Today, Frank reckons someone could hold a cannon fight on Birch Street, the central artery in this community of roughly 2,500, and no one would notice. Hardly anyone walks Glenrocks streets these days.

Benjamin Storrow 307-335-5344, [email protected]

Full Story: http://trib.com/business/energy/retraining-the-future-can-wyoming-build-the-workforce-outside-the/article_1434dbdd-f5c8-58eb-9f6f-dc5b9fd75a4e.html
Wisconsins Government Accountability Board died Thursday.

It was 8 years old.

Its parents were Wisconsin legislators who sought an independent agency in the wake of the caucus scandal of 2001-2002 (only two voted no). Five state legislators  both Democrats and Republicans  were convicted in the caucus scandal, which involved using public office for political campaigning.

The GABs life was ended by the Wisconsin Legislature, whose Republican majority became convinced the agency had overstepped its authority and was no longer impartial.

Critics called it a failed experiment. But Jay Heck, executive director of Common Cause Wisconsin, told the critics: The only thing that failed was that they (the GAB) didnt do what you wanted them to do and they werent supposed to do what you wanted them to do.

Also passing with the GAB Thursday were the roles of GAB director Kevin Kennedy, who has helped oversee Wisconsin elections for 37 years, and a six-member panel of retired judges  appointed by the governor, confirmed by the Senate  that provided oversight to the GAB.

The Government Accountability Board was preceded in death by the State Elections Board and the State Ethics Board, both creatures of political appointment. The GAB was created to replace those entities as an independent board charged with overseeing elections and enforcing campaign finance, ethics and lobbying laws.

The GAB will be survived by two commissions  one to oversee elections, the other ethics  that will be administered on a politically partisan basis, instead of being independent.

Yes, the new structure is much like the structure that existed during the caucus scandal  the one that the GAB replaced.

When it died Thursday, the GAB was the only nonpartisan oversight and elections board in the United States, and was hailed by supporters as a national model for clean government. It won consistent praise from local county clerks of both parties for helping them run fair elections.

There will be no memorial services to mark the sad occasion of Wisconsin returning to a partisan model that has a history of failure.

In lieu of flowers, remember Kennedys words on the GABs tombstone: Follow the law. Put aside partisan interests.
Top management institutes including IIMs, in India offer variety of MBA programmes to cate the need of freshers as well as working executives. The MBA programmes are also designed for those who may not attend the regular classes or find it difficult to come to the institute.

2 Year MBA/PGDM programme

The 2 year full time regular residential MBA/PGDM programme is

offered by all the 3500 management institutes in India. It is a residential programme and calls for the full attention of the students without any study break. The programme is offered by all the B-schools including 20 IIMs, XLRI and other top institutes.

The 2 year MBA is available for the freshers as well as professionals with work experience provided they wish to pursue it since it needs full involvement and cannot be pursued without quitting the job or taking 2 years of study leave.

The candidates sponsored by the company can also pursue this course but they have to score at par in the entrance exam with their peers. The fee structure in this case goes a little higher.

Executive MBA

Executive MBA Education is the term used for programmes at graduate-level business schools that aim to give classes for Chief Executives and other top managers or entrepreneurs. Executive education developed in the 1980s and 1990s, as the increasing pace and scope of global business demanded higher levels of education among employees.

Duration & Delivery

Executive MBA education programmes can be classified on the basis of duration and delivery mode. Executive education as management and business programmes is meant for working professionals. The mode of delivery can be on-campus, online or a combination of both modes (hybrid). Also the duration of executive education programmes can vary from just a few days to even one year, as in case of IIM-As PGPX. But the common thread remains  these programmes are meant for executives who want to learn new skills and move up the hierarchy.

Top institutes

Top tier management institutes like the IIMs, XLRI, MDI, ISB have recognized this need-gap and have launched several long-term executive education courses. For instance, IIM A offers Post Graduate Programme in Management for Executives (PGPX), IIM C offers Post Graduate Programme for Executives (PGPEX), IIM I offers Executive Post-Graduate Programme in Management. IIM L has launched its International Programme in Management for Executives (IPMX) this year. ISB offers only executive MBA programmes.

Executive MBA options

1. Full-time long-duration (usually 1-year) accelerated courses like IIM-As PGPX, IIM-Ls IMPX and other top B-schools.

2. e-Learning programmes offered by U21 Global, NIIT Imperia, and others.

3. Part-time 3-year EMBA offered by B-Schools & Distance programmes offered by reputed B-schools.

4. Short-term MDPs & AMPs offered by B-schools aimed at developing specific skills.

Distance Learning MBA

It may not be possible for all to pursue management programmes through regular classroom learning mode, with program duration of two years. For those who are unable to pursue full time MBA for want of time or high cost, options like Distance MBA or 3 year Part Time MBA may prove to be viable alternative.

Duration

Distance MBA or PGDM programme will have the same duration of 2 years as the rular MBA programmes have. The curriculam and specializations are also more or less the same.

Approvals

Distance MBA offered by top B-schools is approved by AICTE on the basis of rigorous parameters as applied to regular MBA programme.

Why a preferred programme

The distance MBA offers flexibility of delivery, affordability, scope for continuous learning and easy accessibility. Working professionals therefore find Distance MBA as a viable alternative to full time classroom MBA.

Regular class room study is mandatory for regular MBA whereas in Distance Learning or part time executive MBA there is no compulsion for classroom study. Even a student from a far flung area can go for Distance MBA offered by well known B-schools and Universities.

Industry relevance and Career acceleration are the many reasons that prompt a working professional or a even a fresher to opt for preferred MBA education. In present scenario MBA has become a necessary qualification for career progression.

Carefully choose the Programme

One must be careful in choosing the right Distance MBA institution that is duly recognized by regulators and offer industry-relevant curriculum and learning material.

Key institutions

Distance MBA is offered by the highly rated B-schools like IMT, NMIMS, SIBM, among others. These and other highly ranked B-schools like MDI Gurgaon, K J Somaiya, Mumbai, FORE school of Management, New Delhi offer Part time PGDM programmes also. For those who wish to go for short term programmes the certificate programmes are offered by the B-schools like BRIDGE School and Northwestern University, USA).
MADISON  Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton have work to do in Wisconsin.

The presumptive Republican and Democratic presidential nominees face big challenges to get their campaigns in order by the Nov. 8 general election.

Trump, in particular, lacks the assets about which a traditional presidential nominee can boast: polling favorability, broad support in his own party, and a solid campaign ground game.

Stakes are high for both candidates here as they prepare for their parties national conventions this month.

For Democrats, Wisconsin is a virtual must-win state to retain the White House. No Democrat has captured the presidency without carrying Wisconsin since John F. Kennedy in 1960.

Republicans see Trumps path to a national victory likely going through Rust Belt states, including Wisconsin, filled with the white, blue-collar voters with whom Trumps message has resonated.

But neither Clinton, the Democrat, nor Trump, the Republican, can build off a victory in Wisconsins April 5 presidential primary.

Polls also show here, as nationally, both candidates are viewed unfavorably by a broad swath of voters.

The latest Marquette Law School Poll found Trump viewed unfavorably by 64 percent of registered voters and Clinton viewed unfavorably by 58 percent.

UW-Madison political scientist Barry Burden said theres no recent example of a presidential race in which both nominees were so disliked  and here in Wisconsin, in which neither won the presidential primary. The Badger State has picked the eventual presidential nominees in both parties each year in its primaries since 1972 with just one exception.

Were in unprecedented territory, at least in the last 50 years, Burden said.

Clinton must woo supporters of Wisconsin primary winner Bernie Sanders. The Marquette poll earlier this month showed one-third of Sanders backers arent yet ready to vote for Clinton in November.

Trump faces an even bigger task. He must persuade Wisconsin Republican voters, most of whom opposed him in the primary, to get on board. The latest Marquette poll shows Republicans viewing him more negatively than Democrats view Clinton.

He also must close a sizable deficit with Clinton, who leads him in general election polls, fundraising and campaign organization. The Trump campaign hired a Wisconsin campaign director last week, its second hire in the state so far, while Clinton has created a more robust, traditional campaign apparatus.

Democratic split

On Wednesday, a west Madison field office hummed with young staffers making phone calls and swarming social media on behalf of Clinton and other Democratic candidates, including U.S. Senate hopeful Russ Feingold.

Clintons campaign has five paid staffers here in Wisconsin. It also is buoyed by the Hillary Victory Fund, a joint fundraising committee between her campaign, the Democratic National Committee and 32 state parties  including Wisconsins  that finances field offices across the country, including the one in Madison.

There are about 24 field offices operating in Wisconsin, staffed by about 100 paid workers and additional volunteers, according to Brandon Weathersby, spokesman for the Democratic Party of Wisconsin.

Gillian Drummond, a spokeswoman for the Clinton campaign in Wisconsin, said the arrangement enables the campaign to work more closely with other Democratic candidates than in years past.

Gaining an edge on the ground is key in states such as Wisconsin, where Clintons Democratic primary rival, Sanders, was seen as the choice of the partys grassroots.

Sanders win in the Wisconsin primary gave him a majority of the states pledged delegates to the Democratic National Convention, by a 48-38 margin.

Among party elites, its a different story. Nine of the states 10 so-called super-delegates  elected and party officials permitted by Democratic Party rules to back the candidate of their choice at the convention, regardless of how their state voted  are supporting Clinton.

U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Black Earth, who is one of those super-delegates, withheld support for Clinton until she became the presumptive nominee. Pocan said its important that national Democrats draft a party platform that reflects Sanders supporters views on free trade, the minimum wage and changing U.S. systems of campaign finance and criminal justice.

Pocan said hes confident most Sanders supporters will warm to Clinton  in part, because of the choice they face in November.

You can either support Hillary Clinton or Trump, Pocan said. If you really cared about the message of Bernie Sanders, its pretty obvious where you would wind up.

Sanders delegates mull Clinton

Not everyone sees the choice in those terms.

John Stanley, a national convention delegate from DeForest, cited Clintons support for fracking  a type of hydraulic mining used to extract fossil fuels  and the death penalty in explaining why he cannot, in all good conscience, vote for her.

I dont see her being that much different than Donald Trump, Stanley said.

The Democratic National Convention will be held July 25-28 in Philadelphia.

Other Sanders delegates are reserving judgment. Nate Timm, a Sanders delegate from Mazomanie, said he wants to see how the Clinton campaign responds to the issues that Bernie cares about, and how the campaign responds to the Bernie supporters.

Timm said many Sanders supporters are new to political activism. If the Clinton campaign and Democrats in general dont welcome them into the process, they may not return, Timm said.

Its in the Clinton campaigns best interest to be very respectful of Bernie Sanders supporters, Timm said.

Heather Colburn, Clintons Wisconsin campaign director in 2008 when she lost to Barack Obama, said she feels the pain of Sanders supporters in 2016.

Colburn, a Wisconsin Democratic political consultant, is supporting Clinton again this year. She said Sanders supporters may need a little time and space to gain a broader perspective on whats at stake in November.

You just need time to mourn the loss, Colburn said. When you get over that, then you get it.

Trump operation thin so far

Trump faces some of the same challenges as Clinton in winning over party members who backed his opponents. Wisconsin was fertile ground for the #nevertrump movement and became the last state where he lost before clinching the nomination in early May.

Since then Trump hasnt capitalized in Wisconsin on the head start he had over Clinton for the five weeks between when they clinched their respective nominations.

Republican strategist Bill McCoshen said Trump should have had more boots on the ground sooner. As a result, there are discussions going on about whether this campaign can be salvaged.

Hes putting himself in a vulnerable position by not staffing up sooner, McCoshen said.

Last week Trump hired Pete Meachum as his state campaign director. Meachum served as chief of staff for U.S. Rep. Sean Duffy, who represents one of two congressional districts Trump won in the Wisconsin primary. Trump also has hired Vince Trovato, who placed fourth in a 2014 Republican Assembly primary in Waukesha County and served on the county GOPs executive board.

Neither responded to interview requests.

Trump also faces a disadvantage in facing negative push back from the states conservative talk radio hosts, who helped propel Texas Sen. Ted Cruz to victory in the April primary.

The best he can hope for is them being neutral, but talk radio being neutral is not enough to win in this state, McCoshen said. You have to have them in your corner.

The state Republican Party has touted having the strongest grassroots operation in the country as evidenced by the record turnout in the primary.

But since the primary Republican momentum in the state has stalled, McCoshen said. In order to reclaim that enthusiasm Trump has to stay on message, do his homework before speaking, not comment about every minor issue of the day and not offend so many voters.

Its an unorthodox campaign, McCoshen added. If the polls dont change, Wisconsin wont be a target on the presidential side.

Trump supporter: Too early to read much into polls

Jim Miller, a Republican National Convention delegate from the 7th Congressional District supporting Trump, said the campaign will be different than political operatives expect because Trump is an unorthodox candidate.

Miller said there have been requests coming in for large Trump signs that traditionally pop up along rural highways in presidential election years, but he said hes not expecting the Trump campaign to provide any. He suggested they might not be necessary because the real estate mogul and reality TV celebrity already has 100 percent name ID.

Throughout the course of this process hes been able to do some big things with very little money, Miller said. Its way too early to say those polls are any indication.

Joe Heim, a UW-La Crosse political science professor, said more important than yard signs is having an established ground game, and there has been a noticeable deficit on the Trump side so far in Wisconsin. That could be because some Republicans in the state are still resistant to Trumps candidacy.

Even Duffy, a Trump convert, has given mixed signals in recent weeks, telling Politico he doesnt know whether hell attend the Republican National Convention, July 18-21, in Cleveland. Heim said Trump has had a rough few weeks and reluctant Republicans are waiting to see if he better organizes his campaign.

With the convention occurring about a month earlier this year than in past presidential cycles, there is still plenty of time for Trump to catch up, Heim said.

You have a strong Republican administration in Wisconsin with a strong get-out-the-vote organization, Heim said. They still have plenty of time to organize that type of thing.
Chicken will be the best-positioned protein due to its low price position in times of pressure on consumer spending power but rises in production costs and the long-term impact of COVID-19 threaten to disrupt the sector, according to Rabobank.
ST. PAUL  Minnesotans this fall will be asked to vote on whether to remove state lawmakers authority to set their own salaries and transfer the power instead to an independent citizen board.

If passed, it would be a dramatic change in how lawmaker pay is set. So how come no ones talking about it? So far, no organized campaign has emerged on either side.

At least one critic believes the proposals wording  Shall the Minnesota Constitution be amended to remove state lawmakers power to set their own salaries, and instead establish an independent, citizens-only council to prescribe salaries of lawmakers?  could lead voters to unintentionally deliver a pay raise to lawmakers.

Lawmakers drafted the language a few years ago after the latest recommendations to boost their pay went nowhere. Legislator pay has been such a sticky subject that there hasnt been a change to the base salary of $31,140 since 1999.

Legislators do not want to be voting on our pay. It feels wrong, said state Sen. Kent Eken, DFL-Twin Valley, one of the amendments chief supporters. If you look at the constitutional amendment, it makes no comments whatsoever on what the pay should be. Its all about who should set it. And we are not the objective ones, so we should not be the ones setting it.

Eken acknowledges that taking the decision-making out of lawmakers hands could make it easier for them to get a raise.

Could it lead to a pay increase? he asked. Its possible.

If the amendment passes, a 16-member salary council would be formed to decide legislator pay every two years. The governor and Minnesota Supreme Court chief justice would pick the members. Appointees would be split evenly between the two major parties. Legislators past and present and their spouses would be excluded, as would lobbyists, judges and state employees.

Other states have similar setups. A notable example is California, which established its Citizen Compensation Commission following a 1990 referendum. In its first three years, the panel left lawmaker pay unchanged.

More often than not since, there have been compensation increases. But there have been pay cuts when the state was in fiscal straits. Legislators there earn $100,000 a year, tops in the nation.

Rank-and-file Minnesota legislators rank 19th in base pay among the 39 states that provide an annual salary, according to a survey this year by the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Financial hardship is one reason five-term Rep. Kim Norton, DFL-Rochester, is giving up her seat in the Legislature.

When Norton first ran, she figured shed scale back to part-time at her nonprofit job and it would all work out. But she left the job after her first session because she found it impossible to do both well.

Norton got another outside job but resigned that post after yet another late-evening floor session caused her to miss a critical event. More recently, she said she had a tough time qualifying for better home mortgage terms because of her income and the lenders impression that her job was only temporary.

You dont run for legislator to make money. That should never be and certainly in our state isnt one of the reasons people would ever run for office, she said. But you shouldnt be hurt financially when you are trying to serve your community as well.

Sen. Torrey Westrom, R-Elbow Lake, opposed the bill that put the question on the fall ballot. He considers the wording to be deceptive.

I think the concern is that voters will see it as a way to say no to pay raises or what they might perceive as pay raises for legislators, he said. But if they vote for the amendment, they will actually be voting to put this in a third-partys hands, making it probably easier for pay raises to go through.

Bob Schroeder served on the Minnesota compensation council, an advisory group, when it recommended in 2013 that legislator pay be calculated based on the governors paycheck, which would have paid lawmakers one-third of the chief executives salary, or nearly $43,000 currently. Schroeder sensed then it would be a tough sell politically, and it was.

Constitutional amendments have a strong track record, particularly in the last four decades when 70 percent have prevailed. But Schroeder, a former chief of staff to a Republican governor, said he isnt sure if the fall ballot question is the right course.

Legislating comes with a double-edged sword. Its hard, time consuming work. But the compensation may not competitively match the effort involved, he said. Every candidate should know that when they decide to run for office. Its called public service, not self-service.
by Bob Garfield , Featured Columnist, July 4, 2016

Told you so. Told you so. Nyaah nyah nyaah nyah, told you so.

Way back last spring, when Facebooks Instant Stories came to this world, I -- like everyone else in publishing -- considered the possibility of salvation. If publishers were to cede distribution to Facebook, they would not only achieve faster loading speeds and a better user experience, they would benefit by vastly higher reach and at least theoretically -- based on Facebooks incomparable data set -- significantly higher CPMs.

A bigger number times a bigger number = a way bigger revenue number. Boom.

Maybe, I mused, Instant Stories were going to be the magic beans to grow a magic beanstalk to plunder the goose that lays the golden eggs. Magic would be most useful at the moment, after all, due to reality totally sucking.

But I wasnt born yesterday, and lets just call me cautiously pessimistic. Here was one of the concerns I had back in April 2015, were, say, The New York Times to go all in with social media as its principal delivery channel:

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Facebook would have to be trusted, once becoming the center of the Times distribution world, not to change the rules midstream. Such as, hypothetically, by tweaking the EdgeRank algorithm to influence which articles get into the newsfeeds of whom -- either to squeeze its partners for a bigger rev share or to deemphasize problematic content. Of course, they've never pulled such highhanded stunts -- except for, you know, constantly from the beginning.

So imagine my non-surprise the other day to see the following headline right here in MediaPost:

Facebook Demotes Publisher Content In Newsfeed

A unilateral change in terms from Facebook? You could have knocked me over with a feather. Ha ha. Now, as our Eric Sass explained, the adjustments make perfect sense. Publishers were so inundating our newsfeeds with Instant Stories, the news was beginning to crowd out the actual social content. Sometimes you want to learn about scores of innocent people being slaughtered, and sometimes you just want to see Caitlins kindergarten graduation pictures.

As Facebook Vice President of Product Management Adam Mosseri told the press: Your average friend probably posts a few things a week, the average publisher you follow probably posts hundreds of things a day. Weve made some ranking changes to try to better connect people with their friends. And as such the EdgeRank algorithm has been tweaked to prioritize the genuinely personal. Which, yes, if were speaking of social media, makes perfect sense. The fact is, however, as Eric informs us:

Earlier this month, a study from SocialFlow found that media companies have seen their average audiences per story decline by 42% from 117,000 in January to just 68,000 in May.

Separately, another study from analytics firm SocialWhip found that the combined activity for the ten biggest English-language publishers on Facebook fell from 287 million engagements per month in July 2015 to 162 million per month in April of this year, for a 44% decline over this period.

Yikes. Now Eric also reports what he called a potential silver lining, namely that when individual users share publisher content, that counts as personal, with all the extra exposure that provides. Which at first glance seems more than a fair and promising outcome for the cream that rises to the top.

Except, remember: cautiously pessimistic. This solution seems to promote a sort of social media Darwinism -- survival of the funnest -- that will penalize serious, complex, eat-your-veggies journalism to the benefit of highly shareable fluff. In fact, if you go back to April 2015:

Far more than now, the Times and all other Facebook partners would be incented to produce the most shareworthy content for Facebook. Goodbye, Sierra Leone and environmental coverage. Hello, Grumpy cat.

Yeah. Thats me. Garfield, the grumpy cat. Dyspeptic, pessimistic, obnoxious. and tragically correct.
While acknowledging that improvements in therapies have led to better care of patients with invasive aspergillosis  a potentially deadly fungal infection  new practice guidelines emphasize that there remains a critical need for early diagnosis.

Share on Pinterest Aspergillosis is a number of complicated infections with a number of treatment options. Patients really benefit from a multidisciplinary approach, including the expertise of an infectious disease specialist, says the lead author of new guidelines.

The Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) have updated guidelines for the diagnosis and management of aspergillosis and published them in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases.

Aspergillosis is an infection caused by the common mold or fungus Aspergillus that is everywhere, both indoors and outdoors. It can be found, for instance, in air conditioning units, compost heaps, and damp or flood-damaged homes and buildings.

Most of us breathe in Aspergillus spores every day without getting sick. However, for people with lung diseases or weakened immune systems, exposure to Aspergillus can lead to health problems  such as allergic reactions, lung infections, and infections in other organs.

The updated guidelines concern three major forms of aspergillosis: allergic, chronic pulmonary, and invasive. The allergic form is most common and affects millions of people worldwide. Those with asthma and cystic fibrosis are at highest risk of developing allergic aspergillosis.

Chronic pulmonary aspergillosis, which can affect healthy people, occurs in about 400,000 people worldwide.

Although they require treatment, the allergic and chronic forms of aspergillosis rarely kill. However, invasive aspergillosis, which affects about 200,000 people worldwide, kills 40-80 percent of those with widespread infection.

Thomas Patterson, chief of the Division of Infectious Disease and professor of medicine at The University of Texas Health Science Center, and of the South Texas Veterans Health Care System  both in San Antonio  is lead author of the updated guidelines. He explains:

These are complicated infections with a number of treatment options. Patients really benefit from a multidisciplinary approach, including the expertise of an infectious disease specialist.
People with desk jobs may feel there is little opportunity to increase physical activity levels during the working day. However, changing just one meeting per week from a seated to a walking meeting can increase physical activity level of office workers by 10 minutes. So concludes a study of white-collar workers invited to implement a simple, seven-point walking meeting protocol. Share on Pinterest Across the United States, millions of office workers spend most of their working day sitting. The study, from the Miller School of Medicine at the University of Miami in Florida, is published in Preventing Chronic Disease, a journal of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Principal investigator Alberto J. Caban-Martinez, assistant professor of public health sciences, says: This walking meeting pilot study provides early evidence that white-collar workers find it feasible and acceptable to convert a traditional seated meeting into a walking meeting. Abundant research shows that physical activity helps improve overall health and fitness, and reduces peoples risk for many chronic diseases. There is even evidence that doing as little as 15 minutes per day of brisk walking or other moderate intensity exercise can add up to 3 years of life expectancy. Yet despite this, only half of all American adults report meeting the physical activity guidelines of 150 minutes per week of moderate-intensity physical activity. Also, across the United States, millions of office workers spend most of their working day sitting. Bringing these points together with the fact that working people spend on average 7.6 hours a day at work, it is clear that the workplace provides a unique setting to promote practices that could significantly increase physical activity and, consequently, health.

Walking meeting protocol In the new study, researchers explored the effectiveness of a simple, seven-point Walking Meeting (WaM) protocol, summarized as follows: Set a time and place to meet before the WaM Prepare an agenda and bring it with you To make the walk more comfortable, bring items such as water, sunscreen, sunglasses, and wear comfortable shoes Assign roles: for example, one person keeps an eye on time, another takes notes, another leads walk route Follow the prescribed walk route Walk for a minimum of 30 minutes After the WaM, sit to wrap up meeting and do any final tasks such as paperwork that cannot be done while walking. The study took place from January-August 2015 at the University of Miami, where 18 office workers who conducted weekly meetings in groups of two or three were invited to wear accelerometers to measure physical activity levels over 3 consecutive weeks. During the first week (the baseline) the participants carried on as normal, while during the second and third week, they implemented the WaM.
Physicians may be drawing conclusions too soon about survival outcomes of patients who suffered a cardiac arrest outside the hospital.

A study led by Bentley Bobrow, MD, professor at the University of Arizona Colleges of Medicine in Tucson and Phoenix and co-director of the Arizona Emergency Medicine Research Center - Phoenix, and his fellow UA emergency medicine researchers, showed that physicians may need to allow comatose cardiac arrest patients much more time to awaken before making a prognosis.

Gary Brauchla knows this from first-hand experience.

The day after his son's twins were born in 2012, Brauchla, 68, went into cardiac arrest as he slept in his home in Pearce, Ariz.

Brauchla's wife, Kathie, a former surgical technician, immediately called 911 and started cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). Fifteen minutes later, paramedics took over administering CPR and shocked his heart with a defibrillator, restoring his heart rhythm.

Though Brauchla's heart was restarted, he remained in a coma as he was flown by helicopter to Tucson. There, doctors treated him with coronary stents and therapeutic hypothermia (cooling his body) to reduce his brain's need for oxygen and minimize the risk of brain injury.

"The doctors said it usually takes up to 48 hours for people to wake up, but after two days he still was not responding," said Kathie.

Brauchla remained in a deep coma, until finally, 72 hours after he was rewarmed, he gradually began to awaken.

"After 48 hours, doctors used to start talking about pulling the plug," said Kathie.

More than 400,000 Americans experience out-of-hospital cardiac arrest annually. Survival statistics are bleak: although approximately 50 percent of people who arrest are revived after attempted resuscitation, only about 10 percent of these survive to leave the hospital. Furthermore, almost half of the survivors suffer some level of brain impairment from hypoxia (when the brain is not getting enough oxygen).

While out-of-hospital cardiac arrest still is a leading cause of death in the United States, outcomes have improved dramatically in places like Arizona, where the focus has been on innovative health-care advances, Dr. Bobrow said. Advances include compression-only CPR training for the public, enhanced telephone-CPR instructions and training for 911 dispatchers, implementing high-performance CPR for EMS providers and making sure patients are taken to specialized hospitals that deliver treatments like targeted therapeutic hypothermia to improve brain recovery.

Results from the multicenter UA study, recently published in the Annals of Emergency Medicine, showed for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest patients, the time it takes to regain consciousness after rewarming from therapeutic hypothermia treatment varies widely and is longer than many had thought.

"Most patients are comatose after resuscitation and accurately predicting those who will wake up can be extremely challenging," Dr. Bobrow said.

"There are many factors involved, but we know that it is common for doctors to try to decide who will and who won't wake up after 24 to 48 hours of hospitalization. However, our study found that a substantial number of cardiac arrest victims wake up longer than many people would expect. Sometimes they awaken from coma five, six or seven days after being admitted to the hospital and many of these have a good neurological outcome," he said.

Among 573 out-of-hospital cardiac arrest patients who completed targeted temperature management, 60 woke up at least 48 hours after rewarming. Eight patients became responsive more than seven days after rewarming, six of whom were discharged with good neurological scores. One of the important findings was no predictive factors reliably identified who would awaken early or late.

Dr. Bobrow said, "We were surprised by the large proportion of cardiac arrest survivors who woke up more than three days after their arrest and went home with their families.

"While targeted therapeutic hypothermia has been shown to improve outcomes, no validated system currently exists for predicting when patients receiving this treatment will awaken from coma. Physicians and family members may need to wait longer than the traditional three days before making irrevocable decisions about brain function recovery and possible withdrawal of care," he said.

"Our study quantifies the timing of awakening from a coma after cardiac arrest in the era of targeted temperature management, and this timing is much different than before we had this treatment," said Daniel Spaite, MD, UA professor and Virginia Piper Distinguished Chair of Emergency Medicine.

"We may be able to save thousands of lives each year across the country by simply giving cardiac arrest victims more time to awaken in the hospital," said Samuel Keim, MD, professor and chair of the UA Department of Emergency Medicine.

When Brauchla first woke up, he struggled with some neurological issues, but continued to improve. Since then, he has fully recovered and so far has run twelve 5K races. He now serves as the president of the newly formed Arizona Cardiac Arrest Survivors Group. In this role, he speaks to patients and their families, teaches bystander CPR classes and works to get more AEDs (automated external defibrillators) into the community.

Brauchla's message to families, physicians and emergency medical personnel: "Everyone needs to be able and willing to do bystander CPR. And then, don't give up!"

Article: Duration of Coma in Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest Survivors Treated With Targeted Temperature Management, Taro Irisawa, MD, PhD, Tyler F. Vadeboncoeur, MD, Madalyn Karamooz, BS, Margaret Mullins, MS, Vatsal Chikani, MPH, Daniel W. Spaite, MD, Bentley J. Bobrow, MD, Annals of Emergency Medicine, doi: 10.1016/j.annemergmed.2016.04.021, published online 27 May 2016.
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When the woman and her partner learnt they were having twins, they were overjoyed. Then there were complications. One died. Doctors could not say for sure if the other would be healthy."It's a hard decision for everyone, traumatic. I simply had really bad test results," the woman, a lapsed Catholic, told AFP.This week, anti-abortion activists plan to submit a petition to parliament, controlled by conservatives since November, that would allow abortion only if the mother's life is at risk.Such citizen's initiatives are admissible with at least 100,000 signatures - this one has garnered more than 375,000 - and usually end up in a parliamentary vote.The initiative calls for increasing the maximum jail penalty for practitioners from two years to five. It also makes mothers liable, though judges could waive punishment in their case."Abortion is just as wrong as allowing the murder of any other group of people," said Mariusz Dzierzawski, 60, head of the pro-life group behind the project. "It's like how the Germans said it was okay to murder Jews. And children before birth are an even broader category," the father of three adult daughters told AFP.The proposal has also won the backing of top bishops, though its provisions to penalize women have since divided the Church.The leader of the governing conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, said, "On these kinds of issues, as a Catholic I follow the teaching of the bishops."But as a lifelong bachelor, he was quickly challenged by former first lady and mother-of-eight Danuta Walesa, "What do you know about the life of bees since you don't live in a beehive?"The proposal, which the Council of Europe called 'serious backsliding on women's rights', also inspired several pro-choice marches and a rival drive to liberalize the law.There are signs the conservatives are aware the hot button issue divides Poles. Dzierzawski said PiS politicians initially tried to talk him out of presenting the initiative.One 53-year-old Warsaw woman, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told AFP she got pregnant at 21 and panicked."I was trying to get into college. I thought everything was falling apart. All my plans," she said.She chose to abort, against her boyfriend's wishes. They wound up marrying and having two children before he left. She blames the abortion."When I think about grandkids, then I remember what happened. That there could have been more kids," she said. "It's starting to eat away at me, oppress me. And it will be like that for the rest of my life."Arguing that restricted access gives women a chance to think twice, she backs the status quo.As do most Poles, according to an April survey from independent pollsters CBOS, which saw support for the exceptions range from 58% (incest) to 84% (risk to mother's life).Only a little over 10% said a woman should be allowed to abort if she is in financial straits or does not want children.Yet another CBOS survey from 2013 found that every third or fourth Polish woman has had an abortion."It's do as I say, not as I do," said Krystyna Kacpura, director of the pro-choice Federation for Women and Family Planning.The country of 38 million people sees under 2,000 legal abortions a year, but Kacpura estimates that another 100,000-150,000 procedures are performed illegally or abroad.One Slovak clinic even has a Polish-language website and phone line, plus drivers who will pick women up at designated spots in several Polish cities.The public hospital in Prenzlau does 'quite a few' Polish surgical abortions, according to Janusz Rudzinski, a Polish doctor there who has lived in Germany for decades."They're mostly middle-class, but actresses also come, famous too. Politicians' wives, bank directors," he told AFP, saying he has even had the occasional nun or priest plus girlfriend.For those who stay home, there are Internet offers of pills that 'induce menstruation' or doctors like an anesthesiologist arrested last month for performing a medical abortion on the sly.Other doctors have signed a conscience clause, opting out of performing abortions, even the legal ones. The southern Podkarpackie region made headlines when every doctor signed.Rudzinski said he gets around 50 calls a day from Poland, not always for appointments. Many women just need an ear."In Poland, they simply don't have anyone they can honestly talk to right now," he said.Source: AFP
Herpangina also known as mouth blisters is an infectious disease caused due to coxsackie viruses. It was first described in 1920 and the viral etiology was established in 1951. It is characterized by fever and vesicles or ulcers on the roof and the posterior aspect of the mouth. It often affects children less than 10 years of age though it can occur in older children and adults as well. The underdeveloped immune systems of young children are the main risk factors for their susceptibility to this illness.

In the temporal regions, it is seen mostly in the summer and early fall while in tropical regions it is prevalent throughout the year.

Coxsackie infection in young women can cause miscarriages and can affect the fetus.

The disease is quite similar to Hand-Foot-Mouth Disease (HFMD) where lesions are present on the hands and feet as well.

Herpangina is due to viral infection. It is caused by 22 enterovirus serotypes, Coxsackie group A viruses are the main causative agents. Coxsackie viruses belong to the enterovirus group which affects the gastrointestinal tract. Some of the other viruses which can cause herpangina are group B coxsackie, enterovirus 71 and echo virus.

Modes of Transmission:

Fecal-oral route - The virus is excreted in the feces of the infected individual and may infect others via unwashed hands and contaminated food due to poor hygiene practices.

- The virus is excreted in the feces of the infected individual and may infect others via unwashed hands and contaminated food due to poor hygiene practices. Droplet - The virus can spread by the respiratory route through droplet infection from an infected persons cough or sneeze.

- The virus can spread by the respiratory route through droplet infection from an infected persons cough or sneeze. Contact - Contaminated fomites (objects harboring the infectious agent) can also spread the infection.

- Contaminated fomites (objects harboring the infectious agent) can also spread the infection. It is seen more often in the children who attend daycare facility.

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Symptoms of Herpangina

Herpangina may present with the following symptoms:

Fever: The fever due to herpangina has a quick onset and the temperature is persistently high, even as high as 1060F.

Lesions in the Mouth: The lesions are initially lumps which progress to vesicles (tiny blisters)and then rupture to form an ulcer, rarely larger than 5 mm. They are located in the posterior aspect of the mouth, near the tonsils, on the tongue, and on the roof of the mouth. These ulcers are extremely painful. Usually, it takes 5-10 days for the oral lesions to heal.

Pain in the throat: The ulcers are extremely painful and children hesitate to eat or drink.

Drooling: Swallowing is painful for patients with herpangina. The children may, therefore, present with drooling.

Others symptoms: The other symptoms in these patients include loss of appetite, headache, sore throat, fatigue, decreased urine output, pain in the abdomen and vomiting.

Signs of Herpangina

Oral lesions, are characteristic in patients with herpangina. The ulcers are small with a red border. They are 2-12 in number. The other areas of the mouth look normal. Lymph nodes in the neck may get enlarged.

The symptom history and the typical lesions of the herpangina help in the diagnosis of the condition. Diagnostic tests are not needed.

Herpangina is a self-limiting condition which heals in about 7-10 days The treatment is symptomatic and aims at pain relief. The treatment plan however may be influenced to a certain degree by the patients age and symptoms.

Antibiotics are not used as the infection is viral in nature.

Paracetamol or ibuprofen helps to decrease the temperature and soothe the pain.

Aspirin is not used in children below 6 years of age as it is linked to Reyes syndrome (inflammation of the liver)in them.

Topical anesthetics: Local application of benzocaine and lidocaine gel on the lesions in the mouth helps to reduce the discomfort.

Fluids and Food: Patients with herpangina tend to dehydrate. So, encourage drinking enough fluids to stay hydrated. Non-irritant foods are preferable, like milk and ice cream. Citrus fruit juices are better avoided as they are acidic. Hot liquids, fried and spicy foods must also be avoided.

Good hygiene is the cornerstone of herpangina prevention.

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The following hygiene practices may help in the prevention of the spread of the disease:
On June 30, Russian President Vladimir Putin addressed the eighth meeting of Russian Federation ambassadors and permanent envoys at the Russian Foreign Ministry. In his speech, Putin stressed that NATO' committed a grave mistake by deciding to expand eastward, instead of building a new security architecture with Russia, "as a full-fledged partner, "to provide "equal and indivisible security from the Atlantic to the Pacific." He added that NATO not only seeks to find in "Russia's actions pretexts to affirm its own legitimacy and the need for its existence, "but is also taking "genuinely confrontational steps." However, as concerns Europe, Putin stressed that Russia had not abandoned the idea of establishing an economic and humanitarian common space from the "Atlantic to the Pacific "together with the EU. This common space could guarantee "the entire Eurasian continent" long-term sustainable development, an allusion to Putin's pet Eurasian integration project and the more ambitious idea of creating an economic and political space from Lisbon to Vladivostok.[1]

As for the United States, Putin said that Russia sought a partnership based "on equality and mutual consideration of interests."

Below are excerpts from Putin's speech:[2]



Russian President Vladimir Putin at the meeting of Russian Federation ambassadors and permanent envoys. (Source: Kremlin.ru, June 30, 2016)

'NATO...Is Taking Genuinely Confrontational Steps'

"...It is unacceptable to prolong the Ukrainian crisis and unacceptable to blame others for this, particularly Russia. This only worsens the already unhealthy situation on the European continent and aggravates the consequences of the great mistake that was NATO's decision to expand eastwards rather than to start building, with Russia as a full-fledged partner, a new architecture for equal and indivisible security from the Atlantic to the Pacific.

"Today, NATO seems to be making a show of its anti-Russian stance. NATO not only seeks to find in Russia's actions pretexts to affirm its own legitimacy and the need for its existence, but is also taking genuinely confrontational steps. The mythical Iranian nuclear threat has gone now. As I said publicly on many occasions, it was the Iranian nuclear threat that was used to justify the need for a missile defense system, but we see that work to build this system's infrastructure in Eastern Europe continues. Back when these plans were taking shape, we said that this was a deception, a fetish, a mere pretext. And this is exactly what it was. The number of military exercises has increased dramatically, including in the Black Sea and the Baltic Sea. We are constantly accused of military activity, but where? Only on our own soil. We are supposed to accept as normal the military build-up on our borders. Rapid reaction forces are being deployed in Poland and the Baltic countries, and there is a build-up in offensive weapons. All of this seeks to undermine the military parity achieved over a period of decades.

"Let me say that we keep constant watch over all that is happening. We know what constitutes an adequate response in this situation and we most certainly will respond if needed in the future. However, we are not going to let ourselves get intoxicated by these military passions. It seems that others are trying to nudge us this way, provoke us into a costly and futile arms race so that we divert resources and effort from our great socioeconomic development tasks at home. We will not do this, but we will always ensure our reliable defense and will guarantee the security of our country and its citizens

'Russia Has Not Abandoned The Idea Of Establishing A Common...Space From The Atlantic To The Pacific Together With The European Union'

"What I would like to stress in this respect is that 'Brexit' is the choice Britain's people have made and we have not and will not interfere in this process.[3] However, we will follow these developments closely of course, follow the talks between London and Brussels and the potential consequences for Europe and for all of us. It is clear that this referendum's traumatic effect will make itself felt for a long time yet. We will see how they all put democratic principles into practice.

"Let me also stress that not only has Russia not abandoned the idea of establishing a common economic and humanitarian space from the Atlantic to the Pacific together with the European Union, but we also think this would be the most promising policy in terms of guaranteeing the entire Eurasian continent's long-term sustainable development.

"As for the United States, as we know, the presidential election campaign is now in its final stage. Naturally, we will respect the American voters' choice and are ready to work with whoever becomes the next president.

"Moreover, what we want is to work in close cooperation with the United States on international affairs, but we will not accept the approach of that part of the U.S. establishment that thinks they can decide themselves in which areas we will cooperate and in which areas they will turn up the pressure, including through sanctions. We seek a partnership based on equality and consideration of each other's interests. Only on this basis can we work together...

"Our diplomats understand, of course, how important the battle to influence public opinion and shape the public mood is these days. We have given these issues much attention over recent years. However, today, as we face a growing barrage of information attacks unleashed against Russia by some of our so-called partners, we need to make even greater efforts in this direction.

"We are living in an information age, and the old saying that whoever controls information controls the world unquestionably sums up today's reality. Sometimes, you get the impression that an event has not taken place at all unless the media reports on it. [Former French President] Jacques Chirac said to me once, 'You must get the cameras in, otherwise, it will look as though we never actually met.' This is how things happen in practice.

"We must put up strong resistance to the Western media's information monopoly, including by using all available methods to support Russian media outlets operating abroad. Of course, we must also act to counter lies about Russia and not allow falsifications of history."

Endnotes:
In his March 1, 2016 column in the Bahraini daily Al-Wasat, titled "The Illusion of the Caliphate State," columnist Jamil Al-Mahari condemned those who dream of establishing an Islamic caliphate through terrorism and beheadings, calling them "the most extremist, reactionary and barbaric of people." He argued that ISIS is only one of many Islamist organizations that reject coexistence with the other, and that these organizations, as well as multitudes who support them on the social networks, are far removed from Islam and "have no humane or religious goal - nothing but a moral vacuum."

The following are excerpts from his article:



Jamil Al-Mahari (image: alwasatnews.com)

"Tens of thousands or perhaps hundreds of thousands of people have been killed so far, and hundreds of thousands or perhaps millions of innocent people have been uprooted from their homes, [all] in the name of the dream of establishing a caliphate state throughout the Arab and Muslim lands, [a state] ruled by the Muslim caliph under the protection of Allah.

"The dream of establishing an Islamic caliphate state, or an Islamic empire, over the ruins of the modern Arab and Islamic governments was born after the fall of the Ottoman state in the 1920s. This was a new idea of Islamic figures and organizations who undertook to reinstate the Islamic shari'a in everyday life and to restore the Islamic rule. To this day, the majority of Islamic organizations preach some version of this idea, in some way. Some believe [in implementing it] gradually, while others believe in imposing it by force.

"Those who dream of the return of the Islamic caliphate, as we see [them] today, may be much more numerous than we think, and therefore ISIS is only [one] of many political [Islam] organizations that are cast in the same mold, [all of which] adopt this blood-soaked perception that does not accept the possibility of tolerating any opinion different [from their own].

"Historically, the caliphate state existed for a short period of time, during the reign of the four Righteous Caliphs. Later the political regime changed, reflecting the direction taken by the Umayyad state, the Abbasid state and finally the Ottoman state. None of those who now presume to establish a caliphate state can claim that any of the governance models that existed after the era of the Righteous Caliphs were worthy of emulation in terms of their enactment of the Islamic shari'a. Hence, [these people] have no clear model to which to aspire, only selective utopian theories about [their] heritage.

"Today, the most extremist, reactionary and barbaric of people have emerged, [striving] to establish an Islamic caliphate state by means of terror, beheadings and blowing up mosques using explosive belts, [and attempting] to establish the hoped-for future caliphate state over [their victims'] remains. [This, while] the Islamic caliphate state is supposed to enact the Islamic shari'a, which is replete with compassion and divine justice. These people want to spread Islam throughout the world by means of the sword and [by waging] jihad for the sake of Allah, by murdering people and blowing them up, [and all this] in order to dominate the world in the name of Islam, implement Allah's law and levy the jizya [poll tax] on anyone who refuses to embrace Islam. That is, the U.S., Russia, Germany and Britain are all supposed to pay jizya to this putative Islamic state, while in state of submission.

"The strangest thing of all is that among those who have taken over some isolated towns and villages in chaos-ridden countries like Syria, Iraq and Libya - those who have enslaved the people [of those towns and villages] and captured their women - there are some who believe to this day that if an Islamic state emerges in these regions, it will be able to do as it pleases with the locals everywhere, in the name of religion. And stranger still is [the fact] that some people openly and proudly support them - though they are very far removed from the path of Islam, as can be seen on the social networks... [These people's] agenda is clear. They have no humane or religious goal - nothing but a moral vacuum."
KCHEF Combats the Ravages of HIV/AIDS in Uganda

MELBOURNE, Fla., July 4, 2016 / Christian Newswire / -- KCHEF (Kasese Community Health and Education Foundation) combats the ravages of HIV/AIDS in the Rwenzori region of Southwest Uganda.

Founded in 2002 and supported by Dioceses, Parishes and Individuals throughout the Episcopal Church, KCHEF has developed into a pre-eminent health and education organization in Kasese Uganda.

In 2015, KCHEF has accomplished the following:

 Served over 25,000 patients

 Delivered 345 babies

 Immunized more than 4,900 patients

 Provided HIV counseling and testing to over 2,100 patients

 Supported the education of approximately 500 students

While all of the early costs of developing the Medical Clinic were funded by donations, today the clinic is close to being self-sufficient through support from local companies, some private pay and assistance from the Ugandan Government.

Almost a generation since its founding and with the commitment of many donor organizations, KCHEF sees the difference it has made every day in the health of mothers and infants and in the number of graduates that return to Kasese to work and support the KCHEF efforts.

For more information about KCHEF or to find out how you may help go to Children's Health and Education in Rural Africa www.cherahealth.org

Contact:

Robert C. Baldwin

CHERA

321-474-2179
home World Christian women arm themselves in Lebanon, threaten to send ISIS jihadists to hell

Lebanese Christian women threatened to send jihadists to hell as they armed themselves in defiance of the suicide bombing attacks on Monday, June 27.

Women in the Christian village of al-Qaa in the Bekaa Valley near the Syrian border didn't sit around cowering in fear after five died and more than a dozen suffered from injuries in two separate bombing blasts on Monday morning and evening. Instead, they took up arms and threatened to kill the Islamic State jihadists whom they suspect to be behind the attacks.

"We will not allow Lebanon to become a new Iraq. We will not flee, we have weapons and are ready to protect ourselves," said one of the women who spoke in anonymity, as reported by Assyrian campaign group A Demand for Action.

"Jihadists think they go to hell if they are killed by women, we will send them straight to hell," the unnamed woman declared.

Apparently, this belief is well-known among Iraqis and Kurdish people. Two years ago, U.S. Rep. Ed Royce talked about how Iraq recruited women fighters to the Kurdish peshmerga forces to fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) terrorist group.

"These ISIL soldiers apparently believed that if they were killed in battle, they went to paradise as long as they were killed by a man," Royce told the New York Post in 2014.

In the same report, an unnamed Kurdish woman fighter told Agence France-Presse, "I think [the Islamic State terrorists] were more afraid of us than of the men. They believe they'll go to hell if they die at a woman's hands."
home Faith Christian widow murdered for refusing to give her land for mosque; Muslim woman kills infant baby fed during Ramadan

A Muslim grandmother in Uganda allegedly poisoned her infant granddaughter in the name of Ramadan while a Christian woman who had refused a Muslim mosque on her property was found dead.

The first victim was the infant daughter of 24-year-old Angel Nabirye, a Christian living in Busandha village, Kiloba Parish, Bukanga Sub-County in Luuka District. Nabirye said her Muslim mother-in-law, Nubu Kiiza, rebuked her for eating food with her baby during the fasting hours of Ramadan. Nabirye explained to her that she needed to breastfeed her baby who was unwell. The grandmother, who apparently didn't think the explanation was acceptable, visited them on the morning of June 17.

"She brought some herbs for my baby, Saidha Namwase, which I gave her," Nabirye told Morning Star News. "After three hours, the condition of the baby worsened, and I rushed her to Iganga Hospital, but she was pronounced dead on arrival at 4 p.m."

She also said that tests conducted by the doctor revealed that her baby had died from poison.

Nabirye suffered further from her husband and in-laws' rebuke and physical attacks after she delayed her baby's burial to wait for her Christian relatives to arrive. The Muslims also served Nabirye and her Christian relatives, who arrived later that night, a tea with chloroform that induced them to fall asleep as the Muslims snatched the baby's dead body away.

Police arrested Nabirye's husband and in-laws as well as an imam.

A Ramadan-related violence also happened in early June when a Muslim father burned his 9-year-old son, who became a Christian convert.

The second victim, a 50-year-old childless widow Catholic woman named Efranse Kadondo from Naigobya village, Kiyunga Sub-County, also in Luuka district, died June 23 after resisting pressure from Muslim relatives and imams to apportion her land for a Muslim mosque. Six days earlier, she had filed a case to the police in Lakabuku for illegal seizure of her land.

A source who spoke in anonymity recounted to Morning Star News what Kadondo told one of her Muslim relatives who pressured her, Zainabu Kasubuza.

The source quoted Kadondo as telling him, "I told Zainabu that if I have to surrender part of my land, then I will give it to the Catholic Church. This angered Zainabu, who forcefully chased me away with some imams who had accompanied him."

Police arrested at least six Muslim villagers for Kadondo's murder as other accomplices already escaped.
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.
ANN ARBOR, MI - Bob Hopkins knows how to bust a move.

And when he does, he often inspires others to join, once again proving that free-spirited dancing can be contagious.

With his own signature spin, occasional side hop and confident gestures, the 66-year-old in the Hawaiian shirt and brimmed hat has been dancing like nobody's watching at the Ann Arbor Summer Festival for three decades.

On Sunday night, the festival's famous dancing man, known by some as "Mr. Top of the Park," set a new personal record.

He danced to 54 bands over three and a half weeks during his 31st year at Top of the Park, the festival's free outdoor music series.

No. 54 came as Hopkins and his partner, Janet Fry, danced among a large crowd during a rocking performance by George Bedard and the Kingpins.

"It's a personal record," Hopkins said as he hit the dance floor. "Last year, I danced to 50 bands and I think it's just become the latest sort of approach I have to this. I just really love to dance, and I started long ago."

Hopkins was out dancing just about every night during this year's Top of the Park series, which started June 10 and ended Sunday, July 3.

At one point Sunday night, Pete Goodman, the TOP event manager, walked up and gave Hopkins a high five.

Goodman said Hopkins has been a fixture at the festival.

"The young man at heart comes out every night and enjoys himself with the music and dancing and has for as long as I've worked here," he said. "I've been here 12 years and he's been here all the time."

Hopkins, a Detroit native, came to Ann Arbor to attend the University of Michigan after graduating from high school in 1967. He earned a bachelor's degree in 1971 and a master's degree in business in 1973.

He later moved away to get a Ph.D. and another master's degree in social work at the University of Wisconsin in Madison.

"I loved the dancing scene there. I was out dancing most every night," he said. "So, when I got back to Ann Arbor, it was like, 'Show me where to dance.'"

Hopkins returned to Ann Arbor in 1985, but it was August, so he missed Summer Festival that year.

But he went in 1986 and he's been going every year since.

This year, he danced along to performances by the Outer Vibe, the Sun Messengers, Lady Sunshine and the X Band, the Boa Constrictors and many other bands on the TOP lineup. He said George Bedard and the Kingpins have been the festival's closing act for as long as he can remember.

"It's such a tradition," he said.

There are times during the festival when Hopkins might be the only person dancing. He attracts attention and often inspires others to get up and dance.

"He has people coming up to him all the time and I think he enjoys it," said Fry, who joins him sometimes, but not always. "He's just a free-spirited dancer and I think people appreciate that about him."

Hopkins and Fry met about six and half years ago at the Interfaith Center for Spiritual Growth. Their relationship took off when they started dancing at TOP.

They didn't have enough space to do their moves in the packed crowd Sunday night, so they went behind the stage where there was some room in front of people seated on the steps of the Rackham Graduate School. They started a trend. Within minutes, three other couples were dancing around them.

"You've got the right idea!" a man in a black hat yelled to Hopkins as he twirled his partner, grinning and dancing.

Hopkins, who lives in Ypsilanti Township, said he fell in love with dancing as a kid while growing up in Detroit and listening to Motown songs.

"I just started experimenting with doing some of the Temptation Walk and movements when I was in high school and just kept on dancing," he said.

Sometime in the early 1970s, he freed himself from having to dance with partners. After that, he just went wherever there was music.

"You know, I learned steps a long time ago, but I've long since given them up," he said of his free-flowing style of dance.

Hopkins said he prefers rhythm and blues, but he'll dance to just about anything. He even tried dancing to Balkan music this year, which he admits was difficult.

Dancing is his way of unwinding after work. He's an addiction counselor at a methadone clinic by day.

Hopkins said he's seen a lot of changes at the festival over the years, including a couple of location changes, and it definitely has grown.

He set a goal of dancing to 50 bands last year and didn't let anything stop him from meeting that goal.

As the festival was winding down last year, he had family in town for a graduation party and they took a day trip to Frankenmuth.

"I said, 'I've got to get back to Ann Arbor. I've set this goal of 50 bands and I've got to get there.' So, I drove like a madman down U.S. 23 to get here in time for (George Bedard and the Kingpins) to make it 50," he said.

Hopkins already is looking forward to trying to break his new record when Summer Festival returns next year.

Ryan Stanton covers the city beat for The Ann Arbor News. Reach him at ryanstanton@mlive.com.
ANN ARBOR, MI -- Runners gathered in downtown Ann Arbor early Monday morning for the Firecracker 5K.

The annual running event kicked off with a 100-meter kids dash, and the first hot-dog eating/5k competition.

After finishing the 76-second long hot dog eating portion of the contest, the 19 competitors hit the road.

Wendi Wentzell-Cuc of Wheeling, West Virginia was named Female Grand Champion in the Fourth and Franks hot-dog eating/5K competition. She ate and ran in 38 minutes and 2 seconds. Bryce Hotaling of Chelsea won the Male Grand Champion. He finished in 43 minutes and 39 seconds.

More than 750 runners participated in the main 5K and one-mile run.

Connor Kamm was the male open winner and first overall with 14 minutes and 55 seconds.

Amanda Weaver of Ann Arbor was the female open winner with 19 minutes and 7 seconds. Weaver was 18th overall.

Laura Lioy of Ann Arbor was the Master Female 5K winner and 34th overall. Kevin Courtney was the Master Male 5K winner and 16th overall.

Find all the results here.

Check out photos in the gallery above.
comp.jpg

Naitonal History Day competition

(Courtesy)

BAY CITY, MI -- Ellie DuRussel and Victoria Wooley of T.L. Handy Middle School took outstanding honors recently at the National History Day competition held at the University of Maryland. The girls' project was a website they created called "World War II War Brides."

During the National History Day event, the website was one of two entries chosen as Outstanding Entries from the state of Michigan and the girls each received a medal for their achievements.

DuRussel, Wooley and several other Handy students from Robert Pawlak's honors social studies classes competed in the local history day on March 12 at the Delta Planetarium. Students had to choose a history-related topic that fit into this year's theme: Exploration, Encounter, Exchange in History. Students had a choice of formats, written paper, exhibit, performance or website.

DuRussel is the daughter of Jodie and William DuRussel of Essexville. Wooley is the daughter of Michael and Magali Wooley of Bay City.
TRAVERSE CITY, MI - U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Traverse City is one of the happening hubs at

this week's 90th National Cherry Festival

, and crews there have taken to social media to give people a behind-the-scenes look at the festival that draws more than half a million people to the Grand Traverse Bay area.

The celebration got off to a high-flying start this holiday weekend with a three-day air show led by the the U.S. Navy's Blue Angels aerobatic demonstration group. It included not only the formation-flyers, but Fat Albert, its C-130 cargo plane.

Before the air show took to the skies, plane enthusiasts got to mingle with pilots and check out the aircraft up close at an "open ramp" event on Friday, July 1 that drew thousands.

This year's air show also has poignant reminders of a recent tragedy. Marine Capt. Jeff Kuss, the pilot of U.S. Navy Blue Angel #6, died June 2 during a training flight in Smyrna, Tenn. This weekend's air show marks the return of the Blue Angels to the sky in the aftermath of the crash.

The centennial MH-65 Dolphin helicopter at Coast Guard Air Station Traverse City bears a Blue Angel style number 6 in honor of Marine Capt. Jeff Kuss. The crew at Traverse City placed the numbers on each of their helicopters in memory of Kuss, who died in a crash last month. (Photo courtesy of U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Christopher M. Yaw)

To honor the fallen serviceman, Coast Guard Air Station Traverse City's crew has placed a Blue Angels-style number 6 on each of its MH-65 Dolphin helicopters during the festival.

"As naval aviators, we go through flight school with officers of our fellow sea services," said Lt. Cmdr. Charlie Wilson, the operations officer at Air Station Traverse City. "It's a tight knit community. We wanted to do something to honor his memory and show the team we were alongside them mourning the loss of one of our own."

"Coast Guard aircrews are exposed to dangerous flight regimes and it could have easily been one of our own," Wilson added. "We wanted something silent. Something that the team could choose to accept as a token of our condolences or not, depending on how they mourn his loss."

As the pilots return to the airfield each night, there have been other reminders honoring Kuss' memory:

A Independence Day peek behind the scenes at this year's National Cherry Festival Airshow: In memory of U.S. Marine... Posted by U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Traverse City on Monday, July 4, 2016

Want a peek behind the scenes at this year's National Cherry Festival Airshow? Air Station Traverse City plays host to... Posted by U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Traverse City on Sunday, July 3, 2016

Here is more coverage of this year's National Cherry Festival:
Charger and Crown Vic

A state police cruiser is shown in this file photo. A Dodge Charger sits in a line of Ford Crown Victoria police cruisers at the Michigan State Police Post 17, 3401 Cooper Street.

(Nick Dentamaro)

CROTON TOWNSHIP, MI -- A man died Sunday, July 3, following an accident with a homemade cannon in Newaygo County.

About 10:45 p.m. Sunday, Michigan State Police and Life EMS responded to a call for medical assistance in Newaygo County's Croton Twp, according to a news release from the state police post in Hart. A male subject was possibly in cardiac arrest, according to a caller.

CPR was performed on the man until Life EMS arrived on scene and took over lifesaving efforts. However, at 11:29 p.m. the man was pronounced dead at the scene.

State police identified the deceased man as Anthony Ernest Herman, 46, of Howard City,

"Investigation at the scene revealed the male victim had been shooting a homemade cannon when the cannon exploded and a piece of metal may have struck the subject's chest," according to the news release.

Police were assisted at the scene by Life EMS, the Croton Township Fire Department, Newaygo Fire Department, Newaygo County Sheriff's Department, and the Newaygo County Medical Examiner's Office.
LANSING, MI -- Employers throughout the U.S. will be subject to new federal overtime regulations before the year is up, and Michigan experts say the impact on both employees and the companies they work for could be significant.

The regulations, announced by the U.S. Department of Labor in May, bump up the salary threshold for overtime eligibility from $455 per week to $913 per week, or $47,476 per year. Some categories of employees, including teachers, doctors and outside sales representatives, are exempt from the regulations.

The rules also stipulate that the salary threshold would be automatically updated every three years, based on wage growth over time. The rules officially go into effect Dec. 1 of this year and are expected to extend to an estimated 4.2 million U.S. workers, 101,000 of whom are in Michigan.

Brian Kreucher, an employment law specialist based in Royal Oak, said exactly who those workers will be is unclear, but industries with a high percentage of lower-level management positions such as hospitality and retail are likely to be the most impacted.

Employers have a few options with which to comply with the new regulations besides additional time-and-a-half pay, such as bumping up wages for employees currently making slightly less than the new threshold, cutting back hours, adding to the duties of currently exempt employees or eliminating some lower paying management jobs, Kreucher said.

But it's crucial employers go back to the drawing board and closely examine the duties of their employees and the hours they're currently working before the regulations go into effect, he said.

"It's going to be kind of a wake up call to go back and make sure job descriptions are accurate," Kreucher said. "There's high business risk if companies get this wrong."

From an employee perspective, the rule change will help workers across the board, especially those in fields where working more than 40 hours a week without additional pay has become "the expectation, not the exception," said Gilda Jacobs, president and CEO of the Michigan League for Public Policy.

"A lot more people in Michigan will be able to be paid for the actual work that they're doing," Jacobs said.

People currently straddling the poverty line could be significantly helped by the new regulations, Jacobs said, noting a pay increase or additional overtime pay could help bring them up enough so they won't need to access public services in the future.

"Taxpayers end up subsidizing employers who don't want to pay employees enough money for those folks to support themselves," she said.

Jamie Schriner-Hooper, executive director at the Community Economic Development Association of Michigan, said she's heard a mix of good and bad reviews. Many people think the intent behind the new regulations is good, she said, but some small business owners and nonprofit directors she's discussed the regulations with are concerned they'll have to take away other benefits they currently provide for their employees to make ends meet.

"Incomes need to rise in order to help Michigan with its economic recovery, but it's going to be extremely difficult to figure out where the resources are going to come from to sustain an additional increase in salaries," she said.

Had the regulations taken significant benefits, such as generous paid time off or flexible schedules into account, it could have been easier for small businesses to transition without looking at making salaried employees to hourly or other significant changes, Schriner-Hooper said.

U.S. Rep. Dave Trott, R-Birmingham, said in an interview last month that he hasn't gotten the impression from his constituents that this is a great change for workers. Instead, he's heard from business owners that it's going to create additional expenses, hurt their business and perhaps require them to downsize or come up with creative ways to comply with the rule.

"It's just the perfect example of people in Washington not having an appreciation for how hard it is for business owners to make a go of it," Trott said. "The Department of Labor will tell you they're looking out for American workers, and I think they're doing just the opposite."

Scott Lyon of the Small Business Association of Michigan said there could be a series of ripple effects that are hard to predict -- the impacts on employee benefits, office morale, the number of entry level positions available and other workplace factors could be significant long term, he said.

"It'll be a long time before the actual impact to the employee is figured out," Lyon said. "It's anybody's guess, because it's still so new."

The fact that the regulations are uniform across the country without taking into account different standards of living also could complicate the transition for some business owners, particularly franchisees spread across different regions, Lyon said.

While there is potential for harm to employees who might see their hours decrease to minimize the impact of additional overtime pay, the regulatory changes could open a window of opportunity for some employees to be moved up a level, said Alicia Farris, director of Restaurant Opportunites Centers Michigan.

Particularly for women working in the restaurant industry, the regulations could be a benefit to families in terms of work flow and an increased opportunity for workers to learn the skill sets needed for better careers, Farris said.

"We see that as an opportunity for promotional advancement," Farris said. "I see it being, at the very least, a very delicate balance for both employees and employers. There's a lot of moving parts. There's some pluses and some deltas on each side."

Lauren Gibbons is a political reporter on MLive's Impact team. She can be reached at lgibbon2@mlive.com.
SOUTH HAVEN, MI - A violent crowd prompted police to shut down a beach for a public fireworks display Sunday, July 3.

Police shut down and emptied South Haven's North Beach before the city's popular "Light Up the Lake" fireworks event got started.

"A large group of individuals became violent necessitating an emergency request for additional police assistance," South Haven police said in a news release. "The size and violent nature of the crowd made it unsafe for officers and citizens after subjects in the crowd began throwing bottles at officers and citizens."

Several officers were hit by bottles but did not seek medical treatment, police said. However, several people in the crowd did sustain injuries and required medical treatment.

Police didn't immediately report how many people were injured in the incident or the extent of their injuries.

"The decision to close the North Beach was unfortunate but necessary," the department said.

South Haven Police were assisted at the scene by additional officers from the Michigan State Police, the Van Buren County Sheriff's Department, and the Pokagon Tribal Police Department.

The fireworks display on Lake Michigan, a long-standing tradition in South Haven, features fireworks synchronized to music.

The city earlier announced it would step up law enforcement efforts along the North Beach during the event. The city announced that all containers brought on the public beach would be subject to search for drugs or alcohol. Temporary fencing was erected to control pedestrian access to the fireworks launching area and assist with crowd control.

The day before Light up the Lake, the police department wrote on facebook that it was expecting "an extra 70,000 people" and uploaded a video of officers mentally preparing for the event by listening to jazz music.
Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV) is planning to boost Vietnamese investment into Myanmar once its new branch starts operating later this month, the bank officials said.





As soon as the banks branch has been launched Vietnamese investment and trade will increase significantly, chief executive officer Mr Dang Hai Nha told The Myanmar Times. We are ready now to serve our customers here.

The Myanmar Investment Commission approved US$175 million in foreign investment from Vietnam in the 2014-15 fiscal year  $10 million higher than from Thailand.

Bilateral trade between Vietnam and Myanmar grew roughly 25 percent year by year from 2010 to 2015  reaching $435 million in 2015, according to a BIDV press release.

The Vietnamese lender will open its branch on July 31 having formally received its licence on July 1. The bank has invested $85 million in initial capital, and plans to hit at least $300 million in total assets after three years and secure a place amongst the top five foreign banks operating in Myanmar, BIDV said.

BIDV won its licence along with lenders from India, South Korea and Taiwan in a second round of licence applications earlier this year. But Mr Dang said BIDV had been in close cooperation with local banks since it opening its rep office in 2010

BIDV has already signed financial services agreements and partnership with most local banks in Myanmar, he said.
Myanmars new government will not allow the Myanmar Investment Commission to become an independent entity, but the MIC is planning to amend its policies to relax investment restrictions and direct more capital flows into manufacturing, its secretary U Aung Naing Oo has said.





There have been discussions about an independent MIC for several years. U Aung Naing Oo said the previous administration had planned to allow the MIC, which is tasked with approving foreign investment, to be independent from what was then the Ministry of National Planning and Economic Development.

Organisations like MIC work independently in most countries with direct connect to the president and cabinet members, U Aung Naing Oo said.

But the new government made a decision that MIC will stay under the authority of the Ministry of Planning and Finance, and the requisite laws have been amended to reflect that position, he added.

U Aung Naing Oo was speaking at a forum on promoting business cooperation between South Korea and Mekong countries Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam held on June 30.

The forum was organised by Myanmars Directorate of Investment and Company Administration.

The MIC is discussing new policies that would give more priority to the manufacturing and industrial sectors when granting business licenses, and discourage permits for foreign investment in natural resources and extractive industries, U Aung Naing Oo said.

The commission is also proposing relaxing restrictions on investment contained in the draft Myanmar Investment Law, which will be put forward in the next parliamentary session, he said.





The draft law is a combination of the existing Foreign Investment Law and the Myanmar Citizens Investment Law.

We have considered which amendments should be made in regard to relaxations and we will try to submit the new bill to the coming parliament, said U Aung Naing Oo.

Translation by Zar Zar Soe
The first solo exhibition by young artist Aung Khant Kyaw opened at the Cloud 31 Gallery on 31st Street yesterday.





The exhibition, titled The Beauty From Inside, runs until July 7 and features portraits of well-known icons and actors, all painted in his distinctive doodle style.

It has always been my dream to hold an exhibition like this. Ive been preparing for this show for nearly a month, and now that its finally happening Im so pleased, said Aung Khant Kyaw. Doodle art is not very well known in this country, so I want to make this style of art popular here. My hope is that many more artists like me will emerge, he added.

The 19-year-old, a third-year student at the University of Arts and Culture in Yangon, has become known for his trademark monochrome style.

For me, black and white paintings are really attractive. Thats why most of my paintings are black. Frankly, I dont know how to paint well with colours, he said.

Among the paintings in the exhibition is a portrait of NLD leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. Khant Kyaw says most of his paintings are of people he admires.





I like to paint the people who inspire me  thats why I paint a lot of portraits. I also like to paint random, abstract images  sometimes imaginary things or imaginary places, he said.

A total of 38 paintings feature in the show, and prices range from US$100 to US$1000.

Nyan Lin Htet, a visitor to the exhibition, says he was struck by the detail in the paintings.

These doodle paintings are really amazing, and each has its own story. Theyre so detailed  you can stand staring at them for ages and still spot new details in them. Theyre fun to look at, he said.

When he finishes his studies, Aung Khant Kyaw plans to build on his career as a doodle artist.

I believe that doodles can sit side by side with other types of art. I love doodle art because there are no boundaries to it. It offers so much freedom, he said.
Rakhine State saw mass protests yesterday as thousands of Buddhists, including monks, demonstrated in a show of opposition to a government edict referring to Muslim communities in the restive province, organisers said.





Anti-Muslim rhetoric has spiked across Myanmar recently, with two mosques torched by Buddhist mobs in just over a week in a country where sectarian violence has left scores dead since 2012.

Rakhine State  home to about 1 million stateless Muslims who self-identify as Rohingya  has been hardest hit by religious violence that has left tens of thousands of the persecuted minority in fetid displacement camps.

The Muslims are reviled by Rakhine Buddhists who refuse to recognise any shared rights to the province and instead call them Bengalis  or illegal immigrants from nearby Bangladesh.

Daw Aung San Suu Kyis new government has sought to defuse the row over the term Rohingya, instead ordering officials to refer to Muslim communities in Rakhine.

But protesters yesterday said that too was unacceptable as it hands Muslims recognition in a Buddhist state.

We reject the term Muslim communities in Rakhine State, U Kyawt Sein, a protest organiser in Sittwe, said, adding more than 1000 people, including monks, had joined the rally in the state capital.





Rally-goers there shouted slogans including Protect Rakhine State, while a protest in the town of Thandwe drew similar numbers.

Bengalis should be called Bengalis, Ko Phoe Thar Lay, a leader of a local Rakhine youth group, said, adding that all 17 townships across Rakhine were participating in protests yesterday afternoon.

Most Rohingya live cut off from the Buddhist community in displacement camps or remote settlements since sectarian riots tore Rakhine apart in 2012.

Persecution and poverty have forced tens of thousands to flee by sea, but the dangerous trafficking route south through the Bay of Bengal was closed late last year during a Thai crackdown on people smuggling.

State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has drawn criticism from rights groups for not taking up the cause of Muslims.

Instead she has carefully sought to sidestep controversy, urging the international community to give the country space to unpick its sectarian problems.

After a 12-day visit to Rakhine and other conflict sites in Myanmar, a UN rights investigator warned on July 1 that tensions along religious lines remain pervasive across Myanmar society.

Yanghee Lee urged the countrys new civilian government to make ending institutionalised discrimination against the Muslim communities in Rakhine State  an urgent priority.

The same day, a mosque was torched by a Buddhist mob in the jade-mining town of Hpakant in the far north.

That incident came eight days after another crowd of Buddhists destroyed another mosque in central Bago Region, forcing the Muslim community to seek refuge in a neighbouring town.

 AFP
A mob of about 500 people burned down a temporary Muslim prayer hall in Kachin States Hpakant township on the evening of July 1, police said.





The attack in Lone Khin village was the second in the country in as many weeks. On June 23 a Buddhist mob destroyed a mosque in Bago Region, with the chief minister there saying he will not take action against the perpetrators.

Kachin State police said the Lone Khin prayer hall was built without permission. Police Colonel Tun Oo said Buddhists burned it down, though a security force prevented any further destruction.

We will take stern action against the people who were involved, he said. We have started the investigation.

The structure was initially built as a home but was later used for devotion by local Muslims, state police said, and local Buddhists had complained to the township administration, calling for its demolition.

U Laung Khan, chair of the Lone Khin village National League for Democracy chapter, said the township administration department urged the villagers to act in accordance with the law but some did not listen.

All Muslim people in the village have fled to other villages, he said. I know that they are afraid of Buddhist people. The Buddhist people shouted Victory! Victory! loudly after the fire. Most of them are not Lone Khin villagers. They are migrant workers who are working with rough stones.

The Myanmar Police Force released a statement on July 1 saying that about 500 Buddhists were involved in the incident. Police will investigate what incited the mob, the statement said, but no arrests have been made yet.





A Lone Khin resident who saw the incident said locals were not involved. They were Bamar and Rakhine ethnic people from elsewhere, he claimed, adding that locals had no interest in getting involved in such activities.

We dont like things like this. This was a religious building, although it was not officially a mosque, he said. We should respect the Muslim people.
The UN special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, Yanghee Lee, has urged Myanmars political leaders, including State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, to publicly denounce and prosecute acts of religious violence against minority Muslims.





Ms Lee also pressed the government to do more to ease restrictions on the population of Muslims in western Rakhine State who self-identify as Rohingya but whom the previous government officially branded Bengalis, implying that they are illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.

Her fourth official visit  during which she travelled to Kachin, Shan and Rakhine states to observe humanitarian conditions in camps for civilians displaced by conflict, as well as meeting with legislators, civil society groups and government officials in Yangon and Nay Pyi Taw  ended on July 1. The 12-day assessment of the country was her first since the National League for Democracy took power in April.

While I commend Daw Aung San Suu Kyis commitment to combating and publicly condemning hate speech and incitement to violence against minorities, other public officials and political leaders must also speak out, Ms Lee said at a press conference in Yangon on July 1. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, during the lead-up to last years election, said repeatedly on the campaign trail, in press conferences and in interviews that rule of law was key to combating incitement to violence and religiously fuelled hatred.

But the state counsellor has faced criticism from the international community for not speaking out more forcefully for the countrys minority Muslims, particularly those self-identifying as Rohingya in Rakhine State.

During a joint press conference in May with US Secretary of State John Kerry, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi said the government needed space to find practical solutions for the Buddhist and Muslim communities in Rakhine State, calling for the international communitys cooperation by not using the term Rohingya given sensitivities surrounding the word, which she described as emotive.

Asked to comment on the state counsellors request  after Ms Lee used the word Rohingya twice in her prepared remarks  the special rapporteur said she understood the complexity and sensitivity of issues regarding the terminology, but insisted that her usage was guided by international human rights principles, namely the right to self-identify.





Despite the recent establishment of a Central Committee on Implementation of Peace, Stability and Development of Rakhine State, the situation on the ground has yet to significantly change, Ms Lee said, while noting that the committees creation indicated that the government had prioritised addressing the states challenges.

The conditions in the IDP camps I visited remain poor with concerns about overcrowding, the deterioration of temporary shelters and housing, and the lack of proper sanitation facilities, she said.

She added that ending institutionalised discrimination against Muslim communities in Rakhine State must be an urgent priority.

The continuing restrictions on the freedom of movement of the Rohingya and Kaman communities cannot be justified on any grounds of security or maintaining stability, Ms Lee said.

The government last month rebooted a citizenship verification program, issuing blue-green cards to the largely stateless population of Muslims in Rakhine State, restarting a program piloted by the previous government. Individuals receiving the cards will undergo a poorly understood verification process to determine whether they are entitled to citizenship.

The UN envoy said the government should have specific timelines for carrying out the citizenship verification process in Rakhine State.

If the verification exercise is extended throughout Rakhine State, it would be important to fully consult and involve those directly affected by this process. Clear time frames should be established on when participants will have their status reviewed and when decisions on their applications can be expected, Ms Lee said.

She said religious tensions remain pervasive across Myanmar, citing the building of Buddhist stupas in close proximity to churches and mosques in Kayin State, and a recent mob attack resulting in the destruction of properties including a mosque and a Muslim cemetery in Bago Region.

Ms Lee criticised the governments decision not to take action against individuals involved in the mob attack in Bago Region on June 23.

It is vital that the government take prompt action, including by conducting thorough investigations and holding perpetrators to account. I am therefore concerned by reports that the government will not pursue action in the most recent case due to fears of fuelling greater tensions and provoking more conflict, she said.

This is precisely the wrong signal to send. The government must demonstrate that instigating and committing violence against an ethnic or religious minority community has no place in Myanmar. Perpetrators will be treated seriously in accordance with the law regardless of race, religious or ethnic background, Ms Lee added.

Myanmars former quasi-civilian government marginalised the community in Rakhine State that numbers more than 1 million and self-identifies as Rohingya. Last year the community had their temporary identification documents known as white cards revoked and were denied suffrage in the November election, despite having had the right to vote in 2010.

Restrictions on movement and difficulties accessing education and healthcare remain for more than 100,000 Rohingya living in temporary camps since 2012 violence between Buddhists and Muslims.

On other human rights developments on the executive and legislative fronts, Ms Lee said she observed tensions between the new civilian leadership and a bureaucracy inherited from previous military regimes, sometimes resulting in a duality in policy and approach to human rights matters.

She said an ongoing review aimed at legal reform should be made in line with international human rights standards and practices, urging that legislation be crafted or rescinded only after public consultation and engagement with civil society actors. She praised work done by the Legal Affairs and Special Cases Assessment Commission run by the state counsellors close ally Thura U Shwe Mann, which recommended amending or nixing 142 laws, including the recently repealed State Protection Act.

Ms Lee also urged Myanmars National Human Rights Commission, which has faced criticism for not reliably flagging human rights violations and abuses in the country, to more fully step into its role as an independent advocate for human rights and not shy away from addressing issues without regard for potential reputational damage to the government or military.

Pointedly, alluding to the nations emergence five years ago from decades of repressive military rule, the special rapporteur noted that old habits die hard.

Recent incidents, such as the banning of a film during a human rights film festival and the denial of permission for a press conference on a civil society report alleging grave violations by the military, are worrying signals, she said.
Communities in northern Shan State are at risk of splintering due to recent fighting between and among ethnic armed groups and the Tatmadaw, warned the UN special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar.





Visiting from June 19 to July 1, Yanghee Lee made trips to Kachin, Shan and Rakhine states, where civilians affected by armed and inter-communal conflicts have been displaced and live in temporary camps.

She said at a July 1 press conference that the situation in northern Shan State had become more complex since her last visit, with multiple actors using armed force in the region amid accusations that the Tatmadaw is employing divide-and-rule tactics.

I am particularly concerned by reports from civil society actors that the fighting between the TNLA and RCSS is starting to create tensions between the civilian communities in affected areas, she said, referring to the Taang National Liberation Army and the Restoration Council of Shan State.

Starting late last year, fighting between the TNLA and the RCSS has displaced thousands of civilians from areas including Kutkai, Kyaukme and Namkhan townships.

The RCSS was one of eight non-state armed groups that signed a so-called nationwide ceasefire agreement with the former government on October 15. The armed group has since been accused of assisting the Tatmadaw in its campaign against the TNLA, a charge the state military denies.

Ms Lee said she had also received reports concerning grave human rights violations in the conflict zone, such as abductions and forced recruitment by both the Tatmadaw and ethnic armed groups, as well as sexual and gender-based violence, torture, extrajudicial killings and arbitrary arrests.

I reiterate that investigations should be conducted into all such allegations and that perpetrators be held to account, the UN envoy said.





In her first visit since the current government took office, Ms Lee welcomed its commitment to resuming peace negotiations in an inclusive manner. The previous governments exclusion of a handful of combatants led several groups, including some of Myanmars most powerful, to abstain from signing the nationwide ceasefire.

It is vital that the process is truly inclusive, collaborative and open in order to build a sustainable peace going forward. Civil society actors must be seen as partners in this process, and have a voice in all areas of discussion, the special rapporteur said, calling womens participation vital.

The government has said it intends to hold a 21st-century Panglong Conference bringing stakeholders together no later than the end of August.
The Tatmadaw released a statement last week denying responsibility for the deaths of seven civilians found in shallow graves in Lashio township in northern Shan State.





The bodies of six men and one woman were found buried in an agricultural field in the former Mong Yaw sub-township on June 29. Locals said five of the victims were residents of Mong Yaw village who had been arrested by the Tatmadaw on June 26.

The Tatmadaw statement, released on June 29, denied the accusation, saying that the corpses were found following fighting in the area between the Taang National Liberation Army (TNLA) and the Shan State Progress Party/Shan State Army (SSPP/SSA).

A Tatmadaw battalion gathered the bodies from around the battlefield and interred them together near where they were found, the statement said, adding that the army is still investigating the case.

But Tar Gyoke Ja, vice chair of the TNLA, said no members of the TNLA had been killed near Mong Yaw.

Our troops pitched a camp on the mountain far away from that area, he said.

Sai Pong Mong, a member of the Tai Youth Organisation who saw the bodies, said five of the victims have been identified as villagers who had been arrested by the Myanmar Army on June 26.

Ten people were arrested by the Tatmadaw on June 26 but five were released because they could speak Burmese. The other five were killed and we found their bodies, he said, adding, We still cannot identify one of the men and the woman. They might be from other villages.





He said the murders have been reported to the relevant authorities in Mong Yaw.

Lieutenant Colonel Aung Myat Moe of the Northern Shan State Police Force told Radio Free Asia, No one has filed an official report about the case, so no further action has yet been taken.

Sai One Ling Kham, an Amyotha Hluttaw MP for Lashio township, said the incident threatened the peace process and the rule of law.

Soldiers should perform their duties within the framework of the law, not kill villagers, he said.

According to the Shan Herald Agency for News, the Manpang Peoples Militia, led by Bo Mon, is the only armed group active in the area around Mong Yaw. Other groups are active 50 kilometres (30 miles) or more outside of town, including the TNLA, the SSPP/SSA and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA).
Tell us how to help you, the government is asking those who live along the Ayeyarwady River. U Tun Lwin Oo, director general of the Directorate of Water Resources and Improvement of River Systems under the Ministry of Transport and Communications, is asking for public comments on the Ayeyarwady State of the Basin Assessment (SOBA).





SOBA is part of the master plan for the basin intended to protect the basin and reduce its vulnerability to climate change. The project is related to the Ayeyarwady Integrated River Basin Management Plan being developed with an interest-free loan from the World Bank.

Although Myanmar is rich in water resources, sedimentation and other anthropogenic factors are changing our waterways. The Ayeyarwady River supports local livelihoods, but water scarcity and flooding also occur. To reduce vulnerability and mitigate potential impact, we need to develop a master plan for the basin and assess its condition. We need suggestions from the public, he told participants in a discussion with civil society organisations in Yangon on June 29.

The SOBA assessment will examine the state of water resources and river features, ecosystems, pollution, social issues, economic conditions, and potential changes.

The civil society organisations discussed issues such as land loss due to bank erosion, decreases in fish stocks because of water pollution and waterway changes, protection of heritage sites, deforestation, flood protection, and direct public access to early-warning systems.

Tarek Ketlsen, SOBA coordinator for the Ayeyarwady Integrated River Basin Management Project, said the challenge was how these issues bore upon the future direction of river basin development.

SOBA is the integrated environmental, social and economic baseline assessment of the Ayeyarwady basin. We will look at the current states of those characteristics in the basin, as well as the trends over the past 10 or 15 years in order to gather the evidence we need for the planning process, he said.





He said multi-sector forums would be held every couple of month in the future to generate feedback and shape the process.

The SOBA report is expected to come out in mid-2017.

The first report is not going to be perfect, but at least we will have taken the first step and we have a chance to improve for the next time, Mr Ketlsen told The Myanmar Times.

The Ayeyarwady Integrated River Basin Management Plan began in 2015 and the whole project is expected to be completed in 2020.
For the past two weeks, Britains stunning decision to leave the 28-member European Union (EU) bloc has dominated the worlds attention, sending shockwaves through global markets. Several key issues have emerged at the heart of the bruising post-Brexit debate, ranging from immigration, political fallout and economic meltdown to regulation on bananas.





But one of the biggest issues pushed to the sidelines of the largest political fiasco for decades is humanitarian aid. According to a survey by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Britain is second only to the US in the world league table of aid spending. It was one of a handful of states to meet a target to give at least 0.7 percent of national income to overseas assistance. As other G7 countries fail to meet the UNs 45-year-old target, the UKs foreign aid budget has soared by 144pc in 10 years, hitting 13.2 billion (US$17.8 billion) in 2015.

In February, some of the most influential people associated with UK overseas aid organisations cautioned that the outcome of the referendum would have a direct impact in achieving the UNs sustainable development goals, which include ending poverty, increasing access to education and achieving gender equality. In a signed appeal letter, the leaders warned that withdrawing from the EU would diminish the UKs role as a global leader in providing international humanitarian aid.

The UK governments budget for the Department for International Development (DFID) for this year stands at 11.8 billion, with a commitment to allocate 50pc of its budget to global stability and to regions of strategic importance, which includes Southeast Asia.

In Myanmar, the DFID has been a key player in promoting good governance, humanitarian support and economic development. As the UK government continues its close ties with Daw Aung San Suu Kyis National League for Democracy government, it remains one of the largest donors to Myanmar, committing 291 million to support the countrys transition over four years, from 2011 to 2016.

However, the total amount that the UK spends on international humanitarian assistance is pegged to its gross national income (GNI). In the wake of the Brexit announcement, the UKs 11.8 billion aid budget lost more than 1 billion in global value overnight.

Gavin McGillivray, head of DFID Burma, told The Myanmar Times that the UKs humanitarian budget is guided by the UK Aid Strategy. Despite the outcome of the referendum, it remains committed to supporting Myanmars future development.





Under the UK law, international aid spending remains at 0.7pc of UK gross national income, which fluctuates in real terms in line with the economy, he said. He also said that the DFIDs support for Myanmar echoes Prime Minister David Camerons commitment to keeping Britains promises to the poorest people in the world.

In a statement earlier this week, the British embassy in Yangon also pledged its support to strengthen Myanmars democracy. We are one of its greatest development partners, and our businesses and institutions are building significant ties. Burma continues to hold a special place in the hearts of British people, it said.

Strong bilateral ties between the two countries will be fundamental in ensuring Britains engagement in Myanmars humanitarian issues. Human rights activist Benedict Rogers said both countries have a particularly close relationship, and most likely the great interest in the British parliament in issues related to Myanmar will remain.

It is fair to say that within the EU, the UK has been the strongest voice for Myanmar over many years. Particularly before the reform period in 2012, the UK fought hard within the EU to ensure that human rights and the struggle for democracy were very much at the heart of EU policy on Myanmar, saod Mr Rogers, who serves as Christian Solidarity Worldwides team leader for East Asia.

Mark Farmaner, the director of Burma Campaign UK, said that despite a possible reduction in the value of UK aid, people in Myanmar are unlikely to notice any difference when the UK is outside the EU.

There will be a period of volatility with the pound and it will recover some of its strength, but it could remain lower and this will mean less aid. However, the DFID plays a key role coordinating aid within Myanmar, both with EU and non-EU members, and this will continue whether the UK is in or out of the EU, he said.

Rights groups had earlier raised red flags on the future of international aid funding post-Brexit. Based on the recent figures by the EUs emergency aid department ECHO, British NGOs received 145 million euros ($161 million) in 2015. UK-registered non-profits will no longer be eligible for that funding, and the ECHO annual budget is also likely to shrink in the absence of UK contributions.

Besides international humanitarian aid, economic development in Myanmar post-Brexit is also a concern. As some of Asias biggest manufacturing companies take a hit following the controversial decision, solid economic ties between Britain and Myanmar are expected to remain, said Peter Beynon, president of the British Chamber of Commerce Myanmar.

The British chamber remains committed to promoting trade and investment between the UK and Myanmar, and to supporting existing and developing new business partnerships between our two countries, he told The Myanmar Times.

According to the Directorate of Investment and Company Administration, the UK maintains its position as the largest European investor in Myanmar. From 1988 to the 2014-15 fiscal year, UK investments in Myanmar amounted to $31.59 billion. The embassys figures also show that UK exports to Myanmar increased from 13 million to 44 million between 2012 and 2013, a staggering 239pc increase.

While potential investors remain vigilant for more Brexit fallout in the region, Myanmar is poised to become a new, attractive low-cost destination for ASEAN-bound investments, said Dustin Daugherty, an analyst at the regional business intelligence firm Dezan Shira & Associates.

According to the latest World Bank figures published in May, Myanmars economic outlook remains strong, driven by sound macroeconomic policies. GDP growth in Myanmar is also projected to rise to 7.8pc in 2016-17.

If the UK becomes excluded from the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement [FTA], which looks increasingly likely, Myanmar could further increase its chances of capturing UK foreign direct investment by continuing its political reform and becoming party to an increasing number of FTAs, Mr Daugherty said.
People who abuse older citizens or violate their rights could go to prison for two years under a law now under discussion in parliament. The Elders Draft Law, promulgated in state-owned media on June 29, aims to promote and protect the rights, health and economic well-being of older people.





The draft was issued after MPs had viewed a video apparently showing the exploitation of older people who had been sent out to beg in the streets and then hand over the takings to a protector. The video was also widely circulated on social media.

Pyithu Hluttaw MP Daw Phyu Phyu Thin, who has been actively involved in social work, said, This is the first such law to be drawn up for older people in Myanmar. It is necessary. Traditionally, we looked after older people, but these days there is less moral fibre. People are even sending out older people to beg on their behalf. I look forward to debating this draft in the next session of the hluttaw.

Yangon Region social welfare director U Myo Set Aung invited people to notify the authorities of such abuse, saying violators could already be dealt with under existing laws. He welcomed the draft law, saying it would shield old persons rights by setting penalties for abuse.

The law defines elders as persons aged over 60. Those convicted of violating their rights can be fined from K100,000 (US$85) to K1 million, and sentenced to up to two years in prison.

The social welfare helpline for people wishing to report abuse is 09-453197225.
The National League for Democracy is hoping to recruit new party members, said U Nyan Win, a member of the central executive committee.





A July 3 central executive committee meeting, held at the City Development Guesthouse in Nay Pyi Taws Zabuthiri township, emphasised the recruitment of new members, he said.

Although there are no vacancies for executive members, the new committee members will be chosen through a top-down selection process.

For example, for new members in Mandalay Region, lower levels have to choose new members stage-by-stage and then present them to the CEC, U Nyan Win said. If theres a mistake, CEC members will correct them.

Currently, in order to qualify for the NLDs youth membership, candidates must be 35 years old or younger. At the next party conference, they will set the age limit down to 30.

State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, Nay Pyi Taw Council chair U Myo Aung and Union Election Commission member Daw Khin Htay Kywel did not attend the meeting because Union-level members are not allowed to be involved in party activities. U Ohn Kyine and Daw Nan Khin Htwe Myint took leave and were not in attendance.

Attendees included U Win Htein, U Nyan Win, U Aung Moe Nyo, U Zaw Myint Maung, U Mahn Jonny, Daw May Win Myint, U Nyi Pu, U Win Myint, U Hanthar Myint and U Tun Tun Hein.

Translation by Zar Zar Soe
Former monk and Saffron Revolution leader U Gambira was released from Insein Prison in Yangon on July 1, after charges related to a 2012 trespassing incident were dropped, according to the Bahan Township Court.





U Gambira, whose real name is U Nyi Nyi Lwin, had been behind bars for nearly six months on an immigration-related charge. Those charges were widely decried by human rights groups and criticised as being politically motivated.

The 37-year-olds legal team had appealed to the judge for bail on the basis of mental health, as U Gambira suffers from acute post-traumatic stress disorder stemming from his time as a political prisoner and the abuse he suffered at the hands of authorities during the 2007 Saffron Revolution uprising.

He was transferred from Mandalay Prison to Insein Prison on June 26. The 2012 charges, which have been dropped, stemmed from an incident in which U Gambira, looking for a place to sleep, broke down the door of a monastery that had been shuttered during the 2007 uprising.

Before the charges were dropped, U Gambira had been scheduled to face another criminal hearing on July 11.

I will face the trial as I have been charged for the new governments 100-day plan, U Gambira had said before the charges were dropped. But the new government needs to carry out the cases of prisoners and detained people without neglecting their situations.

Translation by San Layy
It says something profound about the region that Daw Aung San Suu Kyis first international trips as state counsellor and foreign minister have required photo ops with Southeast Asian dictators.





First up, she went to Vientiane for meetings hosted by the Lao communist party. Now she has recently returned from Thailand, where that countrys military rulers offered their gilded hospitality to Southeast Asias best-recognised democracy activist.

While it is tempting to dwell on the irony, the hard political reality is that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi cannot avoid a close working relationship with her Thai counterparts.

In every generation, the relationship between Thailand and Myanmar is one of the regions most notable. In the old days it was ordinarily shaped by war, conquest and trauma.

Thai schoolchildren are not allowed to forget the sacking of their capital, Ayutthaya, in 1767 by the Konbaung dynastys King Hsinbyushin. We still hear reference to the fallen capital whenever a Myanmar speaker refers to their Yodaya neighbours.

Even in more recent times, there have been flare-ups along the border, with pushing and shoving between security and military forces. Both sides devote a significant fraction of defence spending to their contested borderlands and to keeping an eye on each other.

Fortunately, the two countries have rarely come to serious blows. Indeed, the joint management of the borderlands has settled into a comfortable pattern. Thai security officials know their Myanmar colleagues well and have built up a level of confidence that tends to help resolve situations as they arise.

Most of the clashes along the border in the past 10 years trace their origins to the noxious mix of criminal, political and economic activities that can grow in lightly governed spaces.





In rhetoric, Thailand resents the huge flows of narcotics that cross the border from Myanmar, but it seems unable or unwilling to fix what is a persistent social problem. It is unclear whether the two countries will ever share the wherewithal to cooperatively manage such a fiendish policy conundrum.

Daw Aung San Suu Kyis visit last month to Bangkok illustrates the other major issues in the relationship.

At the top of the list are the millions of Myanmar migrant workers on the Thai side of the border. For the past two generations, they have done the demanding, demeaning or dangerous jobs that Thais no longer want to do. Too often, they have been paid paltry sums, commonly well below the mandated minimum wage.

Myanmar workers are also sadly the victims of much else that ails Thai society. Can the state counsellor and her team put an end to the exploitation? That would be a win for humanitarian values and for Myanmars new foreign policy.

Daw Aung San Suu Kyis success will probably be limited, though, by the links between constrained domestic and regional politics. The bottom line is that relatively stable, inter-generational elites rule both Thailand and Myanmar. They have proved effective at stomping out alternative claims to power.

In Myanmar, we still have the army in constitutional pole position, now supported by the aura of General Aung Sans unrivaled lineage.

On the Thai side, the ruling military clique claims a mandate for its authoritarian grip in defence of the royal family and its nine generations of kingly rule. Bangkoks stop-start experimentation with democracy has ended for now.

In any toe-to-toe comparison, that means todays Myanmar has the more open and participatory politics. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi will have pondered this curious contradiction.

However, such is the difficulty of Thailands internal politics, and so high are anxieties about the precarious royal succession, that Myanmar actually needs to be on guard for potential crises across the border.

These conditions present challenges for Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and her foreign policy team. They understand the crucial role that Thailand plays as a security partner for the United States in Southeast Asia. In the past, State Peace and Development Council strategists no doubt had questions about whether the US had Thailand-based assets to prepare for a showdown with Myanmar.

Thankfully, it never came to that. Now the high-tempo rehabilitation of Myanmars global reputation and its ongoing political transformation will change the relationship with Thailand for good.

With economic growth rates of around 8 percent, record numbers of foreign visitors and a boom in national confidence, Myanmar is an attractive place for everyone, including Thais. When my Thai friends visit Yangon, Kyaikhtiyo Pagoda in Mon State or Keng Tung in Shan State, they revel in the excitement of shared traditions and familiar cultural vibes.

At the popular level there is now a chance for creating unprecedented goodwill and interaction. Any savvy moves in that direction could also help to make Southeast Asia a more peaceful and prosperous region for the generations to come.

 New Mandala

Nicholas Farrelly is a Fellow in the Bell School of Asia Pacific Affairs at the Australian National University and co-founder of New Mandala, a website that specialises in Thai and Myanmar politics. His column appears each Monday.
The National President of the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN), has assured actors his administration will restructure the guild through legal reforms and capacity building.

According to Emeka Ike, the image of the guild in the past has been abused by some individuals who want things done to suit their personal interests.

We are working with the focus to reforming the legal agenda of the guild. The AGN, as an association, had so much legal misalignment. These were mistakes that the guild needs to use the court to straighten out. Today, actors can be assured that the operations of the guild are in line with laid down regulations," he stated in an interview in Abuja, Sunday.

The ace actor said his administration will demand accountability from any individual that sidetracked funds for the guild.

According to him, training and capacity building for members will facilitate the development of the guild.

Mr Ike added the welfare of members was paramount to the leadership of the guild. We are talking to television stations to pay royalties to actors on their movies televised.

Presently we are putting everything in place to ensure Bank Verification Numbers for our artists and for those that dont have it, we assist them. This is for them to be in the statistics database of the bank where their royalty can be paid and they will get their pay anywhere they are, Mr Ike said.

He observed that it was not right for actors to roam the streets of the countrys major cities seeking means of survival.

Emeka Ike, therefore, called on Nigeria's Minister for Information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed and relevant stakeholders and the public to support Nigerian actors.
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Paris (AFP) - The prosecutor of a special Paris court set up to try Rwandan genocide suspects called for life sentences Monday against two former mayors accused of taking part in the mass murder of Tutsis.

Winding up a two-month trial, prosecutor Philippe Courroye accused Octavien Ngenzi, 58, of acting as a "leader" and Tito Barahira, 65, of "wielding a machete" in the April 1994 bloodbath.

The two -- former mayors of the small town of Kabarondo -- are accused of participating in "massive and systematic summary executions."

At least 800,000 people, most of them minority Tutsis, were slaughtered across Rwanda after the death of the Hutu head of state, Juvenal Habyarimana, on April 6 1994.

More than 2,000 people were killed in a single day in Kabarondo, hundreds of them in the town church where they had taken refuge.

It is the second trial for crimes against humanity and genocide by the special Paris court set up to prosecute Rwandan genocide suspects who fled to France.

A verdict in the trial is expected Wednesday following arguments by defence counsel on Tuesday.
The Presidential Candidate of the All Peoples Congress (APC) says the only way opened for Ghana to end its current economic doldrums will be for political parties to form an all-conclusive government.

Hassan Ayariga said the current system, winner takes all, has stifled the development of the country relegating people who have the experience to the background.

Without all-inclusiveness in our political life, our country will not move forward, he said.

The former Presidential Candidate of the Peoples National Convention (PNC) disclosed this to Joynews as he launched the start of his campaign tour beginning from the Greater Accra Region.

Ayariga disclosed the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the largest opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) have not shown any interest in an all-inclusive government.

They all believe in the winner takes it all, he said of the two main political parties, adding, before the APC enters into an agreement with any political party, it has to demonstrate its preparedness for an all-inclusive government.

On the relevance of the all-inclusiveness, Mr Ayariga said the ideology will not waste the human resources of the country as it is being done by the Mahama-led government.

We are looking at the case whereby Ghanaians will manage their own affairs, he added.

Lamenting about the misuse of the resources of the country, the APC leader said an all-inclusive government will ensure that the resources are used for the benefit of the citizenry.

Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com | Austin Brakopowers | Email: [email protected]
04.07.2016 LISTEN

Chairman of Parliaments Transport Committee, Theophilus Tetteh Chaie, is worried about the recent public pronouncements of some members of the nations legislature.

According to him, such unguarded outbursts contribute to eroding the peoples confidence in the leadership and Members of Parliament (MP).

In one breath you want the general public, the citizenry to extend some courtesy, respect to us, but why dont we do the same thing to our fellow human beings? he quizzed.

The Ablekuma Central MP disclosed this to Joynews when reacting to the comment made by the MP for Assin Central, Kennedy Agyepong in which he allegedly accused the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission, Charlotte Osei, of trading sex for the job.

The controversial New Patriotic Party (NPP) MP has received severe criticisms from right groups and civil society organisations for disrespecting womanhood throughout last week.

Some individuals have urged the leadership of Parliament to initiative punitive measures against the MP.

Backing calls by some of his colleagues to have the MP brought to book; Mr Tetteh Chaie could not comprehend how a member of such an honourable House will treat an official of the country with disdain.

He blamed the absence of the code of conduct for what appears to be the unregulated behaviour of some members of the House.

He explained a committee set up by the speaker last year to come up with a code are yet to present the draft report for consideration and report.

I know currently code of conduct is being developed. It has not been passed yet so lets wait and see, he said.

Believing the current behaviour of MPs needs to curtail, the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) MP said: I believe something needs to be done because as members of parliament we cant continue to be going the way some of our members are going about things.

When asked why the code of conduct is delaying, he said: This is something that is going through a lot of processes.

It has to be fine-tuned but I believe before the sitting ends, the leadership of the House will present it for approval, he added.

Meanwhile chairman of the committee working on the code of conduct, Nana Amoako, says the document requires some legal backing before it can be laid in parliament.

Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com | Austin Brakopowers | Email: [email protected]
President John Dramani Mahama has granted amnesty to 896 prisoners.

A statement from the Presidency said President John Dramani Mahama has, in commemoration of the 56th Republican Anniversary of the Republic of Ghana, granted amnesty to a total of eight hundred and ninety-six (896) prisoners.

The freed prisoners are in the following categories:

First Offenders  813 Seriously ill  16 Aged 70 years and above  63 Special Case (Double Amputee)  1 Death row commuted to Life Imprisonment  3

900 prisoners freed in 2015

President Mahama in 2015 freed 900 prisoners.

Overcrowding is commonplace in Ghanaian prisons

Chairman of the Prisons Council, Pastor Stephen Wengam had said the move brings a sigh of relief to the prison service, in their quest to decongest the prisons adding that 900 is a big number and it will go a long way in helping us to categorize and classify the rest of the prisoners per the UN standard.



By: Godwin A. Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana

Follow @AlloteyGodwin
The New Patriotic Party Member of Parliament for the Abuakwa South Constituency, Hon. Samuel Atta Akyea has called on Ghanaians to reject President Mahama in the 2016 general election since the NDC members of Parliament even want President Mahama out of Government.

Hon. Samuel Atta Akyea who was addressing a gathering at Anum in the Asuogyaman Constituency as part of Nana Addo Dankwa Akuffo Addo's campaign tour in the Eastern Region said, the unbridled hardship bestowed on Ghanaians coupled with excessive borrowing under the Mahama administration is making everybody cry including members of the NDC.

"I am in parliament, and I can tell you that, NDC MPs come to us on daily bases to tell us to do everything possible to oust Prez. Mahama from the seat". Atta Akyea therefore called on NPP members and sympathisers to welcome NDC members and continue selling the policies of the NPP to them.

GHANAIANS WILL COMMIT SUICIDE

Hon. Atta Akyea added that with the hardship brought on Ghanaians, in an "unlikely event that Prez. Mahama wins another four years term, Ghanaians will all commit suicide."

Hon. Atta Akyea added that the 2016 general election should not be seen as an election to elect Akuffo Addo to become President but be seen as an election meant to protect the future of Ghanaians.

Citing reports from the Auditor General which go before Public Account Committee, Hon. Atta Akyea quoted a number of corruption cases and urged Ghanaians to vote massively for the NPP in the 2016 election.
In Nigeria, politics is tied to religion. The State, Church and Mosque operate like conjoined twins. Efforts have been made to separate them with marginal success. Section 10 of the Nigerian constitution which says that No part of the Federation or State should adopt any religion as state religion is a paper tiger because it seems to be of no import and has no practical effect or impact on how Nigerian politicians conduct state affairs at least by the incumbent presidents.

Any time that section 10 is invoked it is usually by the aggrieved religious party or politician, by the marginalized, oppressed or persecuted faith organizations that are negotiating for attention and space.

But as soon as some politicians from the aggrieved religion get into power, it becomes business as usual. They forget the provision in section 10 and turn the state house into a quasi church or mosque. They make religious affairs state functions and their religious allies turn a blind eye on such violations. In Nigeria, presidents from the two main religions seem to be taking turns in giving religious character to state house activities. We saw this in the Aso Rock Chapel phenomenon during the reign of Presidents Obasanjo and Jonathan and now it seems to be the turn of President Buhari to give Islamic flavor to state functions and activities in spite of the constitution and the promised change in the way Nigeria is governed

Anybody who is following activities at the state house, particularly since the Ramadan started would testify that the Nigerian president has really been busy. The evidence of this are photos of delegations that came to break the Ramadan Fast with him at the state house flooding social media. First was the photo where he broke fast with APC politicians and then with members of the diplomatic community. President Buhari has equally broken fast with a delegation from the National Council of Traditional Rulers. I guess there are others I have not mentioned who are on their way to breaking fast with the president as the Ramadan draws to a close.

Nobody is against the president breaking his fast during this month of Ramadan. He has the right to do so as a muslim. However, breaking Ramadan fast should be the presidents private; not official business. Buhari should not tie his religious practice to his state duty. Breaking Ramadan fast is not a state function and should not be organized at state expense. It is an abuse of office and a mismanagement of state funds. Thus it makes economic sense that Buhari stops hosting this breakfast particularly this is a president who pledged to be frugal in managing state resources. This is a government that claims to be finding difficulty paying workers salaries. This is a government whose economic policies have condemned millions of Nigerians to a life a poverty, beggary and starvation. This is not a good example for the state governors. In fact how will Buhari feel if state governors use their resources to sponsor Iftar for journalists, teachers, party stalwarts, the business community etc?

Indeed using state money to fund religious activities is inconsistent with the frugal management of state resources that Buhari pledged during his campaign. For instance Buhari opposed state sponsorship of religious pilgrimages on the ground that the state could not afford to defray the costs and now he is using state money to fund Iftar. Is that not a contradiction? Where lies the difference? Whether one is using state money to fund Hajj or to host Iftar, the bottom line is that state resources are still expended on religious matters.

How does hosting Iftar make sense in terms of his fight against corruption? The Buhari government is investigating the use of state money by the last administration to fund political campaign activities and President Buhari is using state funds to finance religious activity in this case, IFTAR. He has apparently forgotten that these religious schemes are clearly ways of spending state money in a very untransparent and unaccountable form because very often when money is spent on supposedly religious activities people hardly raise any questions.

This is manly because many people do not want to be branded as anti Islam or anti Christianity as if being pro-islam or pro-christianity says anything about transparent, accountable and judicious use of state resources. Thus, Buhari may have blocked some avenue of syphoning state funds under the pretense of religion by discontinuing the state sponsorship of pilgrimages. However, he has ended up opening another channel of religious (Islamic) business: Breaking fast with Mr President. Buhari should steer the state machinery away from religion and discontinue official schemes that privilege any religion. That makes both economic and political sense. Yes, that is the change Nigeria needs at the moment.
The diabolism of some of those unattractive, bleaching, over-bloated, hungry, and over-sized women who shouted foul and shook their indolent bums to condemn Hon Kennedy Agyapong for his statement against the EC, Madam Charlotte Osei, have proven their ridiculous characters as politically inebriated and immoral.

The fact that Alistar Nelson, Mugabe Maase, and Kwaku Boahen made direct death threats on the persons of the Justices of the Supreme Court does not only warrant verbal condemnation but lengthy incarceration of these terrorists.

The Judiciary is headed by a responsible and honourable lady in the person of H.L. Georgina Theodora Wood. The justices of the Supreme and all other courts are made up of both genders, males and females. In other words, the death threats issued by the NDC terrorists did uphold the idea of gender equality covering all the Judges manning the judiciary. How then can we interpret the silence of the ewes when they develop sharp teeth only when the matter suits their evil agenda?

For those ignoramuses of the NDC, the underlined word ewes does not refer to the tribes of the Volta Region. In the English language, an ewe is a female sheep. Maybe you will learn something new this time.

Back to our topic, these women should have discerned that their own are under a direct death threat and not an accusation of screwing around, so where is their valour? They are clearly disoriented or maybe have indulged in the same act that Charlotte Osei is being accused of. I am just postulating or say fishing for answers to their John-Mahama-controlled lackadaisical attitudes.

Why are they also silent on the issue of the special police who are practically camped somewhere undertaking military style training in order to cause serious trouble during the NPP rallies and shoot outs at polling stations in the NPP strongholds. I am sure they realise that in such extremism and NDC terrorism, their fellow women and children will be victimised and traumatised by the planned incidents. Would it not be apt for them to denounce such antecedents of terror, horror ,and fear rather than wading the murky waters of sexual accusations that must be true due to the fact that Hon Kennedy has pictorial evidence?

Some of these women are also caught in the trap of lewdness and eroticism, but fail to shut up. One day, their cups might just get full. Then they will start running for cover when their pictures are made public invoking curses and rallying their gender for support. Alas, they will find no one to look up to for sympathy.

If Charlotte Osei is denying the allegations of allowing John Mahama access into her pants (dross as in local street terms), then she has the legal corridor to prove her innocence. So these fat bums should shut up and allow the EC to rumble in court.

#SaveGhanafromMisogyny #SaveGhanaFromJohnMahama #VoteJohnMahamaAndTheNDCout
The National House of Chiefs has again warned chiefs across the country to desist from openly endorsing presidential candidates ahead of the elections.

This comes on the back of some endorsements received by flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party, Nana Addo from some chiefs in the Eastern Region.

Addressing journalists in Accra, President of the National House of Chiefs, Prof. Naa Nabila condemned the move, arguing that the practice violates the constitution.

They should refer to the constitution which says we shouldn't take part in active party politics, but it doesn't mean that you cannot belong. We haven't been endorsing them. We have said so many times that we don't support any particular party.

Prof. Nabila said though they have been admonishing the chiefs not to take entrenched positions he said, we can't control them, we can only advise them.

2 Eastern Region chiefs support Nana Addo

Two chiefs in the Eastern Region had pledged their unflinching support for Nana Addo who is seeking to annex power in the upcoming November general elections.

The two are Osabarima Agyeman Boasia II, chief of Boso, in the Asuogyaman constituency and Osabarima Adugyei Gyamfi II, chief of the Akyem Akrofufu Traditional Area gave the assurance when Nana Addo campaigned in the region over the weekend.



By: Godwin A. Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana

Follow @AlloteyGodwin
Once bitten, twice shy and to be forewarned is to be forearmed. On 30th June 1982, three Accra High Court Judges namely, Mrs Justice Cecilia Koranteng-Addo, Justice Fred Poku Sarkodie and Justice Kwadwo Agyei Agyepong and a retired Army Major Acquah were abducted and murdered in cold blood by some PNDC bigots.

The then PNDC fanatics and murderers, who were in military uniform, had no sympathy for these judges who had determined to let justice prevail without ever succumbing to intimidations and threats to their lives. For their resolve to be truthful to their profession in defence of the laws of the nation and the people therein against the prevailing injustices as were orchestrated by J.J. Rawlings and his Abongo boys, they became arch-enemies of the lawless revolutionaries hence their untimely shameful assassination.

Today, we have similar wicked persons who have no respect for human lives let alone, the laws of the land. They have come out to openly declare that they will inflict same fate as suffered by the above-mentioned judges on the current Ghana Supreme Court judges if they dared interfere with the duties and the way of doing things by the Electoral Commission. They have warned the judges in the country to steer clear of the Electoral Commission, to allow Mrs Charlotte Osei to perform her duties without any interfering directives from any institution whatsoever or else, they will hunt down the judges.

According to some Alistair Nelson and Godwin Ako Gunn, they will finish the Supreme Court judges should they make any ruling against Mrs Charlotte Osei and her outfit (Electoral Commission) in the ongoing saga about the deletion of the names of the NHIS registrants from the electoral roll. They claim to know their residences and will not hesitate a second to eliminate them from existence same as done to their former colleagues.

These damned idiots who believe in instilling fears in people to have their way to ruin Ghana, as selfish, myopic and insatiably greedy bastards as they are, should be arrested and prosecuted without delay. This will serve as deterrence to most of the NDC rogues prowling the streets and corners of Ghana looking to harm innocent people all for the sake of silencing the suffering masses to pave the way for President Mahama and NDC to continue to rig election 2016.

I assure Ghanaians that these insane, uncivilized and absolutely jungle beings who believe in tyranny to establishing their laws and marking their territory will not be allowed the opportunity to have their way hence calling on the Supreme Court to cause their arrest, prosecution and possible incarceration for years.

What can be their possible charges? Could they not now be genuinely charged with causing fear and panic among the public especially, the legal fraternity? Could they not be charged with threatening to kill and inciting the public to kill, the judges? Could they not be charged with defaming the Supreme Court and thereby inciting the breakdown of law and order in Ghana?

The Montie FM radio station that granted the two NDC or PPP apologists airtime to spew their nonsense, laying bare their criminal intents must also be sanctioned.

I invite the reading public to familiarise themselves with the criminal views as expressed on air to not only the whole nation but also, the entire world by these two dangerous sycophantic individuals who for what they hope to gain, are calling for the death of the Supreme Court judges. Please check the web link below.

http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/Montie-FM-panelist-apologises-after-threatening-to-kill-judges-452256

Their apology must not be accepted considering the magnitude of the offence and the danger inherent in their expressed views. The only appropriate dissuasive measure befitting their offence is a prison term. It is about time the Supreme Court exerted its authority to prove to these political scumbags with sharp evil teeth that it does not pay to be so evil.

These lawless entities parading the corridors of NDC think they can commit crimes with impunity because their party and President are in power.

Not long ago, it was all over the social media that a 65 year old Polling Station Chairman of NDC at Akpafu in the Hoehoe District has been apprehended by the police for killing and decapitating a 72 year old man. He is alleged to have said he was going to use the mans head for rituals to help President Mahama win election 2016. This gory crime was executed upon the advice of a spiritualist asking him to bring to him (spiritualist) the head of a person who is of the same age (72 years) as Nana Akufo Addo.

Why are some little-minds going their own way to commit such reprehensible crimes? Have they gone their own ways to commit such crimes or they are goaded by some top NDC members to do what they do?

One thing I know is they must be compelled to do time in prison whether or not it sits well with President Mahama.

Rockson Adofo
04.07.2016 LISTEN

The Africa Center for International Law and Accountability (ACILA) has welcomed the decision of the Government of Ghana to withdraw the Interception of Postal Packets and Telecommunication Messages Bill, 2016, also known as the Spy Bill from Parliament, but urged caution.

A statement signed by Mr. Carl Mensah, Deputy Executive Director of ACILA, said that even though the decision is welcome, there must be cautious optimism since the controversial Bill was immediately replaced by a revised Bill.

Mr. Mensah said that the revised Bill must be scrutinized by all stakeholders and the public to ensure a proper balance between the states interest to fight crime and promote safety of citizens and its obligations to respect and protect the fundamental human rights of Ghanaians in the privacy of their communications.

The statement comes following the decision by the Government to withdraw the Bill after criticismby stakeholders, including ACILA, who had called for comprehensive changes to be made to the bill in order to ensure that the fundamental rights of Ghanaians are safeguarded in the Bill.

Deputy Minister of Interior, Mr. James Agalga, announced Governments decision to withdraw the Bill last week.

The withdrawal has been necessitated by certain critical issues that came up during the consideration of the bill by the Parliamentary Select Committee on Defence and the Interior, as well as the various memoranda submitted by interest groups, he said.

Consequently, the Speaker of Parliament, Rt.Hon. Edward Doe Adjaho, informed Parliament about the withdrawal of the Bill and referred the replacement Bill to the Defence and Interior Committee for consideration.
Britain says bye, bye, with 51.9 percent, majority of the british has decided to withdraw from the European Union. The result sent shock waves through Europe. Prime Minister David Cameron announced his resignation. All information about the UK referendum in news ticker.

 Britain votes for withdrawal from the EU

 Proposed referendum on United Kingdom membership of the European Union advocates get 51.9 percent of the vote

 Prime Minister David Cameron announces his resignation

 anxiety on financial markets: British Pound drops low

The facts: In a referendum, the British have voted to leave as the first country ever in the European Union. The Proposed referendum on United Kingdom membership of the European Union advocates won the referendum in the UK with 51.9 percent. Now the United Kingdom has deeply divided itself from the EU. Nowtheless, England and Wales voted for the Proposed referendum on United Kingdom membership of the European Union while Scotland and Northern Ireland on the other hand, against division. It was above all, the young people who voted against the leakage. British Prime Minister David Cameron had consequences and announced his resignation up to October. The exit negotiations with the EU should be led by a new British government.

Bottom line: 17,410,742 votes for Proposed referendum on United Kingdom membership of the European Union (51.9 per cent), 16,141,241 for EU (48.1 percent).

But after the unfortunate decision by the British, for the proposed referendum on United Kingdom membership of the European Union vote, more British citizens want a German passport. The prime minister of German Federal state, "Hesse" at the same time the deputy CDU Chairman, Volker Bouffier, advertises for keeping the door open for the British who want to join the European Union for exanple acquire German Passport. The democratic vote on the Proposed referendum on United Kingdom membership of the European Union is rather unfortunate, but recognized, said the Minister.

Should the British change their mind, what I currently believe to be unrealistic, they are still in the European Union welcome, on the basis of the (in) February negotiated regulatory package for UK by the EU, Minister Bouffier told the German Newspaper "Welt am Sonntag". There is currently a fast growing interest in German passport by some British citizens, more British are of late applying for German citizenship.

The German Federal Finance Minister, Wolfgang Schauble (CDU) has called for a loss of power by the EU Commission. In an interview with the Newspaper "Welt am Sonntag" he demanded to (infuture) raise "intergovernmental approach" principle. And if the Commission does not approve it, we shall take the matter into our own hands, solve the problems just between governments, said the Finance Minister Schaeuble.

The Commission acknowledges that the European Commission will endeavor to solve the arising problems, but if you do not succeed, this must be quickly traded. "It's urgent," said Schauble. The usual Brussels period is to Long and slow. Governments have a duty to perform. I was very much annoyed last year, that Brussels took so long to respond to the refugee crisis. In the future, the EU should be limited to the solution of the central problems of Europe, Schauble told the "Welt am Sonntag. In principle, I am a supporter of the depression. But this is not the time. We can not simply accept in Europe that demagoguery and deep euroscepticism carry on as before. Fundamental criticism has been practiced on referendums as in the UK. I have always been of the opinion that Referendum in a territorial state against the representative democracy is the worse solution, he said.

Tens of thousands of demonstrators have protested in London against the British Proposed referendum on United Kingdom membership of the European Union recommendation. Mostly, young people carried on a march through the city center on Saturday with Europe flags shouting "I love the EU". The BBC spoke of an estimated 40,000 participants.

The organizers' demands include, the British Parliament to repeal the vote of the EU referendum in last week. The future of Britain lies in the European Union (EU). At the same time Conservatives and the Labour Party dealt furthermore with personnel issues.Queen Elizabeth II. called for calm and reason in difficult times.

Without the subject to name Proposed referendum on United Kingdom membership of the European Union by its name, the Queen stressed at the opening ceremony of the newly elected Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh, the need to remain calm and collected especially in times of rapid developments need "enough space for calm thinking and reflection". The Head of State of the United Kingdom maintains traditionally out of daily politics.

The German opposition Party (SPD) leader, Gabriel said, "we must reach out to young British." The EU countries need after Proposed referendum on United Kingdom membership of the European Union vote to contact the young British who voted mostly against the British seperation from the EU. They knew better than the snobs of the British elite, that it was about their future, Gabriel said at a SPD conference in Berlin. They must not just be pulled down the Bridge, instead we must consider offering the young British a dual citizenship to joining the European Union, for example give them the opportunity to live in Germany, Italy, France and the rest of any of the EU Countries of their choice, so that they can remain EU citizens. "The youth in the UK are "smarter than their strange political elite", said Gabriel.

Young British Demonstrate against the Referendum to Exist EU

Francis Tawiah (Diusburg - Germany)
04.07.2016 LISTEN

An extended and seemingly disputatious comment by a discussant on my equally controversial periodical, (captioned: Are Africans really lousy and unintelligent? -See: modernghana.com- 22/06/2016) has necessitated this write-up.

The aforementioned periodical sought to recount how an impolitic Turkish taxi driver impertinently and boldly asserted that Africans are not intelligent.

The loudmouthed Turkish driver somehow tried to substantiate his claim by suggesting that Africans have not contributed meaningfully to humanity.

He asseverated further that Europeans however have researched and invented a lot for humanity; North Americans have done their bit and Asians are currently catching up with the Europeans and the North Americans.

The driver nonetheless continued by saying that the South Americans and the Australians are also doing their utmost best to advance humanity. He, However, insisted that he was not familiar with the Africans inventions, but rather cognisant of the incompetence, corruption, nepotism, cronyism, tribal conflicts, poverty, squalor, etc., in Africa.

However numb I felt on the Turkish taxi drivers painful truth, I engaged in a carefully considered deliberation and came to a realisation that Africans really need a serious introspection, especially our leaders.

Mr Agbodo, a discussant, however, has a divergent view on the ever so contentious subject-black Africans are lousy and unintelligent.

Mr Agbodo writes: Kwaku Badu, you must thank the Turkish London-taxi-driver for having given you the best education money can buy for you! He was perfectly HONEST with you, and for that you must be forever grateful to him. That level of honesty is what ALL black Africans need right now to jolt us out of our complacency!

The fact of the matter is that black Africans are UNINTELLIGENT human beings! Let me leave the definition of "intelligence" out of this piece for now. However, the definition of intelligence I am using here is the SAME definition the Turkish taxi used and which you INSTINCTIVELY understood.

Nevertheless, I want to say here that intelligence does not mean the ability to solve a quadratic equation or to acquire a university degree (something black Africans think they can do and as such consider themselves intelligent). The intelligence or "high intelligence" some human societies possess and which enables them to achieve great feats is MORE than just the ability to acquire a university degree.

Black Africans do NOT possess the high intelligence of the societies the Turkish taxi driver was referring to. Black Africans confuse "bookishness" with intelligence or intellect. You must be a young person not to know that it is NOT only the Turkish taxi driver who harbours these views about black Africans but ALL white people do. White people have for centuries considered black Africans as unintelligent human beings. Why do you think white people treat black Africans (and their descendants) so BADLY?

In fact, it is not only white people who CONSIDER black Africans unintelligent human beings. Almost all human beings on this planet consider black Africans unintelligent human beings. The Chinese, the Japanese, the Koreans (North & South), the Indians, the Arabs - include the Turks (and, of course, your Turkish taxi driver) in this group - all consider black Africans as unintelligent human beings.

Perhaps it is only black Africans who do not know they are unintelligent and are considered by the rest of humanity as such! What a pity! How can a people be so OBLIVIOUS to what is going on around them? The evidence to support the assertion that black Africans are unintelligent human beings is OVERWHELMING, and it is all around us, especially in black Africa.

It is the reason we cannot govern ourselves. It is the reason we keep our environment DIRTY. It is the reason white people USED our forebears as slaves for hundreds of years. It is the reason white people held a conference in Germany in 1884 and "carved up" Africa geometrically into 54 plus nation-states- the so-called "Scramble for Africa" - WITHOUT a single African present! It is the reason white people colonised black Africa for hundreds of years.

I can continue but I must end. However, let me end by saying that a very serious and existential problem of black Africa today is the problem of the "emperor's new clothes". Another way of saying this is that there is "an elephant in the room". Black Africans refuse to FACE facts and continue to live in cloud-cuckoo-land.

How many black Africans are willing to write or say what I have said here or what the Turkish taxi driver has said? Yet, the lack of intelligence of black Africans is a COMMON point of DISCUSSION in white and many other societies!

Unless black Africans face facts, we have not even begun to dig ourselves out of the hole we are in. There is a reason why white people, the Japanese, the Chinese, the South Koreans, the Singaporeans, the Malaysians and, lately, even the Indians have industrialised their countries to varying degrees but black Africans CANNOT.

The reason is LACK OF INTELLIGENCE. They say the truth hurts, but black Africans must begin to face the truth. It is about time we black Africans started saying that the emperor has NO clothes on or started talking about the hideous elephant in the room. Otherwise we will forever remain in our cesspit. And what a horrible cesspit that is!

Concluding remarks:

As a matter of fact, Mr Agbodo has raised some pertinent points in his riposte that need to be interrogated by all well-meaning Africans. Of course, I agreed with him on the fact that we (Africans) arent prepared to utilise our God given brains to the fullest.

Our point of departure, though is, not all Africans are unintelligent, for a sizeable number of black Africans have put their perceptual powers of the mind into a good use.

Just look at what our own Apostle Kojo Sarfo is trying to leave to humanity with his God given brains.

I, however, couldnt agree more with Mr Agbodos assertion on black Africans bookish mentality. For knowledge and qualifications will be meaningless in the absence of the motivation to transfer.

My question to Mr Agbodo though is: Arent black Africans selfish, lousy, and unpatriotic as opposed to unintelligence on their part?

K. Badu, UK.
Entebbe (Uganda) (AFP) - Forty years ago, Israeli commandos grabbed headlines with a bold raid at Entebbe airport to free the passengers of a plane hijacked by Palestinians and Germans radicals.

The operation took place overnight on July 3-4 1976, and freed all but four of 105 hostages, with the loss of one Israeli soldier, Yonatan Netanyahu, the brother of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Other casualties include three hostages killed during the attack, a fourth who was in hospital and later murdered on the orders of Ugandan strongman Idi Amin, 20 Ugandan soldiers and seven hostage takers.

The drama began on June 27 when an Air France jet flying from Tel Aviv to Paris with more than 250 people was hijacked and forced to land in Benghazi, Libya. Two Palestinians and two members of a left-wing German group had boarded the plane during a stop in Athens.

The hijackers, including one woman, were armed with pistols, grenades and explosives.

Late on June 28, the Airbus A300 landed at Entebbe airport, south of Kampala, with permission from Amin, and three more people joined the hijackers.

The passengers and crew were taken to the terminal building and kept under guard.

The hijackers threatened to blow up the plane unless 53 Palestinians or supporters of their cause were freed within two days. Twenty nine of them were being held in Israel.

- Going in at midnight -

Israeli officials negotiated with the hijackers and were initially considering their demands, so the deadline was pushed back to July 4.

Meanwhile, talks between Amin and the hijackers resulted in the release of two sets of hostages, but 105 people -- Israeli and Jewish passengers, as well as members of the plane's crew -- remained in detention.

"Israel decided to act and not give in," prime minister Yitzhak Rabin was later quoted as saying, and with time running out, a complex military operation was given the green light.

Just before midnight on July 3, four Israeli C-130 transport planes flew low over Lake Victoria and landed at Entebbe after covering more than 3,600 kilometres (2,200 miles) and evading detection by Ugandan air controllers.

General Dan Shomron commanded the airborne operation, several members of which occupied a black Mercedes like the one used by Amin. The commandos quickly seized key airport installations, but lost the element of surprise when they fired on Ugandan soldiers that challenged them in the dark.

A battle broke out and the hostages were freed, but three died along with Netanyahu, who led the first assault team. All seven hostage takers were shot dead, along with 20 Ugandan soldiers. One hostage, Dora Bloch, had been hospitalised before the raid, and Amin later ordered that she be killed.

Initially dubbed "Operation Thunderbolt," the raid was later renamed "Operation Jonatan" in honour of Netanyahu.

Amin, who was humiliated by the daring operation, lashed out at the Kenyan government for letting Israel use Nairobi's airport during the evacuation phase. Israel's Mossad intelligence service helped plan the raid with a map of the terminal provided by the Israeli company that built it, and information from passengers who had already been released.

The operation became a legendary example of special forces action, and several films and television documentaries have been based on it.
The Deputy Minister of Power, John Abu Jinapor has disclosed that government has released GHc200 million to defray debts it owed the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG).

Speaking on the Citi Breakfast Show on Monday, Mr. Jinapor said the Minister of Finance, Seth Terkper is currently working on the necessary processes to immediately make the money available the ECG.

Most of ECG's debt is debts owed to its suppliers in terms of power generators like VRA and the others including Asogli and the rest. So as I speak to you, the Minister of Finance, himself, has signed the warrant for GHc200 million to be released to pay some of ECG's commitments.

So government has released that, [and] we are currently going through the paper work and processes and the Minister is committed to doing further payments in addition to the GHc200 million, he added.

ECG embarks on massive disconnections

Reports indicate that government owes ECG close to GH1 billion, while individuals and corporate institutions owe it a little over GH600 million.

In a bid to recover such debts; ECG has in the past few days embarked on a massive disconnection exercise which has so far affected some institutions in the country including a Police barracks at Tema Community 8, and the newly inaugurated Ayensu Starch Factory.

But a statement signed by the Deputy Minister of Power, John Abdulai Jinapor, while commending ECG for embarking on the disconnection exercise, also urged it to consider exempting health, educational and security installations from the disconnection exercise.

Whilst we commend ECG in that regard, we wish to bring to your attention, Government's decision to temporarily exclude certain critical categories from pre-payment metering and the mass disconnection exercise. These include critical installations in the health, security and educational institutions. The Ministry of Finance would continue to take steps to address the payment of arrears for such categories of institutions. We should therefore be grateful if you could act in line with the foregoing, the statement added.



By: Godwin A. Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana

Follow @AlloteyGodwin
04.07.2016 LISTEN

About three months ago a world geopolitical conflict tracing back to days after the death of King Solomon was ceremoniously resolved. It didnt make the news. Now, Extra!, read all about it!

I have argued, many times, that an imperfect but impressive world peace has dawned. As Harvard's Steven Pinker, author ofBetter Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined, and Andrew Mack, director of the Human Security Report Project at Simon Fraser University wrote, in 2012, The World Is Not Falling Apart published at Slate.com:

In a historically unprecedented development, the number of interstate wars has plummeted since 1945, and the most destructive kind of war, in which great powers or developed states fight each other, has vanished altogether.  Though the recent increase in civil wars and battle deaths is real and worrisome, it must be kept in perspective. It has undone the progress of the last dozen years, but the rates of violence are still well below those of the 1990s, and nowhere near the levels of the 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, or 1980s.

Yet peace, lacking drama, is little heralded. Recently there was a small event that presents in microcosm the dawning peace. It may even contain the seed of a new narrative that could facilitate peace in the Middle East, currently the hottest spot in the world. Tiny things can have disproportionate effects.

The end of the longest political estrangement in the world was celebrated this April. The celebration went almost unnoticed but could be consequential. The worlds oldest persisting conflict began almost 3,000 years ago as a tax revolt. The consequences of this conflict have mistily haunted world lore, echoing through millennia.

When King Solomon died, around 930 BC, his son Rehoboam ceremoniously ascended to the throne in the city of Shechem. As meticulously recorded in the Book of Kings, the people of the northern tribes of Israel petitioned him for a tax cut. This was, in some ways, the first recorded Tea Party rally.

Solomons advisors, good Supply Siders, advised him to cut the peoples taxes. Yet The young men who had grown up with him and were serving him  early Big Government types  prescribed a big tax increase.

King Rehoboam went with the tax hike. Big mistake.

The northern tribes promptly seceded and founded their own nation, Israel, becoming known as the Israelites. This left Rehoboam to reign, in Jerusalem, over the tribes of Judah (from which the name Jews much later derived) and Benjamin.

Thereafter hostility prevailed between the Judaeans and the Israelites. The Israelite kingdom was destroyed by the Neo-Assyrians about 200 years later. The Israelites eventually became known as the Samaritans, based on their residence in Samaria.

The subtext of the iconic parable of "the Good Samaritan was that the compassionate man who Jesus (a Jew) exalted over the Jewish elite was from a community greatly despised by the Jews. In the first century A.D., when this parable was told, there were over a million Israelite-Samaritans. Their numbers then dwindled. Hence the legend of The Lost Tribes of Israel.

Yet here the Israelite-Samaritans still are. Their population has risen from fewer than 200 people a century ago to about 800 today and continues to rise. They live by most ancient Biblical traditions and are a cultural treasure of Biblical proportions.

The Israelite-Samaritans have achieved something that has proved elusive to others: they live and thrive in peace with the Israelis and the Palestinians both. And they offer themselves as a Bridge of Peace in the Middle East.

The Israelite-Samaritans reside in a village outside Nablus  the modern name of the very Shechem in which Rehoboam was crowned  and in Holon, a suburb of Tel Aviv. I have the privilege of serving as the honorary envoy of the Israelite-Samaritans to Washington and of having co-founded, together with Samaritan elder and civic leader Benyamim Tsedaka, the Samaritan Medal Foundation . Under Chairman Tsedakas leadership, the Foundation awarded its Peace Medal to Palestinian Prime Minister Dr. Rami Hamdalla last August.

This past April the Foundation awarded its Peace Medal to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Thereby an ancient rift was ceremoniously resolved. As Foundation co-founder and honorary consul, I was abruptly summoned by the Israelite-Samaritan leaders to Jerusalem and Nablus. I met, at the Knesset, with the Honorable Zeev Alin, the Minister of Jerusalem and Heritage. In Nablus I met with another distinguished Peace Medal recipient, former Nablus mayor the Honorable Ghassan El Shakhaa , now executive committee member and Head of the Department of International Relations of the Palestinian Liberation Organization. I also there met with public activist Abd El Aillah El Attireh, and with the good Samaritans Ovadia Cohen and Yitzhaq Altif, the latter the secretary of the Mount Gerizim Samaritan Committee.

And I spent a night on Mount Gerizim, the Mountain of Blessings, outside Nablus, there receiving the blessing of Abedel b. Asher, the High Priest of Israel, himself a recipient of the Samaritan Peace Medal in 2015. This eminent dignitary is the many-generations-descendant of the first High Priest, Aaron, by blood a grand-nephew of Moses.

An impromptu visit to Jerusalem by Vice President Biden caused the postponement the presentation of the Samaritan Peace Medal to Prime Minister Netanyahu until shortly after my departure. It was a privilege to have been invited to Jerusalem and Nablus, where the rift originated, to participate in an historic peacemaking process.

Nestled within the event may lie the seed of a new narrative, one of rapprochement and peace in the Middle East. Consider, if you will, a new concept: pro-Semitism.

Most people know of anti-Semitism. Most mistake a Semite to mean a Jew but it is more inclusive. The Oxford New American Dictionary defines Semite as a member of any of the peoples who speak or spoke a Semitic language, including in particular the Jews and Arabs. Add to the Jews and Arabs the formidable Israelite-Samaritans.

Championing pro-Semitism just might be another way of defusing antagonisms and of building solidarity between many of the factions in the Middle East. The formal end of a 3,000-year-old rift may seem arcane. Yet it is undeniably historic, and perhaps not inconsequential.

Chaos Theory argues that small events can have profound impact. As Wikipedia sums it up:

In 1963 [Edward] Lorenz published a theoretical study of this effect in a highly cited, seminal paper calledDeterministic Nonperiodic Flow. Elsewhere he stated:

One meteorologist remarked that if the theory were correct, one flap of a sea gulls wings would be enough to alter the course of the weather forever. The controversy has not yet been settled, but the most recent evidence seems to favor the sea gulls.

Following suggestions from colleagues, in later speeches and papers Lorenz used the more poetic butterfly.

May the flap of the Israelite-Samaritan butterfly wing alter the course of world history forever by unleashing peace.

A version of this column originated at Forbes.com
As elections 2016 draws closer, the political atmosphere in the Jirapa constituency gets heated up day by day. The National Democratic Congress is poised and ready to recapture the Jirapa seat from the current independent Member of Parliament. No stone is been left unturned in the quest to accomplishing this mission.

The latest development is the outburst of the Youth wing of the NDC, this group of energetic young men and women have for the past week been organizing intense political rallies throughout major communities in the constituency.

With a heavy backing and support for the NDC parliamentary candidate Dr. Francis Bawaana Dakurah, these youth have been preaching and assessing the good works of Dr. Bawaana during the three years that he served as the Member of Parliament and even beyond the three years, the help and support he still gave constituents vis-a-vis what Hon. Paul Derigubah has been doing as an MP since 2012. The youth are convinced that Mr Paul Derigubah has not done a quarter of what Dr Bawaana did.

A major beef the NDC youth have with Hon. Derigubah is the fact that he suddenly disappeared from the constituency after winning the seat in 2012. For the whole of 2013, 2014 and 2015 he was nowhere to be found despite the various challenges of the constituency that needed to be addressed. He suddenly appeared from his hideout in the year 2016, an election year undertaking projects (mainly digging of boreholes) here and there. Many are tempted to ask whether is this election year that he has realized the people of his constituency drink or need water? A question which can only be answered by Hon. Derigubah

A major campaign message by these youth is that, their decision to vote out Dr. Francis Bawaana in 2012 was intended to be a short term remedy to an internal party wrangling. They were hoping that Hon. Pual Derigubah after winning the seat as an independent candidate will return to make peace with the party so that he could contest again on the ticket of the NDC. But to their outer dismay Mr Derigubah opted to abandon the party completely after he won the seat through the tireless effort of the youth. This attitudes of his and many other reasons informs the decision of the youth to do all they can to get him ousted.

My personal checks as at today indicate that majority of the constituents are under the grip of the Bawaana pandemic. The Bawaana fever is everywhere in town. In the lips of both adults and children the gospel of Bawaana is been preached. The sudden baptism of some of the Derigubah fanatics (front liners in his 2012 campaign team) popularly known as Derigubah Raster, Derigubah Moris and Derigubah Maxwell who now prefer to called Bawaana Raster, Bawaana Moris and Bawaana Maxwell respectively is already a warning sign and an indication of doom for Hon. Derigubah. With about three more months to elections 2016, more of such intense political activities are expected throughout the country.

Watch out for more from the Jirapa constituency. To be continued.

Freelance Journalist

0206964971
The Class Struggle is not a phenomenon limited to Ghana buy a global phenomenon that reflect itself in the culture of any socio-Eco-political group. So depending on the scope at the which we want to look at things, we can have expressions like; Class Struggle in Ghana, the Class Struggle in West Africa, the Class Struggle in Africa and the Global Class Struggle. Which ever one we choose, the definition of what we meant by Class Struggle must be clear and the consideration of the fact that no group or culture in the world exist in isolation of others. So based on the above considerations, we shall be starting by defining Class Struggle, as the context and culture in which we are going to be looking at the classes is what defer.

What is a Class? A class in socio anthropological context refer to categorization of group members based on access and control over the group's effort in the creation and consumption of wealth. It is a socio cultural division by which a society categorise her member in role playing for the intrinsic to goal of the group. It is the classification of members of a socio cultural group, where each individual is prepared in advance on the role he or she has to play, based on the class each person finds him or her self. Societies use several factors as means of indoctrinating members into their respective groups. Superstition, religion, institutionalised laws and traditions are all means by which social classification of group membership are established. Some people conceive socio cultural classification as a natural phenomenon and frown seriously on any effort to distort or influence the established statuesque.

What then is meant by the term "Struggle" as associated with class? The term struggle as related to class in socio anthropological sense means the dynamics by which the various components of the group's classifications employ their energies in sustaining or reforming the statuesque. This further imply, the voluntary or involuntary exertion of each class force as a group, over other components, to the advantage of its members and other class react in response.

Class Struggle therefore refer to all socio-eco-political efforts made by the divides of the group membership to uphold their respective group role and the associated benefits, on production and consumption of the group's wealth. Class division of group membership and therefore struggle, is not peculiar to any particular society. This is a common phenomenon to every dociety. Sociologist have this classes divided into the upper, middle and the lower class. Since class struggle is a group phenomenon, every culture or nation have its people existing in accordance to this class system and therefore the struggle.

But why the class? Why the struggle? And why is the Ghanaian class struggle phenomenons of interest to other classes far outside the shores of Ghana? If class struggle is common to all cultural groups and every classification of the group is constantly working to increase or sustain the advantage the group is having over others, is it fair to tag the politicians leading in the group's struggle as Socialists, Communists and Capitalists? Does this mean only the so called Socialist and Communist believe in doing something positive about the class struggle? What tag will you accord individuals like the once US President, Abraham Lincoln who have to go to war in fighting for cultural reform that resulted in the equality of man caused by the existing class membership and roles in place?

The best way of doing justice to the subject is writing a book, comprehensively researched to provide as much answers as possible to the questions raise above. In doing this, the book will be inspired by Kwame Nkrumah's "Class Struggle in Africa". This book will provide us the perfect base in serving as a guide to the journey we shall be undertaking.

It is also fair to take you through how I stumble over the choice of topic and why? I have just left the Ahodwo Radio studio in London as a challenged person, than I was when I entered the studio that morning as a guest. I found myself challenged by the question of the host Gifty Andoh Appiah, on whether one of the famous Nkrumah's quotation of "if the African is given the chance, he will prove to the world that the Blackman is capable of mangling his own affirs", is a failed prophecy or not? I realized that my co-guest Maxwell Ofori Atta of the NPP (New Patriotic Party) has a different understanding of the trminologoes contained in the quotation and therefore his interprtations, when the question was directed at him. The impression Maxwell gave me in his response to the question betrayed the view of most Ghanaians. It turned out that while Maxwell base his interpretations on limiting the meaning of "Africa" as an alternative name for Ghana and the Blackman to mean the Ghanaian, I held a different position by my interpretations of the terms in the quot. So while I took the expression "Africa" to mean a political platform like the African Union in which every citizen of the Union will be equal democratic mandate as basis for self actualisation, Maxwell had his focus on Ghana as the political platform in which every Ghanaian could have equal opportunity for self actualisation.

Yes, we both did justice to the question from our respective positions, I found myself wondering where the problem might have stem from. I however could not go on with the question competing for answers in my mind while Gifty professionally switched on other topics of equal Importance.

On leaving the studio after the program, I found myself in company of Gideon Okan who represented NDC (National Democratic Congress) who drove me to a shop that had books for sale among its other important stock. It was Gideon who had business doing in the shop but he was giving me a lift and so in his company. I could not remove my eyes from the book titled "The Class Struggle in Africa" with Nkrumah's picture stirring at me. I was somehow convinced that should be the case.

I could not stop saying to myself that the solution to why there is contention on Nkrumah's quotation lies somewhere in the book stirring at me. I picked up the book, scan through and noticed that it is less than 90 pages, as against my last book titled "the Darker Side of Ghana" with over 250 pages. The price is about 28, but I still feel I need the book. I asked for price confirmation with the hope of coming back. But sensing that I was interested in the book, Gideon insisted on paying for it in addition to what he is purchasing. Of course the concerns of "gift" and "bribe" crossed my mind but I am not an employee of the state of the Republic of Ghana, serving in any form of official capacity.

The titled of the book "The Class Struggle in Africa" leaves me with the question of why did Nkrumah chose the name "Africa" when the name "Ghana" would have perfectly fit in? It never crosses my mind that Nkrumah is the type that confuses Ghana with Africa or Ashantiman with the state of Ghana. I doubted Nkrumah intentionally chose to mislead the Ghanaian into holding the notion of meaning the continental political establishment when he actually meant Ghana as a political entity. But since the majority hold such delusion of confusing Ghana with Africa, or the African with the Ghanaian, it is very important to exploit the content of this very book in search of where the ambiguities might be coming from.

Please look out for the book soon to be authored and publish by Kofi Ali Abdul Yekin titled "The Class Struggle in Ghana" as you might have read Nkrumah's "The Class Struggle in Africa". Going through both books will allow you to see some striking difference that might be insightful experience to you. Please bear in mind that Kofi Ali has not come to condemn the work of the Great Prophet or belittle it in any form or shape, but to fullfill the Prophet's great work. For, I and the Father are one!

Kofi Ali Abdul-Yekin

CEO ERA ( ECOWAS Citizens Right Advocates)

Founder GPPP ( Ghana Poor People Party)

[email protected]

0447737224787 , 0447984445344 , 00 233277180508
04.07.2016 LISTEN

1. Is the RTI Bill still a priority for Parliament?

The Speaker of Parliament on May 17th 2016 singled out the RTI Bill as a Bill to be prioritized for passage into law in this session, WHAT HAS CHANGED? Given that the Bill has only be discussed twice in the last three weeks. Following the Speakers announcement on May 17th, the RTI Bill was taken on a daily basis in the weeks that ensued (May 18th  20th and May 24th  27th). However in the last three weeks (June 14th  17th, June 21st  24th and June 27th  30th) the Bill has only been taken twice (on Thursday June 16th and on Thursday June 23rd)

2. Was the Speakers statement of prioritizing the Bill and the momentum with which the Bill was discussed following the Speakers statement, merely to draw the publics attention away from the Bill and minimize the demand for the call for the passage of the Bill?

We recall that the Speaker noted on March 9th 2016 I keep on receiving communications from various citizens of this country on this Bill.

3. Is there a deliberate attempt to stall the consideration of the RTI Bill so that Parliament will have a reason to say that they tried but could not pass the RTI Bill due to the numerous amendments?

Given that we are in an election year, is Parliament trying to push the burden of passing the RTI Bill to the next Parliament? If the amendments are too many, does it not make sense to keep at it with all diligence so that its finished in due time. Of what value will the fine work that the Select Committee did on the Bill, as has always been talked about by the Majority Leader, be if the Bill is not passed by this Parliament? A new Parliament may not support the proposed amendments made by the Select Committee on the Bill.

4. We have noticed that Parliament has abandoned the RTI Bill and has started considering other Bills such as the Banks and Specialized Deposit Taking Institutions Bill 2015 and the Ghana Geological Survey Authority Bill, 2015 and consideration is far advanced on those Bills, for example over 150 clauses of the Banks and Specialized Deposit Taking Institutions Bill 2015 has been considered unlike the RTI Bill - the Bill that is supposed to have been prioritized - which is still on clause 29.

We have heard some MPs say that the RTI Bill is controversial which is why consideration has been slow but the question is  is the RTI Bill controversial for who?, for Ghanaians or for politicians?

5. Are our Parliamentarians really accountable to the people?

Given the amount of money that has been expended in ensuring that the RTI Bill is passed into law, for example, in 2010, Parliament with funding from the World Bank, went on a nationwide tour to get the views of Ghanaians on the RTI Bill, after this costly exercise carried out in six regions, Parliament could not even produce a report talk more of giving the people of Ghana the RTI Law. In 2012, again with funding from Star Ghana, Parliament convened two workshops in Koforidua to get the views of relevant stakeholders on the Bill and produced a good report which if adopted by Parliament would make the Bill very robust and effective when passed but yet in 2016, the Bill is still at the consideration stage and with the current pace at which the consideration process is going, the Bill may not be passed this year. The implication of this will be that next year the new Parliament will again be funded to carry out similar exercise all over again.
Think tank, Institute of Energy and Climate Change Policy (IECP) has said government's move to privatise the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) is long overdue.

According to them Ghana's private sector is essential for the growth of the economy thus allowing private participation in the affairs of ECG is in the right direction.

A vibrant private sector is essential for Ghana's economic growth. Thus, the participation of private industries in the energy sector could serve as an engine of economic growth and propel Ghana to high economic freedom which is one of the aims of the MCC [Millennium Challenge Corporation], a statement signed by Executive Director of the Insittue, Dr. Mutaka A Alolo, stated.

Government in its bid to reform ECG is leasing part of the company to the private sector under a concessionary arrangement within a period of 25 years dubbed ECG Financial and Operational Turnaround Project.

Executive Director of the IECP, Dr. Mutaka A Alolo

President John Mahama had clarified that the move is to open the doors for more private companies to invest in the power sector to enhance efficiency.

Private sector participation in power distribution is not a new thingEverywhere in the world, private sector participation in many areas hitherto monopolized by government is being encouraged. This is leading to increased investment from the financial sector and the capital market and it is introducing efficiency in those sectors. Power is not different, he added.

But workers of ECG have criticised the move complaining about possible job loses .

ECG privatisation move laudable

But IECP has lauded the project. It however added that a complete privatisation would have been better.

The objectives of the concession agreement under the MCC are laudable. However, IECP is of the view that complete privatisation of the sector would be a better alternative. Investment in the electricity distribution sector is capital intensive and therefore, return on investment is paramount to the private investor.

The Energy Institute also explained that the concessionary arrangement will enable ECG to minimise loss and improve efficiency.

This project is also supposed to ensure that ECG recovers its cost with significant investment in maintenance and expansion. Under this project, the governance and management of ECG is expected to be strengthened with the introduction of acceptable private sector participation in addition to significant infrastructural and foundation investments designed to amalgamate losses and increase the quality of service.

Below is the full statement from the IECP:

The Institute of Energy and Climate Change Policy (IECP) note with great concern moves by the government as part of the Millennium Challenge Compact (MCC), to undergo certain projects including the ECG and NEDCo Financial and Operational Turnaround Projects.

While government's agreement to involve the private sector under the ECG Financial and Operational Turnaround Project with a concession for 25 years is laudable, proper ex-ante and ex-post analysis is paramount.

This type of analysis is to ensure accountability while taking into consideration pre and post-privatization effects to inform the modalities and the transition process from a public entity to private entity. By so doing, future outcomes could be anticipated not only regarding service improvements but possible unforeseen challenges.

A vibrant private sector is essential for Ghana's economic growth. Thus, the participation of private industries in the energy sector could serve as an engine of economic growth and propel Ghana to high economic freedom which is one of the aims of the MCC.

Under the ECG Financial and Operational Turnaround project, implicit subsidies as a result of losses, under-pricing and under-billing are expected to be reduced. This is projected to enable ECG operate efficiently without the regular demand of government financial support by way of restructuring it to operate on sound commercial principles.

This project is also supposed to ensure that ECG recovers its cost with significant investment in maintenance and expansion. Under this project, the governance and management of ECG is expected to be strengthened with the introduction of acceptable private sector participation in addition to significant infrastructural and foundation investments designed to amalgamate losses and increase the quality of service.

The objectives of the concession agreement under the MCC are laudable. However, IECP is of the view that complete privatisation of the sector would be a better alternative. Investment in the electricity distribution sector is capital intensive and therefore, return on investment is paramount to the private investor.

Ultimately, the selected private firm that is mandated to take charge of ECG would strive to achieve significant returns on investment during the 25-year term. Hence, significant tariffs could be imposed bringing untold hardships on consumers.

To this end, IECP calls for a complete electricity sector reform that will enhance private participation in both generation and distribution with less government interference except for the purposes of strict regulation. Given out ECG without complete sector reform would lead to inefficient private sector management.

Different private investors should be involved to distribute electricity across the country to enhance competition, efficiency and to also attract more independent power producers. Additionally, this will help reduce commercial and technical losses in power supply as well as transformation of the sector to meet local demand and ensure reliability of supply. Excessive owing by government would also be eliminated when electricity distribution is operated by private investors.

Signed

Dr. Mutaka A Alolo

Executive Director



By: Godwin A. Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana

Follow @AlloteyGodwin
04.07.2016 LISTEN

The National Democratic Congress (NDC) U.S.A Chapter; the mouth piece of the Umbrella family in the United States of America and all lawfully established NDC branches in the United States, is organizing its Annual Conference and Launching of Fundraiser to support the re-election campaign of His Excellency John Dramani Mahama. This is in line with the better Ghana agenda (Changing lives and Transforming Ghana) of His Excellency John Dramani Mahama and NDC.

Our beloved Country Ghana could not have been this better without having NDC on top of affairs steering the Countrys economic wheel in the better directions as we have seen today, and that could not have been possible without the collective effort of all patriotic Ghanaians and NDC members living in the United States. NDC-USA Chapter congratulates you all. The chapter expresses its gratitude to all men and women for their efforts and contributions to the development of our country- Ghana. We salute you, however, there is still more work to be done.

President John Dramani Mahama made a pact with the sovereign people of Ghana in 2012 to deliver on their mandate in a manner that will change lives and transform our nation, Ghana. He has been delivering on this sacred mandate with a sense of urgency. Many Ghanaians agree that sterling results have been achieved in his first term in office, while strenuous efforts are being made to resolve long-standing national challenges.

The first term of President John Dramani Mahama was used to lay a strong foundation for economic take off. The second term will be used to build on the foundation he laid in his first term. Therefore, we must do all what it takes to re-elect President John D. Mahama to complete what he has started. We cannot afford to see the violent and intolerant Akuffo Addo in power.

It is in the light of this that NDC  USA Chapter is organizing its annual conference and launching of fundraiser to support the re-election campaign of President John D. Mahama and NDC. The program will be held on Saturday, July 09, 2016, at 2p.m. at 8904 62nd Avenue, Suite A, Berwyn Heights MD 20740.

The event will be witnessed by the following invited guests; H.E. Gen. Henry Smith (Ghana Ambassador to USA), Dr. Hon. Hanna Bisiw (Deputy Minister for Agriculture), Hon. Samuel Ofosu- Ampofo (Director of elections-NDC), Hon. Kofi Ator (International Relations Coordinator - NDC), Hon. Solomon Yaw Nkansah (Communication Director-NDC), as well as all executives of NDC-USA Chapter.

All NDC members, supporters, friends, and sympathizers are cordially invited to this extraordinary conference of the umbrella family.

Come and lets support the NDC to continue changing lives and transforming Ghana!

Come one, come all to support a worthy cause!

The program details are as follow:

Event: NDC- USA CHAPTER ANNUAL CONFERENCE/FUNDRAISING

Theme: Support Changing Lives and Transforming Ghana Agenda

Date: Saturday, July 9, 2016

Time: 2pm

Venue: 8904 62nd Avenue, Suite A, Berwyn Heights MD 20740.

Please call the following numbers for any further information;

508-933-3639

301-379-5293

347-749-8858

914-924-5624

Eye zu Eye za

NDC-USA Secretariat
Rome (AFP) - An Eritrean whistleblower has enabled Italian authorities to arrest a slew of people smugglers in a nationwide dragnet, police said Monday.

"A dangerous criminal network dedicated to migrant trafficking has been dismantled -- no respite for dealers in death," Interior Minister Angelino Alfano tweeted overnight Sunday in welcoming the arrest of 25 Eritreans, 12 Ethiopians and one Italian on suspicion of smuggling thousands of migrants.

The group were detained in coordinated swoops in Rome, northern Italy and Sicily after the 32-year-old Eritrean, arrested in Sicily in 2014, agreed to collaborate in return for official protection.

"I decided to cooperate because there have been too many deaths," authorities quoted the man as saying, adding that thousands of refugees who have drowned attempting to make perilous Mediterranean crossings comprise only a "small fraction" of the overall death toll.

For the first time, Italian authorities were able to learn from the whistleblower a detailed description of the traffickers, based in North Africa, Italy and other European countries, and their activities, police said.

The Eritrean gave harrowing details of how traffickers would not hesitate to kill migrants lacking sufficient funds to pay their passage and sell their organs "to Egyptian traffickers," Italian media reported the man as telling investigators.

Italian officials said the Eritrean had revealed the smugglers were also importing khat, a drug traditionally largely grown in the Horn of Africa, and organising bogus marriages for refugees.

A police raid on a Rome apartment last month as part of their investigations into the traffickers turned up a cash pile of 526,000 euros ($585,000) and $25,000 as well as a detailed register of the group's activities.

The largest migrant crisis Europe has seen since World War II has seen more than 10,000 migrants perish since 2014, including more than 2,800 so far this year, the UN refugee agency UNHCR said last month.

The closure of the Balkan route earlier this has sparked an increase in people risking perilous sea crossings via the Central Mediterranean to Italy.
04.07.2016 LISTEN

Many observers would agree with me that in recent times, there have been unprecedented (apologies to the late Mills) criminal activities in our communities.

What appears baffling to many discerning citizens though, is the fact that the suspects continued to have an unfettered fun.

Even if they, the suspects, are found guilty, their heinous crimes often do not correspond with their punishments. For the scumbags are often defended by inexorable Human Rights activists. However, in my view, the proponents of human rights often goof in their interpretations.

For, it goes without saying, routinely, criminals get away with murder, all in the name of human rights. In other words, criminals often get justice, while the victims and their love ones get the raw deal they do not deserve.

Of course, I am in agreement with the assumption that one is innocent until the individual is found guilty. Obviously, that is an honourable thing to do in attempting to unravel the jigsaw.

But then again, my bone of contention is, why should a murderer who has been found guilty in the face of admissible evidence is allowed to live?

Needless to say, everyone has the right to life, according to Article 3 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. For the right to life is a non-derogable right-no one has the God given right to take another persons life. In countries which have not abolished the death penalty, sentence of death may be imposed only for the most serious crimes in accordance with the law in force at the time of the commission of the crime (UN 1966).

Whats more, Article One of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that: All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. Human beings are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

So, why must criminals take the life of another and get away with it? Needless to say, even the Holy Book, the Bible, tells us that whoever brandishes a gun should die from the gun. That, for me, is a pragmatic stance. For An eye for an eye. Even though that will make the whole world go blind (Gandhi).

And, why not resorting to such a draconian measure, if that will indeed curb the alarming criminal activities in our homes, on the streets and in our work places.

Astonishingly, if we peruse our daily tabloids, turn on our Televisions and Radios; they are always reporting the abhorrent activities of armed robbers. Obviously, I am not referring to petty thieves-pocket pickers, goat, yam, plantain or cassava thieves. I am referring to thieves who are often equipped with machine guns, semi-automatic weapons, bazookas, and rifles.

They, the scumbags, are well marshalled, and they routinely carry out their infamous activities with military precisions, and can strike as lighting, and as deadly and destructive as molten magma.

For it is my fervent hope that none of my dear ones, friends, minions, or even my enemies, ever fall a victim to these boisterous and homicidal scumbags. These armed robbers are indeed brutal, heartless, vicious, and are scumbags of the highest order.

In fact, if you inadvertently come into contact with these homicidal brats, and fortunate enough to survive the ordeal, you will remain the luckiest person on the planet. In other words, an unfortunate encounter with these brats is simply an illustrative case of a dead man walking.

Indeed, the activities of these scumbags know no bounds. These scumbags wickedly go about stripping their victims of their hard-earned money and possessions. And, they rape, maim, kill, and leaving their victims frightened for life.

Actually, the activities of these scumbags do not end on the highways alone. They, the brats, carry their activities to our homes, banks, businesses, and market places. Therefore it is not surprising that after putting up beautiful houses, and installing doors and windows, you still have to fortify them with extra burglary iron bars.

In actual fact, people have become prisoners in their homes, primarily due to the activities of these homicidal hoodlums.

Honestly, these hoodlums are making life very unbearable for citizens and also discouraging potential investors from making any meaningful investments in the country. Thus, it is incumbent on the authorities to curb the activities of the shameless hoodlums.

We must not and cannot look on unconcerned and give in to potential nation wreckers. To this end, I will urge all Ghanaians to endeavour to collaborate with the security forces to fish out the dissolute criminals in our midst.

Perhaps, some citizens are harbouring these scumbags-armed robbers. And, whatever their reasons, it is somehow inconsequential for a true Ghanaian to shield an armed robber.

Of course, whistle blowing is volitional. However, betraying these potential nation wreckers will go a long way to brighten a corner!

Again, I would suggest that any enactment should make it unlawful for anyone to knowingly shield an armed robber. And the punishment for such act should be extreme.

Let us also remind the executive and the legislature: Enact stringent laws to deter the criminals and thereby protecting the law abiding citizens.

As a matter of fact, we cannot and must not sit idly and allow these scumbags to win the battle; bring back the capital punishment in armed robbery cases.

To be quite honest, we should not be sending them to prisons and feed them, only for them to come out and terrorise us more. That, for me, is inconsequential. Let them swallow their own bitter pills! Exterminate them!

More importantly, we should not bow easily to the International Non-Governmental Organisations (INGOs) such as the Amnesty International and the Human Rights Watch because they do not taste the insipid pills being given to us by the armed robbers. Annihilate them!

And, in default of appropriate measures to curb the appalling practices of armed robbers, it will go down as dereliction of duty on the part of the executive and the legislature. For you are obliged to protect the citizens, denizens and potential investors, so, act now, because procrastination is not the solution to a potential problem!

K. Badu, UK.
I have just chanced upon a publication in which Allotey Jacobs of NDC is decrying the attitude of Ghanaians wanting to hound out Charlotte Osei from her position as the Chair of the Electoral Commission.

It is just unfortunate that none of the NDC faithful is ever ready to tell the truth by calling the spade a spade. These NDC sycophants and bigots, of whom Allotey Jacobs stands out conspicuously, will always go the extra miles to twist the truth all for what they would like to, or stand to, get, as selfish individuals walking with their stomach.

Why cant they for once tell the truth by reprimanding or correcting one of their own when the person errs or veers off the right path? Is it not said, It does not belong to he who is leading to redirect their steps? If the one following from behind decides, as wicked and ignorant as they may be, as it is in the case of Allotey Jacobs and Charlotte Osei, not to redirect the one leading, the follower must equally have him or herself to blame.

One thing the Akan elders have made me understand, by way of proverbial admonition to their young daughters going into marriage is, your beauty will take you into marriage, but your character shall bring you back. By this, they seek to advise their daughters to be very respectful and obedient to their husbands and the entirety of the husbands family/relatives. The daughters should not spend their days lazing around but rather be industrious, helping the husband to enable both of them, the married couple, to attain their conjugal objectives in peace.

From the advice as just revealed, if the daughter by way of being irresponsibly disrespectful, doing things her own way as and when she chooses, trying to control the husband in absolute disregard of their conjugal conviviality, and in so doing the marriage breaks down and she gets sent away, who is to blame? Is it not the woman herself because of her deplorable behaviour? Should you blame the husband for chucking her out? No!!!

Similarly, who is to blame for the insults being heaped on Mrs Charlotte Osei? Who is to blame for the public outcry demanding for her resignation or sacking? Has this woman not behaved so irresponsibly, completely having no regard for the institution she heads and the collective interests of the people of Ghana?

This woman thinks because she was appointed by President Mahama, she has the absurd obligation to do the bidding of the NDC and President Mahama instead of maintaining the neutrality of her institution (Electoral Commission). Does she not think she has the power to do whatever she wants without the least consideration of the interests of the majority of the people of Ghana? By all her attitudes and actions, is she not trying to collude with NDC to rig the upcoming 2016 elections in favour of President Mahama and the NDC?

Is Charlotte Osei not being disrespectful to the Supreme Court and the people of Ghana? Has she not been warned by Supreme Court Justice Sule N. Gbadegbe that she risks plunging Ghana into trouble because of her intransigent behaviour of doing what she wants instead of operating within the laws as may be regulated by the Supreme Court?

There is no need spending my precious time on this obnoxious woman who is a shame to womanhood.

Back to Allotey Jacobs, another liar and a nation wrecker, be it known that nobody wants to kick Charlotte Osei out of office but her own autocratic behaviour bordering on mischievousness, illegalities, biases and corruption is what is forcing her out of her position if she does get kicked out.

Please readers, refer to the underlying web link to see what Allotey Jacobs had to say which has merited this rebut you have just read.

Charlotte Osei being forced to leave her post ahead of 2016 elections  Allotey Jacobs

Rockson Adofo
Too often, many of us dont want to or cant distinguish between perception and reality; so, a sizable bunch of us tends to concede quickly to the general notion that perception is synonymous with reality. Although it is well settled that there is clear-cut distance between the two preceding concepts, nonetheless a considerable number of people takes the fancy to swim in the shallow waters of selective rendition of realities of life. Psychologists may describe this phenomenon as perceptual biases. For want of time, lets limit this conversation to the biased responses from the seemingly latter-days champions of women rights in todays Ghanaian sociopolitical morass.

It is amazing to see a long list of some Ghanaian politicians, the clergy, and especially those who view themselves as women rights saints coming out swinging ferociously at the MP for Assin North Mr. Ken Agyapong for making what they regard as sexist and demeaning comment toward the current Electoral Commissioner, Charlotte Osei. For the self-imposed women rights moralists in Ghana, it looks like any damning question raised about one Ghanaian woman constitutes sweeping condemnation of all women in the country. Regrettably, it appears the ongoing debate about Mr. Kennedy Agyapongs distasteful but fair game comment on the EC is already assigned all-inclusive women-hating markers.

It may be grotesque in its urban familiarity, yet Mr. Ken Agyapongs allegation isnt in any way geared toward all smart Ghanaian women. The scathing remark the Assin North MP made is specifically directed at the Ghanaian-tax-payer-funded Electoral Commissioners competence. It does not imply that the creative and hard-working women hustling daily under the scorching sun at the Makola Market trade their bodies before securing their respective stores from Accra municipal officials.

Keep in mind the Electoral Commission per se is politically-charged and highly sensitive government position, and before accepting the job, whoever takes itwhether male or femaleis probably briefed extensively regarding sometimes the unrealistic expectations of many Ghanaians. It is doubtful Ms. Charlotte Osei is unaware of the good, the bad, and the ugly sides of her current responsibilities as the EC. Far from providing cover for the MPs undiplomatic comment about the EC, those Ghanaians spitting fire indiscriminately at Mr. Ken Agyapong in the name of sexism and women rights are rather coming across as cynics and opportunists. How many times do they come in defense of other Ghanaian women sexually and verbally attacked every day, even by their own husbands, boyfriends, and others?

The paradox in this context cant be overlooked. When does a verbal attack leveled against one male public official rub off on all male officials everywhere? When it comes to the EC, it becomes a different ball game, entirely. Contemporary societies, including Ghana, in cacophonic fashion talk about equal rights, due process, and justice for all people without regard to race, sex, national origin, creed, religion, and the so-called gender. But in the same vein, whenever some men comment on the acumen of an individual female in top-ranking position, people begin invoking the women card and spin it to make it seem as if all women are under verbal assault.

The result is that it has almost become a norm for many women rights championsgenuine and fake ones aliketo start reminding us about the deep-seated misogynistic tendencies societies we have been exposed to in the past up till now. This victimhood perception makes it tricky and at times difficult to even raise any legitimate question about some influential womens misconducts in decision-making positions irrespective of the situation.

As indicated earlier, many of these scenarios coalesce with perceptual biases. People who easily give in to perceptual biases in the face of any unfolding event or information analysis always end up drawing far less optimal conclusions because of their already distorted thought processes. Saying that women have been demeaned as a group in the past, so, uttering demeaning comment about a particular woman demeans all women is a self-defeatist, stereotypical thinking premised on preconceived bias on the part of Ghanas women rights apologists. On its face value, the manner of the comments delivery by Mr. Ken Agyapong appears unsavory; but, it doesnt mean people have to jump into hasty generalizations. After all, we dont know whether or not he has solid evidence to back up his claim about the EC.

In fact, perceptual biases predispose us to interpret every event or data that does not conform to our prejudicial mindset with suspicions. Perceptual biases thrive on our propensity to twist coinciding realities into a one causative story. Thus, since Mr. Ken Agyapong is an influential man in the so-called male-dominant Ghanaian society, his comment about Ms. Oseis competence naturally makes him a women hater, who thinks all women cant perform complex task without mens help or favors.

The foregoing line of thinking and shouts of lawsuit would not do anything to help move substantive Ghanaian women issues forward. The threats of court action noises coming from some of the officials of the ruling government serve as escape routes for the NDCs mismanagement of the countrys economy, including the Ford Expedition truck bribery expose involving President Mahama. One wonders if Ms. Charlotte Osei happens to be one of the poor women living with an abusive husband in the rural area in Ghana will still attract the same attention and nationwide sympathy from all-over-the-place clergy, Gender Minister Nana Oye Lithur, the low-performing Foreign Minister Hanna Tetteh and the like. Please, let the true women rights champions in Ghana stand up because many of us know them.

The writer is based in Georgia, USA. He can be reached at: [email protected]
It is not everyone who gets a mention in the Forbes Magazine. To think that you 24-years-old and you doubted you would get the support you need to push you to establish anything.

For John Armah, making a difference in the lives of young people has always been a dream. Dynamic, smart, resourceful, visionary...no better words can describe the 24-year-old CEO.

My passion is to reduce unemployment, my ultimate goal is looking out for where the jobs are in Ghana and how to get young people those jobs, John told JOY BUSINESS VAN's Daryl Kwawu as he walked him into his office located at North Kaneshie in Accra.

Mr Armah owns Orios Group which has three subsidiaries; Business advisory firm, Ghana Centre for Entrepreneurship, Employment and Innovation, Trade Invest, an agribusiness advisory and farm management firm and Orios Capital, a patient capital investments firm.

His entrepreneurship drive started while he was a teen when he decided to set up a job recruitment agency for young people his age.

Initially, I asked myself if I was on the right path. At every point, I didnt have money to continue or I had people who said I couldnt make it, I thought to myself, would it work? a reflective John said.

But Mr Armah wouldnt keep his passion to himself. He has mentored several young people to get to where he is by periodically organizing seminars and helping them build capacity. He has inspired over 10,000 young people in six years.

As time went by, each year he saw progress in the number of people who would walk up to him and say, John I was at this event of yours and I got inspiration to take my business to the next level.

Some of the young people he has mentored include Gideon Padi Konotey, owner of agribusiness firm, Goat Masters and CEO of Oasis Websoft, Raindolf Owusu.

The stories are my breakthrough. I want to see a world where young people see themselves as having the best potential ever and knowing they can be whatever they want to be regardless of their age, John remarked.

Mr Armah's hard work has chalked him several accolades; the recent being listed among the 2016 class of 30 outstanding African entrepreneurs under the age of 30 by popular American business magazine Forbes.

It validates the work we are doing. It shows that we have a business that will continue to grow to affect a lot more lives. Its been worth this journey and it tells me there is hope, Mr Armah said.

Mr Armah is just warming up he said. He wants to support a lot of Ghanaian startups. Not only build their capacity but provide them with funding.

Story by Ghana| Myjoyonline.com | Joy Business
04.07.2016 LISTEN

Presently in Ghana, there is a widespread alarm about the quality of education at all levels. By and large, this concern is articulated in terms of the inability of students to think critically and generate ideas and the level of skills possessed by tertiary graduates for the labor market. The bigger worry is that budgetary allocation on education in Ghana is very large and yet, for most industry players, Ghanas educational system is not churning out the human personnel that its needs.

Lots of discussions have been done on different platforms to help bring quality in our education. As someone who has spent the greater part of my life in the education sector and has been exposed to different forms of learning, I am a little taken aback when I see or hear that most of these platforms that seek to promote quality education in our system deliberately or unconsciously refuse to look at the relationship between school-building environment and student performance especially at the lower levels. To send a child to school simply means that you send him or her to an institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for teaching and learning under the direction of teachers . The creativity we demand from our graduates should be instilled in them right from the lower levels.

The sad reality is that the structure and environment of our learning centers do not encourage our students to express themselves to be creative. I believe time has come for us as a way of improving our learning centers to adopt what is done in most schools around the world; The application of smarter surfaces in every aspect of learning in our schools. The smart Surface is a coating that transforms any surface (wall, desks and tables) into a write on whiteboard. This adds a more functionality and purpose to surfaces around students in the schools compound and in the classrooms. With these surfaces, students and teachers are given the unlimited possibilities to plan and collaborate, share and develop, learn, teach and brainstorm and innovate. This encourages a sense of group togetherness and makes all students feel like part of a more relaxed, creative world. In my opinion, this is what quality education is about.

Learning for the child must start right from the walls of the school through to the main compound to the classroom itself. What do we see in most of our schools, especially, the government public schools? How often do we get students inspired and ready to learn through the paintings, drawings, pictures and colors around? Children are moved by good learning atmosphere. We are in a world where both students and teachers must be able to communicate and iterate ideas in a fast-paced and quickly changing landscape. Every school now needs well designed beautiful walls and surfaces which can be used to communicate to the students. These walls and surfaces must at all times talk to the students. Every day in life represents the celebration of something historic. How do we capture this bit of history to our learners who better learn through pictorial activities? Obviously, one does not have to travel to space and come back before he or she can tell whether these things have positive impacts on the level of creativity of students.

Learning at the lower levels is supposed to be fun and should not necessarily have to exist in the classroom. Once most of the surfaces in our schools are made smarter surfaces, the children will have large spaces in communicating their ideas. Also, with these smarter surfaces, the schools can create their own Notice Boards at which ever corner of the school they want, students and teachers will be left with Presentations options, schools can also create their Idea generations board, etc The advantage with the smart surfaces is that its application is very flexible and surfaces can be wiped down in minutes and can be used by another team. What this means is that the huge cost of painting and repainting our schools which communicates nothing can be done away with. My observation is that children working on smarter surfaces are in better health as they are encouraged to move more.

As evidence of how learning environments enhances performance, records show that students at the private schools at the primary and secondary levels are always ranked higher as compared to their mates in the government or public schools. Truth is, most of these private schools seem to be doing something right. They believe that the attractiveness of the learning environment is enough to facilitate learning. Once the learners entering the schools psyche themselves with the ideas on the walls, they next interact with the smarter surfaces on their school tables and the classroom walls.

With my years of teaching, I can say that a school atmosphere and structures has a way of affecting the learning spirit of students. Students are always moved by pleasant surrounding to boost their desire to learn. I believe its time the managers of our system of education took a second look at the objective and the type of students they want to churn out. If they really want to see graduates who are creative and can think on the feet, then the journey starts from equipping the children at the lower levels with the right form of learning. My stand is still the same-Smarter Surfaces, the right direction for learning in our schools.

Eric Ziem Bibiebome

[email protected]
The Inspector General of Police (IGP), John Kudalor, who is on a 2-day working visit in the Ashanti Region will meet senior police officers and confer with the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II at the Manhyia.

He is expected to meet the Ashanti Regional Minister, John Alexander Kwabena Ackon who also doubles as chairman of the Regional Security Council to discuss the security situation in the Region before commissioning a police station at Asaam near Mampong to end the first day's activities.

Mr. Kudalor on the second day will be at the Regional Police Training School to commission Public Order Equipment, Service vehicles and other police projects.

Later in the day, senior police officers; including Chief Inspectors and inspectors will have the opportunity to interact with the number one constable at a durbar at the Miklin Hotel.

Mr Kudalor will also inspect a guard in his honour at Atwima Ofoase where he would commission a police station there.

The IGP's visit comes less than a week President Mahama ended a 3-day Accounting to the People tour.
04.07.2016 LISTEN

A police officer has been shot dead by armed robbers at Kukuom in the Brong Ahafo region.

Corporal Humphrey Lumor was shot while he attempted to foil a robbery attack on June 30, 2016 on a road between Kukuom and Bibiani near Anwiaso.

This is the second time such an incident has occurred in the region in two months.

The robbers reportedly blocked a section of the Kukuom-Bibiani Road to steal from commuters.

The Public Relations Officer of the Brong Ahafo Regional Police Command, ASP Christopher Tawiah, told journalists the armed robbers fired shots at Police officers who upon a tip off came to rescue the commuters.

Corporal Humphrey Lumor sustained gunshot and was sent to the Goaso Hospital but passed on Saturday July 02, 2016 at the hospital.

His body has been transferred to the Police hospital morgue in Accra, ASP Tawiah said.

ASP Tawiah appealed to the Roads and Highways Ministry to employ people to weed along highways, since most robbers hide in these weeds to attack commuters.

Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com
Takoradi, July 4, GNA - Mr Paul Evans Aidoo, Western Regional Minister, says government has made tremendous efforts through social intervention schemes, aimed at improving the lots of the people.

He listed some of the interventions as the construction of asphalt roads, resealing of rural feeder and urban roads, provision of school infrastructure, CHP compounds to improve access to health care and the general improvement in communication infrastructure.

He said these are key components of the government to changing the lives of the populace.

Mr Aidoo was speaking at the 2016 'Government for the People' Forum spearheaded by the Ministry of Communications to enable direct interaction by the citizenry with government on development of the country and its people.

The Forum on the theme: 'Changing Lives, Transforming Ghana,' brought together traditional and religious leaders, civil society organisations and members from the various political divide.

Mr Aidoo said the various development projects notwithstanding, illegal mining, sea erosion and other unmotorable feeder roads within the corridors of the Region continue to be a big challenge.

'Government is in the process of finding lasting solutions to these problems,' he said.

One key area of concern according to him, was rural water supply coverage, which is still low and below the national coverage.

Ms Joyce Bawa, the Deputy Minister for Transport, said government had developed a master plan for the rail sector while a transaction adviser had been procured to restore the defunct Ghana Airways.

Again, government is to establish air transport facilities in all the regions to facilitate transportation.

Ms Bawa hinted that it is probable that pilgrims from the Northern Regions may be air lifted directly to Saudi Arabia instead of converging at Accra amidst the numerous annual inconveniences.

Mr Samuel Okudzetu Ablakwa, the Deputy Minister of Education in Charge of Tertiary lauded the Region for the great performance during the Basic Education Certificate Examination year under review.

He said eight out of the 22 districts in the Region occupied the topmost positions as against the well-endowed schools.

The Deputy Minister mentioned that the topmost districts were from the northern parts of the region with Sefwi-Akontombra topping the list.

Mr Ablakwa said: 'This indicates that given the right kind of attitude, personal touch, love for the children and sacrifices, our children even in the hinterlands can march boot by boot with city folks.' GNA
04.07.2016 LISTEN

The Kumasi Traditional Council (KTC) has summoned the Metro Chief Executive of the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA) to appear before it today, Monday July 4, at 9 am, without fail.

The KMA boss has incurred the wrath of members of the Council, headed by the Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, for questioning the status of Nana Agyenim Boateng I, chief of Amoaman, who represents the Ashanti King on the Kejetia Lorry Terminal redevelopment project.

On June 13, 2016, the mayor purportedly wrote a letter duly signed by his good self to the Amoamanhene. He reportedly raised a number of concerns and demanded the evidence, creditability and locus of the representative chief on the project.

The mayor also accused the chief of extortion in the name of the project and demanded why the KMA should reimburse him (chief) for expenses made in his capacity as Otumfuos rep. Kojo Bonsu also queried the chief for taking some actions regarding the project without consulting him the KMA boss.

The said letter copied to the Ashanti Regional Minister, the Minister of Local Government and Rural Development and the Consultant to CONTRACTA Engenharia Limited, the Brazilian construction firm executing the $198 million project, comes as a result of the mayors fear

that the chief might usurp his authority as far as the project is concerned. He is not comfortable with the Amoamanhene taking Otumfuo round the project one Sunday to acquaint himself with the progress of work at a time the mayor had indicated he would not be available for the royal inspection at the project site.

The KTC considers the purported letter and resultant confrontation ofthe Amoamanhene as Otumfuos rep as an embarrassment and an affront to Manhyia and the occupant of the Golden Stool in the face of confirmation by the Chief of Staff at Asantehene Secretariat that Nana Amoamanhene represents Otumfuo on the project and, therefore, the liaison between the KMA and Manhyia palace.

Nananom are angered by the fact that the Mayor, a born Ashanti, who even claims to be a royal and answers to Oheneba occasionally, should go out of his way and question Otumfuos representation in the face of existing evidence. The KTC has consequently directed the Registrar, Mr. Enoch Okyere to invite the mayor to its meeting today at 9am to explain the contents of his letter of June 13, 2016, before the august house.

KojoBonsu would have to appear before the KTC in the company of the Regional Minister. The invitation is basically to afford the mayor the opportunity to explain himself on the rationale behind his letter to Nananom members of the Council.

The proposed meeting would also enable the KTC to verify if the mayor indeed did author the said letter for the necessary action to be taken. The decision to invite the mayor was taken at a meeting of the KTC last Thursday, after the Amoamanhene had officially complained to the house. He tabled the concerns of Kojo Bonsu, per the letter read to the house, by Registrar Okyere.

In times past, one could lose his head for disregarding or undermining the authority of Asantehene, hence the pacification rite in the slaughtering of a sheep last Thursday by the KTC for the embarrassment the mayor has caused the Otumfuo and the Amoamanhene.

Mr. Sammy Gyamfi, Kojo Bonsus Personal Assistant has declined to comment on the issue. Thank you sir, but no comment, the mayors spokesman said tersely in a response to The Chronicle's enquiry through whatsapp.

From Sebastian R. Freiku, Kumasi
Freetown (AFP) - Sierra Leone has some of the finest beaches in the world, but many around the capital are now clogged with foul-smelling seaweed that threatens the tourism and fishing sectors.

At Lumley Beach in the west end of Freetown, a putrid brownish-yellow carpet began covering the white sands a week ago, prompting and fishermen to don face masks to ward off the stench.

A local environmentalist estimated that there are now more than four tonnes of seaweed deposited over the sparkling sands, with the capital's 14 other beaches also badly affected.

Veteran beachcomber Salifu Deen told AFP while strolling near the shore, "the seaweed is back in volumes and the stench is unbearable."

"Most locals and particularly tourists will be put off by the smell," he said.

Tourism Minister Sidi Yahya Tunis told AFP on Saturday a clean-up operation had begun.

"We have undertaken a massive mechanism for a daily clearing exercise using dredgers. The weeds are taking over the beaches and this is unfortunate," he said.

Professor Percival Showers of the Institute of Marine Biology and Oceanography, Fourah Bay College, said the seaweed had come from the Sargasso Sea, in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, carried by unusual weather patterns.

Hardest hit by the deposits are fishermen and fishmongers who depend on the daily catch to supply local markets and nearby hotel chains.

"It is difficult for me to face my family as I can see the disappointment on the faces of my wife and four children when I return home in the evening without a catch. We cannot even cast our nets as all we fish out are seaweeds with tormenting smells," said fisherman Mustapha Koroma.

Fishmonger Mariatu Bundu was equally despondent.

"For many days now, we have gone to the various beaches and returned empty handed. I am worried that I would soon lose my customers as some have said they would rather eat meat instead," she said.
Government has said it will not exhibit any leniency in dealing with individuals found to have undermined the security of the state following the incendiary comments by two panelists on Montie FM.

A statement signed by the Interior Minister, Prosper Bani, said government expects the security agencies to take firm action against persons whose utterances and actions undermine the peace, security and stability of the state.

The Montie FM panelists Alistair Nelson, along with one Godwin Ako Gunn, allegedly threatened to finish the Supreme Court and High Court judges if they made any judgment against the Electoral Commission (EC) in the ongoing court case challenging the validity of the voters' register.

The two have been widely rebuked for the comments with the Ghana Bar Association (GBA) on Friday further calling for the arrest and prosecution of the two, saying the comments were also meant to incite hatred among the public against the judges.

The statement further noted that, while Government continues to respect freedom of expression, offensive and irresponsible conduct by sections of the media and some political actors/commentators.

Government has further warned media to be wary of the laws of the pertaining to national security and public order as they go about their activities.

Owners and employees of mass media outlets are reminded that they are subject to laws pertaining to national security, public order, the protection of reputations and rights and freedoms of others.

Find below the full statement.

GOVERNMENT ASSURES THE JUDICIARY, MANAGERS OF THE ELECTORAL PROCESS AND ALL GHANAIANS OF THEIR SAFETY

Government has noted the rising spate of abusive and incendiary language used by some political actors and the threat this poses to the nation's security and stability.

Government condemns the offensive and irresponsible conduct by sections of the media and some political actors/commentators.

While Government continues to respect freedom of expression, it expects the security agencies to take firm action(s) against persons whose utterances and actions undermine the peace, security and stability of the state.

In this regard Government notes the swift action taken by the Bureau of National Investigations to ensure the safety and security of members of the Judiciary.

Additionally Government is taking steps to enhance the personal security of Judges to enable them discharge their functions without fear or favour.

Government also notes the upsurge in inflammatory rhetoric against key managers of the electoral process calculated to compromise their independence and security and is taking further steps to improve their personal security.

Indeed Government wishes to assure the general public that it will not shirk its responsibility to protect the peace and security of the country.

Owners and employees of mass media outlets are reminded that they are subject to laws pertaining to national security, public order, the protection of reputations and rights and freedoms of others.

POSPER D.K. BANI, MINISTER, Issued In Accra on Monday, 4th July, 2016



By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana
SME bank, Union Savings and Loans has made a donation worth GH15,000 to the inmates of the Drug and Alcohol Free Awareness and Rehab Centre (DAFAREC) as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility.

The donation was done in partnership with the Narcotics Control Board (NACOB) and Claron Health International as part of weeklong activities to mark the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking of drugs.

Research conducted by NACOB in the various psychiatric hospitals in Ghana has shown that about 10 to 15 percent of patients between the ages of 10 to 35 cases reported are drug related. It is reported that rate of abuse of drugs by the youth 10 to 27 years is high.

Making the presentation, Corporate Affairs Manager of Union Savings and Loans, Yaa Fosuah Gyamfi said Union was always ready to promote sustainable initiatives that drive social change, improve peoples lives and solve pressing social needs.

Every year, we use this opportunity to partner other stakeholders and institutions whose objectives generally fall in line with our CSR objectives to create a positive impact in society.

Unions Corporate Social Responsibility programme is dubbed Growing Communities; ensuring that people are healthy, educated and protected.

Our assistance emphasises our dedication to Growing Communities, as it focuses on a section of the marginalised group (the inmates) in the society, Ms Gyamfi said.

The donation would among others cater for the centres accommodation bill and other basic needs such as food and clothing.

Story by Ghana| Myjoyonline.com | Daryl Kwawu | Joy Business
Nkawkaw (E/R), July 04, GNA - Nana Addo Dankwah Akufo-Addo, Presidential Candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), has called for Ghanaians to overwhelmingly vote for change.

He said the coming election was about the progress and future of the nation and that it was important voters made the right decision to restore hope and confidence to the troubled economy.

Nana Akufo-Addo was addressing a rally at Nkawkaw as part of his five-day election campaign tour of the Eastern Region.

He attributed the widespread economic suffering and joblessness to poor leadership, evident from what he claimed, was the bad governance and mismanagement of the nation's economic resources.

He said his government would work with zeal to grip and turn the economy around - put it on even keel to create jobs.

Nana Akufo-Addo lashed out at the ruling government for inflicting untold pain on the people and cited high utility bills, rising unemployment and high cost of education.

He stated that Ghanaians deserved better and that the NPP would deliver to the expectation of the people - to transform their living conditions.

He wooed the electorate to trust the party with their votes.

GNA
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business Lack of demand, poor infra growth still a worry: Sarda Energy Lump ore is now available at Rs 1700 a tonne with NMDC and Sarda Energy, which sources iron ore from it, said that import prices will be beneficial to the plants situated at the coast and not to the ones at landlocked places, said the director Manish Sarda.
business Buy Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, says Prayesh Jain Prayesh Jain of IIFL recommends buying Oil and Natural Gas Corporation at the current level.
Twenty first century successful retailers need to nail the online market. If Apple is the tech stock to beat, Amazon is the biggest threat to most modern day retailers.

But according to equity research by Morningstar Select, large format DIY retailers have some inherent competitive advantages that should limit penetration by online and discount players to well below the retail average.

Equity analyst Philip Gorman and his team compared prices of almost 1,200 products on B&Q's website DIY.com to the same items on Amazon.co.uk and found that not only is B&Q competitive on price, but that it was leveraging its scale advantages to maximise pricing.

B&Q is owned by home improvement company Kingfisher (KGF) which also owns five other major DIY stores operating across Europe. Kingfisher makes price concessions where it has to in categories where no competitive advantage exists. But in more specialised areas such as flooring, kitchens, and heating, B&Q is more expensive. Making products instatntly available to consumers means bricks and mortar retail beats online when it comes to these kind of goods  consumers what to see, feel, try before they buy. Specialising in one retail area has helped Kingfisher make efficiencies. A decade ago, the company was a multi-category retailer; and had no moat (competitive advantage). But since specialising in home improvement the company has built up a moat and one that low uncertainty. Plus Kingfisher is a four-star rated stock, meaning analysts think it is currently trading at less than its fair value. Although the stock rallied in 2013, we believe there is still an opportunity to invest, said Gorman. With British house prices rising and the government propping up the housing market with its Help to Buy scheme, business momentum is gathering in Kingfisher's largest market. Our estimates are above consensus, and an upside surprise in the U.K. could be a near-term catalyst for the stock to reach our fair value estimate.

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The distressingly inadequate level of support from the British Columbia government is chiefly responsible for the mushrooming of a tent city right behind the provincial courthouse in Victoria, locals said.Victoria residents attested to the proliferation of property crimes that stem from the dreadful living conditions in the community.It's just awful what's going on here, local Stephen Hammond told Chris Brown of CBC News.At least four tenants have already moved out of the building across Hammonds home due to robberies, threats, and intimidation.In a country like Canada, we should not be having people living like this. It's horrendous, the conditions people are living in there, he said, pointing at the absence of a robust social housing program and support for addiction and mental health as factors exacerbating the situation.[Officials] are taking the cheapest way out possible. They have completely obliterated social programs in this province, Hammond opined.The rock-bottom vacancy rates and the miniscule $375/month provincial welfare stipend have coalesced into a dangerous cocktail that might very well prove to be a ticking social time bomb, observers warned.The makeshift tent colony has attracted much attention from various quarters since its formation around seven months ago.University of Victoria nursing professor Bernie Pauly, who regularly checks out the conditions in the tent city, co-signed a petition in May to convince the provincial government to reconsider in its plans to evict the campers.Until we see housing for everyone we will continue to see tent cities, because they are a better alternative than being in a doorway, Pauly said.The provincial government went in front of the B.C. Supreme Court for the second time in three months to iron out the issue. In the first hearing, Chief Justice Christopher Hinkson ruled in favor of the tent city by saying that no other viable options for the campers currently exist.
Which Wich will conclude its seventh annual Flag Your Bag campaign today after collecting more than 50 customer-designed brown paper bags at its Midland store.

The campaign, which takes place in Which Wich locations around the nation, encourages customers to draw on the restaurants paper brown bags with red and blue markers.

The restaurant, which fills the bags with snacks as well as personal letters from employees, sends these bags to American servicemen and women and veterans.

It just shows that we support our troops and that we appreciate what theyre doing for us, Which Wich Area Director Tom Granger said. Every little thing you can do for them is a bonus.

The program began in 2010 as a way for Which Wich customers and employees to show their appreciation to both troops and veterans. Since then, the restaurant has collected more than 10,000 customer-designed bags, which they have sent to service members around the world.

The Midland location will deliver the bags that it collects this year closer to home.

Its more of a local thing, Midland Which Wich manager Chris McLester said. Instead of sending it overseas, we send it to military bases, like the one in San Angelo.

In addition to the Flag your Bag campaign, Which Wich offers servicemen and women a 10 percent discount at any of their more than 300 locations nationwide.
The state issues licenses to hundreds of professions, and the Department of Public Safety can withhold licenses for specific crimes.

DPS says it has to be careful in licensing employees as security guards, locksmiths and alarm companies, because those professions deal with people with extra vulnerability. A spokesman told the Austin American-Statesman newspaper that the agency had followed its rules.

Christopher Owen was denied a state employment license because he had been arrested for stealing socks from a Goodwill drop-off trailer after losing his job.

Krystal Turner was arrested for criminal trespass after staying in an abandoned house while homeless. Five years later, the state also denied her an employment license.

Owen and Turner both appealed their rejections to the State Office of Administrative Hearings. Judges said each applicant deserved the license they had requested, but their decisions were strictly advisory. The Department of Public Safety will now decide whether to accept those recommendations.

Owen applied last year for an alarm salesperson license, but was denied by the agency due to the November 2014 arrest. He was arrested as he was going through a job loss, a divorce and the destruction of his home in a fire, according to court records.

Turner said she was homeless in late 2011 when she entered an abandoned house near the University of Texas and was arrested the next day. She received a 15-day sentence at the Travis County Jail.

She eventually received housing through her church and work at a lube garage. She would become a store manager at another shop and started to take classes at a local community college. Her boss said her "honesty and work ethics are impeccable."

But the trespassing case was cited by DPS in denying her an application for a state vehicle inspector's license.

Agencies are allowed to weigh mitigating factors and the efforts someone has made to change against a criminal record. But Jason Ray, a former attorney for DPS who now specializes in administrative law as a private lawyer, said DPS "has traditionally been one of the agencies least likely to exercise its discretion."

___

Information from: Austin American-Statesman, http://www.statesman.com
Everyone should read Declaration of Independence

The signing of the Declaration of Independence informed the king of England that as of this date, July 4, 1776 we shall become known as the United States of America and we shall no longer be subject to any of your laws.

I am a World War II veteran, and at age 92 my memory is not as good as it used to be. However, I can remember one of my older brothers for most every Fourth of July providing me with some firecrackers which I used as dynamite. I would place it in a hole I had made in a dirt embankment that sloped down to street level, also of dirt, in front of where we lived at 300 S. Big Spring Street here in Midland. Then, boom! The dirt would fly in all directions and I would have to dig another hole. What fun I had till I ran out of firecrackers. I would guess my age at that time about 7 or 8.

I was the last born of 10 children and I do not recall my Papa, my Mama or any of my siblings (two girls and eight boys) educating me on what I was taking part in celebrating. Independence Day, as John Wayne would say, not hardly. I begin going to school at age 6, so I could have been in the third grade and I do not recall being taught in school. I must have learned what the Fourth of July was all about when on my first job selling the MRT on the streets of Midland at age 11.

It would behoove everyone to read the Declaration of Independence, for without that declaration we would not have a Constitution, no America and no flag to wave or to pledge allegiance.

My challenge: read it and then email me (ww2vet@grandecom.net) and tell me in your own words your thoughts about the sentence: That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the constant of the governed. Then I will give you mine in return. Thank you.

Thomas Flournoy

Try veggie burgers, soy dogs for July 4 barbecue

What ever happened to the good old days when our worst worries on the Fourth of July were traffic jams and wayward fireworks?

A well-warranted worry, according to the Department of Agricultures Meat & Poultry Hotline, is food poisoning by nasty E. coli and salmonella bugs hiding in hot dogs and hamburgers at millions of backyard barbecues. The hotlines advice is to grill them longer and hotter. Of course, they avoid mentioning that the high-temperature grilling that kills the bugs also happens to form cancer-causing compounds.

Fortunately, some forward-thinking U.S. food manufacturers have solved these issues by creating an amazing assortment of healthy and delicious veggie burgers and soy dogs. No nasty pathogens or cancer-causing compounds in these tasty plant-based foods. They dont even carry cholesterol, saturated fats, antibiotics or pesticides. And, they are conveniently waiting for us at almost every supermarket.

This Fourth of July offers a great opportunity to declare our independence from the meat industry and to share wholesome veggie burgers and soy dogs with our family and friends.

Matt Rooks
Speaker is totally wrong in his ...
On this Independence Day the Governor of California has issued an official state proclamation.

You can read it below:

On July 2nd, 1776, in the midst of the Revolutionary War, the Second Continental Congress approved a resolution of independence, drafted by delegate Richard Henry Lee of Virginia, which gave force of law to our separation from the colonial power of Great Britain. Two days later, this resolution was made public in the form of the Declaration of Independence, whose primary author was Thomas Jefferson. Each year since then, we have celebrated the fourth day of July as Independence Day, the birthday of the United States of America.

The famous principles enshrined in the Declaration of Independence are not only the foundation of our countrys freedom: they have become a global standard for the liberty and autonomy of all peoples. As we participate in Fourth of July traditions from midday barbecues to evening pyrotechnics, I urge all Californians to remember the convictions of our forebears that led them to create a new nation, the courage of those who fought to make and keep us independent and the great work that lies ahead as we strive to fulfill the American dream.

NOW THEREFORE I, EDMUND G. BROWN JR., Governor of the State of California, do hereby proclaim July 4, 2016, as Independence Day.
An Orange County man has logged thousands of hours as a volunteer for Orlando Police Department. And at the age of 78, Everyday Hero Johnny Stringer is their top volunteer.

Johnny Stringer has contributed to more than 1,300 hours as an Orlando Police Department citizen observer

He did this when he retired to Central Florida in 2003

He hopes being a constant figure in the community gives neighbors sense of security



Well it makes you feel good, of course, to come out to be number one. I wasnt striving to be number one. I just come and do what I do, he said with a smile, continuing, Then it makes you feel like you really are helping, doing something worthwhile.

Stringer was given the award for contributing nearly 1,300 hours of service to the city. Each day, Stringer drives around the west side for hours, serving as the eyes and ears of OPD.

This is something I did later in life. Matter of a fact, its after I retired, he said, mentioning his own janitorial business in San Francisco. Stringers second chapter landed him in Central Florida, where in 2003, he noticed a call-to-action for citizen observers.

I read it in the newspaper they were looking for some volunteers, he recalled. They were looking for people to ride around in cars and observe.

Following a 12-week course, Stringer began putting in several hours of work a day. That progressed, he said, to six or seven hours, with time.

When I got into it, I really liked it, said Stringer.

The Everyday Hero said hes had neighbors come up to his car, thanking him for patrolling their community. There were even times he drove up to trouble  that quickly dissipated.

I rode up on a bunch of guys fighting. It was a gang on the west side, he said. I got out to the car, they were swinging away at each other. Then, when they saw me, they all scattered, took off.

While Stringer has no power to make an arrest, he simply hopes that being a constant figure in the community deters crime and gives neighbors a sense of security.

The hope is that I can be some help to keep down crime by my presence, he said. I found out I was really helping out.


Two local leaders took the holiday weekend to take a gun class after recent violent attacks in the central Florida area.

Mayors of Sanford, DeBary took part in class

Class provided tips on self defense, overall awareness

The mayors of Sanford and DeBary urged residents to get training, as well.



If you do it right, its safe," said DeBary mayor Clint Johnson. "And thats the key to this, just to be as safe as possible.



Both Johnson and Sanford mayor Jeff Triplett decided to take a firearms and safety course after the recent mass shooting at Pulse and, less than one week later, Sanfords Mayor Jeff Triplett was carjacked at gunpoint.



Triplett was robbed of his car keys, his wallet containing $300 and his Mercedes-Benz while outside of a friends house.



I didnt have one and I was carjacked, and best case scenario in a situation like that is the fact that I am standing here talking about it right now, Triplett said.



Johnson believes all residents should know who to properly fire and store a weapon.



Guns arent going away," said Johnson. "To have the knowledge and experience with the guns makes it safer to be around. Kid that's never touched a gun before is gonna throw it around and be unsafe. A kid that was raised up around it and taught how to safely handle it, is going to treat it with respect, as it needs to be.



During the class, participants got tips on self defense and being aware of their surroundings. While Triplett hopes he never has the need to use a gun, he wants to make sure hes prepared.



Self awareness, being alert, knowing what is around you and being ready to react or act prior to or afterwards, said Triplett.


A Leesburg husband and wife and their adult son were the victims of a crash Friday night on the Howard Frankland Bridge. The Florida Highway Patrol released the names of the victims Sunday morning.

Robert Getter, 76, and Karen Getter, 73, died at scene



Samuel Getter, 52, died at Tampa General Hospital

Driver of 2nd car in crash faces 3 counts of DUI manslaughter

According to troopers, Robert Getter, 76, and his wife, Karen Getter, 73, died after their 2012 GMC Sierra pickup truck was clipped by another vehicle. The Pickup overturned, went over the southern concrete barrier of the bridge and fell into the water below.

The couple's son, 52-year-old son Samuel Getter, died at Tampa General Hospital.

The Lake County Shrine Club says Robert Sam Getter, who went by his middle name, was an active member and served as the unit's treasurer, while Karen Getter was part of the ladies' auxiliary.

Sam was just a guy when you see him, he would give you a big hug. Everyone just loved him, said Mariners Unit member James Ferrantelli.

Lee Frazier, president of the Lake County Shrine Club, said Sam was his bingo manager and helped organize transportation for kids to Shriner's Children's Hospitals in Tampa.

He was a gentleman, Karen was a lady, and his son  I knew him for at least eight years  he worked in California," Frazier said. "He was here, I guess, visiting his parents."

The driver of the car that clipped the Getters' truck, Joshua Burbank, 25, of Wesley Chapel faces several charges, including three counts of DUI manslaughter, one count DUI property damage and careless driving.
A man is in critical condition and four other people are in stable condition Monday after an uncle who went to a Deltona home to check on his niece found her and the others passed out, the Volusia County Sheriffs Office stated.

1 man is in critical condition

Others are in stable condition

Alcohol, unknown drugs may be the cause, officials say

Volusia Sheriff's spokesman Gary Davidson said in an email to News 13 that the incident involved three women and two men at 777 Coleman Ave.

The uncle went to the house early Monday to check on his niece, who lives at the house with one of the other women, and found four people unconscious and another semiconscious and somewhat incoherent, according to Davidson. All are thought to be in their early to mid-20s.



Nearby residents described the neighborhood as quiet.

We didnt hear any loud music that would bring attention to the fact that theyre having some kind of partying," Tish Bruceles said. "It was actually relatively quiet aside from all the fireworks.

Three of the adults were taken to Florida Hospital Fish Memorial in Orange City and two went to Central Florida Regional Hospital in Sanford, according to Davidson. One man is in critical condition at Fish Memorial. The other four people are awake and stable.

Based on preliminary information, it appears that the five were partying at a club in Orlando, including consuming alcohol and unknown drugs, and then at some point relocated to the residence on Coleman Avenue. Its unknown at this time whether the two females who live at the residence previously knew the other three victims or met them last night while partying in Orlando, Davidson wrote in the email.

I just think people need to be more careful about what they do," neighbor Julia Gernaey said. "I hope they do good. I hope this is a lesson well learned.

The investigation is ongoing.
A jury sent word to a judge Tuesday that it has reached verdicts in the cases of seven of 11 Miami police officers accused of corruption. The judge said the verdicts would remain sealed and sent jurors back to work.

In a note, jurors also told U.S. District Judge Alan Gold that they had reached a verdict on some charges against an eighth officer but deadlocked on the other three. They are in their 11th day of deliberations.

After consulting with the lawyers involved in the case, Gold didn't open the sealed envelope holding the verdicts. Instead, he called jurors into open court for the first time since deliberations began March 20 to ask them to try to reach unanimous verdicts on everyone.

The jury left for the day without offering any more notes.

The 11 officers are accused of planting guns on unarmed suspects after police shootings or covering it up. The four shootings, from 1995 to 1997, left three men dead and one wounded.

The jury is considering 33 counts of conspiracy, perjury and obstruction of justice. Different sets of officers are charged in the four shootings covered by the indictment. If convicted, most could face up to 10 years.

The officers were all assigned to elite undercover teams. According to the note to the judge, the jurors have reached verdicts in the cases against Jesse Aguero, Art Beguiristain, Jorge Castello, Rafael Fuentes, Eli Lopez, Alex Macias and Oscar Ronda. A partial verdict has been reached on Jose Acuna, but the jury was still split on all charges against Jorge Garcia, Israel Gonzalez and Jose Quintero.
A wonderful crowd, a perfect summer day and great musicians contributed to the success of the patriotic concert by the Plainview Symphonic Band during Red, White & Moo Fest on Saturday, according to David Hawkins, Plainview Symphony Orchestra president and First Presbyterian pastor.

For the second year in a row, the 50-member band provided music on the Plainview Courthouse lawn while an enthusiastic audience kept time and applauded from bleachers and lawn chairs.
For the small neighborhood of Stonegate Hill, the Fourth of July is a big celebration that brings the community together with a parade full of handmade floats, cars and strollers decked out in red white and blue decorations.

The Independence Day celebration is a neighborhood tradition at Stonegate that has been going on for 14 years thanks to the founder and event organizer, Susan Handlin. About 300 people including approximately 30 volunteers enjoyed a picnic with activities including face painting, a dunk tank and a balloon artist after residents paraded down the street in their patriotic garb.
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Every year on or near the Fourth of July, Americans get out their grills, pop open beers and blow stuff up.

Unfortunately, in the process, scores of people are injured, some maimed for life. A few are killed.

These incidents from 2015, including one involving a high-profile athlete, show how holiday fun can quickly turn tragic.

1. In Calais, Maine, 22-year-old Devon Staples had been celebrating the Fourth of July drinking with his friends when he put a reloadable fireworks mortar tube on his head.

He told his buddies he was going to light it. They urged him to reconsider.

"Apparently, he thought that was a great idea," said Stephen McCausland, a spokesman for the state Department of Public Safety. "His friends they thought dissuaded him from doing it, and the next thing they knew, he ignited the fireworks and he was killed instantly."

Staples's brother Cody was a few feet away when Devon lit the firework.

"There was no rushing him to the hospital. There was no Devon left when I got there," he told the New York Daily News.

 Associated Press, July 6, 2015

2. When a shell didn't go off during an Indiana man's personal fireworks celebration, he went to investigate.

James Drake, 41, had set up his fireworks display in a parking lot in Marion. When he tried to find out why it didn't go off, it went off.

The projectile hit him directly in the face. Drake died about an hour later of blunt force trauma.

WXIN, July 5, 2015

3. A group of children who found fireworks near a park in Dorcester, Mass., did what curious kids will do with pyrotechnics  they lit them to see what would happen.

The resulting blast blew off the right hand of 9-year-old Raciel Carbuccia and burned his face. Another boy, 5-year-old Jerry Constantine, was blinded and also suffered burns to his hand and face.

Fortunately Jerry regained his eyesight.

MyFoxBoston.com July 5, 2015

4. In Avon, Colo., shells flew into the crowd watching the annual Fourth of July fireworks show, injuring nine people and terrifying many others. Town officials blamed the misfire on a "malfunction."

No one was seriously hurt.

NBC News, July 4, 2015.

Michael Reaves/Getty Images

5. In the waning hours of a July 4 cookout in Deerfield, Ga., New York Giants star Jason Pierre-Paul was lighting fireworks. He had purchased $1,100 worth of pyrotechnics for his annual display, his gift to the neighborhood.

He was trying to set off the last few rockets and shells, but the wind kept blowing out the lighter he was using to ignite the fuse.

"Suddenly, successand then an eruption, a bang and a blinding green-and-white light that, witnesses say, swallowed Pierre-Paul's 6' 5", 278-pound frame. 'I remember a big flash, and I heard boom!' says Farraw Germain, the mother of Pierre-Paul's then eight-month-old son, Josiah."

The blast shredded Pierre-Paul's right hand, peeling back the skin and exposing tendons, ligaments, and even the bones. Eventually his index finger was amputated and his middle finger ruined. Multiple skin grafts were needed for his charred palm.

It remains to be seen if Pierre-Paul will ever regain the form that made him one of the NFL's most feared pass rushers.

Sports Illustrated, April 12, 2016

The most injured body parts in fireworks accidents:

Hands and fingers  36 percent;

Heads, faces and ears  19 percent;

Eyes  19 percent;

Trunks and other  11 percent;

Legs  10 percent;

Arms  5 percent;

Source: U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.

See the accompanying slide show for the 10 fireworks most likely to injure you.

And be careful out there.
Baghdad

As celebrations for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan stretched past midnight into Sunday in central Baghdad, where Iraqis had gathered to eat, shop and just be together, a minivan packed with explosives blew up and killed at least 143 people  the third mass slaughter across three countries in less than a week.

The attack was the deadliest in Baghdad in years  at least since 2009  and was among the worst Iraq has faced since the U.S. invasion of 2003. The bombing came barely a week after Iraqi security forces, backed by U.S. airstrikes, celebrated the liberation of Fallujah from the Islamic State, which almost immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.

Even as fires still blazed Sunday morning at the bombing site, Iraq's machinery of grief was fully in motion: Hospitals tried to identify charred bodies, workers sorted through the rubble searching for more victims, and the first coffins were on their way to the holy city of Najaf and its vast cemetery, always expanding, where Iraq's Shiites bury their dead. By Sunday evening, a worker at the cemetery said more than 70 bodies had arrived, and many more were expected Monday.

There were also immediate political repercussions, as the bombing brought an abrupt end to the brief victory lap that Iraq's beleaguered prime minister, Haider al-Abadi, was enjoying after the recapture of Fallujah. Al-Abadi rose to power in 2014, and the Obama administration had hoped that he could reunite the country after the divisive tenure of his immediate predecessor, Nouri al-Maliki, whose sectarian policies were blamed for the rise of the Islamic State.

Less than two days earlier, two police officers and 20 hostages, many of them foreigners, were killed after gunmen invaded a restaurant in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The Islamic State claimed to be behind that attack. In Turkey, authorities blamed the Islamic State for a coordinated suicide attack on Istanbul's main airport that killed more than 40 people, although the terrorist group has not claimed responsibility.

Many of the victims in Baghdad Sunday were children; the explosives detonated near a three-story complex of restaurants and stores where families were celebrating the end of the school year, residents said.

Ali Ahmed, 25, who owns a shop close to where the bomb went off, said that in the aftermath, knowing how many children were inside a shopping mall that was hit, he had begun yelling: "The kids upstairs! The kids upstairs! Save them!"

"But the firefighters arrived too late," Ahmed said. Later, he helped carry the bodies of children out of the rubble. He voiced anger at the security forces for failing to stop the bomber, and questioned why the street, which had been closed off earlier in the evening, was reopened around midnight.

When al-Abadi visited the bombing site Sunday, people threw rocks and shoes  a particular insult in the Arab world  at his convoy and yelled, "Thief!" The epithet was directed as much at Iraq's dysfunctional and corrupt political class as it was at the prime minister.

"Thank God I managed to hit Abadi with stones to take revenge for the kids," Ahmed said.

As those scenes unfolded and with anger swelling in the streets of the capital, many are now sure to wonder how long al-Abadi may remain in power; at the very least, the chaos is likely to presage the resumption of street unrest that had calmed during Ramadan and the military operations in Fallujah.
A man and a woman believed to be in their 80s were killed in a crash Sunday night when the SUV they were riding in crashed head-on into a retaining wall on the Far West Side.

Emergency crews arrived at Loop 1604 and Texas 151 around 7 p.m., Sunday and found a green Yukon Denali lodged inside the retaining wall. The two were pronounced dead at the scene, said Officer Douglas Greene, a San Antonio Police Department spokesman.
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SAN ANTONIO -- Five train cars overturned Sunday afternoon on the Southwest Side, spilling an estimated 1,000 gallons of sodium hydroxide and causing authorities to temporarily evacuate the area.

The Bexar County Sheriff's Department responded to the call about 4 p.m., when the train was derailed at the intersection of Fischer and Quintana Road.

Bexar County Sheriff spokesperson Monica Ramos said the sodium hydroxide did not cause any fumes or residue in the area. Sodium hydroxide is only dangerous once people touch the chemical, Ramos said.

Two men were in the tugger train car, Ramos said, when it overturned resulting in minor injuries. The men were treated on scene before being released.

As a precaution, authorities temporarily evacuated Trader's Village.

"Once the team on sight realized the spill was very minimal and that the substance itself did not pose any immediate threat, that evacuation was cancelled," Ramos said.

Authorities allowed cars to cross the intersection about 5:30, and the train was permitted to clear the tracks around 6 p.m.

The train, privately owned by University and Schumberger, was derailed on land owned by Schumberger.

"Currently we have an environmental group on scene, is remediating it and taking care of the spill itself," Ramos said. "At no time was there any danger or anything like that."

Ramos said authorities are investigating the cause of the derailment.

qramirez@express-news.net

Twitter: @quixem
SAN ANTONIO  Bexar County Sheriff's Office detectives have launched an murder investigation after an abandoned vehicle led authorities to a home and a dead body on the Southwest Side.

Officials said a BCSO deputy found a vehicle parked on railroad tracks around 7 a.m. Sunday in the 15300 block of Lucky Road. After checking the vehicle registration for the owner, the deputy went to a home in the 15000 block of Trawalter Road and found the body of a man believed to be in his 20s, according to a news release from the Sheriff's Office.
A year ago today on this page, I criticized the troubling obstructionism by U.S. Sens. John Cornyn and Ted Cruz of Texas.

They have repeatedly failed to fill vacated seats in our states federal appellate and district courts, including their opposition to potential nominations of qualified district judges originally recommended by Republicans.

In his response letter, Sen. Cornyn objected to my comments and pointed out that he is working hard to fill these seats and to ensure Texas has some of the best and brightest judges in these important posts.

It has now been a year since Sen. Cornyns response. Our states federal judiciary is in abysmal shape, as there are still two vacancies on the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals and 10 vacancies  three more than last year  in Texas U.S. District Courts. The oldest vacancy goes back to 2011. Additionally, several federal judges are expected to retire in the next few years.

In comparison, there are no appellate vacancies under Missouri and Louisiana, both part of the 5th Circuit. Missouri does not have a U.S. District Court vacancy. Louisiana has three, with one vacated a month ago and two in 2015, both of which have already had Senate hearings.

The Judicial Conference of the United States, headed by Chief Justice John Roberts, has marked all the Texas vacancies as a judicial emergency, accounting for 29 percent of the judicial emergencies nationwide  a feat not achieved by any other state. This designation implies that the courts current caseload is both excessive and unmanageable. Even if these seats are filled tomorrow, the conference has asked Congress to add many new judgeships to the federal district courts in Texas.

While school yard rifts continue to block the confirmation of Judge Merrick Garland to the U.S. Supreme Court, little attention has been given to critical lower courts.

There are nearly 900 lower federal court judgeships with lifetime appointments, of which there are 97 current and future vacancies. The lower courts hear tens of thousands more cases than the U.S. Supreme Court, and U.S. attorneys rely on these judges to convict dangerous criminals, prosecute financial fraud and environmental violations.

Moreover, the accused and private parties rely on these judges to protect their constitutional rights. But with an atrocious backlog of cases, judges cant afford to spend sufficient time reviewing pleadings. A San Antonian injured by a major corporation is more likely to settle than wait years for her chance to be heard by a jury of her peers.

On March 15, President Barack Obama nominated five experienced individuals to fill some of the district court vacancies.

The Senate Judiciary Committee rules require both home state senators to sign a blue slip card, noting their approval, in order to schedule a confirmation hearing. So far, none has signed or indicated his intent to do so.

So much for working hard to fill the vacancies, Sen. Cornyn.

As long as Sens. Cornyn and Cruz continue to play politics and ignore their constitutional duty, Texans will suffer from this blatant obstruction.

Justice delayed is justice denied.

Hooman Hedayati is an attorney and a member of Texas Moratorium Networks board of directors.
Imagine you are launching a startup and you require speedy internet access for you and your customers. Imagine you are one of the customers.

Now imagine speed that is not quite up to snuff to the Amazons and Netflix of the world  your would-be competitors. Youd quickly go under. And those consumers? Color them frustrated because theyve been denied choice.

Preventing that is the promise of a 2-1 ruling recently by a federal appeals court for net neutrality, the concept that broadband service companies shouldnt be able to create slow lanes and fast lanes based on ability to pay. Tech giants such as Amazon and Netflix have supported net neutrality.

Of course, thats not how those representing broadband providers characterize the ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. They say the ruling for net neutrality will stymie innovation because it wont encourage improved connections.

No; just as likely, more competitors for internet services will enter the field and they will provide innovation  and a level playing field in which the consumer benefits because of more choices. If this ruling stands, broadband companies wont be able to divide those dependent on the internet into haves and have-nots.

This case pitted the Federal Communications Commission against those representing the broadband companies, which were clearly hungry for the ability to be high-cost gatekeepers.

The latest ruling is premised on the notion that the internet is more public utility than a mere conveyance for cat and puppy videos. It is more than an information provider, what the broadband companies argued in successfully challenging net neutrality earlier. If the ruling stands, the federal government can regulate the pipeline to encourage equal access for everyone.

Its hard to argue with the concept. Whether for work or play, imagine your broadband service even clunkier  as in slower  than it is today.

Those opposing net neutrality have pledged to take this all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. And there is no reason not to believe them. This is why this ruling still offers but a promise of net neutrality.

But it is a promise that portends a level playing field for businesses and consumers. We hope the Supreme Court sees this as clearly.
Without identifying him by name, President Barack Obama dismissed Donald Trump as someone who has never shown any regard for workers, who has never fought on behalf of any social justice issues and who has worked against providing economic opportunities.

Yet, unlike Obama, Trump has created jobs and hired workers, including promoting women to high management positions before it was politically correct.

Obama, commenting on U.S. politics at an event overseas, trashed one of the candidates for his job and continues to expose himself as a shallow, out-of-touch politician.

Daniel Mullinix, Schertz

Grateful to DRT

Re: DRT settles over Alamo collection, front page, June 25:

Congratulations to the Daughters of the Republic of Texas for successfully settling its suit with the Texas General Land Office.

It is time for the Texas General Land Office, the state of Texas and the people of this state to thank the organization run by women for its custodial care of the Alamo from 1905 to 2011 without cost to visitors and the state of Texas.

Thille Lambert Newton

Religious link

Re: Great for America, Your Turn, June 26:

The letter writer stated: The perpetrators of 9/11, San Bernardino and Orlando were all Muslims. What does that tell the people of America?

Im really not sure. I know the overwhelming majority of inmates in our penitentiaries claim to be Christians. Im not sure what that means, either. Perhaps your correspondent will enlighten us.

Ken Phelps

Portrait of sorrow

Re: Border Patrol Agent Isaac Villegas waits for a transport van, front page photo, June 23:

The photo by Bob Owens is wonderful. It shows the sad dilemma of the immigrants who come here in search of a new and better life. I wont be able to forget the face of the small boy, so sad, so scared. He will never forget what happened to him and his family on this day.

I dont pretend to know the answer to this problem. And it looks as if no one else does, either.

Dana Carver

Fix real problems

Of all things, we now have Rep. Joaquin Castro wanting to change the wording in immigration law by doing away with the term illegal alien.

Does he not have anything better to do? With all the problems facing this nation, I think he should devote his time and efforts to solving real problems, such as our economy, unemployment, drug addiction and our broken-down education system.

But, then again, it does not surprise me, knowing his background.

Guadalupe E. Aguirre, Laredo
Yves here. Bill Black is running a series that shreds the logic of some prominent articles criticizing the Brexit vote. Just the way Blairite members of the Labour Party used the Brexit vote as the excuse for executing a long-standing plot against Jeremy Corbyn, so are other politicians and pundits using the results to anchor pet narratives.

Tony Blair, who if he had any sense of decency would disappear from politics and try to rehabilitate himself through humanitarian projects, instead is becoming a leading voice in promoting the idea that the elites need to squash populism firmly. Bear in mind that Blair has also volunteered for being the chief Brexit negotiator with the EU.

By Bill Black, the author of The Best Way to Rob a Bank is to Own One and an associate professor of economics and law at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. Originally published at New Economic Perspectives

Tony Blair disgraced his office as Prime Minister and continues to disgrace it as lobbyist for murderous kleptocrats. Blairs column claims personal credit for a series of supposed triumph, blames the BREXIT vote on the Tories, and throws Jeremy Corbyn, his successor as Labour Party leader, under the bus. The title of Blairs article refers to the democratic vote in favor of BREXIT as a coup, which helps explain why he specializes in getting ever wealthier by fronting for tyrants and kleptocrats who he presents as evolving democrats. The English language is just one of the things Blair helps torture.

Blairs central complaint is against populism. He is enraged that the UK voters demonized the experts who warned that BREXIT would cause an economic catastrophe. He is appalled that the left in the UK is appalled by the conduct of the Citys bankers that became wealthy by gutting and filleting their customers to the tune of 50 billion pounds on payment protection insurance (PPI), ran the two largest cartels in world history, made hundreds of billions of pounds in liars loans, laundered money for drug cartels, kleptocrats, and terrorists, and nations trying to develop nuclear weapons, and helped elites worldwide evade paying their taxes. The bankers frauds made them spectacularly wealthy and drove the financial crisis. Blairs destruction of effective financial regulation and supervision made all of this possible. As in the United States, the elite bankers were able to become ultra-wealthy by leading these frauds and scams with complete impunity from prosecution. But Blair is appalled that the left wants to restore the rule of law to the City of Londons elite bankers. Blair is outraged that after the sordid record of the bankers crimes, abuses, and staggering incompetence the public refused to defer to those bankers as the experts on BREXIT.

The campaign made the word expert virtually a term of abuse, and when experts warned of the economic harm that would follow Brexit, they were castigated as scaremongers.

***

The political center has lost its power to persuade and its essential means of connection to the people it seeks to represent. Instead, we are seeing a convergence of the far left and far right. The right attacks immigrants while the left rails at bankers, but the spirit of insurgency, the venting of anger at those in power and the addiction to simple, demagogic answers to complex problems are the same for both extremes. Underlying it all is a shared hostility to globalization.

There first sentence of the quotation contains two clues to Blairs ideology. The political center is conclusively presumed to be correct and to be seek[ing] to represent the poor and progressives. Neither presumption is true, as Blairs policies proved. Blair redefined, and still defines, the political center as positions held by the Red Tories. By this he meant the abandonment of traditional Labour Party positions in favor of a wide range of traditional policies of the Tories. Blair repositioned the UK center far to the right.

Blairs second sentence is the standard false equivalence  seeking to restore the rule of law to the City of Londons bankers who grew enormously wealthy by leading the frauds and abuses that caused the financial crisis and looted tens of millions of their customers is equivalent to ignoring the UKs international obligations to refugees fleeing with their children in a desperate effort to preserve their lives from the abattoir that is Syria and instead demonizing those refugees without any judicial process. Blairs use of right and left is also false. There are plenty of folks on the right that are appalled by the Citys bankers frauds and abuses and people on the left that are worried about large scale immigration. Labour voters frequently voted in favor of BREXIT despite their partys leaders opposition to BREXIT.

Blair is in despair because it has become clear to most citizens of the UK that he and far too many political leaders represent their own self-interest. Blair is in despair because most citizens in the UK despise the bankers who made him politically powerful and wealthy while crushing the economy and view the bankers as dishonest and financially incompetent or malicious. Blairs fundamental attack is on democracy. He implicitly claims that only people that he considers to be members of his redefined center are capable of devising policies worthy of enactment.

The center must regain its political traction, rediscover its capacity to analyze the problems we all face and find solutions that rise above the populist anger.

The historical reality in the UK, as in the U.S., is that many of the policies that Blair labels as center were enacted largely because of populist anger. Those policies were frequently the product of superior analy[sis] and solutions provided by people who were considered far from the center at the time they conducted the analysis and suggested new solutions. The idea that the UK center has the exclusive capacity to analyze and find solutions is preposterous and arrogant.

More basically, when there is a democratic vote decided by the majority as there was on BREXIT, the center wins the vote. Blair refuses to recognize the majority of UK citizens who made up the center on this particular issue. This is revealing because the BREXIT vote was the quintessential issue on which reasonable people, could disagree  and that includes reasonable people within the same political party. For Blair, however, the center of the UK voters on this issue who voted in favor of BREXIT are consigned to being extremists who are unreasonable people because they disagreed with Blairs policy preference. This is ironic because Blairs credo was always moving policy to the center of voters views on issues. Under his own credo he should have been leading the Labour Party towards support for BREXIT. Corbyn is facing overwhelming criticism from other party leaders, however, for not pushing Labour supporters away from the center on BREXIT. Corbyns strongest supporters are the young, but the young were the non-centrists on BREXIT  they were generally strong opponents of BREXIT. Again, reasonable people could and did disagree about BREXIT and the degree of support for BREXIT varied greatly along multiple demographic, geographic, class, and ideological dimensions.
Readers who have recently found Naked Capitalism will not be familiar with our custom of summer reruns. In slow news periods in the summer, we sometimes repeat posts from our archives that we regard as having withstood the test of time.

Since this is an unusually busy summer, we doubt youll be getting much in the way of reruns. But this is a classic that we think youll enjoy.

This post was first published on June 27, 2012

An article in the Boston Review by professor of sociology Claude Fischer falls prey to a pattern that is all too common: attributing social/political outcomes to American attitudes without bothering to examine why those attitudes came to be.

Let me give you a bit of useful background before I turn to the Fischer article as an illustration of a lack of curiosity, or worse, among soi disant intellectuals in America, and how it keeps Americans ignorant as to how many of our supposed cultural values have been cultivated to inhibit disruptive thought and action.

Since I have managed to come in on the last act of Gotterdammerung and am still trying to find the libretto, Ive been in what little spare time I have reading history, particularly on propaganda. One must read book is by Alex Carey, Taking the Risk Out of Democracy. Carey taught psychology in Australia, and he depicts the US as the breeding ground for the modern art of what is sometimes more politely called the engineering of consent. The first large scale campaigns took place before World War I, when the National Association of Manufacturers began its decades-long campaign against organized labor. Carey stresses that propaganda depends on cultivating Manichean perspectives, the sacred versus the Satanic, and identifying the cause to be promoted with symbols that have emotional power. For many people, Americans in particular, patriotism is a rallying point.

Carey demonstrates how, again and again, big business has managed to wrap itself in the flag, and inculcate hostility to unions. One of the early struggles was over immigrants. A wave of migration from 1890 to 1910 left many citizens concerned that they were a threat to the American way of life. Needless to say, corporations were opposed to restrictions on immigration, since these migrants were willing to accept pretty much any work. Thus the initial alignment of interests was that whole swathes of American society were allied with the nascent labor movement in opposing immigration. And this occurred when even conservatives saw concentrated corporate power as a threat to American values (witness the trust busting movement, the success of the Progressives).

Big business split these fair weather friends by promoting an Americanization movement. These foreigners simply needed to be socialized: taught to speak English, inculcated in American values. In addition, the radical Industrial Workers of the World had become a force to be reckoned with, culminating in its success in the Lawrence textile mill strike in 1912. So even though labor unions were particularly hostile to immigrants, the IWWs leadership role made it possible to cast unions as subversive, a symbol of foreign influence.

The counterweight, the Americanization movement, was born in 1907 with the establishment of the North American Civic League for Immigrants, headed by conservative businessmen. Aligned groups. such as the New England Industrial Committee, were created as NACLI promoted its program.

The success of the Lawrence strike, which garnered national outrage due to police beatings of women who had volunteered to transport and harbor children of strikers, increased the urgency of countering the union threat. The message was that chambers of commerce, as conservators of the best interests of their communities needed to educate (as in domesticate) adult alien workers. This Americanization movement had business backers in every sizable city with an immigrant population doing outreach to business organizations, church leaders, and other community groups. In 1914, NACLI decided to extend its program nation-wide, and changed its name to the Committee for Citizens in America. The CIA paid and provided staff to the Department of Education [correction: Federal Bureau of Education] to sponsor Americanization programs (private interests ability operate directly through the Federal government ended in 1919).

The outbreak of World War I was a Godsend to the Americanization movement. The war stoked nationalist sentiment and with it, suspicion of obvious aliens as at best un American and at worst, subversive. President Wilson spoke at a highly staged patriotic event for 5000 recently naturalized citizens in spring 1915. This event was so successful that the movement leaders succeeded in forming local Americanization committees all over the US. Quoting Carey:

The CIA also produced a brilliant propaganda strategy to involve every American in an annual ritual of national identification. This ritual would embed the cultural intolerance of the Americanization movement with an identification that was formally and officially sanctified. The CIA thereby launched its campaign for the fourth of July 1915 to be made a national Americanization Day, a day for a great nationalistic expression of unity and faith in America.

Carey describes and quotes a pamphlet promoting the event written by one of the executive committee members:

.the ultimate success of the policy would depend on how effectively the average American citizen could be induced to bring the influence of his conservative views to bear on the immigrant.such a citizen is the natural foe of the IWW and of the destructive forces that seek to direct unwisely the expressions of the immigrant in his nwe country and upon him rest the hope and defense of the countrys ideals and institutions. Here we have a blatant industrial and partisan view fused with an intolerance of the immigrant and values of national security, in a submission that would cement these interests and intolerances within the paraphernalia of the annual ritual of what would become Independence Day.

This hidden history of our national celebration is only a small portion of Careys account of the extent and reach of the Americanization campaign. It shows how big business has led a long standing, persistent, and well financed campaign to turn the public against fighting for ones rights if those rights are workplace rights.

Now lets look at the Fischer article in light of this. He does, usefully, describe how Americans toil far more than their advanced economy peers:

Americans just dont vacation like other people do. Western European laws require at least ten and usually more than twenty days. And its not just the slacker Mediterranean countries. The nose-to-the-grindstone Germans and Austrians require employers to grant at least twenty paid vacation days a year. In the United States, some of us dont get any vacation at all. Most American workers do get paid vacations from their bosses, but only twelve days on average, much less than the state-guaranteed European minimum. And even when they get vacation time, Americans often dont use it. Perhaps Americans are Protestant-ethic work obsessives; we are likelier than Europeans to say that we want to work more hours than we do. But this leisure gap is a recent development. In the 1960s Americans and Europeans worked about the same number of hours. Leisure time then expanded everywhereonly more slowly and much less in the United States than elsewhere, leaving todays disparity. Some argue that high taxes in Europe discourage working, but economist Alberto Alesina and his colleagues point to legislationthat is, politics. The right to a long vacation is one of the benefits that unions and the left have in recent decades delivered to Western workersexcept American ones.

This sets up the key question:

Just about everywhere in the West except the United States, where there is no mandatory paid time off, workers not only get vacations but also short work weeks, government health care, large pensions, high minimum wages, subsidized childcare, and so forth. Why is the United States the exception? The answer comes in two general forms: one, Americans do not want such programs and perks because we do not want the kind of government that would legislate them. Two, Americans want them but cannot get them.

Fischers teasing out of the first answer (he offers only two options and later points out that they are not mutually exclusive) is an embarrassment. He claims Americans have little class consciousness and in passing contends well financed propaganda efforts have no effect:

Even though economic inequality is substantially greater in the United States than in Europe, Americans acknowledge less economic inequality in their society than Western Europeans do in theirs, and Americans are more likely to describe such inequality as fair, deserved, and necessary. Americans typically dismiss calls for the government to narrow economic differences or intrude in the market by, say, providing housing. Working-class voters in the United States are less likely than comparable voters elsewhere to vote for the left or even to vote at all.

Anyone who has studied the history of public relations in the US will not only tell you it works, but also will be able to provide numerous examples, starting with the Creel Committee in World War I, which turned a pacifist US into rabid German-haters in a mere 18 months. But Fischer would rather appeal to Americans vanity and exceptionalism. Carey, by contrast, documents the intensity of messaging efforts, the channels used, and tracks how polls and headlines changed. And contra Fischer, he finds Americans to be particularly susceptible to propaganda (by contrast, Australians native skepticism of authority, keen sense of irony, and strong community orientation gives them a wee bit of resistance, although Carey described how they were being worn down too).

Mark Ames wrote on the same topic in 2006, and his article is more on point:

According to a New York Times article, British workers get more than 50% more paid holiday per year than Americans, while the French and Italians get almost twice what the Americans get. The average Americans response is neither admiration nor envy, but rather a kind of sick pride in their own wretchedness, combined with righteous contempt for their European worker counterparts, whom most Americans see as morally degenerate precisely because they have more leisure time, more job security, health benefits and other advantages. Its like a classic case of East Bloc lumpen-spite: middle Americans would rather see the European system collapse than become beneficiaries themselves. If there is one favourite recurring propaganda fable Americans love to read about Europeans, its the one about how Europe is decaying and its social system is on the verge of imploding; we Americans pray for that day to come, with even more fervour than we pray for the End of Days, because the very existence of these pampered workers makes us look like the suckers and slaves we really are. This is why you wont see Bono or Sir Bob Geldof rallying the bleeding-hearts anytime soon on behalf of Americas workers. Theyre not in the least bit sympathetic. Better to stick with well-behaved victims like starving Africans. The cultural propaganda that accompanied the Reagan Revolution has been so hugely successful that Americas workers internalised it too well, like those famously fanatical Soviet workers who literally worked themselves to death in order to help bring true communism that much closer. According to Expedia, American workers save their employees some $21 billion per year by not taking even the meagre vacation time theyre allowed.

Now in fairness to those office slaves, while Americans buy into the always on duty attitude (I noticed how little smart phones and IPads were visibly in use, even in the toniest parts of London, compared to New York City), some of it is rational. Even before the bust, it was hard for anyone over 35 who loses a job to land another, much the less at the same level of pay, job tenures are short, and companies keep squeezing workers. Everyone I know who is still on the corporate meal ticket is doing what would have been one and one half or two jobs ten years ago.

So while there is no easy way to turn to regain control of a cultural commons so throughly under the sway of well heeled corporate interests, perhaps we can start to engage in small acts of reprogramming. While I am not telling you to skip Fourth of July fireworks, it might be time to recognize key events that help us look at our history with fresh eyes. Perhaps we should quietly celebrate what we still have of the America our founders envisaged, say on the anniversary of the signing of the articles of Confederation (a protracted affair, with the last signature affixed on March 1, 1781) or their replacement with the Constitution on March 4, 1789. But regardless of how individuals go about it, the more we recognize how cultural memes are created and propagated, the more hope we have of freeing ourselves from them.
Arthrex employees have even more reason to celebrate, being named #28 out of the 100 Best Companies for Millennials this year. (Courtesy Arthrex Inc.)

SHARE Each summer, Arthrex hires dozens of interns and co-ops for a wide variety of departments and teams, and hosts a fun luncheon with games, ice breakers and a panel discussion where full-time employees volunteer their time answering questions and sharing knowledge and advice. (Courtesy Arthrex Inc.)

By Laura Layden of the Naples Daily News

Gen Y is paying attention to Arthrex.

Arthrex Inc. has moved up in the rankings of top places for millennials to work.

The manufacturer of medical devices and surgical supplies  headquartered in North Naples  has leapt to No. 28 on the list of the 100 Best Workplaces for Millennials in the country. It ranked No. 91 last year, the first year for the now-annual list produced by Fortune magazine.

The rankings are based on employee surveys from published "Great Place to Work" reviews. This year, digital marketing company Elite SEM took the top spot, while Quicken Loans came in at No. 2, and design firm Kimley-Horn landed at No. 3. Four Florida-based businesses made the latest list, including Publix Super Markets in Lakeland  at No. 74.

In a company profile shared by Fortune, one of Arthrex's millennial workers touches on the many reasons he likes working for the company, including opportunities to grow.

"They are always offering classes at work that can benefit your health and life for you and your family," he wrote. "They also provide fun activities inside and outside of work as well for team camaraderie and for you to have fun with your families in a safe environment."

Arthrex offers many other perks including free catered lunches daily, a company-paid "trip of a lifetime" after five years of employment, year-end bonuses and free on-site medical clinics.

To come up with this year's list, Fortune's research partners surveyed more than 88,000 millennials at more than 600 companies that are certified as a Great Place to Work. The certification comes from an independent institute that globally assesses the quality of employers.

Millennials  the nation's largest living generation  were born from 1981 to 1997.

In a newsroom post on its website, Arthrex said making the list is "exceptionally notable because the well-being of employees relates to the company's long-term success" and that "success starts in the community with support of educative programs with schools and organizations that provide the future workforce with positive experiences to learn and grow."

Arthrex offers an internship and co-op program every summer, giving students opportunities for practical experience and professional development.

Some interns end up working for the company full time, such as millennial Alyssa Norus, who joined Arthrex after graduating from Florida Gulf Coast University in south Lee County. As an intern, she worked on the human resources recruiting team. She's now an associate recruitment specialist.

"If it wasn't for my internship, I wouldn't have known about the passion I have for recruiting. After three years, I still feel honored and privileged to be a part of the Arthrex family. Arthrex is truly an amazing company to work for and has been nothing but a dream come true," Norus said.

Arthrex employ 685 millennials, representing 30 percent of its workforce.

For Arthrex, the latest ranking by Forbes is one of a dizzying number it has chalked up from the magazine and other list makers.

Earlier this year Fortune ranked the company third on its list of the 15 best workplaces for manufacturing and production in the nation. The company has seen huge growth in its production, revenue and workforce.

The company ranks in the top 50 for giving back (No. 33) and as one of the best companies to work for in general (No. 62).

With 22 locations around the world, Arthrex has developed more than 8,500 products and surgical procedures to help surgeons treat their patients better. Arthroscopic surgery, now commonplace, involves making small incisions into joints, such as knees and shoulders, to treat diseases and injury, from arthritis to cartilage tears.

More than 90 percent of Arthrex's products are manufactured in the United States and exported to more than 100 countries. The company has more than 4,000 employees globally, with most of them based in Southwest Florida. It also has locations in Fort Myers and Ave Maria.

News-Press reporter Casey Logan contributed to this story.

Links: http://reviews.greatplaceto work.com/arthrex http://fortune.com/best-workplaces-millennials/ https://arthrex.jobs.net/en-US/
Kenn Visser, VP of Sales and Marketing at Water One in Fort Myers, talks about their new Pure2Go purifier products and how they will be useful for the military on June 24, 2016. (Erica Brechtelsbauer/Staff)

SHARE Kenn Visser, VP of Sales and Marketing at Water One in Fort Myers, talks about their new Pure2Go purifier products and how they will be useful for the military on June 24, 2016. (Erica Brechtelsbauer/Staff)

By Laura Layden of the Naples Daily News

A Fort Myers-based company has tapped a crowdfunding website to raise money for its newest water purifier.

Water One of SW Florida Inc. in May launched a fundraising campaign on Kickstarter, an online site designed to "bring creative projects to life."

The family owned business already has raised more money than it asked for, with time still ticking on its campaign's countdown clock.

The company hoped to raise $25,000 to help it test and certify its new Pure2Go water purifier for use by the U.S. military. The campaign has brought pledges of more than $28,000.

Launched May 30, the fundraising effort ends July 14. The project has more than a dozen backers, who will receive free Pure2Go products for pledges of at least $33.

"It's almost like a soft launch for your own product, assuming you have the product. We are answering questions. A lot of people are asking questions through the site," said Kenn Visser, Water One's vice president of marketing and sales.

After two years of research and development, Water One is ready to take the Pure2Go product to outdoor retailers, such as Bass Pro Shops and Cabela's. Selling it to the military, however, will require meeting even higher standards, Visser said.

"Inspired by a meeting with the U.S. Marine Corps, we were determined to step up to their new requirements," he said. "Marrying our water perfection experience with form and functionality, we are confident we are setting a new benchmark for hydrating on the go."

The hand-held water purifier kills waterborne viruses and bacteria on contact and on demand, while also eliminating waterborne cysts such as Cryptosporidium and Giardia.

The target audience includes hikers, fishermen pilots and travelers in the U.S. and abroad. The product can be used to purify water coming from a hotel tap in Central America, a contaminated lake or stream in India, or even a mud puddle in Haiti.

On the Kickstarter website, a man is shown drinking water directly through the Pure2Go straw-like cylinder from a murky lake.

"Open it up and your swimming pool becomes your drinking source," Visser said.

There are two product choices: a basic traveler's kit priced at $59.99 and a larger go kit that costs $94.99 and comes with accessories including an air and water pump and a 2-liter bag that can provide up to 16 ounces of water in one minute to supply the needs of a family or group.

Manufacturing is done in Fort Myers and China. Everything is assembled at the company's local plant on Laredo Avenue, off Martin Luther King Boulevard near Interstate 75.

Water One of SW Florida Inc. is a sister company to Water One Inc., headquartered in Hanover Park, Illinois.

Since 1969, Water One Inc. and its affiliates have been leaders in "water perfection," supplying water for science and industry and developing and designing new water purification systems. The company is also in the bottled water business.

Water One Inc. developed a proprietary water purification media, ViroBac, that kills waterborne bacteria and viruses on contact and on demand.

Using ViroBac, the company registered the first water purifier with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, allowing it to sell its first drinking straw style products to U.S. and international customers including all branches of the U.S. military.

Pure2Go is the fourth version of Water One's drinking straw, said Michael Barlow, one of the company's owners. It comes with a two-year guarantee.

"It has replaceable cartridges, which is really unique and that is where our patent lies, in the cartridge," Barlow said.

The product is patent pending.

The company hopes to begin fulfilling retail orders by August.

"We will be shipping hopefully all over the world," Barlow said.

Water One has operated in Fort Myers for more than eight years. Locally, it has about 50 employees, with some working for its bottling business. It hopes to hire many more, including disabled veterans.

"You've got to have the orders coming in first," Visser said. "That's the goal of the Kickstarter campaign."
Sparklers burn at around 2,000 degrees  hot enough to melt some metals.

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By Nicholas Wooten, Chicago Tribune

They might shine brightly and mesmerize, but the handheld fireworks known as sparklers are not toys to hand off to the little ones  or to anyone.

According to the Illinois Office of the State Fire Marshal's Division of Fire Prevention, sparklers accounted for more than 12 percent (20 out of 165) of fireworks injuries from June 23 to July 20, 2015.

From June 20 to July 20, 2014, sparklers accounted for an estimated 19 percent of the 7,000 fireworks-related injuries treated in U.S. hospital emergency rooms. For children under 5, sparklers accounted for 61 percent of the total estimated injuries, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.

Mary Lynn Jacobs, a certified hand therapist and vice president of ATI Physical Therapy, said people aren't aware of the dangers of sparklers, which burn at around 2,000 degrees  hot enough to melt some metals.

"I just don't think there's a lot of public education around that," she said. "I just can't get over how hot sparklers can get ... and how dangerous that is. It's just crazy."

The Pyrotechnic Use Act bans the sale, possession and use of consumer fireworks such as bottle rockets and roman candles in Illinois, though it allows for items like sparklers to be sold. But residents often cross borders into Indiana or Wisconsin to get a fireworks fix.

Billie Turner, manager at Dynamite Fireworks in Hammond, Indiana, says about 20 percent of the store's customers are from the Chicago area and sparklers are among the most popular items.

"We go through at least 20 cases a year, and cases are very big. We sell (about) 10,000 sparklers a year," Turner said.

She advises those who buy sparklers to opt for a wood core over metal. "If it's metal, it gets hotter," she says. "The wood are always better because ... there's a plastic covering on the end."

Jacobs recommends against having fireworks at home for safety reasons.

"Being a mother of three children, I would just ask (people) please to watch from afar. Let's go to a fireworks display. Let's not do it in our backyard," she said.

"My husband is a head and neck surgeon and sees ... a wide range of people with ear and facial burns, from little kids showing the sparklers to their friend and the kids lose their balance."

Jacobs says large bubble wands and pinwheels (not the fireworks kind) are good substitutes for children. But if parents insist on sparklers, Jacobs recommends that they supervise their children and have them wear eye protection and gloves made of leather or lined with Kevlar. Setting rules for the use of sparklers is also important, Jacobs said.

"Don't have them play kung fu (with the sparkler) or point it at each other," she said.
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By Valli Finney

A Sanibel landscaper was attacked by a 6-foot alligator Wednesday and escaped with stitches to her hand.

Lauri Olin, 56, of Rabbit Road on Sanibel, was working for Wilson Landscape and Pond when a 6-foot, 7-inch gator grabbed her hand while she worked at 5206 Punta Caloosa Court, said Officer Joanne Adams, a Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission spokeswoman.

"A landscaping woman was clearing out weeds in the decorative pond when she reached in and an alligator came up and grabbed her," Adams said. "She kicked it and it let her go."

The decorative pond is about the size of a swimming pool, said Sanibel Police Maj. Michael Murray. The first 911 call, from Olin's co-worker, came at 11:18 a.m.

"It wasn't really that big and it wasn't that deep," Murray said of the pond. "The trappers are saying maybe three or four foot (deep)."

Olin was taken to HealthPark Medical Center in Fort Myers for appropriate treatment, to include antibiotics to ward off any infection.

"She got stitches in her right hand and was given appropriate medication and medical care," Adams said.

Early reports that the gator was about 4-feet-long proved wrong once trappers captured the critter. The gator weighed 100 pounds, but its sex was not immediately determined. It will be euthanized.

Murray said it was skinny for an alligator.

Officials were about ready to give up nearly two hours into the hunt for the gator.

"Actually the trappers were in there for a long time with hooks and we (law enforcement officials) were all standing there looking for the alligator," Adams said. "All of a sudden a trapper saw it and hooked it. There is no way she (Olin) could have seen it."

Five years ago last week Sanibel Island landscaper Janie Melsek lost her life to complications from an alligator attack.

Melsek was just two years younger than Olin when a gator attacked her while she was doing landscaping on July 21, 2004, on Poinciana Circle near a pond. She survived the attack but died later of an infection caused by the bite. The gator, a 12-foot, 3-inch male was removed and destroyed.

Ironically, Olin lives on the same street as Sanibel's only other fatal gator attack victim.

Robert Steele, 82, was killed by a 10 foot, 9 inch-long gator Sept. 11, 2001, near his house on Rabbit Road in Sanibel on Sept. 11, 2001. He was walking a dog on a narrow path between two wetland areas near J.N. "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge when the gator dragged him into the water. His leg was severed. That gator was killed and another 6-foot gator was removed.

In April 2004, a 74-year-old woman was grabbed by the leg and pulled underwater by a 9-foot, 7-inch gator. She fought back and survived after being treated at a hospital.

Murray said he doesn't recall any other Sanibel gator attacks on humans recently.

The latest bite brings to eight the number of people bitten by gators this year in Florida. Since 1948, 491 people have been bitten. There have been 22 fatalities attributed to alligator bites and attacks since 1973, records show.

Once endangered, alligators now number more than 1 million, state officials believe.

Murray and Adams say that people need to be aware of their surroundings, but as Adams said, even the trappers had a difficult time finding the gator in the pond where Olin was working.

"Thankfully Lauri's OK," Murray said. "But the gators are out here. If you see anything and the gators appear to be nuisance, call the Sanibel police."

Contact Valli Finney at vallimfinney@yahoo.com
By Annika Hammerschlag, annika.hammerschlag@naplesnews.com

Children dodged squirt guns as they dashed to the ground to snatch pieces of candy Monday at the 58th annual Fourth of July Parade in Bonita Springs.

Organizers estimated around 5,000 people enjoyed the 46 floats and patriotic spirit that enveloped Old 41 Road and Riverside Park.

"It was a little bit smaller than it has been," said Brian Hornberger, a firefighter at Bonita Springs Fire Control and the parade coordinator. "Overall it was a really successful parade. No one got injured and everyone had fun."

The event started at 8:30 a.m. with the dedication of a new clock tower and the releasing of white doves on the northeast corner of Old 41 Road and Childers Street. The 16-foot 10-inch blue Rotary Monument Clock was unveiled to a cheering crowd following speeches from Mayor Peter Simmons and members of the Rotary Club and Rotary Club Noon.

Shortly thereafter, the national anthem was sung and the parade began. A dozen firetrucks slowly rolled past, followed by floats and cars from local businesses and churches.

The YMCA focused on recycling this year as they chanted "keep Bonita beautiful!" while dragging empty plastic bottles and banging on upside-down buckets. The National Park Services had a similar theme with their float boasting an elaborate illustration of mountains and wildlife while the speakers blasted "This Land is Your Land" by Woody Guthrie.

The Bonita Springs fire station float was packed with more than a dozen excited children decked out in red white and blue, water guns in hand.

"My favorite part is throwing candy and getting people wet," said Seth Calero, 16, of Naples.

His dad is a firefighter in Bonita Springs and this is his fifth year participating on the float. He was the oldest of the children on the boat.

"I look after them and make sure no one gets hurt and that way they can look after the younger kids when they get older," Calero added.

They had three big tubs of water on board and jars in the shape of fire extinguishers filled with candy.

John Paeno continued his 10-year tradition of blowing his conch at the parade to educate the community about the Calusa tribe who used to live in parts of southwest Florida.

This year he had a camera set up as he was livecasting the procession to his businesses' Facebook page. His company, CGT Kayak and Paddle, is on the parade route.

Bill Banfield, the announcer for Monday's 1 1/2-hour parade, said he was really impressed with the setup on Old 41 Road where the median divided the floats from the onlookers.

"It made it really nice and small-towny," he said. "It's was extraordinarily organized, efficient and family oriented."

Penny Packard of Naples rode down Old 41 on a red, white and purple horse named Mariah.

"Unfortunately the blue turned out purple this year," she said.

Packard said she used spray paint from Walmart and Mariah didn't seem to mind the unusual grooming regimen.

"She trusts me," she said as kids crowded around to pet Mariah and two other horses at Riverside Park after the parade. "I just love seeing all the kids' smiles, they love the horses," she said.

At one point during the parade, onlookers were startled by the sound of a gunshot as a group of eight men dressed in 1860s Civil War battle uniforms waved a large Confederate flag and periodically shot what looked to be a rifle into the sky. The group, called the Sons of Confederate Veterans, has been marching in the parade for years and has never drawn any criticism, Hornberger said.

"It was a beautiful day," said Arleen Hunter, the assistant city manager of Bonita Springs. "It was a great turnout." Hunter has been involved with the parade since she began working for the city in 2006.
U.S. Marine Rick Harris, bottom left, launches kayakers Sunday, July 3, 2016, during the Heroes on the Water event at Lovers Key State Park. The gathering affords veterans and their families the opportunity to enjoy the outdoors. (Kinfay Moroti/The News-Press)

By Michael Braun, The News-Press

A chance to breathe easy, slough off daily stress and just enjoy the moment came to a group of veterans, their families and others Sunday as they plied the waters around Lovers Key State Park.

What to many might have looked like just a bunch of guys and gals on a day trip of paddling and fishing had a deeper purpose.

The group offering this chance, "Heroes on the Water," helps members of the military, first responders and their caretakers to unwind using the therapeutic qualities of fishing from kayaks.

"The beauty of our program is we get to exercise a bit, have fellowship among our brothers and sisters that served and at the same time relax in nature," said Esteban Guiterrez, organizer of the Southwest Florida chapter of the group.

On a gorgeous day at Lovers Key, Gutierrez and chapter assistant coordinator Rick Harris prepared the kayaks and helped about a dozen veterans and others take to the water.

Harris said that unlike similar type organizations, he and Gutierrez and do their chapter duties for free.

"We're both volunteers," he said. "We both work full-time jobs; we're not paid."

Harris said the organization makes sure there is no cost to those who participate. They raise funds through events like an annual fishing tournament that this year brought in $6,000.

Gutierrez, who was in the Navy, and Harris, who served as a Marine, said their dedication to their military brethren is what drives them.

"We took an oath to take care of our brothers and sisters," Harris said. "We love our country; we love our armed services."

The whole point of this event, he said, was to get veterans and others out on the water to help their sense of self-worth, their mood and to help relieve what he called "inner demons."

"We want to provide some therapy ... let that stress release," he said. "When they catch that first fish, it's beautiful. As Christians that's what we should do, lift each other up."

"We see a lot of joy when we're out on the water," Gutierrez said. "They can be shy, not really sure of themselves.

However, he said, what's great to see is when they open up during an event and then continue to participate and come back.

He pointed out that Harris was such a participant. "He came to one of our events ... and now we're friends."

Harris said he had been looking for such a group and had researched what was available.

"I loved kayaking, and I came to see what it was about," he said.

Another one of those participating Sunday, Santiago Rivera, who came to the event from Pembroke Pines, said he was taking part because a brother and a son are in the military.

"It's the right thing to do to be involved with these guys," he said.

After a brief safety talk, Gutierrez got the participants loaded into their kayaks, launched them, and away they went.

Mike Malle, an angler from Hillsborough Beach who came to help the club Sunday, said he provides assistance as a way to give back.

"We like what the club does, and we came here to support our troops," he said. "They help save our country."

Gutierrez added that the group formed about six years ago, one of seven now in the state, as a way to serve some of the 1.7 million veterans in Florida.

The group's Facebook page serves as a way to publicize their events.

"We have events from Port Charlotte to the Everglades," he said. "We get five to 20 participate, usually at the one-day events. We try to reach out to as many veterans as possible."
10030298

He was the calm before the storm and during the storm.

For 35 years meteorologist Jim Reif brought weather reports to Southwest Floridians, who, at their best, were hoping to avoid a rainy day at the beach and who, at their worst, were desperate for guidance as the most destructive of hurricanes loomed over the Gulf Coast.

Reif, who served most recently as the director of meteorology at NBC-2, became the local authority on hurricanes, securing his veteran status in 2004 when he correctly predicted that Hurricane Charley would make landfall despite earlier projections. His announcement to viewers came two hours before those of other national agencies.

'Jim Reif saved lives in Southwest Florida. I remember when he said ?I see a wobble,'' former NBC-2 colleague Sheila Grant said. 'He had that high voice and he said ?Everybody in Port Charlotte needs to hunker down.''

Reif, a 61-year-old Estero resident, died late Monday following a bike crash. Lee County deputies said he was riding on a sidewalk along Ben Hill Griffin Parkway when he hit a curb, then clipped a crosswalk sign with his handlebars before falling to the ground. He was not wearing a helmet at the time and doctors told his fiancee Jane Hess that he suffered 'un-surviveable' brain damage. Hess said he may have suffered some kind of seizure or aneurism before losing control of his bike.

Reif was taken off of life support Monday according to his wishes, Hess said.

'He was a big, funny guy,' Hess said by phone Tuesday. 'He was almost myopic in his devotion to weather and anything that surrounded it. I found that amusing but I respected it. You like a guy that takes his job seriously and does it well.'

Hess and Reif first met in 1979 when Hess worked at a Redding, Pa. radio station and Reif worked for AccuWeather.

Each morning Reif would call Hess along with the other morning news agencies to offer his weather forecast. It was after some time bantering by phone that they two agreed to meet. On their first date, Reif, also a licensed pilot, picked Hess up at a small airport in Pennsylvania and flew her to dinner in New York.

'That was a wow first date,' Hess recalled.

They dated for about a year before Reif moved to Fort Myers for a job with WINK News.

'Twenty-eight years later when my marriage was ending, I wondered whatever happened to him,' Hess said.

Reif, a New Jersey native who had been interested in weather since he was a boy, went on to marry and divorce twice. He never had children. He reported for WINK News from 1979 to 1999 before taking a job with NBC-2. He contracted on the side through his private weather consulting firm that gave forecasts and advice to everyone from farmers to local school district superintendents and county or city workers. He loved to travel, scuba dive and fly. Many said once he was your friend, he was always a friend, and that he had a true passion for his job and his viewers.

'He loved his community,' Hess said.

Reif and Hess began dating again eight years ago, and lived together for more than seven years in Estero before Reif proposed last week on a tour of

Neuschwanstein Castle in Germany, where they were vacationing. Reif feigned interest in an exhibit to catch Hess alone for a moment while he proposed.

'I said since when did you get interested in something that wasn't a cloud?' Hess joked.

Reif popped the question then fumbled with a ring while the two teared up.

When he returned to the station after the trip, his colleague Robert Van Winkle noticed a perceptible difference.

'He was happier in those weeks than I've seen him in years,' said Van Winkle, senior chief meteorologist for NBC-2, said of Reif's trip and engagement.

Van Winkle and Reif, whom friends lovingly referred to as a 'weather geek,' worked together for the past 10 years, including during Hurricane Charley.

'He taught me how to talk about the dangers of hurricanes and keeping people engaged without scaring them,' Van Winkle said.

'He had a really good way of feeling comfortable,' he added, 'And when you're comfortable in television, especially doing the weather even when the weather is bad or serious, there's something about the way you look on air that is relatable and viewers understand it.'

Meteorologist Haley Webb said Reif's sense of humor and his expertise brought an energy to the NBC-2 newsroom.

'He could observe tiny, little nuances in the weather pattern that might easily go overlooked by other people,' said Webb, who worked with Reif for nine years. 'Like him noticing that turn even before the (National) Weather Service or (National) Hurricane Center.'

Reif's work during Hurricane Charley earned him the Naples Daily News Person of the Year Award in 2004.

'People felt like he was the friendly guy next door telling you the weather,' Webb said. 'He could have been anybody's brother, anybody's friend. As much as he was incredibly intelligent he just came across very easy, very open, where you would feel like a nice guy, you would sit down and have a Coke with.'

Webb said the station does not yet have a plan in place for which meteorologists will be delivering the weather at 11 a.m., noon or 4 p.m.

Hess expects there will some sort of public memorial for Reif. In the meantime, she's planning his private funeral and remembering the man who she 'reconnected with in a wonderful way' eights years ago.

'That's our love story and I think it's a pretty good one,' Hess said. 'It ended too soon. The second chapter won't be written.'
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Nick Kalvin, Naples

Batten's right

Islamic extremism isn't deviant terrorism. It's the truest form of Islam, practiced by Muhammad and stated in the Quran (Revelations), Hadith (Traditions of the Prophet), Sira (biography) i.e., fundamental Islam.

ISIS and Taliban do exactly what the Quran says: Tolerate no other faiths, political or legal systems. Offer conversion, surrender, submission. If refused, make cruelest Holy war (Jihad). Inflict pain, terror into hearts. Give no quarter. Slaughter all males with pubic hair, take children and women as slaves, divided as booty along with stolen treasures and goods. One fifth of booty goes to the faith.

Those who surrender become lesser human beings called Dhimmis, (treated as Hitler treated Jews), and heavily taxed.

An Islamic, Mufti Haj Amin al-Husseini, inspired Hitler to plan the "final solution" before WWII, recruited 100,000 European Muslims to help the SS.

Today, only Islam promotes and sanctions slavery, including sexual, most recently by scholars of Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, one of whom is female. They add "Jihad and slavery will be, as long as Islam exists."

Islamic Law, Sharia, comes from the Koran. It is incompatible with Western concepts, particularly the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights.

Islam doesn't mean peace. Dar al Islam is the world of Islam, also called "Ummah," the place free of western contamination.

Dar al Harb is the non-Muslim part of the world where Jihad is done.

Islam is the most intolerant religion in history. True believers of Islam are outraged when peoples of Dar al Harb defend themselves, or worst of all, retaliate within Dar al Islam.

Muhammad slaughtered writers and poets who disagreed with him, including nursing mothers. Brent Batten was right-on in his recent column.

(I am the author of "Sexual Jihad," 2014 and 2015.)
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Theron Trimble, Naples

JROTC rebuttal

Wayne Smith's letter stating that JROTC is safe is a total fabrication cloaked in patriotism and flag waving. He states that the JROTC program is safe because half is paid for by the school district and half is paid for by the U.S. Army Cadet Command along with "some other ancillary items."

Apparently he doesn't know the U.S. Army is funded by federal dollars, not donations to the Salvation Army or the Gates Foundation.

Federal funds are federal funds. Whether taken from the left or right hand of the federal government, they all come with strings attached. Refusal to accept federal funds means exactly that, unless you have your fingers crossed behind your back.

For the 2015-16 school year the district received $475,000 in federal funds to support the JROTC program as publicly reported in the district's budget. This pays for partial salaries and all uniforms, equipment, and required travel for our outstanding cadets and training staff.

The JROTC program is a vital program for the school system and our nation's future defense. Participation builds leadership skills, character, and a sense of self and pride. Cadet involvement usually results in improved school attendance, classroom performance and serves as a potential vocational guidance experience.

Unlike many federal programs, JROTC is voluntary, not mandatory. Districts do not have to provide these programs but they do have to provide services for students with disabilities. If the school district rejects federal funds, it will have to choose between cutting JROTC, sports, art, breakfast programs and band  or raising local taxes to meet legal obligations.

Let us salute our cadet and officers, not cut them.
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Jeff Collignon, Naples

NRA's view

"A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed." The Second Amendment  verbatim.

I won't even address the "well regulated Militia" phrasing. The NRA, which has become the pre-eminent authority on the interpretation of these words, has repeatedly told us all what it actually means.

What the NRA rarely, if ever, has addressed is the Militia reference, which seems to be a major oversight.

If our right to bear arms is contingent on "the security of a free State," then maybe it is time to exercise the full import of this amendment.

Our free state is in peril from armed terrorists. I think it is only reasonable  since the NRA constantly cites this amendment as justification for acquiring and owning any type of weapon  that all gun owners should be conscripted for military duty to ensure the security of our free State.

We need our Militia now to battle terrorism. Our Militia is certainly well armed, and  according to the NRA  is adequately, if not overly regulated.

It's time to call them up, ship them out, and let them defend their constitutional rights.

I believe in the Second Amendment, but  unlike many others  I believe in the totality of the amendment. The well regulated section. The Militia section. And, of course, the right to keep and bear arms.
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Deirdre Clemons, Naples

Schools reform

Florida parents are extremely concerned after 20 years of falling ACT scores (we're now 45th of 50 states), and the Florida Standards Assessments fiasco this past year.

The Florida Department of Education and state Legislature glossed over this catastrophe by lowering the grading curve so that merely 52 percent of students reading at grade level give schools an "A" rating! The 2015 U.S. News & World Report states only 54 percent of Collier high school graduates read at grade level, and 75 percent taking AP  college ready  tests do not pass! Reading and math scores have fallen since Superintendent Kamela Patton threw out phonics and implemented Common Core math, which parents, students and teachers hate. All this for $21,000 per child!

In 2014, concerned parents made their choice clear by electing two accomplished professionals who agreed with parents and promised to take politics out of classrooms where materials contain anti-American, pro-globalist/socialist themes, as well as age-inappropriate reading materials.

With votes split 3-2, the board continues its deaf ear to parents, who when coming forward to protect their children, are shouted down by non-parent groups.

This 2016 election is where parents finally take back our schools by electing two more honorable and experienced candidates, Louise Penta and Lee Dixon, who also believe that schools are for learning academic facts, not political spin and indoctrination. (One wonders if the homegrown "hate America" movement is being spawned in our own public schools.)

Lastly, it is disturbing that Lucarelli changed from being a registered Democrat to re-registering as a Republican before she began her run for School Board.

Can Collier voters trust people who seem to want to hide who they really are?
SHARE JB Holmes

By Jb Holmes, Golden Gate Adjutant, VFW Post

Guest commentary

On March 29, 1973, the last U.S. combat troops left Vietnam in what President Richard Nixon called "peace with honor."

This year, 43 years later, Golden Gate VFW Post 7721 honored all U.S. troops that served in Vietnam during a Collier County recognition ceremony. The post honored 50 Vietnam veterans present for the event, held several weeks ago.

VFW Post Commander Randy Cash presided over the event and two speakers brought the crowd to both laughter and tears.

Wayne Smith, an Air Force captain, was shot down on Jan. 18, 1968, and held as a prisoner of war for five years, two months at the infamous "Hanoi Hilton." He was held prisoner by the North Vietnamese with John McCain, a Navy captain. McCain, after his release by the North Vietnamese, later became a U.S. senator from Arizona and was the 2008 Republican nominee for president.

Smith went on to become a successful businessman as CEO of MidAmerican Energy, president and CEO of B.F. Goodrich Co. and senior executive of Air Products & Chemicals, after flying as a pilot for Eastern Airlines.

Smith spoke about his time as a POW of the North Vietnamese, recalling POW lives lost as a result of failed escape attempts and how the POW commander wisely ordered a stop to all further escape attempts.

He told the crowd about the POWs' release and how, with the greatest honor and traditions of all American soldiers, they were released in the order of capture with the first captured, first released.

On March 14, 1973, the plane with Smith and other POWs left Hanoi and flew over Vietnamese air space with all those aboard quietly subdued. After the plane exited Vietnamese air space, it flew over the Gulf of Tonkin, crossing the territorial waters of Vietnam into international waters where the pilot came on the intercom system announcing "feet wet," meaning that all the POWs were safely free.

Forty-three years and 16 days later, Smith signed off his presentation, without hesitation, before the veterans and guests present, by knocking out the code "GBU" on the podium with the correct pauses and number sequences necessary. "GBU," meaning "God bless uou," was the code used to sign off "knock" communications between American POWs held in North Vietnam.

The "knock" code, based on the five-by-five Polybius aquare, was used by tapping on walls, pipes or bars to communicate between POWs without the guards being aware.

Robert Chapin also spoke. He was an Army sergeant and served in Vietnam. He is the author of the nationally known poem, "The Wall," about the Vietnam Veterans Memorial wall on the mall in Washington, D.C.

Prior to his assignment in Vietnam in 1967, he served 16 months in Frankfurt, Germany, as a civilian with the Army's prestigious unit, the 513th Military Intelligence Group, as a top-secret cryptographer.

In Vietnam, he was assigned to the 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile), 13th Signal Battalion. Not only was he awarded the Purple Heart for wounds received in action, but the Bronze Star, among other medals.

Chapin was thrust onto the nationwide scene in 1983 with his nationally acclaimed poem, a statement about the emotional pain and anger of Vietnam, sentiments he was not permitted to express while in uniform.

Once discharged, a trip to the memorial wall evoked his deep personal feelings. His poem was displayed in the White House in 1983 and as a result received instant success when President Ronald Reagan personally honored Chapin for his contribution to all Vietnam veterans.

He was invited to present a framed copy to the president. Just prior to the event where he was to present his poem to the president, Chapin's congressman called to inform him the meeting was canceled because the Marine barracks in Beirut had been bombed, resulting in the deaths of 241 American servicemen. Later, Reagan, in appreciation, wrote a letter of thanks to Chapin.

VFW Post Commander Cash took charge of the ceremony for the individual recognition of each Vietnam veteran present. Each received a service cap, indicating the veteran's branch of service, and a Vietnam veteran's pin.

Homer Helter, an honored guest at the ceremony, donated the hats and pins from his Antique and Military Mall in Naples. Anytime you visit Helter's Military Mall, you will meet with a host of veterans, VFW members and often you can meet Smith or Chapin.

The ceremony was the post's way to say, these many years later: "Welcome home brothers, welcome home."
SHARE Tom Feeney, President & CEO of Associated Industries of Florida

By Tom Feeney, President & CEO Associated Industries of Florida Tallahassee

With Florida being an $80 billion enterprise and the third-largest state in the nation, it is alarming that its procurement statutes, rules and policy haven't been significantly changed in decades, contributing to our state lagging behind most states in the effective use of technology to make our state a better place to live and work.

The Associated Industries of Florida (AIF) and its Information Technology (IT) Council commends the Florida Legislature for creating the Agency for State Technology (AST) in 2014, which has resulted in improvements in policy and project oversight of existing large and complex state projects.

Under the leadership of Jason Allison and Chad Poppell, both the AST and Department of Management Services have worked diligently to make improvements in procurement, most notably with state term contracts. However, these agencies must still work within the confines of outdated statutes.

Because the current processes haven't kept up with the ever-changing technology, it is often difficult for businesses and citizens to interact with our state because of cumbersome and obsolete internal processes.

Therefore, it is crucial for our government to adapt and become more efficient, particularly when it comes to large, complex procurements involving business processes and IT.

AIF fully supports the need for a complete overhaul of Florida's procurement statutes, especially as it relates to state projects with IT underpinnings. We applaud Rep. Ben Albritton, R-Bartow, for his leadership and vision on this critical issue.

We believe that this reform should be founded on a renewed commitment to transparency, open competition and a commitment to always focus on the best outcomes for our citizens.

These principles will also encourage industries to compete in our state. Further, industries that can fairly compete here are more likely to expand in Florida and bring new high-tech jobs to our state. Additionally, AIF believes that the invitation to negotiate process, which is used for Florida's largest projects, should be revamped top to bottom.

The invitation to negotiate process should be redesigned to ensure that contracts are awarded on a transparent, measurable and quantitative basis -- instead of the loosely defined "best value" concept that exists today.

Procurement reform should include changes to the legislative and budgetary process. Our current process takes years to approve feasibility studies and to fund projects before a procurement can even begin. This unwieldy bureaucratic process can render projects obsolete before they even begin.

As such, AIF encourages the Legislature to implement new committee structures that can focus on government process efficiency and effective procurement policy. We believe that governmental efficiency and IT policy should not be the responsibility of budget committees.

All in all, as technology continues to evolve, it is imperative that we as a state be a step ahead of its progression by investing in better, safer and more efficient business processes and recognizing that most of these factors are dependent on IT.

We must have a procurement and contracting system in place that is more effective and efficient for the businesses and people our state serves.
(As delivered)

Good afternoon.

Happy fourth of July to our American friends!

And welcome all of you to this press conference.

This weeks NATO Summit in Warsaw comes at a defining time for our security. With threats and challenges from many directions.

In response, at our last Summit in Wales, we laid out plans for the biggest reinforcement of NATOs collective defence since the Cold War.

In Warsaw, I will report to Heads of State and Government that NATO has done what we said we would do. We delivered a faster, a stronger, and a more ready Alliance. We now need to take the next steps. So at our Summit in Warsaw, we will agree to further enhance our military presence in the eastern part of the Alliance.

We will deploy four robust, multinational battalions to Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland. I welcome Canadas recent announcement that it will lead one of these four battalions. Together with Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States. This is a great contribution to our common security. And a clear signal that our nations will defend one another, on both sides of the Atlantic.

Our collective defence and deterrence includes much more. We will also agree to develop a tailored presence in the south-east, based on a multinational brigade in Romania.

We will recognise cyberspace as an operational domain, alongside air, land and sea. And I expect that Allies will make a Cyber Defence Pledge to strengthen their own networks. This is part of our overall efforts to increase our resilience, both within our nations and collectively.

And we will further streamline the flow of civilian and military intelligence through a new Intelligence Division within NATO Headquarters. Helping us to make the right decisions at the right time. And enabling us to better counter modern challenges, including hybrid and terrorist threats.

The Warsaw Summit will renew our commitment to spend more on defence and to spend better. Today, we have published the details of Allies defence expenditure for 2015, and updated estimates for 2016.

Last year, after a long period of decline, we saw a small increase in overall defence spending by NATOs European Allies and Canada.

This year, we estimate that it will rise even more. We expect a real increase of 3% in defence spending by European Allies and Canada.This amounts to 8 billion US dollars. 22 Allies will increase defence spending in real terms.

Moreover, 18 Allies will increase defence expenditures devoted to major equipment, and research and development.

So, we are both spending more and we are spending better. But we have a very long way to go and we must keep up the momentum.

In all our decisions, our aim is to defend our Allies, not to increase tensions in Europe. NATO continues to be a responsible, transparent and predictable actor.

And we remain open to dialogue with Russia.

The NATO-Russia Council has an important role to play as a forum for dialogue and information exchange, to reduce tensions and increase predictability.

That is why we are talking with Russia to hold another meeting of the Council shortly after the Warsaw Summit. Where transparency and risk reduction should be an important topic.

Another major theme of the Summit will be projecting stability beyond our borders.

When our neighbours are more stable, we are more secure. NATO can, and will do more to support them. We will agree to start training and capacity building inside Iraq, expanding our existing training for Iraqi officers in Jordan.

We will decide that NATO AWACS aircraft will provide information to the Global Coalition to counter ISIL.

And I expect we will agree on a role for NATO in the Central Mediterranean, complementing the European Unions Operation Sophia. And building on our effective cooperation in the Aegean to cut lines of human trafficking.

Afghanistan remains our largest operation. President Ghani and Chief Executive Abdullah will join us in Warsaw.

We are committed to assisting the Afghan forces to secure their country and to ensure it never again becomes a safe haven for international terrorism. We will continue our Resolute Support mission beyond 2016. And we will continue our contribution to the funding of the Afghan forces until 2020.

We will also demonstrate our support to our partners in the east.

We will hold a meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Commission with President Poroshenko. An independent, sovereign and stable Ukraine, firmly committed to democracy and the rule of law is key to Euro-Atlantic security. And NATO is committed to helping Ukraine achieve that goal.

We will also continue to boost the defence capacity and resilience of Georgia and the Republic of Moldova. To resist outside pressure and to advance reforms.

The European Union is a unique and essential partner for NATO. Now is the time to take our cooperation to a new level. In Warsaw, together with the Presidents of the European Council and the European Commission, I will sign a joint declaration on our partnership. Setting out new ways we can work more closely together. On key areas such as countering hybrid threats and maritime security. Because together, we are stronger.

Our world is changing, and NATO is changing with it.

What remains unchanged is the unbreakable bond between Europe and North America, on which our Alliance is founded.

In an age of uncertainty, we need our Alliance more than ever for predictability, cooperation and unity. The decisions we will take at the Warsaw Summit will strengthen our Alliance, and demonstrate our resolve.

And, with that, I am ready to take your questions.

Oana Lungescu (NATO Spokesperson): Okay well start with Berlingske, second row here.

Q: Jacob from Danish daily Berlingske. On the defence expenditure, you say there's been some progress but there's still a very long way to go. So if we just go back to Wales and the pledges for reaching two per cent in 10 years time from Wales, were two years into that period, so how satisfied are you with the progress so far and how realistic that we in eight years time well see all 28 on two per cent or above? And if this is not reachable in the next eight years what will it mean for NATOs capabilities to do more in relation to migration, ISIL, all the threats from the east, south, wherever it might be?

Jens Stoltenberg (NATO Secretary General): I think we have to remember that the heads of state and government decided in Wales two years ago to increase defence spending in three steps. First to stop the cuts then to gradually increase defence spending and then to aim at two per cent within a decade. And we have to also remember that now we are only less than two years into that pledge and after the two first years we have seen that we have been able to stop the cuts and we have been able to gradually increase defence spending. That's the total numbers and of course the picture is mixed. Some allies, the majority, have started to increase but some allies are still cutting. In total if you add all that together you see an increase among European allies and Canada. The United States is far above two per cent.

So we are moving in the right direction and I'm glad to see that we have really turned a corner meaning that after many, many years of decline we have started to increase. Having said that there is a long way because we are in no way at two per cent and still some allies are cutting and there is a long way to go. But I am encouraged by the progress I have seen. This has been my main focus since I arrived at NATO headquarters. I have discussed it in all capitals at least once and I will continue to be extremely focused on defence spending. At the summit, this will be an issue at the summit. We will share figures and the facts with the heads of state and government and report back to them but also of course in the months and years following the summit. I expect NATO to deliver and NATO heads of state and governments to do as they decided to do in Wales and that's absolutely possible, it is within reach and as I say we have now started to move in the right direction after many years of decline.

Oana Lungescu: Agence France-Presse in the first row.

Q: Thank you Secretary General. I have a question about the plan to declare an operational, initial operational capability for the BND system, the anti-missile shield. I understand some countries and especially France is asking for guarantees that this system will be completely under the political control of the 28 allies before this IOC is declared. Can you explain if, to us if, how these discussions are unfolding and if you expect still a decision to be taken in Warsaw this week? Thank you.

Jens Stoltenberg: Our aim is to be able to declare initial operational capability for our missile defence system at our summit in Warsaw and we are working on that exactly now. And the missile defence system is important because we have seen proliferation of ballistic missiles and NATO has to be able to defend our population, our territory against that kind of attacks. I think it is important once again to underline that this is not directed against Russia. It is directed against threats coming from outside the Euro Atlantic area and it is also important to remember that this is about missile defence. A missile defence is defensive and we speak about interceptors which are able to intercept incoming missiles and the interceptors are not offensive weapons, they are, they don't carry armed warheads, they are only able to intercept incoming missiles and the location, the physics makes it impossible for them to intercept Russian intercontinental ballistic missiles.

Of course command and control is important and that's exactly what we now are looking into. How we can find ways to ensure the best possible command and control taking into account that we have very little time to decide when we are in a real danger situation when there is a possible attack. So we have to find ways of ensuring the necessary political control, the necessary terms of command and control taking into account that if we are attacked by ballistic missiles we speak about a very short time to make the necessary decisions.

Oana Lungescu: Agence Europe in the fifth, in the fifth row.

Q: Jan Kordys, Agence Europe. Secretary General about the NATO Russia Council, are you disappointed that the meeting could take place only after the summit? How do you explain this decision? And could you tell us a little bit more about the agenda of the meeting, what do we expect from the Russia party? Thank you.

Jens Stoltenberg: So we were ready to have a meeting before the summit but were also ready to have a meeting after the summit and to be honest it doesn't matter that much whether it takes place just before or just after the summit, the important thing is that it takes place. And we are now in good dialogue with the Russians about the modalities, the agenda and the exact timing of the next meeting of the NATO Russia Council. There has been no final agreement but we have a good dialogue with them on these issues.

And as soon as we decide on the agenda and exact timing we will announce the next meeting. I think and I believe that the NATO Russia Council is a very useful and important tool because NATO very much believes in the idea of defence and dialogue and we don't see any contradiction between strong defence, deterrence and political dialogue. Actually we believe that we need dialogue more now when we see increased tensions, more military activity; then the importance of political channels, political dialogue but also military to military lines of communications are even more important. Therefore we had or we convened a meeting of the NATO Russia Council some weeks ago. We planned to have one shortly after the summit.

One of the issues I believe should be addressed there, is transparency, risk reductions, predictability, because we have seen more military activities, more unsafe and unprofessional behaviour and with all the flights, all the military activity in the Baltic Sea, the Black Sea and other places around NATO territory it is important to avoid the kind of incidents, accidents we have seen with, for instance, the downing of the Russian plane over Turkey and also the buzzing of American naval ship in the Baltic Sea recently. These are incidents and accidents which we should try to prevent and if they occur we should have mechanisms in place making sure that they don't spiral out of control and create really dangerous situations. So, were looking forward to have a new meeting in the NATO Russia Council also addressing transparency, risk reductions. Exactly when that is going to take place and the exact agenda is not yet decided.

Oana Lungescu: UNIAN, third row.

Q: Thank you. Secretary General please can you give more details about NATO Ukraine Commission during Warsaw Summit? What exactly is the agenda? What do you expect from Ukrainian and what NATO expect from NATO? Thank you.

Jens Stoltenberg: First of all I'm looking forward to welcoming President Petro Poroshenko once again to NATO headquarters. He will be there, he will update us at the meeting of the NATO Ukraine Commission which we will have on the second day of the summit. And at that meeting NATO and NATO allies will reiterate their strong political support to Ukraine for the territorial integrity, the sovereignty of Ukraine and we will reiterate our strong support for the full implementation of the Minsk Agreements. We have seen a number of violations of the ceasefire. We will call for a full respect of the ceasefire but also that the international observers are allowed to work and to do their job in Eastern Ukraine, to be able to monitor and to help implementing the Minsk Agreements and the ceasefire. We will also step up our practical support, not only political support but also practical support for Ukraine.

And we will agree on a comprehensive package where we will stream, streamline our different strands of work and support to Ukraine. This will include strategic advice and assistance. We are already providing practical support to Ukraine through our different trust funds covering areas like command and control, logistic and cyber but we will also then add new projects to the different activities under the trust funds and we will add projects related to hybrid warfare, explosive devices and strategic communications. So we will strongly provide political support but we will also step up and increase our practical support with the agreement on the comprehensive assistance package for Ukraine.

Oana Lungescu: Georgian Public Broadcaster, first row.

Q: Georgian Public Broadcaster. Mr. Secretary General how do you evaluate the progress made by Georgia? I mean the steps taken by Georgia and also by NATO since Wales. From your perspective and also what can, what should Georgia expect in Warsaw? You have just mentioned that its important for the organization to help partners and the partners should have the ability to resist outside pressure. What do you mean and what risks do you see? Thank you.

Jens Stoltenberg: We will have a meeting in the NATO Georgia Commission at the foreign ministerial level during our summit. And there we will express our political support and again to the territorial integrity and independence of Georgia but we will also discuss how we can support, provide practical support to Georgia. And I was present when we inaugurated a joint training centre in Georgia some months ago and I think that's a very good platform for providing practical support to Georgia. There is more NATO in Georgia now with trainers, with advisors and we will help Georgia implement reforms modernizing its defence structures and building defence institutions. So this is a meeting place where we will meet with the Georgian Foreign Minister and other representatives from Georgia discussing how we can work together with a close partner and also to commend Georgia for contributing troops, forces to different NATO operations including to Afghanistan. One of the biggest force contributors to our mission in Afghanistan is for instance, or is Georgia.

Q: And what about outside threats [inaudible]?

Jens Stoltenberg: The reason why we are, one of the reasons why we are stepping up our support and why we are providing support to Georgia, political support, practical support, why we have inaugurated the training centre and why we are developing our cooperation in other ways is to help Georgia increase their resilience, their capacity to resist outside pressure. So of course it is important for NATO to support Georgia because Georgia has seen a lot of pressure from outside, and we will continue to help them resist that pressure.

Oana Lungescu: Wall Street Journal.

Q: Mr. Secretary General in Warsaw the alliance is going to announce a pretty robust deterrence measure for the Baltic region but it is a pretty non-robust initiative for the Black Sea region. I wonder could you talk a little bit about why that is, is that because of different level of threat or is it disagreements around allies that prohibited the flotilla idea from coming to fruition? Why the difference between the approach to the Baltic and the Black region?

Jens Stoltenberg: Well we have decided to have four battalions in the three Baltic countries and Poland and then we have decided to have what we call a tailored presence for the southeast region and that will be built around a Romanian brigade but the thing is to turn this Romanian brigade into a multi-national force. So the idea is to have also NATO forces from different allies being part of this tailored presence in the southeast based around a Romanian brigade. And it will be under command of the multi-national division southeast which is a multi-national presence in Romania. So there's going to be a multi-national NATO presence in the southeast, in Romania and were going to make decisions on this at our summit. Moreover we have already increased our presence in the southeast with more air policing and with more naval presence in the Black Sea. Warsaw is not the end, so we will continue to assess, continue to adapt and one of the areas where I see a need for continued adaptation is when it comes to our presence in the Black Sea region. So that will certainly be on our agenda also after Warsaw.

Oana Lungescu: Suddeutsche.

Q: Secretary General the German Foreign Minister has criticised the behaviour of some within NATO and talked about sabre rattling and war mongering. Is that, in the air towards Russia, is that a concern that you share? A criticism that you share? Or is that a comment that you have no understanding for?

Jens Stoltenberg: I share the idea of that NATO has to both be strong, enhance our defence and deterrence and at the same time strive for a more cooperative and constructive relationship with Russia. And that has been the message from me from the first day I arrived, that's the message from the whole alliance and that's also the message from Germany being a staunch ally. And we have to adapt, when the world is changing - NATO has to change and that's exactly what we have done. We have strengthened our military presence as a response to Russia's behaviour in Ukraine but we have also continued to strive for more dialogue, more, a more constructive and cooperative relationship with Russia.

So therefore I welcome that we were able to hold a meeting on the NATO Russia Commission some months ago and we will continue to convey a very clear message that NATO does not seek confrontation. We don't want a new cold war, we, what we do is proportionate, is, its defensive and I welcome that Germany has been contributing both to our enhanced collective defence, for instance being one of the lead nations for our enhanced forward presence, one of the battalions we will have in the east, but also that Germany has been a driver for dialogue and cooperation and striving for a more cooperative relationship with Russia. There's no contradiction, Germany is in favour of both and I'm also in favour of both.

Oana Lungescu: NPR CBS.

Q: Hi thank you. Teri Shultz with NPR and CBS. First question on, you haven't been asked about Brexit yet, let me be the first on Americas birthday. Have you heard any concerns inside the alliance and do you have any concerns that a new government in Britain may not be completely on board with the commitments of the Cameron Government? And in another part of the continent, up in Finland on Friday President Putin warned the Finns that if they were to join NATO, which we know is not quite on the table yet, nobody should think he would keep his troops 900 miles from the Finnish border. We've heard these things before with Sweden, with Denmark when integration, when they were further integrating, so Id just like to know what you think about this latest salvo? Thank you.

Jens Stoltenberg: Brexit will change the relationship between UK and the European Union but it will not change UKs position inside NATO. UK will remain a strong and committed ally and David Cameron and the Government of UK has clearly stated that they will continue to be a committed ally living up to all their obligations. And I am certain that also a new government in United Kingdom will continue that line. This is important because the United Kingdom is a major provider of security in Europe and provider of security for the NATO alliance. UK accounts for roughly one quarter of defence spending among European NATO allies and they have proven again and again that they are able deploy forces, to contribute with capabilities to different NATO missions and operations. And therefore it is important to underline that the UKs position in NATO is unchanged.

What is changing is UKs relationship with the European Union. I think also it is of great importance to underline that we will step up our cooperation between NATO and the European Union and we will do that at the Warsaw Summit where President Tusk, President Juncker and I will sign a declaration on how we can develop, how we will strengthen NATO EU cooperation and the European Union is important for stability and security in Europe, the European Union contributes to stability and security in Europe and NATO and the European Union we are essential and unique partners and we have to work even closer together and that's exactly what we are planning to do.

The other question was about Finland. Its up to the Finns to decide whether they want to apply for membership and that's a basic fundamental principle that every nation has the right to decide its own path including what kind of security arrangements it wants to be part of. That is something NATO, NATO countries, NATO allies have signed to and also Russia has signed to. And of course that also applies for, is also valid for Finland. So its up to Finland to decide. I will not give them any advice and then if they apply they will be, such application will be handled exactly the same way as any other application and there is no way ... it'll be absolutely unjustified if that creates any negative reactions from any other country because that's a decision to be taken by Finland and NATO allies.

Oana Lungescu: I still see a lot of hands up so I would ask you colleagues if you could speak to one question if at all possible. Well go to Swiss Media over there.

Q: Yes Secretary General Thomas [inaudible], Swiss Television. Id like to stay on Brexit. I take it that the UK position in NATO doesn't change but they are on the way out from the European Union where they were the most vocal defendant of the need to avoid duplications and waste of resources. So is there any concern that with the, with Britain on the way out the situation may change? And how much has been actually discussed this given the uncertainty about the, their next moves? Thank you.

Jens Stoltenberg: I welcome any efforts by European countries to strengthen their defence capabilities. That will be good for Europe, for the European Union and for NATO. I also welcome any efforts to strengthen defence cooperation between European countries and in NATO we have done a lot to, for instance, develop the concept of framework nations where different nations are working together, sharing responsibilities and they're developing capabilities and capacities together. That's something I welcome and again, that also defence industry developing capabilities, again this is good for all of us, for the European Union, for NATO and for Europe. And so the only thing I think that is it important to avoid is duplication and NATO has structures, command structures which are well tested, well trained over decades and proven that we are able to deliver when needed. And so therefore it is important that enhanced cooperation, defence cooperation between European countries adds value and that we avoid duplication. And I expect that we, so I believe that this is something that we all agree on because we have scarce resources and we have to be, make sure that we use those resources in the best possible and most efficient way and duplication will not be an efficient way of using limited defence resources.

Oana Lungescu: Politiken.

Q: Thomas Larsen, Politiken. Just another follow up on Brexit. Are you really saying that the fact that a key ally like Britain is going to leave the European Union does not affect in any way the prospect of further collaboration between the EU and NATO that you say is so important?

Jens Stoltenberg: If anything it just strengthen the needs for enhanced NATO EU cooperation and before we know, we knew about the decision of the UK to leave the European Union, before we knew that we actually had decided to make the Warsaw Summit and Warsaw a platform for enhanced NATO EU cooperation and that's exactly what we are going to do. And as I said if anything it increases the need for that kind of cooperation but it was something we decided and planned even before. So, because neither, both the European Union and NATO faces or, we face together a new security environment with new threats: hybrid, terrorism, instability, and neither the European Union nor NATO possesses all the tools to respond so therefore we have to work together, on for instance countering hybrid threats and other challenges. And that's what we are going to do at the Warsaw.

Oana Lungescu: Kabul Times.

Q: Thank you very much. Secretary General as you mentioned at the Warsaw Summit Afghan President and also Chief Executive also attend, its very important summit for Afghanistan. As you know the security situation in Afghanistan remains very dangerous. What message of support to the Afghan Security Force do you expect from, from Afghanistan the Warsaw Summit? Thank you.

Jens Stoltenberg: I expect actually three messages of support. One is that we will continue our Resolute Support Mission beyond 2016 meaning that we will continue to train, assist and advise the Afghan National Security Forces, to strengthen their capability, to fight terrorism in Afghanistan and to stabilize their own country. We don't believe that's an easy task but we have seen that the Afghan Security Forces are professional, capable and that they are fighting the terrorists in Afghanistan and we will continue with our Resolute Support Mission helping them.

The second thing we will do is that we will make decisions on continued funding. I think that's extremely important. We made a decision back at our summit in Chicago and now we will make a new pledge up to 2020 providing the financial funding for the Afghan National Army and Security Forces.

And the third thing we will do is that we will develop our enduring partnership, the political cooperation, the cooperation with Afghanistan and on all these three strands of work we will see strong commitment from NATO and NATO partners because there are many NATO partners contributing to the same efforts, to continue to support the Afghans. And again I think this is important to understand that this is important for Afghanistan but its also important for us because we have seen the reason why NATO is in Afghanistan is, is that that was a response to a terrorist attack against the United States back in 2001 9/11. So we are there because we wanted to fight terrorism, we wanted to prevent Afghanistan becoming a safe haven for international terrorism and therefore we are in Afghanistan also to protect ourselves because everything we can do to project stability is also good for our own security.

Oana Lungescu: Geo TV Pakistan.

Q: [Inaudible] from GEO Television Pakistan. Secretary General as my colleague suggested the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan but more worrisome the tension between Afghanistan Pakistan border, particularly on [inaudible] and bombing each other and Pakistan indication to expel within a six month millions of Afghan refugees as a retaliation. How you see all this development, stability of Afghanistan is depend, the strong cooperation between Pakistan and Afghanistan and also what's happening in tripartheid commission in Kabul? Thank you.

Jens Stoltenberg: I think the tensions and the fighting we have seen on the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan just underlines the importance of political dialogue and measures to diffuse the tensions and to avoid these kinds of incidents happening in the future. And therefore I support the efforts of both the Afghan Government and the Pakistani Government to solve these problems with a political dialogue.

Oana Lungescu: Kuwaiti News Agency Kuna.

Q: Thank you Mr. Secretary General. Given the fact that King Abdullah of Jordan will be in Warsaw and also a few Arab Defence Ministers, so what will be your proposal to them on the fight in general against terrorism and in particular against DAESH? We have seen now recent reports in the [inaudible] in Jordan, in Turkey, Bangladesh, [inaudible] and [inaudible]. So what will be your essential message to them? Thank you.

Jens Stoltenberg: Our message will be that we will step up our support for countries and forces in the region strengthening their capability to stabilize their own countries, and to fight terrorism - ISIL. And that's exactly what we are doing, that's actually what we are doing in Afghanistan where we train national forces to fight terrorists, different terrorist groups in Afghanistan. That is what we are now doing when we train Iraqi forces, We do that in Jordan but we will make decisions to then expand that into training of Iraqi officers in Iraq. That's what we do when we work with Jordan as a close partner but also work with for instance Tunisia on issues like intelligence, developing their intelligence capabilities but also special operation forces.

And that's what we actually do when NATO is present in Turkey - with assurance measures, with AWACS planes and patriot batteries augmenting the air defences of Turkey because Turkey is the NATO ally most affected by the turmoil, the violence in Turkey, in, sorry in Syria and Iraq. So one of the main messages from the Warsaw Summit will be that NATO will do more to fight terrorism, to fight instability by working with partner countries in the wider Middle East region, North Africa, to enable them to fight terrorism because we really believe that our, one of our best weapons in the fight against terrorism is to train local forces. I would also like to underline that we are working closely with several countries in the Gulf region and we will soon inaugurate a new NATO centre in Kuwait. I visited Kuwait recently and I saw the construction of this centre and this centre will be an important platform for regional cooperation between the Gulf countries and NATO addressing, for instance, what we can do together to project stability.

Oana Lungescu: Two very quick final questions here with Reuters over there and then Swedish Radio, final question.

Q: Thank you very much. Secretary General you've been saying since I think February or March that NATO will help the Europeans in the Mediterranean and now at the summit you're saying again that its going to happen but could you give us a bit more detail? I mean when will NATO ships actually be physically helping patrol that part of the central Mediterranean? Thank you very much.

Jens Stoltenberg: That's exactly one of the issues we will make decisions on; we will make decisions on the transformation of our presence, present presence in the Mediterranean, transforming our present operation Active Endeavour into a broader security mission. And I expect that to happen at the summit: the transformation of Active Endeavour into broader security maritime operation. Exactly when we will deploy capabilities, its too early to say but, it may be ships but it also may be for instance maritime patrol aircrafts, intelligence and other capabilities. That depends partly on what's needed and on our dialogue with the European Union. But let me add that we are already present in the Mediterranean; we have the Active Endeavour but we have our cooperation with the European Union in the Aegean and that has been very successful.

Together with the European Union, with Turkey, with the Frontex and the Greek Coast Guard we have been able to cut the lines of illegal trafficking. The number of crossings have gone from several thousands to date to close to zero. This is of course part of a broader international effort but NATO has contributed with six, eight ships, it had varied a bit but we have been present there and I think that the NATO naval presence has been important partly because we have given practical support to the local coast guards and navies but also because we have provided a platform for enhanced cooperation between Turkey and Greece. So we are building on the good experience and the success we have had in the Aegean when we now are looking into what more we can do in other parts of the Mediterranean including in the central Mediterranean.

Oana Lungescu: And final question Swedish Radio.

Q: Hi, [inaudible], Swedish Radio. As far as I understand you have invited to the summit with 28 countries plus two, why so? And from a NATO perspective to what extent is it possible to even further the integration with partnership countries like Sweden and Finland without having them as members of NATO?

Jens Stoltenberg: So we are inviting Finland and Sweden because Finland and Sweden are two of our very few enhanced opportunity partners. So Sweden and Finland are really close friends of NATO and we invite close friends to dinner and that's exactly what we are going to do at the dinner of heads of state and government on the first day - on Friday - where the Finnish President and the Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven are going to be present. And I'm looking forward to that because Sweden and Finland are very close partners; we work together with them, they contribute to many different NATO operations and missions, for instance, in Afghanistan and of course all issues related to security, stability in the Baltic Sea region, Finland and Sweden are important. So this is a cooperation which is to the benefit of Finland and Sweden and its a benefit for NATO and NATO allies. And then its up to Finland and Sweden to decide whether they want more, this is only dinner.

Oana Lungescu: And with that well see in in Warsaw. Thank you very much.
Clinton 'may mean the end of America'

Medical freedoms would give patients cheaper alternatives

(NaturalNews) In the most recent Quinnipiac University poll, presumptive nominees for the presidency, Donald Trump for the Republican Party and Hillary Clinton for the Democrats, the race was a virtual dead heat. That surprised many who believe that Clinton will walk away with the White House this fall, despite her legal issues and the fact that a majority of voters say they don't trust her.But Natural News founder and editor Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, says he believes Trump can pull off the upset if he focuses on issues that a majority or Americans  or at least a large plurality, from both major parties and among Independents  favor.In a recent edition of his popular "Health Ranger Report," which airs daily on TalkNetwork.com and on his own Health Ranger Report site, Adams says Trump can pull in votes backing issues like wider use of medical hemp, holistic medicine and naturopathic care."This list of three game-changing topics could bring Trump an extra 5 - 10% of progressives while keeping the votes of nearly all conservatives," he says. "These are things that Donald Trump can announce his support for, and then win the election because he'll get huge support" even from voters who do not typically support Republican candidates.He went on to say that many Democrats would also likely support Trump because they are fans of holistic, alternative medicine and medical hemp, while Clinton is wholly owned by Monsanto and Big Pharma, as well as big banks and the petrochemical industries."And a lot of [Sen.] Bernie [Sanders, I-Vt.] voters really hate Clinton and the way she stole the election and committed absolute fraud and conspired withto commit voter fraud," Adams continued.He also noted what many political experts still don't see or don't understand: That millions of Americans are "just ready for something different" in a presidential candidate this time around, having grown weary of the lies, deceit and neglect by the so-called 'Establishment' candidates, of which Clinton most certainly is.Adams went on to reiterate his support for Trump over Clinton because he believes she "is the worst thing that could happen to America.""If she is elected," he continued, "it may mean the end of America."Adams then explained a bit about why he believes the three issues he believes Trump should support are important:Not only is this very powerful medicine, Adams noted, it would also be very inexpensive  it would help bring down the overall cost of health care  if it were legal across the country, something a president could indeed push Congress to enact. And he said that medical hemp treats a variety of conditions, including cancer and neurological disorders.Many younger Democratic voters who support hemp legalization, especially. would be drawn in to vote for Trump, Adams said.Trump "could also come out in support of natural" and holistic medicine, he added, which would be easy "because he actuallyin holistic medicine. ...He serves organic foods at his hotels, for example."For this, Adams said, Trump has a natural base of support in his home town of New York City, where many shops and naturopathic health practices are located."New York is actually a great place for eating healthy, believe it or not," Adams noted further, as well as many other U.S. cities.He said Trump should back naturopathic and alternative medicines  and still be covered by their insurance plans  which would give consumers and patients a choice, and a much cheaper alternative in nearly every case.Clinton, on the other hand, is all about the big corporations and Big Pharma that destroy your health and then step in and claim to be able to cure it with expensive treatments and medicines.Listen to the third issue  "medical freedom"  Adams says Trump should back, as well as the entire segment, here Sources:
Small farms are the future!

Pandering to Big Agriculture

(NaturalNews) Every U.S. state has laws on the books designed to protect farms from being declared "nuisances" by their neighbors, and Michigan is no exception. But in 2014, the Michigan Commission of Agriculture and Rural Development exempted small farms from this protection with the stroke of a pen.The revised rule states that local governments can, at their discretion (that is, arbitrarily), ban goats, chickens and beehives from any property that has a residence within 250 feet of its boundary, or that has 13 homes within one-eighth of a mile.Although media coverage at the time focused on how this would affect urban and backyard farmers, the rule change as written actually puts all small farmers at risk, even those in rural and agricultural areas. The only farms that seem safe are those in areas dominated by massive, sprawling agricultural operations  that is, those owned by Big Agriculture.The decision "effectively remove[s] Right to Farm Act protection for many urban and suburban backyard farmers raising small numbers of animals," said Gail Philburn of the Michigan Sierra Club, as reported byThe point of Michigan's 1981 Right to Farm Act was to prevent urban people who moved to the country from using anti-nuisance laws against the farms that had been there first. From the time it was passed, it was always interpreted to protect urban and backyard farms, as well as large rural operations.The Right to Farm Act only protects farms that conform to the state's Generally Accepted Agricultural and Management Practices (GAAMP); it was this set of rules that was amended to contain the new provision. The GAAMP had already said that local zoning ordinances could regulate animal operations; previously, however, this only applied to operations with more than 50 animals. Lowering the bar drastically to 13 animals, was interpreted as an attempt to wipe out small-scale animal farms  an effort that critics blasted as out of step with a growing interest in small, local agriculture."The Michigan Agriculture Commission passed up an opportunity to support one of the hottest trends in food in Michigan  public demand for access to more local, healthy, sustainable food," Philbin said.Critics noted that the ruling closely followed a World Health Organization report blaming large-scale animal operations for contributing to a major public health crisis of antibiotic resistance through their overuse of the drugs as growth-promoters. It also came only a day after USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack announced funding for research into the benefits of small family farms."There's a lot of unnecessary legal action being taken against small farms who are doing good things in their communities," said Randy Buchler, a small farmer and board member of the Michigan Small Farm Council.Small farm advocates interpreted the new rules as a giveaway to big agriculture, which feels threatened by the growing interest in locally and sustainably produced food."The commission is essentially taking sides in the marketplace," Philbin said."They don't want us little guys feeding ourselves," said Michigan resident Kim White, who had been raising backyard rabbits and chickens. "They want us to go all to the big farms. They want to do away with small farms and I believe that is what's motivating it."Indeed, the rule change was endorsed by the Michigan Farm Bureau, which took the position that the Right to Farm Act was not meant to protect small farms. In a conflict of interest bordering on open corruption, the Farm Bureau's government relations specialist, Matthew Kapp, was actually a member of the committee that wrote the new rule."Farm Bureau has become another special interest beholden to big business and out of touch with small farmers, and constitutional and property rights of the little guy," small-scale operator Pine Hallow Farms wrote to the Michigan Small Farm Council.
Activists flew a drone into Northern Ireland as a way to deliver abortion pills, as a stunt to dramatize the difficulties faced by women seeking to have an abortion in the UK province.

The drone was launched from Omeath in the Republic of Ireland, carrying mifepristone and misoprostol pills. It landed at Narrow Waters Castle in the vicinity of Warrenpoint, Northern Ireland. Two women greeted the drone and took the pills that it had delivered. Northern Irish police were present as the drone landing took place, but they did not make a move to prevent the women from ingesting the abortion pills.

The event was organized by a coalition of pro-choice groups: Alliance For Choice, Labour Alternative, Rosa, and Women on Waves.

One of the women who took the pills was Belfast native Courtney Robinson, a member of Labour Alternative. Robinson made a statement to the press:

"We are here to say we are going to defy the law in helping women obtain these pills and we are going to work to make the law unworkable and stand in solidarity with all women who want to have an abortion and have the right to do so in Northern Ireland," said Robinson.

Robinson added that Labour Alternative would continue such activist activities for as long as the Dail (the Irish parliament) refused to entertain their demands for improved reproductive rights.

The UK's Abortion Act 1967 does not apply to the province of Northern Ireland, where it is against the law to do an abortion except for serious health reasons, such as to preserve the life of the mother. Those who use drugs to induce an abortion may face dire consequences. The maximum penalty for such behavior is life imprisonment, under the 1861 Offences Against the Person Act.

In April of 2016, a 21-year-old woman from Northern Ireland was given a three-month suspended sentence for the offense of inducing an abortion with pills that she had purchased online.
Environment issues have been discussed in so many ways - through the news, through blog posts, through marches in the streets - but some of the strongest messages are put across not through words but through powerful and thought-provoking images. The winners of this year's Atkins CIWEN Environmental Photographer of Year awards have done just that, having captured fleeting - and haunting - scenes for people to ponder.

This year's Environmental Photographer of the Year 2016 award went to Sara Lindstrom. Frozen in her photograph, titled "Wildfire," are towering smoke billowing across a forest during a wildfire that happened on a July day in Alberta, Canada. The huge flames had her "completely mesmerised in fear and awe," reports the BBC.

Atkins Ciwem environmental photographer of the year 2016 - the winners in pictures https://t.co/JYl24r0KRP  Guardian Environment (@guardianeco) June 28, 2016

Luke Massey, meanwhile, bagged the Young Environmental Photographer of the Year award for "Poser." His picture is of a peregrine perched outside a balcony in a Chicago condominium, looking straight into his lens. Massey said he wants to draw attention to how wildlife is under threat.

The Atkins Built Environment Award was given to photojournalist SL Kumar Shanth, whose photo shows two men posing for the camera while waves are slamming on the side of their small blue house. Titled "Losing Ground to Manmade Disaster," it gives a message of the damage happening brought about by humans and natural forces.

The CIWEM Changing Climate Award went to photojournalist Sandra Hoyn, who focuses her lens on social, human rights and environmental issues. Her winning photo, titled "Life Jackets on the Greek Island of Lesbos," shows a sea of orange life vests strewn along a coast. These were discarded by refugees who crossed from Turkey to Greece.

Pedram Yazdani took home the Forestry Commission England People, Nature and Economy Award for his photo called "Sand." It shows Iran's Salt Lake Urmia, which now only contains 10 percent of the water it used to have. This, he said, is due to both climate change and the construction of a well and dam.

Sergiu Jiduc was honored with the Environmental Film Award. His film, titled "The Karakoram Anomaly Project, Pakistan," features glaciers in the Karakoram mountain range and what is called Glacial Lake Outburst Floods (GLOFs), which has caused waves the size of tsunamis.

His film, he said, "could help gauge the future availability of water for hundreds of millions of people as well as to provide insights on how glaciers will change in the future. But most importantly, mapping and quantifying the risk of GLOFs in the area could save thousands of lives."

The winners were announced by Sir Ranulph Fiennes in June at the Royal Geographical Society. The winning photos, along with the 60 shortlisted submissions, is on exhibit until Aug. 22. They will then be put on display at different forest venues in England. From Sept. 3 to Jan. 1 next year, they will be exhibited at the Grizedale Forest in the Lake District.
Arizona is second of 11 Western states in the United States that has seen an increase in the number and size of huge wildfires since the '70s, says a report by non-profit research organization Climate Central. But the question is, is it linked to human-caused climate change?

"Arizona is actually among the fastest warming states in the entire country," said researcher Alyson Kenward, senior scientist and vice president of Climate Central, according to Tucson.com. "In terms of future risk, Arizona is projected to get even hotter and drier and to be the driest in the West, which is why our projections are for the state to see the most high wildfire potential days."

While the study, titled "Western Wildfires: A Fiery Future," says that "climate change may be creating ideal conditions for more Western wildfires," it does not conclude that human-caused climate change is the culprit for individual wildfires. However, researchers have seen a connection between wildfires and the rise in temperature; and climate change has been linked to greenhouse gases, which are mostly due to human activities.

"For the United States, climate change impacts include greater threats of extreme weather events, sea level rise, and increased risk of regional water scarcity, heat waves, wildfires, and the disturbance of biological systems," reads part of the letter sent to the U.S. Congress by 31 scientific organizations. "The severity of climate change impacts is increasing and is expected to increase substantially in the coming decades.

The Climate Central report says warmer temperatures result in drying, which make it conducive for fires to spread. Dry wood in the forests, for instance, ignite more easily when lightning strikes or due to human activity, and small fires can easily spread over large areas when the condition is ideal. There is also less snowpack to keep fuels wet, as they tend to melt earlier in the year due to temperature rise.

According to the report, the wildfire season last year was the worst thus far in the country. The West saw flames eat up more than 10 million acres, with the area affected having increased threefold from the '70s to the year 2010.

The report estimates that by 2050, there will be an additional 34 days in the wildfire season - more than a month of potential wildfires happening.

Idaho ranks No.1 in the list of Western states that saw the largest increase in the average number of wildfires from 1970 to 2015. Arizona is second; Montana and Oregon are third and fourth; while Washington and Wyoming are tied at No. 5.

Arizona is also second, next to California, in the top five states with the largest number of people living in what the report calls "wildland-urban interface."

Climate Central says that fire season "is approaching the point where the notion of a fire season will be made obsolete by the reality of year-round wildfires across the West."
A new wildfire forced the evacuation of dozens of homes in a mountain community in central California, fire officials said.

According to the Kern County Fire Department, the so-called Deer Fire started to burn through dry grass, shrubs and timber on Friday afternoon, affecting about 1,800 acres of Bear Mountain.

"There is a ridge that the fire is working toward and we are working with great effort to keep it from that ridge. If it crests the ridge, it could change the whole dynamic," Phil Neufield, Kern County Fire Department spokesman, told Reuters.

The fire threatened about 100 properties in Bear Valley Springs and had to be immediately evacuated. According to fire officials, the wildfire is still on its way to the steep terrain and putting more houses in immediate danger.

The wildfire was said to be fueled by dried-up trees in the area, high temperatures and winds. According to Reuters, fire officials were able to carve containment lines about 85 percent of the flame's perimeter.

According to officials, two fire personnel reportedly suffered minor injuries while tackling the blaze, but no homes had been destroyed.

Drought-stricken California has been battling with wildfires since May. But a series of major fires over the past two weeks officially marked the beginning of an intense wildfire outbreak for this year.

Some 30 miles north, not far from where the Deer Fire is burning, a bigger, more devastating blaze has already killed two people and wreaked havoc to hundreds of properties.

The Erskine Fire near Lake Isabella has charred about 48,000 acres, destroyed at least 150 homes and left two people dead in its wake.

The Deer and Erskine Fires are just two of 12 major wildfires burning across the state. In southern California, fires had burned 5,267 acres in the San Gabriel area, and 7,609 acres in San Diego County.

The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection urged residents to be cautious in using fireworks during the holiday weekend on July 4 as these may spark additional fires in the area.
A new device has helped archaeologists uncover a secret holocaust tunnel without digging on the site.

A team of archaeologists, geophysicists and historians from U.S., Canada, Lithuania and Israel discovered the tunnel using a scanning technology called electrical resistivity tomography, which is the same device used in mineral and oil exploration.

The device allowed the researchers to pinpoint the tunnel's location without digging.

The legendary tunnel, known as Paneriai, is located in the Ponar forest in Lithuania, outside the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius. According to the Israel Antiquities Authority, the Jewish prisoners secretly dug out the 112-feet long tunnel using spoons to escape the Nazis during World War II.

About 100,000 people, including 70,000 Jews, were killed and thrown into the pit during the Nazi regime. In April 1944, some 80 members of the "Burning Brigade," a group tasked to burn the bodies to cover up the crime, fled the massacre site using this tunnel.

"To find a little glimmer of hope within the dark hole of Ponar is very important as humans," Jon Seligman, an archeologist from the Israel Antiquities Authority who participated in the expedition, told Independent.

One of the challenges of archaeologists is to keep excavations from threatening the preservation of a historical site. According to the research team, the task of locating the tunnel in Ponar is particularly challenging, as the site is known as ground zero for the Holocaust.

But through the new ground scanning technology, the researchers were able to map the path of the tunnel without disturbing the site.

From being referred to as "destructive science" in the past, archaeology will soon be revolutionized with the help of these devices. In an article published by Slate.com in 2013, archaeologist Sarah Parcak had remarked that "this is the most exciting time in history to be an archaeologist."

In 2015, the same research team used ground-penetrating radar to discover parts of the old Great Synagogue of Vilna demolished by Soviet authorities after the war, Independent reports.
Fond of the Northern lights? Well, there's another place where aurora lights can be seen, but it's not on Earth but in the Northern hemisphere of Jupiter.

NASA/ESA's Hubble Space Telescope recently photographed Jupiter's aurora lights. Scientists and astronomers are using the Hubble Space Telescope to conduct a study on auroras occurring on Jupiter's Northern hemisphere. With the Juno spacecraft entering the Jupiter's orbit, its data contributions greatly help the study of the planet's auroras.

Stunning new photo captures massive aurora on Jupiter https://t.co/mVx6HpoBg3 pic.twitter.com/qkHBm8dLWk  Huffington Post (@HuffingtonPost) July 2, 2016

NASA declared Jupiter's storm as the most colorful in the Solar System just like its Red Great Spot. Now, the astronomers are marveling at another colorful feature of Jupiter using the innovative capabilities of the Hubble Space Telescope.

The auroras are created with high-energy particles that come in contact with a planet's atmosphere near the magnetic poles and collide with atoms of gas. The research aims to investigate how Jupiter's auroras respond to different conditions including solar wind, the charged particles from the sun. And along with the goal, the study also produces the best images of the planet's auroras.

"These auroras are very dramatic and among the most active I have ever seen", Jonathan Nichols from the University of Leicester and principal investigator of the study in a statement. "It almost seems as if Jupiter is throwing a firework party for the imminent arrival of Juno."

The study is perfectly timed, as the Juno spacecraft will enter the orbit of Jupiter. The measurement done by the Hubble Space Telescope will be compensated with Juno's data on the solar winds on the planet.

Jupiter's aurora is a lot more different and colorful than that of the Earth. The mass of the planet's aurora is bigger than the surface of Earth, it also lit up the northern part of Jupiter non-stop and is more energetic compared to Earth-borne auroras, according to Times.

Astronomers and the public cannot hide their admiration of this celestial extravaganza when NASA released the photograph, some call it a "fireworks" display worthy of the biggest planet in the Solar System, according to PetaPixel.

The study will also provide answers as to how solar winds affect auroras in different planets in the Solar System.
Have you ever heard of a "virgin birth"?

A leopard shark named Leonie in Australia has conceived without the help of a mate. She has successfully given birth to three healthy female pups this week at the Reef HQ Great Barrier Reef Aquarium.

According to National Geographic, the leopard shark, also known as zebra shark, laid 41 eggs, despite the fact that the said animal did not have any contact with any male sharks in the aquarium. Leonie first laid fatherless eggs back in 2013; however, none of the embryos survived until now.

Laura Coulton, an aquarist, explained to the Daily Mail that the phenomenon is quite fascinating.

"This is what is known as a virgin birth, which means that the eggs weren't fertilised by a male. During a virgin birth, the mother can only produce females because she can only pass on her genetic information," she said.

Coulton clarified that the pups born from virgin births are not necessarily clones of their mother because the genetic makeup from the parent has been reshuffled in the younger ones.

National Geographic notes that virgin birth, though rare, has been present in sharks both in captivity and in the wild. Virgin birth, or parthenogenesis, also happens in other animals, such as snakes and invertebrates.

Previously, scientists theorized that virgin birth happens when a female animal stores up sperm from her previous mating encounters.

However, with cases like that of Leonie, who did not have any encounter with a male mate at all, experts think that the rare process could be caused by evolution. Considering that they are living in a no-male environment, the female animals were pushed to propagate on their own for species survival.

"I think it happens when they get pushed into an evolutionary corner, like in an aquarium with no males around," said George Burgess, a shark expert from the Florida Museum of National History.

However, amazing as it may seem that animals could evolve to reproduce on their own, there's still a downside to this process.

Leonie's pups, named Cleo, CC and Gemini, will only possess their mother's reshuffled DNA without having enough genetic diversity that a pup could get from having a male and female parent. As a result, the pups would be weaker to fight off infections and other potential threats.
Juno will enter Jupiter's orbit on the night of the Fourth of July celebration. This momentous event will mark the day Jupiter was seen as close as possible by a man-made and solar-powered spacecraft.

Juno will reveal secrets of Jupiter's composition and magnetic field and hopefully, answer the question of whether or not if the gas planet has a solid core. But in order to do that, Juno has to withstand Jupiter's "hellish" radiation level that experts compare to 100 million dental x-rays.

Juno will enter Jupiter's orbit past 8:00 pm on July 4. The spacecraft will get a taste of the planet's "hellish" radiation the moment it gets into orbit through a calculated and complex breaking maneuver.

Jupiter is known as the "biggest and baddest" planet in the Solar System due to its high level of radiation. Huge levels of electrons are accelerated due to the planet's massive magnetic fields, 20,000 times more powerful than the Earth. Experts call it as Jupiter's slingshot weapon turning objects caught on its radiation ring into a weapon spiral in high-speed in space.

"Once these electrons hit a spacecraft, they immediately begin to ricochet and release energy, creating secondary photons and particles, which then ricochet," Heidi Becker, Juno scientist said in a statement published by Space.com. "It's like a spray of radiation bullets," Becker added.

NASA scientists tried to simulate the radiation levels surrounding Jupiter in a radiology treatment room in a Parisian hospital. "It's kind of like cat burglars in the middle of the night, stealing electrons," Becker said, the lead engineer for the mission's radiation monitoring experiment in a statement.

Juno, the solar-powered spacecraft, survive the 1.8 billion-mile journey to reach its destination planet since it was launched in 2011. Experts are confident that Juno will be able to withstand radiation as powerful as 100 million x-rays because it is designed just like an "armored tank" with titanium vaults protecting its main components.

Juno is expected to orbit the planet for 37 times or for about two years, and during those times, the spacecraft should be able to endure the radiations emitted by the planet. After the mission, Juno will self-destruct in February 2018.

The data to be observed by Juno is expected to provide clues to the formation of the Sun and the Solar System.
The San Jose Police Department and city leaders are cracking down on illegal fireworks, including raising the prices of fines and beefing up security during annual festivities.

The increase in fines comes by way of the San Jose City Council, which in April approved a measure authorizing larger penalties for the "sale, use, possession, or storage" of fireworks. The council has also expanded the number of officials allowed to cite offenders to include park rangers and some fire officials, according to the Mercury News.

According to the new measure, fireworks-related violations will cost anywhere from $500 to $1,000, depending on the number of offenses a person has already racked up. Jail time is also a possibility.

Prior to the new measure, a first-time violation could run as low as $350 -- the equivalent to a speeding ticket in some areas.

For its part, the police department has vowed to step up security at large fireworks gatherings and will also be fielding tips from a hotline. Anyone who wishes to report a fireworks violation can call 408-277-8900.
Students at the University of California at Berkeley are planning a vigil for a future economics major who helped created an ethical clothing line and who was among the 20 hostages killed by militants in an attack on a restaurant in Bangladesh.

A memorial vigil is set for Tuesday from noon to 1 p.m. to honor the lives of 18-year-old Tarishi Jain and others slain in the Bangladesh terrorist attack on the campuss Sproul Plaza. The event is being hosted by the Associated Students of the University of California.

The university said that Jain was in the capital of Dhaka for a summer internship that began last month. The Indian national was working at a bank as part of a program arranged by UC Berkeley's Center for Bangladesh Studies. Jain graduated from the American International School in Dhaka and transferred to Berkeley in 2015.

At Cal, Jain was active on the International Student Advisory Board, a group that provides guidance to and organizes events for international students, the university said. She also helped create a clothing line named EthiCal Apparel whose profits are reinvested to provide microloans to low-income people who lack access to banking services.

She was a very talented young lady with a passion to make a positive difference in the world. It is not just a loss for India or UC Berkeley, but a loss for the world, said Sujit Chowdhury, a quality-management strategist whose donation launched UC Berkeleys Center for Bangladesh Studies.
The body of a Wisconsin student who went missing while on a study abroad program in Rome has been found in a river in Italy, university officials said.

Beau Solomon, 19, from Spring Green, Wisconsin, had just completed his first year as a personal finance major at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He was reported missing by his roommate on Friday, hours after his arrival in Italy's capital.

Around midday Monday, police reported the discovery of the body of a young male in the Tiber River in Rome but stressed no identification of the corpse had been made. Police officers, including ones from the forensics squad, were at the river bank, with media being kept away.

Hours later, a statement from John Cabot University, the school where the student was enrolled for the exchange program, posted in a statement to its website that the body was identified to be Solomon.

John Cabot University is deeply saddened to announce that the body of Beau Solomon, the missing American visiting student, has been found in the Tiber River. We express our most heartfelt condolences to the Solomon family and to all those who loved Beau, it wrote.

The university had been "alerted by his roommate, who reported that he had lost contact with Beau around 1 a.m. on Thursday night while together at a pub in Rome and was worried when he did not see Beau at orientation" Friday morning. Solomon's family says his credit cards have been used since he disappeared, racking up "thousands" of dollars in charges.

Solomon's family has arrived in Italy and John Cabot University is in contact with Italian authorities, the U.S. Embassy and his U.S. college, its President Franco Pavoncello told The Associated Press.

His older brother, Jake Solomon, described the 19-year-old as an athlete who successfully battled cancer for years as a child. He said his parents, Nick and Jodi Solomon, wouldn't return from Rome until Beau was found.

U.S. students arriving in Italy for a semester or year of study are often surprised to learn that wine and other alcohol can be easily purchased in Italian supermarkets, and sometimes that can lead to problems.

In 2012, a U.S. student was allegedly stabbed by his roommate, a fellow student at John Cabot University, after what police said was a night of alcohol and possible drug use. The stabbed student survived.

Also in recent years, a young American man recently arrived in Rome for studies died after falling off a low wall where people sit at nighttime and landing on the cement banks of the Tiber River. Another young American male student, who had been reported missing after leaving a bar, was found dead near train tracks in a Rome tunnel, apparently hit by a train in the early morning hours.
The brother of a Wisconsin student discovered dead in Rome says investigators believe he was murdered.



Beau Solomon, a 19-year-old University of Wisconsin-Madison student from Spring Green, Wisconsin, had traveled to Rome on Thursday to begin studies at John Cabot University. He disappeared from a bar that same night. On Monday his body was found in the Tiber River.



Cole Solomon, Beau Solomon's 23-year-old brother, told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that investigators believe someone killed him. He says his brother suffered a head wound and was found with blood on his shirt.



What's more, thousands of dollars were charged to his credit card after his disappearance.



UW-Madison Chancellor Rebecca Blank issued a statement Monday saying everyone at the school is saddened by Beau Solomon's death.



"We express our most heartfelt condolences to the Solomon family and to all those who loved Beau," said a statement from John Cabot University, the Rome-based English-language university.



Solomon had just completed his first year as a personal finance major at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.



An earlier statement from the university said it was "alerted by his roommate, who reported that he had lost contact with Beau around 1 a.m. ... and was worried when he did not see Beau at orientation" Friday morning.



Solomon's family said his credit cards were used after he disappeared.



Solomon's family was in Italy and John Cabot University was in contact with Italian authorities, the U.S. Embassy and his U.S. college, its President Franco Pavoncello told The Associated Press.



Without citing sources or names, the Italian news agency ANSA said two people claimed to have seen a man throw a person into the Tiber the night Solomon disappeared.



An older brother, Jake Solomon, described his brother as an athlete who successfully battled cancer for years as a child. He said his parents, Nick and Jodi Solomon, had traveled to Rome.



While the cause of Solomon's death is unclear, there have been several recent cases of American students in Rome running into trouble, especially during a night out drinking. Many American students are surprised to find that alcohol can be easily acquired in Italian supermarkets, bars or restaurants.



In 2012, a U.S. student was allegedly stabbed by his roommate, a fellow student at John Cabot University, after what police said was a night of alcohol and possible drug use. The stabbed student survived.



Also in recent years, a young American man recently arrived in Rome for studies died after falling off a low wall where people sit at nighttime and landing on the cement banks of the Tiber River. Another young American male student, who had been reported missing after leaving a bar, was found dead near train tracks in a Rome tunnel, apparently hit by a train in the early morning hours.
The death toll from Sunday's devastating truck bombing at a bustling Baghdad commercial street has reached 200, Mohammed Al-Rubaiy of Baghdad governate's security committee told NBC News.

Among the 200 are 81 unidentified bodies in the morgue, he added. There are 176 injuries.

The bombing, claimed by the Islamic State group, was the deadliest terror attack in Iraq in a year and one of the worst single bombings in more than a decade of war and insurgency. It underscored the IS group's ability to strike the Iraqi capital despite a string of battlefield losses elsewhere in the country and fueled public anger toward the political leadership.

The suicide bomber blew up his explosives-laden vehicle in Baghdad's mostly Shiite Karada district, a favorite avenue for shoppers  especially during the holy month of Ramadan, with the streets and sidewalks filled with young people and families after they had broken their daylight fast.

Police and health officials told The Associated Press earlier Monday the toll stood at 142 but that it was likely to increase even further as rescuers are still looking for missing people.

Hours after the bombing, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi visited the attack site in Karada, but a furious mob surrounded his convoy, yelling expletives, hurling rocks and shoes at the prime minister's cars and calling him a "thief."

In a statement issued later Sunday, al-Abadi ordered that a scandal-ridden bomb detection device be pulled from service. He also ordered the reopening of an investigation on the procurement of the British-made electronic wands, called ADE 651s.

In 2010, British authorities arrested the director of the British company ATSC Ltd. on fraud charges, prompting Iraqis to open their own investigation on alleged corruption charges against some officials. Iraqi authorities made some arrests, but the investigation went nowhere and the device remained in use.

Along with taking away the electronic wand detectors, al-Abadi also ordered that X-ray systems be installed at the entrances of provinces. He demanded the upgrades of the capital's security belt, increased aerial scanning, a step-up in intelligence efforts and the division of responsibility among various security units.

Iraqi and foreign officials have linked the recent increase in IS attacks especially large-scale suicide bombings  with the string of losses the Islamic State group has faced on the battlefields across Iraq over the past year.

Iraqi security forces, supported by U.S.-led coalition airstrikes, have retaken the cities of Tikrit, and Ramadi, the Anbar provincial capital. Also in Anbar, Iraqi forces liberated Fallujah from the extremist group just over a week ago.

At the height of the extremist group's power in 2014, IS had deprived the government of control of nearly one third of Iraqi territory. Now the militants are estimated to control only 14 percent, according to the prime minister's office. IS militants still control Iraq's second-largest northern city of Mosul, north of Baghdad.
A toddler burned her feet on hot coals on a Cape Cod beach Sunday, police say.

The 2-year-old girl was walking on Veteran's Beach in Barnstable, Massachusetts, when she stepped on the coals around 2:30 p.m.

Police say the coals may have been buried in the sand an attempt by a beach-goer to cool them off earlier in the day.

The young girl was airlifted to Hasbro Children's Hospital in Providence, Rhode Island.

The child's condition was not immediately known, but only her feet were burned.

Barnstable Police initially told necn the victim was a 2-year-old boy, but they have since confirmed the child is female.
State Police arrested four men accused of counterfeiting credit cards Saturday.

Troopers responded to the Mobil off exit 68 in Tolland around 3:55 p.m. on reports of three male suspects attempting to use fake credit cards. When troopers arrived the suspects were gone, but troopers located the three suspects and a fourth male in a vehicle on Interstate 84.

According to police, troopers found multiple counterfeit credit cards in the vehicle, a credit card embossing machine, two electronic credit card writers, two laptops and a loaded Hi-Point 9mm handgun in the vehicle. The items were seized and all four men were taken into custody.

Carmelo Celestin, 24, of Malden, Mass. was charged with credit card theft, credit card counterfeiting, unlawful reproduction of a credit card, conspiracy to commit sale of untaxed tobacco, weapons in a vehicle, no permit to carry a pistol and operating a vehicle without a license.

Darren Hughes, 25, of Brooklyn, New York was charged with credit card theft, credit card counterfeiting, unlawful reproduction of a credit card and conspiracy to commit sale of untaxed tobacco.

Quasheen Hutson, 28, of New York, New York was charged with credit card theft, credit card counterfeiting, unlawful reproduction of a credit card and conspiracy to commit sale of untaxed tobacco.

Delroy McNeil, 28, of East Elmhurst, New York was charged with credit card theft, credit card counterfeiting, unlawful reproduction of a credit card, conspiracy to commit sale of untaxed tobacco and identity theft.

All four were held on $100,000 bonds and expected in Rockville Superior Court Tuesday.
Hamden police have arrested a husband and wife accused of being out of control at a local restaurant and the husband is accused of hitting several police officers.

Police said they responded to Mickeys Restaurant, at 2323 Whitney Ave., at 10:30 p.m. on June 29 after receiving a report of an unwanted person and were told Ralph and Valerie Dondi, were acting erratically and out of control.

When officers asked them to leave the premises, Ralph Dondi Jr., 66, of Hamden, pushed an officer and threatened him, police said. Then he aggressively approached another officer and pushed him, so officers arrested him and transported him to police headquarters, police said.

Valerie Dondi, 62, of Bradenton, Florida, grabbed an officer in an attempt to assist her husband and was also arrested, police said.

At police headquarters, Valerie Dondi kicked another officer and tried to assault her husband in the cell block area, according to police.

Police said that while he was in the detention facility, Ralph Dondi hit a fourth officer in the chest and it took three hours to process the couple.

Ralph Dondi Jr. and Valerie Dondi were charged with breach of peace and interfering with a police officer and are scheduled to appear in court in Meriden on July 14.
Connecticut already is one of the most demographically diverse states in the country, which is why the issue of immigration during the presidential campaign is so prevalent in the state.

Cesar Cisneros legally immigrated to the United States in 1998 and currently works as truck driver. When he arrived from Peru, he knew that he was charting the course for better future for his family than what he would have back home.

"The opportunities, better life, the people, I like the country," Cisneros said.

As he waits to find out whether he will achieve legal status this year, he knows the presidential race will have some level of implications for he, his wife Marie and their two daughters. Cisneros said he's not too concerned because he's had a full-time job for a long time.

"I dont feel scared because I do (the) right things, you know what I mean? Working hard every day and its not affecting me or anything," he said.

As for Cisneros, who arrived in America from Peru. He said he can't wait to hopefully become a citizen and watch his family grow as Americans.

"Yes, we are very happy here."
A manhunt is underway in Oregon for a Windsor, Connecticut, native who authorities said is wanted in connection with a kidnapping, sexual assault and a shooting on July 1.

Portland police said 42-year-old Anthony David Stone is accused of kidnapping a 41-year-old woman at gunpoint as she walked with a male companion.

The man who was with the victim said Stone pulled up to them in a car around 2:30 a.m., got out holding a gun and ordered the woman into his car before fleeing.

Shortly before 4 a.m., police and paramedics responded to a 911 call about a kidnapping and shooting. The victim was found with a non life-threatening gunshot wound and was taken to a local hospital, police said.

Later, police responded to a report of a crash involving a vehicle and witnesses told officers the suspect fired several shots at a car before running across a bridge.

Police have obtained a warrant charging Stone with first-degree kidnapping, sexual assault, as well as a weapons charge. He is considered to be armed and dangerous.

During the investigation, police said they learned that Stone threatened to shoot it out with police. Stone is believed to have been working in the Portland area.
Every year, Americans honor the country's independence on the Fourth of July by celebrating freedom with fireworks, barbecues and beach getaways.

July Fourth has only been a federal holiday since 1941, but Americans have celebrated Independence Day since the 18th century. During the summer of 1776 some colonists held parades and fired canons to accompany reading of the newly signed Declaration of Independence.

[NATL] Top News Photos: Pope Visits Japan, and More

The following year Philadelphia hosted the first annual independence celebration on July 4.

Here's what to know about the national holiday on the 240th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence.

$6.8 billion: The amount of money predicted to be spent celebrating the July 4 holiday this year, according to the National Retail Federation.

$71.34: The average amount of money Americans are expected to spend on food per household, according to the National Retail Federation.

15,000: The numbers of fireworks displays held to celebrate July 4 each year, according to Wallethub.

40: The number of years Macy's has been putting on their fireworks display in New York City. It's the biggest display in the country. This year, the viewers will see fireworks from nine countries and they will change colors 17 times.

$311.7 million: The value of fireworks imported from China in 2015, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

150 million: The approximate number of hot dogs consumed each July 4, according to Wallethub.

69: The record number of hot dogs eaten in 10 minutes at the annual Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest on Coney Island. Joey Chestnut set that world record in 2013.

64: The percentage of Americans who will attend a July 4 barbecue or picnic, according to Wallethub.

$3.1 million: The value of U.S. flags exported in 2015, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

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43 million: The estimated number of Americans who will be traveling this holiday weekend, according to AAA. Most will be driving.

$2.29: The average price for a gallon of regular gas this weekend, according to AAA.
Not too many positives came from the Rangers weekend trip to Minnesota, losing 2-of-3 to the Twins. But more options may have come from that trip to the Twin Cities.

According to the Minnesota Star Tribune, the Rangers took a hard look at Twins pitcher Ervin Santana during his start on Friday. The right-hander gave up two runs on three hits while striking out five in just over six innings of work against Texas.

At this point, theres no doubt the Rangers are in the market to shore up their rotation, with injuries to Yu Darvish, Colby Lewis and Derek Holland. They still have Cole Hamels, Martin Perez and A.J. Griffin, but the two spots behind them is a concern. Chi Chi Gonzalez has been rocked in his two starts since being called up from Triple-A Round Rock, and Nick Martinez gave up a four-run lead in the 12-5 loss to the Red Sox on Monday.

The Rangers have also reportedly talked to the Rays about pitcher Jake Odorizzi, with names such as Jurickson Profar, Joey Gallo and Lewis Binson possibly being thrown in the mix. Adding a veteran like Santana could help as the Rangers try to keep hold of the A.L. West and position themselves for a World Series run. He does have pennant chase and postseason experience from his time with the Angels.

On the other side, the 33-year old is 2-7 with a 4.50 ERA for a bad Twins team this season. One possible red flag for those looking is his decline in strikeouts over the last couple of seasons. Santana has seven seasons of 130 strikeouts or more in his career, but only 82 in 17 starts last season. He has 60 strikeouts in 84 innings this season.

What also makes this hard look interesting is that Santana is owed the remaining balance of $13.5 million this season and $13.5 million for 2017 and 2018, plus a club option for $14 million for 2019.

The Rangers may be more inclined to look for younger pitchers who are more controllable. While Santana does have veteran experience, management may have to decide if the numbers are worth it.
For Nick Jonas and Demi Lovato, Saturday night's concert wasn't like the rest.

The two performers decided to do something special for dozens of employees at Pulse Nightclub in Orlando as part of their cross-country Honda Civic Tour.

In a Facebook post shared over the weekend, fans learned that several workers were able to enjoy the duo's show for free. In fact, they even got to take part in a meet-and-greet before the show.

"Nick Jonas &Demi Lovato, thank you for making the pulse family smile #onepulse #orlandostrong #pulseorlando," the post read. "We will rise and not be defeated! #onepulse #pulseorlando."

According to TMZ, close to 30 employees also received a private suite at the Amway Center for Saturday night's show.

During the emotional gig, Jonas and Lovato surprised the crowd when they welcomed Andra Day onto the stage for a special collaboration of "Rise Up."

As the three artists showed off their vocals, the names and ages of the victims from the recent Orlando shooting were shown on the big screen. "The Voice" contestant Christina Grimmie was also honored during the sold-out concert.

"Orlando you were incredible last night." Jonas shared after the show. "Thank you @andradaymusic for helping DEMI and I are honor the victims of the terrible acts of violence recently. #riseup #hondacivicfuturenowtour"

Lovato added, "I adore you Miami. Thank you. #loveislove #hondacivictour @futurenowtour."

How to Help Orlando Shooting Victims: Crowdfunding Campaign Raises More Than $1.6 Million

Musicians Performing Live on Stage
Police said they arrested a man who pointed a gun at officers near a Dallas apartment complex late Sunday night. [[385439741,C]]

Dallas police said they responded to a call about an armed man in the 7400 block of Chesterfield Drive at about 11:30 a.m. and found a group of people, one of whom had a shotgun.

As the officers arrived, the man put the shotgun in his car. Police said he then walked away, pulled a handgun from his waistband and pointed it at the officer.

Police said the officer then fired his weapon at the man.

The man ran away, but was located shortly after. Police said they found a shotgun and a handgun near the scene of the shooting.

No injuries were reported.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations is calling for heightened security at Houston-area mosques following the shooting of a Muslim heading to prayer.

Houston police are still looking for three suspects in the shooting of a man walking to the Madrasah Islamiah mosque early Sunday. The suspects allegedly approached the man in an apparent attempted burglary, and one shot him.

The victim was able to make it to the entrance of the mosque, where he gave someone his phone and said to call 911.

Police spokesman Victor Senties said Monday that there is currently no evidence the man was targeted due to his Muslim faith.

The council said Muslim community leaders should take extra measures for the approaching end of the holy month of Ramadan and the upcoming Eid-ul-Fitr festival.
The father of a toddler killed by an alligator at Disney last month told rescue officials two alligators were involved in the attack, according to emails from the Reedy Creek Fire Department.

Matt Graves said he was attacked by a second alligator as he tried to reach his 2-year-old son after the boy was pulled into the water outside Disney's upscale Grand Floridian Resort.

Capt. Tom Wellons described his interaction with the Nebraska father in emails to his supervisors obtained by The Orlando Sentinel. Wellons said Graves initially refused to leave the area as rescuers searched for little Lane Graves even though the father needed stitches and antibiotics from gator bite marks. Wellons said he eventually persuaded Graves to get medical treatment, promising he could return afterward.

"This incredibly sweet couple insisted on showing us pictures of their happy son. (The) mom kept referring to him as her 'happy boy,''' Wellons wrote in the emails.

On the way to the hospital, Graves shared "the horror that he experienced'' as his son was being pulled into the water and "how another gator attacked him as he fought for his son,'' according to the email to supervisors.

The emails were forwarded to Orange County officials to alert them there may be a second gator. The boy's body was discovered intact about 15 yards from the shore, six feet underwater.

Signs posted in the area advised against swimming but did not warn of alligators.

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officials have said they're "confident'' they caught the alligator that killed the boy.

Agency records listed 15 alligators caught on Disney property from the beginning of this year through May. It didn't include the six trapped since the June 14 attack.

A spokesman with the Orange County Sheriff's Office told the Sentinel that the father did not tell them of a second gator, though one witness to the attack said during initial interviews that he saw a second gator attack the father.

Walt Disney World recently erected "No fishing'' signs on several properties. Fishing at Disney World is now limited to excursions. Netting was also added to the rope fences that were installed after the attack and hotel beaches are now being staffed by employees and closing at night, except during fireworks.

Signs also now warn of alligators.

Disney has beaches at eight hotels and at the Fort Wilderness campground.
A father and his 8-year-old son were killed Saturday when two jet skis collided in the coastal waters of southern New Jersey, authorities said.

The victims, who were from Maryland, but whose names haven't been disclosed by police, were riding one of the watercrafts around 4:45 p.m. in Patcong Creek in Somers Point.

The father was sitting behind his young son when their watercraft slammed head-on into another jet ski as they both rounded a sharp turn in the creek, state police said.

The driver of the other watercraft, a 55-year-old woman from Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey, sustained a wrist fracture, police said.

The watercraft collided at a bend of the creek just north of the Mays Landing Road bridge.

The damaged jet skis were taken out of the water and placed on racks at the marina. A large section on the front of one watercraft was smashed and torn open. Damage to the other appeared minimal

Investigators said there was no indication that alcohol consumption was a factor.
Hillary Clinton gave a voluntary interview to the FBI Saturday morning as part of the investigation into her use of a private email server for official emails while serving as secretary of state, a campaign aide confirmed.

"She is pleased to have had the opportunity to assist the Department of Justice in bringing this review to a conclusion," campaign spokesman Nick Merrill said in a statement. "Out of respect for the investigative process, she will not comment further on her interview."

The long-awaited interview on whether Clinton mishandled classifed information submitted on her private email system took place at the FBI headquarters in Washington, D.C., and lasted approximately three and half hours, a source told NBC News.

Though the interview was not unexpected, it came as Attorney General Loretta Lynch faces criticism that the investigation is politically tainted after an encounter with former president Bill Clinton earlier this week on a tarmac at Phoenix's Sky Harbor International Airport.

Speaking at a summit in Aspen, Colorado, Friday, Lynch acknowledged the impromtu meeting with Bill Clinton "casts a shadow" over the public perception of the neutrality of the investigation. But, Lynch added, she will fully accept the recommendations of career prosecutors, investigators and FBI Director James Comey on whether to bring criminal charges in the investigation.

"This case will be resolved by the team that has been working on it from the beginning,'' Lynch said.
We were treated to a number of notable photographs in 2012, as we are every year, but these particular snapshots involved something monumental in size passing by well-known landmarks.

Think of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art boulder, and its 11-day trip from a Riverside quarry. Think of the Space Shuttle Endeavour, rolling by local treasure Randy's Donuts.

And remember how in 2012 the USS Iowa, "The Battleship of Presidents," passed with ceremony under the Golden Gate Bridge after departing its longtime home of Richmond for San Pedro.

Yes, you're right, that did happen at the end of May that year, but the ship will mark its arriving-in-Southern-California anniversary on Monday, July 4, just in time for Independence Day.

There's fine reason for that, as the USS Iowa officially debuted to the public, after its journey south, on July 7, 2012.

To honor the occasion, the battleship will offer free Fourth of July admission for active military, reservists, veterans, and retired military. On tap for the day? Tours of the massive ship, which served in the Pacific in World War II.

You might have heard word of the USS Iowa being up for a Readers' Choice Best Museum Ship accolade. The voting is on now, through noontime on Monday, July 18. Adding to the ship's story? A new exhibit area, with art and interactive displays, will debut on July 7, 2016.

Of course, the battleship isn't just a museum, but a robust part of the San Pedro and Los Angeles communities. Look for the ship to play host during the inaugural LA Fleet Week over Labor Day Weekend 2016.

Four years, on the the Fourth of July. Happy anniversary, USS Iowa.
Several explosions and a fire severely injured two people and destroyed a shed early Monday, and firefighters said the blasts were caused by a butane tank that ignited while the pair were making illegal drugs.

The blaze was reported just after 1 a.m. in the 3600 block of Castle Reagh Place, about a block from Riverside City College, according to the Riverside Fire Department.

Battalion Chief Michael Staley said that two engine crews and two truck companies, staffed by about 16 firefighters, arrived to find flames raging in the shed behind the main house. The detached garage was also burning.

Staley said two occupants, whose identities were not released, were located and transported to an inland burn center for treatment of moderate to severe burns. Crews had the blaze contained within a half-hour.

Witnesses told firefighters that they'd heard several explosions just before the flames broke out, and crews later identified the source: a butane tank that was being used to make "honey oil,'' said Riverside police Detective Brandi Merrill.

"It was determined that the (butane honey oil) lab had exploded,'' Merrill said.

Butane gas is used to heat marijuana to extract the oil, and refine it into hashish, also called "wax.''

The process can be extremely hazardous. In the past several years, multiple honey oil lab fires have erupted throughout Riverside County, causing major injuries.
What to Know Mark Overton, who has been the police chief in the city of Bal Harbour for over two years, was rushed to the hospital Monday morning.

The top cop of one South Florida city is recovering in the hospital after suffering a heart attack.

Bal Harbour chief Mark Overton was rushed to Mount Sinai Hospital shortly after 10:30 AM Monday morning. Police responded to a business in the South Point area of Miami Beach, discovering that the distress call was for a fellow law enforcement officer.

Overton is listed in serious but stable condition. The 53 year old is a known fitness buff, and his son told the Miami Herald that he is expected to make a full recovery.

The chief, who has spent the last two years with the department, is a South Florida native. Overton was born in Miami Beach in 1962 and grew up in Hialeah. He spent 28 years with the Hialeah Police Department, including five years as chief, before retiring in 2012 to accept the position of deputy chief with the Miami Beach Police Department.

Overton has received multiple honors throughout his career.
Miami Heat guard Tyler Johnson will sign an offer sheet with the Brooklyn Nets, according to a report by ESPN.

The offer sheet is for $50 million over four years and it will be difficult for Miami to match the deal. When the offer becomes official on July 7th, Miami will have three days to match it at that time.

The Nets configured the contract with an infamous "poison pill" that complicates matters for the Heat. In the third and fourth year of the deal, Miami would face cap hits of $18.9 million and $19.6 million respectively. While the contract would be affordable to Miami in the first two seasons, the back-half could make it an impossible signing.

Johnson provided Miami with useful depth last season, but it is tough to justify this large of a committment to the guard. In Brooklyn, Johnson could be a starter and part of a new back-court with Jeremy Lin. With the Heat, Johnson would likely have to settle for a reserve role.

Part of the decision-making process for the Heat could come down to the status of Kevin Durant. If the All-Star signs elsewhere, Miami may be able to find the necessary funds to retain Johnson. The Heat still need to try and sign Dwyane Wade and fill out the remainder of their roster as well.

Should Johnson leave the Heat, it is likely that Josh Richardson would see a bigger role next season with the team. Richardson had a great rookie season and showed some promise for the future.
The Florida Panthers continued their busy week when they signed Reilly Smith to a five-year extension on Sunday.

Smith joins Vincent Trocheck and Aaron Ekblad who agreed to extensions of their own earlier in the week. Florida also signed free agents Jason Demers, James Reimer and Ian McCoshen in recent days.

Reilly was a key player for our team last season, said Florida's General Manager Tom Rowe. He is a valuable contributor to our offense and special teams and is an important part of our talented group of forwards

The Panthers did not release the terms of the deal per club policy. It has been reported that Smith will earn a total of $25 million in the five years. The contract is slightly front-loaded with the highest salaries coming in the first two years. Smith has one year left on his current contract, and this new one will begin with the 2017-18 season.

In his first season with the Panthers, Smith was highly productive. The forward had 50 points which included 25 goals and 25 assists. The 25-year old was a key reason that Florida reached the playoffs and set a franchise record for wins.

Smith really made his mark when the playoffs got underway. In Florida's six playoff games, Smith had four goals and four assists. Smith led the team in goals, assists, and points in the playoffs. His three consecutive multi-point games also set a franchise playoff record.

Prior to joining the Panthers, Smith spent time in Dallas and Boston. In his five years in the NHL, Smith has 150 points which includes 61 goals.
What to Know A Palm Beach County man was taken into custody after allegedly stealing over 100 sea turtle eggs from a nearby beach.

Wildlife officials in Florida say a man is accused of taking more than 100 loggerheard sea turtle eggs from a beach Jupiter Island.

Glenn Tobert Shaw, 49, of Tequesta, was arrested Friday after the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission received a tip that someone had been poaching the sea turtle eggs, the agency said in a news release.

Wildlife officers increased patrol in northern Palm Beach County last week after biologists from FWC notified law enforcement of a suspected poacher behind a residence on Jupiter Island. Friday, officers saw Shaw taking eggs from a female adult loggerhead turtle as she was laying them.

The agency said Shaw was found in possession of 107 eggs. Wildlife officers kept 15 as evidence and the remaining eggs were buried on the beach by agency biologists.

He was booked into Palm Beach County Jail and is being held on $3,000 bond. Shaw faces up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine.
The Fourth of July fireworks may be fun for those of us on two legs, but for a lot of four-legged friends out there, it's not the same story.

The loud noise from fireworks shows during the holiday can often cause serious anxiety for pets and can even send some running out of fear.

Cate McManus with Dallas Animal Services said its common to see a rush the day after the yearly Fourth of July display as their already packed shelter takes on even more pets that got away from home.

When animals just freak out from fireworks, they get out of fences or break down doors," she said. "I mean some dogs really go to extremes to get away  theyre so scared."

There are a lot of options available to deal with the anxiety such as wearable options, while others include herbal or over-the-counter pills offered at pet stores.

Last May, when Southlake veterinarian Dr. Tom Holbrook was seeing similar anxiety from dogs during thunderstorms, he showed NBC 5 a new medication being prescribed to dogs during such situations called Sileo.

"You put it in the cheek and gums, said Holbrook. Just put the syringe right in the gum right there and just squirt so many dots, and the dots are on the syringe itself."

The fast acting gel calms the pet and wears off after just a few hours. Holbrooks office warns that it does require a checkup and prescription from your local vet to get the gel.

McManus said her best advice for avoiding problems during the fireworks is to keep your animals indoors and comfortable in a spot where they feel safe.

Keeping them confined, well confined, certainly with a collar and tags on just in case, she said.

If you do come across a stray after the fireworks, local animal services leaders ask that you contact them right away so that they can work to get that pet back home.
With the lower Manhattan skyline and the New York Harbor serving as a backdrop, 21 people became naturalized U.S. citizens in New Jersey on Monday morning.

U.S. Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey was among the dignitaries at the Independence Day ceremony, delivering remarks after the citizens uttered the naturalization oath of allegiance at Liberty State Park in Jersey City.

"This nation was made possible because of the sweat and struggle and sacrifice and blood of our ancestors," said Booker.

Each citizen completed the naturalized process, which includes an exam.

Among the naturalized citizens was a man from Togo who just finished basic training in the U.S. armed forces.

"The country gave you a lot so you need to give back, and I feel like that's the only way I could give back and be useful to my country -- my new country," said Koame Toudji.

It was a momentous day for even organizer Cruz Builes, too. It was 30 years ago that she became an American citizen in the same park.

"I just get very emotional not only for us but for them, because I know what they're going through when they take that oath and become a naturalized citizen," she said.

The 21 new citizens come from: Bangladesh, Bosnia-Herzogovina, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Guyana, India, Liberia, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, Poland and Togo.

The ceremony is part of USCIS' annual Independence Day celebration. More than 7,000 new U.S. citizens were welcomed in more than 100 naturalization ceremonies around the country between June 30 and July 4.

Liberty State Park is a common site for citizens to become naturalized citizens and is one of several iconic locations around the country to host the ceremonies.
A teenager has been arrested in the alleged sexual assault of a 6-year-old girl in a Manhattan stairwell over the weekend, police say.

Christian Pena of Manhattan is facing criminal sex act, sex abuse and child endangerment charges in the assault, according to police.

The girl was in a first floor stairwell of an apartment building on Henry Street on the Lower East Side when the suspect approached her.

He exposed his penis and rubbed it on the girl's face, police said.

Police released surveillance video of a suspect Sunday night, and announced an arrest Monday.
A Brooklyn teen was brutally beaten outside a mosque early Sunday, but police don't believe it was a hate crime.

The advocacy group Council on American-Islamic Relations says the 16-year-old victim was taking a break from late night prayers outside the Muslim Community Center on 3rd Avenue and 53rd Street when he was assaulted.

He was punched, thrown to the ground, kicked in the face and stomped, according to CAIR.

Mohamed Bahe of the Muslim Community Center said the teen heard his attacker saying "You f------ terrorist" and cursing while being punched.

But police say there is no evidence the suspect hurled any slurs and there's no indication of any hate crime. According to police, the teen and another 17-year-old boy were riding their bikes in the area of the Muslim Center, and the 16 year old was approached by someone who accused him of harassing his girlfriend.

Surveillance video shows the suspect punching the victim, knocking him off his bike, and then beating him on the ground. When the 17-year-old friend came to his aid, he was also attacked.

Some of the mosque's own members agreed with police's findings that there was no hate crime.

"I believe the motive was quite simple," said Ali Anwar. "The guy saw someone talking to his girl, he got upset and reacted irrationally."

Anwar said he's seen the whole video, not just the portion showing the teen and his friend being attacked. He said a woman in the car parked along 53rd Street called to the young men on their bikes after leaving a late-night prayer service.

"They were conversating with her twice -- once at the passenger side, once in the back," he said.

There's no audio on the surveillance video but police said the woman claims the teens harassed her for about 40 minutes, calling her a hooker and trying to open the car door. That's when she called her boyfriend, seen in the video attacking the teens.

Regardless of the motivation, police say they're actively looking for the violent suspect.

The 16 year old sustained a concussion, cuts, bruises and severe swelling to his eye, head and face. He remains at Lutheran Hospital for treatement. His friend suffered a black eye.
An Ohio mayor apologized Sunday after a visitor from the Middle East was accused of being a terrorist and handcuffed by police at gunpoint.

In the wake of the incident, the United Arab Emirates urged its citizens abroad to avoid wearing the country's traditional white robes and headscarf, NBC News reported.

The UAE also summoned a senior U.S. diplomat to express its "dismay at the brutal way" police treated one of its citizens.

Officers were dispatched to a hotel in Avon, less than 20 miles west of Cleveland, after staff called 911 to allege a Muslim guest named Ahmed Al Menhali was "in full headdress with multiple disposable phones, pledging his allegiance to ISIS," according to NBC station WKYC. When the officers arrived, they found Menhali speaking Arabic on his cellphone and ordered him to the ground.

The officers discovered that Menhali was not armed, and was later taken to the hospital after collapsing.
New Zealands largest cocaine haul was found in the most unlikely place: inside an 881-pound diamante-encrusted horse, NBC News reported.

Authorities said Saturday that the sculptures glittery head, which arrived from Mexico in May, containted 35 bricks of high-grade cocaine worth nearly $11 million U.S.

Two unidentified men  a 56-year-old U.S. national and a 44-year-old Mexican national  were arrested Friday night at Auckland International Airport, police said in a statement.

"What this find tells us, though, is that there is obviously a demand for it," Parmenter said, according to the statement. "While it's possible that this statue may have been sent on to another country ... there's every possibility that the cocaine was destined for the New Zealand market."
As Seen On

As seen on News 4
A drive-by shooting targeted a cookout Sunday night leaving a 16-year-old boy dead.

Asir Brown was with family at a pre-July 4th barbecue behind a home along 31st Street near Moore Street in Philadelphias Grays Ferry neighborhood when someone opened fire from a dark-colored car just before midnight.

Brown, who hails from northwest Philadelphia, who shot once in the back and medics took him to Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia where doctors pronounced him died. [[385529221, C]]

More than one dozen people were outside at the time but no one else was shot, said police. Several bullets, however, hit the home, shattering the glass of the front door.

Police continued to search for clues early Monday, finding shell casings from two different weapons and sorting through a scene that included turned over deck chairs.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Philadelphia Police.
Police are investigating a possible arson spree in Camden, New Jersey after a dozen fires injured seven firefighters over the weekend.

Investigators say fires occurred at the following locations in Camden.

Saturday

Jackson Street

South 5th Street

Mt. Vernon Street

Walnut Street

Sunday

Division Street

S 8th and Cherry Streets

Park Boulevard

Princess Avenue

Lansdowne Avenue

Sycamore Street

Pine Street

Broadway

Investigators say all of the fires are suspicious in nature and all but two occurred at vacant properties. They also say all of the fires have been in the same area of South Camden in adjacent neighborhoods and have often occurred within minutes of each other. Most of them have also occurred in broad daylight.

Officials say seven firefighters who responded to the fires suffered minor injuries, mostly related to physical exhaustion. Officials have activated an Arson Task Force to investigate. They are also calling on the public to assist in the investigation by reporting anything suspicious.
New Castle County Police say a 53-year-old man fatally shot his ex-wife before shooting himself in Gordon Heights.

The New Castle County Police Department said Sunday that Walter Shaw went to his the home of his ex-wife Nicole Shaw on Saturday. They say there was a confrontation in the side yard of the home and Walter Shaw shot Nicole Shaw and then shot himself.

Nicole Shaw, 55, was pronounced dead at the scene. Police say Walter Shaw was pronounced dead at the hospital later in the day.

Police say the two have been divorced for 13 years.
A man's father found his son's body inside the South Jersey home where the victim operated a business.

Thomas Wright II would have turned 50 later this month but instead wound up shot multiple times in the neck and head during an apparent robbery in his Tabernacle, New Jersey home, said the Burlington County Prosecutor's Office.

Wright's father went to his son's Patty Bowker Road home around 4:30 p.m. Friday and found his son unresponsive on the floor.

Wright operated Artisan Building Creations out of the home and he failed to show up at a job site prompting his family to check on him, said prosecutors.

Investigators charged Wright's former employee, Pemberton's David Stead, with first-degree murder, robbery and related charges, said prosecutors.

Stead went to Wright's home with the intention of robbing his former boss but during the process wound up shooting him multiple times before leaving with a small amount of cash and the stolen truck, which turned up Sunday about a mile away, said investigators.

Stead was held in county jail on $1 million bail. It wasn't clear if he has a lawyer at this point.




Authorities say a central Florida man blew his left hand off with a firework during an early Fourth of July celebration.

The Orlando Sentinel reports the incident happened Thursday night just before 8 p.m. in a garage at a home in Leesburg.

The firework was attached to a wooden stake designed to be planted in the ground and had a foil-covered ball inside that explodes after launch. A witness told police that Brett Demascio lit the fuse, but the spark went out. He then picked up the foil-covered ball in his left hand, lit the shortened fuse and attempted to throw it. An incident report says the firework exploded early, tearing off most of the man's hand.

The homeowner called 911, telling the dispatcher "I have an explosion and a man's hand is blown off." Somone can be heard in the background of the call repeatedly moaning "Oh, my God."

Asked by the dispatcher if there is any "serious bleeding," the homeowner replies: "Yes, ma'am. His hand was blown off, yes there is serious bleeding."

Demascio was airlifted to an Ocala-area hospital. His updated condition wasn't available Friday.

No criminal charges were immediately filed.
One building was destroyed and one building was damaged by a fire early Monday morning in Derry, New Hampshire.

According to Derry Fire, the fire at 70L Derryfield Road, a duplex, broke out around 2:30 a.m.

The fire extended to the outside of 66 Derryfield Road, but was quickly extinguished.

All occupants made it safely out of the building, but there were reports two cats were still trapped inside. Firefighters found one and believe the other made it out on its own.

A male and female lived in 70L and two adult females lived in 70R. The Red Cross is assisting them.

The building at70 Derryfield Road is considered a total loss.

Officials believe the fire started from an unattended fire in a portable pit that extended into the building.

There were no injuries.
The Coast Guard is searching for a possible missing person in the water on Block Island, Rhode Island.

They launched the search after a report of an unmanned dinghy making circles in Great Salt Pond around 1 a.m. Monday.

The Block Island harbormaster stopped the dinghy and found no one aboard.

Officials contacted the owner, who is safe and said the dinghy was moored at the pier Sunday afternoon.

So far a search for a different operator has come up empty.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Sector Southeastern New England at 508-457-3211.
Rescue crews in New Hampshire responded to multiple ATV crashes and calls for stranded hikers Sunday.

According to the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department, the first call came in at 1 p.m. for an ATV crash in Errol.

The victim, Louise Ann Britton, of Hinsdale, was driving down a steep incline and was ejected from the vehicle. She was transported to Central Maine Medical Center with serious injuries.

At 4:50 p.m. officials responded to an injured hiker on the Lion's Head Trail near the summit of Mt. Washington. During this time they received call of another ATV crash with serious injury in Jericho Park.

Around the same time they received another call for a third and fourth call for a lost hiker and an injured hiker near the Lion's Head/Tuckerman Ravine Trail.

All of the hikers were guided to safety.

Officers responded to the crash in Jericho Park and learned Dan Daley, 41, of Lynnfield, Massachusetts, rented an ATV and was doing donuts when the vehicle flipped, seriously injuring his arm.

He was eventually transported to Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center for his injuries.

Remaining officers responded to an injured hiker who suffered a leg injury on the Sherburne Ski Trail.

She was identified as Dianna Marafioti, 34, of Toronto, Canada. She was brought to safety and sought treatment on her own.
Dozens of families are homeless on a holiday weekend after a fire at an apartment building in Holyoke, Massachusetts.

According to necn affiliate WWLP, the fire on High Street broke out around 11 a.m. Sunday and displaced more than 40 people.

No one was injured in the blaze, and fire officials told WWLP a firefighter rescued a rabbit and a ferret.

Authorities are working to determine the cause of the fire.

The American Red Cross of Massachusetts is assisting the displaced families.
Security is tight as hundreds of thousands of people are expected to line the banks of Boston's Charles River to watch the fireworks for the Fourth of July celebrations.

The celebration features pop stars Nick Jonas and Demi Lovato, country group Little Big Town and, as always, the Boston Pops Orchestra, which drives home the climactic fireworks finale to Tchaikovsky's "1812 Overture."

If you're planning to attend the festivities Monday night, there are items allowed and not allowed on the Esplanade.

You can bring pop-up tents without sides, blankets or tarps, folding beach chairs, coolers, personal items in clear plastic bags and small purses.

You cannot bring coolers on wheels, backpacks, glass containers or cans.

You also cannot bring any premixed beverages, liquid in clear plastic greater than two liters, or any alcoholic beverages.

There is no grilling allowed, as well as propane tanks or open flames.

State, local and federal authorities say they have been working around the clock to ensure the celebration runs smoothly.
Waterbury, Connecticut, police have arrested a man on murder charges after finding his girlfriends body in a bedroom closet.

Police responded to a residence on Plaza Avenue at 5 p.m. on Sunday after receiving reports of a foul odor coming from the second floor apartment. When they arrived, they found the body of 40-year-old Melanie Heuberger in a bedroom closet.

Police identified Heubergers live-in boyfriend, 38-year-old Adam Plaeger as a suspect.

The couple had gotten into a domestic dispute days earlier, according to police, and Plaeger is suspected of choking Heuberger to death.

The couple's roommates said Plaeger was sleeping in the bedroom when they came home Sunday from a weekend trip. They said the smell in the room was awful and now wonder if Heuberger would still be alive if they hadn't have gone away.

Police have have charged Plaeger with Heuberger's murder. He is being held on a $1 million bond.

Melanie Heuberger would have turned 41 on July 8. The mug shot of Plaeger includes a neck tattoo with the name Melanie in a banner in a flower.
Authorities in New Hampshire are asking for the public's help in finding a missing 17-year-old girl.

Police in Winchester say Chloe Madison Poisson was last seen on Wednesday, June 29. She was reported missing on July 1.

Poisson's mother has had limited contact through text message, and police say it's unclear who she may be with.

She's described having blonde hair and blue eyes.

Anyone with information about her whereabouts is asked to call police immediately.
Authorities are investigating a Vermont man's death that happened while driving at Devil's Bowl Speedway in West Haven on Sunday.

Sixty-one-year-old Ronald Casey of Manchester crashed his car into a wall off the track when he failed to take a turn during lap nine of 35 just after 9 p.m., according to state police.

First responders took Casey to Rutland Regional Medical Center, where was pronounced dead.

Police say Casey may have driven off the track due to a medical event.

The cause and manner of death is still under investigation.
It was a red, white and blue takeover in Hingham, Massachusetts, on Monday as the whole town and neighboring communities enjoyed the Fourth of July.

"It's really fun. You come out and see all the things going on in the town," Hanover resident Kristen Haskell said.

Even with the sun blazing down on Main Street, kids were still having a great time waving for candy, which was only part of the fun.

"I just like looking at all the old cars and seeing all the teams coming out and marching," Hingham resident Josh Smith said.

Families also say they're grateful to be together on our nation's 240th birthday.

"We've come a bunch of times. They just do a fantastic job. It's great to show our support," Vinnie Maggiulli of Norwell said.
SOUL Church is a vibrant, welcoming and growing church in Norwich. They are seeking an organised and versatile Executive Assistant to provide key support to the churchs Senior Pastors, as well as a qualified Nursery Manager to head up SOUL Nursery.

SOUL Church is a vibrant, welcoming and growing church in Norwich. They are seeking an organised and versatile Executive Assistant to provide key support to the churchs Senior Pastors, as well as a qualified Nursery Manager to head up SOUL Nursery.

Halloween light in Gorleston church On Halloween this year, St Mary Magdalene Church in Gorleston will be preparing to welcome around 200 families to experience their Light on a Dark Night event. Read more

An opportunity for Norwich to pray for the nation Rev Nigel Fox, who has served as a Methodist Minister for 15 years in Norwich, shares an open invitation to pray for the nation at a crucial moment. Read more

Norwich church seeks musicians Kingdom Ambassadors International Church is appealing for instrumentlists, keyboardists and guitarists to be part of their worship experience. Read more

Please keep Rishi in your prayers Andy Bryant urges us to pray for our political leaders, especially the new Prime Minister, and avoid unhelpful judgementalism. Read more

Dereham churches help people to help themselves A group of churches in Dereham have launched an ambitious project which aims to meet needs in the town, including the provision of food and skills training. Read more

Emilys art boosts growing Yarmouth foodbank A pupil at a primary school in Bradwell has been selling her pictures in order to raise money for the Yarmouth and Magdalen Foodbank, which is expanding its capacity and is seeking more volunteers. Read more

Patrick Regan helps Norwich to bounce forwards On Saturday St Stephens in Norwich hosted Bouncing Forwards as part of a national tour by the mental health charity Kintsugi Hope. Read more

Painting and biblical feasting in Overstrand There will be opportunities to improve your painting skills and indulge in some biblical feasting next month at the Pleasaunce in Overstrand in North Norfolk. Read more

Latest Norfolk Christian community events Events of interest to the Norwich and Norfolk Christian community happening over the next few weeks are listed. Read more

National award for Dereham Christian bookshop The Green Pastures Christian bookshop in Dereham has won a national award for providing boxes of Christian books to 21 local schools. Read more

Norma's care home jigsaw challenge complete A resident at Norwich-based care home Corton House has completed an incredible 70 jigsaw puzzles in celebration of the homes 70th anniversary this year. Read more

Norwich charity's appeal to support Palestinian students A Norwich educational charity, set up in memory of a Norwich Anglican priest, to support students from a Palestinian refugee camp, is inviting people to support its Christmas appeal  to be launched on November 29. Read more

Norfolk drug and alcohol charity pays tribute to its founder Andy Sexton, CEO of the Matthew Project, introduces a series of tributes from the charity to its founder, Peter Farley. Read more

Cliff look alike at Cromer Church breakfast Cliff Richard tribute performer Will Chandler will be the speaker at a special Mens Breakfast at Cromer Parish Hall next month, and all men are welcome to come along. Read more

Heartsease Lane Methodist church to close As part of a reorganisation of the Norwich Methodist Circuit, Heartsease Lane Methodist Church will be closing towards the end of the year. Read more

Free Julian of Norwich reflection and prayer day The Friends of Julian of Norwich present a free Quiet Half-Day with Robert Fruehwirth, author and former Priest Director of the Julian Centre, on Saturday November 12, 10.30am-2pm. Read more

What it means for us to repent Nigel Fox believes that now is the time for a tide of repentance, and shares his thoughts about what that actually means for our society. Read more
Julia McIntosh and Naomi Rohrbaugh are best friends who have always done everything together.

Theyre both 16 and attend Cumberland Valley High School. Last winter, both applied for the Speedwell Foundation Study Abroad Scholarship to study in Italy for the 2016-17 school year.

Naturally, both were accepted as Speedwell Scholars.

Starting in August, McIntosh will attend 11th grade at a public high school in Sicily, Italy. Rohrbaugh will spend her junior year at a public high school in Naples, Italy. Both will live with AFS host families.

I knew that I wanted to be in Europe. Lots of things about Italian culture kept popping up that made me think I was meant to go there, said McIntosh, daughter of John and Karen McIntosh of Mechanicsburg.

Ive always been fascinated with Italian culture, said Rohrbaugh, daughter of Eugene and Ann Rohrbaugh of Mechanicsburg. My uncle was an Italian immigrant. His mother was a sweet Italian lady who was always cooking delicious Italian food.

This year, a total of 20 students from throughout central Pennsylvania were awarded the Speedwell Foundation Study Aboard Merit Scholarship through the AFS Intercultural programs USA, according to Deb Felak, outbound programs community developer, Susquehanna Valley Area Team, for AFS-USA. Of those, 11 have been from Cumberland County.

Besides McIntosh and Rohbaugh, next years Cumberland County scholars include Ben Rossman from Shippensburg Area Senior High School who will spend his senior year studying abroad in Indonesia. Rossman lists Jakarta, Indonesia as his native home on his Facebook page.

A total of 163 students have been awarded the Speedwell Foundation Study Abroad Merit Scholarship since its inception in 2007. It was started by Jenny and Mike Messner to provide full scholarships to qualified, academically-strong high school students in central Pennsylvania, according to the scholarships website, www.speedwellafs.org. The cash value of the full scholarship is $15,000.

This is a merit-based scholarship, Felak explained. We look for applicants who show a genuine interest in intercultural affairs and foreign language, like participating in the Model United Nations. We look for leadership strength, being a member of organizations like the National Honor Society. They also need to be able to write and have a grade-point average of at least 2.8.

Speedwell Scholars due to return home very soon to Cumberland County include: Tom Nicewicz of Mechanisburg Area Senior High School, who studied in Switzerland; Carly Freeman of Shippensburg Area Senior High School, who studied in Portugal; and Aiden Hilt of Cedar Cliff High School, who studied in Germany.

In 2013-14, Jill Pasework of Cumberland Valley High School, and Tashawnna Brown of Carlisle High School, studied in France as Speedwell Scholars. It was Pasework who inspired McIntosh and Rohrbaugh to apply for the scholarship, both said.

McIntosh and Rohrbaugh said theyre each busy trying to learn Italian through the Rosetta Stone program, which is provided to every Speedwell Scholar before departing for a foreign destination. Its easier than I thought it would be, McIntosh noted.

So what do the girls hope to achieve in Italy?

I hope to learn the language. I want to become more independent and responsible. Im looking forward to the food there, too. Italian food is my favorite food ever. I just ate a gelato yesterday, McIntosh said.

I really want to be able to speak a foreign language fluently. I want to have friends from all across the world, Rohbaugh said.
1st meeting of BRICS Working Group on Energy Saving and Energy Efficiency begins in Visakhapatnam

Published: July 4, 2016

The first meeting of the BRICS Working Group on Energy Saving and Energy Efficiency began in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh.

The two day conference will be attended by all 5 member BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) countries.

India being BRICS chair for 2016 has organised this event in order to shape and steer the BRICS agenda. The Union Power Ministry is hosting the meeting of the Working Group.

Key facts

The meeting will deliberate a work plan on development of cooperation in energy saving and energy efficiency with BRICS.

The BRICS countries would make presentations on measures taken by them in the field of energy saving and energy efficiency.

India will also showcase its efforts in energy saving, energy efficiency, in particular the LED street lighting programme.

It will also showcase PAT (Performance Achievement and Trade) programme for industrial energy efficiency.

Background

In November 2015, BRICS energy ministers had signed a Memorandum of Mutual Understanding in energy saving and energy efficiency in Moscow, Russia.

They had agreed to pursue their energy cooperation through technology transfer, joint research and technology projects, conferences and seminars and exchange of experience and best practices for energy saving and energy efficiency.

For more details: India assumes BRICS Chairmanship from Russia for 2016

Month: Current Affairs - July, 2016

Topics: Andhra Pradesh  BRICS  Energy Sector  Events  Places in News  Power Sector

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SBI secures $625 million from World Bank for solar programm

Published: July 4, 2016

Indias largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) has signed an agreement worth 4,200 crore rupees ($625 million) with the World Bank to support its grid connected rooftop solar photovoltaic (GRPV) programme.

The programme also aims at improving the investment climate for solar PV, and increase the ease of doing rooftop business. It will also support development of the overall solar rooftop PV market.

Key Facts

Under GRPV programme, at least 400 MW solar capacity will be created across the country.

This agreement will help SBI to finance grid connected rooftop solar photovoltaic projects at very competitive rates.

The investment climate for solar PV projects will be improved through technical assistance to strengthen the capacity of key institutions.

The eligible beneficiaries under the programme would be developers, aggregators and end-users.

Mainly they will set up solar projects on commercial, industrial and institutional rooftops.

Month: Current Affairs - July, 2016

Topics: Banking  SBI  Solar Energy  World Bank

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     :     ; -  CM      ?;  -  
Champaign, IL (61820)

Today

A mix of clouds and sun in the morning followed by cloudy skies during the afternoon. High 57F. Winds E at 10 to 15 mph..

Tonight

Cloudy skies. Low 38F. Winds E at 5 to 10 mph.
NOTICE: This Consumer Medicine Information (CMI) is intended for persons living in Australia.

Consumer Medicine Information (CMI) summary The full CMI on the next page has more details. If you are worried about using this medicine, speak to your doctor or pharmacist.

Why am I using Solian?

Solian contains the active ingredient amisulpride. Solian is used to treat symptoms of schizophrenia. For more information, see Section 1. Why am I using Solian? in the full CMI.

What should I know before I use Solian?

Talk to your doctor if you have any other medical conditions, take any other medicines, or are pregnant or plan to become pregnant or are breastfeeding. For more information, see Section Do not use if you have ever had an allergic reaction to Solian or any of the ingredients listed at the end of the CMI.For more information, see Section 2. What should I know before I use Solian? in the full CMI.

What if I am taking other medicines?

Some medicines may interfere with Solian and affect how it works. In particular, do not take this medicine, and tell your doctor if you are taking the following medicines: medicines used to treat irregular heart rhythm, other medicines used to treat heart problems, cisapride, sultopride, antibiotics, levodopa, methadone, thioridazine, vincamine, halofantrine, pentamidine and sparfloxacin. A full list of these medicines is in Section 3. What if I am taking other medicines? in the full CMI.

How do I use Solian?

Your doctor will tell you how much Solian you should take. The dosage is adjusted for each individual and can range from 50 mg to 800 mg a day, and in some cases up to 1200 mg a day. Solian should preferably be taken before meals. More instructions can be found in Section 4. How do I use Solian? in the full CMI.

What should I know while using Solian?

Things you should do Remind any doctor, dentist or pharmacist you visit that you are using Solian. Call your doctor straight away if you have any suicidal thoughts or mental/mood changes Be careful taking antihistamines, sleeping tablets or tablets to relieve pain as Solian can increase drowsiness. Things you should not do Do not stop using this medicine unless your doctor tells you to. Do not give Solian to anyone else. Driving or using machines Do not drive or operate machinery until you know how Solian affects you. Solian may cause drowsiness in some people Drinking alcohol The effects of alcohol could be made worse while taking Solian. It is NOT recommended that you drink alcohol while taking Solian. Looking after your medicine Tablets  Store below 30C, in a cool, dry place. Solution - Store below 25C, in a cool, dry place. Discard any remaining Solian Solution two months after opening. For more information, see Section 5. What should I know while using Solian? in the full CMI.

Are there any side effects?

You may need urgent medical attention if you notice any of these serious side effects: muscle symptoms including pain, weakness, twitching or stiffness, abnormal movements, fever, unexplained infections, faster breathing, sweating, yellowing of the skin and eyes, light coloured bowel motions, dark coloured urine. After prolonged use in women, medicines of this type can cause: breast pain, milk secretion, an absence of their monthly period, changes in the regularity of their periods. After prolonged use in men, medicines of this type can cause breast enlargement or impotence. For more information, including what to do if you have any side effects, see Section 6. Are there any side effects? in the full CMI.

Why am I using Solian?

Solian contains the active ingredient amisulpride. Solian is an antipsychotic medication. Solian is used to treat symptoms of schizophrenia. Schizophrenia is a condition which affects the way you think, feel and/or act. Schizophrenia may cause symptoms such as hallucinations (e.g. hearing, seeing or sensing things which are not there), delusions, unusual suspiciousness, emotional and social withdrawal. People with schizophrenia may also feel depressed, anxious or tense.

What should I know before I use Solian?

Warnings

Do not use Solian if: you are allergic to amisulpride, or any of the ingredients listed at the end of this leaflet. Signs of an allergic reaction may include a skin rash, itching, shortness of breath or swelling of the face, lips or tongue. Always check the ingredients to make sure you can use this medicine. you are breastfeeding or plan to breastfeed. the packaging is torn or shows signs of tampering or the tablets do not look quite right. You are taking the following medicines: medicines used to treat irregular heart rhythm such as quinidine, disopyramide, amiodarone and sotalol cisapride antibiotics such as erythromycin and pentamidine, given as an injection into the veins levodopa, a medicine used in Parkinson's disease thioridazine, an antipsychotic methadone, medicine used to treat pain or addiction

Check with your doctor if you: have any other medical conditions, including phaeochromocytoma, a rare tumour of the adrenal glands which sit near the kidneys, tumour of the pituitary gland, a small gland at the base of the brain, breast cancer, liver disease take any medicines for any other condition you have had an allergic reaction to any medicine which you have taken previously to treat your current condition. you are pregnant, think you may be pregnant or intend to become pregnant you suffer from lactose intolerance because Solian tablets contain lactose. you have kidney or liver disease, Parkinson's disease or fits (seizures). you have problems with the heart and blood vessels. you have, or have a history of blood clots. you have hyperglycaemia (high sugar levels in the blood) or a family history of diabetes. Your doctor may recommend monitoring your blood sugar levels while you are taking Solian. you suffer from dementia. you have mental/mood changes or suicidal thoughts. Patients (and caregivers of patients) need to monitor for any worsening of their condition and/or the development of thoughts of suicide, suicidal behaviour or thoughts of harming themselves. Seek medical advice immediately if these symptoms present. you have risk factors for stroke. you have a history, or family history, of breast cancer you have a history of sleep apnoea During treatment, you may be at risk of developing certain side effects. It is important you understand these risks and how to monitor for them. See additional information under Section 6. Are there any side effects

Pregnancy and breastfeeding Check with your doctor if you are pregnant or intend to become pregnant. Solian is not recommended during pregnancy. If you need to take Solian during pregnancy you should discuss the benefits and risks of taking it with your doctor. Babies exposed to antipsychotic medicines including Solian during the third trimester of pregnancy are at risk of experiencing breathing problems, difficulty in feeding, spasms, restlessness, involuntary movements and/or withdrawal symptoms following delivery. Newborns of mothers who have taken Solian during pregnancy need to be carefully monitored. Talk to your doctor if you are breastfeeding or intend to breastfeed. Solian must not be used when breastfeeding.

Use in children Solian must not be taken by children up to the age of puberty. There is limited information on the use of Solian in adolescents and its use is not recommended from puberty to the age of 18 years. If you are not yet 18 years of age, ask your doctor if Solian is right for you.

What if I am taking other medicines?

Tell your doctor or pharmacist if you are taking any other medicines, including any medicines, vitamins or supplements that you buy without a prescription from your pharmacy, supermarket or health food shop. Some medicines may interfere with Solian and affect how it works. These include: medicines used to treat irregular heart rhythm such as quinidine, disopyramide, amiodarone and sotalol other medicines used to treat heart problems such as diltiazem, verapamil, clonidine, digoxin and drugs known as beta blockers (e.g. propranolol) intravenous amphotericin B (amphotericin), an anti-fungal given by injection into the veins other antipsychotics such as thioridazine, clozapine, chlorpromazine, trifluperazine, pimozide, haloperidol, imipramine and lithium diuretics stimulant laxatives glucocorticosteroids diagnostics drugs such as tetracosactides medicines taken for anxiety or to help you sleep (central nervous system depressants) anaesthetics (a medicine used during surgery) medicines taken for depression some strong pain killers antihistamines, medicines to treat allergies, which cause drowsiness some medicines taken to control blood pressure The use of Solian together with other antipsychotics, antidepressants and antianxiety agents increases the risk of drowsiness, low blood pressure, coma and death. Check with your doctor or pharmacist if you are not sure about what medicines, vitamins or supplements you are taking and if these affect Solian.

How do I use Solian?

How much to take Your doctor will tell you how many Solian tablets you should take, or the amount of Solian Solution you should take. The dosage is adjusted for each individual and can range from 50 mg a day up to 800 mg a day. In some cases your doctor may increase the dose to 1200 mg a day. When taking Solian Solution, the dosage syringe supplied should be used to measure the correct dose. Each 1mL marking is equal to 100mg. After introducing the measuring syringe into the bottle, draw the plunger of the measuring syringe up to the graduation mark corresponding to the number of milligrams to be administered. Solian tablets and Solian Solution should be taken once or twice a day as advised by your doctor. Your doctor may increase or decrease your dose depending on your condition. Do not take more than the dose your doctor has recommended. Follow the instructions provided and use Solian until your doctor tells you to stop.

When to take Solian Solian tablets and Solian Solution should preferably be taken before meals. Take your prescribed dose at about the same time each day.

How to take Solian Solian tablets should be swallowed whole with a glass of water. Solian Solution is swallowed. It may be mixed with water if preferred.

If you forget to use Solian Solian should be used regularly at the same time each day. If you miss your dose at the usual time, take your dose as soon as you remember. If it is almost time for your next dose, skip the dose you missed and take your next dose when you are meant to. Do not take a double dose to make up for the dose you missed.

If you use too much Solian If you think that you have used too much Solian, you may need urgent medical attention. You should immediately: phone the Poisons Information Centre by calling 13 11 26 or contact your doctor, or go to the Emergency Department at your nearest hospital. You should do this even if there are no signs of discomfort or poisoning. Show the doctor your pack of tablets or bottle. If you have taken too much Solian, you may experience: feeling restless or shaky rigid muscles feeling drowsy or sleepy loss of consciousness leading to coma

What should I know while using Solian?

Things you should do It is very important to continue taking Solian because it will help you stay well. While you are taking Solian, tell your doctor or pharmacist before you start any new medicine.

Call your doctor straight away if you have any of the following suicidal thoughts or mental/mood changes: thoughts or talk of death or suicide thoughts or talk of self-harm or harm to others any recent attempts of self-harm increase in aggressive behaviour, irritability or agitation depressed mood or worsening of depression Occasionally, the symptoms of depression may include thoughts of suicide or self-harm. These symptoms may continue to get worse during the early stages of treatment until the effect of the medicine becomes apparent. All mentions of suicide or violence must be taken seriously.

Call your doctor straight away if you experience the following: higher than normal body temperature (hyperthermia) muscle stiffness muscle pain in the shoulders, thighs or lower back, muscle weakness or trouble moving arms and legs, dark red or brown urine or increased urination (symptoms of rhabdomyolysis) dizziness upon standing, exercise intolerance, abnormal sweating, loss of appetite, bloating, diarrhoea, constipation, difficulty swallowing, trouble urinating including incomplete emptying of the bladder, ejaculation difficulties, difficult maintaining erections, blurry vision (symptoms of autonomic instability) These are all symptoms of Neuroleptic Malignant Syndrome (NMS) which is potentially life threatening. Remind any doctor, dentist or pharmacist you visit that you are using Solian.

Things you should not do Do not stop using this medicine unless your doctor tells you. Do not stop taking your Solian just because you feel better. It is very important to continue Solian because it will help you stay well. Do not drive or operate machinery until you know how Solian affects you. Do not give Solian to anyone else. Your doctor has prescribed it for you and your condition.

Things to be careful of Be careful if you are elderly or unwell. Some people may experience side effects such as drowsiness, confusion, dizziness and unsteadiness. Solian may affect your ability to move or balance. This may increase the risk of a fall, sometimes leading to fractures. Be careful while taking antihistamines, sleeping tablets or tablets to relieve pain while taking this medicine. Solian can increase drowsiness caused by medicines affecting your nervous system.

Driving or using machines Be careful before you drive or use any machines or tools until you know how Solian affects you. Solian may cause drowsiness in some people

Drinking alcohol Tell your doctor if you drink alcohol. The effects of alcohol could be made worse while taking Solian. It is NOT recommended that you drink alcohol while taking Solian.

Looking after your medicine Tablets  Store below 30C, in a cool, dry place. Keep your tablets in the blister pack until it is time to take them. If you take the tablets out of the blister pack they may not keep well. Solution - Store below 25C, in a cool, dry place. Store in the original bottle. Discard the bottle and spoon 2 months after opening. There will be an expiry date (month, year) on your Solian container. The medicine should not be taken after this date. Follow the instructions in the carton on how to take care of your medicine properly. Store it in a cool dry place away from moisture, heat or sunlight; for example, do not store it: in the bathroom or near a sink, or in the car or on window sills. Heat and dampness can destroy some medicines. Keep it where young children cannot reach it. A locked cupboard at least one-and-a-half metres above the ground is a good place to store medicines.

When to discard your medicine Solian Solution has an expiry of two months once opened. Any solution remaining after this should be discarded.

Getting rid of any unwanted medicine If you no longer need to use this medicine or it is out of date, take it to any pharmacy for safe disposal. Do not use this medicine after the expiry date.

Are there any side effects?

All medicines can have side effects. If you do experience any side effects, most of them are minor and temporary. However, some side effects may need medical attention. See the information below and, if you need to, ask your doctor or pharmacist if you have any further questions about side effects.

Less serious side effects Less serious side effects What to do Heart related: Dizziness. Some people may feel dizzy in the early stages of treatment, especially when getting up from a lying or sitting position. This side effect usually passes after taking Solian for a few days. drowsiness Gastrointestinal related: constipation inausea vomiting dry mouth Eye related: blurred vision Head and neurology related: insomnia anxiety agitation problems with orgasm trembling* Muscle related: noticeable muscle stiffness or spasm* slowness of movement* restlessness, an overwhelming urge to move and either distress or movements such as pacing, swinging of the legs while seated, rocking from foot to foot, or both* Metabolism and nutrition: weight gain increased appetite excess saliva* High blood sugar. Symptoms include passing more urine than normal, persistent excessive thirst, increased appetite with a loss in weight and weakness. Other: increased sensitivity to the sun or symptoms of sunburn (such as redness, itching, swelling, blistering) which may occur more quickly than normal Rare: sleep walking sleep eating *These symptoms will usually be reduced if your dose of Solian is lowered by your doctor or if your doctor prescribes you an additional medicine. Speak to your doctor if you have any of these less serious side effects and they worry you.

Serious side effects Serious side effects What to do muscle symptoms including pain, weakness, twitching or stiffness abnormal movements mainly of the face, mouth or tongue (symptoms relating to Tardive Dyskinesia) fever unexplained infections faster breathing sweating yellowing of the skin and eyes, also called jaundice light coloured bowel motions dark coloured urine or increased urination higher than normal body temperature (hyperthermia) dizziness upon standing, exercise intolerance, abnormal sweating, loss of appetite, bloating, diarrhoea, difficulty swallowing, trouble urinating including incomplete emptying of the bladder, ejaculation difficulties, difficult maintaining erections, blurry vision (symptoms relating to neuroleptic malignant syndrome) alteration of the heart rhythm (electrical activity of the heart), very fast, uneven or forceful heartbeat (palpitations), weakness, fainting (symptoms relating to QT prolongation) After prolonged use in women, medicines of this type can cause: breast pain milk secretion an absence of their monthly period changes in the regularity of their periods Tell your doctor if your monthly periods are absent for six months or more. After prolonged use in men, medicines of this type can cause breast enlargement or impotence. Incidences of abnormal liver function have been occasionally reported Call your doctor straight away, or go straight to the Emergency Department at your nearest hospital if you notice any of these serious side effects. Tell your doctor or pharmacist if you notice anything else that may be making you feel unwell. Other side effects not listed here may occur in some people.

Reporting side effects After you have received medical advice for any side effects you experience, you can report side effects to the Therapeutic Goods Administration online at www.tga.gov.au/reporting-problems By reporting side effects, you can help provide more information on the safety of this medicine. Always make sure you speak to your doctor or pharmacist before you decide to stop taking any of your medicines.

Product details

This medicine is only available with a doctor's prescription.

What Solian contains Active ingredient (main ingredient) amisulpride Solian 100 tablets - 100 mg amisulpride per tablet. Solian 200 tablets - 200 mg amisulpride per tablet. Solian 400 tablets - 400 mg amisulpride per tablet. Solian Solution  100 mg amisulpride per mL. Other ingredients (inactive ingredients) The tablets also contain: sodium starch glycollate type A lactose monohydrate microcrystalline cellulose hypromellose magnesium stearate The 400 mg tablets also contain: PEG-40 stearate titanium dioxide The oral liquid also contains: Gesweet 2023 Hydrochloric acid Methyl hydroxybenzoate Propyl hydroxybenzoate Potassium sorbate Caramel Flavour E_9422058 Purified water Potential allergens Tablets: Sugars as lactose Solution: hydroxybenzoates, saccharin and sorbates. Do not take this medicine if you are allergic to any of these ingredients.

What Solian looks like 100 mg - white, flat faced, breakable tablet, marked "AMI 100". Available in a pack size of 30 tablets (AUST R 96422). 200 mg - white, flat faced, breakable tablet, marked "AMI 200". Available in a pack size of 60 tablets (AUST R 96425). 400 mg - white, film-coated, breakable, oblong tablet, marked "AMI 400". Available in a pack size of 60 tablets (AUST R 74272). Solution - clear yellow coloured liquid. Available in 60 mL brown glass bottles (AUST R 94484).
NOTICE: This Consumer Medicine Information (CMI) is intended for persons living in Australia.

Tablets Terbinafine CONSUMER MEDICINE INFORMATION

What is in this leaflet This leaflet answers some common questions about TINASIL tablets. It does not contain all the available information about TINASIL tablets. It does not take the place of talking to your doctor or pharmacist. The information in this leaflet was last updated on the date listed on the last page. Some more recent information on the medicine may be available. You should ensure that you speak to your pharmacist or doctor to obtain the most up to date information on the medicine. Those updates may contain important information about the medicine and its use of which you should be aware. All medicines have risks and benefits. Your doctor has weighed the risks of you taking this medicine against the benefits they expect it will provide. If you have any concerns about taking this medicine, ask your doctor or pharmacist. Keep this leaflet with your medicine. You may need to read it again.

What TINASIL tablets are used for TINASIL tablets are used to treat: fungal infections fingernails and toenails tinea (ringworm) infections of the groin and body tinea infections of the feet, commonly called "athlete's foot" These infections are caused by a group of fungi called dermatophytes. Terbinafine, the active ingredient in TINASIL tablets, works by killing the dermatophytes. Ask your doctor if you have any questions about why this medicine has been prescribed for you. Your doctor may have prescribed it for another reason. TINASIL tablets are only with a doctor's prescription. This medicine is not addictive. There is not enough information to recommend the use of this medicine in children.

Before you take TINASIL tablets

When you must not take it Do not take TINASIL if you have ever had an allergic reaction to: terbinafine, the active ingredient, or to any of the other ingredients listed at the end of this leaflet any other medicines, foods, preservatives or dyes Your doctor will want to know if you are prone to allergies. Some of the symptoms of an allergic reaction may include: shortness of breath wheezing or difficulty breathing swelling of the face, lips, tongue or other parts of the body rash, itching or hives on the skin. Do not take TINASIL tablets: if you have any problems with your kidneys if you have or ever had a problem with your liver . TINASIL is not recommended if you currently have a liver problem because it may make the problem worse. If you had a liver problem in the past and your liver is functioning normally now, your doctor may prescribe TINASIL tablets but may want to check your liver function before and during treatment with this medicine. Your doctor might take blood tests to monitor your liver function. In case of abnormal test results, he/she may ask you to stop taking TINASIL. Do not take TINASIL tablets after the expiry date printed on the pack or if the packaging is torn or shows signs of tampering.

In that case, return it to your pharmacist. Before you start to take it Tell your doctor if you: 1. are pregnant or plan to become pregnant There is no experience with use of TINASIL tablets during pregnancy. If your doctor thinks it is necessary for you to take it, he/she will discuss with you the benefits and risks involved. 2. are breast-feeding Breastfeeding is not recommended since terbinafine, the active ingredient in TINASIL tablets, passes into breast milk. There is a possibility that your baby could be affected. 3. have any skin problems such as rash, red skin, blistering of the lips, eyes or mouth, skin peeling, fever (possible signs of serious skin reactions), rash due to high level of a specific type of white blood cells (eosinophilia) 4. have any blood disorders or experience weakness, unusual bleeding, bruising or frequent infections 5. have or experience thickened patches of red/silver skin (psoriasis) or facial rash, joint pain, muscle disorder, fever (cutaneous and systemic lupus erythematosus). If you are not sure whether you should start taking TINASIL tablets, talk to your doctor or pharmacist.

Taking other medicines Tell your doctor if you are taking any other medicines, including any that you buy without a prescription from a pharmacy, supermarket or health food shop. Some medicines and TINASIL tablets may interfere with each other. These include: some medicines used to treat depression and other mental disorders, including obsessive-compulsive disorders and panic attacks (e.g. some antidepressants such as tricyclic antidepressants, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors including class 1A, 1B and 1C, monoamine oxidase inhibitors Type B, desipramine) some medicines for Parkinson's disease some medicines used to treat an irregular heartbeat, heart problems, high blood pressure and migraines (e.g. metoprolol) some medicines used to treat stomach ulcers (e.g. cimetidine) some medicines called antibiotics used to treat infectious diseases (e.g. rifampicin) caffeine ciclosporin, a medicine used to help prevent organ transplant rejection or to treat certain problems with the immune system. oral contraceptives (birth control pills). You may have problems, such as bleeding between periods, while you are taking TINASIL tablets warfarin, a medicine used to prevent blood clots You may need to take different amounts of your medicines, or you may need to take different medicines. Your doctor and pharmacist have more information. If you have not told your doctor about any of these things, tell him/ her before you start taking this medicine.

How to take TINASIL tablets Follow all directions given to you by your doctor and pharmacist carefully. These directions may differ from the information contained in this leaflet. If you do not understand the instructions on the label, ask your doctor or pharmacist for help.

How much to take Follow your doctor's instructions on how many TINASIL tablets to take. The usual dose of TINASIL is one tablet (250 mg) each day. If you have kidney problems, the dose may be reduced to one-half a tablet each day.

How to take it Swallow the tablet with a full glass of water. If your doctor has advised that you take half a tablet, you may divide the tablet in half along the breakline. If you find that TINASIL upsets your stomach, try taking it immediately after a light meal. Take TINASIL at about the same time each day. Taking your tablet at the same time each day will have the best effect. It will also help you remember when to take it.

How long to take it The length of your treatment will depend on the type of infection you have, what part of the body is affected and how well you respond to treatment. Fungal skin infections (tinea): If you have a tinea infection of the feet (Athlete's foot), you will usually take TINASIL tablets for 2 to 6 weeks. If you have a tinea infection of the body or groin, you will usually take the tablets for 2 to 4 weeks. The signs and symptoms of infection may last for several weeks after the fungi (dermatophytes) have been killed. Fungal nail infections: Fungal nail infections usually take longer to heal than fungal skin infections. You will usually take the tablets for anywhere from 6 weeks to 3 months. But, if you have a nail infection of the big toe or your nails grow very slowly, you may need to take the tablets for up to 6 months. It may take several months after you stop taking TINASIL for your nail to look completely normal. That is because the deformed part of the nail has to grow out and be replaced by a healthy nail.

If you forget to take it If it is almost time for your next dose (within 4 hours), skip the dose you missed and take your next dose when you are meant to. Otherwise, take it as soon as you remember, and then go back to taking your medicine as you would normally. Do not take a double dose to make up for the dose you missed. This may increase the chance of you getting an unwanted side effect. If you are not sure what to do, ask your doctor or pharmacist. If you have trouble remembering when to take your medicine, ask your pharmacist for some hints.

If you take too much (Overdose) Immediately telephone your doctor or Poisons Information Centre (telephone number 13 11 26), or go to Accident and Emergency at the nearest hospital, if you think that you or anyone else may have taken too much TINASIL tablets. Do this even if there are no signs of discomfort or poisoning. Keep the telephone numbers for these places handy. Some of the symptoms of an overdose may include headache, nausea (feeling sick), stomach pain and dizziness.

While you are taking TINASIL tablets

Things you must do Make sure to take your tablet every day and continue taking it until your doctor tells you to stop. This will ensure that all of the infection is gone and will lessen the chance of the infection coming back once you stop taking the tablets. Make sure to have any blood tests done that are ordered by your doctor. Any effects of TINASIL on your liver, kidneys or blood can be detected by blood tests. Tell your doctor immediately if you notice any of the following: fever sore throat mouth ulcers "flu-like" symptoms (chills, aching joints, swollen glands, lack of energy) any other signs of infection, apart from the fungal infection you are being treated for If you become pregnant while taking TINASIL, tell your doctor immediately. Your doctor can discuss with you the risks and benefits of taking it during pregnancy. Remind your doctor and pharmacist that you are about to be started on any new medicine. Tell any other doctors, dentists and pharmacists who treat you that you are taking this medicine.

Things you must not do Do not give this medicine to anyone else, even if their condition seems similar to yours. Do not take TINASIL tablets to treat any other complaints unless your doctor tells you to.

Things to be careful of Be careful driving, operating machinery or doing jobs that require you to be alert while you are taking TINASIL tablets until you know how it affects you. This medicine can cause tiredness, sleepiness, dizziness or light-headedness in some people. If you have any of these symptoms, do not drive, use machines, or do anything else that could be dangerous. Be careful to keep the infected areas dry and cool and change clothing that is in direct contact with the infected areas every day. This will help to clear up the infection and make sure that it does not return.

Side effects Tell your doctor or pharmacist as soon as possible if you do not feel well while you are taking TINASIL, even if you do not think it is connected with the medicine. All medicines can have side effects. Sometimes they are serious, but most of the time they are not. You may need medical treatment if you get some of the side effects. Do not be alarmed by this list of possible side effects. You may not experience any of them. Ask your doctor or pharmacist to answer any questions you may have. Tell your doctor immediately or go to Accident and Emergency at your nearest hospital if you notice any of the following: chest pain signs of a severe allergic reaction such as swelling of the face, lips, tongue, throat or other part of the body; shortness of breath, wheezing or troubled breathing; dizziness, redness, itching or rash on the skin; flushing, crampy abdominal pain, loss of consciousness, joint pain, stiffness, rash, fever or swollen/enlarged lymph nodes possible signs of a serious liver problem such as persistent nausea, loss of appetite, unusual tiredness, vomiting, pain in the upper right abdomen, yellowing of the skin and/or eyes, dark urine or pale bowel motions possible signs of a serious skin reaction such as painful red areas, large blisters, peeling of layers of skin, bleeding in the lips, eyes, mouth, nose or genitals. These signs may be accompanied by fever and chills, aching muscles and feeling generally unwell possible signs of a blood problem such as constant "flu-like" symptoms (fever, sore throat, mouth ulcers, chills, swollen glands, lack of energy) possible signs of diseases that affect certain types of blood cells: unusual bleeding or bruising possible signs of a disease that affects the level of red blood cells including abnormal pale skin, mucosal lining or nail beds, unusual tiredness or weakness or breathlessness on exertion possible signs of blood vessel inflammation: rash, fever, itching, tiredness or if you notice appearance of purplish-red spots under the skin surface possible signs of pancreas inflammation: severe upper stomach pain with radiation to the back possible signs of muscle necrosis: unexplained muscle weakness and pain or dark (red-brown) urine. The above are serious side effects that need medical attention. Serious side effects are rare. Tell your doctor if you notice any of the following and they worry you: nausea (feeling sick) or vomiting upset stomach (heartburn, cramps, wind, belching) loss of appetite diarrhoea aching joints or muscles headache dizziness or light headedness tiredness, sleepiness skin rash due to high level of a specific type of white blood cells loss of or change in sense of taste, which usually returns to normal within several weeks of stopping TINASIL blurred vision, decreased sharpness of vision other skin problems psoriasis (thickened patches of red skin, often with silvery scales) hair loss tingling or numbness decreased physical sensitivity smell disorders or loss of smell anxiety (with symptoms such as sleep disturbances, fatigue, loss of energy or diminished ability to think or concentrate) and depressive symptoms (e.g. depressed mood) due to taste disturbances decreased hearing, impaired hearing and/or perception of noises in the absence of sound (e.g. hissing, ringing) in ears.. Tell your doctor or pharmacist if you notice anything that is making you feel unwell. Some people may have other side effects not yet known or mentioned in this leaflet.

After using TINASIL tablets

Storage Keep your tablets in the original container until it is time to take them. Keep your tablets in a cool dry place where the temperature stays below 25C. Do not store TINASIL tablets or any other medicine in the bathroom or near a sink. Do not leave it on a window sill or in the car. Heat and dampness can destroy some medicines. Keep it where children cannot reach it. A locked cupboard at least one-and-a-half metres above the ground is a good place to store medicines.

Disposal If your doctor tells you to stop taking this medicine or the expiry date has passed, ask your pharmacist what to do with any medicine that is left over.

Product description

What it looks like TINASIL tablets are round, white to off-white tablets marked with "TF" over a breakline over "250" on one side and "G" on the other side. TINASIL tablets are supplied in blister packs containing 42 tablets.

Ingredients TINASIL tablets contain 250 mg of the active ingredient, terbinafine (as the hydrochloride salt). They also contain the following inactive ingredients: microcrystalline cellulose croscarmellose sodium povidone colloidal anhydrous silica- purified talc magnesium stearate.
According to a new study in the journal Age and Ageing, a significant proportion of patients over 70 remain on antihypertensive medication despite having low blood pressure. This, the study argues, has a significant effect on increased mortality rates and admissions to hospital.

After analysing results of 11,167 patients over 70 years old, the researchers from CHSS at the University of Kent and East Kent Hospitals found that hypotension was independently associated with increased morality and hospital admissions. Of the 1899 people with some degree of low blood pressure, 1246 of these were on antihypertensive medication (lowering blood pressure). Lead author Professor Chris Farmer, explained:

"Treating hypertension in old age reduces strokes and other cardiovascular events. However in elderly patients with multiple risks, there is a trade-off between using antihypertensives to reduce the risk of future disease and increased risk due to adverse effects of medication."

"Once medication is initiated", Professor Farmer continued, "it is not always regularly reviewed to adjust for physiological changes associated with ageing and the effects of additional drugs."

When analysing the patients with the lowest level blood pressure (less than 100mmHg), almost 70 per cent were taking antihypertensives. The number they were taking was not significantly associated with mortality. The study did stress that it is not known whether the hypotension was the result of a severe illness which was the primary cause of hospital admissions or whether it was the hypotension itself. Despite this, the authors argued the importance of their finding: a clinically significant proportion of elderly people on antihypertensive drugs are hypotensive.

The authors concluded that the consequences of hypotension due to drugs are potentially costly to the NHS and have a negative effect on the quality of life of older patients. They have recommended in the paper that treatment must be regularly reviewed in order to balance the risk and benefits, and that further trials are needed to establish which older people are most likely to derive more benefit than harm from treatment.
Kansas State University is helping the fight against Zika virus through mosquito research.

The university's Biosecurity Research Institute is taking a two-part approach: Researchers are studying mosquitoes to understand how they become infected with Zika virus and researchers are providing the virus to collaborative organizations for further study.

The university research is key to fighting Zika virus because it can develop better methods for controlling the mosquitoes that spread the virus, said Stephen Higgs, director of the Biosecurity Research Institute.

"We are hoping to provide some answers and insights into the relationship between Zika virus and the mosquito," Higgs said.

Since Zika virus emerged in Brazil last year, the U.S. has seen more than 700 cases, including the first case in Kansas in March.

The Biosecurity Research Institute has had Zika virus isolates for several years, but has started conducting collaborative research because of the recent outbreak. University scientists have been growing samples of the virus and antibodies and providing them to collaborators for further research into vaccines and diagnostics.

"Countries are spending resources to control the spread of mosquitoes, we want to make sure we are controlling the right mosquitoes in the right way," Higgs said. "This research can help us target the particular species of mosquitoes that we know are carriers of Zika virus."

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has identified two mosquito species that transmit Zika virus: Aedes aegypti, or yellow fever mosquito, and Aedes albopictus, or Asian tiger mosquito. Both mosquitoes are widely distributed in the U.S. and are present in Kansas. These two mosquito species live close to people and can breed in houses, said Higgs, who also has studied chikungunya, a mosquito-borne virus that has a similar transmission cycle to that of Zika virus.

At the Biosecurity Research Institute, Higgs and university scientists are gathering details about how Zika virus interacts with different mosquitoes. Researchers are studying how long after a mosquito feeds on a blood meal that it can transmit Zika virus. The amount of time is unknown for Zika virus, but with other viruses it can range from five days to two weeks. Similarly, the research can show how much virus a person needs to have in their blood in order to infect a mosquito. If mosquitoes feed on a relatively low level, they may not become infected.

Only 1 in 5 people infected with Zika virus show symptoms, Higgs said, but it is possible that even people without symptoms may have enough virus in the blood to infect mosquitoes.

"As we learn how much virus is in human blood, knowing how much virus needs to be in the blood in order to infect a mosquito will tell us at what point after infection a person can infect another mosquito and for how long," Higgs said. "It is important to know these details because it can help us develop better controlling measures."

But there are still many unanswered questions relating to Zika virus, Higgs said. It is still unknown exactly what human cells are affected by the virus, if livestock are affected by the virus, what other transmission mechanisms are possible and when a vaccine may be available.

The Biosecurity Research Institute can help answer some of those questions and is equipped to handle any vaccine studies as well as diagnostic studies, Higgs said.

"This research is important to prepare us long-term for the next virus that comes," Higgs said. "We can't predict what that will be, but there will be something else that will be introduced and we need effective surveillance programs to help control them. We need the fundamental research and applied research that we can get here at the Biosecurity Research Institute."
Fireworks sales will be blazing across the country from now through the Fourth of July. As retailers begin their promotions, the Pennsylvania Academy of Ophthalmology (PAO), the Pennsylvania College of Emergency Physicians (PACEP), and the Pennsylvania Medical Society (PAMED) join the American Academy of Ophthalmology in shining light on the explosive fact: fireworks injuries cause approximately 10,000 visits to the emergency room each year, according to the data from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. Of these injuries, 1,300 are eye related, a staggering number that has doubled in recent years.

Fireworks injuries largely occur in the weeks before and after Fourth of July. To help prevent these injuries, PAO, PACEP, PAMED and the Academy are debunking four myths about consumer fireworks risks:

1.Small doesn't equal safe. A common culprit of fireworks injuries is the kind often handed to small children - the classic sparkler. Many people mistakenly believe sparklers are harmless due to their size. However, they can reach temperatures of up to 2,000 degrees - hot enough to melt certain metals. Even those tiny poppers or snappers can pose dangers. According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety 2014 Fireworks report- 35 percent of all fireworks related injuries were to children under the age of 15.

2.Even though it looks like a dud, it may not act like one. At age 16, Jameson Lamb was hit square in the eye with a Roman candle that he thought had been extinguished. Now 20, Lamb has gone through multiple surgeries including a corneal transplant and a stem cell transplant.

3.Just because you're not lighting or throwing it doesn't mean you're out of the firing line. Each year individuals who are spectating personal fireworks displays are injured. Of the eight firework related deaths in 2014, 2 victims were not the users.

4.The Fourth can be complete without using consumer fireworks. The Academy advises that the safest way to view fireworks is to watch a professional show.

"Across PA, every year around the 4th of July, I learn of at least one eye related injury due to fireworks" says David Armesto, MD, FACS, PAO's Secretary of Public Information. "Our eyes are naturally attracted to the dazzle of fireworks, and if people are not attentive and careful (especially children and their parents), someone is going to get hurt. This can lead to devastating and potentially blinding consequences. I've seen serious injuries from something as seemingly safe as hand held sparklers, to more dangerous ordinance such as bottle rockets (which are not available for general sale to PA residents but are often "smuggled" in). It's best to enjoy the celebration with fireworks from a safe distance. If you are going to use your own, please wear eye protection!"

"Enjoy the show from a safe distance," said emergency physician Merle Carter, MD, FACEP, PACEP President. "Everyone has 24/7 access to emergency care when they need it, but emergency physicians and other emergency healthcare providers encourage you to be cautious and do all you can to avoid unnecessary injury to your eyes, fingers, and other extremities as you celebrate on the Fourth."

If you experience a fireworks injury:

Seek medical attention immediately.

Avoid rubbing or rinsing the eyes or applying pressure.

Do not place ointment or take any blood thinning medication, such as aspirin or ibuprofen before being treated by a medical professional.

In addition to promoting safe fireworks practices, PAMED, PAO and PACEP are joining together in opposition of Senate Bill 1055, which greatly expands the retail sale of potentially dangerous fireworks throughout Pennsylvania. If this bill passes, it would legalize the sale and use of consumer fireworks in Pennsylvania, which in turn could increase the number of preventable injuries emergency rooms see each year around the 4th of July.

"Physicians in Pennsylvania will never stand by passively when someone is in harm's way," says Scott Shapiro MD, president of the Pennsylvania Medical Society. "This is why we oppose SB 1055."
Recreational water illness is the overall term for sickness caused by bacteria or viruses in pools, lakes, rivers and other places people like to swim or play in hot weather. And the way these illnesses are often spread comes down to fecal contamination in the water.

Even this weekend, those vacationing along the Florida panhandle are being warned by the Florida Department of Public Health to avoid swimming in several popular beach areas in Okaloosa County and Walton County due to the fecal bacteria enterococci. The bacteria, which are common in feces of both animals and humans, can sicken swimmers, especially very young people, older people and those with compromised immune systems.

For those of us staying closer to home and swimming in pools, it also pays to keep water safety in mind, said William Schaffner, M.D., professor of Preventive Medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

"The most common problems people get while swimming are intestinal infections, either bacterial or viral," he said, adding that the most common bacterial cause of illness contracted while swimming is Shigella and the most common viral cause is Norovirus.

Both can make you feel pretty terrible, Schaffner said, running down a litany of misery: "Diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, sometimes fever."

Because the symptoms take hold several hours after infection has occurred, people often don't suspect that being in the water has led to the illness, he said.

Fortunately, a few simple precautions can reduce the risk for everyone.

First, Schaffner said, before you or your children get in a pool, take a look at it. A poorly maintained pool can lead not only to intestinal problems, but also other unpleasantness, such as a skin infection caused by pseudomonas bacteria. "Does it have clear and clean water? If not, you should reconsider getting in," he said.

Everyone getting in the pool should take a shower beforehand.

Anyone who has had stomach problems in the previous 24 hours should not get in the pool.

Parents should be certain that toddlers haven't soiled their diapers  even plastic swim diapers  or their swimsuits. The CDC recommends that parents check children every 30 to 60 minutes and do any diaper changing away from poolside, taking care to wash their hands afterward. And if an accident does happen, if it's in a public pool, let the management know so they can take steps to clean the water and make it safe for everyone again.

Schaffner also said that, from an infection point of view at least, urine in the pool is not a real issue because it is sterile, dilutes quickly and really doesn't pose a health risk to other swimmers.

And Schaffner adds one more important medical prescription.

"None of this should dampen anyone's enthusiasm for the pool," he said. "With a few simple precautions, playing in the water can be safe and fun for everybody."
A new study reveals that the average cost to train a Teaching Health Center resident is estimated to be $157,602 per year. The report, "The Cost of Residency Training in Teaching Health Centers", published by the New England Journal of Medicine comes as current Teaching Health Centers embark on what could be their last year in existence starting July 1, 2016.

The Teaching Health Center Graduate Medical Education (THCGME) program was created in 2010, as a 5 year initiative, to increase the number of primary care residents and dentists trained in community-based settings. The program was extended for an additional 2 years in 2015 but is currently set to expire in September 2017. Although the program was extended, it was funded at almost a 40% reduction with programs operating at $95,000 per resident, in place of the previous amount of $150,000. This lower payment level has left many programs struggling to find additional funding and teetering on the brink of closure. Many programs that are withstanding the loss have agreed they cannot continue with the reduced funding level in perpetuity; but are hopeful that this report illustrates the true cost of producing the next generation of primary care physicians.

The THCGME program to date has garnered bi-partisan support for its financial transparency and has been highly successfully in recruiting and retaining primary care physicians where they are needed most. This costing study report has been widely anticipated as it depicts an estimate of costs on the ever-elusive graduate medical education (GME) training costs.

"We are in the midst of a primary care crisis," said Senator Bernie Sanders (D-VT). "At a time when millions of Americans lack access to health care, we must protect and expand Teaching Health Center programs that train much-needed primary care providers."

Other Congressional members agreed and vowed their support for Teaching Health Center programs.

"As someone who grew up in a rural community, I know all too well their unique needs, particularly when it comes to accessing quality health care," said Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA). "Teaching Health Centers provide solutions to rural doctor shortages that help diversify the supply of available training sites and ensure that the federal investment in graduate medical education is as varied as the people who rely on it. I am proud to continue to support this vital program and work on ensuring permanency of the program is a reality in the future."

"It's very clear that in communities across the country, including in my home state of Washington, the shortage of primary care doctors is a challenge for too many families," said Senator Patty Murray (D-WA). "I believe strongly that patients and families should be able to get the care they need when and where they need it. Teaching Health Centers are critical to reaching this goal. I look forward to working with all of my colleagues on sustainable funding to support and expand this important program for families in Washington state and nationwide."

"By training family physicians in community-based settings, Teaching Health Centers have helped address the challenge of physician shortage in rural and underserved areas," said Congressman Doug LaMalfa (R-CA). "We already know the money we are investing today in this program has had a considerable impact on the health on hundreds of thousands of people across the country, both in terms of expanding access to care and reducing unnecessary emergency room visits. The report released earlier this week, highlighting the cost of residency training, will now help us ensure this critical funding is spent in the most efficient and effective way possible."
Physicians may be drawing conclusions too soon about survival outcomes of patients who suffered a cardiac arrest outside the hospital.

A study led by Bentley Bobrow, MD, professor at the University of Arizona Colleges of Medicine in Tucson and Phoenix and co-director of the Arizona Emergency Medicine Research Center - Phoenix, and his fellow UA emergency medicine researchers, showed that physicians may need to allow comatose cardiac arrest patients much more time to awaken before making a prognosis.

Gary Brauchla knows this from first-hand experience.

The day after his son's twins were born in 2012, Brauchla, 68, went into cardiac arrest as he slept in his home in Pearce, Ariz.

Brauchla's wife, Kathie, a former surgical technician, immediately called 911 and started cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). Fifteen minutes later, paramedics took over administering CPR and shocked his heart with a defibrillator, restoring his heart rhythm.

Though Brauchla's heart was restarted, he remained in a coma as he was flown by helicopter to Tucson. There, doctors treated him with coronary stents and therapeutic hypothermia (cooling his body) to reduce his brain's need for oxygen and minimize the risk of brain injury.

"The doctors said it usually takes up to 48 hours for people to wake up, but after two days he still was not responding," said Kathie.

Brauchla remained in a deep coma, until finally, 72 hours after he was rewarmed, he gradually began to awaken.

"After 48 hours, doctors used to start talking about pulling the plug," said Kathie.

More than 400,000 Americans experience out-of-hospital cardiac arrest annually. Survival statistics are bleak: although approximately 50 percent of people who arrest are revived after attempted resuscitation, only about 10 percent of these survive to leave the hospital. Furthermore, almost half of the survivors suffer some level of brain impairment from hypoxia (when the brain is not getting enough oxygen).

While out-of-hospital cardiac arrest still is a leading cause of death in the United States, outcomes have improved dramatically in places like Arizona, where the focus has been on innovative health-care advances, Dr. Bobrow said. Advances include compression-only CPR training for the public, enhanced telephone-CPR instructions and training for 911 dispatchers, implementing high-performance CPR for EMS providers and making sure patients are taken to specialized hospitals that deliver treatments like targeted therapeutic hypothermia to improve brain recovery.

Results from the multicenter UA study, recently published in the Annals of Emergency Medicine, showed for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest patients, the time it takes to regain consciousness after rewarming from therapeutic hypothermia treatment varies widely and is longer than many had thought.

"Most patients are comatose after resuscitation and accurately predicting those who will wake up can be extremely challenging," Dr. Bobrow said.

"There are many factors involved, but we know that it is common for doctors to try to decide who will and who won't wake up after 24 to 48 hours of hospitalization. However, our study found that a substantial number of cardiac arrest victims wake up longer than many people would expect. Sometimes they awaken from coma five, six or seven days after being admitted to the hospital and many of these have a good neurological outcome," he said.

Among 573 out-of-hospital cardiac arrest patients who completed targeted temperature management, 60 woke up at least 48 hours after rewarming. Eight patients became responsive more than seven days after rewarming, six of whom were discharged with good neurological scores. One of the important findings was no predictive factors reliably identified who would awaken early or late.

Dr. Bobrow said, "We were surprised by the large proportion of cardiac arrest survivors who woke up more than three days after their arrest and went home with their families.

"While targeted therapeutic hypothermia has been shown to improve outcomes, no validated system currently exists for predicting when patients receiving this treatment will awaken from coma. Physicians and family members may need to wait longer than the traditional three days before making irrevocable decisions about brain function recovery and possible withdrawal of care," he said.

"Our study quantifies the timing of awakening from a coma after cardiac arrest in the era of targeted temperature management, and this timing is much different than before we had this treatment," said Daniel Spaite, MD, UA professor and Virginia Piper Distinguished Chair of Emergency Medicine.

"We may be able to save thousands of lives each year across the country by simply giving cardiac arrest victims more time to awaken in the hospital," said Samuel Keim, MD, professor and chair of the UA Department of Emergency Medicine.

When Brauchla first woke up, he struggled with some neurological issues, but continued to improve. Since then, he has fully recovered and so far has run twelve 5K races. He now serves as the president of the newly formed Arizona Cardiac Arrest Survivors Group. In this role, he speaks to patients and their families, teaches bystander CPR classes and works to get more AEDs (automated external defibrillators) into the community.

Brauchla's message to families, physicians and emergency medical personnel: "Everyone needs to be able and willing to do bystander CPR. And then, don't give up!"

Source: University of Arizona Health Sciences
The study by researchers from the Department of Neurology at the University of Ulsan College of Medicine in Seoul showed that herpes zoster infection not only raised the risk of ischaemic and haemorrhagic stroke but also that of a transient ischaemic attack (TIA), a warning mini-stroke often preceding a full-blown stroke. The results are published in the June edition of Clinical Microbiology and Infection.

Lead researcher Sun U. Kwon and colleagues assessed the prevalence of stroke/TIA in people who experienced shingles, which is triggered by a reactivation of the varicella zoster virus that causes chickenpox in children, and those who did not. People who were diagnosed with shingles were almost twice as likely for several years to have a TIA or full-blown stroke, the study showed. The risk after infection was highest in the youngest people studied; 18-to-30-year olds were more than twice as likely to have a TIA or stroke, and the risk continuously decreased over time.

Herpes zoster infection in young people occurs against a background of few other traditional risk factors for stroke, so this is not really a surprise, explained co-author Sung-Han Kim. However, it is interesting and more unexpected that the increased stroke risk that followed herpes zoster infection lasted for several years. We found people to be more at risk of stroke for a long period after infection, even when we adjusted for other known stroke risk factors. This suggests that infection with this virus is an independent risk factor in stroke pathogenesis that changes the lifetime set point of stroke/TIA risk, concludes Sung-Han Kim.

The researchers used a large South Korean health database of more than 1 million people to examine the relationship between herpes zoster infection and TIA/stroke. The prospective cohort study was a major undertaking involving the follow-up of 766,179 adults for 11 years from 2003.

In many parts of the world, stroke is comparable with cancer and myocardial infarction as a major cause of mortality. Stroke is associated with a plethora of risk factors, but it is not well known that infectious diseases also play a role. Tuberculosis and syphilis have already been shown to increase the risk of succumbing to stroke. Previously existing evidence for a link between shingles, or herpes zoster infection, and stroke/TIA was fairly weak, with two epidemiological studies hinting at an association.

Further work will be necessary to investigate the underlying pathological mechanisms. The authors suggest that the most important question raised by this study is whether more aggressive anti-viral treatment could prevent death and serious disability in younger people who succumb to shingles.
Iowa State University researchers have described with single-molecule precision how copper ions cause prion proteins to misfold and seed the misfolding and clumping of nearby prion proteins.

The researchers also found the copper-induced misfolding and clumping is associated with inflammation and damage to nerve cells in brain tissue from a mouse model.

Prions are abnormal, pathogenic agents that are transmissible and induce abnormal folding of a specific type of protein called prion proteins, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Prion proteins are mostly found in the brain. The abnormal folding of prion proteins leads to brain damage and symptoms of neurodegenerative disease. A similar cycle of neuronal protein misfolding and clumping is observed in other neurodegenerative disorders, including Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases.

"Our study establishes a direct link, at the molecular level, between copper exposure and prion protein neurotoxicity," the researchers wrote in a summary of the paper.

The findings were published today in the journal Science Advances. The corresponding author is Sanjeevi Sivasankar, an Iowa State University associate professor of physics and astronomy; the first author is Chi-Fu Yen, an Iowa State doctoral student in electrical and computer engineering. Co-authors are Anumantha Kanthasamy, an Iowa State Clarence Hartley Covault Distinguished Professor in Veterinary Medicine, chair of biomedical sciences and director of the Iowa Center for Advanced Neurotoxicology; and Dilshan Harischandra, an Iowa State doctoral student in biomedical sciences.

Grants from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences at the National Institutes of Health supported the project, including one from the Virtual Consortium for Transdisciplinary Environmental Research.

Although this study determined that copper-induced misfolding and clumping of prion proteins is associated with the degeneration of nerve tissues, Sivasankar cautioned that the study does not directly address the infectivity of prion diseases.

"There are different strains of misfolded prion proteins and not all of them are pathogenic," Sivasankar said. "Although we do not show that the strains generated in our experiments are infectious, we do prove that copper ions trigger misfolding of prion proteins which causes toxicity in nerve cells."

The Sivasankar and Kanthasamy research groups plan to perform additional studies to determine if the copper-induced misfolding causes disease.

Integrating approaches Sivasankar also noted that a unique aspect of this project was the integration of biophysical and neurotoxicological research approaches. He said the combination has the potential to transform studies of the molecular basis for neurodegenerative diseases.

The biophysical approaches Sivasankar's team developed for this study include:

A fluorescence-based technique that identified misfolded prion proteins with single-molecule sensitivity and determined the role of metal ions in misfolding. The researchers used this technique to show that misfolding begins when copper ions bind to the unstructured tail of the prion protein.

A single-molecule atomic force microscopy assay that measured the efficiency of prion protein clumping. The researchers used this technique to show that misfolded prion proteins stick together nearly 900 times more efficiently than properly folded proteins.

The Kanthasamy and Sivasankar research groups worked together on a real-time, quaking-induced conversion assay to demonstrate that misfolded prion proteins serve as seeds that trigger the misfolding and clumping of nearby prion proteins. Kanthasamy's research group also used its expertise in neurotoxicology to show the copper-induced, misfolded prion proteins damage nerve cells in slices of brain tissue from mice.

Taken together, the results identify the biophysical conditions and mechanisms for copper-induced prion protein misfolding, clumping and neurotoxicity, the researchers wrote.

"This was a very comprehensive study," Sivasankar said. "We took it from single molecules all the way to tissues."

And, although the study doesn't address the infectious nature of prion diseases, Kanthasamy said it is still important: "This study has major implications to our understanding the role of metals in protein misfolding diseases including prion, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases."
We (celebrated) our nation's Independence Day with fireworks, parades, picnics and performances of The Star-Spangled Banner.

Americans across our great nation use this day to celebrate how fortunate we all are to live in a free country and they do so in a way which brings together family, friends and communities.

The good folks in Oran have been celebrating the Fourth of July for 53 years now with their annual picnic which features an antique tractor display, music, games, and according to former Congressman Bill Emerson the best fried chicken in southeast Missouri. Willow Springs attracts people from all over with one of the most impressive fireworks displays in the region, while the City of Jackson will celebrate Independence Day with a 5k walk/childrens fun run. These are just a few of the great celebrations (which happened) all across south central and southeast Missouri this weekend, a scene which can be found repeated across our nation.

The 4th of July truly is a special celebration, one that memorializes the valiant fight for our freedom, and symbolizes the immense national pride that so many Americans are proud to display. However, while the vast majority of us have always recognized this celebration and enjoyed the freedoms our country represents to the world, there are others who come and learn these values and wish to become a part of our culture.

On the 4th of July this year, I (had) the distinct honor of celebrating those who are becoming American citizens the right way, those who went through the process, waited their turn and followed our laws. I (participated) in a naturalization ceremony in Cape Girardeau for a small group of individuals who will become official U.S. citizens. It is something we dont often think of as American citizens ourselves, but I couldn't think of a better day throughout the entire year to take the oath of citizenship for our country and become an American on the very day we celebrate our independence.

The path to American citizenship is certainly not an easy one. It has many requirements that must be met including being able to read, write, speak and understand English, and they also must pass a roughly 100 question test on American history and government that embarrassingly some Americans would struggle with. However, one of the most profound requirements that isnt tested, but remains true is the sincere belief and excitement of each of these individuals to be able to consider themselves Americans. Often times our dreams are tied to things or places where we want to see ourselves professionally, but as Americans we overlook the mere opportunity to achieve those dreams because we simply are Americans. For many of these new citizens however their dream was to become an American, and that is something that is truly special for any of us to recognize. Especially if you are able to see the tears of pride that new American citizens express through the ceremony I (was) honored to be a part of.

As we celebrate the birth of our nation, we also celebrate the core of our beliefs and our identity as Americans. We take pride and honor our forefathers whose love of freedom created this nation we call home and remember the men and women serving in our armed forces who are committed to protecting our freedom through their service and sacrifice. However, as our 4th of July celebrations end this year there (are) a few new Americans, whose celebration will be ongoing and take place every day because they have been welcomed into the greatest society and nation in the world.
Patients doing Internet searches to learn about liposuction will find overall "very poor" quality of information, reports a study in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery--Global Open, the official open-access medical journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS).

Areas of special concern include the lack of information on possible risks of liposuction, as well as "disappointing" low quality of information presented by plastic surgeons' websites, according to the report by Dr. Adrian Fernando Palma of University Hospital Zurich, Switzerland, and colleagues.

Call for Better Online Information on Common Plastic Surgery Procedure

Using popular web search engines, the researchers identified 245 websites providing information on liposuction (excluding duplicate and irrelevant sites). The websites were evaluated using the modified "Ensuring Quality Information for Patients" (EQIP) tool, which provides a standardized assessment of the quality and completeness of Internet health information.

The results showed "substantial shortcomings" of the online information about liposuction. Only about 30 percent of sites had "high scores" on the EQIP, earning at least 18 out of 36 possible points. The median score was 16 out of 36 possible points, with a range of eight to 29 points.

Nearly two-thirds of the websites were developed by plastic surgeons and practices and practices offering liposuction services. But the quality of the information provided was low--more than three-fourths of websites developed by plastic surgeons had low scores for quality of information.

In contrast, other types of websites--including those developed by professional societies (such as ASPS), portals, patient groups, health departments, and academic centers--scored higher for quality of information about liposuction.

But few of the websites provided information on complications associated with liposuction. Surprisingly, most sites developed by plastic surgeons did not mention any of the potential risks. While liposuction is generally a very safe procedure, the overall complication rate has been reported as high as one in every ten patients. The estimated mortality rate is one out of 5,000 procedures.

Information on risks is especially important given the large numbers of patients undergoing liposuction. According to ASPS statistics, more than 222,000 cosmetic liposuction procedures were performed in 2015, up five percent from the previous year. Liposuction is now the second-most frequently performed cosmetic plastic surgery procedure in the United States.

"According to our results, the overall quality of information on liposuction for patients is very poor," Dr. Palma and colleagues write. While the low quality of plastic surgeons' websites is particularly disappointing, they note that even the highest-scoring websites have significant limitations.

"Better quality of patient information is needed especially in terms of the surgical procedure, qualitative and quantitative benefits and risks for the patient, how complications are handled, and what precautions patients can take," Dr. Palma and coauthors conclude. They also suggest that website developers use the EQIP tool to ensure the good quality of the information presented.
Changing just one seated meeting per week at work into a walking meeting increased the work-related physical activity levels of white-collar workers by 10 minutes, according to a new study published by public health researchers with the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. The study, published June 24, 2016 in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's journal Preventing Chronic Disease, suggests a possible new health promotion approach to improving the health of millions of white-collar workers who spend most of their workdays sitting in chairs.

Titled "Opportunities for Increased Physical Activity in the Workplace: the Walking Meeting," the study also supports the American Heart Association's recommendations of 150 minutes per week of moderate-intensity physical activity for adults, or about 30 minutes each weekday.

"There are limited opportunities for physical activity at work. This walking meeting pilot study provides early evidence that white-collar workers find it feasible and acceptable to convert a traditional seated meeting into a walking meeting," said the study's principal investigator, Alberto J. Caban-Martinez, D.O., Ph.D., M.P.H., assistant professor of public health sciences. "Physical activity interventions such as the walking meeting protocol that encourage walking and raise levels of physical activity in the workplace are needed to counter the negative health effects of sedentary behavior."

Participants in the study, who were white-collar workers recruited from the University of Miami, wore accelerometers to measure physical activity levels during the workday over a three-week period. They also followed a "walking meeting protocol" that included guidance for leading meetings and taking notes while walking.

The average combined moderate/vigorous physical activity reported by participants increased from 107 minutes in the first week to 114 minutes in the second week and to 117 minutes in week three of the study.

"Walking is known to have tremendous health benefits," said lead author Hannah Kling, M.P.H., the study's project director and a graduate of UM's Department of Public Health Sciences. "Having sedentary, white-collar workers consider walking meetings feasible suggests that this intervention has the potential to positively influence the health of many individuals."

Previous studies have proven that engaging in moderate exercise, which includes brisk walking, for as little as 15 minutes per day can add up to three years of life expectancy.
CANTON, Ohio (AP)  Joshua Brown, the first U.S. fatality in a wreck involving a car in self-driving mode, had an adventurous streak with a "need for speed" but also was a brilliant innovator and beloved neighbor, say those who knew the Navy veteran.



Brown was "like a little kid" when he brought home his Tesla Model S sedan late last summer and always willing to take anyone for a ride, said Richard Tichenor, a neighbor.



The 40-year-old single man lived in Canton where he ran a wireless technology company. He bought his modest home four years ago for $40,000  a little more than half the sticker price of a new Tesla Model S.



Brown died May 7 in Williston, Florida, when his car's cameras didn't make a distinction between the white side of a turning tractor-trailer and the brightly lit sky while failing to automatically activate its brakes, according to statements by the government and the automaker.



Terri Lyn Reed, a friend and insurance agent in northeastern Ohio who insured Brown's business, said he loved motorcycles and fast cars.



"He had the need for speed," she said. "Kind of a daredevil, loved the excitement."



Brown nicknamed the car "Tessy" and praised its "Autopilot" system. He posted videos online touting its capabilities, saying in April it avoided a crash when a truck swerved into his lane. "Hands down the best car I have ever owned," Brown said.



His driving record, obtained by The Associated Press, showed he had eight speeding tickets in a six-year span. The most recent ticket, in 2015, was for driving 64 mph in a 35 mph zone. The records also showed Brown was licensed to drive a motorcycle, though the tickets don't say what vehicle was being driven at the time.



Stan Staneski III worked two years for Brown putting in wireless networks. His boss and friend liked to go fast, but "was always a very safe driver," said Staneski, of Denver, Pennsylvania.



"I mean, I never once felt scared or threatened while riding with him," he said.



A Navy SEAL for 11 years, Brown left the service in 2008. A lot of his innovations came out of what he learned in the military, Reed said, describing him as incredibly intelligent.



Brown founded his wireless company in April 2010, a couple of months before he was caught going 80 mph in a 55 mph zone. He built the business installing Wi-Fi networks at campgrounds and cruise line terminals from the ground up. He told a customer his company would be bigger than cable giant Comcast Corp.



"He wasn't in it for the money," Reed said. "He wanted to make things better for people."



Sometimes he would travel on business in a motor home, and he loved the outdoors and camping. He'd share stories about his adventures and jumping out of airplanes in the military. Neighbors recalled how Brown would wake up early during winter storms and clean their street and driveways before city snowplows arrived. Friends said he never met a stranger.



Next-door neighbor Krista Kitchen said Brown once took her and a friend for a ride in the car and then surprised her friend by turning over the wheel to him.



"He was just flabbergasted, but that's just Josh," she said.



Brown took meticulous care of the Tesla and enjoyed seeing what it could do. But he also wanted to know its limitations and make sure it was safe, she said. He was on vacation in Florida with his parents when he was killed, she said.



Reed said she didn't know her friend had been driving a Tesla until she heard about the crash. But, she said, "It doesn't surprise me he was utilizing technology at its best."
It's 4th of July, and as we all know from the Will Smith movie and the godawful sequel, it is the American Independence Day. This is the day when the United States of AMerica ceased to be a British Colony and became an independent nation.But was kicking Britain out of its governance, a good idea? Did America make the right decision by severing its ties with England sort of like the UK did with the EU? John Oliver, in his new video for 'Last Week Tonight' makes a few compelling points.Watch the full video right here:
New Delhi: The body of Indian teenager Tarishi Jain, who was among those hacked to death by Islamic terrorists in a terror attack at a Dhaka restaurant, was on Monday brought to Delhi. Her last rites will take place in Gurgaon.



"It is a case of brutal killing - an unnatural death. Some legal procedure has (to) be completed," External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said on Twitter.



Tarishi, a student at UC Berkeley, was on vacation in Dhaka. Her father runs a garment business in Bangladesh for the last 15-20 years, according to officials.



Twenty foreigners, including eight Italians, seven Japanese and the Indian student, were brutally murdered by the terrorists inside the Holey Artisan Bakery in Dhaka's diplomatic zone before commandos launched an assault on Saturday, killing six attackers and capturing one alive, ending Bangladesh's worst terror attack.



The bodies of the victims were recovered during a search in the Bakery compound after the operation.



Jain had graduated from the American International School in Dhaka, and began studying at the University of California Berkeley in 2015. Berkeley officials said she intended to major in economics.



The university said in a statement that since early June she had been in Dhaka on an internship at Eastern Bank Limited working on e-commerce growth.



"We are all very devastated," said Sanchita Saxena, executive director of the California university's Institute for South Asia Studies and director of its Center for Bangladesh Studies.



"She was a smart and ambitious young woman with a big heart. Our deepest condolences to her family, friends, and the entire Berkeley community," the University said.


The mortal remains of Indian teenager Tarishi Jain, who was among those hacked to death by Islamic terrorists in a terror attack at a Dhaka restaurant, was on Monday brought to Delhi. Her last rites took place in Gurugram in front of her family members.



Tarishi, a student at UC Berkeley, was on vacation in Dhaka. Her father runs a garment business in Bangladesh for the last 15-20 years, according to officials.



Twenty foreigners, including eight Italians, seven Japanese and the Indian student, were brutally murdered by the terrorists inside the Holey Artisan Bakery in Dhaka's diplomatic zone before commandos launched an assault on Saturday, killing six attackers and capturing one alive, ending Bangladesh's worst terror attack.



The bodies of the victims were recovered during a search in the Bakery compound after the operation.



Jain had graduated from the American International School in Dhaka, and began studying at the University of California Berkeley in 2015. Berkeley officials said she intended to major in economics.



The university said in a statement that since early June she had been in Dhaka on an internship at Eastern Bank Limited working on e-commerce growth.







"We are all very devastated," said Sanchita Saxena, executive director of the California university's Institute for South Asia Studies and director of its Center for

Bangladesh Studies.



"She was a smart and ambitious young woman with a big heart. Our deepest condolences to her family, friends, and the entire Berkeley community," the University said.
NEW DELHI  The Indian security establishment is completely shaken post the terror attack in Dhaka. With Friday night's hostage crisis "homegrown" terror is back in focus.



If nothing, the terror attack inside the heart of diplomatic capital has confirmed India's worst fears about the eastern neighbor.



Bangladesh could become another Pakistan one day and the Islamic State might use it to launch similar attacks in India.



The theory holds more weight considering the fact that the border on the Eastern side is porous. The ISIS cadres of Wilayat Khurasan from Afghanistan - Pakistan could attack India from the West.



In a recent interview Wilayat Khurasan has also claimed that ISIS would be taking help of local Mujahideen in India for launching such guerrilla attacks.



In the same interview he also declared that Hindus will be the main target, adding that Sharia can't be achieved in Bangladesh until local Hindus are targeted and large scale religious polarization is created in the region.



He said that Hindus in Bangladesh are active in creating the anti-Islamic propaganda and they occupy high positions in police and intelligence in the ruling Sheikh Hasina government.



He has vowed to topple the Hasina government and establish the so-called caliphate as ISIS dislikes Hasina's pro-India stance.



ISIS & BANGLADESH



Post September 2015 there has been a spike in ISIS activities in Bangladesh. Old extremist groups and inactive cadres in Bangladesh have returned to establish their links with ISIS.



According to intelligence reports Jammat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh(JMB) and Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT) are also in touch with ISIS.



JMB's involvement in the 2014 Burdwan incident is well known and the fact that they managed to recruit and train youth from Assam cannot be ignored.



Around 33 militants have been arrested since Oct 2015, the latest being the 11 arrests made by NIA from Hyderabad on June 27.



The ISIS has tried to broaden its propaganda in Bangladesh through the use of Bengali language.



Media reports clearly suggest that Bangladesh is an important area for them and they are keen on targeting the Muslims converting to Christianity, Sufism, Ahmediyas etc.



The ISIS has also been able to get some local cadres in Bangladesh, but the total number is still small and lacks the strength to take on the state's military.



Intelligence sources also point to the recent attacks which are against religious minority Hindus giving a clear idea that they want to capture the properties owned by them.





Recent attacks by ISIS in Bangladesh-





- Nov 2014-A professor Shafiul Islam. Tamim Al Adnani is acting Chief of Ansarullah Bangla Team.



- Aug 2015-ISIS claimed responsibility for killing blogger Niladri Chatterjee.



- Sep 28 2015-Killing of Italian National Ceaser Tavella



- Oct 2015-ISIS claimed resoponsibility of killing publisher Faizal Abediy Dipon



- Oct 03,2015-Killing of Japanease national Kunio Hoshi



- Oct 05,2015-Attempted murder of Bangladesh citizen Luke Sarkar a Christian.



- Oct 24,2015-Shia Festival Ashura was attacked in Dhaka in which two people were killed.



- Nov 04,2015-Attack on Police checkpost on Nov 4, 2015



- Dec 25,2015-Attempted suicidal attack on Ahmedia mosque in Rajshahi district.



- Feb 8,2016-Murder of Hindu merchant Tarun Dutta.



- Feb 2016-ISIS stabbed Christian conver in Jhenaidah district.



- Feb 21,2016-Hindu priest Jaganeshwar Roy of Devigard temple was killed.



- March 22,2016-Hossain Ali a Christian conver was killed in Kushigram distric. He was freedom fighter took part in 1971 war.



- March 15,2016-ISIS claimed responsibility of killing og homeopathic doctor Abdur Razizaque in Jhenaidah distict.



- April 2,2016- JMB module accidental blast in Bogra district.



- April 06,2016-26 years old law student was stabbed to death. His name was in the hit list of Bangladeshi bloggers prepared by ISIS in 2013. Later Ansal Ul Islam took responsibility of his death. Killed to teach lesson to blasphemers.





- April 23,2016-ISIS killed Rezoul Kanian Siddique professor of English department of Rajshahi University in NW Bangladesh. ISIS claimed to killed him for calling people to atheism.



- April 25,2016-AUI killed Xullahz Mannan the editor of LGBT magazine( Only magazine for lesbian ,gays and bisexual).



- April 30,2016-Nikhil Chandra was killed for insulting prophet and for making derogatory remarks against prophet 4 years back.



- May 15,2016-Homeopathic doctor Shanaur Rehmnan was killed for his called to Christianity.



- May 20,2016-Professor of Kushtia Islamic University injured in Kushtia.



- May 25,2016- Hindu Businessman Debashis Chandra was killed



- June 5,2016-Christian businessman Sunil Gomes was hacked to death in Notore district.



- June 05,2016-Mahmuda Aktar wife of local SP who led drive against JMB militants and drugs was stabbed to death in Chittagong when was on her way to drop her 6 year old son.



- June07,2016-Anand Gopal ganguly a 70 years old Westren Hindu preiset was hacked to death in Noldonga village.



- June 09,2016-Nitya Rajan Pande a Hindu ashram worker was hacked to death in Pabna district.


The Hyderabad Police on Monday arrested the main accused Anil Kumar in the rape and murder of a 10-year-old girl in the city.



The girl's body was found in a ditch near her house on Sunday. The accused is a habitual offender who had been released from prison just days back.



The accused has been caught on CCTV camera, just moments before he committed the heinous crime.



"I have not seen him before. She was playing in the evening and that man was also there. He looked fine and I initially thought his intention was not bad but later the man took her away and when we realised that she is not there everyone called up the police," the victim's mother said.



The accused took away the girl, a class III student, from near a toddy shop on Saturday evening where she was with her mother, after luring her to buy some chocolates and chips.



He then allegedly raped the minor and brutally killed her by smashing the girl's head with a boulder on Saturday night, Bollarum police station Sub-Inspector M Satish Kumar had said.




Here is what is making news on a Monday morning



After strict law, Haryana gives cows 24-hour helpline



The Haryana police on Sunday launched a 24-hour helpline (8284030455) for people to report incidents of cow smuggling or slaughter. The information that is provided will be relayed to police officials, who will send special teams set up for the purpose to the area.

(reported by The Indian Express)



Priyanka could campaign across UP for Congress



Congress is weighing the possibility of an expanded role for Priyanka Gandhi Vadra in the election campaign for UP assembly polls next year.

There has been intense speculation in the past few week about Congress's plan to bring Priyanka out of the family pocketboroughs of Amethi and Rae Bareli for campaigning in other parts of the state. There are indications that details of her role in the campaign will be firmed up once party vicepresident Rahul Gandhi returns from his vacation abroad this week. There is talk that Priyanka could address as many as 155 rallies in UP.

(Reported by Times of India)



Valley simmering, Centre gets a security alert from state: 65 per cent spurt in infiltration



With a series of militant attacks pushing the Kashmir valley back to a familiar brink, security agencies in J&K have warned the Centre, in an overview of the scenario, that alienation is on (the) rise and that there is anger against the (state) government.

(Reported by The Indian Express)



Qaida asks Indians to launch lone-wolf ops



A day after the deadly terrorist attack in Dhaka in which 20 people were killed, al-Qaida on Sunday asked Indian Muslims to carry out lone-wolf attacks in the country on the lines of the strikes in Europe.

The head of al-Qaida in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS), Asim Umar, issued a statement inciting Indian Muslims to rise up and to follow the example of lone wolves in Europe and kill administrative and police officers in India.

(Reported by Times of India)





Modi and Badals claim 18th-century Sikh icon



Competing for the appropriation of Sikh icons, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal on Sunday paid tributes to legendary Sikh warrior Baba Banda Singh Bahadur on his 300th martyrdom anniversary .

At an event held in the capital that was attended by over 10,000 Sikhs, Modi also announced his government's plan to celebrate nationally the 350th birth anniversary of Guru Gobind Singh at a grand scale. The Punjab CM also said his government would do the same.

(Reportd by Times of India)



Uttar Pradesh Polls 2017: Out of the woods, Amar, Beni may get seat at SPs high table



Newly elected Rajya Sabha members from the Samajwadi Party, Beni Prasad Verma and Amar Singh, are likely to be included in the partys national executive  to be reconstitute ahead of the Assembly polls next year.

Sources in the party said that SP president Mulayam Singh Yadav has tasked general secretary Ram Gopal Yadav with drafting the new national executive, which is likely to be announced soon with some new faces. A final decision on committee members will taken by Mulayam



Man makes lakhs selling forged fitness certificates to expatriates



Haidar is a 32-yearold computer operator, who has handed out forged fitness certificates to over 75 persons, making more than 10 lakh.

He worked for an authorised diagnostic centre that dispatches fitness reports to people applying to the Gulf countries for a job visa.

Without getting their blood tests or physical tests done  a prerequisite for applying for a work visa  Haidar drafted these reports based on the set pattern and declared the person fit.

(Reported by Hindustan Times)



Second NCR airport may be set up in either Jewar or Bhiwadi



The National Capital Region (NCR) may need a second airport within the next three years and the government has narrowed down the list of possible sites to two. The aviation ministry said the second airport could either be set up in Jewar in Greater Noida or Bhiwadi in Rajasthan. The NCR will need a second airport soon, said Mahesh Sharma, minister of state for civil aviation.

The earlier projections for the requirement of a second airport in the NCR in the next seven years will have to be reviewed with the government announcing its ambitious Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS).

(Reported by Hindustan Times)



Supreme Court: 3 per cent quota for disabled must in all posts



Quashing the central governments earlier orders on restricting reservation for the differently-abled in promotion to Group A and Group B posts, the Supreme Court has ruled that three per cent reservation shall be provided to them in all posts and services under the Government of India.

(Reported by Hindustan Times)



400 green cases go unpunished for lack of law



There are almost 400 cases of green violations across the country where companies cannot be penalised for going ahead with their construction and expansion work without getting prior environmental clearance just because there is no process in place to deal with them.

The environment ministry is facing this peculiar situation due to quashing of the office memorandum (OM), issued in 2012 and 2013 to deal with violators, by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) in July last year. The tribunal had quashed it after noticing certain anomalies.

(Reportd by Times of India)
Dhaka: It is one of the worst terror strikes that Bangladesh has witnessed since its liberation from Pakistan in 1971. An attack that may have happened in Dhaka, but sent ripples across the World.



For the first time in the history of the 45-year-old nation, foreign nationals were targeted and killed systematically in an act of extremism. Religious violence, off late, has been on the rise in Bangladesh. The brutal and brazen killings of liberal thinkers, bloggers and minorities has been a cause for concern for some time now.



The scene outside the ancient Dhakeshwari Temple in Dhaka proves that the largest religious minorities, the Hindus, are scared after Friday's attack. This is a place that is revered by the 11% Hindus living in Bangladesh. The city Dhaka also derives its name from the Dhakeshwari temple.



A Hindu resident of the capital, who does not want to be named, said Hindus have been living in fear for years and that the recent incidents have worsened the situation for them. It was not like this in the past, he said. Now he wants to leave the country because the rise of Islamists would leave no place for minorities.



Some others are a little less pessimistic. A woman CNN-News18 spoke to said that she had been coming to Dhakeshwari temple for the past 20 years. She feels that Hindus are being targeted outside Dhaka; in the city, she feels quite safe but remains cautious.



The priest of this ancient temple, Pandit Chakroborty, is clear about one thing. He is sure that Hindus and other minorities are no longer as comfortable as they used to be and he prays everyday for the old Bangladesh to come back.



However the Bangladesh government is still in denial mode. Speaking to CNN News18 Gowhar Rizvi, Advisor to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said, "We live in a secular atmosphere. They are our brothers. The situation is not that bad and our government is committed to safeguarding their interests".







But the bigger question is: Is the government living in denial? The voices speak differently! The terror attack in Dhaka and the recent brutal killings of minorities is linked to extremism. Something that Bangladesh has been fighting for long. Some say Bangladesh can't become another Pakistan. Some differ with these people. The country is staring at an uncertain future.
Akshar is a non-profit school started in 1998 which has grown to have five hundred and twenty children out of which about hundred are those with special needs.

"I learnt that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear."- Nelson MandelaThe fear of being different in a world where everyone was not born the same, but to be different is often ridiculed. The fear of being unaccepted is a dark tunnel but there a ray of light that signals hope.It is a challenge for parents to bring up children with disabilities, but with more awakening in Kolkata's schools, there are close to six schools in the city offering inclusive education.This allows children with physical disabilities and disorders like dyslexia, autism, down syndrome and cerebral palsy to study in mainstream schools under the guidance of special educators.The teacher student ratio is 1:10 and the emphasis is on preparing them to be a part of mainstream society.Principal Noni Khullar says "Children with down syndrome, autism, cerebral palsy, who don't necessarily have to match with the academic levels of other children. They have been brought into the school for social integration. We feel it is their right to be included in a mainstream school to go into mainstream society. If they don't come into a mainstream school how are going to be ready to face mainstream society."Children try and cope with the ICSE syllabus till class five. If they cannot cope, there are provisions for them to pass their board exams through the National Institute of Open School.There are also special skill training programmes and the Open Basic Education for slow learners according to the government-run Sarvo Shiksha Abhigyan or education for all programme. It is the city's sole school affiliated to ASDAN in UK, where children with special needs can get social, health and IT related skill training to assist them in gaining employment."In terms of infrastructure, you needs ramps, lifts, sensitivity amongst parents, teachers and students.Initially there is always a denial for this because nobody wants to believe there is something wrong with any child," says Seema Sapru, Principal of Heritage School which also believes in inclusive education.There are three thousand students of which 110 are children with additional needs.While the fee structure is higher for these children, Heritage School gives them the sense of being a part of regular activities of the school.In some cases, special educators are provided to children with disorders to go the extra mile to teach them.Class eight student Shreya is an example of how she uses her photographic memory to her advantage to prevent dyslexia being a hindrance. She takes pictures of diagrams and also has a special educator who repeats lessons with her."I can't read or write. But I can do things verbally which they can't. I have such a memory power that they tend to forget stuff but I don't", Shreya said.Sometimes, learning disabilities are detected much later in their growing years. Such schools help as it come as a relief for parents with the growing awareness of inclusive education in Kolkata's schools.While it gives their children an exposure to a normal environment, it also helps to sensitise normal children to be more open to the differently-abled. After all it is the growing years that shape the lives of every individual and strengthen them to conquer their fears before they walk out into the world.
P Ramkumar, the suspected killer of Infosys engineer Swathi who was detained last week has been brought to Chennai and will be produced before the magistrate on Monday.Kumar had confessed to his crime on Sunday and accepted that he stalked and killed Swathi after she turned down his marriage proposition.He was reportedly enraged after Swati passed sarcastic remarks about his looks when he went to confess his feelings for her.(CCTV grab of the accused fleeing the crime scene)The accused who is himself an engineer also claimed he did not intend to kill Swati but only wanted injure her.Police however rejected the claims saying it was a pre-planned murder.After his arrest on July 1, Ram Kumar had attempted suicide by slashing his throat but survived after he was taken to Tirunelveli Government Medical College Hospital for medical attention.Ram Kumar also revealed that after Swati rejected him he went to his native place and stole a sickle used by farmers to chop bananas.After the crime he reportedly boarded the Chennai  Shencottai Pothigai Express train to return to Meenakshipuram but was rounded up by the police.
Yavatmal: The Secretary of the Jawaharlal Darda Education Society Kishor Darda was on Monday arrested in connection with a case of molestation of six students in Yavatmal.



The arrest of Darda, the Secretary of the education society that runs Yavatmal Public School, comes after violent protests were held by parents of a few girl students against the alleged molestation of their wards by two teachers - Yash Borundia and Amol Shirsagar. The two teachers were arrested four days ago in the case.



The protesting parents were demanding that Darda, the Chairman of the school's management committee, be also arrested on the charge of "negligence" on the part of authorities.







A case was registered against the members of the management committee under Section 21 (failure to report an offence against children) of POCSO Act.



The school's principal was held two days ago and Darda was arrested early on Monday morning in Nagpur.



(With PTI inputs)
The fact that trips to long-haul destinations have become increasingly popular is good news for tourist destinations that have opened up to the outside world. Myanmar (also known as Burma) is a case in point. Here's a lowdown on what first-time visitors should see in the birthplace of Aung San Suu Kyi.The most populated city in the country, Yangon lost its title as the nation's official capital in 2005 to Naypyidaw. While vestiges of its colonial past add to the atmosphere of the city, there is also evidence of the transition to modernity with its fashionable luxury hotels and restaurants. Travelers seeking authenticity should visit the Shwedagon Pagoda, the most sacred Buddhist sanctuary in the country. Its 99-meter-high golden stupa (Buddhist religious monument) is a major landmark in the city. Fans of photography will enjoy the light at sunset which gives beautiful colorfulimages of the monument.Ninety percent of Myanmar's population is Buddhist. Religion and philosophy are omnipresent in the country, particularly via the imposing golden stupas dotted across its landscape. There are so many of them that there is no official total number. In any case, Myanmar is the country with the highest number of them. In Bago, the former capital of the Mon kingdom, the Shwemawdaw Pagoda was built to house relics of the Buddha. While its golden stupa, the highest in Myanmar, is a must-see for tourists, the Burmese devotion to Buddhist principles can be even better understood at the Snake Monastery. Its legendary occupant is none other than a nine-meter-long python into which a revered monk of the Shan Hills is said to have been reincarnated. The snake is thought to be 110 years old. Every day, pilgrims leave offerings of money or food on its body. Sometimes, visitors are allowed to touch it.Myanmar is an ideal location for photography-based vacations. Photographers can immortalize the Buddha in many forms, from the north and the border with China to the Andaman Sea in the south. His mystical presence takes the form of sculptures in various positions, each of which have a particular meaning. Like the Wat Pho in Bangkok, a reclining Buddha impresses visitors to the Chauk Htat Gyi Pagoda in Yangon. Others, including one dating from tenth century, can be found in Bago. They face the four cardinal directions at the Kyaik Pun Pagoda. Myanmar is home to the largest reclining Buddha in the world, close to Mawlamyine, in the southeast. It is even possible to visit the Buddha with glasses at the Shwe Myet Man Pagoda in Shwedaung.History buffs should head to the center of Myanmar. First stop: Bagan. The old imperial capital has an archeological zone which is testament to the region's very rich past. Marco Polo visited it and said it was one of the most beautiful places in the world. The medieval remnants are a pleasant backdrop for a bicycle trip, with plenty of temples and stupas to be seen. The Ananda Temple is a must-see for tourists. Take the road to the east, direction Mandalay, for 180km. To kill two birds with one stone, take the road that follows the Irrawaddy, a river which is the spinal column of Myanmar's past. The Royal Palace in Mandalay is the highlight of the trip. It's the home of the last Burmese monarchy. The Japanese sheltered there during the Second World War. It was destroyed by bombing in 1945 and rebuilt in 1990. It's worth climbing to the top of the watchtower to appreciate the surrounding area.Many travelers go to Myanmar with a desire to meet the Burmese population. For those people, Inle Lake, in the east, is an ideal destination. The Intha, a Tibeto-Burmese ethnic group, live around and on this stretch of water which is the second largest in the country. They have adapted to life on water by building houses on posts. Their leg-rowing techniques symbolize an image of Myanmar that is often seen on postcards. They catch fish in the depths of the lake using a conical net. The region around the lake is worth a trip in itself.


Mumbai: Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan today declined to comment on whether he has signed the biopic on India's first astronaut Rakesh Sharma.



"I have not signed any film yet. I have just begun to read scripts and explore the possibility," Aamir told reporters here at an event when asked whether he will do Rakesh Sharma biopic or not. Gossip mills are abuzz that the 51-year-old actor will be seen in the biopic on Sharma.



The Lagaan star feels it is unfair to talk about a film that he is yet to sign. When prodded further whether script of Rakesh Sharma biopic is the one film that he is reading, Aamir said, "It is not fair to talk about a film till I sign it. There are lot of people who approach me and they do it with confidence.



"When someone narrates me the script I don't tell anyone about it. And if I don't do it (film), then it is said Aamir rejected the film and why he did and all these things come up," he added.



The actor feels people approach him with faith and he likes to uphold that.



"When people (director) come to me they come with faith and I like to uphold that. Whichever script I hear one will

never come to know about it. So, I will neither confirm nor deny your question," he added.



Rakesh Sharma is a former Indian Air Force pilot who flew aboard Soyuz T-11, launched in April 1984, as part of the Intercosmos programme. Sharma was the first Indian to travel in space.
Actor Irrfan Khan, who has been in the news for irking Muslim clerics with his remark on sacrifice of animals during Eid-uz-Zoha, recently condemned the Dhaka terror attack with a strong-worded post on social media.



The actor took to social media to express his condolences to the victims and also expressed his anger towards terrorists for associating the stigma with Islam.



"Bachpan mein mazhab ke baare mein kaha gaya tha ki aapka parausi(neighbor) bhooka ho toh aapko usko shamil kiye bina akele khana nehi khana chahiye," the actor wrote. (When we were children, we were told not to eat without inviting the hungry to share our meal as well..hearing of the Bangladesh terror attacks has led to deep unease in my heart)



The actor went ahead and lashed out on ISIS terrorists for bringing a bad name to the entire community and said that such incidents happen because of a lack of understanding about Quran's true teachings and that in such a situation, Muslims shouldn't stay silent.



He wrote, "Haadsa ek jagah hota hai, badnaam Islaam aur poori duniya ka musalman hota hai. Woh Islaam jiski buniyaad hi aman, reham aur dusro ka dard mehsoos kerna hai". (Terrorists carry out the attack in one place, and Muslims all over the world get a bad name. Peace, mercy and compassion are the main tenants of Islam)



He ended the post by putting forward a thought-provoking question; whether Muslims should stay quiet and let Islam be defamed? Or should they understand and make others understand that maltreating isn't Islam?








Hyderabad/Meerut: A police complaint was on Monday lodged against AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi in Hyderabad over his decision to provide legal help to five arrested terror suspects while a petition seeking a sedition case against him was filed in a court in Meerut.



As Owaisi came under attack, BJP and JD(U) demanded action against him and his immediate arrest.



Slamming Owaisi, the BJP accused him of "betraying" the country and sought action against him for "helping" the terror group.



Telangana BJP MLA T Raja Singh demanded immediate arrest of the Lok Sabha MP from Hyderabad and asked the TRS government to register a sedition case against the leader of the Hyderabad based party.



JD(U) spokesperson Ajay Alok also demanded that Owaisi be put behind bars.



Owaisi on his part said the offer of legal help was being "blown out of proportion" and that the courts can take a view.



In Hyderabad, K Karuna Sagar, a practicing advocate, filed the complaint with Saroor Nagar police and sought registration of a case.



However, Saroor Nagar Police Station Inspector S Lingaiah told PTI on Sunday night, "We have received the complaint against the Hyderabad MP. No case has been registered and we are seeking legal advice."



Anil Kumar Bakshi, a member of UP Bar Council, in his petition seeking registration of a case against Owaisi for alleged offences including sedition charge and claimed that his remarks amounted to treason and promoted terrorism.



"Owaisi's remark also shows that he is supporting terrorism," he alleged.



Bakshi said he filed a complaint on Sunday with Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate (ACJM) seeking filing of cases under IPC sections 114 (abetting the crime), 115 (abetment of offence punishable with death or imprisonment for life), 117 (abetting commission of offence), 121 (waging war against the country), 121A (conspiracy to commit offences punishable by section 121), 124A (sedition), 131 (abetting mutiny), 132 (abetment of mutiny), and 200 (using as true such declaration knowing it to be false).



Besides, sections 153 (promoting enmity between different groups), 332 (voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant from his duty), 153(A) (act of promoting enmity between different groups), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace) and 505 (statements conducing to public mischief) of the Indian Penal Code were also mentioned in the complaint.



The hearing on the complaint will be held on July 6, said the court.



Senior BJP leader and Union minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi alleged that Owaisi is giving "oxygen" to terrorists and that he is seen as "standing with extremists".



"Owaisi is directly or indirectly helping the ISIS which had come up with a video in which it threatened to target India. This is betrayal of the country. On the one hand you condemn the ISIS and on the other hand you support those who are involved in such acts.



"The investigating agencies should take action against him within the legal framework. Those who support terrorism directly or indirectly should be condemned," BJP National Secretary Shrikant Sharma said in Delhi.



In Hyderabad, Telangana BJP MLA T Raja Singh also demanded that the Centre derecognise the AIMIM party.


New Delhi: BJP on Monday slammed the Congress party for calling Prime Minister Narendra Modi a 'poster boy for broken promises'.



BJP national secretary Shrikant Sharma while terming Congress party a "sinking ship without a captain", said, "The opposition party is frustrated as Modi's work was being hailed everywhere across the world."



"Congress is facing rebellion in its ranks in many states and has faced electoral defeats everywhere in the last three years. It becomes sinking ship without a captain. The Modi government in its two years has lived up to its promise of being pro-poor and pro-farmers," he said.



"Congress is targeting the Prime Minister out of frustration as people have torn apart its posters everywhere. It is now reduced to ruling only 5 per cent of the country's population. It is now a party of sycophants of a family," he said



Sharma accused Congress of being obsessed with negative politics and claimed that the Central government was successful on all fronts.



"It has lived up to its promises. Its all projects are dedicated to the welfare of farmers and poor. Over 3.3 crore people have benefited from its Mudra scheme and over 14 have enrolled for various social security measures initiated by it," he said.



He also played down the reported plan of Congress to use Priyanka Gandhi in a big way for the UP polls, saying whatever experiment it may do in the crucial state elections it won't success.



"There is a cocktail of SP, BSP and Congress in UP. The two regional parties have supported Congress at the Centre and while it has supported them in the state. People now want a change and will vote for BJP," he claimed.
                    whats your deal with corrupt congress? 1/3  Kapil Mishra (@KapilMishraAAP) July 4, 2016

Mishra, along with his supporters, will march to the Anti-Corruption Branch office to appear for questioning.





The committee's report, submitted to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in August 2015, highlighted alleged corruption of Rs 400 crore in the process of awarding tenders for hiring water tankers.



Ahead of his questioning with the Anti Corruption Bureau in the alleged water tanker scam in the Delhi Jal Board, Water Minister Kapil Mishra said on Mondaythat the Narendra Modi government has been suppressing evidence of corruption against former Delhi Chief Minister Shiela Dikshit under a "deal" with the Congress."Modiji we have given you all the evidence against Sheila Dikshit. Then why are you saving her? What is your deal with corrupt Congress," Mishra asked in one of his tweets."You control the Anti-Corruption Branch and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). If you find any evidence of corruption against us, put us in jail. But why are you suppressing the evidence against Dikshit that we gave you," Mishra said in another tweet.In yet another tweet he said "Modiji you have used all your machinery against us. Everyone has been ordered to go after Arvind Kejriwal. I am just a scapegoat. But God is with us."The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in June 2015 set up a five member fact-finding committee to probe alleged irregularities in hiring 385 stainless steel water tankers by the Delhi Jal Board in 2012 during the Congress government led by Dikshit.It recommended that a first information report (FIR) be registered against Dikshit and an investigation be conducted by the Central Bureau of Investigation and the Anti-Corruption Branch.On June 20, the Anti-Corruption Branch registered an FIR not only against Dikshit but also against Kejriwal in connection with the water tanker scam.The First Information Report against Kejriwal was registered on the complaint of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislator Vijender Gupta "for causing delay in the probe and not cancelling the contract for water tankers".
New Delhi: The mortal remains of Indian teenager Tarishi Jain, who was among those hacked to death by Islamic terrorists in a terror attack at a Dhaka restaurant, will be brought to Delhi on Monday, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said.



"It is a case of brutal killing - an unnatural death. Some legal procedure has (to) be completed," the Minister said on Twitter.



Swaraj said that Tarishi's body will be taken to Delhi by plane on Monday. "This is with concurrence of Tarishi's father."



"The family will take the mortal remains to Ferozabad (UP)," she added.



Tarishi, a student at UC Berkeley, was on vacation in Dhaka. Her father runs a garment business in Bangladesh for the last 15-20 years, according to officials.



Swaraj said the country is with Tarishi's family in this hour of grief and visa has been arranged for them.



Twenty foreigners, including eight Italians, seven Japanese and the Indian student, were brutally murdered by the militants inside the Holey Artisan Bakery in Dhaka's diplomatic zone before commandos launched an assault yesterday, killing six attackers and capturing one alive, ending Bangladesh's worst terror attack.



The bodies of the victims were recovered during a search in the Bakery compound after the operation.


Beijing: Criticising the strong reactions from India over China blocking its bid to enter Nuclear Suppliers Group, a state-run daily on Monday said India is "still stuck" in the 1962 war mindset as it called for a more objective evaluation of Beijing's stand.



"The Indian public seems to be having a hard time accepting the outcome of the Seoul plenary meeting of Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) late in June after India failed to gain entry into Nuclear Suppliers Group," an op-ed page article in Global Times said.



"Many Indian media (outlets) put the blame on China alone, accusing China's anti-India and pro-Pakistan motives behind its opposition. Some activists even took to the streets in protest against China and Chinese products and some observers said the incident would freeze the China-India relationship," the article titled 'China, India should drop obsolete view for cooperation' said.



The article asserted that "India's precautions" against China cannot be clearer.



The country seems to be "still stuck" in the shadow of the war with China in the 1960s and many still hold on to the "obsolete geopolitical view" that China does not want to see India's rise, it said.



"However, New Delhi may have misunderstood Beijing, which can make a big difference in its strategic decisions. In fact, China no longer looks at India simply from a political perspective, but far more from an economic one," the article said.



As New Delhi pushed its case to join the Nuclear Suppliers Group in June, the Global Times, part of ruling Communist Party of China (CPC) publications, carried a number of articles including a hard hitting editorial claiming that China's stand is "morally legitimate" and the West has "spoiled" India.



Continuing to justify China's stand to block New Delhi's bid, Monday's article harped on the often repeated argument of signing the Non-Proliferation Treaty being a must for India to join the Nuclear Suppliers Group and that consensus is required for entry of new members.



"India needs to perceive China objectively. Joining the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) is a must for any country seeking Nuclear Suppliers Group membership, but India is not a party to the NPT," the article said.



"The only exception is if India can obtain consent from all 48-Nuclear Suppliers Group members, but several countries apart from China hold reservations in this regard. India better put more efforts into figuring out how to obtain international trust rather than misinterpreting and defaming China," it said.



Quoting Political scientist Zheng Yongnian who stated that, "China's bilateral relationship with India is second only to the Sino-US relationship," it said ties with China are of great significance to India as well.



"The best option is for China and India to work together to boost their economic and trade ties. Only by seeking common development between China and India can the two build a new international order and form an Asian century," it said.



"The obviously cooperative attitude has wide representation as an increasing number of people now care about economic progress more than anything else and believe that India's rapid economic development can actually help improve its relations with China," it said.



The article said that many regions in China are looking for business opportunities in fast-growing India.



Chinese citizens may not realise the full potential of India, but in general they are attaching far more importance to the neighbouring country than ever before.
Washington: Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton has said the terror attack in Turkey is a reminder that the US can not retreat from this part of the world and needs to deepen co-operation with allies in the Middle East and Europe to take on this threat.



"Today's attack in Istanbul only strengthens our resolve to defeat the forces of terrorism and radical jihadism around the world.



And it reminds us that the United States cannot retreat," Clinton said in a statement on Tuesday.



"We must deepen our cooperation with our allies and partners in the Middle East and Europe to take on this threat," she said adding that such cooperation is essential to protecting homeland and keeping the country safe.



"Yet another terrorist attack, this time in Turkey. Will the world ever realise what is going on? So sad," Republican presumptive presidential nominee Donald Trump tweeted.



"We must do everything possible to keep this horrible terrorism outside the United States," Trump said.



In a statement, the Trump campaign said the terrorist threat has never been greater.



"Our enemies are brutal and ruthless and will do anything to murder those who do not bend to their will. We must take steps now to protect America from terrorists, and do everything in our power to improve our security to keep America safe," the Trump campaign said.



Former Republican presidential candidate and Florida Senator Marco Rubio said the US stands with ally Turkey in condemning this attack.



"We stand ready to assist them as we learn more about the perpetrators responsible for this," he said.



House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer said the attack in Istanbul was a heinous assault on a key US ally, and the Turkish people should know with certainty that the American people stand in solidarity with them in this difficult hour.



"Whenever terrorists attack a major global transit point, as they did a few months ago in Brussels and again on Wednesday in Istanbul, they seek to erect barriers of fear that divide the free nations of the world. But we will not be divided," Hoyer said.



"We will stand together to meet the challenge of groups like ISIS, which represent the antithesis of our most important values - democracy, individual freedom, and opportunity for all," he said.


Bangladeshi author-in-exile Taslima Nasreen on Monday accused Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina of backing extremist elements for votes, saying that she never took any action against the killers and instead protected them because she feared losing power.



"Sheikh Hasina created fundamentalist organisations. She protects fundamentalist organisations and fundamentalists who are involved in the killings of atheist bloggers and secular writers because she wanted to get votes from religious masses. She didn't take any actions against the killers," Nasreen told CNN-News18 over the phone.



Nasreen, who has been living outside Bangladesh for many years, said the government failed to give security to the writers leading to their steady exodus to other countries and many of them have stopped writing out of fear.







She added that there is no freedom of expression in Bangladesh as many bloggers, writers were killed or imprisoned only for expressing views different from that of the fundamentalists.



"Instead of taking action against Islamist killers in Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina warned bloggers and writers not to write anything that hurts the religious sentiments of people. She started taking action only after international pressure mounted on her and some rich, educated people also got killed by these fundamentalists," Nasreen added.



"Apart from Islamist terrorists, Hindus, Muslims, Buddhists, atheists and rationalists are also citizens of this country. Why doesn't she have any kind of sympathy for all those people?" Nasreen asked.



Nasreen also said home grown terrorists were behind Friday's terror attack in Bangladesh capital Dhaka, which killed 28 people including one Indian.
Washington: Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has said some of his primary rivals have been "disgraceful" in breaking their pledge of supporting him and should never be allowed to run for public office again.



"They signed a pledge saying they will abide, saying they will back the candidate of the party. They broke their word," Trump said on Wednesday.



"In my opinion, they should never be allowed to run for public office again because what they did is disgraceful," Trump, 70, told his supporters at an election rally in Bangor, Maine.



He, however, refrained from taking any names.



But the remarks came on a day when Governor of Ohio John Kasich wrote an email to his supporters asking for a positive poll for him.



Several of Trump's primary rivals including Ted Cruz and Jeb Bush are yet to endorse him.



A few days ago, Trump had said those primary candidates who do not endorse him should not be invited to address the Republican convention in Cleveland in July.



Trump defeated a crowded Republican presidential field of 16 candidates to win the party's presidential primary.



Meanwhile, a news report said that the supporters of the Bush family are likely to endorse Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.



"I live in DC so my vote is kind of irrelevant. But if I was the last vote, if my vote was going to make a difference, I'd prefer to have Hillary Clinton in the White House than Donald Trump," Tony Fratto, a former deputy assistant and deputy press secretary to President George W Bush, told 'The Hill'.
Dubai: State-linked Saudi news sites are reporting that a suicide bomber has carried out an attack near a US diplomatic site in the Red Sea city of Jiddah.



Okaz news website says the bomber died in the attack, and that no other deaths were immediately reported. The bomber was apparently headed in a car toward a mosque that is near the US consulate in Jiddah. Most of the consulate's staff have reportedly moved offices to a new location.



Sabq news website reported that two security guards were wounded in the attack, which took place early on Monday.



US Embassy officials in Saudi Arabia and Interior Ministry officials could not be immediately reached for comment.



A 2004 terror attack on the US consulate in Jiddah left nine people dead.



More recently, Saudi Arabia has been a target of Islamic State group attacks that have killed dozens of people. The extremist group views the Western-allied Saudi monarchy and government as heretics. Saudi Arabia is part of the US-led coalition fighting the IS group in Iraq and Syria.



In June, the Interior Ministry reported 26 terror attacks had taken place in the kingdom in the last two years. Local affiliates of the IS group have targeted minority Shiites and security officials.
Nibras Islam and Rohan Imtiaz were friends, twenty somethings, just like most Generation Zers, they hung out at the same cafes, played the same games on their playstation, went to similar high-profile schools, Rohan to Scholastica and Nibras to Turkish Hope.



So when they were revealed to be two of the seven terrorists who attacked the Holy Artesan Bakery and Cafe in Gulshan, the diplomatic enclave of Dhaka, it sent a collective chill down the spine of many of their friends and family. After all Rohan and Nibras were PLUs, People Like Us, not the types you would expect to pick up semi-automatic rifles and go on a senseless killing spree against people they would have normally hung out with.



The Friday night attack at Holy Artesan is now believed to have been carried out by a local terror group known as Ansarullah Bangla. The Ansarullah Bangla is believed to be headed by a radicalised Bangladeshi Army officer, Major Syed Ziaul Haque, who went into hiding after being accused of planning a coup against Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina in January 2012. But how could an army man plotting a coup recruit these bright young kids from rich, well-to-do families to wage jihad?



Somehow the hitherto-held narratives of poverty, alienation, radicalisation, Israeli-conspiracy etc seemed inadequate to explain this phenomenon. Was Islam simply a glue to bring these kids together, kids who were in the pursuit of seeking global attention by doing something outrageously reckless and headline-grabbing? Or was Islam central to the madness that brought together these kids to indulge in 11 hours of gore and destruction?



For far too long, the Bangladesh government and the global community has been in denial about the extent of the Islamisation problem in Bangladesh. The government of Sheikh Hasina has been happy to lump all acts of terrorism at the hands of its arch rival Khaleda Zia and her BNP party along with its ally, the Jamat-e-Islami.



When secular bloggers, minorities, same-sex rights activists were being killed, the Hasina regime unleashed a wave of political repression that only made the Islamist ideologues more violent and destructive in their response. Add to that her governments witch-hunt of all those who were prisoners of war in the 1971 war and linking them as ISI agents.



The international community, and particularly India, Bangladeshs biggest and most important neighbour, was happy to play along to Hasinas tune. After all, she was seen as the best defence against a nation of 150 million, largely secular Muslims, from falling prey to the radical Islamists who were getting political patronage by Khaleda Zia, who anyway was not exactly the darling of the global community.



In these last two years as many as 50 people have been murdered by Islamist fanatics. Bloggers, writers, publishers, Hindus, Christians, foreign citizens and secular Muslims have died in targeted attacks by Islamists. But Fridays attack marks an inflection point. The government can no longer cartelize all these as attacks by those sympathetic to the Jamat-e-islami with the political patronage of the BNP. And its time the global community held Hasinas government to some degree of accountability on fighting the good fight. And for the global community its time to be politically correct about radical Islam and its consequences.



Islam is as central to this perverted fighting machine called ISIS as much as Christianity was central to Crusades. But you cant relive 10th century wars and proclaim 6th century laws in the 21st century. Being politically correct about it, or worse, being in denial about it, only takes us further away from solving the problem.


Slaves came from Cameroon

There was a sombre cover as the audience looked on and listened intently. For her, it is important that truth be told. That the world and more importantly, TT, know that the enslaved did not only come from, the states on or near the west coast of Africa, as site discoveringbristol.

org.uk states.

Aubreys work has demonstrated that Bimbia, Cameroon, East Africa, was also a point of embarkation for the enslaved headed to the Americas and the Caribbean.

Aubrey delivered the feature address at the launch of the 2016 Emancipation Support Committees Kwame Ture Memorial lecture series held at Central Bank Auditorium, Independence Square South on June 26.

The events theme was Emancipation - Celebrating The Resilience of a People.

The Associate Professor of African and African American Studies, School of Social Transformation, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Arizona State University is also US Fulbright Scholar at the University of Yaounde I in Cameroon.

She teaches courses on Bimbia.

She is also the founder of the Roots and Reconnection Global African Programme and the current president of the African Heritage Studies Association.

Her research has been able to trace nearly 200 slave ship voyages that left the Cameroon territory in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries bound for plantations in the Americas and Caribbean, including three ships, thus far, headed to Trinidad.

This, Aubrey said, is only the tip of the iceberg.

The site in Bimbia, it was said in a release, was unknown to anyone with whom she spoke to in the country at official and non-official levels, since the notorious human trafficking centre had been overgrown by forest for centuries. The site, through Aubreys work, has been recognised and landmarked by the Cameroon Government as a National Historic and Heritage Site.

She is working on acquiring UNESCO recognition for Bimbia as World Heritage Site.

As she addressed the audience, Aubrey said Ture was a dear friend of hers whom she met in 1984 at Columbus, Ohio.

To know Kwame Ture was to know that he was an extraordinary human being. She said there was a responsibility on everyones part to ensure that his legacy was kept alive. She spoke to Maafa-the African Holocaust, the word being derived from Swahili which means great tragedy and is used to refer to the death and suffering of Africans as a result of the slave trade.

Aubrey said at the launch, It is time now to put Africa at the centre of our history.

Unearth and reteach our children. It was also important to reaffirm, she added, that the history of Africans did not begin with slavery.

She said, In my research I have found an intimate link between Cameroon and TT. Aubrey made a call for those people to be repatriated.

This work, Aubrey said, was important because it began the steps of, putting ourselves back together again. She added that a lot of DNA tracing done indicated that peoples lineage were traced back to Cameroon.

Actors such as Blair Underwood among them. Aubrey also called for a spiritual ritual to be done for those who did not survive the passage.

We must properly emancipate their souls, she said.

When asked by a member of the audience if the Caribbeans history and the history of TT should be re-written to reflect this, Aubrey strongly said yes.

Khafra Kambon, chairman of the Emancipation Support Committee (ECS) and organiser of the lecture series, said, She is playing an important role in exposing at a very personal level a painful history, which has had spiritual and economic impact but which has also demonstrated a phenomenal resilience reflected in the tremendous achievements of many of our people globally.

By exposing her students from Arizona State University directly to the work on the ground in Cameroon and therefore to an aspect of their own heritage and doing so with appropriate discussion and sharing of knowledge, she is contributing to the process of healing and rebuilding necessary for all of us who are descendants of the tens of millions of Africans uprooted and enslaved. Edmund Dillon, Minister of National Security; Ganiyu Adekunle Adeyemi, High Commission of the Republic of Nigeria, and Xoliswa Nomatamsanqa Ngwevela, High Commissioner of the Republic of South Africa, were in attendance.

The 2016 Pan African Festival TT began with Aubreys lecture and will continue until July 31 with several activites inlcuding a film festival.
Thanks to FDA, Women Will

Be Told of Their Breast Density
(Newser)  "We don't understand any of it." That's how Carol Davies sums up her son's 1988 murder conviction for which he's serving life in prison. Thirty years after his supposed crime, the Canadian Press spotlights the case of Russell Davies, a Canadian man it says was "swallowed" by Florida's prison system. In 1986, Davies stole a car and his mom's credit card and drove from a Toronto suburb to Daytona Beach, hoping to "start again," he says. But he quickly fell in with a rough group and started carrying a gun. One night in June, some friends drove to a secluded spot where a drunk Jack Chaney started mouthing off to Davies, who was then 18. Davies says he hit Chaney on the side of the head with a gun that went off. Davies says the bullet shot into the woods, though others disagree. Then, according to Davies, John Cavallaro grabbed the gun and shot Chaney under the chin.

At Davies' trialwhich lasted just seven hoursan expert testified that the bullet that killed Chaney entered under his chin. Yet Cavallaro, who pleaded guilty to attempted murder, was sentenced to 12 years behind bars and served only two. Davies, who refused to take a plea deal, was sentenced to life in prison, where he remains today. Looking back, the 48-year-old blames his lawyer, who didn't call Cavallaro or Davies to the stand. He also seemingly ignored Davies' fellow inmates who said he never confessed to the crime, though a correctional officer claimed otherwise. Florida has so far refused to transfer Davies to Canada, where the focus is on rehabilitating criminals and legal experts say "the odds are slim Davies would have been convicted of first-degree murder in the first place, or still been behind bars 30 years later even if he had been." The full piece is worth a read. (Read more Florida stories.)
(Newser)  The horrific murder of four young children in suburban Memphis on Friday is a complete mystery to those who knew Shanynthia Gardner. The 29-year-old is accused of killing 4-year-old Tallen Gardner, 3-year-old Sya Gardner, 2-year-old Sahvi Gardner, and 6-month-old Yahzi Gardner with a butcher knife, the AP reports. A fifth child, 7-year-old Dallen Clayton, managed to escape and his grandmother tells the Commercial Appeal that she knows Gardner as a "beautiful, sweet young lady." "I forgive her," says Sonya Clayton, who is not related to the four younger children. "I know this was not her. I know this was the work of the devil. I love Shanynthia wholeheartedly still."

Dallen was unharmed and is currently under protective supervision, People reports. His father, Detrail Clayton, tells the Commercial Appeal that he has known Gardner for 15 years and she has never displayed signs of violence or mental illness. But "when the doors close, you never know what a person is going through," he says. "It's an act of evil. I don't know what she's got into." According to court papers, Gardner told her husband, Martin Gardner, that she had killed their four children. Police found her at the scene with "superficial cuts to her neck and wrists." Gardner has been charged with four counts of first-degree murder. According to a police document, there were signs of trouble last year: One day last March, she picked her kids up early and drove 100 miles to Corinth, Miss., for no apparent reason. "She has been feeling that someone is trying to harm her and her family," the police report states. (Read more Memphis stories.)
(Newser)  A former coffee farmer who says Monsanto's widely used Roundup herbicide caused her cancer scored a win last week when a federal judge rejected the company's request to dismiss the case. Christine Sheppard was diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma in 2003, seven years after she started using Roundup at her coffee farm in Hawaii, Courthouse News reports. Her lawsuit, like one filed by three cancer-stricken farmers in Nebraska, accuses Monsanto of falsely claiming that glyphosate, the herbicide's active ingredient, was safe. The World Health Organization published a study last year that concluded glyphosate is "probably carcinogenic to humans."

When Sheppardwhose cancer is in remissionand her husband filed their lawsuit earlier this year, attorney Michael Miller accused Monsanto of running a "misinformation campaign" and said the suit would "force Monsanto to face the human consequences of their lies," West Hawaii Today reported. In last week's hearing, US District Judge Michael Seabright decided that a 2009 editorial in the Kona Coffee Farmer's Association newsletter in which Sheppard expressed misgivings about Roundup did not mean the 2-year statute of limitations for claims had passedespecially considering the WHO's designation of Roundup as a probable carcinogen. (On French TV, a lobbyist defending Monsanto said glyphosate was safe to drink, but then refused to drink it.)
(Newser)  A suicide bomber carried out an attack early Monday near a US diplomatic site in the western Saudi city of Jiddah, according to the Interior Ministry. The ministry said in a statement the attacker detonated his suicide vest when security guards approached him near the parking lot of a hospital. The attacker died and two security men were wounded with minor injuries, according to the statement published by the state-run Saudi Press Agency, per the AP. An Interior Ministry spokesman says the attacker caught the attention of the security guards, who noticed he was acting suspiciously at an intersection located on the corner of the heavily fortified US consulate.

The US Embassy in Saudi Arabia confirmed in a statement for US citizens that there were no casualties or injuries among consular staff. The embassy said it remains in contact with Saudi authorities as they investigate the attack. A 2004 al-Qaeda-linked militant attack on same consulate killed five locally hired consular employees and four gunmen. More recently, Saudi Arabia has been a target of ISIS attacks that have killed dozens of people. The embassy urged Americans Monday to "remain aware of their surroundings, and take extra precautions when travelling throughout the country." It also advised citizens to "carefully consider the risks of traveling to Saudi Arabia." (Read more Saudi Arabia stories.)
(Newser)  Wearing traditional clothes outside the United Arab Emirates can be hazardous to your health, the UAE warned its citizens after an unfortunate incident in Ohio last week. Ahmed Al Menhali, a 41-year-old Emirati who is in the US for medical treatment, was handcuffed by heavily armed cops who descended as he tried to book a room in the Fairfield Inn in Avon, about 20 miles outside Cleveland, while wearing traditional white robes and a headscarf, the National reports. Cops say they received phone calls from the sister and father of a hotel receptionist saying there was a "suspicious man" in "full headdress" who was pledging his allegiance to ISIS, the BBC reports. Police searched Menhali and determined there had been a miscommunication.

"They were brutal with me," says Menhali, 41. "They pressed forcefully on my back. I had several injuries and bled from the forceful nature of their arrest." Menhali, who is recovering from a stroke, fainted during the incident and was taken to a local hospital. Avon's mayor and police chief have now apologized to Menhali, the Guardian reports. "For citizens traveling outside the country, and in order to ensure their safety, we point out not to wear formal dress while traveling, especially in public places," a UAE foreign ministry account tweeted on Saturday. (This student was kicked off a Southwest Airlines flight after he was overheard speaking Arabic during a phone call.)
(Newser)  Iraqi authorities on Monday raised the death toll to 142 from Sunday's devastating truck bombing at a bustling Baghdad commercial street as Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi ordered new security measures. The bombing, claimed by ISIS, was the deadliest terror attack in Iraq in a year and one of the worst single bombings in more than a decade of war and insurgency, the AP reports. It underscored the militants' ability to strike the Iraqi capital despite a string of battlefield losses elsewhere in the country and fueled public anger toward the political leadership. The suicide bomber blew up his explosives-laden vehicle in Baghdad's mostly Shiite Karada district, a favorite avenue for shoppersespecially during the holy month of Ramadan, with the streets and sidewalks filled with young people and families after they had broken their daylight fast.

Police and health officials said Monday the toll stood at 142, with 185 wounded, but it is likely to increase even further as rescuers are still looking for missing people. Hours after the bombing, al-Abadi visited the attack site, but a furious mob surrounded his convoy, yelling expletives, hurling rocks and shoes at the prime minister's cars, and calling him a "thief." In a statement issued later Sunday, al-Abadi ordered that a scandal-ridden bomb detection device be pulled from service. He also demanded increased aerial scanning, a step-up in intelligence efforts, and the division of responsibility among various security units. (Read more Iraq stories.)
(Newser)  The head of the UK Independence Party, Nigel Farage, resigned Monday as party leader, arguing that he's achieved his political ambition of having Britain leave the European Union. Farage was instrumental in the Brexit, reports the AP, championing the issue of immigration. A criticized campaign poster featuring thousands of migrants massed at the border alongside the words "Breaking Point," fueled some Brits' decision to vote for the Brexit. "The victory for the 'leave' side in the referendum means that my political ambition has been achieved," Farage said. "I came into this struggle from business because I wanted us to be a self-governing nation, not to become a career politician." Farage told reporters he would retain his seat in the European Parliament to see out the negotiations for Britain's exit from the EU. He defended his taunting of other lawmakers in the chamber last week, arguing he wanted Britain's voice to be heard.

Political turmoil has gripped the country: Prime Minister David Cameron, who campaigned in favor of "remain," has also resigned. A leadership contest is underway to replace him, but without the early favorite, former London Mayor Boris Johnson. The opposition Labour Party has troubles of its own, with leader Jeremy Corbyn clinging to office despite having lost a no confidence vote by his party. "Whilst we will now leave the European Union the terms of our withdrawal are unclear," Farage said. "If there is too much backsliding by the government and with the Labour Party detached from many of its voters, then UKIP's best days may be yet to come." Earlier, Britain's Treasury chief announced plans to cut UK corporation tax to less than 15% to encourage companies to invest and underscore that Britain is "still open for business," despite the referendum result. A cut of about 5 percentage points brings Britain in line with Ireland's 12.5% rate. Osborne told the Financial Times it was time to "make the most of the hand we've been dealt." (Read more Brexit stories.)
(Newser)  The body of a teenage Wisconsin student who went missing shortly after he arrived for an exchange program was found in the River Tiber Monday, the AP reports. John Cabot University confirmed that the body was that of 19-year-old Beau Solomon, who was last seen by his friends in the early hours of Friday morning when he left a pub. He had just arrived in Rome Thursday, NBC News reports. "We express our most heartfelt condolences to the Solomon family and to all those who loved Beau," said a statement from the Rome-based English-language university. Solomon had just completed his first year as a personal finance major at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

An earlier statement from the university said it was "alerted by his roommate, who reported that he had lost contact with Beau around 1am ... and was worried when he did not see Beau at orientation" Friday morning. Solomon's family said "thousands of dollars" were charged on his credit cards after he disappeared. Without citing sources or names, the Italian news agency ANSA said two people claimed to have seen a man throw a person into the Tiber the night Solomon disappeared, and Reuters reports police are not ruling out the possibility of homicide. An older brother, Jake Solomon, described his brother as an athlete who successfully battled cancer for years as a child. His parents, Nick and Jodi Solomon, were in Rome Monday. (Read more Beau Solomon stories.)
(Newser)  Authorities say an eastern Iowa woman was killed when a homemade cannon exploded at a backyard gathering, the AP reports. Davenport television station KWQC-TV reports that 55-year-old Lori L. Heims of Edgewood was flown to an Iowa City hospital, where she was pronounced dead. The Delaware County Sheriff's Department says Heims was injured at the gathering with friends in Greeley around 11:40pm Saturday. Investigators say the cannon was loaded and fired, and when it went off, the rear portion of the barrel blew out and sent fragments toward Heims. One of the fragments struck Heims in the head. (Read more cannon stories.)
(Newser)  Finnish police have released two members of Cuba's national men's volleyball team but are holding six others on suspicion of aggravated rape, an investigator said Monday. Police will request that a regional court on Tuesday order the six men to be remanded in custody to continue the investigation before any possible charges, said Joni Lansipuro, the Central Finland Police Department officer in charge of the investigation. "We have made considerable progress in our investigation and have various pieces of evidence and relevant factors that support our suspicions," Lansipuro said. "We propose (to the court) that they be held in custody." The eight men were detained over the weekend in Tampere after local police on Saturday morning received a report that a woman had been raped at a hotel in the city, the AP reports.

The Cuban team was in the city participating in the Volleyball World League tournament in Tampere where they lost 3-1 against Finland without three of their players, who had been detained. Lansipuro said the Cuban team had been scheduled to leave the country on Monday morning, but it wasn't immediately clear if they had departed. Police declined to give further information pending the outcome of the investigation, except to say that the alleged victim and suspects were adults. The international volleyball federation, FIVB, said it's "very concerned by the alleged serious misconduct" of the Cuban national team and has been in close contact with all parties involved. (Read more rape stories.)
(Newser)  Yet more high-profile terror attacks: Suicide bombers struck three cities in Saudi Arabia on Sunday, including in Medina near one of the holiest sites in Islam. In the latter incident, the explosion took place outside the mosque where the Prophet Muhammad is buried, reports AP. Several cars caught fire, and local media showed images of what appeared to be a fire outside one of the buildings overlooking the Prophet's Mosque. The number of casualties was unclear, though Reuters reports three bombers and two security forces officers were killed. The sprawling mosque is visited by millions of Muslims from around the world each year during pilgrimages to Mecca. The area would have been packed with pilgrims for prayer during the final days of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which ends in the kingdom on Tuesday.

Also Monday evening, a suicide bomber and a car bomb exploded near a Shiite mosque in eastern Saudi Arabia, several hours after another suicide bomber carried out an attack near the US Consulate in the western city of Jiddah. Neither of those two attacks killed anyone but the bombers. The possibility of coordinated, multiple attacks across different cities in Saudi Arabia on the same day underscores the threat the kingdom faces from extremists who view the Western-allied Saudi monarchy as heretics and enemies of Islam. Saudi Arabia is part of the US-led coalition fighting the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria. The violence follows attacks in Iraq, Bangladesh, and Turkey. (Read more Saudi Arabia stories.)
(Newser)  Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says his country's raid on Uganda's Entebbe airport 40 years ago, in which his brother was killed, profoundly "changed the course" of his life. Speaking shortly after his arrival in Uganda, Netanyahu praised Israel's commando raid on the airport that freed Israeli hostages from a hijacked plane, reports AP. "International terrorism suffered a stinging defeat," he said of the mission in July 1976. The Entebbe rescue is a seminal event in Israeli history and is widely seen as one of the country's greatest military successes. It also was a monumental event for Netanyahu, as the death of his brother, Yonatan, pushed him into the public eye and on a track that would take him to the country's highest office. Yonatan Netanyahu was struck by a bullet as he led Israeli commandos in the rescue mission.

Often I have to dispatch people to places where if theres a failure, they wont come back, Netanyahu tells the New York Times in an interview about the late Yonatan. Its in times like these that I consult with my brotherand theyre a lot more frequent than you might think. Israel's success in the raid humiliated then-Ugandan President Idi Amin. Four decades later, Uganda has good relations with Israel, which is courting allies to counter Palestine's rising influence at the United Nations. But Netanyahu says the raid, in which three hostages were killed, remains personal. "Entebbe is always with me," he says. "It is deep in my heart." (Read more Benjamin Netanyahu stories.)
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Baghdad:

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi today ordered changes to Baghdad security measures, including withdrawing fake bomb detectors from use, after a bombing killed at least 119 people in the city. The suicide car bombing, which was claimed by the Islamic State group, ripped through a busy shopping in the early hours and also wounded more than 180 people, officials said.



Abadis orders highlight one of the longest-running and most grievous flaws in Baghdad security: the continued use of fake bomb detectors at checkpoints years after the man who sold them to Iraq was jailed in Britain for fraud.



The premier ordered all security forces to stop using the hand-held devices, which are made of black plastic with a pistol-style grip and a small silver antenna that allegedly detects various materials including explosives.



In reality, they do not detect anything, except by chance.



Abadi also directed that the interior ministry speed up the deployment of the Rapiscan device for searching vehicles at all entrances to Baghdadan apparent reference to truck-based scanners from Rapiscan Systems.



He also ordered security personnel manning checkpoints not to use their mobile phones while on dutya frequent occurrence that reduces the effectiveness of the many checkpoints scattered around Baghdad.



Other measures include stepping up aerial reconnaissance and intelligence efforts, increasing coordination among security forces and reorganising checkpoints in the capital.



It remains to be seen how many of the new measures will in fact be carried out, as changes have been announced by Iraqi authorities before but not implemented on the ground.

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Kuwait:

Kuwaiti security authorities have broken up three Islamic State cells plotting terror attacks in the oil-rich Gulf state, the interior ministry said today. Five Kuwaiti nationals were arrested, including a policeman and a woman, who all confessed to plotting attacks against a Shiite mosque and an interior ministry target, the ministry said in a statement.



All members of the three cells also confessed to being members of the Islamic State jihadist group. Kuwaiti police are still looking for a Gulf man and an Asian who assisted one of the cells, the ministry said.



The action against the Islamist cells comes a year after an IS-linked Saudi suicide bomber blew himself up in a Shiite mosque, killing 26 worshippers in the worst attack in Kuwait. A court sentenced one man to death and jailed eight others for assisting the Saudi bomber.



Among those arrested in the latest police action was 18-year old Talal Raja who confessed to have been plotting a suicide attack against a Shiite mosque and an interior ministry installation by the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan tomorrow, the ministry said.



The second cell consisted of a mother and son who were arrested in Syria in the IS-controlled Riga and brought back to Kuwait, the ministry said. It provided no details of how they were arrested.



The 28-year old son had cut short his petroleum engineering study in Britain to join the IS after his younger brother was killed while fighting for the group in Iraq, the ministry said.



The third cell comprised of two Kuwaitis, one of them a policeman, who were seized along with two Klashnikov rifles and ammunition. The pair confessed to plotting attacks in the country, the ministry said.



In November last year, Kuwaiti police busted an international cell led by a Lebanese man that was sending air defence systems and funds to the Islamic State group.



Several suspected IS members and sympathisers were tried in the Gulf emirate for a suicide bombing last month claimed by the group.

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Dubai:

A suicide bomber carried out an attack early today near a US diplomatic site in the Red Sea city of Jiddah, according to state-linked Saudi news sites. Okaz news website said the bomber died in the attack, and that no other deaths were immediately reported.



The bomber was apparently headed in a car toward a mosque and hospital that are near the US consulate in Jiddah. Most of the consulates staff had reportedly moved offices to a new location. Sabq news website reported that two security guards were wounded in the bombing.



US Embassy officials in Saudi Arabia and Interior Ministry officials could not be immediately reached for comment. A State Department spokesperson, who was not authorised to be named and spoke on condition of anonymity, said US officials are aware of reports of an explosion in Jiddah and are working with Saudi authorities to collect more information.



A 2004 al-Qaida-linked militant attack on the US consulate in Jiddah killed five locally hired consular employees and four gunmen. The three-hour battle on the heavily guarded compound came amid a wave of al-Qaida attacks targeting Westerners and Saudi security posts.



More recently, Saudi Arabia has been a target of Islamic State group attacks that have killed dozens of people. The extremist group views the Western-allied Saudi monarchy and government as heretics. Saudi Arabia is part of the US-led coalition fighting the IS group in Iraq and Syria.



In June, the Interior Ministry reported 26 terror attacks had taken place in the kingdom in the last two years. Local affiliates of the IS group have targeted minority Shiites and security officials.

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Washington:

NASAs solar-powered spacecraft Juno will swing into orbit around Jupiter on Monday, July 4. Earlier, Juno had entered the planets magnetosphere, where the movement of particles in space is controlled by what is going on inside Jupiter.



Weve just crossed the boundary into Jupiters home turf, Juno Principal Investigator Scott Bolton of Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio had said. Were closing in fast on the planet itself and already gaining valuable data, said Bolton.



The changes in the particles and fields around the spacecraft was detected by the Science instruments on board when it passed from an environment dominated by the interplanetary solar wind into Jupiters magnetosphere.



Data from Junos Waves investigation indicate the spacecrafts crossing of the bow shock just outside the magnetosphere on June 24 and the transit into the lower density of the Jovian magnetosphere on June 25.



The bow shock is analogous to a sonic boom, said William Kurth of the University of Iowa in Iowa City, lead co-investigator for the Waves investigation.



The solar wind blows past all the planets at a speed of about a million miles per hour, and where it hits an obstacle, theres all this turbulence, said Kurth.



The obstacle is Jupiters magnetosphere, which is the largest structure in the solar system.



If Jupiters magnetosphere glowed in visible light, it would be twice the size of the full moon as seen from Earth, Kurth said.



And that is the shorter dimension of the teardrop-shaped structure; the dimension extending outward behind Jupiter has a length about five times the distance between Earth and the Sun.



Out in the solar wind a few days ago, Juno was speeding through an environment that has about 16 particles per cubic inch. Once it crossed into the magnetosphere, the density was about a hundredfold less.



The density is expected to climb again, inside the magnetosphere, as the spacecraft gets closer to Jupiter itself. The motions of these particles travelling under the control of Jupiters magnetic field will be one type of evidence Juno examines for clues about Jupiters deep interior.



While this transition from the solar wind into the magnetosphere was predicted to occur at some point in time, the structure of the boundary between those two regions proved to be unexpectedly complex, with different instruments reporting unusual signatures both before and after the nominal crossing.

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New Delhi:

In a recent abhorrent terror attack in Bangladesh, in which 20 hostages were hacked to death, Faraaz Ayaaz Hossain, 20, was brutally killed. He was a student at Emory University in Atlanta, the United States. He had come to Dhaka on 18 May to spend his summer holidays.

The bakery, where the massacre happened, was one of the popular hangout spots in the state especially for foreigners. Faraaz went to the Holey Artisan Baker on 1 July evening with two foreign friends; Abinta Kabir, a US citizen and also a student of Emory University, and Tarishi Jain, an Indian national and student of the University of California, Berkeley.



The three were friends from the same school and all of them were trapped inside as hostages when the restaurant was taken over by armed militants around 8:30pm. An eye-witness account of one of the hostages was published in The New York Times newspaper on 2 July detailing the horrific acts of the militants.



In the report, Hishaam Hossain, Faraaz Hossains nephew, was quoted to have said that Faraz was given the opportunity to leave too because of his Bengali ancestry. However, the assassins asked his accompanying friends their nationality and refused to release them. Faraaz, therefore, refused to leave his friends behind, his relative said.



Faraaz was also among those found dead on Saturday morning in this terrifying attack. The militants allegedly murdered anyone who could not recite verses from the holy book. Faraaz is a true example of someone with sheer selflessness as he refused to leave his friends behind at the hands of the militants.



The Bangladeshi attackers - identified only as Akash, Badhon, Bikash, Don and Ripon - all came from 'rich families'. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attacks, releasing photos of the grinning killers, but Bangladeshi authorities have denied the Islamic States claim and instead blamed the homegrown militant outfit Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB).

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New Delhi:

The admission process for 54,000 seats in 63 Delhi University colleges is underway. The admissions under the first cut-off list have already been completed. In a cheering news for those aspirants who were not able to make it in the first list, top colleges of Delhi University are likely to release the DU second cut off list 2016 on Monday, July 4.

The du second cut off lists are, however, likely to see only a marginal dip. Shri Ram College of Commerce (SRCC) principal had last week confirmed that a second list will be released as around 50 per cent seats are vacant.



The college has filled only 325 seats for B.Com (Honours) and 34 for Economics (Honours). Both the courses are the most sought after. In the first list, for B.Com (Honours) the cut-off was 98 per cent, and it was 98.25 per cent for Economics (Honours).



There will for sure be a second cutoff list as we have many seats left for both courses. There are 501 and 123 seats for B.Com (Hons) and Economics (Hons) respectively, said RP Rustagi, officiating principal of Shri Ram College of Commerce.



Lady Shri Ram College for Women (LSR) filled only 201 of the total 730 seats after third day of the admission process. Except Hindi and Sanskrit, the cut-offs in most courses is 95%-98%. The college may not release a second cut-off list for Sociology.



The admission committee meeting is on Monday but we are likely to come with du second cut off list 2016 for most of the subjects, said Lady Shri Ram College for Women principal Suman Sharma.



Indraprastha College for Women filled around 320 seats by the end of Saturday. At Sri Venkateswara College, 433 seats out of 1,089 were filled by Saturday.



Out of the total 1,308 seats, around 600 were filled at Kirori Mal College by Saturday. We may not come out with a du second cut off list 2016 for History, Sanskrit and BA (Programme-Physical Sciences). But, other than that all subjects will have a du second cut off list 2016, said Principal Dinesh Khattar.



Hindu College has filled 380 out of the total 752 seats. There may not be a du second cut off list 2016 for Political Science, BA (Programme), Sociology, Zoology, and Botany at Hindu college.

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New Delhi:

Aamir Khan breaks his silence on Salman Khan's rape remark controversy. The actor spoke on what he feels about the matter.

When Aamir was asked to comment upon the issue and whether or not he has spoken to Salman in this regard, he said, "As per what media reported, what Salman said was rather unfortunate and insensitive. I haven't spoken to him." When asked if he gave advice to him, he said, "Who am I to advise him?"



In addition to that, the actor said, "There are so many issues in front of us but human nature is such that we only get attracted to negativity and controversy. Even I am like that. That's human tendency. In general negativity sells more than positivity. If we decide to focus on positive things, we will find huge things happening in the grass root level. People need to see that. I am affected by what is being reported. When someone says something disturbing, I get disturbed."



The statement of the Bollywood star came in the wake of Salman Khans remark during the shooting of his film Sultan, when he compared his physically draining and tiresome schedule to a "raped Woman". The remark garnered him a lot of criticism from people across the country.

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Chandigarh:

AAP MLA Naresh Yadav, who has been booked and summoned in connection with the alleged June 24 Malerkotla sacrilege incident, along with party members today met the Punjab Police chief who assured them of fair and impartial probe.



The AAP delegation, led by partys Punjab in-charge Sanjay Singh, met Director General of Police (DGP) Suresh Arora at his office here after which Yadav said he was ready to join the probe.



We have told the DGP that we came to Chandigarh as soon as we came to know about the case. We are ready to join the investigation, Yadav told reporters after the meeting.



We have also clearly told the DGP that if they find any evidence against me regarding sacrilege incident, they can hang me, he said.



The Punjab Police chief assured the AAP delegation that free, fair and impartial investigation would be carried out into the matter.



Yadav, AAP MLA from Mehrauli, had been booked in connection with alleged sacrilege incident after one of the accused claimed that he had acted at the behest of the legislator.



The MLA was booked under various sections of IPC including 109 (punishment of abetment if the act abetted is committed in consequence and where no express provision is made for its punishment), 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth etc and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony), 295 injury or defiling place of worship with an intent to insult the religion of any class).



Punjab Police has asked him to appear on July 5 for questioning. Asked about the reported phone calls between accused Vijay and Yadav, the DGP said These are under investigation. I can tell you that I have told the AAP delegation that we will conduct a free, fair and impartial investigation.



Senior AAP leader and incharge of Punjab, Sanjay Singh said there should be no doubt that AAP MLA will not join the investigation.



We are not running away from investigation, we will fight against any false allegations leveled on us. AAP does not believe in the politics of hatred.



If there is any evidence in any audio or video recording or through money transaction against our MLA which points at his role, you hang him. But do not make false accusations. The DGP has assured us that fair investigation will be conducted, he said.



AAP had termed it as a political conspiracy to defame the party ahead of 2017 assembly polls. In Amritsar, Delhi Chief Minister and party national convener Arvind Kejriwal yesterday hit out at the ruling SAD-BJP combine, alleging they were feeling jittery as AAP will sweep 2017 assembly polls and have stooped low to hatch conspiracy to defame the party.



Three personsVijay Kumar, Nand Kishor Goldy and Gaurav had been arrested by Sangrur police on June 27 in the case. Vijay, an accused in the case and resident of Delhi, had claimed that he did at the behest of Yadav.



Violence erupted after the alleged sacrilege incident in Malerkotla on June 24 in which a mob had attacked the house of local Akali Dal MLA Farzana Nissara Khatoon, wife of former Punjab DGP.



Several policemen including a DSP were injured as about 300-400 protesters had indulged in stone pelting and torched a car.

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New Delhi:

Condemning bomb blasts in Baghdad in which at least 80 people were killed, Congress President Sonia Gandhi today expressed her condolences to the families of those who lost their lives and called for the world to unite to fight and defeat forces of extremism.



Sonia Gandhi has condemned bomb blasts in Baghdad which killed 80 innocent people. The past week has been terrible for humanity, a statement released by her office said.



Around 80 people were killed in a terror attack in Iraqs capital city of Baghdad today, while in Bangladesh, 20 people were killed, including a young Indian woman, in a terrorist attack at a restaurant in its capital Dhaka.

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New Delhi:

A 6-year-old girl was brutally raped, strangled and later thrown into a cooking vessel allegedly by a neighbor in Salem of Tamil Nadu. The dead was found in the house of alleged rapist, a teenager himself who has been arrested.

According to police, the class 2 student was lured away by the 17-year-old boy with some sweets after which he allegedly assaulted her. Police have not yet confirmed rape. Police say the teenage boy hid the body in a large vessel.

After the girl was nowhere to be seen, her father went on looking for her everywhere and reportedly lodged a complaint with the police.

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New Delhi:

Adding more woes and fuelling terror in the minds, Chief of Al-Qaeda in Indian Subcontinent (AQIS), Maulana Asim Umar has asked Indian Muslims to start Jihad by killing senior IAS and IPS officers. He urged Muslim community to stand up and follow the example of lone wolf attackers in Syria.

A lone wolf attacker or lone wolf terrorist is someone who attacks a group or area in support of some ideology or movement. But he does so alone without any material or structural assistance from any group.

According to the reports published by US-based SITE intelligence groups which tracks terror networks across the world, Umar urges Indian Muslims to now come ahead and take the lead in the Jihadist activities.

In his statement, Umar said, Kill senior officers of institutions and administrative departments that get (people to) start these riots. Target IPS and IAS officers, cause them financial losses. The US state department has already named AQIS a foreign terrorist organisation and Umar a global terrorist.

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New Delhi :

The Central Bureau of Investigation today arrested Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwals principal secretary, Rajender Kumar and four others after having searched his office during a controversial raid at the Delhi Secretariat last year in a corruption case.

Kumar has been booked under charges of criminal conspiracy and corruption for allegedly favouring a private company in five contracts worth Rs 9.5 crore between 2007 and 2014. All five accused will be produced in Delhis Patiala House court on Tuesday.

The senior IAS officer is known to be close to Arvind Kejriwal and AAPs one of the first bureaucratic appointments during its 49-day stint last year.

The 48-year-old was subsequently given charge of several important departments, including transport and education, before taking over as the CMs secretary.

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New Delhi:

Terming implementation of uniform civil code a national work, Shiv Sena today said that having a separate law for Muslims is like encouraging formation of another Pakistan. India may have an all inclusive culture, but politicians have wrecked havoc in the name of secularism in the past 60 years. There is a different law for Hindus and Muslims. The truth is, having a separate law for Muslims is like encouraging the formation of another Pakistan, the Sena said in an editorial in party mouthpiece 'Saamana'.

The party also claimed that past governments did nothing to change the situation in the country while continuing with their appeasement politics.

While the Union Law Ministry has asked the Law Commission to examine in detail all issues pertaining to the Uniform Civil Code and submit a report to the government.

What is Uniform Civil Code?

It essentially means having a common set of laws applicable to all citizens of India irrespective of their religion, caste, community, creed dealing with the personal matters like marriage, inheritance, adoption, divorce and maintenance.

Enforcement of a uniform civil code will mean that all the existing personal laws that currently permit unfair practices such as polygamy, the baffling case of oral talaq among Muslims, it will put an end to the judgments passed by the unconstitutional bodies like Panchayats in India. These will all then become subservient to an equitable constitutional law- uniform civil code.

What is wrong if people today expect you (BJP) to implement the law and make the Ram temple in Ayodhya which you once so desperately wanted when you were in the Opposition? Shiv Sena Questioned the ruling.

Not withstanding the opposition from Muslim leaders, the government should go ahead with the implementation of the (Uniform Civil) Code, which is a national work. The Modi government has absolute majority. This needs to be respected by them, the Sena added.

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New Delhi :

The Supreme Court on Monday reserved its order on the petition seeking modification in its order banning registration of diesel vehicles of 2000 cc and above in the NCR. It also indicated that such vehicles may be allowed to be registered again on payment of one per cent of ex-showroom price as green cess.

The Ministry of Heavy Industry and Public Enterprises, which supported the automobile giants in bid for modification of the order, however opposed the court-mandated imposition of green cess on buyers of big diesel cars and SUVs.

The likely imposition of green cess for diesel cars of more than 2000 cc will not be in consonance with the constitutional scheme of things as in terms of Article 265 of the Constitution no tax can be levied without the authority of Parliament, Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi told a three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice T S Thakur.

The presumption that bigger diesel engines create more pollution is not correct as bigger diesel cars have better emission norms, Rohatgi told the bench which also comprised Justices A K Sikri and R Banumathi.

Are you (AG) appearing for automobile companies or the Centre, the bench asked Rohatgi.

I am appearing on behalf of Ministry of Heavy Industry and Public Enterprises. Banning the registration will show the inconsistencies in our norms and regulations. Huge FDIs are involved. Lakhs of jobs are there, Rohatgi said and referred to data to show that diesel cars, which are half of the engine capacity of big vehicles like Landrover, emit more particulate matters (PM).

The top law officer said the Centre was willing to conduct a multi-pronged study on diesel vehicles effect on environment and imposition of green cess and would come back to the court, and, in the meantime, the stay on the registration of big diesel vehicles should be lifted.

Who is stopping you from doing the study, the bench then asked.

The bench, which had earlier said it may allow registration of diesel vehicles again in Delhi ands NCR, today reiterated it and proposed that the green cess to be levied could be one per cent of purchase value of such vehicles and reserved the order.

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Washington:

US Secretary of State John Kerry has offered Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina help to investigate those behind the killing of 20 people at a Dhaka restaurant.

The Secretary encouraged the government of Bangladesh to conduct its investigation in accordance with the highest international standards and offered immediate assistance from US law enforcement, including the FBI, State Department spokesperson John Kirby said.

The offer came in the wake of the outrageous attack on the Holey Artisan restaurant in Dhakas high-security diplomatic zone, he said.

During the call, Kerry condoled the loss of innocent lives at the hands of terrorists who threaten the United States, Bangladesh and the international community.

He re-affirmed US support for Bangladeshs efforts to bring those responsible for planning and conducting the attacks to justice as well as to prevent future attacks, Kirby said.

Twenty hostages, including Indian girl Tarishi Jain, were hacked to death by terrorists inside the cafe popular with expats in the diplomatic zone before commandos launched an assault, killing six attackers and capturing one alive. Two police officers were also killed in the attack.

Most of those killed were found with their throats slit.

Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack through its Amaq news agency, nearly four hours after the hostage crisis unfolded.

Bangladesh, however, blamed homegrown Islamist terrorists and Pakistans spy agency ISI for the attack, ruling out involvement of the Islamic State.

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Riyadh:

A foreign suicide bomber blew himself up near the American consulate in Saudi Arabias western city of Jeddah in the early hours of US Independence Day today.

Two security officers were slightly wounded, the interior ministry said, as the American embassy in Riyadh reported no injuries among US consulate staff.

General Mansour al-Turki, the interior ministry spokesman, told Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya television that the bomber was not Saudi but a resident foreigner.

Millions of foreigners, many from Muslim-majority nations in the Middle East and Asia, work in the kingdom. The ministry did not specify if the bomber had intended to target the consulate, but an investigation was now under way.

The Jeddah incident came during a wave of attacks claimed by the Islamic State group or blamed on the jihadists, including a suicide bombing in Baghdad on Sunday that killed more than 200 people and recent attacks in Bangladesh and at Istanbul airport. It happened before the end this week of the holy month of Ramadan, when Muslims fast from dawn until dusk.

The interior ministry said security personnel became suspicious of the man near the parking lot of a hospital which is across from the US diplomatic mission.

When they moved in to investigate at around 2:15 am (2315 GMT Sunday) the man blew himself up with a suicide belt inside the hospital parking lot, the ministry said.

A picture carried by the Sabq online newspaper, which is close to authorities, showed a large body part lying on the ground between a taxi and the open door of another car that was peppered with holes.

In a security notice on its website, the American embassy noted media reports of a suspected suicide attack near the US consulate in Jeddah early on the morning of July 4.

The US embassy and consulate remain in contact with the Saudi authorities as they investigate the incident, it added, urging Americans to take extra precautions when travelling throughout the country.

In March last year the US embassy closed its main office, as well as consulates in Jeddah and Dhahran, for a few days over unspecified security concerns.

The US consulate in Jeddah was targeted in December 2004 when gunmen opened fire and lobbed explosives at the compound, killing five people, in an attack blamed on Al-Qaeda.

It was not immediately clear who was behind todays incident, but since late 2014 Saudi security officers and minority Shiites have been hit by deadly violence claimed by IS.

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Gurugram:

The mortal remains of Indian teenager Tarishi Jain, who was among those hacked to death by Islamic militants in a terror attack at a Dhaka restaurant was cremated today. Tarishis brother Sanchit performed the last rites at around 4:15 pm in a cremation ground at Sukhrali village near IFFCO Chowk as family members suffered in silence.

Earlier, the mortal remains of the 19-year-old student of University of California in Berkeley, US, where she studied Economics, were brought from Dhaka to Delhi where her family members, Minister of State for Power and Coal Piyush Goyal was present. Goyal received the body.

The body was then taken to Gurgaon DLF phase-1 F Block community centre where it was kept for two hours to enable an estimated 200 people, including Goyal and Haryana Education Minister Rambilas Sharma, to pay their respects.

Tarishi was among the 20 hostages killed in a gruesome terror attack in a restaurant popular with foreigners and expats in upscale Gulshan locality of Dhaka on Friday night.

Daughter of a garments manufacturer with business interests in Bangladesh, she was in Dhaka on a vacation.

Heart-rending scenes prevailed at the community centre with 200 relatives of Tarishi and other mourners crying inconsolably. Rambilas Sharma tried to console the family members of the 19-year-old girl.

The media was not allowed to enter the cremation spot by Gurgaon police.

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Lahore:

Parveen Rafiq closed her hands around the neck of her youngest daughter, Zeenat, and squeezed and squeezed until the girl was almost dead.

Then, in the tiny apartment where the family lived, she doused the 18-year-old with kerosene and set her on fire. Neighbors saw the smoke and rushed to the home. Someone inside, apparently one of Rafiqs daughters-in-law, was screaming, Help her! Help!

But the door was bolted from within. Moments later, they heard Rafiq scream from her rooftop: I have killed my daughter. I have saved my honor. She will never shame me again.

Zeenats crime was marrying a childhood friend she loved, defying her widowed mothers pressure for an arranged marriage and, in the mind of her mother and many of her neighbors, tarnishing her familys honor.

Her macabre death on June 8 in the eastern city of Lahore was the latest in a series of increasingly gruesome honor killings in Pakistan, a country with one of the highest rates of such killings in the world.

In one case, a mother slit the throat of her pregnant daughter who had married a man she loved. In yet another a jilted suitor doused a teenage girl with kerosene and set her on fire.

In the city of Abbottabad, a teenage girl was tortured, injected with poison and then strapped to the seat of a vehicle, doused with gasoline and set on fire. Her crime was helping a friend elope.

A jirga, or council of local elders, ordered her killing and dictated the manner of her death. The vehicle was parked in a public place, outside a bus stop as a message to others.

The brutality and rapid succession of killings horrified many Pakistanis. The numbers of such killings have climbed in lockstep with their sometimes-public spectacle. Last year, three people a day were killed in honor crimes in Pakistan: a total of 1,096 women and 88 men, according to the independent Human Rights Commission of Pakistan.

In 2014, the number was 1,005 women, including 82 children, up from 869 women killed a year earlier. The true numbers are believed to be higher, with many cases going unreported, activists say.

Some human rights and womens rights activists believe honor killings have been inching up and showing greater brutality as the older generation tries to dig in against creeping change. Over the years, more women have been going to school and working outside the home, even among lower and lower middle class, and use of social media has helped women raise their voices.

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New Delhi :

Taking a jibe at the Centre over the arrest Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwals Principal Secretary Rajendra Kumar and others, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia today accused it of paralysing governance in Delhi and said never has any central government stooped to such low level.

Sisodia also questioned the timing of arrest of Kumar, Deputy Secretary Tarun Sharma and transfers of eleven officers.

There is a conspiracy to paralyse the CM office. Principal Secretary and Deputy Secretary to CM have been arrested while Assistant Secretary was transferred to Andaman.

All has happened in just one day...this is the lowest levels to which a central government has stooped to, from the time Delhi has had an elected government in 1991, the Deputy Chief Minister told reports here.

CBI today arrested Kejriwals Principal Secretary Rajendra Kumar, Deputy Secretary and three others for allegedly abusing their official position and favouring a private company in securing government contracts worth over Rs 50 crore.

Sisodia alleged the BJP-led central government was adopting such tactics as the Aam Aadmi Party is going to win Assembly polls in Punjab, Goa and garner massive support in Gujarat.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is taking revenge of his partys defeat in Assembly elections from the people of Delhi by arresting, transferring our officers and creating hurdles in our works, but we are not scared of these things, he alleged, adding, the AAP government will effectively run for Delhiites despite the Centres attack.

Modi ji, let me tell you - weve been elected by ppl of Delhi, we shall run an effective govt for them despite all your attacks on us! (sic), he tweeted.

Sisodia also slammed the Centre for transferring eleven officers, who were working with the state government, allegedly without any meeting of the Joint Cadre Authority (JCA).

11 senior officers have been transferred out of Delhi in a single day that is too illegally without meeting of Joint Cadre Authority. Senior officer handling major project of large-scale development of unauthorised colonies in next one year has been transferred to Andaman.

Senior officer in-charge of ambitious project of installation of CCTV cameras in all government schools has also been transferred to Andaman, he said.

Annoyed over the sudden transfer of Delhi governments eleven officers, Sisodia dared the Centre to give the AAP dispensation only peons with whom they can run governance in the national capital.

He further said Delhi has 300 sanctioned DANICS posts, but it has only 65 officers working with the city administration, adding that now eight have been transferred.

Andaman, which has 24 sanctioned DANICS posts, has now 23 DANICS officers. In a total, Andaman has now 31 such officers, he said.

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Dhaka:

Well-educated and hailing from wealthy families, the gunmen who killed 20 hostages in a Bangladesh cafe defy the increasingly outdated stereotype of jihadists from poor backgrounds who have been radicalised in madrassas. Six young men were shot dead Saturday at the end of the all-night siege in a Dhaka cafe claimed by the Islamic State group.

One may have been an innocent bystander, but among the remaining five are a graduate of Bangladeshs leading private university, an 18-year-old student at an elite school and the son of a ruling party official.

As jihadist groups such as IS focus their recruitment efforts on disenfranchised middle class youth, government efforts to eradicate extremism become ever more complicated.

They are all highly educated young men and from well-off families, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan told AFP. Asked why they would have become jihadists, Khan said: It has become a fashion.

While the Bangladesh government has continued to deny IS has a foothold in the country, the group claimed the attack and its associated news agency, Amaq, posted pictures of the five gunmen posing with weapons.

Similarly in militancy-ravaged Pakistan, the government denies that the international jihadist network has a formal presence in the country.

But a Pakistani security official recently told AFP that authorities had busted several IS recruitment cells focused on a similar affluent demographic.

Taj Hashmi, a Bangladeshi who teaches security studies at the Austin Peay State University in the United States, pointed out that many of the Saudi hijackers behind the September 11 attacks were also from wealthy families.

But he says that middle-class youth have been providing Islamist terror groups with footsoldiers since long before the emergence of IS.

Marginalised and angry people from the higher echelons of society have been swelling the ranks of Islamist terrorists for the last 30-odd years, he said.

Bangladeshi authorities have so far only released code names of the cafe assailants after interrogating a gunman who was captured alive, but they have released photos of their bloodied corpses.

Friends of one confirmed his identity as 22-year-old Nibras Islam who had been studying at the Malaysian campus of Australias Monash University before going missing in January.

A school friend remembered him as popular pupil. He was a good athlete whom everyone admired, the friend told AFP on condition of anonymity.

After leaving school, Nibras went to North South University (NSU), a private university which came to prominence when one former student tried to bomb the Federal Reserve Bank in New York in 2012.

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Riyadh:

A suicide bomber blew himself up outside a Shiite mosque in eastern Saudi Arabia, without causing any other injuries, residents said, in the second such attack today in the kingdom. Suicide bomber for sure. I can see the body torn apart, said a witness to the attack in the Shiite-populated city of Qatif.

Nasima al-Sada, another resident, told AFP that one bomber blew himself up near the mosque, frequented by Shiites in downtown Qatif on the Gulf coast. No bystanders were hurt, she said.

Pictures said to be from the scene circulated by residents showed a small fire burning in the street, severed limbs and what appeared to be a severed head.

The blast, near the end of the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan, was the second suicide bombing today in the predominantly Sunni kingdom.

Another bomber blew himself up earlier the same day near the US consulate in the Red Sea city of Jeddah, injuring two security officers.

Since late 2014 a series of bombings and shootings claimed by the Islamic State jihadist group in Saudi Arabia have targeted minority Shiites as well as members of the security forces.

Most of the attacks have been staged in Eastern Province, home to the majority of Shiites in the Gulf state.

In January, a suicide bomber attacked a mosque in the oasis region of Al-Ahsa, killing four people before worshippers disarmed and tied up an accomplice who had fired on them.

Last October in the Qatif area, a gunman fired on faithful marking the Shiite commemoration of Ashura in the Qatif area, killing five before police shot him dead.

Ashura is one of the holiest occasions for the Shiite faith.

In June last year, four Shiites died preventing a suicide bomber from entering the hall of Al-Anoud mosque in Dammam city adjacent to Qatif.

Days earlier, 21 people were killed in another Shiite mosque bombing in Eastern Province.

Groups claiming affiliation with IS said they carried out those blasts and the Ashura shooting.

During Ashura in 2014, gunmen killed seven Shiite worshippers, including children, in the eastern town of Al-Dalwa.

The interior ministry said the suspects had links to IS, which regards Shiites as heretics.

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Quetta:

A police official was gunned down today by three armed militants while he was offering prayers in a mosque in Quetta in Pakistans troubled Baluchistan province.

Malik Mushtaq, a Station House Officer who was presently posted with the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), was shot dead when he was offering prayers in a mosque in Chaman Patak in Quetta, a senior police official said.

He said that three armed men entered the mosque and gunned down Mushtaq who was offering prayers at that time.

Mushtaq died on the spot after receiving several bullets in his chest, he said.

Police rushed to the spot soon after the incident and cordoned off the area while the deceased was shifted to the Civil Hospital, Quetta.

No group has claimed responsibility of the attack but in recent days police and security officials have again come under attack by suspected militants in Quetta.

Last Wednesday, four Frontier Corp personnel were killed in an ambush on their vehicle in Quetta.

Reports say that around 35 police personnel have been killed in several cases of targeted killings and bomb blasts in the provincial capital since January 2016.

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Washington

Previously on "Gun Votes Lost": Democrats including Rep. Paul Tonko, D-Amsterdam, conduct a sit-in and block normal House business, demanding votes on gun-related issues. Speaker Paul Ryan derisively calls it a "publicity stunt'' and adjourns until July 5.

But later on Ryan appeared to reverse himself, pledging a vote on a terrorism-prevention package this week that includes barring gun purchases by those on the government's watch list.

So, what happens now?

The short-term answer is not much, probably. But long term, the battle is just heating up.

Ryan is backing a measure introduced by freshman Rep. Lee Zeldin, R-Long Island, which is based on one put forward in the Senate last month by Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas. Senators voted it down.

The Cornyn amendment, supported by the National Rifle Association, would put a 72-hour hold on gun sales while the FBI investigates and shows "probable cause'' in court that an individual on the list is connected to terrorism and should be denied the purchase.

Democrats countered that 72 hours was not enough time and the "probable cause'' standard embedded in the Constitution is way too high  the FBI would arrest such people if they had that kind of evidence, not simply deny them gun purchases. Bottom line, they argued, is potential terrorists could still buy guns.

"Cornyn is a joke,'' said Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., who led the nearly 15-hour filibuster last month that got the latest round of crossfire over gun legislation rolling.

Tonko called the Cornyn-Zeldin approach "a hollow attempt to distract American families who overwhelmingly want common-sense and responsible legislation that will actually reduce the number of tragedies we see week after week.''

The Ryan-backed measure, he said, "makes it even harder for the FBI to block sales to suspected terrorists and is unworkable from a law enforcement perspective. It simply is not an effective counterterrorism measure.''

NRA spokeswoman Jennifer Baker said of opposition to the Cornyn approach: "This is exactly why the American people are so frustrated with Washington. Preventing access and providing meaningful due process are not mutually exclusive. You can do both.''

Win or lose on Capitol Hill, advocates say they see unusual ferment on gun control, or gun-violence prevention, as its advocates now like to characterize it.

"Holding a House vote is a win, even though we know that nothing will pass,'' said Leah Gunn Barrett, executive director of New Yorkers Against Gun Violence. "Ryan was backed into a corner and is calling a vote against the wishes of the Republican majority. It's important to get the members on record as supporting gun safety legislation favored by a huge majority of Americans, or opposing it.''

The watch list is aimed at preventing those whose names appear on it from boarding planes. But under current law, it does not prevent them from buying guns. Democrats have called it the "terror loophole'' and adopted the motto "no fly, no buy.''

Democrats' new wind-at-our-backs confidence stems from polls showing majorities of Americans supporting a bar on sale of guns to potential terrorists, as well as the other major prong of the push forward on guns: expanded background checks.
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Development of open, grassy agricultural lands in the northeast is pushing the diminutive American kestrel to migrate to homes with much larger predators: airplanes.

The small falcon has been dubbed a species of special concern in Connecticut because of a loss of habitat and dip in population. Contributing to the problem could be the tendency of the birds to relocate to airports, where the flat, wide-open spaces resemble their destroyed homes.

The problem is particularly evident at Westchester County Airport, where 21 American kestrels were struck and killed by airplanes over the past four years, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. During that same time, planes in Connecticut hit a total of 22 kestrels.

The strategies that airports have in place to keep other birds, such as geese and starlings, away from airfields are less successful with the more intelligent American kestrel.

The Northeast is one of the areas that show the steepest declines of the species. We dont know exactly why this bird is in decline, said Sarah Schulwitz, assistant director at the American Kestrel Partnership, which is leading a nationwide volunteer effort to count and gather data on the birds. There so far has not been any rigorous scientific evidence to point to exactly why this is being seen.

What they do know, Schulwitz said, is that kestrels seem to be dying as adults rather than ba bies.

When there are chicks in the nest there is a pretty high chance of survival, she said. It looks like adult survival is being negatively impacted. It certainly isnt helping the species that adults are dying at the airport.

The American kestrel is both the smallest and most common falcon in North America. Its breeding range stretches from central Alaska across North America to Nova Scotia and south all the way to Mexico and the Caribbean.

In Connecticut, though, it is difficult to find any at all.

Ted Gilman, senior naturalist at Audubon Greenwich, said he doesnt know where any are nesting in the area.

In 2002, the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection listed the kestrel as a threatened species in the state of Connecticut, deeming it likely to become an endangered species within the foreseeable future throughout all or a significant portion of its range within the state, according to the DEEP website.

In 2012 DEEP changed its classification from threatened to a species of special concern, which is less serious, but shows the birds are still thought to have a low population level in the state.

Peter Scherrer is the airport manager at Westchester County Airport. He said recorded bird strikes are up this year, but thats because airport officials are getting better at recording collisions, not necessarily because more birds are being hit.

The airport works hard to monitor animals in the area, Scherrer said, and tries to educate pilots to report when they see a spot on their airplane after a flight. Often the spot, which those in the airline world call snarge, came from hitting a bird.

If it is a large bird that was hit, airport personnel can often identify it themselves, but when its a smaller bird they have to mail the remnants to Washington D.C. to be identified by a team at the Smithsonian.

Scherrer said as American kestrels hover looking for prey, they can get sucked up in wingtip vortices, circular patterns of air formed behind a wing as it generates lift, and smashed into the ground, killing them even if they are never actually struck by the plane.

The airport does have strategies to discourage birds from the area, including a bird bomb that makes loud noises to scare them off. Some birds, however, are easier to scare away than others.

Derek Colbert, a wildlife biologist who works at the airport, said some birds, particularly raptors like the American kestrel, get used to harassment techniques before they are driven away.

They are some of the smarter birds we have in the field so they pick up more quickly the fact that its not actually a threat, he said.

He said the state is working on a study to see if relocating birds from airports to other areas will keep them from coming back. His fingers are crossed that Westchester County will get to be a part of the study.

At the end of the day we have great habitat here at Westchester County Airport for American kestrel, Colbert said.

Erin Strasser, a biologist with the Bird Conservancy of the Rockies, said some people who live close to the airport could be harming the kestrels without knowing it. Across the nation many people have taken to setting up nesting boxes in their yards to help challenged species, such as the kestrel, rebound. Residents who live near airports might want to take down boxes that have housed the birds, she said.

Strasser said the deaths caused by air strikes could be having a large impact on the population, but its hard to say definitively.

Kevin McGowan, a professor at the Cornell Lab for Ornithology, said a lot of the things an airport needs to operate, such as runway markers, provide perfect perches for kestrels. He said identifying those perches and adding bird spikes could help the issue.

American kestrels only weigh about a quarter of a pound, but they can fly up to 39 mph. When they collide with an airplane during lift off, the plane takes up to 75 pounds of impact.

Nobody wins when a kestrel is hit by a plane, McGowan said. Its not good for the plane either. Bird strikes are a significant hazard to air travel.

pfrissell@hearstmediact.com; @PeregrineFriss
Samsung Galaxy A9 Pro (2016) Steps Out Of China!

New Delhi, Mon, 04 Jul 2016 NI Wire

Every time the South Korean smartphone maker, Samsung, brings out a new flagship in market; it comes along some high speculations. Earlier also, Samsung shied away from updating about the international release of the Galaxy J series. And this time around, the company is tightlipped about another of its international variant - Galaxy A9 Pro (2016).

While Samsung is still taking time to make the announcement of its release in the international market officially, reports state that Galaxy A9 Pro (2016) has released in Malaysia and is anticipated to extend to other markets shortly.

For the uninitiated, Samsung Galaxy A9 Pro (2016) was released in China in March 2016 at a cost of 3,499 Yuan (approximately $533 / Rs. 36,000). The international model has also got WiFi, Bluetooth, and Federal Communication Commission (FCC) certifications, which clearly gave a hint about its release in other nations also.

The device with model number as SM-A910F as assumed to be Galaxy A9 Pro (2016), was spotted on Zauba website that has track of imports and exports in India. So, one can expect the device to hit the Indian market as well.

So, let us have a look at the mighty Galaxy A9 Pro (2016).

Design & Display

Samsung A9's design has become the talk of town and is indeed its USP. The device is available in three colors: gold, white and pink gold. Of these, gold and pink gold variants come with a black front. It has a metal side frame colors perfectly as per the three different variations. The built is strong and provides you the needed grip. The buttons, mainly home, power and volume are easy to press. It has a fingerprint scanner present on the home button. The scanner is quick and highly responsive.

The handset comes with a mammoth 6 inch display with AMOLED panel. It has 1080 x 1920 px resolution with pixel density of 367 ppi.

Interface and Functionality

It has the most recent TouchWiz interface along with Android 5.1. It's a little surprising to see how Samsung has not used Android 6 here which we believe should have been the case ideally. Moving on, its user interface is rich and lively. It moves swiftly but at times tends to be rather jumpy and not as runny as software experiences seen on opponent products similar to HTC, Motorola, and Apple.

Processor and Memory

It has the fascinating Snapdragon 652 chipset, backed by octa-core CPU and Adreno 510 GPU. This makes it quite a powerful phone in comparison to the earlier launched Galaxy S6 and Note 5.

There's a 3GB of RAM with 32 GB internal memory. And if you need more, the same can be expanded using a microSD card slot.

Camera

Coming to camera, it has a 13-MP primary camera with optical stabilization (OIS) and wide, f/1.9 aperture. For selfies, it has 8-megapixel front shooter.

The device indeed offers a great camera experience. It supports quick launch for camera, all you need to do is double click your home button, it even works when the phone is locked. By default, it will click images in 16:9 aspect ratio and 9.6-MP resolution. You can turn the same to 4:3 aspect ratio and 13 megapixels.

Battery Life

Like a mammoth screen, the battery size in the Samsung Galaxy A9 is 4000 mAh, which apparently powers the big size screen.

Conclusion

Samsung is on a roll these days as the makers last released Samsung Galaxy A3 (2016), which has 4.7-inch screen which is backed by the Super AMOLED technology. It offers powerful and saturated colors. It has a 720 by 1280 pixels resolution which makes for sharp graphics and texts. Powered by 1.5GHz quad-core Exynos SoC, the A3 (2016) runs Android 5.1 Lollipop. Galaxy A3 (2016) comes with 13MP F1.9 main camera and 5MP F1.9 front camera for selfies.

Now with Galaxy A9 Pro (2016) onboard it's to be seen how the two devices would fare in the market and earn Samsung some big money!
Learn-to Camp is back for a second edition

SAINT-JEAN-SUR-RICHELIEU, QC, July 4, 2016 /CNW Telbec/ - Parks Canada and Mountain Equipment Co-op (MEC) invite the population of the Richelieu Valley and the surrounding area to enjoy a unique family camping experience at the Chambly Canal National Historic Site on Saturday, July 30. Over the course of a lively weekend, the Halte des Moulins Langelier in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu will be transformed into a campground to mark the 350th anniversary of the city.

Here's what's on the agenda throughout this special weekend: introductory workshops and demonstrations, a friendly cooking competition, campfire and marshmallows, play area and outdoor activities for both children and adults as well as spending a wonderful night in a tent on the banks of the Richelieu River.

Space is limited and registrations are taken on a first come, first served basis. To reserve a spot, those interested can call Parks Canada at 1-888-773-8888.

This unforgettable experience to be shared with families or friends, is offered starting at $88 for up to four people (tent, floor mats and breakfast are included). Participants need only to bring their bedding, their Saturday night picnic supplies and their cheery self  Parks Canada will take care of the rest!

By encouraging Canadians to visit their national parks and national historic sites, and providing them with the information and means to enjoy them, Parks Canada allows more Canadians to experience the outdoors and learn about our history.

Quote

"The Learn-to Camp program offers Canadians, especially families with young children, an excellent opportunity to discover the joys of camping and the outdoors. Activities will be offered to participants visiting the Chambly Canal so that they can enjoy a memorable camping experience in the heart of the Richelieu Valley."

Luc-Andre Mercier, Director, Quebec Waterways, Parks Canada

Quick Facts

Parks Canada is proud to have welcomed close to 10,000 first-time campers to Learn-to Camp activities in national parks and national historic sites across the country since the program was launched in 2011. Parks Canada is committed to providing visitors with exceptional opportunities to connect with Canada's treasured places and with innovative visitor experience offers, including oTENTiks and Learn-to Camp events at national historic sites and national parks.

is proud to have welcomed close to 10,000 first-time campers to Learn-to Camp activities in national parks and national historic sites across the country since the program was launched in 2011. Parks is committed to providing visitors with exceptional opportunities to connect with treasured places and with innovative visitor experience offers, including oTENTiks and Learn-to Camp events at national historic sites and national parks. Parking is available for those arriving by car at the parking lot located north of Foch Street, between de Salaberry and Jacques-Cartier Nord streets. Participants can also access the site by bicycle via the Chambly Canal's path, which ranked 4th among Ulysses Travel Guides' popular Quebec Cyclable's 15 favourite paths.

The focus of the Learn-to Camp program is to create a connection between first-time campers and the Canadian camping experience, to build awareness about family health and wellness, to introduce families to a lifetime of outdoor activities and encourage them to visit Parks Canada's special heritage places.

A must-see of the Monteregie region, the Chambly Canal National Historic Site is a premier tourism destination that allows Canadians to experience the outdoors and learn about our history.

Associated Links

SOURCE Parks Canada Agency - Quebec Waterways

Image with caption: "Spend the night under the stars at the Chambly Canal!  Parks Canada (CNW Group/Parks Canada Agency - Quebec Waterways)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20160704_C1000_PHOTO_EN_725827.jpg

For further information: Marie-Eve Roy, Public Relations and Communications Officer, Quebec Waterways, Parks Canada, 450-447-4808, [email protected]
Kia Canada June sales up 14 per cent versus 2015

sales up 14 per cent versus 2015 Award winning Sorento and Sportage achieves best June year-to-date sales in Kia Canada history

MISSISSAUGA, ON, July 4, 2016 /CNW/ - Kia Canada Inc. reported 7,540 vehicles sold in the month of June, up 14 per cent compared to 2015. Calendar year-to-date sales are up 1.5 per cent versus the same period last year with 36,318 total sales reported.

The month of June marked Kia Canada's best year-to-date sales for Sportage and Sorento carlines ever reported in the first 6 months of the year. Sorento achieved 8,041 total sales year-to-date, up 2.5 per cent and Sportage achieved 5,480 sales, resulting in an impressive 82.5 per cent increase over the same period last year. The month of June also witnessed strong sales for the Forte family of vehicles with sales reaching 1,356 units, as well as the Soul carline, including its electric variant, achieving 1,355 units sold. Total volume of Rio sub-compact family sales for the month of June is also up a strong 47.5 per cent with sales totaling 1,149 units.

"What a great June for Kia with sales up 14% and a wonderful 1st half of the year. Sorento and Sportage have had record starts to the year, we have expanded our Soul EV network, and in June Kia became the first non-luxury brand in 27 years to reach top spot in the JD Power IQS survey. ", said Ted Lancaster, Vice President and Chief Operating Officer (COO), Kia Canada Inc. "We are looking forward to a strong second half and kicking it off with our "Summer of Savings" sales event."

July 2016 Incentives:

Celebrate summer with sizzling deals from Kia Canada with our "Summer of Saving" sales event featuring 0% financing or cash discounts up to $7,777 on select models. In addition, eligible loyal or select new customers can receive up to an additional $750 bonus on top of existing offer towards the lease or purchase of a 2016 Rio, Forte, Optima, Rondo, Sedona, Sorento, and all-new 2017 Sportage and Sorento. Some conditions apply. Please see dealer for complete details.

About Kia Canada

Kia Canada Inc. (www.kia.ca  www.facebook.com/kiacanada) a maker of quality vehicles for the young-at-heart is a subsidiary of Kia Motors Corporation (KMC) which was founded in 1999 and sells and services high quality, class leading vehicles like the Soul, Forte, Optima and Sorento through a network of 190 dealers nationwide. Kia Canada Inc. employs 149 people in its Mississauga, Ontario headquarters and four regional offices across Canada, with an all-new state-of-the-art facility in Montreal. Kia's brand slogan "The Power to Surprise" represents the company's global commitment to surprise the world by providing exciting & inspiring experiences that go beyond expectations.

SOURCE KIA Canada Inc.

Image with caption: "KIA Canada Inc. (CNW Group/KIA Canada Inc.)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20160704_C4846_PHOTO_EN_726971.jpg

For further information: John Adzija, National Manager, Corporate Communications & Corporate Partnerships, Kia Canada Inc., T: 905-755-6266, C: 905-301-6207, E: [email protected]; Maxime Surette, Product Communications Manager, Kia Canada Inc., T: 905-755-6272, C: 416-316-3313, E: [email protected]
TORONTO, June 30, 2016 /CNW/ - Sleep Country Canada Holdings Inc. ("Sleep Country" or the "Company") (TSX: ZZZ) will hold a conference call on July 29, 2016 to review the second quarter financial results for 2016. The results will be released after the market closes on July 28, 2016.

The details of the call are as follows:

Date: July 29, 2016 Time: 10:00 am Eastern time Toll Free (North America) Dial-in Number: (888) 231-8191 International Dial-in Number: (647) 427-7450

This conference call will be recorded and available for replay until the end of day August 5, 2016. To listen to the replay, please dial (416)849-0833 or (855)859-2056 and use passcode 40864582.

About Sleep Country

Sleep Country is Canada's leading mattress retailer and the only specialty mattress retailer with a national footprint in Canada. Sleep Country operates under two mattress retail banners: Dormez-vous, the largest retailer of mattresses in Quebec and Sleep Country Canada, the largest mattress retailer in the rest of Canada. As at June 30, 2016, Sleep Country has 233 stores and 17 distribution centres across Canada. All of the Company's stores are corporate-owned, enabling it to develop and maintain a strong culture of customer service, resulting in a consistent and superior in-store and home delivery customer experience.

SOURCE Sleep Country Canada Holdings Inc. Investor Relations

For further information: Robert Masson, Chief Financial Officer, 416.242.4774 / [email protected]
Arsenal have secured a deal to sign Japan striker Takuma Asano from Sanfrecce Hiroshima. The Gunners confirmed on Sunday that a deal ha...

Arsenal have secured a deal to sign Japan striker Takuma Asano from Sanfrecce Hiroshima.The Gunners confirmed on Sunday that a deal has been agreed in principle "subject to the completion of a medical and regulatory processes".Arsenal did not give any details over the length of deal that has been agreed with Asano, but manager Arsene Wenger was delighted to land the 21-year-old.Wenger said: "Takuma is a talented young striker and very much one for the future."He has had an impressive start to his career in Japan and we look forward to him developing over the next couple of years."Asano has five senior caps for Japan after making his debut against North Korea in August 2015 and scored his first goal against Bulgaria last month.He has also been named in the country's Under-23 squad to play in the Rio Olympic Games next month.GOAL READ MORE | Arsenal must be quick after Vardy snubAt club level, Asano has largely been a substitute for Sanfrecce Hiroshima. Of his 34 J-League appearances in 2015, 32 came off the bench, while he only started in four of his 11 outings this season.The attacker was named as the J-League's Rookie of the Year in 2015 when he scored nine goals."I was stunned, but I have the confidence to succeed wherever I go," Asano told reporters when he initially heard of Arsenal's interest.Asano will be Arsenal's second signing ahead of the new season following the arrival of Switzerland midfielder Granit Xhaka. The Gunners missed out on the capture of Leicester City's Jamie Vardy prior to their pursuit of Asano.
The Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, has condemned the ban placed on post UTMEs by the federal government of Nigeria.





The Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, has condemned the ban placed on post UTMEs by the federal government of Nigeria.According to a statement issued by its chairman, Dr. Deji Omole, the decision adds no gain to the Nigerian educational system and is ill-timed as FG currently owes public universities about N1bn intervention fund.He said the pronouncements by the Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu had eroded the autonomy of university in admission of students.The, autocratic pronouncement was a non issue when compared with fundamental issue of funding universities and meeting ASUU-FGN 2009 agreements, he said.Omole also flayed Education Minister Adamu Adamu. He said it was obvious the Minister was oblivious of extant university autonomy granted the Senate of Nigerian Universities to determine the procedures for the conduct of admission and regulate admission of its students.A Nigerian Minister of Education must make pronouncement based on sound academic research not on road-side talk which queries his very essence of being appointed as a Minister, the union leader said.He reiterated that JAMB be decentralized since it lacked the ability to conduct credible and dependable examination upon which credible universities like University of Ibadan can rely.Making reference to a research conducted by Professor Afolabi Bamgboye in the University of Ibadan, he stressed that the findings revealed that higher JAMB scores have negative relationship with the performances of students at 100 university degree examinations.According to Omole, JAMB has outlived its credibility as indicated in last examination exercise it conducted where candidates who did not finish examinations or had issues with their Computer Based Test were awarded extra 40 marks arbitrarily without justifications.
Isidore Edet, general officer commanding (GOC) 81 Div. of the Nigerian army in Lagos, on Sunday said the division arrests Boko Haram insur...

Isidore Edet, general officer commanding (GOC) 81 Div. of the Nigerian army in Lagos, on Sunday said the division arrests Boko Haram insurgents on a daily basis.Edet said members of the sect who flee the superior power of the military in the north-east come to Lagos.He made the assertion at the inter-denominational service organised to commemorate the Nigerian army celebration day at Saint Charles Lwanga Catholic Church, Ikeja cantonment.Almost on a daily basis, we arrest Boko Haram members that flee into Lagos just like they flee to other places, he said.They have seen that the war is being won so they are running, so the army in conjunction with other security agencies arrest them almost on a daily basis.Initially they deny when we ask them questions, but when we probe further, they start revealing where they fought, how they killed soldiers, how they detonated bombs in post office, Maiduguri and so on.By this, we do what we need to do by sending them to the higher authorities to do what the laws and the constitution of Nigeria says it will do with them.Edet said the officers and soldiers in the army should be thankful to God for witnessing another army celebration day, adding that many colleagues had died during the fight against Boko Haram insurgents.Many of our colleagues have died in this war against Boko Haram insurgents. Some of them, we have seen their graves and some, we did not see, he said.So, we have every reason for those that are still alive to thank God for giving us victory against Boko Haram insurgents.So many others are amputated; some are even using crutches because they fought against Boko Haram insurgents so that we would have one country.About a year ago, we were object of public ridicule, those of us in uniforms, if we talk, the public will say go and fight Boko Haram insurgents and stop making noise.But we thank today that the Almighty God who trained our hands for war has taken the shame away.And now Nigerians are proud of us again as their soldiers saying we are at the front line.
Okon Abang, justice of the federal high court, Abuja, says he will not set aside his previous order removing Okezie Ikpeazu as govern...

Okon Abang, justice of the federal high court, Abuja, says he will not set aside his previous order removing Okezie Ikpeazu as governor of Abia state.

Ikpeazu, through Wole Olanipekun (SAN), had filed an application asking the court to vacate the order.But in a ruling on Monday, Abang said that he would not set aside the order, but that he would hear other applications on the matter on Thursday.

On June 27, the judge ruled that Ikpeazu was not qualified to hold office as Abia governor because he had filed a fake tax clearance before his election in 2015.





He had given the judgment in a suit filed by Uche Ogah, a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain, against Ikpeazu.





In the suit, Ogah contended that the governor filed a forged tax certificate prior to his election, and as such he was not qualified to hold an elective office.





The judge upheld the argument of Ogah, ordering the removal of Ikpeazu.





Abang also ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to issue a certificate of return to Ogah, who was first runner-up in the PDP Abia governorship primary election, as governor of the state.
Fernando Torres has signed a one-year contract with Spanish giant Atletico Madrid following the expiration of his deal with AC Milan."I'm delighted to continue at home, the only place where I ever wanted to be, and it has finally come true," Torres told Atletico's official website."[I am] happy to be here. I've never had doubts about where I wanted to be during all this process in which we didn't know what was going to happen and, in the end, what matters is that I have achieved what I was expecting."Torres joined Atletico on an 18-month loan from AC Milan in January 2015 but scored just six times in 27 appearances before the end of the 2014-15 campaign.The striker's difficulties continued the following season but, after a drought of more than four months, he scored his 100th goal for the club in the 3-1 victory over Eibar in February this year.
It was a carnival-like atmosphere at the Port Harcourt international airport on Sunday evening, as former President Goodluck Jonathan retu...

It was a carnival-like atmosphere at the Port Harcourt international airport on Sunday evening, as former President Goodluck Jonathan returned to the country after an international tour.Accompanied by Patience, his wife, Jonathan who wore a black suit and donned his usual native hat, waved to the jubilant crowd who received him.The atmosphere was similar to the days when he was in power.Nyesom Wike, governor of Rivers state, led top government officials to welcome the immediate past president.Security personnel were also on ground to control the crowd of supporters who thronged the airport to welcome the former first family.After exchanging pleasantries with some associates, Jonathan interacted with Wike and some of his aides before departing to his hometown of Otuoke in neighbouring Bayelsa state.Jonathan left Nigeria on June 4 after spending only 48 hours in the country.Within that period, he met with President Muhammadu Buhari, and both men were believed to have discussed about the resurgence of militancy.While in England, he delivered a speech at a session organised by Bloomberg, and later granted an interview where he said he was being investigated for corruption.The comment sparked reactions, particularly on social media.
President Muhammadu Buhari has said he would be fair to all sections and tribes of Nigeria, assuring that he would never marginalize anyo...

President Muhammadu Buhari has said he would be fair to all sections and tribes of Nigeria, assuring that he would never marginalize anyone. The President gave the assurance at the palace of the Emir of Daura, Dr. Farouk Umar Farouk during the breaking of Ramadan fast.Accompanied by the Governor of Katsina Aminu Bello Masari and that of Zamfara State, AbdulAziz Yari Abubakar who later addressed a crowd of people thanked the Emir for honor done to him.Speaking in Hausa language, the president said that under his watch, no section of the country will either be discriminated or marginalized, urging the people to continue to pray for the unity of the country.The event also attracted the Deputy Governor, the SSG and speaker of the Katsina State Assembly and many Traditional title holders which featured special prayers, peace, unity, stability and sustainable development of the country.
Abia State Governor Okezie Ikpeazu is to remain in office pending the outcome of his appeal against last weeks decision of the Federal ...

Abia State Governor Okezie Ikpeazu is to remain in office pending the outcome of his appeal against last weeks decision of the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, which declared him ineligible for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) ticket with which he contested last years general election.Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice Abubakar Malami (SAN) yesterday advised that all the parties should wait for the outcome of the appeal before any action is taken.Following Justice Okon Abangs order, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), in compliance with the forthwith order of the court, issued a certificate of return to Dr. Uchechukwu Ogah, the plaintiff favoured by the judgment, which found the governor guilty of tax certificate deficiencies.Ogah then proceeded to Umuahia to press for his swearing in but Chief Judge was unavailable, thereby creating a political stalemate in the state.The Attorney General distanced himself from the controversy in a statement yesterday by Salihu Isah, his media assistant. Malami, who advised parties to the crisis to await the final resolution of the dispute by the courts, said he was yet to offer any legal opinion on the issue because no one has sought his opinion.The AGF faulted insinuations that his office was prompted by the Federal Government to advise INEC to issue Ogah with a certificate of return.The statement said: The attention of the office of the Honourable Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice has been drawn to the insinuations and crass lies being peddled and disseminated by a cross-section of Nigerians and the various media platforms that the Honourable Attorney General of the Federation is behind the legal logjam over the Abia State governorship seat and wishes to clarify that those canvassing this position have no basis to do so.Of particular concern are those who have peddled ill-natured rumours with a view to misinform our discerning populace that it was the Honourable Attorney General of the Federation and, by extension, the Federal Government of Nigeria that gave directives to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to issue Certificate of Return to Dr. Uchechukwu Ogah declaring him governor-elect.He has definitely not taken any action either by spoken words or body language as far as this Abia governorship crisis is concerned.I wish to, therefore, on behalf of my principal, declare that these rumours are untrue and a figment of the imagination of those pushing these selfish, shameless and irredeemable lies into public space which only translates to partisanship on the side of its purveyors. As far as the Honourable Attorney General of the Federation is concerned, the constitutional powers for the legal opinion of his office have not been invoked on this issue. So far, nobody has approached him to proffer any legal opinion to it.As a strong believer in the rule of law, it is his belief that the law should naturally take its cause. The Honourable Attorney General of the Federation will not be dragged into this controversy and mind-games being played out by the various legal minds and spin doctors of both camps at this point. The parties involved should await the decision of the courts.In fact, we wish to by this statement advise those in the habit of dragging the highly esteemed office of the Honourable Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice into knotty issues of this kind, even when it is yet to take a position, to desist from these unwarranted presumptions henceforth.
Scores of Muslim pilgrims from Lagos state gathered at the Kaabah to pray for Akinwunmi Ambode, the state governor, at the weekend.

Scores of Muslim pilgrims from Lagos state gathered at the Kaabah to pray for Akinwunmi Ambode, the state governor, at the weekend.In a press statement from the state government, the prayer session at the most sacred Muslim site in the world was said to have been led by Sheikh Khalifa Abubakar Dieye from Senegal as well as Abiodun Yinusa and Sheikh Ibrahim Hamdallah from Nigeria.Idris Aregbe, the coordinator of Our Lagos, Your Lagos Initiative, led the pilgrims to the prayer for Ambode, who is a Christian.The prayers saw pilgrims under the aegis of the Our Lagos, Your Lagos Initiative seize the period of the Lesser Hajj to pray for the second year in office of Ambode-led administration, the statement said.Aregbe said the first term of Governor Ambode was characterised by series of laudable projects including improved road infrastructure, schools upgrade, improving the healthcare sector, and massive investment in the security apparatus in the State.He said they decided to utilise the period of the Ramadan to commit the progress of the State.He also expressed optimism that with Governor Ambode on the saddle as helmsman, the State is bound to grow in leaps and bounds in the midst of economic challenges across the country.They were said to have commended Ambode for starting on a very sound footing despite the economic challenges in the country.
In an attempt to checkmate activities of some of its men in the rumoured plan of a coup, the Military has started monitoring telephone co...

In an attempt to checkmate activities of some of its men in the rumoured plan of a coup, the Military has started monitoring telephone conversations and text messages of officers and soldiers.Also, security has been beefed up in all military formations and barracks , with a warning to all serving officers and personnel including members of their families to mind the company they keep. Cautioning officers and soldiers under 81 Division of the Nigerian Army, Lagos, yesterday, during the Interdenominational church Service at Saint Charles Lwanga Catholic Church in Ikeja Cantonment., to mark this years Nigerian Army Day celebration, its General Officer Commanding, Major-General Isidore Edet, urged them to guard their utterances.He said  The Chief of Army Staff, COAS wants us to remind ourselves that at this critical point in our national life and especially in Lagos and the Military where there are rumours of coup, whether they are perceived or real, that as soldiers we should be very careful of the company we keep. What we need to do as soldiers is to be on the guard, to be watchful of the people that go in and out of the barracks, our mammy markets and places where we eat.We should be careful of what we hear them say by listening attentively so that we can pick what they are saying or planning because when those people want to do this things they come into the barracks and try to incite the barracks community on things that are happening in the country, with words like: Dont you think you should do something? Maybe they buy you drinks and fish and while you drink and eat with them, they start a conversation.Report such people so that you do not say I didnt know at the end. Mind what you say and the company you keep. Your telephone conversation is something you should be very careful about because whatever you say or heard are being monitored.Whatever you send through the medium is being intercepted and collated so be careful, he stated , informing that the alleged planed coup was being investigated.
Adams Oshiomhole of Edo state has urged Nigerians to be patient with the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, saying that it wi...

Adams Oshiomhole of Edo state has urged Nigerians to be patient with the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, saying that it will take some time to fix the nations economy which according to him was battered by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for 16 years. Oshiomhole made this appeal shortly after Lagos lawyer, Femi Falana (SAN), hinted jokingly, while delivering a lecture at the 60th birthday celebration of the Secretary to the Edo state Government, Prof.Julius Ihonvbere, that he may soon embark on a probe to review the performance of President Buhari.However, Oshiomhole who acknowledged the current difficulties being faced by Nigerians, asserted that the APC led government in the country is working round the clock to find solution to the problems. The governor said: Changes takes time, not only in the life of a person but more also in the life of a nation.This a country that was ran down for 16 years by PDP. The APC government is going to achieve sincere change for Nigerians and we are working towards that. Commending Prof. Ihonvbere for helping his administration kick out the PDP government in Edo state, Oshiomhole said Let me thank you for that honour for joining forces with us to sustain the fight against the forces that dont think that Edo is entitled to development. And working side by side, we have cleaned up the political space.Even now that the umbrella has turned into three pieces, they are still boasting. When Edo was under one mans rule, those voices were loud, they would have told you whether or not there is vacancy in Osadebey Avenue.As you can see working together, strategizing together, mobilizing together, for refusing to agonize we are standing and they are down. There is no way I would have been able to achieve all these without the encouragement that you (Ihonvbere) have always readily offered, in a moment of doubt when we are strategizing he stated. Expressing his gratitude to Oshiomhole for saving me from that wicked hands of the PDP in the state Ihonvbere said  I will continue to say that the courage he (Oshiomhole) has deployed in repositioning and refocusing Edo state is unparalleled.The next governor has a lot of work to do because to meet the standard already met requires 24 hours attention. But the good thing is that the Comrade Governor will not be too far away to assist with his advice he said.
Senator Ahmed Makarfi, chairman of the Caretaker Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has accused factional chairman, Senator ...

Senator Ahmed Makarfi, chairman of the Caretaker Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has accused factional chairman, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff of positioning himself as presidential candidate of the party for 2019.In an interview with newsmen, Makarfi said those already linking PDP issues to 2019 were right.It was known to the majority of the people that the former chairman, Modu Sheriff, assumed he was already the presidential candidate of the PDP and offering the position of running mate to different governors.We want to be allowed to finish this job within three months and go. So where is the hidden agenda here? Nobody has heard us campaign for any individual to succeed us. There is absolutely no hidden agenda for the Caretaker Committee. We want people to elect their national officers freely, he said.On what leaders of the party are currently doing to bring peace, he said: They have been trying to make Sheriff see reasons why there should be peace. And whatever they come out with in the spirit of peace, even if it means that we vacate our positions, we will do so.Makarfi said although external forces cannot be ruled out in the ongoing PDP saga, that had not been confirmed yet.I have to be honest and sincere; I have not seen the evidence of government as an entity. Maybe some individuals from the party in power are interfering, purely for local interests. We have seen traces of that, he stated.
One Mohammed Ogbanago, who works as a security guard with the United Bank for Africa, UBA, has recounted how he was mocked and ridiculed a...

One Mohammed Ogbanago, who works as a security guard with the United Bank for Africa, UBA, has recounted how he was mocked and ridiculed after he returned about N2.8m misplaced by a customer.The 29-year-old who reportedly earns N30, 000 per month, had on April 7, 2016, found the whopping sum of N2.8m close to the main gate of the Oba Akran branch of the UBA in Lagos State where he worked.The money was said to have fallen from the bulk withdrawn by a bank customer and the security guard on seeing this, reportedly took the money to the banks operation manager who then handed it over to the customer when he revisited the bank.According to the reports, the banks Chief Executive Officer, CEO, Tony Elumelu, at the banks corporate headquarters on the Lagos Island, hosted Ogbanago and applauded him for the action.Ogbanago who hails from Kogi State said he graduated from the state College of Education in 2012.He explained that he returned the money to show that all Nigerians were not corrupt and to set a good example for Nigerian youths, adding that the story of an airport cleaner (Josephine Agwu), who returned the N12m she found at her work place, also inspired him.He said, And my chance came on that day. I was coming from inside the bank when I saw the money on the ground and I decided that the best thing was for me to take it to the operation manager. The owner of the money later came to ask for it.After I did that, some people started ridiculing me that I shouldnt have returned the money and that I should have considered my meagre salary before letting go of such a huge sum of money. But I felt I did the right thing.If I had, for instance, taken the money away and fled to my village, it would not be a case of misplaced money again, but stealing and I could even be declared wanted.Although my salary may not be enough for my upkeep, especially with the current economic situation in the country, it is no excuse to take what is not mine. I have been campaigning that to make Nigeria great, we all must prove to be good Nigerians in our small corners. Not all Nigerians are corrupt.I am happy I had the chance to prove myself and I want other Nigerian youths to learn from it. I want our youths to know that a good name is better than riches, he added.
Police Personnel of the Safer Highway Patrol team under Aba Area Command has successfully rescued a chieftain and former Governorship asp...

Police Personnel of the Safer Highway Patrol team under Aba Area Command has successfully rescued a chieftain and former Governorship aspirant of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Abia State, Ukpai Ukairo from kidnappers den.Ukairo who is the southeast legal adviser of the PDP was said to have been heading to Aba after a meeting of the party in Umuahia, the state capital when the armed men numbering five attacked him.It was gathered that his Personal Assistant and driver that were kidnapped alongside the PDP lawyer have also regained their freedom and reunited with their families unhurt and without any payment of ransom.Three members of the gang including leader of a notorious robbery and kidnapped gang identified as Onyekachi Ogbonnaya are in custody of the Aba Area Command where they were said to be undergoing further interrogation.Sources at the Aba Area Command told our reporter that police had already launched manhunt on other members of the gang who were still at large.A highly placed source at the Aba Area Command that pleaded anonymity told our reporter that police has also recovered a Toyota Vensa belonging to the PDP chieftain which was also taken away by the hoodlums.
The Peoples Democratic Party PDP, in Osun State has described President Muhammad Buhari administrations war against corruption of as an a...

The Peoples Democratic Party PDP, in Osun State has described President Muhammad Buhari administrations war against corruption of as an attempt to weaken the opposition before the 2019 elections and that if Buharis government must probe where Fayose and Omisore got their governorship campaign funds from, then same should be done to Aregbesola, Oshiomole and Fayemi.The party further asked if their two different sets of laws and morality in the books of the Federal government as it pursues its agenda? The party made this known, on Monday, in a statement by its chairman, Mr. Soji Adagunodo speaking against the arrest of Senator Iyiola Omisore by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission EFCC drew the attention of the international community to what it described as selective and highhandedness that trailed the anti corruption war of the present administration.According to the statement:It is pertinent at this point to draw the attention of well-meaning Nigerians and indeed the international community to the gross impunity, selectivity and high handedness which have trailed the anti-corruption war of the APC government led by retired General Muhammadu Buhari in the last one year.It is becoming evident with each passing day that the Buhari administration is using its much vaunted war against graft as a tool to decimate the camp of those who disagree with it on any issue and ensure that it remains politically relevant as another General election draws nearer.An objective assessment of the corruption war so far shows a clear lack of sincerity, clear partisanship and apparent steam of vendetta exhibited in the way the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission cherry picks its targets depending mainly on whether they are in agreements or in opposition to the politics of the President.Nigerians will recall that since the Buhari administration came on board a little over a year ago, the only known friend of the President who had been arrested on charges of corruption was one Mr. Jaffar Issa who was picked by the EFCC early January on allegations that he received a hundred million Naira from the office of the National Security adviser. A few days later however, Mr. Issa was released from custody and has remained a free man till date.While dozens of petitions have been written with documentary evidence of corrupt practices against at least two serving ministers of the Buhari administration (Dr Kayode Fayemi and Mr. Rotimi Amaechi), the EFCC has ignored calls for their investigation and prosecution. Well reported and documented allegations of corruption, influence peddling and nepotism in the recruitment into the CBN, FIRS and other federal agencies have equally been glossed over by the anti-graft agency.A 50 billion dollar bribery allegation made against an energy company where persons close to the President are known to have some interests has also been left unattended for reasons well known to discerning members of the public.While the EFCC is busy pursuing leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party ; throwing them into illegal detentions and subjecting them to humiliating media trials over campaign funds used in governorship and presidential elections, it has failed to beam its search on how the ruling APC hired private jets and International PR consultants, mobilized for rallies, sponsored TV and Newspaper advertorials and carried out other expenses running into trillions of Naira when it is on record that its Presidential candidate claimed he could not afford a sum of 27 million Naira to buy his nomination form in 2014.If you must probe where Fayose and Omisore got their governorship campaign funds from, why not beam the same light on how Aregbesola, Oshiomole and Fayemi funded theirs? Are their two different sets of laws and morality in the books of the Federal government as it pursues its agenda? Should the EFCC which is itself a product of the law turn against the law in the way it violates the constitution and court orders especially as it haunts Governor Ayo Fayose, Otunba Iyiola Omisore and other PDP leaders?Nigerians will also recollect that a notable Lagos lawyer and human rights activist, Mr. Ebun Adegboruwa who had been vocal in his criticism of the one sided, ill-conceived corruption war of the Buhari administration was arrested and detained a few days after appearing on a Television show to demand that the Buhari administration follows due process of the law and adopt a less partisan approach in the corruption war.It is pertinent to repeat that our party is willing to support any genuine efforts to stamp out the menace of corruption from our public life on the condition that such efforts are holistic and non-discriminatory. Nigeria is our common heritage and must be saved from the hemorrhage of looting of public funds under any guise and by any group of persons regardless of their political leanings.What we reject is the present deceptive campaign which is an apparent political gimmick to hide the monumental failure of the APC government to positively affect the lives of the vast majority of Nigerians after more than one year in office.We are convinced that what the Buhari administration seeks to do is to stifle dissenting voices and make political opposition weaker in order to have a smooth sail in the 2019 elections. This appears to be the only option for a party that has not and may not make any meaningful difference in the social-economic life of the citizens in the next three years. This is an option Nigerians must collectively reject in the interest of our dear Nation.
The lawmaker representing Anambra North Senatorial District in the National Assembly, Senator Stella Oduah, has dismissed as malicious and fictitious rumour by an online publication that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, discovered the sum of N2.5bn in an account opened in the name of her purported housemaid, insisting that such account does not exist.





A statement issued on Monday by the lawmakers media aide, Francisca Onyeisi, stressed that the report is totally false, baseless and at best the imagination of the platform, which it said is bent on extorting and blackmailing leaders in its continuous attempt by their paymasters to break the rank of Senators of the 8th Assembly.





It accused the source of the story of posting uncorroborated and misleading reports to promote the agenda of certain elements whose fight against corruption can only be seen on pages of newspaper and pockets of their media spinners while millions of Nigerians remain unemployed and hundreds of thousands of kids go to bed hungry every day.





The statement reads, The online platform claimed their sources in EFCC said a whopping 5.6 billion must have been stolen, then went further to contradict itself that the agency had determined it was 3.6 Billion then again reduced it to 2.5 billion in the same publication. The distinguish Senator laments the despicable low that the online platform has drawn the reputable profession of journalism to which unfortunately unsuspecting platforms will copy and paste on theirs without even lifting a pen to confirm the story. Senator further went to challenge if truly such account exists as claimed by the online platform and it is still operational and she not the so called housemaid have not been called in for questioning when the agency is freezing accounts and going after opposition governors who enjoy same level of immunity as the president.





We also want to state that while the online platform, well known for its penchant for lies and spurious allegations may have made another calculated attempt to taint the enviable record and achievements of the distinguished Senator who had made a mark in Oil/Gas and Agricultural businesses before joining politics, we therefore challenge Sahara Reporters to produce evidence of the imaginary account of the supposed housemaid to members of the public.





Senator Stella Oduah who made a name for herself during her tenure as a minister instituting serious reforms in the aviation sector and in last one year as a Distinguish Senator has raised series of important Bills and Motions to help strengthen the Nigerian Economy and our institutions reiterated that at no time did she ask or try to meet with the EFCC Chairman.
Stoke City are interested in signing ex-Manchester United winger Nani, assistant boss Mark Bowen has confirmed.Nani, who is currently preparing for Portugal's Euro 2016 semi-final clash against Wales on Wednesday, left Old Trafford for Fenerbahce last summer after a season on loan at Sporting Lisbon.But Stoke boss Mark Hughes is keen to lure the 29-year-old back to England, although he faces competition for the player's signature from Spanish side Valencia."I know there is an interest there. Valencia are a big club but it is the draw of the Premier League," Stoke assistant Bowen told talkSPORT."He is player that Mark admires a lot and he has had a very good tournament. Without giving too much away, there is an interest there and let's see what happens."In my opinion, he left the Premier League far too early. He had his time at Manchester United and had been a big player for them and he seemed to drift away rather than step into another club in the Premier League."If he is ready to come back, then I'm sure there will be a lot of clubs interested in him."Sporting Lisbon academy graduate Nani joined Manchester United for a fee in the region of 22m in 2008, scoring 40 goals and supplying 73 assists in 230 appearances for the Red Devils.
NEWARK - A four-alarm blaze that spread to multiple buildings in Newark late Sunday displaced 28 residents and sent a firefighter to the hospital for evaluation, authorities said.

A four-alarm blaze spread to multiple buildings in Newark late Tuesday. (Photo courtesy of Newark police)

More than 100 firefighters battled the fire, which was reported in a three-story residence on Pennsylvania Avenue shortly after 11 p.m., authorities said.

When firefighters arrived, they found multiple three-story buildings involved and by midnight, the blaze had been escalated to four alarms.

The fire damaged four buildings, three of them occupied. One of the buildings was a 2 1/2 story new construction house. The fire was declared under control by 2:38 a.m., authorities said.

A firefighter was taken to a local hospital for evaluation, authorities said. Additional details on the firefighter's condition were not immediately available.

The Newark Fire Division's Community Service Unit and the American Red Cross were assisting the 21 adults and 7 children displaced by the fire.

At least two of the buildings are likely to be demolished from the extensive damage, though a final determination will be made after an inspection on Monday, authorities said.
Jason Pierre-Paul is vacationing overseas on this Fourth of July, the one-year anniversary of the fireworks accident that changed his career, and his life.

A glance at his social media accounts shows the Giants' star defensive end is in Europe. That definitely fits the criteria of being a place "where they don't celebrate the Fourth of July," as he coyly told reporters last month when asked about his holiday plans.

But no matter where he is, a career-defining season awaits him when he reports to training camp with the rest of the Giants on July 28.

Pierre-Paul has come a long, remarkable way over the last 366 days. When he severely damaged his right hand a year ago, he became the butt of jokes and national ridicule, losing his index finger and millions of dollars as the possibility his relationship with the Giants was broken beyond repair seemed very real.

But after a nearly four-month separation, Pierre-Paul returned and signed a pro-rated contract in late October. He's hit pretty much every note ever since, playing his heart out on the field and becoming a leader off it, embracing his role model status to assist fellow burn victims and help educate others about the dangers of fireworks, and positioning himself as a realistic candidate for a team captaincy this fall, any issues he once had with the organization having washed away.

But still, one big question remains: Exactly what kind of player is Pierre-Paul now?

We know he can still impact games. Pierre-Paul miraculously demonstrated that during his abbreviated 2015 season, giving the Giants' punchless pass rush a clear lift from Day 1.

But he also showed clear limitations. Pierre-Paul only finished with one sack in eight games. He struggled to finish rushes and notch tackles while forced to wear a bulky protective club on his hand. Sometimes, it appeared that if Pierre-Paul could not beat an offensive tackle with his first move off the snap, he was immediately out of the play.

This season - Pierre-Paul's prove-it year - will answer that question. Both he and the Giants believe he will be a Pro Bowl-caliber pass rusher again with the club gone and a full offseason of training under his belt. But, Pierre-Paul has to prove that is the case. He can earn up to $10.5 million this season, but many more millions in future salary are at stake.

By re-signing with the Giants on a one-year deal, Pierre-Paul has made a smart bet on himself.

If Pierre-Paul returns to elite status, he will command much more money as an unrestricted free agent next March than he would have this spring with uncertainties still surrounding him. And if things do not work out as he hopes, and Pierre-Paul's 2015 performance proves to be what he is now capable of, he has $8.5 million in guaranteed money coming his way in 2016, and can still continue his career as an above-average player going forward at an appropriate price.

The move was also a win for the Giants. It would have been a punch to the gut for the organization if, after weathering the storm, Pierre-Paul has gone and become a Pro Bowler again for, say, the Arizona Cardinals. They now get to find out what he is capable of at a reasonable price, without investing too much out of good faith.

If Pierre-Paul's level of play does not raise considerably, the Giants can approach the future accordingly. And if he does put together a big season, the Giants will reap the rewards on the field as they seek to end their postseason drought.

And yes, the Giants do face the possibility they could lose Pierre-Paul after this season if he turns in a stellar year. They should have a good amount of cap space after this year, but other teams will have more. Truth be told, the Giants would likely sign up for the threat a team like the Jacksonville Jaguars could price them out on Pierre-Paul in 2017 the way the Giants did to the Jags with Olivier Vernon. Because that would mean Pierre-Paul was a force to be reckoned with in 2016.

And, remember, the Giants will have the franchise tag in their back pocket if they want it. They could bring this whole thing full circle if desired, tagging Pierre-Paul in order to buy time to work out a long-term deal - just as was the situation one year ago.

But all of that is a long way down the road. First, a career-defining season awaits Pierre-Paul. The way he has handled his unfortunate circumstance over the past year has been commendable and should be celebrated. But the full story will not be finished until the final remaining question is answered in the months to come.

TALK IS CHEAP, Ep. 56: Recapping the spring, and a big announcement

Subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, Soundcloud or iHeartRadio.

James Kratch can be reached at jkratch@njadvancemedia.com or by leaving a note in the comments below. Follow him on Twitter @JamesKratch. Find and like NJ.com Giants on Facebook.
nypd

A Jersey City man was fatally shot by an off-duty NYPD officer after an apparent road rage incident.

(Journal File Photo)

The brother of a New Jersey man who was fatally shot early this morning by an off-duty police officer after an apparent road rage incident said the 37-year-old was visiting his family at the time of the altercation, reports say.

Delron Dempsey, a Jersey City resident, grew up in East New York and was visiting his girlfriend, their newborn baby and teenage children, NBC New York reported.

The New York Daily News reported that Dempsey nearly crashed with the off-duty NYPD officer on Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn. Police said Dempsey got out of his car and attacked the other driver, who then fatally shot the Jersey City man.

A witness to the altercation, who said he was friends with the victim, told the New York Daily News that the off-duty officer got out of his car and started screaming at Dempsey.

"He just shot him right there on the street. Delron was unarmed. His wife and kids were still in the car," Lloyd Banks told the New York Daily News. "They saw everything."

Dempsey's family said they have hired an attorney. His brother, Ali Dempsey, said his brother did not want to fight in front of his family, NBC reported.

"The only reason he got out of the car was because the family was in the car," Ali Dempsey told NBC. "He was concerned. He wanted to question the guy, like, what's your angle?"

Dempsey was pronounced dead at the scene and the officer was taken to a local hospital, NBC reported.
Nathan Eovaldi

Yankees catcher Brian McCann visits pitcher Nathan Eovaldi in the fifth inning during a game against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field on June 14, 2016. (Dustin Bradford | Getty Images)

CHICAGO -- Yankees manager Joe Girardi said Nathan Eovaldi's move to the bullpen shouldn't be considered a long-term move.



That's hard to believe.



Eovaldi was bumped to relief before the Yankees faced the White Sox at U.S. Cellular Field on Monday.

Mr. October calls out A-Rod, Teixeira



He'll be used in a seventh-eighth inning role Monday as the Yankees try to get by without having Andrew Miller or Dellin Betances available due to recent heavy workloads, Girardi said.



After Monday, he'll become a middle-inning bridge -- something the Yankees haven't had since trading the underrated Adam Warren to the Cubs in the offseason.



Chad Green, who gave up just a run in six innings Sunday, will take Eovaldi's start on Friday, Girardi said.



Here's why it's unlikely the Yankees really believe Eovaldi will grab his spot back in the rotation any time soon, barring injury.



1.) Eovaldi's been terrible: After looking like a front-end starter through May, Eovaldi has a 9.20 ERA in his last six starts.



2.) Girardi said Eovaldi could fix himself in the bullpen, but ... : How, exactly, does one do that? The 26-year-old former top prospect with a fastball that's touched 102 mph has been a starter almost his whole career. He's supposed to now get over his control problems and find his splitter's consistency in a role with which he's unfamiliar?



3.) They like Green: The 25-year-old was 6-6 with a 1.54 ERA in 14 starts at Triple-A, he he struck out about a batter an inning. Then he showed up Sunday with improved command of his 95 mph fastball and slider and picked apart a weak Padres lineup. He's worth another look, especially with Eovaldi struggling and the Yankees needing every win they can get to stay in the playoff hunt.



4.) The time of change: The Yankees are done giving underperforming players slack. That's why Alex Rodriguez has lost at-bats against right-handers and why Rob Refsnyder keeps finding himself in the lineup. Eovaldi's move to the bullpen is another sign the Yankees are in whatever-it-takes mode.

Brendan Kuty may be reached at bkuty@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @BrendanKutyNJ. Find NJ.com Yankees on Facebook.
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Elie Wiesel Nobel Lecture

Nobel Lecture, December 11, 1986

Hope, despair and memory

A Hasidic legend tells us that the great Rabbi Baal-Shem-Tov, Master of the Good Name, also known as the Besht, undertook an urgent and perilous mission: to hasten the coming of the Messiah. The Jewish people, all humanity were suffering too much, beset by too many evils. They had to be saved, and swiftly. For having tried to meddle with history, the Besht was punished; banished along with his faithful servant to a distant island. In despair, the servant implored his master to exercise his mysterious powers in order to bring them both home. Impossible, the Besht replied. My powers have been taken from me. Then, please, say a prayer, recite a litany, work a miracle. Impossible, the Master replied, I have forgotten everything. They both fell to weeping.

Suddenly the Master turned to his servant and asked: Remind me of a prayer  any prayer . If only I could, said the servant. I too have forgotten everything. Everything  absolutely everything? Yes, except  Except what? Except the alphabet. At that the Besht cried out joyfully: Then what are you waiting for? Begin reciting the alphabet and I shall repeat after you. And together the two exiled men began to recite, at first in whispers, then more loudly: Aleph, beth, gimel, daleth. And over again, each time more vigorously, more fervently; until, ultimately, the Besht regained his powers, having regained his memory.

I love this story, for it illustrates the messianic expectation -which remains my own. And the importance of friendship to mans ability to transcend his condition. I love it most of all because it emphasizes the mystical power of memory. Without memory, our existence would be barren and opaque, like a prison cell into which no light penetrates; like a tomb which rejects the living. Memory saved the Besht, and if anything can, it is memory that will save humanity. For me, hope without memory is like memory without hope.

Just as man cannot live without dreams, he cannot live without hope. If dreams reflect the past, hope summons the future. Does this mean that our future can be built on a rejection of the past? Surely such a choice is not necessary. The two are not incompatible. The opposite of the past is not the future but the absence of future; the opposite of the future is not the past but the absence of past. The loss of one is equivalent to the sacrifice of the other.

A recollection. The time: After the war. The place: Paris. A young man struggles to readjust to life. His mother, his father, his small sister are gone. He is alone. On the verge of despair. And yet he does not give up. On the contrary, he strives to find a place among the living. He acquires a new language. He makes a few friends who, like himself, believe that the memory of evil will serve as a shield against evil; that the memory of death will serve as a shield against death.

This he must believe in order to go on. For he has just returned from a universe where God, betrayed by His creatures, covered His face in order not to see. Mankind, jewel of his creation, had succeeded in building an inverted Tower of Babel, reaching not toward heaven but toward an anti-heaven, there to create a parallel society, a new creation with its own princes and gods, laws and principles, jailers and prisoners. A world where the past no longer counted  no longer meant anything.

Stripped of possessions, all human ties severed, the prisoners found themselves in a social and cultural void. Forget, they were told, Forget where you came from; forget who you were. Only the present matters. But the present was only a blink of the Lords eye. The Almighty himself was a slaughterer: it was He who decided who would live and who would die; who would be tortured, and who would be rewarded. Night after night, seemingly endless processions vanished into the flames, lighting up the sky. Fear dominated the universe. Indeed this was another universe; the very laws of nature had been transformed. Children looked like old men, old men whimpered like children. Men and women from every corner of Europe were suddenly reduced to nameless and faceless creatures desperate for the same ration of bread or soup, dreading the same end. Even their silence was the same for it resounded with the memory of those who were gone. Life in this accursed universe was so distorted, so unnatural that a new species had evolved. Waking among the dead, one wondered if one was still alive.

And yet real despair only seized us later. Afterwards. As we emerged from the nightmare and began to search for meaning. All those doctors of law or medicine or theology, all those lovers of art and poetry, of Bach and Goethe, who coldly, deliberately ordered the massacres and participated in them. What did their metamorphosis signify? Could anything explain their loss of ethical, cultural and religious memory? How could we ever understand the passivity of the onlookers and  yes  the silence of the Allies? And question of questions: Where was God in all this? It seemed as impossible to conceive of Auschwitz with God as to conceive of Auschwitz without God. Therefore, everything had to be reassessed because everything had changed. With one stroke, mankinds achievements seemed to have been erased. Was Auschwitz a consequence or an aberration of civilization ? All we know is that Auschwitz called that civilization into question as it called into question everything that had preceded Auschwitz. Scientific abstraction, social and economic contention, nationalism, xenophobia, religious fanaticism, racism, mass hysteria. All found their ultimate expression in Auschwitz.

The next question had to be, why go on? If memory continually brought us back to this, why build a home? Why bring children into a world in which God and man betrayed their trust in one another?

Of course we could try to forget the past. Why not? Is it not natural for a human being to repress what causes him pain, what causes him shame? Like the body, memory protects its wounds. When day breaks after a sleepless night, ones ghosts must withdraw; the dead are ordered back to their graves. But for the first time in history, we could not bury our dead. We bear their graves within ourselves.

For us, forgetting was never an option.

Remembering is a noble and necessary act. The call of memory, the call to memory, reaches us from the very dawn of history. No commandment figures so frequently, so insistently, in the Bible. It is incumbent upon us to remember the good we have received, and the evil we have suffered. New Years Day, Rosh Hashana, is also called Yom Hazikaron, the day of memory. On that day, the day of universal judgment, man appeals to God to remember: our salvation depends on it. If God wishes to remember our suffering, all will be well; if He refuses, all will be lost. Thus, the rejection of memory becomes a divine curse, one that would doom us to repeat past disasters, past wars.

Nothing provokes so much horror and opposition within the Jewish tradition as war. Our abhorrence of war is reflected in the paucity of our literature of warfare. After all, God created the Torah to do away with iniquity, to do away with war1.Warriors fare poorly in the Talmud: Judas Maccabeus is not even mentioned; Bar-Kochba is cited, but negatively2. David, a great warrior and conqueror, is not permitted to build the Temple; it is his son Solomon, a man of peace, who constructs Gods dwelling place. Of course some wars may have been necessary or inevitable, but none was ever regarded as holy. For us, a holy war is a contradiction in terms. War dehumanizes, war diminishes, war debases all those who wage it. The Talmud says, Talmidei hukhamim shemarbin shalom baolam (It is the wise men who will bring about peace). Perhaps, because wise men remember best.

And yet it is surely human to forget, even to want to forget. The Ancients saw it as a divine gift. Indeed if memory helps us to survive, forgetting allows us to go on living. How could we go on with our daily lives, if we remained constantly aware of the dangers and ghosts surrounding us? The Talmud tells us that without the ability to forget, man would soon cease to learn. Without the ability to forget, man would live in a permanent, paralyzing fear of death. Only God and God alone can and must remember everything.

How are we to reconcile our supreme duty towards memory with the need to forget that is essential to life? No generation has had to confront this paradox with such urgency. The survivors wanted to communicate everything to the living: the victims solitude and sorrow, the tears of mothers driven to madness, the prayers of the doomed beneath a fiery sky.

They needed to tell the child who, in hiding with his mother, asked softly, very softly: Can I cry now? They needed to tell of the sick beggar who, in a sealed cattle-car, began to sing as an offering to his companions. And of the little girl who, hugging her grandmother, whispered: Dont be afraid, dont be sorry to die Im not. She was seven, that little girl who went to her death without fear, without regret.

Each one of us felt compelled to record every story, every encounter. Each one of us felt compelled to bear witness, Such were the wishes of the dying, the testament of the dead. Since the so-called civilized world had no use for their lives, then let it be inhabited by their deaths.

The great historian Shimon Dubnov served as our guide and inspiration. Until the moment of his death he said over and over again to his companions in the Riga ghetto: Yidden, shreibt un fershreibt (Jews, write it all down). His words were heeded. Overnight, countless victims become chroniclers and historians in the ghettos, even in the death camps. Even members of the Sonderkommandos, those inmates forced to burn their fellow inmates corpses before being burned in turn, left behind extraordinary documents. To testify became an obsession. They left us poems and letters, diaries and fragments of novels, some known throughout the world, others still unpublished.

After the war we reassured ourselves that it would be enough to relate a single night in Treblinka, to tell of the cruelty, the senselessness of murder, and the outrage born of indifference: it would be enough to find the right word and the propitious moment to say it, to shake humanity out of its indifference and keep the torturer from torturing ever again. We thought it would be enough to read the world a poem written by a child in the Theresienstadt ghetto to ensure that no child anywhere would ever again have to endure hunger or fear. It would be enough to describe a death-camp Selection, to prevent the human right to dignity from ever being violated again.

We thought it would be enough to tell of the tidal wave of hatred which broke over the Jewish people for men everywhere to decide once and for all to put an end to hatred of anyone who is different  whether black or white, Jew or Arab, Christian or Moslem  anyone whose orientation differs politically, philosophically, sexually. A naive undertaking? Of course. But not without a certain logic.

We tried. It was not easy. At first, because of the language; language failed us. We would have to invent a new vocabulary, for our own words were inadequate, anemic.

And then too, the people around us refused to listen; and even those who listened refused to believe; and even those who believed could not comprehend. Of course they could not. Nobody could. The experience of the camps defies comprehension.

Have we failed? I often think we have.

If someone had told us in 1945 that in our lifetime religious wars would rage on virtually every continent, that thousands of children would once again be dying of starvation, we would not have believed it. Or that racism and fanaticism would flourish once again, we would not have believed it. Nor would we have believed that there would be governments that would deprive a man like Lech Walesa of his freedom to travel merely because he dares to dissent. And he is not alone. Governments of the Right and of the Left go much further, subjecting those who dissent, writers, scientists, intellectuals, to torture and persecution. How to explain this defeat of memory?

How to explain any of it: the outrage of Apartheid which continues unabated. Racism itself is dreadful, but when it pretends to be legal, and therefore just, when a man like Nelson Mandela is imprisoned, it becomes even more repugnant. Without comparing Apartheid to Nazism and to its final solution  for that defies all comparison  one cannot help but assign the two systems, in their supposed legality, to the same camp. And the outrage of terrorism: of the hostages in Iran, the coldblooded massacre in the synagogue in Istanbul, the senseless deaths in the streets of Paris. Terrorism must be outlawed by all civilized nations  not explained or rationalized, but fought and eradicated. Nothing can, nothing will justify the murder of innocent people and helpless children. And the outrage of preventing men and women like Andrei Sakharov, Vladimir and Masha Slepak, Ida Nudel, Josef Biegun, Victor Brailowski, Zakhar Zonshein, and all the others known and unknown from leaving their country. And then there is Israel, which after two thousand years of exile and thirty-eight years of sovereignty still does not have peace. I would like to see this people, which is my own, able to establish the foundation for a constructive relationship with all its Arab neighbors, as it has done with Egypt. We must exert pressure on all those in power to come to terms.

And here we come back to memory. We must remember the suffering of my people, as we must remember that of the Ethiopians, the Cambodians, the boat people, Palestinians, the Mesquite Indians, the Argentinian desaparecidos  the list seems endless.

Let us remember Job who, having lost everything  his children, his friends, his possessions, and even his argument with God  still found the strength to begin again, to rebuild his life. Job was determined not to repudiate the creation, however imperfect, that God had entrusted to him.

Job, our ancestor. Job, our contemporary. His ordeal concerns all humanity. Did he ever lose his faith? If so, he rediscovered it within his rebellion. He demonstrated that faith is essential to rebellion, and that hope is possible beyond despair. The source of his hope was memory, as it must be ours. Because I remember, I despair. Because I remember, I have the duty to reject despair. I remember the killers, I remember the victims, even as I struggle to invent a thousand and one reasons to hope.

There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest. The Talmud tells us that by saving a single human being, man can save the world. We may be powerless to open all the jails and free all the prisoners, but by declaring our solidarity with one prisoner, we indict all jailers. None of us is in a position to eliminate war, but it is our obligation to denounce it and expose it in all its hideousness. War leaves no victors, only victims. I began with the story of the Besht. And, like the Besht, mankind needs to remember more than ever. Mankind needs peace more than ever, for our entire planet, threatened by nuclear war, is in danger of total destruction. A destruction only man can provoke, only man can prevent. Mankind must remember that peace is not Gods gift to his creatures, it is our gift to each other.

1. The Torah is the Hebrew name for the first five books of the Scriptures, in which God hands down the tablets of the Law to Moses on Mt. Sinai. In contradistinction to the Law of Moses, the Written Law, the Talmud is the vast compilation of the Oral Law, including rabbinical commentaries and elaborations.

2. Judas Maccabeus led the struggle against Antiochus IV of Syria. He defeated a Syrian expedition and reconsecrated the Temple in Jerusalem (c. 165 B.C.). Simon Bar-Kochba (or Kokba) was the leader of the Hebrew revolt against the Romans, 132-135 A.D.

From Nobel Lectures, Peace 1981-1990, Editor-in-Charge Tore Frangsmyr, Editor Irwin Abrams, World Scientific Publishing Co., Singapore, 1997

Copyright  The Nobel Foundation 1986

To cite this section

MLA style: Elie Wiesel  Nobel Lecture. NobelPrize.org. Nobel Prize Outreach AB 2022. Thu. 27 Oct 2022. <https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/1986/wiesel/lecture/>
Driverless fever is everywhere - except in the freight train industry
Iowa man arrested for lighting fireworks says he did it because 'This is America,' newspaper says
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.
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WHITING  A Calumet College of St. Joseph team is preparing an out-of-this-world experiment members hope will provide useful information in the fight against Alzheimer's disease.

The experiment is scheduled to launch on a SpaceX rocket early next year, then spend four weeks on the International Space Station completing an automated test concerning the peptide associated with Alzheimer's, and the way it behaves in the absence of gravity.

Four Calumet College students and two area high school students are working under the guidance of professors Sandra Chimon Rogers and Ahmed Lakhani on the project, set for launch in February 2017.

The beta amyloid peptide can "misfold," then stack up and lead to an accumulation of plaque and then Alzheimer's, Rogers said.

"There are a number of things that can affect the way the peptide folds," Rogers said. "We don't know how it's going to act in an anti-gravity environment."

Rogers has studied Alzheimer's, focusing on finding a preventative, since 2001, when she was in graduate school.

The students involved in the experiment are Calumet College's Allen Walker, Jennifer Diaz, Elena Cortes and Jake Hayes, and high school students Shana Triplett, from Lockport Township High in Illinois, and Merrick Jakelski, from Valparaiso High.

"We have the background knowledge," Rogers said of Lakhani and herself, but "they do everything."

The project was chosen a year ago to be part of a Center for the Advancement of Science in Space program, with partners including the Boy Scouts of America Pathway to Adventure Council, Texas A&M University and the company NanoRacks.

The Calumet College team presented the progress it's made thus far to representatives of those organizations recently at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Does lack of gravity affect peptide?

The project's challenges include the minimal amount of space available on the station, and NASA criteria ensuring one experiment doesn't interfere with another.

The general responsibilities include instrument-building; Walker, Hayes and Jakelski are working on that. The biological aspects, including preparing the peptide and the solution it will be in, is the focus for Hayes, Cortes, Diaz and Triplett. Triplett also is handling the project's website.

Jakelski is a Science Olympiad participant at Valparaiso.

"I have a big interest in technology," he said. He's recently worked on some of the hardware interfaces for the project.

The project box  measuring 10 by 10 by 15 centimeters  will include four cuvettes, which are the containers that hold the peptide and solution; a base for the cuvettes, generated by a 3D printer; small motors to vibrate the cuvettes to mix the peptides and solution, and a motor to rotate the cuvette holder; the infrared light to shine through the cuvettes; and a detector to read the light passing through the cuvettes.

"What we're looking for is a change in the intensity of the light that goes through," Rogers said. That will allow them to evaluate the impact of the lack of gravity on the peptide's behavior.

The experiment must be fully prepared on delivery to the Kennedy Space Center. The group hopes to have its work done in August, before school starts. They hope to be able to raise the money to travel to Florida for the launch.

Then, they'll wait to receive the data in hope of seeing a difference in the way the peptide behaves.

"We have our hypotheses. We just have to let it run and compare the data," Walker said.
GRIFFITH  A Merrillville man is accused of sexually assaulting a then 15-year-old girl earlier this year, according to court records.

Paul D. Caldwell, 24, was charged Wednesday with four counts of sexual misconduct with a minor. A warrant was issued for his arrest.

The teen told police that she was at a Griffith home the weekend of Feb. 27 when she awoke to Caldwell having sex with her, according to the affidavit. The girl said Caldwell put his clothes on and left the room.

He later allegedly threatened to hit the girl if she told anyone about what happened, according to court records.

The next day, Caldwell took the teen into a laundry room and forced her to have sex, according to the affidavit.

When questioned by police, Caldwell told detectives he didn't do anything improper with the girl.
A local judge is expected to rule within five weeks on the constitutionality of a state law that could drive five Lake County municipal council members from office.

Background:

Lake Superior Court Judge William E. Davis is weighing recent arguments for and against five city and town council members seeking to overturn a 2012 law forbidding elected officials from also being employees of the same government agency.

The Indiana attorney general's office is defending this prohibition, which only went into effect this year.

If Judge Davis rules in their favor, Hobart City Councilman Matthew D. Claussen, New Chicago Town Councilwoman Susan Pelfrey, East Chicago Councilman Juda Parks and Hammond City Councilmen Michael Opinker and Scott Rakos can continue drawing a combined $280,000 a year in public compensation from their other jobs with their communities' police, fire and water departments.

A court document states Claussen earned $59,722 last year as a Hobart police office, a job he has held since 1981. He was paid $13,130 a year as a Hobart city councilman, where he has served since 1995.

Pelfrey received $35,453 in compensation last year, according to the Indiana Gateway database, as office manager for the New Chicago Water Works, where she has been employed since 1991. She earned $10,348 as a New Chicago town councilwoman, where she has served 2010.

Opinker received $125,074 last year as an assistant Hammond fire chief. He's worked at the department since 1994 and as a Hammond city councilman since 2010. He was is entitled to a council salary of $30,000.

Parks received $59,971 last year as an East Chicago police officer. He has worked for the department since 1998. He received $43,985 last year as an East Chicago city councilman, where he has served since 2007.

Rakos was to receive a combined $91,231 last year, according to Gateway, as an assistant Hammond fire chief and a member of the Hammond Port Authority board until he retired to run for the Hammond City Council. A court document states Rakos is losing more than $84,000 in pension benefits by retiring early.

Voters last fall elected Rakos to the City Council and re-elected Claussen, Pelfrey, Opinker and Parks to new terms as well.

What's next

If Judge Davis upholds the law, four of the five say in a court document they cannot make a living on their part-time elected salaries.

A ruling in favor of the law also gives the state further impetus to pursuing other elected officials, who haven't challenged it -- but haven't complied with it, either.

A federal judge in Hammond and the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals earlier upheld the law. Adam Sedia, an attorney for the five, said last week he has no intention of appealing to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Sedia is arguing the law unconstitutionally violates his clients' First Amendment rights to hold public office, and for voters to have the widest choice of candidates.

Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller has said the law ensures local government can't be corrupted by public employees with the power to give themselves raises at the public's expense.

Zoeller said earlier, "We respect the plaintiffs' service in their municipal governments; but the Legislature has firmly drawn the line at serving in no more than one position in a municipality at a time, and the court has upheld that statute. Serving in municipal government is a privilege and should not be primarily about the financial reward."
GARY The Mississippi Delta City of Mound Bayou has designated Saturday as Katie Hall Day.

The celebration is in conjunction with its annual Founders Day ceremonies Friday through Sunday.

Mound Bayou, approximately 100 hundred miles south of Memphis, Tennessee, was founded by two former slaves, Isaiah T. Montgomery and Benjamin T. Green. Both Montgomery and Green were once the property of Joseph E. Davis (brother of Confederate President Jefferson Davis, who served during the American Civil War).

Former U. S. Rep. Katie Beatrice Green Hall, representing Gary and surrounding communities in the 97th and 98th U. S. Congress, was born 6 miles east of Mound Bayou in the rural area on April 3, 1938.

In commemoration of the 30th anniversary of the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. National Holiday Law Observance, the city of Mound Bayou will honor the late Hall. She authored and sponsored a bill making MLK Day a national holiday.

Her version of the King Bill was signed into federal law by President Ronald Reagan on Nov. 2, 1983.
LAPORTE  People wandered around Mike Kings backyard clutching little bouquets of tiny purple flowers.

King and his wife Doreen invited the crowd to their abode, which is also headquarters for Lakeside Lavender and Herbs, their lavender farm on Johnson Road.

Although theyve been growing and selling lavender and lavender products since 2013, it was the couples first ever u-pick open house  and they were overwhelmed by the interest. Doreen King said she expected about 50 people, but when 1,000 people expressed interest on the farms Facebook page, she was wonderfully surprised.

Holy cats! said Mike King. Were thrilled with the response.

The Kings first became lavender farmers three years ago, when Doreen tried to find fresh lavender for her daughter-in-laws wedding shower. With the closest farm in Niles, Michigan, the Kings decided a lavender farm would be a smart retirement activity.

Then in September 2012, Mike King suffered a stroke, and as he overcame some memory and speech loss, their plans changed.

We decided nows the time, said Mike King, who has no medical issues as a result of the stroke. Were not promised tomorrow, so lets dig up our backyard and plant lavender.

Doreen King agreed that the field that they once used as a go-cart track and paint ball field could be put to better use now that the couples children were out of the house.

All we were doing was mowing it, Doreen King said.

So the Kings put in 300 lavender plants  150 of which died.

They were undaunted.

We were encouraged because 150 of them lived, Doreen King said.

Once the couple figured out that drip head irrigation was the key, they were in business. Now, 3,000 lavender plants cover about  of their 3-acre property.

Until now, the Kings have sold their lavender and associated products  such as sleep and yoga masks, dryer balls, lotions, soaps, salves, detergents, sprays and even lavender products used in baking and cooking  at the LaPorte farmers market, and more recently at the year-round South Bend Farmers Market.

In May 2017, they plan to open a retail space in their pole barn, which they use now for creating their lavender products.

Plants typically bloom in June and July, yet Doreen King uses the winter months to sew the stuffed animals, microwave heating pads, dream pillows, sachets and masks for the busy season.

Doreen King said aromatherapy is the primary use for lavender, as most people use it as a stress reliever and sleep aid.

Yet some use lavender sugar in baking cookies and sweet breads and in tea and on fruit, while others rub a salt of lavender on ribs and other meats before grilling.

It adds something you cant describe  it makes things taste better, Doreen King said. But its not like eating flowers. And its really good in mashed potatoes.

Visitors snipped their own lavender bouquets and lined up to purchase lavender plants and lavender products at the open house.

Marta Smith lives down the street, so took the opportunity to stop by.

I have a house full of company, but I came, said Smith. Im curious more than anything else. Ive been by here so many times.

Esther Stiles, also of LaPorte, said she drives by the house all the time.

You walk back here and you see how beautiful it is  its like a hidden gem, Stiles said.
MICHIGAN CITY  Save the Dunes is searching for a new executive director after announcing the departure of Nicole Baker.

We are looking for someone who loves and is dedicated to the dunes and is going to have an exciting vision for them, said Cathy Martin, parks program coordinator for Save the Dunes.

Save the Dunes, which works to preserve and restore the Indiana dunes throughout the Region, wants a candidate who will see the importance in partnering and who will continue to work with many different organizations.

Martin said she hopes that in addition to keeping partnership alive, the new director will be one who consistently brings new ideas to the organization, and is always motivated to work.

It is really important for us that we have someone who wants to get things done, Martin said.

Barker, who began working in 2010, stressed the importance of partnership and collaboration in her work, Martin said.

She worked often with the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore to make sure that they had the funding and resources that they needed. She also worked to acquire land that will be donated to the National Lakeshore in the future.

She has overseen a number of really successful projects for us, said Martin.

Barker also worked closely with the South Shore Line to have bicycles allowed on trains to and from Chicago.

Barker will become part of the South Shore Lines executive team as its director of capital investment and implementation.

Were in the middle of two major expansions and we need someone who can guide us through the environmental process and keep the railroad moving, said John Parsons, a spokesman for the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District, which operates the South Shore Line.

Save the Dunes will accept applications until July 15. Anyone interested in the position can get more information at savedunes.org.
CEDAR LAKE  A flotilla of watercraft decorated in everything from patriotic themes to a salute to the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro circled the towns 800-acre lake Sunday during the 35th annual Cedar Lake Summerfest.

Led by a police patrol boat, the boat parades two dozen entries took off in choppy waters from the towns main pier, passing the judges behind the Chamber of Commerce Welcome Center at 7925 Lake Shore Drive.

We have people coming out from Georgia to be in the boat parade, said Diane Jostes, the chamber's executive director and one of three judges. This is one of the quaint things you can do in a small community with a lake in the middle of it.

The chamber started the boat parade a number of years ago, but eventually gave it up, she said.

Margo Miller decided to start it again last year. Shes out there in her boat, Jostes said. The choppiness of the water makes it more fun.

Each of the three judges scored the boat parade entries on a scale from 1 to 10 in four categories: creativity of design, adherence to theme, crew participation and decorations.

Although it is our states bicentennial, we left the theme open, Jostes said.

Prizes included cash and gift certificates to restaurants, she said.

Judge Roberta Garritano stood on the end of the pier behind the chamber office with Jostes, while Kathy Peiguss sat at a picnic table, focusing her binoculars on the decorated jet skis, pontoon boats and motorboats as they seemed to fly across the water.

Charlie Risenpart, 2, of Crown Point, cheered for several of the decorated entries as she sat with her mom, Sarah Arcella. Among the youngsters favorites were several boats with patriotic themes and one with a Hawaiian luau theme, complete with a palm tree and passengers dressed in hula skirts.

Look, Charlie, they have Uncle Sam on that one, Arcella pointed out.

Some of the entries evoked a whimsical spirit of creativity. One craft towed a bride in a white wedding dress holding a bouquet of flowers and a jet ski was outfitted as a shark.

Crowds began to gather for the boat parade several hours before the event. Some, including Cathy Negovetich, of Hanover Township, said last years boat parade showed participants' creativity.

I like just watching the boat parade, Negovetich said. Last year the kids on the jet skis were so cute.

Bill Neuhalfen, a Cedar Lake resident since 1978, said the lake is the place to fish.

The reason I moved out here (from Hammond) was I like fishing, Neuhalfen said as he waited beside his Honda Goldwing motorcycle.

For Dawn Karnik and her twin sister Danielle, the event provided a perfect place to celebrate family.

Visiting from Mexico, Danielle held Dawns son, Jackson, 2, as he munched on gyros meat.

Its relaxing, good fun and a lot of things are free, Dawn Karnik said, adding, Its fun watching grown people act like him pointing to Jackson.
INDIANAPOLIS  Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump tweeted Monday he was very impressed by Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, whom he met with over the weekend as he contemplates potential vice presidential picks.

The billionaire businessman tweeted: Spent time with Indiana Governor Mike Pence and family yesterday. Very impressed, great people!

Pences spokesman Marc Lotter said Sunday that the two couples had a warm, productive meeting on Saturday before Pence returned to Indiana. But asked whether Trump and Pence had discussed the possibility of Pence becoming Trumps running mate, Lotter said nothing was offered.

Trump and Pence discussed Pences policies during his term as governor, which began in 2013, Lotter said.

Lotter declined to discuss Pences level of interest in the possibility of becoming Trumps running mate, echoing a comment from Pence last week that he did not want to comment on a hypothetical. Lotter referred other questions to Trumps campaign, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

As Pence and his wife arrived for a concert Sunday night at Conner Prairie history park in Fishers, the governor again declined to discuss whether he was interested in the position. He reiterated his support for Trumps candidacy and said the Trumps couldnt have been more kind and gracious during the meeting.

Trump has never held public office and is considering a small group of political veterans as potential running mates.

People with direct knowledge of Trumps vetting process say the list includes Pence, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions.

The only people who are not interested in being the V.P. pick are the people who have not been asked! Trump tweeted.

He also posted that he was going to meet with Iowa GOP Sen. Joni Ernst. She has done a great job as Senator of Iowa! he tweeted.

In addition to serving as governor, Pence served in the U.S. House of Representatives for 12 years.

He also at one time had his own presidential ambitions but last year ruled out a run after his popularity fell in the wake of criticism over his handling of the states religious objections law.
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Investigators are looking into a shooting involving an off-duty city police officer in Brooklyn early Monday morning that investigators say appears to have been sparked by a road rage incident.

The NYPD says the Attorney General's office has stepped in to investigate after Delrawn Small, 37, was shot and killed in Cypress Hills just after midnight.

Investigators say Small got into a dispute with an officer, identified by sources as Wayne Issacs, who was driving his personal car on Atlantic Avenue.

Both cars were stopped at a red light on Bradford Street, where police say Small got out of his car and started punching the cop's vehicle.

Police say he then punched the officer in the head through the open window.

That's when investigators say the officer shot and killed Small.

His brother, Victor Dempsey, told reporters Monday the family wants answers.

"For him not to be here right now is sickening and the way it happened, we've seen...we don't even know what happened yet. For the police to investigate or say they're investigating and not approach the family with any type of details on anything," Dempsey said.

The officer was taken to the hospital with bruises to the head.

Investigators say Small was not armed, and had two children and his girlfriend in the car at the time of the shooting.
Weve switched from a world where everybody educated and uneducated was moving from poorer parts of the country to the richer parts of the country, said Professor Shoag, to a world where the higher-educated people move to San Francisco and lower educated people move to Vegas.

Zoning restrictions have been around for decades but really took off during the 1960s, when the combination of inner-city race riots and white flight from cities led to heavily zoned suburbs.

They have gotten more restrictive over time, contributing to a jump in home prices that has been a bonanza for anyone who bought early in places like Boulder, San Francisco and New York City. But for latecomers, the cost of renting an apartment or buying a home has become prohibitive.

In response, a group of politicians, including Gov. Jerry Brown of California and President Obama, are joining with developers in trying to get cities to streamline many of the local zoning laws that, they say, make homes more expensive and hold too many newcomers at bay.

To most people, zoning and land-use regulations might conjure up little more than images of late-night City Council meetings full of gadflies and minutiae. But these laws go a long way toward determining some fundamental aspects of life: what American neighborhoods look like, who gets to live where and what schools their children attend.

And when zoning laws get out of hand, economists say, the damage to the American economy and society can be profound. Studies have shown that laws aimed at things like maintaining neighborhood character or limiting how many unrelated people can live together in the same house contribute to racial segregation and deeper class disparities. They also exacerbate inequality by restricting the housing supply in places where demand is greatest.

The lost opportunities for development may theoretically reduce the output of the United States economy by as much as $1.5 trillion a year, according to estimates in a recent paper by the economists Chang-Tai Hsieh and Enrico Moretti. Regardless of the actual gains in dollars that could be achieved if zoning laws were significantly cut back, the research on land-use restrictions highlights some of the consequences of giving local communities too much control over who is allowed to live there.
Donald Jelinek, who quit a Wall Street law firm to defend civil rights workers in the South and later inmates accused in the Attica prison revolt and Indians who seized Alcatraz Island to dramatize their grievances against the government, died on June 24 at his home in Berkeley, Calif. He was 82.

The cause was lung disease, his wife, Jane Scherr, said.

Mr. Jelinek was at a law firm in 1965 when he volunteered to work during the summer for the Lawyers Constitutional Defense Committee of the American Civil Liberties Union, representing mostly workers from the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee, or SNCC (known as snick).

As a civil rights lawyer in the South, he was shot at and was arrested once for practicing law without the permission of the Alabama bar.

He also directed the Southern Rural Research Project, which documented rural malnutrition and sued the Agriculture Department to distribute surplus commodities to the hungry and to force recalcitrant county officials to participate in the federal food stamp program.
The United States often faces global crises that force it to balance incompatible interests. But there is one test, close to home, whose answers are straightforward.

It involves people who have fled the threat of death in Central America and arrived, traumatized and defenseless, at the American border.

They are families and young children, many traveling alone, who have tried to escape Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, the hemispheres murder capitals. Drug mafias and criminal gangs have driven them out. Their numbers at the Southwestern border rose alarmingly in 2014, fell somewhat last year and are rising again.

President Obama has spoken of them with sympathy. But he and his Homeland Security secretary, Jeh Johnson, have done far too little to match words with actions: to build a web of protection here and in the region the migrants fled, Central Americas Northern Triangle. They have compounded that failure by treating the emergency mainly as a border-control problem, to be dealt with through family prisons, an overburdened and unjust immigration court system, and deportation even of those who pose no threat. And they have outsourced an ugly job to Mexico: intercepting migrants at the Guatemalan border, to keep them out of sight and mind.
It is easy in an election cycle that has seen the improbable rise of the preposterous presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump to center all discussion about the race on him: how poorly hes doing, how outrageous this weeks comments were, how damning a new investigative report into his past has proved.

But doing so exposes a bias toward the sensational, underselling another rather remarkable story, at least for the month of June: Hillary Clinton ran an incredibly strong campaign last month.

First, lets start with the obvious. As Gallup pointed out last week: Trump and Clinton are currently among the worst-rated presidential candidates of the last seven decades. But the article continued: In the race to the bottom, however, Trumps 42 percent highly unfavorable score easily outpaces Clintons 33 percent. Prior to now, 1964 Republican nominee Barry Goldwater had the highest negative score, with 26 percent rating him highly unfavorably in October 1964.

A couple of weeks ago Gallup found that Americans views of Donald Trump have drifted slightly more negative over the past month and a half, with his net favorable rating slipping to -33 for June 13-19 from -28 in the first week of May. Americans views of Hillary Clinton have remained significantly less negative than their views of Trump  and have been more stable, with her current -13 net favorable rating almost identical to her -14 from early May.
To the Editor:

Re Trump and My Fears for My Family, by Aziz Ansari (Sunday Review, June 26):

Mr. Ansari, it is appalling that you would have to tell your mother not to go near a mosque. By appalling I do not mean what you said. I mean that this was prudent, that this is the state of our country.

Sir, I offer you what I can. You and other Muslim Americans are welcome in my home, my place of refuge. I am a white man, retired, and I stand against everything Donald Trump is about.

I realize that by identifying myself in this forum I may be a target for Trump supporters. You and I can be scared together. And, sir, we can vote in November.

DAVID R. GROUT

Oceanside, Calif.
Binghamton, N.Y.  FOR more than two centuries, we have been reading the Declaration of Independence wrong. Or rather, weve been celebrating the Declaration as people in the 19th and 20th centuries have told us we should, but not the Declaration as Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin and John Adams wrote it. To them, separation from Britain was as much, if not more, about racial fear and exclusion as it was about inalienable rights.

The Declarations beautiful preamble distracts us from the heart of the document, the 27 accusations against King George III over which its authors wrangled and debated, trying to get the wording just right. The very last one  the ultimate deal-breaker  was the most important for them, and it is for us: He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavored to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian savages, whose known rule of warfare is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions. In the context of the 18th century, domestic insurrections refers to rebellious slaves. Merciless Indian savages doesnt need much explanation.

In fact, Jefferson had originally included an extended attack on the king for forcing slavery upon unwitting colonists. Had it stood, it would have been the patriots most powerful critique of slavery. The Continental Congress cut out all references to slavery as piratical warfare and an assemblage of horrors, and left only the sentiment that King George was now exciting those very people to rise in arms among us. The Declaration could have been what we yearn for it to be, a statement of universal rights, but it wasnt. What became the official version was one marked by division.

Upon hearing the news that the Congress had just declared American independence, a group of people gathered in the tiny village of Huntington, N.Y., to observe the occasion by creating an effigy of King George. But before torching the tyrant, the Long Islanders did something odd, at least to us. According to a report in a New York City newspaper, first they blackened his face, and then, alongside his wooden crown, they stuck his head full of feathers like savages, wrapped his body in the Union Jack, lined it with gunpowder and then set it ablaze.
To the Editor:

Re Low Prices for Vaccines Can Come at a Great Cost (The Upshot, nytimes.com, June 27):

While this article claims that a $2,000 vaccination is a bargain for a lifetime of coverage, it doesnt recognize that vaccines are useless if they sit on shelves priced out of the reach of the children who need them most.

In a world where countries struggle to afford lifesaving preventions like the pneumonia vaccine, high prices mean fewer children vaccinated, threatening individual and public health.

For example, Pfizer and GSK have made more than $30 billion in seven years from their duopoly on pneumonia vaccines, while at the lowest global prices, the vaccine package recommended for every child is 68 times more expensive than it was just over a decade ago. This, in part, means that 18.7 million babies, most of whom live in low-income, high-risk regions, havent received basic vaccines.

Additionally, theres no proof that increasing prices would make drug companies invest in certain vaccines to prevent shortages. Earlier this year, the United Nations World Health Assembly reported that shortages are worsened by many factors. High prices do little except leave the most vulnerable children unprotected.
To the Editor:

Re Monuments for Future Generations (editorial, June 18):

The designation of a New England Coral Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument off Cape Cod would be an exceptional conservation action by President Obama.

As a marine ecologist, I have had the privilege of exploring this hot spot of ocean life in research submersibles, which afford a view of this spectacular underwater world as if hiking through a mountain wilderness.

And this wilderness offers a dramatic landscape of submarine canyons deeper than the Grand Canyon and seamounts (extinct underwater volcanoes) higher than any east of the Rockies, with otherworldly and diverse wildlife, including Dr. Seuss-like deep sea fishes, forests of deep sea corals, sharks and other open ocean predators, and extraordinary concentrations of dolphins and whales.

This is the right moment to protect this fragile and relatively untouched wild land so that future generations can enjoy and benefit from the rich and diverse marine life that flourishes there.
There are two recent pieces of welcome news affecting the Pacific Northwests beleaguered salmon populations  battered by dams, habitat loss, timid government agencies and global warming.

In one, a federal court in Seattle found that 150-year-old treaties guaranteeing Native American tribes a permanent right to fish for salmon had been gravely compromised by hundreds of roadway culverts and pipelines that blocked the fish from reaching traditional spawning grounds.

The original treaties did not envision such a cynical and disingenuous promise, Judge William Fletcher, of the federal appeals court for the Ninth Circuit, ruled last week. He upheld a lower courts order requiring Washington State to replace hundreds of culverts with bridges that restore the natural flow of the salmon runs.

The other hopeful sign was a stirring decision in May by Judge Michael Simon of the Federal District Court in Portland, Ore., ordering federal agencies back to the drawing board to devise an aggressive plan to stave off extinction for 13 salmon and steelhead species in the Columbia River basin that are listed as endangered or threatened under the Endangered Species Act. He found the governments latest proposal not only inadequate but illegal, in that it fell well short of the acts mandate to ensure a species long-term recovery.
Yet we wouldnt accept such a definition even if it itemized every possible exception. Why? Because, from a different point of view, this definition is inadequate: not because it fails to bring the meaning of the definition closer to the actual meaning of courage, but because all it does is try to save the original definition by tacking on ad hoc exceptions. That is, we reject it because it fails to be a good, well-formed definition. A good definition is simple and provides a principle that would exclude all possible exceptions without having to enumerate them one by one.

What do we do? We come up with a new definition that once again is simple (without adding exceptions). We could try, Courage is the ability to act while confronting a great fear. Adding confronting would seem to disqualify tying ones shoelaces and even shouting profanities since one could shout profanities while running away.

Yet adding an ad hoc exception may sometimes be just what is called for. Suppose I define courage as the ability to act while confronting a danger to oneself. Confronting is retained, so this would (normally) exclude running away. Yet one could also act out of anger, so that courage may not be the principal trait exhibited. We could add the ad hoc hypothesis except when motivated principally by anger. This would be desirable in this case, for the phenomenon turned out to be composite  actions that may arise from separate causes (courage and anger).

Its important to see that this process  like that whereby a poem is written  rests on two requirements that have to be met. A good definition or poem must be one (a) whose expressed meaning matches the actual meaning that was grasped in a pre-articulated way and (b) which satisfies some criterion of form (embodies an explanatory principle or satisfies poetic form).

Now compare this with a scientific example: Johannes Keplers discovery that the orbit of Mars is an ellipse.

In this case, the actual meaning of courage (what a definition is designed to define) corresponds with the actual observations that Kepler sought to explain  that is, the data regarding the orbit of Mars. In the case of definition, we compare the literal meaning of a proposed definition with the actual meaning we want to define. In Keplers case, he needed to compare the predicted observations from a proposed explanatory hypothesis with the actual observations he wanted to explain.

Early on, Kepler determined that the orbit of Mars was not a circle (the default perfect shape of the planetary spheres, an idea inherited from the Greeks). There is a very simple equation for a circle, but the first noncircular shape Kepler entertained as a replacement was an oval. Despite our use of the word oval as sometimes synonymous with ellipse, Kepler understood it as egg-shaped (in the asymmetrical chicken-egg way). Maybe he thought the orbit had to be lopsided (rather than symmetrical) because he knew the Sun was not at the center of the oval. Unfortunately, there is no simple equation for such an oval (although there is one for an ellipse).
The study was immediately lauded by affordable-housing advocates as more evidence that Airbnb was exacerbating thorny problems that had rankled New Yorkers for decades, including gentrification, a lack of affordable housing and the impact that rising rents can have on minority communities.

And it was quickly denounced by Airbnb as more evidence that entrenched hotel groups, shortsighted politicians and other special interests are stifling the more positive impact the service has had on the city, such as bringing more customers to small businesses in minority neighborhoods and generating income for people who need the money.

The Airbnb spokesman Nick Papas said the numbers in the report were skewed by incorrect assumptions, including the idea that any entire home rental in New York was illegal and that an entire home rented out for more than 90 days was not someones primary residence.

Whichever way you see it, the report is yet another salvo in Airbnbs long-running feud with New York City, and it reflects how complicated the companys relationship is with residents, some who feel the benefits of the service and others, the drawbacks.

Some New Yorkers are concerned about losing income if they cant list on Airbnb, but since 2010, it has generally been against the law to rent out a whole residence in New York City for fewer than 30 days unless the owner is present or it is a stand-alone house. If a newly passed bill becomes law, lawbreakers will incur fines up to $7,500 for an illegal listing. An Airbnb poll found that 65 percent of voters disagreed with the new steep fines.
WHITE ISLAND, New Zealand  A foul smell hangs in the air over White Island, a marine volcano in New Zealands Bay of Plenty, and steam hisses from rocks stained bright yellow from centuries of sulfur exposure. In a country that revels in its association with the Lord of the Rings movies, J. R. R. Tolkiens orcs and elves wouldnt appear out of place here.

The island is New Zealands most active volcano: It has smoked continuously for centuries according to Maori lore, and Capt. James Cook observed it in 1769 during his first voyage in the Pacific. Visitors see steam clouds and bubbling mud but no lava  although there was a major eruption in 2000 and minor ones in 2012 and 2013.

It is also one of the worlds more accessible marine volcanoes, only 30 miles offshore from the small coastal town of Whakatane, making it a popular tourist destination.

Getting to White Island by boat involves a 90-minute trip, followed by a dinghy transfer to the island for a three-hour visit. A guide distributed gas masks and yellow hard hats to the approximately 40 tourists on my trip, and warned them to stick to the track. Steam vents crack the surface in many directions and a misplaced step could release a blast of scalding air or even pitch the visitor into a newly opened crevice.
The Star of David imagery used in a Twitter post by Donald J. Trump this weekend had previously appeared on a message board known for anti-Semitism and white supremacy, as well as on a Twitter account with a history of racially charged comments, according to a report.

It is unclear where the Trump campaign discovered the image, which placed the shape of the Star of David beside a picture of Hillary Clinton with text that read, Most Corrupt Candidate Ever! and a background of $100 bills. The post on Saturday by Mr. Trump prompted immediate criticism, fueling accusations that Mr. Trump was playing to stereotypes of Jews.

Later on Saturday, Mr. Trump deleted the post and added another image with a circle covering the star, though tips of the star were still visible. While Mr. Trumps campaign has been silent on the episode, and did not respond to requests for comment, some of his defenders have argued that a six-pointed star is a symbol used by many sheriffs departments.

Image The tweet that was deleted from Donald J. Trumps Twitter account.

But a report on Sunday by the news website Mic traced the image to a website for the alt right, an internet-based movement associated with white nationalism, where it appeared as early as June 22. The origin of the image appeared to be a Twitter account that has frequently criticized Mrs. Clinton, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, and has posted caustic and violent messages about Muslims, refugees and race.
WASHINGTON  The White House has forbidden members of President Obamas cabinet to address the Democratic National Convention this month, a stark break from past policy that is intended to avoid the appearance that the administrations final months are being consumed by the politics of Hillary Clintons campaign.

In 2012, as he campaigned for re-election, five members of the presidents cabinet addressed the party convention in Charlotte, N.C. But in issuing the prohibition this year, Mr. Obamas chief of staff, Denis McDonough, decided to send a signal about the primacy of the Obama administrations responsibility to manage the government and serve the American people, said Jennifer Friedman, the deputy White House press secretary.

It is hardly the first judgment that Mr. Obamas team has had to make about how deeply to get involved as the president takes on an increasingly active role in the raucous campaign to succeed him  decisions that involve not only considerations of policy and appearances, but legal ones, as well.

Federal law requires top appointees to carefully separate their official duties from political ones, and those distinctions have taken on added significance this year, given the unusual nature of the race to succeed Mr. Obama.
DHAKA, Bangladesh  Bangladeshs capital city reeled in shock on Sunday as clues began to flood social media about the privileged backgrounds of the half-dozen attackers believed to have butchered 20 patrons of a restaurant during a bloody siege here late last week.

The six attackers were killed when the army stormed the Holey Artisan Bakery to end an 11-hour siege early Saturday.

The police declined to name the young men because nobody had shown up as of Sunday night to identify their bodies, but friends and relatives recognized photographs that were posted on a messaging app by the Islamic State, along with praise for the violence.

The men, all in their late teens or early 20s, were products of Bangladeshs elite, several having attended one of the countrys top English-medium private schools as well as universities both in the country and abroad.
London is like the capital of Europe, and its the biggest financial capital in the world, said Alexandra Lewis, 19, a college student in Bristol. Her London high school had students from all over, she recalled, and the British-born were in the minority.

London, she said, needs the connections with Europe much more than the rest of the country.

The referendum spurred demonstrations, anguish and anger across the capital, as well as dreams that the city could somehow detach itself and form its own state. A freelance writer in London, James OMalley, started a petition calling for Londependence, an idea that had already begun to waft around Facebook. To his surprise, more than 175,000 people quickly signed the petition.

Mr. OMalley had thought up the petition as a jokey protest, he explained in an article in The Daily Telegraph. He does not really think London should become a city-state like Monaco or Singapore or begin issuing its own currency, for instance. But he does support increased autonomy.

If Scotland gets to make its own laws to reflect its own unique politics, why not the capital? he wrote. We all know  and the referendum made clear  that London has very different politics to the rest of the country.

The mayor, Mr. Khan, agrees. Many of the citys affairs are still controlled by the national government, and he has limited authority compared with the mayor of, say, New York. Mr. Khan said he would begin pressing for the same sort of devolved powers that the national government has granted to Scotland and Wales.

On behalf of all Londoners, I am demanding more autonomy for the capital  right now, Mr. Khan said in a speech last week. More autonomy to protect Londons economy from the uncertainty ahead, to protect the businesses from around the world who trade here, and to protect our jobs, wealth and prosperity.

He also moved to reassure nervous and angry residents that London is at heart an international city. He and the mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, issued a statement saying they would build far stronger alliances between cities across Europe and around the world.
WASHINGTON  The promise of the armed drone has always been precision: The United States could kill just the small number of dangerous terrorists it wanted to kill, leaving nearby civilians unharmed.

But the Obama administrations unprecedented release last week of statistics on counterterrorism strikes underscored how much more complicated the results of the drone program have been.

It showed that even inside the government, there is no certainty about whom it has killed. And it highlighted the skepticism with which official American claims on targeted killing are viewed by human rights groups and independent experts, including those who believe the strikes have eliminated some very dangerous people.

Its an important step  its an acknowledgment that transparency is needed, said Rachel Stohl, an author of two studies of the drone program and a senior associate at the Stimson Center, a research group in Washington. But I dont feel like we have enough information to analyze whether this tactic is working and helping us achieve larger strategic aims.
Kuwait foiled three planned Islamic State attacks on the country, including a plot to blow up a Shiite mosque, after conducting raids that resulted in the arrest of militants, the state news agency KUNA reported on Monday.

Kuwait security agencies have carried out three pre-emptive operations in Kuwait and abroad that led to derailing a number of Islamic State plots targeting Kuwait and arresting several I.S. members, the Interior Ministry said in a statement on KUNA.

The statement included pictures of a veiled, middle-aged woman and five young men. One of them, it said, was a Kuwaiti citizen who had joined the Islamic State and planned to bomb a mosque and an Interior Ministry building during the Eid holiday, which comes at the end of Ramadan, the Muslim holy month.

A year ago, Kuwait, home to several American military bases, suffered its deadliest militant attack in decades when a Saudi suicide bomber detonated inside a packed Shiite mosque, killing 27 people. The Islamic State claimed responsibility.
LONDON  He may be turning 79 this month, but David Hockney shouldnt be mistaken for an aging technophobe. His last major British show, an exhibition of landscapes at the Royal Academy of Arts in 2012, included a gallery of works that had been composed on an iPad, then printed out in extra-large format.

Now Mr. Hockney has set technology aside and returned, somewhat defiantly, to his original medium: painting on canvas. His new exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts in London, through Oct. 2, is composed of 82 portraits of friends and acquaintances, almost all made in three-day sittings since 2013 at his studio in Los Angeles. The subjects include the art dealer Larry Gagosian and the architect Frank Gehry, as well as Mr. Hockneys masseur, his dentist, and his housekeeper.

Executed quickly, the rainbow-hued canvases are less a study in human psychology than in body language, gesture and idiosyncrasy. Men sit with legs crossed or spread far apart; one dangles a leg over the arm of a chair. Women dress up or come as they are, appearing formal or demure. Some of the most intimate portraits are of people whom Mr. Hockney has known his whole life, such as the comedian Barry Humphries (in a fedora and spotted tie) and Mr. Hockneys sister Margaret.

This is a statement about painting, Mr. Hockney said last month in an interview among the freshly hung canvases at the exhibition, his Yorkshire accent largely unaltered by decades in California. He wore a white cap and a buttoned blue cardigan, a change from the bleached-blond fringe and sharp fashions he once sported.
The host of the new Viceland series Black Market is the actor Michael K. Williams, but you can call him Omar. Mr. Williamss stature as a portrayer of charismatic criminals  Omar Little in The Wire, Chalky White in Boardwalk Empire  is meant to give Black Market a credibility it cant obtain from exhaustive reporting or balanced testimony, neither of which gets much attention in the land of Vice Media.

Mr. Williamss show  hes the host and an executive producer  is about underground economies. In the first two of six half-hour episodes, available now at viceland.com and beginning on Tuesday on the Viceland cable channel, underground equals illegal. The first examines carjacking in Newark, where Mr. Williams once lived, and the second goes farther afield with a look at the poaching of abalone off the coast of South Africa. When the system fails you, he says in the weekly introduction, you create your own system.

Disarming, amiable and sporting a thick white fringe of beard, Mr. Williams has none of Omars menace but projects his former characters soulfulness and rectitude. The Newark episode includes a brief recapitulation of his own story of falling into drug addiction during his tenure on The Wire, which he refers to as spending all my money on buffoonery.

When it comes to illegal fishing or car theft (once done for the thrill of joy riding, now primarily for the spoils of resale overseas), Mr. Williams treads gingerly between sympathy and disapproval. Looking at a stolen car, he wonders whether it was a mothers ride to work, but the question is strictly rhetorical and quickly dropped. In South Africa, he spends a little more camera time establishing the connection between poaching and the decimation of abalone.
The premise was just like, Wait, what now? Ms. Locke said. For me, as a black writer, I have to be like, Whats Ben trying to do here? Then she got sucked into the story and was blown away, she said.

Theres always this chatter about who gets to tell which stories, and Im so grateful that he did not let his choice to have a black protagonist scare him away from the project, because this is everybodys history, she said.

Underground Airlines is landing in a thicket of fictional works about slavery and its lingering legacy in America. Last month, Alfred A. Knopf released Yaa Gyasis ambitious debut novel, Homegoing, a visceral story about the effect of slavery on two half sisters and generations of their descendants. Counterpoint recently published Natashia Deons debut novel, Grace, which is narrated by the ghost of a former slave. And this fall, Doubleday will publish Colson Whiteheads The Underground Railroad, about a slave named Cora; she escapes from a Georgia plantation and flees north via an Underground Railroad that is not just a metaphorical alliance, but also a real subterranean network of tunnels and stations connected by a rickety train.

All of these novels wrestle with the ways that slavery has shaped the country. But Mr. Winterss approach takes the theme to a shocking conclusion.

Hes taking a direct whack at one of the main critical things thats happening in this country right now, said Lev Grossman, a book critic and author of the fantasy series The Magicians. This is a white writer going after questions of what its like to be black in America. Its a fearless thing to do.

Mr. Winters, who lives in Los Angeles with his wife and three children, stumbled into fiction writing by accident. He grew up in Maryland in a middle-class Jewish family and played bass in a punk band in his youth. After college, he wrote plays and musical comedies.

To expand his modest income  from zero to something, he said wryly  he started writing parody books on commission for the Philadelphia publisher Quirk Books. One of his assignments was Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters, which imported giant lobsters and man-eating jellyfish into Jane Austens Regency romance. Though it was clearly a spoof, Mr. Winters took the job seriously, and closely studied Austens plotting and character development.
LOS ANGELES  A state ballot initiative meant to lower prescription drug prices for California faces an expected opponent: the pharmaceutical industry, which has spent almost $70 million to defeat it.

But concerns are also coming from a more curious source: some patient advocacy groups.

Called the Drug Price Relief Act, or Proposition 61, the proposal would prohibit state programs, such as Californias Medicaid, from paying more for a drug than the lowest price paid by the federal Department of Veterans Affairs, which typically receives big discounts.

It promises to be the most prominent measure in Novembers election to deal directly with pharmaceutical prices. And because the effort is happening in California, the most populous state and a trendsetter, the approach could quickly spread to other states if it is approved.

Yet how much, if any, money would be saved is a matter of hot debate, highlighting the complicated world of drug pricing. In recent weeks, there has even been a nasty spat between some AIDS activists  who say the proposal might inadvertently lead to price increases  and Senator Bernie Sanders, the Democratic presidential hopeful, who supports the measure.
ROBOTICA HARDER BETTER FASTER STRONGER! The future of robot development - is to create more skillful, or more human-like robots. They need to communicate with humans, which means they have to be able to see. They have to judge from a humans perspective and know what is right or wrong. They also need to understand the instructions we give them, and carry out these instructions without mistakes. BUT its impossible for robots to fully replace humans. Jonah: What is the projects called? And what is the goal for planning? GOV guy: The project is called replacing humans with robots. The total population of Shunde is 2,400,000, half of whom are immigrant workers from other provinces. Our goal is to reduce the number of employees by half, and many companies are working towards this goal. VO: This robot is making compressors for Midea, which makes a third of the worlds air conditioner compressors. The same robot also makes LEGOs, assembles cars, and packs ham. Theyre cheaper, faster and more efficient, and theyre quickly changing how things are made in China Worker at MIDEA: After the robots arrived and took over some of our labor, we have always treated it as our brother. We work next to it, snuggling with it every day. When the robots came here, some workers got to choose new positions, which made them happier. VO: We came here to find out how Chinas workers feel about their new colleagues. But on our tour of Midea, The company only allowed us to speak with this one worker, under supervision. Worker at MIDEA: In the past, when I would get home I felt very tired, very exhausted and miserable. Now when I get home, Im happy to see the kids. GOV guy: Its become a huge challenge for companies to recruit workers, and its getting more expensive to hire them as well. Current migrant workers born in the 1980s or 1990s their endurance and hard-working spirits are inferior to the older generations. VO: The government program replacing humans with robots offers grants and land subsidies to companies that go robotic. Since that launched in 2011, Midea has cut its workforce nearly in half. Zou Renhao quit his Midea factory job today, due to an injury. ZOU RENHAO: Any boss would prefer a robot. So if you want to stay here and make money, you have to learn [to operate the robots]. If you cant learn, you wont be able to keep your job. VO: The company says that when robots join the factory floor, they offer workers new jobs. Several employees who didnt want to go on camera told us those new jobs are so tedious and back-breaking, that many end up quitting. ZOU RENHAO: Just like your phone, one generation after another, when iPhone 7 is out who will use iPhone 6? VO: Mideas robots are made here, at Kuka, one of the worlds largest industrial robotics manufacturers. The robots here are still built by people, for now... KUKA CEO: Chinas demand for industrial robots has been on the rise year after year. Compared to America, Japan and Europe, the increase in demand is enormous. Using robots, humans can be liberated from dangerous, monotonous and heavy-labor work, so they can undertake more creative and meaningful jobs. ZOU RENHAO: If you want to talk about big dreams, dreaming to become a doctor or a scientist when you are young, for us workers, thats not a reality. For us, whats real is to make more money so we can live a better life. Thats my dream, other dreams are too fake. VO: In Guangdong province, there are dozens of manufacturing cities just like Shunde...and millions of workers like Mr. Zou. GOV guy: Let them go back to work in their hometowns. They all have opportunities to be employed in their local areas, even if they dont come to Shunde to work. Jonah: What happens if the factories back home decide to do the same thing? GOV guy: Perhaps they will face the same problem in 10 or 20 years, and they can follow the same path, follow the same path.
SEOUL, South Korea  Looking for answers after the deaths of scores of children and pregnant women from a mysterious lung ailment, a group of families in South Korea began to focus on a potential cause: a cleaner called Oxy.

In 2011, South Korean officials suggested that toxic chemicals in Oxy  used to sanitize humidifiers and sold by the British consumer goods maker Reckitt Benckiser  and similar products were responsible for the deaths. Ninety-five have been confirmed by the government, which is also reviewing hundreds of additional cases reported by families, who claim more than 460 fatalities. The governments punishment for Reckitt Benckiser: a $45,000 fine for falsely advertising Oxy as safe for humans.

Five years later, simmering anger over the deaths has hit Reckitt Benckiser  and prompted widening hostility to white-collar crime that is directed at foreign and local companies alike.

South Korean prosecutors in May arrested three local Reckitt Benckiser employees and charged them with professional negligence resulting in deaths. When a Reckitt Benckiser executive publicly apologized, a relative of a victim jumped onstage and slapped him in the back of the neck.
SAN FRANCISCO  In Silicon Valley, where companies big and small are at work on self-driving cars, there have been a variety of approaches, and even some false starts.

The most divergent paths may be the ones taken by Tesla, which is already selling cars that have some rudimentary self-driving functions, and Google, which is still very much in experimental mode.

Googles initial efforts in 2010 focused on cars that would drive themselves, but with a person behind the wheel to take over at the first sign of trouble and a second technician monitoring the navigational computer.

As a general concept, Google was trying to achieve the same goal as Tesla is claiming with the Autopilot feature it has promoted with the Model S, which has hands-free technology that has come under scrutiny after a fatal accident on a Florida highway.
PARIS  Walls, metaphorical and literal, may be the political buzzwords of the moment as a tide of xenophobia sweeps Europe and the United States, but in Paris, as the couture shows began, inclusion was the message.

Its ironic, given that couture is a fashion subsector roped off in velvet. These are, after all, very expensive clothes for the very few, and for a brand to qualify for the haute couture appellation it must meet a series of stringent requirements established in the days of yore, presumably to maintain the purity of the line. It was never about populism; it was about exclusion. You would think the drawbridge would be going up.

Yet if this season is marked by anything it is an embrace of outsider names, some emigres from the ready-to-wear world, some from even further afield, including the guerrilla clothing collective Vetements; the Roman jewelry brand Bulgari (granted, it now is owned by LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton, but still the first jewelers to ever officially infiltrate couture); the American label J. Mendel; the British designer Giles Deacon; and Guo Pei, the Chinese designer who vaulted to global renown via Rihannas omelet of a Met Gala gown, who was making her second appearance.
Rabies kills about 60,000 people a year, many of them children in Africa and Asia. Rapid tests for the infection are badly needed in poor countries.

But diagnostic test strips made by six companies for this purpose are unsatisfactory and cannot be recommended, according to recent evaluations by scientists at the Friedrich-Loeffler Institute in Germany.

None of the six testing kits, made in response to an appeal from the World Health Organization, had high false-positive rates. But they all had unacceptably high false-negative rates, meaning that someone bitten by a rabid animal might not be found to need treatment. The evaluations were detailed last month in PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases.
An off-duty New York City police officer who had just finished his shift shot and killed a man during a traffic dispute early on Monday, the authorities said.

The officer, whom the police did not immediately identify by name, fired three rounds from his 9-millimeter service pistol after he and the other driver came to a stop at a red light on Atlantic Avenue in the Cypress Hills neighborhood of Brooklyn, the authorities said.

Delrawn Small  who was traveling with a woman and their children, two girls ages 5 months and 14 years  was killed, the police said. (The authorities said records showed his surname was Small, though they noted that his relatives said it was Dempsey.) No one else was injured.

The gunshots were fired at 12:06 a.m. and followed a dispute between the two men that had occurred along Atlantic Avenue. But the details of what set off the dispute  whether, for example, one driver had cut the other off  were not immediately clear.
Independence Day 1929 was a great one for Tammany Hall.

Tammany was not just an institution, synonymous with the Democratic machine in New York City; with patronage, self-dealing, mendacity and corruption.

It was also a place: a handsome red brick and limestone auditorium on Union Square in Manhattan, with offices for the powerful Tammany Society political organization. The building was designed in a neo-Georgian style that was intended to conjure (misleadingly or not) the rectitude of the early republic, when the society was founded.

On July 4, 1929, not long before he began starving Tammany of its influence, Gov. Franklin D. Roosevelt came to Union Square to help dedicate its new hall. The holiday, the dedication and the 100th birthday of its grand sachem, John R. Voorhis, amounted to a triple celebration for Tammany, The New York Times reported.
BERLIN  Whether Britains decision to leave the European Union turns out to be a disaster or just a bump in the road for Europe on its path to unification, one consequence is already abundantly, disturbingly clear: Brexit will cement Germanys role as the Continents leader  a role that neither Germany nor anybody else is entirely comfortable with.

It has rarely felt this lonely at the center of Europe. With Britain leaving, Germany is losing an important partner within the European Union, as well as on foreign policy beyond it.

That is not to say that Britain was an easy partner in recent years. The mind reels at what Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, known for her cautious, step-by-step policies, must have thought of Prime Minister David Cameron tossing his countrys membership onto the gambling table in a bid to blackmail the European Union. Ms. Merkel is a committed Europeanist; Mr. Cameron called the union too big, too bossy, too interfering.

Still, given the nativist pressures rising in practically every country in Europe, Mr. Cameron counted as a pretty good partner. He was a strong supporter of the Berlin-led austerity politics during the financial crisis and the Greek crisis that followed.
Researchers worry that the loss of elders, especially the matriarchs that were targeted by poachers for their large tusks, would severely impair the ability of younger ones to survive and thrive. The matriarchs carry a vast amount of knowledge about their surroundings, including safe migratory routes, the availability of water in arid landscapes, threats from predators and other vital information.

Habiba and all her brothers and sisters and cousins  theyre just in a little group. Their mothers were all dead, Dr. Wittemyer said. These kids stuck together, but they didnt have any adult supervision, so to speak. We were really scared about what was going to happen.

But researchers have watched as the social networks of Samburus elephants help them regroup, with young daughters assuming bigger roles in caretaking. Even females as young as 15 tended to emulate the social contact pattern of their mothers, Dr. Wittemyer said. If their mothers are highly social and their mother dies, the kids tend to be highly social. And if the mothers are not, the kids tend not to be.

Less social mothers have produced less social children with smaller networks, a phenomenon that researchers are still studying.

Those findings, published in the journal Current Biology this year, offer some hope during a bleak time for elephants. The current poaching epidemic started in 2009, but so slowly that researchers in Samburu did not realize its severity. In 2010, we started getting very concerned; 2011 was a disaster, Dr. Wittemyer said.

Social networks are just one area of research for Save the Elephants, in addition to how elephants are migrating and whether orphans show negative physical effects after their mothers are killed. And though these conservation biologists study animals, their work starkly reflects the effects humans have on the elephants environment.
Joth Davis, a senior scientist at the Puget Sound Restoration Fund, recently unspooled 150 feet of line holding thousands of tiny spores of kelp into Hood Canal in Washington State. A colleague dived underwater and affixed the line to a buoy.

Its an unusual botany project: The bull kelp seedlings will eventually form thick, slimy ribbons of brown seaweed  and in the process take up carbon dioxide and other nutrients. The researchers hope kelp may provide offer a local strategy for easing the effects of ocean acidification. The five-year effort, involving many partners, is funded by a $1.5 million grant from the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation.

Kelp has the potential for taking up a significant amount of carbon out of the water column. The question is: Is that going to be significant to help abate ocean acidification? said Richard Feely, senior scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in Seattle, which will help monitor the project. (AP)
If it crashed into something. Jupiter does not possess the majestic rings of Saturn, but it does have a thin ring of debris orbiting it. Juno passed through a region that appeared clear, but that did not mean it actually was. Even a dust particle could cause significant damage, as Juno was going 130,000 miles per hour relative to Jupiter.

If it flew too close to Jupiter and was ripped to pieces. In one of NASAs most embarrassing failures, the Mars Climate Orbiter spacecraft was lost in 1999 because of a mix-up between English and metric units. Climate Orbiter went far deeper into Mars atmosphere than planned. Juno traveled within 2,900 miles of Jupiters cloud tops, so a miscalculation could have been catastrophic.

If the computer crashed. On July 4 last year, the mission controllers of the New Horizons spacecraft that was about to fly by Pluto experienced some nervous moments when the spacecraft stopped talking to them. The computer on New Horizons crashed while trying to interpret some new commands and compressing some images it had taken, the electronic equivalent of walking while chewing gum.

The controllers put New Horizons back in working order within a few days, and the flyby occurred without a hitch. For Juno, the scientific instruments have been turned off for its arrival at Jupiter. We turn off everything that is not necessary for making the event work, said Dr. Levin, the project scientist. This is very important to get right, so you dont do anything extra.

The intense barrage of radiation at Jupiter could have knocked out Junos computer, even though it is shielded in a titanium vault. Usually, when there is a glitch, a spacecraft goes into safe mode to await new instructions from Earth, but in this case, that would have been too late to save Juno. The spacecraft had been programmed to automatically restart the engine to allow it to enter orbit.

If that doesnt go just right, we fly past Jupiter, and of course, thats not desirable, Dr. Bolton said.

The Approach

Juno has been executing an automated sequence of actions since Thursday. A timeline of Junos arrival (all Eastern time):

9:13 p.m. Start of transmission of single frequency tones that will provide updates on the spacecrafts condition.
A paper in The British Medical Journal in December reported that cognitive behavioral therapy  a means of coaxing people into changing the way they think  is as effective as Prozac or Zoloft in treating major depression.

In ways no one understands, talk therapy reaches down into the biological plumbing and affects the flow of neurotransmitters in the brain. Other studies have found similar results for mindfulness  Buddhist-inspired meditation in which ones thoughts are allowed to drift gently through the head like clouds reflected in still mountain water.

Findings like these have become so commonplace that its easy to forget their strange implications.

Depression can be treated in two radically different ways: by altering the brain with chemicals, or by altering the mind by talking to a therapist. But we still cant explain how mind arises from matter or how, in turn, mind acts on the brain.

This longstanding conundrum  the mind-body problem  was succinctly described by the philosopher David Chalmers at a recent symposium at The New York Academy of Sciences. The scientific and philosophical consensus is that there is no nonphysical soul or ego, or at least no evidence for that, he said.
DENVER  Time has changed much in the American West. On some ranches, cowboys round up cattle on four-wheelers and track livestock with drones. While technology is easing tasks, though, some think it is also threatening the skills that make a cowboy a cowboy: roping, riding and a near-religious devotion to hard work.

But for centuries, neighbors have gathered each spring for a day of branding newborn animals. Well-trained cattlemen pull a hot iron from the fire, and calves mewl as curved steel singes hair and burns flesh. Afterward, there is cheap beer and a meal, maybe a band and a dance.

The branding process has been criticized as cruel. And some families have moved to other methods, including freeze brands created with liquid nitrogen and ear tags they can read with an electronic wand. Perhaps the most notable innovation is the calf table, a viselike device that allows people to trap, flip and mark an animal, eliminating the need for a crew of helpers.
COLUMBUS, Ohio  Since the Republican Partys 19th-century founding, not one of its nominees has won the White House without carrying Ohio, a most diverse and perennially hard-fought state.

But as Republicans head to Cleveland to nominate Donald J. Trump in two weeks, a convention city chosen with Battleground Ohio much in mind, a vortex of headwinds are rising against Mr. Trump in the state.

The barely concealed disdain of Gov. John R. Kasich, a former rival who has not endorsed the presumptive nominee, echoes through the states Republican leadership, whose full engagement in the fall campaign will be needed to turn out voters.

Images of disunity in Cleveland, where delegates are gathering July 18-21 in the shadow of local polls showing a majority of Republicans prefer a different nominee, could make it harder for the party to attract grass-roots activists for the fall campaign.
Donald J. Trump plans to announce his running mate before the Republican National Convention in Cleveland this month, and has started an Apprentice-style search  meeting with possible candidates one by one and then posting on Twitter about it. (On Monday, he even praised on Twitter Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas, a long-shot running mate whom some Republicans nonetheless like because of his military service.)

Below is a look at the four potential candidates for vice president whom the Trump campaign has already begun vetting:
Hillary Clintons campaign said on Monday that an image posted by Donald J. Trump on Twitter over the weekend that showed a photo of Mrs. Clinton against a backdrop of $100 bills and a Star of David was blatantly anti-Semitic.

The post accused Mrs. Clinton, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, of being the most corrupt candidate ever. But critics seized on the episode as the latest example of a longtime pattern of racially charged remarks by Mr. Trump, saying the post was meant to exploit stereotypes against Jewish people.

In a rebuke on Tuesday, the House speaker, Paul Ryan, said in a radio interview with Charlie Sykes on WTMJ in Milwaukee, according to The Hill website: Look, anti-Semitic images, theyve got no place in a presidential campaign. Candidates should know that. Mr. Ryan added, I really believe hes got to clean up how his new media works.

The backlash has been swift enough to cause Mr. Trump to do something relatively out of character: He deleted the original post, later sharing an image showing Mrs. Clinton next to a circle instead of the six-point star.
WASHINGTON  The Supreme Court term had barely gotten underway in early November when Justice Sonia Sotomayor issued her first dissent. A police officers rogue conduct, she wrote, had left a man dead thanks to a shoot first, think later approach to policing.

Justice Sotomayor went on to write eight dissents before the term ended last week. Read together, they are a remarkable body of work from an increasingly skeptical student of the criminal justice system, one who has concluded that it is clouded by arrogance and machismo and warped by bad faith and racism.

Only Justice Clarence Thomas wrote more dissents last term, but his agenda was different. Laconic on the bench, prolific on the page and varied in his interests, Justice Thomas is committed to understanding the Constitution as did the men who drafted and adopted it centuries ago.

Justice Sotomayors concerns are more contemporary and more focused. Her dissents this term came mostly in criminal cases, informed as much by events in Ferguson, Mo., in 2014 as by those in Philadelphia in 1787.
SAN FRANCISCO  Maria Poblet, who leads an organization that assists Latino families facing eviction in San Francisco, says she appreciates the philanthropy that the citys technology companies do in far-flung places to address global poverty and the environment. But what she really wants to see them do is pay more taxes to help with homelessness and lower-cost housing in San Francisco.

You have a C.E.O. who cares about kids in Ghana one week or dolphins the next week. Those are important, she said. But the people impacted by displacement in San Francisco are a worthy cause, too.

Ms. Poblet is part of a group of activists behind an initiative by three city legislators to impose a payroll tax that would apply only to technology companies, which have been the engine of a booming economy that now appears to be slowing.

Eric Mar, a member of the citys Board of Supervisors, announced the proposal last week for a 1.5 percent payroll tax that would serve as a form of indemnification for what he described as the downside of the technology boom.
Australian voters are changing, said Bob Katter, an independent member whose electorate covers about 193,000 square miles of central Queensland, an area double the size of Britain.

In the past, I could run around and kiss babies and mouth party platitudes and expect to get re-elected, Mr. Katter said in a telephone interview on Monday. But that was when he was a member of the National Party, he said, adding that now, candidates must be much more responsive to the needs of their constituents. Mr. Katter, the leader of Katters Australian Party, easily won his rural seat.

The lawmakers viewed as crucial to the next government  five independents, including Mr. Katter, and one from the Greens  have not met to discuss forming a voting bloc, and they are from diverse electorates. Mr. Katter, who once ran a 250,000-acre cattle ranch, said he had had high-level talks with both leaders but had not reached an agreement with either.

Wooing the swing lawmakers is likely to be troublesome.

They are very different candidates, said Jill Sheppard, a political scientist at the Australian National University. Their electorates are spread out and have very different needs.
BATUMI, Georgia  Once a staid seaside resort in the Soviet Union, this frontier city has undergone an extreme face-lift, the legacy of former President Mikheil Saakashvilis determination to give Georgia a more contemporary, jazzier look.

Three years after Mr. Saakashvili left office and the country, Batumi, like other Georgian cities, bears his mark. Its skyline is a bizarre mash-up of architectural styles, including sleek modern and Disneyland whimsical, crowding out the two-story, 19th-century buildings with ornate balconies that once defined this city of 120,000.

Although some parts of historic Batumi have been preserved, dozens of old buildings have been swept away in the rush to welcome new investors, hotels and, especially, casinos. The Post Office, a city landmark, has been transformed, its Art Nouveau interior destroyed. Smaller houses have been torn down, despite protests from a group of citizens.

We are fighting house by house, said Shota Gujabidze, a film director and author of a book on old Batumi. But it is very difficult to fight when the authorities have all the power. You can go out on the street and shout, but nothing happens.
LONDON  (Editors note: Read our latest article about the release of the Chilcot report here.)

The Iraq Inquiry Committee will release a voluminous report on Wednesday about Britains role in the Iraq war.

The report, the product of seven years of work, is likely to be the definitive assessment of a conflict that is widely seen in Britain as the worst foreign policy blunder since the 1956 Suez crisis.

The war claimed the lives of 179 British troops, more than 4,500 United States service members and an untold number of Iraqi civilians; severely damaged the reputation of Tony Blair, who stepped down as prime minister in 2007; and continues to cast a shadow over Britains relations with the United States.

The report arrives at an acutely sensitive time, less than two weeks after Britain voted to leave the European Union, with power struggles consuming both of Britains largest political parties. Here are answers to some of the major questions:

What are the key issues?

Intelligence failures are expected to be a focus: reliance by analysts on flawed sources of information about Saddam Husseins weapons program, and the use of that intelligence as part of the march to war.
PARIS  Michel Rocard, a former French prime minister who embodied a pragmatic, market-friendly element in the Socialist Party, but whose reformist zeal encountered powerful countercurrents on the left, died on Saturday in Paris. He was 85.

His death, after a long illness, was announced by the French government, which did not provide the cause.

Mr. Rocard served only three years as prime minister, from 1988 to 1991, but his lasting influence on the Socialists outstripped his brief tenure and relatively modest accomplishments in office.

The two men identified as the leading reformers in the current Socialist government, Prime Minister Manuel Valls and Economy Minister Emmanuel Macron, both locked in struggle with the partys left, count themselves as Mr. Rocards disciples. Mr. Valls worked for Mr. Rocard when he was prime minister.
I told him I didnt think any part of the state should be left to the control of people with a certain ideology, said Mr. Firat, a Kurd who has since left the party. His answer was, We will not be harmed by those who look toward Mecca. We were not an Islamist party  we were a democratic party. But he was already drifting away.

That was because he could: With the military out of the picture, the major check on his power had been removed.

But Islam was not his undoing. Absolute power was. As Mr. Erdogan grew more popular, winning broad pluralities and even majorities in each successive election, he began to behave with a kind of Bolshevism, believing that he was the very embodiment of the people, former officials said.

Others argue that Turkeys problems are as much about the country as they are about Mr. Erdogan.

We treat Erdogan as the cause, but in some sense, he is the consequence of Turkish society  he is our creation, said Hakan Altinay, the director of the European School of Politics at Bogazici University in Istanbul. We have learned that even though we have the hardware of democracy  institutions, elections  our software is not good. We are too attuned to status, too willing to submit to authority.

Today, many say Mr. Erdogan has simply adopted the bad habits of former Turkish leaders he came to power to defeat. He needs allies, so he has struck an alliance with the military  the chief of staff was a witness at his daughters wedding  and extreme nationalists are now resurgent. That is deeply troubling to human rights advocates who have documented the missing-person case of a Kurdish politician from Sirnak, Hursit Kulter, the first such disappearance since 2001.

Erdogan today has been captured by the patriotic forces of Turkey, said Dogu Perincek, the head of a nationalist political party close to the military, who was jailed for conspiring against the state but recently released.

Mr. Erdogans Achilles heel is the economy. His voters, while loyal, care about their pocketbooks more. Incomes have stagnated in recent years, and foreign direct investment, a major indicator of economic direction, has been declining, not counting real estate purchases.

We have an ulcer, not cancer, Atilla Yesilada, a financial consultant in Istanbul, said of the economy. But all signs point toward sicker.
JERUSALEM  Donald J. Trump has been called a lot of things by a lot of people around the world. In Israel, where his comments about remaining neutral in peace negotiations raised hackles but his condemnation of radical Islam wins plaudits, the word that keeps coming up is dugri.

A slang Hebrew term derived from the Arabic for straight ahead, dugri describes someone who is frank and blunt no matter the consequences. This is how many outsiders view Israelis, often with considerable discomfort. But here in Israel, a society that views pretension with suspicion and disdain, it is almost universally a compliment.

Israelis tend to talk more frankly and openly about subjects that, in America, could be somewhat taboo, said Zev Chafets, a co-host of a weekly radio program in Tel Aviv that focuses on the United States election. Trump does that. People find that refreshing.

American presidential elections are not, of course, won or lost in Israel, but candidates nevertheless treat it almost as a state with electoral votes, wooing the public with promises and calculated charm. This year, Mr. Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, and his Democratic counterpart, Hillary Clinton, have promised to outdo each other in protecting Israels security.
BEIRUT, Lebanon  Bombings rocked three cities across Saudi Arabia on Monday, including near the Prophets Mosque in the holy city of Medina, raising the specter of increasingly coordinated attacks by militants seeking to destabilize the monarchy.

A suicide bomber struck near the United States Consulate in the coastal city of Jidda in the morning, wounding two security officers. Then, near dusk, when Muslims were ending their daily Ramadan fasts, other blasts struck near a Shiite mosque in the countrys east and at a security post in Medina, killing four guards, according to the Saudi-owned Al Arabiya television network.

The blasts in Saudi Arabia followed a bloody week in which terrorist attacks caused mass casualties in the largest cities of three predominantly Muslim countries: Turkey, Bangladesh and Iraq.
This weeks photo does not depict a Saddleback Valley location.

It does, however, have a connection to our areas history.

The depicted painted lady is today known as Keating House, one of San Diegos most popular bed-and-breakfast establishments. Near Balboa Park, it was once the home of George and Fannie Keating.

George Keating had made his fortune in Kansas City, Mo., selling farm equipment. By the mid-1880s, however, he was experiencing health issues, and in 1886 the Keatings moved to San Diego.

The couple soon made a number of real estate investments, including property in the upscale Bankers Hill community. About a year later, they moved into their newly constructed Queen Anne-style home at 2331 Second Ave.

Sometime around early 1888, Georges parents arrived for a visit. The senior Keatings were from Halifax, Nova Scotia, where William, a retired judge, had amassed his own considerable fortune. Its unclear if they planned to return or had decided to settle permanently in San Diego. But arrive they did  along with unmarried daughter Emily  in time for the February opening of the Hotel del Coronado.

The story passed down through generations is that petite, auburn-haired Emily was in the hotels lobby, about to enter an elevator with her parents, when she caught the eye of real estate mogul Dwight Whiting.

Whiting, a Bostonian, had just bought a large swath of land to the north that once had belonged to Californio Don Jose Serrano. Romance was definitely on Whitings mind as he quickly presented Emily with a violet bouquet. But he also had a keen eye for opportunity and likely knew about the Keatings.

Whatever the case, Dwight soon was courting Emily.

Then tragedy struck: On June 22, George Keating suddenly died. Situations accelerated. Dwight married Emily, taking her to El Toro and inviting his parents-in-law to join them. In addition to building their own grand El Toro mansion, the Keatings bought and donated land for a church  actually a mission, since sermons would be delivered by rotating clergy  and it was named St. Georges, ostensibly for Britains patron saint but also recalling their late son.

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A plaque was installed in the mission to the memory of George Keating and remains to this day.

In 1976, St. Georges Mission was moved a few miles to Heritage Hill Historical Park in Lake Forest.

Today, park visitors may visit St. Georges interior and three other historic buildings on tours twice daily Tuesday-Saturday. Information: Heritage Hill Historical Park at 949-923-2230. For more information about San Diegos Keating House, call 619-239-8585.
It took him 50 years to say what he needed to say.

And when he finally got it down on paper, the words came out short and sweet. On May 31, five decades after he lay bleeding in a field in Vietnam worried if he would lose his leg, Lt. Col. Dale Hanson wrote a letter to Michael Colglazier, the president of the Disney Resort.

In summary, heres what that letter said: Thank you.

Thats about it. Hanson isnt the kind of guy to go on and on.

What Hanson didnt say  thats a story so important that Disneyland officials chose to honor the Purple Heart recipient on July 3 because they didnt want his moment to be lost in the Fourth of July holiday events.

Sunday, Hanson gave a special introduction during Disneylands daily Flag Retreat Ceremony, which they have performed every day since the park opened in 1955. Afterward, he was congratulated by a dozen or so veterans who also came to salute the flag.

Its a wonderful miracle, Hanson said through his tears. Fifty years ago I didnt know what the future was going to be. This is breathtaking.

  

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Hanson always wanted to be a pilot. He had an uncle who flew in World War II and another who was a flying ace in Korea. My childhood dream, he said.

He signed up for the ROTC program at Narbonne High School in the early 1960s with his eye on becoming an aviator.

But when he took his physical, he was told he had sun blindness, which meant his eyes had trouble dealing with the glare of the sun. That condition prevented him from chasing his dream.

Hanson was drafted into the Army in September 1964. He trained in artillery at Fort Sill in Oklahoma.

He became a forward observer  the scout in front of his unit  when he was shipped to Vietnam. He didnt know it at the time, but he was exposed to Agent Orange, a poison sprayed on the plant life that proved toxic for the people who came in contact with it.

On July 4, 1966, Hanson and his infantry unit were in the central highlands, advancing across a field. Hanson was out in front scanning the horizon for enemies.

He was 20 years old.

Despite his training and caution, Hanson walked into a booby trap. He stepped on a punji stick, a sharp bamboo spike that had been covered in brush.

The punji stick went through his left foot. He couldnt move.

I was in a lot of pain, he said. I didnt know if I would lose my leg.

His buddy cut the punji stick so he could be moved. A helicopter crew rescued him. Hanson was airlifted to a hospital in South Vietnam.

He woke up from surgery with a Purple Heart medal pinned to his pillow.

Other than that, there was no recognition at all, he said.

After a week in the hospital, he went back to work. This time, he was assigned to be an observer in a helicopter unit.

He came home in September 1966.

The world was not ready for him, and he was not ready for the world.

One day, youre on a battlefield, and the next day youre on the streets of Los Angeles, Hanson said.

  

Hanson applied for every kind of non-skilled labor job he could imagine. No one was hiring. They didnt want to hear about his military service, his leadership skills or the work ethic he picked up by risking his life for his country.

The fact that I was a vet meant nothing, he said. No one was hostile to me, but there was no support. No one cared.

He had trouble sleeping. He remembers noticing the oil refineries in Torrance. There would be flare-ups when they burnt off the gas, he said. That would frighten me.

After a couple of months of looking for work, he finally got a job as a janitor at the Navy shipyard in Long Beach.

He was at work when he saw a flier for Welcome Home tickets to Disneyland for $1 apiece.

I was looking for somewhere I could have a little peace of mind, he said.

  

In November 1966, Hanson went to Disneyland alone.

He didnt go on any rides. He just picked a bench in front of Sleeping Beauty Castle and he sat. And he had a great time. He kept going back, sitting on the same bench for three, four, five hours just enjoying the happiness.

For the first time in a long time, I wasnt worrying about what was going on in the world, he said. I dont know what I was looking for, but Disneyland gave me something I needed.

Once, a security guard approached him and asked if he was OK. I told him I was just sitting there trying to get my thoughts together, Hanson said.

Hanson says now that he needed that time watching parents and children and people having fun to reassure himself that everything was fine in the world.

People were moving around enjoying life, he said. I needed to see that.

In 1970, he was diagnosed with a nervous condition that he now believes was post-traumatic stress disorder. He was officially diagnosed with PTSD in 2003.

  

He got his life together in the 1980s. He met a woman named Teresa  now his wife  and one of their first dates was at Disneyland. He started what would be a long career in human resources.

They bought a house in Westminster.

Putting down roots was part of my get-well program, Hanson said. Until I lived in Westminster, I was a gypsy.

They had a son, Brandon, now 27, and Dale Hanson became one of the founding members of the Dolphin Dads program at Eastwood Elementary School. He organized overnight campouts on the school grounds for the students.

He worked for 10 years on the Westminster School District Personnel Commission and served on the advisory board for the Westminster police chief.

In 2014, he found out that his exposure to Agent Orange contributed to his failing heart. He needed five arteries bypassed.

It was during this time, when he was awaiting surgery, that he began to consider the turning points of his life.

We were touched by Mr. Hansons story and that Disneyland played a role in helping him, said Suzi Brown, Disneyland spokeswoman.

The Hansons now live in Arroyo Grande, about a four-hour drive from Disneyland.

I wrote that letter because I needed to have closure in my life, Hanson said.

When he wrote the letter to Disneys Colglazier, he didnt expect to hear back.

But hes happy he did.

Whenever he talks about spending time at Disneyland, he gets very emotional, Teresa Hanson said. Hes not normally like that.
OKLAHOMA CITY  U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe walked away from a forced landing at a small airport in Oklahoma amid high winds and severe weather, his spokeswoman said Monday.

The 81-year-old Republican, an avid pilot, brought his plane down in Ketchum, a small community in far northeastern Oklahoma, spokeswoman Donelle Harder said.

Inhofe and another pilot were flying in tandem in separate planes during a Sunday evening pleasure flight despite the severe thunderstorm watch that was in effect for much of Oklahoma.

He experienced high winds at landing, Harder told The Associated Press in an email. Inhofe walked away and is now at home with his family celebrating the July Fourth holiday, Harder said.

She declined to provide any more details, and the Federal Aviation Administration wouldnt confirm that Inhofe is the pilot under investigation after veering off the runway at the small airport around 7 p.m. Sunday.

FAA spokesman Lynn Lunsford said the pilot reported steering into some brush to avoid a deer.

Lunsford said the pilot was not injured, but would not confirm who was at the controls. The FAA does not release names of pilots, and will not disclose more details while the investigation is under way, he added.

FAA records indicate the aircraft is a fixed-wing, single-engine Harmon Rocket II manufactured in 2003 and registered to Padre Co. LLC of Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Inhofe, who often pilots a small plane to campaign stops across Oklahoma, has logged more than 11,000 flight hours during decades of flying, according to a biography on his website.

In 2011, the senator ran afoul of the FAA when he landed a plane on a closed runway at a rural South Texas airport even though there was a giant yellow X and trucks on the runway. Workers on the ground scrambled to get out of the way.

Inhofe agreed to complete a remedial training program rather than face possible legal action and possible suspension of his pilots license. He later sponsored a bill to strengthen the position of pilots when contesting FAA enforcement of safety regulations in such cases.

Hes had other close calls as well: In 2006, an experimental plane he was flying spun out of control while landing in Tulsa. In 1999, Inhofe made an emergency landing in a Tulsa suburb after the plane he was flying lost a propeller.

Inhofes son, Perry Inhofe, died in a small plane crash in November 2013. But the senator has continued to fly, despite his advanced age.

Lunsford said there is no maximum age for pilots, noting that some fly well into their 90s.

All pilots must pass regular physical exams and take a check ride every two years to demonstrate proficiency, he said in an email. Its totally dependent on physical and mental ability.

Inhofe, a former Tulsa mayor and congressman, was first elected to the Senate in 1994 and is now serving his fourth full six-year term. He chairs the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee and is the senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

A strong supporter of the military and the oil and gas industry, Inhofe is one of Congress most vocal climate-change deniers, and has opposed environmental regulations, claiming they choke the economy.
c.2016 New York Times News Service

Donald Jelinek, who quit a Wall Street law firm to defend civil rights workers in the South and later inmates accused in the Attica prison revolt and Indians who seized Alcatraz Island to dramatize their grievances against the government, died on June 24 at his home in Berkeley, California. He was 82.

The cause was lung disease, his wife, Jane Scherr, said.

Jelinek was at a law firm in 1965 when he volunteered to work during the summer for the Lawyers Constitutional Defense Committee of the American Civil Liberties Union, representing mostly workers from the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee, or SNCC (known as snick).

As a civil rights lawyer in the South, he was shot at and was arrested once for practicing law without the permission of the Alabama bar.

He also directed the Southern Rural Research Project, which documented rural malnutrition and sued the Agriculture Department to distribute surplus commodities to the hungry and to force recalcitrant county officials to participate in the federal food stamp program.

He moved to California, where he represented Native Americans who seized Alcatraz Island in 1969; they claimed title under a 19th-century treaty and aired their other grievances against the federal government during a 19-month occupation.

Jelinek practically lived on the island, raised money for the protesters and helped persuade prosecutors to level relatively minor charges. (Three demonstrators were convicted of stealing copper piping, a verdict overturned on appeal.)

In 1971, he was recruited to coordinate the defense of 61 inmates charged with nearly 1,300 crimes after the Attica prison riot in western New York, which left 10 corrections officers and civilian employees and 33 prisoners dead. All but one guard and three inmates were killed by the authorities in what a prosecutor branded a wanton State Police turkey shoot.

Over decades of litigation, the inmates were gradually cleared of additional penalties.

Jelinek also represented conscientious objectors during the Vietnam War and served three terms on the Berkeley City Council.

Donald Arthur Jelinek was born in the Bronx on Feb. 17, 1934, the son of Jewish immigrants. His father, Eugene, ran a print shop. His mother, the former Adele Schneider, was a secretary.

He grew up near Yankee Stadium, graduated from the Bronx High School of Science, New York University and New York University Law School, living in Greenwich Village and paying his rent by working as a janitor.

He met his first wife, the former Estelle Cohen Fine, in the South. Their marriage ended in divorce.

In addition to Scherr, he is survived by her daughters, Dove and Apollinaire Scherr; two grandchildren; and his brother, Roger.

Inspired by the Portraits of Grief articles in The New York Times about the victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, he told crmvet.org, a website for veterans of the civil rights movement, in 2005 that he and his wife had already discussed his epitaph.

I told her that if I had been one of them, he said, I would want her to write: He had people who he loved and who loved him . . . and he was part of SNCC.
They call her The Big Stick.

Its a nickname aptly earned.

Shes the battleship USS Iowa, still bristling with firepower after being decommissioned and harbored as a floating museum in the Port of Los Angeles Berth 87 since July 4, 2012.

Four years later, in time for another Fourth of July weekend, the Iowa will unveil its revamped museum within a museum, which relates the history of this fighting ship from its inception in 1943 to its last decommissioning in 1990. Its ribbon-cutting ceremony, which is open to all visitors who purchase a tour ticket, is set for Thursday.

We are constantly evolving in our efforts to show what life was like on this battleship, said Andrew Bossenmeyer of Anaheim, spokesman for the Pacific Battleship Center, which oversees the USS Iowa and its more than 1,200 volunteers.

An interactive tour app is included in the price of admission. According to Bossenmeyer, it allows the visitor to get a sense of day-to-day life on the ship, including what it was like to fire the 16-inch guns.

The revamped museum features a 360-degree panorama of images detailing the ships compartments, particularly areas closed off to the public for safety. Click on a photo and you can see it from every angle as it rotates.

Arguably the most important addition to the museum is a station dedicated to one incredibly tragic day in the life of the Iowa.

On April 19, 1989, during training exercises 260 nautical miles off Puerto Rico, an explosion rocked Turret 2, which housed three of the battleships nine massive, 16-inch guns.

The blast killed 47 sailors. The explosion did what no enemy could do during World War II, the Korean War and the Gulf War.

Despite several investigations, no official conclusion was reached as to what caused the blast. Theories run the gamut from foul play and the arrangement of gunpowder to the over-ramming of powder bags.

We may never know what exactly caused the explosion, said Dave Canfield of Meadow Vista, chief information officer for Pacific Battleship Center.

Robert Sabo, the ships photographer at the time, took a series of images after the blast, which are weaved into the museum video display. Sabos three-minute slideshow runs with a haunting 1996 song, Iowa, by Dar Williams.

Canfield, who served on the ship 1987-89, retired from the Navy in 2008. He was there to witness the devastation after Turret 2 blew up, and says he has to be in the right frame of mind whenever he visits the museum.

I try not to be in here too often, said Canfield.

And for good reason.

The first time Canfield saw the video, the horrific events of that day rushed back. I had to check the video and make sure it was looping correctly, said Canfield. By the time it was over I was down on the floor crying. Those were my friends and fellow sailors.

A lot of people remember the Iowa for that explosion, added Dave Way of Huntington Beach, the ships historian and museum curator.

But we want people to understand it was just one day in the life of this great ship, noted Canfield.

Its also a way to educate youngsters who dont know much about the Navy, according to Way, who points out that free tours are offered as field trips for schools.

San Pedro used to be a big Navy town until (President Franklin Delano) Roosevelt moved the fleet to Hawaii, he said. Way, 61, grew up in Long Beach and lives in Huntington Beach. He worked on the Queen Mary for 11 years before finding his way to the Iowa.

Both Canfield and Way see the Turret 2 exhibit as an opportunity to heal old wounds.

At one end is a hatch cover mangled by the explosion, with much of the paint burned off. People forget that after the explosion, there was a 90-minute fire the crew had to battle to put out, Canfield said.

The Turret 2 tour begins with an overview of gunnery and just what a dangerous business it is, according to Way.

It segues to other historical ship accidents, including another Turret 2 explosion in 1924 aboard the battleship USS Mississippi that killed 48 sailors off San Pedro. A plaque donated by the nearby Maritime Museum commemorates that event.

Soon, the museum will take possession of the American flag that flew on the Iowas mast on the fateful day of its accident.

We got a call not long ago from a USS Iowa veteran who has the flag and is donating it to us. It will probably go right here, said Way, pointing to an open spot on the bulkhead amid the Turret 2 exhibit.
BEIRUT  As the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan approached, jihadi propagandists told their followers that it was a good time to kill people.

The spokesman for the Islamic State said in late May that jihadis should make it, with Gods permission, a month of pain for infidels everywhere. Another extremist distributed a manual for using poisons, adding, in poor English: Dont forget Ramadan is close, the month of victories.

A bloody month it has been, with terrorist attacks killing and wounding hundreds of people in Orlando, Florida; Istanbul; Dhaka, Bangladesh; and now Baghdad, where a bomb killed more than 140 people early Sunday in a shopping area full of families who had just broken their Ramadan fasts.

For the vast majority of the worlds Muslims, violence is completely dissonant with the holy month, which in addition to fasting is a time for spiritual renewal, prayer and visits with friends and family.

It is widely believed that the rewards earned for noble acts are greater during Ramadan, which culminates in the Eid holiday this week. Jihadis have perverted this belief to serve their own ends, analysts said.

In short: If one believes it is good to kill those who are considered infidels, all the better to do so during Ramadan.

There is no doubt in my mind that al-Qaida, its various affiliates, and now ISIS use Ramadan as a watershed, as a marker to inspire and motivate their followers and supporters worldwide, said Fawaz A. Gerges, a professor at the London School of Economics who has written books on jihad.

The Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, has claimed responsibility for many of the attacks and is the prime suspect in others. A large share of the victims have been Muslims, belying the Islamic States claim to be the defender of their faith.

But terrorism researchers caution that attacks happen year-round and that there is little systematic evidence that they become more common during Ramadan. And it is almost impossible to tell what role the month plays in the thinking of individual attackers.

What is clearer is that the manipulation of the goals of Ramadan are another way in which jihadis have interpreted the religion in a way most Muslims deplore. Another example is the jihadis wide use of takfir, or the branding of others as infidels who deserve death. The Islamic State has used this concept to justify the killing of other Muslims, be they Shiites or fellow Sunnis whom the group deems to be insufficiently devout.

Such views course through the jihadis Ramadan propaganda.

In an audio message released before the month began, Abu Mohammed al-Adnani, the Islamic State spokesman, urged the groups followers to launch attacks in the West during Ramadan in retaliation for strikes by a U.S.-led coalition in the groups central territories in Syria and Iraq.

Know that in the heart of the lands of the Crusaders there is no protection for that blood, and there is no presence of so-called civilians, he said.

Jihadis should act, he said, so that perhaps you will gain the great reward for martyrdom in Ramadan.

Other propagandists reached back into Islamic history to compare the modern jihadi struggle with the Battle of Badr, a famous Ramadan victory mentioned in the Quran in which the Prophet Muhammad and his forces routed their enemies in Mecca. Some drew links between those forces and Omar Mateen, the Orlando gunman.

In Islamic history, Ramadan is a reminder to Muslims of who they are, separating the faithful from the non-faithful, Gerges said. But what ISIS and al-Qaida have done to great effect is to focus on the war spirit and offensive spirit rather than on the moral spirit.

But the recent spate of attacks could be less about Ramadan than about the Islamic States desire to project strength as it loses territory. In Iraq, it recently lost control of Ramadi and was pushed out of Fallujah last month  a humiliating Ramadan defeat.

Since those losses undermine the jihadis claim to have a powerful state with its own territory, high-profile attacks abroad serve as force multipliers, because they divert attention from what is happening in Iraq and Syria, Gerges said.

The jihadis focus on violence during the holy month stirs revulsion among most Muslims, who see it as a time of intensified spirituality and increased religious activity, said Jonathan A.C. Brown, a professor of Islamic civilization at Georgetown University.

This often means more time spent in prayer, at the mosque or reading the Quran, in addition to the dawn-to-dusk fast that is among the primary requirements of observant Muslims. Even many secular Muslims fast or pursue good works throughout Ramadan.

If you do your fast well and it is received, there is a huge reward you get in the afterlife, Brown said.

Underlying much Ramadan activity is a sense that the rewards for good deeds are greater during the holy month, even for acts as small as smiling at someone, Brown said.

Muslims are to give contributions to charity equaling the cost of one meal at the end of the month, and many also give their required alms for the year during Ramadan, making it an active time for thinking about the poor. Many Muslim communities also hold Ramadan fundraising drives for charitable causes.

There is also a belief that the devils who normally tempt people to sin are chained up, during Ramadan, making it easier for Muslims to be good, as they have to face only their own temptations.

This is a time to improve yourself and not to swear, not to have arguments  and you have a leg up now, Brown said. That means that people who do these attacks only have themselves to blame. They cant blame the devil.
Multitudes of surfers, hikers, birdwatchers, campers, mountain bikers and others who relish getting away from Southern Californias urban sprawl can thank President Richard M. Nixon for San Onofre State Beach.

An exhibit on display this summer in the cottage visitor center at San Clemente State Beach describes Nixons bold move 45 years ago to create what has become one of Californias most visited state parks. It showcases San Onofres surfing heritage, the Marines training mission and stewardship of Camp Pendleton and the value of having a 3,000-acre wilderness park to escape the megalopolis of Orange, Los Angeles and San Diego counties.

The display can lead one to wonder: If Nixon had decided to make, say, Laguna Beach or Newport Beach the site of his summer White House instead of San Clemente, might there be no state park at San Onofre? No Kelly Slater surf victories at Trestles? No blufftop campground with six rustic trails leading to remote beaches undisturbed by civilization?

The exhibit  titled Coastal Wilderness in the Heart of Southern California  tells how Nixon, taking office in January 1969, went house-hunting in Southern California. He selected a secluded beachfront mansion on San Clementes border with Camp Pendleton and decided that, when he left office, he wanted to build his presidential library close to his home.

He was planning to live here forever and he wanted the presidential library there, said Steve Long, a retired state parks superintendent. The law wouldnt allow it on Marine Corps property. He started looking for an alternative on how he could do this.

The exhibit tells how Nixon created the Legacy of Parks program, a federal move that the Nixon Foundation says transferred more than 80,000 acres of surplus federal lands to create some 640 parks nationwide by the late 1970s.

San Onofre happened to be one of the first ones, Long said.

Legacy of Parks proved to be one of Nixons most beneficial domestic policies during his presidency from 1969-74, the exhibit says, but his hopes of putting his library on state park land across I-5 from his San Clemente home were squelched when the Watergate scandal forced him to resign.

The library ended up in Nixons birthplace, Yorba Linda.

San Onofre State Beach remains as a shining example of the best of his legacy, today recognized as a world treasure and referred to as the Yosemite of Surfing, the exhibit says.

Long, who worked with retired state park colleagues Mike Brousard and Jim Serpa to assemble the exhibit, said he learned of the library story from Lost Honor, a book by former Nixon aide John Dean. The exhibit includes San Onofre surf scenes from the 1930s, photos of the federal government creating Camp Pendleton in 1942 to train Marines for World War II, views of Marines training there today and an evolution of surfing at San Onofre.

The Navy signed a 50-year lease in 1971 with the California Department of Parks and Recreation. The lease expires in 2021, and Long said preliminary talks between state parks and the Marines have begun.

The exhibit salutes Camp Pendleton Marines for their role in protecting the nation and their stewardship over nearly 200 square miles of land that, absent Camp Pendleton, would likely be paved over like San Clemente or Oceanside.

They effectively stopped the urban sprawl that would have overcome the zone, the exhibit says. The establishment of Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton created a public trust assuring that generations to come will forever have access to the San Onofre coast.

Brousard said the exhibit is designed to recognize what a treasure San Onofre State Beach is, a stretch of remote coastline and trails surrounded by tens of millions of people, and its been preserved by the Marine Corps and is a state park.

Contact the writer: 949-492-5127 or fswegles@ocregister.com
WASHINGTON  The promise of the armed drone has always been precision: The United States could kill just the small number of dangerous terrorists it wanted to kill, leaving nearby civilians unharmed.

But the Obama administrations unprecedented release last week of statistics on counterterrorism strikes underscored how much more complicated the results of the drone program have been.

It showed that even inside the government, there is no certainty about whom it has killed. And it highlighted the skepticism with which official American claims on targeted killing are viewed by human rights groups and independent experts, including those who believe the strikes have eliminated some very dangerous people.

Its an important step  its an acknowledgment that transparency is needed, said Rachel Stohl, an author of two studies of the drone program and a senior associate at the Stimson Center, a research group in Washington. But I dont feel like we have enough information to analyze whether this tactic is working and helping us achieve larger strategic aims.

More broadly, President Barack Obamas move to open a window on the secret counterterrorism program takes place against a background of escalating jihadi violence that can be called up by a list of cities that includes Paris; San Bernardino, California; Brussels; Orlando, Florida; Kabul, Afghanistan; Istanbul; Baghdad; and now Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Apart from the dispute over the number of civilian deaths, the notion that targeted drone strikes are an adequate answer to the terrorist threat appears increasingly threadbare.

Theres a massive failure of strategy, said Akbar S. Ahmed, a former Pakistani diplomat and the chairman of Islamic studies at American University in Washington. Drones have simply become one more element of the violence in countries like Pakistan and Yemen, not a way to reduce violence, he said.

Among young people attracted to jihadi ideology, the line to blow yourself up remains horrifyingly long, he said. That line should be getting shorter.

A senior Obama administration official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the classified program, said the recent series of major terror attacks in urban areas had all been directed or inspired by the Islamic State.

The classified counterterrorism drone campaign, he said, has targeted other groups, notably al-Qaidas old core in Pakistan, its branch in Yemen and the al-Shabab in Somalia. No attack in the West in the past year has been traced to those groups, suggesting that the strikes have been effective, he said. The drone strikes in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan are, for the most part, carried out by the military in a separate program.

In Fridays release, the White House made public an executive order laying out policies to minimize civilian casualties in counterterrorism strikes and a plan to start making public the basic statistics on strikes each year.

At the same time, the office of the director of national intelligence released the first official estimates of those killed during Obamas presidency in strikes outside the conventional wars in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan. Though the announcement did not say so, the classified strikes took place in Libya, Pakistan, Somalia and Yemen, and the vast majority used missiles fired from unmanned drone aircraft, though a few used piloted jets or cruise missiles fired from the sea.

Since 2009, the government said, 473 strikes had killed between 2,372 and 2,581 combatants. They are defined as members of groups, like al-Qaida and the Taliban, that are considered to be at war with the United States, or others posing a continuing and imminent threat to Americans.

In the most sharply debated statistics, the statement estimated that between 64 and 116 noncombatants had been killed. Officials said those numbers included both clearly innocent civilians and others for whom there was insufficient evidence to be sure they were combatants.

The numbers were far lower than previous estimates from the three independent organizations that track strikes based on news reports and other sources. The Long War Journal, whose estimates are lowest, counted 207 civilian deaths in Pakistan and Yemen alone. The security policy group New America in Washington estimated a minimum of 216 in those two countries, and the London-based Bureau of Investigative Journalism estimated the civilian toll under Obama between 380 and 801.

With no breakdown by year or country, let alone a detailed strike-by-strike account, the Obama administrations new data was difficult to assess. For example, according to multiple studies by Human Rights Watch, Yemens Parliament and others, a U.S. cruise missile strike in Yemen on Dec. 17, 2009, killed 41 civilians, including 22 children and a dozen women. At least three more people were killed later after handling unexploded cluster munitions left from the strike.

If those 41 are included in the new official count, as appears likely, that would leave only 23 civilians killed in all other strikes since 2009 to reach the low-end U.S. estimate of 64. By nearly all independent accounts, that number is implausibly low. Obama administration officials declined over the weekend to discuss any specific strikes or otherwise elaborate on the statistics.

Scott F. Murray, who retired from the Air Force as a colonel after 29 years, was a career intelligence officer involved in overseeing airstrikes in Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria. He said that while he had not been involved directly in the counterterrorist strikes outside those war zones, the civilian death estimates were lower than I would have expected.

He said civilian deaths could result from multiple causes, including incomplete intelligence about the identities of people on the ground, equipment failure and human error.

Perhaps most often, Murray said, problems arise when civilians enter a target area before drone surveillance begins, or when a civilian suddenly enters the strike zone just before a strike.

The night you choose to strike, it may be that the in-laws arrived earlier in the day or the childrens birthday party is ongoing and you werent watching when everyone arrived, Murray said. Those are the things in war that drive you to drink. You never ever have perfect information.

Brandon Bryant, who worked on Air Force drone teams from 2006 to 2011 and has become an outspoken critic of the program, recalled one strike in 2007 targeting a local Taliban commander. As the Hellfire missile sped toward the small house, he said, a small child  possibly frightened by the missiles sonic boom  ran into the house and was killed.

Those things are burned into my brain  I cant really forget them, Bryant said. He added that he believed total civilian deaths were much higher than the administrations estimate because of officials wishful thinking, rather than deliberate deception.

Theyre just deluding themselves about the impact, he said.
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court denied the request for a rehearing of Friedrichs v. CTA. We the plaintiffs had asked for the rehearing after a 4-4 split decision on the case in March. This is unfortunate in such an important case. Friedrichs fizzled out with no ruling on the merits of the case, meaning that teachers will continue to have union dues taken out of their paychecks against their will whether they are union members or not.

Now that we will continue to have no choice about paying union dues, teachers need to be educated as to where their union dollars go: what causes they champion, whose wallets they pad and what candidates they support. Teachers are afraid to resign the union because they are not informed or are afraid of backlash from colleagues, or both.

Its time to stop being ignorant and afraid. Its time to stop kowtowing to education union thugs. Its time for teachers to become empowered to say no to collective bargaining that hurts our students.

Concerned teachers need to resign from CTA/NEA. This is done at the local level, and a teacher will possibly get some grief for it. They may even possibly be told (like I was) that they are not allowed to resign. This is completely false, and they should not be bullied into submission.

For my liability insurance, I use the Association of American Educators, located in Laguna Niguel. This professional organization services non-union teachers all over the country with a $2 million policy for pennies each month.

With some paperwork filled out each fall, non-member teachers will receive a rebate of what the CTA claims they spend on political activities. The rebate is approximately 37 percent of teachers dues. I receive back about $380 each year. Im proud of every courageous teacher who says through their resignation and rebate-claiming: Enough is enough.

Karen Cuen

Fullerton

Plaintiff, Friedrichs v. CTA

The definition of is

Re: Official: Attorney General Lynch will accept prosecutors findings on Clinton case [News, July 1]: Regarding what seems to be an inappropriate (or perhaps even illegal) private meeting between Bill Clinton and Loretta Lynch, I think he needs to come out in front of the press and say, I did not have sex with that woman, Loretta Lynch. It worked so well the last time.

Thomas Culp

San Juan Capistrano
The impossible is becoming increasingly probable. In spite of his Twitter tirades, boorish behavior and propensity for prevarication, Donald Trump is, according to CBS News and Quinnipiac University polling, almost even with Hillary Clinton both nationally and in the must-win states of Florida, Colorado and North Carolina. How is this possible?

His polling rebound comes on the heels of his strong rhetorical takedown of Hillary Clinton and President Obama after the Orlando massacre and his support for the Brexit campaign, which sent an anti-establishment, anti-immigration message, a Britain First message, which stunned the British political establishment. Outgoing British Prime Minister David Cameron, the first Brexit casualty, suggested this week that the Brexit referendum was fueled in large part by British frustrations over unrestrained immigration. Sounds familiar.

On this side of the Atlantic, Trump has been pushing his America First theme, which, like the Brexit movement, disdains the political establishment and unchecked immigration of unscreened migrants from failed states. Whether the fervor that fueled the Brexit campaign will cross the pond is anyones guess, but events here are fueling Trumps surging, anti-establishment campaign.

First, gun control. In the wake of the Orlando massacre, Democrats made themselves look foolish  and Trump look presidential  by staging a failed sit-in on the House floor and demanding a vote on proposals that even the ACLU opposed, whereby those on the secret no-fly list and terror watch list would be denied, without any due process, the constitutional right to own a gun. In contrast, Trump said he would be meeting with the NRA to discuss how to ensure Americans have the means to protect themselves in this age of terror.

Next, the Supreme Court. In the last week of its term, the Supreme Court deadlocked on President Obamas unlawful attempt to rewrite our immigration laws, ensuring the presidents amnesty program is (thankfully) dead for now. Immigration will remain a campaign issue, and a winning issue for Trump, after Hillary promised similarly unlawful executive actions should she capture the White House. The Court also overturned Texas commonsense laws regulating abortion providers, reminding voters that the Supreme Court is out of control and in need of a president to appoint a conservative justice to stem the tide of liberal arrogance. Anyone on Trumps announced short list will do.

Third, while Trumps paltry fundraising has given political professionals heartburn, this hasnt prevented Trump from getting his messages out. Even though he has raised less than most congressional candidates, his ability to get free media coverage is propelling his candidacy and ensuring that he leads every news cycle. Trump is doing now what President Reagan did so well 30 years ago: speaking directly to the American public and bypassing the New York/D.C. media machine.

Compounding his good luck, Hillary Clinton, the woman who amassed a fortune giving secret speeches to Wall Street executives and taking donations from foreign governments with deplorable human rights records, is giving ultra-liberal Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren  the fake Native American  a test drive as a potential vice presidential nominee. Trump rejoices as two shrill, Northeastern liberals with credibility problems peddle an agenda more liberal than President Obamas, and more than 60 percent of America believes the nation is on the wrong track.

Lastly, the Democratic National Committee this week doubled down on its war against blue-collar jobs by voting to endorse the Stalinesque investigation by Democratic attorneys general of energy companies and think tanks who dared to question the reality of global warming or climate change. The party that squandered billions on failed green energy schemes (e.g. Solyndra) is now targeting some of Americas largest and most influential employers on an issue that always ranks dead last on voters priority lists, a sure way to forfeit votes and campaign contributions.

Does all of this mean Trump will win come November? Not at all. But it does mean that the Trump train chugs on, building momentum and making it increasingly unlikely that the GOP establishment or Hillary Clinton will derail a movement no serious person believed could succeed  just like the Brexit referendum.

Brian Fahy and Garrett Fahy are practicing lawyers and talk radio hosts.
It was so close to the message that Republicans say they want from Donald Trump: a tweet describing Hillary Clinton as crooked and the most corrupt candidate ever, on the morning that the likely Democratic presidential nominee met with the FBI.

But the image that Trump chose to illustrate his point, which portrayed a red Star of David slapped onto a bed of $100 bills, had origins in the online white-supremacist movement. For at least the fifth time, Trumps Twitter account had shared a meme from the racist alt-right and offered no explanation why.

Weve been alarmed that Mr. Trump hasnt spoken out vociferously against these anti-Semites and racists and misogynists who continue to support him, said Jonathan Greenblatt, chief executive of the Anti-Defamation League. Its been outrageous to see him retweeting and now sourcing material from the website and other online resources from this crowd.

The offending image first appeared in a June 15 tweet by @FishBoneHead1, an account with fewer than 1,000 followers and a penchant for memes that mock Muslims, black Democrats and cucks  an alt-right term derived from the word cuckold, for people they deem insufficiently conservative. According to Anthony Smith, a reporter for the news site Mic, it was shared June 22 on a racist section of the 8Chan Web forum.

Trumps official Twitter account shared the image, with no hint of the origin, at 9:37 a.m. Saturday. It came under fire immediately, with Trump critics like the conservative pundit Erick Erickson accusing him of play(ing) to the white supremacists. By 11:19 a.m., the tweet had been deleted, and the image was uploaded again with the star switched out for a circle.

That was more than enough time for critics and supporters to ask what exactly Trump was doing. On white-supremacist forums, Trump was cheered for apparently declaring his solidarity through not-so-subtle code.

When asked about his support from white supremacists, Trump has typically renounced it and then criticized the media for not giving him more credit for the renunciation.

I rejected them so strongly and so harshly, and then people say he didnt reject them fast enough, Trump told the conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt last month. Between Facebook and Twitter, we have over 20 million people. I rejected them on Twitter.

Trumps campaign did not answer questions about the image, the decision to delete it or the decision to promote a new version. The Republican Jewish Coalition also did not respond to a request for comment.

On the campaign trail, Trump has repeatedly paid tribute to Israel and proudly noted that his daughter Ivanka is a convert to Judaism. But the ADLs Greenblatt, disturbed by the pattern of anti-Semitic support for Trump, wanted to hear more.

On Sunday afternoon, Trump tweeted about the death of Holocaust survivor and Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel. On Saturday a great man, Elie Wiesel, passed away, he tweeted. The world is a better place because of him and his belief that good can triumph over evil!
Its quite natural for lizards and snakes to lie on hot rocks in the scorching sun, because they have to thermoregulate, but when middle-aged and elderly women in the Chinese city of Xian started doing it, people started raising their eyebrows in surprise.

It turns out lying on large stone boulders in the hot sun is this years summer health trend among the women of Xian. Elderly and middle-aged women can be seen hugging rocks or simply lying on them with towels on their faces all around the city, from parks to squares and pretty much wherever else large, sun-heated rocks can be found.

At first, people thought the women were engaging in some mysterious artistic performance, but local reporters approached them, they said it was a traditional medical treatment to help them cure various illnesses. One woman, identified only by her surname, Lo, said that she started lying on hot rocks to treat her synovitis and stiff muscles, after a relative suffering from similar ailments did it for an extended period of time and got cured. Apparently, the best time to practice laying on rocks is between 3 and 4 p.m., when the sun burns the hottest.

Women may sometimes be referred to as the weaker sex, when it comes to lying on burning hot rocks, they seem to be a lot more resilient than men. The Shaanxi Daily reports that men sometimes give the strange medical treatment a try as well, but they find the rocks too hot to bear. One woman told the paper that while she and her mother find the practice comfortable, her husband cant even touch the scorching rocks.

Despite the curious popularity of lying on sun-heated rocks in Xian, doctors warn against the risks of the bizarre practice. They claim exposing the body to extreme heat can result in a series of serious health problems, from burns and boils to heat strokes. They also explain that the treatment is unlikely to have any health benefits on practitioners.

The doctors warnings appear to be well-founded, as one woman in her 70s told the Shaanxi Daily that all she got out of lying on hot rocks was a painful boil on her abdomen.

The recent bad publicity the strange health practice has received in the media lately doesnt seen to have had an effect on practitioners, though, as they can still be seen hogging rocks all around Xian city.

But lying on them isnt the only bizarre way people are using rocks to improve their health. Just a few days ago we wrote about a man who has managed to drop over 30 kilograms of excess weight after walking with a 40-kilogram rock on his head for the last few years.

Sources: CCTV News, Shanghaiist
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While I cant claim to have done an in-depth taste test around this vast region I can certainly vouch for the foodie credentials of Macedonia, having just returned from a food-centred tour of this small, land-locked country with Intrepid Travel.

Rick Steins TV travelogue, from Venice to Istanbul, might have shone a culinary spotlight on the Balkans last summer but much of the regions cuisine is still little known in Britain. Indeed, until last month the closest Id come to Macedonian food was reading that avjar, a red pepper spread imported from Macedonia, had become a cult hit in my local supermarket.

One of a series of Real Food Adventures now offered by the small group specialists, this one was designed to showcase the real food cooked by Macedonian people at home  simple dips and breads, hearty stews and herbal rakija (a kind of fruit brandy) that take their influence from across Eastern Europe, the Middle East and the Mediterranean.

Led by an impressively well-informed guide, Jane, the 10-day trip (the official itinerary also covers Montenegro) started in the Macedonian capital, Skopje, before taking us around the countrys scenic lakes and pine-forested mountain villages.

In Skopje we ate delicious pastries for breakfast, met locals selling herbs and other produce they had brought down from allotments out of the back of trucks and got to try the local take on avjar (made from bell peppers, aubergines and chilli it was a deep orange colour) as well as sudzuk (beef sausage with a slightly garnet hue thanks to the inclusion of red pepper) and salty, holey cheeses. On a short excursion from the city, we also got to try 15-year-old rakiya beside the stillness of the Treska River gorge.

Macedonia has not been embraced by mass tourism so the winding mountain roads are blissfully quiet and hotels make way for homestays in remote alpine villages. Hike between those villages and you will almost certainly meet shepherds offering you freshly churned cheeses, or even a whole lamb for you to take away.

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One of the highlights of the tour was our stay in a little pink house on stilts by Mavrovo Lake in Leunovo. So friendly was the welcome by owner Danny (whose father built the house 70 years ago, and who greeted us in blue overalls, fresh from chopping firewood) and his wife Tina that we felt like long-lost relatives, on a family visit.

Within minutes Tina made us mountain tea (thyme, forest mint, dandelion flowers and chamomile) on an ancient stove in the couples tiny kitchen, a space only separated from the timber-clad dining room by a shelf of trinkets. If cuckoo clocks were house-sized, this is how they might look.

Later that evening, Tina treated us to a hearty home-cooked dinner. Tearing off chunks of a freshly baked three-flour loaf we dunked it into a salty cheese curd dip before helping ourselves to sizzling stuffed green peppers, scraping the caramelised bits off the bottom of the dish. And everyone wanted seconds of Tinas special recipe cinnamon, raisin, cocoa and cranberry cake.

The winters in this part of Macedonia are long and cold so breakfasts are not taken lightly. The following morning Tina fattened us up for a day of exploring with mekici (deep-fried doughnuts) and pancakes with homemade plum jam as well as eggs, breads and more cheese.

Hearty food, we discovered, is the order of the day in Macedonia. And pies are almost a national obsession, with each area claiming its own take on the regions famous, flaky pita pies. My favourite was made by women in the mountain village of Jance, within the Mavrovo national park around two hours drive west of Skopje.

It was a process we got to watch first-hand. First the pastry is stretched out over a huge work surface so its translucent. Then it is wound up into a giant spiral, with cheese and blackberry jam creating little pockets of sticky sweetness  but also a delicious savoury hit when cooked.

In the same village we visited Hotel Tutto, an almost Tibetan-looking stone and timber building tucked into pine-forested hillside above the Radika river. Constructed along sustainable principles the hotel is also a proponent of Slow Food, with founder Tefik Tefikoska a real advocate for the movement in Macedonia.

Here we learnt to cook a polenta-like dish while drinking forest berry juice and snacking on pickled mushrooms foraged just 50m from the kitchen. And the jars of marmalades, black honey and pine honey served at breakfast were all, unsurprisingly, hyper-local.

This super-local approach to food was something we experienced across Macedonia. Between here and Dihovo, just under three hours drive south of Jance, we stopped at Ohrid, a lakeside town on the border with Albania that also happens to be a UNESCO World Heritage Site. With its Byzantine churches and little terraced houses decorated with hanging baskets and windowboxes bursting with bright colours, its a scenic as well as foodie spot.

Here, we caught a little wooden boat to one of Janes carefully selected family-run spots, sitting on a wooden jetty watching fishing boats row past and enjoying a typical Macedonian breakfast of light fish stew made with trout and carp fresh from the lake. It went down surprisingly well with shots of homemade rakija, warming us up for the day ahead.

Only a few hours later, at Villa Dihovo in Dihovo, we enjoyed a fresh soup made with greens such as nettles, celery, wild garlic and herbs so specific to the area that they have no English translations. The villas owners catch river crabs, make their own rakija in a tiny backyard distillery and use honey made by Macko, a beekeeper just 100 yards down the road (a producer we later met, with Janes help, and helped make his honey).

It isnt just fish, meat, grains and vegetables that Macedonias rivers, lakes and mountainsides provide fertile territory for, however. Grapes are also a success story here and Macedonias primary wine district, Tikves, is a must-visit. Around two hours drive northeast of Dihovo, we explored this area with the help of local wine expert Ivana Simjanovska.

First stop was the beautifully manicured Popova Kula wine estate, with its picturesque views of vineyards rolling down to the river. With a plate of meats, cheese and nuts to accompany the wine, we enjoyed glasses of salmon pink stanushina rose, dark, rich, ruby-red vranec and light and refreshing stanushina white. It was an ideal spot to watch the sunset - and let all those pies settle in a hazy, slightly boozy bliss.

This, we discovered, was the pattern of the trip  local food and drink, cooked with care the traditional way and eaten with friends or family against one photogenic backdrop after another. As patterns go, its one Id definitely like to repeat.

Intrepid Travels 10-day Real Food Adventure around Macedonia and Montenegro costs from 1,260 per person, including accommodation, most meals and 13 excursions to local markets, farms, cooking classes, lakes and national parks but not flights (intrepidtravel.com).

Written by Alex Crossley, June 2016

Photographs by Joanna Yee and Alex Crossley

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MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP)  At Mehurons Supermarket in Waitsfield, manager Bruce Hyde Jr. said he and his team were ready for Vermonts new law requiring genetically modified foods to be labeled as such. But uncertainties abound.

Hyde said stores like his have to rely on national food companies to apply labels to products with genetically modified ingredients. But Congress could act this week on a less stringent federal bill that would pre-empt Vermonts, which went into effect Friday.

It could all be changed a month from now, Hyde said.

Democratic Gov. Peter Shumlin and other state leaders have strongly supported Vermonts labeling law, saying consumers have a right to know whats in their food.

Shumlin encouraged supporters of the new law to take to social media using the hashtag WeLabeledGMOs to post pictures of properly labeled products and comment on the law.

Lets show the rest of America that giving consumers the right to know what is in their food isnt that hard or scary, its simply the right thing to do, Shumlin said in a statement.

Food producers argue theres no science supporting any difference between foods that are genetically modified and those that are not. They also say they dont want to end up with a patchwork of state regulatory schemes.

Industry groups including the Grocery Manufacturers Association have sued to block the Vermont law, arguing that the labeling requirement amounts to compelled speech in violation of the First Amendment. The litigation is pending in federal court.

Association spokesman Roger Lowe said the group hopes Congress acts quickly on compromise legislation offered last month by Republican and Democratic leaders on the Senate Agriculture Committee.

Since the State of Vermont has given companies 30 days to correct any alleged GMO labeling violations, the immediate impact, if any, on companies in July should be limited, Lowe said.

Vermont leaders, including Shumlin and Sen. Bernie Sanders, who has sought the Democratic presidential nomination, oppose the legislation in Congress. They point to provisions delaying implementation by two more years and allowing food producers to use coded labels readable by smartphones. They argue that those without smartphones could remain uninformed about whether the food theyre buying has been produced with genetic engineering.

Larger grocers as well as national food companies like General Mills and Campbell Soup Co. said theyre prepared for Vermonts law, which was passed in 2014 with a two-year window for companies to prepare.

Campbell Soup Co. has already printed and shipped (product labeled) to comply with Vermonts law, said company spokesman Thomas Hushen. The company remains committed to label on-package throughout the country.

Coca-Cola spokesman Ben Sheidler said that the company was making a good-faith effort to comply with the law but that some lower-volume products and packages could be temporarily unavailable in Vermont.

Maine-based regional chain Hannaford Supermarkets has new labels for any store-brand products it carries that contain genetically modified ingredients. Those labels would not just be going to Vermont but also would be sent throughout Hannafords distribution system, said spokesman Eric Blom.

At the Hunger Mountain Co-op in Montpelier, which specializes in natural foods and local products, General Manager Kari Bradley said it was frustrating that a state law the co-op has supported since it was before lawmakers in Montpelier might be erased from the books by federal action.

Bradley said leaders of other food co-ops around the country had cheered Vermont on. They just dont have the political climates in their states to move this forward.

He said the federal bill is not a solution thats in the spirit of the Vermont law.
LONDON  At a financial conference last week in the City of London, the portion of London that is Britains equivalent to Wall Street, four eminent executives and business experts on a panel were asked whether they thought the country actually would ever leave the European Union, as voters mandated in a referendum June 23.

Two thought yes, one no and one voted its so hard to say. But all were convinced that the Citys march to global business supremacy would continue as if the vote never happened.

Its not as if the whole of financial services are going to transfer to Paris or Frankfurt, Baroness Sharon Bowles, a former member of the European Parliament and a director of the London Stock Exchange, said with a faint air of condescension. Theyll never replicate what we have here.

The City is one of the most densely packed assemblages of financial talent in the world, home to more than 400,000 bankers, traders and support staff.

Since the deregulatory big bang of 1986 launched the City on its path to global prominence, its denizens have acquired the image of a class convinced that the world needs them more than they need the world.

That brave notion has been on display in the City since the referendum, which threatens to sever 40 years of trade and business links between Britain and the EUs other 27 members. On June 27, Chancellor George Osborne, the governments senior financial official, said Britains economy and financial talent would enable the country to start the two-year negotiation over a breakup from a position of hard-won strength.

At the annual conference Thursday of TheCityUK, the financial industrys lobbying arm, speakers and guests exuded the same confidence.

Britain is a highly desirable place to do business, said John McFarlane, chairman of the organization and of the bank company Barclays. He spoke as though, despite all the concern about Britains losing access to the tariff-free European single market, its European companies fears of losing access to the British market that will give Britain the upper hand in divorce talks.

Access to the U.K. market will be in demand and highly prized, McFarlane said. BMW, Renault and Airbus will wish to continue to export their products to the U.K. tariff-free. European politicians determined to punish Britain for leaving the EU will be hurting only themselves, he said: A strong U.K. strengthens the world and advantages Europe.

Finance executives have been setting forth what they hope to gain once negotiations begin. Under EU rules, talks on terms of the breakup would start only after Britain formally invokes Article 50 of the unions 2007 Lisbon treaty, signaling its intention to leave. British leaders have said that might not happen until early next year, if then.

McFarlane listed the business communitys goals: access to the single market, some restriction on the free movement of labor, ability to employ talented workers from Europe and the rest of the world, priority for financial and professional services. In other words, almost all the privileges that British-based firms have as EU members  duty-free trade between Britain and the EU, and the preservation of passporting rights that enable financial firms to serve clients throughout the entire EU from offices in Britain without being subject to the target countries regulators.

Not everyone in the City is equally sanguine about its being so powerful a force that it can dictate demands to the EU even after a breakup. Some recognize that the bankers sense of entitlement may even have helped energize the Leave campaign in the British countryside; some also are starting to understand that the number of Leave voters who are regretting their vote June 23 may not be all that great.

The only place you hear talk about Bremorse is within the London bubble, said Tom Frackowiak, an executive director at Cicero Group, a City financial communications firm. But London is the worst place to have this debate. Out in the country, everyone is still saying, Yeah! 

Nor are City bankers invariably content with the EU relationship as it is today. Bill Tonks, an executive at St. Jamess Place Wealth Management, said his firm has turned its focus to serving clients in Asian money centers in part to escape the burden of rules and regulations emanating from Brussels and other European capitals.

No one knows whether European negotiators will be willing to grant Britons access to their market without demanding stiff terms. If we are going to leave the EU, warned Andrew Sentance, a former Bank of England adviser, there will be a price to pay somewhere along the line.
MINNEAPOLIS  Managers at the Mall of America can often tell when an employee doesnt have a good place to sleep.

Sometimes a worker shows up hours before his shift, a sign he doesnt have somewhere else to go. Other times an employee might not make it in because she stayeSd somewhere too far away or didnt have bus fare. Or perhaps an employee opens up after being asked about a wrinkled shirt.

They come in and say Oh, I just slept in a car last night,  said Natasha Holt, manager of the malls amusement park.

The Mall of America is a world-famous symbol of American abundance, with 4-plus miles of stores, rides and spectacles. But its having trouble finding people to work in todays tight labor market, leading its management to go to extraordinary lengths to hire and keep workers.

The latest step: bringing in a nonprofit agency to assist workers struggling at the margins, including those who are homeless, or nearly so. There are folks who have some challenges getting work and maintaining work, said Sue Amundson, the malls human resources director. How can we as an organization really support them?

Keeping every employee is critical. The mall  not counting its stores  has 200 unfilled jobs, about one-sixth of its 1,200 positions. The amusement park, Nickelodeon Universe, is so short-staffed that mall executives sometimes pitch in by running rides. The malls nearly 500 retailers have hundreds of other openings.

Across the state and upper Midwest, managers in offices, restaurants, factories and farms are having trouble filling jobs. Minnesotas unemployment rate, at 3.6 percent, has been better than the nations for several years. And with more baby boomers leaving the workforce than young people coming in, the labor pressure is likely to continue until the next downturn.

In the past year Mall of America bumped its base pay to $9.50 for part-time workers, 50 cents above the states minimum wage. Ride operators now make $11 per hour. Even so, Amundson, who has been with the mall for 12 years, said this is the hardest its managers and recruiters have ever had to work to fill positions.

Every year up until last year we were able to fill our positions for the summer season, Amundson said. Last year was the first year we didnt. That was the light bulb for me.

In recent weeks the malls leaders reached out to the Step-Up program of the City of Minneapolis and AchieveMpls, the nonprofit organization tied to Minneapolis Public Schools, to attract more teenagers for summer jobs. And it has forged a partnership with Oasis for Youth, an area nonprofit that works with homeless youths in the southern suburbs, an effort that mall executives think can become a national model for retaining employees and creating stability for them.

Since she came on board as Oasis case manager at the mall two months ago, Jess Nelson has been sitting in on orientation programs for new employees. She has been walking around Nickelodeon Universe and stopping by the daily briefings before shifts start to introduce herself and hand her card to workers. She stresses that her office is a confidential, safe space that is separate from the malls human resources office.

If you know anybody who needs help, my office is right downstairs, she told a concessions stand operator on a recent day as she was making the rounds, raising her voice to compete with the roar of nearby rides.

In the cabinets of her office, Nelson keeps bus tokens, gift cards for meals and groceries, and toiletries such as toothpaste and body wash for anyone who may need them.

Janette Smrcka, the malls IT director, was at church last year when she heard a discussion about youth homelessness in the suburbs. It drove her to find a way the mall could help. She reached out to Oasis.

The timing was fortuitous. Nicole Mills had just come on board as the first executive director of the nearly 6-year-old organization, which operates a drop-in center for homeless youths at a church.

I had daydreamed about how to connect to the mall, Mills said. Then one day they literally called and they were, like, Hey, were the mall. Is there anything we can do? 

In the past year Oasis has found that more young people are turning to its services, aimed at 16- to 24-year-olds who live or work in Bloomington, the suburb where the mall is, and nearby communities. Since 2013 the number of visits to Oasis has increased 74 percent. Last year it served 215 people.

A number of Oasis clients have worked at the mall. And there have been a handful of instances in which Oasis case workers intervened to help save their jobs.

For the young adults it works with, finding a place to crash for the night can consume a lot of time and energy.

Adijatu Lafiaji, 20, a community college student, started showing up at Oasis drop-in center a few months ago. She already had a job at the mall: at Forever 21, an apparel store for young women.

But a frequent source of tension was trying to arrange her work schedule around the cousin she was living with in nearby Savage. The cousin often gave her rides to and from the bus stop or the mall. At one point she had to cut back her workdays. When other issues emerged, Lafiaji decided to move out of her cousins home.

Things just werent going well anymore, so I was not comfortable living there, she said, making a vague reference to a big fight.

Oasis helped her find an apartment in Bloomington and will help pay the rent for the first several months, until she gets on her feet. Still, she needed another part-time job to pay the bills on her own. At Oasis drop-in center, where Lafiaji stocks up on toiletries and underwear, Nelson told her about other job openings at the mall.

They brushed up her resume, and she applied to be a ride operator. Within the span of a week she landed that job and moved into the apartment.

Her new home is still sparse. But her face lights up when she talks about it.

I love it, she said. Its nice, its really quiet. Peaceful.

And the bus stop is just down the streetS, and the mall a 15-minute ride away.
LOS ANGELES  If you work in an office, what did you wear last week?

Chances are your outfit was considerably more casual than it was a few years ago. Office dress codes keep getting more relaxed, spurred in part by the influx of millennials in the workforce.

Dressing up for work continues to go out of style, according to a survey released last month by OfficeTeam, an arm of the office-staffing firm Robert Half International Inc.

Half of the senior managers interviewed in the survey said their workers wear less formal clothing than they did five years ago, and 47 percent said their employees dressed too casually. About a third of the managers in the survey said their workers showed too much skin.

Another sign of the times: Banking giant JPMorgan Chase & Co. now lets workers wear business-casual clothing most of the time instead of suits, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Brandi Britton is OfficeTeams district president in Los Angeles, and the Los Angeles Times asked her to explain the changing etiquette in office dress.

Q: Whats behind the trend toward more casual work attire?

A: Youve got a highly competitive job market right now, and companies have to be more creative about how they attract people. One way is not just offering good compensation but other perks, and employees today see dressing less formally as a perk. Most people you interview will tell you that they will wear a suit, but that isnt their preferential dress code.

Q: So employers are willing to grant their wish?

A: First, employers have to be more appealing to the current workforce. Second, you think about how many millennials are in the workforce today  its over 60 percent  and one of the very appealing things to a millennial is a casual dress code.

Third, even in client-facing roles, where in years past you wore a suit, some of those jobs are tending to also become more casual because the clients you might be visiting are uncomfortable when  quote  the suits show up.

We typically wear suits quite a bit, and when we visit some of our clients and show up in our suits, they think theyre being audited or the FBI is raiding them.

Q: Were older employees pushing for more casual office wear before the millennials arrived?

A: The millennials are certainly playing a large role in it, but its still coming from management, who also tend to appreciate a less formal dress code. In our survey, youve got 58 percent of individuals who said they would prefer a business casual dress code or a casual dress code. If you have more than half the workforce wanting a certain dress code, you, as the employer, have to be aware that you may need to be more adaptable to that.

And that includes all employees  millennials, Gen Xers and baby boomers. Its about being competitive in todays tight labor market. The demand we see for college graduates continues to get greater and greater each year.

Q: And those employees, or potential employees, are pushing the casual trend?

A: Its an employees market. People wearing suits and more formal attire seem to return in tougher economic times. More casual dress codes seem to be the trend when economic times are good and its an employee-driven market.

Q: Why is that?

A: If there are more jobs than there are people, what are you, as an employer, doing to attract talent to your company? You do the things employees want: They want money, and they want perks such as a more casual dress code. Right now, companies have to be competitive for talent.

Q: How well do employees understand the difference between business casual and just plain casual?

A: I dont think inherently they understand it very well. So companies need to be specific with their dress codes. They need to be more specific about what is unacceptable versus what is acceptable.

Youre going to have individuals who push the envelope. But youre also going to have  especially with millennials  you have a generation of workers who dont know. So its up to the employers to educate their employees as to what their interpretation is of business casual or casual.

Q: Does a lot of this depend on whether the employee has to meet with clients?

A: Absolutely. If youre in a role thats client-facing, your dress code standards may be higher. With that being said, you still have companies that want to look appealing to prospective employees and make their clients comfortable with you.

Q: Do dress codes often reflect the owner or president of the firm?

A: Yes. The dress code, especially at small- and medium-sized businesses, is dictated by the owner. It is a reflection of them  what their employees look like and how they dress. But I also have a good friend and client who is very corporate in his day-to-day attire, but he allows for a casual work environment for his employees because he believes that will allow them to be more creative in how they work.
Microsoft has heard the complaints about the tactics its using to push Windows 10 on users, and its finally backing off.

Last week the company was to roll out an update for Windows 7 and 8 that will change the alerts it has been using to promote Windows 10. Unlike before, the alerts will now offer users a clear choice to decline Windows 10. And if users click on the red x button to dismiss the alert, Windows will no longer consider that a confirmation that users want to upgrade to the new version.

After hearing from customers that the alert boxes were confusing, Microsoft decided to change them, said Lisa Gurry, Microsofts senior director for Windows.

Were working really hard to address it, she said. Were working hard to deliver a Windows that everyone will really love.

In addition to changing how the Windows upgrade prompts work, Microsoft is offering free tech support to all customers who are having trouble with Windows 10, Gurry said. If users whose PCs were upgraded to Windows 10 want to return them to their previous operating system, Microsofts customer support staff will walk them through the process free of charge, she said.

The companys new tack is a welcome change from the increasingly aggressive efforts it has taken to push customers into upgrading their PCs to Windows 10.

Those efforts started last year, when it quietly pushed out an update to Windows 7 and 8 computers that prompted users to upgrade. Microsoft then made it difficult for users to figure out how to cancel the upgrade, hiding any reference to a cancel or decline option.

In May, it changed the behavior of the x button, which is normally used to close windows or dismiss alerts, so that clicking it opted users into the upgrade. It also reclassified the upgrade as a recommended update to Windows 7 and 8. That led some computers to upgrade to Windows all on their own, because many PCs are set to automatically install recommended updates.

Microsoft has tried to portray such moves as beneficial to customers. Its offering Windows 10 as a free upgrade for Windows 7 and 8 users only until July 29. After that customers will have to pay at least $120 to upgrade their PCs to Windows 10.

Meanwhile, Microsoft has been touting Windows 10 as the most secure version of the operating system to date. The company changed the way the x button worked to make it easy to upgrade and take advantage of the security benefits of Windows 10, Gurry said.

But the company is also looking after its own interests. If it can move users off older versions of its operating systems, it can save money and resources by no longer having to maintain them. And the more people on the new version, the more attractive it will be to software developers, who in turn can potentially lure in new Windows customers with their apps.

Whatever the companys reasons for pushing Windows 10, its tactics have left many customers frustrated and infuriated. After an earlier column about the Windows 10 upgrade prompts, I was inundated with emails and calls from upset Windows users.

Many complained they had been unwittingly upgraded to Windows 10 or have had to repeatedly dismiss notifications pushing them to upgrade. Some of those who were upgraded found that their PCs could not run some of their older software or wouldnt interact with peripherals such as printers. Some said they had paid computer technicians hundreds of dollars to restore their systems to their previous versions of Windows.

After declining the Windows 10 upgrade numerous times, Alice and Brad Bryant of San Jose, California, found that one of their computers had been upgraded overnight without their consent. Their word processing program didnt work well with the new software.

To me, this seems like an invasion, said Alice Bryant, 75. I feel like theyve taken away our rights.

Some users have threatened to file a class-action lawsuit against Microsoft over its aggressive tactics. A Sausalito, California, woman went a step further and actually sued the software giant. Last month she reportedly won a $10,000 judgment because her computer became almost inoperable after automatically trying and failing to install the Windows 10 update, which she said she hadnt authorized.

Microsoft does give users whose computers have been upgraded to Windows 10 the option to restore them to their earlier version with a click of a button. But thats not always a seamless solution. Some users have found that their files have been corrupted or drivers used to interact with printers and other accessories have been deleted.

Until users receive the new update for Windows 7 and 8 that changes the upgrade prompts they will continue to see the old ones that are difficult to dismiss and will schedule the upgrade if they click the x box. Users who dont want to wait for the new update have several other options for blocking the Windows 10 upgrade notifications and permanently preventing their computers from upgrading. Among them are a program called Never10 and one called GWX Control Panel.
A debate over what constitutes a textbook, with financial implications for private schools, appears closer to a resolution that would satisfy the Nebraska Catholic Conference.

Private schools would gain access to some electronic instructional materials purchased by the State of Nebraska, under a proposed new definition of textbook in a state rule.

Agreement on the proposed change is a breakthrough after it appeared the conference and state officials were at loggerheads over how to rewrite the definition.

We feel like theres been a pretty positive development, said Jim Cunningham, interim executive director of the conference.

In May, Sheri Rickert, who was then policy director for the conference, accused Nebraska Education Commissioner Matt Blomstedt of dragging his feet on coming up with a definition to address the conferences concerns.

Rickert since has left the conference for another position, Cunningham said. Former Executive Director Greg Schleppenbach also has left the conference, he said, taking a job as associate director of the Secretariat for Pro-Life Activities at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Since 1986 the Nebraska textbook loan program has received state funding  totaling $465,000 this year  that allows public schools to buy and lend textbooks to private school students. Districts dont have to spend money on the program beyond what the Legislature appropriates for the purchases.

Lending consumable materials, such as workbooks, has not been allowed.

Members of the Nebraska State Board of Education agreed to rewrite the definition this year in response to a petition submitted by the Nebraska Catholic Conference. The conference was concerned about losing access to materials as publishers increasingly replace hardcover books with digital materials and workbooks.

Rachel Wise, president of the Nebraska State Board of Education, said shes very pleased that the conference and Blomstedt hammered out language acceptable to both sides.

The Nebraska Attorney Generals Office signed off on the language, she said.

However, the proposed rule change still must go through a public hearing July 22.

Under the change, textbook would be redefined as any instructional material used by individual students in the classroom as the principal source of study. The new definition would specifically include electronic and digital subscriptions and hard-copy, write-in work texts if accessible by students pursuant to a multi-year subscription entered into by the school district.

Hard-copy supplemental workbooks would not be considered textbooks.

Contact the writer: 402-444-1077, joe.dejka@owh.com
The pitch, delivered in a library conference room in Bellevue, painted a picture of opportunity.

Free from the walls of a traditional classroom, kids enrolled in Nebraskas first K-8 virtual school could have access to 3-D printers and a full menu of educational videos to peruse at their own pace. They could video-chat with a marine biologist in Hawaii or learn coding through the popular Minecraft game.

The only catch? These innovative online classes will be available only to home-schooled students during a coming pilot program.

The Omaha Public Schools are trying to get its virtual school concept off the ground this fall by targeting an unusual population for a public school system: home-schoolers.

The Omaha Virtual School, the OPS programs official name, will be the only district-run virtual school in Nebraska. High schoolers can already take online classes  paying per course  through the University of Nebraska High School.

Obviously, this is an area that Nebraska hasnt really engaged in, said Rob Dickson, OPSs executive director of information management services. Almost every college student takes an online course. This is a pilot to see can we make this happen in K-12, and if we can, were preparing kids for post-secondary (life) in a much richer way.

District staff have been on a marketing blitz, holding information sessions at the Do Space digital library at 72nd and Dodge Streets and libraries across Omaha, Papillion and Bellevue. A dozen more dates are scheduled throughout July.

School officials say the classes could be a natural fit for home-school families looking to expand their educational options. The OPS virtual school would follow a blended model, allowing students to take online classes at their own speed while also getting face-to-face instruction or enrichment activities  think guest speakers, science labs or field trips  at least once a week.

That appeals to home-school parents like Nick and Alicia Davis, who have three kids and attended an information session last week. Theyre considering signing their kids up for online courses to supplement their home lessons.

When youre the only teacher at home, and youre trying to teach all those different grades, you dont know everything, Alicia Davis said.

The school is free and open to only home-schooled students in grades K-8 during the 2016-17 pilot year.

Students have to elect for dual enrollment in OPS and sign up for at least two classes in order for OPS to receive partial state aid reimbursement for that dual-enrolled student.

Course offerings will include core subject areas, such as math and language arts, plus several electives. Each student will receive an OPS-issued laptop.

OPS is still compiling a budget, hiring teachers  the district expects to start with at least four  and selecting online curriculum. That worries parents like Alicia Davis.

It seems like theyre behind the ball, she said. It feels rushed.

The ultimate goal  if state funding materializes  is to expand to reach OPS students interested in taking classes online, especially high schoolers.

For the first year, the virtual school director, Wendy Loewenstein, said the district wanted to start with a small, specific group: up to 300 home-schoolers.

The district has already received about 150 applications.

Across the country, virtual schools have grown rapidly, appealing to high schoolers struggling to recover credits, rural students looking for expanded course offerings, teen parents, student-athletes who travel extensively or kids who simply dont learn as well in a typical school setting.

Whether students require a more flexible learning environment due to travel demands or simply perform better outside the traditional classroom setting, virtual schools offer families access to learning anytime, anywhere, OPS Superintendent Mark Evans wrote in a letter on the Omaha Virtual School website.

At the same time, schools, especially for-profit models, are also facing increasing scrutiny from critics and researchers who say online classes can shortchange kids who get scant attention from teachers, while raking in state aid dollars. In OPSs case, the curriculum will be purchased, but the program will be district-run with OPS teachers.

Gary Miron is an education professor at Western Michigan University who studies virtual schools and student achievement. He said the students who tend to succeed in virtual school settings are self-starters with a structured learning environment and adult supervision  conditions that describe many home-schooled families.

Steven Maestas, an Omaha home-school parent with eight kids, said he liked the flexibility of the blended learning model, where students could work through lessons at their own pace but still meet with a teacher if they were struggling to grasp a subject such as geometry.

Its really kind of the best of both worlds, he said.

Other home-school advocates in the Omaha area said many home-school families already incorporate online or distance learning. They may not be interested in re-engaging with the public school system, especially if they home-school for moral or religious reasons.

Omaha home-school parent Mariel Barreras is the head of the Home School Association for Military Families. Several local families she has spoken with have been cool to the idea of an OPS-run virtual school.

The few I talked to were cautious, saying, If Im moving out of the public school for whatever reason, why would I take a public school course?  she said.

Barreras, who has six kids, said the idea doesnt jibe with her familys personal choice to home-school.

In the 2015-16 school year, there were 8,290 home-schooled kids in Nebraska, with a large number  3,025  in Sarpy and Douglas Counties. When filing for home-school status with the Nebraska Department of Education, 65 percent of families indicated that they were home-schooling because of sincerely held religious beliefs.

Kathryn Dillow, a home-school parent and advocate for the group Nebraska Homeschool  The Home Educators Network Inc., said theres been plenty of chatter on home-school social media groups about the Omaha Virtual School concept.

The group plans to take a neutral stance on the issue, and Dillow said only parents can decide what type of schooling works best for their family.

Its kind of out-of-the-box thinking compared to whats being offered in a brick-and-mortar school, Dillow said. But the one thing that many are overlooking is the fact that the project is designed to offer public schooling in a virtual setting. Its not being created to support the home-schooler. So that kind of begs the question: Why is it being marketed to home-schoolers?

School at home is not the same thing as home-schooling.

Some home-school parents may balk at state requirements for standardized testing, student data collection or immunizations, which will be required as part of the virtual school. Parents could seek exemptions.

In OPS, the superintendent and Dickson, the information management services director, pitched the idea of an OPS-operated virtual school to a receptive school board in November. The two previously worked together at Andover Public Schools in Kansas, which launched a K-12 online school called Andover eCademy six years ago.

Virtual school models range from full-time schools where virtually all classes are web-based to blended models like the Omaha Virtual School and Andover eCademy, where students work from home but still get face time with teachers. Whos running the schools varies, too  stand-alone schools or programs can be run by districts, nonprofit charter organizations or for-profit, private companies.

Online instruction can also be cheaper to provide than brick-and-mortar schools, which rack up costs related to more staffing, building maintenance, transportation and lunch service.

OPS lobbied for a bill in the last legislative session that would have provided state funding for virtual school students. The bill didnt go anywhere. Funding for the pilot year will come from the districts general fund.

Nebraska is one of only seven states that doesnt provide state funding for online learning, according to OPS officials.

The state tried to get into the virtual learning game before. In 2010, former Gov. Dave Heineman proposed a $20 million virtual high school aimed at rural students and struggling high schoolers to expand the course offerings at the University of Nebraska High School and provide funding for teachers, tutors and tuition subsidies. Multiple efforts to fund the school through state lottery money or federal Race to the Top grants failed.

Miron, the education professor, co-wrote an analysis of virtual school achievement for the National Education Policy Center at the University of Colorado, Boulder. While hes excited to see more teachers turning to blended learning  in virtual schools or traditional classrooms  preliminary student performance data for the schools is not promising and student-teacher ratios remain too high.

These schools arent working, he said. Its not that the model is bad, Miron said, but teachers need more face time with students.

OPS officials believe their blended model is key, as is the decision to start small and cap enrollment.

You can build relationships, rapport, a community of learners well-engaged with families, Loewenstein said. The home-school community is already very tight-knit. We want to make it even tighter.

Contact the writer: 402-444-1210, erin.duffy@owh.com

*********

Omaha Virtual School information sessions

Thursday at 3 p.m.  Do Space, 72nd and Dodge Streets, Room 221

Thursday at 6:30 p.m.  Benson Library, 2918 N. 60th St.

Friday at 9:30 a.m.  Millard Library, 13214 Westwood Lane

July 12 at 11:30 a.m.  Do Space, Room 221

July 13 at 1 p.m.  Swanson Library, 9101 West Dodge Road

July 14 at 9:30 a.m. and 1 p.m.  Do Space, Room 221

July 18 at 6:30 p.m.  Sump Memorial Library in Papillion

July 23 at 10:30 a.m.  Florence Library, 2920 Bondesson St.

July 26 at 3 p.m.  Do Space, Room 221

July 27 at 10 a.m.  Abrahams Library, 5111 N. 90th St.

July 28 at 9:30 a.m.  Do Space, Room 221

July 28 at 6:30 p.m.  Saddlebrook Library, 14850 Laurel Ave.

For more information, including an FAQ, visit omahavirtualschool.org.
Infosys techie murder: Prime accused remanded 15 day judicial custody

Chennai

oi-Shalini

Chennai, July 4: On Monday, July 4 Ram Kumar, the prime accused of Infosys techie murder case was brought to Royapettah General Hospital in Chennai while he was conscious and able to speak.

The 14th Metropolitan Magistrate Court judge, Gopinath visited the hospital and met the accused to record his statement. Ram Kumar has told everything to the magistrate and he has been sent to 15 days judicial custody, police confirmed.

Ram Kumar, was on Sunday, July 3 taken to Magistrate court in a ambulance amids tight security.

A special investigating team led by Assistant Police Commissioner, Nungambakkam, K P S Devaraj, Armed Reserve Police personnel of the district and a team of medical team were accompanying the ambulance.

On Friday, July 1 night, he tried to commit suicide by slashing his neck to evade arrest when police surrounded him. [Infosys techie murder case: Accused's statement recorded by police]

Gopinath directed that the accused be produced before a Metropolitan Magistrate Court in Chennai.

S Swathi, (24-year-old) employed with software company Infosys, was hacked to death at around 6:30 AM on June 24 while she was waiting to board a train at Nungambakkam Railway Station to her workplace on the city outskirts.

According to reports, Ram Kumar killed Swathi after she denied to accept his proposal. He also reportedly told Swathi that he was in love with her, which she rejected.

OneIndia News
Dhaka: When the smiling gunmen chose non-Muslim targets, Muslim boy chose to die beside Hindu friend

Feature

oi-Pallavi Sengupta

The picture of the smiling jihadists, who turned the world upside down for many in a Dhaka eatery on Friday, continues to haunt the world. Non-repentant, the six gunmen could have been the batchmates of the 20-year old Faraaz who died an undeserved death.

His death was both mourned and celebrated for a reason that the world lacks today-COMPASSION and FRIENDSHIP...something that epitomizes Islam and its indictments, something that the terrorists did not stand for.

As the six chose their targets cautiously, forcing people to recite the Quran or die, Faraaz stood guarding his two childhood friends- Indian Tarishi Jain and the Bangladeshi American Abinta Kabir. What is even more heart-warming is the fact that Faraaz was given the option to leave, but he decline to do so leaving his friends behind.

All three were killed. Probably, the terrorists could not handle Faraaz's courage. The terrorists who had stormed the Holey Artisan Bakery had released a group of women wearing hijabs and offered Faraaz the chance to leave too. His two friends in western clothes were asked where they came from, to which the women answered- India and the US. The terrorists refused to leave them and Faraaz refused to leave them behind.

[Read: Tarishi's kin in talks with MEA on travel to Dhaka]

Hostage selection

It is still unclear how the terrorists chose their targets, whether on th ebasis of religion or nationality or some other unknown factor. Faraaz could have tricked them in all the criteria if he wanted to. He was not only knew how to speak Bangla fluently, but also was a practicing Muslim. But his friends were less fortunate. None of them knew the language too well and were from diversified backgrounds.

"What the terrorists didn't realise was that Faraaz wasn't just a Bangladeshi, he was someone who would stand by his friends from diverse backgrounds," said Arbaaz Alam, a childhood friend of Faraaz.

[Read: Family of Indian teen Tarishi killed in Dhaka recall last conversation ]

The trio

Tarishi, Faraaz and Abinta knew each other since their schooling days at the American International school. All of them then went to America for college- Faraaz and Abinta to Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, and Tarishi to the University of California, Berkeley. The three may have hailed from affluent backgrounds, but they knew the very basic human trait that differentiated them from the terrorists- the value of FRIENDSHIP.

Faraaz's grandfather Latifur Rahman is chairman of the Transcom Group, one of the leading business houses in Bangladesh that owns the newspapers Daily Star and Prothom Alo. The boy's mother Simeen Hossain is managing director of Eskayef Bangladesh Limited, a Transcom-owned pharmaceutical firm.

The two girls too hand deep connections with Dhaka. Abinta was born in Dhaka and had spent a few years growing up in the US, where her father worked at the time. She then returned to Dhaka for high school. Her family owns the Elegant Group that runs the Lavendar superstore in Gulshan, Dhaka's diplomatic enclave where the attack took place.

[Read: Dhaka attack- We are here to kill the non-Muslims, terrorists told hostages]

Tarishi's father Sanjiv runs a company that recycles used batteries in Dhaka. She had returned to the city for the summer to be with her parents and to intern with Bangladesh's Eastern Bank Limited.

On Friday the three friends, all on a vacation with family, had decided to meet at the Holey Artisan Bakery in the evening. Abinta had just broken her Ramzan fast during a family Iftar before she left for the restaurant.

Education does not buy humility

The rumors that all the six killers belonged to affluent and educated background have shattered the conventional belief that terrorists-whether home-grown or international-belong to poor backgrounds with no or madrasa education and have been instilled the pride of being Muslims in a wrong way.

In league of Osama bin Laden, who too belonged to a rich background, three of the six terrorists- Nibras Islam, Meer Saameh Mubasher and Rohan Imtiaz were convent educated and Islam had also studied in Australia's Monash University's Malaysian branch. Meer and Rohan were sons of politicians. Talking to their family and acquaintances, it was revealed that the trio had disappeared from their houses a few weeks ago and that they were already showing extremist religious traits.

[Read: ISIS thrives on political and economic weakness, chooses targets strategically]

Friendship and tolerance is a personal trait that comes from within, from the very deep precincts of conscience that is formed by understanding oneself. A path of belief or a religion is supposed to help one understand oneself better unravelling the better in you. Faraaz set an example for that, showing the world that Islam is not what the terrorists represent, it means a lot different.
Dhaka Siege: Unfinished stories and those who live to tell them

Feature

oi-Pallavi Sengupta

The half-eaten food on the plates and the shattered window panes at the Holey Artisan Bakery told a number of stories- of dashed hopes, true friendhip, unborn child, family reunions.

Horror is the word, but there were tales of bravery and immense bonding that the picture did not narrate. The people who survived hell have seen death closely and they do not want to recollect it.

But for the sake of the dead, their tales need to be told; For the entire world should know that these people were innocent, but unlucky, that they had a family, a life, aspirations and dreams that were shattered within those 11 hours of brutality.

The Bakery owner

Met with a close shave with death. Arsalan started the high-end bakery with his wife 2 years ago and it was buzzing with people that night. Ideally, he chooses to be at the restaurant during its peak dinner hours. But he decided otherwise. He picked up Pizza and dessert and meant to return later with a pair of maternity trousers for the pregnant wife of the Italian chef. The he changed his mind and stayed back home.

[Read: Dhaka siege: When Indian victim Tarishi spoke to her father for the last time]

The three musketeers

Indeed! the three stuck together till the end and died, despite the fact that one of them was offered to let go since he was a Muslim. The story of Faraaz Hossain and his two friends Tarishi Jain and Abinta Kabir were meeting after a long time after their schooling at the American International School. They were either visiting their families on a vacation or were on internships.

A birthday

Hasnat Karim had brought his family for a treat. Eight of them were celebrating his youngest son Rayan's eighth birthday .

Soon to be married to never again!

Makoto Okamura, a Japanese National was engaged and soon to be married. He was dining with six other Japanese nationals when terror struck and he did not see the dawn of next day.

The great escape

Waiter Diego Rossini will never forget how he escaped the gunmen at 8:45 pm when the gunmen entered the restaurant. Sensing terror, Rossini bolted upstairs to the roof, along with others who knew the layout of the restaurant. He jumped to the roof of a neighbouring building. He escaped with a spine injury. Waiter Shumon Reza also escaped the same way.

Few staffers hid themselves in the restroom, which was temporarily being used to store flour and yeast. Unneccessary to say, the heat was yanked up. One of the gunmen who was splaying bullets downstairs, came upstairs and stood outside the door and demanded if there was a Bengali or a Muslim hiding behind.

He urged them to come out. When none of them did, he presumed that no one was inside and locked the door. Meanwhile, frantic messages and calls were being made from inside the room. "We are here. Break the wall and rescue us," they pleaded in phone calls and text messages to the restaurant owners and their relatives. They too survived.

Cutting a long story short

Detective Rabiul Karim and Officer-in-Charge Salauddin Khan got alerted hearing gunshots. They arrived at Holey Artisan to investigate when they died of sharpnels from exploding bombs. Karim was to return to his village the next day with a new Eid outfit for his little son and something for his unborn child.

The baker and the human bomb

Miraj, the most favorite baker of the town was hiding in a corner, but was discovered by the gunmen. "Everyone else ran away but you couldn't make it," one of the gunman told him. "That means God wants you to die."

He was taken outside, put him a chair and tied bombs and gas canisters around him. He was their human shield. Then the gunmen started separating the Muslims from the Non-Muslims. The Muslims were given food and water. As dawn approached, the staff were instructed to prepare a meal so that the Muslims could eat before beginning their Ramadan fast. The non-Muslims' prayers were not heard and blood spluttered.

Amid the bloody victims lay a white woman with her dinner napkin on her chest.

Faraaz, one of the three friends held hostage, was asked to leave with a few hijab-clad women, but he stayed back with his friends who were not allowed to leave.

[Read: Dhaka: When the smiling gunmen chose non-Muslim targets, Muslim boy chose to die beside Hindu friend]

Operation Thunderbolt

It took the government more than 10 hours to arrange for commandos who went in to rescue the hostages and gun down the militants. For 50 minutes, the air was rattling with gun shots. The gunmen knew what was coming and pointed to the bodies on the floor and said, "We're going to be like them soon. See you all in heaven."

Then they let Miraj go.

Hatred cost the life of 9 Italians, 7 Japanese, 1 Indian, 2 Bangladeshis and 1 US citizen of Bangladeshi origin. Whatever the backgrounds of the victims be, they are now united by one common incident-terrorism.

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Story first published: Monday, July 4, 2016, 14:58 [IST]
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Remembering Pingali Venkayya: The unsung hero who designed the Indian National Flag

Feature

oi-Preeti Panwar

We all know the freedom fighters who toiled hard to attain freedom for this country. Our hearts fill with proud when our Tricolour is hoisted.

But how many of us know the man, who designed our National Flag and gave us our pride? Today is the death anniversary of Pingali Venkayya, the man who painted India with the vibrant colours of Saffron, White and Green on the canvas of courage, sacrifice, patriotism, and renunciation.

Let us know more about the great legend.

Early life & education

Born on August 2, 1876 to to Shri Hanumantharayudu and Smt Venkataratnamma in Bhatlapenumarru near Machilipatnam, Andhra Pradesh, Venkayya joined the British Army at the age of 19.

He completed his primary education at Challapalli and attended school at the Hindu High School, Machilipatnam, after which he went to Colombo to complete his Senior Cambridge.

He also went to Lahore where he joined the Anglo-Vedic College, and learnt Japanese and Urdu and History. He met Mahatama Gandhi during Anglo- Boer war in Africa.

His quest for designing Indian National Flag

From 1916 to 1921, Venkayya did a detailed reseacrh on the national flags of 30 countries for five years, before he came up with the idea of tricolour of Saffron, White and Green for the Indian National Flag.

India achieved independence on August 15, 1947, but the National Flag was adopted by the Constituent Assembly of India on July 22, 1947.

Lesser known facts about Pingali Venkayya

Venkayya was popularly known by two names-- Diamond Venkayya (for his expertise in diamond mining) and Cotton Venkayya (for his keen interest in various varities of cotton research).

He was a multi-lingual, with a doctorate in Geology. He had also established an institute in Machilipatnam.

Even after his precious contribution in the freedom movement of India and despite being an educationist, Venkayya, passed away in acute poverty inside a hut in Vijayawada on July 4, 1963.

Reports claim that he was not only forgotten by the society but also by the Congress party.

Honour for Pingali Venkayya

In 2009, a postage stamp was issued to commemorate him.

In 2011, his name was proposed posthumously for Bharat Ratna.

Few years ago, his daughter started receving pension from the government.

In Jan 2016, Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu unveiled Venkayya's statue at the All India Radio building in Vijayawada.

Venkayya is one of the unsung heroes who dedicated his entire life to the cause of the country's freedom. Let us pay tribute to his contribution and do not let his efforts fade away in the pages of history.
Reforms help India improve its Rank in World Bank Report

Feature

oi-Lisa

By Lisa

In its recent report the World Bank Group announced that India has improved its ranking in the group's bi-annual "Logistics Performance Index 2016". India has left behind countries like New Zealand, Thailand, Saudi Arabia, Iceland, Latvia and Indonesia who were ahead of it in the index.

This jump of 19 positions in the ranking demonstrates the commitment of various Ministries and agencies of Government of India to make it easy to do business in India.

Dr. Jim Yong Kim, President of World Bank who recently met the Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated him on this achievement.

The report:

The World Bank Group's bi-annual report 'Connecting to Compete 2016: Trade Logistics in the Global Economy', launched on Wednesday, captures critical information about the complexity of international trade. The Logistics Performance Index (LPI) within the report scores 160 countries on key criteria of logistics performance.

The scores are based on two sources of information: a worldwide survey of logistics professionals operating on the ground (such as global freight forwarders and express carriers), who provide feedback on the countries in which they operate and with whom they trade; and quantitative data on the performance of key components of the supply chain, such as the time, cost and required procedures to import and export goods.

Global trade depends on logistics and how efficiently countries import and export goods determine how they grow and compete in the global economy.

Countries with efficient logistics can easily connect firms to domestic and international markets through reliable supply chains.

Countries with inefficient logistics face high costs - both in terms of time and money - in international trade and global supply chains.

What is Logistics Performance Index:

The World Bank studies the policy regulation as well as supply chain performance outcomes across six sub-indices of the Logistics Performance Index and ranks countries based on their performance in all the indices.

It is a perception survey based on the feedback of operators on the ground as they are the people who can best assess the aspects of logistics performance.

Feedback of companies responsible for moving goods around the world like multinational freight forwarders and express carriers is taken on a structured online survey.

Various aspects of international trade relating to streamlining border clearance procedures, ensuring access to physical infrastructure and quality of logistics services are assessed.

India's improvement:

Among the six sub-indices of the Logistics Performance Index, India improved the most on "the efficiency of customs and border management clearance", jumping from 65 in 2014 to 38 in 2016.

Recent reforms at Customs, such as the introduction of a Single Window Interface for Trade (SWIFT) and electronic messaging system between Shipping lines and Custodians for electronic delivery order, filing of import and export declarations and manifests online with digital signature, extension of Customs' risk management system to other regulatory agencies to ensure risk-based inspection, reduction of documents required for export and import, extension of 24x7 customs clearance facilities to 19 seaports and 17 air cargo complexes, removal of limit on the number of consignments released under direct delivery, etc. have resulted in improvement in the indicator.

India also improved significantly in the following sub-indices:

1. The ability to track and trace consignments, improving from 57 to 33;

2. The quality of trade and transport infrastructure, improving from 58 to 36; and

3. The competence and quality of logistics services, improving from 52 to 32.

On the remaining two sub-indices - the ease of arranging competitively priced shipments and the frequency with which shipments reach consignees within scheduled or expected delivery times - by 5 and 9 places respectively.

India's improvement in Logistics Performance Index is ample evidence that our competitiveness in manufacturing and services is also improving which will provide the required boost to the Make in India programme.

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Story first published: Monday, July 4, 2016, 16:08 [IST]
Terror has become global but international security system has remained obsolete

Feature

oi-Shubham Ghosh

The threat called terrorism is turning more ominous and those at the receiving end are frantically seeking a solution, though in vain so far. The terror strike at an upscale restaurant in the diplomatic quarter of Bangladesh's capital Dhaka on July 1 in which 20 foreigners were butchered by a group of gunmen has been the closest to home and leaders of both the victim country and neighbour India are worried. What next and how to tackle this menace? [Acknowledge it is the ISIS: Terrorists at Dhaka said during negotiations]

The problem with the nation-states in fighting terror successfully is that they are yet to come up with a foolproof method of coordination while taking on terrorism. International politics/relations is an anarchic world where sovereign states determine their own paths.

But at the same time, international terrorism thrives on a network which has no obligations to abide by soverignty. This makes the traders of death more successful than the forces against them. And we are seeing the results across the world: schools, colleges, airports, market places, restarurants---name any soft target and they are being targeted with disdain. [ISIS thrives on political and economic weakness, chooses targets strategically]

How do the nation-states then tackle with these threats?

Our sense of security is obsolete now; State-centric security system doesn't help in fighting terror

The international system, one feels, though has seen a proliferation of democracy but it has remained obsolete in terms of security (more in times of the Great Wars). We are still in a mode to think that security ultimately lies with the sovereign entity called the State. If it fails to protect the citizens' lives from the angry gunmen, it is a complete failure. [Bangladesh is sliding: After look and act, India needs a robust 'Defend East' Policy]

There is a problem with that thinking. Security can't be the sole responsibility of the State since those who pose the biggest threats to the members of the State are not any definite political entity themselves. It is futile to expect that all States across the world will bury their political and strategic differences any time soon and begin to think alike and thwart those terrorist attacks.

Learn from terrorists, see how they take full advantage of globalisation

The State can at the most tighten the physical security cover and bolster its counter-terror network but even that might not be enough. Terror outfits operating internationally have improved their modus operandi by leaps and bounds today. They have made their plans more cost-effective and successful by unleashing the local modules in the targeted country and not making international mobilisations that are easily detectable. So in a way, the threats that the countries are facing today are more internal than external.

Developing countries have political and logistical problems in fighting terror

That brings us to the next problem. How do poor and ill-equipped countries fight these elements? Countries like Bangladesh are not just new to the attack which took place in Dhaka, it is also not politically very stable to constinuously fight on with the terrorists. There are too many divisions in its political ranks while its politics is already tainted by a history of polarisation.

Such political culture is vulnerable to those who design terror strikes and we saw that in Dhaka. There could also be logistical issues for these small developing countries in fighting terrorism and they would have to depend on external help in terms if military hardware and intelligence-sharing.

The story then brings us back to the original question: How can there be a uniform global anti-terror platform, given the unwritten law of international relations that sovereignty can't be compromised and the gap between the capacities of countries is too wide?

The only way out: Build robust social cooperation mechanism though it's easier said than done

The only way out for the small and developing countries is to continuously educate their citizens about the threat so that a mechanism of social cooperation is developed. It is a continuous process and easier said than done, no doubt. But it is the only option available for the political leaderships that have lost their night's sleep thinking where the next strike will be.

Growing a robust mechanism of social cooperation involves a number of steps. It includes a qualitative improvement in administrative functioning (more for the border states) and a government sympathetic towards the socio-economic lots that are feeling to be left out.

The known traditions of political appeasement in favour of one social group at the expense of another have to be discarded just now. Let us focus on uniform developments during elections and not play cards of caste and religion that divide people. It is among those cracks in the society where grievances take shape and snowball into the ultimate disaster.

Terrorism is not a black-and-white problem

Islamic State has become a symbol of death today. The world of international terrorism is not a black-and-white one although the nation-states perceive it to be one, only to get repeatedly foxed. A multi-layered approach is required to decode the menace and the project demands involvement of each and every member of the state---from the prime minister/president to the layman on the streets.

Politics has divided us but terrorism can unite us. Let's work towards it. There is no shortage of time but the will.
What does the US actually want in Syria?

Why US celebrates its Independence Day on July 4

Feature

oi-Staff

By Staff

The United States of America celebrates July 4 as its Independence Day. It was on this day in 1776 when 13 colonies formally declared their independence from Great Britain. However, the decision was made on July 2 the same year in a vote by the Continental Congress.

On July 4, the Congress issued the Declaration of Independence which justified the occasion as one aiming at "a decent respect to the opinions of mankind". For many, the document was more of an one related to the foreign policy which stated the governing principles to determine the colonies' break from London and the future government of the new country.

The Declaration of Independence was prepared by a Committee of Five with late US president Thomas Jefferson as its main author.

Incidentally, both Jefferson and his predecessor John Adams, who was also a member of the committee, had died on July 4, 1826---the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.

The 13 colonies that became independent

The thirteen colonies located on the east coast of North America that became independent on July 4, 1776 were: Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, Georgia, Connecticut, Massachusetts Bay, South Carolina, New Hampshire, New York, Virginia, North Carolina and Rhode Island and Providence Plantations.

US independence was unique because it was based on liberal values

The American Declaration of Independence was a revolutionary moment not just for the US or North America but for the entire mankind for it was for the first time in history that a government drew its legitimacy on the liberal claims of man and not on cultural tenets like language, religion and tradition or on nationalistic urge like blood and soil.

The American independence is celebrated more as an excpetionalism based on creed and principles and not a political break from a coloniser nation.

Facts related to July 4:

In 1777, on the first anniversary of the independence, the occasion was celebrated by firing 13 gunshots in salute, once in the morning and once in the evening, in Bristol, the Rhode Island.



Philadelphia, the largest city in the state of Pennsylvania, was the first to celebrate the first anniversary in the modern way. Besides an official dinner for the Continental Congress, gun salutes, speeches, prayers, music, parades and fireworks were also observed.



Besides Jefferson and Adams, another US president James Monroe had also died on July 4 (1831).

Calvin Coolidge, the 30th president of the US, was born on July 4 and is the only office-holder to have such a record till date.



On the second anniversary of the independence on July 4, 1778, George Washington, who would become the first president of the US in 1789, approved a double ration of rum for his soldiers and an artilley salute. In Paris, France, John Adams and Benjamin Franklin hosted a dinner for their fellow Americans.



July 4, 1779, was a Sunday and hence, the holiday was celebrated on Monday, July 15.



The Massachusetts General Court became the first state legislature to recognise July 4 as a day of state celebration in 1781.



The "Psalm of Joy" music programme of Johan Friedrich Peter held in North Carolina on July 4, 1783, is considered the first recorded celebration of the occasion and it is observed even today.



The first recorded use of the term "Independence Day" took place in 1791.



In 1870, the US Congress made Independence Day an unpaid holiday while in 1938, it was made a paid holiday.



The American Constitution came into force in 1789 after it was ratified in June 1788.

Oneindia News
179 terrorists still active in Jammu and Kashmir: Report

India

oi-Vicky

New Delhi, July 4: There are currently 179 terrorists who are active in Jammu and Kashmir, according to the Ministry for Home Affairs.

Officials in the Home Ministry say that terrorists have infiltrated in large numbers this year. While the security forces have managed to kill 64 terrorists this year alone, there are still 179 still active in the state.

Recently the Ministry for Home Affairs had reviewed the situation in Jammu and Kashmir following the Pampore attack. It was decided to step security and as a first measure the BSF would replace the CRPF in several areas.

Infiltrations increase:

Home Ministry officials have been told that the number infiltrations too had gone up. For the year 2016 statistics would show that there were 56 infiltrations that took place.

One had been caught while 5 had been killed. While 14 managed to escape and return to Pakistan, 36 were successful in infiltrating the state.

While 36 terrorists are of Pakistan origin the remaining 143 are locals.

According to the Home Ministry the terrorists active in the state are from the Jaish-e-Mohammad, Lashkar-e-Tayiba and the Hizbul Mujahideen. The Hizbul Mujahideen in particular is the most active in the state today. This outfit is in fact recruiting the younger lot and has been active on the social media too.

The Hizbul Mujahideen and the Lashkar-e-Tayiba have both directed their cadres to target only security personnel. Both groups say that the civilians must not be targeted as there is a good chance that they will lose out on local support.

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Monday, July 4, 2016, 15:11 [IST]
7th Pay Commission: 33 lakh government employees threaten to go on strike from July 11

India

oi-Reetu

New Delhi, July 4: Though the seventh Pay Commission has been announced, but it has not made all the employees happy.

With widespread resentment against the "meagre" pay hike announced in the 7th Pay Commission, as many as 33 lakh central government employees are threatening to go on strike from July 11.

"They have fixed the minimum wage at a meagre Rs. 18,000 in the 7th Pay Commission. In the last Pay Commission, the basic pay was Rs. 7,000. They multiplied it by 2.57 (fitment formula) and came to Rs. 18,000. We are demanding 3.68 fitment formula," Shivgopal Mishra, General Secretary, All India Railway Men Federation and Convenor of National Joint Council of Action (NJCA), said.

NJCA is a front formed by six government staff unions, including Confederation of Central Government Employees (CCGE), All India Defence Employee Federation and National Coordination Committee of Pensioners Association, to oppose the hikes given by the 7th Pay Commission.

"As many as 33 lakh government employees, excluding the defence personnel, will go on strike if we do not get some kind of assurance from the government to reconsider the decision. The major contention is on the minimum wage, which we are demanding to be Rs. 26,000," said KKN Kutty, President of CCGE and general secretary of national coordination committee of pensioners association.

"We had a meeting with a group of ministers, including the Home Minister (Rajnath Singh), Finance Minister (Arun Jaitley) and Railway Minister (Suresh Prabhu) on the evening of June 30. They said it will be considered and will be referred to some committee," said Mr Mishra.

"We are waiting to hear back on this from the government by July 4 evening or July 5. In our meeting, it was only a verbal commitment. If the government gives us specific details like which committee will review, etc. then we will defer the strike. We have a meeting on July 5 to decide on the strike," Mr Kutty said.

"We had met the government on June 9, and suggested various improvements in the 7th Pay Commission's recommendations. But the government has not given any heed to whatever improvements we had proposed. They have given same hike as suggested by 7th Pay Commission," C Srikumar, General Secretary, All India Defence Employees Federation, told.

Mr Srikumar contends that the prices of essential commodities considered by the Seventh Pay Commission itself were faulty, which has resulted in the meagre rise.

"Price considered of essential commodities by pay commission is not right. They have taken dal price at Rs. 97. Where do you get dal for Rs. 97?" he said.

The NJCA is also demanding for the withdrawal of the new national pension scheme (NPS), which came into effect from October 2004.

"A lady employee, who got the job after her husband's death, retired after 12 years of service. She comes under the new NPS scheme as she joined service after 2004. She gets Rs. 960 pension per month," Mr Srikumar said.

However while the fate of the strike is still unknown, a central government junior staffer on the condition of anonymity told IANS: "I don't think much will come out of the strike. The only thing the government might do is increase the allowances slightly, that's it."

The Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS), affiliated to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the parent body of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, has also expressed its "dissatisfaction" at the 7th Pay Commission's recommendations.

"A huge gap has been created between the minimum and the maximum wage after the government approved the Seventh Pay Commission Report's recommendation," BMS general secretary Virjesh Upadhyay had said earlier.

However, BMS is not expected to go on strike as it is not a part of the NJCA.

The Union Cabinet has decided to constitute three separate committees, including one to look into the anomalies likely to arise out of enforcement of the commission's report.

"The two separate committees constituted includes for suggesting measures for streamlining the implementation of National Pension System (NPS) and to look into anomalies likely to arise out of implementation of the Commission's Report," said an official statement earlier.

The cabinet approved the Seventh Pay Commission's recommendations for central government employees on July 29, which will impact some 47 lakh central government employees and 53 lakh pensioners.

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Monday, July 4, 2016, 20:04 [IST]
A Caliphate in Hyderabad: NIA probe on ISIS module reveals

India

oi-Vicky

Hyderabad, July 4: The five persons arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in connection with an ISIS case said during their questioning that they had no plans of traveling to Syria.

Five persons were arrested by the NIA from Hyderabad last week for allegedly setting up a module in the name of the ISIS.

The NIA had said that arms and ammunition had been recovered from them and they were planning a series of attacks in Hyderabad. However during the questioning they were asked whether they had planned on traveling to Syria, but all of them answered in the negative.

Will set up Caliphate in India

As per the investigations the five persons had planned on carrying out a blast in Hyderabad and then announcing the arrival of the ISIS. They had planned on setting up the Caliphate in India, they told the NIA. None of them had any plans on traveling to either Iraq or Syria, NIA officials informed Oneindia.

They also said during their questioning that there was a preacher who had motivated them. The NIA says that the preacher is under their scanner and is being questioned for more leads.

The NIA has also learnt that the immediate plan was to carry out two blasts at crowded malls in Hyderabad. Further they had also planned assassination bids on several persons. They also said that they had planned on escaping after these attacks as was instructed to them by their handler Shafi Armar.

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Monday, July 4, 2016, 14:02 [IST]
CBI arrests Kejriwal's principal secretary Rajendra Kumar

India

oi-Vicky

New Delhi, July 4: The central bureau of investigation (CBI) today arrested Rajendra Kumar the Principal Secretary to the Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in connection with an alleged scam amounting to Rs 50 crore.

The CBI had carried out searches at the Delhi secretariat last year in connection with a corruption case. The agency had also slapped corruption charges against Kumar.

Kumar is one of the most trusted officers of Kejriwal. In fact after the raid Kejriwal had come out in his defence. The CBI during the raid said that it had found cash- both Indian and foreign currency.

The raid was conducted following a complaint filed by another bureaucrat Aashish Joshi. Joshi in his complaint had said that Kumar must be probed.

He had alleged that his dealings when he was with the department of education, IT and Health in the Delhi government must be probed into.

He was accused of setting up various companies and was alleged to have give work without tenders which caused a huge loss to the Delhi government.

CBI sources tell OneIndia that the scam dates back to the year 2006. Kumar has been accused of starting a company Endeavours Systems Private Ltd, to provide IT solutions and software. He is alleged to have shown favour to this company for all technology related work done by the Delhi government.

The CBI says that a case of criminal conspiracy has been made out prima facie. Further the CBI also accused him of abusing his official position.

OneIndia News
Dhaka siege: When Indian victim Tarishi spoke to her father for the last time

India

oi-Pallavi Sengupta

Firozabad, July 4: It must have been a harrowing experience for the kin of the victims in the Dhaka seige. But Tarishi's inconsolable father cannot take out from his head Tarishi's last words.

Sometime around 1:30 am on Saturday, 19-year old Tarishi Jain called her parents, Sanjeev and Tulika, residents of Uttar Pradesh's Firozabad area. She revealed that she was hiding inside the toilet with two of her friends- Faraaz Ayaz Hossain and Abinta Kabir and that gunmen had entered the Holey Artisan Bakery and were targetting non-Muslims.

Incidentally, her father was planning to visit Bangladesh with his family before Tarishi went back to the US after completing her internship with a Bangladesh Bank. An Economics graduate in the university of California, Tarishi's last words were: "Terrorists have entered the restaurant. I am very afraid and not sure whether I will be able to come out alive. They are killing everyone here."

[Read: Dhaka: When the smiling gunmen chose non-Muslim targets, Muslim boy chose to die beside Hindu friend]

It had been a long and traumatic night for Sanjiv and his relatives who waited eagerly for news of Tarishi after 6 am when she was not receiving calls anymore. When news of terrorists being neutralised arrived, it was too late. Tarishi was no more.

The Jains are in extreme grief, but are angry too. "We don't want her to be cremated in the land where she was brutally murdered. Terrorists killed her for being a Hindu," said Tarishi's uncle.
32-year-old critical after being shot at in Gurugram

Dhaka terror attack victim Tarishi cremated in Gurgaon

India

oi-IANS

By Ians English

Gurgaon, July 4: The mortal remains of 19-years-old Tarishi Jain, who was among the 20 hostages killed in a gruesome terror attack in Dhaka, was on Monday brought here by her family for the last rites.

The cremation was held at the Shiv Murti Cremation ground near IFFCO Chowk in Gurgaon's Sector 29 on the Delhi-Gurgaon expressway.

Central and state ministers were among those who paid tributes when the body arrived from Dhaka.

Haryana Education Minister Ram Bilas Sharma, Gurgaon Deputy Commissioner T.L. Satyaprakash and other officials earlier on Monday afternoon received Tarishi's mortal remains at Delhi's IGI Airport.

Union Minister of State for Power Minister Piyush Goyal, Union Minister of State Rao Inderjit Singh, other Haryana ministers MLAs along with others, paid tribute to her.

Earlier, people paid her rich tribute at Gurgaon's DLF-1 community centre amid sombre atmosphere with relatives crying inconsolably for Tarishi.

Tarishi, a student of University of California-Berkeley, was in Dhaka on vacation. She had gone with two other friends to a cafe in the upscale Gulshan area where she was brutally killed by Islamist terrorists.

On Saturday, she was among the first victims of Dhaka's siege to be identified. Her friends Abinta Kabir and Faraaz Hossain were also killed in the attack.

Nine Italians, seven Japanese, one Indian, one Bangladeshi American and two Bangladeshis were killed in the terror attack at the Holey Artisan Bakery in Gulshan on Friday night.

Tarishi's father, who runs a garment business in Bangladesh for the last 15-20 years, has a flat in Sector 32 of Gurgaon.

The family members decided to cremate her in Gurgaon as it would be difficult to take the body to her native place in Firozabad in Uttar Pradesh by road.

The Bangladesh government handed over the body of Tarishi to her relatives on Monday morning in Dhaka, following which her moral remains were flown to Delhi.

IANS
Eshwarappa says objection only on style of functioning, not on Yeddyurappa heading the state BJP

India

oi-Shreyas

Bengaluru, July 4: In a telephone conversation with OneIndia, disgruntled senior BJP leader K S Eshwarappa said he has no qualms over B S Yeddyurappa's presidentship but with the 'style of decision making'.

Eshwarappa said "I have informed about Yeddyurappa's style of functioning to the concerned authority." He added that authorities to whom he spoke to have said they were in knowledge of Yeddyurappa's functioning model and assured of swift actions to set everything in place.

Eshwarappa in New Delhi met BJP, deputy general secretary (organisation) B L Santosh and general secretary Ram Lal at party headquarters on Sunday, July 3. B L Santosh has told this news portal that Eshwarappa has apprised of the development and Ram Lal will take further action.

Eshwarappa further said, he and 'pained' party cadre has no problem with Yeddyurappa heading the party in the state. But, the bone of contention is Yeddyurappa's style of functioning. "We do not have any problem with Yeddyurappa's presidentship. But we are unhappy over his unilateral decision making style."

The recent appointment of office-bearers to the party displays Yeddyurappa's style of operating to which many in the party raised objections. "After I spoke to senior functionaries of the party they too expressed concern over the same and promised swift actions."

For a question of Yeddyurappa constituting fresh disciplinary panel and warning stern action against dissidents in the party, Eshwarappa said this is a old tale and now the authorities will take into stock the situation arose due B S Yeddyurappa, he divulged.

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Monday, July 4, 2016, 17:03 [IST]
Partial Solar Eclipse updates: See stunning photos of Surya Grahan from Chennai, Bengaluru, Patna and more

India's Swiss account ranking slips to 75, the lowest ever

India

oi-IANS

By Ians English

New Delhi, July 4: With Swiss francs (CHF) 1.2 billion (around Rs 8,392 crore) held by its citizens in Switzerland's banks, India has slipped to the 75th position, its lowest since the Swiss National Bank began releasing such data in 1997, as per latest figures released earlier this week.

The data for 2015 placed India at 61st place, while it used to be among top 50 countries in terms of holdings in Swiss banks till 2007.

India was also lowest ranked among the BRICS countries - Russia was ranked 17th (CHF 17.6 billion), China 28th (CHF 7.4 billion), Brazil 37th (CHF 4.8 billion) and South Africa 60th (CHF 2.2 billion).

Britain and America were the only two countries that accounted for Swiss bank holding of double-digit percentage share each.

While Britain accounted for the largest chunk at about CHF 350 billion, or almost 25 per cent of the total foreign money with Swiss banks, the US came second with nearly CHF 196 billion or about 14 per cent.

The total money held in Swiss banks by all their foreign clients from across the world fell by nearly 4 per cent, by over 58 billion Swiss francs to 1.41 trillion Swiss francs ($1.45 trillion).

India was ranked 75th with CHF 1.2 billion, which is not even 0.1 per cent of the total foreign money in Swiss banks.

India was ranked among the top 50 continuously between 1996 and 2007, but started declining thereafter - 55th in 2008, 59th in 2009 and 2010 each, 55th again in 2011, 71st in 2012 and then 58th in 2013.

Pakistan was placed higher at 69th place with CHF 1.5 billion, while others ranked higher than India included Mauritius, Kazakhstan, Iran, Chile, Angola, Philippines, Indonesia and Mexico.

Indian-held funds in Switzerland banks fell by 596.42 million Swiss francs to 1,217.6 million Swiss francs at the end of 2015, marking the second straight year of decline.

Last year also marked the lowest amount of funds held by Indians in the Swiss banks ever since the country started making the data public in 1997.

Total funds held in Swiss banks by Indians directly at the end of 2015 stood at 1,206.71 million Swiss francs, which was down from 1,776 million Swiss francs the year before.

Further, money held by Indians through fiduciaries or wealth managers was down at 10.89 million Swiss francs, from 37.92 million Swiss francs at the end of 2014. The total, at the end of 2014, stood at 1,814 million Swiss francs.

The funds, described as "liabilities" of Swiss banks or "amounts due to" their clients, are official figures released by the central bank.

IANS
It is a one-man govt, reshuffle won't make any difference: Cong

India

oi-PTI

New Delhi, Jul 4: Taking a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress today said the much-talked about reshuffle of the Union Council of Ministers would hardly make any difference as it is a "one-man government".

"It will not make any difference. It is a one-man government," party spokesman Jairam Ramesh told reporters. Amid reports about S S Ahluwalia, who headed the JPC on the land acquisition issue, being inducted into the Council of Ministers, Ramesh said one could guess what would be the fate of the amendments the government wants to bring in the bill.

On AIMIM Chief Asaduddin Owaisi's decision to give legal aid to alleged ISIS sympathisers, Ramesh said the issue is not Owaisi's comments but those who have been arrested for having links with ISIS and that's the "real issue".

"Law of the land must proceed fully, professionally and I think we shouldn't allow ourselves to be diverted by side political issues. Main political issue is that young men who are believed to be having links with ISIS have been taken into custody and should be fully investigated," he said.

PTI
Karnataka: B L Santosh not much 'interested' in BJP's infighting

India

oi-Shreyas

Bengaluru/New Delhi, July 4: "I do not have much interest in ironing out differences in the Karnataka BJP," said B L Santosh to OneIndia.

His statement to this news portal assumes larger significance in the backdrop of senior BJP leader K S Eshwarappa visiting BJP, deputy general secretary (organisation) B L Santosh and general secretary Ram Lal at party headquarters in New Delhi.

It has to be recalled that K S Eshwarappa slapped objection for style of functioning of incumbent state BJP President B S Yeddyurappa (BSY). Eshwarappa earlier said appointment of new office-bearers to the party has been done without due consultation. BSY has taken unilateral decision in these appointments, Eshwarappa contended.

B L Santosh said, "Eshwarappa has apprised of the fresh development to me and Ram Lal. But I have left it to Ram Lal to take a call on Eshwarappa's plaint." However on the other hand, on Sunday BSY has formed a five member disciplinary committee to look into 'inside revolt' in the state BJP.

When asked Santosh, will this committee leave hurting impact to the party as members are reportedly loyalists of BSY, he contended that, formation of committee has nothing to do with the internal bickering. After one assumes as president of the party, it is standard procedure to constitute disciplinary committee, Santosh added.

For a question on Eshwarappa's plaint and acting upon the same, Santosh expressed "I do not have much interest in ironing out differences in the Karnataka BJP." It is up to Ram Lal to take decisions in this fresh controversy. "Though I have national responsibility, I also focus on other Karnataka issues, hence I have left this to Ram Lal and I will play no role in any decisions related to infighting," Santosh categorically stated.

OneIndia News
Karnataka: Why are rebels a concern for both the Congress and BJP

India

oi-Oneindia

By Maitreyee Boruah

Bengaluru, July 4: In the next two years, the southern state of Karnataka is slated for the assembly elections in 2018. The two major parties-both the Congress and BJP-have already started making preparations for the polls. The state polls are important for both the political parties.

However, both the parties have to first resolve their internal feuds and appease the rebels before jumping into the poll fray. Take for instance the case of the Congress. The incumbent chief minister Siddaramaiah faced open rebellion after he went ahead with the controversial cabinet reshuffle recently that left several senior leaders fuming.

The chief minister sacked 14 out of 34 ministers in a major revamp in June. The cabinet reshuffle caused mayhem in the Congress party's Karnataka unit, as supporters of several party leaders, who were either sacked or were not inducted in the Siddaramaiah's cabinet, openly protested on the streets of various parts of the state.

The sources in the Congress party say that the rebel leaders like V Srinivasa Prasad, MH Ambareesh and M Krishnappa need to be tamed at the earliest to end the crisis.

The Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) chief G Parameshwara recently warned the rebels to end their protest against the chief minister. "Dissent after every reshuffle is common but it should have some limit," said Parameshwara. The KPCC chief said Siddaramaiah went ahead with the cabinet rejig after due consultation with the party high command.

It is not only the Congress that is dealing with internal bickering. The opposition BJP is also facing a mutiny. The newly-appointed BJP president BS Yeddyurappa told his colleagues that he won't tolerate any anti-party activities.

Dissidence within the party came to light after Yeddyurappa was informed by the BJP national leadership about the imminent internal storm. The former chief minister was asked by the senior BJP leaders at the centre to take necessary action to bury the hatchet within the party. Reports say BJP's internal feud is the result over the recent appointment of office-bearers by Yeddyurappa without discussing the names with the core committee.

"No matter how influential a person may be, such activities won't be allowed. We are forming a disciplinary committee to keep a watch over those indulging in such activities," Yeddyurappa told his party colleagues.

Political experts say both the parties need to end their family fights first before they start their preparation for 2018 polls.

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Monday, July 4, 2016, 10:10 [IST]
MP official 'morphs' Maya's pic on FB, dalit body moves police

India

oi-PTI

Indore, Jul 4: A top official of state power distribution company is in trouble after a dalit organisation today lodged a police complaint accusing him of posting a morphed picture mocking BSP supremo Mayawati on social media.

"In the objectionable post, Mayawati has been portrayed as 'Miss Universe' along with satire against the reservation policy and Indian constitution," Boudh Yuva Jagran Manch president Dipak Wagh told reporters.

He said they have lodged the complaint with cyber cell of police against the Madhya Pradesh West Power Distribution Company Limited's Additional Superintendent Engineer Dhruv Sharma.

Wagh alleged that Sharma in his Facebook account posted Mayawati's "objectionable picture" after doctoring it on June 26. "In the morphed photo, former UP Chief Minister Mayawati is shown wearing a Miss Universe crown.

The satiric caption of the photo read: 'Wonder of reservation at Miss Universe Contest' while a smiley added to the post in English stated: 'Laughing out Loud', he claimed. The dalit leader said the photo speaks of the officer's "Manuwadi" mind (casteist attitude). "His act was against the constitution.

Therefore, we demand that not only criminal proceedings should be launched against him but he should also be sacked from government job," Wagh said. Meanwhile, Cyber Cell in-charge Ravikant Daheriya said that Wagh's complaint was being looked into but Sharma has not been booked yet. When contacted, Sharma merely said "I will put forth my side when police questions me".

PTI
US issues advisory to citizens in TN following Jayalalithaa's health row

Gunman wounds US consular official in western Mexico

Telanganas filmy way to tell moviegoers to fight against human trafficking

US Consulate General Chennai honours courageous women who inspire a better world

U.S. Consulate General Chennai and Pravah Support Disability-Friendly Sports Ecosystem

US Consulate General Chennai Hosts Leadership for Growth Program

News flash: Blast near mosque in eastern Saudi Arabia

India

oi-Oneindia

By Oneindia Staff Writer

Bengaluru, July 4: Over 83 killed, 176 injured in deadly bombings across Karadda area of Central Baghdad in Iraq last night.

Get all the latest news updates of the day:

11:49: Saudi Arabia blast: 4 killed , 1 injured. All 4 killed are Saudi security personnel.

10:46 pm: Blast near mosque in eastern Saudi Arabia: Reports.

9:57 pm: Transferred officials belonged to DANICS, no consultation required from joint cadre authority: MHA sources on Manish Sisodia's allegations.

9:20 pm: What is the desperation of Arvind to behave like spokesperson of somebody allegedly involved in corruption: Nupur Sharma, BJP leader.

8:46 pm: This will strengthen agriculture & provide benefits to farmers.We salute PM Modi's mantra 'Save soil & save farmers':Union Min Ananth Kumar.

8:40 pm: Prices of 3 fertilizers have been reduced;Dap by Rs 2500 per tonn, Mop by 5000 & Pnk by 1000: Union Min Ananth Kumar.

8:00 pm: It is because of Pakistan, many terrorist are involved in subversive activities in many countries: Hassanul Haq Inu, Bangladesh I&B Minister.

7:30 pm: We know the character of Pakistan they are the greatest harbor of terrorism in world: Hassanul Haq, Bangladesh I&B Min.

7:25 pm: One terrorist killed in an ongoing encounter with security personnel in Handwara in Kupwara district of J&K.

7:20 pm: Malerkotla (Punjab): Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal attends Iftar Party.

7:10 pm: There are clear evidences of the involvement of ISI & Pak in our terrorist networks- Hassanul Haq Inu,Bangladesh I&B Min.

7:05 pm: ED attaches properties worth Rs. 72 lakhs in a cheating scheme run in name of Gramin Supermarkets by Rajesh K in Kasaragod Distt of Kerala.

7:00 pm: ED attaches assets worth Rs 10 crore of Sheetal Refineries LTD in connection with a bank fraud case.

6:55 pm: Encounter breaks out between security personnel and terrorists in Handwara in Kupwara district (J&K). More details awaited.

6:45 pm: Arvind Kejriwal needs to answer the people about corruption charges against his Principal Secy: Satish Upadhyay, BJP.

6.36 pm: Central Govt has now stooped very low by doing this. This is all a conspiracy, says Manish Sisodia, Delhi Deputy CM.

6.21 pm: Allegations related to bribery and abuse of position against them, further probe underway, says CBI Spokesperson,RK Gaur.

6.01 pm: CBI arrests Principal secretary to Delhi Chief Minister, Rajendra Kumar and 4 others in a corruption case.

6.00 pm: CBI officials had carried out searches at Delhi Secretariat last year while investigating corruption charges against Rajendra Kumar.

5.42 pm: We hope to sign an MoU on Govt to Govt purchase of pulses from Mozambique for India, says Secretary (ER) Amar Sinha.

5.30 pm: Police custody of two accused teachers extended till July 7th in Yavatmal school molestation case.

5.19 pm: Bihar topper scam: Former secretary of BSEB Niwas Chandra Tiwari has been arrested.

5.18 pm: PM Modi to meet diaspora in all the 4 countries. Both in Johannesburg and Kenya, he will be addressing Indian diaspora in large format, says MEA.

5.10 pm: Centre to SC: Ready to conduct a multipronged study on diesel vehicles' effect on environment and possibility of imposition of green cess.

5.00 pm: Pakistan rejects allegations of involvement in Dhaka terrorist episode as baseless, irresponsible and provocative, says Pakistan MoFA.

4.45 pm: For the 1st time PM is sending off a team, that itself is very motivating, says Anju Bobby George on Rio Olympics.

4.30 pm: Meeting PM Modi was motivating and encouraging, hope to bring at least 2 to 3 medals, says P. V. Sindhu on Rio Olympics.

4.24 pm: Independent MLA Nand Kishor's son Sidharth sent to 3 day police custody.His BMW had hit auto in Jaipur killing 3 people.

3.36 pm: Police arrest 6 Naxals in Bijapur district of Chhattisgarh during search operation.

3.20 pm: Delhi LG Najeeb Jung arrives at community centre in Gurgaon to pay his last respects to Tarushi Jain.

2.40 pm: Pro-Brexit Member of European Parliament Nigel Farage quits as UKIP leader: AFP.

2.30 pm: Tributes being paid to Dhaka attack victim Tarushi Jain in Gurugram

2.05 pm: Religion is a personal thing, he has a right to his opinion, says Aamir Khan on Irrfan Khan's remark on Bakrid/Ramzan.

2.04 pm: Mumbai Court to decide date of commencement of trial on July 7.Judicial custody of all 4 accused extended till July 18 in Sheena Bora case.

1.41 pm: I feel what he said is unfortunate and rather insensitive, says Aamir Khan on Salman Khan's rape remark.

1.38 pm: Aamir Khan speaks at the poster launch of his upcoming movie 'Dangal'.

1.26 pm: Murthal rape case: HC directs Haryana Govt to submit status report till July 23.

1.16 pm: Only a few have played in West Indies but we have the experience. Need to constantly improve, says Anil Kumble,head coach.

1.16 pm: Athletes click selfies with PM Modi as latter gives send-off to Indian contingent for Rio Olympics 2016 in New Delhi.

1.15 pm: West Indies are a tough side.We still have 2-weeks before the first test, will try various combinations, says Anil Kumble.

12:30 pm: SC agree to expedite hearing on a petition seeking direction that orders passed by church or ecclesiastical courts be made legally binding.

12:15 pm: Uttarakhand: Assistant engineer at NH 87 in Almora says highway will be opened by evening for vehicular movement.

12:05 pm: Uttarakhand: Restoration work underway on NH 87 in Almora, which is blocked due to landslide.

12:00 pm: Chennai: Magistrate Gopinath arrives at hospital to obtain statement from prime accused in Swathi murder case.

11:50 am: Swathi murder case: Egmore 13th court magistrate Gopinath arrives at Government Royapettah Hospital to obtain statement from accused Ramkumar.

11:35 am: SC to hear plea challenging NEET ordinance on July 7. Today matter was listed before CJI bench, that referred matter to the concerned bench.

11:25 am: BJP leaders SS Ahluwalia & Vijay Goel arrive at party president Amit Shah's residence in Delhi to meet latter.

11:15 am: B'desh PM said she will be resolute in fight against terror.We're touched by her gesture to honour Dhaka Attack victims personally: Shringla.

11:10 am: B'desh PM told me that she is deeply distraught at what has happened: Indian High Commissioner Harsh Vardhan Shringla.

11:05 am: We've to unite our efforts & need closer cooperation in fighting terrorists: Italy Ambassador to B'desh Mario Palma.

11.00 am: Madras HC orders CBI probe into matter relating to seizure of Rs 570 crore by officials on poll duty during Tamil Nadu Assembly election.

10.50 am: BSF steps up vigil along Indo-Bangladesh border, following high security alert after Dhaka attack.

10.35 am: Mehrauli AAP MLA Naresh Yadav arrive at DGP office, in connection with his alleged role in desecration of holy book.

10.25 am: Man accused of raping and murdering a 10-year old girl in Hyderabad's Bollaram area, arrested.

9.55 am: Shiv Sena supports BJP's Uniform Civil Code in Saamna.

9.45 am: Bangladesh PM is not doing anything to protect minority communities, says Taslima Nasreen.

9.38 am: Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina pays homeage to Dhaka attack victims.

9.22 am: Prime Minister Narendra Modi to meet athletes today, who shall be representing India at Rio 2016.

9.09 am: Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina to pay tribute to the victims of Dhaka attack.

8.57 am: Search vessel recovers all underwater human remains from EgyptAir flight MS804 crash site in the Mediterranean, say Egyptian investigators.

8.48 am: 11 wagons of a goods train derailed in Dahanu (Maharashtra), no casualties reported

11 wagons of a goods train derailed in Dahanu (Maharashtra), no casualties reported. pic.twitter.com/gpUm69tAjg  ANI (@ANI_news) July 4, 2016

8.40 am: Kuwaiti security authorities bust three Islamic State cells plotting "terror" attacks in the oil-rich Gulf state.

8.30 am: Cabinet expansion to take place at 11am on Tuesday, July 5.

8.05 am: Suicide bomb attack near US Consulate in Jeddah in the early hours of US Independence Day.

8.00 am: Parents and locals protest over alleged molestation of minor girls in a public school in Yavatmal

Maharashtra: Parents & locals protest over alleged molestation of minor girls in a public school in Yavatmal pic.twitter.com/qeOjUF5Eak  ANI (@ANI_news) July 4, 2016

OneIndia News
From hijab to Kashmir, Zawahiri was Al-Qaeda's voice for everything anti-India

As Al-Qaeda scouts for new chief, Indian agencies worry about an Islamic State spillover

They stay among you to kill you: Ansarul Bangla Team could be Indias biggest threat

Now al-Qaeda wants to target IAS officers in India

India

oi-Vicky

New Delhi, July 4: It appears to be a war of taking credit. The ISIS was quick to claim the Dhaka attack and in no time, the al-Qaeda in the Sub-Continent issued a statement in which it laid out plans for India.

Lone wolf strikes and directives to target the IAS officers was part of the message that the AQIS had put out.

The statement issued by the Indian origin AQIS chief, Asim Umar alias Sanaul Haq makes a mention of attacks against IAS officers.

Umar feels that the officers are equally responsible for atrocities against Muslims and hence must be targeted. The statement of Umar was put out by the SITE intelligence group which analyses terror threats.

Further Umar says that If India has given a free hand to Hindus to massacre the Muslims then the latter too needs to be given a free hand.

He further states that lone wolf attacks need to be launched against both the IAS and IPS officers. The statement also said that financial losses must be caused in India.

He particularly targeted the officers stating that it these who run the system and thanks to this the Indian Muslims have been oppressed.

OneIndia News
Review cases of youths involved in stone-pelting,before Eid: Mehbooba Mufti

India

oi-PTI

Srinagar, July 4: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti today asked the Home Department to review before Eid the cases of the youth lodged in various jails on charges of stone-pelting to afford them an opportunity to rebuild their careers.

A committee comprising Director General of Police, Director General of Prisons and Principal Secretary Home will review the cases of all the youth under-trials lodged in various jails on charges of stone-pelting to give them an opportunity to live as productive citizens, she said while chairing a high-level meeting here this morning regarding bringing about Reforms in J&K s Prisons.

Mehbooba also asked Director General of Police K Rajendra Kumar to take up the matter regarding deportation of a mentally challenged Pakistani national to his country who is lodged in a jail in the state for having inadvertently crossed the LoC.

"Why has been the person kept in jail for so long, when he is not only deaf and dumb, but mentally deranged also," she asked saying the state and its law enforcing agencies should not be seen acting in such a callous manner and be more humane in their approach.

Stressing the need for review and upgradation of the Jail Manual in the State, the Chief Minister said the review, which is already over due, should be aimed at making the prisons "centres of reformation" and not the places of punishment.

She also called for identification of alternate site in the periphery of Srinagar city for shifting of Central Jail from its existing location in Kathidarwaza area of the Shahr-e-Khaas.

She asked Director General of Prisons to coordinate with the Divisional Commissioner Kashmir for identification of an alternate site and come up with a report within seven days.

Mehbooba said once the Central Jail Srinagar is shifted, the existing establishment in the Old City could be converted into a multi-utility recreational-cum-sports facility while some part could be also developed as an exclusive Handicrafts Promotion Centre.

She said directions have already been given regarding identification of suitable land in Jammu also for shifting of the Central Jail from the core area of the city.

Stressing the need for imparting skill training to the jail inmates, the Chief Minister said the government would bring the jails under the purview of the integrated Skill Development Mission.

PTI
Subramanian Swamy wishes to be inducted to Modi cabinet: Sources

India

oi-Shreyas

New Delhi, July 4: The platform is set for much anticipated union cabinet reshuffle on July 5. However lobbying for the same had begun a month ago.

Rajya Sabha MP Subramanian Swamy wishes to see himself placed in the cabinet, say sources close to Swamy to OneIndia. His chances to be hauled as minister is still uncertain as Prime Minister, Narendra Modi wants to handle Swamy's case meticulously.

Swamy on the other hand has pushed for removal of Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley from the plum portfolio and likes Prime Minister to put Swamy for the post. But this is unlikely as Jaitely's post is safe according to sources in the BJP.

There also lie a chance for Subramanian Swamy. A section of the RSS has been batting on behalf of Swamy. A recent controversial statements is well intended to remind the government on his urge of induction.

The Prime Minister has been carefully studying each move of the Swamy in view of cabinet revamp. While non-performers in the cabinet will be shown doors, Uttar Pradesh elections too is in the cards during the reshuffle. It is also need of the hour for Modi to pacify Swamy.

B S Yeddyurappa at play

On the other hand BJP stalwart from Karnataka, state president and former chief minister B S Yeddyurappa has sought the induction of Udupi-Chickmagalur, MP Shobha Karandlaje. It, however depends on the future of Law Minister D V Sadananda Gowda.

Sources in the BJP tell that removal of Gowda will miff strong Vokkaliga community in Karnataka which the central government does not wish to afford such rift in view of 2018 assembly elections in Karnataka. There are chances, though for Shobha Karandlaje if the BJP top brass convinced with Yeddyurappa's contention for elevation his staunch loyalist.

OneIndia News
Need to go beyond triple talaq, abolish all religious law: Taslima Nasreen

'Taslima Nasreen's tweet was not malicious', says Patna HC while quashing the case

Hindus-Buddhists in Bangladesh have become \"third class citizens\": Writer Taslima Nasreen

Sheikh Hasina not doing anything to protect minorities: Taslima Nasreen

India

oi-Sandra Marina Fernandes

New Delhi, July 4: Known for her strong opinions, Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasreen criticised prime minister Sheikh Hasina on Monday, July 4 over the recent attack on a cafe in Dhaka.

Nasreen speaking to CNN News 18, Nasreen said: "Bangladesh PM is not doing anything to protect the minority communities. Sheikh Hasina herself created fundamentalists in Bangladesh."

Bangladesh PM pays homage to Dhaka cafe attack victims

"Hasina always tried to ignore that Islamization started in Bangladesh and also that fundamentalists are rising and terrorists are growing," she said.

The writer said that her country has no freedom of expression as is evident in murders of bloggers and writers. "There is no freedom of expression in Bangladesh. So many bloggers, writers were killed only for expressing views different from that of fundamentalists. Many bloggers were imprisoned," she told the channel.

Nasreen in a series of tweets said that Bangladesh has been a major contributor to global terror. Quoting Saleem Samad she said: "'Bangladesh has been a major contributor to global terror. Bangladeshi men have joined terror outfits in 36 countries-Saleem Samad."

'Bangladesh has been a major contributor to global terror. Bangladeshi men have joined terror outfits in 36 countries.' -- Saleem Samad  taslima nasreen (@taslimanasreen) July 3, 2016

For humanity's sake please do not say Islam is a religion of peace. Not anymore, she added. The writer critical of Hasina's inaction said on Monday, July 4: "Hasina mourning, paying homage to victims of Dhaka attack? She was silent when secular bloggers, gays, Hindus were killed by Islamic terrorists."

Dhaka attack: Why the ISI, JMB link must be probed

Nasreen said home grown terrorists were behind the terror attack in Dhaka, which killed 28 people including one Indian.

This is however not the first time that Nasreen has criticised the Bangladeshi government of inaction.

Earlier when LGBT magazine editor Zulhas Mannan and his friend Tanay Majumder were killed on April 25, Nasreen had expressed her anger and accused Sheikh Hasina of being a jihadist sympathiser.

"Hasina made no statement, took no action against jihadis who killed progressive people in Bangladesh. Hasina is a jihadi sympathizer," she said in a tweet.

Hasina made no statement,took no action against jihadis who killed progressive people in Bangladesh. Hasina is a jihadi sympathizer!  taslima nasreen (@taslimanasreen) April 29, 2016

(with IANS inputs)

OneIndia News
Mamata miffed for not being invited to be part of Bangaldesh PM's India visit

Bangladesh PM pays homage to Dhaka cafe attack victims

International

oi-IANS

By Ians English

Dhaka, July 4: Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Monday paid her homage to the victims of the Dhaka cafe attack victims during a memorial service at the Army Stadium ihere.

On the second day of the national mourning over the incident, Hasina placed a wreath on the casket of the victims, the Daily Star reported.

Dhaka attack: Why the ISI, JMB link must be probed

#WATCH: Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina pays tribute to the victims of #DhakaAttack at Army ground in Dhaka #DhakaAttackhttps://t.co/qKIa2nIiDM  ANI (@ANI_news) July 4, 2016

Twenty hostages, including nine Italians, seven Japanese, one US citizen and an Indian were killed when Islamist militants stormed the Holey Artisan cafe in Gulshan area.

Two police officers were died and 30 others injured. After a 12-hour siege commandos rescued 13 people. Six attackers were killed in the raid. A seventh man was arrested and is still being questioned. The Islamic State (IS) group said it was behind the attack.

Afterwards, it was opened to the relatives and general public for paying their tributes. Through the process, the bodies were being handed over to the relatives.

The caskets were placed in a raised platform which bored the flags of India, Italy, Bangladesh, Japan and the US - commemorating the nationalities of the foreigners killed.

Braving a drizzle that was on since last night, relatives and friends of the victims and people from all walks of life poured in to pay their last tribute at scene.

Ambulances were kept stationed nearby to carry the caskets.

IANS
Saudi Arabia: Suicide bombers hit 3 cities including Medina

International

oi-Mukul Kumar Mishra

Riyadh, July 4: At least three people were killed after a suicide bomber detonated a device in Medina, Saudi Arabia which is one of Islam's holiest sites. Reports say that the blast took place when security officials were breaking their fast during Ramadan. Al-Arabiya news channel showed images of fire raging in a parking lot with at least one body nearby.

Media reports say that explosions were also heard in Shiite-populated city of Qatif. Residents said a suicide bomber blew himself up outside a Shiite mosque in eastern Saudi Arabia, without causing any other injuries.

"Suicide bomber for sure. I can see the body" torn apart, said a witness to the attack in the Shiite-populated city of Qatif.

Nasima al-Sada, another resident, told AFP that "one bomber blew himself up near the mosque", frequented by Shiites in downtown Qatif, on the Gulf coast.

In last 24 hours, Saudi Arabia has witnessed three explosions, including Medina, Quatif and Jeddah.

Early in the morning, a bomber blew himself up near the US consulate in the Red Sea city of Jeddah, injuring two security officers.

OneIndia News

(With inputs from AFP)
Bangladesh: At least 69 dead in fire in apartment used as chemical warehouse in Dhaka

Dhaka attack: Why the ISI, JMB link must be probed

International

oi-Vicky

Dhaka, July 4: The authorities in Dhaka said on Sunday that they were ruling out the role of the ISIS and the probe was now focused on the Jammat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh and also the role of the ISI, Pakistan. After the attack it was the ISIS which immediately called the same, but the authorities dismissed the same.

The JMB has been responsible for 15 attacks in 2016 alone including the one at Dhaka. With the name of the JMB cropping up, Dhaka has every reason to suspect the role of the ISI.

JMB was rebranded as Islamic State in 2014

The ISI has been channeling funds to the JMB for sometime now and this was evident when one Pakistan diplomat was asked to leave Bangladesh recently.

The ISI, JMB link

The ISI had laid out a plan many years back in which it would target India from Bangladesh. The first terrorist group that they nurtured in Bangladesh was the Harkat-ul-JIhadi Islami or the HuJI. The HuJI was considered to be a sister concern of the Lashkar-e-Taiba.

The Lashkar-e-Taiba would attack India through Kashmir while HuJI was asked to launch strikes on India from Bangladesh.

However with the HuJI fading out, the ISI then decided to nurture the JMB. While the ISI does not involve itself too much in the training programme of the JMB cadres, it does fund the outfit heavily.

On December 23 2015, a Pakistan diplomat Farina Arshad was withdrawn from Bangladesh. After Bangladesh found that she was channeling funds from Pakistan to the JMB, she was withdrawn and sent back to Pakistan.

Incidentally this is the second such incident that took place where a Pakistan diplomat was asked to leave on charges of funding the JMB.

For the ISI, funding the JMB is important because of the India factor. The JMB has not just been active in Bangladesh, but also in West Bengal and Assam. The ISI feels that by funding this group extensively it would grow and become a force to reckon with in India.

Moreover it also is cost effective for the ISI to nurture a JMB. Sending cadres from Pakistan to hit at states such as WB or Assam is not always feasible for the ISI. In funding the JMB, the ISI has taken care of that aspect.

OneIndia News

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Monday, July 4, 2016, 9:21 [IST]
Energy, food security, diaspora on Modi's African agenda

International

oi-IANS

By Ians English

New Delhi, July 4: Energy, food security, diaspora interactions, maritime cooperation, trade and the India-initiated International Solar Alliance will be high on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's agenda when he goes on a four-nation tour of Africa, his first to that continent's mainland, this week, a senior official said on Monday.

Modi's visit to Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania and Kenya from July 7 to 11 is expected to consolidate the gains made during the third edition of the India Africa Forum Summit (IAFS) held here in October last year, Amar Sinha, Secretary (Economic Relations) in the Ministry of External Affairs, said at a pre-departure media briefing here.

He said Modi's visit will also be the third segment of India's high-level engagement with Africa this year after Vice President Hamid Ansari's visits to Morocco and Tunisia and President Pranab Mukherjee's visits to Ghana, Ivory Coast and Namibia.

Sinha said that energy and food security would be a key area of focus during his day-long visit to Mozambique on July 7.

"I say energy because Mozambique is the third largest exporter of natural gas after Qatar and Australia," he said.

Mozambique is also the destination of nearly a quarter of Indian investments of nearly $8 billion in Africa, he informed.

Trade with Mozambique jumped five-fold in the last five years and is now hovering around $2 billion.

A memorandum of understanding on food security is also expected to be signed with Mozambique.

"We also hope to sign an MoU on government-to-government purchase of pulses from Mozambique for India," Sinha said.

Another MoU is also likely to be signed in the civil aviation sector as no Indian airline flies to Africa.

Interactions with the diaspora will be a key feature during the five-day tour of the Prime Minister.

While South Africa has over 1.2 million people of Indian origin, Kenya has 80,000, Tanzania 50,000 and Mozambique 20,000.

Apart from the regular community interactions, Sinha said Modi would address two large diaspora rallies - one in Johannesburg on July 8 and the other in Nairobi on July 10.

With all the four countries being maritime neighbours of India, maritime cooperation will be another key area of focus.

"They are all members of the IORA (Indian Ocean Rim Association)," Sinha said.

"So, we are interested in blue economy in all its connotations and maritime security."

During his visit to South Africa on July 8 and 9, Modi will spend the first day in the twin cities of Johannesburg and Pretoria and the second day in Durban, home to around 800,000 people of Indian origin, making it the city with the largest Indian population outside India.

While in Johannesburg and Pretoria, apart from the regular bilateral engagements, Modi, along with South African President Jacob Zuma, will address a large business meeting.

"South Africa, of course, traditionally has seen a huge presence of Indian companies," Sinha said.

"Over 150 Indian companies have invested there," he said, adding that investments are to the tune of around $3 billion.

"Similarly a large number of South African companies have invested in India."

India is also interested in South African technology for coal gasification and deep mining, according to Sinha.

On July 9, Modi will leave for Durban where he will visit Mahatma Gandhi's Phoenix Ashram and take a train ride to Pietermaritzburg in memory of the incident in 1893 when Gandhi was thrown out of a train compartment on account of his skin colour.

A major highlight of Modi's visit to Tanzania on July 10, apart from his regular official engagements and interaction with the Indian community, will be a meeting with a group of "solar mamas".

"Solar mamas" are women who have been trained in harnessing solar energy at the Barefoot College at Tilonia village in Ajmer, Rajasthan.

"He (Modi) will also be meeting a group of 40 or so solar mamas from different parts of Africa," Sinha said.

"This connects with our new (International) Solar Alliance as we already have a cadre of well trained people even at the village level who are solar technicians."

On July 11, during his visit to Nairobi, Kenya, Modi, apart from his regular official engagements, will visit the United Nations Office, one of the four major UN office sites where several different UN agencies have a joint presence.

"Plus he will be addressing students in the University of Nairobi, which, interestingly, was set up by a group of Indians," Sinha said.

IANS


Woman, her two children mowed down by train; Suicide not ruled out

UP: Man films wife committing suicide, does nothing to stop her

Suicide blast near mosque in eastern Saudi: Residents

International

oi-PTI

Riyadh, Jul 4: A suicide bomber blew himself up outside a Shiite mosque in eastern Saudi Arabia today, without causing any other injuries, residents said.

"Suicide bomber for sure. I can see the body" torn apart, said a witness to the attack in the Shiite-populated city of Qatif.

Nasima al-Sada, another resident, told AFP that "one bomber blew himself up near the mosque", frequented by Shiites in downtown Qatif, on the Gulf coast.

No bystanders were hurt, she said. The blast, near the end of the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan, was the second suicide bombing today in the predominantly Sunni kingdom. Another bomber blew himself up earlier near the US consulate in the Red Sea city of Jeddah, injuring two security officers.

(AFP)
After Dhaka attack, Mamata asks officials to monitor porous Bengal-Bangladesh border

Kolkata

oi-Shubham Ghosh

Kolkata, July 4: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has asker her administration to keep a close watch on the state's long border with Bangladesh in the wake of a horrific terror attack in a restaurant in Dhaka on July 1 (Friday) night that left 20 foreigners dead, an Ananda Bazar Patrika report has said.

Read more stories on Dhaka terror attack 2016

It is a widely known fact that militants try to take shelter in India whenever the government in Bangladesh clamps down on them. The Sheikh Hasina government's retaliation following the attack in Gulshan district in Dhaka has, hence, made the Banerjee administration alert. [Terrorists are global but the international security system has become obsolete]

West Bengal shares a 2,216-kilometre long border with Bangladesh which is more than half of India's total border with that country and it is also porous. The state's administration, hence has also emphasised on social cooperation by appealing to the local people in the border districts to alert the officials if they see any suspicious elements. The local administration and police have been asked to campaign on this. Ten of Bengal's 19 districts share border with Bangladesh.

State officials said the militants, after feeling Bangaldesh, first take shelter in the border districts of Bengal and then they spread to other parts of the country. The Bangladesh government has recently handed over to India a list of 95 terrorists who are hiding in Bengal at the moment, said the report. Of them, 38 are reportedly hiding in South Bengal, the report added.

Oneindia News

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Monday, July 4, 2016, 15:12 [IST]
A dream, a call and some courage: How a 15-year-old stopped her marriage

Two days after Dhaka attack, Kolkata cops arrest 1 over Bengal secretariat bomb hoax

Kolkata

oi-Shubham Ghosh

Kolkata, July 4: A man was arrested for making a hoax call saying a bomb was planted in West Bengal Secretariat---"Nabanna" which also houses the office of the state's chief minister, Mamata Banerjee, police said on Monday (July 4).

Two days after the terror attack at an upscale restuarant in the diplomatic quarter of Dhaka, the capital of the neighbouring Bangladesh, the anonymous call was made on Sunday (July 3) night forcing an already tense city police to swing into action. The bomb disposal squad and sniffer dogs were deployed at the secretariat located in Howrah district.

The bomb could go off at any time, the caller, who had dialled No. 100 thrice around 8.40 pm, had claimed.

The police subsequently tracked the call which was made from near the CM's residence in Kalighat in Kolkata and arrested one Aniruddha Ghosh, aged 52.

He was set to presented befor a court later on Monday.

Tracking the call, police subsequently arrested Aniruddha Ghosh from his city residence for making the call.

He will be presented before a court later on Monday. The police were suspecting Ghosh's mental condition, said local reports.

Oneindia News

[With IANS inputs]
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Jerusalem Post 26 Mar 2022

Elie Wiesel's death in July 2016 is the beginning of the end of the eyewitnesses to the horrors of the Holocaust
Police arrest man

in connection with

girlfriend's death

PORTLAND  Police in Portland have arrested a man in connection with the shooting death of a 48-year-old woman.

Emergency workers found Cory Jonell Lumber, also known as Cory Jonell Ruth, dead inside a Mill Park neighborhood apartment Saturday evening. The woman's boyfriend, 37-year-old Spencer Thomas Johnson, was arrested later that night and booked into the Multnomah County Jail.

Police say Johnson has been charged with murder and unlawful use of a weapon and he is scheduled to be arraigned on Tuesday. It was not immediately clear if Johnson had an attorney.

The medical examiner says Lumber died of a single gunshot wound.

Outdoor school

proposal gains enough

signatures for ballot

BEND  A campaign to permanently fund outdoor school in Oregon has gathered 130,000 signatures.

The Bulletin of Bend reports that the Save the Outdoor School for all campaign began in January with a goal of collecting 120,000 signatures to exceed the 87,213 signatures needed to qualify for a ballot spot. If the measure makes the November ballot, it will ask voters to approve permanent funding so that fifth and sixth graders can attend outdoor school.

The campaign proposes suing lottery proceeds to fund the program.

Outdoor school is a program for fifth and sixth graders to learn science and outdoor recreation.

UMATILLA, Oregon (AP)  The Oregon State Police are investigating after a 29-year-old inmate at Two Rivers Correctional Institution in Umatilla died unexpectedly on Saturday.

The Oregon Department of Corrections announced Sunday that Rigoberto Corono-Avila was transported off-site for medical care Saturday afternoon. He was pronounced dead a few hours later.

Corono-Avila was serving time on felony assault and sex abuse charges, and his earliest release date was just six months away. The Department of Corrections did not release any details about the circumstances surrounding Corono-Avila's death. The Oregon State Police Criminal Investigation Division is investigating the death, as it does with all unanticipated deaths in state prisons.

Two Rivers Correctional Institution house about 1,800 male inmates. The prison has had several unexpected inmate deaths in recent months, with Corono-Avila's death marking at least the seventh death since December.

Woman drowns

in Sprague River

KLAMATH FALLS  Oregon State Police are investigating after a woman drowned in the Sprague River near the Robert Draw Reservoir dam.

The Herald and News in Klamath Falls reports that the woman, described as in her late 30s or early 40s, was swimming with friends on Saturday when she began drowning and her companions called 911.

Chiloquin Fire and Rescue chief Mike Cook says emergency workers attempted to resuscitate her for 20 minutes but were unsuccessful. The woman's name has not been released.

Cook says recreationists should remember to use caution, especially when on slippery rocks and that people should not go swimming alone. He says it doesn't appear that intoxicants played a role in the drowning.
Rumble 21 Sep 2022

Episode 2168: Nigel Farage On The Legacy Of The Queen; They Are Continuing To Push Puberty Blockers On Families Children
Currently: Cash Looking to: Buy @ $46.67



As of 3/19/21 close: $47.99



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UPDATE: The iShares China ETF (FXI) drifted lower last week and is on the way to a test of initial support at $46.67. If it holds, we should see a rally to $55. If it breaks, we could see a quick dip to $44.50.



Buy dips in FXI to $46.67 with stops on a close below $46 and with an upside target for taking profits at $55. If stopped out, try the longs again at $44.50 with stops below $44.
Komfie Manalo, Opalesque Asia:

Troubled hedge fund manager William Ackman has laid off 10% of his staff after his Pershing Square sustained double-digit losses this year, Reuters reported.

The report said those who were given the pink slip were eight lower-level employees who were involved in the hedge funds investor services. But the move to cut off the staff were largely because of automation in some of their functions, especially in filling paperwork for investors.

No member of the investment team was laid off by Ackman, it added.

Pershing Square saw its $20bn in assets under management a year ago dwindle to roughly $12bn as of end of May as the hedge fund struggled with its investments.

Since January this year, the Pershing Square International Fund lost 17.29%, one of the worst industry performers this year. Ackmans best on Valeant Pharmaceuticals saw the fund dropped 16.6% in 2015.

Ackman emerges as one of the biggest Brexit losers

Ackman was further hurt by the Brexit vote. The activist hedge fund manager is once again emerging as one of the biggest losers of the group of elite investors. This time the culprit appears to be Brexit.

Since British voters opted to abandon the European Union, stocks around the globe ha......................

To view our full article Click here
In the week ending 01 July, 2016, in Europe, a majority of commentators expect that Brexit will have long lasting impacts on the financial markets and global growth. George Soros warned that the Brexit has unleashed a crisis in the financial markets similar to the 2008 global financial crisis. Ratings agencies Fitch and S&P 500 downgraded UKs credit rating after the Brexit vote. According to the London Times, a number of smaller hedge funds are expected to report that they have been wiped out by the volatility we saw in currency markets during the early hours of Friday morning after the vote. Many apparently had removed all currency protection after the private exit polls painted a convincing picture that the UK would vote to remain part of the EU  precisely the reason that pound/dollar surged to 1.5 late on the evening before the vote. However, data from Credit Suisse showed that hedge funds in general appear to have avoided crippling losses arising from the vote. Bridgewater Associates warned that future referendums on leaving the European Union could cause even greater turmoil than the volatility around Britain's exit. Several emerging hedge fund managers who run global macro, FX, quantitative and market neutral strategies offered mixed reactions to Brexit. Meanwhile, UK hedge funds are looking to restructure the...................... To view our full article Click here
Reprinted from Consortium News

The recent U.S. Supreme Court's 4-4 split decision on whether President Obama has the power to implement immigration changes through executive action leaves in place a lower court's injunction against those policies and leaves tens of thousands of so-called Dreamers and their families in a legal limbo.

The Supreme Court's June 23 decision put an indefinite hold on the expanded Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Program known as (DACA) as well as the Deferred Action for Parents of Americans (DAPA).

In June 2012, Obama announced DACA, which declared that that certain children who arrived in the U.S. prior to turning 16 years of age would no longer be a priority for deportation. Obama announced DAPA in November 2014, allowing certain parents to be granted deferred action for a period of three years and to be eligible for work authorization papers.

Though Obama's initiatives were welcomed by many of the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants -- and much of the blame for the absence of more permanent reforms rests with Congress -- the President has come in for sharp criticism for deporting nearly three million people.

Flashpoints radio host Dennis J Bernstein interviewed Jesus Guzman, program director at the Graton Day Labor Center in Northern California's wine country, to get a human perspective on the political and legal machinations in Washington.

The Graton Center is among the first of its kind in the country, working to represent day laborers and domestic workers and seeking to guarantee them $15-an-hour minimum wage.

Guzman is also a state representative of the Dreamers and is undocumented. Guzman went to Washington in 2012 to be with Obama in the White House when DACA was announced, and was also at Stanford last week to protest Obama's deportation actions, which have earned Obama the title of Deporter-in-Chief.

DB: Jesus Guzman, you were at Stanford recently to greet Barack Obama there. Why were you at Stanford and what happened there?

JG: It was a joint action with the Graton Day Labor Center and the National Day Labor Organizing Network (NDLON), and the Immigrant Youth Coalition, and was a response to the woefully inadequate reaction of the President to the Supreme Court's decision on DAPA and DACA. His response was to weakly lament that the decision was made, then he doubled-down on the enforcement of the deportation policies which we are calling (on him) to end -- the Priority Enforcement Program [PEP]. We are saying that if the Supreme Court is not going to stand up and defend our families and extend DOPA and DAPA to stop the deportations, the President has the power to do that.

Instead he is pushing the PEP program, which turns sheriffs into de facto deportation agents. He has six months to end that -- he has the power. He can't just say it's too bad about the Supreme Court decision and continue with the deportation policies. We are calling for him to end them. At Stanford, we were calling to his attention that our communities and others in this country hold him accountable and he cannot just pass the buck to the Supreme Court.

DB: It was a very vocal protest, with attempts to interrupt the President. Why did you think it was important to do this in the face of the President?

JG: He was attending an entrepreneur summit at Stanford. We were there as immigrant youth and day laborers, speaking out. The youth were taking the lead, initially with civil disobedience, then the distraction to be sure that our presence was felt -- to be sure they hear what is going on in our community. The President can go around the country and do his last goodbye tour and count up the accolades for the accomplishments he likes to claim he's had in presidency, but we need to remind him that he has the power to change the deportation policy. It's getting close to three million deportations during his presidency. That is no kind of legacy he should be proud of as part of his presidency. He still has time to turn this around and use his power wisely to protect those in our communities who are the most vulnerable. It was important for us to speak out so he hears from us about what he can do at the end of his presidency.

DB: You are undocumented. This policy has caused great suffering. Can you put a human face on it? How does the President's weak-kneed reaction to the Supreme Court decision impact you and some of the dreamers you are working with?

JG: We estimate six million undocumented folks would benefit from this program. That would include my mom and dad who have both been here over 20 years. They did everything possible to give me a better opportunity in life. The privilege I have now of a work permit is through the original DACA. I can think of folks who deserve the same benefit as much as my parents. Many of the folks I work with are day laborers, domestic workers and folks who have been labeled by the President as criminals and gang bangers and other derogatory terms that are not true. Folks are coming and trying to provide for their families back home and to have a chance for a better life here. It is criminal to call us criminals when there are all these instances of wage theft, unsafe working conditions, and retaliation against workers trying to provide a better life.

It has a tremendous impact on our families to have a work permit to work legally, but it goes beyond that. My mom talks about wanting to see her mom, my grandmother, who she hasn't seen in many, many years and who has been very ill for the last few years. It would mean the world to her to see her mother. The millions of folks affected all have an individual story of how these programs would benefit them. We know it's the right thing to do, and the President knows it's the right thing to do. We are calling on him to do the right thing and to use his power wisely during these last six months of office.
My guest today is Elisabeth Heurtefeu, an educator who has been a teacher, administrator and school principal. In fact, the school where she was principal for eight years, LaSalle Language Academy Magnet School, won the 2015 National Blue Ribbon.



Winning the 2015 Blue Ribbon on behalf of LaSalle Language Academy Magnet School

(Image by Elisabeth Heurtefeu) Details DMCA



Joan Brunwasser: Welcome to OpEdNews, Elisabeth. You came to my attention when I saw your election-related YouTube, Are the Clintons Being Played?. Please help get the ball rolling. How did you come to make this video?

Elisabeth Heurtefeu: I have been following the US presidential elections very closely and as a voter, I researched diligently the candidates. I made the determination that Bernie Sanders was in my view the only candidate who not only had showed political honesty over time but also was advocating about current issues that need to be addressed to move the country forward.

I also researched the FBI probe. As I was waiting for Senator Warren to endorse Bernie Sanders, it became very intriguing to me that the president, VP Biden and Warren endorsed Hillary Clinton on the same day.

With all I had read also about President Obama and Vice-President Biden, it did not make sense to me that they would endorse Hillary Clinton. It conflicted with my perception of their character. As a result, I started writing a scenario that would be based on facts and would be rational.

Once the scenario was written, all I had to do was to make it entertaining and illustrate with pictures and videos.

JB: What a concept! Had you ever done anything similar before? Why not just write an op-ed piece? This sounds so much more elaborate, time-consuming and complicated.

EH: I retired from my CPS principal job in July 2015 so I have now time to devote to a few passions. I always liked to write. I published a book of poems a long time ago in Paris, France (Conjuguer l'Enfance). When I sailed across the Atlantic, I brought with me a Super 8 camera and learned how to make movies. I also taught myself how to compose "midi" music in the 1990s before moving to Chicago in 1996. All these time-consuming passions were put "on the back burner" when I was working as teacher and principal in Chicago.

Over the last few months, I have composed music mostly for videos that document the Bernie Sanders movement.

With the era of online communications and people having little time to read and research, I felt that getting my "fiction" story on a video would be more fun than reading an Op Ed article. Yes, it is time-consuming but I love making music and videos! It's truly a passion!

I published a new short video today and this one has my original music. I am registered with the French Authors and Composers Organization "Sacem".

JB: Hold on a second. Don't just drop bombshells and casually walk away. There's so much I want to know. Before we move to the subject at hand, let's hear more about sailing across the Atlantic, please. And share a bit of your background while you're at it.

EH: When I was in high school in Champagne, France, I learned how to sail on an artificial lake created to protect Paris from flooding (Seine River). In Paris, while studying business, being a little bored, my "distractions" were playing volleyball at Paris University Club and learning how to navigate on larger sailboats. Soon, my dream became to sail around the world! Nothing is too unattainable when you are 19 years old!!!

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1

In the fourth year of her reign at the tender age of 22, Queen Victoria gave birth to her second child, the future King of England. Frets and worries about the Queen's "difficult" pregnancy were happily resolved when the birth of a healthy Albert Edward was announced on 9 November 1841 to a relieved nation. For the first time in almost eighty years, England had a suitable male heir. Long live the King!

Bertie, as he was nicknamed by family members, was said to lack the intelligence of his older sister and showed a marked preference for the outdoors to the study of algebra. But he ploughed on doggedly, albeit it without enthusiasm, and mastered his lessons well enough to escape a light corporal punishment sometimes contemplated by his demanding parents. In the summer of 1855, Bertie, now the fourteen year-old Prince of Wales, and his older sister, Vicky, accompanied their parents on a state visit to Napoleon III and his wife Eugenie. The combined effects of Paris and the first welcome cessation of rigorous daily study had a lasing effect on the young Prince. A Frenchman writing more than a century after the event captured the essence of Berties's first trip abroad:

"In the Tuileries, he breathed for the first time that odore di femmina whose trail he was to follow for the rest of his life. The scented, alluring women not only kissed him (was he not a child?) but also curtsied to him, and as they bent forward, their decolletage revealed delights that were veiled at Windsor." [1]

In November of 1858, when Prince Edward came of age at seventeen, he was given a 500 yearly allowance and his first taste of independence. During the course of the next few years he attended the universities of Edinburgh, Oxford, and Cambridge, traveled abroad, while developing his taste for cigars, shooting, cards, and women. At age 20 and a boy no longer, he was sent to Ireland to serve with the 2nd Battalion, Grenadier Guards to broaden his experience. No doubt believing that they were only carrying out the spirit of the mission, his young fellow officers smuggled the fetching Dublin actress, Nellie Clifden, into his bed. Of course the delicious gossip soon reached the ears of his father who delivered himself of a stern lecture to his errant son. Unfortunately, the doting but strict father was infected with the typhus germ and died some months later on December 14, 1861.

This brought front and center the next milestone: marriage. During the course of some years of mixing and matching political considerations, religious affiliations, and physical characteristics - not necessarily in that order - the final choice fell on the attractive Danish princess Alexandra, the daughter of Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glucksberg. Things seemed to go well and the two were married in St. George's Chapel at Windsor, on March 10, 1863, with all the grand pomp and circumstance befitting the future King and Queen of England. Alexandra's father, whose private life was a public scandal, duly inherited the throne of Denmark in November of 1863. But as Queen Victoria had feared, the newly-crowned King Christian IX supported unilateral changes in the status of the duchy of Schleswig in violation of the London Protocol of 1852. This brought Denmark into conflict with Prussia and Austria and resulted (after a further brief war between Prussia and Austria in 1866) in the annexation of Schleswig and Holstein by Prussia. Alexandra was livid. Denying that her father had incurred any blame for the loss of the duchies by his unquestionably illegal action, she developed a fanatical hatred for all things German that stayed with her to the end of her days:

"For the rest of the nineteenth century and, more important, for the first decade of the twentieth, when Edward was on the throne himself, the anti-Prussian lobby of England found a permanent focusing point around Alexandra . Though she was never a significant figure politically, the intensity and consistency of her feelings acted as a catalyst for many of her English sympathizers. At the most they disliked, distrusted and perhaps feared the Prussians. Alexandra, whether as Princess or Queen, positively hated them. Her husband could not have remained entirely unaffected by this domestic pressure, especially after his own infidelity put him so heavily in his wife's private debt." [2]

After returning from a seven-day honeymoon at Osborne House on the Isle of Wight, the bridal pair set up housekeeping in London. There was Marlborough House for frequent and elaborate social functions and hunting parties, and there was Sandringham for private marital bliss. But Prince Edward had always been a hedonist to the core and marital vows could not hope to contain his relentless pursuit of pleasure. It was hardly surprising therefore that Alexandra soon became "the most courteously but most implacably deceived royal lady of her time." [3]
Japan's Supreme Court has rejected a second appeal by the country's Muslim community against nationwide surveillance of Muslim groups, mosques and even halal restaurants.

This may not be surprising to America's seven-million-strong Muslim community which has been under real and virtual surveillance since 9/11.

After 15 years of broadly targeting the community and extensively monitoring its activities, the FBI declared an end on June 18, 2016 to its surveillance of Muslim Americans, saying "its exhaustive study of their beautiful culture was finally complete." The Onion News Network quoted the FBI sources as saying, the harvesting of internet data, widespread racial profiling, and the nationwide mapping of Muslim communities have allowed agents to closely observe the followers of Islam.

Not surprisingly, on April 15, 2014, the New York Police Department announced that it has abandoned a secretive program that dispatched plainclothes detectives into Muslim neighborhoods to eavesdrop on conversations and built detailed files on where people ate, prayed and shopped. The police mapped communities inside and outside the New York city, logging where customers in traditional Islamic clothes ate meals and documenting their lunch counter conversations. The Police Department's tactics, which were the subject of two federal lawsuits, drew criticism from civil rights groups who said they harmed national security by sowing mistrust for law enforcement in Muslim communities.

Hence the mass surveillance of the Muslims in Japan was not very astonishing, shocking and surprising.

Interestingly, seventeen Japanese Muslim plaintiffs had complained that the government's security measures constituted "an unconstitutional invasion of their privacy and freedom of religion."

The Supreme Court dismissed the appeal as unconstitutional. The justices concurred with a lower court that the surveillance was "necessary and inevitable" to guard against international terrorism. The Supreme Court also concurred with the lower court that the plaintiffs deserved a total of 90 million ($880,000) in compensation because the leak violated their privacy.

However, the justices did not weigh in on the police profiling or surveillance practices.

Police file leaked

The case was brought after a 2010 police leak revealed officials were monitoring Japanese Muslims at places of worship, halal restaurants and Islam-related organizations across the country.

Japanese-born Muhammad Fujita (not his real name), who converted to Islam more than 20 years ago, told Al-Jazeera the Muslim community had been unfairly targeted for surveillance. "They made us terrorist suspects," he said. "We never did anything wrong."

Fujita says he and his wife have been spied on since the early 2000s. The police documents revealed that tens of thousands of individual Muslims had been extensively profiled, with files detailing their personal information as well as their place of worship.

114 police files were leaked in 2010. The leaked files revealed profiling of Muslims across Japan. The documents included resume-like pages listing a host of personal information, including an individual's name, physical description, personal relationships and the mosque they attended, along with a section titled "suspicions".

The files also showed by the time the 2008 G8 summit was held in Hokkaido, northern Japan, at least 72,000 residents from Organization of Islamic Conference countries had been profiled - including about 1,600 public school students in and around Tokyo.

Police in the capital had also been surveilling places of worship, halal restaurants, and "Islam-related" organizations, the documents showed.

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The application process is now open, and the administration says the forms should take five minutes to complete. Get more info on that and more recent business news here.
Congress Switchboard: 202-224-3121

"Wonderful work! An insightful, integrative adventure into what makes humans flourish. Rob Kall shows us that we know how to do this, that most of human history was about connection and that there are ways to make it happen again. He offers real solutions and practical suggestions for taking back the world for community, connection and well-beingaway from hierarchy, exclusion, and destruction. A new handbook for the necessary revolution!"



Darcia Narvaez, Professor of psychology, Notre Dame, University, author of Neurobiology and the Development of Human Morality: Evolution, Culture and Wisdom




Joe Giambrone

July 4, 2016





We face many problems; most stemming from ideologies run amok. Ideology is the enemy of truth, and the truth is larger and counter to all ideological frameworks, paradigms, religions, and dogmas. The truth cares nothing at all for your ideology nor for you; it never did, and it never will.





America has never lived up to the myth. Dumbed-down nationalism has always displaced reason, evidence, and fairness, even among the masses. Thus the term "Exceptionalism" is shouted from the think tanks without a hint of irony or shame. We are the exception to the rules we force upon others. Because we're us. Because our military is both powerful and ruthless.





But, then again, America has always stood for some important bedrock principles: freedom of speech, freedom of (and from) religion, freedom of the press, the right to due process, the right to be secure in our persons, homes and effects. Our notion of freedom was codified more than two centuries ago and thankfully still stands in the face of so many ongoing challenges.





But this freedom is under attack from many fronts. It is attacked domestically, and it is attacked from afar. It is attacked by ignorant herd members, and by highly educated Machiavellian monsters wearing suits. It is attacked by the corruption of the system erected to defend it and by external influences such as oil-money bribes.





By now we've all been exposed to the concept of a "clash of civilizations." By now we should have revisited that hypothesis at least twice. Intractable cultural differences divide humanity today, and I will mention an important one, which some are not going to want to hear.





In the West we reserve the right to reject your religion. We have no obligation to suffer your religious proclamations, and we reject out of hand the very concept of religious law as equivalent and supplanting secular law. We are a secular haven, and we are not under any obligation to grant religious ideas any special place elevated above the cacophony of hucksters, charlatans and pornographers, of which there are multitudes.





This argument becomes quite real when tested. Incident after incident has led to extreme violent backlashes against the exercise of this particular religious freedom. Theo Van Gogh was the first prominent Westerner assassinated for daring to challenge Sharia Law, with a provocative short film called Submission . Do you dare to click and watch it? The film told of a young Muslim woman punished for falling in love. With no freedom of her own, she was a criminal guilty of fornication in a system designed to sell her off like chattel into a prominent family. So much is wrong with this single incident. It certainly cannot be defended by our modern Western standards, not at all.





We will not return to 7th-century theocracy, and the First Amendment is non-negotiable. We will draw the line, and the line provides that we in the West can tell anyone and their stack of holy books to take a long walk off a short pier. That is something we will fight to defend, as forcefully or perhaps more so than the Al Qaedas, ISIS, Al Nusrah Brigades, Al Shams et al. of the world. That is indeed a clash of civilizations.





Many American leftists/liberals/progressives now engage in apologetics over Islamic terrorism, as if it didn't actually exist. Their admonishments approach the absurd when mass killers like Omar Mateen proudly proclaim their allegiance to ISIS as they shoot scores of innocent bystanders. The twisted illogic of progressives lately has jumped the shark.





Yes, religion was a factor. Mateen was a longtime fanboy of Islamic terror and should have been monitored by FBI as the next potential mass killer he turned out to be. The evidence was there ahead of time. He'd made repeated threats to that effect and was investigated for them over a ten-month stretch.





Denying reality is not a legitimate answer. We have not just freedom, but a civic duty, a responsibility to know what's actually going on, why, and how best to address it.





And that, sadly, leads me to my final point today, July 4th, a day of failure more than success. Today's American public is derelict in its civic duty. It is not well informed. It cannot think clearly about heated controversies such as terrorism, war and peace. Education has crumbled, vanquished by the tsunami of propaganda. If we were to choose a new name for our nation it would be most accurately described as Propagandistan. Blathering talking heads shout half-truths, quarter-truths, or perhaps less twenty-four hours a day on hundreds of channels. Such an insane media environment is beyond what anyone could have imagined even a few decades ago. The unsourced noise has drowned out the factually defensible. Ideology has trumped common sense.





How else to explain Donald Trump v. Hillary Clinton?





Drink heavily this July 4th, brothers and sisters. It could very well be the last one.


Disabled St. Jude patient sues airport and TSA after bloody scuffle Hannah Cohen was returning home to Chattanooga at the Memphis Airport after receiving her final treatment for the brain tumor she has had treated the last 17 ...

(Image by YouTube, Channel: Mutual Broadcast News) Details DMCA



The harrowing story of a nineteen-year-old disabled woman who had the hell beaten out of her by uniformed government goons should be the final straw for Americans. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has been subjected to a wave of bad publicity as of late. Airport checkpoints -- which more fittingly belong an old Soviet bloc country than the USA -- have led to excessive waiting lines, often causing travelers to miss their flights. The Obama regime offered up a sacrificial lamb by firing Kelly Hoggan, who had served as TSA assistant administrator in what was an effort at public relations but the underlying problem has never been dealt with. Quite simply that an agency so openly fascist doesn't belong in what is still advertised as a "free" country.

Now comes the news of the outrageous attack on poor Hannah Cohen who last year was brutally assaulted by a pack of TSA thugs in Memphis while returning from treatment for a brain tumor. The story broke that the young woman was suing the airport and the feds over the vicious and unnecessary attack and the picture of her terrified, bloody face should be an iconic image if there is ever to be any rollback of the hostile takeover of America and the rise of the police state.

Memphis station WREG-TV reports "Disabled St. Jude patient sues airport and TSA after bloody scuffle with Airport Police":

Bloodied and bruised Hannah Cohen was led from Memphis International Airport in handcuffs. The 19-year-old was headed home to Chattanooga after treatment for a brain tumor at St. Jude Hospital. It's a trip they've made for 17 years. This time, an unarmed Hannah set off the metal detector at a security checkpoint "They wanted to do further scanning, she was reluctant, she didn't understand what they were about to do," said her mother Shirley Cohen. Cohen told us she tried to tell TSA agents her daughter is partially deaf, blind in one eye, paralyzed, and easily confused, but said she was kept at a distance by police. "She's trying to get away from them but in the next instant, one of them had her down on the ground and hit her head on the floor. There was blood everywhere," said Cohen. Hannah was arrested, booked and on the night she should have been celebrating the end of her treatment, she was locked up in Jail East. "Here we were with no where to go, not even a toothbrush, our bags had gone to Chattanooga," said Cohen. Authorities later threw out the charges but the family filed a lawsuit against the Memphis Airport, Airport Police, and the Transportation Security Administration.

The bludgeoning of a disabled woman isn't exactly what Americans would have expected when the gargantuan agency was crammed down their throats in the aftermath of 9/11 with no debate and no choice. It was the government exercising the Rahm Emanuel maxim of never letting a really good crisis "go to waste" and after the resulting power grab, our airports were transformed into conditioning centers for the fascism that would become the hallmark of the new American century.

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Granbury's Old Fashioned 4th of July Celebration - Event ...

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Talking like schizophrenics or eager vacillators we, us, you, them, me, they advocate: following Bernie, fearing Trump, not fearing Trump, hating Hillary, not hating Hillary, abandoning Bernie, supporting Hillary, fearing Trump, not fearing Trump, meditating, marching and on and on. It's a confused, disturbed Liberal/Progressive, rapidly mutating, semi-psychoanalytical trip of anxiety and a bit of self-loathing swirled in a sweating cocktail glass. Hillary is a stale cocktail onion. Trump is a turd stuffed olive. Bernie is an attractively wrapped Christmas gift, waiting -- it's just July.

What's a Liberal/Progressive American to do?

Move? Wave flags? Scream? Light up some bottle rockets? Enjoy a hot dog?

How about looking in the mirror.

I got out my calculator a minute ago and discovered that it's been forty-eight years since the Democratic Convention of 1968. It's been forty-four years since Watergate. It's been thirty years since the Iran-Contra affair. Life has been full for all of us over the past almost half century. A lot of us have been around for the whole enchilada. Many more for parts of it. There have been almost fifty years of mortgage payments, illnesses, car notes, grocery bills, insurance payments, college tuition, burials, taxes, alimony, child support, dental bills; Life.

Life got in the way. Life is a relentless, meth addled taxi driver. Life dulled and back-benched our inner activists. Life both bludgeoned and lit up our intentions -- squashing or hiding them in a whirlwind of winning and diapers and loving and falling.

I had a late middle aged fellow come into my place of work yesterday. He was a very engaging and pleasant fellow. Having recently retired from a life in the oilfields -- encouraged by being laid off. He has taken up his long dormant youthful artistic pursuits. He is very happy to be augmenting his social security payments with sales of his work at art fairs. He said he would keep it up until, if and when, Trump is elected.

"Trump is gonna change things," looking directly into my eyes, not looking away or appearing to even be aware that he was saying things that had a real good chance of being controversial standing in an art gallery. "I can't vote for Hillary, that's the same old same old," he said. Then he went on to recite a list of folks he knew and others he had heard about that had lost good jobs, couldn't send their kids to school, had to sell their homes, moved in with their children etc., etc. Looking back into his eyes I started to protest, to question him, but recognizing sincerity and calm there, chose to be quiet.

"I don't even listen to all that bologna he talks about. I just know that he is gonna change things. Hillary isn't going to change a damn thing," he said, walking out the door. I expected to be agitated, angry even, after talking with him. I wasn't. I was just sad. Everything he said was true. America had let him down. We had let him down. Progressives and Liberals championing or acquiescing to neo-liberal politicians and policies let him down. Not participating let him down.

Life got in the way.
Duluth, Minnesota (OpEdNews) July 4, 2016: The Fourth of July is a suitable time to reflect on our American identity. On the Fourth of July each year, we Americans commemorate the signing of the idealistic Declaration of Independence, which officially announced the beginning of the American Revolution. To this day, we Americans really do have to be rather idealistic to buy into the ideals articulated in the Declaration of Independence.

Because the rebels emerged victorious, they went on to found our American experiment in representative democratic government and certain civil rights.

Historically, our American political liberalism is paired with economic liberalism. In our American political culture today, economic libertarians venerate economic liberalism.

The spirit of economic liberalism was expressed in the nineteenth-century American myth of the self-made man. No, that myth is not usually understood to include the self-made woman. I do not mention this to make a case for more inclusive language, because I want to focus instead on the words self-made.

The myth of the self-made man is expressed in Horatio Alger stories. As the stories go, with pluck and luck, the hero moves from rags to riches, or at least relative success compared to his starting point. The hero's law-abiding pluck eventually pays off. With luck, he gets ahead and prospers materially. No doubt a certain measure of material prosperity is good for the soul, as Abraham Maslow suggests with his hierarchy of needs.

However, as I say, I want to focus on the words self-made. Through the decisions we make about choices in our lives, we make our personal identities. In this sense, each adult person is self-made.

Now, starting in the latter part of the nineteenth century and moving forward in the first half or more of the twentieth century, existentialism accentuated personal decision-making. In this way, existentialism was consistent with the spirit of the American myth of the self-made man (and woman, in existentialism), except that existentialism did not venerate material prosperity. (But it also did not venerate extreme poverty.) In any event, existentialism was imported from Europe and found a home in American culture, mostly among college-educated Americans who were not enamored with material prosperity but who enjoyed a certain measure of material well-being (as Maslow's hierarchy of needs suggests).

Freud and Jung and the personal therapy movement in the twentieth century obviously aimed at personal therapy. Not surprisingly, the personal therapy movement also found a home in American culture, where it thrives to this day. But poor people tend not to have the financial resources to pursue personal therapy.

Now, to the chagrin of economic libertarians, the federal government expanded its scope in the twentieth century under President Theodore Roosevelt and again under President Franklin D. Roosevelt and again under President Lyndon B. Johnson. To this day, economic libertarians want to down-size so-called big government. But we need so-called big government to help provide the social and economic structures that we as a collective group need to survive and prosper.

Long before the Declaration of Independence in 1776, earlier in American culture, Governor John Winthrop famously described the venture of the Puritans in Massachusetts Bay Colony as founding a city on a hill -- an exemplary city for the world to see, a light to the world. Both President John F. Kennedy, who was born and raised in Massachusetts, and President Ronald Reagan, the former actor and governor of California, invoked Winthrop's famous imagery in the twentieth century.

Now, the Greek word for a city is "polis," the root word of our word political. Historically, the city of Athens famously engaged in the first experiment in limited participatory democratic government. Historically, when our American experiment in representative democratic government emerge, it was also originally a much more limited experiment than it is today.

As a result of the expanded citizen participation in voting today in our American polity, we should perhaps remember William Butler Yeats' famous lines in his poem "The Second Coming" about the center not holding and things falling apart. In the title of his famous novel Things Fall Apart (1958), the Nigerian novelist Chinua Achebe borrows Yeats' imagery.

Will our American center -- the ideals expressed in the Declaration of Independence -- hold and thereby keep things from falling apart as we Americans collectively negotiate the emerging claims of various groups of Americans who historically have been submerged and thereby excluded from the prestige culture in American culture -- as expressed in so-called identity politics (also known as multiculturalism), including now the white identity politics that the wealthy developer Donald J. Trump of New York, the presumptive presidential candidate of the Republican Party in 2016, uses to advance his campaign?

But Winthrop's famous imagery also calls to mind another ancient city on a hill, Jerusalem. Symbolically, Jerusalem was important to God's Chosen People. Taking a hint from President Abraham Lincoln, we Americans could also think of ourselves as God's Chosen People. Surely our American experiment in representative democratic government involves a covenant of sorts among us, as did the famous Athenian experiment in limited participatory democratic government.

But if we take a hint from Kennedy and Reagan and apply Winthrop's famous imagery to our American experiment in representative democratic government, then our American city, figuratively speaking, has grown a wee bit since 1776 -- and so has our American federal government.

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I will tell you why I have written this article. I told a friend recently that I was going to give him a copy of my book, America's Oldest Professions: Warring and Spying. "Isn't war just human nature" he asked? Dear readers, what is your answer? Mine can be found in this article.



SAIGON 1968

(Image by manhhai) Details DMCA



Organized Violence: War



I define violence, organized or unorganized, as any violent action causing injury or death. War is a form of organized violence. War, said Carl von Clausewitz (1780-1831), a Prussian general and military theorist, "is the continuation of politics by other means." I would define it differently. War is any form of organized violence (as opposed to unorganized, individualized violence) perpetrated by politicians usually in concert with powerful economic and ideological interests to gain control over the resources and people of another state, territory or any opposition to such control.



Be that as it may, war however defined has been a staple of human endeavors for at least 14,000 years.



Other Forms of Organized Violence

Other forms of organized violence that come to mind are sacrificial rites, massacres, covert military operations (read CIA), torture by a group or agency, lynchings before an assembled mass audience, slavery, and capital punishment. The origins and incidence of these down through the centuries I am not going to bother researching. What they all have in common is violent actions by a group or organization



Just Human Nature?



We can't blame war and other forms of organized violence just on human nature and often not on human nature at all, as in my case, for example. I will first use my case to explain my answer and then generalize it.



I was born and reared a pacifist Quaker. While no longer religious I still hate war, have never joined a violent group, never owned a gun or shot one, never got involved in fisticuffs. Organized or unorganized violence is clearly not part of my human nature.



In general, neither organized nor unorganized killing of other human beings is not just human nature or even may not be instinctive human nature at all. Except perhaps for psychopathic cases, people generally have to learn or are influenced to be violent and/or to kill. The learning and influence occur in group or organized settings. Human beings never do anything in isolation. We are always interacting with our settings, or circumstances and situations. A morally upright person, for example, will tend to avoid or successfully resist circumstances or situations favoring violence.



On Learning to Kill While in the Military



Let's for a moment consider the surrogate killing by U.S. presidents. They order the killing. They do not do the actual killing. We have to go down to the bottom of the echelon to find the underlings who activate the deadly weapons aimed at other human beings. That takes us, for example, inside boot camp where these underlings are taught and then ordered to kill because it is unnatural for human beings to kill other human beings on a massive scale. Were it natural our species would either be extinct by now or substantially depleted. Were it natural there would be no skyrocketing cases of post traumatic syndrome or suicides among soldiers.

Here is what a former Army ranger had to say about the crucial role of military training in learning to kill: "Military training is fundamentally an exercise in overcoming a fear of killing another human." This enterprising ranger has gone on to form a consulting group, "Killology Research Group," a bunch of "Warrior Science Group consultants dedicated to protecting our families and our children and to the strong defense of our country." Nothing surprises me anymore after reading that ranger's website.

Think about it. Our government takes our youth, often under privileged, not all of whom are felons recruited by desperate Army recruiters, warps their human nature, and turns them into killers so that politicians can stay in office and the military/industrial complex can stay in business.



In Closing

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What are the Potential Challenges in Metrology Services Market and How can these be Overcome?

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/metrology-services-market.html

http://bit.ly/29guYRg

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/

Metrology services involve providing talented metrologists and reliable instrumentation and software to original equipment manufacturers. A good service provider not only brings equipment to its clients, but also extends repair and calibration services, equipment rental, automation and systems integration of measurement equipment, training, tool design, and more.Metrology Services Market Description:High adoption rate of computer-aided design (CAD) and computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) and statutes for international quality standards are the foremost reasons driving the growth of the global metrology services market. The demand for precisely measured parts and components across a spectrum of industry verticals such as automotive, power generation, and electronics, among others, is also driving the growth of this industry. In addition, the lack of skilled labor to operate precision equipment and the poor utility value of existing measuring machines is aiding the growth of this market.However, the growth of this market is inhibited due to several reasons. The demand for customized metrology solutions limits the application base of universal systems that are developed to offer multiple functionalities. Consequently, end users are forced to opt for multiple service providers that offer a broad spectrum of metrology services.The product segments of the global metrology services market are optical digitizers and scanners (ODS) and coordinate measuring machines (CMM). The sub-segments of CMM are bridge machines, articulated arm machines, gantry machines, and horizontal arm machines. The CMM segment is expected to register a CAGR of 7.2% from 2012 to 2018, while the ODS segment of the market is expected to display a CAGR of 8.9% for the same forecast period to reach a valuation of US$435.8 mn by 2018. This is because ODS affords higher precision for the computation of difficult statistics with utmost accuracy. The sub-segments of ODS are white light scanners, laser trackers, and 3D laser scanners. The demand for 3D laser scanners is the highest owing to their high accuracy and better precision capabilities. In 2012, 3D laser scanners held a share of 35.1% in the global market.Metrology Services and Its Insights in a Brochure:On the basis of application, the market is composed of the following segments: Automotive, industrial, aerospace, power generation units, and others (such as medical sector). The booming automotive sector in Asia Pacific will significantly contribute to the markets growth in this region.The report provides insights into the competitive scenario of the global market for metrology services by profiling top players in this market. These include Renishaw Plc., Optical Gaging Products Inc., Trescal SA, Danish Micro Engineering A/S, FARO Technologies Inc., Hexagon AB, Carl Zeiss Corporation, Nikon Metrology Inc., and Optical Metrological Services.Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.Our data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts, so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With a broad research and analysis capability, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques in developing distinctive data sets and research material for business reportsMr.Sudip S90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Global Clove Oil Consumption Market- Key Companies Profile, Manufacturing Processes and Current Market Trends with Future Forecast till 2021

http://www.absolutereports.com/global-clove-oil-consumption-2016-market-research-report--10201070

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The Global Clove Oil Consumption market is a topic of interest for many individuals and companies. For established firms and new comers, it is important to collect information regarding the industry. All such information and important consumption statistics are compiled in the Global Clove Oil Consumption 2016 market research report.Detailed TOC and Charts & Tables of Global Clove Oil Consumption Market Research Report Available at-Development of Global Clove Oil Consumption Industry and Current Status:In this report, basic information about the industry is included for the new entrants. Definitions, applications and segmentation of the market is given. The Global Clove Oil Consumption industry overview given in the report includes structure of the industry, current status in major regions and industry policy analysis.The manufacturing process of Global Clove Oil Consumption market is also analysed thoroughly. Costs like labour cost, material cost and other are studied along with the suppliers of raw material and equipment.Request for Sample of Global Clove Oil Consumption Market Research Report at -Statistics for the Market Size and Sales:Market size in terms of both volume and value is included in the report. This Global Clove Oil Consumption market size is studied with respect to types, applications and major regions. Also, growth rate for global and regional markets is provided. Additionally, statistics for sales are also included in the report with both sales volume and revenue. This information is given with respect to companies. Also, sale price of Global Clove Oil Consumption is examined for various types, applications, companies and regions.Global Clove Oil Consumption Data for Major Regions:The most important point covered in this report is the data for Global Clove Oil Consumption market consumption for USA, Europe, Japan and China. For these regions, supply and import/export figures are given and consumption is studied. For each region, end users and their contact information is also included.Comprehensive Analysis of Global Clove Oil Consumption Industry Competitive Landscape:In order to provide details of the competition in market, the report covers Global Clove Oil Consumption industry leading players. Following points are explained for each top players: Company Profile Product Picture and Specifications Sales Volume, Sales Revenue, Sale Price and Gross Margin Contact InformationKeyplayers Analyzed in Global Clove Oil Consumption Market Research Report are:- Aura Cacia- Kanta group- Manohar Botanical Extracts Pvt. Ltd- Aroma Aromatics & Flavours- Saipro Biotech Private Limited- Natures Alchemy- Great American SpiceThis all-inclusive report also provides traders and distributors contact information and SWOT analysis for new projects and new investment feasibility analysis.Absolute Reports is an upscale platform to help key personnel in the business world in strategizing and taking visionary decisions based on facts and figures derived from in depth market research. We are one of the top report resellers in the market, dedicated towards bringing you an ingenious concoction of data parameters.Absolute Reports3rd Floor, Silver Spring, Sahyadri farms,Opp Prabhavee Tech Park,Baner - Mhalunge Road, Baner, Pune 411045.Mr. Ameya Pingaley+1-408 520 9750Email  sales@absolutereports.comWebsite-
Accounts Payable Business Process Outsourcing Services

Accounts Payable Business Process Outsourcing Services

http://www.sumasoft.com/bpo-services-usa/logistics-bpo-solutions-usa/

Texas (USA), Canada (Toronto) & India (Business Network)Suma Soft Pvt Ltd. is a leader in Accounts Payable Business Process Outsourcing Services. 3PL, 2PL ,4PL and other Supply Chain Companies have partnered with Suma Soft to streamline their processes at lower operational costs and gain quicker turn-around-time(TAT).Operating as a centralized back office support provider, Suma Soft handles invoice documentation and processing to accelerate your supply chain process. The company serves across various 3PL industry verticals including Transportation & Trucking, Airline Shipping, Cargo & Freight, Load shipping, Warehousing and more.As part of their Accounts Payable Business Process Outsourcing Services ,the BPM team at Suma Soft receives shipment documents & posts them under loads/orders while also indexing them as (Invoices, POD, Lumper receipts, Bill of Lading, etc). These documents are then directly scanned & sent for processing, retrieved from Carrier websites on behalf of the client or e-mailed. A strict follow-up of the documents is conducted as it is critical to the approval of payments.Further, in load building, loads are fed into the clients system. Customs documentation requires documentation on the of HVS and LVS shipments. With the help of a Work Force Management (CRM) tool for all segments of shipping and logistics practices, Suma Soft enables enterprises to streamline processes effectively.For over 16 years, Suma Soft has functioned as a reliable BPM provider for leading 3PL companies. A strong 50-member team at Suma Soft makes it over 100 man years of experience only in the Logistics & Supply Chain domain. Suma Soft has helped organizations lower processing costs, improve service levels and achieve strategic business goals with its end-to-end Accounts Payable Business Process Outsourcing Services.Suma Soft provides end-to-end Logistics BPO services, Outsourcing Logistics AP services and Outsourcing 3PL Track and trace services. For over 16 years,Suma Soft has been the most preferred amongst the other Logistics BPO Outsourcing Solutions Companies in USA & Canada region.Suma Soft Pvt. Ltd.Name: Stuart SmithFor USA: + 1 281 764 1825For Canada: +1 647 524 3808info@sumasoft.com
SWEET HOME  For David Bray, the most difficult part of owning a hand-built replica of a 1930s wooden runabout boat wasnt building it.

Its trying to get it into the water, the Ocean Park, Washington craftsman said Sunday morning at Sunnyside County Park. Everyone wants to talk to me about it, so it takes forever to get it into the water.

In fact, Bray was held up for a few minutes en route to the boat launch by a pesky reporter asking questions about the shiny 15-footer that took him about four months to construct.

Its based on a Ken Bassett design, and I built it in 2007, the retired electrician said.

Bray and about 70 other family members were gathering at a group shelter at the park for a reunion, even though none of them lives in Sweet Home.

Like thousands of others in the mid-valley, they were celebrating the long Independence Day holiday and enjoying nearly perfect summer weather  75 to 85 degree days with a steady breeze and not a rain drop in sight.

We have some family members in Springfield, Prineville and Portland and this works out very nicely for everyone, Bray said.

Brays boat is made of cedar and pine boards. The hull of the boat is made of pine painted dark green, while the top deck is stained cedar covered with a clear plastic coating that produces a shine two-feet deep.

Bray said he has always been handy with woodworking. He even constructed his own home and much of the furniture in it.

The boat is called a Rascal design and the 40 horsepower Mercury outboard motor will push it along at up to 35 miles per hour.

I always liked the looks of the old runabouts with the seat in the back, Bray said. This looks like that.

Although wooden boats can require considerable maintenance, Bray said he keeps the two-seater stored in a garage, which greatly reduces upkeep.

If you leave a wooden boat in the rain, then its a lot of work to keep up, he said. By keeping it inside, its pretty much maintenance free.

In the parks camping area, about a dozen members of the Honeycutt and Gaspereti families from Salem and Aumsville were relaxing under the shade of a portable canopy after enjoying a bountiful brunch prepared on a homemade cowboy barbecue.

Welder Cory Ballew built the portable BBQ, which looks like a giant wok. It has horseshoe handles and sits upright on a metal pole. Fired by propane, the BBQ provides intense heat that Sunday morning was used to cook eggs, mushrooms, a variety of peppers, onions, potatoes, sausage, bacon, linquica (Portuguese sausage), cheese and eggs.

It was so good they took a video of it simmering.

Angelina Honeycutt said the crew gets together at Sunnyside quite often and they will stay from three to 10 days.

The camping sites are big and the women like the showers, her brother, Angelo Gaspereti said.

The crew had gone innertubing on the reservoir, ridden on an inflatable relaxation station pulled behind a boat and tried their hand at paddle boarding.

Kids, like 6-year-old Silus Hampton, had plenty to keep them busy, too, including tetherball, bean bag toss and bocci, Italian bowling.

And of course, he also had a trusty hand-held video game to play with between outings.

At Waterloo County Park between Sweet Home and Lebanon, numerous American flags decorated campsites, one including the words, We support the young marines.

Picnic tables were decorated with plastic red, white and blue tablecloths, patriotic pinwheels spun in the wind and large flags flew from the tailgates of pickups.

Parents strolled with children in strollers and several people took their dogs for walks as well.

Deputies from the Linn County Sheriffs Office and troopers from the Oregon State Police were out in force over the weekend that was unfortunately marred with at least two deadly accidents, one near Cottage Grove and the other on Highway 99W south of Corvallis.

A record-breaking 43 million Americans planned to travel over the three-day holiday. Thats nearly five million more than Memorial Day weekend and a record for the 4th of July, according to the American Automobile Association.

The fact that the 4th of July fell on a Monday this year also adds to travel possibilities, experts say, because families will often add Friday to their time off, making a four-day holiday.

Gas prices are down almost 50 cents per gallon from the same time a year ago, and the price or airline tickets and hotels are down a bit as well.
Technological Advancements to Propel Blood Pressure Monitoring Devices Market to USD 3.2 Billion by 2020

http://www.ihealthcareanalyst.com/report/blood-pressure-monitoring-devices-market/

http://www.ihealthcareanalyst.com

The global blood pressure monitoring devices market is estimated to reach USD 3.2 Billion in 2020, growing at a CAGR of 8.8% from 2016 to 2020, according to a new market research report Blood Pressure Monitoring Devices Market  Global Blood Pressure Equipment Analysis and Forecast 2013-2020, published by iHealthcareAnalyst, Inc.Visit the Blood Pressure Monitoring Devices Market  Global Blood Pressure Equipment Analysis and Forecast 2013-2020 report atBlood pressure monitoring is one of the vital signs along with respiratory rate, heart rate, oxygen saturation, and body temperature. There are two main types of blood pressure (BP) monitors: aneroid (mercury) and digital, whereas there are three different types of digital blood pressure monitors in the market: arm-type, wrist-type and finger-type. The global blood pressure monitoring devices market report provides market size estimates (Revenue USD million - 2013 to 2020) for key market segments based on the type of device used (ambulatory, automated, blood pressure instrument accessories, transducers, and sphygmomanometers) and forecasts growth trends (CAGR% - 2016 to 2020). It also provides the detailed market landscape and profiles of major competitors in the global market including company overview, financial snapshot, key products, technologies and/or services offered, and recent trends in strategic management.The global blood pressure monitoring devices market is segmented as:1. Device Type1.1. Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitors1.2. Automated Blood Pressure Monitors1.3. Blood Pressure Instrument Accessories1.4. Blood Pressure Transducers1.5. Sphygmomanometers2. Geography (Region, Country)2.1. North America (U.S., Canada)2.2. Latin America (Brazil, Mexico, Rest of LA)2.3. Europe (U.K., Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Rest of EU)2.4. Asia Pacific (Japan, China, India, Rest of APAC)2.5. Rest of the World3. Company Profiles3.1. A&D Medical, Inc.3.2. Contec Medical Systems Co., Ltd.3.3. Covidien Plc.3.4. GE Healthcare3.5. Masimo Corporation3.6. Nihon Kohden Corporation3.7. Omron Healthcare, Inc.3.8. Philips Healthcare3.9. Shenzhen Mindray Bio-Medical Electronics Co., Ltd.3.10. Spacelabs Healthcare3.11. Suntech Medical, Inc.3.12. Welch AllyniHealthcareAnalyst, Inc. is a global health care market research and consulting company providing market analysis, and competitive intelligence services to global clients. The Company publishes syndicate, custom and consulting grade healthcare reports covering animal healthcare, biotechnology, clinical diagnostics, healthcare informatics, healthcare services, medical devices, medical equipment, and pharmaceuticals.iHealthcareAnalyst, Inc. provides industry participants and stakeholders with strategically analyzed, unbiased view of market dynamics and business opportunities within its coverage areas.Ana AitawaiHealthcareAnalyst, Inc.2109, Mckelvey Hill Drive,Maryland Heights, MO 63043United StatesPhone: (314) 736-9294.Email: sales@ihealthcareanalyst.com
The referendum held in the United Kingdom

The referendum held in the United Kingdom on 23 June has been made in favor of a withdrawal: volatile exchange markets, political upheavals and a flight into gold can be expected.Historically significant wake-up call to all shareholders and private investorsThe distortions on the financial markets currently being observed in the wake of Britain's vote to leave the European Union lead to an increase in the demand for Gold.The precious metal reached a high over a period of months and finally climbed to its highest level since August 2014, proving itself as a strong and stable currency and a safe investment in times of crisis.The economic uncertainty after a retreat from the EU and the impact of market volatility reveals once again the very unstable ground on which our economy is based. Citizens have to become active themselves and are encouraged to purchase Gold for safeguarding assets. Brexit shows how fragile the global financial system remains and emphasises the considerable risks of a currency crisis, say Harald Seiz, managing director of Karatbars International.Serious uncertainty among investors and private individualsThe consequences of the Brexit, carried out in accordance with Article 50 of the EU treaty, will have significant effects on the European Economic Area, whose full scale and duration cannot yet be determined.Particularly in view of the fact that further petitions for a referendum will follow soon, the British initiative can be considered exemplary for the political developments in the countries of the EU and will aggravate the already tense political and economic situation. Investors and private individuals are now under pressure to find suitable answers to the financial crises.The brexit increases latent fear of a significant, lasting price increase and an accompanying recession, often characterized by a currency devaluation. Post-crisis stabilisation mainly profits those who already own tangible assets, by which the living standards can be maintained and improved.The current situation emphasises the need for alternative investment strategies for private investors. Having fascinated mankind for thousands of years and proven its enduring value, Gold is an essential part of the aforementioned strategy, CEO Harald Seiz points out.Karatbars International GmbH was founded in 2011 and is one of the leading companies in the segment of gold cards between 1 and 5 gramme gold bars. Karatbars International is therefore a global market leader and sells its products in more than 120 countries. The companys head office and logistics centre with over 60 employees is located in Stuttgart.The business areas marketing, customer and partner communication, workmanship, ordering, delivery and expansion into new countries are all managed from there.Karatbars International GmbHVaihingerstrasse 149a70567 StuttgartDeutschlandEU Support: +49 (0) 711 128 970 00US Support: + 1 224 829 00 47
Small UK Startup has Lofty Ambitions for the Social Media World

https://swiftsocial.com

To many small businesses and start-ups today, social media is key to gaining exposure as well as being able to communicate directly with potential and existing customers.As with most things, there are a number of tools that can help manage the task of handling social media as well as providing an extended functionality to help get the best from a companys social media presence.When considering what tools to use to help with social media the ones that tend to stand out are the likes of Buffer, Hootsuite and Sprout Social (to name but a few), these are multi million dollar companies that have poured a lot of time and money into developing outstanding platforms for social media management.However, now there is a new kid on the block; Swift Social; a small UK based start-up, Swift Social have an edge that most other tools cannot claim. They themselves were once a good sized social media management company that handled accounts for companies across the globe.They used pretty much every tool you can think of for managing social media accounts for their clients, but felt that they were all lacking something. So with their in-house development team they set about creating their own social media management platform for internal use. This very quickly became a success and they were able to take a lot more clients on. After another short while they decided to test the waters to see if the world would be interested in a competitor to the usual tools, so launched an Indiegogo campaign.The Indiegogo campaign was a huge success and was greatly overfunded with outcries of support for someone to create a platform that better suited the task of social media management.When the first public version launched in early 2016 the response was overwhelming and feature requests came flooding in, many of which had never been attempted in this kind of platform before.Now in their second iteration, Swift Social can perform tasks that not only compete with the likes of Buffer and Hootsuite but has features that are completely unique to Swift Social, one such feature is the ability to add custom advertising to any article from any website that they share through their social accounts.A user has the ability to create a banner to direct readers to their own site, collect email addresses, promote products such as Ebay/Amazon/Etsy (+more) listings or even promote their other social networks.Another feature is the ability to search Feedly and add feeds to use to tweet out automatically, but instead of just regurgitating the content it has the ability to apply a set of very in-depth re-writing rules to craft a perfect tweet. This allows a social media account to be active when the company or user does not have time to post.With these kind of features, one would think that the cost would be out of most small businesses reach, but they can offer all of this for a fraction of the cost of other tools. At $9 per month, it is a small price to pay and they even offer a free 14 trial to anyone to try it out first.For years, tools such as Buffer and Hootsuite have gone unchallenged, sure there have been many attempts that have failed to hit the mark, Swift Social on the other hand, has been praised time and time again for not only a richer feature set but for far more pleasurable user experience and interface than almost any other social media tool available.If you want to see what all the hype is about check outSwift Social are a small startup based out of Brighton in the United Kingdom who have built a social media management platform and suiccesfully launched it worldwide.Swift Social175-177 Westbourne StreetHoveWest SussexBN35FB
Relays Market to Grow Owing to Need for Solar Energy Projects

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/relays-market.html

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=7190

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com

The Global Relays Market is predicted to progress from US$9.4 bn in 2014 to US$16.2 bn by 2021 owing to the increasing need of solar energy projects and the increasing demand for smart grids.Full Report Description of Relays Market is available at:Relays are primarily used to control circuits by a low-power signal. Relays control many circuits by using a single signal. Relays are used across various applications such as military, automobiles, and industrial automation. They are mainly utilized to prevent faults and overload in circuits. When the current surpasses the threshold value, the armature gets activated by the coil, which operates to close the open contacts or open the closed contacts. Relays also allow one circuit to switch over another circuit by completely separating from the first circuit.The global relays market is primarily driven by the rising need for eco-friendly energy sources such as solar energy and wind energy. High-capacity power relays are utilized to safely cut off high DC voltages that are used in solar applications. Maintenance of panels, emergency response, and bypassing are the major reasons for which high DC voltages are cut-off from solar applications. Smart grids, in the recent past, have boosted growth opportunities in the global relays market.The global relays market is segmented on the basis of geography, product type, and application. Based on product, the global relays market is classified into solid state relays, latching relays, overload protection relays, automotive relays, electromechanical relays, and others. In 2014, the global relays market was dominated by the electromechanical relays segment, followed by the automotive relays segment and the solid state relay segment.Military, electronics, industrial automation, and others are some of the applications of relays. In 2014, the industrial automation segment held the highest share of 23.2% in the global relays market. The electronics segment was the second largest market in the global relays market, followed by the military segment. Growth of the industrial sector and the increasing need for automation in the industrial sector are two of the factors expected to majorly contribute towards the growth of the global relays market in the years to come.Request for the Sample Research Report at:Based on geography, the global relays market is divided into Asia Pacific, North America, Europe, and Rest of the World. In 2014, the global relays market was led by Asia Pacific. The Asia Pacific relays market is expected to maintain its dominant position in the next few years due to factors such as the increasing implementation of smart grids and the increasing demand for solar projects. In 2014, Europe accounted for 25.1% of the global relays market and is predicted to register healthy growth in the years to come.Some of the leading companies operating in the global relays market are Comus International Inc. (U.S.), Crydom Inc. (U.S.), Alstom S.A. (France), Omron Corp. (Japan), Fujitsu Ltd. (Japan), Coto Technology Inc. (U.S.), StandexMeder Electronics GmbH (Germany), Siemens AG (Germany), Schneider Electric SE (France), Teledyne Relays Inc. (U.S).Key Segments of Global Relays MarketGlobal Relays Market: By Product Type> Latching relay> Solid state relay> Automotive relay> Overload protection relay> Electromechanical relay> OthersGlobal Relays Market: By Application> Military> Industrial automation> Electronics> OthersTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.Mr.Sudip S90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Global HF-Pyridine Market Forecast & Future Industry Trends 2016

Global HF-Pyridine Market 2016

http://www.marketintelreports.com/report/QYR09810/global-hfpyridine-consumption-2016-market-research-reportn

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The Global HF-Pyridine Consumption 2016 Market Research Report is a professional and in-depth study on the current state of the HF-Pyridine market.First, the report provides a basic overview of the HF-Pyridine industry including definitions, classifications, applications and industry chain structure. And development policies and plans are discussed as well as manufacturing processes and cost structures.Check Complete Report @Secondly, the report states the global HF-Pyridine market size (volume and value), and the segment markets by regions, types, applications and companies are also discussed.Third, the HF-Pyridine market analysis is provided for major regions including USA, Europe, China and Japan, and other regions can be added. For each region, market size and end users are analyzed as well as segment markets by types, applications and companies.Get Sample Brochure of the Report @Then, the report focuses on global major leading industry players with information such as company profiles, product picture and specifications, sales, market share and contact information. Whats more, the HF-Pyridine industry development trends and marketing channels are analyzed.Finally, the feasibility of new investment projects is assessed, and overall research conclusions are offered.In a word, the report provides major statistics on the state of the industry and is a valuable source of guidance and direction for companies and individuals interested in the market.About us:MarketIntelReports (MIR) aim to empower our clients to successfully manage and outperform in their business decisions, we do this by providing Premium Market Intelligence, Strategic Insights and Databases from a range of Global Publishers.A group of industry veterans who are well experienced in reputed international consulting firms after identifying the sourcing needs of MNCs for market intelligence, have together started this business savior MarketIntelReports.MIR intends to be a one-stop shop with an intuitive design, exhaustive database, expert assistance, secure cart checkout and data privacy integrated. It curates the list of reports, publishers and studies to ensure that the database is constantly updated to dynamically meet the targeted, specific needs of our clients.MarketIntelReports currently has more than 10,000 plus titles and 35+ publishers on our platform and growing consistently to fill the Global Intelligence Demand  Supply Gap. We cover more than 15 industry verticals being: Automotive, Electronics, Manufacturing, Pharmaceuticals, Healthcare, Chemicals, Building & Construction, Agriculture, Food & Beverages, Banking & Finance, Media and Government, Public Sector Studies.Contact us:Mayur SSales Manager2711 Centerville Road, Suite 400,Wilmington,Delaware,19808United Statessales@marketintelreports.comTelephone: 1-302-261-5343
Georgia Christian School works with WhizFish to Publish New Mobile App

Heritage Christian Academy in Brunswick, Georgia, launched a mobile app that allows school administrators to communicate with parents, staff and students directly on their smartphones and tablet devices sharing alerts, schedules, school news feeds, contact numbers and more. The new app, published in the iTunes App Store and Google Play, will give parents the convenience of communicating with the school from their mobile device. It was developed by WhizFish, a top tier Mobile Apps for Schools company.WhizFish CEO, Betsey Duggan said, "Mobile apps are being adopted quickly by schools with thousands using them now to engage parents who grew up on the web and expect communication to be convenient and available on the devices they use most, smartphones and tablets. Schools that have adopted mobile apps are beginning to see greater involvement from parents and even grandparents and increased school loyalty."Heritage Christian Academy was established as Christian Renewal Academy in 1984 as a ministry to serve families from all denominations who desire a biblically-based quality education for their children. In 2006, the name was changed to Heritage Christian Academy, which more clearly expresses the vision and goals in teaching our students a Christian world view. Today we serve students from over 30 churches here in the Golden Isles. We welcome children of all races, ethnic groups, and religious backgrounds to our school. Our academic curriculum, principles, and moral standards are grounded in the historic Christian faith. We affirm our belief in the Bible as the infallible word of GodWhizFish, with offices in Ohio and Florida, develop mobile apps for schools across the U.S. both public and private, online and traditional. The company serves as the sole app developer for the largest school district in the U.S., the New York City Department of Education.10380 SW Village Center Parkway Suite 246Port St Lucie, Florida 34987
Visa exemption for Vietnam is extended

Vietnam Embassy in Berlin

http://www.vietnam-visa-for-vietnam.com/visa-exemption-vietnam-extended.html

www.vietnam-visa-for-vietnam.com

The mystery of the extension of the Visa waiver for Vietnam is dissolved. Today (at the first of July.2016) we received official reports from Vietnam where announced that the wishes of the Vietnamese Ministry of Tourism are realized and the Visa exemption for citizens of five European countries is extended for one more year, until the 30.06.2017 becomes. But for some Vietnam vacationers this news comes too late, as they have already applied for their Vietnam Visa.Review: abolition of Visa requirements for VietnamIn June 2015 the Vietnamese government announced the abolition of Visa requirements for citizens of five European countries. This Visa exemption for Vietnam concerned the citizens of France, Germany, Spain, Italy and the UK, with a maximum stay of 15 days in Vietnam. Before re-entry without a Visa in Vietnam also one month needed to be elapsed. This Visa project of Vietnamese was bounded for on a year from 01.07.2015 to 30.06.2016 (ITI HOLIDAY reported in detail). In recent weeks, before the deadline there were numerous of speculations because the Vietnamese government took its time with official informations about the end of the Visa exemption. From official Vietnamese side there was neither an endorsement nor a denial to whether these regulations will be ending or extended.Speculations: Visa exemption for VietnamWhile the affected Vietnamese embassies (for example, the staff of the Vietnamese Embassy in Berlin) in recent weeks gladly claiming that the currently valid Visa exemption expires on 30.06.2016 and will not be renewed, came from some unofficial site in Vietnam other notifications. From Vietnam it was said unofficially that the Visa exemption in Vietnam for the citizens of France, Germany, Spain, Italy and the UK not will be just extended but also enhanced for stays up to 30 days. Several months ago for example the Vietnamese daily press reported about these new regulations but unfortunately without providing any relevant evidence.the cat is out of the bag:Vietnam Visa exemption extendedToday at the 01.07.2016 it has become officially established. The Visa waiver in Vietnam shall be extended for citizens of France, Germany, Spain, Italy and the UK for one year more to the previous terms and ends on 30.06.2017. The first concerned Vietnamese diplomatic missions, like the Vietnamese Embassy in Berlin have been published these news already on their websites. Others, like the Vietnamese embassy in London still claimed yesterday that there is no official confirmation from Vietnam about these rumors.01.07.2016: Heiko Grimm for ITI-HOLIDAYITI-HOLIDAY Germany is an online travel agency for tours in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. We are offering affordable individual tours and fair travel service for the Europeans and here especially for the German market, into the Asian regions. ITI-HOLIDAY is an specialised international tour operator with a comprehensive service for travelers in Southeast Asia and Indochina. We are present on the European travel market Since 2008. We pleased about our growing customer numbers and popularity. We set great attention to customer satisfaction, service, fair prices and to realize it, we are leveraging the long experience of ITI-HOLIDAY Asia. Our strong community of local tour operators makes it possible.ITI-HOLIDAY DeutschlandIndochina Travel IndividualKlingerstrasse 41F09117 ChemnitzGermanyProprietorHeiko GrimmTel.: +49 371 2832201Tel.: +49 371 3179571Fax: +49 3212 1415272E-Mail: info(at)iti-holiday.comInternet:
Global Immersed Pumps Market 2016 - Arven, Bombas Ideal, Brinkmann Pumpen, FLUX, Goulds Pumps, HOMA Pumpenfabrik

Immersed Pumps Market

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A market study based on the " Immersed Pumps market" across the globe, recently added to the repository of QY Market research, is titled Global Immersed Pumps Market 2016.The research report analyzes the historical as well as present performance of the global Immersed Pumps market, and makes predictions on the future status of Immersed Pumps market on the basis of this analysis.Major Manufacturers Analysis of Immersed Pumps :-(with Company Profile, Product Picture and Specifications, Sales Volume, Sales Revenue, Sale Price and Gross Margin and Contact Information)- Arven, Bombas Ideal, Brinkmann Pumpen, FLUX, Goulds Pumps, HOMA Pumpenfabrik, Hydra-Tech Pumps, Lutz Pumpen, Osip, Pedrollo, Speronic, Barbera Savino, C.R.I. Pumps, Cadoppi, CHARLES AUSTEN, Fairbanks Nijhuis, Falcon Pumps Pvt Ltd, Graymills, Herborner Pumpentechnik, Meco Pumps, Nordson Industrial Coating Systems, Shanghai Pacific Pump Manufacture, SKF Maintenance and Lubrication Products, Swiss Pump Company, zhejiang fengyuan pump industryDo Inquiry About This Report Here:The report studies the market for Immersed Pumps across the globe taking the existing industry chain, the import and export statistics in Immersed Pumps market & dynamics of demand and supply of Immersed Pumps into consideration.The ' Immersed Pumps 'research study covers each and every aspect of the Immersed Pumps market globally, which starts from the definition of the Immersed Pumps market and develops towards Immersed Pumps market segmentations. Further, every segment of the Immersed Pumps market is classified and analyzed on the basis of product types, application, and the end-use industries of the Immersed Pumps market. The geographical segmentation of the Immersed Pumps market has also been covered at length in this report.Request For Report Sample Here:The competitive landscape of the global market for Immersed Pumps is determined by evaluating the various market participants, production capacity, Immersed Pumps market's production chain, and the revenue generated by each manufacturer in the Immersed Pumps market worldwide.The global Immersed Pumps market 2016 is also analyzed on the basis of product pricing, Immersed Pumps production volume, data regarding demand and Immersed Pumps supply, and the revenue garnered by the product. Various methodical tools such as investment returns, feasibility, and market attractiveness analysis has been used in the research to present a comprehensive study of the market for Immersed Pumps across the globe.About Us:QY Market Research is a single destination for all the industry, company and country reports. We feature large repository of latest industry reports, leading and niche company profiles, and market statistics released by reputed private publishers and public organizations.Contact US:Joel JohnSuite #8138, 3422 SW 15 Street,Deerfield Beach, Florida 33442United StatesToll Free: +1-855-465-4651 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-386-310-3803Website:Email:sales@qymarketresearch.com
Global Hydraulic Tools Market 2016 - Enerpac, SPX, Stanley, Hydratight, HTL, Tentec, Greenlee

Hydraulic Tools

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A market study based on the " Hydraulic Tools market" across the globe, recently added to the repository of QY Market research, is titled Global Hydraulic Tools Market 2016.The research report analyzes the historical as well as present performance of the global Hydraulic Tools market, and makes predictions on the future status of Hydraulic Tools market on the basis of this analysis.Major Manufacturers Analysis of Hydraulic Tools :-(with Company Profile, Product Picture and Specifications, Sales Volume, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin )- Enerpac, SPX, Stanley, Hydratight, HTL, Tentec, Greenlee, Kudo Tools, HYTORC, Wren, Tool Depot, Schaeffler, HYDAC, Tai Cheng Hydraulic Industry, SKF, Daejin, Durapac, JET Tools, Chicago Pneumatic, RGC Products, Racine, Cembre, Winshaw HydraulicDo Inquiry About This Report Here:The report studies the market for Hydraulic Tools across the globe taking the existing industry chain, the import and export statistics in Hydraulic Tools market & dynamics of demand and supply of Hydraulic Tools into consideration.The ' Hydraulic Tools 'research study covers each and every aspect of the Hydraulic Tools market globally, which starts from the definition of the Hydraulic Tools market and develops towards Hydraulic Tools market segmentations. Further, every segment of the Hydraulic Tools market is classified and analyzed on the basis of product types, application, and the end-use industries of the Hydraulic Tools market. The geographical segmentation of the Hydraulic Tools market has also been covered at length in this report.Request For Report Sample Here:The competitive landscape of the global market for Hydraulic Tools is determined by evaluating the various market participants, production capacity, Hydraulic Tools market's production chain, and the revenue generated by each manufacturer in the Hydraulic Tools market worldwide.The global Hydraulic Tools market 2016 is also analyzed on the basis of product pricing, Hydraulic Tools production volume, data regarding demand and Hydraulic Tools supply, and the revenue garnered by the product. Various methodical tools such as investment returns, feasibility, and market attractiveness analysis has been used in the research to present a comprehensive study of the market for Hydraulic Tools across the globe.About Us:QY Market Research is a single destination for all the industry, company and country reports. We feature large repository of latest industry reports, leading and niche company profiles, and market statistics released by reputed private publishers and public organizations.Contact US:Joel JohnSuite #8138, 3422 SW 15 Street,Deerfield Beach, Florida 33442United StatesToll Free: +1-855-465-4651 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-386-310-3803Website:Email:sales@qymarketresearch.com
Global Hot Swap Controllers Market 2016 - Texas Instruments, Maxim, ADI, Linear Technology, Microship, NXP, Semtech

Hot Swap Controllers

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A market study based on the " Hot Swap Controllers market" across the globe, recently added to the repository of QY Market research, is titled Global Hot Swap Controllers Market 2016.The research report analyzes the historical as well as present performance of the global Hot Swap Controllers market, and makes predictions on the future status of Hot Swap Controllers market on the basis of this analysis.Major Manufacturers Analysis of Hot Swap Controllers :- Texas Instruments, Maxim, ADI, Linear Technology, Microship, NXP, Semtech, Intersil, ON Semiconductor, Altera, Monolithic, VicorDo Inquiry About This Report Here:The report studies the market for Hot Swap Controllers across the globe taking the existing industry chain, the import and export statistics in Hot Swap Controllers market & dynamics of demand and supply of Hot Swap Controllers into consideration.The ' Hot Swap Controllers 'research study covers each and every aspect of the Hot Swap Controllers market globally, which starts from the definition of the Hot Swap Controllers market and develops towards Hot Swap Controllers market segmentations. Further, every segment of the Hot Swap Controllers market is classified and analyzed on the basis of product types, application, and the end-use industries of the Hot Swap Controllers market. The geographical segmentation of the Hot Swap Controllers market has also been covered at length in this report.Request For Report Sample Here:The competitive landscape of the global market for Hot Swap Controllers is determined by evaluating the various market participants, production capacity, Hot Swap Controllers market's production chain, and the revenue generated by each manufacturer in the Hot Swap Controllers market worldwide.The global Hot Swap Controllers market 2016 is also analyzed on the basis of product pricing, Hot Swap Controllers production volume, data regarding demand and Hot Swap Controllers supply, and the revenue garnered by the product. Various methodical tools such as investment returns, feasibility, and market attractiveness analysis has been used in the research to present a comprehensive study of the market for Hot Swap Controllers across the globe.About Us:QY Market Research is a single destination for all the industry, company and country reports. We feature large repository of latest industry reports, leading and niche company profiles, and market statistics released by reputed private publishers and public organizations.Contact US:Joel JohnSuite #8138, 3422 SW 15 Street,Deerfield Beach, Florida 33442United StatesToll Free: +1-855-465-4651 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-386-310-3803Website:Email:sales@qymarketresearch.com
If John Adams' first guess had been correct, the fireworks and related celebrations to commemorate Independence Day would have been held on Saturday, and today, we'd be trudging back to work after a somewhat shorter holiday weekend.

That's because Adams, one of the men whose signature appears on the Declaration of Independence, initially thought the day Americans would celebrate their liberation from Great Britain would be July 2. In a famous letter to his wife, Abigail, Adams wrote these words:

"The Second Day of July 1776, will be the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America."

Adams eventually came around to celebrating Independence Day on July 4, like the rest of us. But he made a good case for July 2. Hear him out:

On July 4, we Americans celebrate the signing of the Declaration of Independence. But the declaration itself is mere explanation, detailing the reasons why the delegates to the Continental Congress on July 2 had voted to declare independence from Great Britain.

That July 2 vote was a closer affair than people might think today. On June 7, 1776, Richard Henry Lee of Virginia presented a resolution calling for Congress to declare independence, form foreign alliances and prepare a plan of colonial confederation. But some of the colonies still thought declaring independence was premature and sentiment was strong in some quarters for reconciliation with the crown. Congress put off a vote on the resolution and, in the meantime, appointed three committees. One was to create a plan for aligning with foreign powers, one was to draw up articles of confederation and the third was to prepare a declaration of independence.

That five-man declaration committee included Thomas Jefferson, who drew the task of writing the first draft, and possibly did so on a portable writing desk of his own design, that showoff. (He was distressed later when the Congress heavily edited his draft, but even Jefferson needed an editor.) In the meantime, Congress finally approved Lee's resolution on July 2, with 12 of the colonies in favor and one (New York) abstaining.

On July 4, the Congress approved the Declaration of Independence: Think of the declaration in some ways as a press release announcing the results of the July 2 vote.

But what a press release! Jefferson laid out the case against England in language that sometimes soars, sometimes is legalistic and sometimes (as in its reference to "merciless Indian Savages") unfortunate. Even today, though, the declaration has lost none of its power to inspire.

And that was part of its purpose  to rally the rattled colonists who were battling for independence. The declaration (and the earlier vote for independence) were acts of considerable courage, especially since the war had not been going well for the insurgents.

In fact, even as the members of the Continental Congress signed the declaration, British forces were gathering for an assault on New York City. In a month's time, the rebel army would be badly defeated in the largest single battle of the war. They were indeed times that tried the soul, and anyone assessing the situation could well have concluded that the powerful British army would, sooner or later, crush the ragtag Americans and the declaration consigned to the dustbin of history.

It didn't play out that way.

The 56 men who signed that declaration 240 years ago today hoped that the document would become a beacon for their sorely tested people. Today, in the midst of our own soul-testing times, there still is inspiration (and, yes, hope) to be found in those words. (mm)
Global Hollow Blow Molding Machine Market 2016 - Sidel (Tetra Laval), Sipa, Jomar, SMF, Krones, Bekum, Graham Engineering

Hollow Blow Molding Machine

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A market study based on the " Hollow Blow Molding Machine market" across the globe, recently added to the repository of QY Market research, is titled Global Hollow Blow Molding Machine Market 2016.The research report analyzes the historical as well as present performance of the global Hollow Blow Molding Machine market, and makes predictions on the future status of Hollow Blow Molding Machine market on the basis of this analysis.Major Companies profiled of Hollow Blow Molding Machine report:-(with Company Profile, Product Picture and Specifications, Sales Volume, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin)- Sidel (Tetra Laval), Sipa, Jomar, SMF, Krones, Bekum, Graham Engineering, KHS, Aoki Technical Laboratory, Magic, Kautex (Textron), Automa, BBM, Techne Graham, Uniloy Milacron (Milacron), Mauser, Plastiblow, Parker, Fong Kee, Pavan Zanetti, WilmingtonDo Inquiry About This Report Here:The report studies the market for Hollow Blow Molding Machine across the globe taking the existing industry chain, the import and export statistics in Hollow Blow Molding Machine market & dynamics of demand and supply of Hollow Blow Molding Machine into consideration.The ' Hollow Blow Molding Machine 'research study covers each and every aspect of the Hollow Blow Molding Machine market globally, which starts from the definition of the Hollow Blow Molding Machine market and develops towards Hollow Blow Molding Machine market segmentations. Further, every segment of the Hollow Blow Molding Machine market is classified and analyzed on the basis of product types, application, and the end-use industries of the Hollow Blow Molding Machine market. The geographical segmentation of the Hollow Blow Molding Machine market has also been covered at length in this report.Request For Report Sample Here:The competitive landscape of the global market for Hollow Blow Molding Machine is determined by evaluating the various market participants, production capacity, Hollow Blow Molding Machine market's production chain, and the revenue generated by each manufacturer in the Hollow Blow Molding Machine market worldwide.The global Hollow Blow Molding Machine market 2016 is also analyzed on the basis of product pricing, Hollow Blow Molding Machine production volume, data regarding demand and Hollow Blow Molding Machine supply, and the revenue garnered by the product. Various methodical tools such as investment returns, feasibility, and market attractiveness analysis has been used in the research to present a comprehensive study of the market for Hollow Blow Molding Machine across the globe.About Us:QY Market Research is a single destination for all the industry, company and country reports. We feature large repository of latest industry reports, leading and niche company profiles, and market statistics released by reputed private publishers and public organizations.Contact US:Joel JohnSuite #8138, 3422 SW 15 Street,Deerfield Beach, Florida 33442United StatesToll Free: +1-855-465-4651 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-386-310-3803Website:Email:sales@qymarketresearch.com
Global Market study on Bioabsorbable Stents By 2021, PMR New Report

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Stents are commonly used in the treatment of blocked arteries. They are tiny and expandable mesh tubes that hold arteries open and help treat coronary and peripheral artery diseases. Bioabsorbable stents are defined as fully biodegradable stents that completely disappear overtime.View Sample Report:Bioabsorbable stents can be broadly classified into two main types: polymeric bioabsorbable stents and metallic alloy bioabsorbable stents. Polymeric bioabsorbable stents are widely used in cardiovascular devices. Polymers used in bioabsorbable stents are Poly-L-Lactic acid (PLLA), Poly (D, L-lactide/glycolide) copolymer (PDLA), Polyglycolic Acid (PGA), and polycaprolactone. Usage of bioabsorbable polymer coating reduces the need for extended dual anti-platelet therapy and reduces thrombotic events. Poly-L-Lactic acid is widely used in medicine and breaks down lactic acid into natural metabolites in the human body. After that, Poly-L-Lactic acid enters into Krebs cycle and metabolized carbon dioxide and water.Iron and magnesium are the most frequently used metal alloys used to make metallic bioabsorbable stents. Factors that determine the biocompatibility of these metal alloys are their solubility and degradation products. Magnesium bioabsorbable stents are the most commonly used metallic alloy stents in disease management as magnesium is an essential element of the human body. It induces rapid endothelialization and lowers thrombogenicity. Magnesium bioabsorbable stents have a lower degradation time of about 2  3 months compared to iron-based bioabsorbale stents.Geographically, North America dominates the global bioabsorbable stents market owing to the increased awareness about the important role played by bioabsorbable stents in the treatment of coronary ailments in the region. In addition, technological advancements in bioabsorbable stents products is also supporting in the growth of this market in North America. The U.S. represents the largest market for bioabsorbable stents, followed by Canada, in North America. In Europe, Germany, Italy, the U.K., and France holds major shares of the bioabsorbable stents market. However, Asia is expected to exhibit a high growth rate in the next five years in the global bioabsorbable stents market given the increasing public awareness about various coronary and peripheral artery diseases in the region. Japan, China, and India are expected to be the fastest growing bioabsorbable stents markets in Asia.In recent times, increasing prevalence of coronary and peripheral artery diseases is the key driver of the global bioabsorbable stents market. Bioabsorbable stents avoid stent-in-stent procedures. They also eliminate the need for dual anti-platelet therapies and treat coronary artery diseases more effectively. Accurate stent placement and low cost treatment also attract patients to adopt bioabsorbable stents for disease management.However, slow adoption rate of stents in disease management is the key restraint faced by the global bioabsorbable stents market. High risks of complications associated with bioabsorbable stents and high selling price also hampers the market growth. In addition, inadequate reimbursement policies and presence of substitutes are some of the major challenges faced by the global bioabsorbable stents market. Rising number of product launches and increasing mergers and acquisitions between key players are key trends of this market.Request TOC (table of content), Figures and Tables of the Report:Major companies operating in the global bioabsorbable stents market are Abbott Laboratories, Arterial Remodeling Technologies SA, Amaranth Medical, Inc., BIOTRONIK SE & Co. KG, REVA Medical, Inc., Kyoto Medical Planning, Co., Ltd., and Elixir Medical Corporation.About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a third-platform research firm. Our research model is a unique collaboration of data analytics and market research methodology to help businesses achieve optimal performance.To support companies in overcoming complex business challenges, we follow a multi-disciplinary approach. At PMR, we unite various data streams from multi-dimensional sources. By deploying real-time data collection, big data, and customer experience analytics, we deliver business intelligence for organizations of all sizes.ContactPersistence Market Research Pvt. Ltd305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA - Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.com
Global Market study on Decubitus Ulcer Treatment Products By 2021, PMR New Report

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Decubitus ulcer or pressure ulcer is an open wound on the skin. Decubitus ulcer occurs due to the breakdown of skin and underlying tissues through excessive pressure on an area of the skin. Some of the symptoms of decubitus ulcer are redness of the skin that worsens with time, and blisters on the area and then an open sore. Decubitus ulcers commonly occur on the elbows, back of the head, buttocks, heels, shoulders, hips, ankles, and back. Increasing incidences of decubitus ulcers and technological advancements in decubitus ulcer treatment products are some of the major factors driving the decubitus ulcer treatment market. Diagnosis of decubitus ulcer is based on clinical evaluation and nutritional assessment. Treatments for decubitus ulcer include pressure reduction, direct ulcer care, management of pain and control of infection, assessment of nutritional needs, and adjunctive therapy or surgery. Some of the required preventions include identification of high-risk patients, repositioning, conscientious skincare and hygiene, and avoidance of immobilization. On the basis of product, the decubitus ulcer treatment products market can be segmented into air fluidized beds, foam mattresses, alternative air pressure mattresses, low air loss beds, local area support products, and other full support products.View Sample Report:North America has the largest market for decubitus ulcer treatment products due to largest incidence of pressure ulcer, improved healthcare infrastructure, and technological advancements in this region. The North America decubitus ulcer treatment products market is followed by Europe. Asia is expected to witness high growth rate in the decubitus ulcer treatment products market in the next few years due to increasing demand for improved healthcare facilities, rise in awareness regarding pressure ulcer treatment products, improving healthcare infrastructure, and increasing patient population in the region.Increasing incidences of decubitus ulcer, technological advancements, increasing aging population, government initiatives, and development of imagine technologies to enable early detection of ulcer are some of the major factors that are expected to drive the market for decubitus ulcer treatment products. In addition, growing incidences of chronic diseases and rise in awareness regarding the availability of decubitus ulcer treatment products are expected to drive the market for decubitus ulcer treatment products. However, high price of pressure ulcer relief products and economic downturn are some of the major factors restraining the growth of the global decubitus ulcer treatment products market.Request TOC (table of content), Figures and Tables of the Report:Growing population and economies in developing countries such as India and China are expected to drive the growth of the decubitus ulcer treatment products market in Asia. In addition, innovations along with technological advancements, growing awareness regarding decubitus ulcer treatment products, rise in incidences of chronic disorders, and introduction of cost-effective pressure ulcer treatment products are expected to create new opportunities for the global decubitus ulcer treatment products market. Increasing number of mergers and acquisitions, rising number of collaborations and partnerships, and product launches are some of the latest trends in the global decubitus ulcer treatment products market. Some of the major companies operating in the global decubitus ulcer treatment products market are Gaymar Industries, Inc., Invacare Corporation, Sunrise Medical, Inc., Graham-Field Health Products, Inc., and Hill-Rom Company, Inc. In addition, other companies operating in the global decubitus ulcer treatment products market include Spenco Medical, Corp., ROHO, Inc., James Consolidated, Inc., Kinetic Concepts, Inc., and Span-America Medical Systems, Inc.About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a third-platform research firm. Our research model is a unique collaboration of data analytics and market research methodology to help businesses achieve optimal performance.To support companies in overcoming complex business challenges, we follow a multi-disciplinary approach. At PMR, we unite various data streams from multi-dimensional sources. By deploying real-time data collection, big data, and customer experience analytics, we deliver business intelligence for organizations of all sizes.ContactPersistence Market Research Pvt. Ltd305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA - Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.com
Polyarylsulfone Market Value, Segments and Growth 2016-2026

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The increasing demand for high-performance thermoplastics from various end use industries including medical devices, automotive, electrical & electronics, aerospace, etc. is driving the growth of polyarylsulfone market. Polyarylsulfone are thermally stable amorphous thermoplastic containing phenyl and biphenyl groups linked by ether and sulfone groups. Polyarylsulfones are resistant to high temperature, are dimensionally stable, has good impact strength and are solvent resistant, this makes Polyarylsulfones a popular choice for headlights & interior reflectors, fuse encapsulation, aircraft parts, pump impellors, and other application where dimensional stability at high temperatures is extremely important. Polyarylsulfones are preferred over metals & alloys due to their comparatively lighter weight and high temperature resistance. Besides automotive and electronics, polyarylsulfones have specialized applications in metrology, fuel cells and production of high performance membrane. The market for high temperature thermoplastics is vastly fragmented, but the ongoing product innovations are anticipated to create growth opportunities for polyarylsulfones over the forecast period.Polyarylsulfone Market: Drivers and RestraintsVersatility of application as compared to other engineering plastics makes polyarylsulfone market opportunistic. The growth of polyarylsulfone market is primarily driven by demands from medical device, automotive and electrical & electronics industries. Polyarylsulfones product group comprises Polysulfone (PSU), Polyethersulfone (PESU), and Polyphenylsulfone (PPSU), all of these are relatively similar concerning their application industries, but are quite different from each other chemically. The ongoing product innovations has amplified use of polyarylsulfones in special applications for various sectors such as defense, aerospace, etc. PPSU and PSU are expected to create strong growth opportunity over the forecast period with their increasing use in military applications and fitting. However, despite steady growth in the past, uncertainty exists in the global polyarylsulfone market due to weak economic growth trends in major markets across the globe.Request Free Report Sample@Polyarylsulfone Market: SegmentationThe Global Polyarylsulfone Market is segmented as follows:On the basis of type:PolysulfonePolyethersulfonePolyphenylsulfoneOn the basis of application:Medical DevicesAutomotiveElectrical & ElectronicsAerospaceOthers (Defense, Household products, etc.)Polyarylsulfone Market: Region-wise OutlookThe Global polyarylsulfone market has been segmented into seven key regions which includes North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia Pacific, Japan, and Middle East & Africa. North America dominates the global polyarylsulfone market in terms of consumption with U.S. being the major contributor. The U.S. polyarylsulfone market is driven by high demands from medical and automotive industry. Europe is anticipated to be the second largest market in terms of consumption over the forecast period. Asia Pacific is expected to be the next big market for polyarylsulfone after Europe and is anticipated to be the fastest growing over the forecast period.Request For TOC@Polyarylsulfone Market: Key PlayersThe Key players identified in the global polyarylsulfone Market are:BASF SESolvay Chemical CompanySABIC Innovative plasticsEnsigner Inc.Sumitomo ChemicalsQuadrant Engineering Plastics ProductNYTEF Plastics Ltd.Polymer DynamixWestlake Plastics CompanyFuture Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite:
Global Market study on Wireless Charging By 2024, PMR New Report

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Wireless charging is defined as charging of any electronic device battery without using any cords and cables constitutes. Nikola Tesla introduced the concept of wireless charging in 1899. This old age technology become popular in consumer electronics goods especially smartphones and tablets. Wireless charging use the concept of electromagnetic field for transmission of energy between two entities. Energy is sent to an electrical device via inductive coupling, which use the energy to charge the batteries of electronic devices.View Sample Report:The wireless charger market is at its infancy stage. Reduction in power reduction and power consumption is projected to drive the market. The potential challenges are the lack of standards, and interoperability. Efficiency of wireless charging is not similar as compare to wired charging. The Qi Standard was established by Wireless Power Consortium for interoperability.Wireless charging is segmented on the basis of applications which includes smartphones and other consumer electronic devices, industrial segment, military, medical and electric vehicles among others. Electric vehicle market has high potential for wireless charging devices. These vehicles would be charge with copper coils fixed under the vehicle and the coils located in the commercial and residential space. Thus, it will not need any discrete plug-in stations. In 2011, the military and the medical devices contributes a minor ratio to the wireless charging market and are projected to rise at slow rate by 2019. Further, wireless charging market is segmented based on geography such as North America, Europe, Asia Pacific (APAC) and Rest of World (RoW).Request TOC (table of content), Figures and Tables of the Report:Some of the major players of this market are Avid Technologies Inc., Convenient Power HK Limited, Energizer, Evatran Llc, Powermat Technologies, Qualcomm, Texas Instruments Incorporated And Verizon Wireless, Inc. among others.About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a third-platform research firm. Our research model is a unique collaboration of data analytics and market research methodology to help businesses achieve optimal performance.To support companies in overcoming complex business challenges, we follow a multi-disciplinary approach. At PMR, we unite various data streams from multi-dimensional sources. By deploying real-time data collection, big data, and customer experience analytics, we deliver business intelligence for organizations of all sizes.ContactPersistence Market Research Pvt. Ltd305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA - Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.com
Autonomous Vehicles Market Growth and Value Chain 2016-2026 by FMI

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Autonomous vehicles also known as robot cars are driverless vehicles, controlled by the computer, which is yet to be commercialized in the market. Autonomous vehicles have sensors installed in it, which detects the objects in its surroundings via radar, GPS, lasers and computer vision and chooses the appropriate path and direction. With the increasing road accidents due to human error while driving provides lucrative opportunities for autonomous vehicles over the forecast period, as the autonomous vehicles are comparatively safe when compared with manually controlled vehicles. The autonomous vehicles will also help in reducing the CO2 emissions to the environment. The commercialization of autonomous vehicles will also contribute to the revenue growth of different industries such as, IT, technology and electronics. The use of autonomous vehicles are not limited to passenger cars, it can be used in industrial fleet, construction, public transportation and for agricultural applications. The merits of an autonomous vehicle over manually operated vehicles are, increased fuel efficiency, safety and low emissions among others. Considering the aforementioned factors, the global autonomous vehicles market will project a healthy growth rate over the forecast period.The global autonomous vehicles market is primarily driven by the numerous advantages of an autonomous vehicle such as increased safety reduced driving stress, efficient parking reducing the costs, fuel efficiency, reduced CO2 emissions to the environment and increasing geriatric population will have a positive impact on the global autonomous vehicles market. Apart from the aforementioned factors, the autonomous vehicles will have a positive impact on the economy as a whole. However, the data security concerns might pose as a restrain to the global autonomous vehicles market as the controlling software can be hacked by unauthorized parties, and input spurious information to the system.Request Free Report Sample@The global autonomous market is segmented based on level of automation, application and region. Based on automation level, the global autonomous vehicles market can be segmented into Driver Assistance, Partial Automation, Conditional Automation, High Automation and Full Automation. Based on applications, the global autonomous vehicles market can be segmented into Passenger Cars, Public Transportation, Industrial fleet, Construction and Agricultural applicationsBased on the geographic regions, global autonomous vehicles market is segmented into seven key market segments namely North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia Pacific, Japan, and Middle East & Africa. Among the aforementioned regions, the Western Europe market holds the largest share of global autonomous vehicles market, due to the higher adoption of autonomous vehicles in the region. North American market for autonomous vehicles is trailing behind the Western European market. Over the forecast period, China in the Asia-Pacific market will surpass the European as well as American market for autonomous vehicles. The adoption of autonomous vehicle in the developing economies such as Latin America and MEA will be low as compared to other region. Overall, the global autonomous vehicle market will project a healthy CAGR over the forecasted period considering its tremendous advantages over conventional vehicles and impact on environment.Request For TOC@Autonomous Vehicles Market: Key PlayersSome of the key players identified in the global autonomous vehicles market are Google, BMW AG, Mercedes-Benz, Tesla Motors, Audi AG among others.Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite:
FMI: Automotive Stamping Market Segments and Forecast By End-use Industry 2016-2026

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Stamping is a metal working process by which a desired shape and structure of a material is achieved. This metal working process is adopted in manufacturing industries engaged in processing of hardened surfaces such as sheet metal and plastics components. Stamping process forms the base of all the building process in automotive industry as more than 80 percent of the components that make up a vehicle is produced by stamping. Both the interior structural components and the exterior build components are produced by this process.Since 2010, the demand for automobiles has increased exponentially after the global economic downturn during 2009. This has led to an increase in demand of the stamping machines so as to meet the demand of an impeding growth in the automotive sector. The increase in usage of stamping machines in the automotive sector attributed to the growth of stamped automotive parts and is forecast to expand at a increasing growth rates during 2016-2026.Automotive Stamping Market DynamicsThe market for stamping machines in the automotive sector is driven by reduced lead times required for manufacturing vehicles. The machines are extremely versatile as different modules can be achieved by changing the necessary die. This process has also led to reduced labor requirements as the process can be automated with the help of computers thereby reducing the labor costs. The process helps in reducing scrap wastage as precise amount of raw material is utilized. The production cost incurred in the stamping process is very low and is replacing other metal working processes such as forging and die-casting.Request Free Report Sample@Automotive Stamping Market: SegmentationOn the basis of forming temperature, Automotive Stamping Market can be segmented as:Hot StampingCold StampingOn the basis of Stamping process, Automotive Stamping Market can be segmented as:Mechanical ProcessHydraulic ProcessPneumatic ProcessOn the basis of the number of stations required, Automotive Stamping Market can be segmented as:Single Tool StationProgressive StationsAutomotive Stamping: Regional OutlookThe Global automotive stamping market can be divided into seven geographical locations such as North America, Latin America, Western and Eastern Europe, Asia-Pacific region, Japan, Middle East and Africa. Asia-Pacific market is anticipated to grow steeply in the stamped components, as the automotive sector in China, Japan and India is growing at a rapid pace. In Latin America, Brazil is the strongest automotive stamped components market preceded by Mexico and Argentina, due to improved production and sales of automobiles in these regions. European countries such as U.K. and Germany are also expected to grow in the stamped component market as demand for vehicles in these regions has increased exponentially.Request For TOC@Automotive Stamping Market: Key PlayersSome of the major players which provide the Automotive Industry with Stamping Presses areSchuler GroupAIDA GlobalOrchid InternationalEagle Press & Equipment Co. Ltd.Hyundai RotemMacRodyne Hydraulic Presses & AutomationSantec GroupJier North AmericaRidgeview IndustriesBliss-Bret IndustriesFuture Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite:
Lightweight Automotive Body Panels Market Value Share and Key Trends 2016-2026

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Its no mystery that reduction of vehicles weight can convey major benefits for fuel consumption and other performance parameters of a vehicle. With the continued existing regulatory pressure worldwide for emission control and focus of OEM on developing performance vehicle with high durability brought a significant shift in the automotive industry with employment of light weight body parts. In recent past, weight of vehicle has turned into significant parameter to compete in the market, to accomplish this OEMs either focus on downsizing components or using new materials with reduced weight and similar properties as that of conventional materials used. A study estimates that 10 percent of reduction in weight can result in 89% of improved fuel efficiency of vehicle. Body panels constitute a significant share in overall weight of a vehicle reduction of which will help in achieving goal of reduced weight, increased efficiency and hence improved performance. Despite all such advantages the major challenge that exist for use of lightweight material is maintaining rigidity and durability of component/vehicle. The lightweight body panels can be made from metals or polymers and composites. Metals holds significant market share due to high performance and low costs.Lightweight Automotive Body Panels Market: SegmentationThe lightweight automotive body panels market can be segmented as follow:By the type of material used the lightweight automotive body panel market can be classified into Metals and Polymer & compositesRequest Free Report Sample@On the basis of Material TypeMetalsHigh strength steelAluminumMagnesiumPolymers & CompositesCFRP (Carbonfiber reinforced plastics)SMC (Sheet Molding Composites)Other Polymer & Composite MaterialsOn the basis of Component TypeDoor PanelsTrunk LidsHoodBumperOthers (header & nose panels, step bumpers, fenders)Lightweight Automotive Body Panels Market: Drivers & RestraintsIncreasing global automobile production is a major factor empowering the growth of the global lightweight body panels market. Global automotive production in 2014 improved 2.5% as compared to 2013 and increased another 1% in 2015 to 90.7 million units. Further, carbon emissions from vehicles promotes the governmental bodies to emphasize research and development of new materials and use of existing light weight alternatives thus boosting the growth of the lightweight automotive body panels market. Since deployment of lightweight automotive body panels increases the vehicles fuel efficiency and reduces the vehicle weight by 60 percent, customers are more inclining towards light weight vehicles, thus driving the growth of the global lightweight automotive body panels market. Increased demand for electric and hybrid vehicles are also anticipated to boost the growth of the market over forecast period.One of the most important consumer driven factor while selecting a vehicle is cost. The cost can be divided into design cost, raw material costs and manufacturing costs. The lightweight body panels have high cost of manufacturing as compared to panels made of conventional material, which is a major challenge in the lightweight automotive body panels market. Moreover, use of lightweight automotive body panels is high in premium, luxury and performance vehicles, which is a niche segment and is presently about 1012% of overall automotive production. Moreover, manufacturing of automotive composites take a much longer time than steel and aluminum thus this factor restraining growth of the market.Request For TOC@Lightweight Automotive Body Panels Market: Region Wise outlookBy region the lightweight automotive body panels market is segmented into North America, Latin America, Asia Pacific Excluding Japan (APEJ), Japan, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, and Middle East & Africa. Asia Pacific automotive industry production increased 2% in 2015 to 43.8 million units and was highest across the globe. Thus Asia pacific is anticipated have dominating share in lightweight automotive body panel market over the forecast period. Europe is anticipated to be the next largest market after Asia Pacific, with significant automotive production in the region. North America though have a smaller market share in terms of lightweight automotive body panel production, but is a significant hub for research and development of new automotive materials. Latin America lightweight automotive body panel market is expected to witness sluggish growth due to steeply declining automotive production in the region, the automotive production in the region declined 20% in 2015.Lightweight Automotive Body Panels Market: Key PlayersGordon auto body parts co., ltd.AUTONATIONAL Composites BVAlcoa, Inc.Austem Co. LtdFaurecia S.A.ABC Group Inc.Yanfeng Automotive InteriorsFlex-N-Gate CorporationGestamp Automocion S.A.Hwashin Co. LtdBrowse Full Report@Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite:
Global Market study on Supercapacitors By 2022, PMR New Report

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A supercapacitor or an ultracapacitor, is a high-capacity electrochemical capacitor with capacitance values as large as thousand farads. Supercapacitors combines the properties of traditional batteries and capacitor in a single component.Supercapacitors find their usage in applications requiring rapid charge/discharge time rather than long term energy storage. They are used for regenerative braking, burst-mode power delivery or short-term energy storage within trains, cranes, cars, buses, elevators and hybrid electric vehicles (HEV). Smaller units of supercapacitors are utilized as memory backup for static random-access memory (SRAM). Additionally, supercapacitors are also used in applications involving solar power, batteries, battery back-up, and flash-lights.View Sample Report:A supercapacitor differs from the normal capacitor in two basic ways: the plates of a supercapacitor have a larger surface area and the distance between them is much smaller, as compared to the conventional capacitors. The separator between these plates works in a different way than the conventional dielectric. A supercapacitor act like an ordinary capacitor, however, it can store extremely large amounts of energy. Capacitors used in audio circuits have capacitances in the ranges of 470 or 680 micro farads and those used in RF applications are as small as 1 pico farad. In contrast to this, a normal supercapacitor can store a charge upto several thousand farads.Although, the large amount of charge represents only a small fraction of the electrical energy that can be stored into a battery, its ability to charge and discharge instantaneously as compared to other lithium-ion and lithium polymer battery offers it a competitive edge. . This is because a supercapacitor builds up static electric charges on solids, while a conventional battery charges slowly through chemical reactions.With the up surging demand of the storage systems used in wide range of devices, there is a dire need of product research developments which would store large charge and at the same time charges quickly. Currently, supercapacitors are also used along with conventional batteries, with the characteristics which are different in behavior and performance from the conventional batteries in order to meet technical and economic aspects of various applications. Major adoption of supercapacitors has been witnessed in the developed economies such as U.S, Germany, South Korea and Japan.Supercapacitors are mainly classified on the basis of type of materials, applications, technology and geography.On the basis of materials, Supercapacitors can be segmented into:ElectrodesElectrolytesSeparatorsElectrodes are further sub-segmented into: electrolyte double layer capacitor (ELDC), Pseudo capacitor, and hybrid capacitor materials.Electrolytes are subdivided into: aqueous electrolyte and organic electrolyte.Separators are subdivided into: polymeric film, poly acrylonitrile (PAN) and kapton.Global market of supercapacitors by applications is segmented into:Consumer electronics (Laptops, Digital Cameras, Portable Speakers and Mobile Computing )Industrial automation (Memory Storage, Uninterrupted Power Supply (UPS) and Automatic Meter Reading)Power & Energy (Actuators, Wind Turbines and Photovoltaic)Medical (Defibrillators)Transport (Trains, cranes, cars, buses, elevators, aircrafts and hybrid electric vehicles (HEV))Global market of supercapacitors by technology is segmented into:Organic Electrolyte Super CapacitorAqueous Electrolyte Super CapacitorOn the basis of geography, global market of supercapacitors is segmented into 6 key regions:North AmericaLatin AmericaWestern EuropeEastern EuropeAsia Pacific excluding Japan (APEJ)JapanMiddle East & AfricaRevolution in the storage technology with the introduction of new market segments such as hybrid electric vehicles (HEV), smart grids, and renewable energy systems, and capability of supercapacitors to provide emergency shutdown power or backup to low-power equipment such as RAM, SRAM, micro-controllers and PC Cards are driving its adoption globally. Additionally, supercapacitors has higher life period than conventional batteries. Increasing demand for stabilized power supply in applications with fluctuating loads, such as laptop computers, GPS, portable media players, hand-held devices is also one of the factors contributing to the market growth.However, factors such as high cost, customer traditionalism and competition from the established high capacity batteries vendors is restraining the market growth. As supercapacitors act as a substitute to lithium-ion and lithium polymer batteries, major players dealing with lithium-ion and lithium polymer are expected to exploit the socio-economic political scenario to curb the adoption of supercapacitors in the near future.Request TOC (table of content), Figures and Tables of the Report:The leading players in the industry includes Advanced Capacitor Technologies, Inc., Axion Power International, Inc., CAP-XX Ltd., EEStor Corporation, ELTON, Inc., FastCAP Systems, Inc., Graphene Energy, Inc., Maxwell Technologies, Inc., and Nesscap Energy, Inc.About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a third-platform research firm. Our research model is a unique collaboration of data analytics and market research methodology to help businesses achieve optimal performance.To support companies in overcoming complex business challenges, we follow a multi-disciplinary approach. At PMR, we unite various data streams from multi-dimensional sources. By deploying real-time data collection, big data, and customer experience analytics, we deliver business intelligence for organizations of all sizes.ContactPersistence Market Research Pvt. Ltd305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA - Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.com
Low Rolling Resistance (LRR) Tire Market Segments and Forecast By End-use Industry 2016-2026

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Tires are considered as an important factor to improve the vehicle efficiency and reduce overall fuel consumption. According to International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT), it is estimated that improvements in tire energy efficiency could reduce the fuel consumption by 3 to 5% and greenhouse gas emissions by 100 million metric tons annually, across all existing passenger vehicle fleets. In the quest for increasing fuel efficiency and gas mileage, automotive manufacturers are pushing tire makers to develop LRR tires, which have shown improvements in increasing fuel economy in recent years. While LRR tires are frequently used for hybrid cars, mainstream vehicles are expected to gain traction for LRR tires over the forecast period. Tire and automotive manufacturers globally have strived to increase fuel efficiency in recent years by equipping automobiles with LRR tires.Low Rolling Resistance(LRR) Tire Market: Drivers & RestraintsThe main factors driving the demand for LRR tires, is their ability to save significant amount of fuel when compared to tires that are not designed for LRR. It has been estimated by the automotive industry that a 10% increase in the tire rolling resistance will result in about 1.5% decrease in the vehicle fuel economy. More and more fleets every year are recognizing the benefits of LRR tires which represent a good investment for dealing with fuel economy, thus accelerating the demand of global LRR tires throughout the forecast period. Moreover, government regulations, stringent emission and safety norms globally is anticipated to fuel the demand of LRR tire market over the forecast period (2016  2026).The fact that the cost to operate LRR tires is relatively higher as compared to other tires which do not have low rolling resistance technology, is one of the factors inhibiting the growth of LRR tires market globally. Increasing adoption of LRR tires by commercial vehicles such as on highway truck fleets in last two years, is one key trend observed in global LRR tire market.Request Free Report Sample@Global Low Rolling Resistance (LRR) Tire Market: SegmentationOn the basis of vehicle type, the global LRR tire market is segmented into,Light Commercial Vehicle (LCV)Heavy Commercial Vehicle (HCV)Passenger VehicleOn the basis of configuration, the global LRR tire market is segmented intoDual tireWide-baseOn the basis of sales channel type, the global LRR tire market is segmented intoOEMAftermarketGlobal Low Rolling Resistance (LRR) Tire Market: Regional OutlookIn terms of geography, the global LRR tire market has been divided in to seven key regions including North America, Latin America, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Asia-Pacific excluding Japan, Middle East & Africa and Japan.The global LRR tire market is expected to register healthy CAGR during the forecast period. North America is anticipated to be the dominant market for LRR market followed by Europe and Asia Pacific. Factors such as adoption of safety regulations by government agencies along with an increase in vehicle sales and safety installations per vehicle, are fuelling the demand for LRR market globally.Request For TOC@Global Low Rolling Resistance (LRR) Tire Market: Key PlayersSome of the market participants in the global LRR tire market are Apollo Tyres Ltd, Bridgestone Corporation, Continental AG, Michelin, Maxxis International, Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company, Pirelli & C.SpA, Yokohama Rubber Company and Sumitomo CorporationMajor automotive companies are now introducing new vehicles with LRR tires and that more than 50% of new vehicles will have LRR tires by the end of 2020. For instance, in 2015, Nissan Motor Company Ltd had introduced its Nissan Murano crossover with LRR tires, and was one of the key features to its marketing strategy.Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite:
Potash Ores Market Growth and Segments,2016-2026

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Potash ores are raw materials which are used for manufacturing potash, fertilizers and other chemicals. It usually consists of sodium chloride (halite), potassium chloride (sylvite), silicate, anhydrite and carbonate. Potash ores are processed by hot leaching with crystallization of salts of potash from unsaturated salt brines. Some of the commonly used ore processing methods include chemical methods such as hot leaching and mechanical methods such as floatation. The floatation processing method is dependent upon the capacities of sylvite and halite surface which is to be moistened with water by the addition of acting chemicals such as surfactants. The method of hot leaching is dependent upon the physiochemical properties of potassium chloride, sodium chloride and water. The main principle in this method is the temperature difference between sylvite and halite. This method is implemented for manufacturing potassium chloride in granular and white crystalline form, which can be painted reddish pink.Global Potash Ores Market: Drivers and RestraintsGlobal demand for potash ores is expected to rise significantly with the growth of the fertilizer industry over the next few years. In addition, rising consumption of organic food is expected to drive the demand for potash fertilizers, thereby boosting the potash ore market over the next few years. North America and Europe are the largest consumers of organic foods. Significant growth is expected in the Asia-Pacific region over the next few years on account of rising disposable incomes of consumers and an inclining trend towards healthy food. However, rising health concern from the consumption of potash fertilizers as well as fluctuating prices of potassium chloride is expected to slow down the growth of the market. Demand for food and animal feed has been on the rise since 2000 with growing disposable incomes in developing economies being a major factor in the growing potash and fertilizer use. However, after years of showing an upward growth trajectory, fertilizer use experienced a significant decline in 2008. The global economic downturn has been the primary cause for decreased potash use as well as the declining prices, which caused instability in crop and raw material prices and fuelled uncertainty in the farming community. Increasing use of potash as potash mobilizing biofertlizers is expected to provide new opportunities for the growth of the market.Request Free Report Sample@Global Potash Ores Market: SegmentationGlobal potash ore is segmented into type of mineral extracted and End-Use IndustryOn the basis of mineral extracted, the global potash ore market is segmented as below:Potassium ChlorideSodium ChlorideOthersOn the basis of End-Use Industry, the global potash ore market is segmented as below:AgricultureMetallurgicalChemicalOthersGlobal Potash Ores Market: Regional OutlookGrowth of the fertilizer industry has been one of the major factors driving the demand for potash ores. The global outlook for the fertilizer industry shows a positive growth, resulting from a progressive demand for phosphate and potassium demand in Asia Pacific. Although agricultural prices have been under pressure, they are anticipated to remain attractive stimulating fertilizer applications leading to the growth of the industry. Demand for potash ores is expected to witness a noticeable increase in every region except North America, due to the expected drop in crop prices and residual effect of nutrient applications leading to a decline in consumption. Future market growth is expected to be significant from emerging regions such as Asia Pacific as a result of improvements in fertilizer practices by Indian farmers. As per The International Fertilizer Industry Association, more than 25 potash expansion projects have been intended by manufacturers between from 2013 to 2017.Request For TOC@Global Potash Ores Market: Market PlayersElementals Minerals Limited, Agrium Inc., PotashCorp, JSC Belaruskali, Uralkali, K+S GmbH, and Israel Chemicals Ltd. are some of the key players present in the potash ore market.Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite:
Global Virtual Reality Headsets Market 2016 - HTC, Sony, Samsung, Oculus(FaceBook), Microsoft, Avegant, Google, BaoFeng, NextVR, Fove

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A market study based on the "Virtual Reality Headsets market" across the globe, recently added to the repository of QY Market research, is titled Global Virtual Reality Headsets Market 2016. The research report analyzes the historical as well as present performance of the global Virtual Reality Headsets market, and makes predictions on the future status of Virtual Reality Headsets market on the basis of this analysis.Major Manufacturers Analysis of Virtual Reality Headsets : HTC, Sony, Samsung, Oculus(FaceBook), Microsoft, Avegant, Razer, LG, EPSON, Zeiss, StarVR, Visus, Virglass, Homido, Google, BaoFeng, NextVR, FoveThe report studies the market for Virtual Reality Headsets across the globe taking the existing industry chain, the import and export statistics in Virtual Reality Headsets market & dynamics of demand and supply of Virtual Reality Headsets into consideration.Get Free Sample Copy of Report Here :The ' Virtual Reality Headsets 'research study covers each and every aspect of the Virtual Reality Headsets market globally, which starts from the definition of the Virtual Reality Headsets market and develops towards Virtual Reality Headsets market segmentations. Further, every segment of the Virtual Reality Headsets market is classified and analyzed on the basis of product types, application, and the end-use industries of the Virtual Reality Headsets market. The geographical segmentation of the Virtual Reality Headsets market has also been covered at length in this report.The competitive landscape of the global market for Virtual Reality Headsets is determined by evaluating the various market participants, production capacity, Virtual Reality Headsets market's production chain, and the revenue generated by each manufacturer in the Virtual Reality Headsets market worldwide.Read More Research with TOC :The global Virtual Reality Headsets market 2016 is also analyzed on the basis of product pricing, Virtual Reality Headsets production volume, data regarding demand and Virtual Reality Headsets supply, and the revenue garnered by the product. Various methodical tools such as investment returns, feasibility, and market attractiveness analysis has been used in the research to present a comprehensive study of the market for Virtual Reality Headsets across the globe.About Us:QY Market Research is a single destination for all the industry, company and country reports. We feature large repository of latest industry reports, leading and niche company profiles, and market statistics released by reputed private publishers and public organizations.Contact Us:Joel JohnDeerfield Beach, Florida 33442United StatesToll Free: +1-855-465-4651 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-386-310-3803Web: QY Market ResearchEmail: sales@qymarketresearch.com
Learningonline.xyz Reinvents Corporate Learning with Cudoo for Enterprise

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVD-FC6-TF0

http://learningonline.xyz/

Leveraging its adaptive, eLearning platform, learningonline.xyz launches Cudoo Enterprise to enhance Nanolearning engagementCUPERTINO, CA - 05/18/2016  According to Gallup Research, 68% of employees are not engaged, leading to $500 billion in lost productivity in the U.S. alone. Improved engagement leads to 24% higher productivity and more than 30% higher retention (Gallup and Deloitte University Press). Online solutions are rapidly coming to the fore as a highly affordable tool to enhance the learner experience and engage disillusioned and job mobile employees.On average, Gen Y will have 9 jobs throughout their career and expect flexibility of location and working hours as part of their contract. 89% of Millennials would prefer to choose when and where they work rather than being placed in a 9-to-5 position (Odesk). Employers need to promote them fast or give them options to gain more transferable skills otherwise they will leave. It costs an average of $24,000 to replace each Millennial employee, according to Microsoft and Experience Inc.This is where online learning comes into its own. Affordable, set up to learn socially and available 24/7, it is the perfect solution for engagement and employee retention if done right.Sue Brett, C.E.O. at Learningonline.xyz announced: We launched Cudoo in response to feedback from our learners; adaptive, practical learning with a single login to find what they need when they need it. Cudoo Enterprise builds on this edTech, with a very affordable, track able solution for employee re-engineering. Learningonline.xyz is currently adding specialty, industry specific skills to its product range, as it continues to deliver its mission of affordable, reachable learning.What our clients also want to know is what difference will it make in the workplace and what does it cost. So focusing on low price delivery and high engagement tools based on adaptive learning was key for us. We are looking forward to launching Cudoo Enterprise at ATD 2016 in Denver, the perfect forum for collaborative expertise sharing," she added.For more information visit learningonline.xyz, or visit us on the Eton Institutes stand #947 at ATD 2016 on the 22nd March in Denver, CO.About learningonline.xyz:Learningonline.xyz delivers re-inventful learning: personalized, responsive based learning content in short, bursts of knowledge, using the latest RED (rapid e-learning development) techniques combined with Microlearning videos, mLMS and apps.Through its interactive range of products, it offers over 200 self-study courses and micros, easily accessible via devices such as mobile phones, tablets, and laptop computers in formats as varied as apps, videos, blogs, games, quizzes, simulations, podcasts, or slideshows.Cudoo = self-paced online courses covering languages and professional development skills.Media Contacts:Company Name: learningonline.xyzFull Name: Moaz Khan, VP Marketing & UXPhone: +1 (408) 641-7790Email Address: moaz.khan@learningonline.xyzWebsite:19925 Stevens Creek Blvd #100, Cupertino, CA 95014, United States
Bioresorbable (Resorbable) Polymers Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2016  2024

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=12659

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/

http://globalresearchanalysis.blogspot.in/

Global Bioresorbable (Resorbable) Polymers Market: OverviewBioresorbable polymers are polymers that completely biodegrade inside the human body without presenting a threat. This allows physicians to reduce the post-surgery risk to the patient and also eliminates the need for a second surgery to remove temporary implants. The global market for bioresorbable polymers has grown rapidly in the recent years due to the growing awareness among patients, widespread efforts by governments to upgrade their healthcare sector, and the high disposable income of consumers in developed economies.Global Bioresorbable (Resorbable) Polymers Market: Drivers and RestraintsThe major driver for the global bioresorbable polymers market is the increase in patient comfort brought about by bioresorbable polymers. Conventional materials left in the body post-surgery required another minor surgery to remove the materials, some presenting a health risks to the patient. Bioresorbable polymers eliminate both these factors due to their property of disintegrating into the body over a period of time.Download FREE Exclusive Sample Of This Report :The growing demand for bioresorbable polymers for drug delivery is another key aspect of the trajectory of the global bioresorbable polymers market. The chemically neutral nature of bioresorbable polymers and their harmless decomposition in the body make them perfect for drug delivery. The growing demand for bioresorbable polymers from the drug delivery segment is expected to be a vital factor in the markets development in the 2016-2023 forecast period.On the other hand, due to their technological sophistication, bioresorbable polymers cost more than conventional medical polymers. This is a major restraint on the bioresorbable polymers market in developing regions, since the overall quality of the healthcare sector is relatively low in regions such as Asia Pacific and Latin America. The lack of advanced healthcare infrastructure in developing regions also hampers the bioresorbable polymers market in the form of a lack of a reliable quality control.Incorporation of 3D printing is expected to be a major aspect of the global bioresorbable polymer markets trajectory in the coming years. The minute differentiations required in bioresorbable polymers according to the constitution of various patients and the different circumstances in each case can be incorporated much more easily and reliably with 3D printing.Global Bioresorbable (Resorbable) Polymers Market: SegmentationAmong the various types of polymers in the bioresorbable polymers market, polylactic-acid-based bioresorbable polymers dominated the demand from the global market. Polylactic acid gets converted into lactic acid in the body, which naturally occurs in the body at low concentrations and can be safely removed by the bodys own excretory systems. Polyglycolic acid is another widely used bioresorbable polymer and is majorly used in sutures.The increasing prevalence of orthopedic disorders has led to them emerging as the largest application segment of the global bioresorbable polymers market. Despite the increasing demand for bioresorbable polymers in drug delivery, orthopedics will remain a major application segment of the global market in the coming years.North America emerged as the largest regional player in the global bioresorbable polymers market due to the high level of technological sophistication in the healthcare sector in the U.S. and Canada. The U.S. is the major R&D hub for the medical industry, further driving the North America bioresorbable polymers market. The similarly advanced healthcare scenario in Europe, particularly Western Europe, has driven the European market for bioresorbable polymers market. However, Asia Pacific is expected to become a major regional market for bioresorbable polymers in the coming years.Global Bioresorbable (Resorbable) Polymers Market: Competitive DynamicsThe report profiles major players in the global bioresorbable polymers market in order to provide a detailed overview of the markets competitive landscape. Key players studied in the report include Corbion, Poly-Med, Inc., Foster Corporation, and Evonik Industries AG.The report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the market. It does so via in-depth qualitative insights, historical data, and verifiable projections about market size. The projections featured in the report have been derived using proven research methodologies and assumptions. By doing so, the research report serves as a repository of analysis and information for every facet of the market, including but not limited to: Regional markets, technology, types, and applications.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMR's experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.Our data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts, so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With a broad research and analysis capability, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques in developing distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.ContactMr. Sudip. STransparency Market Research90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:Visit :
Steam Turbine to enrol growth rate of 4.4% reaching to the market value of $19.3 billion by 2020

http://www.micromarketmonitor.com/market-report/steam-turbines-reports-2453615837.html

http://www.micromarketmonitor.com/contact/2453615837-download_pdf_brochure.html

http://www.micromarketmonitor.com/contact/2453615837-speak_to_analyst.html

The Global steam turbine market was valued at $14.8 billion in 2014, which is projected to reach $19.3 billion by 2020, at a CAGR of 4.4% during the forecast period of 2015 to 2020.Steam turbine is essentially a high speed machine, converting the heat energy released by fossil fuels and nuclear fuels into the kinetic energy for driving the power generators. Steam turbine market is driven by the increasing energy demand. It is one of the advanced energy sources which can help in fulfilling the increased global power demand.The growth of the steam turbine market is directly proportional to the installation capacity of the plant. Most of the companies are prioritizing to meet the energy demand by increasing the installation capacity from MW to GW and from GW to TW worldwide.AsiaPacific led the global steam turbine market with a market share of more than 70% in 2014, and is projected to grow at the highest CAGR among as the electricity demand is growing rapidly owing to the increasing population and rapid industrialization. There is a massive increase in the installation capacity of steam turbine market in this region.India is looking to strengthen its position in the fast -growing power sector. General Electric will introduce 660MW and 800MW supercritical steam turbines by 2015 whereas Siemens has announced to invest $44.2 million for expansion of its steam turbine manufacturing facility in Vadodara, Gujarat.The rapid industrialization and rising global population have increased the demand of electricity. Steam turbines play a vital role in generating electricity by the different sources like coal, nuclear, biomass, and others, thus fulfilling the increased demand.Supercritical technology has been recognized as a major tool for increasing generation capacity and efficiency while reducing greenhouse gases. Hence, its adoption is strongly promoted by Indian utility companies. The main types of services offered in the global steam turbine market are conventional cycle steam turbine, combined cycle steam turbine, and cogeneration steam turbine.Cogeneration steam turbine segment is projected to grow with the highest CAGR, followed by combined cycle and conventional cycle steam turbine segmentsBiomass segment is projected to grow at the highest CAGR among all applications, followed by nuclear and coal. This high growth rate is attributed to the increasing consumption of biomass to produce biofuels. Coal application segment had the largest share of more than 50% in 2014, followed by nuclear and others.The leading players in the global steam turbine market are Siemens AG, Alstom SA, and General Electric, together accounting for 60% of the market share. Siemens offers a comprehensive range of steam turbine from 45KW to 1900 MW whereas Alstom SA designs for all kinds of fossil fuels applications up to 1,200 MW, in 50 HZ and 60 HZ grids. In cogeneration plants, Alstom steam turbines are highly flexible and operate between power plants and heat demand to accommodate wide variation in process steam flows.The above statistics here are given by the report Global Steam Turbines Market by Type, Application and Geography  Forecast 2020.Objective of this study is to analyze the market trends, share, growth & restraining factors and projection supported by market estimates and forecasts of global market.Know about this more at -PDF brochure of this research -Discuss queries related to this research at About Report Publisher:MicroMarket Monitor identifies and attends to various unmet needs of different industrial verticals, which include value chain impact analysis. The company publishes about 12000 Market Research Reports on various Micro Markets across the world. The graphical nature and multidimensional analysis of these reports provide advanced Business Intelligence Tools to the clients in that particular target market.Contact:Mr. Priyank TiwariUNIT no 802, Tower No. 7, SEZMagarpatta City, HadapsarPune, Maharashtra 411013, IndiaTel - +1-888-502-0539
A Great Revolution - Josoft Technologies Offering BPO Call Center Services in India

http://www.josoftech.com

Josoft Technologies, IndiaOf all the industries which have been introduced into India due to advancement in technology, BPO call center services are the most popular and well-known. If you are interested in finding a reliable call center in this country then Josoft is your best option. This is because Josoft has the right infrastructure and technology to ensure that the services provided to your run seamlessly. First of all let us understand the role of a BPO company as far as client servicing is concerned.BPO service providers are essentially vendors who undertake some routine tasks and documentation processes of a business for a certain fee. The main reason why companies hire BPO services is the cost factor. It is true that there are many processes which can be effectively outsourced for much less expense compared to the cost incurred if performed in house. Apart from doing your daily tasks they also undertake your inbound calls.Qualities of a good call center Just like Josoft a good BPO providing inbound call center services should have the best of infrastructure, technology and equipment. Josoft has access to skilled human resources which can be trained in order to be up to the mark required by the client. Josoft understands the importance of timelines and is able to deliver results accordingly. Josoft has a training department which is capable of training the employees on the parameters required in an international inbound call center. Josoft is able to provide inbound services to both Indian as well as International companies.A good call center can act as the main hub of your businessIf you take the services of Josoft it will help you in centralizing your business processes and operations. They can be a hub for all processing activities which will reduce your hassles of having to deal with different service departments. Their call center is a one point contact for their clients acting as a project manager and providing daily reports along with communicating to the clients regarding the progress of their process. This will save a lot of time and energy of the client which can be directed towards the core business activities.Top reasons why you should hire BPO services Quality services at a very low price as compared to in house service providers Streamline the efficiency and operational capacity of your business Reduction of overhead costs in a dramatic manner Enhance return on investment by reducing cost and enhancing profit Reduction of errors that are naturally associated with the management of any process The client saves enough money and other resources to be invested in upcoming projects and R&D A better communication process due to daily reportingStreamlines Business efficiencyThe more effectiveness you show in managing and maintaining your business the more business opportunities you will get. If you hire the services of an inbound call center in Lucknow you will be able to save money which you can spend on R&D and developmental projects. As a result you will be able to get more clientele which in turn leads to more business and profits. In other words BPO services like Josoft ensure that you can have your cake and eat it too.Contact:E-mail us at: info@josoftech.comCall or reach us at: +91-9026209005Website:Josoft a BPO call center in India is flourishing and providing outsourcing options for both internal and off shore clients.1-B Nanak Arcade 85-A Hind NagarL.D.A Colony, Opposite Shivalik School,Lucknow - 226012
Heal Your Heart

http://www.healurheart.com

The Enhanced External Counter Pulsation (EECP) treatment, which helps treat cardiac patients non-surgically without risk, for the first time in the state."If you have heart disease, you probably know all about statins (cholesterol lowering medications) and beta blockers (Blood Pressure Medication), angioplasty and bypass surgery, and the benefits of regular exercise," explains Dr Ajith Joy. K, the chief executive officer."What is to be done when all these treatments fail or when someone is not eligible for the above treatments? About 30 per cent of all cardiac patients are in this category and they live on suffering with chest pain, mobility restriction, severe breathlessness, swelling on the feet, etc. The EECP could be an approved treatment method for them."The idea behind this wacky-sounding treatment is to decrease the demand on an ailing heart by helping it push blood through the body.According to the team of doctors at the Med.Links, the EECP diminishes the symptoms of ischemia.In numerous studies, EECP has been shown to relieve angina, improve exercise tolerance, and decrease the degree of ischemia in a cardiac stress test.For More Details VisitHeal Your Heart  (Vasomeditech EECP Center) is a Unit of Vaso-Meditech Pvt Ltd clinical division. Heal Your Heart centers are established across India for advance approved cardiology guideline recommended Non-Invasive Cardiac treatment. We are leaders in providing EECP treatment and cardiac rehabilitation program through qualified physicians and trained certified therapist under cardiologist supervision. Our unique Vasomeditech EECP treatment has shown to be efficient, safe and can be provided under day care facility.Heal Your HeartNo.4/77, Thanthai Periyar Street, East Cost Road,Neelankarai,Chennai - 600 041
Dried and Preserved Vegetable Market in India to Grow at 16% by 2020, Reveals New Report by NOVONOUS

Dried and Preserved Vegetable Market in India 2016 - 2020

www.MarketResearchReports.com

http://www.marketresearchreports.com/novonous/dried-and-preserved-vegetables-market-india-2016-2020

http://www.marketresearchreports.com/publisher/novonous

Market Research Reports, Inc. has announced the addition of Dried and Preserved Vegetable Market in India 2016 - 2020" research report to their websiteIndia is the world's 2nd largest producer of vegetables in the world next only to China. But the fruit and vegetable processing industry in India is highly decentralized. A large number of units are in the small scale sector, having small capacities up to 250 tonnes per annum though big Indian and multinational companies have capacities in the range of 30 tonnes per hour or so. Hence India now ranks only third in the production of Dried and Preserved vegetables.In Dried and Preserved vegetable market high return is usually in the export market, especially Europe. The export customers are mostly ready-to-eat food manufacturers and hotel chains in those countries. Any economic slowdown in Europe or other export markets would negatively affect the businesses of export customers which in turn would affect the order quantity and hence the Dried and preserved vegetable market.Ambarish Kumar Verma, Managing Director of NOVONOUS Business Consulting Private Limited said The dried and preserved vegetables market in India is highly fragmented with many small and regional players producing to meet the demand of the Indian market. Most of the export market is dominated by big players in the industry. Most of the companies produce a wide variety of products which are used for different applications in the food processing industry.This report covers a detailed analysis of 5 companies which are spread across different regions around India. The objective of this report is to analyze the current scenario of the Indian dried and preserved vegetables market and to project the market growth over the next 5 financial years.According to NOVONOUS the dried and preserved vegetables market of India is expected to grow at a CAGR of 16% by the year 2020. The supportive agro-climatic conditions, potential domestic market, cost competitiveness, and government support are some of the key factors which will drive the growth of this industry.This report provides end-user-wise, processing method-wise and product-wise insights on dried vegetables market in India, growth drivers and inhibitors, key trends, profiles of key players, major challenges for new players, current and future trends and recommendations for policy makers, service providers & investors.The report also have an case study of Artocarpus Foods Private Limited which was setup in Kannur district of Kerala on May 2015. How It has become the first full-fledged jackfruit processing venture in India was discussed in the report.Apart from that a sample business plan has been provided which gives a glimpse of activities to be performed in order to establish a new vegetable dehydration plant in Kerala.To know more about this newly launched market research report visit Dried and Preserved Vegetable Market in India 2016 - 2020Spanning over 96 pages and 76 exhibits, report presents an in-depth assessment of the Dried and Preserved Vegetable Market in India till 2020.Research Methodology:The report has been prepared after extensive secondary and primary research among various stakeholders in the Dried & Preserved Vegetable Market like farmers, food processors, end users, government bodies, associations, industry players etc.The primary research consists of interviewing the key management people from the leading companies in the Dried & Preserved Vegetables sector. A sample size of 5 players was selected based on convenience sampling method. A questionnaire was prepared to interview the companies on the following points:1. To understand the current position of the company along with its current financial position and the expected growth rate for the company over the next 5 years.2. To understand the key challenges and pain areas of the company in this sector3. To understand the USP of the company and its future plans4. To understand the company view point on the various government policies and its implications5. To get a detailed insight of the industry as a whole as viewed by the senior management of the companyFor more information and purchase this report please visit:To browse more market research reports by NOVONOUS visit:About Market Research Reports, Inc.Market Research Reports, Inc. is the world's leading source for market research reports and market data. We provide you with the latest market research reports on global markets, key industries, leading companies, new products and latest industry analysis & trends.Press Contact:Mr. Sudeep ChakravartyGeneral Manager - OperationsMarket Research Reports, Inc.15192 Coastal Hwy, Lewes, DE 19958, USA Fax- +91-80-26860844Tel USA: +1-302-703-7787Tel India: +91- 8762746600
Moulded on the Pipe: Universal, Compact and Diverse

Complete forming in the rolling process with an outer roll and an inner roll in opposite rotation.

http://bit.ly/PI-new-combination-machines-OPR

www.tube-processing-machines.com

www.tube-processing-machines.co

transfluid develops a new general of combination machines for axial and rolling pipe formingThe technical evolution is mostly targeted at designing new solutions at the state of the art to simplify work and improve results. The engineers at transfluid followed this principle as well, developing a new generation of combination machines that effectively combine the benefits of the axial and rolling forming.The plants are particularly characterised by their diversity in forming of parts, as Stefanie Flaeper, managing director at transfluid, explains: "Geometries in pipe end machining can be formed directly on the pipe, replacing usually complicated and expensive turned parts. No soldering or welding is needed: The pipe and its end form are virtually from a single cast."Flexibly processesThe benefits of this kind of process are clear: Implementation of the combination can be specified by the user directly, or based on the forming geometry. "Usually, up to 6 axial forming stages and at least one rolling unit are used. If trimming, axial and rolling forming are needed, two rolling stations may be required as well," says Stefanie Flaeper. "We also call this 'powered axes'."Single-drive axes for a more compact setupPipe machining may include a simple trim or deburring at the pipe end after forming. Because this is not a demanding process-technical challenge, it is sensible to use compact units for this. transfluid has made it possible to equip all axial forming machines and all combination machines with one or several single-drive axes. These axes have a servo-electrical drive and can be used for the forming stages in each of the holders. This makes the system very compact and particularly flexible. Because the transfluid combination machines have electrical drives, all forming tools are positioned very precisely and the machines can be used much more diversely.DOWNLOAD PRESS INFORMATION AND IMAGEStransfluid Maschinenbau GmbH  the solution for tubesSince 1988, transfluid has been further developing its technologies for tube processing in a customer orientated way and thus offers tailor-made solutions  for plant and mechanical engineering, the car and energy industry, ship-building right up to the production of medical equipment. As a world-renowned brand, the company from Germany is present in Europe and with its subsidiaries in Asia.transfluids product portfolio offers perfect solutions in five different machine categories, that meet all the requirements in tube processing. t bend includes semi- and fully-automatic tube bending machines as well as large-diameter tube bending machines. t form represents high-quality axial, rolling and combined tube forming machines. Automation systems with sophisticated concepts for bending and forming technology belong to the t motion category. With t cut, transfluid offers tube cutting machines in different system variants und t clean is transfluids range of tube cleaning machines for guaranteed cleanliness of work pieces and pipes.transfluid Maschinenbau GmbHStefanie FlaeperHunegraben 20-2257392 SchmallenbergGermanyTel.: +49 2972 97 15 - 0Fax: +49 2972 97 15 - 11info@transfluid.de
Global Paper and Paperboard Container and Packaging Market 2016 Caraustar, Innovative Systems Group, Carter Holt Harvey

Paper and Paperboard Container and Packaging

http://goo.gl/3pU7rL

http://goo.gl/3mXzPA

Market Research Report on Paper and Paperboard Container and Packaging Market 2016 is a professional and in-depth study on the current state of the Paper and Paperboard Container and Packaging worldwide. First of all,"Global Paper and Paperboard Container and Packaging Market 2016" report provides a basic overview of the Paper and Paperboard Container and Packaging industry including definitions, classifications, applications and Paper and Paperboard Container and Packaging industry chain structure.Major Manufacturers Analysis of Paper and Paperboard Container and Packaging :- INDEVCO, Georgia Pacific, International Paper, Tetra Pak, Buckeye Corrugated, Caraustar, Innovative Systems Group, Carter Holt Harvey, House of Packaging, Cascades Boxboard Group, Graphic Packaging, Accord Carton, Clarasion Enterprises, All Packaging, Emin LeydierThe analysis is provided for the Paper and Paperboard Container and Packaging international market including development history, Paper and Paperboard Container and Packaging industry competitive landscape analysis. After that, Paper and Paperboard Container and Packaging industry development policies as well as plans are discussed and manufacturing processes as well as cost structures for Paper and Paperboard Container and Packaging market.Do Inquiry Before Purchasing Report Here :This report "Worldwide Paper and Paperboard Container and Packaging Market 2016" also states import/export, supply and consumption figures and Paper and Paperboard Container and Packaging market cost, price, revenue and Paper and Paperboard Container and Packaging market's gross margin by regions (United States, EU, China and Japan), as well as other regions can be added in Paper and Paperboard Container and Packaging Market area.Then, the report focuses on worldwide Paper and Paperboard Container and Packaging market key players with information such as company profiles with product picture as well as specification.Related information to Paper and Paperboard Container and Packaging market- capacity, production, price, cost, revenue and contact information. Aslo includes Paper and Paperboard Container and Packaging industry's - Upstream raw materials, equipment and downstream consumers analysis is also carried out. Whats more, the Paper and Paperboard Container and Packaging market development trends and Paper and Paperboard Container and Packaging industry marketing channels are analyzed. Finally, "worldwide Paper and Paperboard Container and Packaging market" Analysis- feasibility of new investment projects is assessed, and overall research conclusions are offered.Free Sample Of Report Here :About Us:QY Market Research is a single destination for all the industry, company and country reports. We feature large repository of latest industry reports, leading and niche company profiles, and market statistics released by reputed private publishers and public organizations.Contact US:Joel JohnSuite #8138, 3422 SW 15 Street,Deerfield Beach, Florida 33442United StatesToll Free: +1-855-465-4651 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-386-310-3803Website: QY Market ResearchEmail: sales@qymarketresearch.com
Missing hiker found dead on Mt. Washington

BEND  Authorities say searchers Saturday found the body of a missing hiker on Mt. Washington.

Deschutes County Sheriff's Office released a statement saying searchers on an Oregon Army National Guard helicopter spotted the body of Brian Robak. It appears Robak fell from near the top of the mountain.

The Big Lake Youth Camp called the Sheriff's Office early Friday to report one of their contractors was overdue from hiking alone.

Apple plans 3rd C. Oregon data center

PRINEVILLE  Tech giant Apple Inc. plans to build a third data center in the Central Oregon town of Prineville.

Apple's proposed expansion comes as crews are currently building the company's second data center in this city located 35 miles from Bend. The California company also plans a warehouse and logistics center.

Prineville senior planner Josh Smith tells the Bulletin that Apple's third building will be about 330,000 square feet and that site plans are under review.

The city's engineer Eric Klann says Apple has agreed to pay for a multimillion dollar wastewater treatment facility to supply most of the water needed to cool the facility.

Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Facebook also has two data centers in Prineville and is building a third.

2 in custody after Sutherlin fire

SUTHERLIN  Sutherlin Police say two juveniles have been taken into custody after a grass fire spread rapidly, destroying three homes and killing a dog.

Police Chief Kirk Sanfilippo said Saturday that the two were lodged into Douglas County Juvenile Hall on suspicion of starting the Friday blaze. They face charges of reckless endangering another person, reckless burning, assault and animal abuse.

The fire began at West Intermediate School at about 2:30 p.m. Friday. Strong winds stoked the blaze, which quickly engulfed three mobile homes, a shed and a vehicle.

A police officer was admitted to a local hospital for smoke inhalation, and a firefighter was treated and released from the scene for smoke inhalation and dehydration.

A dog died in the fire.

Springfield man accused of sex crimes

SPRINGFIELD  A Springfield man has been accused of sexually abusing a child in California a decade ago.

The Register-Guard reports that the 84-year-old man, who previously lived in California, is being held in the Lane County Jail after police say he confessed to the crimes.

Police say they went to speak to the man after the victim recently disclosed what occurred. Police say the man confessed both to a detective and again on video the nest day.

Detective David Grice says the victim made the disclosure within the 12-year statute of limitations on the charges.

Bicyclist injured in McMinnville crash

MCMINNVILLE  A 37-year-old bicyclist has been critically injured in a crash on Highway 47 north of McMinnville.

Oregon State Police says Joseph Bowerman of Lafayette was taken to Legacy Emanuel Medical Center in Portland with life threatening injuries after Friday morning's crash.

Troopers say a preliminary investigation shows a Dodge Ram pickup truck pulling a utility trailer was heading southbound on Highway 99W when the cyclist entered the southbound lanes. The truck swerved into the southbound guardrail to try to avoid the bicyclist but ultimately hit him.

State police are asking those who witnessed the crash to contact troopers.

Search continues for suspect in manhunt

PORTLAND  Portland police were continuing to search and have identified a suspect connected to an early Friday manhunt that closed city bridges and several downtown streets.

Sgt. Pete Simpson said in a news release that officers are looking for 42-year-old Anthony David Stone, who should be considered armed and dangerous.

Stone is suspected of forcing a woman at gunpoint into his car in Southeast Portland just before 2:30 a.m. Friday, speeding away and then sexually assaulting and shooting her. Officers called to a report of a shooting found the woman with a gunshot wound that wasn't considered life-threatening.

Simpson says Stone has no address in Portland and has a violent criminal history on the East Coast.

Simpson didn't say how police identified Stone as the suspect. Police have a warrant for his arrest.
Global DNA Sequencing Industry Trends, Size, Growth, Shares And Forecast Research Report 2016

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http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=E&repid=716553

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Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Global DNA Sequencing Industry 2016, Trends and Forecast Report" to its huge collection of research reports.2016 Global DNA Sequencing Industry Report is a professional and in-depth research report on the world's major regional market conditions of the DNA Sequencing industry, focusing on the main regions (North America, Europe and Asia) and the main countries (United States, Germany, Japan and China).The report firstly introduced the DNA Sequencing basics: definitions, classifications, applications and industry chain overview; industry policies and plans; product specifications; manufacturing processes; cost structures and so on. Then it analyzed the world's main region market conditions, including the product price, profit, capacity, production, capacity utilization, supply, demand and industry growth rate etc. In the end, the report introduced new project SWOT analysis, investment feasibility analysis, and investment return analysis.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @The report includes six parts, dealing with: 1.) basic information; 2.) the Asia DNA Sequencing industry; 3.) the North American DNA Sequencing industry; 4.) the European DNA Sequencing industry; 5.) market entry and investment feasibility; and 6.) the report conclusion.Table of ContentsChapter Two DNA Sequencing Up and Down Stream Industry Analysis2.1 Upstream Raw Materials Analysis2.1.1 Upstream Raw Materials Price Analysis2.1.2 Upstream Raw Materials Market Analysis2.1.3 Upstream Raw Materials Market Trend2.2 Down Stream Market Analysis2.1.1 Down Stream Market Analysis2.2.2 Down Stream Demand Analysis2.2.3 Down Stream Market Trend AnalysisPart II Asia DNA Sequencing Industry (The Report Company Including the Below Listed But Not All)Chapter Three Asia DNA Sequencing Market Analysis3.1 Asia DNA Sequencing Product Development History3.2 Asia DNA Sequencing Process Development History3.3 Asia DNA Sequencing Industry Policy and Plan Analysis3.4 Asia DNA Sequencing Competitive Landscape Analysis3.5 Asia DNA Sequencing Market Development TrendChapter Four 2011-2016 Asia DNA Sequencing Productions Supply Sales Demand Market Status and Forecast4.1 2011-2016 DNA Sequencing Capacity Production Overview4.2 2011-2016 DNA Sequencing Production Market Share Analysis4.3 2011-2016 DNA Sequencing Demand Overview4.4 2011-2016 DNA Sequencing Supply Demand and Shortage4.5 2011-2016 DNA Sequencing Import Export Consumption4.6 2011-2016 DNA Sequencing Cost Price Production Value Gross MarginChapter Five Asia DNA Sequencing Key Manufacturers Analysis5.1 Company A5.1.1 Company Profile5.1.2 Product Picture and Specification5.1.3 Product Application Analysis5.1.4 Capacity Production Price Cost Production Value5.1.5 Contact Information5.2 Company B5.2.1 Company Profile5.2.2 Product Picture and Specification5.2.3 Product Application Analysis5.2.4 Capacity Production Price Cost Production Value5.2.5 Contact Information5.3 Company C5.3.1 Company Profile5.3.2 Product Picture and Specification5.3.3 Product Application Analysis5.3.4 Capacity Production Price Cost Production Value5.3.5 Contact Information5.4 Company D5.4.1 Company Profile5.4.2 Product Picture and Specification5.4.3 Product Application Analysis5.4.4 Capacity Production Price Cost Production Value5.4.5 Contact Information......Make an Enquiry of this report @About ResearchMozResearchMoz is the one stop online destination to find and buy market research reports & Industry Analysis. We fulfill all your research needs spanning across industry verticals with our huge collection of market research reports. We provide our services to all sizes of organizations and across all industry verticals and markets. Our Research Coordinators have in-depth knowledge of reports as well as publishers and will assist you in making an informed decision by giving you unbiased and deep insights on which reports will satisfy your needs at the best price.Mr. NachiketState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesWebsite @Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Follow us on LinkedIn @
Injectable Drug Delivery Market worth $574.8 Billion by 2020

http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/injectable-drug-delivery-market-150.html

http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/pdfdownload.asp?id=150

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The report "Injectable Drug Delivery Market by Type (Device, Formulation), Therapeutic (Hormonal, Oncology), Usage Pattern (Curative Care, Immunization), Administration (Skin, Musculoskeletal), End User (Hospital, Home Care Setting) - Global Forecast to 2020", The Injectable Drug Delivery market is expected to reach $574.8 Billion by 2020 from $326.1 Billion in 2015, growing at a CAGR of 12.0% from 2015 to 2020.Browse 217 tables and 47 figures spread through 241 pages and in-depth TOC on "Injectable Drug Delivery Market"Early buyers will receive 10% customization on this report.Injectable drug delivery offers a promising alternative for the delivery of drugs that are ineffective when administered orally. Injectable drug delivery is aimed to maximize patient compliance and reduce the frequency of dosage administration without compromising the effectiveness of the treatment.The report segments the injectable drug delivery market on the basis of types, therapeutic applications, usage patterns, modes of administration, end users, and regions. On the basis of type, the formulations segment is expected to account for the largest share in 2015, closely followed by the devices segment. The formulations segment is expected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period, owing to the rising prevalence of chronic diseases, increase in demand of self-injection devices, growth of the biologics market, technological advancements, emphasis on innovation of formulations, and benefits such high efficacy and reduced side effects offered by formulations.Ask For The PDF Brochure:The formulations market is further segmented into conventional drug delivery formulations, novel drug delivery formulations, and long-acting injection formulations. The devices market is further segmented into conventional injection devices, self-injections, and other devices.On the basis of therapeutic application, the injectable drug delivery market is segmented into autoimmune diseases, hormonal disorders, oncology, orphan diseases, and other therapeutic applications. On the basis of usage pattern, the market is segmented into curative care, immunization, and others.On the basis of mode of administration, the injectable drug delivery market is segmented into skin, organs, central nervous system, and circulatory/musculoskeletal system. On the basis of end user, the market is segmented into hospitals/clinics, home care settings, research laboratories, pharma and biotech companies, and other end users.Get The Sample Copy Of This Report:Geographically, the market is dominated by North America, followed by Europe. North America is expected to account for the largest share of the injectable drug delivery market in 2015, with Asia having the highest growth rate during the forecast period.Key players in the injectable drug delivery market include Becton, Dickinson and Company (U.S.), Baxter International Inc. (U.S.), Gerresheimer AG (Germany), Pfizer Inc. (U.S.), Schott AG (Germany), Sandoz,(Germany) Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (Israel), and Eli Lilly and Company (U.S.).About MarketsandMarkets:MarketsandMarkets is the worlds No. 2 firm in terms of annually published premium market research reports. Serving 1700 global fortune enterprises with more than 1200 premium studies in a year, M&M is catering to a multitude of clients across 8 different industrial verticals. We specialize in consulting assignments and business research across high growth markets, cutting edge technologies and newer applications. Our 850 fulltime analyst and SMEs at MarketsandMarkets are tracking global high growth markets following the "Growth Engagement Model  GEM". The GEM aims at proactive collaboration with the clients to identify new opportunities, identify most important customers, write "Attack, avoid and defend" strategies, identify sources of incremental revenues for both the company and its competitors.M&Ms flagship competitive intelligence and market research platform, "RT" connects over 200,000 markets and entire value chains for deeper understanding of the unmet insights along with market sizing and forecasts of niche markets. The new included chapters on Methodology and Benchmarking presented with high quality analytical infographics in our reports gives complete visibility of how the numbers have been arrived and defend the accuracy of the numbers.We at MarketsandMarkets are inspired to help our clients grow by providing apt business insight with our huge market intelligence repository.Contact:Mr. RohanUnit No. 802, 8th Floor,Tower - 7, Magarpatta City SEZ,Hadapsar, Pune  411013,Maharashtra, India.Tel: +1-888-6006-441.
PASAYA E-NEWSLETTER / VOL.2 4 JULY 2016

Contempo

www.pasaya.com

www.pasaya.com

GET TO KNOW OUR FOUNDERSchle Wood-Thanan, a textile engineer who earned his degree in Philadelphia College of Textiles & Science (now Philadelphia University) in the United States who became a leading manufacturer in the international market supplying editeurs, converters, and wholesale brand owners all over the world. After sensing a shift in the textile industry and expanding ambitions, Mr. Schle made the bold leap to become an O.E.M. and founded PASAYA in 2002. Since then, PASAYA has been rapidly expanding and is a recognizable brand in many countries around the world.Schle began his business in a small factory with just a few looms. It took inspiration and determination to weave PASAYA into a well-recognized brand in Europe and Asia. We have contributed to raising the standards of decorative product to the highest international level.ART DECO COLLECTIONArt Deco is a shortened form of Arts Decorative, a distinctive style well known for its use in the Empire State and Chrysler buildings of New York City. Art Deco is characterized by bold geometric shapes, lavish ornamentation, and an abundance of colors which all give the impression of elegance, luxury, and glamour.The story of The Great Gatsby served as the inspiration for this collection. A tale of a clever man known for his class, intellect, and allure, he also had an air of mysteriousness that concealed the truth of his success. This collection is intended for anyone who appreciates modern luxury. The black and white pairings, characteristic of the Art Deco style, are exceptionally well presented in such designs and Triangle Bit and Garrison, which can be used together to make a striking combination in any room.DECOR TIPTo create an attractive home, it isn't always necessary to decorate it with fancy furniture, lavish wall coverings, or opulent chandeliers. Today, the minimalist style of home decoration has become very popular because of its simplicity and charm. Wall linens utilizing cool color schemes can be matched with plain fabrics and furniture, soothing the eyes and promoting an atmosphere of relaxation in the home.AMAZING THAILANDThailands cuisine is world-famous for its unique flavors and aromas. Pad Thai is perhaps the most famous Thai recipes and is enjoyed all over the world by Thais and foreigners alike. The savory taste of stir-fried noodles mixes with eggs and shrimp, seasoned with tamarind sauce, sugar, ground peanuts, exotic veggies and topped with fish sauce is sure to make anyones mouth water.Textile Gallery Co., Ltd.77/191-192 Sinnsathorn Tower, 42nd Fl.,Krungdhonburi Rd., Klongsarn, Bangkok 10600 ThailandTel: (662) 440-0955Fax: (662) 440-0933-4E-mail: info@pasaya.comWebsite:Experience is the secret to success, and with over 30 years at the top of the industry, we have it. Our factory is entirely green. Our standards of quality are higher than any competitor. Our service is second to none. Our designs are award-winning, and always in stock. A demanding client requires an uncompromising mill. You require PASAYA.Textile Gallery Co., Ltd.77/191-192 Sinnsathorn Tower, 42nd Fl.,Krungdhonburi Rd., Klongsarn, Bangkok 10600 ThailandTel: (662) 440-0955Fax: (662) 440-0933-4E-mail: info@pasaya.comWebsite:
Disperse Dyes Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Trends and Forecast 2014  2020

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=3486

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/

http://globalresearchanalysis.blogspot.in/

Disperse dyes are basically water insoluble type of dyes. Disperse dyes are usually finely ground and are made available in the form of paste or a powder. When this paste or powder is dispersed in water, disperse dyes can be used to dye textile fibers. The disperse dyes in the form of particles dissolve in the textile fibers and then impart color to them. These dyes were initially developed for dyeing cellulose acetate, however, nowadays they are also used to dye cellulose triacetate, polyester, nylon and acrylic fibers. The growing demand for disperse dyes in the textile fibers market for coloring applications is expected to drive the global disperse dyes market in the next few years.Disperse dyes are typically used for dyeing synthetic fibers especially nylon, acrylic and polyester fibers. Disperse dyes are usually available in the form of liquid products and powder. Disperse dyes in the form of powder consists of around 40 to 60% dispersing agents while in the liquid form of disperse dyes consists of around 10 to 20% dispersing agents. Ligninsulphonates and formaldehyde condensation products are growingly used in the disperse dyes formulations.Interpret a Competitive Outlook Analysis Report With FREE PDF Brochure :Disperse dyes are classified into three types, Low Energy, Medium Energy and High Energy. Low Energy disperse dyes possess low polarity, high dyeing rate, low molecular weight and low sublimation fastness. Medium Energy disperse dyes possess moderate molecular weight, moderate dyeing rate, moderate polarity and moderate sublimation fastness. High Energy disperse dyes possess high molecular weight, high polarity, high sublimation and low dyeing rate. The growing demand in the dyeing applications pertaining to synthetic fibers is predicted to drive the global disperse dyes market in the next six years.Asia Pacific is expected to be the fastest growing market for disperse dyes in the next few years. The main reason for this is the growing demand for disperse dyes from developing nations such as China, India, Indonesia and Thailand. Also, the countries in the regions such as Africa, South America and the Middle East are showing rapid economic growth since the last few years. Additionally, the U.S. and European countries are slowly recovering from the economic deceleration. All these factors are creating a positive outlook for the global industrial dynamics. Considering this positive outlook, the industries such as dyes and pigments are anticipated to record an astonishing growth in the next few years. Moreover, there is a massive market potential for the textile dyes in the developing countries such as China, India and Brazil. The increasing demand for disperse dyes in the industries such as apparels, home textiles and geo-textiles across different geographies of the world, especially in the developing countries, is expected to drive the global disperse dyes market in the next six years.The major players operating in the disperse dyes market are largely focusing on the developing countries for tapping their massive market potential. The major companies operating in the disperse dyes market are installing huge production facilities in these developing countries to fulfill the swiftly growing local demand for disperse dyes. Therefore, the global disperse dyes market is expected to witness a notable growth in the next six years.Some of the major companies operating in the global disperse dyes market are Heubach GmbH, Tronox Ltd., Clariant International Ltd., Eckart GmbH, Flint Group, CPS Color, The Shepherd Color Company, Sudarshan Chemical Industries, DIC Corp., Huntsman Corporation, Atul Ltd., Kiri Industries Ltd., National Industrialization Co., Kronos Worldwide Inc., Rockwood Holdings Inc. and Tinting Systems Company.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMR's experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.Our data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts, so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With a broad research and analysis capability, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques in developing distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.ContactMr. Sudip. STransparency Market Research90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:Visit :
Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient Market to Witness Growth, Increasing Proliferation of Abbreviated New Drug Applications a Key Driver

Market Research Hub

http://www.marketresearchhub.com/report/active-pharmaceutical-ingredients-api-market-brandedgenericover-the-counter-chemicalbiological-captivecontract-manufactured-by-geography-and-by-therapeutic-area-global-industry-analysis-size-share-growth-trends-and-forecast-2014-2020-report.html

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ALBANY, New York, June 04, 2016 - Market Research Hub (MRH) has added the report Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient Market: Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2015 - 2023 to its offering. This report provides a comprehensive evaluation of the market and incorporates an extensive quality analysis of the major dynamics impacting the development of the global pharmaceutical ingredient market. The market attractiveness evaluation on the basis of geography has also been encapsulated in the report. In addition, the report throws light on the event impact evaluation for the active pharmaceutical ingredient market.The first section of the report presents an introduction to the global active pharmaceutical ingredients market. This section comprises the definition of active pharmaceutical ingredients. An active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) are a combination of substances or a single substance that is utilized in a finished pharmaceutical product (FPP) and is aimed to furnish any kind of pharmacological activity. They are also utilized to have a direct impact in the cure, mitigation, diagnosis, prevention or treatment of a disease. APIs are highly utilized for manufacturing safe and effective medicines and are bulk products employed as raw materials in formulations.Browse Full Report with TOC @Moving next, the dynamics impacting the development of the market have been presented. The rising expenditures in healthcare and the swiftly growing geriatric population are the major factors stimulating the growth of the active pharmaceutical ingredient market. In addition, the increasing proliferation of Abbreviated New Drug Applications (ANDA) in the past few years will further augment the development of this market. Furthermore, the development of the Asia Pacific and the Rest of the World (RoW) healthcare markets and the patent expiry of the key biological drugs within the EU and the U.S. are the key opportunities in the market. On the other hand, the unfavorable regulatory policies imposed globally may inhibit the development of the market in the coming years.The next section of the report throws light on the segmentation of the active pharmaceutical ingredient market. On the basis of manufacturing process, the market is segmented into contract manufacturing and captive manufacturing. In terms of API type, the report segments the market into biological API and synthetic chemical API. By drug type, the report segments the market into generic, branded, and OTC prescription drugs. By therapeutic area, the report segments the market into cardiovascular disorders, metabolic disorders, neurological disorders, oncology, musculoskeletal disorders, NSAIDs, and other therapeutics uses. Geographically, the report segments the market into North America, Asia Pacific, Rest of Asia Pacific, Europe, and Rest of the World (RoW).The report suggest that the emerging players and the already established players in the global active pharmaceutical ingredient market can enhance their businesses in the market by the following two ways: Firstly, by expansion of their manufacturing capacities through acquisitions within promising geographies and secondly, by achieving cost leadership within particular API molecules. Hence, these have emerged as major opportunity areas in the global active pharmaceutical ingredient market.Download Free Sample Report with TOC in a PDF Format:At the end of the report, the company profiles of the prominent players operating in the market have been presented. Some of these players are BASF SE, Allergan plc., Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH, Dr. Reddy's Laboratories, Cambrex Corporation, Lonza Group, Pfizer, Inc., Sandoz (Novartis AG), and Mylan N.V., among others.Market Research Hub (MRH) is a next-generation reseller of research reports and analysis. MRHs expansive collection of market research reports has been carefully curated to help key personnel and decision makers across industry verticals to clearly visualize their operating environment and take strategic steps.MRH functions as an integrated platform for the following products and services: Objective and sound market forecasts, qualitative and quantitative analysis, incisive insight into defining industry trends, and market share estimates. Our reputation lies in delivering value and world-class capabilities to our clients.90 State Street,Albany, NY 12207,United StatesToll Free : 866-997-4948 (US-Canada)Tel : +1-518-621-2074Email : sales@marketresearchhub.comWebsite :
The computer as architect: Mathematics liberates building design from traditional forms

http://www.geometrie.tuwien.ac.at/pottmann

http://www.fwf.ac.at

http://www.prd.at

Creative architecture and modern construction technology create impressive buildings  but discrete differential geometry has also recently been playing a role in this area. The results of a mathematics project conducted by the Austrian Science Fund FWF show that this branch of geometry can be used to realise particularly breathtaking construction concepts.Latest the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain, demonstrated how impressively building structures can free themselves from the confines of a traditional form vocabulary. And specialised computer programs that translate architects' creative ideas into enthralling renderings, are the key to this development. The discipline of freeform architecture which emerged from such programs is still in its infancy  and the team working on the Austrian Science Fund FWF project is making an important contribution to developing the opportunities offered by this exciting branch of architecture.Form follows researchThe trend for freeform structures in contemporary architecture is actually creating several challenging research problems. Some of them can be solved using differential geometry  a mathematical discipline  as Helmut Pottmann, who heads the FWF project, explains: "For cost and planning reasons, even the most creative freeform structure must be composed of the simplest and most standardised components. Planning this is clearly a job for discrete differential geometry. In this field of geometry, curves and surfaces are discretised, in other words mathematically broken down into simple, flat elements. This radically reduces the variables that need to be calculated." The fragmented elements, known as panels, can be selected in such a way that they also meet the specific requirements for the aesthetic or the building physics. If such a fragmentation is rendered, it appears like a fine-mesh woven fabric that can be used as a model calculation for every conceivable form.Network of researchThe mathematical representation of such meshes is the focus of the research conducted by Pottmann and his team. Over the course of the project, the group has succeeded in making significant progress. For example, it was able to extend the calculation of discrete surfaces to include hyperboloid surface parts, as they are known. These can be used to produce smooth freeform surfaces, such as facades, from simple panels. The group developed an interactive design tool that can calculate the forces of equilibrium at the edges of discrete surfaces. The team also developed another tool that can account precisely for the forces of equilibrium in shells. This was previously only possible in an approximate, limited or very time-consuming way. The interactive possibilities offered by this tool have already been integrated into wider architectural applications. This is clear evidence of the high level of practicality of the developed calculation model.Research as a foundationPottmann's main focus is always on the application of the initially purely mathematical developments. He refers to very specific problems in freeform architecture: "It is exceedingly desirable in steel-glass constructions that the steel beams meet cleanly at one node rather than meeting randomly. This sounds easy, but it is anything but easy to plan if the architecture is following a freeflowing form. These are exactly the types of problems that our research helps to resolve." In fact, many programs used for developing designs do not take into consideration specific structural requirements. Many of them are based on the principles of mass production where very different manufacturing methods are more beneficial than the methods used for architectural one-offs. Real-world programs for freeform architecture must therefore allow for the division of forms into panels as much as for the design of a substructure and the incorporation of the properties of various building materials  and all of that for specific geometric problems. After allowing for all these factors, the form originally desired should be rendered as faithfully as possible.Not all the mathematical answers to these architectural challenges have yet been found. But the work being done by Pottmann and his team is laying a solid foundation for the future creativity of architects.FWF Austrian Science FundThe Austrian Science Fund (FWF) is Austria's central funding organization for basic research.The purpose of the FWF is to support the ongoing development of Austrian science and basic research at a high international level. In this way, the FWF makes a significant contribution to cultural development, to the advancement of our knowledge-based society, and thus to the creation of value and wealth in Austria.Scientific Contact:Prof. Helmut PottmannTechnische Universitat WienInstitute of Discrete Mathematics and GeometryWiedner Hauptstr. 810/1041040 Vienna, AustriaT +43 / 1 / 588 01 - 104 40E pottmann@geometrie.tuwien.ac.atAustrian Science Fund FWF:Marc SeumenichtHaus der ForschungSensengasse 11090 Vienna, AustriaT +43 / 1 / 505 67 40 - 8111E marc.seumenicht@fwf.ac.atCopy Editing & Distribution:PR&D  Public Relations for Research & EducationMariannengasse 81090 Vienna, AustriaT +43 / 1 / 505 70 44E contact@prd.at
United States Water Membrane Filtration Industry Report 2016

Global QY Research

http://globalqyresearch.com/united-states-water-membrane-filtration-industry-2016

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The recently published report titled United States Water Membrane Filtration Industry 2016 Market Research Report is an in depth study providing complete analysis of the industry for the period 2016  2021. It provides complete overview of United States Water Membrane Filtration market considering all the major industry trends, market dynamics and competitive scenario.The United States Water Membrane Filtration Industry Report 2016 is an in depth study analyzing the current state of the United States Water Membrane Filtration market. It provides brief overview of the market focusing on definitions, market segmentation, end-use applications and industry chain analysis. The study on United States Water Membrane Filtration market provides analysis of market covering the industry trends, recent developments in the market and competitive landscape. Competitive analysis includes competitive information of leading players in market, their company profiles, product portfolio, capacity, production, and company financials. In addition, report also provides upstream raw material analysis and downstream demand analysis along with the key development trends and sales channel analysis. Research study on United States Water Membrane Filtration market also discusses the opportunity areas for investors.View Full Report With Complete TOC, List Of Figure and Table:With 153 tables and figures, the report provides key statistics on the state of the industry and is a valuable source of guidance and direction for companies and individuals interested in the market.7 Analysis of Water Membrane Filtration Industry Key Manufacturers7.1 3M7.1.1 Company Profile7.1.2 Product Picture and Specifications7.1.2.1 Type I7.1.2.2 Type II7.1.2.3 Type III7.1.3 Capacity, Production, Price, Cost, Gross and Revenue7.1.4 Contact Information7.2 Alfa Laval7.2.1 Company Profile7.2.2 Product Picture and Specifications7.2.2.1 Type I7.2.2.2 Type II7.2.2.3 Type III7.2.3 Capacity, Production, Price, Cost, Gross and Revenue7.2.4 Contact Information7.3 GE7.3.1 Company Profile7.3.2 Product Picture and Specifications7.3.2.1 Type I7.3.2.2 Type II7.3.2.3 Type III7.3.3 Capacity, Production, Price, Cost, Gross and Revenue7.3.4 Contact Information7.4 GEA Group7.4.1 Company Profile7.4.2 Product Picture and Specifications7.4.2.1 Type I7.4.2.2 Type II7.4.2.3 Type III7.4.3 Capacity, Production, Price, Cost, Gross and Revenue7.4.4 Contact Information7.5 Technologies7.5.1 Company Profile7.5.2 Product Picture and Specifications7.5.2.1 Type I7.5.2.2 Type II7.5.2.3 Type III7.5.3 Capacity, Production, Price, Cost, Gross and Revenue7.5.4 Contact Information7.6 Koch Membrane Systems7.6.1 Company Profile7.6.2 Product Picture and Specifications7.6.2.1 Type I7.6.2.2 Type II7.6.2.3 Type III7.6.3 Capacity, Production, Price, Cost, Gross and Revenue7.6.4 Contact Information7.7 Meco7.7.1 Company Profile7.7.2 Product Picture and Specifications7.7.2.1 Type I7.7.2.2 Type II7.7.2.3 Type III7.7.3 Capacity, Production, Price, Cost, Gross and Revenue7.7.4 Contact Information7.8 Merck Millipore7.8.1 Company Profile7.8.2 Product Picture and Specifications7.8.2.1 Type I7.8.2.2 Type II7.8.2.3 Type III7.8.3 Capacity, Production, Price, Cost, Gross and Revenue7.8.4 Contact Information7.9 Novasep7.9.1 Company Profile7.9.2 Product Picture and Specifications7.9.2.1 Type I7.9.2.2 Type II7.9.2.3 Type III7.9.3 Capacity, Production, Price, Cost, Gross and Revenue7.9.4 Contact Information7.10 Pall Corporation7.10.1 Company Profile7.10.2 Product Picture and Specifications7.10.2.1 Type I7.10.2.2 Type II7.10.2.3 Type III7.10.3 Capacity, Production, Price, Cost, Gross and Revenue7.10.4 Contact Information7.11 Sartorius Stedim Biotech7.11.1 Company Profile7.11.2 Product Picture and Specifications7.11.2.1 Type I7.11.2.2 Type II7.11.2.3 Type III7.11.3 Capacity, Production, Price, Cost, Gross and Revenue7.11.4 Contact Information7.12 Spectrum Laboratories7.12.1 Company Profile7.12.2 Product Picture and Specifications7.12.2.1 Type I7.12.2.2 Type II7.12.2.3 Type III7.12.3 Capacity, Production, Price, Cost, Gross and Revenue7.12.4 Contact InformationAbout UsGlobal QY Research () is the one spot destination for all your research needs. Global QY Research holds the repository of quality research reports from numerous publishers across the globe. Our inventory of research reports caters to various industry verticals including Healthcare, Information and Communication Technology (ICT), Technology and Media, Chemicals, Materials, Energy, Heavy Industry, etc. With the complete information about the publishers and the industries they cater to for developing market research reports, we help our clients in making purchase decision by understanding their requirements and suggesting best possible collection matching their needs.Contact Us:Unit 1, 26 Cleveland Road,South Woodford, London,E182AN, United Kingdomsales@globalqyresearch.com
KACO new energy welcomes new UK North and Northern Ireland Area Sales Manager

For Carl Cook UK North and Northern Ireland are promising markets with expected growth potential.

www.kaco-newenergy.com

www.kaco-newenergy.com

Neckarsulm / Newport Pagnell, 30. June 2016  The German inverter specialist KACO new energy has appointed Carl Cook to new Area Sales Manager. He is responsible for the North of the UK and Northern Ireland Sales and Marketing Division with immediate effect.KACO new energy, one of the leading global PV inverter manufacturers, has appointed a new Sales Manager for the North of the UK and Northern Ireland. Carl Cook, who has enormous sales experience and an outstanding track record, takes over the sales activities in the aforementioned areas. His work will focus in particular on the further expansion of local business.Carl Cook boasts an outstanding knowledge in the solar sector and has excellent connections too. He is a dynamic and result-driven sales professional with years of experience in the growing renewable energies sector, said Andrew Walsh, Country Manager of KACO new energy UK.Prior to his move to KACO new energy, Mr. Cook worked for SolarMax as Key Account Manager for UK Channel Sales. Before that, from 2007 to 2012, he was Business Development Manager at Solarcentury. He gained further professional experience with PV marketing and sales at Hanwha Q CELLS.I am very glad to contribute to the continuous growth of the solar industry and the companys significant expansion and brand presence in Britain, said Carl. The UK has recently gone through a number of policy driven changes meaning that we truly need cost effective, yet quality made inverters and energy storage solutions. KACO new energy has a wonderful portfolio of products for our market.The EU is working to reduce the effects of climate change and establish the share of renewable energy. Recently both Portugal and Germany have succeeded in meeting almost all of their power needs by using renewable energy. The UK also has ambitious plans: For one week, between May 3 and May 9, more electricity was generated by solar energy than coal in the Kingdom. Last April the same was true for two days. Cook continues: England and Ireland have quite favorable insolation values and good conditions for the solar industry. KACO new energy has a promising starting position on this market. Our customers and partners can rely on 100 years of pioneering inverter technology. 8 GW of inverter power sold world-wide speaks for itself.On a side note the UK team comments on the Brexit: In summary, it is business as usual  keep calm, keep the faith, and lets see. Our clients believe that although it is an inconvenience, it will not deter them from buying our products. We are still going out to the market with a positive outlook.About KACO new energy:KACO new energy is amongst the worlds largest manufacturers of solar inverters. With offices in 16 countries, the company offers inverters for every array size from the smallest homes to the largest solar farms of hundreds of Megawatts. KACO new energy is based in Neckarsulm, near Stuttgart, Germany and the production facilities there, in the Americas and Asia have supplied around eight Gigawatts of inverters since 1999. The company was the first inverter manufacturer to achieve fully carbon-neutral production and is rapidly heading towards power self-sufficiency. KACO new energy also supplies energy storage systems and battery inverters, as well as inverters for PV-Diesel hybrid systems and combined heat and power plants. In 2014, KACO new energy celebrated the centenary of the original company which was one of the first suppliers of inverters in the late 1930s. Read more atContact:KACO new energy GmbHAndreas SchlumbergerHead of Corporate CommunicationsCarl-Zeiss-Str. 174172 NeckarsulmGermany+49 7132 3818-0+49 7132 3818-703pr(at)kaco-newenergy.de
Automotive plastics market size is anticipated to register USD 53.8 billion by 2022

https://www.gminsights.com/request-sample/detail/110

Automotive plastics market is to be worth more than 52 billion by 2022, growing at an CAGR of over 13.5%. Stringent regulation to reduce vehicle weight and curb carbon emissions is likely to drive automotive plastics market.Global recovery in automotive demand, improved vehicle design and growing importance of weight reduction and emission control are likely to drive automotive plastics market size.Global Market Insights has announced the addition of a new study based report on the automotive plastics market to their offering. The market size is predicted to surpass 18 million tons in terms of volume by 2022. In terms of revenue, the market is predicted to reach 52 billion from 2015 to 2022, at an anticipated CAGR of over 13.5%.The report focuses on quality analysis in terms of volume and revenue with a comprehensive overview of the market, including definitions and classification of the market, market trends, competitive landscape, coupled with key participants of the market, regional scenario, and aspects such as drivers, impediments, opportunities and challenges of the market.Versatile, lightweight plastic material offers superior designs and excellent resistance to weather conditions. This has increased the demand of this compound, as the most accepted form of design material in the automotive industry. Strict government regulations about vehicle emission control have resulted in implementation of lightweight plastics as substitutes for steel or aluminum metals.The increasing trend of lightweight vehicles to enhance fuel efficiency and increasing prices of metals is likely to further the growth. Factors like increasing investments in material research of plastic substitutes and higher material cost, non biodegradability of synthetic polymers, environmental concerns with regards to carbon emissions, etc. are predicted to hinder the market growth.The report covers the analysis of the automotive plastics industry segmented into electrical components, power trains, under the hood and chassis, and interior & exterior on the basis of its application. Airbags, now being a mandatory safety measure in passenger cars, is likely to drive demand.Regional analysis of the market report covers market insights on a regional scale. Asia Pacific is likely to retain its dominance as the largest automotive plastics market region for passenger cars. In terms of consumption, the Middle East & Africa region is anticipated to register as the top growing region. Growing automobile aftermarket sales are likely to impel the MEA market in next few years.Get a Free Sample Copy of this Report @Major participants of the market are profiled in the report with the comprehensive analysis of the business strategies, current trends and competitive landscape. The key players include BASF, Dow Chemical, Evonik Industries, Johnson Control, Delphi Automotive and AkzoNobel N.V. Borealis AG, Hanwha Azdel, GrupoAntolin-Irausa S.A, Magna International, Lear Corp, SABIC, Momentive Performance Materials, DSM and Owens Corning are some other major companies covered in the report.Global Market Insights, Inc., headquartered in Delaware, U.S., is a global market research and consulting service provider; offering syndicated and custom research reports along with growth consulting services. Our business intelligence and industry research reports offer clients with penetrative insights and actionable market data specially designed and presented to aid strategic decision making.29L Atlantic Avenue, Suite L 105
Loway announces the release of WombatDialer 16.06

https://www.wombatdialer.com

Loway Switzerland, leading provider of solutions for Asterisk call-centers, today announced that its most famous dialer software for Asterisk, WombatDialer, exits its "beta" stage and becomes a mature product with version 16.06."We want to thank the over 300 sites that have been running WombatDialer in the last three years", said Lorenzo Emilitri, Loway CEO. "They made possible to reach this major milestone, all thanks to their suggestions and bug reports."Release 16.06 offers significant improvements to the WombatDialer package. They are centered around a major GUI evolution and a significant increase in performance.The Loway development team did a lot of work on the GUI to improve the quality and ergonomics of the daily interaction with WombatDialer and many relevant changes in the Real-time page.Also they did a number of changes under the hood, parallelizing logging and improving the database schemas, so that a stock WombatDialer should perform well for systems up to 1000 channels with no need for special configurations.With the new feature "Adaptive Boosting", WombatDialer will improve agent utilization by 30-50% over fixed overdialing rates by monitoring recent traffic and applying a statistical model on it.It is only a matter of turning this option on for the campaign - no configuration, no parameters, it just works. And compared to most classic predictive models, it works better even with small agent pools.Also about 100 bugs and minor issues were fixed by Loway developers.For detailed information please visit the official websiteWombatDialer 16.06 is immediately available, as an RPM archive, a tar.gz archive or a preconfigured Docker image. The updated User Manual can also be found on the Downloads page. If you currently have a licensed WombatDialer system, you can upgrade now at no extra cost.Since 2004, Loway develops complete and customizable software solutions for Asterisk PBX call-centers.Their distinguished QueueMetrics set up modern standards in performance measurement and reporting for call centers based on Asterisk technology. WombatDialer is a flexible, easy to use outbound dialing platform and a perfect complement to QueueMetrics.Via Laveggio 36855 StabioSwitzerland
H&T Presspart Marsberg: Official partner to implement Industrie 4.0 solution

www.ht-group.com

www.ht-group.com

- H&T Presspart Marsberg project partner of funding programme MyCPS initiated by Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF)- Industrie 4.0 only successful if employees involved- High potential to enhance efficiencyMarsberg (Germany), 4 July 2016  H&T Presspart Marsberg, a subsidiary of the Heitkamp & Thumann Group, is partner of a 3-year research project initiated by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) on Industrie 4.0.The project, known as MyCPS, is to open up application areas to implement Industrie 4.0 by showing how CPS can be shaped and implemented in a people-centred manner so that companies can use these systems to achieve their productivity potential.CPS (Cyber-Physiscal Systems) are systems which link the real world with the virtual one. They control and monitor processes by means of sensors and actuators, linking them with each other via the internet. In the vision of a fully realized Industrie 4.0, for example, orders will, via CPS, independently steer themselves through complete value-added chains, ordering materials and processing machinery, as well as organizing their delivery to the customers.Christian Kratzig, Managing Director of H&T Presspart Marsberg comments: Industrie 4.0 technologies can only be successful if employees are actively involved in their implementation. MyCPS focuses on this aspect.H&T Presspart Marsberg will implement an interactive, decentralized and mobile solution to record, classify, assign, report, as well as analyze and eliminate faults in the production process. The focus will be on creating an intuitive user guide suitable for industrial use, as well as on interaction with employees.With the help of such interactive fault management, hand-written documentation of fault data and manual commissioning of maintenance work and measures to rectify faults will soon belong to the past.Industrie 4.0" or the fourth industrial revolution is the German vision for the future of manufacturing and stands for the current trend of digital automation and data exchange in manufacturing technologies.The research and development project for the implementation of people-centred Cyber-Physical Systems (MyCPS) is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) through the funding programme Industrie 4.0  Research on the factory shop floor and supervised by the project agency Karlsruhe (PTKA). Responsibility for the contents of this publication rests with the author.H&T Presspart Marsberg belongs to the H&T Presspart Division of the Heitkamp & Thumann Group. With three European business locations, H&T Presspart is specialised in the manufacture of high-precision metal and plastic components for the pharmaceutical industry. The family-owned Heitkamp & Thumann Group comprises more than 20 medium-sized companies in 10 different countries with around 2000 employees, organized in two divisions and five independent business units.Nils Hubert, Director HR & Public Affairs | Heitkamp & Thumann Group, Konigsallee 4, 40212 Dusseldorf, Germany | nils.hubert@ht-group.com | +49 211 7954 206 |
Neckarsulm, 8. August 2017  Inverters from KACO new energy as well as its new reactive power technology will be employed in the Hassel solar park. The open space PV plant is currently being constructed and will be operated by E.ON. The project is the largest one by the German energy provider in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt and the first one of this scale that uses KACO new energy 
Vietnamese companies sharply increased exports of catfish to the U.S., China and Brazil in the first five months of this year but lowered shipments to the European Union, the government portal reported Sunday, citing data from Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Processors (VASEP).

The countrys total export value of catfish during January-May rose 5.5 percent year on year to $650 million. Of the total, exports to the U.S. in the period were worth $152 million, accounting for 23.4 percent and up 12.9 percent from a year earlier. The U.S. remained the largest destination for Vietnamese catfish in the first five months.

Vietnamese catfish. Photo by VnExpress/MH

Shipment value to China over January-May jumped 72.7 percent year on year to $94.9 million while exports to Brazil were worth $32.8 million, surging 118.3 percent year on year, according to the data.

Vietnams exports value to the E.U. in the first five months, however, fell 8.1 percent from a year earlier to $109.3 million.

Meanwhile, in the first half of this year, Vietnams catfish industry was facing various difficulties ranging from consumption markets, volatile prices and diseases, which have led to a decrease in catfish farming area. The catfish farming area in the Mekong Delta in the first half of this year is estimated at 3,757 hectares, down 5.5 percent from the same period last year. The catfish output in the region during January-June is estimated at 526,683 tons, almost the same with last year. Vinh Long, Ben Tre, An Giang and Dong Thap saw their catfish production falling from 1 percent to 12 percent year on year.

Related news:

> More Vietnamese catfish companies allowed to export to U.S.

> Vietnam welcomes U.S. decision to cancel catfish inspections

> Vietnam scales up catfish exports to Thailand
When producers commissioned young Broadway rabble-rouser Lin-Manuel Miranda to update "West Side Story" back about 2008, they were trying to prevent the 1957 musical from becoming "a museum piece."

Apparently, Miranda boosted the show's bilingualism, toned down the humor and tweaked the staging of the "Romeo and Juliet" tale set amid rival New York City street gangs.

That revival logged mixed reviews. But it did prove that "Hamilton's"-future-main-man might actually be human.

In the passionate, skilled hands - and feet, and bodies and voices -- of Broadway Rose Theatre Company's cast and creatives, the original "West Side Story" doesn't feel like a dusty artifact -- or, worse -- campy late '50s kitsch that should be pitched.

For starters, these kids bravely attack the most-iconic choreography in American musical theater. And the three lankiest-legged leads, Kayla Dixon (Anita), Austin Arizpe (Bernardo) and Drew Shafranek (Riff), are smartly positioned center stage to show off Jerome Robbins' legendary hoofery. (Robbins co-created "West Side Story," along with Leonard Bernstein, Arthur Laurents and Stephen Sondheim.)

"West Side Story" possesses its own incredible kinetic aesthetic. Balletic sweeps and skips. Mambo kicks. Jazz snaps. Cha-cha duets. These, along with the vocal-stretching score and kaleidoscope of costumes, are joys to experience live.

That said, "West Side Story" isn't a total timeless treasure.

The book is a relic. Too fine-tuned to the vernacular of area and the naivete of the era, the narrative offers only echoes of its original relevance, like Bruce Springsteen or "60 Minutes."

And so much of "West Side Story" unfolds beautifully through dance and music, which are of the time but transcend it.

The book needs to be completely overhauled, or just shredded -- every "Cracko, jacko!," "Daddy-O" and "Real cool." There's not a plot point or emotion that can't be revealed in song and steps.

Best moment:

The number "Somewhere." In the 1961 film version, it's sung as a duet between Tony and Maria. In the play, a soloist sings off-stage as disparate, pastel-clothed dancers pair-up and then converge in tender, united space.

Strengths:

The population on the boards at Deb Fennell Auditorium is impressive. At any given time, there could be two-dozen performers mamboing or rumbling. And while not every dancer is in lockstep, its clear they have the moves down within a week or so of pure muscle memory.

"West Side Story's" songs define enduring. The soundtrack for the film still holds the record as the longest running number one album in Billboard history: 54 weeks. If the soundtrack had produced singles, it's likely that "Tonight," "America," "Somewhere" and "I Feel Pretty" would have topped the Pop chart. And a genre-spanning array of artists, including Metallica, Selena, Tom Waits, Andrea Bocelli and the Pet Shop Boys, have covered the ballads and rhythmic charmers.

In the Broadway Rose production, Andrew Wade (Tony), Mia Pinero (Maria) and Kayla Dixon, drive the score skyward. Tony's numbers -- "Maria" in particular -- require famously tough vocal acrobatics (a high B-flat and singing intervals). Wade's falsetto and confidence are solid.

Weaknesses:

In its day it, the musical was considered profane, violent and gory. Now, 60 years since its premiere, gangs armed with knives, bottles, bats and zip guns seem downright Disney-esque. A zip gun that pops off a couple of shots? How quaint.

Hokey dialogue also sinks the gangs' threat-level. Did the phrase "We challenge you to a rumble" ever sound frightening? The perky ragamuffins from "Newsies" would smoke these Sharks and Jets.

The play's prejudice and xenophobia certainly register now: Puerto Rican migration could be contemporary Mexican and Muslim immigration. But the book's diminished realism makes the whole show feel too sweetly allegorical, with a tragic yet tidy conclusion.

Take-away:

Arthur Laurents' words are tarnished beyond polishing. But Broadway Rose makes Robbins' steps and Sondheim and Bernstein's tunes sparkle and soar. Three out of four ain't bad.

-- Lee Williams, for The Oregonian/OregonLive

***

"West Side Story"

Where: Deb Fennell Auditorium, 9000 S.W. Durham Road, Tigard

When: 7:30 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, 2 p.m. Saturday-Sunday through July 24. Ages 6 and up.

Tickets: $20-$50; broadwayrose.org or 503-620-526
Tiffany Reisz.The Bourbon Thief.jpg

Tiffany Reisz explores the dark side of family legacy in her new novel, "The Bourbon Thief."

(Author photo, Andrew Shaffer; book cover, Mira Books)

It's Southern, it's gothic, it's a mystery, it's a family saga, it's romance with a double shot of erotica - Tiffany Reisz's latest novel serves up the head-spinning story of a fictional bourbon empire in its final, staggering days.

"The Bourbon Thief" (Mira Books, 368 pages, $15.99) draws from the Oregon author's roots in Kentucky and features as a key plot point the 1978 flooding of the Kentucky River, which occurs while 16-year-old Tamara Maddox, heiress to the Red Thread label, is in the midst of personal crisis. What happens that night sends her down a stream of intrigue, betrayal and vengeance that continues to ripple for decades.

Reisz will hold a book release party with fellow author (and husband) Andrew Shaffer at 6 p.m. Monday, July 11, at Jan's Paperbacks, 18095 S.W. Tualatin Valley Highway, Aloha. Here is an excerpt from "The Bourbon Thief."

***

There wasn't much in the world Cooper McQueen cared about more than a good bourbon. In his forty-five years, not one single beautiful woman had managed to persuade him to set down his drink and leave it down. But when the woman in the red dress walked into his bar--a gift from the gods tied in a tight red bow--McQueen decided he might have seen the one woman on earth who could turn even him into a teetotaler. Her dress was tight as old Scrooge's fist, red as Rudolph's nose, and looking at her, McQueen had only one thought--Christmas had come awfully early this year.

Miss Christmas in July glanced his way, smiled like she knew what he was thinking and was thinking along the same lines herself, and McQueen figured he'd be leaving the bar early tonight and nobody better try to talk him out of it.

Not wanting to appear too eager, he continued to sip his bourbon--neat--as he kept her in his peripheral vision.

Christmas in July walked over to the bar and took a seat. He watched her study the menu and he smiled behind his glass. In one minute he'd go over to her, buy her a drink, let it slip he owned the bar, dangle out the bait, see if she was in the mood to nibble. He'd seen his fair share of beautiful women in his bar, usually too young--he had some pride, after all--but Miss Christmas looked a respectable thirty-five. A real woman. A grown woman. The sort he could sleep with without apology. She had dark skin and black hair that lay in heavy coils down her back and tied at the nape of her neck with a red ribbon he fully intended to untie with his teeth given the opportunity.

One minute up, he went to claim the opportunity.

It didn't break McQueen's heart to excuse himself from his current conversation with someone who was either an investment banker or a venture capitalist. He had stopped listening the moment Miss Christmas walked in. He went over to her and sat in the empty bar stool to her left without waiting for an invitation. He owned the place. No reason not to act like it.

He didn't say anything at first. He let the silence linger and grow as heady as the muddy Ohio River on a hot night, the kind that made even the sidewalks sweat. Maybe he could talk the lady into a stroll over to the river while the night was still warm. Maybe he could talk her into something more.

"What can I get you?" Maddie, the pretty blonde bartender, asked the woman.

"How about a shot of Red Thread?" the woman said. "I like to match my drinks to my hair ribbon."

"Red Thread?" Maddie glanced at McQueen, a silent plea for help. "I don't think..."

"Red Thread's been out of business for thirty-five years," McQueen said to Maddie.

"Oh, good. Thought I was going crazy. Could have sworn I knew every bourbon there was," Maddie said. "Any bottles left?"

"Not a one," McQueen said, not a white lie, not a black lie. A little red lie.

"What a shame," Miss Christmas said, although she sounded neither surprised nor disappointed. Christmas was right. Her voice had a frosty tone to it. She was cool. He liked cool.

Excerpted with permission from THE BOURBON THIEF, by Tiffany Reisz. Published by MIRA Books.
1wiesel.JPG

n this Sept. 12, 2012, photo Elie Wiesel is photographed in his office in New York.

(The Associated Press)

By Sara J. Bloomfield

Special to The Washington Post

In 1973, five years before President Jimmy Carter would appoint Elie Wiesel to chair a commission to determine how the United States should memorialize the Holocaust, Wiesel was already a prominent author and thinker. On the other side of the planet, I was an untested middle school English teacher in Sydney, Australia, fresh out of an American college. No one could have predicted that 20 years later we would be together at the opening of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C.

But something happened in Sydney that perhaps foreshadowed our common destiny. It was an event that forever changed my students - and me. I chose to have them read Wiesel's iconic memoir "Night" in hopes that it might address - and ameliorate - some of the rampant prejudice among my students in this multi-ethnic, working-class community, teeming with immigrants and resentments. Indeed, they were deeply moved.

They were also shocked to discover that I was a Jew. They had never before seen one and were astonished that I was so "normal."

It was a transformative moment for all of us. And"transformative" is the word that defines the life and legacy of Elie Wiesel. His memoir has transformed millions of people worldwide. His vision for the museum was as an institution that would transform the living by remembering the dead. In 2005, Elie and I traveled to Romania, where he was instrumental in transforming that nation from one that denied its complicity in the Holocaust - Romania is second only to the Germans in the number of Jews it killed - to one that now hosts an Elie Wiesel Institute devoted to Holocaust research and education.

In 1986, the Nobel Committee called Elie a "messenger to mankind." While that is true, it is not complete. He was one of the few whose message was not just delivered, but heard - if, sadly, too rarely heeded. I sensed that one of the great sorrows of Elie's life was the failure of the world in the face of genocides in Bosnia, Rwanda and Darfur. He recognized that giving a voice to victims was necessary but insufficient. Action was required.

But it was Elie's singular voice - a voice whose moral clarity resonated with millions from all walks of life - that was his hallmark. He also boldly envisioned the museum as a voice. He called it a "living memorial." For him, memory was sacred but it also had to have a purpose. He saw the museum as a unique moral platform that would serve as an antidote to one of the world's gravest problems - indifference.

He himself challenged indifference at the highest levels. In spite of his relationships with all the presidents, he did not hesitate to call them to task. In 1985, he publicly admonished President Reagan for visiting Germany's Bitburg cemetery, where 47 SS officers are buried. And at the dedication of the museum in 1993, after speaking about his beloved mother and the how the world abandoned her and all the Jews of Europe, he turned to the newly elected President Clinton. In front of almost 10,000 people, Elie challenged him to do something to stop the ethnic cleansing in Bosnia.

Elie never presented himself as having all the answers. He was a man of moral certainty who was also plagued by doubts. Although never consumed by cynicism or anger, he was driven in his pursuit of questions - endless questions. He always said that the museum is not an answer. It is a question.

At the dedication ceremony, he said the museum is "a lesson. There are many lessons. You will come. You will learn. We shall learn together." We did. And we do. He is now silenced, but his voice - a voice that both inspires us and challenges us - lives on.

Bloomfield is director of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.
Fourth of July: On July 4, we recognize the Declaration of Independence, which defines the American dream as inalienable natural rights including life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

The Constitution establishes a government to secure those rights by promoting the general welfare and the blessings of liberty.

Whatever the Constitution further defines relies upon natural human rights independent of and superior to any government construction. They are intangible property sourced in personal opinion, religion, communications, use of abilities to labor physically and mentally, and in conscience.

Only by application of these inherent rights can one truly possess material things.

The American dream never meant government largesse ensuring college funds, retirement accounts, savings, executive severance packages, affordable health care, home ownership, lifetime employment, corporate wealth, political careers and union benefits.

Politicians become patricians and offer enchanting elements of material security such as described, while obscuring subservience to rules vastly increasing their power.

Their legislation and laws negate our Bill of Rights, confiscating freedoms for these apparitions.

Accomplishing this fraud requires passing administrative laws and regulations that are the soft underbelly of our Constitution.

Under English common law, basic to our Constitution, a person is innocent and not subject to the penalties of the law until proved guilty. Administrative laws and regulations are like Roman civil law where a person is subject to its penalties and restrictions until they find legal means to extricate themselves.

Now citizens unconsciously, routinely make Faustian bargains, willingly exchanging the essence of their humanity for illusions of material comfort.

Nolan Nelson

Eugene
In the central province of Ha Tinh, a group of scientists has run a survey at two sites in Ron Ma and Son Duong islands, 7.5 kilometers from Formosas wastewater output. The seabed at Ron Ma had many big rocks and attaching creatures. Coral scattered, failing to merge and form reefs. The corals that died are mostly of genera Favia, Turbinaria, Favites, Goniastrea, Montipora. Typical coral reef fishes like Holocentridae and Chaetodontidae reduced to a population of less than 30 individuals per 250 square meters of coral reefs area.
Friday 1 July 2016 2:25pm



Dr Carla Meledandri

An Otago academic has won the annual Emerging Innovator Award at the KiwiNet Research Commercialisation Awards, for her work harnessing silver nanoparticles to treat and prevent dental disease.

University of Otago and the MacDiarmid Institutes Dr Carla Meledandri was announced as joint winner last night of the Norman F. B. Barry Foundation Emerging Innovator Award with the University of Canterburys Dr Daniel Holland, whose work focuses on mathematics plus measurements equals economic benefit.

Dr Meledandri feels proud to have been able to contribute to a celebration of Kiwi innovation, saying: The process involved in the translation of academic research into commercial outcomes is not always an easy one, and in my case, working toward this goal has required a great team effort over the last several years.

I am delighted to have received recognition for our success so far.

The Department of Chemistrys Professor Lyall Hanton says Dr Meledandris success is testament to the innovative multidisciplinary work she has done with her group and colleagues in Dentistry.

It is a very bold move on Carlas part to be attempting to commercialise her research at this stage of her career. Commercialisation is always an interesting journey and is never straightforward but the Chemistry Department has considerable experience in translating its research. So Carla has colleagues to talk things over with.

Also Carla has been ably assisted by staff from Otago Innovation Limited. It is an exciting time to be in Chemistry.

The awards are designed to celebrate commercialisation success in New Zealands universities and Crown Research Institutes, and were announced at a reception in Auckland.

"sometimes even science that is initially seen as operating in the fringe ends up creating immense commercial value for the New Zealand economy."

KiwiNet General Manager Dr Bram Smith, says, There are so many exciting examples of science powering business innovation in the research community. To quote one of the finalists today, sometimes even science that is initially seen as operating in the fringe ends up creating immense commercial value for the New Zealand economy. Thats a story we see often in research commercialisation. Whether its using gaming technology to find oil, using lasers to increase productivity in the dairy industry, or fungi instead of fungicides to help plants grow, the opportunities are as diverse as they are exciting.

Lead KiwiNet Awards judge and KiwiNet Investment Committee member Dr Andrew Kelly, Executive Director at BioPacific Partners says, Yet again the standard of entries for the KiwiNet Awards continued to rise. It was notable that more sophisticated commercialisation processes are being used such as public private partnerships and long term research business collaborations. The sheer level of entrepreneurial talent was also impressive.

BNZ Head of Agribusiness, John Janssen, says, Todays winners have developed some clever high-tech innovations that will create a range of new businesses and contribute to a high achieving New Zealand. Were very pleased to be celebrating their dedication to innovation and their success.

The Kiwi Innovation Network (KiwiNet) is a consortium of 16 universities, Crown Research Institutes and a Crown Entity established to boost commercial outcomes from publicly funded research. Principal support is also provided by the Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment.
Quang Binh lost $179 million in the aftermath of the recent environment disaster. Photo by VnExpress/Hoang Tao

Quang Binh Province will lose an estimated four trillion VND ($179 million) by the end of 2016 as result of the recent mass fish deaths.

The disaster caused by Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Plant (FHS) in central Vietnam has severely affected Quang Binh's fishing, tourism and services, said local authorities.

An estimated 70 tons of dead fish washed up along more than 200km of Vietnams central coastline in early April. The provinces of Ha Tinh, Quang Tri, Quang Binh and Thua Thien Hue were the worst hit, where thousands of fishermen lost customers or were forced to sell at a loss. Formosa Ha Tinh Steel (FHS), a subsidiary of Formosa Plastics, admitted on June 30 that it caused the disaster.

Representatives from local departments in Quang Binh, in a meeting held on July 4, estimated the provinces seafood and salt production industry have lost about $56 million. The figure is expected to increase to $103 million by the end of 2016.

The tourism industry also took a severe hit, losing $62 million in three months, while the number is expected to reach $76 million by December.

The tourism industry has taken a severe hit from the mass fish deaths. Photo by VnExpress/Hoang Tao

Quang Binh authorities estimate the total damage in 2016 is VND4 trillion, without taking into consideration the long-term damage to the marine environment and fisheries resources. They also evaluated that fishing output has decreased by 40-60 percent.

Nguyen Huu Hoai, chairman of Quang Binh Peoples Committee, said the incident has seriously affected local citizens.

Hoai has asked local agencies to assess the damage to the aquaculture and tourism industries in an "accurate, lawful and fair manner" and to calculate the potential long-term damage.

A 22-member council was formed recently in Quang Binh to assess the damage caused to the province by FHS. The council is in charge of calculating the exact damage caused by the environmental disaster and looking at how to recover and stabilize local production.

Related news:

> Thua Thien-Hue sets up council to evaluate pollution damage from Formosa

> Deputy PM requests corruption probe into Formosa's licensing

> How Formosas $500 mln compensation will be distributed
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Members of an enduring Midland book club have always focused on the books, but in the process have become close friends.

The five current members of the group spoke recently, with much laughter and many warm recollections, about their experiences through the years.

Were kind of a little support group as well (as a book club), Bobbie Baker said at the clubs June meeting around a table at the former Cup & Chaucer coffee bar space at Grace A. Dow Memorial Library. We care about each others lives.

All five members are nurses retired from MidMichigan Health in Midland - four were primarily in recovery and one in the operating room.

We worked together for many years, Baker said.

The book club started meeting in a conference room at the hospital in September 1989. During the years, the membership has expanded slightly from time to time, and has included a couple of doctors as well as nurses.

The focus in the beginning was a serious interest in classic literature.

We started out reading the classics, said Helen Winslow. The goal was to read books that we always wanted to read.

I love the classics, said Mary Lawry.

The first book the group read and discussed back in 1989 was William Faulkners As I Lay Dying.

Another early choice was William Makepeace Thackerays Vanity Fair.

We had a big discussion about that one, Baker said.

Other classics have included Wilkie Collins The Moonstone (1868), considered one of the first mystery novels, as well as works by Leo Tolstoy, Willa Cather, Graham Greene and many others.

It was just enjoying literature and discussing it with someone who enjoys it as much as you do, Baker said.

Group members acknowledged they prefer to read books with substance.

The group meets once a month and averages reading and discussing 10 to 11 books a year. Baker estimates theyve read about 270 books since the group started.

We make up a list  we all contribute, Baker said. We come to a consensus.

The group doesnt have a regular monthly meeting time, instead choosing to meet when most of us are going to be around.

Lawry spends only half the year in Midland, but keeps up with the group and reads all the selections so she can contribute to the discussions when she is in town.

Through the years, the reading list has expanded beyond the classics to more contemporary works, both fiction and nonfiction.

Theres a huge variety, said Becky Hodges.

At the recent meeting, each group member had a copy of her June book, On the Move, an autobiographical work by neurologist and writer Oliver Sacks.

The discussion process is free-form, said Ginny Jossi.

We dont have a list of questions, Lawry said. Thats the advantage of having a smaller group.

The members shared love of reading doesnt mean they always agree on their evaluations of the material.

We give each other a lot of space, and we respect each others point of view, Baker said.

Winslow said Baker can find something good in about everything we read.

Among the all-time favorites for the group is The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco.

Other recent favorites include The Devil in the White City, a 2003 book by Erik Larson, who tells the story of a serial killer at the time of the 1893 Worlds Columbian Exposition in Chicago; another Larson book, Isaacs Storm; Sheri Finks Five Days at Memorial, an investigation of patient deaths at a New Orleans hospital devastated by Hurricane Katrina; and Bird by Bird, which presents author Anne Lamotts advice about how to write.

Club members also said they learned a lot from Daniel James Browns The Boys in the Boat, about the University of Washington eight-oared crew that represented the U.S. in the 1936 Olympics and narrowly beat out Italy and Germany.

Other favorite contemporary authors include the historians David McCullough and Doris Kearns Goodwin.

Book club members say they expect to keep discussing books and sharing each others lives for a long time to come.

I think well be together forever  until were together somewhere else, Winslow said.
Michigan now has a standardized military veteran definition for benefit programs after Gov. Rick Snyder recently signed a 21-bill legislative package into law, including a bill sponsored by Rep. Gary Glenn, R-Midland.

Glenns House Bill 5335, now Public Act 202 of 2016, updates the Korean Veterans Military Pay Fund law to clarify the definition of an eligible veteran. Other measures in the package enact the same definition of a veteran throughout all Michigan laws using the version in federal law.
HOUGHTON LAKE, Mich. (AP)  Authorities are investigating a small plane crash that injured three people in northern Michigan.

MLive.com reports (http://bit.ly/299r0pg ) Sunday that state police determined a single-engine Piper struck a fence at Roscommon County Blodgett Memorial Airport in Houghton Lake Saturday morning.

Police say the 66-year-old pilot told investigators that the plane was caught by a downdraft when he began his approach. The plane skidded on its nose and came to a stop about 100 yards from the fence.

The pilot, another man and a juvenile male suffered minor injuries and were treated at the scene of the crash. A juvenile female was not hurt.

The Federal Aviation Administration was notified about the crash southeast of Traverse City.

___

Information from: The Bay City Times, http://www.mlive.com/bay-city
BATTLE CREEK, Mich. (AP)  Six west Michigan teens are jailed in connection with the theft of a pair of $2,000 designer sunglasses outside a Battle Creek gas station.

The Battle Creek Enquirer reports (http://bcene.ws/29r5OOD ) Sunday that a 22-year-old man told police he was in a parking lot when his Cartier sunglasses were taken at gunpoint.
Ho Chi Minh City looks into ways to limit private vehicles in the city center to ease congestion.

Following Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City is looking at ways to limit the number of private vehicles entering the city center to ease congestion.

Data from the citys Department of Transport showed that over the first six months of this year, the number of newly-licensed vehicles accelerated by around 180 cars each day. As of June 15, the city had a total of 7.6 million vehicles, of which cars accounted for 600,000 units.

The city has been looking at ways to solve traffic congestion, such as setting car import quotas and banning cars in the inner city. However, traffic congestion remains a big challenge that authorities need to address.

Traffic jam in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo by VnExpress/Huu Cong

Tran Quang Lam, deputy director of the Department of Transport, said that they are working on a plan to reduce vehicle numbers in some central areas after news that Hanoi may ban motorbikes in 2025.

We are working with a university to draw up a roadmap to reduce traffic in central areas. We may limit private vehicles on weekend evenings to start with, like we have already done on Nguyen Hue Street.

The deputy director added that they will implement the plan only when the first metro line, connecting Ben Thanh Terminal in District 1 and Suoi Tien Amusement Park in District 9, comes into operation. Additional conditions include public transport that can meet travel demands and enough underground parking lots.

Last month, Hanoi outlined a draft that said the city will gradually reduce the number of private vehicles and aims to stop the operations of motorcycles by 2025. Like Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi is struggling to handle traffic jams with the number of vehicles currently standing at around 5.5 million and projected to hit eight million by 2020.

Related news:

> Radical proposal to limit Hanoi's motorcycle traffic

> Surviving 2025 motorbike ban Hanoi style
Streets that link Tan Son Nhat airport to the city's central districts are usually congested Photo by Huu Cong

Tan Son Nhat Airport plans to cut peak hour flights to ease traffic congestion.

The gateway to southern Vietnam, Tan Son Nhat International Airport is operating over its capacity, serving 16 million domestic passengers in 2015, while the terminal was designed to welcome 13 million.

The number is expected to rise to 19.8 million in 2016, reported Dang Tuan Tu, director of the Tan Son Nhat Aviation Security Center (TASC), at a meeting on July 4 with the Ministry of Transport.

Deputy Minister Nguyen Nhat has approved a proposal to reduce the number of flights during peak hours to ease traffic congestion around Tan Son Nhat Airport.

Traffic between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. has been getting worse, said Tu. The airport is located in the middle of a crowded residential area with more buildings rising up along the main road to the airport. As a result, congestion has also increased.

In addition, the airport currently has 51 aircraft parking spaces; 49 for commercial use and two for emergencies, so due to the limited space many aircraft have to park on the taxiway overnight, said Tu.

From June 16 to June 22, Tan Son Nhat averaged 630 passenger flights per day, and 663 on peak days. This is forecast to increase to 750 flights this summer, even higher than the last Lunar New Year.

In February, Tan Son Nhat International Airport was in chaos due to massive Tet migration. The situation was worsened by large family greetings and a terminal packed full of people.

Related news:

> What to do when your flight is delayed

> Aircraft skids off runway at Tan Son Nhat airport
Question: Can you name the top five most popular Fourth of July destinations in America? Do you also know the top five places in America with the best fireworks shows?

Answer: From here, you can still easily visit the most popular Fourth of July destination in America. According to Yelp!, visiting Chicago is most popular, followed by Las Vegas, Washington, D.C., Orlando and San Diego. To make the best fireworks show, though, you better quickly jump a plane as the American Pyrotechnics Association says the best place to watch fireworks on July 4 is Seattle. That is followed by Minneapolis, New Orleans, Washington, D.C., Portland, Ore., and  better news  St. Louis, at No. 6.
CLINTON  The investigation into a Friday afternoon bank robbery in Clinton is continuing.

A dispatcher Sunday said there have been no arrests and there was no new information on the case.

At about 3:50 p.m. on Friday, a man entered DeWitt Savings Bank, 302 W. Main St., and presented a handwritten note to a teller demanding money, police said in a news release. The bank employee complied with the demand, police said.

No weapon was displayed during the robbery, and no one was injured. The suspect fled the bank with an undisclosed amount of cash to a nearby parked car and drove west at high speed through residential neighborhoods, police said.

The suspect is described as a tall, slender black man in his middle to late 20s or early 30s who was wearing dark jeans, a dark long-sleeved shirt, mirrored aviator style sunglasses and a multicolored or camouflage bucket hat bearing a Chicago Bulls logo, police said.

The suspect had a square postage-stamp-style tattoo on his right hand.

The suspect vehicle is described as an older model white passenger car, possibly a Mercury Grand Marquis or Ford Crown Victoria, with a partial license plate of "V10," police said.

Clinton police are being assisted in the investigation by the Dewitt County Sheriff's Department, Illinois State Police Zone 5 Investigations, Illinois State Police Crime Scene Services and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Clinton Police Department at 217-935-9441 or Clinton Area Crime Stoppers at 217-935-3333.

It was the first bank robbery in DeWitt County since Oct. 24, 2012, when the Kenney Bank and Trust in Kenney was robbed. Robert McKissic and Robert Allspach, both of Lake Fork, pleaded guilty to the crimes in 2013 and remain in prison.
Morning performances kicked off just after 7 a.m., with Eureka High Schools band being the third to march onto Hancock Field to compete among 41 other bands.
TOWANDA  The fireworks display in Towanda was canceled Monday night because the vendor that was going to do the show had an accident in a Chicago suburb on Sunday.

A statement on the Towanda 4th of July Celebration Facebook page said, We will have a show, but no make up date has been set. Our thoughts and prayers are with the company.

The Associated Press reported that a pyrotechnician suffered burns while setting up a firework display that exploded prematurely around 1 p.m. Sunday. The explosion caused about $12,000 worth of remaining fireworks to ignite in rapid succession, according to a statement from the city of Bridgeview. The suburb is just southwest of Chicago's Midway International Airport.

The fireworks installer suffered burns to his extremities, chest and face, Bridgeview Fire Department Battalion Chief Davis Lis told WBBM-TV.

A second worker reportedly suffered less serious injuries.
Disney has been discreetly making some changes around the theme park and resorts following an incident that took the life of Lane Graves, the 2-year-old that was attacked by an alligator. Apart from beefing up its warning signs, the management has been removing any references to alligators and crocodiles at Disney World. The management has also limited fishing activities at the lagoon and beaches.

Miami Herald reports that Disney has been removing sights, attractions and characters depicting predator animals in the parks even if these are only caricatures and references. Among those that visitors will no longer see in their Disney World visit include:

- Tic Toc Croc, the crocodile from "Peter Pan," from the Magic Kingdom Festival of Fantasy parade.

- Louis, the alligator that plays the trumpet in "The Princess and the Frog," which can be seen at the Friendship Faire castle.

- References or jokes about alligators and crocodiles in the running gag and script presented during The Jungle Cruise.

- References to alligators and crocodiles in the Kilimanjaro Safari ride.

Disney World Has Quietly Been Removing All References to Alligators https://t.co/KyxCY93T97 pic.twitter.com/B8uklkTIZT  Cosmopolitan (@Cosmopolitan) July 2, 2016

However, the animals -- real and caricatures -- are still preset at the Epcot Center inside the Disney parks. The management expressed that it is slowly rolling out the changes while it evaluates the "entire property."

Additionally, Disney employees have been tasked to undergo training that will help them become more proactive with visitors and wildlife interactions. The staffers are being trained to properly let Disney guests be more aware of the safety measures in the parks. It is unclear if Disney will bring back the characters and references in the future. For now, the focus is public safety.

Meanwhile, Disney is also putting limitations on fishing activities especially in their outdoor spa, resorts and campgrounds like Fort Wilderness, Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa and Old Key West Resort, per Click Orlando. There are currently eight hotels at Disney World, all within near distance to the beach. Hotel employees are also strictly closing the beaches at night, except when there are fireworks displays. Rope fences have also been installed on the site where Lane Graves was attacked.

Have you been to Disney World recently, or planning to visit the site? Do you think removing any references is a good move? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
"Teen Wolf" Season 6 will see Scott, Stiles and the rest of the Pack head on to the second half of their Senior Year in High School. With most of the members of the Pack graduating, does this mean Beacon Hills will have to say goodbye to Scott and Stiles and welcome a new Teen Wolf in the person of Liam?

This article contains spoilers. Read on if you want to learn more about the details of this story.

"Teen Wolf" Season 6 spoilers reveal that Scott (Tyler Posey) and Stiles (Dylan O'Brien) are headed for graduation, as they enter the second half of their senior year. This led to speculations on Twitter that Scott will need to hand over his role as the head of the Pack and pass it onto Liam (Dylan Sprayberry).

After all, this is not the first time a Teen Wolf 2.0 has been speculated on the show. In an earlier interview with executive producer Jeff Davis, the showrunner noted on the possibility that "Teen Wolf" Season 6 will focus more on the younger members of the Pack in order to smoothly transition the moment Scott and Stiles graduate.

This also led to speculations that "Teen Wolf" Season 6 may be the last fans will see of Scott, Stiles and the other members of the Pack. Scott may then take over Derek Hale's (Tyler Hoechlin) role as Liam's mentor after that.

However, this all remains a speculation as of the moment. "Teen Wolf" Season 6 will be holding a panel at the 2016 San Diego Comic Con, reports MTV News. The cast and crew will be attending the said event and a trailer is also expected to be unveiled during the SDCC.

Attending cast members for the "Teen Wolf" Season 6 panel at the SDCC are yet to be announced. Executive producer Jeff Davis will also be present during the event.

Do you think Scott and Stiles will leave Beacon Hills in "Teen Wolf" Season 6? Share your thoughts in the comments section below!


Diabetes is caused by a lack of insulin, resulting in an inability to properly break down sugars in the body and turn them into glucose or energy. The pancreas is the main organ responsible in producing insulin, but diabetes can inhibit or damage them. Luckily, science has now found a way to produce artificial pancreas in order to help those who are suffering from the life-threatening illness, diabetes.

What's so great about this scientific breakthrough is that it means soon enough people with Type 1 diabetes can forego their insulin injections in exchange for this artificial organ. And the best part, according to The Daily Mail, is that artificial pancreas could be available within the next year if all goes according to plan. These faux organs are so technologically advance that they include a sensor, which can detect a person's blood glucose levels and allow insulin to flow through accordingly.

As per reports from the Sydney Morning Herald, the devices that are currently available on the market can either monitor blood glucose levels or pump insulin to the body after a reading. These artificial organs can "close the loop" between the two types of devices and do both to an amazingly great effectiveness. This is a much welcome change to the pricey and complicated gizmos available in today's market used to help diabetics in the maintenance of their otherwise risky condition.

We have come such a long way from botched human-to-human transplants and the short-lived uses of animal organs in human bodies. Thanks to the team from Cambridge University that developed the artificial pancreas, there will now be far less casualties resulting from the failure of upkeep of medication for diabetes. Subjects who underwent clinical testing are said to be happy with the product and how it has given them time off from the stressful maintenance of their condition.
Florida has just confirmed that there are 10 new cases of Zika in the state making it a total of 1,000 cases of the disease in the whole of the United States.

PBS News Hour reported that the 10 new cases were recorded in just one day making it the largest number of a one-day total announced in the U.S. since the disease started to spread throughout Latin America in 2015. According to reports, a thousand cases have been recorded in the country but 246 of these cases were found in Florida this year.

Due to this, the Florida Department of Health said in a statement that it would routinely update residents about the new cases of the virus as well as how to prevent contracting it. It was unclear, however, if the new cases were acquired locally or if it is travel-related. Most of the cases listed detail that they have recently traveled to a country where the virus has spread.

The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said that the primary spread of the Zika virus is through the bite of the Aedes mosquito but could also be transferred via sexual intercourse. Pregnant women are being urged to take extra precaution as the baby could suffer from Zika-linked microcephaly or other invisible defects that could not be easily detected.

Babies in Brazil have been affected with Zika-related microcephaly and people rarely die from the disease. A person infected with Zika also generally does not show symptoms to the point of getting hospitalized.

Health officials have expressed concerns regarding people in the U.S. living in poor and urban areas along the Gulf Coast. People living in these areas are more likely prone to the disease since they might have broken window screens, limited air conditioning, and unsanitary living conditions.

There is no vaccine or treatment for Zika virus as of current.
It's been a year since Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner announced their amicable split. However, the estranged couple remains to be the favorite topic among celebrity breakups. In fact, after a year they are still plagued with getting back together rumors. According to news reports, the "Daredevil" ex-sweethearts have already reconciled.

Ben Affleck And Jennifer Garner Back In Each Other's Arms?

Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner's breakup is few of the most friendly celebrity splits. Although there are rumors that the pair broke up because of the "BVS" star's alleged romance to their nanny Christine Ouzounian, Affleck and Garner remain friendly in co-parenting their three kids.

According to Inquisitr, Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner are officially back together. This report springs from the "Alias" star's dad, Bill Garner, who admitted that he is "awful proud" of his daughter on how she handled things with Affleck.

When Bill was asked about the divorce, Garner's dad remain coy but his words suggest that things are better between his daughter and son-in-law. "I would prefer not to comment on her plans. Any news will come from her and not from us," he told Radar Online. "They do well, and we think that their heads are screwed on pretty well," he added.

Jennifer Garner Happier After Split With Ben Affleck?

Meanwhile, although Garner and Affleck have not confirmed their reconciliation, there is no doubt that the "Elektra" star is back in the groove. Per the Huffington Post, the mom of three enjoyed a progressive career following the success of her recent film, "Miracles from Heaven."

Despite the alleged third party on Ben Affleck's side, Garner never talked bad behind her ex-husband's back but has improved herself. In fact, she walked the red carpet solo during the 2016 Academy Awards and slew the best-dressed list.

What do you think, will it be better for Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner to reconcile? Will reconciliation save their marriage until the end or is this a temporary halt from their impending divorce? Should Garner give Affleck another chance? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.
"Orange Is The New Black" Season 4 is one of the interesting seasons in the current series. The controversial season ended with several cliffhangers that will surely make fans drool over "Orange Is The New Black" Season 5.

Cliffhangers In 'Orange Is The New Black' Season 4

The "Orange Is The New Black" Season 4 finale featured Daya aiming at Humphrey, will she pull the trigger? There are also lots of talks on how Poussey's death will affect Taystee and girlfriend Soso.

"It's war. Taystee has nothing to lose, she's lost everything that she cared so deeply about. It's time to fight. I think that's where we will see Taystee go," Danielle Brooks told the Hollywood Reporter. Meanwhile, Kimiko Glenn teased that things will more difficult for her character, Soso in "Orange Is The New Black" Season 5.

Another, cliffhanger that will probably be answered in "Orange Is The New Black" Season 5 is Judy King's fate. Will she make it alive in Litchfield? Will she be released?

Well, it seems that Blair Brown has some other plans for her character. Brown, who plays Judy in "OITNB" wants Judy to commit another crime and stay behind bars all her life.

'Orange Is The New Black' Season 4 A Success

Per Variety, "Orange Is The New Black" Season 4 earned 6.7 million watchers from June 17 to June 19, making it as popular as "Game of Thrones" and "Major Crimes." The last season's finale is filled with cliffhangers that many want to see "Orange Is The New Black" Season 5. Unfortunately, per Inquisitr, it might take a long time before the new season returns. The report notes that the series will likely complete the production in at least one year.

Fans think that a year of waiting is quite long but for those who want have not watched the series, you can watch the first four seasons of "Orange is The New Black" over and over again until the new season premieres.

Have you watched "Orange Is The New Black" Season 4 already? Are you excited for "Orange Is The New Black" Season 5? What do you expect in the upcoming season? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.
A Chicago-based program is reducing crime rates by encouraging conversations between youth groups. "Becoming A Man" is a program that allows gang members to sit together and calmly talk about their issues.

The program is run by the non-profit organization Youth Guidance that allows students to attend group sessions targeted to practicing more conscious decision-making processes. Adolescent males are taught how to slow down decision-making processes to improve a student's ability to make appropriate judgments during certain situations.

A study in 2008 revealed that many homicides in Chicago youth are due to impulsive behavior, access to guns and over-reaction to aspects in their social environment, according to the University of Chicago. "Becoming A Man" targets at-risk boys studying in Chicago public schools, according to Huffington Post.

Boys who participate in the program become more willing to talk about their personal lives and emotional vulnerabilities, according to John Wolf, senior manager from the University of Chicago's Crime Lab. Many students involved in the program are in poverty, reside in dangerous neighborhoods or are constantly surround by violence.

Wolf explains that the program exposes the same fears and anxieties of the other kid just sitting across them. "It's a human condition to show those things and it's a common experience," said Wolf.

Even just days after one group killed a member of the other group, the two groups of people were able to sit down and have a conversation, according to Wolf. Wolf explains that the two groups did not mention whether they knew who did it; instead they talked about ways on how to find peace and make sure it did not escalate any further.

Becoming A Man, however, does not tell students what to do or how to behave. The program encourages students to carefully consider their decisions before acting.

A 50 percent decline in violent crime arrests were reported between 2013 and 2015 from the program's 2,000 participants as compared to a control group. Every dollar invested in the program is also projected to return more than $30 in societal gain due to crime reduction. In addition, the program also increases graduates rates by 19 percent and therefore adds to long-term economic gains.
"Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" - The Harry Potter spin-off movie is to hit the cinemas later in the year. Sources confirm that the sequel to the movie is already written by J K Rowling, reported Independent.

The first Harry Potter book might have come out around 20 years back. Yet, the wizarding saga has not lost its sheen. The so-called eighth part called the Cursed Child is currently running in West End.

The writer, J K Rowling, who shot to fame with the book series, made her screenwriting debut with the movie - "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them." Not only did she finish writing the second part, it is but also reported that she has fantastic ideas for the third movie.

"We've done the first one, she's written the second one, [and] she's got ideas for the third one," the director of "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them," David Yates told.

Yates helmed by directing Order of the Phoenix, Half-Blood Prince and both parts of the Deathly Hallows. He was the clear choice for the upcoming movie too.

Davis Yates also talked about how directing "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" is different from working on the past Harry Potter adaptations.

"It's sort of lovely in a way. When we adapted the books, you would always have to leave out things that you hate leaving out because they didn't quite work within the structure of the storytelling for the movie, or the movie would just be far too long. With this, it's just pure Jo [Rowling] from the first page to the last page."

This is because she is the screenwriter of "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them." Well, Harry Potter fans can expect 'fantastic' things from the upcoming movie!

Eddie Redmayne's Newt Scamander is the protagonist in the movie. In a featurette recently, J K Rowling revealed a lot more about the character and the magical creatures in "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them."
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Progressives are not patriotic. Conservatives are patrioticthey celebrate our nations history and heritagewhile progressives hate our country, our history, and what the United States as a nation stands for. Or at least, so goes the narrative. On days like todaythe Fourth of Julymy mind is brought back to this narrative, which often pivots on disagreements about what actually happened in our history and what our heritage actually is. In reality, progressives and conservatives simply have a very different view of our history, as well as a very different view of what we as a country stand for and what our national history should mean to us today.

Over the the past three decades, Ive gone through three different stages of looking at American history. Perhaps, in some sense, I am a case study of the historical fragmentation so common across our political divide today. Perhaps, though, my own historical transformation can help point to the roots of these disagreements.

I grew up in a solidly conservative Christian homeschool family. I was taught that the United States was special, set apartsomehow preordained and substantively different from the rest of the world. Ours was a historically Christian nation, a nation of people striving to do Gods will, a City on a Hill. Our ancestors were especially moral, especially hardworking, especially close to God, and God poured out his blessing on us. We spread from coast to coast, improving everything we touched, settling and building a prosperous, godly nation. Religion and politics worked together, hand in hand, and religion was key to our nations success, progress, and growth. We were a moral and religious people, blessed by God.

At some point, the narrative went, we as a nation turned our back on God, seduced by materialism, and we removed God from our public life and began to shutter our churches. The 1960s featured heavily in this story, with rhetorical images of strung-out hippies foreshadowing the decline of our nation. The removal of school prayer in 1962 and 1963 also played a part, beginning a moral unleashing. Our nation had gone astray and was now ripe for judgement. Over the last several decades, many events have been interpreted as part of that judgementthe September 11th attacks, for instanceand the removal of Gods hand of protection.

I was taught that we were once a great nation and were now in the throes of decline. We once led the world in industry, morality, and military might, but were now rotting from within, having fallen prey to moral decline and the personal ruin created by liberal and progressive politics, which subverted the individuals urge to better himself. Welfare, government-handouts, and government bloat threatened to undo what so many hard working Americans worked so hard to create for generations. Everything our ancestors had builta City on a Hill, an industrial powerhouse, a beacon of freedom shining to the worldwas now at risk. If we fought this decline, though, there was a chance that we could make America great again.

When I turned 18 I left home to attend a state college, and it was there that I studied history outside of this conservative lens for the first time. My professors didnt set out to create a narrative of horror and atrocities, and the classes I took were in many ways very conventional, but there was just so much there that I hadnt realizedthat I hadnt seenand as I learned more I simply couldnt hold onto the view Id been taught. I found my views shifting into a sort of in-between stage as I grappled with what I was seeing. In many cases it was the primary sources my professors assigned that hit me the hardest. Id rarely read primary sources before.

What godly, moral, upright, Christian nation holds an entire racial group in chattel slavery? Now yes, Id known about slavery, and Id known it was evil, but I hadnt realized how deeply it was defended, or how little the Union soldiers and Northern whites Id been taught to revere as liberators and heroes actually cared about slaves wellbeing. I hadnt realized that our country was literally built on slavery, that the prosperity Id been taught to admire in our early nation came fundamentally at the price of slaves sweat and tears. I hadnt realized how deeply Northern whites had sold out the newly freed slaves when they ended Reconstruction a scarce decade after the war, favoring friendship with white southerners over protecting the freedoms of southern blacks. I hadnt realized that the (white) church in the Southand sometimes in the Northplayed a large role in fighting to keep segregation and Jim Crow, and against civil rights, through the twentieth century.

And dont even get me started on what happened to our nations native population. Growing up, Id read biographies of white settlers captured by Indians, heroic tales of Lewis and Clark, and a triumphant narrative of westward expansion. There was so much Id never learned. I didnt realize that the American colonists carried out raids and wars on the native inhabitants every bit as bad asand sometimes worse thanatrocities carried out by Native Americans. The more I learned, the more I read, the more dismayed I became. When I got to the part where many native tribes were forced to give up their children to be educated thousands of miles away in boarding schools designed to rob them of their culture, their language, and their religion, I was beyond horrified. I was losing my grasp on the history Id thought I had known.

Who were these people, these supposedly upstanding, godly, moral people, my ancestors? How did they do such horrible things? Im not even done. There were the sweat shops, there was child labor, there were militia troops firing on striking workers (and their families)workers who simply wanted better wages and a better way of life. There was the KKK and lynching that continued into the 1930s and beyond, there was the red baiting after WWI and the Immigration Act of 1924, designed to keep unwanted (and allegedly radicalized) foreigners out of our countrya country that I had thought held its arms open to the tired, the hungry, the huddled masses yearning to breathe free. But Im not done yet!

There was the St. Louis, a ship with 900 Jews on board, fleeing Hitler, rebuffed from U.S. shores and sent back to Europe in 1939. While in college I attended a talk given by a woman who was on that ship as a small child, whose parents would have lived to see her grow up if not for American bigotry I had not known existed. I found that many of those in the U.S. championed eugenics during the very period Hitler was on his rise, and that Germanys anti-semitism was fueled in part by literature written by prominent Americans. I learned about Japanese internment, about the willy nilly disregard of human rights and freedoms, and about Cold War military operations that toppled democratically elected governments abroad. And there was more, so much more. It went on and on and on.

And so I stood there staring at a ruin. And it was depressing. The grand patriotic narrative Id grown up learning had collapsed around me. For some years after that, I wasnt sure what I felt for my countrys history. At first, I was too horrified to experience sorrow, and then sorrow descended. Id been a genealogy nut in high school, but it was only now that I learned the full meaning of that history. I found that I had ancestors who were in the KKK. I mourned the loss of the beautiful picture Id been taught, I mourned the actions of my ancestors, I mourned the death and destruction and horror I now perceived our nation to be built on. Was I ashamed of my country? Perhaps. But mostly, I was just sad.

But my story does not end there, and this is what I think many conservatives miss. Over time I began to notice something. I began to pick up on individuals who pushed back against the atrocities and the sheer weight of evil, individuals who fought for good, for something better, for something greater than themselves. I began to find heroes, the sort of individuals frequently forgotten and left out of conventional history books. If we stop looking at rows of wealthy white male politicians, businessmen, and landowners typically championed in history books, we begin to find the others. And you know what? The others are part of our history, too.

Have you heard of Ida B. Wells? Perhaps. Perhaps not.

Ida B. Wells was an African American woman who was born in 1862 and died in 1931. She was her eras most passionate anti-lynching crusader, using her abilities as a journalist to push back against the oppression of her people. She was also a suffragette and a womens rights campaigner. She began her career as a teacher, finding work to support her younger siblings financially after she was orphaned at age 14. In 1884, she sued a railway company after being thrown off a train when she refused to give up her seat due to her race. It was after this that her career in journalism began. When a white mob lynched three of her friends in 1892, she turned her attention to lynching, traveling the south and interviewing victims families. She wrote a book on her findings, and the data she collected is still used by historians today. She was one of the founding members of the profoundly influential National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).

There are others, too. Jane Addams, a progressive reformer and social worker who pioneered new programs for underprivileged immigrants and their children. Claudette Colvin, who refused to give up her seat on the bus before Rosa Parks did, but was ultimately deemed too controversial, as an unmarried pregnant teenager, to headline the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Eugene V. Debs, who was imprisoned for speaking against WWI and spent time in jail for participating in strikes and promoting workers rights. Mary Bowser, a freed slave who spied in Jefferson Davis own household during the Civil War. But its not just about individuals, and its not just about people whose names we know. Our history is replete with individuals and groups who fought without thanks to make the world around them a better place.

These African American soldiers fought for freedom during the Civil War:

These striking child workers marched for labor rights in 1903:

These Jewish children protested child labor in 1909:

These suffragettes protested Woodrow Wilson in 1916:

These African American children in NYC marched against anti-black violence in 1917:

These southern textile workers walked out in 1934:

An American man of Japanese descent put up this sign in 1942:

These African American children marched for civil rights in 1963:

These Chicano students protested Columbus Day in 1992:

These individuals were not always perfect. They sometimes had glaring blind spots of their own. But collectively, they pushed back against oppression and injustice in heroic and inspiring ways. I began to realize that the wealthy white men of our history textbooks did not own history. They were never the only people here, and the various axes of oppression they (and others) built were never accepted willingly. Even when marginalized populations did not have the ability or space to push back in obvious or public ways, they often found smaller ways of resistance; beyond obvious resistance, we can look at the ways marginalized populations supported each other, helped each other, and found meaning even in times of difficulty. Think of African American spirituals, or Native American efforts to keep their traditions alive against all odds. This, too, is part of our national legacy.

As I worked to incorporate the efforts of marginalized populations to fight injustice into my understanding of our nations history, a very different picture began to emerge. I began to see a story not of American decline but of gradual, sometimes rocky and always hard-fought, American progress. I began to see a country not just of people who perpetuated injustice but also of people who fought injusticeand little by little, over time, achieved victories. What an example they set! We live in a country that is arguably freer, fairer, and more just today than at any time in its history. Yes, we still have a long way to go, but we are not alone. We have a national legacy to build on. We have heroes to look to.

This country does not belong to those who have perpetuated oppression. It also belongs to those who have fought oppression. This is something progressives should claim more vocally. When we push back against problems we see in America todaywhen we question and challenge our own countrywe are not anti-American, we are as American as they come. We are building on a long history of oppression-fighters and change-makers; we have heroes to remember and ideas to draw on. We also have scores of cautionary tales, of pitfalls to watch out for and of things to avoid. We know what evil looks like, because our nation has embraced evil more times than we care to countand some of us have ancestors who were on the wrong side of past fights. But we also know what fighting that evil and championing something better looks like, because we can point to historical figures and movements that did just that. We are replete with heroes to celebrate and emulate.

This year, on Fourth of July, lets embrace that legacy. Lets celebrate the fighters, those not afraid to stand in the face of injustice. Our history is not simply the story of a row of presidents, it is also the story of thousands of individual ordinary people who fought evil, who pushed back against injustice, who sought to create a better world. And that, dear readers, is a powerful history. This, then, is the third stage of my historical imagining. At one point I worried, struck with the weight of atrocities and evil, that I had lost the beauty and uplift I had once found in our nations history. I did not know then that I would find it again, and that I would again be able to take pride in our nations history and legacy. But I have, and I do.
Leaked Salaries Cast Iran Officials In Harsh Light, But To What End?

07/04/16

By Golnaz Esfandiari, RFE/RL



Iranian President Hassan Rohani

Some have suggested the publication of the pay slips is an attack on him ahead of next year's presidential election.

Some have suggested the publication of the pay slips is an attack on him ahead of next year's presidential election.

Simmering anger in Iran's hard-line media over official salaries has forced President Hassan Rohani's administration onto the defensive with a likely reelection bid for the relative moderate on the horizon.

The purported pay slips from earlier this year of executives from government-owned insurance agencies and banks were recently leaked online, and appear to show inflated salaries, bonuses, and other benefits that could prove politically divisive in a country where roughly 30 percent of the population lives below the poverty line.

Instances cited by conservative media suggest an insurance executive received about $30,000 in monthly compensation and a bank manager was paid more than $65,000 for a month's work, as much as 200 times what modestly paid government employees make and more than 100 times the official average household salary.

The original source of the leaks remains unclear.

The scandal has already prompted the resignation of Iran's state insurance regulator, Mohammad Ebrahim Amin, and a reported jail term for an unnamed government executive who was said to have refused to explain and document his income to the head of the General Inspectorate Organization, Nasser Seraj.

Some Iranians have taken to social media to criticize the officials' salaries and post their own pay slips to highlight the disproportion. Blue-collar laborers in Iran frequently wait months for their wages, teachers struggle to make ends meet, and union leaders are among the most influential critics of the country's leadership.





Under pressure from conservative media and expressions of public outrage, Rohani in a letter urging official action in mid-June acknowledged "unconventional payments" but blamed holdover legislation from previous administrations and promised action.

On June 27, Rohani's first vice president, Eshagh Jahangiri, vowed that the government would act against those who receive "illegal" or "extraordinary" salaries.

"Society and public opinion expect the government to return illegal payments to the treasury and dismiss the violators on this issue," Jahangiri was quoted by a government website as saying.

Political Attack?

Rohani supporters have suggested the publication of the pay slips is aimed at hobbling Rohani and dimming his chances of reelection in next year's presidential vote.

Health Minister Hassan Ghazizadeh Hashemi was quoted by the hard-line Fars news agency on June 20 as saying that "people believe the leaks are politically motivated."

Rohani swept into office in 2013 on pledges of reform that included greater rights for women and dialing down persecution of dissent and public criticism of the government, although such efforts have mostly stalled.

He also successfully concluded an agreement with the United States and other world powers to curb Tehran's fiercely disputed nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief that could revive trade and other ties with the West, further angering hard-liners in Iran.

He has come under increased pressure to deliver on promises to improve Iran's economy, including through tangible benefits from the nuclear deal.

Reformers and political allies with Rohani's explicit or implicit backing returned in significant numbers to Iran's parliament in elections earlier this year, although most of the power in the country's clerically controlled system resides with the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The state-run daily Etelaat, which has shown sympathy in the past to reformist causes and politicians, suggested earlier this month that the online leak of the pay slips in the final year of Rohani's presidential term was a "planned" move aimed at chipping away at public trust.

An ultra-hard-line daily, Kayhan, last week rejected that argument as a "weak defense that doesn't convince anyone" and said, "Even if that is the case [that the leak was orchestrated], then solve the problem and don't give an excuse to critics."

Kayhan called on the government to make the pay slips of its executives public: "The pay slips of managers is not among confidential documents. Transparency is the most principled way to act against these issues."

It added that "a real and acceptable apology will be when the government gives all access to the pay slips of its managers."

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
Babies Switched at Birth: Two families on emotional roller coaster over nurse's grave mistake

07/04/16

Source: Tehran Times

TEHRAN - On a popular show called Mah-e Asal that goes on air in Iran during the holy month of Ramadan, one true story went quite viral this year. Two families learned the hard way that their babies were switched at birth after passage of almost a year.





The story began when a newly married couple, the Omidvars living in the city of Shiraz, southern Fars province, took their 10-month-old baby for a trip to pediatrician office; however the routine checkup turned into a big shock.

The doctor informed the family of their baby's slow development. Suspicious of mother's milk, he sent the mom for some lab tests, and this is where the story takes a turn.

Looking at the test results in disbelief, the doctor broke the bad news to Mr. and Mrs. Omidvar. "Your baby is down with a rare genetic blood disorder that none of you have had, to top it all, the baby's blood type does not match yours."

After that doctor's visit, the marriage was in for a bumpy ride. The thought of marital infidelity was taking root in Mr. Omidvar's mind when they decided to go for a DNA test, the result of which took two long months to come out.

"The wait didn't feel like two months rather twenty years," Mrs. Omidvar said. I couldn't bare the heavy burden of my husband's suspicion, neighbors' cold and mean look, relatives ... "our marriage was going through some really rough patches."

The result was finally out and the unbelievable happened. The child was not theirs.





"Switched at Birth" or "Mistaken Identity" film poster



The couple immediately filed a complaint against the hospital and began investigation. After months of search, thankfully they met the other family, the Keshavarzs, who live in another city in Fars province.

A few months back, Mr. and Mrs. Keshavarz received a phone call from the hospital asking them to take their baby for a blood test.

That test, too, came as a shock to the family, proving the couple was not the baby's biological parents.

The two families eventually got to meet to prepare the ground for swapping the babies, a process which requires great deal of care, dealing with babies and parents emotional and psychological trauma.

According to psychologists, the dreadful experience of separation of the baby from his caregivers can leave permanent scars on all parties involved, therefore the families were advised to live in one house or in their close proximity for a while before the separation takes place.

The story ends happily here, but perhaps the emotional trauma taking its toll on both families will remain.

We all make mistakes. True. But some are far more costly than others. One careless mistake from a nurse who perhaps was having a bad day, turned out traumatizing two families and their newborn babies.

The families say the nurse at fault is yet to come forward to apologize.
Russia set to fund railway line between Iran, Azerbaijan: Report

07/04/16

Source: Press TV

Russia is reportedly poised to finance a railway line connecting Iran with its northern neighbor Azerbaijan.





Iran- Azerbaijan map



According to Tasnim news agency, head of the press service of Azerbaijan Railways OJSC Nadir Azmammadov, has said that Russian Railways OJSC has discussed the terms of its participation in the financing of the Rasht-Astara (Iran)-Astara (Azerbaijan) railway with the related parties in the Azeri capital, Baku.

The report said representatives of the railways of Azerbaijan, Iran and Russia attended the talks in which the Azeri side informed the partners about the projects and tasks ahead.

Baku believes the international transport corridor will improve Azerbaijan's transit potential as well as its ties with the other two countries.

Participants in the talks reportedly signed a final protocol.

The trilateral railway project is aimed at connecting Northern Europe with Southeast Asia.

The railway line will initially transport five million tonnes of cargo when it is launched in the near future.

Last November, Iran and Russia signed an agreement worth 1.2 billion euros to electrify a train line, linking north-central Iran to the northeastern border with Turkmenistan.

The agreement signed between Russian Railways and the Islamic Republic of Iran Railways (RAI) envisages constructing power stations and overhead power lines along the Garmsar-Sari-Gorgan-Inche Burun route in Iran.

"The implementation of the contract will improve the capacity of passenger trains and raise transit to 8 million tonnes," said RAI Managing Director Mohsen Poursaeed-Aqaei who signed the document.

The train line, among the first in Iran with a history of 80 years, extends to Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan and links the Central Asia to the Persian Gulf and beyond.

The project was also set to be financed by the Russian government and would be implemented in 36 months, which includes manufacturing all electric locomotives inside Iran, electrifying 495 kilometers of railway and building 32 stations and 95 tunnels.
ELKO  A raging wildfire that exploded to more than 100 square miles in less than 24 hours doubled in size Sunday, threatening gold mines, ranches and the community of Midas in northwest Elko County.

The Hot Pot fire was estimated Sunday night at 120,000 acres. It started around 3 p.m. Saturday and had grown to 56,000 acres by midnight.

 Extreme fire behavior with rapid spread rates in fine fuels from outflow winds have hindered suppression efforts even with continued aggressive containment strategies and tactics from multiple agencies and BLM Districts, duty officer Dylan Rader reported late Sunday night.

Nine crews with 22 engines were fighting the fire, along with 12 single-engine air tankers, three heavy air tankers and one very large air tanker.

Despite the massive effort, the fire remained only 5 percent contained.

"Public safety is our first priority," BLM Elko District Manager Jill Silvey said Sunday. "Firefighters are working to protect ranches in the fire area. They are also protecting mining infrastructure and sage-grouse habitat. With more thunderstorms likely today, we are ordering additional resources for the fire."

The fire was started by lightning in the Roosters Comb area north of Battle Mountain. It was burning priority sage-grouse habitat and other wildlife habitat, as well as private and public grazing allotments.

Community of Midas, structures from nearby ranches, Midas-Tuscarora County Road, and underground gold mines are threatened and structure protection is in place along with voluntary evacuations to ensure public safety, Rader reported.
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Google has sold its stake in satellite Internet access provider O3b Networks to co-investor SES.

O3bs goal is to deliver Internet access to the other 3 billion who dont yet have it. The company started life in 2007, and soon found funding from Google, SES and cable operator Liberty Global, among others.

The company launched its first four satellites in June 2013, with eight more joining them in medium earth orbit in 2014.

O3bs customers now include island telecommunications operators and at least one cruise ship operator.

Satellite operator SES took a stake in O3b in 2009, negotiating the right to ultimately take control of the whole company. It exercised that right on Friday, agreeing to pay US$730 million to increase its stake from 49.1 percent to 100 percent.

Googles parent company Alphabet still has an interest in extending Internet access to more of the worlds population through Project Loon. It plans to launch thousands of balloons, each remaining aloft for three months or more, to deliver Internet access from within, rather than above, the earths atmosphere.

Facebook, meanwhile, is counting on solar-powered drones to bring Internet access to remote and underserved areas.
After a yearslong status quo of marijuana dispensaries being illegal but common in San Bernardino, cannabis is clearly on the citys agenda  four times Tuesday.

The City Council will consider four items related to the regulation of marijuana dispensaries at its meeting, which begins at 4 p.m. at City Hall, 300 N. D St.

 A proposed ballot measure submitted by the California Cannabis Coalition has collected enough signatures to make it on the ballot, according to the Registrar of Voters.

That means the City Council has two options: approve the regulatory framework described in the petition, or call a special election. The election would be consolidated with the presidential election Nov. 8, and City Clerk Gigi Hanna estimates it would cost $65,000 to $100,000. The 2016-17 budget that passed June 27 includes that spending.

If approved, the act would allow as many as five marijuana dispensaries in the city.

Operating a dispensary would require a business license, which would cost $250 to apply for. Additional fees would be allowed based on the marijuana license type and total square footage, according to the ballot summary prepared by the city attorneys office.

The act would regulate lighting, signs, security, operating hours, location and odor, among other things.

The Registrar of Voters based its conclusion that enough valid signatures were submitted on a random sample of roughly 8 percent of the 6,000 signatures submitted; signatures were submitted as staff was busy counting votes from the presidential primary, according to Hanna.

Eighty-seven percent of the signatures were valid registered voters in the city, suggesting the California Cannabis Coalition was comfortably above the 3,674 valid signatures required.

 The citys legislative review committee, consisting of three of the seven council members, is separately asking the full council to instruct the city attorney to analyze a proposed initiative that would apply a tax on all marijuana businesses.

The tax rate would be up to 5 percent of gross receipts for medical marijuana and up to 10 percent of gross receipts for nonmedical marijuana.

As a tax, the initiative would also require voter approval.

Recreational marijuana use is illegal in California, but a state initiative to legalize it has qualified for the November ballot.

 A poll to gauge residents opinions about regulating marijuana is once again on the agenda.

A firm that offered to conduct the poll in October 2015  Fairbank, Maslin, Maullin, Metz and Associates (FM3)  is still available, although the cost might be slightly different from the $30,000 that was quoted at the time, according to a staff report.

About $30,000 in salary savings from the city managers office could offset the cost of the poll, according to the report.

 Finally, the City Council will vote on whether to direct the city attorney to conduct an impartial analysis of the citizen initiative and direct the city manager to analyze the initiatives potential effect on code enforcement, water use, crime and public safety, and revenue.

Contact the writer: ryan.hagen@langnews.com; @rmhagen
As a Muslim teen, Arbazz Mohammed quietly helped the needy.

He and a few friends walked the streets of downtown Riverside and San Bernardino, passing out hygiene kits, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and other supplies to the homeless.

Mohammed and Muslims from youth groups at Riverside and Redlands mosques wanted to create a positive image of Islam without much fanfare. They founded a San Bernardino-based nonprofit to offer emergency food and other aid six years ago.

Then came the Dec. 2 San Bernardino terrorist attack that killed 14 people and wounded 22 others in what was then the worst mass shooting on U.S. soil since 9/11. Shooters Syed Rizwan Farook and his wife, Tashfeen Malik, were radicalized Muslims who pledged their allegiance to the Islamic State before carrying out the massacre.

The group, Sahaba Initiative, couldnt remain in the shadows any longer. They had to destroy the stigma that were violent, were backwards and we cant contribute to society, said Mohammed, a 24-year-old Lake Elsinore resident who graduated from Cal State San Bernardino with a degree in communications and public relations.

Mohammed, president of the groups board of directors, said he didnt want Islamic extremists hijacking our voice.

We decided we had to be more visible, he said. We had to speak out and show who we are. Otherwise, theyre going to define us.

ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER

Sahaba Initiative started working more closely with leaders of other faiths to shatter negative stereotypes about Muslims.

The day after the Dec. 2 shooting, the group met with Jewish, Christian and other faith leaders to brainstorm ways to heal a fractured community.

They helped plan prayer vigils and contributed to an Arrowhead United Way relief fund that raised almost $2.5 million for victims families.

Last week, Sahaba Initiative hosted an iftar  a Muslim meal eaten after sunset during Ramadan  at the Riverside Art Museum.

The dinner, which attracted about 150 people including political and religious leaders, aimed to strengthen bridge-building efforts between Muslims and other faiths.

We need to come together in times like this and support one another, said John De Gano, a 63-year-old Riverside resident and a deacon at St. Catherine of Alexandria Catholic Church in Riverside. We shouldnt be quick to judge and should not condemn.

De Gano, who attended the dinner and participates in an Inland interfaith group, applauded the groups willingness to standing up for Islam and set a positive example.

Actions speak louder than words, De Gano said. Theyre living that. We can learn from that.

OFFERING SERVICES

Gernaro Waheed, a founder of the group, said the group seeks to help Muslims and others who experience homelessness, drug and alcohol abuse, mental health issues, domestic violence and other problems.

Waheed is resource director of the groups roughly 800-square-foot office in downtown San Bernardino that includes a food pantry stocked with rice, beans, canned vegetables, diapers, hygiene kits and other items. The pantry is open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. every other Wednesday and by appointment.

About 500 people per month receive food, rental assistance and other support including parenting classes and Alcoholics Anonymous meetings.

These services werent being provided for the Muslim community, said Waheed, 39, who grew up in Alabama and moved to Southern California as a teen. The Riverside resident converted from Southern Baptist to Muslim at 19 or 20.

He recalled hanging out with Mohammed and other friends eight or nine years ago and running into a drug addict who said he couldnt get help at a Riverside mosque.

We started our own peer counseling group to talk about addiction and mental health issues, he said. Then we started doing homeless feedings in the park.

The young men distributed fliers on college campuses and at local mosques to spread the word and seek donations. They also made a video explaining their purpose.

The group has a $65,000 annual budget and two employees, one full-time and the other part-time. Money comes from Muslim doctors, lawyers, business owners and other professionals, Mohammed said.

SENSE OF URGENCY

Efforts to build ties with non-Muslims include participating with other nonprofits such as Community Action Partnership of Riverside County and Moreno Valley-based Family Service Association. The groups held an event last week at the Norton Younglove Community Center in Riverside and distributed 150 bags of groceries, 200 backpacks, hygiene kits and towels and blankets for the homeless.

The group recently expanded partnerships so it can serve more people. It works with United Way and Inland Congregations United for Change, an association of clergy leaders from dozens of Inland religious organizations.

Tom Dolan, executive director of Inland Congregations United for Change, praised their efforts to combat prejudice and invest their resources in an impoverished part of San Bernardino.

That presence of Muslim faith leadership in that area of San Bernardino says a lot about addressing Islamophobia and creating opportunities for understanding and dialogue, Dolan said. They are in the neighborhood and working on local concerns. Its a small presence, but its really important because of the diversity they represent.

The Muslim group is an essential part of an interfaith effort that has taken on a bigger sense of urgency following the terrorist attacks in San Bernardino and Orlando, Fla., Dolan said.

We are all aware of how we can be divided or we can be united, Dolan said. They are laying the groundwork for united action.

Malek Bendelhoum, a founder of the group and vice president of the board of directors, said the recent tragedies have brought its mission to the forefront.

There is a lot of misinformation about Islam and what it teaches, said Bendelhoum, a 26-year-old Rancho Cucamonga resident who grew up in Moreno Valley. Were showing people what Islam is: Its about helping people that are in need, no matter where they come from.

Contact the writer: 951-368-9292 or swall@pressenterprise.com
When a persons loved one goes missing, it can be a difficult process to navigate  they may not know whom to contact or what to do. The Riverside County Sheriffs Coroners Bureau is seeking to help family and friends of missing people through a one-day event that will offer guidance and resources.

The Missing Persons Day event will take place from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, July 9, at the Coroners Bureau at 800 S. Redlands Ave. in Perris.

Coroners Sgt. Nancy Rissi said this is the first year the event is being held in Riverside County. She said law enforcement in San Bernardino and San Diego counties have held similar events in the past year, with some successes  theyve either been able to find out what happened to a missing person or find them alive.

We actually in (past events) have matched people who are alive or family members who have been estranged and didnt know how to reconnect, Rissi said.

She said a variety of resources will be on hand, including representatives from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, National Missing and Unidentified Persons System and even the Mexican and Guatemalan consulates.

Close family members of missing people will be able to provide their DNA through cheek swabs. That DNA will then get added to a database operated by the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System, but Rissi stressed that the person must be a direct blood relative to get the best results.

The closer they are the better because were going to get more markers to hit on, she said.

For people who are not closely related to the person they are trying to find, there are other options, said Rissi. She said people can bring dental records, medical records and photographs of the missing people. Even things like pictures of a persons teeth or their tattoos could be helpful in locating them.

Todd Matthews, director of case management and communications for NamUs, said that case managers will compile such records and photographs and make them publicly available on the organizations website in hopes of generating tips.

Anything that would outwardly help an individual to identify someone, he said.

The coroners event has inspired the praise of people like Randy Toepfer, son of 88-year-old Betty Jean Toepfer of Jurupa Valley, who vanished more than a year ago.

Randy Toepfer said his family has been grateful that law enforcement has walked them through the steps of filing a report, submitting DNA and getting his mother into various databases.

(Investigator) Richard Boyd was really good about giving us that information and getting it onto those data bases, he said. He was extremely helpful to me and some of the family members to get that information out.

Toepfer said he finds it comforting that other people might be able to get similar guidance through the coroners event.

Providing that kind of help is one of the main reasons for the event, Rissi said.

Were here and available for people who want to report their loved ones missing or just update the information they have, she said.

Contact the writer: 951-368-9693 or agroves@pressenterprise.com
Deputies responding to a fight Thursday night arrested a 13-year-old Yucaipa boy on suspicion of possessing a stolen gun and carrying a concealed weapon, according to a San Bernardino County sheriffs news release.

They boy also had a warrant out for his arrest, according to the release.

Deputies also arrested Juan Estrada, 18, of Yucaipa, on suspicion of possessing brass knuckles, the news release states.

Estrada was booked into the Central Detention Center, while the boy was booked into San Bernardino Juvenile Hall.

The fight was reported at 8:40 p.m. in the 12300 block of 4th Street.
This time it matters.

Last year was the first time kids took the state test called the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress.

School officials said the scores were a starting point and told parents not to worry too much about the results, which left a lot of room for improvement.

Fewer than half of Riverside County students met or exceeded learning standards in English, while a little more than a quarter achieved the same levels in math. San Bernardino County students fared worse.

The second-year scores, due to be released publicly in late August, will have more meaning than in 2015, said Sherry Smith, assistant superintendent of educational services for the San Jacinto Unified School District.

We have something to compare it to, Smith said. Well be able to analyze the data at a deeper level.

In addition to individual scores, districts will get detailed information about subgroups including English learners and special-education students. Principals will use the data to write academic goals for the coming school year while teachers and administrators will figure out ways to improve learning, she said.

Smith said the district received preliminary results that show good growth in middle and high school grades compared with last year.

More than 3.2 million students in California, including 442,000 in Riverside and San Bernardino counties, took the math and English tests in the spring. The computer-based exams, given in grades three through eight and grade 11, match Common Core standards focusing on students ability to write clearly, think critically and solve problems.

MAKING PROGRESS

Districts started receiving preliminary online results within three weeks of testing  much earlier than last year.

The Rialto Unified School District still is getting used to the new tests that require higher-level thinking skills, Superintendent Cuauhtemoc Avila said.

Moving away from the traditional lecture model of instruction toward group activities and student-guided learning takes time, he said.

In the past, the main focus was on recall and teaching to the test, Avila said. Now, teachers are asking students questions to probe and guide rather than having them memorize facts.

Preliminary results from this years tests are encouraging, he said.

Were moving in the right direction, Avila said.

The Temecula Valley Unified School District started receiving its first batch of reports recently. In the next two weeks, officials will send letters to parents of students who were tested explaining that they will be getting scores soon, district spokeswoman Laura Boss said.

Early data show the district has improved in almost every area, including subgroups, Boss said in an email.

We believe we are on target with our strategies, Boss said.

ADDITIONAL DATA

Officials will review the results and decide if any curriculum changes are needed, she added.

The Riverside Unified School District hopes to get final results by mid-July, said Renee Hill, assistant superintendent for instructional support.

Getting the results early can help teachers make lesson plans that reflect students strengths and weaknesses before classes resume in August, Hill said.

In addition to overall scores, schools will benefit from additional data showing how students did in reading, writing, listening and research, she said.

She cautioned parents not to place too much emphasis on the test, saying its one of many measures to determine how students are doing.

But she expects higher scores because teachers have more experience with Common Core and students had another year to learn the standards. Everyone is more familiar with the testing environment and there were fewer computer glitches than last year, she said.

As a district, the performance should be better, Hill said.

The Moreno Valley Unified School District set a goal of 5 percent growth this year and officials hope to meet or exceed that mark, said Martinrex Kedziora, chief academic officer.

Schools give interim assessments three times a year that measure academic progress in math, reading and writing to help prepare students for the state tests, Kedziora said.

Teachers look at the results and work in groups once a week to plan units with the aim of improving performance, he said.

District officials are eager to get the final scores and dont sleep until the results arrive, Kedziora said.

Were improving, but were not where we want to be, he said. We have a long way to go.

Contact the writer: 951-368-9292 or swall@pressenterprise.com
Inland Rabbi Hillel Cohn says the loss of Elie Wiesel is a loss of conscience, not only for the Jewish community, but the world.

Wiesel, an author and Nobel Peace Prize winner who spent his life speaking out about the Holocaust and his own story of survival, died on Saturday, July 2, at his home in New York City. He was 87.

Cohn, rabbi emeritus of Congregation Emanu El in Redlands, said he met Wiesel on a number of occasions.

He was just a very significant and necessary voice in the world, Cohn said.

Wiesel, arguably more than any single person, kept the memory of the Holocaust in the mind of the world. Cohn said he respected Wiesels attitude in addressing the modern attempt to exterminate the Jewish race.

There are people and institutions that have unfortunately exploited the Holocaust, maybe to draw sympathy to their cause, Cohn said. That was not what Elie did. He was not looking for sympathy. He did not exploit it. He saw it as a dark moment in human history. And I would underscore it was dark moment in human history, not just Jewish history.

Wiesels first book on the Holocaust, Night, published in 1956, was a personal account of his survival. He went on to write many other books on the subject and on the issue of hate crimes.

More powerful than hearing him in person, or as powerful, was reading his books, Cohn said. Its probably a good wakeup call for people who have not read something he wrote, like Night. Go read it.

Carolee Jaspan, who attends Temple Beth El in Riverside, said she was moved by the news of Wiesels death.

I was very sad, she said. I cried for a little bit.

Jaspan said she sang on stage when Wiesel spoke at La Sierra University about 30 years ago. She thinks he was instrumental in making the world face the horror of the Holocaust.

I think people would not know as much about the Holocaust if it werent for him and his books, Jaspan said. They wouldnt be discussing it.

She said she thinks his voice will continue to be heard because of what he did and what he wrote and how he lived afterward.

Rabbi Shmuel Fuss of the Chabad Jewish Community Center of Riverside, said Night is often the first exposure high school students have to the Holocaust. He said he often visits local schools to discuss the work.

Wiesel, Fuss said, played a profound role in the remembrance of the Holocaust.

Fuss heard Wiesel speak several times and said he was impressed by his presence.

He was a very gentle soul with a great way of words, he said. His mission in this world was very clearly to make a difference, to not stand by when there is persecution of any sort or racism of any sort.

The rabbi said he was also inspired by the way Wiesel lived his life.

To see how he rebuilt his life and he didnt just fade away from the world, he said, moved him. After being so angry at the world and so angry at God, he was able to pick up the pieces and start over again.

He moved on and made a difference in the world in a positive way.

Contact the writer: mmuckenfuss@pressenterprise.com or 951-368-9595
The Police Command would this month meet with officials of the Electoral Commission as part of its stakeholder engagement to work for a peaceful and successful general election in November.



Addressing a durbar of Police Personnel at Cape Coast, as part of his working visit to the Central Region, Mr John Kudalor, the Inspector General of Police, said maintaining the peace of the nation peace ahead of the election and thereafter, was a shared responsibility of all stakeholders.



He said his outfit had already met with the organisers of the youth wings of the various political parties, party executives, the Presidential Candidates and their running mates, as well as representatives of the media.



The IGP said: The Police has a long arm but it cannot reach out to everyone, therefore, it needed the support of everyone to be effective in its duties.



Consequently, he said, the Police Command was leaving no stone unturned, and urged the Police Personnel to eschew partisanship and be fair and firm.



Mr Kudalor said the Police Service was ready to deploy body guards to protect the various Presidential Candidates.



The selected officers had been given the needed skills training and logistics to enable them to perform their duties effectively, he said.



The 2016 Elections, the IGP said, had been described by some as "the Mother of all Elections" and the Gadhafi of Elections because it would be keenly contested.



Nevertheless, he said, the Police would be up to the tasks of ensuring order, peace and security.



Mr Kudalor, who said his visit to the Region formed part of the IGP Dialogue Series, interacted with the personnel to ascertain their readiness and plans for the job ahead in terms of skills, training and logistics.



He urged the Regional Commander to replicate the dialogue series across the Region by engaging the youth, opinion leaders, chiefs and political party leaders.



Before the meeting, the IGP inspected a simulation exercise at the Cape Coast Police headquarters, and rated his men and women at 80 per cent for the performance in respect of crowd control and self-comportment.



Mr Kudalor also inspected some logistics, including vehicles, bullet proof vests, plastic shots, tear gas grenade hand burst, hand-throwing smoke tear-gas grenade, stopper guns and rubber bullets for AK 47 riffles, among others.



The Central Regional Police Commander, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ASP) Kwame Tachie Poku, in his welcoming address, said the Region was relatively calm in terms of criminal activities.



From January to May this year, it recorded 22 robbery cases as against 67 around the same period last year, thus representing an 83 per cent reduction.



He said the Kasoa District accounted for 50 per cent of the cases and described the area as crime prone ,



He, therefore, appealed to the IGP to grant a special allocation of equipment to the area to help combat crime.



ASP Poku said the current staff population of the Regional Command was 1,995, which he noted was in adequate to effectively manage the 2,006 polling stations and 465 flash points.



He announced that 1,016 police personnel had so far been trained in the Public-Order Management Programme.



The IGP who also paid separate courtesy calls on Osabarima Kwesi Atta II, the Omanhen of Oguaa Traditional Area and Mr Kweku Ricketts-Hagan, the Central Regional Minister, and appealed to them to give the Police the requisite support by calling their people to order if the need arose.



The Omanhen and the Regional Minister both called on the Police to be professional in the performance of their duties and urged them to work for Ghana but not for any political party.



They both expressed delight that the Police command was putting in place proactive measures to ensure incident free elections and pledged their support towards the cause.

Source: Daily Graphic









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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With Pride month coming to a close and the bringing of our Second Annual Elko Pride Festival on June 10-11, 2016 to Elko, Nevada I have heard some grumblings coming from all sectors of the community including our LGBTQA citizens. Why this, why that, why did he bring them, why did they allow that and why didnt you do this activity or that activity?

Well its pretty simple  I asked what people wanted, my posts were out there for everyone to see as I made suggestions. I offered to run a Mr. and Miss Gay, Lesbian, Transgender pageant of sorts so we would have local representation for our city and NO ONE said a word or came forward with suggestions or did a thing to add to the festival! I suggested and was going to bring in the color festival yet individuals decided to bash me for personal gain and ended up ruining not only one but two fundraising events that I had set up to help offset costs to bring the Color Festival to Elko.

So you didnt get it because of their judgmental ignorance based on a very slanderous article in the Elko Daily Free Press that reported old news that I was never charged with and is documented at the Elko County Courthouse from 10 years ago, along with reported charges of being arrested with marijuana. Yet these individuals march and post on how the non-legalization of the substance is wrong and how it helps them or a family member in this way or that, so they are saints, I would have to disagree, if anything they are hypocrites and are only negatively affecting our forward movement.

Last year we had a group of students from Elko High School, 38 in total, sign a petition to form a GSA; Gay Straight Alliance. These students had an advisor employed by the Elko County School District that was willing to help with the group. When that advisor went out of town for a week and returned amazingly the GSA was no more and even more disturbing was one of the students that ended up attempting suicide as they had nowhere to turn. In my eyes each of these students had their rights taken away which is a direct violation of their civil rights.

With the mentality I am hearing, since when is there a number of individuals required to be treated equally? There was a GSA formed that was open to any individual at Great Basin College. Yet the individuals involved in that group choose to pick and choose who they wanted and excluded those they did not, myself being one of them, as they took down individuals names, phone numbers and emails to correspond happenings and events of which I and others never received anything. How is this helping the LGBTQA community and more notably those students that already feel unaccepted and are now being pushed away by a group that is supposed to be open to them?

We had the transgender issue which arose in the Elko County School District and after the School Board voted against it, it was I that had contacted the ACLU after talking with the parties involved and connected them to help fight the battle and they agreed yet the issue was dropped by those that brought it before the board, giving the ACLU nothing to go on or anyone to represent.

Actions such as these will not gain our LGBT citizens anything except continued segregation and separation from the rest of the community, country and say that we are weak and unwilling to stand up for our rights. We cant stand up or be seen because we are a small rural community is the excuse I hear daily. Well, hate me for standing up, hate me for my past, and hate me for actually doing something to bring attention and support to a community that is no different than our counterparts. Because Elko is only 20k-plus in population 40K-plus with Spring Creek we should be different and with that I ask, at what population are we the same? A student in a school with five classmates or more should not have the same rights as students in larger districts with 100 or 5,000 students? We are no different, period. I do not care how many people live in an area and I am not going to hide and not stand up for what I believe in, I am going to fight for change that is equal to everyone across the board no matter the number. I am going to take the issues myself to those and should they wish to ignore me I will not stand down, and hide, I will fight for one or a thousand.

There are things that happened that I will be personally addressing legally. I am done being accused of being the bad guy, I am done being talked bad about behind my back. I was standing back letting it happen; no more. I personally stood before an entire community that fought against the LGBT citizens to not fly their flag for one day and to not have one day dedicated to Elko Pride. I had zero support from any members of our LGBTQA community, most likely because of fear.

As I remember it one of our elected officials said, if this was to happen Elko would be opening Pandoras Box. With the number of citizens opposed I can understand our City Councils decision and respect it. Yet I didnt back down and a local business and leading community company, the Red Lion Inn and Casino, came forward and they supported what our LGBTQA community stands for, and during our Pride Festival and under a statewide proclamation from the Governor of The State of Nevada, Bryan Sandoval, declaring June 11, 2016 as Elko Pride Day in the State of Nevada, the LGBTQA Rainbow flag along with the HRC, Human Rights Campaign Flag were raised in front of the Red Lion Inn and Casino representing the fights and freedoms that other LGBTQA leaders around the world have fought for alongside the greatest flag of all, the United States of America Flag.

As our flags flew and we were celebrating our freedom during our Pride Festival one of the largest mass murders in the history of The United States of America took place at Pulse Night Club in Orlando, Florida, taking the lives of 49 U.S. citizens, of which the majority were LGBT. This violent act was proof that the fight is not over and that we must continue to take whatever steps are necessary to achieve positive forward movement in our rural community to bring change and acceptance of all.

This years Pride Festival was held for each and every one of you and every step I took, and will take was and is for you, not for me. It was said that he cant do it without us, well I did and I will continue alone or you can join me in a positive form and together we can have a thriving LGBTQA community. One that is included in other local events, such as the candlelight vigil for the victims of Orlando, HugNLove, and the Basque/4th of July Parade as well as bringing in our own events which I am no longer waiting for and holding our yearly Pride Festival supported by the community we live in.

This year we had the support of those outside of our community, with sustaining donors, the Norris-Rocaberte Family Foundation, Hopes and TAG out of Reno, the Las Vegas Chapter of HRC, Roadrunner and Olle Concessions out of Twin Falls, Idaho. No matter what, Elko, we will have a Diversity Center we can call our own and one would hope the community we live in would support a facility just as, if not more important than the Boys and Girls Club and not fight what is being done for their financial gain but to support a cause that will improve the quality of life for generations of LGBTQA citizens as well as our community for generations to come.

Right or wrong, change is good no matter what the population.
Some aggrieved youth in the Asunafo south district in the Brong Ahafo region want the Region's Minister, Eric Opoku and the regional police Commander, DCOP Maxwell Atingaani out of office.



Their statement follows news of a police officer who got shot and died when he and his colleagues were battling some suspected robbers on the Kukuom - Bibiani highway, last Thursday.



Corporal Humphrey Lumor was shot and subsequently taken to the Goaso Government hospital for treatment but died some hours later.



This is the second time such an incident has occurred in the region in less than two months.



According to the group, the Police have been somehow ineffective in combatting and investigating crime related matters in the region.



This is the full statement:



We demand of the President to as a matter of urgency relief the Brong Ahafo Regional Minister Hon Eric Opoku (MP) of his current position as a Regional Minister, as well as the Regional Police commander DCOP Maxwell Atingaani who is also a native of Asunafo South.



Our action is anchored by the overwhelming state of insecurity in the region most especially their own backyard Asunafo South.



Recently, there have been several crimes committed with culprits going unpublished and others not even investigated for reasons best known to these two authorities.



It has become a routine that market women are robbed of their valuables every Thursday on the Sankore-Kwapong-Noberkaw stretch.



A journalist by name Abanga was also murdered on the same stretch about a year ago but sadly nobody has been picked up.



Latest is the sad manner with which CPL Lumor was shot dead on the Kukuom Bibiani highway.



We can recount over 50 serious crimes that have been committed in the area with impunity over the past few years.



In this regard however, we believe that either these two authorities are either interested in current spate of insecurity in our or they are absolutely incompetent to handle such key positions in the region.



This is because; this area is not known to be dangerous except recently under the supervision of Hon Eric Opoku and DCOP Maxwell Atingaani.



We hope to hear from the President soon.



Signed



Andrews Frimpong

(President)

Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









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.

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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.
President John Dramani Mahama has congratulated Adisadel College (ADISCO) for putting up a sterling performance to win this years National Science and Maths Quiz (NSMQ).



In a tweet, the first gentleman of the land said Congrats Adisadel! on winning the National Science & Maths Quiz. A deserving climax to our 56th Republic Day Anniv.



On Wednesday, June 29, 2016, Adisadel College put up a spirited performance in the grande finale to win the contest which was held at the University of Ghana for the first time history of the NSMQ.



The Cape Coast based Senior High School scored 44 points to beat heavy giants, Opoku Ware School (OWASS) and neighbouring Mfantsipim Senior High School to lift the glittering trophy.



OWASS who have appeared at the finals of the contest for seven consecutive times and won two, scored 38 points to place second while Mfanstipim Senior High School garnered 37 points to place third.



ADISCO was represented by Annin Ridley Osei Assibey and Isaac Amfoh K. Mensah for the competition.



The school took home GH 40,000 whilst the contestants together with their teachers who accompanied them received GH 15,000 each.















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.

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The Asanteman Council has summoned the Mayor of Kumasi, Mr Kojo Bonsu, to appear before it today, Monday, July 4, 2016, over what it considers to be disrespect for the authority of the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II.



This followed a complaint lodged with the council by the Amoamanhene, Nana Agyin Baoteng, over a letter the mayor wrote to him questioning his status on the Kejetia Central Market Redevelopment Board.



The Amoamanhene was chosen by the Otumfuo as his representative on the committee overseeing the Kejetia Central Market Redevelopment Project.



The Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA) has said, however, that it does not have any record to that effect and has asked the chief to produce evidence to substantiate the claim that he has been nominated by the Asantehene to represent him on the committee.



The chiefs, who were angered by the letter, have slaughtered a ram to indicate their displeasure at what they viewed as an insult to the Manhyia Palace and have, therefore, ordered the mayor to appear before them.



The letter that caused the indignation was signed by the mayor himself. In the said letter, Mr Bonsu advised the representative from Manhyia to desist from soliciting for funds in aid of the project.



The letter further asked him to consult the KMA before embarking on any activity in the name of the Kejetia Central Market Redevelopment Project.

Source: Daily Graphic









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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Challenging Heights has stated that it is disappointed in the Government for still failing to address the issue of Human Trafficking in Ghana.



Ghana has for the second consecutive year been classified as a Tier 2 Watch List country in the Trafficking in Persons (TiP) Report released by the U.S State Department last week due to the governments inability to demonstrate enough efforts to prevent trafficking, prosecute criminals and protect victims.



The American government has warned that the country risks losing millions of money in aid if no effort is taken to address the situation.



Ms Pomaa Arthur, Communications Manager of the Anti-Trafficking NGO in a statement said that it is rather disappointing that systems and structures put in place by the government to fight trafficking are nothing but a cosmetic measure.



This report reveals how much our government is unconcerned about the issues of trafficking and forced labour. Through governments inactions, all efforts by other non-governmental organisations and agencies to bring an end to trafficking in Ghana appears to be nothing but a drop in the ocean, she said.



Ms Arthur explained that since the Human Trafficking Fund was set-up several years ago, there has been less than GH200,000 deposited in that coffers coupled with a virtually non-functioning Human Trafficking Management Board in place.



She said although the government directly and indirectly receives funds from international organisations and countries such as the US to combat trafficking, the issue seems not to be on the countrys priority list as almost all government agencies mandated to fight trafficking are under-resourced or understaffed.



We want to know what government uses donor monies for; we want to know why law-enforcement agencies are not able carry out their duties properly and we want to know why government doesnt care about its own people who are being bought and sold as though they have no value, she asked.



Ms Arthur noted that due to the governments apathetic attitude towards the issue of trafficking, law-enforcement agencies such as the police and judiciary are equally laidback resulting in the country been classified as a source, transit and destination point for traffickers.



Ghana is gradually becoming the hub of traffickers in Sub-Saharan Africa. Our legal structures are not working and traffickers have taken advantage of that opportunity to turn Ghana into an operation centre for their illegal activities. They know the police will not arrest them and even if they are, they will not be convicted, she said.



Ms Arthur noted that its almost an established fact that most of the efforts to address Human Trafficking has been through civil society organsations such as Challenging Heights therefore, government needed to collaborate and co-operate well with NGOs who have the resources and know-how on trafficking related issues.



Challenging heights has been rescuing trafficked children since 2005 and providing them with rehabilitation to ensure that they are psychologically sound before they are reintegrated into society. We are committed as an organisation to end this menace, but are efforts will be futile if government does not demonstrate the same commitment, she said.



Ms Arthur said irrespective of what Challenging Heights or any other NGO does, government still remains the most effective primary tool for stopping trafficking in the country and ensuring that the country makes significant efforts to bring an end to the situation.



She called on the government to take swift action to resource the Human Trafficking Management Board through the Human Trafficking Fund and to appropriately tool the Anti-Human Trafficking Unit of the Ghana Police Service to ensure the effective delivery of their mandate under the law.



We fear that if this government inaction on Human Trafficking is not changed, Ghana may well slip into Tier 3 in the next report, she added.

Source: Peacefmonline.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.

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Parliamentary candidate of the Progressive Peoples Party (PPP) in Offinso South constituency in the Ashanti Region, Mr. Kojo Kwarteng, has called on the electorate to reject both the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the upcoming polls.



According to him, these two political parties are bad choices for Ghana.



Mr. Kwarteng claimed that both the NDC and the NPP have failed the country in the area of infrastructural development and improving the lot of Ghanaians, hence his call on all eligible Ghanaian voters not to give the two parties any chance again.



Consequently, Mr. Kwarteng, who spoke to Today in an interview recently, urged the electorate to use their thumbs, during the November 7 polls to change the destiny of the country by voting out the incumbent NPP Member of Parliamentary (MP) for Offinso South constituency, Mr. Abdulai Bada.



He noted that the continuous stay of the NPP MP would further draw the area backwards.



The PPP parliamentary aspirant was equally not happy with the rising cost of living, including high utility tariffs, high school fees, high youth unemployment, high rate of poverty among other socio-economic problems facing the country.



To this end, Mr. Kwarteng asked his constituents to vote for the PPP 2016 flag-bearer, Dr. Papa Kwesi Nduom, as President, and him as their MP.



According to him, the high rate of youth unemployment, the continuous deplorable nature of major roads and high cost of living were frustrating citizens of Offinso South constituency.



That, Mr. Kwarteng stated, has created uneasiness among people in the area, a situation, he claimed, has made change imperative.



There is general discomfort in the area which has made change in the political leadership of the country non-negotiable, he stressed.



He asserted that bad economic policies of both the NDC and the NPP have made Ghanaians poorer.



He also bemoaned the terrible road networks within the Offinso South communities, blaming it on bad policies.



I strongly believe the best gentlemen to lead Offinso South and Ghana are Dr. Papa Kwesi Nduom and Mr. Kwarteng. We are the finest gentlemen with modern ideas that can transform Ghana.



Ghana needs no more try and error politicians. Lets rise up and change the status quo. Vote for the PPP because it is a good choice for Ghana, he said.



He promised not to engage in politics of insults but to embark on issue-based campaign to highlight on the Ten-point Agenda of the PPP.

Source: Today Newspaper









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Because she is not God, former First Lady Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings cannot claim infallibility as far as her views on the number of NHIS voters is concerned, a former spokesperson and aide to the Rawlingses, Mr Kofi Adams has said.



Mrs Rawlings, who broke ranks with her husbands governing National Democratic Congress (NDC), to form the National Democratic Party (NDP) of which she is currently flagbearer, told the Daily Graphic in an interview that the list of 56,000 people presented to the Supreme Court by the Electoral Commission (EC), as the total number of voters, who registered by using their National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) cards ahead of the 2012 general elections, was doubtful.



You and I know it is not 56,000 that registered with NHIS cards. It is far more than that. They should just abide by what the Supreme Court is saying. I think this will make all Ghanaians happy and it will also help us to have some level of equity and justice within the electoral system. The Supreme Court is the highest court of the land and when it speaks, all must obey. If the court has said certain things must be done in eliminating all those who registered with NHIS cards, it should be done, Mrs Rawlings said.



The Supreme Court demanded the list following a return to court by plaintiffs Abu Ramadan and Evans Nimako, to seek clarity on the same courts May 5 ruling, in which it ordered the EC to delete from the register of voters, names of the dead, minors and those, who were registered onto the poll roll through their NHIS cards. The apex court had ruled in 2014 that the NHIS card did not provide sufficient proof of ones nationality, thus, invalidating its use for registering voters, as done by the EC in 2012 before the 2014 ruling.



Apart from Mrs Rawlings, Mr Ramadan and his lawyers, as well as the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), have also raised doubts about the number of voters, who registered with the NHIS cards. They argue that the list provided by the EC to the Supreme Court was fictitious. One of them, Mr Ibrahim Adjei, who is a member of pro-opposition pressure group Let My Vote Count Alliance (LMVCA), told Prince Minkah on the Executive Breakfast Show on Class91.3FM on Monday, 4 July that the number should be in the millions and not the 56,739 names submitted by the EC on June 29.



Contributing to the discussion on the same programme, Mr Adams, who is the National Organiser of the NDC, told Prince Minkah that: If they [critics] are in doubt, they are in doubt because they are following leaders, who pretend to be telling them the truth, but not telling them the truth. So its up to them to choose the truth. Why, you think that Satan has not got a hold on people on this earth? He also has a hold. Its not everybody, who will go to heaven? Some people will surely go to hell. Despite all the preaching that is being done every Sunday and every Friday in our mosques and the rest, some people will still go to hell.



Asked specifically about his reaction to his former boss scepticism about list presented by the EC to the Supreme Court, Mr Addams retorted: Look, the former First Lady has made a lot of statements that are also untrue. One of it was recently made on Starr FM about Komla Dumor; Komla Dumors family has come to  deny it and stated that that statement is a lie, so I am not for once going to listen to any other person talking; I am listening to the one, who has the custody of the information and who has provided [the list]. I wait to see what the Supreme Court will do with the information they have been provided, not what Nana Konadu says or Ibrahim Adjei or Nana Akufo-Addo.



Prince Minkah: And so Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings could be lying, you say Kofi?



Kofi Adams: Why, is she God?



According to him, there are some minds you can never clear when somebody is pretending to sleep; you can never wake that person up

Source: classfmonline.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.

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Lawyer and advocate Mariam Veiszadeh has put up with racist vitriol on her Facebook page for a long time now, but she recently posted a status about the xenophobic policies of Pauline Hanson and the One Nation party, and the xenophobic comments made by radical anti-immigration parties has gotten even worse.

Hanson, a well-known and infamously Islamophobic politician won a seat in the Senate in the Federal Election over the weekend, and since then, her notoriously ring-wing supporters have become even more vocal about the need to erase Islam and a range of Islamic practices  such as Halal certification and the commonly misquoted Sharia Law  from Australia.

Mariams post, which made the completely valid and correct point that Muslim people are slaughtered at the hands of ISIS or indirectly via Western forces in the East [and] vilified and abused at the hands of neo-Nazi far right political groups in the West, was immediately and without hesitation trolled by Hansons supporters, who take great enjoyment in perpetuating hate and vilification of Muslim people.

Some of the comments below this article were heart-stoppingly aggressive, threatening and the epitome of unbridled and uneducated hatred:

The abuse got to the point that Mariam had to post legal consequences of cyber-harassment and using a carriage service to menace, harass, or cause offence as a comment on the post, which was met with cries of YOURE TRYING TO LIMIT OUR FREEDOM OF SPEECH (which, as many are aware, does not exist under Australian law, and freedom of speech under United Nations guidelines has literally never included hate-speech about race or religion) :

While some of these commenters seem to be blissfully unaware that just last month, a 64-year-old chiropractor from Woy Woy named was arrested and charged with the aforementioned crimes after posting aggressive racist comments on a Facebook post by Senator Nova Peris (and tried to claim his Facebook was viciously hacked by South Korea. YUP.)

P.TV spoke to Mariam, and asked her for her thoughts RE: Hanson gaining a seat in the Senate:

Pauline Hanson was democratically elected to the Senate so shes entitled to be there but by the same token the public is entitled to challenge and critique her ideas and policy positions, especially as many of them are completely baseless, ignorant and potentially inciteful. Remarks made by politicians should be held to a much higher standard as there is an obvious power imbalance between them and the average Tom, Abdul or Harry. Whilst the bulk of Donald Trumps inflammatory remarks may be perfectly legal, they are nonetheless, morally unacceptable as they have incited hatred and violence against Muslims and Arabs. We know that Pauline Hanson, similar to Donald Trump is exploiting the current islamophobic political climate for their own personal gain so the media and our elected officials should ensure that she is not given a free pass to continue to spout her xenophobic views, unchallenged.

These racist and/or xenophobic comments seem to have both increased and gotten more aggressive since the announcement that One Nation had won seats in the Senate; some are drawing parallels to this and the increase of racial attacks after Brexit occurred in the UK.

Dumbfounding. But, those who want to live in a multicultural, inclusive, compassionate Australia must now acknowledge that we gotta call out this behaviour when we see it.

Because we cant pretend it doesnt exist; its not okay, its not acceptable, and its bloody well not Australian . Call em as we see em.

Source/Photo: Facebook / Mariam Veiszadeh.
The father of 2-year-old Lane Graves  who was dragged into the water and drowned by an alligator near Disneys Grand Floridian Resort & Spa in Orlando, Florida  has told officials a second gator was involved in the tragic attack.

The allegation forms part of newly-released emails between Captain Tom Wellons of the Reedy Creek Fire Department and his two supervisors, shortly after he interacted with Lanes dad, Matt, the morning after he went taken.

The toddler was wading in knee-height water in the manmade Seven Seas Lagoon when the reptile snatched him at about 9:20pm local time; Matt rushed into the shallow water in a desperate attempt to wrestle him from the gator  believed to be between 1.2 and 2 metres long  but was unsuccessful.

Matt shared the horror that he experience with Wellons he was transported to hospital for stitches to lacerations from the gators teeth, and apparently told how another gator attacked him as he fought for his son, Wellons wrote in the email.





Orange County officials have been alerted that there may be a second alligator involved in the incident  entirely new information.

Five alligators were tragically euthanised during the 18-hour search for Lane, which ended when his in-tact body was discovered by divers.

Source: Orlando Sentinel.

Photo: Supplied.
PEDESTRIAN.TV has teamed up with O&G to give yall a reason to get out of bed smiling this winter, no matter your account balance. Starting from July 7, O&G is rolling out free breakfasts around Sydney and Melbourne to fill your bellies with crunchy granola or warm chunky oatmeal and your days with ~good vibes~. Find a brekky bowl, puppy cuddles (not even kidding) and musical offerings at a location near you, by checking their Facey event HERE.

Trying to get by in Australias most expensive city is no easy feat. We legitimately feel your pain.

After paying anywhere from $200 to $600 a week for rent alone, youre somehow meant to fit in costs for the commute to work, your social life and, you know, getting food in your gob.

It truly is a surprise that weve gotten this far. However, for your next pre-pay day freak out, weve got you sorted with a $0 day.

FOOD

BREAKFAST

Ycan kick off your day with a free brekky at O&G Breakfast Bar, which is popping up in / around Sydney for the next week. Theres something for every tastebud with a range of granola or warm oatmeal paired with your pick of fuits / nuts / yoghurt. Therell even be live music, meditation and  wait for it  CUDDLES WITH PUPPIES (omgomg Im so there its not even funny). What a friggin way to start the day, amirite?

July 7: Martin Place, 7-11am.

July 8: Wynyard Park, 7-11am.

July 9: Cronulla Mall, 8-Midday.

July 10: Manly Ferry Wharf, 8-Midday.

July 11: Manly Ferry Wharf, 7-11am.

July 12: Centenary Sqaure, 7-11 am.



Photo: Supplied.

LUNCH

Donating blood is rewarding in more ways than, you know, feeling good about yourself. Goodies vary from donor centre to donor centre, but the Town Hall Donor Centre has made a name for itself with cheese sandwiches, Shapes (even though theyre pathetic excuses for a snack these days), hotdogs and milkshakes. That, you guys, is basically a free lunch and you get to feel like a good human while youre at it.

DINNER

Tipple Bar & Bistro does free food Fridays where they offer complimentary canapes to all their guests (times are up to the staff, probably to lure you lot in for the long haul). We cant believe this is a thing, but us freebie-lovin inner-city folk sure aint complaining.

CULTURE

ART

The good thing about museums and galleries is that theyre generally free to the public, and, well, theres a helluva lot of them in Sydney to make you feel ~cultured~ etc. Think White Rabbit Gallery (free Wed-Sun), The Rocks Discovery Museum, Museum of Contemporary Art, Art Gallery of NSW and more.



Photo: Facebook / Art Gallery of NSW.

FILM

The Soda Factory in Surry Hills transforms into a movie cinema on Monday nights from 5pm. Its free (and have the likes of Sister Act, The Lion King, Rocky Horror Picture Show and Hes Just Not That Into You coming up) but theres hotdogs, snacks and drinks should you wish to spend the last of your pay check. Check out more HERE.

EDUCATION

The University of Sydney hosts a bunch of free talks throughout the year, which sees experts in their fields debate interesting and sometimes controversial topics. Go get educated etc, by signing up to a Sydney Ideas talk HERE.

COMEDY

Crows Nest Hotel is one of the most regarded comedy nights in Sydney and is  you guessed it  totally free. Its on the first Thursday of every month from 7.30pm.

FITNESS

MEDITATION

Sahaja Yoga Meditation Australia hosts free meditation classes (60-90 mins) Australia-wide  suitable for both beginners and regulars. From Glebe to Bondi Junction, hit up your local class by checking out a time HERE.

YOGA

Lentil As Anything in Newtown  on top of giving yall hearty meals in pay what you feel fashion  offers free (or by donation) yoga classes on Tuesdays, Saturdays and Sundays. Also, theres Salsa class on Monday. Check the times HERE.

SURF



Fluro Fridays are held in Bondi and Manly every Friday morning from 6.30 am for a morning of free surf / swim / yoga, where everyone dresses in the brightest threads they can find to raise awareness for mental illness. Find out more HERE.



Photo: Facebook / OneWave.



TRAVEL

TRANSPORT



If youre a slave to the daily grind, the sweaty stank carriage that is the morning / arvo commute is enough to make you throw the towel in on city living.

Thankfully, Sydneys Opal Card gives you something to be grateful for after eight paid journeys a week. Essentially your travel on Fridays and weekends are free, but not for long because apparently Sydney hates us. Milk this situation while you can, cause theyre about to strip us of our privileges on September 5.

Who woulda thunk it  you can actually make a go of it in Sydney, even if youve got as much in your bank account as Julie Cooper post-Caleb Nichol.

Besides, if youre spending that much dosh on a Harry Potter under-the-stairs scenario, you may as well get out there and enjoy those city surroundings.

Go on  get outta bed and soak up that good / free life.

Photo: Bridesmaids.
The artist behind Sydneys dope Prince mural has received props from Princes family after painting another massive mural in Princes hometown of Chanhassen, Minnesota.

Kiwi artist Graham Hoete AKA Mr G flew to Minnesota to paint the mural after Aussie woman Kirsten Sampson managed to sort out a two-and-a-half storey high wall for him to paint on.

Mr G was thanked by Chanhassens mayor Denny Laufenburger at the unveiling of the mural, which also included Mr G performing a haka:

The mural clearly went down a bloody treat with the locals, with Mr G being approached by Princes own brother to not only thank him for coming all the way to do the piece but also to invite him to the official memorial service for Prince in August:

They understand and acknowledge the price this had and I think they were touched that someone had come all this way to do that. I think they felt it would be fitting to reciprocate by inviting me to the memorial. I wasnt doing it for that. It was a huge surprise and I am deeply humbled by it.

Take a geeze at the mural and the crowd:

Source: ABC.

Photo: Facebook.
Jim Green, director, Planetary Science Division, NASA, left, talks during a media briefing joined by Scott Bolton, Juno principal investigator, second from left, Rick Nybakken, Juno project manager, second from right, and Heidi Becker, Juno radiation monitoring investigation Lead, at Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif., on Monday, July 4, 2016. The solar-powered spacecraft is spinning toward Jupiter for the closest encounter with the biggest planet in our solar system. NASA's Juno spacecraft will fire its main rocket engine late Monday to slow itself down from a speed of 150,000 mph (250,000 kph) and slip into orbit around Jupiter. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel)
Gaylord faces Mount Pleasant, St. Mary's hosts Central Lake

Gaylord is in the MHSAA Playoffs for the first time since 2018, while St. Mary's makes it's fourth apppearance in four years at the 8-man level.
Although construction of the Caticlan Airport runway extension has been completed, the new gateway to Boracay Island remains far from completion. Work on the airport's new apron seems nearly complete, while construction of the brand new terminal building has yet to begin.





According to Ramon Ang, President of San Miguel Corporation, which controls the Caticlan Airport through its affiliate TransAire Development Holdings, the upgrade of the existing airport has been completed, while the new terminal is all the remains to be constructed.





In an interview with the Philippine Inquirer , Ang stated that, "The Caticlan Airport could already accommodate big jets." He added that a temporary terminal is being set up that would be able to accommodate the increased volume of passengers travelling through Caticlan. The temporary terminal is expected to be completed within the next six months.





A number of local and foreign carriers are already lining up to shift their A320 and Boeing 737 flights to Caticlan Airport. According to the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation, this may lead to over capacity in the Manila-Caticlan market, while Kalibo Airport may suffer from under-capacity as airlines switch flights to Caticlan





In addition to the construction of a larger airport passenger terminal and the extension of the runway, San Miguel Corporation plans a complete rehabilitation that includes improvement of road networks, air traffic control aids, and an upgrade of the airport facilities. It is envisioned for Caticlan Airport to be on par with some of the best airports in the region.





However, San Miguel Corporation recently unveiled an even bigger plan for Caticlan as it proposed to construct a 1.9 kilometre toll bridge that would connect the tiny community with the world-famous Boracay Island, which is presently only accessible by boat.





According to Ang, the project would cost an estimated $100 million at current exchange rates and it would be up to the local government unit to award the contract to a private sector firm. "We proposed the idea for them to bid out," said Ang. "For us, it's okay if there are other bidders."





Ang believes that the new project would enhance connectivity and convenience for tourists. "They can all live in Caticlan and enjoy the view in Boracay, which is now so congested and has a lot of sewage problems." Ang intends to develop Caticlan to help decongest Boracay Island, while also providing services such as a hospital, retail complex, convention centre, hotels, and restaurants. "It would be possible for tourists to find cheaper accommodations in Caticlan," added Ang. "We think what's best is if everybody will stay and eat in Caticlan, and then go to Boracay to enjoy the beach."





The Caticlan Airport upgrade is expected to transform Boracay into a more affordable holiday destination as the increase in regional and domestic flights drives down airfare costs. But not everyone is convinced that this expansion is good for the community or the environment.





Caticlan residents have asked the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines and San Miguel Corporation to provide a clearer picture on how they intend to expand the airport and surrounding area. In an interview with the Manila Bulletin , an official from Barangay Caticlan revealed that the Department of Transportation and TransAire Development Holdings have yet to present an actual master development plan for expansion of the airport.









Although the last round of inter-agency dialogue took place in March of this year, no concrete answers have been provided to the estimated 8,000 local residents that will be heavily affected by the airport's expansion.





A protest was held last year over the low amount that was offered by TransAire for residential lands that will be impacted by expansion of the airport. According to a barangay official, low-income families were left with no choice but to accept the low payment of P1,000 per square metre when market values ranged from P5,000 to P10,000 per square meter.





Barangay Caticlan residents have expressed frustration with the "unjust" manner in which the Caticlan Airport expansion has been implemented. Residents claim that the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines fast-tracked the process to allow TransAire to begin the initial phase of expansion.





According to residents, no public hearing ever took place on what seems to be a non-inclusive development project that is likely to leave poor families behind. "Families have already been evicted and have become squatters to give way to the airport expansion project," said Barangay Caticlan Secretary Hazel De Los Reyes.




A puppy in a pet shop display window. Claudio Alvarez

The Madrid regional assembly will soon debate an animal protection bill that seeks to ban the display of live animals inside pet shops, among other initiatives.

If passed, stores will no longer be allowed to showcase kittens and puppies in their windows as a way to lure in customers.

This particular amendment to the larger bill, due to be debated on July 14, was introduced by Ciudadanos with support from Podemos and the Socialist Party (PSOE) and opposition from the Popular Party (PP).

Another controversial item in the animal protection bill is the ban on live pigeon shooting

Ciudadanos says that prospective customers should purchase their pets through catalogues, on the internet or through other means that do not involve displaying live animals at pet shops.

But the bill does not specify which animal species the ban would affect. Ciudadanos claims it encompasses all animals likely to be sold as pets, even birds, hamsters and fish. But the Socialist assembly member Rafael Gomez said it should be limited to dogs, cats and ferrets, which are the animals that the law alludes to, and thats why we supported this amendment.

Alejandro Sanchez of Podemos shares the Socialists view, although he also adds that the way the bill stands now, it means a complete ban.

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The PP, meanwhile, considers that the measure will hurt the sector, which is mostly made up of small and medium businesses. There can be other options, and animals can be abandoned no matter where you buy them, said Elena Gonzalez, a PP assembly member.

But Ciudadanos representative Enrique Veloso said that the point is to try to avoid impulsive purchases by customers influenced by the cute factor. In 2014, over 140,000 dogs and cats were abandoned in Spain, according to a study by the Affinity Foundation. Spanish shelters take in an animal every five minutes.

Veloso does not see why pet shops should be ruined by the move because they will keep selling through indirect means.

Buyers will also receive a certificate guaranteeing that the purchase was legal and that the animal was bred at licensed centers throughout the region.

Another controversial item in the animal protection bill is the ban on live pigeon shooting. The ban is supported by Ciudadanos, Podemos and the PSOE, but opposed by the PP, which feels things should stay the way they are. Right now, the regional government can issue licenses to three shooting clubs in Madrid. Were talking about entrepreneurs and SMEs being hurt by this, said a PP source.

The bill also prohibits using wild animals in circus acts and establishes that abandoned animals may no longer be put down at municipal shelters.

English version by Susana Urra.
Passengers lining up at Vueling counters at Barcelona airport. Massimiliano Minocri (EL PAIS)

The Spanish Public Works Ministry has initiated proceedings against low-cost carrier Vueling after four straight days of flight cancellations and delays.

The ministrys Air Safety Agency has told company president Javier Sanchez-Prieto to come in on Monday to explain the reasons for the cancellation of 14 flights, 10 of which departed from or arrived at Barcelona-El Prat airport.

Emergency hirings On Monday, sales director David Garcia said that the company had added 130 new employees to improve its customer service following the string of delays. In a radio interview on Rac1, Garcia said that Vueling has also rented six more aircraft, hired 34 pilots and increased its sales personnel by 40%. Its our responsibility, he said.

The regional government of Catalonia has also called in Vueling executives and is contemplating sanctions against the Spanish airline, which is owned by IAG  itself the merger of Iberia and British Airways.

The trouble began on Thursday and continued through Sunday, triggering scenes of chaos at Barcelona-El Prat and leaving at least 8,250 people stranded.

Although Vueling has been trying to be discreet about its recent cancellations and failed to provide an official count, at least 46 flights have been suspended since last Thursday. Others have suffered delays and unexpected stopovers. The company declined to take calls from this newspaper.

At midday on Sunday, its website indicated five cancellations of Barcelona-based flights to Malaga, Moscow, Bilbao, Toulouse and Paris, with five more inbound flights from Frankfurt, Dubrovnik, Ibiza, Malaga and Paris also suspended. By 10pm, the Bilbao-Barcelona and Toulose-Barcelona flights had also been cancelled.

The company has blamed the delays on operational problems. But employees said that planning for the summer campaign has been disastrous.

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Other company sources added that a series of factors has contributed to a perfect storm that could get even bigger throughout the summer.

One high-placed company employee listed a few of these factors for EL PAIS, speaking on condition of anonymity.

During Easter we could already foresee that this was going to happen, he said. We lost control over operations, personnel and flight crews. Later, we saw that more flights were being sold than we could possibly operate.

According to this worker, the shortage of personnel includes copilots.

On some flights, there were two captains because there were not enough trained copilots, said this source.

To this, he said, must be added the complexity of opening new hubs like the one in Paris.

He also pointed at the change in corporate leadership as another key factor explaining the trouble at Vueling. But ultimately, the chief problem is out-of-control growth.

During Easter we could already foresee that this was going to happen

Vueling employee

It did not match a growth in the number of personnel handling the crews and passengers, said this company source.

It also did not help that French air traffic controllers went on strike repeatedly in recent times.

Our routes fly over that airspace in 80% of cases, and its affected us, he said.

The situation has reached a point where, despite good financial results  Vueling earned 93.39 million in 2015, three times as much as expected  employees have started to fear for their jobs.

English version by Susana Urra.
Colin Haley, solo, fast and light on the Infinite Spur in Alaska

American alpinist Colin Haley shares his thoughts about his recent fast solo ascent of the Infinite Spur on Sultana - Mt. Foraker in Alaska. Originally posted only on facebook, Haley has kindly allowed his text to be republished on planetmountain.com.

My friend Kelly MF Cordes was asking me how Rob and I went so much faster on the Infinite Spur than previous ascents, and how I then went much faster yet, and it occurred to me that other people might have a similar question, so I thought I'd share my thoughts here:



First and foremost, conditions are everything on big routes in the Central Alaska Range. Even the most technical routes on Denali and Sultana involve more than half the elevation gain on snowfields that can hold enough snow for hard trail breaking. Thus, whether or not you have a lot of hard trail breaking can easily literally halve or double your ascent time. The last time I tried the Cassin Ridge, in 2011 with Nils Nielsen, we were very fit and very well acclimatized, but had horrendously bad trail breaking. We eventually got so exhausted that we didn't even manage to finish the route, and instead traversed back to the 4,200m camp. If, on the exact same day we had perfect tracks ahead of us, I'm confident that we would've gone from the 'schrund to the summit in under 9 hours. When Rob and I climbed the Infinite Spur, we had perfect tracks from the British party until just under the Black Band, and then a wind-scoured upper mountain with very little trail breaking. Of the eleven ascents of the Infinite Spur thus far, I think it's very likely that Rob and I had the best conditions of any ascent.



Second, anyone who tells you that gear doesn't matter is clueless (at least in alpine climbing). I'm 100% certain that Rob and I were carrying less total mass of material than any other roped ascent of the route. My ice axes, crampons and helmet are all significantly lighter than they were just three years ago, and massively lighter than the ice axes, crampons and helmets that Steve and Rolo had in 2001. My helmet is the lightest one on the market. My ice axes are Petzl prototypes which are noticeably lighter than Quarks, which are already some of the lightest technical ice axes on the market. My crampons are steel in front and aluminum in back, and connected by dyneema cord. We cut the leg loops off of our harnesses. Our cams were the new BD ultralights. Our ice screws were the aluminum Petzl Laser Speed Lights. Our carabiners and slings were certainly way lighter than the lightest ones available in 2001. We climbed on a single 7.7mm rope, and didn't bring a second one. I wore single boots on both ascents - the La Sportiva Batura, of which the current version is significantly lighter than the first version that came out in 2007. Yeah, we brought sleeping bags, they weighed 700g each. Yeah, we brought foam pads, but have you seen how light the NeoAir pads are? We had a Jetboil Sol, which is much lighter than the original Jetboil, which already was much lighter than whatever stove Steve and Rolo had in 2001 (probably a white gas stove).



Even relatively minor differences in strategy can make a major impact. For example, on my previous single-push ascents of big routes in the Central Alaska Range, I had always brought one freeze-dried dinner each, to break up the monotony of eating so many energy bars and gels. This year I was wise enough to realize that is a major mistake - Not only does it waste a lot of fuel to bring water to a boil, but the freeze-dried meals are slow to cook, slow to eat, and slow to digest. I think that even something as simple as not bringing any freeze-dried meals might've easily saved us 30 minutes.



Rob and I climbed the route in about 73% the time of the previous fastest ascent. However, when you consider that this past winter Alex Honnold and I did the Torre Traverse in less than 25% of the time of the previous fastest ascent, it shouldn't even be so shocking that I was able to solo the Infinite Spur in 50% of the time of the long-standing speed record. In all these cases there is of course some fitness and skill involved, but mostly it is a question of shifts in paradigm and perspective. Rob and I already had the lightest packs of anyone who has climbed the route, and when I went back alone I dropped a whole bunch more weight by bringing essentially zero rope or hardware. Rob and I already simul-climbed everything, and when I went back alone I wasted zero time placing gear or belaying.



To be honest, even my time of 12:29 is not actually very fast. If I were to do it again, if I were very well acclimatized and had perfect conditions, I'm pretty sure I could do it in 9 hours. I'm also pretty sure that, under perfect conditions, someone like Ueli Steck could do it in considerably less time than that. I'm totally serious and quite confident in these statements. If you break it down, that shouldn't be so surprising. First off, the elevation gain from 'schrund to summit is roughly 2,700m. Doing 2,700m of elevation gain in 9 hours? For someone like Kilian Jornet that is literally a rest day. Second, for a high-level alpinist in 2016 the technical difficulties of the Infinite Spur are basically trivial, so they cannot be considered a significant hindrance on speed. The only spot where I was slow due to the technical difficulty was the Black Band, and someone like Ueli would've raced through it. If conditions are perfect then trail-breaking would be a non-issue, and if one is well acclimatized then the altitude would be a non issue.



07/06/2016 - Colin Haley makes first solo ascent of the Infinite Spur on Sultana - Mt. Foraker in Alaska

American alpinist Colin Haley has made the first solo ascent the Infinite Spur on Sultana - Mt. Foraker in Alaska. While the ascent required just 12 hours 29 minutes from the Bergschrund to the summit, the descent proved a harrowing ordeal that turned out to be one of the most intense experiences in his life.
US President Barack Obama delivering a speech in London. JUSTIN TALLIS (AFP)

More information El Brexit fuerza a EE UU a buscar otros aliados especiales en Europa

With six months to go before his presidency ends, Barack Obama has a new cause for concern: Europe. Britains decision to leave the European Union, made in a recent referendum, is altering relations between the United States and the European continent.

With the Brexit, as the departure is known, Washington is losing the best champion of its own interests in the European hallways of power, on matters ranging from the economy and security, to espionage.

While Obama insists that Americas special relationship with London will endure, Brexit will force the US to reinforce its ties with other European countries to try to retain its own influence over the continent.

France and Germany are the early favorites to replace Britain as Washingtons partner of choice. The US president will be traveling to Poland and Spain in the coming days on a tour that is sure to be marked by the referendum in Britain.

Obama will travel to Poland and Spain in the coming days on a tour that is sure to be marked by the upset referendum in Britain

Turning attention to Asia had been one of Obamas chief foreign policy goals. During his first term in office, the European economic crisis and the Arab Spring revolts made that difficult. And during his second term, the threat of jihadism pushed him into greater involvement in the Middle East.

Now, the Brexit vote means that the US president will have to pay a lot more attention to Europe once again. And so will his successor in the White House, beginning in January of next year. The Democratic nominee, Hillary Clinton, supports maintaining US foreign policy along the same lines as Obamas, while the Republican candidate, Donald Trump  who has applauded a Brexit  defends greater isolation for his country.

A great blow

Fiona Hill, an Englishwoman who has been living in the US for 27 years, is one of Washingtons biggest experts on transatlantic relations. As head of the US and Europe Center of the Brookings Institution, she says that the outcome of the UK referendum is a great blow to the US and Europe alike.

No doubt, the United Kingdom was viewed by the US as a kind of anchor in the relationship, because of their common perspective on a wide range of political, economic and security matters, she said.

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Britain is a key element in the institutional architecture built by the US and Europe after World War II. There is hardly a global initiative introduced by Washington that London has not been the first to subscribe to. The British exit from the EU does not necessarily have to change that, but it could condition transatlantic relations at a time of enormous challenges that include NATOs response to Russias expansionist ambitions, talks for a free trade agreement between the EU and the US, and global cooperation to fight the jihadist threat.

The Obama administration has admitted that it was not expecting Leave to win on June 23. The US president had campaigned in favor of Remain. His reaction to the outcome has combined a call to caution and a dose of realism. Obama has asked Europe and Britain to negotiate an orderly transition, underscoring that Brexit will not change existing cultural and economic ties between both nations, nor will it end their cooperation in world affairs as members of NATO and the United Nations Security Council.

Nigel Farage, who resigned as leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP) on Monday, was a big Brexit campaigner. BEN STANSALL (AFP)

Yet even Obama has admitted that he is concerned that Britains absence from the EU, coupled with potential alterations within Europe, could make it difficult to find solutions to other existing challenges.

Meanwhile, Brookings expert Fiona Hill is recommending that Washington try to diversify its alliances on the old continent. She feels that the US should, on one hand, try to help Britain and the EU build bridges, and on the other hand, intensify its own relations with France and Germany, but also with other regional powers such as Spain and Italy.

But Hill thinks it will be difficult for Washington to find a short-term ally that can match Britain on matters of espionage. The UK is one of four English-speaking countries that the US partners with on the Five Eyes alliance. Following the 2013 espionage scandal involving German chancellor Angela Merkel and disclosed by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, the US offered Germany increased intelligence cooperation, but the response was lukewarm. Berlin is also more reticent to embark on military adventures than London or Paris.

Carles Castello-Catchot, a Spaniard who works as chief of staff at the Brent Scrowcroft Center of the Atlantic Council, a Washington think tank, believes that France and Germany will become Americas preferred links to the EU, in Britains absence.

I just dont see the secondary powers [playing that role], he says. Spain has enough work to do at the domestic level, Italy is still emerging from a political and economic crisis, the Eastern European countries have enough on their hands with Russia, and the Scandinavian countries are less involved.

In recent years, Obama has not hesitated to dial Angela Merkels number in Berlin to discuss major European issues. Germany was a priority partner in the management of the Greek and Ukrainian crises, as well as European reform. And France has become a key ally in the fight against terrorism.

A waning influence?

But the question is whether Washington could ever carry as much clout with Berlin and Paris as it does with London, which shares similar views on economic liberalism and military interventionism.

It is also unclear how the London-Washington relationship will change following the exit from the EU.

It is evident that they will stop being priority allies on EU issues. Whether you like it or not, one, two, five years from now, if its the Germans and the French that you are talking to the most because theyre really the ones who can help you on international security and economic integration issues, then you start losing human relations, diplomatic contacts, says Castello-Catchot. If a Brexit takes place, that special relationship gets a bit eroded, because it stops having an instrumental meaning. We will see whether historical and security ties are enough to keep it alive.

English version by Susana Urra.
It's an officer's motto to protect and serve, but one Rogers County, OK, deputy went above and beyond the call of duty. Corporal Paul Tucker has decided to donate his kidney to save the life of a man he'd never met, reports KJRH.

Nashville, TN, resident Greg Morton, 51, has been on dialysis for two years. Both of his kidneys have failed. Corporal Tucker never met Morton before he agreed to give him his kidney.

"I got the phone call from Vanderbilt and they told me that I wasn't only a match, but that I was around a one in a million match," Corporal Tucker said.

Rogers County Sheriff Major Coy Jenkins is a longtime friend of Morton and says he wasn't able to give his kidney. But by fate, his partner was. Now Morton has another chance.

"I got a brother for life," Corporal Tucker said.

"I'll owe him for the rest of my life," Morton said.

The surgery will take place July 26th in Nashville.
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*The following is an opinion column by R Muse*

Although there is little that surprises regular observers of politics in America, late this week there was a federal district court ruling that, frankly, was stunning. It was also welcomed and may have set the standard for other jurists and politicians to start citing the basis for a world of atrocities being committed against an ever-growing number of Americans by religious Republicans.

Its safe to say that there are some Americans who comprehend that religious liberty guaranteed in the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was never intended to, and does not now, mean that one religious group gets to tyrannize and control non-believers. Evangelical Christians and religious right Republicans disagree, but this week a federal district court judge fairly did what no politician or judge has had the courage to do; call out the favoritism afforded to evangelicals and Catholics who use Republican religious freedom legislation to deny other Americans their equal and civil rights.

In Mississippi, barely minutes before a truly nasty religious freedom bill (House Bill 1523) was due to go into effect, Federal District Court Judge Carlton W. Reeves issued an injunction blocking the harshest and most sweeping Republican religious tyranny bill to date. The bill that passed overwhelmingly in the most religious state and most biblical legislature in the nation gave so-called loving Christians free rein to deny services to LGBT people, fire single mothers with impunity, terminate employees cohabiting with a member of the opposite sex, and ban marriages of same-sex couples.

The surprise in Judge Reeves ruling was that he had no qualms slamming the Republicans for using religion to elevate Christians over the rest of the population and treat non-compliant Americans as pariahs and abominations to humanity. No politician or Judge has ever even mentioned that all of these hateful attempts by Republicans to discriminate against the LGBT community or women or unmarried heterosexual couples were the work of religious imposition a la Sharia Law. Kudos to Judge Reeves; he is the first and only public official to cite religion as the source of so many Republican atrocities targeting American citizens.

The Judge said the religious freedom bill was a stark violation of the 1st and 14th Amendments, and used about 60 pages to eviscerate the theocratic legislation and religious Republicans who passed it into law. Judge Reeves said,

The State has put its thumb on the scale to favor some religious beliefs over others. Showing such favor tells non-adherents that they are outsiders, not full members of the political community, and. . . tells adherents that they are insiders, favored members of the political community. And, the Equal Protection Clause is violated by HB 1523s authorization of arbitrary discrimination against lesbian, gay, transgender, and unmarried persons.

Religious freedom was one of the building blocks of this great nation, and after the nation was torn apart, the guarantee of equal protection under law was used to stitch it back together. But HB 1523 does not honor that tradition of religious freedom, nor does it respect the equal dignity of all of Mississippis citizens. It must be enjoined.

Within his 60-page decision, Judge Reeves also noted that the title, history and text of the law showed it to be the States attempt to put LGBT citizens back in their place. And it was an attempt driven by religious freedom Republicans to enforce evangelical fundamentalists control over what evangelical Republicans consider lesser Americans.

The theocrat who authored the legislation, House Speaker Philip Gunn (R), said he wrote the bill to impose Republican religious laws on the good people of Mississippi because the Supreme Courts Obergefell v. Hodges ruling was an abomination to the god of the Christian bible. Apparently because the Supreme Court adhered to the United States Constitution in its decision, Gunn said the Justices were in direct conflict with Gods design for marriage as set forth in the Bible. The threat of this decision to religious liberty is very clear.

Judge Reeves ruling is the third time Mississippis theocratic legislature and governor have been slapped down for using religion to punish non-compliant Mississippi residents. This weeks ruling comes just 20 months after he struck down Mississippis statutory and constitutional bans on same-sex marriage. And it follows by three months another U.S. District Court Judges ruling striking down the Mississippi theocratic ban on gay couples adopting children.

Of course, religious Republicans assailed the latest ruling as yet another attack on Christians freedom of religion; First Amendment freedom they contend authorizes arbitrary discrimination against single mothers, lesbian, gay, transgender, and unmarried heterosexual persons.

Mississippis Republican Lt. Governor, Tate Reeves (no relation to the judge), said he wants the state to appeal the judges ruling and revealed that, as Judge Reeves noted, part and parcel of religious Republicans interpretation of the 1st Amendment and religious freedom is controlling and discriminating against non-compliant citizens. The lieutenant governor said,

If this opinion by the federal court denies even one Mississippian of their fundamental right to practice their religion, then all Mississippians are denied their 1st Amendment rights. I hope the states attorneys will quickly appeal this decision to the 5th Circuit to protect the deeply held religious beliefs of all Mississippians; so long as those deeply held religious beliefs comport with Republican evangelical fundamentalism.

Notice that blatantly discriminating against other Americans is what the lieutenant governor, and all religious Republicans, regard is their fundamental right to practice their religion. No-one denies any American from practicing religion, but the Constitution does deny their perceived fundamental right to dominate, control, and disenfranchise other American citizens with religious legislation.

Mississippis governor, another Republican theocrat named Phil Bryant, railed against the judges ruling and pledged there would be an aggressive appeal.

Like I said when I signed House Bill 1523, the law simply provides religious accommodations granted by many other states and federal law. I am disappointed Judge Reeves did not recognize that reality. I look forward to an aggressive appeal.

Governor Bryant is dead wrong. It is irrelevant what some Republican-controlled states that attempt to enforce the evangelical version of Sharia Law do, or are trying to do. The U.S. Constitution is explicitly clear that no government, state or federal, representatives can impose religious edicts on the people. Its right there in that First Amendment the Republican theocrats claim grants them religious freedom to tyrannize other Americans.

Furthermore, the 14th Amendment is abundantly clear that no-one, particularly theocratic tyrants, can discriminate against anyone or deny their constitutional equal and civil rights. It doesnt matter one stinking iota what the Christian bible says; or what evangelicals think it says; or what they believe they have religious freedom to do to other Americans.

Besides, that hateful book of archaic mythos is not the law of the land; it isnt now and it never has been. If religious Republicans could only accept that fundamental fact of American life, then no-one would be discussing, or writing an opinion column about, why a Federal District Court Judge had to smack down religious Republicans yet again over their bastardized interpretation of religious freedom.

It is especially revealing that yet a federal judge had to remind religious Republicans that no matter what god they bow down to or who they think they are, the U.S. Constitution prohibits them from favoring one religious belief over others, or telling non-adherents that they are outsiders, not full members of the community, and only worthy of being controlled and tyrannized by the religious right. At least now a federal judge has called out these discriminatory laws for what they have always been; religious tyranny imposed by Republican legislation. If, as religious Republicans claim, their religious freedom entails punishing and controlling other Americans with theocratic edicts disguised as legislation, they are in the wrong country; because Sharia Law, like biblical law, is not valid in the United States of America.

Image: Patheos
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The man documentary filmmaker Ken Burns calls a super-predator continues to leave a swath of destruction behind him. Whether its using an anti-Semitic ad to attack rival Hillary Clinton or alienating entire ethnic groups with slurs, or, as Ken Burns says, even lusting after his own daughter, Trump is making a lasting, and often negative, impression, on millions of American voters.

Trump, of course, continues to respond with grade-school level attacks on all his critics. He spent July 3 issuing tweet after tweet about how THE SYSTEM IS RIGGED! (yes, all in caps) and The system is totally rigged & corrupt! This from a guy who makes a living out of not paying his bills and gets away with it because he is white and rich.

For a guy who is supposed to be so strong, he sure spends a lot of time whining about how unfair the world is.

But what is really going to hurt him on Election Day is turning what were once swing states into blue states. Nevada (6), New Mexico (5), and Colorado (9), all voted for Bush in 2004. There are 20 electoral votes at stake in those three states. Trump needs 270.

There are an awful lot of people Trump called rapists in the Southwest. In fact, Pew reported in January that The Hispanic population in Colorado is the eighth largest in the nation, that Colorados population is 21% Hispanic, and worst of all for Trump, There are 555,000 Hispanic eligible voters in Colorado  15 percent of the total number of eligible voters in the state.

On July 1 Trump tweeted, Just returned from Colorado. Amazing crowd! Amazing crowd, sure. He says that so often it has become largely meaningless. And it glosses over what is really happening in Colorado.

Right now, just when Trump needs voters the most, there are more registered Democrats than Republicans in Colorado.

For the first time in 20 years.

Sure, there are a lot of what Fox News identifies as white Christian Americans in Colorado, but its not just Democrats Trump needs to worry about, but Republicans. The Los Angeles Times reported Sunday that state GOP Chairman Steve House said,

We call it the Frontier State for a reason. Theres a lot of independently minded thinkers out here. We have a lot of unaffiliated voters for a reason. I think that its just that we have delegates who are not convinced hes the right guy.

Trump cant stop bragging about his record-setting vote total in the primaries, but the votes cast during the primaries wont get him elected  or even nominated. And complaining the system is rigged while himself trying to employ imaginary dictatorial powers, isnt going to change anything.

The fact is, Trumps campaign is operating on a shoestring, and his mouth is his own worst enemy. The Denver Post just reported that party operatives are saying his campaign lags Hillary Clinton in organization.

The contrast is most acute with the candidates themselves. Clinton established a beachhead in the Centennial State about 10 months ago; Trump hired his Colorado state director on Wednesday. The head start gives Clinton an advantage on several fronts  from fundraising to voter registration to data collection.

It is almost as though anything other than shooting his mouth off is an afterthought to Donald Trump.

The reality star tweeted Sunday that he had Just watched @meetthepress and how totally biased against me Chuck Todd, and the entire show, is against me, but he wont do anything to help himself. Hed rather offend everybody and then complain that nobody likes him. Hardly a recipe for success.

Trumps rhetoric is a recipe for disaster, however. Locked now into a no-holds, no-apology speaking style that riles up his base but alienates everyone else, all he can do is watch his campaign unravel while he keeps his base happy. And whine a lot.

Trump, meanwhile, told Colorado crowds, We do have to win Colorado. I will be back a lot, dont worry about it. I will be back a lot. But Trumps presence is a two-edged sword, and just the act of opening his mouth hurts him as much as it helps him. If the GOP cant dump Trump, his turning swing states blue will mean they pay not only in this election, but in future elections.
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A model of the Nuestra Senora de las Mercedes warship. INAH

More information La fragata Mercedes vuelve a America

The Mercedes warship was returning from South America when, on October 5, 1804, a day before its arrival in the Spanish city of Cadiz, a British squadron sank it off the coast of Portugal. The vessel was carrying 325 passengers and enough gold and silver coins from tax revenue to build 125 squares like Madrids iconic Plaza de Cibeles.

The exhibit will leave its home in Madrid for the first time since it opened two years ago

Odyssey Marine Exploration, a Florida-based company that salvages deep-ocean shipwrecks, discovered pieces of Nuestra Senora de las Mercedes and its cargo in the Atlantic Ocean. But after a four-year legal battle, American courts supported Spains claim to the sunken treasure and Odyssey was forced to return the pieces to the Spanish authorities.

Our shared history is undeniable, says Susana Garcia Ramirez, a conservator at Madrids Naval Museum and the curator of the exhibition where the salvaged material now has its home. Because of what happened to the Mercedes, Spain no longer had so many ships to send to the Americas and that was the beginning of the independence [movements]. Its a key moment in history.

Some of the coins in the exhibit. INAH

The National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City will host a temporary exhibit that chronicles the Mercedes 1804 journey from the Viceroyalty of Peru to Europe. The exhibit includes some of the thousands of gold and silver coins found, as well as cannon, portraits of Charles IV of Spain signed by Francisco de Goya, historical documents like the list of the 48 passengers who survived the attack, a flag used in the Battle of Trafalgar and a model of the ship built to scale based on information found in legal documents.

We do not have to let treasure hunters destroy the remains just to sell whatever they can extract from them, Susana Garcia says. The show is part of a 2014 agreement between Spain and Mexico to protect this subaquatic heritage.

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The exhibit will leave its home in Madrid for the first time since it opened two years ago. The Mercedes will be on display in Mexico until October 2. It will then return to Europe, unless another American country requests to host it.

Though it has been five years since the Spanish government recovered 17 tons of coins from the Mercedes, its story remains a mystery. Two centuries after it sank, researchers are still trying to figure out what caused the explosion. It seems like a bullet fell in the ammunition dump and it exploded, but the truth is its not easy for that to happen, Garcia says.

English version by Dyane Jean Francois.
One Year on: No one held accountable for police violence against Electric Yerevan protesters

One year has passed since the crackdown on the peaceful protest dubbed Electric Yerevan in the Armenian capital but no one has been brought to justice for the violence against the demonstrators protesting against an electricity-price hike in Armenia. Last summer, Armenia was rattled by 2 weeks of protests over plans by a Russian-owned company to increase electricity prices by 16 percent from August. Protesters again gathered in the hundreds in Yerevans Baghramyan Avenue on the evening of June 23 after police forcefully scattered the group earlier in the day. At daybreak, hundreds of riot police moved in against protesters using batons and water cannons. Police also beat journalists and destroyed or confiscated their equipment, sparking international condemnation. Over 200 people were detained and many of them were allegedly chased, hit, beaten, kicked and/or put in choke-hold by police. Video footage showed that plainclothes police officers took an active part in the detention and ill-treatment of protesters on Baghramian Avenue, a key traffic artery. The detainees were illegally deprived of freedom and were kept in police departments for more than 4 hours. Many were questioned as witnesses, their mobile phones were confiscated. Dozens of activists were taken to the clinic to undergo drug tests. For a long time, lawyers were not allowed to visit and provide to legal assistance to the detainees. The release of detainees was made possible only after lengthy negotiations. On the same day, the Helsinki Citizens' Assembly Vanadzor Office filed a report with the countrys Special Investigative Service (SIS). Based on the report, the SIS launched criminal charges on July 2, 2015 saying that police officers had exceeded their powers in an obvious manner, had used violence against demonstrators and journalists, hindering reporters from carrying out their professional duties and causing property damage. Only one investigator was initially involved in the criminal case while the criminal case against the protesters was investigated by a team of 20 investigators which later expanded to 53. Thirty-one people, including 18 media representatives, were recognized as an injured party. Only some journalists received compensation. One year has passed since the violent crackdown but no individual has been charged so far, although the SIS claims that various forensic and other examinations have been carried out.
Ten Airmen assigned to the 36th Contingency Response Group at Andersen Air Force Base, participated with various Nepali organizations in a subject-matter expert exchange at Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu June 24 to July 9.

More than 20 members from the Nepal Army, Nepal Police, Armed Police Force and Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal joined the Airmen in a cargo handling knowledge exchange.

We worked directly with the Nepal government entities during the disaster relief operations in Nepal last year, said Capt. Brint Ingersoll, 36th Contingency Response Group air adviser unit deputy director. This SMEE program enables us to build upon the momentum we gained last year and pave the way for preparing us and them to project airpower for future natural disasters or contingency operations.

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The exchange focused on all elements of cargo handling, which included operating a forklift, transporting pallets and loading cargo onto a small plane. The participants also collaborated on the different aspects of disaster relief efforts, to include the varying strengths of land, air and sea service components and how the combination of capabilities helps deliver aid.

These exchanges have been going on for years, and the earthquakes showed us firsthand all of the value we received from previous exchanges, Ingersoll said. The earthquake taught us we did a lot of good in Nepal during the disaster relief operation, but it also showed us that there are a few gaps we would like to work on and close.

The SMEE program bolsters the partnership between various organizations and creates a foundation of familiarity between the participants. The experience and trust gained from these exchanges will enable international organizations to hit the ground running with little to no delay during another disaster.

This SMEE is another example of Pacific Air Forces commitment to the Nepalese people and government, said Capt. Asim Khan, PACAF strategy, plans and programs South Asia country director. Nepal is more prone to natural disasters and the likelihood of there being another catastrophic event is high. These exchanges help increase all of our preparedness levels.

PACAF holds SMEE programs throughout the year at various locations in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region, yet it is even more critical to hold these exchanges in Nepal to create familiarity, Khan said. Nepal is surrounded by mountains and has no large bodies of water surrounding it, making the airborne component of disaster relief operations more critical.

It would be difficult to replicate the type of environment Nepal has anywhere else, so actually having the opportunity to practice where we execute real-world missions is tremendously valuable, Khan said. This is the only PACAF engagement in Nepal this year, so it is crucial the 36th CRG is here and cargo handling and disaster relief topics are reviewed and practiced.

By coming to Nepal and showing commitment, teams strengthened the relationship between both countries, Ingersoll said.

I appreciate the government of Nepal, especially the participants of this exchange, and their commitment to hosting the SMEE, Ingersoll said. While these exchanges help us all, it provides Nepal the tools to handle natural disasters on their own. By demonstrating to its people that they are able to respond to a disaster and take care of its citizens, Nepal is able to solidify itself even more.
Details about the terrorist attack on the Holey Artisan Bakery in Dhaka, Bangladesh, continue to emerge. The New York Times has this story about three friends from Atlantas Emory University who were in the cafe when the terrorists struck:

Early in the morning, the gunmen released a group of women wearing hijabs and offered a young Bangladeshi man, Faraz Hossain, the opportunity to leave, too, said Hishaam Hossain, Mr. Hossains nephew, who had heard an account from the hostages who were freed. Mr. Hossain, a student at Emory University, was accompanied by two women wearing Western clothes, however, and when the gunmen asked the women where they were from, they said India and the United States. The gunmen refused to release them, and Mr. Hossain refused to leave them behind, his relative said. He would be among those found dead on Saturday morning.

Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Mr. Hossains courageous act was not futile: like the passengers on Flight 93, he struck a blow for humanity and freedom against the vicious evil of extreme Islam.

More information is emerging about the terrorists, too.

They are from rich families, they have good educational background, [Bangladeshs] Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan said.

This is as expected. Islamic terrorists are generally prosperous, intelligent and well educated. The vast gulf between them and Mr. Hossain is not one of wealth or education, but rather the abyss that separates good and evil.
On July 9, 1858, Illinois Senator Stephen Douglas gave a campaign speech to a raucous throng from the balcony of the Tremont Hotel in Chicago. Abraham Lincoln was in the audience as Douglas prepared to speak. Douglas graciously invited Lincoln to join him on the balcony to listen to the speech.

In his speech Douglas sounded the themes of the momentous campaign that Lincoln and Douglas waged that summer and fall for Douglass Senate seat. Douglas paid tribute to Lincoln as a kind, amiable, and intelligent gentleman, a good citizen and an honorable opponent, but took issue with Lincolns June 16 speech to the Illinois Republican convention that had named him its candidate for Douglass seat. In that speech Lincoln had famously asserted that the nation could not exist half slave and half free. According to Douglas, Lincolns assertion belied the diversity in domestic institutions that was the great safeguard of our liberties. Then as now, diversity was a shibboleth hiding an evil institution that could not be defended on its own terms.

Douglas responded to Lincolns condemnation of the Supreme Courts Dred Scott decision  a condemnation that was the centerpiece of Lincolns convention speech. I am free to say to you, Douglas said, that in my opinion this government of ours is founded on the white basis. It was made by the white man, for the benefit of the white man, to be administered by white men, in such manner as they should determine.

Lincoln invited Douglass audience to return the next evening for his reply to Douglass speech. Lincolns speech of July 10, 1858, is one of his many great speeches, but in one respect it is uniquely great. It concludes with an explanation of the meaning of this day to Americans with matchless eloquence and insight in words that remain as relevant now as then.

Now, it happens that we meet together once every year, sometime about the 4th of July, for some reason or other. These 4th of July gatherings I suppose have their uses. If you will indulge me, I will state what I suppose to be some of them.

We are now a mighty nation, we are thirtyor about thirty millions of people, and we own and inhabit about one-fifteenth part of the dry land of the whole earth. We run our memory back over the pages of history for about eighty-two years and we discover that we were then a very small people in point of numbers, vastly inferior to what we are now, with a vastly less extent of country,with vastly less of everything we deem desirable among men,we look upon the change as exceedingly advantageous to us and to our posterity, and we fix upon something that happened away back, as in some way or other being connected with this rise of prosperity. We find a race of men living in that day whom we claim as our fathers and grandfathers; they were iron men, they fought for the principle that they were contending for; and we understood that by what they then did it has followed that the degree of prosperity that we now enjoy has come to us. We hold this annual celebration to remind ourselves of all the good done in this process of time of how it was done and who did it, and how we are historically connected with it; and we go from these meetings in better humor with ourselveswe feel more attached the one to the other, and more firmly bound to the country we inhabit. In every way we are better men in the age, and race, and country in which we live for these celebrations. But after we have done all this we have not yet reached the whole. There is something else connected with it. We have besides these mendescended by blood from our ancestorsamong us perhaps half our people who are not descendants at all of these men, they are men who have come from EuropeGerman, Irish, French and Scandinavianmen that have come from Europe themselves, or whose ancestors have come hither and settled here, finding themselves our equals in all things. If they look back through this history to trace their connection with those days by blood, they find they have none, they cannot carry themselves back into that gloriou s epoch and make themselves feel that they are part of us, but when they look through that old Declaration of Independence they find that those old men say that We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, and then they feel that that moral sentiment taught in that day evidences their relation to those men, that it is the father of all moral principle in them, and that they have a right to claim it as though they were blood of the blood, and flesh of the flesh of the men who wrote that Declaration [loud and long continued applause], and so they are. That is the electric cord in that Declaration that links the hearts of patriotic and liberty-loving men together, that will link those patriotic hearts as long as the love of freedom exists in the minds of men throughout the world. [Applause.]

Now, sirs, for the purpose of squaring things with this idea of dont care if slavery is voted up or voted down [Douglass popular sovereignty position on the extension of slavery to the territories], for sustaining the Dred Scott decision [A voiceHit him again], for holding that the Declaration of Independence did not mean anything at all, we have Judge Douglas giving his exposition of what the Declaration of Independence means, and we have him saying that the people of America are equal to the people of England. According to his construction, you Germans are not connected with it. Now I ask you in all soberness, if all these things, if indulged in, if ratified, if confirmed and endorsed, if taught to our children, and repeated to them, do not tend to rub out the sentiment of liberty in the country, and to transform this Government into a government of some other form. Those arguments that are made, that the inferior race are to be treated with as much allowance as they are capable of enjoying; that as much is to be done for them as their condition will allow. What are these arguments? They are the arguments that kings have made for enslaving the people in all ages of the world. You will find that all the arguments in favor of king-craft were of this class; they always bestrode the necks of the people, not that they wanted to do it, but because the people were better off for being ridden. That is their argument, and this argument of the Judge is the same old serpent that says you work and I eat, you toil and I will enjoy the fruits of it. Turn in whatever way you willwhether it come from the mouth of a King, an excuse for enslaving the people of his country, or from the mouth of men of one race as a reason for enslaving the men of another race, it is all the same old serpent, and I hold if that course of argumentation that is made for the purpose of convincing the public mind that we should not care about this, should be granted, it does not stop with the negro. I should like to know if taking this old Declaration of Independence, which declares that all men are equal upon principle and making exceptions to it where will it stop. If one man says it does not mean a negro, why not another say it does not mean some other man? If that declaration is not the truth, let us get the Statute book, in which we find it and tear it out! Who is so bold as to do it! [Voicesme no one, &c.] If it is not true let us tear it out! [cries of no, no,] let us stick to it then [cheers], let us stand firmly by it then. [Applause.]
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Two Nigerians, Lesley Nneka Arimah and Tope Folarin have been shortlisted for the 2016 Caine Prize for literature alongside other Africans.

The others include Abdul Adan ( Somalia / Kenya ), Bongani Kona ( Zimbabwe ) and Lidudumalingani (South Africa).

The prize is one of Africas most respected literary competitions. The winner of the prize will be announced tonight.

Ms. Arimah made the shortlist for her work What it Means When a Man Falls From the Sky published in Catapult (Catapult, USA, 2015). The Minneapolis-based writers work has featured in The New Yorker, Harpers and other publications.

Mr. Folarin was shortlisted for his work Genesis published in Callaloo  ohns Hopkins University Press, USA, 2014. He won the 2013 edition of the Prize and in 2014, was named in the Africa39 list of the most promising African writers under 39.

His work has also been published in various anthologies and journals. He lives in Washington DC.

Mr. Adans The Lifebloom Gift got him on the list. His work was published in The Gonjon Pin and Other Stories: The Caine Prize for African Writing 2014 (New Internationalist, United Kingdom, 2014).

Like his Nigerian counterparts, his work has appeared in African magazines Kwani, Jungle Jim, Gambit, Okike, Storytime, SCARF and elsewhere. He was a participant in the 2014 Caine Prize workshop in Zimbabwe, and is a founding member of the Jalada collective.

Mr. Kona was shortlisted for his work: At your Requiem published in Incredible Journey: Stories That Move You (Burnet Media, South Africa, 2015). A freelance writer and contributing editor of Chimurenga, his writing has appeared in Mail & Guardian, Rolling Stone (South Africa), Sunday Times and other publications and websites. He is equally a Masters degree student in the Creative Writing department at the University of Cape Town.

Lidudumalingani made the list for the piece: Memories we Lost published in Incredible Journey: Stories That Move You (Burnet Media, South Africa, 2015).

Lidudumalingani, a writer, filmmaker and photographer was born in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa, in a village called Zikhovane. He has published short stories, non-fiction and criticism in various publications. His films have been screened at various film festivals.

The Caine Prize for African Writing is a literature prize awarded to an African writer of a short story published in English.

The prize was launched in 2000 to encourage and highlight the richness and diversity of African writing by bringing it to a wider audience internationally.

The focus on the short story reflects the contemporary development of the African story-telling tradition.

SOURCE: The Caine Prize Website
Nobel laureate, Wole Soyinka, has described the late Elechi Amadi as a soldier and poet, captive of conscience, human solidarity and justice.

Mr. Amadi died in Port Harcourt of an undisclosed illness.

He was aged 82.

In a tribute to the late writer, Mr. Soyinka said although he is gone, Mr. Amadis creativity would remain a consolation honouring its faithful servitors and filling us with gratitude for their passage.

I recall those enraged, agonizing hours when the peace and sanctuary of his home were violated by kidnappers, mulled over the treasured moments I spent with him in the intimacy of his living room, said Mr. Soyinka, a Professor of Comparative Literature.

It seemed unconscionable that, having survived a Civil War, he should now be subjected to the sadism, disrespect and greed of a handful  and of course, of the failure of overall society that he took to arms to rectify.

Far from his home, I quietly celebrated his triumphal return. Now there are only memories of those sparse but quietly congenial interactions to celebrate.

I remain appreciative for the instinctive rapport that marked our encounters, public or private.
The U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria, James Entwistle, has said that there is no hidden agenda behind his countrys decision to stop crude oil purchase from Nigeria.

Mr. Entwistle said this while fielding questions from journalists at the 240th Anniversary of the U.S. Independence in Abuja.

The envoy said the price of oil was determined by the international market and that the desire of every business person was to get the best product at the best price.

There is no conspiracy for the U.S. not to buy oil from Nigeria.

Price of oil is determined by international market and business people go to get the best product for the best price. That something happened to us with oil.

But I wish you listened to my last statement where I talked about the importance of the private sector, the commitment of the U.S. companies to help build this country (Nigeria), he said.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the U.S. had in 2014 stopped the importation of crude oil from Nigeria, a development that was tied to the discovery of Shale oil and gas in commercial quantity in the country.

The Minister of State for Petroleum, Ibe Kachikwu, recently said the U.S. would soon resume the importation of crude oil from Nigeria.

He said the rekindled relationship was a direct fallout of President Muhammadu Buharis visit to the US in July this year.

The minister, however, did not reveal the details of the development but said the U.S. had indicated its interest in buying very limited quantities of Nigerias crude.

Mr. Entwistle urged the Muhammadu Buhari-led government to create an environment that would attract more foreign investment into the country as a way of revamping the nations economy.

I am not much of an economist but I think the government is starting in the right direction.

Things like fuel subsidy, exchange rate will continue to create an environment that is welcoming to foreign investment.

.

Some of the biggest U.S. companies in the world are here, theyve been here for decades, they are happy. So its better to maintain an environment that will attract more foreign investment, he said. (NAN)
One of Nigerias oil workers unions, the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, (PENGASSAN), has directed its members to prepare for strike from Thursday over some unresolved industry issues with the federal government.

In a statement, Monday, PENGASSAN directed its four zones to sensitize members for the planned strike.

The statement, signed by the spokesperson for the group, Lumumba Okugbawa, recalled the May 24, 2016 inconclusive negotiation with the government on issues affecting the oil industry.

The oil workers said a meeting with government, which was scheduled for June 23, was moved at the last minute to June 30.

The negotiation failed to resume even on that new date, as the planned meeting was again unceremoniously cancelled, with no new appointment given, the group said.

We see this as a deliberate attempt by government to frustrate the discussion of the myriad of issues raised in the (May 24, 2016) Communique, which are critical to the survival of the oil and gas industry in the country, the statement said.

The group recalled the issues raised with government during its May 24, 2016 meeting to include the huge joint venture/cash call arrears, which it said was stalling new investments and frustrating the creation of new jobs in the industry, as well as causing massive job losses among its members.

The association said the countrys tertiary institutions were producing graduates with little or no job placement opportunities, adding that even those with jobs were struggling to get salaries, while those in the services sector were regularly faced with threats of redundancies.

We cannot fold our arms and watch this gradual collapse of our strategic oil and gas industry and its attendant consequences on the nations economy, which is a sharp contrast to the present governments avowed promise on creation and retention of jobs.

Based on the above, our members have been directed to embark on a gradual withdrawal of our services from their various offices, sites and production facilities effective Thursday, July 7, 2016 beginning from 12.01 hours, the statement said.

If the oil workers make good their threat, the strike will disrupt the smooth supply of petroleum products Nigerians have been enjoying since normalcy was restored after labour suspended its industrial action in May following the removal of fuel subsidy and adjustment of fuel price of petrol from N86 to N145 per litre.

When contacted by PREMIUM TIMES, the spokesperson for the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Garba Deen Mohammed, asked for time to consult with the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachikwu, before commenting on the oil workers threat.
A close associate of former Chinese president, Hu Jintao, has been jailed for life for corruption, the state-run Xinhua news agency said on Monday.

Ling Jihua pleaded guilty to bribery, illegally obtaining state secrets and abuse of power, said the court in the eastern city of Tianji.

The 59-year-old fell from favour after his son died in a car crash involving a Ferrari in March 2012.

Two women in the car were seriously injured.

It only emerged several months later that the person involved in the accident was the son of a presidential adviser.

Questions were asked about how Ling could afford a luxury car worth several hundred thousand dollars.

In September 2012, Ling lost his job before the new leadership under President Xi Jinping took office.

His situation was made more complex when his younger brother Ling Wancheng fled to the U.S. in 2015.

The U.S. media reports said that he took secret documents with him. (dpa/NAN)
Three separate explosions by suspected suicide bombers have occurred in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as the annual Ramadan fast draws to a close.

The first suicide blast, which was foiled by security operatives, took place near a U.S. consulate in the coastal city of Jeddah.

A spokesperson of the Saudi government said the attack was carried out by an expatriate in his 30s.

Hours later, Al-Arabiya network reported another suicide blast near a mosque in the city of Qatif, in the Kingdoms Eastern Province.

Some few minutes ago, Al Arabiya again reported that another suicide bomber blew himself up near a police post at the Prophets Mosque in Madinah.
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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

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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

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The statement of the Defender on the video of the execution of Armenian PoWs by the Azerbaijani armed forces

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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

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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

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A police source in Madinah has told Arab News how a suicide bomber struck in the vicinity of a police post outside the prophets Mosque at Sunset on Monday killing six persons.

The victims include four policemen and two civilians plus the bomber himself, officials said.

The source said the officers manning the post were having their Iftar (breaking of fast) meal when the suicide bomber struck.

The bomber reportedly asked to join the policemen in breaking the fast and he was welcomed.

As soon as he got near, he exploded his suicide vest, Arab News reported.

A video circulated on social media showed a car burning and at least two security officers were seen lying on the open ground and two others lay crumpled near a burning car.

Security forces have cordoned off the Prophets Mosque and worshippers were not allowed to get in or out.

Madinah Governor, Faisal bin Salman, arrived at the blast location and visited Al Ansar Hospital where the victims of the blast were being treated.

Also, in Qatif, a governorate in the Eastern Province of the Kingdom, two suicide bombers blew themselves up one after the other outside the Faraj Al-Omran Mosque.

No casualties were reported.

Earlier on Monday at 2:15 a.m. Mecca time, a suicide bomber blew himself up near the US Consulate in Jeddah when security officers confronted him as he moved suspiciously at a parking lot of the Dr. Soliman Fakeeh Hospital.

Mansour Al-Turki, spokesperson of the Ministry of Interior, said the bomber, in his 30s, was identified as an expatriate from the United Kingdom.

Photos taken from the scene showed the bombers body partially dismembered by the blast.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attacks so far.

However ISIS militants claimed responsibilities for previous mosque attacks in the past months in the kingdom.
A Federal High Court in Lagos has granted a N250 million bail to former Aviation Minister, Femi Fani-Kayode, who is facing corruption trial before Justice Muslim Hassan.

The judge also granted bail in the same sum to Mr. Fani-Kayodes co-defendants, Nenadi Usman, former Finance Minister; and Danjuma Yusuf.

Mr. Hassan also stated that each of the defendants must provide two sureties who own landed properties within the courts jurisdiction, as well as deposit their travel passports with the court.

The sureties must have landed property within the jurisdiction of the court and deposit their Title Documents with the Chief Registrar of the court.

The Title Documents shall be verified by the EFCC within seven days. The sureties shall also file affidavit of means and deposit their International passport with the court.

He adjourned till October 19, 20, and 21, for trial.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission had last Tuesday arraigned Mr. Fani-Kayode former Minister Nenadi Usman alongside Danjuma Yusuf and Jointrust Dimensions Nigeria Limited before Justice Hassan on a 17-count charge bordering on conspiracy, stealing, corruption and making cash payments exceeding the amount authorized by law.

The accused persons are accused of diverting about N4.9 billion belonging to the Federal Government of Nigeria for political and personal uses.

They pleaded not guilty to the charges.

But after they took their pleas, their counsel, Ferdinand Orbih, Ifedayo Adedipe and S. I. Ameh, moved the motion for bail, having filed separate applications in which they prayed the court to release their clients on bail.

But the prosecuting counsel, Rotimi Oyedepo, said he needed time to respond to the applications.

Justice Hassan consequently adjourned proceedings to July 1 for hearing of the bail applications.

At the resumed hearing Friday, lawyers to the defendants argued the applications.

Mr. Orbih prayed the court to admit the first accused person to bail based on self-recognition pending the hearing and determination of the charges preferred against her. He also prayed the court to grant her bail on very liberal terms.

Messrs. Adedipe, Ndukwe aligned themselves with Mr. Orbih.

The prosecution counsel, Nkereuwem Anana, opposed the applications.

However, he said where the court decides to exercise its discretion in favour of the defendants, it should impose conditions that would compel them to attend trial.

Justice Hassan consequently adjourned to today for ruling.
A Federal High Court, sitting in Abuja, has granted bail to the chairman of Atlantic Energy Drilling Concept; a former Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Andrew Yakubu, and four others.

Mr. Omokore, an ally of former Petroleum Minister, Diezani Alison-Madueke, and Mr. Yakubu were charged along with a co-owner of Atlantic Energy, Kola Aluko; Victor Briggs; Abiye Memnere; David Mbanefo; Atlantic Energy Brass Development Limited and Atlantic Energy Drilling Concepts Limited.

Justice Binta Murtala-Nyako, who gave the ruling, ordered the defendants to provide bail bonds of N50 million each, with one surety in like sum.

The surety should have properties in Abuja and should depose to affidavit of means; while the defendants should submit their international passport or passports.

They are also to remain in the court premises until they meet their bail conditions.

Earlier the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission had struck out the name of one of the defendants, Kola Aluko, who is said to be at large.

Mr. Aluko jointly owns Atlantic Energy with Mr. Omokore. The company was allegedly used for the diversion of N400 million in the guise of importing petroleum products in 2011.

The prosecution counsel, Rotimi Jacobs, had asked the judge to remove Mr. Alukos name from the charge sheet since he (Mr. Aluko) could not be reached and had not been served the notice of summons.

Mr. Jacobs had argued that the prosecution was not under compulsion to produce a defendant at large before arraigning other co-accused in the same matter.

But counsel to one of the defendants, Tayo Oyetibo, said the fact that one of the defendants had not been served with the court processes was a fundamental defect that would affect the entire proceeding.

Section 266 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act states that there is no trial without arraignment, or service of charge, Mr. Oyetibo said.

Mr. Oyetibo said the prosecution had forced an adjournment of the matter on June 20 to allow it to ensure the full participation of all parties involved in the case.

He said the inability of the prosecution to provide a proof of service for one of the defendants was a defect that should not be overlooked.

But Justice Murtala-Nyako ruled that the outcome of the trial would affect all those involved in the charge.

She however noted that a defendant at large could still be served with his notice of summons, and ruled that unless the prosecution employed other methods to serve the missing defendant, the charge could not be said to be ripe for reading to the other defendants.

In response to the ruling by Justice Murtala-Nyako, Mr. Jacobs asked that defendant Aluko be removed from the list of defendants.

He had earlier told the court that the charge was amended to include a nine-count charge, which was later read to the other defendants.

They pleaded not guilty to the charges and the trial was adjourned to October 19 and 20.

In 2011, during the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan, Atlantic Energy, alongside other companies, was allegedly given multibillion dollar worth of public assets without due process.

As at the time, the company, which was barely a year old and had no history of producing a droplet of oil, was awarded controlling stakes in two lucrative oil blocks  OML 30 and 34  for just over $50 million each.

The deal, which was signed by the immediate past minister of petroleum, Diezani Alison-Madueke, gave Atlantic Energy Limited a controlling 55 percent stake in the oil block.

Interestingly, Shell, which owned the remaining 45 per cent stake, fetched $1.3 billion for a single field after an open and competitive bidding process.

Incorporated as Atlantic Drilling Energy Concept Limited on July 19, 2010, it signed a Strategic Alliance Agreement with the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC) shortly afterwards.

The NPDC is the upstream production subsidiary of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation.

Under the agreement, Atlantic took charge of four oil blocks- OML 26 FHN, OML 30 Shoreline, OML 34 Niger-Delta Oil and OML 42 Neconde. It was to provide funds, technical services, drill and sell crude oil.

The company was also accused of lifting crude oil, but remitting only a fraction of its worth to government.

In 2012, according to NNPC insiders, Atlantic Energy paid $168m into government account, but lifted about three million barrels  valued at over $350 million.

In 2013, it also lifted about two million barrels of crude valued at about $240million, but paid only $68million.

Similarly, in 2014, Atlantic Energy paid zero cash-call, but lifted about 500,000 barrels of crude oil, valued at $54 million.

Mr. Yakubu was the GMD of the NNPC between 2012 and 2014 when Atlantic Energy lifted oil without remitting what was due to government.
The Civil Defence, Fire, Immigration and Prisons Services Board (CDFIPB) has approved the suspension of four senior officers following the recent escape of two high profile inmates, Solomon Amodu and Maxwell Ajukwu, from Kuje Medium Security Prison.

Kuje is a suburb of Abuja, Nigerias capital city.

Similarly, the Controller-General of Prisons, Jaafaru Ahmed, has approved the suspension of 10 junior staff of the prison over the incident.

This was contained in a statement on Monday by the spokesperson of the Nigeria Prisons Service, Francis Enobore, a deputy comptroller of prisons.

Messrs. Amodu and Ajukwu, both standing trial for culpable homicide, escaped from the prison on June 24.

The affected officers and men are DCP Musa Tanko, SIP Buhari Musa Dogo, PIP Stephen Edogbanya J and PIP Patrick Teru.

The junior staff suspended are IP Usman Peter, IP Dennis B. Makum, IP, Fassan S. Akin, SPA Daka James, SPA Adamu Luka, SPA Zakari Yunasa and PA Asnamal Samuel.

Others are PA Ejegwa Patrick, PA 11 Isah Ibrahim and PA 11 Ngede Salifu.

The statement said the suspension of the prisons officials was sequel to the outcome of the preliminary investigation into the incident and in consonance with PSR 030406 (2008) Revised Version.

It also said the officers were suspended from duty to allow for unhindered trial process.

It said the commissioned officers among them would be served with letters of query while the junior staff would be given Form 96 (Charge Sheet) to explain their role in the unfortunate saga.

The statement also said efforts to recapture the fleeing prisoners in collaboration with sister security agencies were ongoing, adding this is in addition to tightening security measures in and prison formations nationwide to forestall a repeat of such incident.

It added, The Controller General wishes to solicit the cooperation of members of the public to volunteer useful information that will assist in the recapture of the fugitives.
The American University of Nigeria has received a full approval by the National Universities Commission and the Council for Legal Education to start its innovative LL.B programme, the university announced Monday.

Admission into the LL.B program for the 2016/2017 academic session is already in progress, the university said in a statement sent to PREMIUM TIMES.

Nigerias certifying authority for law programmes, the Council for Legal Education, (CLE) had at a full Council meeting on Tuesday, June 28, ratified the decision of its Board of Studies to approve the School of Law at AUN.

The AUN School of Law is the fourth school of the eleven-year-old development university  following the schools of Information Technology and Computing, Business and Entrepreneurship, and Arts and Sciences.

Before the Boards approval, CLE had conducted a resource verification exercise on AUNs state-of-the-art facilities, close on the heels of a similar exercise by the National Universities Commission which regulates university education in Nigeria.

AUNs President, Dr. Margee Ensign, expressing the sentiments of the AUN community, said: The American University of Nigeria is pleased and proud that the Council for Legal Education has approved the launch of our new School of Law. AUN, Africas first Development University, will bring an innovative and important dimension to legal education in Nigeria.

Modelled on the American liberal arts tradition of a broad education and critical thinking, the AUN law courses reinforce the development philosophy of AUN and will be enriched by the Universitys extensive international faculty.

The law curriculum embraces humanitarian studies, gender, alternative dispute resolution, environmental law, HIV and the Law, Gender and Development, Energy and Natural Resources Law, and Technology and the Law, among its novel courses that distinguish AUNs unique approach to legal education.

Dean of the AUN School of Law, Professor Oladejo Justus Olowu, who held top faculty positions in South African universities before coming to lead the AUN program, believes that positive change will be triggered in the nations legal education system.

We went abroad and acquired comparative benefits in the study and applications of law, which is what we have all brought together in birthing the potpourri of multicultural ideas. There is no university in Nigeria that has a programme on the intercourse between law and bioethics or biotechnology; we discovered this from the best practices around the world.

AUN is going to produce a new generation of lawyers that will do the right thing, he said.

Our own law graduates are going to be alternative dispute practitioners and comprehensive attorneys: arbitrators, conciliators, mediators, and negotiators. We are going to do things differently and innovatively. Nigerians will soon feel the impact of the first generation of lawyers to emerge from the AUN.

You only hear lawyers speak about gender equality, but no lawyer in Nigeria went through a law programme that has the gender content.

The AUN law programme will be the first, he added, to develop a law program that is having law, society, and development as a module. You know that development discourses have been left to economists, development theorists, and policy analysts; it has never been a subject for schools of law in Nigeria.

Clearly, that is now going to change, Mr. Olowu said.
The Supreme Court of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has announced that the new crescent of the month of Shawwal has not been sighted and that the month of Ramadan will be 30 days and not 29.

Authorities in the Kingdom told citizens to fast on Tuesday.

Also, the Majlis Ugama Islam in Singapore on Monday announced that Muslims in the country would celebrate Eid-el-Fitr on Wednesday July 6.

The announcement is made after there was no confirmed report of moon-sighting from any part of the country.

According to astronomical calculations, the crescent for the month of Shawwal did not appear during sunset today as it has set earlier than the sun. This signifies that tomorrow will be the end of 30 days of Ramadan.

As such, I am pleased to declare that the first day of Shawwal for the year 1437 Hijrah falls on Wednesday, 6th July 2016, Mohamed Bakaram of the Republic of Singapore said in a statement.

A similar announcement to celebrate Eid-el-Fitr on Wednesday has also been made by Indonesia.

Since United States, United Kingdom, Canada and European countries normally rely on moon announcements by Saudi Arabia, Muslims in these countries will celebrate Eidel-Fitr along with their counterparts in the Arab states.
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo on Monday warned that African countries might experience an outburst of violence if they fail to address the lingering youth unemployment.

He stated this while playing host to the newly appointed President of ECOWAS Commission, Marcel Alain de Souza, who led a four-man delegation to his residence in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital.

Mr. Souza, a Beninoise, was appointed in April.

On the issue of unemployment, particularly youth unemployment, I have maintained that all of us in West Africa, in our different countries and indeed in Africa, we are sitting on a keg of gun powder for as long as we do not pay adequate attention to youth unemployment, Mr. Obasanjo said.

A situation where more than 50 per cent of our youths are unemployed is extremely dangerous. We now have a situation in part of West Africa where people now are dying of starvation.

Is it that we are not producing enough food or if we are producing what we produced evenly, whatever it is it is shameful, it has led us to be begging international community for supply of food to any part of West Africa, it is not right?

The former president, who is currently a special envoy of ECOWAS to Guinea-Bissau, said the expectations from the sub-regional body when it was established 41 years ago were yet to be met.

He lamented the lack of political will on the part of the organisation to move as fast as it should though it was never envisaged that internal conflicts such as those witnessed in Sierra Leone, Liberia, Mali, Guinea-Bissau, and Cote dIvoire would engage its attention.

He said, So the attention that we should have paid to the original objectives which is economic integration, economic development, socio economic, economic progress, we have been diverted.

Of course peace and security is the foundation of any socio-economic development and growth. Of necessity we have to pay attention to base on security.

Mr. Obasanjo said he was available to give support for the Commission whenever he was called upon.

My involvement in Guinea-Bissau was an enduring involvement, the former president said.

I have been in that development when I was in government as President of Nigeria and Nigeria and ECOWAS appointing me as special envoy that kept my involvement and my interest.

I want to say this that most of these conflicts, most of these causes of insecurity or breach of insecurity were because adequate attention had not been paid to what I will call inclusiveness, inclusiveness in terms of political, economic and social development of all our countries, inclusiveness gender wise, inclusiveness social wise, inclusiveness religious wise, inclusiveness ethnic wise and we must appeal to our leaders in our sub region to take these issue of inclusion seriously.

While asking the new leadership of the Commission to be proactive in its activities. Mr. Obasanjo urged it to work closely with President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia, who is the incumbent President of ECOWAS.

Earlier, Mr. Souza said Mr. Obasanjo had always shown commitment to ECOWAS and that he was visiting him to seek guidance on his new assignment.
President Muhammadu Buhari Monday in Abuja said his administration would continue to welcome support and investments from the international community in the agricultural and solid minerals sectors as Nigeria moves to reduce dependence on crude oil.

In a farewell audience with the outgoing Ambassador of the Republic of Sweden to Nigeria, Svante Kilander, in the State House, President Buhari said the Federal Government would create the enabling environment for local and foreign investments in farming, animal husbandry, fishery and the exploration of solid minerals.

The President said a planned visit by some Swedish trade and investment delegations to the country later in the year would further encourage the ongoing process of diversifying the Nigerian economy.

Mr. Buhari commended the Swedish government for the support extended to Nigeria in catering for the needs of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the North East and the ongoing reconstruction of the areas affected by terrorist attacks.

In his remarks, the Swedish Ambassador said his country was pleased with the sweeping changes taking place across the country with clear results in the fight against terrorism and corruption.

Mr. Kilander said his country would continue to strengthen bilateral relations with Nigeria by encouraging more trade and investments between both countries.

Receiving special envoys from President Salva Kiir Mayardit of the Republic of South Sudan and President Al-Bashir of the Republic of Sudan separately, President Buhari advised the two countries to avoid the trap of getting into a mono-cultural economy like Nigeria by diversifying their economies early.

The President also advised the two countries to be more vigilant on security by stemming recruitment of young people by terrorist groups.

He said Nigeria would continue to support the transitional government that had been put in place in South Sudan.

The leader of the South Sudan delegation, who is a Senior Presidential Adviser on Peace, Nhial Deng Nhial and the leader of the Sudan delegation, Ismail Abdul-Raheem, who is the State Minister, Foreign Affairs, assured President Buhari of their commitment to strengthen bilateral relations.

Both envoys, according to Garba Shehu, a presidential senior special assistant on media and publicity, commended Nigeria for the leadership role it had played to ensure peace and stability in their countries.
The Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, on Monday called on Nigerians to pursue the cause of a peaceful and prosperous Nigeria where citizens, regardless of ethnic, religious, political or social status can flourish.

Mr. Ambode, in his Eid-el-Fitri message said it was only by embracing peace, unity and fairness that Nigerians could put the country back on the path of growth and development.

As we celebrate this auspicious occasion, therefore, let us renew our faith in our nation and implore the Almighty God to restore to us those values that place high premium on human life, love of neighbour and sharing, Mr. Ambode said a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Habib Aruna.

In this all important crusade to rescue our dear country from socio-economic as well as political quagmire, let us all continue to demonstrate those sterling virtues of harmonious and peaceful co-existence as well as willingness to serve in this melting pot of cultures where the multi-ethnic and multi-religious nature of our country is turned into a source of strength.

Governor Ambode also thanked Lagosians for their continued harmonious and peaceful co-existence in the midst of diverse ethnic origin and religion.

With your demonstration of love for your neighbour and the willingness to serve, our State has continued to be a model of what patriotic Nigerians will want our dear country to be.

When peace reigns in the land, we can achieve whatever it is that we want to achieve. Infrastructural development can only be carried out in an atmosphere of peace and respect for our political and ethnic differences, he said.

Governor Ambode wished all Muslims in the State a happy Eid-el-Fitri celebration, just as he enjoined Nigerians in other parts of the country to continue to be their brothers keepers.

In his statement, Mudashiru Obasa, the Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, urged Muslims to imbibe the spirit of forgiveness and be ambassadors of peace to their fellow Nigerians.

Mr. Obasa, in his Ed-el-Fitri message, signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Musbau Razak, praised the sacrifice and spiritual commitment of all Nigerians, with particular reference to Muslims throughout the fasting period.

I congratulate all Nigerians, especially my Muslim brothers and sisters for their perseverance, sacrifice and spiritual commitment during the fasting, he said.

It is hoped that sacrifices made will transform to making us ambassadors of peace in our individual and collective endeavours to others and Nigeria as a country.

The significance of the fasting, according to the Speaker, thrives on the threshold of sacrifice, assisting the less privileged, feeding the poor and forgiveness.

If we are forgiven by God, we also hold it as a responsibility to forgive one another. This is when our prayers and fasting can be accepted by Allah, the Lord of forgiveness.

Mr. Obasa said at this point of decline in the nations economy, good believers should employ the lessons of Ramadan in their daily dealings and stay benevolent even after this season.

He also advised they neglect negative calls to trigger trouble in the country through religious extremism, adding that Islam preaches peace and anything contrary is not of Allah.

Also, Tajudeen Agbede, the Chairman of National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), Lagos State chapter, called on Muslims all over the world, and Lagosians in particular to pray for peace and be security conscious during the Eid-il-Fitr celebration.

Mr. Agbede said Allah had used this Holy month of Ramadan as blessing for Muslims all over the world.

The NURTW boss said Lagosians should alert security agencies if they noticed any suspicious person around their area.

We NURTW Lagos State chapter has beef(ed) up security around our various parks to ensure safety of our people, Mr. Agbede said

We enjoin our Muslim brothers and sisters to pray for peace and unity during the celebration.
Krzysztof Szczerski  Secretary of State

Polish President Andrzej Duda and US President Barack Obama will hold a private meeting in Warsaw on Friday, just hours before the start of a key NATO summit in Poland's capital, Polish Presidential Minister Krzysztof Szczerski has told PAP.

"The conversation will concern the NATO summit and the general issues of Polish-US relations," Krzysztof Szczerski said, adding that the presidents were also likely to discuss security issues, the UK's Brexit vote and the EU-US TTIP free trade deal.

The meeting is expected to be followed by a meeting with newsmen.

On Thursday evening, a day before the summit, President Duda will meet with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in the Belvedere Palace in Warsaw. The talks will also be attended by Poland's Defence Minister Antoni Macierewicz, Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski and head of the National Security Bureau Pawel Soloch, Szczerski informed PAP.

The Thursday meeting will be followed by Duda's and Stoltenberg's press conference.

The NATO summit will take place at Warsaw's PGE National Stadium on Friday and Saturday. It will be attended by leaders of 28 NATO member states and partner countries. (PAP)


Pobierz zdjecie Przeczytaj o zasadach pobierania zdjec Observances of the 70th anniversary of the Kielce Pogrom (photo by Krzysztof Sitkowski / KPRP) (1)

Prime Minster,

Minister,

Your Excellency, Madam Ambassador,

Your Excellency, Ambassador,

Your Excellency, Chief Rabbi of Poland,

Minister,

President,

All Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen,

Madame Voivode,

Honourable Deputies,

Senators,

Distinguished Guests,

Dear assembled inhabitants of Kielce,

I am here today to pay tribute on behalf of the Republic of Poland, of our home country, to those murdered on July 4th, 1946, seventy 70 years ago. A moment ago have I visited the local Jewish cemetery to bow my head and to reflect and to pray before the mass grave of those who perished here.

One could say they were young people, reaching on average their 25th - 30th year of age; so there were young people and, most importantly, something that I want to emphasize very strongly: there were citizens of Republic of Poland of Jewish descent, the people who often almost by miracle survived the Gehenna of the Holocaust, many a time seeing with their own eyes the demise of their nearest. I am here to emphasize that independent, sovereign, free Poland pays tribute to its citizens. For Poland is a country of freedom and mutual respect. Poland is a country featuring good coexistence of all citizens, regardless of their nationality, religion or language.

Therefore, in a free, sovereign and independent Poland, there is no room for any prejudice: no room for racism, xenophobia, there is no room for anti-Semitism. Such behaviour, even in its smallest manifestation, must be in Poland decidedly stigmatized, since only under such a condition will Poland be a genuinely free country in the eyes of all its citizens.

I am here today since the tragedy of the Kielce pogrom seventy years ago, has two dimensions to it: a state dimension and a social one. It unfolded after World War 2, after the atrocious experience of the Holocaust. It happened in a country which had its new power installed in it: the communist regime. In a state where in World War 2, the authorities of the Underground Poland punished all informants, all szmalcowniks, and all other people who showed no mutual solidarity: a citizen towards another citizen, the people who showed no solidarity in opposing their common enemy: the fascist Germany and Hitler's occupiers on Polish soil. The underground authorities ordered everyone to come to aid to Polish citizens of Jewish nationality whom the Germans wanted to eradicate completely under their plan to entirely destroy this nation.

It was the Polish Underground authorities that created Zegota, the Council to Aid Jews, who rescued thousands of humans beings, including children. It was the Polish Underground authorities and the Polish government in exile who kept informing the global powers about the developments on Polish territory occupied by the Germans: that Jewish people are annihilated, that there are annihilation camps in place where every day people are murdered on a mass scale. This tragedy here happened when the Communist regime came in, also to destroy the Polish Underground State and all people who wanted to oppose the regime. Why I am saying all this? The reason is that it is the state authorities: the military, the people's police, the Office for the Public Security on that day behaved in a shocking, not to say beastly manner. It was the military and the people's police that were first to open fire here, and many of the victims fallen here died from bullets. Instead of helping and protecting Polish citizens, our compatriots, the military and the people's police not only failed to afford any protection but even engaged in an upfront attack and then left the scene with the Security Office not stepping into action for many hours. It was only in the evening when they turned up to defend. However, this is also a social problem; involving more than complicity of the military of the policemen who were staging the attack here. Also ordinary people were involved in the attack... I leave it down to historians and sociologists to determine how it happened and why it happened, why people reacted in this particular way. However, there is one thing to be strongly underlined: there is no justification whatsoever to the crime of anti-Semitism. There is no and there never will be! There is no justification to a situation when a man raises his hand to strike another: defenceless, innocent. It can never happen in law-abiding state. Today Poland is a law-abiding state, the state which wants to give security to all of its citizens, no matter what their home or class, no matter in what faith they were raised or if raised without faith, no matter what tongue they close to their hearts; since we are all Polish citizens. The Republic of Poland owes equal protection to all of its citizens.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The Poles and Jews on this soil represent a millennium tradition of co-existence of two nations, two cultures, often intermarriages, kinship, friendship, acquaintance. A millennium of shared history and being together in Polin, the land friendly to the Jewish people. Polin - rest here, this is a friendly place. A millennium of history in which the Poles, the Polish citizens of Jewish nationality, were standing up to defend the Republic of Poland: in uprisings, in the wars of 1920 and 1939, and all across World War 2: on various fronts, the Western and Eastern, fighting in the Polish army, in the September's defensive war and in the Warsaw Rising. In all of those places, they stood arm in arm, fighting for Poland's freedom. They shed blood together.

I wish to emphasize it with all my might: the people who perpetrated this crime here on July 4th, by doing so have excluded themselves from the our society, no longer being part of the Commonwealth of friends. How could they ever look in the eyes of all those Poles of Jewish nationality who died for our freedom? For so many centuries, for whole decades. How could they ever look in the eyes of the Ulms family or all of them who sacrificed their lives coming to aid Jews, or who incurred such risk or suffered? How could they ever look in the eyes of honest Polish citizens? Honest people? They cannot look them in the eyes because such a conduct as exemplified back then, was never approved, and  as I trust  will never be approved.

The Republic of Poland bans such people, there is no room for them in our common state, in our great community of Polish citizens.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Once again do I pay homage to all of them who perished here. I wish to pay homage and to acknowledge all of them who over decades have been building and continue to build good relations between the Polish and the Jewish people, who uphold the memory and manifest how beautiful albeit difficult the history of the Commonwealth of friends has been. I want to thank all of them who contributed to establishing the beautiful Polin Musem in Warsaw. A this point, I wish to recall President Professor Lech Kaczynski, the great advocate of Polish-Jewish friendship and co-existence, a great patron of the Commonwealth of friends, one of those who made the Polin Museum project come true.

I would like to make sure that this Museum, next to the Warsaw Rising Museum, would permanently feature on itineraries of school trips. To make sure that young people visit this Museum. In order to promote the awareness of this good centuries' old coexistence, the awareness of Commonwealth of friends which used to be.

I also wish to thank all of them who contributed to the project of building the Museum of Poles who Saved Jews. From all nations of the world we have the highest number of trees planted in the Yad Vashem Institute testifying to thousands, tens of thousands and hundreds of thousands of Poles who helped Jews during the war to smaller or greater extent, who helped their compatriots. I am grateful for the effort to commemorate them since this is also an important feature of our history. Let us take care and preserve what was significant, beautiful but equally of what was difficult those days, so that the memory does not perish. So that also the difficult moments serve us as material to build on and draw conclusions from, and to develop possibly best relations of friendship and good coexistence. But, most importantly, never condoning enmity: groundless, empty and primitive. Thank you very much.
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.




THE HAGUE, The Netherlands, July 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Aegon will repurchase 29,258,662 common shares to neutralize the dilutive effect of the 2015 final stock dividend. These shares will be held as treasury shares and will be used to pay future stock dividends.

Aegon is committed to the repurchase of the common shares by engaging a third party to execute the transactions on its behalf. These transactions will commence on July 4, 2016, and are expected to be completed on or before August 12, 2016. The common shares will be repurchased at a maximum of the daily volume-weighted average price. Aegon will provide weekly updates regarding the transactions on aegon.com/sharebuyback.

Disclaimers

Forward-looking statements

The statements contained in this document that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements as defined in the US Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The following are words that identify such forward-looking statements: aim, believe, estimate, target, intend, may, expect, anticipate, predict, project, counting on, plan, continue, want, forecast, goal, should, would, is confident, will, and similar expressions as they relate to Aegon. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict. Aegon undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which merely reflect company expectations at the time of writing. Actual results may differ materially from expectations conveyed in forward-looking statements due to changes caused by various risks and uncertainties. Such risks and uncertainties include but are not limited to the following:

Changes in general economic conditions, particularly in the United States , the Netherlands and the United Kingdom ;

, and the ; Changes in the performance of financial markets, including emerging markets, such as with regard to:

- The frequency and severity of defaults by issuers in Aegon's fixed income investment portfolios;

- The effects of corporate bankruptcies and/or accounting restatements on the financial markets and the resulting decline in the value of equity and debt securities Aegon holds; and

- The effects of declining creditworthiness of certain private sector securities and the resulting decline in the value of sovereign exposure that Aegon holds;

- The frequency and severity of defaults by issuers in Aegon's fixed income investment portfolios; - The effects of corporate bankruptcies and/or accounting restatements on the financial markets and the resulting decline in the value of equity and debt securities Aegon holds; and - The effects of declining creditworthiness of certain private sector securities and the resulting decline in the value of sovereign exposure that Aegon holds; Changes in the performance of Aegon's investment portfolio and decline in ratings of Aegon's counterparties;

Consequences of a potential (partial) break-up of the euro or the potential exit of the United Kingdom and/or Greece from the European Union;

and/or from the European Union; The frequency and severity of insured loss events;

Changes affecting longevity, mortality, morbidity, persistence and other factors that may impact the profitability of Aegon's insurance products;

Reinsurers to whom Aegon has ceded significant underwriting risks may fail to meet their obligations;

Changes affecting interest rate levels and continuing low or rapidly changing interest rate levels;

Changes affecting currency exchange rates, in particular the EUR/USD and EUR/GBP exchange rates;

Changes in the availability of, and costs associated with, liquidity sources such as bank and capital markets funding, as well as conditions in the credit markets in general such as changes in borrower and counterparty creditworthiness;

Increasing levels of competition in the United States , the Netherlands , the United Kingdom and emerging markets;

, , the and emerging markets; Changes in laws and regulations, particularly those affecting Aegon's operations' ability to hire and retain key personnel, the products Aegon sells, and the attractiveness of certain products to its consumers;

Regulatory changes relating to the pensions, investment, and insurance industries in the jurisdictions in which Aegon operates;

Standard setting initiatives of supranational standard setting bodies such as the Financial Stability Board and the International Association of Insurance Supervisors or changes to such standards that may have an impact on regional (such as EU), national or US federal or state level financial regulation or the application thereof to Aegon, including the designation of Aegon by the Financial Stability Board as a Global Systemically Important Insurer (G-SII).

Changes in customer behavior and public opinion in general related to, among other things, the type of products also Aegon sells, including legal, regulatory or commercial necessity to meet changing customer expectations;

Acts of God, acts of terrorism, acts of war and pandemics;

Changes in the policies of central banks and/or governments;

Lowering of one or more of Aegon's debt ratings issued by recognized rating organizations and the adverse impact such action may have on Aegon's ability to raise capital and on its liquidity and financial condition;

Lowering of one or more of insurer financial strength ratings of Aegon's insurance subsidiaries and the adverse impact such action may have on the premium writings, policy retention, profitability and liquidity of its insurance subsidiaries;

The effect of the European Union's Solvency II requirements and other regulations in other jurisdictions affecting the capital Aegon is required to maintain;

Litigation or regulatory action that could require Aegon to pay significant damages or change the way Aegon does business;

As Aegon's operations support complex transactions and are highly dependent on the proper functioning of information technology, a computer system failure or security breach may disrupt Aegon's business, damage its reputation and adversely affect its results of operations, financial condition and cash flows;

Customer responsiveness to both new products and distribution channels;

Competitive, legal, regulatory, or tax changes that affect profitability, the distribution cost of or demand for Aegon's products;

Changes in accounting regulations and policies or a change by Aegon in applying such regulations and policies, voluntarily or otherwise, which may affect Aegon's reported results and shareholders' equity;

The impact of acquisitions and divestitures, restructurings, product withdrawals and other unusual items, including Aegon's ability to integrate acquisitions and to obtain the anticipated results and synergies from acquisitions;

Catastrophic events, either manmade or by nature, could result in material losses and significantly interrupt Aegon's business; and

Aegon's failure to achieve anticipated levels of earnings or operational efficiencies as well as other cost saving and excess capital and leverage ratio management initiatives.

Further details of potential risks and uncertainties affecting Aegon are described in its filings with the Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets and the US Securities and Exchange Commission, including the Annual Report. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this document. Except as required by any applicable law or regulation, Aegon expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect any change in Aegon's expectations with regard thereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based.

Aegon's roots go back more than 170 years - to the first half of the nineteenth century. Since then, Aegon has grown into an international company, with businesses in more than 20 countries in the Americas, Europe and Asia. Today, Aegon is one of the world's leading financial services organizations, providing life insurance, pensions and asset management. Aegon's purpose is to help people achieve a lifetime of financial security. More information: aegon.com.

Media relations

Debora de Laaf

+31(0)70-344-8730

gcc@aegon.com

Investor relations

Willem van den Berg

+31(0)70-344-8405

ir@aegon.com



SOURCE Aegon N.V.
LONDON, July 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Now guests can have certainty on exactly the room they'll get

London hotel group glh Hotels, today announces the launch of Choose Your Own Room - the world's first online booking site that lets guests choose the exact room they want to stay in, before making a reservation.

Choose Your Own Room will turn room booking on its head by putting guests in control with an end to 'making do' with the room they get allocated at check-in.

The new service is available across all fourteen hotels in the glh Hotels central London portfolio including Thistle, Guoman Hotels, Amba Hotels and every hotels*.

Designed to be simple and intuitive, Choose Your Own Room features include:

The ability to view, compare and book the specific room that guests want to stay in

A search facility that allows users to filter results based on location, price, amenities as well as room layout and even floor plan. Useful categories such as: For Families, For Business, On A Budget, With A View and Suite Stays make it easy for people to find exactly what they are looking for

Guest reviews that are captured for specific rooms, not just the hotel - so users can also check out what other people have said before they book

An individual host to answer all questions during the booking process

The latest development of Choose Your Own Room is the next phase in glh Hotels' room booking strategy. The company was the first to offer guests a room selection service which has had great feedback. This new service is a significant evolution, giving even more control, choice and convenience to guests at the point of booking.

Mike DeNoma, Chief Executive Officer for glh Hotels said: "Finally no more room roulette with our new Choose Your Own Room service. Avoid the booking angst of not knowing what floor, view, layout or size you're getting by seeing multiple pictures of the actual room and even specific room by room guest reviews before you book. We've already had great feedback with 97% of our initial users saying they would use the service again."

http://www.chooseyourownroom.com

NOTES TO EDITORS

*Choose Your Own Room will be available at fourteen London glh Hotels by August 2016:

Amba Hotel Charing Cross & Amba Hotel Marble Arch

every hotel Piccadilly

Guoman Hotels - Tower Hotel, Grosvenor Hotel, Cumberland Hotel and Royal Horseguards

Thistle Holborn, The Kingsley, Thistle Kensington Gardens, Thistle Trafalgar Square, Thistle Bloomsbury Park, Thistle City Barbican, Thistle Euston and Thistle Hyde Park

About glh Hotels

glh Hotels refers to GLH Hotels Management (UK) Limited, a subsidiary of Singapore listed (SGX:B16) GL Limited. glh Hotels is the largest owner-operator hotel company in London with 15 Hotels in top London locations, and leading with the fastest Wi-Fi in the world.

For more information on glh Hotels visit http://www.glhhotels.com

SOURCE glh Hotels
DUBLIN, July 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "Global Fluoropolymers Market - Products, Technologies and Applications" report to their offering.

The global Fluoropolymers market report analyzes the fluoropolymer product types comprising Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), Polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), Fluorinated ethylene propylene (FEP), Perfluoroalkoxy (PFA/MFA), Polyvinyl fluoride (PVF), Ethylene tetrafluoroethylene (ETFE), Ethylene chlorotrifluoroethylene (ECTFE) and Polychlorotrifluoroethylene (PCTFE).

Global fluoropolymers demand is attributed mainly to the robust growth in the developing regions and also continued economic recovery in the developed nations that drives industrial investment and growth in construction activities. PTFE is the largest fluoropolymer in terms of volume and value. However, melt-processable fluoropolymers such as PVDF, FEP, ETFE and ECTFE are forecast to record fastest growth during the analysis period, owing to the significant demand from emerging applications such as photovoltaic modules and architectural membranes among others.

Global volume consumption of Fluoropolymers, standing at 223.2 thousand metric tons in 2012, is forecast to be 281.6 thousand metric tons in 2016 and is projected to reach 402 thousand metric tons by 2022 at a CAGR of 6.1% between 2016 and 2022. Asia-Pacific is the largest volume market for Fluoropolymers globally, forecast to be 126.6 thousand metric tons (45% share) in 2016 and is also likely to post the fastest 2016-2022 CAGR of 7.4% and reach a projected 194.4 thousand metric tons by 2022.

The report also analyzes the key end-use sectors of fluoropolymers including Chemical Processing, Electrical & Electronics, Mechanical/Industrial, Automotive & Transportation, Building & Construction and Others. The global markets for the above mentioned product types and end-use sectors are analyzed in terms of volume in metric tons and value in USD for the aforementioned analysis period. This report also provides the comprehensive market analysis of each fluoropolymer product segment by end-use sector.

The report provides comprehensive data on fluoropolymers production capacities which includes production capacity by manufacturer, by fluoropolymer type, by country and by manufacturer's production plant.

The research also provides the listing of the companies engaged in manufacturing and processing of Fluoropolymers. The global list of companies covers the address, contact numbers and the website addresses of 211 companies including subsidiaries.

Key Topics Covered:

1. Introduction

1.1 Product Outline

2. End-Use Sector Analysis

2.1 Chemical Processing Sector

2.2 Electrical & Electronics Sector

2.3 Mechanical/Industrial Sector

2.4 Automotive & Transportation Sector

2.5 Building & Construction Sector

2.6 Other Sectors

3. Key Market Trends

3.1 Medical Device Industry Fuelling Demand for Fluoropolymers

3.2 Demand for PTFE to Gain Further Momentum from Products with Improved Properties

3.3 New Energy Markets to Take PVDF in a Big Way

3.4 Demands of Membrane Market Being Addressed by PVDF

3.5 ETFE's Progress in Architectural Applications Gains Prominence

3.6 Bright Opportunities for Fluoropolymers in the Radiant Solar Modules Market

4. Industry Landscape

4.1 Fluoropolymers Producers and Production Capacities

4.2 Key Global Players

- 3M Company

- Arkema Group

- Asahi Glass Co Ltd

- Daikin Industries Ltd

- Dongyue Group Limited

- E. I. Du Pont De Nemours and Company

- Gujarat Fluorochemicals Limited

- HaloPolymer OJSC

- Honeywell International Inc.

- Jiangsu Meilan Chemical Co Ltd

- Jinhua Yonghe Fluorochemical Co Ltd

- Kureha Corporation

- Shanghai 3F New Material Co Ltd

- Solvay SA

- The Chemours Company

- Zhejiang Juhua Co Ltd

- Zhonghao Chenguang Research Institute Chemical Industry

5. Key Business & Product Trends

- Arkema and HP in Collaboration

- Solvay Showcases Extensive Line of High-Performance Polymers for Electric Vehicle Battery and Battery Packs

- Polymem Develops Production Line for Hollow Fiber Membranes Made from Arkema's Kynar

- Gore Aerospace Cables Address the Need for Reliable High-Speed Data Transmission

- DuPont Tedlar Films to be Distributed by American Durafilm

- Arkema Expands Scope of Use for Patent-Pending Kynar Foam Extrusion

- Arkema and PPG Celebrate Half a Century of Association

- Kureha Takes Over Kureha Battery Materials Japan

- Arkema's High Performing Kynar Flex Grade for the Wire and Cable Sector Launched

- AGC Introduces Fluon LM-ETFE LH-8000 for New Applications

- Arkema Launches Additional PVDF Polymer Process Aids

- 3M Dyneon Compound NST 1111R Launched

- The Chemours Company Spun Off from DuPont

- Solvay to Commence PVDF Production at its Chinese Plant by 2017

- Solvay Specialty Polymers' ECTEF Resin Films Used in Amcor's Flexible Solar Front Sheets

- EU Intends to Ban PFOA

- AGC Chemicals Enters Brazilian Fluoropolymer Market

- Shanghai 3F New Materials' PTFE Capacity Expanded

- AGC FluoroCompounds Group Inaugurates Pilot Plant

- Arkema's New Grade of Kynar PVDF Resin Launched

- DuPont Fluoropolymer Solutions Consolidates Chinese Operations

- Solvay Launches Two New ECTFE Film Grades for PV Front Sheet Applications

- 3M Introduces 3M Dyneon PTFE Dispersion TF 5035GZ without APEO and APFO

- Kureha Completes Construction of PVDF Plant in China

- Zhejiang Juhua Co Ltd to Build PVDF Facility

- Arkema Expands Kynar PVDF Portfolio with New Grade for Drinking Water Systems

- Honeywell's Brazilian Operations See Growth

- Solvay Introduces Novel Grades of Halar ECTFE Film

- Korean Researchers Develop Novel Technology for Manufacturing VDF

- Arkema Showcases Kynar Aquatec CRX Latex

- DuPont Fluoropolymer Solutions Expands Melt-Processable Fluoroplastic Resin Capacity

- UL Plastics Component Database Certifies DuPont Fluoroplastic's ECCtreme ECA 3000 as Having the Highest Temperature Rating

- New FEP Fluoroplastic Resin Launched by DuPont Chemicals & Fluoroproducts

- Arkema's Kynar PVDF Granted Approval for Long-Term UV Resistance

- Solvay and Shanghai 3F in Collaboration

- Arkema Introduces New PVDF Film for Photovoltaic Panel Back Sheets

- Solvay Specialty Polymers' Recycled Grades of PVDF Resin Launched

- New PTFE Compounding Technology from Dyneon

- Solvay Celebrates 15 Years of Solef 60512 PVDF Resin in Flexible Risers and Flowlines for Oil & Gas

- HaloPolymer's Fluoroplastics Meet European Food Industry's Regulations

- Shandong Dongyue Polymer Material Co Ltd Acquires Shandong Huaxia Shenzhou New material Co Ltd

- 3M Expands Polymer Facility

- Arkema Reintroduces Kynar 460 PVDF Resins

- Solvay Increases SOLEF Production Capacity

- HaloPolymer Joins SPI

- Arkema Expands PVDF Production at Changshu

- PVDF Fluoropolymers Capacity at Arkema's French Facility Increased

- DuPont Teflon Fluoropolymer Foam Resin FFR 880 Launched

- 3M Expands German Fluoropolymer Operations

- Dyneon Receives Funds from German Federal Environment Ministry

- Solvay Introduces Second Generation Solef 80 000 Series e-PVDF Foam

- Honeywell PCTFE Films to be Distributed by American Durafilm

- Daikin America Expands Fluoropolymer Capacity

- Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics Expands Manufacturing Operations

- AGC Expands Production Capacity of Fluon ETFE Fluorinated Resin

- Arkema's Chinese Facility Starts Operations

6. Global Market Overview

6.1 Global Fluoropolymers Market Overview by Fluoropolymer Type

6.2 Global Fluoropolymers Market Overview by End-use Sector

For more information visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/8j8trv/global

Media Contact:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

press@researchandmarkets.com

For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470

For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630

For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900

U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907

Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716

Related Links

http://www.researchandmarkets.com



SOURCE Research and Markets
DUBLIN, July 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "Global Industrial Safety Integrated Components Market 2016-2020" report to their offering.

The report forecasts the global industrial safety integrated components market to grow at a CAGR of 4.93% during the period 2016-2020.

The report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the global industrial safety integrated components market for 2016-2020. To calculate the market size, the report considers the revenue generated from the sale of industrial safety integrated components that include installation and integration to the below-mentioned process industries.

Power

Automotive

Oil and gas

Chemical and petrochemical

Food and beverages

Others

The need for smart industries, such as automated industries, has increased worldwide, and is likely to grow significantly during the forecast period. Manufacturing-based countries that include China and Germany have started to automate their existing factories to stay ahead of the competition. The growing concept of smart industries will accommodate automation and safety integrated components such as safety switches and relay.

According to the report, the smart grid investment worldwide was estimated to reach around $200 billion by 2015. Rapid development of smart grids has increased the growth of several technologies that include smart meters, digital relays, safety switches, and PLCs. Smart grids consist of various smart grid applications such as smart meters, SCADA systems, and IT networks that hold a sizeable market share in the smart grid market, which is growing rapidly.

Further, the report states that fluctuating prices of raw materials have become a major concern for vendors as it hampers their business plans while forecasting demand, developing and executing manufacturing plans, and managing inventory.

Key vendors:

ABB

Rockwell Automation

Schneider Electric

Siemens

Key Topics Covered:

PART 01: Executive summary

PART 02: Scope of the report

PART 03: Market research methodology

PART 04: Introduction

PART 05: Market landscape

PART 06: Market segmentation by products

PART 07: Market segmentation by end-user

PART 08: Geographical segmentation

PART 09: Market drivers

PART 10: Impact of drivers

PART 11: Market challenges

PART 12: Impact of drivers and challenges

PART 13: Market trends

PART 14: Vendor landscape

For more information visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/lwjp3x/global_industrial

Media Contact:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

press@researchandmarkets.com

For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470

For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630

For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900

U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907

Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716

Related Links

http://www.researchandmarkets.com



SOURCE Research and Markets
DUBLIN, July 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "Global Industrial Safety Integrated Components Market 2016-2020" report to their offering.

The report forecasts the global industrial safety integrated components market to grow at a CAGR of 4.93% during the period 2016-2020.

The report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the global industrial safety integrated components market for 2016-2020. To calculate the market size, the report considers the revenue generated from the sale of industrial safety integrated components that include installation and integration to the below-mentioned process industries.

Power

Automotive

Oil and gas

Chemical and petrochemical

Food and beverages

Others

The need for smart industries, such as automated industries, has increased worldwide, and is likely to grow significantly during the forecast period. Manufacturing-based countries that include China and Germany have started to automate their existing factories to stay ahead of the competition. The growing concept of smart industries will accommodate automation and safety integrated components such as safety switches and relay.

According to the report, the smart grid investment worldwide was estimated to reach around $200 billion by 2015. Rapid development of smart grids has increased the growth of several technologies that include smart meters, digital relays, safety switches, and PLCs. Smart grids consist of various smart grid applications such as smart meters, SCADA systems, and IT networks that hold a sizeable market share in the smart grid market, which is growing rapidly.

Further, the report states that fluctuating prices of raw materials have become a major concern for vendors as it hampers their business plans while forecasting demand, developing and executing manufacturing plans, and managing inventory.

Key vendors:

ABB

Rockwell Automation

Schneider Electric

Siemens

Key Topics Covered:

PART 01: Executive summary

PART 02: Scope of the report

PART 03: Market research methodology

PART 04: Introduction

PART 05: Market landscape

PART 06: Market segmentation by products

PART 07: Market segmentation by end-user

PART 08: Geographical segmentation

PART 09: Market drivers

PART 10: Impact of drivers

PART 11: Market challenges

PART 12: Impact of drivers and challenges

PART 13: Market trends

PART 14: Vendor landscape

For more information visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/lwjp3x/global_industrial

Media Contact:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

press@researchandmarkets.com



For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470

For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630

For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900



U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907

Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716

Related Links

http://www.researchandmarkets.com



SOURCE Research and Markets
DUBLIN, July 04, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "Global Influenza Vaccine Market Outlook 2022" report to their offering.

Global Influenza Vaccine Market Outlook 2022 unfolds the market dynamics of the influenza vaccine market. The report shows the global influenza vaccine industry being segmented on the basis of major vaccine in the market. Followed by this, important geographies have been highlighted along with their current and future markets outlook till 2022. The report also covers advanced stage pipeline analysis of key players, which list down the influenza vaccines already in Phase III trials. The report identifies and highlights the segments that offer maximum opportunity for growth in the global influenza vaccine market.



The global influenza vaccine industry has reported a significant growth in recent years, and is presenting ample opportunities to the industry's players.



The global influenza vaccine industry has reported a significant growth in recent years, and is presenting ample opportunities to the industry's players. With increasing pandemic as well as seasonal outbreak and rising awareness, the global influenza vaccine market is poised to scale newer acmes. Moreover, introduction of new vaccines, entry of new players, rising R&D investments, evolving government policies, and infrastructure projects are set to further boost the market's growth.



Since the H1N1 pandemic, worldwide authorities have started to adopt proactive approach in the vaccination process. Virus of previous pandemics are still circulating in the environment and in the coming future, they may be classified as strains to be updated in seasonal vaccines. Moreover, a large chunk of global population is affected by influenza-related problems. In such a scenario, huge opportunity lies for industry participants to tap the fast growing market.



The industry analysts studied all the facets of the global influenza vaccine market to portray a crystal clear picture of the current as well as the expected market outlook. Major drivers and trends have been identified that are set to act as catalysts towards boosting the industry's growth, along with roadblocks hindering the market's growth.



The report further highlights the competitive landscape of the global influenza vaccine market, describing the business, financials, and influenza vaccine business of the major industry players. The section is therefore expected to clearly help the reader gain crucial insight into the key market players' performances and strategies for growth. Holistically, the research provides all the pre-requisite information for clients looking to make a debut in this industry, and facilitates them to formulate strategies while going for an investment/partnership in the global influenza vaccine industry.



Key Topics Covered:



1. Analyst View



2. Research Methodology



3. Influenza Vaccine - Introduction



4. Industry Trends and Drivers

4.1 Increasing Pandemic Outbreak

4.2 Rising Affordability

4.3 Rising Ageing Population

4.4 Development of Universal Flu Vaccine

4.5 Collaborations in the Market



5. Industry Challenges

5.1 Testing and Regulatory Issues

5.2 Low Awareness

5.3 Lack of Medical and Healthcare Infrastructure



6. Global Influenza Vaccine Market Outlook 2022

6.1 Current Market Overview and Future Outlook

6.2 Major Marketed Vaccines

6.2.1 Fluzone/Vaxigrip

6.2.2 FluMist

6.2.3 Fluarix and Flulaval

6.2.4 Anflu

6.2.5 Fluvax/Afluria

6.2.6 Flucelvax and Fluvirin



7. Key Geographical Market



8. Global Influenza Vaccine Market: Pipeline Analysis



9. Global Influenza Vaccine Market: Pricing Analysis



10. Competitive Assessment



Companies Mentioned



- AstraZeneca Plc

- CSL Ltd.

- GlaxoSmithKline Plc (GSK)

- Sanofi

- Sinovac Biotech



For more information visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/dvjxg9/global_influenza

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

press@researchandmarkets.com



For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470

For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630

For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900



U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907

Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716

Related Links

http://www.researchandmarkets.com



SOURCE Research and Markets
DUBLIN, July 04, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "Global Residential Water Purifiers Market By Technology, By Function, By Sales Channel, By Region, Competition Forecast and Opportunities, 2011-2021" report to their offering.

The global water purifier market is projected to grow at a CAGR of over 15% over the next five years.

Over the last five years, adoption of residential water purifiers has been increasing across the globe, on account of increasing scarcity of fresh water resources and deteriorating water quality. Presence of harmful contaminants, high amounts of dissolved solids and other impurities including viruses and bacteria in drinking water has necessitated installation of residential water purifiers. Across the globe, underground water contains high amounts of contaminants such as arsenic, fluoride and nitrate, thereby making water unfit for consumption.



Therefore, there is a growing requirement for water treatment systems to make water fit for drinking purpose. With increasing awareness about deteriorating water quality and associated health diseases among urban as well as rural population, demand for efficient ultraviolet, media and membrane based residential water purifiers is rising.



In 2015, Asia-Pacific accounted for the largest share in the global residential water purifiers market, followed by North America, and Europe & Russia. Due to increasing awareness regrading water borne diseases, rising disposable income and purchasing power of consumers, use of residential water purifiers is expected to continue growing through, particularly in Asia-Pacific.



Companies Mentioned:



Amway Corporation

Aquaphor

Best Water Technology

Blue Filters Group

Canature Environmental Products Co Ltd

Coway Co., Ltd.

Culligan International Company

Eco Water Systems LLC

Eureka Forbes Limited

Foshan Shunde Midea Water Dispenser Manufacture Company Limited

Helen of Troy Limited

Ihlas Home Appliances A.S.

Kent RO Systems Ltd.

LG Electronics Inc.

O. Smith Corporation

Panasonic Corporation

Sun Water Systems, Inc.

The Clorox Company

Unilever

Whirlpool Corporation

Key Topics Covered:



1. Product Overview



2. Research Methodology



3. Analyst View



4. Global Water Purifiers Market Overview



5. Global Residential Water Purifiers Market Outlook



6. Market Dynamics



7. Market Trends & Developments



8. Competitive Landscape



9. Strategic Recommendations



For more information visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/3w5xtx/global

Media Contact:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

press@researchandmarkets.com



For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470

For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630

For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900



U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907

Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716

Related Links

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SOURCE Research and Markets
DUBLIN, July 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "Homeland Security Market Analysis By Type (Aviation, Maritime, Border, Critical Infrastructure, Cyber, CBRN and Mass Transit) And Segment Forecasts To 2024" report to their offering.

The global homeland security market size is expected to reach USD 452.46 billion by 2024 according to this report.

Technological advances in homeland security across the globe are expected to drive the market over the forecast period. Asia Pacific is anticipated to witness considerable growth owing to the advancements across emerging economies such as China and India. Currently, police modernization along with tackling terrorism is the largest growing segments in India with the increasing annual spending.

Manufacturers in the homeland security market are increasingly adopting mergers & acquisitions as a part of their growth strategy. For example, in 2015, Harris Corporation acquired Exelis Inc., which brings a strong portfolio of complementary technologies. The acquisition also significantly enhances the company's position as one of the primary provider of mission-critical solutions while expanding channels and product offerings to the growing customer base.

Cyber security is anticipated to grow at a CAGR of over 5.5% from 2016 to 2024, owing to the increasing number of cyber crimes and rising privacy concerns. Cyberspace and its essential infrastructure are vulnerable to a wide range of risk increasing from both physical and cyber threats & hazards.

Stringent government guide lines worldwide are expected to regulate the global homeland security market over the future. North America dominated the industry contributing to over 25% of the global revenue in 2015. The presence of several prominent homeland safety solutions manufacturers in the region is expected to generate high demand over the forecast period.

Companies Profiled:

Elbit Systems Ltd.

FLIR Systems Inc.

General Dynamics Corporation

Harris Corporation

L-3 Communications Holding Inc.

Megal Security Systems Ltd.

Raytheon Company

Safran SA

Thales SA

Unisys Corporation

Key Topics Covered:

1. Methodology and Scope

2. Executive Summary

3. Homeland Security Industry Outlook

4. Homeland Security Type Outlook

5. Homeland security Regional Outlook

6. Competitive Landscape

For more information visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/63w5gn/homeland_security

Media Contact:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

press@researchandmarkets.com



For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470

For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630

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Related Links

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SOURCE Research and Markets
PUNE, India, July 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Global and Chinese Lecithin Market 2016 Research Report provides a basic overview of the industry that covers definition, applications and manufacturing technology, post which the report explores into the international and Chinese players in the market.

Complete report on Lecithin market spread across 150 pages providing 8 company profiles and 98 tables and figures is available at http://www.market-research-reports.com/428842-lecithin-industry .

The 'Global and Chinese Lecithin Industry, 2016 Market Research Report' is a professional and in-depth study on the current state of the global Lecithin market with a focus on the Chinese industry. The report provides key statistics on the market status of the Lecithin manufacturers and is a valuable source of guidance and direction for companies and individuals interested in the industry.

Firstly, the report provides a basic overview of the industry including its definition, applications and manufacturing technology. Then, the report explores the international and Chinese major industry players in detail. In this part, the report presents the company profile, product specifications, capacity, production value, and 2011-2016 market shares for each company. Through the statistical analysis, the report depicts the global and Chinese total market of Lecithin industry including capacity, production, production value, cost/profit, supply/demand and Chinese import/export. The total market is further divided by company, by country, and by application/type for the competitive landscape analysis. The report then estimates 2016-2021 industry development trends of Lecithin market. Analysis of upstream raw materials, downstream demand, and current market dynamics is also carried out. In the end, the report makes some important proposals for a new project of Lecithin Industry before evaluating its feasibility. Overall, the report provides an in-depth insight of 2011-2021 global and Chinese Lecithin market covering all important parameters. Order a copy of Global and Chinese Lecithin Industry, 2016 Market Research Report at http://www.market-research-reports.com/contacts/purchase.php?name=428842 .

Another research titled Global and Chinese Soya Lecithin Industry, 2016 Market Research Report is an exhaustive study on the present market scenario of the global Soya Lecithin industry with a special focus on the China market of this industry. The report summarizes key statistics of the market and the overall status of the Soya Lecithin manufacturers. The report is a valuable source of guidance and direction for companies and individuals interested in the industry.

The report encapsulates all the latest news and developments in the industry along with the progress in the technology front. It mentions the recent trend in this market along with a market outlook both at the global and Chinese market level. The report mentions top eight manufacturers of this market. The details covered in this portion include a detailed profiling of the company along with its products offerings, product information over the period of 2011-2016 along with the key contact person in the firm. The Soya Lecithin Industry report covers the capacity of production of this industry along with production value, supply and consumption. It includes the level of competition in this market and the performance of the players in specific geography like USA, EU, Japan and China. Comprehensive Table of Contents and more for the report is available at http://www.market-research-reports.com/445188-soya-lecithin-industry .

Explore more report on Medicine and Pharmacy Industry at http://www.market-research-reports.com/cat/life-sciences/medicine-and-pharmacy-market-research .

About Us:

Market Research Reports is an aggregator of syndicated market research studies that offer current and future market intelligence across multiple industrial verticals through is high quality database. Market Research Reports aims to help you take business decisions accurately and on time, every time. Understanding your time constraints, we can help you find the most relevant research based on the requirements you share with us. Our customers get 24 X 7 email and phone support. Feel free to reach us at +1 888 391 5441 with your business intelligence needs.

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SOURCE Market-Research-Reports
OSLO, Norway, July 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Twenty-five world leaders, including five former heads of government, will meet today in Oslo to consider vital new recommendations for financing global education and to achieve inclusive and equitable quality education for all.

The International Commission on Financing Global Education Opportunity, (the Education Commission), chaired by the former UK Prime Minister and UN Special Envoy, Gordon Brown, and co-convened by the Prime Minister of Norway, Erna Solberg, along with the Presidents of Malawi, Indonesia, Chile and the Director-General of UNESCO, will finalize recommendations ahead of its presentation to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in September during the General Assembly in New York. The UN Secretary-General will receive the recommendations of the Commission and act upon them.

The work of the Commission is being closely watched around the world, and the leaders gathering in Oslo are acutely aware of the scale of the challenge. Radical shifts in technology, massive urbanization, the global mobility of labor and globalization in trade and services, mass migration, and increases in climate-induced natural disasters will demand new skills and the ability to embrace change  capabilities that only education can provide. As global spending on health has increased since 2008, spending on education has correspondingly declined. The Commissioners believe their recommendations will be crucial in helping to make education the global priority it needs to be.

Norway's Prime Minister, Erna Solberg, said: "Reaching all children and young people with quality education may be a daunting challenge, but we can make significant progress if decision-makers step up to the plate, together with teacher unions, international organisations, the private sector, civil society and others. Investing in education means investing in society at large. If we put education first, our global society will reap significant gains in terms of development and prosperity."

Gordon Brown added: "The United Nations and the world's children are deeply indebted to the Norwegian Government for its commitment to and support of the Education Commission. The Oslo meeting provides the opportunity to agree on a new framework for financing global education helping us better meet the ambitious Sustainable Development Goals for education. The world's children are looking to us. We cannot fail them."

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said: "The International Commission on Financing Global Education will offer solutions to mobilizing the resources that are needed. I look to the Commission to provide a roadmap, based on innovative, sustainable and practical solutions, to overcome the barriers to lifelong education and learning for all."

Related Links

http://www.educationcommission.org



SOURCE The Education Commission
DUBLIN, July 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "Office Stationary Market in Europe 2016-2020" report to their offering.

The report forecasts the office stationery market in Europe to grow at a CAGR of 2.4% during the period 2016-2020.

The market is divided into the following segments based on categories:

Paper products

Desk supplies

Filing and mailing supplies

Computer and printer supplies

Others: binding supplies, time tracking supplies, and identification supplies

Across the majority of European countries, a rise in start-up companies and self-employed entrepreneurs is also observed. The majority of these upcoming businesses are in the IT sector, which is further leading to the transformation of other industries, such as finance, fashion, advertising, and music. This has led to an increase in the workforce in the region.

According to the report, the office stationery market in the region is undergoing a gradual transition as manufacturers are trying their best to re-position their product range in order to meet changing demand patterns. Given the surge in computer and printer usage, new technological advancements are being made to improvise the existing products.

Further, the report states that a couple of factors prevailing in the market have led to a negative influence on the overall revenue generation. The expanding scope of counterfeit products has constantly affected the revenue and brand names of companies.

Key vendors:

3M

BIC

Hamelin Brands

Lyreco Group

Key Topics Covered:

PART 01: Executive summary

PART 02: Scope of the report

PART 03: Market research methodology

PART 04: Introduction

PART 05: Market landscape

PART 06: Market segmentation by product

PART 07: Geographical segmentation

PART 08: Market drivers

PART 09: Impact of drivers

PART 10: Market challenges

PART 11: Impact of drivers and challenges

PART 12: Market trends

PART 13: Vendor landscape

PART 14: Key vendor analysis

PART 15: Other prominent vendors

For more information visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/cm6b6s/office_stationary

Media Contact:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

press@researchandmarkets.com



For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470

For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630

For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900



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Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716

Related Links

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SOURCE Research and Markets
ESPOO, Finland, July 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Picosun Oy, the leading supplier of advanced Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) thin film technology, provides equipment and solutions for commercial utilization of photo-assisted ALD. Photo-ALD enables novel ALD processes, area-selective film deposition, low deposition temperatures, savings on precursor chemical consumption and costs, and lower environmental impact of the ALD processing.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140528/689557 )

Photo-assisted ALD utilizes light to enable ALD film growth. Whereas in regular ALD film grows from two gaseous precursors which react on the coated surface one by one, in photo-ALD only one chemical is needed - light takes care of the rest.

"The photo-ALD method has been investigated only marginally this far, mostly because of the lack of proper equipment. Now, using Picosun's photo-ALD tools we have been able to develop this technology and related chemistry for several key ALD processes. Potential applications can be found in MEMS (MicroElectroMechanical Systems), sensors and other advanced microelectronics (for example, selective ALD to keep the chip contact areas clean), and solar cell manufacturing," comments Prof. Mikko Ritala from the University of Helsinki, Finland.

"Picosun's ambition is to take ALD where it has never gone before, to enable novel, disruptive industrial solutions and cutting-edge new products for our customers. We are very happy and proud that our photo-ALD system has enabled great results at our long-term collaboration partner, University of Helsinki. It is fascinating to introduce this technology to our industrial partners to help them find new ways to solve their manufacturing challenges," states Juhana Kostamo, Managing Director of Picosun.

In photo-assisted ALD, the coated surface is exposed to alternate pulses of precursor vapor and flashes of high intensity light. The energy of light makes the precursor molecules on the surface chemically convert into the desired coating material. Alternatively, two precursors can be used but the other becomes reactive only when illuminated. Obviously, when only one precursor is required, both costs and environmental effect of the processing are lower. In conventional ALD relying fully on gaseous precursors, area-selective film growth is particularly difficult to achieve and often requires additional processing steps for deposition and etching of passivation layers. Light, on the other hand, is easy to block from the areas that need to be left uncoated and sharply defined patterns can be created without direct contact to substrate or exposure to chemicals directing the film growth. Also, when the energy of light replaces the energy of heat, the driving force of the conventional thermal ALD, processing can be done at much lower temperatures than in regular ALD.

Picosun provides the most advanced ALD thin film coating technology to enable the industrial leap into the future, with turn-key production solutions and unmatched expertise in the field. Today, PICOSUN ALD equipment are in daily manufacturing use in numerous major industries around the world. Picosun is based in Finland, with subsidiaries in North America, Singapore, Taiwan, China, and Japan, and a world-wide sales and support network. For more information visit http://www.picosun.com.

Mr. Juhana Kostamo,

Managing Director

email juhana.kostamo@picosun.com,

tel. +358-50-321-1955

SOURCE Picosun Oy
AMSTERDAM, July 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Platform enables clients to better integrate freelance and gig workers into their contingent workforce and talent management programs

Randstad Sourceright, a global talent solutions leader, today announced the launch of twago, a market-leading freelance management system with more than 500,000 registered workers. Randstad's recent acquisition of the technology platform will enable the company to accelerate clients' freelance talent strategies and provide a holistic way to manage their total workforce.

As freelance worker presence grows in many businesses, HR and contingent workforce leaders have struggled with existing management platforms. Until recently, to accommodate freelancers, many organizations have had to create makeshift systems or take on a costly customized integration with their vendor management systems (VMS). The rise of freelance management systems (FMS), such as twago, enables these employers to enhance talent sourcing and management with minimal effort.

"Through the twago platform, we can provide our managed services program (MSP) clients with enhanced access to freelancers. twago can be easily adapted to create client-branded freelance recruitment platforms seamlessly integrated with their existing VMS," says Michel Stokvis, director of Randstad Sourceright's Center of Expertise in Europe. "As a result, employers will be able to access flexible talent more quickly and cost-effectively. It will also lead to greater spend transparency."

By leveraging the platform's powerful sourcing and project management capabilities, Randstad Sourceright will be able to deliver end-to-end freelance management services as part of its MSP solutions.

Stokvis adds, "Connected to our central talent analytics hub, TalentRadar, the integration of freelance with other workforce data will provide total talent visibility and enable integrated workforce planning and forecasting. With the goal to drive greater business agility, this will give HR and Procurement a powerful platform to plan for and select the right worker for each role, regardless of worker type across permanent headcount, contingent, SOW or freelancer."

About Randstad Sourceright

A part of the 19.2bn Randstad Group, Randstad Sourceright is a global talent solutions leader, driving the talent acquisition and human capital management strategies of some of the world's most successful employers. Our subject matter experts and thought leaders around the globe continuously build and evolve our approach and solutions across recruitment process outsourcing (RPO), managed services programs (MSP) and integrated talent solutions.

Media Contact:

Louisa Wilson

global marketing director

Randstad Sourceright

E: louisa.wilson@eu.randstadsourceright.com

T: +31-6-5115-8277





SOURCE Randstad Sourceright
DUBLIN, July 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "Tay-Sachs Disease Forecast in 9 Major Markets 2016-2026" report to their offering.

Hexosaminidase A deficiency (HEX A deficiency) results in a group of neurodegenerative disorders caused by the dysfunctional activity of the specific glycosphingolipid GM2 ganglioside. The disease occurs when cell membrane components known as gangliosides, accumulate to toxic levels, particularly in neurons in the brain and spinal cord, leading to the destruction of neurons and interference with biological functions.

The predominant HEX A deficiency is Tay-Sachs disease (TSD) with its common acute infantile variant, which begins around six months of age and usually results in death by the age of four. Alternative variants of the pathology are the juvenile and the adult-onset TSD types.

This report provides the current prevalent population for Tay Sachs disease across 9 Major Markets (USA, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, UK, Brazil, Japan and India) split by gender and 5-year age cohort. Along with the current prevalence, the report also contains a disease overview of the risk factors, disease diagnosis and prognosis along with specific variations by geography and ethnicity.

Providing a value-added level of insight from the analysis team, several of the main symptoms and co-morbidities of Tay-Sachs have been quantified and presented alongside the overall prevalence figures. These sub-populations within the main disease are also included at a country level across the 10-year forecast snapshot.

Main symptoms and co-morbidities for Tay-Sachs disease include:

- Visual problems

- Low muscle tone

- Seizures

- Neuromuscular abnormalities

- Speech disturbances

- Cerebellar dysfunctions/Impaired cognitive status

Reason to buy

- Able to quantify patient populations in global Tay-Sachs disease's market to target the development of future products, pricing strategies and launch plans. - Gain further insight into the prevalence of the subdivided types of Tay-Sachs disease and identify patient segments with high potential. - Delivery of more accurate information for clinical trials in study sizing and realistic patient recruitment for various countries. - Provide a level of understanding on the impact from specific co-morbid conditions on Tay-Sachs disease prevalent population. - Identify sub-populations within Tay-Sachs disease which require treatment. - Gain an understanding of the specific markets that have the largest number of Tay-Sachs disease patients.

Key Topics Covered:

1. Introduction

2. Cause of the Disease

3. Risk Factors & Prevention

4. Diagnosis of the Disease

5. Variation by Geography/Ethnicity

6. Disease Prognosis & Clinical Course

7. Key Co-morbid Conditions/Features Associated with the Disease

8. Methodology for Quantification of Patient Numbers

9. Top-Line Prevalence for TSD - Genetic Features of TSD Patients - TSD Phenotype Classification - Co-morbidities within Infantile TSD - Co-morbidities within Late-Onset TSD

10. Abbreviations used in the Report

- Other Analysis Publications

11. Online Patient-Based Databases

12. Patient-Based Offering

13. Online Pricing Data and Platforms

14. References

15. Appendix

For more information visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/47p6fh/taysachs_disease

Media Contact:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

press@researchandmarkets.com

For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470

For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630

For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900

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Related Links

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SOURCE Research and Markets
SINGAPORE, July 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Johnnie Walker introduces first Blended Malt Scotch Whisky exclusive to world travellers

Tempted to explore the fascinating world of Single Malt Scotch Whisky, but overwhelmed by choice? Johnnie Walker, the world's No. 1 Scotch Whisky brand has introduced the perfect solution in an exciting new addition to its world famous portfolio - Johnnie Walker Island Green.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160630/385460 )



(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160630/385461 )



(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160630/385462 )



A rare blend of rich single malt whiskies from the four corners of Scotland, Johnnie Walker Island Green provides drinkers with a distinctive flavour experience allowing them to explore the character of these celebrated malts in a signature Johnnie Walker style. A duty free exclusive, Johnnie Walker Island Green is available solely to travellers, adding to its exclusiveness.

Aromas of wood smoke, pepper and spice mingle with layers of orchard fruit, gentle vanilla and sandalwood while the taste experience delivers all the character of a single malt but with greater depth and complexity amplified by the unique Island style.

Showcasing the same blended malt craftsmanship as the critically acclaimed Johnnie Walker Green Label, the exclusive taste of Johnnie Walker Island Green offers a more intense expression with a greater influence of smoky maritime malt whisky. This is balanced with robust fruity Highland malts including Clynelish, lighter Lowland malts represented by Glenkinchie and the characteristically sweet and fragrant Speyside style of Cardhu.



Jim Beveridge, Johnnie Walker Master Blender, said: "As whisky makers, we're passionate about flavour. We captured the distinctive style of individual mature malts from the four main whisky regions of Scotland, ensuring Johnnie Walker Island Green offers all the character of a single malt, but with a richer flavour experience."

Doug Bagley, Managing Director of Diageo Global Travel and Middle East, said: "Johnnie Walker Island Green is the perfect purchase for traditional Johnnie Walker fans or those seeking to explore the world of Scotch malts.

"The blend was recently awarded a 'Master' at The Global Scotch Whisky Masters 2016, the highest possible ranking available at this international competition, proving just how special a whisky it is. And, as an exclusive product to travellers which cannot be purchased outside of duty free, this is truly a unique addition to the Johnnie Walker range."

Best enjoyed neat or on the rocks, global travellers can now discover true island intensity through the taste of Johnnie Walker Island Green. Pick up a bottle in selected airports now and in duty free stores worldwide from July 2016.

For our global resource that promotes responsible drinking through the sharing of best practice tools, information and initiatives, visit DRINKiQ.com.

Celebrating life, every day, everywhere.

Notes to Editor

JOHNNIE WALKER ISLAND GREEN has a RRP of $60

JOHNNIE WALKER ISLAND GREEN has an ABV of 43%

JOHNNIE WALKER ISLAND GREEN is available in 1L bottles



SOURCE Diageo GTME
PUNE, India, July 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Reports on Human Biobanking Market for Applications, Technologies, Equipment and Ownership are available at RnRMarketResearch.com. These reports review the latest human biobanking market trends with a perceptive attempt to disclose the near-future growth prospects. An in-depth analysis on a geographic basis provides strategic business intelligence for life science sector investments.

The Reports are titled:

Human Biobanking Applications - Global Trends, Estimates and Forecasts, 2014-2020

Human Biobanking Technologies - Global Trends, Estimates and Forecasts, 2014-2020

Human Biobanking Equipment - Global Trends, Estimates and Forecasts, 2014-2020

Human Biobanking Ownership - Global Trends, Estimates and Forecasts, 2014-2020

The Human Biobanking Applications - Global Trends, Estimates and Forecasts, 2014-2020 report says Human Biobanking market is expected to reach US$37.1 billion 2020 primarily supported by application; Stem Cells, Blood and Blood Products, Research and Pharmaceuticalsetc. Among the applications, Advance Application is the fastest growing market with a CAGR of 9.65%. Organs and Research application in human banking together accounts approximately for 24% of the market share. Stem Cells, Blood and Blood Products, Research market with a positive growth rate during the period. Human Biobanking Industry is playing an increasing role in development of therapies and diagnosis of diseases with well-maintained researchers and institutions. Complete report available at http://www.rnrmarketresearch.com/biobanking-applications-a-global-market-watch-2009-2015-market-report.html.

The Human Biobanking Technologies - Global Trends, Estimates and Forecasts, 2014-2020 says Globally, Radio Frequency Identification & Tagging and Dry-State Storing together account for approximately 55% of the market share expected to support the Human Biobanking Technologies industry. Geographical analysis shows that the highest Compounded Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 10.14% is anticipated from Asia-Pacific region during the analysis period 2014-2020. North America and Europe together account for more than 50% of the global market share by end of 2020 respectively. Complete report available at http://www.rnrmarketresearch.com/biobanking-technologies-a-global-market-watch-2009-2015-market-report.html.

The Human Biobanking Equipment - Global Trends, Estimates and Forecasts, 2014-2020 says Primarily Supported by segments type; Bio-Freezer and Bio-Refrigerators the Human Biobanking Equipment is the fastest growing market with a CAGR of 8.85%, by the support of emerging countries across world. Biobanking Media is projected to reach US$1.6 billion by 2018. Human Biobanking industry had drawn the attention towards biotechnology and life and environment sciences. Geographical analysis for Human Biobanking Equipments shows the highest Compounded Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 10.09% is foreseen from Asia-Pacific region during the analysis period 2014-2020. Europe is not way behind with a CAGR of 9.34% followed by North America at 8.44%. Complete report available at http://www.rnrmarketresearch.com/biobanking-equipments-a-global-market-watch-2009-2015-market-report.html.

And the Human Biobanking Ownership - Global Trends, Estimates and Forecasts, 2014-2020 says Primarily supported by ownership types; Private Biobanks and Public Biobanks (Disease-Based Banks, Population-Based Banks and Academics) market is to witness a value of US$37.1 billion by 2020. Geographical analysis for Private Biobanks shows the highest Compounded Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 10.75% is foreseen from Asia-Pacific region during the analysis period 2014-2020. North America is not way behind with a CAGR of 9.95% followed by Europe at 9.56% respectively. Complete report available at http://www.rnrmarketresearch.com/biobanking-ownership-a-global-market-watch-2009-2015-market-report.html.

More than 1270 leading market players are identified and 107 key companies that project improved market activities in the near future are profiled. The report consists of 138 data charts describing the market shares, sales forecasts and growth prospects. Moreover, key strategic activities in the market including mergers/acquisitions, collaborations/partnerships, product launches/developments are discussed.

List of Key Companies

North America: Vericel Corporation, Acorda Therapeutics, Inc., Alpha Cord, Inc., Affymetrix, Inc., Cellerant Therapeutics, Inc., Cryo-Cell International, Inc., Mesoblast, Inc., Atgc Labs, Autogen, Inc., Barber Nichols, Beckman Coulter, Inc., Biocision, U.S. Stem Cell, Inc., Biolife Solutions, Inc., Biological Specimen Inventory System, Steelgate, Inc., Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc., Steelgate, Inc. Wheaton Science Products, Inc. and more.

Europe: Panasonic Biomedical Sales Europe B.V, Epistem Ltd., Aqix, B & C Group, Bbmri, Lifegene, Biobank Ireland Trust, Biokryo Gmbh, Biorep Srl P.Iva, Biostorage Technologies, Inc. Cryo-Save, Ag, Decode Genetics, Ge Healthcare Life Sciences, Sanofi Aventis, Tecan , UK Stem Cell Bank and more.

Asia-Pacific: Cole Parmer Instrument, Co., Cordlife Pte., Ltd., Cryocord Sdn.Bhd., Cryologic Pty. Ltd., Genesearch, Ocimum Biosolutions, China Cord Blood Corporation and more.

Rest of World: Babycell Egypt and Gamida Cell Ltd.

About Us:

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Contact:

Ritesh Tiwari

UNIT no 802, Tower no. 7, SEZ

Magarpatta city, Hadapsar

Pune - 411013

Maharashtra, India.

Tel: +1-888-391-5441

[email protected]



SOURCE RnR Market Research
BRISBANE, Australia, July 3, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Video conversion and compression provider Clipchamp Pty Ltd have announced the release of their brand new WordPress plugin. The plugin simplifies the process of deploying the Clipchamp API on any WordPress website allowing businesses and website owners to collect user generated videos on their website without the need to engage any web development resources.

Once deployed, the plugin displays a simple button on a WordPress-based website that visitors can click to upload video files to a designated storage location. Visitors can either record videos on the spot or submit existing files. Website owners can define the upload location for the videos, including the WP Media Gallery, their YouTube channel, a Google Drive, Amazon S3 or Microsoft Azure account or a private web server. With Clipchamp all submitted videos are compressed and converted before they get uploaded to a format the website owner selects, including MP4 or WebM. The process takes place within the browser, videos get submitted directly to the website owner's cloud storage without going through Clipchamp servers, ensuring maximum privacy for end users.

The released plugin, called 'Clipchamp Video Converter and Webcam Recorder' will be available for free and is intended to be used in conjunction with any of the Clipchamp API plans available at https://clipchamp.com/pricing. All plans come with a free 30 day trial period.

User-generated videos for WordPress site owners.

The Clipchamp WordPress plugin is developed in such a way that even users who don't consider themselves to be "technically savvy" will be able to quickly install the plugin on their website or blogs.

David Hewitt, Clipchamp Sales Director, stated: "Over the last few years, companies in sectors as diverse as education, recruitment and e-commerce have seen a dramatic increase in demand for user-generated video content. The Clipchamp plugin opens up new opportunities for millions of WordPress website owners who would like to receive user generated video content such as video resumes or video feedback, changing the way businesses and consumers interact online."

The Clipchamp Video Converter and Compression plugin for WordPress offers the following benefits:

End-users can select from a wide range of input video formats, for instance convert MOV to WMV without installing any software on their local machine.

The video conversion and compression process runs in the user's browser.

Files get uploaded directly from the user's device to the WordPress site owner's file storage, guaranteeing privacy.

Users can upload videos to social media, WP Media Gallery, YouTube, Google Drive or to a range of cloud storage destinations.

The application works on desktop and mobile.

Website owners can customise the look and feel of the Clipchamp plugin on their WordPress site.

The plugin runs on pure HTML5 and users don't require Flash or any other outdated technology.

Website owners can localize the plugin and API into their local language

For full details and to install the Clipchamp plugin for WordPress simply click on the following link https://wordpress.org/plugins/clipchamp-video-converter-video-uploader-and-webcam-recorder/

Photo(s):

http://www.prlog.org/12570203

Press release distributed by PRLog

SOURCE Clipchamp Pty Ltd

Related Links

https://clipchamp.com


MANCHESTER, England, July 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Direct Airport Parking Investment, a UK based company that handles investment in off-airport car parking at major UK airports, chooses to operate within the guidelines of the Financial Conduct Authority even though they are not regulated by them.

Amanda Price, Investment Consultant at Direct Airport Parking Investment, said:

"The type of investment we deal with is outside the scope of the FCA. However, we recognise the advantages of operating to the same standards as FCA regulated bodies and it is important to us that we take great care to protect our investors at every step of their investment with us.

"We choose to conduct our business as though we are a regulated body, and are keen for our investors and potential investors to recognise this. To them this means that they can be sure that we are operating within the law, and providing all the information available for them to make an informed decision about investing. We strongly encourage all potential investors to seek independent advice, and we offer car park site visits, prior to making their final decision to purchase."

Direct Airport Parking Investment employs a compliance officer whose role is to ensure that all potential investors have had every question answered throughout their enquiries about investing in off-airport car parking. All compliance calls are recorded and closely monitored to ensure the information being given to them is accurate and they have all the information they need to make a well informed decision.

Direct Airport Parking Investment is proud to be the Master Agent for Park First, the UK's leading provider of secure, quality off-airport car parking. Park First owns and manages car parks adjacent to London Luton, London Gatwick and Glasgow International airports, and is currently looking to expand its portfolio to include other growing UK airports.

Car parking spaces at these airports are available for investors to purchase from 20,000. They are a low risk, high yield UK commercial buy-to-let property investment. Investors in off-airport car parking through Direct Airport Parking Investment are assured of an 8% return in each of the first two years of their investment, with a predicted rise to 12% by year five. Year three investors have already been paid returns of up to 10.8%, exceeding the predicted 10% and surpassing the returns being offered on more traditional safe-haven investments.

For more information about investing in off-airport car parking at major UK airports with Direct Airport Parking Investment Limited, visit http://www.directparkinginvestment.co.uk or call +44 (0) 161 820 4956.

SOURCE Direct Airport Parking Investment Ltd
DUBLIN, July 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles 2015-2030: Land, Water, Air" report to their offering.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160330/349511LOGO )



This report is intended for those seeking to invest, support, develop, make, sell or use vehicle fuel cell systems and their materials and associated services. It will also assist those participating in the value chain of alternatives, such as batteries and supercapacitors, to understand the considerable opportunities for both collaborative use of their components with fuel cells and scope for common technologies.

These complex issues, vital to optimal targeting of investment by auto, chemical, financial, fleet management and other players are appraised in the report. Vitally, it is mainly based on 2015 interviews not out-of-date information. It presents latest conference slides from many key players and new data analysis and forecasts. That means numbers for 2015 - 2025 and timelines to 2030 including the latest, revised predictions from the leading players and from the authors of the report.

Interest is re-igniting in vehicle fuel cells after decades of minimal uptake primarily caused by high costs and lack of hydrogen infrastructure but also affected by several other challenges appraised in this report. It is easy to rehearse why fuel cells in vehicles are in the trough of disillusionment in 2015 but look closer and things are stirring as we progress to more sober forecasts and market positioning to get there.



Indeed now is the time to invest, when so many companies have left the business but the first sales in thousands of fuel cell vehicles - in the form of forklifts - are happening without subsidies and you can newly buy fuel cell cars from top names. From Taiwan and Japan, fuel cell scooters now look plausible, the USA uses fuel cells in military vehicles and now fuel cell buses and cars are even shown to double as the emergency electricity supplies sought in Japan.



Most western automotive manufacturers are preparing fuel cell vehicles for sale but nothing is guaranteed, because, as this report analyses, the other option for zero pollution at point of use, the pure electric battery or supercapacitor vehicle, is also improving rapidly and they will often go head to head in the marketplace. Which will have predominantly green "fuel" first - fuel cell or battery alone? Which will cost least up front and over life? What performance will really be achieved?



Key Topics Covered:



1. Executive Summary And Conclusions



2. Introduction



3. Fuel Cell Forklifts: The First Volume Success



4. Fuel Cell Cars



5. Fuel Cell Buses



6. Fuel Cells In Other Vehicles



7. Examples Of Vehicle Fc System Makers Beyond The Car Firms



8. Examples Of Interviews In 2015



Companies Mentioned



- Acal Energy UK

- Proton Motor Fuel Cell Germany

- Proton Power Systems PLC



For more information visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/rbsl9g/fuel_cell

Media Contact:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

[email protected]



For E.S.T Office Hours Call 1-917-300-0470

For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call 1-800-526-8630

For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900



U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907

Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716



SOURCE Research and Markets
BEIJING, SHANGHAI, SUZHOU, China, HONG KONG, and BOSTON, July 3, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- CStone Pharmaceuticals Co., Ltd (CStone), a bio-pharmaceutical company devoted to developing new treatments in a range of therapeutic areas, announced that it has closed its Series A round of 150 million dollars financing (about 975 million RMB). Three prestigious investment companies in the industry, Oriza Seed Venture Capital (Oriza Seed), Boyu Capital, and WuXi Healthcare Ventures (WXHV), jointly invested in the round.

Founded in Shanghai and Suzhou, CStone is an innovative, research-based, bio-pharmaceutical company. Its leadership team have all served in the management of leading multi-national pharmaceutical companies.

With an overarching commitment to meeting the most pressing needs of Chinese patients, the company's pipeline covers five therapeutic areas, including oncology, cardiovascular diseases, rheumatoid arthritis, hematology and autoimmune diseases. With immuno-oncology as CStone's core therapeutic focus, the company strives to lead Chinese research to the global market through its world class R&D team, its innovative portfolio, and an open innovation strategy. The funds raised will be used to help accelerate multiple programs of the company into the clinical stage while at the same time seeking out new innovations from around the world for patients in China, and ultimately worldwide.

Comments from the Investors

"Oriza Seed focuses its healthcare investments on innovative biotech companies at their early-stage or growth-stage," said Qun Zhao, Partner of Oriza Seed. "We are excited about the potential of CStone's immuno-based combination therapeutics to significantly increase the availability of novel combination drugs and thereby make a meaningful impact to both the cancer patients and the society. Given CStone's comprehensive pipelines and strong management team, we are very confident that CStone will become the leader among innovative biotech companies in China during Healthcare Innovation Reform."

"We are very pleased to have the opportunity to become a founding shareholder of CStone. This unique investment demonstrates Boyu's long term commitment to the thriving biotech industry in China," said Yanlin Cao, Managing Director of Boyu. "With a strong portfolio of assets and an experienced management team, CStone will emerge as a leading R&D platform in China to provide innovative immunotherapy for oncology diseases. We look forward to sharing our expertise and resources with CStone, and working with other shareholders and the management team to build a world-class biotech company to bring clinical benefits to patients globally."

"Our core principle is to focus on finding top-notch assets globally and building world-class companies in China by leveraging our deep understanding in drug discovery and linking extensive global resources," said John Zhu, Partner at WXHV. "CStone is one of our newly-built biotech companies that fits our fund's "find and build" strategy. Together with our partners Oriza Seed and Boyu, we are confident that CStone will bring innovative therapeutics to patients and make a significant impact on the China biotech industry."

New CEO

CStone announced that Frank Jiang, MD, PhD will be the Chief Executive Officer of CStone. Frank brings a wealth of experiences in drug development in the US and Asia, much of it gleaned with Sanofi, one of the world's leading pharmaceutical companies. While working with Sanofi in the US, Frank led the 21,000 patient "mega-trial" for Lovenox (enoxaparin), leading to a successful global registration for its myocardial infarction indication. For the last ten years, Frank has been based in China as the Head of Asia-Pacific R&D organization within Sanofi, where in the last five years alone has been responsible for a large number of clinical trials ranging from Phase I to IV and has achieved several dozen product registrations. Over the same period, Frank built the regional R&D function for Sanofi, the only one of its kind reporting directly to global R&D and encompassing both China and Japan.

"I am honored to take the role of CEO of CStone," said Dr Frank Jiang. "As a physician by background, I am passionate about delivering effective therapies to patients in the greatest need, and I believe our company is uniquely well-positioned to make a transformative contribution to the healthcare landscape in China. We will initially focus on immuno-oncology therapeutics to address the specific unmet medical needs of Chinese cancer patients, but I envisage a long-term future for CStone as a well-recognized global player to develop innovative medicines in the fight against serious diseases."

About Oriza Seed Venture Capital

Oriza Seed Venture Capital, located in Suzhou Industrial Park, is held by Suzhou Oriza Holdings Ltd. Oriza Seed is a market-oriented investment platform. It looks for investment opportunities among early-stage and growth-stage enterprises in the fields of Healthcare and TMT. Oriza Seed has ample resources and experiences investing in the healthcare field. By late March 2016, Oriza Seed has invested in more than 50 healthcare companies, including Ascentage Pharma, Innovent Biologics, and SceneRay Corporation.

About Boyu Capital

Boyu Capital is one of the largest private investment firms in China. With offices in Beijing and Hong Kong, Boyu has provided long-term capital and operational expertise to some of the best-managed and most innovative companies across the media/technology, healthcare, consumer/retail, and financial services industries.

About WuXi Healthcare Ventures

WuXi Healthcare Ventures is a leading cross-border venture capital firm focused in the life sciences and healthcare, with offices in Shanghai and Cambridge, Massachusetts. The firm has assembled a team of seasoned investors and company builders with deep roots in science, technology, and innovation. The firm's mission is to find, seed, and develop life science and healthcare businesses that can benefit the most from the firm's operational expertise, strategic support, and capital and the patience of a long-term perspective. For more information, please visit www.wuxiventures.com.

SOURCE WuXi Healthcare Ventures

Related Links

http://www.wuxiventures.com


LONDON, July 5, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Deadline for 2016-17 European Business Awards sponsored by RSM approaches

EUROPE'S best businesses are called to enter the 2016-17 European Business Awards, sponsored by RSM, before end July deadline for a chance to have their achievements recognised across the world.

To be considered, companies from across Europe must register on the European Business Awards homepage http://www.businessawardseurope.com to be considered in Europe's largest and most significant business competition.

Last year the European Business Awards engaged with over 32,000 organisations in 33 countries and final entrants had a combined revenue of over 1.2 trillion.

In the public vote, over 227,000 people voted, and during the voting stage there were over 763,000 visits to the company information on the Awards website. The competition also generated widespread global coverage leading to over 6,000 mentions across traditional, online and social media.

Adrian Tripp, CEO of the European Business Awards said: "We shine a bright light on the best businesses in Europe. So if you want to attract new customers, clients or partners, create a great sense of pride amongst your employees, and showcase your success then we encourage you to enter."

Jean Stephens, CEO of RSM International, the 6th largest network of independent audit, tax and consulting firms, said: "Since 2007, the European Business Awards has recognised hundreds of businesses, from multinational corporations headquartered in Europe to start-up entrepreneurial businesses that are breaking new and innovative grounds in their industries. Our firms across Europe and I have had the pleasure to interact with many of the leaders of these successful and thriving businesses and we are looking forward to another successful programme."

The stages of the competition include written submissions, video entry judging and face-to-face interviews with an esteemed panel of European business leaders, academics and entrepreneurs.

Supported since their inception by lead sponsor and promoter RSM, the European Business Awards' is now in its 10th year and its primary purpose is to support the development of a stronger and more successful business community throughout Europe. Additional sponsors and partners of the Awards include UK Trade and Investment, ELITE and PR Newswire.

Join the best of European businesses and register your interest online at http://www.businessawardseurope.com/profile/register

About the European Business Awards:

The European Business Awards' primary purpose is to support the development of a stronger and more successful business community throughout Europe.

For all citizens of Europe, prosperity, social and healthcare systems are reliant on businesses creating an even stronger, more innovative, successful, international and ethical business community - one that forms the beating heart of an increasingly globalised economy.

The European Business Awards programme serves the European business community in three ways:

 It celebrates and endorses individuals' and organisations' success

 It provides and promotes examples of excellence for the business community to aspire to

 It engages with the European business community to create debate on key issues

The European Business Awards is now in its 10th year. It attracted over 32,000 businesses to the competition last year and in the public vote generated over 227,000 votes from across Europe. Sponsors and partners include RSM, ELITE, UKTI and PR Newswire.

http://www.businessawardseurope.com.

About RSM

RSM is the sixth largest network of independent audit, tax and consulting firms, encompassing over 120 countries, 760 offices and more than 38,000 people internationally. The network's total fee income is US$4.64 billion.

RSM is the lead sponsor and corporate champion of the European Business Awards promoting commercial excellence and recognition of entrepreneurial brilliance.

RSM is a member of the Forum of Firms, with the shared objective to promote consistent and high quality standards of financial and auditing practices worldwide.

RSM is the brand used by a network of independent accounting and advisory firms each of which practices in its own right. RSM International Limited does not itself provide any accounting and advisory services. Member firms are driven by a common vision of providing high quality professional services, both in their domestic markets and in serving the international professional service needs of their client base. http://www.rsm.global

About UK Trade & Investment:

UKTI works with UK based businesses to export to international markets and supports overseas companies to look at the UK as the best place to set up or expand their business. If you are a company interested in expanding in to the UK, please visit http://www.gov.uk/ukti

About ELITE:

ELITE is an integrated service designed to help SMEs prepare and structure for the next stage of growth through access to long term financing opportunities.

ELITE targets SMEs with a sound business model, clear growth strategy and a desire to obtain funding in the near future.

ELITE offers an innovative approach, including a training programme, a working zone supported by a tutorship model and direct access to the financial community through dedicated digital community facilities. It is "capital neutral" to any financing opportunity, providing access to Private Equity and Venture Capital Funds, debt products, etc.

ELITE was successfully launched in Italy in 2012 and in the UK in 2014. It now accounts for more than 200 companies of different sizes and sectors, more than 150 partners and more than 70 long term investors. It is a European platform deeply rooted in each domestic market, through partnership with local institutions combined with the opportunity to access international support and advice.

It will be a community of excellence: companies, advisors, investors and stakeholders with an interest in supporting SMEs. The larger the community, the wider the range of business and growth opportunities offered to ELITE members.

About PR Newswire

PR Newswire is the leading global provider of PR and corporate communications tools that enable clients to distribute news and rich content. We distribute our client's content across traditional, digital and social media channels in real time with fully actionable reporting and monitoring.

Combining the world's largest multi-channel, multi-cultural content distribution and optimisation network with comprehensive workflow tools and platforms, PR Newswire enables the world's enterprises to engage opportunity everywhere it exists. PR Newswire serves tens of thousands of clients from offices in Europe, Middle East, Africa, the Americas and the Asia-Pacific region.

For more information on PR Newswire please visit http://www.prnewswire.co.uk

For contact detail by region go to: http://www.businessawardseurope.com/contact Or contact our entries team on +44(0)20-7234-3535

SOURCE European Business Awards
LONDON, July 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Trends & Forecasts For Food, Beverage, Healthcare (Pharmaceutical & Medical Devices), Personal Care (Cosmetics), Industrial (Bulk, Transport) & Other Applications, Including Analysis of Tinplate, Steel, Aluminium Foil, Beverage Cans, Food Cans, Aerosol Cans, Bottles, Caps & Closures, Tubes, Trays & Metal Drums

Visiongain's new 225 page analysis assesses that the global metal packaging market will reach $113.08 billion in 2016.

Are you involved in the Metal Packaging Market or intend to be? If so, then you must read this report

It's vital that you keep your knowledge up to date. You need this report.

Market scope: This brand new report from visiongain is a completely fresh market assessment of the metal packaging sector based upon the latest information. Our new market study contains forecasts, original analysis, company profiles and, most crucially, fresh conclusions. The report not only gives detailed forecasts and analysis of global metal packaging markets by region and end-use sectors.

The Metal Packaging Market Report 2016-2026 responds to your need for definitive market data:

 Where are the Metal Packaging market opportunities?

- 174 tables, charts, and graphs reveal market data allowing you to target your strategy more effectively

 When will the Metal Packaging market grow?

- Global, national and submarket forecasts and analysis from 2016-2026 illustrate the market progression

 Which Metal Packaging end use submarkets will flourish from 2016-2026?

- Food Metal Packaging Market Forecast 2016-2026

- Beverage Metal Packaging Market Forecast 2016-2026

- Healthcare Metal Packaging Market Forecast 2016-2026

- Personal Care Metal Packaging Market Forecast 2016-2026

- Industrial Metal Packaging Market Forecast 2016-2026

- Other Metal Packaging Market Forecast 2016-2026

 Where are the regional Metal Packaging market opportunities from 2016-2026?

- Focused regional forecasts and analysis explore the future opportunities

- US Metal Packaging Market Forecast 2016-2026

- Canada Metal Packaging Market Forecast 2016-2026

- Brazil Metal Packaging Market Forecast 2016-2026

- Germany Metal Packaging Market Forecast 2016-2026

- France Metal Packaging Market Forecast 2016-2026

- UK Metal Packaging Market Forecast 2016-2026

- Spain Metal Packaging Market Forecast 2016-2026

- Italy Metal Packaging Market Forecast 2016-2026

- Russia Metal Packaging Market Forecast 2016-2026

- China Metal Packaging Market Forecast 2016-2026

- Japan Metal Packaging Market Forecast 2016-2026

- India Metal Packaging Market Forecast 2016-2026

- Turkey Metal Packaging Market Forecast 2016-2026

- South Korea Metal Packaging Market Forecast 2016-2026

- Indonesia Metal Packaging Market Forecast 2016-2026

- RoW Metal Packaging Market Forecast 2016-2026

 What are the factors influencing Metal Packaging market dynamics?

- SWOT analysis explores the factors.

- Research and development (R&D) strategy

- Supply and demand dynamics

- Advances in product quality

- Demographic changes

 Who are the leading 5 Metal Packaging companies?

- We reveal the market share, ranking and positioning, capabilities, product portfolios, R&D activity, services, focus, strategies, M&A activity, and future outlook.

- Crown Holdings

- Ball Corporation

- Ardagh Group

- Sonoco

- Toyo Seikan Group

 Who should read this report?

- Anyone within the metal packaging value chain, including

- Raw material suppliers

- Packaging companies

- Food companies

- Beverage companies

- Healthcare companies

- Canning companies

- CEO's

- COO's

- CIO's

- Business development managers

- Marketing managers

- Technologists

- Investors

- Banks

- Government agencies

- Contractors

Get our report today Metal Packaging Market Report 2016-2026: Trends & Forecasts For Food, Beverage, Healthcare (Pharmaceutical & Medical Devices), Personal Care (Cosmetics), Industrial (Bulk, Transport) & Other Applications, Including Analysis of Tinplate, Steel, Aluminium Foil, Beverage Cans, Food Cans, Aerosol Cans, Bottles, Caps & Closures, Tubes, Trays & Metal Drums. Avoid missing out - order our report now.

Companies Mentioned in This Report

ABInBev

Aerocan

Afon Tinplate Co Ltd

Anchor Glass

Anchor Glass Container Corporation

Anheuser-Busch Companies, Inc.

Arcelormittal Packaging Europe

Ardagh Group

Asahi Breweries

Auchan

Ball Corporation

Baosteel Packaging

Bericap UK Ltd

Budweiser

BWAY Corporation

Caldicot Metal Decorating Ltd

CAN-PACK

CCL Industries

Central Tin Containers Ltd

China Metal Packaging Group Company Ltd

Clarcor Inc.

Coca Cola

Colep

CPMC Holdings Ltd.

Crown Holdings

Cyril Luff Ltd

Danone

Doughty Hanson

Emballator Packaging Ltd

Empaque

Envases (UK) Ltd

Eurobox

European Aerosol Can

Finanziaria di Partecipazioni Industriali S.p.A.

Glass Container Acquisition LLC

Greif Inc.

Gruppo Asa

Guala Closures group

Heineken N.V

Heinz

Hindustan Tin Works Ltd

Hoe Chong Tin Pte Ltd.

HUBER Packaging Group GmbH

Hydro Aluminium

In Cam

Investment Partners LLC

J K Powell Ltd

KBA MetalPrint GmbH

Kingcan Holdings Ltd.

Kirin Brewery

KPS Capital Partners, LP

Kraft

Leone Industries

Manaksia Limited

Massilly Group

Metal Closures Ltd

Metal Container Corp.

MillerCoors LLC

Mivisa

National Can Hellas

National Can Italiana

Netto

Novelis Inc.

P Wilkinson Containers Ltd

Parliament International Ltd

Penny

Pepsi

PepsiCo Inc.

Petrobras

PPG Industries

Prodec Group

Rexam Plc.

Rheinfelden

RLM Packaging Ltd

Roba Metals Ltd

Roberts Metal Packaging Ltd

Rockware Glass

SABMiller plc

Sarten Ambalai

Silgan Holdings Inc.

Sonoco Products Co.

Soudronic AG

St-Gobain's Verallia North America

Stolle Europe Ltd

Superior Multi-Packaging, Ltd.,

Sure-Can Ltd

Tata Steel Packaging

The Coca-Cola Company

The Valspar (UK) Corporation Ltd

ThyssenKrupp Rasselstein

Tinplaste Company of India

Tinware Direct Ltd

Toyo Seikan Group Holdings, Ltd

TriMas Corp.Microsoft Corp.

Tubettificio

U.S Steel Kosice

Unilever N.V.

United Closures & Plastics Ltd

Vanderwyst and Greif

Verallia North America (VNA)

William Say & Co Ltd

To request an exec summary of this report please email Sara Peerun at [email protected] or call Tel: +44 (0) 20 7336 6100

Or click on https://www.visiongain.com/Report/1675/Metal-Packaging-Market-Report-2016-2026

SOURCE Visiongain Ltd
FRANKFURT and OFFENBACH, Germany, July 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The first overseas hotel of the New Century Hotel Group, the New Century Hotel Frankfurt Offenbach, has officially opened.

The total cost for acquisition and renovation was up to EUR 45 million. The hotel is located at the junction of Frankfurt and Offenbach, and stands near the Rhine River. Guests can enjoy a splendid view of the river as well as the city landscape of both Frankfurt and Offenbach. Among the hotel's neighbors are the Mercedes Benz Frankfurt Rhine regional headquarters and Hyundai's European headquarters. The location is extremely convenient, it being only 20 minutes' drive from Frankfurt International Airport and 15 minutes to Frankfurt's city center and the main train station.

The hotel has total of 18 floors and 223 rooms of different kinds. The number of dinning seats is near 300. The hotel's East Side restaurant provides various kinds of western food while Four Seasons Chamber has four private suites providing traditional Chinese cuisine. A multifunctional banquet hall can accommodate 200 people and 6 meeting rooms of different sizes can meet all the needs of its guests. It is worth mentioning that the hotel also features a bar and an outdoor dining area to provide guests a posh leisure space.

More than 200 guests attended the opening ceremony on June 25, including Mr. Weiping Xing, Deputy Consul General of the Chinese Embassy in Frankfurt; Mr. Horst Schneider, Mayor of Offenbach; Mr. Lutz Raettig, parliamentary representative of Frankfurt; Ms. Yu Zhang, Chairman of GeKAe.V.; Mr. Miaolin Chen, Chairman of New Century Tourism Group; Mr. Canrong Chen, Pesident of New Century Tourism Group; Mr. Miaoqiang Chen, General Manager of New Century Hotel Group, Mr. Feng Hou, General Manager of New Century Hotel Management Group. Also in attendace were local government officials, business people and celebrities, along with local & international media.

At the ceremony guests walked into the hotel for a cocktail party, enjoying themselves in the harmonious atmosphere. Then followed a unique Chinese lion dance performance to wish booming business for the hotel. The official opening of the New Century Hotel Frankfurt Offenbach is a milestone for the internationalization of the New Century Hotel Group.

Official Website: www.kaiyuanhotels.com

Sina Weibo: http://weibo.com/newcenturyhotelgroup

SOURCE New Century International Hotel Management Services Limited

Related Links

http://www.kaiyuanhotels.com


DUBLIN, July 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "Parenteral Nutrition Market Analysis, By Nutrition Type (Carbohydrates, Parenteral Lipid Emulsion, Single Dose Amino Acid Solution, Trace Elements, Vitamins and Minerals) And Segment Forecasts To 2024" report to their offering.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160330/349511LOGO )



The global parenteral nutrition market is expected to reach USD 7.3 billion by 2024, according to this report. The increasing natality rate, the growing malnutrition coupled with the prevalence of chronic conditions such as cancer and gastro-intestinal tract diseases are expected to boost the market over the forecast period.



The presence of malnourished children in the developing countries leading to the rise in the natality rate and the rising geriatric population suffering from a deficiency of essential nutrients are some of the major factors that are expected to fuel the global parenteral nutrition market.



According to the WHO around 40.0% patients across the world were malnourished in 2010. The study also indicated that about one-third of the patients in Europe were malnourished in 2012, thereby fuelling industry growth.



According to the statistics provided by the World Bank Group, India had the highest natality rate followed by China in 2012. Moreover, a consistent increase in the rate of natality was observed in the European countries such as the U.K. and France. Therefore, Asia Pacific and Europe are expected to witness the fastest growth over the forecast.



North America is expected to witness lucrative growth due to the increase in consumer awareness paired with the increasing healthcare costs. As parenteral nutrition products are available in the home health care sector, it further facilitates the market growth due to the increasing trend in home health care. The increasing incidence of heart diseases is another vital driver. According to the WHO around 49.0% of the American population is endangered with the risk of cardiac arrest.

Companies Profiled:

B. Braun Melsungen AG

Baxter International, Inc.

Fresenius Kabi AG

Hospira, Inc.

Actavis, Inc.

Grifols International S.A.

Otsuka Pharmaceutical Factory, Inc.

Sichuan Kelun Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd.

Key Topics Covered:



1. Methodology and Scope



2. Executive Summary



3. Parenteral Nutrition Industry Outlook



4. Parenteral nutrition Type Of Nutrition Outlook



5. Parenteral Nutrition Regional Outlook



6. Competitive Landscape

For more information visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/f5lhqp/parenteral

Media Contact:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

[email protected]



For E.S.T Office Hours Call 1-917-300-0470

For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call 1-800-526-8630

For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900



U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907

Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716



SOURCE Research and Markets
REUTLINGEN, Germany, July 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Following 12 years of successful development at Retina Implant AG, Dr. Walter-G. Wrobel, CEO of the company, has announced his resignation by mutual consent. The resignation will take effect on September 30, 2016.

Dr. Walter-G. Wrobel, former CEO of Retina Implant AG (PRNewsFoto/Retina Implant AG)

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160701/385790 )



Dr. Wrobel's departure, along with recent CE-approval of the new RETINA IMPLANT Alpha AMS, indicates a new era for the company; one that will be heavily influenced by navigating the challenges of distribution.

Wrobel said of his departure: "This is the right time for me to hand over operational responsibility. It has been a very thrilling and satisfying time. I hope that Retina implant AG has as much success in the future as they have now."

The supervisory board expressed their thanks to Dr. Wrobel for his exceptional and treasured contribution to the company's success. The chairman, Prof. Zrenner stated: "Without his intensive personal commitment and strategical foresight, we would never have gotten this far. With his exceptional manner, he formed a company of highly innovative retinal implants from a scientific project."

Dipl.-Kfm. Reinhard Rubow, who has been on the board for 13 years, will step up to lead Retina Implant AG as sole executive director from October 1, 2016.

To keep updated on Retina Implant AG follow us on Twitter @RetinaImplant.

About Retina Implant AG

Retina Implant AG is the leading developer of subretinal implants for partially sighted and blind patients. After extensive research with German university hospitals and institutes which began with a large grant from the German Federal Ministry of Research and Education in 1996, Retina Implant AG was founded by Dr. Eberhart Zrenner, professor of Ophthalmology, University of Tubingen, Germany and his colleagues in 2003 with private investors with the goal of developing a fully-functioning electronic retinal implant to restore useful vision to the blind. Retina Implant began implanting human patients in 2005 and started a second, larger clinical trial in 2010. In July 2013, Retina Implant's wireless subretinal implant technology, Alpha IMS, received CE mark. To learn more, visit http://www.retina-implant.de/.

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PUNE, India, July 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

The report "Roof Insulation Market by Application (Flat Roof, Pitched Roof), Type (Batts & Rolls, Rigid Insulation, Spray Applied, Reflective Systems, Others), Material (Glass Wool, Stone Wool, Plastic Foam, Others), Region (Europe, North America, Asia Pacific, MEA, Latin America) - Global Forecast to 2021", published by MarketsandMarkets, The global market is expected to reach USD 10.85 Billion by 2021, at a CAGR of 4.3% from 2016 to 2021.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160303/792302 )



Key driving factor for the growth of the roof insulation market are the growth of the construction industry in the emerging economies such as China, India, Brazil, and stringent regulatory environment in the developed countries such as US, Canada, & Germany to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Browse 119 market data Tables and 52 Figures spread through 156 Pages and in-depth TOC on "Roof Insulation Market"

http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/roof-insulation-market-267780489.html

Early buyers will receive 10% customization on this report.

The flat roof segment anticipated to dominate the global roof insulation market, by application

A flat roof is the most cost-efficient roof shape. There is increase in adoption of flat roof in the commercial building sector as they are capable of absorbing a high amount of solar energy. Thus, increasing the demand for flat roof insulation. Fiber glass, stone wool, foam board, and PUR insulation are the materials majorly used for insulating flat roof.

Batts & rolls is the major type segment in the global roof insulation market

The batts & rolls segment is the largest contributor to the global roof insulation market, by type. More than one-third of the global roof insulation produced is consumed in the form of batts & rolls. The growth of this segment is mainly attributed to the easy installation and easy availability. Hence, companies manufacture almost every insulant material in the form of batts and rolls.

Make an Inquiry @ http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Enquiry_Before_Buying.asp?id=267780489

Glass wool is the most commonly used material in the global roof insulation market

Glass wool dominates the global roof insulation market. Increasing demand from new construction around the globe is driving the growth of this segment. Glass wool is produced in rolls, blankets, slabs, and loose-fill with different thermal and mechanical properties. Glass wool materials are acoustic, flexible, non-combustible, non-degradable, lightweight, and are not very expensive in comparison to other insulating materials which makes it a widely used insulant material used for roof insulation.

Europe is the most dominant region in the global roof insulation market

Europe is the most dominant region within the global roof insulation market. It is estimated to witness a comparatively slower growth than other regions as some of the European countries are experiencing the economic downturn which significantly impacted the European construction sector. The energy-saving initiatives and continuous modifications in the building regulations have been helpful in supporting the market growth.

Some of the key players operating in the global roof insulation market include Rockwool International A/S (Denmark), Knauf Insulation GmbH (Germany), Saint-Gobain (France), Owens Corning Corporation (U.S.), Berkshire Hathaway, Inc. (U.S.), BASF (Germany), and Paroc (Finland).

Browse Related Reports:

Vacuum Insulation Panels Market By Core Material Type (Silica, Fiberglass, Others), Type (Flat, Special Shape), Raw Material (Silica, Fiberglass, Plastic, Metal, Others), Application (Construction, Cooling & Freezing Devices, Logistics, Others) - Forecast to 2021

http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/vacuum-insulation-panel-market-93263160.html

Cold Insulation Market By Material (Fiber Glass, Phenolic Foams, Polystyrene Foams, Polyurethane Foams, Others), End-Use Industry (Chemicals, HVAC, Oil & Gas, Refrigeration, and Others) - Trends & Forecasts to 2020

http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/cold-insulation-market-1117.html

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About MarketsandMarkets

MarketsandMarkets is the world's No. 2 firm in terms of annually published premium market research reports. Serving 1700 global fortune enterprises with more than 1200 premium studies in a year, M&M is catering to a multitude of clients across 8 different industrial verticals. We specialize in consulting assignments and business research across high growth markets, cutting edge technologies and newer applications. Our 850 fulltime analyst and SMEs at MarketsandMarkets are tracking global high growth markets following the "Growth Engagement Model - GEM". The GEM aims at proactive collaboration with the clients to identify new opportunities, identify most important customers, write "Attack, avoid and defend" strategies, identify sources of incremental revenues for both the company and its competitors.

M&M's flagship competitive intelligence and market research platform, "RT" connects over 200,000 markets and entire value chains for deeper understanding of the unmet insights along with market sizing and forecasts of niche markets. The new included chapters on Methodology and Benchmarking presented with high quality analytical infographics in our reports gives complete visibility of how the numbers have been arrived and defend the accuracy of the numbers.

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NEW YORK, July 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Synopsis

Timetric's 'The Cards and Payments Industry in the Netherlands: Emerging Trends and Opportunities to 2020' report provides detailed analysis of market trends in the Dutch cards and payments industry. It provides values and volumes for a number of key performance indicators in the industry, including cash transactions, credit transfers, direct debits and payment cards during the review period (20112015).



The report also analyzes various payment card markets operating in the industry and provides detailed information on the number of cards in circulation, and transaction values and volumes during the review period and over the forecast period (20162020). It also offers information on the country's competitive landscape, including market shares of issuers and schemes.



The report brings together Timetric's research, modeling, and analysis expertise to allow banks and card issuers to identify segment dynamics and competitive advantages. The report also covers detailed regulatory policies and recent changes in regulatory structure.



Summary

Timetric's 'The Cards and Payments Industry in the Netherlands: Emerging Trends and Opportunities to 2020' report provides top-level market analysis, information and insights into the Netherlands cards and payments industry, including:



- Current and forecast values for each market in the Dutch cards and payments industry, including debit, credit and charge cards. It also includes detailed analysis of the prepaid card market.



- Detailed insights into payment instruments including cash transactions, payment cards, credit transfers and direct debits. It also includes an overview of the country's key alternative payment instruments.



- E-commerce market analysis and online payment types.



- Analysis of various market drivers and regulations governing the Dutch cards and payments industry.



- Detailed analysis of strategies adopted by banks and other institutions to market debit, credit and charge cards.



- Comprehensive analysis of consumer attitudes and buying preferences for cards.



- The competitive landscape of the Dutch cards and payments industry.



Scope

- This report provides a comprehensive analysis of the Dutch cards and payments industry.



- It provides current values for the Dutch cards and payments industry for 2015, and forecast figures to 2020.



- It details the different demographic, economic, infrastructural and business drivers affecting the Dutch cards and payments industry.



- It outlines the current regulatory framework in the industry.



- It details marketing strategies used by various banks and other institutions.



Reasons To Buy

- Make strategic business decisions, using top-level historic and forecast market data, related to the Dutch cards and payments industry and each market within it.



- Understand the key market trends and growth opportunities in the Dutch cards and payments industry.



- Assess the competitive dynamics in the Dutch cards and payments industry.



- Gain insights into marketing strategies used for various card types in the Netherlands.



- Gain insights into key regulations governing the Dutch cards and payments industry.



Key Highlights

- Contactless technology is gradually gaining traction in the Netherlands. There were 15 million contactless cards in the country in 2015  equivalent to 45.5% of the overall payments cards. According to the Dutch Payments Association, the number of contactless POS terminals in the country reached 56,000  equivalent to 17.2% of overall POS terminals  by the end of 2014. Banks are increasingly embracing contactless technology to provide convenience to customers. For example, ABN Amro replaced all its payment cards with contactless variants in December 2015, enabling consumers to make payments of up to US$27.8 (EUR25) without entering a PIN. Similarly, ING Bank and Rabobank are replacing their old cards with contactless-enabled equivalents.



- Larger banks have introduced contactless mobile payment (m-payment) solutions. The latest initiative is the launch of a contactless m-payment service by Rabobank, in partnership with mobile service provider KPN in January 2016. In December 2015, ING Bank launched a mobile banking app based on host card emulation (HCE) technology to facilitate contactless m-payments. In 2014, Vodafone, in association with Visa, launched a contactless m-payment service, Visa SmartPass, which allows consumers to pay by mobile phone at contactless POS terminals with a V Pay logo. Consumers can pay up to US$27.8 (EUR25) by waving mobile phones at contactless-enabled terminals.



- The uptake of iDEAL, an alternative payment solution, among Dutch consumers is increasing. As of June 2015, iDEAL accounted for 56% of the online transactions made in the Netherlands, up from 54% in June 2014. It provides payment services to merchants in more than 50 markets globally, who sell to Dutch customers. The company formed an alliance with Trustly, a Swedish payment solution provider, in December 2015. With this agreement, Trustly became iDEAL's licensed Collecting Payment Service Provider, allowing it to provide payment solutions to merchants. It also formed an agreement with Alipay, the Chinese payment solution provider of the Alibaba group, to integrate the iDEAL payment option to AliExpress, the Alibaba group's online store, in March 2015. Customers purchasing online on AliExpress now have the option to pay through iDEAL.

Read the full report: http://www.reportlinker.com/p03785845-summary/view-report.html



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Chennai, June 29 : Trisha Krishnan, who is currently busy shooting for Tamil horror film "Mohini", is still the strongest contender to reprise Kangana Ranaut's role in the Tamil version of critically acclaimed Hindi blockbuster "Queen", said a source close to the actress.

"The makers have once again initiated talks with Trisha. The project requires bulk dates and Trisha already has two projects in her kitty. She is figuring out how she can set aside dates that will require her to shoot abroad for a long schedule," the source told IANS.

Veteran actress-filmmaker Revathy, known for directing films like "Mitr, My Friend" and "Phir Milenge", will helm the yet-untitled remake.

"Queen" is the story of a young Punjabi girl, played by Kangana Ranaut, who embarks on her honeymoon to Paris alone after her fiance calls off the wedding.

Actress Suhasini Mani Ratnam has been roped in to pen the dialogues for the project. The remake will be bankrolled by produced Thiyagarajan.
New Delhi, June 29 : Microsoft on Wednesday announced the appointment of Crayon Software Experts India Pvt Ltd as a distribution partner under its Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) programme in India.

As part of this programme, Crayon will help its customers in India to adopt Microsoft's Cloud based technology solutions like Microsoft Azure, Microsoft Office 365, Windows Intune and Enterprise Mobility Suite (EMS) subscriptions, a statement said.

"Accelerating cloud adoption amongst SMBs (small and midsize businesses), Crayon's capabilities will offer customers greater technical edge with enterprise-grade technology and fully managed services delivered from the Microsoft cloud," said Manohar Hotchandani, Director-Business Development, Microsoft India.

The partnership means that Crayon will own the complete customer life cycle, combined and customised solutions, while directly provisioning and supporting Microsoft Cloud offerings for their customers.

"The combination of Microsoft's Cloud offerings and Crayon's reach across India, provides customers with enterprise grade Cloud solutions while maintaining the flexibility and scalability to suit their business needs," said Vikas Bhonsle, Chief Executive Officer of Crayon.

Microsoft launched the CSP programme for India in 2015. Some other Microsoft CSPs in India include Redington India and Ingram Micro.
New Delhi, June 30 : Amid speculation about possible cabinet reshuffle, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday met his council of ministers here on Thursday and reviewed important projects and works of various ministries, official sources said.

Modi's meeting with his council of ministers comes a day after he met Bharatiya Janata Party President Amit Shah and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley at his residence.

After the Wednesday meeting, speculation mounted that Modi, who took over as the Prime Minister in May 2014, may carry out his first major ministerial reshuffle.

The sources said the union ministers also made presentations on the performance of their ministries to Modi.

"Overall it was a lengthy exercise as several ministers were asked to make presentations of the works of their ministries. Basically a comparative study of some key developmental and social service ministries were made on the situation in 2014 and now after two years," a source told IANS on the condition of anonymity.

In the possible reshuffle and expansion of his council of ministers, the Prime Minister is likely to keep regional balances especially in view of coming elections in key states like Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Punjab.

Even as there was no confirmation whether a possible "reshuffle" of the Union council of ministers figured in Thursday's meeting, party sources earlier this month had indicated that the Modi and the BJP leadership could consider "additional representation" from poll-bound states in the expansion.

A senior party leader, however, said, "cabinet expansion or reshuffle is essentially a prerogative of Prime Minister".

The possible reshuffle of the union council of ministers could actually also coincide with an organisational shape up in the BJP.
New Delhi, July 1 : Legendary athlete Milkha Singh has launched the 'Read India' initiative which aims to set up libraries in about 700 government-run schools to benefit over 3.5 lakh underprivileged students.

Backed by the S. Chand Group - one of the largest educational content providers in the country - each library will start with some 400 books provided by the publishing group.

'Read India' will ensure students from kindergarten to class 8 have free access to quality books on a range of subjects -- from science and maths to general studies and general knowledge - that are normally not available in government schools.

Launching the initiative, the 'Flying Sikh' lauded the publishers for focusing on underprivileged children and hoped it would help "ignite their minds".

The initiative is estimated to cost Rs 4 crore and is supported by the Delhi chapter of Round Table India (RTI). It was launched at an RTI-supported school in north Delhi's Bhalaswa village.

Himanshu Gupta, managing director of S. Chand Group, said his company "is committed to improving the lives of millions of underprivileged childrena by giving them quality education and developing better reading and learning habits thereby accelerating the growth in the education sector".
New Delhi, July 1 : The government on Friday unveiled the draft regional connectivity scheme (RCS) with the intent to provide air connectivity to unserved and remote routes.

The RCS is a key component of the recently passed National Civil Aviation Policy (NCAP), whose main objective is to "enhance regional connectivity through fiscal support and infrastructure development."

The draft policy intends to grow regional connectivity via several measures such as incentives, capping of air fares for a limited number of seats and revival of existing air strips and airports.

"Today, we have given shape to the Hon'ble Prime Minister's vision of regional air connectivity in India," Civil Aviation Minister P. Ashok Gajapathi Raju said after unveiling the draft RCS here.

According to the minister, passenger fares under the RCS will be capped at Rs 2,500 per hour of flying of approximately 500 km.

"Scheme to be applicable on route length between 200 to 800 km," the minister said.

Minister of State for Civil Aviation Mahesh Sharma said: "There is an enormous interest shown by the state governments to enhance regional connectivity in their states under the NCAP."

Sharma, who is also Union Minister of State for Culture and Tourism (independent charge), said that the draft policy suggests several measures to promote regional connectivity like the incentive to operate flights to unserved and underserved airports.

"For making regional connectivity viable, the sales tax has been kept at a very low rate, there will also not be any parking, landing or navigation charges and the state governments have to provide security and fire safety services for free," Sharma said.

The ministry explained that the RCS is expected to support airlines by providing direct financial support namely viability gap funding, which would be given to the interested airlines to kick-off operations to an unserved or underserved airport. It is also expected to keep the passenger fares affordable.

"A regional connectivity fund would be created to fund the VGF requirements under the scheme," the ministry said in a statement.

"The same would be funded through a levy on certain domestic flights. The partner state governments would also contribute a 20 per cent share to this fund (10 per cent for North Eastern States)."

The allocation under the scheme is proposed to be equitably spread across five geographical regions. Once finalised, the scheme is expected to be in operation for a period of 10 years.

The ministry elaborated that once RCS is finalised, it will then invite proposals from interested airlines and helicopter operators for starting operations on un-connected routes.

"The operator could seek VGF in case there is a difference in cost of operations and estimated revenues," the ministry said.

"All such route proposals would then be offered for competitive bidding through a reverse bidding mechanism and the route would be awarded to the participant quoting the lowest VGF requirement."

However, the financial support or VGF would be withdrawn after a period of three years or when the passenger load factor of the airline gets above 90 per cent.

The ministry said that the selected airline operator would have to provide a minimum of nine and maximum of 40 seats on an RCS flight.

"On each such route, the minimum frequency would be three and the maximum, seven per week."

The ministry has invited feedback from all stakeholders by July 22.
New Delhi, July 1 : The Supreme Court will hear on Monday a Delhi government plea that its dispute with the Centre on its interference in the administration of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT) can only be decided by the apex court and not by the high court.

An apex court bench headed by Chief Justice T.S. Thakur agreed to hear the matter on Monday as senior counsel K.K. Venugopal and Indira Jaisinh told the court that only the top court can decide the row under Article 131 of the Constitution.

The counsel on Friday sought an early hearing of the plea pending before the court.

Article 131 says, subject to the provisions of the Constitution, that the Supreme Court shall have original jurisdiction in any dispute between the central government and one or more states.

Referring to the "stifling" of the functioning of the Delhi government by the Lt. Governor who the plea said overrules even decisions taken by the cabinet (of Delhi government), counsel Venugopal said the question was whether the central government can take over all powers of the NCT.

The Delhi government moved the apex court contending that the matter can't be decided by the Delhi High Court.

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's government wants the apex court to interpret Article 239A, the special provision with respect to Delhi, which is a state but not a full-fledged state.

His government wants an urgent hearing of its plea as the high court has already reserved its verdict on a number of issues of conflict between the AAP government and the Centre, including over the Anti-Corruption Branch.

The Delhi government has said that it raised the issue of jurisdiction even before the high court when some contentious issues were clubbed together and were heard. The high court has reserved the verdict.

The dispute over how much powers the Delhi government wields and how much have to be conceded to the central government has plagued the Kejriwal government since it took power in February 2015.

Delhi Police, for instance, reports to Lt. Governor Najeeb Jung, a representative of the central government, and not to Kejriwal.

The recurring disputes have led to ugly public spats, with Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal making frequent accusations against Jung as well as Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Nay Pyi Taw, July 2 : A mob of Buddhists set fire to a Muslim prayer hall in Myanmar on Friday, the day that UN Special Rapporteur Yanghee Lee appealed to the government to put an end to sectarian violence, the media reported on Saturday.

An eyewitness said the incident took place in Hpakant town, 652 km north of the capital Nay Pyi Taw, Efe news reported.

"Buddhist nationalists" demanded the Muslim prayer hall be demolished, saying it had been illegally constructed.

The Muslim community said it would do so only on official orders from authorities, but failed to deter the mob made up of hundreds of people mostly from other towns who bore knives and sticks.

Firefighters attempted to put out the fire but were prevented from doing so by the mob, the source said.

Lee, the UN special rapporteur for Myanmar, on Friday wrapping up a 12-day visit to the country, called on the government -- the first democratic one in over half a century -- to end institutional discrimination against the Muslim minority.

"The government must demonstrate that instigating and committing violence against an ethnic or religious minority community has no place in Myanmar," said Lee, an expert in human rights, in Yangon.

Sectarian violence in Myanmar broke out in 2012 following the gangrape and murder of a Buddhist woman by three Muslim men.

Dozens of people have since died, and around 140,000 Muslims -- mostly minority Rohingyas who are not recognised by authorities, who term them Bangladeshis -- remain displaced in difficult conditions in camps in western Myanmar.
New York, July 4 : A young man was seriously injured after he was hit by an explosion in New York's Central Park on Sunday, authorities said.

The Central Park was partially closed for police investigation after the explosion rocked the southeastern part of the park, near the corner of 5th Avenue and 62th Street, Xinhua reported.

The part of the renowned park remained closed throughout the afternoon, with heavy presence of law enforcement standing guard and evacuating tourists from the site of the blast.

It was yet unknown what caused the explosion but it may have been fireworks prior to the Independence Day holiday on Monday.

The victim was identified as Connor Golden, an 18-year-old from Fairfax Virginia, who was visiting New York from Washington for the holiday, according to local media.

Eyewitnesses said Golden was climbing a rock structure with two friends when he stepped on something that blew up, according to the police.

The police and paramedics rushed to the scene after a call came in at 10:53 a.m. local time. The NYPD bomb squad was also dispatched.

The victim suffered a severe leg injury and faced "a possible amputation," said a Fire Department of New York spokesperson.
Beijing, July 4 : Beijing has banned access to waters near the Paracel islands in the South China Sea, which are controlled by China but also claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan, between July 5-11 to carry out military manoeuvres.

The exercises, announced late Sunday night by China's Maritime Safety Administration in a statement, will take place a week before the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague delivers its verdict on July 12 on a complaint filed by the Philippines regarding its dispute with China over the sovereignty of the Spratly archipelago, EFE news reported.

However, the naval manoeuvres will be carried out in another area of the South China Sea, which is not claimed by the Philippines, located east of the Chinese island of Hainan, in a stretch extending to the Paracel islands, known as the Xisha islands in Chinese.

China seized control of Paracel islands in 1974 after defeating then South Vietnam in a naval face-off, but the archipelago, comprising around 40 islands, is also claimed by the government of present day Vietnam.

Conflict over the island has worsened in recent years, with greater involvement by the US in that and another dispute between China and other countries of the region over the Spratly archipelago.
New Delhi : In the prosperous district of Kannur in one of India's most prosperous states, Kerala, Eramangalathu Chitralekha, 39, was the first Dalit woman to drive an autorickshaw in 2005. Her new profession immediately angered the upper castes, who taunted her and threatened violence. One day, that year, her autorickshaw was set ablaze. In 2013, it was damaged beyond repair. The district collector gifted her a new autorickshaw in June 2014, but on March 4, 2016, it was destroyed again.

Chitralekha is unclear about her future, but she is clear that she is a victim of Hinduism's deep-rooted caste discrimination. "My house was ransacked by Nair (upper caste) men. My son was humiliated and forced to drop out of school after eighth grade when stories started doing the rounds that I was a woman of loose morals," she said. "He's 22 now and still to find a job."

Chitralekha is a Pulaya, a people termed adiyar, or slaves, in her village of Edatt. "We are low born," she explained. "We are not permitted to draw water from the same well or eat from the same plates or drink from the same glasses used by the upper castes."

The destruction of Chitralekha's autorickshaw was one of numerous crimes reported in 2016 against Dalits, lowest of Hindu castes: From stopping the entry of Dalits into temples-in Uttarakhand, a bridegroom in Haryana, a community in Karnataka-to burning homes and beating women, the murder of a Dalit who married an upper-caste woman in Tamil Nadu and the rape and murder of a law student in Kerala.

These incidents are random snapshots of violence against scheduled castes (SCs) and scheduled tribes (STs) nationwide in 2016, for which data has not yet been compiled. It is unlikely that crimes against SCs and STs - up 40 per cent and 118 per cent over five years to 2014 - will buck the trend visible in National Crime Records Bureau data.

Not only do SCs and STs - who comprise 25 per cent, or 305 million, of India's 1.2 billion people - endure historic and systemic discrimination, as the first part of this series showed, they are targets of growing violence, as they attempt to improve their lives in the world's fastest-growing economy.

No shortage of laws, but discrimination is endemic

As the relentless attacks on Chitralekha show, education and prosperity are no guarantee that attitudes will change. With India's highest literacy rate and seventh-highest per capita income, Kerala also has among the highest crime rates against SCs and STs relative to its population.

In absolute terms, in 2014, most crimes against SCs were registered in Uttar Pradesh (8,075) followed by Rajasthan (8,028) and Bihar (7,893); the most crimes against STs were registered in Rajasthan (3,952), Madhya Pradesh (2,279) and Odisha (1,259).

There is no shortage of laws to address the violence against India's disadvantaged castes and tribes.

Specific laws include the Protection of Civil Rights Act, 1955, and the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989. Specific laws include the Protection of Civil Rights Act, 1955, and the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989. Besides, the Indian Penal Code (IPC), which governs most crime in India, has adequate legal provisions - if implemented.

"Whenever I filed a complaint against the goons, the police would let them go scot-free," said Chitralekha. "The second time I went to lodge a complaint, the sub-inspector threatened to arrest me, instead."

However, better reporting and registering appears to be a reason for the rising numbers of crimes against SCs and STs, from 33,412 (SCs) and 5,250 (STs) in 2009 to 47,064 (SCs) and 11,451 (STs) in 2014.

But the reluctance to register cases continues, as our conversations with Dalit survivors of violence indicated.

Kancha Ilaiah, director of the Centre for the Study of Social Exclusion and Inclusive Policy of Maulana Azad National Urdu University, Hyderabad, said rising violence against SCs and STs was a backlash to growing assertiveness.

As Dalits grow assertive, and jobs scarce, an upper-caste backlash

According to NCRB data, 704 murders and 2,233 rapes against SCs and 157 murder cases and 925 rapes against STs were reported in 2014.

"They (upper castes) are feeling insecure because of the progress of the SCs and STs," said Ilaiah. "It is the natural course of history. The upper castes are still stuck in a world where the Dalit and the tribal are untouchables, to be treated as slaves."

In February 2016, when the national capital region of Delhi was rocked by violent agitators demanding reservations for upper-class Jats, Dalits were attacked indiscriminately, and some reported killed.

Those riots were a manifestation of India's inability to create enough employment for the million young people who join the job market every month. Organised industry added no more than 500,000 jobs in all of 2014, as IndiaSpend reported in February 2016. Upper castes, said experts, battle amongst themselves but join to keep Dalits out of the race.

Low convictions in crimes against SCs/STs

Compared to a 45 per cent conviction rate for all IPC cases, no more than 28 per cent of crimes against SCs and STs end in conviction, according to NCRB data.

"Our police carry their caste with them; even when they are on duty, they practice discrimination," said Ilaiah.

Former Maharashtra Director General of Police Rahul Gopal confirmed official discrimination. "There were instances where the police discriminated against people from the lower castes," he said.The Prevention of Atrocities Act is of little help."

(End of two-part series)

(04.07.2016. In arrangement with IndiaSpend.org, a data-driven, non-profit, public interest journalism platform. Himadri Ghosh is a Bangalore-based independent reporter. The views expressed are those of IndiaSpend. The author can be contacted at respond@indiaspend.org)
Kolkata, July 4 : In wake of the deadly terror attack in Dhaka, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday called for all parties to play a constructive role in tackling terrorism and assured of a crackdown on cross-border smuggling of cattle and the opium trade.

Replying to a debate in the assembly, Banerjee also expressed her concern over state BJP president Dilip Ghosh's demand for stopping the Dhaka-Kolkata Maitree Express train in protest against killing of minorities in Bangladesh.

"We strongly condemn the terror attack in Bangladesh. We share their pain and agony and stand beside Bangladesh. Instead of indulging in blame game, we must look at playing a constructive role in tackling terrorism," she said.

Referring to Ghosh's remarks made during a protest rally in the city, Banerjee said: "Maitree Express has no relation with terrorism. We should not make such comments which can hamper relations between the two countries. We should remember that terrorists have no religion."

She also said post the Dhaka attack, police in the state was on high alert.

Banerjee also assured that post-Ramadan, the state government will ensure a crackdown on opium trade and cattle smuggling in the state.

"The crackdown will be three-pronged - preventing cattle and gold smuggling as well the opium trade," said Banerjee.
Gurgaon, July 4 : The mortal remains of 19-years-old Tarishi Jain, who was among the 20 hostages killed in a gruesome terror attack in Dhaka, was on Monday brought here by her family for the last rites.

The cremation was held at the Shiv Murti Cremation ground near IFFCO Chowk in Gurgaon's Sector 29 on the Delhi-Gurgaon expressway.

Central and state ministers were among those who paid tributes when the body arrived from Dhaka.

Haryana Education Minister Ram Bilas Sharma, Gurgaon Deputy Commissioner T.L. Satyaprakash and other officials earlier on Monday afternoon received Tarishi's mortal remains at Delhi's IGI Airport.

Union Minister of State for Power Minister Piyush Goyal, Union Minister of State Rao Inderjit Singh, other Haryana ministers MLAs along with others, paid tribute to her.

Earlier, people paid her rich tribute at Gurgaon's DLF-1 community centre amid sombre atmosphere with relatives crying inconsolably for Tarishi.

Tarishi, a student of University of California-Berkeley, was in Dhaka on vacation. She had gone with two other friends to a cafe in the upscale Gulshan area where she was brutally killed by Islamist terrorists.

On Saturday, she was among the first victims of Dhaka's siege to be identified. Her friends Abinta Kabir and Faraaz Hossain were also killed in the attack.

Nine Italians, seven Japanese, one Indian, one Bangladeshi American and two Bangladeshis were killed in the terror attack at the Holey Artisan Bakery in Gulshan on Friday night.

Tarishi's father, who runs a garment business in Bangladesh for the last 15-20 years, has a flat in Sector 32 of Gurgaon.

The family members decided to cremate her in Gurgaon as it would be difficult to take the body to her native place in Firozabad in Uttar Pradesh by road.

The Bangladesh government handed over the body of Tarishi to her relatives on Monday morning in Dhaka, following which her moral remains were flown to Delhi.

(Pradeep Singh can be contacted at pardeepsinghrao@gmail.com)
Islamabad, July 4 : Islamabad on Monday rejected Indian media reports alleging Pakistan's involvement in the brutal Dhaka cafe terrorist attack Friday night that left 20 persons, mostly foreigners -- including an Indian girl, killed.

Pakistan's Foreign Office spokesman Nafees Zakaria termed the allegations baseless and the reports as "highly regrettable", Dawn online reported.

A section of India media reported that Bangladesh Information Minister Hasanul Haq and Adviser to Bangladesh Prime Minister Gowher Rizvi blamed Pakistan and its intelligence agency Inter-Services Intelligence for the terror attack in Dhaka on July 1 night.

"These stories are utterly baseless and unfounded. Pakistan strongly rejects such allegations," Zakaria said in a statement. "The reports are irresponsible and provocative."

He said Pakistan deeply appreciates Gowher Rizvi's timely rebuttal of the media reports regarding the attack that was claimed by the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group.

Rizvi contacted the Pakistani High Commissioner in Bangladesh and said the Bangladesh government did not issue any such statement and that the Indian media reports were false.

He also advised the Pakistani High Commissioner to convey this clarification to the Pakistani government in order to avoid any misunderstanding between the two sides.

Pakistan on Saturday condemned the Dhaka terror attack and expressed solidarity with the government and the people of Bangladesh, and offered condolences to the families of those killed in the strike.

Zakaria in a statement said Pakistan condemns terrorism in all its forms and manifestations.

"Being a victim of terrorism itself, Pakistan welcomes Gowher Rizvi's call for global cooperation to fight the menace."

At least seven gunmen -- claimed to be from the IS -- on Friday night stormed the Holey Artisan Bakery, a popular cafe in the Bangladeshi capital, killing 20 hostages. Six of the attackers were killed on Saturday morning in Bangladesh Army's "Operation Thunderbolt", while the seventh was arrested.
Ghaziabad, July 4 : Farmers on Monday protested here against the Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation and alleged a "big scam" after five milch animals of a farmer were electrocuted during the rain.

Jai Chand, a dairy farmer in Sikrod area here, woke up early on Monday to find his three buffaloes and two cows dead with live electric wires from the UP Power Corporation's local distribution system lying on them, police said.

He said the animals yielded 50 kg of milk a day, amounting to a daily income of Rs 2,500. The animals themselves would have fetched about Rs 3,50,000 in the market, Jai Chand said.

As the news spread, a crowd of angry farmers gathered and protested against the corporation, alleging that it has been avoiding replacing the old wires despite several complaints and reminders.

"Wires have been shown to be replaced on paper and funds for the purpose have repeatedly been embezzled," they said.

Subsequently, Ghaziabad Mayor Ashu Verma pacified the protesters and assured them that she would talk to the District Magistrate to get the farmer compensated for his loss.

Sub-Divisional Officer Shashank Mishra said heavy rain and strong winds brought down the wires which have now been replaced and the power supply will be restored soon.
Guwahati, July 4 : Former Assam Chief Minister and senior Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) leader Prafulla Kumar Mahanta has urged the central government to formulate a policy for rehabilitation of the Bangladesh Hindus who are waiting to enter Assam due to unrest there.

Mahanta said this here while addressing a press conference on Monday and added that about 1.7 crore Hindus residing in Bangladesh are living in fear due to recent attacks on them.

He said they (the Hindus) will try to migrate to India at the earliest and their first choice is always Assam.

"The order of the central government in New Delhi to allow minorities in those countries to live in India without documents will only hasten their arrival to India and if we go by history, their first choice is always Assam," said Mahanta.

He added that he wants the NDA government to clearly formulate a policy for the rehabilitation of these people so that Assam is not made a victim again for short political gains by any political party.

He also said that Assam is already over-populated and the central government must formulate a clear policy to settle and rehabilitate these people from the other side of the border elsewhere in India, excluding Assam.

Mahanta also took up the issue of central government's decision to auction 12 small oil fields in Assam to private parties and said that when the oil prices are falling globally, it is bad business to sell our own oil reserves to multinationals at this time as the state will not get right price for the state's natural resources.

"If at all the government of India is keen on getting rid of these oil fields at whatever price they get, they should be handed over to Assam government which has enough expertise and infrastructure to get oil from these wells," he said.

Mahanta also slammed the central government's recent decision to set up the proposed All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS) at Baihata Chariali in Kamrup district instead of Raha in Nagaon district.

"We have confirmed reports that the central team had already approved Raha for setting up of the AIIMS. However, the venue of the proposed AIIMS was shifted to Baihata Chariali and the state government had already allocated land for the purpose in Baihata Chariali," he said, seeking the intervention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the matter.
Dhaka, July 4 : Two of the five young militants who slaughtered 20 innocent people at the Holey Artisan Bakery in the Bangladeshi capital used to follow three controversial Islamists -- Anjem Choudary, Shami Witness and Zakir Naik.

Nibras Islam, 22, used to follow two alleged suspected recruiters of Islamic State -- Anjem Choudary and Shami Witness -- on Twitter in 2014, reported The Daily Star.

Another young militant Rohan Imtiaz, son of an Awami League leader, propagated on Facebook last year quoting Peace TV's controversial preacher Zakir Naik "urging all Muslims to be terrorists".

A Pakistan-origin British citizen, 49-year-old Anjem is now facing trial in England for breaking the British anti-terrorism law.

Shami Witness is the Twitter name of 24-year-old Mehdi Masroor Biswas of Bengaluru in India, who is also facing trial for running propaganda for the Islamic State.

Biswas was arrested in December 2014 following an investigation into his Twitter account which was last active in August 2014.

Anjem's twitter account became inactive from August 2015 after terror charges were brought against him.

Naik, a controversial preacher from India, is banned in the UK, Canada and Malaysia. He is widely popular in Bangladesh through his Peace TV, although his preaching often demeans other religions including other Muslim sects.

The Daily Star said this indicates that Nibras and Rohan did not become radicalised overnight. They have been consuming radical materials for one to two years before finally disappearing in February-March and reappearing as "killers" on Friday night's carnage at the Holey Artisan Bakery.

From their pictures posted by the Islamic State media and recirculated by the Search for International Terrorist Entities (SITE) Intelligence Group, it can be assumed that these young men received arms training after their disappearance, specifically to carry out the killing mission on July 1, reported Daily Star.

Their attire with Islamic State logo in the backdrop, the automatic rifles held in their hands, reveal they underwent an organised training which is far from anything amateurish.

The killers released some of the hostages 15 minutes before the army-led operation codenamed 'Operation Thundebolt' on Saturday morning also showed the depth of their indoctrination -- that they were ready to die.

The killers had uploaded grisly pictures of their horrendous deeds at the Holey Artisan Bakery by midnight Friday -- which was re-uploaded by the Islamic State media.

These pictures widely circulated on the internet also reveal the mind set of the killers. All the women victims were blurred in the pictures. Militants say it is a sin to show pictures of women, who they do not mind killing or raping.
New Delhi, July 4 : Energy, food security, diaspora interactions, maritime cooperation, trade and the India-initiated International Solar Alliance will be high on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's agenda when he goes on a four-nation tour of Africa, his first to that continent's mainland, this week, a senior official said on Monday.

Modi's visit to Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania and Kenya from July 7 to 11 is expected to consolidate the gains made during the third edition of the India Africa Forum Summit (IAFS) held here in October last year, Amar Sinha, Secretary (Economic Relations) in the Ministry of External Affairs, said at a pre-departure media briefing here.

He said Modi's visit will also be the third segment of India's high-level engagement with Africa this year after Vice President Hamid Ansari's visits to Morocco and Tunisia and President Pranab Mukherjee's visits to Ghana, Ivory Coast and Namibia.

Sinha said that energy and food security would be a key area of focus during his day-long visit to Mozambique on July 7.

"I say energy because Mozambique is the third largest exporter of natural gas after Qatar and Australia," he said.

Mozambique is also the destination of nearly a quarter of Indian investments of nearly $8 billion in Africa, he informed.

Trade with Mozambique jumped five-fold in the last five years and is now hovering around $2 billion.

A memorandum of understanding on food security is also expected to be signed with Mozambique.

"We also hope to sign an MoU on government-to-government purchase of pulses from Mozambique for India," Sinha said.

Another MoU is also likely to be signed in the civil aviation sector as no Indian airline flies to Africa.

Interactions with the diaspora will be a key feature during the five-day tour of the Prime Minister.

While South Africa has over 1.2 million people of Indian origin, Kenya has 80,000, Tanzania 50,000 and Mozambique 20,000.

Apart from the regular community interactions, Sinha said Modi would address two large diaspora rallies - one in Johannesburg on July 8 and the other in Nairobi on July 10.

With all the four countries being maritime neighbours of India, maritime cooperation will be another key area of focus.

"They are all members of the IORA (Indian Ocean Rim Association)," Sinha said.

"So, we are interested in blue economy in all its connotations and maritime security."

During his visit to South Africa on July 8 and 9, Modi will spend the first day in the twin cities of Johannesburg and Pretoria and the second day in Durban, home to around 800,000 people of Indian origin, making it the city with the largest Indian population outside India.

While in Johannesburg and Pretoria, apart from the regular bilateral engagements, Modi, along with South African President Jacob Zuma, will address a large business meeting.

"South Africa, of course, traditionally has seen a huge presence of Indian companies," Sinha said.

"Over 150 Indian companies have invested there," he said, adding that investments are to the tune of around $3 billion.

"Similarly a large number of South African companies have invested in India."

India is also interested in South African technology for coal gasification and deep mining, according to Sinha.

On July 9, Modi will leave for Durban where he will visit Mahatma Gandhi's Phoenix Ashram and take a train ride to Pietermaritzburg in memory of the incident in 1893 when Gandhi was thrown out of a train compartment on account of his skin colour.

A major highlight of Modi's visit to Tanzania on July 10, apart from his regular official engagements and interaction with the Indian community, will be a meeting with a group of "solar mamas".

"Solar mamas" are women who have been trained in harnessing solar energy at the Barefoot College at Tilonia village in Ajmer, Rajasthan.

"He (Modi) will also be meeting a group of 40 or so solar mamas from different parts of Africa," Sinha said.

"This connects with our new (International) Solar Alliance as we already have a cadre of well trained people even at the village level who are solar technicians."

On July 11, during his visit to Nairobi, Kenya, Modi, apart from his regular official engagements, will visit the United Nations Office, one of the four major UN office sites where several different UN agencies have a joint presence.

"Plus he will be addressing students in the University of Nairobi, which, interestingly, was set up by a group of Indians," Sinha said.
New Delhi, July 4 : Contrary to reports appearing in the media, South Africa is actually quite supportive of India's bid for membership in the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), a senior official said on Monday ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to that country later this week.

"They have been very supportive of India in the NSG," Amar Sinha, Secretary (Economic Relations) in the Ministry of External Affairs, said at a pre-departure media briefing here.

During the NSG plenary in Seoul last month, though China's name figured prominently for opposing India's membership bid, there were reports that some other countries like Austria, New Zealand and South Africa were also against the Indian bid.

"Let me tell you before you ask me the question, that they (South Africa) have actually been quite supportive," Sinha said.

India formally applied for membership in the 48-member group on May 12 this year.
New Delhi, July 4 : The government on Monday said that it has sought an NOC (no objection certificate) from the Ministry of Defence for construction of an airport at Jewar in the Gautam Budh Nagar district of Uttar Pradesh, adjoining national capital city Delhi.

According to Minister of State (MoS) for Civil Aviation Mahesh Sharma, the push for developing airports in small towns was a natural "follow up" to the regional air connectivity scheme (RCS).

He spoke after a review meeting between the officials from the civil aviation ministry and the Uttar Pradesh government on development of airports in the state.

The government on last Friday unveiled the draft regional air connectivity scheme policy document with the intent to provide air connectivity to unserved and remote regions.

At that time the minister said that the new RCS policy, when implemented, might cause congestion at the IGI Airport, for which there was a need to develop another airport in the National Capital Region.

Currently, the ministry has two proposals for development of an additional airport in the NCR -- Jewar in Uttar Pradesh and Bhiwadi in Rajasthan.

The minister announced the formation of a committee of senior ministry and state government officials, which has been tasked to study the feasibility of development of "no frills" airports in Meerut, Faizabad and Moradabad.

Besides, the minister said, a major effort has been undertaken to operationalise numerous airports in Uttar Pradesh.

The minister also revealed that Rs 400 crore assistance will be provided by the central government for development of airports at Agra, Allahabad, Kanpur and Bareilly.

He pointed out that an airport in Kushinagar will also be developed, for which the state government has provided Rs 200 crore.
Bhubaneswar, July 4 : The CBI on Monday arrested Odisha Congress youth wing president Rajat Choudhury and lawyer Debasish Panda in connection with the Artha Tatwa Group chit fund scam.

The Central Bureau of Investigation arrested the duo after an hour-long questioning regarding their role in the scam, CBI sources said.

The central agency earlier on Monday questioned AT Group chief Pradip Sethy at the Jharpada special jail here.

Rajat was quizzed for the fourth time in connection with a land deal with the chit fund firm. He was questioned for two consecutive days on his alleged links with the AT Group in April.

Panda, a former lawyer of the Enforcement Directorate, was accused of links with Sethy.

Meanwhile, Youth Congress workers protested in front of the CBI office over Rajat's arrest.
New Delhi, July 4 : Reiterating that India has already started ratification of the landmark Paris Climate Agreement signed by 195 nations at New York in April this year, Indian Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar on Monday said New Delhi would require "financial and technical assistance" to implement its climate goals.

"As far as the ratification is concerned, India has already started the process," Javadekar said, addressing the Seventh St. Petersburg Climate Dialogue in Berlin, Germany.

The two-day Climate dialogue that began on Monday is the informal ministerial meet co-hosted by Germany and Morocco. Thirty-five countries are attending the conference.

Germany has, meanwhile, extended support to the developing countries to help them meet their climate targets, a demand being raised by several developing countries after the COP-21 agreement was signed.

"Cooperation is the key for taking actions further, because every country is at a different level of development. We need cooperation, we have the will to act, but we do not have the wherewithal to do it, not only in terms of finances, but particularly in terms of technology," Javadekar said.

Stressing upon the pre-2020 agenda fixed during the Paris Conference of the Parties (COP)-21 held in December 2015, Javadekar said that the October 5, 2015, joint statement issued by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chancellor Angela Merkel in New Delhi was the base of Indo-German partnership programme.

During Merkel's visit to the New Delhi, Modi said that he admired German leadership in clean energy and commitment in combating climate change "Germany is the most reliable name in technology in many fields and, therefore, there is finance, technology and mutual cooperation and walking the talk," Javadekar said.

He also drew parallels between Germany's aspiration to meet 80 percent of its domestic power needs through renewable energy sources, saying that India too has hiked its clean energy targets by five times.

"Our earlier target was only 20 Giga Watts of solar energy... we scaled up it by 5 times and made it 100 Giga Watts. Other renewable energy like wind energy, now we have opened it for offshore also," the minister said. India aims to achieve this target by 2022.

The United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP-21 held in Paris, adopted the first-ever universal, legally binding global climate deal. The agreement sets out a global action plan to put the world on track to avoid dangerous climate change by limiting global warming to well below 2 degree Celsius. The agreement is due to enter into force in 2020.

Germany on Monday announced plans to help developing countries to help them to transform their national climate action plan into specific strategies and measures.

German Environment Minister Barbara Hendricks and Development Minister Gerd MAller said this while addressing the Berlin conference.

"We are ready to support developing countries in tackling this challenge and to share our experience with them. This should also give our partner countries new opportunities for development. I believe that this initiative will send an important political signal at the next Marrakesh climate conference," Hendricks said on Monday.
New Delhi, July 4 : Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Monday wrote to Tarishi Jain's father Sanjeev Jain and condoled the death of his daughter in the terror siege in the Bangladesh capital.

"I was really pained after hearing about your daughter's death. This was a tragic incident and it was against humanity. This kind of violence is a blot to the whole world community. Those kill people in cold blood can't be well-wisher of anybody. We have to build an atmosphere against this," Gandhi wrote.

"I know it is very difficult for the parents and the relatives to come to terms with this, but there is no other way but to keep patience and there are no words to console. But still there are some incidents in our life over which we don't have any control and have to live with it it," she further added.

"In this hour of grief, I express my deepest condolence to the family," Gandhi said.

Tarishi, a student of University of California-Berkeley, was among the 20 hostages killed by Islamist terrorists during a siege on a cafe in Dhaka's Gulshan area on July 1.
Guwahati, July 4 : Four persons, including an overground worker of a National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) faction and two teachers, have been arrested for extortion for terror funding, Assam Police said on Monday.

The four were extorting money from school and college teachers in the Bodoland Territorial Areas District (BTAD) areas of Assam on behalf of the anti-talks NDFB faction, Additional Director General of Police L.R. Bishnoi said.

The four are the outfit's overground worker Pinkush Narzary, Assistant Teacher Pradip Narzary of a school in Chirang district, Principal Jitendra Narzary of a Tukrajhar school and NDFB faction's general secretary Ranjit Basumatary's wife Monika Basumatary.

"Based on specific inputs, Chirang Police arrested Pinkush. He told police that Ranjit Basumatary motivated him to extort money in Bengtol area. Subsequently, he collected Rs 31,000 from Pradip Narzary and Rs 12,865 from Jitendra Narzary, Bishnoi said, adding that the money was handed over to Monika.

The ADGP said several top NDFB faction leaders, including Ranjit Basumatary and its chairman I.K. Songbijit are believed to be holed up in Myanmar, which borders Mon district in Nagaland.

Ranjit Basumatary was a college teacher in BTAD before he joined the NDFB in 2013.
New Delhi, July 5 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to reshuffle his council of ministers on Tuesday by axing six ministers and inducting 19 new faces in a major exercise since he took power in May 2014, party sources said.

Some of the to be ministers who flew into the capital on Monday from Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka and Uttarakhand, told IANS that they were summoned by BJP President Amit Shah. All of them met Shah over tea in the afternoon.

Frank Noronha, the government's principal spokeperson, tweeted earlier in the day that a cabinet expansion would take place on Tuesday at 11 a.m. but did not go into the specifics.

Bharatiya Janata Party sources said two dozen names were doing the rounds for induction, promotion or ouster.

The sources said 19 new faces could find a place in the ministerial council and four ministers of state with independent charge were likely to be promoted to the cabinet.

A highly placed source told IANS that none of the new ministers would get the cabinet status.

Ministers with independent charge likely to join the cabinet are Piyush Goyal (Power, Coal, and New and Renewable Energy), Dharmendra Pradhan (Petroleum and Natural Gas), Nirmala Sitharaman (Industries and Commerce) and Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi (Minority Affairs).

The likely new faces are Lok Sabha members Arjun Ram Meghwal, P.P. Chaudhary (both Rajasthan), Anupriya Patel, Mahendra Nath Pandey and Krishna Raj (all Uttar Pradesh), Ajay Tamta (Uttarakhand), S.S. Ahluwalia (West Bengal), Mansukh Bhai Mandavia and Jaswant Sinh Bhabhor (both Gujarat), Subhash Ramrao Bhamre (Maharashtra), Rajan Gohain (Assam) and Ramesh Chandappa Jigajinagi (Karnataka).

The likely new ministers from the Rajya Sabha are Anil Desai and Ramdas Athawale (Maharashtra), Purushottam Rupala (Gujarat), Faggan Singh Kulaste, M.J. Akbar and Anil Madhav Dave (all Madhya Pradesh) and Vijay Goel, the former Delhi BJP president who represents Rajasthan.

All of them met Shah soon after the government announced that a cabinet reshuffle would take place on Tuesday. "At least six ministers may be dropped," a source told IANS.

Those who may be axed are Minority Affairs Minister Najma Heptulla (cabinet), and Ministers of State Sanwar Lal Jat (Water Resources), Nihalchand (Panchayati Raj), Ram Shankar Katheria (HRD), Mansukh Bhai Vasava (Tribal Affairs), and Mohanbhai Kundaria (Agriculture).

Barring Athavale of the Republican Party of India and Anil Desai of Shiv Sena, all others are from the BJP.

Presently, there are 64 ministers in the union cabinet including the Prime Minister. There can be a maximum of 81 ministers.

This time, instead of the to be ministers getting calls from the Prime Minister's Office, it was BJP President Shah who informed them about their likely induction.

Shah and BJP General Secretary Ram Lal later met RSS leaders, obviously to brief them about the government exercise. Later, Shah and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley met Prime Minister to give the final shape to the list of to be ministers.

Meanwhile, Modi, during an interaction with a group of journalists, said the reshuffle will "reflect the budget focus and priorities".

"The selection framework clearly laid out by the Prime Minister was to bring in doers and performers who would deliver on his vision of development and good governance, and further his central priority of Gaon, Garib and Kisan," a source said.

He said that he expansion comes after an exhaustive whetting and selection process to find the best talent.

"People were assessed on the value they would bring to the Union Council of Ministers," he added.

The reshuffle will be followed by an organisational revamp of the BJP, the sources added.

Tuesday's exercise will come ahead of the assembly election in Uttar Pradesh which the ruling party is determined to win.
London, July 4 : The British government is to consider slashing corporation tax to less than 15 per cent in an attempt to maintain business interest in the country, amid a turbulent economy in the wake of the "Brexit" -- Britain's vote to leave the European Union.

In statements published in the British daily "Financial Times", Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne said the measure, which would see the country offer some of the lowest corporation tax rates worldwide, is a clear message that Britain is "open for business".

Although he did not indicate when the tax cut -- currently at 20 per cent -- would come into force, the plan is seen as a gesture to maintain Britain as a business-friendly location and avoid a possible drain of capital in the wake of the "Brexit" vote in the EU referendum on June 23, the Efe news cited the report.

Such a cut in corporation tax would put Britain rates closer to those of the Republic of Ireland (12.5 per cent), and much lower than the United States (39 per cent) and Germany (30 per cent).

Osborne said part of his plan is to attract Chinese investment into the country, and boost investment in northern England, a region with high unemployment and where the "Brexit" vote received strong support.

The chancellor said Britain faced a "very challenging time" and urged the Bank of England to use its powers to avoid "a contraction of credit in the economy".

His plan contrasts with the warnings he issued days before the referendum in which he suggested that a "Brexit" win could see the necessary introduction of an emergency budget with higher taxes and higher spending to tackle the "shock" that the county's economy could face.

Although the London Stock Exchange slumped upon the announcement of the "leave" victory, it has recovered in recent days.

However, the pound continued its downward trend on Monday, falling 0.10 per cent against the US dollar to 1.236 dollars, and was down 0.04 per cent against the euro to 1.191 euros.

Opposition spokesman for the economy, John McDonnell, said that Osborne's plan would make Britain a tax haven.
New Delhi, July 4 : The central government has given formal approval for renaming Mhow railway station in Madhya Pradesh's Indore district after B.R. Ambedkar, the prime architect of the Indian Constitution, officials said on Monday.

Ambedkar was born at Mhow on April 14, 1891.

According to official sources here, the Union Home ministry has requested the Madhya Pradesh government to issue a Gazette notification in this regard.

Sources also said that Union Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Thawar Chand Gehlot had written to Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu on the issue.

Renamed as Dr Ambedkar Nagar in 2003, the tiny township of Mhow, famous for pleasant climate almost throughout the year, is located 23 km from Indore and is essentially a cantonment area.

The Indian Army also runs a College of Combat for training its officers at Mhow.
The number of households evicted from rental accommodation in England and Wales rose by 5% in the first three months of the year, while the repossession rate for home owners fell to a record low.

Seasonally adjusted figures from the Ministry of Justice show there were 10,732 repossessions of rented homes by bailiffs between January and March 2016, up from 10,253 in the final three months of 2015.

The number of tenants evicted from their homes by bailiffs reached a record high in 2015, according to official figures for England and Wales, which shows that 42,728 households in rented accommodation were forcibly removed.

Housing campaigners blamed welfare cuts and the shortage of affordable homes for the rise in repossessions over the year and more than half the evictions are thought to have been by private landlords.

These figures are echoed by a new report from online letting agent PropertyLetByUs which shows that a quarter of landlords have served an eviction notice to tenants over the last 12 months and 5% have pursued an eviction through the courts. Furthermore, almost half of landlords have also experienced rent arrears over the last 12 months.

Landlords are increasingly facing rent arrears, as rent escalation continues to outstrip gross income. They are also facing a financial squeeze due to restrictions on their tax breaks and some may be raising rents to supplement their income. Pushing up rent rises further will put huge pressure on those tenants who are already struggling to pay their rent. We may well see evictions continuing to rise over the next few months, said Jane Morris, managing director of PropertyLetByUs.

She pointed out that the statistics highlight the need for landlords to protect their rental income and ensure they carry out thorough references with all new tenants. Times are very tough for many tenants and demand for rental accommodation is soaring in many parts of the UK. Landlords need to extra vigilant when they take on a new tenant. But a few simple checks will help identify if a tenant is in a good financial position or not, she added.



Meanwhile, changes to the process of accelerated possession through applying to use High Court Enforcement Officers (HCEOs) to evict a tenant has brought an end the so called seven day eviction which were misleading for landlords as well as increased costs, according to legal experts, Landlord Action.

The majority of residential possession claims are dealt with in the county court and enforced by county court bailiffs. However, with a backlog of cases and a reduction of bailiffs leading to longer waiting times in some courts, it can take several weeks for bailiffs to carry out an eviction, which is longer than most landlords wish to wait when suffering further loss of rent.



In some cases, landlords can apply for their case to be transferred to the High Court once a possession order has been made, so that an HCEO can carry out the eviction, generally a much quicker process.



However, with district judges seeing an increasing number of such applications, the Ministry of Justice has changed the process for obtaining Writs of Possession, adding a further two steps to the application process and an additional 200 fee. Some firms have built a business on advertising the seven day eviction which Landlord Action argues was always extremely misleading for landlords.

This was only ever possible from the point a case was transferred up to the High Court and not from when a landlord instructed an eviction firm, said Paul Shamplina, founder of Landlord Action. However, even this has now changed as the added administration and waiting for approval could add a further six to eight weeks in some eviction cases, he pointed out.

The process now involves an application using N244 form to the issuing County Court for permission to transfer up to the High Court for enforcement, at which point a fee of 100 is payable. Following that, a further application to the High Court or District Registry for permission to issue a Writ of Possession with the N244 form, at which point there is a court fee of 100 payable.

Once permission has been granted to issue the High Court Writ of Possession, yet another application is required using form PF92 for an Order for Permission to Issue a writ of possession in the High Court.



In addition, all parties must now be notified of the application, which needs to be evidenced by a witness statement. This must confirm that each and every person in actual possession has been given notice, in writing, of the application, and that no application for relief has been made by any such person. A further step not previously required.



Landlord Action uses Court Enforcement Services (CES) to provide the fastest route to High Court Enforcement. Although not previously required, the process of informing occupants of a landlords intension to transfer to the High Court is something which Landlord Action has carried out through working with CES for some time. Despite this, Court Enforcement



The recent change to the process was brought about by some firms bypassing the correct procedure and using the incorrect forms. Previous practices of using the N293a form was incorrect, as this form is only intended for trespassers. The Civil Procedure Rules, Rule 83.13, requires all occupants to be notified of the application to transfer proceedings to the High Court for enforcement, said Daren Simcox, joint managing director of Court Enforcement Services.

Under the new process, there must be an application to the issuing county court for permission to transfer up. The application turnaround is dependent on the issuing court and their work load. This will add additional time to the eviction process, he explained.
Ulla Johnson Aurora Bag Now Available on Beauty.com!

Beauty.com, a division of drugstore.com, inc., is excited to introduce an exclusive cosmetic bag from lauded fashion designer Ulla Johnson as a complimentary gift this summer. Beginning today, customers will receive the product-filled Ulla Johnson Aurora Bag when they spend more than $100 or more at the prestige beauty retailer. The boho style makeup bag and its contents can be found at http://www.Beauty.com/UllaJohnson and is available while supplies last.

With temperatures rising and summer vacations underway, the Aurora Bag is the ideal accessory for all customers whether they are jet setting to a faraway beach or planning staycations at home. The zippered bag boasts a pretty boho purple print with Ulla Johnsons signature tassel embellishing the zipper pull. Filled with a selection of skin care, SPF and makeup items, this bag makes for the perfect summer gift for shoppers.

This bag marries inspirations from our two favorite regions, says designer Ulla Johnson. The print draws from Indian vintage florals and the opulent beaded tassel hearkens to those made in the mountains of the sacred valley in Peru. We love the bright colors and super generous size. I have been carrying this along on all my recent sourcing and inspiration trips.

The limited edition Ulla Johnson Aurora Bag arrives fully stocked with 16 prestige beauty samples. The bag and its contents have an approximate combined retail value of more than $140. The selection includes offerings from some of the beauty worlds top beauty and skin care brands:

1. Laura Geller New York Spackle Treatment Even Tone

2. Wei Golden Root Purifying Mud Mask

3. Erno Laszlo Sea Mud Deep Cleansing Bar

4. Decleor Harmonie Calm Soothing Milky Cream

5. LOccitane Divine Cream

6. Eprouvage Thickening & Plumping Spray

7. Tocca Eau de Parfum, Liliana

8. DevaCurl Low Poo Delight Weightless Waves

9. Beachwaver Half Up, Blonde

10. Origins Mega Mushroom Eye Serum

11. Juice Beauty Stem Cellular CC Cream, Warm Glow

12. Paulas Choice 2% BHA Liquid Exfoliant

13. Savvy Travelers Take Offz Facial Cleanser

14. Michael Todd Blue Green Algae Antibacterial Toner

15. Biobelle I Woke Up Like This Mask

16. Tarte Tarteguard SPF 30

17. A gift to you from Beauty.com

While looking to reach the $100 hurdle to receive this unique, boho makeup bag, customers can get summer-ready by shopping an assortment of new SPF products from top brands including; Brush On Block, Dr. Russo Sun Protective Skincare and Let it Block. New offerings from Smashbox, NARS and Tarte will help customers achieve any summer beauty look this season.

For inspiration on pretty summer beauty looks, Beauty.com is a great resource for seasonal makeup, hair and nail trends. On the Advice & Trends page, customers will find step by step guides to achieving runway-inspired looks. In the Beauty.com video library, new content including contouring how-tos and tips on summer skin care prep is added monthly. Other great site features include Guest Editor pages, My Life in Beauty features and the Beauty.com blog, Beauty Close Up.

As always, Beauty.com offers great benefits to shoppers including Everyday Complimentary Shipping,** 5% back on every purchase with drugstore.com dollars**, speedy shipping, the complimentary sampling center, 100% satisfaction guarantee***, and a shared online shopping cart with the Beauty.com partner site, http://www.drugstore.com. Beauty fans can also get the latest tips, trends, and promotions sent directly to their email by signing up for the complimentary weekly Beauty Bulletin on the Beauty.com site.



This designer bag from Ulla Johnson is available at http://www.Beauty.com with any $100 purchase. Offer may be applied only once per household. Complimentary gifts cannot be returned for refund, credit, or exchange. A minimum purchase does not include shipping charges or applicable tax. Gift cards/certificates, backordered items, out of stock items, and items marked This item requires special handling are not eligible for this offer. Complimentary gift has an approximate value of $140. The complimentary gift will be added to your shopping bag when you reach the minimum purchase threshold. Cannot be combined with some offers. While supplies last. Void where prohibited by law. We may make changes to or terminate this offer at any time. Your use of this site shall be deemed as your acceptance of our Terms of Use.

**Complimentary standard shipping is available only on purchases of $35 or more, and does not apply to gift cards/certificates, bulk orders, or orders over 20 pounds. With drugstore.com dollars, customers receive a credit to their account equal to 5% of any eligible purchase. Customers cannot earn or apply drugstore.com dollars to gift certificates, gift cards, discounts, complimentary items, past purchase, or non-shipped, undeliverable or returned items. drugstore.com dollars cannot be redeemed for cash. These offers are only available on the http://www.drugstore.com and http://www.Beauty.com web sites. These offers are not available on partner sites such as Walgreens.com and VisionDirect.com.

***All Beauty.com purchases are backed by our 100% satisfaction guarantee. If you are not satisfied with an item you have purchased from Beauty.com, you may return it within 30 days of the date it was delivered and receive a refund or in-store credit. Certain items, such as jewelry, purses, and intimate apparel, can only be returned for refund or credit if unworn, are in original packaging and have any original tags still attached.

About Beauty.com  The World of Beauty Online

Beauty.com, Inc., a division of drugstore.com, inc. is a leading online destination for prestige beauty products. The web store provides a highly personalized shopping experience and offers more than 350 brands from widely recognized to niche, hard-to-find products.

About drugstore.com

For 15 years, drugstore.com has been a leading online provider of health, beauty, and vision products. Shop a great assortment of more than 80,000 items ranging from everyday basics to hard-to-find favorites. With competitive prices, unique categories and complimentary shipping for orders over $35 all in one convenient location, the drugstore.com web store is truly the uncommon drugstore.

About Ulla Johnson

Born and raised in Manhattan, the daughter of archaeologists, Ulla Johnson honed her signature style between the streets of New York and the far-flung destinations of their family travels. Her eponymous line, founded in 2000 just after her graduation from university, immediately caught the attention of the fashion press. Growing from a handful of directional boutiques and with an early endorsement from Barneys New York, Ulla Johnsons collection has gained a dedicated following and the support of retailers across the US, Europe, Australia, and Asia. She has never wavered on her steadfast attention to the details of construction that have become her hallmark, basing each of her collections on a foundation of natural fibers, beautiful finishing, and ease of fit and form.

The Ulla Johnson label has become synonymous with custom prints, intricate embroideries, and fine tailoring, all of which have earned her a loyal and global customer base. With the introduction of a shoe collection in Fall 2013, the line now encompasses a full range of product categories sourced and produced worldwide with an emphasis on artisanal and handcrafted processes.

Ulla lives in Brooklyn with her husband and three children.

Media Contacts:

Alison Brod PR

Lauren Larkin

646.277.8648

LaurenL(at)alisonbrodpr(dot)com
"TIES in the Cloud" Dick Couron CEO: The Energy Industry is ready for software solutions that are affordable, effective, can be implemented quickly, and are easy to use."

On this 4th of July we celebrate our freedom as a nation, obtained via a revolution from those things that would shackle our freedom as a nation and people. Thus it seemed the appropriate day to announce the availability of TIES in the Cloud, a fully integrated energy system for Producers, Midstream Operators, and Marketers of Oil, Natural Gas, and Natural Gas Liquids.

The Cloud Technology Revolution allows software to be provided directly to Energy Companies without requiring expensive IT Staffs and Infrastructures. The new technology provides for faster and easier implementation as well as a faster user learning curve. In recognition of this amazing technology revolution, Trilogy embarked on a major effort to make its industry recognized application TIES available from the cloud, while at the same time taking advantage of the amazing improvements offered by todays newest technology. As a result of this effort, TIES in the Cloud has been created and is now available.

Now, the same software functions available to larger companies like Enlink Energy, Southwestern Energy, Kinder Morgan, QEP, Tesoro, Apache, Anadarko, Williams, etc. are now available to smaller companies via TIES in the Cloud. With this software offering the days of multi-million dollar ETRM licenses and implementations are GONE!!!

TIES in the cloud is offered on a Subscription basis and is hosted in the cloud thus relieving the client of the need for expensive servers and/or ever growing IT infrastructures. Thus the client can focus their resources on their primary energy business.

TIES in the Cloud offers solutions for Oil & Gas Producers, Midstream Operators, and Oil/Gas/NGL Marketers. Functionality from DOI/Revenue Distribution, Owner/Shipper/OBA Balancing, Scheduling, Volume Allocation, Contract and Price Administration, to Gas Plant Allocations, etc. is provided via this amazing product.

TIES in the Cloud incorporates TIES-Connect which offers channels for interfacing with other 3rd party software, including Platts, Volume Measurement, and Accounting Applications (e.g. QuickBooks, Bolo, SAP, etc.). Midstream Producers & Marketers will be able to load counterparties, facilities, stations and pricing quickly with our preloaded files using TIES-Connect. TIES in the Cloud comes with Wizards and User Guilds which makes it easy to use and implement.


Photo kindly provided by Bologna Business School Terrible situations are just an unfortunate series of events, unless you can turn them in to an opportunity

I think whatever your age, color, sex or political belief when someone asks you to address a graduating class you sense a certain rite-of-passage grandeur and it is somewhat overwhelming to say the least. Thus Stevie Kim, Korean born, American bred and today considered by most the Ambassador of Italian wine, opened her commencement speech at the Bologna Business School Graduation Ceremony in Bologna on Friday evening.

Speaking in front of 400+ graduates eager to go out and conquer the world, the Managing Director of Vinitaly International (among several job titles) went on to present 6 life-lessons (or 6 things I wished someone had told me after graduation) inspired by real-life experiences:

1) Embrace diversity, most importantly, diversity of others, their ideas and experiences. Be authentic, be yourself.

I was born in Korea, raised in America and have now lived in Italy for the great portion of my adult life. Some have described me as having the physical attributes of an Asian, and thinking like a New Yorker, but possessing an Italian heart. In the beginning, having a Korean-American woman representing Italian Wine was a bit controversial in the Italian Wine Community, to say the least. In addition, I knew nothing about wine. I was and still am not an expert by any means. Paradoxically, the fact that I knew nothing about wine helped me to translate the complexities of Italian wine to make it accessible to the rest of the world. My motto was and still is today If I can understand it, so will the others".

2) Its ok to not be an expert. Dont run away from your weaknesses and unpleasant situations, turn them into opportunities to reinvent yourself. Take charge of your career.

Your first job will not be your last, and most of you may not get the dream job straight out of school the mother-of-two explained going on to recall the key moments of a long, challenging but very successful career.

After meeting my husband I went for a Masters program and sought the big job which I never got. I came from consulting and had some solid work experience but back then a recently married woman with childbearing traits did not sit very well with many prospective employers in Italy.

Mrs Kim soon decided to abandon the Italian job market to start her first company and pursue a hand-made career, which today has led her to become one of the most prominent figures within the Italian wine sector.

Terrible situations are just an unfortunate series of events, unless you can turn them in to an opportunity.

3) Dont get fixated with job titles, especially in the beginning.

"In my organization now, the younger generation tends to be fixated with job titles. I have one piece of advice for this - do not get caught up in titles or the size of the organization. Be humble and get the job done even if its just making photocopies or sorting out an excel sheet.

"Always be respectful and generous to your colleagues and your clients, and remember that every single person youll work with in your new position can teach you something valuable."

4) If you think school is over, you couldnt be more wrong. Whether its your next job interview or business plan, your studies have only begun. Prepare for everything you do. And whenever you can:

KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid)

Education will never stop and must never stop. It is a learning process of both knowledge and wisdom, which are two different things. Actually a big part of my life and my career is education, Stevie Kim explains going on to describe one of her main roles today within the wine sector, that is, to promote Italian wine around the world through her innovative educational project, the Vinitaly International Academy.

5) What does it mean to be digital today? What about digital etiquette?

"The first thing your employer will likely do is go on Linkedin and other social media platforms to check your profile. Do not post on social media what you would not like your future employer (or your mother) to see.

"Whatever your politics may be, build your social media profile with some thought and authenticity and should you want to explore business in China, WeChat is a must.

"And when you are in a meeting, at a restaurant, or even at a job interview, please please limit your use of smartphones and listen to others while they talk; its a simple and decent way to show respect.

6) And lastly, Meditate, Run or try Zen for a size

There are numerous benefits to doing physical activity, but for me its an essential part of my mental stableness, I highly recommend it, she concludes.

Other speakers at the Graduation Ceremony included: Max Bergami, Dean of the Bologna Business School, Francesco Ubertini, Canchellor of Bologna Business School, Romano Prodi, President of the steering board at Bologna Business School, Stefano Domenicali, President and CEO of Lamborghini Auto, Luca Garavoglia President of Campari Group and Nicola Pianon, Senior Partner at the Boston Consulting Group.

To read the entire commencement speech please visit: http://goo.gl/xg2mhJ

About:

Veronafiere is the leading organizer of trade shows in Italy including Vinitaly (http://www.vinitaly.com), the largest wine and spirits fair in the world. During its 50th edition Vinitaly counted more than 4,100 exhibitors on a 100,000+ square meter area and 130,000 visitors from 140 different countries. The next edition of the fair will take place on 9 - 12 April 2017. The premier event to Vinitaly, OperaWine (http://www.vinitalyinternational.com) Finest Italian Wines: 100 Great Producers, will unite international wine professionals on April 8th in the heart of Verona, offering them the unique opportunity to discover and taste the wines of the 100 Best Italian Producers, as selected by Wine Spectator. Since 1998 Vinitaly International travels to several countries such as Russia, China, USA and Hong Kong thanks to its strategic arm abroad, Vinitaly International. In February 2014 Vinitaly International launched an educational project, the Vinitaly International Academy (VIA) with the aim of divulging and broadcasting the excellence and diversity of Italian wine around the globe. VIA this year launched the second edition of its Certification Course and today counts 54 Italian Wine Ambassadors and 3 Italian Wine Experts.
Copwise available now for iPhone and Android

When the framers of the US Constitution crafted the 4th Amendment (prohibiting unreasonable searches/seizures) and 5th Amendment (the right not to answer police questions while in custody/court), they obviously couldnt have imagined that a few centuries later both of these inalienable rights would get trampled on during traffic stops and a variety of other law enforcement encounters. However, that is precisely what is happening across the nation on a daily basis, and its also why absolutely everyone  from students to seniors  should download the unique new app Copwise.

Developed by Zapporoo and currently available for iOS and Android devices, Copwise is a multi-functional app that includes an audio responsive system, an audio evidence recorder, and a document recovery tool for use during any kind of police questioning.

> Audio Response System

The audio response system features 10 pre-programmed responses that will literally speak to police officers on a users behalf if theyre too nervous or anxious to respond, or if theyre fearful that they may incriminate themselves by saying something seemingly innocuous, or agreeing to something that they are not legally obligated to accept (such as a sobriety test, answering further questions without their lawyer present, and so on).

> Audio Evidence Recorder

The audio evidence recorder automatically captures audio of the interaction (i.e. the audio starts when the app launches and stops when its closed). Users can share the audio with their attorney  which is often far more accurate than relying on memory  and they can also use the recording to hold police officers accountable if their recollection of events veers away from what was actually said and by whom. They can also upload the audio to social media to spread awareness.

> Document Recovery Tool

The clever document recovery tool lets users store digital copies of their drivers license, registration, and insurance card in the event that they are requested by the police, but the original documents arent available. Using this feature is optional, and images can be deleted/replaced in a matter of seconds.

Other special Copwise features include:

> An excellent and easy-to-understand Resources section that offers tips on how to handle traffic stops and other law enforcement encounters.

> A setting that translates all text into Spanish, which is ideal for users who speak English as a second language.

> A clear, uncluttered interface that makes finding information or choosing responses easy and fast  which is important during law enforcement encounters, which are inherently stressful.

There is nothing at all anti-police about Copwise, and its not designed just for people whose lifestyle may have them being questioned by the police more often, commented Ron Medlin of Zapporoo. Everyone needs to know whats at stake, because the playing field is not level. The web is full of articles and blog posts from criminal defense lawyers who all point out that a vast number of cases are not won or lost at trial, but during police questioning. And a YouTube video featuring law school professor and former criminal defense attorney James Duane urging people never to talk to the police has over 6 million views and 65,000 likes. Clearly, this is a big concern, and Copwise is there to help when its needed most!

Copwise, the unique new app that protects people against intrusive and potentially illegal police questioning, is available now from the App Store at: https://itunes.apple.com/app/copwise/id1107707766

An Android version is also available via Google Play at https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.zapporoo.copwise&hl=en.

For additional app information including screenshots, visit http://copwise.com.

About Zapporoo

Zapporoo is an iOS/Android mobile app developer with two U.S. based locations in Miami, FL and Atlanta, GA. Our unique 3-phase system of app creation has been designed to give our customers the easiest and most convenient manner to create, design and launch their app.
DHAKA, Bangladesh  Bangladeshi militants were behind the hostage crisis in Dhaka in which 20 civilians died, a police official said Sunday.

The civilians, most of them foreigners, were killed by Islamist militants who took them hostage during an hours-long siege that started Friday at a restaurant in the Bangladeshi capital.

Troops stormed the Holey Artisan Bakery restaurant in Dhakas diplomatic zone early Saturday to end the siege, and killed six terrorists. Two police officers were also killed.

Inspector General of Police Shahidul Hoque said the attackers had no link with Islamic State and that five of the six dead militants had been on the watch list of law enforcement agencies.

A statement circulated online Saturday by apparent supporters of Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack. It's authenticity could not be verified.

The statement said five Islamic State fighters had attacked a gathering of subjects of the crusader states in the city of Dakka in Bangladesh.

It claimed that they had killed 22 crusaders including seven Italians and threatened that subjects of the crusader states would not be safe anywhere as long as their aircraft are killing Muslims.

Forensic experts from the Criminal Investigation Department and National Security Agency were at the restaurant Sunday.

We have launched the search to find evidence to know more about the attackers, CID officer Abul Hasan said.

Troops recovered the bodies of the 20 civilians, who included Italians, Japanese, Bangladeshi, U.S. and Indian citizens.

Thirteen civilians were rescued during the operation.
Only the Illinois Supreme Court stands between voters and the opportunity to strike back, constructively, at a state political system that has hung a huge pension albatross round our necks, brought us budget gridlock and, many think, has the state circling the drain.

The state election board has said the petition drive for a redistricting reform initiative has passed muster. The issue is now before the state courts as to whether the proposal is constitutional.

The 1970 state constitution provision for redistricting has not worked. The process has become highly political, with the party in power drawing lines to benefit incumbents.

The Independent Maps initiative has proposed a complicated process that would try to siphon off the partisan politics and give the job of drawing state legislative maps to an independent commission, rather than leave it with lawmakers.

The provision in the Illinois Constitution that allows use of the citizen initiative for Legislative Article limits amendments to structural and procedural subjects.

The state high court subsequently ruled this means a proposal must encompass both structural and procedural matters. As a result, this has been used to knock several proposals, e.g. term limits, off the ballot.

I agree with the late, distinguished state supreme court justice Walter Schaefer that this was a gross misinterpretation of the language. As he wrote, in dissent, When I see a restaurant menu that says 'we serve only beef and chicken,' it doesnt mean that all the dishes have both beef and chicken in them; it means the dishes have one or the other.

In 2014, a similar proposal was rejected at the circuit court level on what I think was a technicality, but it mattered not, as that groups petition drive was botched, and the effort fell of its own weight.

More recently, a new group is trying again. Using top-drawer lawyers, the group believes it has corrected any defects necessary to pass the high bar for constitutionality set by earlier state courts.

Opponents have filed a brief asking the court to dismiss the legislative initiative. Led by savvy election lawyer Mike Kasper, the opponents have thrown every possible objection except the kitchen sink against the wall, hoping something will stick. (By the way, Kasper just happens to be the lawyer for the Illinois Democratic Party, chaired by House Speaker Mike Madigan, who absolutely hates the idea of losing his control over redistricting.)

Kasper complains the proposal is not both structural and procedural, includes unrelated items, provides a new role for the state auditor general, and more.

Proponents argue that all those contentions are rubbish. The case will be appealed by one of the groups to the state high court, soon.

Different from most states, Illinois elects its supreme court, and on a partisan basis, which injects politics from the get-go.

The 1970 Illinois Constitution structured the high court to be Democratic. It gives three of seven seats to Cook County countywide, which means that county always elects three Dems. If the county been divided in districts like the rest of the state, a fair process would have likely resulted in two Ds and 1 R. The court has been Democratic, mostly 4-3, ever since.

The court's Democratic majority may be fine people, yet they all have deep political roots.

Anne Burke is the wife of 40-year Chicago Ald. Ed Burke, an ally of Speaker Madigan. Mary Jane Thies is a longtime friend of state Senate President John Cullerton, himself a protete of Madigan.

Rock Island Democrat Thomas Kilbride was elected in 2000 by a 52-48 percent margin, largely because Madigan put nearly a million dollars into Kilbrides campaign late, when Madigan saw it was in play; this district had always been GOP, though often narrowly so.

Justice Charles Freeman is the only Africa-American on the court. Some Chicago blacks oppose redistricting reform, saying it might dilute black representation, as blacks continue their exodus from violence-plagued Chicago neighborhoods.

Backgrounds dont, of course, predict judicial decisions. Yet the political observers I have talked with suggest that if Speaker Madigan puts his thumb down on his partys justices, it could affect a vote or more.

My graduate degrees are in political science, not law. Yet the redistricting proposal and arguments in support of it persuade me the proposal is constitutional.

A rejection of the proposal would have to be drawn so narrowly that it would probably, in effect, render inoperative the citizen initiative provisions in a charter the justices swore to uphold.

I think a 4-3 Democratic rejection of the proposal would be tragic for Illinois democracy and for future trust, that is lack of it, in the court itself. Well have to wait and see.
IT Cosmetics Full Coverage SPF 50 CC Cream Illumination is rated 4.3 out of 5 by 1536 .

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Rated 4 out of 5 by Cal Gal Susan from CC+CREAM ILLUMINATION Its very shiny. I blend with the regular CC+cream to dim the shine for daytime I was told many times that I am glowing.

Rated 5 out of 5 by Kpleasant01 from Love this finish! [This review was collected as part of a promotion.] I dont feel guilty about using so much of this product because of the SPF50 in it. It dries so perfectly and powdery fresh! I will definitely buy this again.

Rated 4 out of 5 by Tiffany1626 from Cream Color was a little off and the cream was a little thick but has great coverage

Rated 5 out of 5 by Minda from Love this makeup! [This review was collected as part of a promotion.] So light and airy on my skin but also great coverage.

Rated 5 out of 5 by R Brandt from Highly recommend It does what it says!!! This is a fabulous product!!!!

Rated 5 out of 5 by KLSugar10 from Beautiful Foundation! This CC Cream is so Beautiful on the skin! I love all the It Cosmetics CC Cream formulas, but I think this one might be my favorite! It leaves such a fresh glow on the skin! I am 42 years old with Combination skin and the shade Medium is just gorgeous! Thank you It Cosmetics for making such wonderful products!
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!
The order forms part of an $A 594m ($US 446m) agreement for the supply of new locomotives and long-term maintenance contacts for part of the PN locomotive fleet.

UGL has been developing a narrow-gauge Australian variant of GE's PowerHaul model since 2013, but with a depressed market for new orders this will be the first use of the PowerHaul family in Australia. PN's locomotives are earmarked for freight operations in Queensland.

The six-axle ac traction PH37 is built around GE's 16-valve series P616 prime mover, which provides nominal output of 2.75MW and continuous tractive effort of 460kN.

In addition to the three PH37 locomotives, UGL will also supply PN with three new standard-gauge C44ACi locomotives to expand the existing 93 class fleet.

UGL already provides maintenance services to PN for a significant proportion of their locomotive fleet and in addition to the new locomotive orders has entered into several long term maintenance contracts, including
The 2bn high-speed line from Baudrecourt to Vendenheim was originally due to open on April 3, but the start of commercial services was postponed following the derailment of a test train near Eckwersheim at the eastern end of the route on November 14, which killed 11 and injured 42, 22 of them seriously. Testing resumed at the end of February but repairs are still being carried out on the section of track damaged in the accident, necessitating single-line working on a 27km stretch of the route.

Until this work is completed, the Paris - Strasbourg journey time will be at least 1h 49min, although the fastest Paris-bound trains will still complete the trip in 1h 46min.

Sixteen services per day now operate in each direction between the two cities. The first Strasbourg - Paris Est service departs at 06.46, arriving in the capital at 08.35, while the final weekday service from Paris to Strasbourg departs at 20.40, reaching its destination at 22.30, with a later 21.55 departure on Fridays and Sundays.

French National Railways (SNCF) and German Rail (DB) have stepped up Paris - Frankfurt TGV/ICE services to six trains per day, with four trains running via Saarbrucken and Kaisersalutern and two new services operating via Strasbourg and Karlsruhe. Strasbourg now has three direct high-speed services a day to Frankfurt.

One of the new ICE services is targeted at the business market, departing from Frankfurt main station at 06.58 and arriving at Paris Est at 10.49 (10.40 from December).

The Strasbourg - Luxembourg route also benefits from a 30-minute reduction in journey time, with two trains per day completing the journey in 1h 39min.

SNCF forecasts ridership on the new line will reach 12.8 million passengers per year by 2020, with 10.7 million passengers using domestic services and 2.1 million travelling internationally.

The initial 300km phase of TGV Est from Vaires-sur-Marne east of Paris to Baudrecourt opened in June 2007.
Transdev will be responsible for all aspects of operations and maintenance including staff recruitment and training. The five-year contract includes an optional five-year extension.

The 5.3km QLine will run along Woodward Avenue from Larned Street to West Grand Boulevard serving 20 stations. Commissioning is scheduled for the end of next year.
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Digital terrestrial television (DTT) now covers 60% of the population of Africas Cape Verde, following the implementation of the first phase of the digitisation process.





Abraao Vincente, Minister of Culture and Creative Industries, said the Cape Verde islands of Santiago, Sal and Sao Vincente were now capable of receiving DTT broadcasts, following an investment of 11 million (US$12.2 million) to complete digitisation in the nation, part of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).The projects second phase will include the islands of Santo Antao, Sao Nicolau, Boavista, Fogo and Brava, reports Next TV AME.In order to access digital broadcasts , viewers must buy a digital set-top-box or configure their television manually into digital mode.Anyone who has had access can see that are high quality signals, images with high definition. We have entered a new phase of television in Cape Verde. There are three channels, but ... then there will be more available, said Abraao Vicente.Cape Verdes DTT roll-out began in March 2016, with final analogue switch-off planned for 2017.
The deal frenzy in US broadcasting showed no signed of slowing down in the second quarter of 2016, driven mainly by a buoyant spin-off market, according to research from SNL Kagan.





The analyst calculated that US broadcast station merger and acquisition (M&A) volume reached $728.9 million in the second quarter of 2016, with the TV deal market racking up $681.2 million. Four-fifths of this figure came from spin-offs initiated by Nexstar Broadcasting Group to comply with FCC regulations impacting its pending its acquisition of Media General, announced on 27 January 2016.As attempted to divest assets to pass regulatory scrutiny of its planned takeover of its $4.6 billion acquisition of the local US TV affiliate powerhouse, meeting a mandated 39% US television household US ownership cap , Nexstar arranged for a number of spin-offs, selling a total of 12 stations in ten markets to five different buyers. The largest of these deals  and the top TV deal of the quarter  was the $270.0 million sale of KWQC and WBAY to Gray Television .The other spin-offs involved two stations for Graham Holdings Company valued at $120.0 million; five stations for $115.0 million with MSouth Equity Partners and Heartland Media; Bayou City Broadcasting Lafayette, for one full- and one low-power station for $40.0 million; and one station for $350,000 with Marquee Broadcasting.Overall Nexstar reported an average 11.1x trailing seller's multiple for the spin-offs and SNL Kagan estimates that translates to a forward (2016/17) multiple of 10.0x. Kagan added that the second quarter's largest TV deal not involving Nexstar was the TV industry exit of Calkins Media, which sold its three TV stations for $82.0 million to Raycom Media Inc. and American Spirit Media LLC. Due to the auction quiet period initiated by the FCC on January 12, this deal will not receive FCC approval before the end of the controversial Spectrum Incentive Auction
Shipments of LCD TV sets worldwide are projected to reach 219 million units in 2016, representing a year-on-year growth of around 1.5%, says the latest TV industry round-up from WitsView.





Looking at the key Asian manufacturing sites, the analyst says that combined shipments from South Korean brands will be around the same level as last years at 77 million units, while the combined shipments from the top six Chinese brands will register a year-on-year growth rate of 6.2%. WitsView believes that Chinese brands are starting to benefit from their overseas expansion. Yet in contrast, WitsView sees that Japanese brands have seen their shipments drop recently as their TV sets are not as competitive compared with products from South Korean and Chinese brands. For 2016, WitsView says that combined shipments from Japanese brands are projected suffer a year-on-year decline of over 20%.Commented WitsView research manager Ricky Lin: Branded TV makers have made significant changes to their LCD panel purchasing strategies this year due to cost considerations. With panel prices expected to rise, brands are actively adjusting their supply sources as they prepare for the peak shipment season of the third quarter. South Korean TV brands this year have shifted a significant portion of their orders away from domestic panel suppliers to the Taiwanese and Chinese. Besides making the upstream supply chain more flexible, this move intends to obtain panels at lower costs as to further improve the margins of promoted TV sets during the peak season.Looking to the near and mid-terms, WitsView projects that 43.7% of panel purchases made by South Korean brands in 2016 will come from compatriot suppliers, down from 50.5% in 2015 and that the percentage of Japanese panels in South Korean brands purchases remaining at just 3.4%. Furthermore, WitsView expects Samsung Display to will close one of its fabs, L7-1, at the end of this year. This would mean that South Korean TV brands will likely allocate a greater share of their orders to Taiwanese and Chinese panel suppliers in the future.Chinese TV brands are projected to purchase around 25 million pieces of panels from domestic suppliers in 2016, with the most of the products being small- and mid-size TV panels (those sized under 50). WitsView forecasts that compared with 2015 the share of domestic products in Chinese TV brands panel purchases will increase marginally by 0.5%. Chinese orders for large-size TV panels, such as the 55 and 65, will still go to Taiwanese and South Korean suppliers that offer better product quality and maintain higher yield rates.Chinese panel supplier have built additional Gen-8.5 fabs in recent years, added Lin. However, they also use the same economical glass-cutting method, so their product mixes overlap quite a lot. Moreover, South Korean and Taiwanese suppliers have yield and quality advantage in large-size TV panels, especially in the 55 and the 65 segments.
As we see a surge in inflation globally, it is now critical that everyone is aware of the implications this will have along every step of the insurance and reinsurance value chain.
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Today it is easy to take the concept of walking fire for granted  the assault rifle and Squad Automatic Weapon (SAW) were designed to provide greater firepower without sacrificing mobility. A century ago, however, when the nations of Europe were dug into trenches, firepower with mobility was almost never an option.



The iconic Browning Automatic Rifle (Photo: Peter Suciu)

The French developed the Chauchat as a way to provide such mobility to soldiers, and the Germans followed suit with a slightly more portable version of the MG08/15. Both were far from ideal for moving across no man's land.

When the United States entered World War I in the spring of 1917 it was largely unprepared to go Over There. However it had (arguably) learned from its recent combat experience in both the Spanish-American War and subsequent Moro Rebellion. From those conflicts came development of the Springfield 1903 bolt action rifle, which was based on the German Mauser K-98, and of course the now iconic Colt 1911 .45 automatic pistol. The latter can be credited to legendary weapon's designer John Browning  who was also considering the concept of walking fire as America prepared to send troops to France.

Browning Machine Rifle

Browning understood the need for a walking fire weapon and developed one that was shoulder fired. It should be noted that at the same time it should be noted that he was also working on the designs for the Browning .30 caliber machine-gun, the M1917 water cooled machine gun that greatly improved on the widely used Maxim design that was already responsible for untold deaths during the First World War.

That shoulder fired weapon was the Browning Machine Rifle, a weapon that ended up being a little more than a traditional automatic rifle but a little less than a light machine gun. Chambered for the .30-06 Springfield rifle cartridge, the weapon was designed to be carried by infantrymen in an assault. Following demonstrations to Congress in Washington, D.C. in 1917, the weapon underwent tests with the U.S. Army Ordnance Department at the Springfield Armory.

American military planners liked what they saw and the BMR was unanimously recommended for immediate adoption. To avoid confusion with the Browning M1917 machinegun the BMR was re-designated M1918 or more officially Rifle, Caliber .30, Automatic, Browning, M1918. It was otherwise known as the Browning Automatic Rifle  BAR. Despite what some re-enactors today may suggest or what video games may imply it was never called a bar but rather was spelled out phoneticaly, B-A-R.



A 1918 dated photo shows John M. Browning, the inventor of the gun, and Mr. Burton, the Winchester expert on rifles, discussing the finer points of the Browning Light Gun (BAR) at the Winchester Plant (Photo: U.S. Army Signal Corps Collection: https://www.army.mil/e2/-images/2009/01/12/28323/army.mil-28323-2009-01-15-100129.jpg, Public Domain)

The 100 Year Legacy of the BAR Begins

The weapon went into production in 1918  and because Colt was already facing production issues, the original contractor for the BAR became the Winchester Repeating Arms Company (WRAC). Other firms like Colt and Marlin-Rockwell Corp. also began to producing it.

The M1918 BAR was designed as a selective fire, air-cooled automatic rifle. It fired from the open bolt position and was gas-operated via a long-stroke piston rod. The rifle's selector switch was located on the left side of its receiver and can be set to a manual safety (S) as well as semi-automatic (F) and full-automatic (A). The BAR feeds from a double-column 20-round box magazine.

To clarify one point that is also largely misunderstood, unlike the German MP-18 submachine gun, the BAR was not actually built with trench warfare in mind.

Explains gun historian and author Bruce Canfield,

When the M1918 BAR was designed, it wasn't specifically for trench warfare but was intended as a squad automatic weapon.' It was, literally, state of the art' in 1918.



Val Browning, son of John Browning, posing in a March 1918 photo with his father's invention (Photo: Dreyfuss  Army Heritage and Education Center, Public Domain)

While its 20 round magazine may seem small by today's standards, it must be remembered that most bolt action rifles of the era held only five rounds  and even the British SMLE bolt action rifle held just 10. This provided a lot more ammunition than what the enemy typically had  and moreover these were full-sized rifle cartridges.

Dort Cart, curator at the National World War I Museum in Kansas City explains,

It introduced a true capability of advancing rapid fire which gave a distinct advantage to infantry not having to wait for the advance of machine guns. It offered a good punch even though the ammunition was the standard 30.06 caliber. It also presented the appearance of good fairly automatic firepower, which is not to be discredited. With the overwhelmingly number of bolt action rifles in use, a BAR or the German Bergmann submachine gun gave a distinct advantage to the infantry.

Compared to the Springfield 1903 rifle the BAR was heavy, but it was lighter than the German MG08/15. It was also more reliable than the Chauchat; and, compared to the Bergmann, had greater stopping power as well.



An original M1918 BAR at the National World War I Museum in Kansas City (Photo: Peter Suciu)

Continues Canfield,

The weight of the original M1918 version was about 16 pounds, which was very reasonable for a full-power automatic rifle. The 20-round magazine was optimum for the gun as adding more ammo would increase the weight.

It has been reported that the BAR was not widely issued in Europe for fear that the Germans might capture it and copy it, but this is largely a myth  German industry was already facing a number of shortages by 1918 and it would have been difficult for the Germans to copy and produce the weapon. Moreover, military leaders don't hold back a reliable weapon because of fears it will be copied.

The BAR only was used in small numbers because the war ended in November 1918. The Allies, including the United States, had been preparing for 1919 spring offensive that fortunately was not needed. There is little doubt that the BAR would have been utilized to its full capacity in any spring campaign.

Interwar, World War II and Beyond

The greater truth of the BAR is that despite its solid design and innovations, it actually didn't meet the original hopes of the United States War Department. The BAR was fed from a magazine with a limited capacity, was air cooled and didn't have a barrel that could be easily changed  thus it wasn't really a light machine gun. At 16 pounds, plus the weight of the ammunition, it was a heavy weapon and as such wasn't exactly the best automatic rifle.

Attempts were made to improve upon it following the end of the First World War. The first came about with the M1922 version, which was designed for use with the United States Cavalry! This version featured a ribbed barrel and an adjustable spiked bipod. This version failed to improve on the design.

The next significant version was the M1918A1, which included a redesigned spiked bipod, but this too failed to improve upon the original M1918 model. Finally in 1938  20 years after the original design  the weapon saw its biggest makeover as the M1918A2, which included a rate reducer with two selectable rates of automatic fire  and no semi-automatic fire. The weapon was further fitted with a flash suppressor and iron sights. During World War II a carrying handle was also added, while the buttstock was lengthened by about an inch.



A number of American small arms from the Second World War, including an M1918A2 BAR. This photo shows how much larger the BAR is than the M3 Grease Gun (top left) and the M1 Carbine. These small arms are in the collection of the National World War II Museum in New Orleans (Photo: Peter Suciu)

In essence this was an attempt to turn the automatic rifle again into a light machine-gun. Unfortunately, instead of greatly improving upon the BAR many soldiers just found it to add even more weight!

Canfield explains.

By the time of the Second World War, the BAR was still a very good weapon but was becoming obsolescent  not obsolete  primarily because its barrel could not be easily changed. Also, the Army decided to improve' the BAR by adding a bipod, folding metal buttplate assembly and receiver magazine guides.

It was only arguably an improvement. Canfield continues,

The stuff they put on the original model bumped the weight up to 20 pounds. While four pounds may not sound like much, it was significant. Because of the added weight and the questionable usefulness, the additions, especially the bipod, proved to be unpopular with many of the users and were often discarded to reduce the weight. They should have left it the way John Browning designed it in the first place!

The BAR was just one of several weapons in the U.S. small arms arsenal during World War II, and it filled the role of Squad Automatic Weapon reasonably well  well enough that the weapon remained in use in the Korean War and even in limited capacity in the early stages of the Vietnam War.



The author's great uncle: Corporal Louis Suciu, 104th Infantry Division, in Zschepplin, Germany in May 1945, carrying a M1918A2 BAR with the bipod removed to reduce the weight. (Photo: Personal Collection)

Adds Canfield,

Despite the fact it was an aging design, the BAR was an extremely popular weapon with the majority of its users in WWII, and Korea because of its fire-power and reliability. It lingered on in service into the Vietnam era and was eventually replaced by the M60 machine gun. The M60 didn't have a very good reputation while the BAR is remembered as a classic American battle weapon.

For its shortcomings it has been remembered fondly.

Says firearms expert Alex Cranmer, of International Military Antiques.

It is incredibly powerful and accurate with a high rate of fire. Yes, it has limited capacity, but the magazine is quick and easy to change. However, the BAR was well built and sturdy, so lasted in a variety of battlefield conditions, plus it's incredibly powerful and accurate with a high rate of fire. Yes, it has limited capacity, but the magazine is quick and easy to change.

All of those reasons are likely too why the BAR found another fan in the interwar era namely famous bank robbers such as the infamous Bonnie & Clyde. Both Clyde Barrow and his girlfriend Bonnie Parker used the M1918 version of the BAR in their crime spree. The duo were known to cut down the barrel and stock and reportedly used armor piercing (AP) .30-06 ammunition.

Other bank robbers such as John Dillinger and Lester Baby Face Nelson also may have used the BAR at various times in their criminal activities.

To keep up with the firepower utilized by bank robbers and gangsters of the era FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover ordered the FBI to obtain BARs for use by field agents. Some 90 or so were sold to the FBI, and before World War II the weapon became a favorite of state prisons, banks and even rural police departments.

The BAR in Popular Culture

Despite the fact the BAR today is widely seen in movies and video games, in truth the firearm wasn't a popular choice in movies until recently. In fact, the BAR is nowhere to be seen in any 1920s or 1930s gangster or war films at all!

The first believed on screen appearance of the BAR was in the 1943 Gary Cooper film For Whom the Bell Tolls about the Spanish Civil War. Interestingly those movie guns were likely World War I U.S. Army surplus, while the real BARs used in Spain were likely the Polish made Browning wz. 1928  a version made under license that was chambered for 7.92x57mm Mauser. Those examples would have featured a pistol grip, something not seen in the 1943 film. While it is possible that some U.S. M1918 BARs were used in Spain it would seem rather convenient that such an example is the one wielded by a Republican soldier!

The BAR made further appearances in American propaganda styled films made during World War II including Guns Ho! and They Were Expendable. The BAR was seen in use by background and secondary characters in films such as Beach Red, The Bridge at Remagen and Kelly's Heroes. Charlton Heston's character Neville used a BAR fitted with an M3 active infrared starlight scope and IR lamp in the 1973 sci-fi film The Omega Man.

The BAR's biggest starring role may be in 1998's Saving Private Ryan as an M1918A2 version  without bipod  is carried by Edward Burns' PFC Richard Reiben. Throughout the movie Reiben fires it on the faster of the weapon's two full-auto fire modes. As for the missing bipod, it should be noted that early in the film Reiben reported losing his BAR during the D-Day landings and found a replacement.

The BAR of course remains a popular small arm in numerous video game shooters including the Medal of Honor, Call of Duty and Battlefield 1942 series. However, most gamers likely have no idea of the weight of this small arm.

BAR Specs:

Type: Automatic rifle/light machine gun

Caliber: .30-06 Springfield

Weight: 16 pounds (M1918) and 20 pounds (M1918A2)

Barrel Length:24-inches (M1918) and 18-inches (M1918A2)

Cyclic Rate: 500-650rpm (M1918 / M1922 / M1918A1) 500rpm (Colt Monitor) selectable 300-450rpm & 500-650rpm (M1918A2)

Fire Modes: Slow full-auto and Fast full-auto (M1918A2)

Bullet Capacity: 20 round box magazine

If you have time, watch this government training film:

https://research.archives.gov/id/35660

Like other Browning inventions, the BAR's iconic status will probably never go away.
Alongside 5,000 other women, Athens residents, Kim Turner and Rachel Greb, were chosen to discuss issues ranging from the gender pay gap to sexual assault awareness at The United State of Women summit last weekend in Washington, D.C.
Members of the Al Huda Islamic Center pray in the Isha prayer during Ramadan. The mosque may be small but it is a perfect size for the members to stand shoulder to shoulder as customary for all prayers. Shot in Athens, Georgia on Saturday, June 25, 2016. (Photo: Henry Taylor/htaylor@randb.com)
Hugo Collantes, 43, a lecturer of ecology and environmental science, swims at Legion Pool on the University of Georgia campus in Athens, Georgia, on Tuesday, June 28, 2016. Collantes said he tries to swim every day to relax, even if he only has time to get in a few laps. (Photo/Casey Sykes, www.caseysykes.com)
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By Amber Sandhu of the Redding Record Searchlight

Highway 44 near Lassen Volcanic National Park is set for improvements next year after a high number of traffic collisions prompted the California Transportation Commission to assess it for safety.

The Lower Manzanita Curve Improvement Project will improve 0.6 miles of the curvy roadway, which has become known as an "accident concentrated" site, Project Manager Michael Feakes said.

After a five-year assessment, Caltrans found that the area had traffic collisions eight times higher than the California average, Feakes said.

"That triggers us to look at that road and make a safety assessment," he said.

The project has received $2.7 million to improve road alignment and widen the shoulders.

"We corrected some of the geometrics of the roadway to increase sight distance and give a little more room for recovery," Feakes said. It's enough for drivers to have clearer sight of what's ahead and give them more room to stop.

In addition to the highway improvement plan, Shasta County received funding to add more bike paths, improve pedestrian walkways, and improve intersections to encourage people to get out of their cars, decrease greenhouse gas emissions and enhance public health.

In Redding, the Diestelhorst to Downtown Non-Motorized Improvement Project will extend the Sacramento River Trail from Benton Drive, Riverside Drive, Center and Division streets. According to the project, the plan is to provide an off-street path with separated bikeways, complete sidewalk gaps, improve intersections, include an enhanced crossing with a median, add flashing beacons and corridor lighting. The project has received $148,000 for its beginning stage but will receive a total of $2.6 million, according to Tamy Quigley, associate transportation planner at Caltrans.

The Old Oregon Trail Shasta College Active Transportation Project entails installing bike lanes, pavement markings and a flashing beacon at Shasta College's campus. It also adds bicycle lanes and improves the intersection for pedestrians and bicyclists on Old Oregon Trail. The project received $37,000 to start, but will receive a total of $716,000, according to Quigley.

Both projects are set for 2018.
SHARE Justin Babb

Justin Babb is back in the North State according to a recent Facebook update. A post on Babb's personal Facebook page updated the public on his status.

"Everyone I am fine. I apologies [sic] to those that I may have hurt or caused any emotional turmoil. I am in a safe place and getting help. I will be calling people shortly. No words can explain how sorry I am," Babb wrote on his personal Facebook page Sunday morning.

An outpouring of support appeared under Babb's post with people wishing him well.

The disappearance and search for Babb played out on social media over the last week. Last Monday Babb was reported missing and his friends organized a search of trailheads and handed out fliers.

On Friday Babb's supervisor, Matt Morgan of Optimize Worldwide, posted on Facebook that Babb was spotted by a State Trooper in Nevada.

The Redding Police Department confirmed the search for Babb was closed on Friday.
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No matter how much money they raise, every political campaign is strapped for cash. Even Hillary Clinton's campaign. So here's my tip on how the Clinton campaign can save a lot of money: for Secretary Clinton to turn off the spigot. Tell her vice-presidential selection team to go home. Stop vetting anybody else  and just name Elizabeth Warren as her running mate.

There's only one reason to pick Warren, and it's not what most pundits say: not because Clinton needs Warren on the ticket to win over Bernie Sanders supporters. Despite all the fears expressed by Clinton staffers during the campaign, that's not a problem. The latest Washington Post/ABC News poll, released this week, shows that 81 percent of Sanders supporters already say they'll vote for Clinton. Only 8 percent of them support Donald Trump.

To put that in perspective, in 2008, according to The Washington Post, Clinton supporters were much slower to embrace Barack Obama. In June 2008, immediately after the primaries, 20 percent of Clinton supporters said they'd never vote for Obama. In July, their number rose to 22 percent; by October, they leveled off at 14 percent. In other words, Clinton's already won over a greater percentage of Sanders supporters than Obama ever won among Clinton supporters. So that's not why Clinton needs Warren.

No, the one reason for choosing Warren is that she's simply the best, period. Best candidate. Best public speaker. Best in revving up a crowd. Best on her feet. And best on the issues. On the progressive agenda, there's little daylight between Sanders and Warren. In the campaign and in the White House, she'll play the same role Sanders did during the primary: pushing Clinton to the left on issues like trade, climate change, campaign reform, fracking, minimum wage and cracking down on Wall Street.

Warren has one other advantage: More than anybody else, she knows how to get under Donald Trump's thin skin. He gets totally flustered when trying to respond to her taunts, falling back on childish name-calling, like "Pocahontas," "sellout," or even "goofy." To which Warren deliciously responds: "You want to see goofy? Look at him in that hat." She also sums up best who Donald Trump really is: "a small, insecure money-grubber."

The case for Elizabeth Warren becomes stronger the longer you look at the weak arguments against her.

One. She has little foreign policy experience. How much did Barack Obama have? Or George W. Bush? Plus, she'd be running with someone who probably has more foreign policy experience than any presidential candidate since Thomas Jefferson.

Two. If she wins, Democrats would lose her Senate seat for the next six years. Not necessarily true. Under Massachusetts law, the governor nominates someone to fill a Senate vacancy, but only temporarily  until a special election, held three months later. So even if Republican Governor Charlie Baker named a Republican replacement for Warren, Democrats would still have a chance to recapture the seat in three months.

Three. But Wall Street doesn't like her. Exactly! That's why she's perfect. Because Americans don't like Wall Street, either. With Elizabeth Warren alongside Hillary Clinton in the White House, Americans would know there was someone fighting for Main Street, protecting consumers by keeping financial institutions in check and preventing them from playing the same funny-money games that crashed the economy in 2008.

Fourth and final argument against Elizabeth Warren  don't you love this one?  "America's not ready for two women on the ticket." Nonsense. That reminds me of 1992 in California when everybody said California would never elect two women, two Jews, or two candidates from the San Francisco Bay Area to the U.S. Senate. Guess what? Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer are still there.

Let's face it, the United States lags behind Israel, England, Indonesia, Germany, Ireland, Latvia, and many other countries in electing a female leader. There's no doubt a woman can do the job as well as, if not better than a man. Indeed, men have messed things up for so long, it's time to give a woman a chance. And the only thing better than one woman in the White House is two.

Of course, there will be those who advise Clinton to play it safe and go with a boring white male: advice she should simply ignore. This is the time for bold, not cautious, leadership. If you're going to make history, make it big.

Email Bill Press at bill@billpress.com.
With Uber & Ola fighting it out, the taxi aggregator space is set for massive growth.

The online taxi aggregator space is poised to reach $1.7-billion (Rs 11,400-crore) mark, in gross booking value in 2016, as both Uber and Ola continue to invest heavily to grow the market.

According to a study by advisory firm RedSeer Consulting, the gross booking value for cabs hailed through applications and websites during the first quarter of 2016 was around $285 million (Rs 1,909 crore).

With Uber and Ola slugging it out for dominance in India, growth is expected to remain high throughout the year.

Just to give you a sense of things, if you look at the Indian retail market, roughly two per cent of it is online. This is a space that has evolved over 15-16 years. The cab aggregator space, which is very new, has six to seven per cent of its market online, said Anil Kumar, managing director and chief executive officer, RedSeer.

Gross booking value is measured at average cab ride costs across 300,000 cars, which operate on cab-hailing platforms on roads across the country.

Both Uber and Ola claim 350,000 cabs on each of their platform.

This is possibly because many drivers use the apps of both companies and there is a lot of overlap - 85 per cent according to the RedSeer report.

Uber says Bengaluru, its second biggest market in the country, has 100,000 cabs across all operators. Both firms earn 25 per cent commission from drivers on each ride.

Uber has stepped up its investment in India, committing substantial part of the $3.5 billion it raised month from Saudi Arabias Public Investment Fund, in addition to $1 billion it had earmarked last year.

Ola is in talks to raise fresh funds of $1 billion; it has got over $1.2 billion from investors such as SoftBank so far.

Last year, online taxi aggregation contributed to roughly six to seven per cent of the overall taxi market in India, which is valued between $11 billion and $13 billion.

This year, with the overall market expected to grow by 10 per cent, online aggregators will double their stake by a minimum of 12 per cent.

The RedSeer report said Ola continues to remain the largest player in the space with a 50 per cent market share in 2015. However, the company has disputed this in the past.

Uber saw a higher growth owing to its aggressive pricing strategy, also helping it steal some market share from Ola.

But then in March, Ola launched its low-cost Micro that helped it register a higher growth than Uber.

By the end of March 2016, Olas Micro category had reached 30-40 per cent of the overall size of Uber in India.

Uber, Ola and Meru, which allows consumers to call or use an app to book cabs but adopt a different business model, declined to comment.

Analysts said the shift towards cab aggregators would impact sales of new cars, while the fight between Ola and Uber will end up with a winner who has the maximum money power.

Theres a global move against owning cars. Youll see that car purchases come down as people find it easier to take a cab, said Mahesh Murthy, the co-founder of SeedFund that invests in early-stage firms.

In the race to grow quickly and garner more market share, both Uber and Ola are burning through funds, offering discounts to riders and incentives to drivers to use their platform.

With the nature of their business being on-demand, a space which Uber revolutionised in the US, the more drivers they have on their platform, the more customers they get, making it important to stay in the lead.

After battling it out on the streets, the two companies have now taken the fight to the courtroom.

Uber has been accused of being defiant of local regulations that restrict its growth as it attempts to play catch up with Ola, which has a nearly three-year head start in the country.

The company has been accused of not following rules by allowing personal vehicles, which pay lower road tax than yellow-board taxis and have no permit costs, run on its platform as it strives to add more cabs.

In Karnataka, the San Francisco-based company has challenged the authority of the state government to frame laws that regulate it in the high court.

Ola, which claims it is compliant with the local rules and has obtained a licence to operate, has raised the tempo against Uber, calling it a foreign company thats in the country only to make a profit.

A lot of our regulations are protectionist to the taxi cabs because they were a big vote bank. Citizens are saying that they are not interested in going in overpriced taxis, said Murthy.

On Monday, the Karnataka High Court will resume hearing the arguments between Uber and the state, which is supported by Ola and Radio Taxi Association, whose members include Meru.

Just like the Facebook of India is Facebook and the Google of India is Google, the Uber of India will be Uber and not Ola, said Murthy.

The numbers we saw last month, Olas revenue went up four times but its losses went up eight times, so its losing money faster than ever before. So this will be a game that will be won by Uber in the long run, simply because they can take losses longer.

For financial year 2014-15, Olas losses mounted 20 times to Rs 796 crore on revenue of Rs 421 crore (Rs 4.21 billion) - an eightfold increase over the previous year, because of commissions earned from drivers on trips taken by customers.
The overall FDI policy landscape is changing and can do so faster. Inflows, too, are improving, but more reform is needed to attract more FDI into manufacturing and infrastructure sectors, says A K Bhattacharya.

Foreign direct investments (FDI) in India are in the news.



Last week, the government announced several measures to liberalise FDI norms in different sectors.



It increased sectoral caps for some industries, allowed automatic clearances for foreign investment in certain areas and relaxed terms of such investments in some more.

The industries that are likely to benefit from such liberalisation include aviation, airports, pharmaceuticals, defence, private security industry, broadcasting, e-commerce and single-brand retail.

Even as the debate continues over the nature of the relaxations and whether substantial discretion has still been retained by the government in giving investment clearances, it will be instructive to assess these decisions in the context of the latest FDI numbers that have been released by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion.

Yes, overall FDI flows into India rose by 23 per cent to $55 billion in 2015-16.

There is no doubt that FDI flows have taken off, after a decline of 26 per cent in 2012-13.

After a modest recovery of five per cent in 2013-14, when FDI flows were estimated at $36 billion, they rose by 25 per cent in 2014-15 to reach $45 billion.

In this context, here are four important trends that emerge from the latest numbers.

Equity stronger than overall flows: Remember that the overall FDI inflows include a significant chunk of reinvested earnings by existing foreign investors.

In each of the last five years, the share of these reinvested earnings in total FDI inflows have ranged from 18 per cent to 34 per cent.

Thus, the story of fresh FDI equity inflows is even better - for instance, equity inflows from overseas sources went up by over 29 per cent to $40 billion last year.

This increase was even higher than the 27 per cent rise in FDI equity inflows seen at $31 billion in 2014-15.

Policy relaxed for sectors with low FDI flows: The sectors that saw liberalisation in their FDI norms last week account for a small share in the overall investment inflows.

Apart from trading and pharmaceuticals, not one of the other sectors figures in the top 10 items accounting for Indias FDI equity inflows.

Trading (including retail) and pharmaceuticals accounted for a little over four per cent share each in total overseas equity inflows in the last 16 years.

For broadcasting, aviation and defence, the shares are very low, ranging between 0.1 per cent and 1.7 per cent. This is understandable.

Till recently, there has been very little FDI relaxation in the areas of defence, aviation and broadcasting.

Hopefully, discretionary rules do not play spoilsport and the new relaxations start improving their share in total FDI equity inflows in the coming years.

Manufacturing and core sectors continue to be laggards in FDI: The numbers show that the share of the manufacturing and infrastructure sectors in FDI equity could improve further, improving prospects for more blue-collar jobs.

Construction, telecommunications, automobile, chemicals and power account for only 27 per cent of the total foreign equity flows in the last 16 years.

Compared to that, the services sector alone draws around 18 per cent of the $288 billion of equity that have flowed in from April 2000. S

ervices sector largely includes investments in financial companies, banks, insurance and business outsourcing firms.

While foreign equity flows into the services sector have been rising annually in the last three years, those into the manufacturing and infrastructure sectors have been showing a decline or very marginal increases.

The rise of Singapore: Last year, Mauritius lost its numero uno status as the largest source of FDI equity inflows for India.

At $8.35 billion, Mauritius was number two to Singapore, which was ahead by investing $13.7 billion in 2015-16.

In the last five years at least, Singapore has been trying to race ahead of Mauritius and indeed it did so in 2013-14.

With the new amendments to India's tax treaty with Mauritius, Singapore has a good chance to retain its number one status for some years at least until similar tax treaty amendments are enforced on it as well.

Cumulatively in the last 16 years, Mauritius accounts for a third of Indias total FDI equity inflows and Singapore has a share of only 16 per cent. That ranking, however, will not change for some time.

On the whole, the overall FDI policy landscape is changing and can change faster.

FDI inflows, too, are improving. But more policy reform is needed to attract more FDI into manufacturing and infrastructure sectors.

And the dominance of Mauritius as the single-largest contributor of cumulative FDI is not likely to be over soon.

Photograph: Reuters
The animal husbandry department is set to launch a massive programme to tag all indigenous variety of cattle in a bid to improve progeny and milk production

The government surely knows how to milk the Aadhaar card for ideas.

The animal husbandry department is set to launch a massive programme to tag all indigenous variety of cattle in a bid to improve progeny and milk production.

There are about 85 million milch cows -- those that produce milk -- in the country.

They could all soon have their own Aadhaar-like identification cards. The ID cards will have all relevant information about the breed.

This, in turn, will enable improved progeny and assist in augmenting milk yields.

The government wants to double the countrys milk production by 2020.

The stated objective of the programme is to help small and poor farmers, who own 70 per cent of the indigenous cow varieties.

If it is successful, the project could help them double their incomes with improved milk production.

However, the political context of the initiative and the emotion attached to cows cannot be ignored.

India has about 300 million indigenous cow varieties.

However, their milk yield per animal is only around 1-2 litres a day, while cross-bred and hybrid varieties give much more.

Our objective is to improve the per-animal milk yield of indigenous cow varieties from two litres to at least five litres a day, so that the annual income of small and poor farmers, most of whom own desi varieties, improves, Devendra Chaudhury, animal husbandry secretary, told Business Standard.

The tagged cows would also have their own health cards, containing details on milk yields, any disease suffered, and other general health information.

Just as through soil health cards one can get full information about the soil of the area, the Nakul Swasthya Patra (nakul, or cow, health card) would provide information about the health of cows. Veterinarians will check the animals to analyse their health.

We have completed the inter-ministerial discussion on the issue and could soon float a Cabinet note on it, Chaudhury said.

Both the ID card and the health card scheme will be operationalised with the help of state governments. In the first phase, about 85 per cent of the milch cows will be tagged.

In 2016-17, around five million cows will be tagged, while 25 to 30 million will be tagged in 2017-18 and the remaining by 2019-20.

State governments will be provided funds for undertaking the programme. At present, just around 0.8 to 1 million cattle is tagged are India.

Chaudhury said by 2020, Indias production of milk from cross-bred cows and buffaloes will rise in their natural course, while for indigenous cows the growth will come through breeding of improved varieties.

Of the 14 states with large populations of cows, the maximum growth is expected to come from Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, which also have the largest number of cattle in the country.
Benchmark shares continued their winning streak for the sixth straight session after reports over the progress of the monsoon and expectations that the crucial GST Bill will be passed in the monsoon session of the parliament.

The S&P BSE Sensex ended up 134 points at 27,279 and the Nifty50 ended up 42 points at 8,371.

In the broader markets, the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices ended up 0.6%-1% each. Market breadth ended positive with 1713 gainers and 1018 losers on the BSE.

"A strong closing once again from the indices, however there was a late profit booking observed in many large cap names, notably looking at the pace of the last 5 days of straight momentum, I believe that the next key resistance for Nifty is at 8500-8550 mark and support from a very short term view could be upped at 8250 mark.

"Bank Nifty is also trading above the 18000 mark which has lended a decent support for the Nifty in the last few days.

"I believe that till the time the Banking index remains above the psychological mark Nifty could continue to trend higher," said Kunal Bothra, Head of Advisory, LKP Securities.

The Indian rupee edged higher against the dollar and was trading 10 paise at 67.22 compared to the previous close tracking gains in equities and near term concerns over Brexit waned.

The monsoon rains had covered almost entire India except some part of Gujarat and Rajasthan until Sunday and is expected to cover the remaining parts in 48 hours, the Indian Meteorological Department said on Sunday.

STOCKS

Tata Motors was among the top Sensex to end 2.4% higher after the auto major said that its total passenger and commercial vehicle sales rose 8% to 44,276 vehicles in June 2016. The company sold 40,869 vehicles in June 2015.

Larsen & Toubro ended up 1.6%. The company's IT subsidiary L&T Infotech plans to enter the capital market on July 11.

The price band has been fixed at Rs 705-710. L&T Infotech plans to raise Rs 1,240 crore through the IPO.

ONGC gained over 3% on the back of hike in kerosene prices which would lower its subsidiy burden. Oil India gained over 2%.

SBI ended up 1.5% after the state-owned banking major announced that it has sold 5% stake in National Stock Exchange for a consideration of Rs 911.25 crore.

Adani Ports ended up 4.3% after the board approved exploring the acquisition of TM Harbour Services Private Limited which is engaged solely in providing Tug Services to The Dhamra Port Company Ltd. (DPCL), a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company.

Coal India gained 2.6%. Coal India has achieved production of 42.72 million tonnes in June as against a target of 43.31 mt for the month.

Value buying was also seen in select Sensex stocks with ICICI Bank and BHEL up over 3.3%-4.8% each.

ITC was the top Sensex loser down 2.5% after the stock was quoted ex-bonus.

The board of directors of the company at its meeting held on May 20, 2016, had recommended the issue of bonus shares in the proportion of 1 (one) bonus share of Rs 1 each for every existing 2 (two) fully paid-up ordinary shares of Rs 1 each.

Two-wheeler majors Bajaj Auto and Hero MotoCorp ended with marginal losses after weak June sales numbers.

Bajaj Auto today reported 4% decline in total sales in June at 3,16,969 units against 3,31,317 in the same month of 2015.

Hero MotoCorp reported sluggish sales growth of 1.3% in June 2016 at 5.49 lakh units compared to June 2015.

Among other shares, FDC ended up over 6% after the company announced that US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) has completed inspection at its manufacturing unit situated at Waluj, Maharashtra.

TeamLease Services ended up 1.7% after the company reported acquisition of ASAP Info Systems Private Limited with a view to offer staffing solutions for IT services firms.

Bosch ended down 1.8% after the company announced that board approved a proposal to buy back equity shares at a price of Rs 23,000 per share through tender offer.
Interest on NRE accounts is tax-free, but the I-T department creates hurdles to tax these accounts.

Indians who work abroad invest their money back home. In fact, these remittances from non-resident Indians (NRIs) have allowed us to bridge the foreign exchange deficit caused by our unbridled love for gold.



On its part, the government has also ensured that its remittance and tax laws facilitate investments in India.

Investments made from non-resident external (NRE) accounts are fully repatriable. Interest on NRE accounts is also tax-free.

NRIs have responded with remittances of Rs 3,50,000 crore ($48 billion) last year.

However, the income tax (I-T) department creates many hurdles in taxing the remittances made to Indian NRE accounts on technical grounds.

While some NRIs have access to professional advice and can avoid these, most others are caught.

Consider the curious case of merchant navy personnel (called shippies in local jargon).

They serve on Indian and foreign ships in international waters and are usually away for more than six months in a year. They are classified as non-residents under the Income Tax Act.

In most cases, they have no residence anywhere else in the world other than India.

They are entitled to dollar salaries, which is paid to them from abroad into any bank account anywhere in the world.

Most of the shippies want to invest in India and direct their employers to remit the monies to their NRE accounts maintained in India.

The investments are then made from these NRE accounts.

The I-T department has been trying to tax these amounts for many years now on many technical grounds.

One of the most ludicrous was relating to shippies serving on Indian ships in international waters.

The argument given was that under the Merchant Navy Act any Indian ship is considered a part of India and hence, the person serving on board has technically never left India and is Indian resident.

Fortunately, the Central Board of Direct Taxes came out with a clarification negating this hyper-technical argument. But the I-T department is not done as yet.

The new argument, now, is that those shippies who want to get their monies directly into their Indian NRE accounts will still have to pay tax as the income is received in India.

The shippies can open a bank account in a tax friendly jurisdiction (say Dubai) and then remit the money from that intermediate account to their Indian NRE account.

In that case, Indian income tax just cannot be levied even according to the hyper technical argument. In short, the I-T department is forcing Indian shippies to open bank accounts in foreign centres (which is perfectly legal for them to do anyway).

Discussions with them reveal that none of their colleagues from countries such as China, Philippines, etc who are following similar routes to get their salaries are subject to tax in their home countries.

Beside shippies, Indians working in countries with foreign currency restrictions, such as countries in Africa, face a similar problem as many ask their employers to remit these monies directly into their Indian NRE accounts. They face the same issues.

The finance minister, in 2015, had retrospectively amended the definition of what constitutes time spent in India.

Yet the tax department is proceeding against this intent by raising hyper-technical arguments.

This is a fit case where a quick clarification should clear the air. If that does not happen, banks in countries such as Dubai should look forward to a bonanza from Indian NRIs soon.

The writer is a Securities and Exchange Board of India-registered investment advisor.

Illustration: Uttam Ghosh/Rediff.com
With its new hybrid annuity model, the government is confident of getting more funds from India Inc.

The countrys highways could soon see green shoots of private investments, with the government now confident of getting India Inc to fund 55 per cent of the total kilometres to be put up for bidding this year.

Last year, the government had to fund 87 per cent of the total kilometres awarded, while in 2014-15, the figure was as high as 91 per cent.

About 40 per cent of the 25,000 km to be awarded in 2016-17 would be on the hybrid annuity model, introduced by the government earlier this year.

Another 15 per cent would be on build, operate and transfer (BOT) basis. In both hybrid annuity and BOT, investments are made by private developers.

The remaining 45 per cent projects would be on EPC (engineering, procurement and construction), basis where the government pays for the construction of highways.

On an average cost of Rs 13 crore per kilometre, projects roughly worth Rs 3.25 lakh crore would be up for bidding this year.

Of the aggregate projects awarded in 2014-15, totaling a length of 7,980 km, EPC projects contributed a lions share of 7,246 km.

In 2015-16, the share of EPC contracts of the total 10,098 km award was 8,790 km. According to an official, this number would be around 40-45 per cent in 2016-17.

Under the hybrid annuity model that received Cabinet approval in January this year, 40 per cent of the project cost is borne by the government and the remaining by the developer.

Prior to the hybrid annuity model, the government followed two other models for road construction.

Under the public-private partnership mode executed through BOT, a road developer builds a highway, operates it for a stipulated amount of time and then transfers it back to the government. This model is implemented on an annuity or toll basis.

In the case of annuity, the government pays a fixed sum to the concessionaire over the duration of the concession period, thereby reducing the companys risk.

Under the toll mode, the operator collects toll on its own, so the traffic risk is borne by the company.

The other model is the EPC, under which the highway developer executes the project on behalf of the government. The hybrid annuity model is a blend of the two.

The detailed project reports (DPRs) for the 25,000-km highway projects to be awarded this year is under process and is likely to be prepared in the next three to four months.

It would be followed by land acquisition. After the completion of DPRs, the central government, in cooperation with the states, would commence the land acquisition process and by March 2017 these projects would be awarded, the official told Business Standard.

Analysts are of the view that the actual impact of hybrid annuity contracts can only be ascertained after the financial closure of the projects.

However, they added, the land acquisition process to be undertaken by the government is a big positive for the companies interested in executing these contracts.

The private sector is quite comfortable to respond to the hybrid annuity model of bidding, said Vishwas Udgirkar, partner, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India LLP.

Experts also believe bigger players in the highway sector may refrain from bidding for the hybrid annuity model projects because of their highly leveraged balance sheets.

Larsen & Toubro, IL&FS Transportation Networks, GVK Power and Infrastructure, GMR Infrastructure, IVRCL, Gammon Infrastructure Projects, Hindustan Construction Co, Tata Realty and Infrastructure, and Ashok Buildcon do not have the appetite to bid for hybrid annuity projects as their balance sheets may make it difficult for them to secure loans.

Small and medium-sized companies are likely to benefit, as their exposure in the sector is lesser than the big players.

Therefore, arranging debt would be much easier for these firms.

All the 21 hybrid annuity projects awarded since January have gone to the small and mid-sized firms.

The companies that have bagged projects include APCO Infratech, Sadhbhav Infrastructure, MBL Infrastructure and Welspun Enterprises.

Photograph: Reuters
Snapdeal CEO Kunal Bahl said those who do not perform will have to leave.

IMAGE: Employees of Snapdeal.com, inside their company office in New Delhi. Photograph: Parivartan Sharma/Reuters

At a Snapdeal town hall meeting about two weeks ago, a young data cruncher nervously asked co-founder and chief executive officer Kunal Bahl about job security in the company.



Bahls reply was straight enough: Those who do not perform will have to leave.

Snapdeal is walking Bahls talk. According to sources, Snapdeal has seen willing and unwilling departure of a large number of people in the previous four months, particularly in its technology, logistics, supply chain and internal order management teams.

Some functions have been outsourced or are being outsourced and, so the requirement of people has also come down, they said.

In an e-mail reply, the company said there had been no lay-offs at Snapdeal or Freecharge, the mobile wallet arm of the company.  and none are intended. Any speculation in this regard is baseless and completely untrue. Our campus in Gurgaon and regional offices in eight cities are staffed by highly experienced teams, who continue to drive excellence and growth in our business. We continue to hire across levels and functions as per our talent requirements, it said.

In February, 200 employees of Snapdeal were put on notice due to performance issues, and a majority have left the company.



Theres been a churn at the executive level, too. In May, Anand Chandrasekaran quit as chief product officer, less than a year of joining. Chandrasekaran was technically the third in command.



Among others, Srinivas Murthy, senior vice-president of marketing, left to start his own venture. Before that, Ranjan Kant, head of strategy, quit to join Jabong as chief marketplace officer.

Snapdeal did not reply to a query on staff strength. Earlier this year in an interview to Business Standard, co-founder and chief operating officer Rohit Bansal had put the figure at 8,000.

Following rationalisation of workforce, the estimated number is around 6,000.

The founders are learnt to have given strict instructions on performance to heads of various divisions and have set target dates.

For instance, Exclusively.com, the high-street fashion brand of the company, has until September to increase sales, sources said.

Snapdeals principal investor is SoftBank. In a recent interview to another newspaper, Nikesh Arora, now the former president & operating head of the SoftBank group, had said Snapdeal has to compete with Amazon and Flipkart for a while and it would be a tough battle.

Many of the big SoftBank investments led by Arora have been under investor scrutiny.

But, last month, a day before he announced he was stepping down, Arora had received a clean chit from a committee set up to review allegations related to some of the investments made.

GROWTH PANGS

In Feb, 200 staff of Snapdeal were put on notice due to performance issues

A majority of them have left

Theres been a churn at the executive level, too

Snapdeal has seen willing and unwilling departure of a large number of people in four months, say sources

However, the firm said there had been no lay-offs
Many of Indias states are in action mode to improve their profile and create a conducive policy environment for investments. Some have, of course, failed to move with the changing times.

The fifth of an 11-part series looks at the state of affairs in Jharkhand.

Part 1: 'Andhra Pradesh is Gujarat of the East coast'

Part 2: Maharashtra remains India's richest state

Part 3: Madhya Pradesh: Quite a few scores, but many misses, too

Part 4: The real story behind Uttar Pradesh's development

IMAGE: Jharkhand started trudging along the road to development. Photograph: Reuters

Living under the shadow of Naxalite violence in a pocket of Jharkhands Dumka district, Sumi Hembrom, 27, had never thought shed one day become an entrepreneur.

Kathikund, where she lives, 350 km from the state capital here, had been under the influence of Naxals till recently.



This is where the Left insurgents had killed a police superintendent, Amarjit Balihar, and four of his subordinates in 2013.



The violence, however, has not dampened the confidence of Sumi, a high school graduate.



A year before, she took up a project under a start-up programme.



With 10 other women, a seed capital of Rs 5 lakh was organised to set up a unit to weave saris, the Panjhi sari (popular among Santhals), in particular.

Sumi makes Rs 10,000 to Rs 15,000 a month, satisfactory for her and two dependents.



We dont want to remember the past and want to look forward instead, she says.

The goal is to come up with products good enough to compete in the market.

Sumi is as an example of how the state, formed after bifurcating Bihar, has started trudging along the road to development.

Numbers tell a story. Growth in gross state domestic product (GSDP) was 3.71 per cent in 2002 and is now 8.83 per cent, according to the states economic survey for 2015-16.

The prime contributor is the services sector, its share in GSDP at constant prices rising from 33 per cent in 2004-05 to about 49 per cent in 2015-16.

Also, for the first time in the history of the 16-year-old state, a stable government is in place, led by Raghubar Das.

Political instability was one of the reasons that had stymied the pace of development, admitted the states first Chief Minister Babulal Marandi.

The state accounts for approximately 40 per cent of the total volume of minerals produced in the country.

However, a report from the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India says there has been a worrying drop in the industrial share of GSDP over the past decade.

The economic survey also says the manufacturing sector is yet to gain momentum.

Land and rehabilitation are the two major issues that have affected industrial growth in the mineral-rich state, says Ramesh Sharan, head of the economics department at Ranchi University.

The government has lacked vision and it reflects in the policies, he said, with policy designed without the participation of local industrialists.

Now, however, there seems a change in momentum. The state is now reaching out aggressively to investors and getting a very positive response, says industry secretary Sunil Kumar Barnwal.

The big leap forward would be the land bank the government is developing to facilitate allocation to industrial units.

People have given away land for construction of schools, hospital and development work, said social activist Dayamani Barla, who led a protest that forced ArcelorMittal to change the location of its project.

There would, however, be no protest and people would come out in support if the government assured every displaced person a job, Barla added.

Some major projects seem to be making headway. Within two months, Adani would start work on a proposed 1,600-megawatt (Mw) power unit; it has started the process of procuring land.

JSW Steel has environmental clearance for a 10-million tonne per annum steel unit and a 900 Mw captive power plant, at a cost of Rs 35,000 crore.

Land would have to be procured. Sharan thinks it would be prudent on the states part to focus on medium, small and micro enterprises (MSME), as a big source of employment and growth. The small units could be ancillary to the big industries, he added.

Existing MSMEs are, however, mostly on the verge of closure, claimed Anandeshwar, president of Laghu Udyog Bharati.

To which Barnwal says the governments trying to maximise procurement orders from the segment.

There is some effort to make things more business-friendly. And, some infrastructure development has taken place, especially in roads. In the next three years, 16,538 km of roads has been planned.

One reason to focus on industry is that the growth rate in agriculture is in single digits, 7.9 per cent for the past year.

The total area under irrigation is only about seven per cent.

Of the three states that were carved in November 2000, Jharkhand was the only one that had battled, with some violence, for separating over decades.

The legacy continues. While the Naxalite violence is somewhat less, there is unrest elsewhere.



Villagers from Iril Ashram, Labed, Kute, Nayasarai, Mudma and Aani on the outskirts of Ranchi city have resorted to an indefinite agitation to protest the planned Greater Ranchi to come up on 3,000 acres.

Before Jharkhand woos investors, it needs to do more to set its house in order.
Trying to guess Subramanian Swamy's motives or next step has been a rather difficult exercise for decades, says Archis Mohan

"I am inspired by Chanakya, who upon being insulted by Nanda king resolved" tweeted Subramanian Swamy on April 4, 2013.

This one was in the context of his pursuing legal cases related to scams during the erstwhile United Progressive Alliance government's rule and those related to Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her kin.

Swami, unlike Chanakya, has presumably been insulted by many, which had over the years made him put heart and sinew into insulting them in return.

And, if Chanakya brought down the mighty Nanda dynasty of Magadha some 2,400 years earlier, the 76-year-old Rajya Sabha member has proven an indomitable foe for politicians such as Atal Behari Vajpayee, J Jayalalithaa and some belonging to the Gandhi family.

Swamy has been called a maverick, diabolical and even an agent of foreign powers but he thinks of himself as a nationalist and takes pride in giving back as good as he believes to have received.

Chanakya crops up often in Swamy's speeches and public utterances, and seems to be somewhat a role model for the Rajya Sabha member. Chanakya, or Vishnugupt, was a poor Brahmin who had vowed to bring down the Nanda dynasty after being insulted in the court of King Dhanananda. He is then believed to have groomed Chandragupta Maurya to depose Dhanananda.

Chanakya's protege, the legend goes, also fulfilled his mentor's ambition of driving out the foreigner Greeks and defeating their vassal kings.

Incidentally, Chanakya, also known as Kautilya for his devious mind, authored a treatise on statecraft, Arthashastra, remembered for its advocacy of employing all means possible to bring down a foe.

Swamy has his own list of people, bureaucrats and politicians, whom he believes are serving foreign interests. He has justified his recent attacks on Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan and Chief Economic Advisor Arvind Subramanian for their links to America; he says he has a list of 27 such men and women.

Incidentally, Swamy himself studied and had later taught at Harvard. His politics, on the face of it, has been chequered. Swamy made it to the Rajya Sabha in 1974 on a Jana Sangh ticket, did a stellar job in fighting the Emergency and was a Janata Party Lok Sabha member twice, in 1977 and then re-elected in 1980.

He was close to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh leadership, particularly Nanaji Deshmukh, and the Sangh viewed him as a putative rival to Vajpayee.

In his autobiography, serialised in a Tamil publication in 1997, Swamy heaped venom on Vajpayee. Swamy accused Vajpayee of ensuring he didn't get a berth in the Morarji Desai council of ministers and alleged Vajpayee brought down the Desai government. He also recounted colourful stories about the former PM's personal life.

Vajpayee and Lal Krishna Advani, however, diluted the RSS influence after they broke away from the Janata Party to float the Bharatiya Janata Party. Those with closer links to the RSS found themselves marginalised and Swamy stuck to the Chandra Shekhar-headed Janata Party.

After 1984, much of the opposition and particularly the BJP was demoralised by their decimation in the Lok Sabha elections. The BJP won a mere two seats. Elements in the RSS, including Deshmukh, were sympathetic to the Rajiv Gandhi government. Swamy was soon a part of Rajiv's inner circle.

He was also close to the then Tamil Nadu chief minister M G Ramachandran (MGR). Swamy was a minister in the short-lived Shekhar government in 1991, supported from outside by the Rajiv-led Congress. Rajiv was assassinated during election campaigning in May 1991. The subsequent Narasimha Rao government accorded Swamy a ministerial rank.

His antipathy to Vajpayee erupted again in 1999. In 1998, MGR protege Jayalalithaa had made her All India Anna Dravida Munetra Kazhagam ensure Swamy won a Lok Sabha seat from Madurai.

In return for her supporting the Vajpayee government, Jayalalithaa demanded that the Vajpayee government dismiss the Dravida Munetra Kazhagam state government in Tamil Nadu and give the finance portfolio at the Centre to Swamy.

Both demands were refused. Swamy then facilitated a tea party of opposition leaders but particularly Sonia Gandhi and Jayalalithaa. The Vajpayee government fell as Sonia couldn't convince Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav to support a Congress-led government.

Vajpayee returned as PM in the 1999 elections and Swamy again found himself irrelevant. In 2000, Swamy wrote a stinging write-up against the "creeping fascism of the RSS".

Swamy's distancing from the RSS and his known proximity to the Gandhis should have helped find a place in the UPA government, although it was supported from the outside by his sworn enemies, the Communist parties.

But, Congress leader and Gandhi family loyalist Arjun Singh ostensibly poisoned Sonia's ears about Swamy.

A few years later, Swamy, in his new avatar as a lawyer, pursued the telecom scam and the National Herald case. He also pursued the disproportionate assets case against Jayalalithaa that eventually led to her quitting as the Tamil Nadu CM and spend 22 days in prison.

He also took to calling Sonia and her son Rahul names on Twitter and started advocating the cause of the RamTemple in Ayodhya. With Vajpayee ailing and Advani sidelined, the RSS influence on the BJP became stronger. Swamy not only joined the BJP but was nominated to the Rajya Sabha earlier this year, despite reservations of Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.

There has been much speculation on whether Swamy's support comes from the RSS or the PM or is he a lone ranger? In the past, Swamy has taken on Vajpayee, Jayalalithaa and Sonia, among others. The ones who could keep him on their side were Rajiv Gandhi, Chandra Shekhar and Narasimha Rao. All three assuaged Swamy by lending a keen ear to his advice and give important positions in their durbars.

It will be interesting to see whether Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be willing to pay that price for supporting Swamy. Once, during a Rajya Sabha discussion on the AgustaWestland bribery case, Congress leader Anand Sharma cautioned the BJP that Swamy was a loose cannon and they'd soon find the cannon's mouth turned towards them.

BJP sources say that nominating Swamy to the Rajya Sabha was the least the party could have done in return for his 'services' to their cause. But if Swamy thinks of himself as Kautilya reborn, Prime Minister Modi definitely isn't his Chandragupta.

"Modi will never relent on his principle of not accommodating those above 75 in his council of ministers. Swamy is nearly 77, but with ambitions to be part of the cabinet, which will be never met in this government," a BJP source said.

An increasingly ill-tempered Swamy, or so party leaders believe, will provoke the party leadership into sacking him, something the BJP is wary of but willing to tolerate. "Swamy inside the party will be manageable but outside he will be a big nuisance," a BJP source said.

It remains to be seen if the ultimate maverick of Indian politics tries to build alliances to achieve his objectives, than rocking the boat when his ambitions are not met.

IMAGE: Subramanian Swamy laughs during a seminar against corruption in New Delhi. Photograph: Parivartan Sharma/Reuters
'When we have a terrorist outfit in a neighbouring nation, we need to do whatever we can to neutralise that threat,' says Ramananda Sengupta.

We should have seen it coming.

Daesh, or Islamic State had made it very clear in the April 2016 issue of Dabiq, their slickly produced online magazine, that Bangladesh was its next big terror base -- in order to attack India.

Announcing Abu Ibrahim Al-Hanif's appointment as the 'Amir Of The Khilafah's (Caliphate's) Soldiers In Bengal (Bangladesh),' with a lengthy interview, IS was clearly semaphoring its intent.

And for those who still didn't get it, here's what Al-Hanif had to say in that interview: 'Bengal is an important region for the Khilafah and the global jihad due to its strategic geographic position. Bengal is located on the eastern side of India, whereas Wilayat Khurasan (The Af-Pak region) is located on its western side. Thus, having a strong jihad base in Bengal will facilitate performing guerrilla attacks inside India simultaneously from both sides and facilitate creating a condition of tawahhush (savagery aimed at creating fear and chaos) in India along with the help of the existing local mujahidin there.'

Pledging to kill all 'non-believers,' he says: 'It is not the methodology of the Khilafah's soldiers to send more threats to the enemies of Allah. Rather, we let our actions do the talking. And our soldiers are presently sharpening their knives to slaughter the atheists, the mockers of the Prophet, and every other apostate in the region, biidnillah (by Allah's will).'

He also sneered at local Islamic outfits, describing them as apostates while gleefully admitting that several of their followers had turned to Daesh.

But to do that, these lower rung psychos need to prove their loyalty, capability and intent.

Which led to a continuing spate of barbaric and random attacks across Bangladesh on Hindus, Buddhists, other minorities and 'apostates.'

Unlike the continuing 'political' violence in the country, these attacks were far more barbaric, with attempts at public beheadings while chanting 'Allah-hu Akbar.'

Sheikh Hasina Wajed's government was in denial. Insisting that these were local goons sponsored by the Opposition -- and some 'foreign forces' --to harass her government, she used it as an excuse to further hound her opponents and local religious outfits like the Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh, Harkat-ul-Jihad-al Islami Bangladesh, the Jagrata Muslim Janata Bangladesh and other assorted groups.

Thereby, sending even more of their cadres into the waiting arms of bloodthirsty Daesh.

It is important to remember that Prime Minister Hasina, described as an Indian stooge by her rivals, won her second consecutive term in 2014 in an election boycotted by all major Opposition parties. Her Awami League thus won 154 of the total 300 parliament seats uncontested.

The main Opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party, led by Khaleda Zia, had allied with fundamentalist outfits like the Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh, the largest Islamic party in the country.

Facing yet term out of power, the BNP and its allies have been bristling with righteous indignation, and doing everything they can to disrupt government and force a mid-term election.

This resentment has spread to the local populace due to Hasina's increasingly autocratic ways and her government's brutal and blanket crackdown on anyone perceived as critical of her regime, including journalists and ordinary citizens.

The execution of several Jaamat leaders for 'war crimes' committed during the Liberation War of 1971 has not helped either. The Jamaat, which opposed liberation from Pakistan, had sided with the Pakistan army to launch one of the most brutal genocides in recent history, massacring thousands of pro-independence 'intellectuals' in then East Pakistan in 1971.

These leaders, indicted and sentenced by a war crimes tribunal, were executed after their appeals were rejected by the higher courts. Yet many see this as a political move rather than a genuine attempt to deliver justice.

So what can India, which has been clearly and publicly threatened by Al-Hanif, do except wait for a Daesh attack on Indian soil?

I know that what I am about to suggest will be perceived as interference in the affairs of another sovereign nation, something New Delhi sanctimoniously preaches against.

The fact that relations between New Delhi and Dhaka have never been better -- the resolution of the enclaves issue and Dhaka's recent permission to allow transhipment of goods to India's northeast through Bangladesh are just two examples -- actually makes things even more difficult.

But when we have a terrorist outfit sitting in a neighbouring nation, which clearly fufils the definition of a threat -- capability and intent -- we need to do whatever we can to neutralise that threat.

(Yes, we face the same problem on our western border, with the difference that it is the government/military there which backs terror as an instrument of policy.)

So, here's a list things of five things we could do, in random order, to check or delay Daesh's plans to promote tawahhush in India from Bangladesh.

One, strengthen our intelligence capabilities in the country. In 2011, inputs from Indian intelligence led to the squelching of a possible military coup against Hasina and the arrest of several senior and mid-rung military and other officers.

It is critical to ramp up our intelligence sources and capabilities in Bangladesh if we are to pre-empt an attack by Daesh. The focus should be on identifying the Daesh leadership in Bangladesh and take them out.

Two, convince Hasina to reach out to her opponents instead of trampling all over them. Announcing a referendum over the need for an interim government before each election could be a good first step.

It was her decision to do away with this system (among other things) which led to the Opposition boycott of the last election.

Three, reach out to Khaleda Zia and urge her to convince her followers to renounce violence and work towards nation building. We could offer her help for any such initiative, thereby sending out a message that we are willing to work with anyone with democratic credentials.

Four, tell Dhaka that it is time to get out of denial mode, and that any attack on India from Bangladeshi soil would be seen as a breach of friendship, regardless of whether it was government backed or not.

Ramping up measures to stem immigration from Bangladesh should also be a priority.

Five, identify and align with all democratic and secular forces in Bangladesh, and offer them financial and moral support. (Yes, that is what Pakistan apparently offers Kashmiri separatists, except the aim there is the dismemberment of India, whereas our aim is to help Bangladesh being torn apart by fundamentalists.)

Yet even if we implement all this, I still predict a Daesh attack on India soon, probably in West Bengal or in Assam.

Forewarned, they say, is fore-armed. Let no one say we didn't see it coming.

Ramananda Sengupta is a senior commentator on foreign affairs. Then a member of Rediff.com's editorial team, he traveled to Dhaka in 2005 and was among the first reporters to warn about the Islamist threat in Bangladesh.

You can read his reports here.

IMAGE: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed in Dhaka, June 6, 2015.
IMAGE: Village children show their patriotic spirit near Balurghat, West Bengal, August 15, 2015. Photograph: PTI Photo

'It is folly to think that religious-identity-based politics and a flourishing economy can co-exist in a diverse society.'

'We can fight and kill each other, or fight together and kill poverty. We cannot do both,' says Dasrathi G V.

Per million population, the number of ISIS fighters from Belgium is 2,400 times more than that from India.

India's population is 54 times more than Australia's, but the number of ISIS fighters from India is one-sixth that from Australia.

India has the third largest Muslim population in the world, but a mere 23 people from India have joined ISIS.

The European Union's population is half that of India, but 5,000 people from the EU have joined ISIS.

Population (million) No. of ISIS fighters Fighters per million population Belgium 1.1 520 47 Sweden 9.6 310 32 France 66 1,550 18 Australia 23 300 13 UK 64 700 11 Germany 80 700 9 India 1,252 23 0.02

Do these statistics mean something?

The EU countries happen to be some of the wealthiest in the world, with housing, health, food, education taken care of. Everybody there should be satisfied, not yearning for Utopia, because they already are in Utopia.

On the other hand, India is a Third World country with extreme poverty, and abysmal quality and quantity of the basics of life.

How is it that Muslims in India are so disinterested in the idea of a Caliphate (that's what ISIS professes to be fighting for), a single Islamic theocratic nation straddling the whole world? What could be the reason?

The salad bowl concept of diversity suggests that the many different cultures combine like a salad, each retaining its own distinct qualities, not merging into a single homogeneous culture.

In the melting pot concept, there is a single culture that every citizen must change to, and abandon his or her original culture -- it's 'My way or the highway'.

India is a salad bowl, with a bewildering variety of religions, sub-sects, languages and skin colours. Each little collection of people has devised, and follows, unwritten rules on how to live with each other. There is no 'My way or the highway.' It is more like 'All right, you do it your way, and I'll do it mine.'

India in fact is the world's biggest salad bowl, with the highest variety of ingredients. India has learnt to live with enormous diversity.

Most of the first world countries have been melting pots till just a few decades ago, with maybe just one or a couple of languages, religions and skin colours. They were mostly white and Christian, in fact.

As they got wealthier, their populations dropped and they aged, and there are not enough people to do all the work that needs to be done. Now you are in a situation where you have to import people to do the jobs that your own wealthy citizens do not wish to do, or are too old to do.

You cannot import from another first world country, because they have the same problems and secondly do not want to migrate from one wealthy country to another. You import from a Third World country, and these imports are people with different skin colours, religions, languages, food habits, clothing.

You are face to face with people who are much poorer than you, worship some other strange gods that you've never heard of, eat weird food, dress in strange clothing. Now you say 'Ok, we've given you the privilege of letting you into our wealthy nation and living like us. We however detest your skin colour, your religion, your clothing, the whole of your old culture, and in return for letting you live here, we expect you to join the melting pot and abandon your old culture.'

The first generation immigrant came for economic reasons and was willing to join the melting pot, he put up with the prejudices and remarks of the locals, and still has roots in the original country.

The second generation immigrant considers himself a part of the adopted country, but is not accepted by the locals even though he speaks the language and is in all respects a part of the melting pot.

He wears jeans, has ditched the beard, eats local food, and yet is considered an outsider, is viewed with suspicion, doesn't get a job or only gets poorly paid jobs. At some point he's had enough, doesn't consider himself a part of his adopted country, has no other roots, and just wants to revenge himself against the adopted country and its culture.

Radical Islam and ISIS give him the perfect means. Marc Treavidic, the head examining magistrate in charge of France's anti-terrorism unit and author of numerous books about Islamists in France, says: 'Ninety percent of those who leave do it out of personal reasons: They are looking for a fight, or for adventure, or revenge, because they do not fit in society. Only 10 percent (of those who leave Europe to join ISIS) do so out of religious beliefs. Religion is not the engine of this movement and thats precisely its strength.'

Migration is only going to increase in the future, and countries that were hitherto insular will have to deal with diversity. They are, however, not going to be able to do so overnight. It is going to take decades (or centuries) to learn to live with the kind of diversity that will be an inevitable fallout of the migration resulting from economic disparity between countries.

In India, everybody is a part of a minority community. Hindus worship thousands of gods, there are 70 sects of Islam, and many sub-sects in Christianity and Sikhism.

The combination of religion + sub-sect + language makes you a part of a small unique community that is a minority, irrespective of which religion or ethnicity you belong to.

There is no monolithic majority, and so there is no sense of a monolithic majority oppressing you, who belongs to a minority (although there is currently a political project to form an artificial majority of Hindus).

India accepts a person's differences, because it is forced to, just to survive.

Despite grievances against the State or against the rest of the population arising from politically inspired communalism and violence, the number of ISIS fighters from India can be counted on your fingers and toes.

In countries that are suddenly encountering diversity and haven't learnt to cope with it yet, there's going to be a lot of strife and violence while they adjust and learn. They are going to be spending a lot of time fighting instead of producing, and a lot of time and money fixing the effects of the fighting.

The salad bowl works, the melting pot doesn't. India, the world's largest salad bowl, is the perfect example of this.

When India was formed in 1947, it was actually 550 different countries with a huge diversity of gods and languages (the chief causes of strife anywhere in the world), joined together artificially as a single country.

Nobody expected India to survive as a nation. And yet we are surviving, and flourishing, 70 years later.

India was done with the 'adjust and learn' phase a long time ago. We don't have to spend time fighting instead of producing. While people in a lot of other countries are fighting amongst themselves, people in India can be working, producing and reducing poverty.

We in India are currently fond of talking of economic growth, GDP and production. Production requires capital, and this ability to live with diversity is the greatest component of India's capital (defined as a stock of accumulated assets, devoted to the production of other goods), that has been built over thousands of years.

This capital is, however, being eroded fast by our inability and unwillingness to live with our diversity. Over the past few decades, political parties at the Centre and in the states have created strife between religions and castes to get votes, rather than using development as a political strategy.

We citizens have been willing accomplices to this divide and rule strategy.

When a company's capital is eroded, it is called bankrupt. Let's not go bankrupt by eroding the greatest economic capital of our country, our ability to live with diversity.

It is folly to think that religious-identity-based politics and a flourishing economy can co-exist in a diverse society.

We can fight and kill each other, or fight together and kill poverty. We cannot do both.

Dasarathi GV is a Bengaluru-based enterpreneur and commentator.
'This was undoubtedly a premeditated strategy to thwart India's entry into the NSG.'

'If India hopes to be a major player, it must use its rising clout on the world stage to influence amenable members of the group to alter such discriminatory practices and ensure fair rules of engagement,' says Vivek Gumaste.

Despite diplomatic legalese and sanctimonious overtures to high sounding principles, it was undeniably a rank hatchet job; a Machiavellian conspiracy to the hilt; a scheming gameplan executed to perfection with the evil ingenuity -- one that embodied chicanery, double standards and malicious collusion between India's inimical neighbours.

That in a nutshell sums up the ugly farce that was enacted at the Nuclear Suppliers Group plenary in Seoul by China at the behest of its 'all weather friend' or more appropriately its 'partner in crime,' Pakistan to scuttle India's entry into this elite group.

The NSG is a group of nuclear supplier countries that seek to curb the proliferation of nuclear weapons through the implementation of regulatory guidelines for nuclear exports and was created in response to India's explosion of a nuclear device in 1974.

Simply speaking, it is a watchdog organisation that aims to prevent the misuse of nuclear technology transferred for peaceful purposes to develop nuclear weapons.

Couching its opposition to India in procedural technicalities and invoking the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, the Chinese chief negotiator Wang Qun, the head of its arms control department in the foreign ministry, claimed: 'Applicant countries must be signatories of the treaty on the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons. This is a pillar, not something that China set. It is universally recognised by the international community. International rules will have to be respected, big or small.' (The Indian Express, June 25).

This Chinese stipulation is neither logically sound nor technically valid. While signing the NPT is one of the criteria for entry, it is not a sine qua non as China makes it out to be. In fact, France's admission into the NSG preceded its endorsement of the NPT.

More importantly, the NSG guidelines, speak of the 'non-proliferation principle.' According to the NSG website: 'The non-proliferation principle seeks to cover the rare but important cases where adherence to the NPT or to a Nuclear Weapon Free Zone Treaty may not by itself be a guarantee that a State will consistently share the objectives of the treaty or that it will remain in compliance with its treaty obligations.'

When judged by the 'non-proliferation principle,' India stands out as a star candidate; a model of impeccable behaviour that calls for all round emulation. Its track record is spotless without the faintest taint of questionable nuclear transactions.

India's refusal to sign the NPT is based on principle. On a visit to Japan in 2007, the then external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee clarified India's stance in no uncertain terms: 'If India did not sign the NPT, it is not because of its lack of commitment for non-proliferation, but because we consider it a flawed treaty and it did not recognise the need for universal, non-discriminatory verification and treatment.'

Maybe not on paper, but definitely in spirit India is a signatory to the NPT.

However, the same cannot be said of China. If one were to turn the tables and apply the 'non-proliferation principle' to China's nuclear activities, China proves to be a delinquent.

Peruse the following news report to decipher the extent of Chinese malfeasance: 'China and Pakistan reached a formal agreement last month to construct a third nuclear reactor at Chashma that the Obama administration says will violate Beijing's promises under an international anti-nuclear weapons accord. The agreement calls for the State-run China National Nuclear Corp to construct a 1,000-megawatt power plant at Chashma.'

'The CNNC is China's main nuclear weapons producer and has been linked in the past to Pakistan's nuclear arms programme by US intelligence agencies. Additionally, recent US intelligence reports indicate that China, which supplied Pakistan with nuclear weapons, is in the process of modernising Islamabad's nuclear arsenal, which is estimated to contain as many as 110 warheads.'

'Pakistan produced one of the most dangerous cases of nuclear proliferation in the early 2000s when weapons technology was supplied to Libya, Iran and North Korea. The new reactor sale will undermine the Nuclear Suppliers Group. China in 2004 joined the group and agreed not to sell additional reactors to Pakistan beyond the two reactors sold earlier.'

'China is not permitted under NSG guidelines to sell nuclear goods to any country that is not part of the International Atomic Energy Agency.' (China, Pakistan reach secret nuclear reactor deal. Washington Times, March 21, 2013).

It is ironical that a member who actively encourages illegitimate nuclear proliferation should successfully pass judgement on the entry into the NSG of a country with better credentials.

That the Chinese stance was more political than virtuous was evident from the series of India-bashing op-eds which appeared in its official mouthpiece, the Global Times, prior to the summit.

On June 14, in an article 'India mustn't let nuclear ambitions blind itself,' (Global Times, June 14) Wang Wenwen wrote: 'India's application for NSG membership and its potential consequences will inevitably touch a raw nerve in Pakistan, its traditional rival in the region. As Pakistan is not willing to see an enlarging gap in nuclear power with India, a nuclear race is a likely outcome. This will not only paralyse regional security, but also jeopardise China's national interests.'

Another column, 'Beijing could support India's NSG accession path if it plays by rules' (Global Times, June 16) reiterated the same line of thought.

This was undoubtedly a premeditated strategy to thwart India's entry. If India hopes to be a major player, it must use its rising clout on the world stage to influence amenable members of the group to alter such discriminatory practices and ensure fair rules of engagement.

The working structure of the NSG is flawed. The consensus principle can easily be exploited by any one country to advance its own vested interests as this example indicates. Despite more than 30 members of the 48-member group supporting India's candidacy, China was able to have its way. This should be changed.
IMAGE: JNU students protest against the police crackdown on the campus in February. Photograph: PTI

The State is trying to curb the students movements, therefore, there are suspicions against some of the Subramanian report on education's recommendations, says Mohammad Sajjad.

The Committee for the Evolution of a National Education Policy, headed by former Cabinet secretary T S R Subramanian, submitted its report to the Union human resources development ministry May 27.

Even though the 200-page report is yet to be made public, reactions from certain quarters on certain aspects of the report have started appearing in the media.

Its segment of student politics has attracted some attention. At least two student activists of Jawaharlal Nehru University, (Shehla Rashid, in The Indian Express, and an alumnus, Kavita Krishnan, on Scroll.in), have reacted on this segment of the Subramanian report said to be making some recommendations towards curbing student activism.

While the report seems to have kept itself oblivious of some of the best examples of healthy practices of student activism on certain campuses of our country, these well-meaning critics of the report also appear to be shying away from reflecting upon huge degenerations which have set in the students' (and teachers') politics across campuses.

However, what is even more objectionable about this report is the composition of the members of the Subramanian committee. The learned members don't seem to have been known as practitioners of healthy student activism.

Conversely put, the better known student activists turned academics have been kept out of the committee membership. In terms of ideological affiliations/leanings too, the composition of the committee does not seem to be an all inclusive one.

This was true even for the Lyngdoh Committee Report (2006) which had exclusive terms of reference to frame guidelines on the students' unions on university campuses.

The Lyngdoh report was, however, sensitive about taking note of campuses such as JNU which essentially has/had worth appreciating student politics. Presumably, this was unlike the Subramanian report which reportedly does not write appreciably about the healthy aspects of student activism, for instance on campuses like JNU and the University of Hyderabad.

Why cannot we ban student politics altogether?

A students union is both an associational and institutional interest group, essentially like trade unions. All liberal democracies have such organised groups to represent the collective interests of concerned groups of citizens, in this case, students.

Since democracy is a system of government by discussion, persuasion, accommodation and consensus, hence, such pressure groups like students unions have to be relatively radical in emancipatory ideas and mobilisation.

They have to organise gheraos, dharnas, and public demonstrations in protest against policies and actions that are antithetical to the larger collective interests of the student community and unemployed youth. They have to play important roles in national reconstruction.

They have to build enlightened public opinion, by promoting consensus, by enlisting sympathy, support and participation by a cross-section of opinion leaders in society and appealing to human reason, good sense and compassion. They have to influence the decision making.

The State and its organs like the university (administration) along with the students union have to encourage flow of ideas, promote public debate and discussion, and ensure students' participation in policy formulation and in running the affairs of the university.

The students union has also to provide meaningful information, critical perspectives and theoretical reflection on various issues. It has to analyse the socio-economic problems that we confront at various levels.

In short, since a students union does not have executive power, therefore, to ensure the protection of collective interests of the student community, it has to employ pressure tactics through democratic mobilisation.

A student leader, rather than becoming a self-serving, opportunist political operator, should not only be enlightened, informed, visionary, and sensitive but s/he should also be equipped with the art of mobilisation and negotiation.

Thus, the student movements are a unique part of the culture of higher education. One of the fundamental elements of the university community, the students' union has a genuine stake or vested interest in the operations of the university and the impact higher education can have on the world outside the walls of the academy.

The students who attended the first International Congress of Students in Latin America in 1909 had a direct impact on the University of Cordoba in 1918 and, ultimately, on the very structure of Latin American higher education.

In the United States, students drew the attention of their nation and that of the world to the futility of American involvement in a foreign conflict and forced their own universities to account for their business practices.

The Indian scenario

Although potentially compromised by the true leaders of the Independence movement, Indian students were a key component to their country's independence from British rule in 1947, and went on to represent a microcosm of a world embroiled in the Cold War.

Students, including educated unemployed youth, have become an important demand group in post-Independence Indian politics. Students have been in the vanguard of regime change. Yet, the students' political participation and mobilisation in India is often referred to as 'unrest', 'indiscipline' (in the official parlance of Aligarh Muslim University, India's largest residential university, it is invariably identified as 'anti-social activities').

The students are not treated as citizens having group interests, hence they are not supposed to be political actors. These are, needless to say, cultural constructs.

Agitational politics and mobilisation give the appearance of revolutionary potential. At residential universities (JNU, AMU, Banaras Hindu University, UoH, etc.), relatively unfettered conditions (in the hostels) lead them to search for personal identity and social meanings in ideologies and issues.

From the 1960s onwards, migration of rural students in urban colleges, combined with the spectre of unemployment, tended to drive them to agitation, as they became conscious and were able to get organised (even Aligarh's MAO College had 54 percent of its students from rural areas till 1900 AD, informs David Lelyveld).

The University of Hyderabad is one of our best universities. It also has an intellectually sharp and articulate, hence politically organised and assertive, Dalit student movement. Thus, representing the upward mobility of the historically most oppressed social groups who are articulating their grievances and urge for empowerment, and thereby strengthening our democracy.

Senior student leaders/alumni provide the personnel and political resources (at times for partisan and factional politics too). In most cases, easy access to political careers and the benefits of power have led students to act as tools and pawns in the hands of self-serving politicians and also aligning with reactionary political formations.

It dissipated their potential and capacities to challenge the rot afflicting the established political system.

Between 1965 and 1975, parts of India witnessed strong student movements -- the Navnirman Andolan in Gujarat and the Sampurna Kranti (Total Revolution or Jayaprakash movement) in Bihar -- against rampant corruption in the government and universities.

These movements, in many ways, were also the manifestation of organised assertions of new rural elites, the backward castes, who had made their ways in higher education, but consummate employment opportunities were yet to be offered.

Around this time, a section of students of premier institutions like St Stephen's College in Delhi and Presidency College in Calcutta ventilated their anger against rural discontent and the State's wilful failures in implementing land reforms. Some students joined the extremist Naxalite movement.

Strong administrative measures have often succeeded in crushing student agitations. The threat of repression and intimidation worked wonders for the moment, and pliant, committed, prejudiced vice-chancellors and their sycophant aides and advisors took charge.

These elements, say Lloyd I Rudolph and Susanne H Rudolph (In Pursuit of Laxmi, 1987), failed to realise that student agitations cannot be dealt with merely as a law and order problem.

Hence, rather than repression, persuasion and conceding the legitimate demands should be the preferred ways of dealing with student agitations. Most often, only real grievances and discontentment influence students to mobilise.

Misguided, self-serving student activism and deep rot in academics

As an insider, I have seen to my horror that even the tallest and most renowned academics have wilfully indulged in brazen practices like manipulating the system and extracting unscrupulous favours for their miserably unworthy cronies.

In one instance, an absolute non-academic, infamous as a rotten fixer on the campus, was one morning found to have been upgraded into an academic without any evaluation, and subsequently a research paper was also published in his name, understandably through ghost writing, in a Left-leaning, high rated academic journal, thereby grievously hurting the journal's credibility.

On this campus, the student leaders of the 1990s operated as admission mafias, infamous for carrying out violence, intimidation. They have now become rich property dealers with easy access to powerful politicians and legislators.

Today, such 'worthies' are into various bodies managing academic governance, hence have easy access to, and influence the highest functionaries of universities. By virtue of such power and influences they can extract most unscrupulous favours in admissions and faculty recruitments/promotions.

These disconcerting aspects of academia remain woefully under studied. The rotten politics within the temples of knowledge remain under-explored and under-exposed. The higher bureaucracy writes self-critical accounts, Bollywood makes movies exposing dirty practices prevalent within the industry, but the darker aspects of the politics of knowledge remain a closely guarded and unarticulated secret.

Among the rare exceptions could be the study of geographer Craig Jeffrey (now at Oxford University), whose study (2009) of the student-fixers on the Meerut University campus attempted to expose the rot within academia.

During the 1970s and 1980s, the hostels of some universities were hideouts for criminals wielding illegal arms and crude bombs. In Muzaffarpur, the hostels had become sites of shootouts and killings emerging out of intra-upper caste gang rivalries. Such a dispute once resulted in the killing of a principal of a premier college in Chapra.

A very ordinary chronicle, hence academically least noticed, P N Gour's study (1984) of the student unrest at the University of Bihar during 1967 an 1972, and some of the news reports of the 1980s, testify how some universities were turned into fiefdoms of various upper castes.

The colleges were opened by upper caste landlord-politicians who recruited their own caste-men, then these colleges were taken over by the government.

This arrangement provided upper caste elites practically with almost cent percent reservation in recruitments. This very social class already obtained medical and engineering degrees through capitation fees at private educational institutions.

Yet, this very social class, conveniently forgetting all these instances of gross casualties of merit, invoked the arguments of meritocracy while vehemently opposing the implementation of the Mandal Commission in the 1990s providing reservation of 27 per cent for the backward castes in public employment.

Similarly, in the name of gender justice, we insiders can see how the pettiest possible dirty politics of score-settling and nasty jealousies and bickerings of professionally deficient and under-accomplished academics are prevalent even on the best of our campuses.

One can go on multiplying such instances, but the rot within academia remains pitifully under-explored and therefore unarticulated.

The students and youth movements as well as the teachers associations shy away from articulating their own deeply entrenched follies. We hardly have comprehensive histories of even the oldest surviving, and influential students organisations such as the All India Students Federation and the Samajwadi Yuvajan Sabha.

The State, under neo-liberal economic dictates, is trying to curb the students and youth movements (as also the workers and peasants movements), and therefore obvious alarming suspicions against some of the Subramanian report's recommendations from sections of stake-holders.

For long, academicians have spoken from the high moral pedestal sitting in judgement against bureaucrats and politicians. In recent times, some media houses, subservient to rapidly triumphant crony capitalism, have also become outrageously slavish.

In such a scenario the onus on academics has increased manifold. They need to become self-critical, in order to become self-corrective.

The need of the hour is: While fighting these out, the other stake-holders in academics must also look at the rot within and must reflect self-critically.

Otherwise, we will be face to face with a huge disconnect between the common masses and the campuses.

In such a scenario all resistance to an unjust order will become weaker, subverting and defeating the noble purposes of campus politics we claim to champion.

Mohammad Sajjad teaches history at Aligarh Muslim University and has published Muslim Politics in Bihar: Changing Contours< (Routledge, 2014) and Contesting Colonialism and Separatism: Muslims of Muzaffarpur (Primus, 2014).
'The police had cautioned me that there could be some 'trouble' in Dhaka by the end of June.'

'Once brainwashed, these young people don't think twice about killing people, thinking such an act will pave the path for heaven.'

"It's time Sheikh Hasina accepts that the militants who attacked the Holey Artisan Bakery in Dhaka had connections with Islamic State," Anizzujaman, Professor Emeritus of Bengali at Dhaka University, tells Rediff.com's Indrani Roy over the telephone from Dhaka.

A resident of Gulshan, the area where the attack took place, Professor Anizzujaman, who has actively supported the cause of atheist bloggers in Bangladesh, received a death threat on his mobile in November after which the government provided him with a bodyguard.

Professor Anizzujaman, below, left, believes the Bangladesh government should not waste time debating if the terrorists had connections with IS and instead track down the terror trail without delay.

Gulshan is a high security area. Do you think an attack of this magnitude means there was a serious lapse on the administration's part?

I don't think so. It's impossible to prevent a massacre that people with evil plans unleash on innocent civilians.

Did you ever imagine that such carnage could take place around your home?

Ever since I received death threats for supporting the bloggers, the police generally keep me in the loop about any impending danger.

The police had cautioned me some time back that there could be some 'trouble' in Dhaka by the end of June. I could never imagine that the 'trouble' would be this big.

The Bangladesh government, its police, some intellectuals. journalists are of the view that IS does not exist there.

In my opinion, it's a very wrong way of looking at things. I think the militants who attacked the cafe had strong links with international terror modules and the sooner our government accepts that, the better.

Being in a state of denial won't help in this hour of crisis. We can't afford to lose more lives.

Why do you think the Bangladesh government is in a state of denial?

If the government admits the presence of IS here, it may have complicated international ramifications.

But we are living in a dangerous time and we cannot afford to look like ostriches in the sand. It's time we stood up against violence and terrorism. The onus is on our government to protect its citizens.

What should the Hasina government do now?

It should conduct massive combing operations across the nation. It should walk in tandem with the neighbouring countries to counter militancy. One just can't be lackadaisical.

Most of the terrorists who attacked the cafe reportedly belonged to wealthy families and attended prestigious educational institutions. What could be their motivation to take up arms?

Going by their background, the reason can't be only money, that's for sure.

I think the head hunters of the militant groups who recruit freshers into their teams are always on the lookout for young vulnerable souls who have a soft spot for religion.

Through various social networking sites, they approach these young men and slowly indoctrinate them into their sect, using religion as the tool.

Once thoroughly brainwashed, these young people don't think twice about killing people, thinking such an act will pave the path for heaven.

Of late, bloggers, publishers, priests in Bangladesh have been hacked to death, attacked and threatened. Do you think IS had a role to play in those incidents as well?

It's highly possible. Thanks to the tremendous technological progress, the world is almost like a small village now. And terror outfits are known for their well knit network.

Therefore, it's not at all difficult for Islamist groups of any country to establish links with notorious international modules.

Islamists of our country are killing bloggers, atheists, priests to pose a challenge to the secular forces.

Let me tell you, no force in the world can kill the spirit of humanity.

Do you still support the atheists and bloggers of Bangladesh? Now that there is a death threat, don't you feel scared?

(Pauses.) You live only once. Besides, I believe that every person has the right to live life kingsize. No religion is above humanity.

I will continue my support for secularism till my last breath.
Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Monday led the nation in paying homage to the 20 slain hostages, including an Indian, at a solemn ceremony here as the country mourned the victims of the worst terror attack on its soil.

Diplomats, politicians and people from across the different strata of society paid tributes and placed wreaths during the ceremony at the Bangladesh Army Stadium in Dhaka cantonment which drew a huge crowd despite drizzle.

Islamist terrorists hacked to death 20 hostages after they stormed a cafe popular with expatriates and diplomats in Dhakas diplomatic zone on Friday.

At the ceremony, the caskets, bearing the flags of India, Italy, Bangladesh, Japan and the United States -- signifying the nationalities of the foreigners killed -- were placed on a raised platform.

Hasina placed floral wreaths at the caskets of the victims.

Autopsy on the bodies had been conducted earlier at the Combined Military Hospital in Dhaka.

Of those killed, 18 were foreigners -- nine Italians, seven Japanese, one American of Bangladeshi-origin and an Indian, 19-year-old Tarishi Jain.

Two other Bangladeshis were also among the hostages slaughtered.

The bodies of two Bangladeshis and one Bangladeshi-born US citizen were handed over to the relatives for subsequent rituals and burial after the ceremony that was held on the second day of the two-day nationwide mourning declared in the country.

Officials said the rest of the bodies of foreign nationals would be handed over to the respective embassies.

Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the killing of the hostages, mostly foreigners, and two police officers during the 12-hour siege that ended on Saturday after the army stormed the Holey Artisan Bakery, killing six attackers and capturing one alive.

However, Bangladesh has blamed homegrown Islamist terrorists and Pakistans spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence for the countrys worst terror attack, ruling out the role of the IS.

IMAGE: Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina pays tribute to the victims of Dhaka Attack at the Bangladesh Army Stadium in Dhaka on Monday. Photograph: Adnan Abidi/Reuters
The accused in the murder of a female IT employee in Chennai, arrested last week and hospitalised in Tirunelveli after attempting suicide while being nabbed, was on Monday brought to the city and admitted to a government hospital where a magistrate remanded him in judicial custody.

P Ramkumar, 24, told the police that he had befriended Swathi, an Infosys employee, on social media. A search through Swathis Facebook friends reveals Ramkumars name.

According to the police, Ramkumar allegedly killed Swathi after he reportedly told Swathi that he was in love with her, which she rejected.

Ramkumar was brought in an ambulance from Tirunelveli Government Medical College Hospital with a medical team and police escort and admitted to the Government Royapettah Hospital in the early hours, police said.

XIII Metropolitan Magistrate S Gopinathan visited Ramkumar at the hospital and remanded him in judicial custody for 15 days, police said.

Ramkumar was arrested on July 1 from his house in T Meenkakshipuram village in Tirunelveli district in connection with the June 24 sensational murder of S Swati at Nungambakkam railway station.

He had attempted suicide by slashing his neck when surrounded by police following which he was undergoing treatment at the Tiruneveli hospital.
The toll from an explosion in Baghdad -- one of the deadliest attacks in recent years -- has risen to more than 200.

The suicide car bombing on Sunday, which ripped through a crowded shopping area and sparked fires in nearby buildings, also wounded more than 200 people, security and medical officials said.

Among the casualties, several suffocated or burned to death, police said. They were inside a shopping mall when a lorry carrying explosives detonated, Al Jazeera reported. Iraq Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi visited the site and declared three days of mourning.

In a separate incident, at least five people were killed and many others injured after a second explosion ripped through a market in the Iraqi capitals al-Shaab area. The explosions in both Shiite neighbourhoods took place at a time when most people were outdoors after breaking their Ramzan fast.

Islamic State swiftly claimed responsibility in a statement posted online. Iraqi forces, supported by US-led coalition airstrikes, have secured a string of victories against IS over the past year and a half, retaking the cities of Tikrit, Ramadi and Fallujah, which was declared fully liberated from the extremist group just over a week ago.

Image: Mourners react during a funeral of a victim who was killed in a suicide car bomb in the Karrada shopping area in Baghdad. Photograph: Alaa Al-Marjani/Reuters
Sources told Rediff.com that the terrorist captured alive provided information about the absconding terrorists.

Rediff.com's Indrani Roy reports.

IMAGE: Border Security Force personnel keep a vigil along the India-Bangladesh border at Shivrampur near Balurghat in West Bengal's south Dinajpur district. Photograph: PTI

Even as Bangladesh mourns the loss of 20 lives, two days after the worst terror attack in 40 years, reports have emerged that two terrorists involved in the horrific murders may try to sneak into India.

According to Bangladesh home ministry sources, the two terrorists are headed towards Bengal, which shares a border with Bangladesh.

"The terrorists may also try to enter India through Assam and Tripura," a source in the Bangladesh police told Rediff.com

The information has reportedly been passed onto the Bengal government.

Five terrorists were killed and one was captured alive after Bangladesh commandos stormed the Holey Artisan Bakery on Saturday, July 2, to end the 12-hour hostage crisis.

Sources told Rediff.com that the terrorist captured alive has provided information about the absconding terrorists, one of who has a bullet injury.

Sources at the Bengal secretariat, however, said the state government has no confirmation on the terrorists' movement.

IMAGE: Security personnel conduct a check in Kolkata after the Dhaka terror attack. Photograph: PTI

After the Dhaka attack, the Bengal government sounded an alert in the border areas, at the airport and all important railway stations.

The government has also asked villagers to report the presence of any suspicious person or group in their areas.

On October 2 2014, an explosion at a house in Bardhaman's Khargarh town blew the lid off a terror network in West Bengal.

The National Investigation Agency said those terrorists had planned serial blasts in Kolkata and parts of Bengal during Durga Puja and Bakri Id that year.

Cadres of the terror outfit Jamat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh, a wing of the Harkat-ul Jihadi Islami-Bangladesh, sources had then told Rediff.com were involved in the Bardhaman blast.

These terrorists sneaked into Bengal through its porous border during an anti-militancy drive launched by the Sheikh Hasina government.
The Islamists, who carried out Bangladesh's terror worst attack at a cafe in Dhaka, had slaughtered all the 20 hostages within 20 minutes of the brazen assault, a top police official said.

Inspector General of Police AKM Shahidul Haque also rejected allegations by the media that police delayed the rescue operation.

"Many media are reporting that we had delayed the rescue mission but we did not. We completed the mission within 12 hours while countries like Kenya took four days to fight similar incident at one of their shopping malls."

"The gunmen had killed the hostages within 20 minutes of the attack," he said.

Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the killing of the 20 hostages and two police officers during the 12-hour siege that ended after the army stormed the Holey Artisan Bakery popular with expats in the diplomatic zone, killing six attackers and capturing one alive.

Hostages who were killed include 19-year-old Indian girl Tarishi Jain. Nine Italians, seven Japanese, one American of Bangladeshi origin, and two Bangladeshis were also among the people who were killed.

Image: Relatives carry the coffin of a victim who was killed in the attack on the Holey Artisan Bakery and the O'Kitchen restaurant, after a memorial ceremony, in Dhaka. Photograph: Adnan Abidi/Reuters
Youth lodged in prisons for stone-pelting in Kashmir are likely to be granted amnesty on the occasion of Eid with the state government initiating the process of reviewing their cases before the festival.

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on Monday asked the home department to review before Eid the cases of the youth lodged in various jails on charges of stone-pelting to afford them an opportunity to rebuild their careers.

A committee comprising Director General of Police, Director General of Prisons and Principal Secretary Home will review the cases of all the youth under-trials lodged in various jails to give them an opportunity to live as productive citizens, she said while chairing a high-level meeting regarding bringing about reforms in state prisons.

Eid is expected on coming Wednesday.

The decision is in tune with Mehbooba's policy that those not involved in heinous crimes should be released to give them a fresh chance.

Earlier, last month, she told the assembly that her government was reviewing all cases of stone-pelting since 2008. "Those not involved in heinous crimes will be released and some may be released before Eid," she had said.

Mehbooba also asked Director General of Police K Rajendra Kumar to take up the matter regarding deportation of a mentally-challenged Pakistani national to his country who is lodged in a jail in the state for having inadvertently crossed the LoC.

"Why has been the person kept in jail for so long, when he is not only deaf and dumb, but mentally deranged also," she asked, adding the state and its law enforcing agencies should not be seen acting in such a callous manner and be more humane in their approach.

Stressing the need for review and upgradation of the jail manual in the state, the chief minister said the review, which is already overdue, should be aimed at making the prisons "centres of reformation" and not the places of punishment.

She also called for identification of alternate site in the periphery of Srinagar city for shifting of central jail from its existing location in Kathidarwaza area of the Shahr-e-Khaas.

Stressing the need for imparting skill training to the jail inmates, the chief minister said the government would bring the jails under the purview of the integrated skill development mission.
Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on Monday mooted the idea of raising an all women battalion and stationing of women on warships besides opening the doors of the National Defence Academy and Sainik schools for them.

However, Parrikar made it clear that the 'affirmative action' towards empowerment of women will be done gradually without compromising main task of armed forces which is national security.

He said the government has been successful in breaking the 'psychological barrier' with the induction of women as female fighter pilots.

The defence minister, credited with the path breaking move of allowing Indian Air Force women pilots in combat role, said that even though India is a country of Jhansi ki Rani and Durga, women have been made to stay away due to various reasons.

"When I became the defence minister, I thought that we need to do a strategic move," he said, noting that normally armed forces are male dominated.

If the army and the navy are opened up for combat roles for women, India will join the small club of countries in the world, including the United States, Israel to have such a system.

"There is a thinking that soldiers will not listen to a commanding officer who is a lady because they are not trained to do that. I don't agree with this as the only restriction today is infrastructure (sic)," he said speaking at a seminar organised by Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry ladies Organisation, the women wing of the industry chamber.

"In combat roles also there can be women. Why not have a complete women team, battalion of women. So the question of women officers leading a men's team, if there is question of initial resistance to it, can also be taken care of, he said.

Parrikar said that sometime in future, he will sit with the chiefs of all forces.

"I dont understand why we can't place women on ships. At this stage, I will not support a submarine operation because submarines are designed for unigender or one area for staff. There are no separate areas for women.

"But ships can be modified and new ships can be designed to have facilities for women, he said adding that there is also a question of taking women officers through the NDA.

He said there are demands from across the country for Sainik schools to have girl students. This cannot be done in disjoined manner otherwise girls will get into Sainik schools but they will not get entry, all this aspects are being looked into, he said.

Ruing that it took nearly four months for the file on induction of women in combat role to reach him despite his prodding, Parrikar said, I support women rights, empowerment but I believe changes have to be done in a gradual manner because if you dont do that there will be problems, he said.

Image: The Indian Navy's women's contingent during the 2015 Republic Day parade in New Delhi. Photograph: PTI
With an eye on the 2017 Punjab assembly election, the Aam Aadmi Party on Sunday unveiled its Youth Manifesto promising 25 lakh jobs in five years, free Wi-Fi hotspots in villages and a special law for ensuring imprisonment till death for drug dealers.

Delhi Chief Minister and AAP National Convener Arvind Kejriwal unveiled the partys manifesto for the youth. The party, which is aiming to capture power in the state, will come out with separate manifestos for different sections of society.

Our endeavour is to make the Punjab youth job creators, instead of job seekers, the party said in the manifesto, prepared by Punjab Dialogue Committee Chairman Kanwar Sandhu, adding that 25 lakh jobs and employment opportunities will be created in the next five years. AAP, if it forms government in the state, will create employment and entrepreneurship opportunities in both rural and urban areas, it said.

The party has also promised to make the administration corruption-free. AAP government will launch a massive drive to root out corruption from all levels of administration and restore the credibility of the government of Punjab and the prestige of the state as the pre-eminent destination for setting up businesses, industry and trade, it said.

AAP will also set up 147 entrepreneurship and skilling centres, one in each block of the state. Special emphasis will be laid on agriculture and allied industries, including food processing, dairy farming and horticulture.

Incubation centres, called Punjab Launch Pads, will be set up in 10 major cities -- Mohali, Batala, Pathankot, Ludhiana, Patiala, Jalandhar, Bathinda, Hoshiarpur, Ferozepur and Amritsar.

This will help the youth of Punjab turn their dreams of becoming innovators and entrepreneurs into reality with access to technology, infrastructure, finance, industry mentors and market opportunities, the party said.

Foreign Employment Youth Board with five branches in Jalandhar, Amritsar, Mohali, Ludhiana and Sangrur will be established to advise and train the youth for foreign jobs.

A skill university, called Kanshi Ram Youth Skill University, will be set up in Doaba region, with two regional campuses in Malwa and Majha. The university will conduct advanced studies in skill development.

Free Wi-Fi hotspots will be set up in all villages, cities and government colleges. This will provide connectivity to hundreds of thousands of youths in both rural and urban areas, it said.

AAP, if comes to power, will root out the mafia raj from government contracts. No MP, MLA, minister and their relatives will be eligible for government contracts. Youths will be preferred for the award of government contracts, it said.

On the issue of drug menace, the manifesto states that AAP, if voted to power, will annihilate the drug supply chain within one month of forming government.

A special law will be enacted to give imprisonment till death for drug dealers. Assets of all such convicts would be seized and auctioned, it said.

A special drug task force will be created within Punjab Police at state and district levels for crackdown on sale and supply of drugs and high-level investigation will be launched to investigate the involvement of politicians and police officers in drug trade, AAP promised in its manifesto.

All politically motivated and false cases against youths will be withdrawn. Action will be taken against guilty policemen and politicians for implicating the youth of Punjab in false cases, it said.

A round-the-clock anti-drug helpline number will be started.

Trade and industry will be incentivised in different ways to encourage them to give jobs to rehabilitated drug addicts. This step aims at bringing the victims of drug trade back into the mainstream and enable them to lead a normal life, it said.

Free de-addiction treatment will be provided in all government de-addiction and rehabilitation centres. Methods of de-addiction in all government and private de-addiction centres will regulated and standardised, it said.

All candidates contesting local body and panchayat polls will have to compulsorily sign an affidavit declaring themselves to be drug-free.

We will also campaign for appropriate changes in the Representation of Peoples Act to make it mandatory for the assembly and parliamentary election candidates to also sign similar affidavits, the party said.

The party also said no fee will be required for applying to government jobs, it said.

Job Qualifying Exam Centres will also be set up in every district headquarter to make them easily accessible to job seekers from far flung areas. Interviews will be done away with and selection will be done purely based on merit to root out sifarish (favouritism) and graft, the party promised.

Punjab is set to witness a three-cornered fight in the assembly election. Ruling Shiromani Akali Dal-Bharatiya Janata Party alliance, Congress and AAP are the main contenders.

AAP also promised to make a substantial increase in the states budget for education.

The Aam Aadmi Party wishes to make government schools and colleges the first choice of students and parents, it said in its youth manifesto, adding that bus travel will be free for students.

Bus services exclusively for girl students will be started, it said. CCTV cameras will be installed in government schools.

On admission to Class IX, students will be given laptops under the chief ministers student benefit scheme.

All private education institutions in Punjab will have a mandatory annual audit for greater transparency in their functioning. Private schools will be disciplined and arbitrary and unreasonable fee hike will be stopped, it said.

Our government will enact a law to end exploitation of teachers in many non-government schools to ensure quality teaching in private schools too, it said.

Three new medical colleges with training facility for nursing and para-medical will be established. The existing three medical colleges will be upgraded by increasing their

seats, it said.

An institute for film and media studies will be established in Mohali to cater to the increasing interest of Punjabi youth in film and television industry.

Punjab Olympic Mission will be launched in 2017 to motivate and encourage sportspersons to earn laurels for the state, it said, adding that reward for those winning medals in sporting events will be enhanced.

For those winning gold, silver and bronze medals in Olympic Games, prize money will be hiked to Rs 5 crore, Rs 4 crore and Rs 3 crore respectively from Rs 1 crore, Rs 50 lakh and Rs 25 lakh at present, the party promised.

Image: AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal releasing 51-point Youth Manifesto in Amritsar. Photograph: PTI
Amidst an outpour of grief, Tarishi Jain, the 19-year-old Indian girl who was killed along with 19 others in the Dhaka terror attack, was cremated in Gurgaon on Monday.

Tarishi's brother Sanchit performed the last rites at around 4:15 pm in a cremation ground at Sukhrali village near IFFCO Chowk as family members suffered in silence.

Earlier, the mortal remains of the 19-year-old student of University of California in Berkeley, United States, where she studied Economics, were brought from Dhaka to Delhi where her family members, Minister of State for Power and Coal Piyush Goyal was present. Goyal received the body.

The body was then taken to Gurgaon DLF phase-1 F Block community centre where it was kept for two hours to enable an estimated 200 people, including Goyal and Haryana Education Minister Rambilas Sharma, to pay their respects.

Tarishi was among the 20 hostages killed in a gruesome terror attack in a restaurant popular with foreigners and expats in upscale Gulshan locality of Dhaka on Friday night.

Daughter of a garments manufacturer with business interests in Bangladesh, she was in Dhaka on a vacation.

Heart-rending scenes prevailed at the community centre with 200 relatives of Tarishi and other mourners crying unconsolably. Rambilas Sharma tried to console the aggrieved family members of the 19-year-old girl.

The media was not allowed to enter the cremation spot by Gurgaon police.

Among others who paid their respects to Tarishi were Delhi LG, Najib Jung, Rao Indrajeet Singh and Congress leader Raj Babbar.
The United States Secretary of State John Kerry called Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and offered her assistance from American law enforcement, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, in the wake of the terror attack on a Dhaka restaurant in which 20 hostages were hacked to death.

The secretary encouraged the government of Bangladesh to conduct its investigation in accordance with the highest international standards and offered immediate assistance from US law enforcement, including the FBI, state department spokesperson John Kirby said.

Kerry called Hasina on Sunday to offer support in the wake of the outrageous attack on the Holey Artisan restaurant in Dhakas high-security diplomatic zone, he said.

During the call, Kerry condoled the loss of innocent lives at the hands of terrorists who threaten the United States, Bangladesh, and the international community.

He re-affirmed US support for Bangladeshs efforts to bring those responsible for planning and conducting the attacks to justice as well as to prevent future attacks,

Kirby said.

Twenty hostages, including Indian girl Tarishi Jain, were hacked to death by terrorists inside the cafe popular with expats in the diplomatic zone before commandos launched an assault, killing six attackers and capturing one alive.

Most of those killed were found with their throats slit.

The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack through its Amaq news agency, nearly four hours after the hostage crisis unfolded.

Bangladesh, however, blamed homegrown Islamist terrorists and Pakistans spy agency ISI for the attack, ruling out involvement of the Islamic State.
Disclaimer

This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.
Diplomatic Quartet releases report on advancing two-state solution to Israel-Palestine conflict

Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 1 July 2016 Cite as UN News Service, Diplomatic Quartet releases report on advancing two-state solution to Israel-Palestine conflict, 1 July 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/577a141340d.html [accessed 27 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

1 July 2016 - The United Nations and its diplomatic partners in the Middle East peace process today released the first report of its kind, which analysed the impediments to a lasting resolution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and offered recommendations on the way forward, urging Israel to stop its settlement policy and Palestine to end incitement to violence.

The so-called Middle East Quartet - comprising the UN, Russia, the United States and the European Union - has been working on the report since February.

In it, they call on each side to "independently demonstrate, through policies and actions, a genuine commitment to the two-state solution" and to "refrain from unilateral steps that prejudice the outcome of the final negotiations."

In summary, the Quartet reiterated that a negotiated two-state outcome is the only way to achieve an enduring peace that meets Israeli security needs and Palestinian aspirations for statehood and sovereignty, ends the occupation that began in 1967, and resolves all permanent status issues.

The report provides recommendations to what it has identified as the major threats to achieving a negotiated peace: continued violence, terrorist attacks against civilians and incitement to violence; settlement construction and expansion; and the Palestinian Authority's lack of control in Gaza.

In a statement, the Quartet Principals invite the Israeli and Palestinian Governments to engage with it on implementing its recommendations and creating conditions to resume "meaningful negotiations that resolve all final status issues."

Following the release of the report, the UN Secretary-General encouraged the parties to engage with the Quartet to implement the findings "to rebuild hope among Palestinians and Israelis in a political solution and to create the conditions to return to meaningful negotiations."

Construction in the Israeli settlement of Ariel in the West Bank. Photo: Annie Slemrod/IRIN

He underscored that there is a strong need for affirmative steps to reverse negative trends on the ground which risk entrenching a one-State reality of "perpetual occupation and conflict" which is incompatible with the national aspirations of both peoples.

Diplomatic Quartet's recommendations

Both sides should work to de-escalate tensions by exercising restraint and refraining from provocative actions and rhetoric.

The Palestinian Authority should act decisively and take all steps within its capacity to cease incitement to violence and strengthen ongoing efforts to combat terrorism, including by clearly condemning all acts of terrorism.

Israel should cease the policy of settlement construction and expansion, designating land for exclusive Israeli use, and denying Palestinian development.

Israel should implement positive and significant policy shifts, including transferring powers and responsibilities in Area C, consistent with the transition to greater Palestinian civil authority contemplated by prior agreements. Progress in the areas of housing, water, energy, communications, agriculture, and natural resources, along with significantly easing Palestinian movement restrictions, can be made while respecting Israel's legitimate security needs.

The Palestinian leadership should continue their efforts to strengthen institutions, improve governance, and develop a sustainable economy. Israel should take all necessary steps to enable this process, in line with the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee recommendations.

All sides must continue to respect the ceasefire in Gaza, and the illicit arms buildup and militant activities must be terminated.

In addition to these recommendations, the Quartet encouraged the international community to accelerate its efforts to address the "dire" humanitarian, reconstruction and recovery needs of the people in Gaza, including expediting the disbursement of assistance pledges.

The Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Nickolay Mladenov, briefed the UN Security Council on the report yesterday. He said it is now time for both the Israelis and the Palestinians to rise to the challenge.
Iraq: UN condemns terrorist attack in Baghdad, warning of 'avenge' by ISIL

Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 3 July 2016 Cite as UN News Service, Iraq: UN condemns terrorist attack in Baghdad, warning of 'avenge' by ISIL, 3 July 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/577a144840b.html [accessed 27 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

3 July 2016 - United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has condemned the terrorist bombing in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad today that reportedly killed more than 100 people in a busy shopping street  an attack which the top UN official in that country described as an avenge by the terrorists of Da'esh who have suffered defeats at the battlefront.

The Secretary-General condemns" the terrorist attack and is appalled by the utter disregard for human life displayed by the perpetrators, who struck as residents prepared for Eid al-Fitr celebrations, Mr. Ban's spokesperson said in a statement.

The Secretary-General appeals to the people of Iraq to reject any attempts to spread fear and undermine the unity of the country, calling on the Government to ensure that the perpetrators of this horrific crime are brought to justice as soon as possible, the spokesperson added.

In the statement, Mr. Ban expressed his deep sympathy and condolences to the families of the victims, and to the Government and people of Iraq, wishing the many injured a speedy recovery. He also wished the people of Iraq a peaceful remainder of the holy month of Ramadan.

According to preliminary reports, a bomb hit a neighborhood of Karada shortly after midnight, and Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL/Da'esh) has claimed responsibility.

Jan Kubis, the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Iraq and head of the UN Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI), joined Mr. Ban in condemning the terrorist bombing.

The terrorists of Daesh who have suffered defeats at the battlefront are seeking to avenge their losses by targeting vulnerable civilians

This is a cowardly and heinous act of unparalleled proportions, to target peaceful civilians in the closing days of the holy month of Ramadan including shoppers preparing for the Eid-ul-Fitr holiday. This shows Daesh's wanton intentions to kill, maim and demoralize, said Mr. Kubis.

The terrorists of Daesh who have suffered defeats at the battlefront are seeking to avenge their losses by targeting vulnerable civilians, Mr. Kubis added.

He also said that despite the pain and agony, the Iraqi people will not surrender to the designs of those terrorists, will continue to reject their ways through displaying steadfast national unity and will eventually triumph.

Mogens Lykketoft, the President of the UN General Assembly, has also condemned the attack.

This horrific act of violence perpetrated upon people, including many children, just going about their business during the holy month of Ramadan is outrageous, he said."This despicable attack is to be condemned in the strongest possible terms."
UN officials condemn terrorist attack in Bangladesh

Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 2 July 2016 Cite as UN News Service, UN officials condemn terrorist attack in Bangladesh, 2 July 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/577a14e540d.html [accessed 27 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

2 July 2016 - Senior United Nations officials have condemned the terrorist attack in a cafe in the Bangladeshi capital of Dhaka that reportedly killed 20 hostages over the weekend.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemns the terrorist attack and hopes that those behind this crime will be identified and brought to justice, his spokesperson said in a statement, adding that Mr. Ban stands firmly by Bangladesh as it confronts this threat and stresses the need to intensify regional and international efforts to prevent and combat terrorism.

The Secretary General also assured the Government that the UN is prepared to assist in efforts to prevent violent extremism in all its forms, the spokesperson said.

A condemnation also came from the UN tourism agency.

UNWTO [World Tourism Organization] strongly condemns the hideous attack perpetrated yesterday in a cafe in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Taleb Rifai, the agency's Secretary-General, said in a statement.

This is not an attack on Bangladesh but is once again an attack on our way of life, an attack on freedom, he added.

Mogens Lykketoft, the President of the UN General Assembly, also condemned the terrorist attack.

We must stand together again terror, Mr. Lykketoft said. This deadly and cowardly act must not go unpunished, he said.

Mr. Lykketoft said he hoped that the perpetrators of this crime would be identified and brought swiftly to justice.

Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser, the High Representative for the UN Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC), reiterated his solidarity with the Government of Bangladesh in its efforts to combat all forms of terrorism and violent extremism.

The UN officials all conveyed their heartfelt sympathy and condolences to the families and friends of the victims, as well as the people and Government of Bangladesh.
South Sudan: Concerned about thousands cut off by fighting, Security Council urges calm in Wau

Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 1 July 2016 Related Document(s) Security Council resolution 2206 (2015) [on sanctions compliance and the situation in South Sudan] Cite as UN News Service, South Sudan: Concerned about thousands cut off by fighting, Security Council urges calm in Wau, 1 July 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/577a14fa40b.html [accessed 27 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

1 July 2016 - The United Nations Security Council today called for a stop to the fighting in Wau, South Sudan, and urged access for the United Nations and its humanitarian partners to some 9,000 civilians reportedly sheltering in a school and in other parts of the town.

In a statement released this evening, the Council expressed alarm at the fighting that broke out on 24 June and has displaced an estimated 70,000 people.

Of those, at least 12,000 people are sheltering near the UN Mission in the Republic of South Sudan (UNMISS) base in Wau.

The Council expressed its appreciation for UNMISS's efforts, but stressed that the primary responsibility for protection of South Sudanese civilians remains with the Transitional Government of National Unity  the name given to the government headed by President Salva Kiir with his two deputies, Riek Machar and James Wani Igga.

In the statement, the Council notes that the Transitional Government has formed an investigation committee to look into the situation in Wau, and to hold those responsible to account.

Attacks against civilians may constitute war crimes and those involved could be potentially subject to sanctions, the Council members said, pointing to resolution 2206 (2015) on actions that threaten the peace, security or stability of South Sudan.

The members of the Security Council also expressed deep concern over the ongoing violence throughout the country and called for all actions to restore peace.
Liberia: UN mission lauds Government, people for 'historic' handover of country's security

Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 1 July 2016 Related Document(s) Security Council resolution 2239 (2015) [on extension of the mandate of the UN Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) until 30 Sept. 2016] Cite as UN News Service, Liberia: UN mission lauds Government, people for 'historic' handover of country's security, 1 July 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/577a157140c.html [accessed 27 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

1 July 2016 - The head of the United Nations mission in Liberia today lauded the people and Government of Liberia for reassuming full control of the country's security for the first time since its civil war ended 13 years ago.

Calling the day historic, Farid Zarif, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the UN Mission in Liberia (UNMIL), noted that all the main security responsibilities performed by UNMIL have been handed over to Liberian security institutions, which have executed their duties in an exemplary manner.

This achievement is a culmination of the step-by-step rebuilding of Liberia's security institutions almost from scratch, following the long years of civil conflict, Mr. Zarif said alongside President Johnson Sirleaf at a ceremonial handover held at Monrovia City Hall.

Since Liberia's civil war ended in 2003, UNMIL has been supporting the West African nation to rebuild its institutions so it can maintain stability without its presence. In 2015, Liberian authorities launched an undertaking to assume full responsibility of the country's security by the end of June.

In September 2015, Security Council resolution 2239 (2015) affirmed the world's confidence that Liberia had made sufficient progress to assume full responsibility for security and set 30 June as the deadline.

The Special Representative noted that over several years, Liberia's security institutions took on ever more responsibilities as the Mission drew down from its peak of more than 16,000 uniformed personnel in 2007 to the 1,240 military and 606 police personnel that remain here today.

In September, a high-powered multi-disciplinary team from the UN headquarters will carry out a comprehensive assessment of the situation in Liberia. Based on that assessment, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will provide recommendations to the Security Council by 15 November, and the Council will determine UNMIL's future in December.
Libya: UN mission documents 49 civilian casualties in June

Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 1 July 2016 Cite as UN News Service, Libya: UN mission documents 49 civilian casualties in June, 1 July 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/577a15c240b.html [accessed 27 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

1 July 2016 - The United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) reported today that for the month of June, it documented 49 civilian casualties, including 18 deaths and 31 injuries, as a result of hostilities across the country.

Victims included four children killed and eight injured, 12 men killed and 20 injured, and two women killed and three injured from 1 June to 30 June 2016.

In its monthly report, UNSMIL noted that the majority of civilian deaths were caused by vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices (seven deaths and 19 injured), while the next leading cause of death was air strikes (six deaths and seven injured), followed by shelling (three deaths, two injured), gun shots (two deaths) and explosive remnants of war (three injured).

UNSMIL documented 10 deaths and 24 injured in Benghazi, six deaths and seven injured in Derna, and two deaths in Tripoli. The Libyan National Army/Libyan Air Force confirmed that they had carried out the airstrikes in Derna and said that they will conduct an investigation. UNSMIL was unable to determine with certainty which other parties caused civilian casualties in June, according to the report.

During the course of the month, medical facilities in Benghazi were targeted four times, on 1, 21, 22 and 24 June. Only the car bomb explosion on 24 June, at the entrance of the Al-Jalla hospital in Benghazi, led to casualties, killing five people and injuring 13, including two children.

UNSMIL also received information on the deaths of two men following their abductions. Their bodies showed signs of torture as well as gunshot wounds to the head and other parts of the body. In another case, a man died in custody, several days after detention. His body showed signs of torture and gunshot wounds.

The mission also documented the killing of 12 prisoners on 9 June in Tripoli, after a court ordered their release. The circumstances of the killings are unclear.

It was also reported that two men, who had been detained by the Central Security Force and accused of criminality, were publicly executed in Gaser Bengashire, on the outskirts of Tripoli. Reports indicated that there was no legal process prior to the killings, according to UNSMIL.

In addition, following clashes in Qarabuli, reportedly between Misratan forces and locals, a storage site exploded, reportedly killing dozens of people, UNSMIL said.

The monthly figures are based on information UNSMIL gathered and cross-checked from a broad range of sources in Libya, including human rights defenders, civil society, current and former officials, employees of local governments, community leaders and members, witnesses, others directly affected and media reports.

Earlier this month, Martin Kobler, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of UNSMIL, reported to the Security Council about the tragic humanitarian situation in the country, underlining that personal tragedies and collective suffering are the consequence of the continued lack of State authority in most parts of the North African country.

On 13 June, the Security Council decided to extend UNSMIL's mandate in Libya until 15 December.
Despite hopes for calm during the holy month of Ramadan, hundreds killed in Iraq: UN

Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 1 July 2016 Cite as UN News Service, Despite hopes for calm during the holy month of Ramadan, hundreds killed in Iraq: UN, 1 July 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/577a162340d.html [accessed 27 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

1 July 2016 - At least 662 Iraqis - half of them civilians - were killed and another 1,457 were injured in acts of terrorism, violence and armed conflict in the country in June, according to latest figures released by the United Nations political mission in Iraq.

"We had hoped for a period of calm during holy Ramadan, a month of peace and compassion, but unfortunately the violence continued to take its toll on civilians," said the Special Representative for Iraq, Jan Kubis.

He noted that terrorists did not spare an occasion to strike at markets, mosques and areas where people gathered in order to exact maximum casualties among civilians, "in total disregard of the values of Islam."

The overall casualty figures dropped over the previous month of May, but the casualty figures for June are likely to increase due to the combat to liberate Fallujah in Anbar Governorate, according to the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI).

In a statement yesterday, Mr. Kubis, who heads UNAMI, strongly condemned a terrorist suicide bombing at a popular market in a southwest neighbourhood of Baghdad in which a number of civilians were killed or wounded.

UNAMI also expressed concern about other violence which left a number of people killed or wounded in two separate gun attacks Wednesday night in Baghdad.
UN urges more aid for people in north-east Nigeria, once inaccessible due to Boko Haram threat

Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 1 July 2016 Cite as UN News Service, UN urges more aid for people in north-east Nigeria, once inaccessible due to Boko Haram threat, 1 July 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/577a1647411.html [accessed 27 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

1 July 2016 - Tens of thousands of children in northeast Nigeria will die of malnutrition this year unless they receive treatment soon, the United Nations today warned after reaching areas in the north-east of the country which had been cut off by Boko Haram violence.

"We estimate that there will be almost a quarter of a million children under five suffering from severe acute malnutrition in Borno this year," said Jean Gough, Nigeria Representative of the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF).

"Unless we reach these children with treatment, one in five of them will die. We cannot allow that to happen," Ms. Gough added.

The Nigerian Government announced earlier this week that the conflict in north-eastern Nigeria has already displaced 2.4 million people and pushed food insecurity and malnutrition to emergency levels with more than half a million people requiring immediate food assistance.

The disruption of food production due to the violence, increased prices of basic commodities and given that the period also coincides with the initial months of the lean season, it is feared that the number of those in need of assistance will rise further.

UN agencies and partners are responding to the situation and providing health and nutrition, safe water, household and other relief support.

"Improving security has enabled humanitarians to access areas that were previously cut off. The conditions we are seeing there are devastating," said the UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Nigeria, Munir Safieldin.

"While the government and humanitarian organizations have stepped up relief assistance, the situation in these areas requires a much faster and wider response."

On 27 June, UN Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) that supports rapid humanitarian responses, released $13 million to provide immediate life-saving food, nutrition and protection assistance to those in need in north-east Nigeria.
Over 15,500 asylum-seekers pre-registered on mainland Greece

Publisher UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Author Tania Karas Publication Date 1 July 2016 Cite as UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Over 15,500 asylum-seekers pre-registered on mainland Greece, 1 July 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/577a16bd4.html [accessed 27 October 2022]

More than 15,500 asylum-seekers currently living on mainland Greece have now received temporary cards, valid for one year, allowing them to reside legally in Greece pending a final decision on their asylum applications.

A large-scale exercise to pre-register asylum seekers on mainland Greece was launched on June 8 by the Greek Asylum Service with UNHCR's support. Pre-registration also gives them the right to access services, pending the full lodging of their asylum application.

"The exercise will help to identify those eligible for family reunification or relocation," exercise will help to identify those eligible for family reunification or relocation to another EU country," UNHCR spokesperson William Spindler told a press briefing in Geneva.

"It will also identify persons with specific needs so that they may be referred to the appropriate organizations and receive assistance and support," he added.

The pre-registration exercise aims to address the need to access international protection by an estimated 49,000 people currently on mainland Greece. The process is open to those who entered Greece between January 1, 2015, and March 20, 2016.

For most of the refugees and migrants residing on the Greek mainland, pre-registration is the first contact they have had with the government since they arrived in the country.

For Afghans in particular, most of their initial entry documents, known as "police notes," have since expired. This means their presence in Greece is technically illegal and that they could even face arrest  though this has rarely happened.

Ghulam Ali Jaffari and his wife, Nabila, said they felt relieved after completing pre-registration recently at Elliniko, a former airport-turned-refugee shelter in Athens. The couple, who arrived in Greece in late February with their two-year-old son, Amir Reza, and Ghulam Ali's 15-year-old brother, took a boat across the Aegean Sea after traveling from Kandahar province, Afghanistan.

Their documents expired at the end of March, and they have not wanted to leave Elliniko as a result of their uncertain legal status, now ended.

"We have more freedom now, because we have a legal status," Ghulam Ali said. After pre-registration they were given an official asylum-seekers' card which also gives them access to Greek public health and educational services.

The pre-registration exercise is supported financially by the European Commission (DG Home) and implemented with the help of UNHCR and the European Asylum Support Office (EASO).

A large-scale exercise to pre-register asylum seekers on mainland Greece was launched on June 8 by the Greek Asylum Service with UNHCR's support. Pre-registration also gives them the right to access services, pending the full lodging of their asylum application.

"The exercise will help to identify those eligible for family reunification or relocation," exercise will help to identify those eligible for family reunification or relocation to another EU country," UNHCR spokesperson William Spindler told a press briefing in Geneva.

"It will also identify persons with specific needs so that they may be referred to the appropriate organizations and receive assistance and support," he added.

The pre-registration exercise aims to address the need to access international protection by an estimated 49,000 people currently on mainland Greece. The process is open to those who entered Greece between January 1, 2015, and March 20, 2016.

For most of the refugees and migrants residing on the Greek mainland, pre-registration is the first contact they have had with the government since they arrived in the country.

For Afghans in particular, most of their initial entry documents, known as "police notes," have since expired. This means their presence in Greece is technically illegal and that they could even face arrest  though this has rarely happened.

Ghulam Ali Jaffari and his wife, Nabila, said they felt relieved after completing pre-registration recently at Elliniko, a former airport-turned-refugee shelter in Athens. The couple, who arrived in Greece in late February with their two-year-old son, Amir Reza, and Ghulam Ali's 15-year-old brother, took a boat across the Aegean Sea after traveling from Kandahar province, Afghanistan.

Their documents expired at the end of March, and they have not wanted to leave Elliniko as a result of their uncertain legal status, now ended.

"We have more freedom now, because we have a legal status," Ghulam Ali said. After pre-registration they were given an official asylum-seekers' card which also gives them access to Greek public health and educational services.

The pre-registration exercise is supported financially by the European Commission (DG Home) and implemented with the help of UNHCR and the European Asylum Support Office (EASO).

Greece: Refugees hopeful as new registration process begins

In addition, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) provides information about their Assisted Voluntary Return programme.

"UNHCR has supported the exercise with technical guidance on the design, planning and preparation, as well as the provision of material resources. UNHCR is also supporting the identification of people with specific needs and facilitates their access to assistance," Spindler detailed.

Among the 15,500 people pre-registered to date, some 680 unaccompanied and separated children have been identified and referred to EKKA, the specialized government entity in charge of unaccompanied and separated children.

At the end of the exercise, those pre-registered will be given an appointment with the Asylum Service to lodge their asylum claim and formally access family reunification and relocation. Asylum-seekers will be notified of the date of their appointment by a text message (SMS). People with specific needs, including unaccompanied and separated children are being prioritized for appointments.

Following the pre-registration, expanded capacity will be needed to fully register, process asylum claims and follow up family reunification and relocation cases. UNHCR is ready to support the Greek authorities in this regard.

Faster implementation and an increased number of places for relocation are needed as more people eligible for relocation are identified. As of June 29, only 1,970 asylum seekers had been relocated from Greece out of an agreed target of 66,400.

Resettlement for those who have family links outside the EU should be also explored.

The exercise is proceeding as planned, with processing capacity now increased to about 700 people per day. The pre-registration is expected to be completed by early-mid August. Pre-registration is ongoing in the Attica and Thessaloniki regions and will move to other parts of Greece in the following weeks.

In addition, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) provides information about their Assisted Voluntary Return programme.

"UNHCR has supported the exercise with technical guidance on the design, planning and preparation, as well as the provision of material resources. UNHCR is also supporting the identification of people with specific needs and facilitates their access to assistance," Spindler detailed.

Among the 15,500 people pre-registered to date, some 680 unaccompanied and separated children have been identified and referred to EKKA, the specialized government entity in charge of unaccompanied and separated children.

At the end of the exercise, those pre-registered will be given an appointment with the Asylum Service to lodge their asylum claim and formally access family reunification and relocation. Asylum-seekers will be notified of the date of their appointment by a text message (SMS). People with specific needs, including unaccompanied and separated children are being prioritized for appointments.

Following the pre-registration, expanded capacity will be needed to fully register, process asylum claims and follow up family reunification and relocation cases. UNHCR is ready to support the Greek authorities in this regard.

Faster implementation and an increased number of places for relocation are needed as more people eligible for relocation are identified. As of June 29, only 1,970 asylum seekers had been relocated from Greece out of an agreed target of 66,400.

Resettlement for those who have family links outside the EU should be also explored.

The exercise is proceeding as planned, with processing capacity now increased to about 700 people per day. The pre-registration is expected to be completed by early-mid August. Pre-registration is ongoing in the Attica and Thessaloniki regions and will move to other parts of Greece in the following weeks.
Solutions for Colombia's displaced key to peace, UNHCR chief

Publisher UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Author Francesca Fontanini Publication Date 2 July 2016 Cite as UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Solutions for Colombia's displaced key to peace, UNHCR chief, 2 July 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/577a185d4.html [accessed 27 October 2022]

On his first visit to Colombia as UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi said finding lasting solutions for millions of internally displaced Colombians is key to ending Latin America's longest-running conflict.

The visit comes at a hopeful moment in the peace process between the Government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), which seeks to end a five-decade armed conflict that has produced one of the world's biggest displacement situations, with seven million people uprooted within the country's borders.

Following his meetings with Colombian authorities, Grandi welcomed the Government's efforts towards reintegration. "I am impressed by the legislation that has been put in place to protect and offer reparation to the victims of the conflict, including displaced people, and by the commitment of the institutions to reach these results. They are an example to the world," he said.

Grandi also acknowledged the tremendous challenges ahead for the country before these laws can be a reality for everyone. Much remains to be done in order to ensure that all victims and displaced people enjoy their human rights, settle into safe places with access to employment and basic services, and rebuild the social fabric of their communities.

"While the leadership of this challenge is a national responsibility, UNHCR will continue to accompany this historic process and support Colombia in the task of making peace a lasting reality," Grandi said.

He stressed that local integration in urban areas had to be an important aspect of these efforts, including the legalization of informal settlements for internally displaced people.

Fighting in Colombia began in the mid-1960s and has since evolved into a complex conflict involving the Colombian Government, the FARC and other left-wing guerillas, paramilitary groups and crime syndicates. The violence has cost at least 220,000 lives over five decades.

During a visit to the recently legalized Las Delicias and Manuela Beltran neighbourhoods, in the outskirts of Cucuta, close to the Venezuela border in north-east Colombia, displaced people told the High Commissioner how grateful they were that after 10 years of living in illegal settlements, they now have access to water, electricity and other basic services.

Through the Transitional Solutions Initiative, in collaboration with UNDP, the UN Refugee Agency has helped some 39,000 people in 17 urban and rural communities, including Cucuta, to make progress towards finding solutions and enjoying their basic rights such as housing, land and livelihoods.

The majority of the families who fled their homes are now in the urban outskirts of Colombia's largest cities, including the capital, Bogota. In Soacha, a municipality near the capital, which Grandi visited on Saturday, the displaced acknowledged difficulties in legalizing their land, as their neighbourhoods grew in an unplanned, informal manner as more people kept arriving from all over the country.

"My family has been displaced four times in the last 22 years, we have been walking throughout the country and experiencing all kinds of violations and atrocities that have been committed to me and to my family. We ask only to live a bit better, to have a job, and some land where we can live," said a young man who had arrived two weeks earlier in Soacha with his wife and baby daughter.

Another man displaced by the conflict told Grandi about their continuing security concerns: "Since we arrived here, there have been many violations of all kind of rights, especially towards children, including recruitment and extortion. We believe the only way out is the peace process. With peace, we can finally have a rest."

"The peace agreement will be a historic moment and an important opportunity to find solutions for both the displaced and victims. However, this agreement must be seen as the beginning rather than the end of the peace-building process," said Grandi.

"This is a crucial moment for this country, its people, and for the entire region, and the world must continue to support this historic process to help Colombia build lasting peace," he added.
UN: End hypocrisy of Saudi Arabia in Human Rights Council

Publisher Amnesty International Author Tawanda Mutasah Publication Date 1 July 2016 Cite as Amnesty International, UN: End hypocrisy of Saudi Arabia in Human Rights Council, 1 July 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/577a1ee84.html [accessed 27 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

Ten years since it was first created the UN Human Rights Council is facing a stark moment of truth.

The credibility of the world's top human rights body, which was set up to ensure that it is able to effectively address human rights violations without being undermined by geopolitics and competing national interests, is being called into question because of the abysmal track record of one of its members - Saudi Arabia - and the failure of other members to call it to account.

Since it joined the UN Human Rights Council in January 2014 Saudi Arabia has carried out gross and systematic human rights violations both at home and in neighbouring Yemen.

It has consistently ranked as one of the world's top executioners, has presided over a ruthless crackdown against peaceful dissent and human rights activism in Saudi Arabia and most recently lead a military coalition which stands accused of carrying out war crimes in Yemen.

Since it joined the UN Human Rights Council in January 2014 Saudi Arabia has carried out gross and systematic human rights violations both at home and in neighbouring Yemen.

Not only has Saudi Arabia manifestly failed to uphold the "highest standards in the protection and promotion of human rights", but it has also actively used its privileged Council position to evade justice for grave violations, and pulled the wool over the eyes of some of its Council peers.

In October 2015, Saudi Arabia used its diplomatic clout and its position on the Council to scupper scrutiny of its wanton conduct in the war in Yemen. After derailing a Dutch resolution calling for an international investigation into violations that killed and injured thousands of civilians in Yemen, Saudi Arabia ensured its own watered-down resolution was adopted instead. The result was a Saudi Arabia-backed commission of inquiry carried out by the exiled Yemeni government. Nine months on, it has failed to carry out credible investigations.

Even that paled in comparison to their latest insidious move. Earlier this month, despite the UN attributing 60% of all child deaths in Yemen in 2015 to airstrikes by the Saudi Arabia-led military coalition, the Kingdom successfully had the coalition removed from the UN's annual report singling out states and armed groups who violate children's rights. How? By threatening the UN Secretary General to withdraw funds and engagement from UN programmes - both its own and those of the 57-state Organization of Islamic Cooperation.

It is against this backdrop that Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch are making a call on the UN to suspend Saudi Arabia from the Human Rights Council. World leaders should stop the Kingdom's cynical use of the Council to help it get away with gross and systematic violations.

Human rights begin at home

Our call is informed by months of in-depth research into Saudi Arabia's spiralling pattern of human rights violations, both in the Kingdom and in the conduct of the armed conflict in neighbouring Yemen.

In 15 months of aerial bombardment, Saudi Arabia and its military coalition have caused the majority of the civilian casualties in the conflict, which has left at least 3,539 killed and 6,268 injured. Coalition forces have repeatedly violated the laws of war by bombing civilians, including in schools, hospitals, markets and factories. They have also repeatedly used cluster munitions, inherently indiscriminate weapons banned under international law.

At home, Saudi Arabia has ramped up executions and intensified its onslaught against dissent. Since its election to the Council, more than 350 people have been put to death, many after grossly unfair trials.

In 2014 the authorities brought a vaguely-worded counter-terror law into force which it has used to ruthlessly crack down on peaceful activists such as the human rights defender Waleed Abu al-Khair who was sentenced to 15 years in prison and a further 15-year travel ban in relation to his human rights work. Three decades of freedom stripped away for pursuing rights and justice.

Saudi Arabia has also punished anyone seeking to expose human rights violations, shutting down independent NGOs and preventing activists from travelling to events abroad. Activists can find themselves facing jail terms even for speaking to human rights organizations like Amnesty International.

A moment of truth

This is a moment of truth for the UN. By manifestly failing to hold Saudi Arabia accountable to its basic membership requirements, the Human Rights Council and its member states risk a serious loss of credibility.

If the UN does not act on this call, it would also mark a poignant failure by the Council to improve on the record of its predecessor, the UN Commission on Human Rights, disbanded a decade ago. As Amnesty International flagged in 2005, among the reasons for that body's demise was that "power politics and double standards have  prevented the Commission from addressing, or even discussing, widespread or serious human rights violations in many countries."

Allowing Saudi Arabia to play the same power politics in the Human Rights Council would be a slap in the face for victims of human rights violations the world over.

Council members have a core duty to protect and promote human rights, which they must not betray - whether out of fear of losing billion-dollar arms deals that could fuel the commission of further serious violations in Yemen or for the sake of cooperation in counter-terrorism.

The UN General Assembly's own rules say they should suspend a Council member that has been committing "gross and systematic violations of human rights". To fail to do so sends a message that the world's top human rights body can be swayed by power politics, and is not serious about ensuring justice and accountability or ending the suffering of people in both Saudi Arabia and Yemen.

Copyright notice:  Copyright Amnesty International
Brazil: Huge spike in number of deaths committed by Police in Rio ahead of the Olympic Games

Publisher Amnesty International Publication Date 1 July 2016 Cite as Amnesty International, Brazil: Huge spike in number of deaths committed by Police in Rio ahead of the Olympic Games, 1 July 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/577a1f9c4.html [accessed 27 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

A shocking increase of 135% in the number of people killed by police officers in the city of Rio de Janeiro in the run up to the Olympics lays bare the security services' chilling disregard to the right of life, said Amnesty International today.

According to the Instituto de Seguranca Publica (ISP), in the city of Rio de Janeiro alone, 40 people were killed by police officers on duty in the month of May: an increase of 135% compared to 17 during the same period in 2015. Across the State as a whole, the numbers rose from 44 to 84, an increase of 90%.

"The soaring death count ahead of this major sporting event represents an epic failure on the part of the authorities to protect the most fundamental human right-the right to life," said Atila Roque, Executive Director of Amnesty International's national office in Brazil.

"It is completely unacceptable that these numbers are increasing despite all the warnings and complaints of Rio inhabitants of the excessive use of force by police. The authorities must act immediately to rein in the worst excesses of the security forces, stem the cycle of violence, and ensure the right to life is assured."

Copyright notice:  Copyright Amnesty International
Kenya: Investigate killings of lawyer, two men

Publisher Amnesty International Publication Date 4 July 2016 Cite as Amnesty International, Kenya: Investigate killings of lawyer, two men, 4 July 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/577a1fe54.html [accessed 27 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

Kenyan authorities must urgently investigate the killing last week of three men, including a human rights lawyer, and ensure that those found responsible are held to account in fair trials, 34 Kenyan and international human rights organizations said today. Human rights activists will today hold demonstrations in Nairobi and other parts of Kenya to protest the heinous killings.

The shocking abduction, enforced disappearance and extrajudicial killings of lawyer Willie Kimani, as well as his client and their taxi driver that day, whose bodies were recovered from a river 73 kilometres northeast of Nairobi, should be cause for alarm over the state of human rights and rule of law in Kenya, especially in the face of reports suggesting that police officers were involved.

"These extrajudicial killings are a chilling reminder that the hard-won right to seek justice for human rights violations is under renewed attack," said Muthoni Wanyeki, Amnesty International's Regional Director for East Africa, the Horn and the Great Lakes. "The Independent Policing Oversight Authority must initiate and lead prompt, independent, impartial and effective investigations into the abduction, enforced disappearance and extrajudicial execution of these three people with a view to bringing criminal charges against all those reasonably suspected of responsibility."

The bodies of Willie Kimani, who was employed by International Justice Mission, a Christian legal aid charity, his client Josphat Mwendwa, a motorcycle taxi rider, and Joseph Muiruri, a taxi driver, were recovered on June 30, 2016 from Ol Donyo Sabuk River in Machakos County, eastern Kenya, a week after the three went missing in circumstances suggesting they were victims of enforced disappearance. Initial reports immediately suggested that Administration Police (AP) officers, one of whom Mwendwa was defending himself against in court that day, may have abducted them.

The three were last seen as they left Mavoko Law Courts, in Machakos County, on June 23, 2016 where they had attended a hearing of a traffic case against Mwendwa. Police officers from Syokimau AP Camp preferred traffic charges against Mwendwa in December 2015, months after he had lodged a complaint with IPOA against a senior officer at the camp who had illegally shot him in April 2015 as he dismounted a motorcycle after the officers had waved him down to stop. Human rights organisations in Kenya have evidence indicating the three men were briefly held at Syokimau AP Camp soon after they were abducted. The men's whereabouts after that remained unknown until their bodies were recovered seven days later.

"That these killings are coming before numerous similar allegations in other parts of the country have been adequately investigated is a matter of serious concern of the willingness of the Kenyan authorities to stem cases police killings," said Henry Maina, regional director at Article 19, Eastern Africa. "President Kenyatta must take decisive steps to assure Kenyans and the international community that the government is serious about addressing police killings."

The Kenyan agencies responsible for investigations, including IPOA and police should ensure that all those reasonably linked to the killings are investigated and all available evidence properly preserved to ensure the credibility of the investigations, the organizations said.

"A transparent process of investigating and prosecuting those responsible is what is now needed to reassure shocked Kenyans of their safety and restore their faith in the national police," said Kamau Ngugi, National Coordinator at Kenya's National Coalition of Human Rights Defenders. "That a lawyer working for an international organisation and his client could be abducted and disappeared in broad-day light only to be found dead is a matter that cannot be taken lightly."

It is, however, encouraging to note that in the early hours of July 1, before news of the bodies being found was publicly known, Inspector-General of Police Joseph Boinett ordered the arrest of three AP officers attached to the Syokimau AP Camp and further directed that all their colleagues at the camp be questioned about the disappearances.

On July 2, the Inspector General said three officers - Frederick Leliman, Stephen Chebulet and Sylvia Wanjiku - were being held over offences relating to the killings.

"The Inspector General should now clarify whether the AP officer accused of shooting Mwendwa in April 2015 is one of those under arrest," said Otsieno Namwaya, Africa Researcher at Human Rights Watch. "It cannot be business as usual when cases of police killings are emerging from many parts of the country each year. The government should urgently conduct a thorough investigation to ensure that perpetrators are held accountable and that these killings stop."

These outrageous crimes should not only be the concern of the police and IPOA, but should be addressed by all levels of Kenya's leadership, including the national assembly and the head of state.

"The killing of these three young Kenyans in cold blood should concern President Uhuru Kenyatta," said George Kegoro, Executive Director of the Kenya Human Rights Commission. "The head of state must immediately institute a full judicial commission of inquiry into the appropriation and misuse of the institution of the police and its resources for personal and criminal ends including, as in this case, extrajudicial killings."

Kenya's international partners - in particular Sweden, the UK and USA - that are currently providing financial support to the Kenya police units implicated in extrajudicial killings, should urge Kenyan authorities to ensure effective investigations into these killings and prosecution of those responsible. Supporting Kenyan security agencies without insisting on accountability for human rights violations makes donor countries complicit in those violations.

Signed hereunder:

Kenya National Commission on Human Rights

Kenya Human Rights Commission

National Coalition on Human Rights Defenders (NCHRC)

Independent Medico Legal Unit (IMLU)

Amnesty International

Human Rights Watch

Freedom House

Article 19, Eastern Africa

Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative

Defend Defenders

International Commission of Jurists (Kenya Chapter)

InformAction

Chapter Four, Uganda

Pan African Human Rights Defenders Network, Uganda

Foundation for Human Rights Initiative, Uganda

Rights Promotion and Protection Centre

Muslims for Human Rights

Haki Africa

Coalition for Constitution Implementation

Kenyans for Peace with Truth and Justice

Centre for Reproductive Rights

Bunge La Mwananchi

Coalition of Grassroots Human Rights Defenders

Kenyan Peasants League

Pan African Grassroots Women Liberation

World March of Women Kenya

Mathare Social Justice Centre

Bunge La Mwananchi, Kangemi

Kamukunji Human Rights Defenders Network

Women Arising

Dandora Must Change Social Movement

The Change Movement Kenya

Sauti Ya Umma, Kenya

Copyright notice:  Copyright Amnesty International
Mission (Not) Accomplished

Publisher IRIN Author Samuel Okiror Publication Date 1 July 2016 Cite as IRIN, Mission (Not) Accomplished, 1 July 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/577a26904.html [accessed 27 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

Uganda's announcement earlier this month that it plans to withdraw troops hunting the feared Lord's Resistance Army has triggered alarm that it could encourage a resurgence in attacks and abductions by the notorious rebel group.

Uganda has 2,500 troops, backed by US special forces, hunting the LRA and its elusive leader Joseph Kony as part of an African Union Regional Task Force (AU-RTF) in Central African Republic. They have been on the trail of the remaining members of the group, hiding out in the region's remotest areas, for five years.

The phased pullout of the Uganda People's Defence Forces (UPDF), which is set to start from October and run to the end of the year, will deprive the task force of its largest and most effective contingent.

The task force is part of the AU's Regional Cooperation Initiative for the Elimination of the Lord's Resistance Army (RCI-LRA), which is supposed to include troops from South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and CAR.

But it's operational in name alone. The participation of the other countries has been extremely limited: there is no coherent vison of the mission, or chain of command; and the DRC does not allow Ugandan soldiers onto its soil.

"If the Ugandan government withdraws the UPDF contingent, the AU-RTF will be left without any troops capable enough of pursuing Kony and other top LRA leaders," Paul Ronan, project director at the LRA Crisis Initiative, told IRIN.

"Unless a capable replacement for UPDF troops is found, civilians in eastern CAR will be left far more vulnerable to violence by the LRA."

The rebel group, which terrorised northern Uganda from 1987 to 2006, is known for its brutal, retaliatory violence.

Solo mission

Uganda's military spokesman, Lieutenant-Colonel Paddy Ankunda, complained that the UPDF had been left to virtually "single handedly" shoulder the burden of an operation starved of financial and logistical support from the AU and the wider international community.

The RTF is not the only regional operation under threat. Uganda is also reviewing its commitment to the AU mission in Somalia following a 6.2 percent cut in defence spending and a reduction in EU funding to AMISOM troops.

Out of the planned 5,000-strong task force launched in 2012, South Sudan and the DRC were supposed to provide 500 troops each and CAR 85. But they have either withdrawn or failed to deploy due to security and political challenges at home.

"I can't comment on the commitment of other countries. What is true is that we are there [in CAR] alone," Ankunda told IRIN.

The AU's Peace and Security Council, which only recently extended the RCI-LRA mission for a further 12 months, has expressed "deep concern" over Uganda's decision to withdraw, fearing a security vacuum. It has called on Uganda to reconsider its October drawdown.

"In our view, the LRA are greatly weakened and do not pose a direct threat to Uganda," Ankunda insisted. But he did add: "We will also look at the AU's request for us to stay longer and see whether there is merit in it."

LRA on the march

There has already been an uptick in LRA violence this year  especially in CAR. According to the LRA Crisis Tracker, Kony's men were responsible for six civilian deaths and 252 abductions in CAR in the first three months of 2016. That compares with five civilian deaths and 114 abductions for all of 2015.

There have been an additional 44 abductions in the DRC this year, where the UPDF cannot operate.

The Ugandan military believes that the LRA numbers just 200-300 armed men. They move in small, mobile bands between CAR and the Garamba National Park in the DRC, and in the Kafia Kingi enclave  a wedge of disputed territory between Sudan and South Sudan.

"Joseph Kony has found a safe haven along the border of northern CAR, South Darfur, and the Kafia Kingi enclave where counter-LRA troops have limited ability to operate," said Ronan. "Other LRA groups have established camps in DR Congo."

The LRA's fragmentation, across a territory estimated at 184,000 square kilometres, makes it extremely hard for the UPDF and their US special forces partners to gather actionable intelligence.

"Key in the LRA's recent resurgence is the instability in South Sudan, CAR, and the DRC, which has given the group a safe have to move about freely," said Martin Ewi, a senior researcher at the Pretoria-based Institute for Security Studies. "Instability in the region also makes it difficult for the RTF to move around."

Richard Mugisha Ugandan soldiers on patrol in Obo town, CAR

The LRA is also profiting from ivory poaching and the sale of timber  Kafia Kingi is a known smuggling haven  and is "networking and teaming up with other non-state armed groups in CAR and the DRC," Ewi told IRIN.

One more push

The US government says it remains committed to the hunt for Kony, who has been indicted for crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court. It stands by the record of the task force in degrading the LRA.

"Over the past four years, the Ugandan military, as part of the AU-RTF, removed four of the LRA's top five most senior and notorious commanders from the battlefield," a US State Department official told IRIN.

"During that time there have been about 275 defections and releases from the LRA and the number of people killed by the LRA has dropped by over 90 percent."

Ewi agreed: "As a matter of fact, I think the mission exceeded expectations and has been able to orchestrate the decline of the LRA."

But Holly Dranginis, a senior analyst at the US-based Enough Project to End Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity, said the mission needed to improve its capacity on two fronts: to more effectively gather intelligence, and to operate in Kafia Kingi. The latter case would require permission from Sudan, which has declined to join the task force.

"Kony still hides out there with impunity, sending orders down the chain of command and facilitating illegal natural resource trafficking," she said.

Ronan believes that the LRA must also be denied access to the Garamba National Park, the artisanal gold and diamond mines in eastern CAR, and there should be "significantly expanded messaging aimed at encouraging LRA members to defect".

But all these worthy initiatives depend on the Ugandan forces, the lynchpin of the regional task force, staying on to complete its mission.
Is Pakistan going to send Afghan refugees home?

Publisher IRIN Author Aamir Saeed Publication Date 23 June 2016 Cite as IRIN, Is Pakistan going to send Afghan refugees home?, 23 June 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/577a27624.html [accessed 27 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

Sardar Gul has been forced to cut his earnings by more than half.

Daily scrutiny by police cracking down on Afghan refugees in Pakistan turned his three-kilometre commute to a construction site into a two-hour ordeal. It became untenable. So, instead of braving checkpoints and spot checks at work, Gul traded in his shovel for an awl.

Now, he makes about 150 rupees ($1) a day fixing shoes at a makeshift stall near the Kababiyan refugee camp in Peshawar. This is pittance compared to the 400 rupees he earned each day as a construction labourer, and it's barely enough to feed his family of 10 people.

Gul and his fellow 1.5 million registered refugees - along with approximately 1.5 million more who aren't documented - are stuck between a rock and a hard place: Pakistan is putting increasing pressure on them to return to Afghanistan, but the conflict has been getting worse in their home country and the economy has also collapsed.

Afghan refugees have fled to Pakistan for decades: throughout the 1980s and the Soviet invasion, the civil wars of the 1990s, the Taliban regime that followed, and the 15 years of conflict since the Taliban were overthrown in 2001. But Pakistan's welcome mat has now worn thin.

Pakistan's Federal Minister for States and Frontier Regions Abdul Qadir Baloch told IRIN that the cabinet is finalising plans to send the Afghans home.

"We have hosted the refugees for over three decades, but now we want them to leave Pakistan by the end of this year," he said, "The Afghan government and the international community should help Pakistan to repatriate them."

He said refugees would be repatriated in stages, and some could stay into 2017 as long as relations between the two countries improve.

Increasing tensions

Afghanistan has long accused Pakistan of backing militant groups in its territory, and tensions between the countries ratcheted up further this month with military clashes along their disputed border. At the same time, temporary residency cards provided to refugees are set to expire on 30 June, and the Afghans are reporting increased scrutiny from police, as well as harassment and extortion in some cases.

"The police and other security agencies feel that all Afghan refugees living in Pakistan are either terrorists, or help terrorists to blow up schools, hospitals and target security installations," said Gul. "The fact is that we ourselves are victims of terrorism both in Pakistan and Afghanistan."

In an increasingly unwelcome environment, Afghan refugees say it's now hard to find employment. Many members of the more than 200 households in Gul's camp worked in Peshawar as cleaners, waiters or labourers, but he said many Pakistanis no longer want to hire them.

Bakhat Khan, another Afghan refugee, said police are also checking refugees who survive by selling fruits, vegetables, and other goods on pushcarts. "We are routinely taken to the police stations for nothing and released only after intervention of someone influential in the area or a UNHCR (UN refugee agency) official," he said.

Trouble at home

As tough as life is in Pakistan, refugees may find it even harder if they go back home.

"Afghanistan's prolonged conflict has led to economic meltdown and massive unemployment in the country," said Samad Khan, a UNHCR spokesman. "It isn't in a position now to support the refugees' return and take care of them."

Civilian casualties set yet another record in the first quarter of this year, the UN peacekeeping mission said in a report. The number of internally displaced Afghans has hit 1.2 million and people are fleeing their homes at a rate of 1,000 per day, according to the UN.

Afghanistan's government is struggling to respond to the crisis. A recent report by Amnesty International found that many IDPs are "living on the brink of survival", as the government has failed to enact its National Policy on Internally Displaced Persons.

Yet, aid programmes in Pakistan are also being scaled back due to a lack of funding.

Khan said UNHCR had to slash its budget by 15 percent last year because donors provided only 40 percent of the $230 million it needed to support education and health facilities.

As of May, UNHCR could only afford to support the education of 53,000 of 229,120 school-aged refugee children, and those who are able to attend classes can only now do so up until sixth rather than eighth grade. The agency has been forced to stop supporting health programmes.

Despite shrinking services and increased harassment, some refugees say they have no choice but to stay in Pakistan.

"We miss our motherland, but we also know there are no jobs, education and health facilities for our children," said Muhammad Dost. "We don't want to leave Pakistan."
The failure in Fallujah

Publisher IRIN Author Annie Slemrod, With additional reporting by Ben Parker Publication Date 4 July 2016 Cite as IRIN, The failure in Fallujah, 4 July 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/577a29054.html [accessed 27 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

As the Iraqi military announced (not for the first time) that it had finally routed the so-called Islamic State in Fallujah, the city's former residents can be forgiven for not breathing a collective sigh of relief.

After 18 months under IS rule, a siege by Iraq's armed forces that left food and medicine in dangerously short supply, and a perilous flight into the desert, many of the newly displaced are now living without tents, enough water, or latrines.

Humanitarians on the ground have said the response to the displacement of almost the entire city  between 60,000 and over 80,000 people depending on who is counting  has been disorganised, at best. Others are more brutal in their assessment. "Aid workers are running around like headless chickens," said one worker recently returned from the new camps.

As they struggle to play catch-up and the long-awaited march on Mosul draws closer (Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said Monday that the Iraqi flag will fly over the country's second largest city soon), many humanitarians are worried that they are woefully underprepared for the challenge.

"When Mosul happens, God help us," Karl Schembri, spokesman for the Norwegian Refugee Council, told IRIN.

"The entire humanitarian community has failed Iraq  from donors, to governments, to the implementing agencies on the ground," he continued. "Fallujah has exposed all of our shortcomings with massive consequences for the tens of thousands of civilians displaced."

There are between 800,000 and 1.5 million people in Mosul  again, it depends who you ask  numbers that dwarf the population of Fallujah.

IRIN has taken a closer look at the Fallujah aid operation and asked what went wrong and whether the civilians caught up in Iraq's next battle will receive the aid they need and deserve.

To what extent do funding and security concerns excuse a weak and insufficient response to the displacement of civilians from Fallujah? And to what extent were deeper-rooted bad habits, poor coordination, and a culture of risk aversion really to blame?

Is it about the money?

Fallujah is only the latest in a series of mass displacements in Iraq that began in January 2014 when IS entered from Syria and met little resistance. According to the latest figures, more than 3.3 million Iraqis, around 10 percent of the population, are displaced inside the country.

The humanitarian system, led by the UN, has been struggling to cope. A team of senior UN and NGO officials was sent to Iraq to review the humanitarian operations in May 2015, and soon after produced an internal "Operational Peer Review" (OPR) report, obtained by IRIN, whose findings have not been previously reported.

The report stresses "the need for a scale-up in preparedness for what are almost certain increases in humanitarian needs as a result of further conflict; a preparedness which is hampered by a lack of funding."

And it is funding that, according to Lise Grande, the UN's humanitarian coordinator for Iraq, meant the system wasn't fully ready for Fallujah.

Fallujah was long known to be high up on the Iraqi army's list as it continued its battle against IS, with local militias and United States airpower on its side.

Indeed, in April  as it became clear that supplies were running low inside the city  Grande told IRIN that the UN was "in the process of expanding our footprint" in areas where displaced were expected to decamp to.

"We are getting more camps and tents, and moving supplies in."

But this didn't happen as planned  some supplies were prepositioned and camps established  but not nearly at the level needed. Grande says this is because the money simply wasn't forthcoming.

"The funding wasn't there and therefore we were absolutely stuck," she said.

The budgetary woes are real. Iraq's UN-led humanitarian appeal has received only 36 percent of the $861 million it says it needs for 2016, (at least $36 million has been newly pledged).

While limiting, it is proportionally the best-funded major humanitarian appeal of 2016.

And with several humanitarian crises in the Middle East alone, donors are cash-strapped. Last April, senior European Union aid official Jean-Louis de Brouwer warned that money was a major worry for aid in Iraq.

"The needs are skyrocketing and the resources are not increasing," he said. "I'm afraid there is also  not donor fatigue  but donor exhaustion."

Ben Parker/IRIN

Individual agencies have funding concerns too. Their funding tends to come in short-term grants from governments. They are expected to spend it in that timeframe, making it difficult to set aside stocks of food, tents and supplies for clean water,and latrines.

"We all knew that Fallujah was about to happen," Schembri said, but explained that the country's chronic displacement crisis made it difficult to prepare (Fallujah was only one of the cities that was talked about as the Iraqi army's next move).

"We have been hearing about [the battles of Fallujah] and Mosul for the last two years, so do you fill hundreds of warehouses with latrines while people elsewhere need them now?" he asked, rhetorically.

Playing it safe?

But there's more to the problem than just funding.

Joel Charny, director at the NRC and an aid agency veteran, told IRIN that even if funding was low and aid agencies were surprised by the speed of the exodus (30,000 in a matter of days), that's no excuse for the sluggish response.

Between late May, when the Iraqi government announced its assault on IS in Fallujah, and now, something could have been done.

"I insist that there was enough time to get something organised to avoid the chaos that we are seeing now," Charny told IRIN.

Karl Schembri/NRC The exodus of some 30,000 people from Fallujah in a matter of days initially shocked aid agencies

Part of the difficulty may be the operating environment. Although only 60 kilometres from Baghdad, Fallujah is in western Anbar Province, Iraq's largest, which also includes another former IS stronghold, Ramadi.

The 2015 OPR stresses that "the humanitarian response is concentrated in accessible areas and it does not necessarily target those most in need."

In the case of Iraq, accessible tends to mean the relatively peaceful semi-autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government, where many aid organisations have set up camp.

Little seems to have changed since the review. Indeed, Grande told IRIN that "one of the major constraints we have is that very, very few frontline partners are working in Anbar."

For the sake of illustration, there are seven aid organisations (including the UNHCR, the UN's refugee agency) officially working on providing shelter in Anbar Province (although IRIN understands two of these are not involved in the Fallujah response), where  before Fallujah at least  there were 578,208 internally displaced persons.

In comparison, there were 48 agencies  nearly seven times as many  at work on shelter in Dohuk, a KRG province with 397,290 displaced.

There are grumblings that major organisations just haven't stepped up in Anbar, at least not in time to help those displaced from Fallujah.

Oxfam, for example, has a Baghdad office but no presence in Anbar. It said it was concentrating its efforts in the (Kurdish-controlled) northeast of Iraq. An Oxfam spokesperson told IRIN by email that the charity is "very concerned by the situation in Fallujah at the moment, but, much as we might wish to be, Oxfam cannot be everywhere. We are currently grappling with the biggest emergency aid effort in our history  one which is largely driven by refugees and people fleeing their homes."

Another major NGO, Save the Children, told IRIN that while it didn't currently work in Anbar, it was carrying out a needs assessment in the camps around Fallujah with an eye to providing help there.

UN OCHA 135 aid organisations were working in Iraq as of August 2015

In their defence, even if organisations wanted to suddenly dash to Anbar to help with what has become an increasingly desperate situation, it's not a simple undertaking.

There's red tape to cut through in Baghdad, not to mention the time it takes for aid groups to establish a presence in the province, find staff, and establish trust with the local authorities and population.

The Danish Refugee Council is one group that has been working in Anbar this year. Stef Deutekom, acting Iraq country director, said the problem with the response was the lack of aid groups on the ground.

"Few international organisations were on the ground in Anbar only a few months ago, mainly due to the insecurity and lack of humanitarian access prior," Deutekom told IRIN in an email.

"The challenges faced are multiple," he said. "From an insecure environment; access to Anbar, as the [government-controlled] Bzeibiz Bridge has been closed at various moments in the past; to a lack of sufficient coordination at various levels."

International Committee of the Red Cross spokesman Ralph El Hage also stressed the importance of maintaining a presence on the ground: "The principle we operate on is being extremely close to the people, because if you are not close you will not be able to respond quickly." ICRC is not a formal member of the UN-led aid machinery but is active in Anbar.

The missing tents

It's now been more than a month since the Iraqi army announced its battle on IS in Fallujah. It's been more than 10 days since 30,000 people escaped in a matter of three days, with an estimated 32,000 in the weeks before that.

Every aid organisation on the ground says the response has been far from ideal. The UN had estimated there were 50,000 civilians inside the city; now it appears there may have been more than 80,000.

As Deutekom puts it, with "hundreds if not thousands of families living out in the open for multiple days without access to basic services, the humanitarian response has not been satisfactory."

The NRC's Schembri is less measured. "What will distinguish us from ISIS if we abandon the very people who fled from them just at the moment they need us most?"

Karl Schembri/NRC While the aid response has now been scaled up, dozens of families are still without shelter

One of the greatest complaints is that vulnerable civilians have been left to survive temperatures well above 45 degrees Celsius without so much as a tent to shelter them from the elements.

This could, and should, have been avoided.

With 30,000 exiting Fallujah in a matter of days and surprising aid workers, it may not have been feasible to have tents for all those waiting. But the length of the delay is hard to justify.

"We wanted more tents in Anbar, but everything that we could do under the existing budget was done," said UNHCR's Iraq representative Bruno Geddo.

At first, the Iraqi government  desperately short on funding itself  was providing tents to the newly displaced. So was the Saudi government. But when these were not sufficient, frontline agencies expected UNHCR to release many of the 10,000 tents it keeps at all times in Baghdad, or the 10,000 more in the KRG capital, Erbil. After all, they are warehoused for situations just like this.

But the tents still haven't come. As of the end of last week, only 1,533 had been sent.

Why? No one seems to agree.

A high-ranking Iraqi employee at UNHCR, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the organisation was simply taken by surprise.

"When the [military] operations began and people started to leave, we were surprised by the number of families. It was much bigger than what we had planned for, and it confused us."

He said that getting the tents across the Bzeibiz bridge required permission from the Iraqi authorities that was not forthcoming. For the most part, the UN can't deliver supplies itself due to the security situation.

The same UNHCR employee said the company the UN has contracted is not paying the kickbacks at checkpoints, so these are "playing a major role in delaying the aid being delivered on time."

Grande said the tents should now be moving. But the fact that it took so long is worrisome and points to gaps in coordination  exactly what the UN system is meant to be doing, and an issue highlighted by the 2015 review.

For her part, Grande recognised that coordination had been a problem. "I think that everyone who has been looking at the Fallujah situation realises that this was an operation which we have been scrambling to try to bring onto track, and we recognise there are many gaps in the response, in our operational footprint, and gaps in coordination as well," she told IRIN.

Onwards and upwards?

Humanitarians were also remiss in making plans for Fallujah based on how events played out in Ramadi, another major IS stronghold, according to UNHCR's Geddo.

"We were influenced by the situation of Ramadi. We thought the long-term siege on Fallujah would produce a situation similar to Ramadi, whereby manageable numbers of people would get out as they could," he explained.

Some 40,000 people were displaced from Ramadi as the Iraqi army and its allies fought off IS for nearly eight months, but there was nothing like the sudden exodus that happened with Fallujah.

When that's not what happened, a group of organisations that count emergency response as their business was remarkably slow to adapt.

Timothy Webster/IRIN

Just as Fallujah turned out not to be at all like Ramadi, Mosul will likely present its own unique challenge for humanitarians. With up to 1.5 million residents and tall buildings, a different sort of warfare is likely to engulf the city.

"Mosul is going to make Fallujah look like nothing," warned the NRC's Charny.

Humanitarians say they are preparing, as much as possible. DRC's Deutekom said that his group and others had been planning for Mosul for "quite some time now".

"There is clearly the risk that if and when displacement out of Mosul will happen, the number of displaced persons fleeing in multiple directions is going to be a tenfold of what we have seen around Fallujah," he said.

The UN's Grande promised there is a plan for Mosul, one that takes in various possible scenarios. But ominously, she reiterated once again: "our ability to fund the humanitarian contingency plan depends on funding coming in."
Unknown and exploited: Europe's new arrivals

Publisher IRIN Author Batul Hassan Publication Date 29 June 2016 Cite as IRIN, Unknown and exploited: Europe's new arrivals, 29 June 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/577a2a694.html [accessed 27 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

Migrant smuggling and trafficking routes through the western Balkans that went dormant during the latter half of 2015 and early 2016 when migrants and refugees were allowed to move freely between Greece and northern Europe have re-emerged in the wake of border closures imposed nearly four months ago.

Official figures show a sharp decrease in border crossings, but an unknown number of refugees are moving through the Balkans uncounted. Humanitarian organisations warn that their renewed reliance on smugglers makes them more vulnerable and less likely to access protection and assistance.

"Everything went underground with the border closures," said Jelena Hrnjak, director of Serbian anti-human trafficking organisation ATINA. "Refugees are now in the same position as they were in 2014 and early 2015. The old routes that existed before the so-called humanitarian corridor are operational again."

The UN agency for refugees registered 217 new arrivals at Serbia's southern borders with Macedonia and Bulgaria over four days earlier this month, but an estimated 300 refugees are thought to arrive in the country every day without being registered. One UNHCR official anonymously admitted that it is impossible to know exactly how many are being smuggled in undetected.

On Wednesday, Europol, the EU's law enforcement agency, announced that a 36-hour crackdown on smugglers in the region, involving police and border management forces from 10 countries, had resulted in the arrest of 39 smugglers as well as the 580 migrants they were smuggling.

Europol chief Rob Wainwright noted in a statement that more than 7,000 suspected migrant smugglers had been reported to Europol so far in 2016. "It is expected that the prices for smuggling will continue to rise and exploitation is expected to further increase both in countries of transit and arrival," he said.

No other route

Manal, an 18-year-old Syrian travelling with her eight-month-old son, was among last week's registered arrivals in Presevo, a small city on Serbia's southern border with Macedonia.

"I couldn't bear to stay in Greece any longer," Manal explained, describing the poor conditions at the camp where she had been living. "The water was so dirty. I was too sick to breastfeed my son. Even when I asked the doctors for clean water, they only gave [purification] tablets."

She was also desperate to rejoin her husband in Germany. He left Syria when Manal was four months pregnant and has only seen their son in photos. Family reunion procedures through the European Union's Dublin Regulation can take as long as a year. After three months stranded in Greece, Manal decided to join a group of six other Syrians who each paid a smuggler 2,000 euros to get them to Germany. But the smuggler took them only as far as Macedonia before abandoning them in the forest with no food.

Alberto Campi/IRIN An Afghan woman and her daughter rest in the border area known as "the jungle" between Greece and Macedonia

For three days after he disappeared, the group continued as quickly as they could towards the Serbian border. They spent their days hiding in the forest, their nights walking. Progress was slow, especially after Manal sprained her ankle, but they eventually reached the Serbian border, where they were arrested and transferred to the registration centre in Presevo.

After two days in the centre, the group was still waiting to receive documents that would allow them to travel legally through Serbia for 72 hours. Manal was not sure which country they would be entering next, but said she trusted the men in her group to find a solution  most likely another smuggler  once they reached Belgrade, the capital.

Big business

A joint report published in May by Interpol and Europol estimated that migrant and refugee smuggling networks earned between $5 billion and $6 billion last year, with 90 percent of travel by migrants to the EU facilitated by members of a criminal network. It predicted a "further diversification of routes as smugglers adapt their services to increased controls and find new ways into the EU". It also noted that: "While a systematic link between migrant smuggling and terrorism is not proven, there is an increased risk that foreign terrorist fighters may use migratory flows to (re)enter the EU."

According to the International Organization for Migration, 127 people have been arrested in Greece since the beginning of the year on charges of smuggling, but Hrnjak said arresting individual smugglers, often migrants themselves, does little to deter well-established networks.

"It's a transnational criminal activity and needs to be regionally addressed," she told IRIN. "The people who are arrested may be stopped from doing their base-level activity, but the main leaders of the operation remain in place."

IOM is working to collect data on smuggling and human trafficking in the Balkans so it can develop evidence-based responses and help victims. But the collection of accurate information is often hampered by refugees' unwillingness to identify smugglers who they view as their only chance of reaching their final destination.

Ripped off

Saraf, a 25-year-old teacher from Afghanistan travelling with her husband and two brothers, said her group found a smuggler on the Greek island of Samos who offered to get them to Hungary for 2,500 euros each. She did not elaborate on how he got them off the island. Refugees are supposed to remain there until they go through an admissibility procedure and are either returned to Turkey or issued with an asylum card allowing them to travel to the mainland. A UNHCR spokesperson said the agency had heard anecdotal reports of people leaving the islands without authorisation, and that Greek police had stopped several people trying to board ferries with forged documents.

Saraf's smuggler accompanied them on the six-day trek through Macedonia, but abandoned them in Belgrade. Sitting in a park near the city's main bus station, she was unsure how her family would reach Germany: their intended destination.

Hungary erected a fence at its border with Serbia last September. The only legal way in now is via two "transit zones" where Hungarian authorities have been admitting just 30 asylum seekers a day. Hundreds of others are left waiting for weeks at informal camps that have sprung up on the Serbian side of the border. UNHCR has expressed concern regarding conditions at the camps and warned that the long waits are pushing refugees into the hands of smugglers.

"I don't understand how they can take advantage of us in this way," said Saraf, about the smugglers. "But at the same time, they are our only option. We must continue, and the smugglers are our only choice."

According to the Interpol/Europol report, "the basic structure of migrant smuggling networks includes leaders who coordinate activities along a given route, organisers who manage activities locally through personal contacts, and opportunistic low-level facilitators who mostly assist organisers and may assist in recruitment activities."

Vulnerable children

Unaccompanied minors are known to join smuggling networks in order to work off debts incurred during travel, usually by recruiting other refugees to be smuggled.

"From our point of view, that kind of situation could very likely result in bondage once they reach the destination country  or perhaps sooner," Hrnjak said.

A 16-year-old Afghan boy who gave his name as "Ali" told IRIN that he paid a smuggler 1,500 euros to get him from Afghanistan to Turkey, where he spent four months working in a factory to raise money for the next leg of his journey. He then paid 4,500 euros to be smuggled through Bulgaria to Belgrade, where he is waiting for his family to gather the 1,400 euros he needs to pay a smuggler to get him into Hungary. Once there, he plans to make his way to Norway and apply for asylum.

Alberto Campi/IRIN Asylum seekers from Nigeria just arrived in Belgrade with only a plastic bag and their clothes

He said that last week, he and six companions, also unaccompanied minors from Afghanistan, tried to cross into Hungary without a smuggler, but they were caught and beaten by Hungarian border police.

"Twelve policemen found us with dogs," Ali said. "They kicked us and beat us with electric sticks until we ran away from the border."

The group returned to Belgrade, where one of his friends sought medical attention for a wound on the back of his head. Ali said he won't try to cross the Hungarian border again until he can afford to pay a smuggler.

"We need them to open the borders," Ali said. "Until the borders are open, we have nowhere to go."
Joint NGO statement ahead of the European Council of 28-29 June 2016 NGOs strongly condemn new EU policies to contain migration

Publisher Human Rights Watch Publication Date 27 June 2016 Cite as Human Rights Watch, Joint NGO statement ahead of the European Council of 28-29 June 2016 NGOs strongly condemn new EU policies to contain migration, 27 June 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/577a2c974.html [accessed 27 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

At the upcoming European Council, European Union (EU) leaders will discuss the European Commission's Communication on a new Partnership Framework with third countries. The Communication proposes an approach which aims to leverage existing EU and Member States' external cooperation instruments and tools in order to stem migration to Europe. The undersigned organisations express their grave concern about the direction the EU is taking by making deterrence and return the main objective of the Union's relationship with third countries. More broadly, this new Partnership Framework risks cementing a shift towards a foreign policy that serves one single objective, to curb migration, at the expense of European credibility and leverage in defence of fundamental values and human rights.

The proposed approach is inspired by the EU-Turkey deal which although touted as a successful example of cooperation, has actually left thousands people stranded in Greece in inhumane and degrading conditions. This has particularly affected children, with the result that hundreds of unaccompanied children have been held in closed detention facilities on the islands or forced to sleep in police cells on the Greek mainland. The wider repercussions of this should not be underestimated. It is hard to see how Europe can ask partner countries to keep their doors open, to host large-scale refugee populations and prevent further movements while at the same time Member States refuse to shoulder their fair share of responsibility for protecting people who flee their homes. The right to asylum is being significantly undermined, and it will become more and more challenging for civilians in conflict zones to seek international protection.

The Commission's proposal ignores all the evidence on the ineffectiveness of deterrence strategies aimed at stopping migration. This approach will not only fail to "break the business-model" of smugglers but increase human suffering as people are forced into taking more dangerous routes. Moreover, despite the stated commitment to respect the principle of non-refoulement, there are no safeguards envisaged to ensure that human rights, rule of law standards and protection mechanisms are in place. As a result, people risk being deported to countries where their rights are not safeguarded. Responsibility and liability for human rights violations do not end at Europe's borders.



We are disappointed to see that once again the emphasis on deterrence leaves no clear commitments to open up safe and regular channels to Europe for those in need of international protection and for other migrants, e.g. through resettlement, humanitarian admission schemes, family reunification, educational visas, labour mobility and visa liberalisation. Resettlement, labour migration and visa liberalisation are only mentioned as possible leverage with partner countries in a quid pro quo approach.

Another major concern is the financing of the proposed Partnership Framework which would represent a wholesale re-orientation of Europe's development programming towards stopping migration. This is an unacceptable contradiction to the commitment to use development cooperation with the aim to eradicate poverty, as enshrined in the Lisbon Treaty. Aid is for the benefit of people in need, and should not be used as a leverage for migration control. EU funding should be transparent and adhere to clearly established principles, such as the Busan principles on effectiveness and the Paris principles of ownership by and alignment to partner countries' strategies. In addition, striking 'migration management' agreements with countries where grave human rights violations are committed will be counter-productive in the longer term  undermining human rights around the globe and perpetuating the cycle of abuse and repression that causes people to flee.

Migration has many drivers; people may be on the move in search of new livelihood opportunities, an education or to reunite with family, while conflict and violence, human rights violations, climate change, poverty and unemployment can all trigger migration and forced displacement. Any cooperation to manage migration should take into consideration this complex and multi-faceted reality, be evidence and needs-based, and ensure that the benefits of migration are maximised and the risks are mitigated.

If the EU wants to call for more global solidarity, it needs to set the right example. The EU, a project built on the rubble of a devastating war, is about to embark on a dark chapter of its history. We urge EU leaders to choose a rights-based system to manage migration, based on a viable long-term strategic vision, rather than pursuing an unattainable and inhumane deterrence objective and thereby abandoning its core founding principles.



As human rights, humanitarian, medical, migration and development agencies, and key implementing partners of development programmes in third countries, we call on European leaders to:

Reject the current Commission Communication and develop a sustainable long-term and evidence-based strategy for migration management, in consultation with civil society and experts. Facilitate safe mobility by opening and strengthening safe and regular channels to Europe both for those in need of international protection and other migrants including through resettlement, humanitarian admission and humanitarian visas, family reunification, worker mobility across skill levels and student visas. Member States must commit to clear benchmarks and appropriate timelines for implementing a migration framework that meets the needs of migrants, asylum-seekers and refugees, their families, as well as the needs and obligations of Member States. Exclude any conditionality based on migration control indicators in the allocation of development aid to third countries. Development aid is a tool to fight poverty and inequality, not to manage migration. Vulnerable populations should not be punished because of concerns that are largely political. Stop any readmissions or removals of people by the EU to a third country that violate  or risk violating - fundamental rights and rule of law, including the principle of non-refoulement. Ensure access to protection, justice and effective remedy for all people in migration and asylum procedures. Ensure transparency in the development of any instruments to manage migration and accountability for human rights violations resulting from EU migration policies. Commit to a foreign policy and action focused on preventing and unlocking protracted crises. While the Communication mentions the need to address root causes of displacement in the long term, it does not include engagement to prevent and manage crises.

Signatories

ACT Alliance EU ActionAid Afrique Culture Maroc Agir Ensemble pour les Droits de l'Homme Aid Services Amnesty International Amycos Asgi - Associazione per gli Studi Giuridici sull'Immigrazione Asociacion por ti mujer Asociacion Salud y Familia - Spain Association for action against violence and trafficking in human beings-Open Gate La Strada Macedonia. Association for the Social Support of Youth Ayuda en Accion British Refugee Council CAFOD Care International CCOO de Andalucia Centre for Youths Integrated Development. Centro de Investigaciones en Derechos Humanos PRO IGUAL ChildFund Alliance Church of Sweden Churches' Commission for Migrants in Europe Citizens' association for combating trafficking in human beings and all forms of gender-based violence CNCD-11.11.11 Comision Espanola de Ayuda al Refugiado CEAR- Concern Worldwide CONCORD Sweden Conseil des Beninois de France Consortium of Migrants Assisting Organizations in the Czech Republic Coordinadora Andaluza de ONGD Coordinadora Cantabra de ONGD Coordinadora de ONGD de la Region de Murcia Coordinadora de ONGD del Principado de Asturias Coordinadora de ONGD Espana Coordinadora de ONGD Navarra Coordinadora Extremena de ONGD Coordinadora Gallega de ONGD Coordinadora ONGD de Castilla y Leon Coordinadora Valenciana de ONGD Cordaid Detention Action Detention Forum Doctors of the World International network EU-CORD Network Eurochild EuroMed Rights European Association for the Defence of Human Rights European Council on Refugees and Exiles European Youth Forum Federacion Aragonesa de ONGD Federacion de Asociaciones de Derechos Humanos Federation of Christian NGOs in Italy FIACAT FIDH FIZ advocacy and support for migrant women and victims of trafficking Fluchtlingsrat Niedersachsen e.V. Forum des Organisations de Solidarite Internationale issues des Migrations Fundacion 1 de Mayo de Comisiones Obreras Fundacion Alianza por los Derechos, la Igualdad y la Solidaridad Internacional APS- Greek Forum of Refugees Habitat for Humanity International, Europe, Middle East and Africa Handicap International Human Rights Watch Human Rights Without Frontiers Instituto Sindical de Cooperacion al Desarrollo ISCOD- InteRed INTERSOS Islamic Relief UK Jesuit Refugee Service Europe. Justice and Peace Netherlands KISA-Action for Equality, Support, Antiracism Koordinierungsstelle der Osterreichischen Bischofskonferenz fur internationale Entwicklung und Mission La Strada International Lafede.cat - Organitzacions per a la Justicia Global Le Monde des Possibles Macedonian Young Lawyers Association Menedek - Hungarian Association for Migrants Migrant Voice UK Migrants' Rights Network Movimiento contra la Intolerancia Movimiento por la Paz MPDL- Nasc, the Irish Immigrant Support Centre Norwegian Refugee Council Oxfam PAX Pax Christi International PICUM-Platform for International Cooperation on Undocumented Migrants Plan International EU office Platform Minors in exile / Plate-forme Mineurs en exil / Platform Kinderen op de vlucht (Belgium) Red Acoge Reseau de Competences Solidaires - Groupement d'Economie Sociale et Solidaire France - Europe - Afrique Reseau Immigration Developpement Democratie - IDD Save the Children SOS Children's Villages International SOS Racisme  Touche pas a mon pote Swedish Refugee Advice Centre Telecoms Sans Frontieres Terre des Hommes International Federation The International Federation of Social Workers European Region The International Rehabilitation Council for Torture victims The Norwegian Centre Against Racism Trocaire World Vision Brussels and EU Representation ZOA

Copyright notice:  Copyright, Human Rights Watch
Why is China getting involved in Afghan peace talks?

Publisher IRIN Author Joanna Chiu and Jared Ferrie Publication Date 4 July 2016 Cite as IRIN, Why is China getting involved in Afghan peace talks?, 4 July 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/577a2d334.html [accessed 27 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

During German Chancellor Angela Merkel's recent visit to China, the two countries agreed to jointly fund a disaster response centre in Afghanistan. It was just the latest sign of China's increasingly prominent role in that country, which also includes trying to jump-start peace talks with the Taliban.

Germany has been a key US ally ever since the ouster of the Taliban 15 years ago, sending troops, as well as being one of the top aid donors. Germany's intensifying interest in a stable Afghanistan is understandable as it has recently become a destination for record numbers of Afghan asylum seekers. But what is China's goal?

Historically, China has favoured a non-interventionist approach overseas, while being accused of providing loans with no regard for the human rights situation in a given country. Beijing generally steers clear of messy negotiations between warring parties, but in the case of Afghanistan, it has stepped into the fray, joining the Quadrilateral Coordination Group, which was set up to negotiate with the Taliban and also includes the US, Pakistan, and Afghanistan.

Experts cite a mix of economic, political, and especially security concerns that account for China's interest in Afghanistan. They say China could be a key player in future peace talks because of its close relationship with Pakistan, a country that Afghanistan accuses of harbouring and even supporting Taliban leaders.

"So far, Afghans feel that China is as sincere as it can be, given its long history of friendship with Pakistan," said Omar Samad, a former Afghan government advisor who has also served as ambassador to Canada and France.

The Pakistan question

To many Afghans, the roots of their country's problems stretch across the border to Taliban strongholds in the frontier areas, and even further, into the halls of Pakistan's military and intelligence headquarters.

The Taliban leadership is known as the Quetta Shura after the city in Pakistan's Baluchistan Province where it's been based since its ouster in 2001. When a US drone strike killed Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Muhammad Mansour in May, he was travelling by road in that province. The role of Pakistan's intelligence and security agencies in the organisation of the Taliban and their takeover of Afghanistan in the 1990s has been well documented by journalists and authors such as Ahmad Rashid.

Pakistan's involvement in any peace talks is key, and that would require a "shift" in policy that Afghanistan cannot initiate on its own, Samad said.

"An answer has to be sought in collaboration, within an alliance with the US, other Western countries, other relevant and influential countries - including China," he said.

A new "Great Game"?

So why is China getting into what Samad refered to as a "new 'Great Game'" (a reference to the machinations between the British and Russian empires that played out in Afghanistan at the turn of the century)? What does China stand to gain through its involvement in the nascent peace talks?

"It is only natural for us to care about the stability and security of Afghanistan," was the official response to IRIN's question at a Foreign Affairs Ministry briefing in Beijing.

"As a friendly and close neighbour of Afghanistan, China sincerely hopes that the Afghan people can live in peace, stability, and security, and benefit from the country's development," said Hua Chunying, the ministry spokesperson.

While there's no reason to doubt the goodwill of the Chinese government, others say there is a bit more to it.

When IRIN asked about links between militant groups in Afghanistan and western China, Hua Chunying did not answer and the question was stricken from the official transcript of the briefing.

There is a militant Islamist separatist movement in China's western region of Xinjiang, which is home to the Muslim, Turkic-speaking Uighur minority. The region borders Afghanistan, and Uighurs have reportedly fought and been captured there.

Those security concerns are at the forefront of China's increasingly muscular stance on Afghanistan, said Barnett Rubin, an Afghanistan scholar at New York University and former special advisor to the US and the UN.

He pointed to: "Uighur separatists receiving military training and experience with Afghan and Pakistani militant groups, and the need for closer cooperation with the Afghan government."

The US decision to scale down its military presence and NATO's withdrawal have also pushed China to take a greater role in attempting to stabilise Afghanistan, said Du Youkang, a former diplomat to Pakistan who is now director at Fudan University's Center for South Asian Studies.

There are also economic and political incentives. China's Silk Road Economic Belt strategy, for example, aims to develop infrastructure that will help connect Eurasian economies, allowing China better access to new markets.

"China will not be able to implement these plans without peace and security in the region," noted Rubin.

China's quandary

The Quadrilateral Coordination Group is so far only discussing a roadmap to peace talks, and even that process has been off to a sputtering start. In April, a Taliban delegation in Pakistan said it was ready to meet with officials. The Afghans refused to take part, and accused Pakistan of refusing to use its influence over the Taliban to push for peace.

As a close ally of Pakistan and a supportive partner to Afghanistan, China could be the one country to bring them together. That would involve leaning on Pakistan to be an honest broker between Afghanistan and the Taliban. But will China play its hand?

"China's best role would be to bridge the gap between Afghanistan and Pakistan, which would include some kind of pressure on and security assurance for Pakistan," said Rubin. "But Pakistan is practically China's only ally and it is essential to Chinese security and economic planning, so thus far I see little sign that China will do so."

In any regard, the process will be a long one, so China's role may have time to evolve.

In the immediate term, Afghanistan is facing a political crisis, warned Samad. Factions within the Government of National Unity, which was formed to stave off civil conflict after disputed elections, are squabbling over reforms meant to decentralise power.

Afghanistan's military is fighting hard to hold off insurgents, including the Taliban and the so-called Islamic State, without the support of the 130,000 foreign soldiers that were stationed there at the peak of the NATO mission. The economy has also collapsed in the wake of their departure.

Given the political, economic, and security situation playing out right now, the Taliban has little incentive to talk, and rather more to take advantage of the chaos. The Afghan government is also so consumed by its multiple crises that it is in no position to push for negotiations.

"Peace talks are on the backburner right now," said Samad. "How can you engage in any type of peace process when you have so many balls up in the air?"
Libya: RSF asks Libya's Government of National Accord to protect journalists

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 1 July 2016 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, Libya: RSF asks Libya's Government of National Accord to protect journalists, 1 July 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/577a2e154.html [accessed 27 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

Reporters Without Borders condemns the latest acts of violence against journalists in Libya including freelance reporter Khaled Al Zantani's murder by an Islamic State sniper on 23 June in Benghazi.

Zentani was killed by a single shot while covering clashes in the western part of the city between IS fighters and eastern Libya's army. Our sources said he was deliberately targeted by the IS sniper.

Aged 37, he used to be Zentan TV's Benghazi bureau chief. Of late he had been freelancing for various media including Zentan TV and Sky News.

Other recent media victims include Ali Al Asbli, a blogger who disappeared (and was probably kidnapped) in March 100 km from Benghazi, and Badr Al Rabhi, the correspondent of the Libya HD television channel who was kidnapped in January in Benghazi.

According to our sources, Rabhi was kidnapped by a military intelligence unit attached to Gen. Khalifa Haftar's self-proclaimed Libyan National Army. He was questioned for three days, during which he was subjected to verbal and physical violence.

The disappearance of Tunisian journalists Sofiane Chourabi and Nadhir Khtari in the Ajdabiya region in September 2014 remains unsolved.

"We deeply deplore all these acts of violence against journalists, including Khaled Al Zantani's murder, which brings to eight the number of journalists killed in Libya since the start of 2014," said Yasmine Kacha, the head of RSF's North Africa desk.

"Those responsible for these crimes continue to act with complete impunity. We reiterate our appeal to the Government of National Accord, recently installed in Tripoli, to publicly undertake to protect journalists and to prioritize the fight against impunity."

Other cases of abduction and violence have been reported to RSF in both eastern and western Libya but the families, which often fear reprisals by the many militias or by Islamic State, have asked RSF not to name the victims.

The internationally recognized Government of National Accord headed by Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj that was installed in Tripoli in March has said its priority is combatting the Islamist extremists scattered along a 200 km stretch of coast starting in Abu Grayin, in the Syrte region.

However, the GNA has not yet managed to unite all of the military forces on the ground, especially in the east of the country where fighters loyal to Gen. Haftar, who is backed by several eastern tribes, refuse to be sidelined by Sarraj.

In this complex power struggle, professional and non-professional journalists are caught between the various forces in play and are unable to work freely.

Libya is ranked 164th out of 180 countries in RSF's 2016 World Press Freedom Index.
RSF urges Bahraini authorities to let journalist travel abroad

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 1 July 2016 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, RSF urges Bahraini authorities to let journalist travel abroad, 1 July 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/577a2e634.html [accessed 27 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) deplores the way the Bahraini authorities have stopped reporter Nazeeha Saeed from leaving the country twice in the past few days without giving any explanation and calls on them to allow her to travel.

"The authorities deny there is any ban on Nazeeha Saeed travelling abroad but the police have repeatedly prevented her from leaving without giving any grounds," said Alexandra El Khazen, the head of RSF's Middle East desk. "We urge the authorities to explain themselves without delay."

The correspondent of France 24, Radio Monte-Carlo Doualiya and various pan-Arab media outlets such as the website Raseef22 and newspaper Al-Hayat, Nazeeha Saeed wanted to fly to Europe for a vacation early morning on 29 June but was turned back at Manama airport by a police officer who was unable to explain the reason for the ban.

Accompanied by her lawyer, Hameed Al Mulla, she went to the immigration department, the public prosecutor's office and the Criminal Investigation department (CID). At each place, officials denied the existence of any order forbidding her from travelling abroad.

Nonetheless, when she tried to leave the later during the day by using King Fahd Causeway, which links the Island of Bahrain with the nearby Saudi mainland, she was again turned back. Who is responsible?

"This situation is frustrating," Saeed told RSF. "I am every worried. What is going to happen next?"

Around 15 journalists and bloggers are currently detained in the Kingdom of Bahrain, which is ranked 162nd out of 180 countries in RSF's 2016 World Press Freedom Index.
Kazakhstan: Land Issue Fueling Social Discontent

Publisher EurasiaNet Author Joanna Lillis Publication Date 24 May 2016 Cite as EurasiaNet, Kazakhstan: Land Issue Fueling Social Discontent, 24 May 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/577a30294.html [accessed 27 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

Kazakhstan is taking stock after the worst social unrest in years erupted over the weekend, denting the country's carefully cultivated image as a haven of stability.

Anti-government demonstrations are unusual in Kazakhstan, and this was the first significant bout of turmoil since late 2011, when an oil strike in the western town of Zhanaozen descended into violence that resulted in 15 protesters being shot dead by police.

Contentious land reforms are stoking the protest mood in Kazakhstan these days. Social media lit up on May 21 with images of masked riot police officers manhandling demonstrators in several cities across Kazakhstan as they attempted to voice dissatisfaction over the land reforms. On May 24, human rights campaigners in Almaty accused authorities of committing massive violations of civil liberties for arresting hundreds of people as they sought to exercise their right to peaceful protest.

"It's the general atmosphere of a police state," said human rights campaigner Yevgeniy Zhovtis. "Not only are we guaranteed the right to assemble, but under its international obligations, the state is obliged to assure that right."

Zhovtis said there were "blatant violations" of the rights of hundreds arrested on spurious grounds. Many were held for hours in police stations without access to legal defense, he said.

"The country's constitution and laws were breached," said another campaigner, Zhemis Turmagambetova.

Most of those detained were released without charge, but some were tried and fined or jailed for up to 15 days. Ahead of the rallies, around 40 individuals were imprisoned for making plans to hold the nationwide day of protest on May 21.

Officials have not confirmed how many were arrested, but the total ran to over 500, according to Human Rights Watch, which has characterized officials' actions on May 21 as "outrageous." Around 300 were detained in Almaty, from where emerged the most iconic image of the protests: a woman in a pink T-shirt being frogmarched away by riot police as she sang the national anthem.

Officials justified the arrests on the grounds that the demonstrators were breaking Kazakhstan's stringent laws on public assembly - which a UN rapporteur has urged Astana to relax. Authorities added that protest organizers lacked the proper authorization to hold mass gatherings. Not a single city government acquiesced to requests to hold rallies on May 21.

Senior police official Igor Lepekha drew widespread derision for claiming that there had been "no unsanctioned rallies" since, as he put it, they had been thwarted through effective policing.

Public protests are being fanned by dissatisfaction with reforms aimed at expanding land sales to private investors. Many believe the initiative could open a backdoor route for foreigners to gain ownership of land. Astana insists this is false and says the changes are aimed at attracting investment to the agricultural sector.

President Nursultan Nazarbayev, who has yet to comment on the unrest, sought to head off the burgeoning protest movement in early May, after spontaneous rallies broke out in various cities. He has frozen the land reforms and ordered the formation of a commission, including some respected, independent civil society figures, to discuss how to proceed. That move proved too little, too late.

According to Almaty-based political analyst Rasul Zhumaly, the land-reform issue was merely the spark for the demonstrations. Beneath the surface, there are simmering socio-economic grievances that have been exacerbated by an economic crisis brought on by low oil prices. Frustrations have been further stoked by the Nazarbayev administration's governing style, which rarely allows for ordinary people to make their voices heard.

"These problems have been piling up for a long time, but for a long time apathy, pessimism, passivity and fear reigned  especially after the shootings in Zhanaozen," Zhumaly told EurasiaNet.org. Now resentments are boiling over and driving people onto the streets, he suggested.

"I think the authorities have become very tense because they perceived this rally ... as moving from talk about land reform to political demands," civil society campaigner Galym Ageleuov told EurasiaNet.org.

In a development with alarming implications for Astana, one slogan harnessed on social media to advertize the protests had nothing to do with land reform at all. Shal Ket! -- Kazakh for "Old Man Out!" -- was an obvious reference to the 75-year-old president, who has governed Kazakhstan since it gained independence in 1991, and who was last re-elected with 98 percent of the vote.

"It is often heard now that the time has come not only for economic and social reform, but also political reform," said Zhumaly. "I'm not saying that the majority are saying this.  But these sentiments are present, that political reform is needed."

Nazarbayev remains popular among many in Kazakhstan for what they see as his role in delivering years of petrodollar-fueled growth and social stability. Recent events have dented his authority in the eyes of some, however.

"He used to be good, but I'm not so keen now," Serik, a 47-year old Almaty resident who sympathized with the land protesters but had not joined them, told EurasiaNet.org. "It's time he handed over power."

The authorities are unaccustomed to dealing with such protest sentiments and appear to be struggling to formulate a response.

"It's very dangerous for the future of the country," political activist Marzhan Aspandiyarova, who has been arrested three times over these protests since late April, told EurasiaNet.org. "When these mass arrests take place, it tells you that there is no one left in power who can adequately assess the situation, and control the situation."

The protests are grassroots-led, and Kazakhstan's almost non-existent political opposition is conspicuous in its absence from the protesters' ranks. Officials have sought to discredit demonstrators by hinting darkly that sinister forces are purportedly directing them. Before the May 21 protests, police in Almaty announced they had found caches of firearms and Molotov cocktails that they claimed were going to be used to stage provocations during the rally. Loyal media duly relayed the allegations, which were greeted skeptically on social media.

Meanwhile, government-linked media have launched a smear campaign accusing the protesters of being fifth columnists stirred up by outside - by implication Western - forces.

No further rallies have been announced and it is not clear if the protest movement will now die down or snowball.

Zhumaly predicted that unless Astana showed a genuine willingness to address popular concerns, "the situation will continue to heat up."

"I think there will now be a lull," said Ageleuov, but "at the slightest impulse  it could spark up again."

Copyright notice: All EurasiaNet material  Open Society Institute
Georgia: How Closely Should the State Embrace the Church?

Publisher EurasiaNet Publication Date 26 May 2016 Cite as EurasiaNet, Georgia: How Closely Should the State Embrace the Church?, 26 May 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/577a30bd4.html [accessed 27 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

Twenty-five years after regaining its sovereignty, the South Caucasus country of Georgia faces another question about independence - this time, about that of the state from the Georgian Orthodox Church, the country's main religious faith.

"The Church is quite independent from the state, but is the state independent from the Church?" asked political scientist Ghia Nodia, a former education minister, at a May 18 conference ("Religion, Foreign Influences and Parliamentarism: The Prospect of Consolidated Democracy in Georgia") in the capital, Tbilisi. "It's the second part of this question that interests [people the] most in Georgia."

The official answer from both the Church and state is that they are, indeed, independent. A 2002 agreement grants the Georgian Orthodox Church, the faith of roughly 83 percent of Georgia's 4.3 million citizens, an advisory role to the government, but without the status of a state religion.

Nonetheless, some contend, the government-financed Church, exempt from taxation, is a state religion in all but name.

Eka Chitanava, director of the Tolerance and Diversity Institute, contends that since 1992, when the Church regained legal recognition, the modern Georgian state has used the Church for "legitimacy" and the Church, in return, has gained "a lot of financial resources" - aside from a tax-exempt status, about 25 million laries (over $11.3 million) per year, in recent budgets.

"The problem was that the state was  unable to separate itself from the Church," she commented at the aforementioned conference, organized by the non-profit Georgian Institute of Politics. With the Georgian Dream coalition's advent to power in 2012, she said, "now we see the utmost loyalty of the government to the Church."

Arguably, this is a matter of national identity - since its founding in the 4th century, the Church has outlasted many Georgian governments - as well as votes. At official celebrations of Georgia's May 26 Independence Day in Tbilisi, 83-year-old Patriarch Ilia II sat between President Giorgi Margvelashvili and Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili on the reviewing stand.

But critics charge that the state had gone too far in following the Church's lead.

A state agency on religious affairs, answerable to the prime minister's office, has proven "a rather Soviet structure to control religious structures," Chitanava argued. Cases of Islamophobia have not been investigated as promised, she contended, nor have those priests who violently attacked a 2012 anti-homophobia rally been punished.

After the patriarch stated last December that he should be allowed to amnesty prisoners, Minister of Corrections Kakhi Kakhishvili agreed, and the government pledged further action.

A government initiative to change the constitution to define marriage as uniquely heterosexual also has been attributed to the Church, which states that "secularism and moral relativism" now threaten that institution.

At the same time, the Church can busy itself in some unexpected areas. On May 20, for instance, Ilia II received Agriculture Minister Otar Danelia and other officials to discuss the revival of traditional Georgian grapes (the Patriarchate has its own viticulture research center) and livestock, as well as "prospects for the development of bee-keeping."

Yet while some activists and journalists question this relationship, that criticism vanishes when it comes to cooperation on most secular Georgians' ultimate goal - membership in the European Union.

In this campaign, the Church, arguably Georgia's most trusted public institution, can prove to be a strong political ally.

Both the government and EU member states appear to recognize that.

An ongoing project financed by the British and Dutch embassies, and organized by the Tbilisi-based Center for Development and Democracy and the Patriarchate's Education Center, focuses on educating priests about the EU for them, in turn, to educate their parishioners.

Russian media and some conservative priests have led parishioners to believe that membership in the EU would entail acceptance of homosexual marriages, a nonstarter for most Georgians, and, ultimately, enfeeble the Church.

Rather than ignoring such topics, noted State Minister on European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Davit Bakradze on May 23, the government, Church and civil society "decided that we would need a broader, more substantial discussion of these matters to dissolve the myths created by anti-European forces."

To that end, the EU has financed the publication of a book by one Georgian non-profit, the 21st Century Union, on the legal status of Orthodox Churches in nine EU members (Bulgaria, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Romania). Bakradze's office contributed unspecified assistance.

"The point is that the Orthodox Church is a great supporter of the EU for Georgia," the minister told attendees at the May 23 presentation of "The Orthodox Church in European Union Member States." Plans for its distribution were not detailed.

Many, of course, dispute the depth of the Church's EU enthusiasm, instead positing that its sympathies lie more with conservative, Orthodox Russia - a charge senior clergy hotly deny.

Roughly a year before Georgia's May 26, 1918, declaration of independence, the Church asserted its own independence from the Russian Orthodox Church, regaining the right to self-rule it had lost with Tsarist Russia's takeover of Georgia in the early 19th century. For all the values it shares with the Russian Orthodox Church as "part of the world Orthodox Church," it is not eager to kowtow to Moscow.

In an impromptu response on May 18 to rights-researcher Chitanava, Father Giorgi Zviadadze, protopresbyter and rector of the Tbilisi Spiritual Academy, denounced claims that the Church is a "tool of Russian propaganda" as "based on ignorance." They willfully overlook Church policy and meetings with representatives of both the EU and North Atlantic Treaty Organization, he said.

"We are teaching our Orthodox teachings. We don't use propaganda, or any  country's church [to influence parishioners]" he stormed, in reference to the Russian Orthodox Church. "The only instrument the Church uses is the word of the Lord," he said of the Bible.

However, it also is willing to make use of "The Orthodox Church in European Union Member States."

Father Giorgi described the 141-page study on the Orthodox Church's status in the EU as "a great work" and noted that "we will read it with great interest."

Mistakes, he added, would be flagged.

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Minister's Misstep Exposes Stress in Kazakhstan-Kyrgyzstan Ties

Publisher EurasiaNet Publication Date 27 May 2016 Other Languages / Attachments Russian Cite as EurasiaNet, Minister's Misstep Exposes Stress in Kazakhstan-Kyrgyzstan Ties, 27 May 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/577a31074.html [accessed 27 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

Careless remarks by a minister in Kazakhstan touched off a diplomatic dispute with Kyrgyzstan and are now causing a backlash in his home country too.

It all started earlier this week, when Culture and Sport Minister Arystanbek Mukhamediyuly digressed from his praise of the works of celebrated Kyrgyz author Chingiz Aitmatov to grossly patronize Kyrgyz citizens working in Russia.

"It is such a pity when you fly into Moscow or other cities and see that public toilets are being cleaned by young girls from our neighboring country. This cannot but offend one's sensibilities. What could she have done to deserve this and at such a young age - to have to clean a public toilet?" the minister was cited as saying by Tengri news website.

Understandable outrage in Kyrgyzstan was quick to follow. Kyrgyzstan's Foreign Ministry summoned Kazakhstan's ambassador to express dismay in a note of protest. "The offensive and unconsidered tone adopted by Mukhamediyuly toward the Kyrgyz Republic, which has caused a great deal of negative reactions among the public in Kyrgyzstan, does not overall live up to the spirit of alliance underpinning Kyrgyz-Kazakhstani relations," the Foreign Ministry said.

The ministry hinted it had recorded a spate of recent cases in which officials and television stations in Kazakhstan had failed to accord Kyrgyzstan respect.

In an apparent reprisal, Kyrgyz authorities announced a plan to reduce the amount of time citizens of Kazakhstan could spend in Kyrgyzstan without registering - from the current 30 days to five days. That announcement was aired by the deputy chair of the Kyrgyz Migration Service, Almazbek Asanbayev, during a roundtable on the Eurasian Economic Union, a trading club that was designed to bring its members - Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Belarus and Armenia - closer together.

"We want to introduce parity and reduce the number of days that Kazakhstanis can be here to five days. According to EEU rules, they should give Kyrgyz citizens the right to be in the country without registration for up to 30 days, but for some reason the issue has been dragged out by Kazakhstan," Asanbayev said in remarks quoted by Sputnik news agency.

Such a move would be self-defeating given how much money tourists from Kazakhstan plough into Kyrgyzstan's economy, particularly during the summer months, when the resorts on Issyk-Kul Lake fill up with Kazakhstani vacationers.

Talk of modifying registration rules have served as a timely reminder of the limited progress in breaking down borders between Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, despite the latter joining the EEU last spring. Frontier crossings still see time-consuming lines, and trade embargoes still remain the norm, particularly since standards harmonization within the EEU remains weak.

Astana earlier this month slapped a ban on the import of potatoes from Kyrgyzstan, stating that it had recorded 79 separate cases of worm-infested vegetables being brought into the country.

On a more positive note, there are recurrent noises about construction of a new highway linking the two countries to shorten the distance between Kazakhstan's business capital, Almaty, and the Kyrgyz town of Cholpon-Ata, which lies on the shores of Issyk-Kul.

Mukhamediyuly gradually got around to apologizing, albeit grudgingly, and only through a letter written by his deputy, Galym Ahmedyarov.

"We are certain that the Kyrgyz people, having a colossal and bright history and culture  can expect a great historical future and economic prosperity," Ahmedyarov said. "We once again wish to give our assurances that Minister Arystanbek Mukhamediyuly holds the Kyrgyz people in great regard and that his words were not intended to offend anybody."

Anybody watching the news out of Kyrgyzstan in recent months should have been aware of the hair-trigger sensitivities that can be aroused by perceived slights concerning Kyrgyz national pride. Late last year, a British employee at Kyrgyzstan's largest private foreign investor, Centerra Gold, provoked widespread rage by likening a local culinary delicacy, chuchuk, to a "horse penis" on his Facebook page.

Trade issues aside, the Kyrgyz have long bristled at what they perceive as the condescending attitude of their richer northern neighbors.

Andrei Grozin, a Central Asia expert at the Institute for Countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States in Moscow, explained in a recent interview that this air of superiority might be dissipating with the times, however.

"Citizens of Kazakhstan have until recently lived in the certain belief, which has been transmitted to them from the top, that you can throw money at any problem: 'We are an oil state, a petro-state, everything is tip-top,'" Grozin told ZONAkz website. "They saw Tajik and Kyrgyz labor migrants who were doing all the hard and dirty work and they thought: 'We're not like that!"

Even though Kazakhstan's economy easily outstrips that of Kyrgyzstan - the former nation's gross domestic product per capita in 2014 was around $12,600 as compared to the latter's $1,300, according to World Bank data - times are becoming harder in Kazakhstan.

Some analysts, like those at the London-based Economist Intelligence Unit, even predict that Kazakhstan could be set for its first year of negative growth in nearly two decades in 2016. Not that this has apparently fostered much empathy among Kazakhstan's officialdom.

Bektour Iskender, founder of the Bishkek-based Kloop.kg website, suggested Kyrgyzstan take the high road over this diplomatic spat - one that could even serve it in good economic stead. The two proposals he outlined in a comment piece on the ongoing furor were to allow Kazakhstanis to remain on Kyrgyz soil for an unlimited period and to automatically grant Kyrgyz citizenship to Kazakhstanis living in the country for more than three months.

"The longer they are here, the more money they will spend and the more money will pour into our country's economy. How could we in sane mind turn down such money?" Iskender wrote.

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Angered at Arms Sales to Azerbaijan, Armenians Push Away from Russia's Embrace

Publisher EurasiaNet Author Marianna Grigoryan Publication Date 3 June 2016 Cite as EurasiaNet, Angered at Arms Sales to Azerbaijan, Armenians Push Away from Russia's Embrace, 3 June 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/577a33b24.html [accessed 27 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

When Armenia joined the Moscow-led Eurasian Economic Union in 2015, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan justified the decision in part by asserting that membership would enhance Armenia's national security. But, as the early April flare-up in fighting between Armenian and Azerbaijani forces over the Nagorno-Karabakh territory showed, such security benefits are more theoretical than real.

Armenia is ostensibly Russia's closest strategic ally in the South Caucasus. Yet the intense fighting in Karabakh helped focus public attention on an issue that has rankled Armenians - Russian arms sales to Azerbaijan. Armenia officially lost 92 soldiers in the four days of fighting. The fact that Russian-supplied arms played a role in those deaths has become a source of bitterness for Armenians.

"It is naturally painful for us when Russia, and not only Russia, but other CSTO (Collective Security Treaty Organization) member states, sell arms to Azerbaijan," Sargsyan said in early April while on a visit to Germany.

Yerevan long has known about Russia's weapons sales to Azerbaijan - accounting for as much as 85 percent of Baku's total supply, according to a 2015 report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute - and has complained accordingly.

But actually seeing them used against Armenian soldiers intensified a sense of injustice. Many previously had assumed the reported sales were a story crafted by pro-Western media outlets.

"When people saw that Russia sells weapons to our enemy, and our soldiers die from those same weapons, while, for some unknown reason, the delivery of our weapons [from Russia] is being delayed, many people started seeing things clearly," commented 27-year-old painter Levon Arakelian, a resident of Gyumri, a northern Armenian town that hosts a Russian army base. "When you see the results [of Armenia's alliance with Russia],  the friendly attitude turns into hatred."

In Gyumri, opinions on Russia began to change last January, when Russian soldier Valery Permyakov confessed to having murdered a seven-member local family. His trial is ongoing. The death of seven Gyumri men during the April conflict with Azerbaijan has had a much stronger impact on views of Russia, claimed Arakelian.

In this, the Internet has played a central role. Russian TV channels and Armenian state-controlled stations do not broadcast anti-Moscow messages. But online media made it difficult for most Armenians to ignore the Russian arms sales, said 35-year-old environmentalist Armen Parsadanian, a resident of Kapan, a town about 320 kilometers south of the capital, Yerevan. "The Internet press has had a huge breakthrough with influence on public perceptions" of Russia, Parsadanian continued. "The image of a friend, of an ally, is broken."

Seyran Martirosian, who runs the non-profit Sakharov Human Rights Protection Office's branch in Shirak, Gyumri region, agreed.

"It was difficult for a fan of Russia to hang on  and to justify Russian behavior in this situation," he said of the reports about Russian arms sales to Azerbaijan. "Armenia is a very small country and it is very difficult to present events differently."

In a 2015 poll published by the Gallup International Association Armenia, 59 percent of 1,105 surveyed Armenians identified Russia as the country Armenia should join if it ever decided to give up its independence. Twenty-eight percent of respondents objected to that prospect.

There is no public opinion data from the post-April conflict period to assess the extent of changing public attitudes toward Russia. At the same time, pollster Aharon Adibekian, the head of the Sociometer Sociological Center, noted that "the change of attitudes is noticeable not only among common citizens, but also among the country's strategic decision-makers."

The Kremlin long has held that its weapons sales to both Armenia and Azerbaijan help maintain a balance of power between the two foes. So far, Russian officials have made no effort to address Armenia's anger directly.

Armenia has only a limited ability to prompt a shift in Russian arms sales, given the large role Russia plays in the Armenian economy. Aside from its base at Gyumri, Russia has a sizeable presence in the country's mining, telecommunications and energy sectors. Remittances from Armenian labor migrants in Russia also are a critical pillar of the Armenian economy.

Not surprisingly, in areas like the southeastern region of Gegharkunik, where large numbers of working-age men head to Russia in search of work, the annoyance with Moscow is muted. Though the contraction of the Russian economy has led to fewer job opportunities for migrants, many Armenians, those living in areas that border Azerbaijan still view Russia as a protector.

"On the one hand, there is a lack of awareness [about Russian arms deals with Azerbaijan], and on the other - Russia, being the only way out, people try to justify Russian policy," said Anahit Gevorgian, head of the Community Council of Martuni Women, a local non-governmental organization.

But many have given up counting on Russia. "The four-day war showed that our only security guarantee is us, the soldiers standing at the frontline, and that our hope should be only in us," commented Gyumri resident Arakelian.

Editor's note: Marianna Grigoryan is a freelance reporter based in Armenia and editor of MediaLab.am.

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Kazakhstan: Aktobe Violence Wrongfoots Authorities

Publisher EurasiaNet Author Aigerim Toleukhanova Publication Date 6 June 2016 Other Languages / Attachments Russian Cite as EurasiaNet, Kazakhstan: Aktobe Violence Wrongfoots Authorities, 6 June 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/577a340f112.html [accessed 27 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

The weekend's bloodshed in Kazakhstan seemed to catch the government off-guard. While Kazakhstan has experienced radical-driven violence in the past, until a few days ago authorities seemed more concerned about security threats emanating from domestic political critics than from Islamic militants.

It took almost a full day after the spate of deadly shootouts broke out in the western oil city of Aktobe for either Prime Minister Karim Masimov or President Nursultan Nazarbayev to make a public statement about the events.

"The head of the state is maintaining this issue under his control," Masimov told a June 6 Cabinet meeting in perfunctory remarks on the violence.

Security officials have hastily described the violence in Aktobe as the handiwork of religious extremists - code for militant Islamists - but such is the extent of the information blackout that definitively establishing motives is difficult. The plug was pulled on Internet connections in the city soon after the unrest began, and what little independent information has filtered out has come through phone calls and SMS messages conveying scant witness testimonies.

Authorities have served as the only source for almost all the details about events in Aktobe on June 5. The first incident occurred at 2:28 pm, when, according to an official account, a large group of people stormed a hunting supplies shop, killing a sales clerk and a security guard, and making away with 17 weapons. Some from that group of attackers stole a police patrol car and went to another hunting supplies shop. Others commandeered a bus, which they used to ram the gates of a National Guard base, where they engaged in a firefight with servicemen, three of whom were killed. Authorities declared a state of emergency, and the city was placed under curfew.

The Interior Ministry said there was yet another attack, on June 6, on a security checkpoint near Aktobe. Three attackers were admitted to a hospital with wounds sustained in that clash - one of them died.

The death toll reached 18 by late June 6: 12 gunmen, three servicemen and three civilians. Interior Minister Kalmukhanbet Kasymov said around six to seven gunmen were at-large.

While the violence was still raging, state media mostly ignored developments. As late as midnight of June 5, state news agency Kazinform carried only two items alluding to the events - one that characterized the unrest as robberies gone wrong and another that reproduced a brief Interior Ministry statement. Evening television news bulletins dedicated scant reports to the bloodshed.

Local media's patchy coverage of the unfolding drama meant that many Kazakhstani citizens were able to glean information only from Russian television.

"I heard how on [Russian state television news station] Rossiya-24 our mayor was saying everything was calm and not to worry. This was on Rossiya, and our local channels showed nothing," said one Aktobe resident, a housewife. "Most shops and malls are closed. There are few cars around town and we haven't been out of the house since yesterday. I switched on the local channels this morning thinking there would be some information, but there was nothing - not on [state channel] Khabar and not on [privately owned] KTK."

As routinely happens during news blackouts, the rumor mill went into overdrive, generating some extravagant claims. One medical worker in Aktobe told EurasiaNet.org on condition of anonymity that there were rumors circulating that the armed gang were plotting to poison the reservoirs of the city water utilities company. The same person cited a neighbor living above one of the hunting supplies shop attacked on June 5 as saying she saw seven people killed, far more than the official tally. None of that information could be independently verified.

The Aktobe events occurred at a time when the government was focused on containing a volatile source of socio-economic discontent - land protests.

State media has for the past few weeks fixated on the presence of a "fifth column" inside Kazakhstan - implying at stages that opponents of reforms that would have seen the maximum period of land leases to foreigners being increased from 10 to 25 years were being mobilized by mysterious outside forces. In a startling development on June 6, however, the National Security Committee announced that it suspects jailed Kazakhstani businessmen Tokhtar Tuleshov, a figure with pronounced pro-Russian sympathies, of organizing and financing that protest movement.

Some have been quick to question whether the government has focused excessively on anti-land reform demonstrators - whose rallies claimed no serious casualties - and too little on other, potentially more destructive elements.

"For the longest time they denied the very possibility of terrorist acts taking place in the country, which they promoted to the world as an 'island of stability,'" political analyst Dosym Satpayev wrote in a snap commentary on his Facebook account.

Terrorism jumped to the top of the agenda in 2011, when Kazakhstan succumbed to a string of attacks seemingly inspired by radical Islam, many of them in the west of the country. The attacks, many of them botched, left scores dead - mostly suspects and members of the security forces that they were targeting - and culminated in a deadly rampage by a gunman in the southern city of Taraz. Even then, government officials initially attempted to downplay talk of the threat of terrorism and instead attributed the incidents to organized crime before recognizing the rising radical threat.

But Astana-based sociologist Serik Beissembayev, who has conducted numerous interviews with people convicted on terrorism charges, has drawn a more worrying picture - one that suggests Aktobe may only be the tip of the iceberg.

"When you talk about radicalism, you need to understand that in all countries with a Muslim majority, there is a portion of believers that is radicalized in its ideas and views," Beissembayev told EurasiaNet.org.

Beissembayev likened the radical-minded section of the population to a pyramid, with most rejecting violent methods but some - the point of the pyramid - being willing to resort to bloodshed. You cannot have the violent few without the nonviolent many underneath.

"It is not necessarily the case that they are all potential terrorists. They can co-exist peacefully with the rest of the population. But studies show that it is this environment that creates and fuels those who decide to commit violent acts."

Beissembayev said that because of factors that have yet to be understood, the gunmen in Aktobe were moved to action. "In the case of Aktobe, for all intents and purposes, we see a few followers of radical ideologies shifting from a passive to an active phase," he said.

There are various theories, however, that point to festering resentments among the population.

Much irritation was provoked by Aktobe regional governor Berdibek Saparbayev's veiled threats last week against local activists who had organized a petition to prevent the construction of a planned factory that some citizens worried could create pollution. Although the petition gathered only around 573 signatures, the initiative was enough to prompt Saparbayev to warn that the authorities would take measures against "the illegal collection of signatures."

One comment under a report on local news portal Diapazon captured widely held sentiments well.

"Don't go to rallies, don't sign petitions. Have things here become like under the communists in China?" the reader wrote.

While nobody would suggest this particular issue would have sparked such a violent reaction, the episode clearly illustrates that authorities - especially in the regions - appear tone-deaf to public discontent and its potential for toxic consequences.

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Azerbaijan: What Is the Ombudsperson's Role in Human Rights?

Publisher EurasiaNet Author Durna Safarova Publication Date 9 June 2016 Cite as EurasiaNet, Azerbaijan: What Is the Ombudsperson's Role in Human Rights?, 9 June 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/577a34b54.html [accessed 27 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

With the June 17-19 Formula One race in Baku drawing closer, Azerbaijani and foreign activists have tried to draw international attention to Azerbaijan's human rights record. But do not think that the country does not have its own human rights intermediary. It does - 79-year-old Elmira Suleymanova. Controversy, however, persists about what she does to defend human rights.

Suleymanova, the former chief scientist at the Academy of Sciences' Institute of Petro-Chemical Processes and the founder of Azerbaijan's first women's-welfare non-governmental organization, has held her post since 2002, after parliamentary confirmation of her nomination by the late President Heydar Aliyev, the father of Azerbaijan's current leader, President Ilham Aliyev. In the two parliamentary votes she has since undergone, no more than eight deputies have opposed her nomination.

By definition, an ombudsperson acts as a potential check on government excesses by investigating individuals' complaints against officials. And Suleymanova, known as the commissioner for human rights, has duly investigated local police, prosecutors and officials. In 2014, the latest year for which information is available, her office received or met with over 6,400 Azerbaijanis with petitions or complaints.

Among other issues, she has campaigned for rights for the disabled, natural-disaster victims, children, divorced women and those Azerbaijanis affected by the conflict over breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh.

But, now, despite that activity, criticism of her role is beginning to build among youth activists and the opposition.

Her role came under scrutiny after her office's representatives visited jailed 20-year-old youth activists Bayram Mammadov and Giyas Ibrahimov on May 19 in the Baku Detention Center.

Mammadov and Ibrahimov were arrested on May 10 after they spray-painted "Happy Slave Days" on a Baku monument to the late President Heydar Aliyev. The message appeared on the eve of Heydar Aliyev's May 10 birthday, an official holiday.

The two were charged with illegal possession of narcotics, a common charge against youth activists critical of the government.

Defense attorney Elchin Sadigov, who claims he saw bruises and injuries on both men's bodies the day after their arrest, has released a statement from the pair about alleged police torture.

Upon request, doctors from the ombudsperson's office examined the young men's bodies, but reported that they "did not notice signs of torture" The United Nations Working Group on Unlawful Detention and the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent subsequently visited Mammadov and Ibrahimov, however, and confirmed that signs of torture exist on their hands and feet.

But no word from the ombudsperson. Officials from the Ministry of Internal Affairs rejected the claim of police torture.

"The ombudsperson has always tried to conceal the circumstances of torture," charged Sadigov. "She is busy only with protecting the reputation of the torturers."

On May 20, Bayram Mammadov went on a six-day hunger strike to protest the lack of an official investigation into the torture allegations.

Suleymanova's office did not respond to a EurasiaNet.org request for comment about her findings.

Arguably, though, she has little personal incentive to champion Mammadov and Ibrahimov's claims. Suleymanova herself formerly served on Heydar Aliyev's prisoner-pardon committee, and owes her current post to the late leader. She is not known to have close ties to the ruling family, however.

Yet she walks a delicate line. Parliament, controlled by President Aliyev's New Azerbaijan Party, decides on her office's budget. Suleymanova, who serves a seven-year term, receives a government salary of 2,025 manats, or $1,353, per month, well under the annual estimated Gross Domestic Product per capita of $18,700.

In 2010, pro-government parliamentarians on the human rights committee criticized Suleymanova's activities after she urged adoption of a law on defamation and proposed revoking the requirement to receive permission for public meetings.

Suleymanova also called for steps to be taken for the release of then jailed journalist Eynulla Fatullayev and video bloggers/youth activists Emin Milli and Adnan Hajizade.

Since then, however, she appears to have avoided politically sensitive topics.

Although Suleymanova met several times with jailed rights activist Leyla Yunus and her husband, analyst Arif Yunus, she denied reports of their ill health or police misconduct toward them. Leyla Yunus, she wrote, had refused medical attention. Suleymanova did, however, secure the transfer of a former convict housed with Yunus about which the activist had complained.

International rights watchdogs largely deemed the couple's imprisonment for tax evasion, fraud and embezzlement politically motivated.

The European Court of Human Rights ruled on June 2 that Azerbaijan must pay 30,000 euros ($34,075) to the couple for having failed to provide them with adequate medical care during the roughly 16 months they spent in prison. They were both released in late 2015 on grounds of ill health.

Suleymanova's response to their health claims does not surprise 20-year-old Shahin Novruzlu.

Novruzlu was a 17-year-old member of the anti-government N!DA youth activist group when he was arrested in 2013 on suspicion of illegal possession of firearms and drugs. Relatives maintained that the weapons and drugs were planted by police during a search at their apartment. A third charge of inciting public disorder was later added.

In jail, Novruzlu met with Suleymanova, to whom he claimed that he had been beaten. The ombudsperson's subsequent report, however, made no mention of his allegations against police.

"I'd been beaten during the interrogation to such an extent that I lost four front teeth and was forced to sign a confession" to the charges, Novruzlu recounted to EurasiaNet.org. "But the ombudsman's report was saying I don't have any complaints and I regret what I've done."

On the October day in 2014 when Novruzlu was released from prison, he left Suleymanova's extended, congratulatory hand hanging in the air.

"I don't respect someone who doesn't respect the human rights of others. That's why I refused to shake hands with the ombudsperson," he fumed.

Suleymanova's term ends in 2017. By law, she cannot serve a third consecutive term.

That spells relief for defense attorney Sadigov. "I don't see any need for the institution of the ombudsman to exist," he said. " I've never seen any benefit from this body."

Suleymanova, however, maintains she is just doing her job. "The issues under our competence are solved," she said in 2015 in reference to the Yunuses.

Editor's note: Durna Safarova is a freelance journalist who covers Azerbaijan.

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Myanmar: Prosecutors should drop Mizzima online defamation case

Publisher Article 19 Publication Date 28 June 2016 Cite as Article 19, Myanmar: Prosecutors should drop Mizzima online defamation case, 28 June 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/577a37a04.html [accessed 27 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

ARTICLE 19 is seriously concerned by the newly-elected government's first use of a highly repressive criminal defamation law written by the former military government, against the media house, Mizzima. We urge the government to drop the criminal case and ensure that the right to freedom of expression is fully protected in Myanmar.

On 7 July 2016, the editor-in-chief and a journalist for Mizzima will face a full criminal trial for an article published on 31 December 2015 in which Mizzima criticised a rival media house's coverage of the government-backed Myanmar Peace Centre. The case is brought under article 34(d) of the Electronic Transactions Law (ETL) which includes a prohibition on defamatory statements made online which is very vaguely-defined. Under the ETL, Mizzima staff face potential imprisonment of up to three years, plus a fine.

"We urge the new government to stand behind their commitment to democratisation and drop State support for this case against Mizzima staff. There is absolutely no public interest in the State becoming involved in a case between two rival newspapers, and the only result will be future self-censorship by the media. Treating defamation as a criminal matter in which the full power of the State gets involved, as in this case, is disproportionate in a democracy," said Thomas Hughes, Executive Director of ARTICLE 19.

"Under international law, criminal defamation laws such as the ETL are not a justifiable restriction on freedom of expression. The new government should aim to abolish criminal defamation laws, including those in the ETL and replace them, where necessary, with an appropriate civil defamation law that includes safeguards for the right to freedom of expression in accordance with international standards. The Myanmar government should also ensure that judges receive comprehensive training that encompasses international standards on the right to freedom of expression, including those relevant to implementing defamation legislation," added Hughes.

Mizzima staff are being prosecuted under Article 34(d) of the ETL, which states: 'Whoever commits any of the following acts shall, on conviction be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to 3 years or with a fine or both  (d) creating, modifying or altering of information or distributing of information created, modified or altered by electronic technology to be detrimental to the interest of or to lower the dignity of any organization or any person.'

The ETL falls significantly short of international standards as it includes no protection for freedom of expression, and instead has provisions that are both vague and unnecessary in a democracy. For more information on comparing the ETL against international standards, please see Background Paper on freedom of expression in Myanmar. For more information on international standards relating to defamation, please see Defining Defamation.

Copyright notice: Copyright ARTICLE 19
Bahrain: Ghada Jamsheer must remain free and judicial harassment of women human rights defenders must end

Publisher Article 19 Publication Date 1 July 2016 Cite as Article 19, Bahrain: Ghada Jamsheer must remain free and judicial harassment of women human rights defenders must end, 1 July 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/577a37e84.html [accessed 27 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

After a prominent women's rights defender was sentenced to a further year in prison, we the undersigned international human rights and feminist organisations call on the Bahraini government to stop sentencing women human rights defenders to jail in violation of their right to free expression, and instead to follow through on international commitments to empower women.

On 22 June 2016, Ghada Jamsheer, a writer, blogger, and journalist who is President of the Women's Petition Committee (WPC), was sentenced on appeal to one year in prison by the Second High Criminal Court for four cases related to her tweets about corruption at King Hamad hospital.

Jamsheer has 12 charges against her related to this case and has already been sentenced to seven months in prison on three other related charges, in addition to one year in prison (suspended) on trumped up charges of "assaulting a police officer" while in custody.

She was also fined 10,000 dinars (approx. USD$26,500) for alleged defamation of the management of the hospital, headed by a member of the ruling family. Jamsheer was first arrested on 15 September 2014, and jailed for three months. She is now at risk of arrest at any time.

Jamsheer spent her birthday, 26 June, wondering if she would be arrested. "They want to jail me on my birthday, just like Zainab Al-Khawaja, to send a firm message," said Jamsheer. That message is that criticism of the royal family won't be tolerated.

Zainab Al-Khawaja was sentenced to a year in prison on her birthday on 21 October 2015, for tearing up a photo of the King, among other sentences totalling over three years. Following her release from prison in early June, she left the country to avoid further time in prison.

Her sister, Maryam Al-Khawaja, the Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR) Co-Director, was also sentenced to a year in prison on trumped up charges of "assaulting" a police woman while in custody in September 2014 while trying to enter Bahrain. She shares a birthday with Jamsheer, as well as the threat of prison on these baseless charges if she returns to Bahrain.

In June 2016, UN Women accepted money from the Bahrain royal family to launch the HRH Princess Sabeeka Bint Ibrahim Al Khalifa Global Award for Women Empowerment, despite the fact that Bahrain remains in breach of its international human rights obligations. Women like Ghada Jamsheer, Zainab Al-Khawaja and Maryam Al-Khawaja should be empowered to speak freely and carry out their human rights activities unfettered, instead of jailing them when they speak up about injustice and corruption.

As such, and in recognition of the leadership she provides to women's rights activists from around the world from her long history of work in favour of women's rights and equality, we wish to nominate Ghada Jamsheer to be the first recipient of the Global Award for Women's Empowerment.

In addition, we reiterate our concern about the ongoing targeting of human rights defenders in Bahrain and call on the government of Bahrain to:

Overturn the sentences against Ghada Jamsheer and keep her free from prison;

Overturn the sentences against Maryam and Zainab Al-Khawaja;

Allow human rights defenders to carry out their work without fear of reprisals, and empower them to exercise their right to freedom of expression; and

Release all human rights defenders immediately and ensure their protection from any judicial harassment and persecution in relation to their human rights activities.

Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI)

ARTICLE 19

Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS)

FIDH, under the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders

Front Line Defenders

Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR)

International Service for Human Rights

Nazra for Feminist Studies

Rafto Foundation for Human Rights

Women Human Rights Defenders International Coalition (WHRD-IC)

World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), under the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders

Copyright notice: Copyright ARTICLE 19
Freedom in the World 2016 - Vietnam

Publisher Freedom House Publication Date 29 June 2016 Cite as Freedom House, Freedom in the World 2016 - Vietnam, 29 June 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/577a614424.html [accessed 27 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

Freedom Status: Not Free

Aggregate Score: 20

Freedom Rating: 6.0

Political Rights: 7

Civil Liberties: 5

Quick Facts

Capital: Hanoi

Population: 91,714,080

GDP/capita: $2,052.30

Press Freedom Status: Not Free

Net Freedom Status: Not Free

OVERVIEW

Several high-profile bloggers and activists were arrested or assaulted in 2015, and state control of the media, restrictions on religious freedom, and crackdowns on political dissidents continued.

Vietnam's relations with neighboring China have been strained over disputed territory in the South China Sea, and groups of anti-China protesters gathered in Ho Chi Minh City and other cities on a number of occasions, at times prompting police violence and detentions. However, the government tolerated some demonstrations during the year, including environmental protests in Hanoi.

In July, the head of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) made a landmark trip to the United States and met with President Barack Obama in a sign of increasingly close U.S.-Vietnam relations. Shortly before the trip, Hanoi released a prominent political activist from prison.

POLITICAL RIGHTS AND CIVIL LIBERTIES

Political Rights: 3 / 40

A. Electoral Process: 0 / 12

The CPV is the only state-recognized political party, and its Politburo and Central Committee are effectively the country's top decision-making bodies. The unicameral National Assembly, whose 500 members are elected to five-year terms, generally follows CPV dictates. The president is elected by the National Assembly for a five-year term, and is responsible for appointing the prime minister, who is confirmed by the legislature.

In tightly controlled 2011 elections for the National Assembly, the CPV took 454 seats, officially vetted nonparty members secured 42 seats, and self-nominated candidates won the remaining 4. In July 2011, the legislature elected Truong Tan Sang as president and approved Nguyen Tan Dung, prime minister since 2006, for a second term. Nguyen Tan Dung had been chosen as CPV general secretary at a party congress in January 2011.

B. Political Pluralism and Participation: 1 / 16

The CPV enjoys a monopoly on political power, and no other parties are allowed to operate legally. The Vietnam Fatherland Front (VFF), responsible for vetting all candidates for the National Assembly, is ostensibly an alliance of organizations representing the people, but in practice it acts as an arm of the CPV. Splits between factions within the party exist and have become more noticeable than in the past, but public discussion of internal dissent is actively suppressed.

Leaders and members of illegal opposition parties are subject to arrest and imprisonment. Le Thanh Tung, a member of the banned reformist political coalition Bloc 8406, was granted amnesty in June 2015, shortly before the CPV general secretary's U.S. visit. However, he had been due to complete his four-year prison sentence for "propaganda against the state" about six months later, and other political dissidents were arrested during the year.

Although ethnic minorities are represented within the CPV, they are almost never allowed to rise to senior leadership positions. A law that took effect in June 2015 requires 18 percent of the final candidates for National Assembly elections to be ethnic minorities. Ethnic minorities held about 16 percent of seats in the incumbent National Assembly and occupied one position in the 28-member cabinet.

C. Functioning of Government: 2 / 12

The CPV leadership determines and implements government policy, but it is not freely elected or accountable to the public, and it operates with considerable opacity. Membership in the CPV is widely viewed as a means of enhancing one's personal wealth and connections, and corruption and nepotism are ongoing problems within the party.

CPV and government leaders have acknowledged growing public discontent with corruption, and the authorities periodically prosecute high-profile officials and businessmen for malfeasance. In July 2015, for example, Nguyen Xuan Son was removed as chairman of the state-owned oil firm PetroVietnam and arrested for alleged fraud at his previous post as chief executive of a bank that had since failed. However, observers argue that enforcement is selective and often linked to political rivalries, and those who attempt to independently expose corruption continue to face censorship and arrest.

Reducing corruption and improving transparency at underperforming state-owned enterprises has been an economic priority for the government in recent years. The CPV announced plans in 2013 and 2014 to shed light on the finances of state enterprises, clean up their debts, and make them more efficient. In 2015, the government proceeded with an effort to offer shares in hundreds of state-owned enterprises to private investors.

Civil Liberties: 17 / 60

D. Freedom of Expression and Belief: 4 / 16

The state controls all print and broadcast media, and authorities actively silence critical journalists and bloggers through arrest, prosecution, and other means of harassment. A 1999 law requires journalists to pay damages to groups or individuals found to have been harmed by press articles, even if the reports are accurate. A 2006 decree prescribes fines for any publication that denies revolutionary achievements, spreads "harmful" information, or exhibits "reactionary ideology." Decree 72, issued in 2013, gave the state sweeping new powers to restrict speech on blogs and social media.

While some jailed journalists and bloggers completed their sentences or otherwise won release during 2015, new arrests, criminal charges, and physical assaults continued to be reported. Among several other cases during the year, plainclothes police attacked activist blogger Trinh Anh Tuan with bricks in April, and the government in May charged Kim Quoc Hoa, editor of the newspaper Nguoi Cao Tuoi, with disseminating false information and revealing confidential security-related information after the paper published several articles on official corruption.

Foreign media representatives must notify authorities if they travel outside Hanoi, and the government has at times refused visas for foreign journalists who report on sensitive topics. Satellite television is officially restricted to senior officials, international hotels, and foreign businesses, though many private homes and businesses have satellite dishes.

A 2003 law bans the receipt and distribution of antigovernment e-mail. Websites considered reactionary are blocked, and owners of domestic websites must submit plans for their content for official approval. Internet cafes are required to register the personal information of users and record the sites they visit. Internet service providers face fines and closure for violating censorship rules.

Despite government restrictions on internet activity, many Vietnamese use the web and social media to participate in political debate, often employing technical circumvention methods to avoid censorship and maintain anonymity. The authorities have deployed progovernment social-media users to manipulate public opinion online.

Religious freedoms remain restricted. All religious groups and most individual clergy members are required to join a party-controlled supervisory body and obtain permission for most activities. Those who fail to register their activity with the state are often arrested and harassed, and several religious freedom advocates remained behind bars in 2015. The Roman Catholic Church selects its own bishops and priests, but they must be approved by the government. Although the CPV has sought to improve its relations with foreign religious leaders in recent years, Vietnamese Christians continue to be persecuted, particularly outside of major cities; in 2014 and 2015 the government increased its repression of ethnic minority Christians in the Central Highlands, according to a Human Rights Watch report released in June. A bill under discussion in the National Assembly during 2015 included onerous registration requirements and would give the government extensive control over religious groups' internal affairs.

Academic freedom is limited. University professors must refrain from criticizing government policies and adhere to party views when teaching or writing on political topics. Although citizens enjoy more freedom in private discussions than in the past, authorities continue to punish those who openly criticize the state.

E. Associational and Organizational Rights: 1 / 12

Freedoms of association and assembly are tightly restricted. Organizations must apply for official permission to assemble. In March 2015, the government tolerated environmental protests in Hanoi. Demonstrators took to the streets and Facebook to oppose a government plan to cut down thousands of trees in the capital. Later that month, the city government jettisoned the plan. In a climate of increasing tensions with Beijing over disputed territory in the South China Sea, the authorities also sometimes tolerate anti-China protests. However, security forces beat and detained demonstrators who gathered in Ho Chi Minh City in November to protest a visit by Chinese president Xi Jinping.

Private organizations outside the umbrella of the VFF are discouraged. A small, active community of independent nongovernmental groups promote environmental conservation, land rights, women's development, and public health, but they face government restrictions and complex registration requirements. Land rights activists in particular are frequently arrested. In May 2015, the government permitted a U.S. delegation to meet with representatives of Vietnamese civil society organizations during a U.S.-Vietnam human rights dialogue in Hanoi, though police detained several would-be participants and prevented them from attending.

The Vietnam General Confederation of Labor (VGCL) is Vietnam's only legal labor federation and is controlled by the CPV. All trade unions are required to join the VGCL. However, in recent years the government has permitted hundreds of independent "labor associations" without formal union status to represent workers at individual firms and in some service industries. Farmer and worker protests against local government abuses, such as land confiscations and harsh working conditions, have also become more common. The central leadership often responds by pressuring local governments and businesses to comply with tax laws, environmental regulations, and wage agreements. More than 250 illegal strikes took place during 2015, according to official figures. In March, thousands of workers at factories that make footwear for prominent international brands went on strike to protest a revision of the national social insurance law. The strike ended when the government agreed to reconsider the change.

F. Rule of Law: 4 / 16

Vietnam's judiciary is subordinate to the CPV, which controls the courts at all levels. Defendants have a constitutional right to counsel, but lawyers are scarce, and many are reluctant to take on human rights and other sensitive cases for fear of state harassment and retribution, including arrest. Defense lawyers do not have the right to call witnesses and often report insufficient time to meet with their clients. In national security cases, police can detain suspects for up to 20 months without access to counsel. The police are known to abuse suspects and prisoners, and prison conditions are poor.

New police regulations that took effect in August 2014 codified rules for police investigations and prohibited police coercion during interrogations. Some human rights groups praised the measure as a step forward, but critics raised concerns about enforcement and argued that the reforms failed to protect due process rights. At least 14 people were killed in police custody during 2015, according to the U.S. State Department. In March, members of the National Assembly expressed skepticism over a Ministry of Public Security report claiming that a majority of 226 people said to have died in police custody between October 2011 and September 2014 had committed suicide or succumbed to illnesses.

Ethnic minorities, who often adhere to minority religions, face discrimination in mainstream society, and some local officials restrict their access to schooling and jobs. Minorities generally have little input on development projects that affect their livelihoods and communities. Human rights organizations criticized the government in 2015 for deploying security forces to suppress unapproved religious activity and political dissent among ethnic minority communities in the highlands.

The law does not prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity, and societal discrimination remains a problem. However, there is no ban on same-sex sexual activity, and the government has been relatively open to calls for equal rights for LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) people in recent years. In August 2015, the fourth annual LGBT pride parade took place in Hanoi, and related events were held in other cities.

G. Personal Autonomy and Individual Rights: 8 / 16

Although freedom of movement is protected by law, authorities have restricted the movement of political dissidents and ethnic minorities. Human rights organizations have accused Vietnam of pressuring Cambodia's government to return ethnic minority refugees who fled persecution in the highlands.

Land rights have become one of the most contentious issues in the country. All land is owned by the state, which grants land-use rights and leases to farmers, developers, and others. Among other high-profile incidents during 2015, a group of farmers who had traveled to meet a land rights activist being released from jail in north-central Vietnam were reportedly attacked by plainclothes police on their way home in June. In July, a woman was seriously injured by a bulldozer while protesting the confiscation of farmland to build an industrial park. In September, a woman arrested after protesting the seizure of her family farm received an 18-month prison sentence for disturbing public order.

Women generally have equal access to education, and men and women receive similar treatment in the legal system. Women secured 122 seats in the National Assembly in the 2011 elections. Although economic opportunities have grown for women, they continue to face discrimination in wages and promotion. Domestic violence against women reportedly remains common, and the law calls for the state to initiate criminal as opposed to civil procedures only when the victim is seriously injured.

In January 2015, Vietnam repealed a legal ban on same-sex marriages, but the government still does not officially recognize such unions. A revised civil code passed in November recognized transgender people's right to legally change their gender identity, but only after undergoing sex reassignment surgery.

Enforcement of labor laws covering child labor, workplace safety, and other issues remains poor. Vietnam is a source country for human trafficking. Vietnamese women seeking work abroad are subject to sex trafficking in countries including China, Cambodia, and Laos, and internationally brokered marriages sometimes lead to domestic servitude and forced prostitution. Male migrant workers are also vulnerable to forced labor abroad in a variety of industries.

Scoring Key: X / Y (Z)

X = Score Received

Y = Best Possible Score

Z = Change from Previous Year

Copyright notice:  Freedom House, Inc.  All Rights Reserved
Freedom in the World 2016 - Togo

Publisher Freedom House Publication Date 29 June 2016 Cite as Freedom House, Freedom in the World 2016 - Togo, 29 June 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/577a614611.html [accessed 27 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

Freedom Status: Partly Free

Aggregate Score: 48

Freedom Rating: 4.0

Political Rights: 4

Civil Liberties: 4

Quick Facts

Capital: Lome

Population: 7,231,000

GDP/capita: $635

Press Freedom Status: Partly Free

Net Freedom Status: N/A

OVERVIEW

In presidential elections held in April 2015, incumbent president Faure Gnassingbe successfully consolidated his hold on power, winning 59 percent of the vote and a third term in office. The election proceedings were largely considered free and fair by independent domestic and international observers, though turnout was lower than in previous elections. Opposition candidates critiqued the electronic voter roll system, and the main opposition candidate, Jean-Pierre Fabre, and his followers protested the results. Gnassingbe's support from the military, disproportionate electoral districts, his unwillingness to step down after repeated opposition attempts to pass term limits, and disunity among the opposition all make it improbable that political power will change hands in any meaningful way in the near future.

POLITICAL RIGHTS AND CIVIL LIBERTIES

Political Rights: 18 / 40

A. Electoral Process: 6 / 12 (+1)

The president is elected to a five-year term and appoints the prime minister. Despite numerous failed attempts at constitutional reform in 2014, Togo is one of only two countries in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) without presidential term limits. In April 2015, Gnassingbe won reelection with 59 percent of the vote, a slightly smaller percentage than he received in the 2010 polls. At 61 percent, voter turnout was lower than at any time since Gnassingbe was first elected.

The election was considered largely free and fair by the African Union observer mission. However, opposition critique of the new electronic vote tabulation system and delays in appointing the electoral commission's vice president  a post that by law must be held by a member of the opposition  until the eve of the vote itself reinforced a lack of public faith in the electoral process. The vote was postponed by 10 days to accommodate voter list revisions called for by ECOWAS. While all presidential candidates were given equal airtime on public media during the election period, Fabre was reportedly prohibited from broadcasting a message viewed as critical of the government.

The 91 members of the unicameral National Assembly are elected to five-year terms. Legislative elections were held in 2013 after much delay. International observers considered them to be credible and transparent, though the opposition disputed the results. Gnassingbe's Union for the Republic (UNIR) won 62 seats and 23 of the country's 28 electoral zones, including some opposition strongholds. This result was bolstered by district gerrymandering that heavily favors UNIR. The opposition Save Togo Collective (CST) won 19 seats, the Rainbow Coalition won 6 seats, the Union of Forces for Change (UFC) won 3, and an independent candidate won one seat.

B. Political Pluralism and Participation: 7 / 16 (-1)

Although opposition parties are free to operate, the structure of the electoral system, including districting and the single round of elections, have helped Gnassingbe and his party remain in power. Internal divisions, as well as district allocations dramatically favoring UNIR, are sources of weakness for the opposition. The results of the 2015 poll added another five years to the Gnassingbe family's 48-year hold on power.

The government is dominated by Gnassingbe's Kabye ethnic group, who also make up the vast majority of the security services. The Ewe, Togo's largest ethnic group, are persistently excluded from positions of influence; they are prominent within the opposition.

C. Functioning of Government: 5 / 12

The National Assembly was freely elected in 2013 and has influence over policy, but local political figures are appointed by the president. Perhaps as a result, a 2014 Afrobarometer survey indicated that the vast majority of Togolese citizens have little to no interaction with their political representatives, and instead tend to reach out to religious figures and traditional leaders.

Corruption remains a serious problem. Reforms under President Gnassingbe empowered the National Assembly to appoint the members of the Anticorruption Commission (CAC), but the body has been slow to make progress and appears to be aligned with the president and UNIR. In July 2015, the National Assembly passed a law to create a new body under the auspices of the CAC that will be largely preventive rather than punitive. Four out of the seven members are appointed by the president, raising concerns about its independence.

Also in July, a group of 40 nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) created a civil society anticorruption network, intended to serve as an independent body to support the capacity of existing anticorruption actors, expand judicial reform, and inform the public about the negative consequences of corruption. Togo is ranked 107 out of 168 countries and territories surveyed in Transparency International's 2015 Corruption Perceptions Index.

Reports outlining government expenditures are published multiple times a year, though according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), limited information and inadequate cross-checking between departments have hampered the consistency of budget disclosures.

Civil Liberties: 30 / 60 (+1)

D. Freedom of Expression and Belief: 9 / 16

Freedom of the press is guaranteed by law but often disregarded in practice. The availability of diverse and critical voices in the media has increased in recent years. While no incidents of harassment of journalists took place during the election and no defamation cases were reported in 2015, impunity for crimes against journalists and frequent defamation suits in the past have encouraged self-censorship. The National Assembly passed a new Penal Code in 2015 that criminalizes the publication of false information with a punishment of between six months and two years in prison and a hefty fine. Journalist associations and media outlets in Togo have spoken out against the new law, while the government defends it as a necessary step to fight cybercrime and terrorism.

The High Authority of Broadcasting and Communications (HAAC) is widely believed to be a close ally of the Gnassingbe administration. The HAAC can impose severe penalties  including the suspension of publications or broadcasts and the confiscation of press cards  if journalists are found to have made "serious errors" or are "endangering national security." The HAAC mandated a media blackout for one day before the election, and journalists were prohibited from reporting the results of the exit polls on election day.

Access to the internet is generally unrestricted. Although penetration is low, Togolese activity online is increasing, and internet access is now free at public universities. In 2015, the Togolese Media Observatory, an independent journalists' association, issued a report harshly criticizing the quality of reporting in online content.

Religious freedom is constitutionally protected and generally respected. Islam and Christianity are recognized as official religions; other religious groups must register as associations.

University figures are able to engage in political discussions, such as the constitutional reform debate. However, government security forces are believed to maintain a presence on university campuses and have cracked down on student protests in past years. In 2014, nine students were expelled in connection with their participation in demonstrations the previous year.

Citizens are increasingly able to speak openly in private discussion, though political discussion is prohibited on religious radio and television stations.

E. Associational and Organizational Rights: 7 / 12 (+1)

Freedom of assembly is sometimes restricted, particularly in election years. A 2011 law requires that demonstrations receive prior authorization and only be held during certain times of the day. Opposition groups frequently held demonstrations in 2015, primarily protesting the lack of presidential term limits before the vote and disputing the election results afterward. Unlike in the past, the police refrained from violence in 2015 against opposition protests. However, police did open fire on a March student protest.

Following the government's attempts to revitalize an inhabited nature reserve in the north of the country, protests by local residents in November turned violent and a local police officer was killed. In response, the government suspended its plans to relocate the population.

Freedom of association is largely respected, and human rights organizations generally operate without government interference. Togo's constitution guarantees the right to form and join labor unions, though workers' rights in the lucrative export processing zone are regularly violated. The country's main labor union, Synergy of Togolese Workers, voluntarily suspended all demonstrations leading up to the 2015 presidential election. Following an explosion at a cement factory in June in which as many as 10 workers died, cement workers went on strike to protest the terrible working conditions, leading to the suspension of operations at three major factories near Lome.

F. Rule of Law: 7 / 16

The judicial system lacks resources and is heavily influenced by the presidency. The Constitutional Court in particular is believed to be partial to UNIR; Fabre chose not to appeal the election results with the court for this reason. During the year, the government announced plans to improve the judiciary; these included providing greater access to the courts and modernizing judicial facilities. The High Court of Magistrates also cracked down on judicial corruption by suspending and firing two judges for "unethical behavior."

Lengthy pretrial detention is a serious problem, particularly for Gnassingbe's political opponents. In 2013, more than 40 members of the opposition were arrested in connection with major market fires; seven remain in pretrial detention. In addition, at least one former minister accused of fraud has been in jail since 2012 without a trial. Prisons suffer from overcrowding and inadequate food and medical care. The government periodically releases prisoners to address overcrowding, but the process by which individuals are chosen for release is not sufficiently transparent. In 2015, the Ministry of Justice approved the creation of a new body composed of 20 NGOs that seeks to improve prison conditions through intervening in detention management.

Many of these gradual moves on the part of the government directed at the judiciary and prisons are in response to recommendations from the 2012 Truth, Justice, and Reconciliation Commission, which investigated political violence and human rights violations that occurred in Togo between 1958 and 2005. Despite these apparent efforts, impunity persists for many Gnassingbe supporters, perpetuating a climate of fear for those critical of the government.

The north and south of the country have historically been divided along political and ethnic lines. Discrimination among the country's 40 ethnic groups occurs but was not widely reported in 2015. Same-sex sexual activity continues to be punishable by fines and up to three years in prison under the penal code passed in 2015.

G. Personal Autonomy and Individual Rights: 7 / 16

Travel within Togo can involve arbitrary traffic stops as a means for police to coerce drivers into paying bribes. Some 60 percent of the population is employed in agriculture. The country is increasingly seen as a Western-friendly investment environment and has moved to privatize a number of industries. As a result, Togo's score has recently improved in the Index of Economic Freedom. In 2015, the government implemented reforms to reduce the time and financial means necessary to start a business.

A 2013 amendment to the Electoral Code requires that women have equal representation on party lists. The Law on Political Party and Electoral Campaign Funding, passed after the 2013 legislative elections, requires that a portion of a party's public financing be determined in proportion to the number of women from that party elected in the most recent national and local elections. Of the 91 seats in the National Assembly, 17 were held by women in 2015. According to the 2014 Afrobarometer survey, the vast majority of Togolese support having more women in leadership roles. A 2014 provision to the Family Code assigned women equal status in the household as well improved inheritance rights. Even so, women's opportunities for education and employment are limited. Spousal abuse is widespread, though the new penal code provides for 5 to 10 years in prison for rape and no longer excludes spousal rape.

The government has been making increasing efforts to reduce trafficking, which is most common in (though not limited to) the sex industry and for forced labor inside Togo.

Scoring Key: X / Y (Z)

X = Score Received

Y = Best Possible Score

Z = Change from Previous Year

Copyright notice:  Freedom House, Inc.  All Rights Reserved
Freedom in the World 2016 - Sweden

Publisher Freedom House Publication Date 29 June 2016 Cite as Freedom House, Freedom in the World 2016 - Sweden, 29 June 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/577a614841.html [accessed 27 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

Freedom Status: Free

Aggregate Score: 100

Freedom Rating: 1.0

Political Rights: 1

Civil Liberties: 1

Quick Facts

Capital: Stockholm

Population: 9,804,792

GDP/capita: $58,887.30

Press Freedom Status: Free

Net Freedom Status: N/A

OVERVIEW

More than 160,000 people  the vast majority fleeing violence in Syria and Iraq  applied for asylum in Sweden in 2015, placing severe pressure on the country's ability to process applications and accommodate new arrivals. Meanwhile, the 2014 agreement between the social-democratic government and center-right opposition on budget proposals, designed to curb the controversial right-wing Sweden Democrats party, was broken in October, expanding the Sweden Democrats' capacity to influence the response to the refugee crisis and other national policies.

POLITICAL RIGHTS AND CIVIL LIBERTIES

Political Rights: 40 / 40

A. Electoral Process: 12 / 12

Sweden's unicameral parliament, the Riksdag, is comprised of 349 members who are elected every four years by proportional representation. A party must receive at least 4 percent of the vote nationwide or 12 percent in an electoral district to win representation. The prime minister is appointed by the speaker of the Riksdag and confirmed by the body as a whole. King Carl XVI Gustaf, crowned in 1973, is the ceremonial head of state.

In the 2014 parliamentary elections, the Social Democratic Party (SAP) won 113 seats, and SAP leader Stefan Lofven became prime minister in a minority government with the Green Party, which won 25 seats. The Moderates took 84 seats, the Center Party secured 22 seats, the Liberal People's Party won 19 seats, and the Christian Democrats gained 16 seats, all suffering losses compared with the results of the 2010 elections. The Left Party won 21 seats, a slight increase from 2010. The Sweden Democrats made the most significant gains, increasing their representation from 20 seats to 49 seats and becoming the third biggest party in the Riksdag. To avert snap elections amid disagreements about the proposed national budget, in late 2014 the SAP-led government reached a historic budget deal with the opposition parties of the center-right Alliance  the Moderates, the Center Party, the Liberals, and the Christian Democrats. The so-called December Agreement committed the Alliance to vote for all government budget proposals until 2022. However, the agreement collapsed in October 2015 when the Christian Democrats decided to leave it, leading the rest of the Alliance parties to also nullify the deal.

B. Political Pluralism and Participation: 16 / 16

For the majority of the last century, the SAP ruled with the support of the Left Party and, in later decades, with the support of the Greens. Eight political parties gained representation in the Riksdag in 2014, with the SAP, the Moderates, and the Sweden Democrats holding the most seats. The Sweden Democrats, who first gained political footing in the 2006 parliamentary elections, maintain a far-right platform with a strong stance against immigration. Although the 2014 December Agreement diminished the party's ability to participate in the political process, its popularity has continued to rise, and is particularly strong in the country's southern constituencies. A December 2015 poll conducted by the government statistical agency showed support at nearly 20 percent, up from 14.5 percent in May.

The country's principal religious, ethnic, and immigrant groups are represented in the parliament. Since 1993, the indigenous Sami community has elected its own legislature, which has significant powers over community education and culture and serves as an advisory body to the government.

C. Functioning of Government: 12 / 12

Corruption rates are low in Sweden, which was ranked 3 out of 168 countries and territories surveyed in Transparency International's 2015 Corruption Perceptions Index. The country has one of the most robust freedom of information statutes in the world, and state authorities respect the right of both citizens and noncitizens to access public information. However, Sweden has faced criticism for insufficient enforcement of foreign bribery laws. In 2015, the telecommunication giant TeliaSonera, in which the Swedish state has a 37 percent stake, remained embroiled in a corruption scandal related to its dealings in Uzbekistan. TeliaSonera faces allegations that it paid heavy bribes to a company with ties to Uzbekistan's ruling family in order to secure business there. Swedish and U.S. prosecutors continued to investigate the claims in 2015.

Civil Liberties: 60 / 60 (+1)

D. Freedom of Expression and Belief: 16 / 16 (+1)

Sweden's media are independent. Most newspapers and periodicals are privately owned, and the government subsidizes daily newspapers regardless of their political affiliation. Public broadcasters air weekly radio and television programs in several immigrant languages. The ethnic minority press is entitled to the same subsidies as the Swedish-language press.

Freedom of speech is guaranteed by law, and the government does not restrict access to the internet. Hate-speech laws prohibit threats or expressions of contempt based on race, color, national or ethnic origin, religious belief, or sexual orientation. In June 2015, local media reported that Sweden's attorney general had launched an investigation into the editor of Nordfront, a website owned and run by the Swedish arm of the Nordic Resistance Movement, a neo-Nazi organization with a reputation for violence. The editor, Martin Saxlind, faced allegations of incitement to racial hatred in connection to an article published on the website praising Adolf Hitler. The attorney general formally charged Saxlind in September, but the status of the case remained unclear at year's end. Also in September, Saxlind was sentenced to six months in prison in a separate case for rioting against antiracism demonstrators in 2013; he planned to appeal the verdict, claiming that he was at the demonstration as a journalist and did not engage in violence.

Religious freedom is constitutionally guaranteed and respected by the government. Although the population is 66 percent Lutheran, all churches, as well as synagogues and mosques, receive some state financial support. A number of mosques were vandalized in 2015, and anti-Semitic crimes also continued. State authorities make great efforts to document religion-based hate crimes, investigate and prosecute cases, and provide adequate resources for victims. The police force includes a permanent unit trained to handle hate crimes.

Academic freedom is ensured for all, and private discussion is open and vibrant. The 2008 Signals Intelligence Act regulates the monitoring of cross-border communications, overseen exclusively by the National Defense Radio Establishment, and the Electronic Communication Act regulates domestic surveillance by security forces. There were no reports in 2015 of authorities engaging in unlawful surveillance of private communications.

E. Associational and Organizational Rights: 12 / 12

Freedoms of assembly and association are respected in law and practice. There is heavy police presence at demonstrations organized by far-right groups as well as at counterdemonstrations, some of which have become violent in the past. In September and October 2015, Swedish and Finnish activists organized a number of public gatherings near the twin border cities of Haparanda (on the Swedish side) and Tornio (on the Finnish side), where many asylum seekers entered Finland during the year. Most demonstrators, gathered primarily in Tornio, were rallying against the border crossing, while others were gathered in support of the refugees. The events concluded peacefully.

The rights to strike and organize in labor unions are guaranteed. Trade union federations, which represent approximately 80 percent of the workforce, are strong and well organized.

F. Rule of Law: 16 / 16

The judiciary is independent, and the rule of law prevails in civil and criminal matters. Conditions in prisons and temporary detention facilities are adequate. Swedish courts have jurisdiction to try suspects for genocide committed abroad.

In 2011, Sweden sought the extradition of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange so that he could be questioned regarding four allegations  one of rape, one of unlawful coercion, and two of sexual molestation  stemming from two incidents in Stockholm in 2010. Sweden's chief prosecutor, Marianne Ny, faced criticism in June 2015 for requesting but promptly cancelling an interview with Assange at the Ecuadorian embassy in London, where he has lived since 2012 in order to avoid extradition. Assange cannot be charged before he is interrogated, according to Swedish law. The statutes of limitation on the three lesser allegations of sexual misconduct expired in August, but prosecutors have the authority to investigate the more serious charge of rape until 2020. Ecuador and Sweden began bilateral talks in August to resolve the situation and reached an agreement in December to allow Swedish police to question Assange in the embassy; an interrogation was expected to take place in 2016.

Approximately 50,000 Roma reside in Sweden, and the government in 2015 continued implementation of a national integration plan for Roma, set to conclude in 2032. The Swedish state is highly active in ensuring equal protection and rights for all members of the population. An equality ombudsman oversees efforts to prevent discrimination on the basis of gender, ethnicity, disability, and sexual orientation.

An unprecedented influx of asylum seekers in 2015, mostly from the Middle East, led to political tension as well as a strain on government resources; the country's Migration Agency struggled to process applications for asylum in a timely manner, and a housing shortage led to inadequate living conditions for some arrivals. The Swedish government maintained an open-door policy for the majority of the year while participating in European Union (EU) discussions about quotas for the intake and resettlement of refugees. In 2015, the country received more asylum seekers per capita than any other EU member, and its approval rate of over 70 percent for asylum applications was among the highest in the bloc. In November, however, the government introduced tighter border controls and entry requirements in order to stem the flow of migration.

G. Personal Autonomy and Individual Rights: 16 / 16

Freedom of movement is legally guaranteed and respected in practice. The government also respects the rights of individuals to own property and establish a private business. A 2011 Supreme Court ruling granted Sami reindeer herders common-law rights to disputed lands.

Sweden is a global leader in gender equality. Approximately half of Riksdag members and the same proportion of government ministers are women. More than 70 percent of women work outside the home, earning the equivalent of 94 percent of men's wages, when differences in age, sector, and experience are taken into account.

Same-sex couples are legally allowed to marry and adopt; lesbian couples have the same rights to artificial insemination and in-vitro fertilization as heterosexual couples. The Lutheran Church allows same-sex marriage ceremonies.

Sweden is a destination and transit point for women and children trafficked for the purpose of sexual exploitation, but the Swedish government is proactive in combatting the problem. The 2004 Aliens Act helped to provide more assistance to trafficking victims, and a special ambassador aids in combating human trafficking.

Scoring Key: X / Y (Z)

X = Score Received

Y = Best Possible Score

Z = Change from Previous Year

Copyright notice:  Freedom House, Inc.  All Rights Reserved
Freedom in the World 2016 - Taiwan

Publisher Freedom House Publication Date 29 June 2016 Cite as Freedom House, Freedom in the World 2016 - Taiwan, 29 June 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/577a61486.html [accessed 27 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

Freedom Status: Free

Aggregate Score: 89

Freedom Rating: 1.5

Political Rights: 1

Civil Liberties: 2

Quick Facts

Capital: Taipei

Population: 23,468,000

GDP/capita: N/A

Press Freedom Status: Free

Net Freedom Status: N/A

OVERVIEW

President Ma Ying-jeou and the ruling nationalist Kuomintang (KMT) party continued to pursue closer ties with China in 2015. However, a controversial 2013 trade agreement that would open up their respective service sectors remained stalled in the legislature at year's end. When the Ma administration sought to expedite passage of the accord in 2014, student-led protests that became known as the Sunflower Movement successfully blocked the effort. Beijing considers Taiwan a Chinese province, and while Taiwan has stopped short of declaring formal independence, many residents remain wary of growing Chinese influence.

Broader dissatisfaction with KMT policies, including accusations that it had failed to address widening income inequality and sluggish economic growth, contributed to the party's defeat in November 2014 municipal elections and threatened its chances in general elections scheduled for January 2016. The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) remained the main opposition force, and several new parties were formed during 2015, including the New Power Party, headed by leaders of the Sunflower Movement.

POLITICAL RIGHTS AND CIVIL LIBERTIES

Political Rights: 37 / 40

A. Electoral Process: 12 / 12

The president, who is directly elected for up to two four-year terms, appoints the premier with the consent of the national legislature (Legislative Yuan), which consists of 113 members serving four-year terms. The Executive Yuan, or cabinet, is made up of ministers appointed by the president on the recommendation of the premier. The three other branches of government are the judiciary (Judicial Yuan), a watchdog body (Control Yuan), and a branch responsible for civil-service examinations (Examination Yuan). Direct elections for both the president, held since 1996, and for the legislature, held since 1991, have been considered generally free.

President Ma won a second term in the 2012 general elections, and the KMT retained its majority in the legislature, taking 64 seats. The DPP, historically a pro-independence party, kept its status as the main opposition faction with 40 seats. The remainder went to smaller parties and an independent candidate.

Elections in Taiwan are administered by the Central Election Commission. To maintain its impartiality, the law mandates that no political party may hold more than one-third of the seats on the commission. Since 2007, instances of vote buying and other electoral irregularities have gradually waned thanks to tighter enforcement of anticorruption laws.

B. Political Pluralism and Participation: 15 / 16

Taiwan's multiparty system features vigorous competition between the two major parties, the KMT and the DPP. Opposition parties are able to function without interference. The KMT, which for decades governed Taiwan as an authoritarian, one-party state until democratic reforms took hold in the 1980s and 90s, retains a considerable financial advantage over its rivals as part of this legacy, and in recent years it has benefited from the fact that the business sector generally favors the Ma administration's China-friendly policy. Nevertheless, there have been two rotations of power between the KMT and DPP since 2000, and the DPP and independents made major gains in the 2014 local elections. The latter part of 2015 was dominated by campaigning for the upcoming presidential and parliamentary elections in January 2016, in which a number of smaller parties, including the newly formed New Power Party, were expected to compete.

Taiwan's constitution grants all citizens the right to vote, including members of 16 indigenous tribes, who make up roughly 2 percent of the population. Six seats in the Legislative Yuan are reserved for aboriginal candidates elected by aboriginal voters.

C. Functioning of Government: 10 / 12

Though consideration of China necessarily plays a significant role in Taiwanese politics, elected officials in Taiwan are free to set and implement policy without undue influence from foreign or other unelected actors.

Corruption is significantly less pervasive than in the past, but it remains a problem in Taiwan. Politics and big business are closely intertwined, leading to malfeasance in government procurement. The former deputy mayor of New Taipei City, Hsu Chih-chien, was charged with bribery along with two of his family members in November 2015. Hsu allegedly took NT$7.58 million (US$230,000) in bribes from two construction companies in exchange for expediting the approval process for the companies' projects.

Former president Chen Shui-bian of the DPP, who was serving a 20-year prison sentence for corruption, was granted medical parole in January. The decision came after the authorities were accused of failing to provide him with adequate care behind bars. The parole was repeatedly reviewed and extended through the end of 2015.

Taiwan was ranked 30 out of 168 countries and territories surveyed in Transparency International's 2015 Corruption Perceptions Index. The Taiwanese government has taken significant steps toward improving transparency, including through the launch of a database for public documents in 2013. Civil society groups are able to comment on and influence pending legislation and regulatory decisions. However, analysts have identified shortcomings in Taiwan's 2005 freedom of information law, including inadequate enforcement mechanisms.

Civil Liberties: 52 / 60 (+1)

D. Freedom of Expression and Belief: 14 / 16

Taiwan's media reflect a diversity of views and report aggressively on government policies and corruption allegations, though many outlets display strong party affiliation in their coverage. Beijing has exerted growing influence on Taiwanese media. A number of media owners have significant business interests in China or rely on advertising by Chinese companies, leaving them vulnerable to pressure and prone to self-censorship on topics considered sensitive by the Chinese government. In recent years, Taiwanese regulators have resisted proposed mergers that would place important media outlets in the hands of businessmen with significant ties to China. The government does not restrict internet access.

In July 2015, during a protest over proposed changes to the high school curriculum, police arrested three journalists who followed students breaking into the Ministry of Education. The reporters were later released without charge.

Taiwanese of all faiths can worship freely. Religious organizations that choose to register with the government receive tax-exempt status. Educators in Taiwan can generally write and lecture without interference. Private discussion is open and free, and there were no reports of the government illegally monitoring online communication.

E. Associational and Organizational Rights: 11 / 12 (+1)

Taiwan's Assembly and Parade Act, passed in 1988, enables authorities to prosecute protesters who fail to obtain a permit or follow orders to disperse, but freedom of assembly is largely respected in practice. Since 2014, there has been a spike in youth-led demonstrations. Although the police were accused of using excessive force while expelling student protesters from the Executive Yuan in 2014, their handling of students' brief occupation of the Ministry of Education building in July 2015 was more restrained. The latter protesters, mainly high school students, argued that proposed new curriculum guidelines were China-centric and had been drafted through an insufficiently transparent process. The police arrested 33 people, though only five eventually faced charges.

Meanwhile, cases stemming from the 2014 protests made their way through the courts. Authorities announced charges against 119 people in February 2015, citing alleged offenses including instigating others to commit a crime, trespassing, illegal entry into a building, obstructing an officer from discharge of duties, and violating the Assembly and Parade Act. In August, a court sentenced student leader Chen Wei-ting to 20 days in prison, but the penalty was commuted to a fine of NT$20,000 (US$620).

All civic organizations must register with the government, though registration is freely granted. Nongovernmental organizations typically operate without harassment.

Trade unions are independent, and most workers enjoy freedom of association, though the government strictly regulates the right to strike. Among other barriers, teachers, workers in the defense industry, and government employees are prohibited from striking.

F. Rule of Law: 14 / 16

Taiwan's judiciary is independent, and trials are generally fair. Police largely respect the ban on arbitrary detention, and attorneys are allowed to monitor interrogations to prevent torture. Family members of inmates facing the death penalty are typically not informed about scheduled dates of executions. Despite criticism from human rights organizations opposed to the death penalty, Taiwan executed six inmates in June 2015.

The constitution provides for the equality of all citizens, though the island's indigenous people continue to face social and economic discrimination. Disputes over their lands have continued amid long-stalled efforts to pass legislation on indigenous autonomy. In April 2015, the government released a draft law that would establish 16 autonomous governments for indigenous groups, overseen by an Executive Yuan agency, with authority over natural resources, cultural heritage, and local industries. Critics said the measure granted insufficient self-rule and was formulated without input from indigenous communities. It had not passed by year's end.

Taiwanese law prohibits discrimination in employment based on sexual orientation, and violence against LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) people is adequately addressed by police.

Taiwanese law does not allow for asylum or refugee status, and a 2010 bill that would address the problem was still under legislative review at the end of 2015.

G. Personal Autonomy and Individual Rights: 13 / 16

Taiwan's residents enjoy freedom of movement, and restrictions on travel between Taiwan and China have been gradually eased in recent years. A program launched in 2011 allows Chinese tourists to travel to Taiwan without supervision. In September 2015, Taiwanese authorities raised the cap on the number of Chinese tourists who could travel to Taiwan through the program from 4,000 to 5,000 per day.

Urban renewal projects and conversions of agricultural land for industrial or residential use have been criticized for unfairly displacing residents. In 2013, the Constitutional Court found parts of the Urban Renewal Act to be unconstitutional; the act requires agreement from just 10 percent of residents for a renewal project to be approved by the local government. However, revisions to the law remained stalled in the Legislative Yuan at the end of 2015.

The constitution guarantees women equal rights, though Taiwanese women continue to face discrimination in employment and compensation. After the 2012 elections, women held one-third of the seats in the legislature.

Same-sex marriage is not permitted. A bill that would amend the civil code to legalize such unions was introduced in 2013, but it failed to make progress during 2015. In June, amid pressure for reform triggered by the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to legalize same-sex marriage, a spokesperson for Taiwan's Justice Ministry said that the practice would remain illegal "for now."

According to official statistics, there were approximately 588,000 foreign workers in Taiwan in 2015, many of whom are household workers. Household workers are not covered under basic labor laws, including statutes governing minimum wage, limits on work hours, and overtime pay, rendering them vulnerable to abuse and exploitation. They are often subject to sexual harassment. Exploitation of foreign workers is also common in the fishing industry. Even though the industry is regulated under the Fair Labor Standards Act, the rules are not strictly enforced.

Taiwan is a destination country for human trafficking victims, particularly migrant workers from Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam. Sex trafficking remains a problem, with women originating in China or Southeast Asia often among the victims.

Scoring Key: X / Y (Z)

X = Score Received

Y = Best Possible Score

Z = Change from Previous Year

Copyright notice:  Freedom House, Inc.  All Rights Reserved
Freedom in the World 2016 - South Korea

Publisher Freedom House Publication Date 29 June 2016 Cite as Freedom House, Freedom in the World 2016 - South Korea, 29 June 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/577a614915.html [accessed 27 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

Freedom Status: Free

Aggregate Score: 83

Freedom Rating: 2.0

Political Rights: 2

Civil Liberties: 2

Quick Facts

Capital: Seoul

Population: 50,713,867

GDP/capita: $27,970.50

Press Freedom Status: Partly Free

Net Freedom Status: Partly Free

OVERVIEW

The April 2015 suicide of businessman Sung Wan-jong, who left a note implicating senior government officials in corruption, shook the administration of President Park Geun-hye and prompted the resignation of Prime Minister Lee Wan-koo. Other allegations of corruption in recent years had prompted the passage in March of an anticorruption law that made it easier to convict government officials accused of bribery, but the law was criticized for also including journalists and educators. Despite the Sung scandal, Park's Saenuri Party was able to gain seats in by-elections for the National Assembly in late April.

In June, the UN Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in North Korea opened an office in Seoul to support ongoing efforts to gather information about violations occurring in the North. Reunions of family members separated by the Korean War took place in October at the Diamond Mountain resort in North Korea. The event was the 19th round of such reunions since inter-Korean summit talks in 2000.

In December, President Park reached an agreement with Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe to resolve a long-running dispute over the exploitation of Korean women and girls as sex slaves for the Japanese military during World War II. Under the agreement, the Japanese government would provide financial compensation to the surviving Korean "comfort women," and Abe issued an apology for their treatment. Advocates for the comfort women criticized the deal, citing a lack of consultation with the victims and Japan's failure to accept formal legal responsibility.

POLITICAL RIGHTS AND CIVIL LIBERTIES

Political Rights: 34 / 40

A. Electoral Process: 11 / 12

The 1988 constitution vests executive power in a directly elected president, who is limited to a single five-year term. In the 2012 presidential election, Park of the Saenuri Party defeated Democratic United Party (DUP) candidate Moon Jae-in, 52 percent to 48 percent, to become the first female president of the Republic of Korea.

The unicameral National Assembly is composed of 300 members serving four-year terms. As of the most recent national elections in 2012, 246 of the 300 lawmakers were elected in single-member districts and 54 were chosen through proportional representation. The Saenuri Party won three of four seats contested in April 2015 by-elections, bringing its total number of seats to 160. The main opposition party, the New Politics Alliance for Democracy (NPAD), held 130 seats.

By-elections for various local offices held in October 2015 were also seen as a victory for the Saenuri Party, which won 15 of 24 races. The NPAD won only two, and independent candidates won seven, prompting calls for the resignation of NPAD chairman Moon Jae-in. Voter turnout for the elections was about 20 percent, the lowest since 2000.

B. Political Pluralism and Participation: 13 / 16

Political pluralism is robust, with multiple parties competing for power and succeeding one another in government. Currently, the two dominant parties are the ruling conservative Saenuri Party and the liberal NPAD, though party structures and coalitions are relatively fluid.

In December 2014, the Constitutional Court called for the immediate dissolution of the United Progressive Party (UPP) on the grounds that it violated the National Security Law and the constitution by conducting pro-North Korean activities; as a result, the party's five elected National Assembly members were removed from office. The decision marked the first time the court had ordered the breakup of a political party since its founding in 1988, and only the second time such an action had been taken in South Korea's history. The ruling was heavily criticized by both domestic and international organizations. The NPAD issued a statement arguing that the UPP's fate should have been decided through elections rather than a court ruling. In January 2015, the Supreme Court upheld the nine-year prison sentence of former UPP leader Lee Seok-ki, who had been convicted in early 2014 of conducting pro-North activities. The court also backed a previous ruling that stripped Lee of his voting rights and eligibility to hold political office for seven years after his release.

The National Intelligence Service (NIS) has been implicated in a series of scandals in recent years, including allegations that it interfered in political affairs. Former NIS chief Won Sei-hoon was sentenced to three years in prison in February 2015, when the Seoul High Court revised and strengthened a 2014 verdict involving an illegal online campaign by NIS officials to influence the 2012 election in Park's favor. In July 2015, the Supreme Court ordered a new trial after ruling that evidence used against Won was inadmissible.

C. Functioning of Government: 10 / 12

Elected officials generally determine and implement state policy without undue interference from unelected entities and interests. However, despite government anticorruption efforts, bribery, influence peddling, and extortion persist in politics, business, and everyday life. South Korea was ranked 37 out of 168 countries and territories surveyed in Transparency International's 2015 Corruption Perceptions Index.

The National Assembly passed a new anticorruption law in March, despite disagreement over its constitutionality. The law establishes strict punishments for those convicted of accepting bribes, and eliminates the need to prove a direct link between a gift and a favor in order to secure a conviction. The law targets government officials, but it is also applicable to journalists and educators, which prompted calls for revisions and a challenge before the Constitutional Court. If upheld, the law would take effect in late 2016.

In April 2015, Sung Wan-jong, a prominent businessman and former National Assembly member with the Saenuri Party, committed suicide, leaving behind a list of eight high-ranking politicians whom he had allegedly bribed. The list included former presidential chiefs of staff and Prime Minister Lee, who had been appointed in February. Lee denied the claims but resigned later in April. In July, prosecutors indicted Lee and former South Gyeongsang governor Hong Joon-pyo for allegedly accepting illegal campaign funding; the prosecutors reported finding insufficient evidence to charge the other figures identified by Sung. Lee and Hong were facing trial at year's end.

Civil Liberties: 49 / 60 (-1)

D. Freedom of Expression and Belief: 12 / 16 (-1)

The news media are generally free and competitive. Newspapers are privately owned and report aggressively on government policies and allegations of official and corporate wrongdoing. Some forms of official censorship are legal, however. Under the National Security Law, enacted in 1948 to prevent espionage and other threats from North Korea, listening to North Korean radio is illegal, as is posting pro-North messages online; authorities have deleted tens of thousands of web posts deemed to be pro-North, drawing accusations that the law's broadly written provisions are being used to circumscribe political expression. Journalists at major news outlets have at times faced political interference from managers or the government. The inclusion of journalists in the 2015 anticorruption law raised concerns that it could be misused to punish critical reporting and encourage self-censorship.

The constitution provides for freedom of religion, and it is respected in practice.

Academic freedom is mostly unrestricted, though the National Security Law limits statements supporting the North Korean regime or communism. In addition, the new anticorruption law subjects public and private school teachers and administrators to the same oversight as public officials, potentially allowing increased government influence or intimidation. Two other developments in 2015 stoked concerns about bias in education. In May, Human Rights Watch called on the Ministry of Education to revise new sex-education guidelines launched earlier in the year that deliberately excluded any mention of LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) people, apparently under pressure from conservative religious groups. In October, President Park announced that beginning in 2017, middle and high schools would be required to use history textbooks produced by an official institute, rather than choosing from a variety of options. The announcement drew protests from opponents who saw it as an attempt to whitewash the authoritarian rule of Park's father, Park Chung-hee, who held the presidency from 1962 to 1979.

Private discussion is typically free and open, and the government generally respects citizens' right to privacy. A wiretap law sets the conditions under which the government may monitor telephone calls, mail, and e-mail. In July 2015, leaked communications between the Italian company Hacking Team and the NIS showed that the NIS had purchased software called Remote Control System (RCS), which allows remote surveillance of computers and mobile phones. That month, an unnamed NIS employee committed suicide and left a note admitting that he had deleted files that he felt could have caused public misunderstandings about the agency's surveillance. The employee maintained that the RCS software was not used for surveillance of ordinary citizens, but rather for counterterrorism and covert operations involving North Korea. Opposition leaders called for a full investigation into the usage of RCS.

E. Associational and Organizational Rights: 11 / 12

The government generally respects freedoms of assembly and association, which are protected under the constitution. However, several legal provisions conflict with these principles, creating tension between the police and protesters over the application of the law. For instance, the Law on Assembly and Demonstration prohibits activities that might cause social unrest. Police must be notified of all demonstrations. Local nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) have alleged that police who mistreat demonstrators have not been penalized equally with protesters under this law.

In May 2015, conservative Christian groups tried to prevent an annual LGBT parade in Seoul by flooding police offices with competing applications for use of space. Police initially banned the parade, citing potential traffic congestion, but a court overturned the ban in June. The event proceeded as scheduled with police protection, despite the presence of counterprotesters.

In November, a massive antigovernment demonstration was held in Seoul over the textbook controversy and other grievances. Some protesters used slingshots and other such weapons against the police, who responded with water cannons containing liquid tear gas and blue paint to help identify demonstrators for later arrest. More than 500 people were injured in the clashes, and dozens were arrested. While the rally organizers were criticized for allowing violence to take place, police also faced criticism for illegally barricading the streets with vehicles and allegedly using excessive force. Another antigovernment rally in December proceeded without incident.

Human rights groups, social welfare organizations, and other NGOs are active and generally operate freely. The country's independent labor unions advocate workers' interests, organizing high-profile strikes and demonstrations that sometimes lead to arrests. However, labor unions in general have diminished in strength and popularity, especially as the employment of temporary workers increases.

F. Rule of Law: 13 / 16

South Korea's judiciary is generally considered to be independent. Judges render verdicts in all cases. While there is no trial by jury, an advisory jury system has been in place since 2008, and judges largely respect juries' decisions. Reports of beatings or intimidation by guards in South Korea's prisons are infrequent.

Cases of bullying and violence in the military have been on the rise. In February 2015, a South Korean soldier was sentenced to death for killing five fellow soldiers in a 2014 shooting spree, though the country has not carried out an execution since 1997. At his military trial, the soldier claimed that his rampage had been incited by bullying. In May, another soldier opened fire during a training session, killing two fellow reservists and injuring two others before killing himself.

The country's few ethnic minorities face legal and societal discrimination. Residents who are not ethnic Koreans face extreme difficulties obtaining citizenship, which is based on parentage rather than place of birth. Lack of citizenship bars them from the civil service and limits job opportunities at some major corporations. As of March 2015, there were over 1.8 million foreign-born people residing in Korea, including students, white-collar workers, migrant laborers, undocumented workers, and women married to Korean men. The number of multicultural families has more than doubled in the past eight years, reaching over 820,000 in 2015.

There were roughly 29,000 North Korean defectors in South Korea at the end of 2015. Defectors are eligible for South Korean citizenship, but they can face months of detention and interrogations upon arrival, and some have reported abuse in custody and societal discrimination.

Same-sex sexual relations are legal, and the law bars discrimination based on sexual orientation. However, transgender people are not specifically protected, and societal discrimination against LGBT people persists. In April 2015, the Ministry of Justice rejected an attempt by the Beyond the Rainbow Foundation to become the country's first registered LGBT advocacy group on the grounds that it promoted human rights only for a "social minority." The group's previous attempts to register with municipal and human rights authorities in Seoul had also been rejected.

G. Personal Autonomy and Individual Rights: 13 / 16

Travel both within South Korea and abroad is unrestricted, though travel to North Korea requires government approval. South Korea fully recognizes property rights and has a well-developed body of laws governing the establishment of commercial enterprises.

South Korean women have legal equality, and a 2005 Supreme Court ruling granted married women equal rights with respect to inheritance. Women face social and employment discrimination in practice, and continue to be underrepresented in government. According to the 2015 World Economic Forum Gender Gap Index, Korea ranks 115 out of 145 countries in terms of gender parity.

In February 2015, the Constitutional Court overturned a law that made adultery a crime. Same-sex marriage is not legal; in July, a male couple filed a lawsuit seeking recognition of their marriage, marking the first case of its kind. A ruling was pending at year's end.

Foreign migrant workers are vulnerable to debt bondage and forced labor, including forced prostitution. Korean women and foreign women recruited by international marriage brokers can also become sex-trafficking victims. Although the government actively prosecutes human trafficking cases, those convicted often receive light punishments. In September 2015, about 1,000 people held a rally in Seoul to call for the decriminalization of prostitution  a punishable offense since 2004. Illegal sex workers are vulnerable to abuse, trafficking, and withholding of wages.

Scoring Key: X / Y (Z)

X = Score Received

Y = Best Possible Score

Z = Change from Previous Year

Copyright notice:  Freedom House, Inc.  All Rights Reserved
Freedom in the World 2016 - Nicaragua

Publisher Freedom House Publication Date 29 June 2016 Cite as Freedom House, Freedom in the World 2016 - Nicaragua, 29 June 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/577a614a15.html [accessed 27 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

Freedom Status: Partly Free

Aggregate Score: 54

Freedom Rating: 3.5

Political Rights: 4

Civil Liberties: 3

Quick Facts

Capital: Managua

Population: 6,262,000

GDP/capita: $1,963.10

Press Freedom Status: Partly Free

Net Freedom Status: N/A

OVERVIEW

In 2015, the dominance of the ruling Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) continued to be a point of contention with the opposition, which has found itself increasingly marginalized in recent years. Tensions have increased ahead of the 2016 national elections, as opposition protesters demanded electoral reforms. Meanwhile, President Daniel Ortega still enjoyed high approval ratings, largely as a result of his handling of the economy and popular social programs.

The controversial 2014 family code, which explicitly defines a family as a union between a man and a woman, went into effect in 2015. While proponents pointed to enhanced protections for children and other groups, critics argued that the law discriminates against same-sex couples.

Protests against plans to dig a transoceanic canal continued in 2015, though the ultimate fate of the recently inaugurated project remained uncertain. Land conflicts erupted in the North Atlantic Autonomous Region (RAAN) as outside settlers began encroaching on indigenous lands, sometimes with links to black-market trading of timber. As a result of the violence, hundreds of members of the Miskito indigenous community have fled, some into neighboring Honduras.

POLITICAL RIGHTS AND CIVIL LIBERTIES

Political Rights: 19 / 40

A. Electoral Process: 6 / 12

The constitution provides for a directly elected president and a 92-member unicameral National Assembly. Two seats in the legislature are reserved for the previous president and the runner-up in the most recent presidential election. Presidential and legislative elections are both held every five years. Constitutional reforms that went into effect in 2014 eliminated the minimum vote percentage required for a first-round presidential victory. Presidents will now be elected with a simple plurality of the vote. The reforms also eliminated term limits and mandated that half of all candidates for elected office be women.

President Ortega was reelected in 2011 with almost 63 percent of the vote. Fabio Gadea Mantilla of the Nicaraguan Unity for Hope (UNE) coalition won 31 percent and former president Arnoldo Aleman of the Conservative Party-Liberal Constitutionalist Party (PLC) alliance won almost 6 percent. In the legislative elections, the FSLN won 63 seats in the National Assembly, followed by the Independent Liberal Party (PLI) with 27 and the PLC with 2. Although international observation teams noted irregularities and a lack of transparency, there was no conclusive evidence of fraud.

In 2012, the National Assembly approved numerous changes to the municipal electoral law, including a provision allowing mayors to run for reelection and instating a requirement that half of each party's candidates for mayoralties and council seats be women.

Nicaragua's RAAN and South Atlantic Autonomous Region (RAAS) have regional councils, for which elections were held in 2014. The FSLN won 52 percent of the votes in the RAAN, followed by the majority-indigenous YATAMA party with 21 percent; the PLI and the PLC won the remainder. In the RAAS, the FSLN garnered 48 percent of the vote; the PLC, the PLI, YATAMA, and the Multi-Ethnic Indigenous Party each won small portions. YATAMA supporters organized minor protests following the vote.

The selection of Judith Silva, who had been nominated by President Ortega, to fill the vacant position for Supreme Electoral Council (CSE) magistrate in 2015 renewed concerns about the institution's independence. Over the following months, members of the opposition held regular protest rallies in front of CSE locations throughout the country demanding electoral reforms in advance of the 2016 national elections.

B. Political Pluralism and Participation: 7 / 16

The formerly dominant PLC has experienced a sharp decline in its voter base since 1999, while the FSLN's backing has increased. Public opinion polls consistently reveal high levels of popularity for Ortega and the FSLN. A September 2015 poll found that combined support for all opposition parties was less than 10 percent.

The FSLN's majority in the National Assembly enables it to pass laws without requiring support from opposition parties. As a result of the 2014 constitutional reforms, legislators who do not vote with their party may lose their seats in the legislature. In 2014, the PLI and PLC signed a pact in hopes of launching a unified opposition for the 2016 elections.

Minority groups, especially the indigenous inhabitants of Nicaragua's eastern and Caribbean regions, frequently complain that they are politically underrepresented and that the government and the FSLN largely ignore their grievances.

C. Functioning of Government: 6 / 12

The FSLN dominates most public institutions, working closely with labor and private business in a tripartite alliance (COSEP) that is recognized in Article 98 of the constitution. Constitutional reforms passed in 2014 include the ability of the president to issue binding decrees, to appoint active military personnel to executive-level positions previously designated for civilians, and to direct changes in tax policy without legislative approval.

Nicaragua was ranked 130 out of 168 countries and territories surveyed in Transparency International's 2015 Corruption Perceptions Index. Corruption charges against high-ranking government officials are rare except in the most egregious cases, and corruption cases against opposition figures are often criticized for being politically motivated. Ortega's sons and daughters have been appointed to prominent positions such as ambassador and presidential adviser, and First Lady Rosario Murillo serves as communications minister and government spokesperson.

The 2007 Law on Access to Public Information requires public entities and private companies doing business with the state to disclose certain information. However, it preserves the government's right to protect information related to state security. Concerns about the transparency of aid from the Venezuela-led Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America, of which Nicaragua is a member, persisted in 2015.

Significant concerns have also been raised over the lack of transparency and consultation in the project to dig the interoceanic canal across Nicaragua, which was approved quickly and with little public debate. Results of environmental studies detailing the human and environmental toll have been kept from the public.

Civil Liberties: 35 / 60

D. Freedom of Expression and Belief: 12 / 16

The constitution calls for a free press but allows some censorship. Radio remains the main source of information in Nicaragua. Six television networks, including a state-owned network, are based in the capital, many of which favor particular political factions. Three national newspapers cover a variety of political viewpoints, though coverage is polarized. Access to the internet is unrestricted.

The press has faced increased political and judicial harassment since 2007, and the Ortega administration engages in systematic efforts to obstruct and discredit media critics. Journalists, including several reporters with the newspaper El Nuevo Diario, have received death threats. In 2015, reporters faced harassment from police and some were detained while they were covering protests related to the opposition's push for electoral reforms, as well as demonstrations against the canal project. Members of the ruling elite have acquired stakes in media outlets and have used their influence as owners to sideline independent journalists. The Communications and Citizenry Council, which oversees the government's press relations and which is directed by First Lady Murillo, has been accused of limiting access to information and censoring the opposition.

Religious and academic freedoms are generally respected, although some university-level academics refrain from open criticism of the government.

Private discussion is generally free, though there are increasing reports of self-censorship. Both private citizens and government employees have complained of retaliation for opposing the interoceanic canal project.

E. Associational and Organizational Rights: 6 / 12

Nicaraguan law recognizes freedoms of assembly and association, but in practice respect for these rights has been problematic. While public demonstrations are generally permitted, members of the opposition have accused the police of failing to protect demonstrators and of engaging in partisan behavior. Gangs with tacit government support have reportedly attacked antigovernment protesters. In December 2014, numerous demonstrators in the proposed canal zone were injured and arrested during altercations with police officers, some of whom were also harmed in the protests. Human rights groups have claimed that some of those arrested were beaten or otherwise mistreated while in police custody. In November 2015, police clashed with protesters in a labor dispute at El Limon mine, resulting in injuries to both sides and the death of one police officer.

Although nongovernmental organizations are active, they have faced harassment and occasional violence in recent years. They have also been weakened by the system of Citizens' Power Councils (CPCs), which operate from the neighborhood to the federal level. Critics say they blur the line between state and party institutions, and that they are highly politicized.

The FSLN controls many of the country's labor unions, and the legal rights of non-FSLN unions are not fully guaranteed. Although the law recognizes the right to strike, unions must clear a number of hurdles, and approval from the Ministry of Labor is almost never granted. Employers sometimes form their own unions to avoid recognizing legitimate organizations. Employees have reportedly been dismissed for union activities, and citizens have no effective recourse when those in power violate labor laws.

F. Rule of Law: 7 / 16

The judiciary remains dominated by FSLN and PLC appointees, and the Supreme Court is a largely politicized body controlled by Sandinista judges. The court system also suffers from corruption, long delays, a large backlog of cases, and a severe shortage of public defenders. Access to justice is especially deficient in rural areas and on the Caribbean coast.

Despite long-term improvements, the security forces remain understaffed and poorly funded, and human rights abuses still occur. Forced confessions and arbitrary arrests continue. Although Nicaragua has generally been spared the high rates of crime and gang violence that plague its neighbors to the north, the country  specifically the Caribbean coast  is an important transshipment point for South American drugs. The police have been active in combating trafficking and organized crime. Though generally considered to be the most professionalized in the region, the police have come under increasing criticism for skirmishes with civilians. In July 2015, Nicaraguan police killed three members of one family, including two children, during a botched antidrug operation. Nine police officers were sentenced to 11 years in prison after being convicted on various charges related to the incident. In November, police and military allegedly used tear gas and rubber bullets to turn back a group of Cuban migrants seeking to reach the United States by traveling through Nicaragua from Costa Rica.

Prison conditions are poor and overcrowding is a problem. In 2014, the Nicaraguan government used more than $6 million of seized drug money to open three new prison facilities.

Changes to the military code in 2014 gave the army a role in internal security at the discretion of the president, further concentrating power under the executive. Critics suggested that it opened the military to manipulation by the president. A 2014 law that restructured the National Police allows the president to appoint and extend the terms of the body's director, increases service eligibility, and permits members of the National Police to engage in political campaigning and political party activity. In December 2015, the National Assembly passed the Sovereign Security Law as a replacement for the current Democratic Security Law. Critics argued that the new law blurred the line between public safety and national security by potentially militarizing civilian agencies, and that the threats it combats are defined too broadly.

The constitution and laws nominally recognize the rights of indigenous communities, but those rights have not been respected in practice. Approximately 5 percent of the population is indigenous and lives mostly in the RAAN and the RAAS. In 2012, the Nicaraguan constitution was translated into Miskito and Mayangna, the languages most commonly spoken in these areas.

Same-sex marriage and civil unions remain barred in Nicaragua, and the country's LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) population is subject to intermittent threats and discriminatory treatment. In April 2015, the family code passed in 2014 went into effect. LGBT activists blasted the new law for defining marriage as a union between a man and a woman and, as such, depriving same-sex couples the right to adopt children or the ability to receive fertility treatment. A resolution approved in 2014 prohibits discrimination in health service provision based on sexual identity, though few steps have been taken toward implementation.

G. Personal Autonomy and Individual Rights: 10 / 16

Governmental and nonstate actors generally respect travel, residence, and employment choices. Property rights are protected on paper but can be tenuous in practice. Titles are often contested, and individuals with connections to the FSLN sometimes enjoy an advantage during property disputes. In August 2015, the U.S. government ended its 20-year-old waiver requirement for Nicaragua to access international credit, citing progress in resolving the remaining property claims that led to the original restrictions.

Property owners in the construction zone for the new canal have complained that they have felt intimidated, sometimes with violence, by surveyors with the backing of the army and police. Indigenous groups and farmers have raised concerns that they will be negatively impacted by the digging of the canal. Protests against the project continued into 2015.

In 2015, land conflicts in the RAAN resulted in forced displacements and clashes between indigenous groups, settlers, and police, as disputes over indigenous lands turned violent. Dozens were injured and at least nine were killed in September alone, with YATAMA leader Mario Lemans among the deceased. Hundreds of members of the Miskito community sought refuge in Honduras from the violence. Residents and human rights groups claimed that the Nicaraguan government, regional government, and the police had done little to stop the violence or to protect the property rights of indigenous communities. In September, the National Assembly stripped deputy YATAMA leader Brooklyn Rivera of his immunity in response to allegations that he and those close to him were illegally selling indigenous land.

In 2015, Nicaragua was ranked 12 out of 145 countries surveyed in the World Economic Forum's Global Gender Gap Report, indicating that its gender-based disparities are among the smallest in the world. However, violence against women and children, including sexual and domestic abuse, remains widespread and underreported; few cases are ever prosecuted. The 2012 Comprehensive Law Against Violence toward Women addresses both physical and structural forms of violence, and recognizes violence against women as a matter of public health and safety. The legislation  which codified femicide as a crime in which there is a relationship between the perpetrator and the victim  also establishes sentencing guidelines for physical and psychological abuses against women. A 2013 reform to the law allows mediation between the victim and accuser, despite concerns from rights groups. The new family code includes protections for pregnant minors, the elderly, and ethnic minorities; establishes equal duties of mothers and fathers; and prohibits physical punishment of children.

Abortion is illegal and punishable by imprisonment, even when performed to save the mother's life or in cases of rape or incest. Scores of deaths stemming from the ban have been reported in recent years.

Human trafficking is a significant issue in Nicaragua, which serves as a source country for women and children forced into prostitution. A 2010 law classifies human trafficking as a form of organized crime. Adults and children are also vulnerable to forced labor in some sectors. In 2015, the U.S. State Department's Trafficking in Persons Report noted inadequate protections for victims and the vulnerability of women on the Atlantic Coast, where institutions are weaker and crime is more prevalent. The National Assembly's passage of a law in January 2015 meant to address human trafficking is a sign of some progress. The law establishes prison terms of up to 20 years, creates a databank to track cases, and enables the confiscation of property gained through human trafficking.

Scoring Key: X / Y (Z)

X = Score Received

Y = Best Possible Score

Z = Change from Previous Year

Copyright notice:  Freedom House, Inc.  All Rights Reserved
Freedom in the World 2016 - Morocco

Publisher Freedom House Publication Date 29 June 2016 Cite as Freedom House, Freedom in the World 2016 - Morocco, 29 June 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/577a614b11.html [accessed 27 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

Freedom Status: Partly Free

Aggregate Score: 41

Freedom Rating: 4.5

Political Rights: 5

Civil Liberties: 4

Trend Arrow: 

Trend Arrow:

Morocco received a downward trend arrow due to the government's repression of dissent, including disruption of meetings, assaults on activist leaders, and the imposition of long prison sentences on journalists and civil society figures.

Quick Facts

Capital: Rabat

Population: 34,121,000

GDP/capita: $3,103.20

Press Freedom Status: Not Free

Net Freedom Status: N/A

OVERVIEW

In September 2015, Morocco held regional and municipal elections for the first time under the constitutional framework established in 2011. The results were widely perceived as a victory for the moderate Islamist Justice and Development Party (PJD), the largest party in parliament, which won the most individual seats at the regional level and majorities on the municipal councils of all of Morocco's major urban areas.

The government continued its pattern of ostensibly pursuing a technocratic governance agenda palatable to Western allies while stifling personal freedoms and discussion of sensitive issues. This included crackdowns on journalists, stiff fines and jail sentences for reporters, and deportation of foreign correspondents for attempting to cover politically sensitive topics. Authorities also harassed several prominent civil society leaders and organizations. At least five men were sentenced to prison terms for violating the country's prohibition against same-sex sexual relations, and two women were tried for indecency after wearing short skirts in public.

POLITICAL RIGHTS AND CIVIL LIBERTIES

Political Rights: 15 / 40

A. Electoral Process: 5 / 12

King Mohammed VI and his close advisers, often referred to as the Makhzen, hold political, social, and economic power in Morocco. While the palace has engineered a series of constitutional reforms since the first constitution in 1962, the 2011 constitutional referendum was significant as it required the monarch to appoint the prime minister from the party that wins the most seats in parliamentary elections and to consult the prime minister before dissolving parliament. The reform also gave official status to the Tamazight (Berber) language, called for gender equality, and emphasized respect for human rights, though it preserved existing powers for the king. The monarch can dissolve Parliament, rule by decree, and dismiss or appoint cabinet members. He sets national and foreign policy, commands the armed forces and intelligence services, and presides over the judicial system. One of the king's constitutional titles is "commander of the faithful," giving his authority a claim to religious legitimacy.

The lower house of Parliament, the Chamber of Representatives, has 395 directly elected members who serve for five-year terms. Of these, 60 seats are reserved for women and 30 for men under age 40. Members of the 120-seat upper house, the Chamber of Counselors, are chosen by an electoral college to serve six-year terms. Under a rule that took effect in 2009, women are guaranteed 12 percent of the seats in local elections.

Parliamentary elections held after the constitutional reform in 2011 resulted in a victory for the PJD of Prime Minister Abdelilah Benkirane. The PJD formed a coalition with Istiqlal, the Popular Movement, and was joined by the Party of Progress and Socialism (PPS) in early 2012. The government held office until July 2013, when Istiqlal withdrew in protest against the PJD's handling of the economy. A new government took office in October of that year, with the National Rally of Independents (RNI) joining the coalition.

In September 2015, Morocco held its first regional and municipal elections since the adoption of the new constitution. The PJD came in first at the regional level, winning 26 percent of all available seats; the pro-monarchy Party of Authenticity and Modernity (PAM) won 19 percent of available seats, while Istiqlal took 18 percent. Due to the geographic distribution of the seats won, the PAM won five out of the country's 12 regional councils, while the PJD won just two. At the municipal level, PAM came in first with 21 percent of all available seats, while the PJD and Istiqlal each took 16 percent. However, the PJD won majorities on the councils of Casablanca, Tangier, Fes, Rabat, and Marrakech.

B. Political Pluralism and Participation: 7 / 16

Morocco has a multiparty system, but the parties are fragmented and generally unable to assert themselves. The PJD was a vocal opposition Islamist party before 2011, even as it remained respectful of the monarchy. The Islamist Justice and Charity Movement is illegal, and therefore cannot participate in the electoral process, though other activities are tolerated by the authorities. Other Islamist groups face official harassment and are not permitted to participate in the political process. Parties emerge and disappear periodically depending on reformation and fractures as well as individual politicians' careerist maneuvers. In the 2015 local elections, over 30 political parties contested seats across the country.

For decades, Rif, Tamazight, and Chleuh peoples  grouped together under the term Berber  have had an uneasy relationship to the Makhzen. Prominent Berber elites enjoy access to the monarchy and also have their interests represented in Parliament by so-called Berber parties, but the bulk of the ethnically indigenous population are marginalized. A legacy of complicated ethnic and identity politics persists.

C. Functioning of Government: 3 / 12

While elected officials are duly installed in government, their power to shape policy is sharply constrained as the king and his advisers control most of the levers of power.

Corruption is rife throughout the economy. Morocco was ranked 88 out of 168 countries and territories surveyed in Transparency International's 2015 Corruption Perceptions Index. Despite the government's rhetoric on combating corruption, it has displayed a mixed record in this regard. In February 2015, cabinet officials defeated a parliamentary proposal to strengthen the powers of the main anticorruption body, the Central Authority for the Prevention of Corruption (ICPC). However, in May, the ICPC received the authority from parliament to force government bodies to cooperate with corruption investigations. In June, authorities established a specialized hotline for citizens to report corrupt activity. The ICPC adopted a comprehensive anticorruption strategy in December designed to be implemented across nearly a dozen sectors over the course of 10 years. According to the ICPC chief, the plan has the necessary backing and budget from the government.

For the past several years, the government has published the country's annual budget and other financial information online and has proactively discussed such matters with the press. However, transparency is limited as the Makhzen play an outsize role in the economy and the king is the majority stakeholder in a vast array of private and public sector firms.

Civil Liberties: 26 / 60 (-1)

D. Freedom of Expression and Belief: 8 / 16

The state dominates the broadcast media, but people have access to foreign satellite television channels. Although the independent press enjoys a significant degree of freedom when reporting on economic and social policies, the authorities use an array of financial and legal mechanisms to punish critical journalists, particularly those who focus on the king, his family, the status of Western Sahara, or Islam. The monarchy has instructed businesses not to buy ads in publications that have criticized the government. The authorities also occasionally disrupt websites and internet platforms, and bloggers and other internet users are sometimes arrested for posting content that offends the monarchy.

Numerous journalists were subject to legal harassment in 2015. In March, Hicham Mansouri, a project manager with the journalism nongovernmental organization (NGO) Moroccan Association of Investigative Journalism (AMJI), was arrested and charged with committing adultery. He received a prison sentence of 10 months and was fined about $4,100. The AMJI, which is an advocate for investigative journalism, was harassed by authorities several times in the past year. Several journalists also faced civil and criminal defamation charges related to their reporting. In June, the private news website Goud was fined more than $50,000 for publishing a story accusing the king's private secretary of corruption. The same month, another journalist was given a four-month suspended prison sentence and $10,000 fine on criminal defamation charges over his reporting on a story about the death of a Moroccan activist in police custody and claims that he had endured custodial torture.

The government also censored critical and investigative reporting in 2015. In January, a news crew with the television station France 24 was disrupted by security forces while filming a segment in Rabat; they were forced to stop filming and their video footage was confiscated, though it was returned the next day. In February, two French journalists were deported and their footage was seized while they were investigating social and economic developments in the country following the 2011 reforms.

Nearly all Moroccans are Muslims. While the small Jewish community is permitted to practice its faith without government interference, Moroccan authorities are growing increasingly intolerant of social and religious diversity. Moreover, the government exercises strict controls over religious institutions in the name of countering extremism and radicalization. All imams preaching in mosques are required to obtain state certification, and mosques and sermons are regularly monitored by the authorities. The government also operates a large and well-financed training program for imams and female religious counselors tasked with promoting a state-sanctioned version of Islam, which some critics charge is also intended to promote political quiescence.

While university campuses generally provide a space for open discussion, professors practice self-censorship when dealing with sensitive topics like Western Sahara, the monarchy, and Islam.

E. Associational and Organizational Rights: 5 / 12 (-1)

Freedom of assembly is not always respected, though frequent demonstrations by unemployed graduates and unions are generally tolerated. Although such protests often occur without incident, activists say they are harassed outside of public events.

Civil society organizations are quite active, but the authorities monitor Islamist groups and arrest suspected extremists. In 2015, authorities increased pressure on civil society organizations critical of the government, banning a number of their activities, demonstrations, and other projects. By July, a coalition of rights groups had identified 150 violations of their right to peaceful assembly that had taken place since January 2014. In September 2015, the prominent Moroccan Association for Human Rights (AMDH) said that 37 of its 97 local branches were being prevented from renewing their registration, and that the government had stopped dozens of its projects and activities from moving forward over the previous year. Other NGO leaders reported legal harassment, travel restrictions, and additional impediments to their work. In contrast, the Sahrawi Association of Victims of Human Rights Abuses Committed by the Moroccan State was registered as an NGO in August, nearly a decade after a 2006 court ruling ordered the government to issue the Western Sahara advocacy group a license.

Workers are permitted to form and join independent trade unions, and the 2004 labor law prevents employers from punishing workers who do so. However, the authorities have forcibly broken up labor actions that involve criticism of the government. In late 2015, Morocco's largest trade unions called for a general strike of public sector workers to demand an increase in wages and the repeal of a penal code provision for the imprisonment of those convicted of using subversive tactics to organize labor actions.

F. Rule of Law: 6 / 16

The judiciary is not independent of the palace, and the courts are regularly used to punish government opponents. A draft law on judicial reform, under parliamentary review in 2015, was criticized by observers as seriously flawed. Arbitrary arrest and torture still occur. Investigations by rights advocates in 2015 revealed that torture remains widespread among Moroccan security forces, especially against advocates for the independence of Western Sahara, leftists, Islamists, and other government critics.

Efforts by migrants to reach the European Union (EU) by breaching the fences to Spanish enclaves Ceuta and Melilla continue apace. Human rights abuses against the migrant population are extensive, and the European Union turns a blind eye to Moroccan officials' abuses. In December, two Cameroonian migrants were killed by asphyxiation near the border with Ceuta after Moroccan police lit a fire in the entrance to a cave in which they were hiding.

The Moroccan LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) community faces harsh discrimination. Same-sex sexual relations are illegal, though they are generally tolerated in tourist areas. In May 2015, three men were sentenced to three years in jail for allegedly engaging in same-sex sexual acts. In June, two other men were convicted for a photograph in which they were holding each other; they were sentenced to four months in jail. According to rights groups, the latter were subject to abuse while in custody, and protesters harassed their families after the Moroccan government revealed their identities publically.

Arab culture dominates in Morocco. The government has made some efforts to rectify past practice of Arabizing school curricula and society, though inequalities persist. The 2011 constitutional reforms made Berber an official language, and the Amazigh language and culture have been promoted in schools.

G. Personal Autonomy and Individual Rights: 7 / 16

Freedoms of movement, employment, and education are guaranteed by law in Morocco, but poor economic conditions and corruption limit these freedoms in practice. Widespread bribery, nepotism, and misconduct within the educational sector constrain merit-based advancement.

Morocco ranked 75 out of 189 countries in the World Bank's 2016 Doing Business report and 85 out of 178 countries on the 2016 Index of Economic Freedom, indicating a mixed legal environment for the smooth operation of enterprise. Although starting a business is a relatively quick and simple process, regulatory and market hurdles create difficulties.

The majority of residents are employed as laborers, almost half in the agricultural sector. Nearly 50 percent of Morocco's land is held collectively by tribes, which allocate its use based on the needs of the community, while smallholders and a few larger agricultural outfits hold almost one-third. Most agricultural land is administered according to religious and customary law, which generally respects the ownership and usage rights of its residents and laborers.

Women continue to face significant discrimination at the societal level. However, by Arab standards, Moroccan authorities have a relatively progressive view on gender equality, which is recognized in the 2011 constitution. The 2004 family code has been lauded for granting women increased rights in the areas of marriage, divorce, and child custody, and various other laws aim to protect women's interests. Nevertheless, official abuses persist. In June 2015, two women were arrested and charged with indecency for wearing short skirts in public; both were acquitted in July.

Child laborers, especially girls working as domestic helpers, are denied basic rights. In October, parliament debated legislation concerning rural girls trafficked to cities by middlemen. Local NGOs are urging the establishment of a minimum working age of 18.

Scoring Key: X / Y (Z)

X = Score Received

Y = Best Possible Score

Z = Change from Previous Year

Copyright notice:  Freedom House, Inc.  All Rights Reserved
Freedom in the World 2016 - Kazakhstan

Publisher Freedom House Publication Date 29 June 2016 Cite as Freedom House, Freedom in the World 2016 - Kazakhstan, 29 June 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/577a614c17.html [accessed 27 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

Freedom Status: Not Free

Aggregate Score: 24

Freedom Rating: 5.5

Political Rights: 6

Civil Liberties: 5

Quick Facts

Capital: Astana

Population: 17,544,274

GDP/capita: $12,276.40

Press Freedom Status: Not Free

Net Freedom Status: Not Free

OVERVIEW

In April 2015, Nursultan Nazarbayev won a landslide victory in an early presidential election, securing a fifth term in office. Government corruption and the president's family remained taboo subjects in the press, social media, and academia, and official hostility toward discussion of two additional controversial topics, the conflict in Ukraine and the spread of the Islamic State (IS) militant group in Central Asia, further diminished space for freedom of expression. Authorities also continued imposing restrictions on freedoms of assembly and association during the year.

In a positive step, the Constitutional Court in May struck down a child protection bill that, among other things, would have restricted the dissemination of information about same-sex relations and orientation. Separately, Kazakhstan became a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in June.

POLITICAL RIGHTS AND CIVIL LIBERTIES

Political Rights: 6 / 40

A. Electoral Process: 2 / 12

The Kazakhstani constitution grants the president considerable control over the legislature, the judiciary, and local governments. Nazarbayev won an uncontested presidential election in December 1991, two weeks before Kazakhstan gained its independence from the Soviet Union, and has not left office since. In April 2015, Nazarbayev  nominated by his Nur Otan party  was reelected with 97.7 percent of the vote. His chief opponents were Turgun Syzdykov of the government-friendly Communist People's Party of Kazakhstan and Abelgazi Kusainov of Nur Otan; both candidates were virtually unknown before the election. The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) noted several shortcomings in the election, including lack of a viable opposition, instances of fraud, vast advantages for the incumbent, and lack of transparency.

The upper house of the bicameral Parliament is the 47-member Senate, with 32 members chosen by directly elected regional councils and 15 appointed by the president. The senators serve six-year terms, with half of the 32 elected members up for election every three years. The lower house (Mazhilis) has 107 deputies, with 98 elected by proportional representation on party slates and 9 appointed by the Assembly of Peoples of Kazakhstan, which represents the country's various ethnic groups. Members serve five-year terms.

Parties must clear a 7 percent vote threshold to enter the Mazhilis, and once elected, deputies must vote with their party. Parties are barred from forming electoral blocs. A 2009 amendment to the electoral law guarantees the second-ranked party at least two seats in the Mazhilis if only one party passes the 7 percent threshold.

In 2012 elections for the lower house, Nur Otan took 83 of the 107 seats, Ak Zhol won 8, and the Communist People's Party secured 7. OSCE monitors noted that the elections did not meet democratic norms. In 2014, Nur Otan took all the seats that were up for election in the Senate. Regional councils dominated by Nur Otan appointed the candidates.

Constitutional changes have consistently consolidated power for the president and the ruling party. Although Nazarbayev rejected a 2009 proposal to make him president for life, a 2010 constitutional amendment gave him immunity from prosecution and made his family's property effectively inviolable. Under the current constitutional rules, Nazarbayev may serve an indefinite number of five-year terms.

B. Political Pluralism and Participation: 3 / 16

Aside from Nur Otan, two parties  Ak Zhol and the Communist People's Party  won representation in the 2012 Mazhilis elections, each earning just over 7 percent of the vote. Neither is considered an opposition party because they exhibit loyalty to the president.

In order to register, a party must have 40,000 members. In 2012, a court invoked laws against "extremism" to ban the unregistered opposition Algha Party and the People's Front opposition movement. It also found Algha leader Vladimir Kozlov guilty of heading an illegal group, inciting social hatred, and calling for the violent overthrow of the constitutional order. He was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison.

Politics continue to be dominated by a small group of political elites led by the Nazarbayev family. Nazarbayev appointed his daughter Darigha Nazarbayeva to the post of deputy prime minister in September 2015; she had been elected deputy chair of the Mazhilis in 2014. Several opponents of the regime have fled the country in recent years in order to avoid persecution, and authorities continue to seek the extradition of former political and business leaders living in exile. Nazarbayeva's former husband, Rakhat Aliyev, had been appointed to prominent government and diplomatic positions while maintaining favorable relations with the Nazarbayev family, but declared his opposition to the regime in 2007. He died in February 2015 while in investigative custody in Austria in connection to the death of two bankers in Kazakhstan. In December, the Austrian justice ministry dismissed claims that Aliyev had been murdered.

Political parties based on ethnic origin, religion, or gender are prohibited. The Russian and Kazakh languages officially have equal status, but in 2011, newly rigorous Kazakh-language testing for candidacy in the presidential election eliminated many opposition candidates.

C. Functioning of Government: 1 / 12

Corruption is widespread at all levels of government. Corruption cases are often prosecuted at local and regional government levels, but charges against high-ranking political and business elites are filed unevenly, usually only after an individual has fallen out of favor. Kazakhstan ranked 123 out of 168 countries and territories surveyed in Transparency International's 2015 Corruption Perceptions Index.

In July 2015, the government announced that the residents of Berezovka, a village near the Karachaganak gas condensate field, would be resettled within two years in an operation funded by Karachaganak Petroleum Operating, in which the state-owned KazMunayGas holds a 10 percent stake. Berezovka residents as well as local and international environmental groups have appealed to the government for relocation since 2003, citing severe health concerns allegedly caused by emissions from the field. In 2014, several children and teachers in a Berezovka school fell severely ill in an episode that local residents attributed to elevated emissions, and similar incidents continued in 2015. The government has publicly insisted that these incidents were not caused by extractive practices in the area.

Separately, Almaty's newly appointed mayor, Baurzhan Baybek, gained praise from local residents in 2015 for increasing the accountability and openness of the city's government, including through the use of social media to enhance officials' responsiveness to public problems and complaints.

Government officials remain opaque in their actions and decisions between elections. In May 2015, Nazarbayev announced a sweeping reform program focusing on five institutional issues: creating a more professional body of civil servants, strengthening the rule of law, increasing industrial and economic growth, promoting national unity, and enhancing transparency and accountability in government.

Civil Liberties: 18 / 60

D. Freedom of Expression and Belief: 4 / 16

While the constitution provides for freedom of the press, the government has repeatedly harassed or shut down independent outlets. Members of the president's family and other powerful groups control most of the media sector, including publishing houses. Libel is a criminal offense, and the criminal code prohibits insulting the president. Self-censorship is common. Since 2011, when police used emergency powers to arrest or detain journalists attempting to cover unrest in Zhanaozen and neighboring cities, raids on independent media outlets and the harassment and detention of journalists have increased. New regulations in 2012 gave the Ministry of Culture and Information expanded powers to combat "unofficial or negative information" about any crisis. Since 2012, courts have shut down dozens of independent newspapers, television channels, and news websites on charges of "extremism."

Political and business elites frequently misuse the law to squelch dissent or criticism, and independent journalists frequently suffer attacks, arrests, and pressure from authorities. Yaroslav Golyshin, editor of a local newspaper in the province of Pavlodar, was arrested in May 2015 and charged with blackmail, extortion, and inciting a minor to commit a crime while investigating an incident of rape allegedly tied to the Pavlodar governor's son. Separately, in June, an Almaty court found the independent news portal Nakanune.kz guilty of libel in a case launched by Kazkommertsbank, which claimed that the outlet harmed its reputation in an article linking the bank to corruption in the construction industry. The defendant, Guzyal Baydalinova, a journalist for the outlet as well as its domain name owner, was ordered to pay 20 million tenge ($98,000) and remove the article from the website. In December, security forces raided the Nakanune.kz office and the homes of several of its journalists as part of an investigation into claims that the outlet had deliberately published false information about Kazkommertsbank. Baydalinova was remanded in detention as part of the investigation and remained behind bars at year's end.

In February 2015, an Almaty appeals court upheld a 2014 closure order against Adam Bol, issued on the grounds that the magazine had included "war propaganda" in its reporting on the conflict in Ukraine. A successor, Adam, was established in March but suspended in August for failing to publish all content in both Russian and Kazakh. In 2015, authorities attempted to control media coverage of IS in relation to Kazakhstan. Sections of the website of the Kazakh service of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) were blocked in March 2015, shortly after the outlet published information about recruitment calls by Kazakh IS members. The government continued to block entire websites as well as specific online content in 2015. The list of banned websites has expanded since 2012 to include hundreds of outlets. After the European Court of Justice's May 2014 "right to be forgotten" ruling against Google and other search engines, legislators in Kazakhstan voiced interest in amending the country's information law to better protect individual privacy online, although critics claim that such a maneuver would be tailored to facilitate blocking of negative coverage of government officials and other elites.

The constitution guarantees freedom of worship, and some religious communities practice without state interference. However, laws passed in 2005 banned all activities by unregistered religious groups and gave the government great discretion in outlawing organizations it designates as "extremist." Local officials have harassed groups defined as "nontraditional," including Protestant Christians, Jehovah's Witnesses, and Muslims. Several individuals were imprisoned during 2015 on charges of alleged membership in Tablighi Jamaat, an Islamic movement banned on grounds of "extremism" since 2013.

Academic freedom is constrained by political sensitivities surrounding a number of topics, including the president and his inner circle. In August 2015, a Dutch lecturer at Nazarbayev University voiced allegations that his contract was terminated due to political reasons, citing the university's cancellation of a public event he had organized in 2014 to discuss confrontations between Russia and Ukraine. The university denied any pressure from the government on its decision-making. In a separate incident in September, the Ukrainian embassy in Astana demanded the recall of secondary school textbooks that showed Crimea as part of Russia. A week later, the Education Ministry of Kazakhstan ordered that the textbooks be recalled and revised, stating that the publisher had not "fully reflected the position of Kazakhstan or that of the international community" in its presentation of the territory.

Authorities are known to monitor communications on social media. Several social-media users were prosecuted in 2015 for the offenses of inciting ethnic hatred or unrest or calling for separatism, which can be punishable by imprisonment. In March, a court in Almaty sentenced one user to a four-year suspended sentence in connection to comments she had made that included ethnic slurs and calls for Kazakhstan to become a part of Russia.

E. Associational and Organizational Rights: 2 / 12

Despite constitutional guarantees, the government imposes restrictions on freedoms of association and assembly. Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) continue to operate but face government harassment surrounding politically sensitive issues. New criminal, criminal executive, and administrative codes went into effect in January and contained wide restrictions on the formation and operation of NGOs, including enhanced penalties for the leaders of organizations as well as general restrictions on activities not sanctioned by their organizations' charters. The legislation also contained restrictions on the ability of individuals to organize and hold public gatherings. Foreign citizens cannot found public associations, but can become members.

Police frequently break up unsanctioned opposition gatherings. In August 2015, police arrested activist Yermek Narymbayev on the charge of organizing an unsanctioned protest after he publicized plans to go to Astana's central square with a list of complaints to begin a dialogue with local officials, inviting others to join. He was sentenced to 15 days in prison for convening an unauthorized protest, even though no public assembly had taken place before his arrest, and an additional 5 days on a contempt of court charge.

Workers can form and join trade unions and participate in collective bargaining, though coopted unions and close links between the authorities and big business make for an uneven playing field. In November 2015, Nazarbayev approved a new labor code, which will allow employers to more easily hire, transfer, and dismiss workers and will enforce cumbersome administrative requirements for bargaining, including a higher quota of workers needed for collective action. The code was framed by proponents as a liberalization of the labor market, but labor activists criticized it as a weakening of worker rights.

F. Rule of Law: 4 / 16

The constitution makes the judiciary subservient to the executive branch. Judges are subject to political bias, and corruption is evident throughout the judicial system. Conditions in pretrial facilities and prisons are harsh. Police at times abuse detainees and threaten their families, often to obtain confessions, and arbitrary arrest and detention remain problems. In July 2015, the mother of a convict in eastern Kazakhstan announced plans to sue the prison where her son was being held, claiming that he sustained brain damage after being beaten while in custody. She reported that claims submitted to national authorities over the incident had been unanswered. A rare handful of convictions for police officers accused of torture were reported during the year.

Members of the sizable Russian-speaking minority have complained of discrimination in employment and education. Migrant workers from neighboring countries often face poor working conditions and a lack of legal protections.

Kazakhstan decriminalized same-sex sexual activity in 1998, but the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) community continues to face societal discrimination, harassment, and violence. In May 2015, the Constitutional Court rejected legislation that would have criminalized disseminating "propaganda" of same-sex relations to minors. The move followed considerable international pressure connected to Kazakhstan's bid to host the 2022 Winter Olympics, which was ultimately unsuccessful.

G. Personal Autonomy and Individual Rights: 8 / 16

Kazakhstani citizens can travel freely but must register their permanent residence with local authorities. In 2014, the government instituted a new system of fines for anyone living at an unregistered residence or renting to unregistered tenants. The right to choose institutions of higher education is formally protected but has been plagued by corruption, which the government is attempting to control.

While the rights of entrepreneurship and private property are formally protected, bureaucratic hurdles limit equality of opportunity. Clannish elites and government officials control large segments of the economy. Kazakhstan's official accession into the WTO in 2015, which took place after twenty years of negotiations, was widely seen as a positive development that would increase commercial opportunities by providing entrepreneurs and businesses with access to foreign markets.

Traditional cultural practices and the country's economic imbalances limit professional opportunities for women. Domestic violence often goes unpunished, as police are reluctant to intervene in what are regarded as internal family matters. Despite legal prohibitions, men, women, and children are vulnerable to trafficking for the purposes of forced labor and prostitution.

Scoring Key: X / Y (Z)

X = Score Received

Y = Best Possible Score

Z = Change from Previous Year

Copyright notice:  Freedom House, Inc.  All Rights Reserved
Freedom in the World 2016 - Jordan

Publisher Freedom House Publication Date 29 June 2016 Cite as Freedom House, Freedom in the World 2016 - Jordan, 29 June 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/577a614d15.html [accessed 27 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

Freedom Status: Not Free

Aggregate Score: 36

Freedom Rating: 5.5

Political Rights: 6

Civil Liberties: 5

Quick Facts

Capital: Amman

Population: 8,118,000

GDP/capita: $5,422.60

Press Freedom Status: Not Free

Net Freedom Status: Partly Free

OVERVIEW

The economic, social, and security implications of the conflict in neighboring Syria continued to take a toll on Jordan, straining state resources and public services. The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimated that there were close to 700,000 registered refugees in the country by year's end, in addition to hundreds of thousands of unregistered persons of concern. National security concerns remained prevalent during the year, and the government continued implementing stronger policies against terrorism, including by prosecuting militants upon return from fighting with extremist groups abroad. Some 2,000 Jordanians have left to fight with such groups, particularly the Islamic State (IS) and Al-Nusra Front.

In a small step toward reform, legislators discussed a draft electoral law that proposes abolishing Jordan's "one man, one vote" system. Separately, a new Law on Political Parties overhauled the framework for party formation and operation, including by forbidding the creation of parties based on ethnicity and religion, among other factors.

POLITICAL RIGHTS AND CIVIL LIBERTIES

Political Rights: 11 / 40

A. Electoral Process: 2 / 12

King Abdullah II holds broad executive powers, appoints and dismisses the prime minister and cabinet, and may dissolve the bicameral National Assembly at his discretion. Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour and his cabinet were nominated by the parliament before their appointment. Legislative representatives in the Chamber of Deputies, the lower house, are elected through universal adult suffrage. The Senate is appointed by the king and constitutes the upper house. The central government appoints regional governors.

The 2012 Election Law granted voters two ballots in parliamentary elections: One vote is cast for a party list in which candidates are selected through proportional representation in a single nationwide constituency, competing for 27 seats. Another candidate is selected through a single nontransferable vote system (SNTV) based on local electoral districts, competing for 108 seats. The remaining 15 seats are reserved for women. Political parties have long criticized the SNTV system for favoring progovernment tribal elites.

Elections to the lower house in 2013 were the first under the new law. The elections were carried by Transjordanian (East Bank) tribal elites and independent businessmen loyal to the regime. Twenty-two small parties won the 27 seats on the national level. The Islamic Action Front (IAF), the political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood in Jordan, boycotted the vote. International observers noted instances of vote buying and criticized the electoral framework as unfair.

In August 2015, legislators began discussing new electoral legislation that aims to create a completely proportional system. The proposal reduces the size of the lower house from 150 to 130 members but retains the use of quotas for ethnic and religious minorities as well as for women, with at least one female seat per district  a higher proportion of representation given the decreased number of seats. Opposition figures and groups had mixed reactions to the proposal, welcoming the abolishment of the SNTV but also criticizing the draft legislation for not going far enough in electoral reform; many of them called on legislators to vote against the proposal. The bill had not been adopted at year's end.

B. Political Pluralism and Participation: 6 / 16

The party system, consisting of just over 30 registered parties, is not robust. Although Jordanians are free to join political parties, votes are cast along nonpartisan and tribal lines in practice. In June 2015, the lower parliamentary house endorsed a bill on political parties that extensively changed the definition, registration, and supervision of parties; the king ratified the legislation in September. Among other things, the new Political Parties Law reduced the threshold of members required for registration from 500 to 150 and barred the founding of a party based on religion, ethnicity, race, or gender, stipulating that parties should be formed on the basis of citizenship and equality. The legislation granted authority to license and supervise parties to the Ministry of Political and Parliamentary Affairs, rather than the Ministry of Interior, at least nominally moving the process away from potential interference by security services. Islamist parties voiced fears that the restriction on foundational ideologies could be used against them, but officials made assurances that the provision would not retroactively apply to existing parties.

Flaws within the electoral law and gerrymandering in favor of East Bank tribal elites prevent genuine or competitive political process. The Chamber of Deputies is heavily imbalanced in favor of rural districts, whose residents are generally of East Bank origin. Urban areas, where Palestinian-Jordanians and supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood are heavily concentrated, account for more than two-thirds of the population but less than one-third of deputies. The IAF boycotted both the 2010 and 2013 elections to protest inherent disadvantages in the system.

Electoral law guarantees nine seats in the Chamber of Deputies for Christians and a combined three seats for Circassian and Chechen minorities.

C. Functioning of Government: 3 / 12

Key powers and decision-making abilities are ultimately vested in the king. The Chamber of Deputies may approve, reject, or amend legislation proposed by the cabinet, but it cannot enact laws without the assent of the royally appointed Senate. King Abdullah is empowered to dismiss parliament as well as the prime minister and cabinet. The king can delay parliamentary elections for up to two years and may rule by royal decree during periods in which parliament is not in session. Civil society groups have complained about a lack of inclusion in policymaking, particularly in deliberations over the amendments to the Press and Publications Law. Disputes between parliamentarians have resulted in physical scuffles in years past.

The government has undertaken some efforts to combat widespread corruption. Prime Minister Ensour launched a five-year anticorruption strategy in 2013. The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) is empowered to investigate allegations, while the Privatization Review Committee was formed in 2013 to review the privatization of state-run enterprises. The ACC stated in an October 2015 report that it had received 1,155 corruption complaints in 2014, investigated 151 cases, and recovered approximately $24 million in funds and $1 million in real estate. However, weak investigative journalism, limited access to information, and a lack of institutional checks and balances have prevented significant action. Jordan ranked 45 out of 168 countries and territories in Transparency International's 2015 Corruption Perceptions Index.

Government officials are sometimes held accountable for their wrongdoings. In May 2015, the Interior Minister resigned and two police chiefs were forced into retirement over human rights abuses in prisons and a heavy-handed crackdown in the restive southern city of Ma'an.

Civil Liberties: 25 / 60

D. Freedom of Expression and Belief: 7 / 16

Freedom of expression is restricted by numerous laws that criminalize defamation, the denigration of government, and the incitement of sectarian strife. Journalists have been arrested for criticizing the king, exposing corruption, and violating a vague provision in the Press and Publications Law mandating media objectivity. The government engages in direct censorship and pressures editors to control content. Self-censorship is pervasive, particularly in reporting on the royal family, foreign leaders, and certain societal taboos.

While there are dozens of private newspapers and magazines, the government has broad powers to close them and often engages in prepublication censorship of news stories. Most broadcast news outlets remain under state control, but satellite dishes and the internet provide access to foreign media. Journalists continue to face intimidation, arrest, and even imprisonment for writing unfavorable articles, especially when reporting on national security matters. Among other cases in 2015, security forces arrested two editors from the online platform Saraya News in January in connection to an article that allegedly contained inaccurate information about a prisoner exchange between IS and the Jordanian government. They were charged with supporting terrorism and disseminating false news but released on bail in March.

The authorities restrict access to the internet and often pressure websites to remove content, particularly unfavorable coverage. The government blocked approximately 300 news websites in 2013 over failure to meet stringent new registration requirements. Almost all have since become accessible after obtaining the proper registration and licenses, but some continue to operate without a license by using alternative domains.

Citizens can face retribution for views shared on social media. In February 2015, the State Security Court (SSC) convicted a senior politician on the charge of harming relations with a foreign state, an offense under Jordan's antiterrorism law, in connection to a Facebook post criticizing the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The court sentenced him to 18 years in prison.

Islam is the state religion, but Christians are recognized as a religious minority and can worship freely. Baha'is and Druze are allowed to practice their faiths as well, though a lack of state recognition has resulted in de facto discrimination. The government monitors sermons at mosques, and preachers cannot practice without written government permission. Only state-appointed councils may issue religious edicts, and it is illegal to criticize these rulings. Political, sectarian, and extremist speech are outlawed at mosques under the Preaching and Guidance law, and several imams have been banned for pro-IS sermons.

Academic freedom is generally respected, although there have been reports of a heavy intelligence presence on some university campuses. Jordanians openly discuss political developments within established red lines.

E. Associational and Organizational Rights: 4 / 12

Prior permission is not required to stage a public gathering. Allegations that the gendarmerie employed excessive force during a 2014 demonstration over the killing of a Jordanian-Palestinian judge have not been properly investigated.

While many international nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) are able to operate without significant hindrance, there are several restrictions on freedom of association. The Ministry of Social Development has the authority to deny registration as well as requests for foreign funding, and can disband organizations it finds objectionable. NGOs are prohibited from supporting political organizations. The Ministry of Social Development has broad supervisory powers over NGO operations and activities, and all board members must be vetted by state security. The law on associations includes penalties of up to 10,000 dinars (US$14,000) for violations. Several NGOs reported being denied access to foreign funding in 2015.

Workers have collective bargaining rights but must receive government permission to strike. Labor legislation defines 17 sectors in which workers may form a union. In October 2015, security forces forcibly dispersed a sit-in by port workers in the governorate of Aqaba. A local labor rights NGO reported that more than 20 participants were arrested.

F. Rule of Law: 6 / 16

The judiciary is subject to executive influence through the Ministry of Justice and the Higher Judiciary Council, most of whose members are appointed by the king. Provincial governors can order administrative detention for up to one year under a 1954 Crime Prevention Law that leaves little room for appeal. Prison conditions are poor, and inmates reportedly undergo severe beatings and other abuse from guards. Torture allegations are rarely prosecuted or result only in minor disciplinary penalties.

While most trials in civilian courts are open and procedurally sound, the quasi-military SSC may close its proceedings to the public. In early 2014, the government limited the jurisdiction of the SSC to high crimes of espionage, drugs, terrorism, treason, and currency counterfeiting. However, 2014 amendments to the 2006 antiterrorism law broadened the law's scope to include nonviolent offenses, such as using information networks to support, promote, or fund terrorism, as well as acts to harm Jordan's relations with a foreign country, which is also an offense under the penal code. In 2015, the SSC continued to hear cases against individuals suspected of belonging to IS and other extremist groups. In February, after IS militants published a video showing the immolation of a captured Jordanian pilot, the authorities executed two Iraqi militants. IS had previously sought the release of one of the militants, failed suicide bomber Sajida al-Rishawi.

Jordanians of Palestinian origin are marginalized from jobs in the public sector and security forces, which are dominated by East Bank tribes. Discrimination against LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) people is also prevalent. Consensual same-sex sexual activity is not accepted in Jordan's conservative society, though it is not prohibited by law. Activists fighting for LGBT rights face pressure from the secret police. In 2009, the Ministry of Social Development rejected an application to establish an NGO supporting LGBT rights on the basis that it would "violate the public morals and decency," and attempts to register others have failed since.

As of the end of 2015, UNHCR reported close to 700,000 registered refugees in Jordan, at least 630,000 of them from Syria alone. While Jordan is not a signatory to the 1951 Geneva Convention related to the status of refugees, the government adheres to an agreement with UNHCR by which refugees can remain in Jordan while the agency seeks more permanent solutions. Refugees are only legally permitted to work inside camps, although the majority live and work in cities. Poor living conditions and restrictions on freedom of movement led to violent riots at the Zaatari camp in 2014. Refugees have been turned away from public schools due to overcrowding, despite their right to free education. There have been reports of border authorities rejecting unmarried Syrian men of military age or refugees of Palestinian origin, which violates international norms on nonrefoulement. In some cases, Palestinians with Jordanian citizenship who reenter the country from Syria, having left in the 1970s, have been denied entry or stripped of their citizenship.

G. Personal Autonomy and Individual Rights: 8 / 16

Jordanians enjoy freedom of domestic movement and international travel. There have been reports of authorities denying refugees the right to travel and of employers confiscating the passports of foreign migrant workers. Under a 2013 law, women are no longer required to obtain their husbands' permission when applying for a passport.

Jordan was ranked 113 out of 189 economies in the World Bank's 2016 Doing Business report, which noted obstacles in obtaining credit, protecting minority investors, enforcing contracts, and resolving insolvency.

Women enjoy equal political rights but face legal discrimination in matters involving inheritance, divorce, and child custody, which fall under the jurisdiction of Sharia (Islamic law) courts. In the 2013 elections, women represented 13 percent of all candidates.

In 2014, the government announced that children of Jordanian mothers and foreign fathers will be able to access free public services such as education, private property ownership, and greater employment opportunities, but will still be barred from full citizenship. A woman who suffers domestic abuse is often placed in administrative detention and can only be released when a male member of her family gives assurances that she will not be harmed. Spousal rape is not illegal, and men who commit "honor crimes" against women receive lenient sentences. Women's rights activists have staged campaigns against honor killings and a penal code provision that allows alleged rapists to avoid prosecution by marrying their victims. According to a local NGO, at least a dozen honor killings took place in 2015, along with several attempts. Although the legal age of marriage is 18, girls as young as 15 years old can be married if a Sharia court allows it. A 2013 report by the Chief Islamic Justice Department showed that more than 10 percent of all marriages from 2000 to 2013 involved girls under the age of 18.

Labor rights organizations have raised concerns about poor working conditions, forced labor, and sexual abuse in Qualifying Industrial Zones, where mostly female and foreign factory workers process goods for export. Jordan is a destination and transit country for human trafficking for forced labor and, to a lesser extent, prostitution.

Scoring Key: X / Y (Z)

X = Score Received

Y = Best Possible Score

Z = Change from Previous Year

Copyright notice:  Freedom House, Inc.  All Rights Reserved
Freedom in the World 2016 - Hong Kong

Publisher Freedom House Publication Date 29 June 2016 Cite as Freedom House, Freedom in the World 2016 - Hong Kong, 29 June 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/577a614e15.html [accessed 27 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

Freedom Status: Partly Free

Aggregate Score: 63

Freedom Rating: 3.5

Political Rights: 5

Civil Liberties: 2

Quick Facts

Population: 7,286,402

GDP/capita: $40,169.60

Press Freedom Status: Partly Free

Net Freedom Status: N/A

OVERVIEW

A political standoff over the degree of autonomy and democratic rule in Hong Kong remained unresolved in 2015. In a decision the previous year, the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC) had authorized the self-governing territory to hold a direct popular vote for its chief executive for the first time in 2017, but an effectively pro-Beijing committee would control nominations for the contest. The proposal was met with strong civil society opposition in Hong Kong, leading to large student-led protests that continued for more than two months. Opponents were motivated in part by a growing sense that Hong Kong was losing its unique political and cultural character in the face of rising interference and migration from the mainland.

The Hong Kong government nevertheless presented an electoral reform bill in June 2015 that closely tracked Beijing's directives, and the measure was rejected by the territory's Legislative Council (Legco), leaving the existing system of indirect elections in place. Meanwhile, the authorities continued to deal with the aftermath of the 2014 protests. A number of student leaders were charged with offenses that carry a five-year prison sentence.

Increasing pressure on freedom of expression added to concerns about Hong Kong's civil liberties, which remain far more expansive than on the mainland. In an unprecedented move in October, the University of Hong Kong's governing council blocked the appointment of a prodemocracy academic as pro-vice-chancellor. Also that month and in December, five Hong Kong residents associated with a local book publisher went missing and were believed to be in the custody of mainland authorities at year's end. The publisher had been known for producing books that were critical of Chinese leaders.

POLITICAL RIGHTS AND CIVIL LIBERTIES

Political Rights: 16 / 40

A. Electoral Process: 3 / 12

Hong Kong's 1997 Basic Law calls for the election of a chief executive and the unicameral Legco. Under electoral reforms adopted in 2010, the chief executive, who serves a five-year term, is chosen by a 1,200-member election committee. Some 200,000 "functional constituency" voters  representatives of various elite business and social sectors, many with close ties to Beijing  elect 900 of the committee's members, and the remaining 300 consist of Legco members, Hong Kong delegates to China's NPC, religious representatives, and members of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), an advisory body to the NPC. Candidates for chief executive must be nominated by at least 150 members of the election committee.

Also under the 2010 reforms, which took effect in 2012, the number of seats in the Legco increased from 60 to 70. While 30 members are still elected by the functional constituency voters, 35  up from 30  are chosen through direct elections in five geographical constituencies. Hong Kong's 18 district councils nominate candidates for the remaining 5 Legco seats from among themselves, and the nominees then face a full popular vote. All 70 members serve four-year terms.

In March 2012, the election committee chose Leung Chun-ying, a member of the CPPCC, as the new chief executive. He won 689 of the 1,050 valid votes cast following an unusually competitive race against two other candidates  Henry Tang, a high-ranking Hong Kong civil servant who took 285 votes, and Democratic Party leader Albert Ho, who secured 76. Officials from China's Liaison Office reportedly lobbied members of the election committee to vote for Leung and pressured media outlets to remove critical coverage of him ahead of the balloting. Leung took office in July 2012.

During the Legco elections in September 2012, pro-Beijing parties won 43 seats, though only 17 of those were directly elected. Prodemocracy parties took 27 seats, which would enable them to block any proposed constitutional changes; amendments to the Basic Law require a two-thirds majority.

B. Political Pluralism and Participation: 7 / 16

Over a dozen parties in Hong Kong's multiparty system are currently represented in the Legco. The main parties in the prodemocracy camp are the Civic Party, the Democratic Party, and the Labor Party. The largest pro-Beijing party is the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is not formally registered in Hong Kong but exercises considerable influence, both through its interactions with local government officials and through indirect economic and other pressure.

Hong Kong residents' political choices are limited by the semidemocratic electoral system, which ensures the dominance of pro-Beijing interests. While the Basic Law states that universal suffrage is the "ultimate aim," only incremental changes have been permitted to date.

Under the NPC Standing Committee's 2014 decision on electoral reforms for 2017, the chief executive could be elected in a popular vote, with the two or three candidates selected by a nominating committee whose membership would mirror that of the current election committee. Moreover, whereas candidates currently need only 150 votes on the election committee to be nominated for a place in the body's final vote, at least half the members of the new nominating committee would have to approve candidates for the popular vote.

The prodemocracy Legco members vowed to block any reform bill that did not include some form of public nomination. Despite that pledge and the massive protests  known as the Umbrella Movement  that followed the NPC's ruling, in April 2015 the Hong Kong government introduced legislation that matched Beijing's guidelines. As expected, the Legco rejected it in June, failing to muster the necessary two-thirds majority for passage. Because most progovernment lawmakers left the chamber in an attempt to prevent a quorum and delay the voting, the final count was 28 against and only 8 in favor.

While there are no legal restrictions on ethnic minorities participating in politics or running for office, the Legco had no ethnic minority members as of 2015. The Basic Law requires most top elected and appointed officials to be permanent Hong Kong residents with no right of abode in a foreign country, though up to 20 percent of Legco members can be permanent residents who are non-Chinese or have right of abode in a foreign country.

C. Functioning of Government: 6 / 12

Directly elected officials have little ability to set and implement government policies under the territory's political system, and mainland authorities are highly influential. The Basic Law restricts the Legco's lawmaking powers, prohibiting legislators from introducing bills that would affect Hong Kong's public spending, governmental operations, or political structure.

Hong Kong is generally regarded as having low rates of corruption. It was ranked 18 out of 168 countries and territories surveyed in Transparency International's 2015 Corruption Perceptions Index. However, business interests are closely intertwined with the government.

In October 2015, former chief executive Donald Tsang was charged with misconduct. He had stepped down at the end of his term in 2012, and the Independent Commission Against Corruption had been investigating allegations that he accepted gifts from tycoons while in office. The charges were related to Tsang's failure to disclose that he leased a luxurious flat in Shenzhen from a Chinese businessman with substantial interests in Hong Kong. Tsang was the highest-ranking Hong Kong official ever to be arrested. His deputy, Rafael Hui, was sentenced in December 2014 to seven and a half years in prison for his role in a massive bribery scheme. Billionaire property developer Thomas Kwok was sentenced to five years in prison in the same case. Appeals were pending at the end of 2015.

Civil Liberties: 47 / 60 (-2)

D. Freedom of Expression and Belief: 12 / 16 (-1)

The Basic Law upholds freedoms of speech, press, and publication. Residents have access to dozens of daily newspapers, international radio broadcasts, and satellite television. Foreign media operate without interference. Mainland China's internet censorship regime does not apply in Hong Kong, and residents enjoy unrestricted access to a wide range of news sites. However, in recent years the Hong Kong and Chinese governments, as well as businesses that have close ties with Beijing, have increased political and economic pressure on media independence, and physical attacks against journalists are a growing problem.

In December 2015, mainland e-commerce giant Alibaba acquired the South China Morning Post, Hong Kong's leading English-language newspaper. Although the paper had faced accusations of self-censorship and pro-Beijing bias under its previous owner, its purchase by a company with strong ties to the Chinese central government stoked fears of a further reduction in its editorial independence.

The media company Next Media and its founder, Jimmy Lai, have been subject to intimidation for their support of Hong Kong's prodemocracy movement. In January, Next Media's headquarters and Lai's home were targeted in firebomb attacks, and a large quantity of the company's Apple Daily newspapers were stolen from a vendor.

In August, two men were sentenced to 19 years in prison for attacking and nearly killing former Ming Pao newspaper editor Kevin Lau in early 2014, but they refused to disclose who had ordered the attack. Lau had been known for overseeing investigations into local officials and politically connected mainlanders.

The authorities arrested at least nine people for their online activities between June 2014 and June 2015, according to a report produced by the Journalism and Media Studies Centre at the University of Hong Kong. Most were accused of inciting violence or illegal protest actions on social media.

In the year's most dramatic media freedom development, five Hong Kong residents associated with a Hong Kong publishing house and bookstore went missing between October and December and were believed to be in the custody of mainland authorities at year's end. The publisher had released a number of books that were critical of the Chinese leadership. One of the men disappeared while in Thailand, three were last seen in mainland China, and the fifth was thought to have been abducted in Hong Kong, raising fears that Chinese authorities no longer respected the territory's legal autonomy. Moreover, two of the men held citizenship in European countries.

Religious freedom is generally respected in Hong Kong. Adherents of the Falun Gong spiritual movement, which is persecuted in mainland China, are free to practice in public. However, in recent years they have frequently been confronted and harassed by members of the Hong Kong Youth Care Association (HKYCA), which has ties to the CCP.

University professors can generally write and lecture freely, and political debate on campuses is lively. However, a series of incidents in 2015 stoked concerns that Beijing is putting greater pressure on Hong Kong's academic sphere. In April, City University of Hong Kong abruptly closed its creative writing program, whose students had published a number of works that were supportive of the Umbrella Movement in 2014. In an unprecedented move in September, the governing council of the University of Hong Kong rejected a nominee for the post of pro-vice-chancellor, Johannes Chan, who had been unanimously approved by the search committee. The majority of the council members are neither students nor university employees; six are appointed directly by the Hong Kong chief executive. Chan's supporters said that he had been rejected because his background as a human rights lawyer and prodemocracy scholar made him unacceptable to Beijing. In December, Chief Executive Leung appointed a pro-Beijing scholar and close ally, Arthur Li, as chairman of the university's governing council.

Private discussion is open and free in Hong Kong, though mainland security agencies are suspected of monitoring the communications of prodemocracy activists.

E. Associational and Organizational Rights: 8 / 12

The Basic Law guarantees freedoms of assembly and association. The Public Order Ordinance requires organizers to give police seven days' notice before protests and to obtain official assent, which is rarely denied.

The 2014 Umbrella Movement protests against Beijing's electoral reform plan drew more than 100,000 people at their peak, and featured long-term encampments that paralyzed key commercial and government districts. Police made only sporadic and partial attempts to break up the camps during most of the protest period. Nevertheless, their increased use of baton charges, pepper spray, and arrests to clear the last groups of protesters late in the year was seen as part of a recent trend of eroding respect for freedom of assembly. The encampments also faced assaults by counterdemonstrators, many of whom were later found to have links with criminal gangs. Such developments have helped to fuel radicalization among some in the prodemocracy and localist movements.

Most of the hundreds of people arrested during the Umbrella Movement were quickly released, and only about 160 had been charged by September 2015, with alleged offenses including unlawful assembly and assaulting police. Several civilians and police officers have also been charged for assaulting protesters. In August, authorities announced charges against student leaders Joshua Wong, Nathan Law, and Alex Chow for unlawful assembly and other offenses. Their trials were pending at year's end.

Separately in 2015, annual mass demonstrations on June 4 and July 1, marking the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown and the 1997 handover of Hong Kong from Britain to China, drew tens of thousands of people and proceeded without incident.

Hong Kong hosts a vibrant and largely unfettered nongovernmental organization (NGO) sector. Trade unions are independent, but collective-bargaining rights are not recognized, protections against antiunion discrimination are weak, and there are few regulations on working hours.

F. Rule of Law: 14 / 16 (-1)

The judiciary is independent, and the trial process is generally fair. The NPC reserves the right to make final interpretations of the Basic Law, effectively limiting the power of Hong Kong's Court of Final Appeal. A white paper issued by the Chinese government in June 2014 declared that for Hong Kong officials, including judges, "loving the country is the basic political requirement," which many jurists saw as a demand for loyalty to Beijing and a threat to the territory's rule of law and judicial impartiality.

Police are forbidden by law to employ torture and other forms of abuse. They generally respect this ban in practice, and complaints of abuse are investigated. Arbitrary arrest and detention are illegal; detained suspects must be charged within 48 hours or released. Prison conditions largely meet international standards.

Citizens are generally treated equally under the law, though South Asian minorities face language barriers and de facto discrimination in education and employment. Antidiscrimination laws do not specifically protect LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) people.

There were an estimated 11,500 refugees in Hong Kong as of 2015, most of whom came from South or Southeast Asia. While the government does not accept them for settlement, it does offer protection from refoulement, and those deemed eligible can be referred to UN officials for third-country resettlement. However, under a unified screening system launched in 2014, fewer than 20 of about 5,400 people screened have had their claims substantiated, raising serious doubts about the fairness of the process. While awaiting adjudication of their cases, asylum seekers are not permitted to work and receive only small food and housing allowances, forcing many to live in precarious and impoverished conditions.

G. Personal Autonomy and Individual Rights: 13 / 16

Hong Kong residents generally enjoy freedom of movement, though authorities periodically deny entry to visiting political activists and Falun Gong practitioners, raising suspicions of a Beijing-imposed blacklist. While property rights are largely respected, collusion among powerful businessmen with political connections is perceived as an impediment to fair economic competition. A 2012 Competition Ordinance took full effect in December 2015, empowering a commission to enforce compliance.

After many mainland women came to Hong Kong to give birth in order to access the welfare system or skirt China's controls on family size, the territory in 2013 barred those without Hong Kong spouses from delivering in its hospitals, with violations punishable by fines or jail time. Pregnant mainlanders can also be denied entry if they lack an appointment at a Hong Kong hospital or proof of another purpose for their visit.

Women in Hong Kong are protected by law from discrimination and abuse, and they are entitled to equal access to schooling and to property in divorce settlements. However, they continue to face de facto inequality in employment opportunities, salary, inheritance, and welfare. Only 11 of the 70 Legco members are women, and there are no women on the Court of Final Appeal.

Despite government efforts, Hong Kong remains a destination and transit point for human trafficking linked to sexual exploitation and forced labor. Hong Kong's roughly 330,000 foreign household workers, primarily from Indonesia and the Philippines, are vulnerable to abuse. Since foreign workers face deportation if dismissed, many are reluctant to bring complaints against employers. In addition, household workers are exempt from the territory's hourly minimum-wage law; the government instead sets minimum monthly wages and food allowances that are far below the hourly rate. Foreign household workers are often required by their recruitment agencies to pay exorbitant fees.

Scoring Key: X / Y (Z)

X = Score Received

Y = Best Possible Score

Z = Change from Previous Year

Copyright notice:  Freedom House, Inc.  All Rights Reserved
Freedom in the World 2016 - Honduras

Publisher Freedom House Publication Date 29 June 2016 Cite as Freedom House, Freedom in the World 2016 - Honduras, 29 June 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/577a614f15.html [accessed 27 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

Freedom Status: Partly Free

Aggregate Score: 45

Freedom Rating: 4.0

Political Rights: 4

Civil Liberties: 4

Trend Arrow: 

Trend Arrow:

Honduras received a downward trend arrow due to the government's failure to address corruption and impunity for crimes against journalists, human rights defenders, land rights activists, and the poor and other marginalized segments of society, who are routinely subject to violence by both state and nonstate forces.

Quick Facts

Capital: Tegucigalpa

Population: 8,340,000

GDP/capita: $2,434.80

Press Freedom Status: Not Free

Net Freedom Status: N/A

OVERVIEW

A major corruption scandal involving the Honduran Institute of Social Security (IHSS) rocked the country in 2015. The ruling National Party (PN) and President Juan Orlando Hernandez allegedly benefited from the $300-million scandal that activists claimed resulted in as many as 3,000 patient deaths. Protesters, collectively referred to as the Indignados (the Outraged), held weekly marches demanding the president's resignation and the establishment of an international anti-impunity body. Meanwhile, the adoption of a constitutional amendment allowing indefinite presidential reelection and the circumvention of a congressional vote on military policing led critics to charge that Hernandez was eroding democratic governance.

Honduras continued to have one of the highest homicide rates in the world as drug traffickers, organized criminals, and street gangs preyed upon communities, often in collusion with authorities. The militarization of police was accompanied by an increase in abuses. Violence and intimidation against journalists, human rights workers, and land rights activists went unpunished, despite a new human rights defenders law.

POLITICAL RIGHTS AND CIVIL LIBERTIES

Political Rights: 19 / 40 (-1)

A. Electoral Process: 7 / 12

The president is elected by popular vote for a four-year term. The leading candidate is only required to win a plurality; there is no runoff system. In April 2015, the Honduran Supreme Court voided Article 239 of the constitution, which had limited presidents to one term. Members of the 128-seat, unicameral National Congress are also elected for four-year terms using proportional representation by department.

In 2013 general elections Hernandez of the PN won 38 percent of the vote in a field of eight candidates for president. Xiomara Castro of the Liberation and Refoundation Party (LIBRE) won 28.8 percent, followed by Liberal Party (PL) candidate Mauricio Villeda with 20 percent and Salvador Nasralla of the Anti-Corruption Party (PAC) with 14 percent. In concurrent legislative elections, the PN won 48 seats, LIBRE won 37, the PL won 27, and the PAC won 13; three smaller parties each won 1 seat.

Election observers noted a number of irregularities, including the harassment of international observers by immigration officials, vote buying, problems with voter rolls, and potential fraud in the transmission of tally sheets to the country's electoral body, the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE). More than a dozen opposition activists and candidates were murdered during the campaign season. Castro and the LIBRE party contested the results and demanded a recount, which the TSE partially conducted; in the end, nearly all complaints were rejected and the TSE certified Hernandez's victory. In June 2015 Hernandez admitted that funds from the IHSS scandal  in which companies with links to IHSS were involved in money laundering and bribery  were used in his 2013 election campaign, though he denied knowledge of it. Analysts speculate that access to those funds gave him a significant advantage.

Monitors from the Organization of American States (OAS) found that the TSE did not have clear rules for processing candidate registration applications and noted inconsistencies in the development of voter lists. The OAS also found that campaign finance laws in Honduras were not stringent enough to ensure fair and transparent elections.

B. Political Pluralism and Participation: 9 / 16

Political parties are largely free to operate, though power has mostly been concentrated in the hands of the PL and the PN since the early 1980s. In 2013, LIBRE, the PAC, and the Patriotic Alliance Party (ALIANZA) all participated in elections for the first time, winning a significant share of the vote and disrupting the dominance of the PL and the PN.

The military, after decades of ruling Honduras, remains politically powerful. President Hernandez's appointments of military officials to civilian posts, many related to security, underscored that influence.

Minorities are underrepresented in Honduras's political system. No representatives of the Afro-Honduran (Garifuna) population were elected to Congress in 2013; one English-speaking Afro-Honduran and one Misquito person won seats. No election materials were printed in indigenous languages. In 2014, the Ministry for Indigenous Peoples and Afro-Hondurans was folded into the Ministry of Development and Social Inclusion, a move criticized by indigenous rights activists.

C. Functioning of Government: 3 / 12 (-1)

In 2014, the Hernandez administration eliminated five cabinet-level ministries and created seven umbrella ministries in an effort to cut costs. Critics have argued that the restructuring concentrates power in too few hands.

In 2014, Mario Zelaya, former head of the IHSS, and several other IHSS officials were arrested on charges related to the misappropriation of more than $300 million in public funds. In May 2015, Globo TV released leaked documents detailing the scandal, including evidence that the PN had received significant sums. The revelations sparked months of protests. In October, the Hernandez government responded by signing an agreement with the OAS to create the Mission to Support the Fight Against Corruption and Impunity in Honduras (MACCIH). Critics, noting that the body would operate under existing Honduran judicial officials, questioned whether it would be able to function independently.

Corruption remains a serious problem. According to the Latin American Public Opinion Project (LAPOP), 23 percent of Hondurans were victims of corruption in 2014. Honduras was ranked 112 out of 168 countries and territories surveyed in Transparency International's 2015 Corruption Perceptions Index. In 2015, at least 35 mayors and deputy mayors were under investigation for connections to organized crime. In October, the mayor of Sulaco was arrested for heading a criminal organization.

The Law on Classification of Public Documents Related to Security and National Defense, a 2014 statute allowing the government to withhold information on these topics for up to 25 years, continued to undermine transparency. The law covers information regarding the military police budget, which is funded by a security tax.

Civil Liberties: 26 / 60 (-3)

D. Freedom of Expression and Belief: 9 / 16 (-1)

Authorities systematically violate the constitution's press freedom guarantees. Numerous radio and television stations reported continued harassment in 2015, including police surveillance, assaults, threats, blocked transmissions, power outages, and government harassment of journalists. Radio Globo director David Romero Ellner received threats against his life after he exposed the social security embezzlement scandal, and in November Romero was convicted of slander against a prosecutor. In October, Julio Ernesto Alvarado, a journalist at TV Globo and Radio Globo, was prevented by Honduran immigration officials from traveling to Washington, D.C., to participate in an Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) hearing on his case. In 2013, Alvarado had been banned from working as punishment in a defamation case. In December, the Honduran government suspended the work ban, complying with an IACHR ruling issued more than a year earlier.

Honduras is ranked the most deadly country in the Americas for journalists by the IACHR. Most cases go unprosecuted. A law to protect journalists and human rights defenders went into effect in June 2015. Repression and violence have resulted in self-censorship. Internet use is generally unrestricted, though the government may have monitored some online communication in 2015.

Freedom of religion is broadly respected. Academic freedom is threatened as educators are subject to extortion by gang members, who control all or parts of schools in some areas. In 2015, students protested the extension of school hours into the evening, which they argued compromised their safety. In March 2015, four student protesters, one as young as 13, were found murdered. Student protesters demanding participation in governance and protections against the privatization of the Honduran National Autonomous University (UNAH) have faced threats following peaceful occupations of university buildings.

Under the Special Law on Interception of Private Communications, passed in 2011, the government can intercept online and telephone messages. Violence, threats, and intimidation by state and nonstate actors curtails open and free private discussion among the general population.

E. Associational and Organizational Rights: 5 / 12 (-1)

Constitutional guarantees of freedoms of assembly and association have not been consistently upheld. Human rights defenders and political activists continued to face significant threats in 2015, including harassment, surveillance, detentions, and murder.

In January 2015, after revoking the legal status of thousands of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in 2014, the government announced that some 4,100 more would lose their legal status. International bodies have noted that the registration process has become overly complicated; some NGOs have suggested that the moves are intended to silence criticism.

Labor unions are well organized and can strike, though labor actions often result in clashes with security forces. Threats against union leaders and blacklisting of employees who sought to form unions remained problems in 2015. In June, a representative of the Worker's Union of the National Autonomous University of Honduras (SITRAUNAH) was murdered.

F. Rule of Law: 4 / 16 (-1)

Political and business elites exert excessive influence over the Honduran judiciary, including the Supreme Court. Judicial appointments are made with little transparency. Judges have been removed from their posts for political reasons, and a number of legal professionals have been killed in recent years. Prosecutors and whistleblowers handling corruption cases are often subject to threats of violence.

In 2012, Congress potentially violated the constitution by voting to remove four of the five justices in the Supreme Court's constitutional chamber after they ruled a police reform law unconstitutional. In 2013, the legislature passed a measure granting itself the power to remove from office the president, Supreme Court justices, legislators, and other officials. It also curtailed the power of the Supreme Court's constitutional chamber and revoked the right of citizens to challenge the constitutionality of laws. In 2015, questions were raised about the constitutionality of the ruling allowing indefinite reelection of presidents when one of the justices from the Supreme Court's constitutional branch attempted to rescind his approval of the decision.

The government continued to rely on the armed forces to fight crime in 2015. Critics contend that too much power is being concentrated in the hands of the military. Army officers have been found guilty of involvement in drug trafficking and other crimes. An active army general was appointed as security minister in 2014. The militarization of domestic policing has resulted in an increase in reported abuses, including murder, illegal detention, and torture. The police force is highly corrupt, and officers engage in criminal activities including drug trafficking and extortion. Hundreds of juveniles have reportedly been killed in "social cleansing" campaigns by police. Police officers have committed extrajudicial killings, arbitrary arrests, and illegal searches. In February 2015, four members of the military police were arrested on charges of attempted kidnapping. The same month, nine members of the elite Tigres police unit were charged with stealing $1.3 million during a 2014 drug raid.

Impunity is a serious problem in Honduras. Fewer than 4 percent of homicides between 2010 and 2013 ended in a conviction. According to the government, approximately 80 percent of crimes committed in Honduras are never reported, and police investigate only 4 percent of those that are. Prison conditions are harsh, the facilities are notoriously overcrowded, lengthy pretrial detention is a problem, and inmate violence often goes unpunished. In 2015, at least 25 prisoners were killed in acts of prison violence. Prosecutors have attested that protection for witnesses in criminal cases is insufficient.

In April 2015, the Honduran government passed the Law on the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, Journalists, Media Workers, and Justice Operators. The law provides legal protections for these individuals and intends to promote a safer environment for human rights activists to conduct their work. As of December 2015, four human rights defenders had brought forth cases, though the effectiveness of the law is yet to be determined. Although there is an official human rights ombudsman, critics claim that the work of the office is politicized.

In 2015, Honduras continued to have one of the highest murder rates in the world at approximately 61 murders per 100,000 inhabitants, down from 68 per 100,000 in 2014. Discrepancies in homicide data between the Violence Observatory of UNAH and police have resulted in suspicions that the state may manipulate homicide rates. Most murders are attributed to organized crime, including transnational youth gangs and Mexican drug-trafficking syndicates. In July 2015, Congress increased prison terms for gang members to between 20 and 30 years and established sentences for gang leaders of up to 50 years. The changes to the penal code also increased sentences for gang members who attack state officials or pressure minors, pregnant women, or the elderly into committing crimes.

Discrimination against the indigenous and Garifuna populations is widespread. Both groups experience higher rates of poverty and socioeconomic exclusion than the average citizen.

The LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) community faces discrimination, harassment, and physical threats. A 2005 constitutional amendment prohibits same-sex marriage and same-sex adoption. Rights groups reported that at least 215 LGBT activists and individuals were murdered between 2009 and 2015. According to a 2014 study conducted by a coalition of human rights groups, police officers and gang members carry out most of the violence against members of the LGBT community.

G. Personal Autonomy and Individual Rights: 8 / 16

Honduras's ongoing violence and impunity have reduced personal autonomy for the average citizen. Some Hondurans living in particularly violent neighborhoods have been forced to abandon their homes and businesses. Children have been fleeing the country to avoid forced recruitment into gangs.

Corruption is a serious problem in the private sector. In October 2015, three members of the prominent Rosenthal family, owners of Grupo Continental, were indicted on money laundering charges in U.S. federal court.

The conflict between indigenous groups, authorities, and private actors persisted in 2015, with clashes among peasants, landowners' private security forces, and state forces. More than 90 people, mostly landless peasants, died between 2009 and 2012 in violence related to fertile land where lucrative palm plantations are located in the Bajo Aguan region in northern Honduras. In 2015, Global Witness named Honduras the most dangerous country per capita for environmental and land activists. In November, the president of the Land Defense Committee of Cristales and Rio Negro, also a candidate for local office, survived an assassination attempt. In December, the son of an indigenous leader was killed in Santa Elena de la Paz. Military death squads have been implicated in some killings, though they are rarely brought to justice. In December 2015, a soldier convicted in the killing of indigenous activist Tomas Garcia Dominguez was sentenced to 30 to 90 days in prison, even while the penal code sets a sentence of 15 to 20 years for such a crime.

Indigenous and Garifuna residents have faced various abuses at the hands of property developers and their allies, including corrupt titling processes and acts of violence. Indigenous and Garifuna populations are rarely fairly compensated for the expropriation of their lands and resources, and communities are often forcibly evicted. The clearing of land for clandestine airstrips used in the drug trade has increased pressure on indigenous groups in remote areas of the country. In June 2015, an arrest warrant was issued for Canadian investor Randy Jorgensen for depriving Garifuna communities of their legal rights to land in Trujillo Bay through illegal sales. In December, the Inter-American Court on Human Rights condemned the Honduran government for failing to protect land rights of a Garifuna community in Triunfo de la Cruz. In September, a 16-year-old boy was killed when military and police evicted the Regalo de Dios community in Villanueva, Cortes. In December, two Garifuna civilians were killed in Iriona by soldiers in what the military described as an antidrug operation.

Violence against women is a serious problem, and femicide has risen dramatically in recent years. Many of these murders, like most homicides in Honduras, go unpunished, despite the fact that femicide was added as a crime to the penal code in 2013. Women also remain vulnerable to exploitation by employers, particularly in the low-wage maquiladora (assembly plant) export sector. Following the 2013 elections, 33 of 128 seats in Congress were held by women; only 22 of 298 mayoralties were held by women.

Child labor is a problem in rural areas and in the informal economy. Honduras is primarily a source country for human trafficking, and women and children are particularly vulnerable to being trafficked for the sex trade and forced labor. Domestically, gangs have forced Hondurans to traffic drugs, perform sex work, and carry out violent acts. Police and government officials have been implicated in protecting sex trafficking rings and paying for sex acts.

Scoring Key: X / Y (Z)

X = Score Received

Y = Best Possible Score

Z = Change from Previous Year

Copyright notice:  Freedom House, Inc.  All Rights Reserved
Freedom in the World 2016 - Guatemala

Publisher Freedom House Publication Date 29 June 2016 Cite as Freedom House, Freedom in the World 2016 - Guatemala, 29 June 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/577a615011.html [accessed 27 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

Freedom Status: Partly Free

Aggregate Score: 54

Freedom Rating: 4.0

Political Rights: 4

Civil Liberties: 4

Ratings Change:

Guatemala's Political Rights rating declined from 3 to 4 because of the increasing influence of organized crime and business interests in campaign funding, as well as the murder of municipal office candidates and their family members during the campaign.

Quick Facts

Capital: Guatemala City

Population: 16,183,752

GDP/capita: $3,667

Press Freedom Status: Partly Free

Net Freedom Status: N/A

OVERVIEW

Months of protests over a corruption scandal as well as an investigation jointly carried out by Guatemala's Public Ministry and the UN-backed International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG) led to the resignations and arrests of dozens of government and private sector officials, including President Otto Perez Molina and Vice President Roxana Baldetti Elias. The multiple graft schemes cost Guatemala more than $200 million in lost revenue and resulted in the medical-malpractice deaths of at least 10 patients at state-run hospitals. Alejandro Maldonado was sworn in as vice president in May following Baldetti's resignation that month, and became president when Perez Molina stepped down in September. In addition to the rampant corruption, Guatemala was plagued by violence and threats against human rights defenders and members of the media, as well as against labor, land, and indigenous rights activists.

It was in this context that Guatemalans voted in September and October in national and local elections. The Renewed Democratic Liberty (LIDER) party and National Unity for Hope (UNE) won the most congressional seats, leaving Perez Molina's Patriotic Party (PP) tied for third place with a new party, Todos. Comedian Jimmy Morales of the National Convergence Front (FCN) took the presidency in the October runoff.

POLITICAL RIGHTS AND CIVIL LIBERTIES

Political Rights: 23 / 40 (-1)

A. Electoral Process: 8 / 12 (-1)

The constitution stipulates a four-year presidential term and prohibits reelection. Members of the 158-seat, unicameral Congress of the Republic are elected to four-year terms. In September 2015 legislative elections, LIDER captured 45 seats and UNE won 32 seats. Todos and the scandal-plagued PP each won 18 seats, a drop for the PP of 38 seats from its total in the 2011 elections. Nine other parties took the remaining 45 seats. Morales won a plurality in the concomitant presidential vote and, with 67 percent, defeated former first lady Sandra Torres of the UNE in an October runoff. Turnout was 71 percent for the September vote and 56 percent for the October runoff.

The elections were generally judged free and fair. However, as in the past, electoral observers reported irregularities including intimidation, vote buying, and the burning of ballots and electoral boxes. A total of 11 municipal contests had to be repeated in October because of problems with the September votes. Since the beginning of the electoral campaign, an estimated 20 election-related murders occurred, mostly involving mayoral candidates and their relatives. The Public Ministry documented at least 532 arrests and 34 injuries to police officers in connection with the election process. LIDER's presidential candidate, Manuel Baldizon, alleged fraud in the preliminary results of the official vote count that put him in third place in the first round of presidential voting. He then withdrew his candidacy and left the party.

In July 2015, the Guatemalan Supreme Court ruled that Zury Rios Sosa, daughter of former military leader Efrain Rios Montt, could register as a presidential candidate despite constitutional stipulations barring the relatives of coup leaders or dictators from running for the presidency. Her candidacy had earlier been turned down by the electoral commission. She won under 6 percent of the vote in the September election.

A July CICIG report estimated that 50 percent of known campaign donations come from contractors doing business with the state and another 25 percent from organized crime. The CICIG report also found that nearly all political parties spend more money than they report receiving, and that they exceed spending limits.

B. Political Pluralism and Participation: 10 / 16

Elections take place within a highly fragmented and fluid multiparty system. A total of 14 candidates vied for the presidency in September and 13 political parties won congressional seats. Newly formed Todos won 18 seats.

The government uses the military to maintain internal security, despite restrictions imposed by the 1996 peace accord ending the 36-year civil war. Following his election, Morales took steps to limit the influence of the military in his administration, vowing not to appoint retired officers to the top posts in his cabinet.

Although they comprise 44 percent of the population, members of indigenous communities hold just 20 congressional seats. There are no indigenous members in the cabinet. In 2015, 113 out of 333 Guatemalan mayors were indigenous.

C. Functioning of Government: 5 / 12

Despite impressive efforts to combat corruption in 2015, serious problems remain. Dozens of current and former high-ranking government officials, lawyers, bureaucrats, and retired military officials were arrested throughout the year as a result of corruption investigations into the country's customs service, social-security agency, health-care system, judiciary, municipal government, and Congress. Baldetti was arrested in August and Perez Molina was arrested in September for their roles in a massive corruption scandal involving millions of dollars paid in bribes to avoid customs duties. Several members of their administration either were fired or resigned under clouds of suspicion. For example, Pedro Muadi, a former congressional leader, was arrested in October after accusations that he embezzled up to $81,000 in government funds between 2013 and 2014. In October, the mayor of Chinautla was arrested for allegedly stealing municipal funds totaling more than $1 million. As of October, two dozen lawmakers would not be allowed to take office in January 2016 because of either their alleged crimes, or because they were barred by article 164 of the constitution for being government contractors.

Guatemala was ranked 123 out of 168 countries and territories surveyed in Transparency International's 2015 Corruption Perceptions Index. According to a recent Latin American Public Opinion Project (LAPOP) study, in 2014 approximately 20 percent of respondents reported that they were victims of corruption.

In November, Congress approved reforms aimed at making more transparent the processes for government award and issuing of contracts.

Civil Liberties: 31 / 60

D. Freedom of Expression and Belief: 12 / 16

While the constitution protects freedom of speech, journalists often face threats and practice self-censorship when covering sensitive topics such as drug trafficking, corruption, organized crime, and human rights violations. Threats come from public officials, drug traffickers, individuals aligned with companies operating in indigenous communities, and local security forces. The Observatory for Journalists of the Center for Informative Reports about Guatemala (CERIGUA) reported that 59 attacks against journalists occurred in the first half of 2015. The government has made commitments to improving journalist protection, but little concrete progress has been made.

Mexican businessman Remigio Angel Gonzalez owns a monopoly of broadcast television networks in Guatemala and has significant holdings in radio. Newspaper ownership is also concentrated in the hands of business elites, and most papers have centrist or conservative editorial views. While the government is making an effort to improve the country's telecommunications infrastructure, internet access remains limited. The government is believed to conduct illegal online surveillance.

The constitution guarantees religious freedom. However, indigenous communities have faced discrimination for openly practicing the Mayan religion.

Although the government does not interfere with academic freedom, scholars have received death threats for questioning past human rights abuses or continuing injustices.

E. Associational and Organizational Rights: 6 / 12

The constitution guarantees freedom of assembly, though police frequently threaten force and have at times used violence against protesters. Unprecedented, sustained, and largely nonviolent citizen protests against corruption occurred in front of the National Palace in Guatemala City and elsewhere in the country throughout much of the year.

In August 2014, more than 1,500 police officers occupied the Q'eqchi communities of Coban, Chisec, and Raxruha following a nonviolent resistance movement in protest against the proposed Santa Rita hydroelectric dam. Three Q'ecqhi villagers were killed, five were detained, and more than 60 were injured in the police raid. The dam project threatens the integrity of ancestral Q'ecqhi territory and was approved without community consultation, despite requirements in the Guatemalan Peace Agreement on Identity and Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

The constitution guarantees freedom of association, and a variety of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) operate in Guatemala, though they face significant obstacles. NGO reports indicated that human rights workers were subjected to 337 attacks by mid-August 2015, including nine deaths. In July, shots were fired outside the offices of the human rights organization Centro de Accion Legal Ambiental y Social de Guatemala (CALAS), which was set to publicize damning evidence against a mining company the next day.

Guatemala is home to a vigorous labor movement, but workers are frequently denied the right to organize and face mass firings and blacklisting, especially in export-processing zones. Trade-union members are also subject to intimidation, violence, and murder, particularly in rural areas during land disputes. According to the International Trade Union Confederation, Guatemala is the most dangerous country in the world for trade unionists. In September, a member of the Japala city union was assassinated after he had successfully won reinstatement following a court order that found he and 182 other workers were illegally terminated.

F. Rule of Law: 5 / 16

The judiciary is hobbled by corruption, inefficiency, capacity shortages, and the intimidation of judges and prosecutors. Witnesses and judicial-sector workers continue to be threatened and, in some cases, murdered. Police are accused of torture, extortion, kidnapping, extrajudicial killings, and drug-related crimes, though several notable prosecutions took place in 2015.

Prison facilities are overcrowded and rife with gang- and drug-related violence and corruption. According to Guatemala's Directorate General of the Prison System, as of October, 19,810 people were imprisoned in a system designed to hold 6,412 people. Of those behind bars, 49 percent are awaiting trial. In 2014, the military was deployed to reinforce security at the country's 22 prisons. Dozens of prisoners were murdered in 2015. In September, at least 4,000 prison officers participated in a general strike demanding a salary increase and an end to the preferential treatment of individual prisoners such as former vice president Baldetti.

Although homicides have decreased by approximately one-third since 2009, Guatemala remains one of the most dangerous countries in Latin America. Violence related to the transport of drugs between South America and the United States has spilled over the border from Mexico, with rival Mexican and Guatemalan gangs battling for territory. These groups have operated with impunity in the northern jungles, which serve as a storage and transit hub for cocaine. The Perez Molina administration responded to this situation by expanding the military's role in fighting crime, including creating special task forces to investigate kidnappings, robberies, extortion, and homicides, and building five military bases along well-known drug trafficking routes.

Citizens continue to take the law into their own hands. The lynching of suspected criminals frequently occurs. According to the police, at least 84 people were lynched between January 2012 and May 2015.

A small number of perpetrators of human rights atrocities from the 1960-96 civil war are being prosecuted. The trial of Rios Montt  whose 2013 conviction for genocide was overturned by the Constitutional Court 10 days after it was issued  is scheduled to resume in January 2016, a delay that has prompted criticism from international human rights groups. The trial will take place behind closed doors without Rios Montt's presence and will not result in criminal sanctions; the former dictator suffers from dementia and has been deemed unfit for a public trial.

Indigenous communities suffer from especially high rates of poverty, illiteracy, and infant mortality. Indigenous women are particularly marginalized. Discrimination against the Mayan community is a major concern.

Members of the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) community are not covered under antidiscrimination laws, and continue to face discrimination, violence, and police abuse. President-elect Morales has made homophobic comments in the past. According to the Human Rights Ombudsman, people suffering from AIDS also face discrimination.

G. Personal Autonomy and Individual Rights: 8 / 16

Nonstate actors including gangs and organized criminal groups threaten freedom of travel, residence, and employment. Private businesses continue to experience high rates of contraband smuggling and extortion by these groups. Property rights and economic freedom rarely extend beyond those Guatemalans with wealth and political connections. In recent years, the government has approved the eviction of indigenous groups to make way for mining, hydroelectric, and other development projects.

The constitution prohibits discrimination based on gender, though inequalities between men and women persist in practice. Sexual harassment in the workplace is not penalized. Young women who migrate to the capital for work are especially vulnerable to harassment and inhumane labor conditions. Physical and sexual violence against women and children, including domestic violence, remain widespread, with perpetrators rarely prosecuted. Women are underrepresented in government posts.

Guatemala has one of the highest rates of child labor in the Americas. Criminal gangs often force children and young men to join their organizations or perform work for them, and government officials are often complicit in trafficking.

Three activists who were members of Guatemala's Council of Displaced Peoples (CONDEG) were kidnapped in September following a judicial decision against palm oil manufacturer Repsa, in which the court ruled that the company had polluted the La Pasion River with pesticides. The same month, an indigenous activist protesting against the production of palm oil was murdered. In 2014, the U.S. trade representative requested that an arbitration panel meet to determine whether Guatemala has broken its commitment to protect workers. If found guilty, the country could be fined up to $15 million annually or denied trade benefits.

Scoring Key: X / Y (Z)

X = Score Received

Y = Best Possible Score

Z = Change from Previous Year

Copyright notice:  Freedom House, Inc.  All Rights Reserved
Freedom in the World 2016 - Croatia

Publisher Freedom House Publication Date 29 June 2016 Cite as Freedom House, Freedom in the World 2016 - Croatia, 29 June 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/577a615115.html [accessed 27 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

Freedom Status: Free

Aggregate Score: 87

Freedom Rating: 1.5

Political Rights: 1

Civil Liberties: 2

Quick Facts

Capital: Zagreb

Population: 4,215,000

GDP/capita: $13,507.40

Press Freedom Status: Partly Free

Net Freedom Status: N/A

OVERVIEW

Croatia held a presidential runoff and parliamentary elections in January and November 2015, respectively. Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic won the runoff by an extremely slim margin to become the first female president of post-independence Croatia. Following the parliamentary vote, the conservative Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), which won the most seats, agreed to form a ruling coalition with the centrist Bridge of Independent Lists (Most).

The Constitutional Court and the Supreme Court overturned major corruption-related convictions against former prime minister Ivo Sanader on procedural grounds during the year, ordering retrials in each case. Sanader was released in November to await the new trials.

Along with its neighbors in the Balkans and other European countries, Croatia faced an unprecedented wave of migration, particularly of asylum seekers from the Middle East. Aside from temporarily closing its border with Serbia in September, Croatia generally complied with international standards and regulations for the treatment of refugees.

POLITICAL RIGHTS AND CIVIL LIBERTIES

Political Rights: 37 / 40 (+1)

A. Electoral Process: 12 / 12

The president, who serves as head of state, is elected by popular vote for a maximum of two five-year terms. Members of the 151-member unicameral Croatian Parliament (Hrvatski Sabor) are elected to four-year terms. The prime minister is appointed by the president and requires parliamentary approval.

Croatia held the runoff to its December 2014 presidential election in January 2015. Outgoing president Ivo Josipovic of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) lost to Grabar-Kitarovic of the HDZ by a margin of less than one percent.

Parliamentary elections were held in November  the first since Croatia joined the European Union (EU) in 2013. No party won an outright majority. The opposition HDZ, led by Tomislav Karamarko, won 33.5 percent of the vote, securing 59 seats. Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic's SPD came in second place with 56 seats, and parliamentary newcomer Most won 19 seats. The remaining seats went to smaller political parties and representatives of ethnic minorities. Most and the HDZ reached an agreement to form a coalition government in late December, following extended negotiations.

B. Political Pluralism and Participation: 15 / 16

Following Croatia's first multiparty elections in 1990, the center-right HDZ ruled until 1999. Power has since alternated between the HDZ and the center-left SDP, including at the presidential level. Several smaller parties have also won parliamentary representation. In 2015, the surprisingly strong electoral performance of Most, which began as a regional platform in 2012, brought a degree of diversity to the party system and was perceived as a sign of popular dissatisfaction with the country's two major parties.

Eight parliamentary seats in a separate national constituency are set aside for ethnic minorities, including three for ethnic Serbs. Another constituency with three seats is reserved for representatives of Croatians living abroad. The interests of the Roma minority are generally underrepresented.

C. Functioning of Government: 10 / 12 (+1)

A new criminal code, in effect since 2013, enforces stiffer penalties for various forms of corruption. In recent years, international bodies including the European Commission have noted progress in the prosecution of corruption cases, but maintained that stronger efforts are needed to eliminate malfeasance in public procurement processes. Corruption convictions against former prime minister Sanader were in the public eye in 2015. In 2012, a lower court found Sanader guilty of accepting bribes from a Hungarian energy firm and an Austrian bank, sentencing him to 10 years in prison. In a separate case in 2014, a court sentenced Sanader to nine years in prison for siphoning millions of dollars from the state, ordering him to repay $3 million. In July 2015, the Constitutional Court reversed the 2012 convictions, and in October, the Supreme Court annulled the 2014 ruling, with both courts citing procedural errors and ordering retrials. The retrial of the bribery case began in September. Efforts to combat corruption have also led to investigations into the mayors of several cities for corruption-related offenses. Among other recent cases, Zagreb mayor Milan Bandic and two associates were charged in February with misusing public funds.

Public officials are required to submit financial disclosure reports and generally comply; freedom of information is legally guaranteed.

Civil Liberties: 50 / 60

D. Freedom of Expression and Belief: 14 / 16

The constitution guarantees freedoms of expression and the press, and these rights are generally respected in practice. However, journalists face political pressure, intimidation, and occasional attack. In May, investigative journalist Zeljko Peratovic was attacked and beaten outside of his home. Although the assailants mentioned his reporting on illegal gravel excavation during the attack, Peratovic claimed that the attack could be connected to his coverage of a murder in which the secret police of the former Yugoslavia were implicated. Police apprehended three suspects in May and were investigating the case at year's end.

The legacy of the 1991-95 war in Croatia remains a sensitive issue. In 2013, veterans protested a government plan to introduce bilingual public signs in Latin and Cyrillic to serve the Serb minority, which comprises more than 30 percent of the population in some municipalities. The government continued implementing the project in 2014, and in August of that year, the Constitutional Court ruled against a proposed referendum on restricting the use of Cyrillic. However, tensions increased in August 2015 when the local administration of Vukovar, a town in eastern Croatia with a large Serb minority, passed a decision to erase Cyrillic from public signs. Also in August, commemoration ceremonies for the 20th anniversary of Operation Storm, the Croatian military's 1995 offensive against territory held by Serb separatists, escalated tensions between Croatia and Serbia. Each country issued official statements condemning the other's events, and gatherings in both Croatia and Serbia included xenophobic remarks and incidents.

The Croatian constitution guarantees freedom of religion. A group needs at least 500 members and five years of registered operation to be recognized as a religious organization. Members of the Serbian Orthodox Church continue to report cases of intimidation and vandalism, though such incidents are less common than in the past.

Academic freedom is guaranteed by law, though subjects such as sexual health remain taboo in the socially conservative country. In 2013, the Croatian Catholic Church launched a public relations campaign against a government health education program in primary and secondary schools that included information on sexual health and same-sex relationships. The Constitutional Court suspended the program, arguing that the government failed to consult with parents on the curriculum.

E. Associational and Organizational Rights: 12 / 12

The constitution provides for freedoms of association and assembly, and a variety of nongovernmental organizations operate in Croatia without interference or harassment. In May 2015, veterans' protests that began in October 2014 turned violent as participants clashed with police outside the building of the Ministry of Veterans' Affairs, where they had maintained an encampment since the beginning of the protest. The protesters demanded that the minister resign, and called for dialogue with the prime minister about veterans' benefits.

The constitution allows workers to form and join trade unions, though unlawful dismissals of union members have been reported. Teachers' unions organized a strike stretching from late September to early October to demand a salary increase.

F. Rule of Law: 11 / 16

Judicial independence is generally respected. Under a new judicial appointments system that came into effect in 2013 to increase professionalism, all judicial candidates must complete training in a special state school. Despite some progress on improving efficiency as well as a high number of judges per capita, the system's case backlog remains above the EU average. Prison conditions do not meet international standards due to overcrowding and inadequate medical care.

The proceedings of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) for war crimes committed during the 1991-95 conflict were ongoing in 2015 and are expected to conclude in 2017. In 2014, Croatia testified that the devastation of the city of Vukovar by Serbian troops in 1991 should be classified as genocide. Separately, in January 2015, the Constitutional Court of Croatia overruled a Supreme Court judgment that had found Croatian politician Branimir Glavas guilty of war crimes against Serbs and sentenced him to eight years in prison. The Constitutional Court ordered new proceedings as well as an inquiry into whether Glavas's human rights had been violated in the judicial process.

In July, Croatian officials announced plans to withdraw from an arbitration panel devoted to a protracted border dispute with Slovenia. The announcement followed a leaked conversation published by the Croatian newspaper Vecerni list suggesting that a Slovenian representative on the panel had breached impartiality rules by sharing information with a member of Slovenia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Croatia experienced an unprecedented wave of migration in 2015, with more than 550,000 people  primarily asylum seekers  arriving in the country during the year, mostly with the intent of continuing to other EU countries. Croatian authorities generally complied with international standards for the rights and treatment of asylum seekers, although the flow of migration strained government resources and raised tensions with neighboring states.

Respect for minority rights has improved over the past decade. Croatia has both an antidiscrimination act and legislation against hate crime. In 2014, Croatia adopted the Free Legal Aid Act, which aims to improve access to the legal system for vulnerable populations and to reduce discrimination. Nevertheless, Roma face widespread discrimination, including poor access to primary and secondary education.

G. Personal Autonomy and Individual Rights: 13 / 16

The constitution prohibits gender discrimination, but women have a higher unemployment rate and earn less than men for comparable work. Women hold 15 percent of parliamentary seats, well below the 40 percent target under law. Domestic violence against women is believed to be widespread and underreported. In domestic violence cases, victims as well as perpetrators are often detained for questioning.

In 2014, following a 2013 referendum that banned same-sex marriages, the parliament passed a law allowing same-sex civil unions. The law affords same-sex couples equal rights in inheritance, social benefits, and taxation. Same-sex couples cannot adopt children.

According to the U.S. State Department's 2015 Trafficking in Persons Report, Croatia does not comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking, but has made increasing efforts to do so in recent years, including through awareness and prevention campaigns. Women and children in Croatia are particularly at risk for sex trafficking.

Scoring Key: X / Y (Z)

X = Score Received

Y = Best Possible Score

Z = Change from Previous Year

Copyright notice:  Freedom House, Inc.  All Rights Reserved
Freedom in the World 2016 - Congo, Democratic Republic of (Kinshasa)

Publisher Freedom House Publication Date 29 June 2016 Cite as Freedom House, Freedom in the World 2016 - Congo, Democratic Republic of (Kinshasa), 29 June 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/577a615215.html [accessed 27 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

Freedom Status: Not Free

Aggregate Score: 25

Freedom Rating: 6.0

Political Rights: 6

Civil Liberties: 6

Quick Facts

Capital: Kinshasa

Population: 73,340,200

GDP/capita: $440.20

Press Freedom Status: Not Free

Net Freedom Status: N/A

OVERVIEW

In 2015, violence, weak rule of law, and political maneuvering around a presidential election scheduled for 2016 exacerbated instability in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Attempts by President Joseph Kabila's parliamentary coalition, the Alliance of the Presidential Majority (AMP), to amend electoral law were perceived by many as a move to extend Kabila's tenure despite a two-term constitutional limit. Demonstrations against these efforts erupted in January and were met with violence by security forces, with human rights groups documenting dozens of deaths and several disappearances. Journalists and human rights advocates continued to face harassment, abuse, and unlawful detention at the hands of state security as well as rebel groups during the year.

Numerous rebel groups remain active in the country's eastern provinces, contributing to mass internal displacement. Officers affiliated with the national army, the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (FARDC), remained implicated in human rights violations, with little effective civilian control over their activities.

POLITICAL RIGHTS AND CIVIL LIBERTIES

Political Rights: 9 / 40

A. Electoral Process: 3 / 12

Article 70 of the DRC's 2006 constitution stipulates that the president is elected for up to two five-year terms, and Article 220 prohibits amendments to key elements of the state's political framework, including the number and length of presidential terms.

Kabila was declared the winner of the November 2011 presidential election amid widespread criticism of the election by international observers; he defeated longtime opposition figure Etienne Tshisekedi, 49 percent to 32 percent, according to the Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI). Elections to the 500-seat National Assembly, held concurrently, were also criticized as deeply flawed. Kabila's People's Party for Reconstruction and Democracy (PPRD) won 62 seats, down from the 111 seats it held prior to November 2011, while Tshisekedi's Union for Democracy and Social Progress (UDPS) took 41. The AMP took a total of 260 seats. Tshisekedi supporters protested the results, and numerous civil society groups called for new elections.

The president nominates a prime minister from the leading party or coalition in the National Assembly, whose members are popularly elected to serve five-year terms. Provincial assemblies elect the 108-seat Senate, as well as provincial governors, for five-year terms. A long-neglected decentralization program was implemented in 2015, splitting the DRC's 11 provinces into 26, and the CENI scheduled local and provincial elections to take place in late 2015 through early 2016. In October 2015, the commission postponed the elections indefinitely, and Kabila appointed special commissioners to lead the new provinces.

The country's electoral framework does not ensure transparent conduct of elections, and opposition parties and civil society groups frequently criticize the CENI for lacking independence. Kabila's second term as president is set to end in 2016, and presidential and national legislative elections are scheduled for later in the year. However, in January 2015, the AMP's advancement of a bill mandating a national census to take place before the presidential election was widely viewed as an effort to delay the vote and extend Kabila's tenure. Although the provision connecting the election to the completion of the census was scrapped following mass protests, concerns remained that Kabila would not respect constitutional term limits. The decentralization reform, scheduled for implementation by 2010 but largely neglected until 2015, was also criticized as a stalling tactic; opponents also claimed it risked increasing unrest and political fragmentation ahead of elections.

B. Political Pluralism and Participation: 4 / 16

People have the right to organize political parties. In March 2015, the government estimated that 477 political parties were registered in the DRC. Political parties are often divided along ethnic, communal, or regional lines, and usually lack national reach. The AMP requires members to have national representation, ensuring that the PPRD remains in the majority within the coalition. Other key parties in the country include the UDPS, the Union for the Congolese Nation (UNC), and the Movement for the Liberation of Congo (MLC). Nearly 100 different parties and many independents are represented in the parliament.

Despite the existence of numerous parties, political pluralism remains limited in practice, and opposition members face intimidation and restrictions on their movement and mobilization. Members of the AMP who signed an open letter demanding that Kabila respect constitutional term limits and the election schedule were expelled from the coalition in September 2015; two signatories who held public office were dismissed from their posts. Also in September, Moise Katumbi, once a close Kabila ally, resigned from the PPRD in protest of what he described as the government's efforts to delay elections and repress opponents. He was widely expected to run for president in 2016.

Discrimination and lack of access to institutions in rural areas hinder political participation overall; certain segments of the population are particularly marginalized.

C. Functioning of Government: 2 / 12

Recruitment for government posts is often determined by nepotism. Accountability mechanisms are weak, and impunity remains a problem. Clandestine trade in minerals and other natural resources by rebels and elements of the FARDC helps finance violence and depletes government revenues. Massive corruption in the government, security forces, and mineral extraction industries continues to paralyze the functioning of the government and development efforts intended to raise living standards.

The government has made some efforts to reduce opportunities for graft within the expansive state apparatus and national army. A system to pay civil servants and members of the military electronically was installed in 2012 with the aim of curbing corruption and ensuring regular, accurate payments. A new system of customs declaration implemented at the Kasumbalesa post on the Zambian border in 2014 streamlined the submission and processing of declarations. However, the system initially faced significant technological challenges, and enforcement remained dependent on the discretion of local officials. In March 2015, former justice minister Luzolo Bambi Lessa was made a special advisor to the president on corruption. The president's office filed a complaint against several public officials for corruption-related offenses in June, but the consequences of the complaint were not immediately clear at year's end.

Despite incremental improvements in revenue reporting, there is little transparency in the state's financial affairs. The law does not provide for public access to government information, and citizens often lack the practical ability to obtain information about state operations. The DRC was ranked 147 out of 168 countries and territories surveyed in Transparency International's 2015 Corruption Perceptions Index.

Civil Liberties: 16 / 60

D. Freedom of Expression and Belief: 8 / 16

Although constitutionally guaranteed, freedoms of speech and the press are limited. Radio is the dominant medium in the country, and newspapers are found mainly in large cities. The content of private television and radio stations is occasionally restricted, but lively political debate occurs in urban areas. Social media usage is expanding among urban youth. The government does not usually restrict internet access or monitor online communications, but internet access and text messaging were temporarily suspended during the January 2015 demonstrations.

While the media often criticize Kabila and his government, political harassment of outlets and reporters is common. Pro-opposition and government-friendly outlets alike reported being pressured to carry progovernment content during the year. Intelligence officials cut off broadcasts by Canal Kin Television (CKTV) and Radiotelevision Catholique Elikya (RTCE) after they aired a communique from opposition groups calling for protests amid the electoral dispute in January.

Criminal defamation legislation as well as threats, detentions, arbitrary arrests, and attacks against journalists further restrict freedoms of speech and the press. In March, Congolese and foreign journalists were among those detained while attending a press conference in Kinshasa organized by Filimbi, a Congolese pro-democracy youth movement. In July, members of the National Intelligence Agency (ANR) arrested news distributor Dido Zamangwana while he was selling opposition newspapers in Kinshasa; he remained in detention at year's end. Also in July, a radio station manager, Simon Mulowa, was arrested after his station reported on problems related to decentralization. In September, the government banned the distribution of a film about a Congolese doctor treating victims of rape in the eastern DRC, claiming that it misrepresented the army; following pressure from civil society and international actors, authorities lifted the ban in October.

Journalists face difficulties in covering the ongoing conflict in the eastern DRC. State security forces arrested journalist Brinal Nundu in South Kivu in August while he was reporting on Burundian refugees in the region. According to an August 2015 Human Rights Watch report, local authorities in Tanganyika province, which had been part of Katanga province before decentralization, warned human rights and aid workers from speaking about a string of attacks by ethnic Luba fighters on an ethnic Batwa community earlier in the year.

The constitution guarantees freedom of religion, and authorities generally respect it in practice. Although religious groups must register with the government in order to be recognized, unregistered groups operate unhindered. There are no formal restrictions on academic freedom; primary and secondary school curriculums are regulated but not strongly politicized. While private discussion of politically sensitive topics is open among close associates, it is limited by fear of potential reprisal.

E. Associational and Organizational Rights: 3 / 12

The constitution guarantees freedoms of assembly and association, though these are limited in practice. Groups holding public events must register with local authorities in advance, and security forces occasionally act against unregistered gatherings. There are approximately 5,000 registered nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in the DRC, though many have narrow scopes devoted to ethnic, partisan, and local concerns. NGOs are generally able to operate, though domestic human rights advocates are subject to harassment, arbitrary arrest, and detention. Professional organizations are permitted to organize and operate freely.

State authorities violated the right to association and peaceful assembly in 2015. In January, numerous civil society organizations participated in demonstrations in Kinshasa and other cities against the proposed changes to electoral law. According to Human Rights Watch, security forced killed 43 demonstrators, wounded dozens, and forcibly disappeared at least five. In a separate incident in March, at the press conference organized by Filimbi in Kinshasa, police arrested a group of attendees and bystanders, including several Congolese and foreign activists. While most of the detainees were released, two activists remained in pretrial detention at year's end, facing charges including conspiracy against the head of state, attempting to overthrow the government, and belonging to an organization that promotes violence. In March and April, police arrested and beat several activists from the Struggle for Change (Lutte pour le Changement, or LUCHA) group who gathered in Goma to peacefully protest the Kinshasa arrests. A Goma court convicted four of them in September on the charge of inciting public disobedience, giving them six-month suspended prison sentences as well as 12 months of probation. In December, after attending a conference of African opposition movements held in Senegal, Filimbi and LUCHA reported that they had acquired an ANR memorandum in which they and other participants were blacklisted as part of a "destabilizing coalition."

Congolese who fulfill a residency requirement of 20 years can form and join trade unions, though government employees and members of state security forces are not permitted to unionize. It is against the law for employers to retaliate against strikers. Unions organize strikes regularly. Some labor leaders and activists face harassment.

F. Rule of Law: 0 / 16

President Kabila appoints members of the judiciary, which remains corrupt and subject to political manipulation. Courts are concentrated in urban areas, and the majority of the country relies on customary courts. Military courts are used often, even in civilian cases, and are subject to interference from high-ranking military personnel. The judiciary often exhibits bias against opposition and civil society members, while government and government-allied forces often enjoy impunity for even the most heinous crimes. Prison conditions are life-threatening, and long periods of pretrial detention are common.

An October 2015 Human Rights Watch report on the trial of FARDC officers accused of involvement in a 2012 mass rape concluded that the proceedings had failed both the victims and the defendants. Of the 39 soldiers tried in 2014, two were convicted and sentenced to life in prison, while over 20 soldiers, most of them low-ranking, were found guilty of minor crimes committed during the attack. Among those acquitted were 13 senior officers. The report charged that inadequate legal expertise, problematic evidence-gathering, and a culture of impunity for high-ranking officers pointed to deficiencies in the overall quality of the judiciary.

Civilian authorities do not maintain effective control of security forces. The FARDC are largely undisciplined, and soldiers and police regularly commit serious human rights abuses, including rape and torture. Low pay and inadequate provisions commonly lead soldiers to seize goods from civilians.

Government and government-allied forces often enjoy impunity for even the most heinous crimes. In March 2015, reports emerged that army personnel had participated in a mass nighttime burial in a village outside of Kinshasa. The government announced in April that 421 bodies had been lawfully buried at the site, among them unidentified individuals, stillborn babies, and people whose families could not pay for burial. However, human rights groups, local medical professionals, and others claimed that the circumstances of the burial were unusual, expressing suspicions that it may contain bodies of people killed or forcibly disappeared by security forces. In June, the relatives of missing activists and protesters filed a request for the grave to be exhumed; the authorities had not agreed to do so at year's end.

Several former rebel leaders were convicted of human rights violations in foreign and international courts in 2015. In September, a German court found two former leaders of the Democratic Liberation Forces of Rwanda guilty of crimes committed in the DRC. Ignace Murwanashyaka was convicted of war crimes and leading a terrorist organization, and was sentenced to 13 years in prison. Straton Musoni was convicted of leading a terrorist organization and sentenced to eight years in prison. Separately, in February, the Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Court (ICC) upheld the 2012 acquittal of Mathieu Ngudjolo, former senior commander of the Front for National Integration, of the charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity. He was deported from the Netherlands to the DRC in May after Dutch authorities dismissed his requests for asylum.

Peace and the rule of law remain obstructed by active rebel groups, primarily concentrated in the country's eastern and southern provinces. The impact of years of fighting on civilians has been catastrophic, with over five million conflict-related deaths since 1998. The population of those regions is subject to displacement and violence due to continued rebel activity and indiscipline among the armed forces. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs estimated that as of March 31, 2015, there were more than 2.8 million internally displaced people in the provinces known as North Kivu, South Kivu, Orientale, Katanga, and Maniema at the time. Continuing fragmentation and changing coalitions among armed groups as well as between armed groups and the FARDC obstruct the de-escalation of conflict.

A wave of alarmingly brutal massacres that began in the Beni territory of North Kivu in October 2014 continued in 2015. The United Nations estimated that close to 600 people had been killed as of November 2015. The DRC government attributed the attacks to the Uganda-based Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) rebel group, perceiving them as a response to a joint operation against the group by the FARDC and the UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO). Other observers pointed to a more complex presence of local and international forces and alliances in Beni, and uncertainties remained about the identities and motives of the perpetrators. According to the United Nations, at least 300 people, including 33 FARDC soldiers, were arrested in connection to the violence as of May. ADF leader Jamil Mukulu, accused of orchestrating deadly violence in both Uganda and the DRC, was detained by Tanzanian authorities in April and extradited to Uganda in July.

Ethnic discrimination, including against Kinyarwanda-speaking minority populations, remains a significant problem in some areas of the country. The constitution prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities, but they often find it difficult to find employment, attend school, or access government services. Although discrimination based on HIV status is also prohibited, people with HIV face stigma as well as difficulty accessing health care and education. No law specifically prohibits same-sex sexual relations, but legislators have made efforts to criminalize same-sex sexual activity, and individuals can still be prosecuted for such activity under public decency laws.

G. Personal Autonomy and Individual Rights: 5 / 16

Freedom of movement is protected by law. Despite obstacles posed by security forces seeking bribes or travel permits, both domestic and international travel continue.

Individuals have the right to own property and establish private businesses, and legal avenues for commercial activity exist. The country's economy, reliant on the extraction of natural resources, has grown significantly in recent years, though the vast majority of Congolese are not employed in the formal economy. The World Bank estimated an average growth of 8 percent in 2015. Minerals, timber, and gold are components of a broader economy of extraction in which the national army, rebel groups, and political interests are involved. A complicated system of taxation and regulation has made bribery a regular aspect of business dealings, and embezzlement is pervasive.

DRC was recognized as a compliant member of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) in 2014 following a one-year suspension. Some progress has been made in the internal management of natural resources, including in implementing tracking and validation mechanisms for "conflict-free" minerals. However, tracking systems remain inefficient. An April 2015 report released by Global Witness and Amnesty International found that 79 percent of companies that filed reports in 2014 in accordance with a U.S. disclosure law on conflict minerals in and around the DRC had failed to comply with minimum reporting requirements.

In conflict zones, various armed groups and FARDC soldiers have seized private property and destroyed homes. The majority of land in the DRC is held through customary tenure, and this lack of legal title to the land leads to regular confiscations of property.

Women face discrimination in nearly every aspect of their lives, especially in rural areas. Although Article 14 of the Constitution prohibits discrimination against women in any domain, the Family Code prescribes more restrictive roles, requiring that women obey their husbands and obtain their permission to seek employment and engage in legal transactions. Nevertheless, it has been increasingly common in recent years for young women to seek professional work outside the home or engage in commercial activities, particularly in towns and urban centers. Women are greatly underrepresented in government, making up only 9 percent of the National Assembly and 6 percent of the Senate.

Violence against women and girls, including sexual and gender-based violence, has soared since fighting began in 1994; sex crimes often affect men and boys as well. Rebels and FARDC soldiers have been implicated in kidnappings, killings, and rape. Convictions for offenses such as mass rape remain rare. Abortion is prohibited, and women's access to contraception is extremely low; many health care providers require that women obtain permission from their husbands to access family planning services.

The DRC is both a source and destination country for the trafficking of men, women, and children for the purposes of labor and sexual exploitation. Although the law prohibits all forced or compulsory labor, the practice remains common and includes forced child labor in mining, street vending, and agriculture. Various rebel groups have reportedly forced civilians to work for them, at times imposing tolls on vehicles passing through territory held by the groups. The recruitment and use of child soldiers by rebel groups is also widespread.

Scoring Key: X / Y (Z)

X = Score Received

Y = Best Possible Score

Z = Change from Previous Year

Copyright notice:  Freedom House, Inc.  All Rights Reserved
Freedom in the World 2016 - Bolivia

Publisher Freedom House Publication Date 29 June 2016 Cite as Freedom House, Freedom in the World 2016 - Bolivia, 29 June 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/577a615315.html [accessed 27 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

Freedom Status: Partly Free

Aggregate Score: 68

Freedom Rating: 3.0

Political Rights: 3

Civil Liberties: 3

Quick Facts

Capital: La Paz (administrative), Sucre (judicial)

Population: 10,475,500

GDP/capita: $3,235.80

Press Freedom Status: Partly Free

Net Freedom Status: N/A

OVERVIEW

In 2015, lawmakers from the governing Movement for Socialism (MAS) took steps to change Bolivia's constitution so term limits would not prevent President Evo Morales from running for reelection in the presidential election set for 2019. The amendment passed the Plurinational Legislative Assembly in September, but it still needed to be ratified in a national referendum, which was expected to take place in early 2016.

Subnational elections held in March 2015 showed irregularities, including the last-minute disqualification of opposition candidates. While the MAS prevailed in most contests throughout the country, the opposition won some crucial races.

POLITICAL RIGHTS AND CIVIL LIBERTIES

Political Rights: 29 / 40

A. Electoral Process: 11 / 12

Bolivia's president is directly elected, and presidential and legislative terms are both five years. The Plurinational Legislative Assembly consists of a 130-member Chamber of Deputies and a 36-member Senate. All senators and 53 deputies are elected by proportional representation, and 70 deputies are elected in individual districts. Seven seats in the Chamber of Deputies are reserved for indigenous representatives. The 2009 constitution introduced a presidential runoff provision.

Presidential term limits are the subject of controversy. In September 2015, the Plurinational Legislative Assembly voted to amend the constitution in order to allow presidents to run for three consecutive terms instead of two. The initiative must be ratified by a referendum, which was expected in February 2016. Its approval would enable Morales to run for a fourth term. A 2013 Plurinational Constitutional Tribunal ruling allowed Morales to run for a third term in 2014, stating that his first term in office did not count toward the constitutionally mandated two-term limit since it had begun before the current constitution was adopted.

In the 2014 general elections, Morales was reelected with 61.4 percent of the vote. Samuel Doria Medina of the Democratic Union Front (UD) obtained 24.2 percent of votes, and the three remaining candidates shared less than 15 percent of votes. In concurrent legislative elections, Morales's MAS party maintained a two-thirds majority in the Plurinational Legislative Assembly, the share necessary to pass constitutional reforms. The MAS took 89 seats in the lower house and 25 seats in the Senate, while the opposition UD won 31 deputies and 9 senators, followed by the Christian Democratic Party (PDC) with 10 deputies and 2 senators. The Organization of American States (OAS) electoral observation mission stated that the elections reflected the will of the people, but recommended that Bolivia strengthen its electoral institutions and campaign finance system. Bolivians living abroad were allowed to vote for the first time in 2014.

In March 2015 subnational elections, the MAS won control of more departments and municipalities across the country than any other party. However, the opposition won key mayoralties and governorships, including those of La Paz and Santa Cruz. The OAS electoral observation mission reported overwhelming citizen participation in the elections, but lamented the last-minute disqualification and substitution of candidates, which occurred after the ballots had been printed. As a result of these changes, voters had incorrect information on election day. Six out of seven Supreme Electoral Tribunal members resigned after the elections. In July, new members of the tribunal were elected with the support of the MAS majority in the Plurinational Legislative Assembly.

B. Political Pluralism and Participation: 11 / 16

Citizens have the right to organize political parties. Since Morales's 2005 election, the formerly dominant parties have all but collapsed, giving way to a series of new formations and short-lived opposition coalitions. The MAS draws support from a diverse range of social movements, unions, and civil society actors. Days ahead of the 2015 subnational elections, the Supreme Electoral Tribunal disqualified the UD in the department of Beni on the grounds that it disseminated an unauthorized poll, which resulted in the removal of its 228 candidates from the ballot.

Opposition politicians have claimed that the Morales administration persecutes them through the judiciary. In January, a legislative investigative committee recommended that 11 former government officials, including former president Jorge Quiroga, be prosecuted for treason over their roles in the privatization of state enterprises. In February, opposition leader Luis Ayllon of the Arriba Chuquisaca party was sentenced to almost two years in prison in a trial that stemmed from accusations of embezzlement over his alleged loss of a camera; Ayllon appealed the sentence in April. The same month, assemblywoman Hilda Saavedra was accused of incitement to crime and obstruction of the electoral process for organizing a vigil outside of the Chuquisaca Electoral Tribunal.

People are free to make their own political decisions without undue influence from the military, foreign powers, or other influential groups. The constitution recognizes 36 indigenous nationalities, declares Bolivia a plurinational state, and formalizes local political and judicial control within indigenous territories. However, although they are well represented in government, the interests of indigenous groups are often overlooked by politicians. The Indigenous Fund, a government-led organization dedicated to providing aid for indigenous Bolivians, was marred by corruption scandals in February 2015 when it was discovered that over 210 million bolivianos ($30.6 million) were diverted to fund political campaigns.

C. Functioning of Government: 7 / 12

Corruption affects a range of government entities and economic sectors, including law-enforcement bodies and extractive industries. Anticorruption legislation enacted in 2010 has been criticized for permitting retroactive enforcement. The government has established an Anti-Corruption Ministry, outlined policies to combat corruption, and opened investigations into official corruption cases. In 2011, legislators voted to prosecute former presidents Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada and Quiroga for approving hydrocarbon contracts alleged to have contravened national interests. The U.S. government has refused to extradite Sanchez de Lozada, who is also facing genocide charges for his role in the killing of dozens of indigenous protesters in 2003. In 2013, the Bolivian prosecutor filed corruption charges against Quiroga and requested that he be placed on house arrest, but a court granted substitute measures while the trial continues. Bolivia was ranked 99 out of 168 countries and territories surveyed in Transparency International's 2015 Corruption Perceptions Index.

A bill on Transparency and Access to Public Information was under consideration as of August 2015. It has been criticized for allowing government agencies to establish exceptions on what information would be publicly available.

Civil Liberties: 39 / 60

D. Freedom of Expression and Belief: 14 / 16

Although the constitution guarantees freedom of expression, in practice, the media are subject to some limitations. A Ministry of Communications exists, but no implementing regulation for the constitution's "right to communication" has been passed. Most media outlets are privately owned, and ownership in the print sector has become consolidated. Radio is the leading source of information, but online media are growing in importance as a source of news. Many private newspapers and television stations feature opposition rather than progovernment opinion pieces; the opposite holds true in state media. A 2011 telecommunications law allocated 33 percent of all broadcast licenses to state-run media, another 33 percent to commercial broadcasters, and 17 percent each to local communities and indigenous groups.

Journalists and independent media operate in a somewhat hostile environment, and attacks continued to be reported in 2015. In June, reporter Roger Romero Cossio was beaten on the street by assailants who made references to his journalistic work. After covering a July protest in La Paz, radio journalist Juan Carlos Paco Veramendi was imprisoned for seven days without charge. Death threats against two journalists investigating police corruption in Cochabamba were reported in March.

In August, Vice President Alvaro Garcia Linera announced the withdrawal of government financial help to media outlets that "lie" or "do party politics." In January 2015, the National Press Association issued a statement that the Law of Life Insurance for Press Workers hurts the financial viability of media outlets and limits freedom of expression.

Freedom of religion is guaranteed by the constitution. The 2009 constitution ended the Roman Catholic Church's official status and created a secular state. The government does not restrict academic freedom. Private discussion is free from surveillance or other interference by authorities.

E. Associational and Organizational Rights: 9 / 12

Bolivian law provides for the rights of peaceful assembly and freedom of association. However, protests sometimes become violent. A criminal investigation into police abuses related to the violent dispersal of a 2011 indigenous protest against a planned highway through the Isiboro-Secure Indigenous Territory and National Park (TIPNIS) territory was ongoing at the end of 2015. In April, charges against several suspects, including former internal affairs vice minister Marcos Farfan, were dropped. In June, President Morales affirmed that the highway would be built. Two statutes have been criticized for allowing the government to dissolve nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). In June 2015, President Morales threatened to expel any NGO from the country that obstructs the exploration of natural resources.

Labor and peasant unions are an active force in society and wield significant political influence. A 2013 law establishes regulations for workers' cooperatives, which, among other provisions, prevent members of cooperatives dedicated to production, services, and public services from joining a union in that cooperative. Critics have pointed out that this rule violates the right to association.

F. Rule of Law: 6 / 16

The judicial system has faced ongoing systemic challenges in recent years. Judicial elections were held in 2011 to remedy a crisis in the judicial branch, which had been plagued by resignations, corruption charges, and a backlog of cases. The elections were marred by procedural problems and voter discontent. Candidates for the Supreme Court, the Constitutional Tribunal, and other entities were nominated through a two-thirds vote in the legislature, which allowed the MAS to dominate the selection process. In 2012, a total of 56 new high-court judges took office, making Bolivia the first country in Latin America to swear in elected judges to its highest tribunals.

In January 2015, the Senate dismissed Constitutional Tribunal judge Soraida Chanez Chire from her post for malfeasance and breach of duties in her 2014 ruling to prevent a law on public notaries from coming into force. The decision was under appeal as of year's end.

Bolivian courts face a daunting caseload, though there have been some improvements in recent years. Official statistics reveal that more than 50 percent of judicial cases remained pending as of the end of each year from 2006 and 2013. Prosecutorial independence is viewed as weak. An investigation that began in March 2015 resulted in the June dismissal of 20 prosecutors in La Paz over allegations that they engaged in irregular practices.

In February 2015, Ignacio Villa Vargas, known as "El Viejo," was sentenced to eight years in prison in an abbreviated trial. He pleaded guilty to terrorism charges connected to an alleged 2008 plot to murder president Morales. Some observers claimed that such fast-track trials push innocent people to plead guilty in exchange for shorter court time and lesser sentences.

In June 2015, after Police General Rosario Chavez denounced cases of corruption regarding promotions for officers, she was demoted to a lower rank. In response to a 2014 incident in which low-ranking military officers demanded the banning of discrimination in the armed forces, the government dismissed 702 officers, three of whom were arrested and remained in military prison for more than a year. By June 2015, all three had been granted house arrest while they await their trials.

Bolivian prisons are overcrowded, and conditions for prisoners are extremely poor. An increase in urban crime rates and a 1988 law that substantially lengthened prison sentences for drug-related crimes have contributed to prison overcrowding. In April 2015, Pastoral Penitenciaria Caritas reported that 85 percent of inmates in prison had not received a final sentence and that overcrowding had escalated to 350 percent of capacity. A pardon system issued in 2013 to address overcrowding authorized applications for release by various categories of prisoners, including women with children. In July 2015, another new pardon program was approved to allow releases on humanitarian grounds. Assaults in prisons continue to pose a significant problem.

While the constitution and jurisdictional law recognize indigenous customary law on conflict resolution, reform efforts have not fully resolved questions regarding its jurisdiction and proper application. This lack of clarity has allowed some perpetrators of vigilante crimes, including lynching, to misrepresent their actions as a form of indigenous justice.

In general, racism is rife in the country, especially against indigenous groups. The 2010 antiracism law contains measures to combat discrimination and impose criminal penalties for discriminatory acts. Bolivia has laws in place that prohibit discrimination against LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) people. However, these laws are rarely enforced, and members of the LGBT community suffer widespread societal discrimination. Transgender individuals by law can change their name and gender identity on government forms, but judicial discrimination makes the process very difficult. Various LGBT organizations reported that only seven people have been able to successfully change their name or gender identity since 2007. Additionally, no laws condemn hate crimes against LGBT people. A study conducted by the Bolivian Coalition of LGBT Organizations (COALIBOL) in 2014 found that 93 percent of LGBT people have faced some form of discrimination from public officials, particularly police officers and civil service workers. Transgender people often resort to sex work due to employment discrimination and rejection of their credentials.

G. Personal Autonomy and Individual Rights: 10 / 16

While the law protects freedom of movement, protesters often disrupt internal travel by blocking highways and city streets. Women enjoy the same formal rights to property ownership as men, but discrimination is pervasive, leading to disparities in property ownership and access to resources.

Two controversial Supreme Decrees in 2015 threaten the right to prior consultation in cases of natural resource extraction, which is established in international legal provisions recognized by Bolivian law. In March, the government enacted Supreme Decree 2298, which establishes a 45-day limit on prior consultations regarding hydrocarbon activities and allows for the subsequent approval of land exploitation, even if the indigenous peoples involved did not participate. Supreme Decree 2366, issued in May, allows for oil and gas extraction in national parks provided that companies contribute 1 percent of their investments to poverty reduction and helping to prevent negative environmental consequences. Opposition leaders and human rights organizations have criticized the decrees. In August, the Ombudsman filed a request to review their constitutionality.

The constitution prohibits discrimination based on gender and sexual orientation, but it reserves marriage as a bond between a man and a woman, and makes no provision for same-sex civil unions.

The 2014 general elections were the first in which half of the candidates were women. As a result, 47 percent of senators and 53 percent of deputies are women. Nevertheless, the justice system does not effectively safeguard women's broader legal rights. A 2014 law increased the penalties for rape and abuse, and included the recognition of spousal rape; created a specialized police force for crimes against women; and categorized violence against women as a public health issue. More than half of Bolivian women are believed to suffer from domestic violence at some point during their lives. A 2012 law is intended to protect women from harassment and political violence; however, according to the Asociacion de Concejalas de Bolivia, only 13 out of the 272 cases reported between 2010 and 2014 were resolved. The lack of enforcement and allocation of resources for the implementation of legislation protecting women was a concern raised during Bolivia's UN Universal Periodic Review.

Child labor and forced labor are ongoing problems. A law approved in 2014 allows children aged 12 to 14 to enter work contracts as long as they do not work for longer than six hours a day. Children as young as 10 are permitted to work in independent jobs such as shoe shining as long as they are under parental supervision. Human rights organizations and the International Labor Organization have condemned the law.

Trafficking in Bolivia is mainly for forced labor. A 2012 antitrafficking law is poorly enforced.

Scoring Key: X / Y (Z)

X = Score Received

Y = Best Possible Score

Z = Change from Previous Year

Copyright notice:  Freedom House, Inc.  All Rights Reserved
Freedom in the World 2016 - Armenia

Publisher Freedom House Publication Date 29 June 2016 Cite as Freedom House, Freedom in the World 2016 - Armenia, 29 June 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/577a615515.html [accessed 27 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

Freedom Status: Partly Free

Aggregate Score: 46

Freedom Rating: 4.5

Political Rights: 5

Civil Liberties: 4

Explanatory Note:

The numerical ratings and status listed above do not reflect conditions in Nagorno-Karabakh, which is examined in a separate report.

Quick Facts

Capital: Yerevan

Population: 3,017,106

GDP/capita: $3,619.80

Press Freedom Status: Not Free

Net Freedom Status: Free

OVERVIEW

Corruption, constitutional reform, and a troubled geopolitical environment continued to present challenges to Armenia in 2015. A planned increase in electricity prices spurred mass protests in Yerevan and other cities beginning in May. Police met the protests with violence on several occasions, injuring and detaining participants as well as journalists who were covering the events.

In August, President Sargsyan formally submitted a reform proposal to transform Armenia's semipresidential government into a parliamentary system with an empowered prime minister. Although the Council of Europe's Venice Commission approved a modified version of the reforms in October, critics maintained suspicions that the plan was tailored to extend the tenures of ruling elites. In December, voters approved the proposal in a referendum marred by allegations of fraud.

In January, Armenia became a member of the Eurasian Economic Union, a regional trade alliance with Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan, which joined later in the year.

The situation in Nagorno-Karabakh, an ethnic Armenian enclave that split from Azerbaijan following the collapse of the Soviet Union, remained tense in 2015 amid an escalation of violence that began in late 2014.

POLITICAL RIGHTS AND CIVIL LIBERTIES

Political Rights: 16 / 40

A. Electoral Process: 5 / 12

Armenia has a semipresidential system with a directly elected president who may serve two consecutive five-year terms. The prime minister, nominated by a parliamentary majority and appointed by the president, forms the government. The legislature, the unicameral National Assembly, is made up of 131 members serving five-year terms. Ninety seats are chosen by proportional representation, and 41 are decided through races in single-member districts.

International election monitors documented severe limitations on opposition candidates in the 2013 presidential election, in which incumbent Sargsyan of the Republican Party of Armenia (HHK) won reelection. Observers documented the use of administrative resources for campaign purposes, as well as suspiciously high turnouts associated with support for the incumbent. International observers reported generally favorably on the 2012 parliamentary elections, but noted government interference with the conduct of the vote and a poor procedure for appeals and complaints. The ruling HHK secured a majority with 69 seats, while its former coalition partner, the Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK), won 37 seats. The Armenian National Congress became the largest opposition party with 7 seats.

Controversial constitutional reforms, proposing a shift to parliamentarism and a fully proportional electoral system based on party lists, dominated political conversations in 2015. Critics claimed that the change would allow the term-limited president to obtain unfettered power as prime minister and solidify the HHK's electoral dominance due to the absence of a strong party system. Voter turnout in the December referendum was relatively low, and observers reported biased media coverage and problems with voter lists.

B. Political Pluralism and Participation: 7 / 16

People have the right to organize political parties in Armenia, but the ruling party's dominance and control of administrative resources prevents a level playing field. A total of six parties have representation in the current parliament, with the HHK holding 69 of 131 seats. The next largest party is BHK, followed by the ANC, led by former president Levon Ter-Petrosyan. Public funds for parties are minimal, and most funding is supplied by party leaders and oligarchs.

In 2014, four opposition parties banded together to challenge HHK initiatives, but their cooperation faltered in 2015 after a public dispute in February between the president and Gagik Tsarukyan, BHK leader and one of Armenia's wealthiest business magnates. During the month, Tsarukyan harshly criticized the proposed constitutional changes, organized meetings between BHK legislators and Russian officials, and encouraged Armenians to demand profound national reform. The president responded by accusing Tsarukyan of absenteeism from the parliament, launching an investigation into his commercial interests, and moving to strip him of his parliamentary mandate. Authorities subjected Tsarukyan and over a dozen associates to audits and raids on their homes and businesses. A number of BHK members left the party as a result of the harassment, while Tsarukyan escalated tensions by calling for demonstrations to demand the president's resignation. The conflict ended following a mediated meeting in late February, after which Tsarukyan called off planned demonstrations and announced his intention to leave politics. Naira Zohrabyan replaced him as head of BHK in March, and the party became more complacent during the year. Critics, including the opposition members, saw the ordeal as a campaign by the executive to neutralize the country's most viable opposition figure.

The constitutional reform proposal initially included a provision that parliamentary elections must produce a clear party majority, requiring a runoff in the absence of a clear winner. This option would have severely limited the ability of opposition parties to obtain representation and maintain stable constituencies. Following objections by domestic actors and the Council of Europe, officials abandoned the provision.

Ethnic Armenians comprise the vast majority of the population, and representatives of minority groups  of which the largest, Yezidis, make up approximately 1 percent of the population  have only been elected to public office at the local level. The reforms approved in December 2015 included quotas to ensure ethnic minority representation in the parliament.

C. Functioning of the Government: 4 / 12

The HHK and Sargsyan dominate political decision-making. The National Assembly includes some of the country's wealthiest business leaders, who continue entrepreneurial activities despite conflicts of interest. Relationships between politicians and other oligarchs also influence policy and contribute to selective application of the law.

Corruption remains pervasive. Some senior officials faced judicial and disciplinary action for corruption-related offenses in 2015, and the government overhauled and renewed funding for the Anticorruption Council in February. However, watchdogs maintained low expectations of genuine change. Observers have noted that Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamyan, who has faced accusations of abuse of office and misuse of public funds, leads the Anticorruption Council. Transparency International's 2015 Corruption Perceptions Index ranked Armenia 95 out of 168 countries.

President Sargsyan conducted some dialogue with critics of the constitutional reform and leaders of the energy protests in 2015, indicating some willingness to cede to public opinion. However, in the absence of viable opposition, concessions do not indicate genuine accountability. Some challenges to accessing public information remain, although the parliament adopted regulations for the enforcement of Armenia's freedom of information law in October. High-ranking officials, including the prosecutor general and legislators, are required to file annual asset reports, but these declarations are rarely verified or investigated.

Civil Liberties: 30 / 60

D. Freedom of Expression and Belief: 9 / 16

There are several challenges to media freedom. Most print and broadcast outlets are affiliated with political or commercial interests, and journalists practice self-censorship to avoid harassment by government or business figures. Most independent and investigative outlets operate online. Several journalists reported being assaulted or having their equipment damaged by security forces during the energy protests in Yerevan in 2015, and a few reporters were temporarily detained. Police investigations into the incidents were ongoing at year's end. In October, the Constitutional Court issued a landmark decision in the case of Ilur.am editor Kristine Khanumyan, who had been ordered by a lower court to disclose her sources for a 2014 article about violence perpetrated by the Shirak province police chief. The Constitutional Court ruled that disclosure was not appropriate because the case did not involve a grave crime or the safety of an individual.

The constitution protects freedom of religion but grants the Armenian Apostolic Church  with which approximately 92 percent of Armenians identify  a special role in the "development of the national culture and preservation of the national identity." Religious minorities have reported discrimination in the past, and some have faced difficulty obtaining permits to build houses of worship.

Although the Armenian constitution protects academic freedom, government officials hold several board positions at state universities, leaving administrative and accreditation processes open to political influence. There is some self-censorship among academics on politically sensitive subjects.

Private discussion is relatively free and vibrant. The law prohibits wiretapping or other electronic surveillance without judicial approval, but there have been reports of judges issuing warrants in cases lacking sufficient justification.

E. Associational and Organizational Rights: 6 / 12

Freedoms of assembly and association are legally guaranteed, though there are some restrictions. The civil society sector includes a few outspoken organizations and watchdog groups, mostly in Yerevan and in northern Armenia. Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) lack local funding and largely rely on foreign donors.

In January 2015, crowds gathered in Gyumri, Armenia's second largest city, following the murder of a local family by a Russian soldier who had deserted from a nearby military base. The demonstrators expressed anger at plans for the soldier to be tried by Russian courts, noting that Armenia had jurisdiction in the case according to a bilateral agreement. Protesters clashed with police, and several were injured.

Individual civil society activists were instrumental in initiating a string of protests in May after the Russian-owned Electric Networks of Armenia announced a planned increase in electricity prices, which the public perceived as a symptom of corruption and weak accountability by Armenian officials. The protests gained momentum in several cities in June, and in the capital, participants in the "Electric Yerevan" campaign blocked the city's main thoroughfare. Police forcefully dispersed the blockade, detaining over 200 and injuring several, but protesters returned and were able to continue demonstrating in June and July. In response, the government promised to subsidize the price increase and ordered an audit of Electric Networks of Armenia.

The law protects the right of workers to form and join independent unions, strike, and engage in collective bargaining. However, unions have little stature, and many are inactive.

F. Rule of Law: 6 / 16

The judiciary suffers from corruption and systemic political pressure. A 2013 report from the ombudsman's office noted rumors of a price list for bribing judges to avoid particular charges. Judges reportedly feel pressure to work with prosecutors to convict, and acquittal rates are extremely low. A March 2015 report from the Council of Europe's Human Rights Commissioner found that the government used disciplinary hearings to pressure judges.

The rule of law does not usually prevail in civil or criminal cases, and authorities apply the law selectively. Police abuse of detainees and lengthy pretrial detentions remain a problem, and judges are generally reluctant to challenge arbitrary arrests.

The situation in Nagorno-Karabakh, which is the subject of mediation led by Russia, the United States, and France, continued to show signs of escalation. More people were killed in the conflict in 2015 than in any other year since a ceasefire was declared in1994.

Yezidis are Armenia's most populous ethnic minority. In 2014, the Yezidi community successfully lobbied the government to help Yezidis fleeing from violence in Iraq to resettle in Armenia. In 2015, authorities continued efforts to house and help integrate ethnic Armenian asylum seekers from Syria. Human rights watchdogs have criticized the government for discriminating against asylum seekers who are not of ethnic Armenian origin.

LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) people continue to face violence and mistreatment at the hands of police and civilians. Although same-sex sexual activity was decriminalized in 2003, LGBT protections are not included in antidiscrimination laws.

G. Personal Autonomy and Individual Rights: 9 / 16

The law protects freedom of movement and the rights of individuals to choose their place of education, residence, and employment. In practice, access to higher education is somewhat hampered by a culture of bribery. Economic diversification and simpler regulations have increased the ease of doing business in recent years, but a lack of transparency and persistent cronyism continue to create unfair advantages for those with ties to public officials. Armenian law adequately protects property rights, though officials do not always uphold them.

Domestic violence is common and not adequately prosecuted. The Armenian electoral code includes quotas to ensure that political parties include women on candidate lists. Nevertheless, the political system remains patriarchal, and there are only 13 women in the 131-seat National Assembly.

Armenia is a source and, to a lesser extent, destination country for men, women, and children subjected to sex and labor trafficking. According to the U.S. State Department's 2015 Trafficking in Persons Report, the government complies with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking, and cooperates with antitrafficking NGOs.

Scoring Key: X / Y (Z)

X = Score Received

Y = Best Possible Score

Z = Change from Previous Year

Copyright notice:  Freedom House, Inc.  All Rights Reserved
Community leaders discuss future of mental health services in Morgan County

A large crowd gathered at First Christian Church to learn about local efforts that are underway to manage growing mental health pressures facing the city and all of Morgan County.
GARY BOMAR/BIG COUNTRY AG Ashlynn Patton is the 15-year-old daughter of Dr. Paul and Vicki Patton of Potosi. This month, Ashlynn will be at the State 4-H Horse Show in Abilene, competing primarily in the roping events.

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If the Texas 4-H ever needed a spokesperson for the popular horse program and the Texas 4-H State Horse Show in Abilene, they need not look any further than Ashlynn Patton.

Ashlynn is the 15-year-old daughter of Dr. Paul and Vicki Patton, of Potosi. This Wylie High School sophomore has been a member of the Taylor County 4-H Horse Club for five years.

Along with serving in many leadership roles in her club, she is also on the county 4-H council, and a delegate to the district council.

Her many 4-H projects include photography, clothing and textiles and being a member of the county "Share the Fun" group, which is a judged performance conducted at district and state competitions.

But, her favorite project revolves around her horses. Being very active in the Texas State High School Rodeo Association, Ashlynn competes at many rodeos throughout the state in the American Junior Rodeo Association. Calf roping and goat tying are her main events.

"In goat tying, I am a constant 10-second contestant, and working hard to develop into a constant 9-second on each run," she said.

Ashlynn qualified for the recent state rodeo finals in Abilene, but elected to go on a church mission trip to Atlanta, working with the homeless.

This month, Ashlynn will be at the State 4-H Horse Show in Abilene, competing primary in the roping events. As a part of the host club, there will be several duties such has labeling stalls for incoming contestants, running errands for the Extension Office and welcoming other 4-Hers from all over the state.

"I want to invite everyone to come out and see everything, it is going to be a cool show," she said.

Ashlynn encourages local youth to be a part of the Taylor County 4-H Horse Club.

"We have 25-35 active members, and horse ownership is not required, just a desire to be a part of a great group," Ashlynn said.

Her mother is the club manager.

Enrollment details are available at the Taylor County Extension Office.

After graduation, Ashlynn plans to attend Texas, A&M University majoring in marketing and public relations.

"I want to travel and meet people," she said.

She will perfect at this.

The Texas State 4-H Horse Show will be July 23-30 at the Taylor County Expo. Admission is free, and specific event details are available from the Taylor County Extension Office, 672-6048.
This reporter is very loyal to the museums we have here in Abilene, but invitations from the San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts about holiday events are always quite intriguing. Here's the latest one:

'Join us for a glorious, old-fashioned celebration of our Nation's Birthday, All-American supper and the perfect view of the evening's festivities for the entire family.'

We have plenty going on in our fair city, in fact, the whole community should be indebted to Dr. Glen and Carol Hall for their thoughtfulness in sending seasonal greetings (Happy Summer) and an invitation from them and the Ives families. The invite was to participate in old-fashioned family fun festivities in their big backyard which is turned into an amusement park on our nation's birthday. Fun to see: the Giant 'Wave' Water Slide and the Kona Ice Truck. Guests will be bringing appetizers, side dishes and desserts to go with their bountiful sideboard. Surely they will be dressed in traditional red, white and blue.

Various neighborhoods have their special parades. You can walk, ride or watch in your lawn chair that you tote. What is a block party? Food and live music from Tony Barker, and prizes for best-dressed, patriotic pooch, hot wheels, firecracker family and best bike. Ann Hurst is the one who organized the food to go with their Hot Dogs  even money would do. Paul and Molly Lenker have kept the event going.

People were asking MizCheevus why her hair was green, and she said she was getting tickets to go 'Into the Woods'  produced by Betty Hukill and directed by Barry Smoot  based on the original music and lyrics by Stephen Sondhelm. There were 20 cast members listed on the production staff. Each one of them deserves a paragraph but we have to know that Cinderella (Nicole Sutphen) stole the show and that Sarah McKnight designed and constructed the puppets. MizC will never forget the soulful expression in the cow's eyes at the thought of being sold. The narrator extraordinaire was Jake Aldridge, who got a lot of whispered praise  but all of them did. MizCheevus and Ron Hart sat behind parents of Cinderella  Mark and Ronalyn Sutphen and sister Ashley Delaney, with the Abilene Cultural Affairs Council, and near Greg and Hollye Jaklewicz, Jeff and Kathie Leving, Grant and Amy Boone, Billye Proctor Ray and Chris Proctor Cleveland. This reporter saw the original play in New York and told Barry repetitiously that this production  the setting and presentation  were far superior.

The sponsors should be named since this treasure could not have happened without them: The O'Donnell Fund for Excellence at the Community Foundation of Abilene, AVJ Foundation, Dian Graves Owen Foundation, Julia Jones Matthews, Kate and Charles Ferguson, Melody Hunt and Hunt Direct Marketing.

Estate Sale Mingling: Tim and Debbie Stubbs with his mother Maxine Stubbs. JoAnn Davis, Norm and Evelyn French, Brady Sloane, Steve and Jan Smith, from Sweetwater, Dena Hollowell and Joyce Sutphen, grandmother of Nicole Sutphen (THE Cinderella).

Different Tuna  'Red, White & Tuna,' play by Jaston Williams, Joe Sears, Ed Howard  the 4th annual Bob and Peggy Cummings Memorial presented at Abilene Community Theatre. It opened June 30 and is the preseason kickoff show.

The 86th annual Cowboy Reunion opened on June 28 in connection with the 43rd annual art show, presented by Stamford Art Foundation, which benefits West Texas Rehabilitation Center. It was emceed by WTRC President Steve Martin. Good to see W.B. Harrison III, Angie Cook, Nancy West, Fareed Hassen and Carol Hickman, and view the addition of 'This is West Texas' Youth Art Contest. There were 30 well-known participating artists, featuring a raffle painting 'Holding Pens' by Pam Bunch. Dinner was by Joe Allen's in the outdoor pavilion where attendees danced. 'Quick Draw'  participating artists had one hour to draw and paint an original work which was auctioned. The crowd looks forward to presentation of scholarship by Woody Gilliland to Emily Ramariz.

MizCheevus' first wedding reception at the Abilene Zoo with dinner and dancing. This was made possible after responding to the sparkly invitation from Dr. Brett and Jill Teague to attend the wedding of their daughter Faith Brittany Teague to Carson Everett Humphreys, son of Mrs. Anna Humphreys. The ceremony took place at The Gathering at Pioneer Drive Baptist Church. MizCheevus, speaking for people at the reception, felt fortunate to see the zoo renovations, visit Amber and Bill Cree Memorial Center and cautiously feed the giraffes!
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MONDAY

Fourth of July celebrations

COLORADO CITY  The 54th annual J.O. Dockrey July Fourth Fly-In and Breakfast will begin with a breakfast at 7 a.m. at Colorado City Municipal Airport, free for pilots and $5 for others. Activities, vendors and food will be presented at Ruddick Park, with fireworks at dark.

CISCO  A Fourth of July celebration will begin with the July 5K Color Run at 8 a.m. at Cisco High School, with $25 registration. Activities and live music will begin at 6 p.m. at the Cisco City Park, with a hot dog eating contest at 7:30 p.m., a patriotic outfit contest at 8:30 p.m. and a fireworks show at dark.

EASTLAND  The Old-Fashion 4th of July celebration will be open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Eastland County Courthouse Square. A parade will begin at 10 a.m., with an ice cream contest at noon and a pie and cobbler contest at 1 p.m.

SNYDER  A Fourth of July celebration will be open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. at Towle Park. Vendors, music and a volleyball tournament will be presented. A parade will begin at 10 a.m., with a fireworks show at dark.

The 20th annual Hillcrest Neighborhood Parade will begin at 10 a.m. at the corner of Bacon Drive and Campus Court, and will continue to Hillcrest Church of Christ, 650 E. Ambler Ave. Ice cream will be served at the church.

The River Oaks Neighborhood parade will begin at 10 a.m. around River Oaks Triangle Park. A block party featuring music by Tony Parker will follow.

TUSCOLA  A Fourth of July celebration will begin with car show registration at 10 a.m. at the Tuscola Community Center. Food, games and more will be available. A fireworks show will begin at dark.

COLEMAN  The third annual Picnic in the Park will be conducted from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Coleman City Park. Free hot dogs, live music and activities will be available.

An open house will be conducted from noon to 4 p.m. at VFW Post 6873, 1049 Veterans Drive. Free hot dogs and hamburgers will be served.

RISING STAR  A Fourth of July celebration will begin at 4 p.m. at the Rising Star City Park. A meal will be served at 5:30 p.m., with fireworks at dusk.

The Amarillo Street Parade will begin at 6 p.m. at Episcopal Church of the Heavenly Rest, 602 Meander St. A picnic will follow.

ASPERMONT  A Fourth of July block party will begin at 6 p.m. at the Aspermont Community Center. Games, food and music will be available.

The Abilene Community Band will present its 40th annual Fourth of July concert at 7 p.m. at Episcopal Church of the Heavenly Rest, 602 Meander St. Admission is free. Participants are encouraged to bring lawn chairs or a blanket.

SWEETWATER  The Sparks in the Park fireworks show will begin at 9 p.m. at Newman Park.

LAKE LEON  A free fireworks show will be presented at dusk over Lake Leon at La Mancha Lake Ranch, 402 County Road 567, east of Eastland.

Other ...

Overeaters Anonymous, noon, Hinds Square Building, 100 Chestnut St., Room 112.

Blood drive, 12:30-3:30 p.m., Rentech Boilers, 5025 E. Highway 80.

Schizophrenia Support Group, 1-2 p.m., Mental Health Association of Abilene, 333 Orange St. 325-673-2300.

Free swim class for people with multiple sclerosis, 5:30 p.m., YMCA, 3250 State St.

Anorexics Bulimics Anonymous, 6 p.m., Shades of Hope, 402A Mulberry St., Buffalo Gap. 800-588-4673.

Central Texas Gem & Mineral Society of Abilene, 7 p.m., 7607 Highway 277 South. 325-692-0063.

Abilene Toastmaster's Club 1071, 7 p.m., Conference Center, Texas State Technical College, 650 E. Highway 80. 325-692-7325 or abilene.toastmastersclubs.org.

Al-Anon, 7 p.m., First United Methodist Church, 1501 N. Broadway, Ballinger. 817-689-2810 or 325-977-1007.

Mid-City Al-Anon, 7 p.m., First Christian Church. 325-670-4304.

Memory Men (4-part a cappella singing), 7 p.m., Calvary Baptist Church, 1165 Minter Lane. Park on east side, enter through kitchen. 325-676-SING.

Taylor County Libertarian Party, 7 p.m., Winery at Willow Creek, 4353 S. Treadaway Blvd. 325-675-0266.

Abilene Community Band rehearsal, 7:30 p.m., Bynum Band Hall, McMurry University. 325-232-7383.

South Pioneer Al-Anon Group, 8 p.m., 3157 Russell Ave.

Alcoholics Anonymous/Narcotics Anonymous, 8 p.m., Avoca United Methodist Church. 325-773-2611.

Survivors of Childhood Sexual Abuse Group. 325-676-1400.

TUESDAY

Zoo Lady at the library

Joy Harsh, the "Zoo Lady," will give a presentation featuring live animals from 4-5 p.m. at the South Branch of the Abilene Public Library, 1401 S. Danville Drive. Admission is free.

Square dance workshop

TYE  The Wagon Wheel Squares will conduct a square dancing workshop at 6:30 p.m. at the Wagon Wheel.

'George Washington: Providence'

A showing of the locally produced documentary "George Washington: Providence" will begin at 7 p.m. at the Paramount Theatre, 352 Cypress St. Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for students, seniors, military and children.

Other ...

Veterans benefit meeting, 10 a.m. to noon, Disabled American Veterans, 2555 Grape St. 325-793-9699 or 325-480-6175.

Mission on the Move Soup Kitchen, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., Southwest Drive Community United Methodist Church, 3025 Southwest Dr.

Abilene Southwest Rotary Club, noon, Beehive Restaurant, 442 Cedar St.

High Noon Al-Anon, noon, Southern Hills Church of Christ, 3666 Buffalo Gap Road (south end; follow the yellow signs).

Blood drive, 1-6 p.m., Cash Saver, Hamlin.

Stroke/Aphasia Recovery Program support group, 1:30-2:30 p.m. West Texas Rehabilitation Center boardroom, 4601 Hartford St. 325-793-3535.

Dystonia Support Group, 5:15-6:15 p.m., Not Without Us, 3301 N. First St. Suite 117.

Take Off Pounds Sensibly (TOPS), 5:30 p.m., Brook Hollow Christian Church, 2310 S. Willis St. 325-232-7444.

Legacies Al-Anon Family Group, 5:30-6:30 p.m., Open Door Building, 3157 Russell Ave. 325-280-7584.

Dining For Women  Abilene Chapter, 6 p.m., First Christian Church, 1420 N. Third St.

Family (of Mental Health Consumers) Support Group, 6-7 p.m., Mental Health Association in Abilene, 333 Orange St. 325-673-2300.

MHAA Bipolar/Depression Peer Support Group, 6-8 p.m., Ministry of Counseling & Enrichment, 1502 N. First St. 325-673-2300.

Free certified nurturing parent class (pregnancy to toddler), 6-8 p.m., Mission Church, North Third and Mockingbird streets. 325-672-9398.

Abilene Star Chorus, 6:15 p.m., First Baptist Church, 1333 N. Third St. 325-829-1470.

Overeaters Anonymous, 6:30-7:30 p.m., Exodus Metropolitan Community Church, 1933 S. 27th St.

Al-Anon Parents Group, 7 p.m., Hillcrest Church of Christ, 650 E. Ambler Ave. Use Church Street entrance.

Al-Anon, 7 p.m., Doug Meinzer Activity Center, Knox City. 940-658-3926.

Abilene Society of Model Railroaders, 7-8:30 p.m., 2043 N. Second St.

Parents, Family, Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) of the Big Country, 7-9 p.m., Unity Church, 2842 Barrow St. 325-232-4726, www.pflagbc.weebly.com.

Unity Group of Alcoholics Anonymous, 8 p.m., Episcopal Church of the Heavenly Rest, 602 Meander St.

WEDNESDAY

Guns & Hoses blood drive

The Guns & Hoses Rodney Holder Memorial Blood Drive will be open from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. at both the Meek Blood Center, 1150 N. 18th St., and at the Bloodmobile at KRBC/KTAB Studio, 4510 S. 14th St. For more information, call 3250-670-2799.

'George Washington: Providence'

A showing of the locally produced documentary "George Washington: Providence" will begin at 7 p.m. at the Paramount Theatre, 352 Cypress St. Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for students, seniors, military and children.

Other ...

Overeaters Anonymous, 8 a.m., Hinds Square Building, Room 112, 100 Chestnut St.

Blood drive, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Abilene Regional Medical Center, 6250 Highway 83/84.

Abilene Cactus Lions Club, 11:45 a.m., Cotton Patch Cafe, 3302 S. Clack St.

Abilene Wednesday Rotary Club, noon, Abilene Country Club, 4039 S. Treadaway. $12 for lunch. Jo Ann Wilson, 325-677-6815.

Kiwanis Club of Abilene, noon, Abilene Country Club, 4039 S. Treadaway Blvd.

Clearly Speaking Toastmaster Club, noon, Westgate Church of Christ, 402 S. Pioneer Drive. 325-795-5570.

Diabetes Support Group, 2-3 p.m., Stonewall County Library.

Free swim class for people with multiple sclerosis, 5:30 p.m., YMCA, 3250 State St.

Veterans Peer Support Group, 6 p.m., 765 Orange St. 325-670-4818.

Midweek Al-Anon Family Group, 6-7 p.m., Open Door Building, 3157 Russell Ave. 325-698-4995.

Advanced Square Dancing, 6:30-8:30 p.m., Wagon Wheel.

Al-Anon, 7 p.m., First United Methodist Church, 1501 N. Broadway, Ballinger. 817-689-2810 or 325-977-1007.

DivorceCare support group, 7 p.m., Hillcrest Church of Christ, 650 E. Ambler Ave. 325-691-4200.

THURSDAY

Ranch gathering

COMANCHE  The Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association will conduct a ranch gathering at 6 p.m. at Rathbone Hall. Information on law enforcement and legislative issues will be presented, and a complimentary beef dinner will be served. Admission is free. To RSVP, contact 800-242-7820 Ext. 192 or rsvp@tscra.org.

'George Washington: Providence'

A showing of the locally produced documentary "George Washington: Providence" will begin at 7 p.m. at the Paramount Theatre, 352 Cypress St. Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for students, seniors, military and children.

'Red, White and Tuna'

A production of "Red, White and Tuna" will be presented at 7:30 p.m. at Abilene Community Theatre, 809 Barrow St. Admission is $15 for adults and $12 for students, seniors and military. For tickets, call 325-673-6271.

Other ...

Abilene Garden Club, 10 a.m., 300 Westwood St.

Chronic Pain and Depression Group, 11 a.m. to noon, Mental Health Association of Abilene, 333 Orange St., 325-673-2300.

Abilene Founder Lions Club, 11:30 a.m., Al's Mesquite Grill, 4801 Buffalo Gap Road.

Kiwanis Club of Greater Abilene, noon, Beehive Restaurant, 442 Cedar St. 325-695-0092.

Mental Illness Open Support Group, 1-2 p.m., Mental Health Association of Abilene, 333 Orange St. 325-673-2300.

Blood drive, 1-6 p.m., First Baptist Church, Albany.

Abilene 42 Club, 6 p.m., Rose Park Senior Center.

PEP (People Enjoying People) Club, 6 p.m., Wylie Baptist Church, 6097 Buffalo Gap Road 325-692-4909.

Teen Recovery Group, 6-7 p.m., Mission Abilene, 3001 N. Third St.

Free certified nurturing parent class (all ages), 6-8 p.m., Mission Church, North Third and Mockingbird streets. 325-672-9398.

Take Off Pounds Sensibly, 6:30 p.m. Brook Hollow Christian Church. Weigh-in begins at 5:30 p.m. 325-665-5052.

Free swim class for people with multiple sclerosis, 6:30 p.m., YMCA, 3250 State St.

Gambler's Anonymous, 6:30 p.m., Unity Spiritual Living Center, 2842 Barrow St. 325-338-2575.

West Texas Genealogical Society, 6:30 p.m., Rose Park Senior Citizen Center.

Round Dancing, 7 p.m., Wagon Wheel. 325-829-1517.

Tea Party Patriots of Eastland County, 7 p.m., Myrtle Wilks Community Center, Cisco.

South Pioneer Al-Anon Group, 8 p.m., 3157 Russell Ave.

Unity Group of Alcoholics Anonymous, 8 p.m., Episcopal Church of the Heavenly Rest, 602 Meander St.

Hendrick Hospice Care sponsors a "Gone But Not Lost" support group the second Thursday of each month for any bereaved parent who has lost a child of any age. Information: 325-677-8516 or 1-800-622-8516.
'Food additive' is defined by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as any substance used to provide a technical effect in foods. The use of food additives has become more prominent in recent years, due to the increased production of prepared, processed and convenience foods.

Additives are used for flavor and appeal, food preparation and processing, freshness, and safety. At the same time, consumers and scientists have raised questions about the necessity and safety of these substances.

Because food additives are closely regulated by the FDA, they cannot be used to cover up or deceive the consumer. The food additive intended for use in a product must have a purpose. Below are the six major uses of food additives.

Preservation

One of the main functions of additives is to preserve food. Without the addition of these additives, products would spoil at a more accelerated rate than would be expected by the consumer.

To achieve 'freshness,' additives are added to ensure that bread does not arrive at the grocery store moldy or that milk does not have sour or off-flavors.

Preservatives used to control microbial growth include organic acids and their salts, sulfites, nitrites, parabens, and others.

Enrichment

Enriching foods with nutrients is another function of food additives. Nutrients are added in amounts that do not exceed those found in the food before processing. Cereal products are a prime example of an enriched food to restore the original amount of nutrients before processing. Bread is another example in which the B-complex vitamins of thiamine (B1), riboflavin (B2) and niacin (B3) are added to ensure proper proportions of these nutrients are present in the final product.

Color Improvement

The color of food may be natural or artificial. Natural plant pigments  such as carotene, chlorophyll, and lycopene  help impart hues of orange, green and red, respectively. Without adding vegetable dye, cheddar cheese would not have its orange color. Animal pigments, including myoglobin and heme, exist and serve to incorporate color in products such as meat.

There are many sources of naturally occurring colors, but many are not cost-effective. The use of artificial colors may be more economical. Synthetic colors generally excel in coloring power, color uniformity and color stability.

Improvement in Flavor

Flavoring agents are both natural and synthetic compounds to add flavor to food products. Examples of natural flavors include plant extracts, essential oils, herbs, spices and others.

A variety of synthetic flavor additives are also available. Examples of synthetic flavors include methyl salicylate and benzaldehyde which give wintergreen and cherry flavoring.

Altering Texture

Modifying recipes can be a challenging project. Replacing ingredients to reduce fat and calories, for example, can drastically change the texture, mouth-feel and other sensory properties.

The food manufacturer utilizes countless approved ingredients and chemicals to help modify texture. A simple compound, such as sucrose or table sugar, can be used in varying concentrations to achieve a variety of results. Sugar can affect a product based on its concentration. A dilute sugar solution adds body and mouth feel to soft drinks, while a higher concentration will crystallize and add brittleness to hard candies.

Preparation Aid

Some food additives make food processing easier. Chemical defoamers, for example, may be used to minimize foaming in foods high in fat content. This problem can sometimes be controlled by making processing changes or by using mechanical defoaming equipment.

As evidenced above, food additives play various important roles in processing many of the foods that we consume. As food production has evolved from preparing all foods in the home to preparation in large scale operations, food additives have been developed to meet the needs of food production. Additives are needed to ensure processed food remains in good condition throughout its journey from processing to the consumer at home.

For more information about food additives, check out the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) website at http://www.fda.gov/Food/IngredientsPackagingLabeling/FoodAdditivesIngredients. You may also contact the Taylor County Extension Office, 325-672-6048 or email: l-rowan@tamu.edu.

Sources: U.S. Food and Drug Administration (www.fda.gov); www.foodsafety.gov; and Kansas State University Extension (www.ksre.k-state.edu)
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Theft, 1400 block of Richland Drive, Friday

A 76-year-old female reported she had items valued at more than $20,000 stolen from her home. The victim told police she believed she knew the perpetrators and is willing to press charges.

Public intoxication, 900 block of Butternut Street, Saturday

A 57-year-old male was arrested by police after they discovered him laying down in an alley. Police determined he was intoxicated.

Possession of marijuana, 1900 block of Burger Street, Saturday

Police stopped a man, 40, for failing to stop at a stop sign. Police smelled a marijuana odor coming from his vehicle. Police discovered a baggie of marijuana and arrested him.

Driving while intoxicated and outstanding warrants, 1300 block of South 1st Street, Saturday

Police arrested a 45-year-old man after discovering him passed out in his vehicle, which was parked in the turning lane of a busy intersection. During a search of the vehicle, police also discovered a quantity of K2, and also learned there were outstanding warrants for this individual's arrest.

Assault, 5600 block of South 1st Street, Saturday

Police arrested a 24-year-old male after responding to a domestic disturbance call. The victim claimed the man, she said was her boyfriend, put his hands around her neck and choked her.

Assault, 200 block of Graham Street, Sunday

Police arrested a 51-year-old female after responding to a domestic disturbance call. The victim, also a female, claimed that her assailant attacked her, hitting her in the face, and head.

Shoplifting and possession of a controlled substance, 1600 block of Hwy 351, Saturday

Police arrested a 34-year-old female after she attempted to shoplift several items from a local business. During a routine search, police also discovered the woman to be in possession of a quantity of heroin.

Theft, 1600 block of Hwy 351, Friday

A 34-year-old female attempted to steal more than $1,500 worth of items from a north side business. Upon arrest, police discovered the woman had two previous convictions for theft, which upgraded her charge from a misdemeanor to a felony.
In Cisco, you can have your pie and eat it, too. Or three. Or more ...

Greg Jaklewicz
On a typical summer weekday morning, the Abilene Zoo is filled with children learning about habitats, playing with animals and observing the larger ones in their displays.

It's a strategy that's part of the zoo's master plan to become a resource for the Big Country and foster an appreciation for and understanding of natural environments and conservation efforts, Education Curator Joy Harsh said.

'It's educational fun,' she said when asked to explain what the zoo offers campers. 'We do a lot of stuff. It's much more hands-on, so we hear about how exhausted our campers are when they go home. They're constantly on the go.

'We try to start our children at a young age teaching them about loving animals. This way as they grow into adults, they'll be much more conservational.'

With all of the activity involved, popular summer camps generally sell out long before the summer months arrive. In fact, a look at this year's 20 camps before the July Fourth holiday shows each, including those in mid-August, to be full.

Early in the summer, campers in fourth through seventh grades took over a classroom inside the administration wing with educator Paige Rudasics and a few teen helpers. Part of the 'Birthday Party' camp, these young preteens were able to learn about some of the zoo's more docile collections through hands-on experiences like petting.

In another room, summer educator Rebecca Lana and her teen helpers work with second- and third-grade students on maps of Africa as they studied the climates of the continent, the animals that call it home and much more. It's part of the 'African Safari' camp.

While they help the zoo provide educational opportunities to those in attendance, it's not even close to the top efforts throughout the year the organization creates. Through the education department, staff both hosts schoolchildren and goes out to visit them.

And sometimes it's not just children, Harsh said.

'We do outreach, too,' she said. 'We've been in Brownwood, we do a lot of senior centers. We've done five visits to Wellington, which is near Wichita Falls. So not only are we on the zoo grounds, but we do stuff away from the zoo.'

As the only zoo of its kind in the region, though, education outreach is widespread. It's more than just visiting the Big Country or inviting local students to come play with cute animals. Harsh said the zoo has welcomed, since October, about 12,000 children and adults to the education programs specifically, while the zoo itself has seen about 22,000 visitors in general.

They're coming from close to here, but there are also visitors from Lubbock, Midland, Odessa and other West Texas cities looking for hands-on science learning for their students. Harsh said she'd like to see much more of it in hopes of teaching the students about nature.

'We have such a disconnect between kids and nature,' Harsh said. 'So we want to get them out there experiencing things rather than having them just sit there on their little screens.'

For more on the many education aspects offered by the zoo, including how to book a visit, email zoo.education@abilenetx.com or call 676-6487. The department is also available online atabilenezoo.org/education-department.

Twitter: @TimothyChippARN
Russell Smith took this photo of Botswana at the Abilene Zoo in 2011 and then used special effects to give it a painting-like quality. Of all the photos he has taken at the zoo, he said this one is his favorite.

SHARE Contributed photo/Marna Scherer The Scherer family enjoying a trip to the zoo in the late-70s. Zoo World was an attraction next to the zoo until about 1980 and featured swimming, a "Super Slide" and rides. Joanne Perez took a picture of her twins DaSha and DaMyra on their first trip to the zoo. Contributed photo Reporter-News file photo In this 1970 Reporter-News photo, 13-year-old Tom Watson and his father Dan Watson, the director of the Abilene Zoo, look at some of the 66 box turtles in their backyard. Reporter-News file photo When an elephant fell into the moat surrounding its pen, workers threw bales of hay and filled the moat with water to help it climb out. Related Coverage The Abilene Zoo celebrates 50 years

A couple of years ago in the spring, I was at the zoo. Several of us were watching a turkey tom when I remembered that spring turkey season is my favorite. So, trying to appear as appealing as possible, I tried to imitate a turkey hen! "Perk, Perk, Perk" I began, and in just an instant turkey tom released his "GOBBLE, GOBBLE, GOBBLE!" It was amazing and everyone around cheered. What a great memory.

 Sherry Gilmore, Lawn

My family has enjoyed and watched the Abilene Zoo grow since I was first stationed at Dyess AFB in 1974. The zoo has always been a wonderful adventure for the entire family, always adding or improving exhibits or programs. It's hard to pick a favorite memory from so many with several children and grandchildren. My daughter, now in her 30s, remembers a friendly pair of sea lions who were quite interactive with anyone who paid attention to them. She has a special memory of being photographed, along with other third-graders, on the old giraffe bridge for the cover of the Yellow Pages telephone directory.

My request: I've been looking for a copy of this photo. I think the photo appeared on the March 1993-94 phone book. I had two children in that photo. I had kept the phone book but I believe it was lost in a fire in 2009. Any help would be appreciated. (Call the Reporter-News at 325-676-6757 if you have a copy of the book.)

 Patricia K. Correia

We lived in Moran and then in Snyder back in the mid- to late-60s. I'm not sure what year but very early in the zoo's beginning, we visited one day. I was 6 or 7 years old at the time. We were walking around the zoo fascinated by the animals. When we got to the monkey exhibit, I got right next to the cage and all of a sudden, a monkey reached through the cage and grabbed the cowboy hat I was wearing. Standing nearby was someone from the newspaper who took a photo of the encounter. It ended up in the Abilene paper. I'm not sure what happened to that picture but that is my first recollection of the zoo.

Happy 50th to the Abilene Zoo!

 Kip Riley, Gonzales

My very first solo trip with my 18-month-old twins DaSha and DaMyra was to the zoo. One was super excited to feed the giraffes, the other one was too afraid. I was able to take my favorite picture of them in the zoo sign right out front!

 Joanne Perez

My dad, Tommy Thompson, was the scoutmaster of the Boy Scout troop that raised the flag the day the zoo opened! My brother, Steve Thompson, was one of the scouts. I remember walking through the zoo that day and being amazed that this was here in Abilene! I passed on our family's love for the Abilene Zoo to my sons. They are now 28 and 25, and we still go to the zoo when they come for a visit!

 Sharon Thompson Cochran

Tom Watson called to say that he was practically raised at the zoo, along with his brother and two sisters, because his father, Dan Watson was zoo director from 1968 to 1980.

One of the things he remembers was the time the elephant fell into the moat in its pen. Water was pumped in and hay bales were tossed in so that the elephant could climb out of the moat.

The Watsons' home at 1221 Minter Lane was a zoo too because Dan Watson would bring his work home with him, according to a Reporter-News article. He would bring home newborns which needed extra care, but also javelinas, ring-tailed cats, snakes, coyotes and other animals.

Some, particularly the coyotes, had a tendency to escape the backyard. Dan Watson was quoted in the story as saying, "The neighbors have never complained and always call us if they find one of our animals."

Russell Smith has taken many photos at the zoo over the years, but his favorite is of Botswana.

"I have had many compliments of that photo since it was taken April 15, 2011 at the Autism Speaks event that year. That was the year the cubs were born and Botswana's wife and cubs were removed from him in fear he might kill the cubs.

"But as zoo employees stood by holding high-powered fire hoses to spray him in case he attacked the cubs when they were larger and reintroduced with the mama lion, they were happy to see he embraced the cubs just like any proud daddy!"
As we prepare to celebrate the Fourth of July, we acknowledge our debts to the men and women who gave their lives so we could live in a free country.

We also should acknowledge our gratitude to those who have made possible the continued advancements in our society  every generation has had something unique to offer. Many credit us for the technology that provides luxury automobiles, color TV, CDs, computers, fax machines and cellphones. Our hats are off to past, present and future military personnel who protect this country.

This Fourth of July, as proud Americans, let us take time to celebrate our nation's independence. Tell your children and grandchildren the story of our great country. Tell them about George Washington, Paul Revere, Patrick Henry, Abraham Lincoln, Franklin D. Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan and many others. Tell them to respect and honor our American flag.

I enjoy our many freedoms in this great country: speech, religion, worship, the right to work and the right to select a place to live. We Americans frequently take things  our families, our health, our jobs and our homes  for granted. Sometimes, it takes losing a family member, our health, our job or our home that we begin to realize our carelessness in not giving them the proper attention. Little by little, 'anti-Americans' in our country are working day and night so that we lose some of these freedoms.

Most Americans take this great country for granted. Do not do that. Wake up and smell the coffee.

Many want to destroy America and its people. The attacks of 9/11 prove it. Constant terrorism is at our doors. Every day, right here in the United States and in many other countries, anti-Americans are planning our destruction! Last month's killing of 50 people in Florida is another example. Don't let the media tell you that it was 'one mad man' who disliked gays. This man was doing his job of destroying America.

In his 911 call during the shooting this man gave proper credit.

We live in a democratic country, which by definition, means that people control the government. According to a 1992 November Readers Digest survey, the majority said the American people do not rule our country; it appears that the Supreme Court rules the nation. I would add that sometimes our country is ruled by some judges who go against the people's vote.

A great number of Americans do not participate in the democratic procedure, which creates a problem. Thousands of Americans do not vote, and many do not voice their beliefs and opinions publicly. At present, a minority of our population rules our country. At most, in any given election, local or national, only about 40 percent to 50 percent of the eligible voters vote. Would you believe that less than 30 percent voted recently for our elected officials in Taylor County?

In many cases in our country, interest groups get their wishes by pressuring politicians. Groups such as women, blacks, Hispanics and others many times have gone far beyond their given rights. Why? Because they publicly made their wishes known.

Homosexuals, lesbians and transgender people have their rights and privileges because they have taken time to organize and voice their beliefs. A homosexual now can teach in the public schools, adopt children, and serve as a scoutmaster. A private business that does not serve these interest groups easily can be fined or shut down. What happened to the signs in many restaurants doors that read, 'No shoes, no shirt, no service.' I still believe a business person should have the right to serve whoever they chose, especially it goes against their religious beliefs.

Do not get me wrong. These interest groups have rights. But please, do not try to impose all those beliefs on all Americans. Being 'homosexual' or 'transgender' is a choice. No one forces you to be one.

At the same time, all choices have consequences, and we should be ready to accept the consequences.

On this Fourth of July, as we enjoy our freedom and all the good things in America, we take time to offer our thanks to God for all who came before who made it possible for us to live in this great land. We also pause to reflect on what kind of future we want to create for those who come after us. What do we hope to contribute to this country?

So fellow Americans, wake up and continue defending the good ol' traditional family values in our nation. In case you disagree with me, check as to how many people leave our country and how many try to enter. The answer may surprise you.

We do have a great country. Let's make it better. Be proud of our country, and fly Old Glory on Monday.

Joe Alcorta lives in Abilene.
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By Staff Report

An Anson man died following a wreck in northwest Abilene early Sunday morning.

Christian Garcia, 22, was pronounced dead at Hendrick Medical Center. The three other men in the pickup in which he was a passenger also suffered injuries.

The accident occurred about 5 a.m. in the 4000 block of North 10th Street.

According to a news release from the Abilene Police Department, "A silver Dodge Ram 1500 pickup was traveling west bound on North (10th Street) in the inside lane. The Dodge pickup moved across the outside lane, struck the curb and left the roadway. The pickup continued west bound in the grass and struck a streetlight pole, breaking it off at the base. The pickup continued west bound and struck another pickup parked in the driveway of a residence spinning it around. Both pickups then struck a tree."

The driver of the pickup, Daniel Trujillo, 23, of Abilene, sustained nonlife threatening injuries. Joshua Lozano, 21, of Anson, sustained nonlife threatening injuries and Jacob Lozano, 20, also of Anson, sustained critical injuries and was flown to a Lubbock hospital.

The driver was wearing a seat belt and the other three were not.

According to the news release, "At this time in the investigation it is believed that speed and intoxication are possible factors in this crash. This crash is currently under investigation by the Abilene Police Traffic Division."
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Ling Jihua attends the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in Beijing, Nov. 14, 2012.

A court in the northern Chinese city of Tianjin on Monday jailed for life a former top official linked to a now infamous Ferrari car-crash in Beijing, after finding him guilty of taking bribes, illegally obtaining state secrets and abuse of power.

Ling Jihua, who once led the ruling Chinese Communist Party's ideological arm, was found guilty by the Tianjin No. 1 Intermediate People's Court of taking bribes worth 77.08 million yuan (U.S.$11.6 million), state-run media reported.

Ling was thrown into the spotlight in March 2012, when his son died crashing his Ferrari in Beijing, amid rumors of a coup plot involving then Chongqing party chief Bo Xilai and domestic security czar Zhou Yongkang, both of whom are now also serving life sentences for corruption and abuse of power.

Many asked how his son could possibly have afforded such a car, after the crash that involved two women in varying states of undress. Ling was rumored in some quarters to have helped then president Hu Jintao, who stepped down in November 2012, to put down the coup, reports of which have never been confirmed.





Ling, also a former head of China's national political advisory body, pleaded guilty to all charges laid against him, Xinhua news agency reported on Monday.





"I accept all the charges and submit to the judgement," the agency quoted him as telling the court. "Today's trial will be engraved in my memory."





State secrets





Ling, whose personal assets were also confiscated, said the trial was "solemn, meticulous, rational and civilized," and thanked officials and his attorneys. He will not appeal, Xinhua said.





The life sentence was based on the amount of money Ling obtained from bribery, as well as the "seriousness" of his abuse of power and possession of state secrets, it said. However, he had received a "lesser punishment" owing to his guilty plea and remorseful attitude.





Chinese courts are controlled by the party, which expelled Ling from its ranks last year, in what some commentators said was a politically motivated campaign by President Xi Jinping targeting his predecessor's traditional support base. Ling's sentencing left questions around his brother Ling Wancheng's exile to the United States unanswered, however, amid fears that he may have taken Chinese nuclear secrets with him.





Analysts said Ling's sentence was fairly lenient, given the circumstances, indicating that he may have cut a deal with the authorities.





Political commentator Hua Po said the authorities could be sending a message to Ling Wancheng.





"Sentencing Ling Jihua to life imprisonment really represents a sort of threat hanging over Ling Wancheng, that he had better keep his mouth shut, and that there had better not be any leaks of documents," Hua said.





"As long as nothing happens to harm the interests of the Chinese Communist Party, then Ling Jihua's life will be a bit more bearable and his family will be fairly well-treated," he said.





According to Hong Kong-based veteran journalist Ching Cheong, Xi is also anxious to play down reports of growing factional strife within party ranks.





"The party wants to play this down because they don't want people to think that the power struggle is that fierce, or that there was a coup being plotted," Ching told RFA.





"They want to avoid that, so they try him for corruption, abuse of power and obtaining state secrets, and not for factional strife," he said.





Factional strife?





Hubei-based rights activist Liu Feiyue said that factional strife is exactly what is happening behind the scenes, however.





"In a dictatorial system with no democracy, even people with vested interests can become a victim of this pernicious system," Liu said.





"This is a warning to people in high-ranking positions who may be feeling complacent, that what happened to Ling Jihua today could happen to you tomorrow," he said.





And Beijing-based democracy activist Zha Jianguo said the sentence confirmed the extent of the president's power.





"Xi Jinping has already consolidated his power, and has control of everything now," Zha said. "There will be no coup."




Ukrainian troops are holding out against attacks near two towns in the eastern Donbas region, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy reported on October 26, saying the front line has not significantly changed.



Zelenskiy said the fiercest battles were taking place near Avdiyivka and Bakhmut.

Live Briefing: Russia's Invasion Of Ukraine RFE/RL's Live Briefing gives you all of the latest developments on Russia's ongoing invasion, Kyiv's counteroffensive, Western military aid, global reaction, Russian protests, and the plight of civilians. For all of RFE/RL's coverage of the war, click here.

"This is where the craziness of the Russian command is most evident. Day after day, for months, they are driving people to their deaths there, concentrating the highest level of artillery strikes," he said in his nightly address.



Russian forces have repeatedly tried to seize Bakhmut, which sits on a main road leading to the cities of Slovyansk and Kramatorsk. British intelligence has said Moscow may see the capture of Bakhmut as a prerequisite for advancing to the two cities -- the most significant Ukrainian-controlled parts of the Donetsk region.



Russian-installed authorities in Shakhtarsk, east of the city of Donetsk, said Ukrainian shelling had set ablaze fuel tanks at the town's railway station.



The reports could not be independently verified.



Zelenskiy did not provide an update on the situation in the Kherson region in southern Ukraine, which has been the scene of recent movements on both sides.



"Generally, we are strengthening our positions all over the front line, reducing the invaders' capabilities, destroying their logistics, and preparing good news for Ukraine," he said.

Russia, meanwhile, repeated the unfounded claim that Ukraine plans to set off a dirty bomb.



This time it was Russian President Vladimir Putin who made the accusation, speaking in remarks carried by Russian TV.



Putin said Ukraine plans to use a so-called dirty bomb as a provocation. It was the first time the Russian president made the unsubstantiated allegation, which his officials have been repeating since the weekend.



Putin made the remarks as he monitored drills of Russias strategic nuclear forces.



"Under the leadership of...Vladimir Putin, a training session was held with ground, sea, and air strategic deterrence forces during which practical launches of ballistic and cruise missiles took place," the Kremlin said in a statement.



Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu reported to Putin that the exercise simulated a massive nuclear strike retaliating for a nuclear attack on Russia.



The United States said Russia provided advance notice of the annual drills, which are taking place as NATO carries out its own annual nuclear exercises.



NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg called Russias unsubstantiated statements about the use of a dirty bomb "absurd."



The NATO allies reject this blatantly false accusation, and Russia must not use false pretexts to escalate the war further, Stoltenberg told reporters at NATO headquarters in Brussels.



Ukraine and its Western allies have denied the claims and contend that Russia might itself try to detonate a dirty bomb, a weapons that would use the explosion of a conventional warhead to spread radioactive, biological, or chemical materials over an area.



Shoigu on October 26 called his counterparts from India and China to share Moscows concern about possible Ukrainian provocations involving a dirty bomb, according to the Russian Defense Ministry.



Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on October 26 that Russia would "vigorously" continue to make the case to the international community that it believed Ukraine intended to detonate a "dirty bomb" with radioactive contaminants.

U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said the United States has communicated directly and very clearly to the Russians the consequences of such an attack.



Blinken, speaking at an event sponsored by the U.S. news outlet Bloomberg, did not specify when the Russians were informed or who did it.



Blinken repeated that the United States is "very closely" following Russias comments about the use of nuclear weapons but "does not see any reason to change its nuclear position."



Russia's statement that Ukraine is considering the possibility of using a dirty bomb is "another fabrication and is the height of irresponsibility on the part of a nuclear state," Blinken said.



He noted that Russia has a history of accusing others of doing something they themselves have done or are about to do. He also said the United States was in direct communication with the Russians about their attempts to use the false claim as a pretext for any escalation.



Moscow over the weekend claimed Ukraine was preparing to use a so-called dirty bomb on its own territory, drawing immediate dismissal from the United States and other countries that have backed Ukraine.

Kyiv and its allies suspect Russia might have made the claim to set up a "false flag" attack in which it would use a dirty bomb itself but would blame the attack on Ukraine and use it to justify the use of conventional nuclear weapons by Moscow.



"Let me just say Russia would be making an incredibly serious mistake were it to use a tactical nuclear weapon." U.S. President Joe Biden told reporters on October 25 . "I cannot guarantee you that it is a false flag operation yet. We dont know. But it would be a serious mistake."

Shoigu presented no evidence for the claim when he spoke on October 23 with his counterparts from several NATO countries, including Britain, France, and the United States, who dismissed the claim after the series of calls.

WATCH: Speaking to Current Time in Riga on October 22, Latvian Defense Minister Artis Pabriks said Russian President Vladimir Putin cannot change the course of war in Ukraine by dropping nuclear bombs.

Moscow took its accusations against Ukraine to the UN Security Council on October 25, and the country's UN ambassador, Dmitry Polyanskiy, said afterward that Russia was "satisfied because we raised the awareness."

Speaking to reporters, he added: "I don't mind people saying that Russia is crying wolf if this doesn't happen because this is a terrible, terrible disaster that threatens potentially the whole of the Earth."



The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said earlier on October 25 that it was preparing to send inspectors to two Ukrainian sites in the coming days in reaction to Ukraine's request for an inspection following Russia's claims.



Enerhoatom, Ukraines nuclear energy operator, issued a statement on October 24 voicing its concern that Russias statements may indicate that Russia is preparing an act of nuclear terrorism.

Russian troops have occupied Ukraines Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant, Europe's largest, since March. It is still run by Ukrainian engineers though Russia claimed after its illegal annexation of the Zaporizhzhya region that it is on Russian territory.

Enerhoatom said that Russian forces have carried out unauthorized, secret construction work over the last week at the plant in the area of the spent nuclear fuel storage facility.

Russian officers controlling the area wont give access to Ukrainian staff or monitors from the IAEA that would allow them to see what they are doing, the operator said.

Enerhoatom added that it assumes the Russians are preparing a terrorist act using nuclear materials and radioactive waste stored at the plant.

With reporting by AFP, dpa, BBC, and Reuters
Ukrainians have increasingly woken up to the sound of suicide drones as Russia turns to Iranian-made imports to destroy civilian infrastructure in Ukraine. Now they may have another deadly Iranian weapon to worry about -- ballistic missiles.

Cheap but effective, Shahed-136 and Shahed-131 "kamikaze" drones have already made a deadly impact in Ukraine.



If U.S. intelligence assessments pan out, Russia will soon be able to supplement its use of Iranian suicide drones and its own cruise and ballistic missiles with powerful short-range Iranian Fateh-110 and Zolfaghar ballistic missiles.



Coming as the Kremlin is reportedly struggling to maintain its depleted stockpile of aerial weapons as it ramps up strikes, the missiles would potentially boost Russia's ability to continue its costly air campaign.



Jeremy Binnie, a Middle East defense specialist at the global intelligence company Janes, said having more missiles gives Russia the ability to sustain the bombardment against Ukraine."



Going Ballistic



The Fateh-110, which was unveiled in 2001 and has a stated range of 300 to 500 kilometers, was developed from a heavy artillery rocket dating from the 1980s. To increase the weapon's accuracy, the Fateh-110 was given a guidance system and movable fins that allow it to be steered as it approaches its target.



The Zolfaghar, which debuted in 2016 and also has guidance capabilities, comes from the same family as the Fateh-110 but boasts a much longer range due to its use of a lighter carbon-fiber airframe and a smaller warhead.



Binnie said the Zolfaghar's use against the Islamic State (IS) extremist group in eastern Syria confirmed that the missile was capable of reaching at least 650 kilometers, which he said is "a statement of how much the Iranian tactical missile program has really advanced over the years."



Iran's claim that the Zolfaghar can travel even farther -- up to 700 kilometers -- would put the western Ukrainian city of Lviv within range of strikes launched from Russian territory, while the more powerful Fateh-110 could potentially hit the city from Belarus, which has served as a staging ground for Russian attacks.



While there has been no indication that Russia plans to purchase launching systems from Iran, Binnie suggests that the Russian military could pair the missiles with existing equipment because the Iranian launchers were adapted from a Soviet-era system.



"It might be possible for the Russians to quickly adapt some old equipment they have lying around into launch systems," Binnie said.



The Iranian military, he added, fitted the Soviet system to trucks, allowing for mobility and concealment.



"Those civilian trucks can be covered over to make it hard to spot that they're actually missile launchers," Binnie said.



'Lawnmowers' And 'Mopeds'



Iranian military drones, or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), have been homing in on targets across Ukraine since late August, according to the United States.



The buzzing sound of the Iranian Shahed-136 and Shahed-131 drones, built with off-the-shelf components, have earned them derisive monikers such as "lawnmowers" and "mopeds." But the slow-moving, low-flying drones, which are maneuvered to crash into their target, have proven themselves capable of hitting their mark both in terms of military effectiveness and cost.

It is capable of extracting or delivering attrition and damage when launched, but it costs little compared to other UAVs that Russia has in its own arsenal," said Samuel Bendett of the Virginia-based Center for Naval Analyses (CNA).

Ukraine alleges Russia has ordered 2,400 of the Iranian suicide drones, and its military has claimed to have shot them down in great numbers, often using conventional anti-aircraft guns or even small-arms fire. But their ability to be launched in bunches of five -- often from the cover of civilian trucks -- improves their chances of reaching their target.



"The Ukrainians are stopping most of these, but the whole point of these drones is that they fly in a large mass," Bendett said. "The air defense does not always catch all of them. All it takes is for several or even one to make it through."

The estimated range of the Shahed-136 varies, but Iran says it is capable of traveling 2,500 kilometers. The slightly smaller and older Shahed-131, which has been used by Huthi rebels in Yemen to attack Saudi targets in the Arabian Peninsula, has been estimated to have a range of 900 kilometers, according to tests conducted by the Ukrainian military.



Ukraine's Defense Ministry has published multiple images of downed Shahed-136 drones in recent weeks, and the Ukrainian National Guard on October 19 claimed to have shot down a Shahed-131.



Ukraine has also claimed to have shot down a more advanced Iranian combat UAV, the Mojer-6 drone capable of carrying out both reconnaissance missions and aerial strikes within a range of 200 kilometers. There have also been reports of Russian interest in obtaining Irans Shahed-129 and Shahed-191 combat drones.



"When launched from any territory that Russia controls or is allied with -- anywhere from the south, from the Donbas, from Belarus -- they're able to strike a lot of Ukrainian targets," Bendett said.

In addition to the U.S. intelligence assessment that Russia will soon boost its arsenal with Iranian ballistic missiles, as first reported by The Washington Post on October 16, the White House on October 20 said that Iranians are now "directly engaged on the ground" in Moscows war against Ukraine after sending "a relatively small number" of personnel from the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps to assist Russian forces in using the Iranian drones.

Iran has denied sending combat drones to Russia, and Moscow has rejected claims that it is using Iranian UAVs.

Images of downed Iranian drones appear to show that they have been rebranded to look Russian-made, experts say, with the markings in Cyrillic naming them as the Geran-1 (the Shahed-131) and Geran-2 (the Shahed-136).

Observers are widely skeptical of Russia's denials, noting that the drones are essentially identical right down to the font of the serial numbers. Even Russian Defense Ministry experts have unwittingly admitted that the suicide drones are Iranian.



But the rebranding of the drones to make them appear to be Russian has opened the possibility that Moscow could, if it is not already doing so, seek to manufacture or assemble the Iranian drones on its own territory.



Sustaining A Campaign



The new aerial weaponry fits well with the Russian military's renewed focus on striking military and civilian targets far from the front lines in southern and eastern Ukraine. The air assault has ratcheted up following the October 8 appointment of Colonel General Sergei Surovikin, a former Aerospace Forces commander, to lead the Russian war effort.



Just days after Surovikin's appointment, Russia launched the biggest air strikes since the beginning of its invasion of Ukraine in February. Moscow said the drone and missile strikes, which targeted civilian areas and infrastructure in cities throughout Ukraine, were in response to a bomb blast that damaged a key bridge linking Russia to the occupied Crimean Peninsula.

While the Kremlin has accused Ukraine's intelligence services of carrying out the "terrorist" attack on the Crimea Bridge, Ukraine has denied responsibility.



Since the initial air assault in response to the bridge blast, Russia has continued to pound Ukrainian infrastructure, often targeting power plants in what Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said is a deliberate effort to wear down the Ukrainian people by denying them heat and electricity as winter approaches.



"Civilian infrastructure is obviously the new layer in this war. The Ukrainian economy is now the target, the Ukrainian population is now the target," Bendett said.



Hard To Stop



The hypersonic speed and high trajectory of Iran's Fateh-110s and Zolfaghars, should they arrive, would be extremely difficult for Kyiv to counter without a network of high-tech and costly antimissile batteries it currently does not possess.



Ukraine has repeatedly requested more advanced missile-defense systems from the West, and in the face of the threat of the delivery of Iranian ballistic missiles reportedly sent an official request to Israel this week for components of its "Iron Dome" system.



While the United States has said that it is seeking to expedite the process of sending two U.S. air defense systems known as NASAMS, Washington has appeared reluctant to provide more advanced Patriot missile systems.



Janes' defense expert Binnie is skeptical that the delivery of the Patriot system, which has proven to be successful in shooting down ballistic missiles, is realistic for Ukraine.

"It's eye wateringly expensive and it's probably not really practical because each [missile] battery only covers one city," he said. "You would never get enough batteries to get the coverage you would want. You just wouldn't be able to find them, produce them, and train enough Ukrainians."
Iraq is observing three days of mourning for victims of bomb attacks in the capital that left at least 157 people dead on July 3.



Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi initiated the mourning period on July 4 as he visited the site of the attacks.



Iraqi officials said on July 4 the death toll from the attacks reached 157 but it was expected to increase even further as rescuers are still looking for missing people.



A member of the Iraqi security forces was quoted by AFP as saying it would take "a number of days" to recover the bodies of all the victims of the attack.



Health officials say at least 190 people were wounded in the attacks.

Responsibility for the car-bomb attack in the Karrada district early on July 3 has been claimed by the Islamic State terrorist group.

A member of the Iraqi security forces was quoted by AFP as saying it would take "a number of days" to recover the bodies of all the victims of the attack.

A second bomb also exploded early on July 3 in Baghdads northern Shaab area, killing another five people.

The White House condemned the bombings, saying the attacks only strengthened the United States' resolve to confront IS.

"We remain united with the Iraqi people and government in our combined efforts to destroy ISIL," a White House statement said, referring to IS.

Based on reporting by AFP, AP, Reuters, and dpa
NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg says the alliance is set to hold formal talks with Russia shortly after a summit in Warsaw this week, which is expected to deepen tensions with Moscow.



The NATO-Russia Council last met in April -- after a hiatus of almost two years -- but the talks ended in "profound disagreements" over Ukraine and other issues.



"The NATO-Russia Council has an important role to play as a forum for dialogue" and could "increase predictability," Stoltenberg told reporters on July 4, ahead of the two-day summit that starts on July 8.



"That is why we are working with Russia to hold another meeting of the council shortly after the summit," he added.



The secretary-general said the alliance and Russia weren't able to agree to hold a meeting before the summit, as NATO had wanted.



Among other issues, the Warsaw summit is expected to discuss the deployment of four 1,000-strong battalions in Poland and former Soviet republics of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, beefing up NATO's presence closer to Russia's borders.



Relations between NATO and Russia have reached their lowest point since the Cold War over Moscows annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 and its role in the military conflict in eastern Ukraine.

Based on reporting by dpa and AFP
The rise and fall of Dzhon Khen Mu, ending with his dramatic escape from North Korea, began with a box of ginseng roots.

As a hotel manager in his hometown of Pyongyang, the capital, Dzhon was one of the few North Koreans to be in close contact with foreigners.

North Korea's totalitarian laws bar its citizens from speaking freely to foreigners, so Dzhon's interactions with hotel guests were restricted to several state-sanctioned courtesy formulas.

It was a simple, innocent gesture of hospitality that changed his life forever.

"Delegations of Japanese Koreans often stayed in our hotel," Dzhon tells RFE/RL in South Korea, where he sought refuge after fleeing the North in 2003. "One day, I gave one of these Japanese a box of ginseng as a gift. To show his gratitude, he gave me $300. This is how it all started."

Commercial activities were long prohibited by North Korea's ostensibly collectivist leadership. But in the 1990s, as famines swept the country and killed hundreds of thousands of people, a thriving black market emerged in the reclusive nation. In 2002, with the launch of the country's first industrial park, authorities finally lifted the ban and allowed citizens to engage in business.

Dzhon says he seized the opportunity and ventured into trade, using his $300 -- a small fortune by local standards -- as start-up capital.

"I learned to buy clothing in China for almost nothing," he says. "These clothes were written off by large stores and stuffed into huge vacuum-storage bags. The bags would then be packed into 100-kilogram bales. I would buy these bales for $100 each and sell the clothes in North Korea."

Dzhon also purchased used bicycles and a number of other items that were in demand back home.

Soon, he had amassed as much as $87,000 and a further 1.3 million Japanese yen ($12,700 at today's exchange rate), a colossal sum in a country where most people still subsist on the equivalent of a few U.S. dollars a month.

While some basic shopping was now permitted, Dzhon says most North Koreans lived in poverty and relied on the state ration system for survival. Each citizen received a daily ration of rice, soya paste, and sugar. Some items of clothing were also provided by the state.

"Underwear and socks were handed out for the whole family at the same time, once quarterly," he says. "Shoes were provided more rarely. Everything was scrupulously recorded: such a person received such a number of underpants, so many meters of fabric, during such a period of time."

Dzhon's flourishing business made him one of North Korea's wealthiest men. But under one of the world's most despotic regimes, his growing financial clout put him in great danger.

"Large amounts of foreign currency in private hands pose a threat to the authorities, especially if this money is not shared with the state the way it wants," he says.

Dzhon says he never initially planned to flee his country. Despite the draconian rules enforced by the authorities, he had a job he enjoyed, a beloved wife and two children, and enough cash to live as comfortably as North Korea allowed.

But when his business colleagues started disappearing one after the other, he says, he knew it was time to go.

"I had no other choice," Dzhon says. "I became really scared when I learned that all my business partners were missing, and then people told me how and where they were killed."

Business in North Korea is under close scrutiny from the security services. Those deemed to have built up too much wealth and influence, he says, are either jailed or executed.

"I was perfectly aware of the fact that I was next," Dzhon tells RFE/RL. "It was just a matter of time -- tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, in a week. But they were definitely coming for me."

Dzhon also says he knew that he would not be able to cross the border with his wife and children; it was simply too risky. So he decided to leave them behind but fake his own death in order to shield his family from the repressions that befall relatives of defectors.

For a $50 bribe, he obtained a forged death certificate testifying that he had died in a car crash.

"I did this so that they would think I was dead," he says. "This was the only safe option for them. If they had known that I was alive and that I had fled but not have reported it to authorities, they would have been severely punished."

On a cold April day, Dzhon left his home, never to return. He made his way to the border with China, where he told the guards he was a shuttle trader traveling to China to buy another batch of goods. Once across the border, he says, he jumped into the car of a waiting friend who lived in China and had promised to help him escape.

"There was snow on the mountains, I remember it was terribly cold," he says.

Dzhon spent four months in China, lying low and waiting for a counterfeit South Korean passport. He then used that document to enter the South Korean Embassy in China, where he applied for political asylum.

South Korea first put him on a plane to the Philippines, where he caught another flight to Seoul.

"This is common practice, defectors are almost always sent to South Korea through a third country, not directly," he says.

At Seoul's airport, Dzhon was met by South Korean intelligence agents and taken in for debriefing. He was then sent to a special camp set up to help North Korean refugees adjust to life in the South.

"It's very difficult for people who have lived all their lives in a socialistic country to adjust to a capitalist lifestyle," he says. "In the North, the party tells you what to do your whole life -- you don't make any decisions. The South forces you to make all the decisions yourself, and at first this is incredibly difficult to understand, accept, and apply to life."

Dzhon is now 60. He works as a broadcaster at National Unity Radio, a South Korean station that seeks to broadcast to the population in the North.

Although he fled more than 13 years ago, he still has nightmares about being caught by North Korean secret services. He says he continues to keep a low profile, never posting any comments or photos on social-networking sites. He has changed his name since defecting and refused to be photographed for this story.

"I think fear will stay with me for the rest of my life," he says.

Dzhon never remarried. He never yielded to the temptation to contact his family in Pyongyang, either.

"If the party finds out that I'm alive, and that I'm in South Korea, my relatives will be in big trouble," he says. "As long as I'm 'dead,' they are alive. This is what I think about every day."

Written by Claire Bigg in Prague based on reporting by RFE/RL's Russian Service correspondent Roman Super in Seoul

The original Russian version of this story can be found here
Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a law on the creation of a National Guard.

Putin signed the law on July 3, officially creating the new force on the basis of the former Interior Ministry troops.

According to the law, the new force will be charged with enforcing emergency-situation regimes, combating terrorism, defending Russian territory, and protecting state facilities and assets.

Critics, however, say the force has been created to combat dissent as Russia holds legislative and presidential elections in the coming months. Under the law, the National Guard has the authority to suppress uprisings in populated areas and to use force in the event of an armed attack on state facilities or when faced with the threat of terrorism.

The National Guard is authorized to use nonlethal force to suppress mass riots, to prevent disruption of traffic, to repress crimes, or to repel attacks against guardsmen. The force is also authorized to detain individuals and enter homes at its discretion.

The mass media is barred from reporting on the locations of National Guard bases or deployments.

Based on reporting by Interfax and New Times
Turkey has proposed cooperating with Moscow to combat the Islamic State (IS) extremist group in Syria.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on July 4 in Istanbul that "we will cooperate with everyone who fights Daesh," referring to IS by its Arabic-language acronym.

He added that Turkey already cooperates with many countries fighting IS and "we opened Incirlik air base for those who want to join the active fight against Daesh."

The statement was interpreted by some media as indicating Ankara might be willing to open the use of its Incirlik air base in southern Turkey to Russia.

However, Cavusoglu told reporters later that "we said that we could cooperate with Russia in the period ahead in the fight against Daesh [IS]...I did not make any comment referring to Russian planes coming to the Incirlik air base."

The Incirlik air base is already being used by aircraft from the United States, Germany, Britain, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar involved in the U.S.-led air campaign against IS.

The air base is located 8 kilometers north of the Turkish city of Adana near the Syrian border.

Ankara's offer of cooperation over IS comes as Turkey and Russia have pledged to rebuild relations after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan last week expressed regret for the death of a Russian pilot after Turkey shot down a Russian warplane in November during a disputed incursion into Turkish territory.

Moscow had broken off virtually all economic ties and banned tourists from visiting Turkish resorts after the downing of the plane, which resulted in one of the pilots being shot dead as he parachuted to the ground over Syria.

Cavusoglu referred indirectly to the recent months of tension over the downing of plane, saying that they offered another reason for Moscow and Ankara to now cooperate.

"Joint efforts are important to avoid negative incidents," he said.

Moscow immediately welcomed Ankara's statement.

"This is certainly a serious statement that has yet to be analyzed from a military and political point of view," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters in Moscow on July 4.

Turkey and Russia both oppose IS but are on opposite sides of the Syrian conflict. Ankara supports opponents of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who is backed by Russia and Iran.

Russian aircraft make their sorties from Hmeimim air base in Syria's Latakia Province.

With reporting by Reuters and RT
Is it just a show of resolve, or a new conviction -- or desperation? The Turkish foreign minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, said on July 4 in Istanbul that Turkey might "open the Incirlik air base" to Russia "as we did to all others who actively fight" the Islamic State extremist group. "We cooperate with anyone who fights against [IS], so why not work together with Russia?

He was widely quoted by virtually all media outlets as saying Turkey would even go so far as to open the Incirlik air base to Russia for this purpose. That apparently went too far. The Russians reacted happily and opponents in Ankara (and maybe the West) took to the barricades.

Did he go too far? The reports were soon taken off the Internet.

Cavusoglu moved fast to deny that Turkey was opening the base for Russian use. "I did not talk about Incirlik," he said. "I reiterated what our president has said and that is that we are ready to cooperate with Russia in the fight against terror."

Since Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan made the surprising agreements of normalization and improved relations with both Israel and Russia in the last 10 or so days, critics from right and left have started to attack him.

"What has changed that you are making a U-turn?"

"Yesterdays jihadist brothers are becoming today's terrorists."

"You sold Gaza for dealing with Israel."



That does not seem to bother Erdogan too much. "We have never left our path," he assured his supporters. "We are just correcting what went wrong in our Russia and Israel relations because of artificial tensions," he said.

Even tolerating Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, at least for a period of transition, is not being ruled out, according to Turkish press reports.

But every Turkish citizen I asked who is not committed to any partisanship or ideology said, "Forget for a moment all those animosities inside and outside of Turkey, why not?"

For all too long, more than 32 years, Turkey has paid a terribly bloody and expensive price to the PKK terror without, to be fair, much addressing the source of the evil. IS, on the other hand, is a rather new plight that became a quickly expanding cholera following the easy fall or miscalculated overthrow of Middle Eastern dictatorial regimes to be replaced by fundamentalist and extremist groups.

In the beginning of this decade, the Islamic-leaning Erdogan was overenthusiastic about the Arab Spring and started to support those groups in his neighboring Syria, Iraq, and even Egypt, expecting that soon a number of those regimes might be replaced by more like-minded ones. It did not materialize and soon, his Islamic "brethren," many of them extremist and violent in mind and deeds, started to bite Turkey, too.

Ahmet Usta, a professional carpenter from Aksehir now living in Ankara and a lifelong conservative voter, gave me his take with a Turkish proverb: "From wherever you stop the loss, it is a gain." And Nurgul Hanim, a retired secular lawyer and fierce opponent of Erdogan, told me what I've been hearing for the last year or so from all corners of Turkish society: "We are worried about the very existence and the territorial integrity of this beautiful country and now very seriously worried about the lives of our loved ones and citizens of Turkey."

"Erdogan and AKP [the Justice and Development Party] may be guilty of many wrongdoings," said Arper, a high-tech specialist in his 30s. "These are tough times for Turkey. U-turns are necessary and they are best done by those who messed up most -- and also did the best, frankly, of the last 10 or more years in the economy and social services."
Some of the most compelling photographs from RFE/RL's broadcast region and beyond for the 27th week of 2016. For more photo galleries, see our
As one of Chesterfields youngest superintendents, James F. Lane may have to work a little harder to prove that he is the right person at the helm of Virginias second-largest school division.

But at 38, Lane is confident that he is ready to follow in the footsteps of his predecessor, Marcus J. Newsome, 62, who started his new job with Petersburg City Schools last week.

I hope to show through my knowledge in instruction and operations that I am not only ready, but Im the leader that can continue to move our school division forward, Lane said in a recent interview at his now-vacated office in Goochland County, where he had served as superintendent for five years.

In fact, Lane sees his relatively young age as an advantage, as he is already thinking beyond his four-year contract that will earn him $221,000 annually, including his base salary, deferred compensation and a car allowance.

The fact that I am still hungry as a leader to create a great school division is an asset for me, Lane said. And the fact that I cannot only look forward to the next few years but possibly the next few decades of being successful allows me time to look at projects in a way that will allow for better long-range planning.

After Newsome announced his retirement last year after 10 years, Kevin Castner of the recruiting firm WP & Associates said at a community meeting in January that the complexity of a school district the size of Chesterfield brings with it some requirements, adding that this isnt a good job for on-the-job training.

And Lane proved that he has the traits needed for the position, said School Board Chairman Dianne H. Smith.

He is young, but I think he has been a leader that has been able to experience so much in terms of education, and he has been afforded a lot of opportunities that have prepared him to step into a school system as large and diverse as Chesterfield, Smith said.

The fact that Lane and his wife, Sarah, have two young children  son Charlie, 6, and daughter Kerrington, 3  also is a big plus because it makes him a stakeholder, Smith said.

Lane agrees: Our kids are entering school age, and we wanted to make this move now not only because Chesterfield is the premier school division in the region, but we wanted to establish a place where our family would be until we retire and our kids can grow up in these schools. Well have kids in the Chesterfield County Public Schools for the next 15 years, and I hope to be superintendent at all their graduations.

21st-century mind-set

Lane has worked as an assistant principal, middle school principal and assistant superintendent in Virginia and North Carolina. He started as a band teacher in North Carolina in 2001. Before arriving in Goochland in 2012, he served as assistant superintendent in Middlesex County.

In May, Lane was named superintendent of the year by the Virginia Association of School Superintendents. He beat out superintendents from seven other Virginia regions and is nominated for the national award.

At his last job, Lane oversaw a division with 2,500 students and more than 400 employees, with a budget of just under $30 million  a sharp contrast to Chesterfields school system with its 58,000 students, 7,300 employees and $598 million budget.

Now Im here, and I just want to take Chesterfield to the best place I possibly can, he said. Greatness is certainly a possibility with the team that we have in place and the phenomenal leaders that we were able to recruit. Considering our size and the resources that we have, I believe that we will be the best school division in the nation.

Lane said he wants to build on Newsomes successful roll-out of the nations largest Chromebook program that distributed 32,000 laptops to high school and middle school students. The School Board has already allocated funds to expand the program in the coming years to give elementary students access to the devices.

In Goochland, Lane has implemented a similar program called the 1-to-1 project, under which every student in the division has been provided an iPad for instruction beginning in 2012.

Ive had an extremely hands-on role with seeing how that project should roll out and, from the beginning, we focused on how to use that device to redefine the learning environment to a more engaging experience for students, he said. We chose a different device but, in this day and age, I dont think the device is important but what you do with it. I am equally excited to become part of the Chromebook project.

Addressing the bigger challenges in the coming years, Lane said he wants to focus on creating an engaging and enjoyable yet rigorous learning environment, contrasting with the rigid educational framework under SOL testing guidelines.

We are coming out of a time period in education where for the last 15 years everything we have done has been focused on SOL testing. Whether its our colleges and universities or even the culture in our schools, we have trained a generation of teachers to focus on teaching to the SOL, Lane said.

He added: If we can have a focus on deeper learning and critical thinking, then our kids are going to learn, love school more, and the parents are going to love their school experience more. If the instruction is great in the classroom, then test scores will be a byproduct of the great things we are doing. If we primarily focus on test scores, we are missing the heart and soul of what learning should be.

Bell times, redistricting

From a distance, Lane has watched Chesterfields School Board deal with two key issues in the past 12 months  a redrawing of the divisions district map and pushing back the bell time for high school students.

There is no doubt that the science behind whether or not our adolescents need more sleep is accurate. I do believe truly that our students would benefit from more sleep time, Lane said.

After months of discussions and tweaking proposals, Chesterfield school officials have finalized a plan that would push back the start time for high school students at a lower cost than originally estimated. The proposal flips high school and elementary school starting times, while moving the schedule back 25 minutes by the fall of 2017.

Lane said that as part of his 120-days transition plan, he wants to further study this proposal and not only learn about the possibilities for how we can have an adjusted start time but also about the impact of any decision we make.

I think itll be important for us to have a serious community dialogue in each of our districts around what our parents want and how we can support them if we make adjustments. I do not plan to recommend a decision to the School Board in terms of the exact parameters until we have more community conversation on the issue, he said.

Countywide redistricting, first addressed publicly by the School Board last fall, aims to ease overcrowding in schools in the western end of the county. The division is looking into it, but planning and implementation are expected to take several years.

I dont think redistricting is a process that should happen quickly; that is a project that we should be very methodical about, Lane said.

At the same time, I understand that with building new schools and renovating schools, there will be some inherent adjustments that need to occur naturally, because capacity numbers at certain schools may change. It is also important for us to have a larger vision of what we want to do with redistricting with having plans to address short-term redistricting needs as new schools come online, he said.

More transparency

Lane also wants to look into allegations by some county residents that the division is not transparent enough about how tax dollars are spent.

Transparency is extremely important to me, and I am very committed to that, he said.

Lane said he wants to sit down and meet with the folks who have questions about the operations of our school division, get a better understanding of their concerns and honestly listen to their feedback and see if there are ways we can improve.

Additionally, Lane wants to create a citizens advisory group that is not composed just of parents and teachers, but that is open to all county residents who have concerns about the way the division spends money.

We need a real and open dialogue to see how we can make these processes better. I plan to respond to every question we receive as openly and as honestly as I can, he said.

Sara Gilliam, president of the Chesterfield County Council PTA, said many people are excited about Lanes arrival and are sharing his optimism.

I met him a couple of times, and he seems like hes got a lot of energy, he has a few platforms that I like, such as communications and transparency, and he is not focused so much on SOLs, and that resonated well, Gilliam said.

Lane said he has already sold his familys Goochland home and is looking to move to Chesterfield during the summer, ready to take on his new job.

I want to be in schools every day, I want to see what kids are doing, I want to be involved in the community because my kids are going to be in the schools, Lane said.
A water main break on North 31st Street in Richmond's Church Hill neighborhood sent water shooting in the air and onto a home Monday morning.

Church Hill resident Todd B. Waldo tweeted around noon that a city of Richmond crew was on site.

Water was restored to the area at 9:30 p.m. Monday while crews repaired a 3-foot section of cast iron pipe, according to Angela Fountain, a spokeswoman for the city's Department of Public Utilities. About 30 customers were impacted, she said in an email Wednesday.

The break was most likely caused by the age of the pipe, Fountain said.

"I say most likely because there are several factors that might cause a water pipe to break: age of pipe, material of pipe, traffic load, external stress, location are a few," Fountain said. "DPU is still currently doing an investigation of all of the factors that might have contributed to this pipe breaking."

The street is currently open, Fountain said. But final repairs to the asphalt remain and will be conducted in the coming days depending on the availability of materials.
Roanoke never had an Independence Day like 1916.

One hundred years ago today, as much of the nation worried over the raging war in Europe, Roanokers celebrated the Fourth of July with a huge parade, marching bands, a speech by the governor and, if you believe the newspaper reports of the day, as many as 15,000 waving American flags.

No greater demonstration of patriotism has ever been exhibited within the bounds of the Commonwealth than was evident yesterday in Roanoke, The Roanoke Times boasted in the July 5, 1916, edition.

The centerpiece of the celebration was the dedication of the citys sparkling new municipal building, the majestic, classical structure that cost $350,000 and was billed by the newspaper as the temple of justice. Gov. Henry C. Stuart spoke at the dedication, and he was joined by Roanoke Mayor Charles Broun and other assorted business and political power brokers.

A headline in the Times called the celebration the Greatest Day in History of The Magic City.

But a sense of unease filled the air along with the waving flags. The European war, well into its third year with no victor apparent, was on the minds of many Americans who wondered whether the United States should join Britain and its allies in the conflict.

America Celebrates Independence Day While War Clouds Throw Their Shadows on Stars and Stripes, a Times headline stated.

By the time July 4 rolled around the next year, the United States would be fully involved in World War I. Virginia-born President Woodrow Wilson asked Congress to declare war on Germany in the spring of 1917, which it did on April 6. Hundreds of Roanoke soldiers would see action in some of the fiercest campaigns in France, including the bloody battle in the Argonne Forest. Nearly 100 men from the Roanoke Valley would not make it home.

Adding to Roanokers worries on July 4, 1916, was the crisis on the Mexican border, where members of the National Guards Roanoke-based Company F of the 2nd Virginia Infantry had been sent just a week earlier. Mexico was engulfed in a civil war that occasionally spilled across the border into Texas and New Mexico. President Wilson sent the National Guard to capture or kill Mexican bandit and revolutionary Francisco Pancho Villa, who earlier in the year had led a raid against the town of Columbus, New Mexico, that left 18 American civilians and military personnel dead.

Company F patrolled the border until the next spring  when it would be sent to France.

As the possibility of war loomed both in Europe and along the Mexican border, Roanokers put on their patriotic display for the Fourth of July.

The celebration began with a parade at 10 a.m. that followed a winding path along Jefferson Street, up Church Avenue and on to Campbell Avenue, where it finished at the new municipal building.

An automobile carrying the governor and the mayor led the parade, followed by Spanish-American War veterans and a newly formed company of volunteers that was part of the Virginia Coast Guard Artillery. Next was the Norfolk & Western Band.

A host of civic and fraternal groups followed, a roster that included Boy Scouts, Pythians, Woodmen of the World, Sons and Daughters of Liberty, members of the Loyal Order of the Moose and labor unions. A group of Syrian-Americans (later to be known as citizens of Lebanese heritage) marched ahead of the Vinton band, firefighters, children and Civil War veterans that included old men from both the North and the South. Several of the groups rode along in patriotic floats.

The Roanoke Times reported that 5,000 people marched in the parade and 50,000 watched  a total that would have exceeded Roanokes population at the time.

The city hall speeches included an address by Gov. Stuart, a Wytheville native and grandson of Confederate cavalryman Jeb Stuart, whose legislative claims to fame were less than exemplary. In 1902, as a delegate to Virginias state constitutional convention, Stuart supported provisions that helped to deny blacks the right to vote. Later, as governor, he called for the referendum that led to the ban of alcohol in Virginia a year before Prohibition became a national law.

After the city hall speeches, the days events concluded with a patriotic ceremony at the Roanoke Auditorium that featured more speeches, prayers and a crowd sing-along of America. One speaker issued a call to manhood, imploring the audience for service, patience, financial support and undying patriotism as America faced potential international calamities and entanglements.

The world is at war, one speaker noted, adding that if the United States entered, it would not be due to malice born of European sympathies, but, as our president says, because the fire of truth and justice flashes from our sword.

A year later, America would be fully entangled in the war, and Roanoke men would be dying far from home. Following the flag-waving pageantry of July 4, 1916, the Fourth of July in 1917 would be far less boisterous and celebratory.

Independence Day passed quietly, the papers reported. No one, it seemed, was in the mood for a party.
YORKSHIRE MEPs Jane Collins and Mike Hookem have praised the work of Nigel Farage following his resignation as UKIP leader today, saying: His vision has brought independence back to the British people.



Ms Collins, who stood for election as Rotherhams MP last year, and Mr Hookem said in a statement: Nigel has achieved his goal and allowed the British people a voice once again.



Nigel Farages tenacity and belief in a Britain free of Brussels has contributed more to our democracy and the empowerment of the British people than any other political leader in the last 20 years.



Over the years, and through a constant hail of criticism and personal attack, he has taken the theory of Brexit from something which used to be debated in hushed tones, and made it into a political reality.



Nigels fight for British independence has not come without significant personal cost, including giving up his business, forgoing time with his young family, and even having to cope with threats to his safety.



He should be credited and celebrated as a man of deep principle; who tenaciously stuck by his principles when others would have given up, and for that alone, he deserves official recognition.



The pair said they hoped Mr Farage would remain actively involved in the party and British politics.
Western funds are willing to spend $ 450 million for half of issued shares

By Anatoli Dzhumaylo and Pavel Aksenov

(kommersant.ru) - As the Kommersant Daily came to know, the preliminary price of the 10.9% stake in ALROSA to be floated could reach RUB 57 billion ($ 889 million). Three minority shareholding funds, OppenheimerFunds, Lazard and Genesis, may become anchor investors, according to Kommersants sources, as they are willing to spend about $ 450 million to buy a 5.5% stake in the diamond miner. Russia-based non-state pension funds are being pro-actively attrated to take part in the companys SPO, including the funds of the placement organizers, which are Sberbank and VTB. The decision regarding this equity offering is to be made this week at a meeting with Igor Shuvalov, First Deputy Prime Minister.

Long-term investors, which have given prior consent to participate in the SPO of ALROSA on the Moscow Stock Exchange, may accumulate 70% to 100% of the 10.9% stake in ALROSA placed by the Federal Property Management Agency, as Interfax informed on Friday citing two sources close to the deal. According to these sources, ALROSAs portfolio investors, including OppenheimerFunds and Lazard, confirmed their desire to participate. It is not expected that non-state pension funds will be pushful in taking part in this deal, said a source of Interfax, adding that VTB and Sberbank, the placement organizers, are working with their retirees convincing them that ALROSA is a unique asset for the stock market."

According to Kommersants sources, the offering price being currently discussed for ALROSAs stock stands at 71 rubles per share and the 10.9% shareholding in the company is estimated at RUB 57 billion ($ 889 million). On Friday, the diamond miners stock closed at 68.5 rubles on the Moscow Stock Exchange, while in May it was traded at 72-73 rubles per share (peaking up to 78 rubles) and in June it averaged at 70 rubles per share. The Kommersants sources say that three funds, which took part in the IPO of ALROSA in 2013 - OppenheimerFunds (owns a 3.05% stake in the company, according to Bloomberg), Lazard (0.99%) and Genesis (0.86%, part of AMG Group),  are to be anchor investors.

They say that each of them plans to buy out about $ 150 million worth of shares (that is, they can gain additionally a 1.84% interest each) and that the remaining stock can be bought by non-state pension funds and other funds. Another source of Kommersant insists that it is too early to speak about the price, as it will be defined during the book-building. According to this source, there is "a wide range of Russian and foreign institutional investors" interested in the shares of ALROSA.

"We are interested in the acquisition of shares in ALROSA, but the details of a possible transaction can be discussed after we have all the terms of this sale", Evgeny Yakushev, President of the European Pension Fund Board of Directors (Safmar Group) told Kommersant. "We will participate in case the terms are attractive and one of which is if ALROSA shares will be sold at a price not higher than the market," Nikolay Sidorov, CEO of Buduschee, a non-state pension fund said. Kirill Dmitriev, the head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (which bought a stake in ALROSA taking part in its IPO in 2013, but sold it this year) spoke of his funds "significant interest" towards the diamond miners SPO "together with foreign partners." The Ministry of Economy, ALROSA, OppenheimerFunds and Lazard declined to comment, while the Finance Ministry and AMG did not respond to the inquiry of Kommersant.

On June 28, 2016, Igor Bulantsev, the acting head of Sberbank CIB (which is the Russian governments adviser on ALROSAs SPO) stated that "so far, there are no changes in the plans to carry out the deal involving ALROSA in July." The sources of Kommersant say that as early as this week, First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov will hold a meeting on this subject and if Sberbank will confirm available solid demand for at least 70% of the companys SPO, he can issue a resolution saying the placement is advisable, after which the organizers will launch an accelerated book-building. This will allow new investors and those who will build up their block of shares during the SPO to earn on dividends from ALROSA for 2015 (the shareholder register will close on July 19, 2016), said one of the Kommersant sources. The dividend policy of the company requires payment of 35% of its net profit, but this year, ordered by the government, ALROSA will pay 50% of its profits for the last year, or RUB 15.39 billion. The administration of Igor Shuvalov and that of Sberbank CIB declined to comment.

Sergey Donskoy of Societe Generale said that the proposed offering price of ALROSA at 71 rubles per share "allows investors to bargain for a decline in price," because it implies a small discount to the quotations in May and June. Societe Generale sees potential growth in the value of ALROSAs securities to 85 rubles per share in the spring of 2017. Oleg Petropavlovsky of BCS indicates that the price of 71 rubles per share is close to the expectations already voiced by the Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Economy with regard to this placement (more than RUB 50 billion and about RUB 60 billion, respectively). It is a good price for anchor investors, the analyst says: BCS estimated that ALROSA shares have an upside of 20-30%, if the situation in the diamond market will not deteriorate.

In the opinion of Mr. Donskoy, there will be no such volatility in diamond prices in 2016-2017 as in 2015, because diamond and jewelry manufacturers cleared their inventories of excessive rough. However, he reminds that ALROSA reduced its production plans for 2016 from 39 million to 37 million carats and the prospects for higher diamond output in 2017, as well as higher dividends will depend on how well the company will be able to reduce stockpiles. From the standpoint of long-term strategy pursued by the company, there should be no surprises awaiting investors: the initiatives to attract ALROSA to creating a diamond-cutting cluster in the Far East or to take part in the development of the Sukhoi Log gold field look like being introduced from the outside, not initiated by the companys management. Oleg Petropavlovsky agrees that ALROSA should not change its strategy significantly: keeping this strategy intact was the basis for agreements on joining the company by Western funds.




To curb entry of fly-by-night operators and minimize default cases, the diamond traders in Varachha and Mahidharpura in Surat (the diamond cutting centre of India) have unanimously decided to form an association, according to a Times of India report.

A meeting in this connection was held at the Mahidhapura diamond market 28/6/2016, regarding formation of an association and working out the plan for both the diamond markets. They also decided to close down their daily trade after 7 pm.

The Surat Diamond Association has been advocating since couple of years to close down the markets before 7 pm, since the late hours were attracting fly-by-night operators.

The safe deposit vaults in the markets shut shops in the evening. However, the valuable stocks received by the traders during the late night dealing remains in the office locker, which is very unsafe.

Sources said that the diamond traders are preparing to form an association to deal with the issues concerning the police and the default cases.



Aruna Gaitonde, Editor-in-Chief of Asian Bureau, Rough&Polished




Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited (TKPHF.PK) and Altos Therapeutics LLC jointly announced the companies have entered into a definitive agreement to further the development of Altos's proprietary compound ATC-1906.

Additionally, the agreement includes an exclusive option for Takeda to acquire Altos beginning on the date of the agreement and continuing for a period of time following the completion of ongoing Phase 1 studies of ATC-1906. The parties envision future development of ATC-1906 for the treatment of gastroparesis (GP) and its symptoms.

GP is a chronic gastric motility disorder characterized by delayed gastric emptying. Symptoms include early satiety, post-prandial fullness, nausea, vomiting, and abdominal discomfort. Diabetic gastroparesis and idiopathic gastroparesis have high unmet need.

Altos Therapeutics, a single asset company, is developing the ATC-1906 compound as an oral dopamine D2/D3 receptor antagonist that addresses the symptoms of nausea and vomiting in GP patients.

As part of the agreement, Takeda will provide Altos an upfront payment for the option to acquire Altos. If Takeda elects to exercise the option, Takeda would make an additional payment to acquire Altos, and would then assume control over development and commercialization of ATC-1906. Altos would be eligible to receive additional payments linked to clinical development and achievement of key commercial milestones. No further details of the agreement were disclosed.

In patients with GP, the activation of dopamine receptors drives an emetic response, also commonly known as vomiting. Altos & Takeda will seek to develop ATC-1906 and its dopamine receptor antagonist mechanism of action as an alternative treatment to target the symptoms of nausea and vomiting to relieve patient suffering with an improved safety profile.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Business News
Romania's producer prices continued to decline in May, figures from the National Institute of Statistics showed Monday.

The producer price index slid 2.8 percent year-over-year in May, following a 2.9 percent decrease in the previous month. The measure has been falling since October 2014.

Among the main industrial groups, energy prices dipped the most by 10.5 percent in May, followed by intermediate goods industry with 3.4 percent fall.

Prices in the domestic market dropped 3.2 percent annually in May and foreign market prices went down by 1.8 percent.

On a monthly basis, producer prices rose 0.3 percent in May, after remaining flat in April.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Economic News

What parts of the world are seeing the best (and worst) economic performances lately? Click here to check out our Econ Scorecard and find out! See up-to-the-moment rankings for the best and worst performers in GDP, unemployment rate, inflation and much more.
Two wheeler rivals TVS Motors and Bajaj Auto face each other at the Madras High Court with TVS Motors blaming Bajaj Auto over disparaging advertisement campaign. The advertisements which were run in Tamil Nadu compared the TVS XL100 with the Bajaj CT100 in terms of fuel efficiency which TVS Motors claims is based on false figures.

In the 2-week interim injunction order, the court further restrains the respondents from continuing with the advertisement of comparing fuel efficiency figures of TVS XL100 with that of Bajaj CT100.

A total of 9 dealer advertisements were circulated in Tamil Nadu while the court order was filed by TVS Motors 9 days ago. The court order is based on the fact that not only has Bajaj Auto inflated the fuel efficiency of their own product but pointed out the comparison with the applicants product, claiming that the fuel efficiency of the applicants product is less than 50% of their own Bajaj CT100.

This TVS Motors claims is false and while a rival company is permitted to puff up their own products, denigrating a rival product is not within the purview of the law. While the court asserts that all advertisement campaigns should be within reasonable limits, the order adds that the issue will be dealt with in further detail following the counter claim filed by Bajaj Auto.

This is not the first time TVS and Bajaj are fighting in the court. Back in 2008 the two had met in the court over patent dispute. Bajaj had claimed that TVS had copied their DTSi technology. In 2009, Madras Court settled the case in favour of TVS.

Update  Bajajs press statement

CT100 has been a hit since its launch and Bajaj garnered a 35% national market share in the entry motorcycle segment. The success was even sharper in Tamil Nadu, where a 52% market share was achieved in April to December 2015. Fuel efficiency has been a very strong USP for CT100.

To penetrate further, CT100B was launched at an attractive price point in December 2015. Given that CT100B is an entry level motorcycle, its target customers naturally included the discerning moped customers as well.

In the testing done in IDC cycle, CT100B returns a high fuel efficiency of 99 kmpl as compared to TVS XL that has a fuel efficiency of 67 kmpl (as claimed in the Company website). The real life fuel efficiency substantially varies from the fuel efficiency under Indian Driving Cycle test conditions.

Moreover, customers at large would associate better with the fuel efficiency that they experience in real life, rather than results based on lab test conditions.

After taking relevant customer feedback, the Company deployed a Sales promotion comparing TVS XL moped and CT100B, in terms of the real life mileage numbers.

TVS has taken offence to our advertisements by stating that it allegedly disparages their mopeds and has filed a Civil Suit in the Chennai High Court. The Honble Court has, whilst permitting us to file our detailed response in 2 weeks passed an interim order, temporarily restraining us from continuing with our aforesaid advertisement for a period of two weeks

When the matter comes up, we will make our detail pleadings before the court in support of our advertisements defending that the advertisement issued by us was neither disparaging or denigrating TVSs product/s but were merely a reflection of the customers experience as disclosed to us.

TVS XL  Photos
Millennial Moms Review: 2022 Acura MDX is pretty close to the perfect family car

I dont know if perfect is attainable, especially considering weve got the world of options when it comes to modern vehicles. Were spoiled and, as such, we have very specific needs and wants. Driving-wise, the 2022 Acura MDX is one of my favourite ...
The Islamic State group on Sunday repelled an advance by U.S.-backed forces on one of its main bastions in northern Syria, seizing back territory it had previously lost, Syrian activists and the extremist group said.

The group said its fighters infiltrated villages and mountains near the IS-held town of Manbij that were seized last month by the Syrian Democratic Forces, a Kurdish-dominated group aided by U.S. special forces that also includes Arab fighters.

In a statement carried by the IS-run Aamaq news agency, the group said a fighter driving a car packed with explosives struck a gathering of Kurds amid clashes in the northwestern part of Manbij.

Manbij, which lies on a key supply line from Turkey to the group's de facto capital of Raqqa, has been encircled by the SDF for weeks. Heavy clashes were taking place inside.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also reported the IS counteroffensive. The Britain-based group, which relies on a network of activists on the ground, reported heavy clashes accompanied by U.S.-led airstrikes and a series of explosions that shook the town, which it attributed to IS suicide operations.

Meanwhile, the Syrian Arab Red Crescent said its convoy came under fire while on its way back from a mission to deliver humanitarian aid to a rebel-held suburb of the Syrian capital, and that one of its staffers was "hit." In a statement issued Sunday, it said one of the cars in the convoy was shot at, adding that the car was clearly marked.

The convoy delivered aid Saturday to the besieged areas of Zamalka, Erbeen and west Harasta in the eastern suburb known as Eastern Ghouta.

Also Sunday, Syrian President Bashar Assad issued a presidential decree forming a new government following parliament elections held in April.

Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem, Interior Minister Ibrahim al-Shaar and Defense Minister Fahd Jassem al-Freij kept their posts. Adib Mayalleh, the former central bank governor, was named minister of economy and foreign trade.

April's elections were held in government-controlled parts of the country and rejected by the opposition and its Western backers as a sham.

Earlier this month, Assad appointed Electricity Minister Imad Khamis, a member of his Baath party, as prime minister-designate tasked with forming a government.

-AP
Dear Editor,

Re: Brexit: What does in mean for Samoa

A country like Samoa with a population of less than 200,000 people will never be badly disadvantaged by events happening on the other side of the world.

In fact, having Brexit is a blessing in disguise for Samoa because we now have more opportunities to get more foreign aid - its one of the building blocks of Samoas government.

Maybe the Commonwealth Secretariat will also get more funds and then they will properly address the shortcomings of N.P.O in Samoa.

The possibilities are endless, one things for sure though is that the majority of foreign aid are from governments around the region like China, Japan, New Zealand, Australia and foreign loans from regional banking institutions like A.D.B.

So Samoa is pretty safe to say the least, dont forget also the hundreds of millions of dollars in remittances every year from Samoans overseas so everything will be A OK for Stui and his gang of politicians - except Lautafi Fio Purcell, he is a God fearing Christian and the only white rose of the bunch.

P.M.L




A girl claiming to be carrying the marks of Jesus Christs suffering is being used by God to send a message to Samoa. As such, people must be careful not to dismiss her claims.

So believes the Chairman of the National Council of Churches, Deacon Kasiano Leaupepe, when his opinion was sought about the latest development in this matter.

Two weeks ago, it emerged that Toaipuapuaga Opapo Soana'i, the daughter of an E.F.K.S Minister, was getting messages in the Hebrew language. Asked for his opinion, Deacon Kasiano said people are entitled to believe what they want to believe.

People will always have different opinions on the stigmata case because for some of them its something new, he said. In the Catholic Church, this is not new to us because for the past years, things like this happen to members of the Catholic Church not only in Samoa but around the world.

Personally, I believe that through these signs, there is a big message that comes with it. I believe God is using Toa to deliver the message to Samoa.

What that message is, Deacon Leaupepe did not say. But he believes that it is a sign that Jesus Christ is coming back soon. Only God can do these kinds of miracles, he said.

The devil cannot do such things. We have all seen and heard about Toas testimony and the suffering that she has endured just to send the message out to the people from God. The reason why there is a lot of negativity towards this is because people do not believe in it.

The Chairman went on to say that if Toa was a member of the Catholic church, no one would have an issue.

But because when it came through Toa, people really came out and said what they had in their minds. We should all be reminded that God could use anyone, even a little child to send his message to the world.

He can do that. Why is it so hard for our people to believe in this then? I just dont understand. He is using Toa as His messenger so we should respect that and believe it.

We all heard her testimony and where God had taken her so what more do we want? What other signs do we need to see in order for us to believe? God did not sent his message to someone that will just sit there and not go out to the world to spread the word.

He gave his message to a person He knew will not be afraid to spread the good news despite what people may say. Deacon Leaupepe applauded Toas courage and thanked her family for always being supportive.

She is not afraid, he said. Look at it, people have said so many things but she is still continuing to do what God has told her to do. God has chosen her to be His messenger because He can see that Toa has a big heart and she will be perfect for His work.
The Minister of Communications and Information Technology (M.C.I.T), Afamasaga Rico Tupai, was not informed by Bluesky about its parent company, Amper SAs plan to sell its South Pacific business to a Fijian company.

Contacted for a comment yesterday, Afamasaga told the Samoa Observer the sale was news to him. Im not aware of it, he said. Ill find out and will speak to you about it after.

Amper SA owns 75 per cent of Bluesky Samoa while the other 25 per cent is owned by the government through the Unit Trust of Samoa (U.T.O.S). Last week, U.T.O.S. Chief Executive Officer, Sau Justina Sau, told the Samoa Observer they were only told through Google Alert.

At this time, we cannot provide any comments on this matter, said Sau. Except to say that were only made aware when the Bluesky Pacific C.E.O emailed us the Google Alert yesterday (Thursday). On Sunday, Bluesky Samoa confirmed the plan by Amper to sell its business to Amalgamated Telecom Holdings (A.T.H.).

In a statement issued by the Bluesky Samoas Chief Commercial Officer, Sanjeewa Perera, it confirmed that Amper and A.T.H have started the negotiations.

Blueskys parent company Amper SA released a statement on Wednesday 29th June, 2016 announcing it has signed a non-binding letter of intent to divest its South Pacific holdings to Fijian group, Amalgamated Telecom Holdings (A.T.H), the statement said.

The strong performance of Bluesky Pacific Group operations in American Samoa, Samoa, New Zealand and Cook Islands has attracted the attention of key telecom operators in the region such as A.T.H.

According to Bluesky Samoa, the intention of both parties is to engage in dialogue regarding a potential acquisition. These discussions have now commenced. A potential acquisition is subject to agreement by the parties on price, terms of acquisition and regulatory approvals.

Bluesky fully supports its parent companys decision to explore this opportunity and is involved in the discussions to ensure the best commercial decision is made not only for Amper SA and Bluesky Pacific Group operations, but also for its existing local investors, customers and community.

Bluesky Samoa is part of the Bluesky Pacific Group, which is regional telecommunications group, with its companies providing Fixed Line, Mobile, Broadband and I.P.T.V services to consumers in American Samoa, Samoa, New Zealand and Cook Islands.
Pune, India -- (SBWIRE) -- 07/04/2016 -- The report "Road Marking Materials Market by Type (Performance-Based Markings and Paint-Based Markings), Application (Road Markings, Factory Markings, Car Park Markings, Airport Markings, & Anti-Skid Markings), & Region - Global Forecast to 2020", This report defines and segments the road marking materials market and provides analysis and forecast of the market size.



Browse 130 market data tables and 50 figures spread through 165 pages and in-depth TOC on "Road Marking Materials Market - Global Forecast to 2020"

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The global road marking materials market size is projected to reach USD 5.87 Billion at a CAGR of 5.5% by 2020. This growth is fueled by the increase in infrastructure activities, and the need for road safety.



Road Marking: The largest application segment in road marking materials market



The purpose of road markings is to provide information to the commuters. These markings serve as a psychological barrier and signify the delineation of traffic path. Road markings are defined as lines, patterns, words, or objects for controlling, warning, guiding, and informing the pedestrians. They are classified as longitudinal markings, transverse markings, object markings, word messages, marking for parking, marking at hazardous locations, and such others. Thermoplastics, cold plastics, solvent-based paints, and polyurethane-based paints are commonly used for road markings.



Paint-based marking segmentThe largest market for road marking materials, by type



Paint-based marking is the oldest category utilized in road markings. The category generates the highest demand due to its retro-reflective glass beads, generally used to denote travel lanes or mark parking spaces. However, it offers less brightness and lower performance in terms of adhesion to substrates. Epoxy-based, polyurethane-based, solvent-based, and water-based paints are the subtypes of paint-based road markings.



For more Info Speak to Our Analyst @ http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/speaktoanalyst.asp?id=13285598



Epoxy-based paints generally consist of two materials: pigment and binder. These are slow drying and durable traffic marking paints intended for use on highways.

Solvent-based paints are based on acrylic resins that are dissolved in organic solvents like esters or ketones. The expected service life on a side-line marking is only 6 to 12 months.



Water-based paints are based on acrylic resins. Due to low content of organic solvent, the impact of water-based paints on human health and environment is significantly less than that of solvent-based paints.



Asia-Pacific  The largest market for road marking materials



Asia-Pacific is the largest market for road marking materials with major developments witnessed in China, Japan, South Korea, and India. The market in Asia-pacific accounted for the largest share of the road marking materials market, in terms of value in 2014. With advanced technological developments and heavy investments in infrastructure development, the market in Asia-Pacific is expected to remain the largest and the fastest-growing market till 2020. . This high growth is attributed to growing infrastructure activities in countries such as China, India, South Korea, and Japan.



Major players such as Geveko Marking (Sweden), The Sherwin Williams Company (U.S.), Aximum S.A. (France), Swarco Limburger Lackfabrik GmbH (Germany), Kelly Bros Erinline (Ireland), Ennis Flint (U.K.), and Ozark Materials LLC (U.S.) have been profiled in the research report.



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This report covers the market, by value and volume, for road marking materials and the forecast period considered is 2015-2020. The report includes the market segmentation by application, type, and region. It also provides company profiles and competitive strategies adopted by the major market players in the global road marking materials market.



Browse Related Reports:



Paints & Coatings Market by Resin Type (Acrylic, Alkyd, Epoxy, Polyurethane, Polyester, & Others), by Technology (Waterborne, Solvent Borne, High Solids, Powder & Others), by Application (Architectural & Paints) - Global Forecasts to 2020

http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/paint-coating-market-156661838.html



Polymer Emulsion Market by Type (Acrylics, Polyurethane Dispersions, SB Latex, Vinyl acetate Polymer and Others), by Application (Adhesives & Sealants, Paints & Coatings, Paper & Paperboard, and Others) - Trends & Forecasts to 2020

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Zigong, Sichuan -- (SBWIRE) -- 07/03/2016 -- The Company is the professional manufacturer of dinosaur costumes in China, with the client base around the world, including major amusement parks, zoos, exhibition centers and others.



They specialize in producing an incredible dinosaur suit range that can offer a real fun and excitement to the visitors at any park or zoo. The costume is available in different sizes with up to 25kg of weight. The costume has been designed to make body movements with synchronized sound that appear more real. The common movements are blinking of eyes, opening of the mouth, swaying tail and others. The costume comes installed with a camera and a video screen display for the costume wearer to make easy movements to enthrall the audience present around him/her.



The company designs the realistic dinosaur costume in a manner that gives a performer an easy control on the movements of the dinosaur suit. Any performer can perform up to 30 minutes and more, making vivid movements that can enthrall audience of all ages. The company supplies learning videos for a performer to quickly learn about using the costumes and making desired movements without any hassles. One can learn everything in about two weeks time and can start performing, wearing the costume.



A walking dinosaur costume can be a fun thing for people in amusement parks, public parks, malls, theme parks and other places. The China Company provides comprehensive designs to meet the requirements of their customers. They can customize the robotics with Chinese, Japanese and other motors. Other customization options include choosing from different plugs and system designs to suit the client requirements. They also offer installation and relocation services to meet the client needs, more specifically.



With their new dinosaur costume with 9 kinds of movements, the company aims at reaching a new customer base. These costumes are better designed with advanced robotics that gives an enhanced control on the body part movements. To learn more about their modern dinosaur suits and costumes, one can visit the website http://www.dinosaursuit.com/.



About Zigong Chuangying Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd.

Zigong Chuangying Intelligent Technology Company is located in the National High-Tech Industrial Zone of Zigong City, Sichuan Province, China. The company covers an area of over 3000 square meters and currently employs more than 110 staffs. The company's core technology team is composed of some top talents having at least 12 years of relevant working experience. The company specializes in designing, manufacturing, exhibiting and renting of Animatronic Dinosaur, Artificial Animal, Dinosaur fossil, Dinosaur costume, Dinosaur ride, Dinosaur skeleton, and fiberglass sculptures.



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[JAKARTA] The forest fires in Indonesia last year released 11.3 million tonnes of carbon per day, exceeding the daily rate of 8.9 million tonnes of carbon emissions from the whole of the European Union, a study says.

The 2015 fires were the worst since 1997 when a strong El Nino also fanned widespread fires, says the study published in Scientific Reports, which was a collaboration between scientists in Kings College London and the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR).

The practice of burning in Sumatra and Kalimantan, exacerbated by extended drought associated with El Nino, released 857 million tonnes of carbon dioxide from September to October 2015, which was 97 per cent of annual carbon emissions in Indonesia.

Every year, the global atmospheric CO 2 concentration is rising, and in 2015 it rose more than any other year since measurements began. Martin Wooster, Kings College London

Martin Wooster, one of the studys authors and an earth observation science professor at Kings College London, says the data produced from the study were based on satellite observation and on-site measurement of the air in Palangkaraya, the capital city of Central Kalimantan province which experienced the thickest smog during the 2015 fires.

There have been some isolated studies before where people artificially set fires in the lab to try to understand the chemical characteristics of peatland fire smoke in Indonesia. But no one had done this for natural fires, and especially not on the kind of extreme fires seen in 2015. We are the first people to do that, says Wooster.

The methodology of Woosters team has resulted in more reliable data compared to previous studies. On-site measurement found that the smog was composed mainly of carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide and methane.

Wooster believes their study is more than enough to prod the Indonesian government to take serious steps in overcoming the problem because its impact has been severe and life-threatening.

Every year, the global atmospheric CO 2 concentration is rising, and in 2015 it rose more than any other year since measurements began. The governments are very aware of the issue, primarily because carbon dioxide was released along with smoke that greatly impacted the air quality of the [South-East Asian] region, not only of Indonesia, he says.

Wooster notes the particulates in the atmosphere in some parts of Indonesia reached more than five times the hazardous levels, reducing visibility to a few hundred metres in places.

Sugarin, head of the Climatic and Meteorological Agency (BMKG) station in Riau, Sumatra, admits that the Indonesian government is now more serious in tackling the issue although he says El Nino will not come again this year, and the dry season will not bring severe drought as well.

He says Riau province is now in a state of emergency alert for peatland fires, with 15 hotspots under watch. This means the central government is ready to send helicopters for water bombings although there are not many hotspots found.

We are ready for the worst case this year even though it is unlikely that the same catastrophe will happen again, says Sugarin.



This piece was produced by SciDev.Nets South-East Asia & Pacific desk.


The government of El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras have teamed up to provide farmers with better technologies to prepare for future El Nino cycles in dry areas.



At a UN meeting in Rome , Italy, on 30 June, ministers from the three countries said technology access was crucial to build resilience in Central Americas dry corridor, which experiences unusual levels of drought during El Nino events. Together with the UN, the ministers aim to introduce farmers to innovative water conservation methods, more suitable crops and better weather monitoring technologies  to be deployed during an El Nino phase.



We need to change the traditional response strategy and not settle for simply mounting a humanitarian response every time an emergency situation occurs. Jose Graziano da Silva, UNs Food and Agriculture Organization

The dry corridor, which runs along the Pacific coast of Central America, suffers severe rainfall depletion during El Nino events, which occur when warm water pools in the Pacific Ocean off the Peruvian coast.



At the Rome meeting, UN representatives said that better preparation would reduce the level of poverty created by long El Nino spells.



We need to change the traditional response strategy and not settle for simply mounting a humanitarian response every time an emergency situation occurs, said Jose Graziano da Silva, the director-general of the UNs Food and Agriculture Organization.



Last years El Nino, one of the largest ever observed, is only just receding and the dry corridor region is still suffering from severe food shortages. According to the UN, 44 municipalities in Honduras had to receive emergency food supplies, while smallholder farmers in Guatemala lost between 50 and 75 per cent of their staple grains.



You might also like El Nino leaves hunger in its wake

El Nino and fighting leave 80 million in food crisis

Focus on Disability: Kids at risk from El Nino The meeting attendees agreed that climate change is worsening El Ninos impacts on the region, as droughts have become more prolonged and there is less time in between El Nino events to build up sufficient food stocks. The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), a Rome-based UN funding organisation, said it would support the governments of El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras with money for better weather monitoring. At the meeting, IFAD representatives urged governments to set up data centres and increase research on more-accurate forecasting techniques.

We need to acknowledge that climate change will continue to exacerbate these extreme weather events, said Kanayo Nwanze, the president of IFAD. The only way to ensure future food security in the region is to invest in long-term development to help people be more resilient to shocks.
It's no surprise that sleeping has always been known as something that is good for the health. However, according to research, daytime sleeping, also known as a catnap or a siesta, could improve the health of a person's heart, can boost the memory, and enhance creativity.

According to The Guardian, researchers at Allegheny College in Pennsylvania have discovered that a short nap can help lower the blood pressure after a stressful situation. Author and chief executive of The Energy Project, Tony Schwartz wrote in The New York Times, "No single behavior has more power to influence overall well-being and productivity; I've come to believe, than additional sleep, assuming you don't currently get enough." He goes on to note that short naps can be a powerful and highly efficient way to temporarily compensate for an inadequate night's sleep.

Tree Hugger also reported that most experts recommended taking 10-20 minutes nap. Anything longer than that can lead to "sleep inertia" which is a deep state of grogginess that is hard to snap out of.

Studies have shown that napping for 10- 20 minutes provides a boost in memory. In one study, researchers had their participants nap regularly for 10-, 20-, and 30- minute periods and found that it improved their performance during cognitive tests of memory conducted in the next two and a half hours. However, those that napped for more than 20 minutes were groggy.

Other studies also revealed that taking short naps lowers the blood pressure. A study published in the Journal of Applied Physiology discovered that "siesta" is directly related to a 37 percent decrease in coronary mortality, maybe because of a reduced cardiovascular stress related to daytime sleep. Although the researchers don't know if the benefit is from napping itself, or just the expectation of a nap, they figured that the decrease in blood pressure is probably the key factor in the decrease coronary mortality in those who take naps.

James Maas and Rebecca Robbins, co-founders of Sleep for Success, wrote in The New York Times that the mind loves a nap. According to them, napping during the daytime can "enhance creative thinking, boost cognitive processing, improve memory recall and generally clear out the cobwebs."

"You can get incredible benefits from 15 to 20 minutes of napping," she says. "You reset the system and get a burst of alertness and increased motor performance. That's what most people really need to stave off sleepiness and get an energy boost," said Sara C. Mednick, PhD, sleep expert and author of Take a Nap! Change Your Life.
Scientists from the Universities of Bristol and Newcastle discovered an enzyme in a bacterium called Verrucosispora maris that lives at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean that could lead to the development of novel antibiotics and other medical treatments.

Dr. Paul Race, from BrisSynBio, which is a BBSR/EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre at the University of Bristol and the School of Biology at Newcastle University, stated that they found an enzyme known as AbyU, in a bacterium called Verrucosispora Maris (V.maris) that lives on the seabed of the Pacific Ocean. The Maris makes use of the AbyU enzyme to biosynthesize a molecule known as abyssomicin C, which has potent antibiotic properties as reported by Eurekalert.

In the discovery, the researchers also showed that the Diels-Alder reaction, which is the most powerful chemical reactions known and is utilized extensively by synthetic chemists to create many significant molecules that include antibiotics, agrochemicals, and anti-cancer drugs, really exists. This chemical reaction is discovered by Nobel Prize-winning chemists Kurt Alder and Otto Diels.

Dr. Race explained that once they figured out how AbyU was able to make natural antibiotic, they were able to show that it could also perform the Diels-Alder reaction on other molecules that are hard to transform using synthetic chemistry. He further explained that they not only resolved the riddle of the natural Diels-Alderase but also shown that the enzyme can perform Diel-Alder reactions that are stimulating to achieve using synthetic chemistry. This study suggests new possibilities for making new useful molecules that could form the basis of new medicines, commodity chemicals and materials.

Verrucosispora Maris is a marine actinomycete that generates atrop-abyssomicin C and proximicin A, both of which have novel structures and modes of action. It was isolated from a deep marine sediment sample gathered from the East Sea (Sea of Japan). It yields unique polycyclic type 1 polyketide antibiotics, known as the abyssomicins, which are the first known natural product inhibitors of the para-aminobenzoic acid biosynthetic pathway. vancomycin-resistant. The strain also generates proximicin A, a furan analogue of netropsin with novel antitumor properties.
Florida has declared a state of emergency due to the blue-green algae outbreak on the Florida coastline. This causes the waterways and beaches of Florida to be flooded with toxic elements that affects the lives of the marine animals and triggers skin rashes.

Jordan Schwartz, the owner of the Ohana Surf Shop stated that the animals are in distress and some are dying, the smell is horrible. He further said that you have to wear a mask in the marina and the river. He described it as heartbreaking and there is no end in sight as noted by The Inertia.

Toxic Algae bloom in Florida

Animals are in distress, some are dying, the smell is horribl https://t.co/HJwaRy9mMZ pic.twitter.com/p7fYkBmHU9  news_sense (@owhy3) July 2, 2016

Florida Governor declared a state of emergency in St. Lucie, Martin counties, Lee and Palm Beach due to the algae problem on Thursday. The local politicians and the residents are blaming the federal government. Gabriella Ferraro, a spokeswoman for Martin County describe is as a guacamole-thick and it stinks. Likewise, Mary Radabaugh, a Martin County resident said that smell is so bad it will make you gag. She further said that they have red eyes and scratch throats and they can smell it in their office. She added that it is terrible, as noted by Reuters.

More on the very bad situation in Florida. https://t.co/ptMoWej4li  WAR-International. (@WildlifeAtRisk) July 4, 2016

The algae bloom started at Lake Okeechobee, which is the largest lake in Florida. It is used as a drinking water reservoir to a runoff repository for surrounding farmland. The algae bloom quickly spread to the surrounding beaches. It covered the whole lake and spilled in the estuary and into the ocean, according to CNN.

The Florida Department of Environmental Protection advises the people to steer clear of discolored water and not to use it to water their lawns. Some health concerns include respiratory problems and vomiting.
FLORENCE, S.C.  Ten years after being discharged from the Army, Joey Blackmon says he still struggles every day with his combat-related post traumatic stress disorder.

Blackmon, an Iraq War veteran, is among hundreds of thousands who suffer from PTSD due to traumatic experiences in combat; they may have been shot at, seen friends injured or killed, or saw death in some way. It should be noted, however, that you dont have to be in combat to develop PTSD, nor does everyone who goes through traumatic experiences develop the disorder.

People with PTSD deal with a wide range of symptoms, mostly tied to memory: they have flashbacks and nightmares, they avoid busy places and often times isolate themselves. They become more emotional in terms of angry outbursts or introspective and seem numb to outsiders. A certain smell or sound can easily take them back to their traumatic experience. Blackmon says this is just the start of a long list of challenges he faces with PTSD.

Its always gonna be there: the images, the people Ive lost, the  that Ive done, he said. Its never ever gonna be gone. I cant erase it from my mind.

Despite this, Blackmon says he would gladly go back into the military and therefore back into combat. He would do it in a heartbeat.

His calling

On Sept. 11, 2001, Blackmon was in his home economics class at South Stanly High School in Norwood, N.C. He was about to leave for his weekly Army Explorers meeting, a military cadet program for teenagers.

We were getting ready to leave and it come on the damn TV, he said, It kind of hit really hard like, Oh  we may be going. I was definitely scared. I was nervous.

A little over a month later, Blackmon signed his papers to join the Army. He says his decision to sign up had been made prior to 9/11. He had been already thinking of joining the military as a career.

For the rest of senior year, Blackmon continued in Army Explorers and started attending what he calls pre-basic. He trained on the obstacle courses with the National Guard at Ft. Bragg, he had weekly meetings with other Army Explorers, recruited other students and visited veterans homes. When graduation came he was ready to move on from high school and into basic training.

My recruiter was there; he got one of the tickets, said Blackmon. As soon as I graduated he looked at my mom and said, Hes no longer yours, hes our property now.

Within two months, Blackmon was heading to Ft. Leonard Wood in Missouri for basic training. He graduated in November 2002 and joined Alpha Company 105th, a combat engineer unit, out of Rockingham, N.C. By the end of the year his unit was given orders to go to Iraq. After a series of training sessions at other bases, his unit deployed. They entered Iraq in February 2004.

Blackmons unit traveled at night through Kuwait and into Iraq to Forward Operating Base Cobra, near the Iran border.

Whenever we finally made it to FOB Cobra it was quiet. I mean, I dont even know what time of the morning it was, he said. We were on high alert because we had been told this is our final place and its still a hot zone, we dont know who the  here. That night we got set up and had no problems. The next almost three months we got mortared every day.

Blackmon said that within weeks he was used to the mortars; it had become just another part of everyday life.

We would walk to the barriers, the T-barriers we would have to stand under to protect us, he said. Wed walk to them; it wouldnt even faze us anymore.

Blackmon was part of a route security clearance team for a unit of combat engineers working on infrastructure in the area. As a combat engineer, it was his job to help find hidden explosives along their route. On several occasions, he saw his comrades hit roadside bombs or get hit by other explosives. Eight months into his deployment he was in a convoy hit by an improvised explosive device.

Its just a  up way of living, but we lived it every single day, he said. You get used to it but you dont get used to it. Im not saying that we got complacent at all 'cuz if we did we wouldve died. And so to get complacent and normal in it, and we done that a few times, something would happen that would bring us back to reality: that we could lose another guy.

Blackmon says it was especially stressful not knowing who the enemy was.

One day youd be sitting there talking to one of the kids, and then the next day you find them down the road already blown up from building an IED and  it up. It was  stupid.

After 11 months, Blackmons first deployment wrapped up and he was heading back to the states. He was back less than three weeks before deploying with another unit.

I never made it to our welcome home ceremony, he said. I never got none of my flags or anything. I didnt get even get my combat action badge from my unit.

A National Guard unit from Gastonia needed volunteers for its Reconnaissance Tactics Team (RAT Team); Blackmon would be going back to Iraq as a route security clearance combat engineer.

I already knew how the life was there and I was used to it, he said, I was perfectly fine with it. I was like I have nothing to lose, I have nothing here. Im not married, I dont have kids, I dont have no attachments. All my friends are in the military, all my brothers and sisters are there, so I left again.

Blackmons second deployment took him to Balad, about 50 miles from Baghdad.

Although Blackmon thinks he developed PTSD during his first deployment, it wasnt until his second that he and others in his unit started noticing. He said that after flipping out on a sergeant six months into his deployment, he was sent to the battalion aid station. He was diagnosed with chronic PTSD and given him Klonopin, a prescription drug used to treat anxiety. After an accidental overdose, Blackmon was airlifted out of combat to Germany, and eventually back to Ft. Bragg for evaluation.

Fearing discharge for PTSD, Blackmon says, he lied to doctors and administrators, and tried to hide his symptoms.

I lied and told them nothing was wrong with me, absolutely nothing. I was fine; I was ready to go back.

After a few months back in Iraq, Blackmon was re-evaluated for PTSD but couldnt keep hiding it. He was given an administrative discharge and his military career was over.

Life after service

Blackmon was discharged at Ft. Dix in New Jersey in 2006. After living with a girlfriend in New York, he moved back to his hometown of Albemarle, North Carolina.

Blackmons transition back to civilian life wasnt smooth. He was homeless for almost five months; he hopped around from his friends houses, stayed with his aunt, or slept in his truck with his Doberman, Samara. He was taking drugs and drinking, getting in trouble with the law and couldnt keep a job.

I guess I didnt have a reason or motivation to even try to fix it, I was just rottin away. Everything around me I was causing to fall apart. Those were the times I wanted to commit suicide. I didnt care about living. I was at my lowest at that time, he said.

Blackmon says it was at this point that his PTSD really caught up with him. When he was in the military and deployed, he thinks, he was too busy to really notice it. Symptoms of PTSD like always being on high alert were just a part of daily life when he was in Iraq.

PSTD doesnt play into effect until you have to actually stop in life, he said, When youre in the military youre always active, always going; you dont have time to slow down and think about the  youve done. I feel normal in those types of situations. I dont feel normal here. Once you get out or are forced out, you walk away and all this PTSD, all this trauma that youve been lying about this whole time just hits you.

It was at this point that Blackmon met his wife, Erin. His buddies wanted him to go to Applebees for karaoke night. He wasnt really in the mood, but when his friend offered to pay for him he decided to tag along.

I was sitting at the bar and he walked in, said Erin Blackmon. He was bald-headed and tall and gorgeous and he sat beside me. We kind of went off from there.

The couple moved in together within the week. It took a while, however, for Erin to see Joeys struggles with PTSD. She had family in the military but the disorder wasnt discussed at all. She still remembers the first time she noticed something was wrong. They were sitting in the car, and when Joey went to kiss her goodbye, she accidentally revved up the engine.

The look on his face was just terror, she said, Like something was getting ready to happen. I didnt understand it and as time went on things got more heated; he was angry all the time about everything. I started to notice the signs of PTSD and how he was coping with it the wrong way. It was always anger and outbursts and rage, at anything and everybody.

Like many veterans, it took Blackmon a long time to reach out for help. It was almost two years after being discharged that he began going to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for its inpatient program.

Once Blackmon began sharing his experiences and talking to other veterans, things slowly began to turn around, but he still had his ups and downs.

I come to find out that it was almost like being high, he said. I would sit there and talk to them (veterans) all day at the VA and when Id come home I had a good day. Certain little things wouldnt piss me off as much because I was balling all that  up inside and not dealing with it.

To try and get a handle on Blackmon s anxiety, depression, mood swings and problems with sleep, the VA put him on a host of different medications. He said hes been prescribed 13 different types at once. It didnt work. Blackmon says he couldnt function on the medication; he couldnt hold a conversation, couldnt even communicate to simply say that he was hungry or needed to go to the bathroom. He had no recollection what happened the previous days or even what happened that morning.

It was unreal, he said. They were overmedicating me and not solving anything. I was losing everything: my health, my family, everything. I was just becoming numb. It wasnt I guess that I was losing it because I really didnt care what was happening.

It wasnt long before Erin took him back to the VA to readjust his medications and remove many from his prescription. Over the years he has weaned off the pills intended for mental issues, he now only takes medicine related to physical problems. He says pills were doing more harm than good.

One prescription that has been successful for Blackmon has been his PTSD service dog, a black German shepherd Chaos. He was at the VA for another round of the inpatient program when he stepped outside for a cigarette and saw veterans training with service dogs. He asked the instructor, Barbara Johnson, from Paws 4 Soldiers, about uses for a service dog and soon after began the process of obtaining one.

Chaos is tasked for a variety of behaviors to help Blackmon with his PTSD. First and foremost, she goes wherever he does. When she senses him getting worked up over something, she comes over and pushes up against him or licks his hand. She has jumped up on his chest to get in between him and whoever he is arguing with, and wakes him up when he is having nightmares.

Shell actually jump in front of me and pounce back on me and diverts my attention from whatevers making me stressed," he said. "She actually forces me to pay attention to her.

Although Chaos was a huge step forward for Blackmon in terms of recovery, he says his greatest source of therapy is helping other veterans with PTSD.

A reason for everything

Blackmon started Founding Patriots in 2014. He had started other groups in previous years, but Founding Patriots was the first to really take off. It began as a Facebook group where veterans and family members of veterans can reach out to get advice or vent regarding their struggles with PTSD. In the two years since it started, the group has gained almost 4,000 followers, developed an 11-person administrative team, became an official nonprofit organization, and expanded from being geared toward veterans to include first responders. They have helped people pay bills they cant afford, guided them through the process of receiving disability from the VA, and even often talk people down from taking their own lives.

If they call us directly its a stop what youre doing, find out whats going on, listening is the most important, said Erin. Most of them dont actually call us directly. Its somebody else saying I need your help, this persons not in a good way right now and they wont talk to me because Im a civilian.

Erin recalls long nights where Blackmon has been on the phone with police dispatch searching for a person, another time they spent days searching for a veteran who went missing and intended suicide, another time recently Blackmon was going back and forth on the phone between two veterans in different states threatening suicide.

Although it is stressful at times, Blackmon says, helping other veterans is his biggest drive in life. Not only does he find it therapeutic, but also he draws on experiences when he was at that low point in his life and others have stopped and helped him.

One of those instances was in 2013. Blackmon was sitting on a bridge thinking about committing suicide. He says he sat there for two hours as cars whizzed past him. Finally, someone stopped.

He goes, I drove by here goin to Walmart, youre still sittin here. Wanna talk about something? Whats going on with you? ... Im hungry; hop in the truck and well go get something to eat.

As Blackmon walked over to the passenger side of the truck, he noticed a Vietnam veteran hat by the windshield.

I walked to the front of the truck and seen it; he was a Vietnam vet, said Blackmon . It tore me up inside on the spot, right away.

Blackmon and the veteran went to a restaurant and talked for the next few hours. Blackmon told him what he was going through and the veteran shared his own experiences. After that, they went their separate ways.

I know his name but I never got his number and I would love to find him one day  I want him to know that his words and what we discussed changed a lot of things in my life, Blackmon said.

That was the last time he contemplated suicide.

Blackmon knows he has been that person for others, the one they can come to and talk in times of need.

In the Bible it says that were all born with a gift, that we accept that gift and learn what it is and go with it, he said. This is my gift, I wholeheartedly believe that  Thats 100 percent my main focus in life that helps me cope and gives me my drive back that I lost when I got out of the military. It fills that hole of hopelessness.

For now, Blackmon is in a good place. He has his family and a community of veterans and first responders that help him get through his day-to-day struggles. He will never be the same person he was prior to the military. He knows that he will always have PTSD, but he will also always be there to help other veterans. This is what gets him through tough times.

I believe theres a reason for everything," he said. "If I wouldnt have took this path of lookin out for myself and getting rehabilitation, opening up to my brotherhood and starting this, I wouldve probably been dead. I didnt kill myself the last two times I tried to commit suicide. Theres a reason for it, there just is. There are more options out there. Open up. Heal yourself first and open up to the possibility of livin into your gift.
Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc speaks at the working session with Kon Tum officials in Hanoi on July 3rd. (Photo: VNA)

At the working session in Hanoi, he asked the Central Highlands province to speed up agricultural restructuring by fostering the farming of livestock and crops it has strength in, along with applying high technology.

While Kon Tum, home to a large number of ethnic minorities, has to expand educational coverage to improve local intellectual level, it is necessary to ensure political security, and social order and safety in all circumstances.

Pointing out shortcomings the province has to deal with as soon as possible, the PM requested the local administration take measures to increase State budget revenue and boost poverty elimination. It must proactively gear up resources for building infrastructure, especially transport facilities which have yet to be on par with local development demand.

The PM also told Kon Tum to well enforce the Governments resolutions on business support, and to raise local residents material and spiritual life.

He highly valued its efforts to protect forests and cultivate rare herbal plants like Ngoc Linh ginseng, which is indigenous to this province, and profitable industrial plants such as coffee. The province has also well implemented the Party and States guidelines and policies on ethnic minority and religious affairs.

In the first half of 2016, local GDP was estimated at VND4.23 trillion (nearly USD190 million), a year-on-year hike of 5.03 percent. Industrial production was valued at VND2.13 trillion (USD95.6 million), while total retail sales of goods and services were VND6.82 trillion (USD306.3 million), respectively up 8 percent and 12.4 percent from a year earlier. The province raked in USD32 million in export revenue, representing 49.2 percent of the annual target.

Notably, Kon Tum has successfully grown almost 74,780ha of rubber trees, 180ha of Ngoc Linh ginseng, and about 50ha of winter vegetables and flowers.

However, drought between January and June caused water shortages on over 4,190ha of rice, other crops and industrial trees, resulting in damage worth over VND157 billion (USD7 million). More than 12,640 families lacked water for daily use.

At the working session, PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc agreed on the construction of a highway linking Bo Y border gate (adjacent to Laos), Ngoc Hoi district (bordering Laos and Cambodia), and Pleiku city to boost transport capacity and economic growth./.
Using the new generation 189-seater Boeing 737- 800 aircraft, every Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday, flights will depart at Seoul at 13h15 and arrive at Da Nang at 15h55 (local time), while the returning flight will depart at Da Nang at 16h45 and arrive at Seoul at 23h20 (local time).









Photos: Internet

The new route offers a flexible time-table and acceptable price, and should help passengers have a new choice for travelling.

Korean people love Da Nang for its sight-seeing places and luxury coastal resorts.

This direct route also contributes to promote the image of Da Nang to international friends, as well as to expand cooperation in trade and culture between the two nations.

Head-quartered in Seoul, T'way Air has branches in the Southeast Asia region connecting the Republic of Korea to Japan, China, Thailand, Taiwan (China) and Vietnam./.
The new name of the company has been pre-approved by the State Administration for Industry and Commerce, Hong Kong-listed CSCL announced on Sunday.

The company is expected to transform from a container liner operator into an integrated financial services platform with leasing businesses such as a vessel leasing, container leasing and non-shipping leasing as core and shipping financing as feature, it added.

CSCL had been the container arm of shipping conglomerate China Shipping Group, which has since merged with another conglomerate China Cosco Group to form Coscocs.
A police spokesman said Mamidakis was found dead with a gun next to his body in what appears to have been an act of suicide.

Mamidakis born in 1932 on the island of Crete, was chairman of Mamidoil-JetOil, which operates a network of 600 gas stations in Greece, Bulgaria, Kosovo and Albania, a fleet of 33 tanker trucks and seven tanker ships. The company also owns the largest single storage site in the Balkans and is the largest privately-held Greek company. Mamidakis was also involved in hotel management, and olive oil and wine production and was seen as an example to others for his high ethical values and business practices.

JetOil was formed in the late 1960s by Kyriakos, Giorgos and Nikos Mamidakis, and today JetOil Bunkering is the is the largest privately owned supplier of bunker fuel in Greece, serving clients and the islands with it own bunker vessels run by Jet-Tank Maritime and Styga Compania Naviera.

The company also has experience is operating bulkers and combi vessels.

Mamidoil-JetOil successfully applied for protection from its creditors in order to implement a streamlining plan on June 9, declaring it owed creditors EUR314m ($350m) at the end of 2015, while having cash reserves of EUR600,000 ($668,000).

Introduction by the Athens government a year ago of capital controls is seen as the prime reason the companys demise and build up of debts. The general economic contraction, the slowdown in international economic activity, which has affected demand in the fuel market, and the reluctance of local banks to finance its activities, mainly through guarantees for oil imports, also added to its woes.
Image: A view of potato-shaped Phobos from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona A long-held theory that Mars' two moons, Phobos and Deimos, are captured asteroids is seriously challenged in a new study showing how the pair could have formed in Mars orbit after a previous generation of one or more massive inner moons crashed into the planet.

Phobos and Deimos were never a perfect fit for the captured-asteroid theory.

RELATED: Mars Mission Buzzes Weird Moon Phobos

"It's like throwing a dart blindfolded at a moving bicycle wheel, trying to get the tip to stick in the rubber, and doing it twice," planetary scientist Erik Asphaug, with Arizona State University, wrote in an email.

If the two were captured asteroids they would have started off with random, highly inclined and egg-shaped orbits around Mars, which then, by some unknown mechanism, shifted into their present circular paths over Mars' midsection.

"You just can't get capture to happen, without a mechanism for damping these random orbital elements down to the equatorial plane of Mars, and circularizing," Asphaug said. "Capture of two ... provides no mechanism for getting them to give up their original wacky orbits."

Intrigued by the mystery, Pascal Rosenblatt at the Royal Observatory of Belgium and colleagues decided to work on a computer simulation that might better fit an alternative explanation for the origin of Phobos and Deimos, that they formed from debris around Mars which had been blasted into space by a giant collision.

"Our first tries were inconclusive," Rosenblatt wrote in an email. "We were able to form five or six small satellites, but not only two."

RELATED: Spacecraft Ready to 'Skim' Mars Moon Phobos



The model clicked when the scientists added a giant inner moon -- or multiple moons -- 1,000 times more massive than Phobos and confirmed that such a large moon could indeed form out of debris from an earlier crash between a small planet-like body and Mars.

A similar crash between the hypothesized protoplanet Theia and early Earth is believed to have led to the formation of Earth's moon.

There is some physical evidence for a moon crash on Mars. A previous study showed that Mars' Borealis basin, an asymmetrical region in the planet's northern hemisphere, could be the impact site of a large moon.

"We didn't expect such an agreement between our (study) and their study," Rosenblatt said. "It was really a big surprise," Rosenblatt said.

RELATED: Mars Express Orbiter Buzzes Martian Moon Phobos



More definite proof may come soon. If Phobos and Deimos are captured asteroids, they would have a different chemical composition than Mars.

"If the Martian moons would contain Martian material it would support our scenario," Rosenblatt said. "If they would contain only asteroid material it would support the capture scenario," Rosenblatt said.

The Japanese space agency JAXA plans to launch a Phobos sample return mission in 2022. Europe and Russia are partnering on a similar venture two years later.

However the moons formed, Deimos will one day fly solo around Mars. Phobos, like its proposed ancestor moon, is spiraling toward Mars, though the planet's gravity likely will break the small moon apart before it reaches the atmosphere. The demise of Phobos likely will create a new debris ring, perhaps one day providing building blocks for a next-generation moon.

The research is published in this week's Nature Geoscience.

WATCH VIDEO: Did A Meteorite Finally Reveal Life On Mars
Press Release

July 4, 2016 Drilon: Let Con-Con tackle form of government, not Congress Senate President Franklin M. Drilon today said that a change in the form of government will be the major and most important task of the Constitutional convention (Con-con) being eyed to review the Constitution. But Drilon clarified that there are no limits to the scope of the amendments a Con-con can consider, saying that the convention will have "plenary powers" to review the entire three-decade-old Charter, and not only the form of government. Drilon earlier filed Resolution of Both Houses No. 1 that calls for a convention to propose amendments to, or revision of, the 1987 Constitution. Drilon, a lawyer and former justice secretary, said that the Constitution contains no provision that can be used to limit the scope of the amendments a Constitutional convention (Con-con) or a constituent assembly can consider. Whether through a constitutional convention or constituent assembly, Drilon said that both bodies "would have plenary powers, giving them the authority to review all the provisions of the Constitution." "?It will be the delegates of the constitutional convention who will decide what form of government we will have after the process, and not anyone or anywhere else," Drilon said. ?"We cannot form a constitutional convention and require them to only talk about changing our government to a federal system," Drilon said. "You cannot impose such limitations." The Senate chief said that once a Con-con is formed, the candidates for election as Delegate to the Convention will be able to present their stand to the public, whether they are pro-federal or pro-presidential system. "That is the advantage of having a Con-con to review the Constitution. When we elect our delegates to the convention, the people will vote for them on the basis of where they stand on various issues, including the change in the form of government, as well as issues on the economic provisions of the Constitution," Drilon said. Under the RBH No. 1, the Delegate to the Convention will be elected on the second Monday of May 2017, in accordance with the provisions of existing elections laws, rules and regulations. They shall be elected by administrative region based on the number of legislative districts in such region, the resolution said. The candidates for delegate to the Convention shall have the same qualifications as those required of the members of the House of Representatives. The resolution also bans candidates to represent or allow them to be represented as being a candidate of any political party or any organization.
Press Release

July 4, 2016 JV EJERCITO VOWS PUSH TO DEVELOP NEGLECTED SECTORS

OF TRANSPORTATION, AGRICULTURE, AND SOCIAL SERVICES

IN 17TH CONGRESS Senator JV Ejercito has vowed to pursue passage of bills that would develop the country's neglected sectors of transportation, agriculture sector, basic social services, among others in the 17th Congress. Ejercito today said, "These sectors are some of the country's major economic drivers, but are unfortunately neglected by the government in terms of lack of investment and development. I want to be the partner of change for these in the 17th Congress, and I am glad that President Duterte has included these, including resolving traffic, in his legislative agenda for the next six years." To modernize and rehabilitate the railway system, Ejercito has re-filed his proposed Philippine National Railway (PNR) Modernization Act, and the Train Protection Act that seeks to criminalize the stealing of train parts. On boosting agriculture and infrastructure, he sought again for the Watershed Protection Act, and the Agricultural Technology Generation and Transfer Act. Ejercito also wants to boost the legal services for migrant workers through his proposed OFW Legal Assistance Fund. On improving basic social services and increasing the benefits of Filipino workers, he likewise sought for the passage of the Amendments on the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA Law), the Social Security System (SSS) Pension Act that proposes an across-the-board increase of 3,000 monthly pension; Tax Reform Act that focuses on a higher exemption of Income Tax, and Free Tertiary Education in all state universities and colleges which will be funded directly through the General Appropriations Act and the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR). Ejercito is also expectant that the Freedom of Information Act, which he pushed for since the 15th Congress, will be passed into law under the Duterte administration.
Press Release

July 4, 2016 Legarda Lauds Brgy. Potrero, Malabon for Winning MMDA's Best Solid Waste Mgmt Award Senator Loren Legarda congratulated Barangay Potrero, Malabon for winning the Best Solid Waste Management Program Award of the Metro Manila Development Authority's (MMDA) Barangay Power 2015 and once again urged other local government units (LGUs) to implement the provisions of Republic Act No. 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management (ESWM) Act. "I laud Barangay Potrero for being a model barangay for EWSM. Their commitment to environmental protection is truly inspiring and their collaborative effort to strictly implement the ecological solid waste management program is something worth emulating," said Legarda, principal author and sponsor of the ESWM Law. Home to about 54,000 residents, Barangay Potrero was able to achieve almost 95% compliance with the ESWM Law. It strictly implements "Door-to-Door" and "No Segregation, No Collection" policies. A team of 18 members monitors the implementation, while 37 eco-aides/collectors make rounds using pushcarts instead of garbage trucks to ensure proper segregation in the garbage collection at least cost. Barangay Potrero aims to ensure the sustainability of the implementation of the program and eventually achieve 100% compliance. The barangay was able to implement the provisions of ESWM Law through the help and support of Mother Earth Foundation, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources-Environmental Management Bureau (DENR-EMB), and the Office of Senator Loren Legarda. Legarda, Chair of the Senate Committee on Finance, has urged other LGUs and barangays to also comply with the provisions of the ESWM Law, as well as other environmental laws, to help build clean, healthy, safe and resilient communities. In the 2016 national budget, P500 Million was allocated under the DENR-EMB for capacity building programs for LGUs for the implementation of the ESWM Law. "The fact that there are ESWM-compliant LGUs and barangays, like Barangay Potrero, only means that it is doable and there is no reason why other communities could not follow suit. We have to veer away from the throwaway culture and aim for a zero-waste economy. Leaders must have the political will to implement the law at full speed," said Legarda.
Press Release

July 4, 2016 REMARKS OF SENATOR KOKO PIMENTEL DURING THE SENATE FLAG RAISING CEREMONY Una sa lahat, thanks for inviting me. You know, whatever happens, I will still be your friend and I will still pursue outside of the box solutions especially to our long-running inter-generational problems. Last June 30, I witnessed the oath taking of President Duterte and his cabinet. Nowadays, we hear the saying "Change is Coming" all the time. Everyone is excited for Change. These are exciting times for all of us. Let me take advantage of your presence. Let me talk about President Digong and his party the PDP LABAN. So that you will know what kind of Change has come. Dumating na po si Change at ito yon: 1. We dedicate ourselves to the all-out search for Peace in our land; 2. We will move for the adoption of a Federal System of Government; 3. We will launch an all-out war against crime, drugs, and corruption; 4. We will reform our taxation system and make it more just and truly progressive; 5. We will give more importance to micro-economics than to the macro-economic indicators. Household income and expenditure numbers are more important than GDP figures; 6. We will have Rule of Law and make the justice system work; 7. We will reform the budget and declare a war on waste; 8. We agree that economic growth should be inclusive but we believe that it should also be sustainable; 9. We will fight abuse and the abusive; 10. We will focus on the common man because the government is needed more by the faceless, voiceless, powerless, defenseless, and penniless members of Philippine society; In short, our mantra under this new government is: "The Poorest First, the Poor Second!" Do not worry too much about the shift to the Federal System of Government as there will still be a Legislature under that system. Under Federal-Presidential espoused by my father former Senate President Nene Pimentel, there will still be a Philippine Senate, a much larger one. We will be hiring more employees. Under Federal-Parliamentary espoused by other Federalistas, there will still be a legislative branch, the Parliament, which can absorb the current employees of the Philippine Senate. Each Regional State will also have its own legislative branch which can benefit from the expertise you have developed here in the Senate. You can choose to work therefore in your own region. Hence, I repeat, there is nothing to worry about. Regarding other specialized Senate matters, I am not ready to comment at length on many of them as I have been with you for only four years and ten months plus. I still cannot consider myself an expert on Senate administrative matters. Since I am joining the President's call to end contractualization, I have to be consistent and call for the minimization of contractualization's equivalent in the public sector, which is casualization. I have been informed that we have more than 200 casuals. If and when I become Senate President, I will encourage all our casuals to regularize. I have heard of the union's programs to assist our casuals become regulars. I will support said programs as we have the same goal. Thank you for helping your fellow workers in government. I have also been informed that the Senate has been returning unused or unneeded money to the National Treasury year after year. This is good because this means that we have not been forcing ourselves to spend unnecessarily, especially at end of year. But let us try a better practice. Why not plan the Senate budget better so that it more accurately reflects the true needs of our institution? Let us try not to contribute to the over-all bloating of the national budget so that once and for all, the clamor for tax reform, for lower tax rates, can be seriously entertained by the Government. As we enter a new era in our country's history, remember not only the battle cry for Change, but the more important fact that we are "partners for this Change" and we are "partners in this Change". My fellow Change-minded Filipinos, together let us build a Philippine society which is JUST and FAIR, which SAVES and SHARES, which is SCIENTIFIC and OBJECTIVE, which is PEACEFUL and DEMOCRATIC, which is EDUCATED and HEALTHY, and which is, most of all, HAPPY and FREE, with overflowing LOVE OF COUNTRY. Let us welcome the Change that is already here. Let us all be part of it. Maraming salamat po sa inyong lahat! Mabuhay ang Pilipinas!
Was Prince responsible for a $34 million donation to The San Francisco Foundation? The foundation, whose mission is to advance racial and economic equity throughout the Bay Area, received the very large donation anonymously last summer. A convincing article in SF Sounds has many, from SF Weekly to SFist, believing the donation might be from Prince.

Prince's generosity and charitable giving has continued to be revealed, months after his death, by those who were close to him.
Services will be held this month for Don Jelinek, a former Berkeley city councilman and civil rights attorney whose clients ranged from black sharecroppers in the Deep South to the Attica prison rioters and the Indian occupiers of Alcatraz.

Mr. Jelinek died June 24 at his home in Berkeley. He was 82, and the cause of death was lung disease, said his wife, Jane Scherr.

Over his 60-year career as an attorney, Mr. Jelinek was always on the side of those charged with instigating a revolt. His first legal advocacy was in the service of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee in the Jim Crow South in 1965, and he was still organizing for SNCC, hosting meetings at his Berkeley home, until shortly before his death.

His final wish was that his gravestone read simply He was SNCC.

He was the most deeply moral person Ive ever met, said Scherr, herself a co-founder of the famed Berkeley Barb underground newspaper. His commitment to the cause of racial justice was very profound.

Donald Arthur Jelinek was born in the Bronx, N.Y., on Feb. 17, 1934, the son of Jewish immigrants. He graduated from the Bronx High School of Science, and moved to Greenwich Village to attend New York University, where he earned both his bachelor and law degrees.

Mr. Jelinek lived in a tenement and worked as a janitor to pay his way through law school, and thereafter identified with the working class.

The Village radicalized him, said Scherr. He lived in a building with gay people and black people.

His first job as a lawyer was at a firm practicing business law on Wall Street. In August 1965, Mr. Jelinek answered a call for lawyers by the American Civil Liberties Union and flew to Jackson, Miss., for a three-week vacation to work pro bono.

Representing the black farmer was a shock for a Wall Street lawyer accustomed to impersonal, professional relationships timed to the quarter hour, Mr. Jelinek later told an interviewer. If Paul Revere had tried to warn black Mississippi, I thought to myself, he would have ridden up, shouted The British are coming and would still be at the first house talking about his silverware when the kings men arrived.

But the Wall Street lawyer never went back to that Wall Street. His three-week vacation lasted three years. He worked on strategy with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and was arrested twice for practicing law in Alabama without a license.

From there he came west, arriving in Berkeley in 1968. Because he had been arrested in the South, his application to the California Bar was held up, so he got a job with the state, advising various Indian groups. Soon enough he was on Alcatraz Island.

Then a 35-year-old attorney, Mr. Jelinek first went out to the former federal penitentiary on Thanksgiving Day, 1969, to advise the Indian activists who had taken control of the island and faced federal charges. It became a cause celebre, and the famous El Cerrito rockers Creedence Clearwater Revival donated $10,000 so Mr. Jelinek could buy a boat he named The Clearwater.

He began a daily commute by boat and then ended up living among his clients for most of the time.

It was incredibly exciting to be part of building a new society  not that anybody thought this was a utopia, Jelinek recalled of the 19 months he spent defending the occupiers.

He was also active in the anti-Vietnam War effort. While representing a Marine Corps deserter, Mr. Jelinek once flew to Washington state and hiked overnight into remote mountains to track down U.S. Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas. When he found Douglas at a cabin, Mr. Jelinek pulled a change of venue petition out of his backpack. Douglas signed it and Mr. Jelinek hiked back out.

This level of dedication got him national notice. In the aftermath of the 1971 riot at the Attica Correctional Facility, near Buffalo, N.Y., Mr. Jelinek was named lead defense attorney for 61 inmates charged with a total of 1,400 felonies.

Under Mr. Jelineks defense, no inmate served any additional time for these crimes.

In 1973, he founded the law firm Jelinek & Associates, and took on the case of of flea market vendors who were ousted from the BART Ashby Station parking lot.

The guy was very persistent. He would never give up, said appellate lawyer Myron Moskovitz who worked with Mr. Jelinek on the flea vendor case. He did things way beyond what would be expected of a normal lawyer and came up with very original ideas as to how to win a case.

Mr. Jelineks work on behalf of the BART vendors gave him local visibility that helped get him elected to the Berkeley City Council, where he served from 1984 to 1990.

Mr. Jelinek ran for mayor of Berkeley in 1994 and was the top vote-getter in the general election. But he fell just short of the 50 percent threshold and was defeated in a runoff by Shirley Dean. He was also fined $15,000 by the state for campaign violations. Undaunted, he ran against Dean again in 1998 and lost again.

In 1979, Mr. Jelinek met Scherr, who had launched the the Barb in 1965 with her then-husband Max Scherr. Scherr and Jelinek were married in 1985 and lived for 31 years in a stucco cottage south of the UC Berkeley campus.

Mr. Jelinek was the author of three books: White Lawyer, Black Power, about his time in the SNCC, Attica Justice, about the uprising and his defense of the prisoners, and Survivor of the Alamo, a story about the one Texan who did not die in the famous battle.

Survivors include Scherr, his wife of 31 years, and a brother, Roger Jelinek of New York.

A memorial service will be held at 1 p.m. on July 16 at St. Johns Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave., Berkeley. Donations may be made to Bay Area Veterans of the Civil Rights Movement, c/o Eugene Turitz, 2124 Derby St. Berkeley, CA, 94705.

Sam Whiting is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: swhiting@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @SamWhitingSF
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July 4, 1876 was the grandest day San Francisco had ever seen.

For weeks, the city prepared for the young nation's centennial. They draped American flags and bunting on every doorway and balcony in town. In glowing terms, the San Francisco Bulletin reported that huge paintings of Revolutionary War heroes were placed in "conspicuous places here, there and everywhere."

Businesses were on their third straight day of celebration closures. Reverends in the town's Protestant churches gave centennial-themed Sunday sermons. Catholic churches held a special High Mass. On the bay and on land, revolutionary battles were reenacted for thrilled crowds. Thousands of celebrants disembarked from ferries all day long, swelling San Francisco  which had an 1870 population of 149,473  to over 400,000 people.

"Such patriotic enthusiasm and lavishness to decorative display has not been exhibited probably by any other city," declared the Bulletin.

But the most glorious moment of the celebration was still to come.

At sunset, shopkeepers and businessmen lit thousands of candles and Chinese lanterns. As San Francisco gleamed with candlelight, a nighttime parade of 10,000 politicians and military figures began down Market Street.

Above the procession on the roof of St. Ignatius Church, Father Joseph Neri pulled a lever. All along Market between Fourth and Fifth, "a stream of soft, mellow light" glowed from the lamps and reflectors strung from the church roof to the other side of the street.

The streets of San Francisco were lit with electricity for the first time  three years before Thomas Edison introduced his incandescent light to the world.

The momentous achievement was years in the making. By the time he flipped the switch, Father Neri was already a well-known scientific figure in San Francisco. He was born in Italy in 1836 and immigrated to America with a group of Jesuit novices in 1858. He studied at Georgetown for two years before moving to the Bay Area where he taught at Jesuit Santa Clara College.

In 1869, he took a job at St. Ignatius College  today known as the University of San Francisco  where the next year, he became the chair of the natural science department.

From nearly the first day of his arrival in San Francisco, strange lights began to emanate from St. Ignatius Church at night. Curious San Franciscans would stop in front of the building, watching the electric light. The lights were powered by the first storage battery in California, which was made of peroxide, lead and 30 chemical plates.

The city's curiosity piqued, Father Neri gave a series of popular lectures  replete with exciting demonstrations  that were eagerly written up in the local newspapers.

"An electric light sufficiently strong to cast a shadow of the blaze of ordinary gas was shown to the satisfaction of all present," read a Dec. 1875 story in the Daily Alta California.

In 1874 Father Neri received a machine that would turn his private demonstrations into a public utility: a magneto-electric machine. The thrilling device from Paris was called "the most valuable electrical apparatus to be found on the Coast."

"Fr. Neri amplified the machine's magnets by running an electric current to them from the storage battery he had developed," USF historian Alan Ziajka writes in Lighting the City, Lighting the World: A History of the Sciences at the University of San Francisco. "He connected the machine to a 'lighthouse,' which was positioned on the roof of St. Ignatius College."

And then on July 4, 1876, he lit up San Francisco's streets for the first time.

In the month that followed, Father Neri put on twice-weekly demonstrations with his electric lights at the Mechanics' Pavilion on Market St. On August 16, improvements made to his original electric lights were so impressive they made the Daily Alta California.

"The current was very steady, and the light very strong," it wrote, "so much so that it was impossible to look at." It was a "complete success."

San Franciscans, ever on the vanguard of change, quickly went to work lighting the city. Three years before New York City's streets were lit by Edison, the California Electric Light Company opened a power station next door to St. Ignatius. The station provided electricity to San Francisco's first electric street lamps in 1879 and, by year's end, to the Palace Hotel and California Theater. What began as an experiment by a Jesuit priest had transformed the city.

San Francisco, in a few short years, was illuminated.
Die-hard Warriors fan and Oakland rapper Mistah F.A.B. carries no hard feelings toward LeBron James for upsetting the Dubs after a historic season.

What we witnessed was a man overcoming every obstacle set in his way, F.A.B. said. (He) came up from a poverty-stricken background. Despite all odds stacked his way, he found success. Hes a champion.

Hometown pride aside, its about one mans respect for anothers hustle, dedication and charity. F.A.B.s own career path and accomplishments mirror James.

In late May, F.A.B. released Son of a Pimp, Part 2, a sequel to his breakthrough album released 11 years ago. The follow-up offers insight on what its like to grow up in Oakland. There are bouts of fun, but equal parts grief, sorrow and self-realization.

On Tuesday, July 5, alongside Hercules rapper Kool John, F.A.B. headlines the Mac Dre Day show at the Regency Ballroom in San Francisco to showcase his new material, while also celebrating the legacy of Bay Area rap pioneer Andre Mac Dre Hicks, a free spirit often overlooked in the hip-hop scene.

Instead of mimicking radio rap of the time, Vallejos late Mac Dre embraced inclusion. Taking bits of Atlanta crunk and winding it into a low-rumbling bass and rubbery twang, Mac Dre helped turn late-2000s Bay Area rap into the hyphy movement, and became its ambassador. It was quirky, funky, youthful and most importantly, it was homegrown.

F.A.B.  born Stanley Cox Jr.  was dubbed a front-runner during hyphys heyday. For him, celebrating Mac Dre isnt just remembering his music but also the spirit and legacy inspiring so much of what Bay Area rap is today.

Mac Dre was the star, F.A.B. said. He just brought new life and energy to folks. It was exciting, it was fun and everyone wanted to be a part of it.

The first Son of a Pimp album enveloped the freewheeling hyphy culture in 2005. From there, F.A.B. dropped three mixtapes, did several cameos and established himself as a rap battler. But his next full-fledged record wouldnt come to fruition until after some major shifts in perspective.

Back then, I didnt have the same cares. I was concerned with what party I was going to hit that night, he said. And then my mother died. I had a daughter. I lost my best friend.

Though Part 2 features a barrage of guest appearances  Kendrick Lamar, Jadakiss and Slim Thug, to name a few  F.A.B.s story stays center stage. From track to track, F.A.B. sounds natural. His rhymes are effortless and focused, touching on themes that resonate with kids from the hood across the country.

On the song Survive, F.A.B. is joined by Lamar, who hails from Compton; Long Beachs Crooked I; and Kobe Honeycutt of Chicago, all four finding common ground from growing up in poverty and violence.

Im from the city of broken homes, and often I was home alone, spits F.A.B. on one verse, while Honeycutts hook breaks up each verse with: When the night falls anything can happen/ We just pray we make it out alive/ We all wanna make it to the top one day.

For F.A.B., this record was about having the hard conversations often ignored in mainstream rap.

I believe rappers are completely responsible for the things they say, he said. The music out now isnt talking about issues directly affecting our community. I was just very blessed to have friends that shared a similar message.

Other tracks, like Backseat and Commin Down, are bona fide party jams, and On All Mommaz and Still Feelin It, F.A.B. reiterates that while things may have changed in the Bay Area, hyphy isnt going anywhere.

F.A.B. aims to channel Mac Dres spirit during the San Francisco tribute this week and throughout his rap game, making sure to go a little dumb, get a little hyphy.

Its an honor and its humbling, and its something that makes you realize that you have to bring your A-game, F.A.B. said. I dont want to just go out there and do songs, I want to do something that everyones going to remember.

Nina Tabios is a freelance writer.

Mac Dre Day: Featuring Mistah F.A.B., Kool John, Baby Bash, Mac Mall, J Diggs and other guests. 8 p.m. Tuesday, July 5. $29.50-$32. The Regency Ballroom, 1290 Sutter St., S.F. www.theregencyballroom.com

Listen to Mistah F.A.B.s Still Feelin It and Pretty Girls from Son of a Pimp, Part 2: https://soundcloud.com/mistahfab
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PASADENA  Braving intense radiation, a NASA spacecraft reached Jupiter on Monday after a five-year voyage to begin exploring the king of the planets.

Ground controllers at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory erupted in applause when the solar-powered Juno spacecraft beamed home news that it was circling Jupiters poles.

The arrival at Jupiter was dramatic. As Juno approached the target, it fired its rocket engine to slow itself down and gently slipped into orbit. Because of the communication time lag between Jupiter and Earth, Juno was on autopilot when it executed the daring move.

The spacecrafts camera and other instruments were switched off for arrival, so there wont be any pictures from the moment it reached its destination. Hours before the encounter, NASA released a series of images taken last week during the approach, showing Jupiter glowing yellow in the distance, circled by its four inner moons.

Scientists have promised close-up views of the planet when Juno skims the cloud tops during the 20-month, $1.1 billion mission.

The fifth rock from the sun and the heftiest planet in the solar system, Jupiter is whats known as a gas giant  a ball of hydrogen and helium  unlike rocky Earth and Mars.

With its billowy clouds and colorful stripes, Jupiter is an extreme world that probably formed first, shortly after the sun. Unlocking its history may hold clues to understanding how Earth and the rest of the solar system developed.

Named after Jupiters cloud-piercing wife in Roman mythology, Juno is only the second mission designed to spend time at Jupiter.

Galileo, launched in 1989, circled Jupiter for nearly a decade, beaming back splendid views of the planet and its numerous moons. It uncovered signs of an ocean beneath the icy surface of the moon Europa, considered a top target in the search for life outside Earth.

Junos mission: To peer through Jupiters cloud-socked atmosphere and map the interior from a unique vantage point above the poles. Among the lingering questions: How much water exists? Is there a solid core? Why are Jupiters southern and northern lights the brightest in the solar system?

What Junos about is looking beneath that surface, Juno chief scientist Scott Bolton said before the arrival. Weve got to go down and look at whats inside, see how its built, how deep these features go, learn about its real secrets.

The trek to Jupiter, spanning nearly five years and 1.8 billion miles, took Juno on a tour of the inner solar system followed by a swing past Earth that catapulted it beyond the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.

Plans called for Juno to swoop within 3,000 miles of Jupiters clouds  closer than previous missions  to map the planets gravity and magnetic fields to learn about the interior makeup.
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MINNEAPOLIS  Ryan Dull is moving into uncharted territory while stranding runners at an astounding clip.

Oaklands best bet for the All-Star team, the rookie reliever has inherited 36 runners and has stranded all of them, adding two more to his pile Monday in Oaklands 3-1 victory over the Twins at Target Field.

Dulls 36-for-36 is the longest at any point in a season since at least 1961, topping Frank Franciscos mark of 35 in 2007. Complete records dont go back further, so it is, in essence, the longest known streak of success with inherited runners.

I dont even know what to say about that, As manager Bob Melvin said. Id buy him a drink, but I dont know that hes old enough.

Dull is 26, but he doesnt look the part of a dominating reliever: Hes small and slight, and even with facial hair, he still looks like a high schooler. The respect for him in the clubhouse, though, is off the charts.

Hes my favorite player on the team, Oakland third baseman Danny Valencia said. I tell him that every day. He comes and does his job and is just lights out. Hes amazing. Hes really been our rock out there.

Dull came into the game with two on and two outs in the seventh Monday and got some help from shortstop Marcus Semien, who went up the middle for a sharp grounder by Eduardo Nunez.

Great play. Ive had a lot of defensive help to get out of those jams, Dull said. It hasnt just been me doing it.

A quiet type off the field, Dull doesnt appear rattled on the mound. The most incredible part is he never shows any emotion; bases loaded, men on first and second, hes the same person, said starter Kendall Graveman, who got the win.

The heart gets going sometimes, but thats how I was taught to pitch, dont show any emotion, Dull said. Dont let a team know they got to you. Just be as calm as you can out there.

Valencia started Oaklands winning rally in the seventh, then almost ended it just as quickly. He doubled off Ricky Nolasco, ending his 17 at-bat hitless streak and becoming the first As runner to advance past first Monday. But then he tried to go to third on Khris Davis bouncer to second and initially was called out. The call was overturned on replay, and Valencia scored on a base hit by Stephen Vogt.

Its one of those thing where if youre out, its the wrong read, and if youre safe, everyones happy, Valencia said.

With the bases loaded later that inning, Jake Smolinski hit a tapper to reliever Taylor Rogers, who flubbed the toss home, and worse for Minnesota, wound up in Davis path as he tried to score. Catcher Juan Centeno retrieved the ball in time to get Davis. Melvin went out to discuss possible obstruction, but the umpires determined that both Rogers and Centeno were in the process of trying to make the play.

Coco Crisp, the next batter, drilled a base hit to center to drive in Vogt and Butler. Crisp has an 11-game hitting streak, during which he is batting .370 with eight walks, 12 runs, two homers and 14 RBIs.

Its not surprising, Melvin said. Hes playing great right now.

The As have won all four of their meetings with the Twins, who are the worst team in the majors at 27-55.

Oakland had an added degree of difficulty Monday, arriving at the team hotel after midnight for a July Fourth day game. The first game of a series is rarely a day game, plus the As have been on Pacific time for three weeks. Because it was their first visit to Target Field this year, they took batting practice, which they normally would not do for a road day game.

Its a challenge, Melvin said of the late travel and early game. Were not the only team that has to go through it. Its not ideal, but we cant complain about it.

Susan Slusser is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: sslusser@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @susanslusser
A state appeals court upheld a 16-year-old gang member's 110-year sentence for three attempted murders Tuesday and said the fact that he will be in prison until he dies doesn't violate the U.S. Supreme Court's ban on life-without-parole terms for juveniles in non-homicide cases.

Rodrigo Caballero was convicted in adult court of shooting at three rival gang members and wounding one in Palmdale (Los Angeles County) in June 2007. He testified that he had been trying to kill them, but his lawyer argued that Caballero, who was diagnosed as schizophrenic and delusional after his arrest, should have been found incompetent to stand trial.

The Second District Court of Appeal in Los Angeles rejected that argument Tuesday, saying Caballero had regained his competency with medication, and also said his sentence did not violate the constitutional standard that the Supreme Court set in a Florida case in May.

The high court said a sentence of life without parole for a minor for any crime besides murder or manslaughter violates the constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment by denying the juvenile the chance to show he has been rehabilitated.

The ruling applied mostly to youths in Florida prisons but also affected four inmates in California. State Sen. Leland Yee, D-San Francisco, introduced a bill that would have allowed another 250 youths serving life-without-parole terms for murder in California to seek eligibility for release after 25 years, but it died in the Legislature.

The Supreme Court did not say whether youthful non-murderers could be sentenced to terms so long they would never be released. A California appellate court said in September that the state could not do so, ruling that a 16-year-old serving 84 years for carjacking was entitled to a sentence that would leave open the possibility of parole.

The appeals court in Caballero's case disagreed with that ruling Tuesday. The Supreme Court's ban applies only to sentences that expressly deny any possibility of parole for a juvenile non-murderer, the appellate panel said.

Otherwise, a youth who shot and wounded multiple victims "could not receive a term commensurate with his or her crimes if all the victims had the good fortune to survive," Justice Steven Suzukawa said in the 3-0 ruling.

Defense lawyer David Durchfort said he would probably appeal to the state Supreme Court and argue that a 110-year term is the same as life without parole.

Caballero had no history of violent crime and should have "the opportunity to show growth and maturity in custody," Durchfort said.
A female victim reported to be lying on a highway Sunday night in unincorporated Monterey County near Soledad suffered major injuries, according to the California Highway Patrol.



The first report of the victim was at 10:42 p.m. on northbound U.S. Highway 101 just south of Camphora Gloria Road.



CHP officials initially reported the person died, but revised the report to say she was alive.



No other information was immediately available.
















RICHMOND (BCN)



As a Bay Area police sex scandal investigation continues, two Richmond police officers have been reassigned from positions where they interacted regularly with youth, Mayor Tom Butt said in an electronic forum today.



Lt. Andre Hill will no longer serve as manager of the Youth and Special Services Division. Hill also serves as a spokesman for the Police Department.



Officer Jerrod Tong will no longer be a school resource officer. Tong had already stepped down from his duties with the Police Explorer Program. That program aims to create interest in law enforcement among youth.



Tong is listed on the Police Department's website as a school resource officer at Lovonya DeJean Middle School at 3400 Macdonald Ave.



A Livermore police officer, whose name has not been released, is the latest to be investigated in a scandal that has now touched the sheriff's offices in Alameda and Contra Costa counties, San Francisco police, the Alameda County District Attorney's Office and the Defense Logistics Agency, a branch of the Department of Defense.



Investigators are looking into whether the law enforcement officers had a sexual relationship with a woman with the alias Celeste Guap. Guap is now 18, but allegedly was a minor when some or all of the sexual relationships took place.



The scandal started to unfold last September when Oakland police began investigating the suicide of one of its officers Brendan O'Brien.



Butt said in his statement that the Richmond Police Department's Office of Professional Accountability is continuing its investigation into the actions and nature of the relationship the city's officers had with Guap.



Butt added that "there are no early indications of illegal, predatory or like deviant behavior in the performance of duty that suggests the public at large is at risk."



Butt's report of the reassignment of the two officers comes a day after officials with the RYSE Youth Center in Richmond said in a Facebook post that they are distraught that the officers had not been quickly removed from their positions working with youth.



Contra Costa County Supervisor John Gioia said on Facebook that he agreed and added, "These police officers who work with our local schools should be immediately placed on administrative leave while the allegations against them are investigated."



"Respect our youth," he said.
















Oil production in Ukraine's continental part decreased by 12.2% or 93,600 tonnes in January through May 2016 year-on-year, to 673,400 tonnes, a source in the country's Energy and Coal Industry Ministry has told Interfax-Ukraine.

Production of gas condensate was down by 5.8% or 16,300 tonnes, to 265,000 tonnes.

The enterprises of national joint-stock company Naftogaz Ukrainy cut oil production by 10% or 72,400 tonnes, to 653,100 tonnes and gas condensate output by 7.8% or 16,400 tonnes, to 195,100 tonnes, of which Ukrnafta  608,800 tonnes of oil, 9.9% down, and 30,500 tonnes of gas condensate, 33.6% down; Ukrgazvydobuvannia - 44,300 tonnes of oil, 10.9% down, and 164,600 tonnes of condensate, 0.6% down.

Other companies cut oil output by 51.1% or 21,200 tonnes, to 20,300 tonnes and condensate output grew by 0.1% or 100 tonnes, to 69,900 tonnes.

PrJSC Naftogazvydobuvannia produced 21,820 tonnes of oil with gas condensate (35.2% up), PrJSC Natural Resources decreased output by 7.4%, to 17,863 tonnes, JV Poltava Petroleum Company produced 16,946 tonnes (12.1% up), PrJSC Ukrnaftoburinnia 9,942 tonnes (34.6% down), Regal Petroleum 4.741 million cubic meters (7.8% down), PrJSC Davon 3,448 tonnes (39.1% up), Boryslavska Oil Company LLC 3,267 tonnes (32.2% down), Eastern Geology Union LLC 2,210 tonnes (4.6% up), Systemoilengineering LLC  2,067 tonnes (a rise of 100%), ESKO-Pivnich LLC 328 tonnes (a fall of 1.3%), KUB-Gas 1,560 tonnes (6.9% down) and PrJSC Ukrgazvydobutok 1,492 tonnes (7.4% down).
Louie Anderson hasnt performed in the Bay Area in a while, but hell return to Cobbs Comedy Club this weekend just as he left  with self-deprecating humor.

I think Louis C.K. is (in San Francisco) the same weekend, Anderson says, during a recent phone interview from the road. I hope hes sold out really early, and people get mixed up, and come out to my show, thinking Im Louis Anderson C.K.

That wont be necessary. Anderson has his own substantial fan base, which has grown recently thanks to his memorable role as Christine, the title characters mother in Baskets. The quirky FX comedy has been renewed for another season, and Anderson, 63, has been enjoying some of the greatest praise of his life.

The Minnesota-born comic has had an eclectic career on television, in films and on game shows, with his highest-profile jobs including the biographical animated hit Life with Louie in the 1990s, and four years hosting Family Feud.

But stand-up comedy has been his constant. Anderson opened for Marsha Warfield at the Punch Line as early as 1984. He competed in one San Francisco comedy competition (getting beat by impressionist and musician Mark McCollum). And since the 1980s, no matter what was happening with his Hollywood career, Anderson continued to perform on stage steadily.

Anderson was in the middle of a residency in Las Vegas last year when he was recruited by executive producer C.K. to co-star in Baskets. He jumped at the chance to play Christine, the Costco-loving, tough-love matriarch in the Baskets clan of Bakersfield, which includes community-college-instructor brother Dale and sad clown Chip, both played by Zach Galifianakis.

Andersons imitation of his own mother has been a stand-up staple for years, but after watching Jeffrey Tambor play a transgender woman in Transparent, he chose to use his own voice.

We kind of did the pilot under secrecy, because they didnt want anyone to know that I was playing Zachs mom, Anderson says. Its one thing to hear about it and its another thing to hear it. People would be like Whats he doing? It seems cartoonish.

Anderson has long been a family-friendly comic  a different tone than the bleaker television show. Cobbs is advertising, Louie Anderson from Baskets on FX.

The comedian says his stand-up act has always had dark elements. (His abusive father is another character.) Anderson also asserts that the Life with Louie fans and Baskets fans may be different personalities, but theyre not warring factions.

I have two different kinds of fans coming to my show, he says. Some people like Christine and they love Louis Anderson. And some people love Christine and they like Louis Anderson. I could probably do a show just as Christine. Theres a group of people who would love to hear her politics.

Anderson says it has been about 10 years since he played the Bay Area, last performing at the Masonic as well as a benefit for the poor in Oakland. In addition to the Punch Line, Anderson remembers playing at the Boarding House on Bush Street and the Other Cafe in the 1980s.

I was more of a L.A. person, coming up and saying, Oh, I wonder if I should live up here, Anderson remembers, because there was so much comedy going on up here, and it seemed friendlier.

But he never moved to San Francisco full time, and it all worked out for the best. Hes still very proud of his previous TV work and calls Baskets a special situation. While hell always be respectful of audiences who supported the old Louie, hes happy to explore some new, darker, places as well.

Im a little less careful of what I say than I used to be, Anderson says. And I think people are OK with it. I dont think you have to be squeaky-clean anymore.

Peter Hartlaub is The San Francisco Chronicles pop culture critic. Email: phartlaub@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @PeterHartlaub.

Louie Anderson: 8 and 10:15 p.m. Friday, July 8; 7:30 and 9:45 p.m. Saturday, July 9. $25. Cobbs Comedy Club, 915 Columbus Ave., S.F. www.cobbscomedy.com
Moments before the rest of the world found out that Kevin Durant was signing with the Warriors, Andrew Bogut dropped a hint of what was to come.

Astute Twitter users noticed that overnight, he'd stripped his Twitter page of references to the Warriors. His bio, profile picture and banner photo were all altered to remove the Warriors.
It's a tough day for Oklahoma City fans  many of whom are NOT taking Kevin Durant's departure with grace  and an even more awkward day for the social media manager of Durant's Oklahoma restaurant.

KD's, Durant's branded restaurant venture, just wanted to sell some barbecue on the Fourth of July. But unfortunately for them, the timing of their promotional Facebook post was very, very bad. Mere moments after Durant announced he was signing with the Warriors, KD's posted an innocuous chicken advertisement. And salty Thunder fans did not handle it well.
BEIRUT  Bombings rocked three cities across Saudi Arabia on Monday, including near the Prophets Mosque in the holy city of Medina, raising the specter of increasingly coordinated attacks by militants seeking to destabilize the monarchy.

A suicide bomber struck near the U.S. Consulate in Jiddah in the morning, wounding two security officers. Then, near dusk, when Muslims were ending their daily Ramadan fasts, other blasts struck near a Shiite mosque in the countrys east and at a security post in Medina, killing four guards, according to the Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya television network.

The blasts in Saudi Arabia followed a bloody week in which terrorist attacks caused mass casualties in the largest cities of three predominantly Muslim countries: Turkey, Bangladesh and Iraq.

The Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the attacks in Dhaka, Bangladesh, and Baghdad, and it is suspected of carrying out the one in Istanbul.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the Saudi bombings, although Islamic State extremists have attacked the kingdom repeatedly in recent years, mostly targeting members of the Shiite minority and state security personnel.

The attacks occurred amid fears that extremists had planned further violence during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and for the holiday that celebrates its conclusion this week, Eid al-Fitr.

The Medina attack struck the security office of the mosque where the Prophet Muhammad is said to be buried, an important stop for millions of pilgrims who visit the holy cities each year. Four security officers died in the attack, Al-Arabiya said, in addition to a suicide bomber.

The other evening attack was near a Shiite mosque in the eastern region of Qatif and killed no one but the bomber, according to witnesses quoted by the Reuters news agency.

The Jiddah attack took place when security officers confronted a man acting suspiciously near the U.S. Consulate. He detonated his explosives, killing himself and wounding two guards, according to the state-run Saudi Press Agency.

The U.S. Embassy in Riyadh, the capital, said in a statement that none of its consular staff members in Jiddah had been wounded, and it warned U.S. citizens to limit nonessential travel to the kingdom and to remain cautious inside it.

In neighboring Kuwait, officials announced the arrest of four people accused of plotting two attacks in the country and said they had repatriated a Kuwaiti family who had joined the Islamic State in Syria, according to a statement published by the state-run KUNA news agency.
NEW DELHI  The young men had been missing for months. Their families sensed something was wrong. Some had come from privileged backgrounds, had grown up loved and were educated in top schools. They had bright futures.

It wasnt until the horror of the weekend hostage crisis in Bangladeshs capital unfolded that they learned their sons had become radicalized as religious extremists and launched one of the countrys deadliest attacks in recent years.

The young men, armed with knives, bombs and automatic firearms, engaged in a gun battle with police, killing two and wounding more, then seized a popular restaurant in Dhaka on Friday night and held some 35 people hostage. Over the next few hours, they would kill 20 of their captives  including nine Italians, seven Japanese, an Indian teenager and three students at American universities, including UC Berkeley sophomore Tarishi Jain. A witness said some victims were tortured when they could not recite verses from the Quran.

This is very painful. He killed innocent people, said the aunt of one of the attackers, Rohan Imtiaz, whose father is a leader in Prime Minister Sheikh Hasinas governing Awami League party. She refused to be identified by name.

We sensed that Rohan was changing and his behavior increasingly became different, she said in disbelief.

As details emerged of the men who laid siege to the Holey Artisan Bakery, it became clear that the attackers did not fit the typical profile for religious radicals coming from economically deprived backgrounds and latching onto extremist groups that promise a new future.

Some analysts said thats what made them attractive as recruits; their backgrounds meant they would not raise suspicions.

They do not fit the usual stereotype of the madrassa-educated youth, said Pinak Ranjan Chakravarty, a policy expert on Bangladesh at the Observer Research Foundation, a New Delhi think tank. My suspicion is that these young men were roped in by spotters or recruiters.

Describing them as flamboyant young men, Benazir Ahmed, head of the countrys paramilitary Rapid Action Battalion, said some had also been frequent visitors to the same restaurant they attacked.

It is difficult to imagine how they were radicalized. At least four come from very wealthy backgrounds, said Ahmed, according to Indian broadcaster NDTV.

UC Berkeley to honor slain student

UC Berkeley is planning a memorial vigil to honor Tarishi Jain and others slain in the Bangladesh attack from noon to 1 p.m. Tuesday at Sproul Plaza.

Jain, 18, was a sophomore who had started a summer internship in Dhaka working on e-commerce. She had graduated from the American International School in Dhaka before attending UC Berkeley.
ROME  The body of a teenage Wisconsin student who went missing shortly after he arrived for an exchange program was found in the Tiber River on Monday.

John Cabot University confirmed that the body was that of 19-year-old Beau Solomon, who was last seen by his friends in the early hours of Friday morning at a pub in Rome.

We express our most heartfelt condolences to the Solomon family and to all those who loved Beau, said a statement from the English-language university in Rome.

Solomon had just completed his first year as a personal finance major at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

An earlier statement from the university said it was alerted by his roommate, who reported that he had lost contact with Beau around 1 a.m. ... and was worried when he did not see Beau at orientation Friday morning.

Cole Solomon, Beau Solomons 23-year-old brother, told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on Monday that investigators are treating the incident as a homicide. He said his brothers body was found with a head wound and blood on his shirt. He added that thousands of dollars were charged to Beau Solomons credit card after his disappearance.

Italian state TV said 1,500 euros (about $1,700) in charges were made on the cards at a store in Milan the day. The TV report said investigators will check security cameras near the store for any possible image of who might have used the cards.

Solomons family was in Italy and John Cabot University was in contact with Italian authorities, the U.S. Embassy and his U.S. college, said its president, Franco Pavoncello.

Without naming its sources, the Italian news agency ANSA said two people claimed to have seen a man throw a person into the Tiber the night Solomon disappeared. Later ANSA said the witnesses were two Italians.

Sky TG24 TV said the witnesses reported seeing someone pushed into the area on the Tiber near Garibaldi Bridge. That bridge is heavily trafficked, and in that area of the Tibers banks, an annual summer fair features artisans selling wares and booths offering food is currently drawing big crowds nightly.

ANSA said preliminary autopsy results indicated that Solomon had suffered injuries consistent with a fall and with days spent in the water. The exact cause of death remains to be determined.
Ukraine's Economic Development and Trade Ministry has said that transit of goods from Ukraine across Russia could be stopped in full due to the issue of a new order regarding the transfer of these goods by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

According to the ministry's report, on July 3, 2016 Putin's order dated July 1, 2016 was published. It amends its order on measures to provide for economic security and national interests of the Russian Federation in international transit of cargos from the territory of Ukraine to the territory of Kazakhstan across the Russian Federation issued on January 1, 2016.

The new order introduces additional restrictions for transit of Ukrainian goods via Russia.

The current transit restrictions for goods going to Kazakhstan apply to transit to Kyrgyzstan. The full ban of transit of goods on which embargo has been imposed is introduced (according to the approved list).

"The above-mentioned changes could result in temporarily full stoppage of transit of goods from Ukraine via Russia not only to Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, but also to third countries," the ministry said.

The ministry said that the introduction of transit restrictions by Russia for Ukrainian goods is economically unviable and unjustifiable. It would entail the artificial worsening of the condition of Ukraine's trade with third countries, in particular, in the Central Asia.

"Russia's restrictions are non-transparent, unjustifiable and of a discriminative character. They violate liabilities taken with the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the agreement on the free trade area," the ministry said.
KAMPALA, Uganda  Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his countrys raid on Ugandas Entebbe airport 40 years ago, in which his brother was killed, changed the course of his life.

Speaking shortly after his arrival in Uganda, Netanyahu praised Israels commando raid on the airport that freed Israeli hostages from a hijacked plane. International terrorism suffered a stinging defeat, from the mission in July 1976, he said.

The Entebbe rescue is a seminal event in Israeli history and is widely seen as one of the countrys greatest military successes. It also was a monumental event for Netanyahu, as the death of his brother, Yonatan, pushed him into the public eye and on a track that would take him to the countrys highest office.

An Israeli band played somber music at the airport on the shore of Lake Victoria to mark the anniversary of the Israeli rescue mission, during which three hostages were killed. A relative of one of the Israeli hostages lit a memorial flame as Netanyahu and Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni stood in silence.

Netanyahu traveled to Uganda with soldiers and pilots who were members of the rescue team.

This is a deeply moving day for me, he said. Forty years ago they landed in the dead of night in a country led by a brutal dictator who gave refuge to terrorists. Today we landed in broad daylight in a friendly country led by a president who fights terrorists.

The one-day visit to Uganda is the start of Netanyahus tour of Africa during which he will also visit Kenya, Rwanda and Ethiopia.

In exchange for its expertise in security and other fields, Israel wants African states to side with it at the U.N., where the General Assembly overwhelmingly recognized Palestine as a nonmember observer state in 2012. Israel also has a shared interest with the four African countries of confronting Islamic extremists.

Ugandas Entebbe Airport is where Netanyahus brother was struck by a bullet as he led Israeli commandos in the rescue mission. Israels success in the raid humiliated then-Ugandan President Idi Amin. Four decades later, Uganda has good relations with Israel.

A lingering loathing of Amin, who was accused of many human rights atrocities and who died in Saudi Arabia in 2003, is one reason why many Ugandans today do not see the success of the Israeli raid as a disaster for their country.
HARARE, Zimbabwe  Security officers in Zimbabwes capital on Monday fired tear gas, water cannons and warning shots during riots by bus drivers and others protesting police harassment.

The violence, in which at least 30 people were arrested, came amid a surge in protests in recent weeks because of increasing economic hardship and alleged mismanagement by the government of President Robert Mugabe.

An Associated Press journalist saw protesters severely beat two police officers with sticks, then take their uniforms and helmets.

The protesters blocked roads leading into the center of Harare, forcing many people to walk miles to get to work. Rioters threw stones at police and vehicles, and some children on their way to school were caught up in the chaos.

Outnumbered police later sought to negotiate with the crowds after failing to disperse thousands of protesters, who were concentrated in Harares eastern suburbs. Many rioters were young men who cant find regular employment and make a living off drivers by charging a small fee to load passengers into buses.

Some police were seen firing live ammunition into the air to ward off the crowds. They also brought in police dogs.

The drivers grievances stem from anger over numerous roadblocks that police sometimes set up in city streets, which drivers allege are erected to demand bribes. Police said they reduced the number of roadblocks after complaints from lawmakers, tourism operators and others.

Acts of defiance and clashes with the police are rare in Zimbabwe, although the government deployed the army against 1998 riots over soaring food prices. Mugabe, 92, has ruled the southern African country since independence from white minority rule in 1980, scoffing at frequent allegations of human rights violations.

But frustrations over rapidly deteriorating economic conditions in Zimbabwe, compounded by dissatisfaction over alleged government corruption and incompetence, have resulted in near-daily protests in recent weeks. On Friday, protestors burned a warehouse at Beitbridge, a busy border post between Zimbabwe and South Africa, over a Zimbabwean decision to ban a wide range of imports.

Finance minister Patrick Chinamasa has been pleading with Western countries to unlock financing for Zimbabwe in the form of loans that were halted close to two decades ago. The financing dried up due to failure to repay debts as well as international sanctions imposed because of concerns over rights violations.
BAGHDAD  As the death toll from the weekend truck bombing in Baghdad climbed to 157, Iraqs embattled prime minister ordered new security measures, including abandoning the use of bomb-detection wands that U.S. experts pronounced worthless years ago.

But security forces were still using the devices Monday evening, as a string of smaller bombings in the capital killed 16 people and wounded dozens more.

Sundays suicide attack by the Islamic State group was the single deadliest bombing to hit Baghdad in more than a decade of war and insurgency.

Also Monday, five convicted terrorists were executed in Baghdad, the Ministry of Justice said in an announcement that appeared aimed at restoring faith in Iraqs security forces in the wake of the devastating attack.

Firefighters and medical teams were still uncovering bodies from the citys Karada neighborhood Monday. Officials said a dozen people were missing and at least 60 of the dead were women and children. At least 190 people were wounded.

The blast struck after midnight when the neighborhood was bustling with people breaking their daylight fast during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. The attack demonstrated the Islamic States ability to strike the capital despite a string of defeats on the battlefield, including the loss of Fallujah just over a week ago.

With public anger mounting, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi ordered new security measures Sunday evening, including increased aerial scanning and intelligence-gathering in the capital and the installation of X-ray systems at the entrances of provinces.

He also ordered security forces to stop using a handheld electronic device that was widely sold as a bomb detector but has been repeatedly branded bogus by technical experts. And he ordered the reopening of an investigation into the purchase of the ADE 651s, which cost the Iraqi government tens of thousands of dollars each.

In 2010, British authorities arrested the director of the British manufacturer, ATSC Ltd., on fraud charges, prompting Iraqis to open their own investigation. Iraqi authorities made some arrests, but the device remained in use.

Many Iraqis blame their political leadership for the way large amounts of explosives have made it past multiple checkpoints into crowded neighborhoods with disastrous results.

Small-scale bombings occur on a near-daily basis in Baghdad, and in May a string of large-scale bombings, many of them claimed by the Islamic State, killed more than 200 people in a single week.

In February, Amnesty International reported that the number of Iraqis sentenced to death in 2016 was close to 100, calling the figure a grim indicator of the current state of justice in the country.
Port of Tauranga chairman David Pilkington said his company's shareholders would take some convincing that building a new super-port at the Firth of Thames or Manukau Harbour to serve the upper North Island would be a good move.

The super-port suggestion was included in the Port Future Study released last week which found that Ports of Auckland is likely to need to move from its current Auckland waterfront site and in the interim needs to have extra berth space.

The councils Auckland Development Committee meets tomorrow to consider recommending the incoming council elected in October do more detailed technical analysis on two favoured relocation sites. In the interim, the Ports of Auckland is forging ahead with designing a planned extension to Bledisloe Wharf to allow extra berths despite public opposition to more incursions into the Waitemata Harbour.

The Consensus Working Groups report said another larger scale consideration was a super-port because Port of Taurangas growth appears to be constrained in the long-term. These wider transport, land use and upper North Island port strategy implications should be examined when deciding which of the port location options to develop, it said.

But Pilkington said the report doesnt take into consideration that the Port of Taurangas existing container site at Sulphur Point still has extra capacity and once that is constrained the company could look to extend operations to its Mt Maunganui site.

He questioned the need for a study that looks 50 years out, a horizon that makes it difficult to assess with any accuracy whether there will be sufficient capacity at that time. He also questioned the numbers used to assess predicted growth in container volumes.

Its very conceptual and its hard for me to assess what the purpose was other than to show there are no magic short-term solutions other than for Ports of Auckland to continue quietly expanding where it wants to, Pilkington said.

There had been no discussions with Port of Tauranga on the potential for a super-port and he said there would need to be detailed economic analysis before the rival ports company would consider whether it wanted any participation in one of the two favoured sites for relocation of the Auckland port.

We have a fairly effective infrastructure capable of delivering imports to the Auckland market through KiwiRail and Metroport and, again, that option is far from fully utilised and the ability to expand that is significant, Pilkington said.

He said he was a bit bewildered by the council-owned Ports of Auckland strategy, given it bought 33 hectares of land in Hamilton for a freight hub earlier this year and last year opened an intermodal freight hub in Mt Maunganui.

Why invest Auckland ratepayers money in Hamilton to attract cargo into Auckland? Why do that if youre facing current capacity constraints to serve your existing market?

Ports of Auckland said it had no comment to make on the super-port suggestion in the report.

Previous efforts over the years between the two port companies to consider a merger or ways to work together have failed despite issues such as the need to accommodate next generation container ships, shipping line rationalisation, and North Island overcapacity in container handling.

The EY consultants study to the working group said a National Port Strategy for New Zealands 14 major ports would drive greater supply chain efficiencies and better capital planning.

It said the latest Ministry of Transport data suggested there is currently a large number of intra-North Island empty container movements due to the current trade imbalance  Ports of Auckland is New Zealands largest container import port while Port of Tauranga is the largest port for container exports. The imbalance requires a large movement of empty containers around the country which is costly and inefficient.

Australia introduced a National Ports Strategy in 2011 covering container and bulk ports to improve governance, land planning and future infrastructure requirements. There have been many calls over the years to New Zealand to adopt a similar strategy.

But Pilkington said it would be difficult to reach agreement on a national strategy between the council owners of the ports who see them as important for regional development, the shipping companies, and exporters.

I do believe the market will ultimately drive rationalisation and sensible economic behaviour though there will be lots of ups and downs on the way. Once we get the big ships coming to New Zealand we will see what that does, Pilkington said. My advice to ratepayers is to keep asking questions on what their return on capital is from putting money into these assets and whats the guaranteed return on it.

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Auckland should consider letting a private company run a relocated port's operations, with Auckland Council remaining at least a part landowner, says the study on the port's future.

The report made public last week found the council-owned port is likely to need to move in the long-term and identified two favoured sites in the Manukau Harbour and Firth of Thames for further investigation. It also said, in the interim, the port will require extra berth space at Bledisloe Wharf, which is likely to re-ignite community concerns about the ports encroachment into the Waitemata Harbour.

With capital costs of an estimated $4 billion to $5.5 billion for relocating the port depending on which site is chosen, the report said infrastructure investment is constrained. Internationally there are many funding/ownership models around major infrastructure investments such as a port which vary from full council ownership to full private sector ownership, the report said.

Consideration could be given to funding the land component of the new port separately from the operating company, which might enable equity participation in the Landco by council and iwi, it said. The proposed sites are subject to Treaty of Waitangi settlement negotiations that could result in iwi co-governance and/or co-ownership interests.

Rick Boven, chair of the council-appointed Consensus Working Group, said the separation suggestion would only be considered as part of the funding and governance solutions for a relocated port rather than under the status quo.

A consultants report prepared for the study group by EY said a number of ownership considerations would have to be taken into account for a new port. Options included establishing a port operations company (Opco) and a land holding company (Landco), with a contract outlining and governing land use between the two.

Separating operating assets and land assets can provide independent and more robust decision-making that will optimise outcomes for both companies, said EY, noting a trend in recent Asia-Pacific port transactions for private sector involvement.

Advantages of separating ownership of land and the operating company would include lease proceeds providing some funding for the new port location, on-going capital development would be funded by the lessee, decisions could be made outside operating to accommodate best use of the land assets, operational risks would be transferred to the operating company, and a potential lease agreement would oblige the private sector to coordinate and execute the relocation.

Disadvantages outlined in the EY report included potential loss of dividends and income, loss of operating control though that could be mitigated to an extent by other regulatory controls, and accounting and tax implications.

The report provided a case study on private sector involvement in the Port of Darwin in Australia, where the government retained ownership of the land and the leased port assets are returned to the government at the end of the 99-year lease period.

The port was leased for A$506 million with 20 percent held by the government with the intention of transferring that to an Australian investor in time. The state territory receives a share of future revenue where trade performance is better-than-expected and the lessee is committed to sponsoring community initiatives.

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ContainerCo (NZL), the container manufacturer and depot operator, has hired investment bankers Cameron Partners for advice on how to fund expansion as shipping volumes grow.

Auckland-based ContainerCo is 50 percent-owned by the New Zealand arm of COSCO, a subsidiary of shipping giant China Ocean Shipping (Group) Co.

The company says it will need extra investment to cater for a growing number of container movements, which it says is putting pressure on port facilities and stoking demand for container storage and repair depots. ContainerCo employs 150 staff at operations in Tauranga, Auckland, Napier and Christchurch, and generated $43 million in annual revenue in the 2016 financial year.

"ContainerCos container depot business is well-positioned to take advantage of these favourable dynamics and we believe there are also opportunities to expand our complementary hire and sales business, given the business's core expertise," managing director Ken Harris said in a statement. "Realising the companys inherent potential as a long-term infrastructure services business will require additional investment and we have sought Cameron Partners' advice in order to assist the company to achieve its strategic ambitions."

ContainerCo was formed through the 2013 merger of NZL Group's $5.1 million container depot business with United Containers and the $787,000 purchase of CentrePort's Transport Systems 2000 hire and sales business.

The company is jointly owned by Harris's NZL Group and COSCO Shipping Lines (New Zealand).

The container depot operator handled, repaired, stored and serviced some 329,000 TEUs (20-foot equivalent container units) in the year ended March 31.

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Queenstown Airport has lost a dispute with the Inland Revenue Department over whether it should be able to claim depreciation for the cost of constructing its runway end safety area (RESA).

Justice Brendan Brown, who heard the case in Wellington's High Court in March, ruled that the IRD was correct in refusing the airport's claim for tax deductions, and awarded costs for two counsel to the IRD.

The RESA is an area beyond a runway which is there as a safety zone if a plane undershoots or overruns the runway surface. At the eastern end of Queenstown Airport's runway, there was a steep drop off where the Shotover and Kawarau Rivers merge, so Queenstown Airport built an $8.5 million embankment from the existing cliff for the RESA.

The airport argued it should be able to claim depreciation on the RESA at the eastern end of its international runway for the 2012 and 2013 tax years, and in the future. It wanted to claim between $312,000 and $419,000 per year in depreciation, dependent on whether the RESA qualified as runway or as hardstanding or road. IRD said the area was land, and therefore not depreciable.

Justice Brown said that he couldn't accept the land improvement could qualify as depreciable as it wasn't one of the items listed in Schedule 13 of the Income Tax Amendment Act.

"If a land improvement does not actually come within one of those specified depreciable land improvements it is not open to the taxpayer to contend that, by analogy with some listed items, the land improvement falls within the general purview of Schedule 13," Justice Brown said.

Queenstown Airport's counsel argued the RESA was part of the airport runway, or a road, or a hardstanding, all of which are recognised depreciable land improvements under Schedule 13.

Justice Brown said the RESA didn't qualify as part of the airport runway as it wasn't constructed to the standard required for an airport runway, and a plane can't land or take off from it. The RESA also isn't a hardstanding as it's designed so aircraft will sink into the surface, nor a road, he said.

The judge also ruled that Queenstown Airport had not established that the RESA might reasonably be expected to decline in value, as it is designed to be used infrequently, in the rare event an aircraft undershot or overran the runway.

In its 2015 annual report, the airport said it would cost about $2.7 million in deferred tax liability if it lost the case against the IRD. However, it said it had received advice the dispute "would be resolved in its favour."

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Odesa seaport in January-June 2016 handled more than 11.644 million tonnes of cargo, which is 5.9% less than in January-June 2015.

According to live data from the Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority, during the period the port increased the handling of exported cargo by 8.4%, to 9.164 million tonnes, imported cargo by 33.5%, to 1.6 million tonnes, reduced that of transit freight by more than 3 times, to 865,000 tonnes, while handled only 15,200 tonnes of cabotage goods.

The handling of liquid cargo decreased by 2.6 times, to 855,700 tonnes, packaged goods increased by 13.4%, to 6.486 million tonnes, dry cargo fell by 3%, to 4.302 million tonnes.

Odesa port is located on an area of 109.5 hectares.

The port accepts vessels with lengths of up to 270 meters and maximum draughts of 13 meters. The total length of the port's berths exceeds eight kilometers.
Urban Experts will become partner of NAI Global under NAI Ukraine brand

The NAI Global international network of consulting companies, specializing in investment and brokerage in real estate, will be presented in Ukraine through partnership with Urban Experts LLC (Kyiv) under the NAI Ukraine brand.

"We are seeing a revival of interest in Ukraine among investors  now it is interesting for NAI Global to start working in Ukraine and for us  in international markets," Urban Experts CEO and initiator of NAI Ukraine Vitaliy Boiko said.

He noted thanks to this partnership the Ukrainian company will provide both consulting and brokerage services, including to international clients of NAI.

Urban Experts notes participation in the NAI network will provide access to the worldwide listing of real estate objects, leasing of objects of any complexity involving international brands, expertise in all types of commercial real estate (retail, office, hotel, warehouse, industrial, infrastructure, social), as well as export of services of Ukrainian developers.

NAI Global includes more than 375 offices in 55 countries with 7,000 employees. It is in the top five largest consulting companies in the world and annually participates in transactions worth more than $45 billion. NAI Global is a subsidiary of C-III Capital Partners, which has more than $150 billion of investment funds.
Company head: Corporatization of Ukrposhta launched, will be finished by year end

The process of corporatization of Ukrainian state enterprise of postal services Ukrposhta started five days ago, it will be completed within one year, new head of Ukrposhta Ihor Smiliansky has said at a briefing in Kyiv.

"Corporatization has already begun, over the last five days it takes up most of my time. The process will be quick, transparent, we have support of the Infrastructure Ministry," he said.

Smiliansky assured the corporatization is to be completed as soon as possible during the year.

Ukrposhta is managed by the Ministry of Infrastructure. It is the national operator of the country's postal services.

Ukrposhta offers more than 50 kinds of services in almost 12,000 offices throughout Ukraine. The company employs 76,000 workers, of whom 33,000 are postmen, 13,000 are postal service operators.
Ukraine's Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman and Japanese Ambassador to Ukraine Shigeki Sumi count on the successful implementation of the project for the reconstruction of Bortnychi Aeration Station to which Japan has contributed about $1 billion.

At a meeting with the ambassador on Monday, the Ukrainian prime minister said that Japan provided about $1 billion for this project, which the government plans to implement soon.

"This is an extraordinary project for residents of Kyiv and adjacent areas, a serious environmental project, and Japan's contribution is very important," the government's press service quoted Groysman as saying.

Japanese Ambassador also expressed the hope that the project of reconstruction of Bortnychi Aeration Station will be successfully implemented. He listed promising projects, which Japan may help to implement, but also drew attention to the outstanding issues which need to be resolved. Among them is strengthening of the independence of the State Inspectorate for Nuclear Regulation of Ukraine, as well as the matters related to VAT refund.

In addition, the two officials discussed the development of bilateral cooperation, in particular in the economic, investment and trade areas.

"We are very interested in this, we are ready to receive representatives of the Japanese business in Ukraine," Groysman said adding that a visit of Japanese businessman is planned for the second half of this year.

He also told the ambassador Kyiv is interested in involving Japan in such priority areas of government activity, as roads, energy efficiency, modernization of regional hospitals, and sophisticated schemes of waste disposal.
MUMBAI: State Bank of India (SBI) and the World Bank have inked agreements for a $625 million (around Rs 4,200 crore) facility to support grid-connected rooftop solar programme (GRPV) in the country.

This will help SBI in financing GRPV projects at competitive rates, the countrys largest lender said in a statement on Saturday.

This will catalyse the market and support the government to faster achieve its target to generate 40 gigawatt (Gw) of electricity from the widespread installation of rooftop solar photo-voltaic panels.

The eligible beneficiaries under the facility would be developers, aggregators and end-users, who wish to set up solar PV projects, mainly on commercial, industrial and institutional rooftops.

Through this initiative, at least 400 megawatt (Mw) solar capacity will be created across the country.

The agreements were signed by Karnam Sekar, deputy managing director, SBI and Onno Ruhl, Country Director, World Bank India.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Union Power Minister Piyush Goyal, World Bank President Jim Yong Kim and Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das were also present. SBI Capital Markets was the advisor for structuring and setting up the facility.

The programme also aims at improving the investment climate for solar PV, and increase the ease of doing rooftop business through technical assistance to strengthen the capacity of key institutions, and support development of the overall solar rooftop PV market, the statement said.

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NEW YORK: India has strongly pitched for US investments in its urban sector missions, highlighting various initiatives of the government for recasting the country's urban landscape.



Addressing the US policy makers, officials and corporate leaders here yesterday, Urban Development Minister MVenkaiah Naidu listed out various schemes of government under urban sector such as Smart City Mission, Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation, Swachh Bharat Mission and Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban).



"Naidu has strongly pitched for US investments in urban sector in India explaining the opportunities under new initiatives of the government to a host of US policy makers, officials and corporate," Urban Development Ministry said in a statement today.



Naidu held "extensive" discussions with US Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Global Markets Arun Kumar, former New York Mayor and founder of Bloomberg Philanthropies Michael Bloomberg, Deputy Mayor of New York Alicia Glen and officials of US Trade Development Agency.



He also held talks with chief executives and senior officials of several leading companies like KPMG, IBM and Master Card, besides addressing US-India Business Council.



Bloomberg, whose organisation is associated with holding Smart City Challenge competition in India, acknowledged the "new vigour" for recasting the Indian urban landscape and said that it is a "win-win situation" for all, the statement said.



The US companies told Naidu that they are working on various proposals to take advantage of investment opportunities under Smart City Mission and other initiatives, it said.



United States Trade Development Agency (USTDA) has already inked MoUs with the governments of Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh for assisting in developing Allahabad, Ajmer and Visakhapatnam as smart cities.

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BEIJING: A Chinese daily today claimed that former prime minister Manmohan Singh had "expressed support" for China's ambitious Maritime Silk Road plan but his successor Narendra Modi "changed" India's "attitude" towards the initiative by using delaying tactics.



"Indian strategists and the government believe there is some geostrategic design behind the 'Belt and Road' (Silk Road) initiative. Now, India has adopted opposing, delaying and hedging measures toward different parts of the initiative," an article published in the state-run Global Times said.

"When China initiated the MSR in 2013, then Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his national security advisor Shivshankar Menon expressed support and interest. But current Prime Minister Narendra Modi changed India's attitude toward MSR after he came into power," the article written by Liu Zongyi, a fellow of state-run Shanghai Institutes for International Studies said.



India from the beginning has reservations over the strategic impact of the MSR on the Indian Ocean, observers herepointed out that India first sought details of the project since its outline was unveiled in 2014, it said.



"The final blueprint of the MSR which was part of the mega Belt and Road project was released by Chinese President Xi Jinping only in March last year during Boao Forum for Asia by which time Modi government was firmly in saddle," it said.



Vice President Hamid Ansari during his visit to Beijing in June said New Delhi had sought more details about the MSR.



China's Silk Road plan the name of which was subsequently changed to "Belt and Road" project moots a maze of roads and corridors connecting China with Asia and Europe.



Besides the MSR and BCIM, the plan includes China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), rail and road connectivity with Central Asia and Europe.



India has already conveyed its objection to CPEC as it goes through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).



External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, during her visit to Beijing last year, said India will not give a blanket endorsement to the MSR project but support where the synergies of the two countries meet.



While criticising India's approach to MSR, today's article in the Global Times also said China should increase maritime cooperation with India to dispel misgivings.



"China should improve connections and cooperation with the Indian Ocean Rim Association and other regional cooperation organisations in the Indian Ocean. At the same time, China should improve maritime cooperation with India," it said.

"Western scholars forged and hyped China's 'string of



pearls strategy' in the Indian Ocean, and some Indians believe that MSR is just an alternative wording that sounds more pleasant and is used to replace the string of pearls strategy," the article said.



"The so-called string of pearls strategy is a military and geostrategic design. But Chinese leaders define the 'Belt and Road' initiative as the top-level design of China's opening-up and economic diplomacy in the new era and Chinese solutions and suggestions toward world peace and development," it said.



"India's reaction toward the 'Belt and Road' initiative is a part of its Indo-Pacific strategy under which India takes precedence of geopolitics over geoeconomics cooperation," it said.



Indian hedging strategy toward the 'Belt and Road' has very strong military and strategic implications. The 'Belt and Road' initiative is an economic cooperation, and China will invest a large amount of capital along the route that India cannot match, it added.



"Modi's visit to three Indian Ocean countries in March 2015 shows that India is determined to adopt an asymmetrical strategy to secure a dominant position in the Indian Ocean through bolstering military and security cooperation with these island nations," it said.



Also India enforced its military and strategic coordination with the US, Japan and some Southeast Asian countries which have islands disputes with China in the South China Sea, it said.



"So in the Indo-Pacific region, there is competition between geoeconomic cooperation and geopolitical cooperation. India, the US and Japan want to hedge economic and trade cooperation initiated by China with their military and security cooperation. This situation does not benefit the advancement of the 'Belt and Road' initiative," it said.



To deal with the situation, China should make clear its purposes in the Indian Ocean, "specially the security of sea lanes of energy and trade, the security of overseas investment and the security of overseas Chinese, to build strategic trust with Indian Ocean countries, especially India," it said.



Also China should step up efforts to improve maritime economic cooperation, maritime interconnection, civil cooperation, disaster relief cooperation, legal cooperation and other maritime security activities, providing more international public goods collectively with other countries, to ensure the security of sea lanes and freedom of navigation in the Indian Ocean, it said.



"In the long run it is necessary to build a stable regional security architecture. China should continue to advocate new security concepts and make efforts to build an inclusive and democratic regional security architecture," it said.

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It has taken two years but, finally, Narendra Modi appears to have found his feet. In a recent interview, he demonstrated his grip on the situation by covering wide areas of national and international affairs. The earlier silences on crucial issues such as the rampages of saffron mobs and the snide attacks on selected targets by self-appointed saviours of the nation are no longer in evidence.

Given his command performance of over 90 minutes (on TV), it is odd that he does not engage in more such interactions with media personnel either singly or collectively. Such an initiative will dispel the impression that he is wary of the press, probably because of his experience during and after the Gujarat riots.

Along with wide-ranging press conferences, Modi can indulge in more humorous exchanges, shedding his present inhibitions born of the "fear", as he has admitted, of the media taking a word of his comments out of the context and blowing it out of proportion.

His apprehension that humour can be "risky" is unwarranted. So is the belief in the media's mischievousness. Of all the leaders, he is better placed than anyone else to inject an element of wit and drollery in public life because of his own and his party's secure political position and his high personal ratings.

Neither Sonia Gandhi nor Rahul Gandhi can afford to look at the funny side of things if only because there may not be any in their view. It is the same with the regional orders. Even the stability of their political positions does not make Mamata Banerjee or Jayalalitha or Nitish Kumar any less tense.

In Modi's case, however, his body language during the interview underlined his confidence.

The reason apparently is his success in pinpointing both his successes and difficulties. At home, Modi has had no hesitation in stating that only one party has been stalling parliamentary debate. In foreign affairs, he is happy about the warmth of the relations with the US and concerned about the hurdles posed by the multiple centres of authority in Pakistan.

China is a problem, but it has been told that the government will not hesitate to take care of India's interests. That should make it less adventurous in the border areas.

That the prime minister referred to the positive editorials in American newspapers after his visit to the US emphasized the disadvantages of keeping Indian journalists, except one, at arm's length which, according to a saffronite, has set off a "fratricidal war" in the media.

Such an interpretation, which maliciously distorts the competitive nature of journalism, is the adverse fallout of being selective -- which doesn't suit a prime minister.

Interestingly, Modi's criticisms were all veiled. He did not name the Congress for its obstructionism, nor Subramanian Swamy for his publicity-seeking stunts.

But the snubs have hit their mark, especially where Swamy is concerned. The prime minister's advice to the media not to make "heroes" of the hotheads was also well directed since there has been a tendency in the Third Estate to single out relatively minor incidents of saffron excesses to slam the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Sangh parivar.

Notwithstanding the confidence which the prime minister displayed, his assurances on development in the context of the Uttar Pradesh elections are more likely to be believed if the BJP visibly dissociates itself from the Hindutva extremists by showing that it doesn't consider them to be "heroes".

Since Uttar Pradesh is the biggest prize to be won before the next general elections, it will prove the veracity of Modi's assertion vis-a-vis the unstable ground reality in the state.

If, as Modi believes, the new generation only believes in development, the BJP should have no hesitation in shunning the militants in its ranks. In that case, the party should be able to repeat its outstanding feat of 2014 when it won 73 of the state's 80 parliamentary seats.

But, as of now, the signs are not wholly reassuring. Even then, it is to Modi's credit that he has been able to turn the focus on his party's policies to development from the militant Hindutva of the 1990s.

The next step is to further illumine the present-day "bright spot" of the Indian economy amid the encircling gloom of the international economic scene, as the World Bank group president, Jim Yong Kim, has said.

In this field, the test lies in ensuring the parliamentary passage of the goods and services legislation, which now has a greater chance because of the increasing support to the government by the regional parties.

Its passage cannot but create an atmosphere of buoyancy.

Once this hurdle is crossed, it is only the fraught relations with China and Pakistan which will be a matter of worry. In other respects, the country's forward march is obvious as in satellite technology and military preparedness.

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NEW DELHI: President Pranab Mukherjee on Saturday inaugurated asmart model village pilot project at the Rashtrapati Bhavan and asserted that it were the representatives of the villages, who can transform this country.

Speaking on the occasion, the President said that in the last nearly four years of his Presidency this was the first time that he was having the privilege of interacting with Sarpanches and village level functionaries in Rashtrapati Bhavan.

He also said that since assuming office, he had been emphasizing on the opening of the Rashtrapati Bhavan to the people, however, today he felt that Rashtrapati Bhavan had been truly opened to the public since the village representatives were present there.

"Our progress and development can be achieved at the desirable speed only in partnership with these decision makers in the villages. We also need to empower our women and youth. He expressed confidence that this initiative would not remain confined to these five villages but would spread to the entire country," the President said.

President Mukherjee also said that this is a landmark initiative for the nation, as it seeks to replicate the experience in transforming the President's Estate into a smart model township, in five selected villages in Haryana.

The five villages which will be developed into the smart villages under this pilot project are Dhaula, Alipur, Harichandpur and Taj Nagar from Gurgaon district and Rojka Meo from Mewat district of Haryana.

The President had announced this pilot project on the occasion of inauguration of the Intelligent Operations Centre (IOC) in Rashtrapati Bhavan and launching of a Mobile App 'Monitor' for transformation of President's Estate into a smart township on May 19, 2016.

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NEW DELHI: As many as 571 budding entrepreneurs have filed applications as on June 24 with the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) for recognition as innovative startups to avail tax breaks and other benefits.

Out of these, only 12 are eligible for consideration by the inter-ministerial board for tax benefits, Startup Indiatweeted. Startup India is an initiative of the DIPP.

Seven have submitted all documents and are eligible for Startup India benefits and tax exemption and 106 have submitted all documents but are not eligible for tax exemptions, it said.

"Remaining applicants will receive hand holding support from Startup India Hub," it added.

The inter-ministerial board validates the innovative nature of the business for granting tax related benefits.

In January, Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled a slew of incentives to boost start-up businesses, offering them a tax holiday and inspector raj-free regime for three years, capital gains tax exemption and Rs 10,000 crore corpus to fund them.

India has the third-largest number of start-ups globally. To boost financing, a 20% tax on capital gains made on investments by entrepreneurs after selling own assets as well as government-recognised venture capitalists is also exempted.

Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has asked the finance ministry to consider raising tax holiday for start-ups to seven years to encourage budding entrepreneurs.

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Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has signed the law on the promotion of the market of used cars, which until January 1, 2019 significantly reduced excise duty on imports of such cars by individuals or legal entities under the condition of imports of one car per year, presidential spokesman Sviatoslav Tseholko has said.

"The president signed the law of Ukraine on used cars in the presence of deputies of different factions," Tseholko wrote on his Twitter page.

According to him, it was also agreed the law will be amended on July 7 "to avoid abuse."

As reported, the relevant bill was passed by the parliament of Ukraine on May 31, signed by Speaker Andriy Parubiy on June 16 this year and submitted to the president for signature.

On July 4 the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine proposed Poroshenko sign this law.

The document comes into force on the first day of the month following the month of its publication.

The law provides for reduction of excise tax only on passenger cars manufactured after January 1, 2010, as well as bans imports of cars from the country recognized as an aggressor/invader.
WASHINGTON: The United States has expressed disappointment overIndia not getting entry into the NSG and asserted that it would continue to work constructively with other countries of the group for New Delhi's inclusion in the 48-nation atomic trading bloc.

"We're not going to let that go," State Department Spokesman John Kirby told reporters yesterday.

"We're obviously disappointed that India was not admitted during this recent session, but I can tell you that we're going to continue to work constructively with India and all the other NSG members on India's accession in the months ahead," He said while responding to a question.

He added that India has a strong record and the US believes it deserves to be included in the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG).

"That's why the Administration, including senior White House and State Department officials, made a concerted effort and I do mean concerted effort to secure India's membership in the recent NSG plenary that was held in Seoul, we talked about this," Kirby said.

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Source: PTI
The presidential administration of Ukraine has confirmed that Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and his U.S. counterpart Barack Obama are scheduled to meet during the upcoming Warsaw NATO Summit.

"The agenda of the president's visit to Warsaw is being considered and updated. The visit will be held on July 8-9 and time for a bilateral meeting between the Ukrainian and U.S. presidents is reserved in the schedule," Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration for Foreign Policy Kostiantyn Yeliseyev said on the Inter television channel on Sunday, July 3.
Cooperation between Ukraine and NATO, as well as reforming the Ukrainian Naval Forces, are two of the topics to be discussed during a state visit by United States Secretary of State John Kerry to Ukraine, Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration for Foreign Policy Kostiantyn Yeliseyev has said.

"We will also discuss both bilateral relations, global and regional security. Ukraine-NATO cooperation, reform in the Naval Forces, and implementation of the Minsk agreements will also be discussed," he said on the Inter television channel on Sunday, July 3.
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"He is a more advanced terrorist than a terrorist from the PYD or the YPG," Erdogan said. "He is a more advanced terrorist than Daesh." Erdogan was referring to Syrian Kurdish militia, which Ankara accuses of being a terror organization because of their affiliation with Turkey's Kurdish rebels, and to the IS group by its Arabic name.
Meanwhile, the Syrian Arab Red Crescent said its convoy came under fire while on its way back from a mission to deliver humanitarian aid to a rebel-held suburb of the Syrian capital of Damascus and that one of its staffers was "hit." In a statement issued Sunday, it said one of the cars in the convoy was shot at, adding that the car was clearly marked.
The Ukrainian side will coordinate efforts with its partners in the Normandy Four format (Ukraine, Germany, France, Russia) during a meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Commission in Warsaw, as part of the upcoming NATO Summit, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has said.

"It is not about the fact of a meeting, but about properly elaborated documents," the president said in Odesa on Sunday, July 3, when asked by an Interfax-Ukraine reporter about the date of the next Normandy Four meeting.

The president added that Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin and Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration Kostiantyn Yeliseyev would travel to Europe on Monday, July 4, in order to discuss the preparations for the next round of talks with their colleagues.
The young men, armed with knives, bombs and automatic firearms, engaged in a gunbattle with police, killing two and wounding more, then seized a popular restaurant in a Dhaka neighborhood Friday night and held 35 people hostage. During the next few hours, they would kill 20 of their captives  including nine Italians, seven Japanese, an Indian teenager and three students at American universities. A witness said some victims were tortured when they could not recite verses from the Quran.
ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr says he will lead the fight for marriage equality as Canberrans progress through two elections and a possible plebiscite.

"If there is an overlap with the marriage equality plebiscite I will be taking a leading role locally and nationally," Mr Barr said on Monday.

ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr, left, pictured with his partner Anthony Toms, vows to front the battle for marriage equality. Credit:Jamila Toderas

"It will be an important opportunity for this community to express its very strong support for marriage equality."

Mr Barr warned voters of his opponents' extreme views, accusing the Canberra Liberals of being the most radically conservative branch in Australia.
A Canberra gunmaker's bid to make rifles for Victoria Police has been shut down in a situation he has labelled "absurd".

A specific ACT law, which does not exist in NSW, meant Gareth Crook was allowed to "possess" but not "use" silencers and folding stocks when making the rifles.

Victoria Police asked GC Precision Development to trial precision bolt action rifles. Credit:Andrew Meares

It meant the stocks and silencers were "nothing more than paperweights", and he could not first test the weapons he would sell to Victoria Police.

Mr Crook challenged the decision not to award him permits to use the prohibited items in the ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal.
Two more Asian antiquities in the National Gallery of Australia's collection may have to be returned to India, with news of a new arrest in relation to an Indian art smuggling ring.

According to a report in The Australian, another antiquity trader has been arrested who may be involved in the looting of two pieces  an 1800-year-old limestone carving showing a scene from the life of Buddha and a 12th century statue of the Hindu goddess Pratyangira.

An 1800-year-old limestone carving showing a scene from the life of Buddha. Credit:studio

The report says investigators believe antiquity trader Deena Dayalan sold these two sculptures to disgraced New York art dealer Subhash Kapoor, who is awaiting trial in an Indian prison.

Kapoor sold the pieces to the NGA in 2005, which paid $800,000 for the Buddha and nearly $340,000 for the goddess Pratyangira.
A former University of Canberra law professor accused of sex offences against six female students had threatened to report them for alleged plagiarism, court documents reveal.

Arthur Marshall Hoyle, 66, has pleaded not guilty in the ACT Magistrates Court to 12 counts of committing acts of indecency and two charges of sexual intercourse without consent.

Charged: Former University of Canberra law professor Arthur Marshall Hoyle. Credit:Graham Tidy

It's alleged Hoyle committed the offences against the students in his office over several weeks in April last year after he emailed each of the women and requested they meet with him to discuss an assignment.

The accused, formerly of Lyons, appeared in court briefly on Monday, when he was committed to stand trial on the allegations in the ACT Supreme Court.
Justice Michael Elkaim, SC, is well aware of the lengthy campaign that led to his appointment as the ACT Supreme Court's long-awaited fifth resident judge.

He was sworn in at a special ceremonial sitting on Monday in what was a watershed moment for Canberra's legal fraternity, after an extended fight for an additional judge to help ease pressure on the existing four judges and associate justice.

Justice Michael Elkaim has been sworn in as the fifth ACT Supreme Court judge. Credit:Graham Tidy

Justice Elkaim, a respected former NSW District Court judge, said he had done his best "to be fair, to listen and to make timely decisions" as he joined the newly bolstered full bench of the Supreme Court for the first time.

"I'm aware that the appointment of a fifth judge to this court has been debated for some time.
Major banks will probably have to boost their capital buffers further in order to retain their position among the world's best-capitalised lenders, the financial regulator has warned.

After it last year pressured the big four banks to raise about $18 billion in new equity, the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority on Monday published a study showing an improvement in the lenders' capital adequacy compared with banks overseas.

However, it also flagged that banks will have more work to do in building up their capital buffers  which protect banks against financial shocks, but also make them less profitable.

APRA on Monday updated a study that showed the common equity tier 1 (CET1) capital ratio of Australia's major banks were now in the top quartile of banks internationally  a key target set by the 2014 financial system inquiry.
Some of the salesmen who rorted the private vocational education system last year are back in action, this time allegedly falsifying English language tests and completing student assignments in another bid for Commonwealth cash.

Broker Hari Krishna Peddasetty Reddy, who was one of the salesmen working for the disgraced Phoenix Institute, has been holding training sessions for "brokers" in his Kensington office.

There he allegedly lays out a new scheme that involves sending language and assessment tests to a call centre in India to be completed.

Mr Reddy is said to be one of a loosely related network of people testing new regulations designed to clamp down on the multibillion-dollar rorts of 2015.
In Silicon Valley, where companies big and small are at work on self-driving cars, there have been a variety of approaches, and even some false starts.

The most divergent paths may be the ones taken by Tesla, which is already selling cars that have some rudimentary self-driving functions, and Google, which is still very much in experimental mode.

As a general concept, Google was trying to achieve the same goal as Tesla is claiming with the Autopilot feature it has promoted with the Model S, which has hands-free technology that has come under scrutiny after a fatal accident on a Florida highway.

But Google decided to play down the vigilant-human approach after an experiment in 2013, when the company let some of its employees sit behind the wheel of the self-driving cars on their daily commutes.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has congratulated navy sailors and veterans on Day of the Naval Forces of Ukraine and noted that the country's navy is the country's main instrument of defense from sea invasion.

"Our navy sailors along with military industry enterprises had to take serious efforts to restore combat potential of the navy following its redeployment from Crimea and Sevastopol. You were the force which consolidated patriots and broke the aggressor's plans to destabilize and seize southern regions of our country," the presidential press service quoted the head of state as saying.

Poroshenko said Ukrainian warships and motor boats clearly fulfilled tasks to protect sea ports, Ukraine coastline and Ukraine's naval communications.

"The fortitude and invincible spirit, courage and professionalism demonstrated by navy personnel and special forces in the defense of Donbas are an example of military honor and dignity," Poroshenko said.
Japan's Fast Retailing, owner of the Uniqlo casual-wear brand, will suspend all but critical travel to Bangladesh and has told staff there to stay home after 20 people, including seven Japanese, were killed in an attack that began late on Friday.

Bangladesh's $US26 billion garment industry has been bracing for the fallout of the killings at a Dhaka restaurant, fearing major retailers from Uniqlo to Marks & Spencer and Gap could rethink their investment after the latest attack targeting foreigners.

Uniqlo has 10 Japanese staff in Bangladesh, one of its major production hubs outside China, and was among the first to confirm that it will tighten travel restrictions, already in place after attacks on foreigners last year.

A spokeswoman said all but critical travel was suspended.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull urged Australians elect a "stable majority Coalition Government" rather than the "chaos" of a minority government during the election.

Well, that backfired.

But noisy chaotic government is not a democratic failure. The majority governments that easily push their own agenda through parliament  and the agenda of the vested interests that got them there  have not been providing Australians with long-term policy stability.

In fact, by swapping between Labor and the Coalition, we are actually creating long term chaos. As each party comes into power it reverses and destroys  as much as it can  whatever the previous party was trying to achieve. Every time we have a change of government millions of dollars and hundreds of hours of work get swept aside so everything chosen through the Labor prism can be re-examined through the Liberal prism and vice versa.

Wouldn't it be nice to have infrastructure projects, regulators and major economic reforms that withstand the next election? Such certainty would make projects cheaper and better because they don't have to be rushed before a change of government.
The Senate will continue to be a problem but that's not new. The bigger problem is that our politicians don't seem prepared to really combat our economic problems. Within Labor, from 2007 to 2013, caucus was right to dispense with Rudd and Gillard because they weren't good enough as PMs. The Coalition party room had similar issues and hence the demise of Abbott. Then it tried Malcolm Turnbull for the obvious reason that he was the best on offer. The reason his ratings were so good at the start was because the public was getting desperate to find a leader on top of his game.

But without commitment to serious and better economic management, our debts will rise and rise, we will eventually lose our triple AAA credit rating, investment will be curtailed, unemployment will push upwards and we will wake up as the next recession starts to hurt.

Unfortunately it didn't take long for him to make the mistake of opening the GST debate, then taking too long to examine the obvious and then ignoring those, including me, who urged him to drop it. From that moment a disappointed public was losing heart. Then the innovation statement was pretty weak  anybody can splash cash to business.

Malcolm Turnbull's future will be determined by whether he can put together a reform agenda. . Credit:Janie Barrett

His next chance to do better was in preparation for the budget and the election. Sadly the "jobs and growth" mantra lacked substance. At least the Coalition wanted to cut spending but the best they could do was to cut $1.6 billion over four years. In a federal spend of about $2 trillion the alleged saving was no more than a rounding measure and some of its numbers were on the edge of credibility. It was a piddling amount and the Coalition was only saved from humiliation by Labor's promise of increasing the debt. No wonder a record number of voters have gone looking for someone else and they have given us Clive Palmer in 2013, now Pauline Hanson, Nick Xenophon and worse.

I assume that Turnbull will scrape back into office. As I have said well before the election, his future will be determined by whether he can put together a reform agenda. The record has not been great. Turnbull did very little on workplace relations even though he used the Australian Building and Construction Commission as his reason for the double dissolution. Now I wonder why the Coalition even bothered about the Heydon royal commission. Turnbull had the ammunition to put WorkChoices behind the Coalition and go after Bill Shorten not just on the CFA and the truckies but the Heydon material as well. The Coalition should have started to turn the industrial relations system back to the successful system we had established in the 1990s before WorkChoices. Instead it seems that Turnbull didn't have the political instinct to give it a go.



As far as I am concerned, until the Liberal Party reignites its commitment to workplace relations, it will just limp along as it has since John Howard left politics in 2007. This latest setback is not a once-only event. Instead it is the continuation of leaders who have not had the full skill-set for the job.

I have not given up on Turnbull but this election has weakened him. The only way Turnbull will survive is if he pursues a new Fightback followed by another double dissolution. In my view it's his last chance. He has no time to waste and if he just proceeds as if "jobs and growth" is enough then he will not last the parliamentary term.
Optimism beats pessimism 99 times out of 100. That's worth remembering as the nation ponders these uncertain times.

Sure, the potential for government instability is immense. Policy paralysis is possible. Another election is in the mix.

Nick Xenophon and his NXT candidate Rebekha Sharkie will be crucial in deciding which party gains government in a hung parliament. Credit:James Elsby

On the upside, though, politicians are not stupid. No matter how out of touch and locked in party chains they might seem, every MP would rather have a job than not. Many even have good ideas.

And whatever the final count, Malcolm Turnbull, Bill Shorten and, in particular, the crossbenchers are quite capable of finding common ground and respecting the wishes of the people.
While Labor under Bill Shorten lifted its primary vote by a laudable 1.97 per cent since 2013, this was still the party's second-lowest primary result since 1949. Notably, the swing to minor parties and independents at this election was, at 2.74 per cent, greater than the swing to Labor. Why? Election 2016 will go down as yet another case of voters punishing politicians who fail to listen, abandon authenticity and betray trust. In 2008 Kevin Rudd abandoned meaningful action on climate change  "the greatest challenge of a generation"  and voters turned off. In 2010 Julia Gillard broke her promise not to introduce a carbon tax  and she never recovered. In 2014 Tony Abbott introduced a budget of surprises and broken promises he had told voters they would never see. And in 2016 Mr Turnbull's popularity slumped when he began to jettison, or at the very least shroud, his core beliefs, out of political expediency.

This made him more focused on governing his fractured party than governing the country. You do not have to agree with Pauline Hanson, Nick Xenophon, the Greens, Andrew Wilkie, Bob Katter, Jacqui Lambie and Cathy McGowan to respect that they have been rewarded at this election for being conviction politicians, who communicate and behave with sometimes unnerving authenticity. Their success means the nation faces days of uncertainty before more than 1 million postal votes determine the make-up of the lower house. In a hung parliament Mr Turnbull's task of negotiating power with independents is even more difficult now than it was for Ms Gillard in 2010. At least two of the current crossbenchers won't strike deals with Labor or the Coalition given the major parties' previous breaches of trust. One or two barely known Nick Xenophon Team candidates may well determine the government. Mr Turnbull said on Sunday he remained quietly confident of gaining a majority, but added that "the Parliament as elected will work effectively and constructively for stability".

By nature Mr Turnbull is a more gifted negotiator and deal-maker than Mr Abbott. How he manages the relationship with independents will be the first test of his leadership. But he must also manage his enemies within his own party who will be emboldened by this result. Even if the Coalition gains the smallest of majorities, the stability Mr Turnbull offered has been severely rocked. The conservatives in the Coalition will make increasing demands on Mr Turnbull and his leadership will be open to question. His rivals will seek to stop the plebiscite on same-sex marriage. If it proceeds, Mr Turnbull will need to unite the nation and prevent vilification. Voters on the left at this election had hoped Mr Turnbull would stand up for social progress. The Herald hoped he would, too, if he achieved a strong mandate. But many voters were too disappointed with Mr Turnbull's compromises. What's more, almost half of all Australians did not accept the Coalition's jobs/growth mantra. They did not buy Mr Turnbull's "same old Labor" scare about Mr Shorten's economic management credentials. They did not scurry away from Labor's promise to go deeper into deficit and raise taxes, seemingly because the proceeds were to be spent on hospitals, schools and public services. Mr Shorten can take a lot of credit. It was unthinkable nine months ago that he would be within reach of the Lodge. Labor's above-average swing of 2.87 per cent in NSW no doubt reflected concerns about the cost of living. Mr Shorten gained votes with his plan to improve housing affordability by curbing negative gearing and raising the capital gains tax. Labor's vacuous Medicare scare campaign also struck a nerve with voters.

Yet Mr Shorten may face a leadership challenge from Anthony Albanese. Such intra-party uncertainty on both sides reflects how the two-party system is in turmoil as it struggles to meet the needs of increasingly angry voters. The combined lower house primary vote for Labor and the Coalition  Liberals, Liberal Nationals, the Nationals and the Country Liberals  was 77.19 per cent this time. Last time it was 79.93 per cent. So 2.74 per cent of people have turned away from the major parties. Just days ago 49 per cent of people in the Fairfax-Ipsos poll said they would prefer Malcolm Turnbull as Prime Minister versus 35 per cent who preferred Mr Shorten. Tellingly, 61 per cent said they believed the Coalition would win the election. Some people were so angry that they turned to Labor on Saturday while still expecting and preferring Mr Turnbull to win.
So what do we know for certain?

It will take the Electoral Commission a couple of day to physically shift the final votes around the country. The Coalition's confident that these ballots will swing their way. This means they'll be able to form government. It's also why Malcolm Turnbull took so long to speak in the early hours of Sunday morning. He desperately wanted to claim victory and kept re-doing the maths until the numbers added up. They didn't.

The critical number is 76  a majority in the House plus a speaker. The Coalition has a definite, absolute minimum of 67; Labor 71; five independents and seven still undecided. It could still go either way. But add in (conservative) Bob Katter, Cathy McGowan (rural) and Nick Xenophon's (centrist) electorates and it appears unlikely Bill Shorten will form government. Especially if Labor had fewer seats than the Coalition, which seems likely.

It is, however, very clear who lost the election. For Turnbull it's a disaster.
Even though I had already completed my duty, I couldn't keep away.

So there was I on market day in glorious Brunswick Heads on the NSW North Coast. Yes, the local markets are in full swing, sugar cane juice, patchouli candles, dreadlocked piano players and a couple my age, she on the ukulele and him on backing vocals. Bye bye bye bye bye bye baby, goodbye.

But round the corner there is another even more fascinating market. The marketplace for the local political candidate is in full swing. Check out the queues, longish but ticking over. Dazzling sunshine. Bargain sausage sizzle. Kids running around.

There is a lot of chat about our beloved "democracy sausage", to be found at nearly every voting booth across Australia. But away from the barbecue, there are so many others who help our democracy tick over. They don't get the sizzle of our snags or the kudos of the cake stall. But they help us every election day.
The chief curator of Tokyo's Mori Art Museum, Kataoka takes over as artistic director from German Stephanie Rosenthal, whose biennale featured works by a number of prominent artists from Asia including Lee Mingwei and Lee Bul.

Mami Kataoka has been appointed artistic director of the 2018 Biennale of Sydney, the first time a curator from Asia has led the event. Credit:Edwina Pickles

Biennale chairwoman Kate Mills described Kataoka as one of the region's most accomplished curators: "Mami will bring a truly fresh perspective and an Asian sensibility to the exhibition in 2018".

It has taken more than 40 years, but the Biennale of Sydney will finally have its first artistic director from Asia, with the appointment of Mami Kataoka.

Kataoka said it was "very natural" the Biennale had looked to Europe when it began in 1973, but it was now "a little bit outdated to only bring artistic directors from Europe or particularly the UK. And it's been quite a long time."

Kataoka has curated major shows of artists from Asia including Ai Wei Wei, Mingwei and Bul, and was the international curator of London's Hayward Gallery, whose director is Rosenthal, from 2007 to 2009.

She was also one of 13 international advisors to this year's biennale, which ended last month claiming an audience figure in excess of 640,000.

Kataoka has travelled extensively across south-east Asia as she prepares to stage an exhibition of artworks from the region for the Mori Art Museum in 2017.

"Naturally I have more experiences and knowledge in this region so it's probably natural to bring in some of the artists I know," she said. "But it doesn't mean I only look at those regions."
Biography is a growing genre in Australian writing, says historian Peter Cochrane, "not just as a search to understand lives but to get to the truth behind the spin, cover and public masks that confront us every day in politics.

"A healthy biography scene is a marker of a healthy society," he says. "There's a new scepticism.

Magda Szubanski talks to George Megalogenis at 2016 Sydney Writers' Festival. Credit:Prudence Upton

"Good biographies get to the truths behind manufactured images and tell us about the times as well as the person."

As chairman of the judging panel for the National Biography Prize, Cochrane and his fellow judges, critic Rosemary Sorensen and historian Richard White, read 110 entries. They included 15 biographies of artists and writers, 11 of politicians, eight about migrants and refugees (three of them African), seven military subjects, and 15 he defined as "misery lit or inspirational memoir".
Fox UK takes Wolf Creek

The television spin-off to the hit Wolf Creek horror franchise has been sold to the UK. The six-part series, which starred John Jarratt, Lucy Fry and Dustin Clare, was commissioned by the streaming platform Stan and premiered in Australia earlier this year. The deal puts the series on the Fox UK channel, and will air in a programming block which also includes hit cable series such as American Horror Story, Outcast and The Walking Dead. Fox UK's head of programming Toby Etheridge described the series as "a slick and tense psychological drama boasting gnarly thrills and heart-stopping tension". A spokesperson for Stan said the series exceeded 500,000 views within days of its launch, and was the most popular original series premiere on the platform.

Iloura behind GoT battle sequence

So who was behind the show-stopping, blood-filled, 22-minute battle sequence that closed the sixth season of Game of Thrones last Monday? Melbourne post-production house Iloura, it turns out, which has finally been able to reveal it produced the battle sequence involving a giant, hundreds of horses and thousands of soldiers. "Battle of the Bastards is shocking in its audacity," said the show's visual effects producer Steve Kullback. "More shocking still that we pulled it off, and so much credit for that goes to Iloura". Iloura boss Simon Rosenthal won't say what the budget for the episode was, but he concedes it was "fairly extravagant". Iloura was invited to pitch for the job because it had built computer-generated horses before, for Seth MacFarlane's A Million Ways to Die in the West and for Charlotte's Web.
Poroshenko notes unprecedented trust in new police force on first anniversary

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has congratulated Ukrainian policemen on the first anniversary since the start of work of the National Police of Ukraine.

"One year, 13,000 new policemen, 32 cities. Unprecedented trust! I congradulated you, Ukrainian policemen and policewomen," he wrote on Facebook on Monday morning.
A Polish television presenter slammed her hand straight through a nail hidden in paper bag, as her smiling co-host watched on.

What was meant to be a light-hearted TV segment about magic ended in screams and a trip to hospital for a Polish television presenter, when a magician's trick went terribly wrong.

Question for Breakfast host Marzena Rogalska was taking part in a well-known trick, where the participant must slam their hand down on brown paper bags, while avoiding one which contains a nail sticking upwards.

But magician Marcin Pooniewicz, a semi-finalist in Poland's Got Talent, muddled the bags up - and Rogalska ended up impaling her hand, with the shocking stunt caught on camera.
Discovery and the World Wildlife Fund have teamed up with a bunch of pop stars to entice folks to look at gorgeous footage of amazing animals and join the conservation cause. It's certainly not the worst idea Discovery has ever put to air, but it was never going to be a patch on anything with the Attenborough imprimatur. In today's first episode it's R&B star Usher chuckling his way through his chummy narration while one of his songs plays in the background. Perhaps the grooviest sight is that of the Central American green basilisk running across water. It is able to do this, Usher explains, because its feet create air pockets that are able to keep it afloat for the split-second duration of each step. Today's second episode features Christina Aguilera; those in coming weeks include Steven Tyler, Ellie Goulding, Joan Jett and Dave Matthews.

Spotless

SBS2, 9.30pm

A French-British co-production, this new series at first seems rather earnest, but it slowly reveals itself as a pitch-black comedy. Frenchman Jean Bastiere (Marc-Andre Grondin) has lived in London for many years in his unhappy marriage (he has a seemingly long-term mistress) and has something of an unhealthy obsession with death  he runs a crime scene cleaning business which he seems to enjoy just a little too much. Over the course of tonight's two episodes, we learn of a dark secret from his childhood  one that comes into clearer focus when his boozing, petty crim of a brother Martin (Denis Menochet) arrives unannounced at his house, having not spoken to him for years, seeking help with a rather large, illegal problem. Jean is keen to get rid of Martin, but circumstances conspire to see them instead launched into the world of organised crime together  working for underworld boss Nelson Clay, none other than Downton Abbey's Mr Bates. Spotless has been compared with Breaking Bad  and there are shades of it  but this feels like it has the potential to be even darker.

Kylie Northover

movie Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001)
Buenos Aires: Animals by the hundreds are being set free as the Argentinian capital Buenos Aires closes its 140-year-old Palermo zoo.

Among the first to leave will be birds of prey such as owls and chimangos, destined for a reserve along the shores of the Rio de la Plata south of the capital. They will be placed there in larger confines that will give them room to stretch and strengthen their winds before they're ready for the wild.

An orang-utan named Sandra may have to stay at the former Buenos Aires Zoo in Argentina. Credit:AP

Others among the 1500 animals at the zoo are destined for reserves in Argentina and abroad as their old home is transformed into a park.

The city government announced last week it would transform the city's zoo into an ecological park for a limited number of species, and will begin with the transfer of birds of prey to natural reserves.
Mr Clark had left a picnic area near Glendale Crossing when he saw the quoll scavenging on a dead red-necked wallaby and turned his car off the road, 100 metres away.

Declared a vulnerable species because extensive land clearing has reduced its habitat, the spotted-tailed quoll is bigger than the rabbit-sized eastern quoll, which was released at Mulligans Flat Woodland Sanctuary earlier this year.

In the sunny, early afternoon Mr Clark was surprised to get close enough for a photograph of the cat-sized spotted-tailed quoll on the Boboyan Road.

"I had my bird-watching binoculars, so I had a nice view from 100 metres, then walked a bit closer, and kept going until I was four or five paces from it," he said.

"I was surprised to see it in the middle of the day like that, out in the open," Mr Clark said.

Director of ACT Parks and Conservation Daniel Iglesias says only two or three spotted quolls had been spotted in the ACT in recent times, including one in Charnwood, one in Holt and this one. "It is fantastic to know they are still around," Mr Iglesias said.

"We know they hang out in Namadgi National Park, the habitat there fits their bill," he said.

Mr Iglesias said quolls were more vulnerable to being taken by wild dogs, or foxes, after their habitat had been cleared.
NSW will most likely cop its third buffeting from an east coast low in five weeks but - barring an unexpected weather wiggle - Sydney should dodge the drenching rain, meteorologists say.

The Bureau of Meteorology has issued strong wind warnings for Tuesday and a gale force warning for Wednesday for most of the NSW coast. A separate warning has been issued for many inland areas for cold weather and rain.

Sydney will get bouts of rain or showers through the working week. Friday may be the wettest day with a range of 10 mm to 30 mm, the bureau said in its updated forecasts.

Commuters should carry an umbrella on Tuesday morning with about 5mm rain tipped but the sun should break through for lengthy spells during the afternoon, Rob Sharpe, a meteorologist with Weatherzone, said.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull is not up to the job and should resign, Opposition Leader Bill Shorten said on Monday, ridiculing his counterpart's promises of stability and describing him as the "David Cameron of the southern hemisphere".

The Opposition Leader, who confounded expectations with Labor's strong performance in Saturday's election, also said he would cooperate with any MPs in the 45th Parliament, including Pauline Hanson, to pass legislation.

"I'm interested in making the 45th Parliament work. For me, stability isn't something you promise on a Saturday and forget on a Monday," he said, appearing in the electorate of Lindsay, now held by Emma Husar in one of Labor's many surprise victories in marginal New South Wales seats.
Conservative firebrand senator Cory Bernardi says Malcolm Turnbull's future is up for debate within the Liberal Party, as he blamed party bosses for the election "disaster".

Speaking on Adelaide radio on Monday, the South Australian senator said the Coalition had been out-campaigned by Labor and that senior government figures should "examine their conscience" over the result.

Asked if Mr Turnbull should remain as Prime Minister, Senator Bernardi said Mr Turnbull's future was a matter for the party room
In the end, the swings were to Labor and they romped it in. Labor won Barton by almost 59-41 and Werriwa by a similar margin. Outgoing Liberal Party federal director Tony Nutt. Credit:Andrew Meares National polls got it right. The Fairfax-Ipsos poll was just about dead right. But parties are too reliant on robocalls for local seats. Many voters have stopped picking up. Certain kinds of voters, ethnic voters especially, don't answer. Some political partisans do. As one Liberal said: "That polling was stuffed. Unless it's coming from a bloke standing outside Woolworths with a clipboard, I just don't believe it anymore." A party spokeswoman declined to comment on its internal polling.

Candidate selection Many key candidates were not selected for the Liberal Party until very late in the piece - and some not until the campaign was underway. Mr Mannoun, the candidate for Werriwa, was announced mid-campaign. Yvonne Keane, the star candidate for Greenway, a seat the Liberals counted as a big hope, was installed just before the election was called. (An intense factional wrangle was behind the delay.) Many Labor candidates, such as Lindsay's Emma Husar, were pre-selected late last year. She claimed the seat with a 4.6 per cent swing. "That crucified them," said a key Labor source. "The result would have been much tighter."

Campaigning on the cheap Fairfax exclusively revealed months out from the election that the Liberals were down $4 million because of a dispute with the Electoral Commission over donations. That seriously hurt the Liberals in a campaign insiders say was run on the cheap. Instead of sending expensive - $1 a pop  postal vote applications to voters as a piece of personally addressed mail from their MPs, the Liberals went for a flyer that looked more like a piece of junk mail at about 8 cents a go. "That decision amazed a lot of us," one senior Liberal said. Labor also nearly abandoned its postal vote strategy, opting to mail only a very select few residents.

But, as one Liberal said, and is being reflected in the party's hopes now, postal votes are much more important to the conservative side of politics and generally used by older voters, especially in winter. "These people are our key voters and we're expecting them to go online and download an application form?" said one senior Liberal. Angering the minor parties In three key seats, Lindsay, Greenway and Macquarie  two of which Labor won and the other which it retained with a better-than-expected performance  preferences from minor parties helped Labor get over the line. "We had a range of small parties supporting them," said a Labor source. "That was because of general anti-government sentiment but also resentment."

The government's reforms to the Senate voting system intended to knock many of the minor parties that relied on complex preference deals out of existence. They returned the favour on Saturday. Not going negative One Liberal MP told a meeting of its parliamentary party room five months out from the election that they were being inundated with concerns about Medicare privatisation from voters. But many in the party believed that message was ignored and the party failed to counter with its own negative campaigning, despite some messages about Labor's reputation for instability and a hurt to the housing market being brought to the fore.
"It is certainly within the realms of mathematical possibility," he said. Mr Buckley said it would depend if the Labor and Liberal parties lost senators with their declining vote. "If they all fall over, it really is wide open." Before the election the LNP had six senators, Labor four, the Greens had Larissa Waters and Glenn Lazarus was elected on the back of the Palmer United Party boom in 2013. Preference deals could tip Mr Buckley into the final senate place in Queensland.

Pundits are tipping Queensland's 12-person senate will include four LNP senators (down two);

four Labor senators (status quo);

one Greens senator (status quo);

one, possibly two Pauline Hanson One Nation senators; or

Liberal Democrat Gabe Buckley, as the senate wild card. "I'm hearing some talk about Liberal Democrats," one senior Labor source said on Monday after lunch. "The reason for that is they always benefit from the confusion about 'Liberal' in their name," the source said. "And on the Queensland senate ballot paper they were further up the list than the Liberal National Party. "

The source said he was "positive" there was a preference among the minor conservative parties in Queensland to share preferences. "And I think they (Liberal Democrats) will be the beneficiaries of that." Gabriel Buckley protested the introduction of the VLAD laws in Queensland and is a prominent drug law reformist. Queensland's senate outcome will not be assured until the distribution of preferences begins. Australian Electoral Commission staff are still counting senate first preferences By midday on Monday, Glenn Lazarus had received 24,566 votes, which equates to 0.21 per cent of a senate quota.

How the Queensland senate vote works In rough terms, a Queenslander needs around 112,528 votes to receive a senate quota at the 2016 federal election. The senate result  before preferences have been allocated  shows a drop in votes for both major parties; the LNP and the Australian Labor Party. By midday on Monday there was a 7.68 per cent drop in Senate votes for the Liberal National Party. Labor's senate vote dropped by 1.3 per cent, which means they will have at least three senators.

The Greens received a 1.53 per cent increase in Senate votes, meaning Senator Larissa Waters will easily hold her senate spot. However the Greens may not win enough votes for a second senator, which would be former Australian Democrats senator Andrew Bartlett. On the raw numbers Pauline Hanson (134,286) received more first preference votes than The Greens (111,124) and  before preferences are distributed - has 1.2 "quotas". The Greens will be looking for preference votes re-directed from the ALP (399,863), the Australian Cyclists Party (10,756), the Renewable Energy Party (3444) and the Arts Party (6035) to win a second senate spot. Were we interested in southerners?

Queenslanders were not interested in the three southern state identities with high profiles; Nick Xenophon from South Australia, Derryn Hinch from Victoria and Jacqui Lambie, from Tasmania. The Nick Xenophon Team received the biggest vote  28,091, about the same support as the Katter Party (27,078), but that represents only 0.2 of a senate spot in Queensland. Neither Derryn Hinch (7232) - with just 0.06 of a senate spot  or Jacqui Lambie ( 4953 votes)  with just 0.04 per cent of a senate spot, worried the Queensland scorers. Surprisingly only 5.5 per cent of senate votes in Queensland were informal (85,450) of the total 1.46 million votes cast on Saturday. Of the smaller of the 37 registered senate parties in Queensland, Family First polled 29,956 votes, while the Liberal Democrats (37,942 votes) finished higher than Katter's Australian Party, the Glenn Lazarus Team, the Pirate Party (6192) and the Australian Cyclists Party (10,756).

The Marriage Equality Party attracted 12,677 votes, or 0.1 per cent of a senate quota. Overall  by Monday midday  eight of Queensland's 12 senators settled LNP  vote down 7.7 per cent; outcome 4.37 senate quotas or minimum four senators; Labor  vote down 1.3 per cent; outcome 3.54 senate quota, or minimum three senators; Pauline Hanson  vote up 8.61 per cent; outcome; 1.2 senate quota, or minimum one senator;
Ukrainian police have reported attacks on residential areas in Toretsk (formerly Dzerzhynsk, Donetsk region).

"DPR [Donetsk People's Republic] militants attacked Chapayeva and Kirova Streets in Toretsk at about 10 p.m. on Sunday. Shells hit residential buildings and inflicted substantial damage. There were no casualties," Chief of the Main Department of the National Police of Ukraine in Donetsk region Viacheslav Abroskin wrote on Facebook on Monday.

He added that an investigation team would check the scene in order to document the consequences of the attack by DPR militants.
The red-head from Queensland could find herself friendless on the red benches of Parliament.

Pauline Hanson is hoping her prediction of six One Nation seats in the Senate comes true as she feels the cold shoulder of the political establishment.

While Malcolm Turnbull and Bill Shorten have been phoning key crossbenchers about their support for a possible minority government, neither has spoken to Ms Hanson.
But after her successful Senate bid at the weekend, the 54-year-old said he had received dozens of messages from people asking him to bring the character out of retirement.

University of New South Wales media lecturer Simon Hunt released the two scathing songs parodying Ms Hanson after she first entered politics two decades ago.

The political satirist behind hit 1990's songs Backdoor Man and I Don't Like It is considering reviving his Pauline Pantsdown character to mark the One Nation leader's return to politics.

"I'm not sure yet," he told Fairfax Media on Monday. "It's about seeing what happens with her and how useful that activity is. It's not 1998 anymore, she's been a b-grade celebrity for 18 years now."

Simon Hunt as Pauline Pantsdown in 1998. Credit:Dean Sewell

"If I were to take on a song it would be about the same things: that she's talking rubbish and that the only things that are driving her are racism and hatred."

Mr Hunt produced the singles by cutting and pasting audio from Ms Hanson's speeches and media interviews. They included phrases such as: "I'm a backdoor man for the Ku Klux Klan with very horrendous plans", and "Why can't my blood be coloured white? I should talk to some medical doctors; coloured blood is just not right".

Ms Hanson obtained a court injunction against Backdoor Man a week after its release on Triple J in 1997, claiming she had been defamed. I Don't Like It made it to number 10 on the ARIA charts in 1998.
Labor has again ruled out collaborating with the Greens, despite a cliffhanger election result which leaves both major parties with the possibility of forming minority government.

Shadow treasurer Chris Bowen rubbished any possible collaboration on the ABC's Q&A on Monday night, in a terse exchange with Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young.

In response to a questioner who asked if Labor should "stop being so bloody-minded" and "join hands" with the Greens, with whom they share ideological similarities, Bowen said he did not agree.
Union officials buoyed by a successful election campaign in Eden-Monaro have vowed to target swinging voters before the territory election in October.

Incumbent Peter Hendy conceded defeat in Eden-Monaro on Saturday night after a 6.5 per cent swing to Labor, which ensured ex-army lawyer Mike Kelly would return to Parliament after losing his seat in 2013.

Former solider and Army lawyer Mike Kelly at the Queanbeyan Leagues Club on election night, where he celebrated his recapturing of the seat. Credit:Jay Cronan

Union volunteers from Canberra and the NSW south coast were transported to more conservative rural towns of Yass, Tumut and Tumbarumba on Saturday, which were absorbed in a federal redistribution.
Ousted Liberal MP Andrew Nikolic has taken to social media to accuse left-wing lobby group GetUp! of running a "dishonest, nasty, personal campaign" that cost him his seat.

Mr Nikolic was one of the Coalition's earliest casualties on Saturday, suffering a 10.6 per cent swing against him as he lost the the marginal northern Tasmanian seat of Bass to Labor's Ross Hart.

It followed an at-times bitter campaign in which Mr Nikolic  a member of the conservative right and strong supporter of Tony Abbott  was the target of community groups that accused him of refusing to speak with those who held opposing views.
A furious Peta Credlin has launched an excoriating attack on the "hapless set of bedwetters" she says plotted to oust her former boss Tony Abbott as prime minister and squander the "wonderful victory of 2013" by giving Malcolm Turnbull poor advice.

Speaking on Sky News in her capacity as a paid political commentator, Ms Credlin homed in on the Liberals who plotted Mr Turnbull's leadership coup in September last year on the basis that Tony Abbott was performing badly in the polls. "At least he won an election," she said of Mr Abbott.

Ms Credlin's attack came amid reports Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull iced Sky News during the campaign.
Her husband Oliver Curtis' insider trading trial and two-year prison sentence was one of the most talked about cases in Sydney's court history, so no one would blame Roxy Jacenko for wanting to get away from it all.

When the 36-year-old told Domain on Monday that her dream place to live would be "right now, Los Angeles", adding, "it's a city not unlike Sydney  cosmopolitan, large homes with space on big blocks and a time zone that means I can work our Sydney office hours with ease", the rumour mill began to churn that the PR maven might be jetting off in search of a fresh start.

But Jacenko told Fairfax Media's Life&Style on Monday that she's staying put as she concentrates on keeping everything as "normal as possible" for her two children with Curtis  Pixie, four, and Hunter, two.
Johnny Depp has altered a tattoo bearing a reported nickname of his estranged wife Amber Heard, pictures taken on Friday show.

Depp, 53, previously had a tattoo across the knuckles on his right hand which read "SLIM", a reported nickname for Heard who filed for divorce from Depp in late May and has since been granted a temporary restraining order against him following domestic violence allegations.

However, pictures taken in Pennsylvania on Friday, where Depp is touring with his band Hollywood Vampires, appear to show the "L" and the "I" of the tattoo have been redrawn as a "C" and "U", respectively, leaving the tattoo to read, "SCUM".

Depp's representatives are yet to comment on the tattoo adjustment.
Forgive us for a moment of media navel-gazing, but this matter is more broadly important than it may seem, as it goes to whether the ACT's judicial system takes itself seriously.

Readers may be aware of the lengthy litigation between the University of Canberra, the Brumbies rugby union club's board, and its former chief executive, Michael Jones. Three months ago, ACT Supreme Court Justice Richard Refshauge suppressed an audit report that was part of these proceedings. The document, written by KPMG and commissioned by Jones and others, has been described as explosive and highly inflammatory, and apparently scrutinises the multimillion-dollar sale of the Brumbies' former training ground in Griffith. The federal police have been investigating its findings for some time.

Still waiting for the cops? ACT Supreme Court Justice Richard Refshauge (second from left) with his learned colleagues. Credit:Graham Tidy

Regardless of whether the auditors' observations are accurate, it's highly unusual for a court to suppress allegations of this type; justice is ideally played out openly before the community. The Australian apparently thought little of the suppression order and published two articles about the KPMG report's contents  the first appeared 39 days ago.
At three weeks old, Andrew the green turtle hatchling is one of the youngest victims of the plastic that ends up in our oceans.

Andrew was found lying on his back on a Central Coast beach and brought to Taronga Zoo's Wildlife Hospital in Sydney.

Andrew, a green turtle, swallowed plastic at three weeks old. Credit:Madeleine Smitham

And he is one of the reasons that momentum is growing to ban plastic bags in NSW.

A number of the state's councils, as well as Taronga Zoo, and businesses, schools and households, are participating in Plastic Free July, an initiative encouraging people to cut their use of single-use plastic products for a month.
Ukrainian army positions came under 61 attacks in Donbas over the past day, including 38 attacks conducted in the Donetsk sector, 20 in the Mariupol sector and three in the Luhansk sector, the anti-terrorist operation (ATO) press center wrote on Facebook on Monday morning.

In the Donetsk sector, Ukrainian army strongholds were shelled by 122mm artillery in Pisky and Zaitseve, 120mm mortars forbidden by the Minsk agreements shelled Avdiyivka and Novhorodske, and grenade launchers were used against Ukrainian positions in Maryinka, Luhanske and Pisky, the report said.

The militants fired 122mm artillery weapons, 82mm and 120mm mortars, grenade launchers, large-caliber machine guns and small arms in Shyrokyne in the Mariupol sector, while 120mm mortars bombarded Vodiane and Krasnohorivka, the report said.

The militant's small arms were used against Ukrainian army positions in the area of Novooleksandrivka and Novotoshkivske in the Luhansk sector, the report said.
Harriet Wran, the daughter of the late NSW premier Neville Wran, has won the right to have a judge alone trial to fight the murder charge against her.

Ms Wran, 28, was arrested two years ago after small-time drug dealer Daniel McNulty, 48, was killed during a botched ice deal at a public housing unit in Redfern on August 10, 2014.

She and two other men - Lloyd Haines and Michael Lee - were charged with the murder of Mr McNulty.

But shortly before their joint murder trial was due to begin last month, Lee and Haines pleaded guilty to all charges against them - including murder.
The first police call to storm the Lindt cafe after hostage Tori Johnson was shot in the head failed to go through because of a radio malfunction, an inquest has heard.

The deputy tactical commander, who filed a second, shorter command to initiate the emergency action plan, said there had been intermittent radio problems throughout the 17-hour siege.

Hostages flee from the Lindt cafe during the siege. Credit:Andrew Meares

"Murphy's law is it always happens at a critical time," he told the coroner on Monday.
Customers are demanding voluntary food hygiene ratings become mandatory across the state's restaurants.

Some retail food businesses in NSW display their rating in the window, but only if their council signs up to the program and only if the business is happy with its rating.

Staff at Wok On Inn, which voluntarily displays its hygiene and food safety rating. Credit:Edwina Pickles

Councils and industry groups are calling on the NSW Food Authority initiative, Scores on Doors, which issues certificates with three, four and five-star ratings during routine health inspections, to be made mandatory to standardise food safety across NSW and give customers more consistent information about hygiene at food establishments.

Since the program was launched in 2010, only about one-third of local governments in NSW have adopted the system.
Two elderly nuns have been robbed at knifepoint inside a Buddhist temple in Sydney's west in an attack police described as "cowardly, disgraceful and completely disrespectful".

The women, aged 88 and 81, were in the sleeping quarters of the Phuoc Hue temple on Victoria Street in Wetherill Park about 8.40pm on Monday when they were confronted by two balaclava-clad men, one of whom was armed with a knife.

The elderly women were robbed at knifepoint inside the Phuoc Hue temple. Credit:Google Maps

One of the offenders forced the 81-year-old woman onto the ground and held her there with his foot, while the second offender stole charity money from the temple and an iPad.

The two offenders then fled before officers from the Fairfield Local Area Command arrived.
A United Airlines passenger plane was forced to return to Sydney Airport on Monday morning after apparently striking a number of birds when taking off.

Emergency service workers were called to the international terminal about 10.50am to meet United Airlines Flight 840, which had taken off at 9.40am.

The plane, bound for Los Angeles, was carrying 308 passengers and crew.

"Unbeknownst to me, we apparently hit birds during takeoff and flight crew spotted bird strike damage to the plane," a passenger wrote on Instagram.
A man is being treated for head and face injuries after an apparent one-punch attack in the Brisbane CBD.

Emergency services rushed to Ann Street, near Anzac Square, following the attack on Mark English about 4pm on Monday.

Paramedics treat Mark English, allegedly coward punched on Ann Street in the Brisbane CBD. Credit:Jorge Branco

He lay motionless, face-down on the ground for at least five minutes as paramedics assessed his injuries.

The man's partner, Varri Telfer, said a close relative of the victim had run across the street from the Grand Central Hotel and attacked the man after seeing him for the first time in four years.
A man is facing an arson charge after fire destroyed one unit and damaged a second at Margate, north of Brisbane.

Police allege the 39-year-old deliberately lit a fire in one of the units before fleeing the scene about 3pm on Monday. The flames quickly spread to a unit next door.

Fire damages a unit block in Margate on Monday. Credit:Dave Andrews

He's been charged with arson and endangering particular property by fire and is expected to face the Redcliffe Magistrates Court on Tuesday.
Most people in the great nation of Australia respect their right to vote, or if not, at least their obligation to.

Follow our live coverage of the Federal election here.

But some, either conscientious objectors to compulsory voting or those who just don't care a fig for democracy, aren't afraid to show it through donkey and informal votes.

And happily, some shared theirs through social media for the vicarious amusement of the rest of us.
Washington: The handcuffing of a traditionally dressed citizen of the United Arab Emirates, mistaken for a terrorist in Ohio last week, has spurred the UAE's government to take the unusual steps of summoning a US diplomat for a meeting and advising its citizens not to wear "formal clothing" while travelling abroad.

Harassment against Muslims in the US has increased since presumptive Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump called in December for a ban on Muslim immigration. Deadly attacks in San Bernardino, California, and Orlando, Florida, and killings from Paris and Brussels to Bangladesh and Turkey tied to sympathisers of Islamic State have added to tensions.

The Ohio incident occurred on June 29, when the sister of a woman working as a hotel clerk in the Cleveland suburb of Avon called police to report that a man at the hotel in "full head dress" had pledged allegiance to Islamic State, according to WEWS, a local ABC affiliate.

Police arrived and handcuffed businessman Ahmed al-Menhali, 41, who had been visiting the area for medical treatment and was wearing a traditional headdress with headband (hatta wa agal) and full-length white robe (kandura), WEWS reported.
The next year could be declared the Year of the Naval Forces of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, which will allow an increase in funding for its defensive capabilities, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has said.

"A possibility is being considered of declaring the next year as the Year of the Naval Forces. Today I am setting the starting point in real reconstruction of the national navy," Poroshenko said during festivities on the occasion of Day of the Ukrainian Naval Forces in Odesa on Sunday, July 3.

On July 3 two new Giurza-M artillery boats entered service in the navy and are being handed over to the navy for battle service tests, he said. The boats have been named Berdiansk and Akkerman, Poroshenko said.

More artillery boats from this series, as well as landing crafts have already been laid down at Ukrainian shipyards, he said.

In the near future, it is possible that the navy will be joined by "vessels of other types, ballistic missile attack systems and aviation," the Ukrainian leader said.
New York: A doctor headed for morning prayers at a Houston mosque was ambushed by three masked men who shot and wounded him on Sunday, a day after a Muslim man was beaten outside a Florida mosque.

The victim of the Texas incident, Dr Arslan Tajammul, an eye specialist in his 30s, was undergoing surgery and was expected to survive, according to Mustafaa Carroll, executive director of the Houston branch of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).

The Madrassah Islamia (Islamic School) in Houston. Credit:Google Streetview

The doctor had parked his car and was walking to the Madrasah Islamiah (Islamic School) mosque for the day's first prayers when he was ambushed and shot twice at about 5:30am local time, Carroll said. His three attackers fled on foot.

"Police said it was an attempted robbery so we're waiting to see what the investigation finds," Carroll said.
MARIGOT:---The Movement for the Advancement of the People (MAP) will be replaced by a new political movement, this was concluded in a recent general assembly with party members, said Louis Mussington president of the MAP.

The partys members gathered to discuss the political future of the party, and how best to prepare for the March 2017 collectivity elections.

The MAP has lived its time, it time is to move on to something new, said the political leader.

Founded in November 1996, the MAP made an impressive impact on the political landscape of the country by winning its first contested elections in March 1998. Electing Louis Mussington to the general council of Guadeloupe.

According to Mussington, the success of the MAP in 1998 came from a long standing history of hard work invested by former members of St. Martin Educational and Cultural Organization (SMECO) and the labor movement of the late 1980s. As a youth movement we were always on the forefront championing the cry of the people.

While it is hard to move on from the organization you have structured for the past 20 years, the new St. Martin reality is, a call for broader unity to face the more complex socio-economic challenges the country is now encountering, concluded Mussington, who is planning to head a new movement in upcoming elections.
GREAT BAY (DCOMM):--- Minister of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transportation and Telecommunications (Ministry TEATT) Ingrid Arrindell, commends the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) in taking the initiative of having the leading tertiary training institutions from across the OECS which are part of the Network of Excellence of Tourism and Hospitality Training and Education, (NETHTE).

ECIT will be the first ever regional virtual learning institution for Tourism and Hospitality.

The formation process of ECIT took 10-years under the coordination of a Task Force comprising of the National Tourism Organizations in the OECS; Tertiary level training institutions such as Community Colleges; the Caribbean Tourism Organization; and the OECS Commission.

The Task Force was assigned by the OECS Council of Tourism Ministers under the objective to develop an integrated system for tourism hospitality training and education that would be assisted by regional institutes of Hospitality Training in each OECS Member State.

The Caribbean is one of the worlds most tourism dependent regions. The establishment of the ECIT which is an entity that utilizes the resources of existing tertiary institutions throughout the OECS is a viable way to go in approaching tourism and hospitality training for our people throughout the Region.

No single country can be self-sufficient in meeting the diverse manpower training demands of the tourism sector to achieve their maximum potential and become globally competitive.

I commend the OECS with respect to this approach, and we should also explore the possibility of where St Maarten could play a role with respect to the University of St. Maarten. We all need to train and educate our people in order to be able to provide the highest levels of service to our visitors.

Every island nation has a stake and opportunities and possibilities should be explored in using existing resources rather than re-inventing the wheel and using limited valuable resources in such a manner, said Minister of Tourism and Economic Affairs Ingrid Arrindell.
CAYHILL:--- St. Maarten Medical Center (SMMC) is pleased to announce that general surgeon Dr. Luc Mercelina has returned to the island and resumes service at the hospital as of Tuesday, July 5th.

Dr. Luc Mercelina is a well-known surgeon to many on the island.

Dr. Mercelina graduated as a physician in 1990 at the Medical University of Maastricht, Holland. From 1990 to 1992, he worked as a doctor in Curacao. From 1992 to 1998 he specialized in Surgery at the University Hospital of Leuven in Belgium. After working for one year as a surgeon in Holland, he moved to Sint Maarten in 1999 and has served this community for 10 years until 2009.

From 2009, until recently he has worked as a surgeon in a large hospital in Belgium and during that time he has also worked as a professor at the medical faculty of the University of Maastricht.

On the question why he has chosen to return to SMMC, he said: Sint Maarten is my home, Sint Maarten has been great to me and my family and I am grateful to the people of Sint Maarten and neighboring islands. I have served Sint Maarten out of my heart in the past and I hope to serve the people of this wonderful island again with empathy in the future.

I just want the people of Sint Maarten, Saba and Sint Eustatius to know that I am back for them. I am also looking forward to working together with my fellow surgeons, the rest of the medical staff, nursing staff and management of the SMMC.

An appointment can be made to see Dr. Mercelina by calling the outpatient department by telephone 543-1111 ext. 1300 or 1310.
PHILIPSBURG:--- The Windward Islands Bank Ltd. (WIB) welcomed eighteen students - some in high school and others home from university overseas - to their annual Summer Work Experience Program.

In a brief orientation on June 30, the soon-to-be employees were informed of banks Code of Conduct, Dress Code and other policies; as well as the banks expectations of them during their stay at WIB (July 4 to July 29). The students will gain a wealth of knowledge and skills, while at WIB for this one month period.

The students were also introduced to WIBs Managing Director Mr. Derek Downes, who welcomed them, and encouraged them to do their best both at work and at school. He advised them to take advantage of this opportunity to amass as much knowledge as they can, which could be an asset to them in the future.

The departments which will provide hands-on work experience for the students include: Credit Administration, Branch Network Services, Insurance, I.T. and Office Services to name a few.

Your Partners in progress wish the students a successful work experience.
"We're just working out the details before we go public with it."

A view from the Dining Room at Shutters on the Beach in Santa Monica. It's a place where big deals are often discussed. There will be no bigger deal this year, then the final legalization of marijuana.

"Let me tell you how the big pharma industry works," said the DEA lawyer, picking up a glass of chardonnay and swirling it around. We were having lunch at Shutters on the Beach, and the wine, for which I would pay, cost $150 a glass. But he had promised to answer some questions from readers of my groundbreaking article entitled "US Gov't Will Legalize Marijuana August 1." http://www.smobserved.com/story/2016/06/28/news/us-govt-will-legalize-marijuana-on-august-1/1484.html

"I'll tell you how this industry works. The big pharma people take the DEA leadership to dinner to discuss the legalization of Marijuana, how it's going to really work. They say:

'Listen, you and I both know that cannabis is much less dangerous, much less addictive than a lot of other Schedule II stuff that we already sell, such as Oxycontin. Why don't you just let us go ahead and sell a few products, THC extract, TBD oil, so we can all make some money. Instead of all these small time weed clinic guys with their dispensaries banking the cash, let us bank it. The side effects are probably not nearly as bad as other drugs like Oxycontin. Because they're not the result of chemists committing unnatural acts with molecules. And a few years from now, when you need a job, you can come work for me.' I'm certain that's how it works (with my superiors)."

He's a tall man, a tall blue eyed DEA lawyer. I'll call him "Deep Throat." He met with me on condition I not write anything that might compromise his identity, because he was not authorized to speak to the press. I read him questions from readers, and he answered them over filet mignon and wine.

1. Does this mean insurance companies - including ones with Medicare or Medicaid patients will have access to prescriptions, and having the cost covered by their insurance company at the pharmacy? Like any other drug?

Yes, absolutely. Under State law, coverage exclusions would run into Federal issues. It's always a plan by plan question, but as a default I would say it would be covered. Why not? As long as prescription medications are covered, under ERISA or other Federal law.

2. Stan, the DEA actually stated in a memo to lawmakers a couple of months back that they would be deciding on marijuana scheduling by the end of June. The Denver Post story talking about July 1 isn't stating anything new. But THIS story certainly is! Congratulations! I've been sharing it all over.

Yes, and did you notice how the July 1 deadline came and went? Just as a matter of logic, the statement that nothing is new is wrong. The decision has already been made, folks. Schedule II marijuana is in the works. We're just working out the details before we go public with it.

3. This will destroy the existing industry. How about all the people that spent their life savings to get licensed and open up a dispensary? How about all the manufacturers of oils and edibles that won't be able to conform to FDA regulations? Clinical trials are lengthy and expensive. CVS will be responsible for selecting product for consumers. The black market will explode again.

[Sighs, looks at his salad again]. Yeah, I keep hearing that. Yes, it might destroy the existing industry. Maybe it should. Because the public would be better served by pharmacists. Of course they would be.

The DEA might never squeeze them for it (if they did sell weed), but the Pharmacists can't fill a marijuana clinic recommendation, or they'd risk losing their licenses. And it's illogical, they're exactly the people who should be in (medicinal cannabis). The people that we at the DEA regulate, are exactly the people who should enjoy the legal right to sell marijuana products. That's fair, and also in the public interest.

If all this state regulation is superceded by General regulation, I don't see why that's a bad thing. Don't you trust CVS more than some random dude who sells weed products? This industry as it is now is operating in a grey area. It would be better for patients and society if it were not a public health or safety issue.

4. The problem is allowing the whole MJ plant to be legal. What the layman does NOT understand is there are specific parts of the plant that are harmful, and others that do have very solid evidence-based research to support it. THC is mood altering, and harmful to any human < 25yrs old. Many peer reviewed studies linking THC to schizophrenia, reduced motivation, reduced education, etc. Cannabidiol however is incredible. Proven research for its benefits.

[throws down his fork] Yes yes yes, and moving marijuana to Schedule II is all about allowing people to do clinical research. I'm all in favor of that, as are my colleagues at the DEA.

Personally though, I don't see how you can just wave a magic wand and say all this weed stuff is now Schedule II. This will have to go thru the same trials as anything else on Schedule 4. We parse through what is or is not a drug on the plant.

And that opens the possibility that what is more controversial could survive. But you're open to some real possibility that some stuff will not survive for having to go thru FDA approval, with FDA saying what they like and don't like. Exhaustive scientific studies will be performed, including human studies. And again, this is something others would be able to pay for. Describing a side effect would remove credibility from those people on the margins

You couldn't just say Hemp is good, you could say it's through the FDA wringer. If parts are good and parts aren't, we're gonna find out. And that's something your local green clinic operator will never do for you, would he?

5. It's about time... We need to remove marijuana from the DEA drug schedule list. Look at alcohol, it has no more currently accepted medical use than marijuana and has a high potential for abuse. We need to stop destroying lives and regulate marijuana like alcohol. If the legalization of marijuana stops one alcohol overdose, what's a life worth?

I hear this comparison a lot. It's fair to raise the argument that alcohol is destructive when abused. In a way that pot isn't, though marijuana does some stuff alcohol doesn't. Our current alcohol regime is a result of an historic compromise over decades. The comparison fails because of the different history.

There's a huge problem with addiction in the US, you can talk about opiods, alcohol, video games (laughs). There's a big problem with addiction that America doesn't yet recognize or do anything about.

Does the danger of addiction with marijuana outweigh its therapeutic benefits? Maybe there's an under investment in addiction in the US, the AMA has resisted spending more money on it. That's another reason why a lot of this argument has to be looked at with a jaundiced eye, because of all the money being spent on it.

These weed clinic people; they're not trained clinicians. How would they know from records? They have no organized system of record keeping. It's like saying gangsters should still have control over alcohol. It doesn't mean the dispensaries are evil people, it's just a lack of record keeping that would give them experience.

An essential element in medical record keeping is the standard of care. It's frankly a political compromise, and it's been set up over time.

There may be individual weed clinic people who are awesome at it, but as a group, the pharmacists have it beat. Because they're heavily regulated and licensed people.

You know, we are living through a time as momentous as the end of Prohibition in 1933. Believe me, we at the DEA are mindful that everything we do, sets an historical precedent. But here's my point:

Where's the fairness in letting dispensary guys cash in on this, but excluding the big pharma guys, Rite Aide, CVS, Walgreens and other pharmacists, who have studied and worked for years to earn the right to sell drugs? I mean, does that sound right to you?

6. While we are dutifully cognizant that the DEA got their hands slapped and money financing raids and trials, this sounds preposterous. Simply a move to strike against the current industry. If it is moved to a schedule 2 all MMJ clinics will no longer be allowed to operate at all since they are not doctors or pharmaceutical companies. We're then totally left to rot and the states wouldn't be able to protect us. So our patient base is totally screwed. If you get cancer in their use to specific strain that has the right cannabinoids in them they won't be able to get them. And smoking is out now? Really how stupid is that. Lung cancer patients will no longer be able to have treatment to their lungs. Well cannabis is not a miracle for everyone it is a miracle for those who need it and use it. I think them putting it as a schedule2 knocks out the entire cannabis industry.

[Deep Throat freezes in place cutting his meat, while listening to the question] This is jumping to lot of conclusions. Some of your readers obviously smoke too much weed, Stan. Anxiety and paranoia are documented side effects of too much pot. Which they would know if they were real patients taking real medications with real warnings on regulation packaging.

I will remind everyone that Congress vested the DEA with authority to enforce the Nation's drug laws. Don't even think of challenging our authority. Because ultimately, what you will get to use is only what we will allow.

If your readers really want to be paranoid, they can consider the possibility that there's a reason I'm talking to you today, and it's to float a few trial balloons. That's all I have to say on that subject.

7. So what's the bottom line? Is medical marijuana legalization really going to happen this year?

[levels his blue eyes at mine]. Yes. Because there's too much money to be made. And because it's an important public policy and because there are already a lot of people using cannabis. This activity is going to happen on the margins anyway. It's unimaginable that it would just be allowed to continue forever on the margins.

As regulators, we owe it to the 25 million daily marijuana users in this country to regulate the field. Besides, there's too much money to be made.

A view from the Dining Room at Shutters on the Beach in Santa Monica.

But there is also danger. Two people, two medical marijuana clinic employees were shot this month in San Bernardino County alone. How can we as regulators allow the present system, the present chaos really, to continue?

At that point the DEA lawyer stood up and shook my hand. I thanked him for his time, paid the bill, and he walked off into the California sun, like so many lawmen before him.

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is a United States federal law enforcement agency under the U.S. Department of Justice, tasked with combating drug smuggling and use within the United States. Not only is the DEA the lead agency for domestic enforcement of the Controlled Substances Act, sharing concurrent jurisdiction with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), it also has sole responsibility for coordinating and pursuing U.S. drug investigations abroad.
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The State Border Service of Ukraine informs that currently the residents of Polish border area have unblocked Hrushiv checkpoint (Lviv region), while Shehyni, Rava-Ruska and Krakovets remain blocked.

"At present, local authorities and the Ukrainian National Police by joining forces managed to find common ground with the locals and unlock Hrushiv checkpoint, Assistant Head of the State Border Service of Ukraine, Spokesman of State Border Guard Service Oleh Slobodian wrote on his Facebook page.

At the same time Slobodian said Shehyni, Rava-Ruska and Krakovets checkpoints remain blocked.

"Awareness-raising activities are underway. Please, take this information into account when planning a trip to Poland," Slobodian said.

"In order to minimize the possible increased tension on the border with the Republic of Poland, the State Border Service of Ukraine organized and keeps carrying out a set of informative and preventive measures. The State Border Service initiated creation of interdepartmental command staffs, together with representatives of local authorities carried out an explanatory work among the population of border areas. The procedure for cooperation with law enforcement authorities, control bodies in the case of the situation aggravation were also specified," the press service of border guard service informed.

As reported, on July 4, small border traffic was temporarily suspended between Poland and Ukraine as regards entry and stay of residents of border regions of Ukraine on the territory of Poland, who have a permit issued by the relevant authorities of Poland.

The Polish side suspends the application of Part 1, Article 3 of the intergovernmental Agreement on local border traffic approved by the Cabinet of Ministers ruling No.139 (139-2009-p) dated February 25, 2009.

In accordance with this ruling, at the night of July from 3 to 4, 01:00 Kyiv time, Ukrainian citizens who were crossing the border with Poland with a special permit under the small border traffic will be able to cross the border only on a general basis and documents identified by the Polish side (passport and visa documents).

The Foreign Ministry explained that the agreement on local border traffic between Poland and Ukraine shall be suspended for less than one month. "According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Poland, the suspension of an agreement is attributed both to the holding of the NATO summit in Warsaw on July 8-9 at the presidential level along with the world youth days," the spokesman of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry Marian Bets said, noting that the agreement operation will be resumed on August 2.

On Monday morning, traffic congestion at the checkpoints of the Ukrainian-Polish border was not fixed, but citizens blocked traffic close to a number of checkpoints.
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Ukraine's representative in the subgroup for humanitarian affairs of the trilateral contact group on Donbas settlement, first deputy chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Iryna Gerashchenko has said that Kyiv reiterated its request to Russia to provide information about children unlawfully taken out of Ukraine.

"The Ukrainian side is strongly opposed to any use of children and adolescents in the war. We once again addressed the Russian Federation with the demand to provide information concerning the children unlawfully taken out of the territory of Ukraine, we also expressed deep concern about the non-admission of international humanitarian organizations, including UNICEF, to children and special children's institutions on the occupied territories," she wrote on a Facebook page after a meeting of the humanitarian subgroup of the trilateral contact group in Minsk on Monday.

Gerashchenko also sais that Ukraine is ready to evacuate children's homes for the terminally ill, bedridden children from Luhansk region and involve the Red Cross International Committee into this process, if there is a consent of the second party.

"We agreed that the issue of protection of children's rights will be raised at one of the next meetings of humanitarian groups in order to arrive at a specific decision," she summed up adding that the meeting was also attended by the Ukrainian president's commissioner for children's rights, Mykola Kuleba.
Mars' two moon,s Phobos (shown here) and Deimos, may have formed from a ring of debris around the Red Planet. Larger moons formed in the same debris ring may have crashed into Mars.

The moons of Mars, Phobos and Deimos, may be the only survivors of a giant impact that created many short-lived, but now-absent moons around the Red Planet, a new study finds.

Phobos and Deimos are both small for moons  about 14 and 7.7 miles (22.5 and 12.4 kilometers) wide, respectively  and sort of potato-shaped. Compared to other satellites in the solar system, they look more like asteroids. As a result, astronomers previously hypothesized that these moons were asteroids captured by Mars' gravitational pull.

But if that were the case, previous research suggested that Phobos and Deimos would have relatively irregular orbits. In reality, these moons have nearly circular orbits positioned near the Martian equator. [Photos of Mars' Moon Phobos Up Close]

This diagram shows the collision model for the formation of Mars' two moons. A giant collision (top left) creates a disk of material around Mars (top right), and large moons emerge from the disk of material. More moons form. Eventually, the large moons fall back into Mars, and two small moons remain. (Image credit: A. Trinh - Royal Observatory of Belgium)

Another possible origin story for the Martian moons is that they coalesced from the debris of a giant impact, similar to the one largely thought to have formed Earth's moon. This rubble would have first formed a ring around Mars, and as moons emerged from this ring, they would have ended up with similarly circular orbits. However, this possibility raises the question of why Mars would end up with two moons instead of a single moon like Earth did, according to the new research paper.

To learn more about the potential origins of Phobos and Deimos,study lead author Pascal Rosenblatt, lead author on the new study, and a planetary scientist at the Royal Observatory of Belgium in Brussels, and his colleagues investigated scenarios "left on the side until now," Rosenblatt told Space.com. "I rapidly discovered they were left not always for justified reasons."

The scientists focused on the huge impact that previous research suggested created the gigantic Borealis basin in the northern lowlands of Mars, which covers two-fifths of the Red Planet's surface. Prior work suggested that this basin is an impact crater, created when an impactor about 1,200 miles (2,000 kilometers) wide struck Mars, generating a ring of debris around the Red Planet with a mass of about 110 quadrillion tons (100 quadrillion metric tons), or about 10,000 times the combined mass of Phobos and Deimos.

The research team's computer models suggested that, over time, in the inner part of this debris ring where the rubble was most densely packed, large moons up to hundreds of miles in diameter would have clumped or accreted together. In contrast, in the outer part of the debris ring, dust and rocks were thinly dispersed, making it difficult for this material to accrete into moons.

However, the scientists found that gravitational tugs from one or more large moons from the inner debris ring could have stirred up rubble in the outer ring, shepherding rock and dust to form smaller outer moons, such as Phobos and Deimos. The researchers calculated that after about 5 million years, Mars' gravitational pull would have doomed the other moons, sending them crashing to the Red Planet's surface and leaving Phobos and Deimos as the sole survivors.

"Our results pave a new path to re-understand the Martian system in a context of formation similar but not identical to [that of] our own moon," Rosenblatt told Space.com.

After a large moon forms from the disk of material around Mars (following a collision with a second body), the gravitational influence of that large body spurs the formation of smaller moons, like Phobos and Deimos. (Image credit: Labex UnivEarths / Universite Paris Diderot)

If a giant impact did create the Martian moons and the Borealis basin, that might help explain many other aspects of early Martian history, such as how Mars got its current rate of spin and lost its atmosphere and surface water, Rosenblatt said.

Although the orbit of Deimos is stable, previous research found that Phobos will one day crash against Mars as well. Indeed, a 2015 study found that Phobos already has stretch marks from the Red Planet's gravitational pull.

This model suggests that Phobos and Deimos are composed of a mix of material from Mars and the impactor that created the Borealis basin. Future research can test this model by returning samples from Phobos or Deimos to Earth for study, Rosenblatt said. He noted that Japan's space agency, JAXA, and the European Space Agency (ESA) are considering missions to these moons that "could be launched as soon as 2022 or 2024."

The scientists detailed their findings online July 4 in the journal Nature Geoscience.

Follow Charles Q. Choi on Twitter @cqchoi. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebookand Google+.
SPIEGEL: You have said that politicians in London should be given the possibility to rethink the consequences of withdrawing from the EU. It sounds as if you are hoping they will change their minds.

Altmaier: At the moment, that seems rather unlikely. But reflection is taking place everywhere -- for example what it means to reverse 40 years of integration, to leave the single market or to lose influence over how it is shaped. British institutions should be given the possibility to discuss these consequences.

SPIEGEL: There is a tradition in the EU of simply holding multiple referenda until you get the desired result.
7. What does the infamous term "ethnic cleansing" refer to?

The term "ethnic cleansing" was chosen as the "non-word of the year" in Germany in 1992. The term has become synonymous with the atrocities committed during the wars in former Yugoslavia. According to the plans laid by figures such as Milosevic and Bosnian-Serb leader Radovan Karadzic, Bosniacs and Croats had to be removed from those parts of Bosnia and Croatia with large Serb populations if "Greater Serbia" was to be realized. Mass expulsions and massacres became the means to achieve that end. It was mostly Bosnian Muslims who would fall victim to those crimes.

The worst crime of the war, and the worst war crime in Europe since World War II, was the massacre in the town of Srebrenica in eastern Bosnia. Serbian troops and paramilitaries killed more than 8,000 Muslim men and boys.

Serb civilians, too, fell victim to massacres that Bosnian and Croat fighters perpetrated in retaliation.

8. Where did the fighting take place?

Very simply put, the military confrontation during the wars in Bosnia and Croatia can be divided in two phases. In the first phase, which largely took place in 1991 and 1992, Serbs conquered large parts of Croatia (roughly one third of the territory) and Bosnia (more than two thirds of the territory). Their modus operandi was the same in most cases: Local fighters would fight side by side with paramilitaries from Serbia and the Yugoslav army (in Bosnia: Bosnian-Serb Yugoslav army soldiers). The Serbs besieged the Bosnian capital of Sarajevo for almost four years. There was fighting between Croats and Bosniacs, too, most notably in the Herzegovinian city of Mostar.

The second phase of the fighting was marked by the significant recapturing of territory by Croat and Bosnian troops. The shifting of momentum in the military confrontation took place in 1995, with the international community resoponding to the Srebrenica massacre and the ongoing siege of Sarajevo. Starting in August 1995, NATO fighter jets attacked Serb army positions.

In December 1995, the heads of state Alija Izetbegovic (Bosnia-Herzegovina), Slobodan Milosevic (Serbia), and Franjo Tudjman (Croatia) signed the Dayton Agreement. The agreement, which had been brokered by the American special envoy to the Balkans, Richard Holbrooke, ended the war in Bosnia.

9. Did war criminals get punished?

In 1993, a United Nations resolution created the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia. It has jurisdiction over crimes committed on the territory of former Yugoslavia since 1991.

The perhaps most important trial held by the Tribunal was never concluded: Former Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic died in his cell in March 2006. He had been charged with war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity in connection to the wars in Croatia, Bosnia, and Kosovo.

The leader of the Bosnian Serbs, Radovan Karadzic, was sentenced to 40 years in prison. The Tribunal found him guilty of genocide in connection with the Srebrenica massacre, among other things. Karadzic appealed the conviction.

The Bosnian Serb military leader, Ratko Mladic, is facing charges of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity, among other things, in connection to the Srebrenica massacre and the siege of Sarajevo. The trial started in June 2011.

The Croatian general Ante Gotovina was acquitted on appeal in 2012. The acquittal overturned an initial ruling in which Gotovina had been sentenced to 24 years in prison for war crimes and crimes against humanity in connection with acts against the Serb population in Croatia, including murder and deportation. Many viewed the indictment in that case as a legal reckoning with the fromer Croatian president, Franjo Tudjman. The prosecution had argued that Gotovina was part of a "joint criminal conspiracy" to which Tudjman also belonged. Tudjman died in 1999 as investigations were ongoing.

Naser Oric, commander of Muslim units in Srebrenica, was acquitted on appeal. In an initial ruling, he had been convicted for murder and abuse of Serb civilians in Muslim prisons in 1992 and 1993.

10. Was there an anti-war movement?

Yes. In 1991 and 1992, there were numerous peace demonstrations in Yugoslavia, some of which saw more than 100,000 participants. There were at least 18 peace concerts with more than 10,000 people in attendance. There were additional anti-war activities as well. They were unable, however, to stop the spread of conflicts and, eventually, open warfare.
Brussels, July 4, 2016 (SPS) - Ambassador of Algeria to Brussels Amar Bellani rejected the "baseless" assertion of an MEP, according to which the conflict in Western Sahara has become a "political internal matter" for Algeria, recalling that the European Union supports a solution enabling the Sahrawi people to exercise their right to self-determination."

"First off, I would like to reject, with utmost vigor, your baseless assertion, in which you stated that the Western Sahara issue has become an internal matter," Head of mission within the European Union (EU) Amar Bellani wrote Monday in a letter to MEP Gilles Pargnaux.

"Algeria, as neighboring country, recognized as such by the UN Security Council, follows with concern the current deadlock and we know, like you do, that the party which rejects resumption of direct negotiations, despite commitments, part of talks held under the aegis of the UN, and thus carries full responsibility of this deplorable situation."

Bellani also recalled that the EU, through several statements made by the High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Moghereni, "always underscores the need to find a solution that enables self-determination of the Sahrawi people." (SPS)

062/090/700
The category Tilhill Forestry won this year was open to woodland anywhere in Scotland where production of high-quality timber is a major objective of management. The criteria specified that the woodland had to be newly planted, productive and predominantly conifer woodland of 10 hectares or more, planted between the 2009/10 and 2014/15 seasons and established on previously bare land where the planning, practice and management regime is designed to result in high-quality timber production. It is the fifth year in a row that Tilhill Forestry has won a Scotlands Finest Woods Award.

Senior Forest Manager for Tilhill Forestry Ross Buchanan said:

We were absolutely thrilled to win the James Jones trophy. It is recognition for everyone involved in this complex project which involved hundreds of hours of planning, surveying, consulting, compromising, and creating to accomplish the design and the implementation of the final product.

We hope that this scheme can represent a flagship example of what can be achieved in terms of productive woodland creation in modern Scotland. This has been accomplished in a manner which positively satisfies multiple objectives but which also puts a heavy weighting on the value of timber production.

This was a project of immense proportions, not only in terms of scale but in terms of the iterative efforts involved over the course of some years in producing a proposal that was agreeable to all stakeholders and which met challenging client expectations. The scheme represents a shining example of multi-purpose forestry within the modern industry in terms of what it is achieving within Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park. Carrick delivers at a landscape level, silviculturally in terms of core timber production, environmentally in terms of the extensive broadleaf component and development of such a major carbon sink, for wildlife in terms of the careful design and augmentation of natural habitat for eagle prey species, and recreationally in terms of the extensive access that has been developed across the property.

This result demonstrates the collaborative abilities of Tilhill, as the forestry market leader, to overcome the associated obstacles of implementing woodland-creation schemes on this scale. Tilhill Forestry brings many extras to the table as part of the big picture which competitors simply cannot offer such as in-house ecologists. It should also be noted that a block of mature woodland, which had previously been land-locked within the confines of the estate, is now being harvested and extracted using innovative sea-based methods by Tilhills harvesting team, in partnership with Tilhill Forestry and the owner.

Ultimately kudos must go to the contractors who persevered on what was an extreme morale-sapping site day after day in all weathers, to deliver an award-winning scheme. Special thanks must go to Willy Ronald the ground preparation contractor who was instrumental in achieving the result within a tight time-frame and supplier Maelor Forest Nurseries. It has been my honour to once again be centrally involved in working on a high-profile award-winning project for the West Highland District of Tilhill, and it is a source of pride to have done so as part of the Tilhill team.

The judges said:

This scheme presented substantial conservation challenges over and above its presence in the national park.The fundamental research and survey work carried out as part of the environmental assessment process will certainly benefit future similarly sensitive forestry proposals. The extent of native woodland establishment and designed open space within the plantation will ensure long- term conservation benefits while the extensive areas of Sitka spruce will provide a valuable commercial resource for the future.

The potential to export timber from the site by sea is already being demonstrated as timber from existing adjacent plantations is being shipped to the South West. This is a well-designed scheme which shows the ability of the design process to accommodate significant environmental interests within an extensive commercial forest.
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Jeff Staton is a fan of vintage firecracker packaging art and has collected hundreds of labels from around the world.

The labels range from the fantastical to the absurd. Most are crudely drawn with animal motifs or carry patriotic themes. Staton collects most firecracker packages from before 1972.

I look for labels on eBay and antique shops as well as trading with other collectors, Staton says. There are nearly 1,000 known brands of firecrackers he writes on his website.

A BIGGER BANG: Video shows 20K pounds of fireworks go up in smoke

Some firecracker labels can go for hundreds of dollars on eBay according to a recent search of the auction site. The earlier labels feature artwork reminiscent of traditional sailor tattoos or Asian tapestries.

Staton says that if youd like to get into collecting, it can get pricey. Some of the vintage brands that are the most sought after include Anchor, Rocket, Dixie Boy and Red Devil, according to Staton.

The Black Cat brand has remained timeless.

California native Staton says that he started collecting the labels as a kid, keeping the labels he found on the beach the day after Independence Day.

Most firecracker packaging made after 1972 is worth less than a dollar per package.

"The most I've ever spent by far is $1,400 for a Flamingo label," says Staton.

When I got older, I was fascinated to learn that there were other collectors. Of course, I'm always on the lookout when travelling. I've even made two trips to Macau, he says.

TRAGEDY: Child burned in Mexico fireworks explosion doing well at Shriners Galveston

The former Portuguese territory of Macau is a favorite of firecracker fanatics like Staton, who often make pilgrimages to the area to see now-shuttered factories and wharves where some of the firecrackers came from.

"When I went the first time, I met five other collectors in Taiwan and then we all flew together to Macau. It is a very small place with a lot of people, so it is very congested," he says.

According to Collectors Weekly, President Richard Nixons lift of a trade embargo with China in 1972 led to that country becoming a firecracker superpower. It was cheaper to manufacture them there.

There is even a grading system for the packaging, not unlike comic books or trading cards.

Firecracker label collectors like Staton are a special breed as they are chasing an item that was usually thrown away right after all the fun was had.

The 2000 book Firecrackers: The Art and History by Warren Dotz, Jack Mingo, and George Moyer serves as a great primer on the world of firecrackers.
(File photo)

The Chinese government will further improve private investment in the country, take measures to solve difficulties in enterprises gaining funds, and reduce business burdens.

China's State Council said it would further inspire initiative, unleash potential and encourage innovation in the private sector, according to a circular on the government's official website.

The National Development and Reform Commission, together with related departments, will set up a supervision group. It will launch a special inspection to provinces and cities that saw a big drop in private investment beginning in the middle of July.

Meanwhile, the country will put efforts to create a fair, open and transparent competitive market and further open access to civil airports, telecommunication operation, oil and gas exploration and development.

On June 22, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang called on central and local government departments to take concrete steps to boost private investment, after hearing reports from a related inquiry at a State Council executive meeting he chaired.

Private investment has been playing a vital role in China's economic development in recent years. It now accounts for 60 percent of China's gross domestic product, 80 percent of jobs, and over 60 percent of Chinas total fixed asset investment.

Private investment is of critical importance for China to maintain stable economic growth, secure employment and reform its economic structure.
NEW YORK, July 3 (Xinhua) -- A young man was seriously injured after he was hit by an explosion in New York's Central Park on Sunday, authorities said.

The Central Park was partially closed for police investigation after the explosion rocked the southeastern part of the park, near the corner of 5th Avenue and 62th Street.

The part of the renowned park remained closed throughout the afternoon, with heavy presence of law enforcement standing guard and evacuating tourists from the site of the blast.

It was yet unknown what caused the explosion but it may have been fireworks prior to the Independence Day holiday on Monday.

The victim was identified as Connor Golden, an 18-year-old from Fairfax Virginia, who was visiting New York from Washington D.C. for the holiday, according to local media.

Eyewitnesses said Golden was climbing a rock structure with two friends when he stepped on something that blew up, according to the police.

The police and paramedics rushed to the scene after a call came in at 10:53 a.m. local time. The NYPD bomb squad was also dispatched.

The victim suffered a severe leg injury and faced "a possible amputation," said a Fire Department of New York spokesperson.

A witness, John Murray, said Golden's left foot was "all but gone." He told The New York Post that he spoke with Golden's friends after the blast and that they denied they were carrying fireworks.

The area affected was a popular tourist spot, which was a short distance from the Central Park Zoo.

"It was an accident," said police officer Ramos, who was standing guard near the site of the explosion.

Ramos said the explosives may likely be fireworks given that Monday marks the Fourth of July Independence Day. The national holiday is celebrated with display of fireworks around the country as a tradition.

Wrapping papers of what appears to be from fireworks had been recovered nearby by the police, local media said.with display of fireworks around the country as a tradition.
T he UK should not turn itself into a tax haven to weather Brexit storms, a leaked memo from a major think-tank warned earlier  as Chancellor George Osborne announced plans to slash corporation tax below 15%.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Developments head of tax, Pascal Saint-Amans, said post-Brexit plans for the UK to be even more aggressive on tax would really turn the UK into a tax haven but were likely to face political hurdles.

The Chancellor walked into a storm this year after cutting a deal with Google which let the company pay a derisory 130 million in back tax.

Saint-Amans memo said: The mood of the people is certainly not about giving more benefits to large [multi-national enterprises], making it a hard move to any new government.

Osborne  who is not even certain of being in post by the autumn  has already made a commitment to bring corporation tax down to 17% by 2020 from the present rate of 20%.

The latest pledge will put even more pressure on public finances, after the Conservatives abandoned their previous goal to achieve a Budget surplus by 2020 as the UK economy prepares for a post-Brexit investment shock. The Treasurys estimates suggest a 1% cut in corporation tax costs the Exchequer almost 2 billion a year, creating yet another hole in its coffers.

The plans also drew a mixed reaction from business leaders and economists. Haydn Mursell, chief executive of UK builder Kier said: Id be surprised if going from 17% to 15% made a marked difference in how people wanted to come to the UK to set up a business.

Youd have to drop down nearer to 10% to start making a major change.

Kallum Pickering, UK economist at Berenberg, said the Government should first take advantage of record low borrowing costs to boost growth potential. The fundamental determinant of investment is what return you are going to get. I would like to see [Osborne] boost public capital spending to do things which will boost productivity  building roads and power stations.

The Federation of Small Businesses national chairman, Mike Cherry, said business rates reform should be the priority. Corporation tax is only taken on profits but business rates are taken before you even make a sale.

Ross McEwan, chief executive of taxpayer-backed Royal Bank of Scotland, said the move was a stake in the ground to say the UK has always been open and is still open for business.
G eorge Osborne has changed his tune. From threatening us all, pre-referendum, with massive tax rises in the event of Brexit, he now says we need a humungous tax cut for businesses.

There are many reasons to be confused.

For starters, its far from clear how the country can afford such a big cut if the Chancellor is not going to break his other manifesto pledges.

He still, dont forget, has a commitment to raise the higher rate income tax threshold from 42,385 to 50,000 and taking everyones pay under 12,500 out of income tax altogether. That last pledge alone will cost 5.6 billion.

Also, the jurys still out over whether a 15% corporation tax will actually attract as many companies here as he hopes and, if it does, whether theyll be largely brass plate outfits which contribute little to the UK anyway.

Theres a diplomatic issue too  do we really want to embark upon a tax war against our trading partners around the world just as were about to start negotiating new trade terms?

This isnt just an issue with our EU partners; the White House, with whom well soon be having to open tariff talks, is already cross about the tax inversion deals American companies are doing here to avoid US duties.

Ah well, those who share my concerns can console themselves with one thought: its highly unlikely Osborne will be Chancellor for long enough to push through his plan anyway.
B ritains clothing retailers will have to ensure security is tightened at factories they source from in Bangladesh, experts warned earlier, in the wake of the terror attack in Dhaka.

The assault on a restaurant in Bangladeshs capital saw 20 hostages, including a number of people in the textiles industry, killed at the weekend.

Retail analyst Richard Hyman told the Evening Standard that UK firms would have to look at their ties with the country and its $26 billion (19.6 billion) garments industry.

He said: A review of security is clearly necessary.

Andrew Hall, fashion analyst at Verdict Retail, added: The awful attack in Dhaka will have disrupted the nations global standing as an attractive market for clothing manufacturing. Bangladesh will have to allay security fears.

Meanwhile Paul Alger, a director at the UK Fashion & Textile Association, said: It is more important now than ever before that fashion and textile businesses around the world continue to engage with Bangladesh.

Bangladeshs clothing industry has been trying to recover from the collapse of the Rana Plaza factory three years ago. Over 1100 workers were killed.
T he sheer skill in official obfuscation involved in the production of Sir John Chilcots report into Britains role in the Iraq War, due on Wednesday, is impressive. At 12 volumes and more than two million words, with the executive summary running to 200 pages alone, it seems designed for no one to read and grasp in its entirety. Launched seven years ago, its late, too.

None of this should detract from its importance. It is about the competence of government on the most serious issue  taking the nation to war. And any questioning of a British government gains extra significance post-Brexit. The Chilcot panel must answer the question: why did Tony Blairs government commit the nation to war in Iraq in March 2003? Specifically, the nature of the intelligence and the legal case for action have to be examined.

Then there are issues about the conduct of British forces after the entry into Iraq and their activity in the southern region round Basra for seven years. Two major questions come to mind. If Chilcot doesnt address them unambiguously, he will have failed.

Why did Blair go to war? Was it because of his unconditional support for George W Bush and the US, pledged as early as April 2002, long before the invasion? Why then was there no second referral for UN authorisation?

Then there is the vexed issue of intelligence on weapons of mass destruction  which was thin to negative following the Hans Blix monitoring mission early in 2003. As obscure was the handling of the legal case for war  grudgingly published as a few briefing notes from the Attorney General. Was Parliament adequately informed before it voted to authorise action? Did the Blair administration go to war against Iraq on a false prospectus?

Chilcot has to dispose of that suspicion, one way or another.

It seems a great deal of the report concentrates on the preparedness or otherwise and competence of command of the armed forces. Senior commanders are criticised for not getting the forces equipped in time and for being slow to respond to new threats such as IEDs with new equipment.

But the big decisions were political  from delay in equipping the forces early enough, to shaping and funding operations after the deployment.

Nothing could have prepared the British or any other forces for trying to police a municipality such as Basra: 2.2 million people with 5,000 troops, gripped by a civil war among the Shia majority, a full-blown mafia war and subtle, deadly incursions from Iran.

The British forces suffered from group think and cultural dissonance in southern Iraq. These are the vices highlighted by Norman Dixon in his classic On the Psychology of Military Incompetence, published in 1976.

The Army, unlike its US allies, has been slow in publishing its lessons learned from failure in Iraq and Afghanistan. There are also lessons for politicians, too. It cannot be far off before we have a proper war powers Act, by which any government must get parliamentary authorisation for sustained military operations in war.

And the gruesome context of Iraq endures as the weekends hideous bombings of Shia Baghdad underlines, with 125 dead and hundreds of people wounded. We cannot avoid our role and responsibility in Iraqs present nightmare.
A rticle 50: remember that? The small picture is the fratricidal bloodbath in the upper reaches of the Conservative Party. The much bigger picture is not who gets the pie in this squalid remake of Titus Andronicus, but what the hell happens next.

Clearly, Remainers like me would much rather we had not had a referendum in the first place. Having had the referendum, we would much rather we had won. Having lost, we would much rather that the referendums result was never turned into policy. But we did, and we didnt, and it will be.

Yes, in law the referendum is only advisory. And, yes, if we did have a second referendum there is some grounds to think things might go differently. But there are also grounds to think that if the result of this vote were ignored, or a rerun somehow insisted on, the very substantial number of people who voted Leave would take to the streets with pitchforks  and it would be hard to blame them.

So Article 50, at some point, has to be triggered. But we have a stand-off developing. The moment we trigger Article 50 a two-year countdown starts. If we havent sorted out our new relationship with the EU at the end of it, we crash out with no deal, no leverage, no nothing.

And how fast do we do things, on average? The Saville Inquiry took 12 years. The decision over Heathrow expansion has taken nine years and counting. Weve been dithering over Trident for five years. And it took nearly 25 years to make a movie out of Absolutely Fabulous.

Two years, then, to negotiate dozens of fresh trade deals, to unpick and replace a huge body of law, to put in place border controls and visa systems, to come up with a consistent and workable set of arrangements for foreign-born workers currently in the UK and put the bureaucracies in place to administer them... Call me a Jeremiah, but Im not optimistic.

Triggering Article 50 cold will create Brapocalypse. Breltdown. A four-dimensional, copper-plated fustercluck. Even if we had the diplomats to do it, which we dont. And even if we had a consistent idea about what sort of Brexit we want anyway, which we also dont.

By refusing to begin even informal negotiations ahead of Article 50, the EUs leaders  if I read them right hope to make doing it so scary as to be practically impossible. This is a dangerous form of brinkmanship. Its their version of the petition for a second referendum; and for all the reasons above it is highly unlikely to work. If, and when, the bluff is called for domestic political reasons, everything will go completely to tits.

If we have to go  which we do  its in neither our interests nor Europes for it to be one of those divorces where the crockery migrates to the patio via a first-floor window. We need to be making nice with our negotiating partners, not sticking our chins out and crossing our arms.

Thats why a soft Remainer such as Theresa May, is, contrary to Michael Goves claim, exactly who we need to take Britain out of the EU. We need a show of sad reluctance rather than angry defiance. Someone who can say: Its not EU, its me...

Bibles or showbiz? Its a close call

In an effort to get rid of its male, pale and stale image, Oxford University is replacing many of its portraits of dead white men in gowns with new portraits of women and black and gay people.

Thats all to the best, I suppose, though we cant entirely blame the university for having all those beardy honkies on the walls in the first place. Until the second half of the 20th century almost all the people whose association with the university made them candidates for portraits were dead white men. History is what history is. Did Hertford College go too far when it replaced William Tyndale, the first man to translate the Bible into English, with Natasha Kaplinsky, who once won Strictly Come Dancing? Perhaps. These things are always narrow judgment calls.

Poetry, pants and the art of payback

Geoffrey Hill, who died last week, was a very major English poet and rather a grumpy one. A couple of years ago, a friend whos a don at Oxford called me to report, with what I thought was indecent glee, that Hill had just spent part of one of his lectures as Oxford Professor of Poetry denouncing me at some length as an idiot. Little me! Called an idiot by a great poet!

As you can imagine I was flattered rotten. Something dumb Id written about Sylvia Plath had got his goat, apparently. His goat was easily got. In the same lecture he compared Carol Ann Duffy to Mills & Boon (you can see from that how catholic his reading was) and said one of her poems could easily be mistaken for one of the first efforts of the schoolgirls she is attempting to encourage.

Anyway, I dobbed him in to the Londoners Diary for the Carol Ann thing and considered us quits. Also, I think its to his credit that this monolithic defender of high seriousness told against himself the story of how his trousers fell down in Blackwells last year. Ill miss him.

How to write a bestseller in not so many words

What makes a bestseller? The authors of a forthcoming book claimed to have used a computer algorithm theyre calling the Bestseller-Ometer to find out.

They established the things that bestselling books have in common, based on a random sample of 20,000 novels and some back-issues of the New York Timess bestseller lists. Answers: dogs rather than cats, easy on the dwarves and unicorns, not many adjectives, and the verbs need, want, miss, love, grab, do, think and ask. The perfect novel, according to the bestsellerometer, is Dave Eggers The Circle. This is an aggregation of information so perfectly and wonderfully useless that it approaches a work of art in itself.
M ike Freer MP (Letters, 30 June) suggests that, despite the result of the referendum, we should still press on with airport expansion plans.

By contrast, I feel it is right to pause  again. It may well be that outside the European Union, demand for air traffic to and from London will diminish. Also, non-EU airlines (as all UK carriers will become) will have fewer opportunities and rights to fly to other airports across Europe.

It would be an expensive folly to build a new runway at either Heathrow or Gatwick and then to find that, after becoming a less significant, non-EU nation, there was no longer a need for it.

Councillor Robert Evans, Surrey County Council

Heathrow Airport and business leaders are exploiting Brexit for their new runway bid in the face of the delayed expansion decision. However, any aviation expansion, wherever it is, will mean we fail to meet our international commitments to CO2 reduction. This will make our city and economy more vulnerable to severe weather events, risking Londons resilience as a place to live, work and do business.

If business leaders were genuinely looking out for Londoners, theyd see the benefit of living in a city that makes a responsible contribution on climate change and adapts its business practice to use more trains and video conferencing at home and abroad.

Caroline Russell, Green Party Group, London Assembly

It hasnt take long for the ugly heads to rise of those people seeking to make their fortune out of Heathrow expansion at the expense of the peace and sanity of millions. Mike Freer might feel differently if flight paths were switched to north London and his constituents were facing the prospect of non-stop loud noise (above the danger levels) all day with barely six hours of sleeping time.

It is time this fiasco was put to bed once and for all, and a ruling against expansion made with no further pressure allowed from these greedy and selfish people.

C Terry

Unsurprisingly, it seems that Mike Freer, backing Heathrow expansion, is the MP for Finchley and Golders Green. Someone ought to put together a map showing the constituencies now affected by aircraft noise and those that will be affected by the planned runway  so the public can work out which MPs are advocating expansion based on their own self-interest. We should also remember that a third runway will only see noise reduced from half the day to a third of the day.

Elizabeth Balsom

Cubs should not be born in zoos

Its impossible to get excited about the birth of Sumatran tiger cubs at London Zoo (June 30) knowing that these naturally free-roaming animals will never enjoy freedom or experience life in a natural habitat, such as the lush forests of Indonesia.

In nature, Sumatran tigers often live alone, sleep most of the day, hunt at night and can run at speeds of up to 55mph. In zoos theyre forced to live in what, to them, is an extremely cramped environment, where they are never able to run freely, must live with other tigers and suffer from poor health because they lack psychological and physical stimulation.

The only real chance that we have of protecting these magnificent animals is by saving their natural habitats. However, zoos are more interested in making money.

Jennifer White, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals

Improved rail links are key to recovery

Jim Armitage is absolutely right that until the dismal rail connections to the rest of the country from London and between the regions are sorted out, wealth will not filter through to others outside the capital.

Priced well out of London and without the minimum income requirement (usually over 40,000 a year unless one has a large deposit) for shared-ownership schemes, I took an afternoon off to visit Folkestone in May.

The town is being regenerated with handsome houses, and with a 55-minute fast train direct into St Pancras, it was an extremely pleasant surprise. However the monthly commuter fare is more than 550 a month. In the meantime Im checking out Hastings, which has a line upgrade allowing fast trains into London from 2019  if it gets final permission and funding.

Lydia Tapping

Cabbies get little change out of law

The amounts awarded by courts after attacks such as that by Simon Rubel Lo Gatto on a minicab driver (June 30) are derisory. In two recent cases the victim was granted a paltry 100 in damages. Attacks of this nature take their toll, as private-hire drivers also lose income in dealing with police and hospitals. Private- hire and taxi drivers are subjected daily to physical and verbal assault and often non-payment for services.

Drivers rarely report this to the police as their general catch-all is that non-payment is a civil matter. Try telling that to someone arrested for stealing lipstick from a supermarket: how can fraudulently obtaining a service or failing to pay be a civil matter?

Drivers have no priority as citizens and are often seen as uneducated. I dare say if Lo Gatto had experienced such an assault the sentence for the individual would have been greater.

Steve Garelick, branch secretary, Professional Drivers G56
For fashion designers tired of our unquenchable thirst for new trends, the chance to work on a haute couture collection is a breath of fresh air.

Schiaparelli designer Bertrand Guyon, who unveiled his latest atelier offering in Paris today, is among those benefiting. His starting point is Schiaparellis own archives - repurposing the iconic Circus collection created by Elsa Schiaparelli in 1938.

Spanning masterfully tailored blazers, column gowns splayed with acrobat motifs and the return of haute couture bloomers - a voluminous style of cocktail shorts fashioned from silk jacquard - this couture offering saw Guyon deliver typically Schiaparelli designs to its long-standing fans.

A floral motif and an astrological print inspired by the cartoonish star designs Elsa Schiaparelli favoured also stood out - as did the dedication to her beloved shade of shocking pink. Guyon delivered playful flourishes along with a commendable attention to silhouette.

Patrick Kovarik/AFP/Getty

One silk padded jacket emblazoned with a vibrant red loveheart would have appealed to the founders playful side while column gowns, draped to sweep the body instead of cling, demonstrated Guyons own attention to detail.

The focus today was on individual pieces designed to serve as wearable works of art in their own right.

Patrick Kovarik/AFP/Getty

To this end, it was the almost unnoticed details such as the painstaking embroidery which trimmed a shoulder strap of an asymmetric velvet gown and an exaggerated shoulder shape crafted by skilled tailors that gave this collection its high point.

Once the pinnacle of ground-breaking French fashion, Schiaparelli is now somewhat out of step with the rest of the establishment.

Yet todays collection proved this is no bad thing. Offering up a host of elegant evening wear options for high-paying clients who favour show-stopping elegance that is inimitable, Guyon and Schiaparelli emerged as a brand with the potential to have clout on the red carpet.

One floor-sweeping organza gown in midnight blue was suggested as an inspired choice for Hollywood actresses seeking to stand out from the crowd during award season while a series of neatly tailored jackets emblazoned with birdcages and rocking horse motifs looked suited to a fashion customer keen to take a break from the mundanity of trends.
A top chef and cookery school owner says a new generation of cooks are shaping Chinese cuisine in London as they turn their backs on corporate careers.

Jeremy Pang, who runs School of Wok and is opening his first restaurant next month, claims British-Chinese twenty and thirtysomethings are re-entering kitchens as the trade becomes more glamorous and they reject negatives attached to it by older generations.

Acclaimed chefs such as Andrew Wong and Geoffrey Leong lead the way with cutting-edge restaurants, while others have moved from office-based careers into street food businesses.

Mr Pang, 32, told the Standard: The older generation running the restaurants and takeaways didnt want their kids in it because it was such hard work. They wanted us to go to university. Cooking was seen as a lower status job.

Over the last five years, Ive seen a lot of people do our courses who are younger generation Chinese who have almost been forced through the higher education journey. But out of natural love of Chinese cuisine they have come back into it.

Regional Chinese food - in pictures 1 /16 Regional Chinese food - in pictures Fujian Province Stir-fried green beans junbug1973 / Tripadvisor Sichuan Province Boiled-sea-bass-with-sizzling-chilli-oil at Barshu Hunan Province Tofu with pork in a spicy broth at Local Friends Shanghai Steamed scallops at Red Sun <a href="http://www.feedthetang.com/">feedthetang.com</a> Shaanxi Province Stir-fried chicken with bones at Xian Impression Guizhou Province Spicy beef noodles at Maotai Kitchen Liaoning Province Pan-fried garlic chive pancake pocket <a href="http://dinnerathon.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/top-taste-liaoning-in-bethnal-green.html">dinnerathon.blogspot.com</a> Xinjiang Province Lamb skewers at Silk Road Guangzhou Province Dim sum at Royal China Club Beijing Duck at Min Jiang Xizang Province (Tibet) Momo dumplings Creative Commons Taiwan Bao at Bao London

The chef-tutor, who left a marketing job in 2009, said the average age of students was between 25 and 40 and the career changes usually happened in their early thirties.

One of our chefs was in PR for the Hong Kong government for 10 years, said Mr Pang. He came to us on a full-day course. He asked if we had any washing-up jobs, and within a year he made the career change.

Weve had people who want to open a market stall, or places like Bao  street food restaurants. There is a younger generation like myself who are trying to push the cuisine forward.

Mr Pang opens Cha Chaan Teng in Holborn next month, which he says is a modern take on Hong Kongs post-war Chinese-Western fusion.

Dishes include spam with fried egg on a noodle broth, crispy duck with French toast and orange maple, while prawn toast is upgraded to lobster.

It is like a Hong Kong diner, but with high quality ingredients, he said. Its about digging in and sharing, the way Chinese food should be eaten.

There has been a gap in the Chinese food market in London, where you get cheap and cheerful Chinatown meals then Michelin-starred Chinese restaurants, with nothing in between.

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C lose friends say Boris Johnson is badly wounded after a week of Tory blood-letting that makes Julius Caesars assassination look like a teddy bears picnic.

Johnson, the classical scholar, will know Caesars last words werent the Latin, Et tu, Brute? They were the more affectionate Greek: Kai su, teknon?  You too, my child?

Thats how Boris feels  like hes been betrayed by his nearest and dearest. Friends say he is particularly upset by the idea that he lost his nerve.

Boris isnt a quitter, said a source close to Team Boris, who was at the Thursday morning meeting when he stood down. He wasnt turning and running. He was clear he had a choice. He could try to take Gove down, and end up with the Tory party in mutually assured destruction. Or he could step back in the interests of the party and the country. He did the most honourable thing, even though, in theory, this could be the end of his career.

Boris Johnson rules himself out of Tory leadership contest

The Boris camp is convinced that Gove had been planning a coup for a long time. It was a planned execution, says a member of Boriss family. It was all planned at least six weeks ago. The Gove camp thought there would be a narrow Brexit loss, and they would slowly get rid of Boris after that. A narrow Brexit win was a surprise  they decided on the hoof to get rid of him. It was vicious.

George Osborne was part of the Gove plan  Gove spent the weekend at Dorneywood with him a fortnight ago. They knew Boris would stand, and both Cameron and Osborne didnt want him to win.

Still, a senior member of Boriss campaign team says: We dont think Osborne was involved in Goves bid.

Nigel Farage, who this morning resigned as leader of Ukip, spotted Michael Gove on manoeuvres five weeks ago.

I noticed Gove was doing the more serious stuff while Boris was kept on the bus, Farage says. I could see the pattern and there was plenty of buzz about it from the Vote Leave campaign. There were games within a game. I wasnt a bit surprised when Gove decided to run. I actively thought he would. The extraordinary thing is that Boris didnt know or suspect a thing.

Michael Gove arriving to deliver his speech / PA

The Gove team say he only decided to stand on Thursday morning  after Andrea Leadsom put herself forward. Gove was also driven mad by Boriss dithering.

Michael was just totally fed up with Boris not concentrating, and he realised Boris didnt have any of the qualities to become Prime Minister, says a member of Goves inner circle who was with him last week.

The whole gripping saga began on the Saturday after the shock Brexit result.

There was a phone call between Boris and Gove, says a senior member of Boriss campaign team. Gove wanted to be Chancellor, Deputy Prime Minister and chief Brexit negotiator. Boris agreed only on Chancellor.

The mistrust started seeping in during a Tuesday morning meeting in the office of Lynton Crosby, the Australian politics guru behind David Camerons election win, who led Boriss leadership campaign.

Crosby and his business partner, Mark Fullbrook, met Boris and Gove at 8am. Gove was accompanied by Dominic Cummings  leader of the Vote Leave campaign and previously Goves special adviser when he was Education Secretary. The Johnson team made it a condition of the Johnson-Gove ticket that Cummings  a controversial figure whom they didnt trust  wouldnt be involved.

Boris Johnson / Stefan Rousseau/PA

When Gove walks in with Cummings, we could either say f*** off or we could grin and bear it. We went for the latter option, said a senior member of Boriss campaign team, Gove acknowledged we had serious concerns about Cummings, but he assured us hed play no role in the leadership campaign. Cummings said he was only involved in what would happen in No 10.

Cummings is said to be saddened and mystified by the Boris-Gove split. He had talked to Gove and his wife, Sarah Vine, last weekend, and they both said they wanted Boris to become leader.

On Tuesday, the Boris-Gove team prepared a website and the campaign office. On Wednesday, at a campaign meeting, Gove referred to an email Vine, a Daily Mail columnist, sent him the previous day, demanding assurances from Boris.

Vine maintains she accidentally sent the email to the wrong recipient, but Boriss camp claim she leaked it, to undermine Boriss chances. Vine also allegedly tipped off the BBC that Leave campaigners were meeting at Boriss Oxfordshire home last Sunday.

Michael Gove: 'I could not recommend that Boris was Prime Minister'

Gove said, Sarahs sent an email to the wrong person, and he effectively laughed it off, said the Team Boris member. Someone said, I hope she wont write anything else. And Gove said, Of course she will  thats her job. He should have said, Dont worry, Ill sort it out. Of course, the email was leaked on purpose.

Of course it wasnt leaked, says the member of Goves inner circle. Why on earth would she want to name Paul Dacre in the email  her boss at the Mail?

Leaking was a problem with Gove, too, according to Ben Wallace MP, Boriss campaign manager, who said today: Michael seems to have an emotional need to gossip, particularly when drink is taken, as it all too often seemed to be.

At that Wednesday morning meeting, campaign roles were apportioned. Gove became campaign chairman. Nick Boles, an MP and Goves former flatmate, ran the MPs nomination process. Dominic Raab MP managed Brexit strategy. Beth Armstrong, a Gove adviser, controlled the master list of Tory MPs who might back Johnson in the ballot.

Leave wins EU referendum - in pictures 1 /30 Leave wins EU referendum - in pictures David Cameron announces his resignation outside Number 10 Downing Street Stefan Wermuth/Reuters David and Samantha Cameron outside Downing Street as the PM announces his decision to stand down Stefan Wermuth/Reuters Boris Johnson leaves home following the stunning EU referendum result Lucy Young A triumphant Nigel Farage near the Houses of Parliament Glyn Kirk/AFP/Getty Images Jeremy Corbyn MP, leader of the Labour Party, is followed by journalists as he walks towards the Houses of Parliament Rob Stothard/Getty Images London Mayor Sadiq Khan speaks to the media after Britain voted for Brexit Matt Writle Leave supporters cheer results at a Leave.eu party after polling stations closed in the Referendum on the European Union in London Toby Melville/Reuters Supporters of the Stronger In campaign react after hearing results in the EU referendum at London's Royal Festival Hall Rob Stothard/PA Vote LEAVE supporter Christine Forrester celebrates with others outside Vote Leave HQ Chris J Ratcliffe/Getty Images Supporters of the Stronger In campaign look dejected as results come in Rob Stothard/AFP/Getty Images The Houses of Parliament as dawn breaks on London after the vote Rob Stothard/Getty Images Stronger in campaigners look dejected after the result Leave supporters celebrate opposite the Houses of Parliament in London Anthony Devlin/PA Labour Party Leader Jeremy Corbyn leaves his home this morning Rob Stothard/Getty Images A man reacts to a vote count results screen at an 'Leave.EU Referendum Party' in London Supporters of the Stronger In campaign react after hearing results in the EU referendum at the Royal Festival Hall Rob Stothard/PA UKIP Leader Nigel Farage at the Leave.EU party in London as he claimed victory Stefan Rousseau/PA A London taxi driver holds a Union flag, as he celebrates following the result of the EU referendum Toby Melville Traders react to the fast moving Euro results at ETX Capital in the City of London this morning Chris Gorman/Evening Standard People gathered in The Churchill Tavern, a British themed bar, react as the BBC predicts Briatin will leave the European Union, in the Manhattan borough of New York Andrew Kelly/Reuters Traders monitor computer screens with the day's exchange rate at a foreign exchange brokerage at a securities firm in Tokyo Eugene Hoshiko/AP Conservative MP Nigel Evans (left) and UKIP's Paul Nuttall, members of the Vote Leave campaign, celebrate at Manchester Town Hall where the national result in the UK referendum will be declared later Peter Byrne/PA Traders react to the fast moving Euro results at ETX Capital in the City of London this morning Chris Gorman/Evening Standard

That list is the Holy Grail, said a senior member of Boriss campaign team. They had taken away the ability from Boris to operate without Goves people. He couldnt print out the list  only Beth could. You could do screengrabs from the computer screen but the database was controlled by Beth. When Gove jumped ship, how could we crisis-manage 325 Tory MPs with only a few hours left?

On Wednesday, at 5.25pm, Andrea Leadsom agreed with Johnson to become one of his top three ministers, provided he confirmed it in a tweet and letter by 8pm.

When Gove later asked Boris whether he had given the letter to her, Boris discovered hed left it in his office. It was picked up and delivered to Nick Boles at the Tory Summer Ball at the Hurlingham Club. Boles went in search of Leadsom, to discover she had cancelled.

At 8.10pm, Johnson texted Gove: Andrea wants me to tweet something like Looking forward to campaign launch tomorrow with top team Michael Gove and Andrea Leadsom. Is that OK?

Gove did not reply; in any case, Boris had missed Leadsoms deadline.

At 9.30pm, Leadsom texted Boris: No tweet, no letter. Clearly you dont want to go ahead on the basis we agreed. Ive submitted my nomination papers.

The text was read on Boriss phone by Nick Boles, coming back from the Hurlingham Club with Boris.

Oh f***, f***, f***, what are we going to do? said Boris. Boles texted Gove, saying, Somethings gone wrong.

Gove and his team were incensed that Boris had barely started on his leadership speech. Boris was still writing it in the car alongside Boles, and continued writing it when he got back to his Islington home.

The thing is, Boris isnt that trustworthy, says the member of Goves inner circle. It was clear he wasnt going to stick together with us. He didnt tweet, he didnt bring the letter. Andrea broke ranks first  and thats what triggered Michael to run.

Boris was in nervous breakdown mode. His team were trying to do the speech with him. But hed left the house with no speech. If youre Prime Minister, you have to do the work. The buck stops with you. You cant be so weak. Michael thought we cannot be this shambolic about everything. Nick Boles thought the same.

Former Education Secretary Michael Gove (Picture: Getty) / Former Education Secretary Michael Gove

During the referendum campaign, Michael had his doubts about Boriss abilities. But theyd boxed and coxed quite well. People had suggested to Michael that he should run, but he was firm that it should just be Boris. Michael thought he could run things behind the scenes, while Boris did the glad-handing and all the public things hes good at.

But Boris couldnt follow through. Everything was falling apart  it was a real shame.

Late on Wednesday night, Nick Boles received a text from a Gove special adviser, asking him to Goves house in north Kensington. At 12.30am, Boles got an Uber, leaving Boris with 500 words of his 1,500 word speech written. At Goves home, he found three special advisers, Gove and Vine, who had been dining with Simone Finn, a Tory peer and ex-girlfriend of Gove.

Michael came back from dinner and said, I cant in good conscience back Boris, said one of Goves inner circle, who was there that evening. We said, Lets sleep on it. Michael made no final decision on standing until the next morning, when he called Boris. He couldnt get through, so he called Lynton Crosby next.

That was at 8.45am on Thursday.

Lynton, Im running, Gove said.

Running what? said Crosby.

Im running for the leadership myself.

Crosby told us in short, Australian terms: Hes done us over, a senior member of Boriss campaign team said. At 8.54 am we got an email from Nick Boles saying he couldnt fill in the nomination papers, and he emailed the blank forms.

Boles clearly never intended to get them completed. Gove knew this when, on Wednesday morning, he insisted Boles take charge of the nomination process.

Ive got no objection to Gove jumping ship. It was the manner in which he did it. It was designed to cause maximum problems. At every single step, they stitched Boris up. Gove wanted to maximise his chances and minimise Boriss. Of course, Gove always wanted to be PM. Gove only believes in Gove.

At 7am that morning, Goves campaign manager was asking MPs to come to Goves leadership launch. Still, at 7.08am, a Gove adviser emailed Johnsons team, assuring them Goves supporters would be at Boriss launch.

After talking to Gove, Crosby rang Johnson to tell him the news. Well, thats it, Boris said, I cant go on. I cant run.

Crosby encouraged Boris to hold fire and come into the Westminster office.

At 9.02am, Gove released a statement, saying, I have come, reluctantly, to the conclusion that Boris cannot provide the leadership or build the team for the task ahead.

Soon after, Boris took soundings, before adjourning to a room with his wife, Marina, where he decided to stand down.

He then gave a great speech and showed the bastards what they were missing, says the senior member of Boriss campaign team.

Boris spent the weekend visiting Cornwall, supporting long-standing commitments to visit Tory constituency associations  commitments that were made before his leadership bid. Some of the constituencies have MPs that support Theresa May but he honoured his commitments, said a source close to Boris, who is confident that he would fight for the leadership again one day.

Today, Boriss Telegraph column is crammed with tips on how to run the country. He remains popular with Tory members and is still 13 years younger than Churchill when he became PM.

Caesar is not dead yet. There will be a second act.

Harry Mount is author of The Wit and Wisdom of Boris Johnson (Bloomsbury)
KARACHI, Pakistan, July 2-- The Bin Qasim power plant project, a pilot project of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor(CPEC) located 20 km east of Karachi, is hailed for its potential role in helping quench Pakistan's energy thirst.

At its construction site located just by the sea, a195-meter-tall chimney and two 162-meter-tall water cooling towers are already in place.

Early July is normally the hottest time of the year here. However, when the summer sun grills the Pakistani coast before the monsoon season arrives, the 1,500 Chinese and 1,600 Pakistani workers still work tirelessly.

As power shortage is taking a serious toll on the Pakistani economy, the local government wants to have the plant begin operations before the end of 2017. That's why it is asking PowerChina, the Chinese construction company commissioned with the project, to shorten the construction time by 12 months.

Chen Enping, a manager at PowerChina, said good progress is underway and if everything goes well, his team will be able to meet the deadline.

He said that as construction is nearing completion, his team would start installing the generator units and other systems, and thus would likely hire even more local workers.

Two 660-megawatt generator units will be installed, which would generate 1,320 megawatts of electricity per year, more than a quarter of the 4,500-5,000 megawatts of power shortage estimated for the year 2012.

"Three more plants like this and Pakistan would have no more energy woes," Chen said.

Covering an area of 0.81 square km, the coal-fired project is one of the projects that received priority funding from China. It includes a heavy cargo wharf, where imported coal from Indonesia or Australia can undock.

Pakistan's energy sector has long relied on oil and natural gas as fuel for its heat power plants, but coal-fired generators can produce more at lower costs.

To make sure that the project is up to environmental protection standards, Chen said the factory's chimney is equipped with desulfurization devices, and they can add a denitration process if necessary.

"On a sunny day, it's almost impossible to spot smoke coming out of the chimney," Chen said.

Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif calls the project the flagship of CPEC, saying the plant means not only much-needed energy, but also thousands of jobs for Pakistanis.

Rawat, a 28-year-old Pakistani who works on the site, is happy with his job. He said that with monthly salary reaching 40,000 Pakistani Rupees (380 U.S. dollars), he is able to support his family. Enditem

Feature: Chinese-aided power plant project to help meet Pakistan's energy needs

Source: Xinhua2016-07-03 16:46:29

KARACHI, Pakistan, July 2 (Xinhua) -- The Bin Qasim power plant project, a pilot project of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor(CPEC) located 20 km east of Karachi, is hailed for its potential role in helping quench Pakistan's energy thirst.

At its construction site located just by the sea, a195-meter-tall chimney and two 162-meter-tall water cooling towers are already in place.

Early July is normally the hottest time of the year here. However, when the summer sun grills the Pakistani coast before the monsoon season arrives, the 1,500 Chinese and 1,600 Pakistani workers still work tirelessly.

As power shortage is taking a serious toll on the Pakistani economy, the local government wants to have the plant begin operations before the end of 2017. That's why it is asking PowerChina, the Chinese construction company commissioned with the project, to shorten the construction time by 12 months.

Chen Enping, a manager at PowerChina, said good progress is underway and if everything goes well, his team will be able to meet the deadline.

He said that as construction is nearing completion, his team would start installing the generator units and other systems, and thus would likely hire even more local workers.

Two 660-megawatt generator units will be installed, which would generate 1,320 megawatts of electricity per year, more than a quarter of the 4,500-5,000 megawatts of power shortage estimated for the year 2012.

"Three more plants like this and Pakistan would have no more energy woes," Chen said.

Covering an area of 0.81 square km, the coal-fired project is one of the projects that received priority funding from China. It includes a heavy cargo wharf, where imported coal from Indonesia or Australia can undock.

Pakistan's energy sector has long relied on oil and natural gas as fuel for its heat power plants, but coal-fired generators can produce more at lower costs.

To make sure that the project is up to environmental protection standards, Chen said the factory's chimney is equipped with desulfurization devices, and they can add a denitration process if necessary.

"On a sunny day, it's almost impossible to spot smoke coming out of the chimney," Chen said.

Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif calls the project the flagship of CPEC, saying the plant means not only much-needed energy, but also thousands of jobs for Pakistanis.

Rawat, a 28-year-old Pakistani who works on the site, is happy with his job. He said that with monthly salary reaching 40,000 Pakistani Rupees (380 U.S. dollars), he is able to support his family. Enditem
W hen I got to New Mexico, that was mine. As soon as I saw it, that was my country. So said Georgia OKeeffe, the American modernist artist. She may be best known for painting flowers but a new exhibition at Tate Modern will illustrate just how important her adopted home was; six rooms are dedicated to paintings of New Mexico.

For Americans, the artist is so indelibly associated with the area around Santa Fe that it is known as OKeeffe Country. The painter spent summers there from 1929, swapping New York for New Mexico permanently following the death of her husband, photographer Alfred Stieglitz, in 1949.

This patch of Americas south-west has long attracted creative types, from DH Lawrence and Aldous Huxley to Bruce Nauman and Cormac McCarthy. Santa Fe is able to make the astonishing boast of being Americas third-largest art market  despite a population of only 70,000. The town is stuffed with big museums and small galleries, and in July and August hosts international folk art and (indigenous) Indian art markets.

Its something thats in the air, its different. The sky is different; the wind is different, wrote OKeeffe of New Mexico. Visiting the area, you see what she meant. At 7,000ft, the dry climate means the air crackles and the light is crystal-sharp. I gape each morning, surprised anew at just how dark, how deep a blue a sky can be. Against this backdrop, the orange-brown curved Pueblo-style buildings  traditional Native American architecture  seem to pop up like an optical illusion.

The city legislated for new-builds to follow this historic style, meaning Santa Fe retains a charmingly old-fashioned air. Small and walkable, the state capital is arranged around a historic plaza that features Americas oldest public building, the Palace of the Governors, dating from 1610.

But tourism is big here, and Santa Fe has no shortage of swish hotels. I stayed at the Rosewood Inn of the Anasazi. A stones throw from the historic plaza, this characterful hotel  with its curved adobe walls and wood-beamed ceilings  elegantly showcases the arts and crafts of Ancestral Puebloans.

Those making an OKeeffe pilgrimage to Santa Fe have plenty to crack on with. The Georgia OKeeffe Museum houses an impressive selection of her works and offers tours of her home in the village of Abiquiu, 50 miles north. Make time to visit the nearby White Place. This astonishing valley of natural spires of white rock was a favourite place of OKeeffes to hike and paint.

The Rosewood Inn of the Anasazi in Santa Fe / Durston Saylor

OKeeffe-themed tours of the area run from the nearby Ghost Ranch. The brightly coloured landscapes she painted  smoky red hills, yellow and peach layer-cakes of rock, distant blue mountains  might appear improbable in a gallery in grey London. But when the very views she painted veer up in front of you, it becomes obvious how she found in New Mexico a natural palette to fire her creativity.

Santa Fes artsy vibe has continued into the 21st century. SITE Santa Fe is a contemporary gallery with an international reputation, while Meow Wolf is an immersive multi-media installation space and arts venue. Created by a collective of young artists, it was funded by local resident, Game of Thrones author George RR Martin, and created a real buzz when it opened this year.

Then theres Canyon Road, which has more than 100 small galleries strung along its half-mile. A stroll down it is essential, but it also puts the towns artistic credentials in question: theres a lot of tasteless tat. A hippie enclave in a Southern state, Santa Fe can veer towards wind chimes and crystals, and the art often follows suit.

Local mystic types claim that Santa Fe is so spiritual it has a special vibration but even sceptics claim its a place of weird coincidences and connections. I am repeatedly asked by locals: have I had my Santa Fe moment? I hear countless stories, from curators to cafe-owners, about moving there on a mad whim or falling hard for the citys strange serendipity.

Still, if the dreamcatchers dont do it for you, I recommend making like OKeeffe  who continued to tramp across the countryside into her eighties  and taking a hike.

The Dale Ball trails lead out of Santa Fe into the foothills of the Sangre de Cristo mountains. Ascending a summit, I emerge into the sparkling air, the cobalt-blue sky, to a wide view over pine-dappled slopes and plains. No wonder, I think while catching my breath, OKeeffe and generations of artists have been inspired here. Blame the altitude and the crackle of the mountain air but I have my Santa Fe moment: I am definitely picking up those good vibrations.

Details: New Mexico

Georgia OKeeffe is at Tate Modern from Wednesday to October 30 (tate.org.uk).

The writer flew with British Airways (0344 493 0787; ba.com) from Heathrow to Santa Fe via Dallas.

The Rosewood Inn of the Anasazi (rosewoodhotels.com). Doubles $295.

Georgia OKeeffe Museum (okeeffemuseum.org). Ghost Ranch, Abiquiu (ghostranch.org). SITE Santa Fe (sitesantafe.org).

santafe.org; newmexico.org
T here is a soothing spot in the centre of Bath for anyone in need of a little me time. Turn onto a cobbled street off the main thoroughfare and drop your luggage at the Grade II-listed gates of The Gainsborough. From there, take a lift to the lower ground floor and to the thermal waters of the spa.

You may not re-emerge for quite some time. In fact, you might spend the entire weekend taking the waters in the serenity of this subterranean space. For this is the only hotel in Britain where the waters are sourced directly from a natural spa  the same springs that the ancients doused themselves in, just a stones throw away at the Roman Baths.

The first stop is an aroma bar where you are given a pouch infused with essential oils to inhale. Three pools are filled with the mineral-rich spring waters and set at varying temperatures. There are warm jets and a cool lymphatic hose. There is a lavender ice alcove for cooling off from the sauna, steam and infrared rooms, and a Swiss chalet-style hot-chocolate churn for warming up again.

The spa treatments range from traditional pampering to New Age. Most kooky of all is the Freedom water treatment, which promises to stretch you into a state of relaxation only experienced in the womb. Instead, I chose a 90-minute magnesium wrap combining hot stones with minerals and massage techniques.

Back at ground level there is laid-back luxury and oodles of heritage chic  look out for the characterful Rococo French Sedan chair in the reception area. The hotel opened last year but the building was previously used as a hospital and a technical college. The current building was constructed in 1860 and has a gloriously stately Georgian and Victorian facade that blends in with the heritage sites that surround it.

There are 99 rooms and suites across four storeys, some with thermal water taps and private courtyards, others with the panoramic views of the city. Even the standard rooms offer luxury, but it is not this that distinguishes them. It is the smaller, boutique detail: the champagne for those celebrating an anniversary, the lavender sprigs left on the bed alongside  best of all  a dose of daily sonnets (day one brings me Tennysons The Princess: A Medley; Day Two, Shakespeares Sonnet LXI).

The restaurant, Johann Lafer at the Gainsborough, offers food that is as fabulous as it is photogenic (I wasnt the only one taking pictures). The menus are overseen by Austrian Lafer but it is local chef Dan Moon who creates the food on a nightly basis  European with a pan-Asian influence, with inventive amuses bouches such as tomato jelly and smoked mackerel. Chef Moon clearly has an eye for detail  even the bread basket is a wonder to behold: tomato and thyme focaccia, shallot and parmesan brioche and lavash.

The Roman-style spa at the Gainsborough hotel

The sitting room next door has the old-fashioned grandeur of a gentlemans club, along with a quirky mixologist (they call him the cocktail whisperer) who holds masterclasses and creates bespoke drinks  my mocktail was a blend of lemon, honey, blackberries, muscovado sugar and a twist of chilli. Each drink is named (by you) and placed on a database, should you choose to return for another taste.

The neighbourhood

The hotel is a short walk from the Roman Baths as well as the home of 18th-century dandy Beau Nash (and that of his mistress, next door). Further afield are the Royal Crescent, a curve of 30 houses where the 18th-centurys rich and famous decamped for a season of R&R, and the Circus, inspired by Romes Colosseum and designed by architect John Wood. This is where Thomas Gainsborough, the painter and hotels namesake, lived, at Number 17.

Bath has plenty of tea shops and restaurants, the grandest of which is the Pump Room, next door to the Roman Baths. It has live classical music and all the old-style glamour you could wish for over a generous high tea (beware the queue in peak hours). Another restaurant that stands out is Claytons Kitchen, a characterful gastropub with flavoursome recipes (an amuse bouche of crab, apples, tangerines and capers; a stunning goats cheese salad) and a boho vibe.

There are few cities I would go to simply for the hotel but the Gainsborough would beckon me back to Bath, and I might find this time that I just dont leave the basement spa at all. Life seems but a quick succession of busy nothings, wrote Jane Austen, the Regency author and First Lady of Bath. Down there, in fluffy robes and slippers, we can busy ourselves doing nothing instead.

The Gainsborough Bath Spa, Beau Street, Bath BA1 1QY (01225 358 888; thegainsboroughbathspa.co.uk). Doubles from 285, room only. Breakfast costs from 25 per person and dinner from 49 per person.

For more information on the city, see visitbath.co.uk
T he devastated parents of murdered London schoolgirl Alice Gross today demanded politicians don't use their daughter's death to attack immigration.

The 14-year-old was killed by Latvian Arnis Zalkalns in August 2014, before being weighed down in the River Brent in west London with bricks and logs.

Her body was discovered on September 30. She had died from compression asphyxia at the hands of Zalkalns, who had served a prison sentence for murdering his wife in his native Latvia.

The 41-year-old was found hanged nearby in Boston Manor Park on October 4. Scotland Yard said he would have been charged with the schoolgirl's murder had he still been alive.

Arnis Zalkans was found hanged a week after the schoolgirl's body was found

Today an inquest jury found Alice was unlawfully killed in a sexually motivated attack, and in a statement her family pointed to inadequacies they said led to authorities failing to pick up on Zalkaln's criminal history.

The joint call from her father Jose Gross, mother Ros Hodgkiss and Alice's sister Nina Gross called for "careful, targeted" reforms to address the inadequacies of cross-border information of high risk offenders.

But in an impassioned plea, they added: "Like Alice, our family is in favour of freedom of movement, in favour of the EU, and all the good things it has brought to our lives.

Ros Hodgkiss with Alice's sister Nina speak outside the Royal Courts of Justice following the inquest verdict on Monday / PA

"We do not believe that any citizen deserves to be treated differently based on their race or nationality."

"We ask in the strongest terms that our position not be misunderstood or abused in order to support an anti-immigrant position with which we profoundly disagree, particularly in the current political climate."

In personal remarks, Mr Gross added: As Alice's father losing Alice has shattered me. The pain of knowing I will never see, hear or cuddle her again is unbearable.

"This inquest has helped me face what has happened and hopefully now I will be able to properly grieve for my beautiful, loving daughter.

Mum Ms Hodgkiss said: I still find it almost impossible to believe that our lovely daughter has been so brutally taken from us.

Alice Gross family 'shattered'

"I miss her every moment of every day. I have felt the need to find out as much as I can about how it is possible that she could have been killed in such a horrific way, and to try and change things so that it doesnt happen to anyone else.

After the jury returned with its conclusions on Monday afternoon, coroner Dr Fiona Wilcox read out a list of recommendations and said she was "highly likely" to make to the Home Office in relation to foreign national cases.

Friends and family have set up an online fund in memory of Alice Gross. Donate to it here.
A high-profile anti-Brexit MP has called in police after being subjected to vile racist abuse on Twitter.

Tottenham MP David Lammy said he had received a barrage of abuse after calling on Parliament to block Brexit.

Mr Lammy claimed his staff had been abused on their way to his office while he had been subjected to a torrent of hatred on social media and via email. One person even wished him the same fate as murdered MP Jo Cox, the Labour MP alleged.

It comes after he controversially called on MPs last week to stop this madness and overturn the EU referendum result.

Yesterday, he shared a message from Twitter user @PureWhitePower which read: Go back to Africa N*****!

Mr Lammy replied: Im not going anywhere. I was born in this country. But you and your disgusting racist views make me ashamed.

Another message said he needed to be shot in the head while a separate email to the MP read: I wish you the same fate as that b**** that got stab.

He also shared another email which said: You Narcissistic Arrogant B******. How dare you wanting to VOID a Legal and Binding vote by the people of Britain just because your ignorant ass doesnt agree with it!

I truly hope you contract extreme painful rectal cancer and slowly Die!

A defiant Mr Lammy told the Standard: Over the past ten days I have received a barrage of abusive, racist and threatening messages. The police have asked me to report all of these incidents and I will continue to do so.

My staff have also been abused whilst going about their work.

My message is clear. I'm not going anywhere. I will continue to stand up for my constituents and what I believe in.

I was born here and I am very proud to be British, but the outpouring of hatred, xenophobia and racism unleashed in the wake of the EU referendum is not the Britain that I know.

A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police confirmed they were investigating a report of "malicious communication".
P R guru Max Clifford said his first days in prison were like being "buried alive" as he insisted he was wrongly convicted and jailed for sex attacks on women, a court heard.

The 73-year-old celebrity publicist maintains he was a victim of "hype and hysteria" from Operation Yewtree when in 2014 he was found guilty of four indecent assaults and handed an eight-year prison sentence.

Clifford, who is on trial again, told Southwark crown court this morning he is mounting an appeal against the convictions, saying he is "disgusted" by the claims against him.

"I was found guilty four years ago. I know I'm innocent and hopefully one day I will be able to prove that", he said.

"I have never been that type of person and couldn't be that type of person. It disgusts me to hear these things, they disgust me but I have to put up with it."

Clifford said prison life was a "shock to the system, as you could imagine - it was like being buried alive.

"I had a wonderful life, a fulfilling life. I had lost my freedom, the papers were full of stuff you knew isn't true."

He said during his trial he was locked up in an excrement-covered cell at HMP Wandsworth for the first few days, and only allowed out for 30 minutes each day.

His barrister Sarah Forshaw QC told the jury Clifford had been at the centre of a "vitriolic" media circus since his arrest under Operation Yewtree, the Met probe into alleged historic sex offences.

"The popular press that Max Clifford used to work for have now turned on him with relish", she said.

"The man himself is never going to win a popularity contest with the public because of the work he did protecting and promoting celebrities, sometimes helping wannabes sell their kiss and tell stories to the popular press - that's what the public saw of Max Clifford."

Clifford said he never had one-night stands with clients who came to him wanting to become famous during his 40-year showbiz career.

But he said he had three long term affairs behind his wife's back, including one lasting almost a decade.

Clifford said he was "influential" in his heyday but the press have turned on him since the allegations first surfaced.

"As soon as you are down, they all jump on you. I had seen them do it with everybody else", he said.

"It's a savage business and as I say, bad news sells."

Clifford is accused of forcing a 17-year-old girl into a sex act in his New Bond Street office between October 1981 and May 1982.

She claims he locked the door, pulled out his penis, and told her "let's have a bit of fun" before forcing her to perform a sex act.

Giving evidence last week, she said Clifford forced her hand on to his penis, despite her crying out: "No, I don't want to do that", and he only stopped when there was a knock on the door.

"It felt like it was going on for ages", she said.

"I actually thought he was going to kill me. I had no experience, I didn't know what was going to happen next."

However, Clifford said he could not remember the woman, but that he was having an affair with a French fashion model at the time so he would not have been interested.

"You have got to find somebody attractive, and I was happily married in spite of me playing away", he told the court.

"I would have to be totally desperate to be in that situation.

The PR man claims the woman has come forward since his previous conviction, seeking compensation with a bogus story.

Clifford denies indecent assault, the trial continues.
A memorial to late Labour leader Michael Foot has been vandalised with extremist graffiti in a sickening attack blamed on the EU referendum campaign.

The stone tribute to the left-winger, who led the party from 1980 to 1983, was daubed with swastikas, the word c*** and references to the British National Party and English Defence League in Freedom Field Park, Plymouth.

Luke Pollard, who stood as Labour candidate in Plymouth at the 2015 general election, posted a picture of the damage on Facebook, writing: "Michael stood up against fascism and to see these symbols of hate on his memorial is sickening.

"I was proud to be one of the organisers of the appeal for a lasting memorial to Michael and I know from the tweets, messages and conversations how important it is to so many people in Plymouth.

"We live in toxic times which means it is even more important we stand up for what is right. Taking a stand against hate is in all of us. Nazi graffiti is unacceptable wherever it may be."

The memorial opposite the house where the former parliamentarian was born in 1913 was erected last July after the money was raised through public donations.

Tudor Evans, leader of the Labour group on Plymouth City Council, tweeted a picture of the vandalism and wrote: "Nazi b******s."

Michael Foot memorial daubed with Nazi graffiti in attack blamed on Brexit

Former Labour spin doctor Alastair Campbell tweeted: "This is disgusting beyond belief. Michael was a great man and a good friend. This strikes at everything he stood for."

He added: "And it is hard to escape the conclusion it is a direct consequence of the awful referendum campaign."

Mr Foot was an MP from 1945 to 1992, first for 10 years after the Second World War in the Plymouth Devonport constituency. He won the Blaenau Gwent seat in Wales in 1960 and held it for 32 years before standing down in 1992. He died in March 2010 aged 96.

The former journalist was employment secretary in the 1974-76 Labour government under Harold Wilson and went on to become leader of the Commons between 1976 and the 1979 general election.

In 1980 he became leader of his party, defeating Denis Healey, but led it to disastrous defeat at the 1983 election - with Labour's manifesto being dubbed the "longest suicide note in history".

Additional reporting by the Press Association
A banking compliance officer who forged a court document to keep his 60,000-a-year City job asked, Is this serious? as he was jailed for six months.

Adam Lancelot, 39, was caught claiming benefits while working for Barclays Wealth and Bank of America in 2012 and was sentenced to 300 hours of community service.

In 2014, he was appointed head of compliance at currency exchange firm Worldwide Currencies. He was suspended when it found out about his conviction during an audit. However, he produced a document, purporting to be from Maidstone crown court, which said he had been acquitted on appeal. He also used the document to bully media outlets into removing online stories about his past.

However, the document was found to be a crude forgery and Lancelot, of Seaford, East Sussex, pleaded guilty to fraud by false representation at City of London magistrates court.

At his sentencing on Friday, the Old Bailey heard that Lancelot had a 2002 caution for obtaining property by deception and a 12-month conditional discharge in 2006 for handling stolen goods. Archangelo Power, defending, said: His job in the banking world is finished.

Sentencing Lancelot, Judge Brendan Finucane QC said: It was both clever and manipulative, and undermines the court system, bringing it into disrepute.

Lancelot shouted: Is this serious? Can I appeal the decision?
P olice have arrested a 15-year-old boy after a teenager was stabbed to death in front of horrified London tourists on Notting Hill's Portobello Road.

Fola Orebiyi, 17, collapsed and bled to death on the street on Sunday night, just yards from busy pubs and restaurants.

Today police confirmed a boy another teenager had been arrested on suspicion of murder and was being questioned by detectives in west London.

Former Holland Park School pupil Fola, who was studying for his A-levels, was knifed in the neck close to Westbourne Grove, witnesses said.

Police and paramedics at the scene in Notting Hill

Paramedics tried to save him but he died at the scene. He is the fourth teenager to be stabbed to death in London this year.

Mark Gettleson, who lives nearby, said he heard the cries of shop staff as they tried to help the teenager when he collapsed opposite the World Famous Portobello Market sign.

I heard commotion then someone scream, Did anybody see anything? said Mr Gettleson. Police were talking to the poor boy who was in a bloody heap on the floor.

"There were two large pools of blood where he had staggered down the road before collapsing.

"People saw him fall down and try to get to his feet again. Police and medics tried to resuscitate him for a long time.

This will shake people around here to the core. Its absolutely tragic."

Detectives have appealed to information and urge witnesses to contact police on 101 or via Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
A teenager was stabbed to death in front of horrified London tourists and passers-by as he tried to flee from a gang of youths on bikes.

The 17-year-old, named locally as Fola Orebiyi, collapsed and bled to death in Portobello Road last night, just yards from busy pubs and restaurants.

Witnesses said the former pupil of Holland Park School, who was studying A-levels, was knifed in the neck close to Westbourne Grove and Portobello Arts Club at about 8.45pm.

Police and paramedics at the scene in Notting Hill

Paramedics tried to save him but he died at the scene. He was the fourth teenager to be stabbed to death in London this year.

A fight is said to have broken out on a nearby estate before Fola was chased into the road. Mark Gettleson, who lives nearby, said he heard the cries of shop staff as they tried to help the teenager when he collapsed opposite the World Famous Portobello Market sign.

I heard commotion then someone scream, Did anybody see anything? said Mr Gettleson. Police were talking to the poor boy who was in a bloody heap on the floor.

"There were two large pools of blood where he had staggered down the road before collapsing.

"People saw him fall down and try to get to his feet again. Police and medics tried to resuscitate him for a long time.

This will shake people around here to the core. Its absolutely tragic.

"We need to get the individuals who did this off our streets.

"We need to understand why our children are turning to such horrific violent acts.

Fola was said to be studying A-levels at Chelsea Academy. One of his cousins described him as a caring and lovely boy with a bright future and said his mother was distraught.

She was being comforted by family members at their home just minutes from the crime scene.

The cousin added: All we have been told is that he was stabbed in the neck. There has been an outpouring of love for him. He was a person people wanted to know and be around.

Afaf Badr, who son studied with the teenager who was fatally stabbed on Portobello Road said he was a hard worker who was nothing to do with gangs.

Visiting the crime scene today she said: "He was a good, very clever boy.

"He was not involved in gangs and it is a tragedy that someone who us genuinely a good person gets caught up in this.

"We are all devastated and my son and all of us are fm grieving."

Floral tributes were laid at the scene where he was attacked.

Neighbour Osman Sahal said half an hour before the murder, I saw him outside the house, everything looked normal.

"He was a nice boy, very considerate. As far as I knew he was never in trouble.

Friends paid tribute to the teenager, posting a picture of him with a garland of flowers added.

Scotland Yard said a murder inquiry had been launched and there were no arrests.

Call Crimestoppers on 0800 555111 with information.
T he ex-fiance of former S Club 7 star Hannah Spearritt today appeared in court today to deny assaulting her.

Fitness trainer Adam Thomas, 36, faced on charge of common assault and one charge of witness intimidation at Wimbledon Magistrates Court.

Appearing in the dock wearing a dark suit and grey tie, Thomas spoke to confirm his name and address.

He pleaded not guilty to both offences and will stand trial at Kingston Crown Court on July 29.

The court heard he had breached bail conditions following the initial assault and texted her before turning up at Miss Spearritt's home address to confront her.

Thomas and Miss Spearritt began dating in 2013 when she became a client and the pair moved in together and were engaged soon after.

However they split after Miss Spearritt, 35, rekindled a romance with her former S Club 7 band mate Paul Cattermole, 39, which ended this year.

Thomas, of Chiswick, was given conditional bail and cannot contact Miss Spearritt or enter Kings Road, Twickenham.
BEIJING, July 3 -- China's central authority has started the 10th round of inspection work, with inspection teams having been deployed to 16 agencies and provincial regions, the top anti-graft body said Sunday.

According to the website of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI), inspection teams went to the State Council Legislative Affairs Office, the National Audit Office, Tianjin Municipality, Hubei Province and others.

A total of 32 agencies and provincial regions will be inspected, the CCDI said. Inspection teams will be deployed to four provincial regions that have been inspected in previous inspection work.

Discipline inspection teams dispatched by CCDI to agencies and provincial regions will also be inspected this time around.

Inspection teams will work in agencies and provincial regions for two months.

Inspection is aimed at uncovering harmful behavior by officials, including trading power for money, abusing power, and bribery, as well as harmful work styles such as formalism, bureaucracy, hedonism and extravagance.

The CPC began routinely sending teams to oversee the performance of officials in 2003, and the practice was formally written into the Party's Constitution five years later.
A teenage boy was stabbed to death in one of Londons most popular tourist areas after being chased by a group of youths on bikes.

The 16-year-old was knifed at around 8.45pm last night in Portobello Road in Notting Hill and was pronounced dead at the scene.

Witnesses said he was stabbed in the street close to Westbourne Grove just yards from the Portobello Arts Club.

He collapsed two doors down from the unit which housed the Travel Book Company in Hugh Grant film Notting Hill.

A fight is said to have broken out on a nearby estate before he was chased into the busy road where he was attacked in front of horrified locals and tourists.

One witness said the youth had been knifed in the neck.

Drinkers from the Portobello Star pub rushed to try and help the teenager before police and then paramedics tried in vain to save him.

Police have launched a murder inquiry. He is the fourth teenager to be killed in London this year.

Witness Mark Gettleson heard the cries of staff at the pub as they tried to help the teenager as he staggered down the busy road.

He eventually collapsed outside upmarket cheese shop La Cave a Fromage opposite the World Famous Portobello Market sign.

Mr Gettleson said: People saw him fall down and try to get to his feet again.

Police and paramedics tried to resuscitate him for a long time, they did everything they could.

This will shake people around here to the core.

"Its absolutely tragic another young man has died on our streets.

A neighbour in Portobello Road said his home has been turned into a murder scene after the senseless stabbing.

He said: There were lots of kids gathering around the area on bikes before it happened. Police said the youngsters chased him on their bikes.

There was fight on a nearby estate where it all began apparently.

Theres definitely been a surge in gang trouble around here.

Its a sad, endemic problem in this part of London. Another teen has lost his life for no good reason."

London Ambulance Service and the London Air Ambulance attended.

A Met Police spokesman said: Police were called at approximately 8.45pm on Sunday, 3 July, to Portobello Road, by London Ambulance Service to reports of a male being stabbed.

Officers attended the scene and immediately implemented first aid and CPR to an injured male.

London Ambulance Service and London Air Ambulance arrived shortly after. The victim - a 16-year-old boy - was pronounced dead at the scene.

Next of kin are aware. A post-mortem examination will be arranged in due course.

Officers from the Homicide and Major Crime Command investigate.

No arrests have been made and enquiries continue."
T he landlady of an East End pub popular with stars including Kate Moss and Sir Ian McKellen has triumphed in her battle to stop developers building a block of flats next door.

Pauline Forster has spent the past 14 years turning the Grade II listed Georgian pub The George Tavern into a heralded music venue and mecca for artists and poets. But she feared that all her hard work would be lost if Swan Housing Association were allowed to build the flats on an adjacent plot.

Mrs Forster argued that the development, in Commercial Road, Stepney, would lead to noise complaints and pose a threat to her late-night licence.

She also claimed that the flats would block out light to her upstairs studios, which have hosted photoshoots with film stars such as Tilda Swinton and Adrien Brody.

Her campaign was backed by Justin Timberlake, Kate Moss and Georgia May Jagger, and last month she took the fight to the Court of Appeal to block planning permission.

Celebrity supporter: Supermodel Kate Moss has backed the campaign / Pauline Forster

Lord Justice Laws, sitting with Lord Justice McFarlane and Lord Justice Christopher Clarke, has now ruled that the planning inspector who approved the flats had failed to set at rest Ms Forsters anxieties about loss of sunlight.

He might have misplaced the significance of those concerns amid the welter of evidence he had to consider, said the judge. But he concluded: The inspector was bound to deal with them (the light concerns) and did not do so.

In 2002 Mrs Forster, an accomplished artist, sunk her savings into the 600-year-old pub, which was mentioned by both Charles Dickens and Geoffrey Chaucer. She renovated and promoted the pubs 360-degree vista for filming and photoshoots, and has a reputation for hosting up-and-coming bands.

She told the court Friday and Saturday night gigs are the bedrock of her business, making up 82 per cent of total revenue, and a threat to her late-night licence would be devastating.

She cant afford to have any restriction on the live music licence, or the whole thing will become unviable, her barrister Annabel Graham Paul told the appeal hearing. She said: Jobs will be lost and lives affected if the George is forced to close.

Her Save the George Tavern campaign attracted a host of celebrity supporters and tens of thousands of signatures, but she lost an earlier challenge to planning permission in the High Court.

But the Court of Appeal has now reversed that decision.

Richard Ground, for the housing association, told the court that fears about the Georges future are misplaced as existing homes nearby are exposed to the same level of noise from the pub and there is no history of complaints to the council.
H undreds of young people greeted commuters at stations around London today to urge for tolerance and unity after a surge in post-Brexit hate crimes.

London Citizens gathered more than 200 people to hand out flowers and stickers bearing the slogan Love London Not Hate during this mornings rush hour.

It was a response to an almost 60 per cent rise in hate crimes reported since the Brexit vote, according to the National Police Chiefs Council.

Protest against hate crime: London Citizens outside Kings Cross Station / PA

Around a dozen members gathered outside Kings Cross Station to speak to commuters and enouraged them to report hate crimes.

Tahmid Islam, 21, an economics and politics student at Queen Mary University, said: We want to spread the message that London is a place of love and solidarity. We will not stand for hate crime, abuse and racism.

This is about spreading the word that people should report these crimes and takes just five minutes.

Protesters including Labour MP Neil Coyle (centre) at London Bridge this morning / PA

Londoner Esmat Jeraj, 26, who works for London Citizens, was told to f**k off out of my country while walking to her office in Whitechapel last Wednesday.

She said: Its not the most major example but I do think its part of a worrying trend of racism and xenophobia which has been legitimised by the Leave campaign.

Im not saying anyone who voted leave is a racist, but the campaign had xenophobic elements which hijacked legitimate reasons to vote leave.

We are trying to take back control of the city and ensure we can stand together as one to report all hate crimes you experience or see yourself.

Commuter Tom Malcolm, 34, a salesman from Camden, said the show of unity perked up his day.

He said: I think events like this show London in its best possible light - with people not tolerating racism.

Since the Brexit vote, Ive been really shocked reading about what some people have gone through, getting abused and insulted.

I think more people should be aware of hate crime and what to do if you see one. There should be more information by the goverment and on social media.
S cotland Yard is examining the use of drones to pursue moped-riding thieves through the streets of London.

The Met has launched a review of pursuit tactics after an inquest jury found Henry Hicks, 18, died when his moped crashed during a high-speed chase.

The teenager, who was not suspected of theft, was trying to flee police in two unmarked cars when he died in Islington in 2014, the jury at St Pancras coroners court found last week.

One police driver denied it had been a pursuit.

Separately, two officers are under criminal investigation after Lewis Johnson, 18, died when his scooter crashed near Clapton Common in February, following a chase by police cars and a helicopter. Officers were pursuing the scooter following an earlier theft.

Deputy Commissioner Craig Mackey, speaking at a meeting of the London Assemblys Police and Crime Committee, said crime involving thieves on two wheels was rising but that police face difficulties in tackling moped gangs due to the dangers of pursuing them.

The pursuit of two-wheeled vehicles is not outlawed but Mr Mackey said there were factors for officers to consider. He said the Met was reviewing all its options and considering all available tactics, including the use of drones.

All you need to know to fly a drone

Police are battling to combat a rise in drive-by snatches focused in Camden and Islington. Figures have showed there were 3,000 phone thefts in the two boroughs in the past 12 months.

The Met said: The possibilities of unmanned aerial vehicles to tackle suspects using two-wheeled and four-wheeled vehicles to commit crime are currently being discussed at a national level by the National Police Chiefs Councils steering group and the Centre for Applied Science and Technology.

Aviation expert Julian Bray said police could use drones in place of a helicopter. He said: It would be much cheaper and the drone could sit over an area and direct ground units to the fleeing car or motorbike.

There are issues with Civil Aviation Authority rules but I am sure they will make it work because it could save money and it may save lives, because you would not have police cars tearing after suspects in high-speed chases.
D ozens of people were forced to flee their homes after a fire broke out at a large housing estate in south London.

Around 50 people left their homes at The Aylesbury Estate in Walworth after a car caught fire on a first floor car par park.

No-one was injured as a result of the fire which police believe was started deliberately.

Police and more than 20 firefighters were called just before 4pm and spent around an hour at the estate before the blaze was brought under control.

Six police officers were taken to hospital as a precaution against smoke inhalation but have since been discharged.

A London Fire Brigade spokesman said the car was destroyed by the flames. Police and fire crews are investigating the cause.

He added no homes were evacuated but that residents had left before firefighters arrived on the scene.

Southwark Police tweeted: Source of the fire was a vehicle on the first floor car park and not a residential premises.

The fire is now out. No restrictions on residents entering / leaving block but advice is to keep windows closed until all smoke dissipated.

The response by emergency services was praised by Labour's former deputy leader Harriet Harman, MP for Camberwell and Peckham.

The Aylesbury Estate became famous for hosting Tony Blairs first speech when elected Prime Minister in 1997.

Police have issued an appeal for witnesses.

Anyone with information should call police on 101 and quote CAD 6186 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111
T he devastated family of a police officer who died with his partner after falling through a roadside hoarding today said: We will never get closure.

Pc Gavin Brewer, 32, had been drinking with broadcasting engineer and musician Stuart Meads, 34, when they had a minor argument.

One of the men was pushed against construction hoardings that gave way and both fell almost four metres down an exposed light well at the junction of Hampstead Road and Netley Street near Euston.

Both suffered catastrophic head and neck injuries and died during the fall on October 19, 2013. Monavon Construction pleaded guilty to two counts of corporate manslaughter at a hearing at the Old Bailey last month and was this week fined 550,000 plus costs.

Today Mr Brewers mother Marian, 65, said the sentence would not bring her son back. A door has been closed for us as a family. We will never get closure. You never expect to bury your child. It was a waste of two beautiful people and two sons which has broken two families, she said.

Oliver Glasgow QC, prosecuting, told the court the protective hoarding on the perimeter of the site was not high or strong enough. There had been no cover on the light well for two months. He said up to 200 children and parents had walked along the road every day.

Judge Paul Worsley QC said the deaths were unforgivable and wholly preventable.
A man is fighting for his life in hospital after he was hit by a car in south-east London.

Police and paramedics were called to the junction of Rectory Place and Artillery Place in Woolwich at 4.30pm after a 37-year-old man was involved in a collision.

A London air ambulance airlifted the man to a hospital in north London where he remains with serious head injuries.

Police said the injuries are potentially life threatening.

No arrests have been made and enquiries continue.
A ndrea Leadsom said Britons would have our freedom back as she launched her campaign for the Tory leadership today.

In a speech to supporters the Brexit-backing Energy Minister pledged to deliver the great opportunities for Britain outside Europe as well as policies for greater freedom and fairness.

She won backing this morning from Cabinet minister Theresa Villiers, who came out in support of her in an Evening Standard article.

The Northern Ireland Secretary said she was impressed Mr Ms Leadsoms campaigning during the referendum: At every step of the way, her positive message of hope and confidence shone through, she said.

Former Tory leadership contender and Brexit-backer David Davis threw his weight behind Theresa May despite her backing for Remain in the referendum.

Mr Davis, who previously backed Boris Johnson, said the Home Secretary was a serious candidate for serious times and it was lazy logic to claim a Brexiter must take over at No 10.

Mr Davis told The Standard that Ms May was also well equipped to calm the nerves of both the City and the public. Confidence in business and society is important in its own right, and economic anxiety can have deleterious consequences all of its own, he said.

Tory leadership: Andrea Leadsom arrives to give speech

This puts a particular premium on steadiness. There is no steadier candidate in this race than our Home Secretary.

Speaking at the Cinnamon Club restaurant in Westminster, Ms Leadsom was expected to tell supporters: I know I can seize the great opportunities for the UK in leaving the EU.

Andrea Leadsom formally announced her bid for the Tory leadership today

Im confident I can do it in a way that reaches out to those who did not vote for us.

I know I can deliver more fairness for people who struggle to make ends meet.

I want to build a freer, more prosperous and fairer United Kingdom.

She pledged to try to reach out to people who opposed Brexit in the vote on June 23 but pledged: We are choosing freedom away from stifling EU institutions, because of the decision of June 23 we are no longer bound to the EU model.

We will take our freedom back.

However, Ms Leadsom was the victim of poisonous whispers that she had been the worst minister ever seen during her stint as City Minister at the Treasury.

An unnamed official told the Financial Times: She was the worst minister weve ever had. Another claimed: She found it difficult to understand issues or take decisions.

Thousands of people marched through central London on Saturday to protest at the referendum, many demanding that Parliament blocks the exit from the EU.

Boris Johnson broke his silence to criticise the Government for painting a negative picture of Brexit, saying it should explain how it would work.

Writing in the Telegraph, he said a kind of hysteria, a contagious mourning had taken hold among voters terrified by government warnings of doom.

We cannot wait until mid-September and a new PM. We need a clear statement, now of some basic truths, he said.

A row over whether EU nationals already living in the UK could be forced out was raging today.

Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said it would be absurd to guarantee they could continue living in Britain after it pulls out of the EU unless there was the same commitment for expats settled abroad.

Frontrunner Mrs May, who Mr Hammond backs, has said she wants to guarantee the position for EU citizens but that their rights would be part of Brexit negotiations.
B oris Johnson has backed Andrea Leadsom in the Conservative Party leadership contest.

The former London Mayor pledged his support to Ms Leadsom on Monday evening, describing the pro-Brexit energy minister as "level-headed", "kind" and "trustworthy".

In a statement, he said: "Andrea Leadsom offers the zap, the drive, and the determination essential for the next leader of this country.

"She has long championed the needs of the most vulnerable in our society. She has a better understanding of finance than almost anyone else in Parliament. She has considerable experience of government.

Boris on May

"She is level-headed, kind, trustworthy, approachable and the possessor of a good sense of humour.

Backing: Boris Johnson has thrown his support behind Andrea Leadsom to be the new Tory leader / Dan Kitwood/Getty Images

"She has specialised in the EU question and successfully campaigned for leave and will be therefore well-placed to help forge a great post-Brexit future for Britain and Europe.

"Above all she possesses the qualities needed to bring together leavers and remainers in the weeks and months ahead. I will be voting for Andrea Leadsom tomorrow."

The Uxbridge and South Ruislip MP was among the bookies favourites to replace David Cameron before he sensationally ruled himself of the running minutes before the leadership deadline last Thursday.

In a speech in which he was widely expected to announce himself as a candidate, Mr Johnson set out what would have been his manifesto before he said in a shocking twist: That is the agenda for the next Prime Minister of this country.

But I have to tell you my friends, you who have waited faithfully for the punchline of this speech, that having consulted colleagues and in lieu of the circumstances in Parliament I have concluded that person cannot be me.

Andrea Leadsom launches Tory leadership bid

The stunning turn of events took place after Michael Gove, Mr Johnson's main ally during the Leave campaign, put himself forward as a candidate in a move seen as an act of betrayal.

Mr Gove said backing Boris Johnson for Prime Minister would have been a genuine betrayal of this country, in a blistering attack.

The Justice Secretary said on BBC One's Andrew Marr show: "I came to the conclusion reluctantly after throwing my heart and soul for four or five days into trying to get Boris to become the next leader of the Conservative Party he could not do that job.

"Right until the 11th hour I was talking to parliamentary colleagues, friends seeking to persuade them that Boris could lead the country and could be prime minister but in the final 24 hours there were actions that were taken, decisions that were ducked that led me to believe..."

Mr Gove added: "I knew that by taking that decision all sorts of people would attack me personally but I love my country, I could not recommend that Boris was prime minister, I had tried to make that work and, therefore, it would have been a genuine betrayal of principle and of this country to have allowed Boris's candidacy to go ahead with my support."

Ms Leadsom launched her campaign for the Conservative leadership today in which she said Britons would have our freedom back as she pledged to deliver "great opportunities" afforded by the UK's departure from the EU.
A top investment banker has blamed Britains chronic lack of investment in education for the Brexit vote.

Tidjane Thiam, the boss of Credit Suisse, said the desperate levels of inequality he witnessed during his 15 years living in Britain led to the Leave campaigns shock referendum triumph.

Speaking at a French business conference, the former Prudential chief executive recalled a visit to a Tower Hamlets school, where he discovered half of the children there only ate once a day.

Thats something I had seen in Ivory Coast, Mr Thiam, a former government minister in the West African country, said. Something must be done at the national level so there arent so many people left behind.

The banker said Britain should raise taxes to even out the impact of globalisation. Something must be done at the national level so there arent so many people left behind so that the result of a national, democratic vote gives a result which is bad for the country in the medium term...

What happened after the UK voted to leave the EU?

[Brexit was] the price paid for a chronic lack of investment in education.
MOSCOW, July 3 -- A series of large-scale joint anti-terror exercises kicked off here Sunday with the participation of the Chinese People's Armed Police Force (CAPF) and Russia's newly-formed National Guard.

The special drills are being held from July 3 to July 14 in Russia's Moscow and Smolensk regions. China's Snow Leopard and Falcon commando units, as well as the Russian National Guard's Vityaz unit, are participating in the exercises.

Liu Zhijun, deputy director of the CAPF's Exercises Department, said this is the third time for the two countries' interior forces to hold such exercises, which center on tactical skills in combating terrorism to boost practical cooperation between the forces of both sides.

Participants from China and Russia will conduct a host of drills in a joint manner, with a view to exploring effective methods in joint anti-terror campaigns to boost their abilities in this regard, he added.

Sergei Chenchik, chief of staff of the Russian National Guard, spoke highly of the discipline of the CAPF, saying Russia is ready to launch a new stage of cooperation with China and to carry out common tasks based on the two countries' comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination.

Russia's National Guard was created in April following the order of Russian President Vladimir Putin, in a bid to better fight terrorism, organized crime and drug trafficking across the country.
J eremy Corbyn has condemned his ally Ken Livingstones controversial claim that Hitler supported Zionism before he went mad and ended up killing six million Jews.

The Labour leader distanced himself from the former London Mayor under questioning over anti-Semitism by MPs, also admitting he wished he hadnt described Hamas as his friends.

Appearing before a House of Commons Home Affairs Committee inquiry, Mr Corbyn was asked whether he agreed with Mr Livingstone that the anger over his comments had been whipped up by "embittered Blairites".

The Labour leader responded: "No I think we have to condemn the way he made the remarks and the remarks themselves and the equation of Hitler and Zionism at the same time."

Mr Corbyn said Mr Livingstone's remarks were "wholly unacceptable and totally wrong", highlighting that he was suspended from the party within hours.

Claims: Ken Livingstone / Anthony Devlin/PA Wire

The Labour leader also expressed regret at his choice of words at a press conference launching a Labour report into anti-Semitism which led to claims he was drawing a parallel between Israel and the Islamic State terror group.

Mr Corbyn told the event that Jews were "no more responsible for the actions of Israel" than Muslims were for the "various self-styled Islamic states or organisations".

The Labour leader said: "It would have been better, with hindsight - and many things are much better with hindsight, as every one of us around this table is well aware - if I had said Islamic countries rather than states."

At the press conference last week, Jewish Labour MP Ruth Smeeth walked out after an activist accused her of "working hand in glove" with The Daily Telegraph.

Mr Corbyn said he "was not aware she had left at that stage" and added that the comments from Marc Wadsworth which prompted her walkout were "inappropriate and wrong".

The Labour leader also expressed regret about previously calling Hezbollah and Hamas as his "friends".

"It was inclusive language I used which, with hindsight, I would rather not have used," he said. "I regret using those words. I have done so on many occasions."

Additional reporting by PA
N igel Farage's decision to step down as Ukip leader has sparked a social media frenzy.

Twitter users unleashed a torrent of gags and pointed barbs at the controversial Eurosceptics expense as they reacted to the news.

He was widely mocked for making the announcement a little over a year after previously vowing to resign, following his failure to win a parliamentary seat at last years general election.

Actor Stephen Mangan said: Farage is now hiding behind a pillar counting to a thousand before he comes out and says hed like to be leader again.

Comedian David Schneider tweeted: Farage becomes UKIP leader again.

Sorry, that's tomorrow's tweet.

NEWS! Nigel Farage announces his annual resignation, wrote the News Thump account.

Nigel Farage resigns as UKip leader

Novelist Irvine Welsh was apparently less good-humoured, writing: Unfortunately Farage is as untrustworthy and inconsistent on retirement as he is on everything else.

The 52-year-old MEP made the announcement in a speech in London this morning following the nations vote for Brexit.

I want my life back, he said, after years of campaigning for the UK to quit the European Union.

But many attacked him for walking away as the country faces huge uncertainty over the Brexit vote which he helped to bring about.

Some drew comparisons with fellow Leave campaigner Boris Johnsons surprise decision not to stand for the Tory leadership.

Labour MP Angela Rayner said: First Johnson and now Farage, what a mess, they lead campaign to exit EU then walk away leaving the country in a state of uncertainty.

Michael Pattinson tweeted: Nigel Farage is basically that kid in school who convinces you to do something stupid and then runs away when you get caught.

Comedian Dom Joly seized upon the apparent conflict between his anti-immigration stance and his wife being German.

He joked that Mr Farage said in his parting message: My final act as UKIP leader is to deport my wife and children. I intend to spend less time with my family.

Meanwhile, writer Will Smith, who worked on political satire The Thick of It, said: You've got to feel for Nigel Farage's friends and family who now get to spend more time with him.

He faced some of the fiercest criticism from Labour MP David Lammy, who has called for a second referendum and vowed to vote against Brexit if given the chance in the House of Commons.

Mr Lammy, MP for Tottenham, hit out at Mr Farages sorry legacy and suggested he had helped to foster a post-Brexit climate in which there has been a reported rise in hate crimes.

He added: Disgraceful rhetoric during the campaign. Crashes the car then walks away. Hate crime and racist abuse on the rise.
N igel Farage today dramatically quit as Ukip leader saying he wanted his life back following the historic Brexit vote.

In a surprise announcement that will spark another leadership contest in British politics he said he could not hope to achieve more than the Brexit vote.

Within seconds his move was greeted joyfully by one of his internal rivals Douglas Carswell MP, who tweeted a smiley face emoji.

In another day of fast-moving developments in the aftermath of the EU referendum:

 Former French Prime Minister Alain Juppe, a frontrunner to be Frances next president, said the border with Britain should be moved from Calais back to Dover.

 Stephen Crabb promised an early go-ahead for Heathrows long-delayed third runway if he wins, saying it is needed to boost Londons post-Brexit economy.

 Labours civil war stepped up as Jeremy Corbyn was served with an ultimatum to resign or face a leadership contest by senior Labour MP Angela Eagle.

Speaking to supporters and press in London Mr Farage said: It has been a huge chunk of my life doing this and its not easy having [been leader] to let it go.

Resignation: Nigel Farage announces he is stepping down / Rex

But it has come at a cost to me and perhaps to those around me.

During the referendum campaign I said I want my country back. What Im saying today is I want my life back.

Mr Farage said he had never been a career politician and that his only aim was to get Britain out of the European Union.

He went on: That is what we voted for in that referendum two weeks ago.

That is why I now feel that Ive done my bit, and that I couldnt possibly achieve more than we managed to get in that referendum.

So I feel its right that I should now stand aside.

Clacton MP Mr Carswell, who has repeatedly clashed with Mr Farage and is seen as a potential leader, took to Twitter almost immediately to post the emoji.

It was so quick that Mr Farage was still taking questions, allowing him to respond: Im pleased hes smiling, because thats not something Ive seen very often from him.

Mr Farage said he would stay on as an MEP for the next two years in order to ensure Brexit stayed on course.

He also said he may travel Europe helping other political parties lead their countries to quit the EU.

Asked about his potential involvement, he said: I might have something to give if they want it. If they dont thats fine.

Mr Farage resigned once before after the 2015 General Election, only to take up the leadership once again after claiming people in the party urged him to stay.

His U-turn last year led to internal divisions which saw a cull of top figures including rivals, Suzanne Evans and Patrick OFlynn, who may not re-emerge.

Deputy Leader Paul Nuttall and Immigration Spokesman Steven Woolfe, who also played prominent roles in the referendum campaign, are seen as a potential runners.

The partys executive was due to meet today to get the leadership process underway, with a new leader expected to be in place by the partys September conference.

Last week he clashed with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker as he celebrated the referendum result with a provocative victory speech in front of stunned MEPs.

Mr Farage was a founding member of Ukip in 1993, having previoiusly been a member of the Conservatives. He was elected to the European Parliament in 1999 and became Ukip leader in 2006.
B rexit backers were today celebrating July 4 by proclaiming Britain now has its own Independence Day.

Outgoing Ukip leader Nigel Farage announced after the Leave campaign win that it was the country's own version of the American holiday.

And today Leave voters celebrated on social media with a triumphant series of tweets about the country securing independence.

Former Ukip MEP Godfrey Bloom wrote: "Happy Independence Day to all my American chums, I now know how it feels!"

And Conservative MEP Daniel Hannan wrote: "It has never felt better to say this.

Why does America celebrate 4th July

"From one sovereign nation to another, happy #IndependenceDay, cousins."

The executive editor of ConservativeHome Mark Wallace tweeted sarcastically: "Happy #IndependenceDay to Yankee followers.

"It's a shame breaking free of an unaccountable power wrecked your economy and left you isolated."

And David Jack wrote: "From a newly independent Britain, wishing all my American followers and friends a very happy #IndependenceDay ."

Ukips's Mark Reckless tweeted: "Nigel Farage's greatest achievement will always be getting us our referendum to leave the EU. I salute his achievement. #IndependenceDay"

Many others joined in, referring to July 4 as "the original Brexit".

Even Americans have been getting in on the act, with diplomat John Bolton writing: "As we head into our #IndependenceDay Weekend, we should celebrate our ally reclaiming its sovereignty! #Brexit"

Another US tweeter wrote: "It's #IndependenceDay weekend. To my British friends I say "congrats on finally doing to the EU what we did to you". Be free, my friends."
A n early go-ahead for a third runway at Heathrow was pledged today by Tory leadership contender Stephen Crabb.

In an interview with the Evening Standard, he said permission for expansion of Britains premier airport would give Londons economy a vital post-Brexit boost.

The truth is that if we are going to turn the challenge of Brexit into a huge opportunity for our country, then we are going to have to become far more outward facing and globally oriented, said the Work and Pensions Secretary.

Im a strong supporter of a third runway. I know that is very controversial with many people in west London, but I just really feel that this really vital project is long overdue. London is in competition with cities all around the globe. I wont shy away from an early decision.

Mr Crabb, 43, is the youngest contender among candidates vying to succeed David Cameron and, like Theresa May, campaigned for Remain in the EU referendum.

Conservative leadership race - What are the candidates saying?

However, he rejected the demands of thousands of people who marched through central London at the weekend calling for a rethink of the Brexit vote.

Its lovely to see people engaging in social activism, but... the result is the result, he said. It would be a huge breach of trust with the electorate if politicians were seen to walk away from the outcome. Instead, he said everyone should unite to make it work: What we now need is a massive national effort to make this work and turn the massive challenges of Brexit into an opportunity.

He said a key lesson to be drawn from the referendum was of the existence of deep-seated divisions between richer and poorer communities, young and old.

Mr Crabb said he would be publishing his tax return in the next couple of days, but said there would be no surprises in it. Its just tax paid on the income of being a minister and a Member of Parliament, he said.

He said his background  he was born in Scotland, grew up on a council estate in Wales and attended a comprehensive school  gave him the experience and background to get to grips with some of these divisions in society.

He said his policies would include a strong social and economic programme for disadvantaged communities, to really tackle underlying poverty.

He said the excitement of seeing people buy their council homes in the Eighties drew him to the Conservatives under Margaret Thatcher, but said the Tory leader he felt closest to was another Conservative with working-class roots, John Major.

I think he embodied the ideals of aspiration and opportunity social mobility which I think needs to be at the heart of the Conservative message in the 21st century, said Crabb.

Weve got to show the Conservative Party is a party of the ladder, helping people to make progress in their lives.
A ndrea Leadsom has what it takes to go from unheralded outsider to winner in this contest. Playing a part in choosing a new prime minister is an onerous responsibility. Reflecting with care leaves me in no doubt that Andrea is the right person to lead our country.

Andrea is a woman of principle. Her message is fresh and optimistic and its backed up by a lifetime of business and political experience.

During my years in the Cabinet, Ive seen at first hand the burdens placed on a prime minister. The workload is relentless and the scrutiny is unrelenting. Andrea has the determination and the ability to overcome these challenges and take us forward to the bright future Im certain well have outside the European Union.

Andreas intellectual rigour, proven in multiple roles, equips her ideally to deliver the strong economy we all need. The compassion which has shaped her outstanding work providing life-changing services to babies and mums around the country illustrates the importance which she attaches to the vital goal of improving life chances.

I worked shoulder to shoulder with Andrea throughout the referendum. At every step of the way, her positive message of hope and confidence shone through. Its a message we should all rally behind  this is a great country and we can stand on our own two feet and we can thrive.

Its especially important to bridge the divisions which have emerged in our country following the referendum. Brexit will open up many new opportunities. Now is the time to work with people from across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland as we shape our new relationship with our European neighbours, based on free trade and friendly co-operation.

I know we can be confident that, in taking forward that great task, Andrea wholeheartedly supports the clear message delivered by the people of this country on June 23.

Eleven years ago, I took a risk and backed a candidate for the leadership of the Conservative Party who was a rank outsider, not tipped to win, someone who most of the country had never heard of, who had only been in Parliament for a few years. That candidate was David Cameron and he transformed the fortunes of the Conservative Party.

Once again, it is time for a fresh start and a fresh face. Andrea can provide the dynamism we need to make a success of the Brexit decision and also to carry on the crucial objective we have set ourselves of transforming this country for the better.
T he family of Andy Murray today said his baby daughter is his lucky charm and could help him take back the Wimbledon title.

As the former champion, 29, continued in his campaign to be crowned winner again, his grandparents said their great-granddaughter Sophia, who was born in February and has been present at some of his games, may be his secret weapon.

Murrays grandmother Ellen said: I think she is his lucky charm. And shes a beautiful one.

Mrs Murray, 82, and her husband Gordon, 83, live in Kilsyth, Stirlingshire. She said she is too nervous to watch her grandson. I just cant, she said. I turn on the TV, see that hes started and then I walk away. Im just too nervous. Then I find out the score at the end.

She added: I hope Sophia can help him win it.

The British number one was facing Australian bad boy Nick Kyrgios on Centre Court today in a bid to secure a place in the quarter-finals.

The pair are firm friends  Kyrgios, 21, has joked it was love at first sight  and Murray has been one of the players most vocal supporters when he has come under fire for his on-court behaviour.

Kyrgios, who earned a code violation during his second-round win over Dustin Brown at the weekend and was then involved in a tense exchange with reporters, said: When Andy walks in [to the locker room], we see each other, we just give each other a look.

Wimbledon day 8 round-up - Federer and Murray through to quarter-finals

"We joke a lot. Its just instant banter. We just have a lot of fun.

Last years Wimbledon champion, Novak Djokovic, crashed out of the tournament at the weekend, raising fans hopes that Murray could win again, following his victory in 2013.

Cardiff students Emily Griffin, 17, and Caitlin Exton, 16, arrived to queue at 1pm yesterday, so they could soak up the atmosphere on Murray Mount.

Emily said today: We are here to see the Murray match. Hes a clear favourite to win now Djokovic is out.

It will be so cool to be able to see him at Wimbledon on the route to victory. Rachael Logue, 25, was with a group of five friends. She said: Im Scottish, so I am a big Murray fan. Im from Dunblane and my auntie used to babysit the Murray boys. Hes a dead cert to win.

Emma Shaw, 17, student from Portsmouth, was also hopeful. I really think hes got it in him to go all the way now his main competition is out, she said. Im on Team Murray.

Sophia made her All England Club debut last week, with her mother Kim, ahead of Murrays first-round match. She was also at Queens Club when her father took the title for the fifth time on Fathers Day last month.

When Judy Murray was asked if her granddaughter could help him win Wimbledon this year, she laughed and said: We will have to see. She said of her son: Away from the court he is very, very chilled. Even more so now that hes had a little daughter.
A frontrunner to be the next French president today said the border with Britain should be moved from Calais back to Dover, sparking warnings of a surge in the number of migrants arriving in the UK.

Former prime minister Alain Juppe, who is seen as the likely centre-Right candidate, signalled that if he becomes president he would ditch the Le Touquet agreement under which Britain carries out border controls in France.

Following the Brexit vote, he said: The logic requires that border controls take place on British soil. We must move the border back to where it belongs.

Mr Juppes comments echo calls from Calais mayor Natacha Bouchart, who believes the British must take the consequences of their choice and deal with asylum requests in Kent.

Thousands of migrants a year are using the Jungle camp in Calais as a staging post to try to sneak into Britain on vehicles crossing the Channel by ferry or on Eurotunnel trains, rather than making asylum claims in France.

Former immigration minister Damian Green, MP for Ashford in Kent, said thousands of migrants had been stopped from reaching the UK due to checks in France, and tearing up the Le Touquet deal would be extremely bad news for our border control.

He added: It would be a worry that far more people would arrive in Dover than do now for the purpose of claiming asylum. This was a warning many of us made during the referendum campaign, that the French would do this. I hope it does not come to pass but I fear it might.

French president Francois Hollande has played down concerns that the 2003 border agreement could be scrapped.

But French economy minister Emmanuel Macron, who may challenge Mr Hollande to be the Socialist presidential contender, has said that if Britain votes to leave the EU then migrants would not be in Calais.

Bordeaux mayor Mr Juppe said in an interview with the Financial Times that the EU should not try to punish Britain after the shock Brexit vote.

The veteran politician, aged 70, appeared to be open to allowing Britain to strike a deal on restricting freedom of movement while also having good access to the single market.

But he urged the Government to press ahead with triggering Article 50 as soon as possible to start the process of withdrawal from the European Union.

He said: When you get divorced, you dont stay in the same house.

EU leaders are concerned the Brexit spirit will spread to their countries, including in France where National Front leader Marine Le Pen could do well in the presidential poll next year.

Austrias highest court last week annulled the result and ordered a re-run of the presidential election that was narrowly lost by the far-Right Freedom Party. Norbert Hofer was beaten by the former leader of the Greens, Alexander Van der Bellen, by just 30,863 votes.

The Freedom Party successfully challenged the result, arguing that postal votes had been illegally and improperly handled.
R oads should be redesigned to be more accessible for older drivers, according to a government report.

The report, produced by the Old Drivers Task Force, warned that an influx of older drivers due to people living longer will cause more accidents unless changes to roads are made.

According to the report, there are 4.7 million people in the UK over the age of 70 with a driving licence, and this is expected to rise to 8.5 million by 2020.

Task force chairman John Plowman said: The influx of older drivers has important economic and social value but it also presents road safety risks if we dont adapt.

Getting to grips with these risks, without limiting the independence and freedoms of the elderly is an important policy challenge.

Among the many recommendations, the report calls for the scrapping of T-junctions to make it easier for older drivers to pull out into traffic.

Other suggestions include wide white lines in the middle of the road, more traffic lights at crossroads, and larger lettering on road markings to make them more visible.

The task force, created by the Road Safety Foundation and insurance company Aegeas, also called for all drivers to be given eye tests from the age of 60.

But it also suggested that current laws forcing drivers over the age of 70 to renew their licence should be increased to 75.

Roads minister Andrew Jones said the government would carefully consider the recommendations made in the report.
A college student has been left seriously injured after stepping on a 'homemade' explosive in New York's Central Park.

Connor Golden, 18, triggered the explosion yesterday when he stepped on the shock-sensitive device that was inside a black plastic bag.

NYPD deputy chief John OConnell said there was no evidence linking the incident to terrorism.

He told New York Daily News: The explosion could have been an experiment with fireworks or homemade explosives.

We believe this could have been put here as some sort of experiment.

Two of Mr Goldens friends, Thomas Hinds and Matthew Stabile, went into shock after the blast.

Homemade: Police believe the device could have been an experiment / REUTERS/Andrew Kelly

Mr Hinds, 20, a student at Northwestern University said he had stepped off a large rock in the park with Mr Golden behind him when the explosion happened.

He told New York Daily News: I got down the hill and boom, my ears were ringing. I felt a wave. A gust hit me in the back.

I turned around and saw him on the ground with his foot bleeding. It just demolished his foot. His foot was mutilated.

Investigators believe that someone could have tried to set off the device days before after finding a disintegrated matchbox nearby.

Mr Golden, a music engineering student at the University of Miami, is said to be in a stable condition after undergoing surgery at Bellevue Hospital.
Exercises in S.China Sea not linked to arbitration: expert

China will hold military exercises this week in the South China Sea ahead of a UN arbitration ruling, with analysts saying the drills are meant for peacekeeping while showing that China is capable of defending its territorial sovereignty.

The Maritime Safety Administration of China on Sunday posted a notice on its official website, saying that military exercises in certain waters of the South China Sea will be held from Tuesday to July 11, and all civilian vessels will be prohibited from those areas.

The exercises will finish one day before the UN arbitration court announces its decision on the South China Sea case initiated by the Philippines against China.

"China gave coordinates for the drills that cover an area from the east of China's Hainan Island down to and including the Xisha Islands," Reuters reported Sunday.

The Hong Kong Economic Times reported Wednesday that warships from the three fleets of the Chinese navy were spotted at the Sanya military port, Hainan. The warships allegedly included the guided missile destroyer Shenyang under the North China Sea Fleet, the guided missile destroyer Ningbo and the missile frigate Chaozhou under the East China Sea Fleet.

An official from the defense ministry told the Global Times on Thursday that this is a routine exercise according to an annual plan.

"The timing of the exercises in the South China Sea is subtle, but it's not necessary to link it with the arbitration, because the exercise is a routine activity that was planned a long time ago," Liu Feng, an expert on Chinese maritime issues, told the Global Times on Sunday.

Wang Xiaopeng, a maritime border expert at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times the drill is a normal naval activity to methodically maintain regional stability, which is not connected with specific events or targeted at certain countries.

The situation in the South China Sea is sensitive. However, given the sluggish global economy, it is more essential to improve regional cooperation, instead of making trouble like the US and Japan, Liu said.

Currently, there are some unstable elements in the area, mainly because of persistent intervention from the US and the arbitration case initiated by the Philippines, which have overshadowed the security of the area, Wang said.

China will continue constructing on reefs in the area and improve naval power in order to maintain regional peace and show the outsiders that China has the capability to maintain its own sovereign security, Liu noted.

Sino-Russian cooperation

China's defense ministry spokesperson Wu Qian confirmed to the Global Times at a press briefing on Thursday that China and Russia were negotiating on the "Joint Sea-2016" drills.

China and Russia have held six joint naval exercises since 2005.

In August 2015, 23 vessels and two submarines participated in the Joint Sea-2015 (II) exercise, which took place in the Peter the Great Gulf, the waters off Clerk Cape, and the Sea of Japan, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

In previous exercises when China served as the host, the directing fleets were the North China Sea Fleet and the East China Sea Fleet respectively. Therefore, this time it is very likely that the South China Sea Fleet will take its turn as the main power, and the location might be near the South China Sea as well, media reported.

"The time and location of the joint drills will only be decided by technical concerns, instead of political issues," Wang noted, adding that it shows the maritime interactions on sea between the two countries is strengthening.

"Since the US has been trying to gang up in the South China Sea, the joint drills show that China also needs support and understanding from the international society in order to defend its just title and maintain regional stability," Liu said.

China and Russia vowed to strengthen global strategic stability in a joint statement signed by Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on June 25 during Putin's visit to Beijing, Xinhua reported.

A Chinese fleet with about 1,200 sailors and officers arrived at Pearl Harbor Wednesday to take part in the Rim of the Pacific 2016 (RIMPAC 2016) multinational naval exercise. It is the second time the Chinese Navy has taken part in RIMPAC, Xinhua reported.

"Even though China and the US have some misunderstandings and conflicts over sea issues, cooperation is larger and more important," Liu noted, adding that China's participation in RIMPAC is beneficial to maintain regional safety.
C arole King performed an emotional but uplifting concert in Hyde Park as she returned to play London for the first time in 27 years.

The US musician, who played iconic 1971 album Tapestry in full, appeared to be blown away by the fact that the 50,000-strong crowd seemed to know every word to every track as she sang on Sunday evening.

Switching between timeless ballads including So Far Away and Will You Love Me Tomorrow and rockier numbers, King shouted to the crowd:

So, this is what 74 looks like. Im old and embracing it.

At one point, King was joined on stage by daughter Louise Goffin, whom she dueted with on song Where You Lead.

The superstar pointed out that she would be singing the alternative version from The Gilmore Girls, as she realised the original lyrics werent particularly progressive soon after the album was released.

The concert, which was part of the Barclaycard British Summertime series, was the first time that King has played the album in full for decades.

She last played a concert in the UK back in 1989 when she performed at the Royal Albert Hall as part of her City Streets tour.

Festivals in London this summer 1 /28 Festivals in London this summer Wembley Stadium June 5 to Sept 10, Wembley Stadium, wembleystadium.com

Two epic shows from older legends bracket this summers stadium gig offerings, with Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band blasting off on June 5, and piano man Billy Joel wrapping up as autumn approaches. In between, there are two R&B superstars in the shape of Rihanna on June 24 and Beyonce on July 2-3. But even they cant outdo Coldplay, wholl play for four nights between June 15-19.

Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Anheuser-Busch British Summer Time July 1-10, Hyde Park, W1, bst-hydepark.com

These six all-day shows in central London are the best opportunity to see music giants here this summer. Two classic albums will be aired in full when Carole King makes a rare appearance plays Tapestry on July 3, then Stevie Wonder plays Songs in the Key of Life on July 10. Theres also a pop day with Take That on July 9, hip hop from Kendrick Lamar, who appears alongside Florence + the Machine on July 2, folk rock from Mumford & Sons on July 8 and something edgier with Massive Attack on July 1.

Tim Mosenfelder/Getty Images Wireless July 8-10, Finsbury Park, N4, wirelessfestival.co.uk



Former Hyde Park weekender Wireless is back in north London for its 11th event. Each of the three days offers a broad mix of sounds the kids love, with the stadium house of Calvin Harris and Eighties pop of The 1975 on July 8, bulldozing dance from Chase & Status and smooth hip hop from J Cole on July 9, then rowdy grime from the Boy Better Know crew and tropical house from Kygo on July 10. Field Day June 11-12, Victoria Park, E3, fielddayfestivals.com



Hackneys Field Day this year, which is marking the occasion with exclusive headline sets from two Mercury Prize winners: electro-soul man James Blake and PJ Harvey, who will play songs from her powerful new album The Hope Six Demolition Project. The rest of the bill is a hipsters dream, with bigger names such as Roots Manuva and Air joined by Gold Panda, Parquet Courts and Meilyr Jones. Frazer Harrison/Getty Images Somerset House Summer Series July 7-17, Somerset House, WC2, somersethouse.org.uk

When it isnt set up as a top ice-skating spot, the neoclassical courtyard by the Thames is an impressive place to watch hot bands. This year they include lively Aussie jazz-funk act Hiatus Kaiyote on July 7 and French electro-swing group Caravan Palace on July 14. Among the solo acts are the returning Laura Mvula on July 10, indie rocker Courtney Barnett on July 13 and the current holder of the Mercury Prize, Benjamin Clementine, on July 9.

Lorne Thomson/Redferns Citadel July 17, Victoria Park, E3, citadelfestival.com

The blasted heath that remains after the Lovebox Festival will become more civilised on the Sunday, when this sibling of Oxfordshires posh Wilderness Festival takes over. Therell be fancy street food, talks and pop-up theatre from the Old Vic. The music is sophisticated fare too, with Iceland dream-makers Sigur Ros, Canadian electronica man Caribou and soul star Lianne La Havas all playing.

Samir Hussein/Redferns On Blackheath Sept 10-11, Blackheath, SE3, onblackheath.com



A John Lewis sponsorship should ensure that this relative newcomer appeals to the middle classes with its chefs stage and posh food village. The music will suit indie fans mature enough to know their way around an avocado. Primal Scream and Belle and Sebastian top the bill, with Hot Chip and James playing high up too. Theres also a stage run by Heavenly Recordings for more esoteric fare. Hampton Court Palace Festival June 8-23, Hampton Court Palace, hamptoncourtpalacefestival.com

These fancy events, which seem to exist purely so Jools Holland (June 10) and Van Morrison (June 14) have a reason to get out of the house every summer, allow you to picnic in the grounds of Cardinal Wolseys Tudor pied-a-terre before watching soul belter Anastacia (June 9), Dutch jazz lady Caro Emerald (June 17) and three concerts from Sir Tom Jones (June 8, 15, 16).

Live at Chelsea June 17-19, Royal Hospital Chelsea, SW3, liveatchelsea.com

Now in its second year, this series not only offers the opportunity to buy the ultimate picnic hampers (with the Gordon Ramsay Group keeping your sarnies free of ants) but also a chance to eat Michelin-starred food inside the Royal Hospital Chelseas state apartments. After that kind of spread, heading into the grounds to watch Wet Wet Wet (June 18) or Simply Red (June 19) might be a bit of a letdown.

Mauricio Santana/Getty Images Greenwich Music Time July 5-10, Old Royal Naval College, SE10, greenwichmusictime.co.uk

With Canary Wharf glittering over the water behind the main stage and the grand Naval College just next door, this is a pleasant spot to watch mainstream acts including veteran voice Seal on July 6, blues guitarist Joe Bonamassa on July 7 and big-selling Swedes Roxette on July 8. Jamie Cullum wraps things up with some fast-fingered piano work on July 10. Kew the Music July 12-17, Kew Gardens, kew.org

A stage in front of the glass Temperate House in Kew Gardens cant afford to risk any heavy metal bands, so instead there are tasteful offerings from Simply Red (July 12), Will Young (July 13) and, of course, Jools Holland (July 15). Long-running ABBA tribute act Bjorn Again should liven things up a bit and shake a few leaves from the trees on July 14.

Jo Hale/Redferns We Are FSTVL May 28-29, Damyns Hall Aerodrome, Upminster, wearefstvl.com

The first major London festival offers more dance music than you can shake a glowstick at, across 14 stages in an airfield. Big names include regular party starter Fatboy Slim, Swedish giant Steve Angello and drum-and-bass dons DJ Fresh and Sigma. The rejuvenated Craig David will also be in attendance with his TS5 concept.

Paul Underhill South West Four Aug 27-28, Clapham Common, SW4, southwestfour.com

The bank holiday weekend will feel significantly livelier on Clapham Common, where an A-Z of DJs from Above & Beyond to Yotto (okay, A-Y) will keep the party going non-stop. Less serious clubbers will appreciate the presence of chart-friendly names such as Rudimental, Dizzee Rascal and The Chemical Brothers. Other live acts include Boys Noize, Nero and Netsky.

Ollie Millington/Redferns via Getty Images Lovebox Victoria Park, E3, loveboxfestival.com

Lovebox has been a more eclectic affair in the past, but these days its mix of hip hop and dance music seems to cater best to a severely up-for-it crowd who are as likely to be found dancing around the taco truck as the main stage. Madonna producer Diplo appears twice, in solo guise and with his band Major Lazer, theres rap from Run the Jewels, grime from Stormzy and a legend in the form of George Clinton. The biggest draw, however, ought to be the chance to see the reformed LCD Soundsystem.

Richard Johnson Meltdown June 10-19, Southbank Centre, SE1, southbankcentre.co.uk

Elbow frontman and beloved radio host Guy Garvey is in the prestigious curators hotseat for the latest Meltdown season on the Southbank. His band wont be playing but hell do a solo set on June 17. Other notable names plucked from his little black book include Laura Marling (June 18), Richard Hawley (June 16) and a rare reformation gig from short-lived Texan band Lift to Experience (June 10).

Lorne Thomson/Redferns Stone Free June 18-19, O2 Arena, SE10, theo2.co.uk

The classic rock crowd will take over the O2 for a weekend in June, with theatrical rocker Alice Cooper and prog man Rick Wakeman topping the bill. Relative youngsters The Darkness and Blackberry Smoke will also be engaging in heavy riffing, plus therell be film screenings, artists in conversation and a vinyl fair. AFP/Getty Images Visions Aug 6, London Fields, E8, visionsfestival.com

Now in its fourth year, Visions sprawls across multiple hip Hackney venues including Oval Space, the Moth Club, the Laundry and St Johns Church. Wanderers should stumble upon performers including Scottish rap trio Young Fathers, the severely heavy Lightning Bolt and powerful singer-songwriter Anna Calvi. Camden Rocks June 4, Camden High Street, NW1, camdenrocksfestival.com

More than 200 bands for 35 sounds fair enough, especially when they include indie favourites The Cribs, Carl Barat of The Libertines other band The Jackals, folk hero Billy Bragg and Glen Matlock of the Sex Pistols. Dozens of lesser names will rumble along Camden High Street in esteemed venues including the Electric Ballroom, the Barfly and Dingwalls. Danny Payne/REX/Shutterstock FOLD June 24-26, Fulham Palace, SW6, foldfestival.com

It stands for Freak Out Lets Dance, which is what people have been doing in the vicinity of Nile Rodgers band Chic for many years. Because hes in charge of this one, Chic will play every night, joined by different acts each time, including Labrinth and Alison Moyet (June 24), Beck (June 25) and John Newman (June 26).

Nile Rodgers Productions Caught by the River Thames Aug 6-7, Fulham Palace, SW6, caughtbytheriver.net

Caught by the River, a nature website made by music-lovers, branches out into the real world with a new festival appropriately situated right by the Thames. Following smaller events in Cardigan and Hebden Bridge, this one is more ambitious, promising to bridge the previously unspanned gap between mind-bending psychedelic rock n roll shows and Springwatch. Performers include Low, Super Furry Animals and Beth Orton. Jeff Barclay/Music Pics/REX House of Common Aug 29, Clapham Common, SW4 , madness.co.uk

A Madness gig by another name, this is the latest guise for the Nutty Boys enjoyable all-dayers. Theres a strong reggae feel to this one, with legendary DJ David Rodigan and Jamaican giants Lee Scratch Perry and Toots and the Maytals providing the build-up to Suggs and co.

Julian Finney/Getty Images

The British Summertime gig, which has been set up like a mini-festival, also sees the return of the PlayStation Music Stage and the Barclaycard Stage.

In between sets on the main stage, guests were able to check out acts including Joseph, Barns Courtney and Ryan OReilly in the Playstaion Music tent on Sunday.

Next weekend will see Mumford & Sons, Stevie Wonder and Take That headline Barclaycard British Summertime.

Check out Spotify available on PlayStation Music on your PlayStation4 or PlayStation3. For more details on PlayStation Music, visit www.playstation.com/Music.
W ith Wimbledon and the Euros taking over the box, TV dramas are thin on the ground at the moment.

ITV have a new gem though, and its a perfect antidote to everything else on the small screen  a comedy-drama about the lingerie business in the Eighties.

Here are five things you need to know about Brief Encounters.

1) Its about how Ann Summers became what we all know

We all know what Ann Summers sells, but one of its key business drivers came from the daughter of businessman David Gold, who purchased the company in its infancy.

Jacqueline Gold revolutionised the business with the advent of the Ann Summers Party Plan, taking lingerie and sex toys into all-female client parties and out of the realm of the high street.

She later went on to become CEO of Ann Summers in the late Eighties, and changed the industry forever.

2) Its based on Jacqueline Golds memoirs

While Brief Encounters isnt an exact adaptation of Jacqueline Golds story, it is based on her memoirs, titled Good Vibrations: The True Story of Ann Summers.

The series follows four women who join the Ann Summers Party Plan team in Sheffield in the early Eighties, depicting how their time in the business affects them and those around them, as a new era of sexual freedom dawned.

New drama: Brief Encounters follows four women who join the Ann Summers Party Plan business / ITV

3) The central four women are brilliant

At the heart of the drama are four women in the midst of the second sexual revolution since the Sixties.

Theres Sharon Rooney, best known as Rae from the fantastic My Mad Fat Diary, Peaky Blinders Sophie Rundle, Shaun of the Deads Penelope Wilton, and Angela Griffin, known for her roles in Waterloo Road and Lewis.

One of the highlights of the show is seeing the four interacting together, and how they flourish thanks to their new-found roles.

Penelope Winton in Brief Encounters / ITV

4) Its got rude bits

Hey, its an Ann Summers drama  of course theres going to be the odd sex toy or lingerie shot. Its not excessive. but something to keep in mind when youre choosing who to watch it with.

Best TV dramas 2016 1 /38 Best TV dramas 2016 The Missing The addictive and twisty second series of the BBC's crime anthology series BBC/New Pictures/Robert Viglasky Dark Angel Joanne Froggatt stared as Victorian mass murderer Mary Ann Cotton in this ITV drama ITV Close to the Enemy Stephen Poliakoff's post-war drama thriller BBC/Little Island Pictures Ordinary Lies The BBC anthology drama returns with more twisted tales BBC/Red Productions/Adrian Rogers The Night Of Riz Ahmed stars in HBO's critically acclaimed crime mini-series HBO Cold Feet The classic ITV comedy-drama returns - and it's just as good as it ever was ITV Victoria ITV have given Poldark some stiff competition with this period drama about a young Queen Victoria ITV Poldark The BBC's hit drama returns with more brooding, and less naked scything BBC/Robert Viglasky One of Us The BBC kept everyone guessing with this claustrophobic four-part whodunit Ripper Street The fan-favourite Victorian police drama returned for Series 4 BBC/Tiger Aspect 2016/Bernard Walsh The Secret Agent Toby Jones led the cast in the BBC's Joseph Conrad adaptation BBC/World Productions/Mark Mainz/Matt Burlem The Living and the Dead The BBC's gothic romance debuted in full on iPlayer BBC Preacher AMC's adaptation of Garth Ennis' cult comic book is available week-by-week on Amazon Prime Amazon / AMC Versailles A raunchy royal romp around the court of King Louis XIV, spicing up Wednesdays on BBC Two Canal +/ BBC Locked Up The Spanish prison drama came to the UK thanks to Channel 4's Walter Presents series Channel 4 / Global Series Peaky Blinders The Birmingham-set gangster thriller was more popular than ever in its third series BBC/Caryn Mandabach Productions Ltd/Tiger Aspect/Robert Viglasky The A Word The BBC gave us a nuanced and emotional take on autism BBC/Fifty Fathoms Marcella Anna Friel stars in ITV's British take on the Scandi-noir thriller ITV Grantchester James Norton is back as the crime-solving vicar ITV / Lovely Day Stag The comedy-thriller from the team behind The Wrong Mans is both hilarious and chilling BBC/Des Willie/Hal Shinnie/Matt Burlem Vinyl Martin Scorsese and Mick Jagger present a glossy drama about the Seventies music industry HBO American Crime Story: The People vs OJ Simpson Cuba Gooding Jr leads an all-star cast in a dramatic re-telling of the 'trial of century' BBC/Fox Happy Valley Sarah Lancashire returned as Sgt Catherine Cawood for a second series of the gritty crime thriller BBC/Red Productions/Ben Blackall The X Files Mulder and Scully return for a brand new set of mysteries War and Peace The BBC's epic adaptation of the Russian literary classic BBC/Mitch Jenkins Call the Midwife The BBC period drama moved into the Sixties for Series 5 BBC/Neal Street Productions/Sophie Mutevelian Dickensian Charles Dickens' most famous characters collide in this historical soap BBC Jericho ITV's British western set in the wilds of Yorkshire Silent Witness The hugely popular detective drama returns for a 19th series

5) Its all filmed in Sheffield

Keeping a sense of authenticity, the show was filmed in its native Sheffield.

Some segments were shot in Crookes, one of the citys suburbs, while the Grade II listed Pryor Marking Technology building was also used.

Sheffield is a very recognisable area that has a lot of architecture that still resonates with the early 1980s which is where Brief Encounters is set, ITV said.

The northern warmth and the beauty of the city with the hills beyond were also factors in ITVs decision to film in the area.

ITV, 9pm
The Indian public seems to be having a hard time accepting the outcome of the Seoul plenary meeting of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) late last month after India failed to gain entry into the NSG. Many Indian media put the blame on China alone, accusing China of anti-India and pro-Pakistan motives behind its opposition. Some activists even took to the streets in protest against China and Chinese products, and some observers said the incident would freeze the China-India relationship.

India's precautions against China cannot be clearer. The country seems to be still stuck in the shadow of the war with China in the 1960s and many still hold on to the obsolete geopolitical view that China does not want to see India rise. However, New Delhi may have misunderstood Beijing, which can make a big difference in its strategic decisions.

In fact, China no longer looks at India simply from a political perspective, but far more from an economic one. Zheng Xiyuan, China's consulate-general in Mumbai, said last year that China's development offers opportunities to India and vice versa. Only by seeking common development between China and India can the two build a new international order and form an Asian century. The obviously cooperative attitude has wide representation as an increasing number of people now care about economic progress more than anything else and believe that India's rapid economic development can actually help improve its relations with China. Many regions in China are looking for business opportunities in the fast-growing India. Chinese citizens may not realize the full potential of India, but in general they are attaching far more importance to the neighboring country than ever before.

India needs to perceive China objectively. Joining the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) is a must for any country seeking NSG membership, but India is not a party to the NPT. The only exception is if India can obtain consent from all 48 NSG members, but several countries apart from China hold reservations in this regard. India had better put more efforts into figuring out how to obtain international trust rather than misinterpreting and defaming China.

Political scientist Zheng Yongnian said that China's bilateral relationship with India is second only to the Sino-US relationship. Ties with China are of great significance to India as well. The best option is for China and India to work together to boost their economic and trade ties.
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(Global Times) 09:13, July 04, 2016

Ye Yingchun, a former CCTV anchorwoman, performs at a poetry recital in 2008. She was reportedly involved with China's disgraced ex-security chief Zhou Yongkang. (File Photo)

The Xinhua News Agency reported on June 24 that Ye Yingchun had resigned as a member of the 12th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC).

Ye, a former China Central Television (CCTV) anchorwoman, was under investigation for being allegedly romantically involved with China's disgraced ex-security chief Zhou Yongkang, The Beijing News reported. Zhou, the highest-ranking official to have been investigated for corruption since reform and opening-up began in 1978, was sentenced to life imprisonment last year for abusing power and accepting bribes.

Ye, born in Jingdezhen, East China's Jiangxi Province, first worked at a local TV station before she became the first female anchor of CCTV's newly launched military channel in July 1996. Then she became a CCTV news anchor in 1998 and hosted many high-profile live broadcasts.

In February 2013, Ye was part of the 12th National Committee of the CPPCC, a panel of China's top political advisors. She submitted several proposals including purifying the Internet through legislation and setting up parking standards.

Ye was absent from the country's annual two political sessions in March 2014, while Zhou was being probed by the authorities.

Ye is not the only anchorwoman that has been linked to corrupt officials. Several female anchors in State or grass-roots media have been involved in corruption cases in recent years.

Life outside TVJi Yingnan, a former host for the China Travel and Economic Channel, released photos and videos on Sina Weibo in June 2013, claiming that she was tricked into being the mistress of Fan Yue, former senior official with State Administration of Archives, for four years.

In a video released by Ji, Fan says to her that they have been together for two years, and he hopes that Ji will accept his offer of marriage.

But according to Ji, Fan was actually married the entire time they were together. Fan gave Ji 10,000 yuan ($1,503) every day during their relationship, and then dumped her after she found out about his marital status in 2012.

Then on June 19, 2013, the State Administration of Achieves posted an announcement on its website, saying that Fan had been removed from his post after they verified Ji's story.

In a more recent case, Jin Zeyin, former deputy secretary of the Zhangjiajie city government in Central China's Hunan Province, received a serious warning from the Party on May 30 after it was reported - by the woman's husband - that he was keeping a female TV anchor as a mistress.

"Jin committed adultery with my wife surnamed Lu who worked at Zhangjiajie TV station since 2012, and bought a luxury BMW for her and offered her 1 million yuan every year," Lu's husband wrote online.

In a video clip released by the angry husband, a middle-aged man carries a woman on his back out of an apartment.

After receiving the warning, Jin was transferred to a local government office.

In another case, Wang Dechun, a former female anchor in Shuangcheng, Heilongjiang Province exposed on Weibo in November 2012 that Sun Dejiang, a former manager of a local company and also a former deputy to the National People's Congress, forced her to have sex with him from 1996 onwards.

Wang also claimed that Sun abused his power and raped her when she was pregnant. Sun raped Wang for the first time when she was drunk, and then blackmailed her with a footage he filmed of the rape. Sun was sentenced to 11 years in prison for corruption in April 2014.

In some cases, female anchors who act as the mistresses of corrupt officials also end up behind bars.

Li Yong, former anchor of Guangdong TV, spent seven years of her life as the mistress of Chen Shaoji, former chairman of the Guangdong provincial committee of the CPPCC who was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve in 2010 for accepting bribes.

Li was sentenced to three years in jail for receiving bribes.
Chongqing Steel announces further suspension of trading of shares

Monday, 04 July 2016 12:36:15 (GMT+3) | Shanghai



Chongqing-based Chinese steel producer Chongqing Iron & Steel Co. (Chongqing Steel) has announced that it will continue to suspend trading of its shares as of July 4 for a period not exceeding one month, following the previous suspension of trading of shares which began as of June 2.



Chongqing Steel stated that its reorganization plan has not been finalized yet due to the difficulties involved. It has continued suspension of trading of its shares to ensure fairness of information disclosure and avoid abnormal fluctuations in its share price.

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Monday, 04 July 2016 10:22:59 (GMT+3) | Kolkata

MOIL Limited, formerly Manganese Ore India Limited, has cut manganese prices across grades by 15 percent for July-September 2016 deliveries, a company official said on Monday, July 4.





The official said that the 15 percent reduction would be applicable for ore grades with 30 percent and 25 percent manganese but the company would maintain prices of electrolytic manganese dioxide (EMD) unchanged during the July-September period.





According to the official, the price cut would be compared to the average selling price during April-June 2016 and the price revision is being effected in view of the higher supply position in the market.




Peter Mills sees an inconsistency. One arm of the U.S. Department of Transportation is recommending two-person crews be required for freight trains as another plans to spend billions to help develop driverless technology for long-haul trucks.

"Anything that tilts the competitive playing field concerns me," said Mills, chief executive officer of Indiana Rail Road. "We're very truck-competitive."

The Federal Railroad Administration has proposed the mandate for two operators in many freight-train locomotives, which would lock in an imperative unions have negotiated in contracts. According to rail carriers, it would also prevent them from taking full advantage of systems for remote oversight that they're installing, at a cost of about $10 billion and on the order of Congress.

There were two crew members in each of the cabs of BNSF Railway Co. trains that collided in Texas on June 28. Of the four employees, one was injured, two were killed and one is missing.

Lawmakers passed a law demanding the remote-oversight systems after a 2008 commuter-train accident in California killed 25 people. Once operational, they may allow all locomotives to operate safely with one person in the cab or eventually to be fully automated, said Lance Fritz, CEO of Union Pacific Corp., the largest publicly traded railroad. "We should allow technology to take us where it will."

Fritz called it "pretty ironic" that the government seems to be doing that when it comes to the trucking industry. The National Highway Safety Transportation Administration has embraced autonomous vehicles, including trucks hauling freight, and plans to spend $3.9 billion over a decade to foster the technology.

"If that's happening in one mode, why are they coming out with the regulation that locks us into two people in the cab?" said Ed Hamberger, president of the Association of American Railroads.

The government's support of autonomous technologies is designed to reduce risks across all modes of transportation, said Clark Pettig, a spokesman for the Department of Transportation, in an emailed response to questions. "Our bottom line is ensuring that the people and goods traveling on our nation's roads and rails get where they're going safely."

The last time the U.S. government angled the field in favor of trucks  with the interstate highway system beginning in the late 1950s  the rail industry almost went bust within a couple of decades. Congress rebalanced things with the 1980 Staggers Act, deregulating rail-freight rates and allowing carriers to close unprofitable lines.

The FRA plans to hold public hearings on the proposed regulations on July 15. Many local governments support them. The Georgia Municipal Association said in public comments that mandating two-person crews, with exemptions for smaller railroads, "will be an important step to enhance safety along rail lines that go through Georgia's cities."

The freight-rail industry contends there's no data linking the numbers of operators in the locomotives with safety. Train accidents have dropped 78 percent since 1980 as carriers have stepped up spending on track maintenance and technology, according to the rail association. During that time, locomotive crew sizes have been whittled down from as much as five.

Many European freight railroads use one-person crews, and Rio Tinto in Australia is experimenting with autonomous trains. Indiana Rail Road, which operates 250 miles of its own track, has run trains with one person since 1997. The single-crew trains have had only one incident with enough damage that required notification to regulators, compared with 26 for two-person crews. "If we thought that single-man crews were unsafe, we wouldn't use them," Mills said. "We've proven that they're not unsafe."

Because Mills' company is a small railroad, it would be able to operate with a single operator under the new rules  though at a reduced speed. That, Mills said, would negate the benefits of having a smaller crew.

John Risch, national legislative director for the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation union, has a 17-point list of why a freight train shouldn't be helmed by one person. Crews can be called up at odd hours and often work 12-hour shifts, making it important to have someone double-check work and help keep colleagues alert, Risch said, and some functions, such as backing up a train, can't be performed by just one person. "I've worked as an engineer for 30 years and there ain't no way I'm going out there by myself."

Union Pacific's Fritz said his railroad isn't ready yet to go to one-person crews, though that could change after the carrier begins to operate in 2018 with its $2.9 billion remote safety system. "It's not something that railroads can do by fiat," he said. "We still will have to negotiate with our labor unions who are represented in the cab."

In 2014, BNSF, owned by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc., tried to change the locomotive status quo, sealing a deal with labor leaders on one-person crews. Union members overwhelmingly voted it down.
Primary school students and officials in Qinhuangdao, Hebei province, display a painting during an activity in May to promote clean politics and the fight against corruption. Cao Jianxiong / For China Daily

The CPC plans to strengthen efforts to combat graft, in line with Party policy since its foundation.

Editor's note:This is the fifth in a series of articles China Daily will publish in the next few days looking at the structure, history and influence of the Communist Party of China as it celebrates the 95th anniversary of its foundation.

Disciplinary officials and anti-corruption experts have pledged that the fight against corruption will never end and will be intensified to ensure that the Communist Party of China will be free of graft.

In 2012, President Xi Jinping made the anti-corruption drive a top priority, saying the leadership would fight graft relentlessly and impose strict supervision of Party members. In 2013, Xi said every Party member is subject to Party discipline and supervision, irrespective of whether they are a "tiger" (a high-ranking official) or a "fly" (those at the lower levels).

In June last year, former national security chief Zhou Yongkang became the biggest "tiger" to be caught in the anti-corruption net when he was convicted of graft, abuse of power and disclosing State secrets. He was later sentenced to life imprisonment.

In January, Wang Qishan, head of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, the nation's top anti-corruption watchdog, said the fight would be intensified to the point that officials will be so aware of the consequences of corrupt activities that they will refuse to engage in them. In April, Han Jinping, deputy director of the CCDI's Case Supervision and Management Department, said the anti-corruption efforts would continue and the pace would not drop.

Last year, disciplinary departments nationwide investigated 330,000 allegations, finding evidence of corruption in 317,000 of the cases. About 336,000 officials have been subject to internal Party punishments, and 14,000 case files have also been sent to the courts, she said. Since 2012, cases have been filed in 31 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities, while a number of sectors, including the environment, sports, State-owned enterprises, financial institutes and the legal authorities have also seen a rise in the number of cases of corruption.

"Some people said the fight would be put on hold after a few 'tigers' fell from grace, but that's absolutely incorrect," Han said. "The fight is ongoing, and a number of provincial-level officials have been investigated since the start of the year." She added that corruption at the grassroots will be one of the main points of focus because "the closer the graft comes to the public, the more damage it will cause".

An ongoing battle

Although many people believe the Party's anti-corruption drive started at the 18th National Congress in 2012, when the central leadership announced strong measures to fight graft, it really started when the Party was founded in 1921. During the Party's 90th anniversary in 2011, He Zengke, an anti-corruption expert and senior researcher at the Central Compilation and Translation Bureau, said the CPC has always been vigilant. The strict governance of members and strict penalties for those who breach discipline or break the law have been central to Party management since its foundation, he said.

In a 2011 interview, Li Chengyan, director of Peking University's Research Center for the Construction of Clean Government, said anti-graft efforts would be strengthened in line with the Party's history. "I believe that a complete, scientific and efficient anti-corruption system, including a range of punishments, education and supervision, is the key for the fight," Li said.

An exhibition at the Central Party School shows that the first anti-corruption edict was issued in 1926.

Under an anti-corruption document signed by Mao Zedong in 1933, officials found guilty of making 500 yuan (equal to $75 now, but a huge sum in the 1930s) or more through graft would face the death penalty.

Xie Busheng was the first to be sentenced to death after he was found guilty of illegally selling publicly owned goods and murdering an army doctor. Mao highlighted an anti-corruption drive at the time, saying that no one should attempt to interfere with the party's fight against graft. "If we fail to clean up corruption, we will lose authority and public support," he said.

In 1952, two officials in Tianjin, Liu Qingshan and Zhang Zishan, were sentenced to death for corrupt activities. Although some Party members pushed for the men to be reprieved and allowed to make amends, Mao insisted that the sentence be carried out because "other officials will take notice and learn from their example".
Five years ago, opponents of newly proposed clean-air rules sounded dire warnings of blackouts and surging electricity prices if coal-burning plants were shuttered.

Welcome to 2016. Instead of rising, the price of electricity in the nation's largest grid is now 40 percent lower than it was back then, even as a record 346 coal-burning units, producing enough electricity to supply 40 million homes, were retired. The difference: America's shale boom unleashed cheap and abundant natural gas that burns more cleanly than coal.

"You've seen the coal come out of the market and then you've seen a response from industry to capitalize on that hole in the supply mix," said Ethan Paterno, a Denver-based energy industry specialist with PA Consulting Group. "The low gas prices are a big, big deal."

The nation's emergence as the world's largest producer of natural gas has not only sped up the closure of coal-burning plants. It's also put the United States on a surer path to meeting an international accord to slash global warming pollutants and to comply with a host of federal environmental mandates estimated to yield billions of dollars in health benefits.

The mid-Atlantic grid, which stretches from Maryland to Chicago, has been ground-zero for coal-plant shutdowns as the generators compete with gas burners that have access to the cheapest supplies in the country. In that network, the largest in the U.S., about 20,000 megawatts of gas-fired plants are projected to connect by mid-2019, said Paterno, or enough generation to power for about 20 million homes.

The coal closures were driven mostly by the Environmental Protection Agency's pollution rule, which the agency said would cost $9.6 billion annually to implement. The burning of cleaner fuel also produces health benefits, including fewer heart attacks, sick days and up to 11,000 fewer premature deaths annually, worth $37 billion to $90 billion each year, according to the EPA.

More gas-fired generation also helped the U.S. cut emissions of carbon dioxide last year to 21 percent below 2005 levels. The country has set a target to cut greenhouse gases by at least 26 percent below 2005 levels by 2025. Natural gas emits about half as much carbon dioxide as coal when generating power.

The pollution regulation, which requires plants to meet tighter emission limits on mercury and other toxins that can be met with the installation of costly scrubbers, first came into force in April 2015. The rule and cheap power prices resulted in the retirement of 13,000 megawatts of coal-fired generation just last year. That's just a slice of more than 36,000 megawatts of coal capacity that has been shuttered since 2011.

Power producers including Duke Energy Corp. and Luminant Generation Company warned in August 2011 that the coal closures would leave the nation's grid at risk of price spikes and outages, while a U.S. government study projected a boost in prices in parts of the coal-heavy Midwest.

Sen. James Inhofe, a Republican from Oklahoma, said in August 2011 that the EPA was reckless in proposing a rule that threatened to put a "significant strain" on the electric grid from the forced closure of hundreds of coal plants, and which would raise electricity rates across the country.

Wholesale power in PJM's benchmark West hub, which includes deliveries to Washington, averaged $30.08 a megawatt-hour in the first quarter, down 41 percent from $51.17 in 2011.

The transition was smoothed by other factors as well. Milder weather and technologies boosting efficiency, such as energy-conserving light bulbs and refrigerators, have slowed demand.

With consumption stagnant, cheap fuel is an incentive to build replacement plants. Natural gas prices in Pennsylvania, the home of the most prolific shale reserve, plummeted to as low as 59 cents per million British thermal units last year, down from more than $14 in 2008. Gas production has more than doubled since 2012.

The shale boom and coal plant retirements have made the U.S. one of the top three locations for building power plants, along with the Middle East and South Asia, according to General Electric Co.

"Go back five years ago, and I think of the world's gas turbine heavy duty market, very little was in the U.S.," GE Power Chief Executive Officer Steve Bolze said in an interview at Bloomberg's New York headquarters this month. "In the last couple years, it's been close to 15 percent of the global market."

Private equity firm Panda Power Funds is among the companies building gas plants by the Marcellus shale basin to take advantage of the low-cost supplies. The Dallas-based developer anticipates two of its power generators plants in northeastern Pennsylvania, with enough power to serve up to 2 million homes, will start this year.

"What we are experiencing right now is the biggest sea change in the power industry in my lifetime" said Bill Pentak, a spokesman for Panda in Dallas. "Shale gas is helping to drive the change."
This holiday week is one of the slowest of the summer for new entries on television. (Believe me: Finding seven shows worth your attention this week took some scrambling.) But if you begin with fireworks on the Fourth, you might not even mind a slow spell before landing on an impressive new crime drama Sunday on HBO.

"Macys 4th of July Fireworks Spectacular," 7 p.m. Monday on NBC

Kenny Chesney, 5 Seconds of Summer, Meghan Trainor, the Radio City Rockettes, Pitbull and DNCE are set to perform, with a 25-minute fireworks display as a highlight. Willie Geist and Tamron Hall are hosts.

"Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular," 8 p.m. Monday on CBS

Nancy O'Dell is host of the annual July 4 show from the Charles River Esplanade. Demi Lovato, Nick Jonas and Little Big Town perform, with the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra under the direction of Keith Lockhart.

"Chopped Grill Masters: Napa," 9 p.m. Tuesday on Food

Watch other people barbecue (sorry: grill) as Season 3 of the competition series moves to Northern California.

"American Tarzan," 9 p.m. Wednesday on Discovery

Seven contestants (two of them women) challenge themselves not only to survive in the wild "but also to master it" in a new series that looks back nostalgically at the time "when man was truly wild."

"Blue: A Secret Life," 9 p.m. Friday on the Lifetime Movie Network

Julia Stiles stars as a working mother and working girl in a steamy drama that originally aired (as "Blue") in multiple parts on the streaming WIGS channel. Uriah Shelton plays Stiles' 13-year-old son, who doesn't know his mom pays the bills as an escort in the evenings. The original short segments have been combined into a movie for cable.

"D.B. Cooper: Case Closed?" 8 p.m. Sunday on the History Channel

A two-part documentary (concluding Monday) looks into the case of the mystery man who hijacked a plane in 1971, demanded a bag of cash and parachuted into -- well, nobody knows what happened after that.

"The Night Of," 8 p.m. Sunday on HBO

A young Pakistani-American (Riz Ahmed) en route to a party winds up in deep trouble in a eight-part crime drama from Steven Zaillian and Richard Price. John Turturro is his attorney, a role originally intended to be played by the late James Gandolfini. Look for my review in Friday's Go! Magazine.
Updated at 11:00 a.m. on July 4 with cancellation of alert.

Police have found a south St. Louis County man who was reported missing on Sunday. Authorities said he was found in good health and brought back to his residence.

Earlier story:

ST. LOUIS COUNTY  Police on Sunday issued an "endangered Silver advisory for a missing south St. Louis County man last seen heading for church,

David Early, 85, of the 2800 block of Cathedral Drive, left Sunday morning at 9 a.m. for church in a dark red 2008 Chrysler 300, with Missouri license plate SB4B6G, police said.

Early was wearing a brown suit, with a tie and glasses. He is 5 feet 9 inches tall, weighs 240 pounds and has gray hair and hazel eyes, they said.

Early has dementia and hearing loss, police said.

Police asked anyone who has seen Early or his car, or has other information related to Early, to call 911, their nearest law enforcement agency or the St. Louis County Police Department at 314-615-0162.
After scores for the gaokao, Chinas university entrance exam, were released, many study abroad agencies began recruiting students who are interested in attending college abroad. Although many parents and students are tempted by the study abroad experience, some are worried by the frequent, disturbing news of Chinese students struggling to get used to life abroad.

On June 6, Chinese student Robert Liu hanged himself in a dormitory of New York University; on June 11, a Chinese junior at the University of Pennsylvania killed herself by jumping in front of a train. Sadly, these tragedies are only the tip of the iceberg. With more and more Chinese students studying abroad at increasingly earlier ages, the students psychological conditions must be given more attention.

According to Cui Hong, a psychological consultant specializing in the mental condition of Chinese students overseas, there are three gaps that parents and children need to bridge if they hope to have a successful study abroad experience: generational, cultural and time-space. These students often find it difficult to fit in while studying in foreign countries; at the same time, when they come back to China for vacations, they also find it hard to get along with their old classmates.

Cui suggests that parents pay more attention to their childrens development from an early age. Parents can also learn to use social media to communicate with their children abroad. Instead of focusing solely on academic performance, Cui advises parents to learn more about their childrens daily lives. It is helpful if parents learn about the culture in which their children are living, and even seek out recent news from the country in which their children are studying.

Cui believes that children from harmonious, stable families are the best candidates to study abroad since they are most likely to feel a strong sense of security. In addition, children with independent characters who like to socialize and participate in many activities also tend to thrive in their lives abroad.
Can we be assured that the plant will not pollute our land or water supply so that we are not discovering something decades later like so many areas in Missouri?
LONDON MARKET OPEN: Shell's $4 billion share buyback gives FTSE list

Thursday, October 27, 2022 - 09:12

Shell shares rose at the London open on Thursday, after announcing a share buyback, boosting the FTSE 100 index into positive territory, despite a decline for mining shares and investor trepidation ahead of a European Central Bank policy announcement.

The Frankfurt-based central bank reveals its interest rate decision at 1315 BST, which will be followed by a press conference from the bank's president, Christine Lagarde. After the ECB, the Federal Reserve will make a rate decision next week Wednesday and the Bank of England a day after its US counterpart.

Setting the tone, and having given European stocks a boost on Wednesday afternoon, the Bank of Canada raised rates by a smaller-than-expected 50 basis points. The smaller hike gave hope that central banks are ready to ease off on monetary policy tightening.

The FTSE 100 index was up 15.47 points, or 0.2%, at 7,071.54. However, the mid-cap FTSE 250 was down 45.72 points, or 0.3%, at 7,071.54, and the AIM All-Share was down 2.47 points at 807.20.

The Cboe UK 100 was up 0.3% at 706.52, the Cboe UK 250 flat at 15,498.56, and the Cboe Small Companies was up 0.1% at 12,399.36

In European equities on Thursday, the CAC 40 in Paris was down 0.5%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt was 0.4% lower.

As the ECB takes centre stage, the bank's policy-makers continue to deal with sky-high inflation and surging energy costs, which will likely see the central bank carry out its third successive interest-rate hike - this one likely to be 75 basis points or more.

Analysts are all but convinced the bank will up rates by another 75 basis points, but some say there is room for a full percentage point raise - 100 basis points.

The euro traded at $1.0061 early Thursday, steady on $1.0064 late Wednesday.

The pound was, just barely, holding above $1.16 on Thursday morning. Sterling was quoted at $1.1601, down from $1.1612 at the London equities close on Wednesday.

In London, oil producer Shell added 3.4%.

Shell announced net profit totalling $6.7 billion in the third quarter, after oil prices surged, improving from a loss after tax of $447 million in the same period last year.

Chief Executive Ben van Beurden said: "We are delivering robust results at a time of ongoing volatility in global energy markets. We continue to strengthen Shell's portfolio through disciplined investment and transform the company for a low-carbon future. At the same time we are working closely with governments and customers to address their short and long-term energy needs."

Flush with cash, Shell said it will buy back $4 billion of its shares.

The latest profit was however far less compared with its second-quarter net income totalling $18 billion. Shell alerted the market on the comparison earlier this month, blaming the drop on a slump in refining margins.

Although oil and gas prices have surged from a year ago following the invasion of Ukraine by major energy producer Russia, hydrocarbon values are cooling as the northern hemisphere experiences mild temperatures and countries shore up supplies.

Shell last month announced that van Beurden will step down as CEO at the end of the year, as the energy major looks to reinvent itself under renewables boss Wael Sawan.

Peer BP advanced 2.3%.

Brent oil was trading at $93.39 a barrel, soft from $93.93 late Wednesday.

Lloyds Banking gave back 1.9%.

The lender said its third quarter was "robust", thanking its income growth, balance sheet "momentum" and "resilient" customer focus.

In three months to September 30, pretax profit slumped 26% to 1.51 billion from 2.03 billion.

The bank set aside 668 million in the quarter as underlying credit impairments to handle the fallout from increased bad loans, reversing from the 119 million gain recorded the year prior.

Net income was up 13% to 4.59 billion from 4.08 billion, as underlying net interest income rose 19% to 3.39 billion from 2.85 billion, but other income was down 4% to 1.28 billion from 1.34 billion.

Aiding its income growth, Lloyds's banking net interest margin improved to 2.98% from 2.55%. Looking at 2022 as a whole, the bank said its NIM will top 2.90%.

Shore Capital said the Lloyds pretax profit of 1.51 billion missed market consensus of 1.84 billion.

"Guidance sees full year NIM upgraded which is broadly offset by a downgrade to the impairment ratio, although capital generation is now expected to be better than previously expected," said analyst Gary Greenwood.

"While the strengthening of provisions is prudent given the deterioration in the economic outlook, and observed asset quality remains strong, we think the market may be spooked by the miss to expectations and downgraded guidance in this respect."

Anglo American shed 2.3%. The miner's copper and platinum metals production fell by 6% in the third quarter, with iron production down 5% as Anglo lamented a "challenging operating environment".

Copper production was down to 147,000 tonnes, while platinum slipped to 1.05 million ounces. iron was down to 16.1 million tonnes.

By contrast, output of steelmaking coal increased by 28% to 5.5 million tonnes.

"As we move through the final quarter, we are focused on maintaining this operational momentum to deliver our full year guidance," Anglo said. "The continued safe ramp-up of our steelmaking coal operations, as well as further performance improvements at our iron ore businesses, are priorities to set the platform for delivery into next year."

Mining peers Rio Tinto 1.7% and Antofagasta 1.1% lost.

It was a mixed close for stocks in the US on Wednesday, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq taking a hit from disappointing tech earnings. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up slightly, and the S&P 500 index closed down 0.7%, but the Nasdaq Composite lost 2.0%.

Facebook-owner Meta Platforms lost 20% in after-hours trade in New York after the release of its earnings. The stock already had lost 5.6% in the regular session on Wednesday, amid share tumbles for peers Alphabet and Microsoft, closing down 9.1% and 7.7%, respectively. The pair also had disappointed with the quarterly results, released late Tuesday.

Meta, reported, for the three months that ended September 30, its revenue fell 4% to $27.71 billion from $29.01 billion a year before. Income from operations dropped 46% to $5.66 billion versus $10.42 billion. Net income was $4.40 billion, down 52% versus $9.19 billion.

Investors will now be keenly anticipating figures from Amazon and Apple after the closing bell in New York on Thursday.

In Asia on Thursday, stock markets were mixed.

The Shanghai Composite closed down 0.6% but the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong advanced 0.8%. The Japanese Nikkei 225 index ended down 0.3%. The S&P/ASX 200 stock index in Sydney closed up 0.5%.

Against the yen, the dollar was quoted at JP145.71, down from JP146.50.

Gold was quoted at $1,661.60 an ounce early Thursday, lower from $1,665.70 on Wednesday evening in London.

Aside for the ECB, the economic calendar also has a US gross domestic product reading at 1330 BST.

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As China continues to globalize, the imminent threat of terrorism will increasingly haunt the worlds second largest economy, especially in Africa, experts warned at a forum last weekend.

Addressing the Pacilution Forum for Counter-Terrorism, held on Saturday in Beijing, Wang Chuan, director of the Department of Counterterrorism and Overseas Security at the Hangzhou-based Knowfar Institute for Strategic & Defense Studies, pointed out that many of Chinas overseas investment and construction projects fall within Africas arc of instability, which stretches across North Africa to Sub-Saharan Africa.

While the risks are lower in southern Africa, Wang said that threats of terrorism and propaganda do still haunt southern African countries, while those within the arc of instability face more direct threats from groups like Islamic State and Al Qaeda. Citing figures from media reports, Wang said that some 54 percent of China's major overseas security incidents between 2014 and 2015 took place in Africa.

In Algeria, signs of possible attacks targeting Chinese businesses and nationals have been increasing since March, as the country has witnessed the rise of terrorist groups, according to Liu Xinlu, an associate professor with the Department of Arabic Studies at Beijing Foreign Studies University. At the same time, a slump in oil prices has worsened the situation for the oil-rich country, leading to fiscal retrenchment and a growing income gap, which may result in instability, Liu told the forum.

While there is reportedly no direct foreign investment in Algeria, a great deal of Chinese money and many Chinese citizens were dispatched for construction projects. Of Algerias 48 provinces, 40 are known to be home to Chinese companies.

There are 70 state-owned enterprises in Algeria, but there are countless middle- and small-sized companies whose workers often possess only tourist visas, Liu said, adding that the estimated total number of Chinese nationals in Algeria may exceed 200,000.

In the face of increased threats of instability and terrorism, our top priority should be getting a clearer picture of our citizens within the country. This can be done with the help of both the embassy and local business associations, which know the country better than some embassy officials, Liu said.

One key job is to prevent Chinese nationals from getting kidnapped by terrorist groups, who are now thirsty for money, he added.

Meanwhile, Chinese security companies are not yet sufficiently prepared to protect overseas workers and business projects. Many security companies choose to offer training at home. Few are sending troops to actually be stationed overseas. Even with training courses, most employees are inadequately prepared to handle the complicated situation overseas, noted Wang, who is also a retired major with the Peoples Liberation Army.

Besides the lack of defensive tactics and terrorism intelligence, little attention has been paid to the local culture and religion, which is also crucial in protecting national interests, according to Zhao Shuqing, honorary director at the Ethnic Minority Groups Development Research Institute under the State Councils Development Research Center.
Jo Lloyd.

SHAKESPEARES England, the destination management organisation for Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwick, Kenilworth, Leamington Spa and surrounding area, has announced the appointment of a new chairman.

Jo Lloyd, commercial director at Birmingham International Airport has been appointed to head the board of south Warwickshires three-year-old not-for-profit destination management organisation.

Ms Lloyd has worked for Birmingham Airport for six years, and brings with her over 25 years of experience in tourism, working for a variety of companies, from leading French resort operator Pierre et Vacances to London Luton Airport.

Ms Lloyd, who joined the board of Shakespeares England in 2012, said: The celebrations that have taken place across the region this year to mark the 400th legacy of William Shakespeare, Lonely Planets Best in Europe rating for Warwickshire, and the recent Aviva Womens Tour, have turned the worlds media attention to the area like never before."
Grant Doyle as Figaro fake-wooing Susanna (Beate Mordal), alias the Countess

Preston Witts reviews Le Nozze di Figaro, Longborough Festival Opera, Sunday, 26th June

SINCE the music of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) is one of the glories of civilisation, Longborough Festival Opera was on to a winner from the start when it chose to stage The Marriage of Figaro as part of its 2016 season.

The opera  which opened on Sunday under its Italian title of Le Nozze di Figaro  is a delicious comedy of manners adorned by some of the most beautiful melodies ever written. What is also magnificent about the opera is that it was revolutionary in an age of revolution. Composed in 1786, in the wake of the American Revolution and three years ahead of the French Revolution, it is based on the 1781 play by Pierre Beaumarchais that set alarm bells ringing in pre-revolutionary Paris.

The fact is that the work is seditious by the standards of its time. It portrays the unthinkable  humble servants outwitting their aristocratic masters. With the help of his ingenious librettist, Lorenzo Da Ponte, Mozart turned the Beaumarchais play into an opera of such stunning brilliance that it ranks among the greatest works of musical theatre ever created. (Three of the others are by Mozart as well  Cosi fan tutte, Don Giovanni and The Magic Flute.) The most notable thing about this Longborough production of Figaro (conducted by Robert Houssart, directed by Thomas Guthrie and designed by Rhiannon Newman Brown) is that the characters all seem tailor-made for the parts theyre playing.

The Australian-born baritone Grant Doyle as Figaro has the looks and physique of a matinee idol, the Norwegian soprano Beate Mordal as his girlfriend Susanna is a petite blonde of delectable vivacity, the rich-voiced soprano Susanna Fairbairn is the long-suffering Countess Almaviva to a tee, and Benjamin Bevan is convincing in his role as the cunning but much-thwarted Count Almaviva. Mention should also be made of Anna Harvey as Cherubino, a mellifluous mezzo-soprano who commanded attention whenever she appeared on stage.

Given the political radicalism of the work (even though Da Ponte toned down the overtly revolutionary flavour of the play in order to get the opera version past the censors) the Longborough Figaro is set just before the First World War during the period between 1910 and 1914 known as the Great Unrest.

It is fitting that a work by Mozart  whose music is as timeless as the plays of Shakespeare  should be transported to a setting closer to our own age, especially as that age is currently being commemorated to mark the centenary of the greatest military conflict the world had ever known.

But Figaro is not about war but about the pressure for social change. And Mozart and Da Ponte pull it off with glorious panache  even if the main achievement of the plotters is the abolition of droit du seigneur!

Longboroughs Figaro is a spirited and exceptionally well-performed version of this comedy of errors, misunderstandings and romantic entanglements. And the music of course is gorgeous.

The Marriage of Figaro continues until 7th July. Leos Janaceks opera Jenufa will run from 16th July until 23rd July and the Longborough season will end with Handels Alcina on 30th and 31st July.
Expands Digital and Marketing Capabilities of Accenture Interactive in Japan

NEW YORK & TOKYO--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Accenture (NYSE: ACN) has completed its acquisition of a majority stake in IMJ Corporation (IMJ), a full-service digital agency. The majority acquisition enhances the capabilities of Accenture Interactive in the local market, bringing together leading-edge creativity, deep knowledge in advanced digital technology and consulting capabilities from Accenture and IMJ to provide seamless, end-to-end digital marketing services. Financial terms are not being disclosed.

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Digital services are a core capability we use to help drive the transformation of our clients and enable them to achieve business growth. The role digital marketing can play to enhance the customer experience through creativity and innovation is only increasing in todays digital age, said Atsushi Egawa, country managing director at Accenture Japan. Accenture is expanding our global digital marketing capabilities that are offered to the market. Using our unique capabilities, Accenture will continue to provide superior digital services to our clients while collaborating with leading industry partners in our ecosystem.

Today, we celebrate our 20th anniversary. I am pleased to be able to continue our journey with a recognized leader like Accenture to further propel our growth in this milestone year, said Shinji Takeuchi, President  Chief Executive Officer of IMJ. Together, IMJ and Accenture will be the leading player in the digital marketing area, helping our clients to realize their business goals and create delightful experiences for their customers.

Accenture Interactive offers a full suite of integrated digital marketing services, from experience design to marketing, content and commerce, focused on the digital customer agenda. It partners with leading brands to create engaging customer experiences with transformative results and was recently named the largest and fastest-growing digital agency network worldwide by Ad Age.

About Accenture

Accenture is a leading global professional services company, providing a broad range of services and solutions in strategy, consulting, digital, technology and operations. Combining unmatched experience and specialized skills across more than 40 industries and all business functions  underpinned by the worlds largest delivery network  Accenture works at the intersection of business and technology to help clients improve their performance and create sustainable value for their stakeholders. With approximately 375,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries, Accenture drives innovation to improve the way the world works and lives. Visit us at www.accenture.com.

About IMJ Corporation

With extensive knowledge and experience in strategic planning, data analytics and web integration services in the digital marketing field, IMJ provides a wide range of one-stop digital marketing services and solutions to realize the companys vision of enriching the consumer experience through the power of digital.

Forward-Looking Statements

Except for the historical information and discussions contained herein, statements in this news release may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as may, will, should, likely, anticipates, expects, intends, plans, projects, believes, estimates, positioned, outlook and similar expressions are used to identify these forward-looking statements. These statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied. These include, without limitation, risks that: the transaction might not achieve the anticipated benefits for the company; the companys results of operations could be adversely affected by volatile, negative or uncertain economic conditions and the effects of these conditions on the companys clients businesses and levels of business activity; the companys business depends on generating and maintaining ongoing, profitable client demand for the companys services and solutions, and a significant reduction in such demand could materially affect the companys results of operations; if the company is unable to keep its supply of skills and resources in balance with client demand around the world and attract and retain professionals with strong leadership skills, the companys business, the utilization rate of the companys professionals and the companys results of operations may be materially adversely affected; the markets in which the company competes are highly competitive, and the company might not be able to compete effectively; the company could have liability or the companys reputation could be damaged if the company fails to protect client and/or company data or information systems as obligated by law or contract or if the companys information systems are breached; the companys results of operations and ability to grow could be materially negatively affected if the company cannot adapt and expand its services and solutions in response to ongoing changes in technology and offerings by new entrants; the companys results of operations could materially suffer if the company is not able to obtain sufficient pricing to enable it to meet its profitability expectations; if the company does not accurately anticipate the cost, risk and complexity of performing its work or if the third parties upon whom it relies do not meet their commitments, then the companys contracts could have delivery inefficiencies and be less profitable than expected or unprofitable; the companys results of operations could be materially adversely affected by fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates; the companys profitability could suffer if its cost-management strategies are unsuccessful, and the company may not be able to improve its profitability through improvements to cost-management to the degree it has done in the past; the companys business could be materially adversely affected if the company incurs legal liability; the companys work with government clients exposes the company to additional risks inherent in the government contracting environment; the company might not be successful at identifying, acquiring or integrating businesses, entering into joint ventures or divesting businesses; the companys Global Delivery Network is increasingly concentrated in India and the Philippines, which may expose it to operational risks; changes in the companys level of taxes, as well as audits, investigations and tax proceedings, or changes in the companys treatment as an Irish company, could have a material adverse effect on the companys results of operations and financial condition; as a result of the companys geographically diverse operations and its growth strategy to continue geographic expansion, the company is more susceptible to certain risks; adverse changes to the companys relationships with key alliance partners or in the business of its key alliance partners could adversely affect the companys results of operations; the companys services or solutions could infringe upon the intellectual property rights of others or the company might lose its ability to utilize the intellectual property of others; if the company is unable to protect its intellectual property rights from unauthorized use or infringement by third parties, its business could be adversely affected; the companys ability to attract and retain business and employees may depend on its reputation in the marketplace; if the company is unable to manage the organizational challenges associated with its size, the company might be unable to achieve its business objectives; any changes to the estimates and assumptions that the company makes in connection with the preparation of its consolidated financial statements could adversely affect its financial results; many of the companys contracts include payments that link some of its fees to the attainment of performance or business targets and/or require the company to meet specific service levels, which could increase the variability of the companys revenues and impact its margins; if the company is unable to collect its receivables or unbilled services, the companys results of operations, financial condition and cash flows could be adversely affected; the companys results of operations and share price could be adversely affected if it is unable to maintain effective internal controls; the company may be subject to criticism and negative publicity related to its incorporation in Ireland; as well as the risks, uncertainties and other factors discussed under the Risk Factors heading in Accenture plcs most recent annual report on Form 10-K and other documents filed with or furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission. Statements in this news release speak only as of the date they were made, and Accenture undertakes no duty to update any forward-looking statements made in this news release or to conform such statements to actual results or changes in Accentures expectations.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160703005017/en/

Accenture

David LaBar

+ 1 646 456 4505

[email protected]

or

Accenture

Ken Kanda

+ 81 45 330 7377

+ 81 80 3723 9580 (mobile)

[email protected]

Source: Accenture
TORONTO, ON -- (Marketwired) -- 07/04/16 --

Alloycorp Mining Inc. (TSX VENTURE: AVT) ("Alloycorp" or the "Company") announced today that it has entered into an agreement providing for the privatization of the Company by its major shareholders, Resource Capital Fund IV L.P. ("RCF IV") and Resource Capital Fund VI L.P. ("RCF VI" and collectively with RCF IV, "RCF"). Shareholders of Alloycorp, other than RCF, will receive $0.05 for each common share of the Company.

RCF is both the largest creditor and shareholder of the Company. RCF has loaned Alloycorp a total of US$126 million since 2008 under a series of loan agreements. The amounts owed to RCF caused a working capital deficiency of $171,104,635 at March 31, 2016. The loans are secured by the assets of Alloycorp and its subsidiaries and came due on June 30, 2016. On June 30, 2016, RCF converted an aggregate of US$52.5 million of the loans into 122 million common shares of the Company. After giving effect to such conversion, RCF owns 246,548,990 common shares, representing 90% of the outstanding common shares of the Company. RCF has agreed to forebear all remaining loans and waive any defaults under the outstanding loans and related security documents until August 31, 2016.

The privatization will be effected through an amalgamation of the Company and an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of RCF (the "Amalgamation") under the Business Corporations Act (British Columbia) (the "BCBCA").

The Board of Directors of the Company (the "Board") formed a Special Committee (the "Special Committee") comprised of independent directors to evaluate the Amalgamation and make recommendations to the Board. The Special Committee received an opinion from Primary Capital Inc. to the effect that, as of the date of such opinion and subject to the assumptions, qualifications and limitations set forth therein, the consideration to be received by the Alloycorp shareholders, other than RCF, pursuant to the Amalgamation is fair from a financial point of view to the Alloycorp shareholders, other than RCF. The Special Committee, after considering the price offered to Alloycorp shareholders, the financial condition of the Company, current market conditions, commodity prices including molybdenum, RCF's level of ownership as a shareholder and its position as lender to the Company, the fairness opinion, and a number of additional factors, concluded that the consideration was fair to the Company's shareholders. After considering these and other factors relevant to the Amalgamation, the Special Committee resolved that the Board should: submit the Amalgamation to a vote of the shareholders at a shareholders' meeting and, in furtherance thereof, authorize the Company to enter into the acquisition agreement; and recommend to the shareholders to approve the special resolution in respect of the Amalgamation (the "Amalgamation Resolution").

Mario Caron, Chairman of the Board at Alloycorp, said: "The cost of operating a public company has become prohibitive given the current state of the equity markets as well as the depressed state of the molybdenum industry as a whole. The RCF transaction relieves the Company's significant debt burden, provides cash to shareholders and enhances flexibility for future development of the Company."

The Company will convene an annual general and special meeting of shareholders (the "Meeting") to take place on August 8, 2016 for shareholders to consider and approve the Amalgamation.

The Board unanimously recommends that shareholders vote in favour of the Amalgamation Resolution.

Directors and officers of the Company have entered into voting and support agreements with the Purchaser under which they have agreed to vote all common shares owned or controlled by them in favour of the Amalgamation Resolution. The Purchaser intends to vote in favour of the Amalgamation Resolution. Alloycorp shareholders are entitled to dissent in respect of the Amalgamation Resolution under Division 2 of Part 8 of the BCBCA.

The completion of the Amalgamation is subject to a number of conditions precedent that are customary to this type of transaction, including, but not limited to, there being no material adverse change with respect to the Company, the approval of the Amalgamation Resolution by at least two-thirds of the votes cast by holders of common shares at the Meeting (including votes cast by RCF), and the acceptance of the Amalgamation by the TSX Venture Exchange. Assuming the satisfaction of all conditions, the Amalgamation is expected to close as soon as practicable following the Meeting.

The Amalgamation constitutes a "business combination" for the purposes of Multilateral Instrument 61-101 - Protection of Minority Securityholders in Special Transactions ("MI 61-101"). Since the Company is listed on the TSX Venture Exchange, the Amalgamation will, pursuant to section 4.4(1)(a) of MI 61-101, be exempt from the formal valuation requirements of MI 61-101. Because RCF owns 90 percent of the Company's outstanding shares, the Amalgamation will, pursuant to section 4.6(1)(a) of MI 61-101, be exempt from the minority shareholder approval requirements of MI 61-101.

Details of the terms and conditions of the Amalgamation will be included in a management information circular, which will be mailed to the shareholders as soon as practicable and will also be available for download at www.sedar.com.

Following the Amalgamation, the Company will be a wholly owned subsidiary of RCF, and the Company will continue to keep the Kitsault project in good standing with respect to its existing permits, maintain relationships with local communities and other partners and ensure all existing contractual agreements are met.

Advisors

Primary Capital Inc. is acting as financial advisor and Stikeman Elliott LLP is acting as legal advisor to the Special Committee. Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP is acting as legal advisor to RCF and Farris, Vaughan, Wills & Murphy LLP is acting as British Columbia legal advisor to RCF. Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP is acting as legal advisor to Alloycorp.

About Alloycorp

Alloycorp is a TSX Venture Exchange listed company headquartered in Toronto with an operations office in Vancouver. The Kitsault molybdenum project is located in the Nass Valley area, approximately 140 km north of Prince Rupert, in British Columbia, Canada. Alloycorp holds a 100% interest in the Project through its wholly owned subsidiary. The Kitsault molybdenum project is fully permitted for construction.

About RCF

RCF IV and RCF VI are private equity funds with the mandate to make investments exclusively in the mining sector across a diversified range of mineral commodities and geographic regions. RCF is managed by RCF Management L.L.C. which has its principal office in Denver and additional offices in Perth, New York (Long Island), Toronto, and Santiago, Chile. RCF has provided financing for Alloycorp to acquire and develop the Kitsault molybdenum deposit since 2008.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Forward-Looking Statements: This news release contains certain forward-looking information concerning the business of Alloycorp and the proposed Amalgamation that constitute "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Such statements can be identified by the use of words such as "may", "would", "could", "will", "intend", "expect", "believe", "plan", "anticipate", "estimate", "scheduled", "predict" and other similar terminology, or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might", or "will be taken or occur to be achieved. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein, including those related to, without limitation, negotiation and consummation of the definitive agreements with respect to the Amalgamation, the completion of the Amalgamation or related transactions, statements concerning the value of the Shares, receipt of requisite legal and financial opinions with respect to the Amalgamation and applicable regulatory approvals required with respect to the Amalgamation are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based on the opinions of management at the date the statements are made and are based on assumptions and estimates and are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events to differ materially from those projected in forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the Company's expectations include, without limitation, that the conditions to completion of the Amalgamation will not be satisfied, including approval of the Amalgamation Resolution by the Company's shareholders; fluctuations in commodity prices and currency exchange rates; the satisfaction of various conditions to financing and funding; uncertainties relating to interpretation of drill results and the geology, continuity and grade of mineral deposits; uncertainty of estimates of capital and operating costs, recovery rates, production estimates and estimated economic return; the need for cooperation of government agencies and native groups in the exploration and development of properties and the issuance of required permits; the need to obtain additional financing to develop properties and uncertainty as to the availability, terms and timing of future financing; the possibility of delay in exploration or development programs or in construction projects and uncertainty of meeting anticipated program milestones; and other risks and uncertainties disclosed in the Company's Annual Information Form for the year ended December 31, 2013, which is available at www.sedar.com. The Company is under no obligation to update forward-looking statements if circumstances or management's opinions should change, except as required by applicable securities laws. Forward-looking statements involve significant risks and uncertainties, should not be read as guarantees of future performance or results, and will not necessarily be accurate indicators of whether or not such results will be achieved. Accordingly, the reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.

For further information, please contact:Graham du PreezChief Financial Officer(416) 847-0376

Source: Alloycorp Mining Inc.
Kunming, the first 052D destroyer, was put into use on March 21, 2014. (Photo/Official Weibo account of CCTV)

The fourth 052D guided-missile destroyer will soon be put into use, according to Cao Weidong, a Chinese military expert, in an interview with China Center Television.

There was already speculation that the new destroyer was ready for delivery, since a number of photos circulated online showed a ship closely resembling the previous 052D guided-missile destroyers berthed at a harbor with hull number 175 painted on its body. Cao confirmed that this guess was reasonable because ships generally get put into trial maritime operation as soon as they receive hull numbers. The ship will be delivered to the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) pending a successful trial operation, Cao added.

It is reported that the layout of the 052D destroyer is similar to that of the earlier 052C, but the superstructure of the 052D slopes inward at a greater angle, providing reduced radar cross-section. Three existing 052D destroyers have already been deployed as part of the South Sea Fleet. Kunming, the first 052D destroyer, was put into use on March 21, 2014. Changsha, the second, was put into use on Aug. 12, 2015. Hefei, the third, was put into use on Dec. 12, 2015. The respective hull numbers of the three ships are 172, 173 and 174.

Some analysts have said that the overall performance of 052D destroyers is superior to that of Japan's Atago-class destroyers, South Korea's Sejong the Great-class destroyers and the U.S. Navy's Arleigh Burke-class destroyers.

According to Cao, compared with Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, China's type 052D destroyers are inferior in terms of quantity, displacement and ship-based guided missiles. On the topic of the future development of China's guided-missile destroyers, Cao said that China needs to build larger models, including a 10,000-ton guided-missile destroyer. Furthermore, the country needs an increase in the quantity of guided-missile destroyers, as China will build more aircraft carriers in the future. Since China does not currently have cruisers, larger guided-missile destroyers are needed to play the role of cruisers, Cao said.
-- Establishes Local Presence to Serve Clients Better --

SINGAPORE & SYDNEY--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- FlexTrade Systems (@FlexTrade), a global leader in multi-asset execution management systems, is pleased to announce that it has opened a representative office in Sydney, Australia.

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Dan Enstedt, FlexTrade Vice President of Business Development, Australia and New Zealand (Photo: Business Wire)

With the proposed increases in superannuation contributions there will be an increase in assets under management (AUM) being handled by money managers and superfunds in Australia. Its likely that hedge funds, asset managers and others will be increasingly active with their investments in order to improve their returns. There is a limit to the size of potential investments in the Australian market, so traders at these firms will also be looking to trade internationally. This is driving a growing requirement for a high performance execution management system (EMS) that enables traders to access liquidity both inside Australia and globally.

Dan Enstedt, vice president of business development for Australia and New Zealand, commented, Investment managers in Australia increasingly need to look for alternative investment classes internationally, such as equities, futures, options, fixed income as well as taking active positions or covering their FX exposure risk. FlexTrades products can help these firms to solve their domestic and international cross-asset trading requirements all in one platform. Weve established a permanent office in Sydney as we are confident that our current and future clients will benefit from FlexTrade having a local presence to offer sales, support and product development.

FlexTrades market-leading broker-neutral EMS, FlexTRADER, supports electronic and algorithmic trading across all asset classes and offers access to hundreds of liquidity providers, venues and brokers globally.

Manish Kedia, managing director of FlexTrade Systems Pte Ltd., in Singapore, said, The opening of FlexTrades office in Sydney is a further step towards cementing deeper ties across the region. We listened carefully to the needs of local asset managers and data providers, as well as the investment banking community, and it was very clear that having a local presence was necessary. This represents another step in the implementation of our regional strategy and it is our intention to grow the team under the guidance of Dan Enstedt, who will lead local sales and support.

FlexTrade Australia Pty Ltd. can be contacted at:Level 19, 1 OConnell Street, Sydney NSW 2000, AustraliaBy phone on +61 2 8249 1962 or +61 449 903 109and by email at [email protected].

About FlexTrade Systems.

Founded in 1996, FlexTrade Systems is the industry pioneer in broker-neutral algorithmic trading platforms for equities, foreign exchange and listed derivatives. With offices in North America, Europe and Asia, FlexTrade has a worldwide client base spanning more than 175 buy-side and sell-side firms, including many of the largest hedge funds, asset managers, commodity trading advisors, investment banks and institutional brokers. For more information, visit FlexTrade Systems at www.flextrade.com or follow news of the company on Twitter at www.twitter.com/flextrade or LinkedIn at http://www.linkedin.com/company/flextrade.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160704005042/en/

FlexTrade Systems

James Tolve, 516-304-3601

Cell: 516-395-0549

[email protected]

Source: FlexTrade Systems
(PRWEB) July 04, 2016

This week CEO and owner at Florida Business Consulting, Eric Martin announced that the firm is running an exciting contest for one of the firm's sales representatives to win a ticket to the invitation-only event.

Held last year in Baltimore, Maryland the Sales and Marketing Awards Gala is an annual stand-out event and in the sales and marketing calendar. It brings together some of the top sales and marketing professionals worldwide, and recognizes the efforts and achievements of business owners and budding entrepreneurs in the U.S. CEO at Florida Business Consulting, Eric Martin has been among the award winners at past ceremonies and is hoping to be awarded again this year.

The 2016 Sales and Marketing Awards Gala is scheduled to take place in New York City on July 9th. This year's Black Tie event is by invitation-only with a limited number of tickets being distributed to business owners throughout the US. "Having the opportunity to attend this prestigious event is priceless. The lucky winner will have the chance to interact and network with some of the top sales and marketing professionals within the U.S," said Eric Martin when speaking about the prize.

About Florida Business

Consulting: http://www.floridabusinessconsulting.net/about.html

There is set criteria for those competing for the "golden ticket". The key elements Eric Martin and the management team will be considering before deciding a winner is: consistency and development. As an expanding and ambitious firm, development is a subject that they focus on regularly. At Florida Business Consulting they provide regular educational workshops and seminars to assist their workforce in achieving their goals and reaching their full potential. They urge their employees to utilize any development opportunities and seek out ways to assist with personal and professional development.

The winner of the contest will be announced this week. Check http://www.floridabusinessconsulting.net and the firm's social media pages to find out who the lucky winner is.

Established in 2011, Florida Business Consulting is a privately held marketing and fundraising services company in Downtown Miami. The firm specialize in bringing brands and consumers closer together using face-to-face promotional marketing and sales campaigns. Working on their clients' behalf, the firm conducts thorough market research to pinpoint the most promising markets for their clients' brands before launching a tailor-made marketing campaign. There is a real sense of excitement about the forthcoming awards ceremony as they hope to be among the award winners again this year.

Read the full story at http://www.prweb.com/releases/floridabusinessconsulting/content-NYC-Gala/prweb13528719.htm
VNO Service Empowers VSAT Operators to Focus on their Customers Rather than on Infrastructure Operations

LUXEMBOURG--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Intelsat S.A. (NYSE: I), operator of the worlds first Globalized Network, powered by its leading satellite backbone, announced that it has partnered with AfricaOnline, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Gondwana International Networks, a leading provider of communications solutions across Africa, to provide a managed broadband internet service for sub-Saharan Africa.

Under the agreement, Intelsat will provide satellite services via Intelsat 28 located at 33 East, and Gondwana will provide ground support and network management services from AfricaOnlines facilities at Hartebeesthoek in South Africa. Together, Intelsat and Gondwana will deliver high-quality, Ku-band broadband service on a virtual network operator (VNO) basis.

The VNO platform leverages Intelsats extensive service infrastructure and Gondwanas network management expertise to facilitate easier deployment of Ku-band VSAT services. The large upfront capital commitment otherwise required of regional VSAT operators for both infrastructure and minimum capacity obligations will be reduced, as will VSAT operators operational costs. This is beneficial to VSAT operators, distributors and end-users alike and allows VSAT operators to focus on marketing, service provisioning/support and their customers, and not on network infrastructure.

We want to be the preferred provider of VSAT services across Africa, and this initiative with Intelsat allows us to enhance our portfolio of service offerings, said Mathew Welthagen, CEO of Gondwana International Networks. The upfront capital commitment and ongoing fixed operating cost structure of Ku-band VSAT has constrained expansion of services in Africa. A managed VNO platform allows for increased economies of scale, both in terms of capex and opex, and is a giant step forward in bringing cost-effective connectivity to Africa. Our ultimate goal is to drive connectivity across the continent. Our vision resonates with Intelsat, and this partnership allows Gondwana to continue to lead the way in providing our customers with high-quality, cost-effective, forward-looking communications solutions.

Enabling connectivity to communities and businesses is at the core of everything we do, and our partnership with AfricaOnline and Gondwana International Networks will provide millions of people working in Sub-Saharan Africa businesses with access to high quality and affordable internet service, said Kurt Riegelman, Senior Vice President, Sales and Marketing, Intelsat. The continent is materially underserved with relatively low internet penetration. Leveraging the strength of Intelsats Ku-band satellite solutions with AfricaOnlines ground segment services will help foster business development, enhance medical and educational services to local communities, provide critical backup support during times of crisis, and enable citizens across Sub-Saharan Africa to maintain communications with friends and family within Africa and around the globe.

Supporting Resources:

Intelsat Broadband Services: http://www.intelsat.com/solutions/data-telecoms/

About Intelsat

Intelsat S.A. (NYSE: I) operates the worlds first Globalized Network, delivering high-quality, cost-effective video and broadband services anywhere in the world. Intelsats Globalized Network combines the worlds largest satellite backbone with terrestrial infrastructure, managed services and an open, interoperable architecture to enable customers to drive revenue and reach through a new generation of network services. Thousands of organizations serving billions of people worldwide rely on Intelsat to provide ubiquitous broadband connectivity, multi-format video broadcasting, secure satellite communications and seamless mobility services. The end result is an entirely new world, one that allows us to envision the impossible, connect without boundaries and transform the ways in which we live. For more information, visit www.intelsat.com.

About Gondwana International Networks

Gondwana International Networks is a Pan-African communications service company and one of the largest VSAT Operators in Africa through its operating brands, AfricaOnline and iWayAfrica. The consistently award-winning Group has a physical presence in 10 countries on the continent and offers services in an additional 34 countries via its distributor channel partners.

http://www.gondwanainternational.com/

About AfricaOnline

AfricaOnline is a wholly owned subsidiary of Gondwana International Networks. With over 18 years experience in the ICT Industry, AfricaOnline is considered one of the oldest and consistently reliable internet service providers on the continent. Offering comprehensive products and services on a wholesale and retail basis to other ISPs, corporates and consumers, AfricaOnline facilitates effective, reliable, secure communication for its customers. Its product and solution portfolio includes broadband wireless, leased lines, MPLS, VSAT, hosting, mail services, domains and disaster recovery solutions.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160704005031/en/

Intelsat

Michele Loguidice

Director, Investor Relations and Corporate Communications

+1 703-559-7372

[email protected]

Source: Intelsat
Norske Skog has been granted NOK 6.5 million from Innovation Norway for two projects. For further development of microfibrillated cellulose (MFC), or so-called nanocellulose, it has been granted NOK 4.5 million, while for the development of fibreboard the total support is NOK 2.0 million.

Microfibrillated cellulose (MFC) is a renewable product and has several interesting applications. MFC will be a new commodity that will enhance paper-based products. In addition, MFC can over time be developed as a replacement for plastic products, as well as a thickening substance in various products such as paint.

- If we succeed in producing MFC with this technology and use it in our paper production, this could reduce our costs and make us more competitive in the future. At the same time, the MFC competence will be useful for the entire group, says Sven Ombudstvedt, President and CEO of Norske Skog.

Innovation Norway has already funded a pre-built pilot plant for MFC-production at Saugbrugs, which will open later this year. This plant has a capacity of about 1 ton per day.

- Our strategy is to develop new fiber and energy products in synergy with our paper production. The MFC plant can be one of the leading facilities in the world, and may eventually give Norske Skog a unique knowledge to produce new environmentally friendly and renewable products in the future, says Kjell Arve Kure, CEO of Norske Skog Saugbrugs.

The main purpose of the MFC-project is to develop MFC from thermomechanical pulp (TMP), which is the main raw material for paper. The pilot project is budgeted at NOK 18.4 million of which Innovation Norway's funding share is NOK 4.5 million.

Microfibrillated cellulose has received increased attention in forestry industrial research in recent years. The material has special characteristics and can be applied in a number of areas. Research and production of MFC has so far been based on chemical cellulose pulp (sulphate and sulphite pulp). Only a handful larger production facilities exists. Production of MFC from thermomechanical pulp (TMP) is entirely new.

- The pulp and paper industry in the region of stfold has shown a great ability and willingness to change. This is a resource-intensive work with high risks. We support projects to give the industry the best possible conditions for success, says senior advisor Erlend Ystrm Hartveit in Innovation Norway.

- Creating new businesses at Norske Skog Saugbrugs is a future-oriented development within a traditional industry. The projects are based on world-class wood fibre competence, creating new jobs in south-east Norway, says Hartveit.

Norske Skog has also received NOK 2.0 million in funding from Innovation Norway to develop fibreboard. Preliminary test results show the boards to have a solid structure, light weight and excellent insulation capabilities. The project funding will cover the building of a pilot plant to develop necessary production techniques to realize full-scale production of the new fibreboards. The boards will be tested and developed in collaboration with potential customers in the construction industry. The project aim is to realize full-scale production within a short time frame.

Oslo, 4 July 2016

Norske Skog

Communications and Public Affairs

For further information: Media:







Vice President Corporate Communication

Carsten Dybevig

Mob: (+47) 917 63 117



Financial markets:







Vice President Investor Relations

Tom Rogn

Mob: (+47) 948 55 659 For Norske Skog Saugbrugs:







Managing Director

Kjell Arve Kure

Mob: + 47 975 38 276 For Innovation Norway:







Region of Oslo, Akershus and stfold

Senior adviser Erlend Ystrm Haartveit

Mob: +47 480 76 409

This announcement is distributed by NASDAQ OMX Corporate Solutions on behalf of NASDAQ OMX Corporate Solutions clients.

The issuer of this announcement warrants that they are solely responsible for the content, accuracy and originality of the information contained therein.

Source: Norske Skog via Globenewswire



HUG#2025001


Christophe Lottin, ex second in command at stent company Hexacath, brings 20 years of sales and management experience

Gonzague Issenmann recruited his successor to ensure the company he has created continues to thrive

PRINCETON, N.J. & PARIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Regulatory News:

STENTYS (FR0010949404  STNT) (Paris: STNT), a medical technology company commercializing the world's first and only Self-Apposing coronary stent, today announces that the Board of Directors has appointed Christophe Lottin as the new Chief Executive Officer of the Company. Gonzague Issenmann has organized his succession and will ensure a smooth transition over the next quarter.

Christophe Lottin, who has twenty years of experience in cardiology, rose through the sales organization of Boston Scientific and Hexacath France, up to the position of President with responsibility for Benelux, Switzerland and Canada. In particular, he was instrumental in the commercial success of the Optimax coronary stent. In his multiple roles, he had to coordinate the critical departments of a stent company, such as R&D, Clinical and Regulatory affairs.

Gonzague Issenmann, co-founder of STENTYS, commented: I am extremely proud of what we accomplished over the last 10 years with an amazing team. The Self-Apposing Technology, with numerous technical improvements and clinical milestones, is now world renowned. Today, STENTYS profile has evolved and Christophe is the person the Company needs to keep prospering commercially and become a major industry player. I wish him all the success that STENTYS deserves and remain a long term shareholder. 

Christophe Lottin, Chief Executive Officer of STENTYS, added: I am honored to assume the leadership of a company that has built a phenomenal reputation for itself in the cardiology community. As a long time cardiovascular device industry insider, I know how STENTYS products strong differentiation is a solid foundation to continue building the company and write a successful story. 

Michel Darnaud, Chairman of the Board, concluded: In the name of the Board, I would like to thank Gonzague for his relentless dedication to the company and for the strategic decisions that he has made. It is the sign of an astute entrepreneur to know when to pass the baton to a different profile of leader. I have known Christophe for years and can vouch for his credentials. The board is looking forward to this new phase of the Companys life.

About STENTYSSTENTYS is developing and commercializing innovative solutions for the treatment of patients with complex artery disease. STENTYS Self-Apposing drug-eluting stents are designed to adapt to vessels with ambiguous or fluctuating diameters in order to prevent the malapposition problems associated with conventional stents. The APPOSITION clinical trials in the treatment of acute myocardial infarction showed a very low one year mortality rate and a faster arterial healing compared to conventional stents. The companys product portfolio also includes MiStent SES, a coronary DES whose new drug delivery mechanism is designed to match vessel response, and is marketed through STENTYS commercial network in Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Latin America.More information is available at www.stentys.com

Safe Harbor StatementsThis press release contains forward-looking statements about the Company that are based on numerous assumptions regarding the Companys present and future business strategies and the environment in which it will operate in the future which may not be accurate. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks which may cause the Companys actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, among others, risks associated with the development and commercialization of the Companys products, market acceptance of the Companys products, its ability to manage growth, the competitive environment in relation to its business area and markets, its ability to enforce and protect its patents and proprietary rights, uncertainties related to the U.S. FDA approval process, slower than expected rates of patient recruitment for clinical trials, the outcome of clinical trials, and other factors, including those described in the Section 4 Risk Factors of the Companys 2014 Registration Document (document de reference) filed with the French Autorite des Marches Financiers (AMF) on July 29, 2015 under number D.15-0807 and as updated in section 4.1 of the Registration Document Update filed with the AMF on February 11, 2016 under number D.15-0807-A01.

STENTYS is listed on Compartment C of Euronext ParisISIN: FR0010949404  Ticker: STNT

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160704005504/en/

STENTYS

Stanislas Piot

CFO

Tel.: +33 (0)1 44 53 99 42

[email protected]

or

NewCap

Investor Relations / Strategic Communications

Dusan Oresansky

Tel.: +33 (0)1 44 71 94 92

[email protected]

Source: STENTYS
HELSINKI (Reuters) - Eight Cuba national team volleyball players have been detained over a suspected rape in Finland, police said on Sunday.

According to central Finland police three of the players were apprehended on Saturday, and five on Sunday.

The Cuban men's team was playing in a World League tournament in the city of Tampere in central Finland.

The police gave no further information about the suspected rape. Finnish news agency STT reported the incident occurred at a hotel in Tampere, where the Cuban team was staying.

(Reporting by Tuomas Forsell, editing by David Evans)
By Tife Owolabi and Alexis Akwagyiram

YENAGOA, Nigeria (Reuters) - The Niger Delta Avengers, a militant group that has been carrying out attacks on Nigerian oil facilities in the past few months, claimed responsibility on Sunday for five new attacks in the southern energy hub since Friday.

The group had previously not laid claim to any attacks in the Niger Delta - the source of most of the OPEC member's oil - since June 16.

Petroleum Ministry sources said in late June that a month-long truce had been agreed with militants. But the Avengers said they did not "remember" agreeing to a ceasefire.

Attacks in the Niger Delta have pushed Nigerian crude production to 30-year lows, although the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) said last week that output was rising because of repairs and a fall-off in attacks.

In messages posted on Twitter in the early hours of Sunday, the Avengers said they had attacked a pipeline connected to the Warri refinery operated by NNPC on Friday night.

They added that they blew up two lines on Saturday night close to Batan flow station in Delta state run by NPDC, a subsidiary of NNPC.

The militants also said two Chevron facilities close to Abiteye flow station, in Delta state, came under attack early on Sunday.

Residents in some of those areas reported hearing blasts.

"All five operations" were carried out by an Avengers "strike team", the group said.

Garba Deen Muhammad, a spokesman for state oil company NNPC, whose managing director is the oil minister, confirmed that the crude facilities identified by the Avengers had been attacked.

"Government will not be deterred in its efforts to find a lasting solution to these attacks," he said.

Chevron spokeswoman Isabel Ordonez said that "as a matter of long-standing policy," the company did not comment on "the safety and security" of its personnel and operations.

The militants say they want a greater share of Nigeria's oil wealth, which accounts for around 70 percent of national income, to be passed on to communities in the impoverished region and for areas blighted by oil spills to be cleaned up.

On Thursday, President Muhammadu Buhari hosted a group of community leaders from the Delta and urged them to pacify people in the restive region where anger is widespread.

Eric Omare, of the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC), which represents the Delta's biggest ethnic group, said the "resumption" of attacks was "worrisome", adding that the government had failed to build on goodwill generated by the oil minister's visit to the region in June.

"The federal government has not taken any practical step toward resolving the issues," said Omare, adding that the IYC urged the Avengers not to carry out further attacks in order to "give room for constructive dialogue".

(Additional reporting by Anamesere Igboeroteonwu; Editing by Richard Balmforth and Peter Cooney)
(Reuters) - A U.S. Army veteran used his sharp-shooting skills to free a bald eagle trapped in a Minnesota tree ahead of the Fourth of July holiday, his wife said.

Jackie Gervais Galvin of Rush City, Minnesota, said on her Facebook page that the eagle had become entangled in a rope. It had hung upside down from a tree near the cabin belonging to her and her husband, Jason Galvin, for more than two days, she said.

Jason Galvin used a borrowed .22-caliber rifle with a scope to sever the 4-inch (10 cm) rope after firing 150 shots. Galvin never hit the eagle.

The bird tumbled 75 feet (23 meters) to the ground. The couple wrapped it in a blanket and took it to the University of Minnesota's Raptor Center, Jackie Galvin said in her posting on Friday.

"We named the eagle Freedom and hope to be able to release him near his home once he is back to health!" she wrote.

The federally protected bird, or Haliaeetus leucocephalus, is featured on U.S. currency and in the presidential seal. It was adopted as the national U.S. bird symbol in 1782.

Attempts to reach the Raptor Center or the couple were unsuccessful.

(Reporting by Ian Simpson; Editing by Sandra Maler)
A U.S. Air Force MQ-9 Reaper drone flies over Creech Air Force Base in Nevada during a training mission May 19, 2016. REUTERS/Josh Smith

By Phil Stewart, Jonathan Landay and Roberta Rampton

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. government accepted responsibility on Friday for inadvertently killing up to 116 civilians in strikes in countries where America is not at war, a major disclosure likely to inflame debate about targeted killings and use of drones.

President Barack Obama's goal for the release of the numbers, which are higher than any previously officially acknowledged but vastly below private estimates, is to create greater transparency about what the U.S. military and CIA are doing to fight militants plotting against the United States.

But the figures, which covered strikes from the day Obama took office in January 2009 through Dec. 31, 2015, were below even the most conservative estimates by non-governmental organizations that spent years tallying U.S. strikes in countries such as Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia.

"The numbers reported by the White House today simply dont add up and we're disappointed by that," said Federico Borello, executive director for the Center for Civilians in Conflict.

Drone advocates, including those within the U.S. military, argue the strikes are an essential part of reducing the ability of militant groups to plot attacks against the United States. They say the government goes to great lengths to avoid civilian casualties.

Critics of the targeted killing program question whether the strikes create more militants than they kill. They cite the spread of jihadist organizations and militant attacks throughout the world as evidence that targeted killings may be exacerbating the problem.

"We're still faced with the basic question: Is the number of bad guys who are taken out of commission by drone strikes greater or less than the number of people who are inspired to turn to violent acts," said Paul Pillar, a former senior CIA specialist on the Middle East and now a professor of security studies at Georgetown University.

Pakistani lawyer Mirza Shahzad Akbar, who says he represents a hundred families of civilians killed by drones, questioned the validity of the data even before their release by the Director of National Intelligence.

He said Washington needed to better explain its criteria for declaring someone a civilian, something that can be difficult to do from a camera on a drone.

"President Obama is worried about his legacy as a president who ordered extra-judicial killings of thousands which resulted in a high number of civilian deaths," Akbar told Reuters.

"As a constitutional lawyer himself, he knows what's wrong with that."

BEYOND THE EDGES OF U.S. WARS

Obama issued an executive order on Friday requiring annual disclosure of such strikes, which fall outside America's conventional wars.

Such data do not include strikes in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria, significantly lowering the number of casualties. In Afghanistan, for example, 42 people were killed and 37 wounded in a mistaken U.S. military strike on a hospital in the Afghan city of Kunduz last year.

A U.S. official, speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity, said the total of 473 strikes disclosed by the Obama administration on Friday included strikes in Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia.

Many of those are believed to have taken place in Pakistan, where NGOs also say a large number of civilians were killed.

The New America think tank estimated up to 315 civilians have been killed in Pakistan in U.S. strikes since 2004 and the Bureau of Investigative Journalism believed the civilian death toll could be as high as 966.

In Somalia, the Bureau of Investigative Journalism estimates that up to 10 civilians were killed in up to 31 drone strikes since 2007.

"Last month, a drone killed a relative of mine and a dozen of his camels and goats," local elder Mohamed Ismail from Wanlaweyn in southern Somalia told Reuters.

Officials said the U.S. disclosure of the data was meant partly to accept responsibility for such deaths.

"Anytime we inadvertently cause the death of a civilian, it's something that we deeply regret," a senior administration official said.

DO DRONE STRIKES WORK?

The question of whether drones spread militant extremism is unclear, many experts say.

"Time and again, the assertion is made that the impact is negative. Then when you look hard at the data, it becomes clear that it isn't clear where these opinions came from," said Anthony Cordesman at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.

Asfandyar Mir, a researcher and doctoral candidate at the University of Chicago, said research showed that CIA drone strikes in Pakistan's North Waziristan tribal agency corresponded with a reduction in insurgent violence and seriously disrupted the operations of the Pakistani Taliban, al Qaeda and the Haqqani network.

Mir and Dylan Moore of Stanford University studied data collected by three U.S. universities showing that there were on average four to 11 fewer insurgent attacks per month in North Waziristan between 2008 and 2012, when CIA drone strikes surged, and 27 to 63 fewer casualties compared to 2007.

In 2007, there were about 12 attacks per month that produced about 55 casualties per month in the mountainous district bordering Afghanistan, an extremist stronghold where nearly 80 percent of the CIA drone strikes in Pakistan took place.

"The areas that were targeted by the drone strikes since 2008 have clearly been significantly less violent," Mir told Reuters, adding "They make it extremely difficult to organize."

Extremist groups "are organizations at the end of the day. They are like any other bureaucracy. They need men, they need money, they need to invest in coordination. Drones made the access to all these things extremely difficult," he said.

In Somalia, the acting governor of the Lower Shabelle region, Ali Nur, told Reuters that drones have killed several al Shabaab leaders while minimizing civilian casualties.

But he suggested the strikes could do more harm than good.

"They just infuriate Al Shabaab instead of eliminating it. They all attack a town, kill only one leader, stop operation and leave the town, allowing Al Shabaab to harass and massacre civilians and forcing them to join Al Shabaab."

(Additional reporting by Mehreen Zahra-Malik in Islamabad; Editing by Bill Trott and James Dalgleish)
Tributes outside the Work and Income office in Ashburton.

A WorkSafe expert has told a court he believes the fatal shooting at the Ashburton Work and Income office was predictable.

Roger Kahler, from InterSafe, an Australian company that looks at risks and accidents, wrote his own report for WorkSafe after two people died from gunshot wounds when Russell Tully stormed the office in 2014.

The Ministry of Social Development pleaded guilty at the start of what was going to be a two-week hearing in Wellington District Court on Monday into a charge of breaching health and safety regulations. It has continued to dispute that the open-plan design of the Ashburton office should have been altered.

Russell John Tully was found guilty of murdering Susan Cleveland and Peggy Noble at the Ashburton Work and Income office in 2014.

WorkSafe lawyer Dale La Hood said the Ashburton office was open plan, with unrestricted client access to the staff. He said reports of threats to kill were increasing, with two such threats made to Ashburton in 2014 before the shooting.

READ MORE:

* Work and Income shooter Russell John Tully lodges appeal

* Tully unmoved by 27-year jail term for murders in Ashburton

* Russell John Tully guilty of Ashburton Work and Income murders

There were also reports of MSD staff being punched, kicked and having objects thrown at them, along with verbal intimidation. La Hood said uncontrolled access to the office was inappropriate, given the increasing levels of threat.

DAVID WHITE/STUFF Chief District Court judge Jan-Marie Doogue ordered Corrections to pay Cave's family reparations totalling $172,000 - but the payments have been held up by legal appeals.

Kahler said previous reports indicated the open-plan design of the office carried more risks for staff, with serious threats increasing to as many as three a week.

Even before the shooting, such an event was "predictable".

A summary of facts before Chief District Court Judge Jan-Marie Doogue said that a 1999 fatal stabbing in an ACC office put Crown departments on notice of the worst-case scenario.

DAVID WHITE/FAIRFAX NZ Defence lawyer Brent Stanaway appearing for the Ministry of Social Development.

The security review identified the risk, and stated MSD should look at the design threat. The most likely risk was a "lone mission-oriented" person using a weapon.

Tully was found guilty of the murders of Susan Leigh Cleveland and Peggy Turuhira Noble and attempted murder of Kim Elizabeth Adams, receiving life imprisonment with a minimum of 27 years. He is appealing against his convictions and sentence.

He entered the Ashburton office at 9.51am on September 1, 2014, and fired at Noble, who was on the reception desk, killing her almost instantly.

People then began running from the premises.

Tully fired at Adams as she fled to a back room. She told the jury of feeling a "swish go past my face really close".

He then found Lindy Curtis hiding under a desk with a client, and fired at her. As he fired, she lifted her leg and was hit in the thigh rather than in the body or head.

Tully then moved to the back of the building, where he saw another of his specific targets, Cleveland. She was the staff member he was most dissatisfied with. He shot her three times, killing her.

Staff reported Tully was "borderline frightening", would stand over staff, yell and talk over them. He had already been trespassed from the office.

MSD lawyer Brent Stanaway has asked the judge not to enter a conviction, saying the department will ask for a discharge without conviction.

He said MSD, being a government department, could not be fined, but could be ordered to pay reparation.

He outlined that WorkSafe was saying national offices should now be glassed off and clients would not be able to see workers unless invited in, to prevent "extreme active shooter events".

Architectural security was complex, and did not just mean a glass partition between the receptionist and workers in the office.

He said WorkSafe wanted the case to be a precedent for minimum architectural security design. "A prosecution is a blunt instrument for setting these standards," he told the judge.

MSD chief executive Brendan Boyle said the guilty plea was a pragmatic step.

"Proceeding with defending the charge as a whole would be a pointless exercise, given the courts had already determined Russell Tully was solely responsible for the murders.

"If I thought there were more insights to be gained by going to a full trial, I would do so unhesitatingly. Former police commissioner Rob Robinson and Deloitte managing partner Murray Jack, backed by a senior advisory team that included representatives from Australia's Centrelink and the ANZ bank, found nothing could have stopped a motivated murderer like Mr Tully."

He said the dispute was about what its interpretation of a safe office layout should be.

"We would never knowingly put our staff at risk. Ashburton was extraordinary in that Mr Tully was motivated to kill. Nothing can stop someone intent on mayhem."
The 2nd China Military and Civilian Integration Expo, opened on Monday in Beijing, saw over 200 high-tech companies displaying their achievements on military-civilian integration, including command information system and visual reality technology for military training. Also presented at the expo were advanced unmanned ships, drones and counter-terrorism robots, along with other armored vehicles for transportation and command. Over 30,000 visitors are expected to visit the expo.

China has been encouraging private companies in the military industry and has lifted barriers to market access for them. On Jan. 1, 2016, Chinas Central Military Commission released guidelines for military reform, which also included targets to achieve significance results by 2020 in improving military-civilian integration. (Photo/PLA Daily)
Kevin O'Loughlin, 30, who was stabbed to death on the corner of a Nelson carpark on May 2, 1993. His murder has not been solved.

On the surface, the psychics on Sensing Murder seem to hit their mark with extraordinary precision. Name, age, personality of the victims. Where and how they died, and even "clues" about the identity of the unknown murderers.

But the reruns of the still popular series have also reignited deeper questions: Is it sensing murder or just sensing ratings? Is it all just slick tricks that offer false hope to families of the victims?

Fuel was added to questions about the worth of the series last week when Tasman police went public with the hope that the the repeat screening of the instalment about the vicious 1993 murder of Kevin O'Loughlin in Nelson would prompt someone to come forward with new information.

Screengrab - Sensing Murder Sensing Murder psychic Kelvin Cruickshank

READ MORE:

* Sensing Murder episode reruns questioned

* Sensing Murder's Kelvin Cruickshank

* Psychics spark renewed interest in unsolved murder

O'Loughlin, a 30-year-old builder, was stabbed six times in central Nelson after a night out. No one was ever charged with the crime.

"Knowledge of a murder is a heavy weight for anyone to carry for 23 years and we are very hopeful that the publicity of this event will prompt someone to come forward with the information that has not been shared with us previously," Detective Inspector Paul Borrell said in a statement.

Screengrab - Sensing Murder Australian and NZ psychics on the show Sensing Murder.

He added that police were keeping an "open mind" about the psychic element to the programme.

Asked for further explanation he said: "Police welcome any opportunity to generate fresh information on investigations, and it is important to acknowledge any avenue available to do this. Police welcome any discussions or thoughts these methods may trigger, which could result in information we may previously have been unaware of."

After the programme on O'Loughlin's murder first ran in 2007, police fielded a number of calls but said no fresh information had been produced. After Thursday night's re-screening they said some information had been received from the public that they would examine and follow up where appropriate.

Marion Van Dijk Nelson police tape out areas of blood found at the scene in Hardy St where Kevin O'Loughlin died after being stabbed.

In one sense (not the sixth) it is easy to understand the police interest in the programme's focus on cold cases. The first half of the show is a detailed documentary-style review of the murder mystery, with re-enactments of the crime and interviews with family, friends and witnesses.

The second half introduces an Australian and New Zealand psychic, chosen after "extensive" tests for their ability to connect with the victims' spirits.

Supposedly without any information supplied to them they can mine a wealth of personal details about the victim from a photograph, and pinpoint the murder scene and method of death. This is apparently intended to establish the credibility of the psychic connection before the show moves on to the whodunnit phase.

MARK HONEYCHURCH/FACEBOOK NZ Skeptics chair Mark Honeychurch says the psychics from Sensing Murder have not been instrumental in any developments with the cases they investigated.

But as the New Zealand Skeptics Society points out the details of all of New Zealand's unsolved murders are only a mouse click away.

Skeptics Society chairman Mark Honeychurch said with just over 60 murders unsolved in New Zealand since 1902, it would be easy for the psychics to research and memorise these before appearing on the show.

"I'm not convinced that any psychic powers have been shown. My understanding of the show is that there are many hours of filming for each episode. I wouldn't be surprised if there was a lot of selective editing going on there."

Honeychurch said a regular psychic on the show had admitted spending "many many hours sitting in a room with a photo basically talking and going over her thoughts".

"It's what you call the scatter gun approach, just throwing so much out there that something is going to stick."

He said another trick often used by psychics in personal readers were "Barnum" statements that felt profound, but applied to most people such as" "You feel a need for people to like you", "you have unused potential that you have not tapped into yet" and "although you can be outgoing at times, you often feel shy".

Another technique was to use statements in the form of questions that were true whatever the answer, such as "You don't like boats, do you?".

Honeychurch said it would be "kinda nice" if psychics were real but no controlled study had been able to prove the ability exists.

He said without such proof it was unethical for psychics to claim to be able to speak to the dead.

He said of the crimes featured on Sensing Murder, there hadn't been a "single case" that a psychic had helped with to the point of being useful to police.

In response to an Official Information Act request in 2013, national police headquarters told the Skeptics Society that police did not pay for "mediums, clairvoyants, or other psychics to provide them with information. Police will listen to information offered by any member of the public. Any follow-up action is based on what factual corroborating information can be used to support the information provided".

Nelson clairvoyant medium Tracey Woods said she had known psychics who had helped with police investigations around New Zealand.

Woods said she had not officially aided police but information had come to her several years ago about the O'Loughlin attack which she had passed on to police.

She said she looked for a link, a photograph, a person's name or a date of birth to make a connection with the spirit. Once the spirit was in the room, they can "just have a conversation".

"It's exactly the same as when you dream; you see things, you smell things, you see colour, you see everything and it's like a video screen in your head and it's the exact same screen psychics are seeing vision on."

Woods acknowledged the Skeptic Society's stance on psychics.

But she said psychics could not work successfully in the field for a long time by being a "cold reader".

Whatever your views, Sensing Murder remains a popular show.

TVNZ spokesperson Emma-Kate Greer said more than 300,000 New Zealanders have been tuning in to the re-run programmes.

"We thought there would still be interest in the cases and you never know."
Extremely slippery conditions in the Bay of Plenty have prompted police to put out an ice warning for motorists.

Special care was needed on State Highways 1, 5, 36 and 30, police said.

"Reports of extremely slippery conditions resulting in vehicles sliding off the road."

Roading contractor Higgins had to put three layers of grit had to be put on SH36, Rotorua Lakes Council has reported.

"Ice kept forming on top of the grit."

Drivers should slow down and increase their following distance, police said.

The NZ Transport Agency said there were ice warnings for all state highways in the region.
Wellington secondary school students performed passionate haka, as the Maori language hikoi came to its end.

Students, politicians and office workers joined forces to celebrate the start of Te Wiki o te Reo Maori (Maori language week).

More than 4000 people joined the hikoi through Wellington, from Parliament to Te Papa, with singing, haka, speeches and, most importantly, kai.

In colourful dress, tamariki from kohanga and creches stood alongside equally colourful parliamentarians. High school students performed passionate haka, welcoming the hikoi as it arrived at Te Papa.

1 of 7 KEVIN STENT/FAIRFAX NZ From left, Koro Heremia Su'a (kaiako), Lorenzo Te Kira and Te Haeata Waitaiki-Rawiri of Te Ara Whanui, Alicetown. 2 of 7 KEVIN STENT/FAIRFAX NZ Maori Party senior political adviser Ivy Harper flies the flag. 3 of 7 KEVIN STENT/FAIRFAX NZ Maori Party co-leaderTe Ururoa Flavell tips his hat to the parade. 4 of 7 KEVIN STENT/FAIRFAX NZ Nga Taonga Mai Tawhiti kapa haka. 5 of 7 KEVIN STENT/FAIRFAX NZ T. Rapana of Whakatane. 6 of 7 KEVIN STENT/FAIRFAX NZ Broadcaster Stacey Morrison and All Black Nehe Milner-Skudder. 7 of 7 KEVIN STENT/ FAIRFAX NZ Hunt for the Wilderpeople star Julian Dennison, and Hawaiki Morrison,9, give their best pukana as the parade makes its way along Mercer St.

Parade host Stacey Morrison said the event was about encouraging tamariki to embrace te reo.

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A diverse cast of people led the parade, including All Black Nehe Milner-Skudder, Hunt for the Wilderpeople actor Julian Dennison, and Maori Development Minister Te Ururoa Flavell.

KEVIN STENT/ FAIRFAX NZ More than 4000 people joined the hikoi from Parliament to Te Papa.

The minister said it was important to celebrate and bring attention to the Maori language.

"The fact is that Maori language, the number of speakers of Maori language, is slowly declining. This is about giving it a kick start and a new approach."

Flavell hoped to see Maori language week expand to a whole month or year, until speaking Maori became natural.

"Maori language week came about from a petition, from a hikoi... It went on to have one day, now it's on to one week. The hope is we keep building."

Between 2006 and 2013, the proportion of Maori who could speak te reo fell from 26.1 per cent to 21.3 per cent. The census showed that about 3.7 per cent of the overall New Zealand population could speak te reo.

Milner-Skudder, who is learning te reo, said he was at the parade because he wanted to see the language remain a part of the culture.

"Being a New Zealander, that's our identity. When we go around the world, that's something special that we can hold on to."

Maori Language Commission CEO, Ngahiwi Apanui wanted "wider New Zealand" to become involved.

"Our job is to tell wider New Zealand that actually, yes, you do have a place in the revitalisation of te reo Maori."
Demelza Mills went on the run for 10 weeks after being granted leave to have a medical procedure before going to prison.

Hundreds of criminals have been trusted with taking themselves to jail after sentencing, but nobody knows how many go on the run instead.

Wellington meth cook and dealer Demelza Mills disappeared for 10 weeks after being told to present herself to Arohata jail in April for a 3-year sentence.

Official Information Act figures from the Ministry of Justice show 173 people were granted leave after sentencing in 2013, 222 the following year, and 202 last year. The ministry said the Department of Corrections was responsible for managing offenders once they'd been given a custodial sentence.

ROSS GIBLIN/ FAIRFAX NZ The Mills case caused a needless waste of police resources, Labour's Stuart Nash says.

But to the surprise of some legal experts, neither agency had data on how many of those offenders went on the run.

READ MORE: Police hunt for woman convicted on methamphetamine charges

Retired District Court judge Roy Wade said it was "extraordinary" that nobody knew how many offenders who were granted leave had absconded.

JOHN COWPLAND/ FAIRFAX NZ Taxpayers deserve to have more data on the criminal justice system's successes and failures, Garth McVicar says.

He said he had never deferred the start date for a jail sentence, but presumed there were "pressing personal reasons" for doing so in some cases.

Granting leave effectively invited some offenders to play "cat and mouse" with the system.

The data gap made it hard to tell if the system worked, and judges generally were not given enough feedback on sentencing, he said.

FAIRFAX NZ The absence of data collection is detrimental to better understanding the law, Sir Geoffrey Palmer says.

Under the Sentencing Act, a court may defer the start date of a jail term for up to two months on humanitarian grounds.

Corrections insisted it was not responsible for Mills in the time between sentencing and her no-show at Arohata, but courts or the Justice Ministry were. Corrections had no reason to believe anyone kept track of absconders.

Labour Party police spokesman Stuart Nash said the policy of granting leave was itself questionable, and the "waste of police time" the Mills case caused was also concerning.

"It's a nonsense. If I was the police, I'd be incredibly frustrated."

The absence of available data was "terrible". "Policies and decisions have to be evidence-based."

However, Warren Young, former deputy secretary for justice, said applications for leave were nuanced, so data on how often people absconded might not be meaningful.

"If there was any evidence of a problem, then yes I think it would be [useful] ... I would have to say that one case does not make a problem."

He said deferrals were granted "extremely sparingly, a lot more sparingly than in many other jurisdictions".

Having a seriously ill relative, or vulnerable dependent, could be among reasons for a deferral.

University of Auckland Law School associate professor Bill Hodge said judges ought to have "that extra statistic" before making decisions. He suspected it was rare for people to abscond, but data should be made available.

"ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTING" LACK OF RECORD-KEEPING

Former prime minister Sir Geoffrey Palmer said the issue was one of many provisions in the law "we don't know about" because money was not being spent on gathering data.

Sensible Sentencing Trust founder Garth McVicar said it was "absolutely disgusting" that no agency was keeping or releasing the information.

McVicar said granting leave ostensibly gave "an opportunity for the offender to get their affairs in order", but the data gap limited the public's knowledge of how effective the system was.

Mills was sentenced on 21 charges of drug dealing on April 5.

Judge Ian Mill told the court she needed a medical procedure done that day. It should have been done a week earlier, but it would be inhumane for him not to allow the procedure to go ahead.

She was given until 6pm to present herself at Arohata, but did not turn up.

Police have been approached for comment.
A soldier has described how a superior grabbed him by the testicles then used them to pull him to the ground while talking to a group of recruits about battle techniques.

Staff Sergeant Glen Edward Roberts, 51, faces 13 charges including ill treating a person of a lower rank, common assault, assault of a female and doing an act likely to prejudice service discipline.

He has pleaded not guilty to all charges at a court martial at Linton Military Camp on Monday, day one of a week-long trial.

The incidents were said to have occurred at Waiouru Military Camp between September 22, 2014 and October 24, 2014.

Lieutenant Jonathon Rowe, for the prosecution, said the assaults occurred during basic training at the camp, while Roberts was part of the New Zealand Army physical training corps.

Roberts is alleged to have grasped and pulled the genitals of two male recruits, also striking one in the eye, and striking the genitals of another man.

He is also said to have grabbed two women by the hair, pulling them to the ground and placing his boot on the face of one of the women.

Roberts is also accused of grabbing a female from behind, pulling her to the ground and lying on top of her, then instructing her to grab his genitals, and using a real knife during close quarter battles while demonstrating offensive techniques.

On Monday, a private, who has name suppression, gave evidence that Roberts hit or grabbed his genitals twice during close quarter battle training.

In the first instance, Roberts "softy tapped" him on the genitals, causing him to bend forward. Roberts then put him in a choke hold.

In the second incident, Roberts hit him in the genitals with the back of his hand.

"Staff Sergeant Roberts grabbed my testicles and was talking about vulnerability...at this stage he was still holding my testicles while talking to the class.

"After he finished talking about how it was a vulnerable position, he then pulled me to the ground with my testicles in his hand."

Another private, who also has name suppression, alleged she was chosen to take part in a demonstration by Roberts, who then grabbed her bun and pulled until she dropped to the ground as a demonstration of what could be done to an attacker with long hair.

"He then pulled me along further."

When he finishing dragging her, he put his boot to her face, she said.

Later, in close quarter battle training, Roberts placed a knife on her arm.

"He said, if you don't move, I'll cut you."

She said she was approached by Military Police about the incidents about a year later.

"Being a recruit, I didn't really know what was right and what was wrong," she said.

Defence lawyer Major Steve Taylor applied for name suppression for Roberts, but suppression was declined.

Taylor said Roberts denied all the allegations.

"He denies ill-treatement, he denies assaulting the complainants and he denies the use of a real knife."

A military training instructor, who attended both military and civilian courses with Roberts, described him as a highly competent trainer.

The instructor, who has name suppression, said he would describe Roberts "as top of the class" when they were on courses together.

"I know all the instructors in the New Zealand army, apart from the special forces folk, and he is right up there."

When asked about training protocol, he said hitting someone in the genital region was prohibited not only for the physiological sensation it would evoke, but also the personal privacy of the area.

The only exception he could think of was if an overzealous student had a hold on an instructor and it was the only manner they could release that hold with.

"Depending on the circumstances, it would be something that is expected to be recorded."

He described Roberts a religious man and said he had known him for some time.



The court martial takes place in front of Judge Heemi Taumaunu and a panel of six military members.
Neighbours say they heard loud partying at the Cleland Cres house, left, at the centre of a police investigation after a man was beaten so badly he is said to be unlikely to survive.

The man charged with bashing a party guest within an inch of his life can now be named.

Talosaga Terry David Moreli, 27, is accused of assaulting Jardin Daniel Whanga-Elliott, 21, who is in a critical condition in Wellington Hospital's intensive care unit.

Police have said Whanga-Elliott is unlikely to survive after the 21st birthday party he was at ended with him being chased and attacked in the small hours of Sunday morning.

ROBERT KITCHIN/ FAIRFAX NZ Police combing Seddon Street, where a 21-year-old man was found unconscious, after a large party in a house at intersecting street 30 Cleland Crescent, Naenae.

He was found lying unconscious on the road at 3.27am.

Do you have any information on this incident? Email newstips@stuff.co.nz

Moreli is also charged with assaulting another man, Quentin Jerome Herewini, who police said had minor injuries.

The house in Cleland Cres in the Lower Hutt suburb of Naenae that hosted the 21st party is said to be a regular source of noisy, drunken parties.

Neighbours spoke of partying at all hours at the house, which was at the centre of police activity on Monday afternoon. However, those neighbours refused to give their names, saying it was out of fear.

Police have emphasised there are no gang links to the incident, or to the party house.

Police say the assault happened around the corner from the party house, in Seddon St, although exactly where was unclear.

Charges against Moreli were filed in the Hutt Valley District Court on Monday. It was possible further charges would be laid, police said.

Police understood Whanga-Elliott was chased by a group who were attending the party.

Hutt Valley CIB head Detective Senior Sergeant Glenn Barnett said the victim knew people at the party, and police believed he had attended at some point on Saturday night or early on Sunday morning.

Police were supporting his family. "Our medical advice from the team in there is he is unlikely to survive his injuries.

"Someone at that party will know what's happened. They will know how he's been injured, and we need these people to come forward."

.

A neighbour who did not want to be named said the entire street was in mourning, and rumours were flying. "It's absolutely tragic."

He did not know who lived at the party house but identified it as one of a handful on the street that had frequent drinking spilling out on to the street.

"It's a place where there's lots of music and parties going on," he said. "There are houses in this street that are continually alcohol and partying, alcohol and music, music and alcohol."

Anyone with information on the assault is being urged to contact police in Lower Hutt on 04 560 2600 or provide information anonymously to Crime Stoppers on 0800 555 111.
Poachers looking to claim "a nice set of fallow antlers" shot a trophy stag worth $7000 but failed to haul the animal away.

The trophy stag was shot on a French Rd property on the outskirts of Cambridge.

Stephanie Hulse heard the bang around 6pm on Tuesday , about 40 metres from her house.

EMMA JAMES/FAIRFAX NZ Ewan Hulse saw the offenders drag the body for about 20 metres.

Her husband Ewan Hulse went to investigate, and saw the 113 kilogram (250-pound) animal being dragged towards the gate.

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"It was dark so it was sort of hard to make out but I could tell there was an animal on the ground," he said.

But Ewan Hulse couldn't get to the thieves in time - they had made a run for it.

"I could hear voices, but they must have heard us come through the gate."

He said if the poachers hadn't been interrupted, they would have cut a fence to drag the animal through. It would have been too heavy to lift the fallow stag over the 1.8m fence.

Ewan Hulse has eight breeding stags and about 200 does.

They are bred for hunting at a safari park, which is properly fenced, where people from overseas pay "big money" to come and hunt the animals.

"They would have done it for the antlers because if they wanted meat they would have shot something else. I think they just wanted a nice set of fallow antlers," Hulse said.

It was shot in the stomach, so the head wouldn't be ruined.

Ewan Hulse is one of the only fallow breeders in the Waikato, and only knows of one other in Port Waikato.

"They're not as common as the red deer."

The family has lived on their 32 hectare property for 22 years, and the incident has left them shaken.

"It's left us feeling a bit on edge, I was home alone the other night and I didn't want to be watching TV in case I missed a sound," said their daughter Anna, 21.

"It's quite a small farm, it's not like we have one of those huge stations in the South Island where you wouldn't really notice one or two go missing.

"This is a big deal for us," she said.

She wanted to warn others of the attack so the community could be proactive.

Sergeant Gordon Grantham from the Cambridge Police said if people spot poachers, they must call police immediately.

He said poachers could carry firearms and police would respond if alerted.

"We will ask you to observe and keep us updated on the phone because even if the vehicle leaves, we can find out what direction it's going and that will determine which way we go," he said.

"Patrol cars have been covering the Karapiro/SH1 area lately due to the number of stock thefts in the area."
Phil and Louise Treweek with their daughter Ellen, centre who will be attending Salisbury School.

Phil and Louise Treweek spent two frustrating years trying to get their 15-year-old daughter Ellen into Salisbury School.

Finally, on the family's fifth attempt, they were accepted into the special needs girls' school in Richmond. The following day Education Minister Hekia Parata announced plans to close the school for good.

Phil said that it was upsetting that the ministry had taken away the family's choice about what's best for their daughter.

Ellen has a mild intellectual disability which her parents say affects her ability to learn and socialise in the mainstream school system.

"The education is a plus," he said. "It's the social side and structure that's going to make all the difference for her," Phil said.

It will be the culmination of two years and five attempts by the family to secure a place at the school. They feel the move is essential for their daughter's development and integration into the community.

The Treweeks, who are from Hamilton, were concerned about the impact a potential closure could also have on other children who may fall through the cracks of the education system.

Ellen will become the tenth pupil enrolled at the special needs institution when she starts class in term three.

However, Education Minister Hekia Parata last month announced she had initiated consultation with the school's board over its future, with a proposed closure date of January 27. It was the day after Ellen was accepted into Salisbury.

"The ... boarding school has a long history of educating girls with high and complex needs but the successful implementation of the Intensive Wraparound Service [IWS] has reduced the demand for residential schooling," Parata said.

Parata said since 2011, the roll at Salisbury had fallen from 72 to nine which pushed the per-student cost of educating girls at the school up to $214,909. In comparison, the average cost of providing support through the Intensive Wraparound Service was $27,000.

The IWS programme works with students with "highly complex, challenging behaviour", according to the ministry.

Under the programme a ministry psychologist works with the student, family and teachers to create a plan to support the student at school, at home, and in the community.

However, Phil said Ellen's two years spent trying to get into the IWS framework had been frustrating.

He said Ellen's behavioural difficulties had made home life difficult for the family. This increased their desire to have Ellen receive the 24/7 care through boarding at Salisbury.

The time that went by with four rejected applications to Salisbury could have been better spent in the school, he said.

"She's really good with things like memory, but it's the processing that she struggles with."

Halswell School in Christchurch, a special needs school for boys, is in consultation to become a co-ed school.

However, Phil said this "presented a whole other set of problems" for parents of a teenage daughter.

Despite the news of potential closure Phil and Louise were hopeful that the next two terms spent at Salisbury would bring some benefit for Ellen.

The family visited Nelson over the weekend, where Ellen was given an orientation of her new school surrounds and attended a bonfire under the stars with other students.

Phil has written to more than 20 MPs in the hope of gaining high level support to keep Salisbury's doors open.

Consultation on the proposed closure of the school is set to finish on August 12.

If the decision is made to close Salisbury, the school board will have the opportunity to make further arguments in support of the school staying open.

Salisbury School board of trustees chairman John Kane has called the latest announcement "short sighted" and blamed the IWS programme for the drop in roll.

"From a school averaging 80 students in the years leading up to 2012 to just nine this year shows the sinking lid effect of the IWS.

"Despite our efforts to work positively with the ministry and provide solutions, we have been unable to do anything about our enrolments or enrolment process, which has been altered so that any enrolments are channelled through the IWS."
Proteins, the building blocks of living organisms, are fragile molecules which break easily and must be replaced frequently. The repair and assembly instructions for each type of protein (humans have about 100,000 different types) are stored in every DNA molecule. There are billions of atoms in a single human DNA molecule therefore accessing the correct building instructions efficiently and accurately requires a very well organised library. Regions of DNA that encode for proteins are called genes. Human DNA has about 20,000 genes organised into separate 'filing cabinets', called chromosomes, in the DNA library.

Your DNA has 23 pairs of chromosomes  23 from your mother, 23 from your father. The chromosomes in any pair of 22 of the 23 pairs of chromosomes can be alternative forms of the same gene. The 23rd pair are the sex chromosomes, in humans these determine gender and differ in males and females. If you are female the 23rd pair are X-X and if you are male the 23rd pair is X-Y. Only men have a Y chromosome.

Sexual reproduction is the process by which genetic information in the maternal DNA and paternal DNA mix, not chaotically, but enough to make the offspring DNA different from its parents. This generates variation in the population which ultimately through natural selection, produces offspring better adapted than their predecessors to survive in the ever changing environmental conditions.

Research shows that millions of years ago in ancestral mammals, the two sex chromosomes (X and Y) evolved from a pair of identical chromosomes. In 2002 New Scientist magazine reported that the evolutionary divergence to creatures with two different sex chromosomes occurred about 300 million years ago. However in 2008, a large team of scientists convincingly demonstrated that the divergence must have taken place less than 166m years ago. The key change was when one of the X chromosomes flipped and reinserted upside down, so creating a different chromosome, the Y chromosome.

Initially the Y chromosome participated in the genetic shuffling of maternal and paternal genes that occurs in sexual reproduction. But intrusion of genes into the Y chromosome in this process disrupted their function. As a result evolution favoured mutations that isolated the Y chromosome from this genetic mixing. But the swapping and introduction of corresponding chromosome sections is a very good way to replace damaged genes and prevents the accumulation of non-functioning or parasitic genes. Being isolated, the Y chromosome doesn't benefit from this genetic cleaning process.

Research in 2004 by Jenny Graves of Melbourne University, showed that the Y chromosome of our mammalian ancestors comprised 1438 genes. Today human Y chromosome contains only 19 genes  a mere vestige of its former self. On average, therefore, since divergence 166m years ago, 1419 genes in the Y chromosome have lost their function  that is an alarming 8.5 genes every 1m years. Within about 2m years the Y chromosome could be completely non-functioning. Therefore back in 2004 the scientific view was that males were doomed.

It is thought that one of the reasons for this degeneration is the high mutation rate occurring in the Y chromosome. This occurs because the Y chromosome is passed down through the male line only, via sperm. The sperm cell during the early stages of life frequently replicates so the Y chromosome is often accessed for the building instructions. This gradually damages its molecular structure. However, this might not be the case in primates.

In 2012, New Scientist reported on the Y chromosome, this time on research into rhesus macaques by Jennifer Hughes of the Biomedical Research Institute in Massachusetts. Hughes was able to show that in the 25 million years since the evolutionary tree of humans and macaques branched, only one Y chromosome gene had degenerated out of the 20 left  leaving 19 in human males today. The rate of decline of the Y chromosome was not nearly as dramatic as was first thought  it looked like men were going be around much longer.

Most recently, a species of Japanese rat has been found in which the males have no Y chromosome but whose masculinity is unaffected. Also it has been found that chromosomes other than the X and Y contain sexual determination genes. The current thinking is that Y chromosome genes can appear elsewhere in DNA at any time and that the long-term future of men is safe.

*********************************************************************************************************************************

Dr Roger Hanson is a New Plymouth-based chemical engineer with a PhD from the University of Cambridge.
The South Island is known for being the most beautiful island of the two.

Britain's shock decision to leave the European Union got me thinking about an issue a little closer to home - the North Island versus the South Island.

Now, I'm not proposing we have our own Nexit or Sexit or anything like that. But we Kiwis are parochial types, and there is a tendency to believe that our island is the best island.

Here's the crazy thing - a survey commissioned by the RV Super Centre this year found more Aucklanders have been to Sydney than Queenstown, and more Southlanders have been to Melbourne and the Gold Coast than to the Bay of Islands or Coromandel.

Siobhan Downes A sunset captured from the summit of Mount Maunganui.

When I moved to Wellington four years ago, I was a homesick South Islander convinced that nothing could beat the tussock-clad ridges of Central Otago, or the mighty Southern Alps. But now that I've had a chance to explore more of the North Island, I'm suffering from a bit of an identity crisis. Who knew the Waikato was so beautiful, with its spearmint-green rolling hills? Or just how spectacular it is to witness a sunset from the summit of Mount Maunganui?

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This is my guide to the main differences between the North and South Islands.

Supplied Wellington is full of cozy cafes and craft beer bars.

CITIES

Just over three-quarters of us live in the North Island, so there tends to be a lot more going on. We all know Auckland is the behemoth, while Wellington has made a name for itself as the "coolest little capital". They host festivals and big music names that the South Island often misses out on (even Hamilton is getting the Vengaboys later this year).

But visitors to Christchurch get to see a city reinventing itself, with exciting new pop-ups and gap-filler projects. And Dunedin (disclaimer: I'm from there) is possibly one of New Zealand's most underrated destinations, packed with architectural treasures and home to the ruggedly beautiful Otago Peninsula.

Manurewa Marae.

CULTURE

Driving around the North Island, I'm still fascinated every time I see a marae. The intricately carved wharenui aren't a common sight in the South, where the Maori population is less than 10 per cent.

WEATHER



You can't deny it - the North is definitely warmer than the South, with regions like the Bay of Islands that are even considered subtropical. But every year Blenheim and Whakatane battle it out for the title of the "sunniest town in New Zealand" - and Blenheim currently wears the crown.

AucklandNZ Rangitoto Island is Auckland's largest and youngest volcano.

NATURAL WONDERS

If you like hot things, the North Island is for you. Catch a ferry and go for a hike up Rangitoto Island - Auckland's largest and youngest volcano. Or there's Rotorua, with its bubbling mud pools and explosive geysers. For an even more alien landscape, head to Craters of the Moon in Taupo, a geothermal walkway full of gurgling craters and steaming vents.

For cold things, head south. You'll find two of the world's best skifields in Queenstown (Coronet Peak and The Remarkables are members of the global Mountain Collective). And the West Coast is home to two massive ice blocks - Franz Josef and Fox Glacier. These are some of the most accessible glaciers on Earth.

NZSki Coronet Peak is one of the best ski areas in the world.

ADVENTURE

The South Island contains the "adventure capital of the world", Queenstown, as well as nine of the country's 14 national parks. The South Island also has more cycle trails than the North, from the original great ride, the Otago Central Rail Trail, to the new West Coast Wilderness Trail. On the Hawke's Bay Trail in the North Island you get to stop at wineries along the way, though - so I'll give it extra points for that.

WILDLIFE



On my recent North Island road trip, I saw more herds of grazing cows than I've ever seen in my life. Turns out, 60 per cent of New Zealand's cows call the North Island home. But the South Island has about a million more sheep than the North Island.

JOHN BISSET/ STUFF Timaru mayor Damon Odey with a giant cheese roll.

FOOD

My biggest gripe about the North Island: Why does no one here make cheese rolls?

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When visiting a new country, there are often local customs that can come as a shock to travellers.

For example, foreigners in Greece should be aware that some toilets don't allow you to flush paper down them, due to poor sewage systems, and in Canada it is common for milk to be stored in a bag.

A handy infographic reveals some of the biggest culture shocks and how to avoid looking out of place when abroad.

When visiting a new country, there are often local customs that can come as a shock to travellers.

A handy infographic reveals some of the biggest culture shocks and how to avoid looking out of place when abroad.

The Fly to Dubai infographic includes a helpful tip that in some Asian countries such as China, it is rude to finish all the food on your plate when being hosted.

In China this signals that you want more food or are dissatisfied with the amount you have received.

Did you know that in Canada it is common for milk to be stored and transported in a bag?

Those intent on boarding a train in India should be prepared for the hustle that is required to secure a coveted spot on board.

While some cultures are accustomed to not leaving extra money at the end of a meal, those in America are advised that you are expected to fork out a tip for just about everything.

This can include a 15 to 25 per cent markup on top of meals, but also a payment in bars, hotels and even to toilet attendants.

On the other side of the pond, an important principle to adhere to in England is the golden rule of queuing; do it with style and grace. Cutting in won't make you any friends.

An important principle to adhere to in England is the golden rule of queuing; do it with style and grace. Cutting in won't make you any friends.

The Fly to Dubai inforgrpahic includes a helpful tip that in the Czech Republic, people typically don't talk to strangers, even when they are drunk.
Puzzled about puzzles? Visit Piece by piece going on and on By Kaveesha Fernando View(s): View(s):

Jigsaw puzzles have fascinated people for centuries. How these tiny pieces fit together to form a wonderfully intricate mosaic picture intrigues and engages us. Jigsaws, and the fascination they exert have certainly engaged Nanda Wijesekara who is now ready to exhibit her puzzles for the third time.

If you feel that a jigsaw puzzle exhibition is rather unconventional, then you are not alone. Nanda says that most people cannot understand the concept of a jigsaw puzzle exhibition until they actually see her framed puzzles. I feel that the best way to understand this is if you actually come and see it, she says.

A former teacher, Nanda retired from teaching when her husband received a scholarship to study in England and the family migrated with him. Upon returning to Sri Lanka, she began making costumes until her eyesight deteriorated. Friends who knew of her love for jigsaw puzzles began sending her puzzles from abroad and she began what is now a full time occupation. I dont feel the time pass, says Nanda, who often starts doing her puzzles at 9 a.m. and continues till almost 3 p.m.  sometimes even forgetting to stop for lunch!

A 1000-piece puzzle takes her 2-3 days on average and she has whittled down the process to a science. No puzzle is too daunting Nanda often uses bottle caps as markers and yoghurt cups to sort out the different pieces. She feels that the most difficult part of an elaborate puzzle is sorting out the pieces. After you sort them out then everything else falls into place and its very easy to make the rest of the puzzle, she says.

The two most interesting puzzles Nanda has made are now quite famous to anyone who knows her work. The first is a colossal 9120-piece puzzle which is an exact replica of A New Map of the Entire World 1611 by the famous Dutch cartographer Pieter van den Keere. The puzzle was a gift from her son and daughter- in-law. They thought this would keep me occupied for a few years but it only took me a matter of weeks to finish, she laughs.

In order to understand the complexity of the other one, you must first understand how jigsaw puzzles are made. Puzzles are made by cutting the cardboard length and breadthwise, rendering the other side of the puzzle flat. This double sided puzzle, which is called the Worlds most difficult puzzle has been made by cutting one side lengthwise and the other side breadthwise. It is impossible to know the sides of the pieces because neither side is flat. Sounds complicated? The pattern on the puzzle is of smarties which have been placed differently on the two sides. This puzzle has clearly carved a special place in Nandas heart.

As a former teacher Nanda still takes a special interest in children. She describes how her grandchildren like joining in and helping her with her puzzles. They are so fast  sometimes they come and see the pieces which I have missed out and tell me where to put them, says Nanda. It was a question asked by her young grandson, Nilesh, which actually brought about the exhibition. I usually store my finished puzzles under my mattress. Once, Nilesh saw the puzzles and asked me what I plan to do with them. I replied that I was going to have an exhibition and since then he kept asking me. Piece by piece  keep it going, her first exhibition, was followed by Piece by piece  still going and now Piece by piece  going on and on.

All proceeds from selling the jigsaws exhibited also go towards helping children  Nanda buys something for the children at the Lady Ridgeway Hospital with the proceeds. She doesnt believe in donating the money which may go towards constructing new buildings but instead, I buy things which the children themselves can benefit from such as a TV and DVDs, she says.

Nanda has just one regret. I wish I could have organised a jigsaw puzzle competition for children so that I could promote this hobby among them, she says. As a former teacher she feels children should be introduced to the magic of jigsaw puzzles but lack of a sponsor to hold a competition has been a stumbling block. She hopes that she will somehow achieve this goal.

Piece by piece  going on and on will be held on July 8,9 and 10 at the Lionel Wendt Gallery. Anyone interested in contacting Nanda to help her organise a jigsaw puzzle exhibition can do so on 011-2717499.
Fragile states index: Whither Sri Lanka? View(s):

In 2015, long-simmering crises crossed borders, even continents, in a reminder that it takes very little for regional instability to go global.

This is particularly true when those who are caught in the fray of violence will stop at little to save themselves and their families. Turmoil from Syria to Nigeria spiraled outward last year, leading to unexpected consequences sometimes thousands of miles away from their point of origin.

For 12 years, the Fragile States Index (FSI), created by the Fund for Peace and published by Foreign Policy, has taken stock of the years events, using 12 social, economic, and political indicators to analyze how wars, peace accords, environmental calamities, and political movements have pushed countries toward stability or closer to the brink of collapse. The index then ranks the countries accordingly, from most fragile to least.

And in terms of the countries that became more fragile this year, there were perhaps few surprises. The Syrian civil war has been roiling the Middle East since 2011. But in 2015, spillover from the chaos finally hit Europe in the form of more than 1 million asylum-seekers who flooded into the continent. Their arrival sent Europe into a panic  and some previously stable countries were sent sliding up the ranks of the index.

Hungary and the other central European countries that line the so-called Balkan route from the Middle East to Europe saw a xenophobic backlash, often stoked by their own politicians, raising growing concerns about the state of human rights in these countries. The migrant crisis also played a role in the United Kingdoms referendum on whether to leave the European Union. Those advocating that Britain go it alone often cited concerns about migration and the need for Britain to maintain control of its own borders. On June 23, in a stunning turn of events, the country voted to leave the European Union, sending global markets into a nosedive and leading to the resignation of Prime Minister David Cameron.

In West Africa, the Boko Haram insurgency has taken its toll across a wide swath of countries. Chad, Cameroon, and Niger last year saw their share of violence, and also of refugees fleeing the violence. Niger and Cameroon each hosted more than 100,000 people displaced by the Boko Haram insurgency by the end of the year  a reminder that, while news about the migration crisis in Europe makes headlines, the countries that bear most of the burden for hosting those displaced by instability are often the ones next door.

One bright spot in the index was long-suffering Sri Lanka: Sri Lankans in 2015 elected a reformist as their new prime minister, who has kicked off his tenure with measures to help soothe the countrys war wounds and speed ethnic reconciliation, making it this years most improved state.

Heres how Fund for Peace saw how Sri Lanka changed in 2015:

SRI LANKA: MOVING AWAY FROM THE SHADOWS OF WAR

For Sri Lankans, 2015 began with a presidential election and hence a choice: to re-elect Mahinda Rajapaksa, the mercurial and nepotistic leader who put a bloody end to the countrys 26-year civil war in 2009, or to vote for Maithripala Sirisena, the self-effacing health minister, who  as J.S. Tissainayagam described in a January 2015 article  promised to transform Sri Lanka from a near autocracy into a democracy.

Its likely that Sirisenas surprise victory  just several months earlier, he had been a loyal member of Rajapaksas government  and his modest but important steps toward healing the nations war wounds are in large part why the island nation is this years most improved country on the Fragile States 2016 Index, moving nine spots in the rankings, from 34 to 43 in 2016.

Sri Lankas success this year is largely due to Sirisenas victory, coupled with a reduction in natural disasters (devastating floods regularly hit the country; in 2011, incessant rains made homeless 200,000 people, or roughly 1 percent of Sri Lankas population). Since taking office, Sirisena has pushed for a new constitution that limits the power of the presidents office and put his country on the path to ethnic reconciliation. He has more successfully integrated the minority Tamils  the losers of the civil war  into the government and worked to create a special court to prosecute human rights abuses committed during the war. In a nutshell, Sirisenas policies channel the Sri Lankan peoples desire for equality and integration; and his success in meeting the electorates needs is reflected in the countrys legitimacy score, which improved by 0.6 points from last year.

Despite its notable shift in this years rankings, Sri Lanka still falls in the High Warning category  and its score remains a worrying 87.7. And while the country has improved on most indicators over the past five years, the outlook for the Group Grievance and Human Rights categories, with scores of 9.2 and 8.5 respectively, remains especially concerning.

And while Sirisena has led his country on a path toward a more balanced form of government, the Fund views his administrations tendency to reject outside support as a cause for concern. Sirisena, for example, has refused to allow international oversight for his human rights court. In response to the U.N.s call for an investigation by foreign judges into abuses committed during the war, Sirisena responded that he would never agree to international involvement in this matter.

Still Sirisena and his people deserve credit for the countrys improvements over 2015. Though as Tissainayagam observed after Sirisenas election, his country still faced many challenges  ethnic unity, corruption, and government reform, among others. For the time being, he wrote, Sri Lanka still needs to hold the champagne.

Courtesy Foreign Policy
Links between Sri Lanka,India and economic diplomacy By Satharathilaka Banda Atugoda View(s): View(s):

The Bandaranaike Centre for International Studies seminar on Sri Lanka-India Relations on 16th June, generated perhaps, a re-think on our age-old links with Jambudhweepa. It coincided with Poson Poya and the sacred month of Poson when Thambapanni and Jambudhweepa built a firm foundation for future relations with the meeting of the most venerable Arahant Mahinda and King Devanam Piyatissa, in the holy precincts of Mihintale. The whole gamut of the political, cultural, economic and social relations between the two lands received a resurgence with this meeting, there were more ancient links extending beyond this historic meeting as evidenced by edicts, epigraphy and documentation, like the advent of Vijaya and his meeting with Queen Kuveni. That picturesque past about which we boast was strengthened by this sacred encounter that led to fruitful reciprocal benefits for both lands in later history.

Some of them were of a long-standing nature and the Buddhist doctrine was the most beneficial and important to Lanka. The Buddhist states of northern Jambudhweepa had a special relationship with Lanka which exists even to this day. The tensions that arose in the late centuries were brought to compromising conclusions based on the common doctrine followed by both lands; King Elaras rule although foreign in a sense, concluded with a respect for common bonds based on the doctrine. Even Dutugemunu respected Elara although vanquished by him when he united Lanka in the name of the doctrine. His famous exhortation, This exercise of mine is not for enjoying the bliss of kingship but for the perpetuity of the Buddha Dharma in this hallowed land, encapsulates the spirit that runs in the veins of Lankas existence. The doctrine united Lanka in all its facets and Lankas relations with Bharat went from strength to strength.

In later centuries the invasions from the Southern Indian States however led Lanka to shift the capital from Anuradhapura to Polonnaruwa, Dambadeniya, Yapahuwa, Kurunegala, in the Northern plains, and later to the hills, Gampola, Maha Nuwara and the South West to Kotte, Raigama and Sitawaka. The invasions from South India were from the Cholas, Cheras, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. This phenomenon was understandable as they were of a different cultural blend based on Dravidianism which also had a long history. Historians record that these invasions of Sena, Guththika and Magha were from the Kingdoms of South India. They had links it is believed to the Dravidian cultures of Mohenjo-daro and Harappa. Although shrouded in legend and mystery they descend from a culture different from the people of North India. What is relevant is that Bharat, Jambudhweepa or present India consists of varied racial stocks, predominantly Dravidian and Aryan. The latter settled in the north, and the former in the south. In different historical times, and these were independent kingdoms. They united through conquests or the uniformity of ethnic, religious or geographical proximity. Lanka had relations with these states and also the states of the North. The latter relationship was friendly based on commonality of the cultures and the former had strains due to issues or due to kings of Lanka being of the same ethnic stock of the North. The descendents of the South Indian kingdoms settled mainly in northern Lanka and the history of Sri Lanka talks of their moving settlements at different times. Lanka had to develop good-neighbourly relations with South India due to its proximity and the smallness of the Island with an ethnic group also related to South India. This vicissitudes of strains of links continue to the present day.

Recent history: When Indian States unified under one administration following the British rule and the partition of India into India and Pakistan was based once again on religion, ethnicity and broadly culture, they faced the task of binding and strengthening the territorial integrity of the countrys land which is a sub-continent. It was in this equation that India built her relationship with her neighbours of South Asia. Sri Lanka too fell into this framework but with a special respect for the age-old links. This was so as the rulers of India were mainly from the region where the Buddha trod or the Hindi-belt as it is presently called.

At independence India had all her neighbours contiguous, except Sri Lanka and the Maldives which were Islands and position and size wise non-confrontational. After the partition of India in 1947, it concluded treaties of peace and friendship with Nepal and Bhutan and with the treaty with Sikkhim, India replaced Britain and made it a protectorate of India popularly known as Sikkhimisation. India secured her borders except with China. She signed a friendship treaty with the then Soviet Union in the cold-war geo-political background. Partially secure but for the Kashmir problem she concentrated on national development. The neighbouring countries too in the post-independence period were more engaged in national reconstruction. The issues whichever, arose only when national interests of neighbours impinged on the national and strategic interests of India. This was true for Sri Lanka too.

The issues that the two countries faced since Independence were settled or semi-settled perhaps in this spirit of mutual understanding. The major political issues faced were the ethnic problem which later developed in to a terrorist problem, the citizenship issue of the Indians of recent origin, Kachchativu Islands, demarcation of the maritime boundary and the fishing rights of both countries in the national maritime boundaries.

The maritime boundary was demarcated according to the international covenants and the islands in Sri Lankas territorial waters were included in her territory. Kachchativu was one such Island. It had a historic christian church where both Sri Lankan and Indian christians pay homage and a festival is being held annually. This was in the Sri Lankan territorial waters and the Sirima-Shastri Pact concluded it is Sri Lankas territory and there was no dispute since then. The fishing by Indian trawlers became an issue and it too was resolved with the Central Government of India. Unlike with other South Asian neighbours Sri Lanka does not have any issues relating to borders.

Indian citizens of recent origin did not have voting rights initially in 1947 as they were considered indentured manpower brought from India to work in the coffee and tea plantations in the highlands of Sri Lanka by the British. This problem which was being taken up by successive governments of the two countries was gradually taken care of by India accepting the population of recent immigration and Sri Lanka accepting the residue. It was also during the Sirima-Shastri period and Sirima-Indira Gandhi period that the bulk of the issue was settled.

Another major issue between the two countries was the illegal immigration from Southern India to Sri Lanka. There was established a task force for curbing this immigration called TAFFAI. This issue existed till the 1970s and it too got partially resolved as stricter measures were taken by successive administrations.

The Indian boats fishing Sri Lankas abundant fishing wealth was not settled and continues to this day, perhaps mainly due to the obduracy of the Tamil Nadu Government.

The most intricate problem that existed for decades was the terrorist problem of Sri Lanka in which India had differing postures, a silent onlooker, a provider of training and equipment to terrorists, an interventionist, a mediator, peace keeper and a watchful neighbour of events unfolding. As in the case of other bi-lateral issues the main culprit enlivening the terror on Sri Lanka was the State of the Tamil Nadu. Our readership is conversant with events from the 1970s to 2009, when the LTTE was being groomed by the State of Tamil Nadu which resulted in a loss of thousands of innocent lives. This article, due to space constraints will focus only on the main eras of development.

From the 1960s Tamil Nadu was advancing the Dravidian consciousness and was professing a Dravidian empire encompassing South Asian Dravidians and South East Asian Dravidians on the premise that the Dravidians although vast in numbers were dispersed in many lands that they should be brought under one flag and a State carved out for them. In the 1970 s and 1980s a journal called Tamil Times carried articles on this Tamil consciousness. The contributors were very recognized Tamil academics and this doctrine was the basis on which Sri Lankas Eelam concept was built. This thesis propounded that the countries in which Tamilians live are powerful States and hence the territory to be the centre of a nation should be at the weakest link in the whole spectrum which is Sri Lanka. In fact Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam propounded a separate Tamil nation at the initial stages but it failed due to the strength of the Indian nation. Periyar, who headed this movement had to see the forces disintegrating and many parties were formed AIADMK, ADMK, DMK etc.

The events unfolding in Sri Lanka like the 1983 riots, added fodder to the Eelam fire. India at that time was making overtures to Government to grant devolution and more powers while training the militants in Tamil Nadu. By the end of the 1980s India got involved as mediators and the famous or infamous 1987 July accord was signed. Terrorism was fully entrenched and the LTTE became the dominant terrorist outfit. Sri Lanka under successive leaders was trying to contain terrorism, while the LTTE assassinated Ministers, army heads, civilians and were in no mood to give-up. J.N. Dixit in his book Assignment Colombo describes Indias role to settle the problem as it was affecting India too. Ministers Lalith Athulathmudali, Gamini Dissanayake and President Premadasa were assassinated and Premier Rajiv Gandhi too was killed by a suicide-bomber. Varied overtures at peace failed which ultimately led President Mahinda Rajapaksa and his team to wage an offensive which saved Sri Lanka. India at the later stages did not interfere and Sri Lanka-India relations rolled onto a new beginning.

New Issues:

The post-2009 period has marked solutions to some bilateral issues, and some have been partially resolved. However the issues that had been resolved are being brought to the fore by the Tamil Nadu Government. The new biliteralism is based on the new thinking of the Governments which have taken office in both countries, the fact that major irritants have been resolved like the terrorist problem, the geo-political cold-war scenario had diminished, the dominant-regional position of India has been recognised, the emergence of economic diplomacy to prominence in place of political diplomacy and the fact that both countries have realised that the major irritants arise due to the obduracy of neighbouring Tamil Nadu in dealing with Sri Lanka.

The Kachchativu islands ownership has been rightly granted to Sri Lanka by an international treaty. Even the supreme court of India has determined that the agreement is non-revocable. Yet Chief Minister Jayalalitha makes exhortations that she will force a revocation of the agreement. This attitude confirms that widely held view, that it is the Tamil Nadu Government which sours the bilateral links between the two countries. In fact at the Bandaranaike Centre for International Relations seminar this adverse role played by the Chief Minister was emphasized by the panel of experts.

The fishermen of Tamil Nadu continue to encroach on Sri Lankan fishing grounds and this too has the sympathy of the Chief Minister. It is a matter for the Central Government of India to resolve amicably with the Sri Lanka Government.

The Sri Lankan refugees living in Tamil Nadu are welcome to return and the Tamil Nadu Government should facilitate their smooth return. The difficulties they encounter in their childrens education, temporary residential facilities in Tamil Nadu are not livable and the Sri Lanka government is ready to accept them in their habitat. This should not be made a bilateral issue between India and Sri Lanka.

There are negotiations on trade agreements between the two countries in which reservations have been made by professional groups in Sri Lanka. It is the responsibility of our policy makers to smoothen the safe passage of these vital negotiations.

Economic ventures like the Sampur Power Generating Project have already been delayed and the relevant concerns should be addressed to commence the plant as had been argued at the seminar.

More importantly dealing with Tamil Nadu is a responsibility vested with the Central Government of Sri Lanka with the approval of the Central Government of India. It is not a responsibility of any of the Provincial Councils of Sri Lanka. There were media reports that the Chief Minister of the Northern Province has approached the Tamil Nadu Government on certain issues. If these reports are correct it could be the start of another period of unrest instigated from within the Sovereign State of Sri Lanka. The Tamil Nadu state administration has no legal right to deal with a Provincial Administration. Such overtures go contrary to all major constitutional and diplomatic ethics and norms.

It is the bounden duty of Sri Lankan Government to ensure that this thrice blessed land will continue with the peace that has dawned and not allow interested parties to scuttle the developing good relations between Sri Lanka and India.

(The writer was an Ambassador and Deputy High Commissioner to India.)
Tax and debt crisis of the Yahapalana Government View(s):

The following is the text of a speech by former President Mahinda Rajapaksa on the Tax and debt crisis of the yahapalana government. The speech was delivered at the Battaramulla office of the Joint Opposition on Wednesday 29 June.

Venerable members of the Maha Sangha, clergymen of other religions, Members of Parliament, and distinguished guests,

It can be seen that the increase in the Value Added Tax has run into a great deal of opposition countrywide. Owners of small and medium businesses and traders in many towns have come out onto the streets against this tax hike with the support of the general public. The Government tried to justify their tax increases by placing advertisements in all media stating that this tax increase is necessary to pay off the loans taken by my government. I thought it is only right that I explain to the people what has really caused this situation. The amount of debt that a country can take on depends on our capacity to pay back the loans as they become due. My government always ensured that borrowing was kept within manageable limits. Treasury reports reveal that during the last seven years of my administration, foreign loan repayments (principal plus interest) that came due each year were as follows:

2008  1.4 billion USD

2009  1.3 billion USD

2010  1.2 billion USD

2011  1.5 billion USD

2012  2.2 billion USD

2013  2.4 billion USD

2014  2.2 billion USD

These were not excessive amounts that could not be met. Furthermore it should be borne in mind that my government did not take loans for consumption. We obtained loans to carry out the war against terrorism and to develop infrastructure which can be used by our people for decades if not centuries. What we have built can be seen all over the country. Leaders of this government are still opening only the projects that my government commenced. One minister publicly acknowledged this fact recently. Whenever we took out any loans for a project, it was done carefully in a planned manner which is why we never had to contend with an unmanageable piling up of debt.

However, since January last year, the present Government has been on a reckless borrowing binge. They have borrowed 2.3 billion USD from India in the form of currency swaps on three occasions in March 2015, October 2015 and March 2016. Then they have borrowed 2.15 billion USD through sovereign bond issues in May and October 2015 and a further 3.1 billion USD through Sri Lanka Development Bond issues between March 2015 and June 2016. The total foreign loans taken by the yahapalana Government now amounts to 7.7 billion USD. No less than 3.3 billion USD of this falls due for payment before the end of 2016.

Some of these dues such as the 1.1 billion USD six month currency swap from India have already been paid as have some of the short-term Sri Lanka Development Bonds that were issued last year. Yet there is much more to be paid off before the end of this year. All this is over and above the loans taken by previous governments which also have to be repaid. The loans taken by previous governments are not a reference to the loans taken only by my government. Long term loans taken even during the J.R. Jayewardene era are still being repaid. Every government pays the debts of the governments that preceded it. After being elected into office in 2005, I too paid the debts taken by previous governments.

Warnings from rating agencies

Reckless borrowing by the present Government is the main reason why Sri Lanka was given negative outlook categorisations this year by Moodys, Fitch and Standard & Poor  the three top international credit rating agencies. All three ratings agencies had cited the huge liabilities coming due for payment before the end of this year as the main reason for their decision to downgrade Sri Lanka. Standard and Poors not only gave us a negative outlook categorisation but also warned that in the coming three years, the debt burden would increase further. They also warned that if there was no improvement in the situation, a further downgrade may follow.

In this situation, the Government obtained a loan of 1.5 billion USD from the IMF. When the IMF gives a loan to a country, they also impose conditions that are meant to create an environment where the recipient country would be able to pay back the loan taken. As a result of this, when a country enters into a programme with the IMF, the standing of that country in the credit market improves.

However, even after the IMF decided to give Sri Lanka a loan, both Fitch and Moodys issued press statements saying that they were not confident about the capacity of the Sri Lankan Government to meet the targets set by the IMF. Moodys stated that Sri Lankas needs will not be met by the IMF loan and that they expected the debt burden to increase further this year and the next. In June this year the IMF executive board approved the loan to Sri Lanka and the first tranche of 168 million USD was also received. It was after the IMF money started coming in that Moodys gave Sri Lanka a negative outlook categorisation on 20 June. Experts say this is the only known instance when even acceptance into an IMF programme has failed to bolster market confidence in a country. Having given us a negative outlook categorisation, Moodys went to the extent of warning that a further downgrading of Sri Lanka may take place if the situation does not improve. Even though entry into an IMF programme usually bolsters confidence in that country, the moves made by the Yahapalana Government to use the IMF programme as a cover to borrow more and more, seems to have unnerved the ratings agencies. The task of ratings agencies is to inform the markets about the creditworthiness of those taking loans so that the lenders can make an informed decision.

We have thus far been talking only of foreign debt, but domestic debt too has increased by 16% (Rs. 681 billion) from Rs. 4,278 billion at the end of 2014 to Rs. 4,959 by the end of 2015. This was the highest yearly increase in domestic debt since independence. The Auditor General too has revealed that the loans taken in 2015 were nearly double the borrowing limit mandated by parliament. Despite all these borrowings, the Government has not started a single development project. When the contracts that my government signed are completed, leaders of this Government go for the opening ceremonies. There isnt a single development project that has been initiated by this Government. Yet they obtain loans as no government has done before. We did not get indebted like this even during the war.

Living on borrowed money

The present Government is using borrowed money for day to day expenses. They won the 2015 presidential election by uttering lies and making false accusations against me and my government. Because they could not win the 2015 August parliamentary elections using the same tactics, they practised a different kind of deception by giving people large salary increases and tax concessions that the economy could not sustain. They never told the people that it is the people themselves who will ultimately have to pay for all this election related largesse. They told the people that the Rajapaksas could have given all those concessions but they had used the money for the comfort of the ruling elite instead. They told the people that now that the wasteful Rajapaksas had been ousted, it was possible to give various concessions to the people. Because they could not increase taxes immediately to raise the income to meet the additional expenditure, they began to borrow money to fulfill their pledges.

You can live on credit for a number of months. But at a certain point the credit markets begin to get nervous. It is at that point that the Government approached the IMF. The IMF gives a programme of action along with the loan. The first thing they would tell you is to start collecting the money to repay all the loans you took. The IMF tranches are released only after reviewing progress on the implementation of their conditions. Then we see VAT being increased and the application of the NBT being broadened to increase government revenue. This creates an anomalous situation in Sri Lanka. Over the past eighteen months, the global prices of milk food, wheat flour, sugar, crude oil, steel, cement and virtually everything that we import have declined precipitously. But because of the yahapalana taxes, the prices of these goods have been increasing only in Sri Lanka. This is why I called on the people of Sri Lanka to rise up as one against these tax increases, a few days before May Day this year.

Now the Government is looking for more ways to tax the people. They have announced that a capital gains tax will be introduced in the coming weeks on the grounds that people accumulated a lot of wealth in the recent past and that this should be taxed.

It is ironic that while insisting that I ruined the economy, this Government says in the same breath that people earned a lot of wealth during my tenure which has to be taxed. When ordinary people hear the phrase capital gains tax they may assume that this is a tax levied only on rich people who own capital.

But what is meant by capital in this case is property owned by anybody. If a farmer, labourer or schoolteacher disposes of his land or house, he will have to pay a tax on the difference between the price at which he bought it and the price at which he sold it. The capital gains tax is no less objectionable than the VAT and NBT increase.

Today the Government sees the whole nation as a cow to be milked to sustain themselves. They clearly showed where their priorities lie by presenting a supplementary estimate to parliament to buy expensive luxury vehicles for ministers right in the middle of the unprecedented floods, landslides and manmade disasters that befell the country in the past several weeks. Now a new danger has manifested itself. Using the credentials provided by the IMF programme, the Government has made hasty arrangements to take a syndicated loan of up to 3.5 billion USD facilitated by a consortium of five banks including HSBC, Citibank and Credit Suisse. This would have been a factor causing concern to the credit ratings agencies as well. According to the Sunday Times, the Attorney General has objected to certain clauses in the relevant agreement where the loan can be cancelled and the Sri Lankan Government required to pay back the entire loan upon the occurrence of certain events.

Such clauses are introduced to give the creditor priority over all other creditors. The banks in the consortium can transfer all their rights to other banks and whoever owns the debt will be entitled to cancel the loan and demand immediate repayment upon the occurrence of certain events.

As reported by the Sunday Times, the Attorney General has pointed out that if this loan is recalled, and the Government is unable to pay the loan in full, it will automatically trigger default provisions in other loan agreements as well, making those loans also payable in full immediately. At this moment, the Government is desperate enough to agree to any condition to get their hands on some money.

I earnestly request the Government to table this loan agreement along with the Attorney Generals observations before parliament. The legislature needs to be informed about the financial management of the country at this critical moment.

This is a country that has gone through 30 years of civil war and two insurgencies in the south. We have even had foreign armies on our soil. Yet we have never faced a crisis as acute as the one created by the reckless borrowing of the yahapalana Government. The people of this country should be aware of the situation that is developing.
BEIJING, July 4 -- UN Secretary-general Ban Ki-moon will visit China from Wednesday to Sunday, the Foreign Ministry announced on Monday.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, Premier Li Keqiang, State Councilor Yang Jiechi and Foreign Minister Wang Yi will each hold meetings or talks with the secretary-general, Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei told a daily press briefing.

China hopes to take the opportunity presented by Ban's visit to improve cooperation with the UN, he said.

China will work with UN members to contribute to international relations with cooperation and mutual benefit as their core values, he added.

During his stay in China, Ban will attend the 10th anniversary of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and visit the training base of China's UN peacekeeping helicopter detachment and a 999 emergency rescue center in Beijing.

Ban will also visit Hangzhou and Suzhou in southern China.
UPDATED 10.45PM: A handful of Mount Maunganui residents were forced to evacuate their homes following a gas leak this morning.

Girven Road, between Grenada and Korowai streets, was cordoned off by police to allow fire crews and Powerco contractors to isolate the gas main which was ruptured at about 9am.

Northern Fire Communications shift manager Scott Osmond says two appliances from the Mount and Tauranga stations were dispatched to the scene, but adds the Hazmat unit was not required.

There were some evacuations but everything is returning to normal as we speak, he says.

The gas company is in attendance and have since isolated the leak.

At this stage Scott was unable to confirm what caused the gas main to rupture this morning and there has been no reports of anyone being injured.

EARLIER:

Cordons are in place as emergency services deal with a gas leak on Girven Road.

A reporter at the scene says the leak is near the Golden Grove Holiday park.

SunLive understands a gas pipe has been struck in the area and the gas contractors are on the scene, working to repair the fault.

We will bring you more information as soon as its available.

At the scene?

Call 0800 SUNLIVE or email photos to newsroom@thesun.co.nz
Police investigating the record seizure of cocaine found in a diamante horse head would like to identify and speak to a man who may be able to help them in their investigation.

The man was seen on CCTV footage leaving a central Auckland hotel near Albert Street, Auckland at 4pm on Friday.
This week is Maori Language Week  and amid events organised by Police staff this week to celebrate Aotearoas first language, one project has led a senior officer on a trip down memory lane.

As a child, Inspector Hirone Waretini  Canterbury District Maori Responsiveness Manager - was an aspiring actor. At the age of 11 he trod the boards at Aucklands Mercury Theatre in The King and I, alongside famed Maori actor George Henare.

George played the role of the King and I played his son, the Crown Prince, says Hirone. For three months or so, George was essentially my other dad.

Fast forward to 2016 and Hirone was thinking about producing a series of short videos for social media to mark Te Wiki o Te Reo Maori.

As luck would have it, George happened to be in Christchurch, performing in Educating Rita at the Court Theatre, says Hirone.

I thought there was a tremendous opportunity to create a lasting relationship with the theatre, to obtain some footage to support the week and to reconnect after 33 years with George.

Hirone did indeed catch up with his former stage father and recorded a brief Te Reo message on his Police iPhone before George flew out to take a role in Aladdin in Sydney.

This very small idea has achieved a lot already, says Hirone.

There are some really exciting opportunities to connect the theatre to our Maori, Pacific and ethnic communities and vice versa and to discover potential avenues of employment and education for our young people.

The arts are a great way for communities to express whats important to them.

It just shows how amazing New Zealand Police is that we can do this type of thing to benefit our organisation, our communities and to give life to our value of Commitment to Maori and the Treaty.

SOURCE: New Zealand Police
Bay of Plenty Police will be ramping up its efforts to curb the rising number of burglaries being committed across the region.

Figures recently released by Statistics New Zealand show there were 6042 cases of burglaries, unlawful entry with intent, and break and enter across the region during the 2015/16 financial year to May.
Tauranga is at the head of the queue when it comes to taking up the governments $1 billion housing offer, says Prime Minister John Key.

Speaking on Newshubs Paul Henry show, John Key says the money is intended for the five double-digit growth areas including Queenstown and Tauranga.
After having their irrevocable offer accepted, the Palumbo Group - who recently announced the acquisition of their fifth shipyard in Tenerife - will now prepare to reopen the ISA Yachts shipyard in Ancona.

Successfully providing the go-ahead for all production and collateral activities at the ISA Yachts yard is a primary focus for the group, who is adding the ISA style to their portfolio of new-build and refit services.

Existing new-build services include a line of custom superyachts under the Columbus Yachts brand, which will now be joined by the ISA yachts Custom and Granturismo ranges.

The Palumbo Group has expanded rapidly over their 50 year history, with shipyards in Malta, Marseille, Messina, Naples, Tenerife and now Ancona.
A series of joint anti-terror exercises were launched Sunday with the participation of the Chinese People's Armed Police Force (CAPF) and Russia's newly-formed National Guard in suburb of Moscow.

Major General Qin Tian, chief of staff of Chinese Armed Police Force and Sergei Chenchik, chief of staff of the Russian National Guard, attended the launching ceremony.

The special drills are being held from July 3 to July 14 in Russia's Moscow and Smolensk regions. China's Snow Leopard and Falcon commando units, as well as the Russian National Guard's Vityaz unit, are participating in the exercises.

Liu Zhijun, deputy director of the CAPF's Exercises Department, said this is the third time for the two countries' interior forces to hold such exercises, which center on tactical skills in combating terrorism to boost practical cooperation between the forces of both sides.

Sergei Chenchik, chief of staff of the Russian National Guard, spoke highly of the discipline of the CAPF, saying Russia is ready to launch a new stage of cooperation with China and to carry out common tasks based on the two countries' comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination.
Baku, Azerbaijan, July 4

By Anvar Mammadov  Trend:

The Central Bank of Azerbaijan (CBA) will attract funds from other banks of the country placed in form of deposits at an auction for the second time July 4, said CBA in a message posted on its website.

Thus, Azerbaijani banks will be able to augment their funds with the help of the CBA at the auction which will take place on the Bloomberg trading platform.

The amount of the funds the CBA is willing to accept from the country's banks is 50 million manats.

The interest of the deposits other banks will place in the CBA for one months period will vary between 4.01 percent and 6.99 percent.
The Indian River County courthouse. (FILE PHOTO)

By Will Greenlee of TCPalm

Visitors to the Indian River County courthouse likely will no longer be greeted at metal detectors by two security guards who work for G4S, the business that employed Orlando mass shooter and Fort Pierce resident Omar Mateen.

But in St. Lucie County, where the Sheriff's Office contracts for seven armed G4S guards, the situation appears less clear.

Mateen, 29, worked at courthouse facilities in downtown Fort Pierce, but the St. Lucie County Sheriff's Office in October 2013 revoked his credentials. According to an email from a sheriff's lieutenant to a G4S representative, Mateen "exhibited behaviors not conducive to the court atmosphere."

Mateen on June 12 went on a shooting rampage at Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando, that left 49 dead and dozens injured. In speaking with crisis negotiation officials, Mateen called himself an "Islamic soldier." He was killed after a confrontation with law enforcement officials.

St. Lucie County Sheriff Ken Mascara has said after meeting with 19th Judicial Circuit Chief Judge Elizabeth Metzger that judges want sheriff's deputies to handle all security at the St. Lucie courthouses, as they do in Martin County. Aside from the courthouse in Fort Pierce, there's a courthouse annex in St. Lucie West.

Metzger, who presides over courts in St. Lucie, Martin, Indian River and Okeechobee counties, did not respond to questions, referring inquiries to Trial Court Administrator Thomas Genung.

"The tragic event and senseless loss of life in Orlando heightens our already existing concerns about security in our courthouses, " Genung said. He did not directly answer a series of G4S-related questions.

Indian River County Sheriff Deryl Loar said he hasn't spoken with Metzger, but said "more than likely we will be sun-setting that contract (with G4S)" at the end of September.

The two G4S security guards, who monitor metal detectors and wands, supplement 19 Indian River County sheriff's deputies who operate from the courthouse. Deputies there are tasked with a variety of functions, including being in courtrooms, serving subpoenas, evictions and civil process activities.

"In light of Omar Mateen, that is a driving factor in our decision," Loar said. "In light of recent events, it's my decision and my ability to terminate that contract."

Cost-effective

Using G4S guards, Loar said, saves at least $75,000 a year. It was a decision made in 2003.

"You've got to reflect on the contract, on their training, on their policies and procedures," Loar said. "The two G4S armed security guards were performing adequately, but as with anything, we've got to look at our options."

Mascara said via email that his agency's contract with G4S provides for seven armed security guards. A total of $401,914 is budgeted in the current fiscal year for G4S services.

Mascara projected it would cost an additional $200,000 to "bring these services in-house." The agency's court security unit already has 35 deputies.

Mascara stated he'd be happy to use Sheriff's Office employees for all court security-related functions, but noted cost is an issue.

"If the county cannot afford to fund new positions, then we must fill them the most economical way possible," he stated. "The Sheriff's Office is run efficiently as it is. We cannot take from other units to compensate for the positions provided by G4S."

Mascara said the contract originated in the mid-1990s when Bobby Knowles was sheriff, and that overall, his agency has been "highly satisfied" with G4S.

"The services provided by G4S clearly have played a vital role in working within the means provided by the County Commission, especially during the tough budgetary years we recently endured and continue to recover from," he said.

Asked whether he wanted G4S to continue providing security, Mascara said the topic would be discussed by his agency, the clerk of the court and court administration.

"Ultimately, it will be decided by funding provided by the Board of County Commissioners who fund all three offices," he said.

The G4S contract can be terminated by written notice within 30 days.

Control important

Martin County Sheriff William Snyder has said he doesn't employ private security guards at the courthouse.

"For us in Martin County, I think it's a better fit that the Sheriff's Office staff all the security," he said. "My guys go through polygraphs, psychologicals, a full background (check)  They're fully certified, fully trained deputies. They all have active shooter training."

Snyder said there would be a significant cost savings in using private security guards. Still, he would not consider doing so because he wouldn't have control over the hiring process.

"They're not treated differently when it comes to training," he said. "They're regular deputies, they just are assigned there instead of patrolling a neighborhood. They're not a separate class."

He's not been questioned on his decision; county commissioners haven't brought it up, he said.

The Martin County Sheriff's Office has staffed the courthouse with sworn deputies since at least 2000, according to Christine Christofek, sheriff's spokeswoman. Snyder was elected sheriff in the fall of 2012 and took office in January 2013, after Sheriff Robert Crowder retired.

Crowder was the county's longest-serving sheriff, being elected to five consecutive terms since 1992 and a one-year appointment in 1972. He could not be reached to determine whether he employed private security guards at any point during his years as sheriff.

The issue of court security is being hashed out on a statewide level.

Craig Waters, public information officer for the Florida Supreme Court, in an email said the Judicial Management Council in a meeting earlier this year recommended creating a work group on trial court security.

While the details continue being worked out, the group will "focus its efforts on security standards of operation and best practices.

Trial court security will involve discussion with county governments because they fund trial-level courthouses in Florida."

More
The St. Lucie Nuclear Plant on South Hutchinson Island near Fort Pierce is seen on the summer solstice June 20, 2016, from South Indian River Drive near Walton Road in St. Lucie County. (XAVIER MASCARENAS/TREASURE COAST NEWSPAPERS)

By George Andreassi of TCPalm

G4S is notorious on the Treasure Coast for employing mass murderer Omar Mateen and allowing rampant violence at the Martin Girls Academy.

Those black marks on the private security company's record raise questions about how the global giant can be entrusted guarding the reactors and radioactive material at Florida Power & Light Co.'s St. Lucie Nuclear Plant, which theoretically poses the greatest threat to the health and safety of most Treasure Coast residents.

Mateen never worked at any of the power company's facilities, an FPL spokesman said. He declined to answer any more of Treasure Coast Newspapers' questions.

"The alleged Orlando gunman has never worked at any of our facilities, including our nuclear plants in Florida," said Peter Robbins, a nuclear communications manager with FPL's parent company, NextEra Energy Inc. "As a matter of policy, we do not comment on the specifics of our security program."

Robbins would not say whether G4S provides security at the South Hutchinson Island nuclear power plant.

G4S initially denied providing security at the nuclear power plant. However, Friday evening G4S spokeswoman Sarah Booth confirmed the "St. Lucie Nuclear Power Plant is indeed protected by G4S."

Multiple community members also confirmed G4S provides security for the St. Lucie Nuclear Plant.

In addition, G4S advertises jobs for a "nuclear security officer" and a "nuclear watch person" in Jensen Beach. The St. Lucie plant is the only nuclear facility in Jensen Beach.

G4S's webpage says its related companies "have had contracts providing various services with approximately 90 percent of U.S. commercial nuclear facilities."

Security secret

Everything about FPL's security for the St. Lucie Nuclear Plant is hush-hush.

Security guards wearing black uniforms with no identifying patches or badges patrol the parking lots in white pick up trucks marked "FPL Security" on the front doors.

County, state and federal agency spokesmen said they either had no information or could not discuss who provides security at the plant, the level of security, the number of security personnel, how they are screened, how they are trained and what kind of disciplinary action they could face for misbehavior.

Security was cranked up at nuclear plants and public information was clamped down upon in the wake of the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, said Roger Hannah, a senior public affairs officer with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

"Very little information regarding security at nuclear plants is available to the public," Hannah said. "The security program itself and the inspections that we do, you wouldn't want somebody who may have some sort of terroristic intentions to be able to have info that says here's what the security program looks like and here are the weaknesses."

Security regulated

If the NRC identifies any weaknesses or regulatory violations in a nuclear plant's security programs, the plant operator is required to fix the problem or deploy a stopgap measure.

"Let's say they had a camera that was on the fence that was not functioning for a certain period of time. Their requirements would cause them to station a security officer or do something to compensate for that particular lapse in the security program," Hannah said. "But again, none of that information is publicly available because it's security-related information."

Brian Koon, the director the Florida Division of Emergency Management, said there is no requirement for FPL to report to the Florida Division of Emergency Management regarding security at the St. Lucie Nuclear Power Plant.

The St. Lucie County government possesses no information about security at the St. Lucie Nuclear Plant either, spokesman Erick Gill said.

"They're not required by law to share that, just like any other private business that hires security," Gill said. "We know that they have security, but that's the extent of it. They're not required to give us a number, or (access) to the contracts, or what company they use, or even what kind of weaponry they carry. That's all industry secret."

G4S nuclear security

Two divisions of the company have had contracts to provide various services with approximately 90 percent of U.S. commercial nuclear facilities.

Regulated Security & Tactical Training Group: Offers consulting, security systems assessments, training programs, regulatory compliance audits, staffing analysis, defensive strategy evaluations, force on force preparation, drill controller certification, industrial safety programs, information management, firearms and tactical courses, as well as security force staffing and operations management

Nuclear Security Services: Specializes in compliance testing programs to assure that customers' security systems meet both real world threats as well as government regulations, including Vulnerability Assessments, Gap Analysis, Systems and Performance Testing, Design & Engineering Services, Technology Integration Services, and Maintenance and Support Services

Source: G4S website

Job ads

Nuclear Security Officer, Jensen Beach, Fla.

Salary: $16.49

Armed Nuclear Security Officer: Provide physical protection of nuclear power generating facilities against intrusion and acts of sabotage. Conduct armed stationary, foot and/or vehicle patrol (interior and/or exterior), control access and/or egress of personnel, materials and vehicles, monitor closed caption television, plant surveillance equipment and alarm systems, compose reports, deter criminal activity, misconduct, and safety violations. Perform other duties as specified in nuclear training and qualification plan and post orders.

Watchperson, Jensen Beach, Fla.

Salary: $16.49

Nuclear Watchperson: Perform critical tasks on a commercial nuclear power generating plant that include high security access control for employees, visitors, receivables, and vehicles; searches of vehicles, personnel, and packages and material; patrols that include intrusion detection inspection, hazards identification; and area surveillance and reporting.

Source: G4S website

More
Every once in a while I run into a little company that comes at an existing market as if the folks already in it are idiots  and sometimes they are right. Heres the thing: What often happens is a company breaks out in a segment, and everyone groups around that companys ideas and emulates them.

Few initially stand up and say, Wait a minute  what if theyre wrong? Often we get so excited about building the market, we dont realize until much later that the initial attempt at solving a problem doesnt work. With big data and analytics, the typical project failure rate, depending on how you categorize the projects, can be as high as a whopping 80 percent.

The company I met with is Pneuron, and its approach is very different and, I think, way better  at least when it comes to acquiring the data.

Ill wrap up with my product of the week: YouMail, an interesting free voicemail service that could solve our nasty robocall problem.

The Problem With Big Data

A few years back, I attended a talk by Harper Reed, the CTO of President Obamas reelection campaign. Most of the talk focused on how his team used analytics effectively to win, but in one part that stuck with me, he touched on why big data was stupid.

Reed argued  and I agreed  that the focus on big data caused people to do stupid things  like think of ways to aggregate and collect lots of data elements into mammoth repositories that then were too big and complex to analyze. He argued compellingly that the focus shouldnt be on collecting massive amounts of data, because that just creates a bigger potential problem. Rather, it should be on analyzing the data you have to obtain the answers to critical questions.

I think this explains why so many big data projects fail. Too much time and money is focused on collecting massive amounts of data from systems that never were designed to talk to each other. Consequently, by the time the giant repositories are built, the data is out of date, corrupted, and damn near impossible to analyze.

But what if you didnt collect the data in the first place?

Pneurons Better Idea

What if you left the data where it was, analyzed it in place, and then aggregated the analysis? In other words, rather than aggregating the data, you would aggregate the information you needed from it.

Taking that approach, you dont create huge redundant repositories, you dont experience the massive lag of having to move and translate data repositories, and you dont have the potential data corruption problems. What you do have is a fraction of the cost of any given project.

If done right, youd end up with a higher probability of being both more accurate and more timely. Your hardware costs would be dramatically lower, and because you were solving the problem in components, youd actually be able to start getting value before the projects conclusion.

With each additional repository, the solution would get smarter, as it would be able to answer questions not only from the new repositories, but also from those previously provided. That is basically what Pneuron does.

Youd have to be careful that bias didnt enter the process through the intermediate analysis, but the risk should be far lower than what naturally would occur when you slammed together data elements that came from very different systems and likely very different ages.

You massively simplify the problem you are trying to solve, and you are better set up for mergers and acquisitions.

Mergers and Acquisitions

An interesting side benefit to this approach is that typically when two companies merge, getting the systems to talk to each other is a nightmare. However, if those systems dont have to talk to each other, but talk to an intermediate translator instead, the process could be far easier and quicker  particularly if both firms already used that translator.

Imagine two merging firms that wanted to integrate their data bases quickly. If both were using Pneurons solution, they would be able to integrate near instantly, without mucking up how things were currently done in either firm.

Conversely, separating the companies again would be equally easy.

Wrapping Up: Lessons Learned

This is less about Pneuron than about the need to step back from time to time and check whether we are full of crap. I recall the huge client/server revolution, when we all ran around singing the praises of something that initially didnt work, as though it did. Even in the consumer space, we had quadraphonics, 3D TVs, laser disks, and all kinds of gaming systems that folks got excited about but frankly didnt work.

One of my own stories from a few years ago (and unfortunately I have a lot of these) took place at a Sun Microsystems presentation. The CTO gleefully painted a future when everything  hardware and software  was commoditized. In that world, Microsoft was far weaker.

I raised my hand and pointed out that in that future, Sun didnt exist. I wasnt asked back, but thats the world we live in now: Microsoft is weaker, and Sun doesnt exist. Had Sun fully understood the world it was helping to create  and assuming it didnt want to die  it might have chosen a different path.

So I think it is good to keep our eyes out for firms like Pneuron, which point out that our current approach is stupid. Also it might be a good idea to listen from time to time to that voice from the back of the room that says the emperor is naked, because sometimes he is.

I hate robocalls. I get something like 20 a day across four phone lines  mostly from people who are selling stuff I couldnt buy if I wanted to, because they think I live in San Jose instead of Bend, Oregon. Thats a little side-effect of taking my phone numbers with me when we moved.

I really noticed a huge bump when I moved from T-Mobile  a move I regret  to AT&T. The reason for the move, at the time, was that I was testing a lot of smartphones and they didnt work with T-Mobile. But someone at AT&T apparently sold my number to folks with robocall machines, because right after the move I started getting those annoying calls.

YouMail is a freemium service that takes over your voicemail and will intercept robocalls for you, giving those systems a tone that tells them your line is out of service, so they automatically drop you from their lists.

YouMail

It is a free service, and it works mostly with cellphone carriers, so there are some limitations if you are still on a landline. (An interesting side note to that is that according to YouMail, there are only 30 percent of us left who use landlines primarily. Most of us have switched to living on our cellphones.

The service is free for this capability and a voicemail box. YouMail does have additional services that come with extra charges. They might be handy for sales people, but after reviewing them, I think most of us would be fine with just the free service.

If you want to try it out, it is a simple service to add and to get rid of if it doesnt suit you. There are other solutions in market  like Nomorobo.com (it mostly works with VoIP lines)  that are worth checking out.

Because I hate robocalls, any service that actually gives me freedom from the damn things always makes the short list for my product of the week. Suddenly I have that Braveheart speech ringing in my head. Freedom!!
Crafted for uncompromising power-users who whose professions require then to have mobile devices that can stand extreme conditions

MIL-STD-810G Certified as resistant against Rain, Vibration, Salt, Dust, Humidity, Solar Radiation, Transport and Thermal Shock. On top of that, it even has a shatter-resistant glass touchscreen for added protection

Notice that SGS7 has actual hardware Back and Recent Apps buttons on either sides of the Home button instead of mere capacitive ones.

TechPinas Smartphone Technical Specs Table (TSTST) Name Samsung Galaxy S7 Active Type Slate Form Factor (Full Touchscreen), Rugged Price Category High-End (Flagship Level) Dimensions 148.8 x 74.9 x 9.9 mm Weight 184.8 grams Available Colors Camo Green, Titanium Gray, Sandy Gold Operating System Android 6.0 Marshmallow with TouchWiz Skin Display 5.1 inches (~64.3% screen-to-body ratio), Quad HD 1440 x 2560 pixels (~576 ppi pixel density), Super AMOLED, Gorilla Glass 5 capacitive toucscreen, Always On Display, 16M colors Processor, GPU, Chipset Qualcomm MSM8996 Snapdragon 820 = Dual-Core 2.15 GHz Kryo, Dual-Core 1.6 GHz Kryo, Adreno 530 RAM 4 GB RAM Internal Storage 32 GB expandable via hybrid nanoSIM slot that doubles as microSD card slot supporting up to 200GB Camera Main: 12 MegaPixels, f/1.7 aperture, Phase Detection Autofocus, Optical Image Stabilization, LED flash, 1/2.6' sensor size, 1 m pixel size, Touch Focus, Geo-tagging, Face detection, Auto HDR, Panorama

Front: 5 MegaPixels, f/1.7, Dual Video call, Auto HDR Video Capture Main: 2160p @ 30fps, 1080p @ 60fps, Optical Image Stabilization, Auto HDR

Front: 1080p @ 30 fps, Auto HDR, Dual Video Recording, Live Panorama Audio and Video Playback Video: H.264, MPEG-4, H.263, VC-1, WMV7, WMV8, Sorenson Spark, MP43, VP8,

HEVC, Full HD (1080p), UHD (depends on variant) Audio: MP3, AAC/AAC+/eAAC+, WMA, AMR-NB/WB, Vorbis, FLAC(*), WAV(*)

(*) Ultra High Quality Audio (~192KHz, 24 bit) support Ports microUSB v2.0, TV-out (via MHL 3.0 A/V link), 3.5 mm audio jack Connectivity, Sharing 4G LTE Cat9, 3G HSPA+, WiFi: 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac (2.4/5GHz), HT80 MIMO(2x2) 620Mbps, Dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct, Mobile Hotspot, Bluetooth v4.1, A2DP, LE, apt-X, ANT+, NFC, S Beam, Samsung AllShare Play and Control, Samsung AllShare Cast (WiFi Display), Mirroring and Extension, Samsung AllShare Framework Sensors Accelerometer, RGB Light, Digital Compass, Proximity, Gyro, Barometer, Temperature, Humidity, Gesture, Heart Rate Monitor, Touch-Type Finger Scanner, UV GPS A-GPS, GLONASS, Beidou Network 2G Network GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900, 3G Network HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1900 / 2100, 4G Network LTE 800 / 850 / 900 / 1800 / 2100 / 2600 (TBC) SIM Card Type nanoSIM Battery Non-Removable Li-Ion 4,000 mAh battery, Wireless Charging Compatible, Fast Battery Charging Uptime 12 Hours of Web Browsing, 21 Hours of Video Playback, 29 Hours of Talk Time Value-Added Features Flagship Release, Dual Pixel Camera

IP68 Certified - Dust Proof and Water Resistant over 1.5 meter of liquid for 30 minutes

MIL-STD-810G Certified - Rain, Vibration, Salt, Dust, Humidity, Solar Radiation, Transport and Thermal Shock Resistant Announcement Worldwide: June 2016 Availability US and Europe: June 2016 Price Official SRP: $749 USD via AT&T

The newhas the exact same powerhouse technical specifications and top-notch features as the regular model but it is far more rugged and has a bigger battery pack allowing it to stay on longer., SGS7 Active is not onlyWater Resistant like the regular S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge but it is also. I think that's just about as tough as a flagship level release can get!To be this rugged, however, Galaxy S7 Active had to trade its sleek and svelte genes for a more boxy and thicker exterior, replete with protective side bumpers.The handset's big non-removable 4,000 mAh battery also made it far heavier at 184.8 grams versus just the 157 and 152 grams heft of Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge and S7, respectively. But of course, this huge pack also makes S7 Active capable of delivering up to 12 Hours of Web Browsing and a whopping 21 hours of video playback, which are considerably better than what you'll get on either of the two other flagships.Most of Samsung Galaxy S7 Active's other key features are just the same what you'll find on the regular SGS7. On the outside, there's a 5.1-inch Quad HD SuperAMOLED display panel, a Fingerprint Scanner for quickly unlocking the device, a stellar 12 MegaPixel autofocus camera with Dual Pixel technology, 4K video recorder with OIS, and 5 MegaPixel fixed focus front cam with wide-angle lens for selfies.At its heart, exactly like the SGS7 Edge, the S7 Active runs its TouchWiz-skinned Android 6.0 Marshmallow OS with a beastly 64-Bit Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 chipset, has 4GB of RAM for super smooth multitasking, and comes with 32GB of ROM that can easily be beefed up using the dedicated microSD card slot supporting up to 256GB.Unlike the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge version in the Philippines , though, SGS7 Active does not have Dual SIM Dual Standby capability as it has only one nanoSIM slot, which supports ultra-fast 4G LTE Cat9 mobile connectivity.Samsung Galaxy S7 Active is now exclusively available in the United States via. It dons an official SRP of $749 USD (or $26.50 per month for 30 months via installment) and is out in three colors, namely, Sandy Gold, Camo Green, and Titanium Gray.Considering that the Korean Giant didn't bother to bring Samsung Galaxy S6 Active to the Philippines last year, I think that the company is likewise not keen on making this 2016 refresh available locally. And with that, allow me to wrap up this post by asking you this question:Let me know your thoughts via our comments section below.
Details added (first version posted on 10:15)

Baku, Azerbaijan, July 4

By Azad Hasanli  Trend:

Improvement of Azerbaijans Bank Standard has been entrusted to the countrys state bank AzerTurkBank, Azerbaijans Financial Market Supervisory Body said July 4.

In this regard, a controlling stake in the Bank Standard has been transferred to AzerTurkBank for improvement.

In accordance with the improvement program, AzerTurkBank will form a new board of directors until August 3, 2016, and since that period the bank's activities will be fully restored in accordance with the business strategy.

At the same time, the necessary funds have been allocated to Bank Standard to fulfill financial obligations to its clients. The funds for the bank have been allocated through the bridge bank AzerTurkBank with financial support of the Central Bank of Azerbaijan in the form of a credit line for a period of one year.

In addition, in connection with the fact that the moratorium on payments on deposits expires July 4, the relevant restrictions have been eliminated and legal entities, as well as individuals will now be able to use their funds, according to the message.

Bank Standard was established in 1995. At present, it is one of the largest private commercial banks in Azerbaijan, which is among the leaders in terms of deposits.
Facebook is one of several social media sites to face criticism over a perceived lack of action when it comes to fighting online extremism. Now, the Israeli government has gone so far as to call the social network a "monster" for not doing enough to remove posts that incite violence against the country.

During a television interview on Saturday, Israeli Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan said that Facebook was "sabotaging" the nation's police force by not aiding it in investigating potential suspects in the West Bank.

Erdan said Mark Zuckerberg was partly to blame for the murders of and 13-year-old Hallel Ariel and Michael Mark. Ariel's killer, 19-year-old Muhammad Tarayreh, said he wished to die a "martyr's death" in a Facebook post made before the murder.

"Facebook today, which brought an amazing, positive revolution to the world, sadly, we see this since the rise of ISIS and the wave of terror, it has simply become a monster," said the minister. "It also sets a very high bar for removing inciteful content and posts."

Erdan urged Israelis to "flood" Zuckerberg with demands that he do more to remove content that could incite violence. "If other media outlets were to demonstrate how to murder Jews, they would have been closed immediately," he said.

In response, Facebook gave the following statement to Reuters.

We work regularly with safety organizations and policymakers around the world, including Israel, to ensure that people know how to make safe use of Facebook. There is no room for content that promotes violence, direct threats, terrorist or hate speeches on our platform.

Last month, Facebook was once again accused of not taking enough action when it comes to removing hate speech from its platform. The father of a US student killed in the Paris attacks is suing the company, along with Google and Twitter, for providing "material support" to ISIS and other extremist groups.

In January, Tamara Fields filed a lawsuit claiming Twitter should hold some responsibility over the death of her US contractor husband who was killed in a Jordan shooting. She says the microblogging site's failure to remove ISIS propaganda is a violation of US anti-terrorist law.
Aerial drones are quickly becoming an effective tool in the arsenal of law enforcement around the globe. Last year, North Dakota became the first state in the US to allow drones to carry non-lethal payloads while in Tokyo, police are using drones to take down rogue drones.

Now, law enforcement officials in London are considering the use of drones for an entirely new purpose - pursuing suspected criminals.

Deputy Commissioner Craig Mackey said crime involving thieves on two wheels is on the rise but noted that police face difficulty in curbing it due to the dangers of pursuing them. In the past 12 months, there have been roughly 3,000 drive-by phone thefts in the boroughs of Camden and Islington alone.

The Evening Standard cites two separate cases in which alleged suspects trying to make getaways on mopeds crashed and were killed. Mackey noted that the pursuit of two-wheeled vehicles is not outlawed but said that there were factors for officers to consider (likely in regard to public safety).

The possibilities of unmanned aerial vehicles to tackle suspects using both two- and four-wheeled vehicles to commit crime, he added, are currently being discussed at a national level by the National Police Chiefs' Council's steering group and the Centre for Applied Science and Technology.

Aviation expert Julian Bray told the publication that police could use drones in place of helicopters in such scenarios, citing how they would be much cheaper to operate as well as their ability to aid ground units in a pursuit.

Image courtesy Phee photography, Shutterstock
Google and HTC will once again partner up for two brand-new Nexus smartphones in the fall. One of those handsets has just made an appearance on Geekbench, revealing many of its key specs and hardware.

Google officially entered the smartphone race with its own Android handset, the Nexus One, in 2010 and the company partnered with the same manufacturer it chose to release the very first Android smartphone, the T-Mobile G1, in 2008. The Nexus One attracted many Android fans because it was designed with the specifications and features Google thought would best show off Android 2.1 eclair, and was guaranteed to receive future Android updates. HTC's added sense of style made it a popular handset.

Back in January, a report sprung up claiming that Google had chosen HTC to build two new Nexus smartphones that would succeed the Nexus 6P and Nexus 5X. The devices were codenamed HTC T50 and T55 and most recently leaked as "Sailfish" and "Marlin."

A smartphone believed to be the HTC Nexus M1 Marlin was just spotted at Geekbench, revealing the smartphone's key specifications. The device is listed as "google marlin" and received a single-core score of 2,084 and multi-core score of 4,969.

The Nexus M1 Marlin will reportedly include a 5.5-inch, 2,560 x 1,440 QHD AMOLED display and run Android 7.0 Nougat, and to be powered by a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor, Adreno 530 GPU (graphics processing unit), and 4 GB of RAM.

Recent reports claim the HTC Nexus M1 Marlin will pack in a 12-megapixel rear camera and 8-megapixel front-facing camera for video chat and selfies. Google is expected to offer the unlocked smartphone in a 32 GB and 128 GB internal storage configuration and, like last year's Nexus 6P and Nexus 5X, the Nexus M1 will adopt a USB Type-C port instead of a micro USB.

HTC just announced that its current flagship HTC 10, One M9, and One A9 will all receive an update to Android 7.0 Nougat and while it didn't confirm an actual release date, let's hope that since Google and HTC are working closely together on two Nexus smartphones, HTC gets a head start on delivering Nougat to more Nexus devices in the near future.

As always, we'll keep you updated on any additional HTC Nexus news as it becomes available. Are you looking forward to HTC-built Nexus smartphones this fall? Let us and our readers know in the comments below.

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On July 2, people across the globe paid extra attention to the skies with the hopes of catching a glimpse of something they couldn't explain. This year's World UFO Day may be over, but the search for extraterrestrial life is only just getting started.

The celebration of World UFO Day this year commemorates 69 years of theories, based on both science and conspiracies, all stemming from the infamous crash in Roswell, New Mexico.

Most people don't seem to question that there was a crash on that same day in 1947, with some believing the metallic object to be a downed weather balloon and others asserting it originated from somewhere other than Earth.

As hard of a time as some conspiracy theorists may give NASA, the men and women working for the government-run space agency often express a desire, as strong as anyone else's, to find life beyond earth.

About two decades ago, then-President Bill Clinton commented on a meteorite, "Rock 84001" or "Allan Hills 84001," which was suspected of containing fossilized evidence of alien life. The rock, found in Allan Hills, Antarctica in 1984, is believed to have originated from Mars.

"If this discovery is confirmed, it will surely be one of the most stunning insights into our universe that science has ever uncovered," Clinton said. "Its implications are as far-reaching and awe-inspiring as can be imagined."

Ultimately, this evidence is still best labeled as inconclusive. Critics argued that the fossil's morphology could have been driven by natural processes on Mars. But with the rock believed to have broken off from Mars roughly 17 million years ago, at a time when the planet still had liquid water on its surface, the Allan Hills rock remains an intriguing find.

More recently, in March of 2011, astrobiologist Richard Hoover claimed to have discovered microbes in slices of meteorites he examined. The Journal of Cosmology published Hoover's study, in which the astrobiologist asserted he found cyanobacteria, which depend on photosynthesis, inside the meteorites.

Seth Shostak of the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, like many other scientists, concluded that Hoover's findings, while delivered in detail, were "hardly proof."

"If similarity in appearance were all it took to prove similarity in kind, then it would be pretty easy for me to demonstrate that there are big animals living in the sky, because I see clouds that look like them," Shostak said.

The search for life beyond our own existence continues. For those who'd like to take part in it, Google UK has called out some really suggestive images on Google Maps.

It's #UFOday. Looking at Street View, this could be a case for Mulder and Scully. Anyone found any more? pic.twitter.com/uyAOtocJWt  Google UK (@GoogleUK) July 2, 2016

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Before the beginning of July, Walmart announced that it will be undertaking a wide national release of Walmart Pay, the company's mobile payment system introduced in December 2015.

Walmart, after several recent rollouts and launches in 14 more states, now has Walmart Pay up and running in 33 states and Washington, DC.

Among the areas where Walmart Pay was deployed include high-population states such as Washington, New York and California. With its presence in 33 states, Walmart is nearing nationwide availability of its mobile payment system, though the company has already missed its promise of getting Walmart Pay available throughout the United States by the first half of 2016.

Walmart Pay works through the embedded feature on the main Walmart app for both the iOS and Android. The system is compatible with cards of most major banks, as well as gift cards issued by the retail giant.

To use the system, customers can line up at a checkout counter and then launch the app and access Walmart Pay once it is their turn. Customers will then have to scan the QR code that will be displayed on the screen of the register using the camera of their smartphones to enable Walmart Pay for the payment of their items.

Walmart is among the country's biggest retailers, boasting foot traffic of 140 million customers per week. As such, Walmart Pay could gain a wide following, especially coupled with the fact that other mobile payment systems, such as Apple Pay, Android Pay and Samsung Pay, are not yet being accepted in the retailer's stores.

With figures from 2015 already showing that 22 million of the weekly customers use Walmart Pay, should Apple, Google and Samsung begin to worry? According to the retail company, Walmart Pay was not developed to actually function as a rival to the mobile payment systems of these companies.

"It was really a design around improving checkout, not just payment," Walmart Senior Vice President of Services Daniel Eckert said in April. He added that there was still some friction in the checkout process that Walmart Pay would be looking to eliminate.

With the purpose of Walmart Pay to streamline the checkout process through QR codes, the intended target for the system would then actually be the online stores such as the one operated by Amazon. With an easier checkout process in a physical store, Walmart could be looking to attract more customers to come out and shop instead of browse through Amazon's catalog online and buy items from there.

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Google is currently offering potential subscribers its Play Music and YouTube Red services for free, in celebration of the fourth of July.

For four whole months (well-played Google), new users signing up for the monthly plans of either service will get unlimited access and will get to try out the features these new exclusive apps have to offer. Both apps are regularly offered in the same package, granting access to each service once consumers pay for the $9.99 subscription fee.

With the fourth of July offer, new subscribers will get to enjoy the same privileges and can save up to $40 during the trial period. Once the trial ends, users who think the free version of YouTube and other music streaming apps have much more to offer will have to manually end their subscription or else pay, unknowingly, for the consecutive month.

Others who enjoyed the services will then have to pay on a monthly basis and will also have the option to upgrade to a family plan subscription for Google Play Music.

For an additional $5 per month, for a total of $14.99, Play Music can be accessed by up to six members of a family to save them the extra fees encountered in individual subscriptions. Included members will get access to all of the content, but will have their own separate accounts to avoid any overlapping music or playlists.

As for the fairly new service, YouTube Red, the app is already bundled with Play Music as mentioned, meaning interested customers will only have to pay once to get monthly access to both services. YouTube Red is the ad-free version of the normal platform, which does not only remove advertisements integrated into videos, but also offers a YouTube Music feature.

While the traditional YouTube app needs to be running in the foreground and requires the phone's screen to be lighted at all times to play content, YouTube Music allows users to use the app in a non-traditional way, as if it was a music streaming device of its own  in the background, while the screen is turned off, in case you missed that.

Users also have the option to turn off the video and just play the audio directly, to avoid buffering times and save on mobile data. An added "Offline Mixtape" feature automatically downloads music and creates a playlist for offline use, based on users' preferences.

The July 4 Play Music and YouTube Red package is only limited to new subscribers, which is unfortunate news for those who have used previous offers or are already using the services. However, according to some sources, other users have been able to find a workaround by logging out and tapping the "Sign Up" button. This may or may not work, but it's still worth a try, as after all Blizzard won't be in the background to ban us for cheating the system.

Also, just in case the offer doesn't come up on your end, it may only be limited to the U.S. since July 4 is an American holiday. Those who still want to try their luck can visit the Google Play Music signup page.

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BlackBerry recently came under scrutiny for supposedly ending the production of its BlackBerry 10-powered devices. However, the Canadian company has denied any such information and claims that it has never sent any letter detailing such a decision.

For those unfamiliar with the matter, as we reported on Sunday, July 3, a letter that was sent in the U.S. Senate to the chief clerks, system administrators and administrative managers revealed that the BlackBerry devices were officially being phased out for the legislative body.

This decision, according to the letter, was taken as the company had apparently informed carriers AT&T and Verizon that it had discontinued the production of all devices powered by the BlackBerry 10 OS such as the Z10, Q10, Passport, Z30 and Classic.

"Once we have exhausted our current in-house stock, new device procurements will be limited, while supplies last, to warranty exchanges only," the letter reportedly stated.

Now, BlackBerry has refuted all claims and denies ever sending out such a memo to carriers AT&T and Verizon to inform them about ceasing production of BlackBerry 10 OS-powered devices.

The OEM has issued a statement to online publication CrackBerry confirming that it has not stopped production for the Z10, Q10, Passport, Z30 and Classic or completely phased them out as alleged by the supposed letter to the carriers.

BlackBerry states that it has only informed its partner network operators in the U.S. that the "manufacturing cycle" for the BlackBerry Classic will stop, but customers will be able to buy it online, unlocked, or they can check with carriers for availability.

"The statement about discontinuation of BlackBerry 10 at AT&T and Verizon is incorrect. BlackBerry's device strategy is based on a cross-platform model where we'll continue to support our BlackBerry 10 platform while expanding our device offering to include Android-based devices," stated the company.

The Canadian OEM also put to rest rumors saying support for the Z10, Q10, Passport and Z30 are ending by revealing that it was poised to release the BlackBerry 10 version 10.3.3 next month for the existing devices. The second software update for the OS will follow in 2017.

As BlackBerry has not released a BlackBerry 10 OS-powered handset for a while, speculation pertaining to the future of the platform has been rife. Adding fuel to the fire is that the next generation of BlackBerry devices are anticipated to run on the Android OS.

However, with BlackBerry now confirming that it is aspiring to become cross platform and will not phase out support for BlackBerry 10 OS devices, fans of the existing devices can breathe easy.

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Volkswagen's helm recently stated that no compensation will reach European customers who were affected by the "Dieselgate" emissions scandal.

In the United States, the carmaker already signed a $14.7 billion settlement with a group that includes the Environmental Protection Agency, car owners' lawyers and the Justice Department. Volkswagen's Chief Executive Officer Matthias Muller said that a similar action in the European market would be both unaffordable and inappropriate.

If you're in the States, read more details about the U.S. settlement and how compensation could apply to you in our coverage. If you're in Europe, read on for the bad news.

Last week, the European commissioner for industry Elzbieta Bienkowska urged the automaker to take into account compensating European owners of its affected diesel-powered cars. Bienkowska underlined that they should receive the same advantages as their U.S. counterparts despite being under a different legal system.

However, Mueller told Welt am Sonntag that the situation in Europe is entirely different.

He notes that in the U.S., the emission limits are more strict, which poses a great challenge for fixing the issue of each car. What is more, the buyback program is voluntary for customers in the U.S., a thing that does not apply in Germany.

Mueller went on to qualify certain compensations as "arbitrary" and pointed out that the high payments would "overwhelm Volkswagen."

The CEO states that although his company is still faring well financially, following the American precedent in Europe would have a severe impact on the carmaker's balance. To put things in perspective, 500,000 U.S. clients have cars that were tweaked to show a false amount of emissions. Europe, on the other hand, hosts almost 9 million such vehicles.

As the American regulators want to see as many cars as possible being bought back, VW must incentivize customers to enroll in the program. This means additional investments from the company to make good on its promises of resolving the Dieselgate issue.

European authorities did not succeed in launching an aggressive legal response to Volkswagen's admission that it installed cheating software on as many as 11 million diesel engines. This implies that the European Union has little chance to force Volkswagen to compensate its citizens as it did with U.S. customers.

Details of the carmaker falsifying emission reports came out in Sept. 2015, and the company's shares dropped constantly afterward.

The vehicle manufacturer pulled $18 billion of its profits to take care of the emissions scandal and recently stated that it keeps evaluating whether or not the sum will suffice. Mueller's recent statement seems to indicate that the carmaker will dig its heels in the ground to avoid the increasing costs of dealing with Dieselgate.

Volkswagen is currently worth $67.37 billion, 40 percent less than last summer.

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If you thought Microsoft's Windows 10 upgrade notifications were annoying so far, think again. Those upgrade prompts are now going full-screen to make sure you can't ignore them.

Microsoft has been aggressive with its Windows 10 upgrade notifications for a good while, but its final push is taking things to a whole new level. After interrupting a live weather forecast, annoying Windows 7 and 8 users who felt they were being harassed to upgrade, losing a $10,000 lawsuit and more controversial cases that sparked criticism, Microsoft is now escalating to take up your entire screen.

With free upgrades coming to an end, Microsoft wants to make sure that all users of older Windows versions are aware that it's their last chance to upgrade free of charge. Microsoft confirmed that it will display full-screen Windows 10 upgrade notifications until the end of the month.

The full-screen notification will pop up for users on Windows 8.1 or Windows 7 Service Pack 1 (SP1), informing them of the July 29 deadline for the free upgrade to Windows 10.

The message further notes that Windows 10 is the most secure version that Microsoft has ever built and more than 300 million people have already upgraded. Upon receiving the full-screen notifications, users have four options: upgrade then and there, straight from the notification; select the "remind me later" procrastination; choose to be notified three more times; dismiss the notification for good with the "do not notify me again" option.

The "upgrade now" and "remind me later" options are the most visible ones, while the options to get additional reminders or dismiss the notification permanently are listed at the bottom left, less obvious but still visible.

The upgrade message will appear when users unlock their older version of Windows, and will continue to appear until the free upgrade offer expires. Those who choose the "remind me later" option will see the message resurface after three days.

The notification will no longer appear if you dismiss it for good, if you have installed a recent version of the "Get Windows 10" app, if you have previously upgraded and uninstalled Windows 10, if your device is not compatible with Windows 10, if the upgrade installation failed and the OS rolled back, if you've hidden the notifications from the "Get Windows 10" app, or if you've disabled the Windows 10 upgrade or disabled the offer screen through registry key settings.

This time, Microsoft's campaign is out in the open, with a special support page confirming the full-screen notifications and detailing the process. Once this period expires, it will be interesting to see what else Microsoft comes up with to get users to pay for the upgrade. Judging by the campaigns so far, it's unlikely that Microsoft will stop aggressively promoting Windows 10 even if it will no longer be free after this month.

If you've resisted upgrading to Windows 10 so far, hang on for this one final push from Microsoft. Did you get the full-screen notification yet? If so, did it convince you to upgrade? Let us know in the comments section below.

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A 40 anos de Malvinas

"Revisar el pasado es pensar el futuro". La frase de la presidenta de Telam, Bernarda Llorente, resume el espiritu del documental coproducido entre la agencia de noticias y el canal publico de TV sobre la cobertura que los medios de comunicacion hicieron del conflicto, plagada de censura y mentiras. Una autocritica necesaria para mirar hacia adelante en un (ya viejo) contexto de fake news y negocio informativo.
Baku, Azerbaijan, July 4

By Maksim Tsurkov  Trend:

Azerbaijan Railways CJSC has completed the excavation work by 85 percent within construction of the railway section from Azerbaijans Astara station till the border with Iran as part of the North-South transportation corridor, the companys spokesperson Nadir Azmammadov told Trend July 4.

The North-South transportation corridor is aimed to connect Northern Europe with South-East Asia, as well as to connect railways of Azerbaijan, Iran and Russia. At the initial stage, it is planned to transport five million tons of cargo via the corridor, expandable to more than 10 million tons of cargo in the future.

Azmammadov added that currently, the excavation work has been completed at a seven kilometer section of the 8.3 kilometer road.

Nearly 100 units of equipment have been attracted to the territory with difficult terrain, he said. Some 280,000 cubic meters of sand, gravel and crushed stone have been laid on the plot until now. Seven of the 14 aqueducts for sewage have been built, wiring of electrical and gas lines, which will be completed in the near future, continues.

There are 315 different facilities on the territory, including 10 residential buildings designed to be transferred, and currently the transfer process of 60 facilities has been completed, he added.

At the same time, construction of the railway bridge with a length of 82.5 meters on the border of Azerbaijan and Iran over the Astarachay River continues.

As many as 24 piles have been installed at a depth of 32 meters, supports for two spans of the bridge have been built since the beginning of the construction, said Azmammadov.

The section from Azerbaijans Astara till the border with Iran and the railway bridge are planned to be commissioned before late 2016.

---

Follow the author on Twitter: @MaksimTsurkov
In the state of Miranda, the municipalities of Zamora and Sucre have been affected by the rains, said the authorities. | Read More
Baku, Azerbaijan, July 4

Trend:

Armenian armed forces have nine times violated the ceasefire with Azerbaijan on the line of contact over the past 24 hours, said Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry July 4.

Armenian armed forces, stationed in the village of Barekamavan of Armenias Noyemberyan district, opened fire at Azerbaijani positions located in the village of Qaymaqli of the Gazakh district.

Moreover, Azerbaijani positions underwent fire from the positions located near the village of Chileburt of the Terter district, Kuropatkino of the Khojavand district.

Azerbaijani positions also underwent fire from the nameless heights of the 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.
Nguyen Thi Ngoc Bich has come to terms with the fact that she may never earn as much as her husband.

The 39-year-old accountant in Ho Chi Minh City said, due to the pay gap, she is expected to do most of the housework in the family.

Money talks. I make less money and so I do the chores, said Binh.

This is not a rare story in Vietnam and other Southeast Asian countries, where women generally earn less than men.

A recent report by Oxfam found that women and men across Asia continue to experience gaps in status, pay and access to rights in the workplace as womens work is generally underpaid and undervalued.

On average, women in Asia earn between 70 and 90 percent of what men earn, according to the report. The secret of Asias competitiveness in the global market is simple: paying poor women low wages and assigning them all unpaid care work, it said.

Around 75 percent of womens work in Asia is in the informal economy, without access to benefits such as sick pay or maternity leave.

Many women are employed in the agricultural sector, where productivity and incomes are low.

Meanwhile, women carry out around 2.5 times the amount of unpaid care work that men do, the report found.

A 2015 report by UN Women also found that on average women around the world earn 24 percent less than men and earn just half of the income men earn over a lifetime.

Maria Dolores Bernabe, policy and research coordinator for Oxfams Asia Regional Center, said most countries in the region have minimum wage laws and policies to help uphold minimum standards of payment for workers.

Unfortunately, a study in 11 countries found that the application of minimum wage laws is lowest for women from ethnic minorities or indigenous groups, she told Thanh Nien News.

Public investment in the care economy can create good quality jobs for women, reduce gender inequality, and also support economic growth, she said.

Bernabe also called for more policies implemented by governments and businesses to address the gender wage gap and promote the rights and interest of women.

Adopting policies that address the issue of gender wage gaps, unpaid care work and need for living wages can help create a regional economy that offers more opportunities, rather than challenges for women.
Vietnam is likely to miss its export target for a second straight year in 2016, according to comments by the trade minister quoted on Monday.

"If we proactively explore new markets and potential, apart from boosting exports to traditional markets, it is likely that exports could achieve a growth of more than 8 percent this year," Industry and Trade Minister Tran Tuan Anh was quoted by the Vietnam Economic Times newspaper as saying.

Vietnam's target this year for exports, the driver of its economy, is 10 percent growth. That was also the target for 2015, when exports expanded only 7.9 percent.

For the first half of 2016, exports were estimated at $82.24 billion, up 5.9 percent from a year earlier. The pace of annual economic growth slowed to an estimated 5.52 percent, from 6.32 percent last year, the government has said.

Difficulties are still expected in the global economy and trade in the second half of 2016, Anh was quoted as speaking at a cabinet meeting on Friday.

"Now our agro-products still depend much on China so it is necessary to reconsider market access and exploration, approaching major markets such as Europe, America more effectively," the minister said.

China, Vietnam's biggest trading partner, is the biggest of buyer of its rice, rubber, fruits, vegetable and cassava. It also ranks among the 10 largest countries for importing coffee, tea, timber and furniture, cashew, fish and shrimp from its southern neighbour.

In the first five months of 2016, 11 percent of export revenue came from China, according to Vietnam's customs data.

Anh said Vietnam could also boost the export of industrial and consumer products to China, apart from selling agro-products.
Chinas plan to hold military drills around Vietnams Hoang Sa (Paracel) in the East Sea has once again seriously violated Vietnams sovereignty over the archipelago, the Vietnamese foreign ministry said Monday.

China's maritime safety administration on Sunday said the drills would take place from Jul. 5-11, covering an area that includes the Hoang Sa in the East Sea, also known as South China Sea.

Vietnam's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Le Hai Binh said China's action runs counter to common perception of senior leaders from both countries, and defies international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC).

Vietnam strongly objects to the exercises and demands that China respect Vietnams sovereignty and behave in a responsible manner, Binh said.

China must immediately end and not to conduct actions that threaten maritime security and safety in the East Sea or escalate tension in the region, he said.
The site of Metropolitan luxury housing and commercial complex project in Vung Tau Town. Photo credit: Dong Ha/Tuoi Tre

The Ministry of Public Security Sunday said it would investigate three senior Vung Tau town officials following allegations of corruption with regard to a major property development that began in 2010.

The suspects are Phan Hoa Binh, a former mayor, Truong Van Tri, his deputy, and Nguyen Thanh Son, head of the beach towns Department of Urban Management.

They allegedly committed wrongdoing in approving the Metropolitan housing and commercial complex, a source told Thanh Nien.

Police earlier raided the trios house and seized some documents, the source said.

Preliminary investigation found that they had approved many documents for An Khang Real Estate Company, the project developer, though it had failed to establish its financial wherewithal and get permits for the project.

They also approved the project in an area where public and private lands overlapped, which they legally should not have done.

Investigators turned their sights on the trio after an investigation of An Khang Real Estate Company was launched in 2014 and the police arrested four of its officials.

Two town officials were also arrested that year, Vu Quoc Tuan, head of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment, and his subordinate Nguyen Trung Quoc.

More wrongdoing

Investigators also said Binh and Tri had illegally approved applications for changing land use at two other projects, the Khang Gia Han housing and commercial complex and Vuon Xuan residential area.

Tri claimed he did not benefit personally from approving them.

He told Tuoi Tre newspaper he signed the documents shortly after assuming his position in 2010 and signed whatever his subordinates sent to him without carefully examining the documents due to work pressure.

I did not pocket anything or touch a penny, he said.

Son was also surprised by the probe, saying his predecessor had received the applications and he only forwarded them to his superiors for approval.

By 2013 nearly 300 people had paid a total of more than VND400 billion (US$18 million) to An Khang, and complained to the police after the company failed to hand them land plots as promised.

After the police entered the picture in 2014, the Metropolitan project was suspended.

Binh is currently deputy head of the Ba Ria  Vung Tau Party units organizing department.

Tri works at the provincial peoples committee and Son is chairman of the Vung Tau town Ward 9 peoples committee.
The river in which three boys aged 14-15 drowned in Ninh Thuan Province on Sunday. Photo: Thien Nhan

Three teenage boys drowned while bathing in a river in the central province of Ninh Thuan on Sunday.

At around 7:30 p.m. four boys came to the Dinh River in Ninh Phuoc District. One of them stayed on the bank to watch his friend's clothes.

The three boys, aged 14 and 15, reportedly fell into a deep section and drowned. They did not know how to swim.

When the residents came to rescue them, it was too late.

Dinh Van Kim, father of one of the boys, said the river was originally not deep. B ut recently a local company has come and extracted sand from the river illegally, creating holes on the river bed, he claimed.

He said local residents had reported the illegal sand mining activities to the authorities but not much had been done.
A victim of the gold mine collapse is being taken to the hospital. Photo credit: Lao Dong

Four people were killed and another was injured when an illegal gold mine collapsed in the central province of Quang Nam on Tuesday.

The tragedy occurred at around 5 p.m. when they were working underground in the mountainous district of Nam Giang when the mine suddenly collapsed.

Several others who attempted to rescue the victims were hospitalized after inhaling toxic gases.

They only reported the deadly accident to local authorities two hours later.

Maybe it is an illegal mine and they were afraid to report to authorities, Cho Rum Nhien, a local official, said.

Rescuers had to pump oxygen into the mine for several hours before they could get in.

At around 11 p.m. they rescued an injured worker and found the bodies of four others.

The police are investigating.
A villager shows dead fish he collected on a beach in Phu Loc district, in the central province of Thua Thien Hue in April. Photo: AFP

Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc Friday has promised the government will make public "transparently and thoroughly" how it uses the US$500 million compensation to be paid by the Taiwanese company whose toxic effluents polluted the sea and killed fish en masse.

Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Corp. (FHS) Thursday promised to pay the compensation after admitting it had caused the pollution along the central coast in April.

We fought with sufficient and convincing evidence ... to arrive at this result. Thus the support fund allocated for offshore fishing and environmental protection will be announced transparently, Phuc said at a government meeting in Hanoi.

An estimated 70 tons of dead fish washed ashore along more than 200 kilometers of coast in the four provinces of Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri, and Thua Thien Hue.

Scientists found corals bleached to death at a research site near Mui Ron Ma, Ha Tinh Province.

Mai Tien Dung, chairman of the Government Office, said during a test run in early April the FHS steel mill in Ha Tinh released into the sea wastewater containing toxins such as cyanide and phenol.

The disaster has decimated tourism and fishing and damaged the marine environment in these provinces. Scientists found corals bleached to death in the area, a loss which they said would take 50 years to recover.

It took Vietnamese scientists and authorities more than 80 days to find FHS guilty. Chen Yuan-Cheng, FHS Chairman, Thursday said in a video that his company "takes full responsibility and sincerely apologizes to the Vietnamese people... for causing the environmental disaster."

Phuc said the plan to use the $500 million should be completed by the end of this month.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc (C).

He tasked the agricultural ministry with crafting support policies for fishermen, especially in affected areas in the four provinces of Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri and Thua Thien Hue.

The environment ministry would also establish a fund to restore the health of the environment there, Phuc said.

He said support should be given to offshore fishing for long-term and sustainable effectiveness, instructing concerned ministries to give direct support to fishermen suffering from losses due to the fish deaths.

He also counseled government officials not to trade the environment for economic growth or foreign investment.
Baku, Azerbaijan, July 4

By Anakhanum Idayatova - Trend:

Russia's mediation in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement affects intensification of actions by the West in this issue, Mehmet Fatih Oztarsu, vice chairman of the Turkish analytical center Strategic Outlook, told Trend July 4.

However, Oztarsu, who is an expert on the South Caucasus, added that the US won't be able to gain the leadership in this issue from Russia.

He said that after the April events on the contact line of Azerbaijani and Armenian troops, Russia made it clear to the world that this issue cannot be solved without Moscow, and after relations with Turkey got back on track, Russia's role in resolving the conflict increased even more.

Oztarsu mentioned the events of April 2, when the frontier positions of Azerbaijan were subjected to heavy fire from the Armenian side, which used large-caliber weapons, mortars and grenade launchers. The armed clashes resulted in deaths and injuries among the Azerbaijani population. Azerbaijan responded with a counter-attack, which led to liberation of several strategic heights and settlements.

Oztarsu noted that one cannot ignore Russias growing political and military weight in the region.

The US, especially under President Obama, has quite a passive policy in the Caucasus, Oztarsu said. All the West can do in this issue is to organize usual meetings. It is impossible to reduce the importance of Russia in this issue.

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 plane, which had arrived from the UK, was towed to another gate to prepare for a flight to Ho Chi Minh City while the jet bridge was not taken out of the planes door yet. Photo: CTV/Thanh Nien

A Vietnam Airlines Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner had its front door damage after it hit a jet bridge at Noi Bai International Airport on Monday morning.

The incident happened as the aircraft, which had just arrived from the UK, was on its way to another gate for its next flight, according to a statement from the carrier.

Vietnam Airlines said it had to use another plane for the Ho Chi Minh City-bound flight. It departed at 1 p.m. on Monday, three hours behind schedule.

Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner is the all-new latest version of Boeing 787, which is more fuel-efficient and has a wider body. Vietnam Airlines used the first Dreamliner in July 2015.

The carrier, which now operates 14 Airbus A350-900 XWBs, said it plans to have 19 new Boeings by 2019.
Fishing boats in Quang Binh Province have stayed on shore for the past three months following the mass fish deaths in April. Photo: Quoc Nam/Tuoi Tre

The Taiwanese company has pledged a compensation fund of $500 mln for the toxic spill disaster in four provinces

Quang Binh, one of the four provinces in central Vietnam hit by a toxic spill disaster in April, has demanded Taiwanese steel firm Formosa pay at least VND4 trillion ($180 million) to recompense for the devastating impacts on its environment and economy.

The claim was made soon after the company admitted it was responsible for mass fish deaths in Quang Binh and three other provinces.

The province's officials said at a meeting Monday that the disaster, possibly the biggest environment crisis in the countrys history, has caused losses of nearly VND2.7 trillion (US$120 million) to its salt, fishing and tourism industries as of last week.

It is likely that the total damage could reach $180 million by the end of the year, they said, as cited by Tuoi Tre newspaper.

The waters off the province have been heavily polluted and m ore than half of the local's seafood resources have been destroyed, they said, adding that some sea creatures "have almost disappeared."



There is also a seafood safety scare across the country and it will be very difficult to recover from this, they said.

Nguyen Huu Hoai, chairman of Quang Binh Province, said the incident caused serious consequences, both economically and emotionally.

Hoai said the long-lasting impacts mean relevant agencies need to monitor the damage for many years to come.

Around 100 tons of dead fish washed ashore in Quang Binh and nearby provinces Ha Tinh, Quang Tri and Thua Thien-Hue in April.

Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Corp., which has a plant in Ha Tinh took the blame on June 30, admitting that its sewage discharge caused the problem, following a grand investigation led by the environment ministry. The company said there were faults in the operation trial.

It pledged a compensation fund of $500 million for the disaster. The government said the compensation process will be transparent.
Two years after failing to get official approval for his first mini submarine, a Vietnamese engineer Sunday sailed his second with approval from the Ministry of Defense.

Nguyen Quoc Hoa, director of a mechanical firm in Thai Binh Province, piloted the sub himself and told Thanh Nien on the phone that it was a successful trip.

The vessel, named Hoang Sa after Vietnams Paracel archipelago in the East Sea, was approved by a ministry committee late last month.

Hoa first made a mini-sub in 2013 and named it Truong Sa for the Spratly Islands. He presented it publicly several times, but never received recognition from the authorities.

The second was made last year and is said to be a big improvement with its smaller size and more functions.

The nine-ton steel sub can travel at 15 nautical miles per hour, carry two people and remain as deep as 50 meters for three days.

Hoa refused to reveal its cost.

I just want to prove that Vietnamese have the smartness and capacity to make such things. I dont care much about the cost since I can borrow money if necessary as long as I can deliver a sub made in Vietnam.

Hoa is the second Vietnamese to make mini submarines.

Phan Boi Tran, an engineer who worked for the French submarine firm Comex for years, returned home in 2006 and began to work on his own mini subs.

Tran has got large orders from Malaysia and Thailand for tourism though his subs have not received a patent in Vietnam after his application was turned down.
The security screening area of Norfolk International Airport after renovation is seen in an undated handout picture in Norfolk, Virginia, U.S.. Chris Cunningham/Courtesy of Gresham, Smith, and Partners/Handout via REUTERS

Gresham, Smith and Partners recently designed a screening area at Norfolk International Airport in Virginia with one major concern in mind: flexibility, so it can adapt to changing security threats.

From box-cutters to explosives to automatic weapons, the dangers for airport security evolve. So the firm created a large, open space without support columns that can be easily reconfigured to bring in the next generation of screening machines.

"We don't know what's coming next so we design for that," said Wilson Rayfield, executive vice president in charge of aviation at the architecture, design and consulting firm.

In the face of airport threats such as Tuesday's deadly attack in Istanbul, designers are asked to come to the frontline of the security challenge and achieve the nearly impossible: improve security without slowing down travelers.

The stakes are high. In Istanbul, three suspected Islamic State suicide bombers killed 44 people and wounded 238 in a gun and bomb attack. In Brussels on March 22, two Islamic State suicide bombers detonated suitcase bombs in the airport departure hall before a third struck a metro train in the city, killing 32 people in all.

Sometimes, art and function coincide. Open spaces and high ceilings can reduce the impact of a concussive blast.

Other times, designers are working to reduce congestion in non-secure areas and create more offsite checkpoints. They seek to channel passengers in ways that take advantage of high-tech sensors, cameras and facial recognition software that may help police stop assailants before they kill.

"Aviation has a lot to learn from Las Vegas casinos," said Rayfield, referring to surveillance cameras and crowd control methods that he said allow three-fourths of visitors to be identified.

A terminal renovation soon to begin at Denver International Airport will incorporate the latest innovations, such as creating more security checkpoints dispersed throughout the airport in order to reduce crowds. At Newark Liberty International Airport, another major hub, vehicles have already been moved further from the terminal to lessen the threat of a car bomb.

In May, the U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) issued a broad call for companies to devise new ways to address threats, improve passenger screening and deliver next-generation screening technology. Proposals are due later this month.

Israel at forefront

Since the attacks of September 11, 2001, security experts have revolutionized their craft, sometimes by moving screening checkpoints further away from terminals, one of many tactics employed by Israel, long seen as the vanguard nation in airport security.

Ofer Lefler, a spokesman for Israel Airports Authority, said security was "100 percent" a consideration required of architects who designed Ben Gurion Airport's main terminal, though he declined to discuss specifics.

The terminal, completed in 2004, is grand with high ceilings and an abundance of marble and Jerusalem stone. A magnificent sun roof, water fountain and atrium give way to corridors leading to the gates like spokes on a wheel.

Beyond aesthetics, the design has a function, according to one Israeli aviation security consultant who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity as he was unauthorized to discuss measures at Ben Gurion Airport. Wide-open sight lines give security agents a clear view so that "potential terrorists can be tracked by guards, whether in person or through the closed-circuit TV system, from the moment they are arrive."

From the parking area to the terminal, there are several access points with sliding glass doors made from a blast-proof material that would help limit casualties from shrapnel, the consultant said.

Surveillance at Ben Gurion begins well before anyone reaches the parking area or terminal. Cars are stopped at a checkpoint, watched over by heavily armed guards and cameras that read license plates. People deemed suspicious are pulled over for further questioning and possibly searches. Largely surreptitious monitoring continues all the way to the terminal.

But, experts say, such measures may be impractical at busier airports. Ben Gurion handled fewer than 16 million international passengers in 2015, compared to 75 million at London Heathrow.

A station for CLEAR, a service where users can jump to the front of airport security lines after verifying their identity with a fingerprint or iris scan, is pictured at San Francisco International Airport in California, U.S. May 27, 2016.

In the car-crazed United States, adding vehicle checkpoints to old airports would create even greater traffic jams where congestion is already colossal.

"That stops a car or bus or a truck. But it doesn't stop people," said Matthew Horace, chief security officer at FJC Security Services in Floral Park, New York.

Technology has proven to invaluable to move people quickly through the terminal, said Stanis Smith, executive vice president and airport sector leader for Stantec, a Canadian design firm that is a technical adviser to a major terminal renovation at New York's La Guardia airport.

Passengers can now move twice as fast in places employing technology such as self-service check-in and baggage tagging, automated passport readers and electronic signs that can be tailored to the any particular flight.

"Just as we saw ATMs take over in the banking sector, we're seeing the same thing in the airport world," Smith said.

This includes the use of new body scanners, carry-on baggage scanning machines, and pre-airport checks to improve the flow of people and bags.

"Aviation is going to remain a favorite target," said Thomas Sanderson, director of a Washington-based think tank at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. "If someone wants to kill people, they will find a way. They just have to be right once. We have to be right all the time."
A relative cries after attending the funeral prayer of the victims who were killed in the attack on the Holey Artisan Bakery and the O'Kitchen Restaurant, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, July 4, 2016.

Bangladesh police sought more information on Monday from friends and family of the men suspected of carrying out a deadly attack on a restaurant in the capital, and some are believed to have attended top schools and colleges at home and abroad.

The gunmen stormed the restaurant in Dhaka's diplomatic zone late on Friday and killed 20 people, most of them foreigners from Italy, Japan, India and the United States, in an assault claimed by Islamic State.

It was one of the deadliest militant attacks to date in Bangladesh, where Islamic State and al Qaeda have claimed a series of killings of liberals and religious minorities in the last year while the government says they were carried out by local groups.

Whoever was responsible, Friday's attack marked a major escalation in the scale and brutality of militant violence aimed at forcing strict Islamic rule in Bangladesh, whose 160 million people are mostly Muslim.

Islamic State posted pictures of five fighters it said were involved in the atrocity to avenge attacks on Muslims across the world.

"Let the people of the crusader countries know that there is no safety for them as long as their aircraft are killing Muslims," it said in a statement.

Posts on Facebook identified the men, pictured on an Islamic State website grinning in front of a black flag, as Nibras Islam, Rohan Imtiaz, Meer Saameh Mubasheer, Andaleeb Ahmed and Raiyan Minhaj.

Most went to prestigious schools or universities in Dhaka and Malaysia, officials said. One of them was the son of a politician.

A police officer said the pictures of four of the attackers matched the bodies, although he gave a different name for the fourth.

Rohan's father, a mid-ranking leader of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's ruling party, had lodged a complaint in January that he had gone missing since Dec. 30, 2015, a police officer said.

On Monday, there was nobody at the family apartment in an affluent neighborhood of Dhaka, and a security guard said the parents had left the house on Sunday.

"A majority of the boys who attacked the restaurant came from very good educational institutions. Some went to sophisticated schools. Their families are relatively well-to-do people," Bangladeshi Information Minister Hasanul Haq Inu told India's NDTV.

Tracing roots

Several posts on social media said the man identified by police as Nibras Islam attended Monash University in Malaysia. A friend who knew him while he studied at Dhaka's North South University told Reuters that Islam later went to Monash.

Saifaul Islam, another investigator, said police were holding two people suspected of involvement in the assault, including one detained soon after the attack.

Bangladesh's Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina pays homage in front of the coffins of the victims who were killed in the attack on the Holey Artisan.

"We have two persons with us, but we don't know if they are victims or suspects. They are currently undergoing treatment and we'd get to know about their role in the incident only after they recover."

Nobody had yet come forward to claim the bodies of the six dead men, he said. "We are taking DNA samples of them and will see if it matches with the families. We have some suspicions, we know some boys had gone missing over the last two-three months."

Just days after the attack claimed by its rival jihadi movement Islamic State, a regional branch of al Qaeda urged Muslims in India to revolt and carry out lone wolf attacks.

The call by al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) follows warnings by security officials and experts that the two groups are trying to outdo each other in the region and claim the mantle of global jihad.

Rohan Gunaratna, a professor of security studies at Singapore's Rajaratnam School of International Studies, said the Dhaka gunmen's background may have helped them mount the attack at the Holey Artisan restaurant, popular with the city's well-heeled and foreigners.

"As they were well educated and young, they could blend into and operate in the upmarket diplomatic enclave without evoking red flags," he said.

"The IS (Islamic State) attack team was also technologically savvy and they uploaded the photos during the attack both to (the) IS command cell in Bangladesh and IS central in Syria."

On Monday, hundreds of people gathered in central Dhaka to remember the victims, holding placards in different languages.

"We bleed from similar veins, we cry. Bangladesh, stand up for the next fight," read one large banner written in English.

The attack could be a huge blow for Bangladesh's $26 billion garment industry, as fears mount that major retailers from Marks and Spencer to Gap Inc could rethink their investments.

Japan's Fast Retailing Co, owner of the Uniqlo casual-wear brand, said it will suspend all but critical travel to Bangladesh and has told staff there to stay home.
The U.K. vote to leave the EU should be a wake up call for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to make trade agreements more in touch with the needs of working people and not projects of the elites, said Indonesias Trade Minister Thomas Lembong.

Having already lifted tariff barriers, with non-tariff barriers inside the 10-nation bloc set to be removed by 2025, Lembong, a former investment banker, urged regional leaders to spend more time and energy with the public. "I worry that within Asean, there is a similar danger that Asean becomes a project of the elites, and we dont spend enough time, money and effort socializing it to the people," Lembong said in a text message.

"Philosophically, Brexit should be a wake-up call to us trade ministers to make economic community agreements, trade agreements and regulations more explicitly pro-people, and rely less on so-called trickle-down to eventually take care of the working classes and the vulnerable," Lembong said.

Often criticized for being too slow to integrate, consistently missing deadlines and dithering on removing costly logistics barriers, Asean has long suffered in comparison to the EU. Yet the adoption of a less stringent timetable for integration, and avoiding decisions on thorny issues such as allowing the free movement of people, could actually help maintain Asean unity.

No rush

We do our integration at our own pace, at our own speed."

Aseans Director of Community Affairs Lee Yoong Yoong said that with the broader impact of Brexit still an unknown, the British vote reinforced the fact that Asean should keep the speed of integration moving at its own pace. "We do our integration at our own pace, at our own speed. We do not worry what the West or the Europeans tell us to do," Lee said in an interview.

"One of the lessons drawn from Brexit, not just from an Asean angle, is that you cant ignore the sentiment on the ground," Lee said. "This is why Asean has always focused on how with this approach, this exercise, we can benefit the people. We want to form a community first, we want to make sure that everybody is progressing at the same time."

With Asean representing 630 million people living in an economy with a GDP of $2.5 trillion, and annual trade rising 10 percent last year to $2.28 trillion, including trade valued at $228 billion with the EU, Lee said Brexit would affect future free trade negotiations between Asean and the EU.

We have to negotiate some of the FTA with the U.K. by themselves, because they are no longer part of the EU," Lee said. "Asean has expressed the intention to resume talks for Asean-EU FTA before Brexit. With Brexit happening, we want to see what would happen in Europe first before our policy makers can adopt the next step."

Significant risk

[Brexit] will indirectly impact on Aseans integration efforts by making the political conditions for integration more difficult.

Yet there is still the significant risk of a negative Brexit impact for Asean said Bilahari Kausikan, a Singaporean ambassador-at-large, who says that integration is always easier in good times than bad.

In so far as Brexit makes the world economic environment more uncertain and difficult, it will indirectly impact on Aseans integration efforts by making the political conditions for integration more difficult, said Bilahari.

Adding that Asean always strove to have good relations with the EU and wished it well, Bilahari said he saw the EU more as a source of negative examples than a model. Only the EU deluded itself that it was a model. We have always thought that the EU model was unrealistic, indeed utopian, he added.

Integration hurdles

[Asean] cannot assume regional cooperation will continue to progress in a positive linear upward trend.

Chinas expansion into the South China Sea has also emerged as a major hurdle to further Asean integration.

This surprise outcome (in the British referendum) is such an eye-opening development for all of us in Asean that we cannot assume regional cooperation will continue to progress in a positive linear upward trend, Termsak Chalermpalanupap, a researcher at the National University of Singapores Centre for International Law who recently retired after 20 years of service at the Asean secretariat, said in an e-mail.

Established in 1967, the Asean secretariat in Jakarta is today staffed by only 300 people, compared to the nearly 33,000 employees working for the European Commission in Brussels.

Over the years the EU has deteriorated from an idealistic grand European design for peace and prosperity into a more or less intractable, unaccountable bureaucratic mess with internal dictatorial tendency, said Ei Sun Oh, a senior analyst with Singapores Institute of Defence & Strategic Studies.
Overnight flash floods killed at least 43 people in northern Pakistan, the majority in a remote village that did not receive an evacuation warning before the waters hit washing away most of the settlement, officials said Sunday.

The heavy monsoon rains began late Saturday and were concentrated mainly in the northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, which has been badly affected by flooding in recent years that some scientists have linked to climate change.

The worst hit district was Chitral, on the country's northwest border with Afghanistan, where the flood waters killed 41 people in the village of Ursoon near the Afghan border, which is home to some 100 families, district mayor Maghfirat Shah told AFP.

Eighty-two homes in the village were affected by the waters, a rescue services statement said, with some of them swept away, along with a mosque and an army post.

"Sixteen of the dead were offering prayers in the mosque when it was swept away by the flood," said Latifur Rehman, a spokesman for the provincial disaster management authority.

At least eight of the victims were soldiers, and another eight bodies were swept over the border into Afghanistan, senior local official Osama Waraich said.

Rehman said a military-led rescue and relief operation was now underway, with helicopters being used to reach the affected people and provide them with tents, food and medical aid.

Falah-i-Insaniat Foundation, the charitable wing of the banned Lashkar-e-Taiba militant group, were among the first at the scene providing relief.

An AFP reporter in Ursoon said survivors who had lost their homes were waiting for aid under open skies surrounded by mud and debris where their village once stood.

Nearby villages had received flood warnings from the local authorities, but Ursoon was not alerted in time, the reporter said.

Separately, two Chinese engineers were killed and five Pakistani workers injured when the heavy rains caused the roof of a construction site to collapse at Tarbela Dam, also in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Rehman said.

Deadly rains

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's office issued a statement expressing his grief and sorrow.

Heavy rains and flash flood claim many victims each year, with poorly built homes across the country, particularly in rural areas, susceptible to collapse during the annual spring and monsoon rains in July-August

In April rains and landslides killed 127 people in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the Gilgit-Baltistan region and Pakistani Kashmir.

Pakistani labourers walk with their donkey carts through flood water following heavy rain in Lahore.

During the rainy season last summer, torrential downpours and flooding killed 81 people and affected almost 300,000 across the country.

The worst flooding in recent times occurred in 2010 and covered almost a fifth of the country's total land mass. Nearly 2,000 people were killed, 20 million affected and huge tracts of prime farmland destroyed.

Rapid deforestation brought about by decades of illegal logging in the country's north and the growth of farming along the river Indus in the south is believed by experts to have exacerbated the effects of the annual floods.

Energy-starved Pakistan relies on a multitude of dams and barrages to prevent Himalayan rivers from flooding and help meet its power needs, but some academics believe the slowing of rivers due to the structures mean that silt accumulates, decreasing their capacity.

A research paper commissioned by conservation group WWF and published in 2000 looked at various countries, and warned of similar consequences. It noted the drainage of wetlands as well as deforestation associated with dams led to a loss of natural "sponges" to absorb flood waters during rainy season.
"The UKs actions in Libya were part of an ill-conceived intervention, the results of which are still playing out today."
A woman lights a candle at the site after a suicide bombing in the Karrada shopping area, in Baghdad, Iraq July 3, 2016.

Nearly 120 people were killed and 200 wounded in two bombings overnight in Baghdad, most of them in a busy shopping area as residents celebrated Ramadan, police and medical sources said on Sunday.

The attack on the shopping area of Karrada is the deadliest since U.S.-backed Iraqi forces last month scored a major victory when it dislodged Islamic State from their stronghold of Falluja, an hour's drive west of the capital. It is also the deadliest so far this year.

Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi had ordered the offensive after a series of bombings in Baghdad, saying Falluja served as a launchpad for such attacks on the capital. However, bombings have continued.

A convoy carrying Abadi who had come to tour the site of the bombings was pelted with stones and bottles by residents, angry at what they felt were false promises of better security.

A man lights a candle at the site after a suicide bombing in the Karrada shopping area, in Baghdad, Iraq July 3, 2016.

A refrigerator truck packed with explosives blew up in the central district of Karrada, killing 115 people and injuring at least 200. Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement circulated online by supporters of the ultra-hardline Sunni group. It said the blast was a suicide bombing.

Karrada was busy at the time as Iraqis eat out and shop late during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, which ends next week with the Eid al-Fitr festival.

The White House on Sunday said the attack only strengthened the United States' resolve to confront Islamic State. "We remain united with the Iraqi people and government in our combined efforts to destroy ISIL," said the White House statement, referring to Islamic State.

Videos posted on social media showed people running after the SUV convoy of Abadi as he left Karrada after touring the scene, throwing pavement stones, bottles of water, empty buckets and slippers, venting their anger at the inability of the security forces to protect the area.

Abadi declared three days of mourning for the victims, according to state-run media that also cited him saying he understood the angry reaction of residents.

Another video posted on social media showed a large blaze in the main street of Karrada, a largely Shi'ite district with a small Christian community and a few Sunni mosques.

Comments posted on social media accused security forces of continuing to use fake bomb detectors at checkpoints filtering traffic in Baghdad."

Reuters TV footage taken in the morning showed at least four buildings severely damaged or partly collapsed, including a shopping mall believed to be the target, and gutted cars scattered all around.

The toll climbed during the day as rescuers pulled out more bodies from under the rubble and people succumbed to their injuries.

Comments posted on social media accused security forces of continuing to use fake bomb detectors at checkpoints filtering traffic in Baghdad, five years after the scandal broke out about a device commonly known as the 'magic wand'.

A police officer in Baghdad confirmed these hand-held ADE 651 detectors were still in use. They were sold to Iraq and other nations by a British businessman who was jailed for 10 years in 2013 in Britain for endangering lives for profit.

Al Shaab attack

In a second attack, a roadside bomb also blew up around midnight in a market in al-Shaab, a Shi'ite district in the north of the capital, killing at least two people, police and medical sources said.

Mourners react during a funeral of a victim who was killed in a suicide car bomb in the Karrada shopping area in Baghdad, during the funeral in Najaf, south of Baghdad, Iraq, July 3, 2016.

Iraqi forces on June 26 declared the defeat of IS militants in Falluja, a bastion of Sunni insurgency, following a month of fighting.

Now the militants were "trying to compensate for their humiliating defeat in Falluja," said Jasim al-Bahadli, a former army officer and security analyst in Baghdad.

"It was a mistake for the government to think that the source of the bombings was restricted to just one area," he said. "There are sleeper cells that operate independently from each other."

The assault on Falluja was part of a wider offensive against Islamic State, which seized swathes of Iraqi territory in 2014.

Abadi said the next target of the Iraqi forces is Mosul, the de facto capital of the militants and the largest city under their control in both Iraq and Syria.
Indonesian police and firefighters extinguish a fire on burning peat land in Central Kalimantan province on Borneo island

Singapore is refusing to back down in its pursuit of those responsible for haze-belching forest fires in Southeast Asia last year, despite struggling to bring the perpetrators before the courts and drawing a sharp rebuke from neighbouring Indonesia.

Forest fires are part of an annual dry-season problem in Indonesia, started illegally to quickly and cheaply clear land for cultivation -- particularly for palm oil and pulpwood.

But last year's haze outbreak was among the worst in memory, shrouding Malaysia, Singapore, and parts of Thailand in acrid smoke and forcing school closures as pollution reached hazardous levels and thousands fell sick across the region.

Singapore has served notice to six Indonesian companies it believes may have cleared land by burning but could target others as investigations continue, according to Singapore's ambassador to Indonesia Anil Kumar Nayar.

"We are going after, to put it starkly, the bad guys that are causing this problem," he told AFP in an interview last week.

However, the city-state's efforts to punish Indonesian companies under its own anti-haze law have become a flashpoint with Jakarta.

Singapore argues that international rules allow states to take action -- even if harm is being caused by activities outside its jurisdiction -- but Jakarta has questioned how Singapore could pursue Indonesian citizens for prosecution, especially in the absence of a ratified extradition treaty between the neighbours.

The latest sabre-rattling came after Singapore issued a court warrant in May to detain a director of an Indonesian company linked to the haze while he was in the city-state.

Afterwards, Indonesia's Environment Minister Siti Nurbaya Bakar said that she would be reviewing her ministry's cooperation with Singapore on environmental issues.

"Singapore cannot step further into Indonesia's legal domain," Bakar told reporters in June. Her spokesman declined to comment further on the matter when contacted.

Nayar reiterated that Singapore wasn't crossing any line pursuing these companies and was within its rights to enforce its law.

"We are not doing something that is extraordinary. It is not targeting any country, or anybody's sovereignty," he said.

The law threatens local and foreign firms with fines of up to $100,000 Singaporean dollars (US$74,000) for every day Singapore endures unhealthy haze pollution.

So far just two of the companies have responded to the court order, Nayar said, without naming specific firms.

Slow progress

Singapore has repeatedly asked Indonesia for details about companies -- such as maps showing who owns what concessions -- but says Jakarta has not provided any information.

Singapore's Keppel container port terminal is blanketed in thick smog as air quality reached "very unhealthy" levels in September 2015.

Singapore would "continue to press", Nayar said, but added the evidence needed to prosecute these companies could be found by other means.

"We could go that way as well, but at the end of the day this is part of a legal process. We want to be working with the Indonesian government," he said.

One of Indonesia's main arguments is that a regional approach to solving the haze crisis would be more effective than individual action.

"They (Singapore) know our view on this, on how we can best address this issue of haze through the ASEAN mechanism," ministry spokesman Arrmanatha Nasir told AFP.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations has an agreement to create a haze-free region by 2020, though it took 14 years to be fully ratified.

Nayar says regional progress on curbing haze has been slow.

Fellow ASEAN member Malaysia, which also suffers during the haze outbreaks, has expressed interest in adopting its own law similar to Singapore's to pursue errant companies.

Jakarta has promised tougher action in the wake of last year's haze disaster, which turned skies yellow in Indonesia's part of Borneo island and dealt the economy a $16 billion blow.

The government announced in May it would no longer grant new land for palm oil plantations, and established a new agency to restore millions of hectares of carbon-rich peatlands susceptible to fires.
Baku, Azerbaijan, July 4

By Anakhanum Idayatova  Trend:

The EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus and the crisis in Georgia Herbert Salber has told Trend that he will visit Azerbaijan in July.

The exact date of visit was not announced. Last time, the EU special representative visited Azerbaijan Apr.15.

Salber will hold a number of high-level meetings in Baku and discuss the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

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.

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Follow the author on Twitter: @Anahanum
Baku, Azerbaijan, July 4

Trend:

Russia is making great efforts to resolve the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Mariya Zakharova, spokesperson for Russias Foreign Ministry, told reporters in Yerevan July 4, Aysor.am reported.

To that end, she said, Russias Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is holding bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the meeting of Collective Security Treaty Organizations Council of Foreign Ministers.

We are making great efforts so that the settlement [of the conflict] would bring success, said Zakharova.

The meeting of the Collective Security Treaty Organizations Council of Foreign Ministers is underway in Yerevan.

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.
A Canberra man who lied to the trade union royal commission has been jailed for three months.

Tuungafasi Manase, of Evatt, was charged with perjury after he gave evidence at the commission's ACT hearing in July last year.

Tuungafasi Manase gives evidence at the trade union royal commission. Credit:Screenshot

Part of his evidence concerned a handwritten note that detailed a list of payments made by his former boss, formwork contractor Elias Taleb, to construction union organiser Halafihi "Fihi" Kivalu.

But Manase denied knowledge of the note when he gave evidence in front of commissioner Dyson Heydon, saying he had not written it or passed it on to Mr Taleb.
Men who gripe about their ex-girlfriends and advise other men to avoid relationships with women are generally relegated to the seedy underbelly of the internet  various forums and websites in the "manosphere," recently chronicled by Stephen Marche in The Guardian. Yet a leading voice of the new feminist generation, British writer Laurie Penny, can use her column in the New Statesman to decry ex-boyfriends who "turned mean or walked away" and to urge straight young women to stay single instead of "wasting years in succession on lacklustre, unappreciative, boring child-men".

Feminist commentary routinely puts the nastiest possible spin on male behaviour and motives. Consider the backlash against the concept of the "friend zone", or being relegated to "friends-only" status when seeking a romantic relationship  usually, though not exclusively, in reference to men being "friend zoned" by women. Since the term has a clear negative connotation, feminist critics say it reflects the assumption that a man is owed sex as a reward for treating a woman well. Yet it's at least as likely that, as Australian-born feminist writer Rachel Hills argued in a rare dissent in The Atlantic, the lament of the "friend zoned" is about "loneliness and romantic frustration," not sexual entitlement.

Things have got to a point where casual low-level male-bashing is a constant white noise in the hip progressive online media. Take a recent piece on Broadly, the women's section of Vice, titled, "Men Are Creepy, New Study Confirms"  promoted with a Vice Facebook post that said: "Are you a man? You're probably a creep." The actual study found something very different: that both men and women overwhelmingly think someone described as "creepy" is more likely to be male. If a study had found that a negative trait was widely associated with women (or gays or Muslims), surely this would have been reported as deplorable stereotyping, not confirmation of reality.

Meanwhile, men can get raked over the (virtual) coals for voicing even the mildest unpopular opinion on something feminism-related. Just recently, YouTube film reviewer James Rolfe, who goes by "Angry Video Game Nerd," was roundly vilified as a misogynistic "man-baby" in social media and the online press after announcing that he would not watch the female-led Ghostbusters remake because of what he felt was its failure to acknowledge the original franchise.

This matters, and not just because it can make men less sympathetic to the problems women face. At a time when we constantly hear that woman power is triumphant and "the end of men"  or at least of traditional manhood  is nigh, men face some real problems of their own. Women are now earning about 60 per cent of college degrees; male college enrolment after high school has stalled at 61 per cent since 1994, even as female enrolment has risen from 63 per cent to 71 per cent. Predominantly male blue-collar jobs are on the decline and the rise of single motherhood has left many men disconnected from family life. The old model of marriage and fatherhood has been declared obsolete, but new ideals remain elusive.
"An allegation of non-recent sexual assault was made to police on May 23," a police statement said. "The allegation was made by a woman against a man, and relates to incidents in Tower Hamlets in the 1990s. "There have been no arrests and no person has been interviewed under caution." Evans behind the wheel for Top Gear. Credit:BBC Worldwide The statement relates to allegations from a former colleague that Evans exposed himself to her and grabbed her breasts. Evans has described the claims, first aired in May, as a "witch hunt". And in a vote of confidence in him from the BBC, he will continue to host his national breakfast show on Radio 2 during any investigation.

Evans had big shoes to fill, taking over from the controversial former host Jeremy Clarkson. Credit:PA Since the launch of the rebooted series, Top Gear ratings have been in freefall. The show's 23rd season launched in May with 6.42 million viewers in the UK. Every week since it has posted a dramatic loss, landing at 4.06 million, then 3.44 million, 3.22 million, 2.68 million and finally, for its sixth episode, just 1.9 million.

Mark Linsey, Director of BBC Studios, said Evans had done "everything he could to make the show a success". "He firmly believes that the right people remain, on both the production team and presenting team to take the show forward and make it the hit we want it to be," he said. "The new series has so far notched up over 30 million views in the UK alone and has already been sold to 130 territories worldwide." Evans replaced the show's previous host Jeremy Clarkson, who was suspended in March, 2015, and later sacked, after a succession of scandals plagued the show. Clarkson's co-hosts James May and Richard Hammond said they would not return without him, and the show's executive producer Andy Wilman also resigned.

Their departures triggered a major reboot of the series. The show's three hosts were replaced with six: Evans, American actor Matt LeBlanc, former motorsport boss Eddie Jordan, motoring journalist Chris Harris, race car driver Sabine Schmitz and motoring journalist Rory Reid. How Evans' departure affects the show's other hosts remains unclear. A 24th season of the show is likely, as it is one of the BBC's most powerful revenue earners in terms of international program sales and product licensing. But the broadcaster has not confirmed if any of the show's five remaining hosts will return for a new season.

The BBC had only commissioned six episodes  cut down from an earlier order of 10  for the show's 23rd season. All six of those episodes have now aired in the UK. Speaking to Fairfax Media in Cannes last year where the BBC was launching the reboot, Evans said he had taken the gig with mixed emotions. "When watched the last show, or what became the last show, which none of us knew, nor did they when they were making it, it was so sad," he said. "It was like a patient that didn't know it was dying or hadn't been told."

While the BBC will insist it is smooth sailing, there is little doubt the broadcaster's richest programming asset is in crisis. UK newspapers have, for some time, been reporting rumours of rifts on the set between Evans and LeBlanc as it has struggled in the ratings. The audience flatline for the show's sixth episode represents the smallest audience for the show in a decade in the UK. The Sun newspaper quoted unnamed sources on the "crisis-hit" program who said LeBlanc had delivered "a crushing ultimatum [that he would] have no part in any future series that features Chris." While it might seem that Evans would retain the upper negotiating hand in that situation  he is also a BBC Radio 2 host  LeBlanc's appeal to an international television audience would strengthen his own position.

A perfect illustration of Top Gear's focus on its non-UK audience can be seen in the selection of celebrity guests for the show's 23rd season: a mix of Americans such as actors Jesse Eisenberg and Patrick Dempsey, comedian Kevin Hart and adventurer Bear Grylls, and UK personalities who have large US profiles, such as chef Gordon Ramsay, actor Damian Lewis and comedian Jennifer Saunders. The Daily Express has also reported that the BBC was searching internally for a new producer to take over the series in an attempt to dilute Evans' creative control. The news also comes as the US version of the series is being shelved by the cable History channel. After six seasons, History axed the US version of Top Gear, hosted by Rutledge Wood, who then announced on social media the series was "done for the immediate future". BBC Worldwide North America confirmed the US version of the series was ending, but said they were investigating their options for the future.
Malcolm Turnbull's bid to clear out micro party senators has backfired spectacularly, and he will be forced to deal with new an expanded Senate crossbench  including a surging Pauline Hanson  if he manages to form government.

As the fall-out from the July 2 poll deepens and it looks increasingly likely that no one will be able to form majority government in the lower house, election analyst Antony Green told Fairfax Media that he simply can't see how Mr Turnbull will win the 76 seats needed for a majority.

Mr Green, the nation's pre-eminent psephologist, said the Senate crossbench would grow from the eight senators in the previous parliament, though he cautioned a final result in the upper house could be six weeks away.
"I don't know if it's just anti-Islam," he told Fairfax Media on Monday. "I think it's more about Australians first  That has probably resonated here."

The truistic message crystalises a sentiment that appeals to disenchanted voters, according to Matt Burnett, Mayor of Gladstone, Queensland, where support for the party is among its highest in the nation.

"Australia for Australians" is the headline on Pauline Hanson's One Nation party's webpage outlining what the resurgent party is all about.

Putting Australians first, at least according to One Nation's website, translates into a platform of economic protectionism  particularly ending foreign sales of agricultural land  drastic immigration control and cultural preservation that indubitably strays into Islamophobia.

Pauline Hanson on Monday. Credit:AAP

That platform and Ms Hanson's name recognition have persuaded 339,005 voters  or 4.12 per cent of the Australian electorate  to put One Nation first on the Senate ballot. In Queensland, the party got 9.16 per cent of Senate first preferences, doing particularly well in regional areas including around Gladstone and also inland west of Brisbane.

Ms Hanson is back  as a serious force. With preferences, she will take a seat in the Senate, probably joined by a colleague from Queensland and one from New South Wales, with a fourth seat from Western Australia also a chance.

What has driven this success? It is what Griffith University political lecturer Paul Williams called "a perfect storm" for Ms Hanson: dissatisfaction with major parties, the end of the mining boom hitting regional areas such as Gladstone, a lacklustre federal election campaign. Other commentators have added that the removal of Tony Abbott as prime minister has driven conservative voters away from the Coalition.
Alexandra Couzens used to think of herself as a "cry-baby".

Minor occurrences  like having to cancel plans with friends  would see the 38-year-old publicity manager crumble in an emotional heap, crying to the point of exhaustion.

Highly Sensitive People can be easily overwhelmed but also feel more deeply and see life in brighter colours. Credit:Stocksy

Last year she saw her doctor about her propensity for "overreacting". Everything clicked when he said she was a Highly Sensitive Person (HSP).

"I felt better about knowing what was wrong; that it was not me being a wuss or a sook."
Baku, Azerbaijan, July 4

Trend:

Foreign ministers of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) member states made a statement on the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, RIA Novosti reported July 4.

In their statement, the CSTO foreign ministers expressed support to the agreements reached in Vienna and St. Petersburg, as well as to the efforts of the mediators in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflicts settlement.

Following the meeting of CSTO Foreign Ministers in Yerevan, there was made a joint statement, in which the meeting participants expressed support to the agreements reached during the Vienna and St. Petersburg summits on Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, read a message posted on the website of Armenias Foreign Ministry.

The document reads that those agreements are aimed at preventing the escalation of the situation in the conflict zone, stabilizing the situation and creating conditions for promoting the peace process.

Confirming the necessity of solely peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, we express support to the efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group to resolve the conflict based on international law, the UN Charter and the Helsinki Final Acts provisions, in particular those regarding the use of force or threat of force, territorial integrity, equality and the right of peoples to self-determination, said the statement.

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.
When it started snowing on Friday, John Larter's fury reached new heights.

The Tumut paramedic and his colleagues are expected to respond to emergencies throughout the foothills of the Snowy Mountains and up into the high country wearing nothing warmer than a standard uniform.

NSW Ambulance Service Paramedic based at Tumut John Larter. Credit:Mark Jesser

Paramedics in Jindabyne and Perisher Valley are issued alpine equipment including heavy jackets, balaclavas and ski gloves.

But their neighbours in Tumut, Batlow and Tumbarumba are entitled to one pair of thermals, cotton pants and shirts and the same jacket that is worn in Sydney, though they respond to emergencies from the Selwyn skifields to Cabramurra, which is the highest above sea level populated town in Australia.
"All our revenue comes from the airline industry, so it was not going to go down well for us to put up our prices when there is a view we are inefficient," he said.

"Our previous operating model served us well, but it became unsustainable. Now we are focusing on what we were chartered to do; aviation control, rescue safety and firefighting."

Mr Hatfield, who would not rule out further job losses, said many older workers and those with transferable skills had applied for a redundancy package.

"We have spent a lot of time explaining the reasons why we have to change to our staff and no one really disputes that, so some of the uptake [for voluntary redundancies] is from people who have transportable skills."

Community and Public Sector Union deputy national president Rupert Evans said he was concerned staffing was being determined by profitability.
In a dark room in the earliest days of settlement in Melbourne, a gold nugget and a lice comb fall unnoticed through a crack in the floorboards.

For more than 150 years they were forgotten in the gloom, until unearthed from the rubble of the Mistletoe Hotel as part of a major archaeological dig in the CBD.

The relics were discovered in one of the most significant archaeological digs in Victoria's history. Around 250,000 artefacts have been excavated from the former pub site in MacKenzie Street and dated back to within 20 years of Melbourne's founding by European settlers.

The collection is the state's largest assemblage of business-related artefacts, preserved for the last 55 years under an asphalt car park. Previous large excavations, such as the Little Lon dig, have focused on former residential areas.
A third teenager has been arrested over a violent carjacking in East Malvern, in which a Mercedes driver was allegedly attacked with a hammer.

An 18-year-old man from Hampton Park was arrested last week over the carjacking on Waverley Road in Malvern East about 3.30am on June 21.

He faced Melbourne Magistrates Court on June 30, charged with armed robbery, intentionally and recklessly causing injury and theft of a motor car, as well as other assault related offences.

His case was adjourned, with his bail application to be heard at a later date.

Two other teenagers have been arrested over the incident, one of whom has faced the children's court.
The devastated sister of a man who died when his car rolled into a creek in Victoria's north has spoken of her heartache.

Aaron Crowhurst's car was found submerged in House Creek, Wodonga, by a nearby farm worker at about 8.30am on Saturday.

Police with Aaron Crowhurst's vehicle. Credit:James Wiltshire

Police are trying to determine when and how the Holden Captiva entered the water.

"He was the most genuine and nice person," his sister Bree Morey said.
The Liberals still dominate Western Australia's federal lower house seats, despite a substantial swing to Labor.

The opposition previously held three out of 15 seats in the House of Representatives, making it the most Liberal state in the nation.

Labor could now wind up with six, state opposition leader Mark McGowan says.

The party has retained all three of the WA seats it previously held - Fremantle, Perth and Brand - despite the retirement of high-profile sitting MPs Melissa Parke, Alannah MacTiernan and Gary Gray.
Have you got a spare $85,000 and are you in the market for a war machine?

If the answer to both those questions is yes, then look no further than Gumtree where a Perth man is selling his 1960s British Army tank.

The Abbot 433 vintage model, which is still used by some military groups around the world, is listed for $85,000 on the online classifieds site and is a collector's item.

The 1965-built model is in good working condition, according to the Gumtree ad, but is minus the canon - which regulations dictate needed to be disarmed before the tank was able to be imported to Australia.
Pictures circulating on social media showed dark smoke billowing from flames near the Mosque of the Prophet, originally built in the 7th century by the Prophet Muhammad, who is buried there along with his first two successors. Worshippers visit the Prophet's Mosque in Medina, Saudi Arabia. An explosion occurred outside the mosque on Monday. Credit:AP In Qatif, an eastern city that is home to many members of the Shiite minority, at least one and possibly two explosions struck near a Shiite mosque. Witnesses described body parts, apparently of a suicide bomber, in the aftermath. A suicide bomber targeted the US consulate in Jeddah on Monday. Credit:Google Maps

A resident of the city reached by telephone said there were believed to be no casualties there apart from the attacker, as worshippers had already gone home to break their fasts. A video circulating on social media and purporting to show the aftermath of a Qatif blast showed an agitated crowd on a street, with a fire raging near a building, and a bloody body part lying on the ground. People stand by an explosion site in Medina, Saudi Arabia. Credit:Noor Punasiya The Jeddah blast was the first bombing in years to attempt to target foreigners in the kingdom. The attack took place early on Monday when security officers confronted a man acting suspiciously near the US Consulate. He detonated his explosives, killing himself and wounding two guards, according to a report by the state-run Saudi Press Agency. There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

The US Embassy in Riyadh, the capital, said in a statement that none of its consular staff members in Jeddah had been wounded, and it warned US citizens to limit non-essential travel to the kingdom and to remain cautious inside it. Meanwhile, in neighbouring Kuwait, officials announced the arrest of four people accused of plotting two attacks in the country and said they had repatriated a Kuwaiti family who had joined the Islamic State in Syria, according to a statement published by the state-run KUNA news agency. One of the suspects is a young Kuwaiti man who had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State and was planning to bomb a mosque during Eid al-Fitr, the report said. The man said after his arrest that he had received instructions from an Islamic State operative abroad, the agency reported, to send a young recruit with no security record to obtain explosives and guns for the attack. Two Kuwaitis and a man from an unspecified Asian country were arrested in the second plot and were found to have two assault rifles, ammunition and the black flag of the Islamic State, the report said.

Kuwait also said it had arrested and repatriated a Kuwaiti man who had joined the Islamic State in Syria, as well as his mother and son. The man had studied petroleum engineering in Britain and had moved to Syria to work in oil production for the Islamic State after his older brother was killed while fighting for the group in Iraq, the report said. The report did not say when the arrests had taken place. Islamic State (IS) has carried out a series of bombing and shooting attacks in Saudi Arabia since mid-2014 that have killed scores of people, mostly members of the Shiite Muslim minority and security services. Police and groups of local volunteers increased security near mosques in Qatif after suicide bombings hit mosques in Shiite areas last year, killing dozens.
Istanbul: Seventeen suspects were due to appear in a Turkish court on Monday, state media said, in connection with last week's suicide bombing attack on Istanbul's main airport that killed 45 people and wounded hundreds.

The suspects, 11 of them foreigners, were expected in court after being questioned by police, state-run Anadolu Agency reported. The court will decide whether to jail them pending trial or release them, it said.

Thirteen other suspects, three of them foreigners, were remanded by a court on Sunday pending trial. The triple suicide bombing at Istanbul Ataturk Airport on Tuesday, which officials believe to have been carried out by Islamic State, was the deadliest in a series of suicide bombings this year in Turkey.
Baku, Azerbaijan, July 4

Trend:

Russia has only one position in Karabakh issue - to see the conflict resolved as soon as possible, Maria Zakharova, spokesman for the Russian Foreign Minister, said in Yerevan, 1in.am web site reported.

Russia is trying hard to make the resolution of the conflict move forward, Zakharova said.

She went on to add that Russia realizes that every day of prolonging the process of resolution of the conflict means threat to civilians.

When asked about the meeting of the Azerbaijani and Armenian presidents, Zakharova noted that the conflicting sides should themselves provide this kind of information.

She also dismissed an opinion that Russia has initiated the St. Petersburg meeting to take over the process of resolution of the conflict, keeping other OSCE Minsk group co-chairs out.

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.
USA Independence Day, July 4, 2007







Washington DC; On July 4, 1776, our Nation's Founders declared "That these United Colonies are, and of Right, ought to be free and Independent States." This declaration marked a great milestone in the history of human freedom. On the 230th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, we pay tribute to the courage and dedication of those who created this country, and we celebrate the values of liberty and equality that make our country strong.

The patriots of the Revolutionary War acted on the beliefs that "all men are created equal" and "that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights." By advancing these ideals, generations of Americans have unleashed the hope of freedom for people in every corner of the world.

As we celebrate our independence, Americans can take pride in our history and look to the future with confidence. We offer our gratitude to all the American patriots, past and present, who have sought to advance freedom and lay the foundations of peace. Because of their sacrifice, this country remains a beacon of hope for all who dream of liberty and a shining example to the world of what a free people can achieve. May God continue to bless the United States of America.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim July 4, 2006, as Independence Day. I call upon the people of the United States to observe with all due ceremony our Independence Day as a time to honor our Founders and their legacy of freedom and remember with thankfulness the sacrifice of our men and women in uniform.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-sixth day of June, in the year of our Lord two thousand six, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirtieth.

GEORGE W. BUSH

President of The United States of America





Declaring Our Independence

Chronology Of Events: June 7, 1776 to January 18, 1777 1776 June 7 -- Congress, meeting in Philadelphia, receives Richard Henry Lee's resolution urging Congress to declare independence.

June 11 -- Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert R. Livingston appointed to a committee to draft a declaration of independence. American army retreats to Lake Champlain from Canada.

June 12 - 27 -- Jefferson, at the request of the committee, drafts a declaration, of which only a fragment exists. Jefferson's clean, or "fair" copy, the "original Rough draught," is reviewed by the committee. Both documents are in the manuscript collections of the Library of Congress.

June 28 -- A fair copy of the committee draft of the Declaration of Independence is read in Congress.

July 1 - 4 -- Congress debates and revises the Declaration of Independence.

July 2 -- Congress declares independence as the British fleet and army arrive at New York.

July 4 -- Congress adopts the Declaration of Independence in the morning of a bright, sunny, but cool Philadelphia day. John Dunlap prints the Declaration of Independence. These prints are now called "Dunlap Broadsides." Twenty-four copies are known to exist, two of which are in the Library of Congress. One of these was Washington's personal copy.

July 5 -- John Hancock, president of the Continental Congress, dispatches the first of Dunlap's broadsides of the Declaration of Independence to the legislatures of New Jersey and Delaware.

July 6 -- Pennsylvania Evening Post of July 6 prints the first newspaper rendition of the Declaration of Independence.

July 8 -- The first public reading of the Declaration is in Philadelphia.

July 9 -- Washington orders that the Declaration of Independence be read before the American army in New York -- from his personal copy of the "Dunlap Broadside."

July 19 -- Congress orders the Declaration of Independence engrossed (officially inscribed) and signed by members.

August 2 -- Delegates begin to sign engrossed copy of the Declaration of Independence. A large British reinforcement arrives at New York after being repelled at Charleston, S.C.

1777 January 18 -- Congress, now sitting in Baltimore, Maryland, orders that signed copies of the Declaration of Independence printed by Mary Katherine Goddard of Baltimore be sent to the states.

Drafting the Documents

Thomas Jefferson drafted the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia behind a veil of Congressionally imposed secrecy in June 1776 for a country wracked by military and political uncertainties. In anticipation of a vote for independence, the Continental Congress on June 11 appointed Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert R. Livingston as a committee to draft a declaration of independence. The committee then delegated Thomas Jefferson to undertake the task. Jefferson worked diligently in private for days to compose a document. Proof of the arduous nature of the work can be seen in the fragment of the first known composition draft of the declaration, which is on public display here for the first time.

Jefferson then made a clean or "fair" copy of the composition declaration, which became the foundation of the document, labeled by Jefferson as the "original Rough draught." Revised first by Adams, then by Franklin, and then by the full committee, a total of forty-seven alterations including the insertion of three complete paragraphs was made on the text before it was presented to Congress on June 28. After voting for independence on July 2, the Congress then continued to refine the document, making thirty-nine additional revisions to the committee draft before its final adoption on the morning of July 4. The "original Rough draught" embodies the multiplicity of corrections, additions and deletions that were made at each step. Although most of the alterations are in Jefferson's handwriting (Jefferson later indicated the changes he believed to have been made by Adams and Franklin), quite naturally he opposed many of the changes made to his document.

Congress then ordered the Declaration of Independence printed and late on July 4, John Dunlap, a Philadelphia printer, produced the first printed text of the Declaration of Independence, now known as the "Dunlap Broadside." The next day John Hancock, the president of the Continental Congress, began dispatching copies of the Declaration to America's political and military leaders. On July 9, George Washington ordered that his personal copy of the "Dunlap Broadside," sent to him by John Hancock on July 6, be read to the assembled American army at New York. In 1783 at the war's end, General Washington brought his copy of the broadside home to Mount Vernon. This remarkable document, which has come down to us only partially intact, is accompanied in this exhibit by a complete "Dunlap Broadside" -- one of only twenty-four known to exist.

On July 19, Congress ordered the production of an engrossed (officially inscribed) copy of the Declaration of Independence, which attending members of the Continental Congress, including some who had not voted for its adoption, began to sign on August 2, 1776. This document is on permanent display at the National Archives.

On July 4, 1995, more than two centuries after its composition, the Declaration of Independence, just as Jefferson predicted on its fiftieth anniversary in his letter to Roger C. Weightman, towers aloft as "the signal of arousing men to burst the chains...to assume the blessings and security of self-government" and to restore "the free right to the unbounded exercise of reason and freedom of opinion."

The Declaration of Independence Documents in Library of Congress
July 4, 2016 President Obama Remarks On Independance Day and Declaring Our Independence













The White House July 4, 2016

Hi everybody, and Happy Fourth of July weekend. On Monday, Michelle, Malia, Sasha, and I will celebrate the Fourth like most of you  in the backyard. Well hang out with family and friends, throw some burgers and dogs on the grill, and watch the fireworks show.

Of course, were fortunate enough to have the South Lawn as our backyard. So were also going to fill it with hundreds of our troops, our veterans, and their families. Over the past seven and a half years, its become one of my favorite traditions. We get to celebrate our freedoms while doing what we can to honor all those who serve and sacrifice to make that freedom possible.

And I know that honoring our service members, our veterans, and their families is something that so many Americans try to do every day, without fanfare, or expectation of anything in return.

For the past five years, Michelle and Dr. Jill Biden have tried to follow the example of so many of those Americans with their Joining Forces initiative. Theyve rallied businesses to hire more than 1.2 million veterans and military spouses, and helped reduce veteran homelessness. And just this week, Michelle and Jill announced a breakthrough on a concern theyve heard again and again from the military spouses they spend so much time with  and thats the issue of professional licensing.

This is something that most Americans arent familiar with. But for military families, its a big challenge. Heres why. Our troops are often transferred from base to base. Its part of the job. And because their families serve with them, that means their spouses move ten times more often than the rest of us. Ten times more often. Thats tough on a career. And more than one in three of these spouses works in a profession that requires a professional license or certification. Nurses. Childcare providers. Accountants. Social workers. And lots of other jobs.

And until recently, when these spouses were asked to move across state lines, they often needed to re-certify for a job theyre already qualified for. A nurse with years of experience might have to take entry-level classes, or pay a fee, or wait months for paperwork to be processed before he or she could get back to work on the job they love and that lets them support their families.

It didnt make any sense. So we changed it. When Michelle and Jill took up this cause five years ago, only three states had taken action on military spouse licensing. But they rallied governors and state legislatures to action. And this week, we reached a milestone. Today, all fifty states have acted to streamline many of these licensing issues. This is a big step forward, but were not done yet. Were going to keep working with states to make licensing simpler for more jobs and reach more qualified workers. But we can finally say to so many of our military families  when you move, youll no longer be forced to put the career you love on hold just because you and your families have chosen to serve this country.

Thats what this is about  serving our men and women in uniform as well as they have served us. But you dont have to be a governor or a First Lady to make a difference. So this holiday weekend, take a look at JoiningForces.gov to find out how you can serve the troops, veterans, and military families in your community.

And to all our brave men and women in uniform  you represent the best of who we are as a nation. On this day and every day, we thank you.

Thanks everybody. Have a great Fourth of July.

Declaring Our Independence







Chronology Of Events: June 7, 1776 to January 18, 1777 1776 June 7 -- Congress, meeting in Philadelphia, receives Richard Henry Lee's resolution urging Congress to declare independence.

June 11 -- Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert R. Livingston appointed to a committee to draft a declaration of independence. American army retreats to Lake Champlain from Canada.

June 12 - 27 -- Jefferson, at the request of the committee, drafts a declaration, of which only a fragment exists. Jefferson's clean, or "fair" copy, the "original Rough draught," is reviewed by the committee. Both documents are in the manuscript collections of the Library of Congress.

June 28 -- A fair copy of the committee draft of the Declaration of Independence is read in Congress.

July 1 - 4 -- Congress debates and revises the Declaration of Independence.

July 2 -- Congress declares independence as the British fleet and army arrive at New York.

July 4 -- Congress adopts the Declaration of Independence in the morning of a bright, sunny, but cool Philadelphia day. John Dunlap prints the Declaration of Independence. These prints are now called "Dunlap Broadsides." Twenty-four copies are known to exist, two of which are in the Library of Congress. One of these was Washington's personal copy.

July 5 -- John Hancock, president of the Continental Congress, dispatches the first of Dunlap's broadsides of the Declaration of Independence to the legislatures of New Jersey and Delaware.

July 6 -- Pennsylvania Evening Post of July 6 prints the first newspaper rendition of the Declaration of Independence.

July 8 -- The first public reading of the Declaration is in Philadelphia.

July 9 -- Washington orders that the Declaration of Independence be read before the American army in New York -- from his personal copy of the "Dunlap Broadside."

July 19 -- Congress orders the Declaration of Independence engrossed (officially inscribed) and signed by members.

August 2 -- Delegates begin to sign engrossed copy of the Declaration of Independence. A large British reinforcement arrives at New York after being repelled at Charleston, S.C.

1777 January 18 -- Congress, now sitting in Baltimore, Maryland, orders that signed copies of the Declaration of Independence printed by Mary Katherine Goddard of Baltimore be sent to the states.

Drafting the Documents

Thomas Jefferson drafted the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia behind a veil of Congressionally imposed secrecy in June 1776 for a country wracked by military and political uncertainties. In anticipation of a vote for independence, the Continental Congress on June 11 appointed Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert R. Livingston as a committee to draft a declaration of independence. The committee then delegated Thomas Jefferson to undertake the task. Jefferson worked diligently in private for days to compose a document. Proof of the arduous nature of the work can be seen in the fragment of the first known composition draft of the declaration, which is on public display here for the first time.

Jefferson then made a clean or "fair" copy of the composition declaration, which became the foundation of the document, labeled by Jefferson as the "original Rough draught." Revised first by Adams, then by Franklin, and then by the full committee, a total of forty-seven alterations including the insertion of three complete paragraphs was made on the text before it was presented to Congress on June 28. After voting for independence on July 2, the Congress then continued to refine the document, making thirty-nine additional revisions to the committee draft before its final adoption on the morning of July 4. The "original Rough draught" embodies the multiplicity of corrections, additions and deletions that were made at each step. Although most of the alterations are in Jefferson's handwriting (Jefferson later indicated the changes he believed to have been made by Adams and Franklin), quite naturally he opposed many of the changes made to his document.

Congress then ordered the Declaration of Independence printed and late on July 4, John Dunlap, a Philadelphia printer, produced the first printed text of the Declaration of Independence, now known as the "Dunlap Broadside." The next day John Hancock, the president of the Continental Congress, began dispatching copies of the Declaration to America's political and military leaders. On July 9, George Washington ordered that his personal copy of the "Dunlap Broadside," sent to him by John Hancock on July 6, be read to the assembled American army at New York. In 1783 at the war's end, General Washington brought his copy of the broadside home to Mount Vernon. This remarkable document, which has come down to us only partially intact, is accompanied in this exhibit by a complete "Dunlap Broadside" -- one of only twenty-four known to exist.

On July 19, Congress ordered the production of an engrossed (officially inscribed) copy of the Declaration of Independence, which attending members of the Continental Congress, including some who had not voted for its adoption, began to sign on August 2, 1776. This document is on permanent display at the National Archives.

On July 4, 1995, more than two centuries after its composition, the Declaration of Independence, just as Jefferson predicted on its fiftieth anniversary in his letter to Roger C. Weightman, towers aloft as "the signal of arousing men to burst the chains...to assume the blessings and security of self-government" and to restore "the free right to the unbounded exercise of reason and freedom of opinion."

The Declaration of Independence Documents in Library of Congress
NHTSA RECALLS - June 27-July 3, 2016: Audi, Volkswagen, Daimler Vans, Buses, Trailers







Your vehicle MAY be involved in a safety recall and MAY create a safety risk for you or your passengers. If left unrepaired, a potential safety defect could lead to injury or even death. Safety defects must be repaired by a dealer at no cost to you.

The following may apply to one or more of your vehicles if your vehicle is listed below. Click on the NHTSA Campaign ID number below to read more about the safety issue and the reason for the recall.

To find out if your specific vehicle is included in the recall, use our VIN Look-up Tool.

NHTSA Campaign ID Number : 16V351 Manufacturer : Daimler Vans USA, LLC Make / Model Years : FREIGHTLINER / 2015-2016 MERCEDES BENZ / 2015-2016 Subject : Super High Roof Vehicles Missing Crash Pads HTSA Campaign ID Number : 16V376 Manufacturer : Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. Make / Model Years : AUDI / 2008-2009 Subject : Air Bag Control Unit Power Supply Corrosion NHTSA Campaign ID Number : 16V377 Manufacturer : Forest River, Inc. Make / Model Years : GLAVAL BUS / 2015-2016 Subject : Parking Brake Cable Connector Clip May Fail NHTSA Campaign ID Number : 16V351 Manufacturer : Vermeer Manufacturing Company Make / Model Years : VERMEER / 2012-2016 Subject : Chipper may Separate from Tow Vehicle NHTSA Campaign ID Number : 16V386 Manufacturer : Forest River, Inc. Make / Model Years : ELKHART / 2015-2016 GLAVAL BUS / 2014-2016 STARCRAFT BUS / 2006-2016 STARTRANS / 2006-2016 Subject : Wheel Chair Lift Platform Cracking/Big Pivot Holes NHTSA Campaign ID Number : 16V388 Manufacturer : Terex Advance Make / Model Years : TEREX ADVANCE / 2016 Subject : Defective Engine Control Module may Cause Stall NHTSA Campaign ID Number : 16V391 Manufacturer : KZRV, L.P. Make / Model Years : KZRV / 2016 Subject : Trailer Safety Chains may Fail NHTSA Campaign ID Number : 16V392 Manufacturer : KYMCO USA Make / Model Years : KYMCO / 2016 Subject : Gear Shift Sequence Reversed NHTSA Campaign ID Number : 16V393 Manufacturer : Volvo Trucks North America Make / Model Years : VOLVO / 2017 Subject : Defective Engine Control Module may Cause Stall NHTSA Campaign ID Number : 16V394 Manufacturer : Autocar, LLC Make / Model Years : AUTOCAR / 2016-2017 Subject : Defective Engine Control Module may Cause Stall NHTSA Campaign ID Number : 16V395 Manufacturer : Daimler Trucks North America LLC Make / Model Years : THOMAS / 1998-2002 THOMAS BUILT BUSES / 1999-2003,2013 Subject : Exterior Emergency Door Handle may Detach NHTSA Campaign ID Number : 16V399 Manufacturer : West-Mark Make / Model Years : WEST-MARK / 2014-2015 Subject : Improperly Seated Brake Chamber Diaphragm NHTSA Campaign ID Number : 16V403 Manufacturer : Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. Make / Model Years : VOLKSWAGEN / 2016 Subject : Fuel Rail may Detach and Leak NHTSA Campaign ID Number : 16V407 Manufacturer : Daimler Trucks North America LLC Make / Model Years : THOMAS / 1998-2002 THOMAS BUILT BUSES / 1998-2002 Subject : Exterior Emergency Door Handle may Detach NHTSA Campaign ID Number : 16V410 Manufacturer : Oshkosh Corporation Make / Model Years : OSHKOSH / 2016 Subject : Defective Engine Control Module may Cause Stall NHTSA Campaign ID Number : 16V416 Manufacturer : Daimler Trucks North America LLC Make / Model Years : FCCC / 2017 FREIGHTLINER / 2017 WESTERN STAR / 2017 Subject : Defective Engine Control Module may Cause Stall NHTSA Campaign ID Number : 16V441 Manufacturer : Eldorado National-Kansas Make / Model Years : ELDORADO / 2012-2016 Subject : Fuel Line Leak NHTSA Campaign ID Number : 16V443 Manufacturer : E-One Incorporated Make / Model Years : E-ONE / 2014-2016 Subject : Power Control Module Short Circuit NHTSA Campaign ID Number : 16V451 Manufacturer : Gillig LLC Make / Model Years : GILLIG / 2012-2016 Subject : Stop Lamp Activation/FMVSS 108 NHTSA Campaign ID Number : 16V470 Manufacturer : John Evans Mfg. Make / Model Years : JOHN EVANS / 2016 Subject : Improperly Seated Brake Chamber Diaphragm

What is a recall?

When a manufacturer or the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) determines that a car or item of motor vehicle equipment creates an unreasonable risk to safety or fails to meet minimum safety standards, the manufacturer is required to fix that car or equipment at no cost to the consumer. That can be done by repairing it, replacing it, offering a refund (for equipment) or, in rare cases, repurchasing the car.

What should I do if my vehicle is included in this recall?

If your vehicle is included in this recall, it is very important that you get it fixed as soon as possible given the potential danger to you and your passengers if it is not addressed. You should receive a separate letter in the mail from the vehicle manufacturer, notifying you of the recall and explaining when the remedy will be available, whom to contact to repair your vehicle or equipment, and to remind you that the repair will be done at no charge to you. If you believe your vehicle is included in the recall, but you do not receive a letter in the mail from the vehicle manufacturer, please call NHTSA's Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236, or contact your vehicle manufacturer or dealership.
QUEBEC CITY, July 4, 2016; Responding to the out-of-court settlement that Volkswagen is set to sign with federal authorities in the U.S. in the aftermath of the so-called dirty diesel scandal, CAA-Quebec believes it is time Canadian authorities took concrete actions on behalf of the approximately 100,000 consumers on this side of the border who are owners of the affected vehicles.

Pierre Beaudoin, CAA-Quebec's Senior Director of Technical Services, says he is dismayed that our political authorities have remained silent on the matter so far: "It is high time that Canada's Minister of the Environment and Climate Change, and the Minister of Transport, took concrete actions to help vehicle owners affected by this scandal. Although spokespersons for Volkswagen have alluded to a similar settlement being offered in Canada, there is still uncertainty, and that is neither enough, nor reassuring."

CAA-Quebec, which has more than 1.2 million members in Quebec, believes it would be anomalous, to say the least, for a motorist in Plattsburgh, New York, to be able to cash in on the estimated US$15-billion settlement, while his counterpart just north of the border in Saint-Bernard-de-Lacolle still has no idea how and when federal authorities plan to go to bat for him, fully nine months after the scandal first came to light.

CAA-Quebec therefore calls on the ministers involved to come to the defence of consumers in Quebec and the rest of Canada, and also urges Volkswagen Canada to engage with its consumers, in view of the progress made in the United States. The organization demands that concrete action be taken as regards compensation as well as corrective measures to be applied to the approximately 100,000 vehicles affected in this country.

About CAA-Quebec

CAA-Quebec, a not-for-profit organization, provides all of its members with peace of mind by offering them high-quality automotive, travel, residential and insurance benefits, products and services. Through its advisory services, CAA-Quebec fields some 130,000 information requests from automotive consumers each year.
Baku, Azerbaijan, July 4

Trend:

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev sent a congratulatory letter to his US counterpart Barack Obama.

On behalf of the people of Azerbaijan and on my own behalf, I extend my heartfelt congratulations to you and through you the people of your country on the occasion of the national holiday of the United States of America  Independence Day, said President Aliyev in his congratulatory letter.

Today, the relations between the Republic of Azerbaijan and the United States are developing in all areas, the president said. Close and mutually beneficial cooperation in a variety of fields between the two countries has raised our bilateral ties to the level of strategic partnership.

President Aliyev said that close cooperation and mutual support in ensuring energy security of Europe, in the fight against terrorism and in NATO-led peacekeeping mission in Afghanistan are the peculiarities of Azerbaijan-US partnership.

We also have great hopes, Mr. President, that the efforts of the United States, as a co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, and your personal efforts towards solving the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict caused by Armenia's territorial claims against Azerbaijan, liberating Azerbaijan`s occupied lands and ensuring the return of over a million Azerbaijani refugees and IDPs to their homelands will soon yield results, the president said.

On this joyful day, I wish you robust health, success in your activities, and the friendly people of the United States lasting peace and prosperity, Ilham Aliyev said.
By Lauren Carroll and Jon Greenberg

Saturdays news that Hillary Clinton spent more than three hours speaking with the FBI bled into the Sunday news shows, with Clinton again saying she did not send or receive material marked classified through the private email server she used while secretary of state.

Let me just repeat what I have repeated for many months now, Clinton told NBCs Chuck Todd in a phone interview following her interview with investigators. I never received nor sent any material that was marked classified.

The line has been part of Clintons defense since at least last August. Back then, PolitiFact hesitated to rate Clintons claim because of the fluidity of events and the ongoing investigation.

Eleven months later, we wanted to take a fresh look.

Classified after the fact

The public became aware that Clinton used a private email server in March 2015. Eventually, Clinton turned over about 30,000 work-related emails to the State Department for public release.

The State Department redacted about 2,000 of those emails before releasing them, saying they contain classified information  including some that have been withheld entirely because they contain top secret information.

Clintons statement focuses on a much narrower and potentially misleading point  that Clinton sent or received material she knew was classified because it was marked.

None of the emails the State Department redacted, or any other emails made public, contained classification markings at the time they were sent, government officials said.

The possibility remains, however, that that she sent or received classified information that was inappropriately left unlabeled  or that Clinton, as head of the department, failed to recognize and deal with information that should have been classified.

Further, because Clinton used a private server, we only have Clintons word that she turned over all relevant email. Its possible there are emails with classified information on them that she deleted or did not turn over.

Danielle Brian, executive director of the Project on Government Oversight, said Clinton is carefully picking her words.

On the one hand, I believe that sentence is likely accurate, said Danielle Brian, executive director of the Project on Government Oversight, told PolitiFact. But I also believe that it is so carefully crafted as to avoid a more important question, which is whether there was information in her email that should have been marked classified.

The plot only gets more complicated.

While we know officials retroactively classified portions of emails on Clintons private server, we do not yet know if any of those emails contained classified information when they first landed in Clintons server. Its possible that emails that were not marked classified contained classified information.

Theres also some disagreement between the State Department and the intelligence community over what was or should have been treated as classified. Government agencies regularly disagree over what should be classified or not, and transparency advocates say the government regularly over-classifies.

Clintons specific phrasing  that she never sent or received material marked classified  is likely a critical point for investigators, as its relevant to the question of Clintons intent and whether she knowingly mishandled material.

In that sense, Steven Aftergood, director of the Project on Government Secrecy at the Federation of American Scientists, said Clintons claim might not be misleading.

But its also true, Aftergood said, that statement alone does not answer all possible questions about the matter.

Overall, Clinton is focusing on a technical aspect of the government chain of classification, that information contained within her private email server wasnt "marked" classified. There is no evidence Clinton knowingly sent or received classified information.

But the government classification system is complicated, and Clinton fails to acknowledge that classified information could have moved through her email server without a proper label. Part of the problem is Clinton's private server itself, because only she and her team know what was in the emails she deleted.

We rate the claim Half True.

Clinton, the Russian reset

On Meet the Press, Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., was asked to explain foreign policy positions that appear more in line with Clinton than Republican presumptive nominee Donald Trump.

I can assure you that I'm not very close to Hillary Clinton. I think she's disqualified herself from commander in chief by her cavalier attitude towards our nation's secrecy laws, Cotton said. And she has been responsible for many of the worst decisions of the Obama administration.

She was literally present when we pressed the reset button with Russia just a few months after Russia had invaded Georgia.

Cottons talk about Russia is an imperfect but not inaccurate retelling of history. That claim rates Mostly True.

Russia long has had a military presence in the semi-autonomous Georgian regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, two areas that enjoyed substantial autonomy from Georgia.

In 1991, Georgian forces occupied the South Ossetian capital, but resistance by Russian-backed fighters led to a stalemate. In 1992, all parties agreed to a ceasefire, which included a Russian-led peacekeeping force. There was a similar pattern of hostilities in Abkhazia that resulted in a similar solution. The presence of peacekeepers and international monitors worked for about a decade.

Calm unravelled in 2004 with the election of a more nationalist leader in Georgia. There was aggression on both sides. Violence grew and on Aug. 7, 2008, after Russian-backed rebels in South Ossetia shelled ethnically Georgian villages, the Georgian government sent in its army to take control of the region. Russia responded militarily, successfully pushing back Georgian troops from both South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

Clashes continued for a week, drawing in portions of Georgia beyond the two breakaway regions, until France helped broker a peace deal. Open conflict ended Aug. 12, 2008. Russia then recognized South Ossetia and Abkhazia as sovereign nations, though most other countries have not taken that step.

Jump forward to March 2009 to pick up the other point in Cottons statement.

Newly elected President Barack Obama had campaigned that he would put relations with Russia on a less confrontational footing. Most of his focus was on scaling back the nuclear arsenals of both nations.

As part of that initiative, on March 6, 2009, in Geneva, Switzerland, then-Secretary of State Clinton gave her Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov a red button. The button was supposed to have word "reset" written on it in Russian. But the Americans got it wrong -- the word translated to "overcharged."

So Cotton has the basics of the story largely correct though hes cutting off the edges of the story. Russian troops did participate in military activities on Georgian soil, but troops were already in place as part of a brokered settlement. The Russians didnt necessarily initiate hostilities.

And while Cotton said the Americans hit the "reset" button "a few months" after the Russian invasion, the reality is it took place almost six months after the week-long conflict had ended.

Susan Allen, director of the Center for Peacemaking Process at George Mason University, calls Russias action an invasion because in early August 2008, no one considered South Ossetia to be an independent country.

But Allen told us that beyond that legal definition, the details muddy the picture. Georgia made the first large military move. On top of that, Russian soldiers were already on the ground in South Ossetia.

"Russia had had a longstanding role as part of a peacekeeping force separating the Georgians and South Ossetians," Allen said. "Yes, Russia invaded Georgia, and, yes, there is a lot more to the story."

Read the full fact-checks at PunditFact.com.
This is the most famous lookout in all of the Azores, utters my guide Miguel as he proudly puffs his chest. The so-called Vista do Rei, or Kings Viewpoint, on the largest island, Sao Miguel, is an unassuming spot where travelers can swerve their cars to the side of the road for a peek at the scenery.

But when I get out of my vehicle Im immediately confronted with a menagerie of oddities: a massive carcass of an empty hotel covered in graffiti, wild patches of hydrangeas bursting with fluorescent indigo flowers, and a chubby donkey parked without a master, balancing dozens of tiny pineapplesaround the size of a fiston his saddle.

The view beyond the low-slung hydrangeas is indeed greata smoldering crater with dazzling pools of emerald and turquoisebut Im much more enraptured by the abandoned hotel and bonsai fruit.

The panoramic merits of Vista do Rei aside, the lookout is the finest example of what the Azores are really all about: a destination that has yet to construct its glossy travel veneer. And the honesty is refreshing, especially in the era of travel when authenticity is paramountthe islands are flush with that local experience currency.

A four-hour non-stop flight from Boston on Azores Airlines (formerly known as SATA; www.azoresairlines.pt) positions the Azores as a worthy alternative to hyper-trendy Iceland or any swath of the Caribbean, but the islands are brewing something completely different insteadsomething that could best be described as Portugals Hawaii, swirling together majestic volcanos with Iberian savoir faire.

The nine islands owe their Game of Thrones-esque landscape to millions of years of tumultuous tectonic activity beneath the ocean floor, as its here that the North American Plate, European Plate, and African (or Nubian) Plate collide to form an oceanic zone that rivals the Bermuda Triangle.

The shifting shelves have given rise to hundreds of volcanos spewing forth plumes of lava from deep in the planets core, which ultimately formed the relatively youngin geological yearsarchipelago.

Discovered in the 15th century during the advent of Portugals nautical domination, the islands were largely considered the end of the world until Columbus sailed by a few decades later to touch down in the New World.

And the Azores were indeed discovered, unlike Columbuss conquests, as there was no previous evidence of human life throughout the entire archipelago.

Colonization happened gradually with settlers seeking refuge from the clutches of the Inquisition.

But then came the brimstone and hellfireearthquakes and volcanos rocked the tiny islets, and while these phenomena could easily be explained by modern science, pioneers holding on for dear life at the end of the world thought it was a message from god.

Religious fervor increased every time the ground shook and lava belched forth from the bowels of the planetsurely the Azoreans were angering their divine master. And the Cult of the Holy Spirit was born, or rather brought over from continental Europe by the Franciscans and hyperbolized away from the watchful eye of the Vatican.

The sects of the cult were organized into brotherhoods, or groups of families from the same parish, who were responsible for administering elaborate acts of devotion that involved processionals, feasts, and coronations that were largely forbidden in church. Elegant imperiossmall, dollhouse-like structures in which devotees could practice their ritualswere constructed all over the islands as a result.

Today, this offbeat interpretation of Catholicism is alive and well, with hundreds upon hundreds of imperios still standing, adorning every intersection of practically every street with their brightly painted trim, ornate tile work and gilded cupolas.

In fact, most of the Azores in general still feels very much as it did hundreds of years agocrumbing medieval villages strapped to the ledges of cliffs, unfazed by the ever-busying of the world around them.

Of the nine quiet islands in the archipelago, the one that most adeptly combines superlative landscapes with retro European flair is Pico, the second largest island (173 square miles) with a population of around 15,000.

With nary a single beach in sight due to its rough terrain, Picos locals gravitate towards the shorelines natural swimming pools that ring around the islands imposing volcanic summit.

Formed by solidified lava flows when the molten rock cooled after touching the chilly North Atlantic waters, these tide pools are naturally occurring shallows protected from the crashing waves by outcrops of lava stone.

Municipal funds have evened out the jagged stone into cemented platforms, which are not only a unique trademark of the island, but are also the fixtures of the local social scene during summer.

In recent years, cool cafes and restaurants, like Cella Bar have even cropped up next to these veritable watering holes.

Picos other distinct curio is its adega, or cellar culture. Almost every family on the island owns a small stone shed, built above grade, and filled with farming tools and barrels; vestiges of the once booming wine industry. Amateur grape pressing and moonshine making is still very much a pillar of local culture, and friends gather in each others renovated cellars for special events.

If you dont manage to earn an invite into an adega, you can visit Adega A Buraca on the north coast to try their highly acclaimed fortified Verdelho from 2009.

At one timeover two hundred years agoPico had 3000 hectares of vineyards and produced over nine million liters of exported wine. The climate was rough, so thousands of rock walls were constructed to protect the grapes from the elements. A certain amount of brininess still crept into the terroir and made the export a unique commodity on the mainland that was reputed to be a favorite of Czar Nicolas of Russia.

But Picos industry and reputation came to a crashing end in the 1850s when phylloxera obliterated all but 100 hectares of vines. Today, from the higher vantage points of the island, the evidence of the once-booming grape trade can still be easily glimpsed; the abandoned walls of volcanic stone look like some kind of giant labyrinth that snakes across a vast majority of the coastline.

Professional wine production is, however, starting to make a comeback following a UNESCO decree in 2004 protecting the remaining viniculture as an outstanding example of the adaptation of farming practices to a remote and challenging environment. An infusion of international funds ensued, and over 400 hectares of land have begun to produce quality grapes anew.

The most promising project is the Azores Wine Company, which, after only two years, is already producing products like their Arinto dos Acores 2015, which earned a whopping 93 points in Wine Advocate.

Later, my cab driver offers me a tiny pineapple like the one strapped to the donkey at Vista do Rei. The incredible tang and juicy flashes of citrus awaken my tongue.

I think back to what Miguel, my guide, explained to me about the spiky fruit. Unlike in Brazil, Hawaii, or other warm destinations, where pineapples practically grow like weeds, the Azorean version carefully ripens in a greenhouse over the course of a couple years, quietly defying the harsh Atlantic climate and rough volcanic soil.

They will never grow as large as their tropical counterparts and may not look like much at first butlike the Azores itselfonce you bite in, its twice as sweet.
Listen to Bruce Springsteens new foreword to the 40th anniversary edition of Born on the Fourth of July, published here courtesy of Audible (audio version of the book available from Audible here).

Introduction to Born on the Fourth of JulyReprinted with Permission from Akashic Books2005 Ron Kovic

IT WAS EXACTLY forty years ago this past September that I left my house in Massapequa, New York to join the United States Marine Corps and begin an extraordinary journey that was to lead me into a disastrous war which would change my life, and others of my generation, profoundly and forever. There are times in the lives of both individuals and nations when we cross certain thresholds where there is no going back, no return to the innocence we once knew; the change is utter and irreconcilable. We often sense these moments. I know I did that day. I can still re- member leaving my house that morning, saying good-bye to my mother, my father driving me down to the Long Island Railroad station with only a few words being said between usDad was always that wayand then that long and contemplative ride into the city, being sworn in at Whitehall Street, holding my right hand up proudly with all the other young men, taking the oath of enlistment, and swearing our allegiance to the Constitution of the United States.

The fall of 1964, September 2, a lifetime ago. That last bright and beautiful morning when everything was to change forever, that last moment of lighthearted innocence and youth, of Massapequa and the backyard before the shock, the chaos, and the deluge. I had just turned eighteen that summer, and there are some old black-and-white photographs of me from those days. Its amazing that I still have them, considering I have misplaced them many times over the years, thinking them lost forever, only to later find them in some unexpected place, like a deeply disturbing dream that I have been trying to repress. I remember seeing those photos on several occasions after I came home from Vietnam and each time having terrible nightmares that shook me badly. I couldnt look at them, could not face that young man I had been before the war and my injury. I would always promise myself to never look at them again. My trauma was still very deep, and that beautiful boy, that body, had been destroyed, defiled, and savaged. My wounding in Vietnam both physically and emotionally haunted me, pursued me, and threatened to overwhelm me.

I wrote Born on the Fourth of July in the fall of 1974 in one month, three weeks, and two days, on a forty-two-dollar manual typewriter I had bought at Sears & Roebuck in Santa Monica, California. It was like an explosion, a dam bursting, everything flowed beautifully, just kept pouring out, almost effortlessly, passionately, desperately. I worked with an intensity and fury as if it was my last will and testament, and in many ways I felt it was. I continued to suffer from nightmares, constant anxiety attacks, severe heart palpitations, and a powerful, almost obsessive feeling that I would not live past my thirtieth birthday. I was living each day as if it were my last, as if everything had been compressed together by the war, and now every second counted.

I wrote all night long, seven days a week, single space, no paragraphs, front and back of the pages, pounding the keys so hard the tips of my fingers would hurt. I couldnt stop writing, and I remember feeling more alive than I had ever felt. Convinced that I was destined to die young, I struggled to leave something of meaning behind, to rise above the darkness and despair. I wanted people to understand. I wanted to share with them as nakedly and openly and intimately as possible what I had gone through, what I had endured. I wanted them to know what it really meant to be in a warto be shot and wounded, to be fighting for my life on the intensive care wardnot the myth we had grown up believing. I wanted people to know about the hospitals and the enema room, about why I had become opposed to the war, why I had grown more and more committed to peace and nonviolence. I had been beaten by the police and arrested twelve times for protesting the war, and I had spent many nights in jail in my wheelchair. I had been called a Communist and a traitor, simply for trying to tell the truth about what had happened in that war, but I refused to be intimidated. I loved the night and I would write for hours as if no time had passed at all. I was exhausted and my back ached, but none of that seemed to matter. I felt wonderful inside, tired but completely consumed by my writing. I would drink a couple cups of coffee and then with a new surge of energy work for another hour or so as the bright lights of the morning began to fill the room. Id neatly stack all the pages next to the typewriter after holding them proudly in my hands, then go to my bedroom and transfer out of my wheelchair onto a mattress on the floor. I remember thinking to myself one morning that if I died in my sleep, someone would come into the apartment and find those pages next to the typewriter and know that I was not a victim, but someone who had been trying to move beyond his terrible tragedy and the terrible injustice of that war.

With the exception of that initial burst of writing and rare moment of stability in Santa Monica in the fall of 1974, I continued to be extremely restless back then, frantically moving from one place to the next, living on the edge, racing in cabs to the airport, flying from city to city on my monthly compensation check, suddenly showing up at friends houses in the middle of the night and sleeping on their couchesalways carrying the manuscript with me and always frightened, desperately needing to escape the demons that were closing in on me.

Over the next year and a half I wrote several additional chapters of Born on the Fourth of July. Some of the stories were ones I had told my mother when I first came home from the hospital and would lay on our couch in the living room when I couldnt sleep, which was often back then. Night after night I would repeat the story of how I was wounded that day in Vietnam, describing every single detail. My dear mother would sit patiently in her chair, listening to her son who had come home paralyzed from the war, trying her best to understand.

I attempted to write at my friends Skip and Ginnys place on Mohegan Lake, in their laundry room, but couldnt seem to get started. I wrote most of the chapter about my childhood at a little hotel not far from Sproul Plaza in Berkeley, and the ambush chapter, the most painful but one of the best, at Connies apartment in L.A. I wrote the Memorial Day chapter one afternoon in San Francisco at the Sam Wong Hotel on Broadway, just down the street from Enricos Cafe in North Beach. I can still remember the open window of my hotel room and the noise of passing cars and trucks in the street below, the fumes, the honking horns, but that became a very beautiful chapter and I still enjoy reading it to this day.

I dictated the very first page of the first chapter to my friend Roger at the Chateau Marmont Hotel in Hollywood, and the remainder of the chapter up in Mendocino where he and Mary were living at the time. I had driven all the way up in a used car I had just bought in L.A. and later abandoned in their driveway. It was deep in the woods, quiet and peaceful, so very different from the war and the hospitals and all that I had been through. The air was fresh and there was a pond behind their cottage where I dictated to Roger, and I remember feeling exhausted as he held me in his arms and I began to cry in the midst of all that stillness.

It was a painful but beautiful birth.

Listen to Holter Graham read an excerpt from Born on the Fourth of July

I am extremely grateful to Akashic Books and its publisher, Johnny Temple, for bringing out this new [2005] edition of Born on the Fourth of July at such a crucial moment in our nations history. For the past two years we have been involved in a tragic and senseless war in Iraq. As of this writing, over 1,500 Americans have died and more than 11,000 have been wounded, while tens of thousands of innocent Iraqi civilians, many of them women and children, have been killed.

I have watched in horror the mirror image of another Vietnam unfolding. So many similarities, so many things said that remind me of that war thirty years ago which left me paralyzed for the rest of my life. Refusing to learn from our experiences in Vietnam, our government continues to pursue a policy of deception, distortion, manipulation, and denial, doing everything it can to hide from the American people their true intentions and agenda in Iraq. The flag-draped caskets of our dead begin their long and sorrowful journeys home hidden from public view, while the Iraqi casualties are not even considered worth countingsome estimate as many as 100,000 have been killed so far.

The paraplegics, amputees, burn victims, the blinded and maimed, shocked and stunned, brain damaged and psychologically stressed, now fill our veterans hospitals. Most of them were not even born when I came home wounded to the Bronx V.A. in 1968. The same lifesaving medical-evacuation procedures that kept me alive in Vietnam are bringing home a whole new generation of severely maimed from Iraq.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTDS), which afflicted so many of us after Vietnam, is just now beginning to appear among soldiers recently returned from the current war. For some, the agony and suffering, the sleepless nights, anxiety attacks, and awful bouts of insomnia, loneliness, alienation, anger, and rage, will last for decades, if not their whole lives. They will be trapped in a permanent nightmare of that war, of killing another man, a child, watching a friend die . . . fighting against an enemy that can never be seen, while at any moment someonea child, a woman, an old man, anyonemight kill you. These traumas return home with us and we carry them, sometimes hidden, for agonizing decades. They deeply impact our daily lives, and the lives of those closest to us.

To kill another human being, to take another life out of this world with one pull of a trigger, is something that never leaves you. It is as if a part of you dies with them. If you choose to keep on living, there may be a healing, and even hope and happiness againbut that scar and memory and sorrow will be with you forever.

Some of these veterans are showing up at homeless shelters around our country, while others have begun to courageously speak out against the senselessness and insanity of this war and the leaders who sent them there. During the 2004 Democratic Convention, returning soldiers formed a group called Iraq Veterans Against the War, just as we marched in Miami in August 1972 as Vietnam Veterans Against the War. Still others have refused deployment to Iraq, gone to Canada, and begun resisting this immoral and illegal war.

For months leading up to the invasion of Iraq, citizens here in the United States and around the world marched and demonstrated in growing opposition to our governments reckless plan to launch an attack. I proudly participated in protests in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C., doing countless interviews and speaking out wherever people would listen to me. Many prominent world leaders, including Nelson Mandela and Pope John Paul II, began to raise their voices against the terrible and ill-fated foreign policy. This extraordinary opposition culminated on February, 15, 2003, when more than thirty million citizens in over one hundred nations participated in the most massive demonstration on behalf of peace in the history of the world. Never before had so many human beings come together before a war had even begun to say no to the insanity and madness.

Many of us promised ourselves long ago that we would never allow what happened to us in Vietnam to happen again. We had an obligation, a responsibility as citizens, as Americans, as human beings, to raise our voices in protest. We could never forget the hospitals, the intensive care wards, the wounded all around us fighting for their lives, those long and painful years after we came home, those lonely nights. There were lives to save on both sides, young men and women who would be disfigured and maimed, mothers and fathers who would lose their sons and daughters, wives and loved ones who would suffer for decades to come if we did not do everything we could to stop the forward momentum of this madness.

We sensed it very early and very quickly. We saw the same destructive patterns reasserting themselves all over again as our leaders spoke of bad guys and evildoers, imminent threats and mushroom clouds, attempting to frighten and intimidate the American people into supporting their agenda. The Bush administration seems to have learned some very different lessons than we did from Vietnam. Where we learned of the deep immorality and obscenity of that war, they learned to be even more brutal, more violent and ruthless, i.e., shock and awe. Sadly, the war on terror has become a war of terror. Where we learned to be more open and honest, to be more truthful, to expose, to express, to shatter the myths of the past, they seem to have learned the exact oppositeto hide, to censor, to fabricate, to mislead and deceiveto perpetuate those myths.

Instead of being intimidated or frightened, many of us became more outraged and more determined than ever to stop these ignorant, arrogant men and women who never saw the things we saw, never had to grieve over the loss of their bodies or the bodies of their sons and daughters, never had to watch as so many friends and fellow veterans were destroyed by alcoholism and drugs, homelessness, imprisonment, neglect and rejection, torture, abandonment and betrayal, in the painful aftermath of the war. These leaders have never experienced the tears, the dread and rage, the feeling that there is no God, no country, nothing but the wound, the horrifying memories, the shock, the guilt, the shame, the terrible injustice that took the lives of more than 58,000 Americans and over two million Vietnamese.

We had to act. We had to speak.

I am no longer the twenty-eight-year-old man, six years returned from the war in Vietnam, who sat behind that typewriter in Santa Monica in the fall of 1974. I am nearly sixty now. My hair and beard are almost completely white. The nightmares and anxiety attacks have all but disappeared, but I still do not sleep well at night. I toss and turn in increasing physical pain.

But I remain very positive and optimistic. I am still determined to rise above all of this. I know my pain and the horrors of my past will always be with me, but perhaps not with the same force and fury of those early years after the war. I have learned to forgive my enemies and forgive myself. It has been very difficult to heal from the war while living in America, and I have often dreamed of moving to neutral ground, another country. Yet I have somehow made a certain peace, even in a nation that so often still seems to believe in war and the use of violence as a solution to its problems. There has been a reckoning, a renewal. The scar will always be there, a living reminder of that war, but it has also become something beautiful now, something of faith and hope and love.

I have been given an opportunity to move through that dark night of the soul to a new shore, to gain an understanding, a knowledge, an entirely different vision. I now believe I have suffered for a reason, and in many ways I have found that reason in my commitment to peace and nonviolence. My life has been a blessing in disguise, even with the pain and great difficulty that my physical disability continues to bring. It is a blessing to be able to speak on behalf of peace, to be able to reach such a great number of people.

I saw first-hand what our governments terrible policy had wrought. I endured; I survived and understood. The one gift I was given in that war was an awakening. I became a messenger, a living symbol, an example, a man who learned that love and forgiveness are more powerful than hatred, who has learned to embrace all men and women as my brothers and sisters. No one will ever again be my enemy, no matter how hard they try to frighten and intimidate me. No government will ever teach me to hate another human being. I have been given the task of lighting a lantern, ringing a bell, shouting from the highest rooftops, warning the American people and citizens everywhere of the deep immorality and utter wrongness of this approach to solving our problems, pleading for an alternative to this chaos and madness, this insanity and brutality.

We must change course.

I truly feel that this beautiful world has given me back so much more than it has taken from me. So many others that I knew are gone, and gone way too young. I am grateful to be alive after all these years and all that Ive been through. I am thankful for every day. Life is so precious.

R on K ovic

From the 40th Anniversary Edition, Born on the Fourth of July, Akashic Books, 2016, Ron Kovic, Foreword by Bruce Springsteen. Redondo Beach, California, March 2005

RON KOVIC served two tours of duty during the Vietnam War. He was paralyzed from his chest down in combat in 1968 and has been in a wheelchair ever since. Along with Oliver Stone, Kovic was the coscreenwriter of the 1989 Academy Awardwinning film based on Kovics best-selling memoir Born on the Fourth of July (starring Tom Cruise as Kovic). Hurricane Street is his latest memoir.
One of Hillary Clintons favorite attack lines against Donald Trump is that his relationship with the Kremlin is much too cozy for comfort.

At least one of her campaign bundlers seems to have missed that line of criticism.

Emanuel Mike Manatos, a lobbyist who helped raise upwards of $40,000 for her presidential campaign, recently started lobbying for a state-controlled Russian bank. And not just any bank. This one is run by associates of Vladimir Putinincluding a former Stasi agentand has been sanctioned by the U.S. government since the 2014 annexation of Crimea. Its just another example of the pot/kettle nature of the 2016 presidential race.

Manatos rounded up $39,800 for Clintons campaign from his friends and acquaintances in the first three months of this year (PDF), a practice called bundling. FEC records show he also gave $2,950 to Clintons campaign in 2015, and $2,300 to her 2008 presidential campaign.

And two months ago, his lobbying firm, Manatos & Manatos, signed a contract to lobby for VTB Group bank regarding its placement on the list of Russian financial institutions sanctioned by the U.S. government (PDF). The bank was penalized as part of a round of sanctions the U.S. and European Union implemented in July 2014 targeting top Russian power brokers after the takeover of Crimea. As a result of the sanctions, its taken a massive financial hit.

The contract states that VTB Group will pay the firm a $17,500 monthly retainer, plus expenses. This may not be the firms first time lobbying with VTB Group: Manatos & Manatos disclosed last year in Senate lobbying forms that VTB Group was their client, effective April 2, 2015. But filings in the U.S. governments Foreign Agents Registration Act database indicate the bank only signed its contract with the firm in May. Manatos & Manatos did not respond to a request to clarify their relationship with the bank, and did not offer any information on the nature of their lobbying beyond what the FARA filings show.

Manatoss contract with the bank comes just as the Clinton campaign amps up its attacks on Trump for his financial ties to Russia. Last week, the Clinton campaign emailed reporters a press release highlighting a Washington Post story about Russia-related business ventures by Trump and some of his advisers dating as far back as the late 1980s.

Trumps peculiar and dangerous overtures to the Kremlin cannot be decoupled from the deep financial ties Trump and several of his top aides have to Russia, the Clinton campaigns statement said.

VTB Group has close ties to the Kremlin, and the Russian government owns the majority of the banks voting shares. Its chief executive, Andrei Kostin, meets regularly with Putin and other top Kremlin officials, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Effectively, the bank is an arm of the Russian government, Craig Pirrong, a finance professor at the University of Houston, told The Daily Beast. The government appoints the board of directors and effectively controls the policies of the bank.

Anders Aslund, an Atlantic Council economist specializing in Russia, said that he has gotten to know Kostin as the two men have attended international conferences together since the early 1990s.

[Kostin] behaves extremely subserviently to Putin, said Dr. Aslund. Even more so now, since VTB is in such a terrible state of affairs.

In an interview with television host Charlie Rose last year, Kostin, the banks CEO, hedged about exactly how close he is to the Russian president.

You know, in Russia, when youre a chairman of the largest bank, you visit the president and see him from time to time, said Kostin, who added that he has known Putin for nearly two decades. He knows me very well, I know him very well at least. But my relationship is limited to what Im doing, we dont discuss much broader issues.

VTB Groups management includes one of Putins closest associates: Matthias Warnig, a former officer for the Stasithe notorious East German secret police. Warnig was named in a New York Times investigation into members of Putins inner circle who have become rich during Putins presidency.

Warnig has held positions on the boards of multiple major Russian corporations, including state-owned oil company Rosneft. Until 2012, Warnig held a spot on the board of directors of Bank Rossiyawhich the Obama administration calls the personal bank of top Kremlin officials and has sanctioned even more severely than VTB Group.

Warnig and Putin both worked in Soviet intelligence services in East Germany. When Warnig worked for the Stasi, Putin was also stationed in East Germany as a KGB agent. Despite their proximity during the 1980s, both men have publicly said that they did not meet until later, when Warnig moved to St. Petersburg and opened a bank.

Yet Warnigs bank facilitated payments for medical care in Germany for Putins wife after she was injured in a car accident, according to The New York Times.

VTB Groups profits plummeted after the Treasury Department prohibited Americans from providing new financing or loans to the bank. The banks prospects do not look much better for 2016its expected to eke out a small net profit. In addition to the sanctions, Russias shrinking economy has also hurt VTB Group.

So the bank is desperate for the sanctions to get lifted, as one of its top officials told CNBC in October 2015.

So its understandable that theyd want a well-connected D.C. lobbyist. And Manatos fits the bill. He and his family have had ties to the Clintons and Democratic politics for years.

Manatos is not the only high-profile lobbyist with ties to the Clinton campaignand who lobbies on behalf of questionable foreign clients.

Last year, two Clinton White House veterans registered as lobbyists on behalf of the Egyptian government. The former aidesJoel Johnson and Susan Brophyhave donated thousands of dollars to Hillary Clintons two presidential campaigns. Johnson and Brophy, both in management at D.C. lobbying firm Glover Park Group, represented a military dictatorship whose country is in a human rights crisis according to a Human Rights Watch report on Egypt.

Another lobbyist, David Adams, was chief legislative adviser to then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton from 2011-2013. Since he left the State Department, Adamss roster of clients with the firm Podesta Group has included multiple nations that are known for human rights abuses: South Sudan, Kenya, and Azerbaijan.

For the Manatos family, their relationship with Clinton continued during her tenure as secretary of state.

In 2009, Andy Manatos, his father and partner at the firm, spoke at a ceremony in the State Department and personally presented Clinton an award for her work on Hellenic and Orthodox issues. The Manatos family is prominent in the Greek-American community, and Andy presented the award on behalf of the National Coordinated Effort of Hellenes (CEH) and with the Greek Orthodox Archbishop of America. Later that year, Andy and Mike Manatos sent an email to Clintons then-chief of staff, Cheryl Mills, praising Clintons remarks on Greece and Cyprus with the subject line, Thank you... again. Mills then forwarded the email to Clintons personal email account.

Two years later, Andy Manatos wrote in a mostly-redacted email to Mills that she also forwarded to Clintons private account. Thank you very much for coming through again, he wrote.
For 13 Independence Days, I was a prisoner. To be a prisoner on the Fourth of July is to know the essential hypocrisy of contemporary America.

In the early 1990s, when I was at the Collins Correctional Facility in western New York, July 4 was a big thing. Preparations would start a few days before, when we started brewing homemade wine. Orange and grapefruit juice would go into a bucket placed inside a plastic garbage bag. Into the juice would go as much fruit and sugar as we could steal from the mess hall. Then someone would produce a clean sock, wed mash a loaf or two of stolen bread inside it, tie it off, and drop it into the mix.

Wed squeeze all the air out of the garbage bag, tie it up, and hide the contraption in a dark corner, or under someones bunk. Every few hours someone would have to go, take it to the bathroom, open a window, and bleed the make-shift still of excess air.

By the Fourth wed be good to go.

At Collins, Independence Day was holiday, and all of us, the prisoners and the corrections officers, would take off and relax. The COs would let all the doors in the prison swing, from the housing units to the yard, and all day wed walk around, visiting friends in other housing units, maybe play some spades, loop around the yard, maybe play some bocce. In the afternoon, if the weather was good, the mess hall would shift their operation outside, and start grilling hot dogs and hamburgers. There was potato salad, too, and sliced watermelon to finish it with.

After lunch, my friends and I busted out the hooch, which we sipped in opaque plastic cups, to wash everything down.

That was 1992 when there were 810,500 prisoners in America. Since then, the prison population in tripled to 2.3 million people, 713 behind bars for every 100,000 people. Another 4,708,100 are subject to custodial supervision, as probationers or parolees. Some 80,000 children are in juvenile jails. Of these, in 2014, 7 percent of state prisoners and 19 percent of federal prisoners were held in facilities run by private, for-profit prison companies.

The nation that imprisons 7 million of its own people, the most of any nation in the world, has no business celebrating freedom, on July 4, or any other day of the year.

The nation that has more solitary confinement cells than any other nation in the world has no business pridefully waving its flag around. The nation that encourages a culture of sadism among its police and prison guards, by arming them with all manner of modern torture tools, and then being deliberately indifferent to their malicious use, has no business boasting of its human rights record. The nation whose prosecutors, judges, and juries blindly accept police and prison officials legerdemain when they are called upon to explain themselves, knows not real freedom, but an illusion of freedom, haphazardly built upon a persons individual luck in escaping official scrutiny, or their financial ability to buy their way out of it.

On the Fourth of July, politicians and their corporate sponsors like to proffer patriotic bromides designed to make us feel good about ourselves, and our place in the world. They tell us we live in the land of the free, and the home of the brave. They tell us we live in the land of opportunity. They tell us all people are created equal, with certain unalienable rights, among those the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Tell that to Akai Gurley. Tell that to Eric Garner, and Ramarley Graham, and Sean Bell, and Timothy Stansbury, and Ousmane Zongo, and Patrick Dorismond, and Amadou Diallo, and Anthony Baez, and Nicholas Heyward, and Ernest Sayon.

All unarmed men killed by police in New York City alone. What happened to their equal, unalienable rights?

When I was a prisoner, prison rules required that I carry my prison-issued identification card everywhere I went within the prison. It was a violation of prison rules to leave you cell without your identification card. You could actually be sent to solitary confinement for not carrying your ID.

Since I was released, in 2003, Ive made it a point to not carry identification.

Since then, Ive been stopped by police, while walking or riding my bicycle around New York City, more than few times. Every time they ask me for identification. Every time I say I dont carry it. Every time they say the could arrest me just for that; they say that the law requires me to carry identification.

Just like when I was in prison.

When I was in prison I read a lot of books. One of the books I read Michel Foucaults Discipline and Punish. From Foucault I learned about the Panopticon.

In Greek mythology, Panoptes was a giant with 100 eyes. Only a few of the eyes slept at any one time, so Panoptes was an excellent watchman. The English philosopher Jeremy Bentham applied the idea of Panoptes to prison design. In the late 1700s, he designed a prison that was circular in shape, with a guard tower in its center. The prisoners lived in barred, transparent cells around the circumference, while the guards in the tower watched them. However, the presence of the guards was obscured by blinds or other contrivances. Thus the prisoners always felt they were being watched, but did not know when or if they were actually being watched.

Bentham theorized that this architecture of surveillance, actual and perceived, would cause the prisoners to act as if they were always being watched. In this way, the criminals would internalize the surveillance, and become model citizensbecause they believed they were always being watched.

Life in America today is defined, and bounded by, the digital panopticon of the surveillance state.

Most New Yorkers live in a building. Most buildings have some kind of surveillance technology. When you walk outside your door, chances are there is a camera documenting you, telling whoever is watching what time you left your house, and when you return. As you walk around the city, more private and police cameras capture your movements.

If you carry a cell or smartphone, digital transmissions from your cellphone ping your location to cellphone transmission towers, which are recorded in a digital database, telling the watchers where you go, and for how long you stay there.

Where ever you go, you are recorded. Go into a store, there are cameras. Get on a bus, there are cameras. Go into an office building, still more cameras. If you drive, both fixed and mobile license-plate trackers record the movements of your motor vehicle, as does your E-ZPass.

Get on the subway, more cameras.

On the subway, posters and pre-recorded announcements instruct you, over and over, to snitch on your fellow citizens: If you see something, say something. Another pre-recorded announcement says that anything you carry, any kind of bag or box, is subject to being searched by the police, at their whim, without some kind of individualized suspicion, much less a search warrant.

At work, more surveillance.

Customarily, to access office buildings, workers have to prove who they are by carrying and displaying identification. Once inside, workplace cameras record your movements. On the computer, software monitors your internet use, telling contemporary over-seers if youre doing something other than working. If you drive for work, a GPS device monitors were you go, and tells your bosses if you were late because you stopped for lunch at Burger King, and didnt get stuck in traffic like you once were able to say.

Even inside the so-called sanctity of your own home, you are still being watched. Thanks to the bravery of Edward Snowden, we now know that everything we read and download from the internet is subject to observation and copying by the government. Even if they are not doing it directly, they can always simply ask the corporation providing your internet service for a copy of your records, and the corporation, dependent on the government for many things, like licenses to do business, will comply. Just like in prison, where prison authorities, as a matter of course, review and screen what you read, as well as your incoming and outgoing correspondence.

Some say that surveillance doesnt seem to bother most Americans. Most Americans seem fine, some people say, with what amounts to self-surveillance on social media. I look at it differently. I dont see social media as an embrace of the surveillance state. I see it as open rebellion. I see it as people saying, well, if Im going to be surveilled, I might as well take some control of it, and offer a counter-narrative to the really sleazy porn I watch online. See Mr. Government Watchman, Im not all that bad, I visit my parents regularly. I get my coffee from Starbucks. Im normal. Im just like everyone else. Im not a threat.

I think its time we all started being a little more threatening.

You want to really celebrate freedom on this Fourth of July? Leave your identification at home. Smash your smartphone. Break a surveillance camera. Download an anonymous internet browser and encryption software. Buy a big hat or sunglasses to defeat facial recognition software. Cover your license plate in dust. Go for a ride in the countryside. Shoot a gun, maybe buy one. The next time you see something suspicious, dont call the cops, go up to your fellow citizen and ask about itchances are youll get a satisfactory explanation.

Thats real independence. Quiet subservience is not.
Today we celebrate the ideals of a hypocrite. Thomas Jefferson has always been controversial. During his long political career he was criticized for what some held to be his unconstitutional use of executive power in engineering the Louisiana Purchase, for his religious views (he was called a howling atheist by one Federalist newspaper), for the fact that he was a slaveholder, and for his sexual relations with Sally Hemings, an enslaved woman at Monticello. His moral character was so disparaged by some of his contemporaries that, during the presidential election of 1800, the Connecticut Courant felt justified in asserting that under a Jefferson presidency, [m]urder, robbery, rape, adultery, and incest will be openly taught and practiced.

Nevertheless, and largely on the basis of the ideals he outlined in the Declaration of Independence, signed 240 years ago today, Jefferson has long been the object of nearly religious veneration, and remains, along with his colleagues on Mount Rushmore, one of the most popular presidents of all time.

Things may be changing, however. Gradually, over the last half century, both Jeffersons reputation and the very ideals upon which it rests have begun to lose their luster, a process that has only accelerated during the last few years, when the manifold and enduring injustices of this nations grim racial history have once again inspired public outrage.

To a growing number of people, the assertion all men are created equal seems a blatantly hypocritical attempt to use the language of morality to enshrine the unjust privileges of white males. While the word men would certainly have been understood as inclusive of women by Jefferson and the other signatories of the Declaration, womens equality was substantially unrecognized in 1776, both by the law and by society at large. Women lacked the vote and were subject to a degree of control by their husbands and fathers that would qualify as abuse today. And, of course, the vast majority of African Americans during this era were enslaved and wholly deprived of human rights, while Native Americans were being robbed of their land and subjected to genocidal extermination.

While the Founding Fathers had many great virtues, few if any of them would pass muster by todays standards. Like Jefferson, Washington, Madison, and Monroe were slaveholders; Hamilton bought and sold enslaved people for his in-laws; and John Adams had a law enacted that gave him the right to imprison his political enemies.

Alas, ideals can only be created and put into practice by human beingsweak, foolish, venal, and self-deceived creatures who have the capacity to make a mess of almost anything they touch. But it is also true that once an ideal has been created, it takes on a life and a value of its ownas evidenced by the fact that our eras condemnation of Jefferson and his contemporaries is founded to a considerable extent on the very notions that now seem so hypocritical.

It is a simple fact that all of this countrys liberation struggles, from abolitionism through the womens suffrage and Civil Rights movements, and right up until the recent gay marriage and Black Lives Matter campaigns, have derived much of their moral and legal force from the notion that all people are born with an equal and unalienable right to the benefits that flow from membership in a lawful and democratic society. The accumulated, if partial successes of all those struggles have had such a powerful effect on the way we live and perceive our world that the heroes of this nations earliest years now seem almost criminally retrograde.

It is essential that we not deify even the most brilliant and courageous social innovators, andmore to the pointthat we remain aware of their human weaknesses. But, by the same token, it is essential that we not confuse the value of an ideal with the character or cultural prejudices of the person who articulates it.

So, yes, the man who expressed certain self-evident truths 240 years ago was subject to profound, even unforgivable moral failures. But as long as the ideals he rendered so memorably can help us understand the strengths and weaknesses of our own society, and inspire us to do the very hard work still necessary if we hope to guarantee all Americans their equal right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, then they are more than worthy of our joyful and heartfelt celebration.

Stephen OConnor is the author of the novel, Thomas Jefferson Dreams of Sally Hemings.
Baku, Azerbaijan, July 4



Trend:



The candidacy of the member of Azerbaijani delegation to the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly (OSCE PA) Azay Guliyev for this structures vice-president has been approved.



The information has been confirmed to Trend by Guliyev himself. Guliyev expressed hope that he will win in the voting to be held July 5.



Azay Guliyev is the only candidate for this post from the Muslim and CIS countries.



In general, three candidates have been nominated for the post of the OSCE PA president, while four candidates will run for the vice-president of this structure.
Nigel Farage, the British politician without whom there would never have been a Brexit vote, dramatically quit on Monday morning as leader of the anti-E.U. UK Independence Party, aka UKIP.

David Cameron made his ill-advised pledge to hold a referendum on British E.U. membership in January 2013, when Farages UKIP were enjoying a spike in polling numbers and making headway in local elections. Seeing a way to blunt the appeal of UKIP to traditional Conservative voters, Cameron announced his in/out referendum, never imagining for a moment the UK would vote to Leave.

The short-term tactic worked, and the Conservatives were returned with an overall majority at the 2015 General Election, while Farage himself was not elected.

In a press call this morning at Westminster, Farage said: I have decided to stand aside as leader of UKIP. The victory for the leave side in the referendum means that my political ambition has been achieved. I came into this struggle from business because I wanted us to be a self-governing nation, not to become a career politician.

UKIP is in a good position and will continue, with my full support to attract a significant vote. Whilst we will now leave the European Union, the terms of our withdrawal are unclear. If there is too much backsliding by the government and with the Labor party detached from many of its voters then UKIPs best days may be yet to come.

It's just the latest unexpected event in what has been one of the most dramatic ten days in British political history.

Although Farage has never succeeded in being elected as a member of the British Parliament, he is, ironically enough, a member of the European Parliament, a body he professes to loathe.

He said today that he and other UKIP MEPs would remain in the European parliament until the UK left and the roles no longer existed, something he hoped would happen within two years.

He added: The Ukippers will have been the turkeys who voted for Christmas.

Despite being the leading light in the public campaign to get Britain out of Europe, Farage has been consistently sidelined by the political establishment, and it was inconceivable that the Conservative government would have given him any formal role in the forthcoming Brexit negotiations.
I am at dinner in a posh New York City home. As I study the elegant china, conversation turns to Syria. I express dismay at our nations inaction: first our refusal to contain the conflict, later our disengagement from the predictable calamity of displaced refugees, and finally our decision to deny American asylum to almost all Syrians. A dinner companion looks me in my Muslim eye: Those people do not share our values of democracy. He holds my gaze, overlooking my own Muslim-hood, or maybe meeting it dead on.

I was the only Muslim in the roomthe first time I noticed an aloneness in my faith, the first time I felt divided by faith, the first time I felt separated from, not united by, American diversity. Opposite, another piped up: Jewish refugees fleeing the Shoah were turned away by an American President though the Jews were not terrorists, implying that Muslim Syrians most certainly were.

I fell silent. How had a quarter of a century in America brought me to this point? Surrounded by New Yorks elite, I was merely the one Good Muslim people knew. I was the exception, the Good Muslim that proves the rule: all other Muslims are indeed bad.

As a naturalized American of just three months, the meaning of America and the responsibilities of all Americans among whom I would be assuming my rank had been weighing on my mind for the decades leading up to my citizenship. Could such derision represent the America I had been sheltered by, educated within, accepted among, nurtured by? Could this be the same America I had willfully, proudly proclaimed my own? Was this the America toward which I had journeyed these 25 years through five visas, and four punishing continental migrations?

One December day, I had held my hand to my heart in a completely novel and unfamiliar gesture. Facing the Star Spangled Banner I made my pledge of allegiance. There, in the Brooklyn Federal Courthouse, I was at last integrated, woven into the fabric of my adopted home, a small thread in the multicolor tapestry that is so uniquely yet definitively America.

Weeks later, I was sitting at a traffic light. I heard something rattling. I lowered the window to find the sound. Towering above, an American flag struggled to break free from its post. My eyes followed the billowing stripes and the so-many stars. Seeing the frays, the stains, the tears, with the wind picking up, I wondered how long the flag would hold.

Now at this dinner table, my America unravels. The fraying flag is our battle-worn banner, our country divides around us, separating Americans: black from white; native-born from naturalized; Muslim from Jew, Mexican from all of us, even Democrat from Democrat and Republican from Republican.

I shore up my failing spirits, remembering what Old Glory means to me. I recall being in Karachis Sultanabad neighborhood, where the unexpected glimpse of the Red White and Blue lifted my heart. Outside the U.S. consulate, sharp against the Pakistani sky, the American flag pulled at me. Ten thousand miles east, Americas magnetism tugged, urgent even here, on the soil of my forebears. Tears rising to their brim, my love became clear: My beacon would always be the banner of Betsy Ross.

I remember other far-flung flags too. I first stopped to look at the Stars and Stripes at the US Embassy in 1991 in Londons Grosvenor Square. Preternaturally motionless, like the gleaming Marine beside it, the both of them immobilized me in awe. I left the embassy that day with the first of many American visas, not knowing it would be 25 years before I could rightfully call their flag my own. Or the American flag at Iskan, the U.S. military base in Riyadh. Weekly, we escaped the realities of Saudi Arabia for an American breakfast on Fridays. That flagand the waiters neat American cursive on the guest checkensured that for a few hours, I was transported to the homeland I so wanted to make mine.

Americas flag, and Americas people have contained great meaning for me, long decades before my citizenship. Ours is a flag and ours is a people I have defended from judgment, ridicule, and hostility on three continents. Ours is a flag and ours are a people I have mourned for from Saudi Arabia where I watched the 9/11 attacks take thousands of New York lives and sicken the lives of those who went to rescue them. These American livesour nations first respondersare now in my charge as I, an American Muslim, serve these brave Americans as their physician at the World Trade Center Monitoring Program.

America for me, the American Muslim, is unraveling. In an era of George Packers Unwinding, our nation is unraveling. If my America is fraying, yours is too; our America frays and unravels. Our fraying flag is torn apart by suspicions and retreats, by ignorance and isolations. Repairing the rents, mending the seams, will take each of us our utmost.

While I do despair, I dont lose faith because I know you wont fail me now. For just as this past quarter of a century, America and Americans have always shown me the way. In these moments of our unspooling, I ask each of you to show menot the Good Muslim, but like millions of others, the Good-Enough-to-be-American-Muslimthe way to join with you in the warp and weft as we weave, ever brighter, the magnificent brocade that is America once more.
DOVER, Delaware  The flag-draped transfer case carrying the remains back from Afghanistan was still inside the C-17 when friends and colleagues of the fallen gathered around Chaplain John C. Wheatley. It fell to the Army lieutenant colonel to explain to them just how their loved one would be taken off the plane, marking his official return home.

As the silver-haired Wheatley described with his soft voice how eight troops would march up the ramp, offer a prayer, lift the case, and somberly walk to the plane, those around Wheatley started to cry at the reality of what was about to happen. Wheatley, who by his own estimation, has presided over hundreds of such arrivals during his 26-year career quietly bowed his head, shielding his face and the emotion that had overcome him.

As he explained: The Army pays me to cry every day.

The Pentagon has repeatedly sought to downplay the U.S. militarys return to war in the Middle East. Officials once refused to call the death of U.S. troop shot in Iraq a combat death and last month, Pentagon officials said they would no longer provide details on the wounded, citing privacy concerns and not wanting to give the enemy information, even as such data was provided during the 2003-2011 Iraq war. But even as the Pentagon seeks to minimize the effects of war through a dearth of data and a surge of semantics, throughout the U.S. military there are soldiers like Wheatley whose jobs are to confront the U.S.s return to war.

Wheatley serves as a chaplain at Dover Air Force base where the fallen first arrive. He does not wear combat patch. He does not have the luxury of traveling to distant lands to serve. Instead, the consequences of war come to Wheatley, one transfer case at a time.

Or as his predecessor explained the job to him: Its like burying your little brother every day.

As Wheatley cried with the friends of a man killed last month in Afghanistan, one had the sense he was crying for him and all who had been lost to warservice member and family alikebefore him.

Wheatleys voice is so conditioned to comfort others that, he even says hello, as though he is greeting a mourner. When he meets a service members family, he bows his head slightly in an unconscious show of deference for their sacrifice, an acknowledgement that they too have paid a great price to the nation.

His career has been to spend his days comforting the bereaved. After the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, he provided pastoral services to the Pentagon. Before arriving at Dover he has had to, periodically, knock at the doors of scores of other families to deliver the dreadful news that their loved one had died in war. He remembered knocking at the door of one family whose troop was due home in a week; the welcome poster was already up. Perhaps because of such memories, Dover, for him, is easier.

When he knocks at the door, you know you are about to deliver this news that will change them forever, Wheatley said. At Dover, they already know.

But he doesnt see his job as a burden but an extension of faith.

Part of the Christian faith, to me, is hospitality and carrying for people in these awful places in life, to mourn with those who mourn and weep with those weep, he explained.

Wheatley said that the overwhelming amount of death that has defined his career has created a kind of living faith for him.

To be invited into a very sacred place, I feel it every time, he explained. To mourn with others gives me a grounding of hope. It gives me grounding in what love can do when we treat people with dignity and respect. That is a part of faithhow we treat people, how we show compassion, he explained.

He stops there. The Pennsylvania native is notably uncomfortable talking about himself. He prefers his role as the invisible warfighter.

Wheatley and his comrades greet the families as they arrive on base and sit with them as they wait for the C-17 to be emptied of all the cargo that traveled on the flight so that all that remains onboard is their loved one. Sometimes families lash out at Wheatley and his colleagues. Most are grateful for the small words and gestures that break up a tension-filled wait.

Wheatley demurred when asked how he deals with the perpetual grief. He said he never talks about his work at home with his college sweetheart and two adult daughters because we are very conscious of protecting the privacy and the sacredness of the conversations. There is counseling dedicated to the chaplain corps. The staff, Wheatley said, check on one another. They go on trips together for the day, to places like Washington, to escape. And of course: We are a people of prayer.

Wheatley, who would only give his age as between 50 and 60, has done two two-year tours, with a one year gap in between, at Dover. When he first arrived at Dover in 2011, the war in Iraq was winding down and there were plans to do the same in Afghanistan. When he returned in 2013, President Obama had just won a presidential campaign in which he touted the U.S. withdrawal from Iraq and the eventually drawdown from Afghanistan. No one had heard the term ISIS.

But by the following year, combat troop deaths began returning to Dover. In January, six airmen who were killed by a Taliban attack near Kabul returned together, the deadliest attack on U.S. troops this year. The non-combat deaths, including suicide, come through Dover as well, from places like Kuwait, Qatar, and Djibouti. The longest Dover has not had a dignified transfer this year is six weeks, officials said.

The transfer procedure marks the official return of the remains of a fallen service member or contractor back in the United States. It is no longer than 10 minutes in all, but it is charged with emotion, as families watch the flag-draped transfer case slowly come off the military plane. The military uses the term transfer cases, and not caskets, as sometimes multiple remains are in one case and must be identified. Dover officials said it usually takes about two days to prepare for a dignified transfer.

Wheatley has been a part of both the active duty and reserve force. When he was not called up, as he is now, he leads a church congregation. Besides serving in Dover and as a reservist for units in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, Wheatley has served at Walter Reed Medical Center and in Kuwait in 1994 as part of Operation Vigilant Warrior.

Wheatleys father served in World War II, and he says perhaps it was the brown and white photo of him in uniform that led him to serve. A Methodist, he joined the military to be a chaplain, in the run up to the first Gulf War. During that time, the U.S. was largely engaged in missions, not wars that run for years. That is, there was no warning then that the life of a chaplain would be to honor the fallen for years at a time.

Wheatley plans to retire in the fall. He wants to take a baking and pastry class because he is a self-described foodie. He wants to be a full-time grandfather. He has retired from the church, which means he will no longer lead a congregation. He said he has seen much of the United States but wants to keep traveling. He has no particular favorite part of the land.

Its just breathtaking to me, this country, Wheatley said.

After he retires his visits to Dover will be of a different sort. In between trips, he said, he will bring his comrades some of his baked goods.
This is Part II of a two-part feature on one of World War II  s most fascinating spies. Part I can be found here.

Exhausted, weary after the long tense night, Betty returned to her apartment and went straight for the telephone. She called John Pepper in New York, her handler for the British spy network; he was younger, less authoritarian than Huntington and she hoped hed be easier to manipulate. She told him she wanted to go try again tonight. All that had mattered was getting another chance at the ciphers.

He said it had already been decided: no. But before she could argue, Pepper continued. Its a go for tomorrow night, he said. June twenty-first.

Betty began to thank Pepper, but again he interrupted her. There was something else, he said. Its also been decided that the Cracker wont be coming along this time. One more unauthorized person inside the embassy only increases the risks. You and Brousse get caughtmaybe you can talk your way out of it. But the Cracker wouldnt have a chance. Anyway, now you know the combination. You can open the safe. Correct? he challenged.

Betty agreed. She could handle the safe. This time there would be no problems, she reiterated.

Only now Brousse refused. Impossible! he boomed.

Patiently, Betty let him rant. When hed finished, she told him that she agreed; they could not risk drugging the watchman again. This time they would wait until Chevalier finished his rounds and retired to his basement office to sleep. It was, she said, the only way.

Brousse considered. It might work: if Chevalier came upstairs, hed send him off to look in the restroom while Betty scampered out of the attaches office. But something else now left him troubled. The longer we need to wait for the watchman to settle in for the night, he challenged, the less time the Cracker would have.

Betty had known all along she would need to tell him, and she decided now was as good a time as any. The Cracker would not be joining us this time, she said dispassionately.

Then who?

Betty cut him off. She explained that shed open the safe. She had the combination, it would be simple.

Brousse erupted.

Once again Betty had the wisdom not to attempt to rein him in. And when he was done, she went to work.

Betty played all her cards. She dismissed the dangers. She reminded him that they already had a dress rehearsal. She spoke of his patriotic duty, how France needed his help in its time of need. And shrewdly, she saved her most persuasive argument for last. Im counting on you, she pleaded to her lover.

In the end, Brousse could not summon the will to do anything other than surrender to Betty. He agreed to return to the embassy the next night.

It had been difficult enough the first time when Betty had not fully anticipated the torrents of fear that would rush through her when she entered the embassy. But this evening she had no doubts about the tense circumstances that lay ahead.

Betty arrived hand-in-hand with Charles after midnight and, trying to lose herself in her role, she did her best to act as his charming, besotted companion. Chevalier greeted them in the front hall and this evening he had his Alsatian with him. One never knows, the watchman speculated, when the dog would be called on to attack an intruder. Betty listened with, shed remember, a smile glued to her face, while all the time trying not to imagine the ferocious animals sharp teeth chomping down on her arm.

At last Chevalier, full of a coy familiarity, said the couple had not come to talk to him. He would retire downstairs to his office.

The two spies sat on the hall divan and waited. They did not embrace. They simply stared at the ornate clock on the marble mantle. When a half-hour passed, Betty announced that the watchman must be asleep.

While Brousse kept guard in the hallway, she made her way to the code room.

Once inside the attaches office, she took a slip of paper with the combination from her purse and went to work.

She spun the dial attentively, making sure she landed on the settings the Cracker had detected. It took only a few moments to reach the final stop. Eagerly, she pulled the handle.

It would not budge.

She decided she must have misread one of the settings shed written down two nights ago. Confidently, she spun the dial again and this time took even greater care to land on all the correct numbers. She was certain that when she pulled the handle, the old Mosler would now swing open.

It didnt.

She tried again and again, spinning the dial through the correct combinations time after time. It was tedious, and frustrating, and completely humiliating, but she couldnt get the safe to open. And then it grew too late.

She returned to the front hall and in a voice breaking with despair told Brousse they had to go.

He looked at her perplexed.

The damned thing wont open! she moaned.

***

It was shortly after midnight on a warm, starry June twenty-fourth when the two lovers walked from the Wardman Park towards the embassy for their next attempt. The Washington streets were empty and quiet at this hour, and the only sound in the night was the staccato click of Bettys high-heeled shoes against the concrete sidewalk. But as soon as they turned the corner of Connecticut Avenue, Betty decided that things were not right.

A car was parked down the block from the embassy. Its lights and engine were off, but there were two people in the front seat. In the darkness, it was impossible to distinguish anything other than the vague outlines of their two shapes. Lovers, Betty tried to believe. But if they were, they had chosen and odd spot for their date. She knew as any agent about to go into enemy territory would know: it was a trap.

She whispered to Charles that the passengers in the car must be Vichy agents. As soon as we have the ciphers, theyll swoop down.

What do you want to do? Brousse asked gravely.

Betty took a quick look at the car. And then at the front door of the embassy just yards away. Lets proceed, she decided uneasily.

Brousse used his key to open the embassy door. And once inside, Betty grew even more certain that they had walked into a trap.

There was no sign of the watchman or his dog. That was very unusual. Chevalier must have heard them enter; they had deliberately not lowered their voices, keeping up a pretense of gay chatter. He normally would have come to investigate. And what about the dog? The Alsatian shouldve begun barking as soon as theyd opened the door. The silence was ominous, and very unnerving.

They sat on the divan and waited. Perhaps Chevalier was busy or in some distant part of the building. But Betty grew convinced that he was part of the plot. The plan, she decided, was for Chevalier to bust in after she opened the safe. Hed signal, and then the security thugs would come charging through the door and catch her with the code books in her hands.

Her mind was racing. She knew she had to do something or the mission would end in disaster. And she had to do it now!

Abruptly Betty jumped up from the divan and was pulling her dress over her head. She tossed it on to the floor.

Brousse stared at her with astonishment.

Now she had wriggled out of her silk slip. She hurled it away and it landed next to the discarded dress.

Have you gone mad? Charles asked, anxious and confused.

She continued to undress, pulling down her stockings. I dont think so, she said as the nylons were added to the pile on the floor. But we shall see.

Suppose someone should come in! Brousse pleaded. What are you thinking?

I am thinking just that, Betty answered, as she unhooked her brassiere. Suppose someone does come in!

She pulled down her panties and with one foot gracefully kicked them towards the rest of the clothes.

She stood naked except for the strand of pearls around her neck. She had no modesty, no inhibition. She held herself easily and confidently.

Now that she had undressed, she explained her strategy more fully to Charles. What are we here for? she demanded rhetorically. We are here to make love. Who makes love with clothes on if they can be taken off?

If you wish to help me, you will get up and start undressing yourself too!

Her tone had been sharp and insistent. She needed him to understand that every moment mattered.

Brousse still had not grasped Bettys plan, but he trusted her. He took off his jacket, undid his tie, and had removed his shirt. He was unfastening his belt when the door opened.

A bright cone of light scanned the room, coming to a sudden halt when it focused on Betty. The light held steady, illuminating her nakedness.

Oh, la la, said Betty in a voice more playful than shocked. She tried to cover herself with her hands, but her modesty was half-hearted and deliberately careless. She wanted the watchman to get a good, long look. Regardless of any suspicions that had been previously brewing, it was important that he now understood the couple had entered the embassy with only one thing on their feverish minds.

I beg your pardon a thousand times, Madame, muttered the watchman as he finally extinguished the flashlight. Flustered, he hurried off, closing the door firmly behind him.

A peal of triumph in her voice, Betty told Charles, There was method in my madness.

***

As soon as shed been convinced that the embarrassed watchman had fled to his basement office, Betty had put on her slipnothing more; she wanted to be able to undress in a hurry if he reappearedand made her way to the code room. She followed the now familiar path to the attaches office. The window opened easily, and she pointed her flashlight out into the darkness. One short burst. Then another. And minutes later the Cracker had climbed up a ladder and was standing next to her.

The safe opened on the Crackers first try.

She looked inside and saw the two code books. Thank you was all she was able to say. Her words were spoken to the Cracker, but at that deep moment she was also offering her gratitude to all the gods watching over her from their operational Heaven.

The books firmly in one hand, the Cracker scurried down the ladder and Betty watched him disappear into the night. One of the OSS men hurried to remove the ladder, pausing only to flash Betty a thumbs up, before he too vanished.

And then the waiting began.

According to Huntingtons plan, it would take three hours for the books to be photographed; a lab had been set up in apartment 215B at the Wardman Park. By 4 amno later, he promisedtheyd be delivered to front door of the embassy; with daylight about to dawn thatd be more secure than using the ladder. Then Betty would return the volumes to the safe. But for now all she could do was wait.

Betty smoked one cigarette after another. She stared out the window and when she thought she saw a shape in the bushes, she tried to believe it was an OSS babysitter and not a Vichy operative getting ready to sandbag the code books before they could be returned to the safe. She heard the watchman radios playing downstairs, and she tried to lose herself in the music. But when it stopped, she couldnt make up her mind whether this was a reason to relax, a sign that Chevalier was going to sleep, or if hed turned it off because the embassy security thugs would be crashing through the door.

Then it was 4 am; the sun would soon rise. She had dressed, and now stood by the front door waiting for the OSS operative to deliver the two volumes. She searched the street.

It grew later, and the light outside was now thin and opaque. Soon the cleaners would arrive and then there would be no chance to replace the ciphers. If the books werent back in the safe, if, in fact, there were any reasons for suspicion, the Vichy admirals would immediately order that the codes must be changed. And then the two books would be worthless, as irrelevant as yesterdays discarded newspapers.

At 4:30 Betty asked Charles if they should leave. If something had gone wrong, then they should flee before they were arrested. Brousse listened to her, but did not respond. He knew she was talking without conviction. He knew she would never leave.

Ten minutes later Betty saw a man hurrying up the embassy steps. He had the books clutched under his arm. He handed them to her without a word, and she softly closed the door. She rushed back to the attaches office with the prize held tightly in her hands.

Betty was about to put the books back into the safe when she hesitated. Spontaneously, she held one of the volumes up to her lips and kissed it. She repeated the gesture, pressing her lips quickly against the other book. It was a solemn moment, the gratifying fulfillment of a promise she had made.

It was just after 5 am when Betty and Brousse, hand-in-hand, lovers in love with each other and the world, walked down the embassy steps.

When they arrived at the Wardman Park, they did not think about going to sleep. There was something they had to do first. Betty knocked on the door of apartment 215B.

A US Naval Intelligence agent welcomed them with great ceremony. They had, he exulted, pulled off quite a coup.

The small apartment was packed with equipmentlights, cameras, tripods, and a mess of cables. Technicians and operatives were busily roaming about. And drying on tables, on the cushions of chairs and down the length of the sofa, spread across the carpet in orderly rows, everywhere Betty looked it seemedwere the photographs of the ciphers.

She had done it. They had stolen the codes.

***

Two days later the ciphers were in the hands of the wranglers at Bletchley Park, in England. They quickly put them to good use: they were the missing pieces of the complicated puzzle that in time helped the Enigma team decipher the entire Vichy code system. And while the cryptologists labored in England, the OSS immediately employed the code books to unlock Vichy naval communications throughout the world. Vichy messages to the German High Command, to their diplomatic missions throughout the Western hemisphere, to their warships at Toulon, Casablanca, and Alexandriaall were read by American intelligence hours after they had been dispatched.

But arguably the stolen cipherss greatest operational use was in the days leading up to and then during the invasion of North Africa. Cloak and dagger teams of undercover OSS operatives took up their positions behind enemy lines before the first assaults aided by an awareness of what the Vichy forces knew about Allied operations, and, just as valuable, didnt know. Thirty-three thousand Allied troops landed on the beaches east and west of Algiers guided by intelligence gleamed from reading Vichys top secret messages. Allied bombers and warships pounded the French fleet at Casablanca and the coastal batteries with devastating accuracy in large measure because the planners of the attacks could read enemy communications. American soldiers poured down from the dusty hills of St. Cloud to drive 9, 000 French defenders out of Oran in a brave and bold assault that would have been much more difficult without the codes. The entire Allied force, in fact, charged into North Africa fortified by the reassuring strategic knowledge that the Vichy government and the French intelligence service had no idea of the impending invasion.

A grim year earlier the Axis forces, seemingly unstoppable, had been advancing on all fronts. But after the exhilarating success of the North African invasion, Churchill told the House of Commons, Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end, but it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning. In North Africa the course of the war had dramatically changed.

And what role had Betty played in these large historical events? Not quite five months after the night when Betty had stood naked in the parlor of the Vichy Embassy and had opened the naval attaches window to the Georgia Cracker, she found herself sitting next to Huntington on a train heading to New York.

The newspapers that week in early November, 1942, had been filled with jubilant dispatches from North Africa. Huntington picked up his copy of The Washington Post and gave it to Betty. He handed it to her solemnly, as if he were bestowing a medal. She glanced at the paper, and then back at him, perplexed. So he explained.

American and British troops have landed in North Africa, and have met with practically no enemy resistance, he said. The reason there has been no resistance is a military secret. But I think that you should know that it is due to your ciphers. They have changed the whole course of the war.

Excerpted from The Last Goodnight: A World War II Story of Espionage, Adventure, and Betrayal. Copyright  2016 by Harper. Reprinted with permission from Harper, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.
A central myth of American history teaching is that the American Revolution was fought for the life, liberty and pursuit of happiness of each person. By each, Jefferson sadly meant mainly white farmers. This patriotic mythwhat I call a Founding Amnesiadrove Frederick Douglass, in 1852, to declare that the Fourth of July was not for slaves.

But perhaps in contrast to its long history of racist exclusion, the Daughters of the American Revolution should first honor Black Patriots. As Georg Daniel Flohr, a German private who fought at the decisive battle of Yorktown with the French Royal Deux-Ponts for the Patriots, noted while walking around the field of battle the next day: All over the place and wherever you looked, corpses lying about that had not been buried; the larger part of these were Mohren [Moors, Blacks].

And as I emphasize in Black Patriots and Loyalists (2012), the acme of freedom in the American Revolution was the gradual emancipation of slaves in Vermont (not yet a state) in 1777, in Pennsylvania in 1780, in Massachusetts in 1782, in Connecticut and Rhode Island in 1784, in New York in 1799, and in New Jersey in 1804. If we ask the central question in American history: how did there come to be a free North to oppose bondage in the Civil War, the answer is, surprisingly: gradual emancipation during and just after the American Revolution. Thus, Black Patriots and their white abolitionist allies played a central, undiscussed role both in battle and in the deepening of American freedom.
Azer Turk Bank OJSC, one of the top-performing local banks occupying leading positions for implementation of innovative technologies, has implemented yet another novelty in the banking sector of Azerbaijan. Thus, for the first time in the country the bank digitally signed a contract with its partner organization by means of Asan Imza mobile e-signature.

The opposite party of the contract is B.EST Solutions company which is the developer and operator of the Asan Imza service. The document provides for the cooperation of the parties with the purpose of integration of Asan Imza mobile e-signature to the E-bank Internet bank platform of Azer Turk Bank. It should be mentioned that works in this direction has been successfully completed and currently the banks services are available to Asan Imza users online.

Using Asan Imza mobile e-signature while signing documents is reasonable in terms of saving of time and other material resources as well as flexibility of operations. Implementation of such innovative solutions as Asan Imza especially topical given the conditions of existing challenges in the sphere of optimization of processes in the banking sector. Usage of Asan Imza both in Internet bank and digitalization of document workflow bears high importance for more qualitative and operational customer servicing resulting in increasing of customer satisfaction as well as highly efficient management of internal business processes.

Azer Turk Bank OJSC will further continue its efforts towards integration of advanced technologies in the future.

Azer Turk Bank OJSC, which has identified financial support to the real sector of the economy as its main mission, by 75% is owned by the Government of Azerbaijan. More information about the Bank, its service network, products and services is available at www.azerturkbank.az , the Banks corporate pages at social networks or at (012) 945 Call Center.
And far from the rice being held up by over-stringent regulations fostered by over-zealous anti-GMO activists, as some pro-GMO campaigners have claimed, Stone pointed out that GM golden rice "has not even been submitted for approval to the regulatory agency, the Philippine Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI)."

Indeed, how could it have been submitted to regulators, given that IRRI says it's not ready for release and that it hasn't been tested for toxicity, let alone efficacy in combating vitamin A deficiency in the target malnourished populations?

As Greenpeace stated in its response to the campaign:

"Accusations that anyone is blocking genetically engineered 'golden' rice are false. 'Golden' rice has failed as a solution and isn't currently available for sale, even after more than 20 years of research. As admitted by the International Rice Research Institute, it has not been proven to actually address Vitamin A deficiency. So to be clear, we are talking about something that doesn't even exist."

Authority over expertise

The laureates' letter relies for its impact entirely on the supposed authority of the signatories. Unfortunately, however, none appear to have relevant expertise, as some commentators were quick to point out.

Philip Stark, associate dean, division of mathematical and physical sciences and professor of statistics at the University of California, Berkeley, revealed on Twitter his own analysis of the expertise of the signatories: "1 peace prize, 8 economists, 24 physicists, 33 chemists, 41 doctors". He added that science is "about evidence not authority. What do they know of agriculture? Done relevant research? Science is supposed to be 'show me', not 'trust me'... Nobel prize or not."

Devon G. Pena, PhD, an anthropologist at the University of Washington Seattle and an expert in indigenous agriculture, posted a comment to the new campaign's website in which he called the laureates' letter "shameful". He noted that the signatories were "mostly white men of privilege with little background in risk science, few with a background in toxicology studies, and certainly none with knowledge of the indigenous agroecological alternatives. All of you should be stripped of your Nobels."

The lack of expertise among the letter signatories contrasts markedly with that of the man whose work the new propaganda campaign seems to be attempting to discredit.

Glenn Davis Stone - who has never opposed GM golden rice - is an expert on crop use and technology change among poor farmers, including rice farmers in the Philippines, the country targeted for the golden rice rollout - if it ever happens. He has been following the evidence on the progress of golden rice for years and has published extensively on the topic.

In other words, unlike the laureates, he knows what he's talking about.

Who is behind the letter?

The new propaganda campaign is said to have been organized by Sir Richard J. Roberts. Roberts is a Nobel Laureate in physiology or medicine for the discovery of genetic sequences known as introns, and chief scientific officer for New England Biolabs.

According to their website, New England Biolabs are "a collective of scientists committed to developing innovative products for the life sciences industry... a recognized world leader in the discovery, development and commercialization of recombinant and native enzymes for genomic research."

Given these facts, it is surprising that Roberts claims that he has "no financial interest in GMO research".

According to the writer and researcher Colin Todhunter, Roberts has been propagandizing for GM food and crops in India. Todhunter says Roberts' speech included emotional blackmail in the form of a claim that millions of people in the third world would die of starvation unless GM crops were introduced, as well as highly questionable assertions about the safety of the technology.

Conflicts of interest and bias aside, if you think it's unlikely that Roberts alone would be able to mobilize over a hundred Nobel laureates to launch a campaign that gives patently false information about a GM crop that may never see the light of day in real farmers' fields, you are not alone.

So who's really behind the laureates' letter? Some odd goings-on at the press conference announcing the letter may give a clue. Tim Schwab of the NGO, Food & Water Watch and a Greenpeace representative tried to attend the press event, held at the National Press Club.

However, Schwab reported, "We were barred at the door from entry - by none other than Jay Byrne, whose long relationship with Monsanto needs no elaboration." Byrne is a former Monsanto PR man who now heads the PR firm to the biotech industry, v-Fluence.

Schwab commented that it was "a bizarre choice for this campaign to have Byrne play bouncer." He added, "Byrne said only credentialed press were allowed to attend. Seconds later I saw a representative from CSPI (an NGO) entering the room. Byrne said some NGOs were invited to attend. Really? Why not Greenpeace - the subject of this campaign?"

Schwab tweeted, "Nobel laureate #gmo #goldenrice press event would be a lot more credible if industry guy wasn't blacklisting NGOs."

A further clue comes from the fact, just drawn to our attention, that while the website for the laureates' letter is 'supportprecisionagriculture.org', the .com version, 'supportprecisionagriculture.com', reroutes to the Genetic Literacy Project (GLP).

US Right to Know calls the GLP an "agrichemical industry front group ... with unknown funding that regularly attacks activists, journalists and scientists who raise concerns about the health and environmental risks of genetically engineered foods and pesticides." Its executive director is Jon Entine.

Why now?

The timing of this press event may be significant. Could it be timed to coincide with the run-up to the GMO labelling vote in the US Senate, with the added 'bonus' of burying Stone's inconvenient golden rice critique?

Whatever the answer to that question, the 'supportprecisionagriculture.org' campaign is shamelessly exploiting a group of Nobel laureates in a propaganda exercise that is actively misleading the public, the media, and governments.

Claire Robinson is managing editor at GMWatch, a public news and information service on issues surrounding GM crops and foods.

This article was originally published by GMWatch.
In fact, more Palestinians have been conducting their prayer for rain since 1967 than at any other time. In that year, almost exactly 49 years ago, Israel occupied the two remaining regions of historic Palestine: the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip. And throughout those years, Israel has resorted to a protracted policy of collective punishment: limiting all kinds of freedom, and using the denial of water as a weapon.

Indeed, water was used as a weapon to subdue rebelling Palestinians during many stages of their struggle. In fact, this history goes back to the war of 1948, when Zionist militias cut off the water supply to scores of Palestinian villages around Jerusalem to facilitate the ethnic cleansing of that region.

During the Nakba (or Catastrophe) of 1948, whenever a village or a town was conquered, the militias would immediately demolish its wells to prevent the inhabitants from returning. Illegal Jewish settlers still utilize this tactic to this day.

The Israeli military, too, continued to use this strategy, most notably in the first and second uprisings. In the Second Intifada, Israeli airplanes shelled the water supply of whichever village or refugee camp they planned to invade and subdue.

During the Jenin Refugee Camp invasion and massacre of April 2002, the water supply for the camp was blown up before the soldiers moved into the camp from all directions, killing and wounding hundreds.

Gaza remains the most extreme example of water-related collective punishment, to date. Not only the water supply is targeted during war but electric generators, which are used to purify the water, are often blown up from the sky. And until the decade-long siege is over, there is little hope to permanently repair either of these.

'Oslo Accords' are now entrenching water inequality

It is now common knowledge that the Oslo Accord was a political disaster for Palestinians; less known, however, is how Oslo facilitated the ongoing inequality under way in the West Bank.

The so-called Oslo II, or the Israel-Palestinian Interim Agreement of 1995, made Gaza a separate water sector from the West Bank, thus leaving the Strip to develop its own water sources located within its boundaries. With the siege and recurring wars, Gaza's aquifers produce anywhere between 5-10% of 'drinking-quality water.' According to ANERA, 90% of Gaza water (is) unfit for human consumption.'

Therefore, most Gazans subsist on sewage-polluted or untreated water. But the West Bank should - at least theoretically - enjoy greater access to water than Gaza. Yet, this is hardly the case.

The West Bank's largest water source is the Mountain Aquifer, which includes several basins: Northern, Western and Eastern. West Bankers' access to these basins is restricted by Israel, which also denies them access to water from the Jordan River and to the Coastal Aquifer.

Oslo II, which was meant to be a temporary arrangement until a final status negotiations are concluded, enshrined the existing inequality by giving Palestinians less than a fifth of the amount of water enjoyed by Israel.

But even that prejudicial agreement has not been respected, partly because a joint committee to resolve water issues gives Israel veto power over Palestinian demands. Practically, this translates to 100% of all Israeli water projects receiving the go-ahead, including those in the illegal settlements, while nearly half of Palestinian needs are rejected.

Per capita, Israeli settlers use thirty times more water than Palestinians

Presently, according to Oxfam, Israel controls 80% of Palestinian water resources. "The 520,000 Israeli settlers use approximately six times the amount of water more than that used by the 2.6 million Palestinians in the West Bank."

The reasoning behind this is quite straightforward, according to Stephanie Westbrook, writing in Israel's +972 Magazine. "The company pumping the water out is 'Mekorot', Israel's national water company. 'Mekorot' not only operates more than 40 wells in the West Bank, appropriating Palestinian water resources, Israel also effectively controls the valves, deciding who gets water and who does not."

"It should be no surprise that priority is given to Israeli settlements while service to Palestinian towns is routinely reduced or cut off", as is the case at the moment.

The unfairness of it all is inescapable. Yet, for nearly five decades, Israel has been employing the same policies against Palestinians without much censure or meaningful action from the international community.

With current summer temperature in the West Bank reaching 38 degrees Celsius, entire families are reportedly living on as little as two to three liters per capita, per day. The problem is reaching catastrophic proportions.

This time, the tragedy cannot be brushed aside, for the lives and well-being of entire communities are at stake.

Dr. Ramzy Baroud has been writing about the Middle East for over 20 years. He is an internationally-syndicated columnist, a media consultant, an author of several books and the founder of PalestineChronicle.com. His latest book is My Father Was a Freedom Fighter: Gaza's Untold Story (Pluto Press, London). His website is ramzybaroud.net.

This article was originally published on CounterPunch.
Making a return to our two favourite summer locations, Mount Maunganui and Nelson in early January 2023, we've got whiff of the first release lineup and me oh my, yes boy
Baku, Azerbaijan, July 4

By Maksim Tsurkov  Trend:

Air Cairo, Egyptian low fare and charter airline, temporarily suspended the flights between Baku and Sharm el-Sheikh, the airlines office in Baku told Trend July 4.

The airline said the decision was made due to the small demand for flights on this route and added that the flights will be resumed Aug. 1.

Air Cairo is a subsidiary of EgyptAir.

Charter flights from Baku to Sharm el-Sheikh were operated several years ago, however, later they were suspended.

---

Follow the author on Twitter: @MaksimTsurkov
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Connecticut is full of natural beauty, but according to Travel + Leisure, the New England Trail is the most beautiful.

In honor of the National Park Service turning 100 this year, the site picked its favorite national park in each state.

"The 215-mile New England National Scenic Trail runs from Guilford, CT, up to the Massachusetts and New Hampshire border. This cross-country trail traverses mountain ridges and winds past scenic vistas, but also gives hikers a taste of New England culture as it passes through farms and historic Colonial villages. The audacious may choose to through-hike the entire trail, while the more novice hiker may plan to hike a smaller section in just a day," the site writes.

The New England Trail offers plenty of hikes and events. You may want to consider hitting the trail on National Trails Day, which falls on June 4 this year.

If you don't want to travel to Guilford, there are plenty of hiking trails around here to check out. Click through the slideshow above to see a sampling.

The New England Trail isn't just about fitness, though. The beauty of it has inspired so many artists that there is actually a network of trail artists that includes a photographers, musicians and even a hip-hop artists for kids.

"The National Park Service's Youth Ambassador Program (YAP) encourages young people to connect with the outdoors. The hip-hop group partnered with the NET in the fall of 2012 to compose a creative music video about their experience on the trail."
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Linkedin Asmara Wreksono (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, July 4, 2016

Amid the traffic jam nightmares, endless delays at the airport and fully-loaded trains and buses that sum up the homecoming situation for most Indonesians over the past few days, Google has come up with a delightful drawing that honors the mudik tradition.

Todays Google Doodle features a drawing of people looking ready to go back to their hometowns waiting for the bus, carrying boxes that are most likely gifts for their families in the village. If you click on the Google Doodle, it redirects you to a search page filled with YouTube links featuring the video explaining the Doodle.

(Read also: House leaders to spend Idul Fitri in hometowns)

In the video, Google stated: Coinciding with the end of Ramadhan, mudik sends millions of travelers weaving through the country via car, bus, motorbike and train. Todays Doodle captures the excitement of this journey and the gifts that are exchanged at the end of the road.

Approximately 6.7 Jakartans have left the metropolis to go back to their hometowns for the Idul Fitri holiday, leaving the citys electricity consumption down by a whopping 70%. Meanwhile, airlines are also seeing delays within the past three days due to the spike of traveler numbers in the homecoming season.
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Linkedin Ni Nyoman Wira (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, July 4, 2016

Indonesia has a rich variety of soto, a traditional soup that differs from one region to another. On the surface, soto may look like regular soup, but the broth is heavy with herbs and spices.

Three chefs from prominent hotels in Jakarta have shared their special soto recipes for you to try at home.

Soto Ayam Ambengan by chef de cuisine Dodiek Triwandaya at The Ritz-Carlton Mega Kuningans Asia Restaurant

Ingredients :

Whole chicken, rinsed and patted dry, then divided into two

1.5 liters water

3 tbsp oil

3 spring onions, sliced diagonally

4 boiled eggs, halved

100 grams cabbage, sliced thinly

50 grams dried rice noodles, soaked in hot water

Spices :

5 cloves of garlic, minced

8 shallots, minced

3-cm piece of turmeric, minced

Candlenut

Coriander

1 tsp pepper

1 tsp salt

6 lime leaves

Bay leaf

2 pieces of galangal, crushed

2 stalks of lemongrass (only the white section), crushed

3-cm piece of ginger, crushed

Dried shrimp

Method :

Add water, 1 tablespoon of salt and the chicken to a pot. Bring it to a boil and simmer until the meat is tender, then set aside the broth for later.

In a pan, fry the chicken until it turns golden, then shred the meat.

Add the oil to a separate pan. When it is hot, stir-fry the mashed garlic, shallots, galangal, turmeric, candlenut, coriander and ginger, along with the bay leaf, lime leaves and dried shrimp. Add the fried spices to the chicken broth, bring it to a boil over a low heat and add the spring onions.

Place the cabbage, rice noodles, boiled egg and shredded chicken into a bowl. Pour over the broth.

Soto Ayam Ambengan is best served hot. You can add condiments such as sweet soy sauce, lime juice, sambal or koya (ground shrimp crackers with garlic and dried shrimp) as toppings.

Soto Ayam by executive chef Indrawan at Santika Premier ICE BSD City

Soto Ayam by executive chef Indrawan from Santika Premier ICE BSD City.(Hotel Santika Premiere ICE  BSD City/-)

Ingredients :

400 grams chicken

Yellow spice (a blend of 30 grams of garlic, 30 grams shallots, 50 grams candlenuts, 20 grams turmeric)

400 ml water

5 lime leaves

5 grams salt

10 grams galangal

3 grams bay leaves

20 grams rice noodles

10 grams sliced cabbage

5 grams sliced tomatoes

5 grams celery

1 boiled egg, halved

5 grams spring onions, chopped

5 grams fried shallots

Vegetable oil

Method :

Add vegetable oil to a frying pan. Stir-fry yellow spice mix until fragrant.

Add lime leaves, galangal, bay leaves, salt and water.

Simmer chicken in the broth until it is cooked.

In a bowl, arrange the rice noodles, sliced cabbage, tomatoes, boiled eggs, spring onions and fried shallots. Pour over the broth and add the remaining chicken on top.

(Read also: Kolak recipes for Ramadhan you can easily make at home)

Soto Ayam Madura by executive sous chef Suyitno at JW Marriott Hotel Jakarta

Soto Ayam Madura by executive sous chef Suyitno from the JW Marriott Hotel Jakarta.(JW Marriott Hotel Jakarta/-)

Ingredients :

Whole chicken, split into two

2 liters water

1 lemongrass stalk, crushed

3 lime leaves

1 tbsp salt

 tbsp sugar

 tbsp pepper

2 tbsp oil

Oil for deep-frying

Spices :

7 cloves garlic

1-cm piece of ginger

2-cm piece of turmeric

4 toasted pecans

 tbsp pepper

Additional ingredients (for serving) :

50 grams glass noodles

3 boiled eggs

1 tbsp sweet soy sauce

2 spring onions, finely sliced

2 celery stalks, finely sliced

75 grams bean sprouts

2 limes

Method :
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Linkedin Frederica S. Priyanto (The Jakarta Post)  Sat, July 2 2016

The post-fasting month celebration of Idul Fitri is just around the corner. Many Muslims have been busy preparing special gift baskets for their loved ones, relatives and close friends; these usually contain snacks, including the array of cookies customarily eaten during the holiday, or other food items. They are often arranged in baskets, but there are other methods of packaging, such as fancy wooden boxes or wrapping with a festive ribbon.



Dapur Desnina, which produces homemade Indonesian food, has come up with its own unique way to present the celebratory cookies of kastengel, nastar, putri salju and others: it uses songket (traditional woven fabric, usually of silk or cotton, with gold or silver thread patterns) as part of its gift wrapping.



The small boxes containing the cookies are wrapped in cloth, which is part of the companys signature style, but with songket featured as the decoration on the top. Folded as either a ribbon or in the shape of traditional clothing, the cloth comes in various colors.



During festive seasons such as Idul Fitri and Christmas, were trying to promote nationalism. I thought itd be a good idea to use an Indonesian fabric to decorate wrapped Indonesian cookies, so its Indonesian inside out, said the companys creative director, Turina Farouk, known as Rina.



We actually wanted to use batik instead, since weve used songket for decorations for Christmas last year. But were probably going to hold off on that until Christmas, since batik may be more popular among foreigners  and a lot of them celebrate Christmas  whereas songket may be less hackneyed for Indonesians, most of whom celebrate Idul Fitri, she added.



Although the woven fabric produced in West and South Sumatra can cost millions of rupiah, Rina said the company used the more affordable type found in traditional markets.



The thing is that when people see this kind of fabric, they may not think of it as a decorative attribute. What matters is how we can transform something quite ordinary into something that is unique, she said.



The use of the fabric as decoration is also intended to be camera-ready in todays digital, social media-obsessed world, with young people always seeking to take photos of the food they are about to consume and post it to their Instagram accounts.



People nowadays take pictures of what they eat. Not only of what they eat, even. They would take a picture while the food is still packaged, and then open the package, and take a picture of the barely opened food [] and then the food itself. So what we try to do is make the food as well as the packaging Instagram-worthy in every step of that whole food-photo-capturing process, Rina said.



In business for a year, Dapur Desnina promotes its range of products as nutritious and calorie-balanced, and all use distinctive decorative packaging. The products are wrapped in cotton cloth with a decoration on top, with the cloth also serving a practical function.



I am basically a person who loves art. I like it when everything is colorful, and I do look at things through an artsy lens, said Rina, adding that she realized that promoting the health benefits of their food would not be enough to compete in a crowded market.



I thought we have to have something else to offer other than being healthful. So I thought about wrapping them in cloth so that people can use it to wipe their hands. Eventually I came up with this idea of decorating them with stuff on the top []



These kinds of decorations are very much customizable, and I feel like a good decoration is also a form of appreciation for the dishes themselves. People get enticed even before eating, and then after they open the package, they see the content that is healthy and also tasty. It becomes an exciting experience of eating all the way through.



The tasty, healthful aspects also balance the cost of the products, which range from Rp 200,000 (US$15.2) for a box of cookies, with three boxes priced at Rp 500,000 and five for Rp 800,000.



Were not really [only] selling the look of our packaging, but rather taste and health benefits, said company CEO Estu Dini. When it comes to the materials, we cover that with our marketing budget. In other words, health and packaging are our trademark, but the price stands for the health and taste.

____________________

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Linkedin Margareth S. Aritonang (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sat, July 2 2016

The National Police, commemorating their 70th anniversary on Friday, still face major challenges to reform to become a more professional law enforcement institution.



With an image continually in decline, especially following the criminalization of marginalized communities, the institution is challenged to improve amid strong public sentiment against all police officers throughout the country.



The police face a heavy task in the future, President Joko Jokowi Widodo told an audience during an iftar gathering and anniversary dinner at the National Police headquarters on Friday.



But I am convinced that it will be able to accomplish this with two conditions: it maintains internal unity and reforms the institution comprehensively. And reforms start from an accountable recruitment process of police officers, added Jokowi.



Jokowi, therefore, encouraged all of the countrys police officers to uphold the laws fairly, without discrimination against any societal, religious and cultural group.



The police have been in the spotlight since the beginning of this year following incidents of forced dissolutions of public gatherings, discussions, events and art performances that are unilaterally defined as disturbances to the majority public nationwide.



The Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) recorded that police officers had engaged in 735 cases of violence against civilians throughout the archipelago within a year.



Police officers were involved in torture as it recorded 224 cases from July last year until early July this year. In addition to torture, the list also includes forced detention, unaccountable shootings, intimidation and forced dissolutions.



The highest number of cases of violence by the police occurred in the countrys easternmost province of Papua, which saw 80 incidents, according to Kontras. It also recorded a high degree of violence in the South Sulawesi, North Sumatra and West Java provinces.



A ceremony to observe the 70-year presence of the institution in the country on Friday saw outgoing chief Gen. Badrodin Haiti officially bid farewell to all members of the National Police.



Badrodin will retire later this month. He will be succeeded by the current chief of the National Counterterrorism Agency (BNPT), Comr. Gen. Tito Karnavian, a 1987 graduate of the Police Academy.



Badrodin admitted that the police had yet to finish many things under his leadership.



I have accomplished some things [during my leadership]. I havent accomplished some things also. This will be the job of Pak Tito to continue to settle them, Badrodin said.



He cited efforts to solve cyber crimes among the jobs that his successor needed to focus on in the future in addition to the protection of vulnerable groups.



In a separate interview, Tito told reporters that he aimed to improve the image of the police, which he would achieve by first of all increasing interaction with the public.



We will immediately respond to issues circulating in the media especially on social media. We can no longer ignore discussions in the media. We must listen to them in order to survive, Tito said.



He, however, stopped short of saying what he would do to protect vulnerable groups, particularly religious-based communities, in order to protect religious freedom.



There are laws regulating it, he said shortly.

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Linkedin Marguerite Afra Sapiie (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, July 4, 2016

The National Police and Indonesian Military (TNI) have deployed up to 1,200 armed personnel to secure airports from terror attacks during the Idul Fitri holiday season.

State-owned airport operator PT Angkasa Pura (AP) II president director Budi Karya Sumadi said on Monday the security personnel would be deployed in 13 airports in western Indonesia until July 17.

The measures were taken in the wake of three deadly terror attacks in Istanbul, Dhaka and Baghdad that claimed hundreds of civilians lives and occurred in the last days of the holy month of Ramadhan. The Islamic State (IS) group, which vowed to step up attacks during Ramadan, has claimed or is being blamed for the attacks.

"TNI personnel on guard duty may use [their firearms] under restrictions [...] all in order to prevent Turkey-style attacks from happening here," Budi said, referring to the shooting and bombing spree at Istanbuls Ataturk Airport last week.

Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, Halim Perdanakusuma Airport in East Jakarta, and Kualanamu International Airport in Deli Serdang regency, North Sumatra are receiving the highest priority, with 100 police officers and 100 TNI officers deployed to secure each area, Budi said.

The joint taskforce is also conducting sweeps at airport parking lots as well as performing random seizure operations of vehicles entering the airport complex to improve early detection, Budi said. (ary)
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Linkedin Grace D. Amianti (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, July 4, 2016

Bank Indonesia (BI) and the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) will take a week-long break for the Idul Fitri national holiday and resume operations on Monday, July 11.

The central bank only provided cash deliveries for banks and ran limited clearing operations earlier on Monday. On Tuesday, it will still provide services for people to change their money into smaller bills at various train and bus stations.

But all other banking activities cease until next week.

The stock exchange has ceased trading all this week and will resume full operations only on Monday, July 11, according to the IDX website.

Securities houses have also announced in their websites that they are taking a one-week break.

The bourse is expected to continue its positive performance when it resumes, supported by investors enthusiasm after the Tax Amnesty Law came into force on July 1,IDX president director Tito Sulistio had earlier said.

Tito said he hoped to see the Jakarta Composite Index (JCI), the main benchmark of the IDX, to reach 5,200 by year-end. The index broke the 5,000 psychological level last week after the law was passed and generated a total of Rp 5.92 trillion (US$449.44 million) in net buy. (tas)
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Linkedin Laurie Kellman (Associated Press) Washington  Mon, July 4, 2016

Hillary Clinton and her high-powered campaign stand-ins are talking about trust everywhere they speak these days, and for good reason.

On Sunday's news shows, Sen. Sherrod Brown, R-Ohio, and Labor Secretary Tom Perez explicitly talked about Clinton and trust. And the candidate herself acknowledged that she has "work to do" to earn the trust of voters in her likely general election matchup against Republican Donald Trump, who suffers from a public trust deficit of a different sort, stemming from political inexperience and an impulsive style.

This week, President Barack Obama will personalize the "I trust Hillary" theme during his first appearance with his former secretary of state in battleground North Carolina. And Vice President Joe Biden will reinforce the message Friday in his hometown of Scranton, Pennsylvania, with Clinton at his side.

It's all evidence of a remarkable vulnerability that persists both despite and because of Clinton's decades of public life. But the timing of the trust campaign is no accident.

Husband Bill Clinton, the former president, met last Monday with the FBI's boss, Attorney General Loretta Lynch, on the tarmac in Phoenix in a session both say was innocent but regrettable. The FBI interviewed Clinton for more than three hours on Saturday about whether she exposed government secrets by blending personal and official business on a home email server. Clinton immediately taped a television interview in which she denied wrongdoing and repeated an acknowledgment she had slipped into a speech last week on the same day Sen. Elizabeth Warren vouched for her.

Clinton said she will do "everything I can to earn the trust of the voters of our country," remarks aired Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press." ''I know that's something that I'm going to keep working on, and I think that's, you know, a clear priority for me."

After Warren had endorsed her, Clinton acknowledged she'd "made mistakes. I don't know anyone who hasn't."

And she defended her sometimes too-cautious style.

"The reason I sometimes sound careful with my words is not that I'm hiding something. It's just that I'm careful with my words," she said at the Rainbow PUSH Coalition's event in Chicago.

Questions about Hillary Clinton's ethics have dogged her from her days as first lady of Arkansas and later the United States during Bill Clinton's governorship and presidency, through her service a senator from New York, her failed 2008 presidential campaign and as Obama's secretary of state. So pervasive has the image been that her opponents have only to utter buzzwords like "Whitewater"  the name of the Clintons' failed land deal in which neither was implicated in wrongdoing  to invoke the image of what Trump terms, "Crooked Hillary."

Not helping make the case for trust: the Bill Clinton-Loretta Lynch meeting. "I learned about it in the news," Hillary Clinton said in the NBC interview taped hours after the FBI session Saturday. "They did not discuss the Department of Justice's review."

Was the visit inappropriate, she was asked?

"Well, I think, you know, hindsight is 20/20."

Clinton's supporters leapt in with defenses of her overall character.

"I trust Hillary Clinton in part because for a whole lot of reasons," Brown, a potential vice presidential pick, said on ABC's "This Week. "I know how she started her career advocating for the Children's Defense Fund. She didn't go off to Manhattan or to Washington to make a lot of money."

Perez repeated Clinton's own reasoning that in the quarter century since her husband was first elected president, some accusations against her have stuck, rightly or wrongly.

"The Hillary Clinton that I've gotten to know well and the Hillary Clinton that the voters of New York got to kick the tires on very well, they have always said and consistently said that we trust her," Perez, another vice presidential possibility, said Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press." He urged voters to look at the public service work Clinton has done during her career. "That really gives me, and I think the American people, a window into her moral compass. And her moral compass is about helping those who are in the shadows."

Added Rep. Xavier Becerra, D-Calif., a third potential vice presidential pick: "The secretary has made it very clear she understands she's got to earn people's trust. She's going to work very, very hard to do that. And I give her credit for saying she's made some mistakes," he said on "Fox News Sunday." ''She's going to try to show the American people that she's going to work hard, especially for working families in America to earn their trust." (dan)
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, July 4, 2016

The Indonesian Consumers Foundation criticized the government for its failure to manage the traffic flow along the northern coast of Java, where motorists, part of the Idul Fitri exodus from cities to rural villages, report of spending more than 24 hours on the tollroad at the weekend.

Foundation chairman Tulus Abadi particularly blamed the poor management of the traffic in the East Brebes exit toll in Central Java.

The toll road Cikampek to Palimanan that spans 116 kilometers, connecting Jakarta-Cikampek and Palimanan-Kanci toll roads, did not ease the congestion, Tulus said, noting that the road was inaugurated last year with the promise to ease the Idul Fitri congestion.

"The jam moved to the toll roads where motorists now have to pay. Consumers are worse off while toll operators reap hefty profits," he said as quoted by Antara news agency.

The congestion continued on Monday. (rin)
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Linkedin Severianus Endi (The Jakarta Post) Pontianak  Mon, July 4, 2016

Dozens of fire spots have been detected in several regencies across West Kalimantan, one of the areas heavily affected by thick haze from land and forest fires in previous years.

The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) office at Supadio International Airport in Pontianak, West Kalimantan, stated on Monday that as of 6 a.m. local time, its MODIS satellite detected 15 fire spots in seven out of 14 regencies and municipalities across the province.

Four fire spots were detected in Bengkayang while three fire spots were found in Ketapang, the report said. Sintang and Sambas identified two fire spots each while four other regencies, comprising Kapuas Hulu, Kubu Raya, Landak and Sanggau, detected one fire spot each.

Todays report shows fires have continued to spread in West Kalimantan as it recorded only 13 fire spots on Sunday.

West Kalimantan Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) head TTA Nyarong said the government had raised the emergency level of haze for the province to high alert as of June 1. Last year, 74,000 hectares of peat land were set ablaze, making the haze disaster even worse.

We are investigating to see whether the fire spots have emerged on plantation concession areas or on peoples land, said Nyarong. He said the BPBD had not yet received a response to a letter, which questioned whether 74,000 hectares of peat land burned last year were on plantation concession areas, it had sent to the plantation directorate general.

A haze disaster emergency team has been set up at the provincial level to anticipate haze events, which may have adverse health and economic impacts. Currently, only Mempawah and Kapuas Hulu regencies have established a haze disaster emergency team. (ebf)
Baku, Azerbaijan, July 4

By Maksim Tsurkov  Trend:

The Southern Gas Corridor is a strategic initiative to bring the Caspian gas resources to the European markets, said the European Commissions Vice President for Energy Union Maros Sefcovic.

He made the remarks during his interview with Greek news website Naftemporiki.gr July 4.

Sefcovic said the EU will accelerate efforts to open the South Eastern European markets to the Southern Gas Corridor.

These efforts are directly linked to the Energy Union framework, as one of its crucial objectives is that each member state in the region, including Greece, would have access to at least three different sources of gas, he added.

The approval of the TAP [Trans Adriatic Pipeline] agreement and the subsequent ground-breaking ceremony are an important step towards completing the Southern Gas Corridor, Sefcovic noted. The project has been identified by the European Commission as a Project of Common Interest and we closely monitor the progress of this project in the three countries involved [Greece, Albania and Italy].

Sefcovic added that the recent second Southern Gas Corridor Advisory Council ministerial meeting confirmed the determination of all participating countries and consortia to complete this key infrastructure project in time.

Progress has been achieved on all the projects along the Southern Gas Corridor (Shah Deniz II field development, the South Caucasus Pipeline, Trans-Anatolian pipeline and the Trans-Adriatic pipeline) and it is expected that gas will flow by 2019 to Turkey and by 2020 to the EU, he said.

Commenting on the choice of TAP over other projects, such as Nabucco and ITGI (Interconnector Turkey-Greece-Italy), Sefcovic noted that TAP is an important project for the European Union, recognized as one of the Projects of Common Interest as well as a key security of supply project under the European Energy Security Strategy.

TAP project has a strong political support, as well as backing from investors, which was lacking with regards to Nabucco and ITGI, he said.

Sefcovic went on to add that the European Commission remains committed to the close cooperation with the stakeholders and supports the timely implementation of this important project.

The Southern Gas Corridor is one of the priority energy projects for the EU. It envisages the transportation of 10 billion cubic meters of Azerbaijani gas from the Caspian region to the European countries through Georgia and Turkey.

At the initial stage, the gas to be produced as part of the Stage 2 of development of Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz field is considered as the main source for the Southern Gas Corridor project. Other sources can also connect to this project at a later stage.

As part of the Stage 2 of the Shah Deniz development, the gas will be exported to Turkey and European markets by expanding the South Caucasus Pipeline and the construction of Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline and Trans-Adriatic Pipeline.

---

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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, July 4, 2016

Many cars have run out of gasoline after being stuck in stop-and-go motion for hours on the Pejagan toll road in Central Java, causing even worse traffic congestion during the mass exodus for this year's Idul Fitri.

Through its Twitter account, the Jakarta Polices Traffic Management Center reported on the congestion on Monday. "With vehicles stopped after running out of gas, traffic on Pejagan toll road heading to Brebes is jam-packed and not moving," @TMCPoldaMetro tweeted on Monday morning.

The TMC is urging travelers planning to use the Pejagan toll road to fill up on gas, as gas stations in the Tegal area have also run out of supplies as of early Monday.

Severe congestion also occurred on the Kanci-Pejagan toll road from Sunday evening to Monday morning. Numerous drivers failed to travel along the 35-kilometer toll road to reach the exit gate in Brebes after a trip of more than eight hours caused their vehicles to run out of gas.

Locals took advantage of the situation by selling gasoline for Rp 15,000 per liter, more than twice the normal price of RON88 gasoline, known as Premium. Still, travelers competed with each other to get their hands on the gasoline sold in jerrycans by local people.

A traveler named Anto said there were gas sellers selling 18 cans instantly despite the elevated price.

"I had to buy it, otherwise I would have to have pushed my car," said another traveler named Roy, as quoted by tribunnews.com on Monday. (rin)
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Linkedin Erika Anindita Dewi (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, July 4, 2016

The government announced on Monday that the Muslim fasting month of Ramadhan will end on Tuesday, a decision that received the endorsement of all the major Islamic organisations in the country.

This means that most Indonesians will celebrate Idul Fitri, including holding the morning prayers in the field, simultaneously on Wednesday. In the past, Indonesians were often divided on when the Ramadhan ends, depending on which organisations they follow.

"Ramadhan will be rounded to 30 days, this means on Tuesday we will still be fasting," Religious Affairs Minister Lukman Hakim Saifuddin told a press conference after presiding a meeting with representatives of the major Muslim organisations at his office.

The Islamic year follows the lunar movement, and each of the 12 months lasts either 29 or 30 days. "We conclude that the first day of Syawal month falls on Wednesday," he said.

The end of the month can be calculated beforehand by astronomy but some organisations insist on a physical sighting of the end of the moon before deciding the end of the month. In the past, this had lead to Muhammadiyah, the second largest Muslim social organisations, to hold Idul Fitri a day later or earlier than the one decided by the government.

Muhammadiyah has already announced last week that Idul Fitri this year falls on Wednesday, based on their astronomy calculations.

Lukman said observation teams deployed in many parts of the country did not see the tail of the outgoing moon, meaning that Ramadhan must be completed to 30 days.

The Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) chairman Ma'ruf Amin, who was present during the press conference and participated in the meeting, said Idul Fitri was the momentum to strengthen Islamic brotherhood.

"In strategic matters, we should be united. That's why we need to unite our thinking, our statements, our actions," he said.

At least two smaller Islamic sects are marking Idul Fitri earlier. Naqsabandiyah, a sect based in West Sumatra, already celebrated Idul Fitri on Monday. An Nadzir, in Sulawesi, is marking Idul Fitri on Tuesday. (ags)
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Linkedin Anton Hermansyah (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, July 4, 2016

A massive traffic jam on a toll road heading to Brebes, Central Java, has forced Idul Fitri travelers to find alternative routes to get to their destinations.

The traffic bottleneck occurred at the newly build East Brebes Exit, dubbed Brexit by Indonesian social media users in a jibe at the campaign for the United Kingdom to leave the European Union. The British exit, or Brexit, shocked the world when it achieved its goal in a referendum last month.

On Sunday, the traffic jam in Brebes stretched more than 20 kilometers. Some Idul Fitri holidaymakers were forced to get off the toll road at the Pejagan or West Brebes exits, around 20 and 8 km, respectively, before the Brexit.

"We were exiting in Pejagan, however from Pejagan to Wanasari, we spent 12 hours to move just 15 km. We exited in Pejagan at 8.25 a.m. and reach Wanasari at 8.25 p.m.," Bumi Hadyarti, who started the journey with her family from Bekasi (West Java) to Surakarta (Central Java) on Saturday night, told thejakartapost.com on Monday.

According to Bumi, the road was overloaded. Many people stopped their vehicles to buy food or fuel. The latter, Bumi said, was harder to find. "In Bulakamba (between Pejagan and Wanasari) there was only one gas station, but that had run out of stocks. The gas station in Wanasari still had supplies, but there was a long queue," he said.

According to Ministry of Transportation spokesman Hemi Pamurahardjo, as well as exiting in Pejagan, people are advised to take the northern coastal route from Cirebon, as traffic there was not as severe as on the toll road. (ary)
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, July 4, 2016

The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) plans to meet the new National Police chief, Comr. Gen. Tito Karnavian, to demand his commitment to safeguarding the freedom of religion in Indonesia.

Im happy to know that the next police chief has stated his commitment to make human rights principles an important part of his agenda. Later, we will invite him to our office, maybe after Idul Fitri [ observed on July 6 ], to discuss matters pertaining to religion and the freedom of faith, Komnas HAM chairman M. Imdadun Rahmat said in Jakarta recently.

In an earlier statement, Tito said if he was appointed as the new police chief, he would uphold human rights principles, especially in handling terrorism.

The House of Representatives officially appointed Tito as the new National Police chief during a plenary meeting on June 27. The decision followed a series of screenings held by the Houses Commission III, which oversees legal affairs, human rights and security.

Imdadun said he expected Tito to influence all police officers to have a deep understanding on human rights principles. A clear understanding could pave the way for the police to be a supporter of human rights, he said. (vps/ebf)
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Linkedin News Desk (Associated Press) Kuwait City  Mon, July 4, 2016

Kuwait's Interior Ministry says police have arrested five Islamic State suspects, including an 18-year-old Kuwaiti man planning to attack a Shiite mosque in the final days of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, which ends this week.

The man allegedly confessed to plotting the attack, and had planned to deploy a suicide vest. An IS attack against a Shiite mosque in Kuwait in June last year killed at least 27 people.

Additionally, police detained a 52-year-old mother and her son accused of helping IS fighters in Syria, where the group holds territory.

Police say they also detained two other Kuwaitis in possession of assault rifles and the black IS flag.

The Interior Ministry statement, published overnight Monday, did not say when the arrests took place. (dan)
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Linkedin Erika Anindita Dewi (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, July 4, 2016

The government will hold a meeting with prominent Islamic groups on Monday evening to decide whether Idul Fitri, which marks the end of the Ramadhan fasting month, falls on Tuesday or Wednesday

For the second consecutive year, the meeting will be held behind closed doors, therefore keeping any differences that may arise away from the public.

"We will hold the meeting after the Maghrib prayer," Religious Affairs Minister Lukman Hakim Saifuddin said as quoted by kompas.com.

Muhammadiyah, the second largest Islamic social organisation, had in the past held Idul Fitri a day earlier than what the government ruled. Nahdlatul Ulama, the largest Islamic grouping in the country, had always supported the government.

Insiders say that since the meeting is held behind closed doors, it will likely to come to a consensus.

A press conference is scheduled at around 7 pm.

The confusion arises because Islam, which uses the lunar year, decides the end of each month in two ways: By way of astronomy calculations, but also confirmed with the physical sighting of the end of the moon. A month in the Islamic year could last 29 or 30 days. (ebf)
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Linkedin Marguerite Afra Sapiie (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, July 4, 2016

No Indonesians are reported among the hundreds of victims of Sunday's terror attack in Baghdad, the Foreign Ministry said.

Two separate car bombs exploded in downtown area in the early hours on Sunday, killing at least 200 people in the deadliest single attack in Iraq.

The Indonesian Embassy said there are 750 Indonesian nationals in Iraq, with 50 of them living in Baghdad.

"No Indonesian citizens so far have been reported as victims," ministry spokesman Armanatha Nasir said.

Indonesians have been told to remain on alert, and avoid going to public places that are potential terror targets, Armanatha said, adding. We remind all Indonesian citizens to follow the directives of local authorities.

The embassy in Baghdad has opened two hotline numbers, +9647806610920 and +9647506978194, for anyone seeking information.. In Indonesia, the Foreign Ministry's hotline +6281290070026 is also working. (ary)
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, July 4, 2016

While millions of people across the nation return to their hometowns to celebrate Idul Fitri with their families, some people are duty bound to continue work.

Police, nurses, drivers, doctors and firefighters are among those who know no holidays.

Rofi Noviyanus, a train driver, said he had not celebrated Idul Fitri with his family since he began working in the profession.

Its the fourth year I cant gather with my family, he said.

He said he sometimes felt sad that he was unable to return home to see his parents, relatives and friends at Idul Fitri. However, he realized he had a duty to take other people home.

It is happiness indeed when I see my passengers arrive home safely to meet their families in their hometowns, even though I cannot do the same, he said.

To cure his homesickness, he said he usually made a video call to his parents.

Today, we live in an era with modern technology when distance is no longer an issue, he said.

Rofi has operated long-distance trains since 2012, serving various routes including Jakarta-Bandung and Jakarta-Solo.

He recalled an unforgettable moment from Idul Fitri in 2014, when an elderly female passenger gave him rendang (beef simmered in coconut milk and spices) and lontong (rice cake wrapped in banana leaves) when the train arrived at the station.

I was touched. From then I was sure that we truly never live alone, he said.

Besides transportation workers, doctors are also bound to work during holidays, as hospitals must remain open 24/7.

Arisyah Irmawaty, a doctor at South Tangerang General Hospital, said she would be on duty from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. during Idul Fitri.

She admitted that she was sad to not see her family for the holiday, but said she tried to stay committed to her profession. Helping patients was a doctors duty, she added.

I understand the consequences of my job, which requires me to be ready at all times for my patients, she said. (sha/iwa)
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Linkedin Severianus Endi (The Jakarta Post) Pontianak, West Kalimantan  Mon, July 4, 2016

West Kalimantan Police are beefing up security at Malaysian border crossings that are prone to smuggling.

Around 54 tiny paths spread out across five regencies were often out of reach of security monitoring activities, West Kalimantan Police chief Brig. Gen. Musyafak said on Monday.

He added that he had instructed police precinct chiefs in the five regencies bordering directly on Malaysia to strengthen monitoring of the tiny paths.

The five regencies are Sanggau (with the Entikong border crossing), Kapuas Hulu (Nanga Badau crossing), Sintang (Jasa crossing), Bengkayang (Jagoi Babang crossing) and Sambas (Sajingan crossing).

Strengthening security in the border areas should be conducted not only in connection with the upcoming Idul Fitri celebration but also for the future, said Musyafak.

The police chief said he had visited two of five border posts, namely in Entikong and Nanga Badau, on Saturday. Each border crossing was guarded by 85 to 90 personnel from the respective police precincts in the areas.

Specifically for security in border areas, we have strengthened the posts with 25 to 30 additional officers, said Musyafak.

Musyafak said that during his visit to the Nanga Badau border, he crossed into Lubok Antu in Malaysian to coordinate with the Royal Malaysian Police and the Immigration Office.

He said cross-country cooperation was needed given the high prevalence of illegal activities, such as the smuggling of drugs, sugar, fertilizer and processed food, conducted via border crossings. (ebf)


Baku, Azerbaijan, July 4



By Khalid Kazimov  Trend:



The total volume of oil products loaded and unloaded at Iranian ports in the first half of the current year increased by 27 percent year-on-year.



According to the countrys Ports and Maritime Organization, in the mentioned period, 74.5 million tons of oil products were loaded and unloaded at ports across Iran.



In the meantime, the country unloaded 12.7 million tons of oil products at its ports across the country.



In total, Iran loaded and unloaded 87.2 million tons of oil products in the mentioned period.



According to a report by BP's Statistical Review of World Energy, Iran consumed 88.9 million tons of oil as well as 172.1 million tons oil equivalent (mtoe) of natural gas and 1.2 mtoe of coal.
Baku, Azerbaijan, July 4

By Fatih Karimov  Trend:

Irans non-oil exports to South Korea witnessed a huge increase of over 1375 percent in the first three months of current Iranian fiscal year (March 20  June 20), according to the Iranian Customs Administrations latest report.

Iran exported 2.01 million tons of non-oil goods, worth $849 million to South Korea during that period.

Tehrans non-oil export to South Korea was 2825.53 percent more in terms of volume as compared to the same period of last year.

China was the main importer of the Iranian goods during the 3-month period. Beijings imports accounted for 21.49 percent of Irans total non-oil exports in terms of value and 29.78 percent in terms of volume.

Iran exported 8.272 million tons of non-oil goods, worth $2.251 billion to China during the first three months of Iranian fiscal year.

Irans non-oil exports to China witnessed a rise of 12.62 percent in terms of value, while the volume of the Islamic Republics non-oil exports to China rose by 44.43 percent, according to the Iranian Customs Administration.

The UAE (with $1.772 billion), Iraq ($1.518 billion), and India ($775 million) were the other three biggest importers of Iranian goods.

The UAE and Iraqs imports from Iran indicate a fall by 10.65 and 5.76 percent respectively. Meanwhile, the Islamic Republics exports to India rose by 6.47 percent.

Tehrans total non-oil exports (including condensates) surpassed $10.472 billion during the 3-month period, indicating a fall of 5.3 percent year-on-year.
A call has been made to hand Britons already living in the European Union dual citizenship in the wake of the Brexit vote.

Germanys vice chancellor Sigmar Gabriel made the suggestion on Saturday, calling on his country - as well as France and Italy - to consider a move that would allow Britons already living in the EU to stay.

Let us offer it to young Britons who live in Germany, Italy or France, so they can remain European Union citizens in this country, Gabriel said at a meeting of his centre-left Social Democratic Party in Berlin.

German law normally requires that anyone applying for citizenship has to relinquish their old citizenship.

Gabriel, who is also the economy minister, told party members that Europe is the best place in the world for freedom, democracy and the chance of social progress.

Meanwhile, about 50 people protested in front of Berlins Brandenburg Gate against the British referendum to leave the EU.

Participants chiefly from Britain held EU flags and home-made placards bearing such slogans as We Love EU and Were Not Leaving.

One demonstrator, artist Daniel Belasco Rogers, said he fears that a British exit could make him a migrant in Germany after 15 years residency.

Belasco Rogers says he and his family might apply for German citizenship but Im hoping they find a loophole and this whole thing doesnt happen.
It was the 21st annual Pride festival in Edinburgh this weekend and nothing, not even a spot of rain, could dampen the spirits.

Thousands gathered along the Scottish capitals Royal Mile to celebrate diversity, #loveislove and especially to commemorate the 49 people who were killed in a gay nightclub in Orlando last month.

And its no surprise that the incredible turnout and waves of colour  in the form of rainbow flags and some pretty snazzy outfits  made for some some Instagramable scenes

But some people were just struggling to get THAT MANY people in shot

My view as we descended towards Leith Street - wow! and whats a little drop of rain?@StonewallScot pic.twitter.com/4g6ykXbasv  Geoff Burnett (@geoffburnett) July 2, 2016



There were some incredible costumes spotted along the march

In the running surely for most colourful outfit! Pride in Edinburgh pic.twitter.com/dG8EZMmLVZ  Aileen Clarke (@BBCAileenClarke) July 2, 2016



Including for the political representatives who stopped by

Fantastic Turnout at #EdinburghPride today the sun shone gloriously . Nice way to see the city too. #marching pic.twitter.com/4XDIAsmZbK  Jamie Greene MSP (@jamiegreeneUK) July 2, 2016



And especially for MEP Alyn Smith, who gave a special speech to protest against Brexit and Nigel Farage and to praise Pride for highlighting the importance of unity

He said: Let us say loudly and proudly that Scotland rejects the politics of hate and division and we are a welcoming European nation.
Baku, Azerbaijan, July 4

By Fatih Karimov  Trend:

Irans imports from China decreased by 21.65 percent and 20.74 percent in terms of value and volume, respectively, year-on-year during the first three months of current fiscal year (March 20-June 20), according to the Iranian Customs Administrations latest report.

China was the main exporter of goods to Iran in the mentioned period. Beijings exports accounted for 22.67 percent of Irans total imports in terms of value and 13.15 percent in terms of volume.

Iran imported 955,000 tons of goods, worth $2.04 billion, from China during the three-month period.

In the mentioned period, the Islamic Republic purchased 60 percent of its total imported goods from five countries  China, the United Arab Emirates, South Korea, Turkey and Russia.

Irans imports from Russia registered a rise by 276.9 percent in terms of value during the first three months of the current Iranian fiscal year.

Russia exported 260,000 tons of products, worth $540 million, to Iran in the three-month period.

Despite the sharp rise in value of exported goods, Russias export to Iran was 21.63 percent less in terms of volume during the period, year-on-year.

Iran also imported 1.213 million tons of goods, worth $1.53 billion, from the UAE, which makes up 17 percent of Irans total imports value.

Irans imports from the UAE witnessed a 36.81-percent fall in terms of value and a 37.34-percent decrease in terms of volume as compared to the same period of preceding year.

Turkey and South Korea exported $630 million and $650 million worth of goods to Iran, respectively.

Iran imported 7.263 million tons of goods, worth $9 billion, during the first three months of current fiscal year, which is 12.99 percent less in terms of value as compared to the same period of preceding year.
Life in Britain has been fraught with uncertainty since we voted to leave the European Union a week ago.

The pound has plummeted, the Prime Minister has resigned and it hasnt stopped raining for more than a few hours. It seems that Mother Nature voted remain and is thoroughly annoyed about the result.

As it turns out, shes not the only one who isnt happy about Brexit. Thousands of people took to the streets of London to protest against plans to leave the EU.

Amid speculation over what our uncertain future holds, EU supporters brought their best pun banners to the march through to Parliament Square.

Here are 12 of the best puns spotted on the rally route:

1. Excellent Joy Division references.

2. A little bit of a rude one.

3. A good cheese pun never goes amiss.

4. This very British placard.

5. Nothing compares, nothing compares

6. We see what you did there.

7. Manners are everything.

8. Straight to the point, this lady doesnt mess around.

9. Its not me, its EU.

10. Can we get a spectacular reunion tour in 10 years?

11. Were you bread-y for this many puns?

12. Finally, the real winner of the pun contest, and life in general.
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Baku, Azerbaijan, July 4

By Fatih Karimov  Trend:

Gas condensate output at Phase 12 of Irans South Pars field stood at 6.187 million barrels during the first three months of current fiscal year (March 20-June 20), said Gholamreza Bahmannia, manager of the 9th gas refinery of South Pars Gas Complex.

In the meantime, 4.784 billion cubic meters of gas was refined, he said, IRIB news agency reported July 4.

He further said 17,556 tons of sulphur was produced at the 9th refinery of the South Pars Gas Complex.

The Phase 12, South Pars biggest phase, was put on stream in March 2015.

South Pars, located in southern region, is divided into 24 development phases, and contains 40 trillion cubic meters of natural gas. It covers an area of 9,700 square kilometers, 3,700 square kilometers of which are in Iran's territorial waters in the Persian Gulf. The remaining 6,000 square kilometers are in Qatar's territorial waters.

The Phase 12 produces 80 million cubic meters of gas per day.

The Islamic Republic produces over 420 million cubic meters of gas per day from South Pars, while the production level is projected to surpass 700 million cubic meters per day by late 2018.
A suicide bomber has blown himself up near the US consulate in Saudi Arabia, local media reported.

A blast hit US consulate in the city of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, according to local reports. The blast is said to be caused by a suicide bomber.

Two security officials have been injured, according to Arab News newspaper. There were no immediate reports on casualties inside the consulate. Twitter users say the bomber was shot by police in the parking lot.

The blast struck on early morning local time, which marks the Independence Day in the United States.
AoT to install body scanners at six airports

BANGKOK: The Airports of Thailand Plc (AoT) will upgrade screening systems at six airports nationwide to enhance airport security standards.

technologytransport

By Bangkok Post

Monday 4 July 2016, 09:03AM

X-ray scanners of both carry-on luggage and (background) individual passengers will be getting an upgrade at the countrys busiest six airports. :Bangkok Post file photo by Kitja Apichonrojarek

AoT president Nitinai Sirismatthakarn said the agency planned to replace several security detection devices at Suvarnabhumi, Don Mueang, Phuket, Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai and Hat Yai airports.

Walk-through metal detectors will be replaced with full body scanners which will be able to spot both metal and non-metallic objects, weapons and explosives, concealed under clothing.

After the upgrades there will be a total of 32 body scanners.

Of them, 20 will be stationed at Suvarnabhumi airport, three at Don Mueang, four at Phuket, two in Chiang Mai, one in Chiang Rai and two in Hat Yai.

Besides the full body scanners, current X-ray machines which rely on constant visual supervision to screen carry-on baggage will also be replaced with 34 new detection devices, called Advanced Technology X-ray, which will be able to detect and identify hidden explosive objects.

Mr Nitinai said airport development and expansion plans, designed to cope with an influx of passengers, will be conducted simultaneously with the security upgrade.

He said the AoT aimed to increase the six airports total capacity from 83.5 million passengers a year to 190 million over the next five years. Buildings in the airports premises will also be designed to serve commercial purposes.

The commercial areas of Phuket airport will be doubled which will generate up to 50 per cent more revenue while at Suvarnabhumi airport, the ratio of non-aviation revenue to aviation revenue will change from 40:60 to 50:50 by 2020.

As for Don Mueang airport, if the 33,000 square metres of commercial space in Terminal 2 were fully occupied, it would generate about one billion baht more than the B1.5 billion it currently generates a year.

Mr Nitinai said the developments and upgrades at the airports will cost about B194 billion.

Of the budget, the AoT board has approved a master plan for the development of Suvarnabhumi, Don Mueang and Chiang Mai airports worth B162 billion while a master plan to develop Phuket, Chiang Rai and Hat Yai airports valued at about B32 billion is due to be proposed for the boards consideration.

The development of Suvarnabhumi airport, worth about B117 billion, was expected to be completed by 2021. The airports passenger capacity will increase from 45 million to 90 million passengers a year.

A budget of B31.8 billion will be earmarked for Don Mueang airport which will be finished by 2022 and will handle up to 40 million visitors a year.

The development of Chiang Mai airport, worth B12.7 billion, will be complete by 2030 and will serve up to 20 million tourists a year. About B12 billion will also be allotted to Phuket airport which was expected to be completed by 2022 to accommodate 18 million passengers a year.

A budget of five billion baht will be used to finance the development of Chiang Rai airport which was expected to be finished by 2022 to accommodate up to three million passengers a year, while B15 billion will be earmarked for Hat Yai airport which will be completed in 2030.

Read original story here.
Bangladesh denies IS link after hostage bloodbath

BANGLADESH: Bangladesh said yesterday (July 3) that the attackers who slaughtered 20 hostages at a restaurant were well-educated followers of a home-grown militant outfit who found extremism fashionable, denying links to the Islamic State group.

Monday 4 July 2016, 09:32AM

A military tank makes its way past a police barricade near an upscale restaurant in Dhaka following a bloody siege by attack by Islamist extremists. Photo: AFP

As the country held services to mourn the victims of the siege in Dhaka, details emerged of how the attackers spared the lives of Muslims while herding foreigners to their deaths.

And although the Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack at the Western-style cafe on Friday night (July 1), the government stuck to its line that international jihadist networks had not gained a foothold in Bangladesh.

Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan said the killers  six of whom were shot dead in the siege  were members of the home-grown militant outfit Jamaeytul Mujahdeen Bangladesh (JMB), a group banned over a decade ago.

They have no connections with the Islamic State, Khan said.

National police chief Shahidul Hoque told reporters that investigators would explore the possibility of an international link but added that primarily, we suspect they are JMB members.

The bodies of 20 hostages were found in pools of blood after commandos stormed the Holey Artisan Bakery cafe to end the stand-off, in which two policemen were also shot dead in a fierce gun battle at its outset.

Six of the gunmen were killed by the commandos in the final stages of the siege, but one was taken alive and was being interrogated by Bangladeshi intelligence.

Security officials said most of the victims  18 of whom were foreigners  were slaughtered with sharpened machete-style weapons.

Hasinas government has previously blamed a string of deadly attacks against religious minorities and foreigners on domestic opponents but the latest will heighten fears that ISs reach is spreading.

Despite the governments denials, the IS-linked news agency Amaq published extensive details of the attack, including photos from inside the cafe and the numbers of dead.

Analysts say that the government is wary of acknowledging that groups such as IS or Al-Qaeda are operating in Bangladesh over fears that it will frighten off foreign investors.

They may be home-grown but certainly there are linkages (to IS). We really cant deny it, Joyeeta Bhattacharjee, a fellow of the Delhi-based Observer Research Foundation, said.

There was mass condemnation of the killing in Dhaka, where flags were being flown at half-mast at government offices, while prayer services were held across the country.

Candles were lit at a mausoleum in the centre of Dhaka in a night-time ceremony where mourners sang songs of unity and then stood in silence for 30 minutes in a solemn tribute to the victims.

Weve come to take a vow that we wont allow the country to become a terrorist hotspot, Hanif Khan, a poet and fiction writer, who joined the rally, said.

We have taken a pledge to keep the country secular and safe for all its citizens. Well fight to the end to achieve that goal. Bangladesh emerged as a secular nation and will remain so.

The agony was felt far beyond Bangladesh, with Italy mourning the death of nine citizens in the attack while seven Japanese were also killed.

A Bangladeshi worker at the cafe who survived the massacre told how the attackers split the diners into groups of foreigners and locals, making clear that their targets were non-Muslims.

They took me and two of my colleagues and forced us to sit on chairs, with our heads down on the table, the survivor said on condition of anonymity.

They asked me whether I was a Muslim. As I said yes, they said they wont harm or kill any Muslims. They will only kill the non-Muslims.

All the time I prayed to Allah, keeping my head down. Several times I vomited.

They warned us not to raise our heads but at one point I raised my head slightly and saw a bloodied body on the floor.

The worker described the killers as appearing to be university-educated, a point echoed by Khan.

Asked why they would have become Islamist militants, the minister said: It has become a fashion.

The attack, by far the deadliest of a recent wave of killings claimed by IS or a local Al-Qaeda offshoot, was carried out in the upmarket Gulshan neighbourhood which is home to the countrys elite and many embassies.

Last month authorities launched a crackdown on local jihadists, arresting more than 11,000 people but critics allege the arrests were arbitrary or designed to silence political opponents.

Bangladeshs main Islamist party has been banned from contesting polls and most of its leaders have been arrested or else executed after recent trials over their role in the 1971 war of independence from Pakistan.
Body of missing South Korean tourist found off Phuket

PHUKET: Police have confirmed that a body found floating in the sea off northern Phuket yesterday (July 3) is that of missing South Korean tourist Park Siwoo, 28.

tourismmarinedeathpolicepatong

By Eakkapop Thongtub

Monday 4 July 2016, 11:52AM

The body of South Korean tourist Mr Park was identified by the clothes he was last seen wearing, as seen in this photo of him in an elevator with his girlfriend Hong Garam, 27, whose body was found at Patong Beach last Wednesday (June 29). Photo: Tourist Police

Police and the Kusoldharm rescue foundation were alerted by the fishing boat Bumrungthanawa at 2pm that crew members had seen a body floating about seven nautical miles off Mai Khao Beach.

Police and rescue workers headed out on a vessel provided by Sirinath National Park and recovered the remains.

There were no signs of assault or injury on his body, and he was dressed in the same black-and-white striped shirt and blue shorts that Mr Park was last seen wearing, said Lt Col Watcharin Jirattikanwiwat of the Tha Chatchat Police.

Patong Police Deputy Chief Lt Col Somsak Thongkleng concurred, using a photo provided to police showing Mr Park wearing the same clothes. A relative of Mr Park later yesterday formally identified Mr Parks remains.

The photo showed Mr Park in an elevator with his girlfriend Hong Garam, 27, also from South Korea, whose body was found early last Wednesday morning (June 29) at Patong Beach, where the couple were staying. (See story here.)

A security guard at the hotel where the couple were staying told police that he saw Ms Hong angrily storm out of the hotel with Mr Park following close behind at 1:20am, said Col Somsak.

He saw the couple arguing on the beach, and said he saw Ms Hong walk into the water. Mr Park followed, but neither came out of the water, so he called for help, he said.

Ms Hongs body was discovered near the northern end of Patong Beach shortly before 5am.

There were no signs of assault or injury on the body (of Ms Hong), said Maj Patapee Srichay of the Patong Police.
Five killed in Surat Thani drug, teen violence

SURAT THANI: Five people were slain in two separate incidents  a knife fight over drugs and a teenage gang shooting  early this morning (July 4), police in Surat Thani said.

crimedrugsdeathhomicideviolencepolice

By Bangkok Post

Monday 4 July 2016, 05:32PM

A policeman checks the crime scene where three teenagers were shot dead on this morning (July 4). Photo: Supapong Chaolan

Lt Col Prasit Kaewkim, an investigator of Khun Thale police station in Muang district, said the first incident occurred about 12:30am, when two men were stabbed to death at a house in tambon Khao Tok in Khiansa district.

They were identified as Nathawat Nuimai, 23, and Anusorn Chucheep, 23.

Police arrested Wae-asman Waenawae, 28, of Narathiwats Waeng district, who admitted he was the killer but said he acted in self defence.

Wae-asman said the two came to his house to collect B6,000 for drugs. Mr Nathawat was threatening him with a knife, he said.

Wae-asman said he snatched the knife from Mr Nathawat and stabbed him twice in the back and then turned to stab Mr Anusorn four times in the abdomen and the chest, killing both of them.

Shortly afterwards, three teenagers  Surachart Tolee, 18, Veerayut Tobai, 16, and Theerapong Tomad, 16  were shot dead on a road in Moo 4 village in tambon Tha Thong Mai in Kanchanadit district.

Police investigators said earlier yesterday night (July 3) the three youths had a quarrel with another group of youths in front of a tea shop.

When they were travelling home later on a motorcycle, one of the youths followed them on another motorcycle and shot them dead.

Police were looking for the attacker.

Read original story here.
Jail looms as Pistorius to be sentenced for murder

SOUTH AFRICA: Disgraced Paralympian Oscar Pistorius could return to jail on Wednesday (July 6), when a judge is set to sentence him for murdering his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp three years ago.

homicideviolencedeath

By AFP

Monday 4 July 2016, 11:25AM

Oscar Pistorius during his sentencing hearing at the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria on October 21, 2014. Photo: AFP

Pistorius was freed from prison in the South African capital Pretoria last October after serving one year of a five-year term for culpable homicide  the equivalent of manslaughter.

But an appeals court upgraded the conviction to murder, which has a minimum standard sentence of 15 years. Due to his time already spent in jail and mitigating factors such as his disability, he may be given a lesser term.

Pistorius, 29, shot Steenkamp to death in the early hours of Valentines Day in 2013, claiming he mistook her for a burglar when he fired four times through the door of his bedroom toilet.

Judge Thokozile Masipa, who heard the original trial, will deliver the sentence three weeks after a court hearing that marked another episode of high drama in the long-running case.

Pistorius, sobbing heavily, hobbled on his stumps across the courtroom to demonstrate his physical vulnerability as his lawyers argued he should not return to jail on account of his anxiety disorder and depression.

I dont think he will get the 15 years, Ulrich Roux, who is unaffiliated with the case but has followed it closely, said.

His personal circumstances and the disability will be taken into account. One possibility is that part of the sentence may be suspended.

At the sentencing hearing, prosecutor Gerrie Nel argued that the double-amputee sprinter should be given a lengthy jail term as he failed to show any remorse for the murder.

Nel also criticised Pistorius for filming a television interview, despite claiming to be too unwell to give evidence in court.

In the interview  his first since the killing  Pistorius said that he believed Steenkamp would want him to devote his life to charity rather than return to prison.

If I was afforded the opportunity of redemption, I would like to help the less fortunate, he said.

I would like to believe that if Reeva could look down upon me that she would want me to live that life.

At a June court hearing, Steenkamps father 73-year-old Barry broke down during his testimony as he called for Pistorius to pay for his crime of murdering Reeva, a model and law graduate.

Pistorius, who pleaded not guilty at his trial in 2014, has always denied killing Steenkamp in a rage, saying he was trying to protect her.

The sentencing may not be the end of the saga that has gripped South Africa and the world, as Pistorius or the state could launch a final round of appeals.

If jailed on Wednesday, he would likely return to the hospital section of Kgosi Mampuru II Prison in the capital Pretoria, separated from the general population of inmates.

Since his release, Pistorius has lived under restrictions at his uncles mansion in Pretoria.

Supreme Court of Appeal judges in December described the sprinters testimony at his trial as untruthful and delivered a damning indictment of the original verdict.

Pistorius, whose legs were amputated below the knee when he was 11 months old, made history by becoming the first Paralympian to compete against able-bodied athletes at the 2012 London Olympics.
Phuket Muslims to celebrate Eid this week

PHUKET: This week Phuket Muslims will join their brothers and sisters around the world to mark the end of the holy month of Ramadan, breaking a month of fasting with a traditional communal feast as part of the festival of Eid al-Fitr, or Eid.

religionculture

By The Phuket News

Monday 4 July 2016, 09:40AM

Muslims across Phuket will celebrate Eid, marking the end of Ramadan, this coming week. Photo: Phuket Islamic Affairs Council

Masakat Tawan, a representative from The Islamic Council Phuket, explained that on Monday night (July 4), the State Counselor for all Islamic affairs in Thailand, or Chularajamontri, will look up to the sky for the new moon.

If he spots the moon, an announcement will be made and broadcast on Islamic television channels that night, and confirmed with the Thai government to commence Eid the following day, said Mr Masakat.

However, if the moon is not visually identified, a second attempt to spot the new moon will take place the following night (Tuesday, July 5), for Eid to commence on Wednesday July 6, and so on.

Mr Masakat explained that as part of Eid, every mosque throughout Phuket will hold a prayer session, typically lasting about 10 minutes, some time between 7am and 8am on the day that Eid commences.

The exact time of the prayer at each mosque will vary and be confirmed through each mosques Imam, he said.

After prayer, the faithful will join with family to visit their community Kupo or Muslim cemetery, where they will pay respects to their relatives and ancestor, tidying up the area around the burial sites.

The families will then join together at a relatives house where a feast will commence, carrying on throughout the rest of the day.

Eid is a good day that all Muslims wait for to come together with loved ones and feast, Mr Masakat said.

He explained that after Eid, some Muslims choose to continue on a six-day fast known as Sunnah, which is open to all, except women who are menstruating or pregnant. It depends on your convenience, you dont have to [fast] for six days, he added.

Mr Masakat advised that non-Muslims who want to take part in Eid to go to a local mosque before 7am, before the prayer, and speak to the Imam.

The Iman will introduce you to a local family who will be happy to bring you into their family for the day. Just dress respectful, and make sure your knees are covered. Non-Muslim women arent required to pin up or cover their hair in Phuket, but should dress conservatively. All are welcome, he said.

Mr Masakat added that Muslim men and women tend to dress to impress, taking the opportunity to show off new traditional outfits.

For more information, call The Islamic Council Phuket at 076-377546.

 By Siriboonya Luakeaw
Phuket taxis ask for new rank in Rawai

PHUKET: Taxi drivers in Phukets southern Rawai area have applied to have a new taxi rank set up at Pakbang Beach, Rawai Municipality revealed today (July 4).

transporttourism

By The Phuket News

Monday 4 July 2016, 06:10PM

Pakbang Beach, to the west of Rawai Beach, has grown over the years, prompting taxi drivers to apply to serve the area. Photo: Google Maps

The proposal was floated at the Rawai Municipality council meeting on Friday, Rawai Deputy Mayor Phisit Paphakityotphat told The Phuket News. Rawai already has about 10 taxi ranks throughout the area, and now local taxi drivers are asking permission to set up a new one at Pakbang Beach, he said. Pakbang Beach, to the west of Rawai Beach, has grown over the years and drivers are constantly asked to serve tourists travelling to and from there, he added. However, Mr Phisit explained that Rawai Municipality had no authority to approve a new taxi rank. Only the Phuket Provincial Transportation Committee can approve such a request, he said.

We are preparing and collecting information to present to the committee in the next few days, Mr Phisit added. But I can definitely say right now that only legally registered taxis will be allowed to operate at the new rank  if it is approved, he said.
Kuwait's security forces managed to foil terrorist attacks by Islamic State (Daesh) extremist group in the country, local media reported Monday.

According to KUNA news agency, the Kuwaiti security forces carried out several operations in the country and abroad, which led to derailing Daesh plots.The media reported that a

Kuwaiti national Talal Naif Raja had been arrested for planning to carry out attacks on Jaafari mosque in Hawali Governorate and on a Ministry of Interior's facility.

Furthermore, security forces managed to arrest several Kuwaiti nationals who travelled to Syria to join Daesh, the media said.

The Islamic State, also known as Daesh in Arabic, is a designated terrorist organization that is outlawed in Russia and numerous other countries.
Russian President Vladimir Putin sent a telegram of congratulations to his US counterpart Barack Obama on US Independence Day, Sputnik International news agency reported citing Kremlin's press service.

"The history of US-Russian relations proves that acting on equal, partner basis and respecting mutual interests, we are ready to solve all the most complicated international problems for the benefit of the both nations and all the humanity," said the statement.

Russian leader expressed confidence that positive experience of bilateral relations would contribute to the restoration of constructive dialogue between Moscow and Washington.
Nigel Farage is stepping down as leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP), saying he has done his bit for the cause of Britain leaving the EU, reports The Guardian.

Speaking at a press conference in Westminster, he said it is time to get his life back after successfully campaigning for the UK to vote for Brexit.

During the referendum I said I wanted my country back  now I want my life back, Farage said July 4.

Farage, 52, was originally leader from 2006 to 2009 and came back to the job after the 2010 election. He then stepped down after the 2015 election, only to unresign and return to fight the campaign to leave the EU.

Farage on July 4 insisted this resignation is for good, but raised the prospect of taking some role in negotiating Britains exit from the EU, saying he might have something to give.

Britons held a referendum June 23 on whether the UK should to stay in the European Union, or leave it.

The voting results indicated that the campaign to leave the EU, known as the Brexit, won with 51.9 percent of the votes.
Baku, Azerbaijan, July 4

Trend:

The recent terrorist attack in Istanbul proves the importance of responding to information from other countries about such threats and the need for the revival of communication channels between Russia and Turkey, Sputnik International news agency quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying July 4.

Russia has consistently conveyed information about those who are suspected of involvement in terrorism, the spokesman said.

"Communication channels with Turkey, have not worked recently, and now they are to be revived and restored, but it once again underscores the importance of maintaining such channels of information [exchange] and, more importantly, the need for reactions to signals sent to each other," Peskov added.

The relations between Russia and Turkey deteriorated after the Su-24 bomber incident in 2015.

Following the incident, Russia's President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on ensuring the country's national security and taking special economic measures against Turkey.

On June 27, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan sent a letter of condolences to Putin over the death of Russian Su-24 pilot and expressed regret over the incident.

Putin informed his countrys Cabinet of Ministers that after receiving a letter from Erdogan June 27, it was decided to start the process of normalization of relations with Ankara.

Erdogan and Putin had a phone conversation June 29.
Prime Minister Binali Yildirim described Daesh as common scourge in a telephone call to his Iraqi counterpart after the terrorist group claimed responsibility for a deadly car bomb attack Sunday in Baghdad.

Yildirim offered his condolences to Haider al-Abadi during the conversation, according to a Prime Ministry source who spoke on the condition of anonymity due to restrictions on speaking with the media.

The Turkish prime minister said his country was ready to provide any support to the wounded and added that Iraqs territorial integrity was important.

A car bomb hit al-Karada, a busy shopping district in central Baghdad, early Sunday, killing at least 150 victims, while a separate blast killed five others at a market in the al-Shaab neighborhood.

The al-Karada attack was claimed by Daesh but conflicting reports have emerged about the cause of the second attack. Some have said it was another bombing, however, government officials have claimed it was the result of a fire.

The attack in Baghdad occurred just days after terrorists killed 45 victims at Istanbuls main airport on Tuesday in an attack blamed on Daesh.
Three civilians were injured in a PKK bomb attack on security forces in Turkey's southeastern province of Mardin on Sunday, a security source said.

An improvised explosive device planted on a bridge in Kiziltepe, a town around 10 kilometers (6 miles) north of the Syria border, was detonated as a police armored vehicle passed, the source said on condition of anonymity due to safety fears.

The wounded were taken to Kiziltepe State Hospital. Security forces have launched an operation.

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, around 600 security personnel have been martyred and more than 5,000 PKK terrorists killed.
The Chachmas Lev school for girls was established seventeen years ago after parents pulled their girls out of Bnos Rochel, learning the latter was accepting state funds. There is now a storm in the Eida community after it was learned Chachmas Lev has also accepting state funds all these years from the Treif Zionist government.

The situation is such the Eidas Education Committee was scheduled to meet on Sunday afternoon 27 Sivan but the meeting was pushed off a day to money. The rabbonim will discuss the breach in protocol, the acceptance of funding from the Medina.

According to reports, parents realized something was wrong when they saw Education Ministry officials visiting the school. While the principal is insisting he was unaware of the funding, parents are demanding the Eida Education Committee oust him from his post. The principals wife and brother-in-law appear to have made the arrangement with the ministry.

The school principal has been summoned to meet with Gavaad Eida Chareidis HaGaon HaRav Yitzchok Tuvia Weiss Shlita as well as will Rav Zelig Reuven Katzenelbogen of Torah VYirah.

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
The Security Cabinet convened on Motzei Shabbos at which time a number measures aimed at deterring future terror attacks were approved. The special session was called following two recent fatal attacks; in the Charsina neighborhood of Kiryat Arba that claimed the life of Hallel Ariel HYD and on Route 60 near Otniel on Erev Shabbos that claimed the life of Rav Miki Mark HYD.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman met in private ahead of the Security Cabinet to formulate their plan, which was presented to the ministers.

It was decided:

 To maintain a closure on the Palestinian area of Hebron and its 700,000 residents.

 permits for 2,700 workers of the village of Banai Naim are being revoked. This is the village from which the 17-year-old terrorist who murdered Hallel Ariel came from.

 Two additional battalions are being deployed in areas of Yehuda and Shomron.

 42 new housing units were approved for Kiryat Arba.

 Increased IDF intelligence efforts and arrests of families and associates of terrorists.

 Israel will reduce monthly tax revenue transfers to the PA (Palestinian Authority) by the amount the PA pays to the families of terrorists.

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
The recent fatal terrorist attacks in Kiryat Arba and near Otniel have resulted in increasing tensions between Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Bayit Yehudi leader Minister Naftali Bennett. Relations between the two are tenuous on the best of days and it appears they have now deteriorated further.

At the motzei Shabbos special session of the Security Cabinet, Bennett made demands, that his plan of response is implemented. He told PM Netanyahu viral terrorism cannot be addressed with [implementing a] simple closure as was done.

Bennett is demanding expelling or jailing terrorists who express support or terror attacks as well as calling to raze thousands of illegal Palestinian buildings in Yehuda and Shomron. Bennett also wants Palestinian motorists banned from Route 60, the main area road and wants two new neighborhoods constructed in Kiryat Arba. In addition, he is calling for a limited IDF counter-terrorism operation in areas of Yehuda and Shomron, an operation that would include IDF operations in areas under exclusive PA (Palestinian Authority) control, areas A under the Oslo Agreements.

It is reported that Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman at the weekly cabinet meeting on Sunday prohibited Bennett from explaining his demands as listed above, instructing him to stop with all the questions.

Bennett explained that the government must step-up its deterrence policy until such time terrorists realize terrorism does not pay.

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
The UN Security Council plans to criticize Israel during a meeting of the Quartet forum this week. The UN statement report states the policies of the current administration is steadily eroding the viability of the two-state solution. This raises legitimate questions about Israels long-term intentions, which are compounded by the statements of some Israeli ministers that there should never be a Palestinian state

The Prime Ministers Office on Erev Shabbos released the following statement:

In the 24 hours before the publication of the Quartet report, Palestinian terrorists stabbed and shot innocent Israelis three times, leaving two dead and others wounded. Today a young father was killed and his wife and children injured when their car was riddled with gunfire. Yesterday a 13-year-old Israeli girl was stabbed to death while she slept in her bed. Not only did the Palestinian Authority fail to condemn this gruesome murder, it referred to the murderer as a martyr in official media.

Palestinian praise for murderers today inspires those who will strike tomorrow. This response reflects the moral bankruptcy of the Palestinian leadership and leaves little doubt about its true intentions.

Israel therefore welcomes the Quartets recognition of the centrality of Palestinian incitement and violence to the perpetuation of the conflict. This culture of hatred poisons minds and destroys lives and stands as the single greatest obstacle to progress towards peace.

The report unfortunately says nothing about the payments made by the Palestinian leadership to terrorists and their families. The graver the violence, the greater the payment. This Palestinian practice must stop.

Israel shares the Quartets historical commitment to advancing Israeli-Palestinian peace through direct, bilateral negotiations without preconditions.

In previous agreements, Israel and the Palestinians committed to discuss every difficult issue exclusively through direct, bilateral negotiations. Nevertheless, the record shows a history of repeated Palestinian rejection of offers to negotiate and compromise from Israeli governments across the political spectrum. Israel cannot negotiate peace with itself.

Israel also notes the Quartets concern about the military buildup in Gaza and the threat posed by Hamas, a genocidal terrorist organization, to both Israeli and Palestinian lives.

We regret the failure of the Quartet to address the real core of the conflict: the persistent Palestinian refusal to recognize Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people in any boundaries.

The report also perpetuates the myth that Israeli construction in the West Bank is an obstacle to peace. When Israel froze settlements, it did not get peace. When Israel uprooted every settlement in Gaza, it did not get peace. It got war.

It is troubling that the Quartet appears to have adopted the position that the presence of Jews living in the West Bank somehow prevents reaching a two-state solution. The presence of nearly 1.8 million Arabs in Israel isnt a barrier to peace; it is a testament to our pluralism and commitment to equality.

Israel rejects any attempt to draw moral equivalence between construction and terrorism. So too do we reject the parallels suggested between the campaign of Palestinian terrorism and the violence of marginal elements in Israeli society. The former is lauded by the Palestinian leadership. The latter is utterly condemned and rejected by Israelis across the board.

Israel will continue to strive for a genuine, negotiated peace based on Prime Minister Netanyahus vision of two states for two peoples. While the report includes numerous factual and policy assertions with which we take issue, Israel will discuss with the Quartet envoys ways to explore moving toward this end.

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
Donald Trumps tweet that featured Hillary Clinton and a six-pointed star atop a pile of money has also appeared on a white supremacist website.

Trumps account on Saturday tweeted the so-called meme  then deleted it and replaced it substituting a circle for the star symbol that resembles the Jewish Star of David. The change came after a social media uproar about the star tweets potentially anti-Semitic implications.

The meme first appears to have hit the Internet on June 15, when it was posted by the Twitter user @FishBoneHead1. The account, which described itself as belonging to a comedian, regularly tweeted out anti-Clinton and right-leaning messages and images.

The image also appeared on June 22, on /pol/, an active neo-Nazi Internet message board that features many anti-Semitic posts.

It remains unclear where Trumps campaign obtained the image. A spokeswoman for the campaign did not immediately respond to questions about the original tweet or who was responsible for sending it out. Trumps twitter account remained silent on the issue Sunday.

The @FishBoneHead1 account was deleted amid the uproar on Sunday afternoon. The person who operated the feed did not respond to a request for comment before it was deleted. The post itself was deleted from the /pol/ message board, but its existence was confirmed by The Associated Press through an internet search engine that combs internet archives.

The images appearance on /pol/ and @FishBoneHead1s twitter feed was first reported by the website mic.com.

Trump, who is running for president as a Republican, has repeatedly said that he would remain a staunch defender of Israel and last week shot down a question from a town hall attendee who questioned the U.S.s defense of the Jewish state. His daughter, Ivanka, converted to Judaism and is raising her children Jewish.

Trump has been criticized in the past for repeatedly re-tweeting posts from white supremacists accounts and failing to immediately denounce the support of former Ku Klux Klan grand wizard David Duke. Trump has a loyal following on white supremacist message boards and has been endorsed by several prominent white nationalist leaders who have credited him for invigorating their cause. Among them are William Johnson, chair of the American Freedom Party, which ran pro-Trump robo-calls during the GOP primary.

Trumps former campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, dismissed the controversy in an interview with CNN Sunday, accusing the media of trying to create something out of nothing.

(AP)
By Rabbi Yair Hoffman for the Five Towns Jewish Times

The 28th of Sivan (July 4th, 2016) marks the 12th yartzeit of Rebbitzen Pesha Leibowitz ah, wife of Rav Henoch Leibowitz ztl, the Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivas Chofetz Chaim, and granddaughter of Rav Naftoli Trop ztl. Rebbitzen Leibowitz was an extraordinary baalas chessed, who also assisted her husband in building many Mosdos of Torah. She also served as an aim haYeshiva, the mother to all of the Yeshivas Talmidim.

Often, when an out-of-town Talmid took sick, she took that Talmid into her home and took care of him until he recovered. After my surgery, I personally was a recipient of her kindness.

She took it upon herself to support a specific family in Eretz Yisroel who had suffered tremendous yissurim completely. The family was related to her and the question arose whether one can give all ones tzedakah to one family. Her husband, Rav Henoch posed the question to Rav Elyashiv ztl approximately 30 years ago. Rav Elyashiv ruled that one can because of mibsarcha al tisalaim.

Rav Shmuel Birnbaum ztl said of Rebbitzen Leibowitz that she not only did chesed, but she was a shtik chessed in and of herself  in other words, she embodied the essence of chessed herself.

Rebbitzen Pesha Leibowitz herself was an extraordinary mechaneches in her own right, and taught thousands of Bnos Yisroel for many years for Rav Meir Levi ztl who headed the Bais Yaakov that was to be renamed Bais Yaakov DRav Meir.

After her grandfather had passed away at a young age, her father Rav Avrohom Trop ztl took over the Yeshiva and was later the Karliner Rosh Yeshiva.

During the war, Rav Avrohom Trop and his family were in Siberia, where the difficulties were extraordinary. She had befriended a widowed mother and looked after her two children after the widow had passed away. Rebbiten Pesha Leibowitz is sorely missed by the thousands of Talmidim that were close to her.

In the merit of her Neshama, the author would like to present the following overview of Chessed.

Chessed, and the love of it, forms the very blueprint of the world.

Hashem is the essence of Chessed itself, and He created the world so that He can reward us for doing Mitzvos (Derech Hashem Chapter one). Thus, the Mitzvos involved in the performance of Chessed form a large part of the reason why Hashem created the world.

Performing Chessed gives our life meaning. Since Chessed plays such a crucial role in life, it is important to understand what Chazal tell us about this most important subject. This article should be utilized to help inspire our daily Chessed, and to help us understand the significance of it.

SOURCE

What is the source for the Mitzvah of performing Chessed? The Gemorah (Bava Kamma 100a) identifies a posuk in Shmos (18:20) as the source, And inform them of the path that they should walk.. The Rambam in Sefer HaMitzvos (Shoresh 2) cites this as a biblical requirement. There is another Pasuk which one fulfill when performing Chessed, Vahavta lrayacha kamocha.  Love thy neighbor as yourself. The Rambam in Hilchos Aveilus (14:1) cites this as a biblical fulfillment, although the Rabbis provided illustrations as to how to fulfill it..

FURTHER SOURCES AND THREE OBLIGATIONS OF CHESSED

1. WALKING IN HIS WAYS

a. The major obligation of Chessed stems from walking in Hashems ways. The Gemorah (Sotah 14a) discusses the pasuk which says, Acharei Hashem Elokecha taylechu  you shall walk after Hashem your G-d (Dvarim 13:5). The Gemorah poses a question. It asks, How is it possible to physically walk after the Divine Presence?

b. The Gemorah answers that it means to follow after the Chessed traits, kavyachol, of Hashem. Just as He provides for the unclothed, so too must you provide clothing to them. The Sefer Mitzvos Gedolos states that this verse is part of the related Pasuk of vhalachta bdrachav  and you shall walk in his ways. In other words, the verse of Acharei Hashem Elokecha Taylechu is referencing the verse of vhalachta bdrachav. It could very well be that the aforementioned verse in Shmos (18:20) is also referencing this.

2. UNDERSTANDING THAT CHESSED CONNECTS US TO HASHEM

a. The Gemorah in Shabbos (133b) discusses another entirely different pasuk, Zeh Kaili Vanveihu.. The Gemorah in Shabbos understands it to mean that we must attempt to liken ourselves to Him. Just as He is kind and merciful, so too must you be kind and merciful.

Rav Yitzchok Isaac Sherr zatzal explains (Leket Sichos Mussar p.76) that the pasuk of Zeh Kaili vAnveihu teaches us the obligation of feeling and understanding that the performance of Chessed brings us closer to Hashem. This is on account of the Gemorahs understanding of the word Anvehu to mean Ani vhu  I and Him. The meaning of this Pasuk is therefore, This is my G-d, and I shall bind myself to Him. I know that I can accomplish this binding through the notion of performing acts of Chessed. The consequences of this Pasuk are an obligation of thought, not practice. It is something that we must think  Chessed binds us to Hashem  Ani VeHu.

One means of achieving this is the further obligation that the sages placed on people to say (Tana DBei Eliyahu chapter 25), When will my actions reach the level of those of our forefathers? The forefathers personified these principles of Chessed and wholesomeness. They also are the paradigns of relationship with Hashem.

The Avos were so close to Hashem that they established the Tefilos. Chessed can bring us to such a high Madreigah, spiritual level, that it can bring us to the level of the Avos! And a person is obligated to view Chessed as the means of bringing us closer to Hashem and constantly ask, when will my actions of chessed bring me up to that level of spirituality?

3. LOVING CHESSED

a. The posuk in Micha (6:8) states, ..What does Hashem require of you? Merely to do justice and love Chessed.. The idea is that we must foster and develop a love of Chessed. Rav Sherr explains that there are three elements to this love:

1] To love doing acts of Chessed ourselves.

2] To love and appreciate a situation where Chessed is being performed by others  either for another or for others.

3] To love the existence of opportunities for Chessed in the world.

The Chofetz Chaim writes (Ahavas Chessed 2:1) that not only must one love Chessed but one must stick to this character trait and always go beyond the measure of what is required. He give the analogy of a parent. A loving parent gives more food and clothing than the child requires, so too must we do likewise in sticking to the Midah of Chessed.

OLAM CHESSED YIBANEH

The Alter of Slabodka writes that the notion of Olam Chessed Yibaneh tells us that just as Hashem built the world with Chessed, so too must we build the world with Chessed.

Everyone in the world needs Chessed. When we are born as babies we require the chessed of others. When we become elderly and sick, we also need the Chessed of others. There is no other way. Chessed is necessary for the world to be built. Hashem built this into the nature of the world in order to show us the very necessity of Chessed.

There is another element in Chessed too. It is a natural tendency for people to become miserable and crabby as we age. Living a life committed to Chessed changes that  it stops us from declining in this respect. Thus, Chessed not only builds the world  it builds ourselves as well.

There are other benefits of Chessed too. The Chofetz Chaim writes (Ahavas Chessed 2:4) that when the performance of Chessed saves a person from difficulties in life. It also ensures that Hashem will continue to maintain His love. It also awakens the Divine Middah of Chessed above. The Gemorah in Bava Kamma (17a) also explains that ones enemies fall away when one is committed to the performance of Chessed.

WHO IT APPLIES TO

The Mitzvah of Chessed applies equally to men and to women. It should also be taught to ones children. There is no better way to inculcate this most precious of traits than by example and by performing the Chessed with family members.

CONSTANT CHESSED

Rav Chaim Ozer Grodzinsky ztl was the Gadol HaDor in the early twentieth century. After he had passed away, his notes to himself were found. He had a note that stated he should always make sure to perform at least two chassadim per day.

The Chofetz Chaim (Ahavas Chessed 2:12) writes that one cannot allow one day to go by without having performed Chessed. He cites Rav Chaim Vital (a student of the Arizal) that one must spend time to consider every day to do Chessed and by doing so one achieves atonement for ones sins.

We must also look for opportunities for Chessed. Hashem in His tremendous love for us has created new mediums and technologies for us to be able to better perform Chessed. Most people nowadays have a cell phone. The ability to store vast numbers and to call anyone no matter where we are are actually Divinely ordained developments for the purpose of our performing Chessed for others.

Chessed is such a remarkable Mitzvah, it is even greater than Charity, Tzedakah. How so? The Gemorah in Sukkah (49b) explains that it is greater than Tzedakah in three ways: Tzedaka is only with money  Chessed can be done with money or with ones physical body. Tzedakah can only be done for the poor. Chessed can be done for the poor and the wealthy. Tzedakah can only benefit the living. Chessed can benefit either the living or the dead.

OPPORTUNITIES FOR CHESSED

The opportunities for Chessed are indeed quite numerous. To name just a few:

There are:

1. Our homeless brethren

2. The forgotten elderly in nursing homes

3. People in hospitals

4. Family members of people in hospitals

5. Children who need extra attention

6. The poor who need clothing

7. The developmentally disabled

8. Foreigners in a strange land that need assistance

9. Loaning items or money to others

10. The Avos DeRav Nosson (Chapter 13) says that if one greets a person with a smile it is as if he has given him all of the greatest gifts in the world.

POWER OF CHESSED

The Midrash (Introduction to Aicha #24) tells us that all the Avos listed their own merits to Hashem in order that the nation of Israel should ultimately be redeemed. Avrohom Avinu mentioned his mesiras Nefesh involved in Akeidas Yitzchok. Yitzchok too cried out and responded that he was willing to make the ultimate sacrifice. Yet, Hashem only responded to Rachel because her merits involved the notion of Chessed. She gave the simanim to her sisters so that she not be embarrassed. This is why the Pasuk in Yirmiyahu (31:14-16) states, A voice is heard on High  Rachel is crying for her children..

We should also be aware that there is no limit to the heights and growth we can accomplish in our chessed. This can be seen from a passage of the Targum Yonasan on Sefer Rus. Boaz tells Rus that he is aware of both how she came and joined up the nation of Israel, and also of all the Chessed that she had performed with her mother-in-law. The Targum Yonasan on this Pasuk explains that because they were written next to each other and said in the same breath, these two Mitzvos were equal to each other.

This is somewhat mind-boggling. Rus was a princess of Moav, a very powerful nation. It is a remarkable notion that one of the top women in society would give it all up to become a lowly member of the Jewish nation that must take Tzedakah. Is this lofty Mitzvah equal to the mere Chessed that she does with her mother-in-law?

The answer, according to Rav Henoch Leibowitz ztl. is that there is no spiritual limit to any Mitzvah that we perform. If we do a Chessed, any Chessed, with the right intentions and Kavannah  it can be equal to the greatest of Mitzvos.

IF CHESSED IS NOT DONE

The Gemorah in Avodah Zarah (17b) explains that one who engages in Torah but does not perform Chessed alongside it, it is as if he has no Elokah  as if he has no G-d. The Midrash (Koheles Rabbah 7:4) tells us that whomsoever denies Gmilas Chasadim, it is as if he has denied Hashem  kilu kofer bikkar. The Yalkut Shimoni (Parshas Shoftim #64) states that whoever performs Chessed acknowledges all the Chessed that Hashem has performed since the exodus from Mitzrayim, and whoever does not perform Chessed it is as if he denies all the Chessed that Hashem has perfomed since the exodus from Mitzrayim.

KAVANA IN CHESSED

The Mitzvah of Chessed is a fulfillment of the Torah commandment of Vahavta lrayacha kamocha  love your neighbor as yourself. Generally speaking, we rule that when a person fulfills a Torah Mitzvah, Kavana is required in order for it to count. Kavana means that a person must have in mind that he is fulfilling the Mitzvah of hashem as found in the Torah. This would seem to be the case in regard to Chessed as well (See Ahavas Chessed 2:23). However, many Poskim have written that although it is required ideally, if one did not have the correct Kavana, the Mitzvah still counts, post facto. The Chazon Ish was of the opinion that this concept of not receiving credit for a Mitzvah when one does it by rote without intent does not apply in regard to Mitzvos that are between man and man (Toraso yehge, Miluim #10).

WHEN IT TURNS OUT THE RECIPIENT ENDED UP NOT NEEDING IT

What happens when it turns out that the recipient ended up not using or not needing the Chessed? The Maharsha in Sukkah (49b) indicates clearly that the person who performed the Chessed still receives full schar, credit. Thus, there is no need to feel disappointment when it turns out that the Chessed may not have been necessary. One still receives full credit.

OTHER ASPECTS OF CHESSED

Ideally, one should stand when doing the Mitzvah of Gmilas Chessed, just like the performance of any Mitzvah (OC 8, Bais Yoseph, Eliyahu Rabbah and Mishna Brurah). The rationale is that it is giving respect for the Mitzvah. Here too, of course, if one did not stand  one still fulfills the Mitzvah.

One does not recite a blessing when performing the Mitzvah of Chessed. There are a few reasons that are given. The Rashba explains (Vol. I #254) that any Mitzvah involving the benefit of other human beings, and when they refuse to accept it there will be no Mitzvah, does not receive a blessing. Rabbeinu Bachya in his Kad Hakemach (Tzitzis) writes that any intellectual Mitzvah that one would have performed anyway without a commandment from the Torah does not receive a blessing. The Ohr Zaruah (#140) explains that Mitzvos that apply all of the time do not receive a blessing.

WITH A SMILE

When performing the Mitzvah of Gemilas Chassadim one should do so cheerfully and with a smile (Chofetz Chaim in his Sefer Ahavas Chessed Vol. II #23). This is predicated upon the same halacha in Shulchan Aruch regarding the giving of charity (Yore Deah 249:3). At the opposite extreme, it is stated in Avos DRav Nosson (13) that if one gives someone enormous gift but greets him with a sour expression, it is as if he has done nothing. The same would apply to the Mitzvah of Chessed.

DIVINE SOURCE FOR JOY OF CHESSED

There are two Mitzvos in the Torah that imbue an individual with their own unique feeling of joy  they are the love of Torah learning and the joy of a Chessed. These special joys, in fact, have a Divine source to them. They emanate from the Ohr Panim kaveyachol of Hashem  the Divine light of Hashem. In the Tefilah of Shmoneh Esreh written by the Anshei Knesses HaGedolah we say, Ki bor panecha nasata lanu toras chaim vahavas Chesed.

The Divine source for the origin of the joy we feel when we perform Chessed explains why Chessed can be so life-changing. It can save us from depression, it can save us from the crabbiness that comes with old age, and so much more.

VIGNETTES OF CHESSED

There was an older woman who had lost her desire to eat and said, Hashem just wants me to die now. A young woman visited her, engaged her in conversation, empathized with her struggles, and gently offered her some ice cream. This little chessed snowballed and eventually the woman regained her desire to eat.

AVOID YETZER HARAH IN CHESSED

It is important not to allow the Yetzer Harah to enter into the performance of this wonderful Mitzvah. The Mesilas Yesharim describes the Yetzer Harah as ish milchama hu umelumad barmimus  he is a man of war and skilled in the art of deceipt. Thus, the Yetzer Harah can easily convince us to get angry at someone else involved in the Chessed. It is so upsetting, the Chessed leader does not know what they are doing! Other Midos that the Yetzer HaRah can trip us up in, are: Gaavah, taking things that do not belong to us, etc. In short, there may be other temptations that the Yetzer HaRah will bring to us while we perform acts of Chessed in order to try to make the Chessed less pure.

ENCOURAGING CHESSED IN OTHERS

We must also realize that encouraging others to perform Chessed is in and of itself the fulfillment of Chessed. It should therefore also be done cheerfully and with a smile. The problem is that if one is encountering resistance, then it is likely that the second persons Chessed will not be performed in the cheerful loving manner that it requires. This area is one that is fraught with difficulty since doing Chessed is actually an obligation, just as other positive Mitzvos are obligations. The halacha is that if there is a good chance that you can change someones mind to do the Chessed  then one is obligated to give Tochacha. The obligation of Tochacha for doing a Mitzvah is found in Parshas Kedoshim (VaYikrah 19:17), Hochayach Tochiyach es amisecha  You shall surely rebuke your peer.. The obligation is discussed in Shulchan Aruch (Orech Chaim 608:2).

The suggestion therefore, is to keep the Tochacha as positive as possible. Guilting a person into performing Chessed or mildly chastising them will not necessarily result in a happy performance of it. The Chazon Ish has written that the art of giving Tochacha has been lost in the current generation. If this was true in the Chazon Ishs time, it is certainly true in our times. Therefore, one should try to encourage others as much as possible in doing Chessed, but one should avoid the harsher forms of Tochacha.

TZNIUS IN CHESSED

It is important to keep the Chessed as pure and pristine as possible and not to show off the Chessed. This is the fulfillment of Vhatzneya leches im elokecha (Michah 6:8). Such a person is described as an vyikarah Ish Emunim. It is also the understanding of the Pasuk in Mishlei (6:14) Matan bsaiser yikveh af. Just like in Torah, where Chazal tell us in Pirkei Avos (4:3) that we not make Torah a crown to show off in, the great Roshei Yeshiva have said the same thing in regard to the performance of Chessed.

At the same time, it is also important to spread the notion of doing Chessed and getting others involved in the Chessed. This is something that takes work  to make sure that the Chessed is done Lishma  with a purity, yet at the same time to help spread the notion of Chessed. The Tefilah that we say in the Shmoneh Esreh of Shabbos morning  Vetaher libeinu lavdecha bemes  and purify our hearts to serve you in truth is very instructive here.

Rebbitzen Pesha Leibowitz AH represented the epitome of Chessed to numerous talmidim and she is sorely missed.

the author can be reached at [email protected]
The PA (Palestinian Authority) Governor of Hebron visited the family of the 17-year-old Banei Naim terrorist to console them on their loss. He told the family Muhammed was a young boy, under 20, and to say he was a terrorist is a lie. The young boy stabbed 13-year-old Hallel Yafeh Ariel HYD to death in her sleep. He stabbed her RL dozens of times.

In response to the governors visit, IDF Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) Major-General Yoav Mordechai canceled the governments VIP pass that permits him to enter Green Line Israel, explaining there are many faces to supporting terror and visiting the family is tantamount to encouraging terrorism. What is the message? The Governor of Hebron expresses support for the murder of a 12-year-old girl? We expect the PA leadership to take responsibility and to call for calm and tolerance. Israel will not help supporters of terrorism and therefore, we have decided to deprive the government of Hebron of his right to enter into Israel the COGAT message read.

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
Former Defense Minister MK (Machane Tzioni) Amir Peretz told Kol Berama Radio host Noam Zeigman that any family member of a terrorist who took part in an assisting in an attack, either directly or indirectly, should be expelled to Gaza. He feels this would carry a powerful deterrence for others contemplating terror attacks in the future.

Transportation Minister (Likud) Yisrael Katz remains an outspoken advocate of expelling persons involved in attacks to Gaza. However, such a policy seems to be questionable in the eyes of Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit.

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
The IDF on the eve of 28 Sivan (Sunday to Monday) destroyed the home of the terrorist who perpetrated the attack that resulted in the deaths of Ofir Ben-Ari and Rabbi Reuven Biermacher HYD.The attack occurred in December 2015. Ben-Ari was killed by mistaken border police gunfire responding to the stabbing attack that killed Rabbi Biermacher. The home of the terrorist YMS was located in the Kalandia refugee camp.

The demolition of the home resulted in Arab rioting, leaving a number of PA (Palestinian Authority) residents injured. they were transported to a PA hospital in Ramallah.

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
A U.S. Senate delegation paid a rare visit Sunday to a tribal region along the Afghanistan border that has long been considered a stronghold of al-Qaida, the Taliban and other insurgents.

The delegation led by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. and chairman of the Armed Services Committee, visited the North Waziristan tribal region, a statement from Pakistans Foreign Office said. McCain posted pictures on his Twitter account of the delegation visiting Pakistani helicopter pilots at an air base in Miram Shah.

Foreigners are largely banned from the tribal region, where Pakistan has been waging a military offensive to root out insurgents for two years. The U.S. frequently carries out drone strikes in the region targeting Taliban and al-Qaida leaders.

The U.S. and Pakistan have had fraught relations in recent years, with U.S. officials and many analysts accusing Pakistan of turning a blind eye to some insurgents, including the Afghan Taliban. Pakistan has been critical of the U.S. drone campaign, which has killed scores of civilians over the years.

We look forward to closer relations and resolving the differences we have, McCain told Pakistans state-run TV after meeting with army chief Gen. Raheel Sharif and Sartaj Aziz, the prime ministers top foreign affairs adviser.

McCain added that he was very impressed with the progress in North Waziristan.

(AP)
Baku, Azerbaijan, July 4



By Rufiz Hafizoglu  Trend:



An Azerbaijani man, suspected of being involved in the Ataturk Airport terrorist attack, was detained and identified in Istanbul, the Turkish Haberturk newspaper wrote July 4.



According to the newspaper, the detained man's name is Elchin, the surname was not disclosed.



Istanbuls Ataturk Airport came under a terrorist attack June 28. Forty five people were killed as a result of the terrorist attack.



Some 13 foreigners, suspected of involvement in the terrorist attack at Istanbuls Ataturk Airport, were detained in Turkey. The IS stands behind the attack, according to preliminary reports.
Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to crowd the East River shoreline this Monday to experience the annual Macys 4th of July Fireworks celebration.

This year, the New York Police Department will be stepping up their patrols of the highly-anticipated event, with more officers on staff and security checkpoints stationed across the East River access points, 1010 WINS Glenn Schuck reported.

The show is celebrating its 40th anniversary and Macys promises this years event will be the largest display since the millennium show in 2000.

As they do every year, Macys is adding new technology.

We use these American-made fireworks to create U-S-A, so were going to make these almost pixelated firework bursts that occur by launching off fireworks at just the right angle with almost 600 lines of computer code to fire these fireworks precisely, Gary Souza, one of the designers for the show, said.

Mayor Bill de Blasio and Police Commissioner Bill Bratton made an announcement with details on the additional security on Friday.

Most important message to all my fellow New Yorkers, come out and celebrate on July 4th. The NYPD is ready to keep everyone safe, the mayor said.

Uniformed and plain clothes officers, cameras, radiation detectors, air and sea patrols, as well as some new tools like vapor wake dogs will be on hand.

We now have 8 of them. Last year we were just starting to acquire them, so thats a very significant enhancement of our capabilities from last year, Bratton said.

The dogs are specifically trained to detect body worn explosives on a moving target.

There will also be 500 plus members of the newly created Critical Response Command  an elite counter-terrorism squad. Its their first 4th of July since their creation.

Youre going to see many officers with heavy vests, helmets, and long guns, NYPD Chief of Department, James ONeill said.

As CBS2s Alice Gainer reported, there will also be additional probationary officers on hand thanks to Fridays police academy graduation of 1,257.

An aggressive Vision Zero presence has also been planned with many checkpoints for drunk driving, as well as patrols to make sure that people arent shooting off their own fireworks.

Were gonna have 95 teams of sergeants and five police officers throughout the city doing fireworks suppression, ONeill said.

With an estimated 43 million people expected to travel this holiday, many New Yorkers are wondering whether they should stay for the show, or brave potential traffic nightmares by heading out of town.

Some were traveling to the mountains, others to the shore, and others just to go shopping, WCBS 880s John Metaxas reported. A total of 36 million people will drive more than 50 miles this holiday weekend  a record in part because of low gas prices.

But for other New Yorkers, staying home and enjoying the city sun was all they need.

I love the beach, but this year I think were going to stay in, one man said. Barbecue, hang out with the family, that sort of thing.

But for others, the three-day holiday is the perfect time to get away.

Its different, its relaxing, peaceful and different from the city, another man headed to Long Beach Island for the weekend said. Id rather go to the beach.

The event will be broadcast live on 1010 WINS, the official radio station of Macys 4th of July Fireworks Spectacular.

(CBS  NY)
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is in the midst of his historical visit to Africa, which includes Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, and Ethiopia.

As seen in the video, it appears the Prime Ministers demanding schedule may wear him down at times. we see that during an official ceremony shortly following his arrival in Uganda he is nudged to wake up by Mrs. Sara Netanyahu, who accompanied him on the official state visit.

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem/Photos: Media Resource Group)
Baku, Azerbaijan, July 4

By Rufiz Hafizoglu  Trend:

Relations between Turkey and Russia will be as before, the TRT Haber news channel quoted Turkeys Prime Minister Binali Yildirim as saying July 4.

Russian tourists have already started to visit Turkey, said Yildirim, adding the crisis in Ankara-Moscow relations and the terrorist attacks in Turkey have strongly affected the countrys tourism sector.

The relations between Russia and Turkey deteriorated after the Su-24 bomber incident in 2015.

Following the incident, Russia's President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on ensuring the country's national security and taking special economic measures against Turkey.

On June 27, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan sent a letter of condolences to Putin over the death of Russian Su-24 pilot and expressed regret over the incident.

Putin informed his countrys Cabinet of Ministers that after receiving a letter from Erdogan June 27, it was decided to start the process of normalization of relations with Ankara.

Erdogan and Putin had a phone conversation June 29.

---

Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu
BUY THIS: Tate & Lyle

Liberum is positive on ingredients business Tate & Lyle and this week raised its target price for the stock to 790p.

It has increased its profit expectations for the firm by 8 per cent, largely driven by a favourable dollar to pound exchange rate  Tates pre-tax profits rise 1.3m for every $0.01 fall in sterling.

Sweet taste of success: Liberum said the firms decision to focus on speciality ingredients is the right one

Liberum said the firms decision to focus on speciality ingredients  it sold its historic sugar business, including its golden syrup brand, back in 2010  is the right one.

On Friday its shares rose 3.3 per cent, or 22p to 690.5p.

SELL THIS: Pearson

Brokers at Berenberg think its time to sell shares in education company Pearson.

Pearson has a big presence in the US market where, it is expected, college enrolments are likely to decline over the next 12 to 18 months.
Britain would have one of the lowest rates of all advanced economies

Chancellor George Osborne has announced plans to cut UK corporation tax from 20 per cent to just 15 per cent.

At this level, Britain would have one of the lowest corporation tax rates of any major developed economy.

'We must focus on the horizon and the journey ahead and make the most of the hand we've been dealt', Osborne told the Financial Times.

The Chancellor claims the corporation tax cut will help woo businesses to invest in post-Brexit Britain.

Here, This is Money explains the nitty-gritty of what corporation tax is and how the rate cut could affect businesses and the tax-paying public.

Cutting to the chase: Chancellor George Osborne has announced plans to cut UK corporation tax from 20 per cent to less than 15 per cent

What is corporation tax?

While individuals pay income tax on their earnings, businesses pay corporation tax on theirs.

It is levied on a company's profits over a set period of time.

Taxable profits are calculated by adding together a company's total income and chargeable gains (how much a company's asset has gone up in value between the time it's bought and sold), and subtracting any payments the company has to make to carry out its business.

Some firms can get deductions on their corporation tax or use tax credits to slim it down.

How does the UK's current corporation rate compare to the EU/wider world?

Since 1 April 2015, the basic rate of corporation tax in the UK has been 20 per cent. So, a company generating 400,000 of profits would pay around 80,000 in corporation tax.

Across the EU, the average rate of corporation tax is 22.09 per cent, data from KPMG shows. Across the world, the average rate of corporation tax is 23.63 per cent.

Areas where corporation tax is higher than the UK include Argentina (35 per cent), North America (33.25 per cent on average), Malta (35 per cent), India (34.61 per cent), Japan (32.26 per cent) and Zambia (35 per cent).

Places where corporation tax is at 0 per cent include Bermuda, the Cayman Islands and Guernsey, KPMG said.

Compare current global tax rates from around the world with KPMG's table HERE.

Or use this map to click around the world of corporate tax.

If UK corporation tax is reduced to less than 15 per cent, where do we stand in the world?

If Britain goes ahead with the Chancellor's proposal and cuts corporation tax by around 5 percentage points to less than 15 per cent, Britain would have one of the lowest rates of any major economy in the world.

Taking the UK's rate down to less than 15 per cent would bring the UK nearly in line with Ireland's 12.5 per cent rate.

Other countries with a 15 per cent rate include Albania, Iraq, Lithuania and Mauritius.

Why is the Chancellor planning to cut Britain's corporation tax rate?

In his own words, Remain campaigner George Osborne told the Financial Times Britain needs to become a 'super-competitive economy' with low business taxes and a global focus post-Brexit.

According to the Chancellor, the move is necessary to prove to investors that Britain is still 'open for business.'

In other words, in the Chancellor's mind, a sizable cut in corporation tax rates will encourage businesses and investors from the UK and overseas to keep on ploughing their money into Britain.

The signs from Osborne of a softer approach to fixing the public finances and tax cuts to woo investors come after Bank of England Governor Mark Carney said last week that he believed the economy would need more monetary stimulus soon.

Comment: Remain in the EU campaigner George Osborne told the Financial Times Britain needs to become a 'super-competitive economy' with low business taxes post-Brexit

When will the corporation tax cut be introduced?

The Chancellor hasn't given any details on when the plans to cut corporation tax would be introduced. But, he made it clear Britain should 'get on with it.'

In his most recent Budget statement in March, Osborne announced a cut in corporation tax to 17 per cent by 2020, down from 20 per cent now.

Poll George Osborne's plan to cut UK corporation tax to below 15% is a good idea Agree Disagree George Osborne's plan to cut UK corporation tax to below 15% is a good idea Agree 831 votes

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The Treasury told This is Money it has no further details of any potential timeframe.

Will the rate cut turn Britain into a tax haven for multi-nationals?

It's not out of the question. However, Osborne or any other Chancellor needs to balance a potential political fallout with the impact on the economy of cutting rates further.

The government - as well as some multinationals - have come under fire in recent years for 'sweetheart deals', where companies are able to arrange their own, often generous, tax rate.

Household brands including Google, Amazon and Starbucks have all come under sharp scrutiny for paying what some believe is not their fair share of tax, although they all have technically played by the rules.

Taxpayers may not accept corporations being allowed to pay less tax, when some earners have up to 45 per cent of their income taken from them in taxes.

Will a cut in corporation tax really boost the economy like the Chancellor says?

What is clear is that a 5 percentage point cut in UK corporation tax will prick up the ears of businesses looking to get a foothold in Britain, or those who already have one.

On one level, the number of businesses churning money into Britain is likely to increase.

If Britain's corporation tax rate was cut to less than 15 per cent, it would have one of the lowest rates of any advanced economy in the world.

Cushioned by a decent infrastructure and resources, this would make the UK a very appealing prospect for big companies.

But, with the rate being cut, Britain would have to see a considerable rise in the amount of profits made by companies in the UK to make up for the fall in revenues as a result of the tax rate cut.
George Osborne last night announced plans to cut corporation tax to 15 per cent to help Britain survive economic shocks after the Brexit vote.

The Chancellor said he would accept the referendum verdict as he said tax cuts could be needed to woo businesses deterred from investing in the UK after the vote to leave.

He said that despite the Remain sides defeat, he wanted a leading role in shaping Britains new economic destiny, laying out plans to build a super competitive economy.

Scroll down for video

The Chancellor said he would accept the referendum verdict as he said tax cuts could be needed to woo businesses deterred from investing in the UK after the vote to leave

We must focus on the horizon and the journey ahead and make the most of the hand weve been dealt, he added. Mr Osborne wants Britain to set the lowest corporation tax rate of any major economy, announcing a target of less than 15 per cent, down from 20 per cent now.

Whats done is done, the Chancellor added. The British public has spoken. We should accept their verdict instead of moping around or trying to unpick it.

We have now got to be part of a supreme national effort to make it work for the British people. Im going to do my best over the next coming months, then its up to the next Tory leader whoever he or she may be.

Beside the tax cut, the Chancellor said his five-point plan included focusing on a new push for investment from China, ensuring support for bank lending, redoubling efforts to invest in the Northern powerhouse, and maintaining the UKs fiscal credibility.

Mr Osborne said he was not backing anyone at the moment in the Conservative leadership contest, although his friends say he would like to continue at the Treasury or move to the Foreign Office if offered the chance.

Mr Osborne said he was not backing anyone at the moment in the Conservative leadership contest, although his friends say he would like to continue at the Treasury or move to the Foreign Office if offered the chance

Some of his allies have already thrown their weight behind Theresa May.

The large cut in business taxes would take Britain close to the 12.5 corporation tax rate in Ireland, and would anger EU finance ministers, who fear a race to the bottom.

The head of tax at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development has warned that Brexit may push the UK to be even more aggressive in its tax offer, but that further steps in that direction would really turn the UK into a tax haven type of economy.

Mr Osborne told the Financial Times that Britain faced a very challenging time and urged the Bank of England to use its powers to avoid a contraction of credit in the economy, reminiscent of the squeeze during the height of the financial crisis in 2008.

The Chancellor said he hoped a post-Brexit deal would include some access to the EU single market: The priority is getting our new relationship with Europe in place and right and that means putting the greatest emphasis on having the best possible trade in goods and in services including financial services.

He added the UK would aggressively seek new bilateral trade deals, and that he would lead an extended visit to China this year in an attempt to keep inward investment flowing.
Baku, Azerbaijan, July 4

By Anakhanum Idayatova  Trend:

There are significant political forces in Israel that oppose treaty between Israel and Turkey on normalization of relations, Levente Kozma, the former Hungarian senior foreign policy advisor, told Trend July 4.

That is why the forces that oppose the normalization of relations with Turkey, put the Armenian genocide on the political agenda of Knesset (Israeli parliament), said Kozma.

The issue on the Armenian genocide was included in Knessets agenda. The Israeli parliament will discuss the issue on July 5, Armenian media reported.

If Israel ratifies such a thing, it will irritate Turkey probably, and those, who oppose the deal with Turkey, see a big chance that Turkey will cancel the agreement, added the expert.

Armenia and the Armenian lobby claim that Turkey's predecessor, the Ottoman Empire, allegedly carried out "genocide" against the Armenians living in Anatolia in 1915. Turkey in turn has always denied that "the genocide" took place. While strengthening the efforts to promote the "genocide" in the world, Armenians have achieved its recognition by the parliaments of some countries.

---

Follow the author on Twitter: @Anahanum
A Chinese tourist poses for a photo of the Sphinx at the Giza Pyramids in Egypt. (Photo : Reuters)

Young Chinese travelers prefer to travel in high-end style, according to a recent study released by Marriot International and Hurun Research Institute.



The report indicated that the trend is more apparent with individuals born after 1980, also known as Generation Y. The average Chinese traveler spends around 420,000 yuan annually on travel expenses and an average of 220,000 yuan on shopping.



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The young travelers' first choice for hotel accommodation would be the Ritz Carlton, followed by luxury hotel brands Four Seasons.



According to a report by the China National Tourism Association, many rich young travelers' top destinations of choice would be France, the U.S. and the Maldives.



The report released by Marriot and Hurun Research Institute stated that when in France, young Chinese globetrotters prefer the Park Hyatt or the Four Seasons George V Paris. When in New York, they prefer the St. Regis. They also frequently go to Asian destinations like Hong Kong, Yunan, Chiang Mai and the Philippines.



When in Hong Kong, young Chinese travelers would go to the Peninsula at Salisbury Road. Shangri-la Hotel would be the preference in Boracay, Philippines, and the Mandarin Hotel in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Chinese travelers are also frequent guests at the Banyan Tree Hotel at Lijiang, Yunan.



Chinese travelers have gotten flack in recent months for bad behavior. The Chinese National Travel Association released a list of 16 embarrassing tourists and were banned from air travel because of "uncivilized behavior." In spite of this, the global travel market still welcomes the influx of Chinese tourists because of the business that they bring to the travel market.



Chinese travelers go abroad every three months. In 2015, the total amount spent for traveling was $229 billion.


Lu Wei to Give Up Post as Chinas Internet Czar, Deputy as Likely Successor

Xu Lin, deputy director of China's Cyberspace Administration, poses for a photo during a conference in Shanghai. (Photo : Reuters)

Lu Wei, the countrys Internet czar, is stepping down from his post, with Deputy Director Xu Lin as his likely successor, The New York Times reported, citing reports by China's state media on Wednesday, June 29.



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Although analysts were surprised at Lu's move, they believed that it would not ease the country's control on Internet use or its policies to reduce reliance on Western tech firms.



It was not clear if Lu's move indicates that he is in trouble or he is up for promotion.



It has been known in recent years that China is firm on its actions to block websites, censure content and monitor users.



Lu has made public lectures in American tech companies as well as politicians. He received praises from well-known tech executives like Apple's Tim Cook and Jeff Bezos of Amazon. Mark Zuckerberg received him in Facebook's campus and showed him his copy of President Xi Jinping's speeches.



Since 2013, there had been rumors about his downfall and observers saw this as an indication of Lu's prominence as one of China's rising political stars.



Lu was the director of a powerful committee of the Chinese Communist Party tasked to formulate its Internet policy. He has also headed the Cyberspace Administration of China since its creation in 2014.



Lu's likely successor as head of the Cyberspace Administration is Deputy Director Xu Lin, who worked under President Xi when the now-president was the Shanghai party secretary in 2007.



However, Lu's fate is still unclear. Although he retained his position as deputy head of the propaganda department, it was not clear if his departure from the Cyberspace Administration may be considered a demotion or not, according to Willy Wo-Lap Lam, a professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.



"It's too early to draw the conclusion that he's out," Lam said. "He might end up getting a promotion in another area of the bureaucracy. It's not uncommon for these important positions to be moved around frequently."



As head of the Cyberspace Administration, Lu managed to take control of some of the country's vocal social media critics, as well as helped draft laws on technology. He also helped bring the country's largest Internet companies to cooperate with the government.


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By Madina Toure

At her annual legislative roundtable, state Sen. Toby Stavisky (D-Flushing) said she was disappointed that mayoral control over the citys schools was only extended for a year but touted a series of legislative achievements.

At the roundtable discussion at her district office at 142-29 37th Ave., Stavisky said Senate Republicans and Mayor Bill de Blasio do not get along, arguing that mayoral control should have been extended for three years as opposed to one year.

The previous mayor gave the Senate Republicans almost a million dollars in campaign contributions, $900,000, she said. This mayor, they have in their sights. They want to hurt him and they tried through mayoral control and I suppose it didnt work because we did extend it, but nevertheless, there were no reforms, no additional parental involvement and I think thats a mistake.

She also criticized the Senate Republicans for blocking any limitations on outside income as well as legislation that would prohibit legislators from using campaign funds to pay for outside counsel when they get into trouble. She also said there is a need for campaign finance reform, pointing out that the contribution limits for the governor are high in the $40,000-$50,000 range.

I can accept up to $18,000 from any one source, she said. But an LLC can give me $500,000. Theres no limit and thats whats wrong.

She blasted the Republicans for taking the Dream Actlegislation authorizing undocumented students who graduate from high school in New York to apply for college financial aidout of the budget.

But there were two major bipartisan efforts that passed: a bill that increases penalties for selling opioidsmedications used to manage acute and chronic painthat also mandates that doctors can only prescribe them for seven days at a time, down from 30, and a zombie/foreclosed homes bill.

She also praised the rescinding of Gov. Andrew Cuomos proposal that New York City pay $485 million to CUNY for the 2016-2017 fiscal year and said tuition at SUNY and CUNY will remain the same as last year for the first time in many years. Faculty and staff now have a contract with CUNY after being without one since 2010, while $50 million$30 million for SUNY and $20 million for CUNYwas appropriated for capital maintenance.

Other accomplishments include a new requirement for lead poisoning testing in every school, an increase in the minimum age to $15, the passage of paid family leave, increased access to breast cancer screening and treatment, the largest middle-class personal income tax cut in more than 70 years and a $27 billion MTA capital program that includes $26.6 billion for improvement of capital facilities operated by NYC Transit Authority, LIRR, Metro-North and MTA Bus. She also received an above average rating on gun safety from New Yorkers Against Gun Violence.

We did not pass any gun reform changes, but I did get a notice from New Yorkers against Gun Violence where I rate the legislators and I received the highest rating, she said. I guess I got one of the lowest from the NRA. Nevertheless, it tells you where I stand on the violence thats going on.
A suicide car bombing claimed by the Islamic State group killed at least 130 people in a Baghdad shopping district in the early hours of Sunday, the deadliest single attack in the capital this year.

The blast, which ripped through a street in the Karrada area where many people go to shop ahead of the holiday marking the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, came after IS lost one of the last two cities it held in the country.

The bombing also wounded more than 130 people, security and medical officials said.

The attack set buildings in the area ablaze, reducing some to charred hulks and also torching shops.

Men carried the bodies of two victims out of one burned building and a crowd of people looked on from the rubble-filled street as firefighters worked at the site.

IS issued a statement claiming the suicide car bombing, saying it was carried out by an Iraqi as part of the group\s "ongoing security operations".

The jihadist group said the bombing targeted members of Iraq\s Shiite Muslim majority, whom it considers heretics and frequently attacks in Baghdad and elsewhere.

Bombings in the capital have decreased since IS overran large areas north and west of Baghdad in June 2014, apparently because the jihadists were occupied with operations elsewhere.

But the group has struck back against Iraqi civilians after suffering military setbacks, both as a means of revenge and to portray itself as being on the offensive.

In May, the capital was rocked by a series of blasts that killed more than 150 people in seven days.

The latest bombing came a week after Iraqi forces completely recaptured Fallujah, a city 50 kilometres (30 miles) west of Baghdad, from the jihadists.

Anti-government fighters seized Fallujah in early 2014 and it later became one of IS\s main strongholds in the country.

Iraqi forces launched an operation in May to recapture the city, one of only two in the country still held by IS.

The defeat was compounded by a devastating series of air strikes targeting jihadist forces as they sought to flee the Fallujah area.

Iraqi and US-led coalition aircraft destroyed hundreds of IS vehicles and killed dozens of fighters in two days of strikes against jihadist convoys after the end of the fighting, officials said.

With Fallujah retaken, Iraqi forces are now setting their sights on second city Mosul, the last major population centre held by IS in Iraq.
Times' Game of the Week Preview: Central Valley at Aliquippa

Central Valley and Aliquippa are set to face off in arguably the biggest game of the year in the WPIAL. Check out the Times' Game of the Week preview.
U.K.-China relations will stay strong despite Britain's decision to ditch its EU membership. (Photo : Reuters)

China's relationship with the U.K. will remain resilient amid Britain's decision to leave the European Union.



The statement came from Liu Xiaoming, China's ambassador to the U.K., who was at the Young Icebreakers 8th Annual Dinner on June 30, Thursday.



"[China] values its relations with the U.K. This position remains unchanged whether the U.K. is in the EU or out of the EU; we will take strategic long-term perspective," Liu was quoted as saying by China Daily.



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"China and the U.K. are countries of global influence," Liu added. "A healthy, stable and win-win partnership between China and the U.K. serves not just the fundamental interests of our two peoples but also peace and prosperity of the world."



Business-specific deals between the two economies are also expected to remain stable.



"Given the immediate market fluctuations and uncertainties, Chinese businesses will inevitably need to be more prudent and stay cool-headed. But in the long run there is no way our bilateral collaboration should be allowed to go down," Liu said.



The ambassador added that being two of the world's largest economies, China and the U.K. have a lot of opportunities to offer each other.



The recently launched China-U.K. direct flights solidify efforts to strengthen ties of the two nations. Hainan Airlines and Tianjin Airlines will operate the two new direct flights.



"It is also our hope that China and the U.K. will reinforce our cooperation on serious global issues including sustainable development, counter-terrorism, anti-corruption, anti-microbial resistance, etc.," Liu said. "China and the U.K. working together have a great deal to contribute to the peace, stability and prosperity of the world, and sustainable deployment of the world."



The U.K has voted recently to cut off ties with the EU, sparking concerns over its implications on international trade and other relations.



For analysts, Brexit could bring huge risks to China.



"Inward investment by China into the U.K. under the dialogue has been focused on infrastructure projects and I wouldn't expect that should change with Brexit, but on financial services projects with China, that's at significant risk now," said Andrew Naylor, an executive director at consultancy firm Cicero Group, in an interview with Reuters.


By John Ingle of the Times Record News

Many folks celebrating this Fourth of July will spend time at the lake, grilling hot dogs outside, hanging out with friends, apple pie and, most assuredly, fireworks.

It's the day that the only colors most people are concerned with is red, white and blue as the nation celebrates its birthday. Monday is the 240th year since visionaries in New England adopted the Declaration of Independence, the document that would set fledgling revolution on a different course when the 13 original British colonies regarded themselves a sovereign nation of their own.

There was no such declaration when Frank Kell moved to Wichita Falls in 1896. No fanfare. No celebration, at least citywide. It was at the behest of his brother-in-law, Joseph Kemp, that Kell uprooted his family from Clifton, Texas, and moved west.

The collaboration of the brothers-in-law, like the visionaries in 1776, would set Wichita Falls on a course for growth, inspiration and innovation that would take the town of roughly 2,000 at the time to more than 100,000 today.

Stacie Flood, curator of the Kell House Museum at the corner of Ninth and Bluff, said the brothers-in-law were a perfect mixture, with Kemp being the man with the ideas and plans, and Kell as the side of the operation that would get things done. In short, Kemp was the brains, and Kell was the brawn, certainly not meant to be disrespectful in any way. They were Ying and Yang. Peas and carrots. Forrest and Jenny.

Years later, the businessmen provide several reminders of their contributions to the development of the city including Kemp and Kell boulevards, two major thoroughfares that provide people a clear direction to where they're going, much like the men, themselves, did years ago. There's also the Kemp Center for the Arts in the former public library across the street from the Times Record News.

Then there's the Kell House, which now serves as a museum. For guests at the museum  local and out of town  it's " ... a Window into Wichita Falls' Past."

Kell House

The link between Kell and Kemp wasn't just happenstance. Kell married Kemp's younger sister, Lula, in 1885.

Kemp moved to Wichita Falls in the early 1880s to set up a business; first a general store, in the footsteps of his father. He eventually got into the grain milling business with the Wichita Valley Mill Company and asked if Kell would make the move to help out with the venture. The name later changed to Wichita Mill and Elevator Company.

Kell came from a very modest background where pennies were first counted and then pinched. The family of nine had outgrown its original dwelling and needed a roomier domicile to call home. Kell's sister-in-law, Minnie May (Kemp) Adickes, was blazing a trail of her own as a building contractor, focusing primarily on smaller, more affordable homes for the working man, but building a much bigger and more extravagant two-story home at the corner of what is now 10th and Broad.

"Mr. Kell liked it so much he asked her if she would build the same house for him, but in brick instead of wood," Flood said. "Her house burned, and the Kell House is still standing ..."

The Kells moved into the house by Thanksgiving 1909, despite one of the two staircases being incomplete. The home was one of the first houses to be "electrified" in Wichita Falls as electricity was first provided in 1908. Flood, the curator for the Kell House for 12 years, said Kell paid to have power lines run up to the house because it only made sense for the businessman to have electricity in the house as he sat on the board of the electric company in Wichita Falls and wanted to show skeptical city residents that it was safe to have power in a home.

The family would call the residence home, with Willie May Kell, the Kell's second of six daughters, the last to live there. Her mother, Lula Kell, died in 1957 and left the house to Willie May.

Willie May died in February 1980, and the Wichita County Heritage Society purchased the structure.

"It's very significant to Wichita Falls," said Nadine McKown, assistant to the WCHS director. "Kell is one of those names you see all over town and he's a founding father of Wichita Falls. The (the WCHS) decided it was important to preserve it for future generations so that we know where we came from and what this town is built on."

No place like home

The 108-year-old two-story house is roughly 5,800-square-feet and features an extravagant and inviting receiving room, including Lula Kell's Montgomery Ward kit wood-burning fireplace. The parlor is adjacent to the entry and was used to entertain guests, primarily done by the Kell children unless the parents were hosting a school board or church meeting. It's also the room where the family set up the Christmas tree, but Frank made sure the pocket doors were closed until after breakfast on Christmas morning.

An elegant wooden staircase across from the parlor leads visitors to the second floor, and is flanked by a small sitting area as well as an elevator installed in 1939 to relieve Frank from having to walk up the stairs after injuring his back.

The beautiful dining room was adorned with mission-style furniture in the early days, and later redecorated with a French flare including pieces dating back to 1800 France, including a French Empire-style credenza and marquetry console. The formal rosewood dining table is set with china, crystal and silver.

The original kitchen was modest with a coal-gas combination stove as well as a window for vendors to deliver blocks of ice for the ice box. The kitchen was later updated as time passed.

A library was added in 1925 to provide a work space for Frank, where future plans for Wichita Falls were certainly worked on. It has a "partner's" desk where the elder Kell could sit with someone directly across from him.

A sunroom was also added in 1925.

The Kell House has five bedrooms upstairs as well as a sewing room. The most ornate of the bedrooms is Willie May's, featuring items that hint at her travels around the world. The academic and military career of Joseph Kell  the Kell's only son who died in a car accident at age 44  is captured in photographs hanging on the wall.

The house also has three bathrooms, six gas fireplaces and one wood-burning fireplace.

Behind the main house is the two-story carriage house. The original structure could accommodate live stock as well as Lula's 1912 electric car. The upstairs is where the hay loft was, and space for servant's quarters and storage. The structure, used primarily for office space now, also had a laundry room.

The furnishings

Flood said it's hard to pick out one item in Kell House that would be her favorite. They all seem to have their own story  what part of the world it came from, who bought it and how it got there.

But, there is one aspect of the home-turned-museum she said she does like.

"The most interesting thing is just the fact that most of what's in the house  90-95 percent  is original to the family," she said of the furnishings. "That's pretty unique. We were lucky that we were able to get the house directly from the family. A lot of historic house museums go through several hands before somebody comes in and turns it into a museum."

Ropes have been removed from most rooms that prevented guests at the museum to get an up close look at grand furniture that speaks to the successes of Frank Kell. Flood said the ropes were removed to make Kell House more inviting for guests, and allow them to walk where the Kell family walked.

Some of the more eye-catching items throughout the house include: a Victorian Renaissance Revival pier table; a baby grand player piano made by William Knabe & Co. in Baltimore, Maryland; a Victorian Rococo Revival four-piece parlor suite; an Empire Transitional three-piece parlor suite; a longcase clock; and a grandfather clock. Another item is a beautifully crafted Rococo Revival Period box piano, which was given to Sybil Kell Cahoon upon graduating from school.

A replica of Willie May's canopy bed is upstairs in the bedroom that bears her name. The bedroom also has a French writing desk.

Remain relevant

The Kell House is certainly an opportunity for Wichita Falls residents and others to step back in time; to touch and feel the belongings of an influential family that helped mold a city and region.

Flood said she and the WCHS Kell House Committee are working to make the museum more relevant in the community, such as opening it up to weddings and rentals in the near future.

"We think the more people that come into the house, the more they'll understand why saving that house is so important," she said.

McKown said the biggest project the WCHS has is preserving the Kell House and returning it to its former sophisticated grandeur. But, it comes at a cost. She said the undertaking is typically funded through donations, grants, foundation gifts and fundraising.

In the end, the effort is to provide a place where the present can visit the past. It's especially rewarding when longtime residents who have never visited the museum stop in.

"They usually think it's really neat," McKown said. "You always kind of get the feeling that they're sorry they waited so long to finally come here."

To learn more about the Kell House, visit www.wichita-heritage.org/Kellhousemain.
Times Record News file photo Wichita Falls Regional Airport has built a new terminal and revamped several of the runways in recent years. A project to complete Taxiway C is running past schedule. City council will consider a change order for the project Tuesday. The new completion date is expected in November.

SHARE Times Record News file photo Wichita Falls Regional Airport has built a new terminal and revamped several of the runways in recent years. A project to complete Taxiway C is running past schedule. City council will consider a change order for the project Tuesday. The new completion date is expected in November.

By Claire Kowalick of the Times Record News

The contractor of a taxiway project at the Wichita Falls Regional Airport failed to complete the project on time  and it's going to cost them.

To date, the reconstruction of Taxiway C, which was supposed to be completed in May, is only 40 percent done. Mitchell Enterprises LLC was contracted to complete three phases of the project and they have only completed the first phase. The remaining phases include a general aviation apron to the commercial apron and a commercial apron to Runway 35.

Because the deadline for completion passed in May, the city of Wichita Falls has been assessing liquidated damages fees of $1,000 per day against Mitchell. After meeting with Mitchell's bonding company, city staff said they feel confident the contractor can complete the work by November.

Due to the delay, the city's construction management team, Garver LLC, will incur additional expenses for construction materials testing, administration, and resident project representative services. The liquidated damages paid by Mitchell will be used to pay these nearly $200,000 additional expenses from Garver.

The council will consider a resolution Tuesday for a change order to revise Garver's contracted amount from $379,952 to $577,202, to include these added expenses. The city and Federal Aviation Administration will not incur any additional costs as a result of the delay.

In other matters, the council will hold a public hearing concerning the second-year action plan of the adopted five-year plan of the Public Housing Agency Plan and consider three resolutions.

- After the public hearing, there will be a resolution for approval of the PHA second-year of their five-year action plan.

- A resolution for two advanced funding agreements with the Texas Department of Transportation for the replacement of two bridges. One bridge is at Maplewood Northbound and one at the Southbound areas over McGrath Creek.

- A resolution to award a bid to Mote Inc., of Henrietta, for asbestos abatement and demolition of two commercial properties and a motel complex off Burkburnett Road near Sheppard Air Force Base. Total bid for the project is $250,464, which is nearly $200,000 less than budgeted by the city for the project. The abatement is expected to take 25-30 days and the demolition will take 40-50 for a total of about 80 for completion. This is part of the SAFB Transportation and Perimeter Security Project.

Council will also hear an update concerning a resident who approached city council and staff two weeks ago about an unusually high water bill. City staff admitted that the resident's meter had been estimated for several months and City Manager Darron Leiker requested an update on the situation.
SHARE Courtesy photo Burkburnett's new fire equipment is displayed in front of Engine 3. Courtesy photo The Graham Fire Department received new equipment to upgrade one of its trucks. Courtesy photo The Graham Fire Department received new equipment to upgrade one of its trucks.

By Times Record News

Two area fire departments received grants from Texas A&M Forest Services Rural Volunteer Fire Department Assistance Program.

Burkburnett Volunteer Fire Department received a grant for new rescue equipment, while the City of Graham FD received a grant for a slip-on unit. A slip-on unit is designed to enhance a fire departments firefighting capabilities.

The slip-on unit is built for the rigors of the fire service and easily mounted in the back of a pick-up truck or a custom built bed and is especially effective in handling wildland, vehicle and structure fires.

Water rescue gear and rescue stabilization equipment were among the equipment received by Burkburnett VFD. We are pleased to have the stabilization equipment that will be beneficial when responding to auto accidents, Burkburnett Chief Rodney Ryalls said. The equipment can be used to stabilize overturned vehicles, large machines and also has the capability to be used as a tripod for confined space rescue.

The equipment is intended to make it safer for Burkburnett volunteer firefighters and victims. In Graham, the new slip-on provides a more functional truck than the previous unit they had.

This unit is replacing an older, smaller unit designed for only one specific task, Texas A&M Forest Service Regional Fire Coordinator Regan Reser said. This skid unit will be much more versatile and the vehicle its mounted on can now be utilized in many more situations, so it should greatly increase the usability and provide a better response to the community, while adding to the safety of all the departments members.

Graham VFD Chief Jerry David is appreciative of the grant programs, saying that the department could not afford new equipment otherwise. 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, the service said in a news release.

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.
Lauren Roberts/Times Record News hedy heyd Wichita Falls police block entrances to the River Road Wastewater Treatment Plant Saturday evening. Two city workers from the plant were transported to Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas in critical condition after being exposed to a gas while making routine repairs in the facility's basement. Officials said the gas was never a threat to the public.

By John Ingle of the Times Record News

Investigators continue their work to determine what happened Saturday afternoon when two workers at River Road Wastewater Treatment Plant were exposed to hydrogren sulfide while working on a sludge pump.

The two employees were still at Parkland Memorial Hospital Sunday receiving treatment for chemical burns as a result of the incident. Authorities continue to piece together the events. The workers' conditions were not available Sunday afternoon.

Daniel Nix, utilities operations manager for Wichita Falls, said an employee with 18 years' experience another worker with more than a year at the plant were conducting routine maintenance on the pump when they were exposed to the dangerous gas. He said personnel at the plant who were performing a routine check on the workers found them down at about 5 p.m. and followed procedures for emergency response by the fire department and police department.

"The procedure is in extreme hazardous environment, they aren't to go in and rescue," he said, adding it would potentially add to the number of employees having to be rescued.

Nix said employees followed protocol and praised the fire and police departments for their response.

Working in utilities, whether at the River Road plant, one of the two water treatment plants or in the field is inherently dangerous work, Nix said. He said the last time an incident occurred was about 30 years ago. Saturday's incident was an unlikely event.

"It's one of those things the occasion for it to occur is there, but an incident actually happening is low," Nix said. "We work in a hazardous environment every day."

Nix said staff at the plant are understandably shaken up by the incident. He said they are a close-knit family and are concerned about the men's well-being.
Bail bondsman Maxie Green back in jail on high bond

A local bail bondsman has been in and out of jail himself and was back behind bars Wednesday.
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In 1941, Franklin Roosevelt articulated four fundamental human freedoms. Now, 75 years later, one of the country's largest food producers has made a commitment to a similar set of principles  but this time, the focus is on chickens.

Maryland-based poultry producer Perdue Foods announced an animal-welfare overhaul Monday that would bring the company in line with globally recognized guidelines known as the "five freedoms" of animal welfare. The precedent  setting changes  Perdue is the first major U.S. poultry producer to hold itself to so strict a standard  signal a welcome shift in American attitudes toward animal rights.

To spare farm fowl from "discomfort," "disease" and "distress," as the five freedoms demand, Perdue plans to make cramped coops look more like playpens. In addition to outfitting enclosures with haystacks, hiding places and perches, the company will reduce the number of birds in each barn and install windows to let in more natural light. Perdue will also put chickens to sleep before slaughter.

Perhaps most important, Perdue has promised to reverse a troubling breeding trend: Many birds are genetically engineered to balloon in size until their organs fail or their legs break under their own weight. Eventually, Perdue will replace these strains of chicken with new, more natural lines  though the company has yet to set a timeline for the transition.

In the past, Perdue has come under fire from animal rights advocacy groups for mistreating its chickens. But the company developed its new policies in concert with many of its old adversaries. The change of heart isn't just a response to criticism: It's also an answer to increased calls from consumers to know where their food comes from.

More and more food sellers refuse to stock meat that comes from maltreated animals. The same is true of Americans picking what to put on their dining room tables. Perdue's revised practices might raise the cost of production, but it doesn't matter how cheaply a company produces meat if no one wants to buy it.

That's all the more reason for Perdue's competitors to take a tip from the company and improve the treatment of their chickens, just as they did when Perdue vowed to eliminate antibiotics from its birds a few years ago. It's also a sign that Congress should consider passing a law to protect poultry the same way it does other livestock through the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act.

"We are going to go beyond what a chicken needs and give chickens what they want," Jim Perdue said of his company's commitments. It is hard to say exactly what a chicken wants. But it's easy enough to realize, as Perdue has, what the animals deserve. We hope others will follow suit.

The Washington Post
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John Russell Stephenson, Colonel, USAF, MSC (Ret), Wichita Falls

Honoring those who served

Today is June 30, 2016. It is 8:25 p.m. I just returned from an early 4th of July celebration at the Museum of North Texas History in Wichita Falls that consisted of a hamburger and a program. The burger was good  the program great!

Kenny Mayo, a board member and retired history teacher, and his wife presented the program. Both are talented musicians. He on guitar and she on piano. Both are good vocalists. They read actual letters written during times of war to include the American Civil War, World War II, Korean War, Vietnam War, Desert Storm, and other Mideast conflicts. For each they showed films of said wars followed by reading one of those real letters. The letter could be from a son to a mom, a mom to her son whose name appears on the Vietnam memorial wall in Washington D.C., from a military father to his daughter at home, etc. Then the Mayo's played and sang a song from that particular time period to close and move to the next war.

As the program progressed you felt emotion, patriotism, and tears form in the audience. Some were veterans, most were not, but all were on board. The program ended with people standing, clapping and singing "God Bless America". As a 30 year veteran and one who after the Vietnam War was assigned to the Pentagon, I was not the only one to encounter some public hostility. It is hard to imagine but we were not allowed to wear a uniform in Washington D.C.  and, that really happened. Tonight there was a very real positive difference. I was then and am proud today of my years in uniform and proud of others who served and of those who supported us. When you are part of the best you wonder if you need the rest!

After the program I went up to Kenny and offered a simple but very heart felt "thank you." What the Mayo's and the audience hopefully understand is that it is people like them and those in that audience that those in the military happily serve and go to war for. They, and America, are worth it.

Remember this: no one hates war more than those who fight them, and no one loves freedom more than those willing to go to war for it.

May God bless America, our troops, and those who support them! Have a happy 4th!
BlackBerry Priv (Photo : Facebook)

BlackBerry smartphones will stop being issued to the United States Senate's staff members after over a decade of use. The news was reported to US Senate staffers last week. It resulted from Blackberry reportedly discontinuing mobile devices that run on BlackBerry OS 10. However, Blackberry clarified that the company's latest operating system will also support Android devices.



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The Canadian company cleared up some other issues. It stated that it will keep supporting the BlackBerry 10 platform and is working on software updates, according to The Christian Science Monitor.



US Senate staffers will have a few options when the inventory of BlackBerry devices runs out. They can choose between Apple's iPhone SE and Samsung's Galaxy S6.



However, the US Senate will continue to support BlackBerry phones for those who do not switch to iOS or Android devices. The US Senate's Sergeant at Arms (SAA) reports that it currently has 610 mobile devices.



BlackBerry smartphones have been dropping in popularity greatly due to iOS and Android devices dominating the market. However, BlackBerry has been able to keep the plurality of its government handset contracts.



The company used to rule the mobile device market due to its security, email, and physical keyboard. This was before the era of social media, instant messaging, and SwiftKey.



BlackBerry's latest devices are running Android. Last year the company launched its first Android-powered smartphone named Blackberry Priv.



Priv only sold 600,000 units during Q1 2016. BlackBerry CEO John Chef told The National that the low sales figures were due to the phone's high price.



BlackBerry reportedly has plans to launch three new Android smartphones during the next year. That includes two with full touchscreens, and one with a QWERTY keyboard.



The company is clearly shifting from smartphones and tablets to mobile device-managing software for businesses and governments.



BlackBerry's software and licensing revenue was $166 million for fiscal Q1 2017. Meanwhile, the revenue for devices was $152 million.



Chen told reporters in June that he tries to convince the world that his company is not just about phones. However, he admitted that is the topic he is most often asked about.



In related news, President Barack Obama recently told "Tonight Show" host Jimmy Fallon that he got rid of his BlackBerry phone, according to Engadget. However, for security purposes he cannot use the new phone to make calls, send texts, play music, or take photos.



Here's a review of BlackBerry Priv:






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I have an idea.

The federal government needs to compile a list of women who shouldn't be allowed to get abortions. The criteria for getting on the list must be flexible. If an official at, say, the NIH or FBI think that a woman should be a mother for some reason or other, he or she can block an abortion. Maybe the woman has great genes or a high IQ or the sorts of financial resources we need in parents. Let's leave that decision where it belongs: in the hands of the government.

Heck, there's really no reason even to tell women if they're on the "no abort" list. Let them find out at the clinic. And if they go in for an abortion only to discover they are among the million or more people on the list, there will be no clear process for getting off it, even if it was a bureaucratic error or case of mistaken identity.

Sound like a good idea?

You probably don't think so, particularly if you took part in the celebratory riot of good feeling in the wake of the Supreme Court's recent decision striking down Texas abortion regulations. In the case of Whole Woman's Health v. Hellerstedt, the court ruled that Texas could not raise the required health and safety standards of abortion clinics to match those of other "ambulatory surgical centers." The reforms were implemented in the wake of the Kermit Gosnell scandal in which the Philadelphia abortionist's abattoir was revealed to be more like the setting for a "Saw" movie than a decent medical clinic.

The court held that abortion is such a fundamental constitutional right that minimal health standards are an "undue burden" on women seeking an abortion, even if they might save women's lives.

There's a deep and perplexing contradiction here. If abortion is just another aspect of "women's health" -- currently the preferred euphemism for the procedure  why have higher health and safety regulations for dentists than abortionists?

But that's just the first of many contradictions. The court allowed Whole Women's Health to sue in the first place, even though the company has no right to an abortion, and third parties aren't supposed to have standing to sue for someone else's constitutional rights. The left loves to say "corporations aren't people" -- unless they're suing for abortion rights. Then the new mantra is: "Corporations are people, but human fetuses aren't."

The contradiction I find most glaring and galling is that the euphoric hysteria from the left over the court's decision occurred right in the middle of a conversation about guns and terrorist watch lists.

In that conversation, many of the same voices on the left argued that the federal government can  nay, must! -- have the unilateral power to put American citizens on a secret list barring them from exercising two constitutional rights: the right to bear arms and the right to due process when the government denies you a right. (Both, unlike abortion, are rights spelled out in the Constitution). Congressional Democrats even staged a tawdry tantrum on the House floor about it.

Never mind that the Orlando slaughter  the event that set off the House sit-in  would not have been prevented if the Democrats had their way.

Writing for the majority in the Hellerstedt case, Justice Stephen Breyer argued that the Texas statute was unnecessary because "determined wrongdoers" like Gosnell wouldn't be deterred by new laws given that he was willing to violate existing laws.

Maybe so. But isn't that exactly the NRA's position on gun laws? Murderers, never mind terrorists, by definition don't care about the law.

It gets even crazier. President Obama, who hailed the court's decision, desperately craves the unilateral power to keep a list of people to whom he wants to deny guns without due process. But he also insists that known terrorists, particularly those held at Guantanamo Bay, have a constitutional right to due process (though presumably not to buy a gun).

Yes, there's a lot of deviltry in the details, but the basic truth is undeniable: Those on the left  in all three branches of the federal government, along with their cheerleaders in the media  believe that the rights they like are sacred and the rights they dislike are negligible inconveniences at best and outrageous cancers on the body politic at worst. As Justice Clarence Thomas put it in his Hellerstedt dissent: "The Court employs a different approach to rights that it favors."

In this, the court is not alone.

Jonah Goldberg is a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and a senior editor of National Review. You can write to him in care of this newspaper or by email at goldbergcolumn@gmail.com, or via Twitter @JonahNRO.
Hundreds of funny women have been applying to the 2016 Ladies of Laughter National Competition, but only 60 will be chosen to compete at preliminary events beginning July 13 at Gotham Comedy Club in New York City.

Additional tryouts will be held July 20 at The Funny Bone in Albany, July 25 at Gotham Comedy Club and Aug. 11 at Levity Live in West Nyack.

Ten finalists will be chosen at these events to compete in the Grand Finale Aug. 20 at Turning Stone Resort Casino, where they will throw down jokes for cash prizes, comedy bookings and the 2016 Ladies of Laughter "Professional" and "Newcomer" titles.

National headliner and former Ladies of Laughter winner, Tammy Pescatelli, will host the finale.

"Since it was first introduced into comedy clubs in 1999, the Ladies of Laughter series has awarded theater and comedy club bookings, major publicity and thousands of dollars to aspiring comediennes," said Executive Producer Peggy Boyce, "and has been a driving force behind women getting to the next level in their comedy careers."

A percentage of proceeds from the events will benefit Buddy Cares  an animal rights advocacy group that provides wellness and services to abandoned animals in need.

The Albany show will be hosted by Erin Harkes and begins at 7:30 p.m. July 20, at The Funny Bone at Crossgates Mall. Tickets are $20. Go to http://albany.funnybone.com.

Funny ladies interested in competing should register online. Contestants must be 18 or older and enter no later than July 13. Both professional and amateur female comedians are encouraged to apply.

For information, go to http://www.ladiesoflaughter.org.

 Jennifer Patterson
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Stillwater

Ioannis Ravanis, 48, of Ballston Lake, came to the U.S. from Greece to help set up the Fage USA Dairy Industry yogurt plant in Johnstown a decade ago.

Amid the pomp, solemnity and fun of Independence Day, he became an American at the Saratoga National Historic Park on Monday.

"I'm going to live here the rest of my life," Ravanis, executive vice president for manufacturing and operations at Fage USA, said about his decision to become a U.S. citizen.

As for registering to vote to get a chance to weigh in on the U.S. presidential election in November, Ravanis said, "I'm thinking about it."

A taste of the 18th century with fife music, cannon and musket salutes and a toast to the Declaration of Independence welcomed Ravanis and 20 other new U.S. citizens at the Saratoga park. The new Americans celebrated their first day as citizens as the nation marked its 240th birthday with Fourth of July celebrations.

"This is not only a special occasion for these new citizens to take the oath of allegiance, but it is a moment for all of us to recommit to the ideals and tenants that our new citizens are embracing today," Battlefield Superintendent Amy Bracewell said.

This was the 13th time that the national park had hosted the citizenship ceremony on Independence Day at the place considered to be the turning point of the American Revolution 239 years ago at the two Battles of Saratoga in 1777.

"It is on this landscape here where Americans sacrifice everything for the promise of a better life for their children, their grandchildren and future generations including us. The Battles of Saratoga laid the foundation for our freedoms, our patriotism and our self-governance," Bracewell said.

Kevin Sooklall, 41, a machinist living in Schenectady, said it was significant to swear the oath of allegiance on the battlefield.

"The U.S. stands for an idea of freedom. It's an honor to do it here," said Sooklall, who was joined by his wife Rajkumari Sooklall, 28, who also was sworn in as a citizen.

The couple, originally from Guyana, is aware that the presidential election is just four months away. Rajkumari Sooklall said, "We get to contribute and participate as American citizens."

The 21 who became new Americans in Stillwater were among more than 7,000 citizens sworn in by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services during more than 100 ceremonies nationwide between June 30 and July 4.

Another ceremony was held Monday afternoon at the Empire State Plaza in Albany during the New York state Fourth of July Celebration.

The new citizens at Saratoga hailed from 13 countries: Albania, Bosnia-Herezegovina, Bulgaria, China, Ecuador, France, Germany, Germany, Greece, Guyana, Philippines, Poland, South Korea and the United Kingdom.

Anna Marina Ianni, 35, of Lake George began her exploration of the U.S. as a student from Poland working summers at Mama Riso's Restaurant. Now, she's married to Sal Ianni and they have a 2 1/2-year-old daughter.

"I'm very excited. It's really great," Ianni said about becoming a citizen.

She's looked into registering to vote. "It's a very interesting election year."

kcrowe@timesunion.com  518-454-5084  @KennethCrowe
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A Vietnam War veteran who had a role in resupplying and medical evacuation of Army soldiers while under intense enemy fire in the first significant battle of the Vietnam War received the Rev. Francis A. Kelley Hometown Hero Award.

Retired Army Brig. Gen. Richard L. Butterfield of Rensselaer was honored by Chapter 38 of the Disabled American Veterans during a ceremony at East Greenbush YMCA.

Butterfield earned the award for military and law enforcement service.

The full board of Chapter 197 of the U.S. Air Force Association also saluted Butterfield.

"Brigadier General Richard L. Butterfield is most deserving of the prestigious Rev. F. A. Kelley Hometown Hero Award presented by the Disabled American Veterans Chapter 38," Rensselaer County Executive Kathleen Jimino said as she presented the award.

Butterfield was highly decorated for his service during two tours in Vietnam, where he was wounded while evacuating injured soldiers.

State Sen. Kathleen Marchione, represented by Dan Casale, presented a state Senate Resolution honoring Butterfield and praising his service. Warren County Sheriff Nathan "Bud" York also offered words of praise.

Butterfield served in the active Army from 1963-70.

While on duty as a second lieutenant with the 11th Pathfinders of the 1st Cavalry Division, he saw combat in the Battle of Ia Drang Valley in the Central Highlands in South Vietnam Nov. 14-18, 1965.

Butterfield and his team directed helicopter resupply and medical evacuation missions.

After North Vietnamese soldiers and Viet Cong guerrillas inflicted heavy casualties on the 1st Cav soldiers at X-Ray, a nighttime rescue mission was launched to evacuate the wounded. Afterward, Butterfield led his pathfinder team to nearby Landing Zone Albany. Again, the Americans suffered heavy casualties during numerous enemy attacks. Butterfield's team directed medevac missions all night and into the next morning, making sure all wounded were removed.

Butterfield was wounded at 1 a.m., but did not leave his team until all other wounded soldiers were removed.

A total of 96 1st Cav soldiers died and 121 were wounded at X-Ray, and 155 were killed and 124 wounded at Albany. More than 1,200 enemy troops were killed in the two engagements.

Butterfield served a second tour as a captain in Vietnam in 1968 as company commander of E Company, 2nd Battalion, 506 Infantry, 101st Airborne Division. His company conducted many combat operations.

He was wounded again and, after recovering from his wounds at Camp Zama Japan, Butterfield returned to Vietnam and served with the 5th Special Forces Group Airborne.

After the war, he served with the New York Army National Guard from 1970-95 as a company commander, commander of 2nd Battalion, 105th Infantry, and as commander of the 1st Brigade, 42nd Infantry Division.

As a civilian, he was a state trooper until 2006. He currently serves with the Warren County Sheriff's office with the Narcotics Enforcement Unit.

Butterfield has earned 28 awards and decorations, with the Purple Heart his most cherished.

New soldiers

New soldiers assigned to Army National Guard units are:

Private 1st Class David Lima of Albany, serving with the 727th Military Police Law and Order Detachment.

Private John Hillmann of Albany, assigned to Company B, 1st Battalion, 69th Infantry.

Private Shane Kosakowski of Colonie, on duty with Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2nd Battalion, 108th Infantry.

Private Ashley McCarty-Gonzalez of Schenectady, on duty with Headquarters and Support Company, 42nd Infantry Division.

Private Codi Patenaude of Watervliet, serving with Headquarters and Support Company, 42nd Infantry Division.

New airman

Air Force Airman 1st Class Michael R. Russell of Glenville graduated from basic training at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, San Antonio.

News can be sent to Duty Calls, Terry Brown, Times Union, Box 15000, Albany, NY 12212 or brownt@timesunion.com.
Nintendo NX could use cartridges again for physical media (Photo : YouTube / Lord Carnage)

Nintendo has reassured their investors that the Nintendo NX will still be released on time with the March 2017 release date as reports also claim that the console is being prepared for mass production.



Fans are already anxious to see what the Nintendo has to offer as most reports are now claiming that it would be another disappointing product that would be inferior to the upcoming PlayStation Neo and the Xbox Scorpio. The Nintendo NX specs have not yet been revealed by the company who also said that they will compete using quality content and not with the horsepower of their console.



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Microsoft has openly said that the Xbox Scorpio will be churning out at least six teraflops of computing power as the company thinks this is the minimum required for VR and 4K gaming. Sony has not confirmed all of their technical details yet but the ballpark could be about the same range for their PlayStation Neo.



Cheesemeister translated the transcript of the Nintendo 76th Annual General Meeting of Shareholders where Director of Manufacturing Hirokazu Shinshi said that the Nintendo NX is already being "prepped" for manufacturing, WCCFTech has learned. In addition, Shinshi said that they are currently considering how large of the manufacturing process for the console will be automated.



Moreover, the manufacturing automation is expected to be done in China instead of in Japan. Nintendo said that they are still "communicating" with their partners regarding any final adjustments that are required in order for a smooth production of the upcoming console.



Nintendo has also reconfirmed that the Nintendo NX will arrive in March 2017 with no expected delays, GamingBolt reported. The automation of the manufacturing process could play a huge role in keeping the console up to date with the production deadlines and such.



There are not a lot of details regarding the NX. Ubisoft has said that they will support the console but did not mention whether they will be making AAA games as well.



The Nintendo NX will be going against the Xbox Scorpio in 2017 as Sony is expected to release the PlayStation Neo this year. Fans will have to wait until the unveiling of the Nintendo NX which is not expected soon considering that it has not made an appearance in E3 and the company will not attend the upcoming Tokyo Game Show 2016.






New Lebanon

While the big headline music festivals do their thing every summer, Tannery Pond Concerts offers an intimate alternative. The sunset views from the grounds of the Darrow School never fail to inspire awe. In the converted Shaker barn that serves as a concert hall, the wood paneled surfaces lend the feeling of being inside the string instruments as they're played on the small stage.

Members of the Jasper Quartet already had all that going for them before they ever came out. But they also brought plenty of talent, plus guest flutist Eugenia Zuckerman for two selections. The program was varied and satisfying.

Beethoven's Quartet in B Flat Major, Op. 18, No. 6 was played with a generally bright tone and appropriate gusto. It's a relatively early work by the composer, but the dark clouds of his later years make more than a passing appearance. The slow and heavy "Malinconia" section of the final movement felt abstract and surreal. When the writing returns to a sprightly theme, the juxtaposition was rather comic.

After Beethoven's take on darkness, Arthur Foote's gentle "Night Piece" for flute and quartet came off as closer to twilight than midnight. Nevertheless, it was a nice opportunity to hear something from this early 20th century New England composer. Foote gave the solo flute a serene and wandering line that Zuckerman played with a modest and pleasant tone.

More interpretative possibilities came from Alberto Ginastera's "Impressiones de la Puna." Its three brief movements feature obvious references to Latin America, if not actual quotes of folk tunes from the composer's Argentinian heritage. Zuckerman played some extended passages in the lower range with a warm slow vibrato. The final dance finally showed her quick and easy dexterity at broad melodic leaps.

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During the Beethoven, cellist Rachel Henderson Freivogel seemed out of synch with her peers from the perspective of tone color. Where the others offered a highly polish sheen, her sound was restrained and staid. But in the Debussy Quartet the group came round to her more interior approach.

They brought to the piece an interpretative style that was rich and warm, yet not ingratiating either. Lingering in the ear's memory was the tightly wound, austere performance of the Debussy back in March by the Ebene String Quartet at Union College. The Jasper gave it something much more welcome, a natural grace and beauty.

Joseph Dalton is a freelance writer based in Troy.
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Bethlehem

A boatload of Bethlehem officials chugged up the Hudson River examining the town's 10-mile stretch of waterfront last month.

A new town committee is charged with creating a master plan for the waterfront, a stretch of land that is a mix of predominantly open space (parks, preserves and undeveloped land), a riverside neighborhood of high-end homes and a small patch of industry.

"The goal is to make better use of our 10 miles of Hudson River waterfront," said town Supervisor John Clarkson, adding that the town would like to maximize the recreational, residential and business activity along the river.

More Information Related stories Carver Laraway planning new port site in Bethlehem River strip saved from developers Kayak the Bethlehem waterfront Susan Leath, Bethlehem's town historian, will lead a kayak tour of the Hudson River and Vlomankill on Thursday at 6:30 p.m., starting at the boat launch at Henry Hudson Park. Participants must bring their own kayaks. The tour is free but pre-registration is required on the town website: >http://www.townofbethlehem.org> See More Collapse

Town officials said they want to attract more companies to the area set aside for industry near the Port of Albany, improve connections between the parks and preserves that dot the riverfront, and protect the viewshed, the vistas for residents and people who use the river.

About 40 business owners, residents, government officials and environmental advocates boarded the Dutch Apple II on June 20 to take a three-hour tour of Bethlehem's Hudson River shoreline.

Many said they had no idea Bethlehem had so much riverfront.

Rich Hendrick, the general manager of the Port of Albany, took the microphone as the riverboat passed his site. Hendrick said the port is planning to buy a roll-on, roll-off device to allow companies like GE to slide massive pieces of equipment on and off barges. The port also wants to buy the Horvath property, about 80 acres next to the port in Bethlehem.

"If the opportunity is there, we would like to expand into the town of Bethlehem," Hendrick said.

The Port of Coeymans recently bought Harris Rebar, a Bethlehem business on the river, and plans to expand its operations there.

Two miles  410 acres  of Bethlehem's waterfront are zoned for heavy industrial use, and about 80 acres are unoccupied.

As the Dutch Apple left behind Bethlehem's industrial waterfront, the stunning homes on Van Wies Point moved into view. One of the first homes in sight belonged to Charlotte Buchanan, who is a member of the waterfront planning committee.

"Industries along this river are terrific neighbors," Buchanan said.

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But Lisa Evans, another Van Wies resident and member of the committee, said she'd like the town to be selective about the industry allowed on the river.

"I'd love to see it not change," Evans said.

As the riverboat moved farther south, the waterfront opened up into flood plains, forests and parks. The Bethlehem riverfront has several parks and preserves, including the town-run Henry Hudson Park and Moh-He-Con-Nuck Nature Preserve, and the 131-acre Binnen Kill, recently acquired by Scenic Hudson.

The Glenmont Job Corps property is a target of the waterfront planners. The job-training center uses only a small portion of the federally owned parcel while the property's waterfront is unused. The property could be critical in connecting the public lands on Bethlehem's waterfront.

A new master plan for the Local Waterfront Revitalization Program is expected to be drafted by next summer. It is a second effort after a previous draft completed in 2010 was deemed unambitious. Clarkson said a master plan with "big picture" goals can help the town pursue state and federal grants.

ccrowley@timesunion.com  518-454-5348  @townstu  http://facebook.com/cathleenFcrowley
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Fort Edward

Moments after I arrived, I watched as the red, white and blue plane wobbled in the North Country sky before bouncing one, two, three times during landing. Rushing to the crash site was its pilot, Bob Lippman, who in a manner reminiscent of Godzilla or King Kong, examined the tiny remote-controlled plane by holding it up to his head.

"I'm surprised it came down in one piece," Lippman, president of the North Country Flying Tigers Model Airplane Club, said as he brought the RC plane to a nearby workbench.

The club was preparing for the annual Fun Fly Charity Airshow July 9, which raises money for the American Legion.

For the members of the North Country Flying Tigers, the fun of RC planes comes in small doses of joy as they swoop through the air, but the true satisfaction of the hobby lies in failure, and in the hours of tinkering with the toys after a failure in search of success.

"It's not an instant gratification sport," Lippman said as he went to his truck for his toolbox.

Lippman pointed at his shirt, which sported the words "Build. Crash. Repeat."

As he turned around, a blue World War II-era plane's canopy fell off while the aircraft careened toward the ground before landing with a scrape along the grass.

"It landed!" the plane's owner stated.

Lippman, a Saratoga Springs lawyer, got into the hobby in 2011 after he bought his son a remote-controlled plane for his birthday. Soon, the father was a fan of flying, becoming a member and then president of the North Country Flying Tigers, which flies Wednesday evenings near Fort Edward, at a picturesque field surrounded by the Adirondacks.

The club has around 45 members, said Ernie Hoenigmann, a Chestertown man who serves as the club's secretary. Hoenigmann pulled out his wallet and showed me the two cards needed to fly. One is a registration with the Academy of Model Aeronautics, the other a certification from the Federal Aviation Administration to fly drones. Hoenigmann flew RC planes for 20 years, he said, only for them to become classified as drones and requiring him to take an online class.

Flight training is another must for newbies to the sport, Hoenigmann said.

At this point, Hoenigmann turned to me and asked if I would like to fly.

He placed a controller into my hands. He gave another controller to Dan Whiteman, who has been flying model planes since 1963. The Hudson Falls man would be my co-pilot, taking over when I messed up. Whiteman controlled the 25-year-old trainer plane as it flew into the air. After that, I took over.

The mistakes piled up quickly. The controller has two joysticks, with the slightest touch making the plane dive, climb or roll through the air. Each second it takes to make a decision is another second that the plane flies farther away  or worse  closer toward you.

Whiteman seemed a good sport whenever he took back control of the plane. "That's what we say, train two mistakes high," he said.

A few feet away, another beginner flew for his second time. Ashton Osborne, a 13-year-old from Lake George, began flying a week before. The controls were confusing at first  pulling the joystick down toward you makes the plane go up  but Osborne said he got the hang of it.

"Today, I didn't need any help," Osborne said. He even got to land the plane himself. Now, he said he wants to buy his own.

To pass training, beginners have to learn how to fly straight, fly figure eights, get out of a stall, and take off and land, Hoenigmann said. Young children seem to learn it overnight, he added.

Jon Tessier of Glens Falls recalled learning to fly by himself 15 years ago, without the aid of a co-pilot.

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"Back in the day," Tessier said, "you flew three mistakes high."

Tessier was the pilot of the blue World War II-era plane that crashed earlier in the night. He repaired the plane, a F4U Corsair, and readied it for another flight. The plane had been in countless crashes over its four years of flight, and each time it had been fixed and sometimes reinforced.

"That Corsair is more glue than foam," a fellow Flying Tiger said, after the F4U Corsair again skidded into the ground.

Tessier said he has a fondness for World War II-era planes and has seven in his fleet back home. The F4U Corsair was famously rugged and tough, which is why Tessier said he doesn't mind the damage as it adds to the realism.

A real, non-miniature aircraft flew high overhead, and a hush fell over the club as everyone traced the path of the plane through the clouds, with some of the members trying to identify its make and model. "We're all just wannabe pilots," Lippman said, laughing.

Lippman piloted a miniature P-40 Warhawk, famously flown by American pilots of the Flying Tigers in World War II, into the air.

He was piloting it for Nick Glorioso, a Granville man and an Air Force veteran who was rusty at flying. The plane rose into the sky, before falling like a rock into the ground. Lippman and Glorioso rushed to the crash site, where the plane's right wing was broken at the seam.

"It's very fixable," Lippman said as he consoled Glorioso. The men took the famed fighter plane and pondered the many hours of tinkering ahead.

"Come to the man cave," Lippman said. "A couple of beers, and we'll have it fixed."

jlawrence@timesunion.com  518-454-5467  @jplawrence3
Asia Pacific Healthcare IT Integration Market 2016 - Market Share By Competitor, Drivers & Restraints - Research and Markets

Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "Asia Pacific Healthcare IT Integration Market 2016" report to their offering.

This study provides a detailed analysis of the Asia Pacific Healthcare IT Integration Market for the year 2015.

This study provides market sizing and revenue forecasts for the overall healthcare IT integration market in individual countries including China, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and Malaysia. The report identifies varying market conditions in different countries in the Asia Pacific region and provides insights into the healthcare IT integration market in individual countries.

This study captures the following information on the Asia Pacific ealthcare IT Integration Market:







Market Size, Growth Rate, Revenue Forecasts (2015-2022)

Growth Drivers & Restraints

Market Data

Quotes by Key Industry Participants

Market Share Analysis

Market Trends

Companies Mentioned:

IBM Corporation

InterSystems (News - Alert) Corporation

MuleSoft, Inc.

Oracle Corporation

Orion Health Limited



Key Topics Covered:

I. Scope of Research

II. Asia Pacific Healthcare IT Integration Market Landscape.

III. China Healthcare IT Integration Market Landscape

IV. Australia Healthcare IT Integration Market Landscape

V. Singapore and Malaysia Healthcare IT Integration Market Landscape

VI. New Zealand Healthcare IT Integration Market Landscape

VII. Key Organizations.

VIII. Strategic Recommendations

For more information visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/5zsxhc/asia_pacific

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160704005530/en/
[July 04, 2016] Voith Accelerates Its Digital Transformation

HEIDENHEIM, Germany, July 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Voith accelerates its transformation under its digital agenda. This has been made possible by its successful investment in KUKA AG. After a thorough and comprehensive assessment, the shareholders unanimously voted on 1st July to tender the KUKA stake of 25.1 percent into Midea's voluntary public take-over offer. Voith expects a liquidity inflow of approx. EUR1.2 billion from the transaction. This means that the KUKA stake has more than doubled in value within about one and a half years. "Our investment in KUKA has proven a major strategic success. I am convinced that Voith is one of the winners from this take-over bid," says Dr. Hubert Lienhard, the CEO and President of Voith GmbH. Prior to undertaking the investment in 2014, the company defined six areas of activity as part of its digital agenda: automation, IT security, software platforms, sensors/robotics, data analysis and industrial software development. At the same time, it systematically searched the market for attractive opportunities in these areas. "The investment in a robot manufacturer was always envisaged as an additional element contributing to the digitalisation of the Voith product portfolio," Dr. Lienhard adds. Under the current conditions it makes business sense to sell the share in KUKA. "Disposing of this investment will free up previously tied resources and give us flexibility for investments in organic growth as well as attractive acquisitions. Consequently, the liquidity inflow will be used entirely for the accelerated digital and development transformation of our portfolio." Voith has made a clear commitment to play an active role in shaping the digital transformation in its markets. With its four diisions, Voith presents an extensive range of facilities, products and services covering the energy, oil and gas, paper, raw materials, and transport and automotive markets. On this basis, Voith is able to digitalise its entire business portfolio, gain access to complementary segments and successfully support and guide new and existing customers in their digitalisation efforts. As the established technology leader with extensive domain knowledge and a large installed base in the market, Voith believes that this approach presents substantial growth potential, which it intends to utilise in the coming years.



Voith sets standards in the markets for energy, oil & gas, paper, raw materials, transport & automotive. Founded in 1867, Voith employs more than 20,000 people, generates EUR4.3 billion in sales, operates in over 60 countries around the world and is one of the largest family owned companies in Europe.* * Excluding the discontinued Group Division Voith Industrial Services

Contact:

Lars A. Rosumek

Senior Vice President

Group Communications

Tel. +49-7321-37-38-79

Cell +49-151-2-77-171-44

[email protected]

Twitter https://twitter.com/voithgmbh

https://twitter.com/voith_hydro

https://twitter.com/voith_paper

https://twitter.com/voith_turbo

https://twitter.com/Voith_Career LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/voith-gmbh

https://www.linkedin.com/company/voith-hydro

https://www.linkedin.com/company/voith-turbo

https://www.linkedin.com/company/voith-paper

https://www.linkedin.com/company/voith-digital-solutions YouTube https://www.youtube.com/user/VoithTurboOfficial

https://www.youtube.com/user/VoithPaperDEU

https://www.youtube.com/user/VoithPaperEN

https://www.youtube.com/c/Voith_Hydro

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[July 04, 2016] Christian Leicher Now President and CEO of Rohde & Schwarz

MUNICH, July 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- As of July 1, 2016, Christian Leicher and Peter Riedel lead Rohde & Schwarz. Leicher, the new President and CEO, has been a member of the Executive Board since 2005. With his appointment as President and CEO, a managing partner is now taking the helm at Rohde & Schwarz. Riedel remains President and COO. He has worked successfully for Rohde & Schwarz for 25 years and joined the Executive Board two years ago. Manfred Fleischmann, who served as President and CEO for six yers, is now retiring. He has decisively contributed to the company's success for more than three decades.



Rohde & Schwarz The Rohde & Schwarz electronics group offers innovative solutions in the following business fields: test and measurement, broadcast and media, cybersecurity, secure communications, radiomonitoring and radiolocation. Founded more than 80 years ago, this independent company has an extensive sales and service network and is present in more than 70 countries. The electronics group is among the world market leaders in its established business fields. On June 30, 2015, Rohde & Schwarz had approximately 9900 employees. The group achieved net revenue of EUR 1.83 billion in the 2014/2015 fiscal year (July to June). The company is headquartered in Munich, Germany, and also has strong regional hubs in Asia and the USA. R&S is a registered trademark of Rohde & Schwarz GmbH & Co. KG.

Contact: Monika Roth

Phone: +49-89-4129-12232

E-mail: [email protected]

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EgyptAir could lose $2 million due to confusion caused by cancellation of daylight savings time, according to EgyptAir chairman Safwat Mosallam

Egypt's national airline EgyptAir urged its customers to arrive at airports four hours prior to the scheduled departure times for international flights and two hours early for domestic flights due to the cancelation of daylight savings time in the country, an official statement said on Monday.

The statement comes hours after the Egyptian cabinet announced its decision to abolish daylight savings time, which was set to be applied on Thursday.

According to EgyptAir chairman Safwat Mosallam, the national airliner could lose up to $2 million if daylight savings time is cancelled as there would be delays in flights and it would cause many passengers to miss their connections.

The International Aviation Transport Association (IATA), according to Mosallam, was informed earlier this week that daylight savings would be applied in July, and that airlines had scheduled their flights accordingly.

Last week, Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Magdy El-Agati told parliament that the Egyptian government paid $8 million to the IATA after the state did not apply daylight savings time in April as was originally planned.

The system was first implemented in the country in 1988 as a power-saving measure.

It was abolished in April 2011, with the government arguing at the time that the practice was ineffective at curbing power usage.

The system was temporarily revived in May 2014 in order to ease power consumption after the country suffered rolling power blackouts.

Egypt is normally two hours ahead of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) and Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), leaving it three hours ahead if daylight saving time is applied.

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What you need to know about Colts starting quarterback Sam Ehlinger
Turkey has proposed cooperating with Moscow to combat Islamic State (IS) group in Syria, suggesting it could open its Incirlik Air Base to Russia - comments that highlight a revival in ties strained by Turkey's shooting down of a Russian warplane last year.

Moscow pledged to rebuild relations after Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan last week expressed regret over the shooting down of the aircraft, with the loss of the pilot, near the Syrian frontier. Moscow had broken off virtually all economic ties and banned tourists from visiting Turkish resorts.

"We will cooperate with everyone who fights Daesh. We have been doing this for quite a while, and we opened Incirlik Air Base for those who want to join the active fight against Daesh," Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said in an interview on state broadcaster TRT Haber on Sunday, using an Arabic acronym for IS group.

"Why not cooperate with Russia as well on these terms? Daesh is our common enemy, and we need to fight this enemy."

The Kremlin described the suggestion that Turkey could open up Incirlik as a "serious statement" although it said it had not had any contact with Ankara on the matter.

"This is certainly a serious statement which has yet to be analysed from a military and political point of view," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

While both Turkey and Russia recognise the threat of IS group, they are on opposing sides in the Syrian conflict, raising questions about the viability of Russian use of Incirlik.

Turkey has been one of the most steadfast opponents of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who is backed by Russia and Iran.

Turkey's NATO partners may also be wary of Russian use of the base, which is located 5 miles (8 km) north of the Turkish city of Adana near the Syrian border.

Incirlik hosts aircraft from the United States, Germany, Britain, Saudi Arabia and Qatar involved in the US-led air campaign against IS.

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Some of the Australian music worlds biggest names often leave doors of opportunity ajar, just waiting for the right kind of professional music fan to come knocking.

Our regular Music Jobs column is the place where well help you grab the proverbial handle and walk on through, as we take the pain out of scrolling through endless (and sometimes shady) job listings to provide you a selection of killer career opps in the music world.

No free work or internships here, just authentic chances to break into the music industry. So update your CV, brush up your cover letter writing chops, stop dreaming, and start doing what you love for a living.

Business Development Manager at QMusic

QMusic is Queenslands music industry development association, dedicated to promoting and developing contemporary popular music. Theyre also the crew behind BIGSOUND, and in this role youll be developing the ongoing commercial opportunities for the important music hub, but also working on philanthropic ventures that provide assistance to regional Queensland artists.

If this ones for you, have a look at the listing on Pedestrian.

Publicist at Positive Feedback

We can vouch for this crew, who regularly hit us up about their great roster of local artists including Alison Wonderland, SAFIA, JOY., Ngaiire, Little May, Nicholas Allbrook, George Maple and What So Not, as well as various internationals. You could be helping to promote these acts to the world, as well as running publicity campaigns for touring acts, liaising with both clients and the media. We look forward to getting your emails!

More info can be found over at Pedestrian.

Customer Experience Manager at Eventbrite

Eventbrite provide tickets for over two million events each year, and youll be working with the people who run those events to make sure everything goes smoothly, developing strategies and driving revenue. Youll need a year of experience in a similar role, a background in event management or planning, and impeccable organisation and communication skills.

If that sounds like just the ticket, find out more at Pedestrian.

Royalties Administrator at Universal Music

You wont need experience managing royalties to nab this role, just the ability to manage piles of important information and some attention to detail. Youll be liaising with clients to collect data, fixing errors and streamlining processes, so if youre the well-organised type whod like to be a part of getting Universals impressive roster of artists paid, this could be the job for you.

Check out the full job listing at Grapevine.

Marketing Coordinator at 936 ABC Hobart

Create and implement marketing campaigns for ABCs flagship Tassie station, 936 Hobart. Youll be creating physical and digital assets, running promotions for listeners, writing press materials, and keeping the content ticking over online. Its a diverse role, a good company, and a lovely neck of the woods.

Have a look at the listing on Grapevine.

Producer at 612 ABC Brisbane

This role will see you starting out working an afternoon/evening shift producing original content for the prime breakfast/drive slots, both in-studio and on location, before potentially working at other times. Its located in prime real estate in the heart of Brisbane, so if youre a creative and curious type always hunting for a story, give it a look.

Further details are available over at Grapevine.

Creative Design & Video Producer at ARN

The Australian Radio Network includes radio brands like KIIS, Pure Gold and Edge, and theyre looking for a creative type in Melbourne to put together pitches and digital mock-ups, film and edit video content, and tailor all of this content to various platforms. If youre able to write, produce and edit all types of video content, this could be for you.

Find out more at The Loop.

Night Announcer at Southern Cross Austereo

If youve got a love for and knowledge of radio broadcasting, and a passion for the greatest hits of the 70s onwards, you could be a night announcer for Austereo on the Gold Coast. Youll be broadcasting a night show across a range of local stations, and the role also includes a bit of support for the local arm of Gold FM. If youve got the golden tongue and a distinctive vocal presence, you could be sitting behind the wheels of steel.

More details are up at The Loop.

Designer & Producer at MTV

This Sydney-based role would see you localising MTV for an Australian audience and integrating local clients into the brand, developing and executing ideas for video content and graphics. Youll need 5+ years of experience for this hefty role, experience with TV/commercials, and preferably tertiary qualifications.

Have a look at this one over at The Loop.
Melbourne garage punks Magic Bones recently had a dream come true when they were offered a support slot with their punk rock heroes Radio Birdman.

They needed all the energy they could get as they lugged their gear up and down staircases across the country, playing three shows across Melbourne and Adelaide in the space of just 24 hours.

3 Gigs, 2 Cities, 24 Hours

Saturday the 11th of June was an epic night of electric riffs and loud noises. Playing with Radio Birdman was not only a hoot, but also humbling to meet some of our heroes. Not only do they write great songs and bristle with the energy of teenagers onstage, but theyre also top notch people who well hopefully cross paths with again in the near future!

The nights starts at Max Watts. Loading down into this place from Swanston St is always chaos with pedestrians coming thick and fast from all directions. Thankfully Radio Birdman frontman Rob Younger is around and offers to lend a hand. What a legend. After Radio Birdman soundcheck we jump onstage. Rich plugs in the sound goodisers, while Dylan tries to figure out how to get the threaded thing in the shiny thing.

Deniz Tek, guitarist of Radio Birdman, onstage during our soundcheck talking guitars and bestowing his rock n roll wisdom on us.

Pre-gig preparation is different for everyone; we usually have a laugh, a bit of a strum, maybe a bit of a wiggle to loosen up. On this night we have our good mate and band guru Simon around to share some beers and motivational words.

Its a challenging psychological proposition supporting such a legendary and iconic act like Radio Birdman. The crowd may or may not know who you are or any of your songs, but as always we rise to the challenge and have most of the crowd on our side by the end of the set. One things for sure, we had a great time!

After Radio Birdmans killer set at Max Watts we hurry our gear back out the fire exit, into our car and shoot across town to Yah Yahs for the infamous 2am slot. Still sweaty from our first set, we arrive to an equally sweaty, heaving crowd. Only 20 minutes before were due to start, at lightning speed we madly rush our gear up two flights of stairs and across the two dancefloors to get set up.

The crowd is loose and pumped, and so are we. At some point a fetching black bra makes its way onstage with only one obvious destination: the chest of Dylan Thorpe. Its hotly disputed whether the bra was intended for Dylan or Kiri but I think we all know who it looked better on

White furry hat girl, you are the best, come party with us again sometime. To the other girl who tried (unsuccessfully) to knock off our merch what were you planning to do with 15 extra large Magic Bones t-shirts!?

Riding on adrenaline and only a couple of hours sleep, we took flight to Adelaide for more shenanigans.

Straight to Derringers Music in Adelaide to replace some of the gear we broke the night before. Shit always gets weird when we visit music stores together. Dont let us into your store unless you want some of this!

The Gov is our third show in 24 hours. After smashing out another 45 minute set, we get to kick back and enjoy the show. Adelaide is calling out for Radio Birdman to do their famous cover of The Stooges TV Eye all night, and nobody goes home disappointed. The band prolongs the buildup to their final song as Younger tells the audience, This is a new one, its a little reggae jam we just wrote backstage, before launching into New Race.

It was a great privilege to have been handed the opportunity to support Radio Birdman, our punk rock heroes. This was 24 hours well never forget.
With the depressing news that Pauline Hanson may have actually secured two Senate seats currently clogging our news feeds, Aussies are putting out the Bat-Signal for the one person that can breathe some sanity into these insane times.

Simon Hunt, the man behind the immortal Pauline Pantsdown, is considering a comeback following Hansons result in Saturdays election. Ive had about 75 messages saying were assuming Pauline Pantsdown will be back, Hunt told ABC News.

Hunt is a lecturer at the University of New South Wales and an LGBTI activist, but is arguably best known for his Hanson parody, which he created in the 1990s when Hanson first came to national attention. Hunt hit the top 10 of the Hottest 100 with Im A Back Door Man.

I made a song to perform at this underground gay party in Sydney, and someone approached triple j to promote the event, Hunt told News Corp some months back. They heard the song, began playing it and it just went crazy from there.

Hunt had made the track by collaging excerpts from various statements and speeches made by Hanson and setting them to a funky dance beat. Hansons words were deftly rearranged so as to satirise the One Nation leader. It became so popular that a follow-up was released.

Given anyone with a computer can easily create satirical audio collages nowadays, it seems the stars have aligned for a 2016 Pauline Pantsdown revival. Im not sure yet, Hunt said when asked about the possibility, but its what people want. I dont know whether its useful or not.

I always have to go with that idea of whether I am raising her stakes. Who are her supporters this time round, and am I helping her cause by satirising her? Hunt told the ABC.

Last time when I had my 15 minutes of fame, it was Aboriginal people and Asian people who came up to me and said thank you for giving me a conduit to help me through the pain I felt. So I dont know yet. Ill be thinking about it  Im not a drag queen who dresses up to laugh at women.
The founder and owner of Jetoil Kyriakos Mamidakis was found dead in his home by his housekeeper in the Athens suburb of Dionysos at midday on Sunday

It has been reported that a pistol was found next to the body of the 84-year-old businessman. Sources also told To Vima that a letter has been found and it appears that Mamidakis contacted his brother asking him to take care of his family.

Mamidakis set up Jetoil in 1968 with his brothers Giorgos and Nikos Mamidakis, with the comapny operating about 600 gas stations across Greece and commanding an 8.5% share of the domestic market. The company filed for bankruptcy on 9th of June, with the courts set to examine the application in November. The company had been granted protection from its creditors.

In recent years the family-owned company had faced serious financial problems years and had 200 million euros worth of debts towards banks and owed about 80 million euros to ELPE. It also appears that loans were taken out with personal guarantees.

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
Oia village on the Greek island of Santorini is among Europe's 15 most breathtakingly beautiful villages

Oia village on the Greek island of Santorini is among Europe's 15 most breathtakingly beautiful villages, according to thrillist.com.

The travel portal notes that "nothing speaks more to the notion of serenity and quaintness than rural Europe. Think Lord of the Rings-style English villages, with relics dating back to a pre-industrial age, thatched-roof cottages, windmills, and market squares. Yes, these places still do exist, and they are what give modern Europe its rustic charm. And whats more, Europes rich cultural diversity provides the modern traveler with a veritable mix of locations and cultures to select from -- all replete with forts, castles, and local delicacies."

It describes Oia as follows:

"Perched on the island community of Santorini and built atop a caldera (collapsed volcanic ridge), this old sea port -- with its narrow lanes and white, sea-washed huts -- offers amazing sunset views and picturesque scenery. Its lush architecture and dramatic setting over the Aegean Sea make this a thing of dreams.

Pro tip: The island was the setting for the opening scenes in Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life, but that still doesnt salvage the film."

The complete list of the 15 most picturesque villages that are worth going out of your way to visit when youre in Europe includes:

1. Bled, Slovenia



2. Quedlinburg, Germany

3. Zermatt, Switzerland

4. Aigueze, France

5. Lacock, UK



6. Reine, Norway

7. Procida, Italy

8. Sintra, Portugal



9. Korcula, Croatia



10. Bickensohl, Germany



11. Vejer de la Frontera, Spain



12. Hallstatt, Austria

13. La Roque-Gageac, France



14. Portree, Isle of Skye, Scotland



15. Oia, Santorini

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
Israel has approved 560 new settler homes for the occupied West Bank in the illegal settlement of Maale Adumim, a spokesman for the settlement said Monday, in a move likely to further raise tensions with Palestine.

The Maale Adumim mayor was on Sunday night officially informed of the decision by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman to allow the planning of the homes in the settlement east of Jerusalem, the spokesman told AFP.

According to media reports, Netanyahu also gave approval for the planning of 240 new homes in east Jerusalem settlement neighbourhoods, as well as for 600 units for Palestinians in the city's Beit Safafa district.

The offices of Netanyahu and Lieberman refused to comment on the reports of the approvals for homes in east Jerusalem or Maale Adumim.

Israeli forces Friday shot dead a Palestinian woman who allegedly attempted to carry out a stabbing attack at a flashpoint occupied West Bank shrine, Israeli police said, the third attack to result in a Palestinian being killed in less than two days.

Israel on Friday announced a lockdown in Hebron and a reduction in monthly tax payments to the Palestinian Authority after the attacks.

Since the start of the wave of violence last October, Israeli occupation forces have killed at least 214 Palestinians.

Meanwhile, daily stabbings, shootings and car-ramming attacks by frustrated and unarmed Palestinians have killed 33 Israelis.

*The story was edited by Ahram Online.

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The Ford Motor Company Conservation and Environmental Grants programme is now accepting applications for the 16th edition of the initiative seeking to provide funding to on-going environmental projects in Mena.



This year, Ford is awarding a total of $120,000, the highest total grant amount to be awarded in its history.



Individuals or organisations with on-going projects focused on conservation engineering, environmental education or natural environment are invited to apply for funding via me.ford.com from July 10 to August 21.



In the past 15 years, the Grants programme has helped grassroots-level projects dedicated to environmental causes in the GCC and Levant, and in 2015 the program was expanded to include North Africa. The on-going projects must be located in Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, UAE or Yemen.



Year-on-year, Ford is proud to see more committed individuals and organisations with unique projects aimed at the preservation of our environment. From personal advocacy to wider, more organised groups, we are witnessing a rise in action amongst the communities to embrace the cause of the environment. We are happy to help sustain these noble projects and encourage the public and NGOs to apply, said Jacques Brent, president, Ford Middle East & Africa.



Just recently, a 2014 Ford Grants recipient from Lebanon, the Association for Forests, Development and Conservation, has successfully completed its project called Tree Trail. The project, which won $5,280, was inaugurated on June 11, and now provides a trail that weaves its way into the natural forest to provide access for hikers and highlight, at the same time, Lebanese flora through informative plaques on major tree species along the way.



Another 2014 Grants recipient saw a successful completion of its project, the Environmental Museum, highlighting a dedicated in-school home and school waste exhibition. The Green Generation Environmental Group from Jordan received $10,000 funding for this project.  TradeArabia News Service
Rio Tinto will keep a newly formed division that includes troublesome coal and uranium assets, its newly appointed chief executive told Reuters, brushing off expectations it would consider a spin off and eventual sale.



BHP Billiton last year separated and listed South32, a collection of alumina, aluminium, manganese, nickel and other assets, to allow the world's largest miner to focus on its core operations. This year, South 32 stock has outperformed both BHP and Rio.



Rio's creation of a new Energy and Minerals division last month - an estimated $9 billion of assets including Rio's Iron Ore Company of Canada (IOC) - was seen by analysts and some investors as a step in a similar direction, and towards potential sale.



Jean-Sebastien Jacques, who took the helm on Saturday, said there would be no spin off.



"The answer is no," Jacques told Reuters from London in a telephone interview. "They are run for cash, that's absolutely clear."



He said that while the unit would not be a focus of major new investment, it would serve as an "incubator" for new businesses outside Rio's core areas.



This could include a move into lithium, which promises to benefit from the electric car revolution.



Rio's lithium assets include the Jadar project in Serbia, which Rio estimates could account for a fifth of annual global lithium supplies.



With cash reserves of over $9 billion, Jacques, known in the industry as "JS", is facing the key question of how to pursue growth after the five years of aggressive cost cutting that followed the collapse in commodity prices.



Aged 44, Jacques is the youngest chief executive in Rio's 143-year history, and the first born in France - a rarity at the top of a fiercely anglophone industry - but he is one of a new generation of post-boom, post-bust executives that must rethink growth for the industry's future, at a time when investors remain wary of major investments.



"We are one of the few mining companies that can look forward to growth," Jacques said.



"We have a good balance sheet, we are profitable at the bottom of the cycle, we continue to pay significant dividends  nobody else is really paying dividends at this time," he said.



COPPER RESURGENCE



Jacques has already unveiled sweeping corporate and executive changes aimed at supporting cautious growth. Analysts and investors have said his own background, as the former head of copper and coal, suggests a shift away from iron ore, which has been the single largest contributor to Rio's bottom line.



"We believe that the first commodity that may get out of the over-supply environment is copper," Jacques said.



Jacques said the miner was open to acquisitions, especially in copper - one of few metals where demand is expected to exceed supply by the end of the decade, and new finds are rare - but gave no specifics.



Fresh from closing a deal in May to finance a $5.3 billion expansion of the Oyu Tolgoi mining project in Mongolia, a key plank in Rio's push to become a copper powerhouse, investors had cautioned Jacques against rushing into deals, even if more than $30 billion of assets are on the table globally.



"When I look at recent prices achieved in the copper space, the prices achieved for the sellers were very good," he said.



"We are not going to rush down this road."



Major copper mine sales over the past months have implied a copper price above the current market, in one case more than $7,000 a tonne - compared to market prices closer to $4,900. - Reuters


Kantar, a leading global research, data and insight company, has signed an affiliation agreement with Irans Rahbar Bazaar Market Research Institute giving it a foothold in the Iranian market.



Kantar is the data investment management arm of WPP, a leading communications services group with billings of $73 billion and revenues of $19 billion.



Rahbar Bazaar was set up as a market research agency in 2003 by Afshin Vafadar and Azam Alibabaei, who both have backgrounds in market research, said a statement from the company.



On the deal, Stephen Hillebrand, CEO, Kantar Insights  Middle East, North Africa and Pakistan, said: Theres been a very high level of interest in Iran among our clients since the easing of the sanctions. With a population of over 80 million people, Iran presents a significant growth opportunity for many of our global clients.



This agreement with Rahbar Bazaar heralds our companys commitment to help develop new business opportunities for our clients in this important growth market, he stated.



Rahbar Bazaars clients include MCI, Henkel, Unilever, Hayat, and BAT Pars.



Afshin Vafadar, founder and CEO of Rahbar Bazaar, said: We are excited about affiliating with Kantar in order to address the needs of our local clients and to attract new multinational clients.



We believe that access to Kantars global network of market research experts, its proprietary consumer insight and technology tools and its market research 'best practices', together with our dedication, local insights and expertise, along with our young motivated team will make a compelling service offering, she stated.-TradeArabia News Service


A suicide bomber was killed and two other people wounded in a blast outside the US consulate in Saudi Arabias second city of Jeddah early on Monday, state TV said.



The attacker parked his car outside a mosque opposite the consulate and shortly afterwards his device detonated, killing him and lightly wounding three security men nearby, it said.



Reuters could not immediately reach spokesmen for the Jeddah police or Saudi security services.



A photograph on the Sabq news website showed what appeared to be the remains of a man lying next to a taxi.



A witness at the location told Reuters the area had been closed off by the security forces and that helicopters were flying overhead, but that none of the police on duty would confirm what had taken place.



Islamic State has carried out a series of bombing and shooting attacks in Saudi Arabia since late 2014 that have killed scores of people, mostly members of the Shi'ite Muslim minority and security services.



A decade ago, an al Qaeda campaign focused on Western expatriates in the world's top oil exporter, killing hundreds in attacks on businesses and residential compounds. One 2004 attack hit the U.S. consulate in Jeddah, killing nine.  Reuters
Souq Waqif Boutique Hotels (SWBH) in Diha, Qatar, has launched special offers to celebrate Eid Al Fitr.



Guests who visit the historic Souq Waqif will be offered Eid dinner at La Pizza restaurant located in Al Bidaa Hotel. The menu will comprise a comprehensive assortment of delicious food options in the form of a wide variety of delicacies, drinks and desserts, all served at competitive prices amidst a festive atmosphere.



Mohannad Barqawi, director, sales and marketing at Souq Waqif Boutique Hotels, said: "Eid Al Fitr is a very special occasion, and a great opportunity for us to offer our dear guests the highest levels of services and the most luxurious accommodation choices in an unforgettable festive atmosphere. Eid Al Fitr will allow our visitors to experience the warmth of true Qatari hospitality through our unique offers, designed to make Eid Al Fitr a thoroughly memorable moments with friends and family. - TradeArabia News Service


Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived in Uganda on Monday for a rare tour of sub-Saharan Africa, seeking new trade partners and marking the 40th anniversary of a hostage rescue in which his brother died.

In a statement just before his departure for the four-day tour, Netanyahu called the first visit by an Israeli premier to the region in decades "historic".

The trip comes as Israel launches a $13-million aid package to strengthen economic ties and cooperation with African countries, said Netanyahu's office.

Israel would also provide African states with training in "domestic security" and health, it said.

After Uganda, Netanyahu will travel on to Kenya, Ethiopia and Rwanda, but he is also meeting other African leaders at a summit in Uganda.

"Coming on a journey like this is also very important from diplomatic, economic and security perspectives and I am pleased that Israel is going back to Africa in a big way," Netanyahu said in a statement, adding: "We are opening Africa to Israel again."

The Arab-Israeli conflict drove a wedge between African countries and the Jewish state in the 1960s.

Relations were not helped by Israel's friendship with the apartheid regime in South Africa before it fell in 1994.

In an interview with Uganda's Daily Monitor newspaper ahead of his visit, Netanyahu said his visit was an attempt to thaw relations.

"I'm very open about it, that's true," Netanyahu said, according to the paper.

Beyond diplomacy and trade, the trip will have deep personal meaning for Netanyahu.

His brother Yonatan was killed in July 1976 as he led a commando raid in Entebbe, Uganda, to free passengers aboard an Air France plane hijacked by two Palestinians and two Germans.

Uganda's deputy foreign minister Henry Okello Oryem told AFP Netanyahu would be given a gun salute on arrival, before "proceeding to the 40th anniversary commemoration ceremony at the old airport terminal."

He later takes part in an anti-terrorism summit alongside leaders from Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, South Sudan and Zambia, before heading to Nairobi later on Monday.

Israel's dealing with Africa currently constitutes only two percent of its foreign trade, leaving plenty of room for growth.

Demand is rising for its defence expertise and products.

But it also sees African countries as potential allies, particularly at the United Nations and other international bodies, where it is regularly condemned over its occupation of the West Bank and blockade of the Gaza Strip.

Some African countries are keen to obtain Israeli agricultural and water technology, which the country has been promoting, say officials. Netanyahu's trip follows years of efforts to improve ties.

*The story was edited by Ahram Online.

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The top UN official in Syria is demanding immediate and unconditional humanitarian access to tens of thousands of people trapped in four besieged towns in the country.

Yacoub El Hillo says aid must be allowed to reach the towns of Madaya, Zabadani, Foua, and Kafraya, before starvation sets in. Madaya and Zabadani are encircled by pro-government forces, while rebels are blockading Foua and Kafraya.

Aid group Doctors Without Borders says 16 people died in Madaya from siege conditions in January, even after aid was allowed in.

El Hillo says that the UN is "calling on all parties involved to ensure this doesn't happen again." He also urged combatants to allow medical evacuations.

The four towns have not received relief since April.

El Hillo made the appeal on Monday in Damascus.

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A suicide bomber blew himself up outside a Shiite mosque in eastern Saudi Arabia on Monday but nobody else was hurt, residents told AFP.

"Suicide bomber for sure. I can see the body" which was blasted to pieces, said a witness to the attack in the Shiite-populated city of Qatif.

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MBD Group is one of the leading education companies with over six decades of experience. Monica Malhotra Kandhari, Managing Director, MBD Group, says the market for digital education is growing and the percentage of schools effectively using e-learning is increasing every year.

Q: With the increased use of multimedia, how does MBD see the changing landscape in publishing?

A: Today, both print and digital channels co-exist and supplement each other, though consumption remains diverse from region to region.

We offer a wide range of services covering offline and online multimedia-based learning solution (Ecademy classrooms, SD cards, online learning etc.). We print more than 5,00,000 books a day.

We have started converting our books into e-pubs and soon it will be available for purchase via our portal and one can access the same on tablets, mobile phones and desktops.

Q: How is the publishing industry faring for education and vocational books?

A: The present government has been instrumental in strengthening vocational education and emphasis is on job-based training. We, at MBD, have started developing books for vocational curriculum  covering major courses and we will also provide e-content for vocational courses.

Q: What are the online education plans of the group?

A: Keeping pace with the advent of the digital world, we ventured into e-learning with MBD Alchemie. Our company has implemented Ecademy in 1,500+ schools across the country and has trained more than 30,000 teachers in ICT. Digital content developed by MBD Alchemie is being used by millions of students around the globe. Also, we have our homegrown mobile application Nytra, an augmented reality application, which brings textbooks (k-12) to life.

Q: What are the initiatives on skill development?

A: We are running various skill courses (DTP  desktop printing, web designing, retail, hospitality etc.,) across the country. We have signed an MoU with National Skill Development Corporation under Project UDAAN to train and provide jobs to 5,000 students of J&K. We have already trained 35,000 pupils under our capacity building programme and aim to train 1 million people by the year 2022.

Q: What are the future plans for the hospitality segment?

A: We have recently tied up with Steigenberger Hotel Group of Germany. Under this JV, we will focus on key cities in the country, including Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, and other cities where we want to come up with 20 luxury hotels over the next 15 years.
Rio De Janeiro/Delhi, July 4

Petrobras has warned its Indian partners in a huge offshore project to not expect oil from the site until 2022, according to sources, a fresh sign of how low oil prices and the state-owned companys corruption scandal and mountain of debt are dragging on Brazils energy industry.

The previously unreported, four-year delay in the super-giant discovery off the northeastern coast of the Brazilian state of Sergipe is forcing Indias Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) and IBV Brasil Petroleo Ltd to seek ways to speed up the Petrobras-led project which has cost them $2.1 billion with no return in sight.

The delay and pressure from the Indian partners is just one of the many challenges for new Petrobras chief executive Pedro Parente, named by Brazils interim-President Michel Temer in late May amid an ongoing financial crisis.

In the face of a massive bribery and kickback scandal and Petrobras $126 billion of debt, Parente has pledged to run the company in a more market-friendly way but has declined to comment on individual projects. He has also promised a revamped investment plan by the end of October though it is unclear whether it will address the Sergipe offshore standoff.

In April, Petrobras told IBV, a 50-50 joint venture between state-owned Bharat Petroleum Corp and privately held Videocon Industries Inc, that there will be no oil output from Sergipe until at least 2022, an IBV executive said.  Reuters
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 4

A two-and-a-half-year-old girl, Shalu, died after falling from the third floor of her house at Hallo Majra last night. The police said Shalu was playing when she fell accidentally.

The girl was rushed to the Government Medical College and Hospital, Sector 32, where doctors declared her brought dead.

Inquest proceedings have been initiated in the matter at the Sector 31 police station. Kin of the deceased did not suspect any foul play in the incident.

Two days ago, a similar incident was reported from Kajheri, Sector 61, in which a one-and-a-half-year-old girl fell to death from the second floor of her house.
Satinder Pal Singh

Dera Bassi, July 4

Commuters on the Chandigarh-Ambala highway were inconvenienced for the second day today as repair work on the Ghaggar bridge near Bhankarpur at Dera Bassi is yet to begin.

Hundreds of vehicles were stuck in long queues on the highway near Bhankarpur as one side of the bridge has been closed for traffic after an expansion joint span of the bridge got damaged yesterday.

Officials of the GMR construction company said a lane near the Ghaggar bridge at Bhankarpur from the Zirakpur side towards Ambala had been closed for repair work.

However, repair work did not begin even on the second day at the bridge resulting in inconvenience to commuters. Traffic on one side of the two-lane bridge on the Chandigarh-Ambala road was suspended following damage to a span expansion joint last evening.

The decision to close the Zirakpur-Ambala road near the bridge was taken by officials of the GMR company as they felt that plying of heavy vehicles could have caused more damage to the bridge.

Traffic on the Chandigarh-Ambala stretch of the busy highway moved at a snails pace on the second day today. The entry of vehicles from the Chandigarh-Ambala stretch would remain restricted for at least a couple of days more, sources said.

Thousands of motorists and commuters using the Chandigarh-Ambala highway will have to use alternative routes to commute between the city and Ambala.

Though the administration had deployed additional police force to regulate traffic, chaos prevailed on the highway. Traffic jams were witnessed as vehicles heading towards Ambala took a diversion from the McDonald eating joint and moved on the lane meant for vehicles moving towards Chandigarh.

A traffic police official said the GMR company had informed them that repair work would begin soon and was likely to be completed in a couple of days. Policemen had been deployed at various intersections to ensure smooth flow of traffic, the official said.

Anand Kishore, a resident of Zirakpur, told Chandigarh Tribune today that he was coming back from Karnal and was stuck in a traffic jam with his family members near Bhankarpur for over an hour. Several commuters said they were stuck on the highway for hours as there was bumper-to-bumper traffic.

Deepak Arora, Corporate Relations Officer of the GMR company, said, It is not an easy job to repair the damaged expansion joint of the bridge. He said they had called experts for the repair work.

He said, We cannot say for sure how much time it will take to repair the bridge and open it for traffic as engineers will have to take stock of the damaged part of the bridge. He said they were trying their best to get the repair work completed at the earliest.
Shelley Walia

Shelley Walia

ELIE Wiesels words, For the dead and the living, we must bear witness, engraved at the entrance of the US Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington D.C. bear testimony to his intense and powerful engagement with the survival of art and human imagination. Through his fiction, drama and political memoirs, he has given a lasting account of a nightmare, a lesson in history and a reminder of how we must never allow such violence to be repeated if global equality and justice, tolerance and peace are to be our human endeavour. Wiesel gains in his relevance to oppositional politics and the deep-seated delegitimizing of institutions and received assumptions that begin and end with the strategy to essentialise public opinion, moulding it in the texture of the ruling ideology.

Elie Wiesel, one of the most prominent Holocaust survivors, died on Saturday leaving behind a sense of gloom. Deported at the age of 15, he survived torture in a series of Nazi death camps, including Auschwitz, where his horrifying experience taught him to protest and never remain quite in the face of injustice. After a stint at Sorbonne where he studied literature and philosophy, he began to record his tragic experiences of the death camps to publish And the World has Remained Silent in 1956. This was followed by the Wiesel trilogy consisting of three novels, including the heart-rending Night. He went on to write on the condition of the Jews in the Soviet Union along with a number of outstanding novels and plays, especially The Trial of God.

For Wiesel, the catastrophe was the fiery altar upon which the history of our people and the future of mankind were meant to be sacrificed. As he argued in Night, which recorded his familiarity with the wretchedness at Auschwitz: To forget the victims means to kill them a second time. So I couldnt prevent the first death. I surely must be capable of saving them from a second death. It is with this sense of hope and faith in God, with a resilience and obsession with memory, that he lived the life of a politically active historian, writing and lecturing against racial and religious persecution, a spokesman for not only the Jews but also for Argentinas missing multitudes, Cambodian immigrants, the Kurds, South African apartheid victims and the deprived in Africa. Brought up in a passionately orthodox Jewish milieu, he remained close to his faith with the hope that such a calamity would never revisit humanity again.

Elie Wiesels immersion in the cold-blooded impact of power, that had its beginnings with the suspension of civil liberties and dissent in Nazi Germany, calls for serious reflection on the demands of notions of community, solidarity and public life in the world today. In him we see the towering figure of a thinker who has had a deep impact on contemporary debates on bureaucratic workings of the nation-state and its inherent nature of enforcing the rights of its citizens, the dispossessing of a huge section of its public on the basis of race, as visible in neo-Nazism, Zionism and, on a massive scale, in the rise of right-wing nationalism across the US, Eastern Europe and India resulting in the political dilution of liberation and individual consciousness.

Integral to Wiesels experience is the dilemma of the Jewish question in Nazi Germany as well as the creation of Israel and the dispossession of the Jews, which he had experienced during his journalist forays into the Middle East. These forces, for him, apparently stand in opposition to the notion of dispossession affected by injustice that has sparked uprisings from Zuccatti Park to Puerta del Sol, from North Africa to Turkey and India recently.

Wiesels life teaches us that if we have experienced in absolutism an unprecedented threat to human multiplicity, we have also seen the advent of an exceptional expression of the human capacity to begin anew, to act in freedom, to create a genuine public realm. This is his lesson to humanity to reclaim its political inheritance through hopes and possibilities, and through the scrutiny of history from the perspective of what it is to think and act politically in the dissident drive for modern citizen rationality in the face of threats to a genuine politics of active political freedom within a free public space. His sense of democratic liberalism demonstrates his deep-seated interest in political humanism in a world inhabited by people who are inspired by public principles and an ethics that inherently remains essential to their world view. Conflicts and revolutions therefore must continue to counter the state apparatus and its overpowering role. Politics is indeed a public activity and the magnitude of political action lies in being human among humans.

The question, therefore, arises about the fundamental assumptions of genuine politics in the context of the rise of neoliberal global movements under the auspices of transnational capital. The regional institutions of power and coercion remain a hostile force to both the solidarity of the masses and to individual autonomy. The question remains: How far have such intellectual interventions helped in the stemming of powerful forces of violence and social control? Probably, as the philosopher Hannah Arendt saw it, only the free spectators of action determine its meaning and it is such public meanings that save humans from the void of futile existence.

The writer is a Professor in the Department of English, Panjab University, Chandigarh.
Maj-Gen Ashok Kumar Mehta (retd)

IN his outstanding speeches in December 2015 and June 2016 at Kabul and Herat, Prime Minister Narendra Modi won over the Afghans by his commitments to stand by Afghanistan against all odds. But putting boots on the ground, even at a place as removed as Herat, is an option India has ruled out. Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj, at the Heart of Asia conference in Islamabad in December 2015 had said that India will strengthen the Afghan National Security Forces. It has provided training and non-lethal equipment, but utility and attack helicopters only after being pressed by the Afghan leadership. Its institution and capacity-building programmes together with the economic aid have made it the most popular country in Afghanistan. Unfortunately, New Delhi has not been able to convert this friendship into political influence even though it was New Delhi with whom Kabul signed its first Strategic Partnership Agreement in 2011.

Privately, Afghans are asking how far is India prepared to go to defend Afghan interests, as Kabuls requests for military assistance have only materialised marginally. True, New Delhi wants the US and Nato to maintain the military supply chain. But will India be prepared to go beyond providing economic assistance and development aid to putting boots on the ground in an emergency? The question of despatching Indian troops to Iraq on US request has come up in the past and crops up frequently over Afghanistan. The time may have come for New Delhi to act in Afghanistan as US and Indian interests converge.

The long-awaited Pakistan-led and Pakistan-owned reconciliation process between Kabul and Taliban failed to take off, resulting in a US drone taking out the Pakistan-installed Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour last month near Quetta. The US has launched 292 drone attacks: of these only two outside North and South Waziristan. US Envoy for AfPak Richard Olson, who was in Delhi recently accompanied by the US Military Commander in Afghanistan, Gen John Nicholson, told members of the House Foreign Relations Committee that the Taliban must face consequences of calling off the talks. President Obama called Mansour an obstacle to peace. The Americans are angry with Pakistan for not acting against the Taliban and the Haqqanis and taking them for a ride for more than a decade. US military aid is on hold as is the sale of F-16 aircraft. US-Pakistan relations have hit rock bottom.

The Afghans are furious with Pakistan after the recent border clashes and the deadly Kabul truck bomb attack (and suicide bombers targeting Nepali security guards and Afghan cadets last month). Deputy Foreign Minister Hikmat Karzai told Indian journalists that his country planned to take Pakistan to the UNSC. Afghanistans Permanent Representative to the UN, Mahmoud Saikal, last month accused Pakistan of facilitating terrorist groups operating in the region. Pakistan needs political will to act against them, not nuclear deals or F-16s, he said, adding that numerous leading figures of terrorism, including Osama bin Laden, Mullah Omar and Mullah Mansour have lived and died in Pakistan.

Pakistan is the most unpopular country in Afghanistan. It is in denial over its control and influence over the Taliban. The Taliban are split over talks and the question of leadership. Mullah Rasoul, who is opposed to the appointment of Moulvi Haibutullah Akhundzada, former Chief Justice and religious scholar, as the new leader, has Taliban loyal to him take up arms in the south of the country. In his first message Haibutullah has asked foreign troops to vacate.

The Taliban summer offensive, Operation Omari, is designed to secure maximum territory, including a provincial headquarters, to improve bargaining at the negotiation table. The ANSF are facing almost two to three attacks a day and suffering on an average30 to 40 military casualties a week. The Taliban actively control 38 districts and contest 43 others and are in occupation of more territory than at any time since 2001. American military commanders have admitted that the US had the made mistakes of withdrawing air support as well as reducing check posts on highways to free troops to go after the Taliban. The US military has now authorised air raids against Taliban and do not fear any strategic collapse.

Last month, Olson told the Atlantic Council at Washington that if the Taliban were planning to wait out for the withdrawal of the US from Afghanistan, they were mistaken. The Taliban adage US soldiers may have the watches, we have the time is being re-phrased. Mr Olson added that the Taliban should not imagine that the US is going to abandon Afghanistan. The Obama Administration is unlikely to thin out troop levels from 9,800 to 5,500 by 2016-end. He confirmed that the US and allies will continue their financial support of $3 billion annually for the ANSF till 2020.

Mr Olson has said that India (and Iran)  two countries that have stakes in Afghanistan  are likely to be included in peace talks if and when they start. To demonstrate its commitment to Kabul, New Delhi should step up military training and arms assistance and offer to deploy a Military Field Hospital in Afghanistan. It should be prepared to activate Ayni air base in Tajikistan, which it shares with Russia. Further, a brigade-sized task force backed by another brigade should be earmarked to respond to any crisis situations around Kabul and Herat. This will free ANSF to defend district and provincial headquarters as well as the key highways and lines of communication.

That the US will not abandon Afghanistan and India will stand by it will send the right signals to the Taliban and its military backers in Pakistan. A strong and well-equipped ANSF supported by a stable national unity government, which US Secretary of State John Kerry has said has no expiry date, will act as a sharp deterrent. Only then will the Taliban be willing to come to the talks table. It is also clear that US officials are examining the option of looking beyond Pakistan. Belatedly they are calling Taliban sanctuaries in Pakistan the mother of all problems. Some of them are even equating Pakistan with North Korea, which goes beyond frenemy, and are recommending suspending all aid to it. They have suggested that the US and India consider ways and means to make the Taliban alter its behaviour, including nudging Pakistan to act against sanctuaries. Pakistans capacity to hold the peace process hostage has to be undermined by jointly strengthening the ANSF. The decapitating drone strike shows new red lines are being drawn by Washington. New Delhi must cash in.

The writer is convenor of a Track 2 India-Afghanistan channel.
New Delhi, July 4

Three Nepal nationals have been arrested in connection with theft of Rs 25 lakh from the office of a financier in Lahori Gate area here, police said today.

The three gang members  Deepak (22), Kamal Thapa (22) and Farman (19)  were arrested from Anand Vihar ISBT when they were planning to leave for Nepal, Deputy Commissioner of Police (East) Rishi Pal said.

A sum of Rs 53.91 lakh was recovered from them, he said.

A complaint of theft of Rs 25 lakh was lodged by financier Mony Agarawal at Lahori Gate police station on June 27.

During interrogation, it was revealed that Kamal worked as a collection agent for Agarwal and knew the movement of cash through hawala and planned to steal the money thinking that their employer will not register a complaint of theft of the unaccounted money, said the officer.

Efforts are on to nab two absconding members of the gang, he added.  PTI
RECENT attempts to inflame communal passions have been foiled by the people of Punjab who have exercised commendable restraint despite lack of it, or even provocations, by politicians. Arvind Kejriwal could have avoided visiting Malerkotla, Punjab's only Muslim-majority town where a temple and a mosque coexist. The town has been cited as an example of communal harmony for outsiders whenever trouble erupts elsewhere. There was a sense of disbelief therefore when the desecration of Quran happened on June 24. Also shocking was the sudden appearance of a mob which attacked the house of the local Akali MLA and burnt public property.

Earlier in 2014 a cow carcass was found and the town had returned to normal after observing a days shutdown. Now as elections approach, there is a talk of conspiracy to ignite trouble. Last year in Punjab 13-odd incidents of desecration of Guru Granth Saheb were reported. Because of the distrust in the police, the probe was handed over to the CBI but there has been no satisfactory outcome so far. The judicial inquiry into a related incident at Behbal Kalan has neither fixed responsibility for the police firing nor unravelled the suspected conspiracy. To calm Sikh anger, the Akali government proposed life imprisonment for incidents of desecration but only relating to the Sikh holy book. For other religions the punishment was raised to 10 years from two years. The Akali Dal leadership has maintained an enigmatic silence on the progress of investigation in these sacrilege cases so far.

Having mishandled law and order, the rise of gangsters, Dinanagar, Pathankot, the murder of the Namdhari Mata and the attack on Sikh preacher Dhandrianwala, the police has swiftly booked an AAP MLA on the basis of a statement of a suspect belonging to the VHP and the only back-up evidence it has offered is a record of phone calls exchanged between the two. Dhandrianwala has named the mastermind behind the attack on him but the police has neither questioned nor arrested him. A failure to conclusively prove the AAP MLAs guilt, if any, could politically backfire for the SAD and the BJP.
Chandigarh, July 4

President Pranab Mukherjee wants to connect five village panchayats in Haryana directly with the Rashtrapati Bhavan to develop these as smart villages and ensure the works are carried out as per people's aspirations, according to a senior official.

On July 2, Mukherjee had inaugurated a smart model village pilot project under which five villages of Haryana adopted by him  Dhaula, Alipur, Harichandpur and Taj Nagar in Gurgaon district and Rojka-Meo in Mewat district will be developed as Adarsh Gram.

Addressing special Gram Sabhas in Dhaula and Harichandpur villages of Gurgaon district today, the President's Secretary Omita Paul said, "New techniques would be used for making the villages smart. We have come here to assist you and also make available the resources."

She said smart villages of Haryana would be developed on the pattern of development works done in the Rashtrapati Bhavan in the last three to four years, a state government release said.

Top ranking institutes of the country have been included in the team for developing the smart villages, Paul said, adding people have to come forward if they want to make their villages "smart".

"Responsibility for upkeep of the area to be developed under this project would be on the villagers. Hence, it is important for the villagers to assist the team for making this project a success," she said.

Additional Deputy Commissioner of Gurgaon, Viney Pratap Singh said this is the first time that panchayats will be directly linked with Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Paul asked the villagers to form a group of seven to eight people to assist the team of Rashtrapati Bhavan Secretariat in developing "smart villages" and prepare a list of four to five major projects so as to complete these in a phased manner.  PTI
A camp for Iranian dissidents near Baghdad's international airport was shelled on Monday, a spokesman of the opposition People's Mujahideen Organisation of Iran (PMOI) said.

The bombardment caused casualties among residents of the camp, PMOI spokesman Shahriar Kia told Reuters, without indicating a number. Several caravans in the camp were set on fire.

Kia said the group suspects "Iraqi groups affiliated with the Iranian" government were responsible for the shelling.

A witness who lives near the airport heard twenty to thirty explosions that a security source said was a bombardment targeting the secured perimeter of the airport where the camp is located. It was not clear if any of the airport's facilities were hit. Kia said more than 50 mortar rounds hit the camp.

The PMOI sided with former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein during Iran's war with Iraq in the 1980s but fell out of favour with Baghdad after he was toppled by a U.S.-led invasion in 2003.

The PMOI have since come under attack several times in Iraq. Their camp near the airport was previously shelled in October.

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Geetanjali Gayatri

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 4

To give a new face to policing in the districts after its role during the Jat agitation drew flak, the Haryana Government today effected a major shake-up in the police, transferring of 16 IPS and eight HCS officers, including 12 Superintendents of Police (SP).

This is the third big reshuffle in the police department since violence during the Jat agitation in February. While SPs of four districts were shifted in round one, the government changed then Director General of Police (DGP) and Additional Director General of Police (ADGP), Crime Investigation Department (CID), in the second round.

Todays transfers assume significance since Jats are planning another round of agitation to press for reservation; the government does not want to be caught napping again. By playing musical chairs among district police chiefs, the government has given new faces in districts which are crucial from the point of view of the agitation.

Rakesh Arya has been posted as Rohtak SP, while Shashank Anand, goes as Jind SP. Maneesh Chaudhary, awaiting posting orders, has been posted as Yamunanagar SP in place of Sumer Partap Singh, who goes as such at Kaithal.

Sumit Kumar, HPS, who was moved out of Jhajjar in the first round of transfers, has been posted as Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) West, Gurgaon. Panipat SP Rahul Sharma and Palwal SP Rajesh Duggal will swap their respective places of posting.

Deepak Gahlawat has been posted as SP (Administration) Police Headquarters, while Kuldeep Singh has been posted as Mewat SP. Balwan Singh goes as SP, State Crime Branch.

Among HPS officers, DK Bharadwaj has been posted as Additional SP, Sonepat; Sajjan Kumar, as Commandant, Ist Indian Reserve Battalion (IRB), Bhondsi; Vikram Kappor as DCP (Headquarters), Gurgaon; and Dheeraj Kumar, awaiting posting, as SP, CID.

Kamal Deep Goyal has been transferred as SP, Railways, while Vinod Kumar, SP, Home Guards, has been posted as SP, Police Headquarters.

Among senior IPS officers, K Selvaraj, has been posted as Commandant General, Home Guards, and Director, Civil Defence.

Rajvant Pal Singh has been posted as DGP, OSD Rules, Police Headquarters, and BK Sinha has been posted as Special DG, State Vigilance Bureau, and Director General, Bhondsi Complex. Sinha was among the contenders for the post ever since it fell vacant following the retirement of DGP SN Vashisht.

KK Sindhu, (DGP awaiting posting) has been posted as Director General (DG), Madhuban Complex, while KK Sharma (DGP awaiting posting) has been posted as Director, V&S, Haryana Vidyut Prasaran Nigam Limited (HVPNL), Panchkula.

AS Chawla, Inspector General of Police (Administration), Police Headquarters, and CS Rao, IGP, Law and Order, will swap their respective places of posting. Saurabh Singh goes as Deputy Inspector General (DIG), Security, CID.
Nitish Sharma

Tribune News Service

Ambala, July 4

With farmers of the district showing interest in the cultivation of urad (black gram), the district Agriculture Department has sought a pulses purchase centre of NAFED or HAFED here.

Last year, 2,500 acres was brought under the cultivation of pulses in the district. The area is likely to increase this year.

Rajinder Singh, a farmer from Tandwal village, said: I had sown urad in 2 acres last year and received a good price for the crop. I usually cultivate pulses for the consumption of my family and relatives. But last year, I had sold nearly 3 quintals for Rs 30,000. If the government opens a purchase centre in Ambala, farmers will increase the area under pulses.

Puneet Thind, a progressive farmer from Nanyola village, had sold his produce at a throwaway price to a wholesaler in Delhi. A purchase centre is a must in the region, as it will change the market sentiments and traders will offer a higher price. Besides, rise in the production of pulses will prevent black marketing.

Ram Kumar from Samalkha village pointed out that urad cultivation would improve the health of soil and increase the availability of protein which would help in eliminating malnutrition.

He raised concern about the quality of seeds. Last year, the seeds were of poor quality. The government must ensure that the seeds are of good quality this time.

According to agricultural experts, if 5,000 acres under urad cultivation is quantified against paddy, nearly 45 lakh kilolitres of water could be saved.

Girish Nagpal, Deputy Director (Agriculture), Ambala, said: A proposal for a pulses purchase center at Shahzadpur in Naraingarh has been sent to the higher authorities. Besides, inputs for 5,000 acres have been sought for this kharif season. The increase in area under pulses will help in breaking the paddy-wheat cycle.
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 4

Kept under wraps for nearly four months, the truth about Haryanas worst kept secret on Monday emerged after the Punjab and Haryana High Court categorically asserted the Murthal rapes had undoubtedly taken place.

Pulling the incident out of the realm of improbability, a Division Bench of the High Court placed it in the domain of reality after observing in the open court, There can be no doubt Even they (Haryana) are not denying it.

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As the case came up for resumed hearing, the bench of Justice S.S. Saron and Justice Lisa Gill asserted: Earlier there was reluctance on your part to even register an FIR. But now you have accepted that rape had taken place.

The assertion came after counsel Tushar Mehta sought additional time on Haryanas part to come out with something more concrete. Responding to the request, the bench asserted fact of rape had not been denied. It was now all about identifying the victim and the accused.

Lets not deviate from the main path, which is identification of the victim and ensuring justice, the bench observed. This time, things had gone too far. We want results.

Earlier during the proceedings, the amicus curiae or the friend of the court, Anupam Gupta said he was not opposed to the grant of additional time to the special investigating agency but at the same time expressed his anguish over the publication of SIT report by a web portal even though it was ordered to be kept in a sealed cover.

Someone in the government, or the SIT shared it with the web portal, he insisted.

Gupta said the action could very well be placed in the category of contempt, but he was not pressing for the same. Gupta added the portal had even published an apology regarding its previous report on Murthal rape.

Lets not deviate from the main path, which is identification of the victim and ensuring justice, the Bench observed. This time things had gone too far. We want results.
Bijendra Ahlawat

Tribune News Service

Faridabad, July 4

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has issued notices to 22 group housing societies and authorities, including the Haryana Pollution Control Board, Municipal Corporation Faridabad (MCF) and Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA), in connection with alleged dumping of untreated sewage in the open in the city.

The NGT has asked the respondents to submit their reply on July 29, the next date of hearing.

The NGT order comes in the wake of a petition by Varun Sheokand, a local environmental activist. In his complaint, the petitioner had alleged that the group housing societies in Greater Faridabad and Sainik Colony here had been dumping sewage in the open in the absence of a sewerage connection.

Majority of the societies managed by builders and Residents Welfare Associations (RWA) had been releasing untreated sewage in open areas in violations of norms, Sheokand said.

He claimed the societies had engaged hundreds of tractor-tankers to dump waste in the open.
Tribune News Service

Shimla, July 4

Uncertainty hovers over fate of the 960 mw Jangi-Thopan power project in Kinnaurnty as Reliance Power has neither withdrawn its petition from the Supreme Court, nor has it deposited the upfront premium for the project, the deadline for which has now been re-extended till August 1 for the third time.

The state government has yet to take a call on the refund of the upfront premium worth Rs 282 crore that Adani claimed it had paid on behalf of Brakel company of the Netherlands to the state when the project was allotted to the latter in 2006, reveal sources.

The state government had offered the project to Reliance Power without changing the terms and conditions despite the fact that the project has been delayed by more than 10 years. The minimum payment of Rs 35 lakh per megawatt as upfront premium has remained unchanged since 2006 when the project was allotted to Brakel, revealed officials.

Hydropower experts, however, termed Adanis claim on refund of the upfront premium as unjustified, saying that Adani never figured in agreement that the state government and Brakel had signed in 2006 and as such it is not binding on the state to refund it as the project allotment to Brakel was cancelled after the company failed to take up the project in 2009.

The state government has asked Reliance Power to first withdraw its petition from the Supreme court and pay the upfront premium at the rate of Rs 35 lakh per megawatt to the state. But as of now, neither the petition was withdrawn, nor the company has paid its upfront premium to the government, sources said.

Reliance had moved the Supreme Court, seeking allotment of the project to the company on the ground, It was the second highest bidder after Brakel. The state government had cancelled its allotment to Brakel Corporation in 2009 when the company failed to pay the upfront premium, revealed insiders. The Supreme Court had directed the state to go for the fresh bids. Adani and JP Power were among eight companies which made bids for this project, but they finally did not enter the tender process last year, revealed sources.

As a result, the state government offered the project to Reliance, being the second bidder, which had offered the higher premium in 2006, said official sources.

Director, Energy, Dr Ajay Sharma said the government has extended the deadline till August 1 to Reliance for the payment of the upfront premium. We expect the company will withdraw its petition from the court and deposit the upfront premium only then the state government will take a final call Adanis claim on the refund of upfront premium, he added.
Kuldeep Chauhan

Tribune News Service

Shimla, July 4

Finally, the state government has taken over the ESIC Hospital and Medical College at Nerchowk near Mandi. It has sought the Medical Council of Indias approval for starting the first batch of 100 MBBS students from the next academic session (2017).

Principal Secretary, Health, Prabodh Saxena on behalf of the state government, ESIC regional director Ashok Chandra and its senior state medical commissioner Dr Gunjan Gupta today inked an MoU in the presence of Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, Health Minister Kaul Singh Thakur, Rural Development Minister Anil Sharma, Chief Secretary VC Pharka and other officials.

After signing the MoU, Kaul Singh said, The state government pursued the matter with the Centre. We have sought the medical councils permission to start the college from the 2017 academic session. The ESIC has leased out the college for 99 years. It has demanded 10 per cent seats in the college while the remaining will remain with the state.

The minister said: We are now focusing on hiring the faculty and equipping the college.

The state has agreed to refund Rs 285.23 crore to the ESIC in five annual instalments beginning after two years. The ESIC medical college has spent Rs 924.82 crore so far, Kaul Singh said.

The medical college has 500 beds, 40-bed casualty department, one major OT and two minor OTs attached to the emergency. The hospital is equipped with 12 modular operation theatres with the facility of auto-transfer of medicines, injections, samples from store to wards and operation theatres with the help of the laser system.

The ESIC medical college was expected to start in 2012. But due to change of guard at the Centre in 2014, the ministry refused to run the college, pushing the Rs 924.82 crore project towards uncertainty.

This led to a blame game between the Congress and the BJP governments with no signs of solution till the state government took a call deciding to run the medical college.

Officials said the four-blocked college complex had a library, a five-storey administrative block, a nursing college and seven museums. It also had 371 residential units for the faculty, 300 rooms in the boys hostel and 200 in the girls hostel. The medical college also houses a resident doctors hostel, an interns hostel and a nursing hostel. It also has a sarai for patients, a gym, an indoor badminton stadium, a small shopping complex and parking.
Tribune News Service

Srinagar, July 4

Ahead of the upcoming Eid festival, the state government is releasing cash relief to the flood-affected businesses, including traders, farmers, artisans, houseboat owners and others who were hit by the September 2014 deluge.

The Chief Minister is going to set the cash-relief disbursement process rolling on Tuesday. The funds would be transferred directly to the bank accounts of the beneficiaries.

Minister for Finance Haseeb A Drabu, at a meeting here today, said that the interest subvention for traders under the Prime Ministers development package would also be distributed.

The state government will give money to banks for disbursal to the flood-hit traders. The only condition for availing the interest subsidy is that the beneficiary account must have been standard as on August 31, 2014, with a maximum limit of Rs 5 lakh, Drabu said.

He said the state government would audit the accounts once the funds were disbursed to avoid any fiscal mismanagement.

The Finance Minister said the state government would also start releasing funds to provide one-time waiver to farmers who had availed loans under the Kisan Credit Card (KCC) scheme, subject to a maximum limit of Rs 1 lakh. He said the account had to be standard on August 31, 2014, and balance on March 31, 2015, would be taken into consideration.

In another major decision, the Finance Minister, following up his Budget speech announcement, today decided to release funds for one-time settlement of loans of houseboat owners. Drabu was told that the beneficiaries of the scheme, with an outstanding amount of Rs 48 crore, had been identified and the funds would be released from Tuesday.

The Finance Minister also released interest subvention component in respect of Artisans Credit Cards, pending since 2011. The settlement would pose an outgo of Rs 26 crore which would be released from Tuesday. He also called for revising the scheme under which 10 per cent of the interest is borne by the government while 2.5 per cent is charged on the artisan.

The meeting also discussed the financial package for West Pakistan refugees (WPR). According to officials, over 36,000 WPR families would be given Rs 5.5 lakh per family as an immediate financial assistance under the Central package. The process for disbursal of funds has been started. Once the GoI releases the funds, it will be immediately disbursed among the beneficiaries, Drabu said.
Tribune News Service

Srinagar, July 4

Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti has urged the Home Department and the police to expedite the review of the cases of youths booked on the charges of stone-throwing between 2008 and 2014 so that those who had taken to the wrong path inadvertently get an opportunity to restart their normal lives.

At a meeting on reforms in the prisons in the state here today, the Chief Minister said, The Home Department and the police should expedite the process of taking a holistic review of the cases registered against the youths between 2008 and 2014 for stone-throwing and decide on merit how many of such cases can be withdrawn to give these young boys an opportunity to begin their lives afresh and live as productive citizens.

She also sought a report, within two days, about the nine youths who are lodged in various jails in cases pertaining to stone-throwing.

The Chief Minister asked the Director General Police to take up the matter regarding deportation of a deaf and dumb and mentally-challenged Pakistani national who is lodged in a jail in the state for having accidentally crossed the Line of Control. Why has he been kept in the jail for so long when not only he is deaf and dumb, but mentally challenged also, she asked, adding the state and law enforcing agencies shouldnt be seen acting in such a callous manner. They should be more humane in their approach while dealing with cases of such persons, she added. Mehbooba also stressed on the need to review and upgrade the Jail Manual. She said it should be aimed at making the prisons centres of reformation, and not the places of punishment.

She also called for identification of an alternative site on the periphery of Srinagar city for shifting of Central Jail from its existing location in Kathidarwaza. She asked the Director General Prisons to coordinate with the Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir, for identification of a site and come up with a report within seven days.
Mukesh Ranjan

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, July 4

Taking a serious note of the call made by Chief of Al-Qaida in Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) Maulana Asim Umar to carry out lone wolf attacks on senior administrative and police officers in India in a widely circulated audio clip, the government has asked the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to verify the content, which is quite provocative, of the clip and also make an assessment of the threat, as the terror outfit has no footprint in the country.

We have taken a serious note of the speech made by the AQIS chief in the audio clip. We will certainly re-strategise our preparedness. But before that we wanted to by doubly sure about its veracity and, therefore, NIA has been directed to verify the clip and also make an assessment of its impact, as the agency has already been keeping a watch on youths, who are getting influenced by ISIS propaganda, said a senior MHA official.

Earlier in the day, a digital audio clip containing a provocative speech allegedly by the AQIS chief surfaced, it sent the Indian security establishment in a tizzy, which is already struggling in dealing with Islamic State radicalised youth in different parts of the country.

Even as sources in Intelligence Bureau claim that until now there is no evidence of the groups presence in India, we are sensitive to the fact that the country is the home of more than 20 crore Muslims and possibility of few of them getting radicalised may not be ruled out. Threat was real, particularly after what happened in Dhaka last week, they added.
R Sedhuraman

Legal Correspondent

New Delhi, July 4

The Centre on Monday told the Supreme Court that a scheme was in the offing to encourage car owners to scrap old cars (10-15 years) as it opposed the courts move to impose a green cess on diesel cars with engine capacities of 2,000 CC and above to fight the rising air pollution.

Supporting the car companies plea for relaxing the ban on the sale of such cars in the National Capital Region (NCR), the Centre sought to repudiate the environmentalists contention that big diesel cars were largely responsible for the worsening air pollution.

Both the theories that diesel is the devil and big diesel cars should be discouraged were wrong, Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi argued, citing statistics on the emission of pollutants by vehicles run on different fuels.

A three-member Bench headed by Chief Justice TS Thakur indicated its willingness to lift the ban on registration of big diesel cars in the NCR provided the car companies paid one per cent of the cost of each vehicle as green cess.

Rohatgi, however, maintained that the judiciary had no power to impose any cess which was the domain of the legislature. The government was anyway preparing a scheme for phasing out old vehicles by offering compensation in the region of Rs 50,000 for each such car. Emission levels of old cars were 10 times higher than that of new cars, he said.

Mercedes and Toyota said they were ready to pay the one per cent cess. But advocate Aparijitha Singh, assisting the court as amicus curiae in the pollution case, suggested that the cess amount should be 20 per cent of the car cost as one per cent was too little an amount for the person buying a luxury vehicle for Rs 50 lakh and above.

Arguing for Mercedes, senior counsel Gopal Subramanium contested the amicus claim on the pollution caused by big diesel cars. Once the Bharat Six norm was put in place in 2020, diesel would be a better option for cars for the purpose of reducing air pollution, he pleaded.

The Bench, which included Justices AK Sikri and R Banumathi, reserved its order on the car companies plea for lifting the ban in the NCR.
At the heart of a busy commercial street in the east Cairo area of Al-Rehab, Mazen is busy packing typical Aleppo cookies -maamoul and ghouribah - for the feast that comes at the end of Ramadan.

Baked and filled, with generous portions of high quality green pistachios as becoming of an Aleppo patisserie tradition, the maamoul and gouribah that Mazen is packing are small and very fine.

Next to Mazen, at a store called Salloura, a couple of colleagues are even busier  they are selling to keen and queuing Egyptian and Syrian customers what is probably their last purchases of the typical Ramadan desserts: tamriayh with pistachio (a dough of thick and sweet dates covered with an almost equally thick layer of pistachios), harrissah with almonds (which is a less greasy version of the Egyptian basboussa, made of semolina flour and ghee), kounafa with nuts (which is also different from the typical Egyptian version as the nuts are the topping rather than filling of the kounafa) and baklava turkie.

(The last, baklava turkie, is a traditional Turkish baklava that a typical Aleppo sweet maker would say it is one that Syrians acquired from the Turks in return for endless recipes of sweets that were transferred from Syria, particularly Aleppo, to Istanbul during the Ottoman rule of the country in the 19th century.)

The Salloura family is perhaps one of the oldest name in the tradition of sweets making in Aleppo, and during the past five years, with the armed conflict wrecking the historic city, it has been finding its way in Istanbul, Cairo and elsewhere after close to two-centuries of established business across Syria.

It is such a delight to have them here  for us Salloura is almost a synonym to sweets  in Ramdan as for eid, but also throughout the year because for a typical Syrian family sweets are never confined to these two occasions, said Mayssa, a customer who had just picked up two bags  one of harrissa and halwa al-jubn (sweet cheese), and one of maamoul.

For some of the Egyptian residents of Al-Rehab, Salloura has become the inevitable destination to buy sweets.

Throughout the fasting month, said Dalia, she has made regular visits to the very small but perfectly tidy and efficiently run store to buy her sweets.

You dont have the chic packing and ribbons and bags that you would get in the typical four star or five star patisserie in Cairo but I can promise you that you get a much higher quality of oriental sweets that are very neat and clean, Dalia said.

Salloura, which also has an operation in 6 October, yet a larger hub for the Syrian presence in Cairo, is perhaps one of the most successful businesses of Syrian delights in the capital.

It is certainly one of the bigger operations  with a large and established tradition and continuous desire to expand.

There are however other no less successful operations for which customers queue up for their sweets before Iftar and for their cookies before Eid.

Mamlaket Al-Halwyat at the heart of Nasr City - off Mostafa Al-Nahhas Street, is certainly another worthwhile sweets destination.

Operated by yet another well-established Aleppo name in the business of sweet making, Al-Kadi, Mamlaket Al-Halwyat has been finding its in-roads across the Egyptian tables not just with the traditional well-made Aleppo items like warbat (triangle shapped kounafa units filled with nuts or with pistachios), mabroumah (kounafa rolls filled with pistachios) and kolwashkor (squares of goulash filled with pistachios) but also by customizing some of the most popular Ramadan and Eid desserts in Egypt like kattayef  filled with nuts or with cream  and traditional Egyptian Eid cookies powdered with fine sugar.

I think after two centuries of coming and going from Syria, and for that matter Lebanon, to Egypt, it has become very different to say that this is exclusively Syrian or Egyptian, because in Syria too we have kattayef; they also have it in Lebanon  maybe not as accentuated as you have them here in Egypt, said Ramy El-Kady, the manager of Mamlekat Al-Halwyat.

The differences are essentially in the details of the recipes: When you add rose water to the semolina flower and whey you dont or how much sugar you use to fix the syrup for your kounafa and when you mix cream with nuts and when you dont."

Afamia El-Sham, in Maadi, had gone further by introducing the inevitable Egyptian craze of kounafa with mango, chocolate spread and red velvet  along with a traditional ballouriyah (half-baked kounafa with pistachios) and asswer (miniature kounafa rolls with nuts) and by introducing the traditional variety of Eid cookies, according to the traditional Egyptian recipes.

According to El-Kady, however, ultimately what is common is the widespread desire for Syrian sweets. This precisely the reason why our Egyptian clients have been open to some of the items that are not traditionally at high consumption here.

He added that the details of the same recipes would also differ from Aleppo to Damascus.

In Cairo, three names of Damascene origin have been able to attract growing clientele: Afamia El-Sham in Maadi, Masa in Zamalek, and Arazak El-Sham in Nasr City.

Like Salloura and El-Kady's operations, these three sweetmakers had started their businesses in the span of the past five years  with growing success and also with diverse services that go beyond the sweets to include the typical Syrian halwa. Made with Egyptian ingredients , Syrian recipes and Syrian hands, as Mazen of Salloura put it, these stores also offer Syrian traditional dishes, including the fattah of Damascus and kibbeh of Aleppo, and a diverse selection of cheese.

When I first started, I was thinking more of providing for the Syrians living in the neighbourhood the kind of food that they would miss, either by having it made here or by bringing whatever could be brought from home, said Ali of Arazk El-Sham.

The success of the operations that have incorporated sweets with shawarma sandwiches or with fried kibbah , like Mamlekat Al-Halwyat and Salloura, or with more sophisticated Syrian dishes like shkriyah (lamb cooked with onions and yogurt and served with rice) offered by Masa, or the incredible diversity of Syrian cuisine served at Maadi's Afamia El-Sham, prompted Ali to venture into the sweets market.

Traditionally, I am not into the sweets business; I am more of the dairies business side but I noticed that the stores selling sweets were having good success so I decided to introduce a sweets service exclusively for Ramadan and Eid, Ali said. He added, and it has been going very well.

According to Ahmed, the manager of Masa, There is an incredible appeal of Syrian sweets  I would say much more than the Syrian food in general  among Egyptians."

When it comes to Egyptian clients I am selling more sweets than anything else, Ahmed added.

It is a long history that bring the two peoples together after all, and food is widely shared across Al-Mashrek with Egypt, Ahmed said.

I think it also has to be said that traditionally, Egyptians have proven to be very open to accommodate and customize recipes coming not just from Al-Mashrek but rather from all across the Mediterranean, said Hala Barakat, a environment and gastronomy researcher.

The question is about the cultural and environmental integration  in the sense that the items that are compatible with the overwhelming taste, the Egyptian ways of cooking and baking and also the ingredients that are readily available in the Egyptian market  without having to be imported, Barakat explained.

Whatever is integrated, she said, is what lives on  even if it is eventually subject to some changes that are prompted by variables like the prices of certain ingredients in local markets.

Otherwise it is mostly items that are brought to the market to the consumption of particular communities  this is why I think that what is left of the many sweet and sour items that were brought to Cairo during the wave of Iraqi refugees between 2003 and 2006 is not very [significant today], she argued.

Today in Al-Rehab, Nasr City and 6 October that saw the largest clusters of Iraqis, there are still a few places that sell Iraqi foods  but mostly breads, especially the two most popular versions in Egypt: samoun and tanour.

And in Nasr City and Al-Rehab, venue to the presence of many Palestinian families who came to Egypt with a second wave of refugees, mostly from Iraq and Kuwait in the wake of the Gulf War in 1990 and the second war in Iraq, there are still a few restaurants that sell falfel made of homous and nabulsi kounafa (kounafa filled with cheese) served very warm with sugar and rose water syrup.

The survival of certain recipes is not just about the appeal taste and availability of ingredients but also about whether or not the know-how of the cooking and baking, with all the small tips and tricks included, are properly passed on to Egyptians.

I am sure that when the Syrian plight ends and they start to go back, most of these stores will be closed  except for some, like the case of Iraqi refugees, who might decide to stay on or to keep a branch of their business, said Barakat.

But I also think that only some of the many new recipes would stay on at a large scale while the rest would be gone, she added.

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New Delhi, July 4

The mortal remains of Indian teenager Tarishi Jain, who was among those hacked to death by Islamic militants in a terror attack at a Dhaka restaurant, were consigned to flames in Gurgaon on Monday.

Her body was received at the Capital's international airport by Union Power and Coal Minister Piyush Goyal.

Tarishis last rites were performed by her brother Sanchit at around 4.15 pm at the cremation ground at Iffco Chowk in Gurgaon.

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Tarishi, a student at UC Berkeley, was among 20 foreigners brutally murdered by the militants inside the Holey Artisan Bakery in Dhaka's diplomatic zone during the weekend.

She was on vacation in Dhaka. Her father runs a garment business in Bangladesh for the last 15-20 years.

Goyal later accompanied the body, along with her parents to Gurgaon, officials said.

Among the killed foreigners were eight Italians and seven Japanese. Commandos had launched an assault killing six attackers and capturing one alive, ending Bangladesh's worst terror attack.

Delhi Lt Governor Najeeb Jung, Union minister Rao Inderjit Singh, Haryana minister Ram Bilas Sharma, Congress leader Raj Babbar and M S Bitta paid tributes to Tarishi Jain, whose body was kept at the DLF Phase I community Centre for some time to allow people to pay tributes.

Raj Babbar gave a condolence letter sent by Congress president Sonia Gandhi to Tarishi Jain's family members and expressed grief on the death of young girl.  PTI
Mumbai/Tokyo, July 4

Foreign companies with nationals working in Bangladesh's garment and building industries have suspended travel to the country and told workers there to stay at home after a deadly attack by Islamist militants on a restaurant in Dhaka on Friday.

The hospitality sector is also seeing cancellations, hotels are tightening security and foreign embassies are looking at reducing staffing after the attack claimed the lives of nine Italians, seven Japanese, an American, an Indian and some Bangladeshi nationals.

Fast Retailing Co, the Japanese owner of the Uniqlo casual-wear brand, said it will suspend all but critical travel to Bangladesh and has told staff there to stay indoors.

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Bangladesh's $26 billion garment industry has been bracing for the fallout of Friday's killings, fearing major retailers from Uniqlo to Marks and Spencer and Gap could rethink their sourcing plans after the latest attack targeting foreigners.

One of the world's poorest countries, Bangladesh relies on garments for around 80 per cent of its exports and for about 4 million jobs, and ranks behind only China as a supplier of clothes to developed markets like Europe and the United States.

Uniqlo has 10 Japanese staff in Bangladesh, one of its major production hubs outside China, and was among the first to confirm it will tighten travel restrictions already in place after attacks last year. A spokeswoman said all but critical travel was suspended.

Industry analysts have suggested clothing brands may now consider shifting out of Bangladesh to less unsettled countries in Asia, such as Cambodia and Sri Lanka. No major companies have yet signalled official plans.  Reuters

Kerry talks to Hasina, offers FBI help

Dhaka: The US has offered assistance of its law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, to probe Bangladeshs worst terror attack. The help was offered as Secretary of State John Kerry called Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. The Secretary encouraged Bangladesh to conduct its investigation in accordance with the highest international standards and offered immediate help, State Department spokesperson John Kirby said. PTI

Among attackers, a Shraddha Kapoor fan

Dhaka: One of the terroists, killed during a joint operation to free hostages at a cafe here, was a fan of Bollywood actress Shraddha Kapoor. Nibras Islam, 22, in his Facebook page, claimed he had met Kapoor. In a video clip posted in Facebook on June 8 last year, Nibras was seen shaking hands with Indian actress Shraddha Kapoor, the Daily Star newspaper said quoting an unidentified police detective. Shraddha Kapoor you beauty!! read the post. PTI

2 suspects detained

Dhaka: Bangladesh Police chief AKM Shahidul Hoque on Monday said two suspects had been detained in connection with the Gulshan cafe attack. He, however, did not disclose the identities of the detainees or where they were being kept as he briefed media persons at Army Stadium in Banani. Hoque only said they were both physically unwell and would be quizzed after their condition improves. One of them is in hospital, the other is in custody, the Daily Star quoted him as saying. ANI
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, July 4

Days after first women pilots were inducted for a combat role in the Indian Air Force (IAF), Defence Minister Manohar Parikar today said the government was looking for a greater role for women in combat, thereby, once again opening up the debate on the pros and cons of allowing women at the frontline.

Parrikar mooted the idea of raising an all-women battalion and stationing women on warships. He said the psychological barrier had been broken with the induction of female fighter pilots. Three women were inducted into the fighter pilot stream of the IAF on June 18.

The Defence Minister was speaking at a function organised by the Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) Ladies Organisation on changing roles and opportunities of women in the defence sector. Why cant we have an all-women battalion if there is resistance among male soldiers over being led by female commanders, he said.

The only restriction today is infrastructure, Parrikar said, adding that induction of women through the National Defence Academy (NDA) and allowing girl students in Sainik schools can also be considered.

Within the Army, the only question is a situation when a woman soldier is captured by the enemy. It could lead to furore on the political front.

If the Army and the Navy are opened up for combat roles for women, India will join the US, Israel and Norway to have such a system.

Parrikar said sometime in future he would sit with the chiefs of the three forces. I dont understand why we cant place women on warships. At this stage, I will not support a submarine operation because submarines are designed for unigender or one area for staff. There are no separate areas for women. But warships can be modified and new ships can be designed to have facilities for women, he said, adding that there was also a question of taking women officers through NDA.

He said there were demands from across the country for Sainik schools to have girl students. This cannot be done in disjoined manner otherwise girls will get into Sainik schools but will not get entry, all these aspects are being looked into, he said.

Speaking about the opportunities for women in the defence sector, Parrikar said low-end clothing line such as uniform for NCC cadets could be one area where women entrepreneurs can look for possible business prospects. He urged FICCI ladies organisation to come forward with a list of business propositions where they can partner with the defence sector and promote women entrepreneurs.

In her welcome address, Vinita Bimbhet, president of FICCI Ladies Organisation, emphasised the crucial aspects of entrepreneurial role of women in the defence sector, which needed to be boosted to achieve the goal of inclusive growth.
Rajmeet Singh

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 4

On the eve of Punjab Congress affairs incharge Asha Kumaris visit to the city, the All India Congress Committee today served notices on three state party leaders, seeking their explanation over a series of meetings organised recently in Kharar, in which PPCC general secretary Lakhwinder Kaur Garcha also took part.

Harish Chaudhary, AICC secretary, has sought replies from Garcha, who served as an OSD (officer on special duty) to the then chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh, Kharar MLA Jagmohan Singh Kang and Mohali legislator Balbir Singh Sidhu.

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Sources said Kang and PPCC senior vice-president Lal Singh had been asked to explain why the meetings were held when a zone-wise programme (June 24 to August 8) was underway.

The high command wants to convey the message that all ticket aspirants have to work collectively and support those whose names are finalised, said a senior leader. Garcha is a contender from Kharar.
Berlin, July 4

India on Monday underlined the need for countries to take pre-2020 climate actions to curb emissions and sought cooperation among countries in finance and technology sectors to tackle climate change.

"Cooperation is the key for taking (climate) actions. Every country is at a different stage of development. We need cooperation. We have the will to act," said Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar.

Javadekar said India has already started the process of ratification of Paris Climate agreement and even during the recent meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Barack Obama, both emphasised that the process should be completed at the earliest.

"But we do not have the wherewithal to do it, not only in terms of finances, but particularly in terms of technology.

When we talk of technology, Germany is most reliable name in many fields and therefore, there is finance, technology and mutual cooperation and walking the talk," Javadekar said at a joint press conference with German Minister Barbara Hendricks at the Seventh St Petersburg Dialogue in Berlin.

Since 2010, the annual dialogue has provided the opportunity for countries to engage in an informal exchange of experiences on international climate policy.

Javadekar said on October 5 last year, Modi and German Chancellor Angela Markel issued a joint statement which is the "basis" of India-Germany partnership programme.

In a statement during the joint press briefing with Chancellor Merkel, Prime Minister Modi had said he admired Merkel's leadership in combating climate change and both the countries had agreed on an India-Germany Climate and Renewable Alliance with a long term vision and a comprehensive agenda of combating climate change.

Modi had also said he placed great value on Germany's assistance of over one billion Euros for India's Green Energy Corridor and a new assistance package of over a billion Euros for solar projects in India.

"What we have achieved in New York, we signed it (agreement). Now we have to implement it. So pre-2020 actions are also important and will also be discussed here in St Petersburg," Javadekar said adding that he was hopeful of the outcome at this dialogue.

Modi in his statement last year with Merkel had also said both the countries looked forward to a concrete outcome at the 2015 Conference of Parties (COP21) in Paris that strengthens the commitment and the ability of the world, especially of poor and vulnerable countries, to transition to a more sustainable growth path.

"India has already started the process of ratification (of the agreement).

"Recently when Prime Minister Narendra Modi was in Washington and had met President Obama, they emphasised that the process (of ratification) has to be done at the earliest and we (India) have already started in that direction," Javadekar said.

Solar energy target upscaled 5 times

He said India has upscaled its solar energy target by five times and plans an expansion of 100 GW of solar energy.

"By 2050 you will be meeting 80 per cent of energy needs through renewables. That's most laudable. Our earlier target was only 20 GW of solar energy.

"When Modi came (to power), we upscaled it by five times and made it 100 GW. Other renewables like wind energy, we have opened it for offshore as well," Javadekar added.

In reply to a question on what has changed for India which was earlier reluctant to join agreements, Javadekar said it is because the country has a Prime Minister who leads from the front, takes challenges head on and has the will to fight climate change.  PTI
Legal Correspondent

New Delhi, July 4

The Supreme Court today agreed to go into a PIL plea for making politicians declare their sources of income in their nominations for contesting elections.

A Bench comprising Justices J Chelameswar and AM Sapre asked the petitioner, NGO Lok Prahari, to provide further details on the bar on politicians to take government contracts and posted the next hearing for July 18.

Arguing for Lok Prahari, its general secretary SN Shukla said candidates had to declare their assets in their nomination papers, but not the source or how they accumulated these. Records showed that the wealth of at least a dozen Lok Sabha had gone up five times in the past five years.

The voters have the right to know that the growth of their wealth is commensurate with their known sources of income and through legitimate means, Shukla pleaded. Democracy should have no place for their lacking in integrity and character, he contended.

Peoples fundamental right to know the antecedents of the contesting candidates to make an informed choice included the right to know the sources of their income, he argued.

The Bench said it was aware of instances where MPs who had defaulted on bank loans worth crores of rupees were re-elected.

The NGOs PIL had led to apex courts ruling that lawmakers would automatically stand disqualified as MPs or MLAs upon their conviction in corruption cases or being sentenced for two years or more in other criminal cases.
Tribune News Service

Amritsar, July 4

Cornering the SAD-BJP government over BJP MLA Dr Navjot Kaur Sidhus recent remarks about drug trade flourishing through red-beacon vehicles, Congress leader Sunil Jakhar today said if it was true, Deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal should resign on ethical grounds and if it wasnt true, Dr Sidhu should be removed from her post.

On July 3, Chief Parliamentary Secretary Dr Sidhu had slammed the Deputy CM while alleging that some leaders were using their official, red-beacon vehicles  which the Deputy CM had allotted to every Tom, Dick and Harry  to supply drugs.

PPCC vice-president Sunil Jakhar said, It is unbecoming of a Deputy CM, who is also holding the charge of home ministry, to forego such a serious statement by a leader of their alliance partner. I appreciate Dr Sidhu for issuing such a bold statement. If it is true, then the BJP should snap ties with SAD, otherwise it is understood that the BJP too is hand in glove for the drug menace as red-beacon vehicles have equally been allotted to their leaders and officials too. The Deputy CM should step down morally and ethically, he said.

Quoting Minister of State (Home) Kiren Rijijus endorsement of drug addiction against a query posed by a Congress MP from Uttrakhand Mahendra Singh Mahra in Rajya Sabha about cross-border infiltration and connivance of security agencies with drug smugglers in Punjab, Jakhar said the minister had furnished details of policemen and jail staff who were arrested for their alleged involvement in the illicit trade.
Sukhmeet Bhasin

Tribune News Service

Bathinda, July 4



The Congress on Monday said it would conduct a third-party audit of the state governments working in the past three years from a private company on assuming power in the state.

Former chief minister Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, who heads the manifesto draft committee, and Manpreet Singh Badal, convener of the committee, who were here to interact with traders, said this.

They said the company would be given an incentive on bringing out a scam or irregularities. The decision of what percentage of incentive would be given to the company would be decided by state party chief Capt Amarinder Singh, they added.

Manpreet alleged that Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and other ruling alliance leaders are distributing money during sangat darshan without proper financial approval from the administration.

Both Bhattal and Manpreet said the Aam Aadmi Party stood no chance in Punjab. They said the AAP manifesto focused on day-dreaming and lofty promises. The promise of providing 25 lakh jobs is a joke as the party had not given any blueprint for this, they added.

Bhattal said the AAPs manifesto providing free WiFi hotspot in every village, city and government college is nothing but a mere ploy since it had promised similar things in New Delhi but did not keep those promises.

She said the alleged involvement of AAP MLA Naresh Yadav in the Malerkotla sacrilege incident had exposed the real face of the party, which resorted to unethical means to sway people in their favour.

Manpreet said it should be legally binding on political parties to keep their promises made in the manifestoes.
Tribune News Service

Sangrur, July 4

In protest against non-acceptance of their demands, freedom fighters and their successors are now up in arms against the Badal government

Despite submitting a memorandum to Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal more than a year ago, the state government has not fulfilled their demands so far.

A deputation of the Freedom Fighters and Uttaradhikari Organisation, Punjab, today gave a memorandum to the Sangrur Deputy Commissioner, serving an ultimatum on the CM to fulfil their demands by July 17 otherwise they would be forced to protest outside his residence on July 18 in Chandigarh.

The demands include free-of-cost bus pass facility for family members of freedom fighters, exemption from toll, representation to successors of freedom fighters in district-level committees and increase in job reservation to 5 per cent from 1 per cent.

State president of the organisation Harinderpal Singh Khalsa in the memorandum said the CM had been holding Sangat Darshan programmes, but he had no time for those who had got the country freed from the British.

He said they had given a memorandum to the CM more than a year ago, but despite meeting him for four times he had not given time to the organisation for discussing its demands.

Khalsa said in case their demands were not fulfilled by July 17, about 1,000 freedom fighters and their successors would gather at Gurdwara Amb Sahib in Mohali on July 18 and take out a march to the house of the CM and apprise him of their demands. He said in case they failed to get a positive response from the CM, they would announce a statewide agitation on that day.

Two freedom fighters, Nishan Singh (90) and Gurtej Singh (95) and successors of freedom fighters today met the Deputy Commissioner, who assured them that their memorandum would be forwarded to the CM.
Gurdeep Singh Mann

Tribune News Service

Bathinda, July 4

The police today claimed to have busted a human trafficking racket with the arrest of eight persons, including six women. The accused were allegedly involved in the sale and purchase of children between the age of six months and one year.

The accused are identified as Geeta of Sanguana Basti, Bathinda, Dr Manjit Singh of Bishnandi village, Manpreet Kaur of Bathinda, Karamjit Kaur of Muktsar, Dr Baljeet Singh of Semewala village, Reena of Ablu Kotli, Paramjeet Kaur of Faridkot, Tarsem Singh of Moga and Babbu Kumari of Muktsar.

They had sold six children till now. The police said only Babbu was absconding while all others were arrested and booked under Section 370 of the IPC (buying or disposing of any person as a slave) and Section 10 of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act. The police have also recovered a one-year-old child whose identity is being ascertained.

Family members of accused Dr Manjit Singh said he was a rural medical practitioner at Bishnandi village of Faridkot.

He shifted to Bathinda around two-and-a-half years ago after his wifes death. His 11-year-old daughter resides in the village with her grandparents while Manjit resides alone in a rented accommodation at Bathinda, said his cousin Sweeta. A brother of Manjit is a constable with the Punjab Police deployed in Faridkot, he said.

Sonu Maheshwari, president of NGO Naujawan Welfare Society, who too had lodged complaints in the past regarding illegal sale and purchase of children, said, I had lodged numerous complaints in the past and got a case registered against a man in Ludhiana and another case is pending in a court at Jalandhar.

He said the people involved in the illegal trade used to buy children from hutments at a cost of Rs 50,000 and further sell them for Rs 8 lakh or more.

Many a time such people manage to get government stamps over the illegal trade by offering buyer to register the sale of children through adoption deed at tehsil offices, Maheshwari said.

He said childless couples pay hefty prices to middlemen who manage to purchase children from poor and further sell off to them.

The police said the remand of the accused would be obtained for further interrogation.
(Beijing)  The land under some parts of Beijing sank by as much as 11 centimeters per year on average from 2003 to 2011 due to the overconsumption of groundwater, research published in the journal Remote Sensing in June shows.

The rate of sinking accelerated in parts of the city over the past decade, and this threatened its subway system, buildings and underground natural gas and heating pipelines, said Li Guoping, vice director of Peking University's Beijing Development Institute.

Researchers, who used satellite imaging and global positioning sensors to track changes in the ground level, found that northern and eastern parts of Beijing, including the densely populated districts of Chaoyang and Haidian, were the worst affected. They were sinking quickly compared to other parts of the capital and their rate of subsidence had accelerated over the years, according to Chen Mi. Chen, an associate professor from Beijing Normal University, who headed the first comprehensive research on the issue of subsiding land in the Chinese capital.

Many areas in the east and north of Beijing sank 4 to 8 centimeters a year on average during the period, the study shows. The problem was less severe areas near the center and west of Beijing, where land descended about 1 centimeter per year.

A drop in groundwater levels due to overuse was a major factor causing Beijing to sink, Chen said. Active fault lines and certain types of aquifers can also contribute to the problem, he said

Beijing is ranked the fifth-most water stressed city in the world by the United Nations. A Peking University survey in 2012 shows that people in the capital on average have less than 100 cubic meters of water per head each year, less than one-tenths of the internationally accepted level of 1,000 cubic meters per person per annum set by the UN.

Most of the water used in the city comes from its underground aquifers. Statistics from the Beijing Water Authority shows the city consumed about 3.5 billion cubic meters of water per year from 2006 to 2011, and over 60 percent of that was ground water.

Levels of ground water in Beijing had receded one meter per year on average from 1999 to 2013, said Li.

The water authority said ground water levels in the city had dropped by about 9 meters from 2000 to 2011. But the rate of decline has slowed after the South-to-North Water Diversion project was completed at the end of 2014. The 2,400 kilometer network of canals and tunnels was designed to divert 44.8 billion cubic meters of water annually from the country's water-rich south to its parched north. Officials at the municipal water board said it expects the city's groundwater level to rise after 2025.

(Rewritten by Li Rongde)
Sushil Goyal

Tribune News Service

Malerkotla, July 4

Hundreds of Akali workers, led by former Punjab Wakf Board Chairman Mohammad Izhar Alam, staged a protest here today against Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal near the venue of his Iftar party on the Malerkotla-Ludhiana road.

Holding black flags, the SAD workers tried in vain to cross the barricades erected by the police about 500 metres from the venue. They raised slogans against Kejriwal over the Quran desecration case, in which AAP MLA Naresh Yadav is among those booked.

Meanwhile, the Congress cancelled its scheduled protest against Kejriwal in view of the district administrations move to ban the assembly of five or more persons under Section 144 of the CrPC. We respect the law, said the partys former MLA Razia Sultana.

About 500 police personnel were deployed near the venue and in other parts of the Muslim-dominated city. Patiala Zone IGP Paramraj Singh Umranangal, Patiala SSP Gurmeet Singh Chauhan and Sangrur SSP Pritpal Singh Thind supervised the security arrangements.

During the Iftar party, Kejriwal said the Quran desecration had been plotted to frame and defame AAP. He appealed to the people not to let anti-social elements succeed in creating a communal wedge.

Party MP Bhagwant Mann said they (AAP leaders) had come here not for a political rally but to join their Muslim brothers during Ramzan.
GS Paul

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, July 3

In town to release the Aam Aadmi Party's "youth manifesto," party convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal today faced resistance from unidentified Sikhs in the Golden Temple complex. He is on a three-day Punjab visit.

As Kejriwal and his party leaders, including Sucha Singh Chhotepur and Bhagwant Mann, came out of the Golden Temple complex at 2.30 pm, two Sikh youths threw pamphlets at them. They raised slogans against Kejriwal for razing a 'piao' (drinking water kiosk) outside Sis Ganj Sahib Gurdwara in Delhi. They were taken away by police personnel who were in mufti.

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The pamphlets claimed that neither Kejriwal nor his party MLA Alka Lamba had apologised to the Sikhs for demolishing the "historic piao" at the shrine. The kiosk was demolished on March 28, on the orders of the Delhi High Court, during an anti-encroachment drive. However, it was rebuilt after the drive.

Chhotepur accused the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) of launching a false propaganda against AAP. The Delhi Government has nothing to do with it. The Akalis are playing dirty politics, he said.The SGPC did not honour Kejriwal with a siropa (robe of honour), but he was accorded a warm welcome by the Durgiana Temple Committee.

Kejriwal's visit begins under the shadow of an AAP legislator in Delhi, Naresh Yadav, being named in an FIR related to the recent case of sacrilege in Malerkotla. But AAP leaders say the SAD-BJP government is trying to implicate its leaders in false cases. Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal refused to be drawn into the controversy, saying the police were investigating the matter.
Ravi Dhaliwal

Tribune News Service

Gurdaspur, July 4

Aam Aadmi Party convener Arvind Kejriwal on Monday said the Malerkotla sacrilege incident in which one of his party MLAs had been named was politically motivated and being blown out of proportion by the SAD-BJP government with elections in the state around the corner.

The Delhi Chief Minister was addressing a gathering of Christians here.

Kejriwal said, This is an election year in Punjab and the Badal government is going all out to defame me and my party. I have been told that the Sangrur police have specifically been told to implicate some members of my party in the desecration case. Had it not been for the elections, the Malerkotla incident would not have happened, he said.

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He said that since June 24, when the incident took place, the police had been blaming the VHP but now suddenly they had trained their guns on the AAP. Just a day before I was to start my three-day Punjab tour, the investigators suddenly started targeting my party colleagues. I have been told that this is being done allegedly at the behest of the ruling party. This shows that the SAD-BJP alliance fears my party, which is gaining in strength with each passing day. The Akalis have stooped so low that they had to take recourse to a religious scripture to defame me. The Badals are hitting below the belt, Kejriwal alleged.

Sangrur MP Bhagwant Mann and Gurpreet Ghuggi held the audience in splits with their witticisms.

Meanwhile, Tarun Chugh, national BJP general secretary, challenged Kejriwal to an open debate. I have prepared a 16-point questionnaire. If Kejriwal is able to give satisfactory reply to even one of the questions, I would resign, he said.

Also, addressing a rally in Jalandhar, Kejriwal said he would form an SIT to look into atrocities on Dalits after the party assumed power in Punjab. He said he would rather die than allow reservation to end.

Meanwhile, activists of the Anjuman Islamia and Purvanchal Kranti Dal staged protests outside the rally venue of AAP in Jalandhar, demanding the arrest of Naresh Yadav. They also threatened a stir in Malerkotla if the MLA was not booked by Monday evening.

Yadav meets DGP, assures cooperation

AAP MLA Naresh Yadav, who has been booked and summoned in connection with the Malerkotla sacrilege incident, along with party members on Monday met the Punjab Police chief who assured them of a fair and impartial probe.

The AAP delegation, led by partys Punjab in-charge Sanjay Singh, met Director General of Police (DGP) Suresh Arora at his office here after which Yadav said he was ready to join the probe.

We have told the DGP that we came to Chandigarh as soon as we came to know about the case. We are ready to join the investigation, Yadav told reporters after the meeting.

We have clearly told the DGP that if they find any evidence against me regarding the sacrilege incident, they can hang me, he said.

The Punjab Police chief assured the AAP delegation that a free, fair and impartial investigation would be carried out.

Yadav, AAP MLA from Mehrauli, had been booked in connection with the alleged sacrilege incident after one of the accused claimed that he had acted at the behest of the legislator.

Punjab Police have asked him to appear on July 5 for questioning.

With PTI and TNS
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 4

Deputy CM Sukhbir Badal today castigated the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) for "committing sacrilege" by equating Guru Granth Sahib with a frivolous manifesto released by it in Amritsar yesterday.

In a statement here, the SAD president said AAP and its spokesman Ashish Khetan, who also headed the Delhi Dialogue Commission of the party, had equated a document released yesterday with Guru Granth Sahib in the presence of AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal and the entire top leadership of the party.

"This is an act of blasphemy which has hurt the sentiments of the Sikh community worldwide and we condemn it," he said.

Asking Kejriwal to take action, Sukhbir said no apology on the part of Khetan would be good enough to assuage the hurt feelings of the Sikh sangat. "His dismissal from all party posts and expulsion from AAP will send a signal that you are not a party to this heinous act. Otherwise it will be presumed that this utterance was part of a planned AAP agenda authored by you," he added.

Sampla objects to use of Golden Temple's picture

Meanwhile, Union Minister and state BJP president Vijay Sampla took a strong exception to AAP using the image of the Golden Temple on the cover of its election manifesto and putting its election symbol "broom" on the holy shrine's photograph.

He said Kejriwal and other AAP leaders must immediately apologise for this act. "I was shocked to see the photo of the shrine on the cover of AAP manifesto, but when I saw 'broom' super-imposed on the holy sarovar, I was angry and sad at the same time. Has our politics fallen to this level?" Sampla said in a statement issued here.

He alleged AAP was destroying the glorious traditions of Punjab.
THANKS to the far-sighted action taken by Mr. Bull, Secretary of the Municipal Committee, and the sympathetic assurances given by Mr. Tollinton, the Deputy Commissioner, the strike of the hackney carriage drivers at Lahore came to an abrupt end. But so far as the public, both European and Indian, was concerned, in one brief day they learnt to their cost what it meant to have an unsatisfactory and vitiated system of things in an important station at Lahore. Ladies and gentlemen alighting from the trains and in many cases with luggage had to walk out to the civil station or the city, and coolies made roaring business demanding what they chose.
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, July 4

With Prime Minister Narendra Modi carrying out a reshuffle of his Cabinet tomorrow, all eyes will be on the hopefuls among BJP MPs from Uttarakhand.

The possibility of at least one MP from Uttarakhand finding a place in the Cabinet reshuffle is a near certainty, especially in view of the upcoming Assembly elections in 2017.

Also, during his visit to Dehradun in June, Union Home Minister Rajnath had made it clear that this time, Uttarakhand would get a representation in the Modi Cabinet.

Sources in the Uttarakhand BJP say the name of Almora MP Ajay Tamta seems to have been finalised. However, the other strong contender and senior BJP leader, who is MP from Nainital, BS Koshiyari had not given up.

The decision has to be taken by the central leadership, including the Prime Minister. You will know tomorrow who will eventually find a berth in the Cabinet, said Ajay Bhatt, BJP Uttarakhand president.

At the same time, party leaders say Tamtas credentials as a Dalit leader from Kumaon had worked in his favour. They say that by selecting him, the BJP leadership wants to give a message that the party is willing to look beyond the senior leaders and MPs comprising BS Koshiyari , (Nainital) BC Khanduri (Pauri Garhwal), Mala Raj Laxmi Shah (Tehri) and Ramesh Pokhriyal, (MP from Haridwar) by going for a younger leader, who is a Dalit from Kumaon.

While pressing for the Rajya Sabha membership of Congress leader Pradeep Tamta, Chief Minister Harish Rawat had played the Dalit card to the hilt. If Tamta gets the berth, it will be the BJPs turn to play the card. Both parties then could claim to have done justice to Dalits from Kumaon.

However, that an MP from Uttarakhand will find a representation in the Cabinet is almost certain.

Last time, the race was between BS Koshiyari and Ajay Tamta, with Tamta almost making it but the strong opposition by Kohshiyari made an impact. Later Tamtas name was dropped. If Tamta finally makes it tomorrow, it will be a victory of sorts for the young leader.
BD Kasniyal

Pithoragarh, July 4

Residents of Bastari have offered land to rehabilitate the remaining households in the disaster-affected village. They said the state government should take a decision on the matter soon.

We are ready to offer our panchayat land for rehabilitation of the village but want the land geologically tested before giving it away for construction of houses for families who have lost their houses in this disaster, said Nanda Ballabh Bhatt, sarpanch of Bastari village panchayat.

However, the panic-ridden villagers have answered in negative when asked if they would like to reside in the village if government sets up new houses in place of the destructed or damaged ones.

I dont want to live in the village where the calamity has annihilated the new generation. The village feels like a ghost, said Anandi Devi, an old woman who witnessed the tragedy on June 30 evening.

The villagers have been lodged in primary school and the local Government College as the houses have turned into rubble.

The residents said their village had been set up 500 years ago as their ancestors found the place safe for living. But the situation now has turned upside down after the disaster and the village is no more a place to live, said Harish Bhatt, a youth who lost his brother and sister-in-law in the disaster.

Sources in the district administration said after the retrieval of nine bodies in Bastari village, 11 people were still trapped under the debris and were being looked for by para-military forces and Army personnel.
Beijing, July 4

Chinas Internet regulator will launch a crackdown on the reporting of news gathered from social media, as part of what the government calls a campaign against fake news and the spreading of rumours.

In a statement late on Sunday, the Cyberspace Administration of China said that online media cannot report any news taken from social media sites without approval.

It is forbidden to use hearsay to create news or use conjecture and imagination to distort the facts, it said.

All levels of the cyberspace administration must earnestly fulfil their management responsibility for internet content, strengthen supervision and investigation, severely probe and handle fake and unfactual news, the regulator added.

It listed a number of fake news stories it said had recently circulated on the internet, including one about a bus fire.

The Chinese government already exercises widespread controls over the Internet and has sought to codify that policy in law.

Officials say internet restrictions, including the blocking of popular foreign sites like Google and Facebook, are needed to ensure security in the face of rising threats, such as terrorism, and stop the spread of damaging rumours.

Foreign governments and business groups have pointed to restrictions on the internet as a broader trade issue.  Reuters
Washington, July 4

US Secretary of State John Kerry called Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and offered her assistance from American law enforcement, including the FBI, in the wake of the terror attack on a Dhaka restaurant in which 20 hostages were hacked to death.

The Secretary encouraged the government of Bangladesh to conduct its investigation in accordance with the highest international standards and offered immediate assistance from US law enforcement, including the FBI, State Department spokesperson John Kirby said.

Kerry called Hasina yesterday to offer support in the wake of the outrageous attack on the Holey Artisan restaurant in Dhakas high-security diplomatic zone, he said.

During the call, Kerry condoled the loss of innocent lives at the hands of terrorists who threaten the United States, Bangladesh, and the international community.

He re-affirmed US support for Bangladeshs efforts to bring those responsible for planning and conducting the attacks to justice as well as to prevent future attacks, Kirby said.

Twenty hostages, including Indian girl Tarushi Jain, were hacked to death by terrorists inside the cafe popular with expats in the diplomatic zone before commandos launched an assault, killing six attackers and capturing one alive.

Most of those killed were found with their throats slit.

Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack through its Amaq news agency, nearly four hours after the hostage crisis unfolded.

Bangladesh, however, blamed home-grown Islamist terrorists and Pakistans spy agency ISI for the attack, ruling out involvement of the Islamic State.  PTI
Sydney, July 4

Independent candidates who will likely determine a cliffhanger Australian election shot to prominence on Monday, one of them renewing anti-Asian rhetoric first heard 20 years ago, with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull under fire for a failed political gamble.

Pauline Hanson, founder of the controversial far right One Nation party, used the political limbo that has resulted from Saturday's close vote to push her far-right agenda that first won her international notoriety in 1996, warning that Australia was being "swamped by Asians".

"A lot of Australians feel that Asians are buying up prime agricultural land, housing," Hanson said at a fiery media conference in Brisbane on Monday, where she also reiterated her anti-Islam stance.

"Do you want to see terrorism on our streets here? Do you want to see our Australians murdered?" she said.

With the two major parties, the conservative Liberal-National coalition and centre-left Labor, sitting on the sidelines waiting for a result that could take days, it was left to another independent, centrist Nick Xenophon, to mount a defence of multicultural Australia.

The power vacuum that allowed Hanson to re-emerge showed just how badly Turnbull's gamble of dissolving both Houses of Parliament, to clear out minor parties and independents he said were blocking his reformist agenda, had failed.

Saturday's election was meant to end political turmoil that had seen four prime ministers in three years. Instead, it left Turnbull's own leadership in question less than a year after he ousted then Prime Minister Tony Abbott in a party-room coup.

"I think in the end he should be asking himself if he has done the Liberal Party a service or a disservice," Corey Bernardi, a senator from Turnbull's Liberal Party, said.

Labour leader Bill Shorten also called on Turnbull to quit, likening his position to that of British Prime Minister David Cameron after last month's "Brexit" vote.

Turnbull, acting as caretaker Prime Minister while vote counting continues, appeared to have underestimated the protest vote that stole support from both major parties and must now negotiate with minor parties and independents to retain power.

Hostile Senate

Labour had won 67 seats to the coalition's 65 before counting was paused on the weekend, with the Greens picking up one seat and Independents claiming four. The major parties need 76 seats to form a majority government in the House of Representatives.

With the result of 13 seats still in doubt, political pundits were predicting one of two main scenarios: the coalition scrapes across the line by picking up nine or more of the undecided seats, or it fails to reach 76 and has a hung parliament where neither side holds power.

Even if the government scrapes through, Turnbull will likely face an even more hostile upper house Senate, leaving his election agenda that includes cuts to healthcare and a A$50 billion corporate tax break over 10 years further in doubt.

Moody's Investor Service warned that policy paralysis when it comes to repairing the budget deficit could have an impact on Australia's coveted triple A credit rating.

"Looking ahead, trends in Australia's credit profile will be determined by whether fiscal objectives are effectively implemented, whether external financing conditions remain favourable and how housing market developments affect domestic growth and financial conditions," Marie Diron, Senior Vice-President at Moody's, said in a statement.

Turnbull said on Sunday he remained "quietly confident" of returning his coalition to power for another three-year term.

Vote counting could still take several days, electoral officials have said.

While the counting dragged on, Andrew Wilkie, one of the key independents, told ABC radio he was adamant he would "do no deals". "Neither the Labor Party or the Liberal Party have a God-given right to rule," he said.

A second independent, Cathy McGowan, also said she did not intend to decide which side to support until the votes were counted and parliament resumed.

"There is enormous disappointment with the way the government has been working," McGowan said.

Vote counting for the upper house Senate resumed on Monday but counting for the lower House of Representatives does not restart until Tuesday. The delayed counting is a result of new security measures by the Australian Electoral Commission.  Reuters
(Beijing) - A former deputy head of China's top government advisory body was imprisoned for life for bribery, illegally accessing state secrets and abusing power by a court in the eastern city of Tianjin on July 4.

Ling Jihua, a former vice chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), was tried in a closed-door hearing that began on June 7, state-run Xinhua News Agency reported.

Ling was charged with taking over 77 million yuan in kick-backs on multiple occasions either alone, with his wife Gu Liping or through his son Ling Gu, Xinhua said. In return, he helped his associates get promoted.

Officials who benefited through their links to Ling includes Li Chuncheng, a former vice governor of the southwestern province of Sichuan, who was sentenced to 13 years in prison for graft in October 2015.

Prosecutors also charged Ling with illegally accessing large amounts of classified documents when he served in the ruling Communist Party's United Front Work Department in 2012, which liaises with the other eight registered political parties in the country, and during his stint as the vice chairman of the CPPCC from 2013 to 2014. The court did not say whether Ling had leaked state secrets.

Ling, 59, was put under investigation by the party's anti-graft watchdog, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, in late 2014, several months after they started probing into the dealings of two of his brothers  Ling Zhengce, the former vice chairman of the political advisory body in the northern province of Shanxi and Ling Wancheng, a businessman.

Ling Wancheng has fled to the United States, international media reported.

Party investigators handed Ling Jihua over to prosecutors for a criminal investigation in July 2015. He was formally charged in May.

Ling, whose personal assets have been confiscated by the Tianjin court, said he would not appeal the sentence.

(Rewritten by Li Rongde)
July 4

The New Zealand Customs and Police have seized 35 kg (77lbs) of cocaine stuffed inside a large diamante-encrusted horses head that was mailed from Mexico.

The $10 million discovery, the largest cocaine seizure made in New Zealand, came in May when the 400 kg air freight package was delivered to an address in Auckland where police were carrying out surveillance.

There is a significant organised crime group offshore that will be responsible for this and who have now lost a whole lot of money, Detective Superintendent Virginia Le Bas told TVNZ.

The drugs, packaged into 35 bricks, were pushed up inside a cavity in the horses neck before being mounted on its stand.

A 44-year-old Mexican man and 56-year-old American man were arrested in relation to the smuggling attempt as they tried to board a flight to Hawaii on Friday, police said.

A third man, from Mexico, was arrested following searches at an apartment block in Christchurch on Saturday.

Importing cocaine in New Zealand can carry a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

It is the second major drug haul by New Zealand authorities in less than four weeks after 494 kg (1,100 lb) of methamphetamines were found of the north coast last month.  Reuters
Islamabad, July 4

Pakistan on Monday rejected media reports about its involvement in the terrorist attack in Bangladeshi capital Dhaka that killed 20 foreigners, including an Indian, as baseless, irresponsible and provocative.

Pakistan's Foreign Office spokesman Nafees Zakaria issued a statement in response to media queries regarding reports of the involvement of Pakistan's spy agency ISI in last week's terror attack on a popular restaurant in Dhaka.

These are highly regrettable, irresponsible and provocative stories being carried in the Indian media. They are utterly baseless and unfounded. Pakistan strongly rejects such allegations, he said in the statement.

He drew attention to the statement by the Adviser to the Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Gowher Rizvi, refuting a media report that was attributed to him regarding Pakistan's involvement in the attack, as proof of the Indian media's "malicious intent".

Prof Rizvi contacted Pakistan's High Commissioner to Bangladesh to confirm that he has not issued any statement against Pakistan and that the Indian media reports are false.

He also advised Pakistan's High Commissioner to convey this clarification to the Government of Pakistan, to avoid any misunderstanding between the two countries," the Foreign Office spokesman said.

He said Pakistan deeply appreciates Rizvi's timely rebuttal of the reports.

Zakaria said Pakistan has strongly condemned the terrorist attack in Dhaka and "expressed solidarity with the government and the brotherly people of Bangladesh and offered condolences and sympathised with the families of the victims".

"Pakistan condemns terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. Being itself one of the biggest victims of terrorism, Pakistan welcomes Prof Gowher Rizvi's call for international cooperation to fight the menace of terrorism," he said.  PTI

Islamabad, July 4

Pakistan on Monday rejected media reports about its involvement in the terrorist attack in Bangladeshi capital Dhaka that killed 20 foreigners, including an Indian, as baseless, irresponsible and provocative.

Pakistan's Foreign Office spokesman Nafees Zakaria issued a statement in response to media queries regarding reports of the involvement of Pakistan's spy agency ISI in last week's terror attack on a popular restaurant in Dhaka.

These are highly regrettable, irresponsible and provocative stories being carried in the Indian media. They are utterly baseless and unfounded. Pakistan strongly rejects such allegations, he said in the statement.

He drew attention to the statement by the Adviser to the Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Gowher Rizvi, refuting a media report that was attributed to him regarding Pakistan's involvement in the attack, as proof of the Indian media's "malicious intent".

Prof Rizvi contacted Pakistan's High Commissioner to Bangladesh to confirm that he has not issued any statement against Pakistan and that the Indian media reports are false.

He also advised Pakistan's High Commissioner to convey this clarification to the Government of Pakistan, to avoid any misunderstanding between the two countries," the Foreign Office spokesman said.

He said Pakistan deeply appreciates Rizvi's timely rebuttal of the reports.

Zakaria said Pakistan has strongly condemned the terrorist attack in Dhaka and "expressed solidarity with the government and the brotherly people of Bangladesh and offered condolences and sympathised with the families of the victims".

"Pakistan condemns terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. Being itself one of the biggest victims of terrorism, Pakistan welcomes Prof Gowher Rizvi's call for international cooperation to fight the menace of terrorism," he said.  PTI
Last week, Microsoft's Yusuf Mehdi wrote a blog post discussing Microsoft's Anniversary Update for Windows 10. Normally, that wouldn't be news for us, but he did briefly mention one tidbit that confirms one rumor that's been swirling since E3:

With the Xbox Play Anywhere program, you can buy a game once and play on your Windows 10 PC and Xbox One with shared progress, shared game saves and shared achievements. Every new title published from Microsoft Studios will support Xbox Play Anywhere and will be easily accessible in the Windows Store.

All Microsoft titles moving forward will be playable on PC, including the inevitable Halo 6, with full cross-play capabilities (on a related note, Microsoft said competitive multiplayer would remain exclusive to each platform at the discretion of developers, so don't worry about keyboard vs controller in shooters). Thanks to shared achievements, separate lists for Microsoft Windows 10 titles are a thing of the past. It seems they'll no longer be stackable.

This confirms two things for us:For some, this is big news. You could have drawn this conclusion after MS's E3 conference, but it's nice to get official confirmation.
As Rep. Jeannie McDaniel approached her term limit this year, it was no secret she and others wanted to find a woman to run for that seat.

McDaniel, D-Tulsa, is a minority in Oklahoma among elected officials. Women are disproportionately under-represented in elected offices, but especially in Oklahoma.

Were one of the lowest states in the country for women in office, McDaniel (D-Tulsa) said. I tried to ask people that could continue their careers. Frankly, it was tough. I was seeking a woman, to be perfectly honest.

McDaniel said men tend to have more latitude when it comes to the ability to spend several months of the year at the state Capitol in Oklahoma City.

I didnt run until my mid-50s, and I had already had grown children who were out of the house, McDaniel said. I didnt have as many challenges as people with young children that have to deal with scheduling problems.

Recruiting strong, diverse candidates  whether its gender, race or religion  for office is a delicate process both sides of the aisle are striving to improve.

Oklahoma ranks 47th nationally in the proportion of women in the state legislature at 14 percent, which is the highest in state history, according to the Center for American Women and Politics. Only two women have ever served in the Oklahoma congressional delegation  Mary Fallin from 2007 to 2011 and Mary Alice Robertson from 1921 to 1923. Of the nine elected statewide offices, three women are in office  Fallin as governor, Joy Hofmeister as state superintendent and Dana Murphy as corporation commissioner.

Tulsa County Republican Party Chairman Mike Ford said a large group of women terming out of office right now is a major concern.

Party officials do not want Oklahoma to lose more ground on the number of women office holders. So, Ford and others have spent the past year scouring the region for female candidates who can run and win. He said the pool of candidates is limited when compared to men.

You can be elected and be a mom, but who wants to give that up? Ford said. No one wants to give up being a parent.

Ford said single parents are almost never able to run for office because of scheduling conflicts.

Because the distance and travel time between home and the Capitol keeps many qualified citizens from seeking elected office, maybe its time to reconsider how government operates from day to day, Ford said.

If were really going to open up government, do we need to rethink all of government? Ford said. This is 2016. We have ways to communicate that they didnt have when the Capitol was first constructed.

Another focus is in the recruitment of Hispanic and African-American candidates.

In the Legislature, five lawmakers are black, comprising 3 percent of the entire body. Yet, black residents make up 8 percent of the total state population. Three of the lawmakers are from Oklahoma City and two from Tulsa: Rep. Regina Goodwin and Sen. Kevin Matthews.

The Hispanic population has experienced the largest growth in the state, currently at 10 percent of the population, putting Oklahoma 24th in the nation for Hispanic residents, according to the Pew Research Center. However, only two members of the Legislature are Hispanic, or about 1 percent. Those are Rep. Charles Ortega, R-Altus, and Rep. Anthony Sykes, R-Moore.

As a representative of the Republican Party, Ford said the GOP needs strong examples from those racial and ethnic groups to encourage others to become more politically involved. He said the recently elected Tulsa County Sheriff Vic Regalado could be a boon for Tulsas Republican to engage with Hispanic voters.

If you want more Hispanic voters to participate, you need a Vic Regalado to go and encourage participation, Ford said. My philosophy is if were the Tulsa County Republican Party, lets not just be the south Tulsa County Republican Party.

Tulsa County Democratic Party Vice Chairmen Greg Bledsoe shares some of the same recruiting obstacles as the GOP.

Its been extremely challenging to get to know the Hispanic community in Tulsa, Bledsoe said. They have not embraced politics like the African-American community has. I think we have an opportunity to change that.

Bledsoe said comments made about Hispanics by presumptive presidential Republican nominee Donald Trump have ignited political interest within the Latino community.

A lot of Hispanics have contacted the party recently, Bledsoe said. It would be wonderful if Jo Glenn (Tulsa County Democratic Party Chair) and I didnt have to run for re-election, and we could have a Hispanic run for chair or vice-chair, or an African-American. Wed make changes in Oklahoma.
People tend to misunderstand Oklahomas early political history, says Oklahoma Historical Society Executive Director Bob Blackburn.

Because of its deep populist roots, socialist streak and Democratic Party control, Blackburn said, a common assumption is that early Oklahoma was more liberal  to use the words current meaning  than it is now.

That isnt necessarily so.

We have never been liberal in Oklahoma, said Blackburn.

And, as the late Danney Goble and other historians and political scientists have pointed out, we have always been Southern, at least politically.

Rise of the populists

When Democrats ruled the South, they ruled Oklahoma. When civil rights and culture wars began flipping party politics in the South 50 years ago, Oklahoma went along.

Oklahomas distrust of concentrated corporate and political power, its steady run-ins with federal authority, even its susceptibility to political corruption  all of these were qualities that the Sooner State shared with states of the Old Confederacy, Goble wrote in 2007.

Blackburn says the bedrock of Oklahoma politics is a Scotch-Irish culture that first arrived with mixed-blood Indians over the various trails of tears.

Its not a majority culture, but it is a dominant culture, Blackburn said. Sort of a Lord of the Valley mindset. Dont touch my gun. Dont tell me what I can do with my property. 

But what about all those Populists and Socialists in Oklahomas history?

The simple answer is that Populists and Socialists  especially Oklahoma Populists and Socialists  may have been radical, but they werent necessarily what we would think of today as liberal.

American political parties at the turn of the 20th century were defined more by economic class, geography and history than by liberal and conservative ideology, Blackburn said.

The Republicans were the party of capital and, with memories of the Civil War still quite real, the party of the North. Democrats represented labor and the South.

The Populist Party  or, more correctly, Peoples Party  arose on the plains in the 1880s and was brought to Oklahoma Territory by settlers from Kansas. The Populists were mostly white farmers who believed themselves victims of corporate monopolies in everything from commodity trading to railroads.

Although a minority party, the Populists were often kingmakers in the Oklahoma Territory legislature. The first Speaker of the territorial House of Representatives was a Populist.

The unusual socialists

By statehood, the Populists had disappeared as an active party, their members absorbed either into a wing of the strengthening Democratic Party or the rising Socialist Party.

But Oklahoma Socialists were not like any others. Oscar Ameringer, a Socialist organizer and congressional candidate, wrote in his autobiography that the national party did not know what to do with them.

Instead of urban industrial workers, most Oklahoma Socialists were small farmers. They may have wanted to nationalize the railroads and tar and feather bankers and landlords, but economic opportunity, not collectivization, was their ultimate goal.

According to University of Oklahoma political science professor Keith Gaddies research, The appeal of socialism arose out of poverty and an environment of distrust of large corporate and economic actors who seemed to exploit that poverty in the eyes of Socialists.

Instead of rejecting organized religion, state socialists embraced it. Socialism was preached from the pulpit of many a country church; no one could call himself a Christian, it was argued, if he was not a socialist, too.

So Oklahoma Socialists turned out to be budding capitalists and fundamentalist Christians, and they werent keen about uniting in common cause with blacks, Jews or immigrants. All five Socialists elected to the Oklahoma Legislature in 1914 were white farmers from the western half of the state.

The Socialist gubernatorial candidate that year, United Mine Workers organizer Fred Holt, got nearly 21 percent of the vote in an election decided by less than 2 percentage points.

That success proved the partys undoing. Changes to voter registration laws intended to exclude poor whites as well as blacks, combined with a disastrous, half-baked uprising called the Green Corn Rebellion and a rising fear of Bolshevism, brought a quick end to the party in Oklahoma.

But the Populists and Socialists left a mark on the new states constitution. Long and unwieldy, it protected labor and agriculture through such provisions as an elected corporation commission to regulate railroads and utilities, and an elected labor commissioner to look after the interests of workers. The long ballot  a plethora of elected offices that included the likes of assistant mine inspector and state printer  reflected a distrust of government.

Turning into a red state

It could be said that the Republican Party and its allies have spent the last 109 years scrubbing those Populist and Socialist influences from the constitution. From lifting a ban on foreign ownership of farmland to right-to-work to control of regulatory agencies, the GOP has, with increasing success, muted the anti-corporate tone of Oklahomas founding document.

The GOP did not fully capture state government until recent years, but it became competitive in statewide elections in the 1960s. Oklahoma has had at least one Republican U.S. senator since 1968, and two since 1994.

It became reliably red in presidential elections in 1980, when it went 61 percent for Ronald Reagan.

And, it controls the state Capitol the way Democrats once did.

We are now in the second phase of the states political history, Blackburn said.

Today, he said, rural populism has been replaced by an urban populism most prominent in the middle and upper middle class suburbs of Tulsa and Oklahoma City.

The next (general) election will be interesting to me, he said. Our populist predisposition swings toward (Donald) Trump. His (rhetoric) will appeal to the populist streak in Oklahoma history.
Tonight Dateline looks at an online dating service run by the Iranian government.

But what singles also want is shifting as part of modern cultural change.

Its online dating as youve never seen it before  no profile photos, matches are chosen for you, and parents must also go on the first date  but is Irans government-controlled dating service fighting a losing battle against Western desires?

In Iran, pre-marital sex is illegal; however, half of the under thirty-five population isnt married, so the government is concerned theyre not playing by the rules and is stepping in and playing cupid.

They have launched an online government-operated, Islamic dating institute, and according to the website, they have already set up two hundred and fifty marriages this year  yet there are growing concerns about how people find love in the 21st century, given the recent cultural shifts in Iran.

[translated] In emotional or romantic relationships, say in the US, ninety-three per cent ultimately lead to divorce Loving at first look or sight is  I emphasise  very dangerous, Doctor Mohamad Kamand tells dating hopefuls.

In a country bound by strict Islamic law its not common for women to openly seek a husband  but the list of demands from these love seekers is growing.

If you compare it to ten years ago expectations are higher, people are more demanding. If a woman has a degree she wont accept someone who doesnt, matchmaker Miss Mogdam tells journalist, Shaunagh Connaire.

Tuesday 5 July at 9.30pm on SBS.
Diversity is back in the spotlight on Reality TV following TEN announcing two casts for upcoming juggernauts Australian Survivor and The Bachelor.

On social media, some have commented on the dominance of white cast members.

As a general rule Reality TV is far more multicultural in its casting than other genres, with shows such as MasterChef Australia, The Voice, Australias Got Talent and The X Factor.

And whilst Diversity is about more than just ethnic representation, TEN has boasted how Survivor has had over 15,000 applicants -so it seems unlikely they were short on contenders representing other ethnicities.

In the past producers have told me how cooking and talent shows attract a wider cross section of the community than renovation shows. Kiss Bang Love has managed to demonstrate some diversity, while both Married at First Sight and upcoming SBS series Undressed also adopt a broader interpretation.

In terms of Survivor we probably need to know a bit more about the individuals before rushing to judge, but its a good reminder to networks that first impressions mean a lot.
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).
The allies will adopt a comprehensive package of political support and practical assistance to Ukraine at a meeting of the Ukraine-NATO Commission on July 9th, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg made a statement in Brussels on Monday, Ukrinforms own Brussels correspondent has reported.

"We will continue to facilitate the development of capabilities and stability of Ukraine. I look forward to meeting with [Ukrainian] President Petro Poroshenko, who will inform us about the latest developments during the commission meeting on the second day of the Summit [on July 9 - ed.]. At this meeting, NATO and the allies will confirm their strong political support for Ukraine and its territorial integrity and sovereignty, as well as the implementation of the Minsk agreements in full," said the head of the Alliance.

In addition, Stoltenberg said NATO will declare strengthening of practical support to Ukraine at the Summit.

"We will approve a comprehensive package of assistance that will include various dimensions of such assistance, particularly in strategic advisory support of the various trust funds, administration, logistics, cybersecurity," said the NATO Secretary General.

Head of the Alliance has also noted the new sector for cooperation with Ukraine such as response to the hybrid war, destruction of explosives and strategic communications.

tl
After President Vladimir Putin approved the decision to restrict the movement of Ukrainian goods through the Russian territory Ukraine plans to impose similar trade and transit sanctions against Russia, First Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine Stepan Kubiv has told the legislators on Monday, Ukrinform reports.

"First of all, we will impose reciprocal sanctions against the Russian Federation actions imposed on the goods of Ukrainian origin and on transit, which is heading to other countries. It is absolutely clear position that complies with international law, the WTO and the EU. Secondly, we are correspondingly raising customs duty on the Russian goods imported to Ukraine. These sanctions will work when, respectively, the presidential decree will come into force," he noted.

Earlier, the decree of Russian President Vladimir Putin was published on July 3 that imposes additional restrictions on the transit of Ukrainian goods.

According to Ukraines Ministry of Infrastructure, the latest Russian decree expands the restrictions on transit to Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. The legislative amendments also provide for a total ban on the transit of goods listed "under embargo".

Earlier, Russia had completely blocked the Ukrainian cargo transit through its territory in April of 2016.

tl
President Petro Poroshenko called the transfer of American counter-battery radars to Ukraine on the eve of the NATO Warsaw Summit very symbolic.

The press service of the Head of State reported.

Peculiarity of our participation in this Summit will be the fact that Ukraine will be the only NATO partner who will have a separate session of the Ukraine-NATO Commission at the highest level. This also proves NATOs high attention to Ukraine, the President said.

The Head of State emphasized that the Alliance resolutely supports Ukraine and condemns aggressive actions of Russia against our state.

We will coordinate a complex package of aid following the Ukraine-NATO Summit. The document will help us consolidate the existing directions of NATO support and establish more efficient security and defense that will be reformed under the schedule of the Strategic Defense Bulletin, the President said.

ish
After reforms of Ukraines customs offices, which are expected to begin in September of 2016, new mechanisms for customs services will be introduced and there will be no smuggling at customs.

Prime Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Groysman stated this, an Ukrinform correspondent reported. "Completely new mechanisms to combat smuggling will be introduced. I think that the smugglers, who are now engaged in illegal schemes, expect that everything will change ... There will be no smuggling in Ukraine," Groysman said, promising that the government will fight effectively and systematically. ish
Ukraine will become the most energy-efficient country in Europe, but it takes time and very balanced steps of the government.

Prime Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Groysman said this in his address to the compatriots, an Ukrinform correspondent reported.

"We will be the most energy efficient country in Europe, but this takes time and correct steps," he said.

He recalled that the energy field for decades had been one of the most corrupted. "Today, this system must be changed. The corruption system must be destroyed," the Prime Minister said.

ish
Representative of the President in Parliament Artur Herasimov called on the MPs to consider this plenary week the bills introduced by the Head of State that are necessary to meet the requirements of cooperation with the IMF.

He stated this at a meeting of the Conciliation Board, an Ukrinform correspondent reported.

"This plenary week it is necessary to consider the draft laws of Ukraine regarding cooperation with the International Monetary Fund, which were introduced by the President of Ukraine and identified as urgent," he said.

He also stressed that the bills made by the Cabinet of Ministers and aimed at the macro financial stabilization and decentralization had to be considered as well.

ish
Chernivtsi city department of the Ukrainian Migration Service has found violations of migration legislation committed by 39 foreign nationals during the operation "Border" while conducting checks at the student dormitories, hotels, train stations and markets, workers, the official on public relations and media at the Migration Service in the Chernivtsi region Marina Martynyuk has stated.

"The raids on the violators of migration legislation yielded the following violators: the citizens of the Russian Federation and India  12 people and 10 people respectively, the Moldovan citizens - four people, Romania, Turkey, Georgia and Azerbaijan - two nationals from each country, while from Egypt, Uzbekistan, Italy, Canada and Nigeria citizens - one person from each country, the official said.

All foreign nationals who overstayed in Ukraine were fined for almost UAH 24,000 in total. The authorities have decided to deport 19 of them.

tl
UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi greets a woman and her child during a visit with a community for internally displaced people in Soacha, Colombia.  UNHCR/Santiago Escobar-Jaramillo

BOGOTA, Colombia, (UNHCR)  On his first visit to Colombia as UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi said finding lasting solutions for millions of internally displaced Colombians is key to ending Latin Americas longest-running conflict.

The visit comes at a hopeful moment in the peace process between the Government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), which seeks to end a five-decade armed conflict that has produced one of the worlds biggest displacement situations, with seven million people uprooted within the countrys borders.

Following his meetings with Colombian authorities, Grandi welcomed the Governments efforts towards reintegration. "I am impressed by the legislation that has been put in place to protect and offer reparation to the victims of the conflict, including displaced people, and by the commitment of the institutions to reach these results. They are an example to the world," he said.

Grandi also acknowledged the tremendous challenges ahead for the country before these laws can be a reality for everyone. Much remains to be done in order to ensure that all victims and displaced people enjoy their human rights, settle into safe places with access to employment and basic services, and rebuild the social fabric of their communities.

"UNHCR will continue to accompany this historic process and support Colombia in making peace a lasting reality."

While the leadership of this challenge is a national responsibility, UNHCR will continue to accompany this historic process and support Colombia in the task of making peace a lasting reality," Grandi said.

He stressed that local integration in urban areas had to be an important aspect of these efforts, including the legalization of informal settlements for internally displaced people.

Fighting in Colombia began in the mid-1960s and has since evolved into a complex conflict involving the Colombian Government, the FARC and other left-wing guerillas, paramilitary groups and crime syndicates. The violence has cost at least 220,000 lives over five decades.

Colombia: Owning a home

During a visit to the recently legalized Las Delicias and Manuela Beltran neighbourhoods, in the outskirts of Cucuta, close to the Venezuela border in north-east Colombia, displaced people told the High Commissioner how grateful they were that, after 10 years of living in illegal settlements, they now have access to water, electricity and other basic services.

Through the Transitional Solutions Initiative, in collaboration with UNDP, the UN Refugee Agency has helped some 39,000 people in 17 urban and rural communities, including Cucuta, to make progress towards finding solutions and enjoying their basic rights such as housing, land and livelihoods.

The majority of the families who fled their homes are now in the urban outskirts of Colombias largest cities, including the capital, Bogota. In Soacha, a municipality near the capital, which Grandi visited on Saturday, the displaced acknowledged difficulties in legalizing their land, as their neighbourhoods grew in an unplanned, informal manner as more people kept arriving from all over the country.

"We ask only to live a bit better, to have a job, and some land where we can live."

My family has been displaced four times in the last 22 years, we have been walking throughout the country and experiencing all kinds of violations and atrocities that have been committed to me and to my family. We ask only to live a bit better, to have a job, and some land where we can live," said a young man who had arrived two weeks earlier in Soacha with his wife and baby daughter.

Another man displaced by the conflict told Grandi about their continuing security concerns: Since we arrived here, there have been many violations of all kind of rights, especially towards children, including recruitment and extortion. We believe the only way out is the peace process. With peace, we can finally have a rest.

The peace agreement will be a historic moment and an important opportunity to find solutions for both the displaced and victims. However, this agreement must be seen as the beginning rather than the end of the peace-building process, said Grandi.

This is a crucial moment for this country, its people, and for the entire region, and the world must continue to support this historic process to help Colombia build lasting peace, he added.
A new study found that a Zika infected monkey became immune to virus, and there are still mysteries about the virus that should be answered.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison and Duke University researchers collaborated in a study that was published on Tuesday, June 28, in the journal Nature Communications, involved monkeys infected with the Zika virus as the subject. The study found that the monkeys who were infected with Zika became immune to the virus after a few weeks, which also happened humans that the virus also lasted longer in pregnant monkeys only, not to non-pregnant ones, Time reported.

Researchers said, during observation, non-preggy monkeys were not infected by the virus after about 10 days of getting infected, however, the pregnant monkeys got virus in their bloodstreams between 30 to 70 days.

Meanwhile, three more American babies reported born with defects, which link to Zika virus, RT reported. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed the report and they said the defects are linked to the Zika. Aside from that, the agency that lost pregnancy was also linked to the virus.

Currently, there are seven seven babies with microcephaly born in the US, and five lost pregnancies either from miscarriage, stillbirth or termination as of June 23, according to health agency's online Zika pregnancies registry.

The spread of Zika has caused alarm throughout Americas since the number of cases of birth defect microcephaly reported increases. The defect was linked to the mosquito-carrier virus Zika, and it was reported in Brazil.

Zika is a disease caused by a virus transmitted by Aedes mosquitoes, or commonly known as Yellow Fever mosquitoes. The symptoms of this disease include, headache, fever, joint pain, and conjunctivitis. As a matter of fact, the symptoms are similar to dengue and chikungunya. The virus often lasts in the blood of an infected person.
New York University's medical school has put the lid on psychiatric studies encompassing an empirical mind-altering drug citing protocol violations, officials said.

Eight studies, many of which centered on mentally ill subjects, were put on the shelf citing violations such as falsification of records and lax oversight, were found by investigators for the Federal Drug Administration, the New York Times reported.

After been suspended by NYU, head researcher, Dr. Alexander Neumeister later resigned.

As far as the data is concerned, it was destroyed. The school also got in touch with the subjects in order to check on their health. It was found that none of them had been harmed, the university divulged.

One of the studies was examining a Pfizer-made drug that was meant to simulate the effects of marijuana to figure out if it lessened syndromes of post-traumatic stress caused by childhood abuse, International Business Times reported.

The aforementioned study not only puts the safety and welfare of the subject in jeopardy, but also raises concerns regarding the genuineness and completeness of the data collected, the FDA explained in a letter to Neumeister.

Following staff members' reports indicating that the research was not corresponding to the standard, medical school officials initiated an analysis of the experiments. According to Psychiatry department chairman Dr Charles Marmar, NYU placed Neumeister on leave and terminated all activities as well as access to all accounts. Marmar took control of those studies.

Closing down the studies is a huge disappointment in what looked like a quantum leap in treating post-traumatic stress disorder, especially for an increasing number of military veterans. However, such studies pose a high degree of risk, especially when dealing with individuals suffering from mental disorders if protocols aren't stringently followed.

The Pfizer Neumister-funded research intended to find out if a cannabis-like drug manufactured by the company could actually abate the syndromes of post traumatic stress. Many of those suffering with the disorder noted some sort of relief with cannabis. Subjects were either assigned a placebo or varied lengths of time to down the Pfizer drug, followed by scans to track down any difference.

Researchers failed to check at least three subjects 24 hours prior to taking the experimental drug, a conceivably dangerous neglect and definitely not in line with the study protocol, FDA officials said.

But that's not all. They also held Neumeister for questioning in regard to falsifying records by singing another researcher's name. The FDA also discovered that the researchers were unable to keep correct case histories.

Moreover, subjects were urged to discontinue any other medication prior to starting the experiment, which presented its own challenges.

Although a Pfizer spokesman noted that an earlier test of the drug used in the New York University study showed no serious side effect, a separate inhibitor (BIA 102474) of the FAAH enzyme made by Bial was associated last year with a death in a French study.
During the recent investor day of Sony in Tokyo, Japan, the Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation made it known to the public that their smartphone business will defocus in the United States, as well as in India, China and Brazil.

The purpose of Sony Corporation behind the planned business contraction is to bring down the significant operating loss that Sony's smartphones division is experiencing in these countries, based on the report of Xperia Blog.

In Sony's presentation, the company became aware of the global average annual growth of the smartphone market has dropped to 1.4 percent, due to the slowdown being experienced in emerging markets. The growth in India, Brazil, Indonesia and China - which is 45 percent of the volume market, has decreased to only 0.3 percent, according to Tech Times.

In that, Sony will instead cause their smartphone business to be directed at markets in East Asia, which includes Japan, Europe and the Middle East. Sony will also maintain the company's status in Latin America as well as the other regions in Southeast Asia.

It's not surprising that Sony sees no real future for its mobile business at any kind of large scale in the United States, as the Android phones of the company have unsuccessfully attracted U.S. carrier partners.

But, even if Sony unleashed the Android phones in the face of this planned spin-down, it probably doesn't mean there won't ever be another Sony "Xperia" device released in the United States. As the company will venture on their phones which are income generating, Android Police reported.

However, at this point, Sony failed to produce smartphones into a region that values phones like Apple's "iPhone 6S," Samsung "Galaxy S7," and even the Chinese startup company's "OnePlus 3" much more - and based on Sony's investor day, the company seemed to finally get that message, according to Digital Trends.
Facebook had its funds frozen in Brazil after the local court ruled against the company over the dispute regarding the WhatsApp encryption.

The Brazilian court ruled against the social media company over its refusal to grant the Brazilian federal police access onto WhatsApp, Tech Crunch reported.

The dispute led to the court freezing the U.S. based company's funds in the Brazilian Bank, which was reportedly at around $6 million. The case was filed due to the Facebook-owned WhatsApp non-compliance with the local authorities.

The Brazilian federal police had requested an access to bypass the app's encryption to track down local criminals, as well as international drug cartels, which an investigation has been active since January, according to Reuters.

The local authorities asked the social media platform to hand over messages, along with its complete metadata, from suspected members of the international cocaine smuggling ring.

The Brazilian federal police that the data is an integral part of its investigation to pin down and prove the links between detained suspected members and their contact persons in Brazil, Paraguay, Bolivia, as well as Spain.

The Brazilian court decided to freeze Facebook's bank account in Brazil, as WhatsApp has no accounts in the country. Although, the court did not cite provisions from the local Internet law, which allows the app to continue to operate within the country.

Brazil has over 100 million Brazilian WhatsApp users, whom of which experienced a 72-hour shutdown of the app early this year, but the decision was lifted after another court ruled in favor of the app.

Facebook has been quoted as saying that all WhatsApp messages are end-to-end encrypted as of April, and the messages requested by the local police were from prior to the aforementioned date, Trusted Reviews reported.

The social media giant stated that the messages prior to April wasn't stored anyway, so what's the local authorities are looking for are certainly lost. Facebook has yet to comment on the recent ruling over the dispute with the Brazilian federal police.
July 4 2016

HRI Architects have acquired Thomas Munro & Co, one of the oldest practices in Scotland, for an undisclosed sum, making the newly enlarged business the largest indigenous practice in the Highlands with 10 staff members.The move will see Colin Munro, principle at Thomas Munro & Co, continue as a consultant in the new business, which will be catchily renamed HRI Architects incorporating Thomas Munro to signify the changes.Current projects being undertaken by the business include renovation works to Inverness Cathedral, a number of onshore buildings for the MeyGen tidal renewable project in Caithness and a new community centre in Maryburgh.HRI founder Andrew Bruce, founder of HRI, will become managing director with HRI co-director Mark Williams named as technical director.Munro said: I am pleased that the firm founded by my grandfather Thomas Munro will continue in a new form. I look forward to making an active contribution to the new practice.Under the deal HRI will shutter its existing Inverness studio and relocate to the offices of Thomas Munro & Co at 62 Academy Street.
Bladder cancer (BC) is a common malignancy that arises through occupational carcinogen exposure. Here we analyse trends in UK to better understand contemporary occupational BC.

To profile the contemporary risks of occupational BC in the UK.

Systematic review using PubMed, Medline, Embase and Web of Science was performed in March 2016. We selected reports of British workers in which BC or occupation were the main focus, with sufficient cases or with confidence intervals (CI). We used the most recent data in populations with multiple reports. We combined odds ratios and risk ratios (RRs) to provide pooled RRs of incidence and disease specific mortality (DSM). We tested for heterogeneity and publication bias. We extracted BC mortality from Office of National Statistics death certificates. We compered across regions and with our meta-analysis.

We identified 25 articles reporting risks in 702,941 persons. Meta-analysis revealed significantly increased incidence for 12/37 and DSM for 5/37 occupational classes. Three classes had reduced BC risks. The greatest risk of BC incidence occurred in chemical process (RR 1.87 (1.50-2.34)), rubber (RR 1.82 (1.4-2.38)) and dye workers (RR 1.8, (1.07-3.04)). The greatest risk of DSM occurred in electrical (RR 1.49 (1.19-1.87)) and chemical process workers (RR 1.35 (1.09-1.68)). BC mortality was higher in the North of England, probably reflecting smoking patterns and certain industries. Limitations include the lack of sufficient robust data, missing occupational tasks and no adjustment for smoking.

Occupational BC occurs in many workplaces and the risks for incidence and DSM may differ. Regional differences may reflect changes in industry and smoking patterns. Relatively little is known about BC within British industry, suggesting official data underestimate the disease. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

BJU international. 2016 Jun 22 [Epub ahead of print]

Marcus G Cumberbatch, Ben Windsor Shellard, James Wf Catto

Academic Urology Unit, University of Sheffield, Sheffield., Office for National Statistics, Newport, Gwent, United Kingdom., Academic Urology Unit, University of Sheffield, Sheffield.

PubMed http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27332981
UTSA invests more than half a million dollars in new research Share this Story

(July 4, 2016) -- The UTSA Office of the Vice President for Research is awarding $520,000 in grants to help UTSA faculty kickstart new research projects over the next academic year. The university's internal seed funding programs will support 32 new research projects, further advancing the university's goal of reaching Tier One status.

"It's a wonderful opportunity for UTSA faculty to take advantage of internal funds to work out new ideas, unique collaborations or explore further avenues in their research," said Jaclyn Shaw, director for research support, who administers the VPR internal research grants. "These funds also help faculty finesse their research proposals to apply for additional federal funding."

Winners span four funding programs:

Internal Research Awards (INTRA) September 1, 2016 through August 31, 2017 $100,000 awarded: $5,000 per researcher, 20 research projects

The INTRA program is part of the UTSA Office of the Vice President for Research's coordinated efforts to promote research and scholarship of the highest quality.

College of Architecture, Construction and Planning

Jae Yong Suk, Department of Architecture Development of Shading Control Algorithm for Enhanced Occupant's Thermal and Visual Comfort in Buildings

College of Business

Edgar A. Ghossoub, Department of Economics What were the effects of the Federal Reserve's Term Discount Window Program?

Hu Harrison Liu, Department of Accounting Corporate Responses to the Repatriation Incentives and Domestic Production Activities Deduction of the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004

Juan Mao, Department of Accounting Individual Auditor Audit Workload and Job Turnover: Evidence from China

Matthew W. McCarter, Department of Management It's a trap! Examining the relationship between self-control and population growth in the 18th century Swedish commons

Emeka T. Nwaeze, Department of Accounting Seasons of Auditor-Client Relation: Auditor performance and accounting quality

Victor De Oliveira, Department of Management Science and Statistics Modeling Geostatistical Binary Date: Models, Properties and Connections

Zhongxia (Shelly) Ye, Department of Accounting Consequences of Voluntary Disclosures in the Audit Committee Report

College of Education and Human Development

Kristen Lindahl, Department of Bicultural-Bilingual Studies The Intersection of Language Awareness and Ideology among In-service Teachers of Emerging Bilinguals

College of Liberal and Fine Arts

Thad Bartlett, Department of Anthropology The Singing Apes of Fraser's Hill: Gibbon Density in a Human Modified Landscape

Whitney Chappell, Department of Modern Languages and Literatures A Sociophonetic Perception of Spanish Speakers in San Antonio

Bridget Drinka, Department of English The International Conference on Historical Linguistics

LaGuana Gray, Department of History Black Women and Delta Pride: A Tale of Mississippi Catfish

Luis Hestres, Department of Communications New Directions for Research Framing and Networked Gatekeeping

Matthias Hofferberth, Department of Political Science and Geography Get your act(ors) together! Theorizing Agency in World Politics

Andrew Konove, Department of History The Black Market in Mexico City

Viviana Rojas, Department of Communication Iraqi Refugees and Their Integration to the Texas School System

Walter Wilson, Department of Political Science and Geography From Inclusion to Influence: Latino Representation in Congress

College of Public Policy

Megan Augustyn, Department of Criminal Justice Using the National Crime Victimization Survey to better understand the determinates of help-seeking behavior among victims of intimate-partner and sexual assault

Francine Romero, Department of Public Administration Political and Policy Dynamics of Municipal Annexation in Texas

Grants for Research Advancement and Transformation (GREAT) September 1, 2016 through August 31, 2017 $120,000: $20,000 awarded to each researcher, 6 research projects The GREAT program, sponsored by VPR, provides seed grants to support new areas of research for UTSA faculty.

College of Architecture, Construction and Planning

Shelley Roff, Department of Architecture The Inventory and Analysis of the Tools and Building Materials of Eighteenth-Century Spanish Mission Architecture in the Texas Region

College of Engineering

Pranav Bhounsule, Department of Mechanical Engineering Highly customizable, lightweight artificial legs based on embedding actuators and sensors in 3D printed parts

Jie Huang, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering Converting Ubiquitous Biomass into Sustainable Civil Engineering Materials Based on Polymerization and Cross-linking

Xiaowei Zeng, Department of Mechanical Engineering Advancing Cohesive Interface Zone Model for Biomechanics Applications

College of Public Policy

Michael Caudy, Department of Criminal Justice Elucidating the Mechanisms of Reentry

College of Sciences

Yongli Gao, Department of Geological Sciences Isotopic Study of Sea Ice: Tracing Moisture Sources of Precipitation and Snow Accumulation in the Polar Regions

Connecting through Research Partnerships (Connect) September 1, 2016 through August 31, 2017 $250,000 awarded: $125,000 per team, two teams

The Connect program was founded to enhance scientific collaboration between UTSA and Southwest Research Institute, and increase their joint research funding base. Over the past six years, 11 high-impact projects have been funded through the Connect program. This year's awardees will investigate biofilm corrosion in pipelines and an ultrasound drug delivery methodology.

"When we leverage the research expertise of both institutions and cross-pollinate efforts through the Connect program, we can spark innovation and progress," said Bernard Arulanandam, UTSA interim vice president for research. "Our funding selection committee is looking to fund research that finds solutions for specific challenges. This year, with the two chosen projects  precision medicine and pipe corrosion in the petroleum industry  the research we fund can have a systemic impact on the people, and the industries, of Texas."

Heather Shipley, UTSA and Tony Reeves, SwRI Molecular characterization and quorum sensing of microbiologically influenced corrosion (MIC) bacteria in pipeline populations

Jing Yong Ye, UTSA and Jian Ling, SwRI Ultrasound Mediated Drug Delivery in 3D Tissue Model Quantified by Photoacoustic Tomography

San Antonio Life Sciences Institute

The San Antonio Life Sciences Institute (SALSI) has awarded $400,000 through its innovation and research excellence grants to support scientists at UTSA and the UT Health Science Center who are conducting research on technology solutions in health care and brain health, system-wide priorities included in Chancellor William McRaven's Quantum Leaps vision.

SALSI, a collaborative partnership established between UTSA and the UT Health Science Center by the Texas Legislature in 2003, has strengthened research in the life sciences, one of the fastest growing industries in Texas and a $30.6 billion industry in San Antonio.

The global issues and challenges that research institutions are working to address are complex and occur at the intersection of disciplines. To make advancements in research there must be an integration and convergence of disciplines.

SALSI Clusters in Research Excellence: Brain Health June 1, 2016 through May 31, 2017 $200,000: $100,000 per team ($50,000 per institution)

SALSI solicited applications for participation in the Clusters in Research Excellence program, with the aims to develop two new strategic research clusters that bridge UTSA and the UT Health Science Center through capacity building and collaborative, interdisciplinary research. Over the next year, SALSI will support two institutionally driven brain health clusters:

Stephen Bach, UTSA and Bess Frost, UT Health Science Center Utilizing Imaging Mass Spectrometry and Electron Microscopy to Investigate Nucleoplasmic Reticulum Expansion in Alzheimer's Disease

Todd Troyer, UTSA and Hye Young Lee, UT Health Science Center Elucidating social communication deficits in autism

SALSI Innovation Challenge June 1, 2016 through May 31, 2017 $200,000: $100,000 per team ($50,000 per institution) The grants awarded through the Innovation Challenge are high-risk, high-reward studies that have the potential to create groundbreaking research directions in health informatics and bioinformatics:

David Akopian, UTSA and Amelie Ramirez, UT Health Science Center An Interactive Automated Mobile Messaging Service for Mobile Health Promotion Interventions

Yufei Huang, UTSA and Yidong Chen, UT Health Science Center A Cloud Computing Pipeline for Precision Medicine

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SHARE JC Oberst

By Jc Oberst Special To The Star

Below is the quote that appeared at the top of this year's Independence Day 2016 letter signed by the sergeant major of the Army, the Army chief of staff and the secretary of the Army to the men and women serving our nation.

"Citizens by birth or choice of a common country, that country has a right to concentrate your affections. The name of American, which belongs to you, in your national capacity, must always exalt the just pride of Patriotism.  George Washington."

The quote is not easy to read but the message is still pertinent today. We celebrate the anniversary of our nation's Declaration of Independence. Fifty-six representatives from the Second Continental Congress signed the Declaration of Independence 240 years ago. This was an important step in the nation's march toward independence. When I reread the Declaration of Independence it reminded me of the vital role legislative branch of government plays as it attempts to bring our interests together for the common good.

Members of Congress represent the people and we must hold them accountable for the vital role they play in our government. One of the most important responsibilities is to determine how the nation will tax, spend and borrow money.

The annual appropriations bill funds each government program, including our military and the resources to take care for our veterans. We need proactive representation to get the resources and infrastructure required for a strong economy that creates jobs and pay debts. We need members of Congress who can negotiate agreements to get the votes needed to pass bills.

The 321-plus million people in our nation are represented by 535 members of Congress.

If you do the math that means each member represents about 600,000 people. In reality, the two U.S. senators from California represent the 38 million diverse people who live in the largest state in the country. To pass a bill that affects a majority in this group is a challenging undertaking and requires a tremendous amount of effort.

To be effective Congress needs to evaluate what government programs are working and which ones need to be changed. Veterans can attest it is not easy to interpret some of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs correspondence let alone know the effectiveness of its programs. Once a program is accessed, crafting laws with persuasive arguments that appeal to the majority are required for it to pass.

I encourage you to be proactive in your correspondence with our local, state and federal representatives.

One more quick comment on the Declaration of Independence from another veteran's perspective. Nick Goris is an Army veteran and intern at Gold Coast Veterans Foundation. He pointed out that the document has many references to religious beliefs such as "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." Plus many of the men who signed the Declaration of Independence were Biblical scholars.

As you enjoy your Fourth of July picnic remember to give thanks for our freedom and the men and women serving in our armed forces and to our military veterans who served before them. Their sacrifices helped create and preserve our Independence for the last 240 years. Have a happy Fourth of July and show your patriotism by flying the flag.

Below are some veterans events and happenings.

July 9: 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Tour the USS Iowa, Oxnard City Senior Services, 350 North C St., Oxnard. Cost is $35. Call Alma Gonzalez at 385-8019 for more information.

July 10: 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Rehab Point Project, Oxnard Beach Park, 1601 South Harbor Blvd., Oxnard. Rehab Point Project is a nonprofit organization and is holding its 24th annual picnic. Admission is free but donations are accepted. It provides wheelchair access and social opportunities to seniors, people with disabilities and disabled American veterans. For more information, contact Christine Portillo at 890-5152 or Esteban Melchor at 814-5226.

Tuesdays and Thursdays in July: EDD Veterans Job and Career Outreach Specialists. Gold Coast Veterans Foundation, 4001 Mission Oaks Blvd., Camarillo. EDD provides our servicemen and women tools and support in their search for jobs. Call 568-1282 EDD to schedule an appointment.

July 13: 3-5 p.m. Ventura County Veterans Service Office Open House, 5740 Ralston St., Suite 304 Ventura. Join us as we celebrate the move to our new office. Brief program will be presented and followed by light refreshments. For more information, call 477-5155.

July 13: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Pizza for a Purpose, California Pizza Kitchen at Pacific View mall, 3301 East Main St., Ventura. Portion of each purchase goes to Vietnam Veterans of Ventura County. Information: 639-5060.

July 14: 9:30-11 a.m. Ventura County Military Collaborative monthly meeting, National University, 1000 Town Center Drive, Suite 502, Oxnard. Network, learn about issues, policy and concerns facing the military and veteran community. Call 983-4850 for more information.

July 16: 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Ride On Therapeutic Horseman, 401 Ronel Court, Newbury Park. USA, Ride On is offering unmounted Equine Facilitated Growth and Learning classes as well as more traditional horseback riding lessons to post 9/11 veterans. Open house is an opportunity to learn more about the program. Ride On's program is designed to help veterans and their families cope with the psychological and physical effects including post-traumatic stress and traumatic brain injury. For more information, call Gloria at 375-9078 or email Sara@rideon.org

July 29-31: All day Friday and Saturday, until noon on Sunday. Ventura County Stand Down, Army National Guard Armory, 1270 Arundell Ave., Ventura. Free homeless services including food, medical, dental, legal, comfort kits, haircuts and employment and housing assistance. All veterans are welcome and may bring their spouses, significant other and children. Free transportation is provided on Friday morning from various locations in Ventura County, and the cities of West Los Angeles and Santa Barbara. Preregister at venturacountystanddown.org or call 987-3118.

Need assistance navigating veteran services or want to add a veterans' event? Give JC Oberst a call at (805) 482-6550 or email at jc.oberst@gcvf.org. To find more veterans events visit the GCVF.org online calendar.
SHARE CONTRIBUTED PHOTO | OXNARD POLICE DEPARTMENT Enrique Magallon, 36, of Oxnard.

By Staff Reports

Oxnard police arrested a man Sunday morning after authorities said he botched a burglary and assaulted an officer with a flagpole.

Officers said they found Enrique Magallon, 36, of Oxnard, in the 2000 block of Carnegie Court after they received reports he was trying to break into a home. Magallon fled from police when they spotted him and tried to break into another house in the 2100 block of San Mateo Place but when he couldn't get in the house he allegedly armed himself with a flagpole and swung at an officer, authorities said

Police shocked Magallon with a stun gun but he allegedly ran through several more streets and into the 2000 block of O'neill Place were, authorities said, he slashed a man and stole his car. Officers said Magallon crashed the car and continued to flee on foot.

Police said they caught up with Magallon in the 2700 block of Stowe Drive where he allegedly assaulted officers with large landscaping rocks. An officer shocked him again with a stun gun but he continued to run through the 2700 block of Upton Sinclair, according to police.

When officers caught up with Magallon again he allegedly assaulted police with a large metal pipe, authorities said. Police shocked him with a stun gun one last time and then took him into custody, authorities said.

Magallon was charged in connection with four counts of felony assault on a peace officer, assault with a deadly weapon and carjacking, authorities said.
SHARE JUAN CARLO/THE STAR Ken Iverson is almost finished donating blood as Angela Flores, donor care specialist, takes care of him at United Blood Services in Ventura. JUAN CARLO/THE STAR Ken Iverson relaxes as a machine separates platelets from his blood at United Blood Services in Ventura. JUAN CARLO/THE STAR Ken Iverson started to give blood platelets 20 years ago to help a friend. Now he does it to help everyone. JUAN CARLO/THE STAR Ken Iverson of Ventura settles in for a platelet-donating process that takes 75 minutes.

By Tom Kisken of the Ventura County Star

Ken Iverson waited in gray sweats and flip-flops, wool socks slung over a shoulder.

It was Tuesday. Blood day.

Nearly every other week for 20 years, Iverson has sat in this Ventura lobby or one like it waiting to give platelets. The cells help blood clot and are needed by people hurt in car accidents or undergoing treatment like chemotherapy that jeopardizes immunities.

Once a chef at a fly-fishing resort in Montana, Iverson has bared his left arm on enough Tuesdays to give 588 units. Only five donors in United Blood Services' California network have given more platelets.

DONATING

To donate at United Blood Services, visit http://bit.ly/1S42ncj or call 877-827-4376.

To donate at American Red Cross, visit http://www.redcross.org/give-blood or call 800-733-2767.

The math is complicated because technicians often drain three units from the 6-foot-3 Iverson at once. The total amount of plasma and platelets drained from his veins equates to maybe 36 gallons, enough to fill a Toyota Corolla nearly three times.

"I don't have money to give, so I do this," said Iverson, who is 60, unemployed and lives near downtown Ventura with his wife, their Labrador-shepherd mix, Roxy and a rescue cat, Lucy.

Socks still dangling like a misplaced necktie, Iverson limped on sore knees to a private huddle room. There, a technician asked him the questions he's heard hundreds of times.

Has he used hypodermic needles? Has he used aspirin within 48 hours? Has he had sexual contact with a man, or with a prostitute, or someone with hepatitis? Has he ever had a parasitic illness called babesiosis?

There are dozens of queries, all federally mandated. Iverson sees them as a way of protecting the blood. He said he always answers truthfully.

"I answer 'yes' to the 'yes' questions and 'no' to the 'no' questions,'" he said, settling into a green reclining chair, flip-flops gone and socks finally in place.

Donor wisdom

Iverson was in this same seat two days after a gunman killed 49 people and wounded more than 50 in a gay nightclub in Orlando, creating a need for blood and platelets.

On this day, two weeks later, his platelets could be used over an Independence Day weekend that may unleash enough accidents and injuries to deplete supplies.

"We need to help each other and we just don't do it enough," he said, in philosophies shaped by years in a donor's chair amid bloodletting tragedies triggered by hate. "Somehow, we have to get from the intolerance through the tolerance to the acceptance of others."

Two small bags of popcorn rested on his lap. A care specialist poked a needle into the scarred tissue of his left arm. A timer on a computer screen started counting off 75 minutes.

Instead of watching "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" on Netflix as planned, Iverson talked.

In the mid-1990s, he lived in Ventura's Pierpont neighborhood, renting a room from a man diagnosed with HIV. It became AIDS, attacking his body's defense system. He was hospitalized and needed platelets  60 units.

Iverson came to United Blood to help. Donors aren't told where their blood products are going. Still, he figured he would give enough to make sure his friend's needs were met.

"When I hit 60 (units), I kept going," he said.

His mother makes quilts for unwed mothers. His father was a blood donor. His sister works for the Peace Corps in South Africa.

Iverson sees platelets as his way of keeping the volunteer tradition going.

He's part of a global brotherhood called The Mankind Project. His goal is to build compassion and respect by honoring people, all people.

"If we don't help each other, the world gets screwed, more screwed up than it already is," he said.

But his time in the chair is more than a way of paying forward.

"There's been times when this was a refuge," he said "where no one would mess with me for two hours and, if I asked for it, someone would give me a drink and a cookie."

Reading signs

He is unusual, not unique.

Southern California American Red Cross officials said their most prolific platelet donor is Matt Murphy, an Orange County resident who started giving some 30 years ago. His tally: 1,100 units.

Dwayne McCulloch, a maintenance and painting contractor from Oak View, started giving blood in 1977 and platelets in 1983. He has given 672 units, tops in a United Blood Service California network that includes platelet-donor centers in Ventura, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo and Santa Maria.

Ask McCulloch to explain and he tells of how everyone else in his family contracted hepatitis, precluding them from giving blood. He didn't get it.

"I just felt that God was telling me this is something I need to do," said McCulloch, who works as a maintenance contractor.

Platelets to spare

Iverson squeezed a blue rubber ball. Blood flowed into a centrifuge that separates out platelets, returning red blood cells back to the sender.

Platelets swimming in plasma the color of brown mustard filled a transparent bag. Once Iverson's job was finished, the bag was sent to a lab and rocked in a continuous motion designed to keep the cells from clumping.

Then it was sent to San Luis Obispo for testing. By the time it was set to be released to hospitals in Ventura, Oxnard, Ojai and elsewhere, it would be good for maybe three days.

There's no compensation. But Iverson collects points that eventually can bring pizza, ice cream or, his favorite, movie tickets.

The timer hit 75 minutes. A technician bandaged Iverson's arm in blue tape. The donor limped away from his chair, commiserating with staff about the link between body shape, gravity and age.

After a final cranberry juice and an Oreo, he headed home to walk Roxy. In two weeks, he'll back.

"I made the commitment that I'd keep doing it," he said, "until I answer 'yes' to a 'no' question."
SHARE STAR FILE PHOTO

By Jean Moore of the Ventura County Star

Ventura police are looking for two men suspected of stealing drugs from a pharmacy early Sunday morning.

Police got a call at about 4:50 a.m. and went to the pharmacy on Loma Vista Road, where they found the front door shattered. They investigated with a police dog and found no one inside.

Surveillance cameras showed the men were wearing stockings over their heads and dark clothing during the burglary, said Commander Tom Higgins. It was not immediately clear that the men had stolen anything, Higgins said.

"Once the owner of the business got there, we went through the surveillance video together and determined that something was taken," Higgins said.
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO/City of Ventura

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By Arlene Martinez, amartinez@vcstar.com

The city of Ventura has reached new labor agreements with its police and service unions.

In the contract reached with police, officers, sergeants and corporals received a 2.25 percent increase in May and will receive another increase of 2.25 percent in January. They received a $1,500 one-time payment.

Police management received increases of 1 percent in May, and another increase of 2.25 percent in January. A year later, in January 2018, they'll receive another 1.25 percent increase. They also received a $1,500 one-time payment.

Non-public safety employees  members of the Service Employees International Union  received increases of 2.75 percent in May and will get another 2.5 percent increase in January. They received a one-time payment of $800.

All three contracts, approved by the City Council in May, run through June 30, 2018.

The contracts cost the city $787,370 in the fiscal year that ended June 30, and will cost another $1.6 million in 2016-17 and another $1.1 million in 2017-18, according to Assistant City Manager Dan Paranick.

"The fiscal impacts represent the City settling negotiations with six of its eight bargaining units (all of our employees except for two groups in the Fire Department whose contracts expired later than the other bargaining groups)," Paranick wrote in an email.

The last contract for police (non-management), which ran from Jan. 1, 2014, through December 2015, gave raises of 5.5 percent, 1.5 percent and 1 percent over the life of the contract. It gave a lump-sum payment of $500.

So for a police officer making $100,000, the raises from June 2014 to January 2017 and the payments increased a salary by $15,000.

The average pay in 2015 for those covered under the police contract, which includes officers, sergeants and corporals, was roughly $103,00 and retirement and health and retirements benefits averaged $47,000, according to the state controller's office. That includes those who worked part-time or did not work a full year.

The average pay in 2015 for management, assistant police chiefs and commanders, was around $144,000 and health and retirements were $62,000, according to the office.

The contracts include member increases for health insurance. For non-management police, the cost for individual insurance is $112.50 per pay period through 2018. It's $289 for a family in 2016, and rises to $433.50 and $520 in the following years.

For assistant chiefs and commanders, it's $104 for individuals per pay period for the life of the contract and climbs to $511.50 for a family.

Costs also climb for members of the service unions. Depending on the unit, it goes from $285.50 to $345.50 over the life of a contract (it started at $116) to starting at $97 and climbing to $332.50.

Retirement contributions have also gone up in recent years. Employees now pay between 6.25 percent and 12.25 percent of their pension costs depending on their position, the staff report notes, whereas several years ago they paid nothing.
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The fanfare was loud when Gov. Jerry Brown and state legislators announced agreement on a package of Public Utilities Commission reforms the other day. You could almost hear Brown saying, "This will clear up any clouds in my legacy."

Sorry, Governor, it won't.

For while the proposed PUC changes do make some improvements, they leave the powerful commission's main problem unsolved: The five commissioners still are not accountable to anyone as they set natural gas and electricity rates and supervise pipeline and power transmission safety.

Nothing in this package assures that commissioners won't continue favoring big privately-owned companies like Pacific Gas & Electric, Southern California Edison, Southern California Gas and San Diego Gas & Electric over their customers, as the PUC consistently has done for the last 40 years or more.

Nothing to make sure commissioners who act corruptly can be ousted once their wrongdoing is proven. Nothing to prevent situations like one that arose in late June, when Commissioner Mike Florio recused himself from a major PG&E rate decision because he previously admitted helping that company "shop" for a favorable judge in another case.

What use is a commissioner who can't participate in many of his agency's most important cases?

But positives abound in the reform package, too. For example, lawyers and consumer advocates who present useful information in PUC cases would now be able to get intervenor fees even if they don't go along with eventual settlements in those cases. Previously, only groups that helped devise settlements could get such fees, which can amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars. This rule has often made lap dogs out of outfits that are supposed to help keep utility rates down.

It can't hurt to prohibit utility executives from joining the commission until at least two years after they've left companies they once ran. This rule might have excluded the disgraced Michael Peevey, a former SoCal Edison president now under criminal investigation for his conduct during eight years as PUC president.

It's a good idea for the PUC to open offices in Los Angeles and Sacramento, in addition to its San Francisco headquarters. The current sole location in San Francisco can leave PUC staffers unfamiliar with safety and other problems elsewhere in California.

And it can't hurt to subject commissioners to possible prosecution by the state attorney general if they don't quickly reveal the content of private contacts with people involved in their cases, often known as ex parte communications.

These are all parts of the reform package, but nothing would change the five commissioners' quasi-judicial standing, which sees even the governor who appoints them unable to sack them for any reason until their six-year terms expire. The changes also leave PUC decisions open to challenge only in appeals courts.

"If decisions could be challenged in trial courts, PUC rate cases might never end," said Democratic Assemblyman Mike Gatto, from the San Fernando Valley portion of Los Angeles. He's right that court cases can drag on, but allowing challenges only in appeals courts prevents introduction of new evidence, when most PUC observers agree that evidence gathered in rate cases historically has favored utilities over consumers.

One solution might be to allow trial court appeals of large cases, perhaps setting the floor at $1 billion. This could allow meaningful challenges of the most important cases.

"We do have some accountability in this package," said Gatto, who has been crusading for PUC reform. "We bring in the attorney general when there's secrecy in ex parte communications. We create a new ethics ombudsman, who is supposed to act completely independently like inspector generals in some federal agencies. We also set up a new deputy director of the agency for safety. That person would be assigned to make sure money consumers pay for things like pipeline safety is actually spent for that."

Previously, there was no one to track such spending, and much of what consumers paid for safety and maintenance via their monthly bills over the last 60 years went for other things.

The bottom line: There's plenty positive in this package and it ought to pass the Legislature handily, with Brown committed to sign it. But there's still a need to impose more accountability, or the PUC's long run as a rogue agency may not end soon.

Email Thomas Elias at tdelias@aol.com.


Pretty Little Liars star Ryan Guzman kicked off New Years Eve Weekend dining at the freshly remodeled N9NE Steakhouse inside Palms Casino Resort on Friday (12/27) evening (Photo credit: Edison Graff).

Photo credit: Edison Graff.

The Hollywood heartthrob, who was joined by a long-time friend, enjoyed Lobster Pot Stickers, Shellfish Platter, New York Sirloin Carpaccio, Spinach Salad and N9NEs brand new 48 ounce Tomahawk Steak.

Photo credit: Edison Graff.

Guzman chatted away with the restaurants executive chef Barry S. Dakake who later took the actor on a tour of the kitchen. After Guzman informed Chef Barry that he was a big New York Yankees fan, Dakake pointed out a few Yankees players who had signed his celebrity Shakedown Door, before Guzman himself happily signed it.

Photo credit: Edison Graff.

Guzman just wrapped shooting The Boy Next Door where he portrays a teenage boy who has an affair with a divorced neighborhood woman played by actress Jennifer Lopez.


Local teen, Cashel Gardner, was diagnosed with Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) Type 1 at six months of age. Doctors warned his parents that he would not live past two years old. On Saturday, January 10 Cashel turned 18 (Pictured: Horny Mike from HISTORYS hit TV series Counting Cars  Photo credit: Radiant Inc.)

Photo credit: Radiant Inc.

An avid fan of Las Vegas celebrations and star-studded red carpet events, Cashel was surprised with his very own to commemorate the milestone birthday.

Photo credit: Radiant Inc.

The celebration of Cashels 18th birthday not only commemorates his journey and battle against SMA but will also bring hope to parents and children facing a similar diagnosis.

Photo credit: Radiant Inc.

Held at the Palms Casino Resort and sporting a superhero theme to honor Cashel as an everyday hero, guests donned capes and enjoyed superhero themed cakes from Showboy Bakeshop.

Photo credit: Radiant Inc.

Walking the red carpet to celebrate Cashels momentous birthday was Motley Crue frontman Vince Neil; rock star artist Michael Godard who presented Cashel with a custom superhero painting; Horny Mike from HISTORYS hit TV series Counting Cars who gave Cashel his coveted horns; Dirk Vermin from A&Es Bad Ink; HGTVs JD Scott; local headliners and many more.

Photo credit: Radiant Inc.

Photo credit: Radiant Inc.


All 2010 Miss Universe contestants and Miss Universe 2009, Stefania Fernandez, posed in front of the famous Welcome To Las Vegas sign today, August 11, 2010, dressed in Dar Be Dar by Tala Raassi bikinis (Photo:  Erik Kabik/ RETNA/ www.erikkabik.com).

Photo:  Erik Kabik/ RETNA/ www.erikkabik.com.

Mayor Oscar Goodman was on hand to greet the contestants.

The Miss Universe 2010 pageant will be LIVE at the Mandalay Bay Events Center, located at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, on Monday, August 23rd and broadcast on NBC and Telemundo at 9 p.m. (ET).

Superstar musician Bret Michaels and NBCs Today show co-host and correspondent Natalie Morales will host the pageant. John Legend & The Roots will perform live during 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.

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.
Vietnams retail and consumer goods sectors have seen a lot of mergers & acquisitions by ASEAN investors

Vietnam: the spotlight for M&A

Launched on December 31, 2015, the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) is tasked with integrating ten ASEAN economies, which together create a $2.6-trillion single market with over 600 million consumers. One area of focus for the AEC is establishing ASEAN as the worlds leading production base with a free flow of services, goods, investment, and trade.

With this in mind, companies in the region have already stepped up their mergers and acquisitions (M&A) game, long before the AEC was finalised. Among the ten countries, Vietnam in particular has received strong attention from regional buyers. It is notable that most M&A deals between Vietnam and ASEAN partners are in the consumer goods and retail sector.

In 2014, Thai- based Berli Jucker Public Company (BJC) began negotiations with Germanys Metro Cash & Carry to take over the latters Vietnamese stores. The $706 million deal was finalised in early 2016. Besides acquiring Metro Vietnam, BJC also bought controlling stakes in the food and beverage distributor Phu Thai, and convenience store chain Family Mart Vietnam and renamed it Bs Mart.

Also in 2014, the Singaporean firm Freaser and Neave bought an 11 per cent share in Vietnams leading dairy producer Vinamilk. Later, in January 2015, Central Group from Thailand purchased a 49 per cent stake in Nguyen Kim, a leading Vietnamese electronics distribution chain.

The Central Group, Nguyen Kim duo, then acquired the Vietnamese arm of the online fashion retailer Zalora, in March 2016. In May, Central Group once again made headlines as it spent a whopping $1.05 billion to take over Vietnam-based Big C supermarkets.

Another recent mega deal on the Vietnamese M&A scene was the $1.1 billion strategic partnership between Masan and the Thai Singha Asia Holding Pte. Ltd, signed at the end of 2015. Together, the two partners aspire to serve 250 million beer customers across inland ASEAN countries.

Besides consumer goods and retail, ASEAN investors have also been active in acquiring Vietnamese industrial firms. For example, Thai conglomerate SCG has conducted a flurry of M&As with 20 Vietnamese plastic companies, such as Tin Thanh JSC, Viet Thai Group, Binh Minh Plastic and Tien Phong Plastic JSC. Back in 2012, SCG bought an 80 per cent stake in the domestic construction company Prime Group, while the Indonesian cement firm Semen Gresik took over 70 per cent of Thang Long Cement JSCs.

Vietnamese firms, when they are on the purchasing end of the deal, often target Cambodia and Laos. The most recent example is Vinamilk, which inaugurated a new $23-million factory in Phnom Penh, Cambodia with Angkor Dairy JSC in May.

AEC and the future of M&A

Nguyen Quynh Lan, managing director of business information services at Stoxplus, told VIR that the AEC, thanks to its emphasis on intra-ASEAN collaboration, will make Vietnam an attractive destination for economic integration and regional M&As. Moreover, ASEAN companies in retail, agricultural products, building materials, and construction are often tempted by Vietnams abundance of natural resources and growing consumer demand.

I believe ASEAN investors will continue to look for opportunities where they have a competitive advantage, and Vietnam can offer opportunities for growth. It should be a win-win proposition for both sides in the deal. I also think that not just ASEAN members, but many other foreign investors, will seek cross-border M&A opportunities from the equitisation of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) in Vietnam, Lan said.

Similarly, Dr Christopher Kummer, an expert at the Austria-based Institute of Mergers, Acquisition and Alliances, told VIR that the growth of private companies and equitised SOEs will facilitate more cross-border M&A activities in Vietnam. The researcher expected a rally in M&A deals in the coming years, especially in consumer and retail sectors.

Other experts noted that for many ASEAN companies, M&A is a great alternative to direct investment in Vietnam. By conducting M&As with Vietnamese firms, ASEAN investors can take advantage of the domestic partners brand name, local know-how and existing consumer base. This will quicken the ASEAN buyers venture into the Vietnamese market following the AEC.

This method is especially popular for Thai companies, who have flocked into the consumer goods, industrial, and retail sectors of Vietnam, via a range of M&As. Lan from Stoxplus commented that as the Thai economy slows down in recent years, Thai conglomerates must now pursue growth overseas. In this context, Vietnam is an attractive market due to strong economic growth, rising consumer spending, geographical proximity and cultural compatibility.

Due to their determination, Thai investors usually offer very high prices in M&A deals with Vietnamese rubber and plastic firms. Domestic companies in this sector need 20 years to establish their brand name in Vietnam, but Thai buyers only need a year to do so, thanks to M&As. As a result, M&As save a lot of time and effort compared to direct investment, said Tran Viet Anh, deputy head of the Ho Chi Minh City Association of Rubber & Plastic Companies, and director of Nam Thai Son JSC.

Ho Duc Lam, managing director of Rang Dong Plastics JSC, added that ASEAN investors want to acquire Vietnamese firms to benefit from the slew of free trade agreements that Vietnam recently signed. For example, the historic Trans-Pacific Partnership only has four out of ten ASEAN countries, and Thailand is not included on the list.

Vietnam will soon enjoy great reductions on tariffs and access to new markets thanks to various trade deals, thus its understandable that ASEAN investors want to capitalise on this opportunity. A quick way to do so is via M&As with Vietnamese companies, said Lam.

Not always a smooth ride

However, experts noted some challenges that can hinder M&A deals between Vietnamese and ASEAN investors. Firstly, according to Tran Minh Hai, managing director of Basico law firm, the Vietnamese law is still lagging behind the development of the M&A scene.

As Vietnam grows and more complicated M&A deals are conducted, Vietnamese law must be updated to keep abreast of constant changes. For example, theres an ongoing debate on whether M&As should be considered a form of direct investment or not, and which type of M&A should follow which rule. Thus, I look forward to more detailed regulations on M&As to reduce these problems, said Hai.

Another controversial topic is the loss of homegrown Vietnamese brands after M&A deals with ASEAN investors. A recent example is Saigon Beer, Alcohol and Beverage Corporation (Sabeco), which has a 45 per cent share in the domestic beer market. Although the Thai beer giant ThaiBev has offered to buy Sabeco many times, the Vietnamese company kept its preference for domestic partners.

Most ASEAN investors will keep the Vietnamese brand name after M&As because they understand that these long-standing brand names are well-respected by Vietnamese consumers. I believe that this clever strategy will continue in future M&As, said Dr. Christopher Kummer.
Science Discovering Adventure book may give rise to the next generation of scientists

The picture book, the follow-up to Whats Up With the Earth? launched in 2013, was jointly developed by Bayer Vietnam and First News. It is a science and education project under the companys corporate and social responsibility (CSR) programme called Bayer Cares for Societies.

With its storytelling, adorable characters, and vivid illustrations, the book brings science to life in an exciting and fun way. It aims to inspire younger generations to explore and embrace the sciences and encourage them to pursue healthier and more sustainable living.

Science and innovation are two leading drivers of development in our society. As an innovative life science company, Bayer creates cutting-edge life science solutions for human beings, animals, and plants in order for us to have a better life, said Kohei Sakata, general director of Bayer Vietnam at the launch event in Ho Chi Minh City. In addition, we are strongly committed to promoting science education and inspiring boys and girls to be future scientists. We believe this is very important as it brings better ideas and better solutions to the world.

The picture book introduces a new life science theme and continues the exciting adventures of the same characters from the last book. Na, Ti, and Teo take another adventure into discovering simple living things around them.

The childrens curiosity will hopefully lead them to explore the wonders of science in their daily lives. It is an exciting path of discovery that holds the answers to questions like why do birds sing? what is the structure of the human body? how do we stay healthy? It also identifies different kinds of plants and explains how they grow, as well as reinforcing the importance of clean water in our daily lives, and how best to care for pets. The book also includes fun and simple science exercises so that children can do experiments at home with their parents or friends.

The reading process, with its hands-on experiments, will constantly excite childrens curiosity and imagination, and encourage them to keep exploring the sciences and nature in their daily lives, Sakata said.

A short cartoon complements the learning process. The book was developed by Bayer and First News under the Making Science Make Sense programme.

We are happy to join Bayer in this great initiative to further ignite a passion for science among Vietnamese children. The picture book can give children a new perspective on the phenomena of our daily lives through the prism of science. It uses practical experiments to give children a thirst for the further exploration of science in their daily lives, said Nguyen Thi Tam Hang, vice deputy managing director of First News.

In addition to launching scientific picture books, Bayer Vietnam, in co-operation with Live and Learn, will also organise school activities and events to help promote science education among children and inspire them to learn more about the natural world around them. Within the scope of its social commitment, Bayer Vietnam has, for many years, conducted targeted social activities for communities in the areas of science and education, health, social needs, and community projects under the programme Bayer Cares for Societies. This commitment is an integral element of Bayers corporate policy. Under this programme, the company will also launch a new project this year to help improve life for empoverished communities in the Mekong Delta region.

One of highlights of the project is the participation of volunteers who are employees of Bayer Vietnam. Bayer volunteerism demonstrates the companys CSR commitment aimed at giving people a better life, while simultaneously creating a connection with the surrounding communities.

Bayer is a global enterprise with core competencies in the life science fields of healthcare and agriculture. Its products and services are designed to benefit people and improve their quality of life. The group also aims to create value through innovation, growth, and high earning power.

Bayer is committed to the principles of sustainable development and to its social and ethical responsibilities as a corporate citizen. In the fiscal year 2015, the group employed around 117,000 people and had sales of EUR46.3 billion ($51.28 billion). Capital expenditures amounted to EUR2.6 billion ($2.88 billion), while R&D expenses were EUR4.3 billion ($4.76 billion). These figures include those for its hi-tech polymer business called Covestro, which was floated on the stock market on October 6, 2015 as an independent company.
The seismic vote on Brexit has forced Britain to recognise the deep divisions within its society, a profound realisation that heralds a turbulent and uncertain future AFP/Justin Tallis

"I would say I am currently suffering from anxiety and/or depression," EU backer Mick Watson, 41, told AFP.

"I hadn't felt anything like this before Friday's referendum result. I am worried, very worried.

"I am constantly online, my work and home life has suffered. I feel like my way of life is threatened and that's scary," added the University of Edinburgh researcher.

The seismic vote has forced Britain to recognise the deep divisions within its society, a profound realisation that heralds a turbulent and uncertain future.

Around 17.4 million people voted to leave the EU, while 16.1 million voted to stay, leaving huge numbers fearful of life outside the bloc.

"Our reactions are multiple. The first is shock and a sense of betrayal felt by Remain voters, many of whom feel that they no longer recognise the UK they live in," explained Jay Watts, of Queen Mary University of London.

"It has shattered people's sense of what British values are."

"WORSE THAN DIVORCE"

Brexit proponents argue it is similar feelings of alienation and powerlessness  ignored for decades  that saw so many working class communities voting to leave the EU, and resent the blame cast upon them.

"Many Leave voters feel at times angry that they are being rubbished as ill-informed and racist," she said. "The main emotion for everyone is uncertainty."

Remain supporters have compared the trauma to a relationship breakdown, or a death in the family.

"The main feeling is of irreversibility, so in that sense its worse than a divorce, and more like an avoidable death," explained Will Davies, from Goldsmiths, University of London.

"It feels like a terrible accident, that should have been foreseen and should have been prevented."

British-US actor David Schaal, star of "The Inbetweeners" and "The Office," said the result had triggered a bout of introspection.

"I am waking up in the night, worried about the future of the country and how I personally fit in," he told AFP.

"This isn't just a vote about coming out of Europe, it's a vote about our national identity.

"It's a sense of grief. A sense of loss of our tolerance and fairness for which I believe Britain used to stand for," he added.

Some have turned to gallows humour to express their anxieties on social media.

"For the first time EVER I am working in my pyjamas. I think I have #brexitblues," wrote Twitter user Lucy Mann.

"Resisted temptation to hug my Polish delivery driver and tell him I still love him. #BrexitBlues," added Charlotte Day.

PHYSICAL SYMPTOMS

The fog of depression has also consumed immigrants, crippled by doubts about their adopted country, whose arms suddenly do not appear to be as open.

"I swing between depression, anger, sadness, worry and hope," Aurore Valantin, a 37-year-old French blogger based in Worthing on England's south coast, wrote on her blog "Croqlife".

"I have very close friends that actually have physical and psychological symptoms.

"One hardly eats, has lost weight, and is tempted by Valium and alcohol as a way of dealing with Brexit," she added.

But Aurore is in no mood to pack her bags, preferring to "drown her sorrows" and blog about the England she loves, a country of "tolerance and eccentricity".

London newspaper the Evening Standard has already offered advice on banishing the Brexit blues, producing a "tour of the best food and drink the EU has to offer, without leaving London".

The guide points readers in the direction of the finest French wine, Romanian porridge and Spanish tapas.

Others are seeking solace in a motivational poster issued by the government during World War II, whose message now suddenly appears to be acutely relevant: "Keep Calm and Carry On."
The Great Court of Trinity College Cambridge, where, along with other British universities, the only topic of discussion is the potential consequences of Brexit AFP/Loic Vennin

In Cambridge, students at the world-famous university's 31 colleges have left for the summer, but among the teaching staff still here the word Brexit is on everyone's lips.

"It's the only topic of conversation, even a week later," Athene Donald, master of Churchill College, told AFP, adding that it was still "far too early to know what the consequences are going to be".

The stakes, for Cambridge and the country, are high: More than 125,000 European students were enrolled this year in British universities, or five percent of the total, while 15 percent of academic staff come from other EU countries, according to Universities UK (UUK).

British universities received 836 million British pounds (US$1.1 million) in subsidies and research contracts in the 2014-15 academic year alone.

In the wake of the June 23 referendum, numerous universities have sought to reassure their students from other EU countries, notably on the question of tuition fees.

EU students have until now not paid the same as their counterparts from elsewhere in the world, who have to stump up for International Status fees, which can be much higher.

"In 2016/17, the fees will be the same, and you will still have access to the government loan" as do British students on Home Fee status, said Michael Arthur, president of University College London in a video posted on YouTube aimed at European students.

"If you're thinking of coming to study with us after that time... we believe that nothing will have changed then either," he said, while adding: "We're seeking clarifications on that from the government at the moment."

British universities minister Jo Johnson is also seeking to reassure them.

"UK welcomes EU students. Current students and this autumn's applicants will continue to receive student finance for duration of their course," he tweeted after the shock Brexit vote.

"IT WON'T KILL US"

On Friday, the Scottish government issued a statement saying it hoped Scotland would remain a "destination of choice" for EU students.

Outside the EU, Britain would also have to renegotiate its participation in the Erasmus programme, to which over 200,000 British students have signed up.

"We got emails from British students panicked after the referendum," said Dolores Sobrino of France's prestigious Universite Paris-Sorbonne, where 27 percent of Erasmus students come from Britain.

"We told them they don't need to worry because their registration (at the Sorbonne) is not in question at the moment," she told AFP.

"Nevertheless, the problem could emerge in coming years, if Britain were to leave the Erasmus+ programme."

Back at Churchill College, its head said: "One can imagine a situation where it is not (as) easy for European students to come here.

"But, having said that, we'll still have huge numbers of Chinese, American and Indian students. I do not expect this university to cease to be a global university," added Donald.

She said a bigger worry is funding for research. In her college, scientific research projects get a quarter of their funding from the EU.

"There is no certainty that we will be cut off from that funding. And that's why we need to be arguing very strongly," said Donald, a professor of experimental physics.

"Our vice chancellor saw commissioner (Carlos) Moedas this week... This is a huge concern" she added, referring to the EU commissioner for research, science and innovation in Brussels.

Nevertheless, whatever impact Brexit ultimately has, she is confident Cambridge university  one of the oldest in Britain along with Oxford  can cope.

"It won't kill the university," she said. "We shouldn't be too dramatic about the consequences of Brexit. We have been here for 800 years, we will survive."
Vendors and residents gather beside flood waters rushing through a market area on the outskirts of Peshawar, northwest Pakistan on April 3, 2016 (Photo: AFP/A Majeed)

The rains began late Saturday and were concentrated mainly in the northwestern province of Khybher Pakthunkwa, which has been badly affected by flooding in recent years that some scientists have linked to climate change.

The worst hit district was Chitral, on the country's northwest border, where flood waters swept away a mosque, dozens of houses and army post in the remote village of Ursoon, district mayor Maghfirat Shah told AFP.

Thirty-one people were killed in the village, and at least eight of the dead are thought to be soldiers.

A statement issued by the provincial disaster management authority said 82 houses were affected by the waters, and efforts were underway to provide food and relief items to the villagers.

Another senior local official, Osama Waraich, said that the bodies of eight of the victims from Ursoon had been found on the Afghan side of the border.

Separately, two Chinese engineers were killed and five Pakistani workers injured when the heavy rains caused the roof of a construction site to collapse at Tarbela Dam, spokesman for the Provincial Disaster Management Authority Latifur Rehman said.

In April rains and landslides killed 127 people in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the Gilgit-Baltistan region and Pakistani Kashmir.

Poorly built homes across the country, particularly in rural areas, are susceptible to collapse during the annual spring and monsoon rains in July-August, which are often heavy.

Severe weather in recent years has killed hundreds and destroyed huge tracts of prime farmland.

During the rainy season last summer, torrential downpours and flooding killed 81 people and affected almost 300,000 people across the country.

The worst flooding in recent times occurred in 2010 and covered almost a fifth of the country's total land mass. Nearly 2,000 people were killed and 20 million affected.

Rapid deforestation brought about by decades of illegal logging in the country's north and the growth of farming along the river Indus in the south is believed by experts to have exacerbated the effects of the annual floods.

Energy-starved Pakistan relies on a multitude of dams and barrages to prevent Himalayan rivers from flooding and help meet its power needs, but some academics believe the slowing of rivers due to the structures mean that silt accumulates, decreasing their capacity.

A research paper commission by conservation group WWF and published in 2000 looked at various countries, and warned of similar consequences. It noted the drainage of wetlands as well as deforestation associated with dams led to a loss of natural 'sponges' to absorb flood waters during rainy season.
The Taiwanese company faces a fine of $500 million for its violations

After a two-month probe into the cause of mass fish deaths in four central coastal provinces including Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri, and Thua Thien-Hue, the Government Offices Minister and Chairman Mai Tien Dung declared at last weeks packed media conference that Violations and incidents at the construction site and testing operations in the complex of Formosa Ha Tinh are the cause of major environmental pollution, killing a massive amount of fish in four provinces, from Ha Tinh to Thua Thien-Hue in April.

The violations were announced based on objective and scientific evidence thoroughly studied by ministries, institutes, and over 100 local and foreign scientists and experts, Dung said. The discovery of the violator has shown the governments firm attitude to punish all violators.

Imploring forgiveness from the Vietnamese people, Chen Yuan-Cheng, chairman of Formosa Ha Tinh Steel, a unit of Formosa Plastics Corp., said in a nationally-televised video recording that We claim responsibility and heartily apologise to the people of Vietnam, especially those in the four provinces of Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri, and Thua Thien-Hue. The company apologises to the Party, the state, the national assembly, the government and the prime minister for having caused the environmental incident, seriously affecting the production, employment, and environment of the provinces.

We promise never to repeat such actions, Cheng said, adding that We would like to receive sympathy from the Party, the state, and the people of Vietnam.

Meanwhile, in late April when the scandal first occurred, amid allegations that Formosa was the very perpetrator, the companys leadership said it was deeply surprised and sorry, and that there was no proof linking it to the fish deaths. At that time, Formosa said its $10.5 billion project had a $45 million waste water treatment system, which had all the appropriate regulatory permits and met national standards.

A deal was signed last week between Formosa Ha Tinh and Vietnams Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MoNRE), stating that Formosa must compensate over VND11.5 trillion ($500 million) for the damages it had caused. Formosa must support local people who have lost employment due to the scandal, clean the polluted sea. The firm is also forced to upgrade its technology so that such a scandal will not be repeated.

The $500 million in my opinion is still too small a sum. It is a rough calculation based on the damages to residents and the sea. It does not include other intangible damages such as psychological hurt and future corollaries, said MoNRE Minister Tran Hong Ha. We have required Formosa to change its technology and clearly address the environmental pollution it caused.

However, despite such a colossal violation, Formosa has failed to face criminal charges, even though it has seriously affected the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of fishermen, restaurant owners, and makers of traditional Vietnamese fish sauce along more than 200 kilometres of coasts.

Formosa has admitted its fault to the Party, the government, and the people of Vietnam, and also made commitments to support affected people and promised to not repeat its violations, Dung said. Vietnams government always strictly punish violators, but we also have a tolerant policy for investors. If investors pledge to obey Vietnams laws, the laws will also ensure they operate effectively.

In March 2015, a scaffold collapse killed 14 people and injured 30 others at the Formosa steel complex.

In July 2014, two Vietnamese workers were killed and three others were severely injured after a scaffold collapsed at the construction site of a water plant that belongs to the complex.
To attract and retain talents is the task that needs the combination of both science and art Photo: Le Toan

Overall, AEC integration paves the way for Vietnamese businesses to access ASEANs market of more than 600 million people, to establish trade relations with potential partners overseas, and to grasp new technology. Economic integration will also create more jobs domestically, especially in sectors such as agriculture, logistics, information and technology, and tourism services.

Six months after the AEC implementation, it is clear that a wider range of opportunities have been offered to Vietnamese labourers. However, the main beneficiaries are unskilled workers and young labourers with little work experience. Since the supply of management-level personnel is still insufficient to meet local demand, the cross-border movement of senior personnel from Vietnam to other ASEAN countries remains insignificant.

There are only a small number of senior personnel who are capable of entering foreign labour markets to gain experience, mainly due to the human resource policies of some multinational companies.

Vietnamese enterprises have now become more confident in taking advantage of opportunities brought about by AEC. They are gradually focusing on investing and expanding capacity in order to create a solid foundation, form confidence and equip enterprise managers with integrative thinking.

For Vietnamese enterprises aiming to become a global company, there is a growth trend of sending personnel overseas for training, market exploration and partnership development. Besides, recruiting foreign personnel to managing positions requiring professional skills is also reported at these companies.

Such movements will help firms access modern working styles with clear vision and effective strategies. Also, it will boost the competitiveness in terms of productivity amongst the company staff.

Due to the increased awareness over the importance of human resources to business competitiveness, Vietnamese enterprises are rushing to invest more in personnel strategies, focusing on two key components, working environment and training, to develop skills and competency for employees.

Regarding the working environment, businesses are both upgrading infrastructure and creating an open and friendly atmosphere to help increasing their staffs effectiveness.

With training activities we can form planning programmes and implement specific activities at all personnel levels and departments.

Vietnamese enterprises have become more active in expanding their business ranges to other countries, leading to a higher number of representative offices and branches overseas and also a higher demand for senior personnel. Recruiting indigenous staff working for overseas-based offices can be seen as another initiative in human resources (HR) management. This is advisable due to the fact that transferring key personnel from Vietnam to offices overseas will leave holes in the companies managing structure and also requires time for staff adaptation to new working places.

Enterprises now consider HR development as an investment for their own future growth. HR development, in addition, is determined as a key driver for the firms development amid fierce integration challenges.

To welcome foreign talent, a professional working environment is expected. Besides, it remains a challenge with policies relating to wages and the welfare of local and foreign labourers.

Modern HR management needs to be scientific in its application, should utilise international methods and involve a professional department responsible for all related activities. The harmony between emotional and scientific factors will help Vietnamese enterprises retain employees.

Foreign enterprises build well-designed HR strategies with a specific agenda in line with their overall business plan. In addition, their working management systems include effective tools to measure staffs performance coupled with transparent criteria for promotion policies, however, many local enterprises have yet to pay attention to these factors.

While the business sector is already on track to accelerate its integration into the regional economic community, it seems that the domestic workforce has yet to face these challenges. However, enormous challenges will arise when multinational resources began to penetrate the Vietnam market, especially in areas with specific expertise requirements.

Local labourers will face fierce competition from their peers in developed countries, who are familiar with advanced technologies and standards. Hence, Vietnamese workers should always endeavor to improve their knowledge and skills to catch up with integration demands.

It is undeniable that AEC has certain impacts on both Vietnamese enterprises and labourers, in terms of thinking, mindset and actions. Firms need to view human resources as the key business driver, which would lead to wise investment in improving working environments and training activities.

To attract and retain talents is the task that needs the combination of both science and art, and it is the responsibility of not only human resources department but also managers of other departments, as well as the board of directors. Co-operation between levels and fields of management as such is crucial to ensure the sustainable development of any firm.

By Talentnet Corporation analysts
According to a representative of the Hau Giang Department of Information and Telecommunications, such a fine is included in Decree No.159/2013/ND-CP dated November 12, 2013, providing administrative penalties for violations arising in the realm of journalism and publication.

Although the press conference was unlicensed, representatives of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment and the Department of Industry and Trade from Hau Giang Provincial Peoples Committee participated in the event.

Previously, numerous associations, experts, and residents expressed concerns that Hong Kong company Lee & Man Papers paper production factory may cause serious environmental pollution if its waste treatment system is not scrutinised.

On June 20, the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) proposed the Vietnamese government to scrutinise the waste treatment system of the paper production factory before it comes into operation in August.

According to the VASEP, the project is designed to discharge around 28,500 tonnes of soda, arsenic, and cyanide each year into the Hau River and the sea. The large toxin volume can kill disrupt Hau Rivers ecosystem by destroying seafood resources and seriously affecting aquaculture in the Mekong Delta, which accounts for over 70 per cent of the countrys total aquaculture area, costing Vietnam 40 per cent of its seafood volume and 60 per cent of its seafood export.

Amid increasing concerns, Lee & Man held a press conference where general director Chung Wai Fu confirmed that the plant has a modern wastewater treatment system with a capacity of 20,000 cubic metres a day. Besides, they will not use sodium hydroxide (NaOH), a major pollutant, at any stage of the production process.

Fu added that once operational, the wastewater treatment facility would be supervised by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment.

Licensed in June 2007, the 200-hectare projects construction was kicked-off in August 2007. However, the project had to be put on hold because of the adverse effects of the global economic downturn. Construction was also delayed for a long period because the factory failed to meet environmental protection regulations.

The project's investment certificate has been extended five times to date. In early 2015, the construction was officially resumed.
Rent-A-Port Groups managing director Marc Stordiau last week met with Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, Vo Tuan Nhan, expressing the firms wish to carry out a project to clean up Ha Long Bay in Quang Ninh. They also discussed a project to install a system of small-scale wind-powered plants used for irrigation activities in the Mekong Delta region.

The total investment capital for the two projects was not revealed. However, according to a source from Quang Ninhs Economic Zone Authority, these are multi-million dollar projects, with some support coming from the Belgian government.

According to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MoNRE), concerning the first project, Rent-A-Port Group is completing a feasibility study and assessing the pollution of the bay. The study will be submitted to the Quang Ninh Peoples Committee at the end of August 2016.

After the committee appraises the quality of the study, the next steps will be taken and the project is expected to begin in early next year, said a source from the provinces Investment Promotion Division.

The study is focusing on floating oil and solid debris in the bay. The collection process will include offshore activities to collect oil and floating debris, and onshore activities to separate waste and transform it into electricity.

According to the Belgian team and the Tokyo-based Construction Consultation Joint Stock Company for Maritime Building, who conduct the study, the existing oil pollution in the bay could be treated for $130 million within ten years.

The team will also assess the likely rise in pollution over the next ten years and firm up the budget for the entire project.

According to the MoNRE, regarding the second project, some pilot models will be deployed in the Mekong Delta region. If well implemented, this project will be applied on a wider scale, with clean water supplied to residents at cheap prices.

Commending Rent-A-Ports projects, Nhan said We support both projects and will create the best conditions for them because the MoNRE is very interested in the protection of Ha Long Bays environment and cares deeply about providing sufficient fresh water to the Mekong Delta region.

At present, Rent-A-Port is building the South Dinh Vu Industrial Zone II, Deep C II and the Gateway Commercial and Logistics Business Centre CDC Haiphong at South Dinh Vu Industrial Zone, in Haiphong.
Improved IPR protection is good for drawing in capital to the pharma sector-Photo: Le Toan

According to EuroChams Pharma Group, which represents 23 members worldwide, strong intellectual property rights (IPR) protection and enforcement provides essential incentives for investment in the bio-pharmaceutical sector, and in all innovative industries.

We believe that IPR protection is good for investment. For Vietnam to grow economically, a legal environment that protects intellectual property is critical, Jan Rask Christensen, senior director of EuroChams Pharma Group, told VIR.

Disrespect of IPR or arbitrarily revoking patents sends the wrong signals to all industries and investors by making them doubt the commitment of a government to the rule of law, he said.

A recent analysis made by the Global IP Centre shows that a 1 per cent increase in the patent rights index leads to nearly 3 per cent increase in foreign trade investment.

If Vietnam were to adopt improved patent protection and ensure proper enforcement, it would not only enhance its healthcare system but also create a more predictable environment for investment and promote Vietnamese access to high-quality, safe and innovative medicines, Christensen said.

According to the Pharma Group, the bio-pharmaceutical industry has the highest level of investment in research and development (R&D) globally at 14.4 per cent of revenue in 2013. It averages $2.6 billion for a drug to go from R&D to patient use. Bio-pharmaceutical firms invest 12 times more in R&D per employee when compared to the average of all other manufacturing industries. However, just two of every ten marketed medicines achieve returns that match or exceed average R&D costs.

Also according to the group, the Ministry of Health (MoH) and other government institutions have made a big effort to improve the healthcare landscape, this has been proven by a number of positive changes in the new pharmacy regulations.

The new Law on Pharmacy, to take effect from January 1, 2017, has some amendments related to pharmaceutical practice, pharmaceutical sale, pharmaceutical registration and clinical medical testing, which is considered the biggest concern among foreign drug firms operating in the country.

The new law aims to solve problems in drug production and business, as well as meeting the development demand amid increasing global integration, thus helping improve patient access to medicines and give a boost to the industry development, said Truong Quoc Cuong, head of the MoHs Drug Administration of Vietnam.

The Pharma Group recommends the full and complete implementation of Vietnams existing World Trade Organization commitments, allowing foreign investors to establish foreign invested enterprises in the pharmaceutical industry.

In addition, they hope that adequate commitments, leading to the full liberalisation of distribution services, shall be made in the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement and the Trans-Pacific Partnership. This would create a level playing field with other economic agents and ensure enhanced access to high-quality, safe, and innovative medicines. Furthermore, this would help improve health in Vietnam, and gear local industry for increased exports, which can help pay for future healthcare expenditures.
Foreign tourists to central Da Nang City. Viet Nam has extended visa exemptions by an additional year for tourists from five European countries to Viet Nam. - VNA/VNS Photo Tran Le Lam

The decision, Decree 56/NQ-CP, was issued on June 30.

The visa exemption will be applied regardless of passport type or immigration purpose, so long as the travellers meet the requirements of relevant Vietnamese laws and stay in Viet Nam no more than 15 days.

The Government has applied the waiver for visitors from these five countries for one year period starting from July 1 last year.

The decision aims to lure more foreign visitors to Viet Nam and to boost domestic tourism.

The visa exemption for the five Western European countries has contributed greatly to Vietnamese tourism development over the past year.

According to the Viet Nam National Administration of Tourism, from July last year to May this year, eleven months since the visa-free policy was enforced, the total number of tourists from these five countries increased by more than 15 per cent compared to the previous period.

In the first half of this year, Viet Nam welcomed 4.7 million international tourists, a 21 per cent increase compared to the same period last year.

The number of tourists from Hong Kong, China, Thailand and South Korea, as well as the United Kingdom and Spain, has increased significantly.

Many Southeast Asian countries have simplified their visa procedures to attract tourists. In March this year, Indonesia waived visa requirements for nationals from an additional 79 countries, thereby expanding its list of visa-free nations to 169.
1. "Fish" ice cream

Don't worry, it tastes nothing like fish. The name just comes from its appearance.

The ice cream is held in a fish-shaped waffle cake, so Hanoiains call it fish ice cream.

It not only arrouses people's interest with its curious appearance, but also grabs them with the strange combination of yogurt and chocolate. It comes covered with peanuts or almonds.

To make it more special, a skewer of fruit is plugged into the ice cream.

If yogurt is not to your taste, you can choose to replace it with other flavors, such as green tea.

Cost about VND60,000 (nearly US$3)

Tip: You can find the ice cream at Aboong Cafe, Dao Duy Tu, Hanoi

2. Milo ice cream

For those who are a fan of the Milo drink - chocolate and malt powder - this cheap ice cream will definitely satisfy you for only VND8,000 (nearly $0,5).

The ice cream has a thick layer of chocolate on top and a strong taste of cacao.

Tip: You can find this one at 60 Hang Hom, 41 Hang Manh and 448 De La Thanh.

3. "Too-long" ice cream

This Japanese ice cream comes in three flavors: vanilla, green tea and chocolate.

You can choose two different flavorings in one ice cream.

This "long" ice cream only costs VND20,000 (US$1).

Tip: You can find this one at Patice, 42C Ly Thuong Kiet, Hanoi.
Photo by ASSOCIATED PRESS

Members of an Indian family offer flowers and light candles as they pay tribute to those killed outside the Holey Artisan Bakery in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Sunday. The assault on the restaurant in Dhakas diplomatic zone by militants, who took dozens of people hostage, marks an escalation in militant violence in the Muslim-majority nation.
Photo by ASSOCIATED PRESS

Then-Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton checks her mobile phone after her address to the Security Council at United Nations headquarters in March 2012.
Anti-graft group Transparency International is launching a project to encourage young people to combat corruption.

Cambodia consistently places towards the bottom of global anti-corruption rankings, coming 150th out of 168 counties in TIs 2015 Corruption Perceptions Index.

More than 60 high school and university students took part in a workshop to launch the project on June 30, which aimed to help participants identify and challenge the authorities on corruption issues.

Khon Sonita, 21, a University of Cambodia student studying international relations, said: I think this workshop offers me a great chance to meet my fellow TI youth leaders and from there we can discuss the plan and things we can do to next, because we learn what is integrity, transparency and proposal writing.

In April, Prime Minister Hun Sen warned civil servants they would be prosecuted if they gave the government a bad name after a series of high-profile arrests of officials, including the countrys ambassador to South Korea.

Venerable Yean Piseth, 27, who studies management at Preah Sihanouk Raja Buddhist University, said he had learned a lot from the workshop.

I learned more knowledge of anti-corruption. Before, I had no idea what kind of situations or shape or form corruption tiers. However, after coming to this workshop, I have learned more about how to report and how to spot corruption. I know what is integrity, transparency, this seminar taught me a lot.

Similar workshops have been held for government officials since 2013.

Pech Pisey, TIs director of programs, said the organization had trained an estimated 20,000 young people across the country since 2013.

We conduct workshops to let them exchange ideas on addressing social issues, and to plan more for the next three years.

Tim Malay, president of the Cambodian Youth Network, an NGO which educates young people on advocacy, good governance, the environment and human rights, said that if more young people stood up to corruption things would gradually change for the better.

If some youths, or any youth in Cambodia start to take a look at injustices in their community, that community will be improved. At the same time, the young people will have justice for themselves. And the social problems will be heard and paid attention to. 
Labor leaders in Cambodia have expressed concerns over pressures placed on their freedom to organize and mobilize garment workers following the implementation of a contentious law governing unions earlier this year.

The unionists say the law has also restricted the freedom of workers to form new unions since the law came into effect on May 17.

The Ministry asks the unions and employee associations, which have already been registered, as well as those which submitted proposals for registration, to fulfill the conditions and properly implement every obligation as stated in the union law, a statement from the labor ministry released last week read.

It added that the law was to ensure the protection of rights and legal interests of every citizen as well as unions and employers.

Yang Sophorn, director of the Cambodia Alliance of Trade Unions, criticized the fast pace with which the law was implemented.

I observe that the main points concerning union rights are being restricted. For instance, related to the rights to peaceful demonstration. Like an article which states that demonstrations can only take place when theres an agreement among workers of more than 51 percent. So we see that as restricting their rights.

Kong Atith, secretary of the Cambodia Labor Confederation, said the law had not only restricted unions already in existence, but it had also made it harder for non-unionized workers to form new ones.

The law worries us concerning its implementation and the bureaucratic process as well as the conditions required by the government, such as financial reports, while the workers also need to fulfill some conditions before forming new unions. And only those with capital can form unions. Thats why its difficult for them.

Labor Ministry officials could not be reached.

The International Labor Organization has expressed concerns over the lack of protections afforded to workers in the law.

Cambodia has more than 3,000 unions, however, the vast majority are inactive.
The top aide to former Chinese president Hu Jintao has been sentenced to life in prison on convictions of taking bribes, illegally obtaining state secrets and abusing powers.

The official Xinhua News Agency said a Tianjin court delivered the verdict Monday against Ling Jihua after trials held behind closed doors, apparently because the case involved state secrets. He was formally indicted in May.

Ling headed the ruling's Communist Party's general office under Hu, a position comparable to chief of staff to the U.S. president. Ling was considered a consummate political insider.

Ling fell out of political favor in 2012, just ahead of a once-in-decade power transition, when he was allegedly involved in the cover-up of his son's death in a speeding Ferrari.

He came under investigation in late 2014.
Israeli lawmaker and former foreign minister Tzipi Livni says a British war crimes investigator sought to question her during a trip to Britain over her role in Israel's 2008-2009 Gaza war.

Livni told Israeli Army Radio on Monday the police request was non-mandatory but unacceptable.

Israel's Foreign Ministry says it views the British request with great concern and would engage with British authorities until the matter is resolved.

Britain's Foreign Office and the Metropolitan Police in London declined comment.

Livni was Israel's foreign minister during its three-week offensive against Palestinian militants in Gaza, which started in late December 2008. Pro-Palestinian groups have since sought Livni's arrest during her trips to Britain.

British officials extended diplomatic immunity in the past, but Livni says she declined it for this trip on principle.
In 1989 Germans tore down the wall that divided Berlin and symbolized deeper global divides.



Today, parts of the Berlin Wall still stand as a reminder of dark days in Europe.



And after last weeks vote in the U.K. to leave the European Union, some young people wonder if Europe is taking a step back.

People both for and against Brexit have called the vote a Berlin Wall moment, given its significance. The former say the fall of the wall, like Brexit, represents freedom from tyranny. The latter says it began the era of globalization, but Brexit begins the era of tearing down the political bonds that have kept Europe safe and prosperous.

As she wanders through the park on the west side of the remnants of the Berlin Wall, now covered in artwork on both sides, Jess Korzenyowska, 22, said she is traveling across Europe on a EU-wide train pass, a trip that may not be possible if, as a U.K. citizen, she needs to get a visa for the continent in the future.





Visiting the Berlin Wall, a place that symbolizes unity, a week after the Brexit vote is poignant, she said. It does feel a bit strange to visit it now when we are thinking about splitting off again. Just very strange



Younger voters in the U.K. were less likely to vote to leave the union, but young people here are not uniformly against the move.



Jarno Kiri, a mechanical engineer Finland, said, Its mixed emotions. Nobody knows how its going to impact Europe and the world. Part of me feels like [it] gives power to the people, and stuff like that. And part of me thinks its going to do bad things to the economy.



As he wandered along a section of the wall that displays a photo gallery depicting tragedies from modern wars, he added that he doesnt like that the vote was driven by fear of immigration.



One thing is for sure, if or when the U.K. leaves the EU, it will erect new logistical and economic barriers, and no one knows how divisive they will be, adds Domenico Manfredelli, a young Italian man who used to work as a bartender in the U.K.





For me, London was a symbol of the unification where you can meet people from everywhere in the world. Its a very weird situation, he said.



Others say they believe Europes security and prosperity in recent decades is related to European unity, as political parties in other countries discuss leaving the EU.



Its hard to say exactly what drives history, adds Kiri, from Finland.However there is little doubt in his mind that history has been made.



Its definitely going to be looked on 20 years from now: Before Brexit and after Brexit, he said.
Are we are facing make-up or break-up? Labour Party lawmaker Mike Gapes considers the question as colleagues scurry around the parliamentary tearoom scheming and hatching plots to unseat party leader Jeremy Corbyn.

He then says sadly, What I worry about is that we might face wipe-out.

The son of a London postman who made good, gaining a place at Cambridge University before rising through Labour ranks to become a member of parliament (MP) in 1992, the near-sighted, rotund Gapes, an expert in foreign policy, isnt alone among the partys lawmakers in fearing that Labour is facing its biggest challenge since Ramsay MacDonald split and nearly killed the party in 1931, forming a national government with Conservatives.

Labour doesnt have a God-given right to exist, Gapes says.

In the wake of the Brexit referendum, which has turned British politics upside down, most international attention has focused on the turmoil in the ranks of Britains ruling Conservatives and their soap opera-style, treacherous leadership contest to replace Prime Minster David Cameron.

But the countrys main opposition party, Labour, is also tearing itself to shreds as friend turns on friend amid claims of bullying and even of death threats. Much of this is being played out in the genteel surroundings of parliament  a kind of political Agatha Christie mystery.

At least one Labour lawmaker has had to appeal to the police to protect her constituency office. Corbyn aides have rebuffed efforts by his deputy Tom Watson to get a one-to-one meeting with Corbyn on grounds that Watson will finger-jab and be aggressive.

Calls for Corbyn's resignation



Most of the partys "shadow Cabinet" has quit. They argue Corbyn is ill equipped to be party leader and must share the blame for the Brexit referendum result. They want Corbyn, who appears to have the backing of far-left grassroots activists, to resign.

Even stalwarts fear the death of a storied party, which emerged early-last century from the smoke-filled industrial heartlands of the North and the Midlands and from the Presbyterian chapels of Scotland and the mines of Wales.

We are imploring Corbyn to go in the interests of the party and the country. But there are people around him, some who were members of far-left Trotskyite parties, who are determined to hijack the party, Gapes says. Tom Watson tried to discuss it with him, but he refused to see him, he adds.

We are in an existential struggle for our party. We lost during the referendum a third of the nine million voters who chose us at the last election. A third voted for Brexit, Gapes says. Lawmakers accuse Corbyn of failing to provide a clear, unambiguous pro-EU message and say his office sabotaged the Remain side in the EU campaign.

He emphasized the problems with the EU and downplayed the positives, Gapes complains.

Anna Eagle, Labours soft-spoken former business spokeswoman, is likely on Monday to challenge Corbyn formally for the leadership. Others at that point might throw their hats in the ring. Corbyn could stand, opening the prospect of a prolonged leadership election that will see the fracture between Labour MPs and the younger generations of party members widen, prompting a formal split.

The lawmakers say they cant shy away from the confrontation, fearing an early general election, which many observers here think likely would see Labour wiped out in the heartlands of northern England by the nativist UK Independence Party (UKIP).

I wouldnt rule out an early election. This is an unprecedented crisis, says Kevin Maguire, associate editor of the pro-Labour Daily Mirror tabloid.

Only 10 of Labours 229 MPs supported the Leave campaign, but studies suggest that majorities in 70 percent of districts won by the party in the 2015 general election voted for a break with the European Union.

According to political commentator John Harris, the Brexit referendum has brought to a head a historical challenge for Labour as well as center-left parties across Europe.

Labour is a 20th century party adrift in a new reality, he argues. Its social foundations  the unions, heavy industry, the nonconformist church, a deference to the big state that has long evaporated  are either in deep retreat or have vanished completely. Its name embodies an attachment to the supposed glories of work that no longer chimes with insecure employment and insurgent automation, he adds.

The split between party members of older generations and the young Corbyn loyalists in parliament and in the constituencies is clear. Corbyn loyalists focus on issues away from the workplace and the traditional Labour politics of hearth and home. They concentrate on gay rights, climate change and gender equality, and their bid to bring about a progressive Rainbow coalition of diverse and very London-based far left and social justice groups.

For working-class folk beyond London living in the hollowed-out industrial, steel and mining towns of Britain devastated by globalization the nativist message of the anti-immigrant UKIP resonates.

Farage resigns



There was some relief Monday for Labour on the UKIP front when Nigel Farage, the man largely responsible for Brexit, announced he's resigning as the nativist partys leader.



At a press conference in London he said: I want my life back. He added: I feel I have done my bit. I couldn't possibly achieve more than we did in that referendum. I stand aside. I wont be changing my mind again, I promise you.





This is the second time Farage has resigned as UKIP leader  he did so after the 2015 general election when failing to win a parliamentary seat but came back days later.

Some analysts here believe that Farages resignation this time may be a political maneuver which would allow him to join the Conservative Party and secure a government position in the event Brexiter Angela Leadsom wins the Tory leadership and replaces David Cameron as Prime Minister. Leadsom is currently trailing Theresa May in a drawn-out Conservative leadership process.
A former top presidential aide in China has been sentenced to life in prison for accepting bribes, illegally obtaining state secrets, and abusing his authority, according to the official Xinhua News Agency.

Ling Jihua said he would not appeal the decision that was delivered by the court in the northern port city of Tianjin.

Ling once led the ruling Communist Party's General office under former President Hu Jintao, a position comparable to the U.S. president's chief of staff.

Ling's political downfall began in 2012, when he was allegedly involved in the cover up of his son's death in a speeding Ferrari. The incident scandalized China partly because two scantily clad women were passengers in the car. One was injured and the other reportedly died months later.

The sentence is a setback for the Communist Party's Youth League bloc, which was a contending force behind former President Hu's successor, Xi Jinping. The bloc's leadership power has weakened since Xi took over, according to Willy Lam, an expert on Chinese politics at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.
European leaders gave assurances to Balkan nations that Britain's vote to leave the European Union will not stop plans to enlarge the bloc.

French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel told a Balkan summit Monday in Paris that they are determined to continue talks with Balkan nations aspiring to join the European Union.

Six Balkan states  Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia, Bosnia, Kosovo and Albania  are in various stages of joining the bloc.

"I'd like to reassure those countries that the process will remain underway," Hollande told a news conference. "The British decision in no way impacts on the engagements taken in respect to the Balkan nations.

Merkel echoed those comments, saying "nothing has changed with Britain's decision."

While the majority of voters in Britain were concerned about the EU's influence over their national sovereignty, many people in the Balkans see joining the European Union as a way to boost their countries' economies and bring stability to a region that experienced wars in the 1990s.

The two Balkan countries that are already EU members, Croatia and Slovenia, were represented at Monday's summit, as well.

Other issues

The summit also addressed the issues of combating extremism and curbing the migration crisis.

Several non-governmental groups expressed concern that Europe's migrant crisis is getting short shrift, including the worry that closing the Balkan route for migrants has only driven them to more treacherous routes through Libya or Egypt.

"Now that the Balkan route is closed, we are back to this much more dangerous, much more deadly, road and there is still no international European reaction to this crisis, which needs a long-term solution, said Florent Schaeffer, who is in charge of Balkans issues at French NGO CCFD-Terre Solidaire.
Trucks carrying about 10,000 tons of aid from Turkey have begun arriving in Gaza via Israel, a week after Turkey and Israel mended ties.



The first of about 500 trucks carrying toys, diapers, clothes, medicine and food entered Gaza on Monday after a security check in Israel, with more planned in the coming days.



Relations between Israel and Turkey broke down in May 2010 after Israeli marines stormed a Turkish ship challenging Israel's naval blockade of the Gaza Strip and killed 10 pro-Palestinian Turkish activists during fighting on board.



Kerem Kinik, president of the Turkish Red Crescent Society, traveled to Gaza to supervise the distribution of the goods. He said Turkey would provide "continuous, regular humanitarian assistance" for the territory.



The delivery comes in time for Wednesday's Eid al-Fitr holiday marking the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.



Israel imposed a blockade on the Gaza Strip in 2006 after the Palestinian group Hamas, which runs the territory, abducted an Israeli soldier. The measures were tightened in 2007 after Hamas ousted its rival Fatah and forcibly took control in Gaza after winning elections the year before.



Israel says the blockade is necessary to prevent Hamas from receiving materials that could be used for military purposes, but the United Nations has long been critical of it.



Last week, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called it "collective punishment for which there must be accountability."
On a day when America commemorates its independence with July 4 fireworks displays, the U.S. space agency anticipates a celestial event that could prove hugely illuminating about the planet Jupiter and the beginnings of our solar system.

NASAs solar-powered Juno spacecraft, hurtling through space for five years and nearly 2 billion miles, has been programed for what the agency hopes is

"a suspenseful orbit insertion maneuver" beginning at 11:18 p.m. Monday EDT (3:18 a.m. Tuesday GMT). If all goes according to plan, a 35-minute "engine burn" will slow the spacecraft just enough for it to be pulled into Jupiters orbit.

From there, Juno is expected to circle the planet 37 times over 20 months, sometimes as close as 4,800 kilometers (3,000 miles) from the planets surface,

Orbiting over Jupiters poles could yield revelations "about the planets core, composition and magnetic fields," NASA said on its website.

Complicated task

"It is not easy for NASA to get the answers that humanity seeks," Scott Bolton, the missions lead scientist, said at a news conference Monday at NASAs Jet Propulsion Lab at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. " Junos searching for hints about our beginnings  how did the solar system get started?"

Jupiter is composed of helium and hydrogen gases, unlike the rocky planet Earth. Delving into its composition may offer lessons about its development and that of the solar system.

But first, the spacecraft must navigate a magnetic field, extreme radiation belts and a ring of debris around the planet, Bolton and several other mission scientists said at the briefing.

"If any dust is in our way, it will knock a hole right through the coating," Bolton said.

Its "the scariest part of the scariest place," said Heidi Becker, a space physicist at the lab. With both spacecraft and debris moving at high velocity, one errant particle will "fry your brain if you dont do anything about it."

'Built like a tank'

The brain of the propeller-shaped spacecraft, which was crafted by the Lockheed Martin aeronautics firm, is its computer. It's encased in titanium walls nearly a half-inch thick, Becker said.

"We are built like an armored tank," Bolton said earlier.

A space physicist with the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, Texas, Bolton said his favorite holiday is July 4, Independence Day, and this one is most special because of the momentous event.

NASA is tracking Junos Jupiter rendezvous with a countdown and live video streaming at www.nasa.gov and ustream.tv/NASAJPL2.

The mission carries an estimated $1.1 billion price tag. Its expected to end with the spacecraft making a kamikaze dive into Jupiters atmosphere, where it will burn up instead of adding debris to space.
After Britain voted to leave the European Union, Brussels fears other members could leave the bloc. In the Netherlands, just as in Britain, there are big concerns over immigration and sovereignty  and growing demands for Dutch voters to have their own referendum on EU membership.



In the town of Maastricht deep in the south of the Netherlands, the barge and the bicycle are the best ways to get around. Aside from a small plaque next to the River Maas, there are few signs of the historic role the town played in the history of the European Union.



In 1992 leaders of 12 European states gathered in Maastricht to sign the treaty that bears the towns name - creating the modern European Union and setting it on the path of ever-closer political and monetary union.



But Maastricht now finds itself in the heart of the Netherlands most Eurosceptic region. Recent polls show half of Dutch voters want a referendum on EU membership  with support strongest in the conservative south.



Laurence Stassen lives in the nearby village of Echt. She is a former member of the European Parliament and recently joined the newly formed For The Netherlands party, which is campaigning for a Dutch exit from the EU.



As a nation state, we should have our own borders, our own courts, and to make our own laws  and not the people in Brussels or the European Union.



Stassen used to be a member of the far-right Freedom Party, led by Geert Wilders, which currently tops opinion polls. Wilders has campaigned against what he calls the Islamization of Europe and has demanded that the Dutch, like the British, have a vote on EU membership.



WATCH: After Brexit is 'Nexit' Next?

Separate issues

Stassen says the links are unhelpful.



I think its a separate issue, because Brexit is all about getting the sovereignty back. But, however, there are a lot of concerns about immigration.



Follow the barges from Maastricht down river and you reach Rotterdam, Europes biggest port. It handles 465 million tons of cargo every year, connecting the powerhouse economies of northern Europe with the rest of the world.



Much of the prosperity both in the Netherlands and in Europe as a whole that weve gained over the last decades depends on the free trade and movement of goods and of people, says Port of Rotterdam spokesman Sjaak Poppe.



In this global hub  where oil tankers and container ships arrive from every corner of the globe - an EU exit is seen as an economic disaster.



With Europe, we are 500 million people, the largest trading zone, the largest market by itself. And the Netherlands as a country is only 16 million people, says Poppe.



Among EU supporters there has been dismay over Britains vote to leave, according to Professor of European Law Fabian Amtenbrink, of Erasmus University in Rotterdam.



The United Kingdom is a major, major trading partner for the Netherlands. There are big historic ties.



Too much regulation



Amtenbrink acknowledges there are common concerns about the EU across Europe.



The basic sentiment being, Brussels is regulating too much. And the other side of the story being that Brussels, that the European Union, that European decision-making processes are far too removed from the citizens.



Dutch law makes a referendum on EU membership unlikely for now. But with elections due by March next year, contagion from so-called Brexit could be felt first in the Netherlands  one of the unions founding members.
In Nigeria, activists and entrepreneurs are promoting natural ways for black women to care for their hair amid concerns that some commonly used products like dyes and relaxers may actually be dangerous and lead to health problems.

This may look like a typical hair salon in Abuja. But its not.



We specialize in maintaining and taking care of the natural hair. What the everyday people call the virgin hair, the hair that hasnt been relaxed, like the hair you were born with, said Joye Ulekoikoni, manager of the Lumo Hair Salon.



At the Lumo Hair Salon, hairdressers use natural-based ingredients and avoid using heat on the hair of their clients. Heat can dry or damage hair.



One of the reasons why this salon came up is because people had a lot of issues taking care of their natural hair, said Ulekoikoni.



Hair is big business in Nigeria. Beauty stores display a wide range of hair products mainly imported from the United States. But some of the ingredients in these kinds of products are coming under scrutiny.



Health concerns



In a new report, Black Women for Wellness, an NGO based in Los Angeles, compiled five years of research and says that chemicals used in some hair products are linked to uterine fibroids in black women and girls. Products including relaxers, shampoos and hair dyes are mentioned in the study as containing toxic ingredients.



The World Health Organization has warned that hairdressers may be routinely exposed to cancer-causing chemicals. But the American Cancer Association says studies have not found a strong link between cancer and hair products and recommends more research.



In 2011, a health agency of the U.S. Department of Labor found that some hair smoothing products may release unsafe levels of formaldehyde, which is toxic.



Dr. Oluwakemi Osunderu, an ethnopharmacologist, has been doing her own research, conducting a poll asking Nigerian women about the experiences with synthetic hair products. She says common complaints are hair loss and burns on the scalp.



She says black women are more at risk because they tend to use hair products frequently over a longer period of time and therefore have higher exposure levels to the chemicals.



You find some harmful products in them like the thalates and the parabens. These have been linked to cancer, especially breast cancer, she said.



Going natural



Enter the natural hair movement. Natural hair activists gathered together at the first African Hair Summit in Abuja.



Its health first, then beauty or fashion, said Lotanna Egwuatu, a natural hair activist.



Locally manufactured products made with natural ingredients like pure shea butter and coconut oil were on display. And while interest may be growing, these products are still far from mainstream in Nigeria.




In Nigeria, attacks against oil pipelines and facilities appear to have resumed after a lull at the end of last month. A militant group, the Niger Delta Avengers, is calling for greater development in the oil-producing south and has vowed to reduce Nigerias oil production to zero unless its demands are met. After nearly a seven-year hiatus, militancy in the Niger Delta is back in full force.

A gang known as the Niger Delta Avengers says it attacked five oil installations in the past three days. The group announced Sunday on Twitter that its members hit three oil pipelines owned by the Nigerian state oil company and two facilities owned by Chevron.

Chevron and the Nigerian oil company confirmed the attacks.

Later, the Avengers' Twitter account went offline. It was not clear if that meant the account had been blocked or if the group removed it.

Huge drop in production



Attacks by the Avengers this year have brought Nigeria's oil production to a near 20-year low, costing as much as 600,000 barrels of oil per day.

The Nigerian government relies on crude for 70 percent of its revenue, and the country is sinking into a recession.



President Muhammadu Buhari has said he will not be intimidated, but also said he wants dialogue.

The government said it negotiated a truce last month. But these fresh attacks cast further doubt on reports of talks.

There is no practical demonstration. There is no putting action his statement," said Eric Omare, the spokesman of the highly influential Ijaw Youth Council in the Delta. "We had expected him before now to start the process of discussion by calling community leaders for a meeting personally as the president of the federal republic of Nigeria, as his predecessors did. But he hasnt done that.

The Ijaw Youth Council in the Delta helped to mediate talks between the government and the MEND militant group back in 2009.

That amnesty deal gave ex-militants money, job training and even work guarding pipelines in exchange for peace. But Buhari cut much of the funding for the program off this year. And the Avengers emerged.

Grievances in the region remain much the same. The area remains impoverished and polluted. The Avengers say that unless that begins to change, the attacks on oil companies will continue.
South Korea is planning to build 80 artificial reefs near the de facto maritime border with North Korea in an effort to thwart what Seoul says is illegal fishing by Chinese boats.

Yonhap news agency says the man-made reefs will be built in the Yellow Sea near the disputed Northern Limit Line at a cost of $7 million.

The new reefs are being built amid a growing sense of urgency to combat Chinese fishing ships Seoul says are illegally wandering into Korean fishing areas. Yonhap says the vessels are apparently taking advantage of a reluctance by South Korea's Coast Guard to actively crack down on Chinese ships near the NLL, which may trigger an accidental clash with North Korea. Pyongyang does not officially recognize the maritime border.

Last month, local fisherman towed away two Chinese fishing boats catching crabs just south of the NLL and turned them over to South Korean authorities.
NATO is seeking another formal meeting with Russia after the Western military alliance holds a summit in Warsaw later this week.



NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Monday he would like to hold a meeting of the NATO-Russia Council "shortly after" the alliance's summit Friday and Saturday that will be attended by heads of state and government of the NATO's 28 member-states.



He added that "transparency and risk reduction should be an important topic" at the NATO-Russia Council meeting. NATO continues to be "a responsible, transparent and predictable actor" and remains "open to dialogue with Russia," Stoltenberg said.



The last NATO-Russia Council meeting, which was held in April, ended in what Stoltenberg then called "profound and persistent disagreements." It was the council's first meeting since June 2014, shortly after Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine and began backing armed separatists in eastern Ukraine.



The NATO chief also said he, European Council President Donald Tusk, and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, will sign a "joint declaration on our partnership" during the NATO Warsaw summit, the Associated Press reported.



The joint declaration will set out "new ways we can work closer together on key areas such as countering hybrid threats and maritime security because together we are stronger," Stoltenberg said.



Shortly after Britain voted to leave the European Union last month, Stoltenberg said the decision had made NATO an even more significant player in international political and military affairs.



"I think that NATO has become even more important [not only] as a captain for cooperation between Europe and North America, but also defense and security cooperation between European NATO allies," he said.
At least two officers suspected in the deadly misfiring of a supersonic anti-ship missile Friday in Taiwan face court hearings as the islands neighbor and militarily powerful rival China demands an explanation.

Two petty officers face charges of causing death due to negligence on the job and may be indicted, as well, under military law for damaging weapons intended for combat. Another four to five military personnel, including superiors, may also be disciplined.

One of the officers is suspected of accidentally firing a homegrown Hsiung Feng III supersonic anti-ship missile Friday from a Navy corvette in a harbor near the southern Taiwan city Kaohsiung. The missile struck a fishing boat and killed its captain.

The officer was alone, acting against procedure, and the other should have been with him, navy officials believe. No superior officers were around and the missile was in the wrong launch mode, the officials say.

The missile flew north about 40 kilometers into the Taiwan Strait, which divides Taiwan from China. After 25 minutes, it hit the fishing boat. China is 160 kilometers from Taiwan at the nearest point.

Emergency meeting

Taiwans President Tsai Ing-wen called for emergency meetings on the matter on Saturday after an official from military rival China demanded an explanation. The head of Taiwan policy in Beijing said late Friday the incident would "severely impact" relations that have been increasingly strained over the past year.

Tsai disputes Beijings "one-China" precondition for dialogue, so the two sides have not talked since she took office May 20. The precondition requires that both sides see each other as part of a single country. Tsais predecessor had agreed to the condition, taking two-way ties to their strongest ever during the previous eight years.

China has seen self-ruled Taiwan as part of its territory since the civil war of the 1940s, rather than as a country. Beijing insists the two sides eventually unify, by force if needed, despite opinion polls in Taiwan showing people on the island prefer todays degree of autonomy.

Leading concern

China is the top concern for Taiwans 300,000 active duty personnel and a reason for developing the homegrown missile program.

Beijing will probably take no obvious action because of the missile mishap, Taiwan legislator and political scientist Hsu Yung-ming said. The missile passed through an area close to Taiwan on the east side of the strait, easily missing China, he noted. Beijing also knows Taiwan has the anti-ship missiles, but the Chinese military, the worlds third most powerful, may reconsider its own preparedness, he said.

"They will at least be woken up to Taiwans military power and this [incident] will also make them in terms of future exercises in the Taiwan Strait become more fearful or more limited in their scope," Hsu said. "Whether their air routes frequently cross into the Strait, thats something they will need to consider."

Taiwan's government agency in charge of China policy said it had notified Beijing of the incident Friday.
The United Arab Emirates is advising its citizens to avoid wearing traditional clothing when traveling abroad.

The warning comes after the local media widely carried reports of an Emirati businessman, wearing traditional white robes, who was mistaken for a member of Islamic State while visiting the central U.S. state of Ohio. He was handcuffed and detained by police and later had to be hospitalized.

The government also "urged women to abide by bans on face veils in parts of Europe." The advisory specifically mentioned France, Belgium, Denmark and the Netherlands, as well as some European cities  such as Barcelona, Spain, which banned any form of face covering in 2010.

A tweet from a government account used to provide advice to Emiratis traveling abroad said UAE citizens should avoid wearing Emirati national dress while traveling abroad, particularly in public places, "in order to preserve their safety."
At least 150 heads of state and government are expected to attend a U.N. Summit on Refugees and Migrants in September in New York. The focus is to get new global commitments to address large movements of refugees and migrants responsibly and humanely.

More people than ever are on the move. The U.N. refugee agency reports 65 million people were forcibly displaced last year. That includes 20 million refugees, with the rest internally displaced.

In addition, tens of millions of people fleeing poverty, climate change or natural disasters are migrating to other countries in search of a better life.

The United Nations says individual countries cannot solve problems of mass migration on their own. It says international cooperation is needed to manage refugee and migration flows in a responsible and orderly manner.

Special Adviser for the September U.N. Summit, Karen Koning AbuZayd, agrees the statistics on migration are daunting. But she says it is wrong for countries to view rising migration only as a crisis.



It certainly is a crisis for the families of refugees and migrants sometimes involved, and for the countries that are affected by this displacement... [but] it does not have to be a crisis if we bring everyone together, to work together, all the states and U.N. entities and so on.

Because refugees and migrants cross international borders, sometimes multiple borders, AbuZayd says states have to work together. She says the actions of one state have repercussions for others.

"One recent example, of course, is what Kenya has suggested sending its refugees back, the ones they have had for three decades and 200,000 of them in rather squalid conditions. And, as soon as they said that, then we began to hear the same sorts of messages from Sudan, from Ethiopia and elsewhere.

The Summit will explore measures for addressing the root causes of displacement and for prosecuting criminal smugglers and traffickers. The United Nations recommends states improve the reception of people on the move and treat those who cross borders in a humane way.

To counter the negative tone surrounding refugees and migrants, AbuZayd says the United Nations will lead a global campaign to conquer xenophobia.
The young men had been missing for months. Their families sensed something was wrong. Some had come from privileged backgrounds, had grown up loved and were educated in top schools. They had bright futures.

It wasn't until the horror of the weekend hostage crisis in Bangladesh's capital unfolded that they learned their sons had become radicalized as religious extremists and launched one of the country's deadliest attacks in recent years.

The young men, armed with knives, bombs and automatic firearms, engaged in a gun battle with police, killing two and wounding more, then seized a popular restaurant in a Dhaka neighborhood on Friday night and held some 35 people hostage. Over the next few hours, they would kill 20 of their captives - including nine Italians, seven Japanese, an Indian teenager and three students at American universities. A witness said some victims were tortured when they could not recite verses from the Quran.

"This is very painful. He killed innocent people," said the aunt of one of the attackers, Rohan Imtiaz, whose father is a leader in Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's governing Awami League party.

"We sensed that Rohan was changing and his behavior increasingly became different," she told the Associated Press in disbelief.

When Imtiaz went missing on Dec. 31, as his mother and father were in India for medical treatment, the family asked the police to help find him.

"My brother went to everybody: police, ministers and higher authorities after he went missing," said Rohan's aunt, who refused to be identified by name. "He became just crazy after his son went missing. But nobody could help us."

As details emerged of the men who laid siege to the Holey Artisan Bakery, it became clear that the attackers did not fit the typical profile for religious radicals coming from economically deprived backgrounds and latching onto extremist groups that promised a new future.

Some analysts said that's what made them attractive as recruits; their backgrounds meant they would not raise suspicions.

"They do not fit the usual stereotype of the madrassa-educated youth," said Pinak Ranjan Chakravarty, a former Indian diplomat and policy expert on Bangladesh for the Observer Research Foundation, a New Delhi think tank. "My suspicion is that these young men were roped in by spotters or recruiters."

He said their defiance of the usual militant profile gave credibility to claims the attackers were part of a campaign waged by extremist groups abroad.

"This is a conscious decision on their part that they will get this kind of people," Chakravarty said. "The shock value for the radical groups of recruiting educated, affluent people is huge. The government will never suspect them. The intelligence agencies will never suspect them. Because these boys were never under any kind of surveillance."

Police released photographs of the bodies of five attackers killed by paramilitary forces who ended the hostage siege. They also released names - Akash, Badhon, Bikash, Don and Ripon - which did not match those given by family members. Police said only that militants often go by many names to obscure their identities. Another suspected attacker was captured and was being interrogated.

The men, all younger than 30, belonged to the banned domestic group Jumatul Mujahedeen Bangladesh, or JMB, according to police. Asked whether they might also have had Islamic State ties, police said authorities were investigating that possibility.

"It is difficult to imagine how they were radicalized. At least four come from very wealthy backgrounds," said Benazir Ahmed, head of the country's paramilitary Rapid Action Battalion, according to Indian broadcaster NDTV.

Describing them as "flamboyant young men," he said some had also been frequent visitors to the same restaurant they attacked.

The Islamic State, in claiming responsibility for the attack, had also published photos of the five smiling young men, each holding what appear to be assault rifles and posing in front of a black IS flag. The men in those photographs released by the Amaq news agency, affiliated with IS, also appear to match the police images of the dead assailants in the restaurant after the hostage crisis ended.

Another attacker identified as Khairul Islam went missing six months ago, according to Bogra district police chief Mohammed Asaduzzman.

"The family is poor, and did not report his disappearance to police," Asaduzzman said.

But while Islam's background seemed to fit the stereotype, his upbringing suggested otherwise. Islam was educated, having studied in a madrassa before enrolling in a public university in Dhaka.

The family identified Islam as one of the attackers after seeing a photograph of his body on Facebook, he said. Authorities have detained his parents, sister and brother-in-law for questioning.

At least some of the attackers had also known each other for years.

Imtiaz had studied at the same English-language school as Meer Sameeh Mobashwer, whose family said he went missing on Feb. 29.

Mobashwer's father, a businessman, and mother, an economics teacher, had planned to send their son to join his brother studying in Canada.

"I understood that my son had changed, something was wrong with him," his father, Meer Hayat Kabir, told the AP. "I was worried and tried to make him understand. But suddenly he went missing. I felt like the whole world crumbled around me."

Police, contacted by Mobashwer's family for help, were unable to track him down.

"They told me maybe your son has gone somewhere with friends. He will come back. But he never came," Kabir said. He only found his son once police invited him to identify the body of one of the weekend attackers.

"We had lot of dreams," his father said. "I cannot believe my son was inside that restaurant, he was part of that. But that's the reality now."

"My everything is over."
Riots rock Harare following a protest by commuter omnibus drivers over what they call unsanctioned police roadblocks designed to solicit bribes from operators. Members of the public have joined the riots.

The riots are spreading to other parts of Zimbabwe with students in some schools boycotting classes. The MDC-T says it supports the riots.

Former Zanu PF activist, Acie Lumumba, who dropped an f-word on President Robert Mugabe has handed himself to the police, almost four days after he uttered what most people regard as an unpleasant remark.

Some civil servants have gone on strike while others are set to join the industrial action tomorrow following governments failure to pay workers June salaries.

And Zimbabweans in USA mark Americas independence with some of them expected to speak about what is going on back home.

Stay tuned for these stories and more coming up on Studio 7 at 7:30 pm on 9-0-9 Medium Wave and on the 4-9-3-0, 5-9-4-0 and 1-5-4-6-0 shortwave frequencies. We also broadcast on www.channelzim.net. Please check us out on Facebook, WhatsApp and Twitter.

This evening on Livetalk our hosts will be talking with listeners about public riots in Harare and the views of Zimbabweans living in USA about what is going on back home.

Participate by sending your messages on our WhatsApp number 001 202 465 0318. You can also post comments on this Facebook wall or send us your number so we can call you back. Please note that we are livestreaming on all Studio 7 Facebook pages. Stay tuned!!!!!!
Zimbabwes main opposition has expressed support for protests that rocked the capital, Harare, on Monday and called on President Robert Mugabe to resign for failing to fix the countrys worsening socio-economic situation.

The action started in Beitbridge last week when hundreds of people picketed the border over a government ban on a range of imports, including food and other auxiliary household materials.

Zimbabweans are putting this regime on notice and something huge will give if national grievances are not addressed, said the Movement for Democratic Change led by Morgan Tsvangirai as public transporters fought running battles with police in Harare.

We strongly believe that it is the right of every Zimbabwean to demonstrate and petition and its enshrined in section 59 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe.

The party also called on the Southern African Development Community, which brokered a unity government pact that plucked Zimbabwe from the precipice in 2009, to intervene saying the regional bloc cannot fold its hands while the situation is worsening in a member state.

The unity government ended after the 2013 elections, with Mr. Mugabe's Zanu PF assuming sole leadership of the government.

This marked the beginning of an incremental reversal of economic and social gains that had been realized by the Zanu PF and MDC unity government.

Elsewhere, various movements were ramping up their push for Zimbabweans to stay away from work on Wednesday to protest the worsening situation in the country.

One of the campaigners, Pastor Evan Mawarire, who founded the #ThisFlag movement, spent the day stumping on social media.

"We continue to stand, and we continue to say enough is enough, Mawarire told hundreds of viewers in a Periscope and Facebook livestream.

Right now we are calling on everyone to national duty to save Zimbabwe. If you work for an employer who is forcing you to come to work, tell them that on Wednesday I will not be able to come to work."
Public protests rocked Harare on Monday after commuter omnibus drivers and touts went on the rampage claiming that they are losing a lot of money at police roadblocks, which have also become money spinners for some police allegedly demanding bribes.

The riots in Epworth, Ruwa, Zimre Park and Damafalls quickly spread to other parts of the city, resulting in running battles between the police and members of the public.

Commuter omnibus drivers said they are losing at least $50 a day after being ticketed by the police, who also allegedly demand bribes.

Hundreds of people and school children were left stranded and anti-police responded by moving into the affected areas with water cannons and fired teargas to disperse the marauding demonstrators.

Several people including two police officers were injured. Several vehicles were stoned during the riots.

Businessman and community leaders in Epworth, Nelson Masiiwa, who tried to negotiate with the residents and police said the situation went out of control because the youths are just frustrated.

In central Harare, vendors led by their chairperson, Stan Zvorwadza, demonstrated against President Robert Mugabes rule and abuse of public funds by his government.

Police spokesperson, Senior Assistant Commissioner, Charity Charamba warned those inciting and engaging in violence that they will be dealt with severely.

She told a media briefing that police had been deployed in most parts of the city to deal with any public disorder.

Charamba though they have reduced the number of road blocks on the countrys roads, security roadblocks will remain as his her own words the situation is tense.

But despite Charambas warnings indications are that kombi operators from suburbs like Budiriro, Mufakose and Kuwadzana have joined the protests.

There were also protests in Marondera and Bindura while operators and residents in other towns and cities are expected to join the protests Wednesday.

Political commentator, Wellington Zindove said Mondays riots are clearly an expression of people frustrations.

Government workers who have not received their June salaries are set to go on strike Tuesday.Independent political analyst Charles Mutasa says the current unrest in Zimbabwe has been caused by government inaction on addressing pressing social, economic and political problems in the country.

But political analyst and Zanu PFs United Kingdom branch chairman, Nick Mangwana, says the government has been doing all it can to address issues affecting the country.
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An angler was killed and another seriously injured at a border town in Yeoncheon, Gyeonggi Province when a mine exploded that had apparently drifted from North Korea in recent floods there.

Yeoncheon police on Sunday said the mine blew up at around 11 p.m. on Saturday, instantly killing a 48-year-old man identified as Han and seriously injuring another identified as Kim (26) as shrapnel hit him in the right side.

Last Friday another angler reported a North Korean boxed landmine on Daebinchang Beach on Jumun Island close to the Northern Limit Line, the de facto maritime border with the North, in Incheon.

The landmine, encased in a wooden box 20 cm wide, 9 cm long and 4 cm high, explodes due to shock. Holidaymakers and residents are advised to be careful when they visit rivers or beaches and look out for landmines floating on the water.

This is not the first time such mines have drifted from the North but until now no casualties occurred. The Joint Chiefs of Staff urged the people not to touch any suspicious-looking wooden boxes but report them to a nearby military unit or police immediately.
Photo: Kevin Winter/2005 Getty Images

Prince may be remembered as trailblazer for his music, performances, and fashion, but he was also an early adapter to digital marketing. Now, with the Prince Online Museum, you can explore a dozen of the nearly 20 Prince-created websites  including several full working versions. Sam Jennings, the museums director and the former webmaster of Princes digital NPG Music Club, told Billboard, The Museum was built by the people who worked directly with Prince on these projects.  He then added, It is a labor of love, no money has been exchanged. The archive dates back to 1994s unofficial website Prince Interactive, and includes such aptly named sites as 1-800-new-funk.com and love4oneanother.com. Though the museum launched July 4 to honor the ten-year anniversary of NPG Music Club closing, it also serves as a reminder that Independence Day is the perfect opportunity to blast Princes America on repeat.
Just before Independence Day  and Americas favorite gluttonous extravaganza, Nathans Hot Dog Eating Contest  Seth Rogens R-rated animated feature Sausage Party release a PSA about BBQ. Over dramatic music and images of cute anthropomorphic tubes of meat cowering in terror, Rogen, as his sausage character Frank, narrates the ways in which food might be murdered: Fried, boiled, eyes gouged and head torn in half. As only you can prevent forest fires, its also up to you to destroy your barbecue, preferably by cartoon missile, because grills kills.



The movie, which Rogen co-created with his long-time collaborator Evan Goldberg (This is the End, Pineapple Express), features the comedic talents of Kristen Wiig, Michael Cera, James Franco, Craig Robinson, Paul Rudd and others. Sausage Party fires up theaters August 12.
According to diplomatic sources, the North recently imported sauna equipment from Finland and Germany. "Kim Jong-un likes to drink and party all night like his father and ordered the equipment to help him beat hangovers and fatigue," a source said. "Imports of wine and other spirits have increased since Kim Jong-il was in power."

The younger Kim's propensity for luxury goods seems to exceed even his late father Kim Jong-il's penchant for the good life, which involved expensive whiskey and foreign cars bought as gifts for loyal officials.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is spending top dollar on luxury products from overseas. He is apparently building a private ski resort and importing equipment to build his own sauna.

North Korea also imported equipment to produce artificial snow and ski lifts. Kim Jong-un is building a private ski resort near Wonsan, Kangwon Province, the source added. He also imported ski equipment.

The young leader is also said to be negotiating the purchase of two luxury yachts made in the U.K. through a North Korean trading company operating in China. "The North requested a discount on the yachts, which cost around US$10 million each," the source said.

The younger Kim is also fond of doling out gifts. The newly created Moranbong troupe, who surprised the world with their revealing outfits and donning of Disney-character costumes last month, were given Yamaha electronic cellos and violins. The North also imported scores of Chinese Shih Tzu dogs. "Kim Jong-il used to spend hundreds of millions of won a year on his pet dog and Kim Jong-un is doing the same," the source said.

Kim Jong-un was spotted sporting a luxury Swiss watch believed to be a Patek Philippe at a ceremony in October of 2010 celebrating the 65th anniversary of the Workers Party. "The watch looks custom-made and costs around W100 million (US$1=W1,131)," the source said.

North Korea also bought luxury baby products worth 150,000 euros, apparently for Kim Jong-un's child. Among the imports was a breast pump from Swiss company Medela, considered the best in the world and priced at W3 million in South Korea.

They also included baby toothbrushes, toys, a cradle and a baby bathtub as well as a maternity cushion, according to sources.

"Ordinary North Koreans are suffering from droughts and floods, but Kim Jong-un is continuing to live the good life without even thinking about visiting the affected regions," said Koh Young-hwan, a researcher at the Institute for National Security Strategy.
For anyone who would rather curl up with a book than watch fireworks on Independence Day, Baylor University history professor Thomas Kidd is here to help.

Kidd, also the associate director of Baylors Institute for Studies of Religion, recommended five books that embody the spirit of the holiday in a recent blog post on The Gospel Coalition.

There are the usual suspects, like David McCulloughs John Adams or Ron Chernows Alexander Hamilton . . . but I thought I (would) offer up a few you may or may not know, Kidd wrote. They are excellent reads and will introduce you to some lesser-known, fascinating characters of the revolutionary period.

Kidd said Americans should remember what inspired United States independence and not just turn the Fourth of July into an occasion, as fun as that may be.

There are aspects of the countrys founding many overlook.

The most obvious is the clash between the ideal of American liberty and the reality that many Americans at the time of the founding, especially slaves, were not free, Kidd wrote in an email to the Tribune-Herald. But the principles of the founding made that clash more conspicuous than ever before, setting the stage for the anti-slavery movement, the Civil War and emancipation.

Kidds recommendations, including a few winners of the Pulitzer Prize, concern historical people and events that may not be taught in grade school, going beyond George Washington or the Boston Tea Party.

Americans tend to focus very closely on the biographies of the five or six leading Founding Fathers, which is great, but incomplete, Kidd wrote. Thousands of regular men and women also made the American Revolution what it was, and we should remember those patriots and their ideas as well.

Thomas Kidds book recommendations

Paul Reveres Ride by David Hackett Fischer: Fischers evocative story places Revere in his proper colonial context. After reading this, youll understand why it was impossible that Revere would have ever said, The British are coming! 

The Minutemen and Their World by Robert Gross: Gross introduces us to the lost world of Concord, Massachusetts, and how it came to produce the celebrated minutemen. Gross also gives excellent coverage of the effects of the Great Awakening in Concord, 30 years before the revolution.

The Transformation of Virginia, 1740-1790 by Rhys Isaac: This Pulitzer Prize-winning book, originally published in 1982, gives a riveting account of the Great Awakening in Virginia, the Baptist revolt and the way that religion and revolution transformed Virginias hierarchical society.

A Midwifes Tale: The Life of Martha Ballard, Based on Her Diary, 1785-1812 by Laurel Thatcher Ulrich: Ulrich also won the Pulitzer Prize for her remarkable re-creation of Ballards compelling life. This is perhaps the best American social history biography ever written.

The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution by Bernard Bailyn: Yet another Pulitzer winner, this is probably the least likely beach read book on the list. But it is utterly compelling, almost 50 years after its original publication. If I had to pick one book on the American Revolution that made the biggest impression on me, it would be this one.
WAHOO  The metal fence panels at the Gayle Hattan Pavilion livestock arena got a fresh coat of paint at the Saunders County Fairgrounds, thanks to volunteer efforts from Farm Credit Services of America, Lincoln office.

Our service projects are anything agriculture related that is of benefit to the community, said Mike Duncan, FCSAmerica Lincoln financial officer.

The June 21 project included elbow grease from 20 FCSAmerica Lincoln employees, as the metal paneling required acetone and scraping with wire brushes prior to the application of the white, oil-based paint.

According to Theresa Klein, a member of Saunders County Agricultural Society, the FCSAmerica Lincoln completed a rough task that was not suited for 4-H youth volunteers, who play a normal role in yearly upkeep of the fairgrounds.

Their generous offer to come and take on this monumental task as a gift and service for Saunders County was an awesome and welcomed offer, Klein said. The livestock arena is used every day continuously throughout our fair. This new coat of paint will not only help everything look great, but help extend the life of our arena, so its really an investment in our 4-H program and fairgrounds.

In addition to the volunteer project, FCSAmerica Lincoln awarded a $1,000 donation to the Saunders County Agricultural Society.

That was a very welcomed surprise. It was icing on the cake, Klein said.

She added that the donation will first be used to offset the cost of the paint project supplies, then the remainder will be invested to support the Saunders County 4-H program and other Saunders County Fairgrounds needs.

Farm Credit Services of America, based in Omaha,

is dedicated to serving the agricultural credit, risk management and financial needs of farmers and ranchers in Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota and Wyoming, according to the company website.

According to Amy Blomenberg, vice president of retail operations at the FCSAmerica branch in Lincoln, between one and three community service projects are chosen a year within the region they serve.

Offices in Lincoln, Beatrice and Columbus make up and serve one region, which includes Saunders County. FCSAmerica Lincoln employees Duncan of Lincoln and Lu Jane Kotera of Brainard oversee Saunders County.

Community service projects are chosen to support one of three categories: agriculture education, health and nutrition or young and beginning producers.

This years Saunders County Fair is July 24 through 31.
Iraqi Defense Minister Khalid al-Obeidi met with U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Stuart Jones in Baghdad after two separate early morning bombings in Baghdad killed at least 124 people and wounded at least 186 others. The officials discussed how the two countries can better collaborate in the fight against Islamic State.

A suicide truck bombing Sunday occurred shortly after midnight at a busy shopping area, killing at least 119 people and wounding 170 others. It was the most deadly attack in the Iraqi capital this year.

Islamic State claimed responsibility for the blast in the Karrada district, saying Shi'ites were targeted. The jihadist group considers Shi'ites heretics.

In the second attack, an explosive device detonated in Baghdad's northern Shaab area, killing at least five people and wounding 16. No one has claimed responsibility for this attack.

The White House condemned the attacks Sunday and said in a statement the violence has reinforced the America's commitment to defeat IS. "We remain united with the Iraqi people and government in our combined efforts to destroy ISIL," the statement said, using another acronym for the group.
Quax-Verein Celebrate Birthday

by Philipp Prinzing/Klassiker der Luftfahrt

Earlier this year, the Quax Flying Club celebrated their 10th anniversary at their futuristic hangar in Paderborn-Lippstadt Airport, Germany. The club believes strongly in flying their vintage aircraft, not just preserving them. They have more than a dozen aircraft of mostly WWII-era design, ranging from a Bucker Bu 131 Jungmann, to a Focke-Wulf Fw 44 Stieglitz, to a Pilatus P.2, etc.  all in flying condition. Club members also often display their own rare aircraft in the hangar as well. In a festive atmosphere this March, they unveiled the latest addition to their collection, a very rare Bucker Bu 180 Student. The Student received her club baptism in front of several hundred guests in Paderborn. This elegant pre-war aircraft is currently the only flying example of her kind in the world.

Before the party, of course, a lot of preparations were required, including considerable rearrangements inside the hangars. Special guests for the evening included not only the airport manager, district government and business representatives, but also the families of those who had involvement with this Bucker Student over the past 80-odd years.

The Quax flying clubs Bu 180, currently registered D-EUTO, rolled off the production lines in 1939 with the serial number 2115. She went to Switzerland as HB-UTO. Between 1945 and 1947 she flew on floats with Dornier in Altenrhein am Bodensee. After a few more Swiss bases she went to Germany in 1969, being registered briefly as D-EFTO. Although at that time the already historic tourer had just 500 hours in the air, the new owner decided to preserve and store the machine.

Shortly before the turn of the new millennium, the previous owner began restoring the Student. A specialist company, Eichelsdorfer in Bamberg, performed the rebuild, returning her to as-new condition. They paid great attention to historical authenticity, which is obvious at first glance. During the ceremony on March 5th , the student was at the center of Quaxs magnificent glass-paneled hangar, hiding under white sheets. Only after association president Peter Sparding gave the signal, the family of the previous owner and the great-granddaughter of the first Swiss owner revealed the magnificent two-seater machine. To keep the previous owner and restorer of lasting significance, the Quax christened the machine with his name Franz Herrmann.

The association plans to present their new treasure at various selected vintage flying events in Germany. First, however, now they have taken ownership they will be sure to check all systems and fly the Student soon.

-

Many thanks to Philipp Prinzing/Klassiker der Luftfahrt for this article

Copyright Philipp Prinzing /MPS
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Leadsom, who campaigned for Brexit in the referendum, is attracting endorsements from MPs who'd planned to back former London Mayor Boris Johnson before his withdrawal from the race in a bitter fallout with fellow Leave campaigner Michael Gove.

The three male contenders in the race appear to be losing ground fast among Conservative lawmakers, who vote in a series of secret ballots starting Tuesday to whittle the field until two candidates are left. The party's 150,000 grass-roots members make the final decision in a postal ballot scheduled to be held by Sept. 2.

The leading candidates to replace David Cameron as leader of the ruling Conservatives and the country's prime minister are now both women -- the country's tough-minded Interior Minister Theresa May, and Energy Minister Andrea Leadsom, a less experienced politician.

Britain appears to be heading to having a woman prime minister again -- 26 years since the country's first, Margaret Thatcher, left office after a Conservative Party coup largely mounted over the country's membership in the European Union.

 Women in Leadership

She told the Daily Telegraph in an interview Saturday: "I am a big fan of seeing more women in public life. Women have a huge amount to offer."

Coincidentally, Labour, too, could end up being led by a woman -- Anna Eagle, who may announce Monday a leadership challenge to leftist Jeremy Corbyn. Women rule also extends to Scotland with female First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, and a Conservative Party leader north of the border also a woman.

An increasing number of Tory MPs are saying privately that only a woman can sort out the mess Britain is in now following the unexpected referendum result that has set the country upside down. It is a view "Iron Lady" Thatcher would no doubt have endorsed vigorously.

She had no time for feminism, saying once, "I owe nothing to women's lib." But she was a firm believer that women are far more practical than men.

According to her biographer Charles Moore, "She had quite a low opinion of the male sex. Men are lazy and vain, she thought," he wrote recently. "And one thing she believed in was the female ability to take a real-life rather than an official view of what the country and its citizens needed," he added.

Commentators and Tory lawmakers are already drawing parallels between Thatcher and May, in particular. Like Thatcher, May, 59, is seen as unclubbable and aloof.

 'Get On with the Job in Front of Me'

May touched on this herself in a speech last week when she launched her leadership bid, saying: "I don't gossip about people over lunch. I don't go drinking in Parliament's bars. I don't often wear my heart on my sleeve. I just get on with the job in front of me." She also -- unlike most British lawmakers -- avoids socializing with political journalists.

Some describe her as an Ice Queen, but like Thatcher -- also a woman not good at small talk -- she is said by colleagues to be warm and generous-minded in private. Also like Thatcher, she maintains a ferocious work schedule, focusing on detail and working through government papers until 2 or 3 in the morning.

A former top policeman, Peter Fahy, who clashed with her over police reform, told The Times: "She's politically astute, totally professional and very good on detail, which might come in useful when it comes to negotiating with Europe."

May is now garnering support not just from Tory lawmakers who backed the Remain camp in the Brexit referendum, but also from some who want to leave the EU but who see her as the best "unity candidate" as well as the contender best equipped to handle what will be fraught and prolonged negotiations with the EU.

Some senior Conservative MPs are now trying to persuade May's rivals to withdraw, arguing that deciding on a new leader sooner rather than later and without a vote by lawmakers would benefit the party. They worry a drawn-out competition could become divisive and want to contrast Tory unity with the ugly divisions rending the opposition Labour Party.

But many Brexit-backing lawmakers doubt May's readiness to implement a full break with the EU. She has already reversed herself on pulling Britain out of the European Convention on Human Rights, saying there is not enough political support in the country at large to do so.

 Human Rights Bugbear

The Human Rights Convention has long been a bugbear of Tories, who dislike the involvement of the European Court of Human Rights in British legal and political affairs.

And there are signs that May as prime minister might agree to modified freedom of movement in return for a trade deal with the EU. All the remaining 27 EU member states are insisting any trade deal would have to include the right of EU citizens to live and work in Britain, with Britons accorded the same opportunity in EU states.

Brexit lawmakers insist there should be no freedom of movement, arguing the British public wants a massive reduction in immigration. But in her speech launching her leadership campaign last week, May's wording on what deals she would and would not agree to with the EU was careful.

On the free movement of people, she said there could be no deal "as it has worked hitherto."

"Those five words give her plenty of wiggle room," says a government official.

 March for Europe

Meanwhile, police estimated that 30,000 pro-EU protesters marched through Central London Saturday to demand that Britain not break with Europe.

The protest was organized by grass-roots activists via Facebook and attracted a variety of speakers, including rock star Bob Geldof and Michael Cashman, a former British soap opera star who served many years in the European Parliament.

Now a working peer in Britain's House of Lords, he told VOA, "The government has got to go to the country with another option. I think there must be a second referendum with several different options."

He added, "This is bigger than us. It will impact generations to come. When the decision is so huge, you need to pause for thought, and they have not done that. Across party lines I have never seen the House of Lords so somber. People are saying this is the biggest crisis we have ever faced in peacetime."
Daniel Wells and Jarrad Waite could both come back into the team for North Melbourne's finals-shaping clash with West Coast in Perth.

The veteran pair trained at Arden Street on Monday but will be properly tested in training late in the week after missing the loss to Adelaide prior to the bye.

North Melbourne forward Jarrad Waite is a potential inclusion for the crucial West Coast clash. Credit:Getty images

Assuming they get through training both will be picked to return.

The West Coast clash is critical for the Roos, who are sliding after losing four of their last five matches and slipping from top of the ladder and unbeaten after nine rounds to seventh just three rounds later.
Former prime minister and self-proclaimed larrikin, Bob Hawke, has still got it at the ripe young age of 86, when he successfully predicted the outcome of the weekend's federal election. He was the guest of honour at the Newgate Communications' annual pre-election and June 30 clients' drinks at the Ivy last Thursday night, where he told the audience, "I'm a good friend of Malcolm [Turnbull] and said you will win, but with a reduced majority"... before adding he thought Bill [Shorten] was a good leader. Newgate's founder Brian Tyson is also a mate of Turnbull, who was the guest of honour at the first Sydney-based Newgate function where he launched the group on the top floor balcony of 1 Bligh Street.

When asked if, in this day and age, he still run as PM, Hawkey said probably not given the scrutiny of the media and rise of social media in the modern age. That was given a wry laugh from the audience, most of whom were tweeting photos of him as he spoke. Soaking up the bon vivant and Bob's advice that all governments should hold a National Economic Summit that he established in 1983  which he said his government's success flowed from  was former Tony Abbott chief of staff Peta Credlin, NSW Minster for Trade, Tourism and Major Events Stuart Ayres, Mike Baird staffer Clive Mathieson and his former News Ltd comrade Greg Baxter and ASIC's Matthew Abbott. The corporate and broking world was also on hand to give Bob a rousing reception, including Robert Webster and Lindsay Partridge from Brickworks, Jim Evans, from BT Investment Management; Michael Richardson, Deutsche Bank's head of equity capital markets; Richard Alcock, Bank of America Merrill Lynch and former editor of Woman's Weekly, Helen McCabe.

Illustration: John Shakespeare.

Spare a dime?

Buddy can you spare me a dime? Well, several million bucks, actually.

For Roger Corbett and his pokie king buddy Bruce Mathieson, their boat has finally come in over at Mayne Pharma, but to keep the money rolling, both have to dig deep.

Even so, given the way its shares have helped to underwrite a growing portion of their wealth over the better part of the past decade, can they afford not to take up their rights to its latest hare issue?

Mayne Pharma has finally broken through and garnered interest at the big end of town with its placement last week at $1.50, which left the professionals with big grins on their faces counting their profits since its shares ended the week at $1.87.

Corbett has been on the register since Mayne shares were trading at under 15, and Mathieson for even longer.

Now, the fun starts for the pair, with the rights priced at $1.28, so they can't afford not to take them up, plus some, since there is a "top-up" which allows retail investors to apply for up to 50 per cent on top of their entitlement. For Corbett, he will need over $7 million, according to your diarist's old abacus, with Mathieson up for more than $40 million. But the instant gains they will make will help cover losses on the dogs in their portfolio such as Western Desert Resources, which sank without trace a few years back.
Sydney has just experienced a perfect winter's weekend, with sunny conditions and the temperature reaching into the high teens.

But it won't last, with a low pressure system developing on Tuesday bringing rain, strong and chilly winds and large seas.

Weatherzone meteorologist Kim Westcott said that Wednesday in particular looked "pretty gusty" with winds up to 90km/h along the NSW coast.
Just before the spacecraft Juno finishes a five-year trip to Jupiter on Monday, NASA has decided to extend the missions of nine older robotic explorers that have lived beyond original expectations.

The nine are still producing bounties of observations for scientists, and most of the extensions were expected. The New Horizons spacecraft, which flew past Pluto last year, already had been steered toward a new target, known as 2014 MU69, one of the small icy objects in the ring of debris beyond Neptune.

But one of NASA's decisions, about the Dawn spacecraft orbiting Ceres, the dwarf planet in the asteroid belt, was somewhat of a surprise  as well as a disappointment  to some working on the mission.
There is hope on the horizon for surfers and divers spooked by a recent spate of fatal shark attacks after a shark deterrent device was proven effective by Perth's top university.

A study by the University of Western Australia on the Shark Shield, a product for surfers and divers which emits an electrical wave, showed it was effective for a field with a radius of 1.3 metres from the device's electrodes and prevented great whites from interacting with static bait 10 out of 10 times on their first approach.

The rate slightly dropped on subsequent approaches to 9 out of 10 times, showing signs of the shark getting used to the electronic waves and decreased the deterrent field radius.

But despite an increase in tolerance, the shark did not bite or interact with the bait when the shield was present.
Dhaka: Bangladesh police investigating last week's deadly terrorist attack on an upmarket restaurant in the capital say the militants who carried it out were from wealthy families, with at least one thought to have attended Monash University in Malaysia.

The university's Malaysian campus said it was deeply saddened by the attack, but that it had not received any official confirmation of the militants' identities.

Facebook posts suggest some of the militants who attacked the Bangladesh restaurant, killing 20, attended the Malaysian campus.
Washington: Great attention is paid these days to the Clinton and Trump presidential campaigns engaging in the ritual "vetting" of prospective vice presidential running mates  but the reality of Hillary Clinton's attendance at FBI headquarters on Saturday was that the Democratic nominee is being vetted by the FBI.

After what seems like an eternity, FBI investigators and Clinton were able to find three and a half hours for an interview that hangs over the presidential campaign like the sword of Damocles. The candidate insists she did nothing wrong, but the FBI has yet to decide if she or her staff were criminal in their handling of classified information on her private email server while she served as secretary of state.

The timing is delicate  with just three weeks to the Democratic convention at which Clinton is to be anointed as the party's official candidate, she continues to be dogged by an issue on which the FBI's unresolved investigation has the potential to mess with her campaign's efforts to build momentum around the convention hoopla.
The team investigating the May 19 crash of an EgyptAir jet said it expects audio will be obtained from the plane's damaged cockpit voice recorder. Authorities hope the recordings will shed more light on what caused flight M804 to crash into the Mediterranean while en route from Paris to Cairo, killing all 66 people aboard.

The Airbus A320's flight data recorders indicate there was smoke in the plane's lavatory and on some of the onboard electronics. Authorities say heat damage and soot was found on the front part of wreckage of the plane.

The cockpit voice recorder was recovered in June and sent to Paris for repairs.


06  12 June 2016

Under the sponsorship of the Japan Customs Cooperation Fund (CCF- Japan), a Time Release Study (TRS) workshop was organized jointly by the World Customs Organization (WCO) and the National Customs of Chile, from 6 to 12 June 2016 in Valparaiso, Chile. Approximately 50 participants attended the event which gathered different stakeholders involved in the clearance process of goods in Chile.

During the workshop, amongst others, it was highlighted that TRS is a key instrument for countries to measure relevant aspects of the effectiveness of operational procedures that are carried out by Customs and other regulatory actors in processing imports, exports and transit movements of goods. Participants were informed of TRS objectives, challenges, opportunities and ways forward for Chile to conduct a TRS with the involvement of Customs and other key stakeholders that intervene in the national clearance process of goods.

At the Workshop, participants jointly drafted an Action Plan, subject to be finalized by the Chilean Customs Administration. The Plan would facilitate the implementation of various actions that would need to be in place before a TRS can be conducted in the near future, covering major points where international goods undergo through a clearing process.

The workshop also allowed the WCO Secretariat to provide training on the use the TRS software, a special software used to design TRS survey forms, generate statistical information related to the moment between the arrival of the goods until their release and store data related also to the time taken between the arrival of the goods until their release.
Fifteen representatives from ten WCO Member administrations completed the first full Strategic Trade Control Enforcement (STCE) Expert Trainer Certification Workshop held at the WCO headquarters from 20 June to 1 July 2016. During the two weeks, representatives from Canada, Estonia, Kenya, Lithuania, Moldova, Pakistan, Serbia, Vietnam, the United Kingdom, and the United States actively participated in the training workshop and engaged with the facilitators to acquire skills on how to conduct training courses based on the new WCO STCE curriculum. The curriculum contains high-level briefings for senior managers on strengthening national STCE efforts and modules for operational personnel covering Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear (CBRN) and related dual use materials and equipment. Participants also received supplementary training on the application of risk management and post-clearance audits in the context of strategic trade control.



The workshop is a part of WCOs strategy to support its Members efforts in preventing illicit trafficking CBRN and dual use strategic goods related to weapons of mass destruction. Participants who demonstrate advanced skills and knowledge during the workshop will be able to complete their certification as WCO STCE Expert Trainers by conducting an in-field training mission as a co-trainer delivering the WCOs STCE curriculum.



Future events are planned both in Brussels and across the WCO regions under the framework of its STCE Programme. For additional information please contact James.McColm@wcoomd.org
At the request of the Togolese Revenue Authority (OTR), a WCO experts mission travelled to Lome to assess progress made in Customs reform and modernization (Columbus Phase III). The mission took place from 9 to 17 June 2016 and followed up previous WCO missions to Togolese Customs which focused on the diagnosis and planning of the reform. The OTR and its three offices (Customs and Excise, Taxation and General Services) took part in the various stages of the mission, which achieved all its objectives.

The experts held working meetings with OTR teams responsible for studies and strategic planning and with staff from other relevant OTR units responsible for auditing and quality assurance, communications and user services, anti-corruption, IT, legislation, information provision and compliance, human resources and training, etc.

Meetings were also arranged with development partners acting for the Togolese Customs, economic operators, Customs service strategic partners (Chambers of Commerce, port and airport authorities, Customs agents, etc.) and the inspection company COTECNA.

The WCO experts made on-site visits to external services to assess progress made in Customs reform, holding working meetings with the management and senior staff of the respective facilities, i.e. Lome port and airport and Customs posts on the borders with Benin and Ghana.

A working meeting was held on the final day with the adviser to the Commissioner General, the Commissioners and the managers of the various OTR units involved in the reform to assess the results and conclusions of the mission on a joint basis.
A WCO Regional Workshop on the Compliance and Enforcement Package (CEP) was conducted at the India National Academy of Customs Excise and Narcotics (NACEN) in Faridabad from 20 to 24 June 2016. Supported by the Asia Pacific Regional Intelligence Liaison Office, this Workshop was organized in cooperation with the Asia/Pacific Regional Office for Capacity Building (ROCB A/P) with the sponsorship of the Japanese Customs Cooperation Fund (CCF). It aimed to assist the participating Members in implementing and enhancing modern compliance and enforcement procedures through the existing WCO tools and instruments. Twenty eight representatives from 24 Customs administrations in the Region attended this seminar.

The training started with a detailed overview of the CEP and was followed by plenary discussions and practical exercises to identify the high-risk areas for Customs enforcement including exchanges of views on the challenges, opportunities and experiences. WCO tools and networks that support compliance and enforcement activities such as the CEN suit of tools, the WCO Cargo Targeting System (CTS), the Iris application and the WCO Information and Intelligence Centre (I2C) were presented and explained. This session was followed by an outline of the four main components of the enforcement cycle such as the intelligence, the risk analysis, the controls and the investigations.

Participants could review the recently developed WCO Intelligence Curriculum as well as the information on Risk Management practices and the WCO RM Compendium. The training concluded with a session fully dedicated to criminal investigations, which covered important knowledge and skills that all investigators should be exposed to, such as witness and suspect interviewing techniques, case development, evidence handling, criminal procedures, awareness of legal framework and the importance of Customs/Police cooperation at the national level in order to achieve meaningful results in the pursuit of public safety, effective revenue collection, and overall integrity in the collaborative enforcement process.
By West Kentucky Star Staff Jul. 03, 2016 | 10:11 PM | PADUCAH, KY





Paducah businessman and long-time community leader Ken Hunt will be "in the hot seat" to help raise money for St. Nicholas Foundation on Friday, July 22nd.St Nick's 2016 Charity Roast & Toast is set for 7:00 pm at the Julian Carroll Convention Center, with Master of Ceremonies William J. "Bill" Jones of U.S. Bank. Bill will "roast" Mr. Hunt along with Dr. Jim Woods of Bluegrass Orthodontics, Dr. Kinney Slaughter and Dr. James Hunt of Broadway Dental Care, Steve Powless of Computer Services, Inc., Dr. Phil Hunt of Jackson Purchase Medical Center's Orthopaedic Group, and Dr. William Walden of Paducah Dental Care.A & K Construction is the Presenting Sponsor of the event. Other major sponsors include Baptist Health, Bluegrass Orthodontics, Broadway Dental Care, Brown Wealth Management Group - UBS, Computer Services, Inc., Jackson Purchase Medical Center, Lourdes Hospital, Paducah Dental Care, Philip Hunt, MD Orthopaedics, U. S. Bank and Williams, Williams & Lentz.Roast festivities will begin at 6:00 pm with a closed VIP Cocktail Social for Roastee, Roasters and major sponsors. Doors will open to other guests at 6:45 pm. A luau-themed dinner buffet by The Catering Company will open at 7:00 pm, and a cash bar will also be provided throughout the evening. The Roast will commence as guests finish their dinners, entertaining the crowd with light-hearted teasing and stories about Hunt, but he will have an opportunity to close the evening by poking a bit of fun back at his Roasters.The Charity Roast is the official kickoff for St. Nicholas Family Clinic Foundation's 22nd year of service to the community. Proceeds from the Roast will be used locally for St. Nick's healthcare payment assistance program for working adults who live or work in the Jackson Purchase area."Ken Hunt has been one of our most-requested Roastee candidates," says Rayla Bridges, Executive Director of St. Nicholas Foundation. "He is one of Paducah's most respected business leaders and has a heart for serving the community. We are thrilled he has agreed to be this year's Roastee and look forward to celebrating Ken and his community spirit at our Charity Roast."Through the years, Mr. Hunt has been a driving force in the local community through service and support of several civic and charitable organizations, including Paducah Economic Development, Associated General Contractors, Paducah Area Chamber of Commerce, Sunrise Children's Services, and now St. Nicholas Foundation."The Roast will be a lively, fun and entertaining celebration of Ken's contributions to our local community," states Mark Nettles of Regions Bank, current chair of the St. Nicholas Board. "We also hope to be able to announce the Roastee for next time during the evening, so if you want to nominate someone, please contact the St. Nick office."Reservations are required for the charitable fundraiser. Individual tickets are available for $75; Couples may purchase a pair of tickets for $125. Tables for 8 are available for $1,000. The number to call for reservations is (270) 408-4828. St. Nicholas Foundation is a 501c3, and tax receipts will be provided to all ticket purchasers.
Three juveniles charged with robbing same Paducah store twice in one day
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Domestic auto sales reached a new high in the first half of this year.

The Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association said Sunday that domestic sales totaled 812,265 cars in the first six months, up 10.9 percent on-year. This is the first time domestic sales have exceeded 800,000 in the period.

Total sales including exports, however, dwindled to 4.36 million cars, a drop of 1.7 percent from the same period last year.
Rita Redmond was a true lady who felt that every pupil had something to gift to the world
Graziano Pelle has taken the time to apologise to the entire Italian nation for filing a truly wretched penalty kick during the Azzurris Euro 2016 quarter-final shoot-out defeat to Germany.

Pelles woeful miss was made all the worse by his little display of hubris before the kick, with the striker instructing Manuel Neuer that he was planning to dink the ball down the middle by way of a cocky hand gesture. Safe to say, it didnt pan out that way.

Having since realised the error of his ways, Pelle poured his heart out to Gazzetta dello Sport, issuing an apology to all Italy in an attempt to atone for his sins.

The scoop gesture? I did not mean to insult anyone. I didnt want to seem like a blowhard, I just wanted to subdue him (Neuer). When we looked into his eyes, Neuer didnt even notice the adrenaline we had. Im sorry for those people who love me and for all Italians, I apologise. The next day was sadder still. If Id have scored they would tell me that I was a phenomenon and instead it went wrong. My one positive of Euro 2016? When it began I was a nobody (in the Italy team) and now I leave feeling like Ive arrived.

Bless his little cotton socks. Its not really like he has much to apologise for, either.

The fluffed penalty aside, Pelle proved to be a great spearhead for Italy at Euro 2016  excelling in that tricky, often isolated target man role and scoring a couple of important goals as he went.

Whisper it, but we think were willing to forgive him.
Wales sensational performance at Euro 2016 hasnt all been lollipops and candy pebbles, with the extended nature of their run to the semi-finals causing untold uproar for many concerned.

Firstly, we saw left-back Neil Taylor having to miss out on a Beyonce concert in Cardiff that happened to fall on the night of Wales quarter-final against Belgium.

Then came the shocking news that BBC Sport pundit Dean Saunders is burning through 100 a day after leaving his car in the short-stay carpark at Birmingham airport on the assumption hed be back home within the fortnight.

Just to add to the chaos, it also emerged that Chris Gunter was also facing similar issues, though of a decidedly more familial nature.

Indeed, Gunter revealed that he was supposed to be flying out to Mexico this week to fulfil his best man duties at his brother Marcs wedding.

Unfortunately, the wedding is taking place on 7th July (this Thursday), the day after Wales last-four clash with Portugal in Lyon.

However, Gunter has managed to just about wriggle out of his little dilemma by agreeing to make his best mans speech via Skype.

Not that his parents will see it, mind you  theyve both chosen to ditch their sons nuptials in favour of going to the Portugal match instead.

Mum is a bit upset at having to choose. It has caused chaos, Chris told The Mirror.

You couldnt begin to imagine the trouble its caused. Im not sure what Marc will do if we make the final. He might be divorced by then.

Priorities.
The North Korean regime is making maximum propaganda capital out of a bland message from Chinese President Xi Jinping to suggest its international isolation is less than total.

The official [North] Korean Central News Agency on Saturday said Xi sent North Korean leader Kim Jong-un a message saying the ties between Beijing and Pyongyang are a "valuable asset."

Xi said he hopes to promote the welfare of both Chinese and North Koreans by continuing to develop bilateral and cooperative ties.


A woman in her 20s who recently returned from the Dominican Republic has tested positive for the Zika virus.

This is the sixth confirmed case of the Zika virus in Korea so far. The last infection was detected on May 11.

The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday that the 28-year-old woman had lived in the Dominican Republic since June 2014 and came to Korea via Taiwan on June 23.

She tested positive for the Zika virus last Thursday after she developed rashes, a fever, conjunctivitis and aching joints last Monday, four days after returning to Korea.


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This article was published 04/07/2016 (2306 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Opening numbers:

TSX 14,064.54

Canadian Dollar 77.3 cents US

Dow Jones 17,949.37

Nasdaq 4,862.57

S&P 500 2,102.95

TODAY

U.S. Independence Day holiday, U.S. markets closed.

Tuesday

In Quebec, the Jean Coutu Group Inc. releases first-quarter results. In Washington, the Gallup U.S. Consumer Spending Measure Report and the TD Ameritrade Investor Movement Index are released.

Wednesday

In Ottawa, Statistics Canada releases Canadian international merchandise trade numbers for May. In Montreal, Cogeco Inc. releases third-quarter results. In Washington, the Gallup U.S. Job Creation Index is released and Redbooks weekly measure of comparable store sales at chain stores, discounters and department stores is released and the U.S Institute for Supply Management releases its non-manufacturing survey composite index.

Thursday

In Ottawa, Statistics Canada releases national building permit volumes for May. In Montreal, Richelieu Hardware Ltd. releases second-quarter results. In Washington, the U.S. chain stores monthly sales volumes from individual department, discount, apparel and drugstore chains are reported and the Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index, a weekly, random-sample survey tracking Americans views on the condition of the U.S. economy, their personal finances and the buying climate is released.

Friday

In Ottawa, Statistics Canada releases Labour Force Survey for June 2016. In Washington, the U.S. employment situation report  a set of labour market indicators based on two separate surveys, the Household Survey include the labour supply and discouraged workers  is released.
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 03/07/2016 (2307 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The aunt of one of the victims of Fridays plane crash near Winnipeg praised Bradley Ashcroft as a bright young man.

Capt. Ashcroft and Capt. Zachary Cloutier-Gill, members of the Royal Canadian Air Force, died in a plane crash south of Highway 15 near Deacons Corner around 9:30 a.m., a Canadian Armed Forces news release said.

Sally Ashcroft, who lives in Birtle, said her nephew joined the air cadets at a very early age and rose to the rank of commander of his unit.

RCAF Capt. Bradley Ashcroft

(He was) always a very intelligent young man, she said. As a little boy at the age of three, he was very keen on farm equipment and could name everything.

She said Bradley earned a university scholarship from the air force after graduating from high school.

Anything that he took an interest in was always a consuming interest he never slacked on any detail of anything that he was involved in. He was the most dedicated young man and he wasnt rowdy or anything. He was very quiet, but certainly very dedicated.

She added that Ashcroft was dedicated to the air cadets and well liked by his commanding officers.

Flying club members grieving the deaths of Ashcroft and Cloutier-Gill are waiting for federal investigators to find out why the four-seater Piper Cherokee went down in such ideal weather.

Theres no known cause at this moment, said Steven Sadler, president of the Springfield Flying Club based at Lyncrest Airport. The Transportation Safety Board is conducting the investigation, he said.

Ashcroft and Cloutier-Gill were stationed at 1 Canadian Air Division/Canadian Norad Region headquarters in Winnipeg.

The plane was a four-seater Piper Cherokee PA-28 that belonged to the Manitoba chapter of the Recreational Aircraft Association. According to the aircrafts website, the plane was donated to the assocation by Geraldine and Kenneth Pennington. Records previously available on the airplanes website indicated Ashcroft had reserved the plane from 8 a.m. to noon.

David Lavallee, a public affairs officer for the 1 Canadian Air Division, said Cloutier-Gill was an air combat systems officer and was born in Chatham, N.B. Lavallee said Ashcroft was a construction engineer born in Brandon.

Ashcroft said on Facebook that Shoal Lake was his hometown.

RCAF Capt. Zachary Cloutier-Gill

Overall, the RCAF community is very tight-knit here in Winnipeg. (Winnipeg and Manitoba) are in many ways really the beating heart of the air force; and to lose two members of our RCAF family like this is a terrible tragedy, said Lavallee. Its just a tragedy  thats really the only way to describe it.

He said Ashcroft was transfered to the Winnipeg headquarters in the last two or three weeks. He could not confirm how long Cloutier-Gill had been at the Winnipeg headquarters, but said he had been there longer than Ashcroft.

Recreational Aircraft Association chapter president Jim Oke said he knew Ashcroft and had flown with him three or four times before. Hed been flying the aircraft for awhile and our assumption is that he invited a friend to come along for a flight that morning, Oke said. He couldnt confirm Ashcroft was the pilot the morning of the crash, but said, Were almost certain because he had been flying the aircraft for some time and had been approved by the board of directors to operate the aircraft.

Oke said he had some previous service in the air force, which led to him and Ashcroft trading stories about their time in the military. He was a quiet, but good-natured individual. Easy to deal with, and I enjoyed his company, he said. Oke said he met Ashcroft through the aircraft association and added Ashcroft was in Winnipeg for a year-long course with the military.

Oke said he did not know Cloutier-Gill.

Unlike Richardson International Airport and St. Andrews Airport, there is no control tower directing traffic at Lyncrest, Sadler said. Lyncrest, a small airport, does not have someone sitting on the ground communicating with pilots as they take off and land, said Sadler.

Pilots talk to other pilots in the area, Sadler said, making sure there is no one in the way when theyre about to take off or land, for instance. Its like drivers talking to other drivers, he said.

The radio is turned on inside the clubhouse and people can hear the pilots announcements, he said.

The club is a popular place, especially with retirees, and there were people inside the clubhouse at the time of the crash, said Sadler. He said he had not heard any reports that someone inside the clubhouse Friday morning heard anything distressing or alarming.

Ruth Bonneville / Winnipeg Free Press Crews cover the cockpit of the small plane that crashed near Deacons Corner Friday morning after it took off from Lyncrest Airport.

The Transportation Safety Board would find out if there was, he said. The only thing hes heard that is slightly unusual is that the plane went down the runway to take off then stopped and turned around and went back and took off the second time. Sadler said sometimes pilots will do a high-speed taxi just to check things before actually taking off.

It doesnt mean anything.

Sadler said he didnt know either of the deceased.

The safety board said an update will be available Monday.

alexandra.depape@freepress.mb.ca

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 04/07/2016 (2306 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

WINNIPEG School Division officials are suddenly nervous about a promised new school in Waterford Green  the divisions first new school in decades.

The former NDP government approved the school before the April 19 election, but now its part of the review the PC government is undertaking of commitments that existed when it took office.

Education Minister Ian Wishart told NDP education critic Wab Kinew during budget estimates last week he needs to be convinced the proposed school in the divisions northwest tip is essential.

The Waterford Green project is still in the planning stages and the assessment stages, Wishart said. We are certainly well along in terms of assessment. We are not, at this point, committed to construction until everything is completed.

I understand that is one where a significant number of new immigrants have settled.

Wishart said the department will spend the coming school year analyzing student projections, demographic projections, the possible shift of where refugees and newcomers settle permanently and what space is available in nearby schools  including in other divisions.

The Seven Oaks School Divisions boundary is close to Waterford Green, and both divisions say schools in that part of the city are at, or beyond, capacity, with portables in many schoolyards.

Wishart told the estimates hearing: Its an assessment mostly based on the need and demand on that school space in that community and whether or not there are schools in the surrounding community that can absorb the shift around that might possibly take place.

That depends, actually, on other school divisions a little bit because there is always the opportunity to move a little bit one way or the other.

Wishart said Manitoba received about 850 refugee children in the school year that just ended.

Were expecting significantly more than that, so thatll have at least some factor as to where people end up settling That does evolve as we go along because people often receive a first placement and then theres usually, a few months later, a significant shift around in the process.

We should have the assessment completed by the end of 2016 as the year evolves. That does, of course, mean that itll be some delay in terms of tendering process and planning process until the school is under construction, Wishart said.

WSD board chairman Mark Wasyliw did not welcome Wisharts statements.

This exchange is obviously concerning. We need this school. The schools in the area are already over capacity.

I have been told we are already busing about 180 students from Waterford Green to other area schools. We have had to add eight bus routes into that area, Wasyliw said.

We are setting aside over $1 million to purchase furniture and equipment for that school. The transportation cost of shipping students from that area to another part of the division is escalating with each passing year.

The situation is very frustrating. We need the (government) to be open and transparent with us and to sit down and discuss these issues with us.

Seven Oaks superintendent Brian OLeary said Wishart should not look to his divisions schools as a solution.

All of the schools in the Maples area, which is adjacent to Waterford Green, are at or significantly above capacity.

Seven Oaks has 113 square feet per pupil, including 46 portables, said OLeary, pointing out WSD defines school capacity based on 165 square feet per student.

nick.martin@freepress.mb.ca
Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 04/07/2016 (2306 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

On June 23, Chief of defence staff Gen. Jonathan Vance presided over the change-of-command ceremony between outgoing Royal Canadian Navy commander, Vice-Admiral Mark Norman, and his successor Vice-Admiral Ron Lloyd. In a light-hearted moment, Vance informed the audience Lloyd had once been senior to him at the Royal Military College, and had used that seniority to compel the younger Vance to do pushups.

Stepping down from the podium, Vance startled those in attendance by reversing the scenario and calling out Lloyd to adopt the position. Both men then proceeded to engage in a pushup showdown  including some impressive thumb-and-forefinger-only lifts.

This literal flexing of military muscle unfortunately ran completely counter to the message delivered by outgoing commander Norman. In reflecting on his three-year tenure at the helm of the navy, Norman lamented, The RCN has gotten noticeably smaller both in terms of fleet and establishment on my watch. Theres been about a 20 per cent reduction in float capacity of the fleet, with acute losses in war-fighting capabilities, in particular in area air defence and sustainment.

CHAD HIPOLITO / THE CANADIAN PRESS FILES A tugboat tows HMCS Protecteur from CFB Esquimalt in B.C. earlier this year, headed to Liverpool, N.S., to be dismantled.

What Norman was referring to is the fact that in the past three years, the RCN had to decommission both of its remaining supply ships, and two of its last three destroyers. HMCS Athabaskan technically remains in active service, but this aged destroyer probably has but one last gasp left in her before she will be officially paid off and sent to the scrapyard next year.

In other words, Canada has already lost the area air defence capability which the destroyers once added to the fleet. An even bigger loss was that of HMCS Protecteurs tragic fire at sea in February 2014, which left her an irreparable hulk, and the discovery of hull cracks in HMCS Preserver, which resulted in her being permanently beached on September 2014. Without those two supply ships, the RCN is incapable of assembling a task force, and at best is reduced to sending out single patrol-class frigates, or maritime coastal defence vessels, on solidarity patrols.

To temporarily alleviate this shortfall, the RCN, under Normans watch, had to take the innovative step of renting supply ship support from Spain and Chile. Thats right, in order for Canada to put navy ships at sea, we had to rent sea days from the Spanish navy and the Chilean navy.

What magnifies the embarrassment of this circumstance is not only the fact that Canada, a G8 country with one of the highest GDP-to-population ratios in the world, would not have had the foresight to replace such an essential capability in a timely manner, but that Spain and Chile not only did make such investments, they also possess enough surplus capacity that they can rent some to us.

Norman did venture into political waters when he admitted, during his outgoing remarks, that the navys current woes were avoidable. With current Liberal Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan seated right in front of him, Norman clearly laid the blame for all this mess on the former Conservative government. Had the Conservatives not cancelled the Joint Supply Ship project in August 2008 without seeking an alternative solution, and had the Conservatives not dragged their feet on a replacement for our destroyers, then all would be well with the world, according to Norman.

However, it was the Conservatives who prided themselves on the National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy, which is to pump some $30 billion into refurbishing the RCN and the coast guard over the next 30 years. This will include Arctic offshore patrol vessels, joint supply ships, Canadian surface combatants and an icebreaker. The Conservatives also signed the deal with Chantier-Davie shipyard to convert the MS Asterix into an interim supply ship for the RCN.

Norman has been promoted to the post of vice-chief of defence staff, which is ultimately involved in force deployment for the Canadian Forces. Lets hope that during his tenure as VCDS, he can put some real muscle back into Canadas enfeebled navy. Pushups or no pushups.
Korea posted a current account surplus for the 51st straight month in May, but only because imports fell even further than exports.

Exports have been dwindling for a record 18 months.

The Bank of Korea last Friday said the preliminary current account surplus amounted to US$10.36 billion in May. But exports fell 2.4 percent from last May, while imports declined 8.6 percent.

The surplus is mainly due to low global oil prices.

A BOK official said, "At a time when global trade volume is slowing, Korea is managing to perform relatively well, but it will not remain untouched by external factors."

Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy data shows exports in June dropped 2.7 percent on-year to $45.3 billion.

Some economists project exports to rebound in the second half of this year since last month's decline was the smallest in a year. But others say uncertainties caused by Brexit and declining oil prices could hurt exports further.

Also, consumer price growth remains flat. According to Statistics Korea, consumer prices grew just 0.8 percent in June due to the drop in oil prices.
Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 04/07/2016 (2306 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Hear that sound? No, its not the teeth-gratingly ahead-of-time back-to-school commercials for stationery, but its just as ominous: the summer slide. Its beginning.

Well-known to educators across North America, its the phenomenon that accompanies a two-month (or more) break in schooling, during which students enjoy free time but also lose familiarity with what they studied the previous school year.

The nine- or 10-month school year, followed by an extended summer break, has been the norm in rural communities in Canada and the United States since the 1800s. The practice was adopted to allow students living on farms to work the fields in summer. In urban centres, school often followed a year-round model. By the early 20th century, the long summer-break model was adopted in city schools as well, and attendance became mandatory.

MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES

Currently, the school year in Manitoba is 194 to 196 days, beginning the Tuesday after Labour Day.

Things have changed in a century or more. The majority of students do not need to have a long break concentrated in the summer to do agricultural work, and there is compelling evidence two months off does more harm than good in terms of a students education.

Chief among them is that slide. If you dont use it, you lose it. That goes for literacy and numeracy at younger ages and critical thinking at older ages. While activities such as summer camp, drop-in centres and private lessons can combat that drop in academic, artistic and physical activity, participation costs money.

Middle- and upper-class families have more resources in terms of time and money to send kids to day camps or special activities. Those types of stimulation can keep young brains active and combat the summer slide, but they arent necessarily available to children from lower-income families, who may not be able to take part and face the beginning of a new school year getting up to speed.

A 20-year study by Johns Hopkins University found children from low-income families fell nearly three grade levels behind their higher-income peers in the summer slide because of the gap for the school break. They didnt have the same access to summer activities or a parent who could afford to stay home.

So what would be the solution?

In 2010, a four-year study in the Peel District School Board in Mississauga, Ont., showed among the results of a school year in which students had a one-month summer break  with extended periods of time off throughout the year  were students retained far more of their knowledge. At the beginning of the school year they scored higher in math than students in programs with a two-month summer break, and teachers spent less time reviewing material at the outset of the new school year.

The year-round model has also been employed in other jurisdictions, including some in Alberta such as Wetaskiwin, as well as in Richmond, B.C. A small-sample, four-year study in the latter community found teachers working in a year-round program with regular breaks took, on average, 1.2 fewer sick days than teachers in the traditional 10-month school year. If the health and cost-savings benefits were to be applied across the province, they found an estimated $19 million in teachers and substitute teachers wages could be saved.

So as attractive as two months off may sound, that time might do more people more good if it were spread throughout the year.

The prospect of a year-round school year hasnt been looked at in Manitoba for some time. Maybe its time to dust it off and see how it could help everyone  from students to teachers to families.
When awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by George W. Bush in 2007, Dr. Oscar Biscet had a scheduling conflict, being in a Cuban prison. At the White House ceremony, Bush called him a dangerous man ... in the same way that Martin Luther King Jr. and Gandhi were dangerous. It was not until three years later in a dark cell that another prisoner told him what the citation read that day had said.

Recently, unexpectedly, Biscet was allowed by the Cuban regime to travel to the Bush Institute in Dallas and finally receive the award from Bushs hands. Biscet explains this as part of the regimes effort to create the impression of change. That impression was dimmed a bit by the humiliating searches he was subjected to at the airport on his departure. Knowing the police would rummage through his suitcase, Biscet left a surprise: a Cuban flag covering his belongings.

It is the kind of in-your-face defiance displayed by many dissidents. Biscet is offended to the core that the country he loves is occupied by squalid autocrats who have run it into the ground. Political heroism is often expressed by the simple inability to stomach the next indignity. For this attitude, Biscet has spent 12 of his 54 years in Cuban jails.

His first offense was exposing deception at the heart of Cuban health care, the regimes main source of revolutionary pride. In the early 1990s, Biscet (an internist and medical teacher) began documenting the mix between politics and medicine that kept child mortality rates in Cuba so low. The government pressured hospitals and doctors to pressure women with problem pregnancies to abort, in order to post better statistics. If they know a baby may have congenital malformations, Biscet told me, they are killed before birth, unless parents show very strong objections. He explains: It is all about appearances.

The largest question since President Obamas opening to the Cuban government: Are we seeing changes that are more than appearances? There is little doubt the regime is increasingly isolated, with its ally Venezuela in socialism-induced chaos and a more hostile government coming in Brazil. The Castro government seems interested in freeing up some economic space for small and medium-sized businesses (though not for professionals such as doctors and lawyers). But jobs in tourism are rewarded to regime favorites and cronies, including former military. According to a recent report by Oxford Analytica, the infusion of cash into limited regions and economic sectors is encouraging greater inequality and social tension. The government has responded by lowering the price of food and childrens clothing.

There is no indication that the regime is opening social or political space. To the contrary, the Communist Party is overcompensating in its revolutionary zeal, including an old-fashioned diatribe by Fidel Castro against Obama and American imperialism.

Americans naturally view these events through the lens of their own interests and weigh the costs and benefits. Obamas March visit to Cuba was viewed by many (and by him) as a diplomatic breakthrough. Dissidents see things differently. For us, Biscets wife Elsa says, the faces of the Castros on posters are like the faces of Hitler and Stalin. To see the president of a democratic government embrace these people was ... discouraging.

People born into free societies have a difficult time imagining the experience of totalitarianism. In Cuba, the party ultimately controls every job. Biscet once took work at a steel factory. When his political history was discovered, he was fired. At the beginning of the regime, there were mass confiscations and killings. Then large-scale incarceration and forced exile for many Cuban patriots. Now, Elsa says, there are also policemen in the mind. Everyone feels watched. That fear is what now controls the population, Oscar Biscet says. And it is a justified fear.

Obama often talks about dictators and terrorists being on the wrong side of history. This can be a source of confidence, or a form of abdication. When progress is seen as the result of a ticking clock or impersonal forces, it acts as a release from responsibility. History is generally moved in the right direction by individuals willing to sacrifice their lives and liberty for the liberty of others. Standing up for dangerous men and women is not a distraction from diplomacy. It is one of the great comparative advantages of American foreign policy. We benefit from the advance of the democratic values that gave our nation birth  a birth attended by men very much like Dr. Oscar Biscet.
SPRING GREEN  There are toys like little green and tan Army soldiers, classic games such as Cootie, Yahtzee and Monopoly, and racks of greeting cards.

The aisles under the pressed tin ceiling hold health and beauty products, laundry soap, pot holders, candles, picture frames and party supplies. The back corner is home to an extensive yarn shop while the front half houses womens clothing from popular lines like Woolrich, Tribal and Yest.

Need a stocking cap or sweatshirt to show your support of River Valley High School or maybe a pair of swim goggles and a few sand toys? Its all here, packed into a 3,500-square-foot space that is a retail anomaly.

Ninas Department & Variety Store should have closed years ago just like virtually every other family-owned department store in the state. Instead, Ninas is a staple for the locals of Spring Green and a regular stop for the tourists who come to this village to take in a performance at American Players Theatre, browse Arcadia Books, tour Taliesin or camp at nearby Governor Dodge State Park.

Were a working store. There are, what they call, country stores, which look like an old-fashioned store but really its a tourist trap. You go in there and you cant find anything basic that you need, said Joel Marcus, the fourth generation of his family to own Ninas. With us, you come in and you find all these cool things but its still a real working variety store. All the basics for day-to-day living are here.

Small-town department stores arent yet extinct but theyre definitely endangered. Sheboygan Falls has Evans, an 18,500-square-foot store founded in 1936. Bradleys in Delavan was established in 1852 and has been in the same location since 1887, while the Tomah Cash Department Store opened in 1900 and has three floors and 30,000 square feet of merchandise.

Ninas is one of the oldest businesses in Spring Green. The Post House restaurant, founded in 1857, was destroyed by fire in 2004. The former State Bank of Spring Green building down the street is a restaurant and the former Royal Blue Grocery building is home to Country Sampler, a quilt and sewing shop. Hottmanns mens clothing and Jo Ans, a womens clothing store, have also disappeared from the downtown retailing landscape.

Ninas has remained true. And on Saturday the store will celebrate 100 years of ownership by the Marcus family with music, refreshments, door prizes and historical displays in the front windows.

Shoe strings, socks, clothespins, silk flowers, irons, mens shirts and cookware are among the 52,000 items that will also help draw in the crowds.

This is not the same store that my great-grandfather purchased in 1916, Marcus said. The one constant is that were continually reinventing ourselves.

That philosophy helped the store survive the Great Depression and bankruptcy in the 1930s that shuttered his familys three other stores in southwestern Wisconsin. Frank Lloyd Wright was a customer for years and in the 1960s many referred to Ninas as a dime store but the Marcus family worked to change its image back to a department store. When Walmarts were constructed in Dodgeville and Richland Center in the 1980s, the store adjusted and, unlike many other small retailers of the time, was able to retain many of its customers.

In its early days, Ninas sold groceries, work clothes for farmers and even furniture. Beginning in the mid-1930s, the store was called The Economy Store as a way to better market itself in the dire economy of the time.

Ninas is housed in a building constructed in 1911 by B.L. and I. W. Cohen who had come to Spring Green in 1905 to open a general store. The brothers had a disagreement and in 1916 sold the business and the building to Harris Marcus who had emigrated from Russia in 1884. He first arrived in New York, went to Chicago and ended up at the home of cousin, Max Marcus, who operated a store in Columbus north of Madison but had no work for him in the store.

But cousin Max set up Harris with a pack filled with sewing supplies and folds of fabric to peddle to farm women in the Wisconsin River Valley, a job he would do for nearly nine years.

As he sold he was able to amass money to buy a horse and saddle bags to sell and carry more merchandise and eventually buy a wagon so that he could carry all kinds of merchandise out to the rural areas, Joel Marcus said. By 1893 he was able to open his first small store in Muscoda. Its really an American success story.

The store closed in 1886 and Harris Marcus went back to peddling. Less than a year later, however, he opened another store in Muscoda that by 1912 had grown to a 15,000-square-foot department store. Branch stores followed in Boscobel, Viola and, in 1916, downtown Spring Green under the name of Harris Marcus & Sons.

In 1946, more than 10 years after the Muscoda, Boscobel and Viola stores had closed, the Spring Green store was renamed Ninas Inc., after Sam Marcus wife. When Sam died in 1946, George Marcus took over the family business until his death in 1978. Thats when Joel Marcus, a UW-Madison graduate, returned from law school in St. Paul, Minnesota, with the intention of closing the store.

I just couldnt bring myself to do it, Joel Marcus said. It was just the attraction of it being in the family and the history and what the store meant to the community. Theres no shortage of lawyers out there but there are very few people doing what I do at the store.

But Marcus, 63, doesnt do it alone. He has three part-time employees and his wife, Judy Swartz Marcus, whom he met through a yarn salesman. Marcus aunt owned the Knitting Tree in Madison and Swartz was working at a yarn store in Chicago. The rep thought the two might make a good couple.

A blind date was had in 1998 and Joel and Judy married in 1999. Joel now has a partner for life and Ninas a spectacular yarn selection that includes cotton, wool and silk, and knitting books written by Swartz Marcus, who managed a yarn store in Chicago for 13 years and has a strong background in textiles. When she first arrived, the sparse yarn department was located across from mens underwear. Its now in the former shoe department in the back of the store.

I had always eyed this little alcove so when shoes were done, I moved in and expanded it, said Swartz Marcus, 62, who grew up in Madison. When I came here the yarn selection was very minimal, like a dish cloth cotton and basic acrylic but I didnt want to alienate the local people. We depend a lot on tourism but we dont want to be a tourist store. We want a balance between what weve always been to the local people and attracting tourists. No customer is left behind.

Sales peak in December but August is a strong second thanks to the tourists and the many items made in America or not typically found in big-box retailers. They include socks from Vermont and handbags from Colorado.

In 2002, as the store was undergoing a $40,000 renovation, Judy and Joel changed the name of the store from Ninas Inc. to Ninas Department & Variety Store to help visitors recognize the stores mission.

We love the business, Joel Marcus said.

Its fun to come to work every day and I like it because of the creative aspect to it. Im a big critic of the way retail has gone in recent years and this is my opportunity to sort of show how retail should be.
North Korea is selling off fishing rights to China to the tune of US$30 million as its sources of hard currency dry up due to sanctions, the National Intelligence Service said last Friday.

The North granted fishing rights to 1,500 Chinese trawlers, three times as many as in recent years.

Chinese fishing boats then often cross over into South Korean or neutral waters but escape back to the North as soon as South Korean patrols give chase.

The NIS said there is growing discontent among North Korean fishermen that fish stocks are being depleted by reckless overfishing and pollution gets worse.

The North's exports of coal and arms have dwindled drastically due to international sanctions in the wake of its latest nuclear test, leaving the regime to cast around desperately for anything else it can still sell off.

To avoid sanctions, the regime has tried to boost production at home while using different flags of convenience for ships, the NIS added.

The spy agency warned financial sanctions are still too easy to bypass.






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Three Chinese units approach operation

04 July 2016

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Three new nuclear power reactors in China have recently reached significant milestones toward their operation. First criticality has been achieved at Fuqing 3 and Fangchenggang 2 - both CPR-1000s - while cold hydrostatic tests have been completed at the Haiyang 1 AP1000.

Fuqing 3's control room (Image: CNNC)

Unit 3 of the Fuqing plant in China's Fujian province achieved a sustained chain reaction for the first time on 3 July.

China National Nuclear Corporation's (CNNC's) Fuqing plant will eventually house six Chinese-designed PWRs, the first four being 1087 MWe CPR-1000 pressurized water reactors. Unit 1 started up in July 2014, was connected to the grid the following month and entered commercial operation in November. Unit 2 achieved first criticality in July 2015 and entered commercial operation last October.

Ground was broken in June 2009 for Fuqing unit 3 and 4. Containment pressure tests were successfully completed at unit 3 last August. The loading of all 157 fuel assemblies into the reactor core of Fuqing 3 was completed on 4 April. Unit 3 is expected to begin operating later this year following the completion of a series of commissioning tests, while unit 4 is scheduled to start up in 2017.

China's State Council gave final approval for construction of Fuqing units 5 and 6 in mid-April. First concrete was poured for the fifth unit in May 2015, while that for unit 6 was poured in December. These will be demonstration indigenously-designed Hualong One reactors.

The Fuqing nuclear power plant project is owned by CNNC subsidiary China Nuclear Power Company (51%); Huadian Fuxin Energy Company (39%); and Fujian Investment and Development Group (10%).

Fangchenggang 2 first criticality

Unit 2 of China General Nuclear's (CGN's) Fangchenggang plant in Guangxi province also recently achieved first criticality. The CPR-1000 first achieved a sustained chain reaction at 1.48pm on 28 June in a test that lasted just over 17-and-a-half hours.

Fangchenggang is located near Hongsha village in the Guangxi Autonomous Region, about 45 kilometres from the border with Vietnam. A total of six large pressurized water reactors are planned to operate there. Units 1 and 2 are both CPR-1000s, units 3 and 4 will feature Hualong One reactors, and units 5 and 6 are to be AP1000s.

Construction of the first two units at the Fangchenggang plant began in July 2010. Unit 1 was connected to the grid last October. The loading of fuel assemblies into the core of unit 2 was completed on 24 May. The reactor is scheduled to enter commercial operation by the end of this year.

Construction of Fangchenggang 3 began in December 2015, while construction of unit 4 is scheduled to begin later this year. These two units are expected to start up in 2019 and 2020, respectively.

The plant is 39% owned by Guangxi Investment Group and 61% owned by CGN.

Haiyang 1 hydro tests

Cold hydrostatic tests of the primary circuit were successfully completed at unit 1 of the Haiyang plant in Shandong province on 2 July.

Workers celebrate the completion of hydro tests at Haiyang 1 (Image: CNECC)

The tests, which involve increasing the pressure within the primary circuit to 21.6 MPa and maintaining it at that level for 11 minutes, aim to confirm the integrity and sealing of the circuit's components.

Similar tests at unit 1 of the Sanmen plant in Zhejiang province were completed on 25 May. Sanmen 1 is expected to be the first Westinghouse AP1000 to begin operating, in September, while Haiyang 1 is expected to begin operating by the end of the year.

Four AP1000 reactors are being built in the USA - two each at Vogtle and Summer - while three AP1000s are also proposed for the Moorside site in the UK.

Westinghouse senior vice president for new plants and major projects Jeff Benjamin said, "Our projects around the world are building momentum for the AP1000 plant program with scalable and repeatable processes that offer an efficient, standard delivery platform for the growing AP1000 plant fleet. Successful tests like cold hydro at both Haiyang and Sanmen, as well as the recent module placement at our US site at Plant Vogtle, add a level of predictability in plant construction, commissioning and start-up for customers."

Researched and written

by World Nuclear News

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IAEA team applauds Poland's progress with nuclear program

04 July 2016

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Poland is "taking all the necessary measures" to ensure its nuclear power program meets the highest standards of safety and security and best international practice, Jozef Sobolewski, director of the nuclear energy department of the country's Ministry of Energy, has said. Sobolewski's comments followed the conclusion of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that Poland has implemented all the recommendations and suggestions of a 2013 Integrated Nuclear Infrastructure Review (INIR) mission.

Poland is highly dependent on coal, which provides about 80% of the country's electricity generation. In 2009, the government decided to launch a nuclear power program with about 3000 MWe capacity as a first step, to help diversify the country's energy resources and limit their impact on the environment. Two potential sites are under consideration for the planned nuclear power plant - Lubiatowo-Kopalino and Zarnowiec.

The Vienna-based agency said on 1 July that the INIR team had found Poland is "already implementing many of the actions that are expected for the next phase of developing its nuclear power program".

The team, made up of IAEA and international experts, conducted an INIR follow-up mission between 21 and 23 June to assess Poland's progress in its infrastructure development activities. The 2013 INIR mission had provided five recommendations and six suggestions for concluding Phase 1 of nuclear infrastructure development, as specified in the IAEA Milestones approach.

According to the IAEA statement, Sobolewski said: "We believe that implementing the program in an open and transparent manner is essential for building trust in our society and the international community. We are actively preparing for the next phase of the program and are considering inviting an INIR Phase 2 mission in 2017."

The INIR team noted that Poland's Council of Ministers had adopted the updated Polish Nuclear Power Program in 2014, which shows Poland's commitment to safety, security and non-proliferation and also includes policies on radiological protection, energy security and waste management. Poland has also "facilitated and strengthened the coordination among the main actors", which are the Ministry of Energy, the regulatory body and the future owner/operator, PGE Polska Grupa Energetyczna S.A., "with due respect to the regulatory body's independence," the team added.

The country has "invested efforts and financial resources" in human resource development, training and equipment purchase "to identify the needs of the main stakeholders and to strengthen emergency preparedness and response", it said.

Poland has also "enhanced its mechanisms so that all entities dedicated to safeguards and handling of nuclear materials understand their obligations under the comprehensive safeguards agreement and the additional protocol", it added.

In addition, a revision of the Atomic Law, addressing security and non-proliferation issues, has been submitted to the parliament.

Leading the INIR mission team, Jose Bastos, from the IAEA's Nuclear Infrastructure Development Section, confirmed that IAEA will continue to assist Poland in developing its nuclear power infrastructure.

Researched and written

by World Nuclear News

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Hudson thanks everyone as the film finishes production

Kate Hudson has been busy keeping Instagram fans entertained and filming Marshall, where she was cast to play Eleanor Strubing. She recently took to social media to thank everyone involved in the film.

She added an image and caption of herself via Instagram, saying, Thats a wrap on Marshall What a great time we all had making this film! @joshgad @chadwickboseman @sterlingkb1 @thedanstevens @reggiehudlin Thank you buffalo for being gracious and lovely! Till next time #MarshallTheMovie.

Marshall is directed by Reginald Hudlin and written by Michael and Jacob Koskoff. The movie follows the appointment of Thurgood Marshall, the first black American Supreme Court Justice judge and one of his first cases as such.

Hudlin recently joked about the warm bread, which was in constant supply at the location of where the movie was shot. He said, Youve ruined it for every other place we go to, because you have warm bread. Gad said he gained a lot of weight from the delicious chicken wings, adding,, Were here for five weeks, but because of your chicken wings, my character puts on an average of five pounds a day.

Most of the movie was shot in New York. The stars got together to thank the city and New Yorks Governor Andrew Cuomo for making their stay warm and welcoming. They spoke about the remarkable preservation of the court room set and, of course, the delicious food.

Along with 37-year-old Kate Hudson, the movie stars Chadwick Boseman and Josh Gad. There is yet no release date scheduled.
Caplan wants a big family, but cares for her puppy like a child

Known for her role in Now You See Me: The Second Act, Lizzy Caplan told You magazine she wants to get married and have a big family. The 34-year-old actress is dating Tom Riley and the two live together in London for six months of the year.

She said, I would [like to get married]. Im a bit old-fashioned that way. I can see why in this day and age a lot of marriages end in divorce, but I think theres no more romantic a notion than swinging the bat and saying, Its going to be different for me. It does take guts and a lot of work, but even if you fail. I think theres something noble in the attempt. I was lucky in that my parents have been married for 25 years and it was a healthy relationship.

She continued, [I have] always wanted a big family, but I dont know how realistic that would be.

Although she wants a large family and to marry someday, the actress also feels she might be getting too old for it to happen.

She explained, If I could have four kids, I would be very happy, but Im getting a little old for four now. That said, I have a new puppy and I put a lot of maternal energy into that poo dog, so for now, Im good.

While she currently pours her maternal love into her new puppy, she still seeks advice from those who are in long-term relationships.

Whenever I meet anybody in a long-term relationship, I ask them what their secret is. It seems to be: just genuinely like the other person, because all the other stuff ebbs and flows, the actress added.
Pine: I'm really into interior design and architecture

Chris Pine, the 35-year-old Star Trek actor, loves the intricate details of how clothes are made and feels people in his local surroundings do not take enough time to look good. He does, however, acknowledge needing some polish himself regarding the matter.

He told Sunday Style magazine: I almost have a very visual OCD. Just like I love interior design, I love clothes and really get into the structure and the craftsmanship of them. In California, fashion tends to be very casual  probably because everybody is stuck in their cars and no one cares.

He continued: Itd be nice if people spent some time trying to look good. I do the same thing, though  put on some jeans, Havaianas and a T-shirt, and Im done. I do like to get back to the 1950s basics of a good T-shirt and jeans. Im usually barefoot and not wearing anything at my house anyway.

Not only does Pine love clothes, he has a passion for design which includes working on home improvement projects.

I love design. Im really into interior design and architecture and furniture. If I had any patience whatsoever for furniture making, Id probably get into that. But I dont. I do love creating spaces, though. Having bought a home five or six years ago now, and working on it constantly, there is a great joy for me in working on a canvas that big; its sole effect being to look good and make you feel good.

With that on the record, the actor also leaves time for other activities and does not let these passions consume him.
A young man wanted to make a point about racism in the United States, but his plan backfired when he was exposed for a liar by police. 20-year-old Khalil Cavil of Texas was working at the Saltgrass Steak House in Odessa when he claimed he was discriminated against because of his Muslim name. Cavil took
Chicken (illustration)

By: Feng Qian

A teenager in Kenya, was rushed to a hospital after cutting off his private parts because he wanted to lead a righteous life, according to police in Kenya.

18-year-old Timothy Ofwaya of Navakholo, cut off his manhood because it disturbed him.

After cutting off his manhood, a chicken grabbed and ate it.

Ofwaya was rushed to the Bushiri Health Centre, where he was treated. Joel Kuyo, who is a doctor at the Bushiri health Centre, said that he did the first part of the treatment.

Ofwaya was then transferred to Kakamega County General Hospital, for further treatment. Ofwaya remains under 24 hour observation as doctors fear he might hurt himself,

Ofwaya told doctors that his manhood used to bother him and that is why he decided to cut it off. He believed that his manhood was the reason why women rejected him all the time.

He admitted to using a razor blade to cut off his manhood. The fate of chicken that consumed the manhood is unknown.
Gun (illustration)

By: Mahesh Sarin

(Scroll down for video) A little boy whose parents were visiting an acquaintance, found a gun in the home and shot himself in the head, according to police in Tennessee.

Clarksville police said that they have launched an investigation after the 3-year-old boy shot himself in the head with the gun he found at the home on Friday around 5:30 p.m.

Clarksville fire crews and police responded to the home located on Samantha Lane, where they found the boy with a gunshot wound to the head.

He was transported to the Tennova Medical Center, where he died of his wounds. The child and his parents do not live in the house.

Police said that they were visiting from Fort Riley, Kansas, and the gun belonged to the homeowner. So far, no charges have been filed.
Edward Acquisto

By: Tanya Malhotra

(Scroll down for video) An elderly man was shot dead while visiting a cemetery after asking another man to pay back a church loan, according to police in Rhode Island.

Tiverton police said that 81-year-old John Cloud approached 80-year-old Edward Acquisto, as he was in the Pocasset Hill Cemetery.

The two began to discuss the loan Acquisto took out from a church in Kingston, Massachusetts. Acquisto did not make any payments to the church for the past five years.

At some point during the argument, Acquisto pulled out a gun and shot Cloud. Cloud was pronounced dead at the scene. A short time later, police began to pursue Acquisto, who was driving a car.

Acquisto led police on a high-speed chase before being shot dead by officers. Acquisto had a violent criminal record. He was charged with manslaughter and sexual assault many years ago.
Official politics is in disarray in Australia, with neither the governing Liberal-National Party Coalition nor the opposition Labor Party yet able to claim victory in the July 2 double dissolution election for all seats in both houses of parliament. When vote counting stopped on Saturday night, at least 13 of the 150 seats in the lower house were too close to call.

The Australian Electoral Commission is indicating that the Coalition has so far secured just 64 seats and Labor 69, with 76 needed to form government. One Green, two so-called independents and up to three right-wing populists appear likely to hold as many as six crossbench seats and be the kingmakers in a possible hung parliament.

With millions of postal and pre-poll votes still to be counted, a result may not be known for two weeks. The result for the upper house, the Senate, could take a month to be finalised. It is clear, however, that neither of the major parties will control the Senate, with the balance of power to be held by the Greens and other parties.

The outcome is an unmitigated disaster for Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, who became Liberal leader last September through the factional ousting of Tony Abbott. Turnbull called the double dissolution election with the objective of securing a majority in both houses. Instead, he faces the prospect of trying to form a minority government, or losing office altogether.

The 2016 election marks a definite turning point in the crisis that has wracked the Australian political establishment over the past nine years. Masses of people, after decades of falling living standards under both Labor and Coalition governments, are deeply alienated from, and hostile toward, the longstanding two-party system.

In 2007, the Coalition lost government in a landslide to Labor. John Howard became the first prime minister since 1929 to lose his seat. The 2010 election, which was called by Julia Gillard following an unprecedented political coup inside the Labor Party to oust Kevin Rudd as prime minister, resulted in a debacle for Labor and the first minority government since 1941. In 2013, the Greens-backed Labor government was thrown from office, with Labor recording its lowest vote in 110 years.

Now, not even three years later, the Coalition has suffered a shipwreck. If Turnbull does lose power, the position of Australian prime minister will have changed six times in just six years and the Coalition government will be the first not to win a second term since 1931.

The historic dimensions of the breakdown of the two-party system are expressed sharply in the underlying slump in Labors primary voteits share of the national vote slightly increased from its 2013 low but is still the second lowest on record.

Voters turned in unprecedented numbers to so-called minor parties and independents, which polled 13 percent of the national vote in the lower house and 26 percent in the Senate. Deputy Labor leader Tania Plibersek bluntly admitted this morning: We dont have two parties anymore; weve got a plethora of choices out there.

Virtually the entire Australian establishment, most prominently the Murdoch-owned newspapers, the financial press and business associations, advocated and confidently predicted the election of a majority Coalition government. Instead, large numbers of people who are enduring stagnant or falling incomes, insecure work or unemployment, uncertain retirements and deteriorating social services, cast a protest vote in despair against the entire political setup.

The parallels with the presidential primaries in the United States and the recent Brexit referendum in the United Kingdom are striking. A massive disconnect exists between the ruling class and masses of ordinary working people, fuelled by a widening social gulf between rich and poor.

As with the support won by Donald Trump in the US and the Leave campaign in the UK, the primary beneficiaries, at this stage, have been reactionary, anti-immigrant nationalist forces. The chief political responsibility for the emergence of these dangerous right-wing formations lies with the Labor Party and trade unions, which have also whipped up xenophobia against foreign workers and investment, and created the social crisis which various demagogues are utilising.

In South Australia, the state-based populist Nick Xenophon Team won over 20 percent of the vote, at least three Senate seats and possibly two lower house seats. In Queensland, the anti-immigrant One Nation won over 9 percent of the Senate vote, propelling its leader, Pauline Hanson, into the upper house. One Nation appears likely to win Senate seats in other states as well. In Victoria, media shock-jock Derryn Hinch has been elected into the Senate. In Tasmania, former intelligence official and whistle-blower Andrew Wilkie was re-elected into the lower house and the right-wing populist Jacqui Lambie held her Senate seat.

The Coalition was repudiated most strongly in the outer working-class suburbs of the major cities and regional towns, which have been devastated by decades of economic restructuring and now face even worse conditions as Australia slides toward its first recession in 25 years. The Labor Partys populist campaign of accusing the Coalition of planning to privatise the public health insurance scheme, Medicare, had a definite impact on sections of workers and retirees, even though Labor governments have also systematically eroded the public health system. On this dishonest basis, Labor was able to claw back a number of lower house working-class and regional seats.

The election is a major blow to the Greens and their new leader Richard Di Natale. The Greens did not win any additional seats in either the lower or upper houses, and polled less than 10 percent nationally. The result serves to consolidate the Greens as the party of privileged layers of the middle class in the inner suburbs of the major cities, with little support in the working class.

Bitter recriminations against Turnbull are now tearing through the Liberal Party. Leading right-wing commentators are calling for his resignation and there is rampant speculation that he will face a leadership challenge from Abbott. A split in the Liberals cannot be ruled out. There are growing numbers of calls in the media for a new election to be held.

With the conservative parties in turmoil, Labor leader Bill Shorten has insisted that a new election should not be called. Instead, Labor will do everything we can to make this parliament work. Labor powerbrokers have gone public with demands that no challenge to Shortens leadership be launched within the party.

Both Turnbull and Shorten have made approaches to the crossbench members with a view to forming a minority government. The possibility of such a government, however, with one of the major parties beholden to the parochial whims of independents or Xenophon Team candidates, is viewed with horror in financial and business circles. In the face of the deteriorating economic situation internationally and the collapse of Australias mining export boom, incessant demands are being made for savage cutbacks to public spending in order to finance corporate tax cuts and reduce the budget deficit, and for sweeping cuts to wages and working conditions.

While it has not found overt expression, the American ruling class, which relies on Australia as a key ally in its ever-more bellicose drive toward a military confrontation with China, particularly in the South China Sea, will be no less dismayed by the outcome. Behind-the-scenes, Washington will undoubtedly try to use its influence to engineer an outcome to ensure Canberra remains a reliable military partner.

A sense of bewilderment and rage pervades the corporate media over the election outcome.

Todays Australian Financial Review editorial stated: The 2016 election confirms the Australian political systems failure to reach a workable consensus on how to deal with the end of Australias China mining boom. this will impose significant costs such as through the likely loss of the nations AAA sovereign credit rating. The editorial concluded: Without change, it will likely take an imposed crisis to force the system to deal with the national challenges Australia cannot ultimately avoid [emphasis added].

An imposed crisis could range from a financial crisis triggered by an exodus of international capital, or the fabrication of a national security emergency, to a sharp escalation of US and Australian military tensions with China.

Pointing in the direction to which the establishment parties may well be pressured by economic or political shocks, the Australian editorial today asserted: At a time when we could well do with a government of national unity we are confronted by a fractious and palpable inability to govern.

The Labor Party would have to play the primary role in any such national unity regime, repudiating all its populist promises and working with the conservatives to ride roughshod over the opposition of masses of people to the agenda of austerity, economic restructuring and militarism being demanded by the financial and corporate elite.

However the political impasse is worked out over the coming days and weeks, Australian capitalism has descended into a historic crisis that will lead to unprecedented social and class conflict. The election campaign conducted by the Socialist Equality Party, in laying down the socialist and international perspective and program that the working class needs in order to fight for its independent interests, will prove crucial in the period ahead.
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton was interviewed at Federal Bureau of Investigation headquarters in Washington on Saturday, taking questions on her use of a private email server while she was secretary of state in the Obama administration from 2009 to 2013.

Clinton was accompanied by no less than five lawyers for interrogation, lasting more than three hours, by a team of FBI agents. Her principal attorney, David E. Kendall, from the law firm of Williams & Connolly, brought two associates, Katherine Turner and Amy Saharia. Clinton brought two longtime aides who are attorneys, Cheryl D. Mills and Heather Samuelson.

Neither the Clinton campaign nor the FBI would give any details of the interview. She is pleased to have had the opportunity to assist the Department of Justice, a Clinton spokesman said. Out of respect for the investigative process, she will not comment further on her interview. The FBI has said nothing at all publicly.

FBI sources who spoke to the media on the condition that they would not be identified said the Clinton interview was the final stage of the investigative process and that a decision on whether criminal charges should be filed against Clinton or anyone else should be forthcoming shortly, almost certainly before the Republican and Democratic presidential nominating conventions. The Republican convention opens July 18 in Cleveland, followed a week later by the Democratic convention in Philadelphia.

Most media and legal analysts consider an indictment of Clinton this month highly unlikely because her use of a private email server, while likely a breach of State Department rules, is not a violation of any existing law. Legal charges would have to be related to mishandling of classified information, either deliberate or through gross negligence, but this requires proving Clintons intent, a difficult hurdle.

None of the emails sent to Clintons private server were classified when they were sent, but at least 2,000 have since been ruled to contain sensitive or confidential information, the lowest level of classification, while several dozen were reclassified at various higher levels of secrecy. In some cases, these concerned State Department reviews of CIA plans to carry out drone missile strikes in Pakistan.

Given the complicity of the entire US government, up to and including the White House, in drone missile assassinations and other crimes against international and US law, President Obama, Vice President Biden, Clinton and other administration officials as well top-ranking members of the military-intelligence apparatus could all be subject to war crimes prosecution.

Needless to say, this is not the concern of the FBI investigation, or of the Republican Party spokesmen and right-wing media commentators calling for prosecution of Clinton. They are pointing to possible breaches of secrecy in concealing such crimes, not the underlying criminal actions themselves, in which officials of the previous Republican administration of George W. Bush were also complicit.

Any recommendation by the FBI task force for prosecution will go first to FBI Director James Comey, a Republican former official of the Bush Justice Department, and then to Attorney General Loretta Lynch.

After the political furor over her private meeting June 27 with former President Bill Clinton on the airport tarmac in Phoenix, Arizona, Lynch announced Friday that she would abide by the FBI recommendation, although she did not formally recuse herself from the review process, as demanded by Republicans.

Lynch has close personal ties to the Clintons, since she owes her first top-level appointment, as US attorney for the Eastern District of New York, to President Clinton in 1999. After leaving the post during the Bush administration, she was reappointed by President Obama in 2010, then elevated to attorney general in 2014, replacing Eric Holder.

The most serious legal jeopardy facing Clinton would be if she made false statements during the FBI interview Saturday. Hence the lineup of legal artillery on her side. The FBI task force will compare her statements with the testimony already taken from a series of aides, including Bryan Pagliano, the computer technician who actually set up the private server. He demanded and received legal immunity for his own testimony.

The Republican National Committee issued a statement late Saturday declaring that Hillary Clinton has just taken the unprecedented step of becoming the first major party presidential candidate to be interviewed by the FBI as part of a criminal investigation surrounding her reckless conduct.

The email investigation and surrounding media publicity have taken a political toll on the Democratic presidential candidate. A Quinnipiac University poll released June 29 found that Donald Trump, despite a mountain of lies and racist smears, was viewed as more honest and trustworthy than Hillary Clinton, by a margin of 45 percent to 37 percent. The candidates of the two major capitalist parties are the most unpopular politicians in recent US history, with Trump setting a record with 70 percent unfavorability and 56 percent strongly unfavorable.

Hillary Clinton spoke briefly about the email investigation with Chuck Todd of NBC News in a telephone interview broadcast on Sundays Meet the Press program. She did not go beyond previous rehearsed statements, declaring, I never received nor sent any material that was marked classified, and Ive released more than 55,000 pages of my emails for the public to read for themselves.

Asked about the private meeting between Bill Clinton and Attorney General Lynch, she claimed, I learned about it in the news. And it was a short, chance meeting at an airport tarmac. She conceded that the meeting should not have taken place, adding that no one wants to see any untoward conclusions drawn, and they said they would not do it again.

During the post-Watergate era, an investigation into an official as high-ranking as secretary of state would automatically have been referred to a special prosecutor rather than being conducted through regular FBI and Justice Department channels. After the abuse of the special prosecutor process in the late 1990s, when it was used to pave the way for the impeachment and attempted ouster of Bill Clinton, Congress allowed the special prosecutor law to expire, and no attorney general since then has agreed to such an appointment.

With Lynchs declaration, under enormous political pressure, that she will not overrule an FBI recommendation, the police agency is essentially being given the power to torpedo the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee. An indictment, however unlikely, would presumably force Clinton to withdraw from the race.

Even if the FBI declines to act this month, the email investigation will remain on the shelf, available for useon the pretext of new evidenceagainst a candidate or even a President Hillary Clinton. This means a Hillary Clinton administration would be continuously shadowed by the prospect of criminal prosecution in the event that it came into conflict with the military-intelligence apparatus.
A hostage crisis that started last Friday night in the Bangladesh capital Dhaka ended in a bloodbath. On Saturday morning, Prime Minister Sheik Hasinas government ordered a full-scale military assault, involving commandos, into the restaurant, the Holey Artisan Bakery, where several gunmen had taken about three dozen people hostage.

Security forces claimed to have rescued 14 hostages. Twenty hostages, mainly foreigners, were reportedly killed by gunmen. Among them were nine Italians, seven Japanese, two Indians, one Bangladeshi and one US citizen. Six assailants were killed and one was captured in the raid, according to security officials.

The Awami League government launched this operation to bolster the power of the state apparatus and send clear signals to the US and other imperialist forces that it is firm on suppressing Islamist terror groups. In a televised statement, Hasina said: My government is determined to root out terrorism and militancy from Bangladesh. Her governments action demonstrated that it had no concern about the lives of the hostages.

Whoever the perpetrators of Dhaka hostage-taking were, their action is a heinous crime. As some survivors told the media, gunmen began killing hostages on Friday night. They were asked to recite verses from the Koran, the Islamic holy book. Those who could do so were spared. Others were killed in cold blood, mostly hacked to death.

The terrorist attack has played into the hands of Hasinas government and its security forces, which is strengthening its repressive measures against her political opponents and the working class and poor amid a growing radicalisation, particularly among garment workers.

Exploiting earlier terrorist attacks, the government already has conducted a countrywide crackdown, mobilising thousands of police and paramilitary officers, and arresting more than 14,000 people. Contrary to the governments claims to be targeting Islamic extremists, many of those arrested are alleged ordinary criminals, as well as members and supporters of opposition parties, including the Bangladesh National Party (BNP).

The restaurant attacked last Friday is less than 1.5 kilometres from many foreign diplomatic missions, including the US Embassy. Gulshan, where the cafe is located, is an exclusive enclave, home to diplomats and some of the Bangladeshi elite. James Moriarty, former US ambassador to Bangladesh, characterised the area as the epicentre of the entire country.

The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) reportedly claimed responsibility for the attack through Amaq, an ISIS media branch. But Bangladeshi and American officials have expressed doubts. The US State Department initially said the claim could not be confirmed and it was assessing information. US officials said the attack was more likely to have from Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS).

However, the Amaq site later published photographs apparently showing the inside of the cafe and some dead hostages while the siege was still going on. Although the authenticity of the photos has not been established, US officials shifted their focus to ISIS as the group behind the attack.

Bangladesh officials said all the perpetrators were from Bangladesh and part of a local Islamic group. National Police Chief Shahidul Hoque told the media: Five of them were listed as militants and law enforcers made several drives to arrest them.

ISIS and Al Qaeda have claimed a number of earlier attacks, mostly targeting secular bloggers and academics and religious minorities, such as Hindus, Christians, Buddhists and Sufi Muslims. But Hasinas government has repeatedly denied the presence of any groups with international connections. Instead, she has blamed the official opposition BNP and fundamentalist Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI). The police have blamed Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) and Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT) for such attacks.

Bangladesh has been convulsed by a deep political and social crisis as a result of the worsening global economic breakdown and the intensification of geo-political tensions. Faced with repeated struggles of workers in the garment sector, which accounts for 80 percent of the countrys exports, the government has brutally suppressed their strikes and protests.

The US State Department said President Barack Obama was briefed about the hostage crisis in Dhaka and was closely observing the developments. It said the US supports Prime Minister Hasina in her commitment to combat violent extremism in Bangladesh. Washington has concerns that any destabilisation of South Asia, including Bangladesh, would upset its strategic agenda in Asia, directed against China.

Because of the countrys strategic location, at the armpit of India, which is Washingtons main strategic partner in South Asia, and also its close proximity to China, Bangladesh is vital for the US in its pivot to Asia against Beijing. The US has been working to integrate Bangladesh closely into its preparations for war against China.

As a part of that agenda, the US has been pushing Hasinas government for closer collaboration in its war on terror by cracking down on Islamic extremist groups and allowing a greater US presence in Bangladesh. US will undoubtedly use Fridays attack to further its moves in that direction.

Islamist terrorism is the product of US-led wars in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan. The ISIS was nurtured by the US proxy war in Syria, which is seeking to oust the Assad government, and benefit from the flow of arms and money to various Islamic fundamentalist groups from the US and its Middle Eastern allies.

US military attacks in the Middle East and Afghanistan, including its drone attacks on civilians, including women and children, killing thousands of people, have provided fertile ground for Islamic extremists such as ISIS to recruit Muslim youth throughout the world, including in South Asia, and also for local Islamic extremist groups.

The Dhaka hostage incident underscores the fact that Bangladesh, like the rest of South Asia, has been increasingly embroiled in the global geo-political tensions, intensified in Asia by the US efforts to militarily encircle China and isolate it diplomatically.

Other world and regional powers have seized on the Dhaka hostage-taking to strengthen their ties with Bangladesh, pursuing their own strategic interests. Japan, the European Union, Britain, France, Germany and India all condemned the terrorist attack and pledged their support to the Hasina governments efforts to combat terrorism. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe sent Vice Foreign Minister Seiji Kihara, along with a team of terrorism experts, to Dhaka.
Multiple car-bomb explosions killed some 125 and injured 150 in Baghdad Saturday. Online media sites linked to Islamic State in Iraq and Syria claimed responsibility for the attacks, claiming they were directed against Shiites, regarded as apostates by the reactionary Sunni fundamentalist group.

The bombing, the latest in a string of major terror attacks, struck in the middle class neighborhood of Karrada, home to Shiites, Sunnis and many others. The bombs detonated just after midnight local time, when the streets were crowded with families breaking their daytime Ramadan fast. At least 25 of the dead were children.

The horrific atrocity comes on the heels of similar terrorist attacks in Istanbul, Bangladesh and Kabul, and an earlier attack in Baghdad by a knife-wielding assailant.

In a statement Sunday, the Obama administration vowed that the attacks will only strengthen US resolve to support Iraqi security forces.

The United States strongly condemns ISISs heinous terrorist attacks in Baghdad, a US National Security Council statement said. The NSC said that the administration would intensify our efforts to root out ISISs terrorist network and leaders.

The attack comes amid a general escalation of military operations against ISIS in Iraq, encompassing both Iraqi forces and the renewed American military intervention, launched by the Obama administration in the summer of 2014. Obama sent in US forces, three years after they were withdrawn, in response to the threatened destabilization of the US-backed government in Baghdad by the seizure of large areas of western and northern Iraq by Sunni insurgents.

Fresh from proclamations of victory over ISIS and liberation in Fallujah, the government of Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al Abadi is preparing for another offensive, against the northern city of Mosul, which is projected to last for months and displace at least 500,000 people. The bombing of Baghdad neighborhoods, just days after Abadis victory tour through Fallujah, is a humiliating blow to a government already in political turmoil.

Abadi visited the Karrada neighborhood on Sunday morning in a public display of sympathy that aroused anger from the bereaved population. Crowds gathered to denounce the prime minister as a thief and a dog, and security forces had to escort him from the area.

Sundays bombing is only the latest manifestation of the growing breakdown of the neocolonial government installed in power in Baghdad by the 2003 US invasion. The centralized nation-state structure of Iraq is a hollow shell, with most of the country controlled by ethnically-rooted factions. The sectarian tensions inflamed and manipulated by Washington for years are engulfing Iraq in a deepening civil war that threatens the very existence of the US-backed regime.

The intensification of the sectarian conflicts are fueling regional power struggles and threatening wider war in the Middle East. Shia militiamen with ties to the Iranian government have come into conflict with Iraqi security forces during the Fallujah campaign, prompting demands from Sunni leaders that all Shia formations be excluded from the Mosul offensive. Saudi representatives denounced Iran last week for destabilizing the Middle East, citing Tehrans backing for Shiite militias accused of atrocities, prompting denunciations from Baghdad, which claimed interference by Riyadh in Iraqi affairs.

Since 2014, two years of renewed US war in Iraq, waged under the fraudulent banner of the war on terrorism and war against ISIS, have only deepened the sectarian chaos. Baghdad itself is currently under military-police lockdown, a measure taken as much out of fear of the population as of terror attacks.

The Abadi government faces a spiraling political crisis. The governments assault on Fallujah has inflamed Sunni-Shia tensions amid reports of massacres by sectarian militias on both sides, and Abadis political reforms, aimed at tamping down sectarian divisions within the Baghdad government, have been blocked by political opponents in Iraqs judiciary. The Iraqi prime minister was met with jeers and stone throwing during a visit to the bombing site on Sunday.

Washington is preparing to prop up its client in Baghdad and reassert its dominance over the country with further deployments of US troops. American General Sean MacFarland said last week that he will deploy at least 400 additional troops in Iraq this fall, with or without presidential approval. The Pentagon is pressuring the Obama administration to authorize still more deployments before the end of 2016.

US military forces are being committed to an open-ended and continuously growing war in Iraq. American troop levels in Iraq are already well over the official cap avowed by the White House, with the officially acknowledged total at well over 5,000. Thousands of American soldiers and Marines, armed with heavy weaponry including artillery, tanks and Apache helicopters, are laying the framework for large-scale ground war in Iraq.

The Obama administration and Democratic Party establishment are, for political reasons, inclined to delay and downplay the escalation in Iraq until after the November elections, in an effort to disassociate themselves from wars that are hated by broad sections of the US population. At the same time, they are authorizing the Pentagon to create conditions in which further escalations in Iraq, Syria, and globally can be carried out next year, once the political hurdle of the election has passed.
Following the stabbing of a 13-year-old Israeli girl in the West Bank settlement of Kiryat Arba by a young Palestinian on Thursday, Benyamin Netanyahus coalition government moved swiftly to implement their now standard measures of collective punishment, in flagrant violation of international law.

At the same time, the government is using the attack to expand the settlements and incorporate Area Cwhich is under Israeli military controlinto Israel and in the process drive Palestinians living there from their homes. These measures have in turn provoked further attacks by the Palestinians in the West Bank and Israel and ever more strident demands for further repressive measures against the Palestinians by Israels right wing.

According to reports, 19-year-old Muhammad Tarayrah jumped the settlements security fence, entered the home of the teenager who was alone sleeping and stabbed her repeatedly. The US State Department later reported that the girl was an American citizen.

The settlements civilian defence guards, alerted by the security fences alarm, rushed to the scene and killed Tarayrah and wounded another guard who had already entered the house. The security forces arrested Tarayrahs father and other family members.

Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu cynically used the attack to call for world leaders to condemn the incident, saying, The entire world needs to condemn this murder, just as it condemned the terrorist attacks in Orlando and Brussels.

He and Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman immediately issued a joint statement revoking the work permits of the attackers extended family employed in the settlement. Israel set in motion the process for approving the demolition of the Tarayrah family home, and ordering the investigation of the entire family. A local government official said that all Palestinian workers had been stopped from working in Kiryat Arba.

As well as ordering the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) to lock down the Palestinian town of Bani Naim, home to Tarayrah and 21,000 Palestinians indefinitely, the Netanyahu government also imposed a lockdown on Hebron and the surrounding area, affecting 700,000 people, the largest such closure since the kidnapping and murder of three Jewish youths in the West Bank in 2014.

The IDF carried out detention raids in Bani Naiim and Hebron, as clashes broke out between Palestinian youths and the IDF, who fired rubber-coated steel bullets and tear gas in response. Two additional battalions have now been sent to reinforce the armys stranglehold over the area, with the emphasis on securing the roads.

The government announced that it would deduct the money paid monthly by the Palestinian Authority (PA) to the assailants and their families from tax proceeds it collects on behalf of the Palestinians, which could amount to tens of millions shekels a month. This is despite the fact that the PA has worked closely with Israel to police the Palestinian population.

Netanyahu announced that the government would allocate further funds to fortify the settlements in the West Bank, in addition to the $23 million previously announced. He also announced the reopening of a tender to build 42 housing units in Kiryat Arba, part of plans for new residential and industrial areas that have already been approved.

Moreover, the demolition of hundreds of buildings erected without permits by Palestinians in parts of the West Bank classified as Area C, starting with the area around Bani Naiim, is to be accelerated.

Israels Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan has also ordered the closure of a television station catering to Israels Palestinian citizens.

Other ministers are calling for additional measures, including the declaration of a state of emergency, the introduction of legislation to enable the expulsion of the assailants families and the cutting off of Internet and cellular access in the Hebron area.

This stabbing of the young teenager, like so many incidents that have led to the recent deaths of more than 220 Palestinians, 33 Israelis, two US citizens and an Eritrean, as well as the wounding of hundreds, is a tragedy for both communities. But it is symptomatic of the intolerable conditions facing the Palestinians.

Tarayrah came from an impoverished town whose economy has been devastated by Israels five-decades-long occupation of the West Bank and its restrictions on movement. With unemployment running at around 30 percent, many Palestinians returned to agriculture to eke out an existence under conditions where settlers attack their property, land and lives with impunity on an almost daily basis. This dovetails with Israels broader plans to depopulate villages near the settlements by scaring the Palestinians into leaving their land and thereby make room for the expansion of the settlements.

Tarayrah dropped out of school and was reportedly grief-stricken by the death of his 18-year-old cousin Yousef Walid Tarayrah, who was killed by Israeli security forces last March after allegedly carrying out a car-ramming attack on Israeli soldiers, lightly wounding four. On his Facebook page he had apparently praised 18-year-old Majd al-Khudour, who was killed after ramming her car into a bus stop near Kiryat Arba a week ago (although witnesses claim that the incident was probably an accident).

The nearby settlement of Kiryat Arba is home to some of Israels most fascistic forces. It was founded in 1968 by right-wing zealots, Moshe Levinger and Eliezer Waldman, on the eastern outskirts of Hebron. One of its most infamous residents was Baruch Goldstein, who in 1994 massacred 29 unarmed Palestinian worshippers and wounded 129 more, before being beaten to death by survivors of the massacre. He is buried opposite the towns park, named after Meir Kahane, who founded Kach, the now banned far-right political party, in a grave that became a site of pilgrimage for Jewish extremists.

Successive governments have for decades sponsored the growth of such fascistic elements as shock troops for their project of a Greater Israel that can only be achieved by the relentless repression and dispossession of the Palestinian people.

At the same time, the handful of Israeli families that control economic life in Israel demand ever more dictatorial forms of rule to enforce the social inequality that is the second highest within the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). According to Israels National Insurance Institutes 2015 report, more than 1.7 million were living in poverty in 2014, including about one in three children, a slight increase on 2013.

Tarayrahs desperate actionin effect, a suicide missionexpresses the dead end of both the Zionist and Palestinian perspective of a nation-state. Fatah, the dominant faction in the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO)whose perspective of a Palestinian state alongside Israel is embodied in the 1993 Oslo Accordsand the Palestinian Authority, has become integrated into the Washington-backed Israeli security apparatus. Hamas, Fatahs political opponent, is no less reactionary. Its aim of establishing an Islamic state in Palestine that would inevitably exclude non-Muslims provides no progressive way out of the present impasse.

At its heart, the tragedy unfolding today in Israel/Palestine represents the bitter legacy of a nationalist perspective, and the ideological confusion and political disorientation that prevents the working class from adopting an alternative to exploitation by their own ruling class and imperialism.

It is only through the unification of the Israeli and Palestinian working class along with their class brothers and sisters throughout the region, in a joint struggle to defend their common interests against capitalist exploitation and imperialist oppression and establish the United Socialist States of the Middle East, that the ever-escalating violence can be halted.
Iberia Parish Sheriff Louis Ackal, currently under federal investigation over prisoner abuse, allegedly made anti-Semitic remarks against one of the federal prosecutors and threatened to shoot him between the eyes. Ackals remarks are evidence that police forces in America serve as a breeding ground for far-right and fascistic politics.

According to The Advocate , court documents filed last week allege that Ackal called a prosecutor a sorry son-of-a-bitch Jew bastard and made remarks about shooting him between his g*******d Jewish eyes.

Ackal allegedly made these comments in secretly recorded private discussions. They are believed to have been in reference to Mark Blumberg, a Justice Department lawyer that had previously met with Ackal prior to his indictment. The court filing claims the recording of the conversations was made by an unsolicited informant who provided them to federal authorities.

He described a situation where a prosecutor told him, Im gonna put you in prison and allegedly proposed a deal in which the sheriff would provide investigators with information regarding the case. You know about these people. You can give them to us, Ackal said, quoting the federal prosecutor. I said the only thing Im gonna give youf*****g shoot you right between your g*******d Jewish-eyes-look-like-opossum bastard.

Prosecutors argued to the court that the comments represented threats in an appeal to impose tougher restrictions on Ackal pending a federal trial.

The sheriff is currently under investigation as part of a broader federal probe of inmate abuse and cover-ups at the Sheriffs Office. The investigation has already secured guilty pleas from nine deputies and implicates one of his top supervisors as well as a captain.

Ackal allegedly directed the beating of inmates, instructing deputies to take care of certain men. Inmates allegedly found themselves the victim of savage reprisal for as little as making improper comments toward deputies. The investigation focuses on a series of 2011 beatings that allegedly took place within the jail chapel, a spot chosen because there were no surveillance cameras.

In the most particularly revealing case, one inmate had allegedly been beaten with extreme prejudice for writing letters complaining of the deplorable conditions within the jail.

The insufferable conditions of American prisons have sparked recent unrest amongst the inmate population. Last month, prisoners at the Waupun prison in the Midwestern state of Wisconsin initiated a hunger strike in protest of the hellish conditions within the prison, particularly for those in solitary confinement.

In May, inmates at three different Alabama prisons launched a coordinated labor strike against deteriorating conditions and unfair labor practices. The Alabama prison strikers grievances included dangerous levels of overcrowding, filthy living conditions, lack of access to cleaning supplies, foul drinking water that smelled and tasted of chemicals, brutal reprisals from prison guards over minor offenses, and the contracting out of prison labor to private for-profit companies.

The US Justice Department filed a lawsuit against the Iberia Parish Sheriffs Office back in 1996before Ackal was sheriffover similar allegations of prisoner abuse. In this case, prison officials disciplined inmates by restraining them to a chair with straps and handcuffs or gagging them with duct tape. Inmates would often be left restrained for periods so long they were forced to urinate or defecate on themselves.

Louisiana sheriffs officers savagely beat 19-year-old youth suspected of murder

Jefferson Parish Sheriff Newell Normand told local news that he has asked the FBI to initiate a joint investigation into the savage beating of 19-year-old murder suspect Jerman Neveaux. The beating was captured on video and submitted to a local news station.

In an indication that a coverup of the incident is being prepared, Normand described the content of the video as full of unresolved questions. He claimed officers were simply trying to get Neveaux under control and get his gun. Neveaux has been accused of shooting and killing a sheriffs deputy last month.

Authorities claim Neveaux shot Detective David Michel three times after Michel tried to search him in the New Orleans suburb of Harvey. Law enforcement initiated a manhunt and later found him in a backyard. Officials beat the young man so severely that he required medical treatment for an orbital fracture, broken ribs and a broken jaw, as well as cuts and scrapes to his face.

His grandmother, Yvette Neveaux, told local news he weighed only 95 pounds, calling him a toothpick. She said her grandson had been staying with her as he tried to find a job.

Sheriffs officials described Neveaux as a cold-blooded murderer, claiming that he shot the deputy because he was on probation and was not supposed to be in possession of a firearm. He currently faces four charges: first degree murder, assault, battery on a police officer, and resisting arrest.

Louisiana state trooper body slams, seriously injures Chicago doctor over non-violent offense

A state trooper in the French Quarter of New Orleans body-slammed a man during an arrest on a Saturday night at 4 a.m. last month. Thirty-nine-year-old Michael Hoffman, a Chicago doctor, suffered multiple injuries, including a laceration on his side as well as serious bruising. His attorney, Steve London, claimed he was absolutely astounded by the state troopers indiscriminate use of force.

I cant see any reason why that was necessary, London told The Advocate. The mans a medical doctor. He doesnt travel in that type of circle where you all of a sudden have a physical confrontation with the police. He stated that the man had returned to Illinois for additional medical evaluation over an injury related to his chest compression. If you throw somebody on concrete like that and youre on top of them, can you imagine what it does to your chest?

The incident occurred when Hoffman refused to walk away from a verbal argument at the Beach on Bourbon bar in the French Quarter. Hoffman had placed a 911 phone call complaining that bartenders refused to return his debit card. Authorities claim the trooper was an off-duty officer who had been flagged down by bartenders to make Hoffman leave the premises.

The video shows the officer gruffly ordering Hoffman and his friend to take a walk. When they stop to try to reason with him, he suddenly grabs Hoffmans friend and throws him with all his weight into a row of garbage cans. He then pulls Hoffmans right arm behind him, pushes him inside a nearby restaurant, lifts him up into the air, then slams him on his stomach on to the concrete floor as hard as he can.

Louisiana State Police have stated that the State Trooper did not employ any excessive use of force whatsoever and refuse to open an internal investigation into the matter.

Despite numerous recent federal probes and empty reform initiatives in Louisiana and throughout the country, law enforcement continues to assume an arrogant and thuggish character. Rather than a last resort, police officers employ violence on a regular basis to suspects of major and minor offenses alike.
Two hundred and forty years ago today, representatives of the thirteen colonies that would form the United States of America signed the Declaration of Independence proclaiming their separation from the British Empire and monarchy. This action was, as the Declarations principal author, Thomas Jefferson, would write fifty years later, the signal of arousing men to burst [their] chains... [T]he mass of mankind has not been born with saddles on their backs, nor a favored few booted and spurred, ready to ride them legitimately, by the grace of God.

Before the American Revolution, society for nearly 2,000 years had been based on the aristocratic principle, the great chain of being, and the divine right of kings. The Revolution created a society in which hereditary titles of nobility were banned, monarchy outlawed and the separation of church and state established.

Explaining the transformation ushered in by the Revolution, the great historian Gordon Wood wrote:

One class did not overthrow another; the poor did not supplant the rich. But social relationshipsthe way people were connected one to anotherwere changed, and decisively so. By the early years of the nineteenth century the Revolution had created a society fundamentally different from the colonial society of the eighteenth century. It was in fact a new society unlike any that had ever existed anywhere in the world.

As Wood pointed out, the Revolution was the most radical and most far-reaching event in American history. It not only radically changed the personal and social relationships of people, including the position of women, but also destroyed aristocracy as it had been understood in the Western world for at least two millennia.

The fact that in the American colonies, a provincial backwater, conceptions of an extremely radical and advanced character, rooted in the Enlightenment, were not only embraced but for the first time put into practice was a remarkable achievement.

The American Revolution did not fall from the sky. The revolutionaries saw themselves as defending the social gains of the English Revolution of the seventeenth century. But the impact of the American Revolution went far beyond anything that had been achieved on the European continent.

The victory of the American Revolution provided the ideological and political impetus for the French Revolution and all subsequent democratic, egalitarian and socialist movements. Karl Marx hailed the American Revolution as having given the first impulse to the European revolution of the eighteenth century and the subsequent development of the working class socialist movement.

As with all great events in history, the Revolution was torn by contradictions. It was a bourgeois revolution and those who led it could not escape the social relations that prevailed at the time. Among the greatest of the contradictions was the fact that a substantial portion of the delegates to the Continental Congress who signed the Declaration proclaiming all men to be created equal came from colonies whose economies were based on slavery. Many of the greatest leaders of the Revolution were themselves slave-owners and were well aware of the conflict between the institution of slavery and the principles they professed. However, as Wood points out:

To focus, as we are today apt to do, on what the Revolution did not accomplishhighlighting and lamenting its failure to abolish slavery and change fundamentally the lot of womenis to miss the great significance of what it did accomplish; indeed, the Revolution made possible the anti-slavery and womens rights movements of the nineteenth century and in fact all our current egalitarian thinking.

The greatness of a revolution is expressed not merely in the problems it solves, but also in the new questions it raises. Anyone who would doubt the progressive and revolutionary implications of July 4, 1776 would do well to heed the words of one of its most eloquent defenders, the abolitionist Frederick Douglass, who, as an escaped slave, had no shortage of personal experience with oppression.

In a speech delivered on July 5, 1852 titled What to the Slave is the Fourth of July? Douglass told his audience that the signers of the Declaration of Independence were brave men. They were great men toogreat enough to give fame to a great age... The point from which I am compelled to view them is not, certainly, the most favorable; and yet I cannot contemplate their great deeds with less than admiration.

Douglass added, Now, take the Constitution according to its plain reading, and I defy the presentation of a single pro-slavery clause in it. On the other hand, it will be found to contain principles and purposes entirely hostile to the existence of slavery.

Slavery, Douglass argued, was an affront to the principles proclaimed in the Declaration of Independence, and the genuine application of these principles required the abolition of slavery. That contradiction would be resolved, at the cost of some 750,000 lives, in the Civil War, the Second American Revolution.

Douglass biting comment that the legacy of the American Revolution stands out the more as we contrast it with these degenerate times applies with equal force to the state of American society and politics today. The principles that animated the American revolutionaries are in contradiction to the subsequent social and political development of the United States, which has become the most unequal society in the developed worldan aristocracy in all but name.

This all-pervasive reaction has been accompanied by a growing and ever more brazen ideological assault on the legacy of 1776. The fad of denigrating the Revolution, championed by those whose lack of experience with any genuine social struggle is rivaled only by their total disregard for historical fact, is exemplified by an article published Friday by Vox.com columnist Dylan Matthews.

Matthews writes, This July 4, lets not mince words: American independence in 1776 was a monumental mistake. We should be mourning the fact that we left the United Kingdom, not cheering it. He declares that in comparison to the form of government that emerged from the Revolution, Monarchy is, perhaps paradoxically, the more democratic option.

He presents his apology for monarchy from the standpoint of identity politics, with its obsessive and false insistence that race, not class, is the fundamental category in history and politics, declaring, [t]he main benefit of the revolution to colonists was that it gave more political power to Americas white male minority.

Matthews argues, taking up the line of academics such as Simon Schama, that the British monarchy, not the American revolutionaries, was the true proponent of the liberation of the oppressed. In his Rough Crossings, Schama, an exponent of the efforts of reactionary historians to denigrate the American Revolution, declares that the revolution was first and foremost mobilized to protect slavery.

Both Schama and Matthews hail the efforts of the British Empire to recruit slaves to its cause, as if this tactic changed the counterrevolutionary aims of the British monarchy. (Schama, it should be noted, devoted another book to a venomous attack on the French Revolution.)

In his piece on Vox.com, Matthews claims that anger at the British efforts to mobilize slaves against the revolution ran so deep that Thomas Jefferson included it as a grievance in a draft of the Declaration of Independence. This is an example of the intellectual dishonesty that pervades such arguments. The quotation Matthew invokes, subsequently excised at the insistence of pro-slavery elements in the Continental Congress, is part of a scathing denunciation of chattel slavery. Jefferson wrote that King George:

... has waged cruel War against human Nature itself, violating its most sacred Rights of Life and Liberty in the Persons of a distant People who never offended him, captivating and carrying them into Slavery in another Hemisphere, or to incur miserable Death, in their Transportation thither He is now exciting those very People to rise in Arms among us, and to purchase their Liberty of which he has deprived them, by murdering the People upon whom he also obtruded them.

The reactionary denunciation of 1776 published in Vox is, predictably, endorsed with virtually identical arguments in an Op-Ed piece published today in The New York Times, titled Did a Fear of Slave Revolts Drive American Independence? Its author, Robert F. Parkinson, an assistant professor of history at the University of Binghamton, writes:

For more than two centuries, we have been reading the Declaration of Independence wrong. Or rather, weve been celebrating the Declaration as people in the 19th and 20th centuries have told us we should, but not the Declaration as Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin and John Adams wrote it. To them, separation from Britain was as much, if not more, about racial fear and exclusion as it was about inalienable rights.

According to Parkinson, a mood of demonic racism prevailed among the revolutionary colonialists, with Jefferson, Adams and Franklin doing everything in their power to whip up anti-Indian and anti-Black mobs. The assistant professor writes:

We like to excuse the founders from this, to give them a pass. After all, there is that bit about everyone being created equal in this, the most important text of American history and identity. [Italics added]

For Parkinson, the words that comprise what is arguably the most famous and politically significant phrase ever written in the English language  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  is merely that bit.

The efforts to discredit and denigrate the first American Revolution are, in essence, ideological justifications for ever-widening social inequality based on class exploitation.

The socialist movement has always embraced the American Revolution and its declaration of human equality. Changing what has to be changed, the principles that are elaborated in the Declaration of Independence, with its proclamation of the rights of man, form the ideological, political and moral bedrock of the conceptions that animate the socialist movement.

Two hundred and forty years later in the United States, an immense and complex land of 320 million people, the egalitarian principles of the American Revolution continue to resonate powerfully in the consciousness of broad masses of people.
Ahead of the first round of the British Conservative Party leadership contest Tuesday, support has firmed for the favoured candidate, Home Secretary Theresa May. Prime Minister David Cameron, who led the official Remain campaign that was defeated in the June 23 referendum on European Union membership, announced his resignation the next day pending the election of his successor. The leadership result, to be decided by some 150,000 Tory Party members, is to be announced on September 9, with the victor taking over as prime minister.

The leadership contest proceeds under conditions of a gathering economic crisis and rancorous divisions within the ruling elite over the referendum result and its implications. Although May officially supported the Remain campaign, she was quick to reassure the majority anti-EU constituency among Tory MPs and in the wider party that as prime minister, she would ensure a Brexit.

Launching her campaign last Thursday, May said, Brexit means Brexit. The campaign was fought, the vote was held, turnout was high and the country gave their verdict. There must be no attempts to remain inside the EU, no attempts to rejoin it through the back door and no second referendum.

May advances herself as the candidate of stability and renewed party unity. She declared that there would be no snap general election in the autumn or spring and that the government would serve out its full five-year term. This position was repeated by the other four leadership contenders: Michael Gove, Andrea Leadsom, Liam Fox and Stephen Crabb. Gove, Leadsom and Fox campaigned for Leave in the referendum, while Crabb campaigned for Remain.

The Financial Times indicated its support for May, editorialising, [S]he seems to have played the shrewdest hand of all. Her support for Remain during the campaign, while hardly vocal, commends her to the pro-Europeans. Her tough stance on immigration over the past six years means she will be supported by many on the Leave side.

Former London Mayor Boris Johnson had been widely seen as the likely replacement for Cameron as party leader and prime minister. He led the official Leave campaign alongside Gove. But Johnson was forced into a humiliating pullout after Gove stabbed him in the back by announcing his own candidacy and taking many of the former mayors backers with him.

Among the most eurosceptic wing of the party, Johnson was considered too unreliable to force through the terms on withdrawal from the EU demanded by the ruling class. He had been seen to backtrack on his former pledge to make strict immigration controls central to any deal reached with the EU. Gove, a cabinet member of long standing, is a far more hard-line eurosceptic.

The campaign to Get Boris was led by the right-wing Daily Mail and Sun tabloids, both ardent Leave supporters. The Mail is owned by the Rothermere family and the Sun by billionaire oligarch Rupert Murdoch.

The revolt was prepared last Wednesday, when Sarah Vine, Michael Goves wife and a Daily Mail columnist, accidentally sent an email intended for her husband and two advisers to a member of the public, who then circulated it to the media. The email advised Gove not to give unconditional support to Johnsons bid for leadership. It concluded with the devastating remark: Crucially, the [Tory] membership will not have the necessary reassurance to back Boris, neither will Dacre/Murdoch, who instinctively dislike Boris but trust your ability enough to support a Boris/Gove ticket.

The side-lining of Johnson was carried out after Johnson, just one day before, wrote in his Telegraph column, It is said that those who voted Leave were mainly driven by anxieties about immigration. I do not believe that is so.

This infuriated Murdoch. He was quoted by Ed Conway, economics editor of Sky News, as saying of the Brexit vote at a Times CEO summit Tuesday, I think its wonderful.  We made a momentous decision last Thurs.  Its a bit like a prison break

If [Boris] backtracks on serious things therell be another bloody revolt. Its time for change. I just hope the right people give the right leadership.

Another participant at the summit, Jenny Halpern Prince, the CEO of a public relations firm, quoted Murdoch as saying that if Gove became prime minister, he would do a fine job of running the country.

The Goves are friends of Mail proprietor Viscount Rothermere and have spent time at the billionaires homes in France and the West Country in England.

With Johnson dealt with, Murdochs Sun tabloid published a column last Friday by political editor Trevor Kavanagh outlining Murdochs position. Beginning, Thank goodness Boris Johnson pulled out of the raceits best for Britain, Kavanagh stated, Four days ago, I thought only an act of sabotage could stop Boris becoming our next PM. In his newspaper column that day he did the job himself by dismissing immigration as the driving force behind Brexit.

Kavanagh backed Goves move, stating, If the spoils of war go to the victor, Gove has the strongest claim. He added, His genuine contempt for the high-handed, undemocratic Brussels elite was formed then and has been confirmed ever since. Unlike Boris, the ultimate opportunist, he is a true believer.

However, such is the febrile atmosphere within the ruling elite that by the weekend, Goves campaign appeared to be stalling. Paul Goodman, editor of the grassroots Tory web site ConservativeHome, said of Gove, It is very difficult for him, as many Tory MPsrightly or wronglysee him as having lost the moral high ground.

On Friday, the Mail declared its support for May, on the proviso that she agreed to give Gove, as a Brexit backer, a critical role in her government. It praised May as somewhat reminiscent of Margaret Thatcher, with her political experience honed in the furnace of the Home Officewhich finished off many a lesser cabinet minister. The newspaper added that it is also hugely reassuring that May promises to put a campaigner for Out in charge of the negotiations for withdrawal. Which brings us to Michael Govesurely the ideal candidate for the job.

The contest is now shaping up to be between May and Leadsom. Some 30 MPs who had previously backed Johnson were said to be switching to Leadsom, who was a prominent speaker in favour of Leave.

Leadsom has insisted that the next Tory leader must be a Leave backer. In remarks directed against May, she said the next leader should not be someone who is reluctantly following the wishes of the people.

In a profile of Leadsom, the Telegraph said she had prime Thatcherite credentials. The newspaper added, It is no surprise that Tory grandees this week spent hours on the phone persuading her to stand. It noted, Before she became an MP, she was a banker who worked closely with the Bank of England, and so can offer certainty and understanding of the financial markets.

Leadsom has the backing of former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith. Another leading Tory Brexiter, Owen Paterson, also vouched for her, saying, The next prime minister has a crystal-clear mandate to bring us fully out of the EU and back onto the world stage where we belong.

Leadsom is also the popular choice amongst members of the UK Independence Party. One of her main backers is Aaron Banks, the multimillionaire co-chair of the Leave.eu group and bankroller of the UK Independence Party.
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25 years ago: African National Congress embraces power-sharing

The bourgeois nationalist leadership of the African National Congress took a sharp turn to the right at its national conference in Durban, South Africa on July 5, 1991, formally adopting a strategy based on the negotiation of a power-sharing agreement with the racist apartheid regime. The conference, the first since the organization was legalized by the South African state 17 months previously and the first full meeting inside South Africa in more than three decades, discarded all pretensions that the ANC represented a revolutionary movement seeking the overthrow of the apartheid regime through armed struggle.

The ANC elected its most conservative figures to the leadership of the organization. In addition to Mandelas election as president, Walter Sisulu, 79, was elected deputy president; Oliver Tambo, national chairman; Cyril Ramaphosa, 38, general secretary, and Jacob Zuma, 49, deputy secretary.

Ramaphosas election drew special attention and praise from the capitalist press worldwide. As the New York Times put it, Mr. Ramaphosa commands respect beyond the African National Congress, even in the mining corporations that have faced him across the negotiating table. They found him a shrewd opponent who struck a tough deal but kept his word once a bargain was made. In other words, he was seen by the imperialists and the white South African ruling class as a man with whom they could do business and who could be relied upon to help contain the revolutionary movement of the South African workers.

While supporters of apartheid in South Africa and right-wing elements within the imperialist bourgeoisie have denounced the ANC for its alleged domination by the South African Communist Party, the South African Stalinists proved themselves during the conference to be the most loyal supporters of the line of a negotiated settlement with the racist regime.

Among the most significant interventions at the conference was that of Nelson Mandela after his election as ANC president. He declared that the Congresss new policy would be that of seeing negotiations as  a terrain of struggle in which the ANC would act as  an equal partner with the apartheid regime of President F.W. de Klerk.

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50 years ago: CORE adopts black power slogan

On July 4, 1966, the 23rd annual convention of the Congress on Racial Equality (CORE) adjourned after adopting black power as its political slogan for the US civil rights movement. The convention also adopted resolutions opposing the US military intervention in Vietnam and offering support for draft resisters.

Newly elected CORE national director, Floyd B. McKissick, explained that the slogan of black power was being adopted because The black masses have not been elevated by the [anti-poverty] program. He described President Lyndon Johnson as a rattlesnake and denounced as Toms the more conservative civil rights organizations such as the NAACP. McKissick also invited members of the Nation of Islam to the conference, who attended dressed in military-style uniforms.

McKissick replaced CORE founder James Farmer, who retired as director March 1. Farmer successfully blocked earlier attempts to put CORE on record as opposing the war and demanding the withdrawal of US troops.

The turn to black nationalism by CORE followed the election of Stokely Carmichael to the leadership of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). Carmichael rejected the nonviolent pacifism of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and also advocated the slogan of black power. SNCC had gone on record in January calling for an end to the war in Vietnam.

Observers at the CORE convention noted a widespread feeling among delegates that the only ones benefiting from the sacrifices of the civil rights struggles were those being appointed to jobs in the new federal antipoverty agencies, not the mass of black working people. For all their radical rhetoric against the black political establishment, the black nationalists represented a rival middle-class faction that did not oppose the capitalist system. Rather, they split the working class and diverted militant black workers and youth into the blind alley of racial separatism.

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75 years ago: US miners abolish discriminatory wage differential

On July 6, 1941 the United Mine Workers compelled the Southern soft coal operators to eliminate the 40-cent wage differential between Northern and Southern miners after threatening to renew strike action. The victory represented a historic breakthrough and set an example for steel, textile and other Southern industrial workers who had similar wage differentials.

The 400,000 UMWA miners walked out on April 2. So powerful and united was their strike that the Northern operators capitulated after one week and granted pay raises of between 16 and 22 percent and the first-ever paid vacations in the industry. The 150,000 Southern miners, who produced 30 percent of the nations coal supply, continued their strike for another 28 days.

Finally, President Franklin Roosevelt intervened through the National Defense Mediation Board, as coal shortages began to hinder military production. UMWA President John L. Lewis denounced the mediation boards intervention, describing the process as one where they wire workers to go back to work and bust their strike and then come to Washington and mediate for the remnants of it ... this present stoppage will not be settled that way.

The Southern operators caved in and agreed to the same vacation and $7-a-day wage won by the Northern miners. For the first time, the UMWA extended its union shop agreement into Harlan County, Kentucky, where the notoriously antiunion Coal Operators Association had bloodily suppressed union struggles in the past. During the 28-day strike, four coal miners were murdered.

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100 years ago: Bloody fighting continues in the Battle of the Somme

This week in July 1916, heavy fighting continued in the Battle of the Somme, on the Western Front, with mass casualties on both sides. The British and French offensive against German positions in France made limited advances, including the capture of the strategically important villages of Hem and Hardecourt, amid a series of attacks and counterattacks. However, neither side could secure a decisive advantage, leading to months of fighting in one of the bloodiest slaughters of World War I.

Preparations for the Anglo-French offensive had been initiated in late 1915. The aim was to starve the German army of resources in a battle of attrition. These plans were disrupted by major French losses in the first half of 1916. The French military command demanded that the attack on German positions in the Somme be advanced from August 1 to July 1.

On June 24, Allied forces began a bombardment of German lines. On July 1, they launched the offensive, beginning with a barrage of artillery followed by an advance of soldiers and cavalry troops. The operation involved 750,000 Allied forces, overwhelmingly from Britain. The bombing, however, failed to destroy concrete bunkers and defensive lines established by the Germans.

On the first day of fighting, British casualties are estimated to have been 57,470, including almost 20,000 dead. From July 2 to 13 another 25,000 were killed or wounded. Between July 1 and July 10, Germany suffered some 40,000 casualties. Despite the catastrophic losses, the British and French military commands persisted with the offensive. Germany scaled back its operations in Verdun, to boost troop numbers at the Somme.

The offensive was finally called off in November, amid mounting concerns of unrest among the troops. By that time, Britain had recorded an estimated 481,842 casualties, France some 250,000, and Germany, 236,194.

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In this video, Socialist Equality Party US presidential candidate, Jerry White, and SEP candidate for West Virginias House of Delegates District 16, Naomi Spencer, speak with workers and young people in Huntington, West Virginia about the devastating floods and the class divide in America.

Socialist Equality Party candidates talk with West Virginians angered over lack of federal aid for flood victims
Aviary Fireworks Damage Aviary chef and co-owner Kat Whitehead stands in her renovated dining room with a photo of the fire caused by fireworks on the Fourth of July last year. IMAGE: Jarod Opperman. (Jarod Opperman)

You thought it was a victimless crime, a Portland rite of passage.

You drive across the Columbia River, fill your trunk with powerful fireworks that are legal in Washington, and then smuggle them back to Oregon to put on a show.

Erin Janssens says you must stop.

Portland's new fire chief is hell-bent on extinguishing illegal fireworks this Fourth of July.

"People want to have fun," she says. "They believe it to be patriotic in some way. But they're not recognizing that they really don't have control. I don't think they realize the impact on others."

Kat Whitehead and Jasper Shen know what Janssens means.

They spent last Fourth of July comforting their yellow Labrador, Daisy, who panicked so much at the explosions of neighborhood fireworks that she barked and tore around until she started to hyperventilate.

Eventually Whitehead went to bed, exhausted. Shen had collapsed on the couch in his boxers when his cellphone buzzed.

"Oh my God," the text message read. "I saw the fire trucks. Are you guys OK?"

Shen didnt understand the messageand then thought about Aviary, the Northeast Alberta Street restaurant he and Whitehead had opened five months earlier, already gaining a following for dishes such as crispy pig ears.

They dashed the 15 blocks to Aviary, where firefighters on top of the restaurant were throwing off glowing chunks of roof. Heat from the fire and four inches of sooty water from the sprinklers had turned the kitchen and dining room into a muggy swamp. It would take five months and $1 million to repair it.

"Water was pouring out of anything it could pour out of," Shen says. "It was nobody's faultexcept whoever threw the fireworks."

This isn't supposed to happen here. Since 1951, state law has banned most fireworks except in professional displays.

But fireworks are still exploding in Oregon: Not just bottle rockets and firecrackers, but Roman candles and mortars. As for cherry bombs or ash can M-80s, the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives classifies these as homemade explosive devices, and the Oregon Fire Marshal instructs local authorities to call the bomb squad.

The vendors who set up temporary shop in Oregon can sell only ground fireworks, like sparklers and fountains, that don't launch anything more than a foot in the air.

But Oregonians have a proud tradition of hauling illegal fireworks over the Columbia River from Washington, where they're legal and create a frantic seasonal border economy. In Clark County, vendors, including the fireworks superstore Blackjack, rake in at least $6 million in a single week.

Nationwide, the fireworks industry moves 200 million pounds a yearmost from Chinaworth $600 million. Despite the dangers, rules against fireworks are being rolled back across the United States. When cities try to tighten controlsas in Vancouver last weekthe plans often fizzle with howls of big-government meddling.

Janssens believes she can defy a half-century of history.

Portland's fire chief believes she can persuade Portlanders to stop setting off banned fireworksand, if people don't listen, make sure they get caught.

She thinks she can make the Fourth of July a silent night, except for city-sanctioned shows, and bring some civility back to your neighborhood. The new chief is behind the biggest public-service campaign ever aimed at warning people in the Portland area about fireworks.

She's already upended convention once this year. On June 5, she became the first female fire chief in the 159-year span of Portland Fire & Rescuea bureau that had just two other women firefighters when she joined in 1988.

If Janssens is going to douse illegal fireworks, however, she'll first need to extinguish a statewide culture.

"I am an optimist," Janssens says. "But I'm also tenacious."

Janssens became a firefighter on a dare. Growing up in Boring, she wanted to be a doctor or an architect. At age 20, she tried to convince a friend he should become a firefighter. "You think it would be so great," he told her, "why don't you do it?"

"I didn't know of women being in the fire service," Janssens says. "Everybody used the term 'fireman,' and that's where I began to really appreciate the power of language."

When she joined the Portland Fire Bureau in 1988, most of the fire stations didn't have women's restrooms, because they didn't have women. The unionfamously an old boys' networksued the city in 1994, accusing it of reverse discrimination in job promotions. The suit alleged Janssens' exam to become a lieutenant didn't weigh seniority fairly; the case was dismissed a year later.

Some firefighters are still rankled about Janssens' appointment as chiefCity Commissioner Randy Leonard, a former fire union boss, picked her over the rank and file's preferred choice.

"There's a lot of people who like her," says Jerry Alvarez, who recently retired from the Bureau. "There's a lot of people who don't. It's an authoritative thing."

But Leonard says he appointed Janssenswho most recently worked as the city's fire marshalbecause of how she had stepped up Portland Fire & Rescue's public-relations barrage against illegal fireworks. "Which I greatly appreciated," Leonard says, adding, "Firefighters dread the Fourth of July."

In their hatred of fireworks, Portland firefighters can sometimes sound like hyperbolic worrywarts. (Here's Bureau spokesman Paul Corah describing a sparkler: "The tip of it is 1,200 degrees. That's the same temperature as a blowtorch. Would you hand a kid a blowtorch?") But they have real evidence of destruction.

Last July 4, the Bureau responded to 40 fires, 19 of them caused by fireworks. That's down from the 10-year high mark in 2004, which saw 75 fires on July 455 caused by fireworks. But it's still more than three times as many fires in a single day as the 12 fires the Bureau sees in an average week.

For the week preceding the Fourth, fire patrols routinely witness amateur fireworks displays on nearly every corner, with staffing too stretched to cite them all. "It's like a mini-Vietnam," says Michael Silva, a senior inspector with Portland Fire & Rescue. "You can't be fast enough."

There's other collateral damage: wildfires. Traumatized war veterans forced to relive the sounds of combat. Injuries and frightened children and scared pets. (Multnomah County Animal Services sees a 25 percent spike in wandering dogs and cats on the week of July 4.)

Emails to the Bureau from citizens show a lot Portlanders have had enough, too.

"We have one neighbor on [Northeast] 28th between Tillamook and Hancock who shoots professional-level fireworks from his driveway, until midnight, with risk to cars and houses nearby," reads one. "He and his buddy, drinks in hand, light one after the other while their children run about and the entire scene feels like an accident waiting to happen. We have asked them, year after year, to please stopbut they refuse."

"My kids are up, and my dog is petrified, to the point that I need to sedate him," reads a complaint from Southeast 167th Avenue. "I have a simple question. Is Portland a city where laws are enforced?a

Aviary's owners now give a testimonial in a new fire and police training video about fireworks. "We don't want to be the annoying kids who are ruining everyone's fun," Whitehead tells WW. "I think until you've been impacted, you think it's not a big deal. But for us, it was huge."

The Aviary fire is a poster child for fireworks-caused blazes, but it's not alone.

On July 25, 2009, a firework landed in the landscaping outside Four Seasons Beauty Supply at Southeast 122nd Avenue and Powell Boulevard. The salon burst into flames and began to explode. "We just went to bed and heard, 'Kaboom, kaboom, kaboom,aa a neighbor told KATU. The salon never reopened.

The next year, on July 4, fireworks debris ignited accumulated dryer lint under an exhaust fan on the roof of Park Place Assisted Living Community near Tualatin. A fire spread into the building's attic, and the 80 seniors in the residential center were evacuated by staff.

In 2007, a 4-year-old Sherwood boy lit a stash of illegal fireworks in his father's bedroom closet. The seven other people in the two-story duplex ran outside before realizing the child was still trapped in the room. The boy was the most recent death in Oregon from fireworks.

Janssens didn't begin the Bureau's anti-fireworks efforts. Portland Fire & Rescue began a PR campaign in 2006, along with an enforcement program called Operation Lower the Boom. But Leonard says Janssens has taken the most aggressive approach to fireworks of any fire marshal he's seen in the last 35 years.

Janssens is still moving into the chief's office in Old Town. Boxes are half unpacked. Commemorative plates are strewn around her desk. A watercolor print of the great San Francisco fire of 1906 is propped against the wall on the floor.

Janssens talks in the cadences of the NPR shows she listens to during her commute. She could be the host of one of those shows, with her soothing repetitions of words like "impact" and "awareness." It's the language of someone who runs a human resources department, not a paramilitary organization.

"We're trying to do educational outreach, and give people the opportunity to make a decision," she says. "And if they continue to disregard other people and the law, then there will be consequences. And most people don't like the consequences."

Janssens' allies and critics in the Fire Bureau agree she possesses two central characteristics: a self-possession in conversation, and a close attention to detail that her supporters call precision and her detractors call micromanaging.

She's put both of those qualities to use fighting fireworks.

The $70,000-plus educational campaign sees Portland Fire & Rescue partnering for the first time with four other fire departments: Gresham, Clackamas, Lake Oswego and Tualatin Valley. The blitz includes billboards, radio and newspapers (the Bureau is advertising with WW, The Oregonian and The Portland Mercury), movie theater pre-show ads and TriMet bus placards.

Janssens is also giving police more muscleeffectively deputizing every officer as a fire marshal by giving them authority to issue citations and fines. (Police have had only one option before: arrest and book violators.)

"That's my last-ditch effort," Janssens says of fines. "Worst-case scenario, if being a good neighbor [isn't] important to you, then, OK, here's the law. Because there's going to be different ways that you reach different people."

But some very different people are just a bridge away.





Frank McKoy is stocking the metal shelves in a section of Blackjack Fireworks he calls "mortar central" with explosives named Packing Heat, One Big S.O.B. and Outta Control. One mortar is titled That's Your Problem, and shows a cartoon Uncle Sam as a skull with one eyeball. "WARNING," the labels say. "SHOOTS FLAMING BALLS."

McKoy, who owns Blackjack, is a burly man with a Santa belly, a week's worth of stubble on his chin and a personal weakness for a novelty firework called Poopy Puppy: a cardboard puppy that excretes a brightly colored snake out its backside. "That is funny," McKoy says. "My other stores sell these like hotcakes."

McKoy was there in 1981 on the day his father opened the now-landmark yellow Blackjack store, easily visible from Interstate 5. "I was 16 years old," he says. "There were about 150 people waiting in the pouring rain. It was a mob house.a

Despite the pirate's face on the store's billboard, Blackjack isn't breaking any laws. The store has been operating for 31 years in Clark County, where Washington state law says McKoy can sell a wide range of Roman candles and mortars from June 28 through July 4. Citizens are allowed to set them off only during that week.

But Blackjack makes enough money from that single week to pay the yearly mortgage on its 10,000-square-foot building and surrounding properties. And the vast tents of competitors spring up each summer to wage a price war. Ten days before sales open, banners facing the highway read, "We beat Blackjack every day."

McKoy now lives outside Austin, Texas, and his family also runs stores in South Dakota and Nevada. He imports his wares from China, and each year in a week's time sells three to four truckloads at the Washington location.

In the early 1980s, McKoy says Portland police tried to conduct stings of Oregonians buying fireworks in Washington by using undercover detectives to call in Oregon vehicle licenses in the parking lot of Vancouver fireworks stores.

McKoy says he isn't encouraging any scofflaws. "What people in Oregon don't know is you can set them off here [in Washington] and be legal," McKoy says. "They can go down to the river and light 'em over the river like everybody in Washington does."

McKoy won't say how much he rakes in, but the four for-profit tents within Vancouver city limits that compete with him reported $1.1 million in earnings in a week last year, according to city records. The Fort Vancouver National Trust, which oversees nonprofits, estimates that charities' fireworks stands brought in $5 million in Clark County last year.

The American Pyrotechnics Association says consumer sales of fireworks topped $649 million in 2011up from $433 million a decade earlier.

In the last two years, five states looking for new tax revenues relaxed their regulations; Kentucky and Michigan legalized every firework not banned by federal law.

When officials in Vancouver try to move in the other direction, the idea blows up in their faces. On June 18, the Vancouver City Council intended to pass a fireworks ban just like Oregon's.

The proposal would force vendors selling anything but "safe and sane" fireworksnothing traveling more than a foot in the airto unincorporated Clark County, where Blackjack operates.

The Council chambers are packed. The Council hears that Vancouver's 22 seasonal fireworks stands raise money-$2.86 million last year in the city limitsfor the likes of the Evergreen High School band and a veterans' organization.

One person who testifies is Brent Pavlicek, general manager of Aurora-based Western Fireworks, which supplies the Vancouver vendors. That's right: The fireworks sold in Vancouver are imported to the U.S. via Oregon. Western Fireworks is owned by Wayne Scott, a former Oregon House majority leader (R-Canby). It's Oregon's largest importer and supplier of fireworks, most of them from China.

Pavlicek tells the Vancouver City Council that if it passes a ban like Oregon's, it will be destroying all fireworks business in the city.

Among many foes, there is also an unmistakable subtext of culture warfare. A teenager quotes Thomas Jefferson. Another man references Bill O'Reilly. Two people recite the lyrics to "The Star-Spangled Banner."

It's as if somebody crossbred gun control with the War on Christmas. "If we didn't have Fourth of July," says a man in his 20s, "we wouldn't have Veterans Day, we wouldn't have Memorial Day, there wouldn't be America. Our founding fathers, if they weren't dead already, I think they'd die."

The Council caves and, near midnight, rejects the ban by a 6-1 vote.

Banned fireworks will keep pouring south across the Columbia River from Vancouver. What's a crusader to do?

Janssens hopes a new generation will think differently.

"What I'm just focusing on is, how can we change the culture here?" Janssens says. "How can we have an impact on Portland? I mean, wouldn't it be nice if everybody thought the same way we did?"

Fireworks IMAGE: Jarod Opperman. (Jarod Opperman)

To better understand how people think about fireworks, we blow some up.

Blackjack hasn't opened by our deadline, but tribal fireworks standsnot limited as to when they can openare selling.

So we drive 101 miles to Thunder City Mall, a kind of flea market of fireworks on the Chehalis Reservation outside Oakville, Wash: plywood booths around a parking lotlike little bunkers, or the world's most depressed county-fair midwaywith names such as Bomb Shelter and Pyro-Maniac's.

A light rain falls. A lanky boy throws party poppers into the grass. A man outside the square fires rockets into the mist.

At one booth, called War Party, we buy the Excalibur, with its 24 canister shells, four Roman candles, 100 Black Cat bottle rockets, and mortar cakes called Aquarium, Robot Rage and The Hustler.

Our haul is illegal in Oregon, so we decide to set them off in Washingtonalthough setting them off so early in June isn't allowed.

At Lacamas Lake Regional Park in Camas, we open with a few cheap and disappointing bottle rockets. Then we shoot a Roman candle that unloads five orange projectiles into the sky out of our hand. It's louder than we expected, like a missile strafing in a violent '80s cartoon.

With night falling, we set up two Excaliburs and light one. The mortar fires a flaming ball 30 feet high, a real pink-and-blue flower of fire blossoms above us, and the finishing boom echoes through the firs. The ashes drift down onto our hair and forehead, like a sacrament on a holy day.

Knowing all that Erin Janssens has told us about fireworks, we ought to feel guilty. And not just because we're interrupting people's peace and risking their property.

We might notice that it feels like a political act, in a larger debate about whether our individual good time should trump the quiet society others want to enforce. Knowing the law, the rancor, the border warbeing, in short, educatedwe might sense that setting off fireworks is taking sides in an endless argument.

But we also understand the allurethe burning colors, smells of spent gunpowder, the percussion of the blast.

Awesome, we say.

After the second Excalibur explodes, the Camas police cars pull up.

Do you guys have any idea how illegal you are right now? an officer asks us.

The officer has a friendly face and a white mustache. He seems less angry than perplexed that we could be so stupid. His partner, a younger man, has a flashlight, which he uses to look over our stash. We explain that we are from Oregon, and we donat normally get to set these things off.

We would be legal, the officers tell us, on another day. But not in the park.

The mustached officer says he heard Excalibur from more than a mile away.

The cops write down a name and address in a notepad, but dont cite us.

You get out of here, the younger officer says, and well call it a night.

They let us take our unexploded mortars back to our car and drive back across the river.

Theyve decided this is Oregons problem.





WWeek 2015
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Miki Mark and his wife Chava supported the Ben Ami family for 16 years. Its patriarch, Eliyahu, was killed in a terror attack. Miki and Chava's son Shlomi even eventually married Eliyahu's daughter, Yiska. On Friday, he lost his father in a nearly-identical way to how Yiska lost her father years ago. In addition, Chava's nephew, Yonadav Hirschfeld, was killed eight years ago in a terror attack at the Mercaz HaRav yeshiva in Jerusalem.

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Despite their loss, the Mark family's humanity has remained intact. When one of Yiska Mark's Facebook friends wrote to console her for her father-in-law's murder with the words: "murderous, scum-of-the-earth Arabs," she emphasized the fact that the first people on the scene of the accident, who gave the Mark family first aid and whose cell phone was used to call authorities to the scene of the attack, were Palestinian Arabs.

"I really have to tell you that the first to arrive at the scene was a Palestinian vehicle with an Arab couple who exited and took care of my brother-in-law and sister-in-law. They gave them a cell phone to call (the authorities), and stayed with them in those difficult moments," she wrote. "I think you should write terrorists and not Arabs because not every Arab is a terrorist, and I say this from experience."

Miki Mark's funeral, Sunday. (Photo: AFP)

This was not the only time when thr Mark family demonstrated their disapproval for revenge. During Miki Mark's funeral, when several youths began yelling "revenge" during the procession, Shlomi Mark called on them to stop and leave. They were also silenced by the crowd. When they continued, one of the people present urged them to "respect the family."

A short distance separates the areas where Miki Mark and Eliyahu Ben Ami were killed. Mor Leibovich, Eliyahu Ben Ami's daughter and Yiska Mark's sister, wrote on social media of the experience of learning about the attack. "Her voice was trembling," she said as she recalled the phone call with Yiska. "I was sure she was calling to tell me that we had forgotten something at their place. 'There was a terrorist attack near Otniel. (Chava) and Miki are seriously wounded. They say there's a man who was killed, and we're worried it's Miki.' My legs freeze and my breath shortens. No, no, no, God. Please no. Not again. Not Miki and (Chava). They're the parents of Shlomi, my brother-in-law, my sister's father-in-law and mother-in-law. Wonderful and amazing people whom I have known since childhood, in Otniel, the town where I grew up, all one big family. 'Please dont let it be Miki, Please dont let it be Miki, Please dont let it be Miki.' I cry silently. Later, the bitter truth was revealed to me. Miki is gone."

Leibovich later added, "Miki, the man who supported (my) mother and us so much since my father was killed. Miki, who hosted us just last Shavuot. His voice stil rings in my ears. Miki, who always greeted us with a smile on his face, with giggles and humor, the man with that huge heart."

Chava Mark is still hospitalized in the Hadassah Ein Kerem hospital in Jerusalem. The hospital stated Sunday that she has regained consciousness. She is also reportedly breathing independently and is in stable condition. Hadassah Ein Kerem Shock Trauma Unit director Prof. Avi Ribkind said that Mark has woken up, but is still not speaking. She does, however, respond when her name is called.

Yiska and Shlomi Mark. "not every Arab is a terrorist, and I say this from experience." (Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg)

Chava Mark has, sadly, experienced grief of this king before. Her nephew Yonadav Hirschfeld was killed in the 2008 terrorist attack at the Mercaz HaRav yeshiva in Jerusalem. "On Friday, when I heard of the attack, I sent Miki a 'how are you?' message and he didn't answer," said Tzemach Hirschfeld, Yonadav's father. "I was feeling unwell up to the point that my wife's brother called and said that their car had been hit. I had to tell my wife's mother that her son-in-law had been killed. We went into the Sabbath when (Chava), my wife's sister, was still in the operating room, and the we didn't know her condition for the entire Sabbath."

Of his feelings in the attack's aftermath, Hirschfeld said, "There are two levels. On the personal level, it's very hard. The first thought is 'Oh no, not again.' On the national level  we aren't doing what we need to do. We have enemies  it starts with incitement, stones, bottles, and firearms."
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will leave on Monday morning for a historic visit to Africa. The visit will be opened in Uganda where a ceremony will be held marking 40 years since the Israeli operation in Entebbe. As the week continues, Netanyahu will also visit Kenya, Rwanda and Ethiopia.

This is the first time that an Israeli prime minister has visited the African continent in decades.
Officially, Israel is not negotiating with Hamas over the return of the bodies of IDF officer Hadar Goldin and soldier Oron Shaul , and civilians Avra Mangisto and Hisham al-Sayed. But Yedioth Ahronoth has learned that behind the scenes Israel has been engaging in talks through mediators, seeking to at least start a negotiation.

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As it currently stands, it appears the pressure being exerted by the Shaul, Goldin and Mangisto families has not borne fruit and both Israel and Hamas remain entrenched in their positions.

"Hamas wants a 'Shalit Deal 2,' with the release of hundreds of prisoners," a senior Israeli official said, alluding to the unofficial exchanges.

Hadar Goldin, Oron Shaul and Avra Mangisto.

But that is not the terror group's only condition. It also demands an "entry fee" to even engage in negotiations in the form of the release of 50 security prisoners arrested during " Operation Brother's Keeper ," conducted in the West Bank following the kidnapping and subsequent murder of three Israeli teens

Hamas's demand for "entry fees" was first reported by Arab newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat several months ago, and has now been confirmed for the first time by an Israeli official.

Jerusalem has rejected Hamas's demand to release prisoners as a precondition to begin the negotiations: "The public in Israel has started the difficult internal debate (about the issue) too soon," the senior official said. "We're not willing to pay for signs of life, as it means we'll have to meet any precondition."

The Goldin and Shaul families at their protest tent outside the Prime Minister's Residence (Photo: Gil Yohanan)

Israel, the mediators were told, was no longer willing to pay a high price in prisoner exchange deals particularly in light of the fact that, in the case of Goldin and Shaul, there is no doubt that the negotiation will be over bodies.

"The attempt to tie the agreement with Turkey to the talks for the return of the bodies and the release of the civilians is not relevant, and shows the lack of understanding of the other side," the official explained.

Israel is dealing, in this case, with the heads of Hamas's military wingnot with the organization's political leadershipand it is they who are responsible first and foremost for the prisoners. Among the three Hamas heads managing the negotiations is Yahya Sinwar, who was imprisoned in Israeli jail and released as part of the Shalit prisoner exchange deal. He, more than the others, understands the prisoners' situation. The other two negotiators are Marwan Issa, considered Hamas's deputy military chief, and Ruhi Mushtaha.

Marwan Issa (circled in red), one of the Hamas negotiators.

Hamas's military wing is not interested in the construction of a Gaza sea port, nor the easing of the military blockade over the Strip. Sinwar takes a radical stance on the issue and is not willing to discuss anything but the release of security prisoners.

In 2011, IDF soldier Gilad Shalit was released from captivity in Gaza after more than five years in return for, 1,027 prisoners, 58 of whom were released to the West Bank. In June 2014, after the kidnapping of the three Israeli teens, these prisoners were arrested again and charged with violating their parole by committing offenses. Since then, eight have been released while 50 are still imprisoned and kept in special cell blocks.

Israeli officials have said that while the precondition of releasing these prisoners is not on the table, Sinwar can still improve the conditions of 1,500 Hamas prisoners in Israeli jails in what is defined as a gesture of goodwill by Israel.

Among the things Israel is willing to put on the negotiating table is the formulation of arrangements for the exchange of prisoners and bodies at the end of military campaigns.

"We can talk about" the 20 prisoners arrested during Operation Protective Edge and the bodies of 20 Palestinian combatants Israel has captured during the fighting, the official said.

"Hamas is interested in exhausting us, but Israeli society has changed since the Shalit deal," he added.
Riots erupted overnight Sunday when the IDF demolished homes of two terroristsAnaan Hamad, 20, and Issa Asaf, 19, both from the Qalandiya refugee campwho carried out a stabbing attack at the Jaffa Gate in Jerusalems Old City last December.

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The demolitions of the two homes, which lasted four hours, were not carried out using explosives but hammers and other tools due to the overcrowding of the refugee camp. The prolonged period of time between the attackin which Rabbi Reuven Biermacher, 45, a married father of seven, was killed while another was woundedcan be attributed to judicial proceedings and petitions presented before the Supreme Court.

Clashes in Dura between Palestinians and the IDF

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During the violence that broke out, stones were pelted at IDF soldiers and gunshots were also fired at them. Soldiers responded to the unrest by attempting to disperse the crowds and used live fire which resulted in the wounding of four Palestinians. The wounded were evacuated to a government hospital in Ramallah in light-to-moderate condition. No IDF soldiers were injured in the violence.

IDF arrest brothers of Halla's Ariel's killer (:  ")

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Also overnight, riots took place in Dura, southwest of Hebron, after IDF forces entered the village of Bani Na'im and arrested at least four Palestinians, two belonging to the same family. A vehicle was also confiscated.

Violence erupts in Dura

The IDF reported that it had arrested two of the brothers of Mohammed Taraireh, the terrorist who murdered 13-year-old Hallel Yaffa Ariel as she slept in her bed in Kiryat Arba last week. On Saturday, Tarairehs sister was also arrested after praising the actions of her brother . During the operations, the IDF found and confiscated an M16 rifle, two pipe bombs and bottle of flammable paint.

Two brothers arrested (Photo: IDF spokesperson's unit)

IDF arrest brothers of Mohammed Taraireh (Photo: IDF spokesperson's unit)

Over the past few days, the IDF has tightened checkpoints in the Hebron area following two deadly attacks in Kiryat Arba and on Route 60 which claimed the lives of Hallel Yaffa Ariel and Miki Mark respectively. The IDF is also continuing in its hunt for the terrorists who carried out the drive-by shooting on Friday afternoon.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also said Israel will reduce the amount of tax revenues it collects on behalf of the Palestinians each month, saying it would offset money Palestinian officials give to families of attackers.
DUBAI-- A suicide bomber carried out an attack early on Monday near a US diplomatic site in the western Saudi city of Jiddah, according to the Interior Ministry.

The ministry said the attacker detonated his suicide vest when security guards approached him near the parking lot of a hospital. The attacker died and two security men were wounded with minor injuries, according to the ministry statement, which was published by the state-run Saudi Press Agency. Some cars in the parking lot were damaged.

Interior Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Mansour al-Turki was quoted in the statement as saying the attacker caught the attention of the security guards, who noticed he was acting suspiciously at an intersection located on the corner of the heavily fortified US Consulate in Jiddah, located by the Dr. Soliman Fakeeh Hospital. Most of the consulate's staff had reportedly moved offices to a new location.

The US Embassy in Saudi Arabia confirmed there were no casualties or injuries among the consular staff. The embassy said it remains in contact with Saudi authorities as they investigate the attack.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for attack.
ANKARA - Turkey has proposed cooperating with Moscow to combat Islamic State in Syria, suggesting it could open its Incirlik Air Base to Russia - comments that highlighted a revival in ties strained by Turkey's shooting down of a Russian warplane last year.

Moscow pledged to rebuild relations after Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan last week expressed regret over the shooting down of the aircraft, with the loss of the pilot, near the Syrian frontier. Moscow had broken off virtually all economic ties and banned tourists from visiting Turkish resorts.

"We will cooperate with everyone who fights Daesh. We have been doing this for quite a while, and we opened Incirlik Air Base for those who want to join the active fight against Daesh," Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said in an interview on state broadcaster TRT Haber on Sunday, using an Arabic acronym for Islamic State.

"Why not cooperate with Russia as well on these terms? Daesh is our common enemy, and we need to fight this enemy."
Nochi Dankner, once one of Israel's most powerful businessmen, was convicted of securities fraud on Monday.

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Tel Aviv District Court Judge Chaled Kabub found Dankner, the former IDB Holding Corp. controlling shareholder, guilty of carrying out millions of dollars' worth of fraudulent transactions in an attempt to influence the share price of the troubled company.

On February 23, 2012, IDB held a successful securities issue in which it raised NIS 321 million ($83 million). In the institutional phase the company raised NIS 286 million ($74 million) and the public offering yielded NIS 35 million ($9 million) in requests. The offering aimed to beef up IDB's cash reserves so the company could meet its financial obligations to its bondholders.

Dankner at court (Photo: Motti Kimchi)

Dankner is suspected of providing the finances for a scam involving the purchase of IDB stock on the day it was issued. That day, IDB Holdings' stock registered unusually high activity on the Tel-Aviv Stock Exchange.

Suspicions are that Dankner was involved in manipulating the market on the day of issuein other words, he is suspected of being involved in a massive acquisition of IDB Holdings stock, along with broker Adi Yehuda Sheleg.

The stock acquisition was likely aimed at maintaining the stock's value ahead of the issue. Once the issue ended, IDB Holdings' stock began plummeting.

Dankner, who at the time was chairman of IDB's board and one of the owners of its controlling interest, allegedly financed the scam with his own resources and recruited other parties who, according to his instructions, purchased stock that was bought by Sheleg and the other accomplices in order to provide the finances to keep the scam going.

IDB, whose holdings include a major mobile phone carrier and a leading supermarket chain, took on millions of dollars in debts following a series of bad business deals. The courts wrestled control of IDB away from Dankner as a result.

Dankner, a favorite of Israel's business community, was often credited with helping rescue Israel's economy at the height of a Palestinian uprising. Under his leadership IDB became Israel's largest holding company and Dankner became a celebrity.

According to the indictment, which was filed in 2014, "Dankner saw great importance in the success of the public offering," which is why he invested a lot of effort in promoting it and ensuring its success, including by meeting with potential investors.

In the media, the public offering was dubbed "The Friends' Offering," as many businessmen with close ties to Dankner participated in the preliminary offering, including Michael and Raya Strauss, Yair Hamburger and Shlomo Eliahu.

The indictment alleged the funds secured from these businessmen were not enough to put Dankner's mind at ease about the public offering, leading him to conceive and execute the scam.
An indictment was issued on Monday against Mohammad Mahmara and Khaled Mahmara, the terrorists who killed four people in Tel Avivs Sarona market last month.

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According to the indictment, a third terrorist was supposed to participate in the attack which originally consisted of an elaborate scheme according to which the three planned to open fire inside a train and cause mass murder. The three stand accused of murder and other crimes.

Arrest of collaborator in Sarona attack (:  ")

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The investigation by the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) revealed that the 21-year-old terrorists from the town of Yatta, located south of Hebron, were inspired by Islamic State to commit the attack which killed Ido Ben-Ari, 42, from Ramat Gan; Ilana Nave, 39, from Tel Aviv; Dr. Michael Feige, 58 from Midreshet Ben-Gurion; and Mila Mishayev, 32, from Rishon LeZion.

Three terrorists who carried out deadly Saron Market attack

In the indictment handed down, it was written that the two turned to their friend, Ayash Musa Zayn, also a resident of Yatta, with the intent of carrying out the attack. They planned to carry it out on a train and therefore went about gathering information about timetables, journey routes, entrances and exits, gateways and numbers of passengers passing through different stations. They came to the decision to carry out the attack against passengers travelling from Tel Aviv to Haifa.

IDF arrests a third accomplice in the attack (Photo: IDF spokesperson's unit)

As part of the attack, the two purchased 30cm knives. They also purchased suits, watches, leather bags, shoes and glasses at the cost of 2,600 shekels. Additionally, they bought rat poison to spread on the knives which would then be used to stab Israelis and maximize the damage caused. In total, the two spent 4,000 shekels on their grizzly plan. However, for the two prevented Zayn from participating in the attack as he had financial debt, a fact which according to Islamic doctrine precludes the possibility of an individual becoming a Sahid. (martyr)

They went to shooting practice to make sure that their weapons worked and hid them with Zayn along with the ammunition, the knives the poison and the other materials purchased for the attack. The decision to attack Sarona was unplanned and taken the same day as the attack.

Photo: IDF spokesperson's unit

The day of the attack, the two terrorists entered Israel through a break in the seam line used to smuggle illegals, in the Metzadot Yehudah area in the southern Hebron Hills. They were assisted by Salim Mognam, 23, also a resident of Yatta, who has also been arrested as an accomplice. After infiltrating into Israel, they stayed in an apartment in Segev Shalom that is used by illegals ad prepared to set out for Tel Aviv. From there, the two travelled to Beer Sheva on bus line 53.

After a few hours of making the final preparations for the attack, the two made their way to the train station but decided to abort the plan due to the meticulous security checks being conducted at the entrance. At this point, the two flagged down a cab and resolved to carry out the attack at a different location, albeit it no less crowded. During the investigation, they confessed that they dressed in suits in order to pass for businessmen or lawyers.

Alighting the cab at HaShalom train station in Tel Aviv, the two made inquiries as to the whereabouts of popular restaurants or coffee shops before making their way to Max Brenner dessert restaurant. Shortly after 9:00pm, they began firing the first shots of their infamous assault. One was eventually shot by security forces and moderately injured while the other posed as a civilian and took refuge in a family home before being discovered by a policeman, his wife narrowly escaping being murdered herself.

Last year, Mohammad spent a significant period of time studying in Jordan where he was influenced by inciting content by ISIS. The decision to carry out the attack was taken after his return to south Hebron in January 2016. However, there was no evidence that either terrorist was sent by ISIS but rather carried out an independent attack.

Ten residents of Yatta were also detained on suspicion of involvement in manufacturing and trafficking in weapons and in transporting the terrorists into Israel.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived in Uganda on Monday afternoon for what is expected to be an emotional visit to mark the 40th anniversary of the 1976 Israeli military raid in which his brother was killed.

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Netanyahu was welcomed by Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni at the Entebbe International Airport, a lakeside facility whose old terminal is where his brother, Yonatan, was struck by a bullet as he led Israeli commandos in a daring rescue mission to rescue hijacked Israeli and Jewish passengers. Israel's success in the raid humiliated then-Ugandan President Idi Amin.

Netanyahu in Entebbe (Photo: RR Media)

Four decades later, Uganda has good relations with Israel, which is courting allies to counter the Palestinians' rising influence at the United Nations. Also on his one-day visit to Uganda Netanyahu will attend a security-themed summit of regional leaders, including those from Kenya and Tanzania, said Don Wanyama, a spokesman for Uganda's president.

At Entebbe, there will be a formal ceremony to commemorate the anniversary of the Israeli rescue mission and Netanyahu will be given a tour of the airport's control tower, according to a draft schedule released by Uganda's government. In the evening there will be a state dinner honoring Netanyahu, before he leaves for Kenya.

Although the July 1976 rescue mission breached Uganda's territorial integrity, Amin, who had taken power by force and ruled as a dictator, had become an increasingly isolated figure and would soon by forced out of power with the help of Tanzanian forces. Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni himself led one of several exile groups that waged a guerrilla war against Amin.

A lingering loathing of Amin, who was accused of many human rights atrocities and who died in Saudi Arabia in 2003, is one reason why many Ugandans today do not see the success of the Israeli raid -- in which many Ugandan soldiers were killed and military equipment destroyed -- as a disaster for Uganda. Yonatan was shot dead as he was leading the forces storming the airport's old terminal, where the hostages were held. His death made Yonatan an Israeli hero, and thrust Netanyahu toward public life.





Still, some Ugandans say Netanyahu's historic visit should be a moment to mourn the Ugandan victims of the operation. Moses Ali, Uganda's deputy prime minister who served as a government minister under Amin, told Uganda's Daily Monitor newspaper that the rescue mission should not be celebrated by Ugandans.

"If you are siding with Israelis, then you can celebrate because it was their victory," he said. "If you are not, then you should be mourning our dead ones."

Netanyahu will also be visiting Kenya, Rwanda and Ethiopia this week.

In exchange for its expertise in security and other fields, Israel wants African states to side with it at the UN, where the General Assembly overwhelmingly recognized Palestine as a nonmember observer state in 2012. The Palestinians have used their upgraded status to launch a diplomatic offensive against Israel and its occupation of lands where the Palestinians hope to establish a future state.

"Israel has been on a mission to repair its image globally and more specifically within the UN where the Africa group has for decades now supported the Palestinian cause, and vote in general towards that end," said Angelo Izama, a Ugandan analyst who runs a think tank called Fana Kwawote.

As a key US ally on regional security, especially in violence-prone Somalia, Uganda is an attractive ally for Israel as well, according to Izama.

"Washington views the Museveni administration as a regional hegemon, a key to the security of the wider region. Uganda's involvement in counter-terrorism in Somalia ... and its significant expenditure on security goods, including arms and technology, are another reason" for Netanyahu's visit, he said.
ISTANBUL - Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Monday he had not suggested that Turkey could open up its Incirlik Air Base to Russia, adding that Ankara was open to cooperating with Moscow in the fight against Islamic State.

When asked if he had said Russian jets could use Incirlik, Cavusoglu said: "I did not make such a comment. We said that we could cooperate with everyone in the fight against ISIS (Islamic State)," he said in comments broadcast live on television.

"We said that we could cooperate with Russia in the period ahead in the fight against Daesh (Islamic State). I did not make any comment referring to Russian planes coming to the Incirlik Air Base."
Former foreign minister MK Tzipi Livni said on Monday that a British war crimes investigator sought to question her during a trip to Britain over her role in the 2008-2009 Operation Cast Lead in Gaza.

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Livni arrived in London on Saturday night to attend a conference of the Jewish community in the city, after British police emailed her a summons on Friday.

The police request, which Livni dubbed "unacceptable," defined the questioning as non-mandatory, and she did not comply.

Israel's Foreign Ministry said it views the British request "with great concern" and would "engage" with British authorities until the matter is resolved. Britain's Foreign Office, the Metropolitan Police in London and Scotland Yard declined comment.

MK Tzipi Livni (Photo: Gil Yohanan)

Livni, a one-time lead peace negotiator with the Palestinians, enjoys a dovish reputation in much of the West. But she staunchly defends Israel's three-week military offensive in Gaza in 2008-2009, which was meant to end years of rocket fire by Gaza militants against Israel. There was widespread international criticism of the hundreds of civilian casualties.

Livni served as foreign minister during the war, and as a member of the security cabinet, she was part of the decision-making process regarding the military campaign.

Pro-Palestinian groups have previously tried to go after Livni and other Israeli officials using universal jurisdiction, a principle that lets British courts prosecute foreigners accused of crimes against humanity wherever they were committed.

The law strained UK-Israeli relations, as senior Israeli officials canceled trips rather than face possible arrest in Britain. In 2009, an arrest warrant was issued in Britain against Livni, and Israel's Foreign Ministry said the warrant was later canceled, after officials learned Livni was not on British soil.

Previously, anyone in Britain could apply to a judge for such warrants. But the law was amended in 2011 to make such arrest warrants harder to pursue. That year, Britain's chief prosecutor blocked an attempt to serve Livni with an arrest warrant during a visit to Britain.

British officials extend diplomatic immunity to Israeli officials to shield them from such arrests.

However, Livni said she declined immunity for her current trip to Britain on principle. She said she wanted to test what British authorities would do in cases of Israelis who are not eligible for diplomatic immunity but who could be pursued for alleged war crimes.

"Israeli army commanders and Israeli decision makers who are threatened with arrest warrants each time they arrive in London -- this is an absurd sight that is unacceptable and must stop," Livni wrote on Facebook.

"Just as we respect and admire Britain's actions against international terror and Israel is open for any British minister to visit, without questions about his decisions in the cabinet, such is how Israel expects from Britain," she added.
"It's emotional for me to stand where my brother was killed," said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who arrived in Uganda on Monday to begin his four-state visit to Africa , during a ceremony commemorating 40 years to the daring rescue mission in Entebbe

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"Entebbe is always with me. In my thoughts, in my mind, and deep in my heart," the prime minister said.

"The hijacking of the Air France plane to Entebbe touched a nerve for the people of Israel," Netanyahu continued. "Thirty-one years after the Holocaust, another a selection process took place in which Jews were separated from non-Jews by those who seek to kill us. The terrorists freed people of other nations and condemned the Jews to death."

Netanyahu speaking in Entebbe

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He went on to say that "for the families of the hostages who were killed, the cost was terrible, as it was for me and my family. When Yoni was killed, our world collapsed."

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and wife Sara arrive in Entebbe (Photo: RR Media)

Speaking of the government's decision to green-light the operation, Netanyahu said "The late prime minister Yitzhak Rabin deserves great appreciation for the leadership he has shown by making the fateful decision to go on the operation. Others who were central in approving the operation and executing it were defense minister Shimon Peres, IDF chief of staff Motta Gur, Air Force commander Benny Peled, the commander of the Infantry and Paratroopers Branch Dan Shomron, who was also commanded over the operation, and the Sayeret Matkal commander, my brother Yoni."





Akiva Lexer, one of the freed hostages, also spoke at the ceremony, saying "Bless the Lord for the miracle he graced me with in this place."

Lexer went on to say, "My life was saved on July 4, 40 years ago, when I was saved in a heroic and unforgettable operation of the Israeli forces and their commander Yonatan Netanyahu, who sacrificed his life to save ours. On behalf of myself and my three childrenTal, Yaakov, and Barakwho were all born after the operation, I want to express my gratitude. Bless be Thy name."

Before leaving for Africa, the prime minister said "Coming on a journey like this is also very important from diplomatic, economic and security perspectives and I am pleased that Israel is going back to Africa in a big way. We are opening Africa to Israel again. All Africa is excited by this visit and I am very excited as well."
Just over a year ago, a survey was conducted in the West Bank to ascertain the various channels through which Palestinians receive the news. The results were astonishing: More than 80 percent of Palestinians receive their news from Facebook and Twitter. Palestinian terrorist groups were among the first to identify this trend, and they therefore began devoting significant resources into online efforts.

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Hamas leads in its exploitation of this trend. The abilities of the the organization to operate freely in the West Bank and in East Jerusalem is limited by the operations undertaken by the IDF and the Palestinian security apparatus.

Cartoon glorifying 'martyrs'

But the cyber world is open to all. Besides the shared posts on Facebook about what is done in the West Bank, Hamas began embedding its message on the pages inciting its readers to violence, glorifying terrorists, and aggressively encouraging persons to go out and commit more attacks.

Cartoon posted on Facebook inciting violence against Jews

During the recent months, which have been marked by a deterioration in the security situation, social media have been flooded with graphics, cartoon pictures, and animated videos depicting terrorist attacks. Even more seriously, training videos are posted explaining how to stab one's victims in the most effective way to maximize damage.

Incitement on Palestinian social networks

In this way, Hamas has managed to entrench itself in the hearts of the Palestiniansespecially in the hearts of the younger generation, which has grown tired of the Palestinian Authority.







Caricature depicting PA policeman as guarding Jewish settlements

Animation calling for vehicular attacks

The Israeli police also operates in a similar fashion in East Jerusalem, the area which witnessed the most significant decline at the outset of the current wave of terrorism. Since last October, the IDF has arrested 85 Palestinians from the West Bank for inciting to violence on Facebook. However, the Palestinians techniques employed on social media have proven that the success has been only partially successful.

In addition to the hatred spewed against Israel on social media, Hamas also incites against the PA and its security cooperation with Israel.
Michal and Dovi Gellar of Haspin have raised six children, ranging from their 18-year-old first-born son to their 6-year-old daughter. While they initially had thought that six was enough, they changed their minds after Operation Protective Edge and decided to add another life to the family.

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On Saturday night at Poriya Medical Center near Tiberias, their seventh child was born: Carmi Hallel, named after 13-year-old Hallel Ariel who was murdered in her sleep last week and was buried a few hours before the newest Gellar's birth.

Her mother, Michal, said, "We decided to name our daughter Hallel ("praise") because we had such a magical, natural delivery, and of course in honor of Hallel Ariel. The late Hallel was a good friend of our niece, and, and we're good friends of the family.

The Gellars with newborn Karmi Hallel (Photo: Yedioth Ahronoth)

"Through all the grief, we saw the light in the late Hallel's eyes when she danced. We felt how her light strengthened our lives. Together, the names Karmi ("my vineyard") and Hallel give a noble meaning with huge appreciation and a connection to life forces."

Rina Ariel , the mother of the murdered Hallel, said on Sunday when told of the new baby's name, "I was very moved to hear about the baby Karmi Hallel. But it brings up for us feelings of sadness. We understand that Hallel isn't just ours anymore, but all the nation of Israel's."
In response to a petition to the High Court of Justice opposing the reconciliation agreement with Turkey, the state released on Monday details regarding funds transfers to banks in the Gaza Strip and projects benefitting its civilian population. The petition was filed by bereaved families and the Otzma Leyisrael organization by Shurat HaDinThe Israeli Law Center and the lawyer Itamar Ben-Gvir.

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The petition to the High Court argues that the agreement should be conditional "on distancing Hamas leaders from Turkey and ceasing Turkish support for Hamas."

In its response, the state claimed that the petition must be rejected outright on the grounds that the deal is a "a clear political agreement whose execution is at the core of the discretion granted to the Israeli government for running the state's foreign affairs and security." The response expanded that the High Court of Justice usually refrains from interfering in such political-defense matters, which are better suited for the executive branch.

Turkish aid at Gaza border (Photo: AFP)

The state annexed to its response a copy of the agreement, which states that Israel shall pay $20 million to a bank account "that will be opened by the Turkish government to compensate the families bereaved from the flotilla incident."

An appendix to the agreement states that Israel welcomes Turkish initiatives "for projects for the benefit of the population in Gaza," including exporting goods to the Strip and transferring funds from Turkey via banks authorized to operate in Gaza. The appendix also states, "Israel welcome's Turkey's willingness to build a desalination plant in the Gaza Strip."

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (Photo: AP)

Sunday night, an aid ship from Turkey arrived at the Ashdod port carrying food, medication, and toys. After security inspection, the goods are intended to enter the Gaza Strip following the agreement's signing.

Monday morning, the first truck from the Turkish transport ships arrived from Ashdod Port at the Kerem Shalom crossing. The truck contained a shipment of toys (dolls and teddy bears) as well as diapers in cartons bearing the Turkish flag.

Ministry of Defense Crossing Authority personnel and COGAT (Coordinator of Government Activity in the Territories) officials unloaded the goods and are preparing them for transfer into Gaza.
Thirty years ago, I traveled to Auschwitz with Elie Wiesel. I had been to the camp before. I had seen the barbed wire, the barracks, the guard towers. I had stood in the gas chambers where a generation of Jewish children perished as the hands of evil. But to experience Auschwitz through Elies eyes, through the eyes of the man who taught the world about the horrors of the Holocaust, changed everything for me. It changed the way I think, and it lit a flame in me that burns to this day.

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Elie once observed that the survivors of the Shoah had the right to give up on humanity. But Elie refused to give up. When I joined him at Auschwitz, I found a man not filled with hate, but with sadness and determination. Sadness over all those who were lost, and determination to honor their memory with action and impact.

We talked about the meaning of the Holocaust. And he said something that I will never forget. He told me, The opposite of love isnt hate. Its indifference. Indifference is what led the world to sit idly while anti-Semitism in Germany marched on. Indifference made the Holocaust possible.

Elie Wiesel and the Dalai Lama (Photo: AFP)

And so Elie made a commitment: He would never be indifferent to suffering. Through his writing, his activism, and through the sheer force of his moral voice, he focused his considerable energies on fighting injustice and evil.

He helped bring the worlds attention to the plight of persecuted people in Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia. His book, The Jews of Silence, one of his more than sixty works of non-fiction and fiction, raised awareness about Soviet Jewry struggling under the shackles of political oppression. Along with his beloved wife, Marion, herself a Holocaust survivor, he founded the Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity. He helped lead the effort to create the US Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, bringing the survivor community together to build that enduring institution.

He was a teacher. He not only taught us about the evils of Auschwitz, but about Judaism, about the cause of Zionism, and about the State of Israel, a land he revered and loved . And though he spent his adult life in America, Elie was at home everywherein the Old World and the New World, in Yiddish, Hungarian, French, English, and Hebrew. He was at ease with world leaders, and the many US presidents and world statesmen who sought his counsel.

And he was a writer of uncommon talent. His prosegraceful yet haunting, simple yet forcefulawakened the world to the dangers of indifference. He used his mighty pen to inspire generationsto inspire Jews and non-Jews alike to fight hatred and bigotry wherever they fester.

World Trade Center in NYC lit in blue and white in memory of Wiesel (Photo: AFP)

I am one of those people he inspired. Because of Elie, because of what I learned that day with him in Auschwitz three decades ago, I resolved to speak out whenever I see injustice. It is Elies example that led me to become involved with the World Jewish Congress, the organization I now have the privilege of leading.

He gave me the courage to speak out on behalf of world Jewry. He inspired me to stand up for Israel, its people, its rights, its security. Everything I do today is because of the example Elie set for me, and for the world.

Elie may have left us, but his memory lives on. As his son Elisha eloquently put it at Elies funeral service , I still feel his presence inside my heart. We still hear his gentle voice, telling us what he would say to anyone who would listen: that people of good conscience have a moral obligation to speak out, be heard, and fight bigotry.

Elie Wiesel was a survivor, a teacher, a Nobel laureate, a scholar, and the worlds moral compass. But most of all, he was a mensch. May his legacy and wisdom endure as an eternal flame.
The Palestinian Authority has so far avoided condemning the two serious attacks last week in which two Israelis were murdered, with the PA's Hebron Governor, Kamal Hamid, visiting on Saturday the mourners' tents of two terrorists. In response, Israel has revoked his permit to visit Israel.

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The governor visited the two mourners' tents in the village of Bani Na'im: Mohammed Taraireh's, who killed 13-year-old Hallel Ariel in her sleep , and Sara Hajaj's, a relative of Taraireh's who attempted to carry out a stabbing attack at the Cave of the Patriarchs. He posted pictures of his visit to his official Facebook page under the headline "During a condolence call to the relatives of the martyrs Mohammed Taraireh and Sara Hajaj in Bani Na'im." In the photographs, Hamid is shaking the families' hands and even addresses the crowds at both tents.

Kamal Hamid shaking the hands of mourners

In response to this post, Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT, also the name of the unit that he heads) Yoav Mordechai decided to revoke Hamid's entry permit into Israel. "Visiting the families is an acceptance of despicable murder and encourages terrorism," Mordechai wrote on COGAT's Arabic-language Facebook page. "Would the governor of Hebron express support for the murderer of a 12-year-old girl? We expect the Palestinian leadership to take responsibility and to call for calm and patience. Israel will not aid the supporters of terrorism."

Hamid addressing the mourners

During the recent escalation in the security situation, Hamid has been employing a dual policy. On the one hand, he instructs the security forces to stop attempted terrorist attacks emanating from his region and even leads discussions with village leaders to bring about a calming-down of the situation. On the other hand, he has been seen on multiple occasions visiting the mourning tents of terrorists who set out from the Hebron area.

Hamid sitting in the tent

The IDF and Shin Bet are continuing their patrols and arrests following the chain of terrorist attacks near the city in recent days, principally in the manhunt after the terrorist cell that murdered Michael Mark and wounded three other members of his family on Friday.
Uited Nations officials have criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman's plan to construct 800 housing units in Jewish neighborhoods of East Jerusalem and the West Bank settlement of Ma'ale Adumim, approved Sunday.

The officials said that the plan raises questions regarding Israel's long-term intentions.
This has been a long time in the making, but in our continuing pursuit to bring only the best of firearms, 2nd Amendment and defence related news to our readers, we are very excited to announce the next step in our evolution as a company.

As of 2020, Minuteman Review is now the proud owner and operator of Your Defence News, a website with a long history of breaking huge news stories and investigative journalism.

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Keep an eye. Big things are coming soon. We couldn't be more excited.

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Happy shootin' my friends!

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It had been hoped that Saturdays election would lead to an end of the dragging debate around negative gearing and the capital gains tax (CGT) discount, but as a hung parliament looks increasingly likely investors may have to wait a significant period before being provided any clarity on the future of the tax arrangements.

For Rich Harvey, chief executive officer of Propertybuyer.com.au, the fact that the market is set to continue speculating about the future of the tax breaks is exactly the opposite of what he hoped for.

I would hope that we dont have an election where its so close that things drag out and we have this drawn-out period before we get a result, Harvey told Your Investment Property before voting opened.

After an election or that sort of thing we often see a restoration period and that would be good for the market, a period where peoples confidence is restored, he said.

While Harvey believes the current election outcome is unlikely to hold any positives for the market, not everybody believes the political environment is a reason to avoid making decisions.

Australia seems to have this very unique situation whereas soon as an election is called everything stops. Ive lived in places like the UK, the United States and Germany and theres nothing like it in those countries, Ian Hosking Richards, chief executive officer of Rocket Property Group, told Your Investment Property.

For me, its always been about if the time is right for me and if Ive done all my research and found the right property. Thats what should be important to people, not if theres an election or something going on, he said.

There are some people who are quite good at delaying decisions. This time it might be the election and then in a couple of months it might be because of Christmas, they just keep procrastinating and put-off ever making a decision.

While investors may have to wait to see what the future holds for negative gearing and the CGT discount, once a decision is made it will likely quickly play out in the market.

If Labor was to form government and were able to get its plans for the tax breaks, which would see negative gearing restricted to new builds only from 1 July, 2017 and the CGT discount halved, through the parliament Harvey believes there could be a number of investors who move quickly to enter the market.

If we see Labors policy introduced I think over the next 12 months well see a bit of a rush of activity as investors try to get their hands on established properties before the cut-off date in July, he told Your Investment Property.

Unfortunately, I also think well see a lot of marketers and spruikers pop-up as they try to take advantage of the policy and attract people to off-the-plan and other new purchases because negative gearing will still be an option for those properties.

For Amy Mylius, buyers advocate with Cate Bakos Property, a Liberal government retaining the negative gearing and CGT status quo could result in bumper spring selling season, particularly in Melbourne.

At the moment theres a real shortage of supply in Melbourne. With the uncertainty around during the election campaign vendors seem to have really been reluctant to go to market, Mylius told Your Investment Property.

If the Liberals do get in I think well see that change and I think well see and even bigger spring than usual. Theres so much pent up demand as well her at the moment that there will still be plenty of competition even if we do see huge increase in stock.
Dobra, k. Szczecina 900 m2

40 miejsc parkingowych



Atut: Dodatkowe dochody z paczkomatow InPostu, a juz niedugo i z myjni samoobsugowej.



Tradycyjny zakup nieruchomosci, mozliwosc wykupienia uzytkowania wieczystego.
Building an investment property portfolio from scratch can be a long and daunting process, but it shouldn't be an elusive dream.

Just like anything new, kicking off an investment portfolio can be scary. However, with the right strategy and diligent research comes confidence; and with confidence anything is possible. But where does a first-time property investor start?

Why do today what you can put off until tomorrow  if every residential property investor lived by this mantra they would likely still be enviously looking on from the sidelines as their contemporaries jumped on the investment bandwagon. Perhaps thats what youre doing right now  because theres always something else to save for, a better-paid job to land, and of course, interest rates could always be more favourable.

Early lessons for investors

If you are thinking of breaking into the property investment segment, you must remember these two lessons as you shape your strategies.

First, you must realise that investing in property is a long-term strategy  when you take into consideration the high purchase costs such as stamp duty, legal and loan costs, then you really need to be holding for over five years, depending on where we are in the property cycle.

For some, the strategy is to hold property long-term, or at least 10 years to benefit from a complete property cycle.

The second lesson is to always be thirsty for knowledge  you can read magazines, watch the news, listen to experts, and even enrol in short courses that will widen your grasp of the property market.

Educate yourself to become more financially literate and understand all the strategies that can be used when investing in property.

Part of this education is being clear on what you are trying to achieve. Without a plan, its almost impossible to get to the goals you are trying to achieve.

While different investors have different goals and different constraints, having a plan will govern what sort of structures you put in place, or finance strategies you may employ. Once you put your plan together you should be able to see yourself reaching your short, medium, and long-term goals.

Develop an initial strategy

An initial strategy should be treated like a blueprint for all future investments. It can also provide certain steps that must be considered for each investment. Here are some key questions to ask:

How do I structure my investment?

Do I buy in my own name?

Do I buy in a trust?

Do I use my super or ask parents to help with a deposit?

Which financial products do I use and from which banks

Before I buy, if renovating is part of my strategy, what are the costs in doing so?

Taking into consideration the goals and constraints of the investor, a risk profile should also be developed. This will weigh the pros and cons of various ways of investing.

Some people buy and hold; some people buy, renovate and hold; some buy, renovate and sell. That could be for existing stock out in the market, or it could be for new stock just built, or possibly even off the plan. Different strategies have different risks. Thats why its very important in your initial strategy to review your risk profile. Find out which is the most appropriate approach for you.

Establish a structure

There are countless structures available to investors when buying a property. These can include trusts, such as a unit trust, discretionary trust, family trust or hybrid trust. In recent years investors have set up self-managed super funds and they may use instruments like property warrants to try to leverage further into property.

The type of structure chosen will depend on the investors risk profile, what theyre trying to achieve, whether theyre buying solely for themselves or with family, or buying with unrelated parties.

Assemble your team

No man is an island, and no investor knows everything. To create action plans to move the strategy into reality, it is recommended that you reach out to experienced investors and create an investment team.

You can start by finding a good property-specific accountant who will be able to advise you on the best structure for purchasing with, look at your financial situation, and help you analyse potential property purchases. You will need this advice before you exchange on a property.

A good solicitor is also crucial  choose someone who has invested in property themselves. Interview them if you must. This is important for all the people you surround yourself with as the more property transactions they have handled the more experienced theyll be.

You will also need a good broker with strong, established relationships within the banks. Once you give your broker information such as what you are earning and what other debts you have, they will be able to tell you what size loan you can service and how much deposit you will need.

Check your finances

Once you are all set, you must get a copy of their credit file so you can check your records and correct any mistakes. Requesting a credit report is affordable and sometimes free if you are prepared to wait a few days to obtain it, but it can be an important document to hand to a broker.

Undertaking this step will help you see where you stand. Youll be able to look at your bank statements and say, I have this much cash. From there you can get an idea of cash flow and budgeting. How much can you afford or are you willing to invest on a monthly basis in your investing plans?

Your credit report gives you and the broker confidence that your records are clear  even a mobile phone debt that you forgot about three years ago can cause problems if it is not declared upfront.

It is crucial that borrowers get their own financial situation under control and understood. Having credit card statements, any additional loan information, the last couple of payslips, PAYG group certificates, and other documents close to hand will assist the process.

For many brokers, clients who are ready with all the information sorted indicate how good one would be as an investor. After all, investing is a business, it is not a game or a hobby  youre in it to make money.

Get financed

Although almost anyone can get into property investing, it does require that you at least have some money or assets to get you enough credit with a lender.

For some people, like middle-aged or elderly couples, this can be easier as they probably own their own home. That equity can be used towards borrowing for a purchase, as can any savings theyve accumulated.

For buyers starting out without any property already in their name, and limited savings, it is a little trickier, but far from impossible.

The banks have been reducing the LVRs pretty steadily over the past few years, and 100% loans and even 95% loans are hard to find. For first-time investors, they would need a minimum 10% deposit.

A lot depends on the bank, the timing, and who you talk to, but in most cases, it comes back to how your case is presented. They are after very strong applications so ensure you have everything ready to go.

Most investment experts agree there is little point in even looking for a property without knowing what your borrowing capabilities are or getting some assurances from a lender.

As mentioned earlier, it pays to have a finance strategy in place before looking to buy property. There are many cases wherein potential buyers win a bid at auction but are unable to get financing from the bank, resulting in them backing out. This could put a substantial dent in your finances, as the costs could be quite high. You could be up for the 10% deposit and the agency fees, which could be 2% to 3% of the property purchase price. Plus, there are legal fees.

All in all, there is some limited preparation that investors can do prior to approaching a broker. Online calculators can provide clues as to borrowing capabilities, but these should be used as simple guides only.

For some people they are extremely misleading, in both directions  they can be too conservative or they can be far too generous. Thats because people are not all the same. The banks primary market is for the very conservative, standard PAYG earner. There are many people who do not fall into that basket. For example, what you consider to be income and actually is cash in your pocket, such as commission or overtime payments, arent always acceptable as income to a bank for their servicing models.

Pre-approval from a bank must also be taken with a pinch of salt as it is no guarantee youll get the loan. Different lenders will undertake different amounts of scrutiny on the documentation.

If youre dealing with a lender who will give the approval in principle, which means the assessor has actually looked at the file and checked the documentation, then thats worth a little bit more in the sense that its actually been looked at. Theyve not just looked at the electronic loan application.

Regardless, it can be a useful step to take, if only to get the borrower organised with the right documentation.

Its also important to note that the total transaction costs can add an additional 11% to the purchase cost. Make sure you include those added extras when buying a property  like legal fees, research, and mortgage insurance. Stamp duty, while not strictly speaking a finance cost, is a property transaction cost regardless of whether you borrow or not.

Additionally, find out about ongoing costs such as council fees, strata fees, body corporate expenses and property management fees. An accountant can help you determine negative gearing and capital gains tax.

From there, you should consider how you want to structure your mortgage.

The type of finance product you choose may depend on your strategy  for instance, if you were to buy, renovate and try to add value and increase your equity component in that property, then look to refinance, extract the equity, and move on to the next one.

To increase your buffer position for holding costs moving forward, certain financial products may suit you better than others. Others may have break costs or refinancing costs, or hefty legal fees moving forward. So, seek finance that meets your initial objectives.

One option is an interest-only loan, to maximise available cash. Interest-only loans can maximise cash flow and represent the lowest personal commitment a borrower has with the lender.

This, however, does not stop you from making extra repayments  and thats important  but it means that contractually your obligations are as low as they can possibly be.

Offset accounts are also a great addition. They keep your money separate from the loan so you are never affecting the tax status of the loan.

For example, people buying their first investment property will likely want to buy something down the track for themselves, so they should be saving money in their offset account which gives them the benefit of reducing the interest cost of the investment and improving cash flow during that time, which then gives the investor more money to put into the offset. They can invest and at the same time they are saving for their own home.

Finally, the question of whether to fix or go variable will need to be considered. The decision should be based on individual circumstances, your portfolio, costs, risk profile and what youre trying to achieve.

As long as you factor in the end period of a fixed rate, and what it may fluctuate up or down to, then you can risk manage yourself moving forward. If its variable upfront, you should try to keep a 2% to 3% buffer either side of that variable rate. If youre risk averse you may want to put 5% to 6% on top.

Ask help

For young investors without reserves of savings, sometimes it is up to their parents to help out. This might entail lending a deposit or using the equity in their home to secure a loan.

The advantage of tapping into parents equity is usually that it minimises the need for expensive mortgage insurance  and thats a great idea. However, parents do need to be a little bit careful, particularly older parents who may be thinking about selling their house to move to a retirement village.

The bank will want cash when they sell to cover that loan, unless the first property has gone up a sufficient amount to cover that loan. And theres a certain amount of trust in the children to pay down the loan. In that situation, if its an investment property, the child has an obligation to their parents to reduce the loan to release the parents property as soon as possible.

Parents, other relatives, and friends might be able to assist by offering free accommodation or cheap rent as a temporary place of residence.

Understanding tax and capital growth

Tax should rarely be a major consideration for investors; in fact it is the icing on the cake.

Still, you should never invest in something purely for tax reasons. Tax benefits on a property can be beneficial and can certainly make the returns better but doing research and due diligence upfront is crucial. Capital gains, land tax and possibly GST are all factors that need to be understood.

An important point to remember is you are only taxed on capital gains if you sell your property. Many high-profile investors have achieved significant returns over the long term because they bought capital growth assets and held them for extended periods.

If you purchase high rental yield properties, however, you will be taxed on the rent. This option might depend on what your financial situation is. Those with a low wage and limited savings may need to sacrifice growth and go for yield, but the opposite is true for those with a high paying job.

These are just some of the things than can help you get a leg up as you start your journey in the property investment space.

This article was first published in May 2010.

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Photo by Pexels--2286921 from Pixabay.
News

Chicago, Illinois - High Court Protects Patients from Unjustified Government Intrusion in Medicine - Statement attributable to: Andrew W. Gurman, M.D., President, American Medical Association:

"The American Medical Association applauds the decision in Whole Woman's Health v. Hellerstedt striking down unsupported and unnecessary government regulation of medicine that impedes, rather than serves, public health objectives. The Court found no evidence of a legitimate threat to patient health that could justify a Texas law interfering with clinical judgment and obstructing women's access to abortion services.

"The AMA joined the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, along with several other national specialty medical societies, in an amicus brief to the Supreme Court in support of protecting the patient-physician relationship from unjustifiable government intrusion that compromises access to safe clinical care. The AMA opposes interference in the clinical examination room and calls on policymakers to leave determination of what constitutes medically necessary treatment where it belongs - in the hands of physicians and patients."
Health News

Dallas, Texas - UT Southwestern Medical Center cell biologists have identified a new method for determining the length of telomeres, the endcaps of chromosomes, which can influence cancer progression and aging.

In broad terms, telomeres help determine whether a cell reproduces accurately. As the cell divides, these endcaps degrade, causing the cell to age  and it is believed this degradation may lead to some aspects of aging in humans. UT Southwestern scientists hope to use knowledge of telomeres to slow or stop cells from aging, or to potentially help stop the uncontrolled growth of cancer cells that maintain their telomeres.

Finding the best and most sensitive methods for measuring telomeres is an important initial step that could eventually enable scientists to encourage healthy cell growth or, in the case of cancer, limit or halt the cell growth.

Probes generated using this new approach significantly enhance the sensitivity of telomere length measurements, explained Dr. Jerry Shay, Professor of Cell Biology, who along with his postdoctoral fellow, Dr. Tsung-Po Lai, developed the new method together with Dr. Woodring Wright, Professor of Cell Biology and Internal Medicine. Dr. Shay and Dr. Wright, who hold The Southland Financial Corporation Distinguished Chair in Geriatrics, are members of UT Southwesterns Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center, and together direct a joint laboratory studying telomere biology.

Telomeres are the ends of chromosomes, which package genetic information to pass from parents to children. As the cell divides, these endcaps help keep the genetic information stable and prevent the chromosomes from fusing together. But as cells divide, the telomeres shorten and, eventually, trigger DNA damage that in conjunction with other factors can lead to progression of aging and an increased chance of cancer emerging.

Scientists are interested in understanding this cellular aging process to create an immortal cell, which could continue to create new cells without degrading and that could have important implications for diseases related to aging. In reverse, controlling the cellular aging process could accelerate the mortality of cancer cells. If telomeres in cancer cells shorten, this action could prevent the cancer cells from dividing uncontrollably in their early stages of development, slowing or halting cancer progression. In the event that a tumor has already developed, anti-telomerase therapy might be administered to prevent relapse.

The first step is developing the ability to accurately measure telomeres. Radioactive probes often used for measuring lengths are less stable, require long exposure times, and result in hazardous waste disposal requirements and other potential safety issues. A popular nonradioactive alternative called DIG (digoxigenin) probes requires relatively large amounts of genomic DNA and is less sensitive. The new nonradioactive method developed by the researchers here uses multiple DIG molecules, which increases both the sensitivity and stability of telomere detection.

The research appears in the journal BioTechniques. The research was conducted with support from Henrietta Lacks and her family; grants from the National Institute on Aging, Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT), and the Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center; and additional support from the Southland Financial Corporation Distinguished Chair in Geriatrics.

UT Southwesterns Simmons Cancer Center is the only NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center in North Texas and one of just 45 NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers in the nation. The Simmons Cancer Center includes 13 major cancer care programs and fosters groundbreaking basic research that has the potential to improve patient care and prevention of cancer worldwide. The Centers education and training programs support and develop the next generation of cancer researchers and clinicians. The Center also is among only 30 U.S. cancer research centers, and the only cancer center in North Texas to be named a National Clinical Trials Network Lead Academic Participating Site, providing patients access to NCI-sponsored cancer research trials, where promising new drugs often are tested.
186 people dead in heavy rains

2016-07-04 13:40

Photo taken on July 3, 2016 shows the scene of a waterlogged street in Xuancheng city, East China's Anhui province. Many regions in Anhui were flooded due to heavy rainfall in recent days. [Photo/Xinhua]

Intense downpours have caused huge losses along the Yangtze River drainage area in recent days, and more rain is expected to batter the region along with the first typhoon this year, according to authorities.

Heavy rains have left 186 people dead and 45 missing in 26 provinces, regions and municipalities across the country as of Sunday, causing a loss of 50.6 billion yuan ($7.59 billion), the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters said.

About 33 million people were affected by the rain and rain-triggered floods, and 1.48 million people have been relocated across 1,192 counties in 26 provinces. The rain and flooding has destroyed 56,000 homes.

Compared to the same period in 2000, the number of areas and people affected has reduced. The number of people killed and homes destroyed reduced dramatically, but the direct loss increased significantly, by 51 percent.

Because more rain has been concentrated on the country's southern, eastern and northeastern parts, floods could occur along the Yangtze, Songhua and Huaihe rivers this summer, an official from the headquarters said.

Authorities have predicted water will exceed warning levels at the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River and the upper and middle reaches of the Huaihe River from Sunday to Tuesday.

Two rounds of rain could occur in next 10 days along the middle and lower sections of the Yangtze River and Huaihe River drainage areas.

Residents are moved to safety on July 3, 2016,in Tongling, Anhui province, as flooding continued to affect the city and other regions in central and eastern China. [Photo by Zhan Jun/For China Daily]

Two flood peaks

The flood control headquarters issued the first warning of a Yangtze flood peak on Friday due to heavy rains from Thursday, along the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River.

The flood peak entered the Three Gorges Reservoir at 50,000 cubic meters per second.

A second flood peak is expected on the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River and Poyang and Dongting lakes, both flood basins of the river, the headquarters said on Sunday.

As of Sunday, the total precipitation reached 200 millimeters in many parts of the Anhui, Hubei and Jiangsu provinces. In Luan, Anhui province, the precipitation reached 480 millimeters. In Huanggang, Hubei province, one day's precipitation reached 325 millimeters.

The heavy rain in recent days has caused 91 rivers to experience rising water above warning levels, while five rivers recorded their highest water levels in history.

Soldiers carry sandbags to reinforce a dam in Shencun Township in Xuancheng city, East China's Anhui province, July 3, 2016. [Photo/Xinhua]

Hubei, Anhui worst hit

In central Hubei Province, torrential rain has left 34 people dead and 11 others missing, between Thursday and Sunday. In Anhui Province, seven people have died and another four went missing from June 27 to July 3, according to local authorities.

More than 17 million people have been affected by the rain in the two provinces, with 974,000 people relocated. The rain also destroyed over 400,000 rooms and affected 1.4 million hectares of crops.

Relief efforts

The National Commission for Disaster Reduction and the Ministry of Civil Affairs has launched a level-IV emergency response in the Hubei and Anhui provinces.

Authorities sent a work team and 3,000 tents to help relief work in Hubei, while in Anhui, authorities allocated 3,000 tents and 3,000 folding beds to the province, in addition to 5,000 quilts.

Anhui authorities have organized 40,000 officials and people to patrol dykes in the province, dealing with 374 dangerous situations. Hubei authorities also have sent thousands of officials and police to scrutinize the dykes.

When the first flood flow formed in the Yangtze River on Friday, the Three Gorges Dam captured the flow and mitigated flooding downstream, the flood control headquarters said.

The peak inflows reached 50,000 cubic meters per second on Friday, and the Three Gorges Dam, in Yichang, Hubei province, captured much of the water and cut outflow to 31,000 cubic meters per second.

Photo taken on July 3, 2016 shows surging water under an unfinished bridge in Xuancheng city, East China's Anhui province. [Photo/Xinhua]

First typhoon formed

Nepartak, the first typhoon of the year, was formed south to Guam around 8 am on Sunday. It is moving northwest about 15 kilometers per hour. It is expected to bring gales and downpours to eastern coastal areas the next week.

The country's weather authority suggested people in southern areas reduce outdoor activities on rainy days and take precautions against possible floods and landslides.
New York: Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump on Monday defended a post he made two days earlier to social media that included an image depicting rival Hillary Clinton against a backdrop of cash and a Star of David, while Clinton called the image anti-Semitic.

In a tweet on Monday, Trump said he had not meant the six-pointed star to refer to the Star of David, which is a symbol of Judaism. Rather, he said, the star could have referred to a sheriff`s badge, which is shaped similarly except for small circles at the ends of each of its six points, or a "plain star."

His tweet came after Mic News reported on Sunday that the image attacking Clinton - which included the words: "History made" and, inside the star, "most corrupt candidate ever!" - had been shared on a neo-Nazi web forum called /pol/. Reuters confirmed the image was posted there on June 22 by viewing a link to an archived version of a /pol/ page, though the page has since been updated and the image removed.

"Donald Trump`s use of a blatantly anti-Semitic image from racist websites to promote his campaign would be disturbing enough, but the fact that it`s a part of a pattern should give voters major cause for concern," Clinton, the presumptive Democratic nominee, said in a statement emailed to reporters on Monday.

Trump posted and deleted the tweet on Saturday, then tweeted a similar image in which the star was replaced by a circle. On Monday he lashed out at journalists for continuing to report on the original tweet.

"Dishonest media is trying their absolute best to depict a star in a tweet as the Star of David rather than a Sheriff`s Star, or plain star!" Trump wrote on Twitter on Monday.

The Nazis forced Jews to wear a Star of David on their clothing to identify themselves during the Holocaust.

Saturday`s incident was the latest departure by Trump from a recent effort to appease Republicans worried about his brash public persona by trying to appear more restrained. The Republican convention, where Trump is expected to be named the party`s official nominee for the November presidential election, is two weeks away.

In June, Trump fired his campaign manager Corey Lewandowski and began using a teleprompter to make speeches, hoping to show that his campaign could be more inclusive after earlier mishaps, including his statement that Mexicans crossing the US border illegally were "rapists" and his mocking of a disabled reporter, which Clinton has begun using in attack ads against him.

Ed Brookover, a senior adviser to the Trump campaign, said in an interview on CNN on Monday the campaign felt it had "corrected" the issue about the star by deleting Trump`s original tweet.

Brookover said the image`s earlier appearance on the neo-Nazi forum was irrelevant.

"These images get posted and re-posted and re-posted on social media on many forums," he said. "There was never any intention of anti-Semitism."
Hyderabad: AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi on Sunday strongly defended his decision to provide legal aid to the five city-based youths arrested by NIA on charges of being involved in an alleged ISIS terror module, saying there is nothing wrong in it.

"If legal aid is fundamental right, then why should these people have trouble or why are they in so much pain?" the Hyderabad Lok Sabha MP told PTI, hitting back at critics who slammed his move.

"If we as a nation can provide lawyer to a Pakistani dreaded terrorist (Ajmal Kasab), why not these Indian citizens who have been definitely charged, but it's now for NIA to prove beyond reasonable doubt their involvement. I don't know why they (his critics) are so much in pain when I am talking about fundamental rights," Owaisi said.

"Why isn't the same argument being used for the lawyers who are representing Aseemanand (Mecca Masjid blast case), Pragya Thakur (Malegaon blast case)? Are you trying to say that those lawyers (representing Aseemanand and Pragya) are nationalists? And what I am doing it anti-national?" he asked.

Owaisi alleged that after Mecca Masjid blast in 2007, more than 80 Muslim boys were picked up, tortured, and kept in illegal detection for a week, and later on it emerged that they were not involved, and the then state government was forced to give Rs one lakh compensation to each of them.

He asked as to why the NIA had not appealed against the bail that was given to Aseemanand, who is "still an accused" in the case.

"Why did they (NIA) conveniently allow the 90 days to lapse? Why is nobody asking why has the NIA given clean chit to Sadhvi (Pragya Thakur) which was later on struck down by the NIA court, and the NIA court had to say that she has prima facie case to answer for the conspiracy of Malegaon (blast) and also that motorcycle is in her name. So, why did the NIA discharge?" he further sought to know.

On BJP's allegation that he is giving "oxygen" to terrorists and he is "seen as standing with extremists", Owaisi said: "To me it's quite perplexing that the latest video of ISIS shows me as a supporter of Hindu nation which India is not. And it calls me a non-Muslim. And then these people also call me names that I am supporting (terrorists).

"So, it's good. It clearly shows that I am a thorn for both Sangh Parivar and also ISIS," he added.

Owaisi had last week said his party would provide legal help to the five youths arrested by the NIA on charges of involvement in an alleged ISIS terror module, but asserted his party does not support terrorism.
Chennai: P. Ramkumar, the prime suspect arrested in the Infosys techie murder case, told police that he was verbally abused about his physical appearance by S. Swathi that enraged him the most.

According to Times of India report, Ramkumar, who confessed to the crime, revealed that he was not a complete stranger to Swathi. According to him, the two met each other on social networking sites and had exchanged each other's phone numbers.

A senior police official said that though Swathi knew Ramkumar from before, she did not encourage him and rejected his advances on several occasions. The police added further that Ramkumar began stalking her and started staying at a mansion in Choolaimedu just to keep a track on her.

On one of the occasions, Swathi made a remark about his physical appearance that offended Ramkumar so much, that he hatched a plan to injure her, little knowing that the assault will claim her life.

He also revealed that he wanted to make it big in Kollywood industry and even tried his hands in the film industry.

Ramkumar was picked up by police from his house in Meenakshipuram village in Sengottai. Upon seeing a team of police outside his house, he attempted to take his life by slitting his throat with a sharp metal object. He was soon rushed to a government hospital where he was given medical treatment and later underwent a surgery.

On Monday, Ramkumar was brought before Chennai Egmore court after which he was remanded to 15-day judicial custody.
Chennai: In Tamil Nadu, the prime accused Ramkumar in the software engineer Swathi murder case will be brought before Chennai Egmore court today.

Ramkumar was taken to Chennai from Tirunelveli on Sunday in an ambulance after doctors gave the permission to travel.

Swathi, a young engineer working in private IT company was murdered at Nungambakkam railway station on June 24.

Nellai District Magistrate Ramadas took the statement from the prime suspect in the case, who was arrested on Friday night by special team of police, and doctors gave the go ahead for travel.

When police surrounded him at his house in Shencottai Minatchipuram village, Ramkumar tried to slit his throat and was admitted to Tirunelveli government hospital.

A team of three doctors in the 108 ambulance accompanied him with armed police escort in the ambulance.
Delhi: Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal's principal secretary Rajendra Kumar was arrested by the CBI on Monday along with four others in a corruption case to the tune of Rs 50 crore.

Kumar, a 1989 IAS officer of UT cadre, was called along with Tarun Sharma, a deputy secretary in Kejriwal's office, besides three other private persons for questioning at the CBI headquarters this morning.

After being questioned for half a day, the CBI decided to place the two officers under arrest along with a close aide of Kumar, Ashok Kumar and owners of a private firm Sandeep Kumar and Dinesh Gupta.

Addressing the press in the national capital, CBI Spokesperson, RK Gowda said, "Allegations related to bribery and abuse of position is against them. Further probe is underway."

Reacting to the developments, Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia slammed the BJP-led government at Centre and said, "Delhi CM's principal secretary arrested, deputy secretary arrested and additional secretary transferred - This is all done to paralyse the CM's office."

"Central government has now stooped very low by doing this. This is all a conspiracy," he added.

There is a conspiracy to paralyse the CM office - Pr and Dy Secy to CM arrested, Asst Secy transferred to Andaman. All in one day! (1/n)  Manish Sisodia (@msisodia) July 4, 2016

This is the lowest levels to which a Central govt has stooped, from the time Delhi has had an elected govt in 1991 (2/n)  Manish Sisodia (@msisodia) July 4, 2016

All this is happening bcoz AAP is winning the elections in Punjab and Goa and garnering massive support in Gujarat (9/n)  Manish Sisodia (@msisodia) July 4, 2016

Modi ji, let me tell you - we've been elected by ppl of Delhi, we shall run an effective govt for them despite all your attacks on us! (n/n)  Manish Sisodia (@msisodia) July 4, 2016

On December 15 last year, CBI had raided the office of Kumar.

They had registered the case against Kumar and others on the allegations against the officer that he had abused his official position by favouring the firm in the last few years in getting tenders from Delhi government departments.

The charges pressed by the CBI are under sections 120-B of IPC (criminal conspiracy), and 13(2), 13(1)(d) of the Prevention of Corruption Act (Criminal conspiracy, criminal misconduct etc) for allegedly favouring a private company - Endeavour Systems Pvt Ltd - in bagging five contracts.

CBI had said in April this year, "Rajender Kumar had played an active role in the process of promising and facilitating award of tender to a pre determined party i.e., M/s Endeavour Systems Pvt Ltd due to extraneous considerations and devoid of public interest which shows clear element of abuse of official position and criminal conspiracy among the accused persons including the Directors of the present applicant company," as per PTI.

The case was registered based on a complaint from former Delhi Dialogue Commission (DDC) member Ashish Joshi to the Delhi Police Anti-Corruption bureau (ACB).

The complaint was forwarded to CBI in July following which the agency registered an FIR after a five-month-long probe.

Kumar was also secretary to Kejriwal during his previous stint as Delhi CM.

The raid on Kumar by the CBI had led to a war of words between the Delhi government and the Centre last year. Kejriwal had taken to Twitter and had said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi 'could not handle him politically' and that's why he was resorting to 'cowardice'.

(With Agency inputs)
New Delhi: Delhi government's Principal secretary Rajender Kumar was arrested on Monday in a 50 crore corruption case involving purchase of computers. Know more about this disgraced IAS officer.

-Four others were arrested along with him, but the CBI, which was investigating the case, said Kumar is the kingpin of the scam.

-Kumar was earlier arrested for graft on the eve of his 50 birthday by the CBI.

-He is considered a close confidant of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

-An IAS official belonging to the 1989 batch of the Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Mizoram and Union Territories (AGMUT) cadre, this isnt Kumars first tryst with controversy.

-It started as soon as he was appointed as Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister after a bitter struggle following the formation of the first Aam Aadmi Party government in late 2013, which was in power for 49 days, materialised to the current allegations of graft against him.

-Kejriwal had first received a complaint alleging that Kumar was involved in graft from international anti-graft watchdog Transparency International India on May 27, 2015.

-The complaint was received a fortnight before Ashish Joshi, a 1992-batch Indian Post and Telecommunication Accounts and Finance Service (IP&TAFS) officer, moved the Delhi government Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) against Kumar on June 15.

-Apart from the Chief Minister, the complaint against Kumar was filed, and forwarded on behalf of an anonymous complainant to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, President Pranab Mukherjee and Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung.

-On June 15, Joshi, who was suspended from his posting as member-secretary, Delhi Dialogue Commission on May 9, accused Kumar of corrupt practices related to the Information Technology (IT) sector in a complaint to Joint Commissioner of Police (Anti-Corruption Branch) Mukesh Kumar Meena.

-Claiming that his knowledge of Kumars corruption had triggered his abrupt repatriation by the Delhi Government based on allegations of misconduct and misbehaviour, the complaint had resulted in the ACB sending a notice asking Kumar to join investigation related to Joshis allegations against him.

-During the course of implementation of e-governance initiatives in Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB) as Chief Digitisation Officer, I learnt about the corrupt practices adopted by Shri Rajendra Kumar related to IT: Joshi reportedly wrote in his complaint.

-Kumar has been accused of setting up companies to provide work contracts without tenders at a huge loss to the Delhi government.

-As per CBI sources, the scam dates back to 2006, when Kumar started a front company, Endeavours Systems Private Limited, to provide IT solutions and software. The company empanelled with Public Sector Units to get government work without tenders.
Dublin: A Muslim group aimed at fostering peace and integration in Ireland has joined members of the country`s LGBT community to break fast during Ramadan, it was reported on Monday.

In an effort to display "true Islamic ideals", the Irish Muslim Peace & Integration Council invited a whole host of people from outside the faith to share in the spirit of the holy holiday on Saturday.

Fasting is observed from dawn to sunset during Ramadan to display self-restraint and is one of the five pillars of Islam.

During the day, participants in the holy event must refrain from eating, drinking, smoking, sex, and other pleasures until nightfall.

"As more than one billion Muslims worldwide celebrate Ramadan by fasting and appreciating the blessings given to us it is equally important for the Irish Muslim community to reach out to our neighbours as an example of true Islamic ideals," said Shaykh Umar Al-Qadri, imam and chairman of the council.

The shared Iftar dinner, the meal when the fast is ended, took place in Dublin and was also attended by Jewish holocaust survivor and guest speaker Tomi Reichental.

Al-Qadri has been an outspoken supporter of the LGBT community in Ireland, likening discrimination against gay and transgender people to that experienced by Muslims.

Following the Orlando shootings at a gay nightclub in Florida, he told the Irish Examiner that he stood with the LGBT community.

"I stand with the LGBT community and I am against the marginalization of any group," he said.

"It should not have happened. We are a minority ourselves, we understand what discrimination is."


London: Eurosceptic MEP Nigel Farage, a major driving force behind Britains vote to leave the European Union, on Monday stepped down as leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP).

I have decided to stand aside as leader of UKIP, he told a London press conference. The victory for the Leave side in the referendum means that my political ambition has been achieved.

The 52-year-old said that whoever succeeded David Cameron as prime minister should be a long-time Brexit campaigner and vowed to scrutinise negotiations over Britains departure from the EU.

I will watch the renegotiation process in Brussels like a hawk and perhaps comment in the European Parliament from time to time, he said.

Whilst we will now leave the European Union the terms of our withdrawal are unclear, he added.

If there is too much backsliding by the government and with the Labour party detached from many of its voters, then UKIPs best days may be yet to come.

He also offered his services to other independence movements springing up in other parts of the European Union, adding he was certain that you havent seen the last country that wants to leave the EU.

Farage has quit as party leader twice before, firstly in 2009 over party infighting and again in 2015 after failing to become an MP, but on both occasions decided to stay.

He insisted Monday that I wont be changing my mind again, I promise you.
London: The leader of the insurgent right-wing UK Independence Party said on Monday he was stepping down after realising his ambition to win a vote for Britain to leave the EU, the latest twist in a dramatic reshaping of the nation`s politics.

The departure of brash former commodities trader Nigel Farage would sideline one of the most outspoken and effective anti-EU campaigners from the debate about how to sever Britain`s ties with the other 27 countries in the bloc.

But it could also give his UKIP party - which under Britain`s winner-takes-all election system won just one seat in parliament last year despite capturing 12.6 percent of the vote - an opportunity to select a less polarising figure and take on the mainstream in a radically altered political environment.

The June 23 `Brexit` vote to leave the EU has thrown both the two main political parties into disarray, with the ruling Conservatives seeking a replacement for Prime Minister David Cameron and lawmakers from the main opposition Labour Party voting to withdraw confidence in leader Jeremy Corbyn.

"I have never been, and I have never wanted to be, a career politician. My aim in being in politics was to get Britain out of the European Union," said Farage, who remains a UKIP member of the European Parliament.

"During the referendum campaign, I said `I want my country back`. What I`m saying today, is, `I want my life back,` and it begins right now."

With Corbyn so far refusing to step down, Labour lawmaker Angela Eagle said she had the necessary support to trigger a leadership challenge and resolve the "impasse" crippling the party. Corbyn issued a video appealing for unity.

The acrimonious leadership battles in the main political parties have added to uncertainty at a time when Britain is embarking on its biggest constitutional change since the dissolution of its empire in the decades after World War Two.

Global markets have been hit by uncertainty over the impact of Brexit on trade and investment, and concerns that Britain`s departure could prompt other EU members to consider following suit.

George Osborne, the finance minister, has abandoned his target of balancing the budget within four years and floated the idea on Sunday of a quick cut in the rate of corporation tax to less than 15 percent from 20 percent to show that Britain was still "open for business". Labour accused him of trying to turn the country into an offshore tax haven.

Osborne told parliament he would meet the heads of major banks on Tuesday for discussions on Brexit.

"We are not today - although we remain vigilant - talking about a banking crisis, despite a very significant adjustment in financial markets," he said.

The pound has recovered only slightly from a 31-year low, and the FTSE 100 share index fell 0.8 percent on Monday, although it has bounced 3 percent since the referendum.

Theresa May, a Conservative party stalwart who has run the law-and-order portfolio in the cabinet for six years, is the favourite to succeed Cameron despite having campaigned to remain in the EU.

According to bookmakers, her strongest rival is Andrea Leadsom, 53, a junior minister who was unknown to most Britons before the referendum campaign but was widely judged to have mounted an effective case for `Leave` in an eve-of-vote televised debate seen by millions.

If the betting odds are correct, Britain is on course to get its first woman prime minister since Margaret Thatcher left office in 1990.

Leadsom, setting out her leadership credentials on Monday, said talks over Britain`s departure from the EU should be as short as possible to avoid prolonged uncertainty.

She offered reassurance to EU nationals currently living in Britain: "I commit today to guaranteeing the rights of our EU friends who`ve already come here to live and work. We must give them certainty. There is no way they will be bargaining chips in our negotiations."

But immigration minister James Brokenshire said the United Kingdom should make no such guarantee unless it received reciprocal assurances about the rights of expatriate Britons.

Despite the 52 percent referendum vote, Britain has not yet invoked Article 50 of the EU`s Lisbon Treaty to begin the formal process of breaking away. While all the candidates to succeed Cameron say there is no going back, some anti-Brexit politicians say it is still not a foregone conclusion.

Law firm Mishcon de Reya said on Monday it had started legal action to demand the government win approval from parliament before triggering the divorce process. Most of the 650 members of the House of Commons opposed Brexit before the vote.

"The outcome of the Referendum itself is not legally binding and for the current or future Prime Minister to invoke Article 50 without the approval of Parliament is unlawful," Kasra Nouroozi, a partner at Mishcon de Reya, said in a statement.

Former defence minister Liam Fox, a pro-Brexit figure and an outsider in the leadership contest, said Britain should activate article 50 before the end of the year, and he did not believe any parliament vote was needed.

He said the free movement of people across Europe - a core principle of the EU but a major concern for many Britons - should not be on the table in negotiations about a trade deal with the EU after Brexit.

"It is quite clear that the public rejected the concept of free movement, and that the price of including such free movement as part of a trade deal would be regarded as a betrayal by the British people," Fox said.

The other leadership contenders are work and pensions minister Stephen Crabb and justice minister Michael Gove, a Leave campaigner who caused high political drama last week by turning against his ally, former London mayor Boris Johnson, and driving him from the race.
Shimla: Six family members were reported missing when a car skidded off the road and fell into the swollen Beas river on the Mandi-Manali national highway, police said on Monday.

"Search operation is on to locate the six missing people but their chances of survival are less as the river is in spate. One body has been recovered," a police official told IANS.

He said eight people, including four women, were travelling in a Tata Nano car when the accident occurred near Aut, some 175 km from the state capital on Sunday night.

They were returning to Pandoh in Mandi district from Manikaran, known for popular Sikh shrine in Kullu district.

The only survivor was admitted to a hospital in Mandi town with injuries.
Dhaka: Seven members of an outlawed Bangladeshi Islamist group have been charged with the attempted murder of an Italian priest who was wounded in a shooting last year, police said today.

The charges come as Bangladesh reels from the killing of 20 hostages including nine Italians over the weekend at an upmarket cafe in the capital Dhaka.

The priest Piero Parolari, who is also a doctor, was shot by unidentified gunmen in the northern Dinajpur district last November.

The Islamic State group said it was responsible for the attack a claim promptly rejected by the government and police.

Police later arrested four suspected members of the Jamayetul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), with two allegedly confessing their roles in the attack.

Police yesterday pressed charges against seven JMB followers for the attack, recommending that they be given death sentences if found guilty.

Three of those charged remain on the run, including a student at a private university whose father is a Bangladeshi-origin Canadian citizen.

"All seven who are charged are JMB members. Two of them told a court as to how they planned the attack and who have supplied them weapons,"

Inspector Bazlur Rahman, who is leading the investigation, told AFP.

The government and police say homegrown extremists are responsible for the deaths of some 80 secular activists, foreigners and religious minorities killed over the last three years.

Police have also blamed the JMB for the killings during the siege in the heart of Dhaka's diplomatic zone which came to an end on Saturday morning.

They say the deaths are part of a plot to destabilise the country, and have blamed the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and its Islamist ally.

Last month Dhaka launched a nationwide crackdown on local jihadist groups, arresting more than 11,000 people, under pressure to act on the spate of killings.

But many rights groups allege the arrests were arbitrary or were a way to silence political opponents of the government.
New Delhi: The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (I&B) is reportedly considering a fresh set of guidelines for TV coverage of terrorist attacks.

In a social media post, Union Minister of State for I&B Rajyavardhan Rathore said, Media should refrain from identifying nationalities and identities of probable hostages for their safety.

He made the remarks after the deadly Dhaka terror attack in which 20 people, including an Indian girl, was killed.

According to sources, the ministry has already informally sensitised the broadcast associations about the security situation which could potentially impact national interest.

The sources said that it is a complex procedure and guidelines would cover local as well as international news agencies.
New Delhi: The mortal remains of 19-year-old Tarishi Jain, the only Indian casualty in recent Dhaka terror attack, arrived in India from Bangladesh on Monday.

Tarishi's remains will be taken to Gurgaon where her last rites will be conducted. The government is likely to send a representative to her last rites.

Tarishi was to come down to Ferozabad on July 4 in Uttar Pradesh to meet her extended family here. The same day when her body will come down from Dhaka for her last rites to be held in Gurgaon at 5:30 pm.

Tarishi, a student at UC Berkeley, was on vacation in Dhaka. She was caught up in the horrific 11-hour siege at the Holey Artisan Bakery and was later killed after being taken hostage by a group of attackers.

Her father runs a garment business in Bangladesh for the last 15-20 years, according to officials here.

Twenty foreigners, including eight Italians, seven Japanese and the Indian student, were brutally murdered by the militants inside the Holey Artisan Bakery in Dhaka's diplomatic zone before commandos launched an assault yesterday, killing six attackers and capturing one alive, ending Bangladesh's worst terror attack.

The bodies of the victims were recovered during a search in the Bakery compound after the operation.

On Sunday, the ISIS terror group claimed responsibility for the attack that left at least people dead. The Amaq news agency, affiliated with ISIS, posted photos purportedly showing hostages' bodies though the authenticity of the images could not be confirmed.

According to another report, the ISIS group on Sunday released photos of five of Dhaka attackers.
Delhi: Even as the mortal remains of 19-year-old Tarishi Jain, who was among the 20 hostages killed in a gruesome terror attack in Dhaka, was on Monday cremated in Gurgaon, the story of her friend Faraaz Hossain will leave many people teary-eyed.

The Indian Express quoted sources as saying that Faraaz may have sacrificed his life as he did not want to leave his two friends behind.

This was supposedly revealed during questioning of the hostages who were rescued.

The Daily further quoted sources as saying that Faraaz was given the option of leaving Holey Artisan Bakery, popular with foreigners and expats in the upscale Gulshan locality, late on Friday night.

The terrorists reportedly asked Faraaz as to where Tarishi and Abinta, who were wearing western clothes, from. He is said to have told them that they were from India and US, respectively.

Abinta was studying in the US but was a Bangladeshi citizen.

The two teenagers were not freed and as for Faraaz, he did not take the option to leave but be with his friends.

Faraaz is the grandson of Latifur Rahman, chairman of Transcom Group, and Shahnaz Rahman. He is the younger of two sons of Simeen Hossain, managing director, Eskayef Bangladesh Limited, and Muhammad Waquer Bin Hossain.

He was pursuing his undergraduate studies at the Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia in the United States and had come to Dhaka on May 18 for his summer holidays, as per media reports.

On the other hand, businessman Rezaul Karim, whose son, daughter-in-law and two grandchildren were taken hostage but later freed, told The Daily Star, "My daughter-in-law told me that she heard a Bangladeshi youth refused to leave the restaurant when militants offered to free him. They wouldn't let two of his friends go."

Meanwhile, Tarishi's brother Sanchit performed the last rites at around 4:15 pm in a cremation ground at Sukhrali village near IFFCO Chowk.

Earlier, the mortal remains of the 19-year-old student of University of California in Berkeley, US, where she studied Economics, were brought from Dhaka to Delhi where her family members, Minister of State for Power and Coal Piyush Goyal was present. Goyal received the body.

The body was then taken to Gurgaon DLF phase-1 F Block community centre where it was kept for two hours to enable an estimated 200 people, including Goyal and Haryana Education Minister Rambilas Sharma, to pay their respects, as per PTI.

Daughter of a garments manufacturer with business interests in Bangladesh, she was in Dhaka on a vacation.

Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the killing of the hostages, mostly foreigners and two police officers during the 12-hour siege that ended on Saturday after the Army stormed the bakery, killing six attackers and capturing one alive.

However, Bangladesh has blamed 'home-grown' Islamist terrorists and Pakistan's spy agency ISI for the country's worst terror attack, ruling out the role of the ISIS.

(With Agency inputs)
New Delhi: Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Monday wrote to Tarishi Jain's father Sanjeev Jain and condoled the death of his daughter in the terror siege in the Bangladesh capital.

"I was really pained after hearing about your daughter's death. This was a tragic incident and it was against humanity. This kind of violence is a blot to the whole world community. Those kill people in cold blood can't be well-wisher of anybody. We have to build an atmosphere against this," Gandhi wrote.

"I know it is very difficult for the parents and the relatives to come to terms with this, but there is no other way but to keep patience and there are no words to console. But still there are some incidents in our life over which we don't have any control and have to live with it," she further added.

"In this hour of grief, I express my deepest condolence to the family," Gandhi said.

Tarishi, a student of University of California-Berkeley, was among the 20 hostages killed by Islamist terrorists during a siege on a cafe in Dhaka's Gulshan area on July 1.


New Delhi: Eleven Indians who had been languishing in a Nigerian prison for two years have been released, confirmed External Affairs Sushma Swaraj.

Employees of a Merchant Navy firm, the crew's ship got stranded in Nigeria and the entire crew was arrested for violating laws of international waters in 2014.

In a tweet, Swaraj also appreciated the efforts of High Commissioner in Nigeria B N Reddy for expediting their repatriation.

Meanwhile, Swaraj has said that the Government is making all efforts to secure the release of two Indians abducted from Gboko, a town in the Benue state of north-central Nigeria.One of the captive is Anish Sharma from Karnataka and another is Mangipudi Sai Srinivas from Andhara Pradesh.

Both were travelling to Dangote Cement Plant in a car from their residential quarters last Wednesday, when a group of armed men kidnapped them at a traffic signal.

Swaraj said that she spoke to Anish Sharma`s wife and assured her that the Government is doing its best to secure their release from abductors.

In a tweet she said she has deputed a senior officer to update the family regularly.

External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Vikas Swarup had on Friday described the abduction as "nothing surprising or new in that area", saying such incidents keep happening there.
Cooochbehar (WB): In the wake of the deadly attack in Dhaka, the Border Security Force (BSF) of North Bengal Frontier has tightened security arrangements in 199 Border out Post (BOP)'s including Barun Indo-Bangladesh border near Mekhligunj in Cooochbehar district of West Bengal.

According to Suresh Kumar, the senior official of BSF, 13 Battalion, after the militants attack in Bangladesh security, has been tightened along the Indo-Bangladesh border.

"BSF is putting a strong vigil over the border lines to avoid any unwanted incident. Our jawans are on high alert, doing duties around the clock in fenced, unfenced and also in the riverine areas. We are also using speed boats and country made boats in the riverine borders," Kumar said.

He also said that the BSF is also in contact with the local police which help us the joint operations.

India shares 4096 kms of border with Bangladesh of which West Bengal has the most of 2216kms.

The North Bengal Frontier has a border of 932kms of border with the country and has a number of porous areas.

The length of the border in the other four states is Tripura (856km), Meghalaya (443km), Assam (262km) and Mizoram (180km).
Shimla: In a major development in connection with Himachal Pradesh police recruitment exam, the local officials claimed to have unearthed a high-tech scam in the recent recruitment of police constables.

The claim was made after the arrest of six persons in Nahan.

Topper arrested

The arrested people include a government official and the topper of the examination.

Two aspirants of the recruitment examination, Gurdeep Singh and Sushil Sharma, and senior assistant in Education Department Ramandeep Singh, believed to be the mastermind of the scam, were among those arrested on Saturday, police said.

Preliminary investigation

Preliminary investigation has revealed that Sushil and Gurdeep allegedly paid Rs 25,000 and Rs 3 lakh respectively to Ramandeep to secure high marks in the examination which was held on May 29, they said.

The probe was initiated after receiving an anonymous complaint about some candidates securing "exceptionally high marks" in the written test. On perusal of documents it was found that Gurdeep and Sushil secured high marks and, in fact, the former was a topper, police said.

Ramandeep, with the help of a local shopkeeper, allegedly bought high-tech cameras and other gadgets from Delhi which were provided to both the candidates to scan the question paper and transmit it to a highly-educated professional, Inspector General of Police, Zahoor H Zaidi said.

The professional, allegedly hired by Ramandeep, solved the questions and conveyed it to the candidates who filled the answer sheets, the IG said.

Kamal Kant, who allegedly solved the questions in favour of the original aspirants, his accomplice and the shopkeeper have also been arrested. It is suspected that the racket may have deeper roots and investigation is on, police said.
Bengaluru: People's Democratic Party (PDP) leader Abdul Nasser Madani, an accused in Bengaluru serial blasts who was granted permission by a court here to visit his ailing mother in Kerala, was not allowed to board a flight at the airport here on security grounds.

IndiGo airlines said he was not allowed to fly on?security grounds.

"Mr. Abdul Nasir Maudany (Madani) who was scheduled to travel?on 6E-407 from Bangalore to Kochi on July 4, 2016 was not?accepted to fly on grounds of the security requirement,"? IndiGo said in a statement said here.

It said "This passenger was escorted by the local police authorities - this required permissions from the security regulator.

"Following the protocol, the staff requested the passenger to present the required documents, failing which the passenger was asked to procure the necessary permission to fly on board," it said.

A special National Investigation Agency?court based on the Supreme Court directions had recently fixed the?date for his travel from July 4 to July 12.

It had directed the city police to provide necessary? security arrangements.

Listing out the instructions to be strictly adhered to by all concerned for carriage of person under judicial custody/ administrative control as per the

Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) regulations, IndiGo said as an airline, it always complies with the security agencies regulations.

As per the BCAS Regulations, it said, the policing authority responsible for carriage of a prisoner by air shall indicate classification of such prisoner as dangerous or otherwise in their application addressed to the Commissioner or Regional Dy Commissioner of Security (CA), BCAS.

Also, it stipulates that a minimum of two escorts of the policing authority shall be required for one prisoner who is classified as dangerous by the policing authority.

It also noted that aircraft operator should not accept a prisoner and escort(s) as passengers unless concurrence has been obtained in advance from the

BCAS and other operators that may be involved en route and at the intended final destination.

In such cases sufficient advance notification must be given to operator so that prior agreements can be obtained, the airline added.

Madani had been arrested in connection with the July 2008 serial blasts that killed one person and injured several others here.
New Delhi: A major Union Cabinet expansion is all set to take place on Tuesday, a day before Prime Minister Narendra Modi leaves on four-nation tour on July 6, according to media reports.

The expansion is likely to take place at 11 am tomorrow that is likely to see major changes in portfolios.

Principal spokesperson of the government Frank Norhona tweeted that 'Cabinet expansion' will take place tomorrow at 11 am.

Cabinet expansion tomorrow at 11 a.m.  Frank Noronha (@DG_PIB) July 4, 2016

Shiv Sena's Anil Desai, RPI's Ramdas Bandu Athawale, BJP national vice-president Vinay Sahasrabuddhe, BJP MP from Saharanpur Raghav Lakhanpal, Uttar Pradesh's Apna Dal leader Anupriya Patel, BJP MP from Bikaner Arjun Ram Meghwal, Gujarat BJP leader Purushottam Rupala, BJP MP from Darjeeling SS Ahluwalia and BJP MP from Almora Ajay Tamta will be inducted into the Cabinet, according to reports.

Dr Sanjeev Balyan, Union Minister of State for Agriculture and BJP MP from Muzaffarnagar may get promotion, added the report.

MoS Social Justice Vijay Sampla and MoS Chemical and Fertilisers Nihal Chand will face axe from Modi's Cabinet.

A report stated that high-level meet has been scheduled to take place at BJP headquarter in the national capital today ahead of the Cabinet reshuffle. The meet will be attended by party top brass including BJP party chief Amit Shah, Home Minister Rajnath Singh.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who arrived in New Delhi on Sunday, will meet party president to discuss the Cabint expansion. Last week, Fadnavis had said that the state Cabinet expansion would be held before the Monsoon session and immediately after the expansion of the Union Cabinet.

The Prime Minister has been holding consultations on the Cabinet reshuffle with senior party colleagues including BJP chief Amit Shah, Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.

As per the reports, there is a likelihood of smaller parties getting a berth during the cabinet expansion. There were talks of cabinet expansion for the past several months amid speculation that Prime Minister Narendra Modi could induct new faces from Uttar Pradesh which is going to polls next year.

There is also a vacancy in the Council of Ministers after Sports Minister Sarbananda Sonowal became the Chief Minister of Assam. A berth is also vacant for ally Shiv Sena.

Sources state that two new faces from Uttar Pradesh are likely to be inducted. Union Power Minister Piyush Goyal and State Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbabs Naqvi are set to be promoted.

No changes are indicated at the North and South block and the top four portfolios-home, finance, external affairs and defence-are unlikely to be touched.

The last cabinet expansion had taken place in November 2014.

(With ANI inputs)
Gurgaon: The mortal remains of Tarishi Jain, who was among the 20 hostages killed in a gruesome terror attack in Dhaka's Gulshan cafe, has been handed over to her family for the last rites.

Haryana Education Minister Ram Bilas Sharma, Gurgaon Deputy Commissioner T.L. Satyaprakash and other officials earlier this afternoon received Tarishi's mortal remains at Delhi's IGI Airport.

Union Power Minister Piyush Goyal, along with others, paid tribute to her at the community centre in DLF Phase-I, Gurgaon.

The mood at the community centre was somber with relatives crying inconsolably while paying their tributes to Tarishi.

The minister was also seen consoling the aggrieved family members of the 19-year-old girl.

Tarishi, a student of University of California in Berkeley where she studied Economics, was in Dhaka on vacation. She had gone with two other friends to the Gulshan cafe where she was killed.

On Saturday, she was among the first victims of the Dhaka's siege to be identified. Her friends Abinta Kabir and Faraaz Hossain were also killed in the attack.

Nine Italians, seven Japanese, one Indian, one Bangladeshi American and two Bangladeshis were killed in the terror attack at Holey Artisan Bakery in Gulshan on Friday night.

Besides 20 people, two senior police officers-Banani Police Station officer-in-charge Salauddin Ahmed Khan and Detective Branch Assistant Commissioner Robiul Islam were killed while trying to rescue the hostages.

The 12-hour-long hostage crisis at the cafe popular with foreigners ended after a two-hour long assault by armed forces' commandos killing six gunmen.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed former Kerala Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan's petition demanding a CBI probe into the Kozhikode ice-cream parlour sex case.

The alleged sex racket in the early 1990s involved an ice cream parlour in Kozhikode in Kerala and was flagged as "ice-cream parlour sex case" by the media. Several young girls allegedly fell victim to the racket.

Achuthanandan's petition was filed in the apex court in October 2013 after the Kerala High Court disallowed it.

Achuthanandan has been after this case as, according to him, the prime accused in it is former Kerala minister P.K. Kunhalikutty.

In 2011, at the fag end of Achuthanandan's tenure as Chief Minister, the case was reopened based on a new revelation by K.A. Rauf, a close relative of Kunhalikutty.

But on Monday, the apex court not only disallowed the petition but also came down heavily on the veteran politician, saying the court's precious time should not be used to settle political scores.

Reacting to the verdict, Achuthanandan said he will consult legal experts to decide on what needs to be done next.

Kunhalikutty, expressing happiness over the verdict, told reporters: "This is the umpteenth time that I am being cleared in the more than two-decade-old case. I have nothing against Achuthanandan and I also know that it's not just he who is behind this case and I know everything."
Yavatmal: At least 40 people, including policemen and media persons, were on Monday injured when a protest by some parents against alleged molestation of girl students at a school turned violent and police resorted to lathi-charge.

The protesting parents were demanding arrest of Kishor Darda, Chairman of YPS School Committee, which runs Yavatmal Public School, which is at the centre of the controversy.

To push their demand, the parents had assembled in front of Dardas residence this morning. The protest turned violent when they resorted to stone pelting targeting the policemen.

Police resorted to lathi-charge and lobbed teargas shells to disperse the angry parents.
Mumbai: Apparently peeved over the cold shoulder given by ally BJP in Tuesday's union cabinet expansion, Shiv Sena President Uddhav Thackeray declared his party would not "beg" for cabinet berths.

"We are a dignified party with self-respect. Whatever comes, it should be with respect. We shall not beg for anyting," Thackeray told media persons, while confirming that there has been no discussion with the BJP leadership on the union cabinet rejig.

He said berths in the union cabinet was a "secondary issue" for the party, and he would air his views even if the discussions were held.

"We shall not stand before anybody's doors laachaar (helpless)," Thackeray asserted.

At present, only Anant Geete from the Shiv Sena is a union cabinet minister and the party was hopeful of at least one more cabinet berth and one minister of state with independent charge.

In Tuesday's expansion, Republican Party of India-A President Ramdas Athawale is likely to be inducted as a cabinet minister from among the BJP's allies in Maharashtra.

Athawale was elected to then Rajya Sabha with the BJP's support from Maharashtra.


Gandhinagar: A force of 18,000 security personnel will be deployed in Ahmedabad to guard the annual Lord Jagannath rath yatra, which will be taken out on Wednesday.

"For Ahmedabad, which will witness it's 139th rath yatra (on July 6), around 8,000 security personnel have been sanctioned by the DGP office. This is in addition to the city's own force of around 10,000 policemen," V M Pargi, in-charge of Additional Director General of Police (ADGP)- Law and Order, at a press conference here on Monday.

"Ahmedabad rath yatra passes through communally sensitive areas of the city and all these security personnel will be on bandobast duty. Apart from the main rath yatra, local police as well as security forces will be on their toes to guard 148 small processions held in different parts of Gujarat that day," he added.

The total length of the rath yatra procession stretches up to 1.5 km and covers around 15 km route before returning to Jagannath temple in Jamalpur area after almost ten hours of journey.

This additional force of 8,000 personnel include two Inspector General of Police (IGs), 22 Superintendents of Police (SPs), 60 Deputy SPs, 160 Inspectors, 300 Sub Inspectors (PSIs), 2,000 constables and head constables, 1,500 recruits undergoing training.

City police will also get help from 15 companies of the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF), such as Border Security Force and Rapid Action Force. In addition, 45 companies of State Reserve Police would be deployed along the route. Each company consists of around 70 to 90 armed men.

"We will deploy 15 companies of CAPF and 45 companies of SRP on that day. One unit of Chetak Commando, having 32 armed commandos, will also be deployed," said Pargi.

The procession usually has 18 elephants, 100 trucks, and 30 akhadas (local gymnasiums), which will cover a distance of 15 km during the day. The raths of Lord Jagganath, his brother Balbhadra and sister Subhadra will be pulled by Khalashi community as per the age old tradition.

Taking into consideration Prime Minister Narendra Modi's suggestion about increasing cooperation with police force of other states, Gujarat police have called in two SRP companies from Nagaland and Assam.

"Our PM made this suggestion during last year's DGP conference held at Kutch. Responding positively to our request, the union Home Ministry has already sent two SRP companies from Nagaland and Assam. One of the companies from Nagaland consists women personnel," Pargi said.

The overall security setup by city police also consists of 50 mounted police personnel, five teams of Bomb Disposal Squad, a dog squad, five water cannons, ten cranes, 35 jeeps, 20 police buses, five CCTV command and control vehicles and five open trucks, among others.

The jawans are also given night vision binoculars, 1,500 tear-smoke grenades, 500-dye-marker grenades, 500 stun cells, 150 teargas guns and 47 shock batons to control people in case of riots or any other unwarranted situation.

"We will also deploy six Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), called as Netra, which will provide us birds eye view of surrounding area. CCTV cameras have been installed on the entire route. We have also installed night-vision cameras at sensitive areas. Officers can watch movements from our control rooms at Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar," Pargi said.

Since Eid also falls on the same day, police are extra alert to see that both the festivals pass peacefully.

"Eid also falls on the same day. Therefore, we are taking extra precaution. Our focus will be to ensure that everything goes well on that day," Pargi said.

Even as there was a terror attack in Bangladesh recently, the senior IPS officer said there has been no specific input about such an attack in Gujarat.

"Though there is no specific input about such attack here during rath yatra, we are not leaving any stone unturned to make sure that no untoward incident takes places," Pargi said.
New Delhi: Tarishi Jain, a student at UC Berkeley, was with her two close friends when they were caught up in the horrific 11-hour siege at the Holey Artisan Bakery and among many who were later killed after being taken hostage by a group of Islamist attackers.

According to reports, Tarishi hid herself alongwith her two friends inside a toilet when heavily armed terrorists stormed into an upscale Dhaka restaurant.

Tarishi Jain and her friends - Faraaz Hossain and Abinta Kabir - thought they would manage to evade the rampaging terrorists. However, their luck ran out.

The three, who studied together in a prestigious Dhaka school, were mercilessly killed by the terrorists but not before they set a classic example of friendship which will be remembered for long.

According to a report in Indian Express, terrorists gave Faraaz Hossain an option to leave but the 20-year-old refused to leave his friends alone and told the terrorists that he would not move out of the restaurant without them.

"Since Tarishi and Abinta were wearing western clothes, the terrorists asked Faraaz where they were from. He reportedly told them that they were from India and the US," the report quoted sources, as saying.

The three were 20 others who were mercilessly butchered by the terrorists later.

Twenty foreigners, including eight Italians, seven Japanese and the Indian student, were brutally murdered by the militants inside the Holey Artisan Bakery in Dhaka's diplomatic zone before commandos launched an assault yesterday, killing six attackers and capturing one alive, ending Bangladesh's worst terror attack.

The bodies of the victims were recovered during a search in the Bakery compound after the operation.
Dhaka: Pakistan on Monday denied role in Dhaka terror attack and rejected Bangladesh's allegations of involvement of its spy agency ISI.

Pakistan's Foreign Office spokesman Nafees Zakaria issued a statement in response to media queries regarding reports of the involvement of ISI in last week's attack on a popular restaurant in Dhaka.

"These are highly regrettable, irresponsible and provocative stories being carried in the Indian media. They are utterly baseless and unfounded. Pakistan strongly rejects such allegations," he said in the statement.

He drew attention to the statement by the Adviser to the Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Gowher Rizvi, refuting a media report that was attributed to him regarding Pakistan's involvement in the attack, as proof of the Indian media's "malicious intent".

"Prof Rizvi contacted Pakistan's High Commissioner to Bangladesh to confirm that he has not issued any statement against Pakistan and that the Indian media reports are false. He also advised Pakistan's High Commissioner to convey this clarification to the Government of Pakistan, to avoid any misunderstanding between the two countries," the Foreign Office spokesman said, as per PTI.

Zakaria said Pakistan has strongly condemned the terrorist attack in Dhaka and "expressed solidarity with the government and the brotherly people of Bangladesh and offered condolences and sympathised with the families of the victims".

"Pakistan condemns terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. Being itself one of the biggest victims of terrorism, Pakistan welcomes Prof Gowher Rizvi's call for international cooperation to fight the menace of terrorism," he said.

Bangladesh had yesterday blamed 'home-grown' Islamist terrorists and ISI for the country's worst terror attack in which 20 hostages were hacked to death and had ruled out the role of the Islamic State or the ISIS.

"Let me clear it again, there are no ISIS or al-Qaeda presence or existence in Bangladesh... The hostage-takers were all home-grown terrorists not members of ISIS or any other international Islamist outfits," Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan had said.

"We know them (hostage-takers) along with their ancestors, they all grew here in Bangladesh...They belong to homegrown outfits like JMB (Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh)," he had added.

Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the killing of the hostages, mostly foreigners, and two police officers during the 12-hour siege that ended after the Army stormed the Holey Artisan Bakery popular with expats in the diplomatic zone here, killing six attackers and capturing one alive.

On the other hand, Hossain Toufique Imam, the political advisor to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, had said that the way in which the hostages were killed with machetes suggests the role of a local terrorist group, the banned Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen.

"Pakistan's ISI and Jamaat connection is well known... they want to derail the current government," Imam had told a TV channel.

Hostages who were killed include 19-year-old Indian girl Tarishi Jain. Nine Italians, 7 Japanese, one American of Bangladeshi origin, and two Bangladeshis were also among the people who were killed.

(With PTI inputs)
Dhaka: Even as Islamic State took responsibility for the Holey Artisan Bakery cafe attack, Bangladesh Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan blamed homegrown Islamist terrorists and Pakistans spy agency ISI for the terror attack that left 20 civilians dead.

The Home Minister said, Let me clear it again, there is no ISIS or al Qaeda presence or existence in Bangladesh... the hostage-takers were all home-grown terrorists not members of ISIS or any other international Islamist outfits.

We know them (hostage-takers) along with their ancestors, they all grew up here in Bangladesh... they belong to homegrown outfits like JMB (Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh), he said.

Twenty hostages, including nine Italians, seven Japanese, one US citizen and an Indian were killed when Islamist militants stormed the Holey Artisan cafe in Gulshan area early Saturday morning.

Two police officers were died and 30 others injured. After a 12-hour siege commandos rescued 13 people. Six attackers were killed in the raid. A seventh man was arrested and is in custody.

The attack began at 8.45 p.m. when around 20-22 guests were at the Holey Artisan Bakery downstairs and the O'Kitchen Restaurant upstairs, a cafe popular with foreigners.

The gunmen, shouting "Allahu Akbar" raided the cafe and took hostages, and slaughtered those who were unable to recite the Quran, said rescued hostages.

Later, the area was sealed off, and following directives from Prime Minister Hasina Sheikh, the armed forces along with the Rapid Action Battalion and police launched an assault, codenamed 'Operation Thunderbolt', in the morning. The siege ended at 8.30 am.

The Islamic State (IS) group said it was behind the attack.
Dhaka: Two persons were arrested on Monday in connection with the Bangladeshs worst terror attack at a cafe in Dhaka in which 22 people, mostly foreigners, were brutally killed by suspected ISIS militants, as authorities stepped up probe into the international links of the hostage-takers.

Inspector General of Police (IGP) AKM Shahidul Haque, however, did not disclose the identities of either of the detainees or where they were being kept.

He said both of them were unwell and will be quizzed after their condition improves.

One of them is in hospital, the other is in custody, he said.

Earlier, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and the Bangladesh Army said one terrorist was captured alive from the site of the attack. However, the identity of the suspect was not disclosed.

They (attackers) may have some contact with international terrorist groups, he said.

Islamic State (IS) has claimed responsibility for the killing of the 20 hostages and two police officers during the 12-hour siege that ended after the Army stormed the Holey Artisan Bakery popular with expats in the diplomatic zone here, killing six attackers and capturing one alive.

Hostages who were killed include 19-year-old Indian girl Tarishi Jain. Nine Italians, 7 Japanese, one American of Bangladeshi origin, and two Bangladeshis were also among the people who were killed.

You have seen the pictures of the slain militants supplied to the media, we have found out the background of four of them, a senior police officer familiar with the investigation said, preferring anonymity.

The official added that all the attackers were in their 20s. Four of them came from wealthy families and studied at elite schools and universities in Dhaka and abroad.

One of the slain assaulters was studying in a Malaysian university, while his family said they had no idea that he returned home and took part in the attack.

He said the fifth youth who hailed from a village in northwestern Bogra and studied in a madrassa there led the attackers during the Friday nights massacre.

This Khairul (of Bogra) was wanted by police for the past seven months for three deadly militant attacks in northwestern region...We understand it is him who led the Holey Artisan restaurant attack on that night, the official said.

According to mass circulation Prothom Alo Khairul was missing for the past several months. Bogra police had detained his parents for questioning.

One of slain attackers, private BRAC university student Rohan Imtiaz, was the son of a leader of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasinas ruling Awami League, while his mother was a teacher Dhakas posh Scholastica School.

The family reported him missing in December last year.

Of the five pictures of five bodies provided by police, four appeared to be the ones seen in the photos published by SITE in which the youths were seen smiling in front of an Islamic State black flag.
Hyderabad: The Hyderabad Police on Monday arrested the prime accused in the rape and brutal murder of a 10-year-old girl in the city.

The accused has been identified as Anil Kumar, who had lured the child away by offering her to buy chocolates.

According to reports, accused Anil Kumar is a repeated offender and was released from jail on Saturday. Reports say that Kumar took away the child, a class 3 student, and assaulted her sexually. After the shameful act, he brutally killed her by smashing her head with a boulder.

The girl's mother told News18, "I had not seen the suspect before. She was playing in front of my eyes and that man was there. I didn't know about his intentions but later the man took her away. When we realised that girl is missing, we called up the police."

The girl was kidnapped by the suspect from near a toddy shop where she was with her mother.

Locals found the girl's body in a ditch near her house in Bollaram police limits of Hyderabad on Sunday morning and alerted the cops.
Damascus: At least 13,000 civilians have fled the Islamic State group bastion of Manbij in northern Syria since the launch of a US-backed offensive there, a monitor said Monday.

The Kurds and Arabs fighting as the Syrian Democratic Forces alliance began their assault on Manbij in late May, encircling the town and entering its southwestern districts on June 23.

"At least 13,000 civilians have fled Manbij since the beginning of the SDF operation on May 31," said Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group.

"The fleeing increased after the SDF besieged Manbij" on June 10, he said, adding that on Sunday "hundreds of people fled a southern district of the town where there have been fierce clashes in recent days".

Manbij had served as a vital stop along an IS supply route from Turkey, from the border town of Jarabulus to its bastion province of Raqa.



The SDF offensive on the town is backed by a US-led coalition that has been bombing IS in Iraq and Syria for nearly two years.

The UN`s humanitarian office has not released its own estimates of how many people have fled Manbij, but said in late June that about 60,000 people were still in the town.

According to Abdel Rahman, residents are mostly fleeing from the southern SDF-controlled district into IS-free territory to the south.

The SDF transported one group north to the Kurdish stronghold of Kobane on the Syrian-Turkish border.

He said some civilians had died trying to escape, killed by IS snipers or explosives planted by the jihadists.

SDF fighters have been struggling to advance inside Manbij in recent days as IS has dispatched suicide attackers to defend the town.

"Daesh has used car bombs against a number of our positions," an SDF field commander told AFP on condition of anonymity.
Dhaka: Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina paid homage to the victims of the Gulshan attack at the Army Stadium in Banani here on Monday morning.

The 12-hour-long hostage crisis had ended on Saturday morning after a two-hour long assault by armed forces' commandos killing six gunmen and capturing one alive.

Nine Italians, seven Japanese, one Indian, one Bangladeshi American and two Bangladeshis were among the 20 killed in the terror attack at Holey Artisan Bakery in Gulshan on Friday night.

Two senior police officers-Banani Police Station officer-in-charge Salauddin Ahmed Khan and Detective Branch Assistant commissioner Robiul Islam also lost their lives while trying to rescue the hostages.

While Salauddin was laid to eternal rest at Banani Graveyard in Dhaka, Robiul was buried at her village home in Manikganj.

Meanwhile security continues to be tight at all sensitive points in the capital, with police checking all vehicles especially in the secured diplomatic area where the gruesome hostage killings took place.

US Secretary of State John Kerry had also called the Bangladesh Prime Minister and offered her assistance from American law enforcement, including the FBI, in the wake of the terror attack in Dhaka.

State Department spokesperson John Kirby said that the Secretary yesterday encouraged the Bangladesh to conduct its investigation in accordance with the highest international standards and offered immediate US assistance in this regard.
Riyadh: Four Saudi security personnel were killed and five others wounded in a suicide bombing Monday outside one of Islam`s holiest sites, the Prophet`s Mosque in Medina, the interior ministry said.

The attack took place as Muslim worshippers were gathering at the mosque for the sunset prayers, which mark the time when they could break their fast during the holy month of Ramadan which ends on Tuesday.

"Security forces suspected a man who was heading towards Al-Masjid al-Nabawi (the Prophet`s Mosque) as he passed through a visitors parking lot," the interior ministry said in a statement.

"As they tried to stop him, he blew himself up with an explosive belt causing his death, and the death of four security personnel," said the statement, adding that five others were injured.

The victims were all members of the Saudi special emergency forces run by the interior ministry.

Al-Arabiya news channel showed images of fire raging in a parking lot with at least one body nearby.

Meanwhile, another suicide attack took place at sunset near a Shiite mosque in Qatif, in the kingdom`s east.

The same statement also confirmed that suicide bombing clarifying that "the body parts of three people were found" at that site bat have not yet been identified.

Investigations are ongoing into both attacks, said the statement.
Riyadh: A suicide bomber was killed and two other people wounded in a blast near the U.S. consulate in Saudi Arabia`s second city of Jeddah early on Monday, state TV said, the first bombing in years to attempt to target foreigners in the kingdom.

The attacker parked his car outside a hospital opposite the consulate at about 2.15am and detonated his device after being approached by two security men, killing him and lightly wounding them, it said, quoting a security spokesman.

Three further blasts rocked the location of the bombing hours later, a witness told Reuters, as police carried out what appeared to be controlled explosions near the site.

A video sent by the witness showed police taking cover behind vehicles and covering their ears before an explosion sounded.

Reuters could not immediately reach officials to give more details. A photograph on the Sabq news website showed what appeared to be the remains of a man lying next to a taxi.

The statement on state television referred to the location of the consulate by its street address and did not refer directly to the presence of the diplomatic mission there, an apparent effort to downplay the attack`s likely target.

A spokesman for the U.S. State Department said it was aware of reports of a blast in Jeddah and was seeking more information from the Saudi government. He added that all staff at the consulate were accounted for.

A State Department message sent to U.S. citizens in Saudi Arabia noted the reports of the attack and reiterated earlier advice to remain aware of their surroundings and take extra precautions when travelling in the country.

The witness said the area had been closed off by the security forces and that helicopters were flying overhead. He said the explosion appeared to have taken place about 20 metres (65 feet) from an outer checkpoint of the consulate. Concrete barriers protect the street outside the consulate.

Islamic State has carried out a series of bombing and shooting attacks in Saudi Arabia since mid-2014 that have killed scores of people, mostly members of the Shiite Muslim minority and security services.

A decade ago, an al Qaeda campaign focused on Western expatriates in the world`s top oil exporter, killing hundreds in attacks on businesses and residential compounds. One 2004 attack hit the U.S. consulate in Jeddah, killing nine.
BEIJING: Police in southern China have detained 21 people involved in a protest against a planned garbage incinerator, the latest incident of environment-related unrest in the country.

In a statement late on Sunday, the government of Gaoyao district in Guangdong province`s Zhaoqing city said about 1,300 people had gathered to protest earlier in the day, which had caused traffic problems.

While the protesters were dispersed by the early afternoon and there was no "drastic behaviour", 21 people have been taken in for questioning, it added.

Zhaoqing police said on their official microblog that the situation had now returned to normal.

However the official China Daily said there had been some violence.

"The lawbreakers threw stones and bottles of mineral water at police," propaganda official Duan Jianxin told the newspaper. "Some police officers were injured."

The China Daily said some residents were worried the garbage incinerator could pollute the environment, but that the government has denied this would happen.

Tens of thousands of "mass incidents" - the usual euphemism for protests - happen in China each year, spurred by grievances over issues such as corruption, pollution and illegal land grabs, unnerving the stability-obsessed ruling Communist Party.

Last month thousands of people protested against a waste incineration project in central China, also over fears it would damage the environment and residents` health.
Dhaka: Two of the five Bangladeshi militants who hacked to death 20 people at a restaurant in Dhaka's diplomatic zone used to follow three controversial Islamists, including Indian Islamic preacher Zakir Nayek.

Militant Rohan Imtiaz, son of an Awami League leader, propagated on Facebook last year quoting Peace TV's controversial preacher Nayek "urging all Muslims to be terrorists", the Daily Star reported.

Nayek, a popular but controversial Islamic orator and founder of Mumbai-based Islamic Research Foundation, is banned in UK and Canada for his hate speech aimed against other religions. He is among 16 banned Islamic scholars in Malaysia.

He is wildly popular in Bangladesh through his Peace TV although his preaching often demeans other religions and even other Muslim sects, the report said.

Another Dhaka attacker Nibras Islam, 22, used to follow two alleged suspected recruiters of Islamic State - Anjem Choudary and Shami Witness - on Twitter in 2014.

Shami Witness is the Twitter account of 24-year-old Mehdi Biswas, who is also facing trial in India for running propaganda for the Islamic State. He was arrested in December 2014 following an investigation into his Twitter account which was last active in August 2014.

Biswas was charged for operating the "single most influential pro-ISIS Twitter account".

49-year-old Choudary, a Pakistan-origin British citizen is now facing trial in England for breaking the British anti-terrorism law. His twitter account became inactive from August 2015 after terror charges were brought against him.

Choudary allegedly told his supporters to travel to territory controlled by the "barbaric regime" in Syria and Iraq.

"This means at least in the case Nibras and Rohan, they did not become radicalised overnight. They have been consuming radical materials for one to two years before finally disappearing in February-March and reappearing as 'IS killers' Friday night at the Holey Artisan Bakery in Gulshan," the paper said.

From their pictures posted by the ISIS media and recirculated by the SITE Intelligence Group, it can be assumed that these young men received arms training after their disappearance specifically to carry out the mission on June 1.

"Their attire with IS logo in their backdrop, the automatic rifles held in their hands reveal they underwent an organised training which is far from anything amateurish. That the killers released some of the hostages 15 minutes before the army-led operation on Saturday morning also showed the depth of their brains being washed?that they were ready to die," the paper added
Jerusalem: Israel has approved hundreds of new settler homes in the occupied West Bank, an official said Monday, in a move likely to further raise tensions following a series of Palestinian attacks.

The approval comes days after a key international report warned that Israel`s settlement expansion and land confiscation were eroding the possibility of a two-state solution to the conflict.

The report from the diplomatic Quartet the United States, European Union, United Nations and Russia -- also called on Palestinians to halt attacks and incitement to violence.

Under the new approval granted by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman, planning for 560 new homes in the large Maale Adumim settlement east of Jerusalem will be allowed to move forward.

The Maale Adumim mayor was informed of the decision on Sunday night, a spokesman for him told AFP. The settlement established in 1975 already includes a population of more than 37,000.

Netanyahu also gave approval for the planning of 240 new homes in east Jerusalem settlement neighbourhoods, as well as for 600 units for Palestinians in the city`s Beit Safafa district, media reported.

The offices of Netanyahu and Lieberman refused to comment on the reports of the approvals for homes in east Jerusalem or Maale Adumim.

The decision follows calls among Israelis for a harsh response to a spate of Palestinian attacks in recent days.

On Thursday, 13-year-old Israeli-American Hallel Yaffa Ariel was fatally stabbed in the settlement of Kiryat Arba on the outskirts of the flashpoint West Bank city of Hebron.

Her 19-year-old Palestinian assailant was then shot dead by a security guard.

A day later, Sarah Tarayra, 27, was shot dead after drawing a knife on Israeli forces in Hebron. She was a relative of the Kiryat Arba attacker, and both were from Bani Naim, a village just outside Hebron.

Also on Friday, 48-year-old Israeli Michael Mark was killed after his car was fired on by suspected Palestinian gunmen south of Hebron. Israel on Friday announced a lockdown in Hebron as it searched for the gunmen and a reduction in monthly tax payments to the Palestinian Authority after the attacks.

The amount is to be cut by the equivalent of the fiscal support paid to militants` families, Netanyahu`s office said.

Israel transfers around $127 million in customs duties levied on goods destined for Palestinian markets that transit through Israeli ports monthly.

The measures, which also included increasing Israel`s military presence in the West Bank, were described by the army as "the most substantial" in two years.

"We are using various means, including aggressive measures that we have not used in the past," Netanyahu told a cabinet meeting on Sunday.

"This includes cordoning off the entire Hebron district -- 700,000 people," he said, referring to the city and surrounding area.

Checkpoints and closures were still in place at entrances to the city on Monday.

Hebron has long been a flashpoint in the conflict, with hundreds of Jewish settlers living under heavy military guard in the heart of the city among some 200,000 Palestinians.

A wave of violence since October has killed at least 214 Palestinians, 34 Israelis, two Americans, an Eritrean and a Sudanese.

Most of the Palestinians killed were carrying out knife, gun or car-ramming attacks, Israeli authorities say.

Others were shot dead by Israeli security forces during protests and clashes or killed in Israeli air strikes in the Gaza Strip.

The violence had subsided in recent weeks, but a deadly shooting at a cafe in Tel Aviv by two Palestinians on June 8 and last week`s series of attacks have raised concern.

During a recent visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories, UN chief Ban Ki-moon condemned Palestinian attacks as "terrorism" but also said Israel must act to address "key underlying causes of violence."

They included "growing Palestinian anger, the paralysis of the peace process, the nearly a half-century of occupation," Ban said.

Peace talks have been at a complete standstill since a US-led initiative collapsed in April 2014.
Entebbe: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrives in Uganda on Monday for a rare four-day tour of sub-Saharan Africa, seeking new trade partners and marking the 40th anniversary of a hostage rescue in which his brother died.

In a statement just before his departure, Netanyahu called the first visit by an Israeli premier to the region in decades "historic". He is expected to land in Uganda around 1:00 pm (1000 GMT.)

The trip comes at a time when Israel is launching a USD 13-million aid package to strengthen economic ties and cooperation with African countries, said Netanyahu`s office.

Israel would also provide African states with training in "domestic security" and health, it said.

After Uganda, Netanyahu will travel on to Kenya, Ethiopia and Rwanda, but he is also meeting other African leaders at a summit in Uganda.

"Coming on a journey like this is also very important from diplomatic, economic and security perspectives and I am pleased that Israel is going back to Africa in a big way," Netanyahu said in a statement, adding: "We are opening Africa to Israel again."

The Arab-Israeli conflict drove a wedge between African countries and the Jewish state in the 1960s.

Following wars between Israel and its neighbours in 1967 and 1973, North African nations led by Egypt put pressure on sub-Saharan African states to cut ties with Israel, which many did.

Relations were not helped by Israel`s friendship with the apartheid regime in South Africa before it fell in 1994.

In an interview with Uganda`s Daily Monitor newspaper ahead of his visit, Netanyahu said his visit was an attempt to thaw relations.

"I`m very open about it, that`s true," Netanyahu said, according to the paper.

Beyond diplomacy and trade, the trip will have deep personal meaning for Netanyahu.

His brother Yonatan was killed in July 1976 as he led a commando raid in Entebbe, Uganda, to free passengers aboard an Air France plane hijacked by two Palestinians and two Germans.

Uganda`s deputy foreign minister Henry Okello Oryem told AFP Netanyahu would be given a 19-gun salute on arrival, before "proceeding to the 40th anniversary commemoration ceremony at the old airport terminal."

He later takes part in an anti-terrorism summit alongside leaders from Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, South Sudan and Zambia, before heading to Nairobi later on Monday.
Istanbul: The tourists are so scarce you can hear their footsteps clattering down the empty shopping street. Nearly a week after the deadly airport bombings, it is eerily quiet in Istanbul.

The magic of Turkey`s biggest city has been seducing visitors for centuries, from its array of historic mosques and palaces to its stunning views over the sparkling Bosphorus.

But for people working in the once-thriving tourist trade, Tuesday`s gun and suicide bomb spree represents one more nail in the coffin for an industry already reeling from a string of attacks this year.

"It`s disastrous," said Orhan Sonmez as he stood hopelessly offering tours of the Hagia Sophia, the cavernous former mosque and church that is now a museum.

"All my life I`ve been a tour guide. Most of us have come to a turning point where we don`t know if we can go on. It`s tragic."

Restaurants sit empty in the Sultanahmet tourist district, and five-star hotel rooms can be booked for bargain prices.

In happier years the queues outside the Hagia Sophia might have stretched an hour or longer at this time of year -- today you can walk straight in and share the place with just a smattering of other visitors.

To add to the ghost town feel, many Istanbulites have left the city for Bayram, a nine-day nationwide holiday that began Saturday.Nineteen foreigners were among the 45 people killed at Ataturk airport by suspected Islamic State jihadists, and analysts say the attack may have been a deliberate attempt to weaken the Turkish state by hitting its tourist industry.

The group had already been blamed for a January suicide blast that killed 12 German tourists in Sultanahmet, while three Israelis and an Iranian died in another on the Istiklal shopping street in March.

The TAK, a radical Kurdish group that has carried out several attacks in Turkey this year, also warned foreign tourists to stay away after it killed 11 people in an Istanbul car bombing in June.

The United States, Germany and several other countries have warned their nationals against threats in Turkey, which is a candidate to join the European Union.

Those still arriving say they are enjoying the peace and quiet, while taking a philosophical approach at a time when jihadist attacks have gone global.

"This could happen in any city -- it`s an unlucky lottery," said Irish visitor Nessa Feehan, perusing Sultanhamet`s empty shops as she whiled away a stopover on her way to India.

"The people are really friendly, and I really think I`ll come back and spend some more time here."In May, Turkey suffered its worst drop-off in visits in 22 years -- down 35 percent from a year ago -- as an industry which ordinarily brings in 30 billion euros ($33.2 billion) went into free fall.

This was partly a result of a Russian ban on Turkish package holidays that Moscow had slapped on Ankara over a bitter diplomatic row.

That ban was lifted last week as the two countries made up -- cause for celebration in the resort province of Antalya, where Russians traditionally come to sun themselves in their droves.

That will be a boost for the tourist industry as a whole, but Russians tend to plump for all-inclusive deals on Turkey`s turquoise coast rather than heading to Istanbul to soak up history.

"If it goes on like this, many shops will close," said Ismail Celebi, worrying at a string of prayer beads in one hand as he sat at the gleaming counter of his jewellery shop.

"I`m thinking of moving to America. I can`t make money here."

The large Chinese tour groups still arriving are about the only bright spot on the horizon, said Celebi, adding that they spend "crazy money".

"But it`s not enough," he said. "We need Americans, we need Europeans."

His shop is just a stone`s throw from the scene of the Sultanahmet bombing that left a dozen Germans dead six months ago -- and Celebi said he didn`t blame people for not wanting to come.

"Even I`m afraid to come to work here," he said.
State of New York: A 19-year-old man was seriously injured, and may have lost a foot, after landing on what appeared to be an amateur explosive or firework in New York`s Central Park on Sunday, officials said.

The incident comes as authorities step up security over the US Independence Day weekend, especially at airports and other transport hubs.

"We have no evidence that this is related to terrorism," NYPD deputy chief John O`Connell told reporters, noting that it is "not unusual for the public to make or try to create homemade fireworks around the Fourth of July."

NYPD Bomb Squad Commanding Officer Mark Torre said there was no evidence that the device "was placed or put in this area with a specific intent to harm any individuals."

Authorities said the accident occurred when three males, aged 18-20, jumped off a rock in Central Park. One was injured when his foot landed on the device and caused the explosion.

"The explosion could have been an experiment with fireworks or homemade explosives," O`Connell told the press conference.

The injured male was taken to New York`s Bellevue Hospital and was "in serious but stable condition," he added.

A fire department spokesman said first responders had transported the man "with a possible amputation to his leg... It appeared to be partially amputated" by the explosion.

At last report, the victim was undergoing surgery, authorities reported.

The incident took place around 11:00 am (1500 GMT) at the huge park in Manhattan.

Torre told reporters that investigators were "not finding anything consistent with a constructed IED (improvised explosive device)."

"There is some forensic evidence that indicates that it was not meant to go off by somebody stepping on it," he added.

Specially trained dogs were checking the park for any further explosives, the officials said.
Baghdad: At least 213 people were killed in Baghdad suicide bombing claimed by the Islamic State group, officials said, making it one of the deadliest ever militant attacks in Iraq.

The suicide car bombing, which ripped through a crowded shopping area and sparked infernos in nearby buildings, also wounded more than 200 people, security and medical officials said today.

The area in the capital's Karrada district was crowded with people shopping ahead of the holiday marking the end of the holy Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi vowed "punishment" for those responsible, and his office declared three days of mourning for the victims of the attack.

Abadi also ordered changes aimed at addressing long-standing flaws in Baghdad security measures, including scrapping fake bomb detectors that were in widespread use at checkpoints years after the man who sold them to Iraq was jailed for fraud in Britain.

The bombing came just a week after Iraqi forces won a major victory over IS, retaking the city of Fallujah, one of the jihadist group's last remaining strongholds in the country.

IS's defeat there was compounded by a devastating series of air strikes targeting jihadist forces as they sought to flee the Fallujah area.

Iraqi and US-led coalition aircraft destroyed hundreds of IS vehicles and killed dozens of fighters in two days of strikes against jihadist convoys after the end of the Fallujah battle, officials said.

Bombings in the capital had decreased since IS overran large areas north and west of Baghdad in June 2014, with the jihadists apparently more concerned with operations elsewhere.

But the group has struck back against Iraqi civilians after suffering military setbacks, and in May, Baghdad was rocked by a series of blasts that killed more than 150 people in seven days.
Riyadh: Saudi Arabia was rocked by multiple blasts on Monday.

One explosion occurred at one of Islam`s three holiest sites in Medina, while other blasts occurred in the Red Sea city of Jeddah near the US consulate and in Shiite-dominated Qatif on the other side of the country.

Residents of Qatif said only the bomber died in that attack, blowing his body apart near a Shiite mosque, as per AFP.

Meanwhile, General Mansour al-Turki, the interior ministry spokesman, told Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya television that the bomber was not Saudi but a "resident foreigner".

The ministry did not specify if the bomber had intended to target the US consulate, but an investigation was now under way.

The interior ministry added that security personnel became suspicious of the man near the parking lot of a hospital which is across from the US diplomatic mission.

When they moved in to investigate at around 2:15 am (2315 GMT Sunday) the man "blew himself up with a suicide belt inside the hospital parking lot", the ministry said.

The interior ministry said that two security officers were wounded in the Jeddah bombing.

It was not immediately clear who was behind today's incident, but since late 2014 Saudi security officers and minority Shiites have been hit by deadly violence claimed by ISIS.

(With Agency inputs)
Brussels: NATO is set to hold formal talks with Russia shortly after a summit in Warsaw this week where the alliance will endorse a huge military buildup following the Ukraine conflict, chief Jens Stoltenberg said Monday.

"The NATO-Russia Council has an important role to play," Stoltenberg told reporters ahead of the summit starting on Friday. "That is why we are working with Russia to hold another meeting of the council after the summit."
Suva: A Russian couple from Fiji are thought to have been murdered and dismembered after human body parts washed up on a beach in the Pacific island nation.

The Fiji Sun said two pairs of feet wrapped in netting and weighed down with stones were found on June 24 at Natadola beach, a popular tourist destination.

Further searches uncovered more remains, with speculation connecting the grisly find to the disappearance a week earlier of Russian couple Yuri and Natalia Shipulin.

Lead investigator Luke Navela said DNA tests with the Shipulins` relatives back in Russia had confirmed the link, and police now believed they had been murdered and dismembered, the Sun reported.

Citing police sources, the newspaper said detectives had information a chainsaw was missing from the couple`s farm on the main island of Viti Levu.

The Fiji Times reported that the couple moved to Fiji in 2011 and were leasing the farm and operating a photography business.

A friend, fellow Russian Alla Mallerich, described the pair as "soul mates".

"Yuri was a happy, easy going man who loved life, loved Fiji and he had plans to build his life in Fiji," she told the newspaper.

Social media pictures show a middle-aged couple smiling while drinking cocktails and beers in the sun.

However, their business partner Andrew Luzanenko told the Fiji Sun in the days after their disappearance that they had financial difficulties after the farm was devastated by Super Cyclone Winston earlier this year.

Luzanenko, who also lived at the farm after moving from Russia earlier this year to co-manage it, said the couple left "without even speaking to me".

The investigation is continuing, with navy divers on Monday scouring waters off Natadola beach looking for more remains.
Dhaka: Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Monday paid her homage to the victims of the Dhaka cafe attack victims during a memorial service at the Army Stadium ihere.

On the second day of the national mourning over the incident, Hasina placed a wreath on the casket of the victims, the Daily Star reported.

Twenty hostages, including nine Italians, seven Japanese, one US citizen and an Indian were killed when Islamist militants stormed the Holey Artisan cafe in Gulshan area.

Two police officers were died and 30 others injured. After a 12-hour siege commandos rescued 13 people. Six attackers were killed in the raid. A seventh man was arrested and is still being questioned.

The Islamic State (IS) group said it was behind the attack.

Afterwards, it was opened to the relatives and general public for paying their tributes.

Through the process, the bodies were being handed over to the relatives.

The caskets were placed in a raised platform which bored the flags of India, Italy, Bangladesh, Japan and the US - commemorating the nationalities of the foreigners killed.

Braving a drizzle that was on since last night, relatives and friends of the victims and people from all walks of life poured in to pay their last tribute at scene.

Ambulances were kept stationed nearby to carry the caskets.
Istanbul: Two suspected Islamic State jihadists have been detained at Istanbul's Ataturk airport, the Dogan news agency reported, less than a week after it was hit by a triple suicide attack.

Dogan said the two suspects held late yesterday were Kyrgyz nationals, identifying them only by their initials, K.V and F.M.I, aged 25 and 35 respectively.

Police found night-vision binoculars and military-style clothes in their suitcases, the agency said, along with two passports in different names.

They were questioned by anti-terror police in Istanbul. It was not clear whether they had been leaving or arriving at the airport.

Their detention came as 13 suspects, including three foreigners, were charged yesterday over the June 28 gun and suicide bomb assault at the airport that killed 45 people including 19 foreigners.

Officials believe the Islamic State group was behind the attack, the worst in a series to hit Turkey's biggest city this year.

In total police have detained 29 people "including foreigners" in connection with the airport carnage, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said yesterday.

Of more than 200 people injured, 49 are still in hospital including 17 in intensive care.

Authorities believe the attackers were a Russian, an Uzbek and a Kyrgyz national.

State news agency Anadolu has named two of them as Rakim Bulgarov and Vadim Osmanov, without giving their nationalities.

Central Asia's former Soviet republics have been a major source of foreign jihadists travelling to fight with IS and other extremist groups in Iraq and Syria.

Turkish media have identified the strike's organiser as Akhmed Chatayev, the Chechen leader of an IS cell in Istanbul who allegedly masterminded two other deadly attacks that killed tourists in the city.
The Japanese operator of fast fashion giant Uniqlo has banned non-essential travel to Bangladesh and ordered its staff there to stay at home, days after militant Islamists killed foreigners in a bloody siege.

Tokyo-based Fast Retailing, which operates Uniqlo, said it had told 10 Japanese employees not to leave their houses "until further notice", a company spokeswoman said.

The clothing giant added that it was cancelling all but vital travel to the South Asian country after 20 hostages were killed when heavily armed gunmen stormed an upmarket eatery in Dhaka.

Seven Japanese nationals were among the dead, which also included Italians, an Indian and a US citizen.

Fast Retailing has nine Grameen Uniqlo retail stores around Dhaka, where some of the employees work, and a production office, which coordinates with local producers, the spokeswoman said.

"We have taken necessary security procedures," she added.

"Obviously we are taking this situation seriously."

Uniqlo is one of about 240 Japanese firms with offices in Bangladesh.

Engineering conglomerate Toshiba said it has ordered staff to avoid non-essential travel to Bangladesh until July 10, a company spokesman said.

Toshiba, which said it had "a few" employees in Dhaka, had earlier warned staff against business trips outside the capital. Dhaka was added to the list after this weekend`s attack.

Several Japanese companies, including general contractors Obayashi and Shimizu, have reportedly ordered employees in the country to stay at home.

The five Japanese men and two women killed in the attacks were involved in development projects with the government-run Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

Although a quarter of its 160 million people still live below the poverty line, Bangladesh has clocked growth of around six percent nearly every year since the turn of the millennium.

That`s largely thanks to garment exports, the lifeblood of its economy, accounting for more than 80 percent of total outbound goods last year.



Between them the nation`s clothing factories employ more than four million people, most of them impoverished rural women.
YEREVAN, JULY 4, ARMENPRESS. There is cooperation between the West and Russia in the issue of Nagorno Karabakh, not competition, says President of the European Integration NGO, MP Karen Bekaryan, speaking on the recent developments around the Nagorno Karabakh issue.

Mr. Bekaryan, after the June 20 Sargsyan-Putin-Aliyev meeting in St. Petersburg, another meeting of Presidents Sargsyan and Aliyev is being discussed. This time by the initiative of the official Paris. Are the organizations of the Presidents meeting in a brief period directed towards maintenance of security, or should we expect developments in the process of resumption of talks?

Both  Differentiating these processes from one another wouldnt be right. On one hand we have a situation, when there is dialogue, process, there is relative calm across the borders, and here a task is put forward to use this in order for the ceasefire regime to be maintained  by contributing additional efforts, mechanisms. On the other hand, to try and give a trust signal to the societies in Armenia, Karabakh and Azerbaijan by brief, rapid meetings. And of course, to try and move the negotiations process.

There are different opinions at this stage, as if a competition is seen between Russia and the West on the Nagorno Karabakh issue. The previous meeting took place on the initiative of Russia, after a brief period there are discussions on another meeting, initiated by Paris. In your opinion, is there really a competition here?

We see a chain; there are already talks that it is probable for the 3rd meeting to take place in the US. All this, in my opinion, speaks about cooperation, not competition. On the other hand lets not forget that Russia had its initiative until now, it is not an issue of the current stage. Therefore I do not see any peculiar or something worthy of concern at least at this time.

There were announcements on the introduction of investigative mechanisms across the borders in the Nagorno Karabakh-Azerbaijan line of contact, however President Aliyev  after returning to Azerbaijan  said that there were no agreements on this issue. Should the OSCE Minsk Group respond to Aliyevs this type of behavior?

I dont think that they are not responding, we just need to differentiate the public from the diplomatic. Public response takes place when the diplomatic opportunities expire. I think there is ongoing work in this direction by all possible means in the preparatory stage of a new meeting. Another thing is that this hasnt yet transformed into open announcements for the public by the co-chairs.

Mr. Bekaryan, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier met President of Nagorno Karabakh Bako Sahakyan in Yerevan. Would you single out anything from this meeting from a political point of view?

We always say, when Nagorno Karabakh becomes a full party of talks, it will only contribute to the effectiveness of the process, while the opposite of this is in no way logical, it is immoral. On the other hand, we have in our sight that at least the partly participation of Nagorno Karabakh in the talks is present, lets remember that the Co-chairs visit Stepanakert from time to time, meet the leadership of Nagorno Karabakh. Therefore I view the Steinmeier-Sahakyan meeting in this series. This is a natural process and one should be surprised if it wouldnt take place.
YEREVAN, JULY 4, ARMENPRESS. The Defense Ministry of Nagorno Karabakh says Azerbaijan violated the ceasefire regime by firing mainly small arms in the contact line.

The Ministrys announcement reads: Relative calm was maintained in Nagorno Karabakh-Azerbaijan line of contact during the weekend.

The Azerbaijani side violated the ceasefire regime by firing mainly small arms.

The Defense Army forces are in control of the situation in the frontline and continue confidently carrying out their military tasks.






YEREVAN, JULY 4, ARMENPRESS. Head of the EU Delegation to Armenia, Ambassador Piotr Switalski says the UKs referendum on the EU membership will not impact the EUs commitment in Armenia.

It didnt change anything in our regional policy, as well as the process of the bilateral dialogue. Of course, what happened in Britain is very serious, and Europe will seriously refer to it, but on our bilateral agenda it doesnt even have an indirect effect, Piotr Switalski said.

He said with or without Britain, the EU maintains its leading role.

On June 23 a referendum was held on the UKs EU membership. According to the final results, 52% (17,41 million people) voted in favor of the Brexit, and 48% (16,14 million people) voted in favor of continuing the European integration.
YEREVAN, JULY 4, ARMENPRESS. President of the Republic of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan sent a condolence letter to the family of humanist, scientist, Nobel laureate and a great friend of Armenia Elie Wiesel over the latters demise. The Armenian President extended condolences and sympathies to the family and friends of Elie Wiesel, wishing them tenacity and spiritual strength, Armenpress was informed from the press service of Armenian Presidents Office.

Being a Holocaust survivor, he devoted his entire life to the struggle against injustice and intolerance and indifference. We highly appreciate Elie Wiesels commitment to speak out about genocides committed in the past and to shape a future free of terrible crimes, remaining faithful to Never again slogan. His consistent efforts aimed at the international recognition of the Armenian Genocide can never be abjured. I am convinced that Elie Wiesels calls for justice will be eternalized, causing a resonance in the resolutions recognizing and condemning the Armenian Genocide as the minimal measure for preventing future genocides.

We were also greatly honored that Elie Wiesel became Aurora Prize Selection Committee co-chair, adequately praising the contemporary heroes who help people making exceptional efforts. This was another step aimed at eliminating indifference. The Republic of Armenia will remain as one of the forerunners in the international fight against the crime of genocides with this and other initiatives.

I often quote his wise words during my speeches. The heritage he left is the achievement of the entire mankind which we must cherish and be guided by during our future activities. His life served as an example for the better for the humanity. Elie Wiesels contribution is universal in the same way as his loss is universal.

His name that has become so beloved for us will eternally remain in the list of the friends of Armenia and the Armenian people, reads the condolence letter of President Sargsyan.
YEREVAN, JULY 4, ARMENPRESS. With its actions, Azerbaijan confirms that it was behind the April escalation, MP Artashes Geghamyan, head of the Armenian delegation to the OSCE PA announced at the ongoing session of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly in Tbilisi.

Here my Azerbaijani partner shed light in his speech on several important issues. When there was a suggestion to condemn the escalation in the territory of Nagorno Karabakh, the violence, which claimed on different assessments 500-900 soldiers and peaceful civilians from two sides, Azerbaijan came against it, and with this it accepted that it was Azerbaijan that stood behind the escalation, Geghamyan said.

Geghamyan noted that another important issue has been discussed: It was proposed to highlight to pay special attention to those women who are living in prolonged conflict areas. The Azerbaijani partners expressed against this proposal also, with this saying that both women and men living in conflict areas have no meaning for them, as long as the issue is not solved.

According to Geghamyan, these examples show that the OSCE PA must have a personal participation in the issue of objectively observing the current situation.

Only after this we can give objective evaluation. In the opposite case this resembles a situation when in the Former Soviet Union everyone was criticizing Pasternak for Doctor Zhivago. When asked did they read it, the answer was  we havent read it, but we criticize it. The same is now, without seeing the situation on spot, they criticize, Geghamyan said, noting that it is desirable for the OSCE Parliamentarians to be in Nagorno Karabakh , Crimea, and other OSCE areas, where conflicts are ongoing.
YEREVAN, JULY 4, ARMENPRESS. Edward Nalbandian, Foreign Minister of Armenia, had a meeting with Erlan Idrissov, Foreign Minister of Kazakhstan on July 4, who is in Yerevan to participate in the session of the Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the member-states of the Collective Security Treaty Organization.

As Armenpress was informed from the press service of MFA Armenia, welcoming his Kazakh counterpart, Minister Nalbandian congratulated him on the election of Kazakhstan as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council.

In his turn, Minister Idrissov thanked for the reception and mentioned that Kazakhstan is interested in developing relations with Armenia in different directions. Kazakhstans Foreign Minister expressed gratitude for Armenias support to his countrys candidacy in the elections for non-permanent members of the United Nations Security Council.

The sides discussed the preparatory works of the forthcoming official visit of the President of Kazakhstan to Armenia.

Edward Nalbandian and Erlan Idrissov reflected on the issues related to the session of the Armenia-Kazakhstan Intergovernmental Committee, scheduled for 2016.

The Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Kazakhstan discussed issues on fostering the cooperation within the international organizations.
YEREVAN, JULY 4, ARMENPRESS. The Foreign Ministers of CSTO member states have issued a statement in Yerevan over Nagorno Karabakh conflict. As Armenpress was informed from the press service of MFA Armenia, the statement reads as follows, We express our support for the agreements reached during the Vienna summit on May 16 and St. Petersburg summit on September 20 aimed at prevention of escalation in the conflict zone, stabilization of the situation and creation of conditions for moving forward the peace talks.

Confirming the necessity for exclusively a peaceful settlement for Nagorno Karabakh conflict, we express our support for the efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-chairs aimed at the conflict settlement based on international law, UN charter, the Helsinki Final Act, particularly the principles of non use or threat of use of force, territorial integrity of states, equality and self-determination of nations.

The statement has been signed by the Foreign Ministers of Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan.
YEREVAN, JULY 4, ARMENPRESS. The agreement reached between the leadership and opposition of Armenia over the organization of the next national elections has been assessed as an historic agreement by the European Union, Armenpress reports head of EU Delegation to Armenia Ambassador Piotr Switalski told the reporters.

The EU has greatly supported the efforts to organize those elections in an inclusive way, as it is an example of how it is possible to overcome rather deep political disagreements for the sake of the future of the country. Of course, this agreement does not solve all the possible problems. We know that there are disagreements between the ruling coalition, opposition and civil society over a number of issues, but I optimistically believe that the implementation of that agreement will positively affect the country, the EU Ambassador said.

Hoping that the financial aspect of the agreement will also be constructively solved, Piotr Switalski mentioned that the EU is ready to offer major assistance for the implementation of that agreement.

The draft Electoral Code was adopted by the National Assembly of Armenia on June 30 by second reading in an extraordinary session. 104 MPs voted in favor of it, 5 against and 2 abstained.
YEREVAN, JULY 4, ARMENPRESS. At the initiative of the Prime Minister of Armenia Hovik Abrahamyan a telephone conversation took place on July 4 with Georgian PM Giorgi Kvirikashvili. As Armenpress was informed by the press secretary of the Prime Minister, Gohar Poghosyan, the heads of the governments of the two countries discussed the situation in Darial gorge after the floods, as well as a number of issues over the works being carried out there.

Hovik Abrahamyan thanked Giorgi Kvirikashvili for the large-scale works being carried out in Darial gorge, as well as for the support rendered to Armenian citizens who encountered difficulties as a result of the floods.

Georgian PM Giorgi Kvirikashvili mentioned that the Georgian side makes efforts to restore 24-hour traffic in Darial gorge, for which at least 5 days are required.

The PMs of the two countries also referred to other issues of bilateral interest.
YEREVAN, JULY 4, ARMENPRESS. A meeting between the chairman of the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC) Board Tigran Sargsyan and Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Federal Republic of Germany to the Russian Federation Rudiger von Fritsch took place on July 4 in Moscow.

The sides discussed a broad scope of issues connected with the Eurasian economic integration and the activities of the Eurasian Economic Commission. The prerequisites for the development of the EEC during the next 4 years were discussed, including the reforms done by the member states and economic diversification.
Uniqlo is one of about 240 Japanese firms with offices in Bangladesh

The Japanese operator of fast fashion giant Uniqlo has banned non-essential travel to Bangladesh and ordered its staff there to stay at home, days after militant Islamists killed foreigners in a bloody siege.

Tokyo-based Fast Retailing, which operates Uniqlo, said it had told 10 Japanese employees not to leave their houses "until further notice", a company spokeswoman said.

The clothing giant added that it was cancelling all but vital travel to the South Asian country after 20 hostages were killed when heavily armed gunmen stormed an upmarket eatery in Dhaka.

Seven Japanese nationals who were involved in development projects with the government-run Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) were among the dead, which also included Italians, an Indian and a US citizen.

Fast Retailing has nine Grameen Uniqlo retail stores around Dhaka, where some of the employees work, and a production office, which coordinates with local producers, the spokeswoman said.

"We have taken necessary security procedures," she added.

"Obviously we are taking this situation seriously."

Uniqlo is one of about 240 Japanese firms with offices in Bangladesh.

Engineering conglomerate Toshiba said it has ordered staff to avoid non-essential travel to Bangladesh until July 10, a company spokesman said.

Toshiba, which said it had "a few" employees in Dhaka, had earlier warned staff against business trips outside the capital.

Several Japanese companies, including general contractors Obayashi and Shimizu, have also reportedly ordered employees in the country to stay at home.

Swedish fashion brand Hennes and Mauritz (H&M), which has a number of factories in Bangladesh, also warned against non-essential travel to the country following the attack.

"We recommend that any unnecessary travelling to Bangladesh is avoided," the clothing giant said Monday, adding they were following developments closely.

Although a quarter of its 160 million people still live below the poverty line, Bangladesh has clocked growth of around six percent nearly every year since the turn of the millennium.

That's largely thanks to garment exports, the lifeblood of its economy, accounting for more than 80 percent of total outbound goods last year.

Between them, the nation's clothing factories employ more than four million people, most of them impoverished rural women.
The restaurant industry has stepped up its Not The Time campaign against a $15 minimum wage in Alberta, citing public support to delay the raise due to economic uncertainty as the province works its way through a recession.

Our industry is concerned about the unintended consequences of increasing the rate too quickly, Mark von Schellwitz, Restaurants Canadas Vice President Western Canada told attendees at a recent industry conference. We will get to a $15 minimum wage in time, but imposing a 50 per cent increase in just three years (a whopping 63 per cent increase for liquor servers) is simply too much, too fast given the current state of Albertas economy.

In October 2015, the Alberta government boosted the provinces minimum wage from $10 an hour to $11.20, putting the province in the middle between NWT at $12.50 and New Brunswick on the bottom end at $10.30.



A poll commissioned by Restaurants Canada, found 64 per cent of Albertans think raising the minimum wage to $15 by 2018 is too much for businesses to handle given the state of the Alberta economy. The online survey of 757 Albertans found concerns to be the highest in Calgary.

But NDP Labour Minister Christina Gray shot back, saying the campaign by the restaurant industry  one of many in the voices in the business sector pushing back against the policy  wont derail the governments plan to raise minimum wage to $15 by 2018, a core value in their initial election platform.

That particular poll, you can ask questions in different ways, you can get different types of feedback, Gray told the CBC adding that the NDP would announce the next phase of the minimum wage increase and timing within the next few days. According to the Alberta Labour department, around 59,000 Albertans earn minimum wage with half of those employees working full time.

Theyll absolutely have a place at our table, Gray said. We are focused on meeting our goal of $15 an hour by 2018, but we want to do that in a way that works for everyone.

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Joseph Marchand, a labour economist and associate professor of economics at the University of Alberta inadvertently became a core voice in the Not The Time movement after throwing his thoughts into the fray with his paper Thinking about Minimum Wage Increases in Alberta: Theoretically, Empirically, and Regionally.

I have no problem with the argument that this policy would reduce inequality, the labour economist told Yahoo Canada Finance. But what Marchand argues is that the boost could be more aptly timed to coincide with a strengthening energy sector, which could create more jobs and help stifle some of the job losses that could come from implementing a policy like this.

If a third energy boom is on the horizon by 2018, then we really have nothing to worry about, says Marchand. However, given forecasts for energy prices, it looks like thats not going to be true.

From the look of things, the NDP are going to push forward with their wage increases. One element Marchand says could work in tandem with a wage increase policy is the recently scrapped job-creation incentive, tabled during the NDPs campaign.

Theres a lot to like with this particular minimum wage policy being paired with some type of labour demand stimulus, he says adding that its since been removed from the partys platform.

However, if the Alberta government does stick by their minimum wage increase to $15 by 2018, Marchand says they could throttle the increases early on and make bigger increases in step with a recovering economy.

If wages do go up, lets at least do it slowly  smaller increases now, bigger increases later, he adds.
[Canadas Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan speaks during a news conference in Ottawa on April 6, 2016. REUTERS/Chris Wattie]



Canadian officials are expected to reveal further details later this week of the upcoming military mission to Latvia, at a meeting with NATO allies in Warsaw.

The site of the biennial meeting of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization is not insignificant.

In 1955, at the height of the Cold War, Soviet states signed the Warsaw Pact, a collective defence treaty of the Communist bloc.

NATO has already announced a multinational brigade to be deployed to the region, comprised of four battalions.

Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan has already said that Canada will establish and lead one of those brigades in Latvia.

More details, including how many Canadian Forces personnel will be deployed and for how long should be answered at the meeting that begins Friday.

That will be the centrepiece of our NATO summit participation, says Chris Westdal, a former Canadian ambassador to Russia and a fellow at the Canadian Global Affairs Institute.

Well man it, Id think, with a few hundred  and welcome the partnership of Norway, perhaps, and some other Europeans too.

Other battalions led by the United States, Germany and the United Kingdom will be deployed to Poland, Lithuania and Estonia, respectively. Another brigade is under discussion for Romania.

Strengthening the NATO presence in the former Eastern bloc is the primary focus of the two-day meeting, given Russias recent annexation of Crimea  two years and counting  and increased involvement in the region, as well as in Syria.

At a pre-summit news conference Monday, NATO secretary general Jens Stoltenberg said the meeting comes at a defining time for our security, with several threats and challenge.

Russia, the Middle East, now Brexit. All have combined to pressure NATO.

The organization last month began Operation Anakonda in Poland, the largest defence exercise in Eastern Europe since the end of the Cold War.

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The 10-day, 31,000-troop exercise was a show of strength in the face of Russias actions.

Stoltenberg welcomed the commitment from Canada to the brigade to be deployed in Eastern Europe.

This is a great contribution to our common security and a clear signal that our nations will defend one another on both sides of the Atlantic, Stoltenberg says.

He also renewed his appeal for NATO nations to increase defence spending.

Last year, after a long period of decline, we saw a small increase in overall defence spending by NATOs European allies and Canada. This year we estimate that it will rise even more, he says.

The organization hopes for a spending increase by member states, including Canada, to about double the $20 billion the federal government currently earmarks for defence.

Stephen Saideman, the Paterson Chair in International Affairs at Carleton University and also a fellow at the Canadian Global Affairs Institute, says the requested increase is simply not going to happen.

Canada, I dont think, is getting a whole lot of pressure based on what its spending on military at this moment in time, given that theres a whole lot of desperate desire for Canada to kick in troops for this mission, he tells Yahoo Canada News.

The price for that is NATO cant really complain too much for at least a little while about the two per cent, referring to NATOs request that member nations increase spending to two per cent of GDP.

The new Liberal government had its eyes on the United Nations over the Atlantic defence organization.

I dont think this government came into power wanting to prioritize NATO but the world has its own way of doing things and the pressure lately has been on getting something done at Warsaw and what it is is these 500 troops or so, Saideman says.

The commitment to leading one of the deterrence battalions on the Eastern front has already been condemned as a provocation by the Kremlin.

Westdal says Canadas role has more political than military significance.

Now the federal government must complement that political move with a diplomatic one.

The previous federal government shunned Russia, refusing to participate in multilateral meetings that included Russian officials.

It seems to me that we must try to complement our military and political gesture with active diplomacy to try to seek better relations with Russia, if only to build a better fence, a mending wall between us, but as well to seek accommodation and some shared vision of Eurasian security, he says.

Whether that is through NATO or the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, or bilateral discussions, we need to complement our military gesture with a diplomatic effort.
[Sexual assaults occur more often at large gatherings in the summer months, according to research. PHOTO: Refinery 29 UK]



On the last weekend of June, eight women were treated for sexual assault at Ottawa Hospital. Six of them were under 20, two or three of the attacks occurred at festivals and the others happened at parties before festivals.

They werent isolated incidents. Sexual assaults have been reported at music festivals around the world: Bravalla Festival in Sweden over the weekend, Electric Zoo in New York, Made in America Festival in Philadelphia, Reading and Glastonbury Festivals in the U.K. and Craven Country Jamboree in Saskatchewan.

Most people associate summer festivals with music and fun, but activists say they can also be the site of sexual assaults and that festivals arent doing enough to prevent them.

Sexual violence is an issue that festival organizers desperately need to address, Shannon Giannitsopoulou, co-founder of the activist group Femifesto, tells Yahoo Canada News.

The eight sex assaults in Ottawa is quadruple the usual number, the Ottawa Citizen reported. Ottawa police said they were investigating nine or 10 reported sexual assaults from that July 25-26 weekend, including one alleged to have occurred at the Escapade dance-music festival at the Rideau-Carleton Raceway.

The statistics are alarming considering the summer months in Canada mean lots of similar festivals and parties to come.

Research done by Dr. Kari Sampsel, director of the sexual abuse and partner abuse care program at Ottawa Hospital, supports the idea that sexual assaults occur more often at large gatherings in the summer months.

Sampsels research, done two years ago, showed that there are peak periods for sexual assault: Canada Day, university frosh weeks, Halloween, New Years and summer festivals.



In studying the data from more than 200 sexual assaults, she found that more than a quarter of them happened at large gatherings like festivals and holiday parties. The survivors were often young, intoxicated and unfamiliar with their attackers.

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And odds are the true numbers are even higher than reported, during peak times and otherwise. The number of reported sexual assaults is assumed to be much lower than actual because most are never reported to police, according to Statistics Canada.

We know that most sexual assaults are not reported to police, but a quick online search will reveal the many stories being shared by survivors about the sexual violence that was enacted against them at summer festivals, Giannitsopoulou says.

Keeping everyone safe



Assaults happen at festivals, but they happen in other places too, Kira-Lynn Ferderber, project lead of Project SoundCheck, tells Yahoo Canada News. One difference is that at festivals, there are all these people standing around who can potentially notice whats going on, and step in to prevent violence.

Activists like Ferderber and others say the festivals themselves can do more to prevent sexual assaults, and to provide support for survivors when they do occur.

I do believe that when festivals happen there is a way that organizers can take to the stage and engender respectful behaviour, just like encouraging people to drink water on a hot day, Kevin Vowles, community engagement manager with White Ribbon, tells Yahoo Canada News.

The messaging can be as simple as reminding attendees that everyone is sharing a confined space so its important to respect each others bodily autonomy, Vowles says.

Festival organizers could also take a hard and clear line and indicate to participants that sexualized violence will not be tolerated and encourage people to report if they experience it or see it, he says.

Sidrah Ahmad, a member of Femifesto, agrees and says organizers should make attendees aware of where to report sexual assault if they experience or witness it, and how bystanders can intervene.

Festivals should partner with campaigns against sexual violence that are happening across Canada like Draw the Line and give free booth and table space to these campaigns to bring their materials, Ahmad says.

Empowering people to intervene when they see something that looks dangerous is important, Ferderber says.

Sometimes we see something dangerous at a big event and think someone else will do something, so we dont have to, she says. The truth is, everyone can play a role in preventing sexual violence. It can be as simple as walking up to someone you are worried about and asking them how they are doing.

While alcohol and drugs can play a role in some sexual assaults, they arent the reason why they occur, Vowles says.

We know that often times alcohol is used to facilitate sexual assault, including rape, and that people should watch out and keep each other safe. But sexual assault and rape dont happen because people have consumed alcohol, Vowles says. They happen because people, mostly men, dont have respect for womens bodies, and feel entitled.

And addressing sexual assault at festivals shouldnt be done in a way that blames those who experience it, Giannitsopoulou says, while ignoring the responsibility of the perpetrators.

When addressing the epidemic of sexual violence at festivals, the B.C. RCMP warned that women should be cognizant of the fact that in a crowd, there could be people who will take advantage of you when you are intoxicated and vulnerable. Giannitsopoulou says. This is a classic example of survivor blaming.

Working for change

There are organizations that work to prevent assaults at Canadian festivals. For example, Project SoundCheck provides bystander intervention training to festival staff and volunteers in Ottawa.

We teach people what risk factors to look for, and how to intervene in a non-confrontational, non-violent way to help keep everyone safe, Ferderber says. Volunteers and staff play a special role because there are so many of them at an event. They can act as the eyes and ears of organizers, security and paramedics.

And some festivals are doing a better job of addressing the issue of sexual assault and putting measures in place to prevent it. Giannitsopoulou mentions the Shambhala Music Festival in British Columbia, with a woman-staffed safe space and crisis support, as one that is doing better.

This issue needs to be seen as just as important as others around safety at large summer events, Ferderber says.

Festivals already address fire safety, emergency evacuation procedures, heat exhaustion so why not rape prevention? she says. If events refuse to address this safety issue, we need to ask why.

Men also have a role to play in making festivals safe for all attendees, Vowles says. They can make themselves aware of womens boundaries, avoid touching without consent, speak out against sexism among their peers, and model good behaviour, he says.

Men can be allies to women by intervening if they see sexual harassment or assault happening, Vowles says. We recognize that women are capable of standing up for themselves, but we also believe that allyship is about speaking out and standing up for other peoples rights when they are violated.

But ultimately while most sexual assaults are committed against women they can affect any gender, and a safer environment at festivals is better for everyone there, Giannitsopoulou says.

Everyone deserves to be safe, Giannitsopoulou says. We need to change the way we talk about sexual assault to put the onus on perpetrators to not commit the violence.


HONG KONG (Reuters) - Hong Kong will send a delegation of senior officials to Beijing on Tuesday to discuss notification when its residents are detained, after protests in the Asian financial hub over the disappearances of five booksellers. No decisions will be made but senior Hong Kong justice, security, immigration, customs and police officials will travel to the Chinese capital for a one-day meeting with mainland authorities for a "comprehensive and in-depth review" of the existing notification system, Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying said on Monday. The meeting comes after five Hong Kong booksellers went missing under mysterious circumstances, then later appeared in mainland Chinese custody. The booksellers had all been associated with a single bookshop that specialised in gossipy books critical of mainland leaders. Last month, one of the men, Lam Wing-kee, returned to Hong Kong and held a news conference detailing how he had been held for months and repeatedly interrogated by Chinese agents without access to family or lawyers, then told he had to hand over a hard disk drive with the shop's customer database. Hong Kong is a special administrative region of China, governed by separate laws under a 1997 agreement with the British that returned it to Chinese rule. Under the agreement certain things that are banned in the mainland - such as publishing and selling certain books - are permitted in Hong Kong. It is also illegal under the agreement for mainland Chinese authorities to operate in Hong Kong. Following the booksellers' disappearance, thousands have taken to the streets saying that Beijing has not abided by the "one country, two systems" agreement that was guaranteed for 50 years. (Reporting by Hera Poon; Writing by Clare Baldwin; Editing by Ed Davies)
Tokyo 2020 president Yoshiro Mori (R) and John Coates (L), chairman of the IOC's Tokyo 2020 coordination commission, attend a press briefing in Tokyo on May 26, 2016 (AFP Photo/Kazuhiro Nogi) (AFP/File)

The gaffe-prone Tokyo 2020 chief has warned Japan's Olympic team not to "mumble" the national anthem, saying those who can't sing it properly don't deserve to represent the country.

Former prime minister Yoshiro Mori, who heads up the committee for the 2020 Games hosted by Tokyo, was speaking at Sunday's send-off event for the 300 Japanese athletes heading to next month's Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.

"When you go up the podium, please do not be mumbling but sing the national anthem loudly," Mori said.

"Athletes who cannot sing the anthem should not be considered to be Japan's representatives," he added, according to the Asahi newspaper.

Mori turns 79 this month and served a short one-year stint as prime minister in 2000 to 2001, a tenure mostly remembered for a series of public blunders.

In 2014, he came under fire after criticising Japanese figure-skating heroine Mao Asada after a disappointing performance at the Sochi Olympics.

He also criticised Japan's ice dance pairing, Cathy and Chris Reed, saying: "They live in the US. We let them be part of the Japanese team because they are not good enough (to represent the United States)".
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cBrain has signed an agreement with The Danish Ministry of Taxation to deliver F2 case and document management software as a new digital platform for the department.

The agreement with The Ministry of Taxation comes shortly after cBrain announced agreements with the danish Rail Authorities (Rail Net Denmark) and the danish Tax Authorities (the Danish Customs and Tax Administration).

The agreement is important for cBrain. It shows that cBrain continues to win market share as a leading supplier for the danish central government. Half of all danish ministies have now chosen F2 as their digital production platform.

Per Tejs Knudsen, CEO
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The fisherfolk began protesting against the Vizhinjam port raising seven major demands, including a construction freeze at the Adani port site.
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Hypothesis: Sell the company and party in the Bahamas. Reality: Nope

Starting a business has never been easier than today. Building, testing and giving-up-on or creating a company from an idea can be done quite quickly these days. What do you need? A laptop. And an idea.

Across the world, more and more people start companies  which is great! This is how innovation is born and there are many great ideas which turn into real business, generate revenues and create value, jobs and interesting products.

People create startups due to many reasons: hating the nine-to-five routine, not agreeing with their bosses, dreaming of entrepreneurial freedom, helping people, and of course: money.

Building a fast growing start up, created many young (sometimes also very young) multi-millionaires or even billionaires. Mark Zuckerberg is estimated to be worth about US$35 billion. Needless to say, thats a lot of cash.

Looking back in history, there were no businesses valued at billions of dollars which did not have assets  like oil fields  machines, buildings or physical products. Today, it is common.

Uber, Airbnb, Instagram and of course Facebook  these multi billion dollar business models were created with a laptop. And the Founders? Not tycoons but rather geeks, coders, dreamers.

Also Read: Concrete advice for raising money, straight from an M&A specialist

There is even a long list of startups sold after just a few years, months or even weeks. Some of them probably too early  but thats another story.

Lets have a look what selling a company really means for an average founder and test some hypotheses:

Selling a company is not more complicated than selling a used car

Valuing a start-up is easy

I will wait until a buyer will approach me

If I dont sell today, I will sell tomorrow

After the acquisition I will sail the world.

Hypothesis: Selling is easy

Not in many cases.

When a company has reached the point of sale  whether it be to a larger corporate, a financial investor or to a competitor  the Founder has probably spent many years of hard and dedicated work. Now, when it comes to selling the business, it will be an easy move compared to building a company. Right?

Story continues

But selling an entire company is far more complicated than selling a used car.

There are people involved, assets, product and customers. Data, like KPIs, contracts, financials, which have been collected over years, has to be structured and presented in a clear and understandable form.

The lucky ones will find a buyer who understands their business model, knows the drivers behind the financials, has an idea how to further grow the business.

But, for everyone else, they need to be very well prepared to answer all questions and make sure the business is 100 per cent transparent.

Its not only about preparing presentations but also the calls and meetings with the buyers advisors, tax specialists, product managers, SEO experts, technical consultants and lawyers  just to name a few.

Although leadership can set up an internal team for the transaction, the Founder will be the main contact during the entire process.

Keep in mind, that selling a business or raising funds can take up to six months or longer, and it is essential not to lose focus on operational activities during this time. Many transactions fail because of negative due diligence findings.

I saw many founders struggling. And these are people used to working 60-80 hours a week. But adding at least 20-40 hours a week for a 6 months period can be really tough.

Valuation of a startup is easy

There are several valuation techniques used to estimate the value of a business, lets have a look on the most common ones:

DCF  Discounted Cash Flows (projects the companys future unlevered cash flows and calculates the present value and the terminal value using an appropriate cost of capital and terminal value methodology).

Comparable company analysis (estimates the value of the business via an analysis of similar companies trading and operational metrics).

Trading multiples (applies multiples derived from similar or comparable precedent M&A transactions).

The most important one, which can be called sui-generis. That means the value the seller wants to get for the business.

In fact, there are many numbers, KPIs, uncertainties, market impacts, synergies and other factors which have to be included into a convincing valuation in order to achieve and defend the highest selling-price for the shareholder.

Valuation of startups and fast growing companies are different than valuing an old-economy business with very predictable numbers. Making the valuation process even more complicated.

Relax and wait until the perfect buyer approaches me

While startups are growing and changing fast. Also the market does. If you start building a company, think ahead and think on a potential exit from day one on. When it comes to an exit, whether it is 6 months or in 15 years down the road, all Founders will be better prepared by thinking and planning ahead.

It rarely happens that a buyer approaches a Founder. Once the decision to sell a business is made, in most cases it is the Founders responsibility to find the market and sell the company. That means establishing connections to potential buyers, pitching, negotiating and much sweat and hard work  again.

Also Read: How to pick the right M&A investors for your startup

But be careful how to proactively approach the sale. Running across the market and telling everybody that the company is being sold is dangerous and can scare away customers, employees and potential buyers.

If it is not communicated it in the right way, selling a business can be mistaken for being in trouble.

Timing is key

Within a fast growing industry, timing is everything. Mark Zuckerberg refused to sell Facebook for US$1 billion  a smart move if we look the Facebooks market cap today.

But its a dilemma every business must face. When can a company be sold at the highest price? Should the Founder take 10 million today or wait 2-3 more years and get then 100 million instead?

Or will somebody build a better product during this time period and the company wont be worth a penny anymore?

Depending on your industry and business, timing can be key and decide about millions on your account.

Done. Company sold. Bahamas here I come!

In 99 per cent of cases, it does not matter if the company is sold to a strategic or financial investor, they wont let the team walk away immediately.

The founding team knows the business like nobody else and there are long-term relationships that have been built over time.

The buyer is not just buying the business, he is buying the people.

Of course, he wont keep the Founders around for 10 years they express unhappiness or a with build another business. But for a certain time period  usually between 6 months and 3 years  Founders need to stay on board to integrate the company and educate new hires.

Also Read: Beijing-based programmatic advertising company PapayaMobile goes public to fuel M&A plans

A huge portion of the payout will depend on being a quality captain while the business navigates the M&A ocean. The term is called earn-out. For example 70 per cent of the purchase price will be paid upfront and the remaining 30 per cent will be paid after the transition period and it usually includes incentives to further work on improving the companys performance.

Whats the conclusion?

M&A is not easy and probably will never be.

Selling a business if far more complicated than selling cars or any other commodity. Each company is different and each buyer is unique.

Although there are certain standards within the process, none looks like the other. Buyers have experienced M&A specialists on who know how to look at a company and how to handle the deal. There is no reason the Founder should not have this as well.

The right timing, professional preparation and a well executed process help to maximize the price and sell your business effectively.

Searching for a buyer is a very sensitive process, there are many risks included (reputation, customers, your bank), so communication and approach of the right people is key. As already written in my last e27 article, do not hesitate to talk to people who have the experience.

M&A activitivies in SEA have increased dramatically over recent years. In Thailand, just to name one example, more and more international buyers and investors monitor the markets and look for potential acquisition candidates actively.

So be prepared.



Martin is the Founder of GeeXstar, the first and only M&A boutique exclusively dedicated to startups, media and tech companies in Southeast Asia.

Startup focused advisors like GeeXstar offer flexible and fair fee models for professional investment banking services, so dont be afraid of reaching out to us.

Follow us on Facebook or Twitter or get in touch via email.

Photo courtesy of Pixabay.

The post How to pull-off that magic phrase: M&A appeared first on e27.
In this era of technological revolution, technology and the Internet of Things have permeated every aspect of human life, including shopping. In fact, e-commerce is expected to see explosive growth.

Based on a 2015 survey by eMarketer, global e-commerce sales are expected to grow an estimated 21% a year from 2016 to 2019, with Asia-Pacific leading the pack. Closer to home, a joint study by Google and Temasek Holdings released in May forecasts that e-commerce in Southeast Asia could see a 16-fold increase from US$5.5 billion ($7.5 billion) in 2015 to US$88 billion in 2025. The study also predicts that Singapores e-commerce market could grow from US$1 billion to US$5.4 billion over the same period  larger than the city states casino industry in 2015, which was valued at about US$4 billion.

This staggering growth of e-commerce will unquestionably change the dynamics of the retail scene. Brands embracing online and offline stores are jumping on the bandwagon of omnichannel marketing and distribution in response to changing consumer preferences. This is driving an evolution in logistics solutions, as the requirements for business-to-customer operations are fundamentally different from those of traditional business- to-business trade.

Evolution of the retail experience

For example, while the traditional B2B trade usually involves pallet storage and retrieval, the warehousing operations for e-commerce entail itemised storage, picking, sorting and packing. To drive operational efficiency and raise productivity  particularly where a diversified customer base/trade mix is involved  automation helps to reduce returns and fault losses often associated with the manual system. Thus, logistics facilities catering for e-commerce are typically fitted with advanced building specifications and infrastructure that requires large floor areas.

Another distinction between logistics solutions for traditional B2B trade and e-commerce is the delivery pattern. While the former involves large truckload delivery from the warehouse to a single or a few destinations such as a retailers store, the latter entails parcel delivery to multiple destinations such as stores, individual consumers and click-and-collect points. To reduce delivery time, smaller-capacity vehicles such as vans and motorcycles are often utilised. Thus, there is a need to provide ample parking facilities, given the large fleet of such vehicles needed to cope with the sheer volume of e-commerce orders.

Story continues

Equally important, logistics facilities for e-commerce need to provide flexibility for expansion and contraction of space requirements to cater for the high volatility in the volume of orders, as e-commerce is highly exposed to seasonal effects.

Consequently, warehouses have evolved into mega distribution hubs and e-fulfilment centres, housing the e-commerce processes of picking, sorting, packing and, increasingly, parcel returns. In e-commerce strongholds such as the US and the UK, big is the way to go, with these fulfilment centres typically measuring in excess of one million sq ft. Examples include Skechers 1.8 million sq ft distribution centre in Moreno Valley, California, and John Lewis 1.3 million sq ft cross-dock distribution centre in Magna Park, Milton Keynes. In Asia, Hong Kong boasts the 2.4 million sq ft Goodman Interlink in Tsing Yi.

In land-scarce Singapore, how has the logistics landscape kept pace with e-commerce?

Over the last two decades, the stock of logistics warehousing space more than tripled from 24.4 million sq ft in 1988 to 97.6 million sq ft in 1Q2016. While this is quite a feat, given our state of land scarcity, half of the total stock today was built before the 2000s, with less than a quarter built in the last five years. This raises the question of whether the technological specifications of these older facilities are able to serve newage businesses.

To close this gap, a number of players have turned to new-builds. LF Logistics recently opened its largest distribution centre in Southeast Asia. The one million sq ft, nine-storey facility is equipped with advanced technologies in product handling and hosts Nikes global e-commerce distribution centre for the Asian market. DHLs newly completed 0.97 million sq ft Advanced Regional Centre includes a specialised automation system with robotic shuttles to pick and store products from 72,000 locations spread over 26 levels. Separately, Singapore Posts 0.55 million sq ft, three-storey regional e-commerce hub, scheduled to be operational in 2H2016, will be fitted with sorting automation and warehousing equipment.

The shift in consumer expectation from reliable to speedy next-day delivery has also led to the emergence of small logistics start-ups such as Ninja Van and Maxcellents, which tap technology to improve last-mile deliveries. Technology-driven logistics minimises distribution inefficiencies through the consolidation of orders, maximising loading and unloading processes, as well as optimised delivery routes. In some cases, the use of these logistics systems allows crowdsourcing of deliveries among vehicle fleets of multiple companies. The idle vehicle capacity of some companies during non-peak periods is optimised by taking on delivery jobs for other companies, and vice versa.

Additionally, to overcome the rising trend in failed delivery attempts arising from changing demographic patterns as well as inefficiencies in delivery processes, parcel lockers have been rolled out under SingPost, Ta- Q-Bin (in collaboration with 7-Eleven) and Bumbox at various residential estates and convenience stores to allow the pickup and drop-off of parcels. Ninja Van has also recently partnered a myriad of local retail shops to allow parcel collection from stores most convenient for consumers. In fact, a federated locker system serving residential areas was announced by the government in April to improve last-mile deliveries. According to Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Singapore will probably be the first in the world to provide such a nationwide common parcel locker system.

While Singapore has made progress in catering for the logistics needs of e-commerce, more can be done and more quickly, too, if it is to tap the burgeoning e-commerce market in the region. Moreover, a well-developed e-commerce logistics ecosystem is essential to propel Singapores growth of e-commerce.

Tay Huey Ying is head of research and June Yang is assistant manager, research and consultancy at JLL Singapore

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At $100,000 a head, the puppies frolicking around the fenced lawn in western Seoul don't come cheap -- but at least their owners know exactly what they are getting. The lawn belongs to the Sooam Biotech Research Foundation, a world leader in pet cloning that has run a thriving commercial business over the past decade catering to dog owners who want to live with their pets forever ... literally. With a client list including princes, celebrities and billionaires, the foundation offers owners protection against loss and grief with a cloning service that promises the perfect replacement for a beloved pet. Since 2006, the facility has cloned nearly 800 dogs, commissioned by owners or state agencies seeking to replicate their best sniffer and rescue dogs. "These people have very a strong bond with their pets ... and cloning provides a psychological alternative to the traditional method of just letting the pet go and keeping their memory," said Wang Jae-Woong, a researcher and spokesman for Sooam. "With cloning, you have a chance to bring back the pets," he said in the facility's "care room" where each cloned puppy is kept in a glass-fronted, temperature-controlled pen and monitored by researchers around the clock. Ever since the milestone birth of Dolly the sheep in 1996, the rights and wrongs of cloning have been a topic of heated debate and Sooam Biotech has been regarded with particular suspicion because of its founder, Hwang Woo-Suk. In two articles published in the journal Science in 2004 and 2005, Hwang claimed to have derived stem-cell lines from cloned human embryos, a world first. - Fraudulent hero - He was lauded as a national hero in South Korea before it emerged that his research was fraudulent and riddled with ethical lapses. Hwang was given a two-year suspended prison sentence in 2009, after being convicted of embezzlement and bioethical violations. Sooam Biotech clones many animals, including cattle and pigs for medical research and breed preservation, but is best known for its commercial dog service. The process involves harvesting a mature cell from the dog to be copied and transferring its DNA to a donor egg cell that has had its own genetic material removed. The cell and the egg are "fused" with an electrical jolt, and the resulting embryo is implanted in a surrogate mother dog, which will give birth about two months later. Despite the $100,000 price tag, requests for the service have poured in from around the world, Wang said -- around half from North America. Some have sought clones of other pets like cats, snakes and even chinchillas, but Wang said the demand for such animals was too small to justify the cost. Walls around the five-storey Sooam Biotech centre are adorned with dozens of photos of cloned dogs and their smiling owners -- tagged with their national flags including the US, Mexico, Dubai, Russia, Japan, China and Germany. "(The clients) understand that a clone is an identical twin of the original pet, but also has a lot of genetic predispositions and the potential to develop as the original pet," Wang said. - 9/11 canine hero - One well publicised cloning was of Trakr, a former police dog hailed as a hero after discovering the last survivor of the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center. Sooam produced five clones after Trakr's owner won a contest for the world's most "clone-worthy" dog. High profile clients have included Princess Shaikha Latifah of Dubai who cloned her pet dog in 2015 and helped launch a joint research study into cloning camel breeds known for high milk production. For the most part, the foundation's clients and financial supporters of Hwang Woo-Suk's research prefer to remain anonymous. "Few of our backers -- even the most loyal ones -- want to voice their support publicly," said Sooam Biotech's general manager Kim Hoon, who acknowledged that the scandal involving the facility's founder had tainted its image. "I think the only way to win the public's trust back is making more genuine scientific breakthroughs," he said. The centre does not conduct any human stem cell research after being repeatedly denied a state approval to do so. But it is pushing a number of ambitious projects, most notably an effort to clone an extinct mammoth. Since 2012, Hwang's team has attempted to cultivate living cells from the frozen remains of mammoths in Siberia. - Disease 'models' - For medical research purposes, Sooam Biotech also produces genetically-engineered animals, or "disease models" that are predisposed to Alzheimer's, diabetes or certain cancers. During a visit to the clinic by AFP, Hwang himself was leading a procedure to inject the embryo of a Beagle into a surrogate mother dog's womb. "This dog, once born, has a possibility to become a disease model for human brain tumours," Hwang said. Sooam is also involved in a joint venture with Chinese biotechnology firm Boyalife to set up what will be the world's largest animal cloning factory in the northeastern Chinese port city of Tianjin. But head researcher Jeong Yeon-Woo said the dog cloning remained his favourite service because of the reaction of owners when they see the puppies. "They look like they found a child that had been missing," Jeong said. "The moment of pure joy like that ... makes me realise again why I'm doing this."
SANTIAGO, July 4 (Reuters) - Chile (Stuttgart: 704599.SG - news) 's Escondida, the world's biggest copper mine, said on Monday that it will invest $180 million to revamp an older concentrator plant with processing capacity of some 100,000 tonnes per day.

Escondida has three concentrators, and once all of them are up and running, the mine expects to produce around 1.2 million tonnes of copper annually for the next decade. The mine, nestled high in Chile's arid Atacama desert, produced 1.15 million tonnes in 2015.

Operation of the Los Colorados concentrator was suspended earlier this year.

"With (Other OTC: WWTH - news) the extension of the Los Colorados plant, Escondida will have all the necessary elements to fully take advantage of its mineral resources in a sustainable manner," said Hilmar Rode, the mine's president.

BHP Billiton (NYSE: BBL - news) controls Escondida with a 57.5 percent stake, while Rio Tinto (LSE: RIO.L - news) owns 30 percent. (Reporting by Anthony Esposito; Editing by Marguerita Choy)
By Chijioke Ohuocha LAGOS (Reuters) - Nigeria's central bank has sacked top executives of Skye Bank over capital adequacy issues, a source with knowledge of the matter told Reuters on Monday. Chief Executive Timothy Oguntayo, who led Skye Bank to acquire nationalised lender Mainstreet Bank in 2014, resigned before a central bank announcement due later on Monday, the source added. Last year, the regulator gave three commercial banks until June 2016 to recapitalise after they failed to hit a minimum capital adequacy rate of 10 percent. "It's about capital adequacy," the source said. Skye Bank and Nigeria's central bank declined to comment. Skye Bank is designated as one of Nigeria's "systemically important" banks due to the size of total sector deposits it holds after the acquisition of Mainstreet Bank. This means it has to hold a higher amount of capital. Shares in Skye fell 9.5 percent to 0.95 naira. The lender has been in talks with shareholders and new investors to raise 30 billion naira ($150 million) after it suspended plans for a rights issue last year due to weak market conditions. (Additional reporting by Alexis Akwagyiram and Oludare Mayowa; Editing by Louise Heavens)
We can help you make sense of the agribusiness industry, extending from chemicals and fertilizers used as inputs into agriculture, to the commodities, food and by-products that are an output to farming, with policy and regulation applied at every step of the value chain.
There has been a significant increase in the number of GP-led transactions reviewed by LPs over the past 12 months, according to a study by Capstone Partners focused on GP-led Secondaries.
There were 23,909 new companies and businesses formed so far this year  an average of 3,984 start-ups per month according to the latest figures from Vision-Net.

While overall, start-ups in 2016 are up just over 5% on the same period last year, there has been a significant increase in new companies formed. Company start-ups are 21% higher this year compared to last while registered businesses are down by 4%.



With the exception of January, every other month in 2016 has seen an increase in company start-ups when compared to the corresponding month in 2015. The average figure for monthly start-ups this year is 1,748 compared to 1,445 per month last year.



The average figure for monthly start-ups this year is 1,748 compared to 1,445 per month last year. Wexford, Cork and Donegal were the counties with the highest increase in start-ups when compared with first quarter and second quarter, 2015; indicative of a spreading regional recovery.



The professional services sector remains the most popular industry for company start-ups in 2016, accounting for one in five new companies.

However, financial services was the sector with the greatest increase in start-ups when compared with the same period last year, with 1, 337 new financial services start-ups or 866 more than the first six months of 2015.

This trend could bode well for Irelands financial services sector seeking to capitalise on post-Brexit opportunities.

Other sectors which have experienced strong start-up growth include utilities, construction and transport and logistics sectors. However, the agriculture and real estate sectors both suffered a fall in start-ups when compared with last year.



Managing Director of Vision-net.ie, Christine Cullen commented, "Todays data, covering the first six months of 2016, shows a continuing strengthening of our economic recovery, with particularly positive indications that the recovery has begun to spread beyond large urban growth centres to more rural counties. The fall in insolvencies in 60% of Irish counties evidences this welcome trend, equally does the increase in company start-ups outside of Dublin."

She added, "Interestingly, the increase in new financial services companies could bode well for Irelands financial services sector seeking to capitalise on post-Brexit opportunities, as UK companies look to Ireland for market entry to the EU."

Source: www.businessworld.ie

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Self-driving cars have gone from a far-fetched concept to a reality, and BMW is wasting no time in becoming a part of this revolution. The German carmaker has now taken its autonomous car ambitions one step further by joining hands with Intel and Mobileye to launch its first self-driving car. Named the iNEXT, the car will enter series production by 2021.

BMW will be working towards the development of new sensor technologies and artificial intelligence (AI) software with the help of its new partners. The announcement, made by BMW AG Chairman Harald Kruger at the companys 96th Annual General Meeting (AGM) comes as no surprise. Everyone from Tesla to software giant Google have been racing to bring their autonomous cars into the market. As per the official statement, the iNEXT will set the basis for fleets of fully autonomous vehicles, not only on highways but also in an urban environment.

A quick reminder - last year, Mercedes-Benz, Audi and BMW signed an agreement to acquire the Nokia HERE mapping and location services business for 2.8 billion Euros. Apart from being important for the development of self-driving cars and car safety technology, the buyout also safeguarded the interests of these automakers against tech giants like Google and Apple, who are entering the automotive space with autonomous cars of their own.

Oddly enough, BMW says it will still offer sheer driving pleasure although there wont be any actual driving involved. Few details about the car itself have been revealed, but BMW aims to improve road safety and provide easier mobility. However, there are concerns over autonomous tech, especially after the recent crash in a Tesla Model S, which claimed the drivers life.

When do you think India will get its first self-driving car?
Malaika Arora Khan needs little introduction to anyone remotely connected to the world of music and movies. From walking down the steps in red stilettos (& guaranteeing overnight success to the Indi-Pop video) to dancing atop a moving train, Malaika earned her reputation as being among the hottest things to hit the screens.

Malaika arora khan with her bmw 7 series car

Success followed her in everything that she got herself into, and she even went on to co-head her very own production house. Marrying into a family that seems to know their wheels, meant that she too went through her very own automotive upgrades and ultimately ended up with a BMW 7-Series.

BMW cars are typically known for their driving pleasure, even if it is something like the long-wheelbase 7-Series luxury-limousine that Ms. Khan opted for, as the steed of choice. Crammed with every creature comfort that the mind could ever imagine, the 730ld has been the dream car for customers as diverse as luminaries from the political arena to movie stars around the globe.

The BMW 7-Series in long wheelbase guise was among the fabled cars to be assembled at the manufacturers domestic plant in Chennai. The styling on the car had changed crucially over the older version and came complete with all-new LED based headlamp units.

The world of celebrity cars has a soft corner for over-the-top luxury automobiles, ones that wrap their occupants in an ultra-opulent cocoon, treating them like royalty. BMW cars in India have been typically known to be on the sportier side, but the 7-Series does this in a rather plush manner.

The BMW 7-Series came crammed with all the signature comforts and electronic gizmos to keep their ultra-rich passengers happily occupied on every journey. From rear seating with multiple-massage option, to driver aids that sound off warnings should the one behind the wheel start to feel a little drowsy, the 7-Series had it all. Little wonder then to see people in India, lining up to bring home their very own 7-Series cars.

Malaika Arora Khan, like her Bollywood counterparts too felt that the 7-Series was the right choice when it came down to balancing the typical sportiness of the BMW DNA with the opulence & luxury thats expected out of a full-size limousine.

With BMW announcing the arrival of the latest generation 7-Series, thats crammed with even more high-tech stuff, it remains to be seen who shall win this round of the battle for the best luxury full-size sedan crown.
Pennsylvania Is both a swing state and a Rust Belt state, where Gary Johnson presents a challenge to Trump from the right, Jill Stein to Hillary Clinton from the left - unless Clinton's indicted, at which point all bets are off. Carl J. Romanelli, Ballot Access Coordinator for Jill Stein 2016, spoke to KPFA.

KPFA Weekend News Anchor Lola Acanmu: Earlier this week a Federal District Court Judge handed a huge victory to Green, Libertarian and Constitution Party candidates attempting to qualify for the 2016 ballot in the State of Pennsylvania. Judge Lawrence Stengel reduced the number of signatures that the parties are required to gather to get their names on the Pennsylvania ballot from 22,000 to 5000. Like this years federal court victory in Georgia, this decision breaks down some of the toughest ballot access barriers in the U.S. KPFAs Ann Garrison spoke to Carl Romanelli, the Pennsylvania Ballot Access Coordinator for Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein.

KPFA/Ann Garrison: Carl Romanelli, the complexity of your Pennsylvania ballot access law is like the patchwork quilt of ballot access laws all over the country. It's enough to make eyes glaze over, but can you explain this victory in broad strokes?

Carl Romanelli: Sure, Pennsylvania had a ridiculous standard that was very difficult for third party candidates to meet and a horrible challenge system that allowed old party money to bully us off of the ballot after we filed the crazy number of signatures. And through our lawsuit, we reversed that and, instead of a minimum number of signatures this year being 22,000, that number is now 5000.

KPFA: OK, and do you have the 5,000 signatures required to qualify the Green Party to get Jill Stein on the ballot now?



CR: I could verify we have at least that amount in raw signatures yet to be verified, but we expect a major harvest at the end of the Four of July holiday.



KPFA: And isn't the rule that you need to collect twice the requirement, imagining that half of the signatures will be disqualified?



CR: It's always a good practice because there are sometimes very goofy ways in which the state will determine a signer's signature is no good - an omission of a middle initial or someone moving or an incongruency in the date, so it's always a good practice to have at least twice as many more if you can do that. And again this is new territory. We don't know how the state will evaluate these nominating papers because in the past they had given a cursory review, knowing that the in depth analysis, if it were to come, would come from one of our adversaries challenging our candidacy.

KPFA: Pennsylvania is one of the 11 or 12 states called swing states, because its outcomes have been unpredictable in recent presidential elections. Its also a Rust Belt state hard hit by the trade agreements that have been such an issue in this election. Are you prepared to respond to the spoiler argument that will no doubt be thrown at you for getting Jill Stein on the ballot there?

CR: Of course I am, and I've been prepared to answer such a question for my 16 years as a Green. First of all, I don't think any vote belongs to any candidate or political party. It belongs to the voter who casts it. So, if someone wants to cast their vote for us, we're honored and appreciative for it, and those are the people we are appealing to. If other individuals think they're voting strategically by staying with the old parties, that's their Constitutional right. But with the issues you mentioned that hit Pennsylvania hard, those candidates aren't all that different on those issues. There is no old party candidate to save us, so how dare they accuse us of spoiling a system that we know is already rotten? That just can't be done.
From: http://www.historyisaweapon.com/defcon1/douglassjuly4.html This Fourth July is yours, not mine. You may rejoice, I must mourn. To drag a man in fetters into the grand illuminated temple of liberty, and call upon him to join you in joyous anthems, were inhuman mockery and sacrilegious irony. Do you mean, citizens, to mock me, by asking me to speak to-day? If so, there is a parallel to your conduct. And let me warn you that it is dangerous to copy the example of a nation whose crimes, towering up to heaven, were thrown down by the breath of the Almighty, burying that nation in irrevocable ruin! I can to-day take up the plaintive lament of a peeled and woe-smitten people!My subject, then, fellow-citizens, is American slavery. I shall see this day and its popular characteristics from the slave's point of view. Standing there identified with the American bondman, making his wrongs mine, I do not hesitate to declare, with all my soul, that the character and conduct of this nation never looked blacker to me than on this 4th of July!What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July? I answer; a day that reveals to him, more than all other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim. To him, your celebration is a sham; your boasted liberty, an unholy license; your national greatness, swelling vanity; your sounds of rejoicing are empty and heartless; your denunciation of tyrants, brass fronted impudence; your shouts of liberty and equality, hollow mockery; your prayers and hymns, your sermons and thanksgivings, with all your religious parade and solemnity, are, to Him, mere bombast, fraud, deception, impiety, and hypocrisy-a thin veil to cover up crimes which would disgrace a nation of savages. There is not a nation on the earth guilty of practices more shocking and bloody than are the people of the United States, at this very hour.Go where you may, search where you will, roam through all the monarchies and despotisms of the Old World, travel through South America, search out every abuse, and when you have found the last, lay your facts by the side of the everyday practices of this nation, and you will say with me, that, for revolting barbarity and shameless hypocrisy, America reigns without a rival.Take the American slave-trade, which we are told by the papers, is especially prosperous just now. Ex-Senator Benton tells us that the price of men was never higher than now. He mentions the fact to show that slavery is in no danger. This trade is one of the peculiarities of American institutions. It is carried on in all the large towns and cities in one-half of this confederacy; and millions are pocketed every year by dealers in this horrid traffic. In several states this trade is a chief source of wealth. It is called (in contradistinction to the foreign slave-trade) "the internal slave-trade."Behold the practical operation of this internal slave-trade, the American slave-trade, sustained by American politics and American religion. Here you will see men and women reared like swine for the market. You know what is a swine-drover? I will show you a man-drover. They inhabit all our Southern States. They perambulate the country, and crowd the highways of the nation, with droves of human stock. You will see one of these human flesh jobbers, armed with pistol, whip, and bowie-knife, driving a company of a hundred men, women, and children, from the Potomac to the slave market at New Orleans.But a still more inhuman, disgraceful, and scandalous state of things remains to be presented. By an act of the American Congress, not yet two years old, slavery has been nationalized in its most horrible and revolting form. By that act, Mason and Dixon's line has been obliterated; New York has become as Virginia; and the power to hold, hunt, and sell men, women and children, as slaves, remains no longer a mere state institution, but is now an institution of the whole United States. The power is co-extensive with the star-spangled banner, and American Christianity. Where these go, may also go the merciless slave-hunter. Where these are, man is not sacred. He is a bird for the sportsman's gun. By that most foul and fiendish of all human decrees, the liberty and person of every man are put in peril. Your broad republican domain is hunting ground for men. Not for thieves and robbers, enemies of society, merely, but for men guilty of no crime. Your law-makers have commanded all good citizens to engage in this hellish sport. Your President, your Secretary of State, your lords, nobles, and ecclesiastics enforce, as a duty you owe to your free and glorious country, and to your God, that you do this accursed thing. Not fewer than forty Americans have, within the past two years, been hunted down and, without a moment's warning, hurried away in chains, and consigned to slavery and excruciating torture. Some of these have had wives and children, dependent on them for bread; but of this, no account was made. The right of the hunter to his prey stands superior to the right of marriage, and to all rights in this republic, the rights of God included! For black men there is neither law nor justice, humanity nor religion. The Fugitive Slave Law makes mercy to them a crime; and bribes the judge who tries them. An American judge gets ten dollars for every victim he consigns to slavery, and five, when he fails to do so.You invite to your shores fugitives of oppression from abroad, honor them with banquets, greet them with ovations, cheer them, toast them, salute them, protect them, and pour out your money to them like water; but the fugitives from oppression in your own land you advertise, hunt, arrest, shoot, and kill. You glory in your refinement and your universal education; yet you maintain a system as barbarous and dreadful as ever stained the character of a nation-a system begun in avarice, supported in pride, and perpetuated in cruelty. You shed tears over fallen Hungary, and make the sad story of her wrongs the theme of your poets, statesmen, and orators, till your gallant sons are ready to fly to arms to vindicate her cause against the oppressor; but, in regard to the ten thousand wrongs of the American slave, you would enforce the strictest silence, and would hail him as an enemy of the nation who dares to make those wrongs the subject of public discourse! You are all on fire at the mention of liberty for France or for Ireland; but are as cold as an iceberg at the thought of liberty for the enslaved of America. You discourse eloquently on the dignity of labor; yet, you sustain a system which, in its very essence, casts a stigma upon labor. You can bare your bosom to the storm of British artillery to throw off a three-penny tax on tea; and yet wring the last hard earned farthing from the grasp of the black laborers of your country. You profess to believe "that, of one blood, God made all nations of men to dwell on the face of all the earth," and hath commanded all men, everywhere, to love one another; yet you notoriously hate (and glory in your hatred) all men whose skins are not colored like your own. You declare before the world, and are understood by the world to declare that you "hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal; and are endowed by their Creator with certain in alienable rights; and that among these are, life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; and yet, you hold securely, in a bondage which, according to your own Thomas Jefferson, "is worse than ages of that which your fathers rose in rebellion to oppose," a seventh part of the inhabitants of your country.
From:Independence Day: Celebrate 240 Years of Profit Driven Genocide: African Slaves, Native Americans, Mexicans, Filipinos by Jay Janson, 7/3/16 atIndependence Holiday in the USA becomes a time when citizens tend to reflect on the nations two hundred forty year history. It is a history typical of six European empires in the areas of genocide and plunder.- genocide: 1. the deliberate killing of a large group of people, especially those of a particular ethnic group or nation. plural: genocides [Google Dictionary]Genocide means killing people of a group, race or nation until a desired profitable arrangement is accepted by them. US banks have invested in profitable genocide non-stop over the entire life of the nation up to today and have their CIA and Pentagon laying plans for more genocide as we read.Before and after July 4, 2015, genocide for profit (in speculative investment driven Western Colonialism there never any other reason for it) is taking place thanks to participating and cooperating Americans in uniform and CIA in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Libya, Somalia and Yemen, and surely further lives are being planned to be taken in the Ukraine and Venezuela and elsewhere as profits therefrom appear sure.This article closes with a reminder that US genocides perpetrated after 1945 are prosecutable crimes against humanity under Nuremberg Principles law and as US economic power wanes in the world economy, lawsuits for indemnity, reparations and compensation by survivors can be expected to be so enormous in number as to make American investment in genocide unprofitable and thus inoperable.Americans show zero interest that GIs brought death to a million and half innocent Iraqi men, women and children with bombing, invasion and occupation war prosecutable under international law even within the US Constitution. Celebrating on the July 4th is pure criminal insanity in a mesmerized TV worshiping inhumane and de-civilized society.-USA ITSELF 1947 onward: Operation MOCKINGBIRDCIA recruits news organizations and journalists to become spies and disseminators of propaganda. Washington Post becomes a major CIA player. Eventually CIAs media assets include ABC, NBC, CBS, Time, Newsweek, Associated Press, United Press International, Reuters, Hearst Newspapers, Scripps-Howard, Copley News Service and more so media can fear monger the public into accepting genocides.The reader is invited to check out the website of a strong lawsuit against American citizens by an Iraqi mother that is being assisted by former US Attorney General Ramsey Clark at the lawsuits website below and spate of articles:Why an Iraqi Single Mom Is Suing George W. Bush for War Crimes-LAOS 1957-63:The CIA carries out approximately one coup per year trying to nullify Laos democratic elections. The problem is the Pathet Lao, a leftist group with enough popular support to be a member of any coalition government. In the late 50s, the CIA even creates an Armee Clandestine of Asian mercenaries to attack the Pathet Lao. After the CIAs army suffers numerous defeats, the U.S. starts high-altitude carpet bombing, dropping more bombs on Laos than all the U.S. bombs dropped in World War II; Tiny Laos will become the most bombed country in history; A quarter of all Laotians will eventually become refugees, many living in caves. [Steve Kangas, A Timeline of CIA Atrocities http://www.huppi.com/kangaroo/CIAtimeline.html See also: https://williamblum.org/books/americas-deadliest-export and his timeline at-PALESTINE: 1947-2014US forces through with threats a UN approval of a farcical and outrageously thieving plan to partition the Holy Land, a colonial crime against humanity against the residents of the Palestine, in full knowledge that permanent civil war would result and obviously intended to create deadly conflict, permanent hostilities, destabilization and facilitate Western imperialist penetration. The financial establishment in the US has its colony in the heart of Middle East oil reserves at the cost of tens of thousands of lives, some of which from families of Jewish survivors of the Holocaust denied US refuge before, during and after the Holocaust which itself would have been impossible without the heavy US investment and joint venturing in Nazi Germany. [US Economic Facilitation of Holocaust and Middle East Destabilizing Partitioncl http://www.minorityperspective.co.uk/2012/12/06/us-economic-facilitation-of-holocaust-and-middle-east-destabilizing-partition/ .-KOREA 1950-2014:Two and half million Koreas will perish as US bombs both south and north flat, after US Army invaded, criminally cutting the nation in two, overthrowing a democratic Korean government and installing a murderous dictator in the south, whose police and special forces would butcher nearly two hundred thousand before the army of the north swept south reuniting Korea. Perhaps another million deaths as a result of crippling sanctions on the northern part. [see Prosecutable US Crimes against Humanity in Korea "Dissident Voice.org]-USAs AFRICAN genocide 1776-1864:New England banks financed deadly but lucrative slave trade, forced labor in the North, before massive forced labor in South; a million died during seizure and transport from Africa and another million died in forced labor. (For the first time in recorded history of slavery, inhumanity toward slaves as practiced in the USA and Colonial Powers, eventually became based on having inculcating society with fear-fostered ignorance and a preposterous insistence of racial superiority, sanding on its head white feelings of inferiority in the face of the far more accomplished cultures pale-skinned Europeans had conquered. [5]NATIVE AMERICAN 1776-onward:Genocidal theft of habitats of a thousand Native American nations instigated by banks speculating in land; forced captive marches, broken treaties, wars, deaths from malnutrition certainly reached more than one million deaths already long ago.MEXICO 1836:US rapes away half of Mexico through merciless war. Mexicans are made aware that Americans will keep killing Mexicans until USA demands are met. 2014 U.S. intelligence assistance is larger than anywhere outside Afghanistan [Washington Post]-PHILIPPINES 1898-1902:Invasion and massacres during Filipino war for independence  upwards of a million lives savagely taken. The overseas investment community propagated the racist concept of Manifest Destiny make genocide tolerable.-CHINA 1900 murderous sacking of Beijing, orgy of killing and stripping away all the cultural treasures for sale that the American and British could load into a few boxcars of a train.-in EUROPE and in European colonies world wide many millions die as US banks through the Federal Reserve financing and entry of US Armed Forces enable WW I to go on an extra year and a half; 1934-36 Senate Nye Committee investigates allegations that the U.S. entered WW I to make big profits. Senator Nye created headlines by drawing connections between the wartime profits of the banking and munitions industries to Americas involvement in World War I; investigation of these merchants of death documents the huge profits that arms factories made during the war; found bankers had pressured Wilson to intervene in the war in order to protect their loans abroad; arms industry had been price fixing; held excessive war investor influence on American foreign policy leading up to and during the war.-SOVIET RUSSIA 1917-20:Two US Armies invade along with armies of thirteen other capitalist nations to foster, aid, support and participate in civil war; seven to nine million new Soviet citizens die, three million just from typhoid.-ITALY 1922 -1936:Fascist Mussolini frequently lionized in both the New York Times and Washington Post, Fortune Magazine; Morgan Banks Thomas Lamont, served as the international chief of Mussolinis finances; Mussolini received great investment aid from US bankers; especially, Bank of America head A.P. Giannini and Otto Kahn, a leading banker with Kuhn, Loeb. Pres. Franklin Roosevelt expressed admiration for Mussolini. In 1935 Fascist Italy invaded Ethiopia bringing death to more than a million Ethiopians, tens of thousands from mustard gas dropped from planes on civilian population. [Angelo Del Boca, The Ethiopian War 1935--1941 (1965)]i-GERMANY 1933-37:US investments and joint-ventures of 50 largest US corporations build the Nazi Wehrmacht up to worlds #1, facilitating WW II and Holocaust, the magna return on investment making USA the single superpower, the investments and joint-venturing done in full knowledge of Hitlers continually announced plans for ridding Germany of Jews and communists and to fulfill Germanys historic Drang nach Osten [Push to the East] into the Soviet Union; of the 40 million dead in Europe 27 million are Soviet citizens. 1945 US makes sure Nuremberg Trials do not indict Nazi industrialists and bankers with whom American corporations, investors and banks had partnered.-CHINA 1944-49:US funding and military aid draws out civil war. CIA incursions; many millions starve.-JAPAN 1945:Two cities of civilians Atom-Bombed, sixty fire-bombed, nearly one million civilian lives taken. At Tokyo Trials of Japanese War Criminals, a US general of highest rank, commented off the record, If the Japanese had won the war they would have tried us.-VIETNAM 1945-1960:Truman criminally brings back French Army (which as Vichy French, had murderously run its Indochinese colonies for the Japanese Empire profit during WW II), in US ships to reconquer a Vietnam declared independent by US decorated ally Ho Chi Minh with US major in attendance. Tens of thousands of Vietnamese are killed by the French 80% funded by USA-IRAN 1953 & 1980-88 1953 Oil coup:CIA and British M16 false-flag overthrow of Iranian democracy, many deaths./1980 air attack/1980-88 US backs Saddam Hussein invasion-war  more than half million Iranians lives lost/CIA and British M16 false-flag overthrow of Iranian democracy, many deaths/1979- US sanctions and threats of nuclear attack from US presidents.-GUATEMALA 1954:President Ike Eisenhower ordered CIA overthrow bombing of first elected democracy; decades of massacres, mass murders follow. [Author performing on tour, is told horrific in conversations behind closed doors.]-VIETNAM 1955-1975: Upwards of 4 million die. Twice the bomb tonnage dropped in all of WWII/1973 CIA Operation Phoenix murders 20,000 Vietcong/ [1993-99 Author periodic Assist. Conductor Ho Chi Minh founded National Symphony Orchestra in Hanoi and on tours; every member of orchestra lost family "killed by Americans" spoken with Buddhist equanimity.]-TURKEY 1955:Istanbul Pogrom a false-flag plot by Turkish branch of Operation Gladio, a clandestine anti-communist initiative created by the US; many Greeks, Armenians die; Turkish communists arrested/[Author visiting Istanbul forced to room in safe UK WMCA during provoked riots]-ETHIOPIA 1960s:US huge military arms sales build up for Emperor Selassie /1977 US switches and backs and arms Somalia invasion of Peoples Democratic Republic of Ethiopia/Late 1980s US Heritage Foundation involvement ending in bloodbath civil war; for using Ethiopia and Somalia as pawns in Cold War a million est. starve to death. [Author on film shoot for African Development Bank during Mingustu socialist government in 1983 before it was overthrown with great loss of life by CIA organized attacks.]-WORLDWIDE 1960s-2014: CIA involved in lives-destroying illegal drug cultivation and trafficking has cause impossible-to-estimate loss of life worldwide  also CIA hypocritical anti-narcotics programs mean to spread further CIA penetration and covert violence for political-economic control in Latin America.-CONGO 1961-2014:Assassination of popular Pres. Lumumba, CIA US Air Force Interventions, overt and covert operations, have fostered civil wars; it is estimated between 15 and 20 million have died from warfare and famine, and if one goes back to the US destruction of the new nation, all this was to retain Congo governance profitable88 for US investors.(Paragraphs rearranged for emphasis of websites cited.)
- President Muhammadu Buhari has received another report from the presidential panel set up to probe arms procurement between 2007 and 2015

- With Buhari's approval, EFCC has been empowered to go after those indicted in the fresh report

President Muhammadu Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari has reportedly given anti-graft agency, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) orders to arrest everyone indicted in arms procurement probe.

According to a report by Punch, the presidential panel set up to probe arms procurement between 2007 and 2015 submitted another report to the President, making it the third report so far submitted to the President by the committee.

READ ALSO: Man exposes Sambo Dasuki in court, reveals what he knows about alleged corruption

Yes, I can confirm to you that the President received the report during the week (last week) and he has since approved it, an unnamed source was quoted.

With the approval, EFCC had been empowered to go after those indicted in the fresh report.

Another informed source revealed that; The fraud uncovered in this fresh report is massive. All things being equal, the government will be looking at the possibility of making highlights of the report public this week, probably during the Sallah break.

The President has directed that we explore the option of prosecuting indicted persons immediately instead of first publicising their names thereby giving some of them the leeway to escape justice.

The report said efforts were already ongoing by the committee at that time to get across to the Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami (SAN), to discuss the prosecution of the freshly indicted persons.

READ ALSO: Buratai makes shocking revelation, speaks on his Dubai properties, military coup and politics

Recall that a member of the House of Representatives during the Second Republic, Dr. Junaid Mohammed, challenged Buhari to make public the contents of the interim report of the arms probe panel.

He alleged that a cabal within the Presidency had convinced the President not to make the report public because some of his trusted aides were indicted.

Meanwhile, EFCC says it has seized at least 29 properties from ex-Air Force chiefs in the on-going anti-corruption war. While 11 properties were seized from Amosu; 12 were seized from Adigun and six from Gbadebo.

Source: Legit.ng
The ailing airport Hahn located in Hunsruck between Bingen and Bitburg was sold to the Chinese investor Shanghai Yiqian Trading Company (SYT) in the beginning of June. But now the deal obviously threatens to burst. According to a report in the German newspaper Handelsblatt the buyer let expire a term

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New research shows that most of the radioactive fallout which landed on downtown Tokyo a few days after the Fukushima accident was concentrated and deposited in non-soluble glass microparticles, as a type of 'glassy soot'. This meant that most of the radioactive material was not dissolved in rain and running water, and probably stayed in the environment until removed by direct washing or physical removal. The particles also concentrated the radioactive caesium (Cs), meaning that in some cases dose effects of the fallout are still unclear. These results are announced at the Goldschmidt geochemistry conference in Yokohama, Japan.

The flooding of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (FDNPP) after the disastrous earthquake on March 11 2011 caused the release of significant amounts of radioactive material, including caesium (Cs) isotopes 134Cs (half-life, 2 years) and 137Cs (half-life, 30 years).

Japanese geochemists, headed by Dr Satoshi Utsunomiya (Kyushu University, Japan), analysed samples collected from within an area up to 230 km from the FDNPP. As caesium is water-soluble, it had been anticipated that most of the radioactive fallout would have been flushed from the environment by rainwater. However, analysis with state-of-the-art electron microscopy in conjunction with autoradiography techniques showed that most of the radioactive caesium in fact fell to the ground enclosed in glassy microparticles, formed at the time of the reactor meltdown.

The analysis shows that these particles mainly consist of Fe-Zn-oxides nanoparticles, which, along with the caesium were embedded in Si oxide glass that formed during the molten core-concrete interaction inside the primary containment vessel in the Fukushima reactor units 1 and/or 3. Because of the high Cs content in the microparticles, the radioactivity per unit mass was as high as ~4.4x1011 Bq/g, which is between 107 and 108 times higher than the background Cs radioactivity per unit mass of the typical soils in Fukushima.

Closer microparticle structural and geochemical analysis also revealed what happened during the accident at FDNPP. Radioactive Cs was released and formed airborne Cs nanoparticles. Nuclear fuel, at temperatures of above 2200 K (about as hot as a blowtorch), melted the reactor pressure vessel resulting in failure of the vessel. The airborne Cs nanoparticles were condensed along with the Fe-Zn nanoparticles and the gas from the molten concrete, to form the SiO2 glass nanoparticles, which were then dispersed.

Analysis from several air filters collected in Tokyo on 15 March 2011 showed that 89% of the total radioactivity was present as a result of these caesium-rich microparticles, rather than the soluble Cs, as had originally been supposed.

According to Dr Satoshi Utsunomiya; "This work changes some of our assumptions about the Fukushima fallout. It looks like the clean-up procedure, which consisted of washing and removal of top soils, was the correct thing to do. However, the concentration of radioactive caesium in microparticles means that, at an extremely localised and focused level, the radioactive fallout may have been more (or less) concentrated than anticipated. This may mean that our ideas of the health implications should be modified."

Commenting, Prof. Bernd Grambow, Director of SUBATECH laboratory, Nantes, France and leader of the research group on interfacial reaction field chemistry of the ASRC/JAEA, Tokai, Japan, said:

"The leading edge observations by nano-science facilities presented here are extremely important. They may change our understanding of the mechanism of long range atmospheric mass transfer of radioactive caesium from the reactor accident at Fukushima to Tokyo, but they may also change the way we assess inhalation doses from the caesium microparticles inhaled by humans. Indeed, biological half- lives of insoluble caesium particles might be much larger than that of soluble caesium."
Producing fuels from plants and other renewable sources requires breaking down the chemical cellulose; a major candidate to drive, or catalyze, this stubborn chemical is a ubiquitous microorganism called Clostridium thermocellum that works well in hot environments without oxygen. Researchers found that C. thermocellum uses a previously unknown mechanism to degrade cellulose, in addition to other known degradation mechanisms.

This discovery helps explain C. thermocellum's superior ability to digest biomass and demonstrates the highly diverse strategies evolved in nature for biomass conversion. Researchers are using the study's findings to develop optimal systems for breaking down plant matter to produce biofuels and biobased chemicals.

Lignocellulosic biomass is the largest source of organic matter on Earth, making it a promising renewable feedstock for producing biofuels and chemicals. Currently, however, the main bottleneck in biofuel production is the low efficiency of cellulose conversion, which leads to high production costs. To date, C. thermocellum is the most efficient microorganism known for solubilizing lignocellulosic biomass. Its high cellulose digestion capability has been attributed to the organism's efficient cellulases consisting of both a free enzyme system and a tethered cellulosomal system, where multiple carbohydrate active enzymes are organized by primary and secondary scaffolding proteins to generate large protein complexes attached to the bacterial cell wall. Recently, U.S. Department of Energy BioEnergy Science Center (BESC) researchers discovered that C. thermocellum also expresses a type of cellulosomal system that is not bound to the cell wall, a "cellfree" cellulosomal system.

Researchers believe the cellfree cellulosome complex functions as a "long-range" cellulosome because it can diffuse away from the cell and degrade polysaccharide substrates distant from the bacterial cells. This discovery reveals that C. thermocellum utilizes not only all the previously known cellulase degradation mechanisms (cellulosomes and free enzymes), but also a new category of scaffolded enzymes not attached to the cell. This unexpected finding explains C. thermocellum's superior performance on biomass, demonstrating that nature's strategies for biomass conversion are not yet fully understood and could provide further opportunities for microbial enzyme discovery and engineering efforts.

This work was supported by the BioEnergy Science Center (BESC). BESC is a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Bioenergy Research Center supported by the Office of Biological and Environmental Research within DOE's Office of Science. A portion of this work also was supported by the United States-Israel Binational Science Foundation, Jerusalem, Israel; Israel Science Foundation (ISF; grant number 1349), Israeli Center of Research Excellence (I-CORE; number 152/11); European Union NMP.2013.1.1-2: CellulosomePlus Project 8 number 604530; and the ERA-IB Consortium (EIB.12.022) FiberFuel.
Scientists, led by Dr Jaroslaw Krzywinski, Head of the Vector Molecular Biology group at The Pirbright Institute have isolated a gene, which determines maleness in the species of mosquito that is responsible for transmitting malaria. The research, published in the journal Science, describes identification and characterisation of a gene, named Yob by the authors, which is the master regulator of the sex determination process in the African malaria mosquito, Anopheles gambiae, and determines the male sex.

In insects, sex is commonly determined by a primary genetic signal that during the first hours of life activates a short cascade of genes, whose sex-specific products ultimately control whether an individual will develop as male or female. The molecular mechanisms underlying these developmental processes are surprisingly extremely variable, and in particular the primary sex-determining genes drastically differ in their nature between different groups of insects. Similar to humans, many insects possess a pair of sex chromosomes, with females carrying identical XX chromosomes and males XY chromosomes, the Y chromosome harbouring a dominant male-determining gene. The molecular identity of such maleness genes has remained enigmatic. Yob represents only the second known case in insects.

To identify Yob, researchers from Pirbright, with support from colleagues from the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, used high-throughput sequencing to sample all transcripts (genetic messages) produced in the Anopheles gambiae male and female embryos. After comparison of the sequencing data, they found, exclusively in males, fragments of transcripts corresponding to Yob. Further research showed that Yob is encoded on the Y chromosome, and that activity of Yob was limited to males and was necessary to generate male-specific products of the sex determination pathway genes.

Unexpectedly, Yob transcripts are highly detrimental to females. When injected into mixed-sex early embryos of Anopheles gambiae, or another African mosquito species, Anopheles arabiensis, Yob kills females before they hatch from eggs, but leaves male development unaffected. Conversely, silencing normal embryonic Yob activity is lethal to males. These results indicate that, apart from determining maleness, Yob is pivotal for the control of another fundamental developmental process, called dosage compensation, which balances levels of transcripts from genes located on the single X chromosome in males and on two X chromosomes in females.

"Our research may have far-reaching implications for the control of malaria. This preventable disease is the major cause of human suffering and an immense barrier to socioeconomic development, mainly in poor countries of sub-Saharan Africa, where nearly 200 million clinical cases and half a million deaths are reported every year. Malaria in that region is transmitted primarily by females of Anopheles gambiae and Anopheles arabiensis. Currently, application of insecticides to control mosquitoes remains the most efficient way of combating the disease, but with a rampant spread of resistance to chemicals in mosquito populations, the insecticides may soon become ineffective. Clearly, we urgently need alternative more sustainable mosquito control methods. Genetic strategies, such as those successfully used to control agricultural pests, have great potential. However, they require releases of male mosquitoes only, which represents an insurmountable obstacle to extending genetic control to malaria vectors, because no efficient methods to separate sexes in Anopheles currently exist. Now, the female-killing property of Yob gives us an invaluable tool for the engineering of male-only Anopheles strains suitable for malaria control in the future," said Dr Krzywinski.
An international group of scientists from US, Canada, Germany and Russia has revealed a substance produced in humans that can suppress the pro-inflammatory activity of macrophages -- specific cells of immune system. The substance known as itaconate is released in large quantities by macrophages themselves, but until now its role remained poorly studied. Now scientists have found evidence that itaconate acts as an antioxidant and anti-inflammatory agent. These properties make itaconate promising for the treatment of pathologies caused by excessive inflammation or oxidative stress. Such conditions may be associated with cardiac ischemia, metabolic disorders and perhaps autoimmune diseases. The findings were published in Cell Metabolism.

The work, which united scientists from Washington University in St. Louis, ITMO University, McGill University and Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology and Epigenetics, was based on the study of macrophages -- immune system cells in charge of fighting pathogens. An important feature of macrophages is their ability to switch between different states depending on the concentration of various substances in the body. In total, there are three such states: M0 -- neutral, M1 -- pro-inflammatory and M2 anti-inflammatory.

M1 macrophages are the first who arrive to fight the infection. As they begin to swallow viruses and bacteria, an intense inflammatory process kicks in. This process may adversely affect the entire organism if the macrophages become overly diligent. Inflammation consumes energy resources of the organism and can lead to numerous complications or even death. That is why in order to mitigate the negative consequences of immune response, it is important to understand how we can reduce the excessive proinflammatory effect of macrophages.

An in-depth study of macrophage metabolism during their transition from inactive to proinflammatory state helped researchers identify the substance that could suppress macrophage-related inflammations. Describing the working mechanism of this substance called itaconate became possible due to a complex map of metabolic pathways in macrophages that was developed by the group.

Itaconate is produced by macrophages when they switch from M0 inactive state to M1 pro-inflammatory state. If the concentration of this substance increases to defined limit, macrophage activation falls. "Itaconate sets the bar controlling M1 macrophage formation," says Alexey Sergushichev, one of the authors of the paper and PhD student at ITMO University. "Without this substance, the inflammation would increase more than required. In the future, with the help of itaconate, it will be possible to artificially manipulate the transition of macrophages from M0 to M1, meaning the possibility of restraining inflammations. The influence of itaconate on macrophages is a delicate mechanism that can ensure high selectivity of the immune system regulation."

Prior to the study, guesswork with respect to the function and origin of itaconate generated a lot of speculations. But the new study shows that itaconate plays the role of immune regulator. To understand how itaconate reduces the activity of immune cells, the researchers examined the so-called Krebs cycle, or tricarboxylic acid cycle and cellular respiration (processes of producing of vital substances and energy from the oxidation of glucose in cells). Having done so, the scientists identified two "bottlenecks" that can be influenced to reverse the reaction and send it another way.

The Krebs cycle is preceded by signal transmission between cells through oxygen-sensitive pathways. Itaconate blocks the enzyme called Sdh (succinate dehydrogenase), which not only ensures the functioning of the tricarboxylic acid cycle but also links the cycle to cellular respiration and signaling pathways.

Thus, itaconate acts on both functions of the Sdh enzyme, adjusting the cells' Krebs cycle and respiration. When the enzyme is blocked in macrophages, both processes become interrupted, and this impairs the cells' activation. "Noteworthy, itaconate acts as an anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory agent," says Vicky Lampropoulou, the lead author of the paper and researcher at the laboratory of Maxim Artyomov at Washington University in St. Louis. "At the same time, itaconate is naturally produced by mammalian immune cells. These features make it attractive for use in adjuvant therapy for numerous diseases, in which excessive inflammation and oxidative stress associate with pathology, like heart ischemia, metabolic disorders and perhaps even autoimmunity."

The researchers have already demonstrated that they can use itaconate to reach the desired effect in living organisms. Experiments with mice have shown that the substance reduces damage after heart attack, acting by the same mechanism of locking the Sdh enzyme. However, according to the scientists, more work is needed to successfully apply the method to humans.
The number of children born to single women is increasing, partly as a result of social and legislative changes (in most jurisdictions) in the rights to parenthood. While technology has been readily able to meet this rising demand through donor insemination and even IVF, little is known about how children think, feel and fare growing up in the families formed by single women.

A study performed at the Centre for Family Research at the University of Cambridge, UK, and presented as a poster here in Helsinki at the Annual Meeting of ESHRE suggests that the children are generally well adjusted, with positive feelings about family life, although they do raise questions about the absence of a father in their families. "Indeed," said researcher Dr Sophie Zadeh, "at the age at which children begin to understand their family circumstances, they continue to function well."

The study was an evaluation of 51 solo mother families who were compared (both quantitatively and qualitatively) with 52 heterosexual two-parent families with at least one donor-conceived child aged 4-9 years. The participating families were matched in terms of the age and gender of the target child, and on demographic factors including the mother's educational level. The study, said Dr Zadeh, is the first to examine child adjustment and children's perspectives in solo mother families at an age at which children are old enough to understand their family circumstances and what it means to grow up without a father -- and the only study to assess children's own reports about their social and family experiences.

Mothers in both groups answered standardised questionnaires of child adjustment and parenting stress. In addition, the solo mothers completed an interview which asked about their children's feelings about a father, and whether or not this was a topic of family discussion. A total of 47 children within these solo mother families agreed to be interviewed. They were asked about family life and friendships.

There was no significant difference between the two family types when assessed for child adjustment according to a standardised questionnaire. However, higher levels of financial difficulties within the solo mother families, and higher levels of parenting stress, were each associated with higher levels of child adjustment problems. Moreover, mothers mostly reported that their children had neutral (39%) or mixed (28%) feelings about the absence of a father, although qualitative analysis of mothers' reports showed that conversations about fathers were a prominent feature of family life.

As for the children themselves, most (89%) who answered a question about changing their family circumstances either expressed a desire for just trivial changes (38%) or no change (51%). Children mostly (59%) reported high (19%) or very high (40%) levels of enjoyment of school. All reported having at least one friend, and most (51%) named five or more friends. The majority (63%) had not been teased at school, or had experienced only trivial teasing (34%).

"Between the ages of 4 and 9, donor-conceived children in solo mother families generally seem to be doing well," said Dr Zadeh. "However, we don't yet know how these children will fare over time, or what they will think and feel about being donor-conceived and/or growing up without a father in the home as they grow older.

"In general, our findings seem to suggest that what matters most for children's outcomes in solo mother families is not the absence of a father, nor donor conception, but the quality of parenting, and positive parent-child relationships. These findings therefore echo much of what we already know about the determinants of children's psychological adjustment in other family types."



Notes

1. There are some countries, such as France, in which fertility treatment is not allowed in single (or lesbian) women. There have been protests this year about the inability of specialists in France to help these women, who generally head abroad for treatment.

2. Nevertheless, even in countries which give full parenthood rights to single women (such as the UK) fertility clinics are likely to ask about plans for caring for the child on your own. In the UK the number of donor insemination cycles increased by around 20% between 2013 and 2014.
Where did the two natural satellites of Mars, Phobos and Deimos, come from? For a long time, their shape suggested that they were asteroids captured by Mars. However, the shape and course of their orbits contradict this hypothesis. Two independent and complementary studies provide an answer to this question. One of these studies, to be published in The Astrophysical Journal and predominantly conducted by researchers from the CNRS and Aix-Marseille Universite[1], rules out the capture of asteroids, and shows that the only scenario compatible with the surface properties of Phobos and Deimos is that of a giant collision. In the second study, a team of French, Belgian, and Japanese researchers used cutting-edge digital simulations to show how these satellites were able to form from the debris of a gigantic collision between Mars and a protoplanet one-third its size.

This research, which is the result of collaboration between researchers from Universite Paris Diderot and Royal Observatory of Belgium, in collaboration with the CNRS, Universite de Rennes 1[2] and the Japanese Institute ELSI, is published on July 4, 2016 in the journal Nature Geoscience.

The origin of the two Martian moons, Phobos and Deimos, remained a mystery. Due to their small size and irregular shape, they strongly resembled asteroids, but no one understood how Mars could have " captured " them and made them into satellites with almost circular and equatorial orbits. According to a competing theory, toward the end of its formation Mars suffered a giant collision with a protoplanet: but why did the debris from such an impact create two small satellites instead of one enormous moon, like the Earth's? A third possibility is that Phobos and Deimos formed at the same time as Mars, which would entail that they have the same composition as their planet, although their low density seems to contradict this hypothesis. Two independent studies have now solved the puzzle: the Martian moons must have arised from a giant collision.

In one of these studies, a team of Belgian, French, and Japanese researchers offers, for the first time, a complete and coherent scenario for the formation of Phobos and Deimos, which would have been created following a collision between Mars and a primordial body one-third its size, 100 to 800 million years after the beginning of the planet's formation. According to researchers, the debris from this collision formed a very wide disk around Mars, made up of a dense inner part composed of matter in fusion, and a very thin outer part primarily of gas. In the inner part of this disk formed a moon one thousand times the size of Phobos, which has since disappeared. The gravitational interactions created in the outer disk by this massive star apparently acted as a catalyst for the gathering of debris to form other smaller, more distant moons.

After a few thousand years, Mars was surrounded by a group of approximately ten small moons and one enormous moon. A few million years later, once the debris disk had dissipated, the tidal effects of Mars brought most of these satellites back down onto the planet, including the very large moon. Only the two most distant small moons, Phobos and Deimos, remained.

Due to the diversity of physical phenomena involved, no digital simulation is able to modelize the entire process. Pascal Rosenblatt and Sebastien Charnoz's team thus had to combine three successive cutting-edge simulations in order to provide an account of the physics behind the giant collision, the dynamics of the debris resulting from the impact and its accretion to form satellites, and the long-term evolution of these satellites.

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In a second study, researchers from the Laboratoire d'astrophysique de Marseille (CNRS/Aix-Marseille Universite) ruled out the possibility of a capture on the grounds of statistical arguments based on the compositional diversity of the asteroid belt. They moreover show that the light signature emitted by Phobos and Deimos is incompatible with that of the primordial matter that formed Mars (meteorites such as ordinary chondrite, enstatite chondrite and/or angrite). They therefore support the collision scenario. From this light signature they deduced that the satellites are made of fine-grained dust (smaller than a micrometer[3]).

Yet the very small size of grains on the surface of Phobos and Deimos cannot, according to the researchers, be solely explained as the consequence of erosion from bombardment by interplanetary dust. This means that the satellites were from the beginning made up of very fine grains, which can only form by gas condensation in the outer area of the debris disk (and not from the magma present in the inner part). Both studies are in agreement on this point. Moreover, the formation of Martian moons from these very fine grains could also be responsible for a high internal porosity, which would explain their surprisingly low density.

The theory of the giant collision, which is corroborated by these two independent studies, could explain why the northern hemisphere of Mars has a lower altitude than the southern hemisphere: the Borealis basin is most probably the remains of a giant collision, such as the one that in fine gave birth to Phobos and Deimos. It also helps explain why Mars has two satellites instead of a single one like our Moon, which was also created by a giant collision. This research suggests that the satellite systems that were created depended on the planet's rotational velocity, because at the time Earth was rotating very quickly (in less than four hours), whereas Mars turned six times more slowly.

New observations will soon make it possible to know more about the age and composition of Martian moons. Japan's space agency (JAXA) has decided to launch a mission in 2022, named Mars Moons Exploration (MMX), which will bring back samples from Phobos to Earth in 2027. Their analysis could confirm or invalidate this scenario. The European Space Agency (ESA) has planned a similar mission in 2024 in association with the Russian space agency (Roscosmos).

d'astrophysique de Grenoble (CNRS/Universite Grenoble Alpes), Centre europeen de recherche et d'enseignement de geosciences de l'environnement (CNRS/Aix-Marseille Universite/IRD/College de France). ESA's European Space Research and Technology Centre was also involved.

[1] French laboratories involved: Laboratoire d'astrophysique de Marseille (CNRS/Aix-Marseille Universite), Institut de planetologie et

[2] French laboratories involved: Institut de physique du globe de Paris (CNRS/IPGP/Universite Paris Diderot), Institut de physique de Rennes (CNRS/Universite de Rennes 1). [3] A thousandth of a millimeter.
Apparently, she just had to get that selfie. So badly, in fact, this tourist reportedly dragged a swan from a lake so she could get a couple of snaps - before leaving the bird to die on the beach.

Dodo Shows Pittie Nation The Sweetest Pittie Was Living Under A Jeep

Although, the Huffington Post reports that a witness saw the bird eventually get up again after lying on the shore for a few anxious moments. Several pictures posted to Facebook show the woman hauling the bird from the shores of Lake Ohrid in Macedonia. The swan appears to resist, his body contorting as he struggles to return to the water. The birds, according to Macedonia Online, had become accustomed to tourists over the years and were easily approachable. Once the woman was done posing with this swan, the newspaper added, she dumped him on the ground and returned to her tour bus.
Barney Lamm could make a heck of a shore lunch.

Flour-dusted pickerel fillets were fried in bacon fat, served up alongside pork and beans. Bannock would have been the standard supporting staple, but on this day, back in 1975, Swedish flatbread was served instead.

There was no campfire at hand, because rather than cooking up the shore lunch on a fishing trip from his Ball Lake Lodge, Lamm was cooking in Winnipeg, in the summer, where he should not have been.

That same summer, in August, a story appeared in People magazine under the headline, In Canada, a Family Wages War Against a Threatened New Minimata.

Hell, Lamm told reporter Sally Moore, I didnt even know what mercury was.

In the spring of 1970, the Lamms  Barney and his wife, Marion  were notified that Ball Lake had been contaminated by effluent from the Dryden Chemicals plant 160 kilometres upstream. Thats all we were told, Lamm told People magazine, not how dangerous it was to eat the fish or what we should do. They said the problem would disappear within three months. So we closed the camp and started asking, Whats mercury? 

Its stunning that we are still talking abut this, but here we are. Star reporters Jayme Poisson and David Bruser have resurfaced the tragedy of Grassy Narrows, a four-decades-long catastrophe of government ineptitude and industrial waste mismanagement that traces the mercury contamination flowing through the English-Wabigoon River system and into Ball Lake.

Its a faint bit of corporate history now, but the 1960s were years of intense consolidation in the pulp and paper industry, with British newspaper groups entwining with pulp and paper producers. The Reed Paper Group, based in the U.K. with operations in Australia, Norway, and Italy, announced in 1963 that it was switching some of its operations to lower-cost Canada. Through a series of Byzantine manoeuvres Reed represented the Daily Mirror Group, with its mass circulation dailies and 25 printing plants.

Through Dominion Tar, Argus Corp. purchased Howard Smith Paper Mills. We know that company now as Domtar, but its beginnings in the early 1900s lay in the extraction of coal tar, the byproducts of which included aniline dyes. In Toms RiverToms River, the Pulitzer Prize winning expose of cancer-causing effluent from chemical dye plants in New Jersey, author Dan Fagin concludes that coal tar was, arguably, the first large-scale industrial waste.

Pulp and paper created its own environmental burdens, to which Barney Lamm, a millionaire bush pilot, was oblivious.

The chemical process of treating pulp requires both chlorine and sodium hydroxide, extracted from rock salt. As far back as the late 1800s, these chlor-alkali plants adopted an electrolytic extraction method in which mercury was the key element. These chemical plants would sit near the mills, creating industrial complexes that created gallons of contaminated waste water, which were meant to be contained and treated.

So, together, Dryden Paper and Dryden Chemicals, which had 60,000- and 90,000-gallon settling tanks for the mercury-contaminated effluent, was one of many operations feeding the hugely profitable newspaper industry of the 1960s. Between March 1962 and April 1970, Dryden Chemicals released untreated mercury-contaminated effluent back into the Wabigoon.

Bacteria converts mercury into methylmercury. Highly toxic, persistent and bioaccumulative, the methylmercury will concentrate in fish tissue, the very fish that made for livelihoods for commercial fishermen, the very fish that caused Barney Lamm, a man devoted to the north, to set up a fly-in camp and hire more than 70 Ojibwa from Grassy Narrows.

So Barney Lamm shut down his business.

Its quite the story. He told People magazine that government officials were of zero help. They had the results of testing fish for mercury but wouldnt release them, he said then.

In fact, 1970 was a late wake-up call for George Kerr, Ontarios energy and resources minister. The presence of mercury had already been found in wastewater runoff to the St. Clair River from Dow Chemicals chlor-alkali plant in Sarnia. In the spring of 1970, Kerr issued anti-pollution orders for six chlor-alkali plants, including Drydens.

Lamm took the more aggressive route. He sued Dryden Chemicals and its sister company Dryden Paper. Both companies were then owned by Reed Paper. Lamm also hired a Norwegian student to do his own testing, revealing highly elevated mercury counts in fish.

Some in the region saw their economic future threatened by Lamm going on the offence against Reed Paper and went on the offence against Lamm himself.

The Marion Lamm Mercury Collection, an archive of the Lamms efforts, is now housed at Harvard University. In the biographical precis, it says the Lamms and their daughters suffered slanderous threats, accusations and taunts, causing them to sell their Kenora house and move farther west.

In the fall of 1977 Barney Lamm was informed by the Kenora District Camp Owners Association that he had been removed as a director. Barney, we feel your problem is with the polluter and if you seek litigation, we wish you well, the letter said. But bad publicity which you have helped to create is not in the best interest of KDCA and Northern Ontario.

If Barney Lamm were alive today, he would say he had the best interests of the people of Grassy Narrows at heart. And the fish.

He died 14 years ago, almost to the day. What would he think upon hearing that the Grassy Narrows story is not yet fully told? It seemed only fitting, this Canada Day weekend, that we reread his chapter in it.

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CALGARYA Federal Court judge who asked a sexual assault complainant why she couldnt keep her knees together wants to keep serving on the bench and plans to apologize for his remarks at a public hearing.

A Canadian Judicial Council inquiry scheduled for September is to determine whether Justice Robin Camp, who made the comments in 2014 as a provincial court judge in Calgary, should be removed from his job.

A notice of response outlining Camps position says the judge believes he can positively contribute as a member of the judiciary and will strive to keep improving and learning.

The notice says Camp agrees his comments during the sexual assault trial were insensitive and inappropriate and that he plans to apologize at the hearing to take place in Calgary.

Camp has undergone training and counselling with a superior court judge, a psychologist and an expert in sexual assault law.

The document says he now has a deeper understanding of the trauma faced by sexual assault survivors and promises not to make similar comments again.

The notice does not represent a review of evidence supporting Camps position.

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An Egyptian man long branded as a threat to Canadas national security has lost his bid to lift restrictions on his freedom.

While some minor changes are appropriate, Federal Court Judge Simon Noel ruled that Mohamed Mahjoub still needs careful monitoring.

Nothing will ever be to the satisfaction of Mr. Mahjoub, Noel said in his decision. I understand the position Mr. Mahjoub is in and the frustration he must be going through (but) at a certain point, a reality check must be performed in order for him to adapt to his future.

Canadian authorities have argued since his initial arrest in 2000 that Mahjoub, 56, of Toronto, poses a terror-related threat. He has fought numerous legal battles in an effort to overturn his national security certificate, which allows Ottawa to jail him or otherwise limit his freedom  without laying criminal charges against him.

Mahjoub, who spent years in prison, was released in 2009 under stringent conditions. While those restrictions have been eased in recent years, he had wanted Noel to scrap almost all of them.

In rejecting the request, Noel leaned heavily on a 2013 Federal Court decision that found Mahjoubs national security certificate to be reasonable.

In that decision, another judge found credible evidence that Mahjoub was once a top executive at an enterprise in Sudan run by the late terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden. The judge also found Mahjoub had been a ranking member of the Egyptian terror organization known as Vanguards of Conquest, and that he had lied about his contacts with known terrorists while in Canada.

Mahjoub, who first came to Canada in December 1995 and was granted refugee status in October 1996, has consistently denied any such links but courts have repeatedly upheld his security certificate since it was first issued in 2000  despite finding that authorities at times had breached his rights.

Although some conditions of his release in 2009 have been eased  such as the requirement that he wear a tracking bracelet  numerous others remain in place. Among them is a requirement he report to border service agents weekly, that he remain subject to physical surveillance, and that he can only use a supervised email account.

Mahjoub, who has staved off deportation because of a risk he would be tortured if sent back to Egypt, argued there was no evidence to justify restrictions he said were taking a toll on his mental and physical health.

To a certain limit, it is understandable that Mr. Mahjoub experiences feelings of rejection, refusal and despair, Noel wrote.

At the same time, the judge said, Mahjoub had not been co-operative with authorities and had even breached some of the conditions  although the violations were not serious.

In his defence, Mahjoub argued he only wanted to ensure Canada Border Services Agency did not reach beyond what the court had ordered, and that agents respected his privacy.

Those concerns had some validity, Noel said, but proper supervision was essential to ensuring the conditions were meaningful.

The danger to the security of Canada associated to Mr. Mahjoub now is certainly not comparable to the danger assessed in the past, Noel wrote in upholding 23 conditions.

(But) the danger to the security of Canada associated to Mr. Mahjoub has not evaporated; it remains latent, perceptible and factual.

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OTTAWAThe head of NATO has praised Canada for agreeing to take a leadership role in the standoff with Russia, even as new figures show Canadian defence spending has fallen to record lows.

The Liberal government announced last week that Canada would join Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States in leading a 4,000-strong NATO force in Eastern Europe.

Canadian troops are expected to be deployed to Latvia, where they will make up the majority of a 1,000-strong battalion that will also include forces from other NATO members. Germany, the U.K. and the U.S. will lead similar units in Lithuania, Estonia and Poland.

The governments decision came after significant pressure from European and American allies, with U.S. President Barack Obama stating in his address to Parliament last Wednesday that NATO needs more Canada.

Speaking in Brussels on Monday, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Canadas promise to lead one of the four battalions sends a clear signal that the alliance is strong and united.

This is a great contribution to our common security and a clear signal that our nations will defend one another on both sides of the Atlantic, Stoltenberg said at a press conference held days before NATO leaders, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, meet at a summit in Poland.

Even as Stoltenberg was thanking Canada for its leadership in Eastern Europe, new figures produced by the alliance show Canada near the back of the pack in terms of defence spending.

All NATO countries, including Canada, agreed in 2014 to stop cutting military budgets and work toward spending 2 per cent of GDP on defence. The goal was intended to ensure all alliance members were doing their fair share, which includes investing enough to field a modern military.

The target has taken on added importance thanks to Russias own military buildup, as well as criticisms in the U.S. from senators and Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump about some members not pulling their weight.

Obama also gently rebuked Canada in his address to Parliament last week, saying: As your ally and as your friend, let me say that well be more secure when every NATO member, including Canada, contributes its full share to our common security.

The new figures show Canadian defence spending fell to 0.98 per cent of GDP in 2015, the lowest level in decades. While the alliance estimates spending will increase slightly this year, to 0.99 per cent of GDP, that will still leave Canada 23rd out of 28 NATO members.

Stoltenberg said while the alliance was moving in the right direction in terms of defence spending after years of decline, there was still a long way to go.

The slight bump in Canadian defence spending this year is a surprise given the Liberal government, in Marchs federal budget, delayed hundreds of millions of dollars in planned equipment purchases until future years.

Defence Minister Harjit Sajjans spokesperson, Jordan Owens, attributed most of the planned increase to the expanded training mission in Iraq as well as about $200 million in new infrastructure upgrades at military facilities across the country.

However, Owens also echoed previous governments in defending the countrys lacklustre record on military spending, noting that Canada has stepped up in other ways. That includes agreeing to lead the NATO force in Eastern Europe, and expanding its fight against the Islamic State.

Stoltenberg said defence spending will be a major point of discussion when NATO leaders gather in Warsaw later this week.

But Carleton University defence expert Stephen Saideman believes the governments decision to help NATO in Eastern Europe will get it off the hook.

Right now NATO is desperate for someone to step up, he said. I think standing up while everyone is backing off buys some immunity for Canada.

However, Saideman said the concern is that Canada will not be able to maintain a capable military over the long term if defence spending doesnt go up soon.

Theres going to be some stark choices in terms of what were able to do, he said.

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The Ontario government has announced a series of public meetings on fighting systemic racism.

The community meetings come as the government sets up an anti-racism directorate, headed up by Liberal cabinet minister Michael Coteau.

A statement says officials at the meetings will be looking for input on the directorates mandate and priority areas to apply an anti-racism perspective to government policies, programs and services.

The first meeting is set for July 14 in Toronto, and dates of Sept. 13 in east-end Toronto and Sept. 27 in Mississauga have also been announced.

More dates will be scheduled for Ottawa, Sudbury, London, Windsor, Thunder Bay, and another in the Greater Toronto Area.

The governments announcement also comes a day after members of Black Lives Matter Toronto held a sit-in during the citys Pride Parade, with demands including banning police floats in future parades and increasing funding for spaces for racialized communities.

Ontario Liberal cabinet minister Michael Coteau will help lead a series of public meetings across the province on fighting racism.

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CHARLOTTETOWNThe Opposition in P.E.I. is calling for an inquiry into the bizarre case of a non-verbal, autistic woman whose caregivers at a group home claimed she had accused her father of sexual assault.

The father was never charged, but the case made national headlines in March when a judge concluded the province acted in a deplorable manner by failing to conduct an investigation into the source of the allegations.

The Crown dropped the case  six months after the father was arrested and barred from seeing his daughter  when a psychologist assessed the womans ability to communicate via a widely disputed method known as facilitated communication (FC).

The psychologist concluded the 35-year-old woman, who has the intellectual capacity of a 2-year-old, could not have made the allegations attributed to her in January 2015.

The P.E.I. Supreme Court, in a decision released in March, said the Health Department and the group home repeatedly ignored the parents attempts to have their daughters communication skills independently assessed.

The court awarded the couple $61,000 to cover part of their court costs, which they say have risen beyond $200,000.

The Canadian Press is not identifying the family because of the nature of the allegations and the young womans vulnerable state.

Progressive Conservative health critic James Aylward said Monday the province should immediately order all government-assisted agencies to stop using facilitated communication.

An inquiry is needed to determine how this deeply troubling case was handled, and to make sure no other family endures a similar ordeal, he said.

(An inquiry) is one of the only mechanisms we have right now to get to the root issue of how this transpired, and how a family was put through such a nightmare, he said.

Lets find out what the contributing factors were here ... Lets do research. Lets call witnesses in, interview these people and find out ... why these accusations came forward. I find this deplorable that this happened in this day and age.

The provinces health minister, Robert Henderson, did not respond to a request for an interview.

A woman at the group home, operated by Queens County Residential Services in Charlottetown, directed questions to executive director Bill Lawlor. He couldnt be reached for comment.

However, three staff members, a manager and an adult protection worker produced affidavits for the earlier court case, saying they all believed the woman could communicate through FC.

First introduced to North America in the early 1990s, FC was initially hailed as a breakthrough. The technique involves an aide holding the users wrist, finger or arm as they point to letters or type on a keyboard.

I do not point to the letters or symbols myself, rather (the woman) holds my hand and then she points herself to the letter or symbol with her index finger, says an affidavit from staff member Jennifer Hendricken.

I believe that (the woman) has the ability to facilitate on her own; however, she has not done so and I believe has grown accustomed to holding someones hand. I believe that people with autism generally . . . find the sensation of pressure to provide a level of control or stabilizes her hand.

As well, Hendricken cited examples of previously unknown information she had gleaned through FC that she said later proved to be accurate.

Aylward said he was troubled by the use of FC in the light of professional recommendations against it.

When were talking about something as serious as this  potential communication with a non-verbal individual  we need to make sure that there is science (behind it) as a proven, peer-reviewed tool, he said.

Laurie Mawlam, executive director of Autism Canada, said she couldnt comment on what happened in P.E.I., but she took aim at the use of FC in a criminal case.

This is an unfortunate case, she said in an emailed statement. One would hope an alleged crime would never be brought forward based on evidence from facilitated communication alone.

A spokeswoman for the Autism Society of P.E.I. said the group has not taken a position on FC.

She said the group would prefer not to comment on the case, saying FC is used mainly by adults, and the society deals mostly with children. The spokeswoman said she had no clear indication how many people were using FC on the Island.

Eastern Michigan University Prof. James Todd, a longtime critic of FC, has said there are no studies using proper scientific standards that show the procedure works.

Still, supporters of FC say the method works.

The Institute on Communication and Inclusion at Syracuse University in Upstate New York says problems with FC are typically caused by failure to adhere to best practices.

The institute has said facilitators must be taught how to confirm authorship. As well, it says that FC is only a training method.

The goal is always a fading of that (physical) support toward independent access of a device, the institute said in a statement released last fall.

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TORONTOWhen Bruce Gao was in high school, he visited an orphanage in China where he saw children huddled together in beds to share body heat.

It was monsoon season, and it was cold. There was heating in the building, but the solar panels meant to provide electricity werent installed to their full capacity.

Gao, who is now 22, wondered what he could do about that.

He researched how solar panels should be positioned to soak up the most energy, which he said was a little daunting for a high schooler.

And then, he spoke publicly about his plans to create an app  I was a big computer programmer, he said nonchalantly of his time in high school  while at the nationwide Shad program for exceptional high school students.

Gao said that experience solidified his decision to actually make the smartphone app, SimplySolar, with a high school classmate. The app is now used in more than 130 countries.

It works using a combination of GPS and the built-in compass in smartphones. Users place their phones on top of the solar panels, and the app shows them when the panels are facing the most effective direction.

Pointing solar panels in the right direction can make them up to 40 per cent more effective, Gao said.

Now Gao is in his second year of medical school at the University of Calgary. He said that what he liked about coding and creating apps was the ability to help people, and he gets the same thing out of medicine.

The Shad program, which Gao said convinced him to build the app, is now in its 37th year. The 2016 program begins Monday, and more than 700 high school students will participate.

One of the things we believe is that you cant really leave it to chance, that the best and brightest minds are going to develop to their capabilities, said Teddy Katz, a spokesperson for Shad.

So through the program, students travel to universities  12 are participating across the country  where they listen to lectures from prominent university professors and business leaders.

They also work in groups to come up with a business proposal that creates a new product or service to solve a social problem. In the autumn, a winning proposal will be selected.

Last year, students focused on a lack of physical activity in Canadian kids lives. The proposal that won was a machine that could be installed in public parks to dispense sporting equipment, like a combination between a library and a vending machine.

This years theme has yet to be announced, but the program has already started. One of the students participating is 16-year-old Debbie Dada of Toronto.

Dada said she plans on going into medical research when shes older. She said that right now, shes especially interested in how to decrease the infant mortality rates in developing countries.

She got the idea when she was on a field trip for anthropology class, she said. Her teacher mentioned the infant mortality rate in the central African country of Chad. (The latest data puts the rate at about 89 deaths per 1,000 babies born, compared to about 4.5 per 1,000 in Canada.)

I was just blown away, Dada said.

Thinking about  and researching  what she could do, she decided that education about sanitary births was key.

I think its important to share that knowledge in an efficient way, where it doesnt just help a couple people, it helps thousands, she said.

And shes also done work at home. She started a program called Find Your Path, which brings motivational speakers to schools to help give kids the confidence to aspire for big things.

She said she got her drive from her family  her paternal grandfather didnt go to school, she said. But her father has a PhD.

Growing up in an environment where she felt like she could accomplish a lot really helped her, she said. And she hopes her experience this summer will help her, too. Shell be spending the month of July in Thunder Bay with the Shad program.

She said shes looking forward to learning from people who have already built successful careers in science and technology fields, and also to working with peers who have similar interests.

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The loudest voices advocating for supervised injection sites in Toronto in a committee room at city hall on Monday were those who could not be there in person.

Brooklyn McNeil, 22. Brad Chapman, 43. A loved one who collapsed in a Tim Hortons bathroom and never made it out alive.

The stories of Toronto residents who died of overdoses on Toronto streets were heard for hours by board of health members, told by their friends, family and support workers at an emotional meeting that saw an overwhelming push for what advocates say would be a life-saving measure.

The board unanimously agreed, signalling a new approach to harm reduction as a public health problem  one that has yet to be implemented in Ontario.

Members backed a recommendation from outgoing chief medical officer of health, Dr. David McKeown, to move forward with three sites proposed within existing community health centres on Queen St. W., near Yonge and Dundas Sts. and in Leslieville. Final approval will be sought at council next week.

Brooklyn McNeil was not an exception. People are dying every week, said John MacDonald, a harm reduction worker at Evas Satellite homeless shelter where McNeil  a Thunder Bay native who struggled herself with addiction and mental health from a young age  had become an advanced peer worker.

She died of an overdose on June 22. She would have been 23 on Tuesday.

Shed still be alive if there was a safe injection site. She didnt even really have a chance to live anywhere near a full life, MacDonald said. Every week were getting emails about someone overdosing and dying. Its going to get worse unless we have safe injections sites. They may not save everybody, but even one life  its worth opening them.

McNeil had planned to speak Monday in support of supervised injection. Instead, video of her previous speech in March asking for quick implementation of such sites was replayed for members.

I think Toronto and for that matter Canada has reached a tipping point when it comes to supervised injection services, said Councillor Joe Cressy, who chairs the Toronto Drug Strategy Implementation Panel and has pushed for supervised injection since arriving at city hall. That tipping point is being demonstrated certainly here today at the board of health where residents and business owners and renters and homeowners are coming together to say we need this service.

Frankly, its too late for too many, but it is coming.

If council approves the implementation of sites, the health providers at Queen West Central Community Health Centre at Queen St. W. and Bathurst St., at the South Riverdale Community Health Centre at Queen St. E. and Carlaw Ave., and at the Works city-run facility near Yonge and Dundas Sts. will apply for federal exemption under drug laws to run those services with the citys backing.

McKeown earlier said the soonest the sites could apply for federal approval would be early this fall.

The sites will also be seeking provincial funding to staff the services.

Business owners, residents and those with experience with drug use came to the board of health Monday to advocate for supervised injection services.

We will always be a neighbourhood that welcomes people, not turns them away, said Andrew Sherbin, chair of the Leslieville Business Improvement Association.

Shamez Amlani, from the Queen St. West Business Improvement Area, agreed. In a city that does so many things wrong, he said, here we have a chance to do something very, very right.

The board also heard from the sister and mother of Brad Chapman, a father of three and grandfather to a 6-year-old. Chapman died of an overdose on a downtown street near one of the proposed injection sites.

Had (supervised injection services) existed last year, my brother Brad would still be alive today, Leigh Chapman said. Ive heard people say that the war on drugs is a war against drug users. Brad was most certainly in the trenches and unfortunately did not survive. But others can and will survive if you used the strong evidence base for SIS to inform your decision to save vulnerable people like Brad from an unnecessary and untimely death.

And there was Cindy Reardon, who herself has struggled with addiction, for the first time telling the story of how she lost her girlfriend when she was just 26.

She fell in the bathroom of a Tim Hortons and she died in my arms, Reardon said. I think that had we had a safer place to go  a safer place to use, education, contact  that my girlfriend would not have died so needlessly.

Councillor Gord Perks, who championed safe injection and other harm reduction strategies as the former chair for the Toronto Drug Strategy, came to thank those who shared those stories.

You are the best of us, he told them. I, for one, am sorry we haven't done more and done it sooner.

Public consultation found overwhelming support for the sites among those surveyed, including in neighbourhoods where the sites would be located.

Mayor John Tory is poised to back their implementation at council when it meets starting July 12, an added boost to the boards endorsement.

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Pride Torontos executive director says he signed a list of demands from Black Lives Matter to end the groups blockade of Sundays Pride parade, but has no plans to honour them before consulting with his community.

Those demands  which include banning police floats from future parades  will now be for Prides membership and the community to pass judgment on, Mathieu Chantelois told the Star in a phone interview Monday.

Whats important for people to know is that Im not deciding whats in the parade, Alica (Hall, co-chair of Prides board of directors) doesnt decide whats in the parade, Black Lives Matter doesnt . . . decide whats in the parade, Chantelois said. Whos deciding whats in the parade is the membership, and my community . . . We will let them have the final word.

What I did (Sunday) was made the parade move.

Special meetings and consultations will be held to address the issues brought up by Black Lives Matter and to make decisions on the demands, Chantelois said.

Black Lives Matter Toronto co-founder Janaya Khan said she wasnt surprised by the news.

We understand that . . . when it comes to creating more inclusive space, theres going to be pushback and resistance around what that could look like, Khan told the Star.

Its very unfortunate that (Chantelois) reaction has been to backpedal after one day.

Chantelois said Black Lives Matter describing Pride as anti-black was really hurtful, noting that this years events featured several black and trans performers and a panel on blackness and queer politics.

Can we do better? Yes, Chantelois said. Did we do bad? Not so much.

Chantelois added that he would absolutely like to meet with Toronto police to discuss the demand, how police can improve their relationship with marginalized communities and how the force can participate in Pride in the future.

Of course I want the police to be part of Pride in many ways, Chantelois said. And if its not a float, its going to be something else, but for me, Prides for everybody and that includes our police force.

Chantelois said hes reached out to the forces LGBTQ liaison officer and hasnt heard back yet, but emphasized that a meeting will happen for sure.

LeRoi Newbold, a Black Lives Matter steering committee member, said that Chantelois had appeared genuine when agreeing to the demands Sunday.

At the moment when Mathieu signed the agreement, he was smiling, he was hugging members of our community, he was celebratory, Newbold said, noting that members of 2-Spirit and Latinx groups were present as well. It would be very disappointing to find out that his engagement with this political act was disingenuous.

The group is looking forward to Pride meeting at least one of the demands, though, Khan said  holding a town hall meeting for marginalized communities within six months, where Black Lives Matter expects Pride to present an action plan on how it will address the other demands, which included increased funding and support for Black Queer Youth events and Blockorama, the Pride showcase for black performers; a reinstatement of the South Asian stage; the hiring of more black deaf and ASL interpreters and black trans women, indigenous people, and others from vulnerable communities.

We didnt have expectations that there would be a cease-and-desist immediately, that the police floats in this years Pride would suddenly disappear, Khan said. Rather, it was really opening up the space for dialogue and to bring Pride back to its political roots, which has always been its history.

Weve kept in line with our politic and our practice, and Im waiting for Pride to do the same.

In a news release Monday evening, Pride Toronto said it would be holding a townhall next month to gather feedback about the 2016 festival.

Earlier Monday, Toronto police Chief Mark Saunders told reporters that there really isnt much that I can say or offer about the Black Lives Matter demand that police be excluded from future Pride parades.

RELATED:

Black Lives Matter protest scores victory after putting Pride parade on pause

Black Lives Matter, an honoured guest at this years parade, stopped floats and marchers at Yonge and College Sts. until Pride officials agreed to their demands, which included excluding police floats from future marches.

Police also wouldnt be allowed to have booths at future Pride celebrations, if the demands are met.

Saunders said he hasnt yet heard from the Pride executive about the Black Lives Matter demands and so he cant comment.

Im going to wait until the executive talks to me, Saunders said, adding he doesnt know when that will happen.

Saunders vigorously defended his forces attempts to be inclusive, and said he will always try to improve relations with the LGBT community.

Were always looking for ways to be progressive, Saunders said. We have to get it right.

He noted that other police forces, including the RCMP and OPP, also participate in the annual Pride marches.

Particular work needs to be spent building positive relationships with the transgender community, he said.

We need to fix that, Saunders said. Its not a one-day-a-year thing.

He added that officers enjoy participating in the Pride parade.

A lot of people volunteer to work the parade because its a fantastic parade, Saunders said.

Toronto Police Association president Mike McCormack was more blunt. On Sunday he called the agreement to exclude police from future Pride parades a slap in the face to all police officers.

He is calling for an apology from Pride Toronto organizers.

Our officers feel thrown under the bus, as it were, or betrayed by the organizers, he said Monday. Theyre saying that they signed the document just to move things along . . . If thats what you did, you should apologize.

The Star reached out to members of the local LGBTQ community who participated in or attended Sundays Pride Parade for their reactions and thoughts on Black Lives Matter bringing the event to a standstill for close to 30 minutes.

Black Lives Matter vs. Pride: Perspectives on the parade and the protest

The Star reached out to members of the local LGBTQ community who participated in or attended Sundays Pride Parade for their reactions and thoughts on Black Lives Matter bringing the event to a standstill for close to 30 minutes.

Quotes edited for length and clarity.

Vivek Shraya, 2016 Pride Toronto Grand Marshal

I am so incredibly in awe of the action taken by Black Lives Matter. Going through my social media feed yesterday and today, I felt as though I was watching history in the making. There is a disturbing idea that because gay marriage is legal, that the battle has been won for LGBTQ people, but this isnt the case for so many trans and queer people, especially black, indigenous and trans and queer people of colour. The only reason we get to have a giant gay parade in 2016 is because of protests by black, indigenous and trans and queer people of colour decades ago, not unlike Black Lives Matters protest this weekend. White gay culture consistently appropriates from Black culture, so the backlash is particularly disturbing and speaks volumes about anti-Black racism in LGTBQ communities.

James Fajardo, who was watching at College and Yonge when the protest began

It was really confusing for me. The delay wasnt as bad. Yes, it was an inconvenience, but history of the LGBTQ community shows that sometimes its necessary to inconvenience society to get a point across. On the other hand, I think that since they were honoured guests, maybe it was a bit too aggressive.

Cheryl Dobinson, member of the Toronto Bisexual Network and Pride attendee for the past 22 years

Im fully in support of them taking that action and I think that they know better than I do what their needs are and what the steps are that need to be taken to achieve those, so I support them in having done that.

For me, it was not something that felt disrespectful and I think that a lot of times, the way that social change happens, it doesnt happen through good manners and etiquette, it happens through things that can feel uncomfortable and might feel like, Oh, that doesnt feel 100 per cent great to everybody, but part of that is the growing pains and necessary pains of change and transformation.

Sarah Rayner, Internal Coordinator at TBLGAY (Trans Bisexual Lesbian Gay Asexual at York)

As a white queer person, I fully support Black Lives Matter. It was an impressive tactic to get their demands acknowledged and passed.

I urge those who believe it was disrespectful to reflect on the roots of Pride and that Pride started as a protest. And I believe that Pride should always be political. People are that saying this wasnt the time and the place for a protest, and thats erasing queer and trans people of colour. The demands will make Pride more accessible and inclusive for everyone, I believe.

Michael Rusek, coordinator and founder of Danforth & Woodbine Pride

I think that they have a valid point of view and something that I think reasonable people sympathize with, but I think that their tactic was counterproductive. Theyve needlessly set up a tension between our LGBT allies in the police services. I think we all recognize that there are problems within policing, within the larger community in terms of race-relations and treatment of minorities. I think that all Black Lives Matter has done is to make the discussion about themselves and the tactics that they used and the overall goals that theyre trying to achieve, and I think thats unfortunate.

Naomi Martey, LGBT Youth Line service coordinator

Youth Line definitely supports Black Lives Matter and the fact that they did take the time and the space in the parade. Pride is exciting and amazing, but Pride is also about safety, its about being able to walk through spaces without being harmed or feeling fearful, its about being able to exist, and the work that Black Lives Matter is doing is making sure that people in our community can exist . . . I think Pride is exactly the space to be doing this because we all come to a place every year where we can have a giant celebration, but we also need to realize that we are celebrating liberation, our freedom and our progress forward.

With files from Sarah-Joyce Battersby and Wendy Gillis

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Black Lives Matter brought Sundays Pride parade to a standstill on Sunday to force the annual celebration of LGBT equality to answer for its anti-blackness, the protesters said.

The group, an honoured guest at this years parade, stopped its float and marchers at Yonge and College Sts. for more than 30 minutes, refusing to move until Pride officials met their demands.

We are under attack, Alexandria Williams, one of the groups co-founders cried into the megaphone. Pride Toronto, we are calling you out! For your anti-blackness, your anti-indigeneity, she said.

After the rainbow-coloured cloud cleared from smoke bombs set off in the intersection, some paradegoers joined in the chants of black lives, they matter here! while others shouted for the protest to move on.

The group staged the shutdown to call attention to marginalized groups experiences at Pride, organizers said.

Folks are forgetting that we havent all made it to the point of queer liberation. That not all communities who participate in Pride are actually able to be free in that celebration, said Williams ahead of the parade.

Among their demands, the group asked Pride to increase funding and support for Black Queer Youth events and Blockorama, the Pride showcase for black performers; reinstate the South Asian stage; hire more black deaf and ASL interpreters; hire more black trans women, indigenous people, and others from vulnerable communities; and remove police floats from future parades.

The parade resumed after Pride executive director Mathieu Chantelois and board co-chair Alica Hall reviewed and signed the list of demands on the spot.

Their requests were extremely reasonable, Chantelois said. Everything was making a lot of sense.

Craig Brister, spokesperson for Toronto Police, said Sunday that we will not be commenting at all on the BLM demands. But Toronto police union president Mike McCormack wasnt so circumspect, calling the agreement a slap in the face to all police officers.

It's remarkable that organizers of an event that is supposed to be so inclusive could be so callous, McCormack said Sunday.

Given the groups history of radical activism, Chantelois wasnt surprised by Sundays protest. We did this because we want to do things better with our black community. We wanted to be educated, he said of the groups inclusion.

Williams says any surprise at the groups inclusion is rooted in a lack of knowledge about the contributions of black trans and queer people in early Pride movements. It has always been something where the folks at the front causing the change have been black, have been from the LGBT trans community, and have been forgotten, Williams said.

Black Lives Matters actions throughout the weekend were an attempt to return Pride to its political roots, Janaya Khan, one of the groups co-founders, told the Star ahead of Sundays march. They come in the shadow of last months Orlando shooting in which a gunman killed 49 people in a gay nightclub.

The tragedy prompted moments of silence at Pride events across the world. But it also led to ramped-up security, which led the BLM chapter and other groups to pull out of San Franciscos Pride and the New York City chapter to issue a statement on the unease.

The theme for this years Toronto Pride was You Can Sit With Us, and the weekend of celebration was preceded by a month of film screenings, panel discussions, and community fairs addressing issues regarding the trans community, blackness and queer politics.

Longtime gay rights activist Tim McCaskell credits Pride Toronto for showing an increased commitment to social justice. They need to be commended on attempting in injecting some real present-day politics in the parade, he told the Star on Saturday.

The need to return Pride to its community roots hit a flashpoint in 2010 as debate raged over the inclusion of the Queers Against Israeli Apartheid group, programming for Dyke Day was moved away from the locus of activity, the Trans March was organized without consultation, and Blockorama was moved to a smaller location.

At that point I think a whole lot of people in the community realized that this was no longer an event that had notions of community as its central focus. It was becoming more of a tourist event that had making-money for people as its focus, McCaskell said.

Related:

Justin Trudeau centre of attention at Pride, despite himself

Trudeau makes history in Toronto Pride parade

With files from Fakiha Baig

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Strolling down the yellow centre line of Yonge St., Prime Minster Justin Trudeau waved to the relentlessly cheering spectators, then looked up and saw the four men in an open window of a second-storey apartment.

On the far right of the group, standing above the storefront of Green Panda Cannabis Apothecary, was Olympic gold medallist and gay-rights advocate Mark Tewksbury.

Trudeau started chanting, Tewksbury! Tewksbury! but the roaring crowd drowned him out.

For all the spectacle and pageantry of Pride, it seemed Trudeau was the focus for many standing along the parade route and perched on roofs of Yonge St. buildings.

The first sitting prime minster to walk in the Pride parade, Trudeau was hemmed inside the barricaded route for nearly two hours of walking, broken up with a little dancing and two direct hits from toy water guns.

When the procession halted due to a sit-in protest further up the street, he shook hands with spectators and leaned into their selfie shots.

The protest was staged at College and Yonge Sts. by members of the Black Lives Matter parade group. Flares were lit, and the smoke could be seen a couple blocks north where police and Trudeaus security detail waited more than 30 minutes for the route to clear.

Two hours earlier, as the parade was about to begin, a parade dedicated to the 49 victims gunned down last month at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, it was clear that the focus was also on the dignitaries about to arrive.

As the first black, tinted-window sedans and SUVs approached the staging area, Mathieu Chantelois, executive director of Pride, was visibly excited.

Get a 360 video view of Toronto Pride 2016. Tap and drag to turn around or simply tilt your phone to get a look at the Toronto Pride Parade. If you are on a mobile phone, download the YouTube app. If you are on desktop choose a browser that supports 360 video viewing such as Chrome.

In a few minutes well have the prime minister. We are making history. Im beyond excited, he said.

For parade-goers like Patrick Rooth, 64, of Kitchener, who shook Trudeaus hand across the metal barricade, the prime ministers visit was significant because it shows that weve got unity and solidarity amongst all Canadians.

Though Gordon OBrien, with his face and head striped in multicoloured face paint, was there mainly to support his daughter Micayla, 18, and her girlfriend Shawnee, 16, both of Barrie. Micayla spent two hours early Sunday morning applying the paint with a sponge.

Shawnee Lebel-Ford said she was marching in honour of her family.

Usually its one gay person within a straight family but we literally have a gay family with one straight person, she said, and grinned. I have a grandma Linda, she has a partner grandma Jan. I have a mother Karen, she has a partner Cathy. I am Shawnee and I have my partner Micayla.

As the parade began, marchers displayed the names and ages of those killed in the Orlando tragedy.

Shortly after, Trudeau started along the route, initially with Premier Kathleen Wynne and Mayor John Tory by his side, Tory wearing rainbow-swirled Nikes one of his staffers found for him. The mayor said he was glad to have something that sort of took this normally bland person and made him a little bit colourful for Pride because you got to get in the spirit for this.

Along the parade route, spectators leaned in on tiptoes to get a look at Trudeau.

Is that the prime minister? There he is! said a surprised Mike Jacobs, a 24-year-old in marketing.

On the roof above a payday-loan store and a dry cleaners at Yonge and Maitland Sts., spectators held a sign that read: You can elbow us Justin.

Across Yonge St. and on street level, another sign read, Trudeau, kiss me, itll make my Twitter explode, and the prime minister blew a kiss.

Related:

Black Lives Matter protest scores victory after putting Pride parade on pause

Trudeau's presence at Pride generates great interest

Trudeau makes history in Toronto Pride parade

With files from Sarah-Joyce Battersby

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A notice popped up in the electronic mail the other day: PARC, putting out a call for a donation of cash to buy a barbecue, sufficient to the needs of those who come for lunch.

PARC: the Parkdale Activity Recreation Centre, on Queen West; is where some come for companionship and others come for help, advice, or simply for a safe place to rest.

The response was swift; within seconds there was money in hand. I was curious, in part because Id heard the cook is new, and so I called.

Tessa White said that the first meal she would cook on the new barbecue would be something jerked. My little heart leapt, because there are as many nuances to jerk as there are to black cake, which, in this column, is the official cake of Toronto.

I have never made jerk.

Tessa said shed be happy to show me. I arrived shortly after lunch the other day. She had made chicken, and a green salad with roasted potatoes; there must have been a look on my face because she said the last plate had just gone out.

But I was not there for lunch.

On the workstation in front of her, Tessa had cups and bowls set out and they were filled with water, soya sauce and vinegar; she also had lemon juice, and a huge bowl of onions and scallions, and smaller ones of ginger and garlic.

She began by packing some brown sugar into a cup, dumping it in a pot and setting it over a low fire on the stove.

Brown sugar? Im going to make a molasses. The purpose, as you might guess, is to provide colour, and to add depth of flavor. Sugar over heat requires attention, so I offered to stir while Tessa began to puree the onions, along with the garlic and ginger, which she moistened with splashes of the liquids, and the smell in the kitchen made me swoon.

Who taught her to cook?

She kept an eye on her work. Nobody taught me. My mom had a cook shop. We were around her all the time, but we were not allowed.

Thats how it sometimes works: you can bring a kid to the kitchen, or you can deprive her of the stove and see if she is drawn to it. Tessa was drawn:

My mother went out one day and she disconnected the gas from the oven. That wasnt going to stop me. I had my friends over. I made a cake and cooked it on top of the stove.

A cake, on top of the stove? I was ten. It was burned. We ate it anyway, and we loved it.

As you would.

Before she came to PARC, Tessa cooked for one of the social agencies on the furthest edges of Scarborough. I worked there for eight years. She lives near Islington and the 401; call it nine years, given the time she spent commuting. The PARC job made sense, if only geographically.

For her audition, she was given two trays of sausages and the run of the pantry; she made chili.

It must have been good.

She looked at the sugar I had been stirring, and it was syrupy and dark, and so she added it to the blender and then set the pot aside and said, Marie, youre going to kill me. Marie does the dishes; melted sugar, when it hardens, is murder to clean from pots.

And into the mixture went cumin, coriander, cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon, and dried thyme fresh is better, but shes on a budget  as well as salt and pimento, which you know as allspice.

I get mine from the supermarket; Tessa got hers from her mother, who brought it back fresh from Jamaica.

Alas, I cannot give you amounts; she measures by hand or by eye. But even if I had precise measurements, she was making enough for an army, and you are a few, and in my house we are two.

Tessa said, The only thing missing is scotch bonnet. Im not going to give them some. Ill make a pepper sauce to serve on the side. Scotch bonnets are murderous peppers; not everyone can take the heat.

Her first meal on the new barbecue  it is big enough to make 150 burgers at a time  will be jerk chicken. Okay, step back a bit.

Why does PARC need barbecue?

Those who live in single rooms tend not to have grills, but we all have the right, in the summer, to the taste of salt and fat and smoke. And, frankly, we all deserve a little pleasure on the plate, because taste is our most frequent and our most private joy, and when that joy is shared it makes us most glad to be human.

Tessas job is to serve some 70,000 meals a year, as well as to supervise the cook and the 18,000 meals served next door at Edmond Place.

And Im a jerk for her jerk.

Joe Fiorito appears Monday. Email: jfiorito@thestar.ca

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KITCHENERA number of individuals and agencies know who killed Jackie Bakers 20-year-old son, Beau.

But no one will tell her.

What she does know for sure is that he was shot last year at his Kitchener apartment building by a Waterloo Regional Police officer.

In her search to find out more, shes been faced with roadblocks at every turn, which has only exacerbated her grief.

How am I supposed to grieve and get past this without knowing who? I dont have a name or a face or anything, said Jackie, 53, sitting in her living room, surrounded by photos of her late son.

Forgiveness, I dont know how that can come until I know who it is Im forgiving. I kind of have to forgive eventually. I dont want to live with the bitterness.

Ontarios police watchdog, the Special Investigations Unit, declined to lay criminal charges against the unnamed officer last year, although the full report  like all SIU reports  is being kept secret.

Waterloo polices internal review of the incident  mandatory after an SIU investigation  is also secret. The force said it is refusing to name the officer.

There were concerns about threats on the officer and therefore we have withheld the officers name, said police spokesman Staff Sgt. Mike Haffner, adding the officer remains on active duty. He said the threats were primarily on social media, but no charges have been laid.

Jackie has turned to the Office of the Independent Police Review Director, the agency that investigates complaints about police conduct, but said she has been told they will not release the officers name due to an order from the head of the OIPRD.

Finally, she has learned that there will be no coroners inquest into her sons death.

Its an unusual move, say critics, who point out that the vast majority of police shootings in Ontario lead to inquests and often serve as a familys only avenue to find out the name of the officer who killed their relative, as well as more information about the incident.

An inquest ponders a whole series of questions the SIU doesnt, said lawyer and former SIU director Howard Morton, who supports making inquests mandatory for fatal police shootings.

How did it happen? Could it have been avoided? The SIU only looks at whether the conduct constitutes a criminal offence.

Jackies case is similar to many other families in Ontario who have expressed difficulty in getting to the bottom of what happened to their loved ones who died in interactions with police, largely due to the level of secrecy that continues to shroud SIU investigations.

Some have sued  including Jackie, whose case is ongoing  hoping answers will come out during a lengthy court battle. Others have taken it upon themselves to carry out their own investigations, often at great financial and personal expense.

As an independent review of police oversight agencies in the province gets underway, Jackie shared Beaus story and her own struggle for the first time in an interview with the Star.

We were very close, she said, at times holding back tears, describing the last time she saw her son alive, which was a day before the shooting in April 2015.

I gave him a kiss and a hug, and told him I loved him, but I didnt know it was the last time Id see him.

Beau had made a number of alarming statements to a 911 operator, saying he wanted to kill himself and hurt others, including police and paramedics, according to an SIU news release issued last October.

He was standing on a landing next to his apartment buildings front entrance with a knife in his hand when the first officer, aware of Beaus 911 statements, arrived on scene, wrote SIU director Tony Loparco.

The officer told Beau on several occasions he was there to help, not to hurt him, and ordered him to drop the knife and get on the ground, according to Loparco.

Mr. Baker failed to comply, Loparco wrote. Mr. Baker threatened to stab the officer and moved toward the officer while brandishing the knife. The subject officer backed up a step or two before firing his weapon seven times. The fatal shot entered Mr. Bakers mid-abdomen and severed his aorta. Mr. Baker fell to his knees and then onto his back following the gunfire.

The officer and another who arrived on scene during the confrontation attempted CPR, according to the SIU.

Jackie recalled being told by one of her older sons that Beau had been shot, and was getting to the hospital as soon as she could, but it was too late.

The coroner let me kiss him on the head, she said after a long pause.

Growing up, Beau had a heart of gold, said his mother. He was attentive to others needs.

If you liked dandelions, hed probably bring you a dandelion, she said. He literally gave his last bits of money to homeless people so they could go to McDonalds to eat.

He started to have extreme anxiety around the age of 16, after his grandmother died, Jackie said. There were frequent trips to the hospital for mental health treatment, but never a clear diagnosis.

It ranged from bipolar to suicidal ideation, she said. He had also become dependent on alcohol.

Hed been suicidal on other occasions, and police came and either talked him down or took him to the hospital, she said. He wasnt a criminal. He wasnt out stealing or fighting. He was just a very hurting young man, but he was also very loving and giving. He had an extremely bad night.

Thinking back on the SIUs conclusions, Jackie said she believes something different happened that night, after having spoken with some of the eyewitnesses.

So suicide by cop, but then I think (Beau) rethought that while he was standing on that step with the officer actually coming at him with a gun, she said.

I believe Beau was very vocal and said a lot of crazy things, but when it comes down to it, I think he chickened out.

Jackie believes that Beau stood on the step for the entire length of the confrontation with his arms up in the air, a can of beer in one hand and the knife in the other, and did not advance further toward the officer.

The facts still arent out there, so anything Ive done so far is a desperate attempt to find out the facts, to have these two officers that were there that night speak in public, be accountable, she said.

The officers would have had to testify at a coroners inquest had one been called.

But while some deaths in Ontario lead to mandatory inquests under the Coroners Act, a police shooting doesnt automatically require such a probe, said a spokeswoman for the Office of the Chief Coroner.

Yet the same week that Jackie spoke to the Star, an inquest was called into the York Regional Police shooting death of 21-year-old John Caleb Ross, who died in 2014 after brandishing a pellet gun at police in Aurora.

The news release announcing the inquest said the probe was mandatory under the Coroners Act.

Thats because an inquest is mandatory if the person is deemed to be in the custody of police at the time of the shooting, meaning a coroner decided that Ross was technically in police custody when he died, but another coroner decided Beau Baker was not.

Toronto lawyer Peter Rosenthal said not only is it unusual that an inquest was not called in Beaus death, but he also believes its unlawful, arguing that as soon as an officer draws a firearm on an individual, that person should be considered to be in custody.

In my view, if police shoot somebody, and he becomes incapacitated as a result of that shooting, they are detaining him. So if police shoot anyone and kill that person, there is a mandatory inquest in my reading of the Coroners Act, said Rosenthal, who has represented a number of families of people killed by police.

A coroners spokeswoman said the Baker family is entitled to ask the office to reconsider the decision not to call a discretionary inquest, but Jackie said she already tried and was denied.

The OIPRD, which investigates police conduct, would not comment specifically on the Baker case.

Agency practice is to name the officers in the investigative report, a copy of which is sent to the complainant, said spokeswoman Rosemary Parker. But in exceptional circumstances or in the public interest, the director can order that the names not be included, she said.

For Jackie Baker, it has become a dizzying maze with no way out. Shes lost confidence in both the police and the civilian agencies that investigate them.

Theres no question Beau would still be struggling if he were alive today, his mother said, quickly wiping away a tear.

But he would have had the chance to grow through it.

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In the Shanghai of the 1930s, a visitor may have seen a film of blue opium smoke drifting down Nanking Rd. to the area around Blood Alley where Chinese people working as rickshaw drivers and beggars needed puffs of the potent drug to forget their impoverished lives. Up in the swanky part of town, in hotels and apartments, expatriates from the United States and Britain played through the night, gulping gin slings, having sex, sometimes smoking opium. Shanghai accommodated writers, con men, women who thrived on adventure and those who wanted to reinvent themselves. The remarkable, if brief, story of this fantastic city is told by Canadian writer Taras Grescoe in Shanghai Grand: Forbidden Love and International Intrigue on the Eve of the Second World War.

Jennifer: What led you to investigate the Shanghai of the mid-1930s?

Taras: Id been to China five times and when I was researching another book I lingered for a few days in Shanghai and as I wandered on the Bund (the old waterfront) I felt Id entered a time capsule. There was a band of septuagenarian and octogenarian Chinese musicians playing old jazz standards in a mock Tudor bar. The walls were stained with nicotine. There were dropped ceilings and I could see there was beautiful marble carving on them. The hotel was called the Peace Hotel.

When I went back home to Canada I began doing research and realized that many of the places Id been were remnants of old Shanghai. The Peace Hotel had once been the famous art deco Cathay Hotel.

Shanghai is a palimpsest. You can see the old Chinese city, which stands as a maze work of residences and shops, then there is this European city and a modern city. I realized Shanghai would be a fantastic subject for a book. It sat there marinating in my head for a while and then I began to do research.

Jennifer: You tell the story of Shanghai through the lives of Sir Victor Sassoon, a wealthy Brit, Emily (Mickey) Hahn, an unconventional woman from the American Midwest, and Zau Sinmay, a privileged Chinese poet. What was it about their lives that drew you in as a writer?

Taras: I had a crush on Mickey Hahn from the first time I saw her picture and read some of her books.

Her first book was published just as the Depression hit. She had to make her way in the world through her wit, her talent and charms. She did it by chronicling her adventures. I went to her archives at the Lilly Library at Indiana University. She wrote up to three letters a week to her family in St. Louis, Mo. She talked about her adventures and in her archives I discovered this vast cache of letters. It was a gold mine.

I also discovered Victor Sassoons journals were available and they had notes about everyone he met and there were snapshots and little scribbles that gave insight into his emotions. The three, Hahn, Sassoon and Sinmay, were exhibitionists and narcissists who disobeyed the rules about foreigners mixing with the Chinese population.

When Emily went to Shanghai in 1935, she immediately gravitated towards the Chinese side. At a lecture on D.H. Lawrence, her eyes locked with this Chinese man who  unlike the other Chinese wearing westernized clothing  was dressed like an ancient Chinese scholar.

He had long whiskers, an aquiline nose and a striking face. He brought her into the Chinese side of Shanghai. At the time she met Zau she also met Sir Victor Sassoon. They hit it off as well. They were both nonconformists. Sir Victor was a British multimillionaire. It was in Bombay where he got into the opium trade and the cotton trade. (When) he went to the Far East, he also saw the potential of making a fortune in real estate.

So you get a Chinese decadent poet who was educated at Oxford, who spent summers in Paris, and knew the poetry of Rimbaud and Baudelaire, yet dressed like an old Manchu scholar. Then you get the multimillionaire Sir Victor and the notorious Emily Hahn.

Her books were international bestsellers and she made a massive amount of money. She made Zau Sinmay well known through her New Yorker stories about Mr. Pan. She turned him into a caricature, which really annoyed him.

Jennifer: Most of the fascinating people who populate your book were Jewish, including Sir Victor and a Canadian named Morris Two-Gun Cohen. They did a lot to help Jews fleeing Nazi Germany.

Taras: Shanghai became a port of last resort because Canada and the United States were turning away ships filled with Jewish refugees. When they arrived in Shanghai they were welcomed.

Sir Victor worked in the canteen of the embankment house, he set up a refugee thrift store and he gave money to the cause. He had pride in his heritage. He saw himself as more culturally rich than members of the British upper class with whom he had associated all his life. This is why he helped his Jewish co-religionists.

You didnt ask the big question. What was really important about Shanghai? If you want to understand what is happening in China today, you need to understand the Shanghai of yesterday. When the British and Americans introduced opium to China, it caused a reaction that has been there ever since. The Chinese considered it a vast insult. China had once been a glorious empire and had been reduced to a poor, backward country.

China is the crucible that will shape globalization. It started in Shanghai where people from all over the world set up factories. The Chinese Communist Party, which would lead to Maoism, was born there. In fact, Mao, who worked as a laundry boy at that time, was a tenant of one of the leading Jewish citizens of Shanghai.

The story of Shanghai is about a clash of cultures and when you understand that, you understand China.

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One clear bright day last winter, a tidal surge swept over an ocean embankment here in the remote, low-lying island country of Kiribati, smashing through the doors and windows of Betio Hospital and spewing sand and debris across its maternity ward.

Beero Hosea, 37, a handyman, cut the power and helped carry frightened mothers through the rubble and water to a nearby school.

If the next one is combined with a storm and stronger winds, thats the end of us, he said. Its going to cover this whole island.

For years, scientists have been predicting that much of Kiribati may become uninhabitable within decades because of an onslaught of environmental problems linked to climate change. And for just as long, many here have paid little heed. But while scientists are reluctant to attribute any specific weather or tidal event to rising sea levels, the tidal surge last winter, known as a king tide, was a chilling wake-up call.

It shocked us, said Tean Rube, a pastor with the Kiribati Uniting Church. We realized, OK, maybe climate change is real.

Pacific island nations are among the worlds most physically and economically vulnerable to climate change and extreme weather events like floods, earthquakes and tropical cyclones, the World Bank said in a 2013 report. While world powers have summit meetings to negotiate treaties on how to reduce and mitigate carbon emissions, residents of tiny Kiribati, a former British colony with 110,000 people, are debating how to respond before it is too late.

Much of Kiribati, a collection of 33 coral atolls and reef islands scattered across a swath of the Pacific Ocean about twice the size of Alaska, lies no higher than six feet above sea level. The latest climate models predict that the worlds oceans could rise five to six feet by 2100. The prospects of rising seas and intensifying storms threaten the very existence and livelihoods of large segments of the population, the government told the United Nations in a report last year. Half of the 6,500-person village of Bikenibeu, for instance, could be inundated by 2050 by sea-level rises and storm surges, according to a World Bank study.

The study lays out Kiribatis future in apocalyptic detail. Causeways would be washed away, crippling the economy; degraded coral reefs, damaged by warming water, would allow stronger waves to slam the coast, increasing erosion, and would disrupt the food supply, which depends heavily on fish supported by the reefs. Higher temperatures and rainfall changes would increase the prevalence of diseases like dengue fever and ciguatera poisoning.

Even before that, scientists and development experts say, rising sea levels are likely to worsen erosion, create groundwater shortages and increase the intrusion of salt water into freshwater supplies.

In response, Kiribati has essentially been drawing up plans for its demise. The government has promoted migration with dignity, urging residents to consider moving abroad with employable skills. It bought nearly 2,400 hectares in Fiji, an island nation more than 1,600 kilometres away, as a potential refuge. Fijis higher elevation and more stable shoreline make it less vulnerable.

Anote Tong, a former president who pushed through the Fiji purchase, said it was also intended as a cry for attention from the world. The issue of climate change is real, serious, and wed like to do something about it if theyre going to take their time about it, he said in a recent interview. But packing up an entire country is not easy, and may not be possible. And many Kiribati residents remain skeptical of the need to prepare for an eventuality that may be decades away.

The skeptics include the rural and less-educated residents of the outer islands who doubt they could obtain the skills needed to survive overseas, and Christians who put more faith in Gods protection than in climate models. According to their biblical belief, were not going to sink because God is the only person who decides the fate of any country, said Rikamati Naare, news editor at Radio Kiribati, the state-run broadcaster.

As Tong became a climate-change celebrity, invited to speak at conferences around the world, opponents accused him of ignoring problems back home, such as high unemployment and infant mortality. They derided the Fiji purchase, for nearly $7 million (U.S.), as a boondoggle; dismissed his migration with dignity as a contradiction in terms; and called his talk of rising sea levels alarmist and an affront to divine will.

Tong, having served three terms, was not allowed to run for re-election this year, but in March elections the opposition defeated his party. The new president, Taneti Maamau, said he planned to shift priorities. Most of our resources are now diverted to climate-change-related development, but in fact there are also bigger issues, like population, the health of the people, the education of the people, he said during an interview at Parliament, which sits on reclaimed land at the edge of a turquoise lagoon.

Climate change is a serious issue, but you cant do very much about it, especially if a big hurricane comes, he added with a hearty laugh.

The Fiji purchase was not the first effort to address Kiribatis perilous future. The World Bank-led Kiribati Adaptation Program, begun in 2003, developed water-management plans, built coastal seawalls, planted mangroves and installed rainwater-harvesting systems. The bank says the project, which cost $17.7 million, has conserved fresh water in Tarawa and protected about 1.6 kilometres of Kiribatis 1,142 kilometres of coastline.

But a 2011 government-commissioned report cast doubt on whether the World Bank project helped Kiribati prepare for climate change. And while the mangroves and water management plans have helped, a 2014 study said the first round of seawalls, made of sandbags, had proved counterproductive and caused more erosion.

Adaptation is just this long, ugly, hard slog, said the studys lead author, Simon Donner, a professor of geography at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. The idea that an outside organization can just come in with money, expertise and ideas and implement something easily is naive. What you need is consistent, long-term funding  the type of stuff thats hard to pull off with development aid.

Denis Jean-Jacques Jordy, a senior environmental specialist at the World Bank, acknowledged that we had some issues with the first seawalls but said subsequent ones made of rock were better designed.

There is no shortage of ideas to avert Kiribatis environmental fate. Chinas construction of artificial islands in the South China Sea shows the promise of sophisticated island-engineering technology, experts say. Tong commissioned a study on raising Kiribatis coastline.

But such measures are financially unrealistic for a resource-poor, aid-dependent country like Kiribati. Its not about the place going underwater, Donner said, noting that some of Kiribatis islands had actually grown in recent years because of land reclamation or natural coastal dynamics. Its about it becoming prohibitively expensive to live in. Thats the real challenge for Kiribati.

The parallel freshwater crisis is also fixable, at a cost. Clean drinking water is scarce on several islands, and saltwater from high ocean tides has infiltrated some wells. Many residents of South Tarawa, home to half the countrys people, now get their drinking water exclusively from rainwater tanks. Experts worry that as sea levels rise, Kiribatis fragile groundwater supply will face even greater risks, while the next drought could quickly exhaust the municipal supply and household rainwater tanks. Kiribati could invest in desalinization equipment or ship in drinking water, but this is a country with only one paved road.

Its all doable, said Doug Ramsay, the Pacific Rim manager at the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research in New Zealand. Its just going to be a very expensive exercise.

Another novel response gaining attention lately is the idea of applying international refugee law  largely drafted after the Second World War to protect people fleeing political, religious or racial persecution  to those forced from their homes because of climate change.

In 2012, a migrant worker from Kiribati, Ioane Teitiota, applied for asylum in New Zealand, arguing that he was unable to grow food or find potable water in Kiribati because of saltwater intrusion. His lawyer, Michael Kidd, said the distinction between environmental and political refugees was arbitrary. Youre either a refugee or youre not, he said in an interview.

The courts rejected the argument, and Teitiota was deported from New Zealand last year. Kidd said he had appealed to the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Still, migration may become increasingly important. Tong said he hoped to prepare his people to move with job-training programs that would meet standards recognized in Australia and New Zealand. The science of climate change is not 100 per cent precise, he said in the interview. But we know without any argument that, in time, our people will have to relocate unless there are very, very significant resources committed to maintain the integrity of the land.

Coastal threats are increasingly clear to residents of Buariki, an oceanside village of thatched-roof huts and towering coconut palms on the island of North Tarawa. Erosion along the beach has toppled dozens of coconut trees. The World Bank estimates that 18 per cent to 80 per cent of the village, which sits on a peninsula not more than a few hundred feet wide, may be underwater by 2050.

Some villagers said they were resigned to leaving. Our government already has land in Fiji for the Kiribati people, so if there are more high tides here, theyll bring people to live there, said Kourabi Ngauea, 29. But it depends on the government, and if they can support us.

Others see no need to leave. This is where I belong, Aroita Tokamaen, 76, said as she peeled a coconut on her patio. I would rather stay.

The tide that damaged the hospital here last winter was an exceptionally strong king tide, a surge that occurs twice a year when the moon is closest to the Earth. The waves also flooded the thatched-roofed outdoor meeting space of the local branch of the Kiribati Uniting Church. While some people were alarmed, the pastor, Rube, said she refused to accept the idea that Kiribati could disappear.

We are Christians, she said. So we dont believe that God could have given us this world and then take it away.

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SYDNEY, AUSTRALIAWith Australias government in chaos amid a dramatic national election that failed to deliver an immediate winner, the countrys opposition leader called on Monday for the prime minister to resign, dubbing him the David Cameron of the southern hemisphere.

The dig by opposition leader Bill Shorten comes as the country faces up to a month of uncertainty while officials scramble to count the millions of mail-in and remaining ballots that will determine who, if anyone, won Saturdays knife-edge election.

With about a quarter of the votes left to be tallied, neither Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbulls conservative Liberal Party-led coalition nor Shortens centre-left Labor Party had secured the required 76 seats in the 150-seat House of Representatives to form a government  raising the prospect of a minority government.

While minority governments are seen as viable and even productive in some parliamentary systems, the political wrangling and uncertainty tends to unsettle financial markets. Such an outcome is derisively called a hung parliament in Australia.

Mr. Turnbull clearly doesnt know what he is doing. Quite frankly, I think he should quit, Shorten told reporters. He has taken this nation to an election on the basis of stability. He has delivered instability. . . . The bloke is not up to the job.

Shorten mocked Turnbull for assuring voters that sticking with the coalition was the safer, steadier choice amid the global chaos prompted by Britains decision to exit the European Union and British Prime Minister David Camerons subsequent resignation.

Mr. Turnbull tried to capitalize on the Brexit vote and say therefore, because of what happened in England, you had to vote for him in Australia, Shorten said. He Brexited himself. This guy is like the David Cameron of the southern hemisphere.

Turnbull was facing fierce criticism from all sides on Monday for his decision to call a rare early election. Most analysts had predicted the race would be tight, but few had anticipated it would be this close. Labor and the Liberals were in a virtual tie, raising the possibility that neither will end up with enough seats to form a majority government.

That would force the Liberals and Labor to try to strike alliances with independent and minor party lawmakers in a bid to form a minority government. If no alliance can be forged, the government could end up calling yet another election  a possibility sure to frustrate politically weary Australians who have endured five changes of prime ministers in as many years.

Turnbull, who is pinning his hopes on mail-in and early ballots that traditionally favour the conservatives, said he remained quietly confident of an eventual victory, and his coalition could indeed still win by a slim margin. But the strong comeback by the Labor Party had many questioning whether Turnbull could hang onto his job, even if his party is re-elected.

Mobbed by reporters outside his Sydney home on Monday morning, Turnbull ignored a question about whether he was still confident of his leadership, telling journalists simply that the counting continues.

As of Monday, Australian Broadcasting Corp. election analysts  considered among the most reliable  were predicting that Labor and the coalition were tied at 67 seats each and minor parties were leading in five seats. Another 11 seats were in doubt.

Counting by the Australian Electoral Commission was on hold until Tuesday, with Turnbull warning that the ultimate result may not be known until the end of the week. The electoral commission said it may take up to a month.

With the possibility of a hung parliament looming, Turnbull and Shorten both said they had contacted the five independent lawmakers who could make up a minority government if needed. Two of those  Tasmania state independent Andrew Wilkie and Victoria state independent Cathy McGowan  said Monday they had yet to commit to either party.

Independent Senator Nick Xenophon said he had spoken with both leaders, describing the phone calls as simple, Gday, lets keep in touch and see where the dust settles conversations.

I still think its likely that Malcolm Turnbull might just get across the line with a one-seat majority, Xenophon told Melbourne radio station 3AW.

Shorten declined to elaborate on what any Labor deals with the independents might involve, but vowed to work with all lawmakers in a bid to restore order to the fractured parliament.

We will work with the Liberals, we will work with the crossbenchers and the minor parties because this country, and this parliament, is too important to fall foul of needless partisanship, he said. But we wont compromise our principles.

The lack of certainty wrought by the election continues an incredibly volatile period in Australian politics, with Mondays front page headline in Sydneys Daily Telegraph aptly blaring CHAOS REIGNS.

The election result comes as frustrated Australians have watched as internal party squabbling and fears over flagging poll ratings have prompted both Labor and the Liberals to oust a series of leaders in rapid-fire succession in recent years.

Bloomberg News reported that, largely as a result of a vexing budget gap successive Australian governments have been struggling with since the 2008 financial crisis, the election result threatens to undermine the nations top credit rating.

Reversing the gap would require tax increases, spending cuts or structural reforms to boost underlying economic growth. Any of those three options would present political challenges even for an administration with a clear majority in parliament.

Before Saturdays election results were finalized, Moodys Investors Service said there were limited implications for Australias Aaa grade, while Fitch Ratings said a wider deficit could put downward pressure on the score. S&P Global Ratings said it could lower the rating if parliamentary gridlock on the budget continues.

Moodys said the electoral outcome would affect the sovereign credit profile only if it changed broad policy priorities and the effectiveness of their implication.

Fitch said it views Australias overall credit profile as still consistent with a AAA rating, but political gridlock that leads to a sustained widening of the deficit would put downward pressure on the rating, particularly if the economic environment deteriorates.

S&P Global Ratings said: Irrespective of the political composition of any new government, we could lower the rating if parliamentary gridlock on the budget continues and Australias budgetary performance does not improve broadly as we expected a year ago.

The election outcome bodes poorly for the nation, growth and prosperity and it likely increases the risk of a risk of a persistent and deteriorating structural budget deficit, further weakening Australias AAA stable sovereign rating, said Su-Lin Ong, head of Australian economic and fixed-income strategy at Royal Bank of Canada in Sydney and a former Treasury official. Instability and uncertainty are set to characterize this term of government.

With file from Bloomberg News

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MIRAMAR, FLA.Nezar Hamze stood before those crowded into the mosques prayer room, speaking through his headset mike. He explained their rights to self-defence and talked up the benefits of home security systems. And had all the women received their complimentary canisters of pepper spray? Nods spread across the room.

Good, said Hamze, nodding too. I want to move on to extremism.

It had been 10 days since Omar Mateen, a self-declared adherent to Daesh, also known as ISIS or the Islamic State, massacred 49 people at an Orlando nightclub. And Hamze, a police officer in the Broward County Sheriffs Office, wanted to prepare this mosques congregants for what might come next.

Attacks and threats against Muslims are rising, along with suspicion and fears, he told several dozen men, women and children seated on folding chairs. Im not trying to scare you, he said, but that is where we are right now.

Donald Trump, expected to be the Republican candidate for president, has continued his call to ban Muslims from entering the country. Federal undercover investigations have led to the arrest of dozens of young people in homegrown terror cases. In the face of that, Hamze, who moonlights as Florida operations director for the Muslim advocacy group Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), has embarked on a unique effort to educate American Muslims about their rights and safety, while also seeking to deter what Hamze calls the needle in the haystackthe Muslim who commits an act of violence in the United States.

When that happens, the American Muslim community feels the backlash immediately, he told his audience. His message: The community needs to protect itself.

In this, CAIR-Florida is bucking the policy of its national headquarters, as well as several prominent civil and human rights groups. Critics say intervention efforts focused on Muslims, which the Obama administration refers to as countering violent extremism, are driven more by politics than by data, heighten distrust and can be powerfully stigmatizing.

Hamze dismisses the critics as out of touch with reality. The fact is, Hamze says, echoing federal proponents of such a focus, American Muslims who kill in the name of Islam are rare, but they do exist.

For us not to have a program in place and have the community trained to get people help in these situations is irresponsible, he said.

At mosques across South Florida, he tells congregants about CAIR-Floridas new intervention teams, made up of mental health professionals, social services workers, religious leaders and others. Since the program started nine months ago, mosque members have called on the teams seven times, Hamze said. In a few of those cases, the team contacted law enforcement.

Along with other small-scale intervention efforts led by a handful of imams in other states, CAIR-Floridas team approach has no relationship to fledging federal government programs. It is Muslim-led, not government-sponsored. That may be a key to its success.

If anyone is concerned that a family member, friend or community member might be going down the wrong path, dont just avoid them, Hamze told his audience in this suburb of Miami.

Surround them with love, he said. And you dont have to do it alone. All you have to do is pick up the phone.

No track record, no metrics, little transparency

So far, the federal government has tried education and what proponents call counter-messaging to challenge Daeshs online propaganda. That included a May student competition in Colorado, in which the winners, from Aurora Community College, created a campaign entitled, Thank You America, featuring positive stories and contributions of immigrants and refugees, according to a press release from the state U.S. Attorneys Office.

Officials at the Justice Department, Homeland Security and FBI have also discussed prevention and intervention programs that would more closely resemble what Hamze and his colleagues in Florida are doing.

Spurred by the Orlando attack, the House Appropriations Committee late last month approved $49 million (U.S.) for countering violent extremism and related efforts through the Department of Homeland Security. Its not clear the measure would pass the House and Senate; Republican lawmakers have voiced concern that such programming so far has no track record and no metrics, said Jennifer Hing, a spokeswoman for Appropriations Committee Chairman Harold Rogers, R-Ky.

Muslim leaders and civil rights groups also are skeptical, for different reasons.

While crime statistics and surveys indicate that American Muslims have no greater predeliction for violence than any other American religious group, federal programming to counter violent extremism to date has focused almost exclusively on Muslim communities, critics say.

Further, because there is no clarity on what causes people to take up terrorism and commit violence, either here or abroad, there is no predictive science to identify who is a likely risk, experts on extremism say. DHS, which is set to solicit state, local and private proposals for $10 million in federal program grants later this summer, has not yet spelled out what kind of programs it thinks are likely to be effective.

Despite the fact that these are identified as a national security priority for the country, the public knows very little about how these programs are being structured, implemented, and financed and to what end, said Hina Shamsi, the director of the American Civil Liberties Unions National Security Project. The ACLU sued several agencies this year to provide more information about the programs; Shamsi said the documents the government has provided so far have been nothing significant.

Without that information, she and others say, ordinary civilians like teachers and counsellors could be asked to identify and intervene on behalf of people they suspect of committing a future crime, a practice so vague that civil rights groups warn it could be more harmful than helpful.

The Departments of Homeland Security and Justice and the FBI say their programs do not target any one religious group, and that intervention for people believed to be at risk of committing violence should be an important component of countering extremism.

Tools other than arrest and prosecution need to be established, said George Selim, who leads the administrations Countering Violent Extremism Task Force from DHS. But the department has not specified how specifically interventions would work in the absence of concrete indicators to identify extremists.

They should consider the worst-case scenario, said Naureen Shah, who directs the security and human rights program at Amnesty International USA, pointing to an FBI web game called Dont be a puppet, that encourages participants to speak up if a student or peer is talking about visiting a suspicious place, or is using code words or unusual language.

What if your [countering violent extremism] program is in the hands of one of my [former] high school teachers in Texas who thinks that all Muslims are terrorists? Shah asked. You can assume good faith, but you also need to assume prejudice because of the constant association between Muslims and terrorism in society.

An FBI plan, first reported by the Intercept, to build its own intervention teams called Shared Responsibility Committees  not unlike CAIR-Floridas teams in terms of makeup, but hand-picked and vetted by the bureau to provide counselling to individuals already under investigation  only heightened suspicions among some civil-rights and Muslim community leaders.

A senior FBI official who works on the CVE initiative said the bureau plans to ask the committees to help with people in crisis, those whom the FBI is already investigating because they have shown some intent or capability to commit a violent extremist act. But the FBI would not use the committees for intelligence gathering, said this official, who is not authorized to speak publicly about the program and was granted anonymity. Committee members could, however, be subpoenaed to testify and turn over documents if the individual were subsequently charged, the official added.

Meanwhile, in Boston, Los Angeles and Minneapolis, federal pilot programs announced in 2014 to prevent extremism have met such fierce resistance from local Muslims that the first two remain mired in the developmental stage. In Minneapolis, officials were compelled to change its name from Countering Violent Extremism to Building Community Resilience.

Mohammed Malik, who once reported Orlando shooter Mateen to the FBI, says that programs within the Muslim community such as CAIR-Floridas are the right approach. But he also said that a government-directed effort toward preventing violence should be done across the board and not just for Muslims.

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NEW DELHIThe young men had been missing for months. Their families sensed something was wrong. Some had come from privileged backgrounds, had grown up loved and were educated in top schools. They had bright futures.

It wasnt until the horror of the weekend hostage crisis in Bangladeshs capital unfolded that they learned their sons had become radicalized as religious extremists and launched one of the countrys deadliest attacks in recent years.

The young men, armed with knives, bombs and automatic firearms, engaged in a gun battle with police, killing two and wounding more, then seized a popular restaurant in a Dhaka neighbourhood on Friday night and held some 35 people hostage.

Over the next few hours, they would kill 20 of their captives, including nine Italians, seven Japanese, an Indian teenager and three students at American universities.

A witness said some victims were tortured when they could not recite verses from the Quran.

This is very painful. He killed innocent people, said the aunt of one of the attackers, Rohan Imtiaz, whose father is a leader in Prime Minister Sheikh Hasinas governing Awami League party.

We sensed that Rohan was changing and his behaviour increasingly became different, she told the Associated Press in disbelief.

When Imtiaz went missing on Dec. 31, as his mother and father were in India for medical treatment, the family asked the police to help find him.

My brother went to everybody: police, ministers and higher authorities after he went missing, said Rohans aunt, who refused to be identified by name. He became just crazy after his son went missing. But nobody could help us.

As details emerged of the men who laid siege to the Holey Artisan Bakery, it became clear that the attackers did not fit the typical profile for religious radicals coming from economically deprived backgrounds and latching onto extremist groups that promised a new future.

Some analysts said thats what made them attractive as recruits; their backgrounds meant they would not raise suspicions.

They do not fit the usual stereotype of the madrassa-educated youth, said Pinak Ranjan Chakravarty, a former Indian diplomat and policy expert on Bangladesh for the Observer Research Foundation, a New Delhi think-tank. My suspicion is that these young men were roped in by spotters or recruiters.

He said the fact that they do not fit the usual militant profile gave credibility to claims the attackers were part of a campaign waged by extremist groups abroad.

This is a conscious decision on their part, that they will get this kind of people, Chakravarty said. The shock value for the radical groups of recruiting educated, affluent people is huge. The government will never suspect them. The intelligence agencies will never suspect them. Because these boys were never under any kind of surveillance.

Police released photographs of the bodies of five attackers killed by paramilitary forces who ended the hostage siege. They also released names  Akash, Badhon, Bikash, Don and Ripon  which did not match those given by family members. Police said only that militants often go by many names to obscure their identities. Another suspected attacker was captured and was being interrogated.

The men, all younger than 30, belonged to the banned domestic group Jumatul Mujahedeen Bangladesh, or JMB, according to police. Asked whether they might also have had ties to Daesh, also known as Islamic State, police said authorities were investigating that possibility.

It is difficult to imagine how they were radicalized. At least four come from very wealthy backgrounds, said Benazir Ahmed, head of the countrys paramilitary Rapid Action Battalion, according to Indian broadcaster NDTV.

Describing them as flamboyant young men, he said some had also been frequent visitors to the restaurant they attacked.

Daesh, in claiming responsibility for the attack, had also published photos of the five smiling young men, each holding what appear to be assault rifles and posing in front of a black Daesh flag. The men in those photographs released by the Amaq news agency, affiliated with Daesh, also appear to match the police images of the dead assailants in the restaurant after the hostage crisis ended.

Another attacker, identified as Khairul Islam, went missing six months ago, according to Bogra district police chief Mohammed Asaduzzman.

The family is poor, and did not report his disappearance to police, Asaduzzman said.

But while Islams background seemed to fit the stereotype, his upbringing suggested otherwise; he was educated, having studied in a madrassa before enrolling in a public university in Dhaka.

The family identified Islam as one of the attackers after seeing a photo of his body on Facebook, he said. Authorities have detained his parents, sister and brother-in-law for questioning.

At least some of the attackers had known each other for years.

Imtiaz had studied at the same English-language school as Meer Sameeh Mobashwer, whose family said he went missing on Feb. 29.

Mobashwers father, a businessman, and mother, an economics teacher, had planned to send their son to join his brother studying in Canada.

I understood that my son had changed, something was wrong with him, his father, Meer Hayat Kabir, told the AP. I was worried and tried to make him understand. But suddenly he went missing. I felt like the whole world crumbled around me.

Police, contacted by Mobashwers family for help, were unable to track him down.

They told me maybe your son has gone somewhere with friends. He will come back. But he never came, Kabir said. He only found his son once police invited him to identify the body of one of the weekend attackers.

We had lot of dreams, his father said. I cannot believe my son was inside that restaurant, he was part of that. But thats the reality now.

My everything is over.

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DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATESSaudi Arabias Interior Ministry says four security officers were killed and five others were injured when a suicide bomber detonated his vest outside one of Islams holiest sites.

The Monday evening attack took place just as thousands of worshippers were about to hold sunset prayers in the mosque where the Prophet Muhammad is buried in Medina. The mosque is visited by millions of Muslims from around the world annually performing pilgrimage in Mecca.

The ministry statement, carried Monday on the state-run al-Ekhbariya news channel, said the attacker set off the bomb after security officers raised suspicions about him. The attack took place in a parking lot outside the sprawling mosque complex.

The bomber reportedly sat briefly with security guards as they were breaking their dawn-to-dusk fast before detonating his vest.

Several cars caught fire and thick plumes of black smoke were seen rising from the site of the explosion as thousands of worshippers crowded the streets around the mosque.

No group claimed responsibility for any of the attacks.

The sprawling mosque where the Prophet Muhammad is buried is visited by millions of Muslims from around the world each year during pilgrimages to Mecca. The area was packed with pilgrims for prayer during the final days of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which ends in the kingdom on Tuesday.

Altayeb Osama, a 25-year old Sudanese visitor to Medina and resident of Abu Dhabi, said he heard two large booms about a minute apart as he was heading toward the mosque for sunset prayers. He said police and fire trucks were on the scene within seconds.

It was very shocking that such a thing happens in such a holy place for Muslims, the second holiest place in the world. Thats not an act that represents Islam, Osama said. People never imagined that this could happen here.

Qari Ziyaad Patel, 36, from Johannesburg, South Africa, was at the mosque when he heard a blast just as people were breaking their fast with dates. Many at first thought it was the sound of traditional, celebratory cannon fire, but then he felt the ground shake.

The vibrations were very strong, he said. It sounded like a building imploded.

Saudi Arabias state-run news channel al-Ekhbariya aired live video of thousands of worshippers praying inside the mosque hours after the explosion. It also showed footage of Saudi King Salmans son and the Governor of Medina, Prince Faisal bin Salman, visiting security officers wounded in the blast and the site of the explosion.

Also Monday evening, at least one suicide bomber and a car bomb exploded near a Shiite mosque in eastern Saudi Arabia, according to a resident there, several hours after another suicide bomber carried out an attack near the U.S. consulate in the western city of Jidda.

Saudi Arabia has been a target of Daesh (also known as ISIS or the Islamic State) attacks that have killed dozens of people. In June, the Interior Ministry reported 26 terror attacks in the kingdom in the last two years.

The possibility of co-ordinated attacks across different cities in Saudi Arabia on the same day underscores the threat the kingdom faces from extremists who view the Western-allied Saudi monarchy as heretics and enemies of Islam. Saudi Arabia is part of the U.S.-led coalition fighting Daesh in Iraq and Syria.

The attack in the eastern region of Qatif did not appear to cause any injuries, said resident Mohammed al-Nimr. His brother, prominent Saudi Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr, was executed in January after a court found him guilty of sedition and inciting violence for his role in anti-government protests.

Qatif is heavily populated by Shiites, who are a minority in the Sunni-ruled kingdom. Al-Nimr said that near the body of a suicide bomber was a car bomb that also went off around the same time. He told the Associated Press the bomber detonated his suicide vest when most residents of the neighbourhood were at home breaking the daily Ramadan fast.

Several state-linked media reported that two suicide bombers died in the attack, which was aimed at a Shiite mosque.

Daesh and other Sunni extremists consider Shiites to be apostates deserving of death. Daesh affiliates in the kingdom have previously attacked Shiite places of worship, including a suicide bombing on a Shiite mosque in Qatif in May 2015 that killed 21 people.

Earlier Monday, the Interior Ministry said a suicide bomber had detonated his explosives when security guards approached him near the U.S. Consulate in Jidda. The attacker died and the two security men were lightly injured.

Interior Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Mansour al-Turki was quoted in a statement as saying the guards noticed the man was acting suspiciously at an intersection on the corner of the heavily fortified consulate, near a hospital and a mosque.

The U.S. Embassy in Saudi Arabia confirmed there were no casualties among consular staff. The Interior Ministry did not say whether the bomber intended to target the U.S. diplomatic compound.

The ministry said the bomber was not a Saudi citizen, but a resident of the kingdom. It gave no further details on his nationality. There are around 9 million foreigners living in Saudi Arabia, which has a total population of 30 million.

State-run al-Ekhbariya said security forces detonated six explosive devices found at the scene.

A 2004 Al-Qaida-linked militant attack on the U.S. Consulate in Jiddah killed five locally hired consular employees and four gunmen. The three-hour battle at the compound came amid a wave of al-Qaida attacks targeting westerners and Saudi security posts.

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My mom was born in a small town in northern Alberta and grew up during the Depression on the Canadian Prairies. My mom might remind you of your mom or the millions of other women of her era who are now seniors in their 70s, 80s, and 90s.

Mom loved playing bridge, her circle of friends, and of course, spending time with her family. It was a simple life she expressly wanted.

For years, our mom also suffered from unremitting pain, arthritis, and bone degeneration. In 2014, she had open heart surgery and described the experience of having her chest broken opened as less painful than the degenerating disks in her lower back.

Over her last months, moms chronic pain grew worse. She suffered bone-on-bone pain in her left shoulder and as a result had difficulties manoeuvring her walker. Mom had to literally choose between going for a walk, which would further damage her shoulders, and remaining sedentary in her apartment.

In January 2016, mom suffered a bleed in her eye, which, when coupled with the damage from macular degeneration, left her partially blind and unable to read, watch TV, or play bridge.

Feeling helpless as to next steps, mom was admitted to the emergency department at her local hospital. While in hospital, she was diagnosed with early stage cognitive impairment  quite likely Alzheimers.

On Friday April 29th, the hospital discharged mom. That night, she shared how much she had appreciated the conversations she had with fellow patients. Mom expressed an appreciation for life and living. She then went onto say,   and Im so tired.

Mom was scared. She was terrified about what more was going to happen to her health.

On the morning of Sunday, May 1, our mom went out onto her 8th floor balcony, climbed onto the ledge, and fell back. Her cane was found by the chair upon which she had crawled up.

Our mom survived the fall. She suffered multiple bone and spinal fractures with no internal damage. She was faced with hours of surgeries. If she survived the operations and the associated infections and complications, my mom would have had to endure months if not years of rehab. Her prognosis of ever leaving the hospital was zero.

Mom was conscious and when presented with her situation chose to forgo the operations. She entered palliative care with just hours or days to live.

And so it was.

Her three children were there with her, all together for the first time in nine years. Family and friends gathered around, bringing food and song, stories and laughter. My mom was able to say goodbye and so too were family and friends. I do not believe a person falls eight storeys and survives without divine intervention. The time to be with my mom was a miracle ... a miracle in so many ways. It was a moment of mercy and grace.

My mom, Marie Winnifred Christian, 84, died in Vancouver sat 9:55 p.m. on May 3rd.

Physician assisted dying is not an answer. It is simply better than what currently exists. The violence of moms death is incomprehensible. The desperation was needless. Assisted suicide would have brought kindness and compassion to our moms death and an intolerable situation.

Despite our moms intolerable pain, at no point prior to her fall was her death reasonably foreseeable. In its current form, Bill C-14 would have furthered our moms suffering as it would not have allowed her access to assistance in dying.

After all that happened in the days, weeks, months, leading up to her suicide the last thing our mom would have needed would be to prove her eligibility. Its unacceptable given that the Carter v. Canada decision explicitly makes her eligible. The role of the Supreme Court is to protect us from unjust, unconstitutional laws enacted by the House and Senate. It is not the role of politicians to interpret those decisions; it is to enact them.

As much as Justin Trudeau speaks of wanting to protect the vulnerable, he and his colleagues are playing politics with the lives and the suffering of people such as our mom and your loved ones.

The Carter family, who were plaintiffs in the Supreme Court case, has called Bill C-14 a betrayal. Trudeau should be ashamed. So, too, should Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould and Health Minister Jane Philpott. Perhaps the only way they might understand the damage, heartbreak, and brutal suffering they are consciously inflicting will be by having someone they love go through a similar situation. God help them if they do.

David J. Adams is a best selling childrens book author, experience designer, and business consultant.

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Who will speak for the Duck?

Every Liberal cabinet minister serving in the post-War era knows about the Duck. Its a tavern. The Golden Pheasant Tavern on the corner of Ontario and Beech Sts. in St. Catharines, Ont. Every provincial Liberal cabinet minister since Mitch Hepburns government of 1942 knows about the Duck thanks to Jim Bradley.

Last month Bradley ended, for now, a career in the Ontario cabinet that spanned three premiers  Wynne, McGuinty and Peterson  though hes still MPP for St. Catharines, 39 years and running.

When I was first elected in 1999, Jim just seemed curmudgeonly to me. I was a 33-year-old Harvard-educated lawyer and professor, representing a tony midtown Toronto constituency that included Forest Hill. If my riding was emblematic of the Creative Class, the fashionable socioeconomic label of the day, Bradleys riding was known for being working class, with chronic housing shortages and the lowest median family income in the province.

In opposition, I was exuberant and ambitious, often grabbing for headlines. Bradley mostly tended to his riding, never a showman, and his foreboding contributions in caucus meetings earned him plenty of Eeyore cracks from colleagues.

Youre the future. Im the past, Jim would say to me back then. And I would wonder why he was smiling.

Then in 2003, the Liberals formed government and we went into cabinet together. Thats where Jim would make his lasting historic contribution to the Ontario public. Thats where the Duck would come up.

Not more than a few times a year, especially when someone brought up a study or an expert, Jim would start talking about the Golden Pheasant Tavern. Im sitting here wondering what theyd be saying at the Duck about all this, and a (long) speech to premier and cabinet colleagues would follow.

Bradley would talk about people who were barely getting by, if at all, and those whose voice was not otherwise being heard at that moment. He sharply reminded us of the hoi pollois skepticism of bourgeois political thinking. Whatever elites were for, Jim was against.

Extremely well read, Bradley was nonetheless an iconoclast. Special scorn was reserved for those dismissing the industries historically feeding the Duck. The people at the Duck were not fully participating in Ontarios service economy, economists would say, still stuck in manufacturing jobs. That made Jim turn red.

After all, the Duck was built down the road from a manufacturer of hardware for horse and wagon transport. Later it served countless GM workers with lifetime jobs and healthy pensions. The manufacturing industry has long since migrated to slave labour economies not of this country, but those left behind are sitting on a stool at the Duck.

Jim speaks for them. Bradley was particularly sensitive to how modest increases to the cost of living  new taxes, user fees, hydro price hikes, hidden surcharges  were a dark tipping point to someone living near the edge of poverty.

At cabinet, Bradley spoke for the Duck demographic in Ontario sociologically, economically, ideologically but also for what blue collar Ontario faces more than the wealthy: welfare, crime, addiction and mental illness. Bradley was eloquently outspoken against Ontario government-owned casino and lottery expansion. He knew that it was the poor, not the rich, who were feeding Ontario Lottery and Gaming coffers. He almost single-handedly fended off efforts to expand OLG, until recently.

For Jim Bradley could speak to cabinet ministers better sides, reminding us of why we were elected and why we were Liberals. The false necessity that drives most of the lefts pragmatic abandonment of their voter base was always highlighted by Bradley for what it was: a sellout. It was to Liberal premiers great credit that they kept him in cabinet so as to be berated, indefatigably, by the MPP from St. Kitts.

His resignation from cabinet last month should not be marked by hand wringing, though you can be sure that Jim is wringing his hands because thats all he does. Bradley knew that all good things must come to an end and it was time for him to make room for new voices.

Lets hope one of those new voices picks up some of that mantle. Lets never forget about the people sitting in the Golden Pheasant Tavern. Jim never did, despite almost 40 years at Queens Park, proving that power doesnt always corrupt, when held carefully in humble hands.

Michael Bryant was in the Ontario Cabinet for six years and a Toronto MPP from 1999-2009. http://michaelbryant.com

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So its anarchy in the U.K. Little more than a week after Brexit, politics in Britain  or more to the point, England  are approaching a complete meltdown.

To review: the architect of the disastrous referendum on membership in the European Union, Prime Minister David Cameron, has fallen on his sword. Hell resign by October, once his broken, dispirited Conservative party can agree on someone to replace him.

But that wont be the man who was the most visible leader of the campaign to get Britain out of Europe  the ever-colourful, always unpredictable Boris Johnson. Having humbled the king, he has concluded he cannot be the one to assume the throne. He wont stand for the Conservative leadership after all.

Britains other great national party, Labour, is in even worse disarray. Eighty per cent of its members of Parliament have turned on their hapless leader, the vintage leftist Jeremy Corbyn. They have voted no-confidence in Corbyn, yet he refuses to stand down. Labour loyalists fear their party is on the fast track to oblivion.

Practically the only intact English party is UKIP  the far-right, Euro-allergic ginger group led by the grinning rabble-rouser Nigel Farage. And that hardly bears thinking about.

Englands politicians have clearly made a hash of things. Which leads us to a modest proposal, firmly grounded in history, to restore a measure of sanity and stability to Britains political life.

The only British politician who has so far weathered the crisis with her reputation enhanced is not English at all. Its Nicola Sturgeon, the doughty leader of the Scottish National Party and First Minister of Scotland for the past two years.

While all about her were losing their heads, Sturgeon kept hers. She stepped confidently forth to make Scotlands case for staying in the EU and for having another crack at a referendum on independence, now that English voters have re-written the rules on membership in the United Kingdom.

Sarah Smith, Scotland Editor of BBC News, writes that while English politicians looked shell-shocked by the Brexit vote, Sturgeon seized the opportunity to make herself look like the only grown-up in the room. While they dithered, she pulled on the power heels and took charge.

Clearly, this is a leader to be reckoned with, one with the grit and clear head needed in a shambles like the one the English have created. Why not find a way to put her in charge of righting the British ship and steering a path through the Euro mess?

Of course, theres the little matter of Sturgeon being a dedicated Scottish nationalist who doesnt actually believe in the U.K. as currently constituted. But history teaches us that should not be an insuperable obstacle.

In fact, a Scot has come forward before to save the English from political chaos of their own making. When Queen Elizabeth I, last of the Tudor monarchs, died in 1603, she left no children and no obvious heir. Given the intrigue and bloody political infighting of the previous few decades (check out the excellent television series The Tudors for details), many English feared their kingdom would be torn apart by rival claimants to the throne.

In stepped King James VI of Scotland, a distant cousin of Queen Elizabeth who had the great merit of being someone the various English factions could agree on. He was crowned King James I of England and Ireland, uniting the thrones of the three kingdoms in his own person. He kept peace in the British Isles for the next 22 years.

Desperate times call for desperate measures. And for Britain, these are indeed politically desperate days. As Englands political class casts about for new leadership to guide them through the crisis, they could do worse than look north to a small nation thats looking like a beacon of stability by comparison.

Remember: its happened before.

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Imagine a man who decides to have a vasectomy, but is told he must first go for counseling on the risk of getting prostate cancer. Or finds that his health insurance wont cover the procedure. Or has to travel for hours because no nearby hospitals will perform the operation.

Punitive and irrational impediments like these are the fate of thousands of women who seek an abortion in the United States. Although the U.S. Supreme Courts landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling, and subsequent decisions, decriminalize the termination of pregnancy, individual states have chipped away at a womans right to choose. They have made it expensive, emotionally stressful and sometimes impossible for women experiencing an unplanned pregnancy  including those impregnated against their will  to undergo an abortion under professional care.

But a recent Supreme Court decision that struck down a Texas abortion law has opened the door to major changes.

By a 5-3 margin, the court ruled that doctors who perform abortions need no longer have admitting, or staff, privileges at a nearby hospital and abortion clinics will not have to make costly upgrades to meet the hospital-like building and equipment standards of outpatient surgical centres that perform more complicated procedures. The courts majority made it clear that Texass claim to be protecting womens health was unjustified, and violates the Constitution by placing an undue burden on abortion access.

Since the admitting privileges rule came into effect in 2013, the number of abortion clinics in Texas has dropped from 41 to 18. If the rule for upgraded standards were applied, that number would plummet to nine.

In a state with a female population of more than 12 million, and containing the three poorest metropolitan regions in America, that would be a hardship for women, most severely affecting the poor. According to the Washington-based Guttmacher Institute, 49 per cent of U.S. abortion patients in 2014 had incomes below the federal poverty level.

The Texas decision should be a turning point for abortion rights in the U.S., which have been steadily eroded with the support of Republican state lawmakers who have passed dozens of punitive laws. Thirty have been passed in 14 states this year alone. As in Texas, their advocates argue that they are meant to make abortions safer. Some are the result of model bills, anti-choice blueprints that are replicated across states as they score successes.

It was to guard against a rollback of such laws, and others, by liberal judges, that Republicans in Congress refused to endorse a new candidate to fill a vacancy on the Supreme Court until President Barack Obama leaves office. They wrongly believed that the smaller court would be more likely to support their agenda.

The gamble has not paid off. For thousands, if not millions, of American women, it has shown that justice, although hobbled, is not entirely blind.

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Theyre willing to take public money  more than $11 billion a year  but Ontario doctors dont want people knowing what any of them receives courtesy of taxpayers. According to physicians, the public just wouldnt understand.

They should give Ontarians a bit more credit.

With just one doctor charging the health-care system a staggering $6.6 million last year, theres a compelling public interest in knowing the identity of Ontarios biggest billers, their medical specialty, and how much each receives from the public.

That was the verdict of the provinces privacy watchdog last month. John Higgins, an adjudicator with the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner, ruled explicitly in favour of transparency and accountability. He quite rightly ordered disclosure of the name, specialty and Ontario Health Insurance Plan revenues of the provinces top 100 billers.

In a response as predictable as it was unfortunate, the Ontario Medical Association has moved to overturn that landmark decision. As reported by the Stars Theresa Boyle, the organization representing 29,000 physicians, a group of about 40 doctors, plus one physician acting alone, have all filed for a judicial review of Higgins ruling.

According to OMA president Dr. Virginia Walley, the public should not be allowed to see what individual doctors receive because OHIP billings will be misconstrued. It is important to note that raw billings are not the same as a doctors net income. They dont reflect a physicians expenses, including the cost of running an office, paying staff, and buying pricey medical gear. OHIP revenue also doesnt capture the full complexity of care a doctor may provide.

According to the OMA, such subtleties trump taxpayers right to know who theyre paying, and how much, for providing a public service.

One problem with this argument is that the technicalities associated with assessing a doctors net income arent all that difficult to explain or understand. Furthermore, its entirely in order to request some clarification when a physicians billings seem out of step with the norm or appear excessive. By keeping people in the dark about what their doctor bills, the OMA would deny patients the right to ask for, and hear, an explanation.

Higgins was right to push for openness. Its the first, essential step in fixing problems.

Regarding OHIP money paid to doctors, it is an inescapable fact that these payments consume a substantial amount of the Ontario governments budget, Higgins said in a written ruling in June. The concept of transparency, and in particular, the closely related goal of accountability, requires the identification of parties who receive substantial payments from the public purse.

His finding is now being challenged by physicians who have filed applications with Ontarios divisional court. But doctors would do better to recognize and accept the broad social benefit that flows from increased accountability.

Higgins decision came in response to a freedom of information request filed by the Star two years ago seeking data on Ontarios top 100 OHIP billers. The health ministry revealed amounts being billed but refused to identify the physicians involved. The matter was appealed to the privacy commission where Higgins ruled in favour of disclosure.

That decision should be allowed to stand. Revealing what doctors are paid through OHIP isnt an unwarranted invasion of privacy or a rude intrusion into the lives of the affluent. Its about providing taxpayers who fund this provinces health care budget more information about where their money goes.

That could ultimately produce a better, more efficient system for doctors and the public alike.

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Re: Grounds for a lawsuit: Starbucks allegedly skimping on latte, June 23

Grounds for a lawsuit: Starbucks allegedly skimping on latte, June 23

It is a sad day when two California coffee drinkers feel the need to sue Starbucks for under-filling their latte cups. It is sad that an overpriced coffee shop, which has cornered the U.S. market, could allegedly skimp on their lattes. Sad, too, that someone who can afford to pay up to $6 U.S. for a latte, feels the need to file a lawsuit because the foamed milk on top of their flavoured coffee is not quite adequate.

Meanwhile, there are millions of Americans, living below the poverty line, who can only dream of espressos, cappuccinos and lattes.

Jill Rose, Toronto

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Re: Why I support the Scarborough subway, Opinion June 27

Why I support the Scarborough subway, Opinion June 27

There is no shame in admitting that I voted for John Tory both times he ran for mayor of Toronto as well as in his successful leadership bid for the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party. But perhaps shame is precisely what I should feel, if not profound regret and vexation, even though others made the same mistake I did.

My astonishment at Mayor Torys decision to continue supporting the $3.2 billion Scarborough subway boondoggle lingers, particularly at a time when Toronto council faces a massive budget shortfall. I can find no defense for his blatantly incorrect posture. Nor can I even begin to speculate what angle he might be playing in backing a plan to spend billions the city doesnt have on something that it quite plainly doesnt need.

Over the years, many have mistaken Mayor Tory for a sedate, lucid, pragmatic, flexible conservative. But he never got a chance in office until now to show himself to be the opposite, doing so with a petulant sophistry that is insulting, frustrating and completely retrograde to the well-being of our city.

If John Tory continues with his financially ruinous policies defensed by obtusely contrived putdowns of those who disagree with him, he might well emerge as the worst mayor Toronto has ever had and if you know your history that is really saying something.

Jason Daniel Baker, Toronto

I fail to see why the City of Toronto should fund John Torys reelection campaign to the tune of $3 billion. I hope city council will have more sense and guts than it has exhibited till now.

As for Torys thinly disguised accusation of racism, he completely misses the point: its not about spending $3 billion in Scarborough. Its about spending $3 billion stupidly.

Jean-Dominique Sellier, Toronto

It is interesting to note that the cost of extending the subway one stop into Scarborough, $3 billion, is about half the amount spent to double the capacity of the Panama Canal. With cost overruns, the two projects could easily become comparable. At least as to money spent.

Doug Moffat, Toronto

Thank you Royson James for making crystal clear the folly of spending $3 billion on a one-stop subway when the city has $29 billion worth of unfunded and compelling projects on its to do list. I would like to roar Royson James for Mayor, except we can not afford to lose this stellar reporter to the vagaries of politics.

Michele Schmidt, Toronto

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Re: Ottawa tackles hot housing markets, June 24

Ottawa tackles hot housing markets, June 24

While everyone is talking about the huge increase in housing prices and people are pointing at foreign ownership, why is no one talking about the influence on new home prices by the building industry? New home pricing has been increasing by leaps and bounds. And this increase is reflected in the resale market. The rising tide raises all ships.

And why this huge increase in new housing? Ask the tradespeople who actually build these homes if their salaries are increasing at the same rate as the builders profits. Not by a long shot. Ask if CEOs and other top executives of the building industry if salaries are increasing dramatically. What about dividends paid to investors in these companies?

It is common knowledge that politicians in the GTA, and probably in Vancouver, are heavily sponsored by the developers in these locations. Perhaps that is why politicians are reluctant to point any fingers of blame at the developers and new home builders.

Ray Phipps, Markham

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Dear Amy: My 40-year-old son is in an abusive marriage. His wife hits him, locks him out of the house, calls him humiliating names, has alienated him from his friends and family, etc.

He has lost 70 pounds and developed dangerous stress-related symptoms. Hes a shell of what he once was. He acts confused and disoriented, rather than our smart, capable and popular son. Its heartbreaking.

He has tried to leave her, but she gets hysterical, threatens suicide and begs him to return. He gives in.

They have two small children who witness this abuse. Hes very worried about the kids but is so broken down he doesnt feel capable of caring for them on his own. Weve told him we will care for them, but he tells us its too much of a burden.

She refused to attend counseling after one session. My son continues to go on his own.

Its hard for us to be good in-laws when were aware of this. She often blows up at us if we try to talk about it. We are sick with worry about our son.

Mom/Grandma

Mom/Grandma: According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1 in 7 men (older than 18) in the United States has been the victim of severe physical violence by an intimate partner.

Your focus should be on your sons health and self-esteem, and on providing a safe place for the children. His weight loss and other symptoms are alarming, and you should encourage him to get a thorough physical checkup and mental-health screening. If he isnt making progress in therapy, you should help him to find one that specializes in working with abused men.

You should develop a safety plan with your son. Encourage him to take the children, leave the house and call the police.

Make sure he knows that you will take them in and not judge him for his choices. When he says, This is too much of a burden for you, thats his shame talking. Reassure him that you can and will help.

Many abused people return to their abuser, again and again. This is heartbreaking. Understand that if you ban your daughter-in-law from your home, it could isolate your son and the children further.

Encourage your son to call the National Domestic Violence Hotline to talk to a counselor: 800-799-7233 (Thehotline.org). The website also offers online chat sessions during the day, where you or your son can discreetly communicate with a counselor.

Dear Amy: My husband and I recently moved into a nice community. I wake up feeling happy every day.

Our neighbor moved in a month after us, and she seemed to be friendly.

Whenever she runs into us, she will start talking, but she will look only at my husband and will never make eye contact with me. She wont have any kind of direct conversation with me.

I am Asian American, and my husband is an American. I wonder if her behavior has anything to do with me being Asian?

I even tried to bring her some cookies and a loaf of homemade bread. My gesture did not seem to change her attitude toward me.

Last week we had an association meeting. She said hello to my husband and did not even acknowledge my existence, even after I said hello, loudly, to her.

My husband told me to just ignore her, but I wonder what I can do to find out why she is afraid of me. Is it because I am Asian?

Worried

Worried: Your neighbor might be racist. Or sexist. Or . . . strange.

I dont know whats going on with her, but I do know this: The harder you try to win her over, the worse you might feel.

The best thing to do is not to make any particular assumptions about your neighbor and politely disregard her.

If this continues to drive you crazy, you could ask her, I notice you never speak directly to me when we run into you; why is that?

Dear Amy: Crier was worried about ruining her sons upcoming wedding with ever-flowing tears. I have the same problem!

When my youngest got married, I actually did exactly as you suggested. I practiced by playing the mother-son dance song over and over, crying each time. By the time the wedding day arrived, I was cried out.

Worked for Me

Worked for Me: Ive received many suggestions from readers. Thanks for this.

Amys column appears seven days a week at washingtonpost.com/advice. Write to Amy Dickinson at askamy@tribpub.com or Ask Amy, Chicago Tribune, TT500, 435 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago, Ill. 60611.
District eighth-graders visit Costa Rica in the first wave of the DCPS study-abroad program. (Photo courtesy of DCPS)

Aylia Black wasnt prepared for how fast the plane would zoom down the runway during takeoff. Or for how small Washington would look below her as the plane rose into the sky. The 13-year-old rarely traveled outside of the District, and now she was heading to Costa Rica. It was her first flight.

Aylia made the journey last month with 18 other D.C. eighth-graders, the first wave of an ambitious new program that will send abroad 400 eighth- and 11th-graders from D.C. public schools this summer on weeklong, all-expenses-paid trips.

When she arrived in Costa Rica, the air felt different. Everything felt different, actually.

I could breathe better, said Aylia, who will attend Duke Ellington School of the Arts this fall.

D.C. student Anis Hassan is shown on his way to the airport for his study-abroad trip to Costa Rica. (Family photo)

She was mesmerized by the sparkling blues and greens of the water. On a series of zip-lines, she sailed high above the lush rain forest. She met Costa Rican kids, and they chatted in broken English and broken Spanish. She ate rice and beans but took a pass on grilled iguana. Theres only so much adventure an eighth-grader can handle.

Her mother, Melanie Black, said the trip wouldnt have been possible if not for the fully funded program, which covers passport and visa fees, airfare, meals, supplies and lodging. Though her daughter was away just a week, Black said shes noticed a change.

Shes definitely a little more independent, Black said. She has an older sister who she stays really close to, but this gave her a chance to be on her own.

Aylias experience  and those of her fellow student-travelers  is why outgoing D.C. Public Schools Chancellor Kaya Henderson is so keen on the DCPS Study Abroad program and why she hopes to expand it so all of the systems eighth- and 11th-graders who are studying a world language can take part in coming years.

Henderson says that travel-abroad programs  and the opportunity to explore a different culture and meet people from different backgrounds  have typically been available only to students from affluent families. She wants to make travel abroad an option for all District students, many of whom are from low-income families and dont have the means to fund their own travel.

Ive been dreaming of this program my whole entire life. To have the ability to make it a reality is the ultimate, said Henderson, who announced Wednesday that she plans to step down in September after heading the school system for five years.

[D.C. Schools Chancellor Kaya Henderson leaves legacy of progress]

Henderson, who traveled to Spain to study while in high school and to Venezuela when she was a student at Georgetowns School of Foreign Service, wants the travel-abroad program to become a staple in District schools. She hopes it will have an impact long after shes gone, in the same way her travel abroad still enriches her.

Those experiences completely changed my life, Henderson said. I know what the power of language and study abroad can do for regular little neighborhood kids like me.

The $2 million DCPS program is the first fully funded study-abroad program of its scale in a public school district. This summer, it will send District students on 19 group trips to 13 countries in Central America, South America, Europe, Africa and Asia. Money for the program was raised through the D.C. Public Education Fund, which solicits private funding to help pay for initiatives that are priorities for the citys public schools.

If our children can master standardized tests but they cant operate in the world, then we havent done them a service in terms of their education, Henderson said. So this is as important as anything they do in a classroom.

Anis Hassan, 13, will be a freshman this fall at McKinley Tech. The trip to Costa Rica was also his first time flying. He was thrilled to have a passport, something he said hed always wanted. The only thing that worried him was the possibility of being bitten by weird bugs.

He, too, loved riding the zip-line and swimming in a pool and driving around volcanos and seeing the beautiful beaches with no one on them.

But what stood out to him most was meeting Costa Rican students at their elementary school.

They didnt really have very much. Just the basics, Anis said. But I noticed how they didnt complain at all. I told myself I need to stop complaining.

Mike Patierno, one of the two adult leaders who accompanied the students on the Costa Rica trip, said he was able to watch the kids as a world they had only read about or seen on television became real.

I wasnt sure what to expect, but they were all just so excited, said Patierno, who teaches health and physical education at Kramer Middle School in Southeast Washington. They handled the whole trip beautifully.

In addition to seeing a new country, the students also were required to speak Spanish as much as possible.

The kids really hit the language hard, Patierno said. Every day, they were getting more comfortable listening to Spanish and speaking it.

Henderson relishes the rave early reviews of the trips from students and parents. But she knows that for the program to have staying power, it will need to prove as helpful to students as she and other educators believe it to be.

D.C. Council member David Grosso (I-At Large), who heads the councils Education Committee, said he thinks it is wonderful that the private sector has funded the study-abroad program. If it can be shown to have significant and lasting benefits, he said, he would consider funding it through the schools budget.

Henderson believes the benefits will soon become readily apparent and expects that studies will show that students who participate in the program will outperform their peers who do not.

If we can do that, we should be able to make the case for why this should be a standard line item in the budget, and Im going to push for that as well, she said. Im not going to allow money to be a barrier to what I believe is an incredibly important educational experience.
Despite the cloudy and rainy weather, Independence Day festivities in the Washington region continued on.

Despite the cloudy and rainy weather, Independence Day festivities in the Washington region continued on.

Richard Palmer stood outside the White House and forgot for a moment the sense of foreboding he said he has felt about his country as the contentious 2016 presidential race has unfolded.

Instead, he marveled at the diversity of the large crowd coming and going in front of Washingtons most famous address on the morning of the Fourth of July: a California couple in American flag T-shirts volunteering to photograph an Asian family; a schoolteacher from Florida reveling in the idea that he was standing where Abraham Lincoln once lived; a British couple wearing crowns matching the one atop the Statue of Liberty.

It gives you a renewed sense of hope, said Palmer, 51, a salesman visiting from West Virginia with his family. Its a scary time. I hate whats going on. But coming down the street here and seeing all this, I thought, Maybe everything will be good. There are so many nationalities here, and people seem to care about things.

In a year of bitter politics and terrifying episodes of domestic and international terrorism, Americans gathering for July 4 in the nations capital embraced the holiday as a respite from the grind of unsettling news.

Beneath slate-gray skies and with temperatures in the low 70s, their greatest challenge was intermittent rain and, as the afternoon wore on, the threat that the annual fireworks on the Mall would be delayed or postponed.

The weather did cancel the annual Independence Day celebration that the White House hosts on the South Lawn. A smaller celebration was held indoors.

But out on the Mall, the rain at last abated, and the fireworks show went on, although shielded a bit by the low-hanging clouds.

Much of the glare of the explosive display appeared hidden, and the typical oohs and aahs seemed a bit muted.

But it was still worth it, said Florida native Bobby Desmond, 23. Its definitely something Ive always wanted to do, he said.

A television broadcast of the festivities showed a fireworks display different from what was seen on the Mall. Representatives of A Capitol Fourth, which aired on PBS, said that because of the overcast skies, the program showed a combination of the best fireworks from this year and previous years. A spokesman added: It was the patriotic thing to do.

Earlier, on the grassy slope between the Washington Monument and the National World War II Memorial, Nick Nguyen strung a tarp between branches to avoid the pouring rain at 4 p.m.

Were prepared this year, said Nguyen, 44, who came with his wife and two children from North Carolina. Last year they were soaked in another downpour.

Rafael Rodriguez, 15, sought refuge on a bench by an information booth on the West Lawn of the Capitol. He had driven from Florida with his family on Friday to experience the Fourth in Washington.

Its more special, he said. This is where stuff gets done.

Amid afternoon showers, people at the Smithsonians Folklife Festival on the Mall popped open umbrellas, donned rain jackets and crowded under tents. Some talked of trying a movie, a restaurant, even an early trip home. Long lines formed to enter the National Air and Space Museum.

The downpour didnt stop the Snider family:Gathering on the Mall for the fireworks is a tradition for their Laurel, Md., clan.

Weve seen worse before, said Jim Snider, 63, who has celebrated the Fourth on the Mall every year since 1976. His cigar stayed lit despite the rain. His daughter Jamie and her best friend giggled as they splashed on the grass and kicked a bright pink soccer ball.

In front of the White House, Jay Statzer, 50, who drove from Nebraska, said July 4 is an opportunity to celebrate time-honored American rights, such as free speech, and to promote cherished causes. In his case, the cause was legalizing marijuana. He said he planned to speak at an annual pro-pot rally in Lafayette Square.

If cannabis were legal, wed have a lot calmer people, said Statzer, who wore a T-shirt emblazoned with a cartoon of Bill Clinton, joint between his lips, under the words, Inhale to the Chief.

Reed Turner, 54, a tourist from California, wore a pullover shirt with the image of the American flag and words from the Declaration of Independence. He said the day made him appreciate American history and wish to block the noise of contemporary events.

You have to separate it because today is about patriotism and the birth of something amazing, Turner said. Otherwise, youll drive yourself nuts.

Earlier in the day, hundreds of spectators assembled outside the National Archives to listen to a dramatic reading of the Declaration of Independence.

In star-spangled fedoras, socks and fanny packs, many spoke Spanish, Japanese and French. One woman used Facetime to broadcast the performance to a friend, shouting in Chinese above the buzz of the snare drums.

Gazing around, Emmy and Sam Berger said they were inspired by the diversity.

Its the best country in all of the world, said Emmy, 79, who moved to the United States from Chile in 1966. Though there are a lot of problems, people are very compassionate and loving. The people are what makes the difference.

[Dvorak: At suburban open houses, bigotry rears its head]

Around noon, crowds lined up along Constitution Avenue NW for a July 4 parade featuring a heavy police presence. Many onlookers kept one eye on the marching bands, another on the gray skies.

Despite recent terror attacks and a mass shooting, many at the parade said they were not concerned about their safety.

Ive been all over the world, that dont bother me, said Jim Hunnicut, 71, a Navy veteran who lives at the Armed Forces Retirement Home in the District.

Scott and Sharon Weiss, also District residents, were similarly unfazed by security concerns.

I have a lot of hope, said Sharon, 56, resting atop her bicycle at the corner of 10th Street NW to observe the parade. I have faith that our country will do the right thing.

Julie and Brian Wagoner, who traveled from Indiana, said the elections seemed to have brought out more patriotism in many people.

Its awesome to see all the red, white and blue, Julie, 45, said.

As dozens of policemen walked by in bright yellow vests, she said she was glad to see so much law enforcement. Im not concerned about anything happening, but that makes me feel better, she said.

Away from downtown, Mayor Muriel E. Bowser was among local politicians who marched in the Palisades neighborhoods annual parade. On Capitol Hills Barracks Row, along Eighth Street SE, community leaders hosted another parade, as did the city of Takoma Park in Montgomery County.

But the main attractions were along the Mall, where tourists snapped photos in front of the citys iconic spots.

Everything is so big here  the flags are big, we dont have that like you do, Laura Marlow, 19, a visitor from England, said outside the White House. She and a friend, Tom Walsh, wore socks showing stars and Statue of Liberty crowns.

Patriotism is nothing in Britain, she said. We just love American patriotism.

A few feet away, Scott Houchins, 46, a music teacher from Florida, said he was swept away by Washingtons historic grandeur.

To be where presidents have walked  thats cool to me, he said, in a T-shirt with the Superman logo. For someone whos into history, this is the place to be, and on this day especially.

Briana Pack, 18, a waitress from Tennessee, stood smiling under a large sign that read TRUMP. It was at the Old Post Office, which the Republican presidential candidate is developing into a hotel.

Take a picture  do it! she ordered her boyfriend.

I like Trump  hes very straightforward, he gets right to the point, she said, as boyfriend, Jerry Tipton II, 19, smirked and said he backed Bernie Sanders.

Tiptons father, a construction worker and Trump supporter, said politics was the least of his concerns at that moment.Wheres the nearest McDonalds? Were hungry, he said. You cant get any more American than that.

LaVendrick Smith, Emily Yahr, Michael Smith and Martin Weil contributed to this report.
A receipt from a Bethesda Safeway showing the charge for 12 disposable shopping bags. While fewer bags are being trapped near waterways, revenue from the disposable bag tax has crept up. (Katherine Frey/THE WASHINGTON POST)

Like most local governments, Montgomery County is perennially looking for ways to generate revenue. When it imposed a 5-cent levy on disposable shopping bags in 2012, however, officials said the intent was to change behavior, not to squeeze more pennies from taxpayers.

Plastic bags make up about a third of the trash found in the countys streams and stormwater ponds. Many end up in the heavily polluted Anacostia River. Charging shoppers a nickel for each plastic or paper bag would prod them to embrace environmentally friendly reusable sacks, or so the county hoped.

Four years later, county data that tracks the impact of the bag tax offers conflicting evidence about whether it is having the desired effect.

Revenue from plastic-bag sales grew 3.2 percent from fiscal 2014 to 2015, according to a county analysis. Part of the growth is attributed to improved economic conditions, along with increases in population and the number of retail stores.

But part of it comes from more plastic and paper bags being issued at big-chain grocery stores such as Giant and Safeway  places where county officials had thought the tax would be most effective in reducing the use of disposable bags.

Safeway cashier Sheila Jones offers a free reusable bag to Jeff Bulman at a store in Bethesda after he spent more than $50 on groceries on the first day of the implementation of the bag tax in 2012. (Katherine Frey/THE WASHINGTON POST)

[Read the countys report]

Convenience stores, pharmacies and department stores in Montgomery County had reductions in bag sales, however. And traps at 15 stream sites in the county monitored by the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments show a decline in the number of plastic bags collected, from 856 in 2011 to 777 in 2015. The figure from the first half of 2016 shows an even steeper drop, to 281.

I take that as a very positive message, said county environmental protection director Lisa Feldt.

County Council member Roger Berliner (D-Bethesda), the chairman of the transportation and environment committee, said he finds it troubling that we havent seen more of a decrease in the sales of bags, especially at grocery stores.

[From 2013: Bag tax not changing public behavior dramatically]

Montgomery is one of several localities, including the District, New York, Boulder, Colo., and Brownsville, Tex., that have established bag taxes. Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle are among cities that have instituted outright bans.

The Districts nickel tax, which took effect in January 2010, has generated data similar to Montgomery Countys  a growth in revenue and a decline in bags recovered from monitoring traps, said Jeffrey Seltzer, associate director of stormwater management for D.Cs department of energy and environment. The Districts tax covers only establishments licensed to sell food.

A Washington Post investigation last year found that only about a third of the revenue from the D.C. tax was used for pollution control and watershed protection in the city. The rest went to staff salaries and education.

[Is D.C.s five-cent bag fee actually serving its purpose?]

Since going into effect in January 2012, Montgomerys tax has generated $10.4 million for pollution and stormwater control programs.

To spur more participation, County Executive Isiah Leggett (D) recently announced a renewed advertising and outreach effort, including a poster campaign (Bring Your Bag), bus and digital ads, and free bag distribution at county libraries.

Its not something a lot of people will do naturally, Leggett said of the transition to reusable bags. The public needs to be reminded.

That includes Leggett, who recounted a recent trip to fill a prescription at a CVS near his Burtonsville home. After finishing up at the pharmacy counter, he grabbed some toothpaste, aspirin and other items before leaving.

When he got to the cash register, he realized that his cloth bag was in his car, he said. Rather than be spotted as a plastic bagger, Leggett carried his purchases to the parking lot without a bag.

Im not thinking of taking my bag into the pharmacy. Thats what happens, Leggett said.

On a recent morning in downtown Silver Spring, the spotty compliance was in plain view. Heavy shoppers at Whole Foods and Safeway appeared to be more consistent users of reusable bags. Safeway patrons doing lighter shopping tended to leave toting one or two plastic sacks.

At Thai Market, a grocery and carryout restaurant on Thayer Avenue across from the Safeway, cabdriver William Zooma emerged with his lunch of drunken noodles in a carton wrapped in plastic.

Zooma, 52, said he uses cloth bags for his grocery shopping but doesnt like them for carryout meals because of leaks or stains.

It becomes just like trash, he said.
A Navy reservist, Prince William County School Board member Gilbert A. Gil Trenum Jr. has been called up to active duty. He will be sent to Africa to serve in Operation Enduring Freedom. (Prince William County Public Schools)

Prince William County School Board member Gilbert A. Gil Trenum Jr., a Navy reservist, has been called up to active duty, which means hell soon serve in Africa as part of Operation Enduring Freedom. How the mobilization will affect his elected office, however, is unclear.

Trenum (Brentsville) said last month that Virginias Division of Legislative Services in Richmond told him that he can continue to hold office while deployed and that he can choose to have a temporary replacement serve in his stead while he is in Djibouti, on the Horn of Africa.

School Board Chairman Ryan Sawyers (At Large), however, said last week that he is not sure Trenum has the say on how a replacement would be appointed. He wants to seek a Virginia attorney generals opinion on the matter.

The disagreement is the latest controversy for an elected body that already has tussled this year over several topics, such as school names and the allocation of resources in a county that is home to nearly 450,000 people.

[Pr. William School Board upholds decision to rename Godwin Middle School]

Trenum, who is in his third term, surprised the audience at a June 15 meeting with news of his deployment, the first he has had in 14 years as a reservist.

I havent had to pack a sea bag in many years, and I thought the days of being separated from my family for months at a time were behind me, said the 50-year-old, who also served on active duty for nearly 12 years, according to prepared remarks for that evening.

He said then that he approached three people about being the acting Brentsville representative, and he recently announced their names. The three  Shawn Brann, Christopher Park and Kim Simons  are parents of students in Prince William schools and have served school-related organizations.

In an email to the school board, Trenum said that if one of the three suited board members, he would formally request the interim appointment for the time he will be deployed.

In an interview Wednesday, he said he figured providing three names would give his colleagues options about whom to select while assuring he would have someone in place he trusted.

Im not advocating for any one of the three above the others, he said.

He also stressed that he should have a replacement with whom he can work, because he isnt resigning his position. He said he will have email access while deployed and plans to watch videos of school board meetings online.

This isnt like a vacancy, Trenum said.

But Sawyers said state law says a lot more about vacancies than leaves of absence, and he wants to make sure the school board is on solid legal ground as it moves forward. He wants to know whether the replacement choices can be restricted to Trenums picks or whether the board must open the process to all eligible Brentsville residents.

Ultimately, one of Mr. Trenums people may be selected, he said.

He followed up his comments Wednesday with a letter to the board the next day. It recommended asking a state legislator to formally request an opinion from the office of Attorney General Mark R. Herring (D).

Requesting an opinion from the Attorney General does not guarantee that we will not get sued on this matter, but it would document a good-faith effort on the part of the School Board to make sure that neither Mr. Trenums rights, nor the School Boards rights, and most importantly, the residents of Brentsvilles rights are abridged in appointing his temporary replacement, Sawyers wrote in the letter.

It wasnt clear when a vote would be taken on the chairmans idea, but at least two of the eight members of the school board dont seem likely to endorse it. Trenum said that he does not think an attorney generals opinion is necessary, and board member William J. Deutsch (Coles) said the body should defer to Trenum.

An attorney generals opinion is not something I would support, Deutsch said.

Sawyers also said last week that a fourth potential interim replacement for Trenum had come forward.

Before Trenum announced his suggestions, the chairman reached out to Don Shaw, a former candidate for the Prince William Board of County Supervisors and for the Virginia House.

Shaw is a Democrat, and Sawyers was endorsed by the local Democratic Party when he ran for office last year. But the chairman said that his interest in Shaw was not partisan but rather about finding someone with a background similar to Trenums. Shaw, who lives in the Brentsville District, is an Army and Air National guard veteran.

Don would be a great temporary replacement, Sawyers said.

Shaw could not be reached for comment last week.
Sunday, July 3

Dale City farmers market 8 a.m.-1 p.m. Dale City Commuter Lot, (behind Center Plaza Shopping Center), Dale Boulevard, Dale City. 703-670-7112, Ext. 227. pwcparks.org. Free.

Stars and Stripes BMX Nationals Motocross bikers compete. 8 a.m. G. Richard Pfitzner Stadium, NOVA BMX Track, 7 County Complex Ct., Woodbridge. 703-674-9285. usabmx.com. Parking, $10.

BBQ Throwdown A food truck festival featuring more than 30 trucks, live music and childrens activities., 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Prince William County Fairgrounds, 10624 Dumfries Rd., Manassas. 202-768-6676. vastreats.com. Free.

Bingo Proceeds support local veterans. Doors open at noon Sunday with games beginning at 2 p.m. Doors open at 5:15 p.m. Mondays with games beginning at 7:15 p.m. Woodbridge American Legion, 3640 Friendly Post Lane, Woodbridge. 703-494-4304. $15 minimum.

Ice Cream Social Kings Park Band performs. 3-4:30 p.m. Loy E. Harris Pavilion, 9201 Center St., Manassas. 703-361-9800. Free.

Natures Glass Menagerie Fused glass by David and Dale Barnes of Sterling and paintings by Tatiana Harr and Anne Rust Pearson, both of Fairfax Station. Through Tuesday, Artists Undertaking, 309 Mill St., Occoquan. 703-494-0584. theartistsundertaking.com. Free.

The Painters Journey Nancy Brittle, Janie Mosby, Chris Smith and Kathleen Willingham explore rural life in this collaborative exhibit. Through July 29, Center for the Arts, 9419 Battle St., Manassas. 703-330-2787. center-for-the-arts.org. Free.

Landscape painting exhibit Artwork by Samuel Musa of Haymarket. Through July 22, Northern Virginia Community College, Colgan Gallery, 6901 Sudley Rd., Manassas. 703-323-3000. nvcc.edu. Free.

Monday, July 4

Freedom Firecracker 5K A road race and one-mile run/walk with live music and awards for best patriotic-themed costumes. 8:30 a.m. Freedom Aquatic and Fitness Center, 9100 Freedom Center Blvd., Manassas. 703-753-4470. funrunracing.com. 5K, $40; one-mile run/walk, $15.

Celebrate America! Childrens rides, an apple pie baking contest, a watermelon eating contest, a bicycle decorating contest and food vendors. Bring a lawn chair or blanket to watch fireworks from the lawn of the Manassas Museum. 3-10 p.m. Old Town Manassas, Center Street, Manassas. 703-361-6599. visitmanassas.org. Free.

Wednesday, July 6

Wednesday lunch concert Guitarist Gary Smallwood performs. 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Loy E. Harris Pavilion, 9201 Center St., Manassas. 703-361-9800. Free.

Rural Crescent community forum Prince William County Supervisors Jeanine M. Lawson (R-Brentsville) and Michael C. May (R-Occoquan) and Charlie Grymes, chairman of the Prince William Conservation Alliance, discuss how the Rural Crescent plan promotes farming and redevelopment along the Route 1 corridor. 7 p.m. Old Manassas Courthouse, 9248 Lee Ave., Manassas. 703-490-5200. alliance@pwconserve.org. pwconserve.org. Free.

U.S. Navy Band Country Current A concert of modern country and bluegrass. 7 p.m. National Museum of the Marine Corps, 18900 Jefferson Davis Hwy., Triangle. 202-433-3366. usmcmuseum.com. Free.

Lake Ridge Toastmasters Club Members 18 and older develop their public speaking and leadership skills. 7:30-9:15 p.m. Tall Oaks Community Center, 12298 Cotton Mill Dr., Lake Ridge. 703-491-3020. contact-8913@toastmastersclubs.org. lakeridge.toastmastersclubs.org. $34-$64 membership fee.

Thursday, July 7

Manassas farmers market Thursday 7:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Loy E. Harris Pavilion, 9201 Center St., and Saturday 7:30 a.m.-1 p.m., Parking Lot B, West Street (next to the train station visitors center), Manassas. 703-361-6599. visitmanassas.org.

Historic Manassas walking tour Learn the history of the city. Wear comfortable walking shoes. Thursday-Friday at noon, Manassas Museum, 9101 Prince William St., Manassas. 703-368-1873. manassasmuseum.org. Free.

Woodbridge Toastmasters Club An open-house meeting. Learn effective communication and leadership skills. 7:30 p.m. Ebenezer Baptist Church, 13020 Telegraph Rd., Woodbridge. 703-898-7171. woodbridge.toastmastersclubs.org. $68 membership fee.

Friday, July 8

Revolutionary Readers A book club for fourth- and sixth-graders. A discussion of The Matchblock Gun on July 8 and The Witch of Blackbird Pond on July 22. Rippon Lodge Historic Site, 15520 Blackburn Rd., Woodbridge. 703-449-9812. $7.

American Legion dinner The public is invited to dinner with a different special every week. Proceeds support local veterans and the community. 5:30-7:30 p.m. Woodbridge American Legion, 3640 Friendly Post Lane, Woodbridge. 703-494-4304. vapost364.org. $5-$15.

5 Seconds of Summer 7:30 p.m. Jiffy Lube Live, 7800 Cellar Door Dr., Bristow. 703-754-6400. livenation.com. $25-$89.95.

Cabaret Prince William Little Theatre stages the musical that takes place in Berlin after World War I. Friday-Saturday at 8 p.m. through July 24, Hylton Performing Arts Center, 10960 George Mason Cir., Manassas. 703-993-7759. hyltoncenter.org. $25; seniors, military and students, $20; children $15.

Norm of the North Bring a lawn chair or blanket for the outdoor Friday Night Family Movie. 8:30 p.m. Loy E. Harris Pavilion, 9201 Center St., Manassas. 703-361-9800. Free.

Saturday, July 9

Novant Health Auxiliary community yard sale 7 a.m.-1 p.m. Novant Health Prince William Medical Center, 8640 Sudley Rd., Manassas. 703-369-8173. Free.

Yoga on the Lawn Vinyasa yoga taught by certified yoga instructor Christopher Glowacki. 9 a.m. Rippon Lodge Historic Site, 15520 Blackburn Rd., Woodbridge. 703-499-9812. pwcgov.org/ripponlodge. $5.

Home buyer seminar Presented by local real estate broker Bob Hummer. 10 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Strayer University, 13385 Minnieville Rd., Woodbridge. 703-878-4866. military-realestate.com. Free.

WWII Weekend Historians portray Axis and Allied soldiers. 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Rippon Lodge Historic Site, 15520 Blackburn Rd., Woodbridge. 703-449-9812. Suggested donation, $5.

Family Day: World War I Learn about the role of the Marines in World War I. Noon-3 p.m. National Museum of the Marine Corps, 18900 Jefferson Davis Hwy., Triangle. 877-635-1775. usmcmuseum.com. Free.

La Unica The band that blends Irish folk with Latin rhythms performs as part of the Center for the Arts Summer Sounds Concert Series. Through Sept. 3. 6:30 p.m. Loy E. Harris Pavilion, 9201 Center St., Manassas. 703-361-9800. Free.

Neighborhood Watch training The Prince William County polices Crime Prevention Unit leads the training on topics, including crime reporting, emergency preparedness and patrolling. 7 p.m. Dr. A.J. Ferlazzo Building, 15941 Donald Curtis Dr., Woodbridge. 703-792-7270. Free; reservations suggested.

Toby Keith, Eric Paslay 7 p.m. Jiffy Lube Live, 7800 Cellar Door Dr., Bristow. 703-754-6400. livenation.com. $25.50-$94.25.
Vietnam mulls measures to collect tax from Uber, Coca-Cola, Big C

VietNamNet Bridge - Government officials and experts have mixed views about the collection of taxes from Uber, Coca-Cola and Big C.

Government officials and experts have mixed views about the collection of taxes from Uber, Coca-Cola and Big C.







The taxation agency has not received documents concerning the tax declaration and payment for transferring Big C Vietnam from French Casino Group to Thai Central Group.The Thai conglomerate announced it had taken over Big C at the price of $1.14 billion in late April.Under Vietnamese laws, involved parties must submit documents on tax declaration no later than the 10th day after the day the two sides reach agreement on the transfer.An official of the General Department of Taxation (GDT) said GDT may not allow Big C to be transferred if involved parties delay the tax declaration and payment.Dinh Trong Thinh, a high-ranking economist from the Finance Academy, thinks that it is necessary for the taxation body to consider provisions in transfer contracts signed between Big Cs owners and find out who inherited the accounts receivable and payable.If there is no such provision, the taxation body needs to ask the new owner of Big C to retain a sum of money when paying tax.If the new owner refuses to do this, Vietnam would have to seek support from France, the host country of Big C with which Vietnam has a cooperation agreement.If necessary, Vietnam can bring the case to the international court.However, Thinh believes that the owner of Big C would not be foolish enough to evade tax, because it will not have the right to do business if Vietnam forces Big C to shut down.Uber taxi has been present in HCMC since July 2014, but the issues related to the tax payment and business conditions of the type of business remain unclear.According to Nguyen Quang Tien from GDT, the individuals who joined Uber taxi belong to registered cooperatives or businesses. Uber will periodically release a report about the individuals who provide services and their incomes, so that businesses and cooperatives can calculate tax.However, Tien said many individuals providing Uber taxi do not belong to institutions and they operate without licenses to avoid tax.GDT has released a document on tax obligations and tax payment procedures.Tien went on to say that the taxation body has checked incomes via banks and has made a proposal on this issue to the Ministry of Finance.Regarding Coca-Cola, the drink manufacturer has angered the public because of suspected tax evasion.Thinh said other countries still can collect tax from Coca-Cola.They tax on Coca-Colas revenue instead of profit, he said.CafeF
Petula C. Metzler, seen here being sworn in as judge last month by Prince William County Circuit Court Judge Lon E. Farris, is the first African American to serve on the countys General District Court. (Courtesy Prince William County Bar Association)

Petula Metzler is new judge on General District Court

Petula C. Metzler was sworn in last month to Prince William Countys General District Court.

She is the first judge to be appointed to the newly created fifth seat on the local court. She began her six-year term Friday.

Metzler, the first African American to serve on the General District Court, was recognized with an award of congratulations by the Northern Virginia Black Attorneys Association.

PRTC service changes, fare increases to begin Tuesday

A fare increase and changes to routing and timetables will take effect Tuesday on buses operated by the Potomac and Rappahannock Transportation Commission (PRTC).

PRTC updates its bus schedules twice a year to reflect changes in routing and travel times.

Fares will increase an average of 5 percent. The one-way fare on OmniRide commuter buses will increase from $6.20 to $6.50; Metro Direct commuter buses, from $3.10 to $3.25; and OmniLink local buses, from $1.40 to $1.50.

OmniRide routes will offer fewer trips Fridays and will no longer operate on the following holidays: Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Presidents Day, Columbus Day, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving Friday and Christmas Eve.

In addition, the Capitol Hill OmniRide route has been eliminated. The Dale City OmniRide buses no longer service Crystal City. Instead, passengers going to Crystal City must take a Lake Ridge OmniRide bus or transfer to one.

Many OmniRide buses will no longer serve neighborhood routing; instead, service begins and ends at area commuter lots.

Manassas Metro Direct buses no longer offer all-day round-trip service between Manassas and the Tysons Corner Metro Station. In the morning, buses travel only from Manassas to Tysons; in the afternoon and evening, buses travel only from Tysons to Manassas.

For information, call 703-730-6664 or visit prtctransit.org.

Gainesville Ballet to become Va. State Ballet

Gainesville Ballet Company, a nonprofit professional troupe, recently announced plans to change its name to the Virginia State Ballet.

The name change will differentiate the company from Gainesville Ballets in Georgia and Florida. It will also reflect the broader scope of the organization, which has plans to tour internationally.

The troupe has 12 professional dancers from the United States, Japan and Brazil. Visit gaines

villeballetcompany.org for information.

Kathy Smaltz is named countys poet laureate

Kathy Smaltz of Nokesville was named Prince William Countys poet laureate for 2016-2018 at last months SummerFest at Tacketts Mill shopping center in Lake Ridge.

The theme of Smaltzs tenure will be empowerment, and she will assist community members to create and celebrate poetry.

Smaltz is a language arts and gifted-education teacher at the Nokesville School. She has also taught at Brentsville District High School, Potomac Senior High School and Bull Run Middle School.

She was an adjunct professor at Northern Virginia Community College and George Mason University.
A man was fatally shot in a Northeast Washington alley on Sunday night, and investigators are asking for the publics help in locating the perpetrator, police said Monday.

Officers responded to a call of a shooting in the 300 block of V Street about 9:45 p.m., police said. Officers found Omar Lindsay, 42, of no fixed address, suffering from a gunshot wound.

Lindsay was declared dead on the scene. D.C. police did not release a description of a suspect or offer a motive for the killing.

Police are offering a reward of up to $25,000 to anyone who provides information that leads to an arrest and conviction in the case.

Anyone with information is asked to call the police at 202-727-9099. Additionally, anonymous information may be submitted to the departments text tip line by sending a text message to 50411.
D.C. Police cadet Kaelin Villegas, right, gives a high-five to Raehelle Williams, 2, as her sister Cori King, 8, plays in the water during the "Beat the Streets" community event last Wednesday. (Christian K. Lee/The Washington Post)

Bass boomed from speakers on a raised stage, bouncing off nearby buildings.

Around the platform, kids shuffled to the 90s R&B hit My Boo.

And next to the kids, cops broke out their best Running Man moves in what fast became a dance-off.

Out came the cellphones in exactly the kind of exchange police officials hoped for when they brought the Beat the Streets party to the Greenleaf neighborhood of Southwest Washington, one of 13 sites hosting the roving event this summer.

Its a vehicle to improve relations, Officer Arthur Douglas said of the program that was in Greenleaf on Wednesday.

Antonio Brown, 24, watches over children as they ride their bikes and hang out at the "Beat the Streets" community event on Wednesday. (Christian K. Lee/The Washington Post)

For nearly a decade, Beat the Streets has brought concerts, cookouts and a clutch of booths on health, education and safety issues to summer parties meant to strengthen ties between police and the residents they serve.

In Greenleaf, Netta King, 36, stood to the side with other adults, laughing as she cheered on the dance battle. She has attended the event in previous years and said its the perfect way to work toward a more peaceful community.

More people come out, more things get done, she said.

[D.C. cop gets teens to stop fighting, dance the Nae Nae instead]

On a curved residential road, sandwiched between the recreation center and a public housing development, a few hundred residents passed through the festival from afternoon until early evening.

The scents of a cookout filled the air, as people lined up under a tent for hot dogs and burgers. Kids wandered between the stage area and the centers playground, dancing and laughing with officers, while adults set up lawn chairs and mingled.

Douglas started Beat the Streets in 2007, and it has ballooned into an event communities clamor for, he said. In recent years, the festival has become part of the police departments Summer Crime Prevention Initiative, which increases police presence in areas grappling with violent crime.

At each event, vendors pitch tents and distribute information on the various opportunities available to D.C. residents that can be hard to hear about and access in some parts of the city.

Were providing that pipeline that we should provide to D.C. residents, said David Gaston, assistant director for outreach and engagement at the University of the District of Columbia.

Gaston, decked out in UDC apparel, was there to relay information on educational opportunities after high school. He has attended the events for years, and said bringing resources and contacts directly into a neighborhood provides easy access for the communities.

Sometimes, by us not being there, they dont get to have an active voice, he said. What they need is the information given to them in their comfort zone.

Tomiko Shine, another vendor, gives away books written by African American authors to children at each event. Shine, who is from Baltimore but grew up in the District, said she wanted to be a part of efforts to promote peace and establish trust between police and residents, in the way she experienced it when she was in school.

You knew who your officers were, she said.

[Dvorak: Two police officers, two mobile phones, two very different outcomes]

She said community outreach programs such as Beat the Streets are a positive start to strengthening ties in neighborhoods, but she wants to see a variety of resources go toward the effort.

From his lawn chair in Greenleaf, Quantay Oliver, a property manager of the nearby James Creek public housing, said he thought the festival was having a good impact.

Just the services alone are a plus, he said.

The event gave Terrell Battle, 25, a chance to spend extra time with his family, he said.

During the afternoon, he received cheers when he climbed onstage to perform a love song for his wife, with his infant daughter cradled in his arms.

She goes everywhere with me, he joked.

Battle said he wants to see change happen to stop violence throughout the city, and that the police program goes a long way toward shedding negative perceptions that officers and residents hold about each other.

Law enforcement, they become one with the community, he said. They get to see we have a lot of people out here trying to make good of themselves.

Becoming one with the community means a great deal to Douglas, who moved through the festival crowd, shaking hands and chatting, pleased with the turnout.

For them to come out to our event pushes us a step in the right direction, he said.
Ralph Scichilone, at home in Burke, Va., with a recently discovered copy of a weekly music tabloid called Go from 1967. He stored a few copies above his garage years ago and forgot them. (John Kelly/The Washington Post)

I dont think that I qualify as a hoarder, but I do admit to being a bit of a pack rat, Ralph Scichilone said as we stood in his Burke, Va., garage.

The distinction? You cant fit a car in a hoarders garage, Ralph said.

Not that his vehicle was currently in the garage. Ralph had spread various items on the concrete floor: books, framed photos, boxes.

One box was full of crude, if sentimentally valuable, artwork created by his now-28-year-old daughter. I think thats everything that wound up on the refrigerator, said Ralph, 64, retired after 30 years at IBM and another eight years as a government contractor.

Part of the cover of a copy of the pop music tabloid Go from 1967. WPGC, mentioned in the upper-right corner, was a D.C.-area top-40 AM radio station in the 1960s. (John Kelly/The Washington Post)

Ralph was forced to confront his past a few weeks ago when part of the garages drywall ceiling gave way, causing items stored in the attic above to plummet. This seemed to be a sign from on high  literally  that he should go through a bunch of old stuff.

Plus, Ralphs wife had been looking for her high school yearbooks.

Ive been discovering things that I had saved, Ralph said.

Ralph thought of me when he came across some yellowed, 49-year-old copies of a music tabloid called Go, the covers of which proudly proclaimed, Worlds largest circulation of any teen weekly.

Said Ralph: Why I kept six issues from 1967, I have no idea.

Serious, hard-hitting journalism its not, not a surprise when you see the publishers name: Robin Leach. Hes the guy who two decades later would celebrate champagne and caviar as host of Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous.

Each 12-page issue of Go covered the frothy side of the music world, with publicist-fed tidbits along the lines of Tommy James adds two new Shondells, Cat Stevens is suffering from bronchitis and Britains answer to the Monkees lies in the Spectrum, a four man beat group.

Where else were you going to find out that the Dave Clark Five had new uniforms, designed by Dave Clark himself: white double-button shirts and black hip-hugger bell bottom pants. (Lots of places, probably.)

What was most fascinating to me was the local content. Go was an early example of co-branded syndication. It was distributed nationwide, with a couple of pages in the middle provided by one of that markets radio stations.

In Washington, that was WPGC, 1580 AM, which used Go to tout its DJs, collectively known as the Good Guys. Here were the exploits of morning man Harv Moore, Jack Alix (JA the DJ) and Cousin Duffy, host of the long hair music show.

Besides spinning records on the air, the Good Guys kept up a punishing schedule of appearances, hosting teen dances at places like the Capitol Fleet Club in Franconia, Va., Our Lady Queen of Peace Center in Arlington, Va., and the Greenbelt National Guard Armory in Maryland. They also emceed rock shows at the Alexandria Roller Rink, the Sheraton Park Hotel and the Ambassador Theater.

In the half-dozen copies that Ralph saved, there was little more than shameless promotion of WPGCs events, but there was the occasional mention of local groups such as the British Walkers, the Fallen Angels and the Hangmen. In one issue it was revealed that Rocky, the Fallen Angels drummer, had moved to the Chocolate Snowflakes and was out of a Manassas hospital and recovering from an appendectomy.

[The British Walkers: The beat went on, without a British accent]

There were also a handful of local ads, including ones for Beydas Petites, a store selling clothing from psychedelic pop to cool culotte, with locations in Georgetown, downtown and Bethesda.

Ralph was a big music fan then  and still is today. Hes pretty sure he picked up Go at Springfield Music. While at West Springfield High, he played in a cover band called the Epics, which gigged at teen clubs, country club pool parties and school dances.

Ralph said the Epics werent all that good  well, he wasnt. The two Struthers brothers  Scott on vocals, Steve on lead guitar  were great, but Ralph struggled on his Farfisa organ through such tunes as House of the Rising Sun and Somebody to Love.

As we sat in Ralphs sunroom and looked at the Go magazine, he pulled out a newspaper clipping from 1969. It was about a group of 50 teenagers who snuck into West Springfield High late one night to steal 1,500 rolls of toilet paper with which to decorate their rival school, Robert E. Lee.

Ralph was one of them. When they were halfway through TP-ing Lee, a Fairfax County police officer stopped by  and started helping them. The article includes a photo of the cop posing with the students. I didnt arrest them, he said, because they were all acting very gentlemanly. Even the girls.

Ralph shook his head and laughed, remembering that night  and maybe also all those other memories up in the attic.

Twitter: @johnkelly

For previous columns, visit washingtonpost.com/johnkelly.
Josh Granada, right, and Carlos Tavarez, at their fire station in Orlando, were the first paramedic-firefighters to respond to the Pulse nightclub shooting. (John Raoux/AP)

When the first paramedics arrived on the scene of the Pulse nightclub shooting, they could still hear gunfire coming from inside.

In active-shooting cases, recent federal guidelines call for medics to put on body armor and go into potentially dangerous situations alongside police officers when possible. But paramedics Josh Granada and Carlos Tavarez did not have bulletproof vests and they never made it inside the gay nightclub. Instead, they treated the wounded across the street in the parking lot of a bagel shop.

In all, they made five trips to the emergency room, taking 13 victims to a hospital just a few blocks away. Could they have saved more lives if they had body armor and went inside Pulse, where 49 people were killed and 53 were wounded in the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history?

Since the Columbine High School massacre in 1999 in Colorado, paramedics have struggled with how close they should get to active-shooter scenes when they know there are wounded victims who need help. The federal guidelines suggest that victims chances of survival improve when paramedics go into the warm zone.

Paramedics have traditionally waited for an all clear that it is safe to go into such a situation. But studies of past mass shootings have shown the value of having medical and rescue personnel who are properly trained and equipped to enter the warm zone to maximize victim survival, according to a 2014 policy statement from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

FEMA therefore encourages first responder agencies to develop this capability, the policy statement said.

At Columbine, some survivors thought that a wounded teacher who bled to death over almost four hours could have been saved if he had been treated earlier. Instead, firefighter-paramedics, as well as many officers, waited to go inside the school. Thirteen people were killed and 24 others were wounded.

In the Pulse shooting, paramedic-firefighters stayed out of the danger zone, in part because shooter Omar Mateen indicated to police negotiators that he had explosives, a claim that ended up being false.

This was a dynamic scene, said Bryan Davis, a district fire chief. We went from it being a shooter to now we possibly had an explosive device in possession.

When Granada and Tavarez arrived at a fire station a block away from the club, many of the wounded already had fled Pulse. The paramedics said that they could hear gunfire and saw people running. They started treating a man who had collapsed with two bullets in his stomach. They drove him to the hospital and headed back.

We were still the first ambulance on the scene, Granada said. All the ambulance units at this point were getting set up in the staging area because it was being communicated over our radio that the scene was not secure.

Last summer, Orlando firefighters trained with police officers in active-shooter scenarios where paramedics went into a school and mall alongside the officers. But at Pulse, the priority was setting up treatment areas away from potential gunfire, fire department spokeswoman Ashley Papagni said in an email.
Florida

Man says 2 alligators had attacked his son

The father of a toddler killed by an alligator at Disney World last month told rescue officials that two alligators were involved in the attack, according to emails from the Reedy Creek Fire Department.

Matt Graves said he was attacked by a second alligator as he tried to reach his 2-year-old son after the boy was pulled into the water outside Disneys upscale Grand Floridian Resort.

Capt. Tom Wellons described his interaction with the Nebraska father to his supervisors in emails obtained by the Orlando Sentinel. Wellons said that Graves initially refused to leave the area as rescuers searched for Lane Graves  even though the father needed stitches and antibiotics from bite marks. Wellons said he eventually persuaded Graves to get medical treatment, promising that he could return.

The boys body was discovered intact about 15 yards from the shore, six feet underwater.

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officials have said they are confident that they caught the alligator that killed the boy.

 Associated Press

Delaware man shoots ex-wife, self: New Castle County officials say a 53-year-old man fatally shot his ex-wife before shooting himself in Gordon Heights. The New Castle County Police Department said Sunday that Walter Shaw went to the home of his ex-wife, Nicole Shaw, on Saturday. They said that there was a confrontation in the side yard of the home and that Walter Shaw shot Nicole Shaw and then shot himself. Nicole Shaw, 55, was pronounced dead at the scene. Police said that Walter Shaw was pronounced dead at the hospital later in the day and that the two had been divorced for 13 years.

Officer killed, 2 injured at La. traffic stop: Authorities say a drunk driver sideswiped a police car at a traffic stop in northeast Louisiana, killing one officer and injuring two others. The wreck happened early Sunday on Interstate 55 in Sterlington, about 220 miles northwest of New Orleans. Sterlington Police Chief Barry Bonner said Officer David Elahi was standing next to a patrol car, talking to a woman who had been stopped, when a pickup truck hit him and took off the car doors. State Trooper Michael Reichardt said Tracy Govan, 44, was arrested on several charges including vehicular homicide and vehicular negligent injury.

Florida officials say 4, not 5, killed in collision: Florida Highway Patrol officials have revised the number of people killed to four after a bus carrying Haitian farmworkers and a tractor-trailer collided in the Panhandle. Authorities had reported that five people were killed in Saturdays crash and did not comment Sunday on the error.

 From news services


On May 16, parents attended a public meeting at Creston Elementary School in southeastern Portland, Ore., about lead in the drinking water. Students and staff at Portland Public Schools started drinking bottled water after high amounts of lead were found in water sources at two schools. (Beth Nakamura/Oregonian via AP)

In Portland, Ore., furious parents are demanding the superintendents resignation after the states largest public school district failed to notify them promptly about elevated lead levels detected at taps and fountains.

In New Jersey, Gov. Chris Christie (R) has ordered lead testing at every public school in the state after dozens of schools in Newark and elsewhere were found to have lead-contaminated water supplies.

In the District, which experienced a devastating lead crisis barely a decade ago, officials last month announced plans to spend millions of dollars to install water filters and more rigorously test the citys public schools and recreation centers after a handful were found to have unacceptable lead levels.

The ongoing crisis in Flint, Mich., has shined a spotlight on the public-health hazards that lead continues to pose in U.S. drinking water. In particular, it has led to renewed pressure to test for the problem in the nations schools, where millions of young children, the age group most vulnerable to lead poisoning, spend their days.

Unfortunately you find schools that are failing, and some are failing miserably, said Robert Barrett, the chief operating officer for Aqua Pro-Tech Laboratories, a New Jersey-based environmental testing laboratory. He said the firm is booked through the summer, as schools race to test for lead before students return for a new academic year. Before Flint, wed get a call maybe once a month from a school. Now, its daily, he said.

[One citys solution to drinking water contamination? Get rid of every lead pipe.]

Public health officials agree that no amount of lead exposure is safe. Even at low levels, lead can cause serious and irreversible damage to the developing brains and nervous systems of young children. The result can be lasting behavioral, cognitive and physical problems. In short, it can alter the trajectory of a childs life.

School systems throughout the country have long grappled with lead in water, due in part to aging buildings laden with lead-bearing pipes and fixtures. But even now, the vast majority of the nations schools are not legally required by states or the federal government to test their water on a regular basis.

Most public school districts, cash-starved and understaffed, dont make it a priority. Years can pass before a calamity such as the one in Flint compels school officials to undertake a new round of testing.

Take a look at the key moments that led up to Flint, a city of 90,000, getting stuck with contaminated water. (Claritza Jimenez/The Washington Post)

The pressure usually comes from the outside, said Yanna Lambrinidou, a Virginia Tech engineering professor who has long studied lead contamination in water. When schools sample, its more often than not because they have been squeezed into a corner.

After contaminated water in Flint became national news, parents and teachers in some parts of the country pushed for lead testing at their own schools. The results have often turned up reminders that lead problems persist decades after they first surface.

Every parent assumes that someone must have taken care of this problem decades ago, said Marc Edwards, a Virginia Tech professor who helped expose lead crises in Washington and Flint. Theyre always shocked to discover that it hasnt been fixed.



Signs appear over bathroom sinks telling students not to drink the water at Cecil Elementary School. Long before Flints tainted water became a national issue, Baltimore city schools discovered lead contamination in some of its buildings and shut off the water. For nearly the past decade, kids have been drinking bottled water. (Lloyd Fox/Baltimore Sun)

Edwards and other experts partly blame the regulatory vacuum that leaves about 90 percent of the nations schools with no mandatory requirements for testing and limited guidance on how to properly remediate the problem when they do find lead in the water. Only schools that have their own water source, rather than receiving water from a municipal system, must sample regularly for lead and meet certain standards.

In addition, the old age of many schools around the country makes it difficult to completely eliminate the risk of lead in the water without major, costly investments in replacing lead pipes, faucets and fountains.

Lambrinidou says it is not enough for schools to simply test a tap or fountain once for lead, then declare it safe. That is because lead can appear sporadically in a water system as particles break off or leach into the water at unpredictable times  something researchers call the Russian roulette phenomenon.

[Flints water crisis reveals government failures at every level]

That situation can be exacerbated in schools, where water can sit stagnant in pipes over weekends and holidays. This is exactly the condition that worsens lead-in-water contamination, Lambrinidou said.

She said the post-Flint push for lead testing in schools is preferable to no testing, but not as ideal as a more systematic approach.

Nationally, this testing fever is good, because we want to know whats happening in schools, Lambrinidou said. But it can also be misleading if the results are used to declare that any one tap is safe or not. Im concerned the testing that schools are doing is more to allay parent fears than it is to truly understand the science of lead in water.

Testing fever is unlikely to subside soon.



Cheryl Miles, a Pre-K teacher at Cecil Elementary, helps Keilan Grimes, left, and A'Ryon Backmon get water from the water cooler. (Lloyd Fox/Baltimore Sun)

In Chicago, the head of the public school system has pledged to do whatever it takes to rectify lead problems after risky levels of the toxic substance were detected in dozens of buildings. In Boston and other Massachusetts communities, officials have shut down fountains and offered students bottled water after stepped-up testing at nearly two dozen schools revealed elevated lead in water sources. Dozens of other districts are facing similar calls for action.

[A legal loophole might be exposing children to lead in the nations schools]

The American Medical Association last month said it also would push for more state and federal laws to remove lead service lines around the country, better inform the public of water testing results and require all schools and registered day-care sites to routinely test for lead in drinking water.

Even though children and infants absorb more lead than the average adult, there are no real safeguards in place to ensure that the drinking water is safe at the facilities where most of their time is spent, the groups president, Andrew Gurman, said in a statement.

In Portland, writer Joe Kurmaskie says that for the first time, he is considering leaving the city. Kurmaskies wife is a public school teacher, and the couple have three boys in the Portland school system, the youngest of whom will soon head to first grade.

We just feel weve been let down, lied to, Kurmaskie said, adding that his wife has long advised her students not to drink the water. We understand these are old schools. [But] you have to not poison the kids.

Kurmaskie, who aired his frustrations at a recent public hearing, suspects he isnt alone. If you dont have a safe place to send your kids, people will stop sending them, he said. I cant just knowingly send my child into harms way.

[Report finds massive under-investment in nations school buildings]

In Baltimore, the citys history of lead problems in public schools has resulted in an unorthodox long-term solution.

Elevated lead levels surfaced in many of its schools in the early 1990s, prompting the city to shut off contaminated fountains. But the issue resurfaced a decade later when it became clear that some of the troubled fountains had been put back into service.

After years of testing, retesting and unsuccessful attempts to rectify the problem, school leaders decided that they could not guarantee safety without replacing every pipe and fixture that contained lead. That would have been a massive  and massively expensive  undertaking. Instead, they moved the entire system to bottled water in 2007.

It was the only way to absolutely ensure that our students were not drinking water that would be tainted by lead, said Keith Scroggins, chief operating officer for Baltimore City Schools.

In the years since, the system has renovated half a dozen schools and installed new filtration systems in each one. But about 80,000 students in Baltimore remain on bottled water. It costs close to a half-million dollars a year, and the stream of paper cups and plastic Deer Park bottles creates much more waste than traditional fountains.

But Scroggins said it is a trade-off he can live with.

It was the best decision, he said. When it comes to lead in the water, you dont want to take any chances.


Esbel Ruiz shops for clothing and other items in the discount store Nooo! Que Barato! (Angel Valentin for The Washington Post)

Its a hot Saturday morning and the crowd is churning at Nooo! Que Barato!, the sprawling discount store where many Cuban Americans buy cheap goods for their relatives back home. But lately, shoppers at the store, whose name roughly translates to Wow! Thats Cheap!, are exhibiting more discerning tastes.

Yes, the six-packs of bras for $5.99 are still popular. And the mens descarado muscle shirts  just $5.99!!  are still hot. But as the long-sealed door between Cuba and the United States cracks open, Cubans are clamoring not just for clothes or medicine but for the iPhone 6 and Ray-Bans and Nikes. Most of all, they want money put on their cellphone plans so they can surf the Internet and look at ever more extravagant things to pursue through their relatives in the States.

Minutes, minutes, minutes  thats what every Cuban wants, said clerk Yoacnee Pereda, 31, watching the crowd at the Cubacel counter. After 50 years living in the darkness, the light has snapped on. For them, its like paradise.

Cubans have long turned to their relatives abroad for support in the face of chronic shortages plaguing the isolated island nation. The amount of remittances to Cuba is estimated at more than $2.5 billion annually, much of it coming from the more than 1 million Cubans living in greater Miami. Now, as more American visitors arrive bearing the latest technological accoutrements, and increased Internet access reveals a realm of material goods previously unimaginable, some Cubans are developing a taste for luxuries.



Womens underwear on display at Nooo! Que Barato! in Hialeah, Fla. (Angel Valentin for The Washington Post)

Shoppers browse the sale racks at Nooo! Que Barato! in Hialeah, Fla. (Angel Valentin for The Washington Post)

Also high on the wish list are cellphones. But not just any phone. It should be an iPhone 6. And reserve the next phone that Apple produces. Computers and tablets are in demand. And about those packets of budget bras: Couldnt they send Victorias Secret, please? As for men, theyd like some little blue pills.

Viagra  thats what they want, said Luis Nieves, 66, who left Cuba in 1999. Some guys from my town called and said, Hey, can you get us some of that? I told them I dont use it. And if I dont use it, I dont send it.

Cubans in Miami say that for years theyve gladly provided the relatives they left behind with necessities such as food and bedding. Now that their phones ring with requests for designer clothing and acrylic nails, some dont even pick up. Or they come up with a reason they cant talk.

I pick up, but I say: I am going into a tunnel! I cant hear you! I cant heeeeaaaar you!  said Eloisa Canova, whose sisters live in Cuba. I just got fed up.

Most Cubans continue to lack some necessities, despite the reestablishment of relations with the United States, the growth of small businesses and the greater influx of money. Shelves in many stores are nearly empty. The average monthly salary, for those lucky enough to have a job, is less than $25.



Customers can buy new cellphones or refill existing ones for family and friends. (Angel Valentin for The Washington Post)

At the same time, the easing of Internet access has opened a window to the larger world that many on the island are hungrier for than food. Its not just the fancy goods that they want, as some see it, but also the connection to modern life that such things represent.

A lot of Cubans today may not have food to eat, but theyve got $5 in minutes on their cellphones, said Elizabeth Hernandez, 45, who takes a variety of items, including lacy push-up bras and faux diamond tiaras, to her relatives in Cuba. Its all about being connected to the world, and the illusion of looking good and having luxuries. If you have that kind of stuff, then youre not so isolated and stuck on an island anymore.

The Obama administration has made it easier for Cubans to get such stuff in several ways. Gone are the limits on cash remittances that can be sent to islanders from family members and non-relatives. A new broad category, Support for the Cuban People, allows gifts of cooking equipment, building materials and telecommunications gear. The eventual start of ferry service and the resumption of U.S. mail delivery to the island are expected to open new channels for the shipment of such goods.

Here are a few key moments in the diplomatic relationship between the U.S. and Cuba. (Jason Aldag/The Washington Post)

Since the normalization of relations between Cuba and the United States was announced at the end of 2014, connectivity on the island has improved somewhat. Last year, the government increased the number of WiFi hotspots to 65 and has promised an additional 58 this year, according to Freedom House, a nonprofit organization devoted to human rights and democracy. Cellphone use among Cubas 11 million citizens has also risen steadily from 2.5 million subscriptions in 2014 to 3.4 million subscriptions in 2015, according to the International Telecommunication Union, an agency of the United Nations.

Cuba remains one of the least-connected countries in the Western Hemisphere; estimates suggest that fewer than 10 percent of its citizens have Internet access. In downtown Havana, the lucky few are clustered in hotspots on sidewalks and in public parks late into the night, texting and scrolling websites.



Nooo! Que Barato! sells various goods. Its a very popular stop for people who are traveling to Cuba. (Angel Valentin for The Washington Post)

Alfonso Martin, a professor of Spanish grammar and literature living in West Palm Beach, said that when his two 20-something cousins in Havana asked him for iPhones in 2013, he sent them each iPhone 4s for Christmas. Less than two years later they asked him to send them a pair of the newly released iPhone 6s. Martin was annoyed.

I asked if the other phones were broken, and they said, No, we just want to be with the times,  Martin said. I refused, and they got upset, of course. I try to put myself in their position because the iPhone is the thing that people have in the rest of the world. They are just tired of being deprived of what everyone else has. But the truth is that at the time I didnt even know there was an iPhone 6.

Sandra Cordero, a teacher who left Cuba in 1980, did not mind when her relatives used to ask for $25 for milk. But when they asked her to put $25 in minutes on their phone, she went through the roof.

I said: Are you kidding me? I am going to send you $25 of my hard-earned salary so you can talk to whom about what, random chitchat? I dont think so,  she said.

In the end, Cordero found that it was cheaper to buy the minutes than to call Cuba on her own phone. That opened up the request line: nail polish, name-brand shoes and flat irons for hair. To be honest, I dont like it at all, said Cordero, whose husband is a truck driver. A few years ago they would never have asked for such things. The real problem is they are ignorant and secluded and they think money grows on trees over here.

Rosalia Alvarez, a Miami doctor, said one of her co-workers was told by family members not to get shoes from Payless or Kmart. They only wanted shoes from Macys. Theyre getting much more discriminating.

This growing appetite for the good stuff could make it difficult for the Castro brothers to preserve the Communist mantra of equality  and the restrictions of the current regime.



The first U.S. cruise ship bound for Cuba in half a century, the Adonia  a vessel from Carnival's Fathom line  departed from Miami and arrived at the port of Havana on May 2. (Adalberto Roque/Agence France-Presse via Getty Images)

Cubans want to emulate their neighbors next door, not the Canadians or the Germans, said John S. Kavulich, president of the U.S.-Cuba Trade and Economic Council and a longtime Cuba observer. All of this is creating a middle class that is precisely what the revolution was designed to eliminate and which provides a tremendous political challenge for the Cuban government.

Others suggest the greater flow of goods will not hasten the fall of the regime but preserve it, by mollifying Cubans with consumer goods while allowing human rights violations to continue unchallenged.

Daniela Rovira, a 26-year-old travel agent in Miami whose mother lives in Havana, is not among those who worry. The influx of luxe can only be good for Cubans, she said, because they have nothing. Why shouldnt they have the clothes and shoes that other people have?

Which may include the hottest designer labels soon enough.

One recent morning at the Versailles restaurant, a popular gathering spot for Cuban exiles, several men were poring over a news report of Chanels recent fashion show in the heart of Havana and speculating about its impact.

Cubans have never seen anything like those clothes, declared Andy Castro, who left Cuba in 1961. Now, every single woman in Cuba is going to want a Chanel outfit.

Reporting for this story was supported by a grant from the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting.
EGYPT

Official rights body cites torture, violations

Egypts government-sanctioned human rights body said Sunday that it has received reports of torture and forced disappearances, reflecting the findings of local and international human rights groups.

In an assessment far less critical than that of more independent organizations, the head of the National Council for Human Rights, Mohamed Fayek, said his group has also received complaints about poor conditions in prisons.

Weve received many complaints about law enforcement concerning torture and [inmates] poor living conditions. And, of course, law enforcement officials have denied such allegations, he said.

He said his group has documented three cases in which authorities tortured detainees to death.

Authorities launched a wide-ranging crackdown on dissent after the military overthrow of Islamist President Mohamed Morsi in 2013. Thousands of people, mainly his Islamist supporters but also secular activists, have been jailed.

Rights activists say that police under President Abdel Fatah al-Sissi, who as defense minister led Morsis overthrow, are acting with near-total impunity, torturing suspects, abusing detainees and making random arrests.

The Nadeem Center, which provides counseling for the victims of torture, documented about 600 cases of police torture in 2015. It said 500 people were killed by security forces last year, including 100 who died in custody.

 Associated Press

SYRIA

Militants repel push by U.S.-allied forces

The Islamic State on Sunday repelled an advance by U.S.-backed forces on one of its main bastions in northern Syria, regaining territory it had lost, Syrian activists and the extremist group said.

The group said its fighters infiltrated villages and mountains near the Islamic State-held town of Manbij that were seized last month by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a Kurdish-dominated group aided by U.S. forces that includes Arab fighters.

Manbij, which lies on a key supply line from Turkey to the Islamic States de facto capital of Raqqa, has been encircled by the SDF for weeks.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also reported the Islamic State counteroffensive. The Britain-based group reported heavy clashes accompanied by U.S.-led airstrikes and explosions.

Meanwhile, the Syrian Arab Red Crescent said that its convoy came under fire on its way back from a mission to deliver humanitarian aid to a rebel-held suburb of the Syrian capital and that one of its staffers was hit. In a statement issued Sunday, it said one of the cars in the convoy was shot at, adding that the vehicle was clearly marked.

Also Sunday, President Bashar al-Assad issued a decree forming a new government in the wake of parliamentary elections held in April.

The elections were held in government-controlled parts of the country and were rejected by the opposition and its Western backers.

 Associated Press

PAKISTAN

Floods kill at least 30 in northern village

Heavy monsoon rains overnight triggered flash floods that killed at least 30 people in a remote village in northern Pakistan, close to the Afghan border, officials said Sunday.

Maghfirat Shah, the mayor of Chitral district, said heavy rains and flash floods washed away a mosque and several houses in Ursoon, an area of Chitral. He said four women and five children were among the 30 killed.

The flash flooding hit as people were offering up special Ramadan prayers at the mosque. Dozens of worshipers were swept away in the floodwaters, which destroyed the mosque and damaged several houses and a security post, Shah said.

The bad weather hampered rescue efforts, but by morning most of the bodies had been recovered and one person had been rescued, Shah said.

About 40 houses were destroyed and about 50 were partly damaged, according to an initial report by the disaster management authority.

The provincial chief minister, Pervez Khattak, announced that the families would receive compensation of $300 for each loss of life. He said he had given orders for disaster management officials to quickly provide the affected communities with tents, food, medicine and other relief.

Chitral is in the far north of Pakistan.

 Associated Press

Turkish ship carrying aid to Gaza reaches Israeli port: Turkeys state-run Anadolu news agency said a ship carrying more than 10,000 tons of humanitarian aid for the Gaza Strip reached the Israeli port of Ashdod. The delivery comes before the start of Eid al-Fitr, one of Islams major holidays. A six-year political fissure between Turkey and Israel ended last week when the two countries agreed to normalize relations.

Chinese man sentenced to death for bus blaze: A court in northern China sentenced a man to death for starting a bus fire in January that killed 18 people, the government said. Flames engulfed the bus in front of a furniture store in the northern region of Ningxia, state media has previously reported. Thirty-three people were injured.

 From news services
A member of the U.S. Coast Guard stands guard as other Coast Guard members offload bails of more than eight tons of cocaine interdicted off the Pacific coast of Central and South America over two months. (Wilfredo Lee/Associated Press)

Danielle Allen is a political theorist at Harvard University and a contributing columnist for The Post.

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one part of the American people to affirm the political bands which connect them to the other parts, and to assume within the nation, the connected and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Natures God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of their fellow citizens requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to affirm their connection.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all people 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 us, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed,  That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and, if they choose the path of alteration, to abandon old and institute new legislation, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing the powers of government in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that legislation long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience has shown, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to repudiate the integral connection among Americans, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such legislation, and to provide new Guards for their future security.  Such has been the patient sufferance of African Americans; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to advocate the end of Prohibition. The history of the present War on Drugs is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having as a direct consequence the severing of the connection between African Americans and the rest of the American polity. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

Drug laws are disproportionately enforced against African American and Latino Americans even though Americans of all ethnic backgrounds use illegal drugs at the same rates, with the exception of Asian Americans, who use them somewhat less.

The use of racial profiling as a technique of investigation strips African Americans and Latino Americans of equality before the law and robs them of the presumption of innocence, the purpose of which is to protect all democratic citizens from tyrannical intrusion.

The categorization of minor, nonviolent drug offenses as felonies, combined with the disproportionate enforcement of those laws against African Americans and Latino Americans, has served to strip large numbers of Americans from these communities of their right to vote.

The judicial system is swollen with nonviolent drug offenses, leading to a reduction of resources for investigating and prosecuting homicides, which in turn has dramatically reduced homicide clearance rates in all major cities.

The failure of the criminal justice system to resolve homicides in major cities leads to an acceleration of violence in those cities, and a trigger-happy environment in which police as well as civilians are more likely to misuse lethal force.

Violence in inner cities reinforces negative stereotypes of African Americans as dangerous and threatening, making unarmed African Americans disproportionately vulnerable to police violence and feeding implicit bias that negatively affects the employment prospects of African Americans.

School discipline policies disproportionately punish African American students, even in pre-kindergarten ; although no black-white achievement gap exists at the start of kindergarten, when one controls for socio-economic status, such a gap does exist by the end of that year.

Laws establishing school funding on the basis of property taxes ensure that schools that have an especially high need to provide security, and other ancillary resources, in support of their educational mission, are unable to fulfill their mission, thereby violating for students enrolled in those schools the right to education that is to be found in 49 of 50 state constitutions.

Legal restrictions on employment by minors, combined with low rates of labor opportunity in inner cities, increase the likelihood that 11- and 12-year-olds in the inner city will be recruited into participation in gangs and thereby be almost irremediably cut off from connection to legal employment.

In the most recent stage of these Oppressions, We have Petitioned for a change of orientation on the part of our fellow Americans by arguing that black lives matter, too: Our repeated Petitions have often been answered by repeated insult. Such failures of reciprocity on the part of our fellow Americans call into question whether we the people are fit to govern ourselves as a free people.

Nor have we been wanting in attentions to our fellow Americans. We serve in the military; we vote at high rates; we meet massacres with calls for forgiveness. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. Episodically, our forefathers have pursued separation  whether in the case of African Americans who sought to return to Africa or segregationists who built a world of separate but equal. We denounce such projects of separation and affirm the necessity of connection. We cannot be a people and be at war with ourselves; the War on Drugs must end.

We, therefore, a portion of the American people, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, out of respect for the Name and Authority of the good People of this Country, solemnly publish and declare, That the people of this country ought all to be connected to one another and equal; that all legislation erecting the War on Drugs, and turning the American people against one another, ought to be totally dissolved; that the free and independent states and territories have full power to pursue narcotics control through the tools of public health policy, instead of the criminal justice system; that the free and independent states and territories should so use their powers and do all other Acts and Things by which they may foster a people connected and equal. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.
THE PRINCIPLE of holding government to account is at the bedrock of U.S. democracy, and information about government decisions is essential for that accountability. The Freedom of Information Act, although not something every citizen comes in contact with, remains a vital tool for keeping government open and honest. While not perfect  not every request results in disclosure of information or documents  it at least offers a law-based process for citizens to seek information from the powerful. Does a citizen in a place like China or Russia have such a chance to pull aside the curtains of secrecy with a simple letter? No.

With bipartisan backing, Congress recently approved the first update to the Freedom of Information Act since 2007, and President Obama signed the bill Thursday. It will not resolve many of the backlogs and frustrations, but it contains important improvements.

First signed into law 50 years ago this weekend by a reluctant President Lyndon Johnson, the FOIA has had asignificant impact. Consider the examples compiled by the National Security Archive, a nonprofit organization that has championed the use of the law; they show that, among other things, the law has been used to expose waste and mismanagement, unmask decisions on national security, and highlight threats to food safety. Records from the Food and Drug Administration, obtained by Bloomberg News under the FOIA, revealed that a product labelled parmesan cheese had no parmesan at all.

The most notable change has been to an exemption for information about the deliberative process of government agencies, such as memorandums, drafts and letters. Johnson worried a half-century ago that government officials must be able to communicate with one another fully and frankly without publicity. The exemption became one of the most frequently abused over the decades and was often invoked indefinitely. The new law says that it can be used to withhold information for only 25 years. This means, for example, that deliberative process of President Ronald Reagans administration and those before it, previously exempted, should now become open.

In another improvement, the new law enshrines the presumption of openness  the idea that government agencies should start out intending to disclose. Mr. Obama gave similar instructions to all executive branch agencies on taking office in 2009, but many ignored it. Now, by law, an agency can hold back information only if it reasonably foresees disclosure would harm an interest protected by a FOIA exemption, or if disclosure is prohibited by law. This means the government should lean toward disclosure, not against it, as is now often the case.

Federal agencies have often starved their FOIA departments for resources; the new law will not change that. Backlogs stretch for years. A related issue is excessive national security overclassification, which seems to have grown worse. But this is not a moment to complain. The fact that the FOIA exists after a half-century and is being amended with bipartisan support is a testament to a working democracy.
The writer, a human rights activist and former political prisoner in the Soviet Union, is chairman of the Jewish Agency for Israel.

Perhaps better than anyone else of our age, Elie Wiesel grasped the terrible power of silence. He understood that the failure to speak out, about both the horrors of the past and the evils of the present, is one of the most effective ways there is to perpetuate suffering and empower those who inflict it.

Wiesel therefore made it his lifes mission to ensure that silence would not prevail. First, he took the courageous and painful step of recounting the Holocaust, bringing it to public attention in a way that no one else before him had done. His harrowing chronicle Night, originally titled And the World Remained Silent, forced readers to confront that most awful of human events  to remember it, to talk about it, to make it part of their daily lives. Then, as if that werent enough, he turned his attention to the present, giving voice to the millions of Jews living behind the Iron Curtain. Although he is rightly hailed for the first of these two achievements, it was the second, he told me on several occasions, for which he most hoped to be remembered.

Wiesel first traveled to the Soviet Union in 1965 as a journalist from Haaretz, on a mission to meet with Jews there, and was shocked by what he saw. Those with whom he spoke were too afraid to recount Soviet persecution, terrified of reprisals from the regime, but their eyes implored him to tell the world about their plight. The book that resulted, The Jews of Silence, was an impassioned plea to Jews around the world to shed their indifference and speak out for those who could not. For the second time in a single generation, we are committing the error of silence, Wiesel warned  a phenomenon even more troubling to him than the voiceless suffering of Soviet Jews themselves.

This was a watershed moment in Soviet Jewrys struggle. While the major American Jewish organizations felt a responsibility to stick to quiet diplomacy, wary of ruffling Soviet feathers and alienating non-Jews in the United States, Wiesels book became the banner of activists, students and others who would not stay quiet. He had realized that the Soviet regime wanted above all for its subjects to feel cut off from one another and abandoned by the world. Indeed, I can attest that even 15 years later, Soviet authorities were still doing their utmost to convince us  both those of us in prison and those outside  that we were alone, that no one would save us and that the only way to survive was to accept their dictates.

Wiesel was thus uniquely perceptive in realizing that without this power to generate fear and isolation, the entire Soviet system could fall apart, and he was prophetic in calling on the rest of the world to remind Soviet Jews that they were not alone. The history of the Soviet Union would likely be very different had the struggle for Soviet Jewry not come to encompass the kind of outspoken, grass-roots activism that Wiesel encouraged in his book. Without public campaigns and the awareness they generated, there could be no quiet diplomacy to secure results. Every achievement in the struggle for Soviet Jewry over the succeeding 25 years  from making the first holes in the Iron Curtain, to securing the release of political prisoners and human rights activists, to ultimately making it possible for millions of Soviet Jews to emigrate  resulted from this mixture of activism and diplomacy, neither of which could succeed without the other.

Over the years, of course, Wiesel became an important part of establishment Jewish life. Every Jewish organization sought to co-opt him, to invite him to speak or to support their causes. Yet he remained deeply connected to the dozens of refusenik families whom he had effectively adopted as his own. From 1965 on, he once said, not a single day went by when he was not preoccupied with the fate of Soviet Jews, many of whom he regarded as family.

And he was true to this approach to the very end, to the last battle in our struggle: the March for Soviet Jewry in Washington in December 1987. Elie and I had first discussed the idea of a march more than a year earlier, in mid-1986. Yet six months after our initial conversation, I found myself lamenting to him that the Jewish establishment was too resistant to the idea, afraid of the logistical difficulties involved and of being painted as enemies of a newly born detente. Elie replied that we should not expect establishment organizations to take the lead and should instead mobilize students, who would pressure them from below to get on board. So I traveled to about 50 U.S. universities in the months leading up to the march, galvanizing activists who were eager to participate. And sure enough, just as he predicted, all of the major Jewish organizations eventually united behind the idea.

As we were all marching together, establishment leaders justifiably congratulated themselves for this great achievement. Elie looked at me with a twinkle in his eye and said, Yes, they did it. Rather than splitting hairs about who had been more influential, he credited the power of the Jewish world as a whole. We had been right to act as we did, to make noise and push for change through our own resolute campaign, but we needed the establishment to see our efforts through. Elie understood exceptionally well how to unite these two forces for the common good.

Elie Wiesels humanism, his active concern for the voiceless, hardly stopped with his fellow Jews. He spoke out against massacres in Bosnia, Cambodia and Sudan, against apartheid in South Africa, and against the burning of black churches in the United States. He became, as others have said, the conscience of the world. Yet he never gave up or sacrificed even a bit of his concern for the Jewish people. He did not feel he had to give up his Jewish loyalty or national pride to be a better spokesman for others. To the contrary: It was the tragedy of his people that generated his concern for the world  a world he felt God had abandoned  and it was his belief in universal ideas that helped him to ultimately reconcile with his Jewish God.

May his memory be a blessing.
Josh Rogin is a Washington Post Global Opinions columnist.

The U.S.-Russia relationship is too big to fail, but its failing.

The Obama administration came into office with a big idea about this relationship: that these two world powers must work together on areas of mutual interest even if they still worked against each other where their interests diverged. The concept was sound, but as relations have deteriorated and Russia has taken a more antagonistic stance, the United States has failed to adapt.

Last weeks revelation that the administration is proposing increased military cooperation with Russia in Syria, in exchange for Russian agreement to abide by the cease-fire it had already agreed to, was a stark example of how the administrations theory about how to work with Russia is being misapplied on the ground. Washington is offering Moscow both a reprieve from the political and military isolation it imposed after the invasion of Ukraine  and a reward for taking unilateral military action designed to undermine U.S. policy in Syria.

The White House and the State Department believe that the only way to make progress in Syria is to work with Moscow, even if that means setting the isolation effort to one side. That makes some sense, but only if Russia actually honors its agreements in Syria and makes progress toward resolving the Ukraine crisis.

But neither of these things is happening. Ukraines recently departed prime minister, Arseniy Yatsenyuk, told me last week that while Russia has successfully distracted the world from the Ukraine crisis, the Russian military continues a medium-boil military campaign in violation of the Minsk agreement.

Every single day they kill Ukrainian soldiers, every single day the death toll is rising, every single day weve got civilian casualties. There is no cease-fire on the ground, he said.

To Yatsenyuk, Russian President Vladimir Putins strategy is clear. Russia will pretend to work with Western powers and even strike deals when the deals are sweet enough. But by selectively violating the agreements while manipulating other governments and the media, Putin will continue to make steady progress toward his anti-Western, anti-democratic objectives. For Yatsenyuk, theres simply no way to work constructively with the current Kremlin.

I dont believe that you can agree on anything substantial with the Russian Federation because the U.S. is an enemy to the Russian Federation in their view, he said. They can have talks, they can have debates, they can even agree on some non-existential issues. But there is an existential difference. These are just two different worlds.

The United States cannot afford to write off the U.S.-Russia relationship. There is truth to the argument that the worlds most pressing problems, including Islamic extremism, cannot be solved without some Russian involvement. But Washington cannot ignore Russias increasingly horrendous behavior. Russias dangerous military maneuvers near U.S. ships are now regular occurrences. Russian harassment and intimidation of U.S. diplomats across Europe is at an all-time high. Russian government cyberespionage and propaganda campaigns have run amok.

The fact is, they are engaged in a new global Cold War against the U.S., said Samuel Charap, senior fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies. Theres absolutely no question about that. We have this festering wound on the relationship that nobody on the U.S. side is spending much time trying to fix.

The United States has complicated relationships with lots of problematic countries. China, for example, is internally repressive and externally aggressive, but theres no thought of cutting off relations with Beijing. Similarly, the policy of isolating Russia as punishment for its invasion of Ukraine has limits. Russia was determined not to cave to sanctions, and if the recent vote in the French senate is any indication, the sanctions regime will not last forever.

Putin is a very smart, sophisticated political animal, said Yatsenyuk. He can wait and wait for a quite long and extensive period of time. He knows how the Western powers act.

The United States must establish a new relationship with Russia that is intellectually honest about Moscows actions and intentions while preserving whatever cooperation is possible. That may mean finding an endgame to the Ukraine sanctions before they crumble under their own weight. But it also means pushing back more against Russian provocations and raising the cost for Putin when he acts out on other fronts.

Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter, who internally opposed President Obamas new Syria proposal, said last week that if Russia would do the right thing in Syria  thats an important condition  as in all cases with Russia, were willing to work with them.

The U.S. government needs to come up with a credible answer to the corresponding question: What is it willing to do if Russia continues to do the wrong things?
IT MAY seem to have begun with such matters as tea and taxes and the grievances of the merchant class, but the American Revolution was always about much more than that. A large number of the people who made the revolution shared an audacious goal: to create a nation based not on blood, soil or language but on a common devotion to personal liberty and popular self-government. They had a grand vision of an America that would stand as an example to the world and would join with other peoples in advancing the cause of freedom everywhere.

There were only about 2 million Americans in 1775, notes historian Charles Royster, and yet, When we read of the small numbers of men involved in revolutionary military campaigns and political controversies . . . we should remember that the participants often felt the presence of tens of millions more and looked at their own conduct through the eyes of the unborn.

This vision was sorely tested over the course of a nasty eight-year war that took many thousands of lives (the large majority from disease). There was widespread desertion from the ranks, and there were changes in allegiance, as well as the kind of corruption and profiteering found in just about every war. There were also bitter divisions among Americans  in many ways it was a civil war as much as a colonial uprising. Yet, through all the discouragement and setbacks, great numbers of the revolutionaries, men and women alike, maintained their belief in the essential ideals of the revolution, and in the end they created a new nation.

Military victory was won by perseverance, courage, some vital help from foreigners, a good bit of luck and, perhaps as important as any of this, an extraordinary leader in George Washington. Washington held the revolutionary fighting forces together through the long struggle and provided an example of what a national leader ought to be  dignified, steadfast, selfless and possessing one essential attribute that figured large in revolutionary thought and literature: public virtue.

The main qualities of virtue were restraint and sacrifice, writes Mr. Royster. At all times the virtuous person gave up private advantage for the welfare of others or the welfare of the whole community. This attitude assumed not unassailable purity but steady self-conscious choices by each citizen.

Its an attitude that flourishes in times of crisis  1861, 1941, Sept. 11, 2001  and is certainly not dead today. But in this year, during a crucial political campaign in the United States and at a time when many in Europe and elsewhere are tempted to retreat into nationalism and exclusion, we have seen, in those who lead or would lead, little evidence of the courage, self-sacrifice, attention to the common good and eagerness to engage with the world that once brought forth a new nation. This is a time when Americans, and the world, would benefit from an infusion of the spirit of 1775.
Allan Sloans June 30 Deals column, Worried about 2030? Social Securitys in trouble here and now, was only partially right. Social Security is not in a dire state. Congress has the power to fix it at any time, starting with the ridiculous accounting imposed by Congress and addressing Social Security taxes as part of the larger problem.

Government simply pays out more than it takes in. Solution? Eliminate the Social Security tax, making it an integral part of total income tax with no exceptions. (This could lower the rate from the current 6.2 percent that is capped at $118,500 pay.) As a safety net, means-test Social Security benefits: We who currently pay taxes on as much as 85 percent of our Social Security benefit should have benefits reduced. As a retirement safety net, simply provide the option to pay more for a larger Social Security benefit instead of working through complex regulations for more than a half-dozen slightly different but very similar retirement plans.

As long as we have a functioning government with taxing and spending authority, Social Security and other government programs will muddle through. How well programs survive depends on congressional will to identify, prioritize and fix the most pressing problems.

Ken Tomcich, Arlington

Allan Sloan used to call Social Security trust funds Trust Me funds. I can be more succinct than Mr. Sloan : The trust funds are part of the national debt. They are not bank accounts (The Treasury used to say this explicitly). They will last until they are paid off, not merely until 2000-something.

The problems are twofold: More money is being paid out than is coming in. The Treasury borrows more money to pay the difference. For many years the reverse was true, so the Treasury didnt have to borrow as much. But the excess was spent and a notation was put into the trust funds.

And various government officials and the media talk as if the trust funds were bank accounts, which they are not. The funds are part of the national debt. To fix this we must cut benefits or increase payroll taxes (or some combination thereof).

Jim Martin, Rockville
Water engulfs a man during high tide on the Arabian Sea coast, in Mumbai on June 29. A study released last week shows that man-made climate change is responsible for most of the change in ocean surface temperatures near the equator across Asia, which in turn affect regional rainfall patterns including this monsoon. (Rajanish Kakade/Associated Press)

Regarding Hans A. von Spakovskys June 30 letter to the editor, Prosecuting the First Amendment:

As a concerned individual and parent, I do not need further research to help me comprehend the catastrophic impact of world population growth on the environment and our weather systems. One does not need to drive off a cliff to understand that a precipice is looming. The fact that 97 percent of the worlds scientists agree that climate change is real and 84 percent believe that this change is human-induced only serves to reinforce what I can clearly see happening to our planet.

Organizations such as the Heritage Foundation (where Mr. von Spakovsky works) get a significant amount of their money from profits derived from the sale of fossil fuels. They perpetuate the notion that climate change is nonexistent or, worst case, a cyclical and self-correcting condition. While they have a First Amendment right to take those positions, doing so is equivalent of yelling in a crowded theatre that there is no fire when people can feel the heat and see the smoke.

Fraud is intentionally misrepresenting facts with knowledge of falsity resulting in injury or damage. It is an undisputed fact that planet Earth cannot support an infinite number of human beings. Is it fraud for an organization such as the Heritage Foundation to suggest that all is well in our world and we have nothing to worry about? Yes  if not legally, then morally.

David Dunn, Fairfax Station
In this odd political season  so shallow in rhetoric, so fundamental in consequence  Americans are not only celebrating their nations independence, but they are also considering its meaning. All of a sudden, the most basic questions in our democracy are on the table: What is a real or good American? How do we define what is unique and great about our country?

At least a portion of the current populist wave is a nationalist backlash against cosmopolitan elites. In this view, Americans do not merely love a set of philosophic abstractions; they love a concrete nation, with an identity that is under siege. An Anglo-Protestant heritage of law, religion and culture is threatened by a variety of forces, within and without: multiculturalism, illegal immigration and politically correct leaders who refuse to even name our enemies.

It is a paradox that those who want to emphasize the uniqueness and particularity of American culture  rooted in a specific ethnic and religious background  are adopting the most typical form of nationalism. Historically speaking, nations defined by ethnicity, motivated by grievances and looking backward to a golden age are commonplace. What has been different about the United States is its remarkable ability to make a nation out of nations. This is a tribute to national ideals that emerged from within one culture, but now appeal and inspire far beyond it.

No nation, of course, is disembodied. It is legitimate to love the rocks and roots of a definite plot of ground, and our plot is particularly grand and lovely. It is not a coincidence that one of Americas first symbols was a rattlesnake in a defensive coil. But another symbol was the rising sun on George Washingtons chair at the Constitutional Convention, as hopeful as the break of day. Americas founders thought their work was somehow the culmination of age-old longings and a new order for the ages. This is the reason that the term American creed is rich in meaning, and American race sounds like a profanity.

The hypocrisies of our history are startling. A nation dedicated to freedom was a prison for millions of slaves. In the founding era, many towns celebrated Popes Day, in which effigies of the Bishop of Rome were cheerfully burned. While Chinese laborers worked on the massive foundation of the Statue of Liberty, Congress tightened the Chinese Exclusion Act, which set immigration rules by race. Even now, some would have those rules set by religion.

But how do we even know these are hypocrisies? It is because they are revealed by the light of the Declaration of Independence. Americas founders set a principle in place that has judged and changed cultural practices for more than two centuries. It is primary to our national identity.

Keeping the balance between a real community  with the right, like any other people, to define its boundaries and traditions  and the liberal principles of justice and equality has not been easy. It has led to a troubled and bloody history, which is also a shining achievement in the conscience of humankind.

The American who understood both of those aspects best was Abraham Lincoln. In July 1858, he spoke of the strength that Americans draw from pride in their forebears who founded the nation. Then he said words worth recalling in full as we celebrate our independence:

We have besides these men  descended by blood from our ancestors  among us perhaps half our people who are not descendants at all of these men, they are men who have come from Europe  German, Irish, French and Scandinavian  men that have come from Europe themselves, or whose ancestors have come hither and settled here, finding themselves our equals in all things. If they look back through this history to trace their connection with those days by blood, they find they have none, they cannot carry themselves back into that glorious epoch and make themselves feel that they are part of us. But when they look through that old Declaration of Independence they find that those old men say that We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, and then they feel that that moral sentiment taught in that day evidences their relation to those men, that it is the father of all moral principle in them, and that they have a right to claim it as though they were blood of the blood, and flesh of the flesh, of the men who wrote that Declaration. And so they are.

Read more from Michael Gersons archive, follow him on Twitter or subscribe to his updates on Facebook .
The liberal justices of the Supreme Court, by saving Roe v. Wade , just made the 2016 election all about them [Reproductive rights, saved, editorial, June 28]. Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton dont matter anymore. The Republicans will say, Even if you hate Trump, vote against legal abortion  the next president can make the Supreme Court conservative or liberal.

The Democrats will say, Even if you hate Clinton, if you believe in reproductive rights and a womans ability to choose, you must vote. But they also will have to drive home to the young supporters of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) that this will be a choice for a Supreme Court that will continue for many years, and they will have to emphasize that they need a huge voter turnout to shift the Senate strongly Democratic so court nominees will win approval.

And, as shown in Texas, those down-ballot candidates have direct consequences for voters lives.

Burt J. Mazia, Rockville
Nigel Farage, the leader of the U.K. Independence Party, speaks at a news conference in London on July 4. (Neil Hall/Reuters)

Right-wing firebrand and populist politician Nigel Farage resigned as leader of his U.K. Independence Party on Monday, the latest political bombshell to hit Britain as it grapples with the fallout from last months vote to leave the European Union.

His resignation came as Conservative members of Parliament launched their own process to choose a new party leader and prime minister Monday night, holding a closed-door meeting for the top five candidates.

Prime Minister David Cameron, the current Conservative Party leader, announced his resignation the morning after the June 23 vote, having backed the campaign for Britain to remain a member of the European Union. His resignation threw the party into disarray.

Now, nearly all the leaders of the movement to leave the E.U. have also either stepped back from high-level politics or have been sidelined in the post-referendum political wars.

The decision by British voters to leave the 28-member bloc, built through a series of treaties after World War II, shocked nations around the globe and plunged the country into political and economic uncertainty.

1 of 56 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad  Britons react to cutting ties with the European Union View Photos As many celebrated the referendum results, Prime Minister David Cameron announced that he would resign. Caption In late June, many celebrated the referendum results, and British Prime Minister David Cameron announced that he will resign after Britons went to the polls. June 26, 2016 People walk over Westminster Bridge wrapped in Union Jacks, toward the Queen Elizabeth Tower (Big Ben) and the Houses of Parliament in central London. Odd Andersen/AFP/Getty Images Wait 1 second to continue.

[Stung by a betrayal, former London mayor Boris Johnson ends bid to lead Britain]

I have never wanted to be a career politician. That is why I now feel that Ive done my bit, Farage  who, as a virulent opponent of immigration, helped spearhead the campaign to leave the E.U.  said Monday in a televised news conference.

I understand that not everybody in this country is happy, he said. But I want my life back, and it begins now.

In London on Monday, Conservative members of Parliament met at the Palace of Westminster as the chaotic race for party leader narrowed to three potential front-runners: Home Secretary Theresa May, Energy Minister Andrea Leadsom and Justice Minister Michael Gove. The first round of party voting is scheduled for Tuesday.

Leadsom officially announced her intention to run for the party leadership earlier Monday, and she emphasized limiting free movement and strengthening the economy. Since the June 23 vote, the British pound has fallen about 10 percent against the U.S. dollar, and economists have warned of a global recession if the tumult continues.

Business needs certainty, Leadsom said Monday. I will prioritize new trade deals with the fastest-growing parts of the world.

The United Kingdom will leave the European Union, she added. Freedom of movement will end.

[After Breixit vote, an uneasy Germany wrestles with whether to lead]

Gove, who was one of the lead campaigners of the leave movement, lost his edge as front-runner over the weekend, after back-stabbing his erstwhile ally and the onetime favorite for the premiership, former London mayor Boris Johnson.

In a stunning act of political treachery, Gove preemptively declared his own candidacy for party leader and announced that he did not believe that Johnson was fit to be prime minister. The move by Gove, a Conservative politician, shocked Britain and drew comparisons to a Shakespearean-style betrayal or an episode of the political drama House of Cards.

May has since risen with support from about 100 lawmakers, according to the ConservativeHome website, which has close ties to the Conservative Party. May campaigned for Britain to remain in the European Union, but she has presented herself as a unifying figure within the party  and has promised to reform the blocs rules of freedom of movement. She has stopped short, however, of promising a full halt to migration to Britain.

Much of the leave campaign, popularly known as Brexit, focused on calls for stricter border controls and full withdrawal of Britain from Europes common market.

In his resignation speech Monday, Farage called the E.U.s single market  which regards the bloc as one territory without regulations on goods and services  a big business protectionist cartel.

We need a new prime minister that puts down some pretty clear lines  that were not going to give in on issues like free movement, he said.

We are now in charge of our own future, and I want us to grab this opportunity with both hands, he added.

Britains chancellor of the exchequer, George Osborne, told the Financial Times on Monday that he planned to cut the countrys corporate tax rate to just 15 percent  the lowest of any major economy.

Read more

[Leadership hopeful May vows to unify Britain behind E.U. exit]

Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world
Suicide bombers suspected of links to the Islamic State struck for the fourth time in less than a week, targeting three locations in Saudi Arabia in an extension of what appeared to be a coordinated campaign of worldwide bombings coinciding with the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

The triple attacks Monday ranged across the kingdom: near a U.S. consulate in Jiddah, a mosque frequented by Shiite worshipers in an eastern district, and at a security center in one of Islams holiest sites, the historic city of Medina. The Saudi Interior Ministry told the state-run television station that four security guards died in the Medina attack and five were injured.

The attacks offered further evidence that in the two years since it declared the existence of its so-called caliphate, the Islamic State has developed the capacity to strike at will in diverse locations around the world.

[The worst ISIS attack in days is the one the world probably cares least about]

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but the bombings bore the hallmarks of the Islamic State, with suicide attackers picking targets that closely coincided with the groups declared enemies: Americans, members of the Shiite Muslim minority and the Saudi security services.

On Tuesday, the Saudi Interior Ministry identified the bomber behind the Jiddah attack as a 34-year-old Pakistani, Abdullah Qalzar Khan, who it said arrived in the kingdom 12 years ago to work as a driver. The statement gave no other immediate details.

The United States condemned the violence in Saudi Arabia and vowed to stand with the Saudi people against terrorism. These attacks underscore the scope of the threat we all face, and remind us of the need to continue to stay focused on combating violent extremism and bringing those responsible for it to justice, State Department spokesman John Kirby said in a statement Tuesday.

The Islamic State, as it has in each of the three years since it announced its existence, had urged its followers to carry out attacks during the holy month of Ramadan, a period of fasting, abstention and prayer that will conclude Wednesday with a holiday of feasting and family visits.

This has turned into the most blood-soaked Ramadan yet in the Islamic States campaign. At least 290 people have been killed in attacks claimed by or linked to the Islamic State  at Istanbul Ataturk Airport, at a restaurant frequented by foreigners in the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka, and in Baghdad. The vast majority of them, 222 people, died in the Baghdad blast, which targeted a shopping street packed with people celebrating the end of the days fast and shopping for the approaching holiday.

[Toll climbs to more than 200 in Islamic States worst-ever bomb attack on civilians]

Omar Mateen, the gunman who killed 49 people at an Orlando nightclub last month, may also have been inspired by the call for Ramadan attacks issued by the Islamic States chief spokesman, Abu Muhammad al-Adnani, in late May. But although Mateen cited the Islamic State as his inspiration in phone calls to emergency responders, investigators have found no evidence that he was directly linked to the group.

The Islamic State also did not claim the attack in Istanbul, but Turkish investigators say the group is the leading suspect.

The attacks in Saudi Arabia raised concerns that the group is taking deeper root there, potentially threatening the stability of one of Americas closest Arab allies. The Islamic State has frequently threatened the kingdom, whose status as the guardian of the holiest sites in Islam is challenged by a group that regards itself as the rightful leader of the Muslim world.

The first blast came in the afternoon outside the closely guarded U.S. Consulate in the city of Jiddah, the first of the past weeks attacks to target a U.S. facility directly. Two security guards were wounded, and the bomber died, after security guards approached the man and he detonated his explosives, according to the state-run Saudi Press Agency.

Hours later, a suicide bomber blew himself up near a mosque in the majority-Shiite city of Qatif in eastern Saudi Arabia. A resident of the city contacted by the Reuters news agency said there appeared to be no casualties other than the bomber, because worshipers had already gone home to break their fast. The Islamic State in the past year has claimed a number of deadly bombings against the Shiite minority in Saudi Arabia.

The final attack came in Medina, the second-holiest site in Islam, which is visited by millions of Muslim pilgrims every year. It apparently targeted Saudi security forces stationed near the 7th century Prophets Mosque, where the prophet Muhammad is buried.

The Saudi Interior Ministry told the state-run news channel that the attacker detonated the bomb when security officers raised questions about him, the Associated Press reported. The station later broadcast footage of worshipers praying in the mosque, which was apparently unscathed.

Read more

Islamic States ambitions and allure grow as territory shrinks

After more than $1.6 billion in U.S. aid, Iraqs army still struggles

Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, left, and Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni stand for their national anthems after arriving at the Entebbe airport in Uganda on July 4. (Presidential Press Unit/via Reuters)

Forty years after Israeli commandos stormed the airport here in a daring secret mission to rescue more than 100 hostages, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu touched down in the East African nation Monday for a special ceremony to commemorate the event.

It was the first visit of an Israeli premier to Uganda since the incident, and Netanyahu has a particularly strong connection to what happened in Entebbe on July 4, 1976: His older brother Yonatan, known as Yoni, was the rescue units commander and the only Israeli soldier to be killed during the operation.

The Israeli prime minister will also visit Kenya, Rwanda and Ethiopia over the next four days as part of a diplomatic and economic effort to strengthen Israels multilateral ties in Africa.

Right here, I am standing in the place where my brother, Yoni, was killed, when he led the commando soldiers to release the hostages, the Israeli prime minister said, addressing Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni.

There are few like him in history, and Entebbe is always with me. It is deep in my heart, said Netanyahu, who has said that his brothers death was the catalyst that led him into politics and to eventually seek to become prime minister.

Forty years ago, Israeli commandos landed here in the dark of night to fight against a cruel dictator who worked with terrorists, Netanyahu said, referring to the Ugandan despot Idi Amin Dada. But today we came in the daylight, and we were welcomed by a leader who works to fight terrorism.

[Meet the youngest hostages freed by Israeli commandos 40 years ago at Entebbe]

Museveni said that Amin had been wrong to keep the hostages and help the terrorists and that Israel was right to use its capacity to rescue the innocents.

I salute the memory of those who died in that operation in the cascade of actions by the different actors, he said.

The Ugandans unveiled a memorial at the site where Yoni Netanyahu and three of the hostages  Ida Borochovitch, Pasco Cohen and Jean-Jacques Maimoni  were killed. Another hostage, Dora Bloch, a dual Israeli-British citizen who had been hospitalized during the crisis in the Ugandan capital of Kampala, was ordered killed by Amin.

Relatives of the victims were among the official delegation. They said returning to the spot where their family members were held captive and killed would help to heal the old wounds.

I think it will help us to see the place where he was killed, said Marlene Moskowitz, the older sister of Jean-Jacques Maimoni.

It was a terrorist attack that shocked the world in 1976. A routine Air France flight from Tel Aviv to Paris, with a stopover in Athens, was diverted to Entebbe by members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and the German Revolutionary Cells, a spin-off of the Baader-Meinhof Gang, a German radical left-wing group.

The 12-member French crew and 248 passengers were a variety of nationalities. Most of the non-Israelis were released, but more than 100 people, most of them Israelis, were held.

After a week of deliberations over what to do about an impossible hostage situation thousands of miles away, the Israeli government, headed by Yitzhak Rabin, made the decision to send four Hercules jets packed with about 200 Israeli commandos, medical crews, refueling gear and even a Mercedes painted black to resemble one used by the Ugandan leader.

We took a big chance, said Joshua Shiki Shani, the lead pilot on the raid, who also took part in Mondays ceremony. The operation was built on our Israeli chutzpah. It was something that no one had done before, and we knew that it would be a total surprise. You cant do an operation like that unless it is a total surprise.

Shani said that although there might have been an element of luck involved, the soldiers who took part in the raid were very brave and were the best trained soldiers that Israel had. They worked on improvisation. You can only do that if you are very skilled.

Still, Shani said, he did tell a journalist after the operation that God had been working overtime that night.

Asked if he believes Israel could carry out a similar operation today, Shani said that while the world had changed a lot and is in general more selfish, those who serve in Israels elite commando units are just as motivated as their counterparts in 1976.

The problem now is that we dont have the element of surprise, he said.

Read more

Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world
Economy Secretary Announces North Wales Summit

This article is old - Published: Sunday, Jul 3rd, 2016

Economy and Infrastructure Secretary, Ken Skates is to hold a summit this week focussed on driving economic development across North Wales and the Northern Powerhouse Region.

The North Wales summit, which will take place in Coleg Cambria on Friday, will consider the role factors like integrated transport, a clear cross-border economic development strategy and a strong cross-border economic team can play in driving economic growth.

The Economy Secretary has invited colleagues and partners from a range of organisations based in both Wales and England. These include the Wales Office, the WLGA, the IOD, the FSB, the CBI, the North Wales Business Council, the Cheshire and North Wales chamber and the Mersey Dee Alliance.

The news comes in the same week that The Northern Powerhouse Independent Economic Review was published.

The Review highlights areas in which the North is a world leader and also identifies the measures needed to bring about improvements to the regions economy. It says radical change is needed to close skills and productivity gaps but that such changes could potentially result in 850,000 jobs by 2050.

Ken Skates said:As Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Infrastructure I am determined to maximise the economic potential of North Wales.

To that end I will be hosting a North Wales summit to discuss emerging priorities for North Wales and to agree, with our partners, a coherent vision for the region as part of the cross border Northern Powerhouse.

There is no doubt that we face new challenges as a result of the referendum outcome.

These are challenges we can and will overcome and joint working and partnership, both in Wales and cross border, innovation and learning from the success of others will be key to our success.
An 18-year-old tourist from Virginia had his foot severed after an explosion at Central Park in NYC on Sunday, July 3  details

An 18-year-old tourist from Virginia had his foot severed after an explosion at Central Park in New York on Sunday, July 3.

PHOTOS: Celebrity Health Scares

According to CNN, the New York Police Department bomb squad is investigating the cause of the detonation, which appeared to be an experiment with fireworks or handmade explosives.

We do not have any evidence of a constructed device or commercial-grade fireworks, NYPD Deputy Chief John OConnell said in a press conference on Sunday afternoon. There are no specific or credible threats directed at New York for July Fourth.

PHOTOS: Stars at Court

The teen, identified as Connor Golden, reportedly climbed down off a rock when the explosion went off. The victims two friends, Thomas Hinds, 20, and Matthew Stabile, 18, insisted that they didnt have fireworks or other explosives.

I got down the hill and boom, my ears were ringing, Hinds told the New York Daily News. I felt a wave, a gust hit me in the back. I turned around and saw [Connor] on the ground with his foot bleeding. It just demolished his foot.



PHOTOS: Most Shocking Celebrity Deaths of All Time

He added, His foot was gone and he handled it pretty well. Hes a tough guy.  All he said was get help.

Golden was taken to Bellevue Hospital with a possible amputation, a Fire Department of New York spokesperson told ABC News. Officials stated that the victim was in serious but stable condition as of Sunday afternoon.




By Barbara Goldberg NEW YORK (Reuters) - The United States celebrated the July Fourth holiday on Monday with parades, baking contests and picnics draped in red, white and an extra layer of blue, as police ramped up patrols because of concerns about terrorism and gun violence. Millions of Americans marked independence from Britain with celebrations as boisterous as a music-packed party by country music legend Willie Nelson for 10,000 people at a race track in Austin, Texas and as staid as colonial-era costumed actors reading the Declaration of Independence at the U.S. National Archives in Washington. "It's a good day for reflecting on the positive things about America - the sense of freedom that you can go after and achieve whatever you want," said Helen Donaldson, 48, the mother of a multi-ethnic family of four adopted teens living in Maplewood, New Jersey. Donaldson, a white Australian immigrant, cheered with her two New Jersey-born African-American daughters, both 12 and dressed in red, white and blue, as a recording of the Star Spangled Banner played to kick off a children's relay race. Nearby, in the baking contest tent, 13-year-old Nate Fisher entered his cherry blueberry tart into competition. "I have high hopes," he said, flashing a smile. History was made in the traditional hotdog-eating contest at New York's Coney Island when long-time champion Joey "Jaws" Chestnut took back the Mustard Yellow International Belt from last year's upstart winner Matt Stonie. Chestnut set an unofficial new world record by downing 70 hotdogs in 10 minutes - topping his previous record of 69 franks. In the women's division, Miki Sudo successfully defended her title by eating 38 hotdogs in 10 minutes. With the holiday taking place days after attacks in Baghdad, Dhaka and Istanbul, the New York Police Department deployed eight new "vapor wake" dogs, trained to sniff out explosives on a moving target in a crowd. Commissioner Bill Bratton said on Friday there was no specific threat to New York City. The department's presence this holiday was increased by nearly 2,000 new officers just days after they graduated on Friday from the New York City Police Academy. CHICAGO BRACED FOR VIOLENCE Police in Chicago, which has seen a spike in gun murders this year, announced a stepped up presence with more than 5,000 officers on patrol over the long weekend, traditionally one of the year's most violent, said Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson. Local media reported on Friday that 24 people had been shot over the past 24 hours, three fatally. Dry weather forecasts across the country thrilled fireworks lovers, although some spots in Michigan have been so rain-starved that pyrotechnic shows were canceled in a handful of communities near Detroit because of the risk of fires. Over the weekend in New York, an incident being investigated as a possible fireworks mishap severely injured an 18-year-old Virginia man who stepped on an explosive in Central Park, police said. Police had previously given his age as 19. In Compton, California, a 9-year-old girl's hand had to be amputated when she was injured after unwittingly picking up a lit firework, local media said. Some of the United States' newest citizens were being sworn in at a special Independence Day ceremony in New Orleans for 55 people from countries including Haiti, Nepal and Venezuela. More than 7,000 people will have been naturalized during almost 100 such ceremonies organized by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services between June 30 and July 4, the agency said. "These new Americans will strengthen the fabric of our nation," USCIS Director Leon Rodriguez said in a statement. (Reporting by Barbara Goldberg; Additional reporting by Gina Cherelus and Daniel Wallis in New York, Fiona Ortiz in Chicago, Adam DeRose in Washington, and Jon Herskovitz in Austin, Texas; Editing by Alistair Bell, Frances Kerry and Bill Rigby)
10 awesome Founding Mothers who often get forgotten

10 awesome Founding Mothers who often get forgotten

Over this holiday weekend, well all be paying homage to the brave men who helped create and shape our nation. And while theres of course lots to celebrate about those famous Founding Fathers, we should also take a minute to recognize some of the most badass women in all of history who fought side by side (sometimes literally) for Americas freedom.

They were fierce, ferocious, and are totally not forgotten.

1. Abigail Adams

Easily one of the most famous women in American history since she wrote many letters back and forth to her husband, John Adams, including her most famous line to remember the ladies. When her husband became the second President of a young United States, she was so politically active as First Lady people called her Mrs. President.

Modern-day theme song: Who run the world (Girls)

women 3

2. Martha Washington

Her husband (and last name) are basically synonymous with the American Revolution, but she was pretty impressive in her own right. Widowed at 25 with four young children, she met and married a young (and Im sure totally charming) George Washington who she would support in every way possible through the rest of his life, including visiting troops on the battlefield to keep spirits up when he couldnt be there.

Modern-day mantra: I got your back, bae.

women 2

3. Mary Ludwig Hays aka Molly Pitcher

In the battles that raged between 1777-1778, Mary Hays (who was married to artilleryman William Hays) would bring water to the overheated and exhausted men while they fought. While her nick name, Molly Pitcher may be just folklore (Molly was a common nickname back then and a lot of sweaty, battle weary guys would call out for Molly! Pitcher!) she definitely had one major act of bravery. During the Battle of Monmouth in 1778, her husband was injured and she picked up his place working at the cannon. She apparently had a musket or cannon ball fly through her legs and tear off the bottom of her skirt to which she just shrugged and said, Well, that could have been worse, then went back to swabbing and loading the cannon.

Story continues

Modern-day theme song: Shake it off.

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4. Deborah Sampson

This revolutionary warrior was one of a handful of documented women who disguised herself as a man (named Robert Shurtleff) so she could serve in the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War. She was wounded in 1982 after serving 17 months and was honorably discharged. In her later years, she would give lectures recounting her war experiences and discussing gender equality.

Modern-day TV character: Arya Stark

arya

5. Phillis Wheatley

One of the most prominent and talented poets during the revolution, she also happened to be the first African-American female published poet. Brought to America as a slave, she was educated at a young age by her progressive owners who both recognized and supported her talent and eventually emancipated her. She was such a good writer, she got major praise from some of the biggest names in young America including George Washington himself.

Modern-day lyric: I am not a word. I am not a line. I am not a girl that can ever be defined.

nicki

6. Mercy Otis Warren

A talented writer and propagandist, she helped shape young American philosophy. Her volumes of the history of the war were so awesome, Thomas Jefferson ordered copies for himself while praising how good they were.

Modern-day muse: Tina Fey

tina fey

7. Catherine (Kate) Barry

This incredible woman was instrumental in guiding rebels through hidden backroads of South Carolina so they could be safe from oncoming British troops (which she also often bravely rode around warning people about).

Modern-day TV character: Daenerys Targaryen

dany

8. Sybil Ludington

Remember that guy Paul Revere who rode a long distance at night to warn Americans about the British? Yeah, this badass revolutionary woman did the same thing. Only she went twice the distance as he did and was only 16-years-old at the time.

Modern day mantra: Anything you can do, I can do better.

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9. Emily Geiger

Because she was able to often act the part of an unsuspecting, demure woman, Geiger was often able to get messages to troops behind enemy lines. One time, she was captured by the British and questioned. When they werent looking, she tore up the message she was carrying and ate it, so there was no evidence she was doing anything wrong. They let her go about her way and she still delivered the message to its recipient because she had it memorized.

Modern-day comic book/movie/TV character: Peggy Carter

carter

10. Mary Katherine Goddard

This editor and publisher was the first to publish a history-changing document known as The Declaration of Independence with all its Founding Father signatures glory in 1777. She did so while serving as Postmaster, a position she was given by none other than Benjamin Franklin himself (which she made her likely to be the first woman ever appointed to a public government office).

Modern-day movie character: Hermione Granger

hermione 2

The post 10 awesome Founding Mothers who often get forgotten appeared first on HelloGiggles.
As we celebrate the Independence Day holiday, its time to look at some famous birthdays of people born on the same date as the United States.

Of course, there are some people who believe that July 2nd is the real birth date of the United States, since that is the day that the Continental Congress voted to break free from British rule.

But it took two more days for the wording of the Declaration of Independence to be approved and printed, so July 4th became more accepted as the date to mark Independence Day.

So heres a list of 10 famous Fourth of July birthdays, with two presidential connections.

1. Malia Obama. The current First Daughter was born on July 4, 1998 in Chicago.

2. Calvin Coolidge. The only president born on the Fourth of July, Coolidge was the 30th president and he was born in 1872 in Vermont.

3. Gloria Stuart. The Titanic actress was born on July 4, 1910 in Santa Monica, California. She passed away at the age of 100 in 2010, but not before she received an Oscar nomination at the age of 87.

4. Nathaniel Hawthorne. The famous author was born in 1804 in Salem, Massachusetts, and the author of The Scarlett Letter had an ancestor who was a judge at the Salem witch trials.

5. Geraldo Rivera. Born on July 4, 1943 in Brooklyn, Rivera was a lawyer before he was a TV commentator (and host of the famous TV special about Al Capones vault).

6. Stephen Foster. The famous songwriter was born in 1826 in Pittsburgh and died when he was just 37 years old.

7. Stephen Mather. An industrialist with an interest in conservation, Mather helped lead a drive to create the National Park Service in 1916. He was the services first director and is credited with establishing a professional civic service organization.

8. George Murphy. The one-time actor made a splash in politics when, like his friend Ronald Reagan, he ran for office and became a U.S. senator from California.

9. George Steinbrenner. The late New York Yankees owner was born on July 4 1930 in Ohio.

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10. Ron Kovic. The disabled Vietnam Vet really was Born on the Fourth of July, which was the title of his autobiography and the Oliver Stone movie from 1989.

One note: the family of legendary entertainer George M. Cohan claimed that just like in his song, Yankee Doodle Dandy, the stage star was born on July 4th. He was actually born on July 3, 1878.

Independence Day Stories on Constitution Daily

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Three Presidents Die on July 4th: Just a Coincidence?

10 famous people born on the Fourth of July

10 fascinating facts about the Declaration of Independence
July 4th marks the annual holiday that celebrates the adoption of the Declaration of Independence. So how much do you know about this famous document?

1. Is Independence Day really July 2?

Officially, the Continental Congress declared its freedom from Britain on July 2, 1776, when it approved a resolution and delegates from New York were given permission to make it a unanimous vote. John Adams thought July 2 would be marked as a national holiday for generations to come.

2. July 4 is when the Declaration was adopted

After voting on independence, the Continental Congress needed to finalize a document explaining the move to the public. It had been proposed in draft form by the Committee of Five (John Adams, Roger Sherman, Robert Livingston, Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson) and it took two days for the Congress to agree on the edits.

3. Six people signed the Declaration and also the Constitution

Franklin was literally among a handful of people who signed both historic documents. The others were George Read, Sherman, Robert Morris, George Clymer and James Wilson.

4. But they didnt sign the Declaration on July 4th!

Once the Congress approved the actual Declaration on Independence document on July 4, it ordered that it be sent to a printer named John Dunlap. About 200 copies of the Dunlap Broadside were printed, with John Hancocks name printed at the bottom. Today, 26 copies remain.

5. So what if I stumble upon a lost version of the Dunlap Broadside at a flea market?

Thats exactly what happened in 1989 in Adamstown, Pa. It was tucked behind an old picture in a frame and it cost the buyer $4. That version of the Declaration was eventually acquired by TV producer Norman Lear for $8.1 million.

6. OK  when was the Declaration actually signed?

Most of the members of the Continental Congress signed a version of the Declaration in early August 1776 in Philadelphia. The names of the signers were released publicly in early 1777. So that famous painting showing the signing of the Declaration on July 4, 1776 is a bit of an exaggeration.

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7. The Declarations association with Independence Day came from a lapse of memory

Historian Pauline Maier said in her 1997 book about the Declaration that no member of Congress recalled in early July 1777 that it was almost a year since they declared their freedom from the British. They finally remembered on July 3rd and July 4th became the day that seemed to make sense for celebrating independence.

8. The Declaration suffered from a lack of early respect

Maier also said that the Declaration (and celebrating its signing) was stuck in an early feud between the Federalists (of John Adams) and the Republicans (of Thomas Jefferson). The Declaration and its anniversary day werent widely celebrated until the Federalists faded away from the political scene after 1812.

9. The Declaration and Constitution were hidden away during World War II

Both documents were packed up about two weeks after Pearl Harbor, given a military escort and taken to Fort Knox in Kentucky, where they remained for several years.

10. There really is a message written on the back of the Declaration of Independence

In the movie National Treasure, a secret message written on the back of the Declaration is a key plot device. In reality, there is a visible message on the back that reads, Original Declaration of Independence dated 4th July 1776. Its not as dramatic as the movie and experts believe it was a label added at some point when the Declaration was in storage.

Independence Day Stories on Constitution Daily

When is the real Independence Day: July 2 or July 4?

Three Presidents Die on July 4th: Just a Coincidence?

10 famous people born on the Fourth of July

10 fascinating facts about the Declaration of Independence
The-Hunger-Games

Good morning! Here's everything you need to know in the world of advertising today.

1. Read the results of Business Insider's "Generation Z" poll on the brands teens love and hate. 110 teenagers aged between 12 and 18 decided brands including American Eagle and Forever 21 are favorites.

2. The first US TV commercial aired 75 years ago, watch it here. The NBC-owned station WNBT in New York showed the first legal commercial, called "Bulova Time Check," on July 1, 1941.

3. We interviewed New York Giants wide receiver Victor Cruz about his clothing line "Young Whales" and his collaboration with Nike. We also asked Cruz about authenticity on social media.

4. A parody video of Facebook's newsfeed has been released, entitled "Algorithm Mafia." In the video, the woman keeps asking to see pictures of her friends, but criminals will only show her lots of news articles.

5. Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer received 104.9 million votes against her return to the company's board of directors. Frustration about Mayer's inability to turn around the company's fortunes led to the opposition from 15% of investors.

6. LinkedIn was in discussions with at least four other companies before it sold to Microsoft. A filing with the SEC goes into detail over how the Microsoft-LinkedIn detail came about and also reveals that LinkedIn was in talks was Salesforce.

7. We teamed up with Restaurant Business to work out the 14 fast-food chains Americans love the most. Firehouse Subs, based in Jacksonville, Florida came out on top, according to our criteria.

8. Time Inc. plans to reorganize its business to generate more income from videos and live events. The company is adapting to deal with a drop in print revenue, and expects a revenue gain of 1% to 5%, according to The Wall Street Journal.

9. Abercrombie & Fitch is suing Gap for its recent hire of Craig Brommers as chief marketing officer. Brommers had been senior VP of marketing at Abercrombie for the last three years  the suit claims that he breached his non-compete clause, according to Ad Age.

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10. Augmented reality app Blippar expects to hit critical mass by early 2017. The business expects to have enough people using its visual search by this time to appeal to advertisers, reports The Drum.

NOW WATCH: LG pulled off its craziest marketing stunt yet to promote its latest vacuum cleaner





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Beirut (AFP) - At least 13,000 civilians have fled the Islamic State group bastion of Manbij in northern Syria since the launch of a US-backed offensive there, a monitor said Monday.

The Kurds and Arabs fighting as the Syrian Democratic Forces alliance began their assault on Manbij in late May, encircling the town and entering its southwestern districts on June 23.

"At least 13,000 civilians have fled Manbij since the beginning of the SDF operation on May 31," said Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group.

"The fleeing increased after the SDF besieged Manbij" on June 10, he said, adding that on Sunday "hundreds of people fled a southern district of the town where there have been fierce clashes in recent days".

Manbij had served as a vital stop along an IS supply route from Turkey, from the border town of Jarabulus to its bastion province of Raqa.

The SDF offensive on the town is backed by a US-led coalition that has been bombing IS in Iraq and Syria for nearly two years.

The UN's humanitarian office has not released its own estimates of how many people have fled Manbij, but said in late June that about 60,000 people were still in the town.

According to Abdel Rahman, residents are mostly fleeing from the southern SDF-controlled district into IS-free territory to the south.

The SDF transported one group north to the Kurdish stronghold of Kobane on the Syrian-Turkish border.

He said some civilians had died trying to escape, killed by IS snipers or explosives planted by the jihadists.

SDF fighters have been struggling to advance inside Manbij in recent days as IS has dispatched suicide attackers to defend the town.

"Daesh has used car bombs against a number of our positions," an SDF field commander told AFP on condition of anonymity.
WHAT WE LIKE: Approaching the midway point of our long-term Ford Mustangs 40,000-mile review, the 2016 GT continues to largely please drivers with its rev-happy, 435-hp 5.0-liter V-8 and sinister, blacked-out mien. Its Bridgestone Blizzak winter tires are long gone, and the return of 0.94 g of lateral grip from the Pirelli P Zero summer rubber means were back to tearing up country roads and highway interchanges. Despite its more civilized, global design, the latest Mustang still feels all-American at heart, including one of our favorite characteristics, the sloping fastback roofline that evokes that of the first-generation Mustang from the mid-1960s. It is an excellent way to get an instant pick-me-up. Additional long-distance travel also has boosted our average fuel economy to 20 mpg, which is 1 mpg better than the EPAs combined rating and sufficient for 320 miles of range on the open road.

WHAT WE DONT LIKE: The arrival of our long-term 2016 Chevrolet Camaro SS, however, has brought with it an alternative pony-car lens through which to view the Mustang. The Chevys wicked dual-mode exhaust makes us wish even more that we could hear the full voice of the Fords heavily muffled Coyote V-8. Both cars have comically small back seats, but our Mustangs front chairs continue to elicit gripes about their confining side bolsters, which can impede smooth shifting of the six-speed manual transmission. Logbook comments have called out the GTs brakes for being too grabby on initial application, particularly when theyre cold. And while Fords new Sync 3 infotainment system is vastly simpler to use than was the previous MyFord Touch, its a little too basic for some after exposure to the Chevy MyLink system in our better-equipped 2LT Camaro. The Mustangs greatest demerit has centered on its manual shifter, which can often feel notchy in lower gears. Its not helped by the short 3.73:1 gearing of our GTs optional Performance package; several drivers have found it difficult to smoothly and quickly work through the lower ratios around town, where clunks from the drivetrain can be heard as each gear is selected. Our local Ford dealer inspected the shifter and the gearbox for problems but deemed it to be working normally.

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WHAT WENT WRONG: Aside from lingering suspicions regarding the shifters well-being and a scheduled dealer visit for its 20,000-mile service ($82.85 for an oil and filter change, inspection, tire rotation, and a new cabin air filter), our Mustangs largest issue since our last update has been Michigans apocalyptic roads. Specifically, a large pothole attempted to swallow the left-rear tire on our commute. The damage was severe, with the impact driving the shock-absorber shaft up through the shock and its upper mount and even denting the fuel-filler tube above that. We limped the GT to the dealer to have all those damaged components replaced and the suspension realigned. (Surprisingly, all four wheels and tires survived.) Repairs took less than a week, after which the dealer relieved us of $732.32.

WHERE WE WENT: While our long-termer is still primarily a commuter within southeastern Michigan, in the past 10,000 miles it has made treks to Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky. Its latest voyage was to Virginia International Raceway to support our annual Lightning Lap track fest, at the conclusion of which road-test editor Chris Benn contemplated trading with another editor to drive the long-term Camaro SS back to Ann Arbor instead of the Mustang. Despite the shifter and the funky Recaros, he ultimately decided the GT was the more comfortable travel companion for the long trip home, proving that many of us still have lots of love for Fords latest pony car.

Months in Fleet: 8 months Current Mileage: 19,092 miles

Average Fuel Economy: 20 mpg Fuel Tank Size: 16.0 gal Fuel Range: 320 miles Service: $125.25 Normal Wear: $0 Repair: $0 Damage and Destruction: $732.32

Specifications >

VEHICLE TYPE: front-engine, rear-wheel-drive, 4-passenger, 2-door coupe



PRICE AS TESTED: $41,290 (base price: $33,295)



ENGINE TYPE: DOHC 32-valve V-8, aluminum block and heads, port fuel injection



Displacement: 302 cu in, 4951 cc

Power: 435 hp @ 6500 rpm

Torque: 400 lb-ft @ 4250 rpm



TRANSMISSION: 6-speed manual



DIMENSIONS:

Wheelbase: 107.1 in

Length: 188.3 in

Width: 75.4 in Height: 54.4 in

Passenger volume: 87 cu ft

Cargo volume: 14 cu ft

Curb weight: 3782 lb



PERFORMANCE: NEW

Zero to 60 mph: 4.3 sec

Zero to 100 mph: 10.3 sec

Zero to 130 mph: 18.0 sec

Zero to 150 mph: 25.4 sec

Rolling start, 560 mph: 4.9 sec

Top gear, 3050 mph: 9.3 sec

Top gear, 5070 mph: 8.8 sec

Standing -mile: 12.9 sec @ 112 mph

Braking, 700 mph: 156 ft

Roadholding, 300-ft-dia skidpad: 0.94 g



FUEL ECONOMY:

EPA city/highway driving: 15/25 mpg

C/D observed: 20 mpg

Unscheduled oil additions: 1 qt



WARRANTY:

3 years/36,000 miles bumper to bumper;

5 years/60,000 miles powertrain;

5 years/unlimited miles corrosion protection;

5 years/60,000 miles roadside assistance





WHAT WE LIKE: Weve gone nearly 8000 miles since our first report on this long-term test of the 2016 Ford Mustang GT and have grown much more comfortable with the latest pony cars redesign and greater level of refinement. Our coupe has acquitted itself well as a reliable commuter vehicle in all types of weather. And even with the optional Recaro sport seats and the short, 3.73:1 final-gear ratio included in our test cars Performance package, long-distance comfort has been impressive for front-seat occupants. Several longer highway journeys have helped our GTs average fuel economy rise to 19 mpg, the same as the EPAs combined rating. Were still delighted with the 5.0-liter Coyote V-8s 435 horsepower and burbly exhaust, as well as the continued compliments we receive for the cars menacing, blacked-out appearance. The new Sync 3 system in the Mustang is a huge improvement over the previous MyFord Touch interface that we had so many issues with over the years. Its large, bright graphics, simpler menus, and greater connectivity make it much easier to use.

WHAT WE DONT LIKE: Few drivers have complained about the new Mustangs qualities, aside from not being able to enjoy the car more due to winter weather and the necessary fitment of Bridgestone Blizzak LM-32 winter tires. Although ultra-supportive, the Recaro seats have drawn the loudest gripes, perhaps also because of the climate near our HQ: The seats lack heating elements and their thick side bolsters can limit movement, particularly when shifting the six-speed manual while wearing a bulky coat. That said, the thrones have excellent lumbar support and even our largest front passengers have praised their comfort over long hauls. Despite our GTs average range creeping up to more than 300 miles on a tank, its still incredibly easy to drain the Mustangs 16-gallon supply in city driving. Other minor quibbles center around cabin ergonomics, such as the engine ignition button on the console being too easy to hit by accident (yes, that happened). The map pockets extend deep into the door panels, which is great until you lose track of an item and cant see it hiding down there.

WHAT WENT WRONG: Aside from the V-8 needing a top-up with a quart of synthetic oil at 4100 miles, zilch. The Mustang has shrugged off Michigans cratered roads with ease, and its first servicea scheduled 10,000-mile jobincluded an oil-and-filter change and inspection for a mere $42.

WHERE WE WENT: Due to its short range and mostly useless back seat, the majority of our long termers travel has been confined to schlepping around metro Detroit as a commuter. Its longer treks have taken it to Indiana, Chicago, and Frankenmuth in central Michigan, with the latter two trips testing the Mustangs winter mettle as it capably handled whiteout snow squalls and icy roads with little issue. As the weather gets warmer, the Mustang is likely to travel farther afield.

Months in Fleet: 5 months Current Mileage: 10,243 miles

Average Fuel Economy: 19 mpg Fuel Tank Size: 16.0 gal Fuel Range: 305 miles

Service: $42 Normal Wear: $0 Repair: $0

Damage and Destruction: $0

Specifications >

VEHICLE TYPE: front-engine, rear-wheel-drive, 4-passenger, 2-door coupe



PRICE AS TESTED: $41,290 (base price: $33,295)



ENGINE TYPE: DOHC 32-valve V-8, aluminum block and heads, port fuel injection



Displacement: 302 cu in, 4951 cc

Power: 435 hp @ 6500 rpm

Torque: 400 lb-ft @ 4250 rpm



TRANSMISSION: 6-speed manual



DIMENSIONS:

Wheelbase: 107.1 in

Length: 188.3 in

Width: 75.4 in Height: 54.4 in

Passenger volume: 87 cu ft

Cargo volume: 14 cu ft

Curb weight: 3782 lb



PERFORMANCE: NEW

Zero to 60 mph: 4.3 sec

Zero to 100 mph: 10.3 sec

Zero to 130 mph: 18.0 sec

Zero to 150 mph: 25.4 sec

Rolling start, 560 mph: 4.9 sec

Top gear, 3050 mph: 9.3 sec

Top gear, 5070 mph: 8.8 sec

Standing -mile: 12.9 sec @ 112 mph

Braking, 700 mph: 156 ft

Roadholding, 300-ft-dia skidpad: 0.94 g



FUEL ECONOMY:

EPA city/highway driving: 15/25 mpg

C/D observed: 19 mpg

Unscheduled oil additions: 1 qt



WARRANTY:

3 years/36,000 miles bumper to bumper;

5 years/60,000 miles powertrain;

5 years/unlimited miles corrosion protection;

5 years/60,000 miles roadside assistance





Detroits muscle cars have experienced a renaissance of sorts latelyHellcats, Shelbys, and Camaros, oh my!yet it took some European-inspired refinement to bring the most out of Dearborns Ford Mustang. Heavily updated for 2015, which included the mainstream models first-ever independent rear suspension, the latest Mustang GT snagged a 10Best Cars award upon its debut and then bested the Dodge Challenger R/T Scat Pack and previous-gen Chevrolet Camaro SS 1LE in its first comparison test. Now we welcome this sinister-looking 2016 GT coupe into our paddock for a 40,000-mile shakedown.

The latest Mustang is an altogether more sophisticated thing than its predecessors, which is key for its new global mission. The ride is more comfortable and composed with the multilink rear suspension, which itself dictated a new tuning approach for the front strut setup. And the interior is more insulated and better turned-out, even if the fast rear glass means back-seat occupants will need to remove their heads before entering. Additional electronic aids, including adaptive cruise control and blind-spot warning, are now available, as is a 2.3-liter EcoBoost turbocharged four-cylinder. The cars proportions are softer and more flowing than before, and the styling adopts much of Fords corporate look while still recalling Mustangs past. Updates for 2016 are limited to the addition of Fords much-improved Sync 3 infotainment tech on Premium models, along with secondaryand nearly invisibleturn signals integrated into the GTs hood vents.

You can read our official breakdown of the 2016 Mustang here, as well as an in-depth interview with Fords development team here. But the most important thing about our test car is what makes it a GT: the 5.0-liter Coyote V-8, which develops a throaty 435 horsepower and 400 lb-ft of torque, up from the previous-generation GTs 420 and 390. Its not as wicked as the new Shelby GT350s 5.2-liter flat-crank V-8, but the Coyote loves to rev and is an absolute hoot when paired with the standard six-speed manual gearbox, which is light in effort and snicks tightly through the gates. Performance figures from our test cars initial visit to the track (after its break-in period) were strong and slightly quicker than our long-term 2013 Mustang GTs, with a zero-to-60-mph time of 4.3 seconds and a quarter-mile pass of 12.9 at 112 mph.

Pricing a Pony

While base GT fastbacks start at $33,295, our Premium coupe in Shadow Black stickered at $37,295 before options and features a host of trim and equipment upgrades: brighter interior accents, dual-zone automatic climate control, heated and cooled leather front seats, a nine-speaker stereo, selectable driving modes, ambient lighting, aluminum pedals, illuminated sill plates, heated exterior mirrors with integrated turn signals and Pony puddle lights, a painted rear diffuser, and unique 19- and 20-inch wheel options. Thats on top of the Mustangs standard automatic HID headlights, sequential LED taillights, eight airbags, and the GTs Track Apps and line-lock burnout software.

Also available on Premium versions is an upgraded Shaker audio system, voice-activated navigation, and the aforementioned driver aids. We passed on all of that but did opt for the $1595 black leather Recaro sport seats, which are snug-fitting and lack the heating and cooling of the standard chairs. They also provide the driver with the necessary support to exploit our cars other option: the $2495 GT Performance package. That bundles larger, six-piston Brembo front brakes, a 3.73:1 rear axle ratio with a Torsen limited-slip differential, a stiffer suspension setup, a larger radiator, chassis and strut-tower braces, unique tuning for the electrically assisted steering and stability control, and black-painted 19-inch wheels with Pirelli P Zero summer tires, sized 255/40 in front and 275/40 at the rear. The bottom line: $41,290.

Initial Impressions

At the limit, our GT does have a moderate sense of understeer in corners, what with 54 percent of its 3782 pounds residing over the front axle. But that can be easily corrected with a stab of the throttle. Our test car still managed a healthy 0.94 g of lateral grip on the skidpad, and the additional traction from the sticky Pirellis kept panic stops from 70 mph to just 156 feet. The Mustangs steering isnt superquick at 2.6 turns lock-to-lock, yet it is precise and natural enough in feel to make you think its hydraulically assisted. Steering effort can be adjusted from light to heavy by a toggle on the center stack or via the adjacent switch that cycles through the selectable Normal, Sport+, Track, and Snow/Wet drive modes, which also affect the engine response and stability control.

With less than 2500 miles on the odometer, were still getting used to our long-termer and have yet to take it any distance from home. And the mileage accumulation definitely will take a hit soon as the Michigan winter begins in earnest. To prepare, weve put the Mustang on a set of Bridgestone Blizzak LM-32 winter tires.

We have yet to encounter any technical or service issues with the car, but there have been a few complaints about the limited range (260 miles) from the smallish 16-gallon fuel tank and our test cars observed 16 mpg in the real worldwell below the EPAs combined rating of 19 mpg. The other gripe concerns the latest GTs muffled exhaust note, which lends it a more civilized attitude at the expense of some of its rowdy character. It still has a pleasant growl, but this is a muscle car with a great V-8 engine, and it deserves to be heard. You likely can plan on us asking for a Ford Performance exhaust (or a set of exhaust cutouts like those on the old Boss 302) for the holidays.

Months in Fleet: 1 month Current Mileage: 2349 miles

Average Fuel Economy: 16 mpg Fuel Tank Size: 16.0 gal Fuel Range: 260 miles

Service: $0 Normal Wear: $0 Repair: $0

Damage and Destruction: $0

Specifications >

VEHICLE TYPE: front-engine, rear-wheel-drive, 4-passenger, 2-door coupe



PRICE AS TESTED: $41,290 (base price: $33,295)



ENGINE TYPE: DOHC 32-valve V-8, aluminum block and heads, port fuel injection



Displacement: 302 cu in, 4951 cc

Power: 435 hp @ 6500 rpm

Torque: 400 lb-ft @ 4250 rpm



TRANSMISSION: 6-speed manual



DIMENSIONS:

Wheelbase: 107.1 in

Length: 188.3 in

Width: 75.4 in Height: 54.4 in

Passenger volume: 87 cu ft

Cargo volume: 14 cu ft

Curb weight: 3782 lb



PERFORMANCE: NEW

Zero to 60 mph: 4.3 sec

Zero to 100 mph: 10.3 sec

Zero to 130 mph: 18.0 sec

Zero to 150 mph: 25.4 sec

Rolling start, 560 mph: 4.9 sec

Top gear, 3050 mph: 9.3 sec

Top gear, 5070 mph: 8.8 sec

Standing -mile: 12.9 sec @ 112 mph

Braking, 700 mph: 156 ft

Roadholding, 300-ft-dia skidpad: 0.94 g



FUEL ECONOMY:

EPA city/highway driving: 15/25 mpg

C/D observed: 16 mpg

Unscheduled oil additions: 0 qt



WARRANTY:

3 years/36,000 miles bumper to bumper;

5 years/60,000 miles powertrain;

5 years/unlimited miles corrosion protection;

5 years/60,000 miles roadside assistance




Aerosmith and Run-D.M.C. onstage together in 2002 (Photo by Kevin Mazur/WireImage)

Thirty years ago, when Run-D.M.C.s collaboration with Aerosmith on a rap-rock remake of the latters 1974 hit Walk This Way came out on July 4, 1986, listeners might have thought they were hearing the original at first. But as soon as eight rapid turntable scratches cut through the mix, it was clear that this version was something completely new.

And then, at the 26-second mark  when Run-D.M.C.s Joseph Run Simmons started brashly rapping a slightly modified version of Steven Tylers lyrics, while Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry played the funk-inflected blues line that first endeared rockers to the Toys in the Attic hit single  music history was sharply and tangibly made.

When Walk This Way hit MTV, viewers were enthralled, and the dam between rock and rap effectively broke. In the early to mid-80s, Michael and Janet Jackson and Prince had been among the few black artists familiar to the stations viewers; Blondies Rapture was actually the first rap song played on MTV. But Walk This Way made it into MTVs high rotation, thanks to a clever video concept that mirrored the intent of the song  to break down walls. Soon there was such strong demand for hip-hop on the station that in 1988 MTV launched the regular program Yo! MTV Raps.

In the years that followed Walk This Way, other prominent rock-rap collaborations surfaced. Anthrax and Public Enemy remade the latters track Bring the Noise, in 1991, and the next year numerous rockers and rappers united for the Judgment Night soundtrack, including Helmet with House of Pain (Just Another Victim), Pearl Jam with Cypress Hill (Real Thing), and Mudhoney with Sir Mix-A-Lot (Freak Momma). In addition, rock and metal bands like Rage Against the Machine and Faith No More, and later Biohazard, Limp Bizkit, and Linkin Park, merged the two styles to create rap-rock and nu-metal.

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To me, thats one of the proudest things I had in my scrapbook, Joe Perry told Yahoo Music in 2014. I think we got maybe one or two fan letters that said, How could you guys do this, youre a rock band, what are you doing playing with those guys? But that was it. We got so much more positive out of it. And it didnt matter; to us, it was about the music.

In retrospect, it seems only natural that the remake of Walk This Way would be the first major introduction to rap for many listeners of mainstream rock. Yet at the time, when producer Rick Rubin came up with the idea of uniting Aerosmith and Run-D.M.C., it seemed like a long shot that it would actually happen. Aerosmiths Tyler and Perry were battling major drug problems, and their most recent album, 1985s Done With Mirrors, had flopped. Getting them to agree on anything besides snorting lines was a challenge. Meanwhile, Run-D.M.C., who had previously blurred the boundaries of rock and rap with songs like Rock Box and King of Rock, were content to have guitarist Eddie Martinez play their distorted guitar parts.

But Rubin was persistent. Realizing the heavy elements of Run-D.M.C.s music could be marketed to a rock audience more easily if listeners had something instantly recognizable to grasp onto, he was determined to include a popular rock cover on the groups upcoming third album, Raising Hell.

Related: Run-D.M.C.s Darryl McDaniels Says Sarah McLachlans 'Angel Saved His Life

To people who were not already fans of [rap music], the gap [between hip-hop and rock] was so far that not only did they not understand it, but they did not understand it to be music, Rubin told The Washington Post. I was looking for a way to bridge that gap in the story of finding a piece of music that was familiar and already hip-hop-friendly so that on the hip-hop side it would make sense and on the non-hip-hop side youd see it wasnt so far away.

Rubin considered using AC/DCs Back in Black, then discovered that another one of his acts, the Beastie Boys, had just recorded a version. So he opted for Walk This Way. The producer gave a Run-D.M.C. tape to a journalist friend who was traveling to Boston to interview Aerosmith, and asked her to hand the recording to the band to show them what rap was all about. As it turned out, Tyler and Perry were already familiar with the medium.

I loved rap, Tyler said. [Whenever I was in New York] I used to go looking for drugs on 9th Avenue and I would go over to midtown or downtown and there would be guys on the corner selling cassettes of their music. Id give them a buck, two bucks, and that was the beginning of me noticing what was going on.

Perrys introduction to hip-hop was less seedy. His 13-year-old stepson Aaron was a fan of Run-D.M.C. and other early rappers, including Sugarhill Gang and Doug E. Fresh, and Perry and the teenager sometimes listened to the music together. So when Perry received the invitation from Rubin to redo Walk This Way with Run-D.M.C., he was up for the challenge.

They were new to me and I liked it  the sound was like a freight train, Perry told The Wall Street Journal. Rick said our original version was proto-rap  since Stevens lyrics were half-spoken, half-sung, and we had this solid beat. Rick asked if Id be willing to put some guitar on it and if Steven would sing new vocals. We said, yeah, why not. They were sampling our kick-drum beat anyway. It was going to be radical, since up until then most rappers had avoided electric guitars.

With Aerosmith on board, Rubin still had to sell the collaboration to Run-D.M.C. The groups DJ, the late Jam Master Jay, had actually used the song for scratching before, though at the time he didnt know the name of the tune. (Our thing was, Go get [Aerosmiths album] Toys in the Attic and play number four, Darryl D.M.C. McDaniels told The Washington Post. We had no idea that there was singing or what the song was, but we knew the beat. It was a hard breakbeat.) Jay immediately saw the benefits of Rubins proposal; D.M.C. and Run did not.

Rick gives us this yellow notebook pad. He tells us, Go down to Ds basement, put the needle on the record, D.M.C. told The Washington Post. We go down to my basement and put on the record and then you hear Backstroke lover always hidin neath the covers and immediately [we] get on the phone and [I] say, Hell no, this aint going to happen. This is hillbilly gibberish, country-bumpkin bulls.

After Rubin explained to D.M.C. and Run how important a collaboration with Aerosmith could be to their already-blossoming career, the rappers reluctantly agreed to give it a shot. On March 9, 1986, Aerosmith flew to New York and went into Record Plant studio with Run-D.M.C. to track the song. When the band arrived, they received a lukewarm greeting from the rappers.

They were very ambivalent about this whole thing, Perry told the Post. Steven was upset because they didnt know the lyrics.

They also didnt appreciate the flow of the words. The first vocal track Run-D.M.C. recorded was half-hearted, largely because they couldnt relate to it. Then Jam Master Jay convinced Run and D.M.C. to try to feel the words and reinterpret them when necessary. With a far more convincing vocal take tracked that included Run, D.M.C., and Tyler, Perry recorded the guitars. Rubin liked what he heard, but felt the song needed a bassline, and Aerosmith bassist Tom Hamilton hadnt made the trip to New York. So one of the Beastie Boys, who had been hanging out on a couch for the session, told Rubin he had a bass back in his apartment and volunteered to get it. When he returned, Perry tracked the bass and the song was finished.

At the time, the awkward studio atmosphere and the lack of enthusiasm from the rappers involved prevented anyone from immediately realizing how good this new version of Walk This Way truly was. When they left New York at the end of the day, Perry and Tyler didnt even know if the song was going to be come out. However, after Rubin and the rest of the Def Jam team listened back to the mixed track, they knew they had something.

Raising Hell came out on May 15, 1986; Walk This Way was released as the albums second single seven weeks later. The marketing of the collaboration was almost as important as recording itself. The goal at the time was to get the song on the above-mentioned, all-important MTV. Director John Small wrote a treatment depicting the band and rappers performing in adjacent rooms, with the videos climax coming when Tyler smashed a hole through the wall with his mic stand and joined the rappers  literally symbolizing the smashing of the barriers between the two musical genres.

I loved the videos metaphor  that the wall between rock and rap was coming down and that the two music styles actually worked well together, Perry told The Wall Street Journal. It was glitter meets gold. Everyone who watched MTV then  rock and rap fans  got the message.

Run-D.M.C.s management flew Aerosmith in for a shoot, which went smoothly, except for one thing. The set guys were supposed to make a phony hole in the wall so breaking it would be easy, Tyler told WSJ. But when I hit it with everything I had, nothing happened, and I pulled every muscle in my back. I finally bashed it in.

In addition to going into regular rotation at MTV, Walk This Way became the first rap song influential Boston rock radio station WBCN ever aired. Boston was Aerosmiths hometown, so the nepotism made sense  but programmers in other cities followed suit, and the song eventually climbed to #4 on the Billboard singles chart.

Run-D.M.C.s Raising Hell eventually peaked at #1 on Billboards Top R&B Albums chart  the first hip hop/rap album to do so  and at #6 on the album chart. But Aerosmith received an even bigger career boost from the collaboration. When Aerosmiths ninth album, Permanent Vacation, came out a year after Walk This Ways breakthrough, it became the bands most successful release in more than a decade, selling 5 million copies in the U.S. alone. Aerosmith are now the best-selling American hard rock band of all time.

Run-D.M.C.s success as a recording act was not as lasting as Aerosmiths, but they are one of only five hip-hop acts inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and they received a Lifetime Achievement Grammy this year. Public Enemys Chuck D credits Run-D.M.C. not only for opening the door for rap-rock collaborations, but for getting rappers celebrity recognition. Run-D.M.C. made it possible for all the majors to see that rap music and hip-hop was album-oriented music and rap artists were rock stars, really, he told The Washington Post. Run-D.M.C. was the complete sacrifice for anything that was successful after 1986. This is why we need to acknowledge and always take care of them.
Riyadh: At least four people were killed and several others injured in three separate explosions that shook the holy cities of Medina and Qatif in eastern Saudi Arabia, where many of the kingdoms Shiite Muslim minority live, and witnesses said body parts could be seen in the area of the blast, according to CNN.

Agenceis said that these are very preliminary reports and it is likely that the number of casualties could rise.

A suicide bomber detonated a device near the security headquarters of the Prophets Mosque in Medina, Saudi Arabia, the second-holiest site in Islam, according to reports on Saudi-owned al-Arabiya television.

A witness said one explosion destroyed a car parked near a mosque, followed by another explosion just before 7 p.m. local time. Body parts could be seen and they are believed to be that of an attacker, the witness added.

Photographs purporting to be of the incident published on Twitter showed a severed leg and crowds gathered outside a mosque at dusk. Some posts said the explosion was caused by a suicide attacker setting off a bomb.

Reuters could not immediately verify the images or confirm the information.

The incident happened just hours after a suicide bomber was killed and two people were wounded in a blast near the US consulate in the kingdoms second city of Jeddah on Monday.

Story continues

It was the first bombing in years to attempt to target foreigners in the kingdom. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the Jeddah attack.

2 different incidents in #SaudiArabia



-Bomb blast in Qatif City

-Cylinder Blast near Masjid-e-Nabwi, #Madinah pic.twitter.com/Ji2vKVfz2m  Farzana Malik (@FarzanaaMalik) July 4, 2016

Islamic State has carried out a series of bombing and shooting attacks in Saudi Arabia since mid-2014 that have killed scores of people, mostly members of the Shi'ite Muslim minority and security services.

State-linked Saudi news websites say an explosion has gone off outside one of Islams holiest sites in the city of Medina, the same day that two suicide bombers struck different cities in Saudi Arabia.

A resident in the largely Shiite eastern Saudi Arabian region of Qatif says a suicide bomber and a car bomb have struck a neighborhood there, but that no injuries were immediately reported.

Mohammed al-Nimr told The Associated Press the bomber detonated his suicide vest Monday evening when most residents of the neighborhood were at home breaking the Ramadan fast.

Qatif is heavily populated by Shiites, who are a minority in the Sunni-ruled kingdom. Al-Nimr says that near the body of a suicide bomber was a car bomb that also went off around the same time.

More recently, Saudi Arabia has been a target of Islamic State group attacks that have killed dozens of people. The extremist Sunni group views the Western-allied Saudi monarchy and government as heretics. Saudi Arabia is part of the US-led coalition fighting the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria.

URGENT - Plusieurs explosions pres d'une mosquee a Qatif et a Medina, en Arabie saoudite. pic.twitter.com/q2RBs0Ukgf  Infos Francaises (@InfosFrancaises) July 4, 2016

Since late 2014 a series of bombings and shootings claimed by the Islamic State jihadist group in Saudi Arabia have targeted minority Shiites as well as members of the security forces.

Most of the attacks have been staged in Eastern Province, home to the majority of Shiites in the Gulf state.

In January, a suicide bomber attacked a mosque in the oasis region of Al-Ahsa, killing four people before worshippers disarmed and tied up an accomplice who had fired on them.

Last October in the Qatif area, a gunman fired on faithful marking the Shiite commemoration of Ashura in the Qatif area, killing five before police shot him dead.

Ashura is one of the holiest occasions for the Shiite faith.

In June last year, four Shiites died preventing a suicide bomber from entering the hall of Al-Anoud mosque in Dammam city adjacent to Qatif.

Days earlier, 21 people were killed in another Shiite mosque bombing in Eastern Province.

Groups claiming affiliation with IS said they carried out those blasts and the Ashura shooting.

During Ashura in 2014, gunmen killed seven Shiite worshippers, including children, in the eastern town of Al-Dalwa.

The interior ministry said the suspects had links to IS, which regards Shiites as heretics.

The blast followed others in Qatif and Jeddah on Monday, the last day of the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan.

Riyadh: At least four people were killed and several others injured in three separate explosions that shook the holy cities of Medina and Qatif in eastern Saudi Arabia, where many of the kingdoms Shiite Muslim minority live, and witnesses said body parts could be seen in the area of the blast, according to CNN.

Agenceis said that these are very preliminary reports and it is likely that the number of casualties could rise.

A suicide bomber detonated a device near the security headquarters of the Prophets Mosque in Medina, Saudi Arabia, the second-holiest site in Islam, according to reports on Saudi-owned al-Arabiya television.

A witness said one explosion destroyed a car parked near a mosque, followed by another explosion just before 7 p.m. local time. Body parts could be seen and they are believed to be that of an attacker, the witness added.

Photographs purporting to be of the incident published on Twitter showed a severed leg and crowds gathered outside a mosque at dusk. Some posts said the explosion was caused by a suicide attacker setting off a bomb.

Reuters could not immediately verify the images or confirm the information.

The incident happened just hours after a suicide bomber was killed and two people were wounded in a blast near the US consulate in the kingdoms second city of Jeddah on Monday.

It was the first bombing in years to attempt to target foreigners in the kingdom. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the Jeddah attack.

2 different incidents in #SaudiArabia



-Bomb blast in Qatif City

-Cylinder Blast near Masjid-e-Nabwi, #Madinah pic.twitter.com/Ji2vKVfz2m  Farzana Malik (@FarzanaaMalik) July 4, 2016

Islamic State has carried out a series of bombing and shooting attacks in Saudi Arabia since mid-2014 that have killed scores of people, mostly members of the Shi'ite Muslim minority and security services.

State-linked Saudi news websites say an explosion has gone off outside one of Islams holiest sites in the city of Medina, the same day that two suicide bombers struck different cities in Saudi Arabia.

A resident in the largely Shiite eastern Saudi Arabian region of Qatif says a suicide bomber and a car bomb have struck a neighborhood there, but that no injuries were immediately reported.

Mohammed al-Nimr told The Associated Press the bomber detonated his suicide vest Monday evening when most residents of the neighborhood were at home breaking the Ramadan fast.

Qatif is heavily populated by Shiites, who are a minority in the Sunni-ruled kingdom. Al-Nimr says that near the body of a suicide bomber was a car bomb that also went off around the same time.

More recently, Saudi Arabia has been a target of Islamic State group attacks that have killed dozens of people. The extremist Sunni group views the Western-allied Saudi monarchy and government as heretics. Saudi Arabia is part of the US-led coalition fighting the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria.

URGENT - Plusieurs explosions pres d'une mosquee a Qatif et a Medina, en Arabie saoudite. pic.twitter.com/q2RBs0Ukgf  Infos Francaises (@InfosFrancaises) July 4, 2016

Since late 2014 a series of bombings and shootings claimed by the Islamic State jihadist group in Saudi Arabia have targeted minority Shiites as well as members of the security forces.

Most of the attacks have been staged in Eastern Province, home to the majority of Shiites in the Gulf state.

In January, a suicide bomber attacked a mosque in the oasis region of Al-Ahsa, killing four people before worshippers disarmed and tied up an accomplice who had fired on them.

Last October in the Qatif area, a gunman fired on faithful marking the Shiite commemoration of Ashura in the Qatif area, killing five before police shot him dead.

Ashura is one of the holiest occasions for the Shiite faith.

In June last year, four Shiites died preventing a suicide bomber from entering the hall of Al-Anoud mosque in Dammam city adjacent to Qatif.

Days earlier, 21 people were killed in another Shiite mosque bombing in Eastern Province.

Groups claiming affiliation with IS said they carried out those blasts and the Ashura shooting.

During Ashura in 2014, gunmen killed seven Shiite worshippers, including children, in the eastern town of Al-Dalwa.

The interior ministry said the suspects had links to IS, which regards Shiites as heretics.

The blast followed others in Qatif and Jeddah on Monday, the last day of the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan.
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA: THE GIRLS BY EMMA CLINE

While The Girls is by no means a ringing endorsement to visit northern California (it's a fictional retelling of the notorious Charles Manson murders), it elucidates how much that part of the country has changed since the '60s, and tells a side of the story that was relatively absent from all of the court documents: the perspective of the girls in the cult, and what motivated them in the face of extreme danger.

$17 | Amazon

Courtesy
Seven members of an outlawed Bangladeshi Islamist group have been charged with the attempted murder of an Italian priest who was wounded in a shooting last year, police said Monday.

The charges come as Bangladesh reels from the killing of 20 hostages -- including nine Italians -- over the weekend at an upmarket cafe in the capital Dhaka.

The priest Piero Parolari, who is also a doctor, was shot by unidentified gunmen in the northern Dinajpur district last November.

The Islamic State group said it was responsible for the attack -- a claim promptly rejected by the government and police.

Police later arrested four suspected members of the Jamayetul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), with two allegedly confessing their roles in the attack.

Police on Sunday pressed charges against seven JMB followers for the attack, recommending that they be given death sentences if found guilty.

Three of those charged remain on the run, including a student at a private university whose father is a Bangladeshi-origin Canadian citizen.

"All seven who are charged are JMB members. Two of them told a court as to how they planned the attack and who have supplied them weapons," Inspector Bazlur Rahman, who is leading the investigation, told AFP.

The government and police say homegrown extremists are responsible for the deaths of some 80 secular activists, foreigners and religious minorities killed over the last three years.

Police have also blamed the JMB for the killings during the siege in the heart of Dhaka's diplomatic zone which came to an end on Saturday morning.

They say the deaths are part of a plot to destabilise the country, and have blamed the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and its Islamist ally.

Last month Dhaka launched a nationwide crackdown on local jihadist groups, arresting more than 11,000 people, under pressure to act on the spate of killings.

But many rights groups allege the arrests were arbitrary or were a way to silence political opponents of the government.
UPDATED Director Martin Scorsese released this statement on the death of Abbas Kiarostami: I was deeply shocked and saddened when I heard the news of Abbas Kiarostamis death. He was one of those rare artists with a special knowledge of the world, put into words by the great Jean Renoir: Reality is always magic. For me, that statement sums up Kiarostamis extraordinary body of work. Some refer to his pictures as minimal or minimalist, but its actually the opposite: every scene in Taste of Cherry or Where Is the Friends House? is overflowing with beauty and surprise, patiently and exquisitely captured. I got to know Abbas over the last 10 or 15 years. He was a very special human being: quiet, elegant, modest, articulate, and quite observant  I dont think he missed anything. Our paths crossed too seldom, and I was always glad when they did. He was a true gentleman, and, truly, one of our great artists.

PREVIOUS Abbas Kiarostami, the Palme DOr-winning Iranian director of 1997s Taste of Cherry, has died in Paris at 76. The death was first reported by Iranian news agencies.

According to Irans Isna news agency, Kiarostami had travelled to France for treatment of gastrointestinal cancer. Hed undergone a series of surgeries since his diagnosis this past March.

His death comes less than a week after hed been invited by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences to join its ranks. The invitation was one of 683 issued by the Academy in an attempt to diversify its membership.

With more than 40 films to his credit, most filmed in Iran, Kiarostami is best known for his so-called Koker trilogy from 87 to 94 (Where is the Friends Home?, Life, and Nothing More, and Through the Olive Trees), 1990s Close-Up, 1999s The Wind Will Carry Us and Taste of Cherry, the 1997 film that won the Palme dOr at that years Cannes Film Festival.

Story continues

His 2002 film Ten, a New York Film Festival selection that chronicled a womans drive through Tehran over several days and the conversations she has with various female passengers, was praised by The New York Times as a work of inspired simplicity, a review that went on to call Kiarostami perhaps the most internationally admired Iranian filmmaker of the past decade.

Born in Tehran, Kiarostami became a central figure of the Iranian New Wave cinema that grew out of the 1960s and 70s. Legend has it that Jean-Luc Godard said, Film begins with DW Griffith and ends with Abbas Kiarostami.

Kiarostami spent nearly his entire career working in Iran, even after the 1979 Islamic Revolution, though his most recent films  2010s Certified Copy (starring Juliette Binoche in a Cannes award-winning role) and 2012s Like Someone in Love were filmed in Italy and Japan, respectively.

Oscar-winning Iranian filmmaker Asghar Farhadi told the Guardian from Tehran today that hed intended to visit Kiarostami in Paris tonight. He wasnt just a filmmaker, Farhadi said, he was a modern mystic, both in his cinema and his private life. He definitely paved ways for others and influenced a great deal of people. Its not just the world of cinema that has lost a great man; the whole world has lost someone really great.

Kiarostami is survived by sons Ahmad and Bahman.

The Tribeca Film Festival tweeted its respects today:

"Good cinema is what we can believe and bad cinema is what we can't believe."  Abbas Kiarostami #RIP pic.twitter.com/AUrXL5qmjX  Tribeca (@Tribeca) July 4, 2016

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The International Red Cross released rare aerial footage shot in June showing the once busy city of Ramadi reduced to a ghost town. The Iraqi military declared the recapture of the capital of Anbar province last December and has since reportedly cleared most of it from Islamic State fighters. According to ICRC, with explosives still scattered across the city it will take a long time before people will feel safe to return to their homes.

Speaking from 4.58, ICRC President Peter Maurer says that his organisation is willing to speak to anyone, or act as an intermediary, so that more assistance can be delivered to those in need across Syria and Iraq. From 5.58, the video shows ICRC workers distributing aid to families in the Syrian towns of Al Rastan, near Homs, and Kishweh, in rural Damascus. Credit: ICRC
By Greg Torode and Mike Collett-White HONG KONG/LONDON (Reuters) - As an international tribunal prepares to rule on Beijing's territorial claims in the South China Sea, officials in Washington, Tokyo and Southeast Asia are on tenterhooks. Yet, in the words of one senior Chinese official, Beijing does not care. On July 12, the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague will rule on a case brought by the Philippines against China over its territorial claims and actions across the disputed waters and vital global trade route. Beijing claims some 90 percent of the South China Sea, and the Philippines is challenging it under a United Nations maritime convention. "We do not know, we don't care, in fact, when this arbitration decision will be made, because no matter what kind of decision this tribunal is going to make, we think it is totally wrong," China's ambassador to the UK, Liu Xiaoming, told Reuters at a recent lunch in London. "It has no impact on China, on China's sovereignty over these reefs, over the islands. And it will set a serious, wrong and bad example. We will not fight this case in court, but we will certainly fight for our sovereignty." Beijing's plans to ignore the ruling would represent both a rejection of the international legal order and a direct challenge to the United States, which believes China is developing islands and reefs for military, as well as civilian purposes in a threat to stability. It would also significantly raise the stakes over dispute, according to lawyers, diplomats and security experts. How Washington handles the aftermath of the ruling is widely seen as a test of its credibility in a region where it has been the dominant security presence since World War Two against an increasingly assertive China. China in turn sees this as a matter of defending its territorial and political sovereignty against the United States. Other nations laying claim to disputed areas of the South China sea felt emboldened to challenge China because they felt they had the United States on their side, Liu said. "They probably believe that they have America (behind them) and they can get a better deal with China. So I'm very suspicious of America's motives." So while Beijing scoffs at the imminent decision, it is also making an international PR effort to get its view heard. Beijing has organized meetings with diplomats and journalists and has expressed its views in a slew of editorials and academic papers around the world. "Manila has no leg to stand on," said one report in the China Daily's inaugural New Zealand edition. Asian and Western diplomats said their Chinese peers were raising the issue constantly, and at all levels. "It's relentless. We haven't seen anything like this in years," said one Asian-based Western envoy. China says more than 40 countries back its position that such territorial disputes should be handled through bilateral discussions not international arbitration, although only a handful of countries have publicly voiced their support. Both Chinese and Western analysts say the ruling is not just about the territorial claims in the South China sea, but speaks to broader Sino-U.S. tensions over China's rise. "This is about exposing Washington's declining primacy," said Zhang Baohui, a mainland security expert at Hong Kong's Lingnan University. "China gains reputational power by showing the U.S. that it can't dictate Chinese actions." ARGUING THE CASE The law under which the Philippines has made its claim is the UN's Convention on the Law of the Sea, known as UNCLOS, which outlines what can be claimed from different geographic features such as islands and reefs. China is a signatory of the convention, one of the first international agreements it helped negotiate after joining the UN. But Beijing says the issue is beyond the remit of UNCLOS and The Hague court because China has undisputable, historic rights and sovereignty over much of the South China Sea. China's claims are expressed on its maps as the so-called nine dash line, an ill-defined U-shaped demarcation drawn up after the defeat of Japan in World War II. Manila's case is based around 15 points that challenge the legality of China's claims and its recent reclamations on seven disputed reefs in the fishing and energy rich region. It also seeking support for the Philippines' right to exploit is 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ). Sources close to Manila's legal team said they are confident of favorable rulings on enough points to create significant pressure on China's future moves in the waterway. Many of Manila's arguments in court last November were couched in arcane legal terms, but to drive home the point about the scale of China's on-going building works, lawyers used a slide show. Amsterdam's sprawling Schiphol airport was shown fitting neatly into China's new runways on Subi Reef. "We knew the judges had all used Schiphol," said one source close to Manila's case. "We think they got the point." UNITED RESPONSE? Ahead of the vote, the UK, Australia and Japan are among countries that have joined Washington in stressing the importance of freedom of navigation and respect for the rule of law. U.S. officials have also been pressing Southeast Asian nations to forge a united front on the issue, with limited success so far. Vietnam, which has made a submission to the panel not ruled out taking its own legal action, on Friday called for a "fair and objective" ruling from the tribunal. The G7 and EU groupings have stated that ruling must be binding, despite China's objections, while Vietnam gave a submission to the court supporting its jurisdiction. Legal experts say that while the ruling is technically binding, no body exists to enforce UNCLOS rulings. Concerns are growing among regional military and government officials that, regardless of the ruling, Beijing could launch fresh military action and re-building efforts to buttress its claims. China may deploy fighter jets or missiles to its new facilities on the Spratlys, create an air exclusion zone or starting fresh reclamation work on shoals occupied within the Philippines, U.S. and regional military officials say. Beijing says the reefs are Chinese territory and it is entitled to station "self-defense" equipment on its holdings as it sees fit to counter U.S. provocation. In Washington, concern is particularly acute over whether China attempts to make permanent its sea-borne presence near the Scarborough Shoal, near the Philippines, by building on the reef. Liu outlined various civilian developments completed and underway in the South China Sea. He said there were also military facilities being built, adding: "I was asked why China is also building military facilities. You should ask the Americans. They made us feel threatened. It's not we (who) are threatening the Americans. They are so close to us." The United States has been increasing its own military presence in the region where Malaysian, Vietnam, Brunei and Taiwan also have claims. France has also proposed to European countries that they take part in joint South China Sea patrols. U.S. responses could include accelerated freedom-of-navigation patrols by U.S. warships and overflights by U.S. aircraft as well as increased defense aid to Southeast Asian countries, according to U.S. officials speaking on the condition of anonymity. Liu said Beijing wanted to resolve the disputes through bilateral negotiations. "We are not going to war with these countries, we do not want to have a fight with them," he said. "But we still claim our sovereignty over these islands." (Additional reporting by David Brunnstrom and Matt Spetalnick in Washington.; Editing by Lincoln Feast and Alessandra Galloni.)
An ex-aide of former Chinese president Hu Jintao has been jailed for life for corruption, illegally obtaining state secrets and abuse of power, official media reported Monday.

Ling Jihua pleaded guilty and said he would not appeal, Xinhua news agency said, citing the verdict of the First Intermediate People's Court in Tianjin, which held his trial in secret last month.

"The trial today is engraved on my bones and in my heart," it quoted Ling as saying in his final statement to the court.

His case was the lead item on state broadcasters CCTV's nightly news programme which showed the former official, wearing a white shirt and glasses, humbly accepting his sentence.

"I take this opportunity to express thanks to the court for a trial in accordance with the law and its humane treatment," he said.

Chinese courts are controlled by the ruling Communist party, which expelled Ling -- once Hu's chief of staff -- from its ranks last year.

The verdict and sentence come as part of a high-profile corruption crackdown by current President Xi Jinping that has deposed of several senior officials, notably former security chief Zhou Yongkang, who was himself jailed for life last year.

Graft is endemic in China's authoritarian system, and Xi has acknowledged it as a threat to the ruling party's survival.

But critics say that a lack of transparency around the purge means it has been an opportunity for Xi to eliminate political enemies.

- 'Lenient sentence' -

Ling's son died in a notorious Ferrari crash in Beijing that disrupted the once-in-a-decade party leadership change when Xi took over from Hu in 2012.

Ling had powerbases in the northern province of Shanxi and the Communist Youth League -- seen as a proving ground for politicians who, unlike Xi, do not benefit from family links to high-ranking revolutionaries.

One of his brothers, Ling Zhengce, a senior official in Shanxi, was put under investigation in 2014 for serious violations of "discipline and the law" -- a euphemism for corruption -- and expelled from the party last year.

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Another brother, Ling Wancheng, has fled to the United States, a Chinese anti-graft official confirmed in January, adding Beijing was "in touch" with Washington about his case.

His exile has led to speculation in overseas Chinese media that Ling Jihua had given him top state secrets, including the launch codes for China's nuclear weapons, to secure some leverage in negotiations with Beijing over his case.

Under Chinese law the death penalty is available for corruption cases, but Xinhua said Ling was given a reduced sentence for having "faithfully" confessed to his crimes and being penitent for his actions.

It was "a relatively lenient sentence", Willy Lam of the Chinese University of Hong Kong told AFP. "It's possible Ling drove a bargain with authorities."

His former boss Hu was probably safe, Lam added, saying that the former president "made a wise decision by refusing to support Ling".

But other Hu proteges "may now be blocked from promotion" as Xi consolidates his power over the government, he said.

- 'Especially vile' -

The Ferrari crash involving Ling's son scandalised China -- despite a media blackout on the mainland -- partly because two young women, one nude and one partially clothed, were also injured in the crash, with one reportedly dying months later.

Internet users questioned how the son of a party official could afford a car reported to be worth five million yuan ($150,000).

The politician, his wife and son received bribes worth a total of 77.1 million yuan, Xinhua said.

The court found that the bribes Ling took were "exceptionally enormous" and "the criminal circumstances" under which he obtained state secrets were severe, according to the report.

His abuse of power caused "huge losses to public property and the interests of the state and the people" and had "especially vile social impact", it said.

When Ling was charged the country's national prosecuting authority said he "abused his power" as director of the General Office of the Communist Party's Central Committee, where he worked under Hu.

In several party leadership posts he "illegally received large amounts of property and obtained state secrets", it added.
LONDON  Steve Macallister, CEO of All3Media International, has left the company after less than 18 months in the role.

Macallister, a well-known figurehead in the international TV business who had previously held senior roles at Zodiak Rights, BBC Worldwide and Disney, is believed to have ankled the position abruptly at the end of last week, according to a report from Television Business International.

Gary Woolf, executive vice president of commercial development and CFO-COO John Wagener will co-steer the company in the wake of his departure while the search of a full-time replacement is expected to begin within the coming weeks.

Steve Macallister has left All3Media, the companys CEO Jane Turton told TBI. Wed like to thank him for his work and wish him all the best for the future.

Macallister replaced Louise Pedersen at All3Media International, the outfit behind such shows as Skins and Midsomer Murders, in March 2015 after her departure for Colin Callenders outfit Playground.

During his tenure at All3, which was acquired by Discovery Communications and Liberty Global in 2014, Macallister was responsible for working with a raft of TV shingles across the companys stable. He restructured All3s sales operation, oversaw the companys expanded presence in the U.S. in the aftermath of the Discovery-Liberty Global takeover, and steered the imminent opening of the companys Asian office.

He also implemented a number of significant hires during his time there, including Sally Habbersaw, who joined from A+E to run the All3s New York offices as well as hiring former BBC Worldwide and Zodiak colleague Woolf to exec veep of commercial development.

Macallister was previously CEO of Zodiak Rights, which later became part of Banijay Group, for a one-year stint. Before that, he was president and managing director of BBC Worldwides sales and distribution unit. He also worked at Disney for 14 years, where he held a raft of regional roles at the company.

Story continues

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A University of Wisconsin student who went missing hours after arriving in Rome last Thursday for a study-abroad program has been found dead.



The body of Beau Solomon, 20, was pulled from the Tiber River in the Italian capital on Monday, according to John Cabot University, where Solomon was meant to take courses for the summer.



"John Cabot University is deeply saddened to announce that the body of Beau Solomon, the missing American visiting student, has been found in the Tiber River," says a statement from the school. "We express our most heartfelt condolences to the Solomon family and to all those who loved Beau."



On Friday, Solomon's roommate reported him missing from the small liberal arts college in Rome when he failed to return from a night out.



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"The University was alerted by his roommate who reported that he had lost contact with Beau around 1:00 am on Thursday night while together at a pub in Rome, and was worried when he did not see Beau at orientation that morning," reads the statement from John Cabot University.



The school "alerted the Italian law enforcement authorities, providing them with all the information in its possession. John Cabot University also informed the American Embassy and the student's home school, which notified the family."



Solomon's parents flew to Rome in the hopes of helping with the investigation.



His credit card was used to make thousands of dollars worth of purchases 355 miles away in Milan, according to authorities.



The University of Wisconsin-Madison's dean of students, Lori Berquam, had said in a statement issued prior to Solomon's death that the school was working with Italian and American authorities to locate Solomon. "We ask all Badgers to keep Beau and his family in their thoughts and prayers," the statement reads.



Solomon had just finished his first year at the University of Wisconsin-Madison as a personal finance major, according to the school. He had previously attended two other colleges.
By Andrew Mambondiyani CHIMANIMANI, Zimbabwe (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - A black baobab tree stands forlornly on the side of a highway in Chimanimani district, in the east of Zimbabwe. The tree is one of many in this region afflicted by a mysterious disease, which turns the baobabs black before they lose their branches and die. The giant trees, which dwarf their more common acacia and mopani neighbours in this dry part of the country, have long been revered as a way to survive drought. Families cook and eat the leaves as a vegetable. The fruits can been eaten raw or cooked into porridge. Baobab seeds substitute for coffee. And the bark fibre can be woven into mats. Porridge made from baobab fruits has saved many people from dying in times of drought, villager Dorcus Chiadzwa told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. But environmentalists fear a disease that is now attacking baobabs  particularly those that have had part of their bark harvested  could wipe out entire baobab populations and leave people battling drought with fewer survival options. Initially the disease attacked damaged trees but it's spreading to other trees. And the disease is spreading very fast, warned Lawrence Nyagwande, who heads Environment Africa, a non-governmental organisation in Zimbabwes Manicaland province. He said there was little research available on what is causing the disease  suspected to be caused by one or more fungus species  or how to stop it from spreading. FOOD SHORTAGES With Zimbabwe struggling with a devastating El Nino-induced drought, which has decimated more than half of the countrys food crops, many people in drought-hit areas of the east are now depending on baobabs for survival. According to government officials, at least 4.5 million people are food insecure in Zimbabwe as a result of the drought. The country is seeking up to $1.6 billion in aid to feed those unable to grow crops. Many people are harvesting the fruits to sell. These fruits are bringing much-needed income for villagers, Chiadzwa said. The fibre from the baobab trees is also used to make mats, which are now in demand from tourists travelling the Mutare-Masvingo highway. Along that route, women and children selling baobab fruits and mats are a common feature of the landscape. But villagers say the disease that is turning baobabs black has afflicted many trees in the dryer parts of Chimanimani, Chipinge, Buhera and Mutare districts. They fear it could wipe out the entire baobab tree population there. The disease is now widespread in these areas, said Malvern Mudiwa, one villager. But I dont know what is causing the disease. The trees are turning black before they finally die. Chiadzwa said the villagers were worried that their source of livelihood might be wiped out. The affected trees are no longer producing fruits. The tree branches fall before the tree finally dies, she said. TOO MUCH STRESS? Experts suspect that the fungus which may be attacking the trees takes hold after a tree is damaged by having bark removed. Extended drought may also be stressing the trees, reducing their ability to withstand the fungus or recover from bark harvesting. Normally it takes six months or more for trees to recover after the barks have been removed for mats, said Clive Kapfumvuti, another villager. And during this recovery time trees are susceptible to the disease. Kapfumvuti said many people in drought-hit areas like Nyanyadzi in Chimanimani district were earning up to $6 a day selling baobab fruits. Money from baobab fruits has helped to sustain many people here, he said. Because the trees have no national commercial value, little research has been done on how to save the baobab trees, experts say. A senior official with the National Museums and Monuments of Zimbabwe, Paul Mupira, told during journalists at a May press briefing in Mutare that baobab trees were dying in large numbers. He said there was also a lack of young trees growing to replace those dying, in part because people were collecting baobab seeds for food. Animals are eating the young plants, he said. People eat the small plants too as vegetables. Nyagwande, of Environment Africa, said villagers in the affected areas were being encouraged to plant more baobab trees to reverse the decline. Unless something is done as matter of urgency, baobabs face extinction, he predicted. (Reporting by Andrew Mambondiyani; editing by Laurie Goering :; Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, climate change, women's rights, trafficking and property rights. Visit http://news.trust.org/climate)
Brussels (AFP) - Argentinian President Mauricio Macri said Monday that his country's claim to the Falkland Islands remains unchanged following Britain's vote to leave the EU.

"Brexit or not, our claim will never change," Macri told reporters in Brussels after talks with European Union leaders.

Britain's vote to leave the EU in a referendum on June 23 has cast uncertainty on the country's global position, including whether European states would continue to back Britain's possession of the Falklands.

Spain said after the vote that it was closer to asserting control over Gibraltar, the rocky outcrop on its southern tip, following the Brexit vote, prompting London to jump to the defence of its overseas territory.

Speaking about the Falklands, Macri added: "That is something long-lasting and we hope one day that we can discuss (the issue with Britain). It doesn't mean that we cannot meanwhile have other cooperation with Britain.

"It is something I have already discussed with Cameron, I hope that with the next English prime minister we can find the space to start this dialogue. It will take years but it is important to start."

Britain and Argentina fought a short but bloody war over the Falklands in the South Atlantic in 1982 after Argentine troops invaded and then prime minister Margaret Thatcher sent a naval task force.

The conflict claimed the lives of 649 Argentine soldiers, 255 British soldiers and three islanders.

In 2013, almost 100 percent of the Falkland Islands' residents voted in favour of remaining under British rule.
Asghar Farhadi's Iranian drama The Salesman has won the ARRI/Osram Award for best international film at the Munich Film Festival.

The feature, which premiered in May at Cannes, where it picked up best screenplay honors, is a story of jealousy and revenge in modern-day Tehran set against a theater performance of Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman. It stars Shahab Hosseini, who won the best actor prize at Cannes for his performance, alongside Taraneh Alidoosti, Babak Karimi and Mina Sadati.

Read more: 'The Salesman' ('Forushande'): Cannes Review

All Three of Us, an autobiographical family drama from Iranian-French comedian Kheiron, won Munich's audience award, presented by German TV network Bayern 2 and national newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung. The pic traces the experiences of Kheiron's parents, father Hibat (played by Kheiron in the film) and mother Fereshteh (Leila Bekhti), who are forced to flee Iran following the Revolution, eventually settling in a rough Paris banlieue.

Read more: All Three of Us (Nous trois ou rien): Film Review

Dinky Slinky, the first feature from German director Mareille Klein, picked up the Fipresci Prize, awarded by the international association of film critics. The dramedy, which centers on a woman desperate to become pregnant who gets dumped by her boyfriend, also nabbed the German Cinema New Talent Award for best screenplay at the Munich fest.

Another first-time director, France's Houda Benyamina, won the Cinevision Award for best international newcomer in Munich for her debut Divines, which premiered in the Directors' Fortnight in Cannes.

Read more: 'Divines': Cannes Review
London (AFP) - Australian Open champion Angelique Kerber breezed into the Wimbledon quarter-finals with a straight-sets victory over Japan's Misaki Doi on Monday.

The German fourth seed won 6-3, 6-1 on Court Two in a one-sided, 64-minute contest against the world number 49.

Kerber faces either fifth seed Simona Halep of Romania or US ninth seed Madison Keys in Tuesday's quarter-finals.

Doi was the first Japanese woman to reach the last 16 of any Grand Slam event since Ai Sugiyama made the Wimbledon fourth round in 2006.
BERLIN (Reuters) - Austrian Finance Minister Hans Joerg Schelling told a German newspaper he expected Britain to remain a member of the European Union despite the June 23 referendum in which Britons voted to quit the bloc.

Schelling also said the EU should respond to the referendum result by reforming itself and by focusing on key issues such as the single market, climate change and security while leaving member states to deal with other topics.

"Britain will remain a member of the EU in the future," he was quoted as saying in an English excerpt of an interview due to be published in Handelsblatt on Tuesday.

"In five years, there will still be 28 member states," he said, noting that the impact of the Brexit vote on companies and financial markets had shocked Britain.

Some banks and firms have signalled they may move operations to continental Europe to secure continued unhindered access to the EU's single market, while the pound has been battered in currency markets amid fears of prolonged economic uncertainty.

"When you look at all of those (companies) who want to move to the EU, it's a wake-up call for Britain not to leave in the end," he said.

In a full version of the interview in German on Handelsblatt's website, Schelling said another option was for Britain to remain in the EU and not even apply to quit.

The longer the uncertainty over Britain's future relations with the EU lasts, Schelling said, the more unnerved markets and people will become and therefore the more damaging it will be both for Europe and especially for Britain.

The contenders to replace outgoing Prime Minister David Cameron, including those who backed the 'remain' camp, have said they will honour the result of the vote and have ruled out holding a second referendum.

(Reporting by Michelle Martin; Editing by Gareth Jones)
By Saif Hameed and Maher Chmaytelli BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The death toll from a suicide bombing in a Baghdad shopping district rose above 175 on Monday, fueling calls for security forces to crack down on Islamic State sleeper cells blamed for one of the worst-ever single bombings in Iraq. Numbers rose as bodies were recovered from the rubble in the Karrada area of Baghdad, where a refrigerator truck packed with explosives blew up on Saturday night when people were out celebrating the holy month of Ramadan. http://tmsnrt.rs/29dFtFG to see the location of the blast By Monday evening, the toll in Karrada stood at 175 killed and 200 wounded, according to police and medical sources. Rescuers and families were still looking for 37 missing people. Islamic State claimed the bombing, its deadliest in Iraq, saying it was a suicide attack. Another explosion struck the same night, when a roadside bomb blew up in popular market of al-Shaab, a Shi'ite district in north Baghdad, killing two people. The attacks showed Islamic State can still strike in the heart of the Iraqi capital despite recent military losses, undermining Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi's declaration of victory last month when Iraqi forces dislodged the hardline Sunni insurgents from the nearby city of Falluja. Abadi's Shi'ite-led government ordered the offensive on Falluja in May after a series of deadly bombings in Shi'ite areas of Baghdad that it said originated from the Sunni Muslim city, about 50 km (30 miles) west of the capital. Falluja was the first Iraqi city captured by Islamic State in 2014, six months before it declared a caliphate over parts of Iraq and Syria. Since last year the insurgents have been losing ground to U.S.-backed Iraqi government forces and Iranian-backed Shi'ite militias. "Abadi has to have a meeting with the heads of national security, intelligence, the interior ministry and all sides responsible for security and ask them just one question: How can we infiltrate these groups?" said Abdul Kareem Khalaf, a former police Major General who advises the Netherlands-based European Centre for Counterterrorism and Intelligence Studies think tank. He said Islamic State, or Daesh, "has supporters or members everywhere - in Baghdad, Basra and Kurdistan. All it takes is for one house to have at least one man and you have a planning base and launch site for attacks of this type." In a sign of public outrage at the failure of the security services, Abadi was given an angry reception on Sunday when he toured Karrada, the district where he grew up, with residents throwing stones, empty buckets and even slippers at his convoy in gestures of contempt. He ordered new measures to protect Baghdad, starting with the withdrawal of fake bomb detectors that police have continued to use despite a scandal that broke out in 2011 about their sale to Iraq under his predecessor, Nuri al-Maliki. The hand-held devices were initially developed to find lost golf balls, and the British businessman who sold them to Iraq for $40 million was jailed in Britain in 2013. Abadi ordered that the fake devices be replaced by efficient detectors at the entrances to Baghdad and Iraq's provinces. Later on Monday, the justice ministry announced in a statement that five people convicted of terrorism and sentenced to death were executed on Monday morning, bringing the total number of those executed on the same charges to 37 in the past two months. "We refuse categorically all political or international interventions to stop the death sentence under the cover of human rights; Iraqi blood is above all slogans," it said, linking the timing of the executions to the Karrada bombing. Iraqi intelligence services also announced on Monday the arrest of 40 "terrorists" suspected of forming a group to carry out attacks in Baghdad and the eastern Diyala province. BUSY STREETS Karrada, a largely Shi'ite district with a small Christian community and a few Sunni mosques, was busy at the time of the blast as people were eating out and shopping late during Ramadan, which ends this week with the Eid al-Fitr festival. As Iraq started observing three days of national mourning, rescuers continued digging through the rubble of a shopping mall believed to be the main target of the bombing, searching for bodies or possible survivors. Three bodies were pulled out in the morning from the basement of the three-story Al-Laith mall, which was reduced to a skeleton of charred steel and concrete by the blast. Its glass facades were blown out and its internal divider walls collapsed. Dozens of people gathered outside, many of them friends or relatives of missing. "I know my nephew is here because he called me to say he can't leave because of the fire in the building," said Mohammed al-Tai watching the rescuers at work. "As Daesh retreats, it will shrink from so-called state and terrorist group to just terrorist group," said Baghdad-based security analyst Hisham al-Hashimi, author of "The World of Daesh". That will require an increased response from intelligence and security services, he said, as well as cooperation from Iraq's Sunni Muslims, who have complained of marginalization since the 2003 U.S. invasion to topple Saddam Hussein. "Their input would be of utmost importance to unmask sleeper cells that could be operating from their areas," Hashimi said. (Writing by Maher Chmaytelli; Editing by Larry King)
For years, Bangladesh has presented a paradox to outsiders. The small, densely packed South Asian nation is among the worlds poorest. It is often ranked as one of the worlds most corrupt places. Its political system has repeatedly been jolted by instability. And its territory is deeply vulnerable to the effects of climate change.

And yet, throughout all this, Bangladesh has also been a source of positive news. As an April assessment by World Bank economists put it, by any standards, [the] Bangladesh economy has done well, with economic growth exceeding 6%. In fact, as an International Monetary Fund report from earlier this year noted, the economy has been strong and largely stable since the mid-1990s. A key driver has been the countrys $26 billion garment industry, which accounts for around 80% of its exports. As the economy grew, the number of Bangladeshis in living in poverty fell and social indicators improved, with the government putting money into initiatives to empower women and improve food security.

Growth has continued to be firm in recent years, even as a dangerous new challenge to the Muslim-majority nation became increasingly apparent  the threat from extremist violence. Beginning around 2013, a bloody campaign of targeted killings steadily picked off writers and activists critical of Islam, along with members of the countrys religious minorities. In many cases, al-Qaeda and the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS) sought to take credit for the attacks. But the government of Sheikh Hasina time and again played down the threat from transnational terrorist groups. Instead, it blamed homegrown radicals and extremists linked to the political opposition, which historically has had close links with right-wing Islamists. Security analysts have been concerned about the situation in Bangladesh for months now, but the targeted nature of the killings and the governments stand that it was dealing with an internal problem have largely kept the issue out of the global spotlight.

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The tragic attack on the Holey Artisan Bakery restaurant on July 1 changed that, marking a gruesome escalation in the extremist threat. Located in the upscale Dhaka district of Gulshan, home to wealthy Bangladeshis, expats and foreign embassies, it was carefully chosen for its international clientele. Twenty hostages were brutally murdered, most of them foreigners. Nine Italians, seven Japanese, an Indian national and a U.S. citizen of Bangladeshi origin, along with two Bangladeshis. Accounts from survivors confirm that the attackers sought out the foreigners, sparing most of the Bangladeshis trapped inside the restaurant.

Two policemen also died as the authorities tried to take control of the situation. Six of the gunmen were killed after a tense overnight siege that turned the international spotlight on the countrys battle with terrorism. One is now in the custody of the authorities.

The government confirms that all of the attackers were Bangladeshi nationals, with police saying they had previously tried to arrest five of them. But authorities continue to dispute any link to ISIS, which claimed that it was behind the attack They are Bangladeshi, they are home-grown and they are politically motivated, Gowher Rizvi, an adviser to Hasina, tells TIME. [The] debate over [ISIS] is not the central issue. Terrorists are terrorists. They come in all sizes and shapes. We want to learn from the incident and the government will try to address the challenges.

This time, however, in addition to taking credit for the attack, ISIS also put out pictures of the alleged gunmen standing in front of its black flag, raising troubling questions for the government. As a weekend editorial in the local Daily Star newspaper said: Fridays mayhem brings some new and striking realities to the fore. Our usual response these are isolated incidents have proven to be false.

The government also faces tough questions about its efforts to tackle extremism. Many of the early attacks, including the killing of the Bangladeshi-American writer and blogger Avijit Roy in Februrary 2015, were aimed at critics of religion, and the government was widely seen as mincing its words in defending the victims. Instead of imposing order, it seemed too preoccupied with criticizing the slain. For example, shortly after Niladry Chattopadhya, another secular blogger, had been hacked to death at his Dhaka home, Hasina told TIME that secular-minded writers and activists needed to be careful in what they say and write. If anybody thinks they have no religion, O.K., its their personal view  But they have no right to write or speak against any religion, she insisted in a September interview at her Dhaka office. The Prime Minister, who presents herself as the protector of the countrys secular foundations, added that writers like Roy and Chattopadhya should not hurt anybodys [religious] feeling. When you are living in a society, you have to honor the social values, you have to honor the others feelings.

This was before the first attack on a foreigner, Italian citizen Cesare Tavella, who was gunned down as he went for a jog in the Gulshan neighborhood. More recently, after the murder of the wife of an antiterrorism police officer, Hasina launched a nationwide crackdown, with authorities arresting thousands of people in what it said was an effort to fight extremism. The opposition, however, said the move was designed to round up its supporters and workers.

The latest Gulshan attack, in addition to focusing the worlds attention on the question of just how prone Bangladesh is to international terrorism, could also hit the one area where progress has been steady in recent years  the countrys economy. Although individual foreigners have been targeted before, the Holey Artisan carnage is the biggest such attack to hit Bangladesh in recent times, sending shock waves through its expat community, many of whom are involved in the garment trade or work in the aid sector.

Many of the victims, too, were connected to the garment business, including 52-year-old Italian national Nadia Benedetti, identified as the managing director for Bangladeshi branch of a British firm. She was a frequent traveler to Bangladesh for business. She was both a buyer and investor here, Kazi Iftaquer Hossain, who knew Benedetti and is the head of a garment-industry trade association, tells TIME. The attack, he says, could push international buyers of Bangladeshi garments to revisit their business ties with the country, as concern grows about the safety of their employees. I am extremely disappointed and worried. My major clients are from the U.K. and European countries, Hossain says. The aid sector could also suffer. Following confirmation that seven Japanese nationals were among the dead at the Holey Artisan Bakery, the Wall Street Journal reported that a Japanese governmental aid agency was now considering withdrawing from the country.

In its editorial, the Daily Star said the targeted killings and now this massacre may not be organically linked but that they form a part of [something] bigger and more sinister should not be doubted any more. It added: The message from last Fridays brutal killing is clear; our efforts so far have been inadequate. We need to sharpen our efforts in every sense of the term. Unless Hasina and her government heed these calls, many more lives could be put at risk.

 With reporting by A.K.M. Moinuddin / Dhaka
The Daily Beast

Photo illustration by Luis Rendon/GettyERIE, PennsylvaniaIn his highly anticipated debate against Republican Dr. Mehmet Oz, Lt. Gov. John Fetterman was asked to square two conflicting statements: one saying hes never supported fracking, and another saying hes always supported fracking.Uh, I do support fracking, and, I dontI dontI support fracking, and I stand, and I do support fracking, Fetterman said.As he tried unsuccessfully to square the two opposing sentiments, a debate watch party
By Aditya Kalra, Serajul Quadir and Ruma Paul DHAKA (Reuters) - Seven militants who killed 20 people at a Dhaka restaurant made no demands and a person taken alive by police was only a suspect admitted in hospital, Bangladesh's home minister said on Sunday, rejecting Islamic State's claims of responsibility. The gunmen stormed the upmarket restaurant in the diplomatic zone late on Friday and killed their mostly non-Muslim hostages, including nine Italians, seven Japanese and a citizen each from the United States and India. Three of the six gunmen killed were under 22 years of age and had been missing for six months, Asaduzzaman Khan told Reuters in an interview at his Dhaka home. Police and government officials have said the attackers were from well-off Bangladeshi families, a rarity and an indication that religious radicalisation was widening its scope. Claiming responsibility, Islamic State warned citizens of "crusader countries" - that is, traditionally Christian western states - in a statement that they would not be safe "as long as their aircraft are killing Muslims". It also posted pictures of five grinning fighters in front of a black flag who it said were involved in the attack, according to the SITE monitoring website. But Khan said Islamic State was not involved, reiterating the government's position that home-grown militants were responsible for a spate of killings in the country over the past 18 months, including the latest one. Asked about the photos, the minister pointed to a wall behind him and said: "If I fix a poster of IS here and stand with a machine gun, will it establish that IS is here?" The minister has blamed Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh, which claims to represent Islamic State in Bangladesh but has no proven links to it. Security experts believe the suspect, who was hospitalised with serious injuries, would be crucial to the investigation into the attack. Khan said it was not clear if he was involved. Islamic State also claimed responsibility for two bombings overnight in Baghdad that killed nearly 120 people and wounded 200, most of them in a busy shopping area while residents celebrated the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan. Reacting to the two attacks over the past three days, Pope Francis asked people attending noon prayer at the Vatican in Rome to pray for the victims and their families. Late on Sunday in Bangladesh, hundreds of men, women and children held a candle light vigil near Dhakas Shaheed Minar (Martyr's Monument) to pay respect to those who lost their lives. "We don't want this," Nasima, a textile industry worker, told Reuters Television. "Please stop this, stop this, stop this from our society, from our country, I want to live in peace." As Dhaka limped back to normal life, experts questioned the delay in launching the offensive against the militants. More than 100 commandos stormed the restaurant nearly 10 hours after the siege began, under an operation code-named 'Thunderbolt'. Analysts say that as Islamic State loses territory in Iraq and Syria and its finances get drained, it may be trying to build affiliates in countries such as Bangladesh for jihadists to launch attacks locally and cheaply. RICH FAMILIES Deputy Inspector General of Police Shahidur Rahman said on Sunday that authorities were investigating any connection between the attackers and transnational groups such as Islamic State or al Qaeda. He said the militants were mostly educated and from well-off families, but declined to give any more details. On Saturday police released pictures of five dead militants, most of them wearing grey T-shirts. National police chief Shahidul Hoque said all the gunmen were Bangladeshis. "Five of them were listed as militants and law enforcers made several drives to arrest them," he said. Whoever was responsible, the attack marked a major escalation in violence by militants demanding Islamic rule in Bangladesh, whose 160 million people are mostly Muslim. Previous attacks have mostly singled out individuals advocating a secular or liberal lifestyle, or religious minorities. RECITING KORAN VERSE Friday night's attack, during the final days of Ramadan, was more coordinated than the previous assaults. Gunmen singled out foreigners as soon as they stormed through the doors of the restaurant popular with expatriates. They ordered all Bangladeshis to stand up before the killing began, a source briefed on the investigation said. The Bangladeshis were later told to close their eyes and recite verses from the Koran. One militant cursed a Bangladeshi for eating with non-Muslims during Ramadan, the source said. The Islamic State-affiliated Amaq news agency claimed in a report on Saturday that the militants identified and released Muslim patrons from the Dhaka restaurant, SITE said. The victims also included at least three Bangladeshis or people of Bangladeshi descent. The militants hacked most of their victims with machetes, leaving their bleeding bodies on the floor. A standoff of nearly 12 hours with security forces ended when the commandos stormed the building, killing six of the militants and capturing a seventh after attempts at negotiations proved fruitless, authorities said. They recovered explosives and sharp weapons from the scene. HOME-GROWN GROUPS Up until Friday's attack, authorities had maintained no operational links existed between Bangladeshi militants and international jihadi networks. Bangladesh has blamed JMB and another home-grown outfit for the wave of grisly killings over the past year and a half. One line of inquiry being pursued was whether the restaurant attackers received any guidance from Islamic State or al Qaeda, an official in Bangladesh's counter-terrorism wing said. "Pictures (uploaded on Twitter) indicate they might have been encouraged by ISIS (Islamic State) activities abroad," said Muhammad Zamir, a former senior foreign ministry official. "But this does not show a direct link to ISIS. This is exactly what was done and disputed later in the case of the Orlando attack," he said, referring to the killing of 49 people last month by a man who pledged allegiance to Islamic State. Friday's attack in Dhaka was the worst since 2005, when JMB set off a series of bombs throughout Bangladesh in the space of an hour that killed at least 25 people, mostly judges, police and journalists. The authorities executed six top JMB leaders in March 2007 and police have continued to hunt for group members, often detaining suspected militants following intelligence tips. In February, Bangladesh police arrested three JMB members suspected of killing a Hindu priest. Islamic state has claimed responsibility for a series of other attacks in Bangladesh in recent months since first taking credit for a killing in September last year. An Italian missionary was shot and wounded in the neck last November. Another Italian and a Japanese citizen were killed in attacks at the end of September and early October last year. "Why will IS come here ... they are now in Iraq, Syria and sometimes in their neighbouring country they enter," minister Khan said. "We have no border with them. Why they will come here and how they will come here?" "SAVE ME, SAVE ME" In a run-down government hospital in Dhaka, two police officers who were on patrol duty on Friday night were treated for gunshot wounds, with bandages and plasters on their cheeks and legs. Behind their beds, a sheet of paper carried details of their wounds. Struggling to speak, 30-year-old officer Pradip, who gave just one name, recalled rushing to the spot after receiving a message that night. A blood-smeared man lay in front of the restaurant, shouting "save me, save me". The police officers called for backup after they were shot at from inside the restaurant. "At some point, I felt blood was rolling down my cheek," Pradip said. "We did respond with fire and the attackers stopped. We then rescued the man, who was the driver of some of the Japanese citizens who were inside." After meeting the officers in the hospital, police chief Hoque told Reuters they had gleaned some preliminary details on the identities of the attackers, but gave no details. GARMENT INDUSTRY The seven Japanese killed were working on projects for the Japan International Cooperation Agency, an overseas aid agency, Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said on Saturday. Six of them were in Dhaka to work on a metro rail project, said Bangladesh's communication minister Obaidul Quader. Italian media said several of the Italians victims worked in Bangladesh's $26 billion garment sector, which accounts for 80 percent of the country's exports. Minister Khan said he did not believe the attack would have any impact on the garment industry or the country's economy. But some disagree. A Bangladeshi garment exporter who supplies six European countries said his customers generally visit every two months but will now rethink that. "I feel they will be afraid," he said, declining to be identified. "Even I am afraid." (Additional reporting by Reuters Television in Dhaka; Writing by Tommy Wilkes and Krishna N. Das; Editing by Bill Tarrant and Tom Heneghan)
Bangladesh police said Monday they have formally arrested a detained attacker and one other over a siege at a cafe in which 20 hostages were killed.

"Two people are in custody. We'll file a case," inspector general of police Shahidul Hoque told AFP.
By Aditya Kalra and Serajul Quadir DHAKA (Reuters) - Bangladesh police sought more information on Monday from friends and family of the men suspected of carrying out a deadly attack on a restaurant in the capital, and some are believed to have attended top schools and colleges at home and abroad. The gunmen stormed the restaurant in Dhaka's diplomatic zone late on Friday and killed 20 people, most of them foreigners from Italy, Japan, India and the United States, in an assault claimed by Islamic State. It was one of the deadliest militant attacks to date in Bangladesh, where Islamic State and al Qaeda have claimed a series of killings of liberals and religious minorities in the last year while the government says they were carried out by local groups. Whoever was responsible, Friday's attack marked a major escalation in the scale and brutality of militant violence aimed at forcing strict Islamic rule in Bangladesh, whose 160 million people are mostly Muslim. Islamic State posted pictures of five fighters it said were involved in the atrocity to avenge attacks on Muslims across the world. "Let the people of the crusader countries know that there is no safety for them as long as their aircraft are killing Muslims," it said in a statement. Posts on Facebook identified the men, pictured on an Islamic State website grinning in front of a black flag, as Nibras Islam, Rohan Imtiaz, Meer Saameh Mubasheer, Andaleeb Ahmed and Raiyan Minhaj. Most went to prestigious schools or universities in Dhaka and Malaysia, officials said. One of them was the son of a politician. A police officer said the pictures of four of the attackers matched the bodies, although he gave a different name for the fourth. Rohan's father, a mid-ranking leader of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's ruling party, had lodged a complaint in January that he had gone missing since Dec. 30, 2015, a police officer said. On Monday, there was nobody at the family apartment in an affluent neighborhood of Dhaka, and a security guard said the parents had left the house on Sunday. "A majority of the boys who attacked the restaurant came from very good educational institutions. Some went to sophisticated schools. Their families are relatively well-to-do people," Bangladeshi Information Minister Hasanul Haq Inu told India's NDTV. TRACING ROOTS Several posts on social media said the man identified by police as Nibras Islam attended Monash University in Malaysia. A friend who knew him while he studied at Dhaka's North South University told Reuters that Islam later went to Monash. Two others went to an elite public school in Dhaka called Scholastica. Saifaul Islam, another investigator, said police were holding two people suspected of involvement in the assault, including one detained soon after the attack. "We have two persons with us, but we don't know if they are victims or suspects. They are currently undergoing treatment and we'd get to know about their role in the incident only after they recover." Nobody had yet come forward to claim the bodies of the six dead men, he said. "We are taking DNA samples of them and will see if it matches with the families. We have some suspicions, we know some boys had gone missing over the last two-three months." Just days after the attack claimed by its rival jihadi movement Islamic State, a regional branch of al Qaeda urged Muslims in India to revolt and carry out lone wolf attacks. The call by al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) follows warnings by security officials and experts that the two groups are trying to outdo each other in the region and claim the mantle of global jihad. Rohan Gunaratna, a professor of security studies at Singapore's Rajaratnam School of International Studies, said the Dhaka gunmen's background may have helped them mount the attack at the Holey Artisan restaurant, popular with the city's well-heeled and foreigners. "As they were well educated and young, they could blend into and operate in the upmarket diplomatic enclave without evoking red flags," he said. "The IS (Islamic State) attack team was also technologically savvy and they uploaded the photos during the attack both to (the) IS command cell in Bangladesh and IS central in Syria." On Monday, hundreds of people gathered in central Dhaka to remember the victims, holding placards in different languages. "We bleed from similar veins, we cry. Bangladesh, stand up for the next fight," read one large banner written in English. The attack could be a huge blow for Bangladesh's $26 billion garment industry, as fears mount that major retailers from Marks and Spencer to Gap Inc could rethink their investments. Japan's Fast Retailing Co, owner of the Uniqlo casual-wear brand, said it will suspend all but critical travel to Bangladesh and has told staff there to stay home. (Additional reporting by Zeba Siddiqui in MUMBAI, Rupam Jain and Tommy Wilkes in NEW DELHI and Ruma Paul and Reuters Television in DHAKA; Writing by Sanjeev Miglani and Tommy Wilkes; Editing by Mike Collett-White and Nick Macfie)
With the rains come the holidays. If youre still looking for excuses to go on any of these monsoon treks these holidays should help you plan your breaks better!





Jagannath Rath Yatra (July 6, Wednesday) in Odisha

Photograph: Wikipedia (Under Creative Commons license)

This is without a doubt the most awaited festival of the year in Odisha. The Jagannath Puri Yatra or the Chario Festival falls on July 6 this year and involves a procession at the center of which are three large chariots with idols of Jagannath, Balabhadra and Subhadra that are drawn by hundreds of people. Traditionally people would throw themselves under the wheels of these chariots to attain salvation, a practice that has all but ceased in modern times. The English word juggernaut (an Anglicized version of Jagannath) meaning a huge, powerful, and overwhelming force has its origins in the Jagannath Puri Yatra. Needless to say, all of Puri comes to a standstill on this day.



Eid ul fitr (July 6, Wednesday) in all of India

Photograph: Sandip Debnath/Flickr (Under Creative Commons License)

Eid ul fitr marks the end of the holy month of Ramzan (or Ramadan). The festival marks the end of the holy month of dawn-to-dusk fasting which marks the revelation of the Quran to Prophet Mohammed. Eid ul fitr is celebrated across the country and banks remain closed on this day.

Kharchi Puja (July 12, Tuesday) in Tripura

Even though Kharchi puja lasts seven days in Tripura, banks in the state remain closed on just one day. This year Kharchi Puja bank holiday falls on July 12. Kharchi Puja is a major festival of Tripura and involves a cleansing process of mother earth. It is performed 15 days after Ama pechi or menstruation of the Mother Goddess or Mother Earth. On the day, soil isnt ploughed and digging of any sort in the ground is discouraged. Kharchi Puja is a process that is performed to cleanse the earth after its menstruation.

Bhanu Jayanti (July 13, Wednesday) in Sikkim

Bhanu Bhakta may have been a Nepalese poet but he holds a place of special importance in the lives of Sikkimese people in part because the Nepalese language is lingua franca in the Sikkim-Darjeeling region. July 13 marks the birth anniversary of Bhanu Bhakta who has been awarded the status of Adhikavi or First Poet in Sikkim. Bhanu Bhakta is credited with the translation of Ramayana in simple Nepalese and his birth anniversary is celebrated with events such as poetry recitation competitions and literary seminars. Needless to say banks and most public institutions remain closed on the day in Sikkim

Ker Puja (July 26, Tuesday) in Tripura

Celebrated in the honour of Ker the guardian deity of the vastu devata, Ker Puja is meant to safeguard people from calamities and external aggression. For the duration of the festival, entrances to the capital are shut and people are discouraged from wearing shoes, lighting fire or dance or sing. Banks and all major institutions remain closed on this day.


Bethenny Frankel isnt shy about, well, anything. The blunt entrepreneur always speaks her mind on The Real Housewives of New York City, shes very open when it comes to addressing plastic surgery rumors and shes not afraid to show off her impressive body on social media. After all, what would Fourth of July weekend be without a heavy dose of Frankels impressive abs? (That was a rhetorical question.)

The 45-year-old star posted up next to the grill at her Hamptons home on Sunday, prepping what looked like a feast for her guests. And when youre as adept as Frankel is at cooking, theres no need to wear an apron. She skipped the coverup all together in favor of a patriotic cobalt string bikini, accessorized with a straw hat. The #BOTD (bikini of the day) was documented on Instagram.

Grillin & chillin A photo posted by Bethenny Frankel (@bethennyfrankel) on Jul 3, 2016 at 9:27am PDT

What was she cooking? It looked like classic hamburgers and hot dogs, which were no doubt served with some Skinny Girl margaritas.

RELATED: The Best July 4th Sales on Clothes, Shoes, Jewelry and More

On a recent episode of PEOPLEs List, Frankel gave viewers a grand tour of her sprawling Hamptons estate, which includes her prized Yes Bar, a disgusting shack which the star transformed into a destination for her celebrity friends.

This is where everybody wants to come after wherever they are in the Hamptons. This is where the afterparty is. Christina Aguilera has partied here. All of Jamie Foxxs guys have partied here. All the most powerful agents in Hollywood, she told People exclusively. Ive had the Beverly Hills Housewives here, the New York Housewives here. So this bar has had a lot of cool people.

What do you think of Frankels bikini moment? Share below!



Brittany Talarico
A suicide bombing on Monday hit Saudi Arabias city of Medina, close to the Prophets Mosque, one of Islams holiest sites, killing at least four people and wounding another. This occurred hours after a similar attack near the U.S. consulate in Jeddah, where a suicide bomber was killed and two police officers were hurt. They were the grisly bookend to a week that saw a series of terror strikes around the world, showing the Islamic State and those it inspires can reach beyond Iraq and Syria.

Earlier Monday, at least one, and possibly two, explosions were heard in the eastern Saudi city of Qatif, but its not yet clear if it caused any casualties. Local reports indicate body parts were visible, thought to belong to the attacker or attackers.

Its also not clear who is responsible for the series of attacks, which come as the holy month of Ramadan is drawing to a close and just ahead of the Eid al-Fitr holiday. But Riyadh has been the target of Islamic State attacks in the past. The terror group accuses the Western-allied Saudi monarchy of apostasy for its efforts to destroy the group.

Mondays attacks cap a violent week around the world, with three major terror strikes in Turkey, Bangladesh, and Iraq. In Istanbul on Tuesday, suicide bombers killed at least 44 at Istanbuls Ataturk Airport. In Dhaka, Bangladesh, on Friday, gunmen stormed a restaurant in the citys diplomatic zone and killed at least 20 people, most of them foreigners from Italy, Japan, India, and the United States; the Islamic State has claimed credit for the assault. The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the early Sunday morning attack in central Baghdad, where a minivan packed with explosives blew up and killed at least 165 people, according to the BBC. On Monday, CNN reported that number had reached 200.

Islamic State attacks in Saudi Arabia over recent months have varied between targeting Shia mosques, targeting police and security forces, targeting foreigners via lone actor attacks, and now targeting hardened diplomatic assets. This indicates that the group is experimenting and trying to learn about the states weaknesses to exploit them, Firas Abi Ali, principal analyst at IHS Country Risk, said in statement Monday.

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The U.S often cites progress in shrinking the Islamic States nominal caliphate in Iraq and Syria. But the groups spread to the rest of the world has been alarming. So far, attacks carried out by fighters claiming affiliation with the terror network have taken place in the United States, across Europe, and in Kuwait, Libya, Afghanistan, Nigeria, and Tunisia. In many of these cases, however, its not clear if there was any direct coordination with the Islamic State; attackers could simply claim inspiration by it.

Fawaz Gerges of the London School of Economics, and author of the book ISIS: A History, told National Public Radio that the group is trying to retaliate over its battlefield losses in Iraq and Syria, and that its terror attacks abroad will only intensify.

I take it that the next 12 months are going to be as bloody if not more so than the past year because ISIS, as it loses in Iraq and Syria, . . . is trying to divert attention from its losses.

U.S. lawmakers are also concerned about ISIS ability to strike out despite a concerted U.S. and coalition effort to wipe out the groups potential safe havens.

Its very much losing territory, but at the same time, expanding its global presence, Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-Calif.), the ranking Democrat on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, said on CBSs Face the Nation Sunday.

The Saudi attacks were immediately seized upon by presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, who used it to call President Barack Obama and his Democratic counterpart Hillary Clinton as weak on terror. On Monday, he tweeted:

With Hillary and Obama, the terrorist attacks will only get worse. Politically correct fools, won't even call it what it is  RADICAL ISLAM!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 4, 2016

Clinton has yet to publicly respond to Mondays round of terror attacks. On Sunday, she condemned the blasts in Baghdad.

Today's attack in Baghdad is another horrific example of ISIS's savagery. We will defeat them. My prayers are with the victims' families. -H  Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) July 3, 2016

In a statement Sunday after the Baghdad attack, National Security Council spokesperson Ned Price, said the incidents only strengthen our resolve to support Iraqi security forces as they continue to take back territory from ISIL, just as we continue to intensify our efforts to root out ISILs terrorist network and leaders, using another acronym for the group.

FPs Dan DeLuce contributed to this report.

Photo credit: AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/Getty Images
(Adds comments from executive, details of bond swap)

By Ana Mano and Alberto Alerigi Jr.

SAO PAULO, July 4 (Reuters) - Brazilian airline Gol Linhas Aereas SA is still looking for ways to resolve its costly debt load, a senior executive said on Monday, renegotiating bank loans this month after about 20 percent of bondholders accepted a restructuring.

Chief Financial Officer Edmar Lopes Neto told journalists that Gol was satisfied with the bond swap, concluded on Friday after repeated extensions, but the company is still working on a mid-term solution to its challenging cash flow outlook.

Lopes said the bond swap opened the door for talks with banks, but he ruled out an in-court debt restructuring and reiterated that there were no talks for a cash injection from Delta Air Lines Inc, one of Gol's biggest shareholders.

"We will continue to look in the market for alternatives to solve the debt," said Lopes. He added that sharp moves in Brazil's currency, which has gained more than 20 percent against the U.S. dollar this year, had increased uncertainty and made it harder to reach deals with creditors.

Investors tendered $174.7 million of about $780 million worth of bonds covered in Gol's debt swap, according to a securities filing on Monday, accepting discounts in return for more collateral and payouts in the event of a takeover.

With the bond restructuring over, Gol now expects to wrap up renegotiations with banks and leasing companies this month, Lopes said.

The bond swap reduced Gol's gross financial debt, which stood at 7.9 billion reais ($2.4 billion) in March, by $101 million and will reduce debt-servicing by $9 million annually, according to Monday's filing.

By contrast, Lopes said this year's currency swing had reduced Gol's debt by 1.4 billion reais in local terms, helping the airline cover foreign-denominated debts with revenue denominated largely in reais.

Although the weaker dollar will help Gol's profitability, Lopes said the company is sticking to a plan to reduce capacity in Brazil, which is suffering through the second year of its worst economic recession in generations.

Gol shares lost 0.6 percent in midday trading in Sao Paulo.

($1 = 3.25 Brazilian reais) (Reporting by Ana Mano and Alberto Alerigi Jr.; Editing by Brad Haynes, Bernard Orr)
LONDON  British politicians are dropping like flies.

Nigel Farage, one of the main campaigners for withdrawing Britain from the European Union, stepped down as head of the U.K. Independence Party on Monday morning.

Farages resignation comes less than two weeks after the U.K. voted to pull out of the E.U. in a 52% to 48% vote and four days after former London Mayor Boris Johnson, who led the Leave campaign, took himself out of the running for the next prime minister.

Speaking at a press conference in London, Farage, 52, who was elected as a member of European Parliament for UKIP in 1999, said he had fulfilled his political ambitions with the Brexit result and had no desire to be a career politician so was therefore standing down.

I now feel that Ive done my bit, that I couldnt possibly achieve more, Farage said.

It is the third time he has resigned as UKIP leader, but he dismissed the idea of coming back again in the future. He did, however, indicate that he might have something to give when it came to negotiating the U.K. out of the E.U.

During the referendum I said I wanted my country backnow I want my life back, he said.

Farage led the UKIP party from 2006 to 2009 and returned the role after the 2010 general election in the U.K. He resigned from the party after the 2015 election, only to return to the role days later to help lead the Brexit campaign.

Throughout his political career, Farage has often attracted controversy. During the 2015 general election, he sparked outrage by suggesting Britain should implement a policy to reject migrants with HIV from coming into the country. Last month, during the E.U. referendum campaign, he refused to apologize for a widely-condemned anti-migrant poster, with the slogan Breaking point: the E.U. has failed us all and a picture of a long line of Syrian refugees stretching into the distance on the Slovenian border.

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By Francesco Guarascio

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Commission will propose on Tuesday stricter rules on trusts to prevent tax evasion, according to draft legislation seen by Reuters, in a move that Britain has long opposed and which was deferred until after the Brexit referendum.

The EU push to identify owners of trusts has been in the making for years but British Prime Minister David Cameron had succeeded in blocking past attempts by EU authorities, citing a need for privacy for British trusts used to manage inheritances.

It appears to be the first move by the Commission to move ahead with legislation Britain will eventually have no say over following its decision to quit the European Union.

Other EU states believe that lack of transparency about ownership can turn trusts into vehicles for evading taxes.

The Commission draft proposal said trust beneficial owners will have to be recorded in registers that in many cases will be accessible to the public. Britain still has a vote in EU council discussions on new laws, but the vote to leave the Union on June 23 has left its influence very much weakened.

The new EU initiative follows the publication in April of the Panama Papers which revealed widespread tax avoidance practices by wealthy individuals transferring funds offshore through shell companies and other anonymous entities.

Over the past weeks, the British government lobbied the Commission again to avoid a crackdown on trusts. The EU executive postponed the decision until after the June 23 referendum on EU membership.

Britain may ignore these new rules after completing its exit from the EU, a process that would take two years but has not formally started yet.

But EU leaders have repeatedly said after the Brexit vote that if Britain wants to maintain access to the EU internal market after completing its exit from the union, it has to fully apply European Union legislation.

"Remain" campaigners in Britain warned before the vote that the country may end up is a position like Norway, which has to accept EU rules but has no say in formulating them.

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The United Kingdom has so far exploited elements of EU legislation to avoid full enforcement of transparency rules.

"Requirements for the registration of beneficial owners of trusts have been clarified, to remove gaps in the legislation and national mismatches," the draft Commission proposal said.

Existing registers of trust ownership are not easily accessible and are loosely controlled. To close this loophole, the Commission is proposing "to give public access to a set of information on companies and business-type trusts".

Other types of trusts will have to reveal their beneficial ownership to people with "a legitimate interest," the document said.

The Commission will formally adopt the legislative proposals at its weekly meeting on Tuesday. The EU Parliament and EU states will have to approve the measures, before they become law.

(Editing by Jeremy Gaunt)
By Alastair Macdonald and Alissa de Carbonnel BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union says it will not be "paralysed" after Britons voted to leave, but Brussels policymakers say uncertainty over Britain's future is already complicating the lawmaking process for the rest of the EU. As London waits, possibly for months, for a successor to Prime Minister David Cameron to start negotiating an exit that will retain its easy access to EU markets, some Europeans fear that Britain could obstruct legislation to strengthen its hand. "We cannot afford to be stuck in limbo. The British must not hold the EU to ransom," former Belgian premier Guy Verhofstadt told the European Parliament in a Brexit debate last week. But despite his call, echoed across Brussels, for Britain to launch the two-year process of withdrawal, Cameron has left that to whoever the party chooses to replace him in September. Some frontrunners for Conservative leader say they see no hurry to trigger Article 50 of the EU treaty, the start of formal negotiations to leave the bloc, and some Britons want the referendum result reversed. "It's slightly surreal," a British diplomat conceded, as EU leaders rule out any discussion of Brexit terms before Article 50 is live, so that EU officials and diplomats are in a vacuum. One gag doing the rounds in Brussels recalls "Schroedinger's cat": as the physicist's imaginary pet was both alive and dead, so Britain is both in the EU and out, at the table but silent. Britain is scheduled to chair ministerial councils for six months from next July. But Cameron has also left to a successor whether to go ahead with the presidency, irritating officials who reckon it takes two years to prepare a good agenda. The official line from a British government spokesman is: "We remain a part of the EU until negotiations are concluded." But British officials admit that on matters that will not affect Britain once it has left -- most issues -- they can have little say, leaving only short-term business -- next year's EU fishing quotas, say -- in which diplomats are speaking out. "We are in a holding pattern," the British diplomat said. "BLOODY AWKWARD" Legally, British ministers retain full voting power in European councils, including a veto on some issues, and, in 751-seat EU parliament, Britain's 73 members keep voting. But a Briton has already resigned a key parliamentary role on climate change, long an issue Britain has led on. Legislation due this month to spread the burden of cutting carbon dioxide emissions could be held up, some officials say, while they rework the sums to exclude the bloc's second-biggest economy without knowing when, or even if, it will leave. "We already feel we have lost credibility in the eyes of other MEPs," a UK parliamentary source said. That Brexit has begun is evident in the European Commission, the EU executive, where British nominee Jonathan Hill resigned, costing London a key role overseeing financial regulation that was seen as helping the City against the euro zone. Cameron's successor can still nominate another commissioner, but cannot expect a major job; EU officials, stung by Britain's shock vote, sneer that London may get "commissioner for ballet". At the level of summits of national leaders, too, Cameron saw himself frozen out when the other 27 met on Wednesday in his absence. For now, without Britain the European Council cannot make law, but such meetings will be common once London triggers Article 50, which keeps it out of negotiations with itself. The divorce is unprecedented and it is unclear whether Britain should be excluded only from explicit talks on Brexit or from other debates -- on trade policy, say -- in which any EU decisions today may affect Britain as an outside power. More troubling for some is that Britain might, depending on who will lead it, not trigger Article 50 and use its insider rights as leverage to force negotiation on a deal for itself. "They could just be bloody awkward," a senior EU official said, fearing Britain could hold councils to ransom. States no longer have a veto on many issues, however, and one EU envoy warned: "If the UK makes problems, majority voting might be applied quite heartlessly." Another senior official said that if Britain does not launch Article 50 this year and dares be obstructive in the EU to force negotiations, then the Union could look at its legal options. Citing EU treaty Article 4 demanding "sincere cooperation" from member states, the official said: "If your action paralyses the system then we can legally oblige you." He acknowledged, though, that such threats from Brussels carry limited weight. PARLIAMENTARY QUESTIONS The European Parliament is also struggling with Brexit. Last week, Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker turned to pro-Leave British members to ask: "Why are you here?" The parliament's German speaker, Martin Schulz, has told lawmakers there will be no change in Britons' rights, even once withdrawal talks start under Article 50, until Britain leaves. However, MEPs formal rights are few; influence comes from holding office on committees or steering through legislation. Those posts are shared among multinational groups and lame-duck Britons may have to give way to party colleagues from other states, at least by a mid-term reshuffle of jobs in December. The Conservative leader in the chamber, Syed Kamall, said his team were working as normal, but added: "If Article 50 is triggered then we may need to look at how we tackle legislation that won't come into force until after our departure." Whatever British MEPs do, some of their staff are already voting with their feet: "I'm looking for a job," a second parliamentary aide told Reuters. "Have you got any ideas?" (Editing by Philippa Fletcher)
Paris (AFP) - The French and German leaders on Monday said Britain's shock decision to exit the EU would not impact on Western Balkan nations aspiring to join the bloc.

Albania, Bosnia, Kosovo, Montenegro and Serbia want to join the European Union. Together they are home to around 20 million people.

Membership negotiations have already started with Serbia and Montenegro, but are yet to get underway for Albania and Macedonia. Bosnia and Kosovo have been promised the prospect of membership when they are ready.

However, the bloc has ruled out any further enlargement before 2020, and even that date looks unrealistic.

"The British decision in no way impacts on the engagements taken in respect to the Balkan nations," French President Francois Hollande said at a summit of EU and Western Balkan leaders in Paris.

"They will be respected," he said.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel echoed him.

"Great Britain's decision has not changed anything," she said. "That's what these countries fear."

She added: "We are determined to continue the process of enlargement."

Where Britain's Brexiteers see the EU as an interference in national sovereignty, many in the Western Balkans -- a region of widespread poverty and turbulence -- see the 28-nation bloc as a beacon of stability and prosperity.

Balkan players have the feeling of not being a priority for the troubled bloc -- a sentiment that could be exacerbated by the EU-British divorce.
By Conor Humphries and Amanda Ferguson BELFAST (Reuters) - Protestant unionists are queuing for Irish passports in Belfast and once quiet Catholic nationalists are openly campaigning for a united Ireland, signs of deep shifts in the United Kingdom's most troubled province since Britain voted to leave the EU. Eighteen years after a peace deal ended decades of fighting between mainly Catholic nationalists who favour a united Ireland and mainly Protestant unionists who favour remaining part of the United Kingdom, Britain's Brexit vote is making people on both sides of the divide in Northern Ireland think the unthinkable. Northern Ireland, like neighbouring Scotland, voted to stay in the European Union, with 56 pecent in favour, even though Britain as a whole voted to leave the bloc. "I was always a 'small u' unionist. But I could not in all good conscience say I could vote for Northern Ireland to remain a member of the United Kingdom," said Christopher Woodhouse, a 25-year-old from Belfast. "I am softening to the idea of Irish unity, purely on economic issues," he said. "I am a European." For years, a firm majority of people in Northern Ireland -- many Catholics as well as nearly all Protestants -- have favoured continuing as part of the United Kingdom, drawn to the status quo as a guarantee of stability and prosperity. But that has been jeopardised at a stroke by the prospect that Britain could quit the European Union and Scotland break away from the United Kingdom. The Brexit referendum suggests a new centre ground could form of people from both faith communities who fear the economic uncertainty of leaving the EU. "People are saying for the first time in their life they would vote for united Ireland, having never contemplated it before," said Steven Agnew, the leader of the Green Party in Northern Ireland. CORNERSTONE OF PEACE The membership of both Ireland and Britain in the European Union was a cornerstone of the 1998 agreement that ended the fighting over whether the predominately Protestant six counties of northeast Ireland should be British or Irish. EU rules ensure free trade and travel, and allow British or Irish citizens to work, claim benefits and be treated in hospitals in either country. People living on either side of the border may hold either passport or both, with little practical effect on how they are treated by either state. Although Northern Irish citizens are entitled to passports from Ireland, many unionists would not apply for them. But there were several unionists in a queue seeking Irish passport application forms at the main post office in Belfast this week. One said she was shocked and disappointed by the Brexit vote, and saw an Irish passport as the only way to retain her EU citizenship. None would give their names, as applying for an Irish passport can be controversial among unionists. COSTS OF LEAVING Quitting the EU would have direct costs on a poor province that relies on it more than other parts of the United Kingdom. Northern Ireland's largest bank, Ulster Bank, said uncertainty around the terms for Britain's exit from the EU could make Northern Ireland a "no-go zone" for some foreign direct investment. Brexit could cause lower growth, higher unemployment and cutbacks in government spending. "My stomach is churning at all that's happening," said Robert McClenaghan, an Irish Republican Army member turned community worker, describing the potential loss of hundreds of millions of euros of EU funds for former militants, victims groups, and cross-community youth work. "We are in danger of a return to conflict - at a low intensity level - if those funds are taken away," he said. Many believe the biggest threat to the peace would be the appearance of some kind of border checks. The huge military checkpoints that dotted the border were dismantled in the wake of the peace deal. Pro-Brexit politicians have said the Irish frontier would remain open once Britain leaves the EU, but Remain supporters say this would be impossible if Britain wants to limit migration from EU countries whose nationals are free to enter Ireland. "If they put a border up, the dissidents will blow it up," said Sid Johnson, a 68-year-old unionist Leave voter shopping on Belfast's Shankill Road. If the police are forced to send in armed men to defend the posts, he said, escalation could be swift. Under the peace deal, the largest nationalist party, Sinn Fein, co-rules the province with the unionist DUP, which campaigned for Britain to leave the EU. Sinn Fein's party chairman pounced on the Brexit vote, saying it meant Britain had "forfeited any mandate to represent the interests of people here". The party later cooled its rhetoric, with Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness saying a united Ireland referendum should be held "at some stage in the future". The party this week held the first of a series of rallies for a united Ireland. A united Ireland has been the cherished dream of Irish nationalists since Northern Ireland was formed by Britain to protect the large Protestant community in the island's northeast from the Catholic dominated state formed to the south in 1921. More than 3,600 people died in fighting between the late 1960s and late 1990s, between Catholics who said they were denied basic human rights and wanted to join Ireland and Protestants defending the union with Britain. Under the 1998 peace deal, the British government was given the power to call a referendum if it appears likely a majority of those voting would seek to form part of a united Ireland. While higher birth rates among Catholics suggest they will become the majority in Northern Ireland within a generation, opinion polls have consistently shown as many as half of Catholics still favoured the stability of the United Kingdom. But if Brexit makes that Catholic support for the union slip away, a future referendum on Irish unification could be "very, very tight" said Peter Shirlow, head of the Institute of Irish Studies at the University of Liverpool. "Unionists would have to rely on Catholics not wanting to be part of a united Ireland. That has been the trend up to last Friday," he said. "But I think that trend is now changing." (Writing by Conor Humphries; editing by Guy Faulconbridge and Peter Graff)
By Ana Nicolaci da Costa

LONDON (Reuters) - The aftershocks of Britain's decision to leave the European Union have hit the property sector over the past week, with a foreign bank freezing loans for buyers and some investors pulling out of commercial deals.

Some foreigners, however, are already making the most of the drop in the pound post-Brexit to snap up what they see as residential bargains.

London property has long been a magnet for foreign investors, be it extravagant homes or iconic commercial real estate, and prices in the capital have sky-rocketed.

Key to overseas investors will be whether the fall in the value of sterling is attractive enough to offset the political vacuum, expected economic slowdown and questions over market access that have resulted from Britain's vote to leave the EU.

Singapore's United Overseas Bank temporarily halted mortgage loans for London properties. Other Asian banks also flagged potential investment risks.

For British investors, the uncertainty may be prohibitive, even though property is widely considered more profitable than other safe assets, given supply shortages.

"A number of deals I know have gone down or certainly been delayed," Paul Firth, head of real estate at law firm Irwin Mitchell LLP said. "Everyone is taking a pause at the moment just to wait until a new normal is established."

In one case, the purchase of a regional shopping centre by a U.S. private equity fund worth more than 30 million pounds ($40 million) was delayed after Brexit for at least a couple of months pending the market settling down.

Another deal his firm was working on involved a French vendor of high-end luxury goods who put on hold its new flagship London store after Britain's decision to leave the EU, he said.

He said a number of their "significant investment deals", worth above 30 million pounds each, had stalled. The deals involved mainly UK investors but also some foreigners. One deal the firm was working on worth more than 40 million pounds had gone through since Brexit.

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Britain's June 23 vote to leave the EU has already caused the government to collapse and deeply divided the country.

Bank of England Governor Mark Carney said on Thursday the economy would probably need more stimulus over the summer given that the outlook had deteriorated. He also said commercial real estate transactions had halved since last year's peak and that activity in residential real estate had slowed sharply.

British commercial real estate investment volumes reached 10.7 billion pounds in the first three months of 2016, a 28 percent fall versus the same period a year ago and its lowest quarter since the second quarter of 2013, according to June research from real estate services firm Cushman & Wakefield.

INVESTORS' GAINS, HOMEBUYERS' PAIN

There were also signs that the fallout from Brexit was benefiting professional investors such as private funds at the expense of homebuyers, who may struggle along with the economy.

Before the referendum, officials said the economy could tip into recession and house prices could fall 10 to 18 percent if Britain voted to leave the European Union. Economists polled by Reuters before the vote said they expected house prices to be flat next year and then pick up again if Britain chose to leave.

David Galman, sales director at Galliard Homes, said professional investors had already contacted him offering to buy any units end-users may seek to sell in the Skyline residential development it launched in June just outside London.

Galliard Homes, London's second largest house-builder, had offered buyers get out clauses for the 89 off-plan units ranging from 200,000 to 250,000 pounds in their development in Slough, west of London. The buyers had the option to withdraw their offers if they were unhappy with the outcome of the EU vote.

Galman said just one client, "an owner occupier" had thus far invoked a Brexit clause but that flat had already been sold at the same price to a professional investor.

"I anticipate that we may get a small number of deals at Slough falling out of bed due to Brexit  all domestic end-users spooked by the Brexit drama," he said.

Another development that offered Brexit opt out options was Two Fifty One, a 41-storey luxury apartment tower going up in south London's gentrifying Elephant and Castle district.

At a May launch of some floors in the development, buyers were offered a "money back Brexit guarantee pledge".

"A few purchasers have decided not to proceed given the uncertainty of the market," David Humbles, managing director of Oakmayne, the developer who runs the project said. "However, the majority are continuing with their purchase."

Tim Wright, director of residential development, at global commercial real estate firm JLL said including the Two Fifty One development, 2 out of around 20 developments in the portfolio that he runs in London had offered opt-out options for buyers on a limited number of units.

"We've lost about 25 percent of those types of deals," Wright said. "But there are still a lot of people who bought on those terms who are continuing to purchase."

LONDON APPEAL

Sterling's steep fall post-Brexit could offset some of the effects from tax increases introduced in April, which made buying properties especially in central London, an area favoured by foreign buyers, more expensive. There were signs that this was already happening in the top-end of the residential market.

"We have made a number of sales," David Adams, a managing director at luxury real estate agent John Taylor said, anticipating more Middle Eastern interest at the end of Ramadan in properties worth between 2 and 6 million pounds.

He said they had also had some interest and an offer on apartment blocks from 23 million to 45 million pounds.

"We have an immediate uplift (in sales to the) Middle East, United States and Asia, but we have a decrease in English domestic buyers, because of political instability."

Ed Mead, executive director at estate agent Douglas and Gordon had also seen an increase in foreign interest, but said the broader prime central London market would continue to struggle with the kind of uncertainty seen before the vote.

"We had four separate buyers who put in offers (the day after the vote), which were quite cheeky but clearly based on the fact they were getting an extraordinarily abnormal deal," he said.

The offers, which were in the over one million pound range and came from U.S. and European investors, had "clearly been brought about because of the fall in sterling".

"The potential fallout from getting it wrong politically is strong and people simply want ongoing stability, both political and (in the) currency."

($1 = 0.7533 pounds)

(Additional reporting by Maya Nikolaeva in Paris and Denny Thomas in Hong Kong; editing by Philippa Fletcher)
LONDON, July 4 (Reuters) - Britain will look to hire foreign trade negotiators to help it meet the challenge of striking new trade deals with countries in Europe and beyond after last month's shock decision to leave the European Union, foreign minister Philip Hammond said.

"I don't think we can only recruit people who are British," Hammond told BBC television on Monday. "If we can find Australians, Americans who have got high-level skills in trade negotiation, let's recruit them as well."

He also said the government was taking steps to rehire former civil servants who have trade negotiating skills. Currently only a few of the 55 British officials in the European Commission's trade department actually work on trade deals.

Britain faces the task of renegotiating its relationship with the EU after voters decided on June 23 to leave the bloc. It also has to rework its trade ties with more than 50 other nations around the world which have agreements with the EU.

The European Commission negotiates trade deals on behalf of the EU member states meaning Britain has not had its own dedicated team of trade negotiators since it joined the bloc in 1973.

(Writing by William Schomberg; editing by Michael Holden)
By Guy Faulconbridge and Sarah Young LONDON (Reuters) - London law firm Mishcon de Reya said it had started legal action to demand the British government win legislative approval from Parliament before triggering a formal divorce from the European Union. Mishcon de Reya, a leading London-based firm, said a British leader would need an Act of Parliament before invoking Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, the trigger for formal negotiations on exiting the bloc Britain joined in 1973. The action is the first concrete signal since the June 23 referendum that the implementation of the 52-48 Brexit vote could be challenged, or at least amended. Because the referendum is not legally-binding, some lawmakers and campaigners have suggested that Parliament review the vote, call a second referendum or at least that Article 50 be voted on by Parliament to ensure Britain gets the right deal. The law firm said in a statement that its clients were a group of concerned British citizens, but it did not name them or say who was paying for the legal action. "The outcome of the Referendum itself is not legally binding and for the current or future Prime Minister to invoke Article 50 without the approval of Parliament is unlawful," Kasra Nouroozi, a partner Mishcon de Reya, said in the statement. Nouroozi said the government must allow "Parliament to fulfil its democratic duty which is to take into account the results of the Referendum along with other factors and make the ultimate decision." A spokeswoman for the law firm refused to give the names of those backing the action, though property website Zoopla said its CEO Alex Chesterman was supporting the move. The Brexit vote unleashed panic in foreign currency markets, pushing sterling to a 31-year-low, and prompted the most serious political crisis in modern British history with both main parties in turmoil. Though stocks in the FTSE 100 index have recovered, many investors are trying to gauge whether Brexit really means Brexit and, if so, what Britain's post-Brexit trading relationship will look like. All five Conservative Party candidates running to replace Prime Minister David Cameron say Britain will leave the EU and say the negotiation will hinge on the balance between limits on immigration and access to the European Single Market. Cameron has said the decision on triggering Article 50, 250-words in the Lisbon Treaty, is for the next prime minister. "I very much deprecate the idea of law firms, big law firms, trying to interfere in our political system to overturn the will of the people," Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said. "We don't need ultra-high-paid lawyers trampling all over the political space." The European Union has called on Britain to trigger Article 50 as soon as possible. Some leaders are angry at Camerons failure to act on the referendum result while others are concerned that London is using the delay as a tactic to improve its negotiating position. Once Article 50 is enacted Britain will be under to cut a new trade deal within two years or face being dumped out of the bloc. PARLIAMENT Mishcon de Reya disputed the government's suggestion it has sufficient legal authority to trigger Article 50 without recourse to Parliament and the devolved governments of Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Welsh Assembly. "It is their job to take into account the results of the Referendum along with other factors and make the ultimate decision," the law firm said. It has been in correspondence with government lawyers since June 27 to seek assurances for its clients that the government will respect the sovereignty of British parliament. The Conservative government currently has a working majority of 16 in the 650-seat House of Commons. The majority of lawmakers supported EU membership and though many would be wary of directly opposing the will of 17.4 million voters, some lawmakers could try to delay Brexit while imposing conditions on any divorce negotiation. "Any member of parliament who turns around and says 'I do not accept the freely expressed democratic will of the people of the United Kingdom' I don't think deserves to have a place in the House of Commons," Conservative leadership candidate Liam Fox said. The argument for Parliamentary approval before invoking Article 50 is based on a reasoning of the authority for EU law in the United Kingdom. Under this reasoning, EU law applies in the UK because of the European Communities Act of 1972 so the executive cannot undermine rights given by Parliament by triggering Article 50. But lawyers are divided. ARTICLE 50 "I have not taken a final view on this, but my inclination at this point is that the government position is correct," Derrick Wyatt, one of Britain's top experts on European law, said by email. Wyatt, a law professor who gave evidence to the House of Lords on EU law, said that the government generally makes treaties under its executive power. "It is true that giving effect to a treaty might involve making new laws, and repealing those laws if the UK terminates the treaty. But the process of signing up, and withdrawing, is generally seen as a government function, separate from the parliamentary function of adopting any necessary laws," he said. But Jeff King, a senior lecturer in law at University College London, said Parliament must give its assent before a prime minister can trigger Article 50. "What we are saying is that Parliament should determine how the process of withdrawal should work," King said by telephone. "It is about how, not whether." He said he was not part of the Mishcon de Reya action, which he said could go to the High Court and then to judges in the Supreme Court. "The law requires that Parliament give the Prime Minister authorisation to issue a declaration under Article 50," King said. "That is a legal argument but it is not just a formality. There are policy reasons why that is a good thing too - Parliament may stipulate what the framework for bargaining may be." (Additional reporting by Alastair Macdonald in Brussels; Editing by Anna Willard)
Entebbe (Uganda) (AFP) - Skimming above the choppy waves through the dark the four planes swooped in low over Lake Victoria, packed with more than 200 elite Israeli commandos on a daring raid to free hijacked hostages.

Landing soon after midnight at Uganda's Entebbe airport on July 4, 1976, it took the paratroopers less than an hour to storm the base and free over 100 passengers held aboard an Air France plane, an operation that has gone down in special forces legend. The plane had been hijacked a week earlier on June 27.

Four decades later, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visits Uganda on Monday for the anniversary, not only to mark the operation and boost the now friendly ties between Uganda and Israel, but also to pay a deeply personal tribute.

The commando leader, the only Israeli soldier killed in the raid, was his older brother, 30-year-old Lieutenant-Colonel Yonatan Netanyahu.

- Bullet scars preserved -

Netanyahu will visit the old terminal at Entebbe -- still the airport for the capital Kampala -- where the walls are still scarred by bullet holes.

Last month, some of the retired commandos who took part in the raid visited the scene of the extraordinary rescue, standing alongside Ugandan officials, including the son of their then enemy, dictator Idi Amin.

As an operation, it was "a difficult one", remembered Amir Ofer, then a sergeant major and now a businessman.

"We had short time to prepare for it," he said, noting the more than 3,500 kilometres (2,200 miles) separating Uganda from Israel, with a 48-hour ultimatum before the gunmen would start killing hostages. "The clock was ticking away after the terrorists gave their ultimatum."

An Air France plane en route from Tel Aviv to Paris had been hijacked by two Palestinians and two Germans in Athens, and ordered to fly to Entebbe with 250 passengers aboard.

Uganda's Amin, who had cut ties with Israel in favour of cash handouts from Libyan dictator Moamer Kadhafi, allowed the hijacked plane to land.

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On arrival, Jewish and Israeli hostages were separated and others freed, leaving about 100 hostages and crew members guarded by the hijackers.

Neither the captors nor Ugandan troops ever expected special forces could stage a raid from so far away, taking the airport by complete surprise.

"We fanned out without anyone realising that we were an enemy force," Ofer said, describing how they rushed out of the plane after touching down in the dark. The first team roared out of the plane in a black Mercedes that looked like Amin's personal car, but their cover was blown when they had to shoot a Ugandan guard.

"Within minutes of our arrival, we were able to arrive at the terminal, killed the terrorists and within an hour we were on our way back to Israel," Ofer added.

- All but 3 freed -

All but three of the hostages were freed in the raid while 20 Ugandan soldiers and seven hijackers were killed, along with several Ugandan citizens.

One other hostage, a 75-year-old Israeli woman who had been transferred to a hospital, was subsequently killed on Amin's orders.

Enemies in 1976, Uganda and Israel plan to use the commemoration of the raid to boost their friendship.

The raid "will forever remain at the heart of all those that got involved," said former Israeli sergeant-major Alex Davidi who took part in the operation.

Bonifence Byamukama, from the Uganda Tourism Board, said they were "working on a monument in order to preserve the history" of the raid, including the bullet scars in the walls.

Netanyahu's trip, the first by an Israeli premier to Africa since Yitzhak Rabin visited Casablanca in 1994, is the culmination of years of rapprochement and is hoped will boost links with African nations, particularly on security issues.

- 'Sign of reconciliation' -

Galvanised by a growing demand for Israeli security assistance and his government's search for new allies, Netanyahu has put a fresh focus on improving ties on the continent.

Amin's son Jaffar, a 10-year old boy when the Entebbe raid took place, welcomed the commandos to Uganda this month as a "sign of reconciliation", remembering the stories his father told after he was deposed and forced into exile.

Amin, whose eccentric eight-year regime helped his name become a shorthand for African dictatorship and violent misrule, said he had been "close" to the soldier who shot dead Yonatan Netanyahu.

The officer, named as Captain Rafael Osacha, reportedly died quietly in retirement in the 1990s.

Jaffar recalled what his father had said when he asked why he had not sent fighter jets to shoot down the departing Israelis.

"My father said of the Israelis, 'Son, those are the children of God, when they start to fight, they never stop,'" Jaffar said.

"To him, he felt they had come to rescue their people, they had accomplished their mission, so he let them go."
* TSX up 213.19 points, or 1.52 percent, to 14,277.73

* Index touched its highest since June 8 at 14,279.24

* All of the TSX's 10 main groups were higher

TORONTO, July 4 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index rallied to a nearly four-week high on Monday, led by mining stocks as gold and silver climbed, while financial and energy stocks also advanced.

Gains for the index follow a 1.2 percent advance last week and a 4.2 percent gain for the second quarter. The market was closed on Friday for Canada Day.

U.S. markets are closed on Monday for the Independence Day holiday.

Silver Wheaton Corp rallied 6.2 percent to C$32.28 and Barrick Gold Corp climbed 5.1 percent to C$28.98, while the overall materials group, which includes precious and base metals miners and fertilizer companies, added 4.7 percent.

Gold rose as political uncertainty following Britain's vote to leave the European Union supported prices after a burst of short-covering activity in China had pushed them back toward last week's two-year high.

Silver also benefited from a surge of buying in China which at one point took it up more than 7 percent, breaking above $21 an ounce for the first time in two years.

Spot gold rose 0.7 percent, while silver was up 3.5 percent.

At 10:28 a.m. EDT (1428 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index rose 213.19 points, or 1.52 percent, to 14,277.73. It touched its highest since June 8 at 14,279.24.

All of the index's 10 main groups were higher.

Royal Bank of Canada rose 0.9 percent to C$76.99, while Brookfield Asset Management Inc was up nearly 3 percent at C$44.02. The overall financials group advanced 0.8 percent.

Industrials climbed 1.7 percent, including gains for railway stocks, and energy stocks advanced 1.3 percent.

U.S. crude prices were unchanged at $48.99 a barrel.

Canadian business sentiment remained subdued in the second quarter, as the drag of cheaper oil prices and modest domestic demand canceled out the boost from foreign demand, the Bank of Canada said on Monday.

The pace of growth in Canada's manufacturing sector stepped back in June as measures of output, new business and employment all fell, data showed on Monday, the latest sign Canada's economy is struggling to gain momentum.

(Reporting by Fergal Smith; Editing by Andrea Ricci)
Angers (France) (AFP) - Mark Cavendish moved up to joint second on the all-time Tour de France stage win list with victory on Monday's third stage by the tightest of margins.

It was Cavendish's 28th Tour stage victory, and second of this edition in three days, to equal the mark of French hero Bernard Hinault.

Only Belgian legend Eddy Merckx remains ahead of the Manx Missile now with an astonishing 34 stage wins.

"To be honest, when I started my career to think at any point that I'd be mentioned in the same sentence as Bernard Hinault or Eddy Merckx, it's more than I could have imagined," said Cavendish.

"No way could I compare myself to the greats in any way."

The 31-year-old Briton was a hair's breadth away from losing out to German Andre Greipel, who had dominated the Manxman last year in winning four stages to Cavendish's one.

A metre from the line, Greipel looked sure to win, yet somehow Cavendish stretched out his bike to snatch victory.

"I've won and lost by less than that before. I kind of thought I'd got it but you never know until it's confirmed," added Cavendish.

"Greipel's a gutsy rider, he's got balls on him. When I went to go around him, he went again.

"I didn't get him with the sprint, I got him with the lunge, so I was pretty lucky with that."

He had won far more comfortably on Saturday's opening stage in Normandy, after which he took young daughter Delilah up to the victory podium with him.

This time he took Delilah and her infant brother Frey too.

- 'Take a coffee' -

Until the stunning finish, it had been a most pedestrian of stages, dragged out to six seconds under six hours for the 223.5km trek from Granville to Angers.

Peter Sagan finished fourth on the stage, just behind Frenchman Bryan Coquard, to maintain his grip on the race leader's yellow jersey.

"Today was a very relaxing day for us because in the breakaway there was only one rider," said Sagan.

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"He went slow, we went slow also in the group -- it was nice. I was thinking in one moment that we would take a coffee, we had time.

"I saw a bar but afterwards there was no time.

"For 200km it was a transfer and the last 20km was OK."

But Cavendish's victory was enough to wrest back the sprinters' green points jersey from Sagan.

The Slovak still leads by eight seconds to Frenchman Julian Alaphilippe overall with Spain's Alejandro Valverde third at 10sec.

For the first 150km the peloton seemed to be on strike as French rider Armindo Fonseca went on the attack from the off.

The Fortuneo rider eased up to wait for some support but no-one took up the offer and he quickly stretch out to an 11-minute lead over the bunch.

It gave Fonseca the chance to ride through his home Brittany region on his own and in the lead but even when he slowed right down, the peloton did so too.

The sedate rhythm was at least to some people's taste.

FDJ team manager Marc Madiot was feeling nostalgic as he even managed to stop in his home village of Renaze to have a drink.

"Today we can enjoy the Tour de France like in the old days: we ride slowly, we stop to kiss friends and family. People are happy," he said.

Finally with 83km left, popular French veteran Thomas Voeckler set off to close the then 5min 30sec gap to Fonseca, which he quickly did, and only then did the hulky cogs of the peloton start churning into gear.

But once the gap had tumbled to 30sec, the peloton, like a predator stalking its prey, kept the leading pair fixed in its sites.

Fonseca and Voeckler's day in the sun lasted until 8km from the finish when finally, after a resilient battle, they were swamped by a peloton whose average speed had cranked up significantly.

After that it was up to Cavendish to put on another show.
By Barbara Goldberg (Reuters) - The mayor of an Ohio town at the center of an incident that prompted the United Arab Emirates to warn citizens against wearing traditional robes abroad apologized and said on Monday some of those involved could face criminal charges. Police in Avon, Ohio, last week pinned to the ground and handcuffed an Emirati businessman, Ahmed Al Menhali, after receiving reports he was pledging allegiance to Islamic State militants while speaking on his cellphone in a hotel lobby. According to Avon Mayor Bryan Jensen and Julia Shearson, head of the local branch of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, the 911 calls were placed by relatives of a female clerk at the hotel who was unnerved by his appearance. "We came to find out that those statements were never heard by anyone, the statements were never said," Jensen told Reuters on Monday. "A person who makes a false accusation like that endangers not only the person that they are making them about but (also) it frustrates us and angers us that we're going into a situation that puts our police officers in a position they would never want to be in." Criminal charges of making false 911 calls were being considered as part of an investigation that could be concluded as early as Tuesday, he added. After the incident, which was caught on video, the UAE government urged men to avoid wearing the white robes, headscarf and headband of the national dress when in public abroad, "to ensure their safety." The foreign ministry also summoned the U.S. deputy ambassador to protest the "abusive" treatment the businessman endured, UAE state media reported. Both the mayor and Avon Police Chief Richard Bosley apologized to Al Menhali late on Saturday in a meeting in nearby Cleveland arranged by CAIR and televised by WEWS, Cleveland's ABC affiliate. "There were some false accusations made against you, and those are regrettable," Jensen told Al Menhali. "No one in the police department meant to disrespect you," added Bosley. "You should not have been put in that situation." Al Menhali, who the mayor said was staying temporarily in the area for medical treatment, wore a traditional white robe and nodded at the officials seated across from him at the meeting. "Instead of retreating behind a wall of silence, they came forward swiftly to unequivocally exonerate Mr. Al Menhali, which is extremely important in restoring his dignity and reputation," Shearson said in a statement. (Reporting by Barbara Goldberg in New York; Editing by Daniel Wallis and Peter Cooney)
A newly restored trailer for the Arnie classic, which is heading to European cinemas this summer, has been revealed.

"Predator" is returning to the big screen initially in France this summer thanks to a fully resorted 2K print.

The 1987 film staring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Shane Black, Jessie Ventura and Carl Weathers and directed by John McTiernan perfectly blended cutting-edge special effects, muscle men, horror and sci-fi, becoming a classic in the process.

So much so that the film about a crack commando unit being hunted down as trophies by a warrior from another planet, is getting a reboot in 2018 with the aforementioned Shane Black in charge of directing and screenwriting duties.

There is no word yet as to whether this restored print will be crossing the Atlantic, but considering the film's enduring popularity over 20 years on plus the buzz being created by Black's ("Lethal Weapon," "Iron Man 3," "The Good Guys") connection with the new movie, don't be surprised to see it landing at a US multiplex before the end of 2016.

"Predator," the 2k restored version hits cinema screens in France on August 17.

Watch the trailer: https://youtu.be/9zBhiNvOvaA
BEIJING (Reuters) - China strongly criticized Japan over a scramble of military aircraft from the two countries on Monday amid a dispute over islands in the East China Sea. Two Japanese fighter jets took "provocative actions" at a high speed near a pair of Chinese fighter jets that were carrying out patrols in the East China Sea on June 17, China's defense ministry said in a micro blog statement on Monday, without specifying where exactly the incident took place. The Japanese planes used fire-control radar to "light up" the Chinese aircraft, the statement added. Japan's senior military officer has acknowledged there was a scramble but has denied that any radar lock by the Chinese jet occurred or that the incident turned dangerous. "The Japanese plane's provocative actions caused an accident in the air, endangering the safety of personnel on both sides, and destroying the peace and stability in the region," China's Defense Ministry said, adding the Chinese aircraft "responded resolutely". China called on Japan to cease all provocative action, the statement added. The statement about the incident comes after Japan's top military commander accused China of escalating military activity in the East China Sea, saying Japanese emergency scrambles to counter Chinese jets almost doubled over the past three months. Japan is embroiled in a dispute with China in the East China Sea over ownership of a group of islands which lie about 220 km (140 miles) northeast of Taiwan, known as the Senkakus in Tokyo and the Diaoyu islands in Beijing. Japan is worried that China is escalating its activity in the East China Sea in response to Tokyo's pledge to support countries in Southeast Asia, including the Philippines and Vietnam, that oppose China's territorial claims in the South China Sea. (Reporting By Megha Rajagopalan, additional reporting by Tim Kelly in TOKYO; Editing by Nick Macfie)
China is joining the search for extraterrestrial life with construction of the worlds biggest and most sensitive radio telescope.

The final piece of the 500-m Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope, or FAST, has been fitted, the BBC reports, and operations are slated to begin in September. The radio telescope is designed to search for intelligent life from outer space, according to Chinas state broadcaster CCTV.

The $185 million device, which is constructed into a natural karst depression in southwest Chinas Guizhou province to protect it from electromagnetic disruption, has a 1.6-km circumference and comprises nearly 4,500 panels. After debugging, it will be used to detect for pulsars over 1,000 light-years deep into the universe.

Understanding the fundamental physics of pulsars will help us understand the Big Bang, Yue Youling, associate researcher of National Astronomical Observatories, told CCTV. Now we only know what happened after the Big Bang, everything before that relies on our calculation. Therefore, there are a lot of uncertainties.

China is investing heavily to become a global player in science and technology, and the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is well aware of the propaganda mileage to be made. In late May, President Xi Jinping called for China become a world leader in science by the centenary of the founding of the Peoples Republic of China in 2049.

Great scientific and technological capacity is a must for China to be strong, Xi told a conference in Beijing.

On Wednesday, the Peoples Daily newspaper  the CCPs mouthpiece  listed the FAST telescope among eight Chinese achievements that were supposedly shocking the world. Others include satellites, bridges and a supercomputer.

 With reporting by Yang Siqi / Beijing
Chinas media regulators have issued instructions that online media may not publish news reports that rely heavily on social media as sources.

The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC), Chinas main Internet regulator, said Sunday that online publishers must check with official sources when using information from social media. The sites must not distort facts or invent news.

The move is aimed at bringing the fast growing online media into the same regulatory control as more traditional media. Online media published by private-sector operators have been gaining ground as the countrys vast population increasingly adopts smart phones and switches on to social media and to news from apps.

Most traditional media outlets in China, and their websites, are state-controlled. They are issued with daily instructions from national and local propaganda departments as to what can be published, and what cannot. Erroneous stories from the online providers have been labelled as fake news.

While there have been notorious incidents of stories based on fabricated information  and regulators have penalized companies including ifeng.com, Sina and Tencent  not all fake news is fake. Some of it may simply be inconvenient.

China also operates the worlds largest online media regulation operation. Often nicknamed The Great Firewall of China it employs tens of thousands of operators who block web sites, web pages and social media and blog postings.

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SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China is ready to start negotiations with the Philippines on South China Sea-related issues if Manila ignores an arbitration ruling expected next week on their long-running territorial dispute, the official China Daily reported on Monday. The Philippines brought the case to the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague and a ruling is expected on July 12. The case contests China's claims to the bulk of the South China Sea, a body of water through which $5 trillion in ship-borne trade passes every year. China has said it plans to ignore the Court's ruling which would represent a snub of the international legal order. The Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei have overlapping claims with China in the area. Beijing has rejected the arbitration case, claiming the court has no jurisdiction and saying it wants to solve the issue bilaterally. In recent weeks it has ramped up its propaganda campaign downplaying the outcome of the case. China also plans to hold military drills around the disputed Paracel Islands in the South China Sea from July 5-11, which Vietnam has oppose, state-run Vietnam Television quoted foreign ministry spokesman Le Hai Binh as saying on Monday. Negotiations between China and the Philippines could cover "issues such as joint development and cooperation in scientific research if the new government puts the tribunal's ruling aside before returning to the table for talks", the China Daily said. China's main, government-run English newspaper did not name its sources but identified them as "close to the issues between the two countries". "Manila must put aside the result of the arbitration in a substantive approach," it quoted one source as saying. China's Foreign Ministry last month said the two countries had agreed in 1995 to settle disputes in the South China Sea "in a peaceful and friendly manner through consultations on the basis of equity and mutual respect". China and the Philippines have held many rounds of talks on the proper management of maritime disputes, though have had no negotiations designed to settle the actual disputes in the South China Sea, it said. In the arbitration case, the Philippines is contesting China's claim to an area shown on its maps as a nine-dash line stretching deep into the maritime heart of Southeast Asia, covering hundreds of disputed islands and reefs. "Objectively the tribunal has no jurisdiction over the dispute," Sienho Yee, a law professor at the China Institute of Boundary and Ocean Studies at China's Wuhan University, told Reuters in a government-arranged interview on Friday. "Negotiation has been agreed upon as the way to resolve the dispute," he said. (Reporting by John Ruwitch; Additional reporting by Megha Rajagopalan in Beijing and Mai Nguyen in Hanoi; Editing by Ben Blanchard and Christian Schmollinger)
* State-owned firms dominate private-public partnerships

* PPP scheme was designed to boost private sector

* Private firms say they are crowded out

* Local authorities see state firms as financially stronger

* Central government investigating

By Brenda Goh

SHANGHAI, July 4 (Reuters) - Private Chinese companies taking part in a scheme to reduce the state's dominance in building infrastructure are finding competition is coming from an unusual place - the government peers they are supposed to replace.

Private-sector businessmen say they are losing out in most projects to state firms, which are favoured by local authorities because they are seen as financially stronger and better able to raise capital. State companies are also more likely to bid for projects that private firms consider financially unfeasible.

Finance ministry data shows that 600 public-private partnerships (PPP) have so far found partners, and analysts say that about three quarters of the investment has come from state-owned firms.

"The government is willing to work with government firms, but co-operation with private companies is a shambles," said Yan Jiehe, chairman of China Pacific Construction Group, which grew to become China's largest private builder by revenue over the last 20 years by building roads and bridges for local governments.

Yan has no plans to invest in any of the advertised PPP projects, which range from municipal works to highway schemes.

"None of the projects make financial sense," he said.

The central government is investigating why the private sector is winning so few projects. The central government has promised to reduce the oversized role of state enterprises in the economy, so any failure of the PPP scheme would raise doubts about that goal.

China's Ministry of Finance and the state planning agency, the National Development and Reform Commission, did not respond to requests for comment.

Government officials are already worried about signs of a rapid slowdown in the private sector. Investment growth slowed to a record low 3.9 percent in January-May from the year-earlier period, which compares with a double-digit pace last year.

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Private firms provide the lion's share of overall investment in China and create 90 percent of new urban jobs.

SHUT OUT

Problems with the PPP scheme may be more fundamental. Local authorities have advertised close to 9,000 PPP projects - worth an estimated 9.8 trillion yuan ($1.47 trillion) - so most have yet to find a partner at all.

While Britain's PPP scheme limits partnerships to a state authority and the private sector, China does not differentiate between government and private firms. At best, government firms are not allowed to bid on projects in their home province but are free to do so elsewhere.

Still, infrastructure projects would not get done without the participation of government firms because the state is so dominant in the economy, said Wang Shouqing, a Tsinghua University professor who advises local authorities across China on the financing of PPP projects.

"It was unrealistic to stop state and government firms from participating," Wang said. "But placing no restrictions on them has resulted in this, because they run on a different playing field."

In 2014, Beijing pledged to give PPP funding more policy support and began offering rewards of up to 8 million yuan to all participating firms.

That prompted local governments across the country to advertise projects as PPP, hoping Beijing's policy focus would lead to faster approvals. State media has reported that the government is seeking views on a draft PPP law.

UNSUITABLE

The finance ministry's database shows just 565 projects out of 8,644 have funding partners. Shanghai-based privately-owned YHX Bank found 73 percent of the investment came from government firms.

"At all the projects we've dealt with, we've been told that what they want is a government or state contractor," said a project manager at a private construction firm in southwestern Sichuan province who only wanted to give his surname as Long.

Water treatment PPP projects have been the most popular among private investors because many have operating agreements that allow firms to collect fees from end-users, unlike other "build-and-transfer" schemes, like roads, that rely on the local authority for payment, analysts said. Agreements with local authorities leave the firms at risk of sudden changes in policy or budget priorities.

Government firms, however, have tended to heavily undercut private companies on bids, said He Yuanping, chief financial officer of water treatment firm Beijing Originwater Technology . The company is involved in close to 80 PPPs and has mostly won projects on the back of its technology, he said.

Other executives said project terms are not always viable. Some offer lengthy repayment periods of up to 30 years, or uncompetitive returns as low as 1-2 percent, they said.

"In my opinion, out of those 8,000 plus projects, half are unsuitable for PPP," said Wang. "We find that a lot of government officials have an incorrect understanding of PPP." ($1=6.65 yuan) (Reporting by Brenda Goh; additional reporting by SHANGHAI Newsroom; Editing by Neil Fullick)
Copenhagen (AFP) - Danish discount supermarket Netto said on Monday it was exiting the highly competitive British market as it ended a joint venture with British retailer Sainsbury's, citing a dearth of attractive store locations.

The A25 million (30 million euros, A33 million) venture was launched in 2014 in a market where Sainsbury's continues to face fierce competition from rapidly expanding German discounters Lidl and Aldi.

"The scale of the business has been a challenge due to the limited availability of suitable store locations, and therefore we have together with Sainsbury's decided to end our joint venture," Per Bank, chief executive of Netto owner Dansk Supermarked, said in a statement.

Closing Netto's 16 British stores would result in A20 million (24 million euros, $27 million) in write-offs for Sainsbury's and around A10 million in cash costs for winding down the business, the British company said.

The stores would close in August.

"To be successful over the long-term, Netto would need to grow at pace and scale, requiring significant investment and the rapid expansion of the store estate in a challenging property market," Sainsbury's chief executive Mike Coupe said in a statement.

The company would now focus on its core business and on its A1.4 billion March takeover of Home Retail Group, owner of catalogue chain Argos, it said.

Netto pulled out of Britain once before, in 2010, when it sold 193 stores to Wal-Mart division Asda after operating there for 20 years.

The Danish chain currently has 1,336 stores, out of which 459 are in Denmark and the rest in Germany, Poland, Sweden and Britain.

One of Britains "big four" supermarket chains, Sainsbury's currently operates 1,375 stores.
By Princy James

After all, 2016 has caught us all unawares when it comes to sports. Leicester City winning the Premier League title; Iceland routing England in the Euro Cup, and now, Novak Djokovics humiliating defeat at Wimbledon by Sam Querrey  an underdog whose best performance so far at Grand Slam singles never went beyond the fourth round. The defending champions exit came as a bolt from the blue for us all.



And the people are celebrating! While the hostility of the crowd towards Djokovic is par for the course, it was still obnoxious to see them celebrating the loss of the three-time champion as his match result was flashed on the screen at the Centre Court during Andy Murrays third round match against John Millman. The round of applause from the spectators was much more intense compared to how they reacted when Djokovic won the title on the same ground the last two years.

Djokovic, who completed a Non-Calendar-Year Grand Slam recently  an achievement neither Roger Federer nor Rafael Nadal could pull off  had been unstoppable for a year, until his 30-match winning streak at the Majors finally came to an end at Wimbledon on Saturday.

The top seeds exit invariably means amplified chances for crowd favourites Murray and Federer, hence, the euphoric reaction from the Brits shouldnt be confused with adulation for Querrey, the dark horse. However, the evil smile that flashed on Judy Murrays face when she saw the big news can be pardoned; the mother was just being happy for her son.

Murray, a true gentleman, later mentioned in his blog that Djokovics loss guarantees nothing.

I couldnt help but notice the noise from the crowd when Novaks score flashed up on the Centre Court scoreboard, but I only thought about it for a few seconds. It doesnt guarantee anything. There are some pretty decent players left in my way, so Im not getting carried away. (Courtesy: BBC)

But the happiest ones are the Federer fans. The moment they had been waiting for so long finally arrived. This could mean a record eighth title for their King, and an end to his four-year Grand Slam drought. The fans are finally seeing light at the end of the tunnel as someone else has made the job easier. Their love for Querrey will be foreseeably short.

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Djokovic has been a stumbling block for Federer for quite some time, denying the latter a chance to raise his all-time tally. In the last two years, the Serbian defeated the 17-Grand Slam champion four times at the Majors; thrice in the finals alone.

The kingslayer is finally off the track, that too at Wimbledon; Federer fans will thank Querrey, like how they thanked Robin Soderling seven years ago.

Soderling made the job easier for Federer at the 2009 French Open by sending off Rafael Nadal in the fourth round.Federers sole title win in Roland Garros looks a tad insipid for that reason.

The Schadenfreude of Federer/Murray fans stems out of their fear for Djokovic, whom they derogatively call a robot. But that fear itself is an indication of the Serbians greatness.It all boils down to the fact that Djokovic is a player par excellence, whether or not he would be loved by the crowd.





The opinions expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the website.


Vancouver, BC / ACCESSWIRE / July 4, 2016 / Dolly Varden Silver Corporation (TSX.V: DV | U.S.: DOLLF) (the Company or Dolly Varden) is pleased to report that, as announced on June 13, 2016, the Company has repaid the senior secured loan from Hecla Canada and Robert L. Gipson with proceeds from a short-term loan from Sprott Private Resource Lending (M), L.P. (previously announced as Sprott Resource Lending Partnership), an additional Sprott affiliate (collectively, Sprott) and The K2 Principal Fund L.P. (K2).



The Sprott-K2 loan provided $2,500,000 in funds to Dolly Varden. A total of $2,069,097.06 of the Sprott-K2 proceeds was paid to Hecla, as agent to the Hecla/Gipson loan, to discharge all principal and accrued interest on that senior secured loan. The Sprott-K2 loan bears interest at an annual rate of four percent, has a term of six months, and can be prepaid at any time with no penalty except payment of interest for the full term. A total of 2,500,000 share purchase warrants were issued to Sprott and K2 in connection with the loan. Each warrant entitles the holder to purchase one share in the capital of Dolly Varden for a period of two years at a price of $0.385 per share. The Company has agreed to pay a finders fee of $31,250.00 to Eventus Capital Corp. in connection with a portion of the Sprott-K2 loan. The remainder of proceeds will be used by Dolly Varden for working capital purposes.



Rosie Moore, Director and Interim CEO/President of Dolly Varden commented "Again, we wish to thank Hecla Canada and Robert L. Gipson for their support during a key time in the company's transformation. We are reviewing all options and remain open to discussing further business opportunities. Our goal is for the company to become debt free and to grow the potential of the Dolly Varden silver property."



About Dolly Varden - Dolly Varden Silver Corporation is a mineral exploration company focused on the exploration of the Dolly Varden silver property located in northwestern British Columbia, Canada. The entire Dolly Varden property is considered highly prospective for hosting high-grade precious metal deposits, since it comprises the same structural and stratigraphic settings that host numerous other, on-trend, high-grade deposits (Eskay Creek, Brucejack). The Companys common shares are listed and traded on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol DV and on the OTCBB system under the symbol DOLLF.



FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS:

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This release may contain forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance, or achievements of Dolly Varden to be materially different from any future results, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Forward looking statements or information relates to, among other things, the receipt of a takeover bid from Hecla (if at all) and our consideration of such bid, the striking of a special committee, notification to shareholders of the Boards recommendation in respect of a Hecla takeover bid, the realization of Dolly Vardens stated goal to be debt free, the impact of Dolly Vardens debt on the value of the Company, the repayment of the Hecla/Gipson loan, and the continued exploration and valuation of the Dolly Varden silver property. These forward-looking statements are based on managements current expectations and beliefs but given the uncertainties, assumptions and risks, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements or information. The Company disclaims any obligation to update, or to publicly announce, any such statements, events or developments except as required by law.

For additional information on risks and uncertainties, see the Companys most recently filed annual management discussion & analysis (MD&A), which is available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and on the Companys website at www.dollyvardensilver.com. The risk factors identified in the MD&A are not intended to represent a complete list of factors that could affect the Company.

Neither the TSXV nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSXV) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.

Contact Information:

Dolly Varden Silver Corporation

Rosie Moore, Interim CEO and President

1-604-925-5881

www.dollyvardensilver.com

SOURCE: Dolly Varden Silver Corporation
Donald Trump on Monday dismissed accusations that an image of Hillary Clinton that he tweeted and deleted over the weekend was anti-Semitic.



The tweet in question featured a photo of Clinton on a backdrop of $100 bills next to a six-sided star that read "Most Corrupt Candidate Ever." It was later discovered by the newsite Mic that the image had originally been posted to a pro-Trump neo-Nazi message board late last month.



Trump deleted the tweet and later shared an edited version of the graphic in which a circle replaced the star. But the presumptive GOP nominee defended the image on Monday in another tweet that read: "Dishonest media is trying their absolute best to depict a star in a tweet as the Star of David rather than a Sheriff's Star, or plain star!"





Donald Trump's Latest White-Supremacist Blunder Isn't His First| 2016 Presidential Elections, politics, Donald Trump, Hillary Rodham Clinton









It's not the first time Trump's campaign has shared a meme with neo-Nazi roots. In November 2015, he was branded racist for tweeting and deleting a graphic that falsely claimed that black people commit most murders in the U.S.



It was ultimately revealed that the graphic originated from a neo-Nazi website. Trump would later claim that he shouldn't be held responsible because he didn't endorse the graphic. "Am I going to check every statistic? I get millions and millions of people @realdonaldtrump," Trump told Fox News host Bill O'Reilly at the time. "All it was is a retweet. It wasn't from me."



And in February 2016, Trump came under fire for failing to immediately denounce an endorsement from former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke. He blamed this blunder on a "bad earpiece," claiming he hadn't heard Jake Tapper ask him whether he would disavow Duke.





Does Donald Trump Rattle You?





And then there was the time he selected a white nationalist leader as a delegate in California.



These are just a few of the incidents in which Trump has linked himself directly or indirectly to white supremacist groups.



"We've been alarmed that Mr. Trump hasn't spoken out vociferously against these anti-Semites and racists and misogynists who continue to support him," said Jonathan Greenblatt, chief executive of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). "It's been outrageous to see him retweeting and now sourcing material from the website and other online resources from this crowd."



Adds Richard Cohen, president of the Southern Poverty Law Center, "Trump support in the white-supremacist world is unprecedented. The typical white-supremacist opinion of politicians is 'a pox on both their houses.' No one deserves their trust. But in Trump, they've found a champion."


Credit: Gabe Ginsberg/Getty

His nickname may be Champagne Papi, but when it comes down to it, Drake is a whiskey man. So much so that, back in February, the 29-year-old rapper announced via Instagram that he was launching his own brand of the spirit with liquor mogul Brett Hocking. Virginia Black, which hit stores nationwide this month, tastes noticeably smoother and sweeter than your average Bourbon thanks to a slightly lower alcohol content (each bottle is 80-proof rather than the usual 95-proof).

But for those who prefer their booze mixed rather than straight-up, we've got Drizzy's go-to recipe--using the whiskey, natch--and it doesn't stray too far from the standard Old Fashioned. In fact, the only accoutrements you need are lemon juice, honey syrup, a grapefruit peel, and a double rocks glass, if you want to be fancy. Read on below for the three-step breakdown, cue up Views on your Spotify playlist, and prepare to "celebrate with class."

RELATED: 15 Celebrities with Side Businesses You Wouldn't Expect



Credit: Courtesy

A Taste of Honey

Ingredients

2 oz Virginia Black ($40; liquorama.net)

3/4 oz fresh lemon juice

1/2 oz honey syrup (combined with 1/2 oz water)

1 grapefruit peel

RELATED: Drake and Jared Leto Face Off Playing "Never Have I Ever" with Ellen

Directions

1. Combine all ingredients into a shaker tin with ice.

2. Shake well and strain over new ice into a double rocks glass.

3. Garnish with a grapefruit twist.
Drake and Red Hot Chili Peppers are unmoved from the summit of the respective singles and albums charts Down Under.

Drake's "One Dance" (Republic/Universal) this week registers its seventh week at No. 1 on the ARIA Singles Chart. For a second successive week, Drake can boast landing two tracks in the top 5, with "Too Good" again at No. 5, and he scores a a total of three inside the top 50 with "Controlla" bowing at No. 50. "Controlla" becomes the fifth top 50 single from Drake's Views, which hit the top of the albums chart in May.

Drake No. 1 on Billboard Artist 100, Red Hot Chili Peppers Roar to No. 5

Calvin Harris Feat. Rihanna's "This Is What You Came For" (Columbia/Sony) holds at No. 2 on the ARIA Singles Chart while The Veronicas' "In My Blood" (Sony) leaps 22-3, giving the homegrown sister act its sixth top 5 single. Justin Timberlake's "Can't Stop The Feeling!" (RCA/Sony) is unchanged at No. 4.

It's a slow week for new releases with The Voice Australia's 2015 winner Ellie Drennan earning the top debut with "Hard Love" (Universal), which starts at No. 41.

Meanwhile, the Red Hot Chili Peppers' The Getaway (Warner) enters its second week at No. 1 on the ARIA Albums Chart. Of the band's six albums to reach the summit, By The Way has had the longest stint at No. 1, spending four weeks there in July 2002.

Red Hot Chili Peppers' 'The Getaway' Rides to No. 1 in Australia

New Zealand's Broods, the duo of Georgia Nott and her older brother Caleb, score a best-ever chart performance with Conscious (Island/Universal), which opens at No. 2. Conscious follows Broods' debut album Evergreen, which peaked at No. 5 in September 2014.

Adele's 25 (XL/Inertia) holds at No. 3, Beyonce's Lemonade (Columbia/Sony) rises 5-4, and Radiohead's A Moon Shaped Pool (XL/Inertia) slides 2-5.

This week's albums chart sees strong gains from Twenty One Pilots' Blurryface (Atlantic/Warner), up 35-12; Coldplay's A Head Full Of Dreams (Parlophone/Warner), up 20-13; and Taylor Swift's 1989 (Big Machine/Universal) up 21-14, and there's a first-ever appearance by a Game Of Thrones soundtrack. Ramin Djawadi's Game Of Thrones- Music From The HBO Series - Season 6 (Sony), opens at No. 35.
In 1993, during the Bosnian war, the American journalist David Rieff went to Belgrade to interview a leading Serbian politician. As I was leaving his office, Rieff writes in his new book, In Praise of Forgetting, one of his young aides pressed a folded bit of paper into my hand. It turned out to be blank except for a date: 1453  the year Orthodox Constantinople fell to the Muslim Ottomans. The religious and ethnic war of the 20th-century Balkans, the note implied, was rooted in injuries dating back centuries. This anecdote gets straight to the moral quandary at the heart of Rieffs earnest and searching book: Is collective memory always a good thing, or does a harmonious future depend on moving beyond old grievances?

The question is provocative, since it seems to defy a sacred ethical principle of our time, which is the duty to honor the victims of history. Much of modern politics  in places such as China, Rwanda, the Middle East, Venezuela, and Ukraine, to name a few  turns on whether, and how, national histories are ey toept alive. In some cases, memory wars turn into actual battles. Recognizing that age-old political and religious hatreds are among the leading threats to peace, some novelists today are viewing historical recollection in a new way: not as a duty, but as a burden. In particular, recent books by two leading novelists  the Japanese-born, U.K.-raised Kazuo Ishiguro and the South African Nobel laureate J.M. Coetzee  dramatize the tension between memory and oblivion.

Ishiguros 2015 novel, The Buried Giant, takes place during the Middle Ages and depicts a society shattered by civil war between native Britons and invading Saxons. After generations of violence, the nation has been reduced to a near-barbarous state, its inhabitants afflicted by a chronic memory loss  the result of a supernatural mist laid on the countryside by the magician Merlin in order to help people recover from recent events. Ishiguro keeps the reader asking whether this spell is a blessing or a curse. The Briton Sir Gawain wants to sustain amnesia: Beneath our soil lie the remains of old slaughter, he warns. But his foe, the Saxon warrior Wistan, demands, What kind of god is it, sir, wishes wrongs to go forgotten and unpunished?

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Ultimately, memory is restored, but the novel ends before we can see the terrible consequences unfold. The giant, once buried, now stirs, the warrior says. When he soon rises, as he surely will  [m]en will burn their neighbours houses by night. Hang children from trees at dawn. The rivers will stink with corpses bloated from their days of voyaging. It could be a description of todays Syria or Yemen.

Its hardly surprising that in much of his fiction, Ishiguro, an immigrant whose mother survived the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, explores how people respond to trauma. In writing The Buried Giant, he told NPR last year, he was initially tempted to look at the actual contemporary events: the disintegration of Yugoslavia, the Rwanda genocide, France in the years after the Second World War  but decided not to write a book that looked like a piece of reportage. As a novelist, he said, he is concerned with the metaphorical.

If Ishiguro offers a parable about the political implications of erasure, Coetzee, in his enigmatic 2013 novel, The Childhood of Jesus, turns to its spiritual consequences. His protagonist, a boy named David traveling with a chaperone called Simon, arrives in an unnamed Spanish-speaking country, seemingly in the present day. The pair are refugees who have come from a transit camp and are being resettled in the city of Novilla with the help of a social-service agency.

But the characters back stories are never revealed, nor does Novilla belong on any map. Rather, this is an allegorical world in which David and Simon seem to have died and crossed over to a kind of purgatory where souls are taught the harsh, simple values of the new society.

The key to their re-education, they are repeatedly told by their new neighbors, is that they must suppress everything about their former lives. And while Simon understands they are to be washed clean by the passage, he complains that he suffer[s] from memories, or the shadows of memories. In fact, he retains his old lusts and appetites and finds life in Novilla flavorless and dull. Coetzee seems to be asking whether a wholly virtuous life is even worth living.

In the 2015 nonfiction book The Good Story: Exchanges on Truth, Fiction and Psychotherapy, Coetzee and his co-author, psychoanalyst Arabella Kurtz, ask whether human culture in general, has created a form of narrative which is on the surface about the unburiability of secrets but under the surface seeks to bury the one secret it cannot countenance: that secrets can be buried, that the past can be obliterated, that justice does not reign?

Through his characters David and Simon, Coetzee appears to be working on that terrifying question. Simon represents the old, unregenerate human nature, clinging stubbornly to his former life. The author compels readers to sympathize with Simon, since to lose history, Coetzee suggests, would be to lose humanity entirely.

For him and Ishiguro alike, moving on may be virtuous, but it is also ominous, difficult, and contrary to human nature. Shiites and Sunnis, Israelis and Palestinians, Protestants and Catholics might all be better off if they could avoid dwelling on mutual injury. Yet to do so would mean sacrificing the very record of events that gives life structure and meaning.

Memory may indeed be a burden, but its one that literature must bear.

A version of this article originally appeared in the July/August issue of FP magazine under the title Never Let It Go.

Illustration by Edmon De Haro
Homes and businesses began their clean-up operations after almost six inches of rain fell on Wichita, Kansas, on July 2. The rain caused local radio station Classic County 170 AM to come off-air due to flooding in the lower level of KFDI studios.

One neighborhood in west Wichita was completely flooded as of Sunday afternoon, while city crews blocked the road at both ends to prevent cars driving through the high waters. Some residents used kayaks to move through the area.

This drone footage shows the extent of the flooding throughout Wichita. Credit: Facebook/Wichita Window Cleaning
London (AFP) - Dutch defensive midfielder Marten de Roon became newly-promoted Premier League side Middlesbrough's third signing of the close season on Monday moving from Serie A outfit Atalanta.

The 25-year-old -- who is a former Dutch Under-19 international -- cost a reported 14million euros (A11.8m, $15.6m) and signed a four year contract.

He said he was delighted to be joining a Premier League club after just one season in Italy.

"Really happy with my transfer to Middlesbrough! Let's make a good season in the Premier League. Come on The Boro!" he tweeted.

De Roon, who previously played for Dutch sides Sparta Rotterdam and Heerenveen, joins Viktor Fischer and Colombian defender Bernardo Espinosa as the new faces at Middlesbough as they prepare for the Premier League campaign that gets underway in August.

Espinosa joined from Spanish side Sporting Gijon whilst Danish winger Fischer came from Dutch giants Ajax for A3.8million ($5.3million, 4.8million euros).
HELSINKI (Reuters) - Eight Cuba national team volleyball players have been detained over a suspected rape in Finland, police said on Sunday. According to central Finland police three of the players were apprehended on Saturday, and five on Sunday. The Cuban men's team was playing in a World League tournament in the city of Tampere in central Finland. The police gave no further information about the suspected rape. Finnish news agency STT reported the incident occurred at a hotel in Tampere, where the Cuban team was staying. (Reporting by Tuomas Forsell, editing by David Evans)
A suspected suicide bombing struck near the Prophets Mosque, a major Islamic pilgrimage site, in Saudi Arabias city of Medina on Monday evening, July 4. According to early reports from Saudi-owned Al Arabiya television, two security forces were killed in the blast. After Mecca, Medina is the second holiest city in Islam.

This video, shared by a British travel agent that specialises in Muslim prilgrimages to Saudi Arabia, shows emergency services rushing to the site of the explosion.

Video shared by eyewitnesses of a burning car indicate that the blast may have been due to a car bombing. However, this has not been confirmed.

Earlier, two explosions, at least one of which was caused by a suicide bomber, struck near a mosque in the eastern city of Qatif, home to many of Saudi Arabias Shia minority. Credit: Instagram/nooritravel
Baby makes 4! John Krasinski took to Twitter on Monday, July 4, to announce that he and his wife, Emily Blunt, welcomed a second daughter named Violet two weeks ago.

PHOTOS: Celebrity Pregnancies

What better way to celebrate the 4th than to announce our 4th family member!!! the proud dad, 36, wrote. 2 weeks ago we met our beautiful daughter Violet #Happy4th.



Back in January, Blunts rep exclusively confirmed to Us Weekly that the Devil Wears Prada star, 33, was pregnant and expecting her second child with Krasninski. The couple are also parents to Hazel, 2.



In March, the British actress opened up to C magazine about carrying her latest bundle of joy.

PHOTOS: Famous Celebrity Pregnancies: Baby Bump Hall of Fame

The first pregnancy is the most self-indulgent thing in the world because you get massages and prenatal yoga and hypnotherapy CDs, she told the magazine of her previous pregnancy. During this one I forget that Im even pregnant. Im hoisting my 2-year-old around!



At this years Sundance Film Festival in January, Krasinski told Us how fatherhood has changed him.

PHOTOS: Celebrity Babies 2016

I had my daughter [and there was this] existential crack that happens to everybody in a different way  its a mirror that you hold up to yourself and who you are and who you want to be, the Office alum explained to Us. I think those are amazing, challenging moments. That you all of a sudden relate to your parents more, you relate to your brothers more, you relate to your friends more.



Blunt and Krasinski tied the knot in a romantic Italian wedding ceremony in July 2010 after two years of dating.




By Julia Fioretti BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The chief of Dubai-based airline Emirates [EMIRA.UL] expressed doubts on Monday that an EU-level aviation agreement with the United Arab Emirates would improve on the existing deals the Gulf country has with most EU countries. In June European member states gave the executive European Commission a mandate to pursue air traffic agreements with the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Qatar, Turkey and countries in southeast Asia to try to support the European aviation sector. Such agreements, now often done on a bilateral basis by individual governments, would set out where and how often foreign airlines could fly into the EU, and vice versa. But the initiative has been eyed with suspicion by Gulf carriers such as Emirates, Etihad and Qatar Airways, who have faced accusations of receiving unfair state subsidies from European legacy airlines, notably Lufthansa and Air France KLM , as well as major U.S. ones. The Gulf airlines have firmly rejected the allegations. "It is in the view of Emirates that we have more in the current agreements than we anticipate the mandate giving us," Emirates president Tim Clark told Reuters. He added that he had not seen the mandate and therefore could be wrong, "but we have a very high bar, and I guess the government and the airlines would be interested to know how the mandate would improve that." An EU source has said that the flying rights in the mandates for Qatar and the UAE are more restrictive than those for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Europe's aviation industry has been bitten by the rapid expansion of carriers from the Gulf region as well as shifting traffic flows to Asia. France and Germany have led the charge for EU-level agreements as a way to ensure fair competition on the European market, but some see that as thinly veiled protectionism. "We get a parade of ministers asking us from various states within the EU to extend our operations to countries beyond their countries," Clark said. "So we're a little bit perplexed as to why you would try to change this and introduce levels of complexity, but it is for the government of UAE to respond." Clark said he was worried that Brexit might hit demand following Britain's historic vote to leave the 28-nation bloc, compounding heightened security fears since suicide bombing attacks on airports in Brussels and Istanbul. "What you're seeing is consumer confidence constantly being eroded. This predated Brexit but Brexit hasn't helped," he said. "We have 120-150 billion dollars' worth of aircraft coming down the lines...I'd like to think that I'm going to be able to take all those airplanes and get some stability in the market and get demand kick-started." (Reporting by Julia Fioretti; Editing by Toby Chopra)
BERLIN (Reuters) - The European Union's budget rules must be respected, a spokesman for Germany's Finance Ministry said on Monday when asked if Berlin would support fiscal sanctions against Spain and Portugal over their excessive deficits.

"Generally speaking, it is the case that rules must be adhered to," Finance Ministry spokesman Martin Jaeger told a regular government news conference.

(Writing by Paul Carrel; Editing by Emma Thomasson)
(Adds quotes, details)

By Ingrid Melander and Elizabeth Pineau

PARIS, July 4 (Reuters) - European Union leaders on Monday sought to reassure Balkan nations that talks on their becoming members of the bloc would continue despite Britain's vote to leave the union.

French President Francois Hollande, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini held a meeting with Balkan leaders in Paris during which they underlined their determination to continue the accession talks.

"Nothing has changed with Britain's decision," Merkel told leaders of Albania, Bosnia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia, which endured war and upheaval in the 1990s and are all eyeing EU accession.

Hollande told a news conference: "I'd like to reassure those countries that the process will remain underway," he said.

The six countries are all at different stages in joining the EU. Serbia aims to complete accession talks by 2019. Croatia and Slovenia are already EU members.

Balkans leaders told journalists the negotiation talks should continue and they did not fear that would be stopped by Brexit.

"In the Balkans we are not afraid of anything," Prime Minister Edi Rama said adding he hoped the UK referendum would convince EU leaders that "more Europe is needed."

Backing for the EU in Kosovo and Albania is between 80 and 90 percent, levels that British supporters of EU membership could only have dreamt of.

In Serbia, another aspiring EU member, support for the bloc is less clear-cut.

"We don't have a subservient relationship to the union. But that is the place where the future is the best for our people and our countries," Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic said.

Macedonian Foreign Minister Nikola Poposki said he regretted Britain's decision to leave the EU.

"We are losing an ally, a country that has been strongly supporting enlargement. But the idea of enlargement continuing should not be affected," he told Reuters.

(Additional reporting by Bate Felix in Paris, Andreas Rinke and Michelle Martin in Berlin; Writing by Ingrid Melander, editing by Larry King)
LONDON (Reuters) - Ex-London mayor Boris Johnson, who shocked Britain last week when he decided not to stand to replace outgoing Prime Minister David Cameron, criticised the government on Monday for not having a positive plan to make a British exit from the EU work. Johnson, who led the campaign to take Britain out of the European Union, said "hysteria" had gripped those who had supported staying in the bloc, and the government needed to explain the truth about the impact of Brexit. "There is, among a section of the population, a kind of hysteria, a contagious mourning of the kind that I remember in 1997 after the death of (Diana) the Princess of Wales," Johnson wrote in the Daily Telegraph newspaper. "It was wrong of the Government to offer the public a binary choice on the EU without being willing  in the event that people voted Leave  to explain how this can be made to work in the interests of the UK and Europe. We cannot wait until mid-September, and a new PM." The flamboyant and popular Johnson, one of the most prominent Brexit campaigners, had been expected to join the contest to be the new Conservative leader after Cameron announced he would quit following the referendum vote to leave the EU. However, he pulled out when his ally, Justice Secretary Michael Gove, decided to run for the job himself, calling Johnson's abilities into question, which Johnson's supporters described as an act of Machiavellian treachery. A new leader is expected to be in place by early September. Johnson said fears about the impact of leaving the EU had been wildly overdone, saying the stock market had not collapsed and the emergency budget with spending cuts and tax rises had not materialised as Chancellor and Remain supporter George Osborne had warned. Conservative lawmaker Ben Wallace, who was running Johnson's campaign, said he thought Gove himself was unfit to be the leader himself, calling him a gossip. "Michael seems to have an emotional need to gossip, particularly when drink is taken, as it all too often seemed to be," Wallace wrote in the Telegraph. (Reporting by Michael Holden; editing by Kate Holton)
By Ron Bousso and Erwin Seba

LONDON/HOUSTON (Reuters) - Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L) has asked Saudi Aramco for up to $2 billion (1.5 billion) as part of the breakup of their giant Motiva Enterprises refining joint venture in the United States, the latest stumbling point in a partnership fraught with tension.

The payment would be compensation for the Saudi company retaining a larger share of the nearly two decade-old JV. Its split was announced in March and is expected to be completed in October but disagreements over the payment could postpone the final date, sources close to the talks told Reuters.

Under the agreement announced in March, Aramco will take control of Motiva's largest U.S. refinery in Port Arthur, Texas, and retain 26 distribution terminals.

That underscored Aramco's strategy to expand its global refining footprint in order to secure markets for its crude oil and could also be part of its ambitious public offering plan.

Shell will become the sole owner of Motiva's Louisiana refineries in Convent and Norco, where it also operates a chemicals plant, as well as Shell-branded gasoline stations in Florida, Louisiana and the northeastern United States.

Shell is focusing on developing its global chemicals business but also plans to sell $30 billion of its assets by 2018 to finance its $54 billion acquisition of BG Group in February, which will include several refining assets.

The Anglo-Dutch company is seeking 1 billion to 2 billion dollars from Aramco to compensate for the Saudi company keeping a bigger stake in the JV, two sources close to the talks said. Aramco nevertheless believes the fee should be significantly lower, they added.

A Shell spokesman declined to comment. An Aramco spokesperson said the company does not comment on speculation.

Shell has indicated in the past it will receive a cash payment from Aramco as part of the deal, but the size of the cash consideration has not been disclosed before.

ACRIMONY

The payment is primarily due to Aramco retaining a larger refining capacity than Shell -- the Port Arthur plant can process 603,000 barrels per day (bpd) while the two Louisiana plants jointly have a combined 473,000 bpd capacity.

Story continues

The Texas refinery is also considered more advanced after extensive upgrading in recent years.

Additional infrastructure such as storage tanks and pipelines will also be included in the payment.

Refineries are generally valued according to the quality of the units as well as the outlook for its profit margins.

"It is a little bit of an awkward time for Shell to be holding out their hand for a lot of money because refining margins have come off recently," said Neil Earnest, President of Dallas-based consultancy Muse Stancil.

"The margin climate has shifted away from Shell towards Aramco in terms of any cash consideration that needs to be exchanged. Aramco will be saying that the cash consideration today should be lower because the short and medium term outlook for U.S. refining margins is not as robust as it was."

Aramco has rapidly expanded its corporate headquarters in Houston and has hired several new traders in recent months, according to several sources. Motiva's refined product trading business was separated from Shell's trading business in Houston in June 2015 after disagreements between the sides, and it has hired several new traders in recent months, trading sources said.

The Motiva JV was set up in 1998. Relations between the partners started to sour during a huge upgrade of the Shell-operated Port Arthur refinery, which suffered several setbacks and cost overruns which doubled the initial plan of $5 billion.

In 2012, the main refining unit at the heart of the expansion was damaged by a release of caustic chemicals, keeping the unit out of production for eight months and leading to acrimony between the partners as costs ballooned.

"The Motiva Port Arthur upgrade cost overruns were received very badly by Saudi Aramco and put the relation under a lot of stress," said Earnest.

Shell and Aramco continue to cooperate in two major joint ventures: the 50:50 Saudi Aramco Shell Refinery Co (SASREF) in Jubail, Saudi Arabia, and the Showa refining venture in Japan.

(Additional reporting by Rania El Gamal in Dubai; Editing by Susan Fenton)
By Ron Bousso and Erwin Seba

LONDON/HOUSTON (Reuters) - Royal Dutch Shell has asked Saudi Aramco for up to $2 billion as part of the breakup of their giant Motiva Enterprises refining joint venture in the United States, the latest stumbling point in a partnership fraught with tension.

The payment would be compensation for the Saudi company retaining a larger share of the nearly two decade-old JV. Its split was announced in March and is expected to be completed in October but disagreements over the payment could postpone the final date, sources close to the talks told Reuters.

Under the agreement announced in March, Aramco will take control of Motiva's largest U.S. refinery in Port Arthur, Texas, and retain 26 distribution terminals.

That underscored Aramco's strategy to expand its global refining footprint in order to secure markets for its crude oil and could also be part of its ambitious public offering plan.

Shell will become the sole owner of Motiva's Louisiana refineries in Convent and Norco, where it also operates a chemicals plant, as well as Shell-branded gasoline stations in Florida, Louisiana and the northeastern United States.

Shell is focusing on developing its global chemicals business but also plans to sell $30 billion of its assets by 2018 to finance its $54 billion acquisition of BG Group in February, which will include several refining assets.

The Anglo-Dutch company is seeking 1 billion to 2 billion dollars from Aramco to compensate for the Saudi company keeping a bigger stake in the JV, two sources close to the talks said. Aramco nevertheless believes the fee should be significantly lower, they added.

A Shell spokesman declined to comment. An Aramco spokesperson said the company does not comment on speculation.

Shell has indicated in the past it will receive a cash payment from Aramco as part of the deal, but the size of the cash consideration has not been disclosed before.

ACRIMONY

The payment is primarily due to Aramco retaining a larger refining capacity than Shell -- the Port Arthur plant can process 603,000 barrels per day (bpd) while the two Louisiana plants jointly have a combined 473,000 bpd capacity.

Story continues

The Texas refinery is also considered more advanced after extensive upgrading in recent years.

Additional infrastructure such as storage tanks and pipelines will also be included in the payment.

Refineries are generally valued according to the quality of the units as well as the outlook for its profit margins.

"It is a little bit of an awkward time for Shell to be holding out their hand for a lot of money because refining margins have come off recently," said Neil Earnest, President of Dallas-based consultancy Muse Stancil.

"The margin climate has shifted away from Shell towards Aramco in terms of any cash consideration that needs to be exchanged. Aramco will be saying that the cash consideration today should be lower because the short and medium term outlook for U.S. refining margins is not as robust as it was."

Aramco has rapidly expanded its corporate headquarters in Houston and has hired several new traders in recent months, according to several sources. Motiva's refined product trading business was separated from Shell's trading business in Houston in June 2015 after disagreements between the sides, and it has hired several new traders in recent months, trading sources said.

The Motiva JV was set up in 1998. Relations between the partners started to sour during a huge upgrade of the Shell-operated Port Arthur refinery, which suffered several setbacks and cost overruns which doubled the initial plan of $5 billion.

In 2012, the main refining unit at the heart of the expansion was damaged by a release of caustic chemicals, keeping the unit out of production for eight months and leading to acrimony between the partners as costs ballooned.

"The Motiva Port Arthur upgrade cost overruns were received very badly by Saudi Aramco and put the relation under a lot of stress," said Earnest.

Shell and Aramco continue to cooperate in two major joint ventures: the 50:50 Saudi Aramco Shell Refinery Co (SASREF) in Jubail, Saudi Arabia, and the Showa refining venture in Japan.

(Additional reporting by Rania El Gamal in Dubai; Editing by Susan Fenton)
The Easy-to-Navigate Website Features Natural Looking Lash Extensions that are Designed to Last a Long Time

Melbourne, Australia / ACCESSWIRE / July 4, 2016 / The founders of Eyelash Extensions Melbourne, a company that specialises in natural looking lash extensions, are pleased to announce the launch of a new and user-friendly website. The new site, eyelash-extensions.melbourne, coincides with the recent rebranding of the company.





As a spokesperson for Eyelash Extensions Melbourne noted, the company is an arm of Visible Changes which was first established over 22 years ago. In addition to the rebranding and new site, the company has also just released all new social media channels, which will make it easier than ever for customers to keep up with news about their latest eyelash extensions and other lash-related services.







To celebrate these exciting announcements, Eyelash Extensions Melbourne is currently offering new customers 25 percent off their first visit. The deal, which can be used on lash extensions and other products, is valid until the end of August, 2016.





As the spokesperson noted, the founders are proud to offer the best eyelash extensions Melbourne residents can buy. Those with sensitive eyes are welcome to come in for a free patch test.









"We offer a complete lash service including all styles of eyelash extensions, lash tinting, lash lifting (perming) as well as a full range of Salon services including all Beauty, Hair and IPL services," the spokesperson said, adding that the friendly and experienced Lash Specialists at Eyelash Extensions Melbourne only use top grade extensions and glue in their services.





"Our staff undergo ongoing training and personal development to ensure the latest techniques for all services and will do their utmost to make your experience with us enjoyable and memorable to keep you coming back for more."





Anybody who would like to learn more about Eyelash Extensions Melbourne is welcome to visit the new website at any time; there, they can read about their long lasting and lovely lash extensions. The company also posts photos of more great eyelash extensions on Instagram.

Story continues





About Eyelash Extensions Melbourne:





Eyelash Extensions Melbourne specialise in the most natural looking and long lasting lash extension available. Located in Eaglemont, just north of Melbourne, they operate in a beautiful french style boutique, where their Lash Specialist will assure the most relaxing experience as well as excellent quality and service. For more information, please visit http://eyelash-extensions.melbourne/.





Contact:

Gai Harrington

info@eyelash-extensions.melbourne

03 9499 7938



SOURCE: Eyelash Extensions
Iranian-French drama film "The Salesman" has won the international film prize at the Munich Film Festival, following its selection earlier this year as a Palme d'Or competition title at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival.

The movie, starring Taraneh Alidoosti and Shahab Hosseini, was directed by Asghar Farhadi, who helmed the Berlin Golden Bear and Oscar-winning film "A Separation" (2011).

"The Salesman," based in Tehran, centers on a married couple Emad (Hosseini) and Rana (Alidoosti) who are thrown into a tumultuous situation which dramatically affects their relationship, after an incident linked to the previous tenant of their new apartment.

Commenting on the win, the CineMasters Selection jury, comprised of actress Pegah Ferydoni, producer Stephane Tchalgadjieff and former Munich mayor Christian Ude, described the film as "contemporary and yet universal and, most importantly, an opening to the future. A story that was both thrilling and full of surprises."
Washington (AFP) - A father accidentally shot and killed his 14-year-old son at a Florida gun range on Sunday, police said.

William Brumby, 54, was firing his handgun at a shooting range in Sarasota -- an hour south of Tampa by car -- when a spent shell casing deflected off a nearby wall and fell down the back of his shirt around 3:15 pm (1915 GMT).

"Brumby then used his right hand, which was holding the handgun, in an attempt to remove the casing," the Sarasota County Sheriff's office said in a statement. "While doing so, he inadvertently pointed the firearm directly behind him and accidently fired."

The bullet hit his son Stephen Brumby, who was standing directly behind him.

He was taken to a hospital, where he died from his injuries.

Brumby's 24-year-old son and 12-year-old daughter were also at the shooting range at the time. Neither was injured, the police said.

Police are investigating the incident, however, no charges have been filed against Brumby, the sheriff's office said.

Firearms killed some 13,286 people in the United States last year.
July 3 (Reuters) - The distraught father of a 2-year-old boy dragged off and killed by an alligator at the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida last month has said he was attacked by a second alligator as he fought to save his son.

Matt Graves, whose son Lane was killed in the Seven Seas Lagoon at Walt Disney World's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa after being dragged off in shallow waters, gave details about the attack to a fire captain, the Orlando Sentinel reported on Sunday.

The disclosure came via email messages obtained by the newspaper from the Reedy Creek Fire Department, in which Captain Tom Wellons relayed the father's account from the day after the incident to his supervisors, the newspaper reported.

Graves was en route to a hospital for treatment on injuries he sustained while trying to save his son when he shared "the horror that he experienced" as his son was being pulled into the water and "how another gator attacked him as he fought," Wellons wrote in the email, according to the report.

Assistant Chief Stan Paynter forwarded the email to Orange County officials to alert them about a second alligator.

The Sentinel also reported that sheriff's office spokesman Angelo Nieves had said on Sunday a witness also said he had seen a second alligator attack the father.

Trappers killed and opened up five alligators the day after the attack before the boy's body was found underwater and recovered intact.

Walt Disney Co has had more than 240 "nuisance" alligators captured and killed over the past 10 years at its Florida theme park property, according to state records.

Florida has an estimated 1.3 million wild alligators, or about one for every 15 residents, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

(Reporting by Chris Michaud; Editing by Paul Tait)
Eugene (United States) (AFP) - Allyson Felix booked her place at next month's Rio Olympics here Sunday with the fastest 400-meters time in the world this year at the US track and field trials.

Felix, who has been hampered by an ankle injury following a freak training accident in April, powered home to win the final at Hayward Field in 49.68 seconds.

She was joined by Phyllis Francis in second and Natasha Hastings in third.

The 30-year-old from Los Angeles is aiming to become only the third woman after Valerie Brisco-Hooks of the US in 1984 and Marie-Jose Perec of France in 1996 to have won the 200m and 400m in the same Games.

Felix competes in the 200m starting next Friday.
HELSINKI (AP) -- Finnish police have released two members of Cuba's national men's volleyball team but are holding six others on suspicion of aggravated rape, an investigator said Monday.

Police will request that a regional court on Tuesday order the six men to be remanded in custody to continue the investigation before any possible charges, said Joni Lansipuro, the Central Finland Police Department officer in charge of the investigation.

''We have made considerable progress in our investigation and have various pieces of evidence and relevant factors that support our suspicions,'' Lansipuro said. ''We propose (to the court) that they be held in custody.''

The eight men were detained over the weekend in Tampere after local police on Saturday morning received a report that a woman had been raped at a hotel in the city, 170 kilometers (105 miles) north of the capital, Helsinki. The Cuban team was in the city participating in the Volleyball World League tournament in Tampere where they lost 3-1 against Finland without three of their players, who had been detained.

Lansipuro said the Cuban team had been scheduled to leave the country on Monday morning, but it wasn't immediately clear if they had departed.

The Cuban Volleyball Association acknowledged the arrests in a statement Monday night. It said the Finnish investigation was continuing, but added that ''early information implicates them in acts that are totally removed from discipline, the sense of honor and respect that govern our sport and society.'' The statement did not indicate whether the rest of the team had returned to Cuba.

Police declined to give further information pending the outcome of the investigation, except to say that the alleged victim and suspects were adults.

The international volleyball federation, FIVB, said it's ''very concerned by the alleged serious misconduct'' of the Cuban national team and has been in close contact with all parties involved.

''The FIVB has absolute zero tolerance of any offence committed against another person by any players or officials at an FIVB event,'' the world body said in a statement to Finnish broadcaster YLE.

The Cuban Volleyball Association acknowledged the arrests in a statement Monday night. It said the Finnish investigation was continuing, but added that ''early information implicates them in acts that are totally removed from discipline, the sense of honor and respect that govern our sport and society.''
The 600 MHz low-band wireless spectrum auction, popularly known as Incentive Auction, kicked off by the U.S. telecom regulator Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on Mar 29, 2016, recently completed its first part. Low-band spectrum is crucial for wireless operators as the signals can be transmitted over longer distances and through brick-and-mortar walls in cities.

In the first part, which is essentially a reverse auction, the airwaves are being freed by TV broadcasters who no longer have any productive use of the same. The TV broadcasters have agreed to free a substantial amount of 126 MHz of spectrums for a massive $86.4 billion.

In the second part of the auction process, the FCC will resale these airwaves to wireless operators, cable MSOs (multi service operators) or tech firms through competitive bidding. The second part is known as forward auction. Needless to say, the total bid price of the forward auction must reach at least $86.4 billion for the Incentive Auction to be successful.

However, several industry experts believe that telecom operators may be reluctant to offer such a hefty sum for low-band airwaves. Some industry watchers have also predicted that telecom operators may need around 70 MHz to 80 MHz of spectrums in the 600 MHz bands instead of the total freed up 126 MHz airwaves. In such a scenario, the FCC may have to conduct another round of reverse auction for a reduced volume of spectrum at lower prices.

Important bidders include national telecom giants like Verizon Communications Inc. VZ, AT&T Inc. T, T-Mobile US Inc. TMUS, satellite TV operator DISH Network Corp. DISH and cable MSOs (multi service operators) such as Comcast Corp. CMCSA and Liberty Global Inc.

The FCC was initially hopeful that the whole Incentive Auction process can be completed by the end of the third quarter of 2016. However, industry watchers are now expecting the process to be much more prolonged and may continue till early 2017. Notably, the freed spectrums cannot be utilized commercially before 2020.

Story continues

It is worthwhile to mention that the FCC had collected a substantial $45 billion approximately from the AWS-3 spectrum auction that was concluded in Jan 2015. The AWS-3 spectrum auction received 80 applications while the Incentive Auction received 104 applications.

Given the significant number of applications this time, the FCC expects its ongoing low-band airwave auction to be a runaway hit. The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that the Incentive Auction will generate a net value of around $25 billion after compensating the TV broadcasters. However, some highly optimistic estimates see FCC collecting more than $50 billion from the Incentive Auction.

The 600 MHz airwaves auction was initially supposed to have taken place in 2014. However, it was postponed owing to the complexity faced in designing auction rules and related legal issues. In Jan 2016, the FCC chairman, Tom Wheeler, expressed confidence that the Incentive Auction will be the world's largest spectrum auction that has ever taken place.

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Bad nights sleep? It could be that pre-bedtime snack! [Photo: Rex Features]

How did you sleep last night? Did you wake up feeling peachy keen to crack on with the week or are your chugging the coffee like its going out of fashion and wondering if your boss would notice if you disappeared under your desk for a disco nap?

If its the latter, youre totally not alone because according to a recent study almost half of British women say theyre not getting enough sleep and dont feel well-rested when they wake up *yawns*



But could that cheese binge you had right before bed be the culprit? Pre-bedtime snackers take note, the types of food you eat before hitting the sack can have a massive affect on the quality of shut-eye you get.



According to science eating anything close to bedtime increases the activity of your metabolism, which causes your brain to stay active, making it more likely for vivid dreams to occur and less likely youll wake up feeling fine and dandy.



The nutrients in food affect many things in the body, such as energy levels, mood and sleep quality, explains nutritionist and yoga teacher Julie Montagu.



With that in mind weve put together our avoid-list of foods to skip if you desperately need a good nights snooze.



That late night cheese binge could be affecting your shut eye [Photo: pixabay.com via Pexels]

Cheese



Ok so you might have heard the old wives tale that eating cheese before bed gives you nightmares, but turns out theres something in it. There is much speculation, and actually some solid research, to suggest that eating dairy products in the hours leading up to bedtime can cause bad or unusual dreams. Cheese and milk are thought to be the biggest culprits within this group, explains Julie Montagu. Cheese contains tryptophan - an amino acid that the body uses to produce serotonin. Serotonin is the chemical in the brain that helps to keep the mood stabilised. So enjoying a dose of cheese right before bed could contribute to heightened levels of serotonin in the body, which could influence how prominently you dream. And therefore how well you sleep.

Story continues

Cured and processed meats



Yeah, you might want to stop yourself raiding the fridge for cold cuts pre-bedtime. Sausages, salami, bacon, hot dogs, corned beef are very high in Tyramine, an amino acid that regulates blood pressure, explains clinical nutritionist, Kamilla Schaffner, from My London Nutritionist. Foods high in Tyramine are nutritionally known to disrupt normal sleeping patterns as well as the central nervous system in general, which may lead to increased episodes of nightmares, disturbing dreams or persistent migraines.

Curry = crap nights sleep [Photo: Rex Features]

Curry



Theres a reason your restlessness ramps up a notch after a Friday night takeaway. And its all to do with the spiciness of your food. One study, in Australia, found that young men who poured Tobasco sauce and mustard on/in their dinner found it more difficult to get to sleep, and were in a much lighter state than those who had a blander dinner. The body has to work a bit harder than usual to digest seriously spicy foods, explains Julie Montagu. This disruption to the digestive system could impact the quality of sleep that you enjoy.

Pickles



Terrible for your breath, even worse for your zzzeds. Foods that are fermented or pickled in any way  sauerkraut, kimchee, tofu or pickles, soy sauce, miso and miso-containing products  can induce bad dreams when eaten at night, explains Kamilla Schaffner. And bad dreams are so not the sleep goals.

A night on the sauce could be to blame for a bad nights rest [Photo: unsplash.com via Pexels]

Booze



Ever wondered why a night on the tiles = crap nights sleep? According to experts drinking alcohol before bed can delay drifting off and can also reduce the quality of sleep you have, not to mention the amount you sleep.

Alcoholic beverages such as beer, red wine, sherry and liqueurs are known to induce nightmares due to their fermentation process, especially when consumed in excess, says Kamilla Schaffner.

Chocolate can be disastrous for sleep *sobs* [Photo: kaboompics.com via Pexels]

Chocolate

Noooooo! Eating any food late at night that has a high fat content is going to cause some degree of indigestion. Indigestion can cause you to have a poor quality of sleep as you are likely to wake often, explains Julie Montagu. Youre breaking our hearts here.

So how do we make sure we get a good nights rest? The best way that I can suggest to avoid disturbed sleep is to not eat anything in the two to three hours before you go to bed, advises Julie Montagu. This gives your digestive system a chance to catch up and you are more likely to experience an undisturbed sleep until morning.

Na night!

Science Says Working Wacky Hours Could Be Bad For Your Brain

Bad News Nap Lovers, Taking Long Naps Could Be Bad For Your Health
LONDON (Reuters) - France will have to react to Britain's plan to cut corporation tax to below 15 percent and enact reforms needed to reduce its budget deficit, Alain Juppe, a leading candidate in the French presidential race said on Monday.

Juppe, who was in London to meet French expatriates in the wake of Britain's referendum decision to leave the European Union, also said France needed to prove it was competitive and he pressed the need for fiscal harmonisation within the EU.

"It's a new challenge, of course. We have to react," Juppe told journalists without providing detail about the policy changes he would implement if he were to win next May's presidential election.

France's Socialist government wants to capitalise on the Brexit vote and lure banks and other big business to Paris, but Juppe said investors were wary of what he described as the constantly shifting fiscal and judicial landscape.

France's standard corporation tax rate is 33 percent and firms with revenues over 250 million euros pay an additional 10.7 percent of the total corporate tax paid under a "temporary" surcharge due to expire at the end of this year.

That compares with Britain's current corporation tax rate of 20 percent and an average rate among the world's most developed countries of 25 percent.

Juppe, who will run up against former President Nicolas Sarkozy for the conservative Les Republicains' party ticket in the election, said there was a wide gulf between the French corporate tax rate and the EU average.

"We have to cut this gap between taxes in France and the average level in Europe," Juppe said, speaking in English.

"We have to show that France is a competitive country."

In the mid-1990s Juppe served as a deeply unpopular prime minister, triggering France's worst unrest in decades over pension reforms.

Now aged 70 he has shrugged off a decades-old image of a grey technocrat and promises to roll back France's 35-hour working week and scrap a wealth tax if elected.

(Reporting by Richard Lough; Editing by Richard Balmforth)
By Richard Lough LONDON (Reuters) - Alain Juppe, the frontrunner to become France's president in next year's election, offered Britain hope on Monday that it could negotiate over the thorny issue of free movement of people under a new post-Brexit deal with the bloc. On a visit to London, the centre-right former prime minister also said the border between the two countries should be moved back onto British soil - a foray into the controversy over how to deal with migrants camped at the French port of Calais once Britain has quit the EU. Since Britons voted in a June 23 referendum to leave, European leaders have insisted it must continue to accept the free movement of workers if it wants to enjoy continued access to the EU's single market. "We have to be open to negotiation on this point," Juppe told a news conference. "There are several possibilities." Concern about immigration was among the main reasons Britons voted to leave the EU. British politicians who campaigned for Brexit have said they expect to be able to secure a favourable new trade arrangement without having to accept free movement. Juppe, who is seeking his party's nomination in November primaries before the 2017 presidential election, said the bilateral Le Touquet accord that allows French customs officials to work on British soil and vice versa should be renegotiated. "These agreements do not work," he said. "This should be done in Britain. I want those agreements to be renegotiated," he said, adding that with Brexit that situation was not acceptable for France anymore. Juppe's comments were at odds with the line taken by Socialist President Francois Hollande, who has said the border agreement would not be affected by Brexit. The Calais camp that has grown up in the past two years as thousands of migrants seek to avoid border controls there and to reach Britain illegally through the Channel Tunnel is politically controversial on both sides of the Channel. Images of people desperately trying to leap onto trucks bound for Britain roused anti-immigration worries in Britain before the Brexit vote. The camp is also unpopular with local Calais businesses. (Writing by Andrew Callus and Ingrid Melander; Editing by Gareth Jones)
Paris (AFP) - Billionaire French industrialist Serge Dassault of aviation and software giant Dassault Group went on trial Monday for allegedly stashing millions of euros in tax havens.

The 91-year-old Dassault, who is also a member of the French Senate with the conservative Republicans party, is France's third wealthiest person with a net worth estimated by Forbes magazine of $14.8 billion (13.3 billion euros).

The tycoon, who did not appear in court on Monday, has been caught in a complex legal web, accused of crimes ranging from laundering the proceeds of tax fraud to buying the votes of poor families of immigrant backgrounds in the southern Paris suburb of Corbeil-Essonnes where he was mayor for 14 years.

The trial that opened Monday relates to charges that he hid some 31 million euros from French tax authorities in Luxembourg, Liechtenstein and the Virgin Islands.

He is also accused of failing to declare 16 million euros in 2011 and 11 million euros in 2014 to the French High Authority for Transparency in Public Life, which tracks the income sources of public figures.

The first day was dominated by technical questions from his lawyers over the constitutionality of the charges against him, and some of the searches carried out during the investigation.

- Vote-buying charge -

The existence of the secret bank accounts emerged during a separate investigation into Dassault, over vote-buying in elections in 2008, 2009 and 2010 in Corbeil-Essonnes.

Dassault was mayor of the town from 1995 to 2009.

Dassault was charged in April 2014 with vote-buying, complicity in illegal election campaign financing and exceeding campaign spending limits.

He was charged alongside seven other people, including his friend and the town's current mayor Jean-Pierre Bechter.

Dassault admits using his vast personal wealth to help residents of Corbeil, but denies any payouts were made in exchange for electoral support.

Witnesses who claim to have been paid have told investigators that in return for support, residents could expect money for driving lessons or help with finding accommodation subsidised by the local council.

Story continues

In May a court heard the money had fuelled violence, threats and extortion in the small town.

A close ally of Dassault, Younes Bounounara, was sentenced to 15 years in prison for attempted murder in May for shooting a man who filmed Dassault admitting he had given money to Bounounara to be distributed.

The French satirical weekly Canard Enchaine later revealed that Dassault had given Bounounara 1.7 million euros that he had not shared out as planned.

- Cash in plastic bags -

One of the other suspects in the vote-buying case, accountant Gerard Limat, testified in 2014 that he had used two Luxembourg accounts belonging to Dassault to distribute money during electoral campaigns in Corbeil-Essonnes.

Investigations revealed that nearly four million euros had been transferred from these accounts to "supposedly charitable organisations" in Algeria and Tunisia in 2009 and 2010, said a source close to the investigation.

Limat also said he would transfer money from Luxembourg accounts to a Swiss financial service which would bring cash to Paris that he would hand to Dassault.

In November 2014, Dassault's accountant reportedly told investigators that he delivered 53 million euros in plastic bags to his boss over several years.

Investigators uncovered voter lists at Dassault's home and offices, with the mention "paid" and "unpaid" next to their names, as well as remarks such as "drivers licence" or "support upon leaving prison".

Dassault denies the charges of vote-buying, and the case is still under investigation.

Dassault heads the Dassault Group, which owns the country's main conservative newspaper Le Figaro and holds a majority stake in Dassault Aviation which makes business and military aircraft -- including the Rafale fighter jet.

In 1998, Dassault received a two-year suspended prison sentence in Belgium for bribing members of the country's Socialist Party to win an army helicopter contract in what became known as the Agusta scandal.
Radio icon Garrison Keillor has signed off for good.



After 42 years as the host of A Prairie Home Companion, 73-year-old Keillor hosted his final episode to a full house of 18,000 at the Hollywood Bowl on Friday. Even President Barack Obama called in to wish the host a happy retirement and praise the show.



"One of the reasons I miss driving is that you kept me company," the president told Keillor in the broadcast which aired Saturday, according to the New York Times. " A Prairie Home Companion made me feel better and more human."



Other than that call, the variety show kept to its normal routine, featuring performances of country songs, skits and the well-known segment "News from Lake Wobegon."









Goodnight from the @HollywoodBowl a tune in tomorrow to hear the show! #wobegon A photo posted by A Prairie Home Companion (@prairie_home) on Jul 1, 2016 at 10:57pm PDT



Keillor gave a last report from the imaginary town and concluded with his usual line, "That's the news from Lake Wobegon, where all the women are strong, all the men are good looking, and all the children are above average."



Friday's taping wrapped up with a stage full of performers singing "Next Time I'm in Town" Keillor gave a simple wave and said, "Thank you, everybody, goodnight," as he walked off stage.



"It feels like something ends and something else is about to happen," Keillor told his fellow performers about leaving.



The radio icon will remain an executive producer of the show when Chris Thile becomes the primary host this fall. Keillor is currently working on a memoir and a screenplay.
ANGERS, France (AP) -- A gastronomical, sporting and cultural glance at Stage 3 of the Tour de France on Monday:

Region: Anjou. After two days in Normandy, the peloton left Granville and headed south toward the Anjou region in the Loire valley. Angers was the capital of Anjou province and the seat of the Plantagenets, who provided some famous monarchs like Richard the Lionheart and Henry V.

Baguette and butter: Mark Cavendish showed off his sprinting experience by edging German rival Andre Greipel in a photo finish to win Stage 3. World champion Peter Sagan held on to the race leader's yellow jersey he claimed a day earlier. Having also won Saturday's opening stage at Utah Beach, it was Cavendish's second victory in this Tour.

Plat du jour: A plate of galipettes, the large local mushrooms that can be eaten in a very simple way stirred in garlic. Top them with foie gras for an even better culinary experience.

Culture: Granville's most famous son was French designer Christian Dior, the founder of the world-famous fashion house. The Christian Dior Museum in Granville honors his memory with permanent collections and temporary exhibits throughout the year.

Vin du jour: Anjou wines have become more and more popular over the past ten years. They come in every color: white, red and rose. If you have to pick just one, go for the Savennieres. Made of Chenin Blanc grapes grown on schist soil, this white wine has gold reflections, complex aromas with scents of pear and offers mineral qualities once in the mouth.

History: Some bad memories might have crossed the mind of three-time Tour de France winner Greg LeMond when the peloton went past the little town of Les Loges-Marchis. The American rider ended his Tour career there during the sixth stage of the 1994 Tour, dropping out of the race due to exhaustion.

Stat of the Day: 28. The numbers of stage wins by Mark Cavendish, who matched five-time Tour champion Bernard Hinault for second on the all-time list. Eddy Merckx has a record 34 stage wins at the Tour.

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Quote of the Day: ''I was thinking one moment we were going to take the coffee like old time.'' Peter Sagan, reflecting on the slow pace of the peloton.

Dessert: The Angers plum pate is a local pie made with small, green plums called Reines-Claudes, with pastry on top. There is a small hole in the middle, called the chimney, which makes the pate easily recognizable at the local ''patisseries'' (pastry shops). It's only available from mid-July until mid-September.

Next order: At 237.5 kilometers (148 miles), Tuesday's fourth stage is the longest of this year's Tour. It's another leg for the sprinters, despite a slightly uphill final stretch leading to the Limoges town hall.
GAZA (Reuters) - Turkish aid shipments arrived in the Gaza Strip via Israel on Monday, a week after Israel and Turkey announced they would end a six-year rupture and normalize ties. About 11,000 tonnes of cargo, including clothing, toys and medicines destined for the Palestinian coastal territory, were ferried to the Israeli port of Ashdod by a Turkish ship that docked on Sunday. Under the supervision of the Turkish Red Crescent Society, the first of about 500 trucks carrying the aid entered the Gaza Strip, territory controlled by Hamas Islamists, through Israel's Kerem Shalom crossing, witnesses said. Relations between Israel and Turkey crumbled after Israeli marines stormed a Turkish ship in May 2010 challenging Israel's naval blockade of the Gaza Strip and killed 10 Turkish activists during fighting on board. Last week's rare rapprochement in the divided Middle East was driven by the prospect of lucrative Mediterranean gas deals as well as mutual concern over growing security risks, and included an Israeli pledge to enable Turkey to send aid to Gaza. "This is the first (aid) ship after the Turkish and the Israeli governments' agreement," said Kerem Kinik, president of the Turkish Red Crescent, who traveled to Gaza to supervise the distribution of the goods. He said Turkey would provide "continuous, regular humanitarian assistance" for the territory. Last week, some 3,400 trucks carrying 107,500 tonnes of goods, including medical supplies, electronic devices, consumer goods and construction material, entered the Gaza Strip via Israel, according to Israeli authorities. Gaza merchants can import commercial goods from Israel and elsewhere but Israel restricts the entry into the territory of so-called dual-use items, saying they can be used to make weapons and build fortifications. Egypt, which is at odds with Hamas, keeps its border with Gaza largely closed. (Reporting by Nidal Almughrabi; Writing by Jeffrey Heller; Editing by Janet Lawrence)
By Vijaykumar Vedala BENGALURU (Reuters) - Gold eased off a near two-year high, while silver breached the $21 level for the first time since July 2014 in highly volatile trade on Monday, prompted by a burst of short-covering in China. Spot gold rose about 1 percent at one point to touch a session best of $1,357.60 per ounce. This was close to the $1,358.20 level reached on June 24, the highest since March 2014, when global markets went into a tailspin in the wake of Britain's vote to exit the European Union. Spot gold was up 0.3 percent at $1,346.60 an ounce as of 0418 GMT. U.S. gold was up 0.7 percent at $1,348.50. Silver soared 7 percent at one point to $21.107, the highest since July 2014, before retreating below $20.25 by 0415 GMT. "There is a little bit of a two-way battle going on in silver with a number of players going short in China," said an analyst with an international investment bank. The Shanghai Exchange Futures went limit-up as onshore players have aggressively been covering their short positions in the last few days, especially on Monday, said the analyst. "Once the onshore market went limit-up, the short-covering buying spilled over to the London market." Chinese commodities from nickel to cotton surged on Monday on hopes Beijing would unleash more stimulus to prop up a sluggish economy, brightening the outlook for raw material demand. MKS trader Sam Laughlin said in a note global uncertainty would likely continue to fuel the recent rally in precious metals, but warned that there could be sharp periods of volatility. "The metal (silver) continues to be buoyed by its unique position as both an industrial metal in risk-on conditions and a safe-haven asset in times of uncertainty," Laughlin added. Spot gold is expected to break a resistance at $1,351 per ounce and rise more to the next resistance at $1,367, said Reuters technical analyst Wang Tao. Hedge funds and money managers raised their bullish positions in COMEX gold and silver contracts to record highs in the week to June 28. Holdings in SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, rose 0.41 percent to 953.91 tonnes on Friday, the highest since July 2013. [GOL/ETF] The U.S. markets are closed on Monday for the Independence Day holiday. (Reporting by Vijaykumar Vedala in Bengaluru; Editing by Joseph Radford and Subhranshu Sahu)
mark kirk

Donald Trump's high unfavorable numbers among female voters have many conservatives frightened about the potential negative consequences they might have for the congressional Republicans up for reelection on November 8.

Some see a potential model for winning over female voters alienated by Trump's rhetoric, however, in the success of Sen. Cory Gardner of Colorado.

In 2014, the then-congressman attempted to assuage female voters concerned about his conservative stance on abortion by proposing to allow over-the-counter birth control, a position endorsed by many in both parties.

Gardner's strategy  making himself more palatable to female voters  may have worked: The senator lost the female vote by 8 points, a much smaller margin than Sen. Michael Bennet's 17-point win among female voters in Colorado in 2010.

"Gardner really walked that tightrope brilliantly," GOP strategist Matt Mackowiak, the president of the Potomac Strategy Group, told Business Insider.

"It's all about blunting 'War on Women' attacks for these US Senate candidates in tough states," he added. "They need to ensure the social issues don't become the main issue in their individual races. They'd much rather focus on the economy and national security where the political terrain is better."

Amid Trump's unpopularity with female voters, many Republican members of Congress are tearing a page out of Gardner's playbook, blazing their own path down the middle on women's health issues to keep Republican and independent women from staying home or supporting Democrats.

Caught in one of the toughest reelection fights of the year, Sen. Mark Kirk of Illinois last week released an advertisement highlighting his refusal to endorse Trump. But the ad also prominently noted the senator's support for abortion access, a rare position among his GOP Senate colleagues.

"He's a leader on protecting a woman's right to choose," a narrator in the ad said. "And Mark Kirk bucked his party to say that Donald Trump is not qualified to be president. Mark Kirk. Courageous and independent."

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This week, the Supreme Court struck down a Texas law that would have kept abortion clinics from operating unless the doctor had admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles. Within a few hours, Kirk praised the law on Twitter.

Glad to see #SCOTUS uphold access to health care for women #WinForWomen #womenshealth  Mark Kirk (@SenatorKirk) June 27, 2016

And the Illinois senator isn't alone.

Sen. Kelly Ayotte, running neck-and-neck with Gov. Maggie Hassan in New Hampshire, is also trying to strike a more conservative yet similar chord with female voters.

Last month, the Granite State senator released an ad highlighting her support for women's health issues, including her bipartisan bill mandating free mammograms from insurance companies and Medicare and Medicaid. And while she has voted to defund Planned Parenthood repeatedly, Ayotte balked last year at efforts by Senate Republicans to include provisions in a must-pass government spending bill that would have defunded Planned Parenthood and most likely forced a government shutdown.

Ayotte and Kirk's attempts to strike less partisan poses on women's health issues come as the presumptive Republican presidential nominee's popularity among women has caused demographic headaches for other conservative candidates running in purple states.

A Quinnipiac University poll last month found that 51% of male voters supported Trump, while only 35% said they would back Hillary Clinton. Among female voters, 54% supported the presumptive Democratic nominee to Trump's 30%, accounting for a 40-point swing between male and female voters. The gender gap is one of the largest in recent electoral memory, doubling the 20-point swing between male and female voters in the 2012 presidential race between President Barack Obama and former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts.

Both candidates have struggled to navigate an election with Trump at the top of the Republican ticket.

While Ayotte maintaining that she would support but not endorse Trump, Kirk recently rescinded his support for the real-estate mogul.

donald trump

For their part, Democrats are attempting to paint both Kirk and Ayotte as flip-floppers on abortion, contraception, and women's health issues generally.

A Democratic source in Illinois pointed out to Business Insider that Kirk's recent abortion-rights ad aired on television only in the Chicago television area, which leans further left, and did not air in markets where some of the higher concentrations of conservative voters would be watching.

This week, Democrats criticized both senators' support for a Zika funding bill that contained what they called a "poison pill" amendment that proposed blocking family planning clinics such as Planned Parenthood from accessing funds provided to fight the Zika virus, which can be spread sexually.

Groups that have endorsed Democratic Rep. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois like Emily's List and NARAL Pro-Choice America asserted that the votes exposed Ayotte and Kirk's waffling on reproductive health issues.

"When it comes to protecting access to women's healthcare, actions are more important than words. Mark Kirk and Kelly Ayotte have time and again failed women with their votes against protecting women's reproductive rights," Emily's List press secretary Rachel Thomas told Business Insider in a statement.

For its part, Kirk's campaign asserted that Democrats were blowing the senator's vote on the Zika bill out of proportion, noting that the bill extends funding for veterans and whistle-blowers in the Department of Veterans Affairs.

"Another unreal and blatantly false attack by the Duckworth camp," campaign manager Kevin Artl told Business Insider.

Still, while some Republicans see Gardner's winning campaign as a format for succeeding with female voters, Democrats have a different electoral model in mind.

During his 2012 US Senate bid in Missouri, Todd Akin ignited a media firestorm by claiming that women rarely get pregnant in cases of "legitimate rape" because they have ways to "shut that whole thing down." Several Democrats who spoke with Business Insider said they planned to make Trump this cycle's Akin, holding Republicans accountable for all of Trump's controversial statements about women, regardless of whether they formally endorsed the Republican presidential nominee.

NOW WATCH: These are some of the things Donald Trump has taken credit for





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A report from the National Park Service has granted the 600 or so bison roaming near the North Rim of the Grand Canyon native status but also claims that there are too many in the region, so the herd must be thinned.

Thats good and bad news for the species.

First, the designation as native wildlife means the option for wildlife officials to completely remove the animals from the park is off the table. But the report suggests that hundreds need to be removed to get the herd down to a sustainable levelestimated between 80 and 200 individuals.

In its findings, the National Park Service acknowledges the bison living in the region descend from a herd brought to northern Arizona by a rancher in the early 1900s who attempted to crossbreed the bison with cattle.

That determination has led groups such as Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility to question whether bison should be in the region at all, as the 2,000-pound mammals can have negative impacts on the landscape, other native wildlife, and archaeological sites.

But digging deeper into historysome 11,000 years or sowildlife officials concluded from archaeological records that the region has long been home to small, dispersed herds of bison, and the park should be considered the edge of the animals historic range.

RELATED: Should Native Americans Be Able to Hunt Yellowstones Bison?

Glenn Plumb, acting chief of science and resource management at the Grand Canyon, said now that bison are regarded as native wildlife and not an exotic species, the National Park Service can manage them under its wildlife policy for native wildlife.

Were not going to manage them to get rid of all of them, Plumb told Grand Canyon News. There will be no hunting in Grand Canyon National Park. Long-term hunting will continue, as I understand, on National Forest lands.

The end goal would be to keep a very low population density in a 330-square-mile area across Grand Canyon National Park and the Kaibab National Forest lands.

Story continues

Still, PEER Executive Director Jeff Ruch feels that the report gives park officials the leeway to allow hunting, as one management option listed in the report notes the opportunity for skilled volunteers to lethally remove bison in the park, allowing for up to 15 percent of the herd to be killed annually until the goal population of under 200 is reached.

This plan would turn Grand Canyon into a game farm managed for the benefit of Arizona Game and Fish, Ruch said in a statement, claiming that skilled volunteers is a euphemism for hunters who are selected by the park. Slaughter should not become a routine park wildlife management strategy.

Craig McMullen, supervisor at the Arizona Game and Fish Departments regional office in Flagstaff, said his office is pleased with the reports conclusions.

The bison are a valuable native component of the experience for visitors to the Kaibab Plateau, but there are too many right now, McMullen said in a statement. The ultimate goal is to manage this important bison population at appropriate levels for the enjoyment, appreciation, and use of the public.

Identical bills introduced in the House and the Senate this year by Rep. Paul Gosar and Sen. John McCain (both Arizona Republicans) would pave the way for state-licensed hunters to kill bison within the parks boundaries and harvest the meat. The bills tout the hunts as a cost-saving measure that would expedite delayed action from the National Park Service.

We cant afford to allow more devastation to be caused to the park while the Park Service twiddles their thumbs trying to come up with an expensive plan, Gosar said in a statement. We have a plan, and it puts Arizona hunters to work doing what they love, accomplishing this important task for free.

If Congress were to pass the bills, known as the Grand Canyon Bison Management Act, they would have to be integrated into the National Park Services plan.

Arizona permits hunting for bison at the House Rock Wildlife Area just outside the park boundaries. Permits are highly sought-after, but opportunities to kill bison have diminished, as the animals are spending more time within the hunting-free confines of Grand Canyon National Park.

Sign the Petition: The Grand Canyon Belongs to All of Us

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Its a scenario that takes place in restaurants throughout the world: Diners are served enormous portions but leave part of their meals uneaten while hungry people rummage through Dumpsters out back, scrounging for scraps of trashed food. Solving this problem of food waste and hunger in Pakistan is the goal of Food for Thought, a new project in Karachi that gets leftovers to people in need.

Founded in February by Zara Nadeem and Zehra Hasan, 24-year-old friends who were fed up with seeing leftovers being tossed, the effort allows people to donate uneaten portions to those who dont have enough to eat.

RELATED: One Kitchen Aims to Upcycle Food Waste and Employ the Poor

For a poverty-stricken nation like our own, where the disparity between different income groups is so vast, the amount of resources that are being wasted is appalling, Hasan wrote to TakePart. Furthermore, whats even more disturbing is the fact that a certain population of our society can afford to pay the same amount for a single meal that would be sufficient to buy months worth of groceries for a lower-income household.

Hasan and Nadeem both grew up in Karachi, where 49 percent of the population lives in poverty. Between 2014 and 2016, 22 percent of the Pakistani population as a whole was undernourished, the equivalent of about 41.4 million hungry people.

After bringing two other staff members on board and partnering with several restaurants, the duo realized that their food redistribution idea wouldnt work if they didnt have buy-in from the public. Taking home leftovers is sometimes taboo in Pakistan, particularly at pricier establishments, which makes it more likely that uneaten meals will be tossed, Hasan wrote. To combat that mind-set, the campaign initially focused on educating consumers through posters in restaurants about the harm of wasting food. Items chucked in the trash tend to end up in landfills, where food breaks down and produces methane, a greenhouse gas more devastating to the climate than carbon dioxide.

Story continues

RELATED: You and Your Kitchen Scraps Could Help Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions

The way the program works is simple: Participating restaurants are given Food for Thought boxes in which staff place the uneaten portion of meals if customers decide not to take it home. The involvement of the consumer doesnt end there.

We took it a step further by requesting the customer to take on the responsibility of handing the food over to someone in need personally, since we believe that involving the public in the process is essential in bringing about a change in mind-set, Hasan wrote.

For the month of Ramadan, which ends July 5, Food for Thought is also running a side project dedicated to ration distribution. Through donations, the group has supplied each of 45 families residing in highly impoverished Karachi neighborhoods with a bag of monthly groceries that costs about $22.

RELATED: See the Images That Raised $2 Million to Combat Modern Slavery in Pakistan

It was during visits to these locations when we were truly able to get a glimpse of the overwhelming problem at hand, Hasan wrote. The cyclical problems of unemployment, lack of education, and poor housing conditions all culminate to form a depressing view of the situation we collectively face as a nation. It is for this reason that the food distribution process is one that is usually disorderly and even dangerous many of the times.

Hasan estimated that Food for Thought distributes food to about 150 to 200 people daily in a handful of communities in Karachi. The organization plans to increase the number of people served as more wedding halls, hotel chains, and restaurants sign up to participate, which will allow the project to expand to between 500 and 600 people. But some locals have raised concerns about whether handing out leftovers makes those receiving them feel undignified, Hasan wrote.

Here you need to understand that the group of people this food is going to are those who, at times, have to scrounge through garbage just to find something remotely edible to eat, and for such people, even leftovers are welcomed and seen as a blessing, Hasan explained. To such people we would also pose the question of whether theyd rather that this perfectly edible food be thrown out as opposed to being utilized as a meal for someone in need?

The group aims to reduce food waste at restaurants, bakeries, and buffets, as well as events where uneaten food routinely gets thrown away, such as wedding receptions. At the typical wedding in Karachi, the average food waste is equal to at least 300 individual meals, wrote Hasan.

The group maintains regular contact with community leaders in various organizations, who help to identify the most deserving people in the area and plan food-distribution logistics.

Hasan and Nadeem want to establish a sustainable model within Karachi before considering expansion to the rest of Pakistan, especially because much of the work involves physically going to locations to pick up and drop off meals. They have also started a social media campaign on Facebook to inspire people to give away leftovers and draw attention to the unequal access to food in their community.

Many of our online posts consist of statistics that give a picture of how rampant the problem of food wastage is, Hasan wrote. We constantly reiterated that in a country like Pakistan that is unable to provide a chunk of the population with basic necessities, wastage is simply something we cannot afford.

To continue the series of ration distributions, in July, Food for Thought will launch a special initiative: Sponsor a Family. It plans to post profiles, demographics, and the living conditions of roughly 30 families it regularly visits. Karachi residents who want to volunteer can then take on the responsibility of covering the costs of the monthly groceries of these families for a set period of time. The Food for Thought team will handle getting items and delivering them to the designated households.

Almost everyone we have spoken to has offered to contribute in whatever way they can, Hasan wrote. Pakistan is a highly philanthropic country and the willingness amongst the general public to help such causes is something were experiencing now firsthand.

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ATHENS (Reuters) - Greek Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos said on Monday the timing for fully easing capital controls on the country was contingent on when public confidence was restored in its banking system.

Greece imposed capital controls a year ago to stem a flight of deposits from Greeks spooked at the ramifications of a financial crisis that almost cost the country its position in the euro zone.

"The more the public believes that the recapitalisation process was indeed a good one, that the banks are indeed very stable, that we are indeed taking the appropriate measures to deal with the bad loans, if ... money starts returning to the banks, this will help lift capital controls," Tsakalotos told state broadcaster ERT1 in an interview.

"It's a continuous process of liberalisation," he said.

Greece's economic performance would also play a key role, he said, adding that the finance ministry in the coming week would issue new guidance easing capital controls further.

Tsakalotos said he was confident an automatic mechanism of across-the-board spending cuts, dubbed "the chopper" by Greek media, would not be activated because Athens would meet its bailout target for a primary surplus of 0.5 percent in 2016.

Tsakalotos, a British-trained economist who taught economics before being thrust into Greece's economic morass a year ago, defended the track record of the country's left-led government in dealing with international creditors.

Greece held out negotiating its third international bailout in a tense standoff with creditors last year, which included Athens calling a referendum on further austerity. The public rejected those terms, but less than a month later Greece was forced to capitulate and accept a new financial lifeline.

"The clash was necessary," Tsakalotos said. "Europe needed to change."

(Reporting by Michele Kambas; Writing by Renee Maltezou; Editing by Peter Cooney)
John Oliver didnt let a little thing like being off the air last night keep him from offering fans a Happy Independence Day  or, as its called where I come from, fourth of July and thats all. The British Oliver, whose Sunday-night HBO program Last Week Tonight With John Oliver took last night off, posted a web-exclusive video  watch it above  expressing his best holiday wishes. Though the greeting is controversy-free (not a Brexit joke in the bunch) Oliver being Oliver couldnt stop himself from reminding Americans what they gave up back in 1776. These beautiful vowel sounds could have been yours, he says, before touting bowler hats, meat pies and the Queen herself (an elderly woman who frowns for a living). But the thing Americans are really missing out on is pessimism. Americans are optimistic people who believe the sky is the limit. Whereas in Britain, we are painfully aware of our limits. In fact, just look at the British sky itself  even the sun is incapable of asserting itself. Despite Americas walk-out, though, Oliver offers an olive branch. Honestly, he says, you are probably way better off with the way that things are.

Last Week Tonight returns with live shows Sunday July 24.

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More than three years after the tragic death of James Gandolfini, the procedural show said to be his passion project is finally due to hit screens.

HBO's The Night Of - an eight-part miniseries co-created by Steven Zaillian and Richard Price, with Zaillian directing seven episodes - is set to debut July 10 (and later in the year on Sky Atlantic in the U.K.). Based on the BBC drama Criminal Justice, the story follows Naz, a young Pakistani-American student (Riz Ahmed) accused of a brutal murder, with John Turturro as John Stone, his ambulance-chasing eczema-suffering New York attorney.

While Gandolfini is still credited as an executive producer of the show, the late actor was initially set to take the role played by Turturro, having shot the pilot episode in late 2012. As it turned out, it would be the last thing he ever filmed, according to exec producer Jane Tranter, the former BBC exec who initially brought the series to HBO.

"Jim had a very clear idea of how he would play Stone," says Tranter, who produces for her new Bad Wolf banner (The Night Of is actually the first title to bear the company's logo). "It was very physical. A really, very sort of physical relationship with the character and how he wanted to play it. He talked about it very much in terms of the physique."

Read more: James Gandolfini Passion Project 'Criminal Justice' Gets New Title, Summer Premiere at HBO

Gandolfini shot only for one day, appearing in just one scene with Ahmed.

"I think one of the things that was a blessing in the complete lack of blessings in Jim's death was the fact that he had only shot the pilot, which was very different from the first episode," adds Tranter. "And Richard and Steve had only really just started to block out episodes two and three when Jim passed."

But both she and Zaillian are keen to underline the passion brought to the role by Turturro, a performance Tranter says is "mesmerically brilliant" and "one of the most towering" she's seen on TV for a long time. "[Gandolfini] very much wanted to do it and I wanted him to do it," says Zaillian. "But as much as I would have loved to have done it with Jim, this has really become John's part. They're both great actors."

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After an acclaimed writing career spanning almost four decades, including the likes of Schindler's List (for which he won an Oscar), Gangs of New York, American Gangster and The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, The Night Of is Zaillian's first TV venture. But he admits he and Price only ever intended to work on the pilot. "I just thought, if it's an hour, it's kind of like a little movie. But then it became: Ah, we'll do one more, one more  and then you reach a point where it's like, well, we've done this much, we have to finish it. You become possessive about it."

Read more: James Gandolfini Passion Project 'Criminal Justice' Gets New Title, Summer Premiere at HBO

Although he admits to having caught the TV bug, Zaillian says he's not sure when a new small-screen project might land. "It's a big commitment. Certainly at this moment I don't have in mind any story that's going to hold my interest for as long as it takes to do this," he says.

Before another TV idea comes forward, among Zaillian's extensive list of future feature film projects is The Irishman, the long-gestating $100 million Martin Scorsese mobster biopic that became the hot title at this year's Cannes, where STX snatched international rights for a reported $50 million.

"I hope they can make it next year," he says of the film, based on the book by Frank Sheeran and set to reunite Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci and Al Pacino, adding that he expects it to be as good as Scorsese's previous gangster titles. "If there was Goodfellas, and Casino, which was again considered a gangster film but a totally different story, then there's this which is with the same actors, so yeah, it's fantastic  so I hope they make it."

Read more: Cannes: STX Wins Battle for Martin Scorsese's 'The Irishman'
A Hillary Clinton campaign aide slammed Donald Trump for tweeting an image that critics say featured a Star of David shape.

Hillary for Americas Director of Jewish Outreach Sarah Bard  who references reports that the now-deleted image criticizing Clinton as corrupt was previously posted on a message board associated with the white supremacist movement  condemned the presumptive Republican presidential nominee for his use of a blatantly anti-Semitic picture.

Donald Trumps use of a blatantly anti-Semitic image from racist websites to promote his campaign would be disturbing enough, but the fact that its a part of a pattern should give voters major cause for concern, she wrote. Now, not only wont he apologize for it, hes peddling lies and blaming others. Trump should be condemning hate, not offering more campaign behavior and rhetoric that engages extremists. The president should be someone who brings Americans together, not someone who sends signals and offers policies of division.

Clinton campaign blasts Trump's star tweet pic.twitter.com/lBUZFEAFi8  Zeke Miller (@ZekeJMiller) July 4, 2016

The Trump campaign quickly took down the original tweet and replaced the image with one where the star was covered with a circle. Trump responded to backlash over the tweet Monday morning, blaming dishonest media for calling the six-pointed star a Star of David rather than a Sheriffs Star or plain star.
Hillary Clinton Donald Trump Star of David tweet

Hillary Clinton's campaign issued a fiery statement on Monday condemning Donald Trump for a tweet sent from his Twitter account over the weekend.

"Donald Trump's use of a blatantly anti-Semitic image from racist websites to promote his campaign would be disturbing enough, but the fact that it's part of a pattern should give voters major cause for concern," the statement from Hillary for America's director of Jewish outreach, Sarah Bard, read.

The tweet contained an image of the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee with a badge next to it that read "Most Corrupt Candidate Ever!"

It was summarily denounced because of the badge's resemblance to the Star of David, which appears on Israel's flag and which Jews in Nazi Germany were forced to wear on their clothing. The image apparently originated from a neo-Nazi website, according to NBC News.

The original tweet was deleted from Trump's account, and a modified version was sent out instead, replacing the Jewish symbol with a circle instead. In a follow-up tweet, Trump criticized what he described as the "dishonest media" for not interpreting the symbol as a "sheriff's star, or plain star."

Trump later issued a statement accusing Clinton of "trying to link the Star of David with a basic star, often used by sheriffs who deal with criminals and criminal behavior."

The presumptive Republican presidential nominee then turned his attention to former President Bill Clinton and the investigation into Hillary Clinton's State Department emails, before asking, "Why are there so many lies?"

Here's Clinton's statement in full:

Donald Trump's use of a blatantly anti-Semitic image from racist websites to promote his campaign would be disturbing enough, but the fact that it's part of a pattern should give voters major cause for concern. Now, not only won't he apologize for it, he's peddling lies and blaming others. Trump should be condemning hate, not offering more campaign behavior and rhetoric that engages extremists. The president should be someone who brings Americans together, not someone who sends signals and offers policies of division.

Story continues

Here's Trump's statement in full:

These false attacks by Hillary Clinton trying to link the Star of David with a basic star, often used by sheriffs who deal with criminals and criminal behavior, showing an inscription that says "Crooked Hillary is the most corrupt candidate ever" with anti-Semitism is ridiculous. Clinton, through her surrogates, is just trying to divert attention from the dishonest behavior of herself and her husband. The real questions are, why was Bill Clinton meeting secretly with the US Attorney General on her case and where are the 33,000 missing emails and all of the other information missing from her case  Why are there so many lies?

NOW WATCH: TRUMP SPOKESWOMAN: Why the Republican Party has 'miserably failed'





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Chan Yum-wo did not know anything about the maritime industry when he signed up as a dockworker in Hong Kong in 1994. But that did not matter to the former primary-school teacher. A friend told him there was good money to be made at the container terminals, and Chan needed a secure job with a steady paycheck. He had a new family to support.

It was a busy time for the citys fabled Victoria Harbour. In fact, Hong Kongs port was then the busiest in the world, according to statistics from Hong Kongs Marine Department. In the year Chan joined, the equivalent of 11 million 20-ft. containers from nearly 200,000 vessels passed through the port as they crisscrossed the seas.

We created a miracle, says Chan, who became a founder and leader of the Union of Hong Kong Dockers.

But those days have passed. Today Chan is 65 years old, his hair is white and he hasnt worked at the docks since February, when the number of containers moving through the terminals declined for the 18th straight month. The port that was the center of the world when Chan joined is now ranked fifth.

Its a sunset industry, he says.

Hong Kongs port is suffering, creating an existential crisis for the city. As anyone who has been on its waters will tell you, Hong Kong, an archipelago of 263 islands, is its harbor.

I think the thing we forget is that Hong Kong only exists because of the port, says Richard Wesley, the director of the Hong Kong Maritime Museum.

But pressure from new terminals in southern China and shifting manufacturing supply chains have taken a toll. As the port handles fewer containers each month, the workers hired by subcontractors that supply labor to the terminals are receiving fewer calls to work.

Some people remain optimistic about the ports future and rightly point out that fifth in the world is still a tremendous slot. They speak about the developments taking place that will hopefully bring business back to the port, or at least plug the drain. Few, however, expect a return to the top.

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More than 150 years ago, there were some who doubted Hong Kongs maritime potential altogether. Lord Palmerston, the British Foreign Secretary when the Union Jack was raised over Hong Kong in 1841, was unimpressed by the island. It will never be a mart for trade, he famously said, calling it a barren rock.

But naval eyes could see that the sheltered, deep-water harbor that lay between the craggy islets lay was superbly suited to the new steel, steam-driven ships that were replacing wooden vessels, Wesley explains.

The port grew steadily under British rule through the 19th and 20th century, flourishing particularly after the creation of the Peoples Republic of China following World War II. Hong Kong was well positioned to serve the shipping needs of the growing country, Wesley says, being of China but not part of it. By the late 1960s, it was clear a modern facility was needed. The advent of containerization created demands for volume and efficiency. So traditional operations were transferred to a purpose-built facility on reclaimed land in a northwestern part of Kowloon. Its first berths opened in 1972, ready to receive the worlds trade.

Today the facility, known as Kwai Tsing Container Terminals, is Hong Kongs main port. It squeezes into a square mile nine terminals with 24 berths that offer more than 4.7 mile of frontage, according to statistics from the Hong Kong Marine Department. The site can be overwhelming. Steel containers  8 ft. tall, 40 ft. long  are piled five, six, sometimes seven high and arranged into blocks, and the blocks are stretched into rows. Above these rows loom multistory logistics centers, grey from pollution, which are in turn dwarfed by red cranes with arms reaching skyward, then the towers and cables of a nearby suspension bridge, and finally, in the distance, mountains.

Like the sea, the vast arena constantly rolls and shifts. From the perimeter, you can watch cranes move containers from ship to shore to stack and back again, while a continuous flow of trucks emits an endless rumble and leave the air heavy with exhaust. The cycle is ceaseless.

The overall volume of containers loaded and unloaded at a port each year is called throughput and is measured in 20 ft. equivalent unit (TEU) containers, the standard of the industry. Between 2000 and 2010 throughput at Hong Kongs port rose steadily, despite a precipitous drop following the 2008 financial crisis. But after peaking in 2011 at 24 million TEU containers, the volume fell steadily over the next four years to about 20 million in 2015, with six months of double-digit decline last year, according to statistics from the Hong Kong Maritime and Port Board.

Former challengers Shanghai and Singapore are now easily the worlds first and second busiest ports, each handling more than 150% of Hong Kongs yearly throughput. The future does not look bright either. Deutsche Bank predicted that Hong Kongs throughput could fall from 30% to 50% over the next decade, according to a 2015 study cited by industry publication the Journal of Commerce.

The effects of this loss have come ashore. Dockworkers used to work in teams of nine but now have to settle with seven, Chan says. Those who remain on the docks have grown older, as the younger generation turns to industries with better pay. In 1994, workers hired by subcontractors earned about $195 per 24-hour shift. Twenty-two years later, that pay has only increased by $25  and that was only after a 40-day dockworker strike in 2013 stalled operations at the port and sparked a series of rises.

At the same time, falling throughput means less work to go around. One docker tells TIME that, by his estimate, calls for jobs had fallen by as much as 30% over the past nine months. Many of his former co-workers, he said, were looking for construction jobs.

Tsz-leung Yip, an associate professor in the Department of Logistics and Maritime Studies at Hong Kong Polytechnic University, explains that container throughput has dwindled as manufacturing has moved out of southern China and into Southeast Asia. This trend has cut down the volume of profitable direct shipment, Yip says, leaving Hong Kong rely on the less lucrative business of transshipment, where containers are stored at the port temporarily as they are shifted from one ship to the next. Rival ports in Shenzhen that lurk just across the boarder on the Pearl River Delta only make matters worse.

I personally dont expect the business will come back, Yip says.

To maintain competitiveness in the coming years, Hong Kongs government has agreed to release extra parcels of land and berths at Kwai Tsing, as well as to a reorganization of the existing facility, said Jessie Chung, chair of the Hong Kong Container Terminal Operators Association. Although the changes are not very substantial, she says, it is the right direction to move in because it will offer more breathing room for transshipment cargo.

All we hope is we will stop the decrease or even have some throughput increase, she says. But hope is in limited supply on Hong Kongs docksides these days.
A senior Hong Kong delegation will head to Beijing for talks following explosive revelations by a bookseller who said he was detained for eight months on the mainland, the city's leader said Monday.

Lam Wing-kee, 61, has said he was seized after crossing the border into the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen, taken away blindfolded and then kept in a cell without access to a lawyer for alleged involvement in bringing banned books into the mainland.

The case has laid bare growing anxiety that the semi-autonomous city's freedoms are disappearing.

Lam was one of five employees of a Hong Kong firm -- which published gossipy books about leading Chinese politicians -- to go mysteriously missing last year. All later emerged in mainland China.

Hong Kong's Beijing-backed chief executive Leung Chun-ying said a team of senior officials would visit Beijing Tuesday to discuss Lam's case and review the "existing notification mechanism between the two places".

Under that mechanism, authorities on the mainland are required to give clear details about arrests and detentions of Hong Kong citizens over the border, a procedure critics say went disastrously wrong in the booksellers' case.

"(Officials) will go to Beijing tomorrow morning ... (and) meet with relevant departments in order to improve the existing mechanism. It will be a comprehensive and in-depth review," Leung told reporters.

He added mainland authorities would also brief the Hong Kong officials, including the city's justice and security ministers as well as heads of police and immigration, on Lam's case.

Lam was due to lead a pro-democracy march Friday to mark the 19th anniversary of the city's handover from Britain to China, but pulled out at the last minute citing a "serious threat" to his security.

Hong Kong security minister Lai Tung-kwok said Lam had filed a report over his claims and investigation was underway.

The Hong Kong government has been accused of dragging its feet over the booksellers' case, with residents demanding to know what authorities have done to try to help them. There have also been accusations China has illegally sent its security agents to operate in Hong Kong.

Fellow bookseller Lee Bo disappeared on Hong Kong soil, spurring fears that he was detained by Chinese personnel.

Hong Kong was returned by Britain to China in 1997 under a deal which allows it freedoms unseen on the mainland, but there is concern they are now being eroded.
By Neil Robinson July 4 (Reuters) - Six-time British flat racing champion jockey Kieren Fallon has announced his retirement at the age of 51 as a result of his battle against depression. Among the most colourful and controversial figures in British racing, the Irishman enjoyed a roller-coaster career that included 16 classic wins over 24 years until he decided to retire on Monday. The Jockey, who recently made a comeback with Irish trainer Michael O'Callaghan, has spoken about his mental health issues to Irish Turf Club chief medical officer Dr Adrian McGoldrick and Fallon asked him to make the news public. "Kieren is suffering from severe depression," McGoldrick said in a statement. "When he came to me before getting his licence to ride this year, it was clear he was suffering from depression and I treated him with anti-depressants. "He told me that he hadn't intended to make a comeback but decided to do so having been encouraged by Michael (O'Callaghan) but he rang me last week and said his situation had got worse. "I met him and on Sunday, he told me he didn't feel strong enough to speak to anyone in the media about his situation and asked me to speak on his behalf. "He told me that he has lost the motivation to continue his riding career and wanted people to know about his decision to retire. He said it was time to move on once his depression has been managed." O'Callaghan said he believed Fallon's decision could be related to a mishap he suffered last week. "He had a fall on the gallops... and he just said he's 51 now and doesn't bounce like he used to," the trainer said. Over his career, Fallon's stellar success on the track was tempered by continued controversy off it, with two bans for drug use and a third suspension while he faced charges of race-fixing, of which he was subsequently cleared. There were also problems with alcohol, for which Fallon sought treatment, and a party lifestyle that seldom kept him out of the headlines. Fallon, who began his career in 1982 and claimed a first win two years later, went on to ride 2,253 winners. (Editing by John O'Brien)
Ninad Ambre

Hyundai will unveil the anniversary edition of the Creta SUV on July 7. The carmaker might then launch this special edition at the cars presenting ceremony to Saina Nehwal on winning the Australian Open, 2016.

The name itself suggests that the Cretas new variant will be introduced to celebrate the cars first anniversary in India. The SUV was launched in July 2015 and has been a very successful product for the carmaker. No details about this new model have been announced yet, but it is expected to be similar to the Elite i20s anniversary edition. Accordingly it might be based on the Cretas SX trim and might get side body decals and a contrasting roof paint.

There might be some additions in the cabin of this Anniversary edition as well. This might include funky seat covers, illuminated door sills and exclusive floor mats. Hyundai might also offer a car refrigerator from their optional accessories pack offered at Hyundai dealerships.

There wont be any mechanical changes to the powertrain of this special edition Hyundai Creta. The car will continue to be offered in a choice of engine options including a 1.4-litre diesel, a 1.6-litre diesel and a 1.6-litre petrol engine. All these engines come mated to a six-speed manual gearbox. Except for the 1.4-litre mill, both the 1.6-litre motors are also offered with the option of a six-speed automatic transmission.

This Creta anniversary edition might be priced Rs 30,000-35,000 more than the standard SX variant. Also to maintain its exclusivity, Hyundai might run a limited number of these models.All details with the pricing will be revealed on July 7.

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By Osamu Tsukimori and Taiga Uranaka

TOKYO (Reuters) - Idemitsu Kosan Co passed over concerns that the son of its founder raised privately about plans for Japan's second-biggest refiner to merge with smaller rival Showa Shell , his lawyer told Reuters in an interview on Friday.

Shosuke Idemitsu, 88, the son of founder Sazo Idemitsu, publicly broke with the company's plans for the merger at a meeting last week, shaking up Japan's staid corporate world. This may be the beginning of drawn-out battle. The family has said it sees no chance of a compromise on the issue, the family's lawyer, Takujiro Hamada, told Reuters.

The former president and now honorary chairman Shosuke Idemitsu is leading the family against the merger with Showa Shell, including the purchase of Royal Dutch Shell's (RSDa.L) 33.3 percent stake. Its opposition to re-election of the company board came close to removing Idemitsu president Takashi Tsukioka, along with other board members, in a vote at the shareholder's meeting.

Shosuke wrote to Idemitsu opposing the merger in December and again in May after the company did not heed his advice, said Hamada.

After at least two discussions with Idemitsu, Shosuke felt compelled to make the matter public through comments Hamada made at last week's meeting, Hamada said.

"During the talks, Idemitsu touted various merits of the merger, like good locations of refineries," Hamada said.

An Idemitsu spokesman said on Monday that its talks with the family may have been inadequate from their point of view, and added it would try to deepen communication with them from now on.

The founding family's 33.92 percent stake is large enough to veto the merger plan when it comes up for consideration at a special meeting expected later this year.

Shosuke "does not want to fight and until the last moment wanted to calm things down via talks," said Hamada. He declined to comment on any future legal action the family would take.

The merger is one of two big combinations backed by Japan's powerful industry ministry in the country's struggling refining industry. But, it was recently delayed because anti-competition authorities are still reviewing the plans.

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The increasing rivalry between Iran and Saudi Arabia makes the merger inappropriate, the Idemitsu family has said. Showa Shell is 15 percent-owned by state-owned Saudi Aramco while Idemitsu has a close relationship with Iran spanning decades.

Corporate cultures may also be difficult to reconcile. Sazo Idemitsu built the company into a self-described challenger to the dominance of the global oil majors.

(Writing by Aaron Sheldrick; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)
LUKAS Hydraulik GmbH, a subsidiary of IDEX Corporation IEX, recently completed the acquisition of AWG Fittings GmbH (AWG) in a 46.0 million cash-free, debt-free transaction. IDEX had initiated the deal on May 16, 2016.

About AWG

AWG is one of the leading manufacturers of mobile and stationary fire protection systems in the world. The companys expertise and extensive experience, gained over many decades, have helped it achieve greater efficiency and augment its rescue and fire-fighting operations.

Based in Ballendorf, Germany, AWGs revenues for the year ended Dec 31, 2015, was approximately 36 million. The company will now operate within the IDEX Fire and Safety/Diversified Products segment.

Synergies from the Deal

Per Andy Silvernail, IDEX Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, the acquisition of AWG will boost the companys Fire Suppression platform with its highly integrated firefighting technology and equipment. With this, IDEX has two successfully completed acquisitions so far this year, the other being that of Akron Brass. The company is looking forward to the global expansion opportunities these acquisitions are likely to provide.

IDEX CORP Price

IDEX CORP Price | IDEX CORP Quote

Impact of Brexit

Germany, Europes largest economy, is expected to be gravely affected by Brexit. The country has much to lose and almost nothing to gain from U.K.s exit from the 28-nation bloc. This is because Brexit would change the way multinationals make investment decisions and would favor U.K. with liberalized trade policies. Germany is likely to become a less attractive destination for foreign investors post Brexit.

Given the present scenario, the acquisition may not live up to IDEXs expectation, as Brexit could result in higher tariff and non-tariff barriers to trade between the U.K. and the EU, lowering the productivity of the company. This would undermine the long-term growth potential of the company to some extent as German exporters are likely to suffer.

Story continues

IDEX carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Some better-ranked stocks in the same space include Altra Industrial Motion Corp. AIMC, Ingersoll-Rand Plc IR and Middleby Corp. MIDD. All three stocks carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

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Rain clouds pass over Canary Wharf financial financial district in London, Britain July 1, 2016. REUTERS/Reinhard Krause

The uncertainty brought about by the UK's choice to leave the European Union is set to have a "dismal" impact on the outlook for the country's media sector, according to a report from Enders Analysis.

"Brexit is upon us," the report says, using the abbreviation for the British exit from the EU. "It promises no benefits to the UK creative sector, only offering the prospect of damage. The question is how much."

Enders says the period of uncertainty could last as long as five years. The Conservative Party needs a new leader; Article 50 needs to be triggered to activate the exit process; the UK government needs to negotiate trade agreements; and there is also the issue of the UK's eligibility to participate in the single market.

And when there is a period of uncertainty, advertisers tend to hold back their spend. Advertising spend is also influenced by the economy, which is expected to experience an accelerated slowdown as a result of the Brexit.

As a result, Enders has downgraded its short-term forecasts for the UK media sector.

enders

When Enders last published its forecast, in mid-February, 2015 had been a strong year for the UK media sector and 2016 "appeared very favorable" despite there being some signs of slowing economic growth, the research company said.

"The situation has since changed dramatically," Enders writes in the report, citing the many unanswered questions about the order, timing, and terms of the UK's relationship with the EU post-Brexit.

The "best case scenario" in Enders' view is a continued slowdown in the second half of this year  with the UK ad spend forecast up 3% if internet display advertising is included and down 2% for traditional display media  and flat in 2017.

The "worst case scenario" is that 2016 ends up with zero growth and the traditional display categories drop 4% on the previous year. In 2017, market growth could decline by as much as 7%, according to Enders, which would amount to a drop in spend of 1 billion ($1.3 billion) in the next two years.

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Print media is at the greatest risk from the Brexit because it is exposed to consumer demand. Enders says an economic downturn or recession could see newspaper ad spend, which was already dropping as more readers switch to online, decline as much as 20%.

TV spend in the UK, on the other hand, has "suffered very little if at all at the expense of online media," according to Enders. Advertisers still look to TV as a mass-market branding medium, and conversations with media buyers had suggested TV ad spend until the end of August would be up about 2% to 3%.

Enders says in the report that it is "optimistic" that TV net advertising revenue growth will be "at worst positive" in 2016 and decline no more than a few percent the following year.

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Raipur, INDIA (Reuters) - India may alter the list of steel items that attract a minimum import price if the country decides to continue with the protectionist measure beyond August, steel secretary Aruna Sundararajan said.

India imposed the minimum import price (MIP) on 173 steel products in February, helping cut inbound shipments last month to their lowest level in at least 14 months. The MIP expires in August.

The country is the world's third-largest steel producer, with a total installed capacity of 110 million tonnes. But the domestic industry says its margins have been squeezed due to cheap imports from China, Russia, Japan and South Korea.

India is currently carrying out an anti-dumping probe against imports of certain steel products from some countries.

Those items would be removed from the list on which anti-dumping duty is imposed while new products could be added, she said.

(Reporting by Sankalp Phartiyal; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)
The Indian state of Haryana has instituted a hotline to report instances of the smuggling and slaughter of cows, police said on Sunday.

The 24-hour helpline will aid the enforcement of a law passed by the state government last year that punishes the slaughter of cows with up to 10 years in prison, the Indian Express newspaper reported. K.P. Singh, Haryanas top-ranking police officer, further told the Express that roadblocks will be set up to further curb the smuggling of cattle.

The sale and consumption of beef is taboo in many parts of India, with the cow considered a sacred animal by the countrys majority Hindu population. It became a hot-button issue for several months last year following a spate of lynchings  mainly of Muslims accused of killing cows or eating beef.

Recently, the Express reports, a video showed activists from a fringe group called the Gau Raksha Dal, or Cow Protection Army, forcing two men to eat a cow-dung-based concoction after they were allegedly caught with beef.

[Indian Express]
A beggar (right) asking for alms from Faridah Ngajis (left) at Joo Chiat Complex. (Photo: Safhras Khan/Yahoo Singapore)

A group of four women entered several shops on the third floor of Joo Chiat Complex, carrying large plastic bags for one purpose. Approaching the shop tenants to ask for alms for the fasting month of Ramadhan, the beggars were persistent and even rude to the tenants customers.

Urging the tenants to help ease their financial burden, the beggars would sulk and complain loudly in their Bahasa Indonesia accent if no alms were given to them. But the beggars, who were spotted on Friday afternoon (1 July), prayed for the tenants who donated money or clothes.

Several tenants spoke to Yahoo Singapore and said that the beggars were Indonesian - mostly from Tanjung Pinang or Batam - and had visited their shops during the past few Ramadhans.

When contacted, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Social and Family Development noted that fewer beggars have been picked up in the Geylang Serai area so far this year compared to last year.

MSF responds to public feedback on beggars and conducts regular patrols with the assistance of auxiliary police officers.

Any person found begging in a public place without visible means of subsistence or a place of residence may be admitted in the interim into a welfare home. Foreign beggars will be handed over to the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority for repatriation and blacklisting, said the spokesperson.



Begging is an offence in Singapore and habitual beggars who persist despite being able to live by other means can be fined up to $3,000 or jailed up to two years upon conviction.



Beggars are a common sight

Tenants at the mall said that this Ramadhan, they have seen more Indonesian beggars, who typically come to the shops after 4pm.

In previous Ramadhans, the beggars in the area were mainly from Pakistan and India but they were not present this holy month, according to the tenants.

They (Indonesian beggars) can be a bit of an irritant as they will barge into my shop and openly ask for money. If we do not give them any, they will bug our customers or linger around outside the shop, said Fatimah Abdul Karim, who owns a boutique in the mall.

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Speaking in Malay, Fatimah said she usually gives between 50 cents and $2 to the beggars. There were instances when they actually pushed my customers aside and were rude but I still give them some money as I pity them, she added.

Faridah Ngajis (left) distributing money to one of the beggars who came to her shop. (Photo: Safhras Khan/Yahoo Singapore)

Faridah Ngajis, a sales assistant at another boutique, said that aside from money, her shop has been donating used clothes to the beggars.

Giving alms is a good deed. We are encouraged to do good things during Ramadhan.

We also distribute hijabs to them, and we gave away old stock to the women as Hari Raya (Eid Fitr) is coming, she said.



MSF urged members of the public not to give money to beggars as this will encourage begging activities.

Purpose of begging

Yahoo Singapore spent the afternoon at the mall and noticed that the beggars moved around quickly in groups of three or four women. This reporter saw around 20 women entering and leaving the shops to ask for alms.

When approached, one of the beggars said that she was currently living at Tanjung Pinang and had arrived in Singapore by ferry a day earlier.



Introducing herself as Suwatie, the mother of three denied that she was begging, despite being spotted taking money from a shop tenant just minutes earlier.

I am here for a day and I am collecting money for a mosque in Tanjung Pinang, said Suwatie.



When pressed further, she was unable to produce any documentation about the mosque and instead said that she would donate the money to the mosque after taking a cut for herself.

It is up to the individual if they want to give. I also collect clothes that are given by Singaporeans and sell them off.



There are also people who had donated rice to me before, which I will also sell, she said, adding that she preferred to walk in the mall as it was cooler than being in the Geylang Serai bazaar area.



Suwatie, an Indonesian from Tanjung Pinang, showing Yahoo Singapore some of the clothes that were donated to her. (Photo: Safhras Khan/Yahoo Singapore)

Suwatie then showed her collection for the day - a red plastic bag full of clothes that were given to her by various shops in the mall. She then excused herself before hurrying to the malls carpark.

Another woman from a group of four beggars, who was seen walking around the second level of the mall, agreed to talk briefly to Yahoo Singapore. The rest of her group quickly walked away and ignored any interview requests.

The plump woman from Batam, who declined to be named, refused to be photographed by this reporter.

She said,I have to do this because I need the money. I am ashamed but I do not have a choice.


Milan (AFP) - Struggling Italian banks took a hammering on the Milan stock market Monday as the European Central Bank demanded action over the high level of bad loans at the country's number-three lender.

Burdened by fragile balance sheets and a staggering 360 billion euros ($401 billion) in bad loans, the Italian banking system is emerging as a big worry for bank investors, already shaken by Britain's June 23 vote to leave the European Union.

Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi's government is in talks with the European Union over how to shore up ailing banks but its task is complicated by EU rules that bar the use of public money to do so.

Shares in Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena, or BMPS, plummeted 14.0 percent to close at 0.29 euros as investors fretted over its gross bad loans, which amount to 46.9 billion euros.

Other Italian banks also fell heavily, with top bank Unicredit declining 3.6 percent and others down by similar or larger margins.

Since January, the FTSE Italia All-Share Banks index has plunged 55 percent.

In a draft letter to BMPS, the Frankfurt-based ECB told the bank to lower its gross bad loans by more than 13 billion euros to a maximum 32.6 billion euros in 2018, the Italian bank said in a statement.

- Deep concerns -

The central bank also ordered BMPS to present by October 3 its plans to cut the ratio of doubtful loans to 20 percent of the total loan portfolio in 2018.

BMPS said the ECB requirements were in line with plans that the Italian bank had already approved.

Those plans, which focused on a faster process of ridding itself of bad loans, had been submitted at the time for the ECB to assess, the bank said.

"The bank has immediately initiated discussions with the European Central Bank in order to understand all the indications included in this 'draft' letter, and to present its reasoning before the final decision expected by the end of July 2016," BMPS said.

Market concerns have deepened ahead of the July 29 publication of European Banking Authority stress test results, which may reveal shortfalls in Italian banks' capital.

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Saxo bank economic analyst Christopher Dembik said there is a "strong chance" that Italian banks will run into trouble in the stress tests as most of them have bad loans amounting to more than 10 percent of the total.

- Bail out talks -

Last week, the European Commission agreed to allow the Italian government to offer government guarantees as a form of short-term liquidity for solvent banks, with a reported total of up to 150 billion euros.

Italian media say Rome is seeking a six-month suspension or relaxation of EU rules that require investors to pay the cost of rescuing a troubled bank before public funds are used for a bail-out.

Citing officials and bankers, the Financial Times said Monday that Italy could defy the EU and use public money if the banking system came under "severe systemic distress".

A government official told AFP that the prime minister had repeatedly stressed his desire to defend savers, preferring to use "market solutions in line with European rules".

German Chancellor Angela Merkel last week warned that it was not possible to change the rules "every two years" while Brussels argues that Italy has other solutions available that respect EU regulations.

Renzi has raised the possibility of boosting the finances of Atlante, a fund created by financial institutions to help fragile banks.

As if the Italian investors were not already sufficiently stressed, the climate is further clouded by the government's plans to hold a referendum in October to reform the constitution.
Acclaimed Iranian film-maker Abbas Kiarostami has died at the age of 76 in France following a battle with cancer, Iranian media reported on Monday.

Kiarostami, who won the coveted Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 1997 for "Taste of Cherry", left Tehran last week to undergo treatment in France, the ISNA news agency said, adding that his death had been confirmed by Iran's House of Cinema.

One of the brightest stars of Iran's cinema, Kiarostami was born in Tehran in 1940 and rose from relatively humble origins before becoming part of the so-called Iranian New Wave of cinema in the 1960s.

He stayed on in his country after the Islamic revolution in 1979, but had been working internationally for the past decade.

The news agency IRNA reported that he had undergone several unsuccessful operations in Iran between February and April, and that his body would be repatriated for burial.
Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami, whose 1997 film Taste of Cherry won the Palme dOr at the Cannes Film Festival, has died in Paris. He was 76.

Irans Isna news agency confirmed his death. He had been receiving treatment for gastrointestinal cancer and had traveled to France for a series of operations.

Often applying a non-narrative and experimental approach, the poetic and highly visual filmmaker was revered by cineastes around the world. Film begins with DW Griffith and ends with Abbas Kiarostami, director Jean-Luc Godard, with whom he shared a devotion to breaking cinematic rules, once said.

Born in Tehran, he started the film department at Kanun, Irans Institute for the Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults. He made his first film, Bread and Alley while running the institute.

Kiarostami stayed in Iran after the revolution, while other filmmakers of the Iranian New Wave left the country to seek more creative freedom. The 1990 Close-Up, which mixes fact and fiction and jumbles chronology, is considered to be one of his masterpieces.

He first made an impression outside his home country with the Koker trilogy including Where is the Friends Home?, Life, and Nothing More and Through the Olive Trees.

He also wrote and produced Jafar Panahis directing debut The White Balloon. Taste of Cherry was his seventh feature and shared the Cannes prize with Shohei Imamuras The Eel. Variety called it One of the directors darkest and most personal movies.

His 1999 The Wind Will Carry Us incorporated more humor, but continued his elliptical, poetic approach.

After political challenges drove him to work outside of Iran, he made Certified Copy in Italy, starring Juliette Binoche, who won best actress at Cannes for her role.

In a Variety interview about Certified Copy, he quipped Gilles Jacob told me that you should never say that you had fun shooting a movie. You should say that youve been suffering, that it was hard work, otherwise people will think that the film is not worth seeing. If you havent suffered they should not have to pay a ticket to go see it.

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His last full-length feature, 2012s Like Someone in Love, was made in Japan and screened in official competition in Cannes.

Kiarostami and his films had a special relationship with the Busan festival in South Korea. One of the brightest stars of world cinema has fallen, Busan co-founder and programmer Kim Ji-seok told Variety. His films were distinguished from those of any others in the past, and will be remembered in the history of cinema. Kiarostami first appeared in Busan in 1997 with Like Summer. He returned repeatedly with other titles including The Taste of Cherry, The Wind Will Carry Us, and ABC Africa. He was president of the festivals main competition jury in 2005 and was a founding faculty member of Busans proposed Asian Film Academy.

Saddened by the loss of Abbas Kiarostami, one of cinemas true greats, added the Asia Pacific Screen Awards Academy on Twitter.

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Baghdad (AFP) - Iraq may be winning against the Islamic State group on the battlefield, but it is struggling to prevent deadly jihadist attacks in Baghdad that are undermining the government.

A suicide bombing claimed by IS ripped through a crowded shopping area in the Karrada district of Baghdad early on Sunday, killing more than 200 people just a week after Iraq announced it had fully recaptured the city of Fallujah from the jihadists.

Fallujah was just the latest in a string of IS defeats, but its losses have not stopped the group from carrying out bombings, and may in fact encourage it to step up such attacks.

"The Iraqi government in the best of times could barely control the security situation," said Patrick Skinner, a former CIA case officer who is now with The Soufan Group consultancy.

"Now is clearly not the best of times, and more attacks are unfortunately likely," he said.

Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced a series of changes to Baghdad security measures following the blast that highlighted various long-running problems in the capital.

Chief among them was the use of fake hand-held "bomb detectors" sold to Iraq by James McCormick, who was sentenced to 10 years in jail in Britain for fraud in connection with the devices in 2013.

- No phones at checkpoints -

Abadi ordered the devices removed from checkpoints, but on Monday in central Baghdad they were still being carried by soldiers and police who said the order to stop using them had not yet come down.

He also directed that security personnel not use mobile phones at checkpoints, but even if that happens, the broader problem of inattentive forces bored by long hours on duty will remain.

Abadi told the interior ministry to speed up the deployment of scanning devices at entrances to the capital, indicating that this measure, which could help identify bombs or the material to make them being brought into Baghdad, had still not been implemented.

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And he called for coordination and integration among security forces that is "far from conflicts" -- a sign that such coordination is currently lacking.

Even if the new measures are fully carried out, preventing all bombings in the capital would be extremely difficult.

Bombings in Baghdad have sparked anger among Iraqis, who accuse authorities of not doing enough to keep them safe, undermining already low confidence in the government.

"Public anger at the inability of the central government to protect them is sadly one of the common sentiments between all factions and sects," Skinner said.

"It is not enough to unify them, but it is enough to further pull the country to the extremes," he said.

- A grim preview -

This anger is further damaging to Abadi, whose reputation was already hurt by failed efforts to change the cabinet and carry out other reforms.

"The main political point now... is Abadi's weakness and lack of credibility," said Kirk Sowell, a Jordan-based political risk analyst and the publisher of Inside Iraqi Politics.

Abadi faced an angry crowd when he visited the site of Sunday's bombing, with one video showing men throwing rocks at what was said to have been his convoy, while a man could be heard cursing him in another clip.

He has hailed progress made by security forces against IS, but that ultimately means little to Baghdad residents when they face the possibility of being killed whenever they leave their homes.

And battlefield victories may encourage the jihadist group to return to its insurgent roots and step up attacks such as the deadly blast in Karrada.

"I see a reversion to the prior status quo of car bombings, (improvised explosive devices), assaults here and there," said Aymenn al-Tamimi, a jihadism expert and research fellow at the Middle East Forum.

"There was a similar trend back in 2009 as IS's predecessor (the Islamic State of Iraq) experienced losses," Tamimi said.

The Karrada bombing therefore offers a grim preview of what IS can do, even in defeat.

"The attack is part of a larger trend of (IS) sliding back down from proto-state to terrorist group," said Skinner.

"Karrada sadly fits the trend for the foreseeable future," he said.
Qalandia (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) - Israeli forces demolished the West Bank homes of two Palestinian knifemen whose December attack led to the death of two Israelis, including one by friendly fire, the army said Monday.

The overnight demolitions took place in Qalandia refugee camp, between Jerusalem and Ramallah, with four Palestinians wounded in ensuing clashes, an AFP reporter said.

A military spokeswoman said the military destroyed the homes of Issa Assaf and Annan Abu Habsa, who were shot dead during a December 23 attack near Jerusalem's Old City.

"Armed with knives, the two assailants stabbed pedestrians at the scene, brutally killing rabbi Reuven Birmajer and wounding a civilian," the spokeswoman said.

A middle-aged Israeli was also killed in the December incident, by stray fire from security forces shooting at the two Palestinians.

"During the demolition, multiple violent riots erupted" with Palestinians throwing rocks and opening fire, the spokeswoman said.

Israeli forces eventually opened fire at "main instigators", she said.

Four Palestinians were lightly wounded in the clashes, according to an AFP reporter.

Israel routinely demolishes homes of Palestinian assailants in what it says is a means to deter further attacks.

UNRWA, the United Nations agency responsible for Palestinian refugees, said Assaf lived in the house of his father, an UNRWA sanitation labourer, with four other members of the family.

"Punitive home demolitions are a form of collective punishment which are illegal under international law. They inflict distress and suffering on those who have not committed the action which led to the demolition and they often endanger people and property in the vicinity," said a statement from the agency.

"UNRWA condemns punitive demolitions and reminds Israel, the occupying power, that under international humanitarian law it has an obligation to protect the occupied people and provide services."

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Abu Habsa's father, Mohammad, said that the army had warned him ahead of the demolition, after the order was approved by the Israeli High Court.

"I don't know what they will gain from this," he told AFP as he stood by the rubble.

A wave of violence since October has killed at least 214 Palestinians, 34 Israelis, two Americans, an Eritrean and a Sudanese.

Most of the Palestinians killed were carrying out knife, gun or car-ramming attacks, Israeli authorities say.
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Nochi Dankner, once one of Israel's most powerful tycoons who lost his business empire in the global economic downturn, faces up to five years in jail after a Tel Aviv court found him guilty on Monday of manipulating share prices.

Less than a decade ago, it was hard for Israelis to avoid products from Dankner's companies, including a major supermarket chain, cellphone operator, airline and, for a brief period, one of the country's main newspapers.

But in February 2012, after things had turned sour for his business empire, Dankner propped up the price of shares in his conglomerate IDB to help a stock offering, a Tel Aviv district court judge found.

"The offering was critical for the company and Dankner in particular," according to the judge's ruling.

At the time, IDB had a notoriously complex pyramid of control with multiple levels of holding firms and subsidiaries. But it hit hard times when the market crashed and some investments, such as a major Las Vegas real estate deal, failed.

Dankner, together with businessman Itay Strum, who was also found guilty on Monday, created a false impression there was strong interest in IDB stock when in reality banks and institutions were not keen on investing, the court said.

Dankner and Strum, both of whom denied any wrongdoing, are due to be sentenced on Sept. 20. It was not immediately clear whether they planned to appeal against the judge's ruling.

Lawyers for both men were not immediately available to comment.

The court described how Strum's company bought IDB stock on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, only to sell it off the exchange to Dankner's own network of investors and use the money received to buy more IDB stock.

IDB raised a total of 321 million shekels (62.5 million pounds) in the offering.

Control of IDB and its subsidiaries has since been sold to Argentinian businessman Eduardo Elsztain.

At his height, Dankner symbolised a class of businessmen in Israel known as "tycoons", who control large chunks of the economy and have been blamed by the public for stifling competition, and raising the cost of living as a result.

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Public outrage at economic concentration, following mass protests in 2011 over the high cost of basic goods, led the government to pass a law limiting the number of levels in such pyramid structures. In addition, conglomerates can no longer own major financial and non-financial concerns.

($1 = 3.8544 shekels)

(Reporting by Ari Rabinovitch; editing by David Clarke)
By Dan Williams TEL AVIV (Reuters) - Israeli prosecutors accused two Palestinians on Monday of carrying out last month's gun rampage in Tel Aviv in the name of Islamic State, but their lawyer denied any link, saying they sought revenge for Israeli crackdowns in the occupied West Bank. Cousins Mohammed and Khaled Makhamreh, and a third Palestinian charged as their accomplice in the June 8 attack that killed four people, were indicted in Tel Aviv District Court on several counts of murder and attempted murder. The indictment said they had decided "take revenge on Israel in the name of Islamic State during the (Muslim) fast month of Ramadan", but did not include any terrorism charges. Israel's Shin Bet security service, which took part in the investigation, issued a separate statement saying the accused had been "inspired" by the group "without having been formally recruited or receiving any kind of assistance or instruction". Security footage showed the cousins, aged 21 and 20, entering Tel Aviv's upscale Sarona Market, then pulling out guns in one of the restaurants and firing at diners. They were captured outside by police, who shot and wounded one of them. Violence has intensified in the last 10 months, stoked by Palestinian frustration at stalled statehood talks, more Israeli settlement building on occupied land, disputes over a Jerusalem mosque, and Islamist-led calls for Israel's destruction. Prosecutors said Mohammed Makhamreh was exposed to Islamic State teachings while on a visit to Jordan. Speaking briefly to court reporters, a smiling Makhamreh confirmed he had been to Jordan. Asked if he was with Islamic State, he said: "No, no." The cousins' lawyer, Khaled Mahagna, said both Makhamrehs had confessed to the attack "but do not belong to any group, not ISIS (Islamic State) or any Palestinian faction". "They took action because they wanted revenge given the security situation, the occupation, especially in Hebron," the lawyer said, referring to a flashpoint Palestinian city near the cousins' hometown that sees regular Israeli army sweeps. Israel says scores of Islamic State volunteers from among its Arab minority and the Palestinian territories have attempted or succeeded in going to territory the group holds in Syria and Iraq. Palestinian authorities say at least 20 such volunteers have gone from Gaza alone. Islamic State has also vowed to attack Israel. But Israeli security officials have played down this threat, seeing more immediate dangers from armed Palestinian factions such as Hamas and Hezbollah guerrillas in neighbouring Lebanon. The indictment said the defendants photographed themselves in front of an Islamic State flag before the attack. But no such picture was shown to the media, and Mahagna said he was not aware of it. (Editing by Louise Ireland)
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel attacked Syrian army targets after errant fire from fighting in Syria's civil war struck the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights, the military said on Monday. A spokeswoman said two targets belonging to the Syrian military were hit overnight after the fire damaged Israel's security fence on the Golan, territory captured from Syria in a 1967 war. She gave no further details about the targets that were struck or the weapons Israel used to attack them. Two months ago, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel has launched dozens of strikes in Syria. Though formally neutral on the civil war, Israel has frequently pledged to prevent shipments of advanced weaponry to the Iranian-backed Hezbollah group, whose fighters have been allied with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The Israeli military has also responded in the past with shelling and air strikes to mortar bombs that have landed in the Golan during battles in the Syrian conflict. (Reporting by Jeffrey Heller; Editing by Andrew)
Entebbe (Uganda) (AFP) - Forty years ago, Israeli commandos grabbed headlines with a bold raid at Entebbe airport to free the passengers of a plane hijacked by Palestinians and Germans radicals.

The operation took place overnight on July 3-4 1976, and freed all but four of 105 hostages, with the loss of one Israeli soldier, Yonatan Netanyahu, the brother of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Other casualties include three hostages killed during the attack, a fourth who was in hospital and later murdered on the orders of Ugandan strongman Idi Amin, 20 Ugandan soldiers and seven hostage takers.

The drama began on June 27 when an Air France jet flying from Tel Aviv to Paris with more than 250 people was hijacked and forced to land in Benghazi, Libya. Two Palestinians and two members of a left-wing German group had boarded the plane during a stop in Athens.

The hijackers, including one woman, were armed with pistols, grenades and explosives.

Late on June 28, the Airbus A300 landed at Entebbe airport, south of Kampala, with permission from Amin, and three more people joined the hijackers.

The passengers and crew were taken to the terminal building and kept under guard.

The hijackers threatened to blow up the plane unless 53 Palestinians or supporters of their cause were freed within two days. Twenty nine of them were being held in Israel.

- Going in at midnight -

Israeli officials negotiated with the hijackers and were initially considering their demands, so the deadline was pushed back to July 4.

Meanwhile, talks between Amin and the hijackers resulted in the release of two sets of hostages, but 105 people -- Israeli and Jewish passengers, as well as members of the plane's crew -- remained in detention.

"Israel decided to act and not give in," prime minister Yitzhak Rabin was later quoted as saying, and with time running out, a complex military operation was given the green light.

Just before midnight on July 3, four Israeli C-130 transport planes flew low over Lake Victoria and landed at Entebbe after covering more than 3,600 kilometres (2,200 miles) and evading detection by Ugandan air controllers.

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General Dan Shomron commanded the airborne operation, several members of which occupied a black Mercedes like the one used by Amin. The commandos quickly seized key airport installations, but lost the element of surprise when they fired on Ugandan soldiers that challenged them in the dark.

A battle broke out and the hostages were freed, but three died along with Netanyahu, who led the first assault team. All seven hostage takers were shot dead, along with 20 Ugandan soldiers. One hostage, Dora Bloch, had been hospitalised before the raid, and Amin later ordered that she be killed.

Initially dubbed "Operation Thunderbolt," the raid was later renamed "Operation Jonatan" in honour of Netanyahu.

Amin, who was humiliated by the daring operation, lashed out at the Kenyan government for letting Israel use Nairobi's airport during the evacuation phase. Israel's Mossad intelligence service helped plan the raid with a map of the terminal provided by the Israeli company that built it, and information from passengers who had already been released.

The operation became a legendary example of special forces action, and several films and television documentaries have been based on it.
Entebbe (Uganda) (AFP) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu commemorated the 40th anniversary Monday of the Uganda hostage rescue in which his brother died, as he started a "historic" tour seeking new trade partners in Africa.

Speaking in Entebbe, close to the site of the 1976 airport raid in which over 100 hostages were freed, Netanyahu said the visit was "deeply moving" and symbolised changing ties between Israel and Africa.

"Exactly 40 years ago Israeli soldiers carried out the historic mission in Entebbe," said Netanyahu, making the first trip by an Israeli premier to sub-Saharan Africa for decades.

"Forty years ago they landed in the dead of night in a country led by a brutal dictator who gave refuge to terrorists, today we landed in broad daylight to be welcomed by a president who fights terrorism."

He said his visit signalled "dramatic changes in the relationship between Africa and Israel: Africa is a continent on the rise. After many decades I can say Israel is coming back to Africa and Africa is coming back to Israel."

Israel is launching a $13-million aid package to strengthen economic ties and cooperation with African countries.

Israel would also provide African states with training in "domestic security" and health, an Israeli statement read.

After a "historic summit" with seven African leaders in Uganda on Monday, Netanyahu -- accompanied by 80 business chiefs representing some 50 Israeli companies -- will travel on to Kenya, Ethiopia and Rwanda.

In his next stop he is due to meet Tuesday with Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, who visited Israel a few months ago.

The Arab-Israeli conflict drove a wedge between African countries and the Jewish state in the 1960s.

Following wars between Israel and its neighbours in 1967 and 1973, North African nations led by Egypt put pressure on sub-Saharan African states to cut ties with Israel, which many did.

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Relations were not helped by Israel's friendship with the apartheid regime in South Africa before it fell in 1994.

- Honouring commando brother -

Beyond diplomacy and trade, the trip has deep personal meaning for Netanyahu.

His brother Yonatan, known by his nickname 'Yoni', was killed in July 1976 as he led a commando raid in Entebbe, Uganda, to free passengers aboard an Air France plane hijacked by two Palestinians and two Germans.

"I learned from my brother that you need two things to defeat the terrorists: clarity and courage," Netanyahu said.

Speaking during a commemoration event close to the old terminal building, Netanyahu said the fight against terrorism continued.

"When terrorism succeeds in one place it spreads to other places, and when terrorism is defeated anywhere it is weakened everywhere. This is why Entebbe... was a victory for all humanity," he said.

Netanyahu said the Entebbe raid was "a watershed moment" for Israel when the country learned to stand up for itself.

"It was the most daring rescue mission of all time. We were powerless no more, we would do whatever it takes," he said.

Israel's dealings with Africa currently constitutes only two percent of its foreign trade, leaving plenty of room for growth.

Demand is rising for its defence expertise and products.

But it also sees African countries as potential allies, particularly at the United Nations and other international bodies, where it is regularly condemned over its occupation of the West Bank and blockade of the Gaza Strip.

Some African countries are keen to obtain Israeli agricultural and water technology, which the country has been promoting, say officials. Netanyahu's trip follows years of efforts to improve ties.
Blush is perhaps not the most apposite English-language title for writer-director Michal Viniks fresh, frank look at coming out and coming of age in contemporary Israel: Its a film that shows little shyness in tackling a variety of sexual, political and domestic tensions. Originally titled Barash (the last name of the troubled family on which it centers), the film was perhaps renamed to rightly shift focus to its compelling female protagonist Naama  a 17-year-old social outlier getting to grips with her homosexuality as she rails against her conservative, anti-Palestinian parents. Played with verve and vulnerability by Sivan Noam Shimon, shes a character vivid enough to keep the film spiky even it covers some universally well-tilled terrain. Already warmly received on the festival circuit, Blush should play across multiple platforms to hip, LGBT-led audiences when distributor Film Movement releases it Stateside.

Let her live her life! Naama roars to her bearish father Gideon (Dvir Benedek) at a climactic familial contretemps toward the end of Viniks film. Though shes ostensibly speaking in defense of her differently rebellious older sister Liora (Bar Ben Vakil), its a clear cry of self-assertion too  and one thats met with a hard slap across the face from an unyielding parent. Its one of several moments where Vinik swerves, with a violent jolt, from a potentially sentimental or cathartic resolution. Being an independent woman, let alone a lesbian, in Naamas social and cultural environment comes with few external rewards.

Naamas early gestures of non-conformity  notably a serpentine tattoo on her shoulder  are kept neatly concealed from authority figures at home and at her fun-free school, where students are ironically drilled to salute their countrys independence while being afforded none of their own. Such personal compartmentalization becomes harder to sustain, however, when Naama meets Dana (the striking Jade Sakori), a bleach-blonde free spirit who blithely inducts her into the joys of clubs, drugs and, most crucially, sex  languidly shot in a blissed-out golden haze, as if Danas affections have literally let the sunshine in. From the hot neons of nightclub sequences to the summery pastels of daylight, cinematographer Shay Peleg largely shoots the world as its young protagonist, at some points with more effort than others, wills it to be.

Comparisons may inevitably be drawn with Abdellatif Kechiches Blue is the Warmest Color, with which Blush shares a similar setup, though the girls relationship here proceeds along different terms. Naamas infatuation may not be wholly reciprocated, but emerges as an expression of self. (Their relationship throughout is marked and documented for personal posterity: When Naama declares one kiss the best of her life, the declaration must be replayed and caught on her camera-phone.)

Though she outwardly enacts her developing identity in more innocuous ways  enlisting her younger brother to fashionably shave the side of her head, to her dads bafflement  Naama darent come out to her parents. Its not hard to see why, given the levels of parallel angst at home over Lioras acts of subversion: A soldier in the national army, she disappears from her base camp and finds love with a Palestinian man. Its possible the aggressively racist Gideon might see lesbianism as a less egregious offense than Arab-Israeli relations, but given the irrational intensity of his fury, Naama is understandably reluctant to find out. This toxic atmosphere of prejudice adds a distinguishing, complicating layer to a sensitively sketched narrative that should otherwise resonate with gay and misfit teens around the world, especially as Naama hurtles  with an inevitability that viewers can identify far more easily than she can  toward her first heartbreak.

As tenderly as it feels and articulates these inner aches, Viniks script also finds room for piquant comedy in unexpected corners of the situation. A terrific scene in which a secretly MDMA-tripping Naama is dragged by her clueless mother Michelle (Irit Pashtan, excellent) to Loiras abandoned base seems to be played merely for farce, until Naamas intoxication prompts a stunning emotional release in the face of military authority. Yet such outbursts dont prompt immediate healing: As if to underline how far we are from the hugging-and-learning comforts of sitcom domesticity, Vinik soundtracks one tense dinner-table argument with cruel, sporadic stabs of canned laughter from a droning television set in the background. Its not exactly a subtle detail, but Blush isnt a clarion call for restraint: Its a film about doing what you can, sometimes inelegantly, to make yourself heard.

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Perhaps not the most original film youll see all year, but very possibly the most instantly lovable, first-time filmmaker Darren Thorntons beautifully performed, warm yet melancholic A Date for Mad Mary proves that Sing Street director John Carney does not have the Irish monopoly on highly exportable rite-of-passage dramedies. And in Seana Kerslakes performance as the eponymous Mary (mad being used in its semi-admiring, semi-cautionary Irish vernacular form) he may even have an ace that Carneys ensemble picture lacks: a barnstorming central performance, full of light and shade, that should by rights be the breakthrough Kerslake has deserved since her debut in Kirsten Sheridans bafflingly underseen Dollhouse.

Seldom have the familiar beats of the transition-to-adulthood story felt more engaging, perhaps because Thornton knows his material inside out: Having directed the Yasmine Akram play 10 Dates for Mad Mary for stage, he has now, together with his brother Colin, adapted it into this poppy, profanity-laden period piece. (For reference, its set post-Mamma Mia! and pre-Tinder, so were looking back, but not so very far.) Yet as appealing and accessible as it is, theres a keen edge of relatable sadness to it too: As much as its a comedy and a salty taste of lower-middle life in Drogheda (a biggish port town just north of Dublin), its also an end-of-love story.

We are introduced to Mary as she is released from prison, after a six-month stint for a vicious attack on a girl in a nightclub. But in contrast to the hard-edged images and Marys air of resentful belligerence  Bout fin time, is the first thing she snarls at her mother (Fionnuala Murphy) when shes a little late to pick her up  her soft, awestruck voiceover gently lists all the amazing things you need to know about Charlene. Charlene, her best mate, is soon to be married, and Mary is painstakingly composing her maid-of-honor speech; though the circumstances of its sweetly personal declarations (Shed always have your back and not just in a fight, like) may be artificial, the sentiment is real.

But Charlene (Charleigh Bailey) doesnt show up to celebrate Marys release, and there follows a series of increasingly mortifying interactions, unanswered phone calls and pointed gestures that show how Charlene now considers Mary a peripheral presence at best  the kind of second-tier friend who, at a Mamma Mia!-themed hen party, might hilariously be assigned to dress up as Stellan Skarsgard. (The maid of honor position, by this point, seems like a legacy appointment.) As for a plus one, well, who would Mary even bring  isnt everyone she knows already coming, and isnt the catering 60 quid a plate? In so many areas, the film is sharp in its delineation of women of all ages acidly judging each other based on their ability to attract a man.

Assuming her friend will come round sooner or later and unable to comprehend the scale of her loneliness without her (having proudly alienated almost everyone else in town), Mary thus embarks on a petulant, unromantic mission to find a fella who will be her date to the wedding. But then an unexpected relationship begins, with musician Jess (a luminous Tara Lee) and new notes of hope and confusion are introduced into Marys Molotov cocktail of emotions.

As lovely as the kindling spark between Mary and Jess is, its a shame that the coming-out subplot will almost inevitably be read as an explanation for parts of Marys arc that are more resonant if they simply belong to her and not to her sexuality. The ferocity of her friendship with Charlene might be seen as the result of unrequited lesbian love, yet extraordinarily passionate attachments are often formed between young girls with no correlation to sexual orientation. Marys violence and her antisocial behavior could also be accounted for as an offshoot of her repressed homosexuality, but Kerslakes multifaceted characterization deserves better than such pat cause-and-effect logic.

Thats an observation rather than a critique, though: In every other department, Mad Mary is a delight, especially for its rounded supporting characters, its skewering use of language, and the pinpoint accuracy of its observations of life in this specific time and place. From Marys ever-present can of Bulmers cider to the way the bouncers throwing her out always know her name, to the proper use of the word mitching, this is an immensely endearing, insiders look at Irelands recent past. And when he needs to, Thornton knows to just let a scene be: The moment when Mary comes face to face with the victim of her attack is played completely wordlessly, but speaks volumes about the inescapability of your past in a town where everyone knows your business.

Droghedas wet nighttime streets are shot by Ole Bratt Birkelands warm-toned camera to look romantic, but theres a reason why the song Jess performs one evening in McPhails pub has the refrain, Lets get out of this place. While steeped in fondness for its setting, the film also castigates a stifling atmosphere of conformity: At one point, Charlene digs deep for the most wounding thing she can say to Mary, and can only come up with, Youre making a show of yourself. As funny, flawed and foulmouthed as its irresistible central character, A Date for Mad Mary makes an absolute show of itself, and it is wonderful.

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DHAKA (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has offered Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina help to investigate those behind the killing of 20 people at a Dhaka restaurant, as police examine how the young, affluent and educated attackers were radicalized. Police have said all six Islamist gunmen killed in Friday's attack, unprecedented in Bangladesh for its scale and brutality, were locals, leaving authorities rattled by the apparent spread of extremist ideology in a country until recently viewed as a relatively stable secular democracy. Islamic State (IS) has claimed responsibility for the attack and posted pictures of five grinning fighters in front of a black flag who it said were involved in the attack. Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan rejected those claims, blaming Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), a local militant group which claims to represent IS but has no proven links. Kerry spoke to Hasina on the telephone and offered FBI help in the investigation. "The Secretary (Kerry) encouraged the government of Bangladesh to conduct its investigation in accordance with the highest international standards and offered immediate assistance from U.S. law enforcement, including the FBI," U.S. State Department spokesman John Kirby said in a statement. Khan told Reuters in an interview that home-grown militants responsible for a wave of killings against individual members of minority groups in the past year and a half were to blame. He said three of the six attackers had been missing for six months. The gunmen stormed into the restaurant in the diplomatic area late on Friday, before killing at least 20 people once they had separated foreigners from locals. Six were killed and a seventh suspect was captured and is in hospital. Nine Italians, seven Japanese, an American and an Indian were among the dead. Two Bangladeshis were also murdered inside the restaurant, while two police officers were killed outside during the 12-hour standoff. Friday's attack has shocked Bangladesh and analysts have said that as IS loses territory in Iraq and Syria and its finances get drained, it may be trying to build affiliates in other countries like Bangladesh and exploit disaffected youths. The Dhaka restaurant attack was the worst since 2005, when JMB set off a series of bombs throughout Bangladesh in the space of an hour. Subsequent suicide attacks on courthouses killed at least 25 people. (Writing by Tommy Wilkes; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani and Michael Perry)
kevin durant

Kevin Durant is signing with the Golden State Warriors.

After four days of meetings with several teams, Durant announced his decision on Monday on The Player's Tribune.

Durant wrote:

The primary mandate I had for myself in making this decision was to have it based on the potential for my growth as a player  as that has always steered me in the right direction. But I am also at a point in my life where it is of equal importance to find an opportunity that encourages my evolution as a man: moving out of my comfort zone to a new city and community which offers the greatest potential for my contribution and personal growth. With this in mind, I have decided that I am going to join the Golden State Warriors.

Durant will reportedly sign a two-year deal with the Warriors, with a player option for the second year, allowing him to potentially hit free agency again next season.

Durant also took time to thank the Thunder and the Oklahoma City community.

It's a huge blow for the Thunder and a potentially league-changing move. The Warriors rattled of the best regular-season record in NBA history last season at 73-9, going into the playoffs as the heavy championship favorites.

However, the Warriors were nearly knocked out by Durant and the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference Finals, when they went down 1-3 in the series. It looked, then, like the Thunder would make it to the Finals, almost assuring Durant would stay in Oklahoma City. However, the Warriors completed a stunning comeback, making it to the Finals, where they lost in seven games to the Cleveland Cavaliers.

In order for the Warriors to sign Durant, they will have to clear their team. Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green will all remain, but the Warriors will have to clear some combination of contracts, from Andre Iguodala, Andrew Bogut, and Shaun Livingston. Additionally, forward Harrison Barnes, who received a max. contract offer from the Mavericks, will likely be gone, as the Warriors would go over the salary cap to retain him.

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It would be possible for the Warriors to retain both Barnes and restricted free agent center Festus Ezeli if they can sign Durant first, then go over the salary cap to retain Barnes and Ezeli. It would require quick work by the Warriors and Durant, however, and patience from Barnes and Ezeli to wait to sign.

It's a stunning move by Durant  heartbreaking for Oklahoma City, but thrilling for the Warriors and the Bay Area. There's no doubt that the quartet for Curry, Thompson, Green, and Durant is terrifying as it is exciting.

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By Babak Dehghanpisheh BEIRUT (Reuters) - Abbas Kiarostami, the writer-director who showed that Iranian cinema was one of the most original and emotionally engaging in the world, died in Paris on Monday from complications related to cancer, according to Iranian state media. He was 76. Part of a new wave of Iranian cinema that started in the 1960s and known for realist stories focused on the lives of ordinary people, Kiarostami was one of the few film makers to stay and prosper in Iran after the 1979 Islamic revolution. Despite their very local, Iranian themes, his movies struck a chord with global audiences, and Kiarostami won the Palmes dOr at Cannes in 1997 for "Taste of Cherry", about a middle-aged Iranian man planning to commit suicide and looking for someone to bury him when he is dead. "What is peculiar about his art is that hes both a rootedly Iranian artist in terms of his landscape, his urban sensibilities, his cinematography," said Hamid Dabashi, a professor of Iranian Studies at New York's Columbia University. "But hes also managed to raise those Iranian aspects to moments of universality." American director Martin Scorsese said of his work: "Kiarostami represents the highest level of artistry in the cinema." Born in Tehran in 1940, Kiarostami studied at the School of Fine Arts at Tehran University. His first foray into video was making commercials for Iranian TV. After the 1979 revolution that ousted Iran's monarchy and ushered in an Islamist system of government, Kiarostami chose to stay while many artists and writers fled the country. His own films, which often centered around children or poorer Iranians living in rural areas, were never seen as overtly political, but some of the screenplays he wrote for his protege Jafar Panahi were. Panahi's 2003 movie "Crimson Gold", the tragi-comic portrayal of a pizza delivery man humiliated by his lowly social position in Tehran, a city divided by class and money, was seen as critical of the Islamic Republic and was banned in Iran. Kiarostami leaves two sons, Ahmad and Bahman. (This version of the story has been refiled to change dateline to BEIRUT, pvs PARIS) (Editing by Robin Pomeroy, Larry King)
Politics is always brutal. But there are certain moments where it feels like the whole country is about to unravel. This one of them. Post-referendum, our place in the world is under question, our Prime Minister has decided to do a runner, and the people who called for a Brexit in the first place have slowly backed away from the chaos that's ensued (we're looking at you Boris and Farage.)

Enter from the right: Theresa May.

The current Home Secretary and MP for Maidenhead is the favourite to replace David Cameron as the next Tory PM. With the opposition in turmoil (Labour MPs have attempted to oust their leader Jeremy Corbyn, but he refuses), May  a heavyweight politician, vicar's daughter and Grammar school gal  is looking like a pretty stable option to guide Britain through the departure from the EU.

Born in 1956, May studied Geography at Oxford University. She married Philip May in 1980  whom she met at an Oxford University Conservative Association disco. Their marriage was described by Gaby Hinsliff in a Guardian long read last year as, "her [Theresa's] bedrock; at parties they work the room together, the more gregarious Philip charming people she cannot."

May's young life was blighted by tragedy after her father was killed in a car accident in 1981, when she was 25, and her mother, who had multiple sclerosis, died a year later.

According to her excellent Desert Island Discs interview on Radio 4, May's life outside of Westminster now involves evenings dancing at her local village hall and trying out new recipes.

Photo: Getty Images.

If she is to win the race for Tory leadership, automatically bagging her the role of Prime Minister, May would be joining the elite of female political power players like German Chancellor Angela Merkel and US Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. It's a key time in history for women taking the reigns  even the Labour Party are touting a woman, Angela Eagle, as their next leader if Jeremy Corbyn ever gets lost. Who run the world? Girls!

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Here's a run down of why Theresa May might be the next leader of Britain:

SHE'S A UNIFYING CANDIDATE

May was part of the Remain campaign. This is useful, given that the Conservatives probably now want to patch over the issues that have emerged since the EU referendum result, such as the effect it has had on the UK economy. According to Iain Begg, research fellow at the LSE, May is in a strong position because "she has been quite canny in having been so low profile during the referendum, while also not appearing to be disloyal." He added that "she brings substantial experience of government, of the House of Commons and of party management." In other words, she's a relatively safe option in a time of political unrest.

SHE'S BEATEN GOVE BEFORE

'Political serial killer ' Michael Gove and Theresa May have fallen out in the past. They clashed over extremism in schools, which resulted in Gove effectively being fired as education secretary. He was the loser in that battle and many suspect that will happen again. Plus, as Adam Drummond, head of polling at Opinium, tells us, May is less polarising than Gove, who is still widely despised by the teaching profession. Nonetheless, it's likely to be a close contest.

"Mays strategy when she thought she was up against Boris was quite clearly to be the grown up in the room, the long serving cabinet minister with the experience necessary to do what is looking like a very difficult job. The strategy against Boris was that he has no ministerial experience and joined Vote Leave to further his own ambitions. With Gove, it's another story," says Drummond. "He has been in government for as long as May, albeit at a less senior level, but he is also more clearly a true believer in leaving the EU and was one of the most prominent figures in the Leave campaign which I suspect will serve him well."

Photo: Getty Images.

SHE'S A SKILFUL OPERATOR

As Home Secretary, May consistently failed to meet the Tory target of having net immigration come in under 100,000 people a year. In many ways, her failure to do this played a big part in the increasing controversy over the EU and the Leave vote. Take migration out of the picture and would we be on the brink of leaving the EU? Probably not. She also had a humiliating decade-long battle to deport the radical preacher Abu Qatada (she practically put him on the plane herself) and in 2013 it transpired that only 11 people actually left the country as a direct result of her highly controversial "go home or face arrest" advertisements, according to the Guardian. May has done very little, but it doesn't seem to have held her back. "As Home Secretary she's failed to do very much at all, but it's not clung to her," says Andrew Blick, lecturer in Politics and Contemporary History at King's College. "She's either very lucky or she's a very skilful operator. Politicians need to be both to end up in the job at number 10."

SHE'S A SAFE PAIR OF HANDS

As it stands, May is the favourite now that Boris has pulled out. The bandwagon is rolling for her. As well as coming across as convincing, she's managed to survive as Home Secretary for six years, which is quite an achievement in itself. She's also seen as safe pair of hands in a time of crisis. The downside of all this? Perhaps she's too safe. She doesnt exactly set the room on fire with charisma when she speaks. Some even say she's the John Major of our time. Satirical puppet show Spitting Image famously parodied him and his wife eating peas, while having an incredibly boring conversation. The consensus is she's not that different  or perhaps she just holds her cards close to her chest. Either way, some might want a serious person for serious times.

SHE'S BEEN PLOTTING FOR A WHILE

May is blessed with that slippery politicians gift of being very good at avoiding direct questions," something Desert Island Discs presenter, Kirsty Young, said of her back in 2014. So, it's no surprise that for years now, she's expertly refused to be drawn into any speculation on whether she even wants to be PM (obviously she does) or whether she has a plan for it (we're hoping she does.)

WHATEVER THE RESULT, SHE'LL NEED TO WATCH HER BACK...

Enter Boris. "I wouldn't be surprised if in his mind Boris is calculating that if something goes wrong he can be the one waiting in the wings," says Blick. "He'll be waiting on events, picking his moment. He's a gambler after all. If something goes badly wrong for May, all the people that she ran against and beat will be regarded as the losers. Under these circumstances, it may come together again for him.

Yes, politics really is that brutal. And the drama won't end here.

Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here?

This Is Why Millennials Aren't Procreating

Politicians and Celebrities React To Nigel Farage's Resignation

Young People Have Lost Their Faith In Politics
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn will face a leadership contest unless he considers his position, Labour Party lawmaker Angela Eagle said on Monday, saying she has the necessary support to trigger a challenge and is ready to do so. Corbyn has refused to resign following Britain's vote to leave the European Union, despite mass defections from his policy team and a no confidence motion that was passed by an overwhelming majority of lawmakers in his own party. The party's deputy leader Tom Watson told Labour lawmakers on Monday he would meet with trade union representatives, Labour's financial backers, in a "last throw of the dice" to try and reach a deal over Corbyn's leadership, his spokesman said. Discontent with the veteran socialist has been simmering for months among Labour lawmakers, but the crisis has come to a head since the Brexit vote, which has turned domestic politics on its head and raised the possibility of an early general election. Critics accused Corbyn of leading a half-hearted campaign in favour of staying in the EU. "I have the support to run and resolve this impasse and I will do so if Jeremy doesn't take action soon," said Eagle, who stood down as the party's spokeswoman on business issues after the EU vote and is the leading contender to launch a challenge. "It's a week since Jeremy lost that vote of no confidence, and there are many other people up and down the country wanting him to consider his position." In response, Corbyn urged the party to reunite and restated his determination to carry on as leader. "When we do things together, we are very strong. Now is the time to come together," he said in a video posted on Twitter. "I have a huge responsibility. I'm carrying out that responsibility and I'm carrying on with that responsibility." Corbyn says he retains the support of the party's grassroots members, who elect the leader, and that resigning would be a betrayal of those who overwhelmingly voted him into the job last September. A spokesman for Watson said the deputy leader had met with Corbyn on Monday and told him he could not continue as leader without the support of his lawmakers. Watson is due to meet trade union leaders on Tuesday. "While there is a chance of some sort of deal they have to try and pursue that," his spokesman told reporters after a regular meeting of Labour lawmakers in parliament. "He is acutely aware the window is closing very rapidly on that so he has asked his colleagues to give him some time to try and see if a deal can be done." The outcome of the tussle for control of Labour, between Corbyn's left-wing supporters and more centrist elements, will define the party's voice in the negotiations that will shape future ties between Britain and the EU. To trigger a leadership election, a rival candidate needs the support of 51 or more elected lawmakers. Corbyn has said he will stand again in any contest to replace him. (Reporting by William James and Kylie MacLellan; Editing by Mark Trevelyan and Janet Lawrence)
They were shopkeepers and families with children. One was a young man said to be a recent law school graduate. Another had just finished a PhD in microbiology, according to Iraqi reports. They found themselves in a shopping district of Baghdads Karada neighborhood early Sunday morning when a suicide bomber detonated a truckload of explosives.

The death toll in the attack rose to at least 175 on Tuesday according to the Associated Press, making it one of the worst single attacks on civilians since the U.S. invasion in 2003. As rescue workers continue to search for bodies in the rubble, the attack raises memories of the darkest days of the sectarian civil war that ravaged Iraq in the years following the 2003 military invasion that toppled dictatorship of Saddam Hussein. The bombing underscores the ongoing nightmare for Iraq as it continues to grapple with political divisions, struggling institutions, and vast threats to its security.

Islamic State militants claimed responsibility for this weekends bombing, which carried echoes of an earlier age in which ISIS parent group, al-Qaeda in Iraq, and its leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, staged a series of indiscriminate attacks intended to provoke civil war. Zarqawis tactics were so cruel and indiscriminate that even al-Qaedas central leadership disapproved.

The bombing in Karada followed a similar format to previous attacks designed to unleash maximum carnage. A truck packed with explosives detonated on a busy street lined with shops. In claiming the attack, ISIS offered a sectarian motive, saying it targeted Shiite Muslims. The attack shattered an otherwise joyful moment: toward the end of the holy month of Ramadan, a time for giving gifts and staying up late.

When you see these bombings you are very much reminded of the mid-2000s when Zarqari and his gang, al-Qaeda in Iraq were essentially doing this this was their style, says Renad Mansour, a fellow at the Carnegie Middle East Center in Beirut. A lot of Iraqis are saying, Oh wow are we back to that again?

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The bombing in Baghdad comes after pro-government forces reclaimed the city of Fallujah from ISIS last month, expelling the jihadist group from a key stronghold just outside the capital. The battle was another echo from the post-invasion period. In 2004, U.S., British, and Iraqi forces also retook the city from insurgents. It was during those years that the Sunni-dominated insurgency against the U.S.-led occupation metastasized into the sectarian civil war that in turn led to the creation of ISIS.

ISIS set itself apart from other jihadist groups by seizing control of a large area of land in home to hundreds of thousands of people Syria and Iraq. Now, the jihadists are losing on battlefields in both countries and in Libya, but they continue to make their presence felt by killing civilians across the planet. Separate attacks attributed to ISIS in Istanbul and Bangladesh last week underscored the groups global reach as it endeavors to remain relevant in spite of its shrinking landmass.

Pressure is mounting on the government of Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi to translate military success against ISIS into corresponding improvements in security. After Abadi visited the blast site on Sunday, angry protesters pelted his motorcade with debris. In May, Abadis administration was shaken when supporters of the Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr stormed Baghdads fortified Green Zone and entered the parliament building. The demonstrators denounced corruption and the inability of the state to maintain security amid ongoing ISIS bombings in the capital.

On Sunday, Abadi took steps to increase security, including banning police from using fake bomb detectors known as the magic wand at checkpoints. The British businessman who sold the fraudulent devices to Iraq and other countries was sentenced to 20 years in prison in the UK in 2013, but according to Reuters, some of the devices remained in use years after the scandal became public.

Part of the challenge facing the Iraqi authorities is that ISIS relies on suicide bombers, often in cars or trucks, a tactic that is both extremely deadly and difficult to stop once it is in motion. Iraq has already suffered enormously from such attacks. Between 2003 and 2015, there were at least 2,027 suicide attacks in Iraq, killing at least 21,487 people, according to a University of Chicago database. Other databases place number of strikes (including both suicide and other attacks) far higher.

Analysts say ending those attacks in Baghdad will mean locating and apprehending ISIS sleeper cells that are believed to be hiding in the capital. That wont be an easy task. Iraqs security apparatus has fractured along political and communal lines, with multiple competing agencies and the rise of controversial, decentralized Shiite-led militias who are deeply involved in the fight against ISIS.

Its very much a political problem. Haider al-Abadi is not in a position to coordinate all of the security and intelligence agencies inside the city of Baghdad let alone in the rest of Iraq, says Mansour.
A look at what's happening all around the majors today:

---

HOME COOKING

Boston's Rick Porcello (9-2) looks to remain unbeaten this season at Fenway Park when Boston hosts Texas. Porcello is 6-0 in seven home starts.

YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS

Julio Urias (1-2), the Los Angeles Dodgers' 19-year-old left-hander, makes his eight big league start Monday against Baltimore, his first interleague outing. Urias is 1-1 with a 2.49 ERA in his last five starts, striking out 34 in 25 1/3 innings.

LOSS LEADER

Right-hander Matt Harvey (4-10) starts Monday afternoon for the New York Mets against the Miami Marlins. Harvey's 10 losses are a career high, top the NL and are the second-most among major league pitchers behind the Rays Chris Archer (11).

BEEN A LONG TIME

Tampa Bay left-hander Matt Moore (4-5) faces the Los Angeles Angels for the first time since September 2013, when the Rays begin a four-game series Monday. Moore is 3-0 with 1.52 ERA in four starts against the Angels.

MOVING ON

Neither the Atlanta Braves nor the Miami Marlins were complaining about a quick turnaround to 4:05 p.m. EDT games Monday. The Braves and Marlins played Sunday night at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, a sprawling U.S. Army post home to 55,000 service members, in an Independence Day-related thank-you to the troops. Atlanta plays at Philadelphia on Monday while the Marlins visit the New York Mets. Miami OF Christian Yelich - whose younger brother is in the Marines - called playing before the troops ''a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity'' that ''is going to be something that we remember for a long time.''
After scouring Airfrov requests in the food category (what else?), two popular items stood out  Pablos cheesy goods and LeTaos flavored cheesecake. Wondering what the hype is all about, I decided to take a plunge into the world of cheese goods. And I never looked back.

Review of Letaos Classic cheesecake:

review letao cheesecake singapore

This was the first I tried, having ordered it off Airfrov myself. It came packaged in a circular bamboo box, the cake itself wrapped up like a barrel of cheese  very Instagram worthy.

Unwrapping it sends a seductive whiff of that cheesy goodness, promising me much pleasure.

review letao cheesecake singapore

The cake itself looks unassuming, a small, rather short, circular cake but do not be fooled; it is sooooooo easy to finish it all in one sitting!

Letao Cheesecake closeup

source

The bottom half is castella cake, with the top half being a silky smooth, light and delicious cheese cream. Finished with castella cake crumb, it was love at first bite.

review letao cheesecake singapore

Light cheese cream paired with the dense castella cheese cake  a perfect marriage. This is THE cheesecake to rule all, well, maybe except the souffle cheesecake in my opinion. However, biting into the dense base on its own may get a little overpowering after a while, though this is not the case for the airy top half. Eating the cream alone is great; it melts into nothingness within seconds, giving the same satisfaction of eating a really good tub of ice-cream.

review letao cheesecake singapore



Image credits: LeTao Japan website

Review of Letaos Matcha & Chocolate cheesecake:

Months after the LeTaos original cheesecake rendezvous, I travelled to Korea and was delighted to find that there is a LeTao branch in Apgujeong. Without a doubt, it was added into my itinerary.

When I was there, the shop just rolled out a new berry flavored version for summer. Sadly, I did not try it. The cakes there were priced per slice, and they aint cheap! After much deliberation, I decided to try the Matcha and Chocolate versions. Both slices arrived neatly plated, with fruits and strawberry sauce artistically placed.

Story continues

review letao cheesecake singapore

Fortunately for me, I decided to try the Matcha version first.

Matcha:

f190-m1



This is my favorite of the three flavors that I have tried.

The matcha complements the cheese well, and the matcha castella cake base is not overpowering at all (even if you eat it on its own). The smell of cheese was less empowering for this one.

The matcha helps tone down the cheesiness of this cake, and my only complaint is that the matcha taste is too mild. The top half of cream hardly contains the taste of matcha, it tasted like the original versions albeit in a lighter green tone.

I could easily polish off the entire slice and would have ordered more if not for the hefty price tag. *heart pain*

Chocolate:

img_detitem_m03

You can hardly tell that you are eating a cheesecake. In fact, it deceive your taste buds into thinking that they are eating a chocolate cake instead. A quick whiff brought images of chocolate cakes into the mind as well.

The chocolate flavor came across boldly, covering the taste of cheese completely. It is very rich as well, giving the ominous feeling that foretells an imminent nosebleed. However, the rich chocolate flavor mainly came from the base. The cream part is a light milky brown, with a hint of chocolate. It does taste different from the cream of the original version unlike the matchas.

This will be the flavor to go for if you are one who dislikes cakes with the smell or taste of cheese, but want to find out the hype regarding LeTaos cakes.

review letao cheesecake singapore

Overall, LeTaos cakes are really an ingenious work of art in their combination both castella cake and light delicious cream. They have branches in countries outside of Japan as well, so do give it a try if you are heading to those countries. If you arent, well, there is always Airfrov.



Image source: Letao, lianggono

The post LeTaos Glorious Creations; One of the Best Cheesecakes around appeared first on Airfrov Blog.
Lil' Kim is lighting up the City of Lights  with over 200 carats of Chopard gemstones.



"The Jump Off" rapper hits the stage Monday night in Paris for a private performance following the Ralph & Russo Couture Week show.



The star will show off a Ralph & Russo custom made jumpsuit while covered in 200 carats of jewels from Swiss jeweler Chopard.



Lil' Kim is expected to bring back her old school hits, including "How Many Licks," "Lighters Up," and of course "Lady Marmalade," in the City of Lights.







The private performance will only include 300 VIP guests, including stars Adriana Lima and Sonam Kapoor.



Although the rapper was unable to perform at Essence Festival this past weekend, she will be honored alongside Missy Elliott, Queen Latifah, and Salt-N-Pepa on July 11 at VH1 Hip Hop Honors: All Hail the Queens.



"It's always a humbling experience and an honor for me," she told PEOPLE, "I just thank God. I feel blessed to have such longevity and just be a major piece of history in the industry. It's a great feeling."



For fans who can't make it to Paris, Lil' Kim will be taking the stage with Puff Daddy and the Bad Boy Family Reunion tour, which is set to kick off late August in Columbus, Ohio and will continue through the country until October. The tour will also include Faith Evans, Ma$e and French Montana.
July 4 (Reuters) - Neo Lithium Corp, a small lithium exploration company with a recent discovery in Argentina, is planning to list on Canada's TSX Venture Exchange around July 15, its chief executive, Waldo Perez, said on Monday.

The company, which owns the 3Q brine-reservoir lithium project in northwest Argentina, is fully funded for now after three recent rounds of financing brought in C$18 million ($14.01 million), Perez said in an interview.

"But we have a very aggressive business plan to develop the project... so there may be other financings coming," said Perez, who is the former CEO of Lithium Americas and the founder of its Cauchari project in Argentina.

Lithium forms a small but irreplaceable component of rechargeable batteries, used in electric cars and consumer devices like mobile phones.

Prices have soared in the past year, and demand is set to outstrip supply by 2023, according to specialist consultants Stormcrow Capital. Shares in some lithium companies have more than tripled in value this year as investors and speculators have piled in.

Most lithium is produced in Australia and Chile, with the bulk of the world's reserves straddling huge salt flats in Chile, Bolivia and Argentina.

Early sampling at Neo Lithium's 3Q project, which was only discovered this past December, suggests high lithium grades and low impurities, Dundee Securities' analysts said in a June 13 report.

The company is readying for a drill program at 3Q in the spring to produce resource and reserve estimates. Its goal is to start building brine ponds next year and to be able to have a concentrated lithium-containing brine in about two years time, Perez said.

($1 = 1.2851 Canadian dollars) (Reporting by Nicole Mordant in Vancouver; Editing by Sandra Maler)
By Huw Jones and Noor Zainab Hussain

LONDON (Reuters) - London Stock Exchange Group Plc (LSE.L) shareholders have overwhelmingly voted to approve a plan to merge with Deutsche Boerse (DB1Gn.DE), hoping the deal can go through despite Britain's vote to leave the European Union.

The British company asked its shareholders to back its $27 billion merger with its German counterpart to create a European exchange giant on Monday, dismissing concerns it was "shackling itself to a corpse" after Britain's EU referendum result.

LSEG Chairman Donald Brydon told an extraordinary meeting of shareholders that he was confident of "satisfactory" regulatory approval for the deal from Brussels.

"There is no reason to think otherwise today," Brydon said.

Some 50 shareholders gathered for the subdued, short meeting. It was free of demonstrations, with only two questions asked.

LSE said afterwards that more than 99.89 percent of votes cast at the shareholder meeting were in favour of the deal.

"SHACKLING TO A CORPSE"

Dinesh Jain, an individual shareholder, asked why, given that Britain was leaving the EU, "do we want to shackle ourselves to a corpse".

The exchange should abandon the merger as it seemed "unlikely" that Germany would now approve it given that Britain would be outside the EU, Jain said.

LSEG should instead to be looking to do deals with "lively" Asian or Latin American exchanges, Jain said.

He also asked whether any American or other exchange had made a counterbid, and about any threat to LSEG's business from French President Francois Hollande's desire to repatriate euro-denominated clearing to the euro zone.

Brydon said Hollande's comments were a measure of how valuable LSEG's operations were.

"You are quite right, there are some people already seeking to pick over the bones of the U.K. very, very rapidly indeed. Everyone would be wise to take things a step at a time in this area," Brydon said

LSEG's LCH.Clearnet is the main clearing house in Europe for euro denominated swaps.

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Brydon denied that LSEG had received any approaches from any company other than Deutsche Boerse.

The New York Stock Exchange's owner ICE (ICE.N), in May shelved plans to make a counterbid for LSE, putting the brakes on a potential takeover battle in the exchanges sector.

Britain would remain in the EU for at least another two years, during which there was ample time to work out the "optimal structure" for the deal, Brydon said.

Last week, German markets regulator BaFin said it was hard to see how the head office of the merged group could still be in London given that Britain was leaving the EU.

LSEG Chief Executive Xavier Rolet said the group was "extremely well positioned" globally no matter what the outcome of British negotiations with the EU on new trading terms.

Deutsche Boerse is also asking its shareholders to back the deal - the third attempt by the LSE to merge with the German exchange operator in some 16 years - in a postal vote that closes on July 12.

The deal would create the world's biggest exchange by revenue, forecast at 4.7 billion euros this year from stock, bond and derivatives trading, indexes, market data, and clearing and settlement.

Shares in LSE were down 1.5 percent at 2,485 pence at 1233 GMT. Deutsche Boerse's stock was down 0.92 percent.

Up to Friday's close, LSE shares had fallen more than 7 percent since the Brexit referendum but were still up about 9 percent from their close the day before the deal was announced.

(Reporting by Huw Jones, additional reporting by Noor Zainab Hussain in Bangaluru; Editing by Ruth Pitchford and Louise Heavens)
Https%3a%2f%2fblueprint-api-production.s3.amazonaws.com%2fuploads%2fcard%2fimage%2f134826%2fimmigrant_message_euston_header

LONDON  People in London have hit back at the spike in post-Brexit racism with a moving message to UK immigrants.

SEE ALSO: Donald Trumps first tweet about the Brexit result got shut down immediately

An image of the message  a large sign spotted at London's Euston Station on Saturday  was shared on Facebook by anti-racism campaign group HOPE not hate. At the time of writing it's been shared over 6,000 times.

Here's the sign in full.

Image: facebook/hope not hate

"Hello to all you beautiful and valued 'immigrants'," reads the sign. "We want to say sorry for all of the disgusting racists who have made you feel unwelcome. They embarrass & hurt the rest of us.

"Please take a flower & know we care."
London (AFP) - London Stock Exchange Group shareholders on Monday voted overwhelmingly for a merger with Deusche Boerse, operator of the Frankfurt exchange, despite concerns it could be scuppered by Britain's EU exit.

A total 99.89 percent of LSEG shareholders who voted supported the merger, a statement said.

Ahead of Monday's outcome, Deutsche Boerse and LSEG, which also operates the Milan stock exchange, said they would press ahead with the merger even though Britain last month voted to leave the European Union.

Monday's statement said that "the agreed transaction includes all necessary mechanisms to respond to the outcome of the referendum".

Shareholders of Deutsche Boerse have until July 12 to decide whether to back the merger, while the pair plan to seal the tie-up before the end of the month.

The combination, which both sides describe as a "merger of equals", will create one of the world's biggest stock exchanges.

Last week, the German financial sector watchdog, BaFin, said it is opposed to the merged company being based in Britain after the referendum result. However, it does not have a formal say in the matter.

Under the terms of the deal, the holding company combining Deutsche Boerse and the London Stock Exchange Group will be legally domiciled in London.

The day-to-day running of the separate subsidies will be handled out of corresponding headquarters in London and Frankfurt.

Under the agreed terms, Deutsche Boerse shareholders will end up with 54.4 percent of the new holding company's capital, and LSE shareholders with 45.6 percent.

"I would like to thank our shareholders for their strong support for the merger," LSEG chairman Donald Brydon said.

Deutsche Boerse chairman Joachim Faber added: "I strongly endorse the statement of London Stock Exchange Group... and continue to recommend the transaction to the shareholders of Deutsche Boerse."
(Photo: Screengrab from Tong Bock Tohs Facebook page)



The Land Transport Authority (LTA) has apologised after one of its enforcement officers was filmed getting into a heated argument with a driver at a Yio Chu Kang MRT taxi stand on 23 June.

The video, which was posted on Facebook by user Tong Bock Toh, showed the LTA officer yanking a car door open following a heated exchange with the cars driver.

A woman, who was filming the video, then stepped forward to stop the LTA officer saying that he was working for the government and should not behave in such a manner.

The LTA released a statement on its Facebook page on Sunday (July 3), saying it does not not condone such unprofessional behaviour of enforcement officers, and vowed to investigate the incident.



We have also reminded our enforcement officers and traffic wardens that they need to discharge their duties with care and professionalism, the LTA said.


MADRID, July 4 (Reuters) - Madrid's regional government is considering granting tax breaks to attract banks and international firms looking to move operations away from Britain after its vote to leave the European Union, a spokesman said on Monday.

Madrid has joined other EU cities in a scramble for businesses located in London, including Frankfurt and Paris, the continent's two biggest financial centres.

The regional government is looking at introducing a more generous tax scheme for the purchase and sale of land and on capital gains on properties, the spokesman said.

"We will be looking at the tax scheme in order to bring in investments from the City (of London), always with the ultimate aim of job creation," he said, without giving more details.

Spain would also compete to host the headquarters of the EU's London-based bank regulator and the London-based European Medicines Agency, Deputy Prime Minister Soraya Saenz de Santamaria told a news conference on Friday.

Madrid, where most of Spain's banks have large operations, has used tax incentives to stimulate investment before. It offered a 95 percent tax break in 2014 to firms moving to the "Corredor del Henares" industrial area in the north of the city.

"There are investors right now in Britain looking for another city to establish themselves: that city is Madrid," the head of the regional government, Cristina Cifuentes, said on Twitter.

(Reporting by Rodrigo de Miguel; Writing by Jesus Aguado; Editing by Angus Berwick and Janet Lawrence)
A Malaysian is among eight men charged over a seizure of the drug "ice" worth some Aus$275 million (US$206 million) in Australia, authorities said Monday.

Some 275 kilograms (605 pounds) of crystal methamphetamine were found under the floorboards of shipping containers after a tip-off, the Department of Immigration and Border Protection said.

As part of a controlled operation, the containers were delivered to an industrial estate in Melbourne and seven Australians and one Malaysian, all aged between 24 and 34, arrested.

"Three were charged with commercial drug importation offences and the five others were charged with attempting to possess and trafficking a large commercial quantity of methylamphetamine," the department said, with the maximum penalty life imprisonment.

Australian police said they worked with Chinese authorities on the case, as they cooperate to fight criminal syndicates trafficking ice to Australia and internationally.

The arrests come after 14 suspected members of an international drug ring -- eight Chinese and six Malaysians -- were charged in Australia in May over a Aus$200 million seizure of ice.

Australia has launched a multi-million dollar strategy to combat the growing use of the drug after a government report revealed the country has proportionally more users than most nations.

The Australian Crime Commission study last year showed that ice users had doubled since 2007 to more than 200,000 people in 2013, with anecdotal evidence that numbers have grown since then.

It found that while US$80 bought one gram of ice in China, users in Australia paid US$500.

Victoria Police Assistant Commissioner Stephen Fontana said there was an "ever increasing demand for illicit drugs" and "as long as there is demand, there will be a market".
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - The family of the late Nelson Mandela is furious that a recording of the revered South African leader's voice is being used by the main opposition party for campaigning in local government elections due to be held next month. In a campaign ad, which the Democratic Alliance (DA) posted on YouTube at the weekend, a young woman steps into a voting booth as Mandelas voice is heard calling for justice, peace, work and bread. The woman then makes her mark next to the DA logo. "The DA is doing it to benefit a party which Mandela was not a member of," Mandla Mandela, the grandson of the former president and a member of the ruling African National Congress (ANC) party in parliament, told the ANN7 news network. The ANC, which Mandela was a long-time member of and once led, has been in power since the end of apartheid in 1994. But it faces a stiff test in local elections on Aug. 3. The DA hopes to capitalize on a poorly performing economy and allegations of corruption against the ANC. Responding to criticism from the Mandela family, the DA defended its use of his words. "This great man stood for a nonracial South Africa," said DA spokesperson Refiloe Ntsekhe. "The DA is the only party able to take South Africa to the nonracial future it needs. To say that Mandela does not belong to all South Africans is atrocious." Online media outlet News24 reported that the Mandela family had appealed to the electoral authorities to take action against the DA. (Reporting by Pete Vernon; Editing by Ed Stoddard and Richard Balmforth)
Angers (France) (AFP) - Mark Cavendish edged out Andre Greipel by a hair's breadth to win the third stage of the Tour de France on Monday.

Cavendish grit his teeth and dug into his deepest reserves to deny Greipel on the line after a nail-biting sprint finish on the 223.5km stage from Granville to Angers.

Slovak Peter Sagan kept hold of the race leader's yellow jersey after finishing fourth behind Bryan Coquard of France.

After a pedestrian stage that took just six seconds under six hours, there was a frantic finish on the slight incline to the line.

Greipel seemed to have victory in his grasp but Cavendish refused to be beaten and took the win by the slimmest of margins.

In so doing he earnt his 28th Tour stage win to match France great Bernard Hinault in second place on the all time list behind Belgian legend Eddy Merckx on 34.

Greipel even raised his arm in celebration after crossing the line while Cavendish faced a nervous wait of several minutes before being confirmed as winner.

It also confirmed Cavendish's return to form after playing second fiddle to German pair Marcel Kittel and Greipel over the previous three years at the Tour.

Kittel, the top sprinter in the world in 2013 and 2014 by some distance, finished a disappointing seventh.
SAO PAULO, July 4 (Reuters) - U.S. biotech company Monsanto Co and Microsoft Corp announced on Monday a partnership to invest in agricultural technology startups in Brazil.

Monsanto will join a Brazilian investment fund with up to 300 million reais ($92 million), managed by Microsoft, evaluating ideas for new digital tools to be applied to agricultural production in the country, executives said.

Selected ideas will receive initial funding of up to 1.5 million reais ($459,000) for early development. Project owners will have the option to pay back the investment after three years or convert the money into equity.

"We want to foster new startups in the agricultural sector. There is a vast area for research and development," Rodrigo Santos, head of Monsanto in Latin America, told reporters on the sidelines of the Global Agribusiness Forum (GAF 2016).

Technology company Qualcomm is also investing in the fund.

($1 = 3.263 Brazilian reais) (Reporting by Marcelo Teixeira; Editing by Marguerita Choy)
Riyadh (AFP) - A deadly suicide bombing near Islam's second-holiest site in the Saudi city of Medina sparked condemnation across the Muslim world Tuesday, with even the Taliban and Hezbollah denouncing the attack.

Four people were killed in the explosion near the Prophet's Mosque that came as Muslims prepared for this week's Eid al-Fitr festival marking the end of the holy fasting month of Ramadan.

King Salman said Riyadh will hit hard those who seek to harm its young people, but in a speech also warned the kingdom's youth against "the dangers that lie in wait, notably extremism".

US National Security Council spokesperson Ned Price said: "Although the investigation of these attacks is still in its early phases, the intent of the terrorists is clear: to sow division and fear."

A spokesman for UN chief Ban Ki-moon also denounced the attacks.

"These crimes are all the more despicable as they were carried out as residents were preparing for Eid al-Fitr," Stephane Dujarric said.

The attack near the Medina mosque -- where the Prophet Mohammed is buried and which attracts millions of pilgrims each year -- was one of three in the Sunni-ruled Gulf nation on Monday.

There were no claims of responsiblity for the bombings in Medina, Jeddah and the eastern city of Qatif, but the Islamic State group had in May urged its supporters to carry out attacks during Ramadan.

The Sunni extremists have claimed or been blamed for a wave of shootings and bombings during Ramadan, including in Orlando, Bangladesh, Istanbul and Baghdad.

- Shock and outrage -

The Saudi interior ministry said officers became suspicious of a man heading for the mosque through a parking lot.

"As they tried to stop him, he blew himself up with an explosive belt causing his death and the death of four police," it said, adding that five others were wounded.

The targeting of Medina caused shock and outrage across Islam's religious divide.

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Shiite power Iran called for Muslim unity and the Afghan Taliban branded it "gruesome".

"There are no more red lines left for terrorists to cross. Sunnis, Shiites will both remain victims unless we stand united as one," Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif tweeted.

The Taliban said it "condemns this incident in the strongest of terms and considers it an act of enmity and hatred towards Islamic rituals".

Lebanon-based Shiite militant group Hezbollah -- which Riyadh accuses of supporting "terrorist acts" in the region -- also denounced it as "a new sign of the terrorists' contempt for all that Muslims consider sacred."

UN rights office spokesman Rupert Colville said: "It is an attack on the religion itself."

The head of the Saudi Shura Council, the main government advisory body, called the attack "unprecedented".

"This crime, which causes goosebumps, could not have been perpetrated by someone who had an atom of belief in his heart," Abdullah al-Sheikh said.

- 'Make us stronger' -

Cairo-based Al-Azhar, the highest authority in Sunni Islam, stressed "the sanctity of the houses of God, especially the Prophet's Mosque".

Middle East expert Madhawi al-Rasheed said the attack appeared aimed at humiliating Saudi Arabia, the guardian of Islam's holiest sites.

"It's an attempt to actually embarrass the Saudi government because it boasts of protecting the pilgrims and the holy places," said Rasheed, a visiting professor at the National University of Singapore.

At the same time as the Medina attack, another suicide bombing occurred near a Shiite mosque across the country in the Shiite-populated Gulf city of Qatif.

The interior ministry said "the body parts of three people were found" at the site but had not yet been identified.

Monday's first attack was in the western Saudi city of Jeddah, where two police officers were wounded in a suicide bombing near the US consulate.

The ministry said that attack was carried out by 35-year-old Pakistani Abdullah Qalzar Khan, who had been living in the city for 12 years.

The US embassy in Riyadh reported no casualties among consulate staff in the attack, which coincided with the US July 4 Independence Day holiday.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, the interior minister, said while visiting wounded policemen in Jeddah the attacks "will only increase our solidarity and make us stronger".

Since late 2014 a series of bombings and shootings claimed by IS in Saudi Arabia has targeted minority Shiites as well as the security forces, killing dozens.

Most attacks have been in Eastern Province, home to the majority of Shiites in the country.

IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has called for attacks on Saudi Arabia, which is taking part in the US-led coalition bombing the jihadists in Syria and Iraq. The group also considers Shiites to be heretics.
By John Stonestreet LONDON (Reuters) - Andy Murray saw off the mercurial challenge of Australian Nick Kyrgios with little fuss on Monday, before just as smoothly playing down growing expectations that a second Wimbledon title is his for the taking. The second-seeded Scot's straight sets win over a dangerous opponent maintained his standing, following the shock third round exit of world number one Novak Djokovic, as the bookies' odds-on favorite to lift the Challenge Cup again on Sunday. Murray, who in 2013 beat Djokovic to became the first British man to win Wimbledon since 1936, has finished runner-up to the Serbian in both of this year's grand slams in France and Australia. On Monday he reached his ninth consecutive Wimbledon quarter-final, hanging on to Kyrgios's coat-tails for much of a pulsating first set before the Australian lost focus to concede the second and third sets tamely in a 7-5 6-1 6-4 defeat. Murray has not yet dropped a set -- but neither has Roger Federer, who beat the Scot in last year's semi-final. The presence of the Swiss seven-times champion looms large on the other side of the draw, which goes a long way toward explaining why the thought of lifting the trophy again has yet to enter Murray's head. PASSING THE TEST Describing Monday's win as "very good", the Briton said his only focus was on his next match, a quarter-final against French 12th seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. "I know the next one is a very tough match against Tsonga. He's a really, really good grass court player, very, very dangerous," Murray told reporters. "I'm aware I'll have to be playing at my highest level to win." For much of Monday's first set on a packed Centre Court, Murray played second fiddle to 15th seed Kyrgios, who thudded down serves at close to 140 mph that the world number two struggled to reach let alone control. Murray's serve, meanwhile, was misfiring and, under darkening skies and roared on by a partisan crowd, he had to dig deep to stay on terms with the Australian. The set and the match turned in the 12th game, when a combination of Kyrgios errors and two inspired Murray backhands presented the Scot with three break points. Kyrgios saved the first two with booming serves but Murray converted the third. Thereafter Kyrgios went walkabout, the Briton breaking him twice in a second set that flew by in 26 minutes. He broke once more in the third, closing out the contest with an ace on his third match point. The Australian, who described his performance after the first set as "pretty pathetic", has now -- in common with a multitude of Britons -- hitched his wagon to the Murray camp. "I hope (Murray wins)... I hope so, definitely. I think he's definitely got a great chance," Kyrgios told reporters. (Reporting by John Stonestreet; editing by Ken Ferris)
By Barbara Goldberg

(Reuters) - A Muslim doctor headed for morning prayers on Sunday at a Houston mosque was shot in an attacked by three men, police said. The motive for the attack was unclear, but comes a day after another Muslim man was beaten outside a Florida mosque.

The victim of the Texas incident, Dr. Arslan Tajammul, an eye specialist in his 30s, was undergoing surgery and was expected to survive, according to Mustafaa Carroll, executive director of the Houston branch of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).

The wounded physician escaped internal organ damage and was expected to fully recover, though he remained hospitalized in intensive care late on Sunday, according to Houston police officer Muzaffar Siddiqi, a liaison with the city's Muslim community.

The doctor had parked his car and was walking to the Madrasah Islamiah mosque for the day's first prayers when he was ambushed about a block away from the mosque and shot twice at about 5:30 a.m. EST (0930 GMT), Siddiqi said. The three attackers fled on foot.

"It's a real strange occurrence because the mosque is in a poor neighborhood, and they (the attackers) were wearing masks, which could mean all kinds of things," Carroll said.

Siddiqi said investigators had not confirmed the assailants were masked. He urged the public not to jump to conclusions, despite concerns in the Muslim community that the attack was a hate crime.

"We don't know yet," Siddiqi told Reuters in a telephone interview, adding that robbery might have been the motive. But he said police were escalating their presence around the mosque in the meantime. The Muslim holy month of Ramadan ends on Tuesday.

The shooting took place a day after a Muslim man was beaten outside a Florida mosque that had been attended by the gunman who killed 49 people at an Orlando nightclub.

The victim in that case was punched in the head and face outside the Fort Pierce Islamic Center early on Saturday, the St. Lucie County Sheriff's Office said.

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Taylor Anthony Mazzanti, 25, was arrested in the attack and was charged with felony battery, the sheriff's office said, adding that the case was still under investigation.

The Florida branch of CAIR said the attacker uttered racially offensive comments, including "You Muslims need to get back to your country," before the assault.

The Islamic Center's imam had requested extra security following last month's mass shooting by Omar Mateen at the Orlando gay nightclub Pulse. Mateen had worshipped at the center.

(Reporting by Barbara Goldberg in New York; Addititional reporting by Steve Gorman in Los Angeles; Editing by Bernard Orr and Michael Perry)
Science

NASA spaceship barrels toward Jupiter, planet on steroids

Juno, an unmanned NASA spacecraft, is barrelling toward Jupiter on a $1.1 billion mission to circle the biggest planet in the solar system and shed new light on the origin of our planetary neighborhood. On July 4 and 5, the solar-powered vehicle should plunge into Jupiters poisonous atmosphere to begin orbiting for a period of almost two years. Jupiters atmosphere is made up of hydrogen and helium and packed with so much radiation that it would be more than 1,000 times the lethal level for a human. The gas giant is also shrouded in the strongest magnetic field in the solar system.

Jupiter is a planet on steroidsEverything about it is extreme. Scott Bolton, Juno principal investigator, of the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, Texas

Getting close, and surviving, is no easy feat. Even though the spacecraft is entirely robotic and controllers on Earth can do nothing at this stage, Bolton admitted this week to being nervous about its entry into orbit, five years after its launch from Cape Canaveral, Florida. Steve Levin, Juno project scientist from NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory, said water figures are the most important ones that Juno is going to bring back. The spacecraft will use a microwave radiometer instrument to measure water, essentially a radio receiver that can help Earth-bound scientists see inside Jupiters atmosphere. The spacecraft will also study Jupiters gravitational field, magnetic field and interior.
By Irene Klotz

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., July 4 (Reuters) - A NASA spacecraft was poised for a one-shot attempt to slip into Jupiter's orbit on Monday for the start of a 20-month-long dance around the solar system's largest planet to learn how and where it formed.

Flight controllers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, were preparing for a long night as the Juno probe streaked closer toward Jupiter at 200 times the speed of sound in the empty vacuum of space.

Confirmation of whether Juno, the only solar-powered spacecraft ever dispatched to the outer solar system, had successfully placed itself into polar orbit around Jupiter was not expected until 11:53 p.m. EDT on Monday (0353 GMT on Tuesday).

Launched from Florida nearly five years ago, Juno must be precisely positioned, ignite its main engine at exactly the right time and keep it burning for 35 minutes to shed enough speed so it can be captured by Jupiter's gravity.

If anything goes even slightly awry, Juno will sail helplessly past Jupiter, unable to complete a $1 billion mission to peer through the planet's thick atmosphere and map its gargantuan magnetic field.

Scientists are particularly interested in learning how much water Jupiter contains, which is key to determining where in the solar system it formed. Jupiter's origins, in turn, affected the development and position of the rest of the planets, including Earth and its fortuitous location conducive to the evolution of life.

The immense gravity exerted by Jupiter's sheer size - packing 2-1/2 times the mass of all the other planets combined - is thought to have helped shield Earth from bombardment by comets and asteroids.

"We are learning about nature, how Jupiter formed and what that tells us about our history and where we came from," Juno lead scientist Scott Bolton, with the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, told reporters.

'MUSICAL NOTES'

Only one other spacecraft, Galileo, has ever circled Jupiter, which is five times farther away from the sun than Earth and is itself orbited by 67 known moons. Seven other U.S. space probes have sailed past the gas giant on brief reconnaissance missions before heading elsewhere in the solar system.

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Ground control teams will monitor Juno's progress during its do-or-die engine burn by listening for a series of radio signals.

"They really are musical notes. Based on what musical note is sent, we will know how something is doing," Bolton said.

The risks to Juno will not end once it arrives in orbit. The probe will fly in highly elliptical, egg-shaped orbits that pass within 3,000 miles (4,800 km) of the tops of Jupiter's clouds and inside the planet's powerful radiation belts.

Juno's sensitive science instruments are housed in a 400-pound (180-kg) titanium vault for protection. But during its 37 orbits around Jupiter, Juno will be exposed to the equivalent of 100 million dental X-rays, said Bill McAlpine, radiation control manager for the mission.

The spacecraft, built by Lockheed Martin, is expected to last for 20 months. On its final orbit, Juno will dive into Jupiter's atmosphere, where it will be crushed and vaporized.

Like Galileo, which circled Jupiter for eight years before crashing into the planet in 2003, Juno's demise is designed to prevent any hitchhiking microbes from Earth from inadvertently contaminating Jupiter's ocean-bearing moon Europa, a target of future study for extraterrestrial life.

(Editing by Steve Gorman and Peter Cooney)
By Irene Klotz CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (Reuters) - A NASA spacecraft was poised for a one-shot attempt to slip into Jupiter's orbit on Monday for the start of a 20-month-long dance around the solar system's largest planet to learn how and where it formed. Flight controllers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, were preparing for a long night as the Juno probe streaked closer toward Jupiter at 200 times the speed of sound in the empty vacuum of space. "We're barreling down," Juno lead scientist Scott Bolton of the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio told reporters on Monday. By noon on Monday, Juno had sailed past three of Jupiter's four main moons, with volcanic Io, the innermost big moon, in its sights. Confirmation of whether Juno, the only solar-powered spacecraft ever dispatched to the outer solar system, had successfully placed itself into polar orbit around Jupiter was not expected until 11:53 p.m. EDT on Monday (0353 GMT on Tuesday). Launched from Florida nearly five years ago, Juno must be precisely positioned, ignite its main engine at exactly the right time and keep it burning for 35 minutes to shed enough speed so it can be captured by Jupiter's gravity. If anything goes even slightly awry, Juno will sail helplessly past Jupiter, unable to complete a $1 billion mission to peer through the planet's thick atmosphere and map its gargantuan magnetic field. Scientists are particularly interested in learning how much water Jupiter contains, which is key to determining where in the solar system it formed. Jupiter's origins, in turn, affected the development and position of the rest of the planets, including Earth and its fortuitous location conducive to the evolution of life. The immense gravity exerted by Jupiter's sheer size - packing 2-1/2 times the mass of all the other planets combined - is thought to have helped shield Earth from bombardment by comets and asteroids. "We are learning about nature, how Jupiter formed and what that tells us about our history and where we came from," Bolton said. The Juno probe is named for the ancient Roman goddess, who was the wife and sister of Jupiter, the mythological king of gods, and had the power to see through clouds. 'MUSICAL NOTES' Only one other spacecraft, Galileo, has ever circled Jupiter, which is five times farther away from the sun than Earth and is itself orbited by 67 known moons. Bolton said Juno is likely to discover even more. Seven other U.S. space probes have sailed past the gas giant on brief reconnaissance missions before heading elsewhere in the solar system. Ground control teams will monitor Juno's progress during its do-or-die engine burn by listening for a series of radio signals. "They really are musical notes. Based on what musical note is sent, we will know how something is doing," Bolton said. During its approach, Juno also must be lucky enough to fly through Jupiter's tenuous rings without being hit by particles zipping around so fast that even a speck the size of a blood cell could prove fatal. The risks to the spacecraft will not end once it arrives in orbit. The probe must quickly turn around and face the sun so its 18,698 solar cells can begin recharging the battery. "I won't exhale until we are back sun-pointing again," Bolton said. Juno will fly in highly elliptical, egg-shaped orbits that pass within 3,000 miles (4,800 km) of the tops of Jupiter's clouds and inside the planet's powerful radiation belts. Juno's computers and sensitive science instruments are housed in a 400-pound (180-kg) titanium vault for protection. But during its 37 orbits around Jupiter, Juno will be exposed to the equivalent of 100 million dental X-rays, said Bill McAlpine, radiation control manager for the mission. The spacecraft, built by Lockheed Martin, is expected to last for 20 months. On its final orbit, Juno will dive into Jupiter's atmosphere, where it will be crushed and vaporized. Like Galileo, which circled Jupiter for eight years before crashing into the planet in 2003, Juno's demise is designed to prevent any hitchhiking microbes from Earth from inadvertently contaminating Jupiter's ocean-bearing moon Europa, a target of future study for extraterrestrial life. (Editing by Peter Cooney and Sandra Maler)
Brussels (AFP) - NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said Monday he was sure Britain's new government would remain committed to the alliance despite the Brexit vote and the resignation of Prime Minister David Cameron.

Britain's ruling Conservative party is seeking a new leader to lead negotiations on an exit from the European Union, which has sparked fears for the Western security establishment of which both the EU and NATO are key parts.

"Brexit will change the relationship between the UK and the EU but it will not change the UK's position inside NATO," Stoltenberg told a press briefing ahead of an alliance summit in Warsaw this week.

"David Cameron and the UK government have clearly stated that they will continue as a committed ally. I am certain that a new government in the UK will continue that line," he added.

"This is important because the UK is a major provider of security in Europe and provider of security for the NATO alliance."

Britain as a nuclear power with a permanent, veto-wielding seat on the UN Security Council has a major say in NATO and in EU foreign and defence policy and there has been intense speculation Brexit could undercut Britain's standing.

Stoltenberg stressed several times that the Brexit vote did not change Britain's relationship with NATO, only with the EU.

At the same time, it would have "no effect in any way on NATO-EU cooperation ... if anything, it just strengthens the need for enhanced NATO-EU cooperation."

He said NATO leaders, meeting in Warsaw on Friday and Saturday, had already decided before the Brexit vote to meet European Council president Donald Tusk and European Commission head Jean-Claude Juncker to sign a cooperation accord.

"We face together a new security environment... neither the EU nor NATO possess all the tools to respond, for example on countering hybrid warfare and other challenges," he said.

"The European Union is important to stability in Europe... NATO and the EU are essential and unique partners and we have to work even closer together."

NATO counts 22 of the 28 EU nations as member states and many of them look first to the US-led alliance for security rather than to the EU.

Last week, EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini issued a policy paper calling on the EU to do more in its own defence while also stressing cooperation with NATO.
LONDON (Reuters) - The next British prime minister will have to decide when to officially trigger the process of leaving the European Union but parliament will have a role to play, Prime Minister David Cameron's spokeswoman said on Monday. Law firm Mishcon de Reya has said it has started legal action to demand the British government win legislative approval from parliament before triggering Article 50 to begin formal negotiations to leave the bloc. "The prime minister has been clear that is for the next prime minister to decide. He has said that we have now got to look at all the detailed arrangements. Parliament will clearly have a role in making sure we find the best way forward," the spokeswoman told reporters. "There was overwhelming support in parliament to put the decision of whether the UK should remain in the European Union to the British people," she added. "The British people have made a decision and now as a country we need to get on with delivering that decision to leave the European Union." (Reporting by Kylie MacLellan; editing by Stephen Addison)
London (AFP) - Nigel Farage devoted his career to campaigning for Britain to leave the European Union, a goal that once seemed impossible but which he helped achieve with an unashamedly populist message.

Farage resigned as leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP) on Monday, saying the seismic vote to leave the 28-member bloc on June 23 "means that my political ambition has been achieved".

The 52-year-old is a political outsider who repeatedly failed to win election to the British parliament, but his role in securing victory in the Brexit referendum has secured his place in history.

It was partly to counter the electoral threat of UKIP that Prime Minister David Cameron called the vote in 2013, and Farage played a high-profile role in the campaign -- despite being excluded from the official "Leave" group.

Farage -- a member of the European Parliament since 1999 -- led the Brexit agenda with a relentless focus on ending mass migration from within the EU, and by urging the public to give the "political elites" a bloody nose.

The former commodities trader cultivated the image of a man of the people, often being photographed with a beer in his hand, and his message to "take back control" resonated with many older, white, blue collar voters.

He toured Britain relentlessly during the referendum campaign, arriving at each location on a battle bus that blasted out the theme to wartime film "The Great Escape".

But he was frequently accused of taking his populist message too far, notably with a poster showing a queue of brown-skinned migrants under the headline "Breaking Point", which was condemned by other "Leave" campaigners.

He also caused controversy by suggesting women in Britain may be at risk of mass sex attacks by migrants. Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby said he was "giving legitimisation to racism".

Ultimately, however, Farage triumphed -- and the joy at winning was apparent when he returned to the European Parliament after the Brexit vote.

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"When I came here 17 years ago and I said I wanted to lead a campaign to get Britain to leave the EU, you all laughed at me. But you are not laughing now," he said.

- 'Fruitcakes, loonies and closet racists' -

In his 10 years as leader, Farage has almost single-handedly made UKIP a major force in British politics, even though it only has one MP.

Cameron once dismissed it as a party of "fruitcakes, loonies and closet racists", but in the last general election it won almost 13 percent of the vote.

Farage was born in 1964 to an affluent family in Kent, southeast England. His father was a stockbroker and an alcoholic and his parents divorced when he was five.

He was educated at one of England's top private schools, Dulwich College in London, where he says his headmaster saw him as "bloody-minded and difficult".

Rather than attending university, he followed his father into the City of London, where he became a commodities trader.

Farage has four children -- two boys by his first wife and two girls with his German second wife Kirsten.

Having supported the Conservatives since his school days, he joined UKIP in 1993 as a founder member and was elected to the European Parliament in 1999, aged 35.

Farage became UKIP's leader in 2006 before standing down in 2009 and then being re-elected the following year, when the party's ascent really began.

He has repeatedly failed to win election to Britain's House of Commons, but has survived a string of personal misfortunes -- a serious car accident and testicular cancer as well as a plane crash.

Farage is quitting UKIP but indicated he would remain an MEP, saying he would be watching the negotiation of Britain's exit from Brussels "like a hawk".

He offered his services to "other independence movements" across the continent, saying he was "certain that you haven't seen the last country that wants to leave the EU."
By Chijioke Ohuocha and Oludare Mayowa LAGOS (Reuters) - Nigeria's central bank has replaced the chairman and chief executive of Skye Bank after it failed to meet minimum capital ratios, its governor said on Monday. The central bank said Skye Bank's non-performing loanratio has been above the regulatory limit for a while and it hadmet with Skye's board to resolve the issue, governorGodwin Emefiele told a briefing. Earlier, banking sources told Reuters that Skye's chief executive Timothy Oguntayo had resigned before the central bank announcement. He was the head of Skye Bank when it bought nationalised lender Mainstreet Bank in 2014. "The basic issue is capital adequacy and liquidity. From what we see, adequacy ratio in the bank has been weakening and we don't want it to get to a point where depositors will be at risk," Emefiele said. Skye Bank is designated as one of Nigeria's systemically important banks due to the size of total sector deposits it holds after the acquisition of Mainstreet Bank. This means it has to hold more capital. Emefiele said the central bank had conducted a stress test and decided to replace the chairman, chief executive and all non-executive directors after they failed to recapitalise the bank. He said Skye had been a net borrower from its rediscount window for "sometime." The central bank also appointed Tokunbo Abiru from rival First Bank to head Skye Bank. "(Skye) bank is not in distress and remains able to continue banking activity," Emefiele said. Nigeria's central bank has powers to remove bank executives and used them during the 2008/2009 global financial crisis when it sacked nine CEOs at banks which were undercapitalised. Last year, the regulator gave three commercial banks until June 2016 to recapitalise after they failed to hit a minimum capital adequacy rate of 10 percent. Skye Bank has been in talks with shareholders and new investors to raise 30 billion naira ($150 million). It suspended plans for a rights issue last year due to weak market conditions. Emefiele said the overall banking industry was sound, despite weaknesses in the economy but that none of Nigeria's 21 commercial lenders were in distress. Shares in Skye fell 9.5 percent. (Additional reporting by Alexis Akwagyiram; Editing by Louise Heavens and Jane Merriman)
Abuja (AFP) - Nigeria's junior oil minister Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu has been replaced as head of the country's state-run oil firm, President Muhammadu Buhari announced on Monday.

Buhari said in a statement that Kachikwu would step down as group managing director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) but continue as chairman.

The former oil executive was effectively in charge of the day to running of the NNPC and overseeing the key sector, in an arrangement that was viewed by some in the industry as a conflict of interest.

The new group managing director will be Maikanti Kacalla Baru, a 57-year-old trained engineer who had been NNPC group executive director of exploration and production.

Buhari, who appointed himself oil minister in November last year, also named a new board of directors, including his chief of staff Abba Kyari.

Kachikwu, 59, was only given the job in August last year as part of Buhari's efforts to overhaul the NNPC and tackle rampant corruption in the sector.

The Harvard-trained lawyer ordered a forensic audit of the company's accounts and publication of its oil receipts for the first time in a move to bring greater transparency and accountability.

Top management positions were trimmed and plans announced to split up the NNPC into 30 separate companies to boost efficiency.

Buhari, who took office in May last year, has pledged to recover what he said were "mind-boggling" sums of public money stolen by corrupt officials, including those at the NNPC.

In 2014, former central bank governor Lamido Sanusi accused the company of withholding some $20 billion in oil revenue, which led to his ouster.

OPEC-member Nigeria, which relies on oil sales for some 70 percent of government revenue, has been plunged into a financial crisis because of low global oil prices.

Militants have also stepped up attacks on installations in the oil-producing southern delta region, cutting production. The NNPC is one of the companies targeted.
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain should not guarantee the right of European Union nationals to remain in the country once it has left the bloc unless it receives reciprocal assurances from other EU states, the immigration minister said on Monday. The status of foreign nationals living in Britain, and of Britons living elsewhere in the EU, has become a political flashpoint following the vote to leave the 28-member bloc, which has rules guaranteeing the free movement of workers. "It has been suggested that the government could now fully guarantee EU nationals living in the UK the right to stay," immigration minister James Brokenshire told parliament. "This would be unwise without a parallel assurance from European governments regarding British nationals living in their countries." He said EU nationals would continue to be welcome in Britain. (Reporting by William James, Editing by Kylie MacLellan)
By Jeremy Gaunt LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's vote to leave the European Union has left the country's universities with a problem to solve -- how to plug a funding gap and maintain prestige if the flood of students from across the EU slows to a trickle. Before the June 23 referendum backed a British exit, or Brexit, the heads of about 80 percent of British universities issued a joint appeal to "Remain" in the 28-country bloc. Since the vote, universities have been trying to calm their overseas students and to reassure applicants from abroad that nothing will change -- at least for now because the process of leaving the EU is expected to take at least two years. In the longer term, they fear their funding, attractiveness to foreign students and academic prestige will decline. "I cherish European values," said Bettina Sakiotis, a 17-year-old Greek living in Luxembourg who has been offered a place by two English universities from October. "Voting for Brexit shows ... we are not on the same page." After the referendum, she considered taking a place instead at Italy's Bocconi University in Milan. In the end, she decided on Britain but she still has doubts. "I think (Brexit) will have serious political consequences for the UK," she said. "I feel the UK is isolating itself." Universities in Britain do not know yet whether the outcome of the referendum will affect international student admissions for the coming academic year. Places will largely be allocated in August, when this year's school exam results come through. But much is at stake for some universities. One in three people studying for a first degree at the universities of Essex and Kent, for example, are international students, according to The Complete University Guide, a publisher of university league tables. There are 125,000 students from the EU in higher education in Britain, about 5.5 percent of the total, and the proportion is much higher at some universities -- rising to about 16 percent at Cambridge, for example. The battle has begun to hang on to those already planning to come to a country that hosts three of the world's top 10 universities -- Oxford, Cambridge and Imperial College London, according to The Times Higher Education World University rankings. Six of the other seven are in the United States. EU students currently pay the same fees as British students but many fear the cost of attending a British university will soar if they are treated as overseas students after a British exit from the EU. "There will be no changes to the immigration or fee status of EU students entering Newcastle University in 2016 entry," Chris Brink, vice-chancellor of Newcastle University, wrote on the university's website. "You will pay the UK rate of fee for the full duration of your programme of study." He made no promises for future intakes. QUESTIONS OVER FUNDING Higher education was not a big issue outside academia during campaigning for the referendum, but the Leave campaign said that money saved from leaving the EU could be channelled into whatever Britain wants, including science research. It is not just students' fees that could be affected. Universities UK, which represents university heads, says their institutions received more than 836 million pounds in research grants and contracts from EU sources in 2014-15. Such research funding generates more than 19,000 jobs across Britain and translates into 1.86 billion pounds for the British economy, it said. "More than 60 percent of the UK's international research partners are from other EU countries," Universities UK said in a statement. "This is growing faster than any of our other collaborative research relationships." Among the areas of concern are Britain's participation in the Erasmus+ programme which funds exchanges of students and teachers across EU higher education institutions. More than 27,000 EU students came to study or train in Britain with an Erasmus grant in 2013-14 as well as more than 3,500 staff. While Erasmus has a number of non-EU members, Switzerland was effectively suspended when it voted to limit the free movement of people from the EU, an important issue in Britain's exit from the bloc. British universities are also looking at a status change among a large proportion of their students. University admissions service UCAS said that for the coming undergraduate year, the number of British applicants declined by 0.3 percent, reflecting demographics, while those from EU countries rose 0.6 percent. Undergraduate fees for British and EU students are a maximum of 9,000 pounds a year. They can be much higher for non-EU international students, depending on the university and the course. At the University of Kent, international students pay up to 15,900 pounds a year. Studying medicine at Imperial College London will set them back 37,100 pounds a year. TESTAMENTS ON FACEBOOK Such a shift could be devastating for British universities if the cost overcame the attractiveness of the study. Michael Arthur, president of University College London, has estimated it could put about 40 million pounds of tuition fee income at risk. While some of Britain's most celebrated centres of learning may be able to battle through any trouble from Brexit on their reputations, they are not immune to the fears over funding, faculty and appeal. The influential London School of Economics, which has an overall 18 percent EU student contingent, has urged alumni to post testaments on Facebook to trumpet the institution's EU diversity. EU students generated 3.7 billion pounds for the British economy in 2011-12 and supported more than 34,000 jobs, according to Universities UK. Independent fact-checking charity Full Fact estimates British higher education providers get at least 2.6 percent of their total income from the EU, or around 16 percent of their research income. "The impact of our universities on our local communities and economy should not be underestimated," university vice-chancellors wrote in their joint appeal for Britain to remain in the EU. The government has not managed so far to give much succour to the institutions or potential students like Sakiotis. "There are obviously big discussions to be had with our European partners, and I look forward to working with the sector to ensure its voice is fully represented and that it continues to go from strength to strength," Jo Johnson, Britain's university minister, said in a statement. Universities in the EU are unlikely to wait to take advantage of the uncertainty in British academia. Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi has already proposed the EU grant citizenship to British students enrolled in EU countries. (Corrects attribution in paragraph 34.) (Editing by Timothy Heritage)
By Jeremy Gaunt LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's vote to leave the European Union has left the country's universities with a problem to solve -- how to plug a funding gap and maintain prestige if the flood of students from across the EU slows to a trickle. Before the June 23 referendum backed a British exit, or Brexit, the heads of about 80 percent of British universities issued a joint appeal to "Remain" in the 28-country bloc. Since the vote, universities have been trying to calm their overseas students and to reassure applicants from abroad that nothing will change -- at least for now because the process of leaving the EU is expected to take at least two years. In the longer term, they fear their funding, attractiveness to foreign students and academic prestige will decline. "I cherish European values," said Bettina Sakiotis, a 17-year-old Greek living in Luxembourg who has been offered a place by two English universities from October. "Voting for Brexit shows ... we are not on the same page." After the referendum, she considered taking a place instead at Italy's Bocconi University in Milan. In the end, she decided on Britain but she still has doubts. "I think (Brexit) will have serious political consequences for the UK," she said. "I feel the UK is isolating itself." Universities in Britain do not know yet whether the outcome of the referendum will affect international student admissions for the coming academic year. Places will largely be allocated in August, when this year's school exam results come through. But much is at stake for some universities. One in three people studying for a first degree at the universities of Essex and Kent, for example, are international students, according to The Complete University Guide, a publisher of university league tables. There are 125,000 students from the EU in higher education in Britain, about 5.5 percent of the total, and the proportion is much higher at some universities -- rising to about 16 percent at Cambridge, for example. The battle has begun to hang on to those already planning to come to a country that hosts three of the world's top 10 universities -- Oxford, Cambridge and Imperial College London, according to The Times Higher Education World University rankings. Six of the other seven are in the United States. EU students currently pay the same fees as British students but many fear the cost of attending a British university will soar if they are treated as overseas students after a British exit from the EU. "There will be no changes to the immigration or fee status of EU students entering Newcastle University in 2016 entry," Chris Brink, vice-chancellor of Newcastle University, wrote on the university's website. "You will pay the UK rate of fee for the full duration of your programme of study." He made no promises for future intakes. QUESTIONS OVER FUNDING Higher education was not a big issue outside academia during campaigning for the referendum, but the Leave campaign said that money saved from leaving the EU could be channelled into whatever Britain wants, including science research. It is not just students' fees that could be affected. Universities UK, which represents university heads, says their institutions received more than 836 million pounds ($1.11 billion) in research grants and contracts from EU sources in 2014-15. Such research funding generates more than 19,000 jobs across Britain and translates into 1.86 billion pounds for the British economy, it said. "More than 60 percent of the UK's international research partners are from other EU countries," Universities UK said in a statement. "This is growing faster than any of our other collaborative research relationships." Among the areas of concern are Britain's participation in the Erasmus+ programme which funds exchanges of students and teachers across EU higher education institutions. More than 27,000 EU students came to study or train in Britain with an Erasmus grant in 2013-14 as well as more than 3,500 staff. While Erasmus has a number of non-EU members, Switzerland was effectively suspended when it voted to limit the free movement of people from the EU, an important issue in Britain's exit from the bloc. British universities are also looking at a status change among a large proportion of their students. University admissions service UCAS said that for the coming undergraduate year, the number of British applicants declined by 0.3 percent, reflecting demographics, while those from EU countries rose 0.6 percent. Undergraduate fees for British and EU students are a maximum of 9,000 pounds a year. They can be much higher for non-EU international students, depending on the university and the course. At the University of Kent, international students pay up to 15,900 pounds a year. Studying medicine at Imperial College London will set them back 37,100 pounds a year. TESTAMENTS ON FACEBOOK Such a shift could be devastating for British universities if the cost overcame the attractiveness of the study. Michael Arthur, president of University College London, has estimated it could put about 40 million pounds of tuition fee income at risk. While some of Britain's most celebrated centres of learning may be able to battle through any trouble from Brexit on their reputations, they are not immune to the fears over funding, faculty and appeal. The influential London School of Economics, which has an overall 18 percent EU student contingent, has urged alumni to post testaments on Facebook to trumpet the institution's EU diversity. EU students generated 3.7 billion pounds for the British economy in 2011-12 and supported more than 34,000 jobs, according to Universities UK. Independent fact-checking charity Full Fact estimates British higher education providers get at least 2.6 percent of their total income from the EU, or around 16 percent of their research income. "The impact of our universities on our local communities and economy should not be underestimated," university vice-chancellors wrote in their joint appeal for Britain to remain in the EU. The government has not managed so far to give much succour to the institutions or potential students like Sakiotis. "There are obviously big discussions to be had with our European partners, and I look forward to working with the sector to ensure its voice is fully represented and that it continues to go from strength to strength," Jo Johnson, Britain's university minister, said in a statement. Universities in the EU are unlikely to wait to take advantage of the uncertainty in British academia. Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi has already proposed the EU grant citizenship to British students enrolled in EU countries. (This version of the story corrects attribution in paragraph 34) (Editing by Timothy Heritage)
TOKYO (Reuters) - Crude prices extended gains on Monday in Asia, supported by comments from the Saudi energy minister saying the oil market is heading toward balance.

London Brent crude for September delivery (LCOc1) was up 17 cents at $50.52 a barrel by 2247 GMT on Sunday, after settling up 64 cents at $50.35 on Friday.

NYMEX crude for August delivery (CLc1) was up 5 cents at $49.04 a barrel, after closing up 66 cents, or 1.4 percent, on Friday. There will be no West Texas Intermediate crude settlement on Monday as U.S. financial and commodity markets are closed for the Independence Day holiday.

The energy minister of Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil exporter, and the secretary general of OPEC agree that the global oil market is heading toward a balance and that prices are starting to settle, according to comments carried by Saudi state news agency SPA.

U.S. drillers last week added oil rigs for a fourth week in five, according to a closely followed report Friday, in the best month of producers returning to the well pad since August that signaled a near-two year rout in drilling may have ended.

The Niger Delta Avengers, a militant group that has been carrying out attacks on Nigerian oil facilities in the past few months, claimed responsibility on Sunday for five new attacks in the southern energy hub since Friday.

Attacks in the Niger Delta have pushed Nigerian crude production to 30-year lows, although the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) said last week that output was rising because of repairs and a fall-off in attacks.

Russian oil output stood at 10.84 million barrels per day (bpd) in June, up from 10.83 bpd in May, Energy Ministry data showed on Saturday.

Norwegian offshore oil workers and employers signed a new wage deal on Saturday, avoiding a strike that would have cut the output from western Europe's top oil and gas producer by about 6 percent, employers and unions said.

Money managers cut their net long U.S. crude futures and options positions in the week to June 28, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) said on Friday.

(Reporting by Osamu Tsukimori; Editing by Joseph Radford)
LOS ANGELES -- One of the American League's best teams will face one of the National League's most intriguing rookie pitchers when the Baltimore Orioles and the Los Angeles Dodgers begin a three-game series on Monday night at Dodger Stadium.

The Orioles arrive in California leading the Boston Red Sox by three games in the American League East, despite having the league's third-best record. The Seattle Mariners narrowed Baltimore's divisional advantage with a four-game sweep that gave the Mariners a 6-1 record against the Orioles this year.

"I'm not glad to be done with them, no," Baltimore manager Buck Showalter told MLB.com. "They're a good club. We're a good club. It's got nothing to do with. If we play good, we're in good shape. If we don't play well, it doesn't matter who we are playing."

The Orioles arrive in California with more home runs (128) than any other major-league team. Mark Trumbo, a power-hitting outfielder who is playing for his fourth team in four seasons, has a chance to establish a career high in home runs. Trumbo, who pounded 34 homers for the Los Angeles Angels in 2013, hit his 24th on Sunday.

Trumbo also has driven in 62 runs, third best in the American League. Chris Davis has contributed 21 home runs and 56 RBIs. Manny Machado's .329 average ranks fourth and his .592 slugging percentage is second among the American League's hitters.

Into this powerful lineup will wade left-hander Julio Urias, a 19-year-old from Mexico. MLB.com ranked Urias as the major leagues' best left-handed prospect and the fourth best overall.

Promoted from Triple-A Oklahoma City for his second stint in the majors, Urias gained his first major-league victory Tuesday night in Milwaukee. He permitted two runs and two hits, walked six and struck out six in six innings.

"It's one of the best days of my life," Urias told the Orange County Register after his win. "It's beautiful, incredible. What can I say?"

The left-hander will make his fourth start at Dodger Stadium.

While the Orioles have lost four in a row, the Dodgers won four in succession by sweeping the Colorado Rockies, who feature another potent offense. But in their three games, the Rockies managed just two runs and 13 hits while striking out 41 times against three journeymen starters: Bud Norris, Scott Kazmir and Brandon McCarthy, who underwent Tommy John surgery in April 2015.
By William Schomberg and Conor Humphries LONDON/DUBLIN (Reuters) - Britain has announced plans to cut corporation tax to less than 15 percent in an attempt to cushion the shock of the country's decision to leave the European Union, raising the prospect of competitive tax cuts across the bloc. Chancellor George Osborne told the Financial Times he wanted to build a "super competitive economy" with low business taxes and a global focus, signalling a determination to remain in his job when a new prime minister takes over in September. The new rate, which was announced without a target date, compares with Osborne's previous target to cut corporation tax to 17 percent by 2020 from 20 percent now. The average rate among the world's most developed countries is 25 percent. Confidence in Britain's economy has been hit by the vote to leave the EU and a lower tax rate could help prevent an exodus of British firms and attract U.S. and European companies which might otherwise be put off by the uncertainty it has created. "The prospect of a lower tax base remains appealing for some U.S. companies regardless of Britain's future status within the EU," said Ferdinand Mason, a London-based partner at law firm Jones Day. But Britain would also need to negotiate a Norway-style deal on market access with the rest of Europe, he said. "If Britain is to become a truly attractive proposition to foreign investors, it is crucial that the UK negotiates a deal with the EU that gives it access to the single market." "WORLD IS CHANGING" Ireland, where a 12.5 percent corporate tax rate has been a cornerstone of economic policy for 20 years, drawing investors such as Pfizer and Apple, said Osborne's announcement showed how the Brexit vote had altered the dynamics of the EU. "This is a very stark reminder of how the world is changing as a result of the referendum result in the United Kingdom," Public Expenditure Minister Paschal Donohoe told RTE radio. "The tectonic plates are shifting and this is a very early sign of it. It's a sharp reminder here, to us, that your tax system and how it's structured is an essential part of our national competitiveness," Donohoe said. Ireland's transport minister said Osborne's move was an "obvious attempt" to lure investors away from Ireland. "If the headline figure was to come down to 12.5 percent in the UK, it would be threatening to us and we would have to adjust accordingly and make ourselves more attractive again," Shane Ross, an independent minister, said. The Netherlands said it would review its tax rates to ensure it remained attractive. "It is something we are thinking about with an eye to the future," finance ministry spokesman Paul van der Zanden said. "On the one side we want to fight tax avoidance and on the other we need to look at our investment climate." A spokesman for Germany's finance ministry said plans to cut corporation tax should be fair. "It is clear that it is the (German) government's aim that the issue of taxes is dealt with in a fair way in the single market," Martin Jaeger said. Martin Sorrell, chief executive of London-based WPP , the world's largest advertising agency, backed Osborne's plan. "The lower, the faster, the better. Hopefully, there's more stimulus to come," he told Reuters. Yet uncertainty over Osborne's role in Britain's new government leaves a large question mark over the declared goal. "We don't know when the tax rate will be cut or even if it will be cut because we don't know if George Osborne will continue as chancellor," said Helen Miller, associate director at the Institute of Fiscal Studies. Cutting the rate from 20 percent now to below 15 percent would cost at least 10 billion pounds based on government estimates, she said. The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, in a June 24 internal email seen by Reuters, said a further cut in British corporation tax was unlikely due to a high political cost but if it happened it would "really turn the UK into a tax haven type of economy." "NOT THE RIGHT WAY" TO START EU NEGOTIATIONS Some took the announcement by Osborne as the opening salvo in future negotiations with the rest of the EU about Britain's relationship with its former partners. Pascal Lamy, a former World Trade Organisation head, said Osborne was moving fast to activate one of Britain's weapons in the talks as well as trying to reassure foreign investors who are worried about Britain's access to the EU's single market. "I can understand that from his side but he has to think about the impact of this on the continent," Lamy told BBC radio. "If you want a proper balanced, win-win relationship in the future, starting with tax competition is not the right way psychologically to prepare this negotiation." Other elements of Osborne's plan to steer the economy through the upheaval caused by the Brexit vote included support for bank lending to ensure credit does not seize up, more efforts to direct investment to northern England and maintaining Britain's fiscal credibility, the FT quoted him as saying. Last week, Osborne said he would no longer target a budget surplus in 2020 because of the expected hit to the economy from the referendum result. Some politicians such as Molly Scott Cato, a member of the European parliament for Britain's Green Party, said he was using the referendum result to accelerate policy planned anyway. "He wants to usher in an era in which the UK embarks on a race to the bottom, not just through cutting corporation tax, but also on social and environmental deregulation and even more stringent public spending cuts," she said. "We need a general election so people have a chance to have their say on the sort of country we want to build together." Osborne's softer approach to fixing public finances chimed with comments by interior minister Theresa May, the leading contender to replace David Cameron as prime minister. Bank of England Governor Mark Carney said last week that he believed the economy would need more stimulus soon. The BoE may move as soon as Tuesday to ease some of the capital requirements on banks and it will decide its position on interest rates next week. (Additional reporting by Anthony Deutsch in Amsterdam, Pamela Barbaglia and Kate Holton in London, Francesco Guarascio in Brussels; writing by William Schomberg; editing by Philippa Fletcher)
Radiation levels across the Pacific Ocean are rapidly returning to normal five years after a meltdown at the Fukushima nuclear plant spewed gases and liquids into the sea, a study showed Monday.

Japan shut down dozens of reactors after a magnitude 9.0 earthquake-generated tsunami on March 11, 2011 triggered one of the largest ever dumps of nuclear material into the world's oceans.

In the days following the quake and explosions at Fukushima, seawater meant to cool the nuclear reactors instead carried radioactive elements back into the Pacific, with currents dispersing it widely.

Five years on a review by the Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research, which brings together ocean experts from across the world, said radioactive material had been carried as far as the United States.

But after analysing data from 20 studies of radioactivity associated with the plant, it found radiation levels in the Pacific were rapidly returning to normal after being tens of millions of times higher than usual following the disaster.

"As an example, in 2011 about half of fish samples in coastal waters off Fukushima contained unsafe levels of radioactive material," said Pere Masque, who co-authored the review published by the Annual Review of Marine Science.

"However, by 2015 that number had dropped to less than one percent above the limit."

But the study also found that the seafloor and harbour near the Fukushima plant were still highly contaminated in the wake of the world's worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl in 1986.

"Monitoring of radioactivity levels and sea life in that area must continue," added Masque, a professor of environmental radiochemistry at the Edith Cowan University in Western Australia.

The research examined radioactive caesium levels measured off Japan's coast across the Pacific to North America.

Caesium is a by-product of nuclear power and is highly soluble in water, making it ideal for measuring the release of radioactive material into the ocean, it said.

Although no one is recorded as having died as a direct result of the nuclear accident, tens of thousands of people were uprooted, with many still unable to return home because of persistent contamination.

Cleaning up Fukushima and making the area habitable again is a crucial plank of government policy in Japan, with Tokyo keen to prove nuclear power is a viable form of energy production for the resource-poor nation.
Pakistani officials Monday revised the death toll from flooding caused by monsoon rains in the country's remote north down to 33, as the military said it was flying food and medical supplies to damaged areas.

On Sunday officials had put the total number of people killed at 43, saying that 41 of them had died in a village in the Chitral district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where flash floods swept away their homes without warning.

Authorities also said two Chinese engineers had been killed at the Tarbela dam construction site, also in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

But on Monday officials said there had been duplication in the death count, revising the Chitral toll down to 29.

They also said two more Pakistani workers had died alongside the Chinese engineers at the dam construction site, bringing the total toll across the province to 33.

Thirteen people are still missing in Chitral, said the district's deputy commissioner Usama Waraich, adding that authorities were evacuating some residents with more rain forecast Monday.

Dozens of homes in the village of Ursoon in Chitral were damaged in the floods with the army saying Monday five of them were completely swept away.

The remote village had received no evacuation warning and remained cut off Monday, with roads to it damaged by the floods.

The military said it was flying in medical aid, tents and food to Ursoon by helicopter Monday.

Afghan authorities also said they had recovered 13 bodies, including of eight Pakistani soldiers, which had been swept over the border from Chitral into Afghanistan.

"We found the bodies yesterday and they were handed over to the Pakistani authorities," Ehsanullah Fazal, head of the public health hospital in Afghanistan's Kunar province, told AFP.
4 Jul - Actor Paulo Avelino has denied the latest rumour linking him to "A Second Chance" actress Bea Alonzo yet again.



As reported on ABS-CBN News, rumours of a blossoming relationship between the two resurfaced last week, when photos of Alonzo and Avelino performing on stage together at a bar went viral online.



The two stars were previously rumoured to be dating after Avelino was spotted in Singapore at the same time the actress was in the country.



However, when asked about the latest rumour, Avelino responded, "I am enjoying my time alone. I just want to concentrate on work."



The actor is currently filming a new series with Kapamilya new star, Ritz Azul.



Meanwhile, Alonzo downplayed the romance rumours in a separate interview on 2 July, saying that good friend Enchong Dee was with them as well at the bar.



(Photo source: bandera.inquirer.net)
Textured hair has been one of the biggest beauty looks for the past few seasons, and now it seems our favorite celebrities have gotten the memo too.

Rather than step out with slick, silky straight locks or a head full of angelic curls, Hollywood's leading ladies have recently taken to rocking the 'S-wave', a loose, beachy wave that perfectly strikes the tone between old school glamour and bedhead chic.

The style is a great way to liven up a long bob by adding bulk and depth, as seen on Anne Hathaway and Jennifer Lawrence, but looks equally as good on longer lengths, as demonstrated by Selena Gomez.

To recreate the look at home, Victoria's Secret hairstylist Sarah Potempa suggests starting wth freshly washed and rough dried hair, with a spot of volumizing mousse to really lift the strands. Then separate the hair into two sections -- Potempa recommends parting down the center while beauty vlogger Kaushal Beauty divides the hair from ear to ear, clipping the top section up and working on the underneath section first.

The S wave can be achieved with straighteners or with a curling iron. Potempa advises using the official hair tool of the Victoria's Secret show, the Beachwaver S1, which she designed. She clamps the curler a few centimeters from the ends of each smaller section of the hair before rolling it up towards the scalp and holding for around three seconds, working in small sections to cover the head.

Beauty vlogger LustreLux takes a more laid-back approach, using a ConAir 1 1/4" curling iron to create the wave, taking small sections of hair and wrapping them only once around the curler. After holding for a few seconds, she suggests pulling the strand down straight to create a low-key kink in the hair, before fluffing up the roots with a texturizing product such as Ouai Texturizing spray.

Kaushal Beauty is a fan of the straightener method, taking small sections of hair and clamping the irons alternatively 180 degrees in a clockwise and anticlockwise direction along the length for a chunky wave. She advises fixing the sections regularly with hairspray to keep the wave in place, adding a dash of oil such as Kerastase's Elixir Ultimate to the lengths at the end of the process for extra gloss.
* Plan not as radical as some investors had feared

* Scheme will encourage workers to save more money

* Also will help government to keep lid on public debt (Recasts with comments, background)

By Marcin Goclowski and Jakub Iglewski

WARSAW, July 4 (Reuters) - The Polish government unveiled the biggest shakeup of its pension system in nearly two decades on Monday, tightening its control of mandatory retirement savings and shutting down state-guaranteed private investment schemes.

Economists said the plan, which will go into effect in 2018, will give the ruling nationalist-minded Law and Justice (PiS) party more room to finance an ambitious welfare spending agenda. (For factbox click on )

However, the plan may also encourage Poles to save more by providing incentives to participate in voluntary schemes.

Pension savings are a ticking time-bomb in Poland, which has one of the lowest birth rates in the European Union and also faces a mounting burden of paying out state pensions to people who did not save enough under communism.

"There is a risk that some of the long-term pension saving may be used to cover (the government's) pre-election pledges," ING Bank economists wrote in a note.

"But the programme also addresses an important structural weakness of Polish economy, i.e. low savings, which is positive," they said.

Under the plan, the government will transfer roughly a quarter of the 140 billion zlotys ($35.2 billion) of assets now held by state-guaranteed private pension funds, called OFEs, into a single investment vehicle, the demographic reserve fund (FRD). The OFEs will be shut down.

The funds will then be invested by a government-appointed manager. The government will also be able to use the funds to remove some public debt from its balance sheet, thus allowing it to borrow more.

The rest, consisting mostly of Warsaw-listed shares, will be transferred to new mutual funds which will invest them on behalf of savers without state involvement.

Story continues

"What we are saying is that roughly 100 billion zlotys worth of assets will not be sold to fund the budget, they will stay on the bourse and help develop it," Deputy Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki told Reuters.

UNCERTAINTY

Immediately after the announcement of the plan, Poland's WIG20 stock index fell sharply and the zloty currency lost some 0.5 percent against the euro.

They later regained some ground because the changes did not go as far as expected but analysts said uncertainty over how many people would invest in the voluntary schemes and other details could weigh on markets.

Market observers had feared PiS, which favours a bigger state role in the economy, would assume control of all current retirement savings held by the nationwide private pension scheme in a de facto nationalisation.

This would have given it more funds to shore up the budget, pressured by a universal child subsidy scheme introduced earlier this year.

Under current law, the result of a sweeping 1999 reform of Poland's ailing communist-era retirement system, a state pension agency collects most of employees' mandatory contributions equivalent to 19.5 percent of pre-tax earnings.

A smaller chunk is paid into the private OFE funds that are managed by mostly foreign players such as Nationale Nederlanden, Aviva, AXA, and MetLife.

These funds now hold up to 80 percent of some companies and account for about 20 percent of the Warsaw bourse's value. But many observers have questioned their investment results and have criticised the fees OFE managers charge.

By ploughing all future mandatory contributions into the state agency, the government could undercut the role pension funds have played in the growth of Polish capital markets. But it gives it access to more cash for current pension obligations.

Economists welcomed the introduction of voluntary savings schemes.

"This should be effective ... Savings should rise a bit," said Piotr Kalisz from Citi Handlowy in Warsaw. "We still need more details, but the most negative scenario of a de-facto nationalisation of (savings) assets did not materialise." ($1 = 3.9770 zlotys) (Reporting by Marcin Goclowski and Jakub Iglewski; Writing by Adrian Krajewski and Justyna Pawlak; Editing by Marcin Goettig and Gareth Jones)
WARSAW (Reuters) - Poland has made significant progress in its talks with U.S. defense firm Raytheon (RTN.N) over a $5-billion missile defense system, Polish Defence Minister Antoni Macierewicz said on Monday.

"Indeed, the recent talks between Raytheon (and Poland) are very, very promising and one may say that a breakthrough has taken place," Macierewicz told Reuters.

"Raytheon has agreed to our minimal condition aimed at securing that at least 50 percent of the money which is to be spent of the Patriot system (Raytheon's missile defense system) would be spent on works done by Polish plants," he said.

The missile defense tender, whose value defense officials estimate at around $5 billion, is central to Warsaw's large-scale army modernization program, speeded up in response to the Ukraine crisis and Russia's renewed assertiveness in the region.

(Reporting by Wiktor Szary; Writing by Marcin Goettig)
Warsaw (AFP) - President Andrzej Duda on Monday pledged to fight racism and anti-Semitism 70 years after dozens of Polish Holocaust survivors were massacred in a brutal pogrom.

"It's the army and militia that opened fire first" on the Jewish inhabitants of the southern city of Kielce, Duda said during ceremonies marking the anniversary.

He described the communist police's behaviour as "bestial".

There is "no justification for anti-Semitic crime", he said, vowing to fight "even the most minor of acts of racism, anti-Semitism and xenophobia".

"The problem is not only that the militia and army attacked (the Jews) but that other people joined in as well."

On July 4, 1946, Kielce erupted in a frenzy of hatred after a rumour spread that a Jewish family had held a Christian boy in a cellar overnight.

Communist police, soldiers and workers from a nearby steelworks raided a house on 7/9 Planty Street sheltering Holocaust survivors, including some from the infamous Auschwitz-Birkenau Nazi German death camp.

At least 42 Jews were killed and over 40 injured in the worst anti-Semitic attack in postwar Poland, according to the Washington-based United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.

The pogrom went down as one of the darkest moments in the 1,000-year-long history of Polish Jews.

A Polish enquiry put the Jewish death toll at 37, with other victims including three non-Jewish Poles and two people killed during a robbery.

After the violence, tens of thousands of Jews left the country

Nine people were sentenced to death for their role in the killings, but the Communist authorities of the time tried to blame regime opponents for the crime.
Warsaw (AFP) - Polish Defence Minister Antoni Macierewicz on Monday said he would ink a letter of intent with US defence firm Raytheon to buy a Patriot missile system valued at an estimated 5 billion euros ($5.6 billion).

The EU member's previous government had said in April it planned to buy the Patriot system, but soon after coming into power in November the current conservative administration placed a question mark over the purchase.

Macierewicz himself had said at the time: "The price is much higher, the delivery time much longer... in short, this contract is practically non-existent."

On Monday Macierewicz said Poland was able to move ahead with the plan because Raytheon had pledged that 50 percent of the missile system spending would be on works "done in Poland by Polish arms firms".

"That being the case, we're signing the letter of intent," Macierewicz said, quoted by the Polish news agency PAP.

He said that meant Raytheon would be the "most likely" maker of Poland's missile defence system.

The defence ministry had said in April that it wanted to acquire eight missile batteries by 2025, with two of them to be delivered within three years of signing a deal.

The Eurosam consortium including MBDA France, MBDA Italy and France's Thales Group had been the other party in the running for the missile deal.
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Be serious here, folks. The police are not joking.

When the Westbrook, Maine, Police Department warned the locals June 29 about a large snake sighting in the woods, they probably meant it to be a genuine notice. That's not exactly how the good people of Westbrook took it.

Maybe it's the fact that that it was a just a snake sighting. Maybe it's because the police officers described the snake as eating, "a large mammal, possibly a beaver." Maybe it's because the warning explicitly stated that the department was "not joking."

SEE ALSO: Rat vs. snake: A mother's crusade

Whatever the reason, Westbrook people decided to make a very creative communal joke of the police department's concern.

Using the internet, artistic skills or just a large sign, the community has rallied together to show the police department how seriously they take a snake sighting  not very.

In honor of the Westbrook town name, the snake has been dubbed Wessie.



It kind of got out of control.

Of course, a parody Twitter account has been started for dear Wessie and it has amassed over a thousand followers in the last few days.

That's not all. YouTuber drivetrainproductions uploaded a commemorative song that honors Wessie and the search for truth.

It's an emotional ballad full of wisdom and seriousness.

In their warning, the Westbrook Police Department said that the beaver-eating snake will probably take a nap for a few days after eating such a big mammal meal. Should Wessie pop back up soon we can hope for another round of jokes.
[Warning: This story contains spoilers from season one, episode six of AMC's Preacher.]

"What's inside of you isn't God. It's a mistake."

After spending weeks believing his voice carried the weight of the word of God, Jesse Custer (Dominic Cooper) just learned the hard truth that his dark power has dark origins. In the latest episode of AMC's Preacher, called "Sundowner," Jesse finally learns the name of the entity inside of him: Genesis, the product of an unholy union between an angel and demon fighting on opposite sides of an ancient war between Heaven and Hell.

Moments later, Jesse comes face-to-face with forces from Heaven, fighting alongside dim-witted angels Fiore (Tom Brooke) and DeBlanc (Anatol Yusef) against a seraphim, an angel of the highest order, taking the form of a Texan housewife. The four individuals beat each other mercilessly inside Fiore and DeBlanc's room at the Sundowner Motel, with all three angels killing each other and regenerating multiple times - so much so that the room is a blood-soaked, body-filled mess when all is said and done.

Despite all this madness, Jesse chooses to keep Genesis. When Fiore and DeBlanc insist he turn over the entity, Jesse uses the power to tell them to "stay away." But everyone in Jesse's inner circle echoes the angels' words, some more explicitly than others. Finally, along comes Eugene (Ian Colletti), who tells Jesse it's immoral to use this power to change people's minds. The conversation escalates until Jesse reaches his breaking point, shouting a command at Eugene: "Go to Hell!"

In an instant, the disfigured teenager is missing, his whereabouts unknownexcept in a world where angels and demons exist - where Jesse's powerful words are often taken literally - there's really no question at all about Eugene's current location.

For more on the most out-there episode of Preacher yet, The Hollywood Reporter spoke with Cooper about the Genesis revelation, the Sundowner showdown, Jesse's tense conversation with Eugene, and news of Preacher's second-season renewal.

Story continues

Read More: 'Preacher' Renewed for Second Season at AMC

The episode begins as Jesse meets the angels Fiore and DeBlanc, learns the truth about his power, and then gets into a four-way motel brawl with the two angels and the seraphim. What's going through your mind when you're reading this in the script?

Well, it makes no sense. (Laughs) And I mean the whole thing, from start to finish, really. It's so ludicrous, and [the episodes] get more and more far-fetched. You get more excited and exhilarated the more you read. I've never done a job where I was so desperate to read the next script. Playing Jesse, the character transforms in each episode. Something so vast happens to his understanding of himself that it's exhilarating to play. But at the same time, it's very confusing, and I'm as confused as Jesse is in the discovery of this information, of this entity within him. This idea that the entity was nothing but good starts to turn on its head. I hope what's happening in these scenes is that you're seeing this man trying to tolerate the idea of who these two people are, the angels. A part of him is desperate to believe and understand what's taken over his being. He wants it to make sense. But they seem like the most unlikely candidates. There's all of this information that he's constantly having to digest. I hope the audience is in the same vein as him, trying to discover and learn at the same time as him. So when I first read those scenes? I had no idea on Earth what was happening, or how it was going to be shot.

What do you remember about shooting the brawl at the Sundowner Motel?

That scene was so haphazard and chaotic, and sometimes that makes the best drama. But we had so little time to shoot this. That fight on a huge film set would take days and days, but this was kind of like a jumble of chaos and ideas from everyone. We were trying to piece together how on Earth this would work. I really hope it does. But it was very funny. It read that way. You could understand the imagery of what that scene would be, but how we were going to create that? I don't think anyone really knew at the time. We all put our heads together to try and make it make sense. It was kind of shambolic, really, and I mean that in a good way. (Laughs) But this idea of regenerationI'm trying to deal with what's going on, and trying to make it believable. But it was madness. It was very exhilarating, very exciting, but also very exhausting. The choreography, the brilliant stunt teamyou can't really preempt or write this down or make a coherent decisive blueprint of what this is going to be. I think that magic comes off on the screen with this whole TV series. In the moment, we're wondering if something's actually working. You can understand the idea behind it, but putting it into action is much more difficult. You can have a stunt team try to choreograph what's happening in the Sundowner Motel, but it's almost impossible. And then on the day, it's going to change. So it's about people being prepared to change the concept in the moment, and I think that creates an incredible dynamic amongst the creative team and the actors. It's exhausting, but the end result can be very entertaining.

What does it say about Jesse Custer that he can hold his ground in this fight while angels are constantly killing each other and regenerating all around him?

Well, he's a nutter. (Laughs) He's been in situations like this one before, obviously not with the regenerating, but he can handle himself. From what we saw in that first fight [in the pilot], we saw how much he enjoys this kind of thing. He's trying to avoid it, but he's almost a child in a candy store when he's there. He can do as he pleases. And with this angel regenerating, it's like being on a drug. He's exhausted by the end, but it thrills him. It's the life he's trying to avoid. In this particular situation, there's an excuse to do it repeatedly, almost like a punch bag, to let out all of that anger and resentment and rage that's bubbling beneath the surface. There's a part of him that loves being put on the edge. Like, when [the seraphim] puts the gun to his head. He's not for a moment threatened by it. It doesn't strike fear in him. In my view, it enriches him. It's the bad side of him.

Read More: How 'Preacher' Plans to Tackle its Violent and Graphic Source Material

Jesse learns the truth about the entity, called Genesis, the product of an unholy union between soldiers on opposite sides of an ancient battle between Heaven and Hell. What does he think about this revelation, especially when he thought he was a vessel for God?

It's terrifying. It makes sense, but it's a terrifying revelation, and it doesn't even stop him from continuing to do what he's doing. I think it makes sense to him. He knows why it exists within him. He knows he's a man like that. He's constantly in conflict. It makes complete sense. It's what he's had all of his life. To have someone give you a diagnosis for your problem, it's a relief, but at the same time, it's a huge burden. Now he has a responsibility, and everything he's doing now is not necessarily coming from a good place. So I think it changes everything. It's very revealing of him. He doesn't do anything immediately about it. He's continuing to try to wield it.

When he hears the story about Genesis, and meets Fiore and DeBlanc and sees them with their coffee can "domicile" and their heavenly smartphones requiring "angel hands," does any of this challenge Jesse's notion of Heaven and Hell? As in, is this a letdown in terms of the concepts he was picturing?

No, I think it's exhilarating, and suddenly everything makes so much more sense. This thing, whatever it is, it's been missing from his soul. It's been missing from his life. Now it's being explained. He buys into it. He's still quite reticent. There's bits of it he finds hard to digest, but ultimately, it all seems to add up to the answers he's been searching for, and the things he's been feeling. "Sure, these guys can be angels. Of course! Why was I so stupid to think they had to be bearded guys in the sky, and people with wings? Of course they're wearing cowboy hats and look ridiculous." I think Jesse takes everything as it comes. It takes quite a lot to shake him. He takes things in stride. All of these ideas have been implanted in him since childhood, hearing stories from his fatherand it's actually real. He has this incredible capability, and now everything's making sense. It hasn't disrupted his notion of what he believes. It's given everything more clarity - and now he wants more answers.

You mention that Jesse isn't shaken very easily, but at the end of the episode, he has a tense conversation with Eugene that ends in Jesse telling him to "go to Hell." By the looks of it, Eugene obeyed the word to the letter. What is it about Eugene that gets so firmly under Jesse's skin?

It's everything. Eugene is always saying the thing that Jesse can't cope with hearing. He scratches at the surface, and he's right. He's more truthful. He's more honest. He gets it better than Jesse. He gets why Jesse shouldn't be doing these things. You can't force someone to change their lives. You need to learn these lessons yourself. You learn how to be forgiven, or you get forgiveness in a different way. You can't force it. Jesse is forcing all of these issues, and it's not working. I think Jesse can't bear to have his buttons pushed by Eugene, and eventually he has enough of it. This is Jesse's evil side coming out. It's much easier for him to get rid of this annoying voice on his shoulder that's insisting he do the right thing. Jesse knows Eugene is right, but he can't cope with it. Then the demon side comes out. The lack of remorse right afterward is totally terrifying. In that initial moment, he doesn't regret it at all. When you look back over Eugene, though, he's been constantly addressing Jesse's pitfalls.

We do know that Heaven and Hell exist in this world, so when Jesse tells Eugene to "go to Hell," is it safe to take that literally? Is Preacher about to go to Hell?

Well, we'll see. I can't say anything. But it definitely exists. That's become very clear. Maybe Jesse's guilt will get the better of him. But it certainly plays more on Jesse's conscience [in the future] than in the episode you just saw. It's definitely part of the dark side of him that changes his personality dramatically.

What are your thoughts about the second season of Preacher, now that the show has officially been renewed?

I'm very, very excited. It was so wonderful to hear that news. It's all credit to AMC. It means a lot to the cast to have that information beforehand. You have so much trepidation about how it's being received, and whether people are enjoying it. It's very hard to tell, with how we watch television now. To have that confidence and strength and belief in it, gives us confidence and strength. I'm very proud of it, and the fact that we're making more? I can't wait. This cast and crew loves working together. We totally believe in the show. I think it's very different from anything else that's on. I hope people pick up on it, and I hope people are enjoying it.

Read More: 'Preacher': TV Review

Preacher airs on AMC on Sunday nights at 9 p.m.
The following are the top stories on the business pages of British newspapers. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

The Times

London Stock Exchange Group Plc shareholders are expected to vote today to approve the $27 billion merger with Deutsche Boerse. http://bit.ly/29idIZJ

Volkswagen AG said it would not compensate its European car users at the same level as Americans for the diesel emissions scandal. http://bit.ly/29ie9TL

The Guardian

Islamic State claimed responsibility for an attack on a shopping district in Baghdad, killing at least 115 people. http://bit.ly/29ieHJC

Home secretary Theresa May said there could be an upswing in the number of Europeans moving to the UK before Britain's exit from the EU, as people try to enter the country before any new immigration rules. http://bit.ly/29ieTbJ

The Telegraph

Boris Johnson condemned the government for failing to highlight the positives of a Brexit vote and allowing "hysteria" to take over. http://bit.ly/29ih6nD

Angela Merkel could oust federalist chief Jean-Claude Juncker 'within the next year', a Germany government minister said. http://bit.ly/29ihIJK

Sky News

Tory leadership contender and Brexit campaigner Andrea Leadsom had earlier opposed leaving the European Union as it would be a disaster, it has emerged. http://bit.ly/29ihLFn

The UK's vote to leave the European Union has led to the delay of billions of pounds worth of corporate deals, in the midst of uncertainty about Britain's economy. http://bit.ly/29hIIJo

The Independent

Contender for the conservative leadership Andrea Leadsom faced demands to give a complete account of her tax affairs, including her family's use of trusts and bank loans. http://ind.pn/29ihQsH

Home secretary Theresa May did not rule out the deportation of EU nationals living in Britain after the country leaves the EU. http://ind.pn/29iivKI (Compiled by Abinaya Vijayaraghavan in Bengaluru)
July 4 (Reuters) - The following are the top stories in the Financial Times. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

Headlines

Credit Suisse triples special bonuses http://on.ft.com/29iiuX8

Brexit doubts hit Bank of America sale of UK card unit http://on.ft.com/29ij0Vl

Brexit: George Osborne to slash corporate tax rate http://on.ft.com/29ij2wa

Overview

Credit Suisse increased its bonus payouts to retain staff while it undergoes restructuring.

Bank of America Corp is close to calling off the sale of its UK credit card operation MBNA after the country's vote to leave the EU.

Chancellor George Osborne is planning to cut corporation tax to less than 15 percent in an attempt to woo businesses to invest in a post Brexit Britain.

(Compiled by Abinaya Vijayaraghavan in Bengaluru)
Prince William and Prince Harry were hoping to catch up with their uncle Charles Spencer on Sunday, but family life intervened.



"One of them had childcare issues  you can imagine which one," Spencer said at a charity event in his late sister's name in London on Monday.



When it was suggested moving to today, he had to pass, saying he was giving out honors to young people from the charity set up in the name of their mother, Princess Diana.



"There was an absolute immediate applause from both of them for you," he told the youngsters receiving The Diana Award on Monday. "So they wanted me to pass on their congratulations to you today."







William and Harry have been big supporters of the charity, with William helping spearhead promotion of the charity's anti-bullying drive.



Diana's brother, who opens his Althorp home to PEOPLE in this week's issue alongside his wife, Countess Karen Spencer, made a brief address before handing out awards to 80 young leaders nominated by the public  the the first direct member of her family to do so in Britain.



 Want to keep up with the latest royals coverage? Click here to subscribe to the Royals Newsletter.



Calling his sister  who died in a car crash in Paris in 1997 and would have been 55 on July 1  a "really inspirational person," he told the audience in London that "when she died, one of the tragedies for me as her brother was I thought, 'That will be that,' and she will disappear into the background."



But that has hardly been the case. "Various things were put forward as a commemoration of her, and all of them were lovely, but this is the best because it's a whole generation of new people baring her name and carrying on her work. Thank you all for doing that."



Spencer told the children that, as her younger brother, he was the "first beneficiary of Diana's kindness to young people." She looked after him as a baby and at school in King's Lynn, Norfolk. "The first day I was there, the head teacher was teaching Diana in her class and she said she was impossible, she was wriggling around and not able to pay attention," Spencer recalled.



The teacher told Diana, " 'Fine, go and check on him now,' " said Spencer. "And she left the class and came to my classroom and came back and said to the headmistress 'He's fine!' and sat down. She always had this affinity for young children."



Before the awards, Spencer posed for pictures with some youngsters including Katie Krzyzanowski, 17 .



Katie, who has scoliosis, works as a volunteer for the Back Up charity. "It's great that the best part of Diana is here  her own flesh and blood," her mother Julie tells PEOPLE. "This is a legacy of Diana and to have her brother here to present is perfect."



For Spencer, "It's so nice for me that [the honorees] are carrying her name forward, because there's a whole generation now for whom she's just a historical figure rather than somebody they can actually remember," he tells PEOPLE. "If they're going to carry her name forward in a way that's just so perfect, I think that's fantastic for her and I try and tell them why it would mean so much to her as well."



As the 20th anniversary of her passing approaches, the charity is celebrating her legacy. "Both my nephews support it, and it's a very easy one to support," Spencer adds. "Looking forward, of course there will a huge build up of interest in Diana's story as we get nearer to the 20th anniversary. That's inevitable with these anniversaries. The 10th doesn't seem that long ago."



Of the possible commemorations, he says, "I donat know if it's necessary to have a focal point. The date itself will generate its own interest. To me, as her brother, it's just so wonderful that there are still so many positive things still stemming from her memory  that's what I always wanted to be the case. The Diana Award to me is the absolute crux of it all because it's taking it through the younger generation."
- Six-time former British champion jockey Kieren Fallon is suffering from "severe depression" and has retired from riding, Irish racing's chief doctor announced. The 51-year-old from county Clare in Ireland won 16 British classics and two Prix de l'Arc de Triomphes. His last rides in public came at the Curragh on Irish Derby day last month. "Kieren is suffering from severe depression," the Irish Turf Club's chief medical officer Adrian McGoldrick told The Racing Post. "He told me that he has lost the motivation to continue his riding career and wanted people to know about his decision to retire. He said it was time to move on once his depression has been managed."

AFP
BOSTON -- Offense hasn't been a problem for the Red Sox through 81 games, but Boston's struggles on the mound are threatening to undo all the good the team is doing at the plate.

At the midway point, the Red Sox (44-37) have scored a league-leading 451 runs, a total they added to handsomely Sunday in a 10-5 win over the Los Angeles Angels.

However, their mediocre pitching -- a 4.49 team ERA that ranks 11th in the AL -- might prove troublesome entering their three-game series with the Texas Rangers that starts Monday.

"While this is a strong offensive team, we still have areas of improvement," Red Sox manager John Farrell said. "The key (to the second half of our season) without a doubt will be to stabilize our pitching, particularly in the rotation."

The Rangers (52-31) own the top record in the AL, although they are in the midst of a little funk after dropping two of three games -- including a 5-4 defeat Sunday -- to the major-league-worst Minnesota Twins.

Overall, the Rangers have lost four of their past five.

"We hit some balls hard today," Texas manager Jeff Banister said after his team's eight-hit attack Sunday. "We hit them right at some people, and we hit some line drives into the outfield. Couple feet either way, and it's a different ballgame."

As a unit, the Rangers' offense has held its own, scoring 407 runs, a total that is tied for seventh in the majors.

On Monday, Texas will have to contend with one of Boston's most consistent arms, right-hander Rick Porcello (9-2, 3.78 ERA).

Porcello has pitched well at home this season, going 6-0 with a 3.48 ERA in seven starts at Fenway Park this year.

His numbers against Texas haven't been as encouraging, though. In eight career starts against the Rangers, Porcello is 4-4 with a 5.86 ERA.

Shin-Soo Choo, who hit a solo home run and drove in three runs total Sunday, has hit Porcello well historically, batting .286 (10-for-35) with four RBIs against him.

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Adrian Beltre is 8-for-21 with a solo home run off Porcello.

Last time out, Porcello allowed a run on five hits and three walks while striking out eight in a six-inning, 8-2 victory at Tampa Bay on Tuesday.

Nick Martinez (1-1, 5.00 ERA) has the task of containing the Red Sox's high-powered offense in Monday's opener.

The right-hander will be making his fourth start for the Rangers after giving up two runs on three hits and five walks with two strikeouts in a five-inning no-decision Wednesday at the New York Yankees.

Martinez is 0-1 with a 4.15 ERA in two career starts against Boston, including a June 24 start in which he allowed four runs on six hits over six innings in another no-decision.

Mookie Betts is 3-for-7 against him, while Jackie Bradley Jr. is 1-for-3 with a two-run homer. Hanley Ramirez has also teed off on Martinez, going 3-for-5 with two home runs and three RBIs.

Texas took two of three games against Boston when the teams met for a weekend series in Arlington on June 24-26. The Rangers won five of seven meetings with the Red Sox last season.
LONDON (Reuters) - Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS.L) Chief Executive Ross McEwan said the bank may have to move a small number of staff overseas and called for an end to the uncertainty gripping the main political parties following Britain's vote to leave the European Union.

McEwan said the bank may have to move "tens" of employees from the UK if Britain loses access to so-called passporting rights that allow financial services in one EU country to provide services to clients elsewhere in the single market.

"One of the key things for me is holding on to passporting so that European banks and British banks can operate across without any boundaries," McEwan told radio station LBC. "If we don't get the passporting it is inevitable that some jobs will disappear" from Britain's financial industry, he said.

RBS has become focused on banking in the UK and Ireland since being rescued with a 45.5 billion pound taxpayer bailout at the height of the financial crisis, meaning it would likely move fewer employees overseas than larger global investment banks.

Morgan Stanley (MS.N) and HSBC (HSBA.L), for example, may have to move roughly 1,000 employees currently in Britain to elsewhere in Europe if Britain quit the EU, according to people familiar with their plans.

McEwan, a New Zealander, said he was surprised by the result of the referendum and said the focus should now be on ending what he called the first period of political stability in Britain in decades.

Britain's two main political parties have been riven by inner turmoil in the days after the referendum outcome and resignation of Prime Minister David Cameron. Five candidates are vying to succeed Cameron as Conservative Party leader and prime minister, with interior minister Theresa May the frontrunner.

Meanwhile, the vast majority of the main opposition Labour Party's lawmakers have openly denounced leader Jeremy Corbyn as unfit for the job.

"Talking to my friends down in Australia and New Zealand, they are just stunned at what has happened here and seeing so much uncertainty boil up so quickly in the UK," he said.

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McEwan said the result may delay return the return of RBS to private hands by a couple of years because of a fall in the bank's share price and a predicted slowdown in the economy.

"People stop making investments when there is uncertainty," he said. "This is a political issue, this is not a banking crisis."

(Reporting By Andrew MacAskill, editing by David Evans)
From the August 2016 issue

Sometime in the latter 1970s, we reached peak carburetor. By that I mean the carburetor on the average family sedan, squeezed by the vise of new regulations, achieved its zenith in complexity and parts count. Take the Rochester Quadrajet as an example, suggests my old friend Paul Wright, a Q-jet expert. Initially an elegant four-barrel design with smaller primaries for quicker part-throttle response and efficient cruising, and larger secondaries for ample wide-open roar, it was the mainstay of fuel metering on GM cars for more than a decade after its introduction in 1965.

But by 1975, control devices, pushrods, and cams were growing on it like boils. There were hot-idle compensators, timed canister purge ports, air-valve dashpots, aneroid metering rod assemblies, and thermostatic coils. Pressed by the safety crusaders and the EPA (established in 1970), GM even gave the Q-jet electronic controls, trying to make it cleaner when cold, more reliable when hot, safer in a rollover, and less stinky when doing nothing at all. As a result, a relatively simple and effective Bernoullian device for atomizing fuel at an appropriate ratio to the incoming air finished its days looking like a steam-powered candy striper. Baffled mechanics like to call it the Quadrajunk.

1967 Chevrolet Chevelle SS 396 engine

But even the best carburetor couldnt deliver the change society was demanding from the automobile, and the industry eventually switched to injection en masse. Briefly, the top of the engine became a simpler place as carbs gave way to fuel rails. However, massive triumphal success cutting the local scourges of smog and soot has only given way to a new societal urgency to attack the global scourge of carbon dioxide. The only way to reduce CO2 is to burn less fuel, so the engine is being pushed to increasingly tortured lengths to find efficiency. The question is, are we now reaching peak engine?

Recently I was sitting in a tech presentation for Porsches new 991.2 generation of turbocharged 911 Carreras. The MA2, as Porsche calls the 3.0-liter twin-turbo flat-six that becomes the base engine in the 911, features a host of electromechanical widgets intended to save fuel, drip by drop. Electronic control of the oil pump reduces engine load when high pressure isnt needed. A two-stage water pump speeds the engine up to temperature for emissions and delivers only need-based cooling to reduce parasitic losses. A new polymer oil pan saves 4.4 pounds while being durable enough to survive the entire engine being dropped on it from a height of several feet (we saw the video). The assembled camshafts drive high-pressure pumps to deliver fuel to the injectors at up to 3625 psi and are the heart of a glorious temple of expensive, fine-tolerance machining.

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2017 Porsche 911 Carrera S

Later I mentioned to the engineer giving the talk that compared with the zillion-part-number MA2 and its zillion- part-number PDK transmission, each with its millions of lines of software code, an electric-vehicle motor and battery look as simple as a rope and pulley. Surely, simplicity alone is a significant inducement for automakers to invest in EV development? The engineer nodded, then talked about all the shops making engine bits around Weissach that could be facing hard times. In the post-Dieselgate VW Group, electricity is all anyone seems to be interested in. Porsche Cars North Americas new CEO, Klaus Zellmer, confirmed as much that evening at dinner, when he dismissed the rumored 960, a quad-turbocharged flat-eight coupe, as something Porsche has studied but that is irrelevant given the groups focus on electric and hybrid technology.

EVs have issues, from range to weight to cost to consumer acceptance, and their ubiquity may be a decade or two off. But the internal-combustion engine seems to be in danger of collapsing under the weight of its own Gordian complexity. I asked my colleague K.C. Colwell if he could think of any recent examples of engine development gone bonkers. He quickly emailed back a list, including Volvos turbo- and supercharged 2.0-liter four, Audis triple-boosted 3.0-liter diesel V-6 with twin turbos and an electric supercharger, and Fords 10R80 10-speed transmission for the F-150, which has a wide enough ratio spread to keep the engine revs below 1400 rpm in the EPA economy cycles. Weve reported on dual-injection systems, water injection, several quad-turbo engines, and, from Volkswagen, a 1.5-liter four with an exotic variable-geometry turbo and cylinder deactivation, which means it runs as a two-cylinder because, you know, two is the new four and four is the new 12. More systems, more software, and more of the engine experience simulated through sound generators and robo controls.

Well, if this is indeed peak engine, dont be too downcast. Its been a good run, and tremendous simplification may be on its way. Yes, electric motors, whoopee, but then again, werent you just complaining that cars are too dang complicated to work on anymore?
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP)  A suicide bombing outside one of Islams holiest sites killed four members of the Saudi security forces on Monday, and similar attacks outside a Shiite mosque and a U.S. Consulate in two other Saudi cities raised fears of a coordinated assault aimed at destabilizing the Western-allied kingdom.

The Interior Ministry said five others were wounded in the attack outside the sprawling mosque grounds where the Prophet Muhammad is buried in Medina. Millions of Muslims from around the world visit the mosque every year as part of their pilgrimage to Mecca.

The ministry said the attacker set off the bomb in a parking lot after security officers raised suspicions about him. Several cars caught fire and thick plumes of black smoke were seen rising from the site of the explosion as thousands of worshippers crowded the streets around the mosque.

No group has yet claimed responsibility for any of the attacks.

Altayeb Osama, a 25-year old Sudanese visitor to Medina and resident of Abu Dhabi, said he heard two large booms about a minute apart as he was heading toward the mosque for sunset prayers. He said police and fire trucks were on the scene within seconds.

It was very shocking that such a thing happens in such a holy place for Muslims, the second holiest place in the world. Thats not an act that represents Islam, Osama said. People never imagined that this could happen here.

The ruling Al Saud family derives enormous prestige and legitimacy from being the caretakers of the hajj pilgrimage and Islams holiest sites in Mecca and Medina. The attack may have been an attempt to undermine the Saudi monarchys claim of guardianship.

In 1979, extremists took over Meccas Grand Mosque, home to the cube-shaped Kaaba, for two weeks as they demanded the royal family abdicate the throne.

Last year, the Saudi government was accused of gross negligence by regional foes, primarily Iran, after a crush of pilgrims during the annual hajj killed at least 2,426 people and a crane collapse over the Grand Mosque killed 111 worshippers.

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The Prophet Muhammads mosque was packed Monday evening with worshippers during the final days of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which ends in the kingdom on Tuesday. Local media say the attacker was intending to strike the mosque when it was crowded with thousands of worshippers gathered for the sunset prayer.

Qari Ziyaad Patel, 36, from Johannesburg, South Africa, was at the mosque when he heard a blast just as people were breaking their fast with dates. Many at first thought it was the sound of traditional, celebratory cannon fire, but then he felt the ground shake.

The vibrations were very strong, he said. It sounded like a building imploded.

State-run news channel al-Ekhbariya aired live video of the mosque filled with worshippers praying hours after the explosion. It also showed footage of Saudi King Salmans son and the Governor of Medina, Prince Faisal bin Salman, visiting security officers wounded in the blast and the site of the explosion.

Also Monday evening, at least one suicide bomber and a car bomb exploded near a Shiite mosque in eastern Saudi Arabia, several hours after a suicide bomber carried out an attack near the U.S. Consulate in the western city of Jiddah.

Saudi Arabia has been a target of Islamic State attacks that have killed dozens of people. In June, the Interior Ministry reported 26 terror attacks in the last two years.

The possibility of coordinated attacks across different cities in Saudi Arabia on the same day underscores the threat the kingdom faces from extremists who view the Saudi monarchy as heretics and enemies of Islam. Saudi Arabia is part of the U.S.-led coalition fighting the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria.

The attack in the eastern region of Qatif did not appear to cause any injuries, said resident Mohammed al-Nimr. His brother, prominent Saudi Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr, was executed in January after a court found him guilty of sedition and inciting violence for his role in anti-government protests  charges his supporters reject.

Qatif is heavily populated by Shiites, who are a minority in the Sunni-ruled kingdom. Al-Nimr told The Associated Press the blasts there happened when most residents of the neighborhood were at home breaking the daily Ramadan fast.

The Interior Ministry said it was working to identify the remains of three bodies at the site of blast, suggesting there may have been three attackers.

IS and other Sunni extremists consider Shiites to be apostates deserving of death, and have previously attacked Shiite places of worship, including a suicide bombing on a Shiite mosque in Qatif in May 2015 that killed 21 people.

Earlier Monday, near the U.S. Consulate in Jiddah, a suicide bomber detonated his explosives after two security guards approached him, killing himself and lightly wounding the two guards, the Interior Ministry said.

Interior Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Mansour al-Turki said the guards noticed the man was acting suspiciously at an intersection on the corner of the heavily fortified consulate, near a hospital and a mosque. The Interior Ministry did not say whether the bomber intended to target the U.S. diplomatic compound.

No consular staff were wounded in the attack.

The ministry said the bomber was a Pakistani citizen residing in the kingdom. There are around 9 million foreigners living in Saudi Arabia, which has a total population of 30 million.

Al-Ekhbariya said security forces detonated six explosive devices found at the scene of the attack near the consulate.

A 2004 al-Qaida-linked militant attack on the U.S. Consulate in Jiddah killed five locally hired consular employees and four gunmen. The three-hour battle at the compound came amid a wave of al-Qaida attacks targeting Westerners and Saudi security posts.

___

Associated Press writer Adam Schreck contributed to this report.
CONAKRY (Reuters) - Rio Tinto has shelved its $20 billion Simandou iron ore project in Guinea because of a sustained slump in prices, the company's new Chief Executive Jean-Sebastien Jacques said in an interview with The Times newspaper.

Rio Tinto declined to comment on the article.

The world's second biggest miner by market capitalization had been seeking financing for Simandou, even after a $1.1 billion writedown on the project in February. Last month the Anglo-Australian company submitted a feasibility study to the Guinean government.

But global oversupply of iron ore made the project inviable at this time, Jacques told The Times.

Simandou would have comprised an iron ore mine in central Guinea, a 650-kilometer (404-mile) railway and a deepwater port on the West African country's Atlantic Coast.

At full production, Rio said the project would generate about $7.5 billion in revenues, according to a 2014 report, and add $5.6 billion to Guinea's GDP, making Guinea the fastest growing economy in the world.

The country's ministry of mines said in a statement on Monday that it plans to pursue the project despite Rio Tinto's decision.

"Despite the challenge of financing the project, we believe that a financing solution will be found with partners who share our long-term perspective," it said.

(Reporting by Saliou Samb, writing by Edward McAllister; Editing by Matthew Mpoke Bigg, David Goodman and Marguerita Choy)
Geneva (AFP) - The UN rights chief warned Monday that violence risks surging again in the Central African Republic, calling for the urgent disarming of militia groups.

"Recent events in Bangui and in several other parts of the country make me fear a re-escalation of violence in the coming months," UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein said in a statement.

"There is an urgent need to disarm the armed groups -- who remain far too powerful and retain the potential to reignite the conflict -- as well as to restore state authority and rule of law, and to ensure the security of all civilians," he insisted.

His comments came after France last month said it was ending its military operations there.

The former French colony is one of the world's poorest countries and was plunged into chaos by the ousting in March 2013 of long-serving president Francois Bozize, a Christian, by the mainly Muslim Seleka rebel alliance.

The coup sparked revenge attacks involving Muslim forces and Christian vigilante groups known as "anti-balaka" (anti-machete) militias.

Thousands were slaughtered in the spiral of violence that displaced almost one tenth of the country's population of 4.8 million.

The violence subsided significantly after France sent in nearly 2,500 troops, and the UN sent in a 12,600-strong MINUSCA peacekeeping force, allowing the country to hold presidential and parliamentary elections earlier this year.

The polls were seen as a key step toward reconciliation, and last month France said it had reduced its force in the country to just 350 soldiers.

Zeid's office warned, though, that tensions had been rising again in Bangui since mid-June, and pointed to a range of incidents around the country where armed groups were in control and "committing serious human rights violations and preying on the civilian population."

It listed clashes outside Bangui involving ex-Seleka and anti-balaka that killed at least 17 people, and another clash in Ngaoundaye, some 500 kilometres (310 miles) northwest of Bangui that killed 14 people and displaced thousands.

Story continues

Zeid stressed the "urgent need to rebuild the justice system and restore confidence in state institutions, so people do not feel the need to take justice into their own hands or to rely on armed groups for their security."

He also voiced concern at rampant violations committed in the southeast of the country by the rebel Lord's Resistance Army, including killings, abductions and gender-based attacks.

And he condemned "credible and deeply worrying allegations of human rights violations and abuses" committed by the Ugandan army deployed to CAR to fight the LRA, including sexual abuse, abduction and forced marriages.
Baghdad (AFP) - A barrage of rockets targeted a camp housing members of an Iranian opposition group near Baghdad on Monday, injuring several people, an Iraqi security spokesman and the exiles said.

The People's Mujahedeen Organisation of Iran (PMOI) members are waiting at the camp to be resettled outside the country.

The camp was targeted in a rocket attack last year that killed at least 26 people.

"A number of rockets fell on Camp Liberty," Baghdad Operations Command spokesman Saad Maan said in a statement, referring to the camp where the PMOI members are housed.

Maan said that some 20 rockets were launched towards the camp from a truck in an area west of Baghdad, some of which fell short, wounding Iraqi civilians.

"According to reports from Camp Liberty, as of midnight tonight, more than 40 residents were wounded or injured in the missile attack on the camp," the National Council of Resistance of Iran, the PMOI's parent organisation, said in a statement.

The statement blamed Iran-affiliated militias for carrying out the attack.

Powerful Shiite militia forces that are hostile to the PMOI are present in areas west of Baghdad, while the Islamic State jihadist group lacks the interest to attack the group.

Camp Liberty, a former US military base, has since 2012 housed members of the PMOI, a group that originally opposed the shah but later fought alongside Saddam Hussein's forces against Iran's clerical rulers after the 1979 Islamic revolution.

The PMOI was also accused by the US State Department of taking part in the brutal suppression of a 1991 Shiite uprising against Saddam, making it widely reviled by members of the country's Shiite majority, which came to power after 2003. It has denied the accusations.

The exiles have been repeatedly targeted in the years after being disarmed following Saddam's overthrow, with dozens of its members killed in attacks it generally blamed on Iranian and Iraqi authorities.

At least 26 people were killed and many more wounded in a rocket attack on Camp Liberty last October, according to the United Nations.
Suva (Fiji) (AFP) - A Russian couple from Fiji are thought to have been murdered and dismembered after human body parts washed up on a beach in the Pacific island nation.

The Fiji Sun said two pairs of feet wrapped in netting and weighed down with stones were found on June 24 at Natadola beach, a popular tourist destination.

Further searches uncovered more remains, with speculation connecting the grisly find to the disappearance a week earlier of Russian couple Yuri and Natalia Shipulin.

Lead investigator Luke Navela said DNA tests with the Shipulins' relatives back in Russia had confirmed the link, and police now believed they had been murdered and dismembered, the Sun reported.

Citing police sources, the newspaper said detectives had information a chainsaw was missing from the couple's farm on the main island of Viti Levu.

The Fiji Times reported that the couple moved to Fiji in 2011 and were leasing the farm and operating a photography business.

A friend, fellow Russian Alla Mallerich, described the pair as "soul mates".

"Yuri was a happy, easy going man who loved life, loved Fiji and he had plans to build his life in Fiji," she told the newspaper.

Social media pictures show a middle-aged couple smiling while drinking cocktails and beers in the sun.

However, their business partner Andrew Luzanenko told the Fiji Sun in the days after their disappearance that they had financial difficulties after the farm was devastated by Super Cyclone Winston earlier this year.

Luzanenko, who also lived at the farm after moving from Russia earlier this year to co-manage it, said the couple left "without even speaking to me".

The investigation is continuing, with navy divers on Monday scouring waters off Natadola beach looking for more remains.
New York (AFP) - A Russian warship sailed uncomfortably close to a US navy ship in the eastern Mediterranean this week, conducting maneuvers that US army officials denounced as "aggressive" and "erratic."

The Yaroslav Mudryy frigate came "unnecessarily close" as it passed the guided missile cruiser USS San Jacinto on Thursday, US European Command (EUCOM) said in a statement sent to AFP.

"Conducting aggressive, erratic maneuvers and moving unnecessarily close to another ship in open seas is inconsistent with prudent seamanship," EUCOM said in the statement, sent Sunday.

But, it added, the San Jacinto "was never threatened" by the Russian ship.

The incident came just weeks after Moscow and Washington traded accusations over a similar maritime encounter in the same area between the Yaroslav Mudryy and the American destroyer USS Gravely.

"We are concerned every time an unprofessional ship maneuver occurs," the EUCOM statement said. "These actions can unnecessarily escalate tensions between countries, and could result in dangerous miscalculations or accidents."

The San Jacinto was deployed to the eastern Mediterranean in August 2014 as part of the military operation against the Islamic State (IS) group.
By Martyn Herman LONDON (Reuters) - Romanian fifth seed Simona Halep recovered to beat a distressed and cramping Madison Keys 6-7(5) 6-4 6-3 and reach the Wimbledon quarter-finals for the second time in her career on Monday. The 24-year-old was heading out when she fell a break behind to the powerful Keys in the second set, having squandered four set points in the opener, but she battled back and took ruthless advantage as Keys began cramping. "I haven't cramped for like five and a half years. So good timing today," ninth seed Keys said. Halep will play Australian Open champion Angelique Kerber in the last eight. Keys struck 32 winners to Halep's 13 and blasted down serves champion Serena Williams would be proud of, but racked up 48 unforced errors as the wily Halep weathered the storm. "Unbelievable (power)," Halep said of her opponent. "It was tough to return some balls. But I have strong legs, and I stay there low. I returned well. That's why I could win. "The most important thing was that I stayed there, I kept my concentration till the end and I was fighting." The first eight games were full of high-quality baseline tennis with no hint of a break point. A strange passage of play followed during which both players went off the boil in equal measure. Halep broke first when Keys failed to kill a volley and she scampered to her right to scoop the ball inadvertently over the 21-year-old American's head. But she let her opponent off the hook, double-faulting on two of the four set points that came her way when she served at 5-4 in the opening set. Another she wasted with a rash forehand while Keys saved the other with a sizzling backhand return. Keys' forehand then misfired as she was broken to love, but Halep again faltered at 6-5 as the American flashed a forehand winner past her, one of 16 in the match, to force a tiebreak. Ninth seed Keys, the youngest player to reach the fourth round this year, surged ahead in the breaker and claimed it 7-5 with another crunching forehand winner into an open court. When Halep double-faulted and then sent a backhand long to drop serve at the start of the second set and Keys held with a huge ace to lead 2-0 the end looked nigh. But Halep, whose semi-final appearance two years ago disguises an ordinary Wimbledon record, is made of sterner stuff and worked her way back, breaking back in the fourth game as the errors returned to the Keys game. Keys netted a forehand to hand the second set to a resurgent Halep and the decider became an ordeal for the American as she looked in discomfort and close to tears with a leg injury. Surprisingly Keys, playing some shots off one leg, did not call for the trainer and Halep calmly moved 5-3 ahead, sealing victory when Keys belted a forehand out. (Editing by Ken Ferris)
LONDON (Reuters) - British supermarket Sainsbury's (SBRY.L) pulled the plug on Netto stores, its 16-strong, two-year experiment designed as a plan to stop losing market share to the country's fast-growing discount sector led by Aldi and Lidl.

Sainsbury's set up a joint venture with Dansk Supermarked group to bring Netto to Britain in June 2014, but the pair said on Monday that they were ending the project, with Sainsbury's deciding the trial did not merit the further investment needed.

The retailer, Britain's no.2 supermarket behind Tesco (TSCO.L) said it would instead focus on its acquisition of Home Retail Group (HOME.L), the owner of Argos, a deal which will significantly expand its non-food business.

"We have made the difficult decision not to pursue the (Netto) opportunity further and instead focus on our core business and on the opportunities we will have following our proposed acquisition of Home Retail Group," Sainsbury's Chief Executive Mike Coupe said in a statement.

Sainsbury's said in June it was prepared for an escalation of price wars in Britain's highly competitive supermarket sector after reporting a decline in underlying quarterly sales.

Like Britain's other traditional supermarket chains, Sainsbury's profits have been squeezed by the fast growth of Germany's Aldi and Lidl, putting it under pressure to cut prices.

The Netto stores will close during August, Sainsbury's said, adding that it would write down to zero its 20 million pound ($27 million) investment in the trial and expected to incur wind down costs of 10 million pounds.

Sainsbury's said that it made the decision to quit Netto based on trading data, customer insights and expansion costs, and that Netto would need to grow at pace and scale in order to be successful in the long-term.

($1 = 0.7532 pounds)

(Reporting by Sarah Young, editing by David Evans)
Riyadh (AFP) - Saudi Arabia intercepted a ballistic missile that Yemeni rebels fired towards the kingdom's southern city of Abha early Monday, the Riyadh-led coalition fighting the insurgents said.

"It was intercepted with no injuries," the coalition said in a statement, adding that the missile launcher was destroyed by Saudi air defences.

It was at least the fourth ballistic missile launched across the border since UN-brokered peace talks began in Kuwait in April between Yemen's Huthi rebels and the government of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi.

Fighting has continued despite a formal ceasefire in conjunction with the peace talks.

The Huthis, which Saudi Arabia says are backed by Iran, are allied with elite troops loyal to Yemen's former president Ali Abdullah Saleh.

They overran Yemen's capital Sanaa in 2014 before moving into other parts of the country, prompting the coalition to intervene with air strikes and other support in March last year.

Saudi Arabia has deployed Patriot missile batteries to counter tactical ballistic missiles which have been fired occasionally during the war.

The UN special envoy to Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, said on Wednesday that the warring parties were taking a two-week break from the peace talks which have made little headway.

The UN says more than 6,400 people have been killed in Yemen since March last year, most of them civilians.

Fighting has driven 2.8 million people from their homes and left more than 80 percent of the population needing humanitarian aid.

On the Saudi side of the frontier, dozens of civilians and soldiers died in skirmishes and artillery barrages earlier in the war.
By Christophe Van der Perre SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Singapore is cooking up new methods to find the next wave of hawker sellers amid fears the city state's signature street-food delights could fall off the menu with chef retirements. Singapore has more than 100 hawker centers and 6,000 stalls selling popular multi-ethnic meals for as little as S$2.80 ($2), but enticing new chefs to the small, basic kitchens is proving tricky against the riches offered by modern restaurants. Chen Fu Yuan, a 72-year-old hawker that has been cooking Char Kway Teow (fried flat rice noodles) since 1969, is struggling to find anyone to take over his stall after his children and grandchildren took up other careers. "I will definitely be very heartbroken," Chen said. "It is a waste that no one wants to take it on." In April the government set up an advisory Hawker Center 3.0 Committee, charged with sustaining a trade that is a source of pride for locals and regularly draws visiting celebrities, like British chef Gordon Ramsay. The government will open 10 new hawker centers over the next 12 years but many of these venues come without the government subsidies that have kept some monthly stall rents as low as S$320 ($238). New rates can be S$1,800 a month. "We can build hawker centers but who is going to man them?" Singapore food blogger, author and Hawker Center 3.0 Committee member Dr Leslie Tay asked. Tay said most hawker stall owners were in their 50s and 60s with a wave of retirements expected in the near future but new initiatives to find replacements were showing signs of promise, such as pairing aspiring hawkers with experienced hands. "I was holding a pen and a laptop a year ago and a year later I'm holding on to this knife," 30-year-old Derrick Lee said after giving up a career in oil and gas to learn alongside a hawker master. "I believe there are still people out there who are interested to take over." ($1 = 1.3447 Singapore dollars) (Additional reporting by Edgar Su. Writing by Patrick Johnston.)
Shanghai (AFP) - Shanghai SIPG grabbed their first Chinese Super League victory in six games, just days after reportedly breaking the Asian transfer record to land Brazilian forward Hulk.

Sven-Goran Eriksson's side beat Hebei China Fortune 2-0 away from home, as the team's new 55 million euro ($61 million) signing from Zenit St Petersburg stayed behind in Shanghai to regain match fitness, having yet to make his debut.

Brazilian striker Elkeson put SIPG ahead with neat turn and shot from the edge of the area in the 69th minute before Chinese international forward Wu Lei sealed the win three minutes from time with a goal following a mazy run.

"Our performance today was more like that of a strong team," said Eriksson after the match. "I hope this can be the turning point in our season."

Due to Super League's foreign player limits, one of SIPG's current overseas imports must leave to make way for Hulk, with former Sunderland striker Asamoah Gyan the most likely to depart according to local media.

When asked about the Ghana international's future in Shanghai, Eriksson said: "Sorry, I am not clear at the moment on what is going to happen with Asamoah."

Hebei were missing their own marquee signing, former Paris Saint-Germain winger Ezequiel Lavezzi, who broke his arm whilst playing for Argentina in the Copa America last month.

The win saw fourth placed SIPG close the gap with third placed Hebei to three points, but Eriksson's side trail leaders Guangzhou Evergrande, who beat struggling Shandong Luneng 2-0 on Sunday, by 12 points with the Chinese season now just past its halfway point.

Jiangsu Suning leapfrogged Hebei into second place after former Chelsea forward Ramires and ex-Manchester City striker Jo netted in a 4-3 win over Liaoning Whowin.
Malaysian police say they have discovered the body of a 31-year-old oil and gas engineer believed to be the victim of a love dispute.



Tan Chuen Take, who had gone missing on June 26, was last seen on CCTV leaving his house at around 5pm, Malaysian newspaper, The Star, reported.

The Singapore-based engineer is believed to have been murdered in Johor Baru after allegedly trying to steal another mans girlfriend.

According to police, the victims body was discovered at around 6 pm, following the arrest of a 22-year-old woman and a 32-year-old man in Kulai on Friday (July 1) at 3 am.

Johor Police chief Wan Ahmad Najmuddin Mohd says Tans body was buried in a forest near Kulai, beside the northbound lanes of the Second Link expressway.

The couple abducted the victim without asking for a ransom from his family, and we believe that the motive for the abduction and murder was jealousy and revenge, said Wan Ahmad on Saturday (2 July).

Investigations are still ongoing to determine if the woman played a part in the murder and cover up of Tans death.

Tan, who was from Penang, started working in Singapore two years ago.

His employer filed a police report when Tan could not be contacted or located. At the time the report was made, Tan had not come in for work and did not apply for leave.

Tans older sister, 36-year-old Tan Siu Mei, said that the family sensed that something was amiss when her brother failed to reply to any of the familys calls or WhatsApp messages on 25 June, a day before he went missing.

Tans father, Tan Yong Chun also said that his son was filial and never failed to call him each day. However, when Tan stopped calling, he assumed that his son was just busy with work.
Over 10,000 staff will benefit.

Full-time Singtel employees will get two days of leave each year to attend SkillsFuture courses, the company said in a statement.

To help employees familiarise themselves with SkillsFuture courses and credits, Singtel has organised roadshows, where employees could attend talks and link up with educational providers to register for courses.



Singtel will also organise a week-long annual Singtel Learning Fiesta, where staff will get to hear from well-known keynote speakers, as well as participate in over 120 mini workshops and lectures. These short courses cover a variety of leadership, technical, personal development and lifestyle topics.



Over 10,000 staff across Singtel and NCS are expected to benefit from the additional leave.







More From Singapore Business Review


SEOUL (Reuters) - A South Korean court sentenced the leader of a major labor group to five years in jail on Monday for leading a violent protest last year against the labor reform policy of President Park Geun-hye. Han Sang-gyun, the head of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), the more strident of the country's two umbrella labor groups, turned himself over to police in December after evading arrest for weeks following the Nov. 14 protest rally. Han was convicted of violating laws on public assembly and protests as well as obstruction of operation of public service, the court said. The Nov. 14 rally involved more than 60,000 demonstrators, some of whom wielded steel pipes and clashed with police wearing riot gear, in the biggest and most violent protest of Park's presidency, which began in early 2013. Park's plan to reform the labor market to enable employers to dismiss workers based on performance and cap salaries of senior staff to encourage youth employment have prompted sharp objections from organized labor. KCTU has about 626,000 members, according to government data. Rights group Amnesty International said on Monday that the sentencing was against the right of peaceful assembly in the country, saying Han was punished as an organizer of an event for the acts of others who engaged in violence. (Reporting by Jack Kim)
Leading energy utility firm Southern Company SO and Atlanta, GA-based energy services holding company, AGL Resources Inc. jointly announced the completion of their $12 billion merger. This has resulted in the creation of the second-largest U.S. utility in terms of customer base after Exelon Corporation EXC.

In April, Southern Companys proposed acquisition of AGL Resources received approval from The Georgia Public Service Commission. Also, the merger received permission from the regulators of New Jersey last week. The deal was finalized after this final regulatory approval.

This merger combines 11 regulated electric and natural gas distributions. The integrated entity will serve about nine million customers and is expected to have an electricity generating capacity of about 44,000 MWs. Also, the companies will operate close to 200,000 miles of electric transmission and distribution lines and would integrate more than 80,000 miles of gas pipelines.

In Aug 2015, Southern Company entered into an agreement to acquire AGL Resources. Per the original terms of the deal, the stockholders of AGL Resources received $66 per share in cash. AGL Resources  like Southern Companys other subsidiaries  will continue to maintain its own management team, board of directors and corporate headquarters.

SOUTHERN CO Price

SOUTHERN CO Price | SOUTHERN CO Quote

Headquartered in Atlanta, GA, Southern Company is one of the largest electric utility holding companies in the U.S.,and serves the booming Southeast market, which is considered to be an advantageous region to operate in, owing to the higher-than-average natural population growth, the strong and diverse regional economy, constructive regulation and comparatively tight power markets.

Currently, Southern Company carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), implying that the stock will perform in line with the broader U.S. equity market over the next one to three months.

Some better-ranked players in the broader energy sector include McDermott International Inc. MDR and Braskem S.A. BAK, both sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).



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By Emma Pinedo MADRID (Reuters) - Spanish drugmaker Almirall, which is building up its business in skin treatments, could be interested in acquiring dermatology assets from Canada's Valeant Pharmaceuticals, the head of the Barcelona-based company said on Monday. Valeant is looking at divesting various products as it tries to reduce its massive debt load, with new CEO Joe Papa open to selling a range of assets if the price is right. Almirall Chief Executive Eduardo Sanchiz is leading a period of significant change at the company, following a shake-up of its drug portfolio, and building up the dermatology business further would fit with the Spanish group's strategy. "We're still in very initial stages but there are things that could interest us. We're studying the situation but waiting for more information," Sanchiz told Reuters. Sanchiz said he was confident Almirall had the capacity to make another acquisition this year, whether of a single drug, a range of products or a whole company. After selling its respiratory business to AstraZeneca two years ago, Almirall has shifted its main focus to dermatology. It acquired Poli Group in November for 365 million euros ($407 million) and Thermigen in January for $80 million. Both deals boosted its skin franchise, with Poli adding nail disorder products and Thermigen taking it into aesthetic dermatology. Industry analysts believe the Spanish group still has the financial firepower for further acquisitions. ($1 = 0.8977 euros) (Writing by Ben Hirschler, editing by David Evans)
Riyadh (AFP) - A suicide bomber blew himself up outside a Shiite mosque in eastern Saudi Arabia, without causing any other injuries, residents told AFP, in the second such attack Monday in the kingdom.

"Suicide bomber for sure. I can see the body" torn apart, said a witness to the attack in the Shiite-populated city of Qatif.

Nasima al-Sada, another resident, told AFP that "one bomber blew himself up near the mosque", frequented by Shiites in downtown Qatif on the Gulf coast.

No bystanders were hurt, she said.

Pictures said to be from the scene circulated by residents showed a small fire burning in the street, severed limbs and what appeared to be a severed head.

The blast, near the end of the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan, was the second suicide bombing Monday in the predominantly Sunni kingdom.

Another bomber blew himself up earlier the same day near the US consulate in the Red Sea city of Jeddah, injuring two security officers.

Since late 2014 a series of bombings and shootings claimed by the Islamic State jihadist group in Saudi Arabia have targeted minority Shiites as well as members of the security forces.

Most of the attacks have been staged in Eastern Province, home to the majority of Shiites in the Gulf state.

In January, a suicide bomber attacked a mosque in the oasis region of Al-Ahsa, killing four people before worshippers disarmed and tied up an accomplice who had fired on them.

Last October in the Qatif area, a gunman fired on faithful marking the Shiite commemoration of Ashura in the Qatif area, killing five before police shot him dead.

Ashura is one of the holiest occasions for the Shiite faith.

In June last year, four Shiites died preventing a suicide bomber from entering the hall of Al-Anoud mosque in Dammam city adjacent to Qatif.

Days earlier, 21 people were killed in another Shiite mosque bombing in Eastern Province.

Groups claiming affiliation with IS said they carried out those blasts and the Ashura shooting.

During Ashura in 2014, gunmen killed seven Shiite worshippers, including children, in the eastern town of Al-Dalwa.

The interior ministry said the suspects had links to IS, which regards Shiites as heretics.
A suicide bomber died after detonating an explosive device close to a U.S. consulate in the Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah on the morning of July 4.

The BBC reports that the blast injured two security guards, who had approached the man in the parking lot of the Dr. Soliman Fakeeh Hospital, opposite the fortified consulate building. A spokesman for Saudi Arabias Interior Ministry said the man blew himself up with a suicide belt inside the hospital parking [area] at 2:15 a.m. local time.

The U.S. embassy in Saudi Arabia issued a statement saying there were no casualties or injuries among consulate staff from the attack in the early hours of Americas Independence Day. It warned citizens in the country to limit nonessential travel. All U.S. citizens are encouraged to remain aware of their surroundings, and take extra precautions when traveling throughout the country, it said.

The consulate in the Red Sea city of Jeddah came under attack in December 2004, when Islamist militants armed with explosives and automatic weapons fought their way into the compound and took hostages, before security forces ended the siege. Four security guards and five members of the consulate were killed in that attack.

[BBC]
A suspected suicide bomber detonated his explosives near the Prophets Mosque, a major Islamic pilgrimage site, in Saudi Arabias city of Medina on Monday evening, July 4. Early reports by Saudi-owned Al Arabiya said that two security forces were killed in the blast. After Mecca, Medina is the second holiest city in Islam.

Earlier, two explosions, at least one of which was caused by a suicide bomber, struck near a mosque in the eastern city of Qatif, home to many of Saudi Arabias Shia minority. Credit: Instagram/kadwani_
Riyadh (AFP) - A foreign suicide bomber blew himself up near the American consulate in Saudi Arabia's western city of Jeddah in the early hours of US Independence Day on Monday.

Two security officers were slightly wounded, the interior ministry said. The American embassy in Riyadh reported no injuries among US consulate staff.

General Mansour al-Turki, the interior ministry spokesman, told Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya television that the bomber was not Saudi but a "resident foreigner".

Millions of expatriates, many from Muslim-majority nations in the Middle East and Asia, work in the kingdom.

Turki told state Al-Ekhbaria news channel that the suspect, in his 30s, was closer to a mosque in the area rather than to the consulate.

"Investigations (are) ongoing to find out the goals and motives of the bomber," said Turki.

He also said on the news channel's Twitter account that "devices that failed to explode (were) found in the vicinity of the site".

The Jeddah incident came during a wave of attacks claimed by the Islamic State group or blamed on the jihadists, including a suicide bombing in Baghdad on Sunday that killed more than 200 people and recent attacks in Bangladesh and at Istanbul's Ataturk airport.

It happened before the end this week of the holy month of Ramadan, when Muslims fast from dawn until dusk.

The interior ministry said security personnel became suspicious of the man near the parking lot of a hospital which is across from the US diplomatic mission.

When they moved in to investigate at around 2:15 am (2315 GMT Sunday) the man "blew himself up with a suicide belt inside the hospital parking lot", the ministry said.

A picture carried by the Sabq online newspaper, which is close to authorities, showed a large body part lying on the ground between a taxi and the open door of another car that was peppered with holes.

In a security advisory on its website, the American embassy noted media reports of "a suspected suicide attack near the US consulate in Jeddah" early on the morning of July 4.

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"The US embassy and consulate remain in contact with the Saudi authorities as they investigate the incident," it added, urging Americans to "take extra precautions when travelling throughout the country".

- Wave of IS attacks -

In March last year the US embassy closed its main office, as well as consulates in Jeddah and Dhahran, for a few days over unspecified "security concerns".

The US consulate in Jeddah was targeted in December 2004 when gunmen opened fire and lobbed explosives at the compound. Five people died in the attack blamed on Al-Qaeda.

It was not immediately clear who was behind Monday's bombing, but since late 2014 Saudi security officers and minority Shiites have been hit by deadly violence claimed by IS.

Branding its rulers "apostate tyrants", IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has called for attacks on Saudi Arabia, which is taking part in the US-led coalition bombing the jihadists in Syria and Iraq.

In May, the interior ministry said four suspected jihadists died -- two by blowing themselves up -- during a raid east of Jeddah.

Two of them had been wanted for some of the deadliest recent attacks in the kingdom.

These included the suicide bombing which killed 15 people at a mosque inside a Saudi special forces compound in the southwestern city of Abha last August.

Another suspect killed in the May raid was sought in connection with fatal suicide blasts at two Shiite mosques in the kingdom's east.

IS-linked violence has also struck neighbouring Kuwait, where on Monday the interior ministry said it had broken up three IS cells plotting attacks in the emirate. Five Kuwaiti nationals were arrested, including a policeman and a woman.

Despite the upsurge in attacks against Saudis, foreigners have rarely been targeted in recent years.
By Kieran Guilbert DAKAR (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Sweeping child beggars off Senegal's streets will not alone stop the trafficking and exploitation of tens of thousands of children, a leading child rights activist said on Monday. President Macky Sall announced last week that the children, known as talibe, must be taken off the streets immediately, and that those who force them to beg would be fined or imprisoned. Children are sent by their parents in Senegal or trafficked from neighbouring West African countries including Guinea-Bissau to Islamic schools, called daaras, where they are expected to receive food, shelter and teachings from the Koran, rights groups say. But at least 50,000 children in daaras across Senegal are sent to beg in the streets to make money for teachers, known as marabouts, who beat them if they fail to bring in about 2,000 CFA francs ($3) per day, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW). "This is the ideal time to talk with the Koranic teachers and invite them to put their daaras (Islamic schools) in order," Issa Kouyate, founder of Maison de la Gare, a shelter for street children in Senegal, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. Kouyate was hailed last week as one of nine global heroes in the fight against trafficking by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry at the launch of the annual Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report, which grades countries on their anti-slavery efforts. Senegal prosecuted no trafficking suspects last year, and carried out inadequate law enforcement efforts against teachers who exploit children and force them to beg, which remains the country's main trafficking problem, according to the TIP report. "The government must not bend under pressure from some of the teachers who wish to exploit children," added Kouyate, whose organisation feeds and clothes street children, provides them with education and seeks to reunite them with their families. Senegal passed a law in 2005 aimed at stopping the abuse of the talibe but only a dozen teachers have been prosecuted. "Despite the contributions of Kouyate and other partners in the fight against human trafficking in Senegal, particularly on the issue of forced child begging, there is still work to do," Kerry said at the Washington launch of the TIP report last week. Senegal was downgraded in this year's report to "Tier 2 watchlist" - meaning that while the West African nation is making significant efforts to meet the U.S. minimum standards to end trafficking, it requires special scrutiny during the year. (Reporting By Kieran Guilbert, Editing by Ros Russell; Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, women's rights, trafficking, corruption and climate change. Visit news.trust.org)
SEOUL, July 4 (Reuters) - The Korean Olympic Committee (KOC) will not drag its feet if the Court of Arbitration for Sport sides with swimmer Park Tae-hwan in his bid to repeal a controversial doping ban, KOC Secretary-General Cho Young-ho said on Monday. Park, the first Korean to win an Olympic swimming medal when he won the 400 freestyle gold in Beijing, completed an 18-month ban imposed by world governing body FINA in March after testing positive for testosterone ahead of the 2014 Asian Games. However, under KOC regulations, he was then subject to an additional three-year ban from the national team the day the FINA suspension expired, effectively ruling him out of the Rio Olympics. Park took his case to the CAS and is expected to be notified of the result this week, with the Korean team set to decide on the swimming team on July 18. The 26-year-old's chances of forcing the KOC to repeal the ban were emboldened on Friday when a local court ruled that he was eligible for selection for the national team. Park had lodged an injunction with Seoul Eastern District Court last month against the KOC and Korea Swimming Federation over the ban. Cho said they would move quickly to resolve the issue when CAS hands down its decision. "If the CAS decision is in line with that of the domestic court, we will promptly take the necessary steps regarding Park," Yonhap news agency quoted Cho as saying. "If the Korea Swimming Federation recommends Park as a national team swimmer the KOC will either hold a board of directors' meeting or approve it in writing if it is urgent... the KOC has no intention to delay the process." Cho added that if the CAS decision went against Park then the KOC would need to discuss the next steps, Yonhap reported. Despite the KOC ban, Park entered national swimming trials in April and won all four of his races in times quick enough for Olympic qualification. At the 2008 Beijing Games, Park also picked up a silver in the 200, and was runner-up in both races in London in 2012. He attributed the failed test to an injection he received at a local clinic where he said he was being treated for a skin complaint. CAS has previously struck out double-barrelled punishments for athletes banned for doping-related offences. In 2011, the Swiss-based tribunal ruled that the International Olympic Committee's 'Osaka Rule', which banned athletes serving suspensions of at least six months from competing at the next Games, violated its own statutes. (Reporting by Lee Jeong Eun, Writing by Peter Rutherford; Editing by Sudipto Ganguly)
ZURICH (Reuters) - The Swiss National Bank (SNB) went on its biggest foreign-currency buying spree since January 2015 in the wake of Britain's vote to leave the European Union, data showed on Monday.

Commercial and other deposits with the SNB rose to 507.514 billion Swiss francs ($520.69 billion) from 501.231 billion the previous week, indicating the bank had bought foreign exchange on the market and then credited depositors' accounts.

The bank is using negative rates, coupled with an unspecified amount of foreign currency purchases, to weaken the franc and protect exports to the euro zone, Switzerland's biggest trading partner.

"Brexit has triggered a big demand for safe havens like the franc, so the SNB has to keep acting," J. Safra Sarasin currency strategist Ursina Kubli said.

Switzerland's central bank gave rare confirmation it was intervening to halt appreciation of the franc within hours of Britain's referendum becoming clear on June 24.

Analysts said that its unusual step of making its intentions clear was intended to maximise the impact of intervention.

The SNB declined to comment on its future strategy to limit the franc's strength.

Swiss manufacturers have struggled with the currency's strength which reduces their profitability.

"If the franc went back to 1.10 versus the euro, it would be a significant relief," Hans Hess, president of manufacturers' lobby Swissmem, said.

On Monday the franc traded at about 1.08 per euro (EURCHF=).

($1 = 0.9747 Swiss francs)

(Reporting by John Revill; Additional reporting by Joshua Franklin; Editing by Louise Ireland)
By Kizito Makoye DAR ES SALAAM (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Tanzanian men who marry schoolgirls or get them pregnant now face 30 years in prison as the government takes tougher measures to tackle child marriage and teenage pregnancy. The east African nation has one of the highest adolescent pregnancy and birth rates in the world, and 21 percent of girls aged 15 to 19 have given birth, according to a 2015/16 survey conducted by the Tanzania Bureau of Statistics. While sex with underage girls is already a criminal offence, poor parents often marry off their young daughters for cash using a special dispensation under the marriage law which allows girls as young as 14 to marry with parental or court consent. But new provisions passed by the parliament in June make it illegal for anyone to marry primary and secondary school girls under any circumstances. George Masaju, Tanzania's Attorney General, said the new measure was taken to complement Tanzania's free education policy, launched in January, and ensure that all girls are able to complete their education. "We are aiming to create a better environment for our school girls to finish their studies without any barriers," he told parliament. Worldwide, 15 million girls are married off as children every year. Early marriage not only deprives girls of education and opportunities but increases the risk of death or serious childbirth injuries if they have babies before their bodies are ready. Child brides are often disempowered and at greater risk of domestic and sexual violence and HIV, experts say. "Girls who are married off at a young age are being denied the freedom to make informed decisions later in life," said Eda Sanga, head of the Tanzanian women's rights group TAMWA. EDUCATION The new Tanzanian law states that "any person who impregnates a primary school or a secondary school girl commits an offence and shall, on conviction, be liable to imprisonment for a term of thirty years." To ensure enforcement of the law, Masaju said all school heads will be required to submit a detailed report about students who were married or pregnant to the Education Ministry. While the government's move focuses on protecting school girls from "predators", women's rights campaigners said greater recognition of the importance of girls' education is crucial to the battle against child marriage. "I think we ought to focus on imparting life skills to girls in school, so that they can be assertive to say no," said Leila Sheikh, a Dar es Salaam-based women's rights activist and blogger. And girls who are kicked out of school for getting pregnant should be allowed to return to their studies after giving birth, said 21-year-old Emily Nyoni, who was expelled from her Dar es Salaam school in 2012 after falling pregnant. "I think it is wise to punish men who impregnate school girls," she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. "But the government should also allow those who get pregnant to go back to school." (Editing by Ros Russell; Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, women's rights, trafficking, corruption and climate change. Visit news.trust.org)
A Fourth of July weekend family trip to the gun range turned tragic for a Florida teen, whose father accidentally shot him dead while his two siblings stood by.

Stephen Brumby was with his brother and sister at the High Noon Gun Range in Sarasota Sunday when a spent shell casing struck their father, William Brumby, and somehow landed in his shirt.

Read: Spooked Cow Tramples 8-Year-Old Boy to Death

"Brumby then used his right hand, which was holding the handgun, in an attempt to remove the casing. While doing so, he inadvertently pointed the firearm directly behind him and accidently fired," the Sarasota County Sheriff's Office said in a statement.

The round struck Stephen. who was rushed to an area hospital, but he could not be saved.

Brumby's 24-year-old brother and 12-year-old sister were present at the time of the accident but not injured.

Read: Teen Plummets to His Death From 200-Foot Cliff While Hiking With Family

No details were released about the incident, including the type of gun involved.

Police said there are no plans to charge William Brumby with a crime.

On its website, the gun range is advertised as "a safer, greener, quieter, cooler gun range."

Watch: Bus Driver Saves a 5-Year-Old Boy's Life After Choking on a Penny

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Jerusalem (AFP) - The two Palestinians who shot dead four Israelis at a popular Tel Aviv nightspot last month had drawn inspiration from the Islamic State group, security officials said Monday.

Cousins Khaled Makhamrah, 20, and Mohammad Makhamrah, 21, both from Yatta, south of Hebron in the occupied West Bank, opened fire at a cafe at Sarona Market in Israel's commercial capital on June 8, killing four and wounding 15.

The two "were inspired by the Islamic State group to carry out the attack, without officially joining it or getting any form of help or instruction from them," the Shin Bet domestic security agency said.

A third suspect, 21-year-old Younes Zein from Yatta, was supposed to have taken part in the attack but did not participate, it said, adding that Zein confessed however to providing the other two with weapons.

The three were charged at the Tel Aviv district court on Monday for murder, conspiring to murder and attempted murder, according to the charge sheet distributed by the justice ministry.

It said they planned the assault after a July 2015 arson attack by Jewish extremists in the West Bank that killed three members of a Palestinian family, including an 18-month-old baby.

Khaled Makhamrah wanted to carry out "a revenge attack against Israel in the name of the Islamic State" during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.

The three took a picture at Zein's home against the backdrop of the black IS flag, hoping to publish it after the attack.

On June 8, the Makhamrah cousins cut their hair and dressed in dark suits and also carried knives dipped in rat poison in briefcases, said the charge sheet.

Initially, the three planned to shoot passengers on a train, and were driven to the Beersheba train station.

Upon seeing the strict security measures there, they continued to Tel Aviv by taxi and found their way to Sarona after asking passersby where restaurants and cafes could be found, the justice ministry said.

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The Shin Bet said they had arrested 10 people from Yatta involved in driving the suspects and preparing the improvised guns they had used.

A number of Palestinians and Israeli Arabs have travelled to neighbouring Syria to fight with IS, though Israeli security officials say such influence remains limited.

A recent poll found that 88 percent of Palestinians believe that IS is a radical group that does not represent true Islam.

In the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, 16 percent said the group represented true Islam, a view shared by only three percent in the West Bank.
July 3 (Reuters) - Tesla Motors Inc missed its vehicle delivery target for the second consecutive quarter and is on track to fall short of its annual target, suggesting the U.S. electric car maker is still wrestling with production issues as it looks to transform itself into a mainstream, high-volume manufacturer.

Tesla, led by Silicon Valley star Elon Musk, delivered 14,370 vehicles during the second quarter, missing its target of 17,000 vehicles, it said in a statement on Sunday.

The company blamed an unusually large number of vehicles still in transit to customers and an "extreme" production ramp that led to almost half of the quarter's vehicles being made in the last four weeks,

Tesla said it expects to deliver about 50,000 vehicles during the second half of the year. Having delivered only 29,190 vehicles in the first two quarters, even if it hits that target, it would leave the company just short of the low end of its earlier expectation of 80,000 to 90,000 deliveries this year.

Some analysts have questioned Tesla's ability to smoothly and quickly transition to higher-volume production, given the rocky start for its Model X. The technology-heavy sport utility vehicle has faced problems including parts shortages and quality issues, such as non-fastening doors.

The delivery target miss is the latest unwelcome development for CEO Musk. Tesla's offer to buy solar installation firm SolarCity Corp last month got a mixed reception from investors. Last week, U.S. safety regulators announced an investigation into a fatal crash in which the driver of a Tesla Model S car was using its Autopilot feature, the first such accident that has been made public.

The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is now investigating 25,000 Model S sedans that are equipped with the Autopilot system.

Tesla has been gearing up production of its first mass-market car, called the Model 3 sedan, after receiving 373,000 reservations for the vehicle, which will start at $35,000 before tax breaks. It is set to go into production in late 2017.

CEO Musk said in May that his company is aiming to build a total of 500,000 all-electric vehicles in 2018, and that its 2020 volume target was close to 1 million vehicles.

(Reporting by Abinaya Vijayaraghavan in Bengaluru; Editing by Bill Rigby)
(Reuters) - Thirty "drug dealers" have been killed since Rodrigo Duterte was sworn in as Philippine president on Thursday, police said, announcing the seizure of nearly $20 million worth of narcotics but sparking anger from a lawyers' group. Duterte won the election in May on a platform of crushing crime, but his incendiary rhetoric and advocacy of extrajudicial killings have alarmed many who hear echoes of the country's authoritarian past. Oscar Albayalde, police chief for the Manila region, said five drug dealers were killed on Sunday in a gun battle with police in a shanty town near a mosque near the presidential palace. "My men were about to serve arrest warrants when shots rang out from one of the houses in the area," Albayalde told reporters, saying police returned fire and killed five men. Four guns and 200 grams of crystal methamphetamine were recovered. Three others were killed in other areas in Manila on Sunday and 22 were killed in four areas outside the capital. More than 100 people have died, mostly suspected drug dealers, rapists and car thieves in stepped up anti-crime police operations since the election on May 9. Edre Olalia, secretary-general of the National Union of People's Lawyers, said the killings must be halted. "The drug menace must stop... Yet the apparent serial summary executions of alleged street drug users or petty drug lords which appear sudden, too contrived and predictable must also stop," he said in a statement. "The two are not incompatible." In the north of the main island of Luzon, drug enforcement agents and police seized a shipment of 180 kg (400 lb) of "shabu" (methamphetamine) worth about 900 million pesos ($19.23 million) from either China or Taiwan, national police chief Ronald dela Rosa said. The shipment was unloaded at sea and brought to shore by small fishing boats before delivery to Manila's Chinatown, he said. On Sunday, the Maoist-led New People's Army rebels issued a statement supporting Duterte's all-out war against drugs, saying it might conduct its own drug operations against soldiers, police and local officials. ($1 = 46.8020 Philippine pesos) (Reporting by Manuel Mogato; Editing by Nick Macfie)
LONDON, July 4 (Reuters) - Investment manager Columbia Threadneedle said it plans to expand its operations in Luxembourg but will not move its regional headquarters after Britain voted to leave the European Union.

The firm said it expected the direct impact on its business to be "relatively minor", although the market uncertainty and impact on investor sentiment would likely hit investor flows across the industry.

"We have begun the process of applying to expand the scope of our Luxembourg-based management company to enable us to establish an asset management presence in the EU," the company said in an emailed statement, confirming media reports.

"This would involve us having some fund managers based in another EU country before the UK leaves the EU. We currently have investors in 12 locations globally, so we would expect this to be a smooth transition," it added.

Part of Ameriprise Financial, Columbia Threadneedle employs more than 2,000 people including more than 450 investment staff who collectively manage $464 billion in assets its website showed.

It says it is the 13th largest manager of long-term mutual fund assets in the United States and the 4th largest manager of retail funds in Britain.

(Reporting by Simon Jessop; Editing by Rachel Armstrong)
ESSEN, Germany (Reuters) - German industrial group Thyssenkrupp (TKAG.DE) is considering a further shakeup of its Industrial Solutions unit, which it is restructuring in the face of weak demand for plant engineering from companies hit by low oil and raw-material prices.

Jens Michael Wegmann, the unit's chief executive, told reporters on Monday that Industrial Solutions - whose activities range from shipbuilding to mining technology to automotive engineering systems - aimed to increase sales from its services business to around a third from 13 percent now, but did not say by when. Its service business is more profitable than construction.

To that end, it will need to redistribute its Germany-focused workforce more evenly around the world, establishing three or four project management competence centres to be closer to customers around the world, Wegmann said, speaking at Thyssenkrupp's headquarters in Essen.

He said he could not yet detail what this would entail in terms of cost or job cuts but Thyssenkrupp is consulting with employee representatives and aims to complete the review by the autumn.

"Our culture is too much focussed on acquiring big projects," Wegmann said. "The people who do that don't have the right mindset to win service contacts."

"German engineering is still a brand in the world but it's not enough on its own - you have to be close to the customer."

(Reporting by Georgina Prodhan; Editing by Susan Fenton)
London (AFP) - Ryan Giggs did the right thing leaving Manchester United, the club he served so loyally for nearly 30 years, his mentor Alex Ferguson said on Monday.

Ferguson, 74, and who guided Giggs and United to 13 Premier League title successes, two Champions League wins, four FA Cup triumphs and four League Cup crowns before retiring in 2013, added he felt Giggs possessed the qualities to make it as a manager.

Giggs, 42, and presently in France as a TV pundit where his compatriots face a Euro 2016 semi-final with Portugal on Wednesday, left the club on Saturday after manager Jose Mourinho said he wanted long-time associate Rui Faria to be his assistant manager which meant a different role for the former Welsh wing.

Giggs, who made a record 963 appearances for United, had been assistant manager under Mourinho's predecessor Louis van Gaal.

"It is time Ryan stood on his own feet, got out there and accepted the challenge," Ferguson, the man who gave Giggs his debut, told the BBC.

"I talk about his poker face. He has a bit of steel about him.

"It is such a highly intense results industry, you need people who go into it to have a bit of steel about them, a bit of character and personality."

Ferguson, who has had to watch from the sidelines as both David Moyes and van Gaal failed to build on his legacy and seen United drop away from title contention, said it was understandable Mourinho would bring his own faithful lieutenant with him.

"You have got to have, in your assistant, someone you have trusted all your life," said Ferguson.

"When I came to United, I brought Archie Knox because he was a valuable person for me. I trusted him 100%. Jose Mourinho has had his assistant for years and, quite rightly, has stuck by his own man.

"If Jose hadn't had an assistant, I know he would have taken Ryan."

Ferguson, who has unlike fellow United legend and director Bobby Charlton always been a fan of the volatile Mourinho, said he hoped Giggs chose his first management job wisely.

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"I think he is ready to manage and he has a lot of quality," said Ferguson.

"He doesn't want to spoil that quality by going to a club where it is sacking a manager every two minutes."

As for when he first saw him as a teenager Ferguson said he had no doubts Giggs would develop into a superb player.

"You knew right away... the way he ran over the ground," said Ferguson.

"I referred to it like a cocker spaniel chasing a piece of silver paper in the wind. His feet never seemed to touch the ground."
Newly minted Top Gear host Chris Evans is leaving the show after just one season.

Stepping down from Top Gear. Gave it my best shot but sometimes thats not enough. The team are beyond brilliant, I wish them all the best, Evans tweeted on Monday. Full steam ahead then with Radio 2, CarFest, Children In Need, 500 Words and whatever else we can dream up in the future.

Evans partnered with Matt LeBlanc as the new hosts of the long-running BBC series earlier this year.

Also Read: 'Top Gear' Fans Declare New Hosts, Series 'Flop Gear'

The new team also included Formula 1 commentator Eddie Jordan, world record-breaking German racing driver Sabine Schmitz, auto journalist and YouTube star Chris Harris, and car reviewer and TV presenter Rory Reid.

The new lineup has not performed well in the ratings, however. The most recent episode hit a series low of 1.9 million viewers, per the BBC.

The new hosts took over for Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May. Clarkson was fired by the BBC last year after assaulting a Top Gear producer, and Hammond and May resigned shortly thereafter.

Also Read: 'Top Gear' Hosts Chris Evans and Matt LeBlanc Mock Report That They Hate Each Other

Clarkson reportedly spent 20 minutes berating Oisin Tymon before physically assaulting him during a fracas over the lack of hot food after filming.

Hammond and James May, said that they wouldnt return to the show without their colleague, calling the idea a non-starter that just wouldnt work. The three will instead host their own auto series for Amazon.

Related stories from TheWrap:

Former 'Top Gear' Hosts Name New Amazon Show 'The Grand Tour'

'Top Gear' Hosts Chris Evans and Matt LeBlanc Mock Report That They Hate Each Other

Jeremy Clarkson Settles Lawsuit With 'Top Gear' Producer
Diane Greene

By all accounts, especially her own, Diane Greene has had a fabulous career. Today she's running Google's cloud business, but she's best known as the cofounder and first CEO of the giant IT company VMware.

EMC bought VMware in 2003 for $635 million, and Greene moved on from the CEO role shortly after that.

After she left VMware, Greene was happy to stay out of the limelight, investing in and advising startups, many of which also did spectacularly well.

But before becoming an iconic Valley entrepreneur, she did a whole bunch of other things. She was a world-class sailor (the national dingy champion one year). She designed ships and oil rigs. She even had a job running engineering for a windsurfing company.

It's always about the doing, not about the money

Her advice for others is based in her outlook on life.

Honolulu, Hawaii

"I just do what I want to do," she tells Business Insider. "I look at whats interesting to me."

The secret, she says, is to keep your sense of curiosity.

"Kids are curious, and if you don't lose that, then everything is an adventure."

She acknowledges that she has been fortunate enough to have financial security. (She has done so well that when Google bought her last startup, Bebop Technologies, for $380 million in 2015 as a precursor to her taking a job at Google, she dedicated her entire take, $149 million, to charity.)

But she says to her, life has never been about money.

"One of the happiest times of my life, I lived in a tent on a porch on Hawaii," she tells us.

Instead, a great career (and a great life) is about having a "vision" of what's possible then "getting excited about building it" and, most importantly, surrounding yourself with people you like to work with.

Carefully planned small steps

Green Footprints

But Greene says there's another secret to making it all work: execution.

"If you know where you are going, you have this sixth sense about if everything you do along the way is lined up with that," she says.

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And then it's matter of planning: Create shorter-term goals, each of which create value and are worth doing on their own. These milestones must be lined up with your long-term vision and goal. Then you will eventually get there, achieving your planned milestones along the way.

The 2 good reasons to quit

Greene acknowledges that even with all the planning in the world, things will go wrong. Everyone will face setbacks and have to decide whether to keep at it or quit.

Lotto Quit

In her philosophy, there are two good reasons to quit. The first is whether you have lost interest in the work, the plan, the goal, or the vision.

"If your mind doesn't want to think about it, it's not a good use of your time," she says. It's a signal to go find something else that excites you.

The other time is if someone in a position of power is blocking you from "doing what is possible," she says.

If a boss or executive or other significant person is insisting on a tactic that you think is wrong, and you can't get the person to change course, or find a way around the person, then you can change your own course and part ways.

That may mean giving up the project or company that you once loved. But it also frees you up to pursue your next interesting adventure.

And that's her secret to success.

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By Emma Pinedo MADRID (Reuters) - The likely relocation of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) from London threatens to disrupt the approval of new drugs and is a medium and long-term worry for top Spanish drugmaker Almirall, its chief executive said on Monday. The EMA, Europe's equivalent the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, approves medicines for all European Union countries from its headquarters in London's Canary Wharf financial district. After Britain's vote on June 23 to leave the European Union, it is widely expected to transfer to another city within the EU. "When they invoke Article 50, EMA will probably leave Britain and this will produce a very large disruption ... it's worrying that the approval process of new pharmaceuticals could be hit by this," Eduardo Sanchiz said. Article 50 is the EU treaty clause that would trigger two years of negotiations on the terms of Britain's exit from the bloc. Almirall, one of Spain's top drugmakers, operates mostly in the United States and Europe, with Britain its fifth most important market. As a result, any impact from the devaluation of the pound would be limited, Sanchiz said. Separately, Sanchiz said Almirall could be interested in acquiring assets of the Canadian drugs company Valeant, although the sales process was still very preliminary. (Writing by Paul Day, editing by David Evans)
Maiduguri (Nigeria) (AFP) - Nigeria's army said it thwarted a suicide bombing Monday when soldiers killed two female suspects before they were able to attack displaced people, while a third died when her explosives detonated prematurely.

Army spokesman Colonel Sani Usman said the trio tried to attack internally displaced people (IDPs) collecting water at a well on the outskirts of Monguno, in Borno state, at about 6:15 am (0515 GMT).

Two of the three women, who he described as "Boko Haram terrorists suicide bombers" were shot and killed, causing their explosives to detonate, injuring two civilians.

The third suspect's explosives went off about an hour later at a nearby location, Usman said.

The attempted attack came just before the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which is marked in Nigeria with two days' public holiday -- Tuesday and Wednesday.

It also follows a similar attempted suicide bombing at a mosque in the Borno state capital, Maiduguri, on June 27, which saw two men try to target Ramadan night prayers at a city mosque.

Both incidents underlined the threat posed by Boko Haram, which has used suicide bombers against civilian "soft targets" as part of its seven-year insurgency to create a hardline Islamic state.

A military counter-offensive waged since January last year has pushed out the militants into remote border areas around Lake Chad. The rate of attacks has declined in recent months.

Borno governor Kashim Shettima meanwhile announced there would be no restriction on movement in or out of the state during the celebrations to mark the end of a month of fasting and prayer.

It is the first time in six years that restrictions will be lifted.

But Shettima said "stringent security measures" will be in place at prayer grounds, where large crowds were expected.
Montreal (AFP) - Justin Trudeau made history Sunday by marching with tens of thousands of people in Toronto's Gay Pride parade, becoming the country's first sitting prime minister to participate.

Thunderous applause greeted Trudeau as he paraded down a main Toronto artery, waving a Canadian maple-leaf flag bordered with a rainbow.

The youthful politician, whose popularity is soaring, donned a salmon-colored, button-down shirt and white jeans, taking selfies and shaking hands with those lining the parade route.

The colorful procession observed a minute of silence to pay respect to the victims of the June 12 nightclub massacre in Orlando, Florida that left 49 dead.

The city tightened security, but kept the enhanced measures discreet to maintain a festive spirit. Toronto police have not released an official attendance count, but organizers had expected one million attendees.

Trudeau also walked in the annual parade last year as head of the Liberal Party, then the opposition leader facing former president Stephen Harper's conservative government.

Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne -- Canada's first openly gay head of a province -- and Toronto Mayor John Tory marched alongside Trudeau.

The three politicians attended an outdoor worship service Sunday morning in the city's gay district.
TORONTO (Reuters) - Canada is exploring the use of gender-neutral options on identity cards, Justin Trudeau told a television station on Sunday as he became the first Canadian prime minister to march in a gay pride parade. Trudeau, who participated in the downtown Toronto parade along with other politicians, did not give details, saying only the government was exploring the "best way" and studying other jurisdictions. "That's part of the great arc of history sweeping towards justice," he told CP24. Last week, the Canadian province of Ontario said it would allow the use of a third gender indicator, X, for driver's licenses, which are commonly used in North America to provide identification. Countries including Australia, New Zealand and Nepal already allow the use of the X gender indicator. Trudeau also said last month's relaxation of Canadian blood-donation restrictions on men who have sex with other men was "not good enough," saying the government was going to work toward easing it further. According to Canadian Blood Services, men who have sex with other men can now donate after one year of abstinence, down from five years previously. Trudeau said Toronto's annual parade was made more poignant this year by the shooting rampage that killed 49 people last month at the Pulse gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida. "We have to remember the importance of safe spaces and safe communities, like the Pulse was, is something to uphold," he said. (Reporting by Ethan Lou in Toronto; Editing by Bill Rigby and Peter Cooney)
Donald Trump faulted the media on Monday for causing a ruckus over a recent tweet. (AP/David Zalubowski)

Donald Trump blamed the media on Monday for fueling the fuss over his use of a six-pointed star in a tweet attacking rival Hillary Clinton.

Dishonest media is trying their absolute best to depict a star in a tweet as the Star of David rather than a Sheriffs Star, or plain star!, Trump wrote in a tweet.

The firestorm started early Saturday when Trump tweeted an image that placed the shape of the Star of David beside a picture of Clinton with text that read, Most Corrupt Candidate Ever!, over a background of a giant pile of $100 bills.

The Star of David is a Jewish holy symbol that Nazis attempted to distort by forcing Jews to sew it onto their clothing during Adolf Hitlers reign.

An employee cleans an engraved Star of David at the Ghriba Synagogue on the eve of the annual Jewish pilgrimage, on the Mediterranean island of Djerba, May 5, 2015. (AFP/Fethi Belaid)

The Trump campaign has not said where the star image came from, but at least one report said the anti-Clinton collage appeared in June on a message board known for white supremacy and anti-Semitism, as well as on a Twitter account with a history of bigoted comments.

Sarah Bard, the Clinton campaigns director of Jewish outreach, on Monday slammed Trumps tweet and his explanation.

Donald Trumps use of a blatantly anti-Semitic image from racist websites to promote his campaign would be disturbing enough, but the fact that its a part of a pattern should give voters major cause for concern, Bard said Monday in a written statement. Now, not only wont he apologize for it, hes peddling lies and blaming others. Trump should be condemning hate, not offering more campaign behavior and rhetoric that engages extremists. The president should be someone who brings Americans together, not someone who sends signals and offers policies of division.

About 40 minutes after posting the tweet with the controversial star, Trump reposted the Clinton attack image, replacing the star with a circle.

A dissenter quickly pointed out in a tweet that, He just put the circle on top of the Star of David. You can still see its points.

He just put the circle on top of the Star of David. You can still see its points. pic.twitter.com/PjNSp38T3X  southpaw (@nycsouthpaw) July 2, 2016

Trumps explanation on Monday stirred social media reaction from those who did and did not agree with the presumptive Republican presidential candidates comment on the controversy.

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One man replied to Trump on Twitter, saying, Thank you, Donald. Happy July Forth [sic] from my sheriff to yours, followed by a photo of a man wearing a Star of David in a concentration camp.

.@realDonaldTrump thank you; donald

happy july forthfrom my sherriff to yours pic.twitter.com/4z9es6mC61  Adam Weinstein (@AdamWeinstein) July 4, 2016

But some accepted Trumps answer by tweeting photos of sheriffs badges.

Dude, its a shape thats been used for a century.go away!, a Twitter user wrote.

The Star of David squabble is the latest ethnically charged Trump campaign controversy. The brash New York City mogul has previously been scrutinized for making insensitive comments and passing on social media posts from alternative-right-wing groups. Earlier this year, Trump initially declined to disavow the support of David Duke, a Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan.

I think its certainly long overdue for Donald Trump as the presumptive G.O.P. nominee and as a person in the public square to reject  to flat-out, to firmly, to forcefully reject  the anti-Semites and the racists with a clarity and energy hes brought to the campaign trail when going after other candidates, Jonathan Greenblatt, the chief executive of the Anti-Defamation League, told the New York Times.

(This story has been updated since it originally published.)

Jason Sickles is a national reporter for Yahoo News. Follow him on Twitter (@jasonsickles).
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has denied that a tweet sent by his campaign over the weekend criticizing Hillary Clinton was anti-Semitic, blaming the dishonest media for the controversy. The original message included the text Crooked Hillary makes history, along with a photo of the Democratic candidate next to a pile of money, with a red star saying Most corrupt candidate ever!

The star, which had six points, was taken by many to be a reference to the Star of David, a Jewish symbol that citizens of that faith were forced to wear in Nazi Germany. According to a report from the news site Mic, posts using the photo of Clinton and the red Star of David superimposed on a pile of money originally appeared on a neo-Nazi forum on a website called 8chan.

As the Mic post noted, the use of hidden anti-Semitic and racist symbolism is seen as a form of dog whistle to right-wing groups who support that kind of ideology--in other words, a reference that only they are likely to see or notice. Doing this is seen by some as the Trump campaigns way of catering to extremist viewpoints while still being able to deny that they are doing so.

The original Trump tweet was deleted after it triggered a storm of criticism, and replaced by a similar image that used a red circle instead of the star (although, as a number of observers pointed out, the tips of the star could still be seen at the edge of the circle).

On Monday, the Trump campaign finally responded to the controversy with a tweet from the candidate, in which he blamed the dishonest media for claiming that the star represented the Star of David, instead of the star used on a sheriffs badge or some other form of star. Over the weekend, former Trump campaign manager Cory Lewandowski--now a commentator for CNN--blamed the controversy on political correctness run amok.

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Dishonest media is trying their absolute best to depict a star in a tweet as the Star of David rather than a Sheriff's Star, or plain star!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 4, 2016

The Republican candidate has been criticized throughout his campaign for catering to racist elements in the conservative political party on a number of levels, including his repeated comments about Mexicans and danger they represent, as well as what many see as a reluctance to disavow the support of white supremacist and neo-Nazi sympathizers.

See original article on Fortune.com

More from Fortune.com
By Ece Toksabay and Dmitry Solovyov ANKARA/MOSCOW (Reuters) - Turkey said on Monday it wanted to cooperate with Moscow in combating Islamic State in Syria but denied having suggested it might allow Russia to use its Incirlik Air Base, near the Syrian frontier. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan last week expressed regret over last year's shooting down of a Russian warplane, with the loss of the pilot. Moscow, which had broken off virtually all economic ties and banned tourists from visiting Turkish resorts, pledged in return to help rebuild relations. In an interview with Turkish state television on Sunday, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu had appeared to suggest Ankara could open up Incirlik to Russia, a move that could raise concern among Turkey's NATO partners already using the base, including the United States. But Cavusoglu, in comments broadcast live on television on Monday, denied such an interpretation of his words. "We said that we could cooperate with Russia in the period ahead in the fight against Daesh (Islamic State)...I did not make any comment referring to Russian planes coming to the Incirlik Air Base." Incirlik hosts aircraft from the United States, Germany, Britain, Saudi Arabia and Qatar involved in the U.S.-led air campaign against Islamic State, which has controlled extensive territories along Syria's border with Turkey. "We will cooperate with everyone who fights Daesh," he told TRT Haber in Sunday's remarks. "We have been doing this for quite a while, and we opened Incirlik Air Base for those who want to join the active fight against Daesh. "Why not cooperate with Russia as well on these terms? Daesh is our common enemy, and we need to fight this enemy." The Kremlin described the notion that Turkey could open up Incirlik as a "serious statement" although it said it had not had any contact with Ankara on the matter. REVIVAL Russia said it was looking to "revive" the sharing of information with Turkey in the fight against Islamic State. "Channels to exchange information with Turkey have not been working lately. We now have to revive and relaunch them," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. Last week's bomb attack on the main airport Istanbul - which left 45 people dead and hundreds wounded - showed the importance of working together to counter terrorism, he said. Russian nationals have been identified as two of the three suspected Islamic States suicide bombers behind the airport attack, which is thought to have been masterminded by a Chechen, Turkish media said on Friday. The pro-government Yeni Safak newspaper has said the organiser of the attack, the deadliest in a series of suicide bombings in NATO-member Turkey this year, was suspected to be a Chechen double-amputee called Akhmed Chatayev. Chatayev is identified on a United Nations sanctions list as a leader in Islamic State responsible for training Russian-speaking militants. In many cases these fighters have been influenced by Islamist insurgencies at home, pushed out of their own countries by security crackdowns, and won advancement in Islamic State through their military skills and ruthlessness. (Additional reporting by Daren Butler; Writing by David Dolan; Editing by Ralph Boulton)
ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Monday he had not suggested that Turkey could open up its Incirlik Air Base to Russia, adding that Ankara was open to cooperating with Moscow in the fight against Islamic State. When asked if he had said Russian jets could use Incirlik, Cavusoglu said: "I did not make such a comment. We said that we could cooperate with everyone in the fight against ISIS (Islamic State)," he said in comments broadcast live on television. "We said that we could cooperate with Russia in the period ahead in the fight against Daesh (Islamic State). I did not make any comment referring to Russian planes coming to the Incirlik Air Base." (Reporting by Daren Butler; Editing by David Dolan)
Gaza City (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) - Turkish aid arrived in the Gaza Strip on Monday via Israel, after the two countries restored ties frozen over a deadly Israeli raid on a Gaza-bound Turkish ship in 2010.

Turkish and Palestinian officials welcomed 10 truckloads of supplies, including food parcels, toys and children's clothing and shoes as they reached the impoverished territory in time for the Muslim Eid celebrations on Wednesday marking the end of Ramadan fasting.

"These are the first Turkish aid trucks into Gaza," Mustafa Sarnc, Turkey's ambassador to the Palestinian Authority, told a press conference near the Kerem Shalom crossing with Israel.

"Turkey will continue its efforts to help the residents of the Gaza Strip and to help solve the water and power crisis."

The Panama-flagged Lady Leyla container ship docked at southern Israel's Ashdod port on Sunday after sailing from Turkey.

Its contents were unloaded, inspected and sent on to the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, hit by three wars with Israel since 2008 and under an Israeli blockade.

Youssef Ibrahim, the Hamas deputy minister of social affairs, said the 11,000-tonne shipment would be distributed to those most in need by his ministry along with the Turkish and Palestinian Red Crescent societies.

It was due to be the first of many, he added.

"These 10 trucks are part of 400 trucks of Turkish aid for Gaza."

Turkey had initially pushed for a lifting of Israel's years-long blockade of Gaza as part of the negotiations to normalise ties, but Israel rejected this.

A compromise was eventually reached allowing Turkey to send aid through Ashdod rather than directly to the Palestinian enclave.

Israel says the blockade is necessary to prevent Islamist movement Hamas from receiving materials that could be used for military purposes.

But UN officials have called for it to be lifted, citing deteriorating conditions in the territory.

Turkey's ruling Islamic-rooted AKP party has friendly ties with Gaza's Hamas rulers, and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been a vocal supporter of the Palestinian cause.

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Turkey and Israel were formerly close regional allies, but fell out in 2010 when Israeli commandos killed 10 Turkish activists in a raid on a flotilla seeking to run the blockade.

Under the reconciliation deal, Israel will pay $20 million in compensation to the families of those killed.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has promoted the economic benefits of restoring ties, with talk of building a pipeline to Turkey to export Israeli gas, and the need to find allies in the turbulent Middle East.
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Australia still has no idea who its prime minister will be, but at least one winner emerged from Saturday's federal election.

In an epic troll, veteran political journalist Laurie Oakes changed his tie multiple times during the election broadcast on Channel Nine Saturday just to thwart the betting company, Sportsbet.

SEE ALSO: Australian election won by sausage outrage, Harambe and uncertainty

Sportsbet had been taking punts on what colour Oakes' tie would be during the program, but Oakes knew what to do. The ol' switcheroo.

By the third tie, Sportsbet knew they'd been had.

Thanks to Oakes' multiple fashion choices, he ended up making 57 punters a total of A$3,010 (US$2,246), according to 9News.

Oakes explained why he decided to switch around his tie the morning after the election broadcast, describing himself as the "punter's protector."

"I thought well why should anyone miss out? So I wore all six colours," he told Today. Oakes, you cheeky devil.
Istanbul (AFP) - Two suspected Islamic State jihadists have been detained at Istanbul's Ataturk airport days after it was hit by suicide bombers, as Turkish authorities move to boost security at sensitive sites.

Dogan news agency said the two suspects held late Sunday were Kyrgyz nationals, identifying them only by their initials, K.V. and F.M.I., aged 25 and 35.

Police found night-vision binoculars and military-style clothes in their suitcases, the agency said, along with two passports in different names.

The pair were questioned by anti-terror police in Istanbul. It was not clear whether they had been leaving or arriving at the airport.

Their detention came as 13 suspects, including three foreigners, were charged Sunday over the June 28 gun and suicide bomb assault at the airport that killed 45 people including 19 foreigners.

Officials believe the Islamic State group was behind the attack, the worst in a series to hit Turkey's biggest city this year.

In total police have detained 29 people "including foreigners" in connection with the airport assault, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said.

Yildirim said Monday that police were on high alert and had boosted their presence at the airport and other sensitive Istanbul sites including metro stations and the Marmaray rail tunnel.

A team of 80 special forces troops have been patrolling Ataturk airport, one of Europe's busiest hubs, since Sunday.

Last week's carnage "followed a new model" of attack in Turkey, Yildirim said, noting that the bombers had first sprayed passengers with bullets, allowing them to get inside the terminal before blowing themselves up.

Of more than 200 people injured, 47 are still in hospital.

Authorities believe the attackers were a Russian, an Uzbek and a Kyrgyz national.

State news agency Anadolu has named two of them as Rakim Bulgarov and Vadim Osmanov, without giving their nationalities.

Central Asia's former Soviet republics have been a major source of foreign jihadists travelling to fight with IS and other extremist groups in Iraq and Syria.

Turkish media have identified the strike's organiser as Akhmed Chatayev, the Chechen leader of an IS cell in Istanbul who allegedly masterminded two other deadly attacks that killed tourists in the city.

Turkey has been rocked by a series of attacks over the past year, blamed on both IS jihadists and Kurdish rebels.
BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian militias backed by U.S.-led air strikes have repelled a second Islamic State counter attack in 24 hours near a city being targeted in a major offensive against the jihadist group, an official and a monitoring group said on Monday. The Syria Democratic Forces (SDF) alliance grouping Kurdish and Arab fighters launched an offensive last month to capture the city of Manbij from Islamic State, part of an operation aimed at dislodging the group from the border with Turkey. Islamic State, seeking to break a siege on Manbij, counter attacked on three fronts around the city on Saturday, followed by a further counter attack over Sunday night and in the early hours of Monday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and an SDF official said. Both assaults had been repelled, they said. "Dozens of air strikes repelled (Islamic State forces)," Rami Abdulrahman, director of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said. "The SDF has made no progress in Manbij for 10 days," he said, noting that progress had been slow in part because Islamic State fighters had heavily mined buildings in the city. The U.S.-backed campaign in northern Syria aims to drive Islamic State away from its last foothold at the border with Turkey. Syrian government forces, backed by Russia, are waging a separate campaign against the jihadists in the same area. The United States has ruled out cooperating with Damascus in the war against Islamic State. (Writing by Tom Perry; Editing by Louise Ireland)
By Josh Smith KABUL (Reuters) - As Afghan troops were preparing to take on Taliban militants without NATO combat support in 2014, U.S. officials shelved plans to provide them with hundreds of potentially life-saving armored vehicles, documents reviewed by Reuters show. The decision not to supply around 300 extra vehicles, taken largely for budgetary reasons, remains a sore point, as local forces struggle to implement a U.S.-led push to get them off bases and into active battle against a resilient insurgency. Since 2002, the United States has allocated more than $68 billion to train and equip Afghan security forces, with a view to eventually withdrawing from the country. Yet serious shortfalls in personnel and hardware remain. Masoom Stanekzai, acting defense minister before being approved by parliament recently as intelligence chief, told Reuters the Afghan government was still trying to obtain more armored vehicles from the United States. After Washington approved a large shipment of cargo trucks not requested by the Afghans, Stanekzai wrote a private letter to coalition commanders last year in which he said he needed more armored vehicles, including so-called Mobile Strike Force Vehicles (MSFVs). "In the type of fighting we're facing, the MSFV is more effective than the Humvee," he said in an interview, referring to the smaller, less well protected vehicle more commonly provided to Afghan troops. Most important, in Afghan eyes, is the MSFV's "V-shaped" hull and extra armor, which reflect advances in engineering widely adopted to better protect troops, especially from roadside bombs favored by Afghan insurgents. So while most local troops still travel in Humvees and regular pickups, coalition soldiers rarely leave bases unless they are in more heavily protected vehicles. ORDER SCRAPPED In 2013, the Afghan army already had 600 MSFVs, and they are still used in many of the most dangerous areas of Afghanistan. At the time, U.S. military planners agreed on the need for almost 300 more, and sent a request to Congress for around $900 million to cover the cost. "It provides the ANA with an armored force that has more mobility, survivability, and lethality than regular infantry units," the Pentagon wrote in its pitch to lawmakers. Congress approved the money, but the order was put on hold in early 2014. Shortly after that, Afghan army chief of staff Sher Mohammad Karimi wrote a memo to coalition commanders outlining the military's need for better armored vehicles. "Mines continue to account for nearly 90 percent of the ANA (Afghan National Army) casualties for the past year and we anticipate this will continue to be a favorite tactic of our enemy for the foreseeable future," he said. In the end, the U.S. military scrapped the MSFV order "to address overall concerns about long-term sustainability and affordability" of Afghan forces, Pentagon spokesman Adam Stump said in a statement to Reuters. Instead, U.S. officials decided to provide additional upgraded Humvees as a way to provide more armored vehicles, he added. BETTER VEHICLES SAVE LIVES U.S. advisers have been pressing Afghan troops to leave their bases and launch more offensive operations. Afghan leaders say those efforts to build a more mobile army are undermined by an over-reliance on lightly armored vehicles like the Humvee, not widely used in combat by U.S. troops for nearly a decade. U.S. military officials have said thousands of American lives have been saved in Afghanistan and Iraq by switching from Humvees to "mine-resistant, ambush-protected" vehicles (MRAPs) considered better able to withstand roadside bomb blasts. That point has not been lost on Afghan soldiers and police, who suffered more deaths last year than coalition troops did in 15 years of fighting in Afghanistan. "We have observed over the past decade the coalition provided its forces with improved armored vehicles based on the same threat reality," Karimi wrote in his 2014 memo. Karimi said more MSFVs, which have MRAP-level protection, could allow the Afghan army to become a smaller, more flexible fighting force. More than 3,500 international troops have died in Afghanistan, at least 1,400 of them killed by roadside bombs. Last year as many as 7,000 Afghan soldiers and police are estimated to have died. The number of roadside bomb casualties among Afghan soldiers has slowly declined as they take better protective measures, according to the Pentagon, but it remains the second most common type of attack after direct fire. That can also take a toll on troops riding in lightly armored vehicles. ASSESSING NEEDS U.S. military officials say they are trying to help the Afghans field more armored vehicles, and are reducing the army's overall fleet by nearly half in an effort to make it more manageable. "We continuously assess what their need is for the fight they are in," said U.S. Major General Daniel Hughes, who oversees military aid to the Afghan government. MSFVs and similar vehicles come with their own drawbacks, as they are large, harder to maneuver, and expensive. Hughes said he considered the MSFV a "very specialized capability" of limited use to the Afghans, noting that MSFVs already in Afghanistan are often only used defensively. Planners opted to order 1,600 replacement Humvees this year, which at around $280,000 apiece are cheaper than nearly $1 million for each MSFV, Hughes said. About 50 additional MSFVs were ordered last year to replace losses. U.S. commanders first take into account combat needs, but ultimately they can only provide what they can afford under budgets approved by Washington, he said. "I'm General 'No.' I add the fiscal reality. You can't just say yes to everything, you have to judge it on the financial piece ... because the ultimate goal of this is that Afghanistan supports its own military." (Additional reporting by Phil Stewart in Washington; Editing by Mike Collett-White)
Only a matter of days after the British public voted to leave the European Union, Nigel Farage, the man who campaigned for more than two decades toward that goal, has announced his resignation as the leader of the party he co-founded.

During the referendum I said I wanted my country back, Farage told a press conference in London on Monday, the Guardian reports. Now I want my life back.

Farage, 52, has been the face of the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) during its steady rise to prominence that culminated in the June 23 referendum. He has been an elected member of the European Parliament since 1999.

The victory for the Leave side in the referendum means that my political ambition has been achieved, a statement from Farage said. I came into this struggle from business because I wanted us to be a self-governing nation, not to become a career politician.

His departure will trigger a leadership contest in UKIP at the same time as the countrys two major parties are also going through uncertainty over their leadership after a tumultuous period in Westminster.

The ruling Conservative Party is currently deciding who should replace Prime Minister David Cameron, who backed Remain in the referendum and announced immediately after the result that he would step aside to let a successor carry out the voters wish to leave the bloc. Farages fellow Leave campaigner Boris Johnson, pulled out of the race last week, as another Brexiter, Michael Gove, announced that he would run.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn is facing a revolt from his partys lawmakers, who contend that his professed support for the Remain campaign was half-hearted.

[Guardian]
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. State Department said it was aware of an explosion in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and was working with Saudi authorities to collect more information, a spokesman said. The spokesman added that the U.S. State Department "can confirm that all personnel under chief of mission authority are accounted for at this time". A suicide bomber was killed and two other people wounded in a blast outside the U.S. consulate in Saudi Arabia's second city of Jeddah early on Monday, state TV said, the first bombing in years to attempt to target foreigners in the kingdom. (Reporting by David Brunnstrom and Yara Bayoumy; Writing by Yara Bayoumy; Editing by Michael Perry)
Uber is under attack after the online transportation network company has been accused of shuttling Central American migrants through their northern border with the United States.

According to Fox News Latino, Mexican authorities stopped five vehicles earlier this month that were carrying 34 Central American migrants between the Mexican states of Zacatecas and Coahuila. The five vehicles were linked to the car service company, Uber. The drivers allegedly left from the city of Monterrey, and picked up 34 people 200 miles south in Matehuala. The passengers claimed to have paid $162 for their ride. The group of Ubers were headed toward Reynosa, the border alongside Texas. According to Uber, however, the company does not operate in Matehuala.

Earlier this year, seven other vehicles transporting migrants were discovered in the San Luis Potosi state.

Whether or not the passengers actually hailed the taxi service is unclear, but the Uber drivers did state they were not the owners of the vehicles they were driving. In a statement, Uber Mexico officials also denied ownership of these vehicles: The company does not own the cars registered on the platform, nor does it employ the drivers, who are independent contractors.
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's Debt Management Office said Tuesday's auction of the 1.5 percent conventional gilt due in 2021 (GBT1H21=) will now close at 1030 GMT, one hour later than scheduled, to avoid a clash with the Bank of England's Financial Stability Report.

"The DMO has taken this decision with no prior knowledge of any of the content of the (BoE's) report, but in the best interests of fairness and market stability for all participants," it said in a statement.

The BoE publishes its six-monthly Financial Stability Report on Tuesday at 0930 GMT, followed by a news conference with Governor Mark Carney at 1000 GMT.

(Reporting by Andy Bruce; Editing by Ana Nicolaci da Costa)
The Japanese operator of fashion giant Uniqlo has banned non-essential travel to Bangladesh and ordered its staff there to stay at home, days after militant Islamists killed foreigners in a bloody siege.

Tokyo-based Fast Retailing, which operates Uniqlo, said it had told 10 Japanese employees not to leave their houses "until further notice", a company spokeswoman said.

The clothing giant added that it was cancelling all but vital travel to the South Asian country after 20 hostages were killed when heavily armed gunmen stormed an upmarket eatery in Dhaka.

Seven Japanese nationals who were involved in development projects with the government-run Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) were among those killed, as well as Italians, an Indian and a US citizen.

Fast Retailing has nine Grameen Uniqlo retail stores around Dhaka, where some of the employees work, and a production office, which coordinates with local producers, the spokeswoman said.

"We have taken necessary security procedures," she added.

"Obviously we are taking this situation seriously."

Uniqlo is one of about 240 Japanese firms with offices in Bangladesh.

Engineering conglomerate Toshiba said it has ordered staff to avoid non-essential travel to Bangladesh until July 10, a company spokesman said.

Toshiba, which said it had "a few" employees in Dhaka, had earlier warned staff against business trips outside the capital.

Several Japanese companies, including general contractors Obayashi and Shimizu, have also reportedly ordered employees in the country to stay at home.

Swedish fashion brand Hennes and Mauritz (H&M), which has a number of factories in Bangladesh, also warned against non-essential travel to the country following the attack.

"We recommend that any unnecessary travelling to Bangladesh is avoided," the clothing giant said Monday, adding they were following developments closely.

A spokesperson for Walmart said only that the US retail giant was monitoring the situation.

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Although a quarter of its 160 million people still live below the poverty line, Bangladesh has clocked growth of around six percent nearly every year since the turn of the millennium.

That's largely thanks to garment exports, the lifeblood of its economy, accounting for more than 80 percent of total outbound goods last year.

Between them, the nation's clothing factories employ more than four million people, most of them impoverished rural women.
* Uniqlo had already restricted travel to Bangladesh in October

* Dhaka hotels see cancellations, embassies may trim staffing

* Japanese building firms tell staff to stay indoors (Adds comments from Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh, foreigners living in Bangladesh, paragraphs 10-11, 1721)

By Abhirup Roy, Promit Mukherjee and Chang-Ran Kim

MUMBAI/TOKYO, July 4 (Reuters) - Foreign companies with nationals working in Bangladesh's garment and building industries have suspended travel to the country and told workers there to stay at home after a deadly attack by Islamist militants on a restaurant in Dhaka on Friday.

The hospitality sector is also seeing cancellations, hotels are tightening security and foreign embassies are looking at reducing staffing after the attack claimed the lives of nine Italians, seven Japanese, an American, an Indian and some Bangladeshi nationals.

Fast Retailing Co, the Japanese owner of the Uniqlo casual-wear brand, said it would suspend all but critical travel to Bangladesh and had told staff there to stay indoors.

Bangladesh's $26 billion garment industry has been bracing for the fallout of Friday's killings, fearing major retailers from Uniqlo to Marks and Spencer and Gap could rethink their sourcing plans after the latest attack targeting foreigners.

One of the world's poorest countries, Bangladesh relies on garments for around 80 percent of its exports and for about 4 million jobs, and ranks behind only China as a supplier of clothes to developed markets like Europe and the United States.

Uniqlo has 10 Japanese staff in Bangladesh, one of its major production hubs outside China, and was among the first to confirm it would tighten travel restrictions already in place after attacks last year. A spokeswoman said all but critical travel was suspended.

"Obviously this is generating a lot of concern with all the brands my company works with," said Shovon Islam, the head of Sparrow Group, which supplies top brands like Marks and Spencer and Gap.

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He said that after a foreigner was killed in Bangladesh last year, some overseas companies pared back travel to the country and asked for meetings to be held in Bangkok, New Delhi and Hong Kong instead.

"This time the intensity of the threat is much higher and we will definitely see companies altering their plans," Islam said.

The Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh, a group of mostly European retailers, said it would review security measures for its staff in Bangladesh.

While it is too early to say whether the group's signatories will shift production out of Bangladesh, it may affect travel restrictions for buyers coming to Bangladesh, a spokesman for the group said.

'HEARTBREAKING'

"There'll definitely be an impact on the garment industry," said Sudhir Dhingra, head of Orient Craft, based in the Indian city of Gurgaon. "I was just speaking to a top label which said its official who was supposed to visit Bangladesh to inspect an order has refused to go."

Bangladesh garment exporters who dealt with some of those killed in Friday's attack were still coming to terms with what had happened. "I was doing business with six of the nine Italians who died. It's shocking and heartbreaking," said Meshba Uddin Ali, managing director of Wega Fashion Sweater Pvt Ltd.

Amos Ho, a senior manager at Pou Chen, one of the world's largest makers of trainers for brands like Nike, Adidas and Puma, said: "We've urged our employees to be cautious. They have to pay attention to their personal safety."

Industry analysts have suggested clothing brands may consider shifting out of Bangladesh to less unsettled countries in Asia, such as Cambodia and Sri Lanka. No major companies have yet signalled official plans.

"There are no plans on changing any sourcing, but we are following developments closely," Sweden's H & M said in a statement on Sunday echoed by other big retailers.

Several others companies, including French retail group Auchan Holding, German clothing company Kik Textilien and European family-owned clothing retailer C&A, said they were monitoring the situation closely but had not made any plans to stop working in the country.

Two foreign nationals who live in Bangladesh and work in the garments business said the attack could scuttle plans for business travel.

"I have so many big brands I do business with and in the last 48 hours, they've all called me. They're afraid, they're scared," said Robert, an American who has lived in Bangladesh for seven years. He did not wish to disclose his last name or the name of his firm.

The foreigners said, however, said they personally did not intend to leave, noting that such attacks were not restricted to Bangladesh.

"In the last month, I went to Italy, Belgium, Germany, Amsterdam. If you look at where I went last month, where was there not a problem that's not equal to Bangladesh? Even USA," said Robert.

REDUCING STAFFING

Both the United States and British embassies in Bangladesh may reduce staff numbers, one diplomatic source said, and ask only essential staff to stay on.

Japanese construction companies Obayashi Corp and Shimizu Corp, both with more than a dozen employees working on bridge projects in Bangladesh, said they advised staff to stay indoors.

At least two five-star hotels in Dhaka, which cater primarily to business clients, said they had seen a spike in cancellations since Friday's attack.

"Whenever people book, it's usually within two or three days of their visit to Dhaka, and now nobody is doing any bookings at all," said a source at one of the hotels, noting this week is typically quiet because of the upcoming Eid celebrations.

(Reporting by Chang-Ran Kim in Tokyo; Additional reporting by Saqib Iqbal Ahmed and Jarrett Renshaw in New York, Ethan Lou in Toronto, Faith Hung in Taipei and Zeba Siddiqui in Mumbai; Editing by Ian Geoghegan and Peter Cooney)
Aden (AFP) - A US drone attack killed three Al-Qaeda suspects in Yemen's Shabwa on Monday, the second such strike in the southern province in days, a security official said.

The suspected militants were travelling in the Al-Musaina region of Shabwa when their vehicle was hit, the official said.

The car was burned out and all three suspects on board were killed, he added.

On Friday, a similar drone attack in Shabwa killed four suspected members of Al-Qaeda, according to a security official.

US strikes have taken out a number of senior Al-Qaeda commanders in Yemen over the past year.

Washington considers the Yemen-based Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula to be the network's deadliest franchise and has vowed no let-up in its war against the jihadists.

AQAP has exploited the power vacuum created by civil conflict in the impoverished Arabian Peninsula country to expand its presence in the south and southeast.
Caracas (AFP) - Crisis-hit Venezuela is willing to restore diplomatic relations with the United States after a six-year freeze, the socialist government said Monday.

The foreign ministry's announcement came two weeks after top US diplomat Thomas Shannon met with Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro in a bid to help tackle the country's economic and political crisis.

In a message congratulating the United States on its Independence Day commemoration, the ministry expressed its "willingness to establish respectful bilateral diplomatic relations."

The two countries have not exchanged ambassadors since 2010 due to tensions between Washington and the government of Hugo Chavez, Maduro's mentor and late predecessor.

Like Chavez before him, Maduro has frequently accused Washington of interfering in Venezuela's internal affairs and seeking his overthrow.

The United States has expressed concern over the crisis in Venezuela, saying Maduro's opponents have a right to organize a referendum on removing him from power, which they hope to do this year.

Future diplomatic relations should be guided by international law and "principles such as sovereign equality of states and the people's right to self-determination," the ministry's statement said.
Shares in struggling West China Cement plunged more than 30 percent Monday after a much-needed merger deal with the country's largest cement maker collapsed last week.

Major rival Anhui Conch Cement offered nearly $600 million for a controlling stake in the firm late last year, but China's commerce authorities failed to approve it by the June 30 deadline, scuttling the deal, Anhui Conch said on its website Thursday.

Hong Kong-listed shares of West China Cement dropped as much as 34 percent when it resumed trading Monday morning before narrowing the loss to end to 24.3 percent down at HK$0.81 by the close.

It was believed the merger was part of an effort by Beijing to tackle overcapacity in the industry, which is dominated by inefficient, largely state-owned firms.

A merger with Anhui Conch would also have given West China Cement, which posted losses of 309 million yuan ($46 million) last year, a boost with better financing access.

Analysts believe the deal collapse is a "business decision" given the firm's financial state.

"Investors had doubted about its accounting practices... It was trading down for a very long time until (the) Anhui Conch deal gave it a boost. Now the stamp of confidence is gone," Jackson Wong, associate director for Simsen Financial Group in Hong Kong, told AFP.

Rumours the deal was in danger saw its shares plunge 33 percent in Hong Kong on Tuesday before they were suspended from trading.

It has lost half its capitalisation in the past two trading days, according to Bloomberg News.

Wong said he believed Beijing would continue restructuring efforts despite the collapse of the deal.

"The Chinese government is still trying to push bigger players to merge with smaller players to improve capacity and efficiency," he said.

China's cement industry boomed during the country's three decades of massive investment in highways, airports, apartment buildings and office blocks, bloating to more than 3,300 firms.

Restructuring has been difficult as most major industrial firms have powerful political backers, making efforts to shutter or merge them particularly challenging in the face of vested interests.
Why your baby name can have masculine or feminine connotations [Photo: Alicia Zinn via Pexels]

If youre expecting a baby and you find out the sex, youll likely be tossing around monikers from baby name lists traditionally associated with that gender. After all, aside from a handful of names that can span both genders, most are generally associated with one sex or the other. Because, well, because its just always been that way. Youre hardly gonna call your baby boy Fifi are you? (No offence meant parents of boys called Fifi!)

But new scientific research has emerged that suggests merely saying a childs name can spark an instant connection to a specific gender, not because you already think of it as a boys or girls name, but because of the way it sounds.



According to a new study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology and reported on by Scientific American, people tend to categorise certain names to boys and others to girls based on the first phoneme (or distinct unit of sound). And that in turn can kick off a pattern of stereotypical judgments about the identity and interests of an individual.



Whats in a name? [Photo: unsplash.com via Pexels]

Researchers analysed 270 million recorded baby names in the US from 1937 and 2013 and found that names typically assigned to boys began with a hard phoneme, or one that vibrated the vocal cords, such as the A in Adam and the B in Brian. Girls on the other hand were more often given names starting with soft (unvoiced) phonemes, such as F in Fiona or H in Heather.



Try it for yourself, say your name and see if the first sound is made purely with your tongue and lips (so a soft name) or if you use your throat. The A in Adam or the B in Bert are made through the vocal cords while the F in Fifi, (yep were back to Fifi), is made with just the tongue.



One of the lead researchers, Michael Slepian, from Columbia Business School, explained to Telegraph that the way names sound can mean we automatically associate them with being masculine or feminine.



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We discovered that names can sound hard or soft, Slepian explains. Some names that are pronounced without any vibration of the vocal cords sound breathier and, as a result, people tended to associate these names with softness, stereotypical femininity, tenderness or those who were soft in disposition.

Mmm Im not sure Im really a Bob kinda baby, mum [Photo: Roman Pohorecki via Pexels]

"Conversely, names that are pronounced with the vibration of the vocal cords sound rougher or harder, and people associate these sounds with masculinity and being tough or hard in disposition.



Of course not all names will fit into this hypothesis and in fact there are many typical girls names that start with a hard phoneme, such as Jessica, Yvette and Barbara and vice versa boys names with a soft phoneme, Felix, Theo and Charles and the like.



But it is interesting to realise that a first hearing of a name can spark the forming of opinions and attitudes, often before weve even clapped eyes on that person. So if youre currently trying to choose a baby name remember the hard and soft phonemes and if you fancy messing with peoples minds, well then of course you should totally name your baby boy Fifi.



What do you think? Let us know @YahooStyleUK

Welcome To The World Baby Anakin: Most Popular Baby Names Of 2016 Revealed

The Internet Isnt Happy About This Unusual Baby Name Spelling
The Entrepreneur Insiders network is an online community where the most thoughtful and influential people in America's startup scene contribute answers to timely questions about entrepreneurship and careers. Today's answer to the question "What should you do when your friends ask you to hire them?" is written by Eric Breon, founder and CEO of Vacasa.

Many entrepreneurs tend to recruit good friends and former colleagues to help get new ventures off the ground. The commonly cited adage is to avoid going into business with friends and family, but I've never followed this advice. Whether youre a fledgling founder or a startup veteran, working with people you know and trust can be a solid strategy. Vacasa has had a strong referral culture from the beginning, and that culture continues to connect us with brilliant, hardworking people at every level.

Known commodities are safe investments

Hiring your friends makes sense for the simple reason that friends are a known commodity. You know their strengths and weaknesses. You know, based on your past experiences with them, whether theyd be a good fit for your company. You have a good understanding of their work ethic, their passions, and their pitfalls.

If your friends are former colleagues, youve had direct experience with them in the workplace -- a tremendous benefit. When it comes to hiring former colleagues, Ive had a 100% success rate, and that's no accident.

Just be wary of recruiting friends you dont know quite as well. While you may enjoy someones company in a casual social setting, you may not have a good sense of their work ethic if you don't know them well enough. Polished and professional doesnt always equal passionate and driven.

Nepotism isnt all bad

When I launched my company back in 2009, I hired several capable friends and former colleagues who showed interest in my idea. Because they also had the benefit of trusting both me and the company's mission, I generally paid them far less than they were making previously while the company was getting off the ground. As a result, we benefited from skills and expertise that we wouldnt otherwise have been able to afford at that stage of our growth.

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Though the benefits were clear, I was still hesitant to hire friends and former colleagues during this early stage. These hires -- who were already thriving in their respective fields -- were putting their careers on the line because they believed in an idea. In these cases, it's important to be very confident about your venture and its direction before bringing new people on board, unless they're already at a natural point of transition.

Related: The 4 Things You Must Do Before You Hire a Friend

Trust your network

As your company grows, you'll need to reach outside your immediate network to find the talent and expertise you're looking for, but you can do this while still maintaining a strong referral culture. At Vacasa, many of our employees are hired because other employees recommended them. In my experience, this happens naturally when people are excited about the work they do.

Whatever qualities you're looking for as you build your team -- entrepreneurial spirit, a solution-driven attitude, passion over polish -- you'll recognize those qualities in people you know well and have worked with before. That's why I recommend working with people you already know, like, and admire -- known commodities who will help your venture succeed.

See original article on Fortune.com

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Illustrations by Ellliot Salzar.

Accutane: Its one of the most singularly contentious words in the skin-care conversation, both feared and praised. Thats because the drug is both potent and potentially dangerous  and just happens to be the savior for those with severe cystic acne.

Related: The BEST Way To Get Rid Of Acne Scars

Accutane is the brand name for a drug called isotretinoin  a vitamin A-derivative. It was approved in 1982 for the treatment of severe acne that is unresponsive to conventional methods like topical medication and oral antibiotics. In 2009, the company behind Accutane pulled the drug from the market for unspecific economic reasons. So while we still call isotretinoin drugs Accutane, that actual name-brand drug does not exist anymore. Instead, you can be prescribed Absorica, Claravis, Myorisan, Amnesteem, or Zenatane. According to dermatologist Dennis Gross, MD, isotretinoin is the closest thing to a cure [for acne that] we have.

Related: Heres Your Dream Sephora Starter Kit



What Accutane is doing is destroying the [oil] glands that cause acne, says Dr. Gross. He explains that in people with acne, 80 to 90% of the oil glands on the face are healthy and functioning. But 10 to 20% are sick and overproducing oil. Accutane targets the cells where acne keeps coming back over and over again and kills them off.

Now, all of this sounds very straightforward and sensible. However, its not that simple. Bring up the drug to anyone who had or has acne, and youre bound to get a response of either, It changed my life, or, Oh my god, do NOT go on that poison. With possible side effects that range from depression to birth defects, its understandable why people have such a visceral reaction to it. I, however, am not one of those people. After a year and a half of suffering through the most brutal cystic acne my face had ever come up against, I didnt hesitate when Dr. Gross brought up the drug.

Related: The Craziest Beauty Routines Of The Rich & Famous



But besides the dont get pregnant  no, seriously, dont caution you hear repeatedly, I knew very little about what being on Accutane actually entails. With that in mind, I put together a diary documenting my experience, with all the nitty, very gritty, and sometimes TMI tidbits that everyone thinking about Accutane should absolutely know.

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Ive already written quite extensively about my skin  its hard not to when it suddenly goes down the crapper at the age of 32. To recap, I spent a blissful 16 zit-free years on birth control, was then told I needed to ditch the estrogen due to migraines, and then shit got crazy. My neck, jawline, back, arms, shoulders, and cheeks suddenly sprouted red, angry, painful welts that would hang around for days, sometimes weeks.



Im not usually the girl who is self-conscious about going out into the world sans makeup  if Ive got a zit, Ive got a zit. This was different  I had to put on makeup in order to feel human. I found myself hiding behind my hair, or constantly staring at the ground, shooting furtive glances at those walking by me and wondering how badly I repulsed them. I went to a dark place.

Related: This Is What Female-Directed Porn Looks Like



As a beauty editor, I have both the knowledge and the access to pretty much every skin service and product under the sun. And I took full advantage of that. I did monthly dermatologist appointments, and tried all of the topicals, antibiotics, microneedling, acupuncture, cupping, and excruciating extractions I could tolerate, all with no results. I even cut out dairy, caffeine, sugar, and gluten. I turn into Lewis Black when denied cheese, so it was a fun three months for my coworkers.



It was at this point that I made the executive decision to bring in the heavy artillery: Dr. Gross. He had helped me through a tough bout of stress acne before my wedding, and I knew if anyone had the answer, it would be him.



After examining my skin and hearing my saga of treatment failures, he mentioned Accutane. He told me that based on the severity of my acne (moderate to severe), the location of the cysts, and the confluence of blackheads and blocked pores, Accutane was going to be my best shot  the Hail Mary, if you will  at clearing my skin.

Related: Glow International With These Asian Beauty Products

You never go right to Accutane, says Dr. Gross. You use the things that were used to treat acne before the advent of Accutane: topicals like the creams and gels, solutions, oral antibiotics. If they fail, then you get a candidate who is eligible for Accutane. A.k.a. me.



While I was about 95% sure I was going to go on the drug, I had seen some of those fervent debates in our comments section, especially people saying they endured torture only to have their acne come back. For the patients that use the proper dosage and stay on it the proper length of time, Accutane has a cure rate of 70%, explains Dr. Gross. Out of the 30% who dont respond to the first round, after a second round, 70% will be cured. Thats a success rate of 91% of patients total through one or two rounds of treatment. And if youre unfortunate enough to be in that small percentage, Dr. Gross does say that at the very least, your acne will be less severe. Silver lining?



To be clear, notes Dr. Gross, cured means you wont get pimples again. Ever. I made him repeat that statement because I thought I had misheard him. How is that even possible? What is pimple-free life actually like?



I started casually dropping the fact that I was thinking of going on Accutane into conversations with friends and co-workers and, of course everyone had an opinion. It was the best thing that ever happened to me, said one makeup artist. Dont do it  you dont want your babies to have flippers, said one co-worker. While probably not the way I would have phrased it, she wasnt wrong  birth defects, among various other health problems, are a concern for anyone taking the drug and any doctor prescribing it.



Even though it sounds like skin fairy dust, Accutane is a serious medicine. Birth defects, depression, and digestive disorders have all been named by researchers as potential side effects. Theres also the possibility of rosacea, folliculitis, and sweat-gland issues. This is why you need to be really diligent about this. Those side effects may be on the rarer side (save the birth-defects thing), but they can happen. So its about diving into a cost-benefit analysis on risks versus rewards.



As for pregnancy, a study by the FDA found that of 383 pregnancies during which the woman was exposed to Accutane, 42% of the births resulted in serious birth defects. Which is why the FDA is not fucking around with its regulations about making babies while on the drug. In addition to multiple DO NOT GET PREGNANT warnings on the box, each individual pill pack also features an illustration of a pregnant woman with a giant nope symbol right over her. Just to really hammer that point home every time you take your pill.

Related: Everything Youve Ever Wanted To Know About Lip Injections

On the less serious side of the spectrum, you have the possibility of dry lips, nosebleeds, muscle aches, joint pain, dry eyes, increased sensitivity to the sun, and impaired night vision. Got all that? I sure did  Dr. Gross made sure it was abundantly clear that there were risks, and it was on me to both acknowledge them and adhere to the regulations around Accutane.



After this extensive, in-depth conversation, I told Dr. Gross I was ready.



Dr. Gross sent me to have a blood test to check for pregnancy and monitor my triglyceride levels and liver function  Accutane carries a risk of raising your cholesterol. The FDA does not require the liver tests, but Dr. Gross says he orders it to be tested, alongside tests on the kidney and bone marrow. I do like to do blood tests for a person on Accutane just to make sure other things arent happening, like a lower white-blood-cell count. Im very careful about my blood tests.

I was then given an iPledge form. iPledge is a document that you and your doctor sign attesting to the fact that you will not get pregnant while on Accutane and promising to use two types of birth control. You are registered in the iPledge system, which you need to set up online, then given a basic true-or-false quiz on Accutane best practices.

When my blood test came back clean, I was prescribed a 50-milligram monthly dose. Dr. Gross notes that doses are determined by a patients weight  a very important point he insisted on hammering home. Right now, doctors are giving little pills for extended periods of time and its wrong. If a woman weighs 120 pounds, then she needs 60 milligrams for 20 weeks  thats how it works, he says. But some doctors may give a 120-pound woman a 20-milligram pill for three months. Shes never going to get cured unless you follow the technical numbers here. You dont want to give them a low dose for an X number of months, make them look good, and they come off it and it comes right back.



Once my prescription was filled at the pharmacy, I had a week to pick it up. After that, the prescription legally had to be returned and a new one written.

One thing I wasnt aware of  because I stupidly didnt fully read through my iPledge form past the do not get pregnant part  is that you have to log into iPledge and take a new quiz before picking up EACH prescription.

I took my pills home and prepared to start my slow march toward (hopefully) clear skin.



The very first week I took my pills, my spirits were high. I was doing something that was going to help me, finally. So I diligently popped the tablets and waited for the pimples to clear with each dose.

It was around week three that I started to see a change  and it wasnt a good one. Remember earlier when I said I had been experiencing the worst skin of my entire life? I lied, because that was NOTHING compared to what erupted during week three. Every single pore in my face suddenly decided it hated me with a fiery passion and released whatever it had been brewing up. I had been hoping for a cure, and instead I got a curse. That preliminary bright-and-shiny hope quickly crashed and burned, and a fair amount of crying and self-pitying came in its place.

I went in for my next blood test, then counted down the few days until my appointment with Dr. Gross so I could figure out what the hell was wrong with me.



I went into Dr. Gross office waiting for him to realize my biggest fear; that there was something wrong, that I was one of those unlucky few whom Accutane was not going to help, and that this was my face from now on. Instead, he looked at my skin with no hint of concern and told me I was one of the cases in which it had to get worse to get better.

In a certain subtype [of acne patients] on Accutane, when the oil glands are getting exposed to the persons bloodstream with the medication for the first time, says Dr. Gross, the oil glands fight back a little bit and [do that] by getting inflamed. He explains that because I am part of that subtype, my oil glands were fighting the Accutane tooth and nail, meaning I would have to grit my teeth and suffer until the drug built up enough in my bloodstream to overwhelm and quell that inflammation.



I went off with my second batch of pills and a prescription for a course of steroids (to help bring down the inflammation), still a little downtrodden, but hoping things would get better.



Gradually, in the tiniest of tiny steps, my oil glands began to stop revolting, but my complexion was still a mess and the hyperpigmentation from that initial purge had made my skin splotched and red. Concealer alone was not cutting it, so I went back to the age-old deep side-part and smoky eye distraction.



It was around then that the fun really began: That dryness every Accutane user and drug pamphlet had warned me about snuck up and sucker punched me in the face. Seemingly overnight, my lips became chapped and peeled.



Week three was when those dry lips finally turned into full-blown Lipageddon. The chapping and peeling spread to the corners of my mouth and the surrounding skin. When I opened my mouth, the skin would split open and I suddenly had a bloody lip. I went through many pots and tubes of lip balm until I finally stumbled on Bites lip mask, which offered more relief than anything else I had tried.



My skins dry patches, thank god, didnt hit cracking and bleeding levels, but they were still pretty painful. All my usual acne creams and cleansers suddenly made my face burn. I switched to using honey as a cleanser and slathered Skyn Icelands Pure Cloud Cream on my raw skin.



I was sent off with my third batch of pills  and a newfound determination to show up at my next appointment with some type of improvement, so I could get some reassurance that this mini hell was worth it.



The first three weeks passed by much the same as the month prior  my lips had settled into a pattern of perpetual chapping, the skin around them was permanently red and painful, and the pigmentation was basically tattooed on my cheeks. The only difference? The pimples were finally starting to subside.

Instead of full-blown cysts, I was dealing with blackheads and whiteheads sprinkled liberally across my face. The occasional cyst did pop up on my neck and jaw, but it was on a biweekly basis. A tiny glimmer of hope reappeared.



My back and shoulders, unfortunately, were still in full riot mode. I had never had an issue with bacne before, but I now had a constellation map of zits on my shoulders, upper arms, and back. The Accutane didnt appear to be having any effect there.



I also noticed some minor side effects: My eyes were extra dry, I started waking up with a trace of a bloody nose, and my palms began some minor peeling. And I started to feel like my joints were a bit more sore than normal. I took to using a resistance band to stretch out my hips, where the pain was centralized. It didnt get any better, but it also didnt get worse. So, winning?



I had been told that Accutane users skin is especially sensitive to the sun, but, being Irish, I was already no slouch at regular SPF dousings. I stayed out of the sun, reapplied regularly, and was generally doing great until about halfway through the month. I spent two weekends in a row poolside and while I didnt get burned per se, my skin was red and irritated with small, painful, dry patches dotting my upper arms.

Ive learned quite a few lessons  some harder than others. First and foremost, Accutane is not an instant fix. I hear stories from other beauty editors about going on spironolactone and how their blemishes disappeared in days. Accutane is a long-haul drug  spiro clears your skin while you are on it, but Accutane is a months-long uphill battle. Thats because it doesnt regulate acne  it cures it. That doesnt come with a snap of your fingers.

Ive also been having to relearn how to take care of my skin. Ive spent over half my life cultivating an all-star roster of oil-controlling, pimple-punishing lotions and potions, all of which are now too harsh for me. So, as my skin slowly inches into normal territory, Im back to square one.



Which leads me to the importance of products. Yes, Accutane is the cure, but you need to tend to your skin while the drug is doing its job. Neglect it or abuse it, and youll wind up with scarring or redness.



Dr. Gross prescribed me the ultra-gentle, super-nourishing products that I used to shy away from for fear of pore-clogging. My regimen includes: honey-washing in the a.m. and p.m., Dr. Gross tinted Instant Radiance SPF lotion for day, Weledas Almond Soothing Facial Lotion four nights a week, and Weledas Skin Food slathered on as an overnight mask (pro tip: Smooth on a thin layer, let it sit on your skin for five minutes, and then blot with a tissue. Your sheets will thank you.).



Im more than halfway through my journey, and am optimistic the results in September will make all of this agony feel like it had a purpose. Ill be updating this diary to include the next two months, so be sure to check back to see how it all turned out.

Of all the articles on Accutane that Ive read, not one has adequately conveyed just what I was getting myself into. So, if you have thought about starting or are about to start Accutane  or have already gone through it  share your questions, thoughts, hopes, dreams, and general musings on skin in the comments below. Because you dont want to fall down the WebMD k-hole when it comes to this one.

By: Megan McIntyre
Should I be making my key employees sign non-compete agreements?

A long-time salesperson leaves you and goes to work for a competitor. He brings with him all of your customers and pricing information. Suddenly, your competitor is taking away business from you. Catastrophe! So how to solve this problem? A non-compete agreement, right? Maybe.

I have lots of clients that make their employees and contractors sign non-competes. And I admit my company has a non-compete clause in our agreements with our contractors. But shhh, don't tell anyone: there's almost zero chance I would pursue this.

I own a small business, which means, by definition, that my resources are limited. And if my resources are limited it's a safe assumption that my employees and contractors likely also have limited resources (translation: savings). So let's go down this road. A contractor stops working on my job and immediately goes to work for a competitor on a competing job even though he signed a three-year noncompete with me. What am I going to do? Sue him? Do I have the money, time and mental stamina to go through this process with everything else going on? Can I afford a lawyer? And even if I win, does that guy have any money to pay me? Go after the competing company, you say. Well, my competitor may disavow any knowledge of this non-compete and dig in for a long, protracted fight. Or my competitor may be much bigger with more resources and better lawyers to fight me.

Attorneys will tell you to have a non-compete agreement with your key people. And technically they're right. It may provide some form of recourse for you. But in reality, non-compete clauses are triggered by and fought between big companies. For most small businesses, it's usually not worth the effort.

Related: So Your Employees Are Taking Home Office Supplies

I was interviewing a prospective employee and she said she has a medical condition (glaucoma) that requires she smoke marijuana. Medical marijuana is legal in our state. But I'm concerned that she would be coming to work under the influence. What do I do?

Tread very carefully. Marijuana is like the wild, wild west. Twenty-five states and the District of Columbia have legalized it in varying degrees, with four states (Alaska, Colorado, Oregon and Washington) allowing recreational use. Under federal law, it's still illegal and therefore marijuana use isn't covered by the Americans With Disabilities Act. That means, if an employee is suspected of being under the influence and tests positive for any drug, including marijuana, he or she could be legally terminated.

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Talk to a lawyer, who can give you more specific guidance in this case. You don't want to get yourself in trouble.

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By Ricardo Moraes XAPURI, Brazil, July 4 (Reuters) - Brazil's government will hand out 9 million condoms for free around Rio de Janeiro during the Olympics in August, a push meant to encourage safe sex and also defend the Amazon rainforest. Rio's local Olympic organizing committee said about 450,000 of the sustainably-produced condoms will be destined for athletes and staff housed in the Olympic Village. The rest will be made widely available to the many visitors who will be arriving in the city in just a few weeks, the Health Ministry said. All the condoms to be distributed are produced by Natex, a factory in the western Amazonian state of Acre, deep in the rainforest near Brazil's border with Bolivia. The factory, run by the Acre state government, uses latex gathered from Amazon rubber trees by tappers who are employed by a government-run program designed to protect their traditional livelihood, foster sustainable use of the rainforest and deter illegal loggers. The tappers see themselves as guardians of the rainforest. On a recent outing, Raimundo Mendes de Barros, a 71-year-old lifelong rubber tapper with a stark white beard, gathered the milky-white latex dripping into metal buckets hooked at the base of countless trees. Above, the tropical sun was filtered by the Amazon canopy. Barros spoke with pride about the fierce fight he and other sustainable rubber tappers wage to maintain their craft. "Our condom factory, aside from guaranteeing a fair price for the rubber, employs hundreds," he said. "It gives the world a product - the condom - that will be very present there in Rio, to fight disease and help with birth control." For decades, tappers like Barros have been on the front line of pushing Brazilian leaders to do more to halt deforestation, which is mostly caused by the illegal clearing of forest for ranching, soy farms and timber extraction. The fight has sometimes come at a heavy cost as farmers and loggers have sometimes retaliated with hired guns. Scores of people have been killed over the years trying to protect the forest, most notably the internationally known environmentalist and rubber tapper Chico Mendes. His 1988 murder in Xapuri, where the condom factory now stands, helped galvanize the government to take serious measures to battle deforestation and the violence against Amazon defenders. For several years Brazil's Health Ministry has distributed millions of condoms from the factory for free at big events around Brazil - most notably the annual bacchanal of Carnival. (Reporting by Ricardo Moraes; Writing by Brad Brooks; Editing by Frances Kerry)
A new large-scale Danish study has found that three in four women starting fertility treatment will go on to have a baby within five years after, either as a result of treatment or after conceiving spontaneously.

Due to Denmark's records linking all fertility treatments with all live births, it is one of the few countries in the world where such a large-scale study could be done, providing extensive enough results for researchers to make a real-life prognosis.

Using the records researchers were able to analyze 19,884 women between 2007 and 2010 as part of the study, with the team carrying out follow-ups for live births at two, three and five years.

Their results showed that after two years 57% of the women had had a baby, with 46% of conceiving by IVF when IVF was the first fertility treatment, and 34% conceiving after intrauterine insemination when IUI was the first fertility treatment.

A significant proportion (14%) also conceived spontaneously without treatment.

However although the total number of birth rates did increase cumulatively over the five-year study period -- increasing from 65% after three years to 71% after five years -- these rates did not increase for women who had opted for IUI treatment lasting beyond two years, the point when most women had switched to IVF. And although 16.6% of women starting treatments with IUI had had a baby after five years, pregnancy occurred after spontaneous conception not after the IUI treatment.

And as expected by the researchers, age was the greatest factor in determining success, with further research showing that at five years, total birth rates were 80% for women under 35 years, dropping to 60.5% for those aged 35-40, and 26% for those aged 40 and over.

Commenting on the significance of the results, Dr Sara Malchau of Copenhagen University Hospital, Hvidovre, Denmark, said, "Infertility patients have two key questions: what are our chances of having a baby, and when will it happen. These results help us provide realistic information based on their age and chance of natural conception."

"Overall, chances of a live birth are good, but successful treatment takes time. Couples will often need several treatment cycles. And even though the greatest chance of conception is following treatment, there is still a reasonable chance of spontaneous conception."
By Charlotte Greenfield WELLINGTON (Reuters) - A court in New Zealand has told the government to reconsider a decision to send back to China a man accused of murder, his lawyer said on Monday, spotlighting the hurdles the Asian giant faces in its quest to bring home alleged criminals. The setback in China's first extradition request to New Zealand comes at a time when China is seeking to drum up international cooperation in a campaign to track down corruption suspects who have fled overseas. In December, New Zealand agreed to extradite to Shanghai a South Korean-born resident, Kyung Yup Kim, but the Pacific country's High Court has decided the Chinese government's assurances of fair treatment for the man were not adequate. "To get valid assurances you need to be able to monitor and enforce them," his lawyer, Tony Ellis, told Reuters, referring to fears over the risk of torture and an unfair trial Kim could face on his return. A copy of the judgment was not immediately available, as the judge considered withholding some details. A spokesman for Justice Minister Amy Adams said she could not comment because the full judgment had not been released. In an affidavit in February, Adams told the court the Chinese government had assured her Kim would get a fair trial and would not face the death penalty. It was not immediately clear how long the government might take to reconsider, or what fresh assurances it might have to seek from China. The death penalty is illegal in New Zealand. Kim faced murder charges after the 2009 discovery in a Shanghai field of the body of a 20-year-old woman who had been strangled to death. He was put in prison after China sought his extradition in 2011, following his return to New Zealand. Asked about the case at a daily news briefing in Beijing, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei said he did not know anything about it. China has pushed for an extradition treaty with New Zealand since 2014. In April, on a visit to Beijing, Prime Minister John Key said an extradition treaty with China was "possible", so long as people did not face torture or the death penalty. Up to 60 Chinese corruption suspects were in New Zealand, Key has said. New Zealand police are investigating one of the suspects, an Auckland-based businessman. New Zealand has given China details of whether suspects were in New Zealand and their immigration status, a representative of the prime minister said last year. (Reporting by Charlotte Greenfield; Additional reporting by Ben Blanchard in Beijing; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)


Credit: PDN/SIPA/REX/Shutterstock

A trip to Morocco merits a mini wardrobe overhaul, and First Lady Michelle Obama has added Proenza Schouler and now Altuzarra to her diplomatic style portfolio. On Tuesday in Marrakech, the political figure and her teenage daughters transitioned into their evening looks at a dinner with Princess Lalla Salma of Morocco (above, right of Obama).

The cause for the stately affair of course took priority--the visit helped continue Obama's Let Girls Learn global tour--but her paisley print Altuzarra frock with pearl adornments took center stage as the 52-year-old Harvard Law School graduate posed with fellow female leaders.

Gleaming in their own right, sisters Malia, 17, and Sasha, 15, got a taste of mom's important work and were also on hand at the dinner, each dressed in graphic, maroon-toned dresses that appropriately blended in with the country's traditional garb.

Between a lavish display of fare we're sure was unforgettable, not to mention a gorgeous arrangement of florals, Obama and Princess Lalla presumably chatted about the Millennium Challenge Corporation's $100 million investment towards the education of young women in Morocco.



Credit: Abdeljalil Bounhar/AP Images

While Malia and Sasha watched nearby, Meryl Streep also took a seat at the table. The Oscar-winning star joined Obama and actress Freida Pinto earlier on Tuesday for a conversation with local girls about the power of education. "It was especially interesting to me to come to Morocco, because I'm aware that here in this country, there is a special push in order to enable girls beyond primary level education to go on to secondary school, to university. And I want to help that happen all over the world," Streep told girls in the crowd, according to an official statement from The White House.



Credit: Abdeljalil Bounhar/AP Images

PHOTOS: Michelle Obama's Best Looks Ever

Obama shared similar empowering sentiments. "Those 62 million girls who are not being educated around the world impact my life in Washington, D.C., in the United States of America. Because if we aren't empowering and providing the skills and the resources to half of our population, then we're not realizing our full potential as a society, as mankind," she added.
Washington DC might become a state, and get a new name

Washington DC might become a state, and get a new name

As the capital of the United States, Washington DC is not one of the 50 states. Its a federal district, hence District of Columbia, shortened to D.C. But that could soon change, as they are currently bidding for statehood. If that happened, Washington DC would become the 51st state, and its leaders would give it an entirely new name.

That name could quite likely be New Columbia, an old name that was approved by voters in a 1982 referendum in which Washington DC tried for statehood. It originates from Italian explorer Christopher Columbus, who is obviously a critical part of U.S. history.

Washington, D.C. could have been renamed "Anacostia," but advocates for statehood chose "New Columbia."  Posted by International Business Times on Thursday, June 30, 2016

Of course, some long time DC residents are anxious about the name change. Columbus reputation as a hero has undergone quite a sea-change since the 1980s, with many seeing him as a brutal conqueror rather than a noble explorer. According to Matthew Green, an associate professor of politics at Catholic University in Washington DC, Its hard to come up with a name that would honor the citys political, living and symbolic dimensions equally. He mentions that one of the alternative suggestions, Douglass Commonwealth might also be appropriate due to the fact that Frederik Douglass was an important figure in African-American politics. He lead the abolitionist movement, which ended slavery in the U.S.

People are joining in the conversation on social media, adding in their opinion about the name change and possible statehood.

#NewColumbia? You've gotta be kidding me!! Please stick to Washington, DC a/k/a Capital City!  Roro Tetreault (@LeMondeDuRoro) July 2, 2016

Statehood has long been a fraught issue for DC residents, as many who actually live in the district support it, while Congress has typically been against the idea. Among the reasons for statehood include the fact that DC isnt fully represented in Congress by voting members, and that decisions typically made by organizations like a city council instead often require Congressional approval, taking them out of local governments hands.

Presumptive Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton supports the change along with Bernie Sanders, but nothing is set in stone yet. The statehood issue will probably be debated at the Democratic National Convention in July. Until then, well just have to sit tight and see what happens.

The post Washington DC might become a state, and get a new name appeared first on HelloGiggles.
The Big Four carriers shell-game-like pricing practices have become so convoluted, you need an accounting degree to decipher them. They continually shift prices up or down according to the number of phone lines you need and the amount of data you're purchasing. They further complicate matters with special short-term offers to lure customers from rivals. Weve decided to omit most of these specials from our calculation tables because of their extremely short lifespan and their fragility (deal benefits often vaporize when a customer buys a new phone or makes other changes). The good news: Some of the wilder, very short-term pricing deals seems to have abatedat least for now. And in some ways, comparison shopping has become a tiny bit less onerous.

Heres a short rundown of the major carriers, which we update periodically. (Read our review of the best cell phone carriers to find out whether the small providers outpace the big companies.)

Sprint

Sprint is among the lowest rated carriers in our Ratings for both monthly billed service and prepaid service. But its new Unlimited Freedom plan offer seems like a tempting deal for heavy, and even moderate-data users: unlimited talk, text, and streaming video, gaming, and music at prices starting at $60 for the first line, $100 for two lines, and $30 for each one after that (up to 10 lines). Theyve also dropped the access fees for this deal. Wow! Those prices are comparable to what the other carriers typically charge for 4 to 6 GB of 4G data per phone.

Sounds too good to be true? It isespecially if youre heavily into gaming or streaming high-quality video. While 4G LTE data connections promise download speeds of 5 megabits per second (mbps) or more, Sprint says, in the fine print of this offer, its trimming download speeds for music and video streams to a maximum of 500 kilobits per second (kbps). Thats 2G, a good data speed in 2007, when the iPhone was introduced, but rather slow in todays higher-bit-rate, higher-definition world.

Story continues

Music streamers may not notice a quality drop, since most music-streaming rateseven for Pandoras premium servicerarely go much beyond 300kbps. But if youre planning to watch an HD episode of Game of Thrones on your new Samsung Note7 smartphone, youre probably going to be disappointed.

For Internet gamers, the limit will be 3G speed (2mbps), which could mean fatal reaction times in fast-paced racing games like Asphalt.

On the positive side, the Sprint plan also includes 5GB of high-speed mobile hotspot usage and unlimited international text messaging at no extra cost.

T-Mobile

T-Mobile doesn't offer data-sharing cell phone plans. You have to purchase data for each phone in your household. The carriers plan calculator has been tweaked to present your options more clearly than before, showing you the immediate impact on your total monthly bill as you add or subtract phone lines and experiment with the data allowances for each phone. T-Mobiles plans are only slightly cheaper than those offered by telecom behemoths Verizon and AT&T, but the carrier does have an edge for media streaming enthusiasts: Content from Spotify, Netflix, and a plethora of other popular music and video providers doesnt count against your data allowance. Recently, the carrier lowered pricing for people buying 6GB or more of data for each phone, which means significant savings for households with four or more phone lines. For instance, the monthly rate for four phone lines using 6GB of data each dropped from $160 to $120.



AT&T

AT&T stubbornly clings to variable-rate access fees that can mislead customers into spending more money when theyre trying to save. For instance, it charges less per phone ($15 instead of $25) when you buy more than 5GB of sharable data. And that kind of pricing could lead a data-frugal family of five to pay more a month ($225) for sharing 5GB of data if they dont have the math skills to see that splurging on a 15GB data bucket would actually lower their monthly bill to just $175. One saving grace: AT&T's customers gave it good marks in our survey for voice, text, and Web service.

Verizon

Big Red keeps things simple: It charges a flat $20 for every phone tapping into its sharable data plans. And like AT&T, it has received good marks for voice, text, and Web service in our survey. Recently, the Verizon site proclaimed its new plans offered "30 percent more data, with carryover data you can keep." Being able to roll over unused data is a good deal, though you can't save it like money in a bank. You have to "spend" it by the end of the next month. When we analyzed the plan rates, the differences amounted to paying slightly more or less money ($5 to $10 in either direction) for slightly bigger or smaller chunks of data. And sometimes that meant getting a lot less data for only slightly less money. For instance, a family of two used to pay $120 to share 12GB of data. Under the new plan, the couple would pay $110 to share just 8GB of data.



One bright note from the cell war chaos between the Big Four carriers is the appearance of no-contract plans, which separate the purchase of the phone from the service charges. This effectively gives you an interest-free loan you can pay off over about two years. When youve paid off the phone, your monthly bill goes down accordingly. And there are no termination fees; if you want to leave the carrier, you just pay any remaining balance on the phone.

In our survey of about 90,000 subscribers, nearly half of the people who switched cell phone carriers in the past year saw their monthly rates drop by $20 or more, which is why, perhaps, more should consider shopping around.

The good news: Weve already done the math for you in the tables below to help you find the best deal. And to make sure your needs are covered, weve presented the service-cost breakdowns for one to five family members for light, medium, and heavy data service. All you need to do is figure out how much data your family needs, which we also help you do in our "Tips for Choosing a Plan."

Mike Gikas

T-Mobile Simple Choice

Number of people 1GB of data per phone 2GB of data per phone 6GB of data per phone 1 $40 (prepaid only) $50 $65 2 NA $80 $100 3 NA $90 $120 4 NA $100 $120 5 NA $110 $140

Sprint Unlimited



Number of people 1GB of data per phone 2GB of data per phone Unlimited data per phone (not always at 4G speeds)

1 $40 $50 (3GB) $60 2 $70 (1.5GB) $85 (3GB) $100 3 $90 $105 $130 4 $125 (1.3GB) $140 (3GB) $160 5 $145 (1.2GB) $180 (4.8GB) $190

AT&T Next on Mobile Share

Number of people 1GB of data per phone 2GB of data per phone 4GB of data per phone 1 NA

$55 $65 (5GB) 2 $80 $100 (2.5GB) $130 (7.5GB) 3 $105 (0.67) $125 (1.67GB) $145 (5GB) 4 $150 (1.25GB) $160 (3.75GB) $200 (5GB) 5 $225 $175 (3GB) $215

Verizon Simple Plans

Number of people 1GB of data per phone 2GB of data per phone 4GB of data per phone 1 $50 $55 $70 2 $85 (1.5GB) $90 (3GB) $120 (6GB) 3 $105 $130 (2.7GB)

$150 (5.3GB) 4 $140 (1.5GB) $150

$170 5 $160 (1.2GB) $190 (3.2GB) $210 (4.8GB)

If you're thinking about what your next smart phone should be, check our cell phone buying guide and Ratings.







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Consumer Reports has no relationship with any advertisers on this website. Copyright  2006-2016 Consumers Union of U.S.
TipRanks

The stock market had a good day today. The S&P has gained 1.63% and moderated its year-to-date losses to 19%. That rally has pushed the index up just out of bear territory. Despite these gains, at least one major bear believes that the index hasnt bottomed out yet. Mike Wilson, Morgan Stanleys chief US equity strategist, sees more room for the index to fall, and predicts that the S&P will hit its low point somewhere between 3,000 and 3,200  a drop that would mean another 20% loss for stocks.
Virtual vintners sink roots deep in China, unnerve wine importers Updated: 2016-07-04 08:13 (Agencies)

A woman promotes imported red wine products at a promotion in Yichang, Hubei province. China's wine market, hit hard by the Chinese government's crackdown on ostentatious spending and corruption in 2012, is starting to show signs of revival. [Zhou Jianping/For China Daily]

Wu Zhendong sees himself as something of a wine buff. The 25-year-old lawyer from China's western city of Chengdu is a member of his local wine club, likes to drink Chateauneuf-du-Papeand now, like many of his peers, buys most of his wine online.

Wu reflects a major shift in China's $14.2 billion wine market, where increasingly price-savvy shoppers are driving a boom in online trade, upending the fast-growing market that has long been dominated by large-scale importers.

China's wine market, hit hard by Beijing's crackdown on ostentatious spending and corruption in 2012, is starting to show signs of revival, but lavish spending by China's wealthy elite has been replaced by more prudent consumption.

"The rich and famous don't want to be seen consuming and they don't want to buy here, they want to buy in Hong Kong or elsewhere," Bruno Baudry, chief executive of China's largest traditional wine importer ASC Fine Wines, told Reuters.

Suntory Group-owned ASC is increasing its sales online and recently strengthened a tie-up with e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, said Baudry. "We are not an e-commerce company ... but it's an important vector of growth."

Still ASC, which grew fast as Chinese buyers boomed in the early 2000s, has taken a hit: sales were down 9 percent last year even as the imported wine market rose by around a third. Baudry hopes the firm's new strategies will help it grow sales 3 percent this year, still slower than the wider market.

"The market is recovering but it has changed tremendously," said Guillaume Deglise, chief executive of wine trade fair Vinexpo, adding thinner margins meant larger firms with big overheads were having to trim down their costs.

"The market used to be driven by the big boys. These guys are now struggling."

As Chinese economic growth slows and more cost-conscious consumers opt for cheaper wines, big traditional importers are having to re-think strategies to compete against nimbler local rivals.

Logistics firms, small importers and wine makers are also tapping the online market to prune costs and reach more directly to China's vast market, long seen as a goldmine for vineyards from Bordeaux to the Barossa.

"Big companies are struggling because low-cost, smaller firms have the advantage, especially with the market completely driven by price," said Johnny Yang, Shanghai-based head of small importer Wines Direct.

Lawyer Wu, for example, said he now bought around 80 percent of his wine onlineincluding from specialist platform Wineyun.combecause of lower prices and a wider selection than local physical stores.

The market's rapid change is part of a wider boom in e-commerce in China, where a mix of tech-savvy shoppers and a surge of e-commerce investment from taxi hailing to fast-food has created an explosive online market.

Major online players like JD.com Inc and Alibaba's Tmall have also got into the market, selling a combined 45 million bottles of wine last year.

That has hit the likes of ASC, which has seen sales of luxury French "Grand Cru Classe" wines halve since 2012 and a major client, Australian winery Treasury Wine Estates Ltd, opt to pull its entire business from July to work more directly with Chinese wholesalers and online channels.

Treasury declined to comment for this story.

"Most of (last year's) growth was driven by lower-end wine imported by smaller Chinese companies and logistics firms and then sold online," said Tommy Keeling, analyst at alcohol market research firm IWSR.

In Australia's Hunter Valley, boutique wine makers like Bill Sneddon are creating another challenge to big importers. With a crackdown on tax incentives at home, Sneddon and others are looking to export more to China via small traders and the web.

"We're all hanging our hat on China and we all rely on growth coming out of the Chinese market," Sneddon, chief winemaker at Allandale Winery, told Reuters.

Allandale produces around 25,000 cases of wine a year and China has now overtaken the United States and the United Kingdom as its major export market, Sneddon added.
Thousands march against Brexit in London Updated: 2016-07-03 08:36 (Xinhua)

Photo taken on Jan 29, 2016 shows the UK and EU flags outside the European Commission headquarters in Brussels, Belgium. [Photo/Xinhua]

LONDON -- Large areas of central London were brought to a standstill Saturday as thousands of demonstrators converged on the capital to protest about the outcome of the EU referendum.

The peaceful march and rally came in the wake of a petition to parliament which by Saturday had exceeded 4 million signatures calling for a second referendum. It is estimated that around 40,000 people took part in the march.

With people waving pro-Europe banners, the "March for Europe" event took place even though the Leave camp won the June 23 referendum by 51.9 percent to 48.1 percent. One banner carried the message "Stay Calm but Remain...Outraged" while another had the message "We Love EU".

Starting from Park Lane in Central London, the procession stretched for more than three kilometers as it made its way towards Parliament Square, close to the seat of the British Parliament.

One of the organisers of the London march, Keiran MacDermott, said protesters want to stop the British government from triggering the mechanism that starts the EU withdrawal process, making a Brexit irreversible.

Stand-up comedian and satirist Mark Thomas said he helped organise the march to "address his anger, frustration and need to do something."

He said: "We would accept the result of the referendum if it was fought on a level playing field. But it was full of misinformation and people need to do something with their frustration."

With the House of Commons and Big Ben as a backdrop, speakers from different political parties heard pleas about the impact of the emerging "divorce" from the European Union.

Rock band icon Bob Geldorf, who famously helped raise millions of pounds for starving people in Africa with a desperate plea for help, was among the speakers Saturday.

He urged people "to take to the streets and speak to their neighbors" to stop Britain from leaving the EU.

Politicians and officials within the Palace of Westminster have already started laying the foundations for Britain's exit by establishing various working groups to discuss future moves in the long process.

In the referendum, London was out of step with the rest of England where the vast majority of people backed the Leave camp. Wales also was a strong supporter of Brexit, with both Scotland and Northern Ireland voting Remain. Around 60 percent of Londoners voted for remain.

Social media sites went into overdrive, with both sides engaged in verbal clashes. One person wrote: "I agree we have a democratic right to protest, but I don't see how 'March for Europe' is going to work. Leave won in a democratic vote."
Ramos: Young people can give Sino-Philippine ties a fresh start Updated: 2016-07-04 08:16 By Deng Yanzi in Manila(China Daily)

Improved relations between China and the Philippines are in sight through deeper people-to-people engagement, according to former Philippine president Fidel Ramos, who has urged the countries' leaders to meet soon.

Relations could improve in the coming year, the 88-year-old told China Daily, as he urged the countries to promote more interaction among young people in areas such as education, art and music.

Rodrigo Duterte, the new president of the Philippines, has proposed opening bilateral talks with China after the ongoing arbitration tribunal announces its ruling on the South China Sea disputes. Ramos said the countries had continued talks through various informal channels despite the recent turbulence in diplomatic ties.

For example, the business communities in both countries have engaged in "back-channel" talks to ensure the continuation of trade activities, he said.

Ramos said he hopes Duterte will meet with President Xi Jinping soon, preferably in his first year in office. Their cabinet colleagues should also meet at an early date, he added.

He called for the Philippines to play a bigger role in China's Belt and Road Initiative, which comprises the strategic Silk Road Economic Belt and 21st Century Maritime Silk Road and seeks to connect China with Europe, Asia and Africa through closer trade, infrastructure and people-to-people cooperation.

As the Philippines is on two of the world's most important oceanic trading routes, the Pacific Ocean and the South China Sea, Ramos said it should occupy an important place in the maritime route.

With regard to the new administration, he believes it is essential for Duterte to build an inclusive economy, which can benefit and empower people in general.

Ramos, who served as president of the Philippines from 1992 to 1998, steered the country through an economic crisis. During his time in office, the annual GDP growth rate averaged 5 percent.

The country is now one of Asia's fastest-growing economies and recorded a GDP growth rate of 6.7 percent in the first quarter of this year.

However, as the Philippines continues to be affected by socio-economic inequality, Ramos said he is concerned about the gap between the rich and poor in terms of income, housing, education, health and life expectancy.

If the nation can "spread the benefits of growth" for six to 10 years, including throughout the six-year term of the Duterte administration, the country could successfully improve people's livelihoods, Ramos added.

What they say

"I fervently believe that positive breakthroughs can happen for the now-problematic Philippine-China relations if the highest leaders, as well as top-level diplomats, can directly sit down to dialogue, to constantly communicate in order to focus on common interests rather than to exaggerate irritants or worsen points of disagreement."

Wilson Lee Flores, analyst and columnist at the Philippine Star newspaper

"Downplaying the arbitration may be an ideal choice that will lead bilateral relations out of the deadlock. ... The arbitration case is a hot potato left by former Philippine leader Benigno Aquino for his successor. The best way to tackle it is by putting the ruling aside. Then the two sides can return to the bilateral consensus made by past administrations and resume bilateral negotiations for a peaceful settlement."

Chen Qinghong, researcher on Southeast Asian studies and an expert on the Philippines at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations

"Based on the body language of (Rodrigo) Duterte and the Chinese ambassador, it seems the new Philippine president is intent on reviving bilateral relations by separating the territorial disputes from broader economic relations, which have suffered in recent years. ... But it is still up to the Duterte and Xi Jinping administrations to explore a way to overcome tensions and find a peaceful way forward."

Richard Heydarian, political analyst at De La Salle University in Manila

"The arbitration has given some major countries outside the region a chance to stir up the situation there, escalate tensions, and make the South China Sea issue into a geopolitical problem. They forced the (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) countries to take sides. ... As the ASEAN has played a peaceful role in tackling the South China Sea issue, Manila unilaterally seeking arbitration is a betrayal of the ASEAN."

Xu Liping, senior researcher on Southeast Asian studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences

iris@chinadailyhk.com

Fidel Ramos, the Philippine president from 1992 to 1998 who steered the country through an economic crisis

(China Daily 07/04/2016 page3)
UKIP leader Farage says will step down after Brexit victory Updated: 2016-07-04 18:24 (Agencies)

Nigel Farage, the leader of the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP), speaks at a news conference in central London, Britain July 4, 2016. Farage said he will step down as leader of UKIP. [Photo/Agencies]

LONDON - The leader of Britain's anti-European Union UK Independence Party (UKIP) Nigel Farage said on Monday he would stand down after having realised his ambition of winning last month's referendum in favor of Brexit.

"I have never been, and I have never wanted to be, a career politician. My aim in being in politics was to get Britain out of the European Union," he told reporters.

"So I feel it's right that I should now stand aside as leader of UKIP.

"During the referendum campaign, I said 'I want my country back'. What I'm saying today, is, 'I want my life back,' and it begins right now."

It is not the first time Farage has quit as leader of the party. He stood down in May 2015 after failing to win a parliamentary seat in last year's general election, only to withdraw his resignation three days later.

He said he would continue to support the party, and continue to watch Brussels "like a hawk" during the negotiations around Britain's exit from the EU.

He reiterated his view that Britain's new prime minister needed to be from the "Leave" campaign but declined to back a specific candidate out of Andrea Leadsom, Michael Gove or Liam Fox. Current frontrunner Theresa May backed "Remain".

Farage, 52, has been a member of UKIP since its 1993 birth and was first elected to the European Parliament in 1999.
Bangladesh holds state ceremony to pay homage to Dhaka attack victims Updated: 2016-07-04 20:55 (Xinhua)

People pay tribute to the victims of the attack on the Holey Artisan Bakery and the O'Kitchen Restaurant, in Dhaka Bangladesh, July 4, 2016. [Photo/Agencies]

DHAKA - Tributes poured in as Bangladesh Monday held a state ceremony to pay homage to the victims and their families of an attack at a restaurant in Dhaka's diplomatic enclave Gulshan.

On the second day of the two-day national mourning over the country's worst hostage crisis, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina placed floral wreath at the caskets of the victims at around 10:00 a.m. local time (0400 GMT) in the ceremony held at an Army stadium in Dhaka.

Hasina also stood in silence for a minute to honor the victims, after a wreath was placed on behalf of President Md Abdul Hamid, who is now in Bhutan on a state visit.

The caskets were placed in a raised platform which bored the flags of India, Italy, Bangladesh, Japan and the United States -- commemorating the nationalities of the victims.

Envoys of India, Italy, the United States and Japan also paid their respects at the caskets.

Diplomats from many other countries also placed floral wreaths at the caskets of the victims of Friday's attack.

Hundreds of relatives and friends of the victims and people from all walks of life also poured in to pay their last tribute at scene.

Twenty hostages, mostly foreign nationals, were killed when seven gunmen stormed in with guns and swords in the Gulshan's Holey Artisan Bakery on July 1.

Nine Italians, seven Japanese, two Bangladeshis, an Indian and a Bangladeshi-born U.S. citizen were among the 20 people hacked to death by the attackers on Friday night.

The gunmen also murdered two Bangladeshi police officers in the early hour of the attack.

Responsibility for the attack has been claimed by the Islamic State militant group. Six of the gunmen were killed while one was captured and detained alive.